Unfortunately, Blastoise and Sceptile wouldn't be allowed to join the group for now for the Board was being a pain in the ass, nor would Beedrill. However, they had received two new allies in the deaf Tyrantrum and the eloquent Liligant. Alas, now wasn't the time for introductions, now was the time for action. They teleported quickly, got his location centered and located and began to focus his psychic energy. The group was glad that they didn't have to do all the paperwork required since this was an emergency.
Lopunny began to stretch, much to Liligant's confusion,
"What art thou doing, Lopunny?" she asked. Lopunny stood up and answered,
"Getting ready to kick some ass. I missed out during the raid but this time, for sure, I'll get the fight I'm itching for!" Liligant had some worry about how Lopunny was behaving.
"Thou seemeth excited. Thou knoweth how dangerous this job is." She stated. Lopunny nodded,
"Yeah, that's what makes it fun! Do you like unagi?" she asked. Liligant was caught off guard but nodded, unagi was a great dish.
"Unagi can kill you if it's not cooked properly." Lopunny revealed. Liligant knew this and yet, she was now enlightened as to Lopunny's view on combat. There is a thrill to dancing with death. Not that she agreed with it. Combat is a brutal and painful concept to Liligant, only to be used in an emergency situation. She understands why Lopunny believes what she does but she doesn't understand how.
The teleporter yelled that he was ready and the group got ready. Ampharos had put his life on the line to ensure the cult wouldn't escape. They couldn't afford to dawdle any more than they already have.
Immediately upon being teleported, the group was met with what looked to be some sort of water network. It wasn't sewage since none of them smelled anything. It was most likely an aqueduct, transporting water to places that needed it. The air was humid and muggy. There were only two paths, behind and in front of them. With this, the group elected to split in two. Infernape, Gardevoir, Aggron and Garchomp would head forward and the rest would go behind.
The smaller group of Lopunny, Tyrantrum and Liligant explored the brick hallways of the aqueduct. Darkness surrounded them with the only way to navigate being the brick floor and the constant sounds of the water to their left. Lopunny gritted her teeth, of course the cult would choose the darkness to hide in. They would have the advantage. Lopunny found herself somewhat fearful for Ampharos's safety. What he did was incredibly brave yet incredibly stupid. The line between the two was razor thin. However, Lopunny remained resolute. She wasn't going to lose her friends again.
Liligant stepped in front of the ice hybrid,
"Mr. Tyrantrum wants to say something." she stated. Lopunny turned around to see the dragon, ground type sighing at her. Lopunny cringed at herself. She couldn't understand most of it and she felt atrocious about it. She felt like an ignorant old man, lacking in knowledge yet not wanting to learn. She tried to learn NSL(Nihonern Sign Language.) but like her other linguistic endeavors, it fell flat.
"LOPUNNY!" Someone yelled thankfully. Lopunny and the other two turned around to brace for combat. However, Lopunny recognized the voice and lowered her guard,
"Ampharos!" She yelled back. With the darkness surrounding them, she couldn't see if it was really him or an imposter. She hadn't the faintest idea. However, a bright light soon shined, briefly blinding the three before revealing the electric type and, oddly enough, Gardevoir's mother, Kakei.
Looking at the electric type, it was obvious that he had fought the cult. He was cut, bruised, battered and bleeding. He wasn't as bad as Lopunny was at Hauntasia but it was still nothing to simply ignore. Liligant rushed to his side as Kakei told Lopunny and Tyrantrum what had happened.
"They broke into our home. Jean tried to protect us but…" she trailed off. Lopunny fearfully gasped,
"Did-did they?!" Thankfully, Kakei shook her head, much to Lopunny's relief.
"No. They hurt him badly. I tried to take the kids and hide but that Sableye found us." She explained. She was clearly shaken by the events, shivering even through the subtle muggy heat of the aqueduct. "We were taken here but then this young man helped us out." Kakei then gestured to Ampharos, who smiled sheepishly before yelping as Liligant poked him with her healing thorns.
Ampharos stood up once head healed and apologized to Lopunny, bowing as he did so,
"Sorry. I just….saw that they were gonna get away and we had no way to track them so…" Lopunny frowned at the electric type,
"I get it, but you scared us man. We thought you had died," she said worried. Lopunny then snorted, hard to believe that Ampharos had risked his life to ensure that they would find the cult and stop them before the world was forced to sleep.
Ten minutes prior…
Umbreon was viscerally upset. This has gone way too far. She had been waiting here in the aqueduct to serve as a sapient waypoint for Malamar. The very last thing she expected was to see Malamar carrying the Jigamasa family with his tentacles. Sableye was next to him and was visibly uncomfortable. The father was beaten unconscious, the children screamed and cried as the wife was terrified, desperately clinging to her husband, begging him to wake up. It was a scene that Umbreon would never forget. The older of the sisters, a Kirlia, got within reach and smacked Malamar on top of his head.
Malamar threw the child into the brick wall. Kakei screamed out in horror as her daughter fell to the floor with a thud. The little sister Ralts broke into a sobbing fit. Malamar psychokinetically lifted a bunch of rope and tied up the family,
"Alright, I'll pick up Druddigon and Bisharp. Stay here." he demanded before he teleported away, leaving Umbreon and Sableye with a hysterical family.
Sableye dealt with this as he saw just how upset Umbreon was. She looked shell shocked, a blank stare straight at the floor. A single tear running down her cheek. She sat down on the hard brick flooring, looking at the family but not really watching. Once Sableye had finished up, he went to her side,
"What's wrong?" he questioned worriedly.
"I don't wanna do this anymore. I can't bring myself to do this. We're hurting children!" She bemoaned. Sableye couldn't help sympathize with her but shook his head clear.
"It's what we need to do. We were never given a chance like them!" said Sableye. Umbreon shook her head,
"So we're taking it out on innocent people?!" She yelled. Sableye opened his mouth, but he had nothing to say. She was right, but they needed to do this. Bisharp had promised that Eclipse Gem would give them everything they wanted. Punishing the world that refused to give them an ounce of love was what they wanted…right?
They heard a strange, shuffling noise and looked around to see the mother of the Jigamasa's freeing herself from the ropes. Umbreon and Sableye stood up to try and stop her yet that was when Bisharp, Druddigon, Malamar and their unexpected guest teleported in.
Ampharos was thrown off of Malamar's neck onto the brick floor. He yelled in pain yet stood up. He looked around, seeing the entirety of the cult around him, and realized that his plan was already falling apart. He would be quickly overwhelmed if he didn't act fast. He quickly sent his location via is WristOn before he saw a Gardevoir, who looked similar to his friend yet appeared slightly older, likely in her 40s, standing fearfully behind him.
The gem on Ampharos's head then flash brightly, blinding the cult. Ampharos then took the chance to send the location to his friends before grabbing the Gardevoir and running. Alas, he couldn't go back for the children and husband. The cult was quickly regaining their vision and if they caught him, they'd kill him. The mother screamed for her children as she disappeared into the darkness with Ampharos.
After dashing through the many halls of the aqueduct, Kakei finally pulled herself free and tried to dash back. Ampharos reached out to stop her,
"No!"
"My-My babies! I need to go back!" She screamed in anguish, "They'll hurt them!" Ampharos pulled harder against her resistance,
"Please! Don't! They'll kill you!" he argued. The woman looked back and stopped her resistance. She then watched on in shock as Ampharos fell onto his knees and leaned back against the wall.
Ampharos sat in place, paralyzed as he curled up, shaking as though he were in a blizzard without a coat. He was breathing frantically, heaving back and forth. Kakei then got onto her knees and held him by the shoulder. She gently comforted him with the kindness that only a mother could provide,
"It's okay. You're okay. You did an amazing job, Ampharos." she said. Ampharos grinned at Kakei warmly. The sounds of the water rushing past them echoed through the room.
A diamond slammed next to Ampharos's head. The electric type stood up to defend the woman as Bisharp, Druddigon, Sableye and Malamar approached him. Ampharos took a battle stance, shaking yet still standing. Bisharp scoffed at the electric type,
"Come now. I can see you're scared. Once a coward, always a coward." he mocked maliciously. Druddigon cracked his knuckles in excitement,
"I've been waiting for round two!" he yelled. Sableye looked between the two and bared his teeth anxiously, as though someone had made a tasteless joke. He looked down to the floor before focusing back on the electric type. Malamar's tentacles rose menacingly.
Ampharos stood defiantly against them, even if he had little choice. He needed to stall until the others arrived. He began to speak, discreetly sending his location to his friends behind his back,
"You're right, Bisharp. I am scared. I'm scared for my life. But I'm not gonna hide from fear anymore!" he declared. His fur briefly crackled with rainbow electricity.
Bisharp lunged at him just as he mega evolved. He punched the electric type in the jaw, throwing him back towards the psychic type. Ampharos regained his footing and flashed the gem, blinding the dark type. The others had covered their eyes in time, anticipating the attack. Ampharos dodged to the left and smacked Bisharp over the head with his tail. Malmar and Druddigon made their move, the latter charging towards Ampharos whilst the former became enveloped in psychic energy.
Druddigon punched the electric type in the stomach, leaving him gasping for air. Ampharos was then shot through the air by a psychic pulse from Malamar. The electric type flew through the aqueducts as dozens of gems shot towards him. Ampharos saw this and charged, electricity sparking from his body, before unleashing a large bolt of electricity at Malamar, knowing that Druddigon and Bisharp could tank the hit. The gems then formed a barrier to block the blast. The bolt pushed against the gems with great vigor, the eager crackles of electricity pushed against the rocks.
Druddigon punched through the wall of gems, tanking the attack and dashed towards the electric type, the ground beneath his feet caving in. Ampharos jumped into the air but was swiftly grabbed by the tail and slammed into the ground. A loud crack erupted form the floor as Ampharos left an imprint from the impact. Druddigon then threw the electric type into the walls of the aqueduct. He tumbled onto the floor as Bisharp got back onto his feet. The dark type slashed at Ampharos's back.
Ampharos noticed just in time and rolled out of the way. The blade still cut him, slashing across his back. Ampharos gasped in pain before getting smacked in the face by Druddigon's knee. Flying into the ceiling, Ampharos bounced off with a crash, his fur dusty and messed up. He landed on his feet, his momentum dragging him across the floor. Ampharos began to panic inside. The cult had definitely gotten stronger and with most of them having a hard counter to his electric type. He realized that he was out of options.
Ampharos grabbed Kakei and started to run from the cult. Bisharp got onto his feet and sprinted after them like a man possessed. Ampharos looked behind him to see Bisharp catching up rapidly. The steel types hands glowed a sinister dark violet. Ampharos gritted his teeth, he had to find a way to escape. An idea then struck him as he looked down at the water. He picked up some more speed, Kakei struggling to keep pace with him. The ran towards the edge of the walkway, picked of Kakei, and leaped across the river. He emitted light from his tail and saw that the river was much wider than he expected.
Ampharos and Mrs Jigamasa fell into the water near the edge. They shivered as they drifted down the man made river. Bisharp jumped after them as Ampharos grabbed onto the edge. He slashed at them and a purple blade soared through the air. Ampharos and Kakei got onto the other side and Ampharos quickly reached his tail into the water, sending everything he had into the water right as Bisharp landed in it.
The water lit up bright yellow. Bisharp screamed as his whole body was racked with electricity. Malamar, Druddigon and Sableye could only watch as their comrade was electrocuted. Ampharos took the opportunity and ran for the hills with Mrs. Jigamasa in tow, running, running as fast as they could, horrified that if they stopped for even a second, they would never leave this damned aqueduct.
Lopunny wordlessly nodded after hearing this story. She looked back at the other two Senshi. Liligant had just finished healing Ampharos and appeared motivated whilst Tyrantrum scowled. His teeth bare at the mere thought of what the cult could be doing now. He then sighed and sympathetically looked towards Lopunny, asking,
"What do we do, now?"
Lopunny stood up and looked towards everyone.
"We need to find the others and take the fight to them."
Lopunny and the new group backtracked through the aqueduct, hoping to find an exit along the away to evacuate the mother that had joined them. Lopunny was using her heightened hearing to listen for any sign of the second group as well as this cult. The faint sounds of the veritable river next to them echoed through the humid tunnel. Tyrantrum was still surprised to feel Liligant riding on top of him. She had asked him for a ride earlier and he had obliged. "
A burst of flames suddenly ripped through the tunnels. Tyrantrum ran in front of the flames and took the brunt of the impact. Liligant had jumped behind him before jabbing him with her healing roots. Ampharos hid behind the dragon type as well. Lopunny, however, jumped over the T-Rex, flipped and kicked the air, sending a wave of frost into the flames. The two elements canceled each other out.
Lopunny landed in front of the group and looked forward into the darkness. She gritted her teeth like a tiger at the dark. From the darkness emerged a figure. Ampharos and the rest emerged from behind Tyrantrum and looked at the mysterious figure. Lopunny saw the flame on their head and perked up and jumped towards them with glee,
"Ferny! It's us! We found-"
Infernape kicked the ice type, slamming into her chin like a train. She landed on her back before rubbing her chin,
"Infernape, what the he-" she stopped. She saw the look in his eyes. They were glazed over, his stare emotionless. Lopunny stood up and backed away as a voice cackled at her. Ampharos, Liligant, and Tyrantrum rushed to Lopunny's side.
From the darkness, Aggron and Garchomp followed suit. Their eyes had the same vacant expression. The laughing became louder as Malamar emerged from the darkness,
"Hi there. Have you met my new friends? They're delightful."