AN- OKAY WOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE HUH
In my defense I've been up to a lot- I've been enlisted to write a short film, and I've also been on stage more, so it's been a creative year. But I've been DYING to get back to this, and very glad I finally am!
As for this chapter: it's a long one! The longest and most complex I've ever written actually. I thought about splitting it in two but it felt unnatural, so you're getting a big old chunk here. So maybe read it in a couple of sittings (or settle in and get some snacks!) Either way, I hope you enjoy the final action-packed part of the Renegade arc. More to come soon!
Songs that inspired this chapter:
- Magnum Bullets, by Night Runner and Dan Avidan
- Not Another Lame Fight Song, by Kawehi
- Stormy, by Jackalope
- When You Grow Up Your Heart Dies, by Gunship
- Rise and Fall, by Night Drive
- HERE WE GO! by Lil Nas X
- Lady Rain, by Daryl Hall & John Oates
- Surrender, by The Birthday Massacre
- If You Need It, by Starbenders
- Crash Boom Bang, by Unloved
Houndoom and Cassidy charged forwards on the same breath. Sight was scarce, so Cassidy relied on sound to fill in the details: Houndoom's racing footfall scuffing to a stop, teeth clacking closed around nothing as the sandshrew scrabbled into the ground; a cold clean sshhink as the armoured agent pulled out a blade.
Cassidy shot the charge gun blindly at the noise, and was glad to hear the agent huff as their steps tripped backwards. It hadn't been a direct hit, but it was enough.
With a short whistle beckoning Houndoom to follow, Cassidy ran ahead. She'd committed all the twists and dips to memory, which served her well, steering her gracefully through the darkness until light touched the glossy stone. A few more steps and she could see the cave's entrance, the sweet light of day, escape. Houndoom caught up behind her, and hope bloomed bright in her chest-
-only to be snipped at the stalk.
Floating low in the cave's mouth was the drifblim, waiting patient, spiderlike. Rippling in front of it was a dark purple orb.
Cassidy scuttled to a sharp stop. Houndoom crossed ahead of her with a mouthful of fire, which it shot out in a flamethrower at the drifblim- but not fast enough to protect Cassidy from the launching shadow ball.
It hit her in the chest before she could think to dodge, and she was knocked back hard enough to catch a second of air before hitting the ground and rolling to a stop.
She took one hand off the recharging gun and pressed her palm to the damp cave floor, shoving herself back up. The pain in her ribs pulsed sharp- there were definitely a couple broken from the gunshot she'd taken before- but the armour had absorbed most of the shadow ball's impact. Besides, pain she could deal with. As long as there was motion in her limbs and breath in her lungs, she'd vowed to be relentless.
When Houndoom's flamethrower sputtered out, the drifblim had retreated a little, singed all over. Houndoom was low to the ground and growling like a revving engine as it adjusted its paws, finding the perfect position to pounce from. But just as it looked ready to jump, the canine tensed, ears pointing up.
Cassidy turned around, guessing the agent had caught up- and they had. Out of the sheer dark Ravi came running, machete in hand.
But that wasn't what had alerted Houndoom.
As Ravi slashed the blade at what would have been Cassidy's neck had she not swerved sideways, the stone beneath Houndoom splintered upwards and struck it hard in the belly. It yelped as it was launched by the blow, and landed clumsily with splayed paws.
Cassidy found her balance in time to duck under another swing of the machete. Her charge gun flashed, ready to fire again, and this time she lined up her aim before pulling the trigger.
Ravi flew backwards, their back hitting the cave wall with a smack that echoed loud. They let out nothing but a short hiss as they steadied themself upright, though their vision jiggled for a moment.
Meanwhile Cassidy hurried away and turned attention to Houndoom, who was still listening out for the underground sandshrew. Cassidy could tell Houndoom was halfway to a knockout so took out its pokéball and returned it, and while her hand was in her pocket she sent out Raticate.
The rodent drank in the situation as soon as it emerged. Years of deadly scrapes had made it as rugged and crisis-ready as its trainer. Cassidy pointed at the cave's opening where the drifblim still lurked, and Raticate darted off without sentiment.
Cassidy was waiting for the agent to make another strike, but Ravi just held their distance. Their inaction confused Cassidy- until she saw a tiny crack sprout in the ground ahead.
She threw herself sideways, watching the piece of cave floor she'd been standing on rupture and then shatter upwards, chunks of stone showering out as the sandslash's attack nearly caught her. But its claws pierced only air.
Ravi gave two clicks of their tongue, an order to Pins the landing sandslash. In the same instant the gun in Cassidy's hands recharged again.
As soon as she saw the sandslash start to dig she shot at it, hurling the pokémon across the cave. It curled into a ball midair and bounced fairly harmlessly; Ravi was stalking forwards now, fully aware that Cassidy would have to wait half a minute for her gun to charge another shot. They lunged with the machete, and though Cassidy did her best to jump back, this time the long blade caught the outside of her retreating forearm, slitting her sleeve and the skin below it.
The cut was so clean she barely felt it. She gave her arm a courtesy glance to confirm it was only a shallow wound, mercy be, all the while backing away from the agent still closing in on her. In the corner of her eye she saw the sandslash unfurling. She knew she couldn't let it keep escaping underground, nor could she keep up the pace to keep dodging the worst of that machete, so she filled her lungs with air, then unhooked a sleep bomb from her belt and slung it underarm.
Ravi saw Cassidy throw the projectile, and had the foresight to hold their own breath just as sleep powder exploded across the pocket of the cave, a twinkling yellowish cloud settling slowly like leftovers from a firework.
Cassidy could hold her breath for two minutes reliably. Ravi could hold theirs for almost three- at least that was their record. But both humans felt their chests start to tighten within thirty seconds as the powder sparkled around them. Neither made a move to attack, too focused on ignoring the bubbling urge to breathe in.
Pins was in the thick of the cloud and didn't have a chance. She started to dig another hole but her claws moved lazily, as if carving through treacle, and soon after she collapsed in the divot she had made, deep asleep.
The two humans held their positions as the cloud slowly began dispersing, while Raticate and Bob the drifblim- who were in open air and therefore safe from the sleep powder's effects- broke into full battle in the background. Their trainers couldn't see them past the bend of the cave's throat, so had nothing but the noise of each attack to decipher who was winning.
If Cassidy's imagination had the gist of it, Raticate had the edge.
The shimmer in the air was fainter now, almost gone. Cassidy wanted oxygen more than anything but she waited another twenty seconds before letting herself inhale. There was a hint of the powder's sticky sweet scent as she breathed in, and a worrying moment of giddiness that rushed straight to her head, but the next breath came in clearer and her lightheadedness faded away.
Ravi was more cautious, only breathing when they couldn't see any remnants of the sleep powder at all. They could tell by Cassidy's shifting stance that she was getting ready to make another break for the exit, so they closed in to block her, determined to make a deeper wound than the last.
In a blink Bob retreated inside the cave, making a sustained, low-pitched tone, which would have been creepy enough in open space but became downright haunting in the clean reverberations of the underground.
Ravi had taught it to make that sound when it was badly injured. They temporarily lowered their weapon and slowed their steps, plucking a small glass bottle from their belt.
Cassidy didn't dare go any further, not with the agent and the drifblim ahead of her. From the daylight she saw Raticate running towards her, and shook her head, signalling it to stay where it was. There was barely a scratch on it, she noticed proudly. She had a few potions, and would make sure it got one later, but for now she needed it there to lure the drifblim away. She'd never escape otherwise.
She watched the agent return the sandslash, then spritz the liquid in the bottle- presumably some potion- over the drifblim. It stopped making its pained cry and perked up immediately, apparently fully healed.
"Fucking damnit," mouthed Cassidy. That little bottle would probably last that agent as many heals as they needed, whereas her supply only allowed for a few injuries and knockouts.
If she was going to win she knew she had to level her opponent one way or another.
Revitalised, the drifblim turned on her with another fast-forming shadow ball. Cassidy was startled, having expected it to go for Raticate, and she scarcely ducked the attack, which whooshed over her head close enough to flutter the loose strands of hair poking out from her helmet.
Ravi took their machete into both hands and pulled it back high as they rushed for her-
Raticate leapt into their side with a slash that tipped Ravi's gravity at the crucial moment. The machete's arc swung past Cassidy and clanged with sparks on the stone floor as Ravi stumbled sideways, barely managing to stay on their feet.
In retaliation Bob slammed into Cassidy's back with what looked like black flames framing its balloonish shape.
The next thing Cassidy registered was that she was on the ground. Aching, still holding the charge gun, and reassured that she'd only blacked out for a moment merely by the fact she was still alive. She pushed herself to her knees, then stood.
There was the agent a few metres away, getting ready to strike- she pointed the gun their way, daring them to get closer.
Ravi stopped like clockwork. They'd had enough of that charge gun already.
Cassidy circled slowly around the agent. She was trying to get her back to the exit, so she could turn and book it as soon as the drifblim needed another heal- which looked to be soon, the way Raticate was peppering it with attacks. Out of the corner of her eye Cassidy saw the large rodent land crunch after crunch on the drifblim, which was struggling to get its bearings with its much faster opponent.
Again, Bob started to make that low, fluteish tone. Cassidy got ready to run, just waiting for the agent to get out that spray bottle again.
Except they didn't. Ravi's only acknowledgement of Bob's distress was to hold up a closed fist.
The drifblim fell silent and still, not yet knocked out but strangely resigned to the attacks it was taking-
Too late Cassidy saw the trick. She opened her mouth to warn Raticate to stop, but it was already sinking its fangs into the drifblim's body.
Both pokémon collapsed together.
Though Ravi's helmet masked their face, Cassidy could just feel them smirking. Destiny bond. She'd missed the moment but the drifblim must have made the move.
She kept her gun aimed at the agent but didn't fire, knowing that once she did she'd be vulnerable until it recharged.
Ravi didn't take their eyes off her as they healed Bob once more, reviving it back to full health, then directing it outside with a flick of their hand. It glided away obediently.
Not liking how close the agent was to Raticate, Cassidy warded them off by jostling the gun in their direction. Ravi duly backed off and pulled out another pokéball.
Cassidy crouched by Raticate and took a max revive from her pocket. Impatient, she emptied the canister in one concentrated spurt and then recalled her dear rodent, while Ravi released a venomoth. Quick to the draw, Cassidy sent Houndoom back out. She had a potion ready and dispensed it as soon as the canine's silhouette formed.
The venomoth was fast approaching with a wobbling flutter. Cassidy was about to order a flamethrower but Houndoom was one step ahead of her, and made the attack before she could tell it to.
Venomoth did a corkscrew manoeuvre to dodge the stream of fire, though Houndoom tilted its aim and managed to ward the moth away for the time being.
Little had changed in the way of Ravi and Cassidy's standoff. They both kept a healthy distance and their weapons brandished, ready to go at the blink of an eye.
Cassidy didn't think she'd get very far by shooting at the agent again- it would take her longer to recharge the gun than it'd take the agent to find their feet and catch up to her. She had to find a way to distract them for longer.
Her eyes went to the machete, glistening in the distant daylight.
She nudged her aim and fired.
The blade was propelled from Ravi's grip as the shot thwacked their hand and loosened their fingers from the handle; the machete helicoptered backwards into the dark and clanged out of sight.
Seething, Ravi looked back in hope they might see where it had landed with their night vision, but it had flown too far, probably behind some rock.
Without pause Cassidy ejected the gun's battery and took the spare from the side pocket of her pack, clicking it up into the chamber. No thirty second reload this time.
Ravi heard the battery slot into place. They knew what was coming but the realisation was all they had time for before a second shot of the charge gun hit them square in the chest, and slammed them back-first onto the flat stone ground.
Blobs of light like melting stars dragged slow across Ravi's vision, the wind knocked out of them. Their attempt at a breath caught sharp in their throat while their arms found purchase to push them up seated, a forceful effort driven by the blurry image of Cassidy getting away.
Cassidy pelted towards the light, ready to dodge or damage her way past the drifblim, whatever it took. She made it further than before, out into the actual warmth of the sun- when something snagged her ankle and yanked, tripping her forwards.
She caught herself on her arms and tried to crawl further out into the open, but whatever had grabbed her was firmly dragging her back into the dark and damp. She made a yell of pure frustration as her fingers scrabbled the slick stone for a grip but found none. Looking back to see what was holding her ankle, she saw nothing, as if she was being pulled by something invisible.
Her eyes darted up to the venomoth, hovering with its bulging eyes set straight on her.
Psychic.
A chittering patter of paws rushed up to Cassidy, and Houndoom jumped right over her to spit a new wave of flame at the moth. It was a clean hit, making Venomoth fly erratically as it tried to shake off the burn, consequently losing its focus on Cassidy and releasing her ankle.
She stood as soon as she was free, Houndoom running to her side. The agent was also up, and they'd shifted around to block her path back out
Cassidy wasn't fazed. She'd knock this bastard down as many times as she had to.
She readied the aim of her gun, which, by her timing, was about to recharge.
A charred and tattered venomoth fluttered pathetically past Ravi, who gave it a quick spray of potion (a homemade cocktail of max revives and full restores) to put the bounce back in its wings.
Cassidy's estimate was correct. One more second and her gun would have recharged for another shot.
If not for Ravi's command.
"Disarm."
Another psychic attack yanked at the gun in Cassidy's hands; she did everything to hold on but her fingers lifted at the venomoth's will, and the gun floated out of reach towards the agent.
"Inferno!" Cassidy retaliated. Houndoom instantly leapt in front of her and with a snarling bark expelled a huge burst of fire from its jaws.
Ravi had the foresight to close their eyes this time as they backed out of the attack's range. They were still wrapped in flames for a few moments but their armour once more protected them from any actual burns.
Venomoth wasn't so lucky. It tried to escape with its trainer only for the fire to envelop it, leaving it with a nasty burn and an unsteady rhythm in its wings when it finally made it away.
The curling current of the inferno thinned out, then disappeared. The air around was warm and dry, all moisture burnt out. On the ground was the charge gun, its formerly polished exterior absolutely barbecued.
Ravi picked it up anyway, unsurprised when the trigger jammed. They threw it down as soon as they'd confirmed it was useless.
Cassidy realised with a sinking feeling that she hadn't thought her action all the way through. She'd just needed to stop that gun getting in her enemy's hands- and, well, she had, but now she couldn't use it either, and she didn't have another weapon except the silenced pistol, which she knew wouldn't fire through that agent's armour.
She took the pistol from its holster anyway. It was a comfort in her hand, and better than nothing.
With the charge gun out of play, Ravi's mind went back to the machete. If they could get Venomoth to fetch it for them, they'd have the last working weapon (not counting that piddly pistol Cassidy had just withdrawn).
Another spray of their cure-all potion as Venomoth flew past, and Ravi signalled it deeper into the cave, trusting it knew what they meant.
While the agent was distracted Cassidy took the opportunity to fire a shot at the section where their armour looked thinnest, a joining section between their neck and shoulder. The agent flinched, but there was no indication of actual pain, and their armour looked good as new. She crossed shooting them off the list.
Two bullets left.
Houndoom chased after Venomoth without needing to be told, and shot it out of its flight path with an efficient jet of fire. The agent still made no move to send out a more effective pokémon. Clearly they didn't care about being at a disadvantage, not when they had more potion than they could possibly need.
Ravi was closing in on Cassidy, poised to herd her into the waiting arms of Bob, whose round shadow they saw swaying on the cave entrance floor. Once it had hold of her, it could simply lift her outside, up to a fatal height, and let go.
A scene played out on many targets before.
Venomoth's screech distracted Ravi. It dispensed a sludge bomb to slow Houndoom's pursuit and flew up to them, already badly hurt again and without the machete. Impatient, Ravi once more retrieved the potion from their belt and absently sprayed it in the moth's direction, never moving their eyes from Cassidy and her pistol-
-which she lifted and fired in one motion.
The shot missed, hitting the cave wall somewhere behind them. By the gun's trajectory Ravi feared for a moment that Cassidy was shooting for their fleeing venomoth, but as she readjusted her aim, they tracked her eyes to the bottle they held.
They whisked their hand away to put it behind their back- a muffled pop of the gun.
Ravi closed their fist tighter around the bottle only to feel it crumble and crunch between their fingers, their gloves suddenly dripping potion. They hurried to hold the broken shards in front of them, trying to find ones still holding liquid. "Shit!" they growled.
It was the first word that wasn't an order Cassidy had heard the agent make. A brief smile passed her lips as she holstered the empty pistol.
She could take this kid.
Ravi gave up their attempt to salvage the potion and shook the chunks of glass from their hands. Maybe they could smear some of the residue off their gloves but there went most of their capacity to heal their pokémon- sure, they had a few backup potions, but only commercial ones and those'd run out too fast. And they still had Casimir's human restore but that was useless on pokémon.
Against all their training to keep cool and collected on a job, they felt the tendrils of anger creeping in when they saw Cassidy smile. As if she was the one who had the upper hand.
Oh, they'd show her.
Both humans sprang for each other. Cassidy tilted away from Ravi's left hook punch and threw her arms around their waist, using her gathered momentum and most of her body weight to slam them down onto their back- but Ravi braced into the fall and pulled Cassidy down with them, then spun over so it was Cassidy underneath. Against her flailing limbs they straddled her and took hold of her helmet, keen to rip it off so they could do some real damage.
Boots flat on the ground and knees pointed up, Cassidy shifted her feet so they were outside of Ravi's and thrusted her hips up and sideways, rolling the agent off of her with a shove. She readjusted her loosened helmet while Ravi rose to a crouch and pulled a switchblade.
Feigning a stab at her thigh, which Cassidy went to block, Ravi swung the knife's path up at the last second to puncture her neck-
Something hard clamped down around Ravi's shin and wrenched them back- not by much, but enough that the knife only nicked Cassidy's skin.
A bead of blood bloomed like a precious gem on her throat.
Houndoom gnarled at Ravi's leg, refusing to let go even when they kicked it in the ribs. It was Venomoth that forced it to yield, another psychic attack pulling the mutt away.
The humans recollected themselves. There was new energy in the air, a twisted excitement pulsing between them. Not everyone could appreciate the dark high of mortal danger, but these two were connoisseurs for the taste. And it was never so exquisite as with a well-matched foe to share its flavour.
So enticing was the feeling, Cassidy had to snap herself out of it to turn and run.
Smiling, Ravi let her.
The clacking echo of Cassidy's footsteps grew fainter the further she made it into the light. She wasn't worried about Houndoom, expecting it to follow once it finished off its opponent.
She got to the thinnest part of the cave's entrance where sunlight streamed through, and this time there was nothing to pull her back as she broke into the open, the brightness making her squint after so long in the dim. She took her last sleep bomb in hand, ready to throw it at that drifblim as soon as it showed itself.
The dry valley had narrow branches running every direction, so she picked the nearest one she could get to, planning to hide and prepare a trap. As she ran she flicked her eyes up at the perfect blue sky for a sign of the drifblim, which seemed to have vanished but was surely stalking from somewhere.
Had she stopped and turned around, she would have seen it, drifting out from behind a boulder. But she was too rushed to spare a glance as she squashed through the flaking rock of an uphill passage.
Something like thick cords wound tight around her waist and jerked her back. Her shoulders scraped against the rough rock walls as she gasped, looking down to see the four arms of the drifblim hugging her from behind. Her heels kicked but found no grip on the dusty ground.
She held her breath and threw down the sleep bomb so it exploded right around her. The drifblim tensed but didn't stop, holding its breath too. It dragged her right out of the gap, away from the cloud of powder and back towards the cave.
Then up.
Cassidy's stomach flipped as she felt her feet leave the earth. Already a metre up, she grabbed her hunting knife from its sheath- but one of drifblim's arms left her waist and shot to her wrist, holding it up, and before she could move her other arm it too was restrained in a pinching coil.
A dawning shock of powerlessness. She didn't even waste energy kicking her legs as she slowly ascended, thinking, this might be it now. She kept straining her arms but the drifblim strained tighter and deep down she knew there was nothing she could do.
There was a strange calm in the eye of her despair, like a still body of water cradled in the middle of a whirlpool. It felt so easy to ride the current there.
She stopped struggling entirely, watching her hanging legs glide over the crown of a withered tree. As she gradually rose, so did her shadow, stretching and shrinking as it pulled up across the cliff face.
Peace cloaked her. So gentle. So sweet.
About one storey high now, she closed her eyes- but instantly opened them again as Houndoom's howl pierced the air.
Not a howl of pain but a howl of fury.
The hound was out of the cave and scrambling up the valley wall towards her, bouncing between crumbling footholds in a way a human could only dream of. With a passionate bark it jumped almost as high as Bob had risen, then sprang from the wall entirely.
Houndoom blotted the sun from Cassidy's eyes as it leapt over her head, jaws wide open to crunch the drifblim's body-
Cassidy had scarcely braced to be dropped when the stringy arms holding her flinched loose, and the next thing she knew she was plummeting, the drifblim's wail fading fast from her ears as the wind rushed around her, the ground almost there.
Falling the distance was nothing she wasn't trained for, but it still hurt as she landed into her shoulder, rolling to absorb the shock as best she could.
Another bruise for the collection, but she was alive.
Knife still in hand, she hauled herself upright, wiping the dust from her helmet's visor so she could see. Venomoth's unconscious form lay in the cave ahead; Houndoom landed a couple of seconds after Cassidy did and ran over, still barking up at the sky.
The drifblim hovered high above them, then spread its arms in an open claw and began to descend with an angry squeal.
Houndoom's teeth yawned open for another crunch- but out of the cave burst an Infernape to sweep the canine's legs out with a low kick. Houndoom yipped as it lost balance, and before it could recover the ape grabbed it in both hands and flung it back into the cave.
Cassidy swung a fist at the infernape but it was already gone, chasing on its knuckles after Houndoom. She tipped her head back to see the drifblim nearly close enough to grab her.
Though it pained her to lose all progress, she fled the sunlight once more for the cave's cold gloom.
She wasn't sure if the drifblim was following inside- she didn't want to spend a moment checking, not while Houndoom was in danger. Her eyes hadn't yet readjusted to the dark and all she made out was a tangle of moving shadows up ahead.
A hard smack and Houndoom's yelp.
The thud of its body hitting the ground told her which way to go. Just able to make out her hound's outline, she touched her hand down, glad to feel the short fur of its chest breathe up and down. She rifled through her pocket, simultaneously glancing around for enemies.
The drifblim was shrinking back outside. She heard the infernape scampering around, could see smudged glimpses of it circling her.
As for the agent, there wasn't a trace.
Her hand found the shape of a revive. She pried open Houndoom's mouth to put the medicine on its tongue, then took its pokéball and returned it before anything else could befall her sweet mutt.
The patter of Infernape's steps got louder, closer. Rather than try to dodge, Cassidy turned towards the sound and threw a wide kick. To her surprise her heel hit the infernape right in the stomach, a near-perfect attack interrupting its punch for her head. Landing a hit on a fighting pokémon gave her a rushing feeling of invincibility- one soon extinguished as the ape landed on its hands and kicked low, sweeping her legs from underneath her.
She hit the ground sideways before the shock of the fall fully settled. Her hand rushed for another pokéball as she twisted her body to avoid Infernape's slamming fist, which pounded the ground right next to her.
She opened the pokéball one-handed, releasing the beedrill.
Its angry buzzing filled the cave as soon as it was out. Though technically it belonged to Cassidy, she hadn't given it a lick of training, and knew it wouldn't listen to or even understand her orders. It was essentially still wild, proving the fact by spitting a string shot at the first thing it saw. And by the angle Cassidy had sent it out at, that thing was the infernape.
Hooting in alarm and bouncing sideways, Infernape almost dodged the attack, but the string caught its right leg, making every step on that side cling to the floor. The ape clearly hated this and slapped at its leg to try to unstick it, intermittently exposing its long teeth and hissing at Cassidy.
Her eyes had readjusted to the dark and she could see the full shape of Infernape as it eyed the beedrill, which was zipping this way and that in an aimless rage.
Still no sign of the human.
A chill slipped down her back like an icicle between her shoulders. They were behind her. She was sure of it.
She held her knife close, ready to strike as she turned around- and sure enough there was the agent, half-concealed behind a natural pillar fusing the ground to the roof.
The low hum of the beedrill swooped past her back, distracting her. She leaned backwards to see Beedrill descending for her with poison dripping from its stinger arms; she jumped out of its trajectory, just avoiding what would have been a stab for her torso.
Ravi took the moment to sneak closer. Cassidy had the bigger blade but nowhere to stick it except armour, whereas Ravi had ample choice of veins to cut. They held the butterfly knife low, slowing their steps as the beedrill locked eyes with Infernape and buzzed off after it.
As soon as Beedrill was gone Cassidy looked back at the agent- they'd closed in a little, but stopped as soon as she was watching, tilting the knife in their hand so even in the low light its gloss could be seen. Clearly baiting her to make a swing.
But Cassidy's mind was still on escape. With Infernape and Beedrill occupying each other, there was a clear shot to attack the drifblim, which she needed to do for even a chance of getting out alive.
Her free hand found Raticate's pokéball and lobbed it over her shoulder. She wasn't so naive as to ever turn from the agent. They could cut her in a second.
"Get the drifblim!" she called as Raticate formed midair behind her, and the rodent wasted no time scurrying out of the cave while the coast was still clear.
Ravi lunged forwards with the knife, faking a slice at Cassidy's arm then stabbing down at her thigh before she could avoid the second strike.
Pain like red hot coal against her hip as the knife went in. The agent wrenched the blade straight back out, going to stab again, and despite a fresh flood of agony Cassidy jerked to the side in time to dodge, then darted to wrap her elbow up and around the agent's outstretched arm, squeezing tight. With her other forearm she pushed the opposite way against the agent's arm- Ravi punched and kicked but Cassidy took the blows and kept going, waiting for the-
CRACK
Ravi's face scrunched in a silent scream as they felt their arm break, but they refused Cassidy the satisfaction of any noise of pain, even though they were wobbly with it.
Cassidy let go of their arm and shoved them stumbling away. Ravi dropped the knife and rushed to pick it up with their good arm, then crouched still, glaring up at her.
It was the first time Cassidy wondered what they looked like, under all that armour.
She risked a look around.
Beedrill and Infernape were orbiting in close combat, move after move bouncing off each other- though it was evident that Infernape would soon be the victor. For every hit Beedrill landed Infernape got in two more, dancing out whirling punches and kicks, its fiery mane trailing like a comet.
Her hip was bleeding, but not heavily. She didn't even attempt to treat the injury, reassuring herself that there were no organs to stab there.
Past the pokémon, there was still a clear line to the exit. Cassidy was just starting to run for it when a string shot gone haywire hit her left ankle, nearly tripping her as her foot stuck to the ground with the next step.
She tugged at her leg, attempting to wriggle it out of the elastic-like string, then knelt to saw at the substance with her hunting knife. Even the sharpened blade struggled to break the tension of the thick strings. Cutting through chewed-up bubblegum would have been less hassle.
Fire exploded in her peripheral as the infernape blasted a jet of flames at the beedrill; the bug pokémon dodged with a spiral through the air, then flew out of the cave while it still could. Infernape chased it a few steps, but at three clucks of Ravi's tongue it stopped.
And turned to Cassidy.
She picked up her pace, pulling apart the thinnest threads with her fingers. She could move her foot a little now, but it was still glued to the ground so she hurried to cut the remaining stubborn strands holding her down.
The infernape's pupils had shrunk to pinpricks. Between its snarling teeth she could see fire gathering at the back of its throat- her breathing quickening, she forced herself to look down at the knife, carving frantically at the rubbery gunk- snap , another string gone. Now there was just one cord of it still tethering her. She held it taught and sawed and sawed and sawed, her heart skipping a beat and the one after that too. The thick string pulled thinner and thinner as the knife went back and forth under her white knuckles, until snap , her foot pulled loose, and-
A torrent of fire burst towards her as she leapt for the nearest rock big enough to hide her, curling behind it as flames meant for her licked over the sides of the boulder. Her skin caught the sting of a falling ember here and there but she was essentially only warmed as she waited out the attack, the breathy scream of fire filling her ears from every direction.
When it finally stopped, the silence felt too big.
Cassidy turned Shuckle's pokéball over in her hand, stroking her thumb over the less than artistic carvings Butch had made in the thick plastic. She didn't want to use this one, but she had little choice.
She released Shuckle in the cover of the rock, whispering: "Withdraw, withdraw!"
Shuckle had started to turn his head towards the infernape's pittering footfall, but did as Cassidy said, drawing its limbs into its shell.
Waiting for the defense boost to take effect, Cassidy took a loose stone from the ground and flung it around the boulder towards Infernape- it went wide and missed, but succeeded in stopping Infernape in its tracks for a moment as it reared up onto its back legs and shrieked, first at the landing stone and then at Cassidy.
Then it put its fists back down and sprinted at her.
Shuckle peeked back out of his crimson shell, skin shiny with goo- "Dig!" Cassidy urged him. "Hurry-"
A sudden grip on her wrist as the infernape pulled her out from behind the rock and smacked the knife out of her hand before she knew what was happening. The blade tinkled across the ground, and Infernape let go of her to trap the knife under its foot, then kicked it away so it slid to the back of the cave.
At least it hadn't wielded the weapon.
Her gratitude was short-lived as Infernape bounced back over to her and grabbed her by the straps on her armoured vest, in the same motion arcing its leg in a half-circle kick that struck her side, right below her broken ribs.
"Ah!" she gasped, and wasted no time retaliating, propelling a kick forward at the ape's abdomen. She felt the sole of her boot hit muscle- it must have hurt but Infernape hardly reacted, and kicked Cassidy on the other side before letting go of her vest to pummel its fists into her stomach as if training on a punching bag.
The armour saved her a lot of hurt and let her think clearly as she took the hits: Infernape was using close combat, consequently abandoning its defense.
So she waited out the punches, and as soon as there was an opening she took Infernape by its shoulders to crack a headbutt down on its flaming skull.
Since she was wearing a helmet she hadn't held anything back, and left Infernape stunned for a moment, its eyes blinking and a hand to its head as it backed a step away.
Briefly she turned to the agent, sat where she'd left them. They'd unzipped the whole sleeve of their broken arm, peeling the fabric down their shoulder. Cassidy didn't finish wondering what for- the infernape had shaken off its daze, and she saw it getting ready to jump at her.
But before it had the chance the ground beneath the ape erupted, Shuckle's spinning shell a burst of red in the fountain of rubble.
The attack hit Infernape upside the jaw and sent it flying to land rough on its back. Shuckle's limbs emerged midair so he could land next to Cassidy.
"Sludge wave!" she commanded, not yet breaking her defensive posture.
Infernape was twitching weakly upright when the small wall of poison broke over it. Its voice sputtered out mid-howl as it keeled back over, and lay still in the dark purple puddle.
Cassidy returned Shuckle without hesitating.
She caught a glimpse of Raticate through the cave's mouth. Judging by the shadow ball flying after it, the drifblim had been lured back out of hiding.
Again she looked to the agent.
Ravi had taken out another potion, though they'd personally made sure this one was in a shatterproof bottle. And good thing they had, what with Cassidy's smash-happy tactics.
Cassidy watched them spray the potion down the length of their arm. Surely not…
Holding their arm as straight as they could, Ravi felt the icy liquid seep down into their skin, and the strangest sensation of bone knitting back together, a twitching tightness all over their elbow as feeling trickled back into their fingers. They gave it a few more seconds then flexed their arm experimentally. It bent without any pain, though it was stiff, and wouldn't move past a ninety degree angle. Most likely they hadn't set the bone properly, but they didn't mind that. The arm worked, and the doctors at HQ could always break and set it again later.
Cassidy watched, stunned, as Ravi clipped the bottle back to their belt. She'd never seen such a thing as a potion that worked on humans and hardly believed her eyes at first, though then supposed it was only ever a matter of time before Team Rocket's science department came up with something good.
Bob's warning wail caught Ravi's ears, but the sound fell to sharp silence with the flash of Raticate's shadow. Ravi wasn't close enough to see where their drifblim had fainted, nor to return and heal it, so before Cassidy could make a break for it they threw another pokéball over her head.
A torterra sprung into form between the cave's exit and Cassidy- though it failed to block the nimble raticate from running back to her defense. Ravi backed away from her, over to Torterra.
Cassidy sent out Houndoom again and healed it as she did. She sprayed the rest of the potion onto Raticate, then tossed the empty can.
At the same time, Ravi threw both their sandslash into battle- Pins on the left and Needles on the right, both running to attack as soon as they hit the ground.
"Blizzard!"
As soon as Cassidy yelled the word Raticate screeched out a freezing, howling wind that brushed the walls and floor with ice; Pins froze solid, caught in the eye of the current, while Needles only had to shake off a crust of snow to tunnel its way underground.
Houndoom engulfed Pins in roaring flames, thawing her out only to burn her unconscious.
Ravi returned the knocked-out sandslash, and by the fact they didn't heal it, Cassidy guessed they were about as short on revives as she was. Now was the time to push.
She threw Shuckle back into the fray. "On the torterra- Houndoom, follow!"
Behind the moderate safety of Torterra's reflect, Ravi had a better view of the cave's mouth and could just about make out Bob's sunken shape- they returned it, then sent it out to feed it a max revive.
The last they had.
Shuckle's bug bite and Houndoom's flamethrower hit Torterra in quick succession. Shuckle bounced back to avoid its ally's flames, but the ground it landed on split open and out shot Needles with a slash at its belly.
"Outside," Ravi muttered to Bob as soon as it was awake. The drifblim dutifully flew off to guard the perimeter once more.
Cassidy saw this, and pointed Raticate after Bob: "Get it!"
Torterra was still reeling from the attacks and failed to block Raticate from leaping past to chase the drifblim. Shuckle went for a rollout at Needles, who dodged by burrowing back underground and then splintering upwards with a stone edge that caught Shuckle mid-roll and sent him crashing into the slick cave wall. He uncurled on impact, unmoving, so Cassidy returned him.
A streak of light cut the air towards Houndoom with a swish of Torterra's head- the bright line hit Houndoom and knocked it yelping back. The hound found its footing and spat out another mighty inferno, but the torterra was faster than it looked and backed out of the attack's range.
Cassidy pressed in towards the inferno's scalding heat, following the path it had carved past Torterra. She hugged the wall so the she wasn't burned by the fire, which flickered out as Houndoom moved its aim.
Her play wasn't missed by Ravi, who rushed in to block her from going any further; they swung the knife with one hand and threw a punch with the other.
She dodged the blade but not the fist. It thudded into the side of her face and threw her head around- she caught Ravi's stabbing arm with both her hands and kicked their ankle out.
Ravi had been lunging on that leg and had no other support to stop them falling to their stomach. They landed on their hands in an awkward push-up and spun themself around to grapple Cassidy before she could get to the straps on their helmet. Two-handed, they pushed the knife upwards against her grip on their arms, forgetting their breath as they strained, shaking.
Another air slash flew over their head and hit the wall behind, cracking it. Houndoom pivoted in a half-circle to retaliate with another inferno at Torterra- Ravi couldn't see it hit, but they felt through the ground the thud of Torterra's fainting body smacking down.
They released a little pressure against Cassidy to make her think she was winning, then thrust the blade up fiercely, catching her off guard and slashing a pretty deep cut through her upper arm. Taking advantage of her shock they kicked her away and got back to their feet, teetering slightly.
Cassidy wasn't repelled long and pounced again for Ravi, grabbing their arm in an effort to wrestle the knife out of it-
Raticate's squeak distracted her. She turned her head to see the rodent knocked back by the drifblim- Raticate landed okay, but then the sandslash erupted from the ground beneath it and knocked the light out of its eyes.
Ravi wrenched their arm free and swung the knife wide- Cassidy turned back and just barely dodged it, the blade slicing her sleeve open but missing her skin.
Too late Houndoom ran in for a bite on the sandshrew, but Needles was already disappearing back underground, so Houndoom changed targets to the drifblim outside.
Stumbling away from another slash and a stab, Cassidy felt her thundering heart at her wrist, at her neck. She was losing blood but not enough to slow her down yet. Her body numb but her spirit aflame.
The dull tone of Bob's warning call reverberated down the cave. Ravi stiffened, inhaling.
"Self-destruct," they ordered.
The explosion was so instant that Cassidy's ears were ringing before she'd fully registered what had happened. Crumbs of rock drizzled down around the cave's entrance where the damage was, dust settling in the air.
She couldn't see Houndoom or the drifblim, but she knew the move had taken them both out.
Nothing left between her and outside except the agent.
She took a step forward- Ravi slashed the knife, cutting her thigh and grabbing the front of her vest with their other arm.
Cassidy took her remaining stun bomb and crushed it in her hand.
Ravi was drawing back the knife to stab deep when their muscles locked. Only then did they see the twinkle of stun spore drifting up, and held their breath.
Having held hers the whole time, Cassidy wasn't affected. She shoved Ravi off her with ease, and ran for the sun.
With forced, twitching movements, Ravi turned after her. Their lips parted weakly, and though their voice was a croak they got the word out clear.
"Earthquake."
Needles emerged ahead of Cassidy, and started to glow.
Cassidy had no choice but to skid to a halt as the ground beneath her shook so hard she almost lost balance. There was an audible rumble all around; loose stalactites and chunks of rock fell from the cave's ceiling, one hitting her helmeted head. She tried running on despite the violent tremors, but a piercing crack of stone sent a piece as big as a boulder smashing down in her path.
Initially pleased with the effect, Ravi began to worry when the ground shook harder. They were shaking off the stun spore but they could hardly stand up straight, and more and more debris was tumbling off the walls and roof, big slabs of rock falling from the cave like teeth in a bad dream. Dust and grit choked the air, making it hard to see.
Cassidy staggered around the fallen boulder. She could still see the sunlight's rays, beckoning her onward-
The ceiling over her head split and plummeted. She scarcely felt the impact break over her before her world disappeared.
A booming crash left Ravi in darkness. Trembling helplessly along with the earthquake, their fingers pushed the button to turn their visor's night vision back on.
The cave-in was painted in green and black as they fell over themself looking for an exit, but there was no break of light to follow, no split they could feel in the wall of fallen rock- and they could feel it still falling.
There was no chance to brace for the collapse above. It collided with the back of their head and knocked their night vision back to blindness as their chest hit the ground.
Ravi wasn't sure if the quake softened then, or if it was just their body falling under. Either way the shaking stopped, the world cradled back to rest.
Stillness, and silence.