Episode 35: World of Trust
A punch was thrown so hard you could hear a woosh of wind from it. Kayla dodged it with an effortless lean to the left, and then leaned back as that same arm was swung in an arc. The perpetrator was human, no better than a burly, flat haired kid in his late teens. He snarled as he threw another punch, but this time Kayla caught his fist with her palm, and then delivered a punch of her own. She struck him across his cheek, sending him to the floor.
"Wow…" gawked the young girl behind her. A primary schooler for sure, a short, blond girl in school uniform. "You're super strong, big sis!"
"They shouldn't trouble you anymore," Kayla replied, dusting her hands off. "Despicable. What causes guys his age to target a little girl? What did they even want this time?"
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter anymore, doesn't it?" the girl replied cheerfully.
"It won't. If he knows what's good for him," Kayla gave the guy a cheerful smirk as she said that. "C'mon. Let's go home already."
This conversation was weird. Kayla felt unable to control her body. She wasn't actually talking, either. It was definitely her; everything was playing out from her eyes. It was as if she was in someone else's body, and she only had her thoughts. Thoughts that weren't even clear.
"Mum said we can have curry for dinner today!" the little girl said, holding Kayla's hand.
"Curry sounds so good. Chicken, right?" she replied.
"Yeah, chicken curry! And Mum's special rice!"
"Mmm. Can smell it already," Kayla remarked. That did sound good right about now, even if she shouldn't be eating chicken. No, not shouldn't – she couldn't eat chicken. The realisation made her gasp lightly, and she glanced at her hands. Buneary hands. Her fluff skirt was intact, too.
"Sis?" the girl said, making her jump. The little girl was suddenly much taller than her, and yet stared with innocent curiosity. "Are you okay?"
"Y… yeah," Kayla said, now shaking.
"OK. Let's go home," the girl took her hand again and started skipping, swinging Kayla's arm with hers. It was uncomfortable enough to stumble along, but it also felt fun.
Fun and uncomfortable. Her feet wouldn't touch the floor, and the bloodied face of the guy she'd just punched flashed into her view. He was missing a tooth and his eyes were open as he was out cold. She couldn't feel the little girl's grip even though she was still being pulled along. Instead, she felt like a strong force had a hold of her. She didn't even know where they were going. Everything was an alleyway in a city, but then it was suddenly a white void. No, that white void was some kind of laser, upending the entire world around her. All the urban landscapes were being torn apart and blown into the air right before her eyes, quaking and screeching noises with it. Yet still, they happily skipped towards it.
"Thank you so much, big sis! You're the best big sis I could ask for!"
…
Kayla flashed awake. She was so out of breath she couldn't even sit up. Kari was the only one leaned over her, and shook with angst. "Kayla!"
The Buneary took a long moment to lay back and get a hold of herself. Her face was damp with sweat and tears, while her body felt like her bones had reduced to jelly. She was so hungry she could eat a Zubat, and her headache started to clear up. "Dang… I-I thought we were done with all this already."
"Was it another bad dream?" Kari whimpered.
"No. I don't know what these are," Kayla forced herself to sit up, only to have a sharp pang in her side. She hissed and flinched, finding her right arm bandaged up to her shoulder and chest. "What?"
"Take it easy. You're hurt!" Kari cried.
"I…" Kayla mouthed. She could only feel it in her side, not her arm. She motioned to swing her body, and her arm could still swing with her. It didn't hurt one bit. That really was a dream, huh?
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Shannon warned. "I know you can't feel it, but the less you use your arm, the quicker it'll heal. Those mice got you pretty good."
"Those mice… right, that merry-go-round thingy. Okay. How long've I been out?" she stood up.
"I don't know," he turned away.
Kayla frowned as she scanned the scene. Dull light filled a dreary prison cell guarded by iron bars which had no door or keyhole. All she could see from here was a hi-tech hallway of metal, and small lights of flickering colours. Focusing let her hear voices muffled by the walls, but they didn't seem to be anything notable, just reports and orders. Something about altitude level was clear, which made sense. The air felt oddly thin and hot in here.
She sighed and turned around. Everyone was in their own miserable little corner. Kari watched her worriedly, Pola picked at her fur, Shannon stared at the floor, and Mog sat in the corner opposite Pola. May and Ashe were absent. She shook her head, realising what she just saw.
"Mog?" Kayla said. The Swoobat flinched and nervously turned around. She looked so guilty, but she was also blushing hard. "Uhh, wait. What is going on here?"
"Don't you remember anything?" Shannon asked. Kayla shuddered at his aggression. "We got trashed by Gema. Now we're here."
"So, what was that about 'we can't lose'?" Pola commented without turning around.
That jogged Kayla's memory. Her freak out upon realising Ashe was playing them, followed by Gema's stunningly hard-hitting Thunderbolt attack. Shifting a foot back, Kayla finally gave them the serious glare they probably wanted. "Right. And Treasure mentioned something about him being an archfiend, too. So we're in some kind of lair now, right?"
"A lair is an interesting way to put it. Were this a fantasy, I suppose it would be a monster's lair," May answered. The whole group got up and rushed over to the bars, where the Pichu walked over. She had her arms tucked behind her back and her usual smug grin. "You put up a remarkable fight back there. Not everyone is able to take a direct strike from Gema and stay on their feet. Shannon, I bet being electrocuted for once in your life must have been quite a shock."
"Nng," Shannon grit his teeth. "Bad humour…"
"Great. Just what we needed. Your full, unhinged, bitchiness," Pola folded her arms.
"What's going on? Why are you out there while we're in here?" Kayla asked.
"Why don't you ask Mog?" May asked, sounding even more snide. The group awkwardly turned around, finding Mog still in the back. The Swoobat looked like she might be sick.
"You… don't pin this on me!" she cried.
"Did you sneak out?" Kayla turned back to May.
"Oh, Heavens no! I've no need to sneak around a Netherworld helicopter," May shrugged. "You're here because you're our subjects now. Tools for us to finally enact our plan that will affect the entire world. A Visionary action unlike anything Isnomia has ever seen. A real flood of freedom, unlike what you get in mystery dungeons."
"… That was unusually clear-cut for you. It's like you're trying to sound smarter than you are all of a sudden," Kayla asked with a furrowed brow.
"Well, you are right. There won't be any floods here, unlike what you get in your dreams. We've got all your items after all. And your dream catchers," May replied. Kayla was even more confused. "I just came to make sure you were alright. It wouldn't do us any good for you to kill each other arguing from mistrust."
"What're you getting at? Get to the point already!" Kayla complained.
"What's the matter? Bad thoughts flooding your mind? Perhaps I had best leave you to it," May faked a yawn. "It'll be a while before we reach our destination. By then it'll be too late for all of you."
Kayla watched her leave, unable to hide her scowl. What was that all about? Why did she keep saying flood?
Turning back to the others, that whole conversation left everyone worse than before. They were more annoyed than her, save for Kari and Mog, who were miserable. Kari especially looked like she could melt into a wrinkled puddle at any moment.
"Seriously, what's going on? Someone say something!" Kayla snapped.
"Kayla, just – don't do anything, okay?" Mog cried.
"What?"
"It'll all be easier if we just do what they say. They'll go easy on us. May doesn't like torture, she won't let them do to us what they did to her. I-I-I mean, just… don't question it, okay?" Mog replied, and threw herself down.
"Mog… look, just tell me what's going on," Kayla calmed down.
"This cunt was in cahoots with May the whole time. She set us up with the whole situation," Pola said. The mere mention made the Swoobat cringe and shrivel up into a ball. "We've been captured by Netherworld."
"May works for Netherworld? But didn't you two used to be friends?" Kayla was concerned. Mog shuddered and snuck a glance, but could only huff. "Mog. You need to talk to me."
"I don't know, okay? I don't know what's going on either, I don't get it. I just… I just know if we don't try anything, we'll get out of this okay. I hope," Mog whimpered.
Kayla shook her head. "I'm not letting you girls get done in by Netherworld. Whatever this is, I'll bust us outta here, one way or another."
"Don't you think you've done enough?" Shannon challenged. "We all told you to take it easy with the heroics, and now we're here. All because of you!"
"And that's why I'm going to take responsibility and—"
"No, no! Shut up, just- stop, you ain't doing shit!" Pola shivered in anger. "If we didn't get on Netherworld's bad side, they wouldn't be after us. But nooo, you decided you needed to fight Zude 'cos your head's as big as your belly."
"Oh here we go, always with the god dang weight," Kayla swayed and rolled her eyes.
"If you weren't such a show-offy bitch, we'd be safe in Repose Town by now, or hell, still doing normal missions like a normal team! But ever since you learnt how to dream, all you've been doing is showing off pretending you're someone you're not! And now we're in hell! A nightmare, a literal living nightmare!" Pola ranted.
"Which I want to get us out of," Kayla replied.
"It's Netherworld, Kayla!" Shannon snapped. "We're in the prison of literal terrorists, getting transported to heck knows where, to do heck knows what. This is after we got one of their Generals arrested – it doesn't take a genius to know what we're in for! This is your fault because you're always thinking about nobody but yourself! I didn't sign up for this, yet here I am. Nothing you could do right now would make this better."
Kayla shivered. Her vision was fading for some reason. All sorts of awful feelings swirled in her gut, like her chest and organs were stirring together into some sort of fiery bile. She couldn't close her mouth, but she was struggling to utter a word, too. On one hand, she wanted to kick Pola, but on the other, she knew they were both right. She was fully aware of what everyone wanted, and yet she went on doing her own thing.
"Guys, stop it!" Kari came between them. "It's not Kayla fault!"
"And here comes the suck up. Got enough gold stars, teacher's pet?" Pola pouted. "Like you ever have anything smart to say."
"But it's not Kayla's fault! Who knew May worked for Netherworld? She helped us beat Mathildaath. I thought she was a friend," Kari hung her arms.
"What're you even talking about? Who cares that May's a backstabbing bitch? We wouldn't be locked up right now if not for this stupid fat thing's hero complex!" Pola flipped a hand at them both. "How can you even suck up to her like this? She's been running this team ragged; you haven't gotten anything good outta this!"
"I have, actually," Kari stated surprisingly sternly.
"Oh yeah? What?" Pola folded her arms.
Kari gulped. "A true friend."
Kayla took in a breath, and the darkness faded ever so slightly. That sick feeling faded a little too, replaced by a heavy, beating heart.
"Oh come on, what the fuck is this? A 'friend' doesn't make you trek halfway across the world's deadliest desert just to fight a terrorist out of nothing but their own pride. Nor do they refuse to listen to fucking everyone around them when we're doing anything. You're the worst team leader ever! I should've ducked out when I had the chance," Pola turned around.
"… Do you hate Kayla?" Kari asked.
"What do you think? I'm not exactly hiding it," Pola growled. There was another pause.
"Well I still believe in her," Kari made sure to look at Kayla when she said that. "I believe in May and Mog. And Ashe, too. I dunno where they are or what's going on, but after everything we've been through, I know they're not bad Pokémon. I just know it!"
"Great. You're both cut from the same idiot tree," Pola grumbled.
"… Why?" Kayla asked, and then gasped. Even Kari was surprised. She wished she didn't just ask that.
"Because… I-I can't explain it, okay? I know you've done some bad stuff, and messed up by getting us into this mess. But none of the bad stuff you've done has like, been bad, y'know? You didn't make us fight Zude 'cos you wanted to prove yourself stronger or something, it's 'cos she's a bad Pokémon, and we could fight her. We're the only ones who could win," Kari tried to explain, swaying and pacing about. "Thanks to you, we've been through lots. We've been into dreams, we've met the homeless Pokémon, seen the big city, went surfing in the desert… um, I just mean… we can get outta here, can't we Kayla? You have a plan, don't you?"
That last part sounded so innocent that Kayla's own guilt came flying back. But this time, she knew it was coming. She took a deep breath in, shut her eyes, and then exhaled just as slowly. When she opened her eyes, everyone was looking at her. Kari was worried enough to bite her nails, Pola was still pissed, Shannon looked done with it all, and Mog was… surprised. Seeing that, Kayla frowned seriously.
"I'm sorry," Kayla said.
"Whaaaaat?" Pola slumped.
"I'm sorry I got you all into this mess. BUT," she stopped Pola from interrupting her. "I know sorry's not gonna get us outta this. What's important right now is that we work together to get ourselves through it. We've technically been through worse. So let's put aside our problems and work this out like a team. When we're all safe, you can decide whether you want to stay on Team Daybreak or not."
There was a long pause again, lengthier than any so far. It was enough for the swirling in her stomach to come back, making her gulp. She shuddered to try and hold herself back from being sick, but it felt fruitless. Fruitless until Shannon sighed and came forward.
"It's better than sitting here and taking Mog's suggestion. If anyone can work a miracle, it's you, much as I hate relying on that," he confessed.
"Shannon… Aww, I knew you'd come round!" Kari cheered, scooping him into a hug.
"Ack- Kari- please, not the time for hugs!" he choked.
"Yeah uh, please try to cut that stuff out with Shannon," Kayla said aloud. Kari seemed to catch her tone, and quickly released.
"S-sorry! I get real huggy when I'm happy, hee hee," she scratched the back of her head.
"Well let's hear it, then. What's your big plan?" Pola challenged.
"I don't have one yet. I need to know what's going on first," Kayla informed, and turned to Mog. "I need you to tell me everything you know about what's going on right now."
"I… I don't know," Mog answered pettily, making the others growl and huff. "No really, I don't know! I don't understand, either. When I wasn't Mathildaath, May was just a student that got kidnapped by Netherworld. She lost her parents thanks to them, we went our separate ways, I turned into the archfiend, and now that I'm back out… I don't understand how she could be part of Netherworld now. She hated them so much before. They took everything from her."
"But that was twenty years ago, right?" Kayla mumbled. "Any idea what they're planning?"
"Gema is their leader. He's always been their leader. He wanted everyone at RSE to beat Mathildaath to get to me, a Dreamer. I guess he wants something with you too, since you're a Dreamer as well. They also mentioned something about letting Zude lose to you to prove you were strong enough or something," Mog explained. "They told me, and I had the chance to warn you… but I just… I just couldn't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"I can not accept that from someone in your position," Shannon replied sternly.
"Hang on, this doesn't make sense! It's so twisty and turny," Kari complained. "Why would they lock Mog with us if she was against us?"
"Why would May join the terrorists who killed her family?" Kayla added. "And they want Dreamers for some reason. I guess that's why Zude had machines that affected the Dream World, but then, why let us defeat her? If she was held in custody at RSE it would make sense because they could set her free themselves. But we sent her to HAPPI. She's probably on death row by now."
"Rrraaargh, nothing makes sense! And it's gettin' us nowhere!" Pola pulled at her ears. "What about getting us outta the prison right now?"
"We're being transported somewhere in a helicopter prison cell…" Kayla began to mumble, and walked over to the bars. "No keyhole, so no sneaky lock picking. I definitely can't break this… Jirachi, can you do something?"
There was no response.
"Jirachi? Oh come on, right when we really could've used you," Kayla started tapping her foot.
"They probably took him away. May knew about him, after all," Shannon pointed out.
"May," Kayla mumbled again. Why did she come in to taunt us? What did she say? Something about a flood… A flood of freedom, unlike mystery dungeons…
She tried not to look at the others while she ran solutions through her head. These bars definitely couldn't be broken by her quick attack, even with her triumph against Treasure's carousel. She wouldn't be able to build enough momentum, and if Netherworld had been watching her until now, then it was obvious it was reinforced against anything her team could do. That ruled out Pola's Visionary magic as well, save for anything that could attack through the bars. What they needed was a heavy impact.
She finally glanced over at the others. A heavy impact, or something that could force the bars aside. The silliest idea spawned in her head, and she stared at Kari, who cocked her head. "Er, Kari, this might be on you."
"M-me?" she squeaked.
"If you grow big, could we force our way through?" Kayla asked.
"I uh, already tried before you woke up," she scratched her back. "Those bars are real stiff. Remember, I don't actually get any stronger when I stretch. I tried looking for buttons to open the cage too, but I can't see where I'm stretching, so it's hard to look."
"Dang, those were better ideas than what I had," Kayla started sweating.
"Do I wanna know?" Shannon asked plainly.
"If you just kept growing bigger and bigger, the cage would burst open!" Kayla said cheerfully. For once, the silence that followed didn't kill her internally.
"I think we'd be crushed before the cage would break," Pola stumbled away. "Besides, Kari stinks. I ain't gettin' smooshed by that."
"Hey, not my fault I couldn't bathe today! You probably stink too, stinky!" Kari flailed her arms.
"I did say you had a better idea there," Kayla snickered awkwardly. "Okay… what do we have on us?"
"Just our PETs. We can't send out an SOS rescue either. We're moving, and some kind of signal's jamming communication," Shannon answered.
Kayla's PET flew out at her command, and she tapped a few things on it with her ears. He was right; their map was glitched out and showed as a fuzzy screen. There wasn't even access to the Repose bulletin board. C'mon Kayla, there's got to be something. Anything.
"Just as I thought. This is hopeless," Pola spat and threw herself down. "Stupid fucking… urgh, I hate this so much. Stupid fat, stupid May, stupid, stupid- rrargh!"
"May," Kayla mumbled again. She went back to the map screen, even though it was fuzzy. The only things there were the usual data for mystery dungeons. Team state, friendly fire protection, floor count, radars, the latter two seemed to be disabled. An idea flashed in her mind, and her ears beamed up. Wait, the PET only displays this stuff when we're in… we're in a mystery dungeon right now? I thought we were in a helicopter?
She glanced up at that, and her suddenness made the others glance at her, too. A real flood of freedom, unlike what you get in mystery dungeons…
Finally, that lightbulb lit up. "Pola! When you use Surf, that's real water, right?"
"Yeah… of course it is. But that ain't gonna break those bars, y'know," Pola picked at her ear.
"I know. But we need to flood this place. Flood this place, crash the copter, and the impact will break the wall or the cage," Kayla suggested.
"Uh," Pola perked up, eyes widened. "Okay look I don't hate water as much as you, but we'd literally drown if I did that."
"Not if we're in a mystery dungeon, like we are now," Kayla showed her PET screen.
"Wait, that's insane!" Mog cried.
"There is, er… we had two hours that time because we got special permission from Gema, remember? Are we the right rank to get environmental protection?" Shannon asked.
Kayla's heart turned heavy. "If not, then we'll just hold our breath."
"This is a stupid idea," Pola grumbled.
"Wait guys, look!" Kari showed her PET screen. "We took down Zude and that was an official mission. That put us at Platinum rank. Just enough for an hour's worth of environment stuff!"
"Wow. That mission boosted us that much?" Pola was surprised.
"That's what I was trying to say before. Kayla made us work really hard, but it really paid off too. We got real big, real fast," Kari pointed out. "She's a good leader. And this is a good plan!"
Kayla and Pola glared at one another. The Plusle clearly wasn't comfortable with the plan, but took a deep breath. "Alright. But that means you getting wet. Hope you're able to deal with that."
"Gimme your best shot," Kayla challenged.
"Seriously? After all this, you're still gonna show off?" Pola slumped.
"If you ain't tryin' to kill me, then you ain't surfin' hard enough."
"It really does fly over her head," Shannon rolled his eyes.
"Will we really be alright? If the helicopter crashes and doesn't let us out… and we still have to survive a crash. This is crazy!" Mog cried. "And if it doesn't crash at all and we end up stuck underwater…"
"Then Kari will have to grow big and smoosh us outta here!" Kayla said cheerfully.
"Just in their own little world," Shannon grumbled.
"Okay. Let's do this. Get behind me, and brace yourselves," Pola ordered.
"Oooh, why are we actually doing this?" Mog moaned as everyone obeyed.
Pola posed stiffly, keeping a hand by her mouth. The area darkened as her body glowed, and crystalline energy began to flow around her. "Arise, O violent waters through the forces of nature, to rout mine enemies! Nature Power: Surf!"
With a bright flash, the energy swirled around Pola and formed into a giant wave. Pola shouted as she thrust both arms, sending the wave straight forward. It was wide enough to fill the width of the prison completely, and harmlessly splashed through the bars. Of course, it hit the back wall and splashed back to everyone else, knocking them all over with tremendous force.
Kayla immediately choked and flailed as the wave tossed her against the back wall, and then the iron bars, and then swirled her to the centre of the prison, where she bumped into everyone else who was helplessly thrown about. Even with the PET's friendly fire protection, those impacts hurt a lot, and felt like they split her side open or something. Kayla couldn't help but yell, choking on water as her vision seemed to black out, followed by a sharp pain in her side, and then an uncomfortable burning in her chest. Seconds later, she had to resist the panic of realising she was underwater.
Kari had caught her at some point, and held her close. Mog had caught Shannon, and the two of them were by the back wall, planted stiff and cringing. Pola was in the same pose as when she started the move, leaned forward with both arms thrust ahead of her. Water evidently came from her as shades and a current surrounded her. The PET had started working and Kayla could breathe, but it wasn't without the feeling she was swallowing water with every breath. That, and her side really did hurt.
Wow… Pola's Surf really does pack a punch. Mental note never to do a friendly with her again, she remarked, watching the Plusle in awe.
At the front of the helicopter was a small group of Netherworld staff. May, Ashe, Gema and his legendaries, and then some Indeedee soldiers, two of which were handling the controls. All eyes were on the front, and the Indeedee, one male, one female, exchanged reports and orders to one another. A warning beep blared from one of the monitors, drawing their attention.
"There's aggression against the bars. The prisoners are attempting to break out," the male Indeedee reported.
"I thought you said you were gonna calm 'em down?" Azelf complained.
"I did. But you know what they're like. The idea that they would ever sit down is silly," May shrugged. "They won't break out, however. We need to stick to our plan."
"Gee, I hope you're right. Them getting freed now would be a serious problem," Mesprit replied with a lazy stretch. "I'll go see what's up anyway."
She would only get to the sliding door behind them before getting confused, and then panicked. Water not only seeped beneath the door in great quantity, it was spraying between the sides, too. She hesitated to touch it, and the door began to rumble. "Uhh…"
"What is… water? Wh-why is there water?" one of the Indeedee asked, lifting a foot in discomfort. The whole group exchanged concerned looks, and then glanced at the controls. All exposed boxes of wiring and levers that would definitely short if they got wet. Then they all turned to the door. A second later, the water burst through.
Gema was the only one who could stand his ground against the wicked force that swamped everything. The others were thrown all over the room as water swirled around it, flooding it up to the ceiling before pressure broke the windows. Sizzling and crackles came from the computers, and then it was all over. The helicopter was completely out of their control, left to the whimsy of the sky.
For Kayla and the others, the situation quickly turned just as chaotic. Kayla and Kari had planted their feet to resist the force of the water, only for the floor to jolt and spin with the oncoming crash. The group let out screams and yells as the world around them began to tilt and turn, tumbling them all like toys in a box.
Kayla couldn't do much more than shut her eyes. Even though Kari hugged her tight, she hit something so hard she got that side-splitting surge of pain again. She was rocked hard before a deafening boom silenced her, and she was sent flying. There was an effort to stay conscious, but she couldn't open her eyes, and had nothing but a ringing in her ears. She grunted, but fell flat in defeat.
…
It would be a while, but discomforts made themselves known. There was cold water running down her face, seeping its way to her eyes, completely the opposite temperature to everything on her back. A sharp ringing in her ears surfaced, and Kayla suddenly shot awake, breathing desperately. She was sweating hard from this heat, though all she could do is roll over into a light stream of water.
"Kayla!" Kari's continued cries became clearer and clearer. She had to catch her breath before the Furret's squeaks could be made out.
"I'm… alright," Kayla huffed, sitting up at last. "Ack!"
"Careful!" Kari gasped, coming to her aid.
Kayla wrenched to the side so hard she almost fell back over. The bandages she'd been given were stained red, horrifying her. Damn it… I really am wounded, huh?
"I-I should carry you. Tell me if it hurts," Kari suggested, motioning to do so before she could object. Kari wrapped her arms around Kayla's fluff, just below her belly, and then bounced out. Just as they'd planned, a massive hole had been broken into the prison wall from their crash. What she didn't expect was where they had crashed. Kari moved as if she knew the place, but slowly enough that Kayla could take it all in.
It might as well have been another world. Her typical depiction of Heaven, almost. Chilly blue skies all around her, both above and below their level, adorned with twinkling white stars and streaks of aurora in a variety of blues and purples. White clouds created mountains, hills, and islands, split by large gaps of space and height between them, each one thick and fluffy like the froth of fancy drink. They were stood on a cloud just like this, and glancing back, their helicopter had crashed landed on it.
Amidst these pretty white swirls and serenely lit views, all sorts of heavy mechanics lay in ruin. Kayla recognized all of it: jet planes, helicopters, modern day trains, even some fancy cars or ferry ships, and more. All of it was rusted, dented, and cracked beyond repair, hanging from the clouds one on top of the other like distasteful decorations. All of these ruined vehicles hung from loose chains, and some even spun steadily in place.
"Put me down," Kayla ordered. Just saying that made her have to stop and take a deep breath. The air was thin here, and that made her hot and sweaty. It was freezing, and her body was having trouble keeping up. She dared to go right to the edge of the cloud and peered over, only to instantly become dizzy.
She couldn't see the world below. Countless more lands made of cloud were below, so far down that some even looked like toys from her distance. These islands ever so slowly swirled around to make for an endless optical illusion. Kayla stumbled back to look up, finding more of the same, though some fancy pillars decorated the lands above. Greek pillars and golden gates blurred by the distance and height, seemingly built entirely out of cloud. Most of these islands and gates had vehicles hanging from them. The sun occasionally peeked from behind the clouds in the distance, offering an unrelenting ray of heat and light that physically hurt to be in.
"G-great. Hope this doesn't mean we kicked the bucket," Kayla huffed, shaking herself back into focus.
"I don't think so… if we were in Heaven, I wouldn't be hungry!" Kari happily remarked.
"Don't remind me," she felt her stomach rumble in agreement, and wandered ahead. She hated this. She was sweaty, cold, and Zubat still sounded good right now.
The clouds heaped on her left, allowing her to turn a corner where Pola and Shannon were waiting. The former pointed at something, which Shannon seemed to back away from. "Girls!" Kayla shouted and ran over.
"Great, you're still alive. This is how I know this is Hell and not Heaven," Pola remarked.
"Well I'm glad to see you too," Kayla rolled her eyes.
"Please don't start arguing. This still counts as us having to work together," Shannon said, showing his PET screen. "We're on borrowed time here."
"Limited oxygen, temperature regulation… and I still feel like I'm being slow cooked here," Kayla grumbled. "I guess this is the 'mystery dungeon' we were flying through before."
"We need to figure out how to get around here. I don't see any ladders and stuff," he said.
"It's what I keep telling you. We've gotta jump and slowly make our way down. Get back toward solid ground," Pola argued.
"That would make the most sense… Okay. Kari, you're gonna need to be really careful and stretch everyone over," Kayla instructed.
"Aye aye captain!" she saluted. "I-I mean, yeah! I got this."
"Me, I can jump most of these. We'll get to… somewhere," Kayla glanced around. Aside from the unusualness of it, nothing stood out about each cloud island. "If we had our stuff, we could just warp outta here."
"You sure you wouldn't wanna show off and make us do heroics first?" Pola spat. Shannon pinched her hard enough to make her hiss and yelp.
"We can definitely do without comments like that."
"Doesn't mean you hafta—"
"Drop it," he walked over to Kari.
"Yeesh. Who dumped in your porridge this morning?" she grumbled.
"What about this one?" Kari pointed to a train latched to their island. The windows and doors all hung loose, meaning you could drop right through it. With the seats and bars still intact however, you could also climb down it like a ladder.
"Good thinking," Kayla remarked, getting started.
The moment she hopped down into one of the seats, she grew wary. She landed fine, but that made the whole vehicle groan and tilt. She waited until it stopped before considering her next move, only for Kari to climb down to the seat she was stood on, creating another groan. "K-Kari?"
"What's up?" she said, completely oblivious. The others on her back were confused, too. They stayed until the groaning stopped at least, so Kayla didn't complain.
Onto the next one… down there, she told herself, planning a path. Many of the seats had tears, mould, loose springs and such on them. She aimed for whichever one had the most space for her to land on, which wasn't far down, but still caused the metal to complain at her. Gods, I'm just a Buneary. This whole train's as fragile as a toy tower!
With that thought in mind, she stopped hesitating and hopped from seat to seat. She could definitely feel the train rock thanks to this haste, but she made it to the lower door in seconds, thanks to this. Kari fell past her but latched onto the lower door, letting her look over the island below. It wasn't too far from them now, and had a large thicket of bush shaped clouds all over it. The duo exchanged brief nods and jumped for it, where they splashed into the bush as if it were an overly fluffy bed.
Now that was a strange sensation. Kayla sunk into it like a soft bed, but her body also stung and burnt as if there was a hard impact. The pain made her cry out and stumble, and then she rolled down the cloud onto a flat surface. Kari slid to her side a moment later.
"I… think you need a ride," she said.
Kayla huffed. "I dunno why this is happening. I'm not this weak. I can't be!"
"Oh for- it's not about being weak. You've got a freaking hole in your arm. And you got cut pretty bad, too. We all did," Pola argued. "But you were in the worst shape, so you got all the bandages."
"Even though you can't feel the pain in your arm, that doesn't mean your body doesn't react," Shannon explained, quickly using Life Dew on her. The warmth of his magic water let her relax, but that only left her body aching. "If you don't take it easy, your wounds really will kill you. My healing can only soothe the pain and give you energy. It can't patch you up."
"Ergo, we need a proper doctor," Kayla sat up. "I'll manage. If I can get used to this, it's only gonna make me stronger."
"For someone clever enough to get down here, that's a shockingly juvenile conclusion to your situation," a familiar voice got their attention. The group turned and tensed up as May emerged from the pile of cloud beside them, followed by Ashe and Mog. "Overworking your body whilst it should be in hospital is only going to permanently cripple you. Take it from someone who knows biology more than the average Pokémon."
"Taking advice from you at this point is suicide. I'd rather jump off the clouds from here!" Pola remarked.
"You three," Shannon shivered angrily.
"Hmm. Be my guest. That would make less noise for me," May rubbed her chin. The group remained tense, so she tucked her arms behind her back. With a slight glance at Ashe, she gestured toward them. Ashe produced their treasure bag from behind her, and tossed it over.
"Our stuff!" Kari instantly dove for it. "It's all here! Shannon's thief tools and everything."
"What's going on? Why?" Shannon asked.
"Hmpf. Your plan worked a little too well," Kayla smiled.
"Oh great. You're gonna say something dumb like you were never on Netherworld's side, aren't ya?" Pola started playing with her weave.
"Let's walk and talk. Our PETs will only protect us for so long, after all," May suggested. "Mog, would you carry Kayla?"
"I don't need—" Kayla wanted to object, but Kari stood in her way. "Kari?"
"S-sorry… I just… th-this isn't some kinda bad plan, is it?" she asked. Mog couldn't reply.
"Mog's not gonna hurt me. She already apologised, remember?" Kayla assured. "If something happens, it's on me."
"That still doesn't carry any weight, y'know," Pola commented. Kari stood aside anyway, letting Kayla get on the Swoobat's back. She had to lean right into Mog's fluff since she couldn't wrap her arms around, but she felt steady enough. She felt embarrassed, but her side did hurt, so it helped.
"I'll start with the important stuff. Our current location is the Cumulus Mobile. It's an ancient ruin mystery dungeon that travels around the skies of Isnomia," May began. "Inventors have always seen this place as a curse. Anyone who yearns to travel the skies eventually comes across this dungeon and never returns."
"Oh no, we're not stuck here, are we?" Kari squeaked, chomping on an apple.
"Hey, gimme one!" Pola cried.
"This place is significantly higher than Isnomia's sky in general. It's only those that build things like aircraft that wind up here. Thus, the ruins of all the vehicles you see," May clarified.
But these are trains and cars and stuff. There's even boats. It's all human stuff. They don't think humans drove through the sky, do they? Kayla cocked her head.
"We can escape from here if we reach the lowest level. There's a straight drop dead ahead," May continued. "Now then, onto me and Ashe. Our time at Netherworld is all but terminated from what we pulled. Not that we were ever on their side to begin with."
"I… had a feeling. It's naïve, but I just… I just knew," Mog confessed, and sighed.
"Mog?" Kayla said.
"When you led me to Gema, and you said that you had a plan to ensure Netherworld's success. But you looked me in the eyes when you said that… and the way you worded it… you said to trust you. Trust you, and not Netherworld," Mog was facing the floor, and then faced forward. "So I did. Despite everything, I trusted you. And now, here we are."
"Wait, where's our dream catchers?" Kari panicked, still rummaging.
"We had to dispose of those. I had to feign my allegiance somewhere," May informed.
"So we really do have to get through here," Kari moaned. "How're we gonna get down?"
"It will take a lot of effort, but I can do it," Ashe answered. They reached the edge of another island, where she stopped to face the group. "I don't know where we'll land, but I'll try my best."
"Right. You're on their side, too," Shannon said bitterly. "You gonna tell us why you joined up with terrorists?"
"Shannon, this isn't the time," Kayla argued. "We just need to get out of here. We can explain everything when we're safe."
"You can't ask us to put our lives in the hands of Pokémon like this!" he argued.
"But I can ask you to trust me, who is giving the order," Kayla tried to reason. Ashe put a hand on her.
"My story is a little different to May and Mog, so the wariness is natural. So, let's make a trade," she suggested. She hesitated, but with a solemn smile, handed Shannon her Otamatone.
"That's!" Kari choked.
"Without this, my Fonic Hymns won't reach far, and I won't have a weapon. My only way of fighting will be Pokémon attacks. Will you protect me until you can trust me?" she proposed.
Oddly, Shannon hesitated as well, but took it. "Hmpf. Don't ask us for anything. Just do what you need to do."
"Wait…" Kayla said. Something flicked in her ears. The wind was picking up. It wasn't just the wind, but pulses of it. Flapping wings. Heavy, flapping wings. She tensed up and hopped off of Mog. "Maybe hand that back. Something's coming!"
"I was wondering where the ferals were," Pola commented.
From below the cliff came a giant Crobat, large and fast enough that a heavy updraft came with it, ruffling everyone's fur. Just the sight of it put everyone on edge, and even though they didn't make a sound, the poison type spotted them. With a spin and a graceful soar between some wreckages, it approached them, leering down with its insectoid eyes.
All the wind it kicked up had stopped Kayla from looking at it properly, so she was surprised to find an extraordinary Pokémon. A Crobat with the eyes of a Butterfree, and huge wings lined with row upon row of bird feathers. Even the tiny wings had feathers. Just like any other feral, it seemed to be sizing them up, not that she could tell exactly who it was staring at.
"Oh hi there! Are you our ride?" Kari waved happily.
"Would probably be safer than whatever they've got planned," Pola joked.
"SQUUUUUAAAAACK!" Crobat screeched like a hawk and began to flap its wings harder.
"Whoa- hey- take it easy!" Kari squeaked. "That tickles!"
"Girls!" Ashe cried, desperately clinging to the floor. She was blown off, and screamed as she flailed through the air.
"Gotcha!" Pola cried as she let go to grab her. It looked difficult, but the two of them managed to keep to the floor.
"Rrg, quit it!" Kayla growled and used Ice Beam. Her beam got about halfway toward the Crobat before it faded into the wind.
"Kayla, wait don't hurt 'im!" Kari cried.
"But he's—"
Crobat cut them off with another ear-piercing screech. It stopped flapping its wings, only for its fangs to drool with poison, keeping the group on their toes. Except for Kari, who continued to giggle and pose in front of him. Kayla could see what was about to happen, and her senses dulled in the instant. Kari was saying something, but the Crobat completely ignored her. The moment it moved to swoop in, Kayla sprung into action.
Her feet charged with energy, her eyes locked onto the target, and her hearing focused on everything she needed for the fight. She moved so fast the background blurred, and charged headfirst into Crobat, hitting him like a blue bullet. Its screeches stopped and it was knocked back, while Kayla skidded across the cloud floor.
"What's going on? Why isn't he listening?" Kari cried.
"He's a feral, just like all the others," Kayla replied. "Weapons out, mind you don't fall off the cliff!"
"But… but…" Kari shuddered, glancing back and forth between her friends and the Crobat.
"Yo Kari, what's the problem?" Pola complained.
"Extraordinary Pokémon can't be ferals, right? They're all at RSE," she replied. Crobat recovered by this point, but now glared at them with madness in its insectoid eyes. "Hey, it's gonna be okay! We're not here to hurt you, I promise!"
Crobat wasn't listening. It screeched once more and began to flap all four of its wings, blowing another mighty breeze their way. The group were once again pinned to the spot, but cried out as the wind felt even stronger than before. Even though she was behind Mog, Kayla could feel herself getting dragged back. Her feet were dug so hard into the cloud that she was leaving a trail.
"No way I'm letting us fall like that!" she growled, bringing up Quick Attack. She managed to run right through the wind, and grinned. Before Crobat could react, she leapt up and kicked it in the chest, halting the wind once more. She kept running after she landed this time, and rushed in for another attack.
One hit. Three hits. More than she could count. Kayla sprinted across the clouds like a blur, leaping off the island to strike Crobat, bounce off it, and land back to do it again, and all within a matter of seconds. Each hit earnt a grunt from the giant bat, until it lost its temper, and its wings glowed white. Kayla had too much momentum to stop her attack however, and wound up colliding with one of those wings, which slapped her back down.
She skidded to a stop this time. Revving up for Quick Attack again, she felt a sharp spike in her side, and yelled in pain. The red in her bandages was growing larger. "Damn! St-stupid- wound!"
"Kayla, take it easy!" Shannon cried.
Crobat was on a rampage now. With its wings aglow with energy, it slashed the air madly, and then screeched upwards. Those glowing wings turned shiny and purple, warning of a Cross Poison attack. If it wasn't for her wound, Kayla would've intercepted a while ago, but all she could do is watch along with everyone else. Eventually Crobat soared straight towards them, all four feathery wings crossed over its front.
"Look out!" Ashe warned, flattening herself against the clouds.
Everyone threw themselves flat, just about avoiding Crobat's attempt to slice them half. It glided behind everyone, spun to face them, and then unfurled its poison-laced wings with force. Out came a rain of purple feathers that sliced through the air like darts.
Kayla forced herself to make a move, but all she could manage was a stumble before pain coursed through her. She heard a round of gasps, and time slowed for her. All that ran through her mind was hatred that she couldn't move, that she was weak enough to have gotten this bandage in the first place, weak enough that she couldn't ignore the pain to fight properly. She hated that Mog suddenly flew in front of her, wings aglow to use Air Slash.
Just like that, her hatred turned into shock. Smoke and energy clouded them both, but no harm was done. When it cleared, Mog was indeed stood over her, glaring up at Crobat with her wings spread wide. She wasn't the only one – May was stood over Pola, who had fallen on her backside. The Pichu had attempted to shield them both with her fan, but had three feathers stabbed into her as a result. She let out a sharp choke as she fell on one hand and her face turned purple.
"M-May?" Pola shrieked.
May ignored it all. She stood up, leaned back, and then tossed her fan with all the force she could muster, sending it spinning towards Crobat faster than its own poison darts. The fan lodged into its head, earning another screech and a round of mad flailing.
"Shannon! Aim for the pylon!" May shouted at him.
Shannon was flustered until he heard her commanding tone. He took a step forward, rubbed his cheeks, and released rings of energy from his paws. As if drawn to May's fan, the rings sped up and closed into Crobat, where they took form as waves of crackling static. It promptly fell to the cloud, where it struggled to move. Seeing that, Kayla beamed up. This was not the time for her to wallow in self-pity.
"Kari, Ashe! Now's your chance, smash that guy into next week!"
There was no hesitation from either. Kari charged forward and scrambled around Crobat, slashing and slapping him with her paws and tail, while Ashe stood front and centre, charging a Shadow Ball. She fired with a cry, and the moment she did, Kari broke away. The attack exploded, sending Crobat tumbling down the clouds, wailing pathetically.
Kayla half expected the beast to come flying back up, but its cries vanished into the distance. Sure she was safe, she sat back and sighed. "Okay. That was something."
"Guuuuuuuuuys?" Kari had a huge grin, and danced on her toes.
"What, what, what? Tell me there's no more of him?" Pola cried. Kari stared at her however, her grin growing wider and toothier. "O-kay, that's kinda creepy."
"Thaaaat was awesome!" Kari threw her arms up with a shrill cheer. "And we didn't even need any practice. We just, teamed up all perfect! That was like when I first met Kayla. I've never felt so natural around everyone before!"
"Actually yeah, what the fuck was that?" Pola stood up in disbelief. "You! You of all Pokémon protected me! And you even called out to Shannon!"
The Pichu responded awkwardly. She looked delirious, and grunted as she fell on one hand again. She'd pulled the poison feathers out of her, but that left a nasty trio of red marks all over her. Shannon didn't need an order for this one; he rushed over to begin his incantation, only for her to slap him away with a disgusted look.
"I'll take a Pecha Berry, thank you very much," she demanded.
"Aww, no need to be shy," Kari sung, offering her one anyway.
"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," May replied, and then took several bites. She chomped away at that berry with multiple bites before chewing, just as any mouse would. "Be sure to give yourself some credit, now."
"Pfft, nah! We can't all have a go at Kayla for being all selfish, and then go on all shy when we do something like that!" Kari replied. She stretched her arms wide and then pulled everyone in. "C'mon now, are we a team, or are we a party?"
Kayla couldn't respond. It was true. She hadn't even thought about it beyond her own self-pity. She had tried desperately to hold her own in that fight, but the moment she fell, everyone else picked up the slack. The group exchanged awkward glances with one another, until Kari and Kayla locked eyes. A snicker escaped the Furret, and then she burst out laughing.
"K-Kari?" Shannon stumbled away. Kayla started laughing with her, and even fell back. "Not you too… again with this…"
"Hmm... I'm going to go with, we're Pokémon," May spoke above their giggles. "We're a group of civilised Pokémon who are faced with a situation that hinges our survival. You know what they say about Pokémon put under pressure."
"That even includes protecting Pokémon you hate, huh?" Pola folded her arms. May looked at her. Pola couldn't even look her in the eyes, and turned away, blushing slightly. "… Yeah. Um, thanks."
Kari popped up behind her and hung an arm over her shoulder, with Kayla in the other. "That's the spirit!"
"Yeah. Let's get outta here before another one of those things comes back!" Kayla agreed.
"Uh, yeah. Or before we do anything else weird," Pola grumbled with a peek at May, who shrugged. "How were we going to do that, anyway?"
"I think I can fly you and Kayla. I would like someone else to keep a grip on Kayla," Mog said. "The sky can get very windy, and she's liable to fall off."
"That means parachute Kari is out of the picture," Kari slumped.
"Not… really. I would carry everyone else," Ashe stepped up. "It won't be easy, but…"
"Er… I mean you're a floaty balloon, but… all of us?" Shannon leaned away.
Ashe answered him by steadily inhaling. By the second, she stretched and creaked like an overfilled balloon, but it worked. In just a few moments, Ashe had inflated to the size of a hot air balloon, perhaps even bigger. Kari happily prodded her side, confirming she was firm enough to grab onto.
"Well? Get on," May said, hopping up to Ashe's body.
"This is… kinda awkward," Shannon confessed, warily doing the same.
"Oh don't be silly, it's just a big Jigglypuff! I get big all the time," Kari giggled.
"Guess I'm with you," Pola grumbled, walking over to Mog. Kayla hopped onto her back again, letting Pola keep an arm around her as she climbed on. "Don't you start, either. Otherwise, I might throw you into the sky myself."
"I welcome you to try. Won't get rid of me that easily," Kayla snickered.
"Rrgh, can't you just learn something for once? That cocky attitude's gonna get you into serious trouble someday," Pola cried.
"It already has," Kayla smiled, confusing her. "But I just learnt that if I fall down, I've got the best friends in the world to pick me back up."
"Where the hell did that come from- forget it. Let's just get outta here," she spat. "You and Kari are both so corny."