Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 23: Outnumbered

'Too fucking bad!' Holly yelled between stomps, wondering how strong that visor could possibly be, 'Maybe don't kidnap people in the first place!'

Another Pokémon landed. 'Grand Master!'

Leucosia was apparently used to the darkness, even more so than Holly who was born and raised in The Under. She threw a stray knife to GoD. It flew over his flailing hand. Maybe he wasn't a football player, or at least not a good one. Kazuki or Camden, let alone Trip, would have caught that no matter how compromised they were. Leucosia elbowed Holly, but Holly was stronger.

'Leucosia! Fuck off! Stop fussing over me!'

'But Grand Master–'

'Do something about them, you trollop!'

The light of a P★DA torch was feebly scattered across the cavern. Aiko and Laila landed on the back of her Mega Charizard X. Its flames provided enough illumination for Cypress to throw rope to Holly.

'All of you! Pull yourselves together! Do something!'

The visor still refused to entirely give way. Maybe they could pull the helmet off later. She began to bind his limbs. Leucosia, brandishing the knife, lunged at Aiko. One of her own colleagues, a young Peon, almost got in her way in his fist fight with Elijah. He pushed Elijah into her path. The knife sank into his throat. Aiko froze. Leucosia felt her palpable horror. Blood stained her hands as she thrust the sharp blade further. She began to twist it. With an incoherent roar, Aiko threw her body weight at Leucosia. Distant sirens shrieked above.

Elijah tumbled to the floor. The knife remained twisted in his throat. Life faded from his petrified eyes with the blood that soaked his clothes. Leucosia shrieked at whoever was on the other end of her radio to close the shaft. GoD's limbs were firmly bound. Metal creaked above. Moonlight was cut abruptly off as a great steel door began to close.

Aiko hesitated. She had to get Elijah to safety. Those sirens above probably belonged to police cars, but if there was any chance there was an ambulance... Laila understood. Charizard grabbed Elijah by the armpits. It narrowly avoided a blast of Shadow Fire as it ascended. Aiko followed on Crobat.

Holly was about to place GoD in Noivern's claws. In the moment she glanced back, Leucosia slashed through the rope. Then she lunged at Holly. GoD stopped her. He snatched the knife from her hands. Cinderace leapt between them. Blood-stained fur dusted the floor. The knife sank into its stomach. He irritably yanked it out. He wasn't aiming for Cinderace. Cypress' Blaziken tackled him from behind. The visor shattered with an almighty smash when his head hit the floor.

Most of the Peons retrieved their Pokémon. Reinforcements arrived. They were held back only by the outnumbered Team Magma Grunts. Another was injured, his hand chopped cleanly off, by a Shadow Gallade's flailing blades. Their only exit, through the shaft, was almost closed.

'We must go!' Yan screamed over the heads of raging Pokémon, 'We are outnumbered! Aiko is gone! We cannot win!'

GoD's voice was no longer distorted. It was almost discernable... but it was choked by the blood and displaced teeth that filled his mouth.

'That's what you fucking should've done... from the fucking... start! Fuck off! Fuck off! I don't even want to kill y'all! But you're giving me no choice!'

He snatched his radio from the floor. 'Blow the place up! I'll get our people out!'

Kazuki arrived in time, having dropped Raidne at the nearest police station, to jam the shaft door. His Salamence darted down to rescue the Team Magma Grunts whose winged Pokémon were unconscious. Others clung to Clover's Chandelure. It lifted them, painfully slowly, up the shaft. Holly grabbed her P★DA, hoping to photograph GoD's face when he rose, but he was already gone. He and Leucosia frantically marched their Peons into corridors sealed by slamming steel doors. He wasn't lying like Leroy. They truly intended to blow up the shaft.

For a moment, Holly was frozen. Was this all her fault for jumping on GoD? Elijah was probably dead. GoD killed someone, as he promised. Did he lose his life and that other guy lose his hand because of her recklessness? Cypress shook her. There weren't enough conscious winged Pokémon to rescue everyone. They needed Noivern. It seized as many horned hoods as its claws could carry. Holly and three Grunts climbed onto its back. More clung to its tail. Wisteria and Altaria were already out. Charizard returned, without Laila to carry as many others as possible, with Salamence. They lifted the last Team Magma Grunts to safety.

If ambulances weren't already present, they were now. The one carrying the man and his dismembered hand was already gone. Paramedics still frantically attempted to revive Elijah on the scene. In the red and blue light of the sirens, they saw that almost everyone was covered in blood. Any hopes of identifying GoD with his blood were slashed.

Aiko was curled up on the sand. Even Yan couldn't get through to her as she sobbed incoherently. She was convinced Elijah's death was her fault, because as paramedics reluctantly gave up on their fourth attempt, he was indeed pronounced dead.

A resounding boom shook the ground. It was as if it shook the core of the planet itself. No-one kept their balance. Flames and smoke erupted from the collapsing shaft. There was nothing, yet, that police could do. Only the fire brigade were trained to tackle the explosion. The police drove those who couldn't fly to safety in Nascott City instead. They couldn't hang around. Their chief, Harley, called every available officer to assist with a series of break-ins.

'...76A Cacturne Avenue! 20758!'

Laila recognised that address. It was Jamie's apartment. He was probably asleep. She ran from her friends to take off on Charizard. They landed on the balcony before the police arrived. Every surrounding door and window was smashed. The lights were on. Laila found her brother unconscious beside a bloodied baseball bat... but that wasn't the most horrifying sight. His battered girlfriend was utterly still. She was dead.