Frozen Resolve

Chapter 18 : Last day at Paradise

CRACK!

The frozen floor cracked apart as the palace crumbled. The rest of the team ran out of the palace seconds before it became an icy wreckage. "Randy! Blossom! They did it!" Icy exclaimed while the others exchanged highpaws. "Can't believe that ahole beat Kyurem with only one day of practice!"

"What do we do now?" Icy asked as everymon else looked back at her with equally confused gazes. "We're not ascending anymore, that's for sure!" Kuro said with a grin. "What were we doing before that?...where's Kano?"

CRACK!

"What's that sound?" Kuro exclaimed, and everymon looked at where it came from. Large pieces of ice cracked and crumbled away from the ground, falling into the foggy abyss. "Hey! Urias! Time to take out your cards and stuff!"

"..."

CRACK!

"What's that expression?" Kuro questioned as the researchers avoided his gaze. "Kuro...there wasn't a way back to begin with. You're the only one who can make it out..." Icy's voice trailed off as she spoke the truth. "Nice joke, Icy! Haha, I'll be the new leader..." he stopped after looking at everymon else's expression.

"Sun...psychic...dark...or maybe it was grass? What's next? I can't remember!" Kano's voice caught everymon off guard. Multiple symbols were carved into the ground while the icy floor rapidly crumbled away around him.

"Kano, give yourself a break. You never worked well under time pressure," Ivy sighed. "Give him a break? What do you mean? He's probably the only way we can get out of here!" Kuro argued. "Last time he was under a similar situation, he put butter in his coffee and milk in his bread!"

"That doesn't sound too bad. Perhaps I'll give it a try when we...IVY! HOW CAN YOU BE THIS CALM?" Kuro snapped himself out of his daydream. "Hehe, think, Kuro. Before the end, who else can see such a great view? The clouds floating around like the waves of the sea, the grass and mountains below us feel like a dream!"

Kuro joined Ivy's side as he gazed upon the view below. Icy followed up and joined them with her teary gaze. Urias and Esmeralda stood side by side, watching the beautiful sight. Kano sat beside the symbols he carved, still dwelling on a way out.

Rainbows formed in the sky when the sunlight shone into the few prisms of remaining ice. Three rings of colorful light were connected by a rainbow that extended across the continent. "See? That's what I came here to see in the first place, Kuro!"

The icy palace continued to crack as they stood next to the crack, gazing at the beauty as if time didn't exist. "Team, I'm glad I met you," Kuro said and sat down. "Doesn't sound like something you'd say, Kuro! Especially when you're standing next to Ivy!" Icy smiled. "Well, yeah. I'm sorry, Duff. Perhaps we'll meet again when I wake up from this crazy dream..."

(Post Town)

"They did it! They did it, everymon!" the bouncy snake shouted as several mons gazed at the rainbows. The purple haze covering the palace subsided, revealing a clear view of what lay within. Large cubes of ice fell from the sky as the Glacier Palace crumbled. "Oh...dear lord...no..."

"E-everymon! Please make it out in time!"

(Randy's POV)

"The hell..." I blinked my eyes open. Everywhere was white, white here, white there, except a pile of blue-and-black fur lying next to me. "If this is heaven, it sure is boring as hell...perhaps this is hell. Thinking about it, I've been swearing too many times it's impossible that I'd be in heaven..."

"Hey, morning, Blossom. Time to wake up."

"Where are we?" she asked groggily. "Beats me, don't know if we're alive or not," I gave her a paw. "Is this the afterlife? Or are we buried in a deep pile of snow?" Blossom questioned. "NEITHER!"