Love in the Time of Turbulence

Chapter 4: An Invasion

I'm not entirely sure what to say here, but this chapter is rather serious. Don't worry, though: even if the story is rated T, it's not like I'm going bloody or anything. With that said, time for Chapter 4!

Chapter 4

An Invasion

Dust swirled everywhere, choking any attempt that Serena tried to make in taking a breath. Any little motion of trying to breathe in that she made, resulted in a cough that kept her bent over the paved stones of the road. Her hands clenched at them, bruising just a little, but eventually she finally managed to get the coughing under control. Her throat still burned, though. That fact was indisputable.

"G...Guys?" she rasped out, barely able to articulate amongst all the dust and dirt in the air. Not hearing an answer, Serena decided to try and stand. That turned out to be a rather bad idea. Blood rushed to her head and dizziness set in, forcing her to practically pitch to the side and slam into the side of a building. At least her head hadn't hit the ground; that would have been worse.

Serena waited for the dizzy spell to fade from her head, taking deep breaths to ensure that her heartbeat could calm down. It wasn't like she hadn't been in a situation just like this before only two months ago. However, that time, she wasn't so alone. The dust around her was clearing a little, allowing Serena to notice her surroundings. Even though she had been next to Bethany, Clemont and Bonnie, the three of them were nowhere to be seen on the street. Sounds of screams were coming from the marketplace, along with a thick plume of smoke.

Pushing away from the building, Serena put one foot in front of another to get to the marketplace. She was worried about the three of them, but she was also concerned for the people that were clearly caught up in the attack. Clemont had certainly been right: Team Neo had been on the move...directly for Nova Town. Of course, how that was possible, she was unsure. To that thought, Serena raised her gaze to the rooftops. Shingles of the rooves were blasted away, even if the homes themselves were very much intact. Some of the houses closer to the marketplace seemed to have been set on fire from the strike, but there were also some shapes moving in the dust that seemed to be putting out water to douse the flames.

Voices nearby could be heard over the clamor, and Serena finally had the sense to grab Braixen's pokeball and toss it, calling her faithful partner to her side. She couldn't walk through this whole thing alone. Once Braixen was out and reading the situation swiftly, Serena went back to looking at the sky. She had seen something odd there before; something out of place. Scanning over the rooftops, Serena tried to ignore the slate gray tiles and the weird mess that looked like a cream-colored balloon on one of them, straight towards the sky.

"Brai..." Braixen gasped out, having obviously emulated her and seen the same thing that she had seen.

An airship was hovering above the marketplace in Nova Town, its whirring engines sending a very low pitched whine across the entire area. Details couldn't exactly be made out from where she was at the moment, but from what the honey-blonde Performer could tell, the airship was big enough to almost eclipse the entire marketplace. More than that, it looked like it had some kind of cannon ports on the side of it. That was one mystery solved. Unfortunately, a new threat was very quickly emerging in the form of uniformed men rappelling down from the airship on ropes and into the marketplace. She had to find the others, quick.

"Ash! Clemont! Bonnie! Bethany!" she yelled out, coughing a little as her mouth caught a quick blowback of dust. No one answered, and her heart clenched in worry. This could not be happening. And why here of all places? "Come on, Braixen, let's search further in."

"Braixen brai," her starter agreed, holding a lit stick aloft to help them see through the still billowing dust cloud. As they inched closer to the marketplace, the screams were growing louder, and Serena could swear to hearing what sounded like a panicking Team Rocket, but she chalked that up to the stress of the situation.