Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 45 - The Sword Roars

Kai's rifle fired, the barrel pressed directly into Kiria's abdomen. Bedlam had taken over her body and forced her to attack her best friend, and by all reason, its plan should have succeeded. A bullet should have torn through Kiria then and there. But instead, Bedlam's deceit backfired spectacularly.

The gun fired, and something hit Kiria – but it wasn't a bullet.

Kai had been working with the R&D department recently, pitching her idea of condensed dimensional shields. She had brought up the possibility of modifying her rifle to be able to hold unopened shield shells so that she would be able to fire them over large distances in order to protect people who were far away. As luck would have it, the guys found a way, and, with a simple switch of materials, Kai had a fully functioning shield-launcher in her grasp. She had been on her way to the front of the complex to use it right when Bedlam caught her off-guard.

In the blink of an eye, a pink bubble expanded outward from Kiria's lower body, encasing both of them and Meloetta. There was a sizzling sound, as if something were being burned by sunlight, as the murky black aura was thrown from Kai's body when the shield washed over her.

"Grr-!" The cloud hung in the air for a moment, seemingly in awe at the forcefield that was keeping it at bay.

"Uwuh?!" Kai came back to her senses and almost lost her footing, before Kiria caught her by the arm.

"Are you ok?!" She asked.

"Y-yeah... What happened...?"

"You creatures really get on my nerves..." The dark voice hissed from outside of their safe haven.

"You!" Kai gritted her teeth.

There was a sudden barrage of hideous black spikes, each one of them battering the pink shield in frustration. The speed and savagery of the attack was immense – about thirty strikes in just over a second.

"Give up already!" Kiria snapped. "You know you can't kill us!"

"Hmph. No matter. Soon, your precious little bubbles will be useless." Bedlam rumbled.

"Wait!" Kai stood up straight. "What do you mean by that?"

"If your planet could have just been grateful for the salvation I offered in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to draw this out." The malice in its voice shook the three of them to their cores.

"Salvation?!" Meloetta growled. "How dare you!"

"Enough. The time is almost nigh."

And with that, the horrid cloud of darkness vanished.

"'The time is nigh'...?" Kiria repeated.

"Oh no..." Kai turned to her.

"...Does it mean it almost has its full power back...?" Kiria blinked.

"It did feel incredibly oppressive..." Meloetta shuddered. "Even the air felt hard to breathe just now..."

"We have to stop this battle right now!" Kai gritted her teeth. If the soldiers and the monsters keep going at it and causing damage, it's only going to fuel that fiend faster!"

"Sh*t!" Kiria looked around. "All right – get ready to put that gun to use!"

*

As Victor sprinted down the hallway towards Skyra and Rebekah, he felt his heart racing. Bullets were still rocketing towards them, but like a cruel twist of fate, whoever was shooting just couldn't hit the shambling, featureless humanoids that were mere seconds away from cleaving the two from existence.