Flash Sport
Whatcha gotta say?
OOC: Apologies for my long absence. I wasn't expecting to be away for such a length of time. Here’s a massive make-up, move along post… It sucks, but I needed to catch up and get this stuff out the way. I'm sorry if I missed anything vital. I have yet to go back and reread all the posts I've missed...
Liechi the Whimsicott
Dysan, Kanat
Underground bunker > Dysan’s main power station
“They’re moving away now,” Liechi spoke as she watched a herd of Scourge move away towards the outskirts of the city all the while stomping their feet. Unstable buildings easily collapsed under the fierce onslaught of earthquakes, while others lost a wall or gained severe cracks. “Looks like they’re just randomly using earthquake.”
“Hardly,” came a snarl from a Pokémon she could not see, but knew to be Gaius. “What is that buzzard up to?”
“Give me a sec,” Liechi told him, moving her mental projection through the air towards Dysan’s iconic tower. A gaping hole lied near the top and that’s where she went. The area was dark with crisscrossing, fallen beams, pipes and twisted metal. Standing before the shadowy recess was a honchkrow who spoke into the darkness where a large figure loomed. Liechi guessed that to be Harpet, the Cohort and commander of the Dysan Scourge. She listened in on their conversation before canceling her vision. Almost immediately she felt herself drop back into her body, which was surrounded by Gaius, Nelt, Montezu, Rycero and a few others who were awaiting the report. Lifting her small paws to her head, Liechi rubbed her temples. Her head swam and her body still felt like it was experiencing the tremors. “It was planned. She’s trying to flush us out. Apparently she wants her playthings from earlier.”
Gaius frowned. “Plaything?” Liechi could only shrug her shoulders at his confusion before taking another glance around the devastated room. Light fixtures were shattered, and the only clock in sight was thrown all the way across to the opposite side. A huge chunk of rock had broken away from the ceiling and slammed onto the floor. Miraculously no one was killed, but there were a few who were unfortunate in having a limb pinned. Most were either unharmed or had sustained a mild head injury.
“Either way, it looks like we need to get moving-”
“ALRIGHT! WHO DID IT?” a voice blared as the door to the meeting room flew open, revealing an old psyduck with age spots. Strapped about his head was a clunky set of goggles that magnified his beady eyes. His webbed paw gripped some sort of mangled contraptions that had obviously fallen apart. He held it up to them, shaking the items accusingly towards them. “WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE?” Liechi’s looked in wonder when Salut hurried over to the psyduck while calling him dad. She watched as the audino checked on the annoyed duck whose magnified eyes continued to glare at them. “I’m fine, I’m fine Salut. What I want to know it…WHO ARE ALL THESE POKES AND WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE? I was finally making headway when those quakes hit! Now who’s responsible?”
“The Scourge who currently occupy Dysan if your senility allows you to remember that,” Gaius coolly told him. From the way his eyes slanted, Liechi guessed he didn’t like the old psyduck and apparently, the feeling was mutual with the other. “If you want someone to vent your anger on, it would be them.” Salut scowled at Gaius for his behavior while the psyduck ruffled his dulled feathers.
“Insolent snapper!” he yelled at Gaius who remained unfazed. The psyduck then turned to his daughter. “Who are they and what are they doing here?” While Salut launched into quick, but detailed explanation about the occupants, Liechi decided to study the old duck, feeling like she had seen him before. His face was very familiar. She sorted through her memory banks of all the books she had read, particularly on Dysan. After a moment of hard concentration, she finally recalled seeing his face and gave the bird a surprised look, though he didn’t notice.
“Doctor Dyne! That’s who he is! One of Dysan’s top scientists known for his increasingly strange inventions!” Liechi mentally spoke to herself. Montezu was right. She did recognize him. By that time, Salut had finished giving him the details and he snapped his heads towards them.
“Contumelious brats, why don’t you go topside and die? My inventions are suffering because of you!”
“What the hell?” came Gaius’ first significant reaction that Liechi had seen since she’s been there. She didn’t like where this was going. “Listen here you old geezer-”
“Calm down!” Liechi spoke up, jumping between them despite the two standing far apart. “This is not the time for that.” She then turned to the doctor and gave him an apologetic expression. “I’m really sorry for the trouble sir. I don’t believe any of us meant any harm and neither did we know this was going to happen.”
“And who are you?” Doctor Dyne asked, still angry.
“Liechi. I’m from Lakeville. I came here seeking my brother, whom I found.” She cast a glance over to Nelt before returning her sights to the doctor. “On the behalf of everyone, I apologize for intruding, but am very thankful for your bunker. It provides shelter for Pokémon who could not escape the city nor Scourge.”
“It’s not much of a shelter now is it?” he peevishly inquired, giving the wrecked room a once over to affirm his retort before returning his glare to Gaius. “Salut informed me that you’ve been engaging the Scourge in order to take back Dysan. How do you plan to achieve that result?”
“By overheating all of Dysan’s boilers and causing an explosion-” Gaius began, but was cut off.
“That would potentially obliterate the Scourge and yourselves. A childish and jejune course of action. You sound like a bunch of petulant children.” Then the doctor did a small dance, shaking his balled fins, making whining noises, and squinting his eyes indicative of a child throwing a tantrum. “Wah, wah, if I can’t have it then no one can have it! Wah, wah! I’ll destroy it! Wah, wah! Then no one can have it ever! Wah, wah!” He then stopped with such abruptness that one would think he never did that imitation. Liechi suppressed the bubbling laughter within her as she glanced at Gaius who was now the thoroughly annoyed one. “Even if you managed to get the boilers in the process of overheating, I suppose we’ll be sipping spumante with the demons while we wait.” The psyduck received many confused looks. Gaius kept his mouth firmly clamped shut. Liechi thought she saw an ember escape from the side of his maw. Apparently, the doctor’s antics were having more affect than Gaius was letting on. When no one responded, the doctor sighed dramatically. “Ignorant hellions!”
Liechi chose to speak up again. “What you’re getting at is that the boilers won’t heat fast enough? Is that right?”
“There’s actually someone with brains in this brainless group!” the doctor dramatically announced before returning his sights to the gabite. “You’re not igniting campfires to boil a pot of water. These boilers take time to heat up. It was a task to keep them constantly going. Three weeks ago they went down. How long do you think it’ll take to get these things going again, let alone primed for your precious detonation?”
Someone else in the crowd spoke up. “If we manage to stall them long enough-”
“You’ll be slaves by that time, or dead if I’m lucky.”
“Do you have something of significance to contribute doctor?” Gaius impatiently questioned. “If you hadn’t noticed, we’re running a little short on time and I’d rather not waste it with some balding fowl.”
“The level of asininity in this generation is staggering!” he not too quietly grumbled before throwing his hands in the air. “Fine! Get yourselves killed! You’d be doing me a favor anyway!” As he made to walk out, Liechi ran up to him.
“Please wait a second sir,” she called, stopping alongside him. “You’re Doctor Dyne aren’t you? One of Dysan’s top scientists. Surely any input from you will be beneficial to the cause.” The duck said nothing and continued to eye Liechi with mixed emotions. “All of us need all the help we can get. I agree that their approach may not be the best, but at least they’re trying. No place and no one will be safe as long as the Abyss are here; not you, not them, not Salut…and not even your inventions.” She added that last part as an afterthought after figuring he cared a great deal for his inventions. A simple plea from Salut finally won the old psyduck over.
“Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can do,” he grumbled, but stared Liechi in the eye seriously. “Because educating these snappers quickly and thoroughly won’t be an easy task, I’ll expect something in return from you, Liechi, since Salut informed me that you’re an Indigo Seer.”
------
Dysan’s main power station
Dysan’s main power station looked much more imposing in person. Upon closer inspection, the structure did sustain heavy damage, especially at the top where that gaping hole housed the Scourge’s overseer. Liechi held her position behind fallen beam, scanning the area around the tower’s entrance. She nervously fiddled with the harness that was strapped to her and the little pockets on the straps. The place wasn’t heavily secured. Most of the guards ran off to investigate an explosion that erupted at the other end of the city. Their desire for battle and blood was insatiable, but she thanked the original one for the Scourge’s overconfidence and stupidity. The quicker they could win this battle without losing lives and destroy the bulk of the Scourge force, the better. Though she had yet to tell anyone, she did receive a message from another seer. Zix, that was his name. From his message she learned that the Abyss had overrun another city, Minacen. That was deep in Azmarx territory along that jagged channel and it was there that the Parchment of Fates lied. If the seers managed to acquire that document then the seers would be in an advantageous position. A couple of other telepathic messages arrived as well, but Liechi didn't have time to respond. If she got out of this battle alive, then she'll decide what to do from there.
Distant battle cries brought her back to reality. Scanning the area before her once more to see the remaining guards were looking away, Liechi removed a metallic sphere from her mane. The thing was three inches in diameter and was the color of bronze. Pressing a button at its top started up the small gears and reduced the time Liechi could hold it in her hand. Aiming as best she could, the whimsicott launched it towards the opening of the building, pushing it along with a gust of wind. It hit the ground with a noticeable clang, effectively attracting the attention of the guards who hurriedly followed the rolling item inside. With them out of sight, Liechi kept tabs on them with her seer ability and watched in amusement as the Scourge followed the item like a bunch of cats. Once it was far enough in, she canceled the wind and waited.
The ball rolled to a stop and the guards eagerly converged on it. One decided to pick it up once the item failed to respond to his kick. They closely watched the gears turn and didn't flinch away when two hatches opened on the sphere, releasing a burst of fine gas. They fanned the mist away, thinking nothing of it, but slowly their eyes became heavy and before long they were out like a light. Liechi grinned in triumph as she hurried from her hiding spot and quickly propelled herself into the building.
"I can't believe that actually worked," Rycero said as he dropped his invisibility. Not that it did him much good with a rather large pack strapped to his back. Liechi retrieved the stilled sphere and stuffed it back into her mane.
"Snorlax are known to have some of the most powerful yawns," she informed him, still smiling as she adjusted the brown harness she wore. "I guess Doctor Dyne managed to find one that was extremely potent. How does the other side look?"
“Clear now,” he answered, almost cheerfully through his languid demeanor. “Guards were a little more sparse so I took the liberty of permanently dispatching them." He waved his dirtied knife for emphasis. The kecleon then glanced about himself, spotting the door to the stairwell and a corridor with a label plate. Another explosion, this time closer, attracted their attention and both spotted mighty plume of smoke. “Gaius and the others are already on the move so we’ll have to be quick. Me and Trinket will take care of placing the vials down here and filling the boilers with this stuff. Think you can handle the tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth floors?”
Liechi nodded. “It’ll be no problem!”
“We’ve got only one shot at this. Don’t screw up.”
Liechi rolled her eyes. “The same applies to you. Are you ready Trinket?”
A tiny yellow spider crawled from within the Liechi’s mane and gave a salute with one of his furry legs. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he responded in a child-like voice before hopping onto Rycero’s shoulder. Liechi wished them luck before producing another gust of wind taking off towards the upper floors of the station. She kept her senses on high alert as she shot past each floor while keeping count as best she could. Upon reaching the respective floors, she would enter the corridor and place several vials in the assigned spots. She hoped got the right floors and areas. The briefing of an entirely new plan that Doctor Dyne gave them was indeed brief. Not to mention she had to remember to keep an eye out for the items he sought.
“What I want you to do for me is to retrieve some items that belong to me. It’s most likely located on the one of the upper floors,” she remembered Doctor Dyne telling her as she followed him into his study. “There are three boxes. Each is six inches all around with bronze, exterior gears. One’s black, another’s white, and the last is red. I want you to return those to me.”
“What’s so special about them?” she had asked him as he unrolled a diagram of the items he had described.
“They’re my latest invention that those snakes in the grass said was ridiculous. It was a solution to their complaints about moving many items across Talandra all at once without the need for numerous hired hands. I made the boxes with the capability to minimize and store multiple items. Needless to say it worked, but those slithering fiends kept pestering me about worthless things pertaining to my invention and so I discarded the boxes and the ideas, thinking they were a bunch of contemptible, spoiled brats. It wasn’t until later that I realized my error. It was all a ploy to get me to give up rights on the invention so they could claim the idea to be their own. After all, who would want their local scientist, who is supposed to be mad, coming up with an ingenious contraption that could revolutionize how materials are transported?”
“He’s not as mad as they say he is,” Liechi warmly thought, as her outstretched senses struck something familiar. Homing in on it revealed it to be the doctor’s coveted boxes. The faintness of it told her it was still several levels above her and reeled in her sight somewhat to the identification plate in the stairwell. Floor 82 was where she needed to go. She canceled her extended sight in time to spot a plate with the number six-two engraved on it. “He acts mean because he’s tired…tired of everyone.” Floor six-six. “I see the same look on my father’s face sometimes.” Seventy-one. “Like he wants to give up and cast everything aside because he’s tired.” Eighty-one. “Tired of everything.”
Liechi alighted on the railing and stared at the plate that read: FLOOR 82. The door was formerly closed, but a very noticeable bulge made it ajar. She glided over to the opening and squeezed through, avoiding the pointed edges caused by the dents. The other side turned out to be well lighted due to a gaping hole in the wall. Desks, chairs, tools, and other items were scattered about in complete disarray, broken and twisted. Liechi wondered if the doctor’s boxes could have withstood the devastating force that struck the room.
Wasting no time, Liechi combed the remains, utilizing her senses to home in on the targeted objects. She found two buried beneath the wreckage in the far corners of the room. As far as she could tell, the boxes were pretty banged up, but appeared operational. As she attached the containers to her harness, Liechi couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her confirmation arrived in the form of a shrieking voice that strained the squealer’s vocal cords to the utmost.
“INTRUDER! INTRUDER!” blared the chatot as he fluttered around crazily, torn between attacking the whimsicott and alerting his superior. Liechi decided to capitalize on his indecisiveness and sent a cloud of stun spore his way. The bird inhaled much of it as he made to shout again and his voice cracked before completely muting. His frozen wings failed to keep him aloft and he fell to the floor, struggling to move and shout. Liechi breathed hard, her heart hammering against her chest. He was loud, much too loud. She needed to find that last box and get out of there. After roving the room many times over, the last box revealed itself near the hole’s edge. Liechi hurried for it and hastily clipped it to her harness. The boxes proved to be rather weighty and would require her to expend much more energy than she wanted.
“Now to get out of here.” As she stood, a strong forebodingness struck her. Narrowly did she escape a dark beam that obliterated the spot she occupied only seconds ago. Not use to the additional shifting weight, Liechi landed hard. The boxes sounded out as they banged the ground harshly. She didn’t have time to check the damage as she quickly erected a protect, just barely avoiding a potentially fatal attack. Unfortunately, the floor couldn’t hold up against the blast and caved. The boxes fell through first, snatching Liechi along. She attempted to kick up a tailwind, but slammed into a large conduit. The straps of the harness held strong as the boxes twirled beneath her. Liechi groaned as she sat up, her back wracked with pain.
“You’re not one of my playthings from before. How disappointing.” Liechi immediately came to attention. With debris falling about her, she failed to pick up on the mandibuzz landing nearby. The bird looked annoyed more than anything as it assessed the whimsicott with her red eyes.
“The Abyss have no need for toys,” Liechi told her, shoving herself to her feet.
“I do! I have to be entertained or else I become upset,” she retorted, frowning slightly. “I may consider not torturing you if you can tell me of the location of a certain cacturne.” Liechi raised her nonexistent brows. The buzzard was undoubtedly speaking of Nelt. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. “He was…very entertaining. He has the potential to become my loyal commander.”
“Really?” Liechi sarcastically said as she sneakily released small bits of stun spore. “There is a possibility that I have seen the Pokémon you speak of, but unfortunately, I don’t know what a cacturne looks like. Could you describe him to me please?”
Harpet released a shrill shriek and gave a mighty flap with her wings, releasing a series of air slashes when the whimsicott released a cloud of stun spore. Liechi threw herself over the side as the condensed air sliced through wiring and other weakened material. Multiple copies of herself appeared and converged on the angered mandibuzz. With the bird distracted, Liechi flew up and over the buzzard before releasing another cloud of stun spore. Although the glittering yellow cloud engulfed the mandibuzz, it appeared to have no effect as she fanned away the last of the clones. She easily picked up on Liechi’s location and fired off a dark pulse.
Liechi dove to the side as the dark energy buried itself into another wall of metal, breaking loose more weakened parts that clanged loudly on the way down. She hoped Rycero and Trinket were all right. Mixed in with the noise of debris were the roars and shrieks of combating Pokémon. Apparently, the other squads had arrived with many Scourges in tow. It was even more imperative that she got out soon. Once they ruptured the tanks a chain reaction would take place when the explosion struck the vials they strategically placed about the building. That gave Liechi an idea. Removing the last vial from its pouch, Liechi tossed it at the approaching bird, whose movements had noticeably become sluggish. The glass smashed across the buzzard’s featherless head and the liquid content instantly ignited. She released a shrill shriek of pain as she blindly barreled in Liechi’s direction. The grass Pokémon canceled the tailwind, allowing the weight of the boxes to remove her from harm.
Into the railing the mandibuzz crashed, but Liechi didn’t check on her. Instead she manifested her clones once more and dove towards the ground floor. The battle on the ground floor was chaotic and getting worse. The smell of blood and burned flesh was strong. Liechi prayed her brother and Monetzu were not amongst them. Pokémon of the Abyss were crowding in after the rebels who had intentionally led them into the building while the rebels attempted to escape the facility after leading the Scourge in. Liechi sent in her clones to provide a better distraction and to lure the evil Pokémon away from the rebels. Once the rebels could be more easily identified, she lent them the fast currents of her tailwind to increase swiftness of their escape to the outside.
Stationed around the building were mostly psychic Pokémon along with those who boasted similar abilities. Sweat rolled down their strained faces as they placed their all into holding the barrier that would keep the Scourge inside while periodically weakening it just enough to let out their comrades. Liechi easily spotted Gaius who continued bellowing at the Pokémon to keep holding up the barrier.
“Liechi!” someone called. Glancing about herself, Liechi spotted Rycero heading in the same direction. He gave her a wave, affirming that they had completed their objective.
“Gaius!” she called, reaching him just as Rycero and the barely noticeable Trinket did.
He faced her direction, eyes sharp and focused. Blood trailed down the middle of his face from a gash on his forehead, but he made no motion to wipe it away or even gave indication that he knew he had been wounded. “Has everything been set, seer?”
“Yes, everything’s ready,” she answered. “You’d better hurry because I don’t know how long that cohort will be out of commission.” The gabite gave a sharp nod and gave Trinket the go ahead to set off the explosion. He then bellowed for everyone to quickly fall back. Liechi conjured another tailwind, pushing the stampeding Pokémon along. She didn’t see Trinket send a jolt of electricity down the web that trailed into the power station, but felt the results of its effects. Everyone did. She couldn’t get so many away fast enough before the shockwave hit. The explosion obliterated sound altogether and the ensuing shockwave punched their backs hard. Pokémon were thrown into the air and blown across the ground like ragdolls, their bodies having become limp due to a loss of consciousness or having become stunned. Liechi’s was a part of the latter category. Her thoughts became incoherent and dizziness assailed her. This resulted in her inability to concentrate, which caused the tailwind to dissipate. The boxes acted as her anchors and effectively brought her to the ground. In too much of a daze to get up, Liechi closed her eyes and entered the quiet embrace of unconsciousness.
Liechi the Whimsicott
Dysan, Kanat
Underground bunker > Dysan’s main power station
“They’re moving away now,” Liechi spoke as she watched a herd of Scourge move away towards the outskirts of the city all the while stomping their feet. Unstable buildings easily collapsed under the fierce onslaught of earthquakes, while others lost a wall or gained severe cracks. “Looks like they’re just randomly using earthquake.”
“Hardly,” came a snarl from a Pokémon she could not see, but knew to be Gaius. “What is that buzzard up to?”
“Give me a sec,” Liechi told him, moving her mental projection through the air towards Dysan’s iconic tower. A gaping hole lied near the top and that’s where she went. The area was dark with crisscrossing, fallen beams, pipes and twisted metal. Standing before the shadowy recess was a honchkrow who spoke into the darkness where a large figure loomed. Liechi guessed that to be Harpet, the Cohort and commander of the Dysan Scourge. She listened in on their conversation before canceling her vision. Almost immediately she felt herself drop back into her body, which was surrounded by Gaius, Nelt, Montezu, Rycero and a few others who were awaiting the report. Lifting her small paws to her head, Liechi rubbed her temples. Her head swam and her body still felt like it was experiencing the tremors. “It was planned. She’s trying to flush us out. Apparently she wants her playthings from earlier.”
Gaius frowned. “Plaything?” Liechi could only shrug her shoulders at his confusion before taking another glance around the devastated room. Light fixtures were shattered, and the only clock in sight was thrown all the way across to the opposite side. A huge chunk of rock had broken away from the ceiling and slammed onto the floor. Miraculously no one was killed, but there were a few who were unfortunate in having a limb pinned. Most were either unharmed or had sustained a mild head injury.
“Either way, it looks like we need to get moving-”
“ALRIGHT! WHO DID IT?” a voice blared as the door to the meeting room flew open, revealing an old psyduck with age spots. Strapped about his head was a clunky set of goggles that magnified his beady eyes. His webbed paw gripped some sort of mangled contraptions that had obviously fallen apart. He held it up to them, shaking the items accusingly towards them. “WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE?” Liechi’s looked in wonder when Salut hurried over to the psyduck while calling him dad. She watched as the audino checked on the annoyed duck whose magnified eyes continued to glare at them. “I’m fine, I’m fine Salut. What I want to know it…WHO ARE ALL THESE POKES AND WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE? I was finally making headway when those quakes hit! Now who’s responsible?”
“The Scourge who currently occupy Dysan if your senility allows you to remember that,” Gaius coolly told him. From the way his eyes slanted, Liechi guessed he didn’t like the old psyduck and apparently, the feeling was mutual with the other. “If you want someone to vent your anger on, it would be them.” Salut scowled at Gaius for his behavior while the psyduck ruffled his dulled feathers.
“Insolent snapper!” he yelled at Gaius who remained unfazed. The psyduck then turned to his daughter. “Who are they and what are they doing here?” While Salut launched into quick, but detailed explanation about the occupants, Liechi decided to study the old duck, feeling like she had seen him before. His face was very familiar. She sorted through her memory banks of all the books she had read, particularly on Dysan. After a moment of hard concentration, she finally recalled seeing his face and gave the bird a surprised look, though he didn’t notice.
“Doctor Dyne! That’s who he is! One of Dysan’s top scientists known for his increasingly strange inventions!” Liechi mentally spoke to herself. Montezu was right. She did recognize him. By that time, Salut had finished giving him the details and he snapped his heads towards them.
“Contumelious brats, why don’t you go topside and die? My inventions are suffering because of you!”
“What the hell?” came Gaius’ first significant reaction that Liechi had seen since she’s been there. She didn’t like where this was going. “Listen here you old geezer-”
“Calm down!” Liechi spoke up, jumping between them despite the two standing far apart. “This is not the time for that.” She then turned to the doctor and gave him an apologetic expression. “I’m really sorry for the trouble sir. I don’t believe any of us meant any harm and neither did we know this was going to happen.”
“And who are you?” Doctor Dyne asked, still angry.
“Liechi. I’m from Lakeville. I came here seeking my brother, whom I found.” She cast a glance over to Nelt before returning her sights to the doctor. “On the behalf of everyone, I apologize for intruding, but am very thankful for your bunker. It provides shelter for Pokémon who could not escape the city nor Scourge.”
“It’s not much of a shelter now is it?” he peevishly inquired, giving the wrecked room a once over to affirm his retort before returning his glare to Gaius. “Salut informed me that you’ve been engaging the Scourge in order to take back Dysan. How do you plan to achieve that result?”
“By overheating all of Dysan’s boilers and causing an explosion-” Gaius began, but was cut off.
“That would potentially obliterate the Scourge and yourselves. A childish and jejune course of action. You sound like a bunch of petulant children.” Then the doctor did a small dance, shaking his balled fins, making whining noises, and squinting his eyes indicative of a child throwing a tantrum. “Wah, wah, if I can’t have it then no one can have it! Wah, wah! I’ll destroy it! Wah, wah! Then no one can have it ever! Wah, wah!” He then stopped with such abruptness that one would think he never did that imitation. Liechi suppressed the bubbling laughter within her as she glanced at Gaius who was now the thoroughly annoyed one. “Even if you managed to get the boilers in the process of overheating, I suppose we’ll be sipping spumante with the demons while we wait.” The psyduck received many confused looks. Gaius kept his mouth firmly clamped shut. Liechi thought she saw an ember escape from the side of his maw. Apparently, the doctor’s antics were having more affect than Gaius was letting on. When no one responded, the doctor sighed dramatically. “Ignorant hellions!”
Liechi chose to speak up again. “What you’re getting at is that the boilers won’t heat fast enough? Is that right?”
“There’s actually someone with brains in this brainless group!” the doctor dramatically announced before returning his sights to the gabite. “You’re not igniting campfires to boil a pot of water. These boilers take time to heat up. It was a task to keep them constantly going. Three weeks ago they went down. How long do you think it’ll take to get these things going again, let alone primed for your precious detonation?”
Someone else in the crowd spoke up. “If we manage to stall them long enough-”
“You’ll be slaves by that time, or dead if I’m lucky.”
“Do you have something of significance to contribute doctor?” Gaius impatiently questioned. “If you hadn’t noticed, we’re running a little short on time and I’d rather not waste it with some balding fowl.”
“The level of asininity in this generation is staggering!” he not too quietly grumbled before throwing his hands in the air. “Fine! Get yourselves killed! You’d be doing me a favor anyway!” As he made to walk out, Liechi ran up to him.
“Please wait a second sir,” she called, stopping alongside him. “You’re Doctor Dyne aren’t you? One of Dysan’s top scientists. Surely any input from you will be beneficial to the cause.” The duck said nothing and continued to eye Liechi with mixed emotions. “All of us need all the help we can get. I agree that their approach may not be the best, but at least they’re trying. No place and no one will be safe as long as the Abyss are here; not you, not them, not Salut…and not even your inventions.” She added that last part as an afterthought after figuring he cared a great deal for his inventions. A simple plea from Salut finally won the old psyduck over.
“Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can do,” he grumbled, but stared Liechi in the eye seriously. “Because educating these snappers quickly and thoroughly won’t be an easy task, I’ll expect something in return from you, Liechi, since Salut informed me that you’re an Indigo Seer.”
------
Dysan’s main power station
Dysan’s main power station looked much more imposing in person. Upon closer inspection, the structure did sustain heavy damage, especially at the top where that gaping hole housed the Scourge’s overseer. Liechi held her position behind fallen beam, scanning the area around the tower’s entrance. She nervously fiddled with the harness that was strapped to her and the little pockets on the straps. The place wasn’t heavily secured. Most of the guards ran off to investigate an explosion that erupted at the other end of the city. Their desire for battle and blood was insatiable, but she thanked the original one for the Scourge’s overconfidence and stupidity. The quicker they could win this battle without losing lives and destroy the bulk of the Scourge force, the better. Though she had yet to tell anyone, she did receive a message from another seer. Zix, that was his name. From his message she learned that the Abyss had overrun another city, Minacen. That was deep in Azmarx territory along that jagged channel and it was there that the Parchment of Fates lied. If the seers managed to acquire that document then the seers would be in an advantageous position. A couple of other telepathic messages arrived as well, but Liechi didn't have time to respond. If she got out of this battle alive, then she'll decide what to do from there.
Distant battle cries brought her back to reality. Scanning the area before her once more to see the remaining guards were looking away, Liechi removed a metallic sphere from her mane. The thing was three inches in diameter and was the color of bronze. Pressing a button at its top started up the small gears and reduced the time Liechi could hold it in her hand. Aiming as best she could, the whimsicott launched it towards the opening of the building, pushing it along with a gust of wind. It hit the ground with a noticeable clang, effectively attracting the attention of the guards who hurriedly followed the rolling item inside. With them out of sight, Liechi kept tabs on them with her seer ability and watched in amusement as the Scourge followed the item like a bunch of cats. Once it was far enough in, she canceled the wind and waited.
The ball rolled to a stop and the guards eagerly converged on it. One decided to pick it up once the item failed to respond to his kick. They closely watched the gears turn and didn't flinch away when two hatches opened on the sphere, releasing a burst of fine gas. They fanned the mist away, thinking nothing of it, but slowly their eyes became heavy and before long they were out like a light. Liechi grinned in triumph as she hurried from her hiding spot and quickly propelled herself into the building.
"I can't believe that actually worked," Rycero said as he dropped his invisibility. Not that it did him much good with a rather large pack strapped to his back. Liechi retrieved the stilled sphere and stuffed it back into her mane.
"Snorlax are known to have some of the most powerful yawns," she informed him, still smiling as she adjusted the brown harness she wore. "I guess Doctor Dyne managed to find one that was extremely potent. How does the other side look?"
“Clear now,” he answered, almost cheerfully through his languid demeanor. “Guards were a little more sparse so I took the liberty of permanently dispatching them." He waved his dirtied knife for emphasis. The kecleon then glanced about himself, spotting the door to the stairwell and a corridor with a label plate. Another explosion, this time closer, attracted their attention and both spotted mighty plume of smoke. “Gaius and the others are already on the move so we’ll have to be quick. Me and Trinket will take care of placing the vials down here and filling the boilers with this stuff. Think you can handle the tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth floors?”
Liechi nodded. “It’ll be no problem!”
“We’ve got only one shot at this. Don’t screw up.”
Liechi rolled her eyes. “The same applies to you. Are you ready Trinket?”
A tiny yellow spider crawled from within the Liechi’s mane and gave a salute with one of his furry legs. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he responded in a child-like voice before hopping onto Rycero’s shoulder. Liechi wished them luck before producing another gust of wind taking off towards the upper floors of the station. She kept her senses on high alert as she shot past each floor while keeping count as best she could. Upon reaching the respective floors, she would enter the corridor and place several vials in the assigned spots. She hoped got the right floors and areas. The briefing of an entirely new plan that Doctor Dyne gave them was indeed brief. Not to mention she had to remember to keep an eye out for the items he sought.
“What I want you to do for me is to retrieve some items that belong to me. It’s most likely located on the one of the upper floors,” she remembered Doctor Dyne telling her as she followed him into his study. “There are three boxes. Each is six inches all around with bronze, exterior gears. One’s black, another’s white, and the last is red. I want you to return those to me.”
“What’s so special about them?” she had asked him as he unrolled a diagram of the items he had described.
“They’re my latest invention that those snakes in the grass said was ridiculous. It was a solution to their complaints about moving many items across Talandra all at once without the need for numerous hired hands. I made the boxes with the capability to minimize and store multiple items. Needless to say it worked, but those slithering fiends kept pestering me about worthless things pertaining to my invention and so I discarded the boxes and the ideas, thinking they were a bunch of contemptible, spoiled brats. It wasn’t until later that I realized my error. It was all a ploy to get me to give up rights on the invention so they could claim the idea to be their own. After all, who would want their local scientist, who is supposed to be mad, coming up with an ingenious contraption that could revolutionize how materials are transported?”
“He’s not as mad as they say he is,” Liechi warmly thought, as her outstretched senses struck something familiar. Homing in on it revealed it to be the doctor’s coveted boxes. The faintness of it told her it was still several levels above her and reeled in her sight somewhat to the identification plate in the stairwell. Floor 82 was where she needed to go. She canceled her extended sight in time to spot a plate with the number six-two engraved on it. “He acts mean because he’s tired…tired of everyone.” Floor six-six. “I see the same look on my father’s face sometimes.” Seventy-one. “Like he wants to give up and cast everything aside because he’s tired.” Eighty-one. “Tired of everything.”
Liechi alighted on the railing and stared at the plate that read: FLOOR 82. The door was formerly closed, but a very noticeable bulge made it ajar. She glided over to the opening and squeezed through, avoiding the pointed edges caused by the dents. The other side turned out to be well lighted due to a gaping hole in the wall. Desks, chairs, tools, and other items were scattered about in complete disarray, broken and twisted. Liechi wondered if the doctor’s boxes could have withstood the devastating force that struck the room.
Wasting no time, Liechi combed the remains, utilizing her senses to home in on the targeted objects. She found two buried beneath the wreckage in the far corners of the room. As far as she could tell, the boxes were pretty banged up, but appeared operational. As she attached the containers to her harness, Liechi couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her confirmation arrived in the form of a shrieking voice that strained the squealer’s vocal cords to the utmost.
“INTRUDER! INTRUDER!” blared the chatot as he fluttered around crazily, torn between attacking the whimsicott and alerting his superior. Liechi decided to capitalize on his indecisiveness and sent a cloud of stun spore his way. The bird inhaled much of it as he made to shout again and his voice cracked before completely muting. His frozen wings failed to keep him aloft and he fell to the floor, struggling to move and shout. Liechi breathed hard, her heart hammering against her chest. He was loud, much too loud. She needed to find that last box and get out of there. After roving the room many times over, the last box revealed itself near the hole’s edge. Liechi hurried for it and hastily clipped it to her harness. The boxes proved to be rather weighty and would require her to expend much more energy than she wanted.
“Now to get out of here.” As she stood, a strong forebodingness struck her. Narrowly did she escape a dark beam that obliterated the spot she occupied only seconds ago. Not use to the additional shifting weight, Liechi landed hard. The boxes sounded out as they banged the ground harshly. She didn’t have time to check the damage as she quickly erected a protect, just barely avoiding a potentially fatal attack. Unfortunately, the floor couldn’t hold up against the blast and caved. The boxes fell through first, snatching Liechi along. She attempted to kick up a tailwind, but slammed into a large conduit. The straps of the harness held strong as the boxes twirled beneath her. Liechi groaned as she sat up, her back wracked with pain.
“You’re not one of my playthings from before. How disappointing.” Liechi immediately came to attention. With debris falling about her, she failed to pick up on the mandibuzz landing nearby. The bird looked annoyed more than anything as it assessed the whimsicott with her red eyes.
“The Abyss have no need for toys,” Liechi told her, shoving herself to her feet.
“I do! I have to be entertained or else I become upset,” she retorted, frowning slightly. “I may consider not torturing you if you can tell me of the location of a certain cacturne.” Liechi raised her nonexistent brows. The buzzard was undoubtedly speaking of Nelt. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. “He was…very entertaining. He has the potential to become my loyal commander.”
“Really?” Liechi sarcastically said as she sneakily released small bits of stun spore. “There is a possibility that I have seen the Pokémon you speak of, but unfortunately, I don’t know what a cacturne looks like. Could you describe him to me please?”
Harpet released a shrill shriek and gave a mighty flap with her wings, releasing a series of air slashes when the whimsicott released a cloud of stun spore. Liechi threw herself over the side as the condensed air sliced through wiring and other weakened material. Multiple copies of herself appeared and converged on the angered mandibuzz. With the bird distracted, Liechi flew up and over the buzzard before releasing another cloud of stun spore. Although the glittering yellow cloud engulfed the mandibuzz, it appeared to have no effect as she fanned away the last of the clones. She easily picked up on Liechi’s location and fired off a dark pulse.
Liechi dove to the side as the dark energy buried itself into another wall of metal, breaking loose more weakened parts that clanged loudly on the way down. She hoped Rycero and Trinket were all right. Mixed in with the noise of debris were the roars and shrieks of combating Pokémon. Apparently, the other squads had arrived with many Scourges in tow. It was even more imperative that she got out soon. Once they ruptured the tanks a chain reaction would take place when the explosion struck the vials they strategically placed about the building. That gave Liechi an idea. Removing the last vial from its pouch, Liechi tossed it at the approaching bird, whose movements had noticeably become sluggish. The glass smashed across the buzzard’s featherless head and the liquid content instantly ignited. She released a shrill shriek of pain as she blindly barreled in Liechi’s direction. The grass Pokémon canceled the tailwind, allowing the weight of the boxes to remove her from harm.
Into the railing the mandibuzz crashed, but Liechi didn’t check on her. Instead she manifested her clones once more and dove towards the ground floor. The battle on the ground floor was chaotic and getting worse. The smell of blood and burned flesh was strong. Liechi prayed her brother and Monetzu were not amongst them. Pokémon of the Abyss were crowding in after the rebels who had intentionally led them into the building while the rebels attempted to escape the facility after leading the Scourge in. Liechi sent in her clones to provide a better distraction and to lure the evil Pokémon away from the rebels. Once the rebels could be more easily identified, she lent them the fast currents of her tailwind to increase swiftness of their escape to the outside.
Stationed around the building were mostly psychic Pokémon along with those who boasted similar abilities. Sweat rolled down their strained faces as they placed their all into holding the barrier that would keep the Scourge inside while periodically weakening it just enough to let out their comrades. Liechi easily spotted Gaius who continued bellowing at the Pokémon to keep holding up the barrier.
“Liechi!” someone called. Glancing about herself, Liechi spotted Rycero heading in the same direction. He gave her a wave, affirming that they had completed their objective.
“Gaius!” she called, reaching him just as Rycero and the barely noticeable Trinket did.
He faced her direction, eyes sharp and focused. Blood trailed down the middle of his face from a gash on his forehead, but he made no motion to wipe it away or even gave indication that he knew he had been wounded. “Has everything been set, seer?”
“Yes, everything’s ready,” she answered. “You’d better hurry because I don’t know how long that cohort will be out of commission.” The gabite gave a sharp nod and gave Trinket the go ahead to set off the explosion. He then bellowed for everyone to quickly fall back. Liechi conjured another tailwind, pushing the stampeding Pokémon along. She didn’t see Trinket send a jolt of electricity down the web that trailed into the power station, but felt the results of its effects. Everyone did. She couldn’t get so many away fast enough before the shockwave hit. The explosion obliterated sound altogether and the ensuing shockwave punched their backs hard. Pokémon were thrown into the air and blown across the ground like ragdolls, their bodies having become limp due to a loss of consciousness or having become stunned. Liechi’s was a part of the latter category. Her thoughts became incoherent and dizziness assailed her. This resulted in her inability to concentrate, which caused the tailwind to dissipate. The boxes acted as her anchors and effectively brought her to the ground. In too much of a daze to get up, Liechi closed her eyes and entered the quiet embrace of unconsciousness.
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