Here's the next chapter guys!
Chapter Three: Infiltration
The commotion around the Temple of Arceus had only recently died down. Light from the houses surrounding the historical monument went out one by one as the night dragged on, but there were still a few heads peeking through glassy windows. The harsh weather had calmed down into a brisk wind, and the constant sound of rain’s freefall onto the ground and the lightning bolts battling in the heavens was replaced by the calls of a lonely Noctowl. Police officers had turned off their sirens and were departing from the scene of the crime, the majority of them not even heading back to the station. The only thing that seemed to remain static the entire night was the full moon bathing the landscape in its magnificent light. It was relatively bright that night; so much in fact that there was no need for street lights. Yes, the perfect night to pull a heist.
The police department, and the location of Ezekiel’s CD, was located only a few blocks away from the temple. It was one of the many black, tower-like buildings that jutted from the ground around Arcanum. The radio tower atop it scraped the heavens, and the very tip had a red light that flashed every few seconds. This seemingly minuscule detail was what allowed Lupe and Lucy to identify the building as opposed to the ones that looked exactly like it. Lucy’s small frame was shivering in the cold breeze, but Lupe stood almost statue-like, eyeing his target. The duo looked on from the roof of a restaurant that, ironically, fashioned a sign stating: There’s no one on top of us!
“<Are you finished yet?>” Lucy asked with her arms crossed. What she was referring to was the Lucarian ability to sense the aura of all living things. It usually took seconds for them to identify auras, but at such a great distance, Lupe was having some trouble. After about a minute or so, he took a deep breath and turned to Lucy.
“<The building is pretty empty, except for a few Pokemon patrolling the basement. Unfortunately, that’s where they’re keeping the CD.>”
“<Like you care? I know you’ve been itching for a good fight!>” Lucy exclaimed.
Lupe smirked at the comment and began to move toward the edge of the roof. “<Didn’t Ivan send you along to keep us out of trouble?>”
Lucy responded with a grin of her own and closely followed her partner. “<Seriously, Lupe, I know you better than that.>”
“<Oh yes you do,>” he replied, bending over and looking downward to see how long the jump was. Without a second thought, he gracefully leapt off of the ledge and landed onto a green dumpster in a dark alleyway. Unfortunately, his landing caused the metal dumpster to release a deep, rumbling sound that easily traveled across the silent neighborhood.
“<Way to go, genius,>” called Lucy from above with a hint of sarcasm. Unlike her partner, she chose to land on an old couch that someone had decided to dispose of.
Suddenly, voices could be heard behind the door leading inside the restaurant and they were getting louder. Lupe and Lucy simply looked at the door, trying not to make any noise. To their surprise, however, the knob turned and out walked three beings. The tallest and most noticeable was a pale-skinned, and quite chubby, human. His shirt was covered in blood— albeit it wasn’t his— and in his right hand he held a butcher’s knife. At both his sides were two Pokemon that looked like hellhounds. Bones curved down their spines and stationed atop their heads were two very sharp horns. Both Houndoom immediately spotted the intruders and signaled their master.
“You two, get down now!” he ordered, first pointing at Lupe and Lucy then at the ground in front of him. The two listened without objection, hoping to get out of the predicament with minimal damage. With them standing in better lighting, the butcher finally began to inspect the culprits. His eyes quickly scanned over Lucy, but he spent a great deal of time staring at Lupe’s shin— more specifically, the missing patch of fur.
“You...” he began, pointing at the Lucario before continuing, “I heard about you on the radio. The police are looking for you!”
A shudder ran down Lupe’s spine, and for a second, he considered running away and aborting the mission. Lucy shot Lupe a questioning look, as she too was confused on what to do next. Taking advantage of their shock and confusion, the butcher tapped his two Houndoom and pointed at rebels.
Howling like mad beasts, each Houndoom charged for a separate Pokemon with murder in their eyes. The one heading for Lupe jumped for its prey, but the Lucario acted quickly and took a few steps back, causing his opponent to miss by mere inches. Without hesitation, Lupe gave an upward kick, hitting the Houndoom in the chin and sending it back toward its owner.
“<That all you got?>” he asked slyly.
“<Uh, a little help here!>” shouted Lucy from a few feet away. She seemed to be struggling with her opponent as the Houndoom advanced with strong bites, and Lucy barely dodging each one. Realizing that they weren’t getting anywhere, the Houndoom lowered its head and charged at the Weavile with its horns. Too frantic and worn out to dodge at such close range, Lucy instinctively thrust her hands up and to her amazement, caught the horns in her claws. The Houndoom continuously chomped at Lucy’s face, but she was able to push it back at the last minute every time. He could see the Lucario approaching from the corner of his eye and tried a new tactic. Ceasing his constant jabs at Lucy’s face, he took a deep breathe, followed by a release of purple gas from his mouth. Lupe, who hadn’t reached the Houndoom yet, was able to leap away and escape the smog, but Lucy wasn’t so lucky. Catching the full force of the blast, she had no choice but to release her opponent and back away with a violent cough.
“<Lucy, are you—.>” Lupe was unable to finish his question as a set of teeth from the other Houndoom clamped hard on his shoulder. He let out a howling cry of his own as the fangs of the Houndoom became incased in a raging flame, burning through his fur and skin. Unable to bear the pain any longer, Lupe forcibly pulled himself away and rejoined Lucy, leaving some fur behind in the hellhound’s jaws. As Lupe put pressure on the deep, bloody gash, he looked over to Lucy, who was still coughing and now had watery, red eyes.
“This is what happens when you mess with the Order!” cried the human, his fist high in the air. There was a distinct passion in his words, as if he was stating something that was absolute truth.
The simple mention of the Order triggered a hatred within the core of Lupe’s soul, and the Lucario glared at his enemies with a killer’s intent. Removing his hand from the wound, he cupped them together at his side, and a blue orb began to form between them. Lucy looked doubtfully at the well-known attack and used the remainder of her energy reserves to move away. It grew to about this size of a melon before Lupe decided to send it hurtling at the two dogs. It exploded on contact, and the Houndoom cried out in painful whimpers through the gray smoke before finally silencing.
“<Come on!>” Lupe shouted to Lucy before running out of the alley. Neither was in any shape to run, let alone complete the mission, but both ignored their pain and ran down the empty street. By the time the smoke cleared, they were already hiding behind the police station in its shadow.
“<Lupe, we have to go back. There’s no way we can do anything in this shape!>” Lucy suggested before falling to her knees from exhaustion and coughing. That last cough actually managed to produce a little blood.
She’s poisoned, Lupe immediately realized.
“<Lucy, we might not get another chance like this. I understand if you want to go back, but I must get that CD!>”
Lucy coughed a few more times before responding. “<Lupe, look at yourself. Your shoulder is bleeding like crazy! If any of it gets on the floor, they’ll have even more of your DNA.>”
Lupe gave a forced chuckle at the idea of aborting when he was so close and began focusing on the ground. His luck seemed to be coming back as he found a discarded rag on the ground and quickly tied it firmly around his injury.
“<I’ve got about fifteen minutes until this thing is completely soaked, so I better go now!>”
“<Lupe—,>” and unexpected cough interrupted the Weavile, and by the time she recovered, her companion had already ran deeper into the shadows.
Lupe kept his eyes on the ground as he ran, searching for some way to get into the building. Even though the lobby was empty— and Lupe was sure of it at this close range— it would take way too long and be too risky for him to walk around the building. Lupe had gone on enough missions in this area of the city to know the there were drains behind these buildings that lead directly to their basements. As his feet stepped onto one, it made a loud clang and he came to an abrupt halt.
Reaching down, he gripped the metal bar tightly and pulled with all his might. Alas, he had underestimated the severity of his wound and nearly screamed out in agony as he only made things worse. Nothing was going as planned and if a simple mission like this couldn’t be completed, there was no way he could accomplish what was to come soon after. Using his good arm, he continuously punched down hard on the metal until the screws eventually came out, and he plummeted into the murky waters below. Any and all Pokemon around at that moment scurried away before Lupe could even get to his feet.
There was an extremely strong stench in the air down there and Lupe was nearly brought to tears. He sank into the brownish-green water to about his knees and he felt as if walking through an ocean of mud. He had gone a bit lower than he expected; all the way into the sewers below the building, but still fairly close to his destination. The large, rusted steel pipes resembled a maze and judging by his luck so far, the Lucario better had get out of there and fast. Because of the thick, vile liquid, no matter how much energy he put in to moving, Lupe was forced to advance at a constant speed. It took him nearly five minutes to reach a nearby ladder.
“<I’ve already come this far,>” Lupe murmured, grimacing at the filthy ladder. Sighing at the pain he knew was going to come, he gripped the bars tightly and hoisted himself up. Expectantly, waves of pain shot across his bad arm and at one point, he almost released his grip, happy to soak in that despicable liquid rather than experience such pain. But luckily, he strived on, and managed to reach a small door at the top of the ladder.
“<Uh oh,>” he said to himself, realizing the dilemma he was faced with. The door required a lever to be pulled for it to open, but his hands were occupied at the moment. As he thought about how he could get around this predicament, a small splash could be heard in the distance.
He mind began racing with various thoughts. Did they find me? Was it just a wandering Pokemon? Was it my imagination? Can I even handle another battle? For a second, he even doubted not heeding Lucy’s warning. Of course, all those questions didn’t matter as the being turned the same corner as Lupe and stepped into the light.
“<I was worried,>” said Lucy as she tried to muster up a smile. Even from Lupe’s position he could see that she was still fighting the poison that had entered her body from the last fight. He didn’t know whether to be happy that she was a here or furious.
“<Lucy, you have to go back. In that condition, you’ll only end up slowing us down.>”
“<You seem to be doing perfectly on your own,>” she replied, referring to the fact that Lupe still hadn’t figured out a way to push the lever without falling to the water. With a groan he moved to the edge of the ladder, giving Lucy’s petite body just enough room to climb up. Even in her poisoned state, the Weavile hastily darted up the ladder. With a nod from her partner, she pushed the lever and the circular door above them automatically slid back into the wall.
As expected, the duo climbed out of the hole only to end up in the basement floor of the police department. Although the surface area was about the size of the Rebel base’s main hall, the similarities between the two ended there. Unlike the base, the entire structure, although underground, was constructed of a fine, metal alloyed. The lights on the ceiling were placed at great distances from one another, but thanks to this metallic material, still made the entire place shine in an almost divine luminosity. The halls gave an illusion of continuing on for miles, making the building look much bigger than it actually was. Doors lined the both sides of the hallway, but thanks to Lupe’s aura-sensing ability, could tell that the majority of them were empty. This was believable, as the sun wasn’t due to rise in a few hours.
“<Lupe, look, your shoulder,>” Lucy suddenly pointed out. The Lucario curiously glanced at the rag covering his shirt was astounded to see that the bleeding had stopped. One less problem for them to worry about.
“<Too bad it still hurts. Now that luck is finally on our side, let’s get moving,>” he suggested, walking toward the shortest corner.
“<How do you know it’s this way?>” Lucy questioned as they walked. She struggled to say the entire thing in one go without coughing.
“<Truth be told, the only thing I know for a fact is that the lab is on the basement floor. However, I do sense a lot of auras in this direction, mostly humans,>” he explained. Although he’d never admit it, it was enjoyable to have someone to go on missions with. It was really the only time he was able to show off his skills.
“<So in other words, there’s a good chance we might be walking right into a trap?>” Of course, there were times when Lupe preferred to work alone.
Although he thought he had grown used to it, the eerie silence of the halls was beginning to get on Lupe’s nerves. The only sounds made were that of the two Pokemon’s feet scraping across the glistening metal and an occasional wheeze from Lucy, who deserved a medal for simply staying conscious that long after taking a smog at point-blank range. The hypnotic rhythm of their steps put Lupe in a daze, causing him to nearly walk past their destination. After noticing the large collection of auras behind a large, rusted door—the only of its kind in the hall— the Lucario abruptly came to a stop and signaled Lucy to do the same.
“<Five humans, one Pokemon,>” he said absentmindedly. “<Can you handle a small brawl?>”
“<What’s with you and fighting?>” Lucy whispered back while pointing upward. Above them was a vent that, in all likelihood, led into the lab. “<Give me a lift and I’ll take them out silently.>”
Lupe looked back and forth between the vent and his partner. If he agreed to her plan it meant he’d take absolutely no part in the main objective. Of course, neither of them was in any shape for a fight. He finally came to the conclusion that it’d be best for the mission if they were unnoticed.
“<Don’t screw this up,>” Lupe whispered with a scowl. After an agreeing smile from Lucy he cupped his paws at his waistline and held them in place. As Lucy cautiously positioned her small feet in her partner’s hands, he slowly lifted her up until she could touch the ceiling. Getting right to work she twisted out all four screw and handed the vent-hatch to Lupe, who was forced to hold it in his teeth.
“<Dis ting tase horri’le and ish hea’y. Hurr’ up!>” he mumbled. Refraining from bursting out in laughter, Lucy quickly hopped into the hole, freeing Lupe’s hands.
The stealthy Weavile had never traveled through a filthier vent in her previous adventures. Sure, she navigated in some dirty ones, but this particular one hit her with a one-two punch of stench and dustiness. Lucky for her, she knew exactly which tunnel led to the designated room and didn’t waste time bumping into dead ends. As she approached the second vent-hatch, she began to hear voices echo against the dusty, gray walls of the tunnel.
“Well? Did you get the stream from the street cameras yet?” questioned an annoyed, masculine voice.
“Y-yes, sir, it just came in. Let me play in for you.”
Careful not to scratch against the metal, Lucy positioned herself over the hatch and got a good look at the room. It wasn’t nearly as big as one would think from looking outside, but that was probably due to the various machines taking up a lot of space. Just as Lupe had said, the room contained five humans, all scurrying around in lab coats. She was unable to see the Pokemon, most likely because it was out of her field of view. Two humans walked up to a large screen on the wall, one of them wearing a black suit under his coat. The other pressed a green button to his left and the entire screen came to life at once. From what Lucy could see, they were looking at a video of a street corner. Nothing special seemed to be happening until two figures suddenly dashed across the screen.
“Rewind that,” ordered the suited man.
“Y-yes, sir.” Another button was pushed repeatedly until the two figures appeared frozen in the middle of the screen. To Lucy’s surprise and terror, she discovered that they were looking at a video of her and Lupe running toward this very building.
“Gotcha,” said the suited man with a smirk. “You see that?” he asked, pointing at Lupe’s shin, “This is the Lucario we’re looking for, and it seems he’s coming right to us. How long ago was this video taken?”
“Approximately twenty-five minutes ago, sir.”
“Hmmm... if he knows where he’s going, than he should already be well into our building, if not approaching this very room.”
“Sh-should we be worried, sir?”
“Not while we have our secret weapon here.”
“<Crap,>” Lucy cursed, forgetting that she was supposed to remain unnoticed. The others had obviously heard her as they began looking all over the room for the voice’s source. In a panic, Lucy tried to turn around and make a run for it, but had accidentally clawed at one of the screws, causing the hatch to falter and eventually fall under her feet. Without warning, she fell into the room and crashed onto the back of an unsuspecting scientist. However, knowing she was well into enemy territory, the Weavile ignored the pain from both the fall and the poison circulating throughout her body and scurried back and forth across the room.
“<Help!>”
Lupe waited impatiently outside for any word from his partner. His ear had been pressed firmly against the wall, but all he could hear was very faint mumbles. Therefore, he wasn’t prepared for the loud thud followed by screams of terror.
“<Damnit, Lucy!>” he shouted, running over to the door. With a series of strong kicks, he was able to force the metal doors off their hinges. The room he entered was in utter chaos. A couple of scientists were trying— and horribly failing— to catch a very frenzied Lucy. A few others were simply running in circles, only to crash into the monstrous machines that made the room feel so crowded. Only one human seemed to be keeping his cool and he was glaring at Lupe. The human reached for a device at his waist and in reaction, Lupe grabbed the closest human and held him against his body.
“Release him!” ordered the suited man as veins became visible in his bald head. He was pointing a gun at Lupe, but with the human hostage, couldn’t get a clear shot at the Pokemon. All other motion had ceased— except for the hostage begging for mercy— and Lupe took that moment of silence to think the situation through. He spotted Lucy standing over an unconscious human with claw marks in his coat. Not too far from her position was a long table with a lone CD on top of it. There was no indication if that was what they had come for, but it was their best bet.
“<Give me that disk,>” said Lupe with an order of his own, hoping that the human had spent enough time working with Pokemon that he could understand the language. Luckily, the human gave a slight nod and backed up toward the table, never moving his eyes or the gun away from Lupe’s direction.
“<No, wait!>” Lupe suddenly said, making the human stop dead in his tracks. “<Let the Weavile get the disk. When she’s by my side, I’ll release this human and we’ll make our way out of here.>”
“Why should I trust you?”
“<Because his life is in your hands,>” Lupe answered, moving his arm up to the man’s neck. With little remorse, he tightened his grip, slowly chocking the hostage. Lupe had no intention in killing the man, but it was a necessity that he got that disk.
“H-help,” said the victimized scientist. Simply by the sound of his raspy voice, it was obvious he couldn’t survive much longer without oxygen.
“Fine,” agreed the bald man, followed by a few mumbled curse words, and Lupe loosened his hold. Lucy looked at Lupe suspiciously and hastened over to the table. Too short to see clearly across the entire table, Lucy just swiped her hands across the surface until she hit the circular disk. With a childish squeal she hurried over to Lupe’s side. The duo— trio if you count the hostage— slowly backed out of the room. If he wasn’t part of the rebel force, Lupe would have thanked the Gods that the department happened to be pretty much empty on that particular night.
“<Lower your weapon!>” Lupe demanded with a smirk. He knew he had complete control over the situation
“You think I won’t shoot!?” screamed the bald man, moving his finger ever closer to the trigger.
“Please, no!” pleaded the hostage as tears began to stream down his eyes.
Reluctantly, the human aimed his gun toward the ground, but with the faintest of smirks. Ignoring the grin, Lupe pushed the human back into the room and with Lucy and the CD at his side, made a run for it.
With the hostage safe from danger, the bald officer rushed out of the room and shouted, “Okay, now!”
As Lupe and Lucy approached the corner of the hall, they began to see something weird happening to the wall. A sudden chill hit the Pokemon, followed by some purple matter emerging from the walls. Unhindered by the solid metal it was effortlessly passing through, the being materialized completely out of the wall, showing its full figure to the escapees. Standing at approximately five feet, the Gengar was able to easily stare down his opponents with his trademark: blood-red eyes.
Lupe suddenly realized the mistake he had made before. When he checked the room for auras, there was obviously a Pokemon there, but when he burst in, the only Pokemon visible was Lucy. The only question that remained was if two exhausted and injured Pokemon could defeat this new opposition before anyone else showed up.
“<Lupe, I know you might think otherwise but there’s no way we can beat this guy,>” Lucy whispered.
“<Actually, I agree with you, but mainly because most of my moves would have no effect on him. I suspect you have a plan?>”
“<Yep,>” she simply answered, resuming her dash for the exit. Putting all his trust in the anxious Weavile, Lupe followed in suit, running straight for the enemy. The Gengar looked rather surprised that his two foes were running right at him and cupped his hands in a very familiar fashion. As he started to form his shadow ball attack, Lucy sped up and upon reaching mere yards of her target, jumped into the air. Despite the poison ravaging her body, she inhaled a large amount of oxygen and in her exhale, shot icy shards from her mouth. Upon contact with the unsuspecting Gengar— mainly the sinister blob forming between his hands— the shards exploded and filled the hall with smoke and small icicles.
“<Nice job!>” congratulated Lupe, something he rarely ever did. The two entered the cloud of debris, stepping over the temporarily downed Gengar and toward that dreaded sewer.
Back in front of the lab room, the bald man could only stare at the mess the two rebels had made. He played out the situation many times in his head and if anything like this was to happen, he was sure that either he or Gengar could stop it. Of course, he had never anticipated the Weavile tagging along, but by her faulty stealth, concluded she wouldn’t even matter. Now only one thing was certain: Peign would not be pleased.
Ignoring their injuries and fatigue, the two Pokemon ran as fast as their battered bodies would allow. They went much farther in the sewer tunnels than before, making sure not only to emerge far from the police department, but also to hide their smell from any Houndoom or Mightyena. They departed from the sewer tunnels somewhere in the town that sat in the shadow of Arcanum, but they knew that they still weren’t in the clear. About ten minutes into their onward trek to the rebel base, Lucy’s poison-filled body began to take its toll to the point where she could barely keep up.
“<I told you to go back,>” Lupe said, although he knew the mission would be near impossible if it hadn’t been for her.
“<Sh-shut up and give me a hand here,>” Lucy mumbled while on her knees.
“<I’m surprised you even lasted this long, so I guess help out. Hop on.>” Lupe held out his good arm toward the Weavile, who gave him a questioning stare.
“<You’re going to carry me?>” she asked.
“<What does it look like? I owe you that much.>”
“<I can’t wait for the others to see this,>” she said with a smile before climbing up his arm and swinging around onto his back.
“<I’ll throw you off my back and drag you into the base before I let anyone see us like this.>”
“<Heh, didn’t take long for the old Lupe to come back.>”
The casual chatter continued throughout the night as they made their way home and for the first time in a long time, Lupe was happy to have a partner.
***** End of Chapter Three *****
Beta'd by diamondpearl87.
Chapter Three: Infiltration
The commotion around the Temple of Arceus had only recently died down. Light from the houses surrounding the historical monument went out one by one as the night dragged on, but there were still a few heads peeking through glassy windows. The harsh weather had calmed down into a brisk wind, and the constant sound of rain’s freefall onto the ground and the lightning bolts battling in the heavens was replaced by the calls of a lonely Noctowl. Police officers had turned off their sirens and were departing from the scene of the crime, the majority of them not even heading back to the station. The only thing that seemed to remain static the entire night was the full moon bathing the landscape in its magnificent light. It was relatively bright that night; so much in fact that there was no need for street lights. Yes, the perfect night to pull a heist.
The police department, and the location of Ezekiel’s CD, was located only a few blocks away from the temple. It was one of the many black, tower-like buildings that jutted from the ground around Arcanum. The radio tower atop it scraped the heavens, and the very tip had a red light that flashed every few seconds. This seemingly minuscule detail was what allowed Lupe and Lucy to identify the building as opposed to the ones that looked exactly like it. Lucy’s small frame was shivering in the cold breeze, but Lupe stood almost statue-like, eyeing his target. The duo looked on from the roof of a restaurant that, ironically, fashioned a sign stating: There’s no one on top of us!
“<Are you finished yet?>” Lucy asked with her arms crossed. What she was referring to was the Lucarian ability to sense the aura of all living things. It usually took seconds for them to identify auras, but at such a great distance, Lupe was having some trouble. After about a minute or so, he took a deep breath and turned to Lucy.
“<The building is pretty empty, except for a few Pokemon patrolling the basement. Unfortunately, that’s where they’re keeping the CD.>”
“<Like you care? I know you’ve been itching for a good fight!>” Lucy exclaimed.
Lupe smirked at the comment and began to move toward the edge of the roof. “<Didn’t Ivan send you along to keep us out of trouble?>”
Lucy responded with a grin of her own and closely followed her partner. “<Seriously, Lupe, I know you better than that.>”
“<Oh yes you do,>” he replied, bending over and looking downward to see how long the jump was. Without a second thought, he gracefully leapt off of the ledge and landed onto a green dumpster in a dark alleyway. Unfortunately, his landing caused the metal dumpster to release a deep, rumbling sound that easily traveled across the silent neighborhood.
“<Way to go, genius,>” called Lucy from above with a hint of sarcasm. Unlike her partner, she chose to land on an old couch that someone had decided to dispose of.
Suddenly, voices could be heard behind the door leading inside the restaurant and they were getting louder. Lupe and Lucy simply looked at the door, trying not to make any noise. To their surprise, however, the knob turned and out walked three beings. The tallest and most noticeable was a pale-skinned, and quite chubby, human. His shirt was covered in blood— albeit it wasn’t his— and in his right hand he held a butcher’s knife. At both his sides were two Pokemon that looked like hellhounds. Bones curved down their spines and stationed atop their heads were two very sharp horns. Both Houndoom immediately spotted the intruders and signaled their master.
“You two, get down now!” he ordered, first pointing at Lupe and Lucy then at the ground in front of him. The two listened without objection, hoping to get out of the predicament with minimal damage. With them standing in better lighting, the butcher finally began to inspect the culprits. His eyes quickly scanned over Lucy, but he spent a great deal of time staring at Lupe’s shin— more specifically, the missing patch of fur.
“You...” he began, pointing at the Lucario before continuing, “I heard about you on the radio. The police are looking for you!”
A shudder ran down Lupe’s spine, and for a second, he considered running away and aborting the mission. Lucy shot Lupe a questioning look, as she too was confused on what to do next. Taking advantage of their shock and confusion, the butcher tapped his two Houndoom and pointed at rebels.
Howling like mad beasts, each Houndoom charged for a separate Pokemon with murder in their eyes. The one heading for Lupe jumped for its prey, but the Lucario acted quickly and took a few steps back, causing his opponent to miss by mere inches. Without hesitation, Lupe gave an upward kick, hitting the Houndoom in the chin and sending it back toward its owner.
“<That all you got?>” he asked slyly.
“<Uh, a little help here!>” shouted Lucy from a few feet away. She seemed to be struggling with her opponent as the Houndoom advanced with strong bites, and Lucy barely dodging each one. Realizing that they weren’t getting anywhere, the Houndoom lowered its head and charged at the Weavile with its horns. Too frantic and worn out to dodge at such close range, Lucy instinctively thrust her hands up and to her amazement, caught the horns in her claws. The Houndoom continuously chomped at Lucy’s face, but she was able to push it back at the last minute every time. He could see the Lucario approaching from the corner of his eye and tried a new tactic. Ceasing his constant jabs at Lucy’s face, he took a deep breathe, followed by a release of purple gas from his mouth. Lupe, who hadn’t reached the Houndoom yet, was able to leap away and escape the smog, but Lucy wasn’t so lucky. Catching the full force of the blast, she had no choice but to release her opponent and back away with a violent cough.
“<Lucy, are you—.>” Lupe was unable to finish his question as a set of teeth from the other Houndoom clamped hard on his shoulder. He let out a howling cry of his own as the fangs of the Houndoom became incased in a raging flame, burning through his fur and skin. Unable to bear the pain any longer, Lupe forcibly pulled himself away and rejoined Lucy, leaving some fur behind in the hellhound’s jaws. As Lupe put pressure on the deep, bloody gash, he looked over to Lucy, who was still coughing and now had watery, red eyes.
“This is what happens when you mess with the Order!” cried the human, his fist high in the air. There was a distinct passion in his words, as if he was stating something that was absolute truth.
The simple mention of the Order triggered a hatred within the core of Lupe’s soul, and the Lucario glared at his enemies with a killer’s intent. Removing his hand from the wound, he cupped them together at his side, and a blue orb began to form between them. Lucy looked doubtfully at the well-known attack and used the remainder of her energy reserves to move away. It grew to about this size of a melon before Lupe decided to send it hurtling at the two dogs. It exploded on contact, and the Houndoom cried out in painful whimpers through the gray smoke before finally silencing.
“<Come on!>” Lupe shouted to Lucy before running out of the alley. Neither was in any shape to run, let alone complete the mission, but both ignored their pain and ran down the empty street. By the time the smoke cleared, they were already hiding behind the police station in its shadow.
“<Lupe, we have to go back. There’s no way we can do anything in this shape!>” Lucy suggested before falling to her knees from exhaustion and coughing. That last cough actually managed to produce a little blood.
She’s poisoned, Lupe immediately realized.
“<Lucy, we might not get another chance like this. I understand if you want to go back, but I must get that CD!>”
Lucy coughed a few more times before responding. “<Lupe, look at yourself. Your shoulder is bleeding like crazy! If any of it gets on the floor, they’ll have even more of your DNA.>”
Lupe gave a forced chuckle at the idea of aborting when he was so close and began focusing on the ground. His luck seemed to be coming back as he found a discarded rag on the ground and quickly tied it firmly around his injury.
“<I’ve got about fifteen minutes until this thing is completely soaked, so I better go now!>”
“<Lupe—,>” and unexpected cough interrupted the Weavile, and by the time she recovered, her companion had already ran deeper into the shadows.
**********
Lupe kept his eyes on the ground as he ran, searching for some way to get into the building. Even though the lobby was empty— and Lupe was sure of it at this close range— it would take way too long and be too risky for him to walk around the building. Lupe had gone on enough missions in this area of the city to know the there were drains behind these buildings that lead directly to their basements. As his feet stepped onto one, it made a loud clang and he came to an abrupt halt.
Reaching down, he gripped the metal bar tightly and pulled with all his might. Alas, he had underestimated the severity of his wound and nearly screamed out in agony as he only made things worse. Nothing was going as planned and if a simple mission like this couldn’t be completed, there was no way he could accomplish what was to come soon after. Using his good arm, he continuously punched down hard on the metal until the screws eventually came out, and he plummeted into the murky waters below. Any and all Pokemon around at that moment scurried away before Lupe could even get to his feet.
There was an extremely strong stench in the air down there and Lupe was nearly brought to tears. He sank into the brownish-green water to about his knees and he felt as if walking through an ocean of mud. He had gone a bit lower than he expected; all the way into the sewers below the building, but still fairly close to his destination. The large, rusted steel pipes resembled a maze and judging by his luck so far, the Lucario better had get out of there and fast. Because of the thick, vile liquid, no matter how much energy he put in to moving, Lupe was forced to advance at a constant speed. It took him nearly five minutes to reach a nearby ladder.
“<I’ve already come this far,>” Lupe murmured, grimacing at the filthy ladder. Sighing at the pain he knew was going to come, he gripped the bars tightly and hoisted himself up. Expectantly, waves of pain shot across his bad arm and at one point, he almost released his grip, happy to soak in that despicable liquid rather than experience such pain. But luckily, he strived on, and managed to reach a small door at the top of the ladder.
“<Uh oh,>” he said to himself, realizing the dilemma he was faced with. The door required a lever to be pulled for it to open, but his hands were occupied at the moment. As he thought about how he could get around this predicament, a small splash could be heard in the distance.
He mind began racing with various thoughts. Did they find me? Was it just a wandering Pokemon? Was it my imagination? Can I even handle another battle? For a second, he even doubted not heeding Lucy’s warning. Of course, all those questions didn’t matter as the being turned the same corner as Lupe and stepped into the light.
“<I was worried,>” said Lucy as she tried to muster up a smile. Even from Lupe’s position he could see that she was still fighting the poison that had entered her body from the last fight. He didn’t know whether to be happy that she was a here or furious.
“<Lucy, you have to go back. In that condition, you’ll only end up slowing us down.>”
“<You seem to be doing perfectly on your own,>” she replied, referring to the fact that Lupe still hadn’t figured out a way to push the lever without falling to the water. With a groan he moved to the edge of the ladder, giving Lucy’s petite body just enough room to climb up. Even in her poisoned state, the Weavile hastily darted up the ladder. With a nod from her partner, she pushed the lever and the circular door above them automatically slid back into the wall.
As expected, the duo climbed out of the hole only to end up in the basement floor of the police department. Although the surface area was about the size of the Rebel base’s main hall, the similarities between the two ended there. Unlike the base, the entire structure, although underground, was constructed of a fine, metal alloyed. The lights on the ceiling were placed at great distances from one another, but thanks to this metallic material, still made the entire place shine in an almost divine luminosity. The halls gave an illusion of continuing on for miles, making the building look much bigger than it actually was. Doors lined the both sides of the hallway, but thanks to Lupe’s aura-sensing ability, could tell that the majority of them were empty. This was believable, as the sun wasn’t due to rise in a few hours.
“<Lupe, look, your shoulder,>” Lucy suddenly pointed out. The Lucario curiously glanced at the rag covering his shirt was astounded to see that the bleeding had stopped. One less problem for them to worry about.
“<Too bad it still hurts. Now that luck is finally on our side, let’s get moving,>” he suggested, walking toward the shortest corner.
“<How do you know it’s this way?>” Lucy questioned as they walked. She struggled to say the entire thing in one go without coughing.
“<Truth be told, the only thing I know for a fact is that the lab is on the basement floor. However, I do sense a lot of auras in this direction, mostly humans,>” he explained. Although he’d never admit it, it was enjoyable to have someone to go on missions with. It was really the only time he was able to show off his skills.
“<So in other words, there’s a good chance we might be walking right into a trap?>” Of course, there were times when Lupe preferred to work alone.
**********
Although he thought he had grown used to it, the eerie silence of the halls was beginning to get on Lupe’s nerves. The only sounds made were that of the two Pokemon’s feet scraping across the glistening metal and an occasional wheeze from Lucy, who deserved a medal for simply staying conscious that long after taking a smog at point-blank range. The hypnotic rhythm of their steps put Lupe in a daze, causing him to nearly walk past their destination. After noticing the large collection of auras behind a large, rusted door—the only of its kind in the hall— the Lucario abruptly came to a stop and signaled Lucy to do the same.
“<Five humans, one Pokemon,>” he said absentmindedly. “<Can you handle a small brawl?>”
“<What’s with you and fighting?>” Lucy whispered back while pointing upward. Above them was a vent that, in all likelihood, led into the lab. “<Give me a lift and I’ll take them out silently.>”
Lupe looked back and forth between the vent and his partner. If he agreed to her plan it meant he’d take absolutely no part in the main objective. Of course, neither of them was in any shape for a fight. He finally came to the conclusion that it’d be best for the mission if they were unnoticed.
“<Don’t screw this up,>” Lupe whispered with a scowl. After an agreeing smile from Lucy he cupped his paws at his waistline and held them in place. As Lucy cautiously positioned her small feet in her partner’s hands, he slowly lifted her up until she could touch the ceiling. Getting right to work she twisted out all four screw and handed the vent-hatch to Lupe, who was forced to hold it in his teeth.
“<Dis ting tase horri’le and ish hea’y. Hurr’ up!>” he mumbled. Refraining from bursting out in laughter, Lucy quickly hopped into the hole, freeing Lupe’s hands.
The stealthy Weavile had never traveled through a filthier vent in her previous adventures. Sure, she navigated in some dirty ones, but this particular one hit her with a one-two punch of stench and dustiness. Lucky for her, she knew exactly which tunnel led to the designated room and didn’t waste time bumping into dead ends. As she approached the second vent-hatch, she began to hear voices echo against the dusty, gray walls of the tunnel.
“Well? Did you get the stream from the street cameras yet?” questioned an annoyed, masculine voice.
“Y-yes, sir, it just came in. Let me play in for you.”
Careful not to scratch against the metal, Lucy positioned herself over the hatch and got a good look at the room. It wasn’t nearly as big as one would think from looking outside, but that was probably due to the various machines taking up a lot of space. Just as Lupe had said, the room contained five humans, all scurrying around in lab coats. She was unable to see the Pokemon, most likely because it was out of her field of view. Two humans walked up to a large screen on the wall, one of them wearing a black suit under his coat. The other pressed a green button to his left and the entire screen came to life at once. From what Lucy could see, they were looking at a video of a street corner. Nothing special seemed to be happening until two figures suddenly dashed across the screen.
“Rewind that,” ordered the suited man.
“Y-yes, sir.” Another button was pushed repeatedly until the two figures appeared frozen in the middle of the screen. To Lucy’s surprise and terror, she discovered that they were looking at a video of her and Lupe running toward this very building.
“Gotcha,” said the suited man with a smirk. “You see that?” he asked, pointing at Lupe’s shin, “This is the Lucario we’re looking for, and it seems he’s coming right to us. How long ago was this video taken?”
“Approximately twenty-five minutes ago, sir.”
“Hmmm... if he knows where he’s going, than he should already be well into our building, if not approaching this very room.”
“Sh-should we be worried, sir?”
“Not while we have our secret weapon here.”
“<Crap,>” Lucy cursed, forgetting that she was supposed to remain unnoticed. The others had obviously heard her as they began looking all over the room for the voice’s source. In a panic, Lucy tried to turn around and make a run for it, but had accidentally clawed at one of the screws, causing the hatch to falter and eventually fall under her feet. Without warning, she fell into the room and crashed onto the back of an unsuspecting scientist. However, knowing she was well into enemy territory, the Weavile ignored the pain from both the fall and the poison circulating throughout her body and scurried back and forth across the room.
“<Help!>”
*********
Lupe waited impatiently outside for any word from his partner. His ear had been pressed firmly against the wall, but all he could hear was very faint mumbles. Therefore, he wasn’t prepared for the loud thud followed by screams of terror.
“<Damnit, Lucy!>” he shouted, running over to the door. With a series of strong kicks, he was able to force the metal doors off their hinges. The room he entered was in utter chaos. A couple of scientists were trying— and horribly failing— to catch a very frenzied Lucy. A few others were simply running in circles, only to crash into the monstrous machines that made the room feel so crowded. Only one human seemed to be keeping his cool and he was glaring at Lupe. The human reached for a device at his waist and in reaction, Lupe grabbed the closest human and held him against his body.
“Release him!” ordered the suited man as veins became visible in his bald head. He was pointing a gun at Lupe, but with the human hostage, couldn’t get a clear shot at the Pokemon. All other motion had ceased— except for the hostage begging for mercy— and Lupe took that moment of silence to think the situation through. He spotted Lucy standing over an unconscious human with claw marks in his coat. Not too far from her position was a long table with a lone CD on top of it. There was no indication if that was what they had come for, but it was their best bet.
“<Give me that disk,>” said Lupe with an order of his own, hoping that the human had spent enough time working with Pokemon that he could understand the language. Luckily, the human gave a slight nod and backed up toward the table, never moving his eyes or the gun away from Lupe’s direction.
“<No, wait!>” Lupe suddenly said, making the human stop dead in his tracks. “<Let the Weavile get the disk. When she’s by my side, I’ll release this human and we’ll make our way out of here.>”
“Why should I trust you?”
“<Because his life is in your hands,>” Lupe answered, moving his arm up to the man’s neck. With little remorse, he tightened his grip, slowly chocking the hostage. Lupe had no intention in killing the man, but it was a necessity that he got that disk.
“H-help,” said the victimized scientist. Simply by the sound of his raspy voice, it was obvious he couldn’t survive much longer without oxygen.
“Fine,” agreed the bald man, followed by a few mumbled curse words, and Lupe loosened his hold. Lucy looked at Lupe suspiciously and hastened over to the table. Too short to see clearly across the entire table, Lucy just swiped her hands across the surface until she hit the circular disk. With a childish squeal she hurried over to Lupe’s side. The duo— trio if you count the hostage— slowly backed out of the room. If he wasn’t part of the rebel force, Lupe would have thanked the Gods that the department happened to be pretty much empty on that particular night.
“<Lower your weapon!>” Lupe demanded with a smirk. He knew he had complete control over the situation
“You think I won’t shoot!?” screamed the bald man, moving his finger ever closer to the trigger.
“Please, no!” pleaded the hostage as tears began to stream down his eyes.
Reluctantly, the human aimed his gun toward the ground, but with the faintest of smirks. Ignoring the grin, Lupe pushed the human back into the room and with Lucy and the CD at his side, made a run for it.
With the hostage safe from danger, the bald officer rushed out of the room and shouted, “Okay, now!”
As Lupe and Lucy approached the corner of the hall, they began to see something weird happening to the wall. A sudden chill hit the Pokemon, followed by some purple matter emerging from the walls. Unhindered by the solid metal it was effortlessly passing through, the being materialized completely out of the wall, showing its full figure to the escapees. Standing at approximately five feet, the Gengar was able to easily stare down his opponents with his trademark: blood-red eyes.
Lupe suddenly realized the mistake he had made before. When he checked the room for auras, there was obviously a Pokemon there, but when he burst in, the only Pokemon visible was Lucy. The only question that remained was if two exhausted and injured Pokemon could defeat this new opposition before anyone else showed up.
“<Lupe, I know you might think otherwise but there’s no way we can beat this guy,>” Lucy whispered.
“<Actually, I agree with you, but mainly because most of my moves would have no effect on him. I suspect you have a plan?>”
“<Yep,>” she simply answered, resuming her dash for the exit. Putting all his trust in the anxious Weavile, Lupe followed in suit, running straight for the enemy. The Gengar looked rather surprised that his two foes were running right at him and cupped his hands in a very familiar fashion. As he started to form his shadow ball attack, Lucy sped up and upon reaching mere yards of her target, jumped into the air. Despite the poison ravaging her body, she inhaled a large amount of oxygen and in her exhale, shot icy shards from her mouth. Upon contact with the unsuspecting Gengar— mainly the sinister blob forming between his hands— the shards exploded and filled the hall with smoke and small icicles.
“<Nice job!>” congratulated Lupe, something he rarely ever did. The two entered the cloud of debris, stepping over the temporarily downed Gengar and toward that dreaded sewer.
Back in front of the lab room, the bald man could only stare at the mess the two rebels had made. He played out the situation many times in his head and if anything like this was to happen, he was sure that either he or Gengar could stop it. Of course, he had never anticipated the Weavile tagging along, but by her faulty stealth, concluded she wouldn’t even matter. Now only one thing was certain: Peign would not be pleased.
**********
Ignoring their injuries and fatigue, the two Pokemon ran as fast as their battered bodies would allow. They went much farther in the sewer tunnels than before, making sure not only to emerge far from the police department, but also to hide their smell from any Houndoom or Mightyena. They departed from the sewer tunnels somewhere in the town that sat in the shadow of Arcanum, but they knew that they still weren’t in the clear. About ten minutes into their onward trek to the rebel base, Lucy’s poison-filled body began to take its toll to the point where she could barely keep up.
“<I told you to go back,>” Lupe said, although he knew the mission would be near impossible if it hadn’t been for her.
“<Sh-shut up and give me a hand here,>” Lucy mumbled while on her knees.
“<I’m surprised you even lasted this long, so I guess help out. Hop on.>” Lupe held out his good arm toward the Weavile, who gave him a questioning stare.
“<You’re going to carry me?>” she asked.
“<What does it look like? I owe you that much.>”
“<I can’t wait for the others to see this,>” she said with a smile before climbing up his arm and swinging around onto his back.
“<I’ll throw you off my back and drag you into the base before I let anyone see us like this.>”
“<Heh, didn’t take long for the old Lupe to come back.>”
The casual chatter continued throughout the night as they made their way home and for the first time in a long time, Lupe was happy to have a partner.
***** End of Chapter Three *****
Beta'd by diamondpearl87.
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