Avenger Angel
Warrior of Heaven
Chapter 21
Crossing the Threshold
Crossing the Threshold
I had realized that in order to find Randy and Alex, I was going to have to go through cell by cell, and since I couldn’t see into them, I didn’t know whose cell I was going to open, and I was a little bit wary thinking about it. There was no telling who or what was going to be behind the door, and the chance of someone lunging for my throat… was always a possibility. I didn’t really know what the Silver Rebellion was or who was in it, but I could already assume this place was loaded with them from all the prison guards I had to take out. As far as I knew, the Crimson Stars had frustrated me enough. Releasing their enemy would be my best chance for revenge, even if I did have no affiliation with them.
I had gone over to the first cell along the left wall, all the way at the end. It read, “A17” on a metal plaque by the keyhole, and I had looked at the key ring and found the corresponding key. I put the key in, turned, and slowly opened the heavy metal door.
Inside, the cell was exactly like mine, only by the bedside, I had seen a Cubone, a Chespin, and a Buneary lying against the metal bunk beds. They looked exhausted, but when they saw me open the door, they looked up.
“Who are you?” The Cubone asked me, suddenly surprised to see the door open for once.
“Come on, I’m busting you out of here.” I told them all, knowing I was going to need all the backup I could get.
In an excited ecstasy, they had gotten up, and scrambled to the door. The Chespin and the Buneary had run out the door, but the Cubone had stopped in the doorway, and looked at me curiously for a moment.
“That’s funny, I don’t recognize you from the Silver Rebellion…” The Cubone told me, looking me over.
“I’m not a part of it,” I told him with a casual but polite smile, not really looking to get myself mixed up in this mess.
“Heh, well you are now, whether you like it or not,” The Cubone replied in a somewhat amused tone. “Come on, let’s get everyone out of here.”
I had turned around, headed to the next cell, and found the key that corresponded with the door. I was really hoping I wasn’t making a serious mistake by doing this, but so far, the few Silver Rebels that I had met didn’t seem to be so bad. I put the key in the keyhole, and turned it clockwise until it stopped. After I heard the release pulled in, I opened the cold, metal door. Again, it was the same setup as before, only now I found a Meinshao and a Marill inside the cell, both looking like they’ve been in there for way too long.
“Am I seeing things?” The Meinshao asked, looking at me, “You’re not one of them, are you?”
“Nope,” I told them quickly. “Come on, let’s go before someone catches us.”
They both dashed for the door, and after the cell was empty, we then shut the door. I quickly moved to the third cell from the wall, and found the key I needed. Now, I felt like I needed to move faster and faster. The Cubone insisted that I hurry up, so that’s what I did. I stuffed the third key in the keyhole, and opened the door.
Inside was a solitary Pachirisu, sitting on the bed with his eyes staring at the floor, his ears drooping downward, and his giant, fluffy tail laying by his side. I was surprised for a moment. He didn’t seem to be in such bad shape like the others had been, like he had just gotten here. I walked over to him, and he still looked down, not willing to face me, even though he had been aware of my presence.
“I don’t know who you are, but I don’t belong here,” The Pachirishu said to me, just trying to push me away so he could be by himself.
“That’s why I’m taking you out of here.” I replied, trying to comfort him.
“You don’t understand, this isn’t the real me,” He said sadly, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m…”
I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he had been here way too long…
“I’m…” He stuttered, trying to continue, but finding it really hard to, “not… actually… a Pachirisu…”
“What?” I asked, finding that strange, “Then… what are you?”
He was silent, trying to gather his thoughts. I couldn’t understand what he meant.
“My real name… is…” The Pachirisu stuttered.
“What?” I asked him quickly, “What is it?”
“Randy…” The Pachirisu replied… "And... I'm actually a human."
Zander turned Randy into a Pachirisu!? How the...?
But then I suddenly realized something. The whole time I've been here, I hadn't seen a single human anywhere. Was this really a world of nothing but Pokémon? Still, if Zander turned Randy into a Pachirisu, I was quite sure he had probably turned Alex into a Pokémon as well, wherever he was.
“Randy?” I asked the Pachirisu, looking into his shiny eyes, “Is that really you? Randy Ferguson?”
He had looked at me, looking at me with curious eyes. I could tell what he was thinking.
“How did you know my last name?” He had asked, truly wondering who I was.
“That’s because I’m someone you know,” I told him with a smile. “I’m Jake Kossak… just... as Juno now.”
Randy had looked at me, unable to believe. He then shook his head, unable to understand. But then, he looked at me closer and seemed to recognize me much more easily.
"You're right, you have Juno's eyes..." Randy replied quickly. "Jake... or... Juno, I mean. When Zander attacked us, you were the first to collapse. He said he wanted to remind you of something, and I guess this was it.”
“What did he say to you?” I asked him, trying to figure out what I had missed.
“He said I should be something that shows how… weak and… inexperienced I am.” Randy said in dismay, looking down at the ground.
What a schmuck. Just then, Cubone had poked his head out from behind the door and peered in.
“Hey, what’s taking you so long in there!?” He shouted out. “We’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible!”
“Come on, Randy.” I told him, wishing he would stop worrying and just get moving, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Randy just hopped off the metal bunk bed and landed on his feet. I then began to head out of the room, and he began to follow me.
“Hey!” Cubone shouted, looking at Randy. “Who’s the little guy?”
“He’s… my friend,” I told him, still feeling a little bit strange calling Randy a friend considering what he did to us. “Come on, let’s just get going.”
I then continued to unlock door by door, releasing what seemed to be practically a small army of Pokémon. I hadn’t been faced with resistance for quite a few minutes now, but even if someone had come to stop us, they wouldn’t stand much of a chance with all this united effort.
“Come on!” Cubone shouted, “I know where the exit is!”
But then, Randy had turned to me, and he seemed anxious about something. I could tell what he was anxious about too…
“Where is Alex?” He asked me, knowing we didn’t find him in any of the cells.
“We have to go look for him…” I told Randy, heading in the opposite direction that the rest of the Pokémon were heading.
“Where do you think you’re going!?” The Cubone asked me in shock, seeing I was running in the other direction.
I had stopped and turned back for a moment. I had noticed Randy was following me.
“There’s someone I know that should still be here!” I shouted back. “We need to go find him!”
“There can’t be…” He shouted back. “These are the only cells in this whole prison. He would have to be held somewhere else…”
That didn’t make sense. If Alex wasn’t here, then where was he? I was just about to turn around and follow Cubone when Randy had got my attention. It seemed I was leaving something behind…
“Where are they hiding my Pokémon?” Randy asked me, looking up.
“I'm sorry, I don't know,” I told him, having no idea what Zander did to them, “I lost almost all of mine as well. This one is the only one I found. I searched everywhere in the guard's storage room. That's the only place where they keep all the confiscated equipment.”
Randy looked even worse after hearing that. Then, suddenly, a loud alarm had sounded off, and a red pulsing light had filled the hallway.
“Uh oh…” Randy said to himself, looking up around the room.
“Come on, let’s get out of here already…” I urged him, not wanting at all to get locked up again.
When I caught sight of Cubone, he almost was ecstatic, but he definitely was getting impatient.
“Hurry!” Cubone shouted. “We don’t have much longer. Once they initiate the lockdown of the whole prison, there will be no way out of here!”
I certainly wasn’t going to wait for that to happen. Already, everyone else but Cubone had already left the building, and now we quickly rushed to follow him. Just past the second metal door of the jail room, there was an exit leading out. Randy and I quickly dragged the rack outside, and not a second too soon. Just after Randy had stepped out of the door, a barrier of metal bars had thrust out from one side of the door to the other, blocking the doorway. We had just made it. I could only hope Alex wasn’t still in there, and I was willing to take the Cubone’s word for it, but if that wasn’t the case, we would never be able to get to him now…
I had looked upon what was of the outside world, and couldn’t believe my eyes. As Randy and I looked upon the fields, the black ruins of a massive city had lied before us. The land was charred black in various places, and the fragments of tall buildings lay around us like twisted, jagged thorns. All that was left was a field of twisted, empty shells. Above it all was the fiery colored sky with its occasional flashes of thunder endlessly clashing in the air, the same nightmare I had seen from my cell window…
“My god…” I gasped in shock, “What could have done this…?”
“That’s the Crimson Stars for you.” Cubone replied, looking upon the disaster, “They did all of this, and without mercy. This used to be ours…”
And then, the Marill had emerged from the group, mounted upon a fierce-looking Pidgeot. I had no idea where he had gotten that massive bird from, but he was now equipped with all kinds of riding gear. He looked down upon Cubone. He seemed a bit distressed…
“Sir, we had better leave before the Wind Strikers arrive…” The Marill said with anxiety, “Your mount is awaiting, and most of the others have already mounted up and are ready to leave. But there’s not much time.”
“Wind Strikers…?” Randy asked, feeling a bit worried.
“They’re aerial sentinels who ride Skarmories,” Cubone warned him. “They’re fast, lethal, and unforgiving. Their weapons are also highly advanced. I'm surprised you two haven't seen them yet.”
He really didn't know we had only just arrived here. But, boy, I really didn't want to see what a "Wind Striker" was capable of.
It wasn’t long until the rest of the released prisoners had come forward, all of them mounted on Pidgeots that were equipped with riding gear and armor. From what I could tell, these Crimson Stars guys had locked up their mounts in another area of the prison. A Pidgeot without a rider had come forward to the Cubone, and it seemed like Cubone had known this particular Pidgeot before. I figured the other Silver Rebellion captives had found out where they had been keeping their riding mounts and managed to release them. Soon enough, the Cubone jumped up upon the Pidgeot’s back, and strapped himself in with the riding saddle that was on the giant bird's back, now ready to ride.
At that moment, Randy and I just looked at each other, and we were both thinking the same thing. Randy and I then looked back at the Cubone and his other riders, and the question of whether these Pidgeot mounts could support two riders came up, but judging from the saddles and the gear they were wearing, it seemed like an obvious answer. There was no way we were getting on those things, and I didn’t feel like holding onto one of their backs for dear life.
“Uhhh…” Randy said to the Cubone in hesitation, “We don’t have a Pidgeot…”
“You don’t?” Cubone asked in some surprise. “You weren’t part of our Storm Rider division that was captured?”
Randy seemed a bit embarrassed, and I couldn’t blame him since I was pretty much in the same situation as he was in. I didn’t know what a Storm Rider was either, and these Pokémon had a way about them that made you feel a little stupid for asking.
"Well, like I said earlier, we're not part of the Silver Rebellion," I told him, trying to put it casually. "Hence... the lack of a Pidgeot mount."
“What are the Storm Riders?” Randy asked, looking at Cubone in curiosity.
“That’s who we are.” Cubone responded, putting a fist to his chest in a proud salute. “We’re at war with the Crimson Stars, and we use Pidgeots as a means of transportation and as a means of attack. The Storm Riders are the air force of the Silver Rebellion…”
I had to admit, it was pretty impressive what these Storm Riders managed to create. An aerial attack force of two Pokémon working together.
“Awesome…” Randy said in awe, just looking at all the Pidgeot riders. "But... are you sure we can't get a ride?"
"Don't worry about it, I've got it covered," I assured him.
I didn’t have a Pidgeot, but I had something better. Latias. I unstrapped Latias’s Pokéball from my waist, and pressed the primer button, enlarging the Pokéball a bit to be prepared for release. A few of the Storm Riders looked curiously at what I was doing, probably having never seen a Pokéball before. Regardless, I took the Pokéball and I tossed it onto the ground. Sure enough, there was a flash, and the white light had formed into Latias. Once the light had become her and she had looked around, it was clear she had no idea where she was again. Meanwhile, she looked at me, and realized... I was Juno the Pikachu again. I figured this was probably looking pretty weird to her right now, but I figured I could fill her in on the details later. Still, I couldn’t blame her for feeling so confused at that moment…
And then, suddenly, all eyes were immediately turned toward me, except for Randy and Latias. Everyone one of the Storm Riders had just completely stopped and just stared at me, some of them just gaping at the sight with a few gasps here and there. They just looked at me blankly for a few moments, and said nothing. I had looked back at them, and had absolutely no idea why they were looking at me that way. For a moment, I thought it was because Latias was a pretty rare and legendary Pokémon, but their mesmerized reaction magnified to something even well beyond that.
“...And he will come at your most dire time of need…” Cubone had softly murmured, still blankly staring at me in a strange way, “He will arrive upon a bird as red as blood, and as white as lightning…”
I looked at him strangely, suddenly realizing he was reciting something from somewhere he must have read. It was… quite eerie to see him so hasty for a moment, and then be totally mesmerized into this kind of behavior.
“Were you... saying something?” Randy asked Cubone, wondering what he was exactly talking about.
“When the skies turn into fire and the land is burnt into ash, he will come. We have waited too long for this day to arrive…” Cubone stated in a firm tone, “The restless masses, the battles, the nightmares… When the night seems endless and all hope has faded, he will come, and he will go by the name of Juno…”
Now he was freaking me out. How the heck did he know my name? And why was everyone staring at me? He sounded like he was reciting something like he had read countless times. I thought we needed to get out of here before the Wind Strikers came. Why was everyone just waiting around?
“Where are we?” Latias asked, looking around.
“I will tell you later, Blazewing,” Cubone said to Latias, seemingly proud to be in her presence. “The enemy comes, part now we must. Follow me.”
Blazewing? He knew Latias's name before even I did? Wow, I just didn’t get it. Still, before I could even say anything, Cubone had just looked forward, patted the side of his Pidgeot, and she spread her wings, and took flight into the sky. Soon after, the rest of the Storm Riders had lifted off the ground, and just left us along.
“Come on Randy, let’s go.” I told him, pulling him by the hand and making my way onto Latias’s back.
“How did he know your name?” Randy asked me, looking at Cubone and his Pidgeot strangely.
Hell if I knew. I was asking the same question myself. Soon after, Latias jumped off the ground and we flew swiftly through the air, looking upon the charred remains of the city below. The fissures consuming the city were deep, very deep. It was pretty easy to see there was no way to cross this land without flying over it. Still, I had a big question that really needed answering.
“Uh... Latias,” I suddenly asked her, “...is your name really Blazewing?”
“Yes, it is…” Latias told me, finding his behavior strange as well, “But I don’t know how this Cubone knew that. Truthfully, back in Randy’s dream world, I resembled his friendship and his camaraderie. My name was supposed to have only been known by me. So I don’t understand what’s going on here…”
Neither did I…