Eddies

Chapter 39: Despair.

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

_________________

Eddies 39 – Despair.

Skyy stood in shock, looking down at the battered human before him, who returned his stare dryly.

"Little help here" Jasper muttered under his breath, struggling futilely with his bonds.

Skyy started, stepping towards the human, but pausing as he reached down to loosen the ropes binding him.  This human, one Chris had considered his friend, had likely sold them out to Sinnotech, causing the death of many humans and pokemon.

On the other hand, he didn't exactly look like an enemy conspirator.  Indeed, he look pretty much beat half to death.

Still debating the human’s predicament, he knelt behind Jasper, pulling at the knots in the rope until, after long moments, the bindings loosened, and he slipped them from around the torn flesh on the human's wrists.

Jasper gasped, even as Skyy propped him upright, back against the wall, where he sat rubbing his injured wrists to stimulate the circulation restricted for so long.  The pain was intense; Jasper's eyes watering as tortured nerves shrieked back into operation, sending pins and needles through his skin.

After long seconds, the human raised his face to regard the lucario's solemn visage above him, and said quietly "Thanks."

Skyy nodded, still wary as to the gym leader's intent.  He didn't hesitate giving the human a hand standing, although wrinkled his nose as the unwashed stink of Jasper’s body when he threw an arm around him to steady him from falling.

They made it to the door before Jasper had to rest.  Leaning against the steel frame, he stared morosely at the shimmering portal surface, dropping his head into his hands to tenderly prod his face and assess his injuries with a grimace.

"So, you do realise this is a trap, right?" he spoke softly into the echoing silence of the chamber, causing Skyy to stiffen in surprise.

"Yeah, we had an idea of that when the place seemed deserted."

"Is the typhlosion with you?"

Skyy paused a moment, considering whether to reveal the information to a possible enemy, but in the end told him.  After all, it wasn't as if Jasper was going anywhere with it in a hurry.  Regardless, Skyy wasn't planning on revealing the presence of Raikou and his brothers, and kept his reply abridged and to the point.

"Storm?  He's waiting outside, with Scott, Chris and... Err...  The others.  They're afraid the door may be booby trapped."

Jasper groaned, sliding his back down the wall adjacent to the door frame to hit the floor hard.  "Shit.  You might as well call them in.  They won't be getting out of here in a hurry."

"But the door might be..." Skyy began, but was stopped as Jasper let out a harsh laugh.

"The door frame isn't the issue, Skyy.  They've wired the whole building!  You people marched right on in here, and now they have you right where they want you!"

Skyy stared down at the human in disbelief, even as a loud, squeal of feedback shattered the silence.  As Skyy spun in shock, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound, a tinny, chill voice spoke from the concealed loud speaker.

"He's right, you know.    Yes, we can hear you, and see you well enough.  Why look surprised?  Do you think we'd simply sit back and capitulate, letting you fools dismantle everything we've worked to achieve, for decades?  All you've done is put a crimp on one, small operation, while the rest continue uninterrupted.  Congratulations for failing so dismally in your objective to stop us."

Skyy gave Jasper a pleading look, which was returned with a tired shaking of his head.  In his distress, he barely registered the large doors to the chamber being flung open by an irate typhlosion, who despite Scott's protest barged into the chamber to stand at its centre, shoulders steaming in his fury.

"Yeah, you bastards!  Show yourselves, and we'll have a real talk!" Storm roared, even as the rest of the party slipped through the opening after him.  Scott reached his partner first, attempting to placate the pokemon, but Storm shook him off with an angry look, returning to stare around the chamber for the source of the voice.

"Aaah, subtle to a fault as usual, pokemon.  No, I'm afraid there isn't much advantage to us in meeting face to face.  After all, there's nothing a dead pokemon can offer that'd satisfy our curiousity further."

At that, the large steel chamber doors swung shut, sealing themselves tightly with a loud, metallic clang.

Cursing, Scott left his partner to rush to the doors, joined by Raikou and Entei.  However, even the powerful legendary pokemon were unable to lever the frozen locks open, and after strenuous attempts they gave up, exchanging resigned looks in defeat.

The speaker voice gave a chilling chuckle, sending a shudder down Skyy's back that not even the warm hand Chris placed on the shaking lucario's shoulder helped placate.

"While the loss of this facility is regrettable, the opportunity to remove such an irritating thorn from our side more than makes up for it.  Soon, you will be dead, and the days where the Rangers can interfere in our business will be over.  That goes double for you and your partner.  Perhaps your new companions can ponder how wise their choice of friends are, during the few minutes you have left, although given the limited opportunity to correct their mistake left to them, perhaps it'd be time better spent in praying to Arceus for their soul's salvation."

Storm paused as his perked ears darted to and fro.  Eventually, eyeing the far corner of the room with glowing red eyes, he threw open his maw wide, sending a massive ball of flame towards the far ceiling, where it exploded with blinding force.  Thrown from their feet and stunned by the blast, the rest of the group could only look at him in shock as he screamed his fury at their tormentors, even as Scott staggered to his side, slapping an open hand against his face and sending the typhlosion rocking.

As the angry eyes refocussed on him, Scott screamed at his partner "Enough!  Remember who you are!"

The angry eyes narrowed in fury, before the glowing subsided and the big pokemon's shoulders slumped in defeat.  As Scott pleaded with him further, Chris could see the slagged remains of the surveillance equipment attached to the ceiling drop from its bracket to crash in a red, smouldering pile of metal in the room's far corner.

"So much for being watched" he said dryly to Skyy; even as he bent down to assess Jasper's injuries.  The gym leader brought up his face with a wry grin cricking his mouth.  It wasn't returned by Chris, who had enough trouble restraining himself from punching the smirk from the traitor’s face.

"Oh, if looks could kill, Chris..." said Jasper quietly, letting the smile slip from his lips and he turned a pained face away from the young human.

"Do you have any idea what they were talking about?" Chris demanded of him, receiving a shrug in reply. 

"I assume they'll make sure the place comes down around us.  I had overheard them mention something of the sort, while they were still interrogating me."

Chris's lips pressed tightly together, and he clenched his fists.  "What did you tell them?"

Jasper sighed, raising his good eye to stare at the young human tiredly.  "Everything, of course!  What option did I have?"

"You could have refused!" Chris began, only to be stopped by Skyy, who shook his head slowly.  "You should know how that works, Chris" said the lucario.  "Do you forget how you found me?  There is no choice.  You can only do what you need to, to survive"

Jasper returned his gaze to the lucario, surprised at his insight.  "I made my decision early on, Skyy" he said harshly, his self mocking voice sending the pokemon stepping back at the angst.  "I tried salvaging what I could from the situation, from the day we first met.  I thought I could get you to cut a deal with them, and no one would be hurt."  Dropping his eyes, he put his head in his hands, as a deep sob escaped him.  "I was wrong!" he said in a muffled voice, as his shoulders shook beneath the resigned hand Chris rested on it.

Chris motioned to Skyy, pulling him away for a moment and asking the lucario to relay the news to Scott.  As the lucario hurried away, Chris squatted before Jasper, and said "Tell me, then."

It took a bit for Jasper to pull himself together, and he began speaking quietly.  "Of all the people here, you should understand why, Chris.  My time as Star City gym leader was ending, and rather than bargain, they told me if I didn’t cooperate they were going to ensure it did so in such a way as my future was over."

"What...?" Chris began, confused, before Jasper sat up, eyes sparking angrily as he gripped Chris's arm tightly. 

"Oh, you hypocrite!  Don't fucking hide it!  I know about you and Skyy, just as I know about those two Rangers!  I bet they told you the rumours about me, too!  Well, they were true.  All of them!  When it got out a few years ago, the media circus became so harassing, only the intervention of your Ranger friends saved us from being lynched by the very people who once cheered us to victory!  In the end, regardless of my position in the league or my decade-long history in the world’s top five trainers, my career and my future were over!  Kaput!  All because I chose to be with the wrong person!"

Chris squatted before the furious gym leader, lost for words, until he said finally "Sparky?"

Jasper released him, giving him a look of disgust before his face calmed, and he turned to resume his story.  "So, I had a choice.  Being thrown out onto the streets penniless, after everything I've done for those bastards in promoting the league, or see if I could make a quick buck passing on basic information to those who'd pay well for it, so I could at least settle down with enough funds to live out my life in something other than squalor."

As his voice slowly quietened, dropping to a whisper, he said finally "Seems I chose wrong.  Now look what I am.  Nothing.  A nobody, and alone again."

Chris sighed, before moving to drop down the wall besides his erstwhile friend.  "Alone?  Where is Sparky?  She was with you when you disappeared?"

Jasper didn't reply, instead turning his face away.  That was answer enough.

In the room centre, Scott had managed to placate Storm so that the typhlosion would at least listen to reason.  When Skyy joined them, passing on the information Jasper had provided, the typhlosion began to curse again, until a quelling look from Scott set his grumbling to rest.  Reaching for his two way radio, Scott attempted to contact Barklay, but all that came back through the receiver was a static hiss.  Either they were too deep within the earth, or their signal was being jammed; regardless, they were on their own now.

Tossing the now-useless radio to his startled partner, Scott called out to the legendaries, who were continuing to examine the locked doors in a huddle.  Before he'd finished, a resounding boom sent him staggering, as a deluge of dust and rubble dropped from the ceiling to plunge the huge room into murky dimness.  The few lights operating within the area flickered and dimmed, before dropping out altogether.  Scott managed to gain his feet, reaching into his belt pouch for a flare, which he struck to ignite.  The ruby glare turned the otherwise unfriendly room into a pit of hell, casting red silhouettes everywhere in its spluttering light. 

From deep within the building's bowels, they could feel the vibrations and rumbling from further explosions, until an even louder pressure blast again threw them roughly to the concrete.  Scott dropped the flare, which spun away into the darkness, landing several meters away.  Long moments passed as the shifting dust began to settle, before they were joined by Raikou and his brothers, who charged from the dimness to their sides to see if anyone had been injured.

As they skidded to a halt, a further deep rumbling came from the direction of the sealed doors, which gave an alarming bell-like peal as debris impacted them from the far side.  One door buckled, allowing a cascade of rock and smaller debris to pour past the gap between them, shortly followed by a gush of water as pipes in the corridors beyond, torn from their brackets, ruptured under the pressure.

The water spread rapidly, making a beeline towards the flare, and Skyy sprang forward to pick it up, lifting it from the floor just before it was extinguished in the liquid.  He returned to the Rangers and handed it to the now-silent Scott, who nodded his thanks.

With the new drama enfolding, Storm finally regained his composure, allowing the two Rangers to hold a hurried discussion of their predicament, even as they strode towards the far wall where Chris and Jasper remained.

Stepping before the gym leader, Scott didn't hedge his words.  "I don't really care at this point what you've done.  I just need to know how to get out of here!"

Jasper gave a harsh, barking laugh in reply.  "We don't!  The entire point of leaving me in here to die was to draw you in here after me.  I was of no further use to them, apart from bait for the unwary.  Obviously, they set their trap too well."

Lips set grimly, Scott ignored the sarcasm, and asked "And the explosions?"

Jasper sighed.  "Bringing the place down around us, I assume.  I'm honestly surprised we're still alive."

Scott exchanged a look with Storm, who said gruffly "They expected us to be buried in the initial explosions?"

At Jasper's nod, Storm grabbed his partner's shoulder, pulling him aside, and said in hushed tones "So if we can't get out via the normal route, we use the portal?"

Scott nodded, but paused at Jaspers coughing laugh.  As the rest turned to regard him, Jasper spat blood tinged sputum onto the floor, wincing as his cracked ribs sent stabbing pain through his chest.  "Yeah, good luck with that!  If all else failed, that's what they want you to try.  I heard the bastards discussing the option, even as their heavies were kicking the snot out of me.  The gate on the far side has been reset.  It’s an enticing last-ditch trap.  Step through there, and you'll end up nowhere.  Or dead!  Probably both!"

At this, Raikou started, eyes narrowing as he turned his big shaggy head to regard his brothers intently.  At the look, Suicune blinked in alarm, and began shaking his head violently in the negative!

"Oh, no!!  No, no, no, no, no!  Raikou, you know we cannot do that without father present!"

Overhearing the blue legendary, Scott spun on Suicune and demanded "Do what?  What can't you do?"

Suicune backed off a step, then another, ready to bolt, but Entei imposed his big form between the blue legendary and escape, saying gruffly "What option do we have?  I'd rather not die in this pit, if an option to escape were possible; even one as risky as that!"

"You're not the only one!" said Chris, getting to his feet and approaching Raikou.  Stroking the big forehead, he leant down before Raikou's face and said "Well, spill it.  Come on."

Raikou gave a deep sigh, even as his smaller brother kept shaking his head.  "Enough, Suicune!" Raikou finally demanded, sending his brother a steely stare that silenced the water pokemon. 

Turning back to Chris, he said "You know Arceus created the portals to facilitate the human’s arrival to this world?"  Chris and Skyy nodded, although Scott started, giving Storm a stare which the typhlosion returned bewildered.

Seeing their reaction, Raikou chuckled dryly.  "You forget your own kind's history, Ranger.  It's a short sightedness that has caused eons of pain and frustration.  Your people weren't always here.  As my young friend here knows, it was our father who brought you here, to live amongst us as equals."  Snorting in disgust, Raikou turned his back on Scott and said "As a species, you failed to meet his expectations, or ours, I'm afraid.  Instead of equals, the humans sought to subjugate the creatures they found, as they had once done on their home world; Chris's world."

Scott turned on Chris, and said angrily "And you didn't tell us this why, exactly?"

Chris returned the look, and said calmly "Because you didn't need to know.  Raikou asked me not to tell anyone, and I had no intention of doing so, especially when breaking my silence meant risking my friendship with him.  You of all people know what that means to me."

Scott glared at him a moment, then dropped his chin to rub his face tiredly.  "Just another day of useless insights, huh.  OK, I'll forget that for the time being, as it isn’t important right now.  How does this now help us?"

Suicune let out a long moan and pressed back against Entei, who put a heavy, consoling paw over his brother’s shoulder.  Raikou, while sympathetic, chose to ignore the sound and continued.  "Our father did not create the portal alone, Ranger.  He had...  assistance.  Us; my brothers and I.  While he created the void, we tied it between the two destinations, linking the worlds to allow travel between.  Without the link, the gateways would have lead nowhere."

"And it nearly killed us!" blurted Suicune, ignoring Entei's entreating look, and striding forward to confront Raikou in desperate fear.  "We nearly died, so our ever so wise father could create the portal that allowed a place full of barbarians to take over this world, and subjugate it, and us, for their own pleasure!"

Raikou nodded slightly, even as he turned to Scott and exclaimed with a deep breath "What he says is true.  We were nearly drained of our existence.  It was only by the slimmest of margins that we were able to separate at the last moment and escape both intact, and with our individuality complete."

Scott considered the reply, even as Storm spoke up with surprising insight "But you only need to reset the target destination, not both sides.  Surely, that should be an easier option?"

Entei's loud laughter, harsh in its cynicism, interrupted the Ranger.  "You know nothing of what you speak, typhlosion!  It is an all or none, and this time you would have us do this without our father’s aid?"

"It's that, or die in here with us" said Skyy quietly, drawing all their attention, and sending him blushing under his fur.  Stuttering, he continued "I mean, if we get trapped in here, we die in here.  If we use the portal without an exit, we die in there.  If the building collapses, we die here even faster.  What other options do we have?"

At his words the group went silent, even as an ominous creaking began in the roof above them.  Dust again began to sift down through the cracks, soon followed by larger chunks of debris, as the concrete roof supporting the chamber began to fail.  While they debated, a large chunk of reinforced concrete separated from the far end of the room, showering them in a spray of rocks and dust, and sending further cracks spreading above them.

Entei raised an eyebrow, his lips curled in a large grin beneath his moustache, and said jovially "Well, what's it to be?  Die like a diglet, buried forever in the ground, or go out in a blaze of glory?"

Suicune, having composed himself somewhat, snorted and replied in disgust "I don't especially like either option, but the lucario is correct.  Given the alternatives, we do not have a choice in this, do we?"

Raikou chuckled, turning to Chris and rubbing his face against his friend.  "No, we do not! But if we are to go, I suggest we go trying!"

Chris pressed himself deep into the fur of Raikou, eyes watering as he hugged the huge head against him.  "You'd better come back, Raikou!" he whispered, even as the legendary pulled from his grasp to join his brothers before the portal.  Raikou gave him a final wink, taking up station before the shimmering surface.

"We will only have one chance at this" he intoned, even as he charged himself up, static crackling through his huge body as he brought his power to bear.  Beside him, Entei's form became clouded in heat haze, small licks of flame spilling from his fur to burn deep into the ground beneath.  Suicune, mists already enveloping him, looked across to Chris with deep blue eyes and gave him a slight smile, even as the water pokemon became enveloped in his own glowing blue nimbus.

With the room engulfed in their power, the ceiling shook from their efforts, and a screaming wind sprung up around them, tearing debris and dust into a choking stream, to be engulfed by the portal maw. 

"When I say go, you go!" yelled Raikou above the wind, as his brothers roared, sending all their inconceivable power into the portal surface, which turned a violent red, before being engulfed in an unbelievable blinding white light.   

"GO!" Raikou screamed, the room shuddering around them, and the humans and pokemon bolted to the portal.  Chris and Scott, supporting Jasper between them, staggered on the final steps, causing them to trail behind the others even as their friends disappeared through the portal ahead of them.  Chris cried out in pain, struck on the shoulder by a large piece of rock, and nearly dropped Jasper's arm as the roof behind them gave way.  The violent change in air pressure thrust them through the portal and sent a torrent of building rubble to drop over the pokemon trio, blocking them from his view even as his consciousness was torn apart during the passage through.

But the last thoughts refused to leave him, sending a horror deep within his mind even as he passed out...

"Oh Gods, Raikou!  No!"

_________________

Authors note:

Live isn't simple, and it often isn't pleasant.

Death and destruction are a part of it.

I'm sorry, Raikou...