All three heads immediately swiveled to the source of the strange noise. Their bodies tensed as the rumbling came closer and closer towards them, glowing louder and louder with every passing second. Javas was mentally considering for them to fall back before a gigantic boulder appeared from seemingly out from nowhere and rolled towards them.

So that was what the noise was… all three realized, but then immediately leapt back to the fact that it was a boulder. A huge one. And if it got to them, there was a high probability of them being squashed. Or steamrolled. Or squished. Or what ever word one would care to use for ‘squash’.

“RUNNNNNN!!!!” yelled Ifrit, and the two couldn’t help but agree to this basic notion. The trio quickly snapped their limbs into action as they tried to flee from their likely gruesome fate. The three unluckiest partners fled for their lives from the huge chunk rolling death as it continued to charge towards them, never losing steam, unlike the unfortunate three.

We can’t keep this up forever! Saital shouted with whatever mental voice she had at that point of time.

“Geez, ya think?!” Ifrit replied cynically, but was cut short when a row of stalagmites burst out from the ground suddenly. “Whoa!” shouted the Houndoom as he leaped backwards in order not to get hit. Landing upon the ground, the fire hound quickly let loose a Flamethrower towards the stones in order to melt them and pass through, but as the embers cleared… the hound looked in shock as the stalagmites still stood in one piece. “Saital!” the two-horned beast yelled to his feathered compatriot.

Understanding what the Houndoom wanted, the Pidgeotto let loose her Razor Wind attack, glowing boomerang-shaped energy disks swiftly slicing through air itself to try and strike the columns of earth down. Dust clouds filled the area as the attack hit home, only to have absolutely no effect at all.

“Imp… impossible!” cried out the shocked Houndoom as Saital flapped down to study the mysterious structure. Interesting… this isn’t made by nature; it’s a product of human hands…

“You know, Saital, this really isn’t the time to study!” Ifrit yelled in dismay while Javas quickly made his way towards the maroon-feathered Pidgeotto. The canine gaped when he saw the feline bend down to study the stalagmites as well. “Not you as well, idiot!”

“Quiet, monsieur!” hissed the Sneasel in return, not turning to meet the Houndoom’s infuriated gaze. “These stalagmites… they might be the key to our freedom, so keep quiet. I need to figure out a way to break through them.”

“How?” demanded the canine. “If these things could withstand Entei’s flames and Saital’s Razor Wind, there’s no other way to break them; most you can do is to freeze them!”

“Freeze… that’s it!” the feline seemed to shout out, like how one would shout ‘Eureka!’

What is? Saital couldn’t help but question, one eye looking warily at the boulder that was stopped temporality by Ifrit, who was spewing huge amounts of flame to keep the stone at bay. There was hardly any time left…

“This!” The Sneasel exclaimed as he slapped his claws together, transmuting his metallic appendage. The metal howled with blue light as Javas slammed both his hands upon the stalagmites. A howl seemed to echo throughout the entire area as stray sparks of electric blue began to appear and surround the feline, the howl slowly transforming into a roar of alchemic power as ice crystals began to form upon the surface of the stalagmites.

This…! I see now! Saital said as realization dawned upon her. Thinking quickly, she quickly headed towards the tiring Houndoom and said to him, Go to Javas, Ifrit! I’ll take care of things here.

The Houndoom didn’t move, instead continuing to spew flames from his mouth. The gaze he cast at Saital told the Pidgeotto more than enough. I’ll do this myself, Saital! You should stay back! You're just gonna get hurt!

Fool! You’re the key in getting us out of this predicament! the maroon-feathered seemed to shout in exasperation towards the fiery canine. Upon hearing that, Ifrit seemed to twitch for a moment before finally letting up. He quickly stopped his ranging flames and leaped back as Saital flapped her wings to summon powerful gusts of wind to continue holding the boulder in position. The Houndoom scowled slightly as he started to talk to the ice feline. “So, what do I do?”

“Use your Flamethrower onto the stalagmites again!” the Sneasel yelled in response, his voice barely heard by the howl of Saital’s Gust attack.

The Houndoom wanted to protest, but decided it was best to cooperate for awhile. Leaping backwards into the sky, the hound summoned the fiery power within him and opened his jaws to release a humongous pillar of orange embers. It slammed directly upon the intended target, the flames completely melting the ice coating and heating them up. The canine was sure that nothing would happen before a sudden ear-splitting crack filled the air, followed by several other similar sounds. Ifrit winced visibly as the sound crashed through his senses while the smoke cleared out to reveal the stalagmites covered in many deep cracks.

“What the-” started the startled canine, but was cut short yet again as Javas walked up with his bionic fist glowing a brilliant ivory white.

“Tsukuyomi: Tuski no Kami!” Sneasel shouted as he landed his fist upon the stalagmites. A huge gust of wind blew past by the force of the blow, and the stones immediately shattered. Ifrit barely had any time to say anything before the feline slapped his paws together yet again and froze a portion of the ground in a perfect circle shape. “Ifrit! Use Flamethrower here as well!”

“Got it!” the Houndoom shouted as acknowledgement before leaping into the air and releasing another round of flames. He continued to do it as he landed upon the ground, but accidentally activated another trap as he did.

Crap! the hound thought to himself.

“Merde!” Javas cursed loudly as he saw a set of blades flying towards the canine. The Sneasel quickly stood behind the Houndoom and yelled for him to continue, which he did after a moment’s hesitation. The feline raised both his claws and slapped them together again. “Tsubame Fubuki!” he yelled. A cluster of ice needles appeared in mid air, but each shaped as miniature Taillow that honed towards the blades at great speed. The moment each Taillow-shaped ice needle struck the blades, they would be quickly encased in a dome of ice and fall to the ground with loud thuds.

We can do this! The Houndoom thought to himself before giving out the last breath of fire he could muster. The last roar of flames burst out into the air and upon the frozen ground, where the heat was finally enough as another thunderous crack sounded through the place. Javas quickly called out to the Houndoom and Pidgeotto as soon as the crack sounded. “Ifrit! Madame! Let’s get out of here!” he shouted.

Both immediately complied, speeding out of the cavern as the boulder fell into the weakened ground, the force sending chunks of debris and rock pilling up behind them and sealing the place for good.
 

+++++++++++++


And so, after our encounter with numerous traps, we finally managed to escape and tried to find our way out. Along the way, however, a strange force seemed to grow within me, clouding my thoughts. They were no longer coherent or clear, simply a train of instincts and bottled rage. It came and grew stronger and stronger as I ventured deeper through the tunnels of Zeon, unaware that soon a fierce battle for our lives would take place.

...and that I alone would discover the most shocking truth of all.

‘The debt of thirteen years shall be repaid.’


+++++++++++++

Lucied grumbled under his breath as the trio walked. Miraculously, they had managed to cheat death yet again, although the Mightyena was still pretty sore over Fentagon sudden disappearance earlier – as well as reappearance when they finally managed to get away from it.

“Fenta had his reasons, Lucied…” the Umbreon tried to calm down the enraged Mightyena yet again, only to sweatdrop as the wolf glared at the striped Meowth with immense annoyance. However, all that the feline did was to meow out loudly and lick its paws for what seemed to be the millionth time in a row. That definitely did nothing to soothe the raven canine’s anger, instead simply flaring it up even more. “Why you little-” he started, but Jacques fortunately managed to restrain the Mightyena before anything serious could happen. “Calm down!”

The wolf complied, seething is anger for a bit but still giving Fentagon the irritated look and muttered in annoyance as they continued walking down the path. Jacques looked at the Mightyena in concern. Ever since they had entered here, the wolf’s temper was getting really uncontrollable. Just before that he had threatened to kill the Meowth, and the Eon Pokemon could swear the wolf’s eyes were glowing ominously when he said that. Glowing with the promise of blood. The memory of it simply sent chills up his spine.

From what he heard, Lucied was a very calm and relaxed person. But this… was almost the total opposite. Jacques looked as the Mightyena snarled in annoyance as he looked around. Even the Houndoom wasn’t as hot tempered as the raven canine was now. Something was definitely amiss, the Umbreon could feel it. His thoughts were interrupted when Lucied called out to the pupiless Pokemon. “Oy. You know where to go?”

Even his manner of speech has changed, the Umbreon remarked mentally to himself as he pointed to the right. “That way, I think. Fentagon told me he felt a breeze from there.”

“That stupid kitty had better be right,” grumbled the wolf to himself before pacing off towards the said direction. Sighing in exasperation, Jacques resigned himself to his current fate before following the wolf behind.

The path was dark, but the Mightyena’s night vision soon fixed that and the three soon found themselves walking into a grand hall, withered with age. Crumbled columns lined by the sides and the tiles old with dust and dirt. Chunks of rubble and stone littered the marble-tiled floor that the three stepped upon.

“This is some crappy junkyard,” the wolf said in an annoyed tone.

“I had no idea such a place like this existed within the mountains…” the Umbreon whispered in awe.

“It’s just a broken down place.” Lucied shot back in irritation as his paw stepped upon something cool. The Mightyena looked down to see a beaten-down helmet und his paw. “What the hell is this?” the wolf muttered as he studied the metallic item, but soon gave up after a few moments. “All, hell, just a piece of scrap.” Saying that, he grabbed the rim by his teeth and tossed the item to the side, the metallic object clanking loudly as it landed upon the ground. The clanks echoed through the grand hallway.

Studying the place for one last time, the Mightyena turned away and shouted out to the Umbreon. “C’mon Jacques; time to go.”

“Alright,” the Umbreon said in reply as he walked up to the wolf along with Fentagon. Lucied shot another glare at the striped Meowth before grunting and started to walk out of the room.













 

Clang!