Chaotic Good

Chapter 19: Lady Luck

Jay's POV

        The hatch was too hot for any of us to touch, so Zena just melted the whole thing into a pile of metallic goop. It was kind of unnerving, but it did the job. I looked down the hole. I couldn't really see the bottom. What did look like the bottom sort of came in and out of my vision, like an illusion. We did rock paper scissors to see who went down first. Zena lost both, so she went first, followed by myself, Matt, LoveGame, and then Mike. As we climbed down, Zena looked very nervous. I wonder if she's claustrophobic? This must suck for her, then. Mike looked a little scared as well. LoveGame looked as relaxed as ever, and Matt looked alert. Zena said she felt as if something bad was going to happen. I was going to reassure her, but I honestly didn't know what to say. This Clandestine Pokemon sounds kinda scary, I'll be honest. Pretty soon Zena announced we were close to the bottom floor. It was a wide open room, with a velvet carpet leading up to a throne. There were paintings of a Lucario hung up on either side of the wall. Whoever this Pokemon was must be pretty arrogant. LoveGame squinted his eyes and looked around. "This place is hella suspicious." He said.

"This place is giving off a creepy vibe. Let's just pummel Clandestine so we can get out of here." Zena spoke. I took a step forward onto the velvet carpet. Suddenly the room around me blurred and my head was spinning. It only lasted half a second, the next we were in what looked to be a jail cell. 

"Witchcraft!" Zena shouted with a grin. Matt laughed. Mike and I turned to her. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. We're in some deep shit now, though." The cell room was made of stone, except for the bars, which were steel. I doubted Zena's flamethrower could melt them.

"Fucking hell. I knew that place was wack." LoveGame said with an annoyed tone.

We all froze when we heard footsteps. As they drew closer, Zena tensed and moved towards me. A Pokemon soon arrived at our cell. A Lucario. Not even surprised.

"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in. Welcome to my humble abode, and your demise." She said with a cruel grin. 

Mike and LoveGame both fixed her with an unimpressed stare. "You're Clandestine, right?" Mike asked.

"Countess Clandestine, to you. Show some respect to your captor." LoveGame scoffed at this, Clandestine shot him a glare.

"Yeah, whatever, c'n you let us out?" Mike continued. Clandestine's expression switched to something angry, and she used Flash Cannon on Mike. It exploded in front of all of us, but there was a Mike-shaped indent in the back of the cell. He was limp on the ground with a bruise on his chest. Matt quickly rushed over to make sure he was okay. She could've put Mike in a coma with that kind of power. This Pokemon is insane. "I suggest you learn some respect or face my wrath." She turned to face down the hall and shouted, "Hey! Peanut gallery! Get down here and watch this poor excuse of a rescue team." She practically spat out the last few words. She walked away and two other Pokemon filled her place. Unsurprisingly, it was Nick and the Arcanine. They sat down and stared at us. It was really creepy. Nick coughed once. The Arcanine never moved. Not even a twitch. Nick looked uncomfortable, though. Zena and I were sitting on either side of Mike at the back of the cell, Matt was pacing, and LoveGame looked like he was in his own world.

"Psst." Zena opened one eye. LoveGame stirred and looked up at Nick. Matt was glaring at Demetrius. Looked like a staring competition.

"I'm not under mind control." Both of her eyes were open now, and I was staring at the voice's owner. "I can break you out." Nick continued, glancing around. "They have Demetrius under mind control. He won't snap out. Please help me. I'll help you back."

"How is Demetrius not ratting you out right now?" Zena asked.

"He can only hear Clandestine." Weird. Well, she is using magic after all.  

"Why would you want to break us out?" I inquired.

"I want Clandestine to burn. She promised me riches and glory, but all I got was mind control and poor living conditions. She gave me rotten berries!" Nick said with malice in his voice. "She deserves to pay for her terrible actions." Amen. I didn't exactly trust him, but he's all we've got right now. I poked Mike.

"Dude. Wake up. We're breaking out." Mike groaned and opened his eyes.

"Howcome you're not under mind control now, Nick?" Zena asked.

"Iron will and some acting." He replied, with some pistols and a wink. 

"I think he's trustworthy." Matt suddenly spoke up. His eyes were still fixed on Demetrius. 

"Dude, what are you doing." I asked Matt.

"I feel like if I look away he'll do something crazy." He replied. Fair enough. 

"Okay, if we're going to do this, we have to be quick. Like, speed boost Scolipede quick. I'll bust a hole through the wall, and we'll run to the exit. Clandestine is about to start something big-apocalyptic even- and we've gotta stop her. I overheard her once in her trophy room while I was standing guard. She wants to 'reset' the world. She says its horrible. Contaminated by evil doers. Hypocritical if you ask me. But we must stop her, she's stolen ancient artifacts that are used for black magic." Everybody shivered at that. "I don't know how she's meant to restart the world," He continued, "I think she plans to summon something evil, but I...I don't wanna die, man!"

"We gotcha. Just let us out and we'll do this together." Matt said, finally looking away from Demetrius. "Also, I might have a way to snap your friend out of his mind control. But it may or may not crack his skull." Nick gulped and nodded. 

"Okay, stand back guys. Matt, you've gotta snap Demetrius out of it right after I do this, or else he will alert Clandestine." Everybody stood with their backs pressed to the back wall. Nick's tail became coated in water, and he slammed it against the wall. Debris and dust covered our vision, but I could vaguely make out Matt's form running forward and grabbing Demetrius's head. He slammed it against the wall with a loud thud. Zena flapped her wings rapidly and the dust blocking our vision quickly disappeared. Demetrius looked like he was out cold. Nick ran over to him and checked his pulse. He sighed with relief and picked him up bridal style. I didn't have time to smirk at the sight, Nick was motioning for us to follow him out the hole and through the hall.

"Yknow, you guys could've used your mega evolution!" LoveGame reminded us as we were running. Well, he wasn't wrong.

"We forget things too, yknow!" Mike countered. We came to a small closet-looking room that had the hatch we were in. We quickly climbed up- Nick had trouble with Demetrius, but he managed somehow- and when we were outside we all took deep breaths. Ah, fresh air. It was then Demetrius started to stir. Nick dropped him in the snow, and Demetrius looked around at all of us. Nick quickly explained what had happened. Demetrius was speechless, but it was clear he was on our side. I looked around the ground, there were footprints leading North, towards Vanaheim. Clandestine's footprints?

"Hey, I think these are Clandestine's footprints." I said, pointing at the ground.

"They are. Let's head after her quickly." Matt said in a serious tone. We followed him quickly. LoveGame decided it'd be quicker if we could fly. So Matt rode on Nick's back. Demetrius was too big to ride on anyone's back, but he was convinced he could keep up if we flew. We all doubted that until he used Extreme Speed. The cold numbed my face, but I hardly noticed. This was the most important thing this team has ever done.