Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 52 - Unshackled Reaper

Kiria and Meloetta's duet fortified Midorima and I, as well as Azelf and Uxie, allowing us to better handle the weight of the portion of the building we were holding. With their help, we were able to stop it entirely, holding it in place. The top 30 or so floors of the skyscraper were now levitating just outside the window of the 15th floor of the rest of the building that was still standing.

"N-now what?" I winced.

"We have to evacuate it – there's no way we can lift it back up." Midorima exhaled through his teeth.

"Even if we did, the supports are charred." Uxie strained. "We can't exactly glue this piece back on top – gah!"

"W-wait... Th-the bonds are made of metal..." Azelf's eyes were jammed shut. "Hah... Gah... Pao... P-Pao... Ngh..."

"Paolo!" Kiria overheard our conversation as he song came to an end and shouted back over her shoulder.

"What is it?" The Italian shouted back, ducking beneath the green canopy and the shields of Skyra and Zamazenta.

"You can manipulate metal, correct?!" Meloetta cried.

"Yes." Cobalion leapt in front of his human partner and shattered a piece of falling debris with his head.

"Perfect...!" Midorima groaned. "Paolo... If we get this back up...!"

"Save your breath, Midorima!" Paolo nodded. "I understand."

"How are you gonna get it back up, though?!" Victor cried, as he daren't leave his cover.

"Gah – I'm on it!" Caleb sprinted out from under the canopy and looked directly up at the section of the building that was floating above. He used his hardened arms to shield his head as a slab of crumbling wall fell and cracked apart. The floor of the chunk was peeling away, and he could see horrified people cowering up there.

All the while, Bedlam was watching curiously, his ethereal arms doing its bidding without it lifting a finger. Throughout all this, it was killing people – hundreds and thousands every second – and yet we were stuck trying to deal with a mess that we had accidentally created.

"You two!" Caleb shouted up to Gabi and Shu. "Get ready to put your back into it!"

"Right!" Gabi shouted back.

"Terrakion, send me up!"

"Right away!" Terrakion stamped his hoof into the road, and at once the ground began to rumble. A robust rock spire tore up from beneath Caleb's feet, elevating him upwards and sending chunks of road and pavement flying.

"Hold on!" Caleb shouted to the people inside the building. "Gah, you don't even know what I'm saying!" He cursed the language barrier.

Terrakion's rock pillar carried Caleb all the way up to the hovering chunk, and his raised palms hit the centre.

Gabi and Shu flew to his left and right respectively, them and their Pokemon adding their strength as they all tried to push the top of the building back up into the sky.

Back on the ground, I felt a portion of the weight being taken off my shoulders as the three of them took hold of the underside, driving it slowly back up.

"Liiiift...!" Midorima said, his face red.

"Rrrrgh...!" I tried my hardest to help them lift it back upwards.

"It's Chloe and Zeraora!" Zacian barked, alerting everyone. High up the sky, the two were finally coming back down – a mere speck in the distance.

"Can someone get to them?!" Paolo looked around in desperation. There was no way they would survive the fall.

"I-I can catch them...!" Azelf volunteered.