Chapter 24 – Lost In Time

“…et us out!”

KRRZZTT!

“Let us out!”

KRRRZZZZTT!

“LET US OUT!”

KRRRRZZZZZTTTTT!!!

Lexxi slowly stirs awake with a weak, quiet groan, her ears flicking and perking up at the sound of Rickety’s panicked, distressed voice, followed by a series of electric crackling, the sound of his body hitting the floor.

She hears Rickety yelling and screaming, hearing the sound of him getting back up, trying to run, crashing into something that produces more electric crackling.

KRRRZZZZ-ZZZRRRRTTTTT!

What’s… Going on? Lexxi clears the blurriness from her eyes, trying to get a sense of her bearings. The floor was smooth, cold, and it seemed to be the same with all of the walls. They were in some kind of boxed room, all of the walls and floors colored an almost blinding sterile white, the only other thing of note being electric columns on one end of the room, barring the way out like a prison cell, acting as barriers.

She can hear a soft humming sound emanating from all around, a quiet whirring that droned within her ears. Her gaze turns towards Rickety, who is stumbling back from the electrical barrier. He frowns furiously, hand clenching into a fist as he pounds it against the floor. “Urrghhh! Come on!”

“R-Rickety?” She stammers weakly, slowly getting back up onto all fours. “What’s…?”

Rickety gasps, his demeanor immediately changing when he hears Lexxi’s voice, quickly turning to face her, clambering towards her as he wraps his arms around her in a hug, tightly hugging her against him. “Lexxi! Oh thank gosh you’re alright. I kept trying to wake you up but you were out cold!”

Lexxi goes still as she leans against Rickety, letting her limps just droop for a bit before she hugs him back, tail coiling around his side as she looks up at him. “What happened? My head hurts and everything’s sorta fuzzy… Where are we?”

“That’s what I’m trying to wrap my head around.” He says, glancing back at the electrical barriers sealing off the room. “Some kind of jail, I can figure that much. Doesn’t look like any jail I’ve ever seen before. Been trying to ram our way out, but nothing I’ve done has worked.”

Lexxi’s ears droop against her head, expression falling. “Jail? B-But how did we even up here? Why are we even locked up to begin with? We haven’t done anything! Have we?!”

“Okay- Okay, okay, just- Let’s think about this for a bit.” Rickety slowly lets Lexxi go, sitting in front of her as he scratches at his head. “Dusknoir grabbed us and dragged us into the Dimensional Hole, which…” His expression goes pale, the reality of the situation setting in. _{“…We’re in the future, aren’t we, Lexxi?”}

Lexxi’s eyes widen at the thought. “In the future, locked up for who knows what, stuck who knows where- How are we even going to get home? There’s gotta be a way, right? Dusknoir traveled here, the Dimensional Hole, maybe there’s a Dimensional Hole somewhere-“

FRRZZZTT!

The electric barrier that had been blocking the cell vanishes, but this is no grace period to allow them to escape, far from it. Two Pokemon are standing just outside the cell, walking inside and straight towards Rickety and Lexxi, their movements stiff, as if they’re only moving as much as necessary.

Both of them were robots. One of them being that same Hariyama-esque Pokemon they saw carrying Glyph, the other one something else entirely. A machine that looked to be a fusion of a Gallade and a Gardevoir, vibrant pink armblades resting in the divots of its arms.

“They are awake.” The latter machine speaks in a cold, monotone voice. “Seize them, now.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The Hariyama-like saunters towards Rickety and Lexxi, its floating arms outstretching, reaching towards them. Panicked, Lexxi and Rickety both attempt to back away further from the hands, but they end up backing against the wall, the hands tightly grabbing both of them, shocking them with a quick burst of electricity, weakening them.

Stars dance in Rickety and Lexxi’s vision as the struggle futilely in the machine’s grasp, their bodies, having already been weakened earlier, now felt fragile as they squirmed helplessly in the machine’s hands, the Gallade/Gardevoir fusion following behind them.

“W-Where… Where are you freaks taking us?” Rickety growls weakly, unable to squirm his way out of the grip the robo-yama had seized him in. “Who even… Are you?”

“You will ask no further questions and make no such remarks.” The fusion Pokemon speaks, walking up to Rickety’s side, threatening him with the tip of one of it’s armblades, holding it up just under Rickety’s chin as he tries to careen his neck away from it. “Otherwise we will silence you by force. Is that understood?”

Rickety’s eyes widen, body trembling against the tightness of those hands, a cold sweat breaking out as he stares down at the tip of the blade. He gives a shaky nod of the head in a silent response, as the Pokemon draws back its blade, continuing its walk alongside the two.

Lexxi watches helplessly, swallowing hard, making very little attempt to break free from the robo-yama’s grasp, her body too small and frail to make any sort of progress in its grip.

“You better listen to them.” A familiar voice comes from around the corner, accompanied by an equally familiar face. Glyph, held in the grasp of a robo-yama once again, as it joins them in their walk through the white, clean, metallic hallways. “Iron Valiant is as ruthless as they look. If you value your life, it’d be best to keep any insults to yourselves.”

Lexxi frowns as her gaze lands on the thief, Rickety sharing an equally disgusted look alongside her. “Why did we have to get lumped into this with you? We haven’t done anything wrong! You’re the thief here!”

Glyph scoffs, making no attempt to break free as he turns his head away. “You two have no idea what’s going on here, do you? Of course you’d be blissfully unaware.”

“You just wanna mock us, or do you actually have a point to make?” Rickety snarls, glaring angrily at the robotic Grovyle. “Maybe you could clue us in on why we’re here in the first place, huh?”

“Beats me.” Glyph responds. “Seems like you must’ve done something to tick him off. They’re just off to disassemble me, put me out of commission for good. Same song and dance as usual, but you… You two are on your way to being converted.”

“C-Converted?” Rickety’s eyes widen again, body tensing up and trembling. “W-What do you mean converted?! A-Are they trying to turn us into machines or something?!”

“Hit the nail right on the head.” Glyph nods in response. His voice lowers, leaning over towards the two. _{“I know you two don’t exactly like me, but if you wanna leave here with all your bones and skin intact, you’re going to have to listen to me.”}

_{“Why should we listen to you?!”} Lexxi whisper shouts back, eyebrows furrowed. _{“Who would want to do this to us anyway?!”}

_{“Who do you think?!”}

They walk through a pair of sliding doors, which make a hissing sound as they slowly open. They lead to a large room with dozens, possibly hundreds of pieces of machinery that are far beyond Rickety and Lexxi’s comprehension, the walls aligned with empty capsules embedded into the walls… Except for one.

One of the tubes just off to the side was occupied, Lexxi and Rickety’s eyes widening in shock and terror when they realized who was inside.

It was Mesprit.

The lake guardian’s body had been almost completely converted. Bits and pieces of her arms metal plates missing, revealing bits and pieces of an endoskeleton lying underneath, with a few wires floating weightlessly from the incomplete spaces. The pink mesh that covered her head was now made of glass, that same liquid they’d seen in the other Pokemon flowing through it as well.

The tips of her tails were more pointed and much sharper than they had been previously, and she had these strange conductor-like implants embedded into the palms of her hands, wires and cables connected to her back, reaching from the top of the tube. Eyes blank, likely replaced with the same eyes as the other Pokemon.

The two of them could barely bring themselves to say anything, left completely speechless, horrified and utterly heartbroken, realizing there was nothing they could do about this. The Mesprit that they knew was effectively gone.

They all grunt as they’re thrown into the open capsules, backs pressed against the wall, metallic restrains wrapping around their bodies and bounding them in place, unable to move, even if they had the strength to at this point.

Iron Valiant steps away to the side, the robo-yama making its way back out of the room. They all see a figure floating down the hallway, another all-too familiar figure. Staring them down with his singular eye, Dusknoir makes his way into the room with his hands behind his back, gaze narrowed as he slowly looks over the three of them.

Lexxi watches in fear and confusion, her tail puffed out, but unable to do anything in her bonds. “D-Dusknoir?! What’s going on?! Y-You’re not the one d-doing this, are you?!”

“I would say it’s nothing personal, but that would very much be a lie.” His gaze narrows towards the three, leaning closer. “The fact of the matter is that you are all a threat to me and my vision for the world. But rather than dispose of you, you will aid me in bringing that vision to life, whether you want to or not.”

As Dusknoir speaks, Rickety can feel nothing but pure, unbridled rage, starting to wrestle against his bonds some more. “Y-You… You backstabbing JERK!” He barks angrily, fire burning within his eyes as he tries to break himself free, causing the metal to creak slightly. “We trusted you! I looked up to you! When we get out of here, I’m going to pound your face into the freaking ground-!”

Iron Valiant quickly steps forward, detaching the blades from its arms and forming a double-edged halberd, swiftly position it right up to Rickety’s throat, mere centimeters away from pressing into it, the machine’s holographic eyes coldly staring into Rickety’s, the Riolu quickly shutting up and going still.

“Please.” Dusknoir scoffs, rolling his eye. “You should be thanking me that I’m not killing you outright. You should be grateful that you’ll get to experience your lives in a new light. Carefree, no burdens, no worries, just machines, willing to do whatever their master bids.”

“W-We didn’t do anything wrong!” Lexxi stammers, trying to wiggle out of her bonds. “I-If we did anything wrong, we’re sorry! We’re really, really sorry! Please don’t turn us into robots o-or whatever you’re trying to do!”

Dusknoir’s vision narrows as he leans in closer to Lexxi. “I’ve already told you. Your existence, as it is now, threatens everything I have worked for up to this point. Leaving you as you are simply isn’t an option. None of you could possibly begin to understand.”

Glyph scoffs, rolling his eyes, a small, spinning circle appearing in the corner of his visor, barely noticeable. “Spare us the speech. By the time you’re done, you’ll have already bored them to death.”

“Much less you, Glyph.” Dusknoir squints angrily. “Given how often you’ve tried to interfere. Unlike those two, I’ll make sure you’re dismantled as slowly and painfully as possible.”

Glyph lets out another scoff, smirking faintly at Dusknoir. “I’m pretty sure you’ve already been a bit too slow in that regard, regrettably.”

Before Dusknoir has any chance to respond, the lights suddenly cut, the power to the entire building going off in a matter of seconds. The glow coming from Glyph’s eyes vanishes and the sound of metallic scraping and creaking can be heard.

_{“Oh the BLASTED-“} Mere seconds later, the power to the building restores, the lights quickly turning back on. Glyph, Rickety and Lexxi have all vanished, the bonds no longer restraining them. A giant, gaping hole was torn out from the floor, one of the metal platings removed, leading down to the underground sewer system that lay just below the base.

Clenching his fists as he stares down at the open hole, Dusknoir’s gaze immediately turns to Iron Valiant. “Don’t just stand there! Go after them this instant!”

“Understood. Initiating pusuit now.” Iron Valiant plainly responds as it jumps down the hole, immediately beginning to give chase to the escaped captives.

---

“Aauuuggghhh, it STINKS down here!” Rickety groans inbetween pants, running for his life with Lexxi by his side, the two desperately trying to follow Glyph, the sound of rushing water bouncing around the stony walls of the sewers, only lit up by the occasional lights along the maintenance walkways. “Couldn’t you have picked a, hah, better place to- huff, run to?!”

“Be glad you still have your sense of smell at all.” Glyph glances back at the two of them birefly before looking back ahead. “Deal with the stench and focus on running, we need to keep going so we can find an exit back to the surface!”

“E-Easy for you to say!” Lexxi stammers, panting heavily, her little stubs carrying her as fast as she can go. “You don’t need to worry about having lungs! Or having any breath to run out of at all!”

“Haah… I-I don’t think I can, pffoo, k-keep going…” Rickety stammers, starting to slow down a bit. “R-Running as fast as I can, I…”

_{Clang clang clang splash clang SPLASH SPLASH CLANG}

The trio glance behind, hearing the sound of metallic thumping and water splashing coming from behind them amidst the roaring waves of the sewer. Iron Valiant, the fusion robot, was hot on their tail, and catching up on them scarily fast.

“Nnnnnevermind I can keep going!” Rickety’s eyes go wide and he immediately begins to pick his pace back up, scooping Lexxi up into his arms and holding onto her tightly against his chest.

Lexxi pants heavily, finally able to get a small chance to rest from running. Small being the key word here, with the threat chasing them, after all. She glances back, seeing Iron Valiant winding up their double-edged blade, slashing forward as a flurry of Psycho Cut waves comes hurdling towards them. “Duck!”

Rickety quickly follows suit, ducking down out of the way as the Psycho Cuts miss him, crashing into the wall, sending dozens of bricks crumbling down from the wall and splashing down into the water.

“Keep moving!” Glyph shouts back at them, spotting a series of flood gates just up ahead. “I’ve got a plan, just keep up the pace and follow me!”

“I’m going as fast as I can! Stop ordering me around!” Rickety shouts back, glancing back at Iron Valiant who seems to be getting ready for yet another attack. Their blade is wound back and- Is that a holographic image of the MOON looming behind them?!

Rickety pushes himself even harder, eyes scrunched shut as he rushes ahead, unaware of the Moonblast creeping closer towards them, as he finally seems to catch up to Glyph.

And Glyph, outstretching his arm shoots out a vine from his palm, impacting the cranks that controlled the floodgates. One by one, as the three run past, one floodgate after the other begins to drop down into the water, sealing the path away behind them and finally putting some space between them and Iron Valiant.

“That should slow them down a bit.” Glyph mutters. “Let’s keep moving! There should be an exit further down the sewer!”

Iron Valiant stops once they reach the floodgates, hearing the panicked footsteps of the trio ahead as they all run away, getting further and further away from them. The machine takes a moment to examine their surroundings, trying to calculate the best possible course of action to catch up with them.

There is no alternative way forward, no doors to take, no split paths to cut them off, the only way to them is through the gates, forward.

And so, Iron Valiant thrusts their blade into the first gate, slowly cutting their blade through the metal.

---

The three finally make it into a deeper part of the sewer, taking refuge in a generator room off onto the side of the sewer. Rickety sets Lexxi down, the two both catching their breath after the whole endeavor, utterly spent and completely exhausted.

“I never, haaaahhh… Ever wanna run that much again for the rest of my life.” Rickety stammers, slumping back against the wall, chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. “Pfffaaahhh, I can’t feel my legs…” He turns to face Lexxi, who seems to be equally exhausted, despite having been carried. “Y-You okay too…?”

She nods her head in response, leaning her head against Rickety’s arm. “Yeah, I’m alright, I’m just trying to process everything is all… It all feels like a bad dream.”

Glyph peers out the door, peeking around the corner. “…We bought ourselves some time, but those gates won’t keep Iron Valiant long.” He turns back to face the two, closing the door behind him. “We can rest up for a while, but after that, we’ll have to get moving again.”

Rickety’s brows furrow, even in his exhaustion. “We?” He frowns, still trying to catch his breath. “W-Who said we were planning on, haaahh, sticking around with you? We only, huuhhh, escaped with you because we didn’t have any other choice. W-Why would we ever wanna go with somebody like you?”

Glyph stares at Rickety for a few moments, his eyes squinting at him before he scoffs, turning away. “So you still think I’m the big, bad, scary robot, huh? You still don’t trust me even after you saw what Dusknoir was planning to do to you?”

“No!” Rickety barks back, fists clenching, teeth bared. “Heck NO! Just because Dusknoir betrayed us doesn’t mean I’m gonna suddenly put all my faith in you! I don’t trust you, I especially don’t trust Dusknoir, and as far as I care, I don’t trust ANYBODY that isn’t the two of us right now!”

_{“Rickety…”} Lexxi mutters weakly, too exhausted and spent to try to speak up, her ears drooping against her head.

“With an attitude like that, you’ll be lucky to survive out there on your own.” Glyph turns back around to face the door. “I thought that being allies would give us all a better chance, but if none of us trust each other, then there’s no point in travelling together.” He pushes the door open, peering back outside. “I’m going to keep moving. Don’t let Iron Valiant catch you, otherwise…” He goes silent for a moment, sighing. “You know the rest. Good luck.” He steps outside, the two hearing his footsteps slowly growing more distant, until he’s finally out of reach.

Rickety’s body stays tense for a few moments before finally loosening up again, letting out a long, exhausted sigh as Rickety closes his eyes, his breathing growing shaky, pounding his fist against the floor in frustration.

“R-Rickety,” Lexxi stammers, glancing up at him. “Don’t you think you were a little too hard on him?”

Rickety’s eyes widen as he turns to Lexxi, staring at her in disbelief. “…Going too hard on him? You think I was too hard on Glyph? The freaking Pokemon we spent the last few days tracking down and hunting? The same Pokemon who attacked Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf? I’m being too hard on him?!”

“H-He saved us, didn’t he?!” Lexxi stammers nervously as she glances up at Rickety. “He didn’t have to, but he did it anyway! Why would he if he didn’t want to help us?!”

“Lexxi, we just happened to be there! We wanted to escape too, we accepted his help, we didn’t have a choice! If it hadn’t been for him we would’ve been turned into robots, yeah, but that doesn’t excuse everything he’s done to us and and everyone else! Besides, who knows what else he has planned?! Until he’s shown any reason to be trusted, I don’t wanna be anywhere near him.”

Lexxi’s ears droop again, turning away and staring down at the ground. “…I know. There’s still so much we don’t know about him. He could have ulterior motives, or… Something. I just thought he might’ve been our only chance.”

Rickety sighs, slumping back against the wall a bit. “I don’t know what to believe anymore, Lexxi. I just… I can’t believe it. Dusknoir saved us twice, he helped us when we needed it, motivated us, and then he pulls this, and it turns out he’s been lying about not knowing where Mesprit is this whole time, doing who knows what to her, i-it’s-” He clutches at his head, eyes scrunched shut. _{“I can’t deal with this, I can’t freaking DEAL WITH THIS! My chest hurts, my head hurts, everything hurts, i-it’s like I’m being closed in, I-I’m trapped, we can’t make it, we-“}

Lexxi scoots closer to Rickety, wrapping her arms and tail around him in her best efforts to calm him down, feeling him trembling and shaking in her grasp. _{“Sssshhhhhhhhh…. Just breathe, Rickety. Deep breaths, okay?”}

Rickety’s breaths are still quite shaky, tears welling up in his eyes, but he does his best to listen to Lexxi. He leans into her embrace, trying to breathe in and out slowly, feeling on the verge of breaking down. _{“Okay…. I-I’m alright, I’m okay… I’m going to be okay.”}

_{“You’re going to be okay.”} Lexxi whispers, keeping him hugged nice and close up to her. “We’ll find our way back home, one way or another.”

_{Thud. Thud. Thud.}

Their attention turns back towards the door, hearing the familiar sounds of Iron Valiant’s footsteps off in the distance.

“…We should get going too.” Rickety says quietly, pulling Lexxi out the door, making a break down the sewer and not turning back.