34: Infiltration

As soon as I feel that familiar rush of wind indicating the Magnagate’s closing up a second time, I open my eyes and am greeted to the familiar sight of the Glacier Palace. Ahead of us are three paths. If I remember correctly, the maze of corridors will lead us to the center spire, regardless of the path chosen. They all eventually lead there. My eyes quickly dart around the room, looking for anyone in case our entrance drew attention to us. No one. Good. 

“Alright, everyone,” I say with a whisper, not wanting to reveal our location. “This is where we split up. Smaller teams are harder to spot. Umbreon and Espeon, you head right. Emolga and Virizion, you go down the middle. Thunder and I will take the left. If nothing goes wrong, we will all rendezvous near the entrance to the center spire. Are we good?” Everyone gives me a nod in acknowledgment. “Good. Now let’s go save the world.” As instructed, Umbreon and Espeon head right, Emolga and Virizion go down the center, and me and my friend go left. 

“It’s sorta good to be back, isn’t it?” Thunder whispers to me.

“Yeah, but also frightening at the same time. Considering what we’re up against.”

“I know exactly what you mean. But we’ve made it through here before, we can do it again.” 

I stop for a second. The floor… It’s shaking… “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah… The Bittercold must be getting ready to do whatever it is it’s going to.”

“Then we’d better pick up the pace. I’d rather not have this go down to the wire.”

 

Umbreon

Umbreon and his sister stick to the shadows, keeping out of sight of any potential dangers. The last thing anyone needed was for them to get careless and get the opposition on alert.

“Umbreon…” Espeon whispered. “I was… I was wondering… We have a plan to get back… Right?” His response was silence. He was afraid someone would ask that. At least it was his sister that did. “You don’t have a plan, do you?”

“The Bittercold is the only thing keeping this thing in the sky. When it gets destroyed, this palace is going to crash into the surface… With us in it. There won’t be time for an escape.”

“So… This is a suicide mission…”

“Sadly, yes. But it’s one that must be done.”

“I know… It’s just… I never really thought about what death will be like… Is there a spirit world like legend tells us? Or is it just… Nothing? The cessation of the mind?”

“Leave it to you to start a philosophical dilemma when we’re deep inside hostile territory.”

“Hey, I just like to analyze things. You know that.”

“Yeah but this is not the time nor the place. Let’s just focus on getting to our meet up point.”

“I suppose you’re right… Let’s keep going.”

 

Virizion

So far, things have been uneventful. Thank goodness. Being spotted will make things astronomically harder.

“Hey… Virizion?” Emolga says quietly. “I know this isn’t the best time, but… For all I know this could be the last chance for me to say this. …I am sorry.”

Virizion turns to look at the small rodent, surprised. Is he actually apologizing? “For what?”

“…for… For everything. Ever since you joined New Hope I’ve berated you, mocked you, and did everything I could to make you miserable. So… With complete honesty, I am sorry for what I did.” 

This completely blindsides Virizion. This was the last thing she expected from him. She takes a second to formulate a response. “…I forgive you. I’ll admit, I made a very poor first impression. So I may have deserved some of what you threw my way.”

“Thank you Virizion. Say, I’ve been noticing you spending a lot of time with Dunsparce. Are you two… You know… Doing love stuff?”

Virizion smirks, deciding to have a little fun with him. “Maybe we are. Why do you… Oh… I see. You’re jealous.”

Almost immediately Emolga’s cheeks blush vibrantly. “N-No! That’s red-d-iculous!”

“You sure? Because you look like you’d love to have some of me.”

“Shut up! Virizion! I-” Emolga quickly covers his mouth, realizing just how loud he’s been talking. “Oooohhh… I sure hope nobody heard that…”

Then comes the one thing they didn’t want to hear, an unfamiliar and threatening voice. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but we heard you loud and clear.”

 

Alex

“Thunder… Quiet for a moment…” Thunder stops moving in response, perking his ears up like antennae, trying to pick up nearby sounds. I listen intently, trying to make out the sound. I hear… Voices… Other sounds… “You can hear better than me. What do you make of it?”

“Fighting. Definitely fighting. I think one of our groups got found.”

“Only one thing to do, then. Bail them out. Let’s hurry.”

---

“I see them. Straight ahead!” I tell Thunder.

“Who are we up against?”

“I see Purugly and six Excadrill. All surrounding Emolga and Virizion. How many Excadrill do they need?! Seriously!”

“Well, they won’t last much longer. Let’s do this!” Thunder’s cheeks begin sparking before discharging at one of the Excadrill. The strike turns all eyes on us. 

 “You’re late to the party guys.” Emolga jokes.

“Better late than never.” I reply. 

The Excadrill Rush us, claws bared. Thunder continues zapping them as I launch a leaf tornado at them. Two of them go down from our initial attack alone. Good old type advantage. Plus maybe a bit of karma. I haven’t forgotten that stab wound.

“How have you two been unable to beat these guys before we got here? You’ve got a type advantage like us.” I ask Emolga as I toss an attacker with my vines.

“Hey! They had the element of surprise! We were ambushed!” He responds.

“How about less talking and more fighting.” Virizion interjects as another Excadrill tries to dig up underneath her. Unfortunately for it, Virizion responds with a swift stomp of her hoof on its face. Needless to say, that one’s not going to cause us any more trouble. And neither are the rest of them, really. When the dust settles, I take a headcount. The four of us, all practically unscathed, six unconscious Excadrill, and…

“Wait a minute, where’s the Purugly?” Emolga asks. Indeed, there was no Purugly to be seen. And I don’t actually remember seeing anyone attack him.

“I think he retreated when Alex and Thunder arrived.” Virizion concludes. 

“Oh, that’s just great…” I mumble. “Now he’ll go and tell the others that we got in. So much for stealth.”

“Don’t look at me.” Emolga says, defensively. “I had no idea anyone was there.”

“Perhaps a quieter voice would work better next time.” Virizion says, slightly smug. 

“You were the one teasing me!”

“Look, we can play the blame game later.” I say. “For now, the four of us should stick together. Now that we’ve been spotted, we should stick together. Make it easier to hold out against attacks.”

“Sounds good.” Thunder agrees. “Now let’s get moving.”