Dungeon 34 – Stranded
by NavarA discomfort. Similar to a tingling, but it hurt, almost like it burned him. Opening his eyes, all he saw was the darkness that surrounded him; his vision blurred, while the discomfort spread all across his body.
Something wrapped itself around him. He took a look at it, it was… some sort of rope? No, this certainly didn’t have the texture for it to be a rope, it was more like… a root? A root was pulling him?
He was dragged and gasped, opening his mouth. This was a bad idea, as he gagged on water. Cold, salty water. Now struggling to breathe, he tried to let go of whatever was pulling him, until he realized the direction of the pull; it was bringing him to the surface. He closed his eyes and allowed the root to do its job.
His gasps continued, coughing up all the water he swallowed. The roots, or actually, the vines that were wrapping him retreated into their owner: Meganium.
She raised her head, stepping on the soft sand as she approached the Pokémon.
“Are you alright, Scar?”
For a moment, the Marowak didn’t bother to answer. He looked for his club and soon found it, hidden in the sand. He took it, rubbing it off. A green flame appeared on top of the bone.
“I’m fine. Where are the others?”
“I managed to rescue them all,” she pointed to her back, where Scar saw the unconscious bodies of his teammates.
Right. So first things first, he had to make sure they were all okay. To do that, he checked their breathing, and thankfully, everyone was normal, as far as he could tell.
But there was something Scar was now concerned with; how were they getting to the island without a boat? He sat down, thinking.
“I know what’s on your mind,” Meganium joined the Marowak, sighing. A rare moment of kindness from her.
“Well, it is a bit obvious. Regardless, there has to be a way for us to continue the trip… I just need to think.”
Meganium didn’t answer. She couldn’t. They were, by all accounts, stranded there. No ship, no means of travel. Not even a kind water Pokémon to carry them.
Their attentions were drawn to a loud cough, coming from Brian. The Zoroark gasped for air, and sat up, panting. His fur was dripping wet on the floor, making his mane cover most of his forehead. He shook his head to remove some of the liquid and stood up.
With his eyes darting around, Brian stopped once he saw his brother, running towards him without even stopping to catch his breath.
Lance’s eyes snapped open, and he coughed. He was overcome by a dizzy sensation that forced him to stay down. Brian didn’t say anything, just hugging his sibling with tears falling down from his eyes.
“Wait, stop… watch out for the spike!”
“I don’t care, Lance! I’m glad you’re safe!”
Scar and Meganium joined them, the first with a smile, while the latter simply nodded. The Lucario remained down, his body aching from the previous battle. Brian sat, rubbing his mane and smiling sheepishly.
“Heh. I’m glad everyone is okay… they are okay, right?”
Lance nodded. “I feel their aura. They’re alive.”
Scar sighed. “I’m glad you’re awake. We… we might need to discuss things.”
“Exactly, because right now, we don’t have any transportation,” Meganium pointed out.
The siblings looked at each other, both grumbing. However, Brian soon smirked, putting on his goggles.
“Well, glad you guys have a mechanic here! I never worked with wood before, but I can try!”
His brother facepalmed. “Are… are you kidding? Brian, it takes months to build a boat! We don’t have the time!”
“Oh…” he sat down again, whining.
Scar scratched his chin. Brian’s idea wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t doable in the tight schedule they had, now tighter because of the attack. Still, there had to be something they could do. Anything.
“Mister Williams, perhaps we should brainstorm some ideas? We shouldn’t stay on this island forever.”
“I’m… honestly tired,” Lance raised the arm that had a looplet on it. “Guess what? Mega evolving drains a lot of energy.”
Brian whined again. “And not to mention you kinda go out of control…”
Scar sighed, turning around. After the beach ended, there was a large, tropical forest, with tall bushes and trees. Somehow, the landscape gave him shivers.
“Where are we, anyway?” Brian asked, scratching the sand off his mane.
“You might need a bit more time to get rid of that,” Lance rolled his eyes. “Seriously, why is sand so sticky?”
Meganium interrupted the conversation by pointing to a map on the sand. The paper was drenched in water and ruined.
“I’m not entirely sure… but I think we’re close to our goal.”
“Oh, really? And where do you think we are?” Lance said, sounding more like a growl.
“Of all the islands we could be stranded on, this is by far the worst one. Let’s pray I’m wrong… for now, rest.”
After a few hours passed, the rest of them woke up. They received a proper explanation on what happened after they fell into the sea, and what to do now. Which was basically “think about a way to get out of here, and fast!”, as Brian said.
Still, they were all exhausted, and for the moment were mostly just resting. Meggie was throwing a few pebbles into the sea, not even bothering to float, and the ground around her froze.
It all went crumbling down. The plan, their ship, and now everyone was stuck there. Of course, she hoped they would think of something, and throwing rocks worked well to distract her from more depressing thoughts.
Someone poked her shoulder, and in an instinctual reaction, she blew a ghostly wind at whoever did it. As it turned out, it was just Brian, who sat next to her, shrugging the wind off.
“W-Whoops! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t know it was you! A-And… sorry!”
He sported a toothy grin. “Heh. It’s okay! I admit, I was kinda trying to scare you. It worked…”
Meggie couldn’t help herself, smiling. “You know what, Brian? I want to thank you. For being my friend all this time, and… supporting me.”
He looked up with a somber expression. “That’s what this team is meant to be. Or… it was. As kids, I suggested the name because I wanted to help others… and Lance is—was—my best friend.”
“Oh, yeah…” she bit her lip. The whole deal with Brian’s brother was still going on, and during all these few weeks, they never even talked. Yet another thing that crumbled down…
“It’s weird, y’know? I… I can’t forgive what he did, but I don’t want to lose my brother, too. And…”
Brian wrapped his arms around himself, whining. Just saying that stung like an actual blade pierced his chest. He didn’t want to talk about it, and somewhat hoped Meggie ended the conversation.
“You… you did the same thing with that Lycanroc. To save me.”
No! Why did she have to continue?! Brian gulped, nodding to her. “The worst part? I-I don’t regret it because I saved you.”
“This is all so complicated…” and then, an idea came to mind. She didn’t entirely believe it would work, but it was worth a shot. “Maybe we should talk about things with Lance.”
“W-What?!” Brian blinked, stuttering. “B-But… But…”
“No ‘buts’ or asses!”
“…Meggie, no.”
“Fine, fine. I thought you would laugh,” she pouted. “Anyway… maybe talking things out is the best way to handle this. I can’t deny that both of you helped me, and I want to repay your kindness… by helping your brother.”
“Does he even want to be helped?” Brian looked away, still unsure. But then he sensed something on his paw, seeing it was Meggie’s hand. He quickly pulled it off, blushing.
“I’m… not really sure. But I want to try.”
Brian mumbled. “Got it. Uh, can we change the subject? Like, I don’t wanna think about this right now.”
“Okay, then,” she cheered. “What do you want to talk about?”
“…I have no idea.”
“Huh. Well, I have a question! Why did you choose to be a mechanic?”
Brian smirked, tapping his goggles and gauntlet. Luckily, it was still functional. His attention went back to the question. Honestly, he was hoping someone would ask that. And it happened!
“Honestly, I like fixing stuff. As a Zorua, it was pretty hard,” Brian chuckled, using his powers to turn into his previous form, a small, quadruped Zorua. “And… to be honest, I was always that kid that did the things others thought I couldn’t do! To prove a point, kinda.”
“Oh my! You’re so cute!” Meggie gasped. She thought about petting Brian, but remembered it was just an illusion, not really shape-shifting. So, instead, she pouted.
“Thank you~! You are too!” Brian went back to normal, yawning. “Anyway, I was great, well, to the extent my quadruped body allowed, great at fixing stuff!”
He seemed so ecstatic and happy this way, constantly making poses as if he was actually using his tools right now, and had a big, goofy smile. Meggie smiled as well.
Brian continued. “Sadly, they didn’t have any engineering courses back home… it’s one of the reasons I accepted the offer to move out!”
“Oh yeah, to Bright Dawn.”
“Yup. And…” his ears drooped, remembering all that happened. “W-Well, we didn’t have time to search for that course, and I really wanted to help that Tyrunt…”
Meggie frowned. Although she didn’t hear the full story of how they handled that mission, she knew a couple things. Like how it was a big conspiracy. And… it must have been hard for Brian. Such a gentle soul.
“Are you okay? We can talk about other stuff!”
“Y-Yeah. I think… I-I’m good. After the mission was over, we met you, and I finally sharpened my skills!” he said with a wide grin.
“Congrats, Brian!” Meggie cheered, clapping her hands. Seeing him so cheerful after the recent events was refreshing, and she hoped more moments like that would come.
“Aaaaand now?! Well, I’m glad I got to build items for you and Lance! Our team is stronger than… well, not ‘than ever’, but you get the point!”
Brian tried removing more sand from his mane, and Meggie watched it with an evil grin. She picked up a patch of sand and threw in his direction, making the fox stumble back, looking down at his stomach.
“Hey! This takes an awful amount of time to wash off!”
Meggie simply chuckled, beginning to float, and inhaled as much air as she could. Brian gulped, knowing what she was trying to do.
“Welp. You’re not the only one with tricks, lady!” Brian grinned, launching a black ball on the floor, and splashing Meggie with sand as well. She chuckled in response, releasing a frosty wind on Brian.
At least for now, they could relax.
Max gulped at the sight: Lilith had just kicked the trunk of a tree with no issues. She was terrifying when she wanted to be.
The Electivire rubbed his head, smiling. “W-Well, I guess we have food now? It’s a good thing!”
“Don’t be melodramatic, Max. I’m not punching or kicking ya… yet!” she teased.
He forced a laugh and looked at the forest next to them. For some reason, he was barely able to see there, as darkness covered most of the area, and he saw nothing, not even a single feral to hunt.
“Say… you have any clue what’s up with this island? ‘Cause… it’s creepin’ me out.”
Lilith shrugged, picking up as many berries as she could with her arms. “No idea.”
Her friend gulped, sweat dropping on the ground. “…I hope this place isn’t haunted, Y’know, by ghosts!”
To that, Lilith kicked his leg gently, and he only let out a grunt of pain. “Idiot, did ya forget we have ghosts on the crew? Also, aren’t ya supposed to be our ‘wise professor’?”
“Well, yeah. Look, I don’t see anyone there,” he pointed to the darkness. “And I doubt this is natural, either. This is why I said it was haunted.”
He picked up a single leaf, crushing it with his finger, but not using any strength to do so.
“How is it haunted?”
Max gulped. “I… I feel like this place is calling me. It wants me to go inside.”
He blinked a few times as he approached the forest. He almost looked like he wasn’t in control of his body, not saying anything, simply walking.
“Uh, Max? Ya okay in there, buddy?”
The Electivire ignored, until he felt a sting on his hand. That made him come out of the trance he was in. Meanwhile, the forest’s entrance warped, much like waves in water, and on the ground, a few vines retreated to the inside.
“Okaaaay… this is definitely not natural. What is that? It kinda looks like a portal. Do you think someone did this?”
“Like who?”
Max scratched his chin in thought. “…Maybe him? The one we’re looking for? When I touched… whatever that is, it depleted my energy.”
“I don’t think so, but again, this place is devoid of light.”
“Maybe you’re right. In any case, let’s report it to the boss later.”
“Gotcha.”
The bunny turned around, and left that area alongside Max. As they walked, they saw Brian and Meggie playing in the distance, across the shore. They decided to ignore them, as it was none of their business.
Everyone else wasn’t as happy. Lance, in particular, crushed a rock in his paw to relieve some of the stress, letting the dust fall. Alongside him were Scar and Meganium, both equally as angry about the situation as him, but managing to hold it in better.
He finally spoke. “Alright, then. We’re… really out of options right now. There’s no way to fix the ship, right?”
Scar nodded, pointing to the wreckage. It was useless to try and fix things in that state, but he appreciated the sentiment regardless.
“If we stay like this, we won’t go anywhere…” Meganium sighed, but suddenly gasped. She cleared her throat. “Perhaps we could try to get a ride with one of the ferals in the sea?”
“That… that might be something,” Scar agreed.
Lance, too, thought that idea was worth a shot. Well, considering it was the only thing they could do, it was better than nothing, at the very least. Now all that was left was finding said ferals… and taming them.
To do that, they had to draw them out of the sea. Lance pondered a bit more, devising a plan. After he was done, he smirked, snapping his fingers.
“I got it. Already know how to do this. But I need some more supplies…”
Scar looked at him, tilting his head. “What are you suggesting?”
“I need to go there…” Lance pointed to the forest, gulping as he did so.
“No, absolutely not!” Meganium suddenly shouted, bringing the attention to herself. She smiled sheepishly, calming down. “I… I’m pretty sure this is the Forest of the Dead.”
“I assume it’s exactly what the name says…” the Marowak sighed.
Even with her usual stoicness, Meganium shivered. “You’ve seen nothing. You think those ferals can give trouble? Well, as it turns ou—”
“I’m sorry, Meganium, but I’m doing this. By myself. I… I need some time alone, and I planned everything out. I’ll be fine.”
Not wanting to wait for an answer, Lance ran towards the forest. His heart thumped, for unknown reasons. That place felt… to say the very least, it pulled him in.
I have no idea what this place is… but it’s calling me. I need to go.
The inside was so much worse. Lance, using his natural senses, checked for any aura, but found nothing. Not even the trees looked alive, and that wasn’t even the biggest issue with that place.
He left the area to confirm his suspicions. And, as he thought, the entrance was almost like a different dimension. While the outside looked lively, once someone got inside, they saw the striking difference. Lance thought they were just optical illusions, a trick of the mind, but he smiled, a bit happy to be proven wrong.
Sighing, Lance continued his journey. A part of him wanted to know why this area looked so different from most dungeons he was in, but he shrugged it off as being caused by whatever greater power created the universe.
With that being said, he saw… nothing. A thick fog covered the area, and the flora was dead; he even saw a skeleton that looked like an Aron.
“There’s nothing wrong with this pla—”
“Hi, Lance.”
Recognizing the voice, he turned back; Brian was standing behind him, with Meggie floating next to him. His teammates, friends— or former friends—, showing up at the worst possible time.
“…What do you want with me?”
THey both exchanged looks, as if asking who was going to speak first. Brian cleared his throat and looked at his sibling. Lance noticed that the Zoroark was acting way more serious than he normally did.
“Listen, first, what’s up with ‘I need to do this alone’ thing? Aren’t we a team?”
Lance stomped the ground. “What?! You two haven’t spoken to me in days! Don’t come talk to me about our ‘team’!”
“Because you told us you’re a murderer!” Meggie screamed out, panting afterwards.
Lance fired a warning shot. “I have a reason to do it! You just… don’t understand! Leave me alone!”
Brian whined, a mix of anger and sorrow on his bright-blue eyes. It was painful, having to confront Lance like this, and his heart skipped a beat because of it. Even if he got hurt… he wouldn’t give up on his brother.
“The thing is… I do understand. Lance, I killed too…”
After hearing that, Lance blinked. “When did that happen?”
“Right when we raided Morgan’s HQ. A Lycanroc was gonna hit Meggie…”
“He saved me,” she said, putting her hand on her chest.
He stumbled back, tripping on the skeleton he saw before, and falling to the ground. Lance grunted in pain, cursing his carelessness.
However, when he tried to throw away the skeleton, his eyes widened: it wasn’t there anymore. He blinked a few times, maybe his mind was playing tricks with him, or maybe Brian was using his illusions again… the latter option seemed much more natural.
“Brian! What were you thinking?! I tripped!”
He snarled. “Hey, don’t change the subject! And it’s not my fault you fell on nothing!”
“…What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”
Meggie pointed to the ground. “There’s nothing there, Lance.”
He took a look again, and saw the skeleton once more. This time, though, it changed, from an Aron to a Lairon. He stumbled back and got up, with sweat running down his face.
Brian attempted once more to reason with his brother. “Lance, come on! We’re here to talk with you!”
“G-Get away!” Lance panted, running away from them, not even caring about the reason he was there anymore. He needed to be alone, right then, right now!
Back at the shore, everyone was uneasy. Mostly because Lance didn’t bother to explain what his “plan” was, and they had to fill in the pieces by themselves.
“Hm, but how do we get their attention?” Lilith asked, rubbing her head.
“I have an idea…” Max snapped his fingers, enveloping his right hand in electricity.
The Marowak quickly got near his electric teammate to warn him about the dangers of doing that.
“Wait, don’t! You might kill them this way!” Scar explained.
“Come on, the sea is huge! I doubt I’m gonna commit feral genocide!”
“I don’t like this… but we don’t have any other options.” Meganium raised a brow.
Defeated by democracy, Scar sighed, letting Max go on his way. The Electivire punched the water, spreading an electric current across a small area. He hoped that would be enough to make the ferals show up. To be precise, he hoped for a big one, like the Gyarados from before.
His attempt wasn’t successful, and only made a few Feebas and Magikarp rise to the surface, dead. Noticing that, he facepalmed. Scar rolled his eyes in annoyance; having warned them of that exact scenario.
Lilith was just as unamused, sitting down. “…Back to square zero, then. What’s the plan now?”
Scar wondered, and gazed at Meganium. “You know this area, correct? What’s the closest place we can go that’s inhabited?”
Meganium tapped her chin using her vines, thinking. Even before the crash, they had to be near this island, and since they were on the way to the Tree of Life…
“I think we’re close to Prism Bridge and Altar of Ice… this island is between them.”
“And who even lives there? Another Legend?” Scar asked.
“I’m… not sure. There’s not many Legends still acting on this world.”
“Great. So how long would we have to walk until we get there? I assume it’s not exactly a walk in the park.”
Meganium rolled her eyes. “I am a caretaker, not a navigator. I’m not sure, miles?”
“Uh, what are ya planning?”
Scar smirked. “Once team Liberators is back from their trip into the woods, I will ask miss Meggie to make an ice bridge using her powers,” he was ecstatic, explaining the plan, even raising his head. “There, we will cross to the next island. It’s a bit crude, but I think it’s doable.”
Max tapped the Marowak’s head. “That’s great! So all we have to do is wait?”
Suddenly, Lilith’s ears twitched and she pointed to the sea. “We might not need to!”
In the distance, two faint figures could be seen: a Garchomp and a Gyarados. They were heading in the island’s direction, faster every second.
Scar furiously raised his club, setting it ablaze. “It’s only a matter of time before they get here! We need to bring back the others!”
Meganium frowned. “If that forest truly is the one I’m thinking of… let’s hope they make it back.”
As Lance walked into the woods, it stayed mostly the same. Patches of dead grass, tree trunks fallen on the ground, and… skeletons. The Lairon skeletons kept reappearing every few seconds, and that annoyed him to the point he blasted them into pieces with his Aura Sphere.
“What is wrong with this place?!”
And, of course, nobody answered. Because, in his rush, Lance left his friends behind. That shouldn’t sting, but it did. He gasped, stumbling back as another skeleton appeared in front of him. Lance, fed up with it already, blasted it off to dust.
“Just… leave me alone!”
What he didn’t expect was the dust gathering around into a familiar shape. Lance gulped, feeling a cold, almost ghostly shiver down his spine.
The dust reformed into the form of a Servine, that had an evil grin. Lance immediately fell to his knees, head lowered, recognizing that Servine; one that had shown up in so many nightmares he had as a kid. Instead of the normal color, this one had black scales, and heterochromatic eyes; one red and one blue.
“Are you scared, child?”
Lance prepared another sphere, but his hand trembled too much to aim. “Who… are you?!”
“Me?” it laughed, filling the air with its distorted voice.
“I asked a question!”
Servine burst into laughter, walking towards Lance, footsteps sounding more like crystals. In its face was a wide grin, wider than it should be physically possible.
“Oh, who I am does not matter right now. I know what’s on your mind, and I’ll be important… later, I suppose. But for now, I deem you… worthy.”
Lance fell to the ground, and Servine exploded into dust once more, leaving the boy panting and confused about what just happened.
His ears twitched, hearing someone calling his name. In front of him, the scenario changed to a lava pool. A roar came out of it, and a big, clawed hand punched the ground. It burned and melted off, filling the air with the scent of hot metal.
“…I know who you are. You don’t scare me anymore!”
The rest of the body came out; an Aggron with burnt body armor and flames all over its body. Like the Servine before, it had heterochromatic eyes.
“Why… why are you doing this?!”
“I’m merely testing you, to see how you might be useful. Of course, I said you were worthy, and I meant it. Consider this another test. With that being said… this is how your mind works, isn’t it? Fascinating, indeed.”
Lance tried to fire an Aura Sphere, but nothing came out of his paw. Then, he tried using the gauntlet his brother gave him, but it failed as well.
Running out of options, Lance fell back. Aggron grinned, stomping its tail on the ground and lunging at Lance. He dodged and at the last second, grabbed the Aggron’s tail, launching it as far away as Lance could.
“I… I did it. It’s over.”
His words could not be more wrong. Two vines sprouted from the dirt, grabbing Lance’s arms, and before he knew it, more appeared, trapping him.
Brian screamed at the top of his lungs for his sibling, but there was no answer. He continued regardless, walking and looking around; the scenery didn’t change, only having a thicker fog, and vines on the ground. He nearly tripped on one of them, but it was fine.
“Meg, how I wish I could float like you. It’s so practi—”
But nobody came. Neither of his friends was there, and it just dawned on Brian that he was completely alone. He gulped, looking around and calling them once more. Maybe if he did, they would show up.
“Lance! Meggie! Where are you?!”
Fed up with calling, Brain got on all fours and sprinted, searching for them.
When all seemed to be hopeless, he finally heard a voice calling him. It sounded… feminine! It was Meggie! With a smile on his face, Brian dashed towards the direction, twitching his ears.
“I’m coming! Don’t worry! We’ll get out of here!”
And once he found Meggie, they would crack a few jokes together. Nothing was better to take one’s mind off problems than fun! Well, as much fun as they could have while stranded on some random island, which probably wasn’t much.
Brian stopped to catch his breath, and heard the voice again. He smiled, putting on his goggles. With such thick fog, he needed them.
But… nobody was there. It was just a flat area, with dead trees and vines. Maybe Meggie was hiding? Brian continued to walk, screaming her name.
During his last attempt to call her out, the voice spoke again, coming from an unknown direction. Brian took a look around, but something stopped him. A cold sensation around his leg, with the added smell of a rotten corpse.
“W-W-W-What?!”
He couldn’t even move to look at what that was, not without some heavy effort. Slowly, but surely, Brian lowered his head, and the sight made him scream.
It was a paw. It barely had any flesh on it, nothing but a few patches of fur and the skeleton, with vines coming out of it.
“G-Get… get off me!” Brian released a flamethrower on the paw, setting himself free. He crawled back, heart racing.
The paw dug itself out of the ground, and as it, Brian stared in shock. Much like the paw, the rest of the body was a rotten corpse, with blood dripping from its neck and an unhinged grin on its face. It was the body of a Midnight Lycanroc. Its eyes were different, colored red and blue.
“You… it’s you!”
“You MURDERED me! I could’ve… done so much more…”
As the corpse talked, more vines appeared beneath him, trying to get Brian. The fox noticed this and slashed them with dark energy, stumbling back.
“I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to…”
“LIAR!” Lycanroc howled, a howl of pain and sorrow that gave Brian shivers. Its body deteriorated more, to the point an arm fell on the ground.
Brian snapped his fingers, rendering himself invisible to the vines and Lycanroc. For the moment, it was all he could do. Now what was left was calm down and think of a plan. He had to survive!
Come on, think… what is this place? I don’t think that Lycanroc is real. But it still scares me…
“I smell your fear, little Zoroark…”
His rest was cut short, as Lycanroc jumped at him, trying to claw the fox. Brian dodged, running to the side and dropping the illusion, since it was useless.
A distraction. He needed a distraction now! A quick glance at his gauntlet gave Brian an idea to run away. He punched the ground and activated the weapon, sending an electrifying wave across the floor, hitting his enemy.
This gave Brian the perfect opportunity to run away. To where? He didn’t know yet. He tried to, but tumbled down; something grabbed his leg! Looking at it, Brian saw a black vine. It continued to take a hold of his entire body, no matter how much he tried to shake it off.
Meggie wandered around, floating in the air. Since the fog was too dense, she didn’t notice much, other than cries of help from her friends. She hovered faster than before, determined to find them.
That whole forest was cursed or something, it had to be. Oh, why did Lance drag himself into this? Not only were they stranded, but now lost! “Urgh, once I find him I’m kicking his blue ass…”
She stopped to breathe, cursing the lack of experience of being half-ghost. After resting for enough time, she continued following the voices.
“I can do this, I can do this…”
Meggie gasped, covering her mouth with both hands at the sight: Brian and Lance, side by side, wrapped around in vines. Their bodies were frailing, greying, even, while the roots that bound them were glowing with energy.
“I-It’s sucking their life force…!”
At the top of the area, a large black crystal could be seen, where most of the vines were coming out of. So this was the culprit?
“Calm down… I can save them!”
Meggie prepared a water pulse, while inhaling deeply. She released the water at the same time of her frosty wind, freezing it into ice blades that cut through Brian’s vines, making him fall to the ground.
The fox coughed, not even getting up. He was still a bit groggy, and his vision blurry. Meggie held his paw and helped him stand, right before more roots attacked them.
Reacting as quickly as he could, Brian torched them, but fell to his knees, panting.
“T-Thanks… Meg!” Brian forced himself awake, to fight those things off.
“I’ll wake up Lance, be careful! I think those vines suck your energy!”
“Got it!” with his goggles on, Brian smirked, ready to fight.
He dodged a few of the roots, slashing or burning them. Meanwhile, Meggie froze the ones around Lance carefully. The Lucario, even in his sleep, was in pain. Tears, sweat, shivers, all at once. She sighed, rubbing his face gently, and cutting out the vines.
The crystal glowed and screeched with a distorted voice as she did so. Meggie wondered who or what was inside, but ignored, not thinking it was too important right now, and focused only on saving her friend.
Lance’s eyes snapped open, but for some reason, he couldn’t scream. That’s where he saw black vines surrounding his body and mouth, ripped open by none other than Meggie. Despite not looking particularly happy doing that, she kept going on, until Lance was free, falling to the ground.
“Are you okay…?”
“Y-Yes?” he gasped for air.
Brian was also there, firing multiple streams of flames as more and more vines surrounded them. He took a quick glance at the other two, grinning.
“Okay! Guess you broke free from that! Welcome back, shorty!”
“Brian! What… what just happened?”
The fox dodged a few vines, they didn’t seem to stop coming, not for one second. He barely had time to answer. As far as Lance could tell, he was in front of a tree, surrounded by thick vines and roots.
“Uh, after you ran away, we followed—get off!” Brian slashed at a vine.
“Those things grabbed you and… Lance, what did you see?!” Meggie fired an icicle at a root next to her.
“…A nightmare.”
“Okay! Look, we need to leave! I don’t know what you planned coming back here, but there’s no time!”
Lance agreed. No time. No time at all… they would never win, not against such a formidable opponent. His body looked more frail, and before he knew it, more vines grabbed him.
“Why bother? It’s… pointless…”
Meggie tried pushing him away from the roots, but more grabbed her, wrapping itself around her body. Panic kicked in, and she tried to freeze the roots, but only made more appear. Brian was struggling to fight the plants as well, and stopped to breathe. That was his mistake, as they grabbed him too, and he let out a scream.
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