>CHAPTER 7
Ex-Convict Part 1
"WAKE UP!!!"
The voice pierced through Alphonse's skull, ricocheting throughout his head and bludgeoning his brain.
Alphonse rapidly awoke to a panicked Gattz shaking him back and forth.
Dizzy from the sudden trauma, he managed to gain his bearings and realize once again where he was.
"EVERYONE ALREADY LEFT! THEY'RE HEADED OUT ON THE HEIST NOW!"
"Ah, goodness, could you be any louder?"
Alphonse would quickly find himself regretting asking that question to Gattz, as the panicked Reuniclus's pitch shot up to an even higher, shriller tone.
"YES!!! YES, I CAN!"
"THEY TOLD ME IF YOU'RE NOT THERE WITH THEM BY THE START OF THE HEIST, I'M GOING TO BE ON STOCKING DUTY FOR A YEAR! SO GET IN GEAR!!!"
The panicked Gattz flung a fully equipped bag and Alphonse's trademark black cloak towards him. Alphonse managed to catch both of them with ease.
"GO GO GO GO GO GO GO"
Alphonse shook himself awake. Fastening his cloak on and slinging his bag on his back, he leapt out of bed and began a mad dash out to the entrance of the thieves den.
"Oh man... he's never gonna make it," Gattz wept in the distance. "I'm going to be moving boxes for the rest of my life..."
Alphonse found himself gliding through the maze at an alarming rate, almost as if he were guided by a sixth sense. Shooting out of the entrance and emerging on the surface below, he looked up at the sky.
"Still light out... not noon yet." Alphonse thought to himself. It suddenly struck him as odd that they would be targeting Arcade in the light of day, especially such a well-guarded resource.
"The food supply," he thought to himself.
This also felt odd. They had more than enough food back at the den, so why were they hoping to steal more? There was no way they could eat all of it.
The voice of Del replied to Alphonse's thought. He remembered the words of the burly Pangoro from the night before.
"We're sending a message."
It definitely felt more like a statement than stealing as a means of survival. But just what was the statement about? What in the world were they trying to say? For the strong sense of justice that Del, Bethel, and all the other lot had, this felt even more out of place. It felt malicious.
Alphonse couldn't waste time with idle thoughts. He had to get back to Arcade. But suddenly, a new fear arose within him. How would he get there? He had no idea where he was, and the only time he had ventured from Arcade to the thieves' den was in the dead of night, making it next to impossible to recognize any landmarks or guiding paths back to the town.
Alphonse paused, composing himself. Perhaps Gattz had actually done something right for him and provided him with a map. Alphonse rapidly flung his bag down on the ground and began to rummage through it. There was nothing even remotely resembling a map to be found. Was this truly it? Would everything he had hoped to fix—every bond he had made over the past few days—now fall apart? All over a lack of directions?
Alphonse wouldn't let his emotions get the best of him this time. He kept rummaging through the bag, noticing several items he had not seen before, and he questioned their purpose. One of them was a silver circle with red and white points on it, almost resembling a dial. The other was a small tablet, with various bumps and dots scribbled throughout. Grabbing them aside, Alphonse studied the two items carefully. The tablet felt vaguely familiar, but he had no idea what the round metal circle was for. After a moment of observation, he realized why the tablet had seemed so familiar.
"It must be some sort of text!" Alphonse exclaimed.
He noticed the bumps and dots all followed a pattern. He had seen this back home. It was an ancient, strange language, known to him as "braille." Feeling out the raised dots on the smooth tablet, he was able to slowly, but surely, decipher a message.
"GO NORTH"
"Go north?" Alphonse thought aloud.
So there were some sort of directions provided, but he had no idea where North even was. He knew the more advanced explorer could discern direction based on the location of the sun, but he had already receded deep into the roofed forest, where the light of the sun had hardly shone below. In a panic, Alphonse began to put the tablet back when he noticed there was a second side to it with more braille. Doing a quicker job of translating this time, now more familiar in his memory of the language, he made out another phrase.
"RED ARROW"
Now this puzzled Alphonse. Alphonse hadn't been equipped with any thorns, arrows, or even a geopebble. He at first suspected Gattz had forgotten to pack something after all. Cursing Gattz, he assembled everything back into his bag and ran off in a random direction.
After nearly thirty minutes had passed, Alphonse found himself even more lost than he had begun. The trees should've opened up by now, and he should be in a clearing, or at least closer to it. But the forest roof was still choking out the light from above, and he was still in the heart of the woods.
With no other option, Alphonse looked once more throughout his bag. He observed three things: an unknown orb, a ration of food, and once again, the metal circle. Taking a brief recess to eat some of Ephie's excellent packaged cooking, he chewed and munched while toying around with the orb. Figuring the unknown nature of the orb would be too dangerous to chance at this point, he once again fell back to the metal circle. Again, he had observed its design: several markings and two lines, one red and one white. After closer inspection, he noticed the lines were pointed at the ends. Arrows! And one of them was red! Jumping up into the air with excitement and triumph, Alphonse whipped out the device and secured it in his hand, making sure the red arrow aligned with the biggest mark on the dial.
"I have no idea if this is right, but it's the best bet I've got," Alphonse thought to himself.
Making sure the red arrow stayed aligned with the darkest, largest mark on the dial, he wandered cautiously, narrowly avoiding the debris on the forest floor and almost tripping several times.
After another thirty minutes, he found the treeline to be rapidly deteriorating. Finally, some progress! The trees became fewer and fewer, and before he knew it, he was back in the clearing. These were directions, after all! But given there were no other directions provided, Alphonse figured he had to take them the whole way. He followed north with all his heart, taking the occasional detour but making sure to stay on course.
An hour had passed, and he had finally come across a familiar sight. On the horizon lied signs of civilization, with smoke from the chimneys billowing out into the blue sky above. He had made it; at last, Arcade was within reach. Taking a brief recess to finish his rations and drink from a nearby spring, he prepared himself for whatever may come next and sprinted in the direction of the village.
The next step would be to find Del, Bethel, and Ephie. Alphose circled the outside perimeter of the town, looking desperately for the tunnel opening that he had emerged from with Bethel in their prison break. He had begun to loop back around to the gatehouse when he was stopped in his tracks.
"Halt right there!" A familiar, annoying voice cried out.
"An Abra, an Abra!" The annoying voice exclaimed.
"State your name, immediately!"
Alphonse recognized the voice. It was the Nosepass who had so awkwardly held the guardpost when he arrived in town. Knowing plain as day that if he revealed himself now, he'd be in more trouble than necessary. But he also couldn't ignore the annoying guard and cause a panic. So he did the most rational thing he could think of.
"Albert," Alphonse said.
"Albert, Albert... hm... sounds familiar..." Deadeye cried out.
"Do you ever go by AL?" Deadeye retorted.
Alphonse panicked a bit. Of all the fake names he could've chosen, he had to choose one close to his real name. But thankfully, his wits were quick today, and he shot back a clever response.
"No, just Bert."
"Ah, he's not our guy! Not our guy, everyone!" Deadeye called, presumably out to the other guards stationed within the guardhouse.
"Sorry to disturb you, sir! You're free to pass into town; just know we've got our eyes on you!" Deadeye called back.
"Thanks, but I think I'll take my business elsewhere for now," Alphonse hollered back.
He jogged back out of sight, then continued sprinting alongside the town walls, hoping to find the tunnel entrance. Alphonse could hear Deadeye in the distance, questioning if it was something he said that turned Alphonse away from the town.
Having successfully recovered from the little detour there, Alphonse eventually found an out-of-place opening in the walls. Below it lay the tunnel that he had been looking for. It certainly looked more imposing than before.
Alphonse began to enter the tunnel when he was met with another voice.
"Al!" the voice called to him. It was Bethel calling out to him from a nearby thicket of shrubbery. Alphonse followed her voice to find her, Del, and Ephie hidden among the foliage.
"Better late than never, I suppose," Bethel yelled out, obviously happy to see Alphonse in the flesh.
"If you hadn't shown up, we would've had to lock up Gattz in the storage rooms for at least a year!"
"Bethel, I-" Alphonse began to speak.
He still had time to inform his new friends about the imminent danger they had faced. But Del already had begun to speak.
"Alright, here's the plan. Al, I'm sure you're questioning why we're doing this in the light of day." Del stated.
"Ephie, explain to him."
"Right," Ephie said.
"This won't be a quiet mission. We're looking to sneak in at first, yes. But once we're in, it's smash and grab time!"
Bethel could hardly contain herself at this point.
"We're finally going to give these wicked Pokemon the thrashing they've been asking for!" she beamed.
"Remember, focus the guards and the rescue teams. Don't concern yourselves with meager civilians. That's why we're targeting the food supply." Del instructed.
Alphonse could hardly believe what he was hearing. This was not some common thieving bout; this was an all-out war. He knew the group would be plenty strong and could handle the guard and townsfolk single-handedly. But what about Lazlo and Team R.O.T.? Surely they hadn't planned on having to fight them too? And could he truly rise to the occasion and fight his friend, Lazlo, especially after taking him in for nothing more than a request to get to know him better?
And more recently, Lazlo had saved his life after a run in with some other outlaws. He originally weighted Bethel so highly since she had nursed him back to health after the night of the wicked storm that rocked his world, but Lazlo managed to provide the exact same gesture! He couldn't bear to choose one over the other, and he hoped he wouldn't have to.
Alphonse spoke back to Del immediately after gathering his thoughts.
"How are we going to handle an entire town?" he exclaimed.
Del chuckled.
"It'll be easy. We've come prepared."
Del snapped his fingers, and Ephie brought over a huge bag. Opening up the bag, he observed several Blast Seeds, various combat orbs, and a plethora of throwable weapons.
"And that's just for crowd control. We've got several more combat tricks up our sleeves for the nastier fights," Del added, grining a fierce grin.
"Ephie, you confirmed the chief is back in town as well, correct?"
"That's correct, sir! I can't wait to see the whallop you give him!" Ephie swooned.
"Gattz is going to be so sorry he missed it!"
Del drew his attention back to Bethel and Alphonse.
"I'll need you two to take point and make sure the tunnel is clear. Once you scout that out, come back here and let us know, and we'll begin the heist."
Bethel nodded gleefully, ripe with rage and lust for battle.
"You can count on us, Del."
Alphonse meekly nodded.
"Yeah, we got this. But if I could interject..." Alphonse tried to make an opening.
Del frowned.
"Whatsamatter? You aren't turning yellow on us at the last second, are you? Because we can use you as a warm-up if we must."
Bethel shot an angry gaze back at Del.
"Al wouldn't come this whole way to stab us in the back now, Del. We'll be okay." She began to run towards the tunnel's opening.
"C'mon, Al!" she hollered back.
Alphonse, seeing no other choice, ran after Bethel into the dark tunnel ahead.
It was much darker than the last time they had ventured through. Alphonse realized Bethel was not lighting the way this time, likely to stay as hidden as possible. Feeling around as much as he could in the dark, he slowly followed after her, bumping into her several times.
"I understand you've got the jitters, Al, but you really need to watch where you're going," she scolded.
"Beth, listen. I gotta tell you something," Alphonse started to call her.
But Bethel was already on cloud nine with destructive intent and didn't hear him.
"Bethel, please! I need to speak to you!" He cried out. Still no answer, just the sound of feet splashing against an unknown liquid.
"BETHEL!" Alphonse yelled. Suddenly, all fell silent.
A voice called back to Al. But it wasn't Bethel.
"Got a light, mate?"
Alphonse felt grim fear flow through his entire body. Something was not right here. Not at all.
Bethel hissed, suddenly coming back to life. It appeared she could not respond before because her mouth was being covered.
"Al, look out!! They're-"
"What the?!" Alphonse panicked.
Within an instant, a great surge of lightning, appearing from thin air, struck throughout the tunnel, electrifying the more conductive metal support beams and delivering a nasty shock throughout Alphonse's body.
"Hrrk!" Alphonse cried out.
Another flash, another shock, and another surge of pain.
Alphonse fell to his knees. Suddenly, he felt two massive arms reach out and grab him.
Bethel, scrambling to break free, began breathing fire, shooting out wildly in all directions.
"Haah!" she hissed fiercely, a plume of fire trailing alongside.
The fire flew out in all directions, igniting a pool of oil that had laid dormant before.
"Yikes! Bow, keep a cover on that brat!" A voice cried out.
Thanks to the now-roaring fire, light was finally shed on the situation, as Alphonse and Bethel could see around them. There they were, surrounded by the members of Team R.O.T..
Larson, the Rillaboom from before had quickly moved in, and now securely held Alphonse in his grip. Meanwhile the front singer and Obstagoon, Bow, had wrestled Bethel down to the ground. Trying to cover her mouth with his paws, the two struggled fiercely. Alone stood Ito, the Toxtricity, on the sidelines, the source of the various blasts of lightning beforehand.
"It's a trap, Al! Get back! Warn the others!" Bethel yelled between wrestles.
"Hrrgghh!" Al struggled to break free from Larson's iron grasp.
"I'm afraid I can't let him do that, girlie!" hollered Larson.
"Easy now, you two! The chief wants them both unharmed, after all!" Ito reminded the two.
"Oy, Ito, you're the one who almost barbecued the Abra! Don't blame us when we get walloped!" yelled back Larson as he struggled to contain Al in his grasp.
Suddenly, a series of explosions ricocheted through the tunnels. In the commotion, Bethel and Alphonse were able to break free and run back. As the smoke cleared, they ran back, running into Del and Ephie.
"Ephie! Del!" Bethel cried.
"Alphonse! Bethel! Are you two okay?" Ephie cried out.
"If you punks know what's good for you, you'll stand aside," snarled Del.
"Oy, oy! Don't do anything rash now, mate!" Bow howled. "We're on orders to..."
Del wasted no time, blasting more fire and explosions into the tunnel beyond. The explosion caught the three rocker Pokemon off guard, sending them flying back.
Bethel breathed heavily. "Did we get them?" She exclaimed.
Brushing themselves off and rising from the smoke, the trio rose back up. Visibly perturbed, they readied themselves into their fighting stances.
"Now, orders are orders, but if we have to rough you lot up a bit to get 'em done, so be it!" Bow barked.
"Men!"
Larson stood proud. "I'm Larson, and I beat the drums of war!"
Next came Ito. "I'm Ito, the wicked lightning rider!" He called out.
And finally, Bow. "And I'm Bow, driving the crazy train of pain!"
"AND WE!"
"ARE"
"R.O.T!"
They cried out in perfect harmony.
"Now, without further ado, let's get to the beatdown!" cried Bow, licking his lips with malicious intent.
"Cute tagline. Beth, these were the guys you were so eager to see, huh?" Del roared with laughter.
"To be fair, Del; they were a lot cooler on stage," Bethel mocked back.
"Very well. This'll be a good warmup round," Del said, cracking his knuckles.
"Quake in fear against our might, fools!" Ephie howled.
In an instant, the fighting broke out, shaking the metal walls of the tunnel that had surrounded the battlers.
Bow took the initiative, charging headfirst into his enemies, with the other two members of the band following in close proximity. Head on, he collided with Del, bashing his head into Del's.
Next came Ito, strumming himself and summoning an array of lightning strikes. Ephie dodged each strike with grace, sending forth a volley of balls of pure shadow and black energy towards Ito. Ito slithered side to side, dodging each explosion with style and grace.
Alphonse and Bethel tag-teamed Larson, who wielded his twin drumsticks like twin katanas. Charging forward at the pair, Bethel used Alphonse as a launch pad, spiraling up into the air and sending a wheel of flame barreling towards Larson. Larson deflected the flames with a cross-section slash.
As Bow and Del exchanged blows, each fiercly striking each other and pummeling into their respective bodies with unrelenting force, Ephie and Ito prepared to help their teammates accordingly. Ephie wailed a piercing cry, erupting black flames where Bow had stood, and Ito performed a great flourish, striking Del with several thunderbolts.
"Damn dirty thieves, using underhanded tactics, eh? Can't let a man have a simple mono-e-mono?" Bow growled.
Ephie shot back venomously.
"Tell that to Sparky over here; he interrupted your little tea party first!"
"I resent that now! It's not my fault; lightning is wicked fast!" Ito cried out, barreling another shockwave towards Ephie.
Del stood in the way, absorbing the blow. The smell of charred fur filled the air.
Del, growing with rage, barreled towards Ito, preparing his two hammers of arms to swing down below. Bow, pushing Ito out of the way, absorbed the full force of Del's attack, visibly hurt. Ito was flung into the metal wall as Ephie landed a direct hit on him with several more orbs of pure malice.
Meanwhile, the two younger fighters overwhelmed the great Larson with overwhelming force. Despite several heavy blows and strikes striking Bethel and Alphonse squarely, the two persisted, driven by desire and the will they shared.
Del once again prepared to swing down a mighty hammer blow on Bow, now sprawled along the ground. But right before the blows connected, Bow sprang up and counter-attacked with a scissor kick, sending Del grinding back. Del slammed into the cold metal wall, falling to the floor below. Growling with excitement, he dusted himself off and felt his face. A single stream of blood leaked from his lower gums. That was all the fuel he needed to go even wilder.
With newfound rage, he charged back at Bow, now standing again. Bow prepared another counter-attack for the incoming Pangoro, but Del would not be fooled by the same trick again. Del stopped dead in his tracks moments before connecting with Bow. Bow lunged forward, a look of shock sprawling on his face as he realized his defenses were down. Del seized the opportunity, grappling Bow into a piledriver and slamming him aggressively onto the surface.
Meanwhile, the battle between Ephie and Ito raged on. A great aerial battle raged on as the two raced back and forth throughout the tunnel, taking potshots at one another. Ephie would score a direct hit, then Ito, and the two would bounce off each other several more times. Ephie focused her energy on a large attack, one that could easily send Ito out of commission for the rest of the fight. Ito, sensing his imminent demise, switched gears to focus solely on speed, narrowly dodging the massive attack set towards him. Caught in the aftershock, he rapidly ping-ponged through the tunnel, eventually spiraling down and falling headfirst onto the cold metal. As Ephie prepared to finish him off, Ito took a final gamble, strumming a grave tune and summoning a thundercloud entirely localized within the subterrenean battlfield. The clouds choked out Ephie, completely obscuring her vision. She was then met with a swift uppercut, sending her flying upward and smashing her into the ceiling. Although in grave pain, she shook herself off and prepared another volley of attacks, matching Ito in intensity. The two, both already suffering from their wounds, had found themselves back in the dogfight from before.
Larson grabbed both Alphonse and Bethel in his two hands, smashing them together like a great crash of cymbals. Dazed and injured, the two fell side by side. But Bethel was quick to get up and rile Alphonse back up as well. This time, Alphonse would initiate the offense, sending forth a violent wave of psychotic thoughts. Larson, cowering at the sheer malice that struck every nerve in his body, recoiled in pain. In his grief, Bethel followed up with a wicked scratch, leaving singing burn marks in the fur of the massive Rillaboom. Filled with rage, Larson once again wielded his drumsticks, swinging both of them with extreme prejudice. Both of them direly struck Alphonse, making a grotesque cracking sound as Alphonse flew back into the tunnel. Bethel began another blast of fire, singing the ends of Larson's hair, but Larson powered through, bringing down both drumsticks directly into Bethel's back.
The fighting reverberated throughout the metal battlefield. Crude sounds and angered cries rocked the foundation on which they all stood. As the commotion grew louder, the townspeople and the guards began to take notice. Slowly but surely, the guards funneled into the tunnel, serving as reinforcements.
Del, sensing the incoming surge, tossed Bow aside, moments after Bow had delivered a nasty gashing cut across Del's chest. Retreating back, the two parties followed the suit of their leaders, huffing and panting all the way.
"You lot fight as dirty as I had hoped. I'm getting pumped UP!!!" Bow cried out, his tongue flailing about.
"It's been too long since we fought on equal footing," Ito replied. "This'll definitely make a great song for later!"
"You kids sure have a lot of spunk in you. Too bad we'll have to extinguish that here and now!" hollered Larson.
"All of you talk too much," Del growled. "But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"
"Wicked, evil Pokemon, your days are numbered!" Ephie wailed.
"I'll take those instruments and break them over your heads!" Bethel growled fiercely.
Alphonse was silent.
Del looked over at his team, already battered and bruised before they even made it into town.
"I didn't think we'd have to use these so soon, but we can't give up now. Ephie, ready the orbs!" Del commanded in a grizzly tone.
Ephie smirked.
"I've been waiting for this!" Her cackling was haunting.
In a wild array of lights, a great sense of energy surged through Del's party. Some of their wounds began to heal, while muscles that had previously remained dormant in their bodies began to bulk up and bulge aggressively. A threatening aura emitted from their bodies.
"Awright, let's get round two started!" cried out the members of Team R.O.T. once again in perfect unison.
The three charged together in a dazzling display of electricity, rushing leaves, and a blur of black and white.
Their charge, however, was cut short, as Del managed to single-handedly absorb the impact of the three Pokemon in a single blow. Completely unfettered, the three rockers all exchanged glances of horror.
Del slammed both his fists into the ground, unleashing a raw shockwave of energy. The energy erupted, nearly splitting the tunnel in two and jettisoning the band of Pokemon high up into the air. Ephie was next, preparing a missile-like blast of raw, ghastly energy. The energy exploded on impact, swirling around the trio and paralyzing them as they rapidly descended from the air. Bethel prepared a great ring of fire below, engulfing the members of Team R.O.T. after they crashed back down, the flames licking them without remorse and capitalizing on the severity of their wounds.
"Damn! They've beefed up proper now," Bow cried out.
Meanwhile, the reinforcements began to run through the tunnel. The guard Pokemon came by the tens, rounding off into the hundreds. Ephie launched an artillery of wicked energy bombs, raining down on the guards below. The guards rapidly slowed their descent, hardly coming close to the thieves or even Team R.O.T. Bethel summoned more walls of fire, making further advancing of the forces anything but possible.
The great tunnel, barely able to withstand further fighting, began to crack and reign in debris from above. Narrowly missing several Pokemon, the dust kicked up and clouded the vision of the defending forces, sending them into disarray.
Del howled to his band of thieves.
"This way is too hot; barrel out back! We're blasting through the walls!"
Bow began to rise up to stop their escape, along with his compatriots, but they rapidly fell back to their knees.
"Stop them, get them!" the three cried out.
But the guards were unable to advance any further and had already begun suffering from injuries in the ruckus.
Emerging from the tunnel, Del and the crew rushed back to the surface. One of the orbs they used had given them incredible regeneration powers, as nearly all their wounds had faded away.
"C'mon, this way!" Del barked out, motioning over to a nearby wall that showed signs of age.
Del, Ephie, Bethel, and Al all gathered as many Blast Seeds as they could in their arms, prepared them towards the crumbling wall, and sent forth a symphony of blazing fireballs, all barrelling towards their target at high speed.
In an instant, the old ruined wall was totally blown to pieces.
As Del, Ephie, and Bethel began loading up on more Blast Seeds, a chill suddenly fell through the air.
The three suddenly paused, completely paralyzed. They were all dead in their tracks. All, except for Al. Al looked around, trying to find the source of the paralysis. Atop the wall, he saw two Pokemon: a Probopass that he hadn't seen before, and Lazlo.
The Probopass leaps down from the wall, rocketing towards the earth below. Causing a small crater and sending a shockwave rumbling through the area, he gazed a piercing stare at Alphonse, inspecting his very being to the core.
"This one is different, Lazlo," the Probopass boldly claimed.
Lazlo hopped down from the wall as well. It was quite a tall drop, but the old Pokemon landed with the grace of a feather.
"Yeah. That's the kid 've been tellin' ya about," Lazlo coldly stated.
"Lazlo!" Alphonse cried out.
"I warned ya, kid. But it seems you already chose yer side long ago."
Lazlo cracked several bones, preparing himself with a deeply threatening battle stance.
Alphonse, still hestitant at the thought of fighting his friend, had no choice but to return the gesture.
But the Probopass showed hestitation.
"Our intel said there were much more of them! Could they still be hiding somewhere around here?" The Probopass cried.
"Chief, I hate t' tell ya, but yer intel's plum useless," Lazlo admitted.
The chief sighed.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Lazlo. Good luck."
"Thanks..." Lazlo forlornly stated back.
He turned his gaze from the chief back to Alphonse.
"...Alright kid, let's dance."
Alphonse, driven by an unknown force, began to dash towards Lazlo, letting forth a primal yell. Lazlo, sensing the incoming attack, stared plainly back at his would-be combatant. Alphonse cocked a single fist, cloaked in psychic energy.
Lazlo snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the paralysis extended to Alphonse as well.
"Not so fast, kid." Lazlo whistled.
In an instant, Alphonse blinked. He was totally unable to move, let alone feel his body. He forced up all his might, slowly being able to begin inching forward towards Lazlo.
Lazlo readied his hand, letting forth another snap as the other hand gripped his tail. At the same time, he lunged up high into the air.
As he hovered over Alphonse, who had managed to regain full speed, Alphonse charged into a nearby tree, splintering it and toppling it over as his fist pummeled into it.
"Easy now. Don't let that fire burn away who you really are," Lazlo reprimanded.
Alphonse tried to listen to the warning, but was too enraged to act on anything but a desire to harm. This time, he would smash his hands together and slowly pull them apart, causing a radiant light to appear as his hands grew further apart. Hurling over the raw energy towards Lazlo, who had just landed back down on the ground, the old Pokemon ducked at the last second, not even turning around to see the incoming attack. The wave of psychic energy whizzed past him, impacting into the town wall and sending forth a cloud of dust on contact.
Alphonse found himself growing even angier as Lazlo made hardly any effort to fight back. His rage fully drove him now, occupying every single thought and instict that he acted upon.
"Fight back!" Alphonse growled as he charged towards Lazlo, cocking both his fists into a furious stance. Fists ablaze, he sprinted even faster towards Lazlo, who still stood still, barely looking at Alphonse.
"Hm..." Lazlo hummed.
Alphonse raised both his fists over his head, and in an instant, slammed both of them down. Lazlo sidestepped, leaving Alphonse's fists to hammer down towards the ground, the fierce impact shook the ground around two, leaving a small crater behind at the impact point. Lazlo who now stood to the left of Alphonse, readied a hand, flicking Alphonse as if he were a piece of dust on the old Pokemon's shoulder. Alphonse launched backwards at an incredible speed, briefly going airborne, until he slammed back down and tumbled along the cold hard ground, getting tangled up in his cloak.
"Enough with the parlor tricks!" Alphonse yelled, barely managing to untangle himself as he screamed. He send more waves of psychic energy towards Lazlo, as Lazlo dodged every projectile with the utmost grace.
"Kid, you don't want t' see me try," Lazlo growled back.
Alphonse got a running start, now upright again, and lunged an even bigger shockwave of energy than before towards Lazlo. Lazlo sidestepped again as the wave of energy exploded behind him.
"FIGHT BACK!" Alphonse howled, teleporting next to Lazlo and preparing to deliver a fierce kick across the Smeargle's jaw.
"PROVE YOUR STRENGTH TO ME!"
Lazlo ducked his body while gently slapping his tail into the ground. A vine tangled up along the leg Alphonse focused his weight on, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.
"SHOW ME!" Alphonse demanded. Before he knew it, he was suspended into the air, upside down, dangling from his ankle off a series of malicious vines. He began to wriggle and writhe, trying to break free. The vines rapidly wrapped around his body, tying him up securely. As the vines crept closer towards his cloak flapping about, he began to scream.
"DON'T YOU TOUCH TH-"
Lazlo motioned himself into a pitching position, and threw his hand as if he was tossing a ball. The vines grabbing Alphonse arched back and hurled him into a thicket of trees. Alphonse tumbled down the great branches, suffering several scrapes and bruises before finally falling back onto land.
Alphonse struggled to get back on two feet. He began to throw his cloak back over his shoulders, but noticed that a good portion of it had ripped off, leaving only a few scraps remaining. Now even more enraged to see his cloak fallen to ruin, he began to scream, blinking over to Lazlo once more with another fist cloaked with malicious intent.
An even more dire look sprawled across Lazlo's face. He waved his tail and snapped his fingers, and electricity filled the air.
Alphonse was paralyzed once again, but was hanging on to control of his body as much as he could. Moving in slow motion, he continued to move his fist towards Lazlo's head, slowly but steadily.
Lazlo let out a sigh, along with another snap of his fingers. Within an instant, Lazlo became an afterimage, spiraling towards the semi-paralyzed Alphonse.
Alphonse stopped again. He began to inch back his fist, not sure what had just happened or where Lazlo went. Looking behind himself, he saw Lazlo standing menacingly.
With another snap of his fingers, Lazlo withdrew the electric hold he had on Alphonse. Suddenly, the sensation of several hundred blows rocked every inch of Alphonse's body. Alphonse keeled over in sheer pain, writhing on the floor.
"I'll tell ya what kid, 's not every day I meet someone who can still move a bit in paralysis like that." Lazlo remarked.
Alphonse, choking through the pain, tried to speak out but couldn't assemble any words.
Bethel, Ephie, and Del continued to watch powerless as the fight wrapped up, enraged with their inability to protect Alphonse from Lazlo's might.
"Now, remember when I said earlier I'd love t' knock some sense int' 'ya? I lied. I didn't love that for a second." Lazlo sighed.
The Probopass spoke to Lazlo again, in a scolding tone.
"Alright, Laz, you struck plenty of sense into him. Now, may I?"
Lazlo nodded silently. "Be my guest, chief."
The one known as "the chief" hovered over Alphonse, still doubled over. A surge of psychic energy rocked Alphonse's body. It wasn't an attack, but it certainly wasn't a comfortable sensation to undergo.
The chief looked over at Lazlo solemnly.
"Fire?" Lazlo raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. But a lot of good is in there, too."
Lazlo raised his other eyebrow.
"Do the other kid, too."
The chief hovered over toward Bethel now. A similar sensation rocked Bethel's entire body, however, she was unable to put up a fight, much less yell out in pain. Del and Ephie continued to seethe in anger as they stood powerless.
"It's the same thing for her," the chief replied.
Lazlo looked shocked.
"Well, I'll be," he exclaimed.
Alphonse slowly dragged himself back up. "
Wh... what are you doing to us?" He cried.
Lazlo stared in an absent direction.
"Chief here's a good judge of character. He's checkin' the flux in you two."
Alphonse shot a look of confusion towards Lazlo and the chief. Lazlo decided to explain further.
"Checkin' your emotions, basically. 's a rare talent. There's good in you two, but a lot of evil cloudin' that." Lazlo paused, pondering a thought.
"Alright, Laz, you got what you wanted out of them. Now why don't we end this?" The chief reprimanded.
Lazlo nodded.
"Go evacuate the folks from the tunnel. That thing's about to collapse any second now. Nobody should be hurt too bad down there, 'cept them R.O.T. fellows."
The chief nodded back.
"It'll save us a bill for the destruction, at least," he murmured.
Lazlo flicked his fingers once more. Del, Ephie, and Bethel fell to the floor in similar fashion to Alphonse.
"What sort of parlor tricks were those..." Del growled, malicious intent rising in his voice.
"Settle down now, fella. It may be hard to believe, but I ain't ya enemy here. Not anymore." Lazlo assured.
"I can't feel my body... and my head is spinning..." Ephie cried.
Bethel was silent now. Her gaze was piercing, and she was solely focused on Alphonse.
Alphonse, still writing in pain, looked over shamefully at Lazlo and the thieves.
"Go ahead now, kid," Lazlo guided.
"...I'm sorry." Alphonse pleaded.
"What are you talking about, Al?" Ephie moaned.
"Don't say what I think you're going to say," Del rumbled.
"I knew. I knew about all of this." Alphonse admitted. A hush fell on the plains.
"Well, not all of it. But I knew about Lazlo and R.O.T. And I knew they were planning this." Alphonse paused.
"But I didn't know about the Probopass or this 'emotion reading' business."
Del began to growl even louder, causing Alphonse to quake. Ephie sensed she would have to be the voice of reason for the thieves here.
"I wanted to warn you all, but..." Alphonse began to speak.
"But what?" Ephie pleaded
"I was scared," Alphonse admitted.
"I've been scared. Scared for a long time. Scared before I came across any of you, even you, Lazlo." Alphonse looked over to Lazlo, who flashed back a look of sadness.
"I've run from nearly every conflict in my life. But this time, I wanted it to be different."
"So you sent us right into a trap?!" Del roared.
"No! I wanted to tell you all! I tried! But I couldn't... I couldn't summon the courage to do so!!!" Alphonse cried out.
Alphonse began sobbing again.
"I'm sorry. I thought I could do this. I thought I could fix things and that nobody would have to fight. I didn't expect things to escalate so soon, I thought... I thought I still had time to work things out..." Alphonse wept.
Del was growling up a storm, but Ephie laid a hand on his shoulder, causing him to simmer down, at least externally.
"Al, your heart is in the right place. But your mind isn't. We didn't need some wise sage to tell us that." Ephie whimpered.
"Bethel told us about you. She knew you were strong, despite your inner turmoil. She thought you could rise above it. And in her, we began to believe it too."
Ephie exhaled.
"But you let us all down, Al. Especially Bethel here." Ephie extended a caress towards Bethel. Bethel didn't respond, still fixated on Alphonse.
Ephie exchanged a glance towards Lazlo next.
"Are you the leader of these people, Smeargle?"
"Call me Lazlo, milady. And I suppose I am, of a sort."
Ephie gathered her thoughts and then continued to speak.
"We came here for justice. We wanted revenge, for how poorly you treated all of us. But looking around now, it doesn't seem like we gained anything from this whole ordeal."
All we wanted was to live our lives, and you all took that away from us... what else were we supposed to do but fight back?
Lazlo sighed heavily.
"Miss... Ephie, ain't it?"
Ephie nodded back. "And this is Del and Bethel. There's one more back home, his name's-"
Lazlo stopped her.
"Gatsby, ain't it."
Ephie failed to conceal her shock.
"Y-yes!" she exclaimed.
"Been doin' some readin' about you folks. I'll be honest, much of it transpired while I was away from 'ere."
"From the gist of it, you're mostly exiles from this place. Can't say I agree with the things y'all did, but I don't believe in the punishment neither."
Lazlo scratched his chin, and gave a pause to let everyone digest the current events. Afterwards, he spoke back up.
"Honest folk make mistakes. 's part of bein honest. None a us 's perfect, 's just our nature. An' I believe instead of rejecting that, we should embrace that, and help other Pokemon from makin' them mistakes over and over again."
"Now, not everyone here is as open minded as myself. I'm not promisin' one big happy ending where we all move in together. But I'd be remiss if I didn't at least set the record straight."
Lazlo gulped slightly as he prepared his next few words.
"Obviously, you folks are gonna be a bit worse for wear after roughin up our townfolk a bit, an' you'll have some dues t' pay."
Ephie began to interject.
"Naturally."
"I can't disagree with your logic, Sir Lazlo. None of us can. Mistakes are a part of life, and I know we've made many, including here. And if the townsfolk are willing to have a dialogue about resolving this entire situation, we have in no right to refuse their offer."
She looked over at Del next.
"We wouldn't have any problem providing assistance and funds for the repairs and medical bills. Isn't that right, Del?"
Del pondered for a moment. Then, he agreed with a simple nod, followed by his response.
"We seemed to have misjudged you, Smeargle. We have our honor, and seems you do as well. I can't guarantee things will go over well between us and the townsfolk. But in time, we'll be willing to try."
"You've got me and Del on your side at least. And we shouldn't have any trouble convincing the others..." Ephie remarked.
"But... the guards down there... they'll be okay, right?"
"I reckon they've all evacuated in time, yep." Lazlo stated plainly.
She stared half-heartedly.
"And the band members?"
"'ll be a bit sore for the coming days, but 'm sure you gave 'em some great song ideas in the process."
Ephie nodded. She looked over to Del, who had finally calmed down a bit.
Del nodded back.
"The heist is cancelled."
Del proclaimed.
"Lazlo, was it? Next time you see the 'chief', tell him we're even now."
Lazlo nodded back towards the hulking Del. Del looked back at Alphonse.
"Al," he said in a low grumble.
"Even if you truly meant well, you proven to be without the honor I expected you to have."
"Rule one, after all, is 'honor among thieves'. I would be remiss if I didn't show you the mercy that has been shown to us today by Lazlo."
"So know this; you are not our enemy, but you are still a code breaker. And with that, you are no longer welcome back at our den again."
Alphonse nodded sadly, showing his understanding of the verdict.
"Lazlo, we'd love to stay and help clean up, but we've got some things to discuss. Don't follow us." Del spoke to Lazlo.
"Fine by me. Wasn't plannin' on jailin' you folks myself, anyhow." Lazlo replied.
"Beth, we'll wait for you back home," Del growled softly as he rolled an Escape Orb towards her.
Del nodded, as Ephie grabbed onto him. The two vanished suddenly, another Escape Orb at play.
Now only Bethel lied before Alphonse and Lazlo.
"Bethel, I'm so sorry..." Alphonse exclaimed.
"And to think I trusted you, Al," Bethel coldly added.
"Beth, I never wanted any of this. All I wanted was for this feud to stop and for us to get away from all of this. We're good Pokemon; we don't have to live like this!" Alphonse cried out.
Bethel sighed.
"Right now, I don't care who's good and who's bad. I don't think Del or Ephie care either. Our entire world's been flipped upside down, and that's already more than enough to take in..."
"To be in the dark so long, to be blinded by rage... it's not something I would wish upon any Pokemon. To know your actions aren't just after all, and you've become the very thing you hate..." she sniffled.
"...This all could've been avoided. But none of us were strong enough to see that."
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Especially not you."
"Bethel!" Alphonse cried out, visibly disturbed by the emotional breakdown of his former friend.
But it was too late. Bethel had followed suit, vanishing alongside her remaining friends.
Alphonse fell to his knees and wept once more. Lazlo walked over, putting a paw on the poor, troubled Abra's shoulder, as Alphonse began to weep with a greater force than he had in years.