"Do you WANT to get caught?" Lashire hissed back to the silently Gold Tribe. "Stop shouting out. The echos carry for quite a while." After another turn, another hissed warning came back toward them as lights appeared up ahead. "That's the patrols, stay quiet." By the time they reached the spot where the lights had been, they had already disappeared down another tunnel. After this, Daricka began noticing the lights of other patrols shining through the tunnels, but each time they had already gone before the Gold Tribe reached them. "Okay, we're almost there. Just stay quiet." Lashire said softly. "There is usually a large patrol up ahead. We need to be quick." The scout paused as he gazed down the next tunnel, a frown forming on his face. "Oh dear..."
Daricka peered past him to see what had caused his worry, and spotted a group of Ancients guarding the path ahead. She waited patiently while Lashire had a whispered conference with Vigil. Then, as Vigil informed the Gold Tribe of the distraction plan, the trio of scouts disappeared back the way they had come. Not long later, a crashing sound echoed through the tunnels, drawing the attention of the Ancients who scurried off to find the source of the sound. As soon as the coast was clear, the Gold Tribe dashed down the passage the Ancients had been guarding. Daricka's ears twitched as some of the larger Pokemon, less suited to stealth, made the thudding sound of their footsteps despite their best attempts to be silent. Speed and stealth just don't mix for some.
She would have continued onward, but Vigil stopped them before they had gone to far. Daricka scowled in irritation. They should be taking the chance given to them, not waiting! If the scouts didn't have a plan to get away, they wouldn't have volunteered as decoys in the first place, so there really wasn't any reason to wait for them.
The form of a Kabutops making its way back toward them caught Daricka's attention, but before she could think of a way to get to the Ancient and silence it before it alarmed its comrades, Saul dropped down on it from ceiling. After a moment of grappling its mouth shut and slamming a knife deeper and deeper into its necks, the Kabutops' lifeless body fell silently to the ground. Crimson blood still staining him, the Tyrogue took off, motioning for the Gold Tribe to follow which the did.
Be on alert, Zane said through the telepathic link TrueStriker had set up. Not that Daricka really needed to be told so again. After awhile of running through the twists and turns of the underground, Saul stopped and glanced warily about then brushed his hand against a part of the wall, and it slid open to reveal a cavity on the other side. The Gold Tribe followed Saul inside, and the Tyrogue pushed a button that closed the entryway behind them. Already inside was Lashire holding the still sound asleep Eevee.
"What happened?" The Pawniard questioned.
"What ya think?" Saul retorted. "They stopped. You know, it's good of me to have stayed back and waited up there! Sheesh! They are idiots!"
Lashire frowned at this, but his expression quickly changed to a wide smile as he turned to Vigil. "We are actually here Mr. Vigil!" He stated proudly. "I will ask you all to stay here for the moment while we enter the main cavern. It's procedure and also... with a Scizor in your group and the fact that the Sentinels do enlist former Gold Tribe members, you could easily be mistaken for Sentinels, no need to get shishkabobed with all kinds of attacks right?"
"Yeah, stay tight and don't do anything stupid like, say, readying an attack or something," Saul muttered. "That will lead to death instantly."
"I understand," Vigil assented with a nod. Seemingly satisfied, the scouts went to the far end of the tunnel where the wall slid open after they knocked three times, only to close behind them.
"Everyone all here? Everyone alright?" Vigil asked, looking for confirmation that everyone was present. "Alright, good. Now, we don't know who exactly this Pokemon is, or what he is capable of, so we should be cautious. But remember, we're here to work together with them. Still, let's make sure to keep our eyes open, just in case."
Daricka couldn't agree more. She'd dealt with plenty of shifty characters in her past, and the feeling she was getting right now wasn't a pleasant one. Her senses told her something was wrong, and her body hummed with adrenaline. If it weren't for her strict control, she would have jumped out of her skin when a hissing noise sounded through the chamber. Deciding to trust her instincts, she scrambled up the wall before she even noticed the green gas leaking out of the walls, her lithe fingers finding handholds a less experienced Pokemon might not be able to. She clung tightly to her perch, trying to deduce her next course of action as the sickly green smoke filled up the room and swirled up toward her. However, the poison quickly surrounded her. As it took its affect on her, her grip loosened and she fell back to the ground, her wavering gaze blanking out as her body succumbed to the gas.
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It took a moment for Daricka's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of what could only be described as a cell, with its gray walls and closely set iron... balls? Daricka straightened up as she came to full wakefuleness, her back sore back protesting. Perhaps climbing that wall to escape the gas hadn't been the best idea... Studying the closely set iron balls in the flickering candlelight, she wondered as to their purpose. She'd spent time a few jails herself during her thieving years when she was unlucky enough to be caught - rare as those occasions were, and she always escaping before very long - and they'd all had bars, not balls. Still, it had the same despairing appearance as a prison, so it couldn't be anything but.
"Is everyone alright?" The familiar voice of Vigil drew Daricka's attention away from her speculations.
"I am fine," she replied, raising her voice to be certain she would be heard. Approaching the edge of the her musty cell, she peered out as best she could. After some straining of her neck, she was able to survey the cells containing Vigil, Bloodthirster, Sword and Shield, Speculum, Guardia, Hoodhide, and Dryad. She hesitated a moment, then checked again, only to come to the same result. Only a portion of the Gold Tribe was here.
"Ugh...where the hell are we?" Guardia's voice came from across the dark room. "Why are we in these cells? Damn it! We should never have trusted those scouts!"
"Grr...these bars can't be bent. They must be made out of something special," Sword and Shield bellowed from his own cell. "Do you believe this was the Silver Tribe?" If they were made for a special reason, that would explain the strange design...
"Who the heck else?!" Guardia screamed back, the sound of her claws clashing against the bars grating against Daricka's ears. "They're probably gonna deliver us to the Sentinels right now. Damn it!" Daricka didn't doubt that was a possibility, but it wouldn't explain why only a few of them were here.
The tromping of large feet announced the arrival of a Rhydon, Aggron, and a pair of Blastoise. "Wake up Goldies! We're taking ya to the event," The Aggron pounded his hands into each other. "Don't make us get too physical, besides, you wouldn't want the rest of your comrades to pay the price rigiht?" He chuckled as the four went to the different cells and began to open them up.
"Event? What event?" Vigil asked. "Why are you holding us here? Don't you know who we are? Where are the rest of us?"
The Aggron rolled his eyes. "Ask anymore questions and well, he'll take care of the problem. Trust me, you don't want to know what he will do to you all. Let's get going. Chop chop! Don't want to keep everyone waiting!"
Daricka complied without resistance, her expression hiding any thoughts that might be running through her head. The guards lead them up a staircase that in turn opened up in a brown-stoned hallway. From another stairwell, an Abra was descending with the missing members of the Gold Tribe as well as Dinorah. Still, Daricka didn't allow herself to feel relief quite yet. Whatever was going on, she doubted it was in their best interests.
"Don't run, or you may have to be killed!" the Abra quipped before her headed down the hall.
As Zane inquired as to the well being of the others, Daricka turned to look at three Pokemon that had been brought separately: an unconscious Ninetales, a Golurk, and a Lilligant. From the emblems each had, it appeared they too were Gold Tribe.
"Alright, we're all here. Now anyone have any Arceus-damn idea what the hell we're all doing here, and who's behind this?!" a clearly irritated Guardia exclaimed.
"I've got an idea." Gallant replied thoughtfully. "I didn't think the Pokemon was still alive, but this is too much of a coincidence to not be connected." Daricka turned her attention him as he continued. "Before the invasion, we all know the main enemy around were the thieves. That's true. But here in Cape City, there was another Pokemon, someone who was just as dangerous as the King of Thieves. He had a contingency of followers, and was able to do a lot of damage with what we believed to be a lot less resources than us. He even managed to kill a couple of Gold Tribe members who were in pursuit of him at that time. I had a run-in with him once. A long time ago. I would have died too, if it wasn't for a fellow brother saving me at the price of his own life. But he disappeared a long time ago. Some thought he died. Others thought he went into hiding permanently. We never found his hide-out, and we never found a body, but we still assumed he was long gone. I guess not. I'm sure some of you have heard of him before. He was quite renown back in the day."
Daricka's mind process jump started as she realized who Gallant was talking about. The Madman, a criminal spoken of in awed whispers among the street Pokemon of Gold City. How could she not have heard of him? She had never learned much about him, but in her younger years the tales would have been enough to keep her from ever straying to Cape City, if she ever even left Gold City in the first place.
It was at that moment that an Alakazam appeared and teleported them to a different room. After blinking away the discombobulation that followed the unexpected transportation, Daricka's eyes fixed on a sight that surprised even her. Defender sat upon a throne made of gold, situated in a large room.
"Welcome Goldies!" the Golduck exlaimed with a smile as her spread his arms wide, the crowd of Pokemon watching the scene cheering with excitement. Daricka didn't take her eyes off of him as she struggled to puzzle out was going on. She could already tell them something was off. "Now now, let's not get over eager. Madness can get a bit crazy sometimes." The roar of the laughing crowd was lost on Daricka as she furrowed her brows in thought. "Now… quite some time it's been eh? A whole day or close to one… or perhaps a year. It's so hard to tell from down here!" Defender rolled his eyes and quickly jumped back in his chair. "Now, to atone for crimes by the Silver Tribe you all will… SUFFER!" He stated gleefully as he jumped so he was now standing on top of his chair. The ground in front of them suddenly pushed back to reveal a bubbling cauldron below, but Daricka's eyes were still fixed on Defender as dread filled her. She really hoped the conclusion she was approaching was wrong. "Now, who would like to be cooked first?' Defender asked eagerly as he glanced about. "How about the meaty ones? Or the skinny ones? I'm impartial myself!" He crackled with laughter and snapped his fingers as flames shot out from below and lit the pot on fire, or at least the top anyway. "Now, prepare to suffer for crimes against the City and the Alpha Alliance! So, who wants to step in first!?" He asked with a sadistic grin. Either Defender had completely lost his mind, or this had been his true guise all along. The latter would definitely it easier to deal with the obviously crazed Golduck, since that would he had been tricking them the entire time. Not that Daricka had many qualms about fighting him at the moment, though she really hoped they wouldn't have to permanently remove him from this life.
"You know, I am REALLY getting bored of this!" A voice cried out. Daricka glanced upward where the voice had come from and spotted a Joltik on the ceiling with a few other Pokemon. "Madman you've gone too far this time! Gold Tribe! Get ready for a battle!" So, Daricka's suspicions were confirmed. Defender was not Defender. He was the Madman. Perhaps the Defender the Gold Tribe had known as a brother was still there somewhere, but until her revealed himself, the Madman was all that mattered if they wanted to get out of this alive.
Defender... No, the Madman rolled his eyes and pointed at the Gold Tribe. "First the Goldies, then Sheera. Get to it!" He cried out. Chaos immediately broke out as the Pokemon clashed, the Madman cackling as her formed a Water Pulse. "It's madness in here!"
Daricka's first order of operation was to reach the Madman and sort out this mess, and she wasn't surprised to spot TrueStriker already confronting the lunatic Golduck. But first, she would need some extra power to deal with the Pokemon come at her and the rest of her companions from all sides. A bright glow surrounded her as she danced gracefully out of the way of a flying ball of mud. As the Calm Mind faded away, Daricka could feel the power burning hot within her, ready to unleash itself on some unlucky foe. Not seeing a reason why she shouldn't grant it its wish, the Infernape put her hands out to either of her and quickly but carefully balanced energy into both of her palms to form two glowing orbs. She shot the two Focus Blasts forward, the double attack barreling into the Pokemon closest her and exploding on impact, force knocking all but the heaviest off of their feet. Not about to give them a chance to recover, a dark Heat Wave rolled out from her, purposefully constrained to only hit the Pokemon that had been knocked over by the Focus Blasts so her brethren wouldn't be caught up in the boiling air. However, that was likely the last chance she was going to get to attack the same Pokemon in quick succession as the Madman's army closed in on them. Now she would have the added trouble of defending from physical attacks.
Daricka's flexible frame bent backwards as a Dodrio struck at her with one of its heads. She then used the momentum to turn the bend into a flip, gripping the wingless bird's head with her legs to send it crashing into the ground behind her while also messing up the attack pattern of the other two heads that had been aiming their sharp beaks at her legs. She swung around to face the Dodrio again, Her muscular tail thwacking into one of its heads as it rose off the ground. One again channeling energy to her hands, she used Close Combat, her limbs became a flurry as they dealt blows to the three heads, partial Focus Blasts forming each time she drew a hand back then exploding into one of the Dodrio's heads the moment she struck. She leaped back as the the trio of bird heads fell forward limply, their brains thoroughly splattered. Not very clean, but it was efficient enough and saved her the energy of creating a full-powered Focus Blast.
Her next opponent - or, opponents - were a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee that seemed accustomed to fighting together. When the Hitmonchan punched toward her head, the Hitmonlee would attempt to swipe her legs out from under her with a Low Kick. After the Hitmonchan landed a successful hit on her shoulder that sent her spinning off balance, Daricka thought up a quick plan and spun with the attack, her body becoming enveloped in dark flames. Her spinning movement caused the flames from the Flare Blitz to flare outward, scorching the two fighting-types and giving her the opportunity to bring the Hitmonlee down with a small, precisely aimed Focus Blast that struck it through the eye and straight through its brain. The Hitmonchan took longer as it exchanged fierce blows with the Infernape, despite the burns covering its body. Daricka's eyes were constantly watching for an opening, and they soon found a small one as the Hitmonchan flinched when she struck a burn on its arm. Reaching quickly forward before her foe could raise its defense again, Daricka wrapped her left hand tightly around its neck then struck its head hard with her right fist, all in a matter of seconds. The Hitmonchan's head snapped backward, far further back than it should naturally be able to go, with a snap that was lost in the sounds of battle.
A small burst of impatience filled her when she realized she had been distracted from her target, but a side glance told her that Bloodthirster and Vigil had already joined TrueStriker in confronting the Madman. However, as she was launching a Flare Blitz encased fist at Lopunny, it disappeared. She spun around quickly, thinking perhaps it had somehow gotten behind her, then stopped when she noticed all of the other Pokemon the Gold Tribe had been battling against had also disappeared.
"Though I must say that was a unique performance and I have labels," she heard the Madman saying, and she turned to see he at least was still there with an Abra alongside him. "I was wondering when you all would get here, though, I was expecting a different entrance. Of course it helps to always have a plan. The funny thing? Illusions can be harmful so long as those experiencing them believe them to be real. Though you should probably train those minds a bit more if they can be this easily manipulated. Not good at all for going after the Silver Crystal, right?"
Daricka's muscles relaxed, though only slightly. So he wasn't the Madman. He had just been testing them. He was still Defender. Or was he? She eyed the Golduck she had only just moments ago considered an enemy as he continued to talking, finding she still didn't really trust him. Even if he said it was only illusions, he had still successfully tricked them and she didn't put it beyond him to do it again.
"So... what will it be?" The Golduck asked them. Daricka shifted her posture, forcing down the last of the tension in her body that was left from the illusory battle. For anyone who knew her, the relaxation would mean that she trusted them, or that she was at least in agreement. She wouldn't mind if Defender believed she had faith in him; it would only make it that much easier to figure out what was going on inside that head of his. She cast a sidelong look at Vigil, waiting to see what he would decide.