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POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON
GUARDIANS OF BALANCE
EPISODE II - DARK, WONDEROUS PAST
CHAPTER XIII - THE MYTH OF BLACKAXE
GUARDIANS OF BALANCE
EPISODE II - DARK, WONDEROUS PAST
CHAPTER XIII - THE MYTH OF BLACKAXE
Days earlier…
Greg growled as the sword poked his back, making a deliberate effort to make it a rumble.
"Go on big boy." grunted the pirate behind him, poking him again, "Get moving."
A faint whimper came from the Swampert's side. "C-Come on boss…"
The Marowak next to him quivered, instinctively rubbing the back of his neck, no doubt remembering how the bandit leader had crushed it. Rolling his eyes, Greg started walking down the ramp of the ship.
It was midday, and ahead of them was a large town, composed of wooden structures that seemed to have been made from parts of old ships. An extensive dock was established outside, where not only smaller pirate ships were docked, but several other ships were currently being broken up and looted, likely to contribute to the building of the town. Greg could just make out an outer wall, that had also been built with stone alongside the wood.
"How did these guys get this place built?" asked the Rattata as he stepped down to the ground.
"Shipbreaking." The Pidgey replied with a snip, struggling to stretch his tied-up wings. "Are you blind?"
"Shut. Up." Greg grunted, as another pirate, sporting her black armband, started to direct the bandits – and the crew of the Daywalker – to stand around a small clearing before the central building, a large three-story structure with a set of stairs leading directly to the second floor. He narrowed his eyes at the crew, fear written across their faces much as it had with his own. Whatever the pirates want with us, it can't be good.
As the gathered prisoners were brought to a halt, surrounded by pirates from both the ship and the town, a Floatzel with a milky eye looked over them, his hand resting on an axe held at his hip. Didn't think anyone would get their hands on swords and axes. Save for those bastards on Sand maybe.
With a sharp whistle, what little conversation between the prisoners faded away, and the Floatzel crossed his arms. He scanned them once more, causing the bandits next to Greg to start squirming. The Swampert merely held his gaze, refusing to be cowed by the pirate's display of power. He even started thinking of using an Earthquake, to try and escape.
Instead, the Floatzel turned towards the building. "My lady!" He shouted, closing his eyes and bowing his head, "The prisoners are ready!"
The doors at the top of the stairs swung open, and as the new Pokémon emerged, Greg swore he could feel his back twang.
The pirate leader descended the steps, each footstep sending a faint quiver through the ground. She appeared insectoid in shape, but she was massive, her entire body armoured head-to-toe in beige and black rocky armour. At the ends of her arms, there were a pair of gigantic obsidian axes that didn't reflect any sunlight at all.
And as she stepped onto the ground, showing her to be even taller than Greg was, he could make out her eyes, nearly completely white, save for a dark pupil in each eye.
"I am Blackaxe." She said, her voice gravelly as she strolled towards the prisoners, letting her axes scrape across the dirty ground. "I'm the commander of these crews."
Blackaxe… it can't be! The legendary pirate queen!
Greg locked his jaw as Blackaxe started to pace along the line of prisoners. "Your ship and cargo now belong to Libertalia to do as we see fit. The question now becomes… what of you?"
A weak sob broke out from the captive crew, but Blackaxe didn't acknowledge it, continuing her pacing. "I offer a place where you can become a free Pokémon, no longer tied to the manipulations of the Continents and their guilds. You will be able to carve out your own destiny, and share in the spoils."
Some of the prisoners started sharing glances with each other. "You will need to prove this of course, but if you do… you will be welcomed as brothers and sisters." Blackaxe raised her axes in a somewhat welcoming pose. "If not… then fear not. Prove yourselves worthwhile, and I may be inclined to return you to the nearest safe port. But I do warn you… that is a fine line."
Her voice deepened with those last few words, and Greg swore he noticed a pirate shiver at that.
Blackaxe returned to her pacing, her eyes scanning the line of prisoners once more.
And then she stopped, and Greg could just make out that the strange Pokémon had stiffened.
"Come on out."
Two pirates barged into the crowd, much to the surprise of the prisoners. With a stifled squeal, they dragged a Pignite out from the crew, throwing him down at the feet of the pirate queen. "Stand." She ordered, and fearfully, the fire-type scrambled to his feet.
"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as the quivering pig struggled to reply. "T-T-T-T-T-Trevor!" He babbled, his eyes wide.
"And what do you do for your crew?"
What's she up to…
Trevor was still shaking, but managed to muster up a nervous smile, "M-Me? I'm the ship's morale officer! I help keep these weary souls in the best of spirits with warm bellies from rum and stew!" He patted his belly, "I-I can you a taster! If your lady would be so inclined…"
Blackaxe turned away, and Greg could almost taste the sarcasm in her voice.
"…the cook… perfect…"
Then she spun and slammed her axe down on the Pignite's head.
Someone screamed as blood splattered everywhere, the crew starting to panic and the bandits gasping in shock as Blackaxe yanked her bloody weapon free, allowing the cook's corpse to limply hit the floor. Greg himself flinched, not ready for that sudden a strike. The pirate whipped her axe aside and motioned her head towards the prisoners.
A Vulpix was the next to die, a pirate stepping in from behind her and stabbing her in the neck with a knife, a faint gasp being all she could muster. A Salazzle clawed at her neck as it was slit with another blade.
As a Simisear started getting stabbed, Greg saw the pattern. His eyes snapped towards his own bandits… towards the dark Marowak, unable to tear his gaze away… and unaware of the pirate approaching him from behind.
Greg made his decision.
The Swampert's hands were bound, but without hesitating, he grabbed hold of the Marowak by the head, lifting him out of reach of the stunned pirate and the startled bandits. And as if on cue, the Marowak knew what was coming. "No no no! Please! Not ag-"
The skull of the Marowak imploded in the Swampert's grasp, the fire-ghost's body going limp. Should have stayed dead.
As the bandits stared on, mouths agape, Greg curled his lip in disgust and tossed the body away. But as he did, he found Blackaxe's eyes fixed on him.
Shit… here we go...
On the ground, the last of the target Pokémon gasped his last breath, his blood mixing in with that of his peers. Whipping her axe free of blood, she turned towards the Floatzel. "Get them accommodated. And someone needs to get rid of this… trash." She motioned towards the bodies.
"Of course, my lady." He replied, before barking his orders to the pirates. They sprang into action, starting to shove the prisoners towards the town. Another blade poked at Greg's back, shunting the Swampert along. Grunting, he started to move.
Only for the axe to hang just short of his throat. "Except this one." Blackaxe growled, as the other prisoners were forced further away. Greg clenched his jaws, holding his neck back from the weapon.
As the captives went out of earshot, Blackaxe leaned forward, peering down on the Swampert. "Who are you?" she questioned, voice deep.
Greg croaked out a cough before speaking, "Why would you ask?"
"You cur!" the Floatzel shouted, stomping over to their side, his eyes bloodshot. "You'll address her as Lady Blackaxe!"
"Overruled." grunted the axe-pokemon, earning a surprised look from the Floatzel that she didn't even acknowledge. "Answer the question."
Greg swallowed, keeping his heart rate down. "Greg." He admitted, "I'm… a vagabond."
Blackaxe's eyes narrowed, "And where were you caught Greg?"
"In the Sea of Wonders."
The axe twitched a touch, "You ran out of road… didn't you?"
Greg merely narrowed his eyes, resisting the urge to clench his fists. "You could say that."
The pirate queen stared down the Swampert, her axe still hovering by his throat. Greg held his nerve, refusing to show any fear.
Blackaxe swivelled the axe.
And neatly cut the bindings off Greg.
"My lady!" The Floatzel blurted out, "What are you doing!?"
"Don't worry Ezekyle." She replied, "I will keep my eye on this one."
She lowered the axe, and this time, Greg couldn't stop himself from letting out his held breath.
"You may well have found another road." Blackaxe stated before turning, "Come with me… we have much to discuss."
She started stomping towards the main building. Greg rubbed his wrists and feeling the eyes of the pirates piercing his back, he slowly shuffled after her.
Present day...
The sea of colours had returned, the soothing, rolling sounds playing within his head as everything softly shifted from one colour to the next.
Sam groaned softly to himself, seeing the white star hovering in the distance, blinking once more.
Great. This again? Come on… this is pointless…
He had no idea what had happened. The last thing he knew, he was being thrown overboard. For all he knew, his friends were in danger! And here he was in another stupid dream!
Can you get me out of here already!
The star continued to blink… but it was getting brighter.
"…please please please! Can you hear me! Oooohhh why does this have to be so hard!"
That brought the Scorbunny out of his stupor. Whoa whoa… hang on! I can hear you! Can you hear me!?
The star stopped blinking, only to start again, even brighter than before. "FINALLY! It's been so long! Do you know how many different methods I took to try and make contact again! It's normally a lot easier than this!"
If he still had a heart, it'd have leapt for joy. Finally! Six weeks after arriving in the Pokémon world, the voice that first greeted him had finally reappeared! About damn time! But… who are you? Why did you bring me here?
"Me? I didn't bring you here."
Huh?
"As for who I am… let me try something. It'd probably be better just to show you."
The colours rapidly started to shift again, before focusing onto a solid, warm green, the star rapidly brightening to the point that it nearly blinded the Scorbunny.
Instinctively, Sam shielded his eyes, trying to bloc- huh?
As the light started to fade, he blinked, finding his arm now hanging in front of him. Mouth agape, he looked down to find that his Scorbunny body existed again. A quick pat over and running his hand over his head and past his ears confirming it wasn't a trick. He flashed a grin to himself, God… this is so much better!
"Over here!"
Flinching, Sam turned back to face the star, the sea of colours seeming less intense but no less vibrant as it faded away to reveal a new figure.
A strange green… blob, with a tiny red hexagon on the body and a single little eye at the top.
"Hi!" they exclaimed in a high-pitched, almost childish voice, the blob wobbling cheerfully.
"Err…" Sam ears dipped as he tried to process the… thing in front of him. I… I have no idea what this guy is.
"Hi…" He managed to say. "Err… who are you? What are you? Are you some kind of Pokémon?"
"Yeah! Erm…" the blob suddenly looked confused. "No? Kinda? It's really complicated… how about you just call Squishy for now?"
Sam couldn't stop himself from stumbling over his own words. "Sq… S-Squishy?"
"Yeah! That's a long story too, been a while since someone called me that!"
Squishy hopped over towards the Scorbunny, his single eye beaming. "I'm glad to finally meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too…" Sam replied woodenly, swiftly shaking his head sharply. Come on Sam! Focus!
"So… Squishy." He started, managing to recover, "Do you know why I'm here?"
"To save the world obviously!" Squishy replied warmly.
"Yeah… and… what I'm saving it from what exactly?"
The little green blob froze. "Err…. Err…"
Sam rolled his eyes, "Go on." He said, motioning with his hand to request the answer, "I can take it."
"I… I don't know."
Something snapped in the back of Sam's mind, the Scorbunny nearly lunging at the blob. "Are you fucking kidding me!" he shouted, causing the weird creature to bounce back. "I've been waiting six weeks for an answer to what I'm doing here! You show up and your answer to the question of, saving the world is: 'i dont know!'", pulling a mock accent as he finished his rant.
Squishy blinked a couple of times at the Scorbunny, "In my defence…" He started with a slightly chipper tone, "I just woke up from a few hundred-year-old sleep about… a week before you arrived? I'm catching up as much as you are and I don't have a lot of cameras to look through!"
Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Sam sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Okay… that'd explain a lot…" Wait, a few hundred years?
"I can point you in the right direction to start looking though!" Squishy replied, hopping back over to his side. "The disasters, the guardians… your dream with the castle-"
Sam nearly leapt out of his skin, "H-How did you know that!?" he cried, recalling the dream of the besieged castle, what little he did anyway.
"I'm in your head dumdum!" Squishy bounced off the ground and before Sam could react, the blob was wobbling on the Scorbunny's head. "It's not that hard!"
Gritting his teeth, Sam grabbed hold of Squishy and pulled him down, holding the blob in front of him. "I get it!"
Cycling a breath in and out, Sam calmed himself down. "Okay… okay… so the Guardians and the disasters that have been happening... They're all related?"
"I'm positive of that!" Squishy confirmed, "You'll need to follow that lead. And if my memory hasn't borked out, there is an old Guardian structure on this island!"
Zeke was right! Kain was headed out here!
Sam lowered the blob down to the ground, "Great then! Do you know where it is? Or what is in there?"
"I think it might have been… an arcanum?" Squishy replied, eye clenched as if deep in thought, "Agh, if only I had a few more cells."
"Cells?" Sam uttered.
"Nevermind. Point is, I know its on the island, but where exactly? I don't know. But if you find that, I've got a feeling you'll start finding some answers. If not about what is happening right now, then definitely something on the Guardians."
Suddenly, Squishy seemed to start fading, only to rematerialize, his eye widened. "Great. I can't maintain this for too long. You're going to have to go on without me for now!"
Sam growled, "No! Squishy, you've just given the best help on this so far, how do I even find this place!?"
Squishy was already beginning to fade, "Maybe ask some locals? They know this place better than any guild members!"
The Scorbunny wanted to slap himself, "Where the hell am I going to find locals out here who want to help!?"
The blob seemed even more delighted, "Maybe ask the one looting your stuff?"
Stiffening, the Scorbunny could only cock his head. "Wait, looting-"
The sea of colours suddenly went back, the Scorbunny falling into blackness…
To the sound of gently breaking waves, Sam stirred.
Shielding his face, he opened his eyes, trying to stop the sunlight from burning them out. He was lying on soft, warm sand and his fur felt mangy and clumped up from salt and beach.
Groaning softly, Sam sat himself up.
The ships were gone. The only evidence of their existence was wooden debris that lay washed up on the beach, from planks to barrels. Sam's heart sank as he started to scan his surroundings, hoping against hope that Alice or the others had managed to get away.
He doubted they could have saved the Penguin, nevermind the Crow.
No one he recognised appeared.
God damn it…
Something clunked behind him, prompting the Scorbunny to spin round, facing a line of tropical trees.
He found himself staring at the back of a green monkey Pokémon about his size, with two leaf-like tuffs extending from its head and held in place by a stick. He had a rather familiar-looking satchel hung over his shoulder… and a certain red jacket.
"Hey!" he croaked, getting to his feet, "What do you think you're doing!?"
The monkey spun around, his eyes wide with alarm.
Sam took a step forward, "Give me bac-"
The Pokémon leapt away, running for the forest.
"Oh no you don't!" Sam barked, sprinting after the monkey.
Running into the trees, he chased the thief as he ducked and weaved through the foliage. As soon as he took his chance, the monkey started to ascend, working his way up into the trees. Unable to climb after him, the Scorbunny pursued him from the ground. Panting, Sam ducked through leafy ferns and hopped over fallen trunks, following him deeper into the forest and managing to keep his eyes fixed on his target.
As the forest started to clear, the monkey started to jump between lower, thicker branches. Alright! Try this!
Willing the fire within him to ignite, Sam shot an Ember away.
The fireball struck the branch the monkey landed on, the Pokémon yelping in surprise as he was flung off the tree and fell towards the ground.
Gotcha!
Sam punched through another fern, entering a larger clearing in the trees, a pool of water sat off to one side. The thief winced, trying to crawl away from the trees. Rubbing his feet against the ground, the Scorbunny slowly approached, "I don't want to hurt you." He panted, raising a hand as he approached, "I just want my stuff back…"
The monkey snarled at him, "Helping you outsiders! Not a chance!"
Cocking his head, Sam narrowed his eyes, He must be talking about the pirates….
"I'm not like those guys…"
"I don't believe you!" He shouted back, pushing himself back to his feet, and pulling the stick from the top of his head.
Sam swept his foot back, getting another pebble ready. "Alright… you're not giving me muc-"
A squirt of water landed between the two Pokémon harmlessly, Sam twitched at the sudden sight. The monkey seemed equally as baffled, blinking at the sight.
"Why is it that boys have to have a spat every ten seconds?"
The voice came from the pool. But… there's no one there.
That was when he noticed it, a shimmering patch of air that hung just above the water.
A faint sigh came from it, "Boys these days…"
The shape sprung out of the water, a blue Pokémon materialising as they touched down in between the rabbit and monkey. Sam nearly leapt out of his skin, almost seeing Aidan as a Froakie again. But his heart slowed as he saw the yellow fin atop her head, and she looked more like a lizard or a chameleon than a frog.
"How did you get back so quick?" The monkey snapped.
"Relax." She stressed, motioning for the monkey to calm down. "That doesn't matter, he's not one of those pirates."
I knew it!
Sam clicked his fingers, "Exactly! I'm not one of those guys! I ended up here because of them!"
"We can't trust these outsiders!" Hissed the monkey.
"Then why does she think I'm not a pirate?" Sam questioned.
The lizard turned back towards him, her blue eyes looking him over. She seemed a lot calmer, but her big eyes seemed to suggest that her species was… less so? "Look up then." She replied.
Sam stared blankly back at her, "W-What?"
"Seriously. Look up."
He started to look up, "What am I-"
That was when he saw them, his heart nearly exploding in his chest as he gasped. He stumbled back, unable to tear his gaze away, nearly tumbling over.
Hanging above their heads, were over a dozen bodies. Some were fresh, hanging limply from the tree branches. There was a Chimchar, a Salandit and a Typhlosion hanging there, deep cuts left open to fester. Some were older, starting to rot away into skeletons or starting to become bloated. Some unfortunate Pokémon, such as a Numel, had their heads mounted on spikes, and one unfortunate Flareon was fully impaled on a branch outright.
Sam teared his eyes away and keeled over, desperately trying to stop himself from retching.
"Because there are no fire-types with the pirates, remember?" The lizard explained, "They kill any fire-type they come across."
"I… hells." Cursed the monkey, "I thought I nearly caught fire then."
They… they all kill fire-types? Is… is that why they were so riled up at the sight of me?
A surprisingly soft hand settled onto his shoulder, and Sam weakly looked up to find the lizard holding on to him. "Come on." She said, "Let's talk somewhere else…"
The three Pokémon sat in a much smaller clearing, under the shelter of a much bigger tree with Sam's possessions now back in his hands.
"I'm Kyra." Said the water lizard, "This is my friend, Denzel."
The monkey sheepishly raised a hand in greeting. "'Ello."
Sam quickly introduced himself, "Sam. I'm a Scorbunny from the town of Robinswood." He looked over the two Pokémon, "I haven't seen your species before."
"We've known Scorbunny before." Denzel admitted, "But we're more obscure I guess." He rested a hand on his chest, "I'm a Grookey. Kyra is a Sobble."
Grookey and Sobble… got it.
Sam nodded back, "So… I'm guessing you guys live here?"
Kyra and Denzel shared a glance between each other, before Kyra continued, "We're from the Wela Tribe. We've called these islands home for generations. No one else came out here until the Lady arrived with her pirates and started attacking our people."
Cocking his head, Sam frowned back, "The Lady?" he questioned.
"Lady Blackaxe." Kyra confirmed, "She leads the pirates here and started taking our people captive to help build her Libertalia."
"Mainly after our fire-type chieftain went to greet her." Denzel said glumly, "And after she cut his head off."
Sam leaned forward, processing the word, "Blackaxe… I mean, who is she? I mean, do you know anything about her?"
"Not much." Denzel explained, "All we do know is she's a Pokémon unlike anything we've ever seen. One of a kind." He fiddled with the twig in his 'hairdo'. "I think she called herself… a Klevor?"
Klevor? Never heard of that Pokémon... is she a legendary or mythical like Volcanion? He felt a slight shiver at the thought of another one. Volcanion was bad enough, a second...
"She seems to have a bone to pick with other outsiders. And she really hates fire-types." Kyra added, "Why she does is anyone's guess."
The Sobble leaned forward, "So what about you? You're not a pirate. So what are you?"
"I'm a Rescuer." Sam explained, "Of the Robinswood Guild. It's on a big island… like, much bigger than this one. We came out to survey the islands and track down pirates like this Blackaxe to try and help people. They've been attacking ships going between the continents."
That earned a few blank looks from the two Pokémon, enough for Sam to shuffle his feet. "Er… boats?"
A light sparkled in Kyra's eyes. "Oh, boats! Got it."
"The point is," Sam continued, "We can work together to stop these guys. But first I need-"
The penny dropped; his heart clenching tight as he gasped. "The others!" he shouted, springing to his feet.
"What?" Denzel choked, doing the same.
"My friends! The other rescuers! Our ships, they got attacked by the pirates!"
He glanced between the others, "Did you find anyone else on the beach?" he quickly asked, gathering his things. "Another rabbit like me? Or a bat or a reptile with a bulb on his back?"
Kyra winced, "We… we heard there was a battle. That's why we came out here, to try and find out what was happening. But your ships were already gone. And me and Denzel have only found you."
Sam clenched his fist, trying to control his breathing, Damn it… could the pirates have got everyone? Alice? Nia? Bruce, Edward, Denver and Dan? I saw… I saw Zeke getting thrown overboard and… wait… Calvin! He's a fire-type too! Did the pirates… I've gotta know!
"Hey! Hey!" Kyra barked, grasping the Scorbunny's shoulders. "There are more of us out there! If any of your friends got away from the pirates, they probably got picked up and are already on their way to our village. We can find out there."
"Yes." Denzel said, "The pirates will come back to search the beaches again soon."
With a hiss of breath, Sam managed to get his heartrate under control. It frustrated him to no end, but he knew the two were right. He couldn't just start searching the forest randomly. He needed… needed to take inventory. Hope that some of the others got found by Kyra and Denzel's tribemon. Get somewhere safe, then work out the next best plan of attack.
"Okay…" Sam slowly said, "Lead the way."
Well hell... that was a new experience. I ended up getting on one of a roll last night with this writing. What was supposed to be just a thousand words max turned out to become the entirety of Chapter 2.13. All 4000+ words. Damn thing nearly killed me but I'm pleased I managed to get this chapter complete. After Chapter 12's events, I also felt that I had to get the rather significant Chapter 13 released sooner rather than later. And yeah... this Chapter should change things not only for Episode 2... but for the rest of GoB as well. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!