They're probably dead

As soon as Chryss's ear tickled the wall, instantaneously the walls responded by shaking themselves apart. Chryss stepped back, shocked at the sounds of the crashing and churning of the stones. "We gotta get somewhere safe!" She shouted, but didn't know where to start heading towards. She squeaked when a couple stalactites clamored down from the ceiling, demolishing some of their foothold. The ferret instinctively grabbed Mali's arm and pulled her away, advancing farther towards the innards of the cavern. Was the earthquake worsening the farther they went down? It mattered not, as they soon hit a brick wall; Chryss nearly broke her nose running into it, then frantically peered around, searching for some kind of shelter. "There!" She beckoned, diving under a decayed ribcage. It probably wasn't sturdy in the slightest, but it was something, right?

The violent earthquake seemed to last for centuries underneath the rotting ribcage of the deceased creature, its aged bones barely shielded the girls from rocks falling overhead but enough to prevent serious injuries.

Then everything went silent.

The shaking halted, the rocks stopped falling on top of them; all that was heard now were the muffled voices of the remaining Rescue Team members on the other side of the rocky wall.

"Was that a cave-in just now?!" Some Pokemon frantically asked.

"They must be idiots for running ahead. They're probably dead, if not mortally wounded." Another Pokemon stated with a smug tone in its voice.

There was a small pause, before they heard a familiar voice. "There has to be another way into this creepy ghost guy's chambers! Come on!" Chill called out, though he sounded a bit shaken by the previous remark. Mali noticed the rat's voice began to fade away as they traveled in the opposite direction of the girls' location.

"No," Mali whispered, just loud enough for Chryss to hear, shuffling out from under the ribcage and over to the blocked off path they once entered. Boulders of different sizes were locked in place firmly on each side of the this part of the cavern, and with her Guildmates abandoning them completely, Mali lost her head. "No, no, NO!" She screamed, slamming her fists repeatedly against the rocks, trying to get anyone's attention. "We're still here! Don't leave us to die!" All of this meant something in a way to Mali, something she was blinded from for too long. Regalis being 'dead', Oishi and her being trapped within this graveyard; everything was slowly coming together. The Guild Leaders never cared for anyone but themselves, using teams as pawns for self-gratification, causing teams to run out on missions that were most likely to end their lives. Mali had no choice now but to give into the fate the Gods had given and slowly fade away like the bones that littered the area. She collapsed onto the cold ground and sobbed, knowing the Flaaffy she once knew to be herself would soon be maggot food.

Chryss watched the somewhat cheerful sheep pretty much fall apart at the seams and curl up into the fetal position; what was truly going on deep inside Mali's head? She had to get out of here someway or another, but how? Chryss crawled out from under the ribcage and dusted the dirt out her dark brown fur, her eyes staring hard at the rock wall in front of her. Could she use one of her attacks to break these large rocks? Just as the Sneasel rested claws on the rocks to see if wiggling some of them out was a option, a small, yellow object began squeezing itself through the cracks. Chryss froze as she watched the chubby creature pop out the rocks and tumble to the floor; a Joltik with small red hearts painted on its cheeks, the same Joltik that had been with the Gothorita. What was the name Osushi called it? Something food-ish... Pasta? The Joltik was making wild gestures towards the ferret, the rocks, and Mali. It looked like he was trying to tell Chryss something about breaking through the rocks. Could she rely on a tiny bug to get her out of her? It was better than nothing, she guessed.

"Look buddy, I'm not all that great at sign language," She admitted rather blatantly. "I mean, it shouldn't be too hard to just, you know, bust through it with a good Crush Claw, right?" She asked, though she didn't expect a reply, and placed the spider down onto the rock next to her, then began to charge up one of her claws. The energy that illuminated from her claw lit up the whole room, though there wasn't much to light up besides rocks and bones. With a grunt, she thrust her claw into the rock wall, causing a couple of the rocks to shift, but...

"Shit!" She exclaimed, trying to yank her arm out of the wall. "Mother fucker!" She spat. She put her feet up to the wall and pulled at her arm as hard as she could. The wall finally released it, causing her to tumble onto the ground a bit. "Well, I think it's evident that that didn't work." She stated, her feet bent over towards her face. "Hey, Nom Wigglers, what's your plan again?"

Noodles shook his head at ferret's feeble attempt at breaking down the wall by herself, but couldn't help chuckling a bit when she had gotten her arm wedged in the rocks. She amused the tiny arachnid. Crawling off the rock the Sneasel had placed him just moments ago, the Joltik landed on the ground with a soft squeak, then began drawing figures in the dirt beneath them with his tiny claws. He hoped his artistic skills were up to par enough that the fuzzy mammal would understand his plan. He first drew two stick figures; one with what seemed like extra limbs were coming out its body, and another with fluffy clouds all over it. Next, the Joltik drew crude looking snowflakes launching out the first stick figure's mouth and onto a pile of weird rocks, pointing at Chryss then back at the drawing. Then Noodles drew the fluffy looking stick figure ramming itself into the rocks and pointed over to Mali, who hadn't moved the slightest inch from her original spot.

Chrysstal studied the crude inscription that the tiny tarantula drew out, watching his gestures between the picture and the two of them he pointed to. She nodded when it clicked. She winced a bit at the idea of having to use her Ice Beam, but it's not against an opponent, so it shouldn't be that bad. She didn't like to use the attack in battle because it made her feel cowardly and weak. The fact that she couldn't break down the wall with her bare hands was already striking a note at her pride, but she shook her head. It mattered not, what mattered now was that they get out of this rockfall. She crouched over to the cowering ram...

"Hey," The ferret placed a claw on Mali's shoulder, hoping to bring her to her senses, "I know this is a bad time and all, but I think your little spider friend here has a plan." She stated, pointing her nose to the Joltik. "If I've been reading him correctly, I'm supposed to blast the wall with my Ice Beam, and then I assume you have a move like Body Slam or Take Down to smash the rocks?" She turned to the wall quickly, but then back to Mali, "I'd suggest that you might wanna stand back; Ice Beam has a tendency to expand from the target area, and I wouldn't want you getting frozen, you know?"

Mali rose her head upwards to face Chryss just as she spoke, staring deep into those oval shaped eyes of the Sneasel, noticing the same look she would see in Oishi's eyes. Hope. The will to keep going even though you fell so far off the edge, something that wakes you up every morning. She had to keep going no matter what, push past the pain and the hurt that her heart felt over these months. Mali stood to her feet, her pink face glowing with her new found pride.

"I'll wait for your cue, Chryss." She said, holding out her hand so Noodles could crawl upon her shoulder. "Just tell me when you're ready."

Chryss nodded. "Alright well, just stand back. I haven't used this attack in a while so I'm not entirely sure how powerful it might be." She inched away from the wall herself, before charging the icicle energy, focusing it towards her gaping jaws. Winds began to pick up in the tunnel, lifting the dust and causing it to pollute the air, stinging at both of the girls' lungs momentarily. Soon, the breeze began sucking itself into the orb that now formed near the snow ferret's mouth, cyan streams of air and light now funneling towards the sphere. Mali shivered slightly as the temperature went from Sweltering Cave-Heat to Winter Wonderland in less than a minute. Icicles began to encase the stalactites above them, and frost trickled along the rock walls, spreading its crystalline figure across the cavern. Soon, Chryss lifted her head into the air, drawing the frozen black hole with her, before aiming it towards the caved-in wall. A thin stream of what seemed to be a substance closer to liquid nitrogen then actual ice shot out from the orb, streaking across the wall, and then spreading into enormous clusters of diamond-like ice. It was as if the wall had become a huge porcupine made out of cold.

Chryss collapsed, exhausted from using that attack after such a long time. She quickly pulled herself back up, shaking her head a bit. "Shit, man, I didn't mean to make it so, erm, spiky." She apologized, scratching at the back of her head.

Mali smiled softly, patting Chryss on her shoulder. "Its fine, you did great. I can easily shave these icicles down with my Fire Punch. Just take a few steps back, I don't want to burn you." Mali guided the younger girl over the ribcage they had hidden under some minutes ago, then stepped back towards the now ice covered rock wall that blocked their path. She was quite amazed at the Sneasel's handiwork, the whole wall was encased in an even coat of frozen water, not too thick yet not too thin. Well, except for the ice shards. Just strong enough for her to smash the rocks into nothing but the dust that created them. But first, these sharp icicles had to go. Her fists ignited into weak flames, an attack that was meant for the ex-leader that troubled them earlier, but he would get what he deserved later. She spun in a quick circles with her flame fists stretched out, slightly touching the jutting ice spears. Steam sprouted from the melting ice, covering the small cave in a light grey mist. Chryss didn't seem bothered by the growing steam, but she hoped the Flaaffy wasn't planning on melting all the ice. She certainly didn't feel up to using her Ice Beam again anytime soon.

"All aboard! Next stop, out this hellhole!"

Wait, what? Chryss barely processed her own thoughts before she snagged once again by Mali but this time, she didn't stop the sheep from running. Was Mali.. planning on throwing her through the wall? If she charged up another Crush Claw, she could try again to bust through the rocks like a pro; it seemed like a better idea than the yellow spider drew, not to mention she would get that chance to redeem herself. Mali took a sharp U-Turn as she reached the back end of their enclosure, but instead of throwing the ferret into the air, the Flaaffy lowered her head and started charging straight towards the other wall. As the wall came closer at an alarming rate, Chryss began questioning her choice of temporary teammates. The rocks shattered into jagged pieces when the sheep's cranium connected with the wall, her speed hardly hampered after passing through the wall, and Chryss didn't think she was going to stop anytime soon.

"Good Wailord, are we ever gonna slow down?" Chrysstal called out, ducking under the ram's curly coat to shield her face from the dusty debris. "Well," She smiled. "at least it's nice to see that you're not depressed anymore." Chryss said as she let her mind space out with the passing of the dull scenery around them, spotting nothing in particular... Until she realized someone was missing from their band of misfits. Oh, of course, the Little Spaghetti guy who help them out of that cave-in; the poor thing probably gotten thrown off her shoulder when Mali grabbed her and smashed through the wall like melted Pecha Butter. The Sneasel hopped off her ride's back, taking a majestic dive and tumbled before digging her clawed feet into the rocky ground beneath her to slow herself to a bumpy stop. Chryss raised her arms over her narrow head, mocking the Pokenastics performers she was fond of seeing when she was younger. It felt good to use her imagination now and again, but she remembered she had to find that Lasagna guy as quick as possible. She didn't want to hear little Goth brat bragging all the way back home and 'claiming' she was better than Chryss, she could feel her pride gradually diminish as the thought crossed her mind. It was time to kick that kid's ass off her high rocker for the name calling earlier, and if sweet revenge was the subject, Chryss was an ace at the class.

Finding little Fettuccine wasn't too much of a problem for the Sneasel, since the tiny electric tick pretty much bounced up on the tip of her nose from across the cave, nibbling at the frizzy fur on her snout. She couldn't help to find amusement out the bug Pokemon. "You can stay there as long as you don't make me bald, got it?" Chryss warned the Joltik sternly, though she remembered she had left Mali charging further into the dark cavern. The Flaaffy was, most likely, still running by now and she would jam her head inside of a wall if she didn't stop her.

~

Mali
Stahp





Hammer time

Mission 8: "Hieroglyphic Wraith" Part 4 of 8
Collab with =NightingDayFlaaffy
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