1-16: Chapter Sixteen - The Statue Killer is Unmasked
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE STATUE KILLER IS UNMASKED
~\({O})/~
. . .. . . Tricky was almost an entire hour late. Which left them just ten minutes before school began. Espurr and Goomy, who had been examining the spider-like cracks in the building's wall, glanced up as Tricky rushed up the hill and messily slid to a stop right into their personal space. She was wearing the blue scarves from her bedroom today around her neck, untidily nestled in her fur.
"Sorry…" she panted, shaking her coat off. Espurr and Goomy, who had been bracing for impact, uncurled themselves. "I overslept. I came here as fast as I could!"
The library itself was just an old, dim warehouse full of dusty old books, so Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy had no trouble slipping in through an unlocked window and searching the narrow, tall, crooked shelves until they found the book Tricky wanted. Rows of dusty tomes leaned over them claustrophobically, and light inside the building was scarce. Espurr could see in the dark better than anymon else, but that didn't seem very productive for a library, she thought.
"See this team?" Tricky shoved a book titled 'Mons and Mystery Dungeons: A Complete History' into Espurr's face. There on the page lay a paw-drawn painting of three pokemon, each labelled "charizard", "wartortle", and "bayleaf". The oils were faded and dulled, but the picture was still clear. "That's Team Go-Getters! They saved the entire world from a meteor almost two centuries ago! Wartortle writes books. I have all of them under my bed."
"What about them?" Espurr asked.
"Well, get this:" Tricky put her front paws on the book and leaned in close. "Wartortle was Human!"
Tricky's loud voice at close quarters rattled Espurr's hearing a little, but all the sudden it all made a little more sense. Just not sense in a good way.
"Don't you get what this means?" Tricky went on.
"That the world's about to be struck by another meteor?"
"No! Wait—" Tricky stuck her nose in the book once more and leafed to another page, where an artist's impression of three more pokemon - "meowth", "litleo", and "shinx" - sat. "Look at these guys!"
"…Also Humans?" Espurr guessed. She and Goomy shared a confused look.
"Nope, just Meowth," Tricky replied. "These guys – Team Ion – were the ones who restarted Time a century ago! And— And—"
She leafed even further into the book.
"Them – Team Anthem – they defeated the Bittercold 50 years ago!" Espurr and Goomy looked at the pokemon – "dewott", and that one Espurr recognised was a pikachu – on the page, painted with those same faded, flaking oils. "Dewott's the Human."
Espurr brightened with recognition.
"Those are the Heroes of Paradise," she said.
"Exactly!"
Tricky snapped the book shut, her tail wagging excitedly. An explosion of dust flew into Espurr and Goomy, making them cough. "NOW do you get it?"
Tricky's ears flopped down as they hacked and wheezed out the dust. "Sorry," she muttered.
Espurr recovered first. She'd caught the trend.
"But if I'm here… doesn't that mean the world is about to be destroyed again?" she asked Tricky.
"That's exactly it!" said Tricky, her tail wagging. "We could be the very first to know! And it explains why the Coneheads are here! They must be working for whoever wants to destroy the world this time!"
She seemed far too excited about that. But it was a reasonable guess. Espurr and Goomy shared a look.
"Perhaps we should visit the jail later," said Espurr in thought. "Ampharos should still be wherever they're holding him. We could get some information out of him."
"Ooh – ooh – I did some thinking about that too!" Tricky yipped. She pranced off, running through the library to an old, dusty table. Espurr and Goomy did their best to keep up.
Tricky perched at the front of the table, climbing on top of it. "I think I know who the statue killer is!"
That caught their attention.
"W-who is it?" asked Goomy.
"It can't be Ampharos," said Tricky. "It has to be somemon at the school!"
"What…" Goomy panted out. The trip here had tuckered him out the most. "B-but how? All of our teachers are…"
"Suspects." Tricky stretched out and slammed her paws down on the table in front of Goomy, expelling more dust that made all three of them cough for a bit.
"A-again?"
"Sorry…"
Waving away the rest of it with her tail, Tricky continued with a grin:
"Think about it! What if the killer doesn't want to kill Espurr?"
"But what other motive could they have?" Espurr pointed out. "They've been killing any guardian that gets assigned to me—"
"And we never asked why!" Tricky interrupted. "Or how!"
Espurr and Goomy went silent as realisation dawned on them.
"If the killer wanted to kill or kidnap Espurr, then, then they had months to do it, right?" Tricky continued. "They didn't even have to kill anymon else!"
"B-but they've been k-killing the guardians instead," Goomy continued.
"Exactly! And – and – and neither Ampharos nor Pancham could know who those pokemon were. So he can't be the culprit!"
Espurr and Goomy nodded. It was starting to make sense.
"The only other pokemon who were close to the murder scenes were the pokemon at the school," Tricky finished. "So it has to be a teacher. The only pokemon who were at every crime and would know who Espurr's next guardians were going to be!"
"B-b-but why?" Goomy asked. "All of our teachers w-were h-here since we were little!"
"Except for Nuzleaf," Espurr said darkly. She didn't want it to be true, but… the pieces were starting to click together. "Does anymon here remember him before he left?"
"Nuzleaf…" Tricky's musing words trailed off into the echoey building. Goomy shook his head.
"T-too old."
Espurr considered her next action. Should she tell them? But now was better than never. Best to just be out with it.
"Nuzleaf offered a day ago to be my new guardian," Espurr blurted out.
Tricky and Goomy looked at her like she'd grown another tail.
"What?"
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Tricky demanded.
"I was going to say it after school let out," Espurr said, unable to stop herself from fidgeting awkwardly.
Tricky and Goomy just looked concerned. The awkward fidgeting increased.
"It's not like I couldn't take the boat back here when I wanted, so I thought…"
"Forget the boat! If Nuzleaf is the killer, then he's going to take you tomorrow," Tricky stressed. "You have to stay here! You have to convince somemon else to take you."
"B-but what if he k-kills that pokemon?" Goomy asked. Espurr and Tricky clearly hadn't considered that. "It c-could be anymon now."
"Goomy's right," said Espurr, folding her arms. "If I try to get away, he'll be suspicious. Everymon at the school could be in danger. And if he's not the killer, then it could tip the real one off. We have to know for sure."
"And when we do?" asked Tricky.
"Then we confront him," said Espurr firmly. She was tired of running and slinking around. "We face him and the Coneheads before he can plot anything, and we end it. We have to. Today."
"Together?" asked Tricky. Goomy also looked at her.
"Together," agreed Espurr.
A distant sound met their ears – the clanging of the pingy school bell.
"Alright, everymon front and centre!" The distant, shrill sound of Vice Principal Watchog's voice drifted in from outside the window, catching their attention.
"Berry crackers!" Tricky hissed. "We're late!"
Jerking into motion, Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy scrambled to get out of the library, tripping over as few books as possible on the way out.
"D-do you t-think he noticed we're g-gone?" Goomy asked as they hid and peeked out from behind a bush. Class was being held outside today. They could see Watchog pacing in front of the group.
"Duh! Watchdog's taking role-call today!" Tricky hissed as they snuck up. "Of course he noticed!"
"Let's sneak in and hope he doesn't see us," suggested Espurr. In her experience, Watchog tended to have the observational capacity of a rock. Having an ego as large as his did that to you.
"Alright, listen up!" Watchog barked, returning to his militaristic pace of the outdoor classroom. Espurr, Goomy, and Tricky sneakily filed in behind the group of students, hoping not to be caught. The other three teachers were sitting on seats behind him, looking like they wanted to be anywhere else. Simipour was snoozing. At the edge of the classroom, where Watchog usually surveyed them, Krookodile stood with a clipboard. Espurr glanced at him uneasily, observing his usual aura of lime-green annoyance with life.
"The final exam before Summer Vacation isn't a cakewalk like the others," Watchog continued. "You're going to be heading into the school's very own mystery dungeon, and you will need to rely on the things taught in my class to clear the dungeon with a passing grade. We only use this dungeon for the exam, so you will deal with things you've only been taught about in books and school."
He suddenly pivoted towards the class, leaning in intensely with a scrutinising eye.
"First rule! Teams of three! Why? Go!"
Deerling raised her hoof. Watchog straightened up and waited expectantly for an answer.
"Three is the proper number for a mystery dungeon team, sir?" Deerling guessed.
"That's correct!"
Blitzle and Ponyta, at Deerling's side, looked extra smug.
"Second rule!" barked Watchog. "Dungeon bag! What's in it? Go!"
Shelmet got that one, hopping up and down.
"Two oran berries, a pecha berry, and an escape orb," he answered proudly. "Easy."
"Wrong!" Watchog barked loudly, nearly jolting him out of his shell. "You forgot the elixir! The paralysis wands! The warp seeds! What's it gonna be like if you're in a dungeon and you run out of those things?!"
Shelmet shrunk back into his shell with a squeak, only his eyes visible. Espurr decided Watchog was enjoying having the floor a little too much.
"Dude," whispered Pancham, nudging his shell. "You actually participate in these things?"
"Third rule!" Watchog returned to his pacing. "What do you do if you get cornered by an enemy? Go!"
Tricky hopped up and down in place excitedly.
"Attack them!" she called out. The sudden spike of green Espurr saw shoot out of her said she'd realised drawing attention to them was a mistake way too late.
Watchog's gaze turned to them, and Espurr froze. Watchog narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
"Correct. You'll find five bags of supplies in the Principal's office," he said calmly. "Then we'll draw lots for teams. Go on! Get out!"
~\({O})/~
"I can't believe I'm with Pancham!" Deerling stormed. "And Shelmet! They're both creeps!"
Watchog had quickly shooed them all out of the clinic, and then they went around the back and down the other side of the hill. There, the woods beyond shimmered, refracting the light in strange ways. It seemed to drive away the light, casting the trees beyond in darkness. The faintest hints of something rotting danced in the air, making Espurr's nose flatten with the regret of being able to smell on that horrid day.
"I'm afraid the teams were drawn randomly," Farfetch'd said, fiddling with his leek. "Even if you didn't get the pokemon you wanted to be partnered with, you'll still be expected to work together as a team."
"Well, can't we have a redraw?" Deerling complained. "I work better with Blitzle and Ponyta."
"No redraws!" Watchog cut in. "You know as well as I do this test takes all day," he told Farfetch'd. "And if one student gets a redraw..." He let his sentence hang in the air to draw out the impact.
In the corner, Pancham and Shelmet did a victory dance.
Since Deerling was with Pancham and Shelmet, and all the other teams had been drawn, that left Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy on the final remaining team.
No-mon had wanted to team with them. There was an aura of collective relief around the other students.
Audino gave each team one bag filled with all the supplies they'd need, under Watchog's pretense of 'all real exploration teams having only one supply bag'. Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy were handed the ratty bag that Espurr had carried around.
Tricky strongly insisted she was going to carry the bag this time, and eventually all five teams were at the foot of the dungeon, ready to begin the test.
"Just… be careful, okay?" Deerling said to Goomy in the couple of minutes they had before the test. She shot a quick glare at Espurr and Tricky. Goomy reluctantly nodded, and Deerling backed off with a huff to join Pancham and Shelmet.
"Everymon ready?" All heads turned as Watchog and the other teachers walked into the clearing, followed by none other than Principal Simipour himself.
"It's only right that I should be here to see all the students off for the final exam of the Spring Semester," he explained, seeming to notice most of the school was shocked to see him awake and standing.
"Now, I don't wanna hear anything about fights and foul play, you hear me?" Watchog barked. "You encounter each other in the dungeon, you just walk. Away. Your mission is to capture one of the five red flags placed at the dungeon's anchorstone by myself and Farfetch'd last night. Once you have your flag, use the escape orb placed in your bag to leave the dungeon. The quicker you return with your flags, the better your grade. Now go! Shoo!"
Watchog stood back and shooed them all off into the dungeon. Deerling's team went first, and once the entrance had finished warping around the fourth team and had returned to normal, Espurr's team followed.
~\({O})/~
"You know we need a team name, right?" Tricky eagerly pranced about with the exploration bag slung over her back as they walked through the school dungeon. The thick, dark trees extended above them, high into the abstract treetops. The hallways were dark and overcast. It was familiar. "Maybe something like the Adventurous Exploration Squad! Or – ooh – the 'Dungeon Destroyers'!"
"How about Team Troublemakers?!" Pancham yelled back at them. Somehow, they had spawned just ahead.
"Suck it, Pancham!" Tricky bellowed back. Her voice echoed down the shadowed corridor.
Goomy looked frightened of the woods around him, but Espurr was worried for a completely different reason: This was it. This was the forest! The one she had woken up in just a week ago. The one where she had been hunted down by the beheeyem. The one where she had broken her arm. It had been the school's very own mystery dungeon!
And now she was back. What if the Coneheads were back too? A dark thought rustled in her head: they had never discovered where the Coneheads were hiding.
What if they had never left?
She didn't want to risk another encounter if she didn't have to. Espurr cast a look behind them, just in case the entrance to the dungeon might still have been open.
It wasn't. And using the escape orb to magic herself out of the dungeon meant a failing grade from Watchog for sure.
"What's wrong?" asked Tricky as they walked. Espurr was looking around, trying to find any sign of something having been disturbed recently. Dungeons didn't preserve changes for longer than a day, right? So, if anything was out of the ordinary, one stone leaf or blade of grass…
"It's here," said Espurr. "I woke up here. This is where I met the Coneheads."
"They were here?" Tricky asked.
"L-look…" Goomy was looking at a large section of the wall that was different from the others – a tangled mess of plants and roots that had been turned to stone. The three of them rushed over and looked at it. The bag dragged on the ground after Tricky.
"That's new," said Espurr, walking over to inspect. She planted her paws on the stone. It was cold and hard. She looked over at Tricky and Goomy, who had also run up.
"What if they never left?" she asked them. "Whoever's behind this could have been keeping the Coneheads here all this time! It explains why they found me so quick. And no-mon ever uses this dungeon outside of the exam – who would have looked?"
Tricky squirmed uncomfortably at the thought.
"B-but if that's true…" said Goomy. "What if they're still in the dungeon?"
"We have to tell the other teams!" gasped Tricky.
"And the teachers," added Espurr. "At least, the ones we can trust."
She took the bag from Tricky and started to ruffle through it. Once she found the escape orb, she pulled it out and looked at it. Should they go back? What could the teachers outside the dungeon do to call off the exam?
"What do we do?" asked Tricky.
Put on the spot, Espurr came to a decision. She replaced the orb, took the bag from Tricky, and slung it around her neck.
"We should make sure the other students are safe first," she said. "If the Coneheads really are here, they'll be looking for us. And whoever's behind it all might be with them."
Tricky and Goomy nodded. They set off into the dungeon with renewed spring in their step, on a greater mission.
~\({O})/~
Carrying the bag made Espurr feel safer. She clutched its strap like it was a stuffed doll, or a magic shield that could protect her. A heavy magic shield, but she could cope. She thought she saw Goomy shivering a few times, but for the most part he was busy just sticking with her and not getting himself lost.
Tricky constantly pranced ahead of Espurr and Goomy, peeking around corners for dungeon 'mon and giving them paw signals when the coast was clear. Espurr thought it was dramatic, but it did save them from dungeon apparitions they would have otherwise walked into.
The Dungeon Anchorstone, Tricky explained, was the patch of land a mystery dungeon formed around. An anchorstone could be a cave or a rock or a tree or a grassy field, but it would always remain the same, no matter where it ended up in the dungeon.
"Everything in a dungeon is made from parts of the anchorstone," Tricky went on, "So you always know what to look for when you find it!"
"But if everything around us is made from the same parts," Espurr asked, "how will we know when we get there?"
"Well…" Tricky began. "You'll just… You'll know it when you see it! And there are the flags too. Unless Pancham got to them first…" she spat.
Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy all stopped short at the sound of distant talking to their left.
"I-is it a dungeon 'mon?" Goomy asked.
"No, it's…" over by the corner of the hallway ahead, Tricky craned her neck and squinted her eyes to get a better look.
"…Holy mystery dungeon. That's Pancham's team!" she quickly scampered back to where Espurr and Goomy were standing. "And they're heading this way!"
Sure enough, Deerling, Pancham, and Shelmet were heading straight towards them. Pancham had a threatening saunter in his step, and Espurr's tail bristled. She had the creeping feeling this wasn't going to end well.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Deerling lectured Pancham as he strode towards Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy. "You heard what Watchog said – walk away!"
"What Watchog doesn't know won't hurt him," Pancham replied. "This is revenge for the mines."
Shelmet was too busy trying not to get left behind to add anything of substance to the conversation.
"Well, well, well." Pancham came to a stop in front of Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy, who were all standing their ground at the dungeon crossroads. He folded his arms and tapped his foot. "If it isn't the pests. It seems like we've come to an impasse."
"Just drop it, you big meanie!" Tricky yelled at Pancham. Espurr stepped up.
"We don't want a fight," she said, standing between them. "You're all in danger. We think there's somemon in the—"
"You really think I'm gonna fall for that?" barked Pancham. "You're not getting out of this that easily."
Espurr had to resist slapping a paw on her forehead. How dumb could…
"We'll fight you if we have to!" Tricky barked. "Just listen to us!"
"As much as I hate to agree with Tricky, she's right," Deerling said. "You guys all know what Watchog told us. Just walk away!"
"Y-yeah! Listen to Watchog!" Goomy added in from Espurr's side.
"Y-yeah," Pancham mimicked, making a crude imitation of Goomy's voice. "L-l-listen to Watchdog. You guys take your licks, and maybe we'll return your flag in one piece."
"You don't want to do this here," Espurr warned him.
"Yeah, no," shrugged Pancham, cracking his fists. "I really do. You're gonna say you were roughed up by dungeon 'mon after this, right?"
Espurr looked quickly to see if they could flee, but aside from the small, narrow corridor they had come from, there was no other way out. They were in a small, crooked hallway that only went two ways. Pancham had them trapped. Espurr narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to growl, taking a reluctant attack stance. Did everything have to end with a fight?
Tricky stepped up, staring Pancham dead in the eye. She took an attack stance.
"Guys?" Tricky asked, her tone making it clear that it wasn't a question. "When have we ever listened to Watchdog?"
There was a brief moment of silence, as all the students tried to think of a single time that they had ever listened to Watchdog.
"…Good point," Pancham said, and then he rushed forward, his paw rushing with black energy, and punched Goomy clean across the wall.
"DUNGEON WAR!"
Tricky's declaration of war was cut short when she received a rock to the snout, and then everything became chaos. Tricky attacked Pancham. Shelmet attacked Tricky. Pancham attacked them both. Espurr tried to get to Goomy, who was currently trying to make sense of being splattered across the dungeon wall. The exploration bag she was carrying bounced heavily against her side as she ran, and it was hard to keep her balance and dodge the stray debris and attacks from the ongoing fight at the same time.
"Stop this!" Deerling shouted, stamping her hooves into the ground. "Stop this right now! Pancham!" a loose Ember from Tricky hit her square in the face and sent her reeling back.
"U-ugh…" Goomy was still a little dizzy by the time Espurr reached him. She quickly made to grab him – looked for a tangible place to grab – then finally settled for one of his slimy flailing paws. Quietly, they both huddled behind a rock until the fighting subsided.
"That's it! You guys made me do this!" Deerling took a battle stance. She took a deep breath, then charged headfirst at Pancham, Tricky, and Shelmet. All three of them were knocked apart by Deerling's headbutt. Tricky fell on her back, spitting out an ember into the endless canopy in surprise. A tree branch came falling down, and Espurr realized almost too late it was coming down upon her and Goomy—
She did the first thing she could think of. She shunted Goomy out of the way.
Espurr was lucky enough to avoid being crushed by the branch. Her bag was not so fortunate. The contents were crushed under the branch's weight, landing right next to Espurr. There was a bright flash, and then Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy were gone.
The dust settled. Pancham, Shelmet, and Deerling picked themselves up.
There was a moment of silence, as they took in what they had just done.
"Aww,—"
Pancham then said a word that made Deerling gasp in shock.
~\({O})/~
Dim light slowly trickled into Espurr's eyes. Groggily, she sat up and rubbed them. What happened?
Her surroundings came into focus. She was in a forest clearing, just like… when she'd woken up the first time.
Uh oh.
Espurr stood up quickly, pulling her bag close and looking around. The place was silent and uniform, the canopy abstract, the woods snaking off endlessly.
This must have been the dungeon anchorstone.
There was a pile of pink goo on the ground, slowly slithering together as Goomy gathered his bearings.
"Goomy?" Espurr asked, rushing over and helping him to his feet.
Goomy unscrambled himself and shook his head.
"W-what happened?" he asked.
Espurr's bag rustled with glass shards. She connected two and two quickly.
"I think we broke the escape orbs," she said. "Something's wrong. We're in another part of the dungeon. Where's Tricky?"
They looked around. There was no sign of her.
"W-wait," said Goomy. "Th-this is the anchorstone. Shouldn't we grab the flag?"
Espurr looked around. This very place made her fur stand up on end. She couldn't tell why, but there was something very wrong here. "I don't think we should stay," she said. "There's something wrong about this place—"
She abruptly cut off as she trudged through the dungeon. Espurr and Goomy both yelped as they came face to face with a stone statue!
Espurr jumped back, pulling Goomy with her, then calmed down when she saw it wasn't moving. She crept up to the statue, carefully inspecting it. It was of a small, two-legged dog trapped in mid-run, dangly feelers flying behind it and a terrified look on its face. She stepped back and looked at it solemnly. Was this another of the Conehead's victims?
"I-it's another pokemon, isn't it?" asked Goomy. Espurr nodded.
"I think so," she said softly. "Do you recognise them?"
"N-no," said Goomy. "I-I know the species, though. It's a r-riolu."
"Hey," said a voice from the mist.
Espurr and Goomy turned around, hearing the sound of footsteps coming towards them. Espurr recognised that voice – it was Nuzleaf!
But at the same time… she had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.
"Hide," she hissed to Goomy.
If Goomy was going to argue it, he didn't after hearing her tone of voice. He managed to roll out of there quick, leaving Espurr standing alone. She watched as a figure got closer and closer in the mist, eventually revealing Nuzleaf striding through.
"Heard ya got lost," he said. "You were out for a while. All the teachers are lookin' for ya. You alrigh'?"
Espurr pushed down her fear, gave him a quick smile, and dusted off her fur. She kept her guard up.
"I think I am," she said. "I… was out for a while, wasn't I?"
"Sure were," said Nuzleaf. "You took one helluva nap there."
He turned around, his green cape swishing behind him. "Well, come on. I think I saw the stairs thataway. Can't keep your friends waitin', can you?"
"Speaking of friends," said Espurr, who didn't move. "Where are they? Are Tricky and Goomy alright? Did you see them?"
"Tricky and Goomy?" asked Nuzleaf. He kept going onwards, Espurr following at a distance. "Yeah, sure. I saw 'em at the finish line with the rest of the class."
Espurr knew that instant he was lying. Her heart sank with disappointment.
"Are any of the other teachers in the dungeon?" she asked, silently looking for a way to bolt around and get back to Tricky and Goomy.
Nuzleaf was hesitant to answer. Espurr could almost sense the gears turning in his head. Was he trying to make up a convincing lie?
"Dunno," he said. "I went in first. Was just so worried, ya know? I'm sure the others'll catch up 'n all soon enough."
He kept trudging, but must have noticed that Espurr wasn't following along.
"Aint'cha comin'?" he asked, turning around. Espurr, who was so close to making her escape, mentally cursed. She was hoping he wouldn't notice her slip away…
"I think I might wait for the other teachers," said Espurr, thinking quickly. "It's better for us all to go out together instead of letting them search, right?"
Nuzleaf turned around fully.
"Well, that's just crazy talk," he said. "I'm a teacher. I'm supposed to keep ya safe an' all. Can't just let ya run off on your own, can I?"
Espurr took a step back. She clutched her bag. Her entire body felt tight and coiled, ready to spring away at any moment.
"You're right," she said, trying to disarm him with a cheery smile.
The moment Nuzleaf turned around, Espurr silently darted off into the woods. Only the rustle of her bag gave her away. She had to get to Goomy and find a way ou—
Something moved in front of her. Espurr skidded to a stop, eyes wide. She saw a flickering yellow light, and a massive, dark figure towered over her. It was a conehead!
She gasped. Espurr brandished her bag and prepared to smack it away—
"I wouldn' do that if I were you."
Nuzleaf was behind her. He walked up and folded his arms, relaxed. With a wave of his fingers, the conehead backed off, remaining silent.
The jig was up.
"Who do you work for?" asked Espurr, turning around and not skipping a beat.
Nuzleaf hummed.
"Smart girl," he said. "You don't miss a beat."
"Answer the question," said Espurr, trying to sound as level as possible.
Nuzleaf laughed. He leaned against a tree.
"This ain't class, kiddo. I don't think you're in a position to ask questions."
"It was you, wasn't it?" continued Espurr. At this point, she was just stalling for time. A quick glance at the woods, disguised as a look back at the Conehead, showed that Goomy must have snuck away. "You were the one who summoned the Coneheads. They killed those 'mon for you.
"Yes, of course it was me," Nuzleaf said dismissively. "Who did you think it was – long-neck?"
"You mean Ampharos?" asked Espurr, tightly clutching her bag. While she stalled for time, she frantically looked for any way out. She so hoped Tricky was alright, and that Goomy had managed to escape… "He was fighting you?"
"Yes, Ampharos," Nuzleaf said sharply. "He likes to stick his nose in places it doesn't belong. Of course he was fighting me."
He snapped his knobbly fingers. "Come on now, Espurr. You were my brightest student, you're smarter than this. It was all I could do to make you think he was the one behind the murders."
"How come?" asked Espurr. "Why murder all those pokemon?"
"So I could get to you," Nuzleaf said. "Isn't it obvious? Couldn't let them take you away, now."
There was a sudden rustling in the distance behind her. Espurr looked back, her heart jumping in fear as she saw a third black figure with a pointy cone hat standing thrice her height in the distance behind her. It didn't move a muscle, but she could feel unseen eyes trained on her.
"They won't bite," said Nuzleaf calmly. "As long as you don't run."
It took everything in Espurr not to bolt right there and then.
"But why do you want me?" she asked, backing up slowly, trying very hard to keep the waver out of her voice. "I'm just a schoolkid. None of us are useful to you."
"Don't sell yourself short," said Nuzleaf. "You're far more than that. And He sees it."
"Who's he?" asked Espurr coolly.
"All in due time," said Nuzleaf. He relaxed his position against the tree.
"Y'know, we're not so different, you an' I," he said.
"I'm not a murderer," said Espurr matter-of-factly. She took another step back. "Or a kidnapper."
Nuzleaf psshed. "I don't take pleasure in that," he said. "Not any more than you do."
He leaned forward.
"What I mean is, we're both from back there. That home you wanna get back to so badly."
Espurr's eyes widened.
"How do you know about that?" she asked in shock.
"Why, I've known from the beginnin'," said Nuzleaf. "Why do ya think I came back? Enrolled at the school just as you got here 'n all? You thought that was a coincidence?"
Though Espurr had taken a few steps back, they were dwarfed by Nuzleaf's steps forward.
"So you're Human too?" she asked. Somehow, that came as a larger shock than anything. There was more than one? Her thoughts raced. Had Hyrdreigon been lying to her?
"Yepadoodles," said Nuzleaf. "Grew up on a ranch."
He crossed his arms.
"When I first landed here decades ago, I was just like you. An aimless kid lookin' to find their way in the world. Village took me in, raised me like one of their own, but I never felt home. Never could make friends with any of 'em. In both worlds I was a loser, a midget, a freak. Bullied by others. I didn't have a lick of power to my name in the world where everyone has power. I thought I was broken. But then I met Him.
"At first, He didn't know why I was here. He thought I was an anomaly. But He listened to me when no-one else would. Gave me the power I needed to step up and become a somebody. Didn' need nobody but myself to do it. And now look at me."
He spread his arms, and black power crackled in an arch between them like lightning. "That's power."
"Why are you telling me this?" Espurr asked.
"Well, to be honest, it's because I've grown quite fond of you over this semester," answered Nuzleaf. "And while He wants you dead, I think you're worth more than that. I think you could be powerful. Believe me, Espurr, I don't wanna do this anymore than you do. What's the point? Kill ya, and fer what? When I could teach ya instead?"
Espurr did some of the calculus in her head.
"You'd call off the Coneheads?" she asked.
"Of course," said Nuzleaf. "No-mon else needs ta die. You just come quietly now. You can see your friends again. Ampharos will take the fall, nosy little bugger. We won't even hafta leave the village. You'll just have to do a little favour for Him every once in a while, nothin' big. But think of everythin' you'd gain!"
Espurr couldn't. She wouldn't. She had to find a way out of this, even if that offer was… couldn't she weasel out of it later?
"He senses a darkness within you," continued Nuzleaf. "A fear of rejection and failure. Those are things He could fix. Just like He fixed them for me. I used to be small. I used to be just like you. But He made me what I am now.
"So don't doom yourself to this," said Nuzleaf. "Don't fight the losing battle. Come with me… come with us. And perhaps, when our work is done… He might send you home."
With that sentence, Espurr's resolve swayed slightly.
"You could send me home?" she asked.
"Of course," said Nuzleaf. "If that's what ya want. And all you have to do, the only thing you have to do, is let Him in."
There was still that pull, that want to go back home to the familiar and dull, where there weren't creatures trying to hunt her and terrifying new situations on the regular. But… somehow… nothing he'd promised seemed to tempt her. Not power, not threats, not even wanting to go home.
Espurr's eyes narrowed. She gave him a small smile.
"Thanks, but I think I'm better off where I am," she said. "Sorry."
With that, she swung the bag and let go, sending it flying in the direction of the conehead. She leapt out of the way, letting the bag smack the conehead in the face and sending its attack careening in a random direction.
"Get her!" roared Nuzleaf.
He pointed at her, and the second conehead moved like lightning, blocking her path. Espurr's catlike reflexes kicked in, and she bounced in the other direction, ducking behind a tree as a blast of dark power soared towards her and turned the trunk to stone. She ran past Nuzleaf and headed for Goomy's hiding spot. ducking under the third conehead as it swooped out of the forest and running towards Goomy. She reached him and backed up, the coneheads lunging for them—
Nuzleaf caught Espurr by the neck, raising her up. Espurr's reflexes suddenly gave out, making her go limp and flop over. What was happening? She could only watch in horror as he kicked Goomy away like a ball with a grunt and held her out in front of the Coneheads, who had gathered and started to charge up a blast…
Espurr could feel her heart thumping in her chest, her body still limp. Goomy was still discombobulated. Was this the end?
"Get away!"
A yell from left field caught everymon's attention. It was Tricky! Espurr's heart leapt for joy. She'd never been so happy to see that face!
Tricky bounded forward, flames lashing from between her jaws, jumped up, and attached herself to Nuzleaf's face, making him yell and try to claw her off. His grip loosened enough for Espurr's reflexes to kick back in, and she pulled herself out of his grip. Nuzleaf shook and spun and grabbed and tried to peel Tricky off. Eventually he succeeded, grabbing her by the tail and throwing her on Espurr and Goomy. The three of them tumbled back and fell into a pile.
Nuzleaf stood over them, angry and threatening. Behind him, a conehead charged an attack…
"That's it," hissed Nuzleaf, who was bleeding from Tricky's clawing and spitting. Behind him, the Coneheads stood. Espurr noticed they were charging an attack behind him. Did Nuzleaf know?
"Y'all had your chance," Nuzleaf spat. "I'm gonna make this painful—"
The Coneheads' attack charged and released, heading straight for Nuzleaf—
It was over before Espurr knew it. When she opened her eyes, the dust settling, Nuzleaf was gone. In his place was a stone statue, freezing his expression of rage into place forever.
Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy panted in a pile, looking up at it and still trying to process what happened.
Distant voices floated in from beyond the anchorstone. The Coneheads looked up.
Audino and Watchog approached from a distance. They saw Nuzleaf's statue, frozen in a threatening posture over them. They saw the Coneheads.
And then in a blink, the three shadowy figures had booked it, disappearing into the dungeon's depths with a ghostly whine. Audino rushed over to Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy, pulling them into a quick hug and looking them over.
"Are you okay?!" she asked them. Watchog stood over them, eyeing them for injuries.
"Yes," Espurr panted. "Yes we are."
As she, Tricky, and Goomy huddled into each other, Espurr looked past Nuzleaf's remains into the dungeon, searching for any sign of the Coneheads.
They were gone.
~\({O})/~
Music of the Week!
The Face of Voldemort – John Williams
