Task 5 – Deep Breath
Cole had never been inside a train. Or at the very least, he didn’t remember ever being in one before. Which meant that, since he
was inside one now, he was taking in the view.
The view of the window, that is. He looked out of the window, seeing they were passing by some mountains as well as some forests.
“Don’t you think we’re going too fast…?” Cole gulped. He didn’t say this directed to anyone in particular, but the others were next to him, sitting.
“I actually think we’re going too
slow.” Altair groaned, moving around on his seat.
“You need more patience.”
Mack had a cup of soda with a straw in it, and was currently drinking from the cup, slurping his drink slightly.
Meanwhile, Tyron was asleep, mouth opened and tongue sticking out of it. He didn’t seem bothered.
“Just sayin’. I’ve never been in one of these. Or, uh, lived in a city that floats in the sky.”
Cole winced. He was way out of his depth here, and he didn’t even know what his depth was! “So… is the speed normal?”
“Yeah, Cole.” Mack didn’t look at him. He didn’t need to. “Stop complaining and just enjoy the ride.”
“Hey, hey. We’re friends! Well, teammates.” Altair tapped Mack on the shoulder to get his attention. “And you said you’d play nice.”
Mack groaned, before returning to his soda. Meanwhile, Cole was still looking out the window.
“Where’s what’s-her-name again?” Cole asked.
“Here.”
Cole practically jumped from his seat after hearing the voice. Standing on the opposite side of them was Dahlia, who only gave the quartet a glance.
“I’m only here as backup. Don’t worry, I’m not interfering in… whatever you four are doing.”
“Thanks, lady.” Altair tapped a claw on the seat. “Anyway, I could use some intel. Where are we goin’, anyway?”
Dahlia raised a brow. “I thought I told you all. Were you zoning out or what?”
“He was.” Mack pointed out, sipping more of the drink. “But I paid attention.”
Cole shrugged. “I did, too. But I dunno what town this is anyway, so it’s kinda pointless.”
Hearing all those answers, Dahlia sighed. “Wintervale. The Gilded Guard imports some materials for training from it. As the name implies, it’s a thriving town, with a harsh winter. It also has a surprising amount of metals.”
“Oooooh. Cool~!” Altair puffed up his chest. “Pun totally intended, by the way.”
Mack nearly spit out his drink, coughing a few times. “H-Hah! Hey, that was funny!”
“I know, I know!”
“…Huh?” Cole tilted his head. This didn’t make much sense. But whatever. “Ahem, so we go there, we find the crystal, and then what?”
“Both Mayor Meggie and Master Aurelius requested a few samples. They need it for testing.” Dahlia moved her head to the side, looking at the window. “Try not to make a mess, yes? Otherwise, I have to clean it up.”
The fact that none of them had given her an actual answer should be worrying. And maybe it was.
Not long after, the train finally began to slow down, braking until it came to a stop.
Tyron woke up right as the train stopped, gasping. “W-What?!”
They had arrived at the station, and everyone got up to get off.
By the time Cole left the train, he immediately stumbled. His legs trembled, and he heard a familiar noise.
That ringing sound from before. It returned, and louder this time around. Enough for him to cover his ears. “Hhhngh. Anyone else hear this?”
“Nope!” Altair shook his head.
But he lied. His antennae were picking up something. Ringing. Faint. Annoying.
He ignored this, instead whistling as he looked ahead, out of the station.
A rather large town, with stone houses and buildings, Pokémon playing with the snow outside, and a mountain overlooking the town in the distance.
“This is Wintervale.” Dahlia blurted out, crossing her arms. “We’ll only stay here for as long as we need to.”
“And how long is ‘how long we need to’? Because I don’t deal well with this weather.” Mack shivered. His scarf helped, but not enough.
“As long as we need to,” Dahlia repeated. She moved ahead a bit, arms folded behind her back. “I received intel of where the cluster is. I’ll check it, while you deal with hotel reservations.”
“Aye, aye.” Altair saluted her with an arm.
“I could use some grub…” Tyron made himself known, yawning and rubbing his eyes. “Or a coffee.”
And Cole was quiet. The sound was too strong. “W-Wait. Dahlia. Can I… uh. Can I go with you?”
Dahlia turned to look at him, and nodded. “If you’d like to, of course.”
“Bye, Cole.” Mack waved him off, unable to hide the grin on his face.
“…Bye.” Cole rolled his eyes.
He left with Dahlia.
And now there were three other Pokémon around.
Altair put his hands on the pockets of his jacket, looking at his sides. “So! We gotta get a hotel reservation, but like, this is an adventure!”
“…Good point.” Mack started to wag his tail. “Maybe this could be a date. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“
Ahem.” Tyron cleared his throat, startling both. “A date is fun, but being a third wheel isn’t.”
“Another good point.” Altair rubbed the back of his head. “Guess we should just get this reservation over with.”
“Problem is we don’t know how much time we’re spending here.” Mack sighed, before trembling from the cold. “…Okay, new idea: reservations first. It’s freezing out here.”
“Hm. Hold on.” Altair took off his jacket, tossing it to Mack.
And Mack caught it. He put the jacket over his head. It didn’t fully fit him, but the thought counted.
Besides, now Altair looked even hotter. And Mack was staring.
Altair knew that, giving him a wink. In turn, Mack looked away, heat rising on his face.
“…Guess I’m being a third wheel after all.” Tyron rolled his eyes and stepped forward, walking ahead into the city.
“Aw. Wait up, big guy!” Altair grinned, running towards him.
“Hm… he
is pretty big.”
Mack ran after them both, still shivering a little from the cold.
The ringing noise hadn’t stopped, even when Cole left the vicinity of the town. Dahlia was with him, taking a few glances at him every so often.
“Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine. Just…” Cole shivered. Not from the cold, but from the sound. “When I fought last time, with that cluster in your city, I spent the day hearing this ringing noise. And ever since we left the train, I’ve been hearing it again.”
“What…?” Dahlia looked at him properly now. For all she could tell, there wasn’t anything wrong with him. “Lycanroc have good hearing. Perhaps it’s just that?”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t know.” Cole shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m hearing it again and we’re reaching a cluster—speaking of which, who named them that?”
“Miss Meggie did. Or one of her coworkers.”
“Uh, cool, I guess.” Cole didn’t have anything more to say about that. “So, anyway, I was thinkin’. Maybe this noise is some kind of cluster detection thingy. And the closer we get, the louder it gets.”
“I see.” Dahlia crossed her arms. “I already know where it is, or at least, the approximate location. Maybe we can test your theory.”
“…That was easier than I thought,” Cole muttered, before walking ahead. “Thanks.”
They were in an area full of snow. A field of snow, along with some hills. If there really was a cluster there, it had to be further in.
Cole couldn’t see it amidst the sheer white, but on the bright side, there wasn’t a storm or anything to make their lives miserable.
“We’ll keep going, alright? Until we can find the cluster.” Dahlia stated, though she didn’t look at him. Her eyes were on the field of snow.
“Okay, okay.”
A sigh. Cole decided to try focusing his hearing. Making as little noise as he could, and instead, checking how loud the sound was. He could still hear it, and honestly, the thing was grating.
But it wasn’t as loud as he heard it back then. It was a bit faint, honestly.
Maybe he couldn’t detect it. Maybe last time was a coincidence. There were so many things he didn’t know. This could be one of them.
Cole ignored the thought. He continued to walk, and eventually, he climbed the hill along with Dahlia. While he was doing that, the sound returned.
Not just that, but he actually heard it louder. Cole gritted his teeth, and then the sound grated his ears more.
“H-Hngh!”
The sound was too much. Too loud. Ringing. Ringing. Ringing.
Cole fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain. “H-Help! H-Help… m-me…!”
He couldn’t move. He
wanted to move, but actually doing it was too much effort. His vision grew blurry, and while he felt Dahlia touching him on the shoulder, Cole couldn’t do anything about it.
“C-Cole! Get a grip! What’s going on with you?!”
Those words were there, but he could barely pay attention to them. Cole wanted to throw up, and it was a miracle he didn’t.
“T-Too loud.”
It took him more effort than he wanted, and even then, the words barely left Cole. They were muffled, only slightly louder than a whisper.
“Listen to me.” Dahlia touched both of Cole’s shoulders. “Focus on my voice. Everything else doesn’t matter, alright? Focus only on
me.”
Cole could hear her. Loud and clear. In fact, she was too loud. But yeah, that made sense. It wasn’t like he had any other ideas right now.
So he tried it. Cole tried to focus only on what Dahlia said. Only on her words. Her voice. Her tone.
His body wasn’t moving. It wasn’t trembling, either.
“Good. Alright, now, try to relax, alright? Deep breaths. Deep breaths.”
Cole didn’t nod—because he couldn’t. But he tried what she told him. Breathing in… and out. In, out. Slowly, for a certain period of time. How long? Cole had no clue.
“You’re having a panic attack. But it’ll pass. It can’t kill you.”
Being close to the cluster was giving him this? Well, Cole assumed that was the case. And he didn’t want to stay like this. He continued to breathe, slowly.
His mind was only focused on Dahlia’s voice. Even the ringing didn’t seem to be there anymore.
Or, if it was, it happened to be a bit more manageable. “H-Hhhgnh. It’s… i-it’s gettin’ better. I-I think.”
“Alright.”
Cole continued, and his heart slowed down; slowed to its proper rhythm. He breathed in, then let it out.
He could still hear that noise, but it wasn’t that loud. It didn’t bother him nearly as much. When Cole realized that, his mind and body could relax again.
Until the panic disappeared. Cole twitched a finger, and it moved. He tried doing the same with his arms, and they also moved. His whole body moved, responding to his commands again.
“H-Holy. What was that…?”
“A panic attack.” Dahlia let go of him, standing up. “Are you feeling better?”
“I-I guess.” Cole still felt deeply shaken.
“If you’d prefer, you can return—”
“N-No.” Cole shook his head. “As much as Mack annoys me, he’s right. I probably know more about these clusters than I let on. I just, well, don’t remember. Exposing myself to them might jog my memory.”
“Hm, I see.” Dahlia raised a brow, taking a step forward. “Come, then.”
They walked for a little while longer, climbing the hill. Dahlia was ahead of Cole, and because of that, she saw the cluster earlier. Cole walked another step, before she put an arm in front of him to get him to stop.
“There it is,” she said.
Cole looked ahead, and on the slope down, he could see it. A big cluster of crystals. Unlike the one he saw before, this had a bright red color. It also seemed slightly bigger.
Crystal-like particles floated in the air next to the cluster, and looking at them made Cole shiver, not just from the cold. Around the cluster was a long circle of yellow tape and some fences.
“I guess it’s to drive people away. Is this it?”
“Yes.” Dahlia reached out for her pocket. “We’re contacting your teammates.”
“Oh, c’mon, you’re telling us this fancy place only has two beds?!”
Altair tapped his claw on the reception’s desk. The receptionist, an Exploud, was definitely not amused by the constant tapping.
“YOU CAN EITHER ACCEPT THIS, AND STAY IN MY HOTEL, OR YOU CAN GET OUT. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, PAL.”
“Ugh.” Altair winced. “Did anyone ever tell ya you have an obnoxiously loud voice?”
“IT’S IN THE NAME. EXP
LOUD, MORON.”
Tyron cracked his knuckles. “Look. We ain’t rich. If you want a fight, then you’re gettin’ one! But we’re not payin’ these egregious prices!”
Yup, sounds about right for how Altair handles things. At least it’s not messy yet. Mack sighed. He was behind the other two, because really, haggling had never been his forte.
And Mack would rather leave this to them. Besides, he got distracted by a ringing noise, reaching out for a pocket on Altair’s jacket.
Mack pulled out a round device shaped like a Bronzor, only with the outer ring being colored silver, and each of the spheres had a different color: blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, and green. In the middle of the device was a blue orb with another silver ring. It visibly sparkled on the inside.
“Hold on, guys.”
Mack stepped back, while the wood underneath him creaked slightly. He tapped the sphere in the middle once, and heard a
beep.
“Altair? Do you copy me?”
It was Dahlia’s voice.
“Nope. Mack here, I was just holding on to his jacket because it was freakin’ cold outside.”
“Is that so? Okay.”
He heard a chuckle from the device, recognizing the voice as being Cole’s.
“Oh, I see the mutt is there too. Cool, really cool.”
“We have found the cluster. Have you done your reservation already?”
“Altair and Tyron are, uh, haggling. It’s kinda expensive.” Mack shrugged. “Although, if we leave the mutt outside—”
“Shut up.”
That was
definitely Cole. Mack couldn’t help but snicker. “Sorry, sorry. I was joking. Maybe. So, what’s the plan?”
“I will handle the bureaucratic part. Your team will handle this. Tomorrow, that is.”
Mack nodded. “Hmmmm, alright. I’ll let the guys know. Over and out?”
A
click could be heard, and the call ended. Mack put the device back on the pocket, and turned around. Altair and Tyron were still arguing over there.
Like idiots.
“I’m sorry, but…” Altair started to frown. He trembled, body shaking from top to bottom. “S-See, me and my boyfriend over there—”
Altair pointed at Mack.
“We’re low on cash, and we need a place to stay. It’s just for tonight, you know. I’m sick. I traveled here by foot with my boyfriend and my friends. My legs are killing me. I’m sure you can guess why. I mean, I have four of them.”
Exploud didn’t seem too fazed, but when he looked at Altair, he saw genuine sadness.
“Tch. You get a ten percent discount. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Mack blinked, before fighting to keep a smirk off his face.
That’s my partner. Always a great actor~
They waited until the evening of the next day. Altair figured this was probably the best time. Not that many people would be around the cluster, so they could go and do whatever they wanted.
So off he went with the rest of the guys. Dahlia, on the other hand, was left behind in the city.
“Was it really that easy?” Cole winced. He heard the ringing again, now that they were heading to the place from before. “Getting permission to act here.”
“Apparently, the mayor has a bunch of influence.” Mack shrugged. He put on his goggles, in case the snow got thicker. He shivered, too. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“It’s ‘cause the mayor saved the world a long time ago.” Tyron interjected, yawning. “I mean, the chief said it. Dunno if I believe him or not.”
“She did? Huh, cool. Was it related to the Enlightenment?” Altair beamed, walking ahead, away from the others.
“Enlightenment…?” Cole tilted his head. “Uh, just so you know, I don’t have any idea what that is.”
“We’ll explain later, mutt.” Mack shivered again. Normally, he’d be running off after Altair, but given the situation right now, it was too cold to be doing that. “Can’t you slow down?”
“Nope~!” Altair just kept running.
So did the rest of them. Well, except for Tyron. He had a reasonable pace, and he wasn’t going to bust his leg trying to follow them.
The closer they got, the more ringing Cole heard. But unlike before, he wasn’t having a panic attack because of the sound.
Altair was the first to arrive, though he didn’t look when the others did. Instead, he looked at the cluster. “Huh. Red, like my jacket. But kinda soft. And there’s some crystals floating in the air as well.”
“That’s freaky as shit.” Mack squinted. This time around, he didn’t see any Pokémon. “Maybe we just gotta destroy this one.”
“Hngh. I dunno.” Cole put a hand over his head. “I think we’re not alone.”
“Huff… h-huff…” Tyron was the last one, having decided to run a little bit. Not enough to hurt, but enough to catch up. “H-Huh. That thing looks so odd.”
Cole took a glance at him, though he didn’t do much else other than that. The ringing had gotten stronger, again. Plus, there was that feeling that they weren’t alone. Someone—one of the things from before, maybe—was around.
He would be proven right soon after. Altair’s antennae twitched, and he looked at all of them. Specifically, at Cole. Then, he threw himself at the Lycanroc, forcing them both into the ground.
Right as a tongue lashed forward, trying to hit Cole. Or where Cole was, to be exact.
Something jumped out of the snow, before landing on the ground. A Drizzile, yet not a Drizzile.
It looked off. Crystals protruded all over its body, particularly around its arms and legs. Its tail had so many crystals that it actually looked pointed. And there was a red sheen all over its body, so much that the Drizzile was barely recognizable as being shiny.
Drizzile looked at them, at all four, before retreating its tongue.
“C’mon. We gotta fight.” Altair helped Cole stand up.
Their opponent was looking at each one, eyes moving one after the other.
“Heh. You’re in luck, beast! You’re the first one to receive our roll call!”
Altair snapped a finger, before adjusting his jacket. His torso faced forward, and one of his arms was held horizontally across his midsection. He raised his other arm diagonally, with his claw pointed outwards. “The Dazzling Adventurer, Altair!”
“A-Already?!” Mack cleared his throat.
He spread his legs wide. A low, grounded position. One was bent forward, and the other stretched back. One arm was on his hips, and the other had two fingers pointing at his own head. “The Speedy Adventurer, Mack!”
And Tyron was next, taking a heavy step with his good leg, before flexing both of his arms. “The Powerful Adventurer, Tyron!”
“…Huh?” Cole blinked. What were they doing?
“Pssst, you’ll get your role later!” Altair snapped a claw. “Together, with the indomitable spirit of adventure!”
He inhaled as much air as he could, as did Mack and Tyron, before calling out at the same time as them. “Team Rumble!”
“Oh. C-Cool.” Cole wasn’t sure what just happened, but it was sorta interesting.
They had other things to worry about, though. Like the Drizzile.
It looked at Cole. Its eyes moved, one after the other. Then, it rushed, fist clenched…
With flames. Flames had emerged around Drizzile’s body, and Cole was too slow to react.
The punch hit him right in the face, and he was immediately thrown into the ground,
screaming in pain.
He felt a very strong scent of iron in his mouth. Before long, Cole realized he was bleeding—one of his teeth fell out from the impact.
“H-Hhhgnh!”
“Mutt!” Mack snarled. This really was strange. “Since when can a Drizzile learn this attack?! That was Fire Punch, wasn’t it?!”
“We need to fight.” Altair cracked his neck, running forward.
So did Drizzile. It moved its head 180 degrees, looking at Altair before launching itself towards him, trying to lash out with its tail.
Altair unfurled one of his legs just in time to strike against the tail.
He knocked the dragon back, but could feel that leg burning. Altair hissed in response, but he was where he wanted to be.
“Mack! Tyron! You’re up!”
Mack dropped to his four legs, before dashing, raising a small cloud of snow as he rammed his head against Drizzile’s chest.
“Get away from him!”
He wasn’t doing this randomly, though. While ramming, Mack moved his head slightly, towards the direction that Tyron was.
“Hiyah!” Altair screamed, kicking Drizzile to add to the strike Mack was doing.
Their combined attack was enough to send the beast flying towards Tyron. And, in turn, Tyron cracked a grin.
“Heck yeah!”
Tyron
rammed his head, smashing Drizzile as hard as he could, and sending it flying.
Cole groaned, standing up and putting a hand over his mouth. He still smelled and tasted the blood. “Mmmmfff. D-Did we win?”
“Not yet, mutt!” Mack blurted out, looking at where Drizzile was being launched towards.
Drizzile fell on the ground, and as it hit the snow, it immediately melted, with a loud sizzling sound audible to anyone nearby. It quickly stood up, hissing at them.
“How’s that even…” Tyron grimaced. “Didja guys see that?! It melted the snow!”
“Tch.” Altair braced himself, stepping hard on the ground. “Hey, Cole! Any idea what kinda trick this is?!”
But Cole shook his head. He looked at Drizzile, and the only reaction he had was hearing that stupid ringing noise again.
Drizzile shot itself towards them, before spinning in the air. Transparent crystals formed around it, before they turned red… and were set ablaze.
Then, they were all launched towards the ground. Altair’s eyes widened, before he jumped out of the way. “Mack! Help Cole out! I can dodge this on my own!”
“H-Hey! What about me?!” Tyron winced. No way he was fast enough to evade all the projectiles.
But he didn’t need to.
Tyron breathed in, before letting his voice out, producing a metallic noise. It was loud enough to blow away some of the crystals… but not all of them.
The remaining ones shot towards the Aggron and hit, sinking into his skin and causing Tyron to yelp in pain.
Meanwhile, Mack dashed as quickly as he could, grumbling to himself and tackling Cole so he’d be out of harm’s way.
Finally, Altair was making his play. He uncurled his legs again, before kicking the ground as hard as he could. The impact sent him flying, or rather, bouncing upwards.
Far enough that Mack couldn’t see him. “C’mon, mutt! Ride me!”
“Wha—” Cole didn’t have the time to think. He jumped on Mack’s back.
Mack ran, dodging the crystals. Tyron was still shouting, trying to blow away more of those attacks, but he didn’t do a particularly good job at that.
“W-Where’s Altair?!” Tyron yelled, the crystals hitting him before shattering. “This stuff
stings!”
“He should be arriving anytime soon!” Mack said, halting himself after the crystals stopped.
Drizzile was still there, falling, though it wasn’t spinning around anymore. And above the creature was Altair, who had finally started his descent.
A gust of wind gathered around him, while his leg was aimed at Drizzile. The Lokix was faster, and so…
“HIYAH!”
Altair kicked Drizzile right on the back, the attack launching both of them down, towards the snow. It didn’t take long before both reached the ground, causing a large cloud of snow to rise in the air.
“Tch!” Mack closed his eyes instinctively. The goggles protected him, but he still felt the need to do this.
Cole had to protect his own, and the missing tooth was still giving him a throbbing pain.
But they were safe. Tyron groaned, not blown back by the sudden wind. “You guys alright?!”
Mack looked at the snow cloud ahead. “We’re fine—”
“Mmmm!” Cole gave Mack a quick flick on the top of his head, and in turn, Mack moved to the side, letting Cole take the fall.
“As I was saying, I think we’re fine.” Mack rolled his eyes. But he still had his gaze fixed on the sight ahead. “Altair hasn’t returned yet. He has to be fine.”
Cole groaned, trying to see anything. To his surprise, he managed it. It wasn’t clear, but through the cloud, he managed to see something.
The outline of crystals—Drizzile—hitting an even larger outline. It had struck the cluster, before falling to the ground.
Then, the ground shook. A roar filled the air, but it was distorted—the sound barely registered as anything
alive. And the cloud dissipated. At least partially.
A hole was opened in the middle of it by Altair, who was yelping in pain and receiving a punch right on his stomach.
He didn’t have the time to react. He was launched back, flying through the air before landing on the ground once. Then, he was tossed again, falling a second time. And then, he flew a third time, only then falling and remaining down on the snow.
“Altair!” Mack immediately rushed to his side.
Not just him. Cole did too, and even Tyron was running. As much as his leg let him, that is.
While they were doing that, the rest of the cloud dissipated. Drizzile was still there, but something had changed.
Some of the crystals in its body had fallen to the ground, melting the snow around them. However, Drizzile didn’t care about those.
It looked at the cluster, having hit it before, enough that larger crystals had fallen.
What’s it doing…? Cole winced. His heart sank inside of him through something that he could only describe as a gut feeling that things would turn bad very soon.
Drizzile grabbed some of the crystals, before seemingly injecting them into its body. It hissed repeatedly, only for a shockwave to form around it.
But that wasn’t the end of it. After injecting the crystals into itself, Drizzile’s body began to change.
Indeed. The crystals had spread further, grown larger, fully encompassing it. It stuck out its tongue, as if to hiss.
It’s using the crystals to power itself up! Cole gasped, stepping back.
“H-Holy crap.” Altair groaned, trying to stand up. “That’s creepy, but… man…”
It hurt him to stand, and his stomach was burning.
Literally. Altair heard the crackling of fire, immediately taking off his jacket and rubbing it against his stomach to stop the spread of flames.
He was just in time to see the others arrive next to him. “H-Hey guys. Sorry, I thought I had this.”
“You
idiot.” Mack looked away, at Drizzile. It was staring at him. No, at all of them. They were its prey. The thought alone brought a shiver down Mack’s spine. “We need a plan, and fast.”
Cole groaned, still holding his mouth with a paw. He looked at the ground, seeing those red crystals. Then, he took a glance at Altair.
A thought came to him. An idea, but a stupid one.
Why? Why am I thinking like this? It’s dumb.
“It’s coming back!”
Tyron moved ahead, right as the Drizzile shot a stream of flames towards them. His large, bulky body managed to block the attack, though Tyron was left with a stinging sense of pain through him.
“There has to be something we can do!” Mack pleaded. To who, though? He looked at Cole. “Mutt! Please tell me you have an idea. Anything at all!”
“…Tch.” Cole didn’t want to say it. He moved his paw down, feeling less blood. “I have one, but it’s stupid.”
Altair looked right at him. “Stupid ideas are my favorite.”
“Grab one of the crystals.” Cole said. He winced, maybe from the pain in his mouth, maybe from how scared this idea made him. “Use it. I… I think you can. It’s a gut instinct.”
The stream of fire stopped, and Tyron was left panting. Some parts of his body were stinged, bruised. “G-Guys! Whatever you’re planning, you gotta do it soon!”
“Use it… how?” Altair rubbed his arm.
Cole took a deep breath.
I’m getting punched for this.
“You saw what that thing did! Use it, stab yourself with it, or something!”
“What?! No way!” Mack immediately looked at Cole. “How is that an idea?! Are you out of your mind or something?!”
Cole ignored all that Mack said, looking right at Altair. “Just trust me on this one, you can change too! Fight fire with fire!”
Altair grew quiet. He stared at the shards, only a few feet ahead of Tyron. If he jumped, he could grab one.
What was worse about this was that his brain was actually thinking this was a
good idea.
“The way I see it, this thing is gonna be tough to beat. We struck it repeatedly, and we only managed to make it drop some crystals.” Altair let his jacket fall to the ground. “I’m with Cole! I think it’s worth a shot!”
Drizzile hissed again, before jumping ahead, swinging its tongue. Cole breathed in, and roared! The sound was enough to make Drizzile lose balance for a moment.
Tyron raised a fist in the air, before punching the ground. He didn’t break it, but he managed to raise a cloud of snow that obscured Drizzile’s vision.
And in that moment, Mack charged against it, knocking it back a little while. “Altair! You can’t be serious!”
He fell to the ground, while Altair picked up one of the crystals. “It doesn’t hurt, for some reason.”
Altair was putting a lot of trust on someone that he didn’t know. He glanced at Cole, who seemed almost saddened by the idea he had.
Just then, the cloud dissipated once more. Drizzile swung its tongue, before igniting it. The movement was too fast, and they couldn’t react.
Cole was hit. Mack was hit. Tyron was hit. Altair was hit.
They were all hit.
And they all screamed, falling down while Drizzile moved its tongue back into its mouth, hissing again.
“Urgh… what kinda power is that…?” Altair winced. He had dropped the crystal right next to him. “M-Mack. You good?”
“N-No idea.” Mack winced, trying to stand. Two legs or four, it didn’t matter. He couldn’t move. “A-Altair, wait! There has to be… has to be another way! Another way of beating this monster!”
Altair stood up, holding the crystal between his claws. He closed his eyes, letting a deep breath out… “We’re a team, which means I have to trust you guys. That includes Cole, too.”
“I-I know, but…!” Mack groaned, trying to stand.
“C’mon. If you can’t trust him, trust
me.”
Mack couldn’t say anything to that, but Altair could.
“So, please watch it. My… transformation!”
He stabbed his stomach with the crystal. Immediately, the shard started to glow, and fire crackled around him.
“KHUH!”
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Altair felt his body going numb, while the color drained from the shard, leaving it transparent. And…
Crystals formed around his stomach, right where he stabbed himself. Altair’s eyes widened as he watched the formation spread to the rest of him.
He lost the movement in each area afflicted by this growth. Little by little, it covered him. It filled his legs. His arms. His waist. Stomach. Chest.
Altair let out a scream.
The sensations filled his head.
Author's Note: There's a lot I can talk about when it comes to this one. For starters, I'm really going along with the Tokusatsu vibes for this story. I mean, since 2020 I realized that I really enjoyed the art of Tokusatsu, so it's slowly been getting more and more influence in the way I write things. It's nice. The roll call for the team comes from GoGo Sentai Boukenger (which was adapted into Power Rangers Operation Overdrive). That's more or less my main inspiration for this one.
