Pokemon: Animus - Chapter 48

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“Mayday Mayday Mayday. This is the Zekrom inbound to Akala, we are under attack from an Azure Charizard.”

I hear the pilot calling in our situation from my seat just out the ċȯċkpit door. She’s keeping a cool head thankfully. Her copilot on the other hand…

“Fuck Rachel, engine two is on fire!”

She flicks off her radio, “Decouple the driveshaft, don’t let it affect engine one.”

I look back in the main cabin, the endless lightning strikes outside light the room like a strobe as more baggage is shaking loose in the turbulence.

Pulling out Tesla’s ball, “Get out here and start webbing the crap flying around.”

My red joltik immediately sets to work firing off string shots at the bags sliding around the floor before looking to tackle the bouncing debris. Almost everyone is still strapped in, some of the girls balled up in their seats, the two rows along the sidewalls face each other. The left side that was initially impacted has a decent dent, May’s girls have moved seats away from it.

Looking back out the front, bolts of lightning cascade from the stormy skies but there doesn’t seem to be any focus.

Shit, “She’s still searching!”

“Mayday Mayday Mayday. This is the Zekrom inbound to Akala, can’t you hear me? We are under attack from a mega Charizard.” She repeats.

Copilot Helo is smacking a distorted display, “Zapdos’ storm is fuċkɨnġ with our systems!”

“Dammit, I know! Is that fire out yet? We need that engine!”

*SMASH!*

The pilot’s door gets shattered inward, a large black claw reaching for her head!

Her helmet probably saved her life as she gets rocked by the impact, Helo is grabbing her arm and screaming, “Get the fuċk off her!”

I unbuckle my seat and grab the dive knife I’ve kept strapped to my leg. Days like today!

An enraged roar bellows against us with a wave of heat. Looking out the broken door I can see blue flames lighting up an angry draconic maw, twin horns glowing a brilliant neon blue. I quickly start slicing the pilots harness apart to pull her out.

A voice outside, yells, “Dragon Breath!”

Not good! I yank her free just as another blast of yellow lighting lights up the room, the whole aircraft pitches left as the Charizard is ripped from the ċȯċkpit exterior. Sparks linger on the walls but seem to disperse without harm.

Ahead I can finally see Zapdos, radiating a cosmic storm’s worth of lightning as she rakes her talons against the black Charizard spitting flames at her face.

The aircraft starts entering a roll, the girls in the back are screaming.

Helo is still looking back at me, “Is she okay!?”

“Fly the fuċkɨnġ plane!”

“Rachel! Wake up Rachel!”

Shit, “Lacy get the Pilot!”

We’re already almost sideways, I don’t have time to worry about the pilot now or her idiot partner.

I crawl into the pilot seat, most of its mounts must be sheared from the floor as the damn thing twists in place.

I grab the stick and pull right, the hydraulics feel slow. The left engine is smoking, a couple bent blades flailing in the wind.

“That’s not good.”

Out our right, through the remaining half of my door, engine one is still spinning but I can actually tell its slowing with each flash of Zapdos’ light.

“Engine one is down, two is no good. We’re gliding.”

The flap pedals thankfully still have hydraulic pressure to level us out but the left pedal feels stiff, probably leaking somewhere.

“Rachel!”

Damn it, “Shut the fuċk up and turn on the APU man!”

“What?! What are you doing there?!”

Well he’s useless, “The start up engine man, turn it on!”

He opens his mouth to yell at me more, “Get ou,”

My right fist meets his jaw.

As I watch the two battling pokemon outside streak past us, brilliant blue flames and blinding yellow lightning arcing between them, May’s voice comes from over my shoulder.

“Tommy, help me get this guy out of the way.”

Her arms reach up and unlatch his harness.

Calling back to the doctor, “Lacy, is the famous Miss Rachel going to wake up anytime soon?”

We’re still gliding but I can see on the instruments we’re losing altitude, we’ll hit water long before land.

“No Kurt! Jane, Pressure!”

That doesn’t sound good.

Dawn leans in once Tommy and May pull out the copilot, “We’ll Action Hero, we gonna die?”

“Oh fuċk you,” I actualy laugh. “We’ve got a minute to find the damn start up engine buŧŧon before this gets really bad.”

“There!” quick as you like she points at a red buŧŧon on the panel above me.

Stupid over compilcated mess.

Holding the buŧŧon while keeping the stick steady, hoping against odds I don’t need to find the manual starter. No way to hear the auxiliary engine firing up over the wind, roars, caws and constant thunder.

My control panels are still an overcharged mess from the storm and Zapdos’ driveby… “Tesla! Get up here and absorb the static.”

Twenty seconds and the aux engine buŧŧon turns green, “That’s fast.”

As my red spider crawls up the center console the lights stop flickering and the monitor return to normal. We’re losing hydraulics and fuel all along the left side, one unlucky hit and we’re a fireball in the sky.

“Eddy if the left wing catches fire I want your little fire ghost to put it out best it can.”

An electric supernova blooms in the distance off to our right, accompanied by the loudest caw yet.

Holding another switch down I see engine one start to spin back up to speed. The next thing would be to keep from losing more fuel but I’m getting nothing from the panel up here.

“May, find a valve back there to shut off fuel flow for the damaged left wing.” Hopefully it’s not outside, cause that would really suck.

A moment of keeping it steady while losing sight of the ongoing battle.

“Got it!” another girl whose voice I don’t recognise.

Indicators start to look good and as long as I can compensate for any more pressure lost in the flaps we should be able to land in plane configuration.

I hear crackle over the headset laying next to my seat.

Placing it over one ear I hear, “Wela Ranger Tower to Zekrom, are you there!?”

“This is the Zekrom, we’re maintaining a glide on a limping engine. I’ve lost visual on the attacking charizard. Just tell me where to land. Also have a medical unit on standby, we have critically injured.”

A moment, nothing.

“Zakrom to Wela Rangers, where am I landing?”

“We don’t have a strip.”

Oh.

“I don’t suppose someone else on the island does?” I’d cross fingers and toes but they’re busy keeping us level.

“The Hano Resort has the big helipad, planes land at Melemele.”

Looking out at the overcast sea… I don’t see lights from another island.

“Um, I’m open to suggestions?”

I can’t land this in vertical mode with one engine. I’m not even gonna try to fire up two, I can see the bent and broken blades on it. As for a water landing, even if everything went perfectly we’ll be lucky not to sink in seconds with our current damage.

Another voice, female, “Hi Hi! Are you friends with the sparky bird?”

The hell, “Yes?”

The ranger’s voice, “Yes what?”

Huh?

“Right here.” The female voice accompanies a breeze from my left.

Looking around I spot …a big pink jar. With a black creature sitting in the mouth, wearing the lid as a hat.

Her college, sorority girl voice sounds in my head, “So as I was saying, You know the big bird right? Her light show is totally crashing my mixer and she is too worked up to listen to me. I could force the issue, but that’s exhausting and I have plans tonight.”

…. “Dawn, what am I looking at?”

Nothing.

Looking back, everything, everyone, is frozen in place. My Joltik isn’t, but she’s still cowering in place on the console.

“You’re weird, you know? I could ask the same thing, you feel like one of us almost.”

I’ll bet, “Tell you what miss psychic powers,”

“Lele, Tapu Lele.”

“Alright Miss Lele,” I point out the lights from the island growing closer, “Get us and this aircraft safely on the island, and I’m sure Zapdos will chill.”

Her pink, hair like, antenna droop, “You want me to work?”

A heavy updraft blows into the cabin yet the plane doesn’t even flinch. I think she already has control.

“It’s the easiest solution.”

“Hrmf,” her insect-like arms brush the antenna aside, “For you maybe. Guess I’ll save the lady spraying blood like a water fountain back there while I’m at it.”

I can feel all the controls lock in place, the warning lights stop flashing, even our working engine freezes. Nothing stops me from hitting the shut down switch for when she puts us down. We begin zooming forward at a slightly faster pace.

Is it a ‘deus ex machina’ if when you think about it, of course the island’s resident legendary would see what the fuss was about?

The storm dials back and I spot Zapdos glide up alongside us, her bright yellow feathers still discharging heavy amounts of electricity. None touches the Zekrom this time. The Charizard must have snuck off.

“Bratty little bitch,” Lele Mutters.

Excuse me!?

“She thinks she’s queen of whatever sky she’s in. She’s not even half way through her first century!”

I didn’t say that out loud.

“You don’t have too, Psychic remember?” she slumps to her elbows on the edge of her pink shell, “Those ranger humans are panicking trying to reach you, go ahead and let them know I’m here.”

Ranger dudes voice comes over the com, “You hear us?! Come in Zekrom!”

Grabbing the headset, “We’re here, the Tapu is here…”

“Oh thank Arceus! Ah, be suuuuper polite she can be a bit,” his voice cuts off as Lele folds her arms and pouts.

“Busybody.”

Looking back I can see everyone asleep in their seats or on the floor. A pile of pink flower petals has been dumped over pilot Rachel’s head.

“Welcome to Alola and my Akala Island,” she deadpans in my head, “Try not to be so noisy for the rest of your stay.”

After another five minutes of floating through the air she laughs, in reality I hear the sound of seashell wind chimes.

Then, fifteen feet in the air, she drops us.

“Shit!” and everyone else screams, apparently waking up from the sensation of falling.

The landing isn’t too bad, we hit water, the surf just off the beach in front of a massive hotel, aglow in the night. I can hear the waves smacking the back of the aircraft.

Pilot lady bolts upright, “MAYDAY!”

“Chill lady,” if flick on the cabin speakers, “Gooodevening Passengers and welcome to beautiful Akala Island, the weather is fuċkɨnġ terrible just like the welcome party. Please collect your baggage and exit the aircraft via the water. Hope you like getting wet.”

Grace Ketchum yells, “What did I say about forgetting how to land?!”

Lacy is staring at Rachel’s face and neck, “Kurt, what happened?”

“Tapu Lele didn’t like us raining on her party.”

“Zapra!” Naomi screams and bolts for the door. Jane helps her get it open and I hear them splashing outside.

I see her running towards a pile of feathers collapsed on the beach. In the light from the hotel and along the beach I can see burns across most of her feathers.

Flashing lights from an approaching ranger jeep reminds me of the situation as I see dozens of beach goers crowding at a nervous distance from the downed aircraft and legendary bird.

Dawn scowls looking at the scene, “Alright, everyone stow your stuff in the upper storage. Let’s get off the plane first, don’t talk to anyone until we’re finished with the rangers. Head straight for the hotel lobby. Ed and Tom, grab the copilot.”

Ah, the idiot is still out cold and floating in the knee deep water pouring in.

Lacy tightly hugs me from the side as I stand up.

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good one, right?”

She pinches my side, “We’re swimming.”

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