Chapter 6: Uxie's a Ditz and she's got a Maze Part 3

Standing up, I wiped the Lum Berry jam off of the corner of my mouth. Uxie hadn’t been cruel; she had teleported a nice little table of Oran berry juice, Lum berry pastries, and Leppa berry tea to restore my HP, heal any status problems, and return some energy back to me. I sighed. Now that I was back into battle ready condition, I would have to keep going through this stupid maze; sixteen more Types, including this one. I started in a run, ready to get to the end.

 

It didn’t take long until I came to my first obstacle, though unlike the previous ones which were Pokémon, this one was instead a giant tightrope stretched across a large chasm. I looked down at the obstacle and a worried feeling immediately perforated the walls of my stomach. I wasn’t so much worried about the actual rope itself --it was huge, about as thick as my foot—but the chasm. Even though you could see the bottom, it was still a far way down.

 

“Great, now instead of being murdered by a bloodthirsty Zangoose, my demise will be met by the floor and a piece of string.” Though Uxie wasn’t cruel, it seemed her followers were; you’d either have to have wings or be an Aipom to get past this alive.

 

Stepping back, stared at the chasm, trying to decide how to get across. It was about thirty feet across, so jumping was definitely out, and my moves wouldn’t be useful; that meant I would just have to plain old cross it. Dashing out on the rope, I figured that it wouldn’t help that much to go slow and try to keep my balance that way, but rather it would be better if I just let my momentum keep my balance for me. But before I could even get a third of the way across, I was assaulted by a royal purple wind that slashed across my skin and made me nearly topple off the rope, though  a flying object whipped by me, and caused me to actually lose my balance. My heart was in my throat as I scrabbled for the tight rope, but luckily, I was able to latch onto it and haul myself up.

 

“Lovely, a challenger.” A smooth, male voice said from above me. “Perry, Sally, come, he’s still alive.” For the first time since I entered the Flying type section of the maze, I looked up completely and saw the various branches and perches where my attacker had, well, attacked me from. By the time my line of sight rested back upon the speaker, a Pidgeot, two more figures had joined him; a Pelipper and a Salamence. “We are the Wind Riders Three, followers of Uxie, and children of warriors who fought in the battle between Arceus and the Dragon Types who did not die. And as children of great warriors, we must not tarnish our titles by being defeated my some lowlife like you. Prepare yourself, for you are our opponent!”

 

“Well, this should be fun, ‘cause I’m the sequel to my mom who killed Arceus, and I’m gonna knock you into next week!” I cracked my knuckles, smirking, and for the first time in my life, I actually used my mom’s title for battling purposes. Huh.

 

Before I could even blink, the Wind Rider Three noobs (seriously, what kind of name is that?) were already starting the battle.

 

“Perry, give us a Tailwind,” the only one who has talked so far commanded.

 

“Alright, Eurus, I can do this, I can do this,” Perry, the Pelipper, muttered, but he seemed to be more talking to himself, as if he already knew the Pidgeot, Eurus, apparently, didn’t both listening. Doing as told, Perry rushed backwards and began flapping his wings harder. At first, nothing happened, and I began to think that he really couldn’t do it, but as soon as I had my doubts, a gale kicked up, heightening there speed and lowering mine, while at the same time I had to concentrate more on staying balanced as the not-as-tight-as-I-thought rope swayed beneath the storm.

 

This is bad, I thought, putting my arms up to block some of the wind. If this continues, I’ll become a blood stain on the floor; there’s no way I can keep my balance and attack for too long. I glanced back the way I came, and my decision was made. Pressing my muscles to propel me as quickly as possible, I launched myself towards the closest ledge, leaning to the right ever so slightly to counter the wind.

 

“Sally,” Eurus commanded before I had even taken four steps, and the Salamence flying besides him summoned a purple flaming meteor that launched itself towards the spot I was running to. Easily noticing the incoming projectile’s targeted area, I stopped short and watched the attack soar by, not even coming close to letting it hit me. Fail on their part. I began to continue to solid ground, when a jet of water that quickly was torn apart by a small, concentrated tornado thwarted me from taking another step.

 

“Perry, you idiot!” Eurus snarled to his companion. “I was already unleashing a Hurricane at him, and your Hydro Pump got in the way and weakened it!”

 

“I-I’m sorry…” Perry replied, looking like he just wanted to curl up in a corner and be left alone. “I didn’t see you aiming.”

 

“Don’t use ‘I didn’t see you aiming’ as an excuse! We all know it was because you’re too careless with you actions.” Using the two’s argument as a cover, I once again try to escape to the cliff side, only to have that same flaming meteor block my passage. Deciding that I wasn’t going to be able to return from where I came, I turned the other way, and once again that stupid meteor blocked the way. And then I was gridlocked. “Now, tell me how you were wrong.”

 

“I was using false information as an excuse, and I was being careless with my actions.”

 

“…Acceptable. Now, the challenger.”

 

“About time, you guys,” Sally chipped in. “This guy tried to escape, twice while you were bickering!”

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Sally. Now, continue our strategy.” Doing as announced, they continued their cowardly strategy of hitting me with long range attacks while I tried to not fall off or get hit. As I nearly dodged another one of Eurus’s Hurricanes, I noticed two things: the Tailwind had worn itself out, and that Perry wasn’t attacking. And apparently, Eurus noticed this, too.

 

“Stop.” Eurus commanded, mostly to Sally, and she dispersed the Dragon Pulse she was forming with her hands. He turned towards Perry. “Perry, why are you not attacking?”

 

“I’m sorry, I’ll do better.” Perry mumbled miserably.

 

“You bet you will, starting right now.” Sally began to form another attack, but Eurus stopped her. “Now, attack.” Doing as told, Perry formed a pitiful Water Pulse and launched it at me. I dodge it easily.

 

“Harder.”

 

This time, a more stabilized Hydro Pump was formed and launched; I was still able to dodge it, put it seemed good enough to me. But not for Eurus.

 

“Harder!” Out of a saddened anger, Perry began charging at me in what looked to be a Giga Impact, and I took it as my only opportunity to strike. Out of reflex, Dragon Claw formed around my digging claws, and when he got near, I struck. But this time, the unthinkable happened.

 

As his attack continued on without hitting a target, my digging claw had somehow lodged itself in a way so that I had latched onto Perry’s wing. Ground swayed underneath me as I flailed and tried to get my feet to land on something. If I was thinking straight, I would have just sheathed my digging claws, but if I was thinking straight, I wouldn’t be trying to free myself. I looked down once more at the swirling ground, and then the effects of Giga Impact kicked in, and we were falling because of Perry’s exhaustion.

 

I was silently screaming, screaming inside my head as I plummeted closer to the ground. In a despite attempt to survive, I pushed Perry’s basically unconscious body underneath me and tried to spread his wings apart o act as a parachute. Nothing was slowing the fall, and before I knew it, my face smacked into Perry’s chest as we hit the chasm’s bottom. Winded and gasping for breath, I slumped to the side of Perry, and I saw the two lone dots of Eurus and Sally hovering above. They were waiting, they must have been. Yes, they’re waiting, only waiting. Waiting for Perry to fly back up, waiting for him to tell them that I had barely survived. But then the dots flew away. And I felt the warm liquid on my shoulders and neck. And I knew immediately that it wasn’t my blood; it was Perry’s.

 

I stood up and looked down at Perry, who was limp, I could just tell, and not breathing. His skull must have shattered on impact, and thinking about his damaged head, it was all I could do to not vomit. We fell together, and in an effort to save myself, I had ended Perry’s life. I was as good as a murderer, basically.

 

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