The Hypnosis wave rushed through the cavern, electrifying the air. It ran like liquid toward Articuno, while the bird tried desperately to outdistance it. Just when the blast was about to strike Articuno, it happened. The legendary Pokemon seemingly stopped in mid-air, tucked in its wings, and dove at a frightening pace toward the disintegrating floor. No more than two feet from the ground, it once again spread its majestic wings and shot back up into the sky at a ninety-degree angle. I realized, without saying it, that Hypnosis had failed. The attack fizzled out on the far wall of the ice cathedral. Tech shouted redundantly, "He's flying too high! Hypnosis isn't going to work!" Neither Hunter nor I answered. We could only stare at Articuno, the ice-blue seraph, as it paused in midair before wheeling around to strike once more. Our seraph had become an angel of death.

We braced ourselves, but the attack never came. I returned my gaze to Articuno, but it seemed hesitant, like it was anticipating something. From dozens of yards away, I looked into its coal-black eyes and knew what was coming. I heard the distinct cracking sound creeping cruelly and sentiently through my ears. The floor collapsed.

It started in the middle, like a bomb had gone off in the center of the chamber. The huge ice sheet buckled and caved inward in a massive implosion. Enormous clouds of white powder cascaded upward as fifteen-foot sections of the floor were sucked incessantly into the void below. The horrible, unbelievable sound deafened me. It reminded me of a psychotic mixture of a tornado, Gyarados' unearthly howl, and glass breaking. I realized as I slid toward what was the center of the cavern that I was about to die, but I couldn't summon the power to scream. My perilous hold on life was about to give out when the ice sheet I clung to suddenly settled back onto the floor. Maybe there was another rock ledge beneath it. I hauled myself up immediately and looked for Tech and Hunter. I didn't see either of them. They had vanished.

In my panic, I didn't hear them shouting out to me from a crevasse ten feet away. I finally saw Tech's hand clasping the thin ledge and looked into the ravine. Tech was wildly swinging beneath the ledge, trying to work his way back up. Hunter clung tightly to a handhold several feet below Tech. "Dammit Neil, help me!!!!" Tech screamed. I braced myself and grabbed his hand, pulling him back onto solid ground. He wheezed, hyperventilating from shock on his back while I turned to help Hunter. I leaned slowly over the edge, trying not to concentrate on the bottomless abyss but on saving Hunter. I was almost there.... almost there. I heard a loud CRACK, as if someone fired a gun, and Hunter's handhold broke free of the cliff face.

He was only in sight for a moment, his screams matching my own. Hunter was gone.

Page Thirteen
Page Thirteen

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