From: Dryad <dryad48@aol.commoner> Subject: [PW!][ATR] To the South End and Back Date: Monday, February 14, 2000 7:30 PM Derrick walked slowly and silently into the the old computer room in which months ago, he had secured for the passing towards the rocket reactors. Laura had given him orders to, "Go check on the machineary which are installing turbo boosters on the south end of the Island." Derrick walked up to the door separating him from plunging into the oceans and looked out. Six months ago, he and Tank had flicked around switches out there in order to operate the rockets. However, in the process, the glass-like surface in which they were walking on gave way just after they stepped back inside. The propellers are still running, but the fuse and switch box was never closed. Derrick could see this as he peered outside the window. He looked at the keypile in his hands and carefully picked out the right one as he held the rusty, flimsy handle. Derrick typed in a code at the door and stepped away from the entrance between the Pika-Generator, and the Video-Phone. There was a humming noise emanating through, followed by a stalling clicking. Finally, the door rose up slowly, making a sound like a million boards of metal shrieking in pain as they rubbed against concrete. The more the doors rose, the gustier it got. By the time it was halfway open, huge amounts of air rushed in as well as dust and a foul stench of seaweed and dirty gulls. When the winds had died down, Derrick stepped out of hiding and just then had his lungs adjusted to the freshness of the seaside cliffs, the sea being many miles below his feet. Now he realized what he had been missing back in the leaf covered trails of the Viridian forest. It might as well would be his home, as much as the Ivory Island, for he had obtained full ownership of the gym, as well as the Forest Badge and a Scyther. There was something mysterious about those woods that he never quite could figure. It was like hearing the winds of the night dancing in the skies, and singing, but without knowing the name of their song, nor the words that came with them. Though two of his pokemon have gone missing in that area, as well as Exeggutor becoming insane, he missed the Viridian forest. Someday, Derrick may go back there, but he was too inexperienced to be a gym leader. It could wait. Derrick held his breath as he tried not to look down at the jagged rocky edges of the cliffs, and even further down at the blue fists pounding against the walls of their house. He made his way slowly across the creaky platform until he came back up to the switch box. He shiveringly held up the keys which were used to start both the propellers and turbo boosters, and to close the fuse box, which was in danger of exploding, which would cause the normal propellers to hault. He held the metal box closed, placed the key in the hole, and slowly turned it shut while shivering. As Derrick entered back inside and shut the door behind him, he realized he had pokemon again, and that Butterfree could easily have done the job for him. "We really need some advancements in tenchology," Derrick thought to himself. "This whole system is falling apart so badly, I guess I understand why all this stuff is happening." Derrick thought to himself that surely Anti-Team Rocket was currently building a new base somewhere out there. "Well, on th phase two." Derrick looked at his map. According to it, some new boosters had been installed in the lower chambers, and now was the time to activate them. As Derrick shut off the lights, he closed his eyes and thought about six months ago..... _ _ _ _ _ "Both of you Shut Up" Dreadite yelled. "The island it seems like we are flying." "How can a Island fly?" Butch asked. Suddenly the earth started to shake and all three of the Rockets fell down as the island soared upward with a burst of speed. ________ "Wooohooo!!!!" Tank yelled. "IT FLIES!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" ________ Outside in another part of the island the battle between G and E uh...... ATR and TR was escalating. The sudden earthquake rocked both ATR and TR out of their senses for a while. Of course it wasn't an earthquake since the island was flying and was not on the ground. But the ground was shaking. But they weren't in the ground. Maybe some sort of flying quake? Um forget what Im saying.... back to the battle. Lithiril and Scarlet were commanding the remaining scattered ATR forces outside. The TR forces due to constant backup were overwhelming them. The Wigglytanks had run out of ammo long time ago and using them to run over TRs had failed. Most of the remaining forces had few pokemon and few ammo left. The TR's reinforcements were fresh from the bottle. The ear.......the quake made both sides drop what they were doing. The ATRs were the first to get up. _ _ _ _ _ Derrick reached the bottom floor and looked left and right. It was nearly pitch-black down here and there were no flashlights. Derrick sent out Magneton and had it guid him through the darkness until they could find a way out. Derrick saw a small, dim light a while ahead and started walking faster towards it, this lighted darkness was creeping him out. Seeing this reminded him of a nightmare he once had, but that was so long ago, it seemed as vague and mixed as the day... as the day everything changed. The only sound that could be heard was the clinking of the the keys and the static emanating from Magneton's electric core. Derrick finally reached the lighted room and entered, actually, he exited. It was outside, but Derrick found that he had gone down much farther than he had thought. It was near the bottom of the island. The endless rails must have sloped down much more, which could explain why Derrick felt like he had been moving in circles. Derrick looked around the landscaping rocks and plants growing on them. Among the rocks, he could see the torn ATR uniforms, from those who didn't survive the battle, and he felt somewhat responsible. _ _ _ _ _ The battle had stopped. The new threat was trying to hold on to the island. TRs were falling down like rain. the ATRs that were left were also falling down. The dead bodies from the battle made matters worse as they crushed their former comrades like the dead weight they were. Pitter Patter of splashes occured as almost everybody fell down off the island and into the sea some 50 feet below. Lithirl was grabbing the grass. A futile attempt as he kept slipping. Suddenly he slipped entirely and fell to his watery grave. Screams of both ATRs and TRs were heard as they went flying from the flying island to the cold waters. __________ Butch and Cassidy fell off the island long time ago. Splashes were heard. James managed to hold on and kick Dreadite out of the island. Dreadite's wings popped out and Dreadite flew off. "The island is a death trap. Have to go back to Cerulean to report." Dreadite thought as he flew off. Raven watched as Butch and Cassidy pitifully fell down. He also saw Dreadite's wings pop out and was going to fly off. Raven jumped and grabbed ahold of Dreadite. Dreadite tried to shake Raven off his back that was weighing him down. Dreadite flew away from the island as far possible and as fast as possible hoping it would make Raven fall. It worked. Raven fell. ______ "Derrick do something." Tank screamed. "I got it." Derrick flicked the switch and the island began to balance out. "oops." "What now?" Tank asked. "I accidently sent the island moving. Looks like we are going to be up here a while." Derrick said. "Great a Flying Island Base that move in random directions......." Tank said. "Lets see if their are any survivors." _ _ _ _ _ Derrick turned to the boosters. It appeared to have been fully installed by the machines, now at rest. He walked up to the main computer controlling them and placed the key in. As he turned it, it was ensured that the boosters would not malfunction and were now fully operational. It was now time to head back to the base Laura Dark was at, and wait. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~Dryad48: Weekly Quote: "All we are saying is give peace a chance." -John Lennon, Paul McCartney "Hide people from bad things and you've made them weaker." -Me