At this point, Oscar was making decent progress toward the cell. His pokemon were still in high spirits, and it might have been the slowly developing insanity talking but he was starting to get into the spirit too. It helped that they were getting closer; the fact that the supposed prison drillbur patrol hadn't detected them was a plus as well. Yep, everything was going surprisingly well, a bit too well.

The ground above them began to shake. Oscar stopped his miners and lay very still. Just as he was thinking about them, it would seem that the drillburr approached. Oscar closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was trying his best not to panic this time. It was easy to just assume he was had and give up, but if Emma's harsh lecture from before taught him anything it was that he had to learn to roll with the punches. And so he waited, and listened.

The shaking slowly subsided, and when he was sure they had fully passed he had his diggers resume. It was just a bit further before Oscar made them stop once more and start digging up. Up and up and up they went, they were on schedule but it shall take them some time yet to reach Emma's cell. It felt like several hours, but it took but one for the diggers to hit concrete. They began gently poking and gnawing, Mustakrakish's teeth being a great help in this regard. Soon, light would pour into the tunnel. The pokemon kept working until there was a hole big enough for Emma to slide through. Hopefully she created a good enough distraction to slip away to. He didn't poke his head out or anything, instead waiting silently for her to slide in. Fuck he hoped she wa sin her cell.

Emma Wolfe

Oscar grasped Emma's hands and pulled her up to the best of his abilities. He kept pulling until she was comfortably within the hole, facing Oscar. Mustakrakish and Disco greeted Emma happily, but their greeting was cut short by Oscar snapping his fingers to hush them. He hissed in a quieted tone, "Wait until we're further in to make noise, geez." He handed Emma the belt around his waist, it was black with three pokeballs attached. She had left three pokemon in his care while she was away, just for this occasion. Oscar nodded as he uncomfortably turned himself in order to crawl back the way he came. He wanted to give Emma a more substantial greeting, but they couldn't possibly delay.

The trip back would be a lot quicker, after all they didn't have to slowly dig the whole way. Oscar crawled as fast as his elbows could push him, his digging companions close behind.  He wanted to ask Emma about her time in jail, but perhaps now was not the time. They weren't exactly in the clear yet after all, they had a ways to go before they could comfortably say they escaped. 

Speaking of, Oscar began to feel vibrations from beneath him. He stopped abruptly, slowly looking back and putting a finger to his mouth to indicate the need for silence. The vibration got louder, and began to feel like it was coming from all around him. When it did not stop, Oscar's heart sank, "Crawl like the fucking wind go go!" Oscar quickened his pace at the detriment of his own health, his arms scraping against the walls of the tunnel. From behind him he heard creatures emerging, the drilbur had caught them. He shoted back, "Musta, bite their heads off or something!" Musta responded with a shout before wiggling past Emma to face their pursuers.


Emma Wolfe

Musta stayed back while the Araquanid drowned the drilbur. Those that managed to get through were met by Musta's mighty jaws, Crunching down on anything that got close. Those who were damaged were quickly dispatched by the flood. Musta cheered happily as their victory seemed inevitable. However his master was getting far ahead, so it was time to wrap this up. 

He motioned for the Araquanid to go on ahead, and when given the space to work Musta reared back his head. More drilbur pored in from the walls of the tunnel, but they were soon met with a torrent of sand. The sand that emerged from Musta's mouth engulfed the drilbur, entombing them beneath layer upon layer of barely movable earth (Sand Tomb). Musta continued the onslaught, filling the drilburs' holes and making it as hard as possible for them to follow. When they seemed properly impaired, Musta engulfed himself in blue flames and slammed against the walls of the tunnel (Dragon Rush). He then ran like his ass was on fire as the tunnel began to collapse behind him. 

The efforts of the Araquanid and Musta bought Oscar and Emma enough time to make it through the tunnel. Oscar emerged first, clamoring out of the hole. He quickly turned to help Emma out of the hole, Disco following close behind. It took a while, but soon the pokemon that defended against the drilbur emerged as well. Including Musta, who seemed quite out of breath. 

Oscar sighed, collapsing to his knees with exhaustion. They were in a forest a bit outside of Rustboro, well out of the way of danger.

Emma Wolfe

Oscar nodded, agreeing with his superior. He took one last deep breath before standing up. Musta and Disco were returned to their balls, it will be easier to travel without them. Rolling his neck, Oscar began to follow Emma.

His heart was still pounding from the experience. He was filthy and covered in scrapes and cuts, but he couldn't help but smile. The rush of executing a dangerous plan had left hom with a feeling of satisfaction, it almost felt like his tomb raiding days back in Alola. Oscar didn't speak to Emma, he knew she wouldn't respond. But with the success of this mission, he hoped that she didn't totally hate him anymore. Not that it mattered, he felt content regardless.

Emma Wolfe