Chapter Text

One thousand, eight hundred and ninety-eight days. 

It has been one thousand, eight hundred and ninety-eight painful days since Emmet has had a coffee. More than five years of caffeine and sugar withdrawal. More than five years since someone (Arceus) had decided to rip Gear Station and its trains out from its native habitat, and then plonked it in the middle of Mount Coronet. And! To make matters worse- thrown nearly two hundred years back in time .  

Hisui hasn’t even managed to sort out a proper coffee trade route. Emmet has been drinking tea for the last few years. Tea!

Dragons, help him. 

Or at least, Emmet wishes they would. But they won’t, because life is cruel and has decided that he’s a mountain man now (send help it’s cold up here). 

Oh well. Emmet will cope. He’s managed this long, he can struggle on a fair while more. Just as long as nothing goes wrong today, then he’ll-

“HELL IS REAL!”

Oh for Truth’s sake.

Emmet scurries out from his abode (train refurbished into a room, his childhood dream has finally come true), making his way for the outside. It’s early- far too early - for the shenanigans to be afoot, so whatever must be happening better scram before Emmet reaches them. 

Emmet manages to make his way to the main doors of Gear Station, nearing the source of an ever-growing murmur. He can’t quite make out the voices, but based on the strange quiet that had settled down in the station, Emmet assumes that most of- if not all- of the rail workers are outside. “Why is hell real? I am-” Emmet pushes the doors open, blinking as the light shines down at him, but as the blur clears- “ WHAT IN UNOVA’S NAME IS THAT! ?” 

‘That’ being the great big ole hole in the sky. Oh Dragons. There is a hole in the sky. Why is there a hole in the Reshiram-be-damned sky ?

Furze, apparently the source of the noise, nods sagely. “Hell.” he states, almost pleased. “That is hell.” 

It most certainly is not , Emmet thinks, but alright fellow train enjoyer. He’ll let Furze have that. Believe what you want man.

There’s a pause, and then the mischief begins. Emmet watches as a series of lightbulbs- or perhaps fairy lights- seem to blink in thought. One of those collective moments.

 Rameses has also decided to entertain Furze, dropping in with a mock philosophical accent (how did he do that), stroking a non-existent moustache. “ Hm … But you see, the underworld is meant to be below . That would be underground, not the sky.” 

Oh man we’re all entertaining this, aren’t we? Sure. Let’s go ahead.

“But-” Ah, Cameron. Nice to see you around lad. “The station’s underground? Below us.” Cameron’s voice grows wobbly, his eyes faintly glisten with unshed tears. It’s endearingly soggy-cat-coded.  “ Are we already in hell? ” He whispers, haunted and pale-faced. Oh no, Cameron, it’s all good. That’s just a huge hole that’s going to threaten to swallow up the world. You have worse things to be afraid of. 

“Well.” Emmet starts, “We are in the past. We confirmed that years ago.” Although, considering what happened to… It- Emmet fears he’s getting convinced by the nonsense . “So no. I am sure there is a-” reasonable explanation . Actually, is there?

The words die in his throat. The thought reroutes in an instant, making way for a brief fleeting consideration. Is there a reasonable answer for The Big Hole That May Or May Not Be A Portal To Dead Land? Probably not. But then again, Emmet’s uncle was the religious one in the family, not him.

 “We have Jackie.” Cloud interjects, a vengeful spark in her eye. Oh, is this over the incident from last week? “So maybe.”

“ Hey .”

Cloud carries on, taking advantage of the fact that HR is gone and also probably not even invented yet. “It’s true and you know it, you overstaying spiritual son-of-a-Gengar. Only demons eat someone else’s lunch!“

“ I already apologised for that! I thought they were community rice balls! ”

“ I labelled them! ”

“ They looked good..? ”

“ There are perfectly good berries you could’ve snacked on! ”

Oh, going for him. Yes. Get Jackie’s rear, Cloud. Kill. 

Emmet glances away at the food theft gang, instead turning his attention to Rameses, Isadore, Cameron (who has been inching away from the erupting argument). It’s far more philosophical on this side, Emmet thinks, as he watches them discuss the horror of life that is ghost types.

“ You know- If that’s the end, then it’s a bit colder than I expected. ”

“ We come from Nimbasa, a volcano is probably cold compared to that. ”

The sky keeps rumbling, and intermittently sparking with what doesn’t seem to be thunder.

“If that afterlife is real, then- Does this mean that Dusknoir really does eat souls? Do we need to warn the Coastlands people? Is my soul going to be eaten..?”

“ This is nonsense-“

“ Hush, Isadore. To answer your question though Cameron- they’re probably fine. Makes me wonder though, what does a soul taste like? ”

Jackie pauses, argument temporarily forgotten, and motions vaguely. “Barbecue.”

Hm. Don’t like that.

“ I don’t feel comfortable with how quickly you answered that, Jackie. ”

Emmet’s attention turns elsewhere. This is getting silly. A quick glance to the sky reveals that… Oh no. “Worse.” Emmet states, to no one in particular as his terrible, no-good coworkers argue about the semantics of the afterlife and food theft. “The hole is worse now. ”

No one pays attention.

Dragons, take him now .

Emmet really misses Ingo. He never really appreciated twin’s common sense when he should have. 

“ Hell. Hell. Hell -” Furze is still chanting, seemingly in his element. “ Hell. Hell- ”

The noise continues.

“ I will exorcise you. I even got a charm from that nice lady in Jubilife- ”

“You- Alright! I think it is time to leave.”

“ Steal my lunch again and you sure will be leaving, buddy. ”

Headache. 

Emmet is developing a headache from the ruckus. 

There is a hole in the sky and absolutely no solutions to said hole. Although, admittedly, Emmet isn’t sure how the station would fix that problem anyway, considering the gang is just formed of a bunch of tired engineers who had been forced to touch grass for the first time in years, then forced to keep doing so in order to not die. So, unfortunate. 

“ Huhubbbhahhhhahwuuh .“

Blubbering from Cameron. Rameses attempting to comfort the lad. 

Furze… Is still chanting.

Ugh . Emmet wants a nap. He hasn’t had nearly enough caffeine for this. Any longer and he’s going to cry. Massaging at his temples, Emmet decides that perhaps it’s time to go. This is a ‘tomorrow problem’. He turns on his heel, pivoting smoothly, and makes his way to the doors of the station. Return to the depot. Adios.

But, just as his hand wraps around the door’s handle, another shout rings out. 

“Someone just fell from the hole!”

Oh Shedinja, for rea l? Emmet glances back, just in time to spot a small, black dot tumbling out from the Menacing Sky Hole. Oh no, that surely violates a safety check or two. Rip.

“Good for them!” Cloud’s voice cuts through the bafflement. “Hope they live.” 

Emmet is pretty sure a fall from that height will probably not end in a happy way.

“If they came from the underworld they’re probably already gone.” That's Rameses, still mock thoughtful. "Jackie might have a friend at this point."

"Hey!"

Oh for Dragon's sake, we're still continuing that conversation?

Cloud simply hums. “Bad for them, then. In multiple ways."