Cascade

CH 1

So it makes sense, I'll tell you about a certain place before I talk about myself. There's a place, south-west of Hearthome, in the Sinnoh region… most people think it's the 'distribution hub' for a confectionary country, but that's just a disguise. This building is a government owned facility referred to as the S.U.M.M.I.T or Species Utilisation, Militarisation and Motivation for International Transcendence. Basically, they research and test methods of 'improving' individuals, most of which are unwilling captives… I signed up to the regime voluntarily, under the naive impression that I was going to make a difference in the world. My name is Cascade, I myself am a Floatzel… luckily I was pretty clever compared to the average specimen and I managed to get a place for myself in human society. Even though I only signed up for some basic training, they managed to talk me into a crazy scheme… If you didn't already know, my kind propel themselves through water using their two tails in a rapid-cork-screw motion… doing this we can out-run most sea vessels and easily beat Olympic-level swimmers. The people at S.U.M.M.I.T, by copying genes from a Ninetails, could give me another three… at first I was unsure, but when I considered the speeds I could reach… I gave in to their persuasion. After a long week of gene-altering tests, their words came true… I now had five tails. However, this was the last experiment they would ever perform; the government closed them down due to un-ethical methods of acquiring test subjects, it was the morning after this announcement when it all began…

"Cascade!... get up now!" a voice resounded… I opened my eyes and looked around… one of the human workers was by the door, a look of rage on his face… "what on earth is the problem?" I asked, jumping out of the bed and to my feet. "We've been closed down by the government, get your stuff and go… you bloody lucky we finished the tail experiment before the order was given!" I smiled "yeah, I don't like the thought of having three stumps again… I can't thank you guys enough…" he grumbled "I don't freaking care; I just lost my job, so get your smug ass out of here before I get punchy…" I crept past him, trying not to agitate him any more… as I walked out, I turned around again and asked "what are you doing with the others here?" he laughed "those lot? We're going to give them up to adoption; you paid us so we're letting you go of your own choice…" I nodded "what about Natalie?" (Natalie was the Ninetails they copied genes from; I felt I owed her one) "That waste of space?" he said, amazed that I cared for her, seeing as she was a 'feral', or a non-bipedal being… "she's back in her room, she can rot for all I care… I just need to wake up the others… I can't believe this…" he said, and stormed off, stamping his feet as he did. I headed down the corridor to the room she was in… I noticed with revulsion that they had chained her to the wall… "wh… who are you?" she said, scarcely over a whisper… I felt incredibly guilty, as I was the sole reason she was taken to this place to begin with. "I'm Cascade… look, I'm really sorry about what's been happening to you, and I've come to help you out… the place is being evacuated after a government closure" she suddenly looked scared "but… I'm chained down here!" I nodded "yes, I'm here to fix that…" I looked around… there was nothing in the room I could use to help her escape… I checked outside and found a fire-emergency tools cupboard, which had a large axe stashed away at the back… it was locked, but I had no time for fussing around and so I just punched the glass and broke it… luckily, I didn't cut my hand in the process.

I carried it back into the cell "Natalie, I need you to stand still…" she nodded nervously as I hefted it above my head and brought it down on the chain… I managed to sunder it in two strikes, and I tossed the axe aside "okay, you're free now…" as I went to go, she yelled out "I can't escape alone!... I don't know how to get out!" I sighed "fine… tag along…" she smiled, staying close by. I made my way through the mass of panicked and frustrated employees to the express elevator… much of the facility was underground, so we needed to get to the surface level. The door opened, and we managed to get inside alone… the doors closed and I pushed the 'ground floor' button, sighing with relief. "Well… this is abrupt…" I said, grinning… she asked me "you're the one they copied my genes for aren't you?" I nodded "yeah… thanks to you I now have another three tails… if I had known you would be captured and confined because of it, I would have thought twice…" she bowed her head "it's alright… I was foolish enough to be caught by them, I deserved it…" I shook my head "that's not the way to think about it, it's not your fault… look, soon we'll be free… you can stay in my flat, I'm sure you'll be fine"

She nodded "okay… thank you…" the elevator stopped and we disembarked, the door was just ahead of us. The second I walked out, a voice sounded "Cascade… where do you think you're going?" I turned around and looked up to the second floor to see the president of the S.U.M.M.I.T project, Mr. Steve-Wellingham. "I'm getting out of here, before this place gets turned over to the government…" he laughed "oh no your not… you are property of us now… you are our weapon!" I smiled "well… I love your evil speech and all, but you are in no position to stop me, so I'll be leaving now" he slammed his fist on the balcony "fool! You'll pay for this insubordination!" I laughed "keep dreaming doc" and pushed open the double-doors… fresh air… it had been a long time… I had been kept in that facility for a whole month, it was great to be free again. "Right, let's get moving… it's just a few miles south of here" I said to her, she asked "which way is south?" I paused… which way was south?... I had completely lost all sense of direction. "Right… well, we'll just head along the side of that main road, hopefully that has a sign post we can look at…" I said, pointing to a highway nearby, she nodded and we set off. I noted with some surprise that the government officials were arriving in combat helicopters with a large armed guard… thank goodness I had got out when I did… "so, Cascade… what were you doing in there?" Natalie asked me… "I thought they were a nice sounding group, so I signed up to their 'make the world a better place' thing… all I wanted was basic training, but when they offered me the opportunity to increase my swimming ability by two and a half times, I couldn't resist…" she sighed "well… it's all good for you… but it ended up with me being caged in there for three weeks…" I hung my head "look, I'm really sorry, I had no idea… this is me paying you back though…" we reached the highway and stared walking along it… I remembered that there is a mountain range to the east of where I was… and it's highest peak was north of my position… so from that I determined where south was and started heading that way.

"I'm curious… when you swim; do your tails actually spin all the way around like a propeller?" I laughed "ahh… common misconception that one… they do spin, but they kind of tie up as they do, then they start going the other way until they tie up like that… and the process repeats itself really fast… so it may look like they're a propeller, they aren't… I mean come on, it's not biologically possible for them to do that is it?" she nodded "I guess… but it must be hard to do it with five, right?" I shrugged "well, it was at first… but I'm used to it now… and boy is it fast…" she smirked "pity your too chubby to be fast on land" I protested "what… hey!... come on now… I'm not fat… this is… just… uhh… oh all right, you got me, I'm a little overweight… so what? It's not like I'm obese or something!" she laughed "oh don't worry… I'm just playing with you…" I looked up to see the sun was setting… it was in our best interests that we got home soon, but my home was at least two miles off.

"Wait… how fast do you run?" I said to her, and she raised an eyebrow "faster than you, why?" I blushed and kicked at the dirt lightly "can… can I ride you?" there was a long, awkward silence… she rolled her eyes "go on then, just don't break my spine" I climbed onto her back "don't worry… now, let's get going…" to my satisfaction, she did indeed run pretty fast, and we managed to get back to my flat before sundown. "Good going, Natalie… come on inside, be my guest" I said, opening the door and beckoning her inside… she crept in gingerly and sat down next to the sofa "you know… you can lay on that, I don't mind" I said… she looked me in the eyes "r… really?... even though I'm… on all fours and that?" I smiled "hell, I'm probably more dirty than you are, knock yourself out!"

She climbed on to it and splayed out across the seat, yawning… I couldn't help but notice how graceful she was, and she had a kind of majestic beauty to her. I sat down beside her and exhaled loudly "well… I'm impressed, we have fourteen tails between us…" she laughed "yeah, I know… only difference is I got mine naturally…" I cringed "ouch, that's harsh… so anyway, what were you doing before… uhhhm… you got caught?" she looked at the floor solemnly "I was looking for a friend… he said he'd meet me in the woods nearby that horrible facility… but before I knew it I had been shot with some kind of tranquiliser… then I woke up inside that cell, the only contact I ever got was them bringing me food, and then when the doctor came to get a blood sample from me…" I put my hand on her back and smiled "don't worry… your safe here with me… you can stay as long as you like, I get paid more than enough…" she asked me "what do you get paid for?" I grinned with pride "I'm a life guard… even though I'm posted on the most dangerous… and popular stretch of coastline, not a single fatality has occurred on my watch" she nodded "impressive…" I touched my new tails and laughed "the best bit is, with these beauties, I'll be quick enough to save people before they even get in trouble… they already pay me loads for working only two days a week, now I'll probably get a pay rise!" she smiled "I'm glad your happy… but… well…" she seemed nervous… I asked her "what's the matter?" she smiled meekly and shook her head "it's nothing… but… I'm worried I might get hurt… I mean, you are naturally a being of water, and I am of flame…" I patted her again "oh don't worry, it's not like I'll try to harm you… you might get a little wet every now and then, but nothing more…"

I reached out for the TV controller and switched it on… I was greeted with the news, reporting on the S.U.M.M.I.T incident… "Breaking news, Event corporation had to surrender it's largest facility to the government today after claims of un-ethical treatment of test subjects, shortly before the take-over, they released many of their subjects into the surrounding area, here is footage of he scene…" the screen showed a birds-eye view of the doors opening, I laughed aloud as I saw myself stride fourth "oh yeah, I'm on the news!... you are too, look!" the reporter droned on; "this person was identified as Cascade, the Floatzel life-guard of the west coast, in the video you can see he has five tails, this is believed to be the result of one of Event's many experiments" I blinked in amazement… I had no idea they'd have that much coverage of me. "You definitely weren't lying when you told me about yourself…" she said, licking the back of her paws… "well, I should hope you trust me anyway…" she nodded "I will in time… tell me, how old are you?" I turned the TV off, saying "sixteen… I appreciate I'm a bit young to be participating in biological experiments, but I am absolutely thrilled with the result…" she smiled "I can see that… but why didn't they give you, you know, nine tails?" I sighed "I asked them that… they said any more than five would induce severe fatigue in me and I'd get worn out straight