This is a project I have been working on for a little over a year now, but never actually decided to write it. As many of you may see, this is a reboot of The Blade and the Embrace. However, keep in mind, this does not mean that I have abandoned The Blade and the Embrace. That story will continue to be worked on until completion and will be considered the canon version of the story. This story serves as a reimagining of the original in the way I originally intended it to be written. Now that I have a far better grasp in writing and have changed my style since the start of the original, I felt it necessary for me to write this version. Keep in mind, unlike the original, I will not be accepting any OCs and most suggestions probably will not be considered if it messes with the story. This is my original vision for the story and I will leave it as it is until it is finished. Note, this story will not be as long as the original The Blade and the Embrace and it will be more adventure and action oriented, rather than fantasy driven like the original. There will still be fantasy and science fiction elements in this story, but they will not be as in your face as before. So if you've already read the original The Blade and the Embrace, then it's okay to read this one as much of the story will be changed and new characters will come into the fold. Also, for all those wondering, Epsilon will be one of the characters that this story will follow. She was my favorite Project and I felt she needed her time in the spotlight. However, feel free to continue reading The Blade and the Embrace, as that will be my primary story to work on. This serves as a means of having a creative alternative. That being said, I might continue my other stories if the time allows. The writing juices are returning and I have to take advantage of it now or I will never get this done. Well, enjoy guys and feel free to leave a review with any comments, concerns, or suggestions you may have about this story or any of my other stories. Enjoy!
"speech"= talking out loud or conversing
*speech*= thoughts
speech= Pokemon moves
speech= telepathic communication
"Damn! This day was tough." Epsilon said to herself. The Zoroark attempting to relax after an entire day of dealing with the others of her team.
She was a Project, an augmented Pokemon created by Team Rocket. Her entire life revolved around carrying out orders and fighting on behalf of the organization's leader, Giovanni. How she hated that man and his -to her eye- visage. Everything about him just irritated her to no end, but she had grown comfortable where she was.
Epsilon rested her head down on her pillow and reached back to pat on something, which quickly began to stir from her touch. "Rough day, I take it?" A voice asked.
That voice, one that always made her feel better, the voice of her mate, Omicron -or Jack, as she would lovingly call him. A Project like her, but a Luxray in species, the two cherished what time they could spend together away from the eyes of the rest of the Projects and Team Rocket in general.
"Yes. You would not believe how much of their crap I had to put up with. To start off, Giovanni sends me to inspect the labs, as if that was my responsibility. The labs is Lambda's domain, the crazy bitch can deal with her own crap. After that, Iota made me go through combat training, like if I've never been in a fight in my life. Then I was sent on so many other menial tasks that just served to test my patience." Epsilon ranted, letting her frustrations loose in what could be described as word vomit, while Omicron sat there to listen to all of it.
Omicron nuzzled the side of her face, which caused her to stop talking, "Relax, love. It'll come to pass. Besides, we're here to rest now after a long day. We'll worry about work when we're at work. For now, we focus on relaxation and each other."
Epsilon smiled, knowing that her mate usually had a means of making her let loose the trappings of a Project and allow herself to act like a normal -or somewhat normal- Pokemon. She rested her head on his soft fur and snuggled up to him, in an attempt to get comfortable. At least for now, she could be in bliss.
All of the sudden, there was a rumbling sound in the distance. Perhaps it was a small earthquake? Those did tend to happen at certain points of the year in Kanto region. A loud explosion soon followed the rumbling, prompting Epsilon and Omicron to jump to their feet. This was definitely no earthquake, compounded by the fact that the alarms were blaring.
The security announcers simply repeated "Intruder or intruders detected on the third level of the complex, West Wing." That was one only one floor above them, so they could arrive before the other Projects. Still, who would be so brazen to attack a facility full of Projects? Another explosion soon rang out, causing the ceiling down the hall to collapse.
Epsilon and Omicron poked their heads of their rooms to assess the destruction around them. In a matter of moments, whomever was attacking left a scene of destruction in their wake and many bodies trapped under rubble. Omicron looked upwards and stared at the ceiling, attempting to use his powers to see through the floor and to the higher level. What he could make out was a line of bodies, all of which being Team Rocket personnel. However, he could not see who had killed them.
"Jack, let's hurry and see what the hell is going on!" Epsilon called out to get Omicron to follow her. Omicron did so, following her to where the flood had collapsed and both cleared the jump to the next level.
Epsilon looked around and said, "Damn! Whoever is doing this seems to be taking no prisoners."
"Not to mention, they appear to have little worry about us showing up. They just ran in head first into enemy territory like a fool. Obviously, they have something planned." Omicron added.
Epsilon nodded, knowing that one of three possibilities could be at play at the moment. One, there was one attacker that appears to have planned this assault poorly. Two, there was one attacker that was either anticipating their arrival and has set a trap. Finally, there was the possibility of this being an attack by a larger group, which would be far more plausible.
The two ran through the wreckage and arrived at two large metal doors that were ripped from their hinges from what could be described as a powerful blast. Epsilon examined the twisted metal and could see that it was still hot from whatever blasted its way through them. They had to be close, she told herself. As the thought crossed her mind, another explosion rang off from nearby, engulfing the nearby area in a thick cloud of smoke.
Undeterred, the two Projects charged into the smoke and through a maze of hallways. Everything was a mess, with bodies and walls obliterated after every couple meters. Whomever was going through there, was intent of leaving as few survivors as possible. They continued on, until they saw the blast doors to the laboratory wing of the facility in the same state as the doors from before.
Epsilon could then hear a voice, the voice of Lambda say, "Adorable, you thought you could come and destroy this place by yourself? What are you here for? My research? You'll have quite the fight on your hands if you want to get close to it." It was clear that the Absol was having a conversation with one intruder. Epsilon knew that this was her chance to catch us, as Lambda could definitely hold her own and keep the intruder in place until she got there.
Both Projects rushed, seeing more explosions happening in the distance, indicating a battle was taking place between Lambda and the intruder. Epsilon could take this away from the situation, the intruder was powerful if he was still surviving through waves of Team Rocket grunts, Pokemon, and a Project.
They soon arrived to the central area of the labs and saw Lambda swinging her chained sickles towards a cloaked figure. They then saw as the cloaked intruder caught one of the sickles and pulled Lambda towards them, with them punching her to the ground as she arrived. At this Epsilon jumped from the elevated position that she was in, to save her comrade. She covered her claws with dark energy, in a Night Slash, and slashed at the intruder. The intruder vanished in the blink of an eye before she could make contact with them, leaving her to stumble as she attempted to stop her motion. She then saw as the intruder reappeared and kicked her back, but, thankfully, she was caught by Omicron. Omicron set her on her feet and charged towards the intruder, attempting to hit him with a Wild Charge. The intruder vanished again, causing Omicron to crash into a wall, but it appeared not to bother him, as he pulled himself out of the bent metal of the wall.
The intruder reappeared across from them and shook his head, as if to taunt the group. Lambda regained her composure and stood from her lying position, shaken and unsteady, but very much aware.
Lambda asked, "Who the hell is this guy? They fight just as well as we do and they seem to know where they're going." She growled and yelled at the intruder, "Talk, you imbecile! What's the point in hiding your identity?" The intruder scoffed and adjusted the gloves on their hands, soon balling both into tight fists.
"I don't think you're going to get anything out of them. They came here for a fight. So let's indulge them. Three on one, I like those odds."
(Battle Music: Simone from Nier Automata)
The team of Projects quickly charged towards the intruder, attempting to quickly overwhelm them with their advantage in numbers. The intruder again vanished, leaving them to attempt to turn around. Once they did, they saw a large lab table flying through the air towards them. Epsilon prepared her claws and jumped towards the table, slicing it in two and avoiding taking damage. However, when she cleared it, she saw the intruder directly behind the table, grabbing her claws and throwing her down onto her allies.
The intruder landed on the ground and patted his hands to get rid of any dust, in an effort to taunt them once more. Lambda growled and pushed Epsilon off of her. She grabbed her sickles in her mouth and suddenly began to glow. Her body began to change shape, losing the quadrupedal shape of an Absol and taking a more humanoid shape. The light then vanished to reveal Lambda's human form, a gift from years of genetic research performed on the Projects with a myriad of generic materials. She held up the sickles and threw one at the intruder, using the chain to manipulate its trajectory.
The intruder ducked under the attack and grabbed the chain as the sickle flew overhead. Lambda glared and threw the other sickle, this one wrapping the chain around the intruder's hand. She smirked and handed the chain to Omicron, who caught it in his mouth. He sent electricity coursing through the chain, until it reached the intruder, but Omicron used his enhanced vision to see that the energy stopped just before it touched the intruder. Irritated, he yanked on the chain and sent the intruder crashing onto a wall. The intruder groaned from the blow, but recovered and unwrapped the chain from their arm.
Omicron spat out the chain and relayed to the others, "They stopped my electricity from reaching them. So either this guy can manipulate the current or he has psychic abilities."
Epsilon then reasoned, "That or their gloves are made out of specialized rubber."
"Well, there's that. So they came prepared for this. They knew they would be facing me. I want to see their face."
The intruder sighed and spoke, "How about I finish this?"
He disappeared and reappeared in the air, next to Lambda. He kneed her in the face, vanished again, reappeared and kicked Epsilon on the side of the face, vanished, reappeared once more, grabbing Omicron's head and driving their knee onto the Luxray's skull. All three fell to the ground after the combination of attacks, which happened in mere seconds.
The intruder looked them over and said, "You are all dogs that belong to Giovanni. Now make like good dogs and play dead, why don't you."
Epsilon lifted her head, opening her eyes to see the world blurry around her. The hit must have been harder than she had expected. She saw the intruder opened container that was on the far wall, taking out a syringe with a black serum. The intruder took a deep breath before driving the needle into their arm and injecting the substance into their veins. The intruder dropped the syringe and staggered for a moment, releasing groans of immense discomfort for a moment. They leaned against the wall for a moment to keep their balance, before gathering their bearings and righting themselves.
Epsilon crawled for a moment, until she reached a chair. She used it to help her stand on her feet once more. She was still shaken from the blow and her left ear was ringing, but she knew that she had to take on the intruder while her comrades recovered and backup arrived.
Epsilon growled and reached to the ground. A pool of darkness suddenly appeared and the body of a scythe began to rise from the darkness, until the entire weapon was in her hands. "Hey!" She called out, "How about you face me one-on-one? I have my weapon now and I know that you use Accelerated Movement to appear and disappear. I can do that too, asshole!"
The intruder laughed and cracked their knuckles, "That eager to die? Very well, be my guest. Come at me with all you've got. However, I already got what I came here for. So I don't have much time to play with you and your littermates."
Epsilon scoffed and, this time, she vanished. She reappeared behind the intruder, intent to take them by surprise and cleave them in two. The intruder spun around and caught the scythe by the body; the blade narrowly missing the back of their neck. The intruder suddenly headbutt her and blasted her away with a surprising ball of energy. Epsilon skid on the ground and jumped to her feet. She saw the intruder look at her scythe before looking at her and throwing it at her. Epsilon braced herself and shot her hand forward, expertly catching the weapon in her hand.
Epsilon growled in anger and lunged forward, swinging her scythe at the intruder. The intruder ducked under the blade and slid under her to avoid another attack. The intruder placed their hand on the ground and the floor suddenly shot upwards in a pillar and launched Epsilon onto the ceiling. Epsilon crashed onto the ceiling, but quickly recovered and vanished. The intruder saw this and also vanished. Epsilon reappeared and turned to see the intruder reappear on the other end of the room.
Epsilon sighed and said, "You're obviously familiar with my fighting style. So it would seem that I can't touch you without switching it up." Her ears suddenly twitched, which caused a smile to appear on her face, "But I guess I have no need to continue this."
The intruder looked around and saw glowing spots on the ground around them. A pillar of fire then shot out of the ground around themselves. The intruder jumped out of one of the pillars, with their cloak catching fire. The intruder growled and ripped off the cloak, revealing their identity to Epsilon.
Epsilon's eyes shot open before resting in a low scowl at who was before her. She looked at them and saw a long haired Gallade. The Gallade reached back and undid the ponytail that his hair was tied into, letting his hair fall over his face before him flipping it behind his head.
"ALPHA!" Epsilon yelled out, letting her anger show. "Why didn't I suspect it was you!?"
"The name's Rick." Rick looked up to the raised area and saw a Houndoom glaring at him, "Looks like I'm out of time. I came here to get the Spacial Transport Serum."
Epsilon suddenly understood what he was there for, "You came here for the ability to create portals?"
Rick chuckled and a black portal appeared behind him, "Yep. I have a quest and no means of getting to where I need to. This should help."
"And who says that you're leaving?"
"Look at the walls."
Epsilon looked around and saw what appeared to be devices attached to each wall. She yelled and lunged towards Rick, who smirked and jumped into the portal, as the devices exploded in the lab. He then closed the portal, before Epsilon could cross.
Rick chuckled and looked around to see where he was. It was definitely cold and everything was covered in snow. Rick sighed and said, "So it worked. It's definitely Sinnoh. Master, I'll get this quest done for you, as I have promised." He took a step and fell to one knee in pain. Something was lodged in his side. He reached over and grabbed hold of something that was sticking out of his flesh. With a pained heave, he pulled out the object, a dagger. "Damn! Iota got me. I knew I wouldn't get off that easily. Damn that Houndoom! Better keep moving and find some shelter. I need to treat this fast."
Rick stood back up and staggered through the snow, hoping to find shelter soon. The pain was incredible, with each step causing a new wave of pain. While his legs moves as they have always have, he knew that the loss of blood would get in his way soon and he would perish in this frozen wasteland without treatment.
For about half an hour, he walked through the tundra, looking around for anything to help him. His psychic powers could grant him a couple more minutes of security, as it held the wound close, but his energy would soon run dry.
He looked out in the distance, to see if he could spot anything. Thankfully, the snow had stopped falling, which did not allow his view to be obstructed, but night would soon be upon him and that would be a death sentence. He kept looking, where, to his relief, he saw a cabin on top of a nearby hill. Wasting no time, Rick trekked through the snow, thanking whatever deity was listening for this large stroke of luck.
Rick soon came onto the porch of the cabin and knocked on the door. He waited for a moment, but there was no response. He walked over to a window, wondering if the cabin was unattended. He saw all the lights were off and could not sense a single soul within the cabin. Taking this into account, he walked back over to the door and used his powers to unlock the cabin. Rick closed the door and staggered into the living room of the cabin. He noticed a fireplace and a bathroom nearby. All of which he could use.
He walked over to the bathroom and looked around for any medicine, bandages, or a first-aid kit. He opened the medicine cabinet and found a roll of gauze and rubbing alcohol. For now that would have to work. Rick took the rubbing alcohol and prepare himself before splashing the wound with the alcohol. It burned like hell, but for Rick, this was nothing in terms of pain. He wrapped the gauze around his abdomen, to stop the bleeding. Rick released his psychic hold on the wound and walked let the gauze soak up some of the blood. Rick knew that it would not completely stop the bleeding, but it would keep him alive for the time being.
He made his way back to the fireplace and looked around for firewood, which was stacked next to it. He grabbed a few logs and placed them in the fireplace and used energy from a Fire Punch to light the fire. The warmth was welcoming after the journey through the tundra. He sat down in front of the fire and took the chance to regain some body heat. He placed another log in the fire to increase the heat and laughed at his continued luck. Rick looked to the side and found a fire poker. He sighed and placed the tip in the fire, waiting a for a few minutes before taking the hot poker out of the flames. He undid the gauze from his abdomen and took a deep breath. He then placed the red hot poker onto the wound, cauterizing it in a painful display that caused him to yell in agony. The room filled with the smell of burning flesh and Rick pulled the poker off his skin, throwing it to the side. He panted and laid down, allowing himself to pass out in front of the warmth of the fire.
[Elsewhere]
The clash of blades, a choir of rings and grinding sounds that any warrior would be familiar with. This was the sound of a battle between two figures in battlegarb. They fought in the center of an empty arena. Both were clearly Pokemon one a Gardevoir and the other a Lopunny. The Gardevoir held a sword in her hand and the Lopunny wielded two daggered.
(Battle Music: Sword of the Promised Victory from Fate/Zero)
The Lopunny smiled and charged forward, her hands becoming covered in flames of a Fire Punch, coating her fists and blades. The Gardevoir waited until she got close and knocked her back with a Psychic. The Gardevoir took this chance and lunged forward to attack. The Lopunny jumped to her feet and hopped onto the blade of the sword, knocking it down and sinking it into the ground. The Gardevoir tried to pull it out, but it was too heavy with the Lopunny on it. The Lopunny smiled once more and stabbed forward with one of the daggers. The Gardevoir let go of her sword and caught the Lopunny's hand and stopped the dagger from reaching her. She then spun around and threw the Lopunny off of her sword. The Gardevoir pulled her sword out of the ground and fired off a Will-O-Wisp to burn her opponent.
The Lopunny groaned as she sat up and saw a blue fireball heading her way. She rolled out of the way to avoid the burn and turned to face the Gardevoir. She stood up and readied her daggers, for an attack. The two stood apart, eyeing one another for a moment, before the Lopunny took off into a sprint towards her opponent. The Gardevoir lifted her sword and swung at the Lopunny. The Lopunny quickly went into a slide under the Gardevoir and fired off an Ice Beam at her feet, rooting the Gardevoir in place.
The Gardevoir yelped at the cold sensation but quickly realized that she was unable to move. The Lopunny chuckled and lunged forward with a dagger, to stab her opponent. The Gardevoir looked back and swung her blade behind her; narrowly avoiding taking a hit. The Lopunny tried and tried again to reach her target, but the Gardevoir kept one blocking each hit as best as she could. The Gardevoir soon reached a hand backwards and blasted the Lopunny back once more with a Psychic.
The Gardevoir took the time she had bought herself and used the blade to break the ice around her feet. She then spun around to see the Lopunny throw one of her daggers towards her. The Gardevoir rolled on the ground to avoid it and came up swinging at the charging Lopunny. The Lopunny ducked under the blow and kicked the Gardevoir, knocking her onto her back. The Lopunny jumped into the air and came down, trying to hit her with a High Jump Kick. The Gardevoir rolled out of the way and jumped back to avoid a stab from the Lopunny.
The Lopunny retrieved her thrown dagger and looked at the Gardevoir. She nodded once and charged once more, hoping to finally end this fight between the two of them. The Gardevoir also charged meeting the Lopunny with the two clashing their weapons in the center of the arena. The two then suddenly fell on their behinds, panting from exhausting, obviously having been at it for a long time now.
The sound of audible clapping could be heard from the area and the two looked out and saw a well decorated Gallade and Gardevoir clapping at them.
The Gallade stood and said, "Bravo! Honorable display from the two of you, my daughters. You two have become fine warriors in my eyes." He teleported towards them and helped pick them up. "I don't know why you two insisted on combat training, but I have to admit, it paid off."
The Gardevoir took a moment to catch her breath and said, "There was no winner, dad."
"There doesn't have to be Alara. I just wanted to see you two excel together and you did. You two are pretty much evenly matched. You have the advantage in mid-range while your sister has the advantage in close quarters combat." He turned to the Lopunny and said, "Good job keeping her on her toes, Amber."
The Lopunny smiled wide and said, "I got close to getting her many times, dad."
"Yes, but she managed to avoid injury as you have as well. Now, both of you go rest." He looked at the Gardevoir and said, "It's only a few days before your big day. You have some decisions to make, Alara."
Alara nodded and walked off with Amber, the two wanting nothing more but to wash up and relax.
The Gardevoir in the stands waved at them as they left and then teleported down to the Gallade, "You know, dear, Alara won't pick what is easiest. Are you sure you're ready for whatever decision she makes?"
The Gallade nodded and said, "I trust our daughter. Whatever decision she makes, I'll be behind her one hundred percent. Whether she chooses to go out into the world or find a mate, it's her decision. She'll be twenty one, the age of a woman in our society. I just hope she's ready for her own decision. If she journeys, then let her find her way and may Arceus bring her back home safely. If she chooses a prospective mate, then let her choose a strong but kind soul."
"You know full well which one she's picking."
The Gallade laughed, "Yes, but would you have it any other way?"
"I guess not."
[Alara and Amber]
Alara and Amber walked into a preparation room within the arena, placing their borrowed weapons back on the weapon racks. Amber collapsed onto a chair that was there and said, "Man, you sure don't know how to give up."
Alara chuckled as she sat in the chair adjacent to Amber's, "Same can be said about you. Good fight."
"You two. So...um...are you ready for Thursday? It's your big day and I want to party. Arceus knows I need a good party to get my mind off of my studies."
"I can't say that I'm truly ready. I've been dreading having to make this decision since I was ten. Both options are great and all, but I only get one and both decide my future here. I have to pick carefully."
Amber shrugged, "You have a few days to choose. Besides, it's just tradition. I don't think anyone is actually expecting you to commit to a mate."
"You quickly assume that I'm going to just pick a mate and be done with it. It's not that easy."
Amber shook her head at Alara's comment, "I didn't say it was easy. You have to pick from a sea of eligible bachelors, all of which are chopping at the bit to be chosen by you. It's either that or go on an adventure to prove your worth. No fool has done that in a long time, especially in our family."
"Yet I have the option. Like I said, both option are great and all. I just hate having to choose."
"Whatever you choose, know I have your back. That's what sisters are for."
Alara smiled at that and pulled Amber into a big hug, "Thanks, sis!"
"You're welcome. Now, let's go home and take a bath. A full day of sparring has me smelling like a Garbodor."
I hope you guys enjoy that. I'll keep this going, as I have most of the chapters planned and I love using my original vision. Seriously, I had to go through dozens of old journals and discarded ideas to bring this story to you guys. It may be the same story told in a different way, but boy am I excited to write it. I want you guys to tell me about your experience reading it. so feel free to leave a review or message if you want. Just remember to keep everything respectful in the reviews and messages. I love interacting with you guys and, now with school ending for a few weeks, I might crank these out a bit faster than usual. Well, see you guys next time.