-Michayla-
The morning sun blinded me as it shot through the windows. My eyes stung as I blinked them open. It was a rough night and I wasn't nearly ready to be awake. Groaning, I tossed to my side as I pulled the blanker it over my head. However I couldn't get comfortable again. I guess I was being forced awake then.
The scent of rust and iron wafted through the air as I wrinkled my nose. It wasn't at all a pleasant smell, and I wondered if they were up again doing weird experiments on that machine, or so they said. I was talking more about Cyrus of course, his own determination would be the fall of him. Giovanni just paced back and forth, always watching or trying to look busy. I wondered if he even knew what he was doing sometimes.
I decided to go and check on Cyrus, and sure enough he was still there working away. My head pounded as he glanced up at me and then quickly back to the machine. His eyes were darker than the night, and he looked as if he would pass out at any moment. A sneaking sense of pity crawled up my spine, but quickly dissipated as I saw Giovanni trot to his side with a blank stare. The Team Rocket leader gave me a suspicious glare as if he were thinking I was going to mess something up.
"What's up?" I asked as I awkwardly stepped to the side.
Giovanni answered before Cyrus could, "Simple things, just running some tests."
I continued to pester them, "Why in the world would you need to do that? Look where you are!"
"Well in that sense, why not?" Cyrus piped in as he flung back from his work for a moment.
Gazing deeply into Cyrus' eyes, I saw a small amount of guilt. I didn't worry too much about it, but it sure did make me feel a bit uneasy. What in the world was he hiding? Trying not to dwell on the details, I smiled at them both as positively as I could. Although on the inside I felt like I was dying from this weird atmosphere.
"I would really like to get my first Pokemon!" I admitted with a grin.
Cyrus stopped his work for the first time all morning and walked towards me. As he stood in front of me, it became even more apparent at how tired he really was. His entire body was shaking and his balance swayed from time to time as he stared at me. I felt intensely worried for him, but definitely not because I liked him or anything. I just didn't like to see other people suffer, although that's just what I told myself.
Cyrus claimed weakly, "You're absolutely right, I think it's time for a break hm?"
Giovanni shrugged as he spoke, "Whatever, have it your way."
"Oh cool where are we going to go?" I squealed out in glee.
"I think I know a place." Cyrus replied with a blank tone.
Moments after he spoke he quickly handed me a fishing pole, and I glared at him sarcastically. However he was not kidding, we went out far into the ocean on a dinky boat to catch something. The salt water was sticky in the air, and fog lingered atop of the waters surface. The two of them sat in the boat with me, but only Giovanni was actually paying attention. Cyrus on the other hand was passed out with his head leaning halfway off the boat. The dark side in me so badly wanted to shove him into the ocean, but at the same time I held back that nerve.
Hours passed and there wasn't even the slightest nibble. Giovanni by now was bored and spaced out as he glared out over the murky water. It wouldn't even be possible to know what was down there, it was almost as if the water was pitch black. However this made me even more excited, I wondered if there would be a super rare Pokemon down there. So as always I waited patiently with the hook lying in the water, motionless, boring, and thoughtless.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, something yanked hard on my line and my body filled with an excited fire. My eyes lit up with glee as I squealed, awaking Cyrus and disturbing Giovanni's moment of peace. I reeled back as fast as I could, but the line kept getting further and further away. The engagement in the struggle for the line suddenly interested both Cyrus and Giovanni as they observed in awe. I pulled with all of my energy and it began to let up.
"This has to be a big one!" I screeched in excitement.
With one more swift reel it flew out of the ocean, a shadow casting over us. I was so excited as it fell down into my arms. It was a Feebas. A Feebas! My heart dropped into my stomach in disappointment upon seeing the ugly fish flopping in my arms. However Cyrus and Giovanni burst out into laughter from my despaired expression. In rage I smacked the two of them with the fish, leaving large red marks across their faces. The Feebas however remained unharmed, maybe this little guy wasn't so bad after all?
I held the feebas into the air like that of the monkey in the lion king movies and declared in a loud, empowering voice. "You shall be Bob!"
Cyrus looked as if he were to faint as he explained, "That's a female!"
"Oh" I murmured sheepishly.
Giovanni howled with laughter as my face grew horribly red, how embarrassing! I pulled the Feebas close to my chest and began to think of a better more suiting name. Suddenly it came to me.
"Then I shall name her Divinity!" I yelled loudly, "Do either of you have a pokeball I can have?"
Cyrus nodded as he handed a plain red ball to me, "Here."
Divinity the Feebas safely and quite happily went into the pokeball. I held the pokeball close to my heart as I thought about how eventually she would be a beautiful Milotic. In the mean time she could slap her enemies perfectly, and that's all that mattered. With a semi-pleasant ending we returned to the lab that Cyrus called his home. The same metallic stench rushed to my nostrils as I entered, it was still just as gross. However somehow it felt nice to finally be able to relax. My makeshift bed was far more comfortable than that boat.
I flopped onto my little bed and rolled down for a nap. However before I had the chance to get any rest, Cyrus had interrupted me with a quiet cough. I gazed up to him to see a laptop like machine in his hands with video phone calls of my friends. I smiled and took it from him as he walked away. Vicki, Britney, and Aidee all waved from their different places. However Vicki and Britney were together as always.
"Hey guys!" I greeted them with a grin.
Vicki was the first to talk, "Where were you all day? We were all here before you discussing our pokemon!"
"I got a Tepig! His name is Oinkers!" Britney screeched as she held him up, "Say hi, Oinkers!
Aidee quickly cut in after her, "This my Litleo that Lysandre gave me. His name is Leonardo!"
Vicki held up her Zorua, "This is Ebony!"
"So what's your first pokemon?" Aidee asked me with a bright smile.
They all had such cool starting pokemon, and I felt that I came out short with just a mere Feebas. However that was no way to think about my first companion, I sighed in deeply and sucked in my pride. I let out Divinity and showed it to them all as they hung there speechless for a few moments. Vicki looked as if she were about to laugh, but held it in as best she could.
Britney was the first to say something, "Well it's cute, and you know what? That little one is going to be a Milotic someday!"
Vicki agreed while chuckling, "Yeah, she's right."
In my head I was silently thanking Britney for the save and I began to converse with them about their lives. It seemed to be that everyone was having a wonderful time, but I really wanted to be there with all of them as well. Eventually we'd all be together again though, and I tried to think in a positive way. However regardless of those thoughts I was brought back to how odd Cyrus was acting.
"Hey guys I actually do have something interesting that happened." I piped up over the talking.
Vicki asked, "What is it?"
I sucked in my gut and spilled the news, "Cyrus and Giovanni have been acting rather strangely, and Cyrus won't even stop with the portal we used to get here. He's been working on it all day and night, but I don't know for what reason. He hasn't been sleeping at all!"
Britney's expression changed to a horrified glare, but instead of saying anything she looked the other way. It was obvious that she either knew something, or was noticing the same odd behavior. However judging on her face I didn't want to push it too far. Instead I waited for someone else to speak, maybe she would loosen up and come clean?
"That's really weird." Aidee claimed, not knowing what else to say.
Vicki piped up as well, "They must be up to no good! You need to check it out Michayla!"
I agreed as I stared at Britney avoiding the conversation, "I think so too. I'll check it out, but I can't promise to come up with anything."
"It's okay if you don't Michayla. Maybe it's just nothing?" Aidee consoled me, "Besides there's no point in judging without evidence first."
Britney finally spoke up, "It's close to bed time guys. I think I'm going to turn in!"
Vicki shrugged, "Yeah me too, Britney will be up later than me anyway knowing her!"
"Alright then I guess we'll go too then. See you later guys!" Aidee said as they all signed off.
Left by myself in shock I had no idea what to think. Did no one notice that? Britney side stepped the conversation and then left, and I knew Britney she never goes to bed early! What was going on with her?
******
-Britney-
I sat in Ghetsis' room with him after the long conversation with my friends. I needed some time to myself after all of that. Throwing my head back into a chair I bellowed a loud sigh. The air tasted bitter from my own lies, even though I didn't lie at all. I choose not to say anything. However I didn't want to admit the nightmares I had, what Michayla was explaining seemed to match exactly to them. My brain throbbed with pain from all the distress and worry, and I couldn't think of anything but my own guilt.
Suddenly Ghetsis crashed through the door, he flinched slightly from seeing me here. I guess he didn't really expect me to be spending time in his room instead of my own. With this late of an hour, he probably thought I was some sort of stranger out to get him. Which wouldn't be all that surprising with his reputation. He stared straight through me with those eyes, the kind that I knew too well. He was thinking of something, and he knew exactly what was going on in my head. I hated it.
Ghetsis sat down in the chair across of me, but stayed silent. It didn't really feel all that awkward, but even when I avoided his stare I could still feel his eyes burning through me. He had this unique air about him that just made you know exactly when he was in the room, even if you didn't see him. Not being able to avoid his glare any longer I looked back at him with a weak stare, one similar to a wounded puppy.
The moment I did Ghetsis sighed, "Alright what went wrong?"
"I hate that!" I screamed louder than I should have.
His eyes went wide as he asked softly, "Hate what?"
"That you always know exactly what I'm thinking! I hate it." I explained weakly.
He chuckled with an amused expression, "I thought that was supposed to be a good thing?"
I rolled my eyes and replied, "No, I mean sometimes."
"Why are you in here anyway?" Ghetsis questioned me, "You don't usually take comfort in my abode?"
He was right. I answered him awkwardly, "I don't really know, I like it in here I guess."
He laughed, "Don't get too comfortable or I might have to snatch you up some night."
I glared at him and admitted, "It actually doesn't sound like a bad idea at this point. I don't think I can sleep at night anymore."
"Well I don't mind at all if you do." He snickered with a sly smile.
My head swelled with overwhelming stress, it made it difficult to think of a logical solution. Each thought burst into clusters all over my mind, and I couldn't focus anymore. It all rushed in, flooding through every possible happy thought. I was too insane to control these urges of evil in my head, I grew tired of not being able to trust myself. The dramatic stupidity of these random surges of rage, when I'm reminded of the things that wronged me. Every person, every thought, every regret, all this vengeance piled in. There was a darkness inside of me that I couldn't escape.
In a lapse of judgement I blurted, "Ghetsis can I trust you with anything?"
As if in astonishment Ghetsis answered, "I promise that you can trust me with anything."
Suddenly what I just said came rushing back to me, I didn't need to say that. What was wrong with me? I needed to tell someone though, but I didn't want to scare my friends. Ghetsis on the other hand, had his entire life washed in blood and sins. If I told him anything it wouldn't come to a shock since he's probably been worse. However that might be more of a worry than it would be a sign to trust him with my thoughts.
I couldn't hold it in anymore, "Do you ever feel like there's something different about you from other people?"
Ghetsis shrugged and admitted, "It's all about perception."
"That's probably the wisest thing you've ever said, but that's not the point." I explained with my stomach paining, "I get this feeling that there's a darkness inside me that I can't escape. All these horrible feelings return to me, and I want people to suffer for the things that hurt me, but it never stops there."
He grew more intrigued as he cut in, "You feel like there's a demon inside your head that makes you desire things you'd never actually want for others?"
"Yes, and I keep having these nightmares. I can feel my skin ripping, my eyes melting, and my heart exploding. I see things around me that are destroyed, and people suffering in pain. When I finally get to the end I see someone, sometimes Cyrus, sometimes you, and the others thanking me for the destruction around me." I spilled out with my heart pounding wildly against my rib-cage.
He squinted at me for a moment, and then began to speak. "These nightmares, how vivid are they?"
I clutched my stomached and answered, "Everything feels so real, I can feel the wetness in my blood, the salty taste of air, and the stench of corpses and machines. I'm so scared of myself. The worst part is, I'm smiling in these dreams. I always wake up in a cold sweat."
"My dear, there is nothing wrong with you at all." He consoled with a silky yet disturbing tone. "I know those exact feelings, that exact amount of rage and hatred. You're just like me, it's rather shocking actually. You my dear, desire revenge on those who wronged you. Yet you're so full of love and light that you're refusing to give into your animal instincts."
My skin grew cold as I stuttered, "I'm not a bad person. I'm supposed to be the one people expect things from, the one that does everything right, the one that people can count on! I can't afford to feel anything."
"There's your problem right there." Ghetsis claimed as he moved closer to me, "You're suffering because you refuse to be upset, or unhappy at the expense of others. However did these people hold back on you when they needed you? No. You feel neglected because you're tired of trying to be happy. If you let me, I can help you."
I jolted from the words and I murmured, "You want to turn me into a monster. You've done so much to hurt others, you won't make things better at all!"
He sighed as he suddenly stood behind me, "Can you trust me with anything?"
The words seeped into me head like poison, it stung intensely against my mentality. Ghetsis used my own words to try and get me to trust him. He listens way too well, and it worried way more than it comforted me. My heart wanted to trust him, but my mind knew so much better than that. I bit viciously down on my tongue, and it began to bleed. The metallic taste was soothing to my mind, and the pain shot through my body like a sick sense of euphoria. I needed this, I needed someone to help me.
"I know that I need this." I whispered painfully, "I choose to trust you."
A long grin crept along Ghetsis' face as soon as I finished speaking. His eyes were full of contempt and looked like a river of blood. Something snapped in me again, I pressed against his side as I burst into tears. Unable to see his expression, he tightly wrapped his arms around me in a comforting embrace. The warmth was so welcoming and I sighed out in relief.
"There, there, I will make everything better." Ghetsis cooed softly.
What was wrong with me?
END CHAPTER
Authors Note: I had so much fun writing this one! Especially the part with feebas! Haha, anyway next chapter we are going to do some focus on Maxie and Vicki, and Archie since he's pretty p'd at Ghetsis. Anyway I hope you guys liked this it was both humorous and serious. Bittersweet is fun! Let me know what you thought, got any character preferences, suggestions, or even shippings you want to make happen I will probably do it lmao. Also as of this far the girls perspectives sound good right? I want them all to be very different, but also similar in ways. This way the audience can identify most with a character, and their personalities fit well with many peoples as well. So if I did that right let me know cause that's what I'm trying to do! OKAI see you later :P
