Chapter 3:

Delta Species

I shattered another boulder, and walked another few steps down the coast. I glanced back at Honō. I realized how many splinters and rock shards littered the ground between me and her. I heard her moan quietly. She sat up and rubbed her throat. I lowered my arms, and half walked, half jumped over to her. She sat up as I landed next to her. She looked at the carnage around her, and then at me. Her eyes widened and she scrambled away, wincing as pebbles and splinters embedded themselves in her paws.

"Get away from me! Freak! Help! Help!" I stepped back and felt a piece of earth drop away into the jagged rocks below. I furrowed my brow.

"What? What's wrong?" I held up my hands. "Honō, it's me." She scrambled faster, and Magnezone levitated into the clearing.

"Delta Species! Freeze! You are under arrest for murder!" I looked at Honō. She shrank behind the Magnezone.

"You lied to me! I thought... I thought you... You were..." She never finished her statement, because she dissolved into tears. I looked over my shoulder at the churning waves. Magnezone's handcuffs detached and hovered closer. I didn't see any other choice. The handcuffs slapped and tightened onto my wrists. How I wished I knew what was wrong. The magnetic cuffs dragged me over the rough terrain, stabbing my forearms. I stumbled over rocks and wooden shards. Honō rode on Magnezone's broad back, staring ahead, the occasional tear dripping off her cheek and running down Magnezone's back. We reached the town, Lucario's tent visible on the bluffs above the quaint town. I was thrown into my face in the town square, pokémon coming to see the putrid creature Magnezone had brought back into town. I spied Dusky in the crowd, drifting like a shadow. I managed a kneeling position, and spat some blood from my lip onto the ground. In the small puddle of water I was thrown next to, I saw myself. Instead of a typical Nuzleaf, my body was a dull, fiery red, with a blazing inferno on my head instead of a leaf. They were right. I looked like a monster. But that didn't make me a monster. I stood, only to be shoved again. I turned onto my back, and there was Charmeleon. He was wearing his signature toothy grin.

"Murder is a crime you know." Was all he said. I pulled my legs up to my chest, and he stepped back. I jackknifed my body, and landed on my feet. Charmeleon prepared another Steel Claw. As he swung in down, I stepped back and raised my connected wrists. The handcuffs shattered, and the pokémon around me gasped. I stepped back, the chain to the cuffs shattered, but the actual bracers still were clamped to my wrists. Glancing around, I realized that even with the fear factor I inspired, I stood no chance of fighting. I stepped back, farther into the square. Charmeleon melted into the crowd. It was painfully obvious what had happened. Charmeleon had fabricated enough evidence to imply I had murdered the poor pokémon that Hypno was blamed for. I looked around at the assembled pokémon. Just the other day I had seen them, and they had smiled and waved. They had introduced themselves to me like equals. Now they scorned me and wouldn't look me in the eyes. I smiled, thinking of the irony.

"You all believed him..." I croaked out. They all nodded one at a time, and Magnezone levitated forward.

"The evidence is against you, civilian. You shall be transferred to our prison colony on Snaggle Tooth island, where you shall spend the rest of your life in a high-security lock-down facility. Any objections?" I looked the metal monstrosity. This hunk of metal was about as threatening as a soup can, now that I had seen the one I loved nearly choked out. That was a different person. The handcuffs began their levitation towards me. They clamped down on my forearms, and I smiled. "Inquiry. Why do you smile? This fate is condemning, and is usually a source of terror to many Delta Species." I threw my head back, plan functioning to absolute perfection, and laughed.

"Yeah, but I am going to be in a place where there are other Deltas, or whatever that is. That's more of pokémon like me. And the only reason they haven't over-run that place is probably they don't have a leader. So yes, take me there. I'm sure they would love to have a strategic genius. And when I do escape- and I will- I will come for you." I pointed at a random civilian. It was an Electrike. "And you." I pointed at a Slugma. "And you." Then, I gestured widely around me, as best I could with handcuffs on. "And all of you!" I then proceeded to look directly at Honō, smile dissolving. "But you..." I chuckled. "Oh, ho, ho! You, Honō, I will continue to haunt your dreams." She paled, and stepped back. The magnetic cuffs wrenched me through the crowd. I looked over my shoulder at her. "Sweet dreams, Honō! See you later!" I cackled, then was knocked out by a powerful Discharge.

~|noOon|~

The metal bars slammed shut, and the rocky ceiling slowly came into focus. I sat up, and my pounding head protested wildly. Rage boiled up inside me. In half of a day, I had become a criminal. My body heated up, and the thin steel of the handcuffs started to glow a dull orange. I thought about Charmeleon with that sneer, and the steel glowed brighter. I tugged on the cuffs, and the white steel snapped. I stood, now with two bracelets. I ripped both off, and pushed my face between the bars. I saw a Mawile patrolling the small catwalk my cell was on. I couldn't see into the other cells, and I rattled the door of my cell. The bars wiggled slightly in the tracks they were set in, and they were slightly rusted. A Machoke walked in front of my cell, keys rattling from the waistband of his small black thong.

"Stop that." He said simply. I noticed that his right arm was slightly larger than his left, and his torso was lightly scratched.

"Why?" I asked with a grin, stepping away from the bars. The Machoke sneered.

"'Cause I said so." I laughed.

"You aren't the boss of me." The Machoke licked its lips. I could tell I had struck a nerve.

"Yes I am." I looked around.

"No you aren't. Your just as stuck as I am. That big chamer out there is pretty much just a bigger cage. You are as much a prisoner as I am. But I got a secret to tell you. Come closer." The Machoke, brow furrowed, leaned down. He clearly wasn't the brightest. I walked back to the bars, and stuck my arms through. "You are an idiot." I laughed and danced away from the bars, and the Machoke stuck his arms through the bars, hands in claws, making them look like he wanted to strangle me. I chuckled. "See? How would that have worked? On good day!" The Machoke huffed. He smiled and walked away, still trying to come up with an insult. The Mawille walked up to my cage.

"Now what, pray tell, was the purpose in that?" Her voice was sweet and melodious. I grinned. They really never learned.

"You'll see!" Was all I said. The infuriated look was reward enough. She scoffed.

"Some genius you are! Pissing the one person that brings you food! Wait..." She took a deep breath in, smelling the air. "That smells like... I don't know..." I too took a breath in. Sulfur! The thought sprung up out of nowhere. I shook a hand in front of my face.

"Sorry!" She screeched something unintelligible, and ran down the catwalk. I whirled around. I prowled through the back of the horribly lit cell, scouring the corners and walls, until I came upon a yellow dust. I smelled the substance, and the horrible smell assaulted my nostrils. I smiled, remembering all the things sulfur could do. There was a large vein of the yellow, crystalline substance ingrained in the jagged wall. A scraped it out, and felt the keys I had taken off the Machoke rattle around my ankle. I heaped the sulfur onto a pile and scraped as much of it as possible from the walls. I then grabbed the small plank that was supposed to be a bed, and set that gently ablaze. Suddenly, just as the fire went out, leaving the precious charcoal next to my sulfur, a loud bell rang, and the chains connecting everyone's cells slid open. All the other prisoners walked, chatting quietly. I fell in step next to a small Pichu. The mouse's coat had a light metallic sheen to it.

"Where are we going?" I asked to no one in particular. The Pichu spoke up, its squeaky voice revealing its surprisingly young age.

"The Arena." He stated simply. The whispering died down as we passed into a large, circular area. The Machoke walked up to me, and shoved me into a large sandy pit. I landed on my face, and saw a ring of faces around the edge, looking down at me when I rolled over. I jackknifed my body into a standing pose. The Machoke stepped up onto a raised stone pedestal.

"Welcome, scum!" There was cheering from some faces, while others remained stonily silent. "Today, this maggot had the nerve to mouth off at me! So, I feel it fitting he face..." Everyone waited with bated breath, but I only was half-listening. I was busy analyzing the arena. There was a large, steel mesh grate covering the ring, and chains dangling down from that. The sandy floor was lightly stained a rosy pink. From what, I didn't want to know. Without warning, a large metal trellis lifted up, and an enourmous Aggron strolled out. His armor was scarred deeply, and his left eye was milky white. I also saw the way his right leg was heavily scarred. I smiled. Size was nothing. This guy would go down... Or, if my plan would work the way I wanted, he would go up. He roared. "Goliath!" The fellow prisoners gasped. The small Pichu dug its face into the arm of a pokémon beside him.

"Hey, pipsqueak!" The Goliath said. I inclined my head. "You want your arms ripped off or your legs snapped in half?" I managed not to pee myself. Instead, I put up my bravado attitude.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." It roared with laughter.

"I like you!" I analyzed the walls, and noticed some slight fatigue in the grate that Goliath had walked through. I stored all of the information I had gathered away in some dismal corner of my mind. A bell rung out, and Goliath lurched forward. He was incredibly slow, and I was already out of the way when his glowing claw struck the sand, sending a spray into the air. I ran to the other side of the arena, and crouched down in front of the grate. The Aggron turned, and looked at me. He roared, and his head glowed. He ran at me, much faster than I had anticipated. I barely dodged out of the way, as he shattered the grate, disappearing into the darkness. I stood in the middle of the arena, scripting the darkness with my eyes. Without so much as a roar, a large Water Pulse raced from the darkness. It slammed into my chest, and I was launched the last ten feet into the rock wall. My ears rang, and my vision blurred. That had hurt much more than I thought it would. I tasted blood in my mouth, and my vision swam. I heard a dull pounding, and slowly got to my feet. When my vision cleared and solidified, I saw the Aggron racing across the arena, head glowing again. I barely was able to dodge the attack, but Aggron's horns stuck into the stone. I leapt onto the behemoth's back, and ran up, until I jumped, grabbing the steel mesh. I hoisted myself up, towards the chains that hung there. I heard and felt Aggron wrench himself from the wall with a roar. I swung, chain to chain, dodging Water Pulse after Water Pulse. I wasn't sure if my plan would work, but I dodged the Pulse nontheless. The base of one chain was struck, and it dangled down to the floor. Time for the hardest part of the plan.

"Hey fatty! You aim like that Machoke over there!" I yelled, pointing at the pokémon who set up the fight. The Aggron growled again, shooting another Pulse, and knocking down another chain. "I could throw better than you without arms!" Goliath roared, and grabbed a chain.

"That's it, pipsqueak! I was tolerating you before, but now, you bother me!" I laughed.

"Whatya gonna do? Sit on me?" Goliath roared in anger and acsended the chain, towards me with surprising speed. The metal groaned, and I pretended to panic. I scrambled away, pretending to slip for effect. The crowd "ooed," and "awed." As soon as Goliath spread his weight across multiple chains, I jumped towards him. I grabbed the chain he had climbed up on, and swung up and over Aggron's broad back. The chain was wrapped around his torso, and he noticed. He grabbed at the chain, just as I had predicted. I noticed the chain that his hand was resting on, and scrambled over to it. I sat on an adjacent chain, and wrapped my hand around the thick iron chain, and my fists lit themselves on fire. The iron bent and moaned under the weight. I heated it up even more. The iron finally snapped, and I whirled around. Aggron tipped forward with a roar. He spun when the chain around his midsection tightened, then unraveled. He tumbled in a big iron tornado, and slammed into the ground. Dust cascaded from the point of impact, and when it finally settled, Goliath didn't stir. I dropped onto the sandy floor, and raised both fists in a sign of victory. The prisoners banged on the metal, cheering, while the guards huddled with the Machoke, whispering in fear and awe.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I screamed. The prisoners fell silent. "My name is Mythril! We have been oppressed for too long! Stand up and fight. Together, we can defeat many more Goliath's! Who is with me?" There was torrential cheering, and all the other Deltas ran towards the guards. I smiled. I had been correct. All they had needed was a leader. A symbol. Me.

~|noOon|~

So guys! What did you think? I tried thinking of what to do with the fire thing, and this is kind of what I imagined. So yeah, tell me what you think. PM, review, it doesn't matter. This is Petrous, signing out.