-May-

I slipped my hand beneath my shirt and moved my fingers over my abdomen. There, toward my side. I could feel the indent where one of Jericho's bullets had entered my body – a hole that had closed over with time, though I could still tell where it was just by the feel of the rough skin that covered it. Bile rose up in my throat at the thought – at the memory of the blood – but I swallowed it down, moving my hand so I could touch the second bullet wound on my chest, completely closed up like the first one.

"Why?" I asked as I removed my hand from my shirt, my voice a whisper. I looked up at Ellis and Moira, who stood in front of me, watching me with sympathetic eyes. "Five years. Why did it take so long to bring me back?"

Moira sighed. "Over the past five years, Ellis and I struggled to find the right substances and amount of mechanical therapy that could bring your heart back to life, get your organs functioning again, and help your body recover from the injuries that killed it. When we found you, it was, as I said, shortly after you 'died' - when Jericho had shot you and left. Pallor mortis and algor mortis had already kicked in, but we managed to get your body hooked up to at least some machines before rigor mortis could begin."

I swallowed hard. I wasn't a scientist. I didn't understand all of the chemical processes that occurred after death. Still, I was curious. "How did you bring me back to life?" I asked.

"The machines I mentioned before," Moira said. "As well as various nutrients. It helped reverse the effects of death that had already begun to occur within your body, until you were no longer dead, but rather in a coma." She flushed. "It's a complicated process. I don't want to confuse you anymore than you already are." She met my eyes again. "Anyway, you've spent the last five years alternating between comas and death, as we tried to figure a way to get your body to remember how to work on its own again, without the use of machines or nutrients. When we did…well, it was a few hours ago, when you woke up in the lab. That was when we first tried to bring back your conscious and get your body to work by itself for the first time in five years. I think I can speak for Ellis, too, when I say we're relieved that all of our hard work seems to have paid off so far."

I raised my hand and looked at it, amazed that all of this was even possible. Everything had gone black after Jericho had shot me, but a few hours ago I had opened my eyes again half a decade later with barely any sense toward the amount of time that had passed. It was as if I had simply gone to sleep at night and woken up in the morning.

I put my hand back down and looked around. We were still in that vault, located beneath the city grounds of Slateport. The whiteness of the hall all around me contradicted the mood outside – the post-apocalyptic hell that made my heart clench and ache. I had spent the last few hours since my awakening just trying to cope with the realization of how long I'd been dead. Ellis and Moira had confronted me after giving me the space they thought I needed, because I knew that I had to deal with what was in front of me, instead of huddling up in the corner and begging Arceus to help wake me from this nightmare.

"Five years," I said again. "What's happened since then? Since Kruismara and the fusions attacked?"

"All of Hoenn has been destroyed," Moira said, the reminder hitting me like another bullet. "So have Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh. Most of Orre, Fiore, and Almia have been destroyed, too, while regions like Unova have closed off their borders, protecting the citizens and pokemon inside and preventing any fusions from coming in - as well as anyone carrying the Chimera Virus that could pass it on and cause an outbreak. It's a good tactic for maintaining order, but, unfortunately, it also means none of the inhabitants of the region can leave the region at all, nor can anyone get in."

I shivered at the thought, but I pushed it aside and looked around again. "This is a vault, right? To protect you from anything outside?"

Moira nodded. "Vaults like this have been built throughout the regions. They serve as protection for survivors who have nowhere else to go. They're known as 'survivor sanctuaries', and each city usually has a few communities of these hidden beneath their grounds, guarded by armed military soldiers and pokemon."

"Are the Regions' Fleets fighting the fusions?"

"Yeah. All over the regions, the military are trying their best to stop the fusions. But…" Moira turned her eyes away. "There's too many. With how easy a fusion can infect a mortal with the Chimera Virus, the fusion fleets are growing by the minute. The military are putting up a good fight at trying to keep them at bay, but the battle's getting harder each day."

"What about the cure for the Virus?"

"Batches of the cure have been duplicated since the fusion attacks, recovered from some of Verdana's labs that existed here on the surface. The cure helped in fighting the fusions and saving the infected during the beginning, but the fusions have become so abundant the cure doesn't offer much when it comes to the actual war. It still helps in reversing the effects of a fusion transformation, but if the transformation is too far in, it doesn't do anything anymore. Scientists believe that the Virus has started to grow an immunity to the cure."

My eyes widened. "W-what?"

Moira shook her head. "Many scientists out there are racing against the clock to study the Virus, figure out its contents, and try to create something else that could fight it. But, all efforts have turned up fruitless." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial. A green-colored liquid filled the inside, and a memory flashed through my head at what it was. The cure for the Virus. "Despite everything, the cure is still being duplicated as many times as possible," Moira said. "Many see it as a sort of bargaining tool, because it can still save a mortal's life if it's injected soon enough after they're bitten. Many companies and traders out there find business in selling this stuff to the military and survivor sanctuaries, as well as using it for a type of currency all on its own."

I looked at the floor. Images of Jericho filled my head, as fresh as if they were made yesterday.

"You said you both found me shortly after Jericho had killed me," I said. "And you said you knew where to find me because you knew that Verdana was only the beginning and that Jericho would come after me. What did you mean? How did you know that Jericho would come after me?"

Moira shifted. "I guess I should introduce myself properly now. My full name is Moira Collins. I'm a scientist like Ellis, and we've both been colleagues for a very long time. However, I wasn't involved in the Chimera Project like Ellis had been, but I still kept in contact with Ellis as a friend. The first time I learned of the Chimera Project was when Ellis had told me about it – everything about it – shortly after he had escaped Enfer City during Kruismara's attack down there. He told me about you – about how he suspected that you and your friends would confront Verdana. When Enfer City exploded and Verdana was confirmed dead, I was fully convinced. It was then when we both learned that you were still alive, and though I had thought that it was all over, Ellis told me that he had learned that Jericho Karvás was still around and involved with the Chimera Project."

Ellis raised his finger at that. "Jericho was a scientist, like me! Very close to Verdana, and very interested in the Virus and what it could do. When I still worked on the project, Verdana had revealed that she had chosen Jericho to be her protégé. If anything happened to her, Jericho would take over her experiments, take control of Kruismara, and guide him and the fusions in their attack on all humans and pokemon!"

"When Enfer City had been completed and Verdana prepared to use it as the training ground for the fusions and the Virus," said Moira, "she assigned Jericho to stay on the surface with the other scientists involved on the Chimera Project, to help guide Kruismara and the fusions when it was time for their surface attack. But, you killed Verdana before she could leave Enfer, and it was believed that when Enfer detonated, Kruismara and the fusions had been destroyed in the blast."

"Jericho was mad," Ellis said, repeating what I had been told earlier. "Very mad. With Kruismara and Verdana dead, he lost everything he had believed in and worked so hard for."

Moira nodded. "He used his detective persona to justify researching every Enfer City survivor, to try to see if he could find the one that killed Verdana. He tried his best to isolate each survivor to an environment where no one could see or hear them. When he found out that you were the one who killed Verdana, he shot you then and there, using that secluded office he led you to as a way of making sure no one found you before he was long gone." She frowned. "We had begun to follow Jericho once Ellis found out where he was, what he was doing, and how he was still dedicated to the Chimera Project."

I paused. "Why didn't you report him to the police?"

"We had no proof," Moira said. "Even though the police had just begun to discover the existence of the Chimera Project, there was no names listed in any project-related archives that could connect Jericho or any other scientists to the project. Ellis and I were on our own there, so when we saw Jericho leave for LaRousse, we quickly realized that he was heading for you, having waited for the right time to where he could get you alone, in case you were the one who killed Verdana.

"We followed him to LaRousse. Around the time we realized where he had taken you, he had already shot you, and the fusions and Kruismara had risen off the shores of Lilycove. When we got to that office building, he was already gone, and you were on the floor, dead. We picked you up, used any machines we had to slow some of the effects of death, and rushed you back to one of the labs here in Slateport, where we had access to more machines and nutrients that could help save you. As time passed and the fusions continued to attack the regions and spread the Virus, we moved our lab to one of the vaults here that could help protect us from the fusions, so we could keep working on bringing you back to life."

I exhaled. Slowly. "Where's Jericho now?"

"Jericho and the rest of the scientists of the Chimera Project now make up the Arbiter Corporation."

I blinked. "The Arbiter Corporation?"

Moira nodded. "Arbiter Corp, for short. It's the alias Jericho created for the teams that worked on the Chimera Project. It's a type of façade, because they have fooled the military and governmental officials in believing that they're just another business struggling to work in this world. In secret, though, they're controlling Kruismara as he attacks the regions and spreads the Virus. They have headquarters hidden all over the regions, with Jericho taking Verdana's place as leader of the entire group. He's still determined to carry out Verdana's dream of an empire controlled by fear, and he won't stop until it's accomplished."

My heart hammered against my chest. I shook and said, "Does Jericho know I'm alive?"

"No. No one does. For the past five years, we've hidden you from detection by the Arbiter Corp and anyone else, to make sure no one could try to stop us from bringing you back to life. When Jericho killed you, your body was never found, so the police considered you missing. Even up to now, you're still considered missing, but many have grown to believe you're dead. That includes Jericho."

I pulled back. Memories of Drew flashed through my head. Before I had left to meet with Jericho on the day I died, I had been in Drew's arms, on our bed, exhausted from a lovemaking session and just wishing I didn't have to leave – that I could just be in his arms and never move, feeling no fear for the future, because I knew I wasn't alone. And-

"Be back soon," Drew had whispered.

"I will," I said.

"You promise?"

I smiled again.

"I promise."

And I had broken my promise.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. My eyes grew wet, and fear developed in my stomach – that cold, lance-like feeling of fear. "Drew, Lionel, Soledad, my parents and my brother…where are they? Are they still…?" I paused. "Are they still alive?"

Moira swallowed hard. She read my eyes and mirrored the emotions on her face, as if she understood why I shook now, when I had appeared to take most of the other information rather well.

Ellis stepped forward, sheepish. "Not sure," he said. "Only focused on you. Never had time to look for your friends." He met my eyes and grinned. "But hey, no frownies, friend! I have a way of finding out!"

Ellis led Moira and I to a door toward the back of the vault. The room inside was pitch black, but I could hear the faint whirring of more machines. Ellis felt around the nearby wall for a light switch. When he turned on the overhead lights, dozens of computer monitors appeared before me, bunched together on cheap, wooden desks. The actual computers were below the desks, dormant, their chords - miraculously - organized neatly into their own electrical sockets along the other walls.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Ellis moved forward before I could. He walked over to the computers, looked at each one with his chin cupped and eyebrow arched, and grinned when he pulled out a specific monitor from the group. He reached down and turned its computer on, its whirring sound growing louder as the machine came to life. He motioned me over.

"This machine has programs on it," Ellis said as I came up to his side. "Certain programs that give me access to the military's archives. Through those, I can tell where your friends are!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately turned my eyes to the monitor screen.

Ellis grabbed the computer's mouse and clicked on a program. A window came up – a dark green window, with the symbol for the military on the front and a simple search box below it. Ellis grabbed a seat across from us, moved it in front of the computer, and sat down. Then, he cracked his fingers and readied them on the computer's keyboard.

"So," he said with a childish grin, "who do I search for first?"

"Family," I said, almost instantly. "Try Norman Maple and Caroline Maple."

He nodded and typed the names into the box. He clicked the "search" button. Multiple entries came up – I knew my parents couldn't be the only "Norman Maple" and "Caroline Maple" in the world – but Ellis picked out the files of my parents from the rest through my dad's connection with the Petalburg City gym.

Pictures of my parents came up. They looked older than what I had remembered. But I then remembered that it had been five years. I glanced at the mirroring screen of the dormant monitor next to us. My face also looked more built with age. I had been twenty-six when I died. Now I would nearly be thirty-two.

I pushed the thought away and looked back at my parents. Beside their photos were recorded information about them, including their date of births and where they lived before the fusion attack.

"Hmm," Ellis said, reading a little further. "According to this…" He smiled. "Your parents are alive!"

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"They're located in a community of survivor sanctuaries in Johto," Ellis added. "They seem pretty okay to me."

"Good," I said.

I scanned my eyes over the page of information. When I crossed the section that talked about children, I saw my name and Max's name. Beside my name was the word "Missing" in bold font. I frowned at the thought, but then looked over to my brother.

"Check out Max's page," I said.

Ellis nodded and clicked it.

Max's information and photo came up. My eyes softened. He looked so handsome, his short, teal-colored hair neat against his forehead and neck, and his glasses magnifying the brown in his eyes. He had always been about three years younger than me, so he would be twenty-eight to twenty-nine now. He looked younger than that, well dressed, a calm frown on his face, as if this photo had been made specifically for the Regions' Fleets.

"According to this," Ellis said, bringing me back to reality, "Max is alive, too." He leaned forward, almost suddenly, his eyes on the screen. "Wait, what's this? Ooh, interesting!"

I paused. "What?"

"Your brother's a member of the Resistance."

I blinked. "The Resistance? What's that?"

Moira walked up to my side, her arms crossed. "The Resistance is a specific group of military soldiers that was created a few months after the fusions first attacked the surface. They're dedicated to finding the source of the fusion attack. Since the Chimera Virus is already known to be manmade, many believe that the fusions and Kruismara are being led on by something or someone."

I met her eyes. "But I thought you said that the military didn't know about Jericho or the Arbiter Corp."

"They don't, because no one has any proof that links Jericho, or any other members of Arbiter Corp, to Verdana. Still, while the majority of the military fights the fusions fleets, they need to have people looking for inside info – anything about the Chimera Project still unknown that could be used toward discovering the fusions' weaknesses and secrets. That's what the Resistance is for."

I looked back at the computer screen. My brother had always been a fighter when he needed to be, brave and strong for his friends and loved ones. But, I had never imagined him being part of the military. A sense of pride filled me at how Max was doing something like this, being as brave and strong as he had been before.

"Now who do I search for?" Ellis asked.

"Try Lionel Zaranous," I said, recalling the man I had known throughout the Attack on Enfer City.

Ellis entered the name. Lionel's file came up seconds afterward. Even after five years, he still looked like a goofy college kid, his blond hair scruffy. His azure eyes were serious, though, his face more smooth than before.

"Lionel's alive," Ellis said. "And he's part of the Resistance, too!"

"Wow," I said with a small smile.

Another name came to my head. I sighed, an anxious feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. I pushed it aside and gathered any courage I had, meeting Ellis' gaze.

"Try Drew Trandafir," I said. "Andrew Trandafir."

Ellis slowly nodded and typed in the name.

I closed my eyes and braced myself.

"Drew is…" Ellis paused. "Alive!"

I opened my eyes and looked at the computer screen.

Emerald-colored eyes stared back at me, narrowed, and deep; dragon-like eyes that, even with the passing of five years, hadn't changed. Drew should have been pushing thirty-two like me. He was still handsome. His hair was still green, reaching past his shoulders, his bangs hanging in front of his eyes, creating a curtain-like formation on one side that obscured away his face when he looked at me from the side. A tuft of green hair protruded from the bottom of his lip and ended at his chin – the same goatee/soul patch that he had had before. It was all the same.

And he was alive.

Slowly, I reached forward. My finger brushed across his photo, touching his lips. His face. Him. Drew Trandafir. My coordinating rival, my best friend, and the very man I had fallen in love with.

"He's part of the Resistance, too," Ellis said, not minding how I touched the computer screen.

I pulled my hand away, my eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yup!" Ellis grinned. "Cool beans!"

I wondered what Drew had done over the past five years. How did he react when I never showed up at our house the day I'd been killed, or when the police had listed me as missing? How had he coped with it for the past five years? Was my absence part of his influence to join the military and the Resistance?

How had everyone else reacted to my fate?

Regret filled me. I couldn't imagine the pain Drew, or any of them, had went through over the past five years. The pain I felt in my own chest probably only matched a fraction of it.

I pushed the thoughts aside and moved on.

"Try Soledad Davidson," I said.

Ellis typed in the name. Seconds later Soledad's photo came up.

I arched my brow.

She didn't look any different than when I had seen her during the Attack. There was nothing different about her – not even in the face. Was this photo recent?

Ellis read her information. His shoulders dropped.

"Uh oh…" he said.

"What?" I asked.

Ellis swallowed hard and turned the monitor to me. I read the information, including her maiden name, her date of birth, her hometown, and other basic info. I stopped when I crossed her status:

DECEASED

I froze.

"W-what…" I whispered. My heart fell, digging out a hollow pit through my chest. "Soledad…she's dead?"

Ellis bit his lip and nodded. "According to this, she was part of the Resistance, too. But four years ago, there was a fusion ambush on one of the Resistance bases, and she was killed in the onslaught." He looked at me, his eyes deep. "I…I'm so sorry, May."

I shook. My hands clenched at my sides. I grit my teeth as I looked back at the computer screen. Beneath Soledad's "status" section was the "family" section. Harley Davidson was listed under "husband", but beside his name was that very same word.

Deceased.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Memories of Harley and Soledad came to my head – my other coordinating rivals that had also been a lot more.

Harley had sacrificed himself down in Enfer City to save Drew, Soledad, Lionel, and I, already condemned to death through the Chimera Virus as it ran through his veins and began to change him. It was bad enough to lose the man that had been like another father to me, but to lose the woman that had raised Drew as if he had been her own son – a trustworthy leader to us all?

"Does she have a child?" I asked. "She was pregnant before I was killed. Does it say that she has a son or daughter?"

"If she did," Ellis said, "it's not saying anything here."

I turned and leaned back against the desk, my hand on my face. Drew had lost me, and then he had lost Soledad. The more I thought about it – what he could be feeling right now – the more I just wanted to see him, to let him know I was still here.

I wanted to let him know that he wasn't alone.

"May?"

Slowly, I looked up.

Moira approached me, her eyes soft.

"May," she said. "Have you wondered why Ellis and I worked for the past five years to bring you back to life? What happened down in Enfer affected everyone." She sighed. "You saved so many lives by stopping Verdana. You were brave. But the idea of all that being in vain because of Jericho and the Arbiter Corp, or how the Chimera Virus and the fusions have turned this world into a living hell…Ellis and I had to do something. We weren't going to just hide and let Jericho get away with this."

I shook, but not just with fear.

"But so far," Moira said, "Jericho has been getting away with it. We're losing the battle, May, and it isn't right. You fought these fusions head on, you stopped Verdana no matter what she threw at you, and you escaped Kruismara when others hadn't. If there's anyone that can stop Jericho, it's you."

My fingers clenched. My teeth gritted behind my lips. Images of Jericho flashed through my head. More anger filled me.

"May," Moira said, "we brought you back to life, because this world needs you right now. We want you to join the Resistance."

I met her eyes at that.

And I nodded.

"The only pokeball that was in your pocket when we found your body," Moira said as she led me back down the vault's hall, Ellis not far behind, "was your blaziken's. For the past five years we've kept her up to date on the process of bringing you back to life. She's in her pokeball right now, waiting to see you, and she's willing to help you in any direction you choose to go."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I assumed Drew had my other pokemon. The idea of having Blaziken by my side filled me with a sense of security. "How do I contact the Resistance?" I asked.

"They have bases all over the regions," Moira said. "One of their bases here is located in Lilycove. But…" She shook her head. "There are fusions everywhere outside. We have means of safe transportation for you, but it won't be enough for an entire journey to Lilycove. You're going to need a bodyguard – someone that can help protect you until you reach Lilycove."

I hummed. "Any ideas?"

Moira nodded. "Three years ago, an assassin by the name of Artemis showed up. Assassins, bounty hunters, and mercenaries are common in this chaotic world now, but she easily became one of the most renowned through her liability. She has never failed an assignment, as long as she's given the right amount of money to justify the job. We believe that she'll provide protection for you. We have a briefcase of money that should meet her requirements."

Assassins as allies? I felt uneasy toward the idea, but I didn't have any other options. "Alright, but how can I contact her, then?"

"It's rumored that, every now and then, she crosses over Dewford Town, as if there's something over there that's important to her. If you can make your way down there, you might be able to confront her."

I nodded.

Moira and Ellis continued to lead me down the hall. We stopped in front of a set of large double doors. Ellis opened them, revealing a factory-like room. It reminded me of a sort of hangar, only smaller. Toward the center of the room was what looked like a military truck, its windows secured by metal screens, with armored plating covering every inch of its surface. I assumed this to be my "safe transportation" to Dewford and Lilycove.

Moira turned to me.

"The Resistance have been investigating the fusions for most of the past five years," she said. "They're pretty much a hidden organization. But, each year, Ellis and I have worried that the Arbiter Corp would discover their existence and take them out. Nothing has happened yet, but…" Moira met my eyes. "The Resistance has been losing their own motivation in this war. Many of their members have lost loved ones and the lives they held before this all happened. If you can join them and help them find the members of Arbiter Corp - and find out how they're controlling Kruismara and the fusions – it might be all we need to finally have a fighting chance against this nightmare."

Ellis reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball.

Blaziken's pokeball.

He handed it to me. Then, he reached back into his pocket and took out something else, holding it tightly in his hand.

Gently, he opened the fingers of my other hand and dropped the small object in my palm. It shined in the overhead lights.

My wedding ring. The ring Drew had given me.

"If you join the Resistance," Moira said, her voice now soft, "then you can promise that we can't allow any of this to be in vain."

Slowly, I closed my fingers around my wedding ring.

I had broken my promise to Drew – the promise I had made the day I died.

But, I wasn't going to break any others.