Sorry for the long wait guys. I've had a little trouble writing this chapter...and the chapters for my other stories to be honest. I just hope this one is good in your opinion as I really want to give this story a bit more notice in people. So please tell me what you think in the review section. This chapter will focus on Helena more. Bye guys, I will not be putting the View Rankings as I am short on time.

"speech"= talking out loud or conversing

*speech*= telepathic communication/thoughts

speech= Pokemon moves

speech= Rick's Narrative

Rick walked down a hallway with Helena, trying to understand what on earth was going on and how he got there. He knew that Helena had taken him there and that the large beast she controlled had something to do with it as well.

"I know you have a lot of question and I am willing to answer them." Helena said, as if she read his thoughts.

Rick nodded, "Aye! First of all, what is a Gardevoir doing on this island?"

"Well, I'm here because I was brought here. My trainer was a researcher here on this island. Then the outbreak happened."

"I was wondering about that. What are those things and how did they come about?"

"They are named Prowlers. They are a bacterium that has managed to ravage a living creature's body. They kill the creature or enter a corpse and take it over, turning it into a homicidal monstrosity. As for how they came to be; they were let loose by the research team by accident...or so that's what we were led to believe."

"What do you think?"

"I think...no, I know they were led out on purpose. They began to slaughter everything in their sight and spread like a virus. Now we have this problem. Now they are running rampant throughout the island. If you have a heartbeat, then you can bet your ass that they'll soon find you."

"So how did you survive living on this island and for how long?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I have lived here for over three years now?

Rick was shocked, "You survived living here for three years? You did that with a monster outbreak running loose?"

"They are named Prowlers." Helena corrected. "And yes."

"All alone?"

"I am not alone. I just live alone in an area where Prowlers cannot reach us."

"And where would that be?"

"You're in my house right now." They then reached a door and Helena opened it, "Welcome to Providence. A little town of outcasts and outlaws, according to the Awakeners."

Rick was confused as he saw the fair sized shantytown full of people and Pokemon, "Outcast and outlaws? Awakeners?"

Helena explained, "The Awakeners are members of a cult that strung up in this island three years ago. You see, all this bullshit started after one of our mining teams found an ancient relic."

"What kind of relic?"

"It was a weird relic."

Rick scoffed, "Well obviously!"

"Don't get smart with me, smartass! Anyways, the relic had some sort of organism on it. We then found out that it reanimates exposed corpses and turns into Prowlers. After a while, a cult sprang up called the New Awakening. They immediately began to make more Prowlers by using corpses in the morgue. Soon, their opposition was forced here, where we made a stable community to protect ourselves. We have not lost anyone in over a year."

"Then this place must be very well protected. I've seen those things stab through steel doors."

"That's because they used all the strength they had to do so. They have incredible strength, but lack the resourcefulness to survive like we do. All of us here are trained in fighting those things."

"Well, that's useful. If everyone knows how to defend themselves, then this problem is a little easier to deal with. So let me ask you this; why did you help me?"

Helena smirked, "I helped you because you have potential."

"Potential for what?"

"Potential to help us and to fight those things. You quickly learned how to fight them, that much I observed. Now, I will teach you how to effectively kill them."

Rick frowned, "So you are planning to use me to solve your little problem?"

"I'm not going to take advantage of you. If you do not want to help then you are welcome to leave. However, you'll leave us here to deal with this problem all by ourselves. Also, good luck returning through the forest. It's crawling with those things. You're safe within these walls. Now make your choice. Don't worry about your friends, we'll try to get them here. However, the decision is yours. We cannot help you if you are not willing to help us."

Rick growled, "Fine! What do you need me to do?"

"Well there's no need to assess you, I saw how you fight first hand. Besides, I have to let you heal. The doctor did the best he could and I helped patch you up. I'll just let you meet some people."

"Another question."

"Yes?"

"How is it that tracking communication is not working here?"

"It's not working because we put up block towers to stop anyone from effectively locating us."

"Well I guess that's handy. Now tell me a bit more about these Prowlers. This time tell me more about how they can change. I've seen more than one variant so far."

Helena took a deep breath, "Alright, well the Prowlers come in multiple forms. The basic ones are called Attackers. They're the main ones that attack."

"What about the big one that I fought?"

"That was a Piercer. You're lucky that it only used its tongue to grab you and not stab through you. They are a nasty bunch. Good thing I sent Leon to help you."

Rick was confused, "Leon?"

Helena nodded, "Yeah, that monster that saved your ass and who I appeared next to before you blacked out."

"So it has a name. How convenient? Isn't he one of them?"

"Yes, he's a Prowler called an Elite Beast. However, he's a special case. He kept his individuality, despite being turned into one. In life, he was my friend and even now, he is still my friend."

"Where is he?"

"He's patrolling to make sure that we're safe. You'll see him later."

Rick nodded, "Very well, so what do you want me to do?"

"Just tell me, how much power do you have?"

"I don't even know. I just do things and get rid of everything in my path. I never assess how much strength I have. My strength just comes to me when I need it, whether it be a little or a lot."

"That's weird. How do you control it?"

Rick shrugged, "I don't know. I just deal with it."

"You are one weird Gallade. Anything else I should know about you?"

"Yes, I don't play nice with others, and I don't make friends easily."

"So I'm guessing that you already don't like me?"

Rick chuckled and said sarcastically, "Gee! How did you know?"

"I am so close to punching you."

Rick drew his arm blades and said, "Try it! I dare you!"

"Calm down! Good Arceus! You're quite a hot head."

"It comes with the experience."

"What happened to you?"

"You really do not want to know."

"Look, we're going to be stuck with one another for a while. I suggest that you try to get along with me. I'm already trying, but all that got me was two attempts to kill me and an insufferable Gallade."

"If I'm so insufferable, why keep me around?"

"Because we need all the help we can get."

"Exactly! Now let's get this crap over with."

Helena rolled her eyes and said, "You don't even know what we're doing."

"I expect you to tell me."

"Well, we're going outside the walls of our little safe place."

"To do what?"

"Field test. We're going to go check on how you can deal with Prowlers. We'll be safe, don't worry."

Rick scoffed, "I'm not worried about that."

Helena then stopped him, "Have you no regard for your own life?"

"My life is nothing that concerns me. I don't care for it. I died a long time ago."

"That is extremely depressing."

"I know. Get used to it, sweetheart!"

Helena punched him on his bandages, to increase the pain, "Don't call me sweetheart."

Rick smirked and said, "I just want you to know that your punch did very little damage."

Helena was surprised, "How? You still have your wounds."

"Not completely." Rick took off his bandages to reveal the wounds closed and beginning to scar, "My body heals faster than those of other living beings."

Helena asked in a shocked tone, "Why?...How?"

"It just does. Once I can trust you more, I will tell you my secret."

"That's never going to happen, is it?"

"I don't know. We'll see." Rick then walked away, prompting Helena to chase after him.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Nope! I'm just walking around your little village."

Helena walked next to him, watching him inspect the little shantytown full of refugees of whatever happened on the island. He also saw how the entire place was powered by a shoddily built generator.

Rick chuckled and said, "You guys are pretty resourceful."

Helena nodded, "We have to be."

Rick then looked around and saw some people with armored suits and guns, "So what are those suits for?"

Helena replied, "Those are old mining suits that some of our engineers turned into armor for us to fight Prowlers. They are actually quite handy. We're going to practice using them when we go outside. However, they limit our speed and agility."

"So I guess that we should only use them when they are really necessary."

"Correct!"

"So tell me a story."

"Excuse me?"

"Let me know the extent of what we're up against and how you have dealt with it in past. I want to hear of your own little adventures."

Helena found a bench and sat down, Rick following suit. "Well, this happened in the winter."

What Helena was going to tell me was about to change my entire perception of her potential abilities...because she was a badass. As far as I can remember, she was on a mission to retrieve something near the volcano that was on the island

[Helena's Story]

Helena was walking through a windstorm that picked up a large cloud of volcanic soot. She was carrying an assault rifle and was having a hard time seeing, despite having an armor suit on.

Helena turned on her communicator and asked, "Jesse, it's Helena. What the hell am I looking for?"

A male voice replied, "You're looking for an abandoned mine. There's an information ship in the central drill console that we can use to fight back. You'll have to get all the way to the end of the mine to get to the drill. Be careful, you're too valuable to lose, but you're the only one we can count on to do this."

"I understand. Keep me posted and I'll do whatever I need to do. Helena out!"

"Before you go, I put a navigation point on your map. Just follow the path and you'll be there in no time."

"Thanks, Jess! I'll hop to it! Bye!"

Helena ended the broadcast and walked through the soot storm for a few minutes, following her map to locate the mine. She soon found it and used a card key she acquired to open the doors to the mine. She walked inside and made the helmet of the suit fold off, allowing her to breathe some fresh air.

Jessie then called Helena, "I see that you made it to the mine."

Helena replied, "Yeah. Man! I hate coming to the volcano. It's so hard to breathe without this suit."

"Well the soot is the least of your problem. Alright, now head to the drill console. I'll keep an eye on your motion tracker. No Prowler will get near you without me knowing."

"Thanks Jess! I'll be off now."

Helena then made her helmet set itself over her head and she began to walk down the mine shaft. She followed her navigation objective, until she reached a room that was riddled with bodies and blood. She gasped and stepped back for a second, before regaining her composure and walking forward into the room.

Helena walked around and found a corpse that had its head sliced into pieces. She knelt down and expected it.

Helena sighed, "You went off too horribly, my friend. I need to put an end to this nightmare. It has lived for way too long."

She then reached into the corpse's pocket and took out a card key and a picture of a woman and a little girl.

Helena felt sad as she saw the picture, "I'm guessing they're your family. I hope that they weren't on this island. I'd hate to see how this little girl will grow up without her father, but sadly that's how fate works. Don't worry, I will avenge you and all those that have died because of these damned things."

Helena got up and put the picture and card key in her suit's pocket and proceeded on her way. She soon reached the door that led out of the room and to a hallway, which led to an elevator that would take her a few levels down.

She was beginning to open the door, until she heard a noise behind her.

Jessie then called her saying, "I'm sensing movement coming behind you."

Helena quickly pointed her rifle at the direction of the noise and was shocked to see at least ten Prowlers stalking towards her. Helena growled in irritation and shot at them, killing two quickly. She soon noticed that she would not make much progress standing still and shooting, so she ran towards the elevator. As she ran she only saw more Prowlers jumping out of the shadows and of vents, making her run faster as they gave chase.

She soon arrived at the elevator and pressed the button to take her down, but the door not closing as fast as she wanted. She continuously pressed the button, praying that the door would respond. The doors suddenly closed, much to Helena's relief. She let herself lean against the wall behind her and slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

Suddenly, to her horror, a Prowler's claw came between the elevator's doors and began to pry the doors open. As it got close to doing so, Helena shot at its legs, causing it to fall to the ground and the elevator door close down on it, cutting it into pieces and killing it.

Helena panted in relief and got up, not about to let another surprise happen to her again. She soon arrived at the last floor that the elevator would take her and got off, keeping her rifle ready for anything. She walked around and inspected the area, finding the room empty.

She called Jessie, "Anything on the motion tracker?"

Jessie replied, "Not yet. Don't worry; I'm paying attention to the tracker and on your vitals. Nothing will get to you without me knowing about it first."

"Alright, I'm just paranoid right now."

"That's to be expected. Now let's get going."

"Right!"

Helena kept walking through the mine and walked for a few more sections of the mine. She then opened a door into a room and saw a Prowler laid flat out on the ground, by all appearances, dead. Harmony walked up to it with her gun pointed and shot it once in the chest. The Prowler didn't stir, so Helena put her rifle down and walked around the Prowler.

Helena walked up to a locked door and slid the card key she got from the corpse earlier and put slid it through the nearby console. Without her knowing, the Prowler she shot opened its eyes and crawled towards her quickly, but silently.

Jessie quickly warned Helena, "Helena! Behind you!"

Helena whipped around and was tackled by the Prowler, sending her to the ground. It then began to slash down on her, and Helena used her rifle to block the attacks as best as she could. Helena was quickly losing her strength against the powerful monster and was quickly thinking of a way to get out of this situation.

She then quickly balled her hand into a fist and a saw like mechanism came out of the glove. She then slashed at the Prowler's arm, sawing off the beast's arm in one slash.

The Prowler roared in pain and got off of her, allowing Helena to get to her feet. It then turned back around to attempt to kill her again, but Helena slashed at the other arm, cutting it off as well. Helena then quickly sliced off the beast's head, letting it die and covering her in suit in its blood.

She panted and sat down, once again narrowly surviving, "This is getting more dangerous day after day."

Jessie then contacted her, "I'm glad that you're alright."

"Barely, but that was too close for comfort. I need to hurry up and finish this."

"If you need it, take a breather."

"I can't right now. I have to keep going. I'm not getting anything accomplished by sitting around."

"Alright, but take a break if you need it."

"Acknowledged! I'm going to finish this."

Helena walked out of the room and this time ran through the room, hoping to avoid any more confrontations with Prowlers. She reached the elevator at the end and took it down to as far down as it could possibly take her.

She reached the floor and walked around cautiously. She saw various rooms around her and wondered what they had inside, but she was not about to let another Prowler get the better of her.

Jessie then said, "Movement on the room to your right. It's not a Prowler though."

Helena was surprised, "Not a Prowler? Could it be a human or Pokemon?"

"Maybe. I'm almost afraid to find out, but we can't leave a survivor behind."

"I'm going to check it out."

"Keep your gun ready though."

Helena nodded and got her gun ready as she walked to the door to the room. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. She turned on the rifle's flashlight and saw a lone man standing in the middle of the room, with multiple cuts on his body and a knife in his hands.

Helena kept her gun aimed at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

The man looked at her and said, "Can't you hear them?"

"Hear what?"

"The whispers. The damn whispers that never stop! They tell me to do things, horrible things. Those monsters, they are the chosen for evolution. They are our superiors and those to replace us living beings."

"You're insane. I can get you help, but you have to put the knife down and come with me."

The man shook his head, "No. Don't you see? This is my flesh and they need it to continue. Why deny them to what is already theirs?"

"That's the Relic talking, not you. You're just doing what those things want. Come with me and I can get you out of here."

"No. There's no salvation for us. Soon, we will all be one with them." He looked at her more sharply and began to laugh, "We're all doomed." His laughing then began to die down and he said, "Helena, there's no salvation for people like us." He suddenly pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head.

Helena yelled to herself in shock, "Sweet Arceus almighty!"

Jessie asked, "What happened!?"

"There was a man in this room. He seemed like the Relic fried his sanity and then he shot himself in the head."

"Damn! That relic is some fucked up shit."

"I need to end it quickly."

"Check if he had anything on him that could give us a bit more insight."

"Will do! Helena out!"

Helena walked up to the corpse of the man and found an audio chip. She placed the audio chip into her communicator and played it.

[Recording #1]

The man that recently killed himself was heard speaking in the audio chip, "This is Excavation Supervisor Michael Sims. It is April 21st, 3:52 PM. Today, some of our miners found...something. It looks like a black, circular object that has an odd red symbol in the center. I have no clue what the hell it does, but I already feel like it's bad news. We'll be keeping it here for a while. Sims out!"

[Recording #2]

"Excavation Supervisor Michael Sims. May 2nd, 11:07 AM. Ever since we found that damn relic, weird things have begun to happen to the miners. We've a score of miners falling ill or going insane. There should be no reason for that, since we try to make the conditions our miners work in as comfortable as possible. You can't do great things without a great work force. Twelve guys fell ill in the last two days alone, which really concerned me. They kept throwing up this black substance. The doctors are doing the best they can help them, but it already doesn't look good. To add salt to the wounds, some of the miners and workers have begun to go hostile. We had to restrain a couple this morning and send them to jail cells and some to the psych ward. That's all for the log today. Sims out!"

[Recording #3]

"Excavation Supervisor Michael Sims. May 12th, 2:10 PM. This shit has gone out of hand. Thirty men murdered by one another, fifteen dead by that disease, and many more injured. I am seriously close to blaming Silph Co. for this, but I know they didn't intend this. I blame that damn relic. We should of never of dug it up. It's causing us to kill each other. I've begun to hear voices in my head. I know I'm not schizophrenic or psychotic in any way, but being here any longer will surly make me go crazy.

I need to get the relic out of here and find a way to destroy it. As I speak, I have sent it to the research lab, down at the main colony, and hoping to learn more about this relic. Until then, I have to keep the men under control. I'm going to stop all mining operations on my sector. I don't want any more casualties and I do not want to lose any more men. They've suffered enough. Sim's out!"

[Recording #4]

"Excavation Supervis...fuck this shit! It's June 2nd and 5 fucking PM! Things are going straight to goddamn Hell! We lost seventy men. SEVENTY MEN and it's all that fucking relic's fault! We would send the bodies to the morgue, but they would just come back as these fucking monsters! We managed to lock them in there, but we lost three more men in the process. Then I saw as those men became those monsters only a few minutes later. I don't understand what's going on, but we had to kill them. Then those fuckers got smart and got our of the morgue through the damn air vents. This whole place is overrun and I've managed to get as many miners and workers out of here as I could.

I'm still in the mine because I need to protect those that are trapped. However, these things are persistent and vicious. I've seen so many of my men getting cut down by them and turn into them. I'm currently held up in the armory, but those things will soon get in here. If anyone finds this, then I need you to make the whole mine self-destruct. Please! Do it for those that are still alive! We need you stop these things before they can make it to the surface. However, if it's too late, then still blow this place up. Take out as many of those monsters as possible. Sims out, now and forever. Goodbye!"

[Helena]

Helena finished listening to the recordings, giving her a sick feeling. She did not know that it all started in these mines and was worried as to how many of those monsters are actually in here. She decided not to dwell too much into her thoughts and quickly shined her the light on her gun around the room. There she saw a good number of guns and other weapons. She quickly put her gun back around her waist and looked through the selection that was there.

Helena wondered why someone that was stockpiling all these weapons would not use them to get out. She then realized that some of the guns were labeled as prototypes, confirming the reason. Still she decided to take two of the guns, a pistol-like weapon and a rifle-like weapon, and a couple of odd looking grenades, and went out of the room.

Helena was soon back on her way to the last elevator, which was still a good distance, according to her navigator. She opened a door to the next room and quickly jumped back as a larger Prowler swung its blades at her.

She quickly took the pistol in her hands and fired it at the beast before her. Amazingly, the pistol successfully cut off one of the beast's arms, surprising Helena at the power of the shot. She fired again and shot the other arm clean off. Helena smirked and walked up to the dismembered Prowler with the saw mechanism running and cut off its head.

Helena smirked, "Wow! This stuff is badass!"

Jessie asked, "What stuff?"

"I found an armory of these strange weapons in the room where the guy killed himself. There are quite a number of weapons and they seem to cut Prowlers to pieces in no time."

"Do you think that you can muster enough energy to teleport those weapons here so we can analyze them?"

"I brought energy reserves, so that is very possible right now. We can produce more of these."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Alright, I'm heading back to teleport them now."

Helena quickly ran back to the room and took out a needle that she had in her pack. She injected the fluid into her arm and concentrated on the large cases of weapons. Once by one, the boxes began to teleport away and soon they were all gone, leaving a smirking Helena, but still a little tired from the ordeal.

Helena called Jessie, "So, did they arrive yet?"

Jessie replied, "Yeah. They're all here in my lab. I'll have them analyzed. Let's finish this already."

"Gotcha! I'll call you back if I finished the mission."

Helena ended the communication and went back through the door she recently opened. She looked around the dark room with the light of the rifle and saw a fleshy substance on the wall.

"Damn! There's going to be a lot of them here."

With that though, she readied the rifle she got from the armory and moved around carefully. She then held her breath and hid behind a metal wall when she saw two Prowlers dragging a body across the room.

She looked on as they stopped and began to eat the flesh of their latest victim. This got Helena thinking; were there still survivors in the mines, and if you, where are they?

With that thought in mind, she began to sneak her way around the Prowlers, being extremely careful to not alert them to her presence. She quietly walked into a room and gave a quiet sigh of relief that they did not hear her.

She walked around this new room and used her locator to find out where she needed to go. She then took a step and accidentally kicked a steel pipe that was on the floor, horrifying her.

Immediately, she heard growls and the sound of many Prowlers charging towards her direction. Helena immediately took off running to where the last elevator was supposed to be and hopped to make it there before the wave of Prowlers got to her.

As she ran, more Prowlers burst out of adjacent rooms and vents and began to chase after her. She turned around to look at them and then proceeded to shoot, killing many quickly, but still she was up against overwhelming numbers.

Helena suddenly remembered the fact that she took some of the odd grenades from the armory and quickly threw one at the approaching Prowlers. The moment it landed in between them, a flurry of blades burst from the grenade and frantically spun around, cutting many Prowlers to pieces and leaving a large splatter of blood all over the area.

"Ho...ly...shit! We need to mass produce these things."

The Prowlers that were left soon began to charge at Helena and she fired at them again. She cut a couple down, but more and more were appearing. She was beginning to panic and looked at the gun for any other function. She then found on in the form of a button that said 'Alternative Power'. Helena pressed it and the rifle fired a giant blast of the what appeared to be buckshot, killing a large number of Prowlers, but severely crippling the damage.

Helena fired the same blast again, but afterwards, the gun was completely depleted of its ammunition. She looked for another solution and found a saw life bayonet on the the rifle. She frantically looked for whatever started the saw and saw it heat up until it was glowing orange and begin to rotate. She smirked and quickly dodged a Prowler's slash and quickly swung down on it, amazingly cutting it in half with no difficulty.

She was amazed at the power of the weapon, but decided to not tempt fate again and ran to the elevator. She got inside the elevator and used the pistol to fire at the Prowlers that were closest to the doors. The doors then closed and she quickly descended to the her destination's floor.

She got off and replaced the rifles spent ammunition with the ammunition she brought, happy to see that it was compatible to the new rifle. She didn't want to waste any more time in the mine and she quickly ran, keeping the map up to know exactly where she needed to go.

She soon reached a door and opened it with the card key. Once she did, she saw a woman behind a glass wall banging on it frantically. Helena quickly walked up to the wall and saw the woman pleading for help. Helena then saw in horror as a large Prowler appeared down the hall from the side the woman was at. It was different from the others as it had six bladed arms, armor plating on its body, and four glowing yellow eyes. It had the typical blackish brown coloration of most Prowlers, but also a hint of red.

Helena saw the beast and quickly used the rifles bayonet to attempt to cut through the glass. She tried desperately to save the woman, but the Prowler came to the woman and stabbed her in the back, it going straight through her and even piercing the glass wall itself, narrowly missing Helena.

The Prowler then lifted the woman into the air and looked at her as she screamed in pain and terror, and it then proceeded to cut her into pieces.

Helena could only watch in horror as the woman was murdered and then saw the Prowler roar at her and begin to bash at the wall. Helena took this as a clear sign that she had to start running and took off, just before the Prowler managed to break through the wall.

Helena ran as fast as she can, shocked to see more Prowlers chasing her down. She soon saw the doors to the room she had to go to and sped off as fast as her legs could take her.

[Present Day]

Helena said with a smirk, "And that's all I'm telling you today."

Rick protested, "What!? No more?"

"Nope!"

"Why?"

"I'll tell you after we go meet some people."

Rick growled in frustration and began to follow Helena as she walked away, wanting to hear the end of this tale.

Aww! Don't we all just hate cliffhangers? lol. Anyways, The next chapter might be out next month or in the next two weeks. It depends on how fast I can get the others stories updated. Well I have to go guys. Bye!