1.4.2. Dominic, Part II
"Aggron, use Earthquake!" Aggron lifted his legs and stomped twice, shaking the earth so badly boulders were uprooted and chunks of it went flying. Dominic skittered up the nearest tree before launching himself from a branch, flying into the air to clear the attack. He landed on Aggron's head and started a furious attack of Crunch, creating dents and holes in his metal exterior. "Shake him off, then use Stone Edge!" Steven commanded.
"Sorry," Aggron grunted before he started bucking madly, tossing Dominic aside then lobbing several sharp stones at him. Dominic ran to the side to dodge the faster ones, leapt into the air to go over the slower ones, and kicked the ones he could back at Aggron. They had about as much of an effect as a feather on his body and he simply attacked again. This time, Dominic used Protect, shattering the stones into pebbles and dirt easily, before retaliating with Shadow Ball. Aggron made a surprised noise before grinning. "You've been practicing!" He planted his feet in the dirt and extended his arms to catch the Shadow Ball. With a grimace on his face, he smashed it into nothing but purple wisps of energy.
"Of course!" Dominic leered as a ball of rolling darkness formed ahead of him. He closed his eyes to focus it into a stable shape, then it exploded into waves of black energy. Aggron had a harder time dodging those. He then laughed, prancing around on the paved battleground triumphantly.
"What's wrong, Aggron? Quit holding back already!" Aggron chuckled, cracking his shoulders and knuckles.
"I miss when you were a child. You were much less cheeky!" He charged, digging up huge clods of sod and grass to Cradily's chagrin, and struck out with a claw. Dominic leapt over and ran up his arm, biting him on the softer tip of his nose. Aggron roared and spun around, whipping his tail as a counter. Dominic latched his teeth onto it, following its path into the air and then landing a few feet away. He grinned, digging beneath the earth to escape Aggron's view. He felt the tremors caused by his feet stomping around, searching for Dominic's scent, and lurched forward just as Aggron's claw came crashing down where his body was.
"Missed me!" Dominic sang, digging further beneath the earth. Aggron kept trying but Dominic was a little too fast for him. Dominic focused, creating numerous flames around himself, intensifying them until it was a maelstrom of fire building beneath the surface and released them. He felt Aggron hit the ground and waited a few seconds before jumping to the battleground. Incinerate had done a decent amount of damage to Aggron's armor, but he was far from finished. Dominic, on the other hand, was spent, which Aggron and Steven saw immediately.
"You're getting good, kid." Aggron dusted the grime from his armor. "You're almost good enough to make me get a little serious."
"Aw, quit playing with me, A," Dominic complained, chewing on his foot. Aggron picked him up and set him on his shoulder before slamming his tail into the ground. The dirt in a thirty-foot radius was instantly uprooted, creating a fifteen-foot deep crater all around them before it fell back down…after around six seconds anyway.
"Oh, I didn't hold back enough," he said, shrugging. Dominic just stared.
"That's…so freaking awesome, Aggron!" he cheered, sliding off his shoulder. Aggron caught him before he fell. "Amazing! Incredible! I wanna be as strong as you guys!" He chuckled and scratched Dominic's head.
"Not yet. You still need to grow some more, kid." Dominic, who was beginning to lean into the treatment, pulled away with bared teeth.
"I'm very well-grown!"
"No, you're still a brat."
"He's not even virile," Metagross joked, making Aggron and Cradily burst out with laughter.
"I-I'm virile! Whatever that means!" Dominic jumped to the ground and started gnawing on Metagross' leg, although his little teeth had no effect.
"Hey, that almost tickles." Dominic barked and started scratching, but it still didn't work. "This armor of mine can withstand everything short of a nuclear war, kid."
"Which hasn't been proven," Cradily pointed out.
"Be quiet. You didn't even manage evolution."
"I came back, didn't I?" he muttered petulantly.
"And if Steven hadn't found your Fossil, you'd still be a part of the Earth's history."
"Hey, yoo-hoo, we were talking about me." Dominic pouted when they continued their back-and-forth. He jumped on top of Cradily, catching Metagross' eyes, and put him into a daze. He wasn't going to do anything further with it, not that it mattered to his friends.
"Dominic. Don't do that to your friends." Steven snatched him by the scruff, earning an undignified yelp from him. "Pull him out." Metagross blinked a few times before shaking its head.
"Buzzkill," Dominic muttered as Steven released him to the ground. "I'm bored with him," he said to Aggron.
"With who? Metagross?"
"No, Steven!"
"Why would you be?" he asked, perplexed. "Steven is a good man, even though you're sort of a brat—no offense."
"None taken—I'm impish," he corrected with a devilish grin before turning away, fixing his neck fur. "And it's too boring staying here and just looking at his rock collection every day. I wanna go out and see what's in the world."
"You're still a little young for that, Dominic."
"In the wild, I'd practically be an adult."
Cradily scoffed, which Dominic had the grace to let slide…for now. Aggron frowned.
"Nothing's wrong with being owned by a Trainer."
"I didn't say that, I just said it's boring staying here and shuffling rocks. They all look the same, what exactly is he collecting?" He snorted and sat on the dirt by Steven's feet, earning a curious look.
"You don't want to battle anymore?" Dominic turned his head away at the question. Steven knelt and bonked him lightly on the head. "You have a power you think is handy—that doesn't mean you can go around misusing it. You don't see Metagross or Claydol doing so. Keep that up and you'll end up a supervillain."
"There he goes putting ideas in that little brain of his." Skarmory sighed as Dominic looked on dreamily. Steven hit him again, regaining his attention.
"Be smart about your illusions, Dominic." He stood and gestured for Cradily and Metagross to follow him back to the battlefield. When he left, Aggron crouched to level himself more with Dominic's height.
"Don't be in a hurry to grow up. Trust me, it's better to be young and happy."
"Ew, that's what old people say." He only chuckled.
"You'll see soon enough."
"Aggron, don't taint his youth," Skarmory said to him. "Besides, his brain is so small he won't remember any of this to adulthood."
"I'm smarter than you, birdbrain!" Dominic yelled. Skarmory squawked, appalled.
"Is that a challenge?"
"I'm not inviting you to dinner!"
"If that's how you learn your lessons, then fine!" Skarmory's wings glowed as he swiped at Dominic. He hopped out of the way, skidding slightly on the dirt ground. Skarmory was faster than Aggron: his regular Speed still wasn't much, but his attacking speed was something to be cautious of. In a heartbeat, he recovered from his Steel Wing and snapped his beak, clamping down on the tip of Dominic's ear. Luckily, he only got a tuft of fur, otherwise that would've been a bloody nightmare.
"This is what I'm talking about!" He chomped on Skarmory's leg, causing him to stumble, and then he used Fury Swipes on Skarmory's torso, tearing large streaks in his metal armor. Skarmory screeched and flapped to his feet, kicking out at Dominic and sending him rolling in a furry ball across the dirt. He came to a stop after bowling into a large rock. "Uwah," he sobbed, rubbing his head in pain.
"Oh, did I really hurt you?" Skarmory moved closer with wide eyes. Dominic shot him a cruel grin as dark energy coiled around.
"No, I'm just that good!" He struck at Skarmory's chest, creating deeper scores in his armor, before completely ramming him, knocking him to the ground with wings outspread. Dominic started tearing at his wings too, pulling chips from his feathers until they started to look awfully sorry. Skarmory rolled to his feet and blew Dominic off with Gust, sending him skidding, and launched himself in the sky, although he wasn't nearly as fast as before. He did an impressive loop-de-loop before coming back down, the air cutting around him like blades, and then he pulled to a complete stop, letting them slice down to the ground. Dominic growled and focused, bringing his energy up to form a shield. It deflected his Air Cutter well enough but left him drained.
Skarmory came back down in a flurry, swooping low to the ground to gain speed before zooming over Dominic like a jet plane. He used his talons to grab Dominic, then whirled around in the air to crash him down into the ground. He rolled back to his feet, disoriented and dizzy, and watched Skarmory come back around again. Even though he was still terribly novice with dark energy, he opened his mouth and fired a wobbly-looking Shadow Ball. It bounced off Skarmory's armor like a water balloon and didn't stop him at all from tearing away the ground from under Dominic's paws with his speed, throwing him back a dozen feet and causing him to hit his head another time.
"I gotta…gotta…" He felt smashed and he shook and staggered like he had four left paws. "Gotta…beat… I gotta beat that brainbird, 'mean, I mean…" Skarmory was coming back one more time, but since when were there four of him? He opened his mouth again but could barely pull enough dark energy to form anything cohesive as Skarmory hit him directly with his talons, grabbing him and pulling him high into the air, high enough that he could feel the moisture up there make his fur soggy. He saw the ground swell up to them like bread in the oven—Steven took him to a bakery once, and he saw bread baking—except it wasn't bread, it was dirt—but bread dough looked a little like dirt—and it was really going to hurt—hmm bread—his head was aching, shit—good little Zorua, gotta be good, no illusions, no supervillain—
It can be so sad being so dark inside without any chance of ever walking in the light.
Both crashed to the ground, except Dominic wasn't burning from hellfire like Skarmory was. He instantly became alert as he started running around Skarmory's flaming body, listening to his pained screeches and watching the black energy eat away at his steel exterior and create a steady stream of silver blood. He saw Steven and his other Pokémon rush over, alarmed, and knew it would just go straight back to him. He was the one who did it, so he did deserve the blame, but that didn't mean he liked it. He was traumatized, scared, riled up, but not guilty—nope, everything but guilty. Why couldn't he be guilty?
Hellfire was impossible to douse, he soon learned. Just as rare as it was to appear, so was the only substance that could extinguish it. Needless to say, Skarmory didn't have a pleasant end, not that Dominic really hung around to see it. He just sort of found a corner…somewhere…and stayed there, even as the sun set and night rose like a blanket. Well, the dark never bothered him anyway.
Steven gave him a home, and he repaid it by killing one of his teammates, one of his friends. He may have been too young to understand a lot, but perhaps it was good he understood death so well. Those were the makings of a great supervillain. He grimaced as it started to rain, and sadly he was lying under a gutter—water sloshed down the pipe and poured directly over him, turning him into a wet mutt. He crawled from under the flow and shook himself partly dry before moving into the heat of a trash fire alongside a few other homeless. He settled himself next to a man bundled in cargos and a worn leather jacket under a larger hoodie and closed his eyes, then he felt the man gently stroking along his spine. "Hey, little guy," the man said. "Man, you remind me of my old Pichu—she used to love when I scratched her back like…"
He purred and arched into the man's hand. He felt a pleasant tingle building on the surface of his skin and tried cute-ing the man into scratching a little harder, but the tingling sensation quickly became bothersome, then irritating, then it felt as if little needles were pricking into his skin. He mewled in disagreement and crawled away from the man, shaking himself unsuccessfully. He couldn't get rid of that weird feeling, and it really pained him after having to see Skarmory die. After a while, he started to doze, and after that, daydream.
"You're sort of pathetic, you know?" he said, crouching down so Dominic could look him in the eyes. He squinted at the Zoroark in confusion.
"Who's 't?"
"I'm sorry, that's mean of me," he said, ignoring Dominic's question. "I'm just used to speaking my mind."
"I don't understand…"
"Don't worry, you can live without understanding. It's just a little harder to choke down that way."
"I still don't understand…"
"You'll be fine, but that's more to say about the rest of the city." He looked over his shoulder just as a crash sounded from a few streets down, then a police siren filled the air, followed by a store's klaxon, then gunshots. "Things are wild right now, both here and up." He pointed his claw to the sky. "You know, up there with the big guys."
"The Legendaries are…heroes," Dominic said, raising his head. The Zoroark made a displeased sound.
"Never call anybody your hero, Rex."
"Rex? I'm…Dominic…"
"Dominic?" He cracked a smile, which grew into a full-blown grin. "Really? That's what you call yourself?"
"What do you call yourself?"
He laughed softly, his bright eyes set on something in the distance. "I call myself an illusion."
"Where did you come from?"
"Where? From you."
"But…my illusions are never nice…they're always scary…" He shrugged a shoulder.
"Guess not. Right?" He grinned and Dominic couldn't help but grin back. Something about it was so warm and pleasantly familiar…
A crash sounded. Someone screamed. Dominic thought that was where it began, a crash and a scream. Then something whizzed by his head and struck the adjacent building—he thought it was a lightning strike. Whatever it was, it caused an instant explosion of fire and debris that sent Dominic rolling into a wall headfirst. The world burst into fragmented segments of light. A faint ringing echoed in his ears before he hit the ground.
"Run!" someone shouted, but they sounded miles away. Dominic whimpered as he forced his eyes open; the building was up in flames and more of its crumbling smoky pieces were falling to the street, catching and crushing slow-moving bodies. The light hurt and he was forced to look away.
They're here! They're here!
The words felt like they echoed on a loop so Dominic couldn't be sure who said it. One thing was for certain though: he had to move or he would get killed. He forced his limbs to work even though they felt like jelly and he took one sluggish step after another, walking away from the burning carnage and into the shadows. The screams faded in his hearing which allowed his thoughts to grow louder.
What's going on? A Pokémon had to be the cause—humans can't control lightning. But why would a Pokémon kill people? Why are they…why is everyone…?
He had to stop and rest after a while, which ended with him throwing up in a dark corner. He tried pressing forward but found iron gate blocking his way. He dug around the base until he found some rusted bars and pushed through. It landed him close to a main street where he saw a crowd of people retreating. He looked the other direction and felt his heart stop. Dozens of Pokémon, way too many of them, rushed in the humans' wake, firing at them with not a shred of mercy. Dominic felt sicker than before as he backed away from the sight.
I'm dreaming, he thought, but that wasn't true. This wasn't a dream—it was a nightmare. The worst kind, too. Swallowing back bile, he turned and ran again.
"Hey." He pulled up short before a small form dropped ahead from one of the building tops. The Pawniard was the same size as him but bearing far more attack power in the form of its bladed arms. "Whose side are you on, huh? Ours, or theirs?"
"I—d-don't, no—please—" He swallowed and shook his head despite the action worsening his headache. "Th…This is wrong. Stop, please. These people, they're our friends…"
"So that's your side," he muttered, and without further ado, he lunged forward aiming for the throat. But Dominic had grown up around Champion-level Pokémon and so his reflexes allowed him to dodge that time. The next time, his blade sliced the tip of his ear off. Blood gushed from the would and he was momentarily paralyzed at the copious amounts of it. He didn't know…blood could be produced in such volumes.
"What sides? Stop!" He was whimpering and near tears despite his age but screw it. He was scared, he was terrified he could be killed on the spot. Like Skarmory. He shuddered at the memory and avoided another fatal hit, earning a long slice along his right side. The blade bit into his skin like icy fire and he wanted to curl up at the sheer agony. This wasn't a play exercise, it was real life or death. He used that thought to combat his flight response and ducked the Pawniard's next swipe, using the vulnerable second to latch onto his leg with his teeth.
"Sides! You're on the side that'll die!" His voice was high with pain and Dominic suddenly wondered how old he was. Certainly not an adult but didn't sound like a kid. Then his thoughts were cut short when his blade cut inches from his nose. He was forced to jump back and right into a follow-up attack which pierced deep into his left hind leg. He keened long and loud before the energy built in his stomach, then exploded into a Shadow Ball right between them. Dominic rolled across the concrete and crashed into a collection of metal trash bins. The Pawniard skidded before regaining its balance and clutched his now useless arm.
"Ugugu…" He climbed free from the mess and flopped to the ground, left literally without a leg to stand on. All three injuries bled weakly and his head spun. He watched the Pawniard readying itself for another strike and thought, I can't fight back, I don't know how. Maybe I should just…
Then his duh! moment came. I don't need to "fight back!"
He pushed himself up and onto shaky paws when he lunged forward yet again, bloodied blade poised for a finishing blow. Dominic lifted his chin and looked down at the Pawniard. He decided on the most grown-up line he knew: "Fuck you and your sides." The Pawniard looked up and met Dominic's eyes. He didn't have any ideas, couldn't get his brain to think straight anymore, so he just let his imagination run wild. The Pawniard fell convulsing, and Dominic found he didn't care. He turned and left, limping towards the last safe haven he knew.
"I have to…find Steven…" He blinked away tears as he grew closer to Steven's home, seeing the place torn from its foundation, plaster and furniture scattered everywhere. Steven was up and fighting on the beach despite a bleeding head injury and his broken left arm, and his Pokémon were some of the good guys, except his team was down to four. Aggron was on the ground and he wasn't moving.
He was riding, the wind in his fur, his ears flapping madly against his skull, his cheeks sore from grinning so much. He laughed into the harsh breeze as Aggron sped his trot further, tearing up the tall grass until they were sprinting across a field, the taste of sun in his mouth and the sky stretching miles and miles—
"Metagross, Mega Transformation!" Steven commanded, pressing a stone on his lapel. Metagross glowed with an iridescent light before shifting into another twelve-armed form, attacks flying at a faster pace and hitting the attacking rebels significantly harder. Rebels…that was the word for them. Those who rebelled against humans. Those who bit the hand that fed them. So, Dominic was…didn't that make him…?
Steven met eyes with Dominic, and a century later they were still gazing at each other, Dominic with terror and wariness and Steven with the same. There was a question between them directed only at Dominic, and without physically hearing it he understood what Steven was saying with amazing clarity: Which side? Dominic raised his head, showing he heard, but he didn't answer. How could he? How could he so easily betray (again) the only master he had ever known? Who taught him right from wrong, how not to use his illusions?
Steven knelt and offered his hands. Once upon a time, Dominic would have happily run and jumped into them, gnawing on his collar as he laughed. But that was before—before he killed Skarmory and fled without a word like a coward. Steven owed him nothing now, not even mercy. Dominic raised his chin and stepped back.
"Steven?" Cradily asked. Steven shook his head a fraction of an inch. Dominic didn't quite understand human ages, but Steven rose like an old man then.
"Metagross," he said with this drawn look on his face. Metagross knew instantly, turning its gaze on Dominic.
Looks like Steven made the choice for him.
Its Flash Cannon was almost hard to follow—almost. The Pawniard was much faster. Dominic repelled it with Protect, digging deep into the loose sand of the beach. He heard a storm coming, tasted it as well, and it brought on memories of…better times. He felt the sand shift before feeling steel claws clasp around his small body, bringing him up to eyes of steel which conveyed only steel. Metagross' grip intensified, forcing Dominic to choke on the air he couldn't inhale.
"I can Mega Evolve," Metagross boasted. Dominic blew his cheeks out as his fur stood on end.
"Well I can—I can, uh—spin a ball on my nose!"
"So can a Sealeo," it grinned. Dominic huffed and turned his nose up. "But you do have something going for you." It reached out and Dominic hopped onto its gauntlet. Metagross raised him into the air. "You're a pretty special little guy, Dominic."
He couldn't do it. How could he? It was one thing to put a random attacker under his spell, but to do the same thing to Metagross with the intent to finish the job? The thought hampered his breathing further. He killed Skarmory by accident and his soul was already tainted; what would happen if he did the same on purpose? What would it mean for Dominic?
I can't, he thought as the world darkened around him and his strength seeped away. I can't…
SO LET ME
The warm memories abruptly slipped away like a door had closed. His body felt weak and he was seeing things as if from a distance. He wondered if that was what death felt like. If so, he was some kind of zombie, because his body was still moving. He groaned pitifully before whispering, "You don't…l-look at the…friend you're k…killing?" Expectedly, Metagross raised its eyes at his remark, and a terrifying smirk split across Dominic's face. Metagross froze and its claws opened, letting Dominic fall to the ground.
"Metagross…?" Cradily advanced before the sand at his feet exploded from a Shadow Ball, part of his lower body crumbling to dust from the impact. Blades of darkness sliced into Claydol's abdomen when it attempted a defensive maneuver and Armaldo was halted by waves of black flames cutting into his path. Steven looked on with wide eyes as his team was stopped in their tracks, mirroring Dominic's internal shock. On the outside, his body was collected, bored almost.
"Stop," Dominic whispered, watching his body move past the disabled Pokémon and onto Steven Stone. "Stop. Please, stop! That's Steven, I can't hurt Steven! He's my friend, he's my—"
YOU CAN'T, I CAN
TO PROTECT US
Dominic lapsed into darkness for a moment, and when he came to he was in control of his body again. He felt no joy at this small victory and instead succumbed to the stream of warm tears building in his eyes. He wailed into the dark sky for a long time before his fatigue peaked and he curled up on Steven's chest. His hand rested close to Dominic, still warm, and he reveled in that small thought as he whimpered in the face of Steven's silent heart.