Finally. Those kids had left. Frankenstein sighed, and got to the task of cleaning up, Gardevoir offering some psychic assistance for crumbs and Giratina using its dark tentacles to pick up some of the larger pieces of trash. He smiled at them, grateful. The kids always made such a mess, but Master enjoyed their company, so he supposed he could tolerate it. Especially when he had such helpful Pokémon to make sure he didn't have to do all the work.
After the three had finished cleaning, and he'd sat down for late night tea with Master, his phone began to ring. At this hour? Looking at it revealed the caller as Shinwoo. He hadn't been gone for more than twenty minutes. He didn't see anything they could have left when he was tidying up. He'd have set it aside if he did. So why? The only way to find up was to answer, so… "Professor Lee speaking."
"Rai~! We haven't seen you for a while. The three of us are here together, and we all miss you so much." What? "You have to come. We will be waiting." Wait. What was Shinwoo doing? "Yea, come over. We're here at…" That location. The one where he'd fought that man? Before the woman interfered? That was…off.
"Master, we need to go now." He'd brief him on the way there. There might not be enough time, otherwise. Master didn't waste any time, elegantly standing and walking to the door, completely trusting in his servant's judgement.
The two were soaring through the air, jumping rooftop to rooftop when he found the words to explain. "The call from Shinwoo didn't sound right." To elaborate his point, he replayed the conversation through the bond.
"They were with us a while ago, he shouldn't have talked like that." Unless they got just got lonely that quickly, but in less than twenty minutes? That was extravagantly fast by anyone's standards, "And talking to me on the phone as if he's talking to you, master…." That was the real clencher there. Shinwoo knew damn well whose phone he'd have to call to get in contact with Master, and you didn't just talk to the chairman of your high school like that, regardless of how close your relationship was.
"I think they are in danger." Master's expression, normally placid, took a hard edge at the idea. He sped up, making it hard for Frankenstein to catch up. "Ah! Master! You don't know the direction we need to go!"
They were approaching the location, two figures fighting on a rooftop blurrily visible when a voice rang out. "…Not just subjects you guys can use and get rid of!" M-21's impassioned cry filled the ears of the fast approaching Frankenstein and his master.
The blue haired woman across from M-21 stared down at the floor. She calmly stated, "No. You are our consumables. You are failures that we can use and throw away any time we want." Her voice was…off. Like a child repeating a phrase they'd been taught as truth. M-21 was shocked into silence. He'd known how the Union viewed him, but to hear it spoken aloud so matter of fact….
"What?" She was joking, right? "I don't…" he landed with a flourish, before finishing his sentence, "like how that sounds…." That tired Union party line. It was the same excuse they'd given for abandoning Dark Spear. They were just as upset at hearing it again as he was.
A Liepard came from the shadows to circle around the woman's legs, rubbing against them. "What is that man doing here? Does it have something to do with the kids here?" Well, she'd never know that. If it became common knowledge that he owned a school…he shuddered to think of the consequences. Normal humans had a much greater chance of survival against a power user if they had a Pokémon, but most of his students just had starters, hardly any more threatening than the children themselves. From his previous encounter with her, he wasn't entirely sure he could take her himself. Not without breaking the seal on his powers, at any rate. Then she'd be gone, no challenge at all. But where was the fun in that?
"Listen. The organization's facility is at the basement here. The kids are in danger." Oh? Well that was useful information. He'd almost missed the grey-haired man talking to them. What was with the determined look on his face when he was so beat up? "I'll stop her. You two get down there."
Honestly. "You can't fight her on your own." At all. The amount of time he'd buy them blocking her here wasn't even worth mentioning.
"That's funny, M-21. You didn't come to your senses?" She smiled coldly, the kind of cruel amusement from watching an insect struggle written across every pore. "You think a failed subject like you can stop me? Not even for a minute." Well, she wasn't wrong, but the haughty superiority she exuded with each word made Frankenstein want to tear her apart even more than he already did. He really hated attitudes like that.
"This situation tells me that you know these two. Now I understand why you interfered whenever we tried to kill the kids." M-21 didn't answer her, so she continued on anyway. "You're pathetic to trust them and plan this. If you thought they could fight me, you're a fool." Heh, please. Master would kill her before she could blink if he chose. Hopefully he'd leave it to him though. He didn't want his master using his power for someone as insignificant as this.
M-21 growled in frustration. "There's no time for this. I don't know if the kids are alive. I think my colleague is blocking Jake, but…" M-21 swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing. "Help my colleague. Please."
A moment of silence passed before Master spoke. "Frankenstein."
"Yes." He was listening. Master's orders were absolute, and he was ever eager to fulfill them.
"I'm going in." Not 'let's go'. So, he was going in alone.
"Yes, sir." He wasn't particularly happy with the idea that Master might have to fight, but it was his decision. This was the more efficient route anyway. He'd just wrap things up as quickly as he could here and join him after.
Master turned to M-21. "Lead the way." The grey-haired man froze in place, probably in shock. Come on, we don't have time for this nonsense. "You said we don't have time."
Still, the man turned to ask Frankenstein, "You really okay?" He nodded in response. Honestly. What was it going to take for this guy to just go? "This way" Master followed M-21 without another word.
"You can't get away like that." The woman moved to block them. In a split second, Frankenstein was in her way.
"I guess I'm your match." With a glare, the woman drew back just enough to unleash a spin attack using her nails as weapons. Frankenstein dodged with ease. "You're not as good as you said you were." A smug expression graces his features in the face of her incredulous one.
She pulled back a bit, and the Liepard rushed him, leaping and landing a sucker punch to his abdomen before he could start in on his counterattack. Frankenstein staggered back a bit. An unexpected blow to the right spot could still wind anyone, even a noble, and in some cases, werewolves. He'd seen it happen before, been the one to deal such blows. He enjoyed doing so. Being on the receiving end…it was unpleasant.
After a cough and a deep breath, he grinned. "So that's how you want to play." Oh. This would be fun. He didn't get to have real Pokémon battles often. What was once just another tool and aspect of war was now simple sport, like so many other things. Which ones did he have on him though? Most of them were back at home, enjoying some free time outside of their balls.
He reached for his belt, running his fingertips across the embossed seals he'd used to decorate their Pokéballs. He'd brought two with him then, good. Hmm…Shuckle? No, this was a rescue mission, not a siege. The other one? Oh. His smirk turned absolutely devilish.
He drew the ball from its resting place on his belt and threw it with a flourish. It stopped in midair, releasing its contents, along with a shower of holographic confetti and fireworks, before returning to his hand like he'd thrown a boomerang. Those seals were a worthwhile investment. Anything worth doing was worth doing with style. Judging by miss blue hair's disgusted look though, she disagreed. Ah, well.
"Really? You're going to fight me with a steak?" That tended to be most people's response to this situation. There weren't many who used this Pokémon in battle. Save that one Osakan Gym Leader.
"No. I'm fighting you with the whole damn cow." Frankenstein quirked an eyebrow. Oh, he could not wait to curb-stomp this bitch. "Miltank? Double team." The bovine before him began moving at a pace far too fast for ordinary humans to see, leaving after images as doppelgangers to confuse opponents. "You know what to do after that."
The Liepard went in for a Night Slash on the Miltank at the same moment the woman moved to attack Frankenstein, both missing again and again, before Frankenstein released an attack of his own, dark whip-like energy encircling the woman's right arm and slicing it from wrist to shoulder, drawing a grunt of pain from her.
"You're good, I'll give you that." Oh, he was more than good. She wouldn't realize that until it was too late though. Pity, that. "You're not like anyone I've dealt with."
Her flesh began to bubble a bit, arms growing spikes of bone before the spikes and her arms turned carbon black, veins of phosphorescent blue tracing from her newly formed claws all the way up to where her flesh returned to normal at her shoulders. That's…he'd made notes about that once. A way to copy werewolf abilities. So, that human supremacy organization had managed to make something of that data. He could have sworn it was part of what he'd taken with him to keep them from abusing it though. Part of the same journal he'd recorded his theories about soul weapons in. Her arm appeared healed however, so maybe not?
"It's been a while since I've met someone that made me transform." A haughty, superior smile crossed her face. "It'll be different from now." So he couldn't keep an eye on Miltank and Liepard's fight anymore. That was fine. Miltank could handle herself.
With a glare, she ran at him, dealing a blow that cracked the concrete even as Frankenstein dodged. Without missing a beat she reached his landing spot and attacked again. The blond man only barely dodged with a tilt of his head. "What's wrong? Where's all the confidence you had?" The woman's lilted voice oozed amusement. "You're not smiling anymore."
Her speed and power were greatly enhanced after she'd transformed. It wasn't easy to modify someone like that. Humans had come this far? Not just mimicking some of the werewolves' physical attributes, but boosting abilities to this degree? This could be troublesome.
Frankenstein.
Master?
I allow you to break the seal keeping your power repressed. Oh? He'd not let him lift the seal once since it was first applied. Master must be highly displeased by whatever was going on down below.
I, your master, Cadis Etrama di Raizel order you to destroy the enemy that stands in front of you.
"Yes, Master." His aura began to swirl like a breeze around him. "Break…the seal." With each word, a dark power leaked, invading his aura in ever growing spikes. The woman before him cringed, looking to her arm, the wounds reacting to his power and aching in response. "What's wrong? Your arm didn't heal?" Oh? So it was based on his research.
"I doubted you at first, but now I can tell from your response. Want to know why?" He couldn't wait to see her expression. "Everything about you guys. It all started from me." They had to still be using his research as the base. He'd made sure to warp it so everything made from it would be weak to his attacks. Dark Spear tended to cling inside of wounds anyway, feeding on the bits of soul carried in blood, but it was so much worse for those enhanced by copying his techniques, slowing their healing factors until they were the same as an ordinary human's.
"What?" The woman was dumbfounded. Poor thing, it can't be easy knowing you're face to face with the father of human enhancement, the original and best enhanced human in existence. "What…do you mean?"
"I was allowed to break the seal on my power by Master, so I became a little emotional." He couldn't help it, really. No one had truly known of his brilliance in centuries. But saying anything more risked that damnable organization hunting him again. "That's it." Still. This wouldn't last much longer. The first fight he'd had in a long while, and it was ending in the blink of an eye. How boring. "This is annoying."
He raised a hand in the air, focusing the energy into spears before directing them at the woman faster than she could blink. They fatally impaled her where she stood. Or…they should have. It seems the spear he sent towards her heart missed, just a bit. Even so, she was unconscious, and should be dead soon without aid. But…it was best to finish her off. Just in case.
Within a few steps towards her, the Liepard blocked his movement to protect her, hissing and growling at him. The large cat was covered in blood, jaw dislocated, several bones broken and hoof prints from his Miltank scattered across the creature's back like its spots. How had it even gotten here from the fight with his Miltank, damaged as it was?
Where was his Miltank? Oh. She was walking over, presumably to finish off the cat like he was the woman. A tyrant his Blissey may be, but she had nothing on his Miltank's casual sadism. Miltank enjoyed toying with her 'prey'. A strange mindset for an herbivorous Pokémon, but that was the very reason he kept her. Better she be with him than a danger to others.
He recalled her to her ball. The Liepard was damaged enough, and Miltank would only drag its death out more than she already had. He went to approach again, but the Liepard lashed out with a swipe of its paw, its growling growing louder in response. This was…protective behavior? Last he'd heard, the organization harshly abused the Pokémon it captured, subjecting them to forced evolution, behavioral adjustment experiments, even attempted hybridization. But these…these were not actions of an abused Pokémon. There was no cowering, no aggression, beyond what it was doing to him, a perceived threat to it and its trainer.
Was this woman actually a good trainer? For a Pokémon to show such loyalty to someone like her. And this wasn't just any household pet. Dark types were notoriously picky when it came to their trainers. They had to be, when they had such a bad reputation. Bad omens, born evil they were called. It didn't help that they were known to kill their trainers. It only happened when they were mistreated, but most people just looked at the typing and figured it was part of their nature. Rather than the truth, that Pokémon, regardless of type, were just as varied in personality and motivation as people. And just like people, most were only trying to live their lives, and had no particular desire to cause harm.
How to handle this though? Master had ordered him to destroy her, but this was an interesting development he wanted to observe more. He could take them both back home. Heal them. Destroying her current self would be fulfilling Master's order, right? He crouched where he was, speaking softly, placatingly, to the Liepard.
"I can save her." The Liepard sat, glaring unbelievingly, but listening all the same. "Neither of you ever have to go back to the place you came from, either. I'll make sure of it. But if you don't let me treat her wounds, she'll die." And likely so would the Liepard, but it was far easier to treat Pokémon wounds that it was humans.
The Liepard nodded, slowly moving out of the way, allowing him passage. Frankenstein grabbed the white Pokéball off her belt, recalling the Leipard into it before placing it into an empty slot on his own belt. It'd be in stasis within the ball, so time would no longer be a factor for treating its injuries. Now for her injuries. Hmm.
They were serious, but if he bound the wounds, it would increase the amount of time he had to treat her exponentially, so he could just use the lab at his home to do so. He'd be able to just carry her with him while he aided Master without too much trouble. But he hadn't carried any medical tools with him…an oversight on his part when he expected to be treating severely injured children. Ripping strips of fabric off his suit jacket, he sighed.
"This is the second jacket this group has ruined." They really had no respect for the effort he went through to look nice for a fight.
Yup. Mari lives in this AU. Because I'm interested in exploring her character more.
