It was a quiet night in the desert plains of Old Cinnabar. The volcano stood valiantly but frailly. A few boulders rolled down once in a while. Some Pidgeys flew about, making the empty hill their home.
Hidden right under the dead volcano was a secret laboratory. The scene looked just as horrible as the ground above. Shattered glass was everywhere. Crumbled walls were vivid. Rattatas were running about, entering their holes. Sadly, without warning, Proton's Golbat zoomed at one of the rat Pokémon, gnawing the creature as his lunch. Proton, on the other hand, was sitting with Petrel, playing poker with some poker cards they stole.
Archer sat quietly, his eyes on the stoic Mewtwo. The genetic Pokémon's head was downcast. He stood here, motionless like a statue. A smile curved up the human's lip. His hand petted Houndoom's head. The dark Pokémon purred lovingly, enjoying his caress.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
Archer stopped. His head turned to the side, while is body was still facing Mewtwo. He peeked at Ariana, who was standing behind him. "What do you mean?"
The female executive huffed bitterly. "Why didn't you tell us that Silver is still alive?" Her heart churned at the thought of the child. She gritted her teeth, her mouth tightly sealed.
A low chuckle wheezed through the man's lips. Archer kept his posture. He placed his elbow on the table, fingers silently tapping his cheek. "It was a lucky guess. I was researching about Kotone a few years back. And I found out two interesting things." He flashed two of his right fingers. "One, she has Mewtwo. And two, she has a boyfriend." Archer snorted nastily. "Even though I despise prying into the second topic since it's such a useless matter, I figured that since it's the enemy we're dealing with, I might as well look into it."
Archer stared at Mewtwo. His eyes were glowing a bright purple. All sorts of emotion were gone from his face. He was empty like a hollow shell; like a mindless slave only existing to serve its master. The blue-haired executive smirked. "And I did not regret looking into it one bit. Think of it as a bonus." He clapped his hands and laughed. "It's like killing two Pidgeys with one stone!"
Ariana flinched to hear his laughter. Her fists slowly clenched into balls. "But why didn't you tell us we were going to deal with Silver?" Her feet stomped a few steps forward. "Why didn't you tell us that the boss's son is still alive?!"
Slam!
Suddenly, Archer stood up, spun around, and slammed his fist on the table. The three executives were stunned to see such a reaction from his current leader. Ariana gulped silently as Archer's face was positioned very closely to her face.
"So what will you do if I told you?" He spat acidly. The tone of his voice was hoarse and filled with malice. The redheaded woman could only manage to freeze still. Archer leaned an inch forward. "It will change nothing, Ariana. That boy sees us as his enemy; as an invisible entity in his life. We mean nothing to him. We don't exist in his life anymore. We are just his horrible memory he wishes to destroy."
She could feel her heart break like the shattered beakers. Ariana looked down, cursing to feel tears forming in her eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, Archer was right. They meant nothing to Silver anymore. They were just his bad past, waiting to be vanquished by him. A low growl vibrated in the room. Arbok slithered towards her trainer and stood tall behind the redhead, deadly eyes threatening Archer. Sensing that his trainer was in danger, Houndoom crouched beside the blunette and growled at Arbok.
Archer and Ariana stood quietly as their Pokémon gave out deep deadly snarls. Proton and Petrel were standing not far, eyes shining in panic and ready to calm the situation down if it got worse.
"He was our boss's son…" Archer heard her mutter quietly. "Right after…right after that night, we almost lost everything. But that child…" Her nails dug into her palms. "He lost everything. And it was our job to defend the child, to protect it like it was our own. Our boss entrusted us with him, but in the end, we lost him too…"
A good minute of silence filled the dusty room. Finally, Archer burst a dry chuckle. He took a few steps backwards. Hands hidden inside his pockets, he shook his head. "You care too much for the little one." But truth be told, deep inside of him, he too was shocked when he found out Silver was alive. All kinds of emotions run into him. Looking at Mewtwo, Archer huffed sourly. "But he's not the Silver we know anymore. We're criminals in his eyes. And we will always be." The man looked at Ariana, whose face was still facing the floor. "Besides, we were never a family to start with."
Ariana shut her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. His words were like oozing poison, slowly sipping into her heart.
"Ooookay," Petrel interfered before it got any uglier. "Lighter note. I have a question though. Where did you get that collar on the Pokémon's neck?"
Archer looked at Petrel. His smile slowly increasing as he answered, "Well, ever since our boss created Mewtwo, he also created a collar." He took the small metal device on the table. "This machine will let us control the Pokémon as long as he wears the collar. Our boss created it just in case…the Pokémon had a mind of its own." He peeked at the empty-stricken legendary. "And it turns out it did."
Proton stood in front of Mewtwo. He waved his hand in front of the being's face. His fingers were snapped a few times, trying to catch Mewtwo's attention. But as usual, the Pokémon stood still, completely unaffected by the annoying taunt he was given.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to put the collar once the Pokémon escaped and the whole mansion and laboratory exploded." Archer twirled the device in his hands. "Fortunately, the device was sealed inside an explosion-proof glass. Even the lavas of Cinnabar weren't able to melt it. So that's good news for us."
Petrel nodded in amusement. He held his hips, impressed with the explanation. "Sweet."
"So what's your next plan?" Proton asked, still making funny faces at the silent legendary. Golbat snickered by his trainer's side and joined him in a game of taunts.
Archer chuckled. "Well, for starters." He pressed the red button. Suddenly, Mewtwo opened his eyes, giving off a blind glow. Proton flinched in shock. Before he could give time to recover, he felt his neck being choked and his body being lifted. The hypnotized Pokémon threw the youngest executive until Proton slammed into a bunch of dusty boxes. Petrel and Ariana gawked in bafflement while Archer laughed in joy.
"Hoi!" Proton quickly stumbled back to his feet. His eyes glared madly at his cackling comrade. "What the fuck was that for?!"
"That's for disturbing the thing. Don't act like a child, you fool." Archer crossed his arms, lips curving into an evil smirk. Proton growled bitterly as Golbat pulled his trainer out of the pile.
"Besides," Archer looked at Ariana. "We will get back what we want. All we need is patience, and all is back to the way it was."
Darkness.
Emptiness.
Coldness.
The little one stood quietly, his hands hugging a torn doll. He looked upfront. There was nothing there. Only blackness filled his vision. Not a hint of life or death was given as the child stood silently in fear.
Suddenly, he saw a glow. A bright purple glow.
Unwarily, the child walked closer. Curiosity mixed with fear was increasing as he moved. "Mama…?"
The light was getting brighter; blinding him. The child grimaced and shielded his eyes. The light expanded, replacing the whole abyss with purple shades.
Screeeeccchhhh!
His whole skin tingled up to the back of his neck. The child snapped his eyes open. His curiosity had been completely erased. As only fear, dumbstruck, and terror slammed into him all at once.
Fire was surrounding him.
He was trapped.
"Mama!" the child screamed out loud. He hugged his doll, hiding his face. Tears formed in his eyes. Sobs and wails began to vibrate from his chest and mouth. "Mama!"
Suddenly, the light glowed again. The boy slowly looked upfront, eyes red and puffy. The second his vision was clear, the youngling could not breathe at all.
For not just fire was present in his vision, but a shadow. A figure so dark and huge. It floated above the child. His eyes were a bright, manic purple. The small one could not interpret the figure right. He had seen that figure before, but a ten year old's brain could only think so much.
"M-ma…" His trembling mouth opened, wanting to scream, to shout for his mother – anything. It moved closer, eyes fixed on the human boy. The boy cowered in horror and scooted backwards, closer to the raging fire.
Finally, it stopped. His iris-less eyes were shining horrifyingly. Without a word neither a sound, its hand reached for the boy. A bright purple ball formed on its palm, ready to release the blinding attack at its target.
The boy was dumbstricken to the bone. Opening his mouth and plucking all the courage and will that he had, the boy shrieked, "MAMA!"
The purple beam zoomed right at him.
Silver snapped his eyes open. His torso shot upwards, his mouth wailing a short but sharp gasp. "No no no!" He flailed madly, as if shielding himself from some attack. A few seconds later, Silver felt nothing. Dumbfounded, the boy looked around. There was no fire. No darkness. No bright beam that could kill him.
And especially none of that mysterious dark figure.
He was in a room, on a bed; Kotone's bed. Silver clutched his red hair. A long groan escaped his mouth as a headache slammed into him. What happened…? Why am I in bed…? Why-
Suddenly, he came to his senses.
His mind clicked to the event of a few hours back.
Silver remembered Kotone, dancing around with a Skitty doll in front of him. He remembered teasing the girl until she turned bright red. He remembered sitting in the cafeteria, feeling anxious and aware. He remembered having a war with himself.
He vividly remembered what his conscious had told him.
The redhead shuddered unpleasantly. He shut his eyes, trying to adjust his thoughts. Finally, everything was slowly coming back. He remembered seeing a man – someone he solely hated – on television. The second Silver saw him, his life flashed before his eyes. The man smiled and cackled, giving him memories he swore he would never go back.
Everything was coming back to him.
Silver saw those eyes; the same eyes in his dream. It was more vivid and clear. And worse, it was recent, something he saw just a few hours back. Silver wasn't wrong. His eyes were completely right; those were the same eyes that haunted him nine years ago.
His shuddering got more violent. His teeth chattered like he was sitting inside a freezer. His nails sank in his scalp. He quickly snapped his eyes open as images of the purple eyes shined in his vision. Silver cupped his mouth, holding back the need to throw up as his stomach curled uncomfortably.
The more he thought about it, the more fear was slowly rising up to him again. Out of reflex, Silver jumped out of bed and dashed to the door.
