Chapter 11

Jack slowly opened his eyes to look at the concrete floor of the cell he was locked in. He was tied to a chair in the center of the room. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again trying to focus himself. He tried to look up but when he moved he felt a throbbing sensation in the back of his head. He heard footsteps outside of the door, and braced himself for the inevitable torture.

Jack felt his head yanked upwards to look at a man. The man was of small stature, with beady eyes and sharp features. He had on a black suit, with a black undershirt and tie. He had a sadistic smile on his face. He seemed content with staring at Jack.

"What do you want?" Jack said angrily. He suddenly felt a sharp pain across his face. The small man had slapped him.

"I didn't say you could speak." The small man said. He rubbed his hand. "Now we introduce ourselves before we conduct business."

When Jack stayed silent, the small man continued. "I am John Burnham. You my friend are Jack Spartan, which isn't that common of a name. Your father was killed in combat when you were 13; your mother's name is Celia Spartan. You have an estranged older brother."

Jack stayed silent, trying to figure out an escape. The small man just smiled and continued. "Your first love was your brother's Gardevoir. You are a master of Krav Maga, proficient in the use of firearms, and the art of knife fighting. You have killed 12 of my men and would kill many more if we hadn't captured you."

"Is that all you know?" Jack said sardonically. The small man smacked him again. Jack started to grind his teeth.

"We also know that you are a leader type with plenty of charisma, but heartless when necessary. We also know that the Gods have chosen you as their Champion to stop us." The small man said. Before Jack could say or do anything, the man continued. "So I only have one question, where is the Gauntlet?"

Jack just looked at him. The small man smiled and asked again. Jack continued to look at him. The man asked one last time, this time with open irritation. Jack finally spoke. "The Gauntlet was put in your momma's pussy when I was doing her last night."

Jack felt the small man unleash three powerful punches to his face, as his head was being held back by the other man in the room. He could taste the blood in his mouth. The small man leaned close. "Now are you going to tell me where the Gauntlet is?"

Jack just spit the blood into the small man's face. The small man's face turned beet red and launched a precise attack, landing brutal blows on Jack's face. Jack could feel the blood running down his face. The small man relented on the attack, and stepped away from Jack. He looked calm. "Now this is the last time I am going to ask you. Where is the Gauntlet?"

"I guess I will tell you after you asked so nicely." Jack said sarcastically even though he was in pain. "The Gauntlet is located in your momma's asshole, and where it released all of its power."

The small man sighed. "Ok, Jack, I gave you a chance. I have to kill you now and all of your friends."

The small man reached into his suit and pulled out a small compact pistol that Jack couldn't identify. He motioned for the man behind Jack to step away. Jack refused to be scared and looked into his killer's eyes. The small man smiled in a sadistic grin.

Darkrai silently appeared and slit the small man's throat. The other man stood there in shock, when Darkrai slit his throat too. Jack saw the man hit the ground. He turned his head to look at Darkrai. "What took you so long?"

"I felt like seeing you get hit." Darkrai said as he cut Jack free. Jack just looked at him. Darkrai turned back into his cloaked form.

"Can you help with the pain?" Jack asked, feeling the throbbing pain. Darkrai nodded and touched him on the forehead. Jack didn't feel anything change at first. A few seconds later the pain was gone. "Thank you. Now let's go get the others out of here."

Darkrai nodded and went back to being Jack's shadow. Jack picked up the compact pistol from the floor and walked out of the cell. He looked to his right and only saw the wall next to him. To his left was a long hall of cells like his. They all seemed to be made of Plexiglas, and only a few were occupied.

Jack moved down the hallway with an inhuman speed. He glanced at the people inside of them. They all looked to be near death with some broken and bloody, and others shrunken and starved. Jack felt sorry for them but he needed to find Dawn and Damian. They were his priority.

He neared the end of the hallway with the last two cells located here. He looked inside. Damian was located directly across from Damian. It seemed to be a type of torture. Make a friend watch his loved ones get tortured.

Jack looked closely at Damian. His face was swollen and bruised, and he was bleeding. He looked at the cell door. He closed his eyes and tried to summon the strength needed to save them. He kicked the door, and it crashed to the floor. Jack quickly moved in and freed Damian. Damian seemed to be out of it. Jack got him out of the cell and laid him down gently.

He moved over to Dawn's cell. She wasn't as hurt, with a few bruises on her face. The torture technique seemed to be set up for her. Jack kicked the door open and freed her. She gripped him a tight hug when she realized who it was. She was crying.

Jack tried to calm her down. "We have to do this at a later time."

She nodded and looked at Damian. "We have to get some help for him."

Jack just nodded and walked outside the cell. He looked at Dawn. "Can you help him walk? I need to keep myself open to fight."

Dawn nodded and helped Damian up. He leaned heavily on her shoulder and they walked down the hallway. Jack followed behind them and told them to head toward his cell. Dawn just followed the order and walked slowly toward his cell. She stopped when Jack stopped in front of a cell.

A woman with a white t-shirt, short jean shorts, and black sneakers was sitting tied up in the center of the cell. Jack took one look at her and kicked the door down. He quickly had her untied and she seemed to be confused where she was.

"Where am I?" She asked. "I remember being hit by something."

"You are in a Team Scourge base. They are torturing you for something." Jack said. "We have to get out of here."

"How do I know you aren't part of the bad guy's group?" She asked.

"You don't." Jack said, and walked out of the cell. He didn't even look back to see if she followed. He smiled when he heard the footsteps come from behind him.

The group walked as fast as they could with Damian being injured. Jack took point while the new girl took rear guard. They came to the end of the hallway. The new girl walked up to stand next to Jack as he studied the wall.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked. "Are you planning on blowing it up?"

"That's what I was thinking of doing?" Jack said and flashed the girl a smile. "Too bad I don't have any explosives."

"Then how are …" The girl was in the middle of the sentence when Jack slammed his fist into the wall. It only left a crack at first but them he did again and it left a hole big enough to walk through.

Jack looked at the girl. "You go first. Then Dawn and me."

The girl looked at the wall, but didn't argue and went through. Dawn gave Jack a look when she walked by, but he was watching the hallway. Jack did a double check making sure he didn't miss anything important, and then went through the hole in the wall.

He walked right into the new girl because she was staring at something. Jack cursed silently. "What the hell are you…?"

Jack stopped midsentence when he saw what she was looking at. A large cavern was crawling with bad guys, all taking care of and trapping legendary Pokémon.

Jack turned to speak to Dawn. "This is worse than I thought."