CHAPTER TWELVE: FLASH IN THE NIGHT

Aaron sat on a large stone inside the cave, deep in thought. Had he forgotten anything? He was pretty sure that everything was what Kai would have done. Planning wasn't his specialty, but he couldn't think of any blatant problems with the plan.

"Hey, you okay?"

He recognized Aria's voice. He turned around, and saw that Jen was also next to her. "Aaron right?" asked the Sylveon.

"Yeah. That's me."

Aria climbed up next to him. "You look worried. That's unusual for a guy like you."

Aaron exhaled. "It's nothing. There's just a lot I'm concerned about."

"I know, you're just worried for Kai. I feel the same you know… what could be going on… you know, you always try act all tough guy."

"What?"

She shrugged. "You're a good Pokemon. You just come off as harsh sometimes."

"I was going to strangle your sister the first time we met."

"But you didn't."

"Yeah, but-"

The Leafeon shushed him with a hand over his mouth. "I think I'm a good judge of character, and you're not completely rotten."

"Gee, thanks."

She smiled, before jumping back down. "Don't stay out there too long. We're all eating already."

"Oh, okay."

Jen murmured something to Aria before they walked away. Aaron hopped down to follow them. "I'm not gonna ask what that was about."

Aria turned around. "What?"

"Never mind. It's not important." Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just surprised that you're so friendly to someone who attacked you and your sister multiple times."

"We're allies now. With so few of our species left, we can't really afford to ignore others really."

Aaron shrugged. "I mean, we could ignore each other if we wanted to."

"Yeah, but… well…"

They came to where William was cooking something. "Oh, good. Thanks Jen."

She smiled at the Flareon. "It smells good."

"Thanks. I'm mixing in some peppers. It might be a little spicy, but…"

The Sylveon sipped the broth. "Oh wow, this is great!"

Aaron knew that William was excellent at cooking. Unlike most fire types, he didn't overdo the spiciness, though an ice type like Kylie might not have liked the heat. "Where are Grant and Jasmine?"

"I think that the two of them are up top watching the moon. Something romantic."

"That's cute," said Jen.

"Yeah, ever since we brought Aria and Jasmine here, they've been very close," said William. "They're almost inseparable."

"Hey, don't gossip." Grant walked down, followed by Jasmine. "We're coming."

The Espeon sighed. "I'm hungry."

"Maybe if you weren't showing your bare stomach all the time, you'd feel better," teased William.

"Give me some food already…" She snatched a bowl playfully, then turned to Aaron and said, "So we all know the plan?"

"Yeah."

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Kylie dreamed she was in snow. There were massive trees all around, and it was fairly dark. Snow crunched beneath her; snow fell around her; snow covered the trees. It was an ice-type fantasy.

But she wasn't walking. She was being carried by someone. That someone was limping badly. "Hey, put me down!" she said. But they didn't respond, merely continued limping along. Then she thought about Kai. "Where's Kai?" The Pokemon didn't stop moving. Then she felt something warm and wet against her leg. She froze, and realized it was blood. "Oh my god…!" The Pokemon's face was bleeding. One of the eyes stood out, but the other… there was only one eye. "Oh my god… please… lord Arceus…"

The Pokemon dropped Kylie onto the snow. She couldn't make out their face, or any features, other than that lone eye. They were coated in layers and layers of robes. With the one hand, they reached to her. Kylie wanted to scream and move, but couldn't.

Then she woke up, heart pounding, still smelling the metallic scent of blood. "No… no… a dream…"

"Kylie…" The Vaporeon sat up and held her hands. "Are you okay? I'm here. I'm here…"

She took a deep breath. "Kai… what happened…"

"You called for me… I'm here…"

She closed her eyes. "I had a nightmare."

"Were they torturing you?"

"No… I…" Kylie shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it…"

Kai hugged her gently. "Kylie May… it's all right."

"I know." She buried her face in his shoulder. "It's just a dream."

Kai then said, "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"A little bit."

"That's probably it. You're just worried."

"I think you're right."

Then she felt the Vaporeon push her away slightly to look her in the eyes. "Kylie… tomorrow… if things don't go well… I hope that we live or die together."

She smiled. "Remember your own words. You said we'll get out, no matter what."

"That's right."

"You know… I could use something that'd make me feel better."

Kai thought about it. "What do you mean?"

She moved her face closer to his. "Like… a kiss… if you want…"

"A kiss?" The Vaporeon looked at her, then said, "Sure."

She paused. "Sure?"

"Yeah. I mean…"

"A first kiss is like your mouth's virginity though… sure? Now you make me feel like…"

"No, I want to do it." He thought about what to say. "It's just… I don't want to change things between us. But these past few days… things have changed."

"So you're uncomfortable?"

"A little… but it's something that I've always thought about."

Kylie nodded. "I can understand that."

"But it's something that… well, we have to do it tonight." They looked at each other, then Kylie closed her eyes and moved closer again. Then she felt the Vaporeon's lips gently press against hers. His lips were smoother than she expected, and their moistness slipped against hers. She kept her eyes closed. She was very nervous. She had never kissed a male before. Was she doing it right? It was a great feeling… though she wasn't sure if it was the novelty of kissing or whether she was genuinely enjoying it.

Then she opened her eyes. Mistake.

Kai looked right at her.

She stared at him.

"So…" The Vaporeon gently pulled away. "Was that okay?"

"Y-yeah…" Kylie didn't want to lie. "That was awkward," she said.

"Totally…" The Vaporeon rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean I enjoyed it. I liked kissing you…"

"But it was still awkward."

"Yeah." She plopped onto her back. "Did we do it wrong?"

He lay down next to her on his stomach. "I don't know… I just thought… it was going fine until you opened your eyes."

"Yours were open too."

"I know… but… maybe more tongue?"

She blushed. "Tongue is dirty and slimy. You do it before you make love."

He sighed. "We'll try again sometime. But not tonight."

"You bet…"

"I hope this doesn't ruin things," he murmured.

She frowned. "Why would it? It just means we both suck at kissing."

"Okay. Kylie… thanks."

"For what?"

"For everything."

She wasn't sure what to say. "Yeah. Of course. Thank you too. For helping me see everything."

He wrapped his arms around her belly. "Goodnight."

She rested her hand on his. "Goodnight." Her nightmare was all but a distant memory.

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The six others stood on a large apartment outside the facility. The sun had set half an hour ago. They had spent the day preparing for this.

"You know… I still never got why Kylie got a different dose than me," murmured Aria. "You say she has a stronger dose, but the professor just pulled out two pills."

"Kylie's pill was in fact a lot different," said Aaron. His hair flapped in the wind.

Grant spoke up. "That's why you awoke so much earlier after taking the pills."

William nodded. "The top spy's DNA… you said they were collecting it right?"

"Along with Kai's."

"Hmm…" The Jolteon shook his head. "We can worry about that later. We have to save them." He checked the time. "Hmm… William, your girlfriend should be calling soon.

"I know." William stood near Jasmine and Aaron. His phone rang, and he checked it. "Jen? Okay, gotcha. Love you." He put it away. "All right Aaron, let's see how it works." He nodded to Grant and Aria. "You two, go."

Grant smiled at Jasmine. "All right, I'll be going. Be careful."

They hugged. "You too," she murmured.

Aria nodded at them. "We're counting on you guys!"

"Don't worry," said the Jolteon. "You've got the hard part."

They watched as the Umbreon and Leafeon walked down the apartment and out into the street in front of the government's headquarters. Aaron pulled out his phone. "All right…" He pressed something, and then suddenly, the lights went out. "Gotcha."

"You always impress me with how easily you screw things up," sighed Jasmine. "I mean that as a compliment. William, you ready?"

The Flareon's skin fell off his bionic arm. "Yup." A vortex of flames surrounded him. "Let's be a great distraction." There weren't a whole lot of Pokemon at the street below. William launched a blast of fire down below, careful not to hit anybody.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A vested Houndoom came out. "Get them!" He launched a blast of flame back at the three of them on the building. It was quickly stopped by Jasmine's light screen.

"Hmm… good thing I set that up," she commented.

Aaron rested an arm on each of their shoulders. "I'm going to spread them out."

"Got it," said William, not looking back. "Be careful."

The Jolteon jumped off the side of the building. "Don't worry about me." On the ground below, there were maybe fifty or so agents who had gathered to defend the facility from William and Jasmine. Time seemed to slow down as he fell. He pulled out his primary weapon; a lightning rifle.

Kai had forbidden him from using it on the females, due to the difficulty of controlling the electrical bullets. He had spent a few months making changes on it to keep it nonlethal, and he had finally succeeded. He aimed and sent a charge through his fingertips, launching the blast straight at the nearest Pokemon. Lightning arced through him before moving through to the next Pokemon. Aaron smiled, launching another shot before landing. Numerous Pokemon lay on the ground, unconscious as he stood up.

"Non-lethal force… you're all lucky Kai hates killing," he grumbled, taking out enemies. One Kabutops came close to him, and he grabbed it, slamming the rock type to the ground. "Get out."

From the building above, William continued launching his attacks below, keeping a lot of pressure off of Aaron. Jasmine kept up her light screen, shielding them from attacks. But Aaron knew that they had a lot more agents from around the city, other than the standard defense team. Grant and Aria had to hurry.

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Kylie and Kai walked along the cool marble floor of the facility. Professor Blaze wanted to show them something.

"What is it that we must see?" she asked.

He looked at her, then shook his head. "I'm having a lot of doubts. So before you see it… just know that I'm sorry."

"For capturing us?"

He blinked, then slid his card, unlocking a large metal door. "For making what I'm about to-"

The alarm went off. They all looked around. "Kai, is-"

The professor paused, then said, "A break in…" He looked at the two Eons. "Your allies, I presume…"

Kai stared him in the eyes, and after a brief standoff, the Typhlosion turned around. "I won't stop you… perhaps it's the least I can do."

The Vaporeon started to walk away to where Jen had instructed them to wait, but Kylie grabbed his hand. "We should see what's in here."

Kai paused. "Are… is that really a good idea?" He sounded concerned. "If the Professor…"

When it came down to it, Kylie wasn't sure. Kai had a point. But she nodded. "I… I need to see this. If it's something so bad that he had to apologize…"

"I know," murmured the Vaporeon. He sighed. "I knew you'd say that. All right. Let's go, but make it quick. We need to meet Grant and Aria at the central garden."

The two of them walked in, their feet clicking on the marble floor. The room ahead was dark, but there was a pink light at the end of the corridor. It was eerily quiet.

"What is this?" asked Kylie.

"It's… a…" Kai's voice trailed off as they got closer. "Oh…"

There was a massive capsule filled with the pink liquid, like the one they had seen earlier. They hadn't thought much of it. But now, it was filled with the bizarre colored liquid. But the liquid wasn't the issue.

"An Eevee…" murmured Aria, unable to believe what she was looking at. "It's an Eevee…"

"Kylie…" The Vaporeon walked close to it, and rested his hand against the glass capsule. "It's…"

Suddenly, a voice came out of the darkness. "What is it?"

"Who's there?" asked Kylie as she whipped around.

"Zero Seven… Zero One… our two most powerful…" The voice wasn't low, but it was threatening. Kylie felt as if she had heard it before, but she wasn't certain. She couldn't place a name to it.

Kai turned around. "You… who are you."

"You know me," he said, confirming Kylie's thoughts. "But you don't know me. Even with our greatest project being just about finished, I cannot allow you to get too much information. You eight could very well be the biggest threats."

Kylie looked at the capsule, and stood next to Kai. "This Eevee… she… what is she?"

"She is our greatest creation… though she isn't quite ready."

"Creation?"

The voice on the speaker chuckled. "You eight aren't truly creations. We trained you and modified your DNA, but you were born with distinct limits. No… this girl you see in the capsule… she's molded by us to be the most powerful. She's stronger, faster, and even smarter than all of you. All at the age of only three days."

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"Come on… Aria… we need to hurry…"

Grant and the Leafeon ran through the corridors. Aaron had easily disengaged most of the security measures already, and it was easy to get through, especially with most of the guards defending the outside from Aaron, Jasmine and William's assault.

"The garden, right?"

"Yes… once we get there, we need to…"

"Grant, Aria!" Jen stood in front of them. "Good, you guys are here. So I delivered the message on Kylie's napkin and fortune cookie. Kai confirmed through the camera that he received the message."

"Yeah, William got your message. We wouldn't be here had that not happened."

"I know. So are you okay?"

"We've been uncontested. Let's just hurry up so that we can get out of here quickly."

"They should be there already…" The Sylveon began running with them. "The garden."

"Okay. Let's go."

The ran through the building to the rendezvous point. "Aria… I…" Suddenly, the Umbreon froze, and held his head. "Shit… what the…"

Jen and Aria stood next to him. "What is it?"

"I… I…" The Umbreon froze. "It's… it's… no. No…"

Aria held his hand. "We need to hurry. Is this a headache?"

He let his head fall to the ground. "This happened last time… in the building during a mission. And when Jasmine was about to lose her temper. But I was prepared that time…" His face looked defeated.

"What do you mean?"

"Jasmine's… she's been hurt. And once she feels a certain amount of pain, she loses control of her calm. Once that happens… well…"

"I remember you saying something about being her limiter…"

Grant struggled to his feet. "You two go on ahead. I need to get to Jasmine quickly… or else…" He ran off quickly, not looking back.

"The garden is right here…" said Jen, though her voice trailed off as the Umbreon ran around a corner. The two girls looked at each other worriedly before stepping into the garden. "They should be here… Kai and Kylie were supposed to be here about ten minutes ago."

"How did you get them out so easily?"

"Professor Blaze is obviously one of the most respected scientists. He's obviously a good friend of you and your sister, so then he was having doubts about everything that he was having to do. I heard about it from one of his assistants, and it was surprisingly easy to convince him to let them go. He couldn't help them escape, but he could ignore his responsibilities."

The trees didn't move in the windless enclosure, and the night sky was starless through the glass above.

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"Three days? I…" It clicked. Kai understood it, and Kylie was horrified. "No… three days… that's about when…" Suddenly, the air became warmer, and Kai sensed something in the air. His vision became blurry, but he ignored it.

"Your eggs. We removed three from your body. Of course, it turns out we only needed one. But Professor Blaze, who has apparently failed his duty in holding onto you… he argued for your sake not to remove all of them. The other scientists agreed, so congratulations, you can still have children if you really want to. Though it doesn't really matter to me, because we've got what we need really. Fashioned from your DNA as well as Kai's to start, and then afterwards, we threw in the rest. But think of it this way…" The voice paused before saying, "This young Eevee… she's practically your daughter. She's your child. Her body was modified to mature quickly, and have attributes from all of you eight. But as you two had the ideal personalities, we made you the strongest potential wise. As such, she is the most powerful of anything we've made before. Yes… your child!"

"No… it…"

"She's the most powerful. We're going to use her for all sorts of things… wars… assassination… See that collar? It'll pain her if she disobeys us."

"Let her go!" hissed the Glaceon.

Kai rested a hand on her shoulder. "Kylie… we need to go!"

"Oh go, I won't stop you. But this child…" He paused. "She is your daughter from your flesh and blood. You too Zero One."

"That's not my problem. A child should be made out of love, not a science experiment."

Kylie froze. "But… this child… if we don't save her."

The voice chuckled. "Her mind is already compromised. We've force fed her traits of aggression. Don't think she'll thank you for birthing her."

"I…"

"Kylie… we need to go." Kai knew they had to hurry. There was a lot of risk with carrying this out. "The guards are all distracted. We can leave, and then Aaron already set up an escape plan."

"But…" Kylie rested both her hands on the glass. "We have a child…"

Kai stepped back. "Kylie… you… we need to go!"

She looked at him. "This child… we need to save the child… she's our responsibility… or else she'll have no parents like me and my sister."

Kai waved his hand, and the blades of water surrounded him. "Kylie… I will knock you out and drag you out of here if I have to. Please… we have to go!"

"Kai… you were always understanding. This girl… I… she'll be lonely. So lonely…"

Kai waved his hand, and the the blades merged into a jet of water, straight towards her. She jumped out of the way, eyes wide. "I-"

The glass shattered, and the liquid flowed out. Kylie ran next to Kai, and held her head. "What the…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah… what… just happened?"

Kai had sensed something change, maybe a sort of mind control. "Don't worry about it…"

They looked at the Eevee lying unconsciously on the ground, surrounded in a pool of the pink liquid. "A girl…" murmured the Glaceon. Then her legs gave out. "Ngh… I feel so weak…"

Kai suspected that the voice had some sort of mind controlling technique. He held her up. "Kylie… let's go…"

The voice laughed. "Go on… I won't stop you. You two run away from the abomination you've made… but we haven't forgotten you. We will properly di-"

Then the ground began to shake, and the voice became silent. Kai froze. "It's…" He remembered it last time. Ground shaking… massive headaches after… no was it the same? Then suddenly, both of them fell to the ground, holding their heads. "Argh!"

"Kai! What is this?" gasped Kylie.

"Jasmine… she's… she's lost control." Then as if on cue, a bright flash of pink erupted through the dark room.

The two of them were launched backwards, unconscious almost immediately. Kai didn't even have the time to think anything.

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Grant was just coming outside, and he saw William and Aaron doing their best to protect Jasmine. Some guards had stormed the building William and Jasmine had been fighting from, and they clearly had to leave it. William's bionic arm was badly damaged and he had numerous scrapes. Even Aaron was pretty scratched up and he had a gash on his forehead. But Jasmine had taken a wound that made Grant want to cry.

A massive gash went horizontally across her stomach. "Jasmine!" Grant pulled out his whip and knocked away the nearest enemies before jumping right to her side. "Jasmine… Jasmine…"

Her eyes were closed in pain, but Grant knew what would happen if she didn't calm down. "Grant… it hurts… argh…"

"I'm here. You have to calm down…"

Jasmine's light screen was still there, but not for much longer. They must have been hit as the ran from the other building as she set up the second light screen. "You'll have to seal her again," hissed Aaron, not turning around.

"I can't," said Grant. "If I do it… with these wounds, it'll kill her."

The other two were breathing hard. "I can't hold them," murmured William. "We need to get out of here…"

"Where are the others?" said Aaron tensely. "We're up the creek…"

Then the Espeon's eyes began glowing pink. "Argh… all of you…"

"Jasmine… please calm down!"

"I'll… I'll…"

The ground began to shake a little. It was just like Kai and the others had explained. "Jasmine… please…" He put panic into his voice. If she lost it… the buildings around could be leveled.

"No! All of you… you'll pay now!"

The shaking was more intense. Grant knew what he should do, but he couldn't. "Jasmine… I should have been quicker… Aaron! Run now!"

He was keeping lightning around them, protecting them from the assault if only temporarily. "Run? But-"

"Do it. Please…"

The Jolteon sighed. "If…"

William shouted angrily. "You need to go! You can get far enough away!"

The Jolteon turned around, then looked at the other three. There was something they rarely saw; sorrow. "I'm sorry…"

Then he dashed off in a flash. Jasmine let out a scream as the pain finally mad her lose control. The shockwave was intense. All of them were launched backwards, though Grant's typing saved him partially. It was still unlike anything he'd felt before. Then he saw the buildings beginning to collapse. "Jasmine…"

He couldn't see her as the pink flash forced him into a building. He felt a few bones break before he passed out. "I'm so… sorry… I wasn't there…" Then his vision went completely black. There was no pain anymore.

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"Today, there was a massive explosion at the Central Government Plaza at 10:58." The news showed the remains of what had happened. The entire place looked as if some sort of missile had struck it. It was black and helicopters flew over it, shining lights as they looked for survivors. "We have a confirmed 126 casualties, as well as 54 confirmed deaths. It is still unclear exactly what occurred, but witnesses say that there was a blast of pink energy that came from just in front of the building."

"What are you watching?"

The girl turned around. "Oh, hi father." She bowed her head. "There was recently an explosion within the city.

"An explosion?" The older Umbreon crossed his arms. "Why are you so concerned?"

"Well… isn't that where Kai is?"

"I told you not to mention his name, Lara."

"I'm sorry, father…" The female bowed her head. "I'm just concerned for him…"

"He left us because he couldn't handle the training."

"I know… I'm sorry."

The father walked silently, but Lara turned to look at the TV again. "Kai… you're involved with this somehow, aren't you?" she murmured to herself.

"The officials are not allowing any public to come close. The survivors are mostly being taken to the nearest hospital. With all- oh, hang on…" The reported was a Furret. She adjusted her headset. "We are getting new information now. The government is looking for reported terrorists. They are all rumored to be part of the Eon species. They ask for your help to bring them in should you find them. Report all information to the following number." It appeared below.

The Umbreon stood up, running out of the room quickly. Then she looked at her phone as it rang once. "Hello?"

Well well… a confusing chapter with a lot going on! Please read and review! Thanks!