What's this? An update? After all this time?
And you all probably thought I was dead.
Quick shout out to my fellow author, Skyfighter. I'd like to thank this guy for all the help he gave me.
You think this story's wild? Just check and see what he has.
Okay, well what are we waiting for? Let's get on with the story.
Chapter 24: Homecoming
Date: 7/8/2038
19:23 Hours
Subject: Mark Taylor
Location: Hidden Underwater Tunnel, New Morph City
We walked down the slowly decaying tunnel, listening to the echoes of water dropping in the distance. In all honesty, I'm still surprised that this old tunnel held up for as long as it did… Hell, I'm still shocked that after all these years no one's ever found it. I guess I'm just thinking too much of it.
"UGH! And that smell! It smells worse than a pack of wet humans!" Stephanie complained as she covered her sensitive nose. Ever since she and the others caught up to me, she's been complaining nonstop. 'Oh there too much dirty water,' 'It smells bad." "It looks like something a Miltank crapped out.' God damn, prissy princess…
"Stephanie, just shut up!" Carly finally snapped. "My nose is way more sensitive than yours, yet you don't see me complaining about it!"
"That's because you work at a filthy, animal filled pet store and you're used to repulsive smells." Stephanie shot back.
"No one asked you to tag along, Princess." I snapped as I glared back at the Espeon.
The Espeon gave me a dirty look, lashing her tail out. "Well someone has to seal up this damn tunnel. If not, you're just going to continue to bother us hard working morphs." Hard working? Trying growing up in a rotting, post post-apocalyptic nightmare.
"…Hey Mark…" Hillary suddenly spoke up. "…How long have you known about this tunnel?" She asked.
I stopped glaring at the evil psychic and turned my attention to the curious Skitty before me. "Uh… well I've known about these tunnels for years." I answered her.
I had wanted to explain that good old Ben had first showed this old ruined, half collapsed tunnel to my older sister, Amanda, a week before she decided on stealing from the residents of New Morph and that she then showed it me when I became serious about helping her on her supply runs. I had wanted to, but for some reason I simply could not bring myself to explain it. Weird I know, but for some reason I can't help but feel a little paranoid right now.
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"Oh! Well…" The Skitty awkwardly smiled, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm just a little curious about this tunnel… there seem to be other passages and I was wondering-"
I cut Hillary off with a laugh. "Let me stop you right there and tell you this: I myself have personally checked all those other passages. They're all closed off by ruble or doors that have been rusted shut. There is no way to open them… Believe me, I've tried." I explained.
"Well… do you at least know what this tunnel's original use was?" Hillary asked. Man is she nosey. Hasn't she ever heard the expression 'curiosity killed the cat.' …Wonder how many times she's heard that joke?
"Uh… Well… Uh…" I stammered. I quickly decided to not answer her and just continue walking towards home with saying so much as word. Those plans were quickly dashed when Carly grabbed couple of my tails and yanked me on my butt.
"Where are you off to? You owe Hillary an explanation, Taylor." Carly said, firmly holding my tails. Did I mention how much I hate these things?
"Perhaps this was used as an illegal morph slavery trade route, where the filthy humans captured innocent morph cubs and forced them into slavery." Stephanie growled.
"That's just messed up, Stephanie!" Hillary yelled. "And it doesn't make any sense. If there really were morphs slaves in the old human cities then don't you think we would've heard all about them in history class?" Stephanie simply scoffed and turned her back to us. "Don't you turn your back on me!"
Steven quickly stepped and calmed the cat down. "Don't let her get to you, Hill. You know how those rich kids are: stuck up and lazy."
"…Alright well… to answer your question, Hillary, I honestly don't know what these tunnels were originally used for." I admitted.
"You're lying!" Stephanie yelled. "Tell the truth and admit that your kind used this tunnel as slave trade routes!" I wonder if she's always this crazy…
"How can you not know what these tunnels were used for?" Carly asked letting go of my tails. "You've used this route for years and you've explored thoroughly before, correct?" I nodded in response. "And yet you haven't found any clues to what they were used for?"
I shook my head. "No, nothing. All I found were a bunch of dimly lit lights and a bunch of rocks… other than that, nothing." I sighed.
"That's weird… there's no one you can ask about this place? No one at all that may know about its original function?" Steven suddenly asked. We all looked at the tall, brown bunny as if he was joking. "…I'm humoring you guys, okay?"
"…Okay… well, no. No one I know at least… and I'm too afraid to ask anyone else." I lied with the thought of old man Ben in the back of my mind. I had meant to ask him about it when I got back from a run a couple of weeks ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I never had the chance to ask him… and I think asking him now might be a bit of problem…
My ear flickered in the direction of my home and I was able to hear the sound of the tunnel exit door opening followed by voices from the other side of the tunnel. We must be close the exit! "Well enough talk, let's hurry up and get out here!" I rushed ahead of the group with speed I had never had before. "We're almost there!" I shouted back.
"Wa-wait! Mark! We're not done here!" I heard Carly shout behind me.
I rushed out of the exit tunnel briefly pausing and looking back at the open exit. It's strange… I swear I heard someone's voice coming from the exit… I've got a bad feeling about this… Unfortunately, due to the smell of rot, decay and cooked crap, I was unable to focus on this matter for much longer. My new sense of smell makes this place smell even worse! I didn't think that was even possible.
I gagged and quickly covered my nose with my red furred, paws-I mean hands. "PHEW!" I heard Hillary exclaim as the rest of the group caught up with me. "Dear Mew, this place reeks!" She covered her muzzle and pinched her nose to pervert herself from breathing any more of the foul odor in the air. "How did you put up with this?" She nasally asked me.
"It never smelled this bad before, believe me." I gagged.
"Probably because you were human growing up." Carly guessed.
Steven just stood there with his mouth wide open in shock and awe. "…W-w-we-we're in the Ruin… We're in the human Ruins… WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE HUMAN RUINS!" He kept repeating, panicking. "OH MEW! This is so not good! This is forbidden! We're in big trouble! HUGE trouble! We're talking getting imprisoned in an army jail somewhere and left to rot until we're nothing but ashes of dust!" Is that even possible?
Stephanie and I couldn't help but laugh at Steven's outburst while his two friends sighed and tried not to look at the bunny. "Steven." Carly called to her friend.
"OH MEW HAVE MERCY! ARCEUS HELP!"
"Steven…" Hillary sighed.
"Do you know what happens to male Lopunny morphs in prison?"
"STEVEN!" Both girls shouted slapping him behind his brown furred head.
"Knock it off already you idiot." Hillary growled with her fur brisling in anger.
"Yeah, this place isn't as bad as you think it is." Carly naively comforted her friend. I couldn't but roll my eyes and kinda wished that something would come out and attack us. "I can assure that there's absolutely nothing to worry about here. And we're not going to get into any kind of trouble." Okay, now she's just trouble!
A torrent of water suddenly gushed out of nowhere slamming me into something hard enough for me to get knocked out.
Subject: Carly Tales
Location: Manhattan Ruins
20:02 Hours
"MARK!" I cried as the poor fox was slammed into the wall of an old building. I quickly rushed to side only to stop dead in my tracks as an arrow just missed the end out my vulpine snout.
"Well, well… what have here?" A familiar human male asked. "Miss Tales… Why am I not surprised?" Dave asked himself.
"I knew she couldn't be trusted!" A green furred Vaporeon hissed as he sprayed me with water. The water slammed by poor muzzle, forcing me to the ground, causing me a great deal of pain. "I should've done this a long time ago." Kai growled.
A blue aura suddenly outlined my attacker. "Back off, you damn pet! We're not looking for a battle." Stephanie said using her powers to force Kai back.
"Stephanie Evon… I don't think we got to finish our last battle…" Kai growled.
Stephanie laughed and fired a shadow ball at her opponent's feet just to tease him. "We all know that I would've won that last battle, you dolt. After all, I am of a better breed." She sneered only to get hammered by Hydro Pump.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart." Kai growled as he slowly approached Stephanie.
Seeing an opening, Dave fired off a couple of arrows at Stephanie, only to have them deflected by a rather impressive Fire Spin used by Hillary's Assist. "HEY! Calm down, human. We're just helping a friend return home."
Dave chuckled and tossed a Pokéball in the air, releasing his partner Pidgey. "Forgive me if I don't believe you… Ace I need some cover!" Dave's little feathered friend responded by wildly flapping his wings, kicking up a lot of dirt, dust and most importantly sand.
"Crap! Steven!" I quickly called to the giant bunny as the sand began to settle. Just as I had suspected, Dave was no longer standing in front of Hillary and his Pokémon was gone as well. "Steven, you need to help Hillary! That human is pretty crafty. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve!"
"I'm a lover, not a fighter!" Steven cried back as he tried to dust the sand off him. "GAW! I hate sand! It's always so hard to get out of your fur!"
"Quit complaining! And don't feed me any of that pacifist crap! I know for a fact that you love to battle!" I shouted, shoving him into the fray. The Lopunny stumbled and fell on face before standing up. He probably thought about running away but any thoughts of fleeing were put to rest when I growled at him. He stiffly marched forward and was quickly and expectably attacked by Dave's Pokémon, Ace. The little bird pecked and scratched the poor rabbit's face before it latched on to one of his rabbit ears. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"Carly! Look out behind you!" Hillary warned me. I quickly turned around just in time to see Mark tackle Dave before he fired off another arrow. That bastard had a clear shot at my back! Thank Mew Mark was here!
"Who the hell are you? Her boyfriend or something?" Dave spat as the two wrestled over Dave's bow.
"Just someone trying to keep his friend from killing another friend… that's all." Mark answered. Poor Dave doesn't know that he's actually fighting his best friend.
They continued to struggle over the bow until Dave was finally able to punch Mark in the muzzle and force him off. Once freed, Dave somersaulted into a firing position but was quickly attacked by Hillary's Double Slap, getting hammered by her tail a number of different times. "DAH! Damn morphs! I'll kill you for that!"
"That's not going to happen, Dave." Mark said, slowly reaching into his jacket pocket.
Dave quickly rushed the Vulpix boy, knocking the Freedom Pendent out of Mark's paw.
"Mark!" I cried, half hoping that Dave would hear his friend's name and stop trying to kill his friend. Those hopes were dashed when Stephanie landed on top of me, knocking me on back while she ended up right on top of me.
"HA! How do you like that?" Kai laughed. "Two of my least favorite people in the whole world in the same place, just waiting for me to kill them." He gloated. "I'm going to enjoy this." Kai grinned.
I began to worry that Kai was going to kill us when something in the sky caught my eye. I was watching what seemed to be a giant bird circling the area, looking over the battle. What is that thing and why is it watching our fight?
"KAI!" A voice called as the bird dive bombed the area, landing on top of the Vaporeon morph. "Whoops… heh… sorry Kai… I thought you were in trouble and needed my help." Chelsea awkwardly smiled, rubbing the back of her head with her brown feathered wing.
"…Does it look like I need help?" Kai asked the Pidgeotto morph.
"Oh you're going to need all the help you can get!" Stephanie shouted when she was suddenly shocked by a sudden jolt of electricity. "DAMMIT IT!"
A little Plusle dashed up to me, climbed up my body and sat on top of my head. "Nice going, Sonny!" A familiar human girl shouted. The brunette slowly walked up to me followed by a dark haired girl wearing old morphs clothes and an old pet collar. "Nice landing, Chelsea." Anna laughed.
"Shut up!" Chelsea retorted a slight tinge of red on her face as Kai pushed her off of his stomach.
"Anna, please listen to us." I begged.
"I am." She folded her arms. "I'm not as violent or as hotheaded as a certain Vaporeon here."
Kai scoffed and looked back at Dave, who was having a bit of trouble fighting my friends. Without even saying a word he jumped into battle, surprising Steven with a kick to the jaw followed by a water gun.
I quickly explained everything to Anna, finding the new morphed Mark in New Morph Park, the fight with the Machoke, even the little dizzy spell he had at the mall, desperately trying to get her to believe me. From the look of disbelief on her face, I'd say I was doing a pretty crappy job.
After I was finished, Anna looked back at her friend and told her to go find Tricky. It didn't take long for the girl to find him, because Mark suddenly let out a loud yelp of pain.
"What the hell did you that for, Tricky?" Mark steamed, growling just like an animal.
"Because it's fun!" Tricky sneered.
"Why you little…" Mark growled at his partner.
"…Mark? Is that really you?" Anna asked, uncertain of the Vulpix's true identity.
"It ain't the Easter Bunny!" Tricky shouted before being smothered by Mark's furry arm.
Anna gasped, realizing that annoying fox was actually. "Oh dear God… I feared as much…"
"'Feared as much?'" I repeated the human's words. "What do you mean by… you knew this would happen, Anna?"
Anna bowed her head but then quickly focused her attention on Hillary and Dave's battle. "First things first, we have to keep our friends from killing each other." Anna said as she rushed towards Dave who sitting on top Hillary with his hands firmly clamped on her neck.
"That's right you stupid cat bitch! How do you like that? Now you're going to di-AH!" He shouted as Anna tackled him of off my friend. "Dave, stop fighting and listen! Tricky was actually right."
Dave gave the girl a blank stare and scratched the back of his head. "Uh… right about what?"
"He was right about Mark being transformed into a morph, you idiot." Anna groaned pointing to the Vulpix morph.
Dave laughed and got back up, glaring back at Mark. "That's real funny, Anna… You expect me to believe Tricky, of all Pokémon, and accept this fuzz butt as our friend, Mark?" Dave laughed. "If you really are Taylor, and I highly doubt that, prove it."
I noticed Mark's Freedom Pendent lying on the floor. "Uh, Mark. I think you dropped something." I calmly said picking up the pendent. "Look familiar guys?" I said to the humans, showing them Mark's prized possession.
The human's eyes where as wide a dinner plates when recognized the pendent. "How the hell did you get Taylor's Pendent?" Dave furiously asked.
"Maybe because the fox boy is Taylor?" Anna suggested.
"Anna, this is no time for cruel jokes!" Dave shouted. "Now what did you bastards do to Taylor?"
"I say we drown them all. I do know you surf, you know." Kai smirked giving me an unsettling look.
Stephanie laughed at formed a Shadow Ball in her paw. "HA! Like I'm afraid of a little water. Go on! I dare you t-" My friends quickly forced the Espeon to close her muzzle. Thank Mew, who knows what might have happened if that idiot egged Kai on any further.
"Kai! There's no need to do something so rash and just plain stupid." Anna reasoned. "May I remind you that we're on an island? What would happen if you were to use Surf? Not all of us are water types you know."
The green Vaporeon quickly hushed the human girl and I heard him whisper. "SHH! Anna! I'm only bluffing. I'm trying to psych them out and force these chumps to run away with their tails between their legs."
I groaned and turned to Mark. "This isn't going very well." I pointed out. "Any idea how you're going to convince them you're you?"
Mark shrugged as he watched Dave suddenly him in a blind rage. He calmly stood there as Anna and Chelsea quickly wrestled the boy to ground. "…You know, this reminds me of when we first found Kai and Chelsea a couple years back." Mark suddenly said. "You see back then, Dave was very paranoid of all morph because of old war stories his grandfather told him. When we found the Ping brothers deep the Ruins, Dave accused Kai of being spy sent here to kill us and the two would always fight." He smiled. Is he serious? This is no time for a trip down memory lane!
"The night we found Chelsea in the Ruins…" Mark's voice trailed off as his face lit up. "That's it!" Mark suddenly exclaimed.
"What's it?" I asked as Mark walked up to his friends. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Dave!" Mark called his friend.
"How the hell do you know my name?" Dave spat back.
"Well… remember a couple years back when we rescued Chelsea? You weren't very trusting of her either… in fact I seem to recall one night that you woke me up, saying that you had a plan to, and I quote: 'expose the spy for who she really is.'"
"Where is he going with this?" Hillary asked me.
"I don't know." I answered. I then noticed Dave who looked a little shocked and worried. "But for some reason, Dave's starting to look quite worried. I say we let him continue."
"That night," Mark continued. "You and I snuck up on Chelsea and, in order to check who she really was, you grabbed her-"
Dave finally broke free of the girls and quickly covered Mark's mouth. "SHHH! TAYLOR! We swore that that was to be kept our little secret."
"Snuck up on me and grabbed my…" Chelsea's beak suddenly bloomed a bright red. "THAT WAS YOU?" She shouted covering her chest.
"Wait… what happened?" Steven asked.
"For once, I'm as confused as you are." Hillary answered the bunny. Only I knew what the bird meant, given the fact that I was in a similar position just a few days ago.
Chelsea suddenly slapped Dave with her wing. "You told me Kai did that! You pervert!"
Anna groaned in disgust and gave the boy a jab to the face. "I should've known it was you, Dave… You're such a perv."
"You blamed me for that? I knew it!" The green Vaporeon exclaimed. "I knew I would never do something so violating! Dave, I'm going to… wait a minute." Kai and rest of Mark's friends finally looked at Mark.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Mark smiled. "Sorry I'm late… You wouldn't believe the day I've been having…"
(One long explanation later)
Subject: Anna Gains
Location: Taylor Campsite, Manhattan Ruins
21:03 Hours
"And that's when Kai slammed with a torrent of water." Mark finished recapping what happened to him today. Needless to say all of us were much speechless and shocked.
Dave and Kai seemed to have taken it quite well honestly. They haven't said so much as word since they realized the Vulpix boy they've been trying to kill is their best friend, quite a relief, really. Carly, her friends and even Stephanie had stayed behind to listen to Mark's full story.
"But what caused the transformation?" Chelsea asked.
"Don't be an idiot, Chels." Dave suddenly scoffed. "It's quite obvious that those bastards back at that tower did this to him. For what reason, I don't know, so don't bother asking me."
Kai simply shook his head. He's been in denial throughout the entire explanation. After all, he hates fire types with every fiber of his being, now the guy he owes his life to is the very thing he hates. The green furred Vaporeon hasn't said so much as word since we reunited with Mark.
"So Mark… going back to what you said about what that Kadabra morph had told you, what do you think he meant when he said 'you'd make a find addition to my army?'"
The Vulpix morph shrugged. "I don't know. He said a lot of things that confused the hell out of me… however, now I see what he was driving at." Mark sighed. "My only guess is that after I transformed, he was going to force me into joining the Imperial Army and have me fight against human resistances."
"For what reason?" Hillary asked. "There are plenty of willing morphs that blindly join the military. So why turn a human into a morph?"
"Think we know?" Dave shot back. "Things have been going downhill for us ever since last week."
"…Anna, if I remember correctly, you said you 'feared as much' after recognizing Mark during our little scrap…" Carly suddenly pointed out. "What did you mean by that?"
Damn that vixen… I was hoping that we could avoid that subject. "Yeah, Anna… You knew that I was going to be turned into a morph?" Mark asked.
I sighed and avoid his eyes. "Well… the other night, when we were looking for you in that damn tower we had stumbled into a room containing some… very disturbing papers…" I paused.
"Disturbing how?" Mark asked. "Were they made out of human flesh? Or did they spew acid?" …Mark has a very interesting imagination.
"These papers were lists of humans, smartass." I retorted. "Each human had a picture of himself or herself next to their name and a Pokémon name." I explained.
"Okay, so you found a list of other subjects…" Mark mused. "But that still doesn't explain-"
"I'm getting to that!" I interrupted. "Behind the list was a letter from one of the staff members to his superior, explaining a bit of the project you were subjected to."
"Oh please! You expect me to believe that humans can read?" Stephanie scoffed.
"Do you ever shut up?" Dave asked the Espeon.
Mark ignored Stephanie's remark as his face suddenly lit up interest and hope. "Then you know exactly what they did to me?" He cheerfully asked.
"It's kinda obvious what they did to you, Mark." Carly sighed.
"I think there's more to it than that, Carly." I sternly said shaking my head. "I don't know much… but from what I've read, there was suppose to be more done to you after you had changed. Another phase of experimentation was supposed to take place after you transformtion."
"What?" Mark shouted as he fell back on his tails. "Dammit!" He cried in pain.
"So what you're saying is that they were planning on doing more than simply turning Mark into a Pokémorph?" Carly asked.
Steven groaned and held his head. "Please! It's hard to enough to except the fact that Carly's new friend was once a human, now you're telling me that he's an unfinished science project."
Dave threw a rock at the Lopunny to get him to shut up. "Mind not interrupting?" He spat. "Now Anna, exactly what do you mean by that? What more could they have done to Taylor? He's already a morph. What? They planned on turning him into a full-fledged Pokémon?"
"Don't even joke about that!" Mark shouted. "Just knowing that there was supposed to be more done to me is freaking me out!" He whined.
"Then perhaps it's best not to tell Ben and Ryan about all this." Chelsea suddenly suggested.
"WHAT?" Kai shouted. "That's what you suggested to me last night when went to search for Mark and look how that turned out!"
"Perhaps the bird brain's got the right idea." Dave agreed with the Pidgeotto girl. "Not like the old man's going to believe a story as crazy as this."
"Yeah… but what do we tell him when he notices a Vulpix morph living with my little sis-" Mark stopped in the middle of sentence and suddenly stood up. "Marcia… how is she? Is she okay?"
I quickly stood up and ran in front of Mark, knowing the fox boy's intentions. "She's fine, Mark… but maybe now isn't a good time to see her."
"I have to see her, Anna!" He responded. "She has to know what's happened to me!" Mark quickly moved past me and headed towards Marcia's makeshift room inside a ruined building.
"I agree!" I shouted, jumping in front of him, blocking his path. "But I think she's going to need some time to get used to the new you." I suggested.
Predictably, Mark ignored me and gently pushed me out of the way. "Screw that! The sooner she knows the better!" He said as he approached Marcia's room.
"Wait Mark! Oh dear Lord, this is going to be a train wreck." I sighed.
"Mark just doesn't get it, does he?" I heard Kai ask.
"You know that Marcia's going to freak when she sees a Vulpix morph claiming to be her brother enter her room." Carly pointed out.
I sighed. "I know… I'm on it." I slowly headed towards Marcia's room, not looking forward to what I have to do. "Kai, Dave, I think I'm going to need you."
Subject: Mark Taylor
21:34 Hours
I quickly came up to the old building I've lived in since I was born. I can't believe I'm actually glad to see this wreak! Then again, after everything that's happened to me these past few days, I'm just happy to be back in this little crappy little place alive.
However, I can't help but think about what Anna said to me… is it best for Marcia if someone else were to explain what happened to me? Hell my friends didn't even recognize, so how can my sister? …I'm just being paranoid, of course she'll recognize me! She of all people should be able to tell who am! I'm her brother! It doesn't matter what I look like, I'm sure she'll recognize me in no time flat.
My vulpine ear twitched as I heard her sob. She was upset and I knew why. I can't help but feel bad for leaving Marcia alone the way I did, even though it wasn't my fault, I still can't help but feel guilty. I have to find a way to make this up to her.
I slowly entered the office building and found my kid sister laying down her makeshift bed, crying her eyes out. I sighed and walked up to her. "Marcia?" I called to her. She didn't respond. "Marcia… it's me… it's Mark." Again she didn't seem to hear me. "Marcia… don't be afraid… but I've gone through some… changes." I began to explain myself. "I may look different… but I'm still the same person… I'm still your brother." I wrapped my furry arms around Marcia and gave a much need hug. "So please… don't cry… I'm here you…"
Marcia slowly turned around to look at my. Her tear filled eyes widen when they me grin. She screamed. "HELP! HELP!" She screamed.
"What the hell- Marcia! It's me!"
"HELP! There's a mean morph here and he's going to do bad things to me!"
"No I'm not! I'm you brother! DAH! MARCIA! Don't hit me! OW! STOP THAT!"
"AHHHH! HELP!"
In no time flat, my good buddy Ryan grabbed me by the tail and yanked me away from my sister, grabbed me by the shirt and slammed me against the wall. "DAOW! Ryan, why-" The crazy bastard pulled out a gun shoved in my muzzle. This is the second time today a psycho's pulled a gun on me
"Not another word… unless you want your brain splattered all over the floor!" Ryan shouted.
"NO! PLEASE! I mean, Ryan it's me-DAH!" Ryan smacked me with his weapon. "The hell was that for?" I shouted.
"SHUT UP!" He roared. "I'll ask the questions and you'll answer them! Now how the hell do you know my name?" I was sweating bullets when Ryan place the gun in between my eyes. Oh come on! How come this kind of crap always happens to me?
"Ryan, wait!" Anna shouted as she quickly entered the door with Kai right behind her.
"Ryan, please put down the gun… You don't want to shoot Marcia's older brother now, do you?" The Vaporeon reasoned.
Ryan looked back at him, confused by what he meant. "Marcia's brother?" He then looked at me. I nervously smiled. "You mean to tell me that this damn morph is Mark?"
"YES! That's exactly what he's trying to tell you! NOW PUT AWAY THE DAMN GUN!" I cried. This really has to be the worst day of my life!
Anna quickly explained everything to Ryan and asked him and Kai to take out me of the 'room' while she had a chat with Marcia. We waited outside the ruined building while Anna explained my situation to Marcia. "That was the stupidest thing you've ever done!" Ryan bellowed. "What the hell were you think, Mark?" I didn't answer, I was more focused on how Marcia reacted when she saw me… those fear filled eyes… she treated me like I was a monster trying to kill her…
Even though we were outside and Ryan reprimanding me, I could still hear Anna speak with my little sister, thanks to my Vulpix ears. From what I was able to make out it didn't sound like it was going well at all… No matter what Anna said, my little sister refused to believe that I was her older brother. I felt heartbroken, crushed that my sister rejected me as her brother.
"Are you listening, Taylor?" Ryan shouted.
"…Ryan, how would you feel if Kai were to suddenly reject you as his older brother?" I suddenly asked.
The Ping brothers looked stunned for a moment and quickly exchanged looks before answering. "Why the hell would you ask a question like that, Mark? What's wrong with you?" Kai asked.
"…It's… it's nothing… nothing at all." I responded. Ryan sighed and smacked the side of my head. "The hell did you do that for?" I roared. "Don't you think I've suffered enough abuse?"
"If you were paying any attention to me then you would've heard me say that Marcia's a little girl! It's hard for her to accept change, especially something so radical like her brother suddenly changing species!" He shouted. "You probably scared the hell out of her!"
"I was only trying to comfort her!" I defended myself.
"We know that, Mark." Kai calmly responded. "But the fact of the matter is that Marcia expected her HUMAN brother to come home. To her, you're a whole other person, another morph out to kill her… I bet you never you thought those stories you told her would ever come back to haunt you. As far as she knows, she was just attacked by a crazy Vulpix."
I heard Anna slowly walk out of Marcia's 'room' and faced her. She let out a heavy sigh and looked at me. "Well… she didn't take the news very well… And by that, I mean she doesn't believe me."
"W-well, maybe there's something that I co-"
"I think you've done enough, Mark…" Anna coldly responded. "I'm sorry… it's just that I don't think she's going to want to see you right now…"
I felt my heart sank. I can't believe that this is happening… "Th-there must be some way-"
"Mark, listen, I know how your feeling, but-"
"No you don't, Anna! You don't know how it feels to get rejected by the only family member you have left!" I roared feeling my fur bristle in anger. I paused for a moment then turned away from them. "I'm sorry… but I need some time alone…" I said, storming off.
I just can't believe my rotten luck! Why didn't Marcia recognize me? I know I look different, but couldn't she have at least recognized my voice? Dear Lord in Heaven… just what the hell was I thinking? I barely gave her an explanation and I hugged her without even saying who I was. God damn I'm dumb…
I ended up back at the campfire to find that Carly and her friends had all gone home, seeing as the sun's gone down… hell I really hope Carly gets home soon. The last thing I need on my plate is an insane, Chainsaw wielding Ninetales morph coming after me.
I sat down by the extinguished fire, looking at the brunt wood and dying sparks of heat. I couldn't get my mind off of the way Marcia treated me… I felt betrayed and hurt. I looked at my changed paws again and felt anger and hatred weld up inside of me. I slammed my fist on the ground, cursing the bastards who did this to me. They torture me even when I'm free of their grasp…
"Penny for your thoughts?" I heard someone ask from behind me. I knew who it was and needless to say I wasn't very happy.
"You're still here, Princess?" I groaned turning to the Espeon. "Why?"
"I have my reasons…" She responded as she approached me. "…Now… why are you so upset?"
I clenched my fist, fighting the urge attack Stephanie. "You want to know why? Why don't you take a good look at me, Princess?" I stood up so she could get a better look of my altered body. "Thanks to those assholes at that damn tower, my sister no longer recognizes me, my friends nearly killed me and worst of all, I have some sort of evil fox demon running around in my head!" I snapped at her.
"Hey, take it easy. Look on the bright side." There's a bright side to all this? "You're no longer one of those pathetic creatures." I snarled at her as my hands ignited into fireballs. "Take it easy, Fox boy." Stephanie calmly responded as she folded her arms. "What I meant to say is that at least you don't have to fight for your life anymore. You can easily live amongst us and live the good life."
Even when she's trying to be nice to me, she pisses me off. "What about my sister? What about my friends?" I asked.
"You can live without those kinds of friends and there's always keeping the little girl as a pet." That's it! I've had enough. I quickly stood up and turned away from the stuck up, annoying, insensitive, bitchy little Espeon and started to leave the campsite.
"…Wait." Stephanie suddenly grabbed my arm. "…I'm… I'm sorry. I'm not used to being nice to others… especially humans. And I guess I should be a little more sensitive about this… Don't worry about your little sister. The same thing happened to my brother, James when evolved into a Jolteon. Little Sophie didn't recognize and rejected him as her older brother just like your sister did to you… only difference was she was a little more violent about it then your sister." She said with a small smile. Could someone run all that by me again? Is Stephanie Evon apologizing to me? And is she trying to cheer me up?
"Wait, how did you know about-" I began to ask.
"Well I followed you…" She suddenly blushed, realizing she probably shouldn't have said that. Didn't think Stephanie was the stalker type. "Don't read too much into, I just curious why you so focused on coming back here." She defended herself. "Besides, I didn't even have to get too close. These ears of mime are like satellite dishes, I could hear a pin dropping in Jersey." She giggled. I just groaned. "If you don't like my jokes, then leave."
"I would…" I began. "But a certain Espeon still has my arm held captive." I pointed out.
Stephanie realized that she was latched on to arm and then quickly let go. "Whoops! Sorry about that." She blushed rubbing the back her furry head.
"…I guess… I should be leaving now… which way's is that tunnel?" She asked me. I pointed in the direction of the hidden tunnel and watched her head towards it. "…Listen, before I go…" She started. "I just want to say that this has been the most… interesting day of my life. I'm sorry if I was a little rude to you… but I guess I do owe you for standing up to Alexia and her crew… Thanks, Taylor." She smiled. "As thanks, I won't seal up that secret tunnel of yours… and don't worry about your sister. She'll recognize you soon, enough." Stephanie assured me as she walked towards the tunnel.
Well that was unexpected… She never told me why stood behind. And why did she try and cheer me up? Could it be that she actually… LIKES me? …NAW! I'm read way too much into this. Still… she's right about one thing. Marcia needs time to accept the new me… if I had known this sooner I probably wouldn't jumped in when I did but oh well… Hopefully the worst is behind me now and I live my life in peace
(Elsewhere)
Location: New Morph City
A lone human staggered down the empty alleyways of New Morph, clutching her wounded arm. She had made no more than two more steps before collapsing in the middle of the alley. She lay on floor, bleeding, gasping for air and barely conscious when a Raichu morph spotted her.
"Well, well… what do we have here?" He chuckled as he approached the girl. The morph grabbed the human and helped back on to her feet. "You look like hell, Taylor. Don't want to say I told you so, but-"
"Oh just shut up, you stupid Raichu, before I-" She was unable to finish her sentence due to a sharp pain in her side.
"Perhaps you should keep that big mouth of yours shut for once." The Raichu morph chuckled again.
"Bite me, Lan!" Taylor groaned in pain.
"I told you, you shouldn't have gone after the governor. Now look at you! How the hell did you survive?" Lan asked.
Taylor chuckled. "I have my ways." She grinned. "We have to get moving… Caniner has something big planned…" She weakly said as she faded in and out consciousness.
Lan looked confused and started to panic. "You know I hate it when you bring me news like that." The Raichu sighed. "Well… exactly what does have planned, Taylor?"
"My… my brother…" The human girl said before blacking out. "What about your brother, Taylor?" Lan called again. "…Taylor?" He noticed that she was out cold, losing blood at an alarming rate. "Dammit, I knew this would happen if you went in alone! Hang on, Amanda, I'm getting you out of here."
A lot going on here... sorry if the ending seemed rather rushed/confusing.
Amanda's alright, in fact we're going to be seeing alot more of her, real soon.
But what about Marcia and Mark? Will they okay? We'll see soon enough.
As Always; Love it, Hate it, Just Review it
Gunner out.