Before we get started with Chapter 29 I'd like to inform all my readers that I created a little poll to give me an idea on what my fellow writers really look for when writing their stories. If you have the time check it out and vote.
And now, on with the story.
Chapter 29: Youthful Wisdom
The remnants of the Gold unit had retreated back to the safety of their helicopter. Once they were inside the pilot fired up the engine. The blade whirred to life and the helicopter lifted off the ground. As the helicopter flew off back towards the Team Rocket HQ the leader thought about what had just happened. He truly believed that they had 01 in the palms of their hands, but then… that creature appeared and killed nearly everyone in his unit. He was forced to sacrifice nearly all of his unit to escape with his own life, but even then he did not escape unscathed. His Gold unit uniform had been torn to shreds, exposing various cuts and scars over his body. The other two surviving members were in just as bad a shape as he was with one of them missing an arm.
"I had no idea… that 01 had that kind of demonic power," he said. "Just what did they do to her? What sort of experiments are part of the SPG Project? And for that matter what is the SPG Project?" Right then he decided that, once they got back to HQ he'd ask Giovanni about 01 and the experiments that were part of the SPG Project.
"Sir, I'm picking up two aircraft approaching from one o'clock high," the pilot reported.
"That's strange. I wasn't made aware of anyone being sent out," the leader said. He made his way to the cockpit and looked out in front of them. Off in the distance two helicopters were seen approaching them.
"Who's that?" he said.
"Escorts, perhaps?" the pilot suggested. He was inclined to agree, but as the helicopters approached his eyes grew wide in fear.
"T-Those are… no!" The helicopters turned out to be ones from Giovanni's personal attack squadron, and they were there for only one reason.
"Get us out of here, now!" the leader ordered.
"Y-Yes sir!" the pilot stuttered. Taking control of the flight stick the pilot attempted to maneuver the helicopter in an attempt to escape, but his efforts proved to be futile.
"It's no use! This helicopter isn't fast enough!" the pilot yelled.
"I don't care! Get us the hell out of here!" the leader ordered. Just then a loud beeping noise echoed throughout the cockpit.
"They've locked on to us!" the pilot screamed. Looking out towards the attack helicopters they could see that each was outfitted with a pair of missile pods mounted on each side, and they were ready to fire.
"That son-of-a-bitch! After all we've done for him he's going to eliminate us after a few failures!" the Gold unit leader seethed. As soon as he finished those thoughts one of the helicopters fired a missile at them.
"Evade! Hurry up and evade!" he ordered.
"I already told you this helicopter isn't fast enough!" the pilot screamed.
"I don't want to hear your excuses! Get us out of here!" he yelled. He knew that by now the other two Gold unit members had to be fearing for their lives as he was. But no matter how loudly he yelled his orders the missile remained on course right for them.
"No, no, no! Giovanni! Rot in Hell, you bastard! Rot in Hell!" Those were his final words, for seconds later the missile impacted with the helicopter. The once airborne aircraft was now nothing more than a flaming fireball as it plummeted down to earth.
"Raven-1 to Outpost 64-Alpha. Target has been eliminated. Mission complete," the pilot reported.
"Roger that, Raven-1. All aircraft, RTB." With their mission completed the two attack helicopters turned towards their base and flew off, leaving the burning wreckage of what was once the Gold unit's helicopter burning on the ground.
Giovanni was on his way to the hangar. After the Gold unit's most recent failure he decided that if he was to ensure the successful recapture of Firefly he'd have to head the operation himself. He was approaching the door that would take him there when one of his guards approached him.
"Sir, we just received confirmation from Outpost 64-Alpha that the Gold unit has been taken care of per your orders," he reported.
"Good," Giovanni replied. "That should send a message to the rest of the units that failure will not be accepted." He waved off the guard and continued on towards the hangar. When he entered he discovered that his helicopter had already been prepared. The pilot was in the cockpit and the engine had already been started up. He climbed aboard and took his seat.
"You know where to go," he said. The pilot nodded and flew the helicopter out of the hangar towards their destination: Outpost 64-Alpha.
The group continued to walk in silence. After what just transpired no one spoke, either out of fear or they just couldn't form any words to speak. Those who knew Firefly best and knew what she was going through walked closest to her, ready to offer her any moral support she may need. Those who didn't walked a few paces behind the rest, still a bit wary of Firefly. Firefly herself had been feeling a bit tired since the incident. Saturnine's emergence had always left her worn out for a time, but this time felt more taxing than ever.
"What's wrong with me? Having Saturnine appear never drained me this badly," she said.
"You okay, Firefly?" Shadowfire asked, noticing his sister's lethargic demeanor.
"I'm okay. Just a bit tired is all," Firefly replied.
"If you're tired we can stop and rest," Indigo suggested.
"That's okay. I can go on a bit longer," Firefly said. Her body, though, betrayed her. Moments after she said that her legs nearly gave way. She would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Indigo's quick reaction.
"That settles it. We're stopping to let you rest," Indigo announced.
"Really, guys, that's not necessary," Firefly argued. "I can go a bit further."
"You're practically out on your feet right now," Shadowfire replied. "We're stopping for a break and that's final."
"But we have to keep going, especially now that Giovanni knows where we are," Firefly argued. "I'll just… I'll ask Aqua to carry me whenever I need the rest."
"That's not going to work," Shadowfire replied. "As your brother it's my responsibility to look out for you, Solarflare and Firestar, and whether you like it or not we're going to take shelter in a cave so you can rest."
"But…"
"Okay, gang! Let's split up and look for a cave we can hide in!" Indigo said. A few others did as he asked, splitting up and looking for a cave. Solarflare and Firestar remained behind to look after Kaiser, Summer, Tsunami and the rest of the young Pokémon. Indigo remained by Firefly's side, supporting her tired body with his own.
"You're not making this easy, you know," Firefly said. "If Giovanni manages to find us while I'm resting then we're pretty much screwed."
"That's a risk we're willing to take," Indigo replied. "Besides, if they do find us there are enough of us still able to fight that can drive them off."
"I hope you're right," Firefly said. Silence followed their brief conversation. It lasted for a few seconds before Firefly spoke up once again.
"Indigo… I want to apologize," she said. Indigo looked at her, a bit surprised.
"Apologize? For what?" he asked.
"For the way I acted back there," Firefly said. "I… I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Right then Indigo realized what she was talking about.
"You don't have to apologize for that," he said. "You were under a lot of stress, what with everything that happened."
"That still doesn't excuse my actions," Firefly replied. "Not only did I snap at you but I… I let Saturnine out and told her to make them suffer… Oh, Indigo, what have I done? What's going on with me?" Indigo could tell that her recent actions were weighing heavily on her conscience.
"Listen… don't let that bother you. We all make mistakes. We just have to learn from them so we don't repeat those mistakes in the future," Indigo explained. He wasn't sure if his words did the trick or not but Firefly seemed to be thinking on what he just told her.
"Now, let's find a place to rest. Right now I think that's something we could all use," he said. Firefly didn't argue and instead let Indigo lead her ahead. Solarflare and Firestar followed behind them, each of them greatly concerned for their sister. Unknown to anyone, though, the one who showed the greatest amount of concern for Firefly was the young Summer, who looked to her mother with concerned eyes.
Half an hour later they managed to find a large cave. A deeper exploration of the cave lead them to discover that it was the entrance to a large cave system, with many smaller caves connected by tunnels deeper in.
"Okay, we'll rest up in here," Indigo announced. With this being their decided on resting place the group entered the cave, eager to get familiar with the place they would be staying in for now. Indigo carefully brought Firefly inside and found a place for her to lie down and rest.
"You just sit tight and let us handle the rest," he said.
"Okay," Firefly sighed, still feeling quite exhausted. He left her side and walked back to the cave entrance, where Aqua and Shadowfire were standing.
"Looks like we'll be here for a bit longer than I anticipated," Indigo said.
"Even so we must allow Firefly to regain her strength," Aqua said. "She's been pushing herself too hard for our sakes. It's time we put her health as the top priority."
"I agree," Shadowfire said. "So, what do we do now?"
"If we're going to stay here then we need to find some food," Indigo said.
"Then let us secure some food while we still have some daylight left," Aqua suggested. With it growing late in the day they knew they had only a few hours before nightfall. Aqua spread his massive wings and took to the sky. Indigo was about to fly off as well but was stopped by Shadowfire.
"You mind if we keep this search on the ground? There's some things I want to talk to you about," the male Vulpix suggested. Indigo had an idea on what Shadowfire wanted to talk about.
"Sure," he said. The two Fire types walked away from the cave. Once they were a good distance away Indigo spoke up.
"So, what did you want to know?" he asked.
"What was that thing she turned into back there? What the Hell did Team Rocket do to Firefly?" Shadowfire asked.
"It's a long story," Indigo answered.
"I want to know it all," Shadowfire replied. "Please… I have to know what those bastards did to my sister." Indigo took a deep breath before answering.
"Okay, here's what's happened…"
Back at the cave Solarflare and Firestar were checking in on Firefly. They knew she was feeling worn out and were worried about her health.
"You sure you're okay, sis?" Firestar asked.
"I'm fine," Firefly replied. "I just need to rest for a bit and I'll be back on my feet."
"Well, okay. If you need anything the two of us will be just outside the entrance," Solarflare informed her. Firefly nodded as her two sisters left her to rest. Firefly watched them leave, glad to have such caring sisters. She was about to close her eyes and drift off to sleep when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. Firefly looked up and saw Kaiser, Summer and Tsunami standing across from her. At first glance Firefly could tell something was bothering them.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. Despite the gentleness in her voice all three children seemed unsure of whether to say anything or not.
"It's okay. You can tell me if something's bothering you no matter what it is," Firefly said. They still didn't appear eager to talk, but Summer managed to find her voice and speak up.
"What… what happened to you?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Firefly asked.
"What was that thing you turned into back when those bad men attacked us?" Kaiser asked. Firefly gasped. This was the one thing she feared would happen one day. She was always afraid that one of these days those three would see her transform into Saturnine, and now that day had come.
"How do I tell them? WHAT do I tell them?" she debated. It was a difficult decision she had to make. Should she tell them the truth about Saturnine or make something up?
"Are… we in trouble?" Tsunami fearfully asked.
"Of course not. You did nothing wrong," Firefly told him. "Now, what did all of you see?"
"We didn't see anything," Kaiser replied. "Summer saw and told us." Firefly turned her eyes to the young Chikorita, who looked away.
"It's okay, honey. Just tell Mommy what you saw," Firefly coaxed.
"Well, after those bad men hurt Uncle Ironside we saw you and Daddy go to him. Then Daddy came back and told everyone to run. That's when I saw you change into that big scary monster," Summer explained.
"I see," Firefly said.
"Mommy, what was that?" Summer asked. Before telling them Firefly called them to her side. All three children gathered around and waited to hear what she had to say.
"Now, how to explain this so you will understand… well, whenever Mommy gets really mad she turns into that monster," she explained.
"How mad?" Kaiser asked.
"Very mad," Firefly answered.
"Like when those bad men hurt Uncle Ironside?" Summer asked.
"Yes," Firefly said. "Whenever someone hurts someone close to me I get very angry, and that's when that monster comes out."
"So if someone ever hurt one of us…" Summer said.
"If anyone ever hurt any of you I would be very upset with them and that monster would definitely come out," Firefly finished. After hearing this the three young Pokémon understood a bit more about the demon inside of their mother, but even so Firefly felt bad about the situation.
"What's wrong, Mommy?" Tsunami asked, seeing the saddened look in Firefly's eyes.
"Well… I just wish you had never seen that part of me," Firefly said.
"Why?" Summer asked.
"Because… that part of me… scares me," Firefly admitted.
"Scares you?" Tsunami questioned.
"Yes, it scares me," Firefly repeated. "You see, whenever that monster appears I… I lose control. I'm not in control of what happens, and I'm always afraid that one of these times she'll turn on one of you and…" She couldn't finish, the next words that were to come out of her mouth too horrific to even think about. While she sat there in fear of what could happen the next time Saturnine was let loose something happened that took her by surprise. Kaiser, Summer and Tsunami all got up and were hugging her.
"Wh-what are…"
"You don't have to be scared, Mommy," Summer said.
"That's right. We'll make sure that monster doesn't scare you anymore, Mommy," Kaiser said.
"We'll protect you just like you protect everyone else," Tsunami announced. This sent a warm feeling throughout Firefly's body. Whether they knew it or not the three of them had filled her with unimaginable joy and happiness. She hugged them close to her, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
"Thank you… my babies," she whispered. During this moment Solarflare and Firestar were watching from afar. Just like their sister they too had smiles on their faces.
"I know that somewhere in the Afterlife Mother is watching," Solarflare commented.
"I believe so too, and I know she's smiling just like we are," Firestar added. "She's fortunate to have such a strong relationship with them."
"And speaking of relationships, I have to go," Solarflare said.
"Huh? Hey, where are you going?" Firestar asked. But her sister was already out of hearing range. Firestar did get her answer, though, when she saw who her sister was heading towards.
"Oh boy, that girl is falling for him hard," she sighed as she watched Solarflare sit down next to Sage. She looked at her for a bit before glancing back at Firefly and her three children.
"Guess it's only a matter of time for me now," she said. "Not that I'm in a rush or anything." With both of her sisters occupied Firestar left to go see how the others were adapting to their new, temporary home.
Things seemed to have quieted down for Firefly and the others, but there's trouble brewing. With Giovanni eleminating the Gold unit and now taking a rare 'hands-on' approach to the situation just what does this mean for them? How will Firefly and the others manage to fend him off if Firefly isn't fully rested by then? Find out in the next chapter of Firefly: Queen of the New Breed!
Pleas review
