Chapter 34
Kasmir had not had anything go wrong last night, sleeping at the foot of Corinne's bed and waiting for intruders, but no one had come. What was it that kept him on edge? His psychic powers seemed to feel something he couldn't comprehend. Was the spy going to make his or her move? He shuddered.
The Mewtwo was once again in human form, walking around the base lazily, only thinking about the weird foreboding. He closed his purple eyes and continued walking around, feeling his way with aura. He stretched his senses throughout the base. He could see the tournament of gym leaders in the large battle arena, and then look over to the lunch area where some trainers were talking with each other, Pokémon eating from their trays. He felt some one leave the building, but thought nothing of it.
Then he could feel and see Dragonite running around, searching for something. His aura was troubled. Kasmir opened his eyes once more and frowned. I'll go find Dragonite and see what's up. He thought. He turned around and began to walk with slight haste to the old man.
Dragonite appeared around the next corner, sweat dripping from his brow. "Kasmir… just the man I was looking for!" his voice was strained, and Kasmir could feel his fear.
"Hey, what's gotten you frightened?" the Mewtwo replied. His fur under the human guise started to rise as the sense of foreboding became stronger.
"There's been a murder… in this very base…" he said haltingly, his eyes flicking to and from Kasmir's purple eyes.
Kasmir's heart pounded. "Who?" he asked. The very thought of someone being murdered here… no trainer snatcher had found this place, it could only be a betrayal. That riled him up.
Brian/'Dragonite' inhaled deeply and looked to the ground. "It might be Raquaza…"
Kasmir's mind froze. No… of all the possible things to go wrong, that couldn't be the case! Who could've done this? His mind raced, trying to come up with a question or a threat. But which Raquaza was attacked if not killed? His eyes grew small in fear. Don't tell me it's Corinne…! He looked at Dragonite, who appeared quite terrified. "Where?" he demanded, his voice deepening.
Dragonite pointed in the general direction of the place. "Second floor, sound-proof room…" he was careful not to look Kasmir in the eye.
Kasmir stayed where he was. "No… that can't be her… I can't feel anything in there…" he shut his eyes and used his aura to find Raquaza. It wasn't possible that Raquaza could be caught off-guard! It just couldn't be…! "You are wrong…! She's in her room…" he stammered. He couldn't bear it; he had to see who wasn't Raquaza today. He spun around and floated to Raquaza's room. He didn't care if Dragonite was amazed that he could float; he wanted to make sure Corinne wasn't the one in the sound-proof room!
Kasmir came to the door and threw it open. He glanced around quickly and called, "'Raquaza'!"
A blonde woman appeared from the other room connected to the first room. Kasmir ran to her and wrapped his arms around her in an Ursarang-type hug.
"What the…? What are you doing Kasmir?" the blonde woman coughed from the strength of his hug.
"Corinne… you aren't dead…" he said softly, refusing to stop hugging her. He rocked back and forth slightly and leaned his head against her head.
Corinne Martin was still very confused. "No, I'm not dead…" she answered back, blushing at the Pokémon hugging her. "Why would I be?"
"I thought you were Raquaza today."
Corinne shook her head slightly. "I wanted to be, but Hianna talked me out of it. What's happened, Kasmir?"
"'Raquaza' has been killed…" Kasmir said quietly and held her closer, if that was possible.
Corinne froze. "What?" she whispered back.
"We need to see what's happened…" he said, and teleported them both to the said murder area. After the brief travel, they stood on the second floor, next to the startled Rin and Caprico. Kasmir let go of Corinne and raced to the door. "Let me in." he said.
Caprico and Rin stared at him as if he was an alien. "Did you just…?" Rin stammered.
Kasmir rolled his eyes. "I'm a psychic human. Haven't you heard of them before? Sabrina of Kanto, Kyle the Lugia Rider, magicians, people like that? Now I need to see Raquaza!" this story usually worked when people got a sampling of his psychic abilities.
"Who's that?" Rin pointed to the blonde woman.
"A friend of mine." He said and opened the door anyways. He stepped inside the room and flipped on the light. The Pokémon stopped and grimaced at the scene. Raquaza/Hianna was lying face-first on the desk, a pool of blood spreading out from her neck. Nothing else about her was damaged to be seen. It looked like a very clean kill, no blood spatters.
Corinne came in the room after him and gasped at her partner. Hianna's helmet was off, lying on the floor near the desk. Her eyes were frozen open, a strained and confused look on her face. Corinne grasped onto Kasmir's arm. "That could have been me… Oh Hianna, why wasn't it me?" she began to sob.
Rin and Caprico looked in and got a better look at what had happened. Rin looked very scared and Caprico backed away.
"Is there any hope for her?" Corinne Martin choked out.
"Her aura is gone." The Mewtwo replied. "The only thing we can do for her now is to capture her killer…" he clenched his fists tightly. He patted Corinne and said, "You know what you have to do now. Once the other captains get back, we'll have to tell them about this." He paused and said tenderly, "Stay safe, ok? You are the leader of this by yourself. The last thing we need is for both Raquaza's to die."
Corinne sniffed and nodded. "You are right, Kasmir. I'm the sole leader now, and I must be strong for the others."
Dragonite had joined Rin and Caprico at the door. He frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that? Who is she and how is she Raquaza?"
"There were two Raquazas." Kasmir said quickly. "Now I need to figure out who and where the murderer is."
Dragonite still seemed to have trouble accepting that his leader was actually two people. He cleared his throat and said, "I sent Jaylon and his Zangoose after the scent that left this room. Maybe you can get an idea…"
"That'll work out great." The Mewtwo nodded. He hugged Corinne once more before leaving the room. Kasmir closed his eyes and found Jaylon, Rain the Zangoose, and Vekra with his aura sense. Without hesitation, he ran out to intercept them.
…
"So, does this trail lead anywhere important? It feels like Rain's leading us nowhere." Vekra narrowed her eyes at the white Pokémon.
"Well… I don't know." Jaylon shrugged. "Hey, Rain, are we going the right way?" he asked his Zangoose.
"Goose Zangoose goo-goose Zan goose [What were we following again?]" the female Zangoose seemed to snicker back.
"Don't tell me that you've lost the scent! Rain, we need to help in this investigation!" Jaylon dug his fingers into his head. Just when he thought he and Rain were getting to become better friends, she had to snub and ruin his work!
"Do you think Raquaza died in there, or was it someone else?" Vekra frowned. "Maybe our leader isn't as nice as we thought."
"It can't be that our leader is horrible. You just are saying that because you like to rebel against her! She's a really friendly person and you think she's corrupt?" Jaylon turned on his fellow Hoenner. "She might be dead and you aren't feeling remorse or sadness?"
Vekra shot back at him, "I'm a captain, higher ranking than you. I don't take things for face value, because this world is full of liars and deceit! I'm just trying to see if there's any other way of looking at this!"
Jaylon sighed and gave up. "I guess you might have a point, but… it just seems so irreverent…"
At this, Rain stiffened and glared at something coming close. Both trainers turned and tensed as well. "If we have to fight tag-team, don't get in my way." Vekra reached and drew out a Pokéball from her belt.
"Don't get in your way? Of all the…!" Jaylon shot back. But there was no need for a fight; the approaching person was only Kasmir.
"Hey, no time to talk… to you anyways…" he addressed the humans and knelt down to face Rain. "Rain, I need to know what you've picked up on the killer's scent."
Vekra glanced to Jaylon to check his expression. They both knew that Kasmir was a Mewtwo, so neither of them looked too surprised.
"Zan Zangoose goose-goose-goose Goose Zangoose Zan." Rain replied.
"That's great." Kasmir said sarcastically. "I can't scent the killer and describing the scent doesn't help. Are you sure you don't have any idea what the killer looks like?"
"Didn't Dragonite say that Raquaza was last with Kingdra?" Vekra said out loud, though not directed to anyone. If Kasmir didn't want to talk with them, so be it!
Kasmir seemed delighted to hear that. He jumped up and faced Vekra. "Excellent!" he said. He looked slightly different; as if he looked older and was serious (that was a rare sight!). "Do you think that Atri could've been the culprit?"
Vekra shrugged. "I told you before that I thought Flygon was the spy. I guess she could still be a spy, but Kingdra is a killer… Isn't Kingdra from Kanto?" she shrugged. It felt weird to call the captains by their real names. She knew most of them first by their Pokémon codenames.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Kasmir crossed his arms and looked to the ceiling thoughtfully. "Atri hid very well by being the quiet one in the group. His presence was unnoticed and if he ever slipped out to see an informer, we had no way of knowing…" He stopped talking and seemed to concentrate on something. "I felt someone leave earlier before finding Raquaza… He might have fled…" he paused and grinned. "But he's still within two miles!"
"What's that…?"
Kasmir looked slightly intimidating as he said his next sentence. "I'll find the traitor and bring him back here!" he spun and ran off, which seemed to be normal for today. "I'll be back!" he called to the two Hoenn rookies.
"But wait! This guy killed Raquaza! He can kill you too!" Jaylon yelled after the Pokémon.
Kasmir stopped and waved. "Come on, I lived through the Aura Guardian wars and the rise of the ferocious Razzen. I can take on a petty murderer!"
…
Once out of the base, Kasmir summoned up his psychic powers and flew off through the sky. He kept up his human guise up, thinking it would be odder for a passerby to see a Mewtwo flying through the sky than a human. There were only three known Mewtwos in the world, him being one of them. The others were the original Mewtwo and Kasmir's sister, who had disappeared a while back (and that was fine with Kasmir!).
He was mainly relying now on his aura senses to lead him to the fleeing murderer. Atri was evidently flying on a Pidgeot as his get-away Pokémon. Kasmir could soar through the air with the power of his mind, hence could fly faster. Atri's aura was growing closer and closer. They were nearly over the Indigo Plateau when Kasmir finally saw Atri with his eyes.
The Mewtwo didn't want to ask questions, he wanted to take down the brute you had killed Hianna and was threatening everyone else back in the base! He continued to fly forward, but started creating a blue orb between his two hands. He shot the Aura sphere directly at the man, but the Pidgeot's flying made the aura sphere miss and barely sail over the crook's head.
The angry man turned around and saw Kasmir forming another aura sphere to aim. Atri didn't look the same as before. His quiet demeanor was wiped away and a slightly crazy look played across his features. He directed the bird Pokémon to dive slightly, and the second attack missed once more.
"Kasmir, what's the meaning of this?" Atri/'Kingdra' held out his hands in an innocent gesture, though his expression wasn't matching.
"You killed Raquaza and have been giving secret information to our enemy! After I fight you a bit, I'm going to haul you back for proper judgment!" Kasmir yelled back.
"No proof?" the scrawny man shrugged. "No proof won't help you very much."
Kasmir glared. "So, your quietness disappears with the death of the leader? I'd say your acting skills rival 'Flygon's! And I'm a psychic Pokémon if you didn't know. I can already see your memories of killing the leader." Kasmir was bluffing of course, if he had seen his memories the Mewtwo would be much more sickened than angry.
"Then try to predict the future, Pokémon." He said coyly. With a quick flip of his wrist, Atri held out a pistol aimed at the floating human-looking being. Within a blink of the eye, Atri fired off a booming shot.
Kasmir jumped in midair as the screaming bullet flew past his face. He didn't show any fear and gathered up energy for another Aura sphere. If his attack hit, the traitor would be knock off his mount. The Aura Sphere flew forward, but the Pidgeot climbed in time for the shot to miss once more. "You stupid Pidgeot! Can't you see that all your trainer wants of you is to turn you into a frozen hunk of meat?" Kasmir yelled in frustration at the bird.
The large brown bird seemed to consider his words briefly, but still obeyed Atri's orders of a 'gust' attack. The bird Pokémon dove forward and flapped its wing to create a gust of wind to send Kasmir flying back. The Mewtwo fought against the wind, but fell. It the instant the Mewtwo was carried by the wind, Atri aimed another shot at the human-looking Pokémon.
Kasmir flinched as the bullet ripped through his shoulder. The flash of pain weakened his concentration, and his human appearance melted away. Now looking like a real Pokémon, Kasmir floated back up to face the traitor. He gasped and held his left arm, holding back the blood. His thick purple tail twitched in frustration and anger.
"It looks like you aren't quite the fighter as you were before. But at last I get to see you real form." Atri said, eyes slightly lidded in snootiness. "Now, I believe that my collection of Pokémon is not complete without a Mewtwo…"
Kasmir held up his right, uninjured hand and created a psychic barrier. "There's no way you are capturing me!" he ground his teeth. This was more than he bargained for!
"The Pokéball eventually tames the Pokémon kept inside to its trainer. You ought to know that." Atri said menacingly. He took out a red and white sphere and tossed it up in the air.
Kasmir tried not to show his fear. Pokéballs were so strange and unnatural. The last thing he wanted was to get captured by the person he was trying to capture. He had to get close enough to Atri to teleport them both back to the base!
Atri threw the Pokéball at Kasmir. It strangely sailed through his psychic shield and bumped against his purple skin. The hinge opened and Kasmir turned into red energy, which was then sucked into the ball. The sphere broke open immediately, and Kasmir hung in the air, panting from fright.
"I might have to wound you more to capture you…" the black haired traitor smirked.
Kasmir took a deep breath and teleported himself behind Atri. He grabbed onto his black shirt and focused as quickly as he could to teleport.
Atri reacted quicker than Kasmir predicted. The man whipped the three-fingered hand off his shoulder and aimed the small pistol at the Mewtwo's head. Without any hint of hesitation, he fired another shot.
Kasmir hastily teleported out of the way of the bullet and reappeared on the Pidgeot's head. He glared and Atri and began to use a psychic attack to bring him forward. The only thing that mattered was to get Atri teleported back to base before he could tell anyone on Kanto about Raquaza and any other secrets he might have found.
Atri fired a third shot, connecting with Kasmir's right hip. He fell forward in pain, almost falling off the bird entirely. His psychic attack faded away. He could still use his wounded arm and leg, but they stung and bled. He glared at the traitor. How could he loose to a human?
"Now you can choose to be my Pokémon or die." Atri held out his smoking pistol and an ultra-ball, one in each hand.
"You are the one who'll die! Traitors never prosper!" Kasmir spat in reply.
"Sorry to hear that." Atri raised the gun and squeezed the trigger.
A/N: AHHH! Kasmir!
Anyways, college is coming up quick, so I'm going to try my best to finish this before that.