Sir Pudding, even I'm not one hundred percent sure what the Unown are planning. How sad is that? And Wobbuffet's father is dead. Yep. Dead dead dead. Eaten by Sharpedo only a few minutes after passing the barrier.
L.C. Techno, how James knows Chimecho's worst fear is totally unimportant and unnecessary to know. That and I don't know myself. I personally pronounce Chimecho Chee-Mee-Cho, but I think your brother's pronunciation may be the 'official' way to say his name. I like my version better. Are the Philippines nice, incidentally?
Ninetalesuk, I'm not sure I want to make Charla evil…I like her too much!
Ratiasu, I don't know why they changed the movie storyline either. Dubbers are annoying, aren't they? Oh well. And I like Latias and Latios' voices in this version. Llamas? I'm glad you like the characterization for Wobbuffet and friends. I worked hard to make it sound good. No, Cacnea doesn't know James didn't know this would happen as a result of her transformation. She may find out before this is over…but even so, can she still forgive him? Negligent abandonment is almost as bad as willing abandonment, if not worse. And your English sounds good to me!
Gladdecease, I'm glad I could (finally) convince you to take a look at this. Welcome to the fold.
EagleFox, do you really think after all this Chosen stuff is done, things can go back to normal? And no, the beasts will not be returning to their original forms in the foreseeable future.
Story Weaver1, glad you liked it.
HVK, I was referring to the 'true' Zim, not the one in your story. He'd gladly and foolishly sell his soul to rule the world. I liked the self-destruct button scene too. When will your next chapter be done?
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter but the Tyranitron and all the superheroes. And my version of Ever Grande City. Thanks to Alex Warlorn, who helped out a lot with the development of this chapter.
…
Pikachu stood up from where he had been perched on top of Ash's hat. "Look! There it is!" he chirped, pointing straight ahead, off the bow of the ferry.
His friends all looked in the indicated direction. "Wow! It's beautiful!" Misty gushed.
"And so shiny!" squealed Phanphy happily.
Ash grinned. "We're here at last…Ever Grande City!"
And so they were. Only a couple of miles in the distance, rising from the sea, was the magnificent sight of Ever Grande City.
It was a spectacular view, a giant metropolis of concrete and steel floating on the sea, completely built around what had originally been a massive oil platform just a few decades ago. When the oil ran dry, the Hoenn League purchased the platform for use as a setting for their annual tournaments. But this attracted so many tourists and battlers, all wanting to watch and take part in the fights to determine who the greatest human/Pokemon teams in the land were, that the platform itself became too small to host all the participants and viewers. So numerous construction firms were contracted to erect a city around the old platform, utilizing help from both aquatic and Ground-type Pokemon as well as terraforming skills to create an artificial landmass to serve as the base for this magnificent marvel of modern engineering. The city was constantly growing upwards and outwards due to all the people and companies that wanted a piece of it, and now what had originally been planned as a village of sorts for trainers and visitors who had come for the tournament to stay in had become the most famous city of the Hoenn region, as well as headquarters of the Hoenn League. The small skyscrapers that sprouted all over the place were eclipsed by the inert towering old pipes and smokestacks of the oil platform, casting a shadow over them. Even so, each building shone beautifully as the sunlight reflected off their glass panels and metallic finishes. When environmentalists and Pokemon rights activists complained that the city was too artificial and unfit for Pokemon to live in, an entire forest was constructed on the city's south side, along with mountain and desert terrain, and a small glacial area as well as a lava pool, to suit Pokemon of all types and temperaments. The city was a shining testament to what humans and Pokemon could do when their powers are put together. (As well as showing just how far some people will go to make a profit, the annual revenue the place drags in more than makes up for the cost of constructing and maintaining the city.)
"And thank goodness," said Charizard, who was up on deck and not down below like he had been just the day before, thanks in part to Pikachu's attempts to help him get over his aquaphobia. (He wasn't scared so much of water anymore, but still knew to avoid large amounts of it.) "It'll be nice to get on dry land that's bigger than a village built on top of a mass of Corsola cast-offs."
"Yeah, and I can finally get the kind of fighting I've been raring for for ages!" Crawdaunt agreed, snapping his pincers eagerly. "The best trainers and Pokemon in the Hoenn league against yours truly…what a battle that'll be!"
"Hey, don't get too swelled a head about it," Bayleef warned. "We get enough of that from Ash, we don't need two over-inflated egos. Unless," she said with a mocking grin,
"You're acting tougher than usual to attract Miss Corsola over there."
Crawdaunt flushed, glancing at the pink and white Coral Pokemon, who was riding on top of Gyarados' head just off the port side of the ferry, right next to them. "…Shut up, Bayleef."
"Don't listen to her, father," Kasurin interjected, hopping between Bayleef and Crawdaunt. "I have faith in your abilities! You'll show those other Pokemon what a true creature of the sea can do! I'll be rooting for you all the way!"
Crawdaunt chuckled and whapped his son on the back with a claw, inadvertently bruising him. "Boy, as long as you don't get all weepy if I lose, that's fine with me."
"I'll have to think of a new personalized cheer for you," commented Politoed absent-mindedly, his amphibian mind running several possibilities through his head. "Maybe the old standby, 'Crawdaunt, Crawdaunt, he's our lobster, if he can't do it, neither can…a mobster?' No, no, that won't work…"
"What do you think it'll be like in the city, Aunt Latias?" Togetic asked, fluttering over the dragon girl's shoulder.
Latias shrugged. "I don't know. At first I thought it might make me feel sad and remind me of Alto Mare…but looking at this place, I can already tell that Ever Grande and my old home have nothing in common, save that they are both island cities. And they are both beautiful," she admitted. "Alto Mare is-was-ancient and made from warm old stone. This place is newer and made from steel and concrete. I can't honestly make a guess as to what it'll be like, it's not like any place I've ever been to before. We'll have to see for ourselves what it's like once we get there, I suppose." Togetic nodded in agreement.
"I can't believe this is it, guys," Ash said, his grin fading from his face. "After all this traveling and hard work, we're finally here…this is where it's all going down."
"The Chosen thing, you mean?" Misty asked apprehensively.
Ash nodded. "All of us are supposed to meet here at some point or another. One way or another, this is where it'll happen. There's more than just a tournament going on…this could be where the fate of the world is decided."
The enthusiasm drained from the group then, as they realized the importance of whatever momentous task awaited them here. This was where the Unown and Molly had told them to go. This was where their destinies would be revealed…would they be strong enough to shoulder them when that moment of revelation came?
Only time would tell…
…
A few miles to the south of Ever Grande City, a large ship was floating on the ocean, its anchors deployed in the water to hold it in place. The vessel was a huge aircraft carrier, left over from a recent war and fixed up for new uses by its owners. The legend on its side read Shadow Cruiser. No aircraft, bombers, or flying Pokemon were on the deck, waiting to take off and attack their enemy. Instead, the long runway on the carrier was taken up by an enormous machine, towering twenty stories into the sky. At first glance one would think it was a Tyranitar grown to immense proportions, and indeed it did look much like a Tyranitar, save for the way the sun shone off its dull green hide, which made one think it was made of metal, which it was. Instead of eyes it had polarized windows, for the head was hollowed out and would serve as the command center for the gargantuan mecha. The giant blue diamond plate on its belly was split open, revealing a vast hollow chamber inside. Scaffolding and elevators towers were in place all over the monstrosity, and technicians and mechanics were running here and there, making last minute adjustments and modifications to the giant robot, for its first run would be that very day.
A peculiar sight, a Meowth-shaped balloon, carrying a large stone Wobbuffet in a claw dangling from the underside of its basket, floated over the aircraft carrier, casting a shadow over the workers below and causing them to look up in surprise at the bizarre vehicle and its cargo as it sailed over to a large wheeled metal platform with the X over a blue circle that was the insignia of Team Cipher on its surface. A Cipher Grunt released her Volbeat and Illumise, and they waved their lit rumps at the balloon's operators, signaling them to drop the statue here. Feeling slightly offended that they were receiving a neon mooning, the operators gently lowered the statue onto the platform, releasing the claw holding it once they heard the dull thud that marked it had landed safely and retracting it back into the basket.
Plant Pokemon climbed onto the top of the platform and secured the statue from all sides with Vine Whip attacks. A worker hopped into a small cockpit attached to the front of the platform and inserted a key into the ignition, starting up the machine's motor. Taking the steering wheel, she started driving the platform forward in the direction of the giant robot, moving slowly due to its great mass as well as the weight of the object it carried.
Guided once more by the mooning Volbeat and Illumise, the balloon landed at a spot nearby, where they found themselves greeted by four familiar faces. As Jessie, James, Meowth, and Chimecho disembarked their vehicle, they recognized them at once.
First and foremost to them was the man who had always supplied them with their gadgets and giant robots, and who had almost single-handedly designed the fearsome mecha only a few hundred meters away. Clad in a snazzy red jacket with gold trim and white lining, along with a solid black pair of pants that covered his feet, was the egg-shaped figure of Doctor Robotnik AKA the Eggman. Next to him were Professors Sebastian and Ein. Sebastian's usually calm and stoic expression was marred by the lines on his face and bags under his eyes, and his hair and lab coat were disheveled, showing he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. However, he looked like Adonis in comparison to the haggard Ein, who was rocking on his heels while constantly fighting with the straightjacket he was wrapped up in. His shades were gone, revealing bloodshot, unfocused eyes that were rolling about madly while he babbled in incessant gibberish, drool dribbling down his chin. For those who had known the man for a long time, it was shocking to see him in this state.
But it was the man who walked past the scientists and towards the group of misfits that really caught their attention. He was wearing a tight and revealing purple jumpsuit. His skin was extremely pale and sallow. His eyes were red, bloodshot, and sunken into his face, which, along with his long gray locks which writhed in the air without any apparent influence from the wind, made him look very frightening. Chimecho squealed in fright and hid behind James' head, trembling in fear.
Meowth gasped. "It's the boss!" The stooges quickly stood to attention and saluted.
The scary man nodded. "That is correct. I am Nascour, leader of Team Cipher." He cocked his head. "I have heard much about you three."
"Really?" asked James excitedly. Grins appeared on all their faces.
Nascour nodded. "Yes. You're the most incompetent disgraces to ever be employed under Team Rocket, and continued to be disgraces even after executive power was transferred to Ein, and from him to me. If it weren't for the fact that your moronic antics are recorded by hidden cameras in all the gadgets you use and used as training footage to show our new recruits what NOT to do, and your usefulness to Doctor Robotnik's robot testing, you would have been fired, humiliated, and/or executed ages ago due to your colossal debts and wastes of resources."
The grins were frozen. "Well…at least we contribute something helpful, then…" Jessie said uneasily.
Nascour smiled. "Yes, and because you managed to deliver this magnificent sculpture to us," he said, gesturing to the Wobbaku statue which had just reached the feet of the enormous Tyranitron robot. The platform it was mounted on braked, and then the platform itself began to rise, lifted into the air by a large elevator set into the deck floor. "Which, Doctor Robotnik assures me, will fill in the gaping defense problems caused because we lost all the budget we would have used on making the robot's armor completely invincible due in part to your own bungling and also in part to Ein's frantic and expensive hiring of Ghostbusters to get rid of Giovanni's spirit (which he claims haunts him) not long after I took power, as well as Professor Namba's attempts at embezzlement when he realized he couldn't complete his end of the project in time and tried to make a run for it to prevent himself from suffering my wrath, you three will be spared the fate I gave to Namba."
Meowth swallowed. Sweat was rolling down his face. "Y-you killed him, and were planning to do it to us!"
Nascour looked surprised. "What? No! We need his brain, he's too important to kill. I dressed him up in a Torchic costume, gave him a giant bucket of KFC chicken legs, and sent him to a convention for Meat-Eaters Anonymous."
The trio gasped. "That would be a death sentence!" James cried in terror.
"No, I told you he's too important to kill! The suit's made of rubber and really difficult to break, all that happened to Namba was a simple hospitalization and severe mental scarring. A shame we never got back the money he stole, he'd already wasted all of it on gambling and playing the stock market. Ein, on the other hand," said Nascour, pointing to the raving lunatic. "I would have killed him for wasting all that money on ghost busting and for going insane due to stress, lack of sleep, and fear that the spirit of Giovanni was going to get him, but he's the only person who really understands how to transform Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon so he's too valuable to kill. We thought we knew enough about the process to do it ourselves, but all our test subjects keep dying so there must be some step or vital element we're missing that isn't mentioned in Ein's notes. We're hoping this is only temporary insanity and with time and care he'll go back to normal, and then I can punish him and maybe kill him if he tells me exactly how the Shadow Pokemon process works and what we're doing wrong. We only brought him down here today because we needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't kill himself by accident or design before we can retrieve the information from him. That, and his insanity amuses me," he said with a wicked smile. "And of course there's the off chance that somewhere among his incomprehensible word salad is the key to understanding what we're doing wrong in the Shadow Pokemon process. So far he hasn't said anything useful, but you never know. We have a tape recorder attached to his neck to record everything he says so it can be analyzed later, just in case."
"Ah," said Jessie, white in the face and looking terrified of her boss.
James pouted. "Darn, I was hoping he could figure out what was wrong with Cacnea." He pulled her Pokeball off his belt and glanced at it sadly. "She's been trying to hurt me for ages, but last night for some reason or another she tried to kill me!"
"What a pity." Nascour smiled and looked back at the trio. "Anyway, as a reward for bringing us this valuable statue, I'll grant all of you and your Pokemon a berth onboard the Tyranitron!"
The trio gasped. "Really?" James asked in disbelief. "You're going to let us pilot the most powerful weapon that's ever been constructed by our organization?"
"Eh, not exactly pilot…" Nascour drawled. "We have more skilled agents who will do that."
"But we have more experience piloting giant robots than anyone else in Team Cipher!" Jessie protested.
"And the most experience at blowing them to smithereens," Robotnik pointed out, glaring at the buffoons.
They sweatdropped. "He's got a point," Meowth said unhappily.
"But never fear," Nascour reassured them. "You will still be an important and essential part of the Tyranitron's crew. Come, follow me and I will introduce you to your fellow teammates and get you in position, we're expecting to launch in about an hour."
He started to turn towards the Tyranitron when a Cipher Peon ran up to him. "Master Nascour! Master Nascour!"
"Yes, what is it?" Nascour snapped, irritated at being interrupted.
"Sir! We've spotted a small wooden raft just a few meters away from the ship! It drifted here on the wind and the tide!" the Peon reported, giving a smart salute.
Nascour frowned. "And you've let it get that close?"
"There's nobody on board, sir, so we didn't regard it as a threat. We only thought it should be brought to your attention because it's getting awfully close to one of the maintenance hatches on the side, sir."
Nascour frowned. "Hmm. This reeks of espionage. Blow that raft out of the water! Just because you don't see anyone on board doesn't mean there isn't anyone there! Use excessive and unnecessary force!"
"Yes sir!" The peon saluted and ran off.
"All right, now that that's over with-" He stopped, noticing James had raised his hand. "Yes, what is it?" he asked, looking annoyed.
"Um…" James fidgeted nervously. He started to open his mouth to say something, but shut it, obviously thinking it was too stupid.
Nascour frowned. "Well man? Out with it!" he barked.
James yelped, and trembling, managed to say, "Y-your hair…"
Nascour blinked. Everyone else cringed, certain that James had just doomed himself. "My hair? What about it?"
"How does it do that?" James blurted. "How does it…move on its own!"
Jessie slapped him on the back of his head. "James! You'll kill us, you idiot!" she whispered.
"Yeah, shut up!" Meowth hissed.
However, Nascour didn't seem to be too angered by James' question. "Oh, that's simple," he said. His hair lengthened, grew snake heads, and lunged at James' face, snarling, hissing, and wiggling their forked tongues. He screamed and fell backwards, accidentally plastering Chimecho against the back of his head. "My mother was a Gorgon," Nascour explained as his hair turned back to normal. He smiled and turned away.
Meowth blinked. "Then how come we ain't stone? And aren't Gorgons some old Geek myth?"
Nascour rolled his eyes. "Technically, Gorgons are mythical creatures from GREEK lore (not geek), but my father happened to be a geneticist with an unhealthy obsession with mythology and my mother was a woman with an unhealthy obsession with snakes. You do the math. I also have a harpy for a sister, a centaur for a brother, and a pet miniature sphinx back home." He frowned. "And as to your other question, father never did figure out how to get the 'stone stare' gene to work in me. Oh well." He continued on his way.
Robotnik glanced at James and the petrified (not literally) Meowth and Jessie as he walked past them. "That scared the bejeezus out of me when I asked, but at least I didn't wet myself! Hahahaha!"
Sebastian snickered at them as well as he followed Robotnik, and Ein stopped in front of the Ciphers, stared at them eerily for several seconds and creeping them out, then abruptly lurched forward and yelled, "SWITZERLAND!" randomly, causing the three of them to jump and scream. Laughing brokenly and maniacally, the truly mad scientist shambled after his fellows towards the Tyranitron.
Scared stiff, the wide-eyed pale-faced trio stared after Ein, Nascour and the rest in mute terror. "Jessie, I'm scared!" James cried, bursting into tears. "The old boss was mean, but never this scary!"
"I know James, I know," Jessie agreed in a quivering voice. "But what can we do? We can't quit! Normal life's too boring for us! Besides, we've finally hit the big time! We're going to help operate the most powerful robot in history! We're going to take over the world, James! We're going to beat the twerp and his Pikachu once and for all!" she said, trying to encourage her teammates.
"I guess she's right…" Meowth said uneasily. "And besides, I don't think we can go anyway. The balloon's gone."
"Huh?" They whirled around just in time to see a group of Cipher Peons carry the deflated balloon through a hatch in the deck and disappear. James sagged, feeling like he had signed his own death warrant. "Guess we don't have a choice then."
"That's the spirit!" Jessie said cheerfully, helping James up. "Now get on your feet, and let's go use that giant robot to crush our enemies and take over the world!"
"I don't mind crushing our enemies or taking over the world," James muttered as they headed towards the giant robot. "It's the boss that really scares me."
"I hear that, Jimmy," Meowth agreed.
"Chiiii…" squealed Chimecho, quivering against the back of James' head.
…
The large party of two humans and twelve Pokemon either disembarked the ferry or slithered onto the pier from the water, terrifying the other people who happened to be leaving other ferries and causing them to run screaming. Our heroes were oblivious. "We're finally here! Ever Grande City!" Ash declared.
Misty rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's kind of obvious that we're here Ash."
Ash shrugged. "It had to be said." Everyone sweatdropped. "Hey, weren't Brock, May, and Max supposed to meet us here?" Before they had left Pacifidlog Town the day before, they had gotten in touch with their friends and were delighted to hear that they would be able to meet them at Ever Grande City on the next day, just in time for Ash to enter the tournament.
"Hey guys!" As if on cue, the tall, dark-skinned eyeless guy ran up to them followed by the brown-haired girl and younger, glasses-wearing brother, along with Jirachi, Absol, Onix and Geodude.
"Uncle Brock!" Phanphy squealed, tackling Brock without warning, knocking him to the ground, and then started whacking him on the forehead crying, "Uncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncle…"
"Phanphy, get off!" Misty scolded, pulling Phanphy off their friend.
"Sorry Mommy," Phanphy apologized. Then he noticed Geodude and Onix. "Uncles Geodude and Onix!" he cried happily, trying to leap at them, only for Misty to hold onto him before he could get away, so his legs pedaled away at nothing in the air.
Brock groaned and got to his feet. "Ouch…I had hoped I wouldn't have to go through that again."
"At least he's not trying to beat up my Skitty," May pointed out.
"Brock, May, Max, great to see you all again!" Ash said with a grin, looking pleased to see his friends. "I missed you!"
"We missed you too, Ash!" May said, hiding a flush of pleasure at hearing that she had indeed been missed. "We would have joined up with you again after Dad got better, but then Mom got all weepy and said she didn't want Max and me running off again because she was afraid that Dad might relapse or something just as bad could happen to us while we were out adventuring, so we had to stay a while until she stopped being all clingy." She looked saddened and depressed. "Because of mom's insistence on us being 'together', I missed any chance I had at entering the Grand Festival this year. I was really looking forward to it. I even considered running away to rejoin you or enter the Festival, but I couldn't because I was too worried about what would happen to Mom if I did. She almost had a real heart attack when dad went into the hospital, I didn't want to be the cause of her getting hurt…or worse."
"That, and you didn't want to disappoint all your super-attractive fanboys, did you May?" Max asked with an evil look on his face.
"MAX!" May screamed, grabbing her brother and strangling him. "You didn't need to tell him about that!"
Ash looked at them in confusion. "Fanboys?" he asked blankly.
"Yeah, fanboys!" Max blurted, pulling free from May's grasping hands. "Everyone back home loves our dad insanely, and since we happen to be his kids some of that love rubs off on us. You shoulda seen em'! There were more than a dozen guys lined up outside May's window one night, beating the heck out of each other because all of them had come up with the same bright idea to serenade her by moonlight. Only it was a cloudy night, and raining, and none of them or their Pokemon could carry a tune, so all they did was make each other angry, get lots of bruises, and keep us up all night. Jirachi was willing to teleport them away when I wished him to, but Dad stopped us because we still hadn't found the Pokeball containing his Slakoth that Jirachi was supposed to have teleported from the gym straight to the Pokemon Center a couple of weeks ago. (It wasn't until several days later that we found out the Slakoth had been transported to a Pokemon Center all the way on the other side of the globe, in the really cold town of Ice Edge.) Dad finally had to send his Vigoroth out to beat up all the suitors and toss em' out."
May laughed nervously and sweatdropped, vowing to murder her little brother later. Ash blinked. "…Wow, that must suck."
"Yeah, but I'm sure the same thing will happen to you when you become a Pokemon Master," said Brock.
Ash stared at him in confusion. "…Lots of guys will come to my house and serenade me by moonlight!" he asked, looking horrified.
"No!" Brock said quickly. "Well…maybe a few. I dunno. Could happen. What I meant was, once you become a Pokemon Master, the women will be all over you. They can't get enough of a celebrity. All of them will want to be Mrs. Ash Ketchum." His lip trembled, and he suddenly burst into tears. "Why can't that ever happen to ME-HE-HE-HE!" he sobbed. Everyone stared and backed away from him.
Ash looked somewhat worried and uncomfortable at the thought. Misty was glowering. "Really? But…I don't want the girls to be all over me!" he protested frantically. "I already have the only girl I'll ever want, I don't want lots of others coming and trying to marry me!"
May's heart leapt into her throat, and for a wild moment she imagined that Ash was going to come over to her and hold her and kiss her and- "Well, in the unlikely event that you do become a Pokemon Master," Misty joked, pulling her mallet off her back. "I'll make sure they all stay away from you! I've already staked my claim, if anyone marries you it's gonna be me!" she declared, swiping her mallet through the air for effect. Ash blushed and laughed anxiously; although it was clear he appreciated and reciprocated the affection.
It took a few seconds for Misty's statement to sink in, but when they did the effects were devastating. "Wait…you mean you two finally hooked up!" Brock asked in disbelief. He fell to his knees. "Nooooo! On the one hand I'm happy it finally happened, but on the other I'm shocked and depressed because I'm STILL single!" He burst into tears.
Max looked somewhat disgusted. "Ash has a girlfriend? Ewww!"
"Girls are icky!" Jirachi agreed. "Although she is kinda pretty," he said in an aside to Max, to which the boy privately agreed.
May, on the other hand, was completely rigid, jaw hanging open. Him…her…together? Her world seemed to collapse around her and all her hopes and dreams shattered, and she plummeted into a bottomless abyss while the words Staked my claim and If anyone marries you, it's gonna be me! Repeated over and over again as she feel into the depths of despair.
Max waved his hand in front of May's glazed eyes. "May? May?" He glanced at the others. "Uh, she's kind of out of it."
"Your sister is weird, Max," Jirachi complained.
"You're telling me?"
They all sweatdropped, looking at May's comatose, slack-jawed form. "Uh…will she be okay?" Latias asked Ash quietly.
Ash shrugged. "I dunno, this has never happened to her before. Uh, Pikachu, do you suppose…"
"Yeah, okay." Pikachu tensed up and fired a weak lightning bolt at May, zapping her and causing her to wail and convulse as a little less than a hundred volts of electricity coursed through her body, causing her hair to stand up and setting the ends of her bandana on fire. Pikachu sweatdropped and laughed nervously as everyone frowned at him. "Eh heh, oops…still haven't quite gotten used to the power boost from the RPGenerator, I meant for that to be a lot weaker…"
Latias sighed and rolled her eyes. "And we're the people who are supposed to save the world?"
"Oh come on, we're not that bad…" Bayleef protested.
It was at that point that both Psyduck and Skitty popped out of their trainer's Pokeballs, startling everyone. Psyduck stared blankly at the group and blinked, one eye after the other. "Huh?" he asked stupidly.
Skitty looked around, was alarmed for half a second to notice her dazed and slightly smoking trainer lying on the ground, but forgot about her when she saw Psyduck, instantly feeling attracted to his bright yellow hue. "YELLOW!" she screamed, rushing exuberantly towards the vapid duck.
Psyduck stared at her blankly, not comprehending the fact that the kitten was racing towards him. "Huh?"
"Psyduck, get out of the way-" Misty started, holding out her Pokeball.
But she was too late. Skitty pounced into the air, opened her mouth wide and somehow closed it over the top of Psyduck's head. Psyduck blinked in surprise, rolling his eyes upward to stare at Skitty, who was now licking his head happily. A tense moment paused, followed by another tense moment, as everyone acquainted with the duck that had no brain expected him to get a headache and do some crazy psychic voodoo. They were all surprised when, after a moment, Psyduck said, "Pink."
Skitty released her hold on Psyduck's head with the sound of a suction cup being pulled off a windowpane, hugged his cranium tightly between her paws and wrapped her tail underneath his beak so she couldn't fall off, and purred, "Yellow!"
"Pink."
An eternity passed between the two Pokemon as they stared at each other from what felt like an endless expanse, one with eyes showing nothing but stupidity and emptiness, the other's as tightly shut as Brock's yet somehow still allowing for sight. And even though one's eyes were empty and the other's were squinty, somehow, on some level, they Saw each other and were connected on a level far beyond clumsy words and physical actions.
But to everyone else, it looked like they were just staring blankly at each other. "I guess Psyduck's finally met his match," Misty said in amazement.
"Well, I guess its about time for him," Ash suggested. "Seems like couples are sprouting all over the place these days."
Brock burst into tears. "It's not faaaiiiir! First Ash and Misty get together, and now Psyduck and Skitty! Why can't I get a girlfriend!"
Crawdaunt grunted. "Darn! And she was such a nice shade of pink, too…oh well, I've still got Corsola," he muttered to himself, glancing at the oblivious object of his affections.
May groaned and finally started to come too. Ash bent down and helped her up. "May, are you all right?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," she said, patting out the embers collected on her bandana. "My heart's just broken, that's all. Nothing important."
She had said the last part so quietly that neither Ash or anybody else could hear more than an incoherent mumble, so they all assumed she was fine. "Great! Sorry for having Pikachu shock you too much." He glared at Pikachu, who winced and shuffled his feet dejectedly.
"That's all right, Pikachu," May said quietly, still brooding over the realization that she had lost any hope of having Ash forever. "You were just trying to help." She mechanically reached out a hand and ruffled his fur in a manner not very comfortable to the little rodent. Pikachu cringed, but restrained himself from zapping her.
Brock sighed and then, for the first time, noticed Latias. Getting over his depression about Psyduck and Skitty, he was at her side so quickly that he left a trail of flames and caused eardrums to rattle from the sonic boom. "And who is this lovely yet oddly familiar individual?" Brock said, face very red as he grabbed Latias' hands and peered into her eyes, filling her with fear. "Is she a friend of yours, Ash? Is she single? Does she have a phone number or E-mail address I could-"
Brock yelped as two different people suddenly yanked his ears, one on each side of his head. Max had grabbed the left ear and Misty the right, and since Max was shorter he had to pull Brock down to his level, causing the pain induced by Misty's ear-yanking to double as his head was tugged from both ends. "Down, Romeo," Max said in a bored tone of voice. He had done this far too many times.
"She doesn't have a phone number or E-mail address because she doesn't have a home, because-she's-actually–Latias-disguised-in-human-form!" Misty hissed through gritted teeth. "Plus I believe she's taken," she added more quietly, glancing at Latias to determine the verity of her statement. Latias nodded quickly to let her know she was right.
Brock's face fell. "Oh." Then, realizing the first part of what Misty had said, he yelled and reeled backwards, painfully pulling his ears from Max and Misty's grasp. "Yaaah! I was hitting on a Pokemon!" he said a little too loudly, attracting stares from the passersby who wisely decided it would be best to let these clearly insane individuals deal with themselves and not get caught up in their madness. The human group members frantically signaled for him to keep it down. The Pokemon of the group were glaring at him, and Brock quickly amended his statement. "Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that…which is not to say that I am in fact attracted to Pokemon in a sexual way, but…oh, I'll just shut up." Thankfully, he did.
"Is she really a Pokemon?" May asked, curiosity drawing her from her depression for a moment to examine Latias, who was starting to feel uncomfortable to be under so much scrutiny. Max had taken out a magnifying glass and was running it up and down her body while Jirachi watched with interest, and Absol was sniffing her to make sure she wasn't a threat to his charges. "But she looks so human…" May slowly leaned forward and touched Latias' nose, as if to see that it was real. Latias flinched and stepped backwards, causing Max, who had been leaning over to carefully look at her legs, to fall over. "I mean, you told us about her over the phone but still…"
"Yeah, she's really a Pokemon," Misty said quietly. "And maybe you can see what she really looks like later. But right now, there's something else we have to do."
"There is?" Ash asked in confusion.
She stared blankly at him. "…Yeah, you have to register for the Hoenn League before the deadline, remember?"
Ash blinked. It took a full second for those words to register in his mind, and the expression on his face when that happened was priceless. "Gaaahhh! I forgot!" He looked around frantically. "Quick, where's the Pokemon Center!"
Rolling his eyes (somehow) Brock pointed down a street. "At the base of the old oil platform in the center of town. All roads lead to it, you can't miss it."
"Thanksgottagobye!" Ash ran off so fast that he caused a wind to stir up in his passing, blowing back hair and loose pieces of paper.
Ash's friends sweatdropped. "That boy…" Misty said deadpan.
"He's supposed to become a Pokemon Master?" Brock asked doubtfully.
May sighed, hating herself. Stupid May. If he couldn't even remember he had to sign up for one of the biggest tournaments of his life, how could she possibly have expected him to love her? What had she been thinking? She pouted, downcast. And how could she have ever have thought she could match up to someone like Misty in Ash's heart?
Latias might have noticed May's depression and recognized it as being similar to the stage she had once gone through when she realized Ash didn't love her, if she weren't under the scrutiny of Max and Jirachi again. Her eye twitched. "You know, I think I'm starting to agree with you," said Bayleef. "We are doomed."
…
The platform carrying Wobbaku's statue had elevated to the height of the open cavity in the robot's chest, and a pair of conveyor belts (one inside the robot, one out) moved the statue into a cylindrical fixture inside the cavity. This had originally been intended for the Tyranitron's nuclear generator, but they had been unable to obtain one due to budget cuts and the surprising lack of them on the black market, so an alternate source of power had been decided upon. The cavity intended for the power generator had been left in the designs anyway, and it was a good thing too, because it was a perfect place to install the statue, which would serve as the titanic machine's shield generator.
As the statue moved into the center of the cylindrical fixture, metal clamps locked down on the pseudopodia extending from its base, while cables lowered from the ceiling and attached to the dome of Wobbaku's head. These cables had been quickly rigged up the night before after Jessie and James had phoned in and reported what they were about to steal, and were intended to harness and amplify the statue's hidden powers and project it in a shield around the robot, which could be raised or lowered at the flip of a switch from the mecha's control room.
In the meantime, Nascour and his band of scientists and nearly useless lackeys reached an elevator built into the base of one of the scaffoldings that surrounded the immense robot. A pair of Cipher peons (one of which was oddly short and blue) flanked the door, but they weren't what grabbed Jessie, James and Meowth's attention. It was the group of very familiar agents waiting in front of the doors.
"I don't believe it!" James gasped. "It's the Iron Masked Marauder, Anny and Oakley!" The three old members of the TR elite nodded in recognition at their lower-leveled compatriots. Their outfits were virtually unchanged despite the change in administration, aside from the replacing of the old R for Rocket with the X of Cipher and the additions of scarves.
"And…omigosh! Look! It's Bashou and Buson!" Meowth cried in wonderment, pointing to an imposing and dangerous-looking couple. Bashou was a lean, muscular woman with a cold smirk and light gray-blue hair with long sideburns, two tufts growing from the tops of her head, and a spiky bush growing down to her shoulder blades. She wore what looked at first like a standard Peon uniform, but it was a very light gray and had a short-sleeved shirt with the Cipher X over a dark blue undershirt. Buson was a big, extremely muscular man with spiky blonde hair that was parted down over the left side of his head, and a pair of semi-transparent sunglasses. He wore a light gray vest with the Cipher X on it, split by the two sides of the vest over his chest, and a blue tank top, blue wristbands, and gray pants. Both of them wore orange scarves, and held their helmets under their arms. They had been the two top regular agents back in their Team Rocket days, infamous for their nastiness and dedication to crime, and had managed to earn Elite status. They had not been present at the assault on Professor Oak's lab because they were on vacation after managing to swipe the entire Pokemon population of a large town in Johto, and Butch and Cassidy had just happened to be there when Giovanni was organizing agents in his helicopter, so he had ended up taking them along as "fill-ins". They had quickly resumed Elite status as Ciphers after Ein, and later Nascour, took over due to their sheer excellence. They merely smirked at the trio, feeling no need to acknowledge their existence.
Jessie, in contrast to James' shock and Meowth's awe, was livid at the last two Ciphers who had been waiting for them. "It's YOU!" she screamed, pointing at the orange-haired woman wearing a solid black variation of the Cipher uniform (really more of an adaptation of her old Rocket uniform, and a much better job than Jessie and James'), with the visor pushed back over the top of her helmet so her eyes could peer out with scorn at the world around her, and one woman in general. "CASSIDY!"
Cassidy sneered. "Well, if it isn't little Miss Jessica and her band of misfits. How's life at the bottom treating you, Jessie?"
"It would be a lot better if I didn't have to look up and see your ass in front of me! And by ass, I was referring to your face," Jessie said snidely.
Steam flew from Cassidy's ears. "Why you little bitch!" She started to step forward, but her green-haired partner, attired like herself, grabbed her shoulder.
"Cass, not in front of the boss!" he warned in his awful, rasping frog voice, causing everyone who heard him to cringe in pain.
"Agent Betch, how many times have I told you that you are to keep your mouth shut at all times?" Nascour growled. His hair-serpents showed their faces, hissing angrily at Butch.
"It's Bu-" he started to correct, but faltered when the serpents lunged forward, snapping their fangs inches short of his nose. He yelped and ran his fingers over his mouth, pantomiming that he was zipping it shut.
"Very good. In any case," Nascour addressed the trio. "These are your fellow crew members. Together, you will operate the most dangerous robotic super-weapon the world has ever known. Let's take a tour, shall we?" He nodded to one of the two peons, who pressed a button that opened the elevator doors. Nascour led his group into the elevator, and the elite Ciphers, as well as Butch and Cassidy and the small, blue, unassuming peon followed him.
Once inside, the blue peon took a key out of his uniform, stood on tiptoe to reach the slot it went into, and turned it, causing the elevator to jerk and rise up its shaft. The trip up was silent, save for the angry words Cassidy and Jessie were thinking at each other. James and Meowth were staring in awe at Bashou and Buson, which amused the two elite greatly, and Chimecho was hiding from Nascour, whom really scared him.
They soon reached their destination, the top of the scaffolding. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing a long catwalk extending from the scaffolding to an open hatch on the side of the Tyranitron's head. "Walk with me," Nascour said, heading towards the hatch. "The tour starts inside." His subordinates followed in awed, indifferent, or just bored silence, leaving the blue peon behind. He stood patiently by the elevator and watched as the group entered the hatch. Then he glanced around to make sure nobody was looking in his direction and quickly ran across the span of the catwalk, pulling himself through the hatch after them. The key remained where he had left it, in the control slot inside the elevator.
After passing through a small, narrow hallway the group of villains entered a large, typical control room similar to most of the ones Jessie, James and Meowth had piloted in the past, except the controls looked somewhat more complicated and there were five seats instead of their usual three. Nascour nodded at Dr. Robotnik, who proudly began to explain his masterpiece. "This is the nerve center for the entire robot. This control room will be where the pilots control all the robot's motile and attack functions."
"And who will be piloting the robot?" Cassidy asked. "I'm not sure you ever made that clear."
Glaring at her for interrupting, Robotnik elaborated on that point. "The Iron Masked Marauder, Bashou, Buson, Anny, and Oakley have spent the last few weeks in training simulations for controlling this very robot, so they are the most readily equipped to pilot the real thing."
"That, and we slept with the boss so we could get in on the project," Anny whispered to Oakley. Her friend giggled, and Nascour grimaced at them, although he did recall that night quite well.
"Then what are we going to do, if they're piloting?" Jessie asked uncertainly.
"I'll get to that later," Robotnik said quickly, evading her question. "In any case, allow me to explain a few things about this wondrous vehicle I've designed." He walked over to one of the control panels and typed in a few commands. The large view screen that filled the front wall of the control room and showed a live video feed from the Tyranitron's two eyes cleared and showed blueprints for the giant robot. "Due to budget cuts, embezzlement, lack of time and resources, and sheer incompetence in some cases, the robot's hull is nowhere near as strong as I would have hoped," he said, pointing to the Tyranitron's "skin" on the blueprints. "Instead of being made from various solvents and alloys designed to repel virtually any type of Pokemon attack as well as mirror plating to deflect beam or psychic attacks, all we could use was plain old Titanium with asbestos coating, rubber lining, and some antifreeze. So it's pretty much immune to fire, electric, and ice attacks, and the titanium can blunt the other types to some extent, but it's thanks to Jessie and James'-" Meowth coughed. "Oh yes, and Meowth's miraculous and one-in-a-million discovery of that statue which now resides here-" he said, pointing to the diamond-shaped cavity on the Tyranitron's lower abdomen. "Where we originally planned to put the robot's power generator, that this robot will become as truly powerful as I had envisioned from the beginning."
"What's the big deal about this statue, anyway?" the Marauder asked suddenly. "Just looks like a big stone Wobbuffet to me."
Robotnik shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure how, but from my readings and Jessie and James' reports (which I usually discredit as being either gross exaggeration or outright lies due to their ridiculousness) I've determined that it is somehow capable of generating a nigh-impenetrable force field that only Wobbuffet and Wynaut-or those accompanying them-can pass through. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but hopefully I'll have time to figure out why later. We're on a tight schedule, and need to get this robot launched as soon as possible so it can disrupt the proceedings of the Hoenn Championships and cause the desired amount of pandemonium and mayhem in the region."
Not to mention kill Wes before he gets away, Nascour thought to himself with a cold smile. My spies report that even now he's in Ever Grande, led there by a trail of clues I left for him. When the Tyranitron crushes Wes once and for all, I will finally have my revenge for my defeat in Orre!
"Hey wait, if Wobbuffet and Wynaut can pass through the force field, couldn't a trainer who has one or both of those get through the shield and attack the robot?" Cassidy asked.
Robotnik shrugged. "It's a possibility…but Wobbuffet and Wynaut are fairly rare Pokemon. I've checked the registered Pokemon in Ever Grande City, and there are only a few there, all belonging to trainers of no consequence. And while it is possible some of the trainers coming here to compete in the tournament may have the requisite Pokemon to pass through the shield and attack the robot directly…" He turned and pointed to a device concealed in a compartment on the robot's left arm. "This little number will take care of them, if the robot's other weapons or just stepping on them doesn't! It's called the Snag Cannon, and is a modified version of the Snag Devices all of you have become accustomed to. It launches approximately ten Snag Balls a second, more than enough to beat any Pokemon into submission and Snag it. We were originally intending to have the Snag Balls feed into a Shadow Pokemon transformation chamber, but Ein went insane before that could happen so we had to scrap that idea."
"Gibble gabble oonha wanga wanga!" Ein babbled, spitting saliva everywhere. The Ciphers flinched.
"Er…right, speaking of the Snag Cannon," Professor Sebastian said, stepping away from his crazed colleague. "While we weren't able to get the robot's defenses up one hundred percent, we have almost all the weapon system the original design called for, including a variation of my old Pokemon Induced Evolution Wave which fires at attacking Pokemon and stuns them long enough for them to be Snagged. It's very painful to Pokemon, but totally nonlethal."
Bashou snickered. "That's a shame." Nobody but her partner, who remained silent but cracked a grin, could tell if she was joking or not, so nothing was said, save for Ein's gibberish, which they were all automatically tuning out by now.
"Aside from the Snag Cannon and Induced Evolution Wave emitter, in the form of more dangerous weapons the Tyranitron is more than adequately equipped," explained Robotnik, pointing to a diagram that showed the Tyranitron with numerous hatches opening up all over its hull with various gun barrels and missiles poking out of them. "I was only able to program seventy-five percent of the Pokemon attacks I wanted the robot to simulate into its computer, but I think they'll be more than adequate for your purposes."
"What kind of attacks are they?" the Marauder queried.
Robotnik shrugged. "Mostly simple Fighting-type techniques, but we've also installed numerous flamethrowers for Fire attacks, high-pressure hoses for Water attacks, conductors in the claws (which can be launched like grappling cables) for Electric attacks, and other such things running in that vein." He paused. "The Tyranitron is also capable of performing certain Ground-type attacks like Earthquake, Fissure, and Magnitude, but I strongly recommend that you do not use them on its maiden voyage."
"Why not?" asked Anny.
Robotnik rubbed the back of his head. "Well…you see, Ever Grande is an artificial island, made through terraforming masses of land transported from the mainland or risen from the bottom of the ocean and molded together by the combined efforts of humans and various Pokemon, anchored in place by various extremely strong cables and pillars built around the old oil platform that is the heart of the city. Very little of its mass extends very far below sea level, only a few thousand feet down. If you cause a strong enough seismic shock to the land mass, there's a chance it will break apart. While it would effectively demonstrate the destructive power Team Cipher possesses…er, we're not a hundred percent sure that the Tyranitron is water proof."
The group that would be crewing the Tyranitron sweatdropped. "Geez, you really ran out on the budget, didn't you?" grunted Buson.
Robotnik sighed. "Yes. It's rather embarrassing…but in any case, you should still be able to use something I'm especially proud of, the Tyranitron's ultimate weapon…the HYPER BEAM CANNON!" He gestured gleefully to a diagram showing a large cannon barrel protruding from the robot's open mouth. "This baby takes a full minute to charge, but once it has, the result is incredible! The surrounding area for about a mile will be vaporized! But that's only at full power. Since the main point of this first run for the Tyranitron is to terrify and intimidate, you should only fire the cannon on a very low charge, just enough to blow up maybe…half the city, three-quarters at most. Like I said, we're not positive that the Tyranitron will be waterproof, but if you fire the Cannon at full power you'll be finding out the hard way."
Jessie had stars in his eyes. "What a weapon…if we had had that thing before, the twerp and his friends would've been toast by now!"
"Yeah…I wish we could be the ones to operate this thing instead of those guys!" James complained.
Buson grinned and slapped James on the back, causing him to slam face first into the edge of one of the control panels and break his nose. "Ah, cheer up kid, you have just as important a job on this rig as we do! You'll see!"
"If you say so…" James moaned, trying to staunch the bleeding.
"Wow!" Meowth said in awe and clear envy. "Buson broke your nose! You're so lucky! Can you break my nose, Buson?"
Buson shrugged apologetically. "I'd love to, but you don't have a nose. But," he said, seeing Meowth's downcast expression. "I could punch out a tooth or two for you later if you want."
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Meowth said happily.
Jessie tapped James on the shoulder. "Hey James, where'd your Chimecho go?"
James looked at her in confusion. "Huh?" He paused, feeling the back of his head. "Chimecho? Where'd you go?"
"CHIIIIIII!" came a very happy and familiar chime from the other side of the room.
James' face paled. Chimecho only chimed like that when he had seen a big shiny button and was about to press it. He whirled around and saw Chimecho was flying towards a large red button with SELF DESTRUCT. DO NOT PRESS! Written in big glowing letters above it, in a dark corner on the far side of the room. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried, his scream lengthened dramatically as he leaped towards his Pokemon, arms stretched out in an ineffectual attempt to grab him and stop him from blowing them all to kingdom come.
"CHIIIIMMMMMEEEEECHOOOOOOO!" Chimecho boomed, his voice lengthened and deepened by several octaves as he moved towards the button in slow motion.
"Whyyyyyy aaaaarrrreee weeeeee taaaaaalllllllkiiiiiiiinnnnnngggg lllliiiiiiikkkkeeeee thhhhiiiiissss?" a confused Nascour asked, his hair writhing very slowly and his hands barely moving at all as he tried to gesture to show his confusion.
"Iiiiiiitttttt mmmmmmuuuuuusssssstttt beeeeeee aaaaaa diiiissssstooooorrrrrttttiiiiiooooonnnnn iiiiinnnnnn thhhheeeee spaaaaccceeee tiiiiiiimmmmmeeeee ccccooooonnnnnttttiiiiinnnnnnuuuummmmm ccccaaaauuuuuussssseeeeedddd bbbbyyyyyy aaaaaa paaaaasssssiiiiiinnnnngggg blaaaaccckkkk hooooolllllleeeee ooooorrrrrr ssssssooooommmmmeeeeee ooooootttttthhhhheeeeerrrr ssssuuuucccchhhhh pppppphhhhheeeennnnoooooommmmmeeeeennnnnoooooonnnnn," Sebastian slowly hypothesized. "Iiiiiiiitttttt sssshhhhhooooouuuuuulllllldddd pppppaaaaasssss sssshhhhhoooooorrrrrrrtttllllllyyyyyyy."
And so it did. The instant Chimecho rammed into the button-and bounced off of it, for some reason having failed to push it in, time went back to normal and James collapsed in mid-leap on the ground, his grasping hands accidentally closing around Nascour's ankles. The Cipher boss looked down in surprise, and James broke out in a cold sweat, realizing he had done the unthinkable: touched the boss! Jessie and Meowth immediately started praying that James' transition to Hell wouldn't be too painful, while the other Ciphers were grinning and eagerly looking forward to the horrible demise of the blue-haired wimp. Nascour blinked at James' pale, sweaty face and said, "Mr. Morgan, I had no idea you were that desperate to get ahead that you'd give me foot massages. Come by my office after this mission and we'll…get to know each other better." Smiling, he shook James off and walked over to Robotnik. James lay there for several seconds, not believing his luck (but also not understanding what exactly had just happened) and all the Ciphers who had looked forward to him dying grumbled in disappointment.
"Um…how come we didn't blow up just now?" Jessie asked after a moment.
Robotnik laughed and cupped Chimecho, who had not seemed to notice that he couldn't hit the button and had continued ramming into it with a smile on his face, in his hands. "Since the prototype of this robot was destroyed by someone accidentally pressing the Self-destruct button, I installed a Plexiglas shield over this one so it can't be pushed unless somebody inserts a key into that slot," he said, pointing to a keyhole next to the nearly invisible glass case over the button. "Which will open it and allow the button to be pressed. And only one of the pilots will have that key. Here, Bashou, you hold onto it," he said, handing a small silver key to the blue-haired woman, inadvertently releasing Chimecho, who happily went back to ramming his head on the Plexiglas.
"Whatever you say, Doc Eggman," she said, slipping it down her shirt. Not that it would keep any of the more perverted members of the team from trying to get it, but she would rip the arms off of any who tried.
"Now that that's settled," Sebastian said loudly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Aside from the protected self-destruct button, there's one other new thing this cockpit possesses that those of you who either rode in the simulator or piloted the original model have never seen." He pressed a button on the wall, and metal helmets attached to the ceiling by spiraling cords lowered from the ceiling, one for each seat in the control room. "Professor Namba was supposed to come up with a version of his Rage Power Enhancers that worked on humans, but he couldn't figure out how and tried to run out on us with a considerable chunk of money to avoid getting in trouble. We caught him and he was punished for his foolishness, but we still had nothing we could use to really get the pilots for the Tyranitron's blood boiling and make them angry enough to operate at the peak of their power. So instead we made these caps which will give you an electroshock every time the robot is hit by an attack that the shields can't deflect. This in theory will make you angry, and you'll try to operate better to avoid future electroshocks in the future."
The Marauder blinked. "Wait, that wasn't in my contract."
Buson frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'd remember having agreed to do something as stupid as operating a machine that would electrocute me if I messed up."
Nascour cackled and held up a document with five signatures on it. "Wrong! It said right here, in the fine print, (which nobody ever reads) that taking on the job of piloting the Tyranitron meant a slight risk of getting electrocuted, but none of you read that part and simply signed anyway! And if any of you back out now, the contract also says you've all agreed to perform a strip dance at the next Homosexual Convention in Viridian City! Although I for one wouldn't mind seeing you there," he purred seductively.
As one, the Ciphers backed away, shuddering. "Eh heh, maybe electrocution isn't so bad after all," Bashou said quickly.
"Y-yeah, can't be as bad as getting trapped with your partner inside the tiny cockpit of an ancient super-weapon for twelve hours without food, water or a nice shower," Oakley agreed nervously.
"Yes, you get used to the shocks after a while," Jessie said kindly, patting Cassidy's back and not trying very hard to hide the evil grin on her face. "After the first couple of hundred times, your muscles stop paralyzing and it hurts a teensy tiny bit less." Cassidy growled and shoved her away.
"Uh, Mr. Nascour, since we aren't working in the control room, we don't have to wear those electric helmets, do we?" James asked nervously.
Nascour laughed and put his arm around James' shoulder. James trembled, frightened by how close the writhing hair snakes were to touching him. "Don't worry Mr. Morgan, we have something far less barbaric in mind to motivate you and your teammates to work more efficiently."
"Yes…" Robotnik agreed with an evil grin. "MUCH more efficiently…mmhmmhmmhmmhmm…heheheheheh…BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Nascour joined in, his snake-hair hissing in tune with his laughter. "Fufufufufufufu! Fufufufufufufufu!"
"Ahahahahahahaha!" Sebastian cackled.
"Gweeheehehehehehehahohehohahahehohohoho!" Ein giggled madly, his eyes rolling in their sockets.
The Ciphers sweatdropped as their leader and his scientists continued to laugh maniacally. "Uh…Jessie, is that a good evil laugh or a bad evil laugh?"
"I…have no idea James," Jessie said slowly. "None at all."
"Chiiiii!" squealed Chimecho, continuing to ram himself into the Plexiglas around the self-destruct switch.
Buson shook his head in disgust. Things were never this zany when Mr. Giovanni was in charge. What's become of this fine evil organization!
From the entry hatch, unnoticed by all, the blue Cipher peon observed the events inside the control room, sweatdropped, and took notes on everything important that was discussed inside.
…
This chapter has a second part. I was originally going to upload it as one big document, but apparently the site won't take that much data. So the chapter after this one is part two of this event. (I wouldn't mind reviews for both parts, though!