A/N: Thank you to GalacticFTW, NewProphecy, ShiningCalvin, fronteir399, srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Debbie Aaron Primal, Sanablades, Sailor Nibaru, and Suicune lord for reviewing! Now to get us moving again! This one is quite the dramatic chapter as it gets towards the end, and one of my longer ones. About 2700 words. I seriously need to run a poll on chapter length. I was about to make this one longer, but I figured it was long enough already.
Enjoy!
Chapter 52: Descendant of Evil
"First matter of discussion," Reo said, acting all business-like as he strode in front of us. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to be condescending. I rolled my eyes but allowed him to continue. Why again must a six foot tall Arcanine listen to a tiny Abra? "We have to get back to Petalburg." Seth frowned.
"Not by boat…" he whispered over and over again almost like a nervous tic. "PLEASE not by boat." His eyes were wide and he was rocking side to side a bit. He had good reason to be so scared though, so I didn't mention anything.
Not too long ago, and I've already written about this, we had been on a boat destined for the beautiful (now devastated) Dewford Island. There had been a gas leak and guess what fire breathing monster happened to be standing within ten feet of it. Yup. Yours truly. Short story, the boat went kablooey with all of us still on board. Seth was one of the first ones hurt in that incident, and most badly. He didn't want to risk another accident.
"We will be taking the Hoenn Cruise Liner…" that was all Reo could get out before Seth toppled over. Cruise liner or not, it was still a boat. And from the looks of things, our little Grovyle had developed a sudden fear of the water. I had to stifle a laugh.
Rachel streaked over to him and pulled him to his feet. She smoothed out his scales briefly and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and nodded. One thing that can't be denied: my friends had changed…A LOT. If given the choice, I think they would refuse to return home. Home seemed so far away now…so far that we'd all forgotten about it. Almost all of us anyway. Rain, the fourth of the five of us to enter the game, still seemed persistent on returning. Maybe she wanted her boyfriend back. The one who'd died out here. I didn't think I'd ever know.
"Well, if that's quite enough…" Reo said, tapping his foot impatiently, "We will be taking the Hoenn Cruise Liner to Petalburg. It stops off in the islands around Dewford, so that will be our chance." Timothy raised a finger. I could see the poke translator in his ear.
"Question," he said, "Wouldn't they know about the whole Dewford being destroyed with an atomic bomb?"
"First," Reo began, "it was a missile, not an atomic bomb. Second, not everything was destroyed. A lot of places were flooded or got pretty badly bruised, but there are still a few islands that have survived. We will go to one of those. My resources tell me the boat will be here at 5." My jaw dropped.
"It's four-thirty," I said, reading the sky.
"My point exactly. We slept too long. It is time to go." Reo then turned away without waiting for our approval and marched off. I glanced at the others uneasily, but they all stared at me questioningly. Even Timothy. It was almost like I was their leader. That didn't make me feel better, in fact, I felt worse. Especially if any of them died in combat, I'd never feel okay with this.
"Let's go," I said and started forward…towards the sea where Reo was going. What on Hoenn could his plan be? The group walked behind me in unison. Reo turned at the very edge of the water and watched us coming.
"Rachel!" he called. She looked to me first and I nodded. She hurried over there with speed and grace you wouldn't expect a Wartortle to have. I expected no less from her. "I need you to give me a ride over to that island over there. It's one of the destinations." He pointed out across the sea where I could barely see the tips of palm trees and a beach touching the horizon. Rachel looked at him like he was crazy.
"What about the rest of us?" I demanded, taking a step forward. Reo grinned.
"Have you forgotten my power?" he asked as Rachel jumped in the water with an annoyed look on her face.
"I'll keep him in order, Celli," Rachel said as Reo sat down on her turtle-shelled back.
"I know you will," I replied. I have to say, I'd totally forgotten about this power of his. I couldn't remember him ever displaying much of a power whatsoever. Besides not sleeping for the normal 20 hours a day that Abra are supposed to sleep, there was nothing. I didn't see how insomnia was going to help us. I frowned as I watched them fading into the distance.
As soon as Lauren had moved to attack Keith, she found herself suspended in midair, completely frozen in motion. She was suddenly changing back to normal form, but not by her own power. It was like a greater power had taken over her, and was sapping her of all her strength. The glow didn't even surround her as she changed. She was forced back into combiomorph form and she dropped to the ground in a heap.
The breath whooshed out of her when she hit the floor and she groaned, unable to move herself back into an upright position. She couldn't even move her head. "What did you…do?" she gasped, straining her eyes to look up at him. Keith lowered himself to her level and set his hand on her side. He rolled her so that she was lying on her back. He could see fear in her eyes now. Genuine fear. Lauren stared at him, wishing for adrenaline, help, anything.
"I've two parts psychic, my dear, I can do anything," he answered. He leaned closer. "Anything." His eyes flashed to purple and suddenly Lauren was lifted from the ground, hover in midair with her Vaporeon tail still on the ground. Keith moved her into a standing position and he stood up with her, his eyes still purple. "Do you remember when you were weak, dear? Just one of my human admins?" Lauren nodded.
"Mr. Trist!" she tried to call but it came out as a squeak.
"Ah, yes, dear old Mr. Trist," Keith said with a nod. "Bring him!" he called politely to the grunts. They separated as two muscled men dragged Mr. Trist through the crowd. He looked bloodied and beaten. Lauren almost threw up on the spot from how he looked. "You were about to have a promotion, you know."
"I know," Mr. Trist replied, "But this isn't right! It's horrible what you're doing!" Lauren was amazed, so he still stood by what she had told him! She smiled at him, grateful to know he hadn't switched sides despite being beat up.
"How is it horrible? I'm making the world better. Wouldn't it be safer, after all, if every human was a combio?" he asked sincerely. Mr. Trist and Lauren both stared at him.
"Absolutely not!" Lauren yelped, suddenly gaining strength. "You're killing Pokemon just to make killing machines to take over the world and deem it as your own! Combios aren't natural, they shouldn't exist!" She took a step towards Keith but suddenly the purple shade to his eyes flashed away and she toppled back to the floor.
"What is wrong with that?" he asked. "The world will be better under my command, stronger. No one would be able to defy me!" His eyes grew purple again and Lauren was lifted from the ground and high into the air. "Perhaps, Lauren, you really have forgotten how weak you were. Now you will meet a fate worse than death!" Lauren hovered above them, shaking and trembling. A horrible scream came from her.
The yellow fur on her arm zipped away like a tiny fire on her arm. The needles shot up in flames and were yanked out. She screamed loudly, struggling to break free. "Mr. Trist!" she screeched in agony. "Stop him!" He didn't need to be told twice.
Mr. Trist yanked out of the men's arms by bowling them over with his legs. Keith didn't even notice him when he sprang- he was too busy laughing as his eyes changed from color to color. Mr. Trist plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. Lauren was immediately released from the hold and dropped from the sky. Mr. Trist jumped up and streaked over and caught her in midair. She had changed a lot, and seemed heavily burnt. The thing that worried him though, was that she was losing consciousness. Fast.
"Thank…you," she mumbled incoherently. Her vision was blurry and she was in so much pain, any slight movement caused her to shriek.
"Hold on, Lauren!" Mr. Trist ordered, holding her in his arms. He looked back to see several grunts running toward him and a very angry Keith giving orders. Making a quick decision, he held her close to him and ran. He ran as fast as he could. He had to get away! Lauren's survival depended on it.
Despite her condition, memories began creeping up on Lauren, drowning her in remembrance. Ever since she'd joined Team Blasters, she hadn't been able to remember a moment of her past, but now, as Mr. Trist raced with her through the dark forest surrounding, they came back full force.
"Mommy? Where are we going?" I asked, peeking my head around the driver's seat in order to see her better. She didn't usually drive, daddy always did. But now he was a lump in the passenger's seat. I figured he was sleeping. "Is it somewhere fun!?"
Mommy steered in and out of traffic expertly, yet franticly. "Listen, Lauren, honey, you have to behave and listen to everything Mommy tells you on this trip, okay?" She said this in a rushed, desperate tone. I couldn't tell why.
"Alright, Mommy. What happened?" I asked curiously, sticking my head around further.
"I'll tell you, but please don't do that, you're giving me a heart attack!" I nodded and pulled myself back into my seat, the seat belt tight around me."Good girl. Now you know how we experiment a lot, right?" she asked.
"Uh-huh," I answered, my head cocked to the side.
"Well, we decided we'd done enough experimentation and that it was about time we tested it out. Your dad volunteered to be the first one to use it. This formula, honey, will make a person unmatchably strong, and give them abilities beyond their wildest dreams. The DNA of two Pokemon are gathered together, and mixed up. It won't affect physical appearance, mind you, but it will give power beyond your wildest imagination. Your father couldn't wait to see if it worked, so he tried it."
I looked over at dad. I could hear strange sounds coming from him now, and it almost looked like his skin was changing color. I was scared for a moment, but only a second, because I was used to strange occurrences in my house. Being the child of two scientists will do that to you.
"As you can see, it didn't turn out so well. We're going to the hospital," she said plainly, patting my dad's hand. It seemed more golden than before. My eyes went wide.
"Will he be okay?" I asked. Mother didn't answer. That was answer enough for me. "No!" I cried and my mother suddenly swerved and regain control of the car.
"Please be calm, honey," she ordered quietly, keeping full attention on the road.
"Calm…" as strange voice echoed. I jumped when I heard it. Dad had fixed himself upright in his seat and was now staring at mother with something like pure hatred. His face was covered in a strange purple fur and his eyes were a deep blue. I saw something like a forked tail slide behind the seat and snap back up. I almost yelled in terror. His arms were now roughly scaled much of his body retained the same scales. On his ears, a blue jewel rested in the center of his forehead and two tufted ears tipped his head. He looked at me and I slunk away, trying to hide in the car's shadows.
"I can feel your fear," he said, staring at me. He looked at mom. "Especially yours," he growled. "How dare you take me to the hospital!" he roared. "Do you have any idea what would happen?" Mother bit her lip and shook her head, staring at the road. "Answer me!" he roared.
"I don't!" she yelped back. "What's wrong with you!?"
"What's wrong with me?" he asked. "Hah! I'm perfect. And I'm stronger than you can imagine. The better question is, what's wrong with you?" His eyes suddenly glowed dark purple as the steering wheel was yanked from her grasp. He turned it sharply with his mind and we were suddenly on a crash course with a tree. Mother screamed as she fought for the wheel. I dug into my seat, my teeth clenched. Suddenly, I was ripped from my seat and zipped straight through my seat so that I was behind the care. I screamed in confusion. Was I a ghost already? When I looked over and saw dad standing next to me, his eyes flashing colors, I didn't need to be answered.
With a resounding crunch, the car rammed the tree at full speed almost bringing it down. "Mom!" I shrieked and fell to my knees on the curbside road. Tears burst from my eyes. "How could you dad? How could you!?" Dad also dropped to the ground, his eyes empty.
"What have I done?" he asked and turned to me. "Promise to keep me under control. Promise to never let me lose it again." I didn't answer him, but I knew in my heart that if he ever did something like that again, it would be the last thing he did.
I was still crying when the wail of sirens picked up behind us.
Lauren shot back into wakefulness. She was surprised when she saw Mr. Trist carrying her, but she was even more surprised to see they weren't captured. "Oh, good," he said, "You're awake." He stopped running and sat her down against a tree. She didn't hear anyone pursuing.
"Look, Mr. Trist, I need to tell you something," she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Go ahead," he said, panting.
"Keith is my father," she answered. His eyes suddenly began to tear up, fogging his vision. He moved closer to her, and she allowed it.
"I'm so sorry for you, Lauren," he said, a few tears coming down. She felt them sliding down her face as well.
"He killed my mom," she said, rushing into him. She hugged him, feeling his welcome warmth as comfort.
"That's horrible, Lauren," he said, holding her tightly. Lauren buried her head into his shoulder, crying. She tried to muffle them, but it wasn't working. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said.
"Thank you," she replied, pulling away so that she could look into his eyes. "Mr. Trist, no one has ever given me as much comfort as you have now." He looked down at her, smiling. He didn't care she was a freak. Even a burnt-out freak. She was beautiful, in her own way. Mr. Trist valued that highly.
Lauren leaned in and closed her eyes.
Mr. Trist followed suit, his hand reaching behind her back.
They leaned closer, both of them holding the other tight.
They kissed.
Not long after, Lauren pulled away, her eyes huge and confused. "I'm sorry," she said, turning away, tears flooding her.
"Why?" Mr. Trist asked, moving over to join her.
"I can't do this," she said and sprinted into the forest. Mr. Trist watched her leave, his hand held in midair, reaching to grab her, but she was long gone.
"Lauren," he said quietly, his eyes getting moist. "Come back. Please." He fell to his knees, his face buried in his hands.
"I've lost her."
