Act III: Uprising

Chapter 49: The Beginning of the End


"You seem troubled child," Lauren said as Nova sat against a tree, having stopped for the day. Nova looked around to make sure that Damocles was out of earshot before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I suppose that I am," Nova muttered quietly, turning her attention back to the translucent Lucario that had taken a seat next to here.

"And what is it that troubles you?" Lauren asked, pressing the matter further.

"The recent addition to our little group," Nova replied. "I… I know that he is trying to help, but I just cannot bring myself to be near him or have anything to do with him after what he has done."

"I see…" Lauren responded after sending out a small pulse of aura and finding out exactly what it was that Nova was talking about. A small frown made its way onto her muzzle as she closed her eyes. "I can understand while you are troubled child, but I do not believe you should be as you are."

"What do you mean?" Nova inquired, her ears perking up some.

"You are not currently you," Lauren said cryptically causing Nova to roll her eyes, but smile nonetheless.

"You and your mysteries," Nova muttered, shaking her head before remaining silent and thinking for a bit before responding. "Yet, I suppose that you are right…."

"Speaking as a being made of pure aura, I am much more sensitive to any changes in it. Believe me when I say that he is changing. I can understand your resistance to him, but don't let your feelings get in the way of your goal," Lauren said as she laid one of her paws on Nova's shoulder. Even though there was no physical contact, Nova appreciated the gesture.

Nova sat in silence as the processed Lauren's words of wisdom. She knew that the Lucario was right, yet she didn't want to admit it as it would mean accepting Damocles. However, if that was what it took to get her mate back, then she would find it in herself to work with the hybrid.

"Thank you," Nova replied after a while.

"Well, you are family at this point. It seems right to help you when you are distressed," Lauren responded with a kind smile.

"That is true," Nova stated as her smile grew ever so slightly. "For everything."


"So, that's Alpha's central base," Jack muttered as the trio looked towards the base from a nearby mountain.

"That is correct," Damocles replied as he glared at the concrete wall that was imbedded in the side of the snow covered ridge.

"Are you sure about this plan?" Nova inquired, having been more open to the hybrid since her talk with Lauren, whom she hadn't seen since.

"I certainly am," Jack replied. "The way I see it, this is the only way for us to pull it off."

Nova was still a little skeptical, since Damocles' role basically doubled as both bait and a battering ram. She never thought that he would agree to it, but much to her surprise he didn't even give it a second thought when Jack proposed it as a way for them to sneak in undetected.

"If you say so," Nova said, though Jack's confidence certainly helped her regain her own.

"What about you Damocles?" Jack asked, fixing his gaze on the turncoat hybrid.

"Well, I can say that it is less than ideal, but it is as you have said the only way that this plan will work," Damocles responded.

Jack nodded, his face a mask of determination. "Alright then, let's get started."

"Very well…" Damocles started as he took a few steps towards the Alpha base before stopping and turning towards Nova. "In case we never meet again… I hope that you can find it in yourself to forgive me for my horrendous actions."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned back towards his objective. His steps were dedicated and full of purpose. He took in one deep breath before disappearing in a flash. Nova trained her eyes on the large metal and concrete doors that were just barely visible. She saw Damocles reappear right in front of them. In one fluid motion, he drew his sword as it started glowing in light blue energy before slashing at the heavy doors.

While the attack didn't knock them down completely, there was a good sized gash where Damocles' sword had impacted them. Not letting up, the gold and white hybrid followed up the first Sacred Sword with another. The attack left a large X shaped cut in the entrance to the secret base. Taking a step back, Damocles took in a deep breath as his sword started to glow a purplish hue. In one final attack, he unleashed a Psycho Cut against the reinforced structure. The powerful attack shattered the already weakened doors and they fell into four large chunks. With the doors down, he proceeded inside the base as alarms blared as a result of his attack.

"I'd say that's our cue," Jack commented. "Let's go."

"Alright," Nova said as the two of them started down the slope of the mountain towards the base. It didn't take long for the them to close the distance with their impressive speed. Nova was running on all four of her paws with her blue mane flowing in the wind behind her as Jack ran to her side. Once they were almost at the entrance, Nova created an illusion around the two of them. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from view.

As they entered the base Jack took the lead as he had memorized the layout that Damocles had told him. The two of them quickly found the side hallway as per the hybrid's instructions. Nova followed closely behind him, the narrow corridors making it difficult to run side by side. Finding a nearby stairwell, they made their way down two levels to the third sublevel. Glancing at a sign, Jack saw that they were still in the first section of the massive underground base. They slowed down some as there were several guards up ahead. Each was wearing black body armor and carrying an AK 4 battle rifle.

Jack and Nova squeezed against the side of the corridor as the squad ran past towards the commotion that Damocles was causing on the upper levels. Every once in awhile, the walls and floor would reverberate from a massive explosion. Whatever the hybrid had chosen as his target was certainly proving to be a good distraction.

"That was close…" Nova said telepathically once the soldiers had passed.

"Kinda, yeah," Jack replied. "I don't know about you, but being shot full of holes is not high on my list of things I want to do. Let's try to avoid any more soldiers. Side passages are our friends."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Nova stated in agreement as she and Jack started forwards again. "Damocles said that these lower level hallways should be mostly empty once he starts his diversion."

Jack nodded. "Let's hope he's r..."

The two of them froze as an Alakazam round the corner in front of them along with a small patrol of four soldiers and one other Pokémon. While Nova knew her dark typing would prevent the psychic Pokémon from detecting her, she was not sure if Jack had any such protection. She preemptively readied a Night Slash, her claws glowing in royal blue energy.

Just then she saw the Alakazam's head turn towards them, or more specifically towards Jack. It opened its mouth, no doubt to alert the soldiers, but before it could utter a sound it stiffened up and fell wordlessly to the ground.

The soldiers looked in mixed shock and confusion at the unfortunate Alakazam. Nova didn't know for sure what had happened, but she had a fairly good idea who was responsible. Her suspicion was proved correct when only a few seconds later all four Alpha soldiers suffered the exact same fate, collapsing to the ground like so many ragdolls. However, the last Pokémon was a Bisharp and it did not appear to be affected by whatever attack Jack had unleashed on the others. In one fluid motion, it turned down the corridor directly ahead of Nova and Jack and slammed its fist against an alarm. Instantly, the entire hallway was filled with flashing red lights and blaring sirens.

A split second too late, Jack materialized behind the Bisharp and grabbed its head in one hand. Sparks arced off his arm as he unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt point blank into the unfortunate Steel type, who then crumpled to the ground smoking slightly.

Jack turned to Nova. "I think we should run."

"Agreed," Nova said as she dropped onto all fours and started off in a sprint down the corridor. Jack was slightly ahead of her as they came to a set of security doors that had closed when the alarm had been sounded. While the doors were nowhere near the strength of the massive outer doors at the base entrance, they still looked strong enough to be a deterrence.

Jack didn't so much as hesitate, and instead simply slammed his fist into the barrier. With an explosive release of aura from Jack's fist, the door was wrenched from the surrounding walls and thrown several meters down the corridor.

"Come on," Jack said, barely breaking stride as darted through the newly opened doorway.

Nova simply nodded her head as she passed by what remained of the door. She was quite impressed with the raw power he had just displayed. He was certainly focused on getting back his Pokémon. While Nova didn't quite know all the details, she certainly hoped that they were alright. Jack quickly rounded a corner, following the mental map he had made based on Damocles' description.

That was when they encountered another patrol of guards, and this group was more than ready for the two of them. That is, as much as anyone could be ready for Jack. The boy took one look at the group, consisting of about a dozen soldiers and a handful of Pokémon, and growled. A deep, throaty, menacing growl; almost feral, something that Nova did not fail to notice. Before the soldiers could so much as fire a shot, Jack waved his hand and a blast of blue energy tore down the hallway like a hurricane and sent the patrol crashing into the walls. When the tempest subsided not one of them was left standing.

Jack continued wordlessly down the corridor, his face twisted into a fierce scowl of frustration and anger. By now, Nova was slightly worried about Jack. She had never seen him like this before. Granted she had only known him for around two weeks, but she had thought that she understood him. But this was something entirely different. And so the pattern continued. They would come across a security door and Jack would blast through it as if it was nonexistent. Any soldiers or Pokémon they encountered, he dealt with in a timely and almost primal manner.

At this rate, it took them just short of ten minutes to reach the research and development section of the underground facility. Rounding the final corner, they came to a long corridor that ended in a set of massive, metal doors. At the opposite end of the hallway from them were at least thirty soldiers and about eight Pokémon of various types.

Once again Jack didn't waste any time in responding to the threat. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared, and a split second later the enemy ranks were lit up like a fireworks display by powerful tendrils of crackling energy which leapt ferociously from one target to the next. The entire ordeal took less than two seconds, and it left the entire squad of soldiers and Pokémon on the ground smoking slightly.

Jack walked out from amidst the unconscious Alpha troops as if he'd just stopped to crush an ant under his foot.

"This is the place," he said, almost shaking with anticipation as he walked up to the military grade steel doors.

Nova was still closing the distance towards where Jack was standing, taking her almost a quarter of a minute to come to a stop next to him. By now she had noticed that something was definitely off about him. In a way he almost seemed… well, feral. She could feel the emotions flowing out from him and they made her shudder slightly. It was a mixture of quite a few: frustration, impatience, and… guilt. Bubbling up underneath it all, like a volcano about to erupt, was a deep primal rage. Nova couldn't but help think of the times Lucario had been in a similar state when protecting her in the past.

With a grunt of exertion, Jack dug his fingers into the solid steel doors and pulled. The doors groaned in protest as they deformed underneath Jack's immense strength. After a few seconds, he had quite literally reached inside the doors and was prying them open from within. It didn't take long before the locking mechanism gave way and the doors flew open. Inside, Jack and Nova could see the surprised faces of the research staff inside the laboratory.

Jack glanced around the room at the scientists, all of whom were frozen in a mix of shock and abject terror. Jack's eyes quickly settled on one man with a red collar on his lab coat, who stood out from the rest of the staff who had mostly plain white or a few others with green collars.

In the blink of an eye, Jack crossed the room and grabbed the red-collared scientist by his aforementioned attire. Jack's sudden movement broke the stunned silence that had fallen on the room. As if released from a spell, the other scientists all scrambled for the back exit as Jack hoisted the one he'd captured a few feet into the air and none too gently slammed him against the wall.

The researcher glared down at Jack as he held him pinned against the wall. He didn't get to his position by being a coward. Only the strong progressed in Alpha's ranks. After a few moments, Nova caught up with Jack and stood behind him. She didn't know what to think of his rather… aggressive behavior. However, if it got them what they wanted, she was not going to complain.

"Well?" The alpha scientist said, staring down at his two attackers. "I assume you didn't come here to just pin me against a wall."

"No," Jack replied, more than a little growl in his tone. "We came here for answers, and you're going to give them to us. I'm looking for a device that should have been brought here about a month ago from the Sinnoh region. A portable Pokémon storage system. Know anything about it?"

"Everything in this base is the sole property of Alpha," the scientist replied indignantly.

"If I cared about that, do you think I'd be here?" Jack almost snarled. "What I want to know is what happened to the Pokémon who were inside that device."

The researcher looked down at Jack with a genuine look of confusion on his face. He was silent for a few moments as he tried to think of a proper response.

"I would answer him sooner than later," Nova said, "He is not in a very good mood right now."

As if to emphasize her words, Jack tightened his grip and raised the researcher a few inches higher. His expression was full of barely restrained anger that threatened to break loose at any moment.

"I know what you're talking about," he managed to croak out. "But there weren't any Pokémon in it when it arrived here."

Jack's expression hardened and his mouth twisted into a snarl.

"Don't lie to me," he snapped, his voice rising in volume. "I'll rip the truth right out of your mind if I have to! Where. Are. They?"

Nova watched in a mix of apprehension and shock. Jack was reminding her of Lucario when he went off into one of his rages. The amount of similarities was stunning. She knew what would happen to the human if Jack did what he threatened. While she couldn't say whether the man deserved it or not, Nova wasn't sure on what to do. Part of her wanted to see the man that worked for Alpha have his mind ripped apart as the two bounty hunters from many months ago had theirs destroyed. Yet another part of her could sense that he was telling the truth. She knew Lucario didn't mind being… extreme with his actions, but she didn't want Jack to do something he would regret.

"Jack, calm down…" Nova started, taking a few steps forward and putting a paw on his shoulder. "This is not like you… I know you can sense that he is telling the truth."

Jack's scowl grew more pronounced. "We'll soon find out."

Before Nova could react, the scientist's expression changed to one of horror. Nova could only assume that Jack had invaded the man's mind as she took a few steps backwards, and was currently tearing it to shreds from the inside. Mere seconds later, Jack's expression went blank and the color drained from his face. He released his grip on the scientist who then crumpled to the ground.

Jack's arms fell limply to his sides and he sank to his knees, staring at the ground in utter defeat.

"He was telling the truth," he muttered, almost too quietly to hear. "They're… they're not here."

Nova shuddered some as she felt the waves of despair and sadness flowing out of Jack. It was at times like this that she wished she could not sense others emotions. Then again, maybe that was a selfish way to think about her abilities.

"Jack…" Nova said in a soft voice, as she bent down and placed her paw back on his shoulder. Before she could continue however, the scientist bolted to his feet and made for the hole Jack had made in the door.

It took Nova a moment to realize that what she had feared did not actually happen. In the blink of an eye, she leapt after him and tackled him to the ground. The human grunted in pain as his body was slammed against the floor and Nova used her knee to hold him down.

"We did not say you could leave," she growled out.

"Let him go," Jack said from behind her, his voice flat and dispassionate. "We don't need him any more."

Nova glanced back at Jack, who had gotten to his feet and was walking over to her. He seemed to have calmed down, but his aura was still full of anger. Now though, instead of being like magma bubbling beneath the surface of his emotions, that anger felt more like a shell of ice encasing them. His sadness and despair had been completely suppressed, but he was far from calm.

After a bit, she nodded her head and stood up. She pulled the human up with her before roughly shoving him towards the exit.

"Get lost," Nova said sharply before going over to where Jack was standing.

"We need to get moving," Jack commented. "But first…"

He walked over to a heavily reinforced door at the other end of the lab, and barely seemed to exert himself as he tore it from its hinges and placed it on the ground behind him. Behind the door was what seemed to be a storage room. Jack stood in the doorway and glanced around, eventually closing his eyes and concentrating. A moment later a metal box, about the size of a backpack, floated into view. Jack grabbed it and turned back to Nova.

"Alright, now all we have to do is find your Lucario friend," he said calmly, slinging the box over his shoulder by one of the two cloth straps attached to it.

Without so much as another word, Jack walked out of the lab and started down the hallway not even waiting to see if Nova was following him.

Nova nodded her head as she fell in line behind Jack. Hopefully the second half of their plan would work out better than the first. She could still feel that Jack was shaken, though she was sure that she could still count on him.

"So," Jack asked, "I assume you can sense your friend, right? Because that'd be really helpful right about now."

Nova closed her eyes as her aura expanded over the base. While she wasn't near as proficient as Lucario when it came to searching with her aura, it was more than enough in the close confines of the base.

"Yes, he is with the other hybrids one the main level in some kind of massive storage room," Nova said as she walked. "I… I think they managed to defeat Damocles… his aura is very weak."

Jack nodded. "In that case, we should probably go back him up. Come on, I think I know where they are."

Jack took off down the hallway in the direction from which they'd originally come, and from there he took what Nova could only assume was the most direct route to the storage room. The few patrols of Alpha soldiers they encountered, Jack dealt with as swiftly as he had the previous ones. Nova noted that he was much more in control that when he had been on their way to the research lab, but if anything he was even more brutally efficient at incapacitating any opposition. It didn't take them long to ascend the two levels and close in on the storage room. The two of them slowed down as they approached the doors.

"I can sense all three hybrids and Lucario in there," Jack remarked, "But I can't tell what they're doing. I doubt they're just standing around waiting for us though."

"Why wouldn't they though… they already know we are here," Nova replied.

Jack shrugged. "I guess. Still, I can't help but suspect some sort of trap. I almost hope I'm right…"

"You most certainly are," Nova said, "Though it might be as simple as them waiting for us. I don't sense many Alpha soldiers around. As a matter of a fact I only sense one… human…"

Nova trailed off as she recognized that aura. She had only felt it once before in Silverlake. However, she could not forget the aura of the madman who had caused her and her mate so much pain and suffering.

"Hamilton…" Nova growled out as she bared her teeth.

Jack held out a hand in front of her. "If you have any ideas about rushing in there in a rage, forget it. I don't want to see you get hurt. Besides, I promised to get both you and your mate out of here in one piece."

Nova merely continued to growl, but she listened to Jack and didn't try to get past him. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Thanks…" Nova muttered. "Any idea how to go about this?"

"Easy," Jack replied with a straight face. "I'm going to rush in there in a rage. You can do whatever."

"..." Nova glared at Jack, an unimpressed look on her muzzle. "Seriously…"

Jack narrowed his eyes, a humorless grin splitting his face. "What can I say, I need to let off some steam."

With that, Jack drew back his fist and threw an aura-charged punch into the heavy steel double-doors. The unfortunate pieces of metal groaned in protest, before another blow from Jack blasted them from their setting and sent them flying several meters into the room. With the way ahead clear, Jack proceeded to walk calmly into the room as if he owned the place.


Nova: sometimes I really hate you

Osean: why?

Nova: we are THIS close to finishing this arc and you stop right here

Osean: except we didn't stop, you know that.

Nova: oh… right… I thought you were against the whole chapter splitting thing…

Osean: ten… thousand… words… I have to agree with Jack here.

Jack: You see? I make valid points every now and then.

Osean: but only every so often

Jack: Granted. Even so, it does happen.

Nova: well… okay then. *looks between the two humans* You two just want to torture the readers with a cliffhanger don't you…

Jack: I think she's onto us…

Osean: Run away?

Jack: Run away.

And so, the two humans bravely ran away.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. A bit shorter than usual, but there is a reason for that. As mentioned above, Jack and I actually wrote this chapter out to over 10k words. We both agreed that was a bit much for our likings and shortened it. Now we are being evil and withholding the rest for a bit. Never let a good cliff hanger go to waste! With that said, you can expect the next update relatively soon. There are still a few things we have to finish with the ending, but it shouldn't take too long. Thanks for reading!