Chapter 27: Madness in Sonata Hills
As they arrive at the Sonata Hills, they quickly go to the basement of the hospital, and they see a woman stepping in front of them.
"Who are you?" Damian asks, since the electricity is out, he can't see anything.
"My name is no concern to you." The girl says. "But I am here to stop you from getting closer to us."
"Wait...that voice? You are Kayla of the Elite 4...which means that the one who sabotages the hospital is the Perfection Cult..." Harmony says.
"Then I can't let you be alive here." Kayla says as she sends out Scizor, "Now who should I defeat first?"
"Hold on, Kayla." Taen steps forward and Alice asks, "Taen?"
"...you again. From the Suntouched Gym, right?" Harmony asks.
"Please to see you again, Harmony. You too. Ash and his friends." Taen says.
"Didn't you, ah, slap a child and try to kidnap Reshiram?" Harmony asks.
Ash sees that there is another person behind them, he yells, "You, at the back! I don't know why you're tampering with the power, but you better start explainin'!"
"Don't worry, Ash Ketchum, we will turn the power back on." The voice causes Harmony to get shocked. "We just want to talk to you, that's all."
"Wait...Reukra? What...what are you doing? Why are you here?" Harmony gasps in surprise.
"Is this a way to treat an old friend? Harmony? Aren't you happy to see me?" Reukra asks.
"Why am I happy to see you?" Harmony asks with a cold voice. "I don't want to see you ever since that thing happened..."
Reukra says, "I know, and it was my fault." This causes the group, as well as Kayla and Taen to get confused. "But right now, I want to make a deal with you."
"A deal? With the power source to the hospital? Are you..actually blackmailing me with the lives of the people here?" Harmony says in horror. "Reukra, what happened to you? You used to be so-"
"I have the power cord. Stop talking." Reukra says as Harmony stops. "Thank you. That's right it is me. It's been a while. I am not the person you knew anymore- I am the leader of Perfection Cult now. As for why I am here...I was trying to find you."
Reukra says, "Before I start the Perfection Cult, we both run the hospital here...and I know that we have access to all the patients in the building. But ever since that happened, you kicked me out. Now...I want access to the room containing the patient "Malde."
"That's my father's room, Reukra. There's no chance I am letting you near him! And you know it!" Harmony yells.
"I thought you might say that. We actually have your father's best interests at heart, believe it or not. We know he's sick. We know what his condition is. You have been ignoring my help, but this time, I won't back down. We can both get what we want here. I'll put back the power on like you want. Then we'll go to Malde's room on the top floor, and we can talk."
"Fine, whatever. Just hurry up! People's lives are at stake here." Harmony says. And then Reukra turns the lights on.
"Now follow me." Reukra says as he leaves with Kayla. Then they can see Harmony shed a little tear.
"Ms. Harmony, what's wrong?" Lillie asks in concern. "And more importantly, how did you know Reukra?"
Harmony says, "Reukra...was my husband..." This causes gasps to everyone, but what shocks the most is Taen.
"Wait...what? You mean...you were married to a cult leader?" Nora asks in surprise. "But why?"
Harmony says, "Reukra wasn't a cult leader at first, in fact, he was the love of my life ever since we met in University. To me, he was the kind man that I could ever have...until that time..."
"That time?" Alice asks.
"That time, when we were having a vacation, we witness the battle between Deoxys and Rayquaza, we, as well as the townspeople, are dragged into the mess, and that was the time my father went ill...and then our son, he got missing. We tried to find our son, but in vain, so we thought he was dead and then we returned to Torren."
"So you had a son, but he was missing?" Alice asks.
"Yeah..." Harmony says. "And then...I kinda yelled at him, blaming him for the mess, and then kicked him out of my place...then I haven't seen him again...after a month, I really regret what I had done, but I couldn't find him. It was until now..he had become a Cult Leader...it must be my fault..."
Ash says, "Ms. Harmony, stop blaming yourself. What has happened is already in the past. You can still fix it or else it might be late."
Harmony just stays silent as she leaves, then Lillie says, "Poor Harmony and Reukra as well...I can't believe that they had a painful past."
"Yeah..." Emily says. "To think that all of this had happened..."
Then they also leave, leaving Taen and Alice alone in the room. "Taen?" Alice asks.
"I can't believe it..." Taen says. "My mom is still alive after all...all this time I thought she was dead...how had I been so blind..."
Alice says, "Taen, we are as shocked as you. But what happened to you back then?"
"If I remembered, after I was separated, I was saved by the first Augur Adam...he bought me to the Timeless and train me to be one with Kyruem...until the rest, I have told you back in Helios City."
Alice nods and says, "Let's go see what your parents are up to, should we?" Taen just nods.
As they go upstairs to the room, Harmony yells, "Are you crazy? I don't care how desperate I am, I am not going to let you force-inject some weird chemical into his bloodstream! It doesn't matter if we loved each other. I am not letting you touch him or any other patients here. You are a psychopath! A cultist! No way!"
They can see Reukra looking a little pain by her words, but he forced to say, "Fine then. You can do it. Here is the vial." He gives her the vial. "Since I know how good you are with these, analyze it and do whatever you need to do to convince yourself it's safe."
"Fine. Maybe I will." Harmony scans the vial and Kayla asks, "Boss, why are you going to heal her father?"
"Malde was around during the original Delta incident, after Deoxys was defeated, people below started reporting strange fevers. Everything ended up being fine, but testing showed that everybody's DNA was slightly...tainted. Not enough to be significant, but enough to be noticed if you looked closely. My point is that Malde's body may not react to viruses in the same way yours do. But for me and Harmony, we don't know since we were also at the incident as well."
He turns to Harmony. "And there's one in particular that I find interesting..."
"Hold on a minute, this is just Pokerus!" Harmony says. "This isn't dangerous, we've been studying about this for years!"
"Exactly. The Pokerus is very unique as infections go. It helps the Pokemon rather than hindering it. It allows it to grow stronger. In the scientific world, we call this mutualism. What you're holding right now is a strain that specifically increases the HP stat. Now, even though the virus doesn't affect ordinary people, it might be able to help your father. Increasing his HP stat could heal him, and even lengthen his lifespan. With some fine-tuning, we might even discover a path to immortality. What do you say, Harmony?"
"I..." Harmony looks at the tube. "This really is just the Pokerus virus in a tube... How do I know you're not lying?"
"You don't. But I owe you my life. And, at the moment, our interests happen to cross. You want your father healed, and this could be a breakthrough for our cult's research. It's merely a business transaction. Your father's life, our goals. Not only that, but if it works on him, it may work on us as well."
Harmony is speechless, but then she says, "You are right about the DNA thing. You told me that a long time ago. I'm desperate enough to try it. But double-cross me, Reukra, and I swear..."
"I'm glad to hear it." Reukra says.
Then Harmony says, "Let's get this over with." She injects the vial into her father's bloodstream. Damian feels like he is going to throw up, he says, "Um...listen, I don't like needles. If you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to wait outside."
"I'll go with you as well." Nora says as she also leaves.
Emily says, "Seriously? He's in the room with a cultist and he's scared of needles?"
"Anyways." Harmony says as they turn to her. "Dad. Hang in there."
Then she injects it completely. "And done." After pulling the needle out, Malde isn't moving. "I don't think it-"
Just then, Malde suddenly opens his eyes and then walks out of the bed. "Dad, you're awake! Are you okay?"
Suddenly, Malde starts to groan as his body starts to change, much to their shock. "What's happening?" Alice asks in shock, then they see some blue and orange tentacles start to appear from his body.
As the incident is happening, Nora finds Damian, who turns to her and asks, "What do you want?"
"Damian, I want to apologize to you." Nora says. "I shouldn't yell at you back at Utira Town. It is my fault, please."
Damian can hear that she is about to cry, he sighs and turns around, he takes out the handkerchief, and wipes her tears. "As much as I want to hate you, but I can't. I know you were scared. You were afraid that the prophecy is true, one of us will betray and become a member of the Infernal Cult. But I promise, we won't be, we will change the prophecy together with your brother and our friends."
Nora nods as they hug each other.
As Malde turns into a half Deoxys and half-human creature, Kayla says, "OH MY ARCEUS WHAT Y-"
"Shhhhhh!" Reukra shushes them and says, "We need to talk quietly. Be careful not to provoke him."
"Reukra, what on earth did you do? This wasn't supposed to happen!" Harmony says.
"I don't know. I have been tried on myself and it was fine, but what would he look a bit like Deoxys? I wonder if there's a connection?" Reukra says. "It would make sense. Deoxys is a virus known for its stats. Perhaps the Pokerus is an extension of this."
"You better fix him, Reukra, or I'll..." Harmony says.
"But I think he's been healed, at least. He should live longer too. The problem is that the virus may have impacted his mind somehow. It seems this experiment needs far more fine-tuning. But anyway, we need to stay quiet. As long as we aren't loud, we can-"
"Hey, guys! So how did it go? Did the needle go in okay?" Damian and Nora walk back inside, but the loud voice causes Malde to turn to them.
"Damian! Nora!" Ash and Lillie try to push them out of the way, but one of the tentacles grabs Lillie.
"Lillie!" Ash and Gladion yell as they try to grab her, but Malde is too swift for them.
"Ash! Brother! Help!" Lillie's scream becomes fading as both Malde and Lillie are gone.
"No! Lillie!" Ash falls in his knee as he fails to save her, as for Gladion, he grabs Damian's collar and says, "You! Don't you know what you have done? I lost my sister because of your voice!"
Emily says, "Gladion! Calm down! Violence won't solve anything." She then pulls him away.
Ash says, "Why...first mom and dad...now Lillie? Why am I always losing people who are important to me?"
Nora and Damian see how Ash is banging on the floor, they are both feeling ashamed. Harmony yells, "What have you done? This is your fault!"
"This didn't go quite as planned...but what a breakthrough it's been! If he really is immortal now, then I'm sure we can find a way to use it without the drawbacks!"
"Do you not care at all that my sister has just got kidnapped?" Gladion yells at him.
"What did you do to him?" Alice also yells.
"He is fine. More than fine, in fact- he's the healthiest he's ever been. As for the girl, I am sure she's fine. She may be infected, but the Pokerus helps, not hinders."
"My father won't do that!" Harmony says.
"It is not really up to him at this point. Do you think you are the only one that suffers?" Reukra asks her. "I will try to make a vial to get him back to normal. But first, I have an appointment with a gym leader."
Then he turns to Ash, who is still crying on the floor. "And I am really sorry for your loss. I know I can't be forgiven." He turns to Taen. "Why don't you travel with them for a while?"
This causes everyone to widen their eyes. "Why? I am their enemy...Why do you want me to travel with them?"
"We are no one's enemy." Reukra says. "It is true that we have done bad things, but I don't want to make things worse. You will be replacing the girl, Lillie. And it will be a chance that you will get stronger with them." Then he leaves with Kayla behind him.
"What a jerk...After all I had done to him..." Harmony says while kneeling down. "I am just as bad as him...I shouldn't leave him in the first place.
Taen goes towards Harmony, he says, "Please don't say that. I know it is hurt, but he is also suffering as well. Even though he is wearing a black mask, but all he wants to do is to make perfection for everyone..."
This causes confusion to everyone, why Taen acts so nice to Harmony. Harmony asks, "Why do you care?"
Taen says, "I'll tell you my secret." He takes a breath. "The son of Reukra and Harmony, it is me. I am your lost son, Mother."
Harmony gasps as she looks at his eyes, she says, "Taen? Is that you?" Then they share a hug. "I can't believe it, where have you been?"
"I am sorry mom, I was saved by the Timeless, they train me so I could be friends with Kyruem. But I decided to join the Perfection Cult because he is my father..."
"It is fine. I am glad to see you return..." Harmony says.
Emily says, "So Taen was the missing son of Reukra and Harmony?"
Nora says, "I still can't believe it...No wonder he acts just like his father..."
Alice says, "Wait, guys. Taen is not as evil as you thought." Then she tells them about how Taen fake to leave Timeless and the reason behind it.
"I can't believe it. All this time you know about it?" Emily says. "Taen was on our side all along..."
"Not wanting to leave his father alone doesn't make him weak." Nora says. "I know why he does that..."
Alice nods. Then Damian goes towards Ash and Gladion, who are suffering from Lillie's kidnap. Damian says, "Ash, Gladion...I am really sorry..."
Gladion tries to speak, but Ash stops him and says, "Lillie is taken...weeping can't stop this, but I will save her no matter what!"
They see Ash's determination and nods, then Taen looks at Harmony, who nods back. He turns to Ash. "Ash, I know I am a member of the Perfection Cult, but I want to atone my father's mistake. I will help you as well."
Ash nods and shakes hands with Taen, signaling that he doesn't hate him anymore.
Here is a new chapter, and surprise, Lillie is the one that is being kidnapped. And yes, Harmony and Reukra were in a relationship and their son is Taen. And Damian forgives Nora and they are good together. I hope you like the plot twists in this chapter.
