Chapter 5
Darkness Ensues
"Guess what, things just got ugly," I told the Pokemon League team. We were seated around the table in David's room.
"This isn't going to be good!" was the reaction I had gotten after I briefed them on the situation. The Mercs were good people, but they would do their job, even if it entailed hurting friends.
"I'm sending all of you back," I said, "except for David, Sabrina, William and I. We're going to stay, and sort this shit out."
"What'll you tell the Rockets when they find we're gone?"
"I'll think of something," I replied as I teleported them to their respective homes.
"A strain of Ebola?"
"Yes, Sir." It may have been a different virus, but they're dead. I was forced to burn the bodies, with my Moltres clone," I said, dumping a pile of ashes onto the table. I hoped the Rockets would buy that.
"Well, get those out of here, before someone else catches it."
"Yes, Sir," I said, sweeping the ashes back into the can. An aide sterilized the tabletop, and I was dismissed.
I felt the assasin's presence before I saw him, I also knew he had a psychic dampner. I entered my room, dropped, rolled, and pulled out my two Pokemon League issue automatic silenced 8mm pistols, brining them to bear on the man behind the door. He had the BioGen symbol on his coat. His hand went for a gun he was holding, but i let of a clip from one pistol, dropping him to the floor. I shot the psychic dampner, disposed of it, and carried the body to the nearest Rocket Commander.
"Caught this guy sneaking around, had to fill him full o' lead."
"I see, he's BioGen," the Rocket said.
"Yes, Sir," I said.
"Good work, um.." he looked at my nametag, "Kojiro! I'll see to it that you are put in for a promotion."
"Thank you, Sir."
"If you get the promotion, you won't be calling me sir anymore."
"Yes, Sss, um, sorry, commander."
I got back from the Rocket office with brand new Commander's patches on my new coat. Sabrina wasn't back yet from whatever she was doing. I took a shower. I got changed into a new set of clothes and lay down on the bed and waited for Sabrina. I closed my eyes and meditated.
It was a year after the Muk experience. Our thirteenth birthday. To the dissapointment of her father Sabrina had been sleeping in my room more often. She said it felt safer. I guess her father bought that.
"Morning, James," her voice echoed through my head. I opened my eyes to her face. She was smiling incessantly. I kissed her.
"Good morning, lovely," I said. She smiled. Again, her parents were on assignment. They had been for her last three birthdays. Crime in Saffron had increased.
"We really should get up," I said, running my hands through her hair.
"Can't we just stay here all day? It's romantic. Please?"
"For a while, but I have to give you your present."
"Well, I guess we could get up, eventually," she said, pulling closer to me. I kissed her again. Now I didn't want to get up. But I had to give her her present.
We got up, it turned out, several minutes later, when her Abra, with it's bad timing, appeared at the door. When we didn't see it, yelled, "Abrrra!" I looked up, away from Sabrina's face. She kissed my cheek.
"What is it?"
"Abra," I replied, "Okay, let's get up!" I said, with false enthusiasm. Sabrina straightened her hair. We changed into our good clothes. Her, in her drably colored suit, and I, in my drably colored coat and jacket. We went and bought breakfast at a bakery in Saffron downtown. Abra was safely in a pokeball. Thank Goddish.
Where was she? I walked down a hallway in the psychic gym. I looked down at the present she had given me, a gemstone used to channel psychic energy. I stared into it, and could sense all the living things in the world. I concentrated on the gym. She was in her room, not too surprising. I walked down to her room. The door was half open, but her lights were off. She was meditating on the futon. I entered, closing the door.
"Hi, beautiful," I said. She opened her eyes.
"Hello, Kojiro-chan."
"I have your present," I said, giving her the ornate box. She popped it open, revealing the contents.
"Here's the other half," I said.
"Other half?" she asked, looking at the ring in the box.
"Yeah. Listen, Sabrina, umm, will you, umm. I mean, well, umm..." I trailed off.
"Yes," she said, smiling, I could barely see it, though.
"Thanks, I was making a fool of myself," I said. She laughed, then pulled me to her and kissed me. I returned her kiss. We lay back on the bed. My hands traced down the front of her jacket.
"Shit, Sab, where are the buttons on this?"
"Back."
"Thanks," I replied, unbuttoning her jacket. Just like me to do something totally stupid like that. Damn testosterone. Clouds my judgement.
I awoke in her room. She was drifting back to life too.
"Good morning, love," I said.
"To you, too," she replied. I handed her her jacket.
"This was on my side of the bed. We'd best get up and clean up the room before your parents get back. Your dad won't take to kindly to the fact that we, umm, nevermind."
"My thoughts exactly."
We were eating breakfast when the portal opened. I didn't have a chance to save her. Seconds later the vortex dumped her out on the floor, unconcious. A name echoied through my mind. "DARIEN!"
"Shit," I picked her up. Her eyes fluttered open. Then she slugged me in the face. That was when I knew she had become evil. My Sabrina would never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, and I sure as Hell felt I didn't. Obviously she didn't share my sentiments. I floated up. She kept attacking, but I refused to retaliate, to hurt my beloved would hurt me even more than her psychic fireballs. Then her parents showed up, and she shot a fireball at them. Her mother was hit, and suddenly shrank to the size of a doll. Hey, that wasn't a regular fireball! Her father teleported away.
Run, James, she's too powerful his voice echoed through my head. I teleported away, far away, to Azure city. Right into the middle of Pokemercenaries Inc. Onto the card table. We made friends quickly enough, but Brian and Snowflake would have killed me for crushing the table if Megan and Kim hadn't stopped them. I figured I'd stay and work with the Mercs for a while. The seemed decent enough
I woke up in my bed at the Merc housing. I was sweating. I had had a nightmare again, about how I had caused Sabrina to go insane, or whatever it was. I knew it had been the vortex, but couldn't get over it. I got out of bed and went to the fridge. I opened it to reveal food that had probably been there for years. The pasta looked like a fossil. I grabbed a take out bucket of Japanese food. I dumped it on a plate and heated it up. I sat down at the couch and put the plate on the coffee table.
"Can I share that with you?" asked Megan, looking tired. She brushed her long red hair out of her face.
"Sure, sit down," I said, offering her my seat.
"It's alright, you don't have to get up, there's room for two," she said, sitting next to me.
"Sorry, I'm a bit off lately."
"I know, it hurts to lose someone close to you."
"I'll get her back, I hope," I said, feeling tears coming to my eyes. I turned away.
"Please excuse me," I said, sobbing. Just thinking of my Sabrina hurt me. I could feel Megan's hand on my shoulder. She hugged me.
"I know you'll be alright, you're resourceful, you'll find some way to save her," she said, soothingly.
"Thanks, Meg, I really needed that."
"S'nothin' love."
I opened my eyes, and there was a gun barrel in it. Robert poked my face with it.
"C'mon League Boy," he said.
"You realize my fiance's going to kill you, right."
"I took care of her, she's with Megan and the others," he said. I let him play his game, and went with him to the Merc rec room. He shoved me to the floor. Sabrina was there too, in a corner, with a psychic dampener near her. He shoved the gun in my face again.
"What are you doing here."
"I'm not telling you anything, dickweed."
"What in the hell?" Megan yelled. She had just entered the room, flanked by the rest of the group. Russel grabbed Robert and bent the gun from his hand. Then he threw him up against a wall.
"He's a leaugie, I swear," Robert squealed. Megan looked at me.
"You work for the League?"
"Yeah." She turned to Robert.
"Is that enough to kill him, Robert, he's my friend, as well as the rest of our friends."
"Good enough for me," Robert said, turning to give her a smile, I spun in that second, pulled a fast kick under him, and crushed the pistol with my mind. I stepped on his head, and Megan brought her handgun to bear on him.
"I swear, if you ever try to hurt my fiance again, I will kill you!" Sabrina growled, walking over, freed from her bonds by Brian. Snowflake, armed with a tranquilizer, entered, as did Sugar. He helped his boyfriend up. They stood, away from the group.
"We're leaving, now, and we're resigning our Rocket employment," Robert said as they left.
"We are?" asked Sugar.
"Yeah, I can't stand Rockets, Leaguies, or even BioGen anymore," he said. They left.
"Well, there go two more, those are 10 and 11 this year," Snowflake said, marking their names off on a sheet.
"I must have fallen asleep, and then I woke up, and there he was with the dampner. He made a pass at me, so I kicked him in the nads. They tied me up, and got me in here," Sabrina said. I held her close to me.
"Well, I won't let anything happen to you. You know you mean more to me than anything else in the world, myself included."
"I know," she said, laying her head on my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her hair. I missed having time alone together, even though we somehow managed to be together.
"Break it up, you two," Snowflake said. We all played cards, making sure that if Robert should show, we'd catch him.
After it was over Sabrina, and I went back to the shower area. We got to get a hot tub, since it was so late most of the others were asleep. She settled into the water, next to me. I put my arm around her. I was enjoying the peace, knowing tomorrow wouldn't be so relaxed, with Robert and Sugar loose. Oh well, enjoy life while you can, I thought, kissing my fiance's forehead. I produced Sake I had 'borrowed' from a Rocket commander. After a while we headed back to the room, climbed into bed, and went to sleep. Well, not directly to sleep. Definitely not, especially because I had a premonition, someone was going to die tomorrow, someone I was close to, and I wanted to enjoy my last day of peace.
Darkness Ensues
"Guess what, things just got ugly," I told the Pokemon League team. We were seated around the table in David's room.
"This isn't going to be good!" was the reaction I had gotten after I briefed them on the situation. The Mercs were good people, but they would do their job, even if it entailed hurting friends.
"I'm sending all of you back," I said, "except for David, Sabrina, William and I. We're going to stay, and sort this shit out."
"What'll you tell the Rockets when they find we're gone?"
"I'll think of something," I replied as I teleported them to their respective homes.
"A strain of Ebola?"
"Yes, Sir." It may have been a different virus, but they're dead. I was forced to burn the bodies, with my Moltres clone," I said, dumping a pile of ashes onto the table. I hoped the Rockets would buy that.
"Well, get those out of here, before someone else catches it."
"Yes, Sir," I said, sweeping the ashes back into the can. An aide sterilized the tabletop, and I was dismissed.
I felt the assasin's presence before I saw him, I also knew he had a psychic dampner. I entered my room, dropped, rolled, and pulled out my two Pokemon League issue automatic silenced 8mm pistols, brining them to bear on the man behind the door. He had the BioGen symbol on his coat. His hand went for a gun he was holding, but i let of a clip from one pistol, dropping him to the floor. I shot the psychic dampner, disposed of it, and carried the body to the nearest Rocket Commander.
"Caught this guy sneaking around, had to fill him full o' lead."
"I see, he's BioGen," the Rocket said.
"Yes, Sir," I said.
"Good work, um.." he looked at my nametag, "Kojiro! I'll see to it that you are put in for a promotion."
"Thank you, Sir."
"If you get the promotion, you won't be calling me sir anymore."
"Yes, Sss, um, sorry, commander."
I got back from the Rocket office with brand new Commander's patches on my new coat. Sabrina wasn't back yet from whatever she was doing. I took a shower. I got changed into a new set of clothes and lay down on the bed and waited for Sabrina. I closed my eyes and meditated.
It was a year after the Muk experience. Our thirteenth birthday. To the dissapointment of her father Sabrina had been sleeping in my room more often. She said it felt safer. I guess her father bought that.
"Morning, James," her voice echoed through my head. I opened my eyes to her face. She was smiling incessantly. I kissed her.
"Good morning, lovely," I said. She smiled. Again, her parents were on assignment. They had been for her last three birthdays. Crime in Saffron had increased.
"We really should get up," I said, running my hands through her hair.
"Can't we just stay here all day? It's romantic. Please?"
"For a while, but I have to give you your present."
"Well, I guess we could get up, eventually," she said, pulling closer to me. I kissed her again. Now I didn't want to get up. But I had to give her her present.
We got up, it turned out, several minutes later, when her Abra, with it's bad timing, appeared at the door. When we didn't see it, yelled, "Abrrra!" I looked up, away from Sabrina's face. She kissed my cheek.
"What is it?"
"Abra," I replied, "Okay, let's get up!" I said, with false enthusiasm. Sabrina straightened her hair. We changed into our good clothes. Her, in her drably colored suit, and I, in my drably colored coat and jacket. We went and bought breakfast at a bakery in Saffron downtown. Abra was safely in a pokeball. Thank Goddish.
Where was she? I walked down a hallway in the psychic gym. I looked down at the present she had given me, a gemstone used to channel psychic energy. I stared into it, and could sense all the living things in the world. I concentrated on the gym. She was in her room, not too surprising. I walked down to her room. The door was half open, but her lights were off. She was meditating on the futon. I entered, closing the door.
"Hi, beautiful," I said. She opened her eyes.
"Hello, Kojiro-chan."
"I have your present," I said, giving her the ornate box. She popped it open, revealing the contents.
"Here's the other half," I said.
"Other half?" she asked, looking at the ring in the box.
"Yeah. Listen, Sabrina, umm, will you, umm. I mean, well, umm..." I trailed off.
"Yes," she said, smiling, I could barely see it, though.
"Thanks, I was making a fool of myself," I said. She laughed, then pulled me to her and kissed me. I returned her kiss. We lay back on the bed. My hands traced down the front of her jacket.
"Shit, Sab, where are the buttons on this?"
"Back."
"Thanks," I replied, unbuttoning her jacket. Just like me to do something totally stupid like that. Damn testosterone. Clouds my judgement.
I awoke in her room. She was drifting back to life too.
"Good morning, love," I said.
"To you, too," she replied. I handed her her jacket.
"This was on my side of the bed. We'd best get up and clean up the room before your parents get back. Your dad won't take to kindly to the fact that we, umm, nevermind."
"My thoughts exactly."
We were eating breakfast when the portal opened. I didn't have a chance to save her. Seconds later the vortex dumped her out on the floor, unconcious. A name echoied through my mind. "DARIEN!"
"Shit," I picked her up. Her eyes fluttered open. Then she slugged me in the face. That was when I knew she had become evil. My Sabrina would never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, and I sure as Hell felt I didn't. Obviously she didn't share my sentiments. I floated up. She kept attacking, but I refused to retaliate, to hurt my beloved would hurt me even more than her psychic fireballs. Then her parents showed up, and she shot a fireball at them. Her mother was hit, and suddenly shrank to the size of a doll. Hey, that wasn't a regular fireball! Her father teleported away.
Run, James, she's too powerful his voice echoed through my head. I teleported away, far away, to Azure city. Right into the middle of Pokemercenaries Inc. Onto the card table. We made friends quickly enough, but Brian and Snowflake would have killed me for crushing the table if Megan and Kim hadn't stopped them. I figured I'd stay and work with the Mercs for a while. The seemed decent enough
I woke up in my bed at the Merc housing. I was sweating. I had had a nightmare again, about how I had caused Sabrina to go insane, or whatever it was. I knew it had been the vortex, but couldn't get over it. I got out of bed and went to the fridge. I opened it to reveal food that had probably been there for years. The pasta looked like a fossil. I grabbed a take out bucket of Japanese food. I dumped it on a plate and heated it up. I sat down at the couch and put the plate on the coffee table.
"Can I share that with you?" asked Megan, looking tired. She brushed her long red hair out of her face.
"Sure, sit down," I said, offering her my seat.
"It's alright, you don't have to get up, there's room for two," she said, sitting next to me.
"Sorry, I'm a bit off lately."
"I know, it hurts to lose someone close to you."
"I'll get her back, I hope," I said, feeling tears coming to my eyes. I turned away.
"Please excuse me," I said, sobbing. Just thinking of my Sabrina hurt me. I could feel Megan's hand on my shoulder. She hugged me.
"I know you'll be alright, you're resourceful, you'll find some way to save her," she said, soothingly.
"Thanks, Meg, I really needed that."
"S'nothin' love."
I opened my eyes, and there was a gun barrel in it. Robert poked my face with it.
"C'mon League Boy," he said.
"You realize my fiance's going to kill you, right."
"I took care of her, she's with Megan and the others," he said. I let him play his game, and went with him to the Merc rec room. He shoved me to the floor. Sabrina was there too, in a corner, with a psychic dampener near her. He shoved the gun in my face again.
"What are you doing here."
"I'm not telling you anything, dickweed."
"What in the hell?" Megan yelled. She had just entered the room, flanked by the rest of the group. Russel grabbed Robert and bent the gun from his hand. Then he threw him up against a wall.
"He's a leaugie, I swear," Robert squealed. Megan looked at me.
"You work for the League?"
"Yeah." She turned to Robert.
"Is that enough to kill him, Robert, he's my friend, as well as the rest of our friends."
"Good enough for me," Robert said, turning to give her a smile, I spun in that second, pulled a fast kick under him, and crushed the pistol with my mind. I stepped on his head, and Megan brought her handgun to bear on him.
"I swear, if you ever try to hurt my fiance again, I will kill you!" Sabrina growled, walking over, freed from her bonds by Brian. Snowflake, armed with a tranquilizer, entered, as did Sugar. He helped his boyfriend up. They stood, away from the group.
"We're leaving, now, and we're resigning our Rocket employment," Robert said as they left.
"We are?" asked Sugar.
"Yeah, I can't stand Rockets, Leaguies, or even BioGen anymore," he said. They left.
"Well, there go two more, those are 10 and 11 this year," Snowflake said, marking their names off on a sheet.
"I must have fallen asleep, and then I woke up, and there he was with the dampner. He made a pass at me, so I kicked him in the nads. They tied me up, and got me in here," Sabrina said. I held her close to me.
"Well, I won't let anything happen to you. You know you mean more to me than anything else in the world, myself included."
"I know," she said, laying her head on my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her hair. I missed having time alone together, even though we somehow managed to be together.
"Break it up, you two," Snowflake said. We all played cards, making sure that if Robert should show, we'd catch him.
After it was over Sabrina, and I went back to the shower area. We got to get a hot tub, since it was so late most of the others were asleep. She settled into the water, next to me. I put my arm around her. I was enjoying the peace, knowing tomorrow wouldn't be so relaxed, with Robert and Sugar loose. Oh well, enjoy life while you can, I thought, kissing my fiance's forehead. I produced Sake I had 'borrowed' from a Rocket commander. After a while we headed back to the room, climbed into bed, and went to sleep. Well, not directly to sleep. Definitely not, especially because I had a premonition, someone was going to die tomorrow, someone I was close to, and I wanted to enjoy my last day of peace.