Author's Note: Wow, I got this sucker out fast! Anyway, I still haven't received an e-mail or a response of any kind from Val's creator. Okay, I'm outright telling you now that if I don't get a response by the time chapter 3 comes out, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut Val from the story. Please, please, send me an e-mail or something! Well, that's all for that. On to the disclaimers.
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but I wish I did. Hell, and while we're at it, I'd also like a kitten. And some gum. I do, however own Varia and The Reaper, so please don't use them without permission. All the other characters belong to their respective creators, as listed in the first chapter. Slater, who was not mentioned in that list, belongs to Dark Link. Thank you and good day.
Chapter 2—Pain and Suffering
Varia flopped down on her bed, tired from all the work she had done earlier. She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.
"Charrrrr," growled something near her. She opened her eyes and saw her Charizard looking down at her curiously.
"Nothing's wrong," Varia said, sitting up. "I'm just tired. Since the gym leader got back, everyone's been wanting to battle him. I've been working around the clock to keep all the pokemon in top shape."
"Oh. I thought you were thinking about that boy again," the pokemon said with a grin.
"Hey! You stop making fun of me, you big lizard!" Varia exclaimed. With a playful smile, she grabbed Charizard around the neck and held him in a headlock. The fire pokemon played along, pretending to be unable to break free.
"Admit it. You like the guy."
"Well, he was pretty nice and he knew a lot about pokemon…"
"And you thought he was cute."
"Yeah, that, too. But he's off in Johto now." Varia released Charizard and looked thoughtful. "Of course, he said he'd visit me when he got back."
"That's something to look forward to."
Before Varia could answer, the phone on her nightstand rang. She reached over and picked it up. Charizard looked on with a questioning expression on his face.
"Hello? Yes, this is Varia. What? Come back to the gym? But I just finished working there for the day! Huh? Oh, geez, you have got to be kidding me! Oh, alright, I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and walked towards the door.
"What happened? Is something wrong at the gym?" Charizard asked.
"Yeah. It appears that there's a Tauros running amok in the gym. They want me to take care of it for them. Be back in a few," Varia said as she closed the door to her room behind her. She headed away from the hotel, passing the sign at the entrance. It read simply "The End of the Road," with the 'R' in 'Road' being big and red. Varia never understood that, since it made the sign seem really tacky, but she certainly wasn't going to bring that up with the management. It was just weird in her opinion, that was all.
When she reached the gym, she could hear the sounds of an enraged Tauros rampaging in the battle arena. Varia opened the door slowly so she wouldn't startle the pokemon. When she peeked in the door, she nearly laughed out loud. The scene was unbelievable. Several people dressed in some sort of black uniforms were attempting to catch the out-of-control Tauros with safari balls. They would throw the balls at the pokemon, but every one missed. The Tauros was only becoming more upset by the onslaught and was charging at the people trying to catch her. Varia could see where the pokemon had crashed into walls, denting them significantly. With a shake of her head and a sigh, she stepped into the arena, ready to show all the strange black-uniformed people just how to calm an irate pokemon.
She whistled loudly to attract the pokemon's attention, then called out, "Hey, Tauros! Hey!"
The pokemon ground to a halt inches from smashing another wall and looked at Varia. "You! Are you one of them? Have you brought the metal beast?"
Varia took a few steps towards the pokemon. "No, I didn't bring a metal beast. It's okay, I just want to talk to you." She wondered what the Tauros was talking about. A metal beast? The way the creature was running around and attacking indiscriminately, Varia wondered if it was under the influence of a psychic confusion attack.
"You are one of them! I can smell it on you! The metal beast! Where is it?! What did it do to my calves? My herd? Why am I alone?!" she shrieked.
"I'm not one of them," Varia assured the pokemon calmly. "I'm a friend. I'm going to help you." With a few more steps, Varia was standing next to the Tauros, which pawed the ground dangerously. Ignoring the aggressive movement, the girl reached out and stroked the pokemon's nose. The action calmed the Tauros down enough that Varia could stand next to her and pet her back. She still couldn't understand what Tauros was talking about with the metal beast, but she could understand about losing her babies and her herd. The girl turned to one of the black-uniformed men and snapped, "Why did you take her calves away? She's worried sick about them! She's lost and afraid without her herd! You should know better than to separate a Tauros from a herd so suddenly."
"We have the rest of the herd, but that Tauros won't allow itself to be caught," the man explained haughtily, as if he was superior to Varia in some way. She didn't like that tone. After all, she was the one who calmed the pokemon down!
"Look, just go get the safari balls with her calves in them. If she sees that they're okay, she'll be calm enough for you to catch," Varia said irritably.
"But we don't know which balls her calves are in!" another black-uniformed person complained.
"Then look through them all, dammit!" Varia shouted, then turned back to the distraught mother Tauros. "Don't worry, they're going to find your children and bring them back to you."
The pokemon snorted and stomped the ground. "A metal beast. It was a metal beast. We were happy until the metal beast. Now my herd is gone, as are my children. It was their fault."
Varia looked confused. "You mean those people in the black uniforms?"
"A metal beast. They made it attack. They…they…and you're one of them!" Tauros exclaimed, pulling away from Varia's touch. "You! You're one of them! You're like their leader!"
"What?! No, I'm not their leader! I don't even know who they are!" Varia shouted back. She suddenly lost her temper with the pokemon. All her talk about metal beasts and them, whoever they were, was getting on her nerves. "Now listen to me! I'm not one of them, there is no metal beast, and your herd is perfectly safe, so calm down!"
Unfortunately, Varia's outburst seemed to do just the opposite. The mother Tauros suddenly cried out shrilly and charged the girl. Varia was too slow to react. The last thing she remembered was one of the Tauros's horns tearing into her side. Then everything went black.
****
The black-uniformed Rockets rushed down the halls of Team Rocket's headquarters, carrying the unconscious girl, who was losing an intense amount of blood from the gaping wound on her side. The group was running as fast as they could with her in tow to the medical facility on one of the building's lower floors. Normally, a civilian like the girl would have been dumped outside the gym, the only hope of survival being dependent on passersby. However, Giovanni had insisted this girl be taken to their own medical facility as quickly as possible. He said it was because she was too valuable to the gym to lose, but some of the Rockets wondered if he didn't have other intentions for her.
The group of Rockets and the injured girl charged down the hall, nearly running into Reaper as he walked out of the lounge. He flattened himself against the wall just in time to avoid being trampled, then yelled some very choice words at the Rockets. With one last glare at the fleeting group, Reaper adjusted his long coat and ambled back to his special torture chamber, whistling happily as he went and sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup. He pushed the great metal door open and strode over to the rack, which was now occupied by a young man dressed in a torn uniform from a rival gang.
"So," Reaper said casually, setting his coffee down on a nearby box-shaped object, "you still feeling like you don't want to talk?"
"Go to hell!" the young man spat.
"Oh, we're already there, my friend," Reaper said smoothly. He reached over and turned the crank attached to the rack. The man winced and gritted his teeth as the ropes bound to his wrists and ankles pulled his body in opposite directions.
"Really, man, you're starting to bore me," Reaper yawned, taking another sip of coffee. "And trust me, you don't want to get me bored. Now, I'm going to ask my question one more time, and if you don't answer, we'll move on, understand?" With a sadistic smile, Reaper asked, "Where are the pokemon you stole from us?"
"I'd rather die than talk!"
Reaper's smile broadened. "Wonderful! Now it's time to break out the truly fun stuff!" He picked up his coffee from the box and opened the lid. The man on the rack strained to see what was in there, but he couldn't until Reaper lifted it from the box. It was some sort of insect or something that the Rocket was holding by the tail. It thrashed its legs and large pincers angrily.
"You know what this is?" Reaper asked casually. "It's a scorpion, specifically, a western desert scorpion. It's hard to find these guys anymore, you know. Most of 'em got wiped out by the increase of various pokemon species. The western desert scorpion is one of the most poisonous breeds of arachnid to have ever existed. And surprisingly, they're addicted to coffee. Who woulda guessed?" Reaper watched, pleased, as the man gazed at the scorpion in horror. Then the Rocket dumped his cup of coffee on his victim's chest. The man cried out as the scalding liquid touched his bare skin. Then the man positively screamed his lungs out as Reaper dropped the scorpion on his chest. The arachnid scuttled around, obviously attracted to the coffee.
"Please don't scream. It makes my little pets very upset," Reaper said calmly.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Just get it off me!" the man screamed in panic.
"Too late for that." Reaper grinned and laughed maniacally. "Oh, didn't I tell you? We already found the pokemon you stole. It seems you left them with your partner who was trying to hide in Viridian Forest. After reclaiming our property, we killed him and sent most of him back to your gang. But I kept this part just for you."
Reaper reached into the box and removed something from it, setting it on the man's chest. The prisoner screamed when he found himself looking into the cold, dead eyes of his former partner. No matter what he did, he couldn't dislodge the severed head from its resting place on his chest.
Reaper looked on with demonic pleasure. Then the Rocket picked up the box that had contained the scorpion and head and, very deliberately, turned it upside down over his prisoner's head. The man screamed even more as a dozen more poisonous arachnids rained down on his face. As Reaper walked away from the victim, still carrying the box, he smiled a twisted smile and called back over his shoulder, "At least you get to see your partner one last time. That's something to take comfort in." Reaper walked to the back of the room, where his cabinet of torture instruments was located, as the screams of the young man slowly dwindled into gurgling, then nothing. He sat in his wheeled chair next to the small fire and set the box on its side. In a few minutes, a line of scorpions crawled away from the corpse and into the box. As soon as they were all in, Reaper righted it and closed the lid.
"So you've taken to training insects now?" a new voice spoke. Reaper looked up at its source, sneering at the boy who now stood in front of him. He was wearing a black jumpsuit, devoid of the usual red 'R', and dark glasses. His black hair hung loosely to the top of his shoulders. Reaper stood up to his full six feet, five inches height, making him over half a foot taller than the other boy.
"Don't you damn psychics ever knock?" he growled.
"We teleport where we need to go. There's no need to knock," the boy answered.
Reaper took a step closer to the boy. "Listen, Slater, this is my world down here, so you have to obey my rules, whether or not you're one of them super psychics or whatever."
"I'm a Team Rocket Elite Psychic, and you know that," Slater returned. He then pointed at the box on the ground. "So, how'd you get those bugs to do that?"
"When Death calls, every creature, no matter how small or large, must obey," he answered.
"You're not Death, Reaper. You're just an over-glorified sadist."
Reaper laughed sardonically. "Better a sadist than a sideshow freak."
Slater glared at the taller boy from behind his glasses, his eyes starting to glow red.
"Go ahead, try something psychic on me, freak," Reaper challenged. "Let's see how long you go unpunished when the boss finds out you damaged his best interrogator."
Slater's eyes glowed brighter for a moment, then dimmed. He turned away in anger and stalked across the room. When he finally calmed himself down enough, he looked at Reaper again and asked, "Why is it that you hate us psychics so much? Is it just because we're more powerful than you? Because we can read your mind any time we want?"
"More powerful? Ha! You have no idea just how strong I am. But to answer your question, I have a much more personal reason for hating you sideshow freaks."
"Which is…?"
The corner of Reaper's mouth turned up in a disturbing half-smile. "Why don't you read my mind and find out? Or are you too afraid of what you might discover?"
Slater didn't answer. Instead, he said, "The reason I came down to this hellhole is to tell you that the boss wants you to interrogate that slave girl again. You know, the one you burned pretty badly the other day."
"Ah, how could I forget her? I'll question her in her cell this time, where she might feel safe from me. Let me just grab a few things and I'll be on my way!" he said gleefully, throwing open the doors to the cabinet.
"And I'm to accompany you."
"What?!" Reaper shouted, spinning to face the other boy again.
"The boss didn't like the burn you gave her last time," Slater said calmly. "I'm going to make sure you don't get carried away again."
With a snarl, Reaper turned back to the cabinet and began collecting the tools he would need. He would have loved to stick one of them right in that damn psychic's gut, but he could get demoted for killing that guy. Well, he figured, he'd just have to wait for a time when the boss wouldn't care if one of his so-called Psychic Elite bought the farm. And, if Reaper had his way, that time wouldn't be too far away.
****
Emery cowered in a corner of her cell. She hated to admit it, but she was terrified of her situation. When she had been bought by Giovanni in the Orange Islands, she thought she might get a chance at freedom since he was taking her away from that accursed place. But he had only brought her here, and it was far worse than the black market slave trade had ever been. This place had The Reaper. She shivered at the thought of that boy and touched her left arm tenderly. He had burned a semi-straight line on her arm from her wrist to her shoulder. The pain had been ungodly, and it still throbbed even now. Emery was afraid it might be getting infected. She was pretty sure The Reaper wouldn't have bothered to cleanse the wound after he created it.
"Hi there!"
Emery started at the sound of the cheerful voice. She jumped up to her feet, taking a defensive stance. To her surprise, the person standing in front of her was not a Rocket. It was a girl, taller than her by a few inches, wearing a crop-top, cutoff shorts, and hiking boots. The girl had straight silvery hair that flowed down past her shoulder blades and sparkling amber eyes.
"W-who are you? How did you get in here?" Emery asked, trying to sound brave.
"My name's Indigo," the other girl answered, still sounding happier than she should be in a place like this. "I'm from the cell nest to yours. I thought I'd, you know, drop by and say hello. Like a welcome wagon or something."
"But how did you get in here?" Emery asked, thoroughly confused but no longer afraid. This girl, Indigo, wasn't threatening in any way. There was no doubt in the slave girl's mind that Indigo's intentions were friendly.
"How'd I get here? Oh, I just sorta walked. You know, through the wall," she said with a smile.
"What?!"
"I know, I know, you're gonna say it's impossible, right? I'd have to be a ghost or something, right? Well, I am, or rather, I was."
Emery shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and I suspect you don't, either."
"No, I understand perfectly!" Indigo exclaimed defensively. Then she sighed. "Okay, let me just explain. I died once and—"
"You died?" Emery raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And…what? You just got better?"
Indigo put a hand on her hip and waggled one finger at Emery. "Now, if you keep interrupting, you're never going to hear the end of my story," she scolded.
"Um…sorry. Please continue."
"Okay. Well, I've been here for a while and Team Rocket's scientists were doing some experiments on me one day when I died. All the scientists were all freaked out because there was a shortage of human specimens or something like that. I'm not really sure what they were so upset about, considering I was dead when most of this happened. Anyway, I woke up a couple hours later and they told me that I had died. I asked them if I was dead, then how come I'm alive right now? And they said that they had given me some ghost pokemon DNA, which revived me, or something like that. They were talking all scientific at the time, so I'm not really sure what they were blathering about. Anyway, as a sort of side effect, I found I could walk through walls like a ghost pokemon and fly in the air. It's really weird, but don't tell anyone, okay? The Rockets don't know, and who knows what they'll do to me if they did know." Indigo took a breath after the long speech and looked at Emery expectantly.
The slave girl didn't respond right away. She was too busy worrying about what Indigo had said about experimenting. Did Team Rocket really use human subjects to test on, or was this strange girl just a special case? What if Emery was next? What if she died?! Sure, her life wasn't exactly wonderful right now, but she was determined to make it better at some point. She just couldn't die until she had found out what true freedom was like!
"Hey, are you okay? You look a little sick," Indigo interrupted the other girl's thoughts. "You're all pale and stuff, not to mention that nasty scar on your arm. Where'd you get that, anyway?"
"From me," a voice said. The girls turned to see Reaper and Slater standing in the doorway to the cell. The former was wearing his usual twisted smile. He looked at Emery. "You miss me, sweetheart?"
"No! Not you!" she nearly screamed, backing up against the wall. To her surprise, Indigo jumped in front of her, taking up a defensive position and glaring directly at Reaper.
"You leave her alone, you sicko," she growled.
"Ah, my reputation precedes me," Reaper answered, a hint of pride in his voice. "And I seriously doubt you're going to stop me from doing my job. Now, step aside."
"Not on your life!"
Reaper grinned. "I just love it when they're stubborn! It makes my job infinitely more fun." He pulled a knife from the belt across his chest and aimed it at the silver-haired girl. He was about to throw it when Slater reached out and grabbed his arm. Reaper turned to the psychic, his eyes burning with hatred. "What do you think you're doing?! This is my job!"
"Don't kill her," Slater responded calmly. "We can't have one of the research specimens dying…again," he added quietly. Indigo heard that and her eyes widened in surprise.
"What the hell are you going on about, you damn psychic?" Reaper snarled, sheathing the knife reluctantly. "It wasn't like I was going to kill her. Just wound her. Besides, research specimen or not, I've got a job to do and she's in the way."
"I'll take care of her," Slater said. His eyes glowed a faint red behind the glasses and Indigo was suddenly surround by a sparkling blue aura. She struggled against it, but she could not break free of the psychic hold. Slater lifted her into the air and moved her away from Emery.
Reaper sneered at the display of psychic power. Then he walked over to the slave girl, who cringed at his approach. The boy smiled maliciously, drawing a large hunting knife that hung at his side. He moved it up to the girl's neck and said very quietly, "Now then, how about you and I have a little talk?"
Author's End Note: I hate cliffhangers, don't you? ^_^ Well, I hope to get the next part out really soon, so you won't be in suspense for long. Will Varia be okay after the mad Tauros attack? What will happen to poor Emery? Why does The Reaper hate psychics so much? And what the hell is all this raving about a metal beast?! Well, I'm guessing that the really astute people may have already picked up on that. Anyway, I'm doing my best to get these sections out as fast as I can, hopefully once a week at the most. Please leave a review so I know how I'm doing! Thanks!