Author's Notes: Hey, I kept my promise! I said this would be out by the end of the week, and it was! Yes, ladies and gents, this is an action-packed chapter. We've had a lot of talking so far, so I thought I should throw in a little violence just to even things out. Besides, everyone loves violence! But never fear, this won't be the last fight scene for this story. I'm planning on some other ones later on. Out of curiosity, who would you, the reader, like to see locked in mortal combat? I'm just wondering.
Chapter 10—Sanctuary Defiled
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
The morning sun shining through the blinds woke Indigo up. She tried to role over and go back to sleep, but she was unable to drift off again. Finally, she hauled herself out of bed, extremely irritated at the bright light that she couldn't seem to escape from.
Slowly and none too steadily, Indigo stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom. She tried to open the door, but found she was unable to move it. After an intense struggle with the brass knob, Indigo came to the conclusion that the door was locked. Frowning, she banged her fist on the door.
"Hey, open up! Come on!" she shouted. "What's the freakin' problem?! You fall in or something?!" The silver-haired girl's tail twitched angrily when she received no response. She was just about to ram the door with her shoulder when Emery suddenly ran up behind her. Sarena and Kyle were with her.
Emery stopped in front of the door, calling, "Varia! Varia, are you alright?"
"Talk to us, Varia!" Sarena chimed in.
Indigo stepped back, blinking in confusion. She turned to Kyle and asked, "What's going on? I get the feeling I missed something important."
"It's Varia. She had a dream about the Viridian gym being destroyed and it came true. When she heard about that, she panicked and locked herself in there." He glanced worriedly at the door. "And now she won't answer any of us."
Indigo's still sleep-addled brain took a bit longer than normal to fully comprehend what she had been told. She understood the part about Varia losing it, but what was it about the Viridian gym being destroyed by that girl's dream? Indigo watched everyone still shouting through the door, trying to get some answer from Varia. After a few minutes, she got annoyed with the lack of progress they seemed to be making. It was time for her to step in.
"I'll deal with this," Indigo announced, making her way to the door. The three others gave her strange looks, not knowing what she was planning. She turned to them and said, "Okay, I'm going to do something weird, and you guys have to promise not to tell anyone about it. Promise?" Kyle, Sarena, and Emery nodded. "Good. Now just stay out here and I'll get Varia." With that, Indigo stepped forward, passing right through the door.
Inside the bathroom, the first thing Indigo noticed was that the mirror had been shattered. The second thing she noticed was Varia sitting on the floor, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clutching at her ears. Indigo approached her slowly.
"Um…Var? You okay, Var?" she asked quietly. The girl didn't respond. Indigo knelt down in front of her, gazing at Varia curiously. "Yo, Varia! Snap out of it!" she said a bit louder, grabbing one of the girl's wrists. At the physical contact, Varia seemed to break out of her trance, opening her eyes and staring at Indigo with puzzlement.
"Huh? Indigo? How did you get in here?" Varia asked.
"I walked through the door," she answered simply. When she saw Varia's confusion, she explained, "It's an aftereffect of one of the experiments Team Rocket did on me, but that's not important right now. What I was wondering is what's going on with you? I mean, you dream about destroying the Viridian gym, then lock yourself in the bathroom and slip into some sort of spontaneous coma. What's going on in your head, Var?"
The other girl sighed. "I wish I knew. I heard about the gym getting blown up on the radio and ran in here. Then I saw my reflection in the mirror and it reminded me of Mewtwo. That got me thinking about how he said I have some sort of power and that I could never be normal again. I guess I sort of freaked out, because I threw the soap dish at the mirror and then…I don't know. I just kind of blanked out after that."
Indigo shook her head slightly. "You're a weird one, Var. Look, you're in a psychic gym. There's no way anything can sneak in here and get you. This is a perfectly safe place."
"A…safe place?" Varia mumbled, as if trying to comprehend.
"Yeah, and you've got your friends with you," Indigo reminded her.
"My friends…Right. Oh, crap! I hope they aren't worried about me!"
Indigo grinned and stood up, helping Varia to her feet. "Come on, let's get outta here. We're holding up the line." Varia nodded and they both left the bathroom. Kyle, Emery, and Sarena were glad to see that the Mew girl was fine. So, after everyone was sure that Varia was back to normal, they all walked back to the kitchen to eat breakfast and discuss what they should do next.
****
Night fell, and the group of five had yet to decide where they should go or what could be done to fix their appearances. Eventually, Sabrina talked them into waiting until tomorrow to finish their plans. As soon as she got them all situated, she locked up the gym and went to her own home to sleep.
In the guest quarters of the gym, Sarena was just falling asleep when she thought she heard a voice. She sat up in her bed, glancing around the room. All her companions seemed to be sleeping, so she wondered if maybe she had just been hearing things.
…Sarena…
The Articuno girl was sure she had heard something that time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The voice seemed to be coming from outside the room. Sarena tiptoed over to the door and pressed her ear against it, holding her breath and listening.
…Sarena…Open the door…
"Open the door," she repeated dully, doing as the voice commanded. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sarena was aware that something was terribly wrong, but she could not seem to do anything about it. The voice just sounded so familiar. She walked down the hall, past the main arena for the gym, and to the front door.
…Unlock the front door, Sarena…
"Unlock the door." She reached out to turn the deadbolt. As it clicked, the door was pushed open from the outside. Sarena found Slater, the elite psychic from Team Rocket, now standing in front of her. At the sight of him, she broke out of the trance he had put her in.
"Slater!" she exclaimed. "How did—"
He cut her off by suddenly grabbing her around the throat with one disembodied hand. Sarena tried to scream for someone, but Slater was cutting off her oxygen. She couldn't breathe, much less cry out for help.
"You're expendable in our mission, Sarena," Slater said quietly. "Now, if you want to make it out of this alive, tell us where your friends are. Lead us to them." He spun her around so that her back was pressed up against his chest. He grabbed her arm with his other hand and stepped into the front hall of the gym. Three other people also walked in. Sarena recognized them for the most part from her time working in Team Rocket. She saw Lani, The Reaper, and that boy everyone called Angel, although all three of them had been mixed with pokemon, making their appearances slightly different than the last time she had seen them.
"Goddamn psychic mind trick," Reaper growled. "We should have just broken down the door and killed anyone who stood in our way."
"We're trying to be covert about this, Reaper," Lani reminded him harshly. She turned to Sarena. "Okay, just lead the way to the other four and we won't hurt you, got it?"
Sarena nodded, too afraid of what might happen to her if she refused. She pointed forward, indicating which way they should go. Slater held on to her tightly as they walked. Sarena made it a point to keep her mind as blank as possible, knowing that the boy holding her was probably scanning her thoughts at the very moment. She knew she had to do something to warn her friends, but it had to be something spontaneous, or else Slater would pick up on it before she even acted.
The Rockets and their captive traveled down a few more halls before they stopped in front of the guest quarters. Lani stepped up to the door, turning the knob quietly and entering the room. Angel, Reaper, and Slater with Sarena all waited for her to return a few seconds later. When she did, the girl nodded.
"That's all of them," she whispered to her team. "But there's four of us and five of them. We can't handle that many."
"Then let's kill one of them," Reaper suggested, grinning cruelly at Sarena. "And since we've already got this one here…"
Sarena never gave him a chance to act on those words. With a sudden movement, she snapped her wings open, forcing Slater to let go of her and stumble back. The unexpected action also caused the other Rockets to fall back.
Recognizing her chance, Sarena screamed, "Guys, wake up! It's Team Rocket!" Then she was grabbed by Slater again, but her plan had worked. She could hear the sounds of life from inside the room.
"Dammit!" Lani cursed. "So much for being covert!"
"We never should have relied on the psychic!" Reaper snarled.
"Quick! Just grab Varia and run!" Lani ordered. She, Reaper, and Angel all charged into the room, but found that their prey had woken up fully at Sarena's warning. Kyle, Indigo, Emery, and Varia were facing them, ready for an attack.
"You won't take us alive!" Indigo shouted boldly.
Reaper grinned at her, drawing his hunting knife. "That's the idea," he said, then lunged at her. Indigo was ready for it and met the attack head-on, throwing her all into it.
Lani made a grab for Varia, but was stopped by Kyle. He stood defensively in front of Varia, glaring at the Rocket. Furious at the interference, Lani extended her cat claws. She slashed forward. Kyle raised one arm, blocking the attack with his forearm. Lani's claws scratched long tears in the fabric of his jacket, but could not do any damage to the boy's actual arm because of the Alakazam body armor. Lani slashed at Kyle repeatedly, but none of her attacks did any substantial damage to him. Finally, sick of getting nowhere, she suddenly kicked out, her booted foot making contact with Kyle's stomach. The boy fell, gasping for air. Lani smiled in satisfaction and started to reach for Varia when she realized that Varia wasn't there anymore.
"Oh, great!" she grumbled. Glancing around the room, Lani saw no sign of the girl. Reaper and Indigo were still fighting, and various flashes of psychic energy lit the hallway, but Varia and the other girl, Emery were nowhere to be seen. Lani was about to go search for them when Kyle grabbed her by the ankles and knocked her to the ground. He was still able to fight. Lani gave him a feline hiss and lashed out for his face, which he blocked once more.
"Angel!" she called out, knowing that he must be nearby. "Go find Varia while we deal with these guys! Do it now!" Then Lani directed her attention once more to fighting against Kyle.
"You're sending him to fulfill our objective?!" Reaper asked, though he doubted Lani heard the question. Reaper also did not bother to wait for an answer, as Indigo was running to attack him again.
The girl slammed into the bigger boy, trying to use her momentum to knock him off balance. It partially worked, sending The Reaper stumbling backwards, but he managed to stay on his feet. He glared at her, his red eyes glowing brightly.
"You aren't going to walk away from this encounter," he growled. Then he swung his knife at Indigo, attempting to cut open her stomach. The girl jumped back just in time, the knife whistling past her midsection harmlessly.
"You talk big, but you sure don't deliver," Indigo said, smirking.
The comment only served to infuriate Reaper further. With an animal roar, he jumped at her. Indigo spun away from his reach, but realized too late that he hadn't been trying to tackle her. Instead, Reaper grabbed her tail and yanked it as hard as he could, swinging Indigo backwards and sending her smashing into the wall. She then crumpled to the floor, too stunned to move. Reaper laughed and stood over her. He drew one of his smaller daggers and waved it in front of her face dangerously.
"Now who's all talk?" he asked mockingly. He raised the dagger. Indigo could do nothing but squeeze her eyes shut as he plunged the dagger down at her.
****
"You don't stand a chance against me!" Slater told Sarena. "You're just a low-level agent. I'm an elite psychic!"
"Well, you're on my turf now!" Sarena retorted. Her purple eyes glowed as she prepared to blast a psychic energy attack at her foe. Strangely, he did not seem to be preparing a defense. Sarena ignored that, figuring he was just being cocky like he always was. She began to glow with a blue aura, then she launched a ball of pure psychic energy at Slater. It hit him dead-on but, to her surprise and horror, it did little but make him step back and ruffle his hair a bit.
"Psychic attacks are useless against ghost-type pokemon, Sarena. If you were one of the elite psychics, you would know that," he gloated. His eyes began to glow behind his sunglasses.
Sarena gasped and threw up a psychic shield hurriedly, but it was not strong enough. Instead of using an energy ball like she had done, Slater simply went right for her mind. He attacked her mentally, sending waves of acute pain through her skull. Sarena's hands flew up to the sides of her head and she wrapped her wings around her body, trying to block out the attack, but it was useless. Despite her valiant efforts, she was beaten. Sarena collapsed, unconscious, to the floor.
Slater did not move towards her. He just stood back, admiring his skill. In fact, he was too busy congratulating himself to notice one of his teammates leave the room and sneak off into the darkness.
****
"It was him! It was The Reaper!" Emery cried out as she and Varia ran down the hall. They were trying to get as far away from the fighting as possible.
"They were…They were all like us," Varia commented softly. "They were part pokemon. Why are they trying to hurt us? Shouldn't we all be on the same side?"
"We have to get away from him! He'll kill us all!" Emery nearly screamed. The poor girl was on the verge of tears. She was completely terrified to have seen The Reaper again. No matter what, she was not going to become his prisoner again.
"Emery, stop! We have to help Kyle, Indigo, and Sarena," Varia told the younger girl. She paused, taking hold of Emery's arm to stop her as well. "I know you're afraid of that Reaper guy, so I'm not going to ask you to go back there. I don't think either of us could fight any of those Team Rocket people. Maybe we can get out of the gym and get the police or something."
Emery nodded slightly, glancing over her shoulder nervously. "Yes. Yes, that's a better idea than going back to the fight. Now, how do we get out of this gym? I don't know where we are."
"Neither do I, but we should just keep on going. Eventually we'll reach an exit." Varia took Emery's hand and led her down the darkened halls. They must have been somewhere in the center of the building because there were no windows to provide light. The hallways were almost pitch-black, forcing Varia to navigate them by putting one hand on the wall. She continued to feel her way along, then stopped suddenly. Emery nearly ran into her.
"What is it?" she asked.
Varia's Mew ears twitched. "I can hear something. It sounds kind of like…like breathing, I think." She strained to pick up the origin of the sound.
"You mean there's someone else here?" Emery asked, her voice on the edge of panic.
"I'm not su—urgh!" Varia was silenced when a black-clawed hand reached out of the darkness and encircled her throat. Emery screamed as two glowing red eyes appeared, faintly illuminating the figure of The Reaper. He stared at her and grinned, baring his fangs. With unnatural ease, he lifted Varia off the floor, choking the girl slowly.
"Emery," he hissed. "So nice to see you again." He began to extend his free hand to her.
"Oh god, no!" she screamed. Emery's panic took control of her and she forgot about Varia. All that mattered was getting away from the sadistic monster that was reaching for her. She turned and bolted down the hall.
Emery ran, not daring to look back. She ran through the halls of the gym, not knowing or caring where she was headed, just so long as it was away from The Reaper. Somehow, she ran right to the gym's arena. Moonlight was shining down through the skylights, illuminating a figure standing in the center of the arena.
The figure of a leather-winged Team Rocket agent.
Author's End Notes: Bad Yossarian! Bad! Look at all those evil cliffhangers! Well, seems like our heroes are caught between a rock and a hard place, ne? What to do, what to do…I'll try and get the next chapter out a bit early, so I don't leave everyone in suspense for too long.