LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)
This is a tale of War. This is a tale of Sacrifice. This is a tale of Love.
War...
What is war? War is a set of ongoing battles between two or more opposing groups. People die, people suffer, people make sacrifices for those they love. War is wrong, there's no doubt about that. So then why do we fight them?
Who knows?
Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of War
The year is 2051 in the pokemon world, and signs of a war are dawning. The world has been peaceful for the most part, but there's one nation, Kaita, that many fear shall be attempting world domination. It has always been a military-based country, but it has been recently increasing its military power. It has been forming what it calls 'The Kaitan Alliance', and slowly, but surely, it's been taking over the continents of Eurel and Arasia. However, the people of the pokemon world are peaceful for the most part, and do not like wars. But they do understand that they cannot just sit there and be conquered. They needed weapons, they needed some way to insure that even if they're conquered, they can retaliate. But they didn't want anything mechanical, they wanted to create the perfect soldiers, and to do that would mean years of experiments and research.
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The world conference of professors of various fields:
"Professor Ferina Tavis, you've been disagreeing with all our suggestions, what do *you* propose we do?" Professor Harold asked.
She stood up, thinking over her words carefully. "Well, I don't think that we should recruit orphaned babies and try bringing them up as soldiers. It just doesn't work." She paused, thinking again. "I also don't think genetically enhancing pokemon will work. Remember MewTwo? I know that's classified, but I'm quite sure we all heard about that 'little incident'."
"So what do you think we should do?" Professor Jim demanded. He had been the one who was pressing on the genetically enhancing pokemon.
She bent down and picked up her bag, setting it down on the table. "I was hoping someone would ask." She took out a pile of pamphlets from her briefcase and passed them down the table. "I propose we create our own soldiers."
"Create? You mean..." Professor Nerina gasped. "You can't possibly believe we'll be able to finish in time! And besides, it was meant to be *our* secret..."
"Finish what in time?" Professor Kris asked curiously.
"Project H/C." Ferina replied. "Open the booklets and read for yourself."
The other professors read, quickly skimming through.
"That's even more impossible than genetically enhancing a biddable but intelligent pokemon!" Jim scoffed, frowning at the pamphlet, but he was immediately drowned out by the excited remarks of the other professors.
"This is great Ferina! Did you and Nerina think this up, have you started already?" Professor May Oak asked. She was old, over sixty, but still one of the most active professors in the pokemon field, and a very highly respected one.
"Yes, Ferina and I have started. We haven't gotten very far... Our preliminary experiments consist in trying to add pokemon DNA to adults to enhance the senses."
"Any success?" May asked.
"Actually, yes. We tried it on ourselves... As some of you may have noticed, Ferina no longer needs her glasses, and I can hear again. I haven't had to read lips for some time now."
"This is wonderful! It's a perfect idea!" May exclaimed clapping her hands together. "However," she continued seriously, "we will need to split into several groups. Somewhere between seven and fifteen groups."
"But why?" Harold asked.
"Because, if we all work together, and we get discovered, what shall we do? We need to hope that at least one experiment succeeds!"
"Then it should be seventeen groups, one for each type. We can organize annual meetings to compare notes and results, but other than that, we shall stay separate, for our own safeties. Nerina, Ferina, surely you two have several other assistants who know about the experiments who can be distributed to different groups."
They nodded.
"Good! Now, on to who gets what type..."
"Excuse me." Professor Taru interrupted. "I thought there were fourteen types? Lightning, Water, Grass, Fire, Ground, Rock, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Psychic, Bug, Fighting, Dragon, Flying, and Ice?"
"You forgot Normal." May said.
"Normal? But, why would we want to create a normal hybrid?"
"A normal hybrid is more likely to come out looking human." Ferina answered. "Plus, imagine if we could create a human with the abilities of a Ditto?"
"Or the erratic genetic structure of an eevee?" Nerina added.
"Oh..." Taru said. "I think I'd like to take on the normal project then."
"Perfect! I was hoping you would. Actually, me and Nerina already drew a layout for the various groups..."
"You two had this all planned, didn't you?" May asked.
The twenty-eight year old twins grinned. "Of course." They both answered.
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And so Project H/C was started. It involved, in the beginning, just pokemon and a small number of adult test subjects who were willing to have pokemon DNA added to them. However, as the experiment progressed, it became necessary to draft healthy and willing pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy to have their embryo's experimented on. However, they did not achieve their needed goal until twenty-six years after that fateful world conference, at the twenty-fifth Project H/C meeting in December...
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"So Professor Mikoto, you claim you've achieved success?" One of the other professors asked, looking at Mikoto's notes.
"Claim? I have achieved success." He turned to one of his assistants. "Donna! Go bring Project H/C, Type #15:CXIII!"
The assistant nodded, and left the room, returning later with a bundle in her arms and handing it to Professor Mikoto.
"Behold! Attempt number one hundred and thirteen!" He showed them the baby. The roman numerals 'CXIII' were tattooed in his right shoulder. His right furry shoulder. "He is our perfect soldier!"
"You succeeded in your attempts to create a dark type pokemon/human crossbreed? But... that was the experiment we thought would be the hardest! How did you manage it?"
The Professor smiled, an evil little smile. "When you understand the type better, success is easy." And he proceeded to lecture them on where they had been going wrong, why so many of the babies either turned out normal, deformed, or died.
"But, yours is deformed." One of the professors complained.
"Deformed? So he has fur and ears similar to those of a persian. So he has a tail, and glowing green eyes. But he is healthy, and he has the DNA of dark type pokemon, and a human, and should be able to learn the attacks of those pokemon. He also has the mind of a normal human, with some bonuses, and his senses are extraordinary! What about him is deformed? He's as perfect as a two month old baby can be!"
No one answered.
"Here, copies of our files. We duplicated them, one copy for each project. Although we have succeeded with him, it cannot be guaranteed that our base shall not be infiltrated, and him destroyed. For all we know, this may be our last meeting." He handed out four compact disks to each of the leading professors. "I believe this annual meeting is over. We've been here long enough."
And so they left. Unknown to Professor Mikoto at that time, however, was that that was going to be their last annual meeting...
Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of Sacrifice
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June, the next year (six months later) Professor Mikoto's base - 2078
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Bullets flew and found their marks in the soft, mortal flesh of humans and pokemon alike, bombs exploded, tests tubes, computers, and walls all destroyed along with the lives of many. The hidden underground lab in Jerae city had been infiltrated, and the chances of anyone surviving were dim.
"Tahari...! Take the baby... and the...files..." A young assistant handed him a smallish bundle, and four compact disks. "You... must... live. We will... hold them back... GO!" She coughed up some blood, clutching the wound in her side, but holding her gun fiercely in the other hand. "GO! The project must live on! We can't let all our hard work go to waste! For all we know the other experiments have failed."
"But... I can't leave you Donna!" His green eyes were wide with fear, but also admiration for the young lady that stood before him. "I, I love you!" He blurted out.
She smiled despite the pain. "I love you too Tahari, but I love my country. I love the world. What are a few lives compared to millions? GO! I command you to go! If you love me, you'll leave me..."
"That's foolish logic..." He looked at the baby, then shifted it and the disks to one side. "I'm taking you with me." Then, despite her feeble protests, he slid his free arm around her waist and began to drag her through the rubble.
"You're just ... going to slow... yourself... down! We'll get caught!" She coughed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.
"Shut up and stay still, there's an exit nearby."
"Charizard! Char zard, Chari!"
"Flame! I'm glad to see you alive! Is Professor Mikoto still alive?"
"Ri..." The Charizard shook her head sadly, then pointed to an emergency elevator exit, and shoved the young professor and the assistant towards it. "Char!"
"No! You're coming too!" Why was everyone so eager to die today? How could one be so dedicated to something?
"Ri." The large pokemon said again, then she opened the door and pushed the two into it. "Charizard..." (Good bye...) She whispered, prepared to fight to her death if only those three would live. Then her eyes fell on a cylinder of gasoline. Using her great claws, she ripped it open and took a deep breath. A bullet tore through her shoulder, but she ignored it, and used a flamethrower on the gasoline.
The lab exploded, and the many professors and assistants died. But Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII, lived on, and there was still hope.
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Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of Love.
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Two weeks later, a hotel suite
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A little baby sat quietly on the floor of a hotel room looking with a frustrated glare at the toy his surrogate father had given him. Where was the end of it? It was too complicated for his baby mind, but he could sit for hours just looking at it. Finally, he dropped it crawled over to where Tahari was sitting, sitting down infront of him and then tugging on his leg.
"Hey there CXIII, you okay?" The young man rubbed his eyes and got up, looking at the baby. "I'll go get you something to eat." He picked the baby up, placed him in his crib, and left to go find him something easy to fix.
"Tahari, we can't keep calling him 'CXIII'. He needs a name." Donna complained from inside the tiny kitchen. She had tied her black hair into a high ponytail so it wouldn't keep getting in her way.
Tahari shrugged. "I don't know what to call him. He was the one hundredth and thirteenth attempt at the experiment... And that's what's tattooed on his shoulder. They never named him, he was always referred to as 'Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII'."
"Project hybrid/crossbred..." She limped over to him. After the attack on the lab, she'd never fully regained use of her right leg. "Well, he needs a name."
"What do you name a baby like him?"
For CXIII was no ordinary baby. He was covered in black fur, and his eyes were an eerie light green. He had persian-like ears, and a little stubby tail. His hands were similar to paws, except he had two opposable thumbs, and eight fingers, like a normal human. He had all his teeth already too.
"What about Hyde?" Donna suggested, walking over to his crib and handing him a baby bottle she had just warmed.
"Reminds me of 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'."
"What about Dhari? A cross between Donna and Tahari?"
Tahari frowned, looking at the younger girl strangely. "He's not our son..."
"Tonari?"
"Donna."
"Donar?"
"Donna!"
"Or maybe Tahon?"
"Donna! We're not naming him after us!"
"Why not? And besides, you can't come up with a name yourself!" She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her tongue out at him.
An orange head peeked in from the bedroom, followed by a slightly chubby body that waddled in. "Charmander? Charman mander char?"
"You want to name him after your mother, Sacrif?" Tahari asked, confused. Flame was hardly an appropriate name for CXIII.
The charmander shook its head. "Mander!"
"Oh! You want to name him in honor of your mother." Donna deduced, having a better understanding of the charmander.
"Char."
The young charmander, 'Sacrifice' had been with them since that fateful day. They had discovered his egg had been discovered in the rubble under the body of his brave mother who had given her life to let Tahari, Donna and CXIII escape, and to destroy the lab along with their attackers, when they had gone back to check for survivors.
"So, what name do you want us to give him?" Tahari glanced at the charmander curiously.
"Char." The Charmander asked them to wait, then stumbled off to go get a book that Donna had been reading to him every night. He picked the book up in his mouth then gave it to Donna. "Charmander, char man derchar man char." He described the character to her.
She giggled. "He wants us to name the baby 'Shadow Seikou'."
"Shadow Seikou?"
She nodded, a silly grin on her face. "Haven't you read the book before? It's a popular legend. Seikou is a soldier loves and treasures life, but not his own. He goes through a lot in the story, and in the end, he gives up his position and finds true love, and even manages to learn to respect himself a little. Of course, I'm reading the abridged version to Sacrif." She shrugged, still grinning. "I guess it'll do... He is going to grow up to be a soldier anyway."
"Fine." Tahari walked over to the computer and opened up the baby's file. "His new alias is Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII - Shadow Seikou."
Sighing, Donna sat down near Tahari, and stared intently at the nineteen year old with her brown eyes. "You know, we can't raise him on our own. We need to find somewhere to bring him up... Besides, neither of us have the kind of training necessary to bring him up as a 'perfect soldier'."
He nodded. "That's true... Professor Mikoto had big plans for him. We were just assistants, working on more of the medical side."
"We need to find some people who might have known about the experiments, but we've lost contact with the other groups..."
"I may be able to help you there." A voice said from behind, causing the two to freeze in shock
"Professor Mikoto!" They both exclaimed.
"How did you get out?" Donna asked.
"I was prepared for such an attack. I was able to escape with a few of us, but less than half of the team has survived..." He shrugged. "They died for a worthy cause."
Tahari looked at Donna through the corner of his eye. She had almost died too... He couldn't bear to think of what he would have done without her for the past two weeks... He couldn't even imagine what life without her would be like."
"Where is CXIII?"
"Over there." Donna said, pointing at him. "And we've...we've named him Shadow Seikou."
"Shadow Seikou?" The professor repeated, going over to the crib and picking the baby up. "Shadow... perfect name for once such as him." He looked him over, checking him for bruises or anything irregular. "Perfectly healthy." He looked at the young couple. "We must hurry up and leave before we are found." He was about to go when he saw that charmander. "Where'd you get him?"
"He's Flame's son."
"Flame's...son?" The professor asked, going over to the Charmander then crouching beside it so he could be closer to its level. "Nice to meet you little one. I knew your mother."
"Mander?"
He nodded, patting it on the head. "Good boy." Then he got up. "Hurry up and pack what you need, and only what you need." He left the hotel room quickly with the baby bundled up in a blanket he had brought with him.
"I guess our problem is solved..." Donna said, getting up from her chair and was about to go and pack when Tahari grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Donna..." He said, letting go of her arm and picking up her hand instead. "I..."
"You what, Tahari?" She asked with a sly smile on her face.
"I love you."
"Was that so hard to say? You said it well enough when you dragged me out of the lab." The eighteen year old replied. "I love you too Tahari Tavis." She whispered, standing on her toes and lightly kissing him on the lips. "Now let's pack."
"Hey...!"
She giggled, letting go of his hand. "Learn patience Tahari, patience is a virtue-"
"Which I don't have." He interrupted.
"Well learn it." And she picked up Sacrifice and went off to pack quickly.
Tahari sighed, and followed her example. Though he could not let go of the warm feeling that had rushed through his body when she had kissed him...
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The next day
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They had traveled with the professor and the other survivors on a train to the town their new hideout was in. To avoid suspicion, they were separated into groups. The professor played the part of an old man taking a new baby pokemon, Shadow, to his grandson, a pokemon trainer. Donna and Tahari were a young couple, both pokemon trainers, on their way to visit their parents and show off their new charmander. The others varied from married couples, to washed up pokemon trainers.
Thankfully, they all made it to the hideout safely, grateful that nothing had happened. The new lab was spacious, much larger than the previous one, which was unfortunate as they had less than half the number of people in the previous team. It would take some time to recruit a full team.
When they had all entered, Professor Mikoto called everyone's attention to him. "Gather round, we need to have a group meeting before we settle in. First of all, you have two choices. The first is that you live down here, with little or no contact with the outside world. The second is that you lead two lives, one up there, and the other down here, at night. The choice is up to you, but please make wise decisions." He gave them some time to talk it over with each other before ordering them to be quiet again. "Now, I will be recruiting a few more people for the team. Allthough we have achieved success in the first experiment, CXIII, we are not done. First of all, there's the whole process of raising him that we will have to go through. And secondly, we can't expect one boy to save us all. We'll need more than just one hybrid on his own."
"You mean things like, stronger, smarter pokemon? And mechanical things?" One of the assistants asked.
"Exactly! And we'll need a large team for that. It'll take many years to complete them, and even more to teach him how to use them. But a perfect soldier must be perfect in all ways. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's going to be hard, but we will prevail!" There was a moment of silence, and then Shadow started to wake up. "That is all for now, you are dismissed." He began to walk off, but then the baby started crying. "Donna, Tahari, he seems to like you two. You shall be in charge of being his surrogate parents."
They looked at each other in surprise. "You trust us to be his parental figures?" Donna asked, incredulous.
"Yes, I do. Do you have a problem with that? All I ask is that especially in the first six or so years of his life, you spend time with him so he has some idea of family life. It is essential to his upbringing that he learns something about love." And as he so often did, Mikoto left as soon as he was done talking, depositing Shadow in Donna's arms before swiftly leaving.
He quieted down immediately as soon as he saw her face, and rewarded her with one of his rare smiles. She giggled, cradling him in her arms. "Meet our first son, Tahari."
Tahari froze, looking at the furry baby in shock. Shadow smiled at him too, his green eyes sparkling happily. "Son...?" He asked.
"What is it with men and babies?" Donna asked Shadow. "They always go into a state of shock the moment women mention them." She looked sternly at Tahari. "If you keep acting like that about babies, it's going to be a while before we can have a real child of our own."
"Child...of...our own? We're not even twenty yet!"
Donna sighed, shifting the baby to one arm and grabbing Tahari's hand with the free one. "Common, let's go find our new living quarters." And she proceeded to drag him throughout the hideout, their new home.
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Two years and some months later, December-2079
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"Donna, I'm back!" Tahari announced, entering the room cheerfully, and carrying several bags with him. "Why didn't want to come? You always jump at a chance to leave the hideout and go out into the upper-world!"
Donna winced. She knew she'd have to tell Tahari soon, but she just didn't know when. She'd only found out a few days ago...
He put the bags down, puzzled, and hurried over to her when she didn't answer. "Are you sick?"
She shook her head.
"Is Shadow sick?"
She shook her head again.
"Then what's wrong? You've been acting like you're hiding something from me for the longest time!" He sat down on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in.
"Tahari, I need to tell you, I'm-"
He cut her off. "Hold on, and close you eyes."
"But-"
"No buts, just wait." And he ran out of the room to get something, then ran back in. "Open."
She opened her eyes, and gasped at what she saw. Tahari was on his knees infront of her, holding a small velvet box. Sacrifice, now a charmeleon, stood beside him, holding a bouquet of red flowers. "Oh Tahari..."
He grinned nervously, then put the box in her hands. "Open it."
She opened it, and inside was a beautiful engagement ring, and quite likely an expensive one too.
"Will you marry me, Donna?" He asked.
"Tahari, do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask?" She demanded.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes!"
He put the ring on the correct finger and then hugged her, kissing her soundly.
"Eon!" The charmeleon interrupted, handing her the bouquet of roses.
"Thank you Sacrifice."
"Char." He replied with a 'grin'.
"The roses were his idea. I wanted to give you orchids but he insisted on the red roses." Tahari explained sheepishly.
Donna laughed, patting Sacrifice on the head. "Thank you dear."
"Wait! One last surprise!"
"Another one?"
Tahari ran out, and returned with a box. "For you, my love. I know how much you love these, and me and Sacrifice are busy a lot of the time, so..." He set it down in her lap.
She seemed puzzled, but opened the box all the same.
"Meowth!" A little kitten pokemon popped its head out, chewing on the red ribbon around its neck. "Meow?"
"Awww! She's so cute!" She gushed, picking the meowth out of the box and hugging her. "What's her name?"
"That's up to you."
Donna thought carefully. "I think I'll name her... Love."
"Love?"
"Yes. Love." She put the meowth in her lap and petted its head. "Tahari, I have something to tell you..." She said, not looking up from the kitten.
"Oh yes, about why you didn't come with me, right?"
"Yes." She picked up Tahari's hands, looking straight into his green eyes with her own innocent brown ones. "Tahari, you're going to be a father."
"A...father..." His eyes widened in shock. "Really?"
She nodded.
"Yes!" He exclaimed, picking her up and hugging her, almost squashing the poor Meowth between them. "I love you Donna." He whispered to her, kissing her again.
She sighed in relief, for she wasn't sure how he would take the news. Although they had raised Shadow as their own, she wasn't sure how he would take the news of having their own child, especially since she was only twenty, and he was only twenty-one.
"What's all the noise?" One of the assistants asked, peeking in their room.
"We're getting married, and I'm going to have my own baby!" Tahari grinned foolishly, looking lovingly at his fiancé.
"Congratulations!" Kris said, winking at Tahari. "This calls for a celebration!"
"Kris! Not another one of your parties, please..." Donna grimaced. Kris was well known for finding every possible opportunity to liven up the hideout with a party.
"Why not? I'm going to go see if I can pester one of the above-dwellers into buying us some supplies!" And he left before the pair could say anything.
"Charmeleon..." The fire pokemon sighed, then he looked at the meowth. "Char?"
"Meet your new friend, Love."
"Eon." He sniffed the meowth then smiled. "Char char meleon, char?"
"Yeah, where *is* Shadow, Donna? Usually he's with you."
"They've started his training now."
"Training? But he's only three!"
"That's what I said..." She replied with a shrug. "But Professor Mikoto believes that we must start as early as possible, and that he should have even started at two..."
"I guess it's just us then." Tahari had to admit that he was going to miss the little kid. He was unusually quiet for his age, but could be such a joy to be with.
"And Sacrifice and Love." She added.
"Right. Love and Sacrifice... Ironically, I believe those names sum up the years that have passed, and the years that have yet to come..."
Donna put one arm around Tahari's waist and laid her head on his chest. "Sad, but true..."
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[Like the name of the fic? It came to me while I was writing that part where they were talking about it just being them now, and Donna adds 'And Sacrifice and Love.' Then it hit me; that would make a perfect title! Man, don't you just love it when these happen? Now I'm glad I named the meowth Love, or I'd still be searching for a title.]