Love and Sacrifice(v3): There's no such thing as an innocent youth

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Three and a quarter years later, March -2090
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Shadow woke up at four am, the time he'd become accustomed to waking up at for some reason. He stretched for a few seconds then changed into a black turtle-neck shirt and a pair of black jeans. He had a feeling, a feeling that the war would officially starting soon, and his missions would far exceed his current ones in numbers, and in their level of difficulty.

The Kaitan Alliance had expanded greatly over the years, and there were rumors that they were shipping more soldiers over to the other continents to 'keep an eye on them'. More like to rule over them... He could only hope the rumours were false, but he had a feeling they were true. As a matter of fact, he knew they were true. There'd been many reports of secrets bases popping up all over the world, except for

There was a knock at the door, and he opened it, looking at the person with his dead green eyes. "Yes?" He asked. What was once a silky alto, was now a flat monotone, a dead whisper that tended to scare the h*ll out of those who were not used to hearing him.

It was one of the newer lab assistants. He'd been recruited just under two years ago, and like most of the new ones, had never quite gotten used to Shadow and the dark aura he had, since it was rare that he saw the hybrid around. "Th..the..."

"Take your time." Shadow said.

The young man paused a bit to catch his breath, as he'd probably been running around the base doing errands. "Our location has somehow been discovered. We need to move immediately. Professor Mikoto told me to give you this." He handed Shadow a folder, and then left in a hurry.

Shadow opened it.

Mission 081 - Infiltrate the Kaitan Alliance base I have given you the location of and kill Lt. Jakata.

An assassination? Well, that made more sense than having him single handedly take on the whole army. That was what their human and pokemon army was for. He flipped through the file, quickly taking in the information. The base was thirty-two miles away, which meant he'd have plenty of travelling to do. Night would be the best time to strike, since he blended in perfectly in the dark, and could easily slip past the guards. "Lieutenant Jakata, omae o korosu[1]... You shall die tonight." He whispered to himself, taking a good look at the picture.

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That night
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Their base, Shadow's home since he was less than a year old, had been completely evacuated. Shadow had no idea where they were going, but he knew he would find out eventually, and that was all that mattered.

For the first time in a long time, he left the hideout, climbing up the stairs and then poking his head out. The air smelt different up in the real world. It smelt... fresh. He took a deep breath the looked around, his green eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. No one. He slinked through the shadows and found the motorcycle that had been hidden for him. He hadn't named it, but he was very familiar with it. The motorcycle had been specially made for him, specially made to conceal weapons neatly and travel silently through the night. Shadow mounted it, starting it up. Unlike other vehicles, it made next to no noise. His own sensitive ears could hear the faint purr of the engine, but the ears of all humans, and most pokemon would not be able to pick it up.

He rode silently through the night, a dark figure with dark intentions. He wore his usual long-sleeved turtle neck shirt, and black pants, but he also had added a black hood cloak, for the main purpose of concealing his tail and ears. Over his paw-like hands he wore black gloves that had slits at the finger where his claws could emerge if needed. In a holster around his waist, a gun, complete with silencer, was hidden.

He made it to the base within an hour and a half. It would have taken less time, but he had to leave the motorcycle two miles away and walk the rest of the distance, for there were likely to be hidden soldiers nearby. It had been, in his opinion, ridiculously easy to sneak past the guards and their pokemon. The trouble would start when it got to the more heavily guarded camp enclosure.

Hidden behind a tree near the gate, he was once again thankful for his acute night vision. There was a tree near the wall that he could climb over, and if he was careful, he could avoid the broken glass that they had stuck on the edges of the wall to deter people from using that way to get in. He walked up the tree unsheathing his claws and taking off his cloak, then climbing up, careful not to disturb the branches or wake up anything that may be sleeping in the tree.

Making it to the level where the wall was, he walked cautiously on one of the sturdier branches that came within three feet of the wall. If he was careful, he could jump over and land on the other side. But there were the possibilities that he would slip and fall to the ground and draw attention to himself by crashing through the tree branches or landing with a thud, or he could fall on the glass and injure himself badly.

He'd have to just take the chance.

Shadow lowered himself to a sort of crouching position, his bare feet ready to spring off the branch. Taking a deep breath, he leapt, clearing the wall and landing with a soft thud on his feet on the other side. It had been a difficult jump, and his landing was far from perfect, so he had to take a few seconds for his legs to recover from the shock of landing so hard.

He scanned the area hastily. No one. Why was their security so poor that night? He slipped into the shadows and made his way to through the courtyard and to the entrance. It was wide open, and Shadow tensed, wondering if this could be a trap.

That was when he noticed the dead body on the floor. The guard's throat had been slit cleanly, which meant that it was not a pokemon's doing. Did that mean someone else was also there to assassinate Lt. Jakata? He noted the dead growlithe lying by the body's side. Whoever it was, he was not taking any chances. Shadow sniffed the air delicately, unsure of whether the other intruder was human or pokemon by the scent. The scent was a sort of mix, very unfamiliar, and very...metallic? Maybe the other had a steel pokemon with him?

Realizing that it was not a good idea to just be standing in the doorway, Shadow followed the scent trail through the building. Same way he would have gone... He discovered several dead bodies along the way, human and pokemon alike, all killed with a cleanly slit throat. He took his gun from his holster and clicked the safety lock off.

He found the Lt.'s room, and discovered the door locked. So the other had not made it there yet... He had lost the scent trail a while back though. Did that mean he had passed the other intruder on his way, or had the other simply gone to do something else? Not bothering with that, he walked up to the Lt., aiming the gun at the man's heart, and about to shoot him when his ears picked up some slight movement near the door.

"Who are you?"

Shadow spun around, gun aimed at the speaker. But when he saw the other, he frowned. Was this person a hybrid too? He had metallic grey eyes, like liquid mercury, and his greyish/platinum blonde hair was very wiry. His skin had an unhealthy grey tinge, and his hands... He had six digits on each instead of five, and the sixth on each was a thin sharp blade. Judging by the blood staining them, they how he had slit those throats so cleanly. His nails too, they were metal, and sharpened, also bloody, though the boy had obviously attempted to wipe them off earlier. Shadow noted all of that in a few quick seconds, not lowering his gun. Fellow hybrid or not, this other person could be an enemy. Taking a second good look, he realized the other was nothing more than a boy, probably only fourteen or fifteen. "You're only a boy." He stated in his quiet voice.

The other appeared slightly offended, but didn't seem to lower his guard. He merely looked into Shadow's emotionless green eyes and shrugged. "I don't think you're much older, Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII."

Shadow narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. So the boy knew about him... "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Same as you. I was here to kill Lieutenant Jakata, and I happened to find you."

/Same mission.../ He thought to himself, taking a quick look around the room. There was a window just five feet away from him, and he was only on the tenth floor. He could make the jump.

Suddenly, Lt. Jakata stirred, sitting up sleepily, noticing the two boys and sounding an alarm

Without a word, in one fluid movement, Shadow ran up to the window, opened it, and leapt out, twisting himself in the way a persian does mid-air so he would land safely, which he did, minus a few bruises and maybe a broken or fractured bone. But he ignored it, and quickly fled the base, leaving the other hybrid to deal with the Lt.

After assassinating Jakata, the other leaned over the window in amazement. How had that older boy survived that jump? He had executed it with such grace... He blinked several times, wondering if he was dreaming, but the blood on his blades and the dead body lying on the bed not to far from where he stood told him that he was not, and that he'd better get the h*ll out of that base before someone answered the alarm.

As he fled the base, he wondered what the other looked like when in light. All he had really noticed where the hybrid's long black braided hair, the black fur, and his eyes... Glowing green eyes with a fierce, yet dead glare that seemed to burn right through your skull. There was no doubt about it, that had to be Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII... How could one mistake him for any type other than a dark type? How could nothing but a dark type project such an aura of... the only word Blade could thing of was 'nothingness'. Even psychic pokemon, or human's with psychic abilities, could not close up their feelings that well.

Walking the one and a half miles to the roadside where a car would be waiting for him, Blade Keisuke, Project H/C, Type #14: 92 dared to wonder whether there were more of them, more hybrids like him, and the dark stranger he had met just minutes ago. They had always assumed the other experiments except CXIII had failed, but maybe, just maybe, they had been wrong.

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Elsewhere in the world
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Corse
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"Evacuate the base! Fire! FIRE!"

The secret Kaitan base in the peaceful town of Kinsville was going down in flames. Screams of agony could be heard as soldiers burnt to death, trapped in the rooms.

Nearby, a young teenager sighed, collapsing with exhaustion. He'd never even attempted to set something that big on fire before. He ran a tired, and lightly furred hand through his wild red hair, his red eyes shining brightly. Having caught his breath, Xeth Thonas got up and ran, his flaming tail trailing behind him. He admitted that melting the locks shut to the doors of the building was a bit cruel, but it was necessary...

Forcing a smile, he continued on his escape. He'd be safely out of the country and on his way to Arasia the next day. Corse held too many painful memories for him...

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Indeli
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In a small town called Merina, a young girl was doing just the opposite, putting out a fire caused by the Kaitan Alliance. Dressed in a dark blue hooded cloak, she entered homes, dousing the flames with various water attacks, and helping the occupants to evacuate.

But before anyone could ask her what her name was, Corvet had left, hoping no one had noticed her light blue hair, the bluish tint to her skin, or her webbed hands...

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Arasia
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"Intruder? Where? The radar's not picking up anything outsi-" The man was cut off after being hit in the back.

"Too easy..." The boy who had attacked him muttered to himself. "Much too easy, even for a fighting type hybrid..." He'd snuck into the base, knocking out anyone he came across, swiftly killing those who saw him. Quickly, Kenji got the information he had come for from the computer and slipped out of the base, his orange eyes keeping a sharp look out for any soldiers who happened to be awake at that late hour.

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Jarlis
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A black clad figure slipped into the kitchen of the Kaitan base in Jiras. He found their water supply and quickly poisoned it, and as an after-thought, poisoned their food supply too. His red, black and yellow eyes glinted mischievously as he peeked out of the kitchen, slipping out quickly and leaving the way he had snuck in. His hood had slipped off, revealing his hair, the same color as his eyes. So as not to draw any attention to himself, he quickly put it back on and disappeared into the night.

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Corse
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An extremely normal looking boy stepped out of the woods and up to the house where a Kaitan official was currently residing in while he negotiated with the head of the country of Calmir. Whistling a merry tune, his brown eyes twinkled and his casually walked up to the guard, running a hand through his brown hair. Without a word, he turned into an alakazam and used confusion on the man, thankful that the attack worked just as well on humans as it did on pokemon. He turned back into a human. "If you could please tell me where his excellency John Kana is staying?"

"On the twenty-second floor, I think..." The man replied, looking around in confusion.

Devin, sighed, that was always the drawback to the attack, it confused the guards, but they were never sure about their answers, and were often wrong. Sighing, he transformed into a pidgey and flew over to the building, checking in all of the windows for the man he was supposed to kill. After checking many rooms, he finally found his target on the twenty-[i]third[/i] floor. He burst in through the window, transformed into a fearow, snatched the sleeping man in the claws, flew out, and dropped the man, then turning back into a pidgey and flying back to his hideout.

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Grinning to himself, a pale, transparent figure glided through one of the Kaitan bases leisurely, completely unnoticed for no one could see him. Tevax found it amazing how lax their security was. If he could get through, anyone could easily have sent their ghost pokemon in.

He quickly found the files he needed and this time he did his best to make sure he didn't see anyone. Wouldn't you be suspicious if you saw a bunch of files floating in the air on their own?

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Indeli
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Posing as a fortune teller at a fair, Siana looked around with her wise, golden eyes. Completely golden eyes, no difference between the pupils, the iris, or the cornea. Her platinum-blonde hair was hidden behind the hood of the brown gypsy cloak she wore.

A man entered, the general she was supposed to kill. This was going to be easy.

"You would like to hear your future?" She asked in her mysterious voice.

"Yes." He put some coins in the plate on the table and at down.

"Stare into my crystal ball."

He obeyed, and the ball started glowing. Siana smiled evilly, and suddenly, a light burst forth from the ball and hit him, killing him instantly. She checked to make sure he was dead, then sighed. "Humans... one tiny psybeam and that's it." She teleported out of the tent before anyone wondered what was taking the general so long.

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Eurel
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"Eric? Eric? Where are y-" The man let out a straggled cry as something slipped around his next and swiftly broke it.

Vair withdrew her vines, looking down disgustedly at the bodies. "Kaitan pigs..." Then she sighed. "I hope you didn't have any loved ones who'll be saddened by your death though." She held tightly onto the diskette she had stolen and was about to leave the base when she noticed someone else retreating. She quickly used a vine to wrap around the other person's legs, knocking him or her down. Then she tied up the person's arms and ran up to her captive. "Who," She noticed the fluffy white tail, the icy blue hair, the thin covering of white hair with a bluish tinge, "or rather, what are you? Another hybrid? I thought I was the only one left."

"Well you thought wrong." The girl answered coldy. "Mind letting go of me?" She snapped. "I'm on your side."

Vair rolled her eyes but released the girl, who got up and dusted herself off. "Now if you don't mind, I've got to go. My name's Aita Aisu incase you wanted to know though." She looked at her watch. "Sh*t! I'm late!" And she ran off.

Vair watched her go and then sighed. "People these days... So rude."

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An unknown figure flew over a Kaitan base near a town called Vilit. He flew for some time, before he found what he was looking or, a meeting between some of the Kaitan generals. He turned on his recorder and landed silently on the ground nearby and folding his wings behind his back. He stuck the recording device on a tree next to the generals, and then flew off. He'd come back and get the recording later.

Swift flew, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing through his feathers. Flying was fun, almost therapeutic to him. In his opinion, the ability to fly was worth being a freak.

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Jarlis
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Hali buzzed over the soldier's camp. Her task was simple. Put the soldiers to sleep, or paralyze them, whichever would last longer, and then retreat, let the rebels take care of the rest. Blinking her large compound eyes, she took a deep breath and then flew over the camp, using a combo of sleeping powder and stun spore. When she was sure she was done, she flew back over to where the soldiers where and gave them the signal. Sometimes she complained that it was not fair that they did not let her do any serious fighting, but she admitted that she was no scyther, and that she was more useful for her powder attacks.

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Arasia
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A blonde and brown hair youth reached the main power supply of one of the smaller bases in Arasia. Rubbing his hands together, he reached in and snapped the wires with his bare hands, the electricity in the whole weapon factory immediately going out.

"Rai!"

He looked at the Raichu, then picked up the quantum bomb the electric mouse was holding nervously. With careful precision, he began to set the bomb and placed it where he decided it would have the most impact on the building.

"Chu!" The raichu looked around, making sure no one was coming. "Raichu, chu!"

He finished setting the bomb then picked up the raichu. "Let's go." The spiky haired youth, named Indenki began to take his carefully planned route out of the building. This mission was too easy, not the kind he preferred, but it wasn't time yet for any big attacks. For now, they would resist in small attacks, let the Kaitan Alliance know that people were starting to rebel against them.

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Corse
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Merideth, however, was having a pretty relaxing night. All she had to do was hack into their computer files from her comfortable spot in her 'home base'. She smiled as she finally got through and deleted all the necessary files, changing some of the information in others.

Finally done, she kicked back and smiled to herself. She knew that all her missions would not be so easy, but for now, she was going to relax. The blue haired girl turned into a smallish sized dragon-pokemon like creature and flew off, going to the kitchen for a midnight snack.

"Hey Mer! We gonna sing karaoke tonight?" One of the younger lab assistants, only eighteen, asked her as she flew past.

She stood, turning back into a human and grinned. "Max, since when did I pass an offer of karaoke? I'll meet you in the social room in twenty minutes!" She twirled around, flicking her hair over her shoulder with a dainty toss of her head, and hurrying over to the kitchen.

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Farica
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Erian appearead from a hole in the ground, a smirk on her brown furred face. She hauled herself out, then helped the sandslash that had gone with her to get out. "Who knew digging could be such fun?" She asked her human partners, dusting the dirt off herself, then shaking like a wet growlithe, sending clumps of dirt flying.

"Erian, did you get the files?" One of them asked nervously.

"Yup, right here!" She patted her backpack. Now she started brushing dirt out of her hair. "I need a bath..." She finally decided. Although she hated water, she knew it really wasn't good manners to walk around covered in dirt. "So do you." She told the sandslash, who snorted. "Well, Mission 001 completed! Shall we go celebrate?"

One of her partners grabbed her arm and dragged her off. "Bath first." He said firmly, ignoring her pout.

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Jorvis looked at the detonater in his hand, then at the base he was about to destroy. He didn't like the idea of commiting a mass murder. Sure he had killed before, but not in such large numbers...

But then, these 'soldiers' had raided the nearby towns, these 'soldiers' had killed many of the people he had known in cold blood, laughing when they had begged for mercy. These 'soldiers' deserved to die like this. They deserved to die dis-honorable deaths, killed in their sleep, not given a chance to fight back.

His grey eyes hardened, and Jorvis pushed the button, blowing up the base in three loud explosions. A look of grim satisfaction crossed his face as he watched the burning remains of the base, the ones who had planned on taking over his region now dead.

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