Chapter
9 - Deception
Delilah paced back and forth in
her room. She couldn't stop thinking about the discussion that
she and Ash had with Professor Oak that morning, only a day after
she had confessed about her nightmare past to her son. Professor
Oak had explained the origin of Ash's healing powers, something
that made her feel incredibly guilty: Her son had the same
fundamental mutation that she had. He had inherited her curse.
"Chi
...ri-rita-rita-Chiko-ko-kori-tachi?" [Um... Mrs. Ketchum,
don't you think you should go back to bed?] Chikorita asked,
interrupting her thoughts. Ash had asked the small Plant-Type
Pokémon to watch Delilah, and to make sure she stayed resting in
her bed (even if she needed use her Vine Whips to tie his mother
down!)
Delilah tried for one moment to
modify her vocal chords to answer in the Pokémon's own language,
but it was too painful. She sighed and answered: "Chikorita,
please! I have to think. I am very worried for Ash."
Sam had said that was extremely
unlikely... but Ash's genetic code could change again,
if he suffered enough stress... It would have to be a very high
level, but it could happen... And if it happened, what
form would it take? The Omega Factor contained all the same
genetic blueprints that made Delilah what she was. Could
it turn Ash into a a monster like she was? Delilah
was not a religious person, but she found herself praying
desperately that it would not be that Merciful God, anything
but that
Chikorita jumped up on the bed and
glared at Delilah threateningly. "Rita-rita-ri,
Kochi-chiko!" [Mrs. Ketchum, I have to insist!]
Delilah had to smile at the little
plant-type's dedication. She had no doubt that if she kept
pacing, Chikorita would try to tie her down with her
vine whips. "Okay," Delilah said, raising her hands in
surrender. The mutant woman lay down on the bed and covered
herself with a thin sheet, more from habit that from necessity
(she could easily survive the Antarctic winter when the sun did
not rise for a month). She looked at the clock: 11 am. Ash said
that he would be repairing their house, with the help of his
Pokémon and of Mimey, but at noon, he was going to visit her so
they could eat lunch together.
Delilah noted that there was
something important that she still had to discuss with her son.
Somehow, she had to convince Ash never, ever to use his
power of healing again.
== == == == ==
Several dozen kilometres away,
another mutant woman was pacing back and forth in her private
rooms. She was a tall, thin woman with long dark-green hair.
Sabrina Bowman, the Leader of Saffron City's Marsh Gym was
thinking about what had happened just two days ago.
Sabrina had been meditating, an
exercise she undertook daily in an attempt to govern and restrain
her immense psychic powers. That day, however, as her mind
explored deeper and deeper layers of the universe, she suddenly
felt the most incredible power wash over her. The psychic shock
wave slammed against her mental shields like a tsunami. Her
scream of agony brought her parents and all her Pokémon rushing
to her side as she writhed on the floor, foaming at the mouth.
When she recovered, somehow she knew that at that very moment,
something had come into the world. Something had evolved
(there was no better description) that would change the
destiny of the human race... forever.
It had been difficult for her to
analyse this particular psychic flash or premonition, whatever it
was. Unlike every other precognitive vision she had experienced
there were no sounds or images, nothing intelligible at all.
Nothing except a deep, absolute, near-instinctive certainty
that something new and important had been born.
Sabrina shook her head and looked
through the window of her office while absently stroking
Kadabra's warm, furry head. Almost involuntarily, her eyes were
drawn to the south-west. There was no doubt in her mind that
whatever had happened, was happening and was yet to take place
was going to happen in the small town that lay in that direction.
Pallet Town.
== == == == ==
In the Team Rocket base, near
Viridian City, three injured Black Rockets were in a cold sweat.
They were Butch Seaborg, Cassidy Longstreet, and Domino Pfaster.
The cause of their terror was Giovanni's furious glare, directed
to them through the monitor.
"So," Giovanni said in a
deadly level voice, "I am to understand that you
failed?"
There was a long silence in the
briefing room before Cassidy kicked Domino in the shins under the
table. The young woman glared at her subordinate, but realised
that, as the team leader, she would have to reply. "Yes,
Boss," Domino said quietly, not daring to meet Giovanni's
gaze.
"And, if that wasn't enough,
you decided to violate a direct order by attempting to
use Omega's offspring against her!" Giovanni's voice rose
slightly and Domino suddenly felt the need to grovel and beg for
her life.
"Boss, I..."
"Shut up!"
Giovanni's shout made all three Black Rockets jump in terror.
"Your reasons don't interest me, Agent
Pfaster!" Giovanni breathed deeply, trying to calm himself
down. "Simply be grateful that I regard the injuries that
Omega inflicted on you punishment enough for your
insubordination! However, if you ever, ever disobey me
like this again, I will have all three of you executed!"
The three agents looked at their Boss, stunned by the level of
his anger. "Dismissed!"
Butch, Cassidy and Domino fled the
briefing room, their prides as thoroughly bruised and broken as
their bodies.
In his office, the boss of Team
Rocket read the intelligence reports. One particular piece of
information immediately caught his attention. His spies had
spotted large number of the known agents of the Military
Intelligence agency of the United Nations Defense Forces in
either Pallet Town or Cerulean City over the last few days. There
was only one possible reason why UNDF-MI would be so interested
in two such unremarkable places. They knew about Omega.
Giovanni could not help wondering
if the UN military really understood the power that they
were risking awakening and turning against them. In the
semi-gloom of his office, Giovanni's smile became slightly cruel
as he imagined what Delia would do to the biggest and most
powerful adversaries of Team Rocket if they dared to anger
her
== == == == ==
Ash had returned to the Pallet
Town Pokémon Research Center, tired because of the work that he
needed to do to his shattered home. The fight between his mother
and that Rocket must have really been ugly! However, with another
week's effort, it should be inhabitable again. I only hope
Chikorita managed to keep my mother resting, he thought as
he carried their lunch up the stairs to his mother's room.
About fifteen minutes later, after
they had finished their lunch, Ash was just getting ready to take
the dirty dishes downstairs to the kitchen when his mother asked
him to stay for a moment. "Yes, Mom?"
Delilah breathed deeply.
"Ash, you know that you have a mutation, a little like
mine."
"Yes."
"And that this mutation gives
you... certain powers..."
"That's right," Ash
confirmed. He waited for her next words, although he already had
an idea of what it was...
"Ash, I am asking you
no I'm begging you not to use the more visible of your
powers. You mustn't use them, and you mustn't tell
anyone about any of your special abilities, even your enhanced
senses."
The black-haired boy was silent
for a minute before answering. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I don't
think I can do that."
"But, Ash..." Delilah
leaned forward and grabbed her son's hands in her own, desperate
to make him see.
"Please! Let me
explain!" Ash asked, lifting his arms in a defensive
gesture. "Mom, I understand why you are asking me this. You
think as soon as I next use my... ability, I would
almost immediately find myself in a laboratory, or being chased
by the authorities as if I were a menace or a monster, just like
in the comic books that I read." Delilah looked so surprised
that Ash had to smile. "Well, I was thinking about that last
night. I know that the odds don't look very good for me, but
still..."
Delilah interrupted, trying to
communicate the necessity of absolute secrecy.
"But, Ash, you need..."
He kindly placed an index finger
on her lips, silencing her. "Mom, you're forgetting the most
important point. Because I have the ability to help people, then
I must help them. I don't want to do this because it's
some unwritten law or because it might make me rich and famous. I
want to do this because it is the right thing to do. You
were the one who taught me that, Mom. You once told me that I was
your hero. You see, Mom, like it or not, both in power and in
motive, I'm like this because of you. I have to help
other people, no matter how much trouble that gets me in. I do
this because I know that you would do exactly the same thing
in my place."
There was a long quiet moment
before Delilah gently moved Ash's hand from her lips. In her
eyes, she was no longer looking at a young boy, but a fine,
decent and mature man. His reasons showed exactly how much the
terrible events of the last few days had matured him. Delilah
could not help but feel immensely proud of him. "You know,
Ash, you can't go around spending your time curing every cold,
flu or scratch suffered by anyone on the planet!"
Ash rolled his eyes. "I know
that, Mom!" He exclaimed in exasperation. "Don't worry,
I'm not going to start wearing a yellow spandex costume or
anything!"
Delilah restrained a laugh at the
mental image that his comment provoked. "Be that as it may,
Ash," she said, "but I will ask you to restrain
yourself. Please keep your abilities hidden, and only ever use
them as a last resort. Whenever you do use them, please do so in
secret. Can you agree to that?"
Ash considered that request for a
moment before shrugging easily. "Sure, that seems
reasonable." Delilah breathed a sigh of relief. "One
thing Mom," Ash continued. "There is someone else who
knows about my abilities besides you, Professor Oak and Tracey.
Misty."
Delilah jumped involuntarily.
"Huh? How did she find out?"
Ash sucked in a deep breath.
"You know that Misty saw you fighting Butch and
Cassidy," he said. Delilah nodded. "Well, I went after
her to try and convince her to keep quiet about what she saw. She
wouldn't see me at first, I think that she thought I was going to
try to kill her or something. Anyway, I broke into the Cascade
Gym and she panicked. She tried to escape through one of the
skylights over the Gym's fighting arena and fell to the
floor." Ash shuddered, hearing the snap of bones and
smelling blood and death again. "She she died,
Mom," he said gently, tears beginning to trickle down his
cheeks. "I went crazy with grief I I never
realised how I felt about her before. How much I needed her. How
much that that I I love her. My powers
kicked in for the very first time and, I know how that
sounds, but I brought her back to life. It almost killed me, but
I had to do it. When she came to, I was lying there, my
Healing Factor repairing the injuries I had absorbed from her
body."
Delilah was appalled. Suddenly,
with a clear certainty, she knew exactly what had triggered her
hallucination while she was in the rejuvenation apparatus.
"My God..." Delilah murmured.
Ash shivered involuntarily and
stood up to leave the room.
"Ash," Delilah said
gently. Her son turned to face her. "How sure are you really
sure, I mean, that you can trust Misty?" Delilah immediately
regretted opening her mouth. The look of anger and accusation her
son shot in her direction made her feel cold and abandoned.
"Mom, I'm only going to say
this once again," Ash announced. "I love Misty
and I know that she loves me. I trust her with all my secrets
without any reservation. I would even trust her with my life!"
Ash strode from the room. Delilah
watched him go, marvelling at the strength of his feelings for
the girl from Cerulean City. I hope that you win your bet,
Ash, she thought unhappily.
== == == == ==
It was late in the night, when
a Spearow landed in front of the Cascade Gym. Then, the
flying-type Pokémon began to grow and changing into a human
form. In a woman, actually. She was completely dressed in black,
and was wearing a black ski mask. However, that didn't hide her
glowing green snake-like eyes, or the long red hair tied back
into a braid. She approached of the door and then flowed smoothly
into a blue fluid that insinuated itself through the narrow gap
between the leaves of the doors.
The invader walked quietly in
direction to the Gym Leader's residence. She stopped in front of
the door of Misty Williams's room. Her black-gloved hand opened
the door. She approached the sleeping girl with the silent
agility of a Persian.
The shadow of the invader fell
over Misty's sleeping form. Her right hand quickly metamorphosed
into a razor sharp blade. With a single motion, the invader
slashed the blade across the girl's throat. Her life bled away
quickly, and she died without once regaining consciousness.
The invader's face changed,
the ski mask turning into a human face. Delilah Ketchum looked at
the blood on her hand and the pool of blood spreading across the
bed in front of her with a cruel, inhuman smile...
Delilah was awake in an instant,
her eyes staring and her body covered with fear sweat. She looked
around her in disorientation. She was still at the Research
Centre. She stared at her hands. They were clean. No blood. It
had been a nightmare.
Delilah hid her blue face in her
hands for a moment. How could I even imagine murdering
an innocent girl like that? she asked herself. And if she could
think of it without conscious desire maybe maybe She
didn't even want to try to finish that thought.
Delilah fled to the next room
along, Ash's bedroom and hugged her sleeping son tightly.
"Ash my darling, I'm so sorry," she said, starting to
cry. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"
"Mom, what?" Ash
asked sleepily, roused by his mother's hug. He didn't understand
what was wrong, but spent some time unsuccessfully trying to
comfort her.
== == == == ==
It was one week later. I don't
know what I'm doing here! Delilah said to herself. While
their house was largely rebuilt, Delilah still had thousands of
security improvements to implement in preparation for the return
of Team Rocket. Her former colleagues would try again, of that
much she was certain. Instead of being at home, making the
necessary changes, she was at the Foundation Square Theatre,
watching a Pokémon show!
Ash had practically dragged her to
the show, insisting that she needed a break soon and ignoring her
peevish protests that her genetically modified biology didn't need
relaxation to stay healthy. When she saw the marquee display
outside the theatre announcing that the performer was 'Denise
Maxwell is "Duplica – Ditto Master,"' she
suspected that this was some kind of joke on Ash's part. On the
other hand, maybe it was coincidence. She simply didn't have the
courage to ask.
What made the experience worse was
Ash and Misty sitting together beside her. Her son and the
orange-haired girl were talking together quietly and occasionally
laughing at Duplica's hideous puns. Delilah wanted to
trust Misty, she truly did. However, the inner voice of Omega was
completely paranoiac and was screaming repeatedly that the girl
would inevitably eventually betray them both.
"Ash, I need go to the
bathroom," she whispered as she got up. Duplica had just
announced that she and her Ditto would imitate a pair of
Bulbasaurs.
A few minutes later, Delilah was
looking at her face in the mirror. She had regained her
polymorphic abilities and was in her 'human' disguise. She
resembled a redheaded woman in her early thirties. She was
wearing her black raincoat, a long dress with a high neckline and
knee-length boots. Real clothes, too. This meant that, besides
her head and hands, she could keep the rest of her body in her
'default' form. She still wasn't back to 100% strength yet, and
the less effort she had to make, the better.
"Mrs. Ketchum?"
Delilah jumped involuntarily and
turned around. Misty had followed her. "Huh... Hi,
Misty," she said neutrally.
"Mrs. Ketchum, I think need
to talk with you."
"About what?"
"I wanted say that I'm sorry
for the way that I reacted that night."
Oh, Boy! This is not the place
or the time for this! "All right, Misty!" Delilah
said hurriedly, "but shouldn't we discuss that at
home?" Delilah gave the most forced smile she had ever
attempted in her life.
Misty looked levelly at her
boyfriend's mother. Delilah had always been a kind person, open
and welcoming to everyone. However, that had changed since the
revelation of her mutant powers. Now she was always on edge
whenever Misty was about. It was almost as if she couldn't
trust her... "You don't trust me, do you?" Misty asked.
Great! I don't have way of
escaping of such a direct question! "Well...of. of
course I trust you, Misty!" Delilah lied smoothly.
Misty wasn't fooled. She looked at
Delilah quietly for a while. She was willing to bet Togepi that
Delilah was afraid she would tell someone about her. Maybe her
dad; he was a big shot in the UNDF, after all. "Mrs.
Ketchum, Ash tells me that you have the abilities of a
psychic-type Pokémon. That includes the ability to scan people's
deepest thoughts, isn't that the case?" Delilah nodded
mutely, wondering where this was going. "I want you to scan
my mind," Misty said. "Prove to yourself that you can
trust me." Misty shivered involuntarily, but was resolute.
She closed her eyes and waited for the pain of another mind
invading her own.
Delilah looked at Misty in
disbelief. The girl couldn't possibly know what she was
asking. Delilah reached out mentally and touched the outer layers
of Misty's psyche, feeling the undisciplined power of her mind
and the feelings that dominated her consciousness, most of them
quite emotional things about Ash. Suddenly the
mutant woman shook her head. "No," she said. "That
isn't necessary, Misty. The fact you are willing to do this
indicates that you have nothing to hide." Delilah touched
Misty on the shoulder and tried to smile reassuringly.
"Misty, dear, this isn't about you," she continued.
"It is about me. After everything I've gone through
in my life, it is very, very difficult for me to trust anyone.
But I am trying to trust you, and... I want to say I'm sorry if
I've hurt your feelings in any way."
"It's all right, Mrs.
Ketchum." Misty said with a sunny smile and left the
bathroom. Delilah sighed and, soon after, returned to her seat.
It was close to the end of the
show when Duplica made the announcement. "Now, I will need a
volunteer from the audience! Maybe yes, the lady in the
black raincoat? Come on, be a sport!"
Delilah swallowed dryly.
"M-Me?" she asked plaintively.
"Go on, Mom." Ash
whispered, seemingly about to laugh. "Duplica doesn't
bite!"
Standing on the stage under all
the spotlights, a very embarrassed Delilah Ketchum waited to find
out what would be her role in the act. Duplicia pulled a
Pokéball from her belt and held it up. "You've already met
my wonderful Ditto," she announced. "Well now, ladies
and gentlemen, there is here the special act that you were
waiting for! The Ditto able to imitate people,
Xerox!" The light green-haired girl pressed the 'release'
pad on Xerox's Pokéball. There was a flash of white light and
the small pink blob with a happy face materialised on the stage
right in front of Delilah, who restrained an instinct to use
Ember on it. "Xerox – Duplicate," Duplica
commanded.
There was a long, long pause as
the Ditto stared at the woman standing in front of him. He gave
Duplica a puzzled look and then turned his attention back to
Delilah. Suddenly, the Ditto began to glow, swell and grow,
taking on a humanoid shape. As quickly as it started, the
transformation stopped and Xerox, still in his 'default' form sat
there, still staring at Delilah. "Ditto!" he called
happily.
There were some mutters of
discontent from the audience. "Are you okay, Xerox?"
Duplicia asked her little friend.
"Ditto-it-ito-di!" Xerox
cried out and suddenly leapt into Delilah's arms. The
morphing-type Pokémon began to rub his face against Delilah's
cheek frantically, shouting 'Dit-it!" over and over again.
He even managed to kiss her a few times before Duplica managed to
recall the little creature to his Pokéball.
Duplica had apologised to the
audience, telling them that Xerox wasn't feeling too well. The
show ended with Duplica and her first Ditto performing a series
of quick-changes, always keeping to the elemental types best
suited to beat the other's in battle.
Afterwards, as the audience was
filing out of the theatre, Duplica appeared and grabbed Delilah.
"Madam, I can't apologise enough," she said nervously.
"Xerox never usually acts like that."
"I hope that you've got a
better explanation that that Duplica," Ash said
angrily. She turned to see Ash and Misty.
Misty had linked her arm with
Ash's and the two were looking very happy in each other's
company. Perhaps only Delilah saw the jealousy and pain that
briefly flared in the Imaté master's eyes before she replied.
"Ash?" she said. She quickly looked back-and-forwards
between him and Delilah. "Oh my God, she's your mother. Ash,
I'm really sorry about this! Mrs. Ketchum, will you forgive
me?"
"Of course," Delilah
said easily. "Obviously your Ditto liked me a lot!" To
not mention that he imitated me perfectly!, she thought,
remembering the humanoid form that Xerox assumed...
That's an understatement,
Ash thought to himself. What did Xerox think Mom was to kiss
her like that?!
"He must like you,"
Duplica said, blushing a little under her stage make-up.
"When Dittos rub each other's faces and kiss like that
it's" She swallowed and grinned lamely. "It is a
precursor to mating."
Duplica couldn't understand why
Misty and Ash's mother were both rendered speechless, and she
would remember the look of dumbfounded shock on Ash's face for
the rest of her life.
== == == ==
In New York, a top-secret meeting
was in progress. A black-haired man has just explained his plan
to a special committee that reported directly to the United
Nations Security Council.
"I want to make my distaste
for these methods completely clear," the committee chairman
announced. "General, you are proposing kidnapping
and enslaving a woman and her child, a crime forbidden
by international law for over a century now."
"Doctor Kelly," the
general replied smoothly. "I am not proposing violating any human
rights. Neither the adult nor its' offspring are human in the
most literal sense of the word. They are more closely allied to
the Pokémon, both genetically and biologically. Since it is
legal for the military to own Pokémon and deploy them as
tactical assets, there is no legal reason why I cannot
do the same with Omega and its' offspring."
There was some uncomfortable
shuffling of papers as the committee absorbed this. "I see
that you've thought this through, General," the chairman
grated angrily.
"General, this strategy of
yours seems dangerously elaborate," another committee
member, a European woman, remarked. "Would it not be simpler
and safer simply to attack and capture them directly?"
The General smiled humourlessly.
"Ms. DuPont, I can guarantee that a direct assault would
result in the eradication of any force deployed against
Omega," he said. "It is powerful enough to
defeat any conventional weapon used against it and could wipe out
an entire army with ease. No, this strategy makes use of
its' only weakness: Its' instinctive need to protect its'
offspring."
There were some thoughtful
mutterings in response to that. After a while, the committee
voted by a narrow majority to pass the General's recommendation
to the full Security Council.
As he left the secured meeting
hall, Dr. Kelly grabbed the General. "You are taking an
awful risk with this, General," he said quietly. "This
had better of work."
The general smiled. "Have I ever
let you down, Doctor?" he asked. "Come to our
headquarters in a couple of months and see our latest acquisition
in action. That will settle any doubts you may have."
Three days later, the general was
in his office in Veridian City when he received word that the
Security Council had approved of his plan.
== == == == ==
Two days later, Misty Williams was
changing from the black swimsuit she wore to face challengers for
the Cascade Badge into her street clothes. She was setting out
for Celadon City, where Erika Valerian, the leader of the city's
Rainbow Gym was going to show her a cream that she developed to
cure skin rashes that afflicted oceanic water-types if they spent
too long in fresh water.
The Trainer went into the bathroom
and she opened the cabinet, to get her toothbrush. When she
closed the door, she saw someone in the mirror, standing right
behind her. Herself.
Before Misty could react, her
double grabbed her over the mouth and pressed a hypospray to her
jugular vein. There was a pneumatic hiss and a powerful sedative
knocked Misty out before she could even process what was
happening to her. The False Misty carried the unconscious girl to
her bed and lay her on it. She smiled. "Phase A concluded.
Pleasant dreams, kid."
The impostor pulled on a gas mask,
pulled out a remote control and pressed the button on it. Tanks
of knockout gas that her colleagues had attached to the air
conditioning system opened. In seconds, Lilly, Daisy and all the
Gym's Pokémon were unconscious. They would be for at least a
day, which was long enough for her purposes.
The impostor walked to the window
and used a hand-held laser to summon the rest of her team. In
minutes, Misty was in a military ambulance, on the way to a UNDF
base where she would stay until the mission was complete.
"Now it time for Phase
B," the impostor announced in the eerie silence that filled
the Cascade Gym. She activated the videophone and called
Professor Samuel Oak's Laboratory, in Pallet Town.
== == == == ==
The following day, Ash and Pikachu
were waiting for Misty in an isolated part of Cousteau Park. Ash
was very concerned. Although the resolution of the picture was
very poor, Misty had clearly been very nervous when she called
him yesterday. She had begged him to come and meet her as soon as
possible. It was about something that she had accidentally found
in her sister Daisy's medicine cabinet...
"Ash!" called a familiar
voice.
Ash and Pikachu turned to see
Misty running in their direction. Ash was shocked when he saw her
face. She had obviously been crying a long time.
"Misty! What's
happening?" Ash asked, concerned.
"Ash, I had to talk to
someone," Misty said. "God knows that I can't ask Lilly!
Let's go over there." Misty indicated a bench with her head.
There was something wrong about this, Ash noted. Something not
right about Misty, but he couldn't put his finger on what. They
sat down together and Misty told him about how she found a supply
of antidepressants in Daisy's medicine cabinet. That kind were
usually only prescribed to those at risk of suicide.
"My God!"
"Yeah... I don't know what to
do!" Misty covered her face again and began to sob,
coincidentally preventing Ash from seeing her face too closely.
"But, are you sure she's
taking these things?" Ash asked.
"Sure! Let me show you
something!" Misty opened her bag. She pulled out a spray
can.
"But Misty, isn't
that?" Ash didn't get to finish his sentence. Misty
sprayed the blinding CQ riot-control gas into Ash's eyes,
blinding and paralysing him instantly. She turned and did the
same to Pikachu before the little Pokémon could react. Two men
jumped from the bushes and grabbed Ash, fastening restraints to
his wrists and ankles.
"Misty," Ash groaned
around the pain. "What are you doing?"
"Oh dear, did I forget to
tell you that I wasn't Misty?" the impostor said
brightly. She watched as the men administered a sleep drug to her
prisoner, knocking him unconscious. "Phase B
completed," she said in a satisfied tone of voice. Then she
turned to the stunned and immobilised Pikachu. "When you
have recovered, Pokémon, give this to Omega." She threw a
DVD over to Pikachu. She climbed aboard a waiting jet-copter as
her colleagues dragged the unconscious Ash in after them. With a
roar of turbines, the aircraft took off and flew away.
== == == == ==
It was late at night, when Pikachu
finally arrived at Pallet Town. When he told Delilah that
somebody had kidnapped Ash, and possibly Misty too, she demanded
that the DVD be played immediately. Actually, the disk
just contained a .MP3 sound file. The voice was obviously
digitally masked, and told the listeners nothing about the
speaker.
"Mrs. Delilah Ketchum,
formerly Delia Darkholme, also known as Agent Omega of Team
Rocket. By now you will be aware that your son has been arrested
by soldiers of the UN Defense Forces on charges of collaborating
with an enemy of the human race and abetting a felon in evading
justice. He is currently being held at the UNDF facility at
Tangelo Island, where he will remain until midnight Friday. If
you do not surrender yourself to the UNDF before that time, he
will be moved to an undisclosed UN prison facility where he will
spend the rest of his natural life. Please think very carefully
about what is important to you before you react to this. I look
forward to seeing you on Friday."
There was a long, long pause,
before Delilah picked up the portable DVD player and crushed it
into shrapnel with one hand. "Er Delilah,"
Professor Oak began. He immediately took a step back when he saw
Delilah's eyes glowing bright green. When she spoke, there was nothing
human in her voice at all.
"So...the UNDF wants me."
The woman smiled emotionlessly. "As they have gone to such
lengths to arrange an introduction, it would be churlish of me not
to appear."
"Delilah... please don't do
anything... rash," Oak begged.
Delilah no, Omega
looked at her oldest friend in a fashion devoid of emotion or
recognition. "Please don't try to stop me, Sam," she
said calmly. There was something about her posture, her
expression and the glow coming from her eyes. She seemed
almost demonic. Before Oak and Tracey's astonished
eyes, a transformation began.
Delilah's outer layers transformed
into an insectoid exoskeleton that gleamed like a rock-type's
tough hide. The armour-like exoskeleton flowed over Delilah's
head, forming a covering like a knight's helmet, so that only her
long red hair and her glowing green eyes were still visible. Her
arms thickened and her hands, in claw-like form, are also cloaked
in exoskeletal armour with cruel jagged spikes sprouting from the
knuckle guards. Powerful wings like those of a Dragonite sprouted
from her back.
The dominant colour of this new
form was a shining glossy black, broken only by the red of her
hair and a gleaming golden emblem at her waist that looked like a
belt buckle, but was the Greek letter Omega.
Omega looked at Sam Oak one more
time and the old researcher felt a deeper, colder terror than he
had ever felt before. "Goodbye," she said calmly. She
raised her clawed arms and red-gold earth energy flared around
them. A massive double Hyper-beam attack blew a hole in the roof
of the Research Center. As Oak and Tracey jumped back to dodge
the falling concrete, Omega launched herself out of the hole and
into the skies.
Oak staggered outside just in time
to see a dot vanishing in the skies to the northeast, a sonic
boom still echoing over Pallet Town. "Oh no," Oak said
quietly.
"Professor, what do we
do?" Tracey asked.
Oak looked at his assistant in a
puzzled way. "Do?" he asked. "My dear
Tracey, it has finally happened. The day that I have
lived in terror of seeing for the last fourteen years, ever since
I found what I thought to be an incredible new kind of Pokémon
fallen and unconscious in my laboratories. They have finally done
it, my young friend. They have finally caused my friend Delilah
enough pain to kill the small amount of humanity that
she had left in her heart. They have unleashed a wrath that will never
be satisfied, a rage that would terrify the Devil
himself."
Oak turned back to the northeast,
his face was pale and tears were streaming from his eyes.
"What we will do, Tracey, is start praying. Pray that God
may have mercy on all our souls... because Omega will have
none."
What do you think? Read and
Review!
To be continued...
