End of A Reality
by Blue9Tiger and DarkMutatedBrock
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WARNING: Lots and LOTS of gore in this chapter. Lots of action, too. And angst. And death. And Shin-Ra kicks some BOOTAY! Wooooo! ^_^ However, if you don't enjoy violence, gore, convoluted plotlines, and extreme doses of melodrama.... Please, PLEASE don't read the rest of this.
However, if our scheme worked and you have been indefinitely drawn in..... Then go ahead!!! REEEEED!!! XD
*~*~*
Log: S. Demoni. Day 243. Time: 11:30 AM.
The end result of this experiment looks bleaker every day. The
subject is having great difficulty in transforming: my only conclusion
is that someone must have anticipated that I would go soft and
help the subject and its mother, but the reality is that Subject
001 resists the change. I forsee even more problems with
the change in brain signals, since its original nature is already
so violent. Its mother is no better, very bad-tempered and unruly.
She resists this new process as well as her child: even with a
triple dosage of the chemicals, she isn't looking any more human,
even if she was a homo sapien at birth. All because of only one
mismatched Adenine... it paired with Cytosine, and made the cellular
mutation stronger in the offspring, who needs double the amount
of chemicals to even show the slightest hint of progress. But
the biggest inhumanity---the most profound irony--is that for
every progression towards our race, the subjects undergo a normally
unbearable amount of pain. It's as if they---they want
to stay the way they are, for the sake of unchanging ignorance,
perhaps....
I considered it, but aside from feeling a chemical imbalance in my brain-----it must be the medecine--strong stuff, that is, I have a duty towards these subjects to give them a chance at the top of nature's hiearchy. No... more than that. I'm on a mercy mission... to save what Edward would term..... labrats. If they remain as they are, these months of pain that I must inflict on them to make them human would never compare to the lifetime of suffering that awaits them..... The suffering that I began....... And morover.... my son.... I'm avenging my son.... in a way.... I wasn't able to save him from myself... But these two... Specimens--no--people.... I might be able to.... to.... God.... What have I.... have I..... done....?
I need my medicine.... That's enough for tonight. Computer, end log.
~Report found in file labelled "Confidential". Archived by the Pallet Town Police Department.
*~*~*
Chapter 11: Let it Burn
*~*~*
".....Okay, now he's OFFICIALLY nuts." Meowth blinked, holding onto the injured Persian. It had been wounded gravely both physically and emotionally.
Brock stared in shock as Ivy fell from the horn in Giovanni's mad dash, and then at the silhouette of the crazed creature as it fled through the underbrush.... but...... Brock frowned. Was it TRULY fleeing----or was it only attempting to escape an inevitable fate? But.... if he had REALLY been driven insane by the beastly way in which he had mauled Ivy, in the reflexes, the instincts of his mind and body..... why hadn't Brock succumbed to insanity?
The young "man" frowned, bringing a single, clawed finger to his left temple. Really..... it had been horrible at first.... but now.... only a few hours later.... was he.... actually...... FALLING into this new form?
Brock snarled at himself,whipping the hand back down. Of course not. He was only..... USED to this, skilled with this new body..... because of Valencia Island. Because of Ivy. Of course. He nodded to himself, raising his inhuman eyes once more towards the trail of broken branches and churned up earth that Giovanni had left in his wake.
I wonder what's going through his head...... Brock frowned once more, narrowing the eyes in thought. Now that Ivy was dead, he had completely regained his reason.... or so it seemed. Now.... most-----Pokémon-----most WILD Pokémon, anyway.... if they're attacked by humans, or if they've been abused somwhow, taken advantage of..... They'll usually attack the nearest human settlement...... Brock blinked, and then shuddered, remembering the time that the huge-sized Tentacruel had attacked the city that Misty had somehow managed to save from total annihilation. I wonder....... we're at the northern side of Viridian Forest, so that would mean----
He froze. He choked. He shuddered, he shivered, he gagged. An icy wind blew onto the back of his neck, through his deformed spine, and flowing through the black blood into every functional capillary in his hideous body.
PEWTER....................................
He was off like a.... well, a rocket. One moment he was there, and the next, he had disappeared, racing down the path that Giovanni had taken, bowling through the decaying trunks and freshly broken branches that covered the trail. He was silent inside, and he heard his own, growling, breath, heaving, heaving.... All Brock could focus on was the "road" in front of him, zooming past obstacles, barrelling through blockades.... and then.......... a flash of peach and red. With a strangled yell, he tried to swerve, tried to dive, but his momentum was so great that he couldn't help it when he slammed head-on into Misty.
The girl was knocked down with the shocking weight that came so rapidly, pulling her towards the ground, dazing her for a moment. Ash, who was behind her, still wincing from his limp, couldn't help but give a shout of surprise, and regarded the creature with an expression as if this was the first time he had laid eyes on him. But no, it couldn't have been. Slowly, it registered in the boy's brain that this was Brock, the hideous creature that had been trying to talk to him, the... THING that he had wanted to capture.
"Brock, that's you?"
Misty shot him a brick glare of frustration, her blue eyes permeating into his amber ones, warning Ash to stop the useless questions:it was neither the time nor place for them. She stood up, slightly dazed by the rattling impact, but she shrugged it off, preoccupied by other trains of thought, which Ash's chatter constantly derailed.
"Brock?" she asked in a startled manner. It didn't take long for her relieved cerulean eyes to contort into a different shape: one of hurt and one of rejection, and finally, hatred. "You've got a lot of nerve, Brock! Why'd you leave me back there?! Were you running away?!" Recovered from the initial shock, she grasped firmly onto the Pokémon's scaled arms: they were coarse and cold to the touch, every unearthly quality of a being that simply did not belong.
Pewter----I HAVE to get to Pewter!!!!! Brock snarled, jerking the arm away from Misty as he bared his teeth. Although he was as sane as ever, he was inadvertently alienating his friends: his only friends--even more. He tried to use his vocal cords once more, but all that came out was a long, low, growl, that forced Misty to loosen her grip on his arm. Then, Brock paused a moment, gave out another snarl, and brought his claws to his bestial vocal cords, pressing down so hard on his throat that he could barely breathe, but controlling it---somewhat.
"Puuggghh.....tuh."
The sound was the same; a feral cry that couldn't even communicate itself as the grunting of a neanderthal.
Misty could hardly believe her eyes: she and an injured Ash had hiked all the way out there...... for what? Just to get shoved aside again, as if the other didn't care about anything anymore. Care. A human emotion. Would the absence of human emotion equal a non-human, an animal, a creature? Misty was beginning to ponder that as she heard the growl, that soaked into her brain with bitterness. Her blue eyes narrowed and she reached out to halt the mutant again.
"Hey! Just where do you think you're going?! You're not even 'gonna say sorry?! What's WRONG with you, Brock?! Aren't you still Brock? Aren't you still........ a person!!?"
She felt her feet sliding beneath her: the other was trying like hell to escape from her grasp, to give his hometown at least a fighting chance against impassable odds. But NO... Misty was restraining him, trying to keep him from doing what he needed to do.
The struggle could only last for so long. Brock seemed to be winning when Misty stabbed with a knife of words.
"If you are, show me!!!"
The fuse was lit.
SHOW YOU?!?!?! He suddenly gave out a roar, and whirled upon her, monstrous rage reddening his eyes even further. As he thought the words, he attempted to speak, the claws pressing against his throat so hard that he was intermittently gagging between "words", and making black blood spill from his neck to his chest.
SHOW you?!?! What is there to SHOW?!??! It's me-----can't you even TELL!??! Don't you even CARE about ME??!?! Can't you even SEE how hard I'm working-----what those bastards made me DO?!??!! A person..... of COURSE I'm still a person.... What else would I BE, Misty, except for ME, huh?! WHAT ELSE?!?!?
However, he found he could only choke out THIS to Ash and Misty's human ears:
"Grroouggh.... youghh??!?! KRAAAK!!! Wassgeerghh.... tagh.... GROUGH?!? Krisgh... MEGH........ goyrghss..... MEEEGH......"
He grit his teeth, further margling the last word as he shakily pointed a claw and brought it to his scaled chest.
"MEEEEEERGH!!!!! Ba---baarrourghhk!!!!"
Misty was not softened by the feral growls, and it produced the reverse effect. She backed away, her eyes reflecting heightened caution. Ash backed away along with her, holding his fists up in pathetic defense, and struggling to maintain footing on his sore muscles. Without his Pokémon he was nothing but bold words and no strength to back them up.
"Don'tcha get closer, Brock!!"
They backed away further, the tenor of the indiscernible words escalating in their hostility, but the desperation of the inhuman sounds not registering in either of their minds, absorbing like a dry sponge. "Keep away... you.... Pokémon!!"
Afraid that the demon would attack, Ash dove to the ground, banging his leg on a stray pebble, and found a stick. He raised it to Brock's face, his visage of ferocity.....as if trying to distract him, like he did with the Krabby.....with his POKÉMON.
THAT struck deep, hurting a part of Brock's soul that had been sheltered, ironically, by Ash and Misty for years. Now..... he felt alone again..... betrayed.... like when Flint left..... and with a huge burden on his shoulders... which he would have to carry alone....
But the instincts... they turned the shock and betrayal into a bit of madness, and Brock, screaming inwardly and roaring outwardly, grabbed the large stick and CRUSHED it in his free hand, making a step towards Ash and Misty in anger. Pewter, for the moment, had no rescuer, as the fury had taken over Brock's mind.... and had caused him to forget about his hometown's peril completely.
The claws were now mercilessly digging into his flesh as he pressed down, desperate----DESPERATE for language, communication, LANGUAGE------his body shook in anger and pain, as his tail lashed wildly behind him.
"MEEEERRGHH!!!! ...Itghs..... MEGH!!!!!! BROUGHK!!!!! Caarghn't....... yogh........ SEERRGH?!?!?"
But......they, who had been the mutant's companion for so long, had been his support, his friend, those that always had been there........were now completely blind. Their eyes had been snatched away by the fear of the unknown..the dark, the concealed, the hidden, the masked. All was unknown, and all was fear. And if one feared a thing that they could not understand, they did not understand the creature: they were deaf to his cries, dumb to offer consoling, and blind to his agony... because of fear.
And he saw the fear, saw the rejection..... And yet, he was even more frightened of their alienation than they were. He was.... TRYING to communicate, TRYING to ACT like himself..... TRYING to apologize for acting so brashly earlier... and now..... they thought he was....
"Agh..... Pourgh....kagh...mon....." He breathed out slowly, bringing the claws down from his throat. He looked down towards the ground. His eyesight was blurring with tears for what seemed like the hundreth time that day, on a timeline that would stretch out for an infinity. The black blood dripped down from the wounds that he had inflicted upon his throat, as he breathed harshly, erratically, and stretched out a hand towards a tree, leaning against it as he began to shake, his knees weakening, his lungs hyperventilating.
"M--MEEEEEGHH!!!!!!!" He gave out a last cry of anguish, falling to his knees next to the tree and bringing his clawed hands on top of his head---and his---his-----HAIR-------as he screamed out roughly in turmoil.
"Broughk...."
Another gasp for air.
"BRRRROUGGHKK!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And then, he quieted, the only sounds being quick sobs on tears, as he leaned his head against the tree, his eyes shut.
There was no way that those tears could not melt a hardened heart. But in Ash's case, his dullness was pronounced once again as he pointed at Brock accusatorily:
"First he's roaring, now he's cryin'! C'mon! Make up your mind already!" He paused. "If ya still got one....."
Misty was silent. Maybe... Brock still was human...maybe........ as she saw him crying, weeping like the flowing leaves of the bending tree he was propped up against, her heart was moved.....but only slightly. That one rejection...was enough to leave her bitter.....and doubtful. Doubtful of so many things..... of Brock's humanity, and her initial affection for him... they all seemed to be on the verge of true falsehood.
The....... monster............ looked towards Ash in a mix of disbelief and pain. He "said" in a hoarse whisper, as if asking for some kind of mercy:
"Agsh....?"
He looked towards the other, and the growl was barely a croak as he remembered..... how....... HOW she had broken the trance.... that Ivy had put upon him.
"M-m-meghstiee...?"
The red-orange haired girl raised her head, perking up at the sound of her badly-pronounced name. It was more of a rough growl than anything, but yet, it was a word. A discernible word, though just barely, it was a word. It was human. Misty's blue eyes lit up like a lantern set aflame. Perhaps there was some of the old human that was left in Brock. There was still..... much, so much heavy doubt that persisted in her mind, and yet, the growl of her name somehow reassured her, even if it was only a tiny hint.
Ash, by now had given up trying to understand the monster. He was looking beyond the horizon......where the smoke of a fiery demise saturated the air above, conveying its bleak message of a condemned city, that, at the moment, would simply be doomed until further notice, as its only hope for salvation laid within the one that its citizens had jeered at so cruelly.... and who was now fearing rejection from some of the only people who... "cared".
At the optimistic look on Misty's face, Brock gave out a cry of desperation, and pointed at her.
"Mmeghstie.....!!!!!" He took the same hand and brought it into a fist on his chest. "Ights...... MEGH!!!! Broughk!!!!"
He sniffed, and finally... outstretched a hand in desperation and lunged.
"MEGHSTIE!!!" He was looking for some kind of recognition, some kind of optimistic response, but since he was ten feet away, he only succeeded in falling face-flat in the ground, his bestial hand still raised towards her.
Misty stared at the monstrous hand, the claws, that were reaching out towards her: they were so threatening, so deadly, and on top of that were raised in her direction, but almost despairingly, as if the monster was wanting, yearning for a kind word. That's all he wanted. Not a pledge of undying devotion, an eternal promise of adoration, but... a kind word. This realization lifted the doubt from her mind, ground it into dust, and obliterated it from every corner of her mind,
Why was I so stupid? Stupid, stupid, stupid....
She inched towards him, while Ash hung behind, his jaw hanging limply as he saw the girl walk to the... monster. He just wants someone to understand him... She kneeled on the ground before him, and lifted the creature's chin, gazing into his hideous, demon-like face.
If I don't..... then who will?
"Brock.....I'm sorry...." She took the monster's claws into her hands, and she beheld a slight smile... a slight, sad smile that didn't dare to part lips, lest the fangs frighten Misty even more. Around her hand he tightened the grasp of his scaled, clawed fingers, careful not to scratch her in the slightest.
".....Thaanghk..... Thaanghk youuuughrr..... Meghstie......"
Thank you.... so much......
His gratitude was immeasurable. If Misty had decided to ignore his pleads for mercy, refuse to accept his innocence, there was no one left in heaven or hell who could ever bring themselves to listen to his imploring, because she was the only one who would. If he didn't have Ash or Misty... or both.... his life would be meaningless... what would be the POINT to live through the pain he had been burdened with?
Thank you, Misty..... He didn't dare spoil the moment with his rough, uncharismatic voice. Because... suddenly..... in this moment of extreme desperation and loss.... she was suddenly looking much less... scrawny.
It almost seemed like.... a trance.... when he brought his face nearer and nearer to his face.... and then, almost on second thought as he took into account his current hideousness, moved his face away from her own and instead rested his head on her right shoulder.... in a way disturbingly familiar to that of Ivy's. Perhaps it was only the blind loyalty of a Pokémon to whoever wouldn't shun it.... but perhaps.... it was something more. And he was doing it because.....
Because.... He sniffed and nuzzled his nose into her collar bone. I don't have anything else.... to live for......
Nothing else to live for.
Nothing at all.
Except for.....
Ash's disconnected thoughts were far away from the mutant and the girl. He was staring with his wide amber eyes at the hellish blaze that further illumined the bright horizon. The irony was morose as it was hilarious: the balmy, gentle evening rays that shone through the curtain of approaching night smiling down upon a....city.....burning.....scorching in the unavoidable belly of Hell....
"Hey, thing-that-looks-kinda-like-Brock-but-not-really!!"
Silence, and a stinging glare from Misty, burning as strongly as the distant flames.
"Pewter City's on fire!"
"WAAAGHT?!?!?" Brock instantly tore away from Misty, and looked up towards the evening sky that was slowly turning into night, watching as the flames licked up and towered into the skies like pillars carved with omens of the doomed.
"Nooorghh....." He groaned, holding his head in his hands. "Noooorrghh......."
His eyes.... they suddenly were engulfed in the nine hells as his head whipped up, his arms swung out, and his tail lashed behind him as he barrelled THROUGH_THE_TREES, through the bramble that layered the ground beneath him... he was gone from sight within a matter of seconds.
"Huh...." Ash blinked and curled his lip contemptously as he stared towards the mess that the "monster" was making in its wake. "Yeah, and I'm SURE it CARED before....." He turned around towards Misty. "It's probably just making a SHOW of being Brock!!! It's trying to fool you, Misty!!!" He paused. "And you're fallin' for it!!!!!!"
"Just.... shut UP, Ash!!!!" Misty spat vehemently at the narrow-minded boy. She shook her head in dismay at Ash's reactions to all of this: he was like all the rest of them, and like she was a while before: the blind eye turned towards the lowly face of the damned. As her cerulean irises clashed with his sable, she could vaguely discern someone she knew...not very well, but enough to churn hatred for him. And right now, she felt as if she was hating Ash, loathing him for all he was saying. Her command ended with a resounding slap of her palm against his face, and she darted off after the ebony demon, who was headed for the center of the massive pillars of flame.
"AAAGH!!!" Ash cried as pain shot up his cheek. He groaned a small "Owwwww...." and then winced as he began to rub it tenderly with a gloved hand. "That.... that really HURTS, ya know, Misty!!!!" He fumed, chasing after her.
Red sneakers pounding the ground steadily being won over by shadows, Misty circumnavigated the forest that Brock had so forcefully traversed, and her breath was tight in her throat, as the dirt was upset beneath her as she charged towards the city, that was completely engulfed by seething red-hot flames that seemed to be raising their arms to the heavens, shaking a golden-cinnabar fist at the clouds to defy the hidden sunlight that could not exceed their unrelenting brutality. As she neared the city, she slowed down, afraid to plunge headlong into the flaming heart of the devestation. But Brock had gone into the midst of it, and she was apt to follow. Inhaling as if it would be the last breath she took, the red/orange-haired girl headed into the destruction, that was elevated with the dying bemoaning their dead like the ghostly choirs of those who were soon to enter the netherworld.
*~*~*
Brock himself had a heart which was at the moment pounding like the beat of a drum, whose pace was quickening. Everywhere his eyes darted.... bodies....everywhere he dashed.... heat.... and flames. Too late, too late.... because he had gotten preoccupied with HIS problems, with HIS worries....
Brock stopped in the middle of the main street, staring at the destruction that.... Giovanni.... had caused. Giovanni himself: not his legion of gangsters subject to him, not his Pokémon, but the boss himself...
Houses had collapsed into themselves, people were fleeing from burning buildings for their lives, as they trampelled over bodies of strangers and loved ones alike.... They were all yelling, screaming, crying.....
Too late, Brock-O. You're too late.
Somewhere in the city where the fire hadn't ignited, rubber wheels rolled along the squares of concrete that led to the north end of town. A baby carriage bounced along the bumpy sidewalk, as the baby gurgled and drooled inside, dangling his legs playfully. The mother smiled down at her baby, and reached her arm into the carriage to pinch the infant's cheeks. So elated was she that she was oblivious to the heavy tread of an animal behind her, tireless and menacing, its looming shadow growing ever larger, two malicious hellfires glowing behind them. And when she only felt air between her fingers, she knew something was wrong. Sickening dread cascaded over her, and she stretched her hand beyond the carriage. All fear vanished as she felt her baby's leg, the tender flesh so warm, so...sticky...with...scarlet..liquid...Her hand came away, covered in BLOOD... her CHILD'S BLOOD.....
"Gerald...h-honey?"
Her terrified gaze crawled up the baby's ankle, then his knee, then thigh, the soft peach flesh disappearing amidst a gleaming row of bestial fangs, soaked in ruby fluid that could only be blood. The mother was helpless. She could do nothing as the savage monster's jaws parted, revealing the face of the baby. So young, so pure, and now...so dead. A stifled scream, a sickening crunch of bones, and the mother joined her baby. The only thing left...was the now-overturned baby carriage, the wheels of which spun ominously in midair as the beast's breath ignited the pavement.
The second course fared no better. At the southern end of town, consumed by the active fire. Both victims' blood trickled out the sides of the repulsive jaws that were gnashing the bones and tendons into digestible juices, that had once been living, breathing beings, but no longer. In Zero-X's wake were left piles upon piles of bodies, no longer identifiable, mutilated beyond repair.....both humans and Pokémon alike. Most of the corpses had been gutted and devoid of any of their muscles or nerves: with some even the skeleton had gone into the putrid maw of the hideous creature. Others were devoured less messily, and their hearts were left to be weighed on the scale of Anubis.
He stalked off in search of other prey, his scarlet eyes burning with uncontrollable madness, and he trampled upon the oozing corpses in the process, mangling their frozen countenances even further, if their head was left intact. Each advance of his tremendous girth caused a slight tremor in the ground, shaking the wavering towers of flame as he walked further north. Something in his total absence of reason directed him to a certain house, that had been spared......until now. There were no lights in the house: the absence of light drew him nearer to it, attracted him to it, as flies are attracted to light, the ebony lizard was attracted to the hue of his flesh. His thick, curved claws scraped the ground below, gouging deep streaks into the barren soil.
There was a boy inside the house, that was playing with a ripped, stuffed Geodude. He was one of the younger children in the household, that got away with more leisure time. So engaged in his activity was he that he didn't notice a clawed hand shattering the glass, and gripping his small chest.....until it was too late.
He couldn't give a cry as his head was bitten clean off, the rest of the body shuddering violently as the corpse of the boy was stuffed into the maw of death.
The stuffed Geodude fell to the floor, where it was trampled by the clawed foot of the murderous beast.
There was a sudden pang in Brock's chest... as if someone had dug their claws into his chest and ripped out a piece of his heart. He gave a cry of pain as his head began to throb, and he staggered backwards, slamming himself inadvertently into the walls of one of the buildings that had been weakened. It was too late to move when bricks, wood, and other flaming rubble landed on top of him.
No... no... the KIDS!!!!!!
Yes.....the kids. The zenith of innocence......being eliminated by the conscienceless creature. Yet, one can't have a conscience without having a mind. At this point, Zero-X was mindless. He was definitely aware, he was conscious, but he was blinded by utter rage.....and his only recourse... was to kill. And to eat of the prey.
And kill and eat he did. After barging into the kitchen, the twins and their cold spaghetti were eaten, traces of the latter regurgitated on the floor in a disgusting acidic soup, that was dripping from Zero X's slime-coated tongue. It swung its tail, breaking the cupboard that concealed another one of the children, and he was flung to the floor, his nose breaking as he slammed into the cupboard, red blood flowing.
"Helllpppppp!!! I'm scared!!"
The creature's acid-drenched tongue wrapped around the thin neck, squeezing the young life out of the boy while slowly digesting his throat walls, and when the boy was dead, he was drawn into the monster's mouth and swallowed whole, joining the rest of his kin.
And where was the father? In his own room tucked at the back of the house, cowering, hiding away.....with Cindy. He couldn't be bothered with the other eight: his youngest daughter was his only concern: to hell with his other daughters and sons, borne from different mothers--perhaps even fathers: they were all trash..... ESPECIALLY... the eldest. The one who came... from HER........
He was deaf to his kids' screaming, their cries of terror, and the crunch of their breaking bones: he was calming down the frightened Cindy, who was holding a yellow lollipop. Flint held her dutifully in his hands, rocking her back and forth, forth and back, lulling her to sleep, trying to drown out the helpless wailing, the terrified screaming, and the bawling..... that was inevitably followed by a sickening crunch, barbaric slurping of blood.... He could only hope... that the monster wouldn't reach this room.... that the room would be spared. Let the world fall, but let that room be saved....
No chance of that. The creature lunged, and the door collapsed, roasting in the flames. Flint went white with fear: the monster was a demon out of Hell itself: Lucifer's chosen soldier..heralding the imminent death. Its reverberating roar was the chord of so many of death's angels, and its eyes the diabolical manifestation of Hades' inner sanctum. Hell had truly arrived upon earth, bringing forth all of its death.....Cindy's eyes widened, as she clutched at Flint's shirt and bawled, crying, sobbing at the horrible sight. Her little heart was beating as quickly as that of a mouse. Like many small children, she thought that the safest place from anything was behind her parents... and so she scurried behind her father, every facet of her being shaking in absolute terror.
But most of all...
She wanted her brother.
"Wha...whaddaya want with us??!?" Flint stammered, frozen in the face of death. "We're just a-----"
For the first time since the rage had overtaken it, Zero-X placed its claws on the doomed man's head, the pitiful excuse for a parent that gave a damn for nearly no one.... though Giovanni did not know how to communicate with the dominant specie, Zero-X did, and its voice echoed in Flint's head, in his brain that was trying its hardest to figure out some way to avoid this, that he didn't notice that Cindy had sought refuge behind him. But, death was inevitable. When it came in such a destructive form, it was inevitable. And it was a horrid death, marked by the scorn and mockery of mental condemnation.
.....You're just a town of hypocrites.
Flint widened his eyes in terror.
But aren't we all? You are, I am......but what separates you from me...
The claws struck at Flint's face, drawing the crimson blood from his face, ripping the visage in two, the two halves of the skull separating, revealing the grey matter of the slashed brains and he slumped over sideways, landing at his daughter's feet.
......I am ALIVE......
It shoved the human into his bloodstained mouth, Cindy wailing loudly as her father was devoured, piece by piece......and then he turned to her. Licking his revolting chops, he stood over the terrified girl, his eyes radiating uncontrolled evil, and opened his jaws............. Cindy cried and wailed as the huge claws dragged her inwards, and she tried to run away, but the claws only slipped tighter, TIGHTER around her body, tearing through her small arms, suffocating her... She tried to breathe and began to choke, began to gasp for air. Her eyes slowly clouded and her life dimmed into the mist of the river Styx.....
When the demon from heaven arrived.
"RRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The roar shook the foundations of what was left of the house, and sent the roof crashing down upon the monster and its prey.
Two points of blazing light pierced into those of the monster, as the dust slowly settled and visibility became clearer. There was another drawn out growl of pure madness from the newcomer, and then a roar of fury as it slammed itself into the creature that had MURDERED HIS ENTIRE FAMILY. He dug his claws into the BONE as he slashed through the creature's face, dark energy seemed to wrap itself AROUND the monster, squeezing it..... strangling it.........
YOU KILLED THEM.
YOU KILLED THEM.
I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"BAAAAGHHSTARGH!!!!!"
"GROARGH?!!!" GEMINI?!?
"RRRRRRRROOOOAAARRRGHHH!!!!!!" THE__NAME__IS__BROCK!!!!!!!!!!
The hideous creature roared, sending an undulating wave of pain through his face, that was being torn through righteously by the incensed monster, that had EVERY RIGHT to tear him limb from limb......
Or did he? A bitter conflict between one power and the other struggled within Zero-X's mind and soul. It was not until now that this conflict surfaced, two distinct voices battling for control within.
Yes.....I killed every last one of them...and I do not regret-----I regret it all! Why did I... do this? Why did I kill and enjoy it so-----because it is in your veins to kill. To kill everyone and everything, that is what you. and I were created for---no...this MASSACRE was your doing!! No, it was OURS......the voices---so many voices-----they won't STOP!!!
The beast grabbed his bloodied head in pain, hissing in utter torment..
"SHUUUGHHH UPPGRRR!!!!" The attacker continued in its merciless fury, yelling out in its margled, sobbing growls. "SHUGH UPGR, SHUGH UPGR, SHUGH----"
"B-bwock.....?"
Brock ceased his attacking for a split second, and stared down at the small body that had been dropped from the monster's hands. It was shivering and shaking, covered with wounds, and gasping for air.
"SHCIGHNDY!" The tormented soul cried, leaping down from the monster's back and carefully reaching out towards her. He got a grip on her arms and tried to pull her out.... her legs.... from underneath a slab of stone that had fallen.... but every jerk me made, every pull he executed.... she cried, and cried, and cried......
Finally, Brock realized.... his strength had increased, so..... He took a step forward and put his claws underneath the slab. Then he heaved, and grunted, and pulled and pushed, trying with all of his inhuman might to bring up the stone and save..... his sister.... who now..... recognized him.
"Schighndy.... Is'sgh Gughna... beegh okagh........ AAAARRGHH!!!!"
With a final push, the rock rolled over, and Brock rushed to his sister, looking at the damage. Both of her legs.... were crushed beyond repair, both spilling blood and flesh and tendons ripped to shreds. Brock could only gasp in horror, as Suzie lifted her small head.
"Bwock....?" She stared up into the visage of darkness, and then sobbed once more, not waiting for an answer. "Bwock... It HURTS!!!!!!! IT HURTS!!!!!!" She cried out in pain, tears rolling down her tanned, dirtied face.
Brock was in shock for a moment, and then began to cry himself as he gathered Cindy, crushed legs and all, into his scaled arms. He closed his eyes and laid a hand on her head, stroking her hair soothingly.
Shhh..... you'll be okay.... we'll get you to a doctor..... and-----and in the morning.... you'll feel all better, okay?
Giovanni knew that he had done this. Whether willingly or not, he had destroyed the city, murdered its inhabitants in the most gruesome way possible, and ATE the kin of the already-tormented monster... Yes, he had done all of this. And what could he say? What could he do? It was too late for either. And as if he hadn't caused ENOUGH destruction, the murderous reptile was struck again by that opposite force, that rapidly overtook him......
He dragged his bloody mass away from the center of the death that he had caused, headed for another city directly south of Pewter: Viridian, leaving the mournful Pokémon to grieve for his family's lost lives.
However, Brock wasn't aware that the fate of the citizens in the neighboring city might be at risk as well, as he closed his eyes and put his loathesome arms around the girl, rocking her back and forth.
Everything.... will be okay, you'll see....
The lollipop between her bleeding fingers, so small and frail, fell onto the floor, the yellow candy snapping in two. A faint smile formed on her bloody lips, and she nodded with difficulty, knowing that Brock, however hideous he was, would take care of her, would make the pain all better.....all better........she felt warm though the arms were so cold, so scaly, and she felt as if she were on a cloud...sailing....on a direct path to Heaven.......... Amidst the burning flames...of Hell, of death, there was a holy light entering her vision...it was so close...it was almost upon her, slowly leading her away from the fire, from life, from her caring sibling...she wanted to stay with him, but........
......She gave into the enveloping light, the beckoning of the seraphs in eternal happiness, away from the earthly pain of the world.........
Her head fell back upon Brock's chest, and she breathed her last in her brother's arms.
It's going to be okay..... Cindy, you'll be all fine in the morning....
Brock hugged her to him, and nuzzled his nose into her hair.
She didn't move.
Brock froze, his eyes snapping open as he stared down into her strands of brown.
C-Cindy.....?
Silence. Her brown hair ruffled with the blowing of a southeast wind, but that was all. Absolute silence resounded throughout the inferno, amongst the scream of damned souls. Brock's eyes slowly closed..... and he held her limp form even tighter to his chest.
I'm sorry.........
He kissed her forehead and pulled her away, using his claws to lightly close her eyes. Then, he laid her down upon the ground, softly.
I'm sorry.
The sound of crackling flames and the soft whistle of the wind was soon joined by the quiet padding of footsteps.
*~*~*
Viridian City: the city of eternal........
Death. Blood. Destruction. Disaster. Chaos. Police sirens blared with intense blasting as the hideous monstrosity tore through the streets, overturning pavement, painting the sidewalks with blood as he devoured pedestrians, while the rest of the populace evacuated in virtual tidal waves, stampeding out of the city as fast as possible, the only thing on their minds being self-preservation.
The Officer Jenny from Viridian stood at the forefront, directing the earth-shaking evacuation as orderly as humanly possible, meanwhile yelling out commands to her men, a bullhorn in one hand, a cell in the other, frantically giving the situation to her superior, while the terrifying beast laid waste to the city.
"OFFICER JENNY!!!!" A shrill voice suddenly called. Soon enough, a very muddy and terrified Nurse Joy was there, a Chansey heaving in large breaths at her heels. "Officer Jenny------the Pokémon Center is overloaded with victims, Pokémon and human alike!!!!! We're running out of space for injured people to go, and the------" She gulped. "---the morgue is chock full!!!!"
"Dammit....." The blue-green-haired policewoman cursed under her breath, and pointed her arm towards the giant construction site at the far edge of town. "Move the dead to the Viridian Gym, and get the living out of here!! This place isn't safe anymore for anyone!"
She was about to say more when the reptillian thing barelled through the west side of town, a tiny, purple Rattata scampering away, trying to escape inevitable doom. Jenny and Joy could only watch in horror as the Rattata was sucked into the creature's jaws like a horrid vacuum cleaner, the tiny thing screaming in terror as it was consumed by the beast.
In all her years of witnessing the harsh brutalities of life, she had NEVER seen ANYTHING as so utterly cruel and unusual.....exchanging a shocked glance with Joy, she waived all caution aside and mounted her trusty motorcycle, and rode towards the beast, tearing up the already-torn pavement, her gun emptying out as she rode.
"Don't---move-----whatever-you-are!! Stop in the---name of the---law!!!"
The creature's eyes were engulfed with the hue of blood: his own and his prey, dripping down his face, unmoving as the armed woman came heading straight for him at ninety miles an hour. The monstrosity barely flinched as the motorcycle rammed into his thigh, ejecting Jenny from the seat and sending her onto the sidewalk. She shakily raised her face up from the solid concrete, that was discolored with some of her blood from a gaping gash. With a weak hand she grabbed her police radio, holding it to her quavering lips.
"...Need..... reinforcements....."
*~*~*
Rufus was drinking again. Not much; only enough that his body could stand each hour without becoming tipsy--only slightly relaxed. However, the amount was steadily increasing as his body built up an immunity, and he soon found himself downing two glasses--and then three.
WHY was another question completely. He had been feeling stressed lately.... slightly unlike himself. He was usually calm. Cold. Controlled. He never liked to feel as if he relied on anyone or anyTHING----which was slightly hypocritical since his entire LIFE revolved around the company known to the world as the infamous Shin-Ra, Inc.
This... feeling of insecurity had never existed before the explosion. Before Diamond Weapon. It had come to him... little by little, ever since he had woken up from a nightmare of Satan and Hell, finding himself in a private clinic, half-covered with bandages and surrounded by doctors----who worked for Hojo.
An unsettling feeling of dread nauseated his stomach. He winced, shutting an eye and leaning back in his chair slightly. He took a sip of wine, but no liquid touched his lips, and he pulled back the glass, a look of annoyance on his face. There was nothing left. He grumbled something, leaned forward, and reached for the bottle on the front of his desk. He tried to pour some.
None was left.
Something.... came over Rufus. He gave out a yell of anger, and blizzards iced his eyes as he slammed his right fist down on the table and used his left to grab the bottle and throw it forward with stunning force. It crashed against the door opposite the office desk, and Rufus could only stare in sudden shock as the fragments landed on the carpet below.
He.... he had never lost his temper like that before..... especially not at a bottle of wine.... He was cold, cruel in his assessments and anger.... he was always irritated at something or other, but he hardly EVER went overboard.
With a groan of dismay, he leaned his head forward, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. He had the most horrendous headache......
Nothing could be done to ease the ailment, but instead, only worsen it. A sudden "bang" was heard as the doors opened, a giant human marching in, standing at attention. He was in rather casual attire for a soldier: a sleeveless military jacket and loose-fitting cargo pants, and the standard boots completed his outfit. He stood at attention before the Shin-Ra President, and reported the situation as urgently as a man like him could convey it. Viridian's bein' attacked by somethin'. I'm gonna need some of yah troops,.... er...... uh... Mister.... yeah."
Rufus slowly raised his eyes, stringing a hand distractedly through his hair. After hearing the man's less-than-eloquent diction, he vaguely wondered WHO hired the new SOLDIERs nowadays. He shook his head to himself, shutting his eyes. They were good at what they did, he supposed. That was all that mattered in the end, wasn't it?
"Troops? How many, mister........?"
The lieutenant didn't need to get past his freshman year, (which he didn't, anyway), to convey THIS to the young president: "The name's Surge, lieutenant, tho' most call me L.T., and expert with heavy arms during the last few wars, 'fore ya guys recruited me, sir! I know somethin' 'bout combat, so 'gimme 's many as yah got. This baby that we're dealin' with took down Pewter, and the civvies ain't handlin' it too good neither. I'm gonna need 'bout a hundred... an' some extra ammo... yeah, that'll bring th' baby down no problem!!"
"A HUNDRED....?" Rufus glared upwards incredulously. "Surely, damage sustained by ONE creature cannot be THAT critical....."
With a scowl and a grab for a button upon the top of his desk, a flat video-screen slowly lowered itself from the middle of ceiling, just in front of his desk.
"Computer.... find any local news broadcasts covering the attack on Viridian City."
The black-and-white static on the screen soon gave way to the image of a reporter sitting ill at ease on his chair.
"We're reporting live from Lavender Town, bringing you today's special report: Viridian City was attacked early this afternoon by a rare Pokémon leaving a third of the population dead, and two thirds severely injured. Attempts to stop the attack have failed, and the surviving people look to Shin-Ra Inc. for help." There was a pause of half-disbelief, although it was certain that the reporter had repeated the information countless times that day. "Earlier today, Pewter City was destroyed. A search team was assembled, but so far, no survivors have been found."
The television alternated screens of overhead shots of both Viridian and Pewter, the latter scorched to the earth, and the other not far off from becoming so. The camera lens caught blurry glimpses of the one responsible for the bloody massacre, but it wasn't until the cameraman had gotten too close that the horrendous visage of the regretless killer was seen in the light that it dreaded, amd even then, there were only a few seconds that elapsed before the lens shattered, and the agonized cry from the doomed cameraman was abruptly halted as the screen showed only static once more.
Rufus only arched an eyebrow at the horrific visage. Ironically enough, his headache was lessening. It was as if death and destruction calmed him.... He frowned further, and continued to run his fingers through his hair, a bit more nervously than usual. No, NO, that wasn't right.... MONEY...... THAT is what calmed him. Yes, his coffers would soon be filled to the brim.....
He suddenly frowned. His coffers. Ivy. Gemini. Zero-X.....
"Computer."
"Yes, Mr. President?" A montonous, female voice replied. Rufus' frown darkened. It sounded disturbingly like that AVALANCHE member.... the one with the-------generous bosom.
"Computer," Rufus repeated, slowly, staring at the screen. For the moment, he seemed to have forgotten about the large man in front of him. "Replay that clip, will you?"
"Orders.... received."
The video replayed itself, showing the destruction, the monster----
"STOP!!!!" Rufus leapt to his feet, his hands gripping the sides of his desk as he squinted forward at the staticy screen. "Ah-hah!!!" He brought one of the hands up and pointed a half-gloved finger. He murmured to himself: "That...... CREATURE...... Is one of the Pokémon that Ivy promised me...... but, then.... why is it......?"
Suddenly, it came to him. The scowl faded, and was replaced by a satisfied smile, like a lion with an antelope under its paw.
"Hah.... hah.... hah....."
He slowly eased back into his chair, relaxing his muscles and giving in to the comforting brown leather. Heh-heh...... Ivy was more of a devious little bitch than he had previously thought........
The Lieutenant cleared his bulging throat, trying to get the president's attention and snap him out of his focus on what seemed to be other matters, that in no way related to the grave situation at hand. But how was the giant human to know what Rufus was talking about? After all, he was only affiliated with Shin-Ra because the damned company had threatened his platoon, not to mention their Pokémon. There was no way he wanted to be here, inside this spacious office, standing in front of the president of a megaconglomerate monopolizing establishment. He would have much rather been in front of his older-than-Omanyte general, who would have chewed him out for the slightest thing. But even THEN, his general had mysteriously "disappeared" and replaced with some overweight colonel whose laugh was atrocious. Standing before Rufus wasn't nearly half as bad as having to put up with Heidegger's trademark guffaw, and he eased up slightly as he said,
"What're yah laughin' about?"
The Kanto Lieutenant couldn't see any humor in this. People were DYING, here. Falling on top of one another like dominos. And Rufus was LAUGHING about it? But the latter was laughing at something else...
However, Surge was mistaken. Rufus wasn't laughing DIRECTLY because of the destruction. He was actually laughing at Ivy's little scheme, which would benefit Shin-Ra most in the end...... and in the process, disregarding the loss of life that was taking place. What did a bunch of townfolk simpletons mean to him? He was Rufus, and he wanted MONEY. It was very simple, really; the monster would destroy two cities, not only causing the islands to go in a weak state of mourning, shattering the economy in the process. And who would stop the monster before the government even responded? SOLDIERs. Who would make sure that no foreign powers attacked during this time? Turks. And who would reside over it all, talking about the PEOPLE, and how they needed PROTECTION from such horrible catastrophes as this? Shin-Ra Executives.
Rufus smiled, closing his eyes thoughtfully.
And who would benefit?
Rufus Derrick Shin-Ra I, president and largest benefactor of Shin-Ra Electric Company.
Surge didn't have the slightest inkling of what Rufus was planning. If one could measure the distance of the lens of a telescope he was using, well over one half of the lens would be fogged up by ignorance. It was impossible for him to even envision that Rufus would let the city crumble, just to fulfill monetary ambition. He knew the turmoil of war, but was not familiar with the turmoil of corruption and greed.
And therefore he persisted in trying to get some men. "Mr., there ain't much time. Am I gonna get th' troops?"
"Of course," Rufus didn't open his eyes as he responded. He was still smiling, even as he waved his hand in dismissal. "Get all the troops you want----in fact, five-hundred would be fine. Yes. Make a big show of helping, would you?"
"10-4, Mr......." He stole an obvious glance at the door, on which was carved the president's name. "...er, Prez Shine---Ray?" A sweatdrop hung off of his blonde, spiked hair, and he shaded red as an overripe tomato. "10-4, sir!" With that, Surge marched awkwardly out the door, bending his head to clear the doorframe.
Rufus smiled to himself once more. Perhaps his bad day was turning out to be a good one....
He suddenly frowned and rubbed his temple again. The headache had lessened, but it still hadn't disappeared completely...... It was becoming like an everyday throb. He sighed, and suddenly remembered that he needed some more wine.
"Lieutenant?"
"Yeah, sir?" The giant face appeared in the doorway, looking rather baffled.
"One more thing," Rufus opened his eyes, two points of blue which, amazingly enough, weren't Mako-infused.
"All ears, sir," Surge answered, the PokéBalls at his side vibrating without fail, and he placed his enormous palm on the orbs to get them to stop. It seemed as if Raichu and the others didn't like being here any more than he did, and were getting edgy.
"......Tell my secretary as you go out to get me some wine," Rufus ordered calmly. He suddenly frowned. "No---wait----I've had enough of that for one day....."
He began to rub his right temple furiously with his right middle finger.
"Tell her to get me some---------"
He paused.
"Milk."
He almost reeled in disgust at himself, but instead continued.
"And.... tell her to let the cook know that trout is the request for tonight. I feel like some fish..." He found he had been looking down towards his desk and now glared up at the large man. "That will be all, Lieutenant."
Surge's eyes were widened: his first impression of the president was that he was like any other president of a company as extensive and powerful as this, but hearing what he wanted to eat: milk and fish? Though he wasn't the brightest of minds, the way Rufus dressed gave SOME indication of his culinary lifestyle. Shrugging his muscled shoulders to no one in particular, he left the room, heading for the secretary, and then the greater priority: gather SOLDIERs.
Rufus frowned. He had recognized that look..... but what could he do about it? This.... Lieutenant was a well known figure in Vermillion....
He leaned back in his chair, scratching his chin. Now, to contact Ivy again, for--
He opened his eyes and rubbed his hand around his chin, feeling a slight layer of stubble.
Odd. He blinked. I shave every morning,
*~*~*
The city of Viridian had long since been set ablaze. The wounded had to be moved out of the city. None of the structures were left standing. But Virdian would not be a complete repeat of Pewter, however: the shaken survivors of the attack gathered outside of the city, some shaking their heads in despair, others falling to the ground and beating it in anger at the frustration that they couldn't have done something about it sooner, and others unmoving, shocked at the swift blow that ended their relatively stable lives.
Nurse Joy ran up to one of the other Officer Jennys that had been called in. Her hair was in tangles, her pink uniform was splattered with the blood of her patients, and her usually-cheerful demeanor was now one of bleak hopelessness.
"O-officer!!!!" She cried. "The monster's heading towards the Viridian City Gym-------there are already trainers trapped inside from the gas line exploding----what do we DO?!?"
The Viridian Jenny clenched her teeth, at a loss at what to do. There were clearly two options: go in and save them, and risk dying, or do nothing. It soon became apparent that they had to do neither.
An enormous tank came rumbling across the earth, upsetting the fallen branches that littered the ground, crushing them beneath its heavy treads. A hopeful light emanated from the officer's eyes, and answered Joy,
"We go in and save them. Surge and his buddies can hold off the Pokémon!"
She mounted her motorcycle with some difficulty, because of her earlier fall, but started the engine and roared off, plunking Joy into the passenger seat, away from the rumbling of the approaching tank, and towards the flaming building, coughing up toxic fumes that permeated the air.
Nurse Joy had to grip the sides of the motorcycle for dear life, as she and the officer skidded around overturned cars, swerved into alleys, and finally came to the street that bordered the spectacular Viridian City Gym---built anew after an accident just two years before.
However---they hadn't counted on the monster BEING there already.
He...it turned around, the bloodstained jaws clamped shut, hanging out from them a human LEG. The latter's Tauros was lying on the Gym floor, that had been cracked in two, its ribs exposed and its brains ripped apart. Jenny recoiled slightly in horror, but looked firmly at Joy, and they both rushed past the monster, into the Gym. The beast hardly noticed them, too engaged in chewing apart the foundation of the gym, spitting up large chunks of the concrete and stone, that blew through the wall, splitting the wall apart, loosing the cement and causing one half of the wall to collapse, burying the wounded victims beneath. Jenny and Joy had succeeded in forcing their way through the blocked door courtesy of Growlithe, and saw that..they were too late.
The hideous monstrosity scaled the balcony-type structure where the leader of the gym would often battle upon. It torched the curtain, the flaming fabric falling away, somehow unaffected by the blazing light of the destructive element. But this didn't make it any less deadlier. It drove its massive horn into the floor, splitting the structure apart completely, while its tail lashed violently, tearing the elaborate columns in two, that tumbled down in a mass of rubble. A work of man, toppled by another work of man.
The two women had no choice but to flee, as an explosion of hellfire swelled up and engulfed the ceiling, sending debris plummeting to the ground, in torrents of plaster, cement, and support beams that tumbled to the earth, crushing the wounded victims beneath their pressing weight, stamping out their last groans. The flames raged within the city as the rubble sealed them, as well as the monster which had caused this, underneath.
"Dammit.....NOTHING could live through that..."
"All those poor Pokémon.....and people...dead!"
"I had it under control.....damn the Shin-Ra!! Why didn't they come sooner?!" Jenny yelled in frustration as she approached the mountainous pile of rubble, small pebbles sifting out between the cracks of the remains of the formerly grand gym, a dust cloud billowing towards the heavens. "Almost an ENTIRE...CITY....."
"Officer Jenny, there's nothing more we can do," Joy affirmed, her eyes running up and down the silent mass of debris, underneath which the killer, and the killed, were lying under....
Just then, a rumble was heard as the lumbering tank halted in front of the former site of the Viridian City Gym. Like ants from their hill, third and second-class SOLDIERs poured out of the tank, the third-classes' firearms loaded to maximum capacity and at the ready, and the second-classes' swords drawn and ready to strike.
Jenny and Joy stood glaring at the rows of blue and red, their bared weapons gleaming in the light. The culmination of this armed parade was when Lieutenant Surge climbed down from the tank, a confident air about him, fading as soon as he saw the Viridian Gym.
"Whoa....."
"The Pokémon's dead, Surge. But so's half the town."
The very abashed Lieutenant was about to say something when one of the SOLDIERs pointed his gun at the mass of debris. "It's moving!!"
Nurse Joy shook her head in disbelief. "It can't be. No one could've POSSIBLY lived through that...not even Ghost Pokémon..."
"Then why's it moving?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"GROARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH....."
The debris toppled as a curved ebony back emerged from the mountain of destruction, followed by a scaled, spiked tail, and then a HEAD...covered in blood, that hadn't been caused by the collapsing of the building. Surge regarded the monstrosity with wide eyes; the televsion hardly did its fearsome visage justice. But now he was face-to-face with it.
"Yah'd better get 'outta here, babes. We're gonna handle this."
Jenny and Joy hesitated for a moment, their thoughts jarred by this crisis that happened so suddenly, that none of them were prepared for. They left, headed for where the few survivors were huddled. When the civilians had left, Surge nodded to the SOLDIERs.
"Fire at will!"
A thunderous din then ensued through the fire. Every third-class SOLDIER fired their weapons at once, in a single cracking shot that echoed throughout the destroyed city. In one crushing wave, the second-class SOLDIERs brought down their swords in a sweeping slash, plunging the swords into the monster's flesh. The remaining SOLDIERs emptied their cannons, fired their rockets, and flung their grenades, the tremendous cloud of smoke hiding the unmoving target as the projectiles burrowed into it. On and on this assault continued, an endless barrage of unrestrained offensive. And when the smoke cleared....the monster was still alive. Surge's jaw dropped in absolute disbelief, and raised a thick arm towards the SOLDIERs. "Fire again!"
Another slew of firing resounded, with the exact same result. The monster didn't seem to be fazed at all, and was bleeding because of other causes, which were unknown and which no one cared to know.
"Again!!"
Bang.
"Again!!!"
It was not until that they ran out of ammunition that Surge decided to utilize a different strategy. "Okay, if this ain't 'gonna work, I'm retirin'," Surge muttered through clenched teeth. He then turned his huge head to the SOLDIERs. "Engage harpoons!"
Several of them piled into the tank, and then piled out, each of them carrying the devices for ejecting the deadly metal hooks. They aimed in unison and shot the harpoons, thick ropes shooting foward and plunging the razor-sharp objects into the monster's flesh, that seemed inpenetrable before this attempt. It could only hiss and struggle uselessly as the ropes became taut, burying the hooks deeper into the creature's flesh, penetrating the muscle, and sending roars of pain from its throat, that was likewise being pierced by the three-pronged harpoons. "Lets bind it, ladies!"
Surge's mood improved as the SOLDIERs brought out heavy chains that they muzzled the monster with, eliminating the threat of being eaten, and they wrapped the bindings across the creature's chest, back, hind and forelegs, but dared not go near anywhere the tail, that had been lashing through this whole time, knocking away some of the SOLDIERs that dared to constrict this limb, sending them into the towering blaze. "That'll teach it tah mess with me!" Surge swelled with pride as he fumbled about in his pocket for a spare Ball. "Where's that damn-----here it is!"
His bright eyes locked with the monster's crimson ones, burning in rage and hatred at being chained like this....as a wild animal to be caught and tamed. It struggled furiously with the chains, but the harpoons only sunk in further, drawing up the ebony blood that flowed from the cracks in its..... his flesh. But, try as he might, he could not evade the impending imprisonment.
"Ultra Ball, GO!!!"
The accursed device soared through the air, bouncing off the abomination's ebony flesh, it becoming one with the light and fading into the Ball, unwillingly, but too weakened to resist capture, that vibrated slowly on the ground before the red light turned white, and the Ball was still.
The SOLDIERs parted for the Lieutenant as he strode somewhat pompously to the Ball, and he picked it up, pocketing it. "Wait 'till the Colonel sees what I caught!"
He looked towards the stagnant remains of the Gym, and the entire city, the flames still mighty in their scorching heat, and no Water Pokémon to quell it. The destruction had taken its toll...and all because of one foe.
Surge suddenly realized something. He sighed, groaned, put a hand to his forehead, and then muttered to himself.
"Big G's 'gonna make hell when he sees this....."
Funny thing.... he already had.
*~*~*
B9T: Stay tuned for chapter 12! It'll have Rufus, and...hopefully...heh-heh..Hojo! ^^
DMB: Whom I both happen to control..... :D MUAHAHAHAHA!
B9T: ^_- And you do that very well. As an aside, there's less gore next chapter. ^^;
DMB: And that's a GOOD thing? XD Just kidding. Anyway, review, and we'll smell ya later!!! XD;;;
TO BE CONTINUED...........