Thanks for all the reviews, (to be honest, this story was written in the span of three days, and I'm uploading the chapters when I can.) It's also fairly short, I wanted to see if I could write a good story in less than 20 chaps. Doing good so far.
And no, I didn't read that 'Cleansing of the World' story, I had never heard of it until you told me about it, Zita. But now that you've brought it up, I think I will take a look and see how it is coming along, maybe do a review of my own. At least I won't review how you've done mine, I am trying to be professional about this. I began this story April 2, several days after beating the game. I know that the idea of Cipher's return isn't exactly the most original one, but the way I have them trying to rebuild is the best I have come up with.
Read the whole thing before making a ruling like that. Thanks. BTW the red Peon's name is Rosso. Think the spanish term for red.
Ch 6
Sera cooed and wiggled her fingers at Seth as Gonzap finished the last of the straps that held him down to the table. Ein stood by the computer, bored with the scene and waiting for the data to be transferred back into his hands.
"Who's a little cutie-poo? You are! Of course, you'd be a cute little thing! You came from me! And I'm such a beauty!" Sera cooed, tapping the tip of his nose. Seth turned away from her and growled angrily.
"Why the hell are you talking to me like I'm some stupid little two-year-old?" he snapped and pulled against the bands holding his wrists level with his shoulders, "Look, you people want the Snag Machine, right? It's right there! You don't want me around. Trust me on that."
"I don't see why we have to keep him around after you get your stuff back." Gonzap grumbled and grinned, cracking his knuckles, "I'd like to have a word with him and make sure he doesn't think he's got an edge over me." Sera glared at him along with Seth, the expressions eerily similar save for the eye color.
"You will do no such thing to him!" she scolded and smiled at Ein, "You can start the data transfer. How long will it take to get it all back?" The professor picked up a pair of small devices from his desk and walked to the table.
"It depends on how willing he is to give it to us and whether or not he gets agitated during the process." he replied and clipped one of the round, black discs to Seth's ear. He struggled, tossing his head to keep the second clip away from him and sliding down the length of the table as far as he could. "Wes, will you stop that?"
"Get the hell away from me!"
"It's not going to hurt to put this on! You got the first one without a problem!"
"The hell it's not!" Seth yelled, gathering enough strength and slack from his hunched position to buck up and knock him aside with his head. "Ow." he added under his breath after falling back to the table. Sera shot Gonzap a look.
"I thought he was securely tied." she said accusingly. Gonzap shrugged. "Ein, hurry it up!" The professor staggered back with a scowl and finally managed to grab the Snagger by the head, clapping the second disc over his other ear and ignoring the yell of pain and anger.
"There! That didn't hurt at all, did it?" Ein growled through his teeth and stormed back to the console, "Thank God this is all wireless or the brat would keep trying to yank the cords off."
"So, you're gonna be messing with his head now, right?" Gonzap asked, picking up the Snag Machine and examining it. Ein typed in a few commands and looked back at him with a disgusted expression.
"To put it in layman's terms, yes. I'm going to bring up his most recent memories and then examine the memories of last year's renegade day to see what went wrong with him." he replied haughtily.
"NO!" Seth shouted, writhing on the table and trying desperately to knock away the devices securely fastened around his ears. If they went into his mind, then his whole plan would be discovered and Rui would be in danger! "No, no no! There's no way you can do that without my permission!"
"Actually, I just did." Ein remarked with a smile and pressed another key.
From within the two devices, a tiny beam of a laser fired into Seth's head, scanning the temperature generated by an audio signal calling up the memories stored in his mind. The changes would trigger a mini-translator to read the temperature and the translated bit of data that sped through the wireless connection to the main computer. In moments, despite Seth's writhing and crying for the computer signals going to him to stop, pages of data bloomed open on the screen. Ein smiled and leaned forward, reading Seth's thoughts and emotions on the computer monitor and picking them apart analytically. Sera brushed her clone's hair aside, mimicking a soothing gesture.
"It's okay, honey. It didn't hurt, see? Now, we can find out what happened to you and fix you so you're all better again. There, there. Don't cry." she purred, delicately wiping away his tears. He struggled weakly, tugging on the straps holding his wrists down.
"Why...?" he sobbed, hating himself for breaking down this way in front of his enemies, "Why are you doing this to me? I want to go home..."
"You are home, sweetie. And we have to fix you. We can't restart the Shadow Pokémon plan without you. We need you to find more strong Pokémon and snag them for us." Sera cooed and kissed him on the forehead, "Now don't fight. It'll just make things bad for you. Soon you'll be fixed and we'll have a nice lunch all ready for you. I'll make your favorite, duck l'orange with sweet and sour sauce on the side."
"Bloody, bloody hell!" Ein suddenly declared, bolting up from his seat, "The bastard's set us up!"
"The bomb?" Gonzap asked and snickered at his own little joke. Ein whirled around and ran to grab the machine from his hands. "Hey!"
"This!" the professor yelled and threw it against the floor, shattering the plaster, wood and metal against the floor. "This false machine! He's got us bugged!" Sera looked surprised.
"How?" she asked, pulling away from the shrieking Snagger, who decided to resume his struggles for freedom. Ein scanned the floor and snatched up the chip, holding it out for her to see.
"This blasted little bit of technocrap their Under-buddy slapped together from spare parts is a tracking chip designed to let them know exactly where Wesley is when we took him from that blasted girl! She's on her way here as we speak with this bloke's speeder and twin Eons!" he yelled and snapped it in half, "We have to get out of here as soon as bloody possible!"
"Not likely. What did you find out about what set him free from our control?" Sera ordered. Ein swallowed and returned to his seat, reading the pages.
"The first experiment to test the process of artificially closing the hearts of living beings apparently was flawed even in his case. The cause of the heart opening and setting him free were the two Eevees he had stolen as a child. His years of caring and raising them helped him to regain the ability to love a living creature." Ein reported, "Once he learned the difference between love and hate, he turned his hatred on Gonzap, then us, for not giving him the love he learned existed."
"This is all your fault!" Sera raged at Gonzap, "You should have taken those Pokémon away from him while you had a chance!"
"Hey, he said he needed a pair of lookouts for when he went stealin'. I just thought that was all he was using them for. Then we turned to snagging Pokémon for you guys and he came out with an Espeon and Umbreon, ready to go." he protested in his defense.
"How long to get the information from him?" Sera turned on Ein, eyes flashing angrily. Things were not going according to plan.
"Roughly five to seven hours. If all goes well." he replied tentatively and swallowed again.
"Do it. And close his heart again! Delete any memories he has of those blasted Eevees and that little girl of his and close his heart! I don't want him getting away again!" she demanded and looked down at Seth, smiling at his writhing and screaming in fury, "He'll be no mere Snagger once I'm through with him! Seth, you will make the finest Admin Cipher has ever seen! Besides me, of course."
"Let me go! Stupid, lousy, rotten Cipher Corp. junkies!" he snapped back and tried yanking his legs loose from the straps that held his ankles down. "Stop it!" The audio signals began again and he screamed, writhing as the flow of information started again. Ein grumbled and fished around in a drawer for something.
"At this rate the download will take all day! I'm being forced to use this and for all I know it could damage the data." he griped and pulled a small hypodermic needle from within the drawer. He fished for a bottle of some odd chemical he liked to keep handy out of his pocket and filled the little tube. "Gonzap! Make yourself useful and hold him still!"
"I'll make sure we have our surprises set up for his lovely little girlfriend to find when she comes. After all, I am the perfect hostess." Sera giggled and peeked at the monitor. "Rui is her name? All right. Ein, be sure to program into him that his first order will be to get rid of that girl if she makes it here. I don't need her to ruin our new Shadow Pokémon plans, either."
"Leave Rui out of this!" Seth cried, watching her swish out the door. He looked up at Ein as he drew close, the needle in his hand as Gonzap grabbed his arm and pushed the sleeve of his jacket up. "Ein, look, I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt Rui. She's totally innocent, we both know that." he pleaded, "I'll make her understand. I'll make her go home and stay there, just please don't do this or hurt her." The professor felt for a vein in his arm, cleaned it off and slid the needle in carefully. "No, please, Ein! Don't!" Seth cried again, looking anguished as the professor emptied the vial into his arm slowly, "Ein, I promise, she won't interfere. Just let me go..."
"That should do it. Good night, Seth." Ein remarked softly, pulling the needle out and rubbing the spot once more to encourage the blood flow and clean it again. Seth looked down at his hand sleepily, shaking his head in despair.
"First time I ever heard him beg like that." Gonzap muttered and grinned, "I kinda liked it. There a way to make him beg like that whenever I want?" Ein glared at him and returned to his station, eyeing the data flow that sped up tremendously since the drug began taking effect. "So, which name is really his? Seth or Wes?" the Snagem Boss asked, leaning against the table and watching him out of boredom, "And what Pokémon did ya use to make him? A Sandslash? Heh, a Magikarp?"
"The legendary Pokémon of earth, Groudon, and the legendary Pokémon of water, Kyogre, the two that are said to have created the land and the sea millions of years ago." Ein shot back, "And his name is Seth, his designation is Wesley. Just call him Seth to keep your brain on track."
"Hey..."
"I'm busy here. Do you mind?"
"Yeah, I mind! You're the only other dude around to yap with! Seeing as how you put Seth, here, out of commission..."
"I put him to sleep for a few hours, long enough to get the data and reprogram the seal on his heart. And I have very little interest in 'yapping' with you." Ein grumbled, saving the data to a fresh disc.
"Yeah, yeah. What's so legendary about those two anyway, 'sides makin' the world?" Gonzap went on, poking at Seth's shoulder to see if he really was asleep, then checking his pockets for loot.
"Besides the rarity and pure power of them, Groudon and Kyogre have the ability to alter the environment merely by being present. Groudon can withstand intense heat and generates droughts and sandstorms, creating land from areas of water, like oceans. Kyogre brings rainfall and blocks intense sunlight to allow the seas to rise and nourish parched lands." Ein remarked, typing in commands to be sent to the Snagger. "You should know by that which Pokémon's DNA is prevalent in Seth."
"Groudon?"
"Yes, it accounts for his ability to survive in the desert far longer than any other man we've sent, and yours as well."
"That what happened to the other Snaggers?"
"We had no further interest in them once Seth was matured."
"Groudon wouldn't happen to have freaky gold eyes, right?"
"From the descriptions given by the members of Team Aqua and Magma of the Hoenn region, both Groudon and Kyogre had yellow eyes, but the shape of the eye that Seth has is from Groudon." Ein replied and cocked his head, looking quite pleased with himself. "Well, that should do it. The sealing program has been written to label Rui and the two Eons as threats to his life that must be eliminated. Once the data download is complete, the program will upload itself and write over the data of the last year he's lived. That should get rid of any memories of his time with the Eons and the girl."
"Maybe he won't be such a wise-ass this time." Gonzap muttered, counting the bills from Seth's wallet and then pocketing them, "I'm gonna grab a burger. Ya wanna tag along or play dolly with the punk?"
"Only if you're paying." Ein replied, getting up to follow him out, "I saw you poking around in his pockets. Once a thief, always a thief, eh?"
Rui glared at the Shadow Pokémon Lab. Somewhere deep inside was Wes, possibly hurt or scared or something. She was his only hope now. The PDA lost the signal to one of the chips halfway to the lab, the second remained lit. Losing the first signal had only served to urge her faster to the abandoned building. There was no chance that she would give up now, not when her hero, her prince, her love, was trapped within that evil place.
Jumping from the speeder, she held the flashlight in her right hand tightly, using her left to throw out the Poké Balls that held Jupiter and Pluto. They appeared before her and stretched before running up and rubbing her legs.
"You two know about this already, huh?" she asked as she rubbed their heads, "Well, let's go save Wes!"
They ran into the building, determined to find the Snagger.
Almost the minute they finished taking the elevator down to the second level of the lab, they heard a voice call out over the communications system. A monitor lit up on one wall and Rui looked over at it, gasping at the sight of the golden haired woman with silver wings in her hair.
"Hello, hello! You must be Rui! Seth has told us sooo much about you!" she greeted, "Welcome to the Shadow Pokémon Laboratory, where my darling little twin was created to serve our glorious purpose! However, this will be the last time you ever come here."
"Where's Wes? What did you do to him, you witch?" Rui snapped, "I don't have time to entertain you!"
"Wha-what did you just call me, young lady?" the woman declared in outrage, "How dare you say that to me! I was being polite to you and you turn on me, you little slut! For that, I'll not let you see Seth until after I'm done with him! You've just lost your chance to say goodbye to the little Snagger he once was!" The monitor fell to snow and Rui growled angrily. Whatever was going on meant bad news for Wes. She had to hurry.
Ein's favorite lab was deeper within the compound. When following Wes around the first few times, she was able to keep track of the maze-like corridors and rooms by chanting the directions in her head. Wes himself moved as if he had the whole building memorized.
"Come on, guys! Faster!" she called back to the Eons that ran after her. "We've got to hurry!"
She reached the first elevator for the next level and jumped when the shadow beast stepped through the wall to meet her. She backed away cautiously, watching its movements. The Eons jumped forward, growling and raising the hairs on their backs and necks, baring teeth at the wraith. Rui swallowed and flicked the switch to the light on, yelling in a fury as she swung it at the monster. It raged in pain and darted through the wall, a tear in its shoulder visible to Rui's eyes as it escaped her.
"It worked!" she cried happily and entered the lift with the Pokémon by her sides, "We can do this!"
She ran down another hallway, the tracker in her hands leading her to dead ends that she had to work around to find a way to get closer to her goal. For a second time, a monitor lit up on a wall as she paused to let herself and the twins rest.
"You've taken your sweet time getting here, haven't you?" the woman purred, "I've gotten the word that we have only ten minutes left in our data download. Then we'll scuttle away with my lovely little desert prince into my private plane and fly away to our new secret base for safekeeping and recreate the Shadow Pokémon plan!"
"What are you talking about? Cipher's entire database was scrubbed! You don't have anything to download from and Wes is my desert prince!" Rui snapped at the intercoms, resuming the race to find him.
"My father, Garik Evice, had Seth created to be the most powerful Pokémon the world had ever seen, but we wound up with a cute little boy instead. However, he could store all of our information and seek out superior Pokémon for us to steal. This makes him very valuable to us. You can see why we weren't pleased with his escape from our control."
"What are you talking about, you crazy old nut?" Rui yelled, "Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that load of nonsense?"
"You horrid, horrid child! I can't believe he had any feelings for you at all!" the woman declared, insulted, "Well! It won't matter anymore! Not in about eight minutes! Seth will be mine! Mine to do with as I please!"
"You lay a hand on him and...!" Rui started to threaten but the monitor went out. She froze and gripped the light, feeling the twins leap into position to protect her from the front and rear. The sudden lack of light always signaled the return of the shadow beast. She had run into it twice more and was only able to flick the light on before it recognized the weapon and dashed away. Rui switched the weapon on when she saw it dart in from her left side, crying out as it lashed at her before dashing away. She managed a swipe at it as she fell to the floor, but all she did was cut into the claw that hit her. The lights returned as she sat up, dazed. The blow was blocked mostly by the Snag Machine on her arm, protecting her from serious injury.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked as she looked herself over, then at the Eons. They whined and whimpered, worried about their master and friend. "Okay, let's keep going. We're almost there!"
