Thanks to all my readers who've stuck with me this long. ^_^ I know I have an odd updating schedule…technically, I don't have one at all, but thanks again for bearing with me. Charles RocketBoy: I love your reviews…now mind you, I'm not particularly fond of people dissing my characters, but it makes me very happy to see that my writing can actually get such an…interesting…response from someone. ^_^
Just as a note for later in this chapter, the legal drinking age in Japan is 20 years old. Don't ask me why, just read the story and find out for yourself…
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"So…exactly what are we supposed to be doing anyway?"
Nozomi's question was greeted by a small snort from her companion, who had been dozing in his chair. Kyuuden was already fast asleep still clinging to Nozomi and giving no sign of relinquishing his hold. The green-haired girl was left to sigh in frustration with her situation. Where the hell had Karuta gone? He'd just wandered off and left them to sit tight in the Pokemon Center, but what were they supposed to do now? It'd been half an hour since he'd gone and things were starting to look very bleak to Nozomi's eyes.
"Eh? What'dya mean?" Amos muttered as he rubbed at his eyes sleepily.
"What do you think I mean? We're on the run from the law, hiding in a hidden city-beneath-a-city, and all I've been doing is getting dragged along, lectured, tossed, and felt up by a perverted rodent!" She sighed as she rubbed at her temples to fend off an impending migraine. "There isn't even a television in this sorry excuse for a room. Can't we just go do something? Anything?"
"Not a very good idea, hon'. We want to stay outta trouble, so it'd be pretty silly of us to go lookin' for it by wanderin' around." Amos shook his head.
"Amos…please? I'm going to go nuts just sitting around here."
"No means no. It ain't safe for a Daylighter like you to be slinkin' about out there."
"Then what was the point of harping at me about the do's and don'ts of life around here?! For heaven's sake, why didn't you guys just stuff me in a box and smuggle me in? I'd be doing the same thing as I am now!" Nozomi sat up suddenly, a look of anger spreading across her face. Despite being suddenly jerked upwards, Kyuuden snoozed on, still clinging to Nozomi's front.
"Now don't go losin' your temper…I just want to make sure that you're safe is all…" Amos defended himself with helplessly raised hands.
"Damnit Amos, I'm not helpless! I know I'm not as strong as you or as good a fighter as Karuta, but it's not like I'm just dead weight in this group! I've been on my own as a trainer for years now. I'm completely capable of taking care of myself!"
"Things are different down here! It's way too dangerous for someone without experience to be…"
"Then I'll rely on you for that much at least, but I get the idea that I'm weak out of your head! I'm sick of you and Karuta acting like I'm just some silly little girl tagging along."
Amos' potential reply went unspoken as his furrowed brow relaxed. He'd not had the slightest idea Nozomi had felt that way about their situation. Had he really been acting so 'holier-than-thou' to her without realizing it? Looking at Nozomi's angry and hurt face left a bitter taste in his mouth…
"I…I'm sorry, hon'…I didn't know you'd felt that way." He muttered meekly, looking away from his friend.
Nozomi huffed out an exasperated breath and shook her head. "Look…I didn't mean to blow up at you like that…it's just that I don't want either of you guys to think that I'm useless here. I know it's dangerous, but it's not like I'm so foolish as to expose myself either."
For a long, awkward moment the only sound in the little room was that of Kyuuden's contented snoring. Amos heaved a deep sigh as he stood up and stretched a bit of soreness out of his back.
"Alright…with that in mind, I suppose a bit of shopping couldn't hurt…but we have'ta be careful, understand?" He warned. The sight of Nozomi's face brightening left him feeling far better than he had a moment ago…who knew how good it felt to see her smile like that? "However, I've got one condition."
"I think I can handle that. What is it?" Nozomi grinned.
Amos reached down and took a hold of the scruff of Kyuuden's neck. With a slow tug he wrenched the rodent free from Nozomi and slung him, still sleeping, onto his shoulder. "Do something 'bout your clothes. They look great on ya', but denim overalls ain't exactly the standard dress code 'round here."
Nozomi blinked curiously as she regarded her own outfit. Her clothes were perfectly economical for a pokemon trainer, but perhaps Amos was right…the general style she'd seen from her short time spent in the outside crowd seemed to revolve mainly around dark shades of less than durable materials.
"Alright then. I'll get changed right now." She nodded.
…
…
Amos yawned a bit, covering his mouth with his hand.
…
…
"…Do you think I could get some privacy?" Nozomi grumbled through gritted teeth.
"Eh? Oh…yeah." Amos' voice was tinged with a bit of disappointment. Did he really think she was just going to change in front of him? A smirking little voice in the back of his head wished for a more positive answer, but that was just the way of the world. He slunk of out the room with rodent in tow, closing the door behind him and leaning on the doorframe thoughtfully.
"Well…where in th'blazes did that come from?" Amos sighed. "Makes me wonder how long she's been holdin' those kinda thoughts in. Oh well…at least she blew up at me and not Karuta. He'd been less than friendly 'bout it all, eh?"
Kyuuden snored on.
Nozomi was left to shake her head in frustration as Amos left the room for the outside hall. After taking a second to lock the door and slide a chair beneath the handle for good measure, she hurried to search through her pack. Instead of sorting through to find a suitable outfit she was left to pause just before opening the sack. Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what clothes she had with her…none of them would work with the situation. All of her attire had been set for travel and durability, not like the more fashion-attentive outfits she'd seen wandering around the Underground. A high percentage of the people were dressed even darker than Karuta though with an oddly European flare. Just how was a wandering trainer like herself supposed to match up with that? Why in the world did these half people have to stick themselves in medieval dress from some other country?
Shoulders sagging as she plopped herself onto the bed, the thought of calling the whole thing off ran across her mind. She slowly scanned the room and took a sudden grin of realization as her eyes fell upon Karuta's gunnysack propped in the corner. Odd that he would leave it behind, but perhaps he was worried it'd get stolen.
"I'm sure Karuta won't mind if I take a peek at what he's got…" Nozomi snickered to herself as she tugged open the bag's strings and emptied it out onto the bed. She panicked, as the first things to clatter out were six bolted pokéballs and his katana. The sword bounced off the bed and thumped to the floor, the blade unsheathing a bit as it fell. Nozomi carefully picked up the sword and examined it for a long moment. Of all the weapons for a person to have on him, why did Karuta carry around a sword? It was horribly outdated, but she'd seen him wield it with an incredible capability. She shook her head and returned the sword to it's sheath, then collected the spilling pokéballs and went back to rummaging through Karuta's belongings.
Certainly an odd assortment of items Karuta carried…a wide variety of Tupperware, but that would figure since fireside cooking seemed to be a preferred skill of his. Cookware, an emergency survival pack, matches, a few cans of butane, a whet-stone (for his sword, she guessed), and quite a number of items she'd expect to see in any camper's pack. She bit her lip as she discovered what looked to be more personal items among the supplies. A thin leather wallet and a long sanded box turned up, which she took a moment to nervously examine. She knew it was wrong of her to be looking through Karuta's personal affects, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him…she plucked up the box and gave a small whistle at its contents. Lined carefully inside were thirty-five Gym badges, though they looked dull from lack of care. She'd known Karuta was good enough to certify at least as far as the Johto prelims, but it was news to her that he'd beaten so many gyms. Why didn't he continue on to other leagues?
The next item of interest was the wallet…it didn't look like anything special: a simple folded piece of black leather held closed with a push-clasp, though fat enough to make her wonder just how much money Karuta had. She popped open the clasp and peered inside, her eyes wide as she let out a low whistle. The bill fold was packed full of large numerals, easily placing Karuta's finances high enough to support a trainer for a year with just that wallet. Her thoughts of where exactly Karuta came across such cash were cut short as she noticed the only other item in the wallet, which was even more interesting to her than the money.
Protected behind a thin layer of plastic was a faded photograph of an attractive couple, a small boy with short black hair, and a snobby looking Meowth curled in the sitting woman's lap. Could it be…? Did Karuta actually have a family? The child in the photo vaguely resembled Karuta, though he wore a bright smile that she couldn't even imagine her dull companion bearing. A tall man stood behind the boy with an arm wrapped around the shoulders of his wife…that man looked exactly like Karuta with another twenty years or so added on. The resemblance was uncanny and took out all doubt of the man's relation. The woman smiled up at Nozomi with the fond love all mothers seem to radiate when with the ones they cherish, her chestnut hair falling along her shoulders in wavy lengths. They all looked so happy…
"Hey Nozomi, y'almost finished? The fur-ball's woken up and I'm having hell keepin' him put!" Amos' voice called through the closed door. Nozomi jumped at the sound and shook her head, quickly becoming ashamed of herself for invading Karuta's privacy. She carefully stacked the items she'd brought out and dug once more into his bag. Stuffed into the bottom of the gunnysack were a few changes of clothes, though they matched Karuta's normal outfit exactly. What a boring wardrobe…but Karuta was slim enough to match her size closely enough, which was all that mattered…
~~~~
Karuta stalked silently down the worn halls, rolling his eyes at the condition of the place. The whole hallway looked as though it were ready to fall apart at the seams. Peeling wallpaper, cigarette-burnt carpet, water-damaged ceiling…the place reeked of a mixture of booze and what seemed strangely like livestock. Then again, that could've been blamed on the hulk of a door-keep.
Waiting for Karuta at the end of the hall was a door that looked ready for the scrap heap. Despite being made of termite-eaten wood and rusty hinges, it bore a heavy deadbolt that looked like it could've withstood a shotgun at point-blank range, though it oddly lacked a keyhole. Instead it bore a thumb-deep indent with a tiny needlepoint hole at the very center. Sighing again, he brought a finger to his mouth and bit hard on the tip, using his incisors to break the skin and release a few drops of blood. He pressed the bloody finger to the groove and held it there for a long moment. The lock shifted and snapped open, quickly followed by the door shaking as a series of locks hidden on the other side also undid themselves.
"Blood check…worst lock ever…" Karuta grumbled as he licked his cut finger. It was still bleeding…he really was late for his check-up this time…
On the other side, Karuta was greeted to a sight that made him uncomfortable beyond belief. In a stark contrast to the filthy hall he'd left a moment before, he was now standing in a room that looked cleaner than most microchip processing factories. The entire room was tile and steel, shining surfaces that shone dully with over-sterilized methods. The deceptive door, actually made of steel an inch thick and layered with the rotted wood for look, slammed shut behind him with an ominous thud. Lining the far wall was a row of glass cages filled with all sorts of pokemon, though the majority of the cages were filled with Ditto. In the center of the room was a chair that gave Karuta unpleasant thoughts of a dentist's chair. It didn't help that next to the seat was a tray of potentially dangerous steel medical tools.
"Ah, so the mysterious wanderer finally decides to grace us with his presence once more, eh? You're four months overdue on your check-ups, I might add."
Nearly camouflaged against the glimmering white tile was a lanky man in a white lab coat, a wide grin greeting the trainer's scowl. The man was middle-aged but seemed years younger with a light demeanor that helped put even a cynic like Karuta a bit at ease. Despite the sterile environment the man had a cigarette clenched between his stubble-lined lips. Running a hand through his graying hair, the man shook his head and motioned to the seat. Karuta took a moment to toss his coat over the back of the chair before climbing in.
"I see you're still in good health, Doctor." Karuta nodded his greeting as he slipped into the reclined chair. The seat was also white, which made the trainer feel even more out of place in his dark clothing. The doctor shrugged and went about fiddling with a syringe from the tray.
"Hey, if you don't have your health what do you have? And how many times have I told you not to be so formal?" the doctor chided while Karuta rolled up his sleeve, probably exposing the most skin anyone had seen from him in months. His arm was even paler than his face and his veins showed quite plainly through his delicate skin.
"Fine…how about Webber-sensei?" Karuta suggested.
"Too formal."
"Webber-san?"
"Getting warmer…"
"Webber-kun?"
"Almost there…"
"Please don't make me say it…"
"You don't have too…I'll just take my services elsewhere instead…" Webber grinned as Karuta shook his head.
"…Web-chan…"
"There ya' go! We're friends, right Karuta? Y'gotta learn how to lighten up around people like me…guys like you are just too uptight for their own good. You'll die of a stroke with all the seriousness you've got pent up." Webber grinned as he busied himself tying a tourniquet to his patient's exposed bicep.
"A stroke? What sort of quack doctor are you supposed to be? I know you're a foreigner, but 'chan' isn't really a fitting suffix for a guy your age…people will think you're a pervert if you go by that kind of nickname." Karuta sighed. He grimaced slightly as Webber placed the glimmering tip of the syringe to his arm and slid it through his skin.
"And since when have you ever cared about the thoughts of others? Last I checked you were still as much an asshole as the next guy, if not more." Webber smirked as he slowly filled the syringe with a good deal of blood.
The doctor quickly drew out the needle once he'd half-filled the syringe with the dark red blood, leaving Karuta to press a chunk of cotton to the wound on his own. Humming quietly to himself, Webber brought the sample over to a thin countertop littered with a variety of devices Karuta recognized from past experience but still couldn't hope to classify. He emptied the needle's contents into a beaker and placed the glassware into a centrifuge. After adding in a few drops of a greenish chemical, he capped the beaker and set the centrifuge spinning along.
"Why have you spent so long without a check-up anyway? It's not healthy for you to have gone this long past the expiration date…you fall harder and it's even worse on the relapse." Webber scolded Karuta as he watched the beaker spin.
"Goldenrod's tough to get to sometimes…I'm not always in the area y'know." Karuta shrugged. "Besides, I've been busy lately."
"Don't I know it…I saw the news report of how you and McCaugllen wiped out a police team. You kids these days just don't know how to stay out of trouble, do you?"
"Who th'hell are you calling a kid? I'm twenty-one years old…"
"Yeah, and I'm forty-seven, so you lose that round." Webber chuckled as he stopped the centrifuge. He scowled deeply as he examined the beaker. The blood inside hadn't changed much, only a thin tint of purple existed as proof from the chemical he'd added. The rest of the chemical had been forced to the bottom of the beaker by the momentum of the centrifuge.
"I don't believe this…with this sort of dilution, I'd bet you only have about ten percent influence right now. Your Ditrean count must be nearly nonexistent…how are you even walking?"
"I'm a trooper?" Karuta shrugged.
"You're an idiot, that's what. For heaven's sake, you kids never think ahead…With levels this low I can't even use a pre-mixed batch." Webber shook his head as he started towards the glass cages.
"Fresh is better anyway…works faster, right?"
"If you don't mind the recoil, then I neither do I."
Webber reached into one of the cages and drew out a large Ditto, the blobby pokemon chattering cutely in his hands. He fondly cooed comforting words to it and chuckled a bit as the gelatinous creature mimicked the sounds he made vaguely. His cheery smile never faded as he carried the Ditto over to his workbench and dropped it unceremoniously into what looked to be an everyday household blender. He stuffed a thick plastic cap over the top and pressed a button on the base without a care in the world for the pokemon trapped inside. The Ditto gave a shrill cry of shock as the blades in the bottom of its prison suddenly started up, though it didn't suffer long before its body was reduced to nothing more than a gooey slime.
Karuta watched silently, unphased as Webber went to work combining chemicals he'd never bothered to learn the names too. The first time he'd seen Webber do that to a Ditto, he'd thrown up right on the sterilized floor and received one hell of a tongue-lashing. He'd managed to hold his bile down the second time he'd come in…the third time he merely flinched. The trainer had made it a habit to drop in every six months for a check-up and had become desensitized to the slaughter of each Ditto for his benefit over the years.
"What in the world have you been doing to drop your count to such a pitiful level? I know you're the adventurous sort, but it takes a lot to make your body absorb so much Ditrean." Webber muttered as he worked.
"Lessee…I needed to heal a shattered arm a few weeks ago. I ended up having to sit in a hospital while the doctors tried to figure out why my bones hadn't been turned to powder. Recently, I got into a heavy brawl with McCaugllen; dislocated jaw, two broken ribs, lost a tooth, and cracked my skull in four places." Karuta counted off on his fingers.
"You're way too reckless, y'know that? Why do kids have it in their heads that they're invulnerable?" The doctor let out a puff of cigarette smoke.
"Hey, I got better. Good as new."
"Thanks to me, I'll have you know. With those sorts of injuries, you're lucky to have my serums or else you wouldn't even be alive right now. How about a little gratitude?"
"Now now…Web-chan…My thanks comes along with the check, you know that. Of course, I could probably accuse you of highway robbery for how much you charge per check-up."
"You think these things come cheap? I'll have you know that splicing is not an inexpensive science. Just be satisfied with what you have; you'll live a happier life." Webber muttered as he combined vials of various chemicals into the blended Ditto goo. "Come to think of it…how do you afford my treatments anyway?"
"I have some odd-jobs I picked up every now and then." Karuta evasively replied.
"Fair enough. So I take it you'll want your usual martini? That Ditto was specially fed, so its Ditrean count was especially high…that'll help the initial amalgamation. I've got the normal blend of Ditto, Machamp, Scyther, and Meowth. Anything else you'd like before I put in the catalyst?"
"Go light on the Machamp, but a double-shot of Meowth…otherwise, any suggestions yourself?" Karuta shrugged. "You always reference this stuff to alcohol…y'know, the first step of recovery is admitting you have a problem."
"You think you're pretty funny, don't you?"
"Yes."
Webber just sighed and shook his head. "Well…I have been working a bit on a new cocktail that you might find interesting. Y'see, pokemon are capable of using what most call 'elemental' abilities; a Cyndaquil breathing fire, a Pikachu emitting sparks, that sort of thing. It's been found that certain chemicals exist in a pokemon's body that gives it the ability to utilize such capabilities. My research has been focused mainly around Hitmonchan samples, but it's come in leaps and bounds in the past few months…"
"Forget it, I'm not here to be your guinea pig. No new additions until after your tests are perfected." Karuta firmly stated. Webber knew he'd not be able to sway the trainer's mind, so he resigned to fate as he added in the final beaker and set the blender going again. The end result was a thick, violet liquid that looked more like half-formed jell-o than anything else.
"Fine…you kids these days have no sense of adventure." Webber sighed as poured the mixture into an IV bag. He sealed the bag and set it up on a hook above the chair, twisting on a tube and hooking on another syringe tip. He placed the needle above where he'd last pierced Karuta's arm and slipped it deep into the vein before securing it with a length of medical tape. A twist of the stopper and a few flicks was all it took for the purple liquid to begin its path down the tube and into Karuta's bloodstream.
"With your Ditrean count as low as it is, this reinstatement is going to hit you really hard. How about a sedative to help you along?"
"No thanks…I'd rather not fall asleep in a place like this, if you don't mind. Knowing you, I'd probably wake up on the other side of one of those cages." Karuta nodded towards the wall of caged pokemon.
"Hey, it's your headache…here, don't forget the chaser." Webber shrugged as he handed Karuta a beaker of a viscous looking purple chemical. Karuta grimaced at the offered glass and sighed heavily. He'd always hated this part…
"Isn't there any way you could make this stuff taste better?" Karuta grumbled as he took the glass and pinched his nose shut. With a steadying breath he tilted his head back and down the contents as quickly as he could. The chemical tasted like sulfur and eggs, not to mention leaving a horrible burning sensation in his throat that made his eyes water.
"Nah…complex sugars would just degrade the effectiveness. I know it's not pleasant, but you need that secondary catalyst to speed up the Ditrean's integration or it'll just dissipate through your system without doing anything." The doctor shook his head. "Now just sit back and relax. That IV'll take another half hour to empty."
The glumly dressed trainer nodded dully and settled into the chair as best he could. It would figure he'd be stuck here for that much longer…but what choice did he have? He could already feel the liquid burning in his stomach and making it cramp if he moved the wrong way. Perhaps a bit of a rest wasn't such a bad idea after all…
~~~~
"Hey baby-girl, wanna hang for a while? Take a shot?"
Nozomi held back a sigh of exasperation and offered the scraggly young man speaking to her a deadpanned expression. All she wanted to do was take a look at a few trinkets on sale in the Underground's massive bazaar and just look at what happens. In all the pushing crowds she'd been targeted as she stopped to sort through a bin of hair-ornaments. The offending youth was a poorly shaven man with scruffy hair and an out-of-place fashion that dubbed him a stereotyped skater punk, though there wasn't a skateboard to be seen around him. Four other men of similar dress accompanied him as they loitered about the shops, hand-made rolls hanging from their mouths. Kyuuden, who was finally awake and hanging from Nozomi's shoulder, took a moment to hiss shrilly at the offending young man before Nozomi quieted him.
"Keep it for yourself, pal. I don't know where you've been." Nozomi smiled coyly at the punk, earning him a chorus of heckles from his friends.
"Watch yer fuckin' mouth, you bit- -" the man began to snarl. Said snarl abruptly died into a whimper as Amos suddenly loomed up behind Nozomi, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder.
"Hey hon'…these guys causin' trouble fer ya'??" Amos cast a wilting glare down at the stoners. He had at least foot's height on all of them and used that to full towering ability as the offending teen began to nervously slink back towards his group.
"Just a bit…don't make this guy bleed as much as the last one, okay? He almost splattered on my shoes…" Nozomi shrugged offhandedly as she returned to looking at a particularly attractive hair comb. All Amos had to do was crack his knuckles and grin before the entire troop of smokers were shoving their ways through the crowd in a clumsy escape.
"That never gets old n'matter how many times I do it…" Amos grinned as he returned to helping Nozomi with her shopping spree. He already had several plastic bags stuffed full of items hanging from his arm, though only one of them belonged to him.
Once Nozomi had gotten over the initial uneasiness of the Underground, she'd taken to it like a fish to water. She'd worried about standing out too much but found that getting by was much easier than her friends had made it sound. While the whole place had an edgy feel to it, there was also an underlying sense of 'who-gives-a-damn' among the residents. As long as she didn't do anything to draw attention to herself she passed unnoticed by almost everyone around. On the other hand, he costume change hadn't hurt at all either. Surprisingly, Karuta's clothes fit her quite well with a few adjustments, though she'd had a hell of a time actually getting dressed without either Amos jokingly trying to peek on her or Kyuuden seriously attempting the same despite her efforts to bar the door.
As they wandered the Underground's multitude of street shops, Nozomi couldn't help but grin the entire time. She felt like a completely different person in this atmosphere, like a heroine in disguise at her arch nemesis' banquet. Nobody but Amos and Karuta knew what her true personality was like so she was given a blank slate to show a different face to all these people around her. She flashed a great deal more neckline with only the middle two latches of Karuta's shirt buttoned as well as a glimpse of her flat tummy from the un-tucked bottom. His slacks hugged her hips in a temptingly lopsided look, she thought. A pair of knee-high boots had practically cried out to her when she passed them in the shops and quickly replaced the sneakers that mismatched the rest of her new outfit. She'd bound up her normally loose hair into a tight braid that swayed behind her with every step and even gone as far as to touch up with a bit of make-up. She wasn't so much of a tomboy that she didn't carry a few supplies with her at all times, but she'd never thought she'd have the opportunity to use some of the darker shades in her compacts. True that the change of apparel also gained her a lot of unwanted attention, it was thankfully the less dangerous sort considering where she was.
"This one's nice…what do you think, Amos?" Nozomi held out the hair comb she was examining to her companion. A moment without a reply drew her attention, noting that Amos was using his height for a different use this time. She followed his eyes down the open top of her shirt and punched him uselessly in the stomach…at least Karuta was small enough to react to being hit, but Amos had no such consideration.
"Eh…wha?" Amos blinked as if he'd just woken up.
"Eyes up here, McCaugllen." She sighed, pointing to her face. "I swear, you're worse than Kyuuden sometimes…"
"Hey, don't compare me t'that rodent. At least I don't try an' grope ya'." Amos smirked as he wiggled his fingers promisingly. "Though if y'wan' me ta'…"
"Don't even think about it you…did your accent get thicker?" Nozomi asked in sudden realization.
"Eh…I've got a bit'a reputation in these parts of the Underground as a wild Irishman, so I lay it on a bit thick 'round here." he whispered into her ear.
"Exactly what race are you again? Wait…better question: is this the same reputation that ending up getting you nicknamed Spitfire?"
"One an' the same, sadly."
Nozomi couldn't help herself as she chuckled at Amos' expense. The thought of him three-sheets-to-the-wind and dancing about atop a bar without his pants on was just too humorous for her to withhold against. Amos seemed to be on the same train of thought though with a different view of how entertaining the concept was. He grumbled a few choice words beneath his breath and was about to raise the volume before Nozomi brightened.
"I've got an idea…how 'bout you show me the bar where all this happened?" she grinned broadly.
"Whoa now…that's a bit much t'be askin'…it's bad enough that we're even wanderin' 'round out here, but now y'want to go drinking too? You're not even old enough to drink yet." Amos frowned.
"Amos…think about where we are. I don't think anybody'll care that I'm a few months under the age limit." She shook her head. Who was he to talk about obeying laws?
"I dunno…I still don't—"
"It'll be fine! I've been doing well on my own and if things get too messy, I have you and Kyuuden. Besides, I want to see if the bartender'll have any other embarrassing stories about you." She laughed as she grabbed Amos' wrist and began tugging him down the street.
"N-now wait! C'mon Nozomi, please?" Amos whined, as he was drug along. This was not looking to be a good night for him…
Amos resigned to his fate and allowed Nozomi to pull him down the crowded street, muttering vague directions and snarling at passer-bys who found his plight entertaining. He didn't bother to excuse himself as he bumped into a redheaded girl, though she spouted a string of curses that followed the pair all the way down the street.
~~~~
"Geez…what a jerk. I hate oafs that think they can just step on smaller people." Eris grumbled as she dusted herself off. Her blonde companion, Miya, just shook her head as she waited for her friend to finish griping and catch up with her.
"Now tell me again how exactly you talked me into this?" Eris prodded her partner in the back.
"Will you quit whining about it already? I just want to see the infestation for myself. All these rumors about the Muks are flying around but I haven't even gotten so much as a nose-full. I want to know if it's as bad as everyone's saying it is." Miya replied as she elbowed her way through the crowd.
"I still don't think this is a good idea…we're supposed to stay away from the infested areas…"
"Grow up…we're part of Team Rocket, remember? We got great pokemon from the syndicate's Goldenrod branch that will protect us. That Blastoise you picked up should be more than enough to handle some blobs of goo."
"This from the girl who told me that people who went near the Muks never came back…" Eris sighed.
The rest was silence as the two Rockets headed out towards the South gate of the Underground. The crowd issue became less and less as they went until finally it seemed as though they were the only two in the streets. Their arrival at the South gate was uneventful…the exit was nothing more than an exposed drainage pipe large enough for an Steelix to have fit through gated off with a shoddy chain-link fence. It was too easy for the girls to tug open a corner of the fencing and crawl through, making their way into the southern exit of the Underground.
The tunnel gradually opened up into a dried up sewer, though the stench of waste seemed ingrained into the stones. Down either wall of the sewage paths were countless pipes that lead off into a labyrinth of plumbing that one could easily be lost forever in. Flickering bulbs lit the path for the girls, poorly illuminating the signs drawn on the walls that pointed the way back to the world above. Eventually they came upon a side route that was blocked with what seemed to be blast-doors, though such a thing seemed ridiculous to find in a sewer.
"Y'think this is the place?" Eris asked, nervously pacing in place.
"'Danger: Do not enter under any circumstance. Muk infestation beyond this point'. Yup…I think this is it." Miya nodded, reading the warning sign pasted to the thick doors.
"Well, I guess we won't be going past it. Even if we wanted to, those are way too big to force our way through…" Eris sounded quite relieved as she rapped on the heavy metal doors. They rang back dully, the sound a testament to how thick that blockade really was.
"I guess so…ah well. I suppose it's for the best anyway." Miya shrugged as she turned to leave. Eris grinned thankfully and followed after her partner, though she slowly trotted to stop with her head tilted back.
"Hey Miya…y'smell that?" Eris sniffed the dank air curiously.
"Are you kidding? What don't I smell in this nasty place? It's a sewer!"
"No, besides all the crap…kinda smells like…I dunno, like hot sauce."
"Hot sauce? Have you lost your mind or…" Miya slowly trailed off as a sharp scent hit her nose. It definitely had the bite of a hot sauce, though it was distinctly artificial as a whole…it had a heavy, chemical smell to it. "Yuck…smells like…like paint…"
"Yeah, that too…and sulfur." Eris agreed.
A loud groan drew both their attention back to the blast doors. With a slow shudder, the doors seemed to bulge outwards as if there was some massive force pressing from behind them. A droplet of liquid formed at the door, slowly dribbling down the metal to pool at the ground. As the girls drew close to inspect it, the stench of the liquid made them grimace in disgust.
"Oh god…that's horrible…" Eris gagged, pinching her nose shut.
"Eris…its acid! Look at it!" Miya gasped.
The two Rockets stared wide-eyed as the flow of the bright green liquid quickened, a small gap appearing around it and growing with every second. The thick metal seemed to evaporate against the touch of the acid, inches of the doors vanishing away within moments. Common sense seemed to strike the girls simultaneously as they backed up down the hall, walking backwards with their eyes still riveted on the disintegrating doors. The doors suddenly heaved and collapsed on themselves, a wet splatter of acid hitting the wall behind where the girls had just stood a moment before.
With a breeze of rancid air, the floor beyond the door was suddenly filled with a glutinous pink and purple ooze. What could barely pass for a humanoid face leered out of the mess at the two girls as the living blob of toxic waste reared up to its full height, towering a terrible eight feet high. Its dripping hands slacked against the walls with sickening noises as the blob tried to find its bearings in the flickering light. Its watery eyes locked onto the girls, effectively frightening them with a wet growl.
"M-miya…the pokemon…get the pokemon out…" Eris whimpered even though her own hands were frozen at her sides. The creature squelched loudly towards the two and Eris suddenly took off down the sewer, dashing full stride away from the beast.
Miya, meanwhile, was still struck numb by the sight of the horrendous creature. It loomed over her, overpowering in its sheer size and stench. Tears streamed down her face as the acidic reek burned her eyes, her entire body quivering helplessly. A terrifying moment passed as the beast and girl's eyes met, sending out the fear in the dwarfed girl like waves. Miya suddenly jerked backwards, her collar tightening until she gagged as she was violently tugged away from the looming blob. Stumbling over her own feet, the girl was dragged by her friend, Eris' sudden flight overcome by loyalty to Miya.
"What do you think you're doing!? Run, you idiot!" Eris shrieked as she forced Miya ahead of her. The two girls darted down the sewer, though a guttural moan and sound similar to a sopping mop close behind them proved that the creature did not want them to leave so quickly.
"We're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna—" Miya sobbed as she ran, tears still streaming down her face.
"Not if it can't catch us, so run faster! The exit can't be very far aw—eeaaahh!!" the redhead suddenly screamed and fell forward, dragging Miya to the filthy floor with her. Miya's thick glasses clattered to the floor ahead of her, leaving the girl's vision blurred while she blindly fumbled around to find them.
"Eris! Are you alright!? Eris!?" Miya cried, trembling at the sound of her friend's shrieks.
Her hands suddenly found her glasses and she shoved them onto her face, looking back to her friend. Though once flushed with fear, Miya's face drained of all color to turn a sallow white at the sight she found. Eris lay behind her, writhing on the sewer floor with dark blood pooling around her. One leg was simply gone along with most of her left hip, the other leg little more than pulpy pile of melted flesh. The beast had caught up the them with its dripping grasp, traces of its acidic touch splattered across Eris' body. Miya could only choke out a scream as the blob's wide hand slammed down onto the back of her friend, covering the girl's body in ooze. Eris twitched and quivered beneath the weight, the stench of burning flesh and blood pouring from her gaping mouth silencing her cries before she fell still with a shocking abruptness.
Miya turned and fled as swiftly as she could, though as she ran, the grasping hand of the monster lanced out after her.
~~~~
Karuta twitched a few times, grimacing in his sleep as he roused drowsily. Why did he feel so cramped? His entire body felt stiff and closed in, as if her were buried alive. That disturbing thought brought him to his senses and he sat up sharply, his head thumping loudly against a low ceiling. A few blinks to clear his head and the young man realized he was looking out at Webber's lab from behind the glass of one of his Ditto cages. Scowling darkly, Karuta lashed out with a boot and shattered the glass with his heel, kicking away the shards and clambering out of the little cage.
"Not funny, Webber! I'm gonna rip your face off, you—" Karuta snarled as he glared around the dimmed lab.
"Now Karuta…dignity. Always dignity."
Karuta's scowl vanished into a look of pure disgust at the sound of the voice. His gaze followed the voice to the very chair he'd fallen asleep in, his coat still draped over the back. Akito Sakiyama grinned back at him, reclined comfortably in the seat with his hands behind his head.
"You again? What the hell do you want?" Karuta muttered.
"Mind your temper, Karuta." Sakiyama smirked. "After all, we're going to talk business…"