Sorry for the long hold-up, folks. It's really easy to get into writing slumps and before you realize it, weeks have passed by…-_- This is actually a pretty short chapter, but the fun has yet to begin. For those of you who are sick of this super-long flashback, worry no more. This is the last scene of it before we get back to the actual plot. ^_^; Thank you for your patience. Oh, and a word to the Nozomi fans…I'm really, really sorry about what happens to her this chapter. If it makes you feel any better, I had a hard time writing it, but it's the way the world works sometimes….-_-
In case it comes of any interest to anybody, I'm presently working on an archive for this story on my web page. The archive for this story will feature the story itself (no duh…), chapter art, and other such nifty things. If you're not interested…well, bugger off, I'm doing it anyway. News updates as they come.
Now then, on to the story! (Finally…)
The world came into slow focus thanks to the steady roar of many voices, though their source was unknown. Blinking his eyes groggily open, Amos instantly grimaced as a jolt of pain manifested in his head and shot down his spine. What in the world had he drunk? A sudden flash of memory hit him as the Haunter's cackle echoed in his mind, not helping his headache at all but definitely waking him up more than before. The stunned trainer slowly got to his feet and tried to think, wishing all those shouting voices would just shut up for a minute.
Wait a second…
Amos turned his eyes upwards, finding himself stuck in the bottom of a massive cement pit. The steeply sloped walls led up to a solid looking grating that covered the mouth of the pit completely, the only obvious way in or out being the hinged door in the center of the grating. Surrounding the pit were dozens of watchers, all cheering or yelling into the pit at him. A gnawing nervousness came along into Amos' stomach as he suddenly realized where he was…he'd been in the position of the onlookers plenty of times before…
"Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets! We have a brand new challenger come to give us a great show! Normally we reserve the Feraligator's Maw for pokémon only, but this is a special event! Our over-sized friend here is going to battle in place of the pokémon tonight!" Sakiyama's smooth voice boomed out through a megaphone to the crowd. The well-dressed man paced over the grating, grinning down at Amos through the gaps.
"Sakiyama, you bloody piece of shit! I'm going to tear you a new you!" The trainer bellowed furiously as he shook his fist at the arrogant announcer. Sakiyama ignored the threats and picked out a pokéball from a small box of mixed balls, examining it carefully for a moment.
"Alright folks, surprise battle number one! Let's see who wins!" Sakiyama called as he dropped the pokéball through a gap and down into the pit. The ball hit bottom and burst open with a flash of red light, slowly manifesting into a bulky Geodude. The rock pokémon regarded Amos icily, flexing its stony arms over its body.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Amos grumbled at the floating boulder. He didn't have time for this…he had to get out of this pit, beat Sakiyama into a pulp, and find Nozomi…
That thought suddenly put a notion of fear into Amos' mind. Nozomi! Where had she gone to while he was unconscious!?
"Sakiyama! What did you do with Nozomi!? Where is she!?" He yelled upwards, completely ignoring the Geodude as it wound up for a punch.
"Win the match and maybe I'll tell you." Sakiyama grinned downwards.
Amos was about to threaten him again when he felt a heavy mass thump loudly into his belly. Looking down curiously, he found the Geodude pounding away at his torso with both fists, trying its best to fell the large man who was its enemy. Sighing at the pitiful creature, Amos took a moment of mercy and snatched the floated rock from mid-air, halting its attack. Flinging the Geodude to the ground, Amos raised his heavy boot and brought it down flat onto the pokémon's main body. A gravely crunch echoed from the pokémon as its body compacted and crumbled under the attack, its arms going stiff at its sides one last time.
"The winner is McCaugllen, first kill at twenty-five seconds! Let's hear it for the challenger!" Sakiyama called out to the crowd, receiving mixed responses of cheers and curses depending on who bet on whom. Ignoring his mention of telling Amos anything about Nozomi's whereabouts, Sakiyama simply retrieved another pokéball and dropped it into the pit.
"I should've had more to drink…" Amos grumbled as a Rhydon manifested before him, letting out a cry before charging horn first.
"Are the leather straps really necessary?"
"Are they too tight?"
"A smidge."
"Let me get that for you."
"Thanks…what about the IV?"
"Standard procedure."
"The bright lights and scary-looking medical equipment?"
"Part and parcel."
Nozomi glared daggers at the middle-aged man as he tinkered around at a metal workbench. Sure he was dressed like a doctor, but he definitely didn't act like one. After waking up with a screaming headache, she'd found herself strapped at the wrists, ankles, and waist to what had a disturbing similarity to a dentist's chair. This so-called 'Web-chan' assured her that Amos had dropped her off here for a cure-all for the hangover, but even half-buzzed she knew the story was a crock. After stating so, Web-chan had simply shrugged and gone back to work, leaving her to question him for half-assed answers.
"What the hell are you doing over there anyway?" Nozomi grumbled as she tried to tug her wrist free for the umpteenth time. The leather straps were far too strong for her to break from…
"Progressing mankind in the name of science, my dear. I'll have you know my work is very important. I can't even imagine how many military forces would love to get their hands on my research…" Web-chan hummed to himself as he checked the contents of a beaker.
"Whatever…why don't you just let me go, alright?" She muttered, still working on the straps and just chaffing her wrists as a result. Where had Amos and Kyuuden gone? Where the hell was she anyway?
"Ah, the fruits of my labor…almost done." Webber chuckled as he stopped the automatic centrifuge and examined the mixtures. He held up one vial filled with a glutinous purple liquid for Nozomi to see. "It's called Ditrean and it's the wave of the future."
"Look…I'm not into energy drinks or stuff like that, so why not test your potions on a lab Rattata or something…" she began before Webber cut her off with an overdramatic flare of his hand.
"You see, my experiments on human and pokémon genetics made me quite a few enemies in the universities…I could be stereotypical and say that they were afraid of me, but I guess that they were all just really weirded out by my theories. Playing god, sins against nature, yadda yadda yadda…" he explained in a deadpanned tone. "But here, things are much easier. I've got a sponsor, willing clientele, and plenty of lab time to refine my work.
"And oh, how far my work has come. Ditrean is capable of rewriting a creature's genetic structure and placing the coding of other creatures in the original's place! Isn't that a wonderful concept? It's like interbreeding species without all the mess and time. Sure, it's not really perfect yet, but it's coming in leaps and bounds nowadays."
"Y'know, I thought you were nuts when we first started talking…now I think you're perfectly sane, but just a freak." Nozomi grumbled. She tugged slowly at her right binding, feeling her wrist wriggle a bit more in the loop of leather.
"You flatter me. Now this here is my newest development. I've always used Ditrean to enhance a creature's normal attributes…sort of a steroid boost without the increased blood pressure or physical deterioration. My latest experiments, however, have been with introducing completely foreign aspects into a creature and seeing whether or not they're compatible. I haven't been very successful yet, but I've got a good feeling this time." Webber smirked as he blended a few beakers together, ending up with a sickening blend of colors that looked like they would've been secreted from an orifice or two. "Based on the blood sample I took from you, your system is actually rather well set to blend in with fire elements that I've taken from certain pokémon."
"Yeah…thrilling…" She replied half-heartedly.
"You should be more excited about this. If this experiment works, you'll be endowed with similar combustible abilities as a Charmander. It's quite an amazing concept."
"And if it doesn't work?"
Webber paused a moment, a thoughtful look crossing over his worn features. Sighing with apparent remorse for past transgressions, he continued his work regardless.
"As you can image, rewriting the genetic makeup of a being is very tricky work. There are far too many variables to ever make Ditrean use an exact science…even when it comes to mixing each batch, it has to be specially measured based on the user's samples. There's no uniform dosage. However, I have found one constant in my research." Webber explained. "Every human I've ever given Ditrean has tested the same way; it's not physically possible for their body to maintain its composure with any more than ten percent proof of a certain specific pokémon sample in the mix. Too much of one type and it becomes dominant, forcibly destroying and replacing the human's original genetic structure."
Nozomi couldn't help but gasp at the thought of such a thing, both in shock that such a thing was even possible and in the realization that he was mixing a very dangerous drug to test on her. She tucked her fingers together as tightly as she could, working harder now to inch her hand through the strap.
"You mean…if there's too much of one pokémon's sample in the drug, the person who takes it turns into that pokémon?" She asked. She had to keep him talking lest he notice her efforts…
"Oh my, no. Don't be ridiculous, my dear. It's not possible for a human to completely transform into a pokémon like that. What a silly idea." Webber dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. "No, when a pokémon's sample begins taking over the human's body, the structures combine into a sort of unstable symbiosis. The actual physical result is…well…less than pleasant. I had a past subject whom I tested with Grimer samples while trying to develop an exact immunity to toxins. Well…that one wasn't very successful."
"Wh-what happened to him?"
"Her, though you'd never know it by looking at her nowadays. Ever see the old movie 'The Blob'?"
She shook her head.
"Really old horror movie from the States. It's about an alien life form, a giant blob of acidic goo that terrorizes a small town, devouring the citizens until it's stopped by being frozen solid." Webber explained. "With her, same story. Her body ended up deteriorating to the point where she did look a lot like a Grimer…such an unfortunate incident. I lost a lot of good resources in that experiment."
"You turned a woman into a living blob of goo and all you're worried about is your chemicals? You really are an asshole…" she growled, looking very doubtful as Webber began to load his newest Ditrean mixture into a IV bag.
"Hey, supplies are expensive…test subjects are a dime a dozen. Like you, for instance, came to me for free. Now just relax…this is a big dosage, so it'll take a while to drain fully."
Webber never had a chance to set the IV bag in its place. As soon as he drew near enough, Nozomi wrenched her hand free of the leather binding and dealt him a swift backhand across the jaw, the graying man spinning fully on his heel and dropping to the floor in an unceremonious heap. Not wasting a moment edgewise, she quickly set on unfitting the band holding her other arm down.
"Why the heck do these kind of things happen to me? I am not going to be some guinea pig for a quack scientist." She grumbled as she pulled the other strap loose. Just as she was about to begin on the waist strap, a loose fist caught her in the side of the head. Stunned well enough to pause her for a moment, she was helpless as she was shoved back down and struck again across the face. Stars burst in her vision as she reeled from the punch, the room spinning around with her as an axis. She felt the strong leather straps being fitted around her wrists again and bound to the point that they bit into her skin.
"You kids these days…no respect whatsoever." Webber spat as he held a hand to his bruised jaw, nursing it gingerly. He huffily hooked up the IV and let the unappealing blend course its way down the tubing and into Nozomi's blood stream. Taking advantage of her gradually lifting daze, he snatched up the catalyst and grabbed her nose, pinching it shut as he tugged her mouth open. He dumped the contents of the vial into her mouth and held his hand over it, forcing her to swallow or choke first.
"There…done and done. Now then…perhaps a sedative to keep you from trying anything stupid like that again?" Webber asked as he reached for a pre-prepared syringe on the instrumental table.
"Go...t'hell…" Nozomi slurred softly, coughing at the bitter taste in her mouth. She heard Webber turn back towards her and her vision swam again under a hard blow across her cheek. Her head slumped to the side briefly, a dark bruise forming across her cheek as she slipped unconscious once again.
Webber sighed softly, rubbing his sore knuckles. Stupid women…never knew when to keep their mouths shut anymore. Their entire generation was going to hell in a hand basket…he just knew it. Shaking his head uselessly, he slunk over to his desk and pressed the intercom button at the corner.
"Tazuka…do me a favor and pick up the young lady here. Take her to the pit fights and, when she wakes up, have her tossed in." He ordered into the voice box. Turning back to the prone Nozomi, he ran a hand over her forehead to brush the stray locks of green hair from her face.
"That catalyst I gave you'll help out with the integration…but your own body is the best mixer. A bit of adrenaline will get the Ditrean pumping in your system quite well." He smirked.
The intercom box buzzed shrilly for a moment as Tazuka, the grunt who guarded the Ditto Door, rang in. Webber rolled his eyes and returned to his desk to hit the proper button.
"What is it?"
"That Karuta kid who was here earlier is back, says he wants to talk to you." Tazuka's voice crackled over the speaker. Webber blanched a bit and shot a worried glance over at his guest experiment. Scratching his stubbly cheek anxiously, he hit the button again.
"Tell him to get lost…I'm not here."
A long moment of silence fell over the lab as Webber waited on pins and needles. The sharp sound of splintering wood brought a sudden shiver down the doctor's spine, though the grunting and subsequent screaming about a broken limb from Tazuka made him quake further. Webber stared nervously at the heavy steel door that guarded the main entrance to his lab. There were three exits from the building and all of them were heavily fortified, so he had no worries of Karuta coming in through the back. Even with a Ditrean boost so fresh in his system, there was no way Karuta could bust his way through the steel plating.
The locking system of the neigh unbreakable door clicked loudly as it was activated then swung open. Karuta stood on the other side, gently sucking on his bleeding finger. Webber's face drained of its color as Karuta strode through in a beeline for him, a dark glare across his face. Past the stalking young man Webber could see Tazuka sunk against the corridor wall, shaking softly as he held his arm cradled to his chest.
"Y'might want to change those locks, Web-chan." Karuta bore down on the backtracking doctor. Webber gasped softly as he backed up into his workbench, making his various vials shake from the impact.
"K-Karuta…nice to see you again. Something I can…eh…do for you?" Webber gibbered, his knees quaking where he stood. His hands inched around behind his back over the cool surface of the worktable, his thin fingers closing around the curved surface of an empty beaker.
"Spare me the banter. Sakiyama made a crack about my friend before I left and I want to know if you have any thoughts on –"
Karuta glanced from the corner of his vision; spotting Nozomi strapped to the chair with several dark bruises forming across her face. His eyes grew wide at the realization of what was draining into her veins from the IV bag. Promptly ignoring Webber, Karuta darted over and tugged the IV needle from Nozomi's arm, leaving it to drip uselessly to the floor.
"Nozomi! Damn it all, wake up…" Karuta urged the unconscious girl as he shook her. Growling softly, he turned to interrogate Webber but was greeted by the sight of a shiny surface swinging towards his face.
The swung beaker shattered across Karuta's face, knocking him down to the floor as he cried out in pain. Blood spattered across his hands as he clawed at his face, trying to clear his skin of the shards of glass that had remained behind. Webber didn't give the struggling trainer a chance to recover as he sharply kicked him in the ribs, sending the man rolling to his side. Snatching the sedative from the nearby tray, Webber hunched over Karuta and drove the needle into where his shoulder met his neck. That move earned the doctor a clumsy blow to the jaw, leaving him to sprawl backwards from the thankfully weak punch. Karuta yanked the syringe from his shoulder and gave only a soft groan before collapsing to the floor.
Webber lay prone on the ground gasping quietly. For what seemed like an eternity, he didn't move…only laid, staring up at the tiled ceiling of his lab. Since when had desperate brawls become part of being a scientist? They'd never warned him about these sorts of things at the academy…
Giving a soft groan as he rubbed his chin from yet another blow today, he reached inside his shirt pocket and drew out a small cell phone. Hitting a few keys, he placed it up against the side of his head and listened to the chirping ring tone.
"Sakiyama? It's Webber. Yeah…the experiments going just fine. Uh-huh…" Webber slowly sat up as he spoke, bringing his knees to his chest. "Would you mind sending over a few hands to help me out here? Karuta came back…no, don't worry about it. He's out cold right now."
Slowly standing, Webber moved over to his workbench to prepare another sedative. With as much Ditrean in Karuta's system as he'd put in, the young man would recover from the forced slumber far too quickly to be safe for the poor doctor.
"So what do you want to do with him? Mm-hmm…wait, but I thought…Y'mean McCaugllen's still fighting in the pit? Oh well, at least now he'll have company." Webber tapped the syringe a few times and let a gentle spurt from the needle tip spray out. "So what'd you do with the tape?"
Webber paused for a moment, a little smile spreading over his lips.
"Oh…pretty good. Okay then, I'll call you again after these deadweights are out of my office. Tell your guys to hurry up here, alright?"
Pocketing the phone, Webber knelt down next to Karuta and rolled him over onto his back. A little grunt of surprise escaped as he found bloody shards of glass on the floor where Karuta's head had laid. Karuta's face, however, was unmarked save for a few smears of blood where the wounds had been moments before. Smiling to himself as he injected the second sedative into Karuta's blood, Webber nodded admiringly at the stunning regeneration rate the young man showed.
"Damn, but I'm good…" He grinned.