Author's note:  Thank you Jolly Jeff and Hazel-Beka for reviewing!  Yes, it's not a play…actually, I've never read a fanfic that WAS a play, myself.  Thank you for the compliments, Hazel!  I hope you'll like this chapter (and I hope you'll update soon too ^___^).

Chap. 10—Arturo

                Willow sat up slowly, rubbing her head.  The last thing she remembered was the ground swallowing them up into blackness…then everything was a blur.  Looking around, she saw that her Pokemon had also awoken safely.

"You'd better return, guys…it could be dangerous."

There was no light coming from above; wherever Willow was, it was pitch black.  After a few moments, however, her eyes adjusted, and she saw that their was light, but it was not coming from the sky.  It was coming from the walls.  They were glowing faintly bluish-green, illuminating the place dimly.  Looking around, Willow saw the a cave-in leading in the direction she and her Pokemon had approached from above ground.  Ahead of her, there was only more darkness, but the tunnel obviously extended farther.  Getting up and dusting herself off, Willow started off down the path.

                Willow walked for what seemed like hours in the eerie, unnatural twilight.  The only sounds were her echoing footsteps and her faint, frightened breathing.  Something about this place was ominous.  Finally, before she could grow too nervous, the tunnel opened up into a chamber, no better lit than the rest of the mysterious underground area.  She could see banks of dead computer equipment, apparently crushed by falling stones at some point.

"Weird…what's all this stuff doing here?"

                Even as she said this, her eyes fell upon the object in the center of the chamber.  It was a large, cylindrical tank, topped by machinery that had cables extending from it, connecting to the thing inside the chamber.

It was a being of metal like none she had ever seen!

                Willow approached slowly, stunned by the awesome sight.  She had no idea what this mysterious someone or something was, but she was definitely curious.  The tank was filled with a gray-green, gel-like material, in which the robotic creature was suspended, with the cables from the top of the tank attached to it.  It had a large, ellipse-shaped torso, its head being slightly raised from the rest of its body, and the torso dashed with faint lines as though the head unit could lift out.  Its arms were thick and cylindrical, the right one having an irised end to open for some type of weapon, the left having a gattling-gun fixture attached from the elbow down.  Its birdlike legs were connected to the torso by rotating joints, and it had back-bending knees.  Its feet were wide, with spread toes that were also birdlike.  Willow was fascinated by the strange being, staring as she pressed her hands to the glass.  A plaque at the base of the tank apparently listed the specimen inside.

"Arturo…"

At this moment, there was an explosion!  Through a gaping hole in the wall came two men wearing brown uniforms with a picture of crossed swords on their backs.  On their sleeves were silver-gray stripes, and in their belts were wicked-looking knives.  From underneath their hoods, they sneered at Willow.

"We'll be taking the Poke-lord now, thank you."

Willow clutched her Pokeballs tightly.  "Never!  My Pokemon stay with me!"

"We don't think so."

From behind the two Team Blade members, another figure came through the hole.  This one, however, was neither human nor Pokemon.  Willow stared in shock at the machine-like apparition that stalked in on spindly, bird-like legs.  Its head was of a super-reflective, silver-blue material. There were no visible eyes; it looked almost like a visor on a helmet.  There was no neck; instead, a long torso shaped like an upside-down triangle was connected to it.  Its left arm had a broad, thick shoulder, with a blade extending partway down the arm.  Underneath were a folded-up manipulator hand and a longer, more human-like hand.  Its other arm was a long shield, underneath which was a thing that looked like a radio-antennae, and an arm ending in a hand with numerous odd fingers.  Moving forward on its narrow, blade-tipped feet, it stood, observing as the two Team Blade members sent out their Pokemon.

The first appeared in a flash of Pokeball light.  It was an ordinary Blastoise, which looked menacingly at Willow.  Then the other Team Blade Pokemon appeared.

It was bizarre!

The Pokemon appeared somewhat like an Electabuzz, but it was more orange than yellow, had spiked, blade-like appendages sprouting from its elbows, and four arms.  Willow was shocked.  What was this Pokemon, and what had these people done to it?  Willow knew that she had no choice but to battle.  Hoping that the mutated Electabuzz still had the characteristics of an electric Pokemon, she called forth Rafael and Katsu.  The battle began!

"Blastoise, use your Hydro Pump!"

"Rafael, dodge and use Thunderbolt!"

Team Blade's Blastoise and Willow's Pikachu continued their deadly game of hide-and-seek while Katsu and the strange, Electabuzz-like Pokemon faced off.

"Katsu, be careful!  We don't know what that thing can do!"

Don't worry, I can take him.

"Electabuzz, use Slash attack!"
"What?  Electabuzz can't use Slash!"

But the Pokemon did use its Slash, almost knocking Katsu out of the air.  He retaliated with Psychic, noticing as he did so that he felt more energy in the attack than usual.  It must be that weird energy again, he thought.

Meanwhile, Rafael was in trouble.  The Blastoise was incredibly fast, and he was having trouble striking it and dodging at the same time.  His Thunderbolts shot off wildly as he raced away from countless powerful attacks, nearly striking Willow and the Team Blade members.  One of his attacks accidentally struck the computers on the wall next to the tank.

Everyone stopped.

The cavern lit up!  Reacting to the short burst of electricity, all of the machinery turned on.  It hummed and whirred as the wires connecting to the being within the tank released their captive.  The creature's eyes  lit up.

Where…am I?

It did not know where It was.  It was aware only that It was finally free.  Striding forwards, not heeding the shattering glass of the tank, It looked around.  It took in the banks of computer equipment and the cavern walls.  It saw Willow, Team Blade, and their Pokemon.  Then Its eyes fell upon the room's last occupant.

The Progenitor Slicer!

The being from the tank stopped in surprise.  Then, It transmitted to the Slicer, requesting data.  The Slicer turned, intrigued by this new twist.  It sent back only one message.

Kill the girl.

The being looked at Willow more closely.  What It saw stopped It in Its tracks.

Willow had tied a cord around the symbol given to her by Reeve the Ghost Tamer, and now wore it as a necklace.  It had not at first noticed this because of the dim light, but now, seeing this ancient symbol, It was in shock.  It could not harm one allied with the Progenitors!  Alarmed at Its orders, It transmitted to the Slicer again.

Cannot comply.  The girl wears a Progenitor symbol.

The Slicer turned, annoyed.  If the new arrival could not work to its advantage, then It would have to be eliminated.  Cocking back its left arm, it sent out a blast of blue light from the shock cannon concealed beneath the blade there.  Its target fell back and lay motionless.  That was better, thought the Slicer.  Now back to business.

                Willow wasn't sure what was going on, but her Pokemon were no match for the power of their opponents.  She quickly returned Rafael and Katsu, sending out Lunus first.  Before she could send out another Pokemon, however, the Slicer turned.  Here was its true target—the decedent of a Poke-lord.  It sped toward Lunus.  Willow, knowing she could not recall her Pokemon in time, screamed.

                The being from the tank, still confused by Its orders and the attack by Its ally, knew only one thing now.

It must protect the one allied with Its creators.              

                It rose from the ground, unfazed by the shock cannon's blast.  Turning toward the Slicer, It swung Its massive right arm.  Not knowing any of Its capabilities, It struck out the only way It knew how.

The Slicer was knocked back by a blow from Its club-like arm!

A new battle ensued, one of Progenitor creation vs. Progenitor creation.  The Slicer opened up with everything it had, but still the being kept coming.  Nothing could stop this ancient juggernaut as It struck repeatedly.  Finally, the Slicer fled, knowing it was outmatched.  The two Team Blade members, seeing their secret weapon defeated, fled as well, taking their Pokemon with them.  Returning her own Pokemon, Willow turned toward the being that had saved her.

"Thank you," she said.  "Who are you?"

It turned toward her, confused.

"I am…Arturo?"