Book II: Impending Twilight
Chapter 128: Death protects us
Point of View Aiden
(5 days before present time)
I ask myself sometimes how many times I've been cut open. I'd usually spend about an hour trying to think of all the different times, but after enduring Hell for nearly ten hours a day it all begins to blend together into a bloody mess.
Everything in my being ached. By now the drugs were wearing off, I felt groggy, but I was conscious for now. That is until they continue their games with me. The belts that strapped me down to the steel table pressed against some of the incisions from previous surgeries I underwent. A bright light beamed down onto me, making me squint and turn away.
A mirror to my left reflected the pale image of what was left of me, the new me. Could I really call this my body anymore? In the mirror two blue eyes stared back, pitiful they were to say the least. Disgusting, they made me into an abomination. I wasn't even the charmander everyone knew and loved anymore. Due to them needing a stronger specimen they forced me into an evolution, forcing me into a charmeleon prematurely.
I'll just start by saying this. I always heard the stories of evolution, it usually sounded like the process filled you with power. Well, I could say I didn't feel any of that at all. No, instead I felt the ever so wonderful feeling of my bones forcefully growing, my muscles tearing apart and reforming, I felt every part of my body being destroyed and reforming just so I could be their toy.
It was probably the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. I honestly never cried so much in agony before. Maybe being forced into an early evolution doesn't sound too terrible, aside from the pain, but that was only to prepare me for the true experiment that awaited.
Tomorrow… that bastard freak mentioned was the day where they started the true procedure… Apparently everything I had endured up to now was merely preparation for the real experiment.
I couldn't lie anymore, I was terrified. I had run out of my stupid jokes, you could only laugh so many times after getting cut up over and over, only to know that this was the end. No one was going to come and save me. Whatever happens here happens, at best I die as quickly as possible so it just all stops.
Down here… death was the only thing that could protect me.
Hours later that asshole I mentioned came back. He took some blood tests, X-rays, all the stupid shit you'd expect to make sure I was ready for my big day tomorrow. Afterwards I was carted back to my cell and allowed some rest from my torment.
My escort kindly threw me onto the cold ground, nearly putting me into shock. Had I any strength left, I'd consider killing them. That wasn't an option though, through all the trauma I endured, I could barely even speak. I couldn't even scream in pain anymore. I was more of a living doll at this point, a scaly meat bag for them to do whatever they please to.
For now, my cell was empty. Lucy usually wasn't back for about an hour after I returned. That left me staring out my cell window, looking at all the other poor pokemon who got sentenced to Hell with me. There wasn't really much room for smiling down here, there was never a moment where I was able to forget my situation and smile, and if I did then I was merely hiding my true feelings behind that smile.
As I said, about an hour after getting thrown into my cell, Lucy arrives. The Servine was thrown in along with me with just as little respect. The snake grunted on the ground, her eyes clamped shut as she bit down in pain.
Every day she came to me in all kinds of conditions, but due to her altered body she was able to heal by morning or whatever routinely time they took her away. Today, her body was covered in burns and lots of blood. Her form was beginning to wilt like a flower in the late of fall. No doubt, she wasn't going to last much longer.
Doing what little I could, I turned to Lucy, staring at her, but not in pity but resentment. I'm sure if I was at the peak of my condition I'd be growling, fuming with smoke, even at her throat!
She was the sole reason I was suffering. I hated her so much for it, to an extent I even fantasized about killing her. I'd just wait until she's asleep, then strangle her! Maybe even break that neck. Then, just maybe, they'd think she died of natural causes and this could all end for me.
Of course I knew killing her wouldn't change a single thing. I'm sure if she had spoken from the start this would have all happened. I doubted they ever planned to let us go, no matter what.
As I stared the servine down she just remained in her pitiful state of keeping quiet. The servine had barely bothered to glance at me, the biggest reaction I ever got was when they forced me into a charmeleon. That stupid look here her face when she saw me, I really hoped she was happy with what they made me into.
I pried my eyes from her and used what little strength I had to roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. When my eyes closed I had to ask why it was me here, why I was so dumb.
(4 days before present time)
I had awoken earlier than expected. All night I was tossing and turning, because I couldn't stop thinking of the scalpels cutting into me. I couldn't even rely on my mind to be my sanctuary anymore, it was broken and on repeat of the events from my day.
Feeling a bit stronger from the little rest I got, I managed to pull myself up and prop myself against the wall. The stone was ice cold, even for a charmande-charmeleon.
Lucy too, was awake. The servine just stared at her reflection in the glass window of our cell.
"You ever going to talk?" I muttered towards her.
The servine didn't even so much as look at me. My claws raked against the stone of the floor. I bit down to the point that I thought my teeth would crack.
'Why did I follow her?' I asked myself. I knew why, but more that I didn't know why I was so stupid.
I was attracted to Lucy a lot. Reason being that she reminded me so much of Ivy. Every time I looked at her all I saw was the one pokemon I had ever loved. That's all Lucy was to me, someone to fill that void, some ghost for me to chase in hope that she'd make everything better. Give meaning to this train wreck of a life.
I was an idiot. I know now that Lucy isn't Ivy, she'd never come close to Ivy. She might look the part, but her personality was the opposite.
"You know," I started with spite in my tone, "Today's the day where they execute that procedure they've been preparing me for. If you just say something, maybe I don't have to have my life officially ruined."
The servine continued to look at her reflection through the window, acting as if she never once heard me.
"Are you kidding?" I snapped as I forced myself up, using the wall of the cell for support. "I'm going to get fucking mutated or something today if you don't say something! Can't you at least act like you care?!" I forced myself towards the servine.
I cocked my arm back and hit as best as I could, knocking Lucy to the ground, and falling myself. Upon impact I gave a cry of pain, and slowly started picking myself up, expecting that Lucy would retaliate with violence.
The servine remained on the ground, almost looking dead in her withered state. By the time I was back up on my feet Lucy was just beginning to get up. There servine slowly pushed herself up, grunting in the process until she stopped on all fours, looking up at me. Her eyes were filled with a defeated look I had never seen the servine with before. In the past if I dared touch her she'd wring out my neck with her vines.
"That it?" I spat out, looking down at the servine. "You're just going to look at me like that? Not get up, or even get a little mad?" I turned from the servine, crossing my arms as I tried to resist hitting her again.
"You know," I started back up as I closed my eyes to help clear my mind, "I actually did care about you. I'd even go as far as to say I thought I loved you, at one point," I snorted, feeling my insides heating up in fury.
"I don't get why…" Lucy whispered.
My eyes popped open at the sound, I almost didn't believe what I heard.
"Is that what it took? Having to say that I had mad feeling for you?" I muttered, spinning back around to the servine. "To be fair, I hardly understand why I was dumb enough to be so awestruck by you," I admitted with a shrug. "Well, I do know part of it, and you already know why. You remind me of someone I lost, someone that meant everything to me. For some reason, I thought if I followed you and made you happy, then maybe I could somehow grow to like you. I thought you were going to make me happy again, I knew it wasn't going to work, but I had to cling to something at the time, I just found out my human was dead at the time."
"And that stupid unhealthy obsession is what got you down here," Lucy muttered as she got up onto her feet. "I never wanted you to follow me from the start, you just wouldn't leave me alone! So don't go preaching to me about how this is all my fault and that I need to talk! I chose to go down this road and so did you!"
I pressed both of my hands against my face and clenched my head. At any moment I felt like I was going to explode.
"You really have no idea how to emphasize with anyone but yourself, you wicked wench."
"Oh did you just figure out how I am?!" Lucy snapped as she threw her arms to her side. "Of course I won't empathize with you, you're an annoying fucking moron! What kind of idiot follows a complete stranger around like that?! You're so pitiful that you had to cling to anything that slightly resembled your girlfriend!"
"You better shut it!" I shouted at her. Just before I could add anything more a loud beep sounded through the cell block, taking my attention. "Well, seems our time is up," I bluntly stated as I glared at her. "Next time you see me I'll probably be a grade-A freak show. Oh, that's if I'm even alive, but you'll be happy if I am, I'm sure it'll make your slow death much better."
"Probably will," Lucy snarled, "So please do me and a favor and give up and die in surgery."
"Maybe I will," I snorted as I looked down the hall to see my escort approaching. "But hey, when I'm dead this will all be over, and I'll at least die happy knowing I won't be going to the same place as you."
"Just shut up and die," Lucy retorted. "Not like you have anyone who'll miss yo-" I smacked the servine across the face, forcing her head to turn and leaving a red print over her cheek.
Before things could escalate my escort arrived. Lucy was left scowling as they went through their procedure and made us go up against the wall, before having me exit the cell. I gave the servine the finger one last time before the humans strapped me up to a mobile table and carted me through the facility.
I closed my eyes as we passed through the hall. All I could focus on was my racing heart, which ached from my anxiety of today.
My last prayers before they wheeled me into the room was that I wanted to die in this procedure. I didn't want to live as an abomination.
They stopped the cart in the center of an operating room. Not a second was wasted before they stuck an IV in my arm and started taking blood samples, getting my pulse, all that sciency stuff.
After about a half hour, one of the human's finally said something that caught my attention, "The specimen is ready for anesthetics."
At least I could die knocked up on drugs. One of the crooked doctors hooked up the Anesthetics to my IV. Within seconds the drug was being pumped into my system. For a second I felt tired, then everything went black.
(1 days before present time)
When I finally did come too everything was a haze. Everything in my being ached like nothing I'd ever felt before. My skin even burned, like I tripped on asphalt but somehow skinned my entire body… Yes that bad.
A bright light beamed down, but even though the light was burning my irises right out, the room itself was a luminescent white.
A beep kept beep beep beeping throughout the room, making my head feel as if I had the mother of all hangovers.
As my eyes adjusted to my new setting I realized that I was just in an empty white room. There was only a door and the equipment hooked up to me. I had to wonder about why they suddenly found it necessary to put me in a clean room.
Before I could ponder the thought for too long the door to my room swung open, an espeon entering in. The eeveelution strutted to my bedside and hopped up onto a stool that I failed to notice.
"You're awake," she bluntly stated.
"Am I dead?" I mumbled, still feeling the drugs in my system.
"Not quite," she smirked, "Although, is a sense yes."
"The fuck…" I whispered, not really understand what she meant by that.
"How do you feel?" the espeon asked.
"Like I was ran over by a lawnmower."
"Right," the espeon replied. "Well, if you are curious, our procedure on you was a success. You are now among a small selection of pokemon which have successfully undergone genetic splicing."
"Wait…" My eyes widened at the last word. "What do you mean splicing?" I tried to get up, but the tearing of my muscles made me yell in pain.
"Take a look for yourself," the espeon said in a bored tone as the gem on her head lit up. A mirror levitated from the ground and was hooked on a mount, giving me a clear view of myself.
Two red eyes peered back at me, eyes that weren't my own! My heart rate spiked up at the site. It wasn't just the eyes either, my scales too! No longer was I a bright orange, but now a pale purple, almost like how a shiny charizard would look, but it wasn't natural for a charmeleon.
"W-What the fuck did you do to me!?" I snapped out, suddenly the drugs in my system felt nonexistent. I tried to raise up again, but this time I found that it was the belts that kept me down.
"As I said, we spliced your genes," the espeon answered. "You turned out better than expected quite honestly. Oh, you're probably wondering with what, aren't you?"
"I… I…" I couldn't even form a sentence as I stared at myself in the mirror. I was a freak, I wasn't even a charmeleon anymore!
"We spliced you with a sableye," the espeon stated. "You're actually the first charmeleon to ever exist with genes spliced with a ghost pokemon. I mean just think of what that means for you, you're a rare pokemon that's never existed before," the espeon's tone became giddy in excitement. "Just imagine the possibilities of what you can-"
"I'll fucking kill you!" I screamed as I tried to fight against my restraints. I tossed and turned in my restraints, blood seeped from the wounds of my previous surgeries as I struggled to free myself.
The espeon gave a fake frown, "That's not going to happen. Besides, why would you be mad? We made you better in every way. You should be thanking us."
"Thanking!" I snapped, "You turned me into a freak show!"
"View it as you like," the espeon shook her head in disapproval, "But when you realize what you're capable of, I'm sure you'll come to regret your words today." The psychic hopped down from her stool and headed towards the exit. As she walked away I snarled at the psychic. "For now rest, we'll need you in tip-top shape for further testing," she finished and left me to myself.
"You bitch!" I screamed as I strained my muscles to fight my restraints, but they wouldn't budge.
For the next hour, I gave a futile attempt at breaking free. I yelled and pulled at my restraints, but no matter how much I exerted myself I couldn't break free. In the end I was left in agonizing pain, my body strained to its limit. I heaved heavily as I tried to cope with the pain I put myself through.
For the longest time, I couldn't look into the mirror, I couldn't see those eyes again. Those creepy red eyes that belonged to a ghost type.
Why did this have to happen to me?! Why did I have to be like this?! Wasn't losing David and Ivy enough! When did it all end?! Was death really my only option to save myself from more pain?!
I faced the ghost in the mirror, looking at its slate-purple scales, its pale color looking sickly almost. With all the stitches over my body, I really did look like some kind of Frankenstein monster. My eyes started to feel heavy from the disgusting monster I looked at.
"Why…" I mumbled, turning from the mirror and clamping my eyes shut. As my eyes closed I was able to relax a bit, but my thoughts were far from clear. You could imagine the thoughts that constantly nagged me, there wasn't a second where I forgot what I was.
After a moment, I turned to my side, resting my head on my arm as a pillow. It was the first time I was actually able to get comfortable, especially with the… Wait…
Upon realizing my movement I sprang up into a sitting position. "What the?!" I said in shock as I realized I was suddenly free. I felt around the table, finding the belt that originally held my chest down. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw that the belt was still tightened down where I was… But somehow I slipped through.
"I'm sorry, what?!" I screeched as I looked towards my feet, finding that they were still belted down. Due to my new freedom wiggling them out was an easy task.
"How did I…?" I started to ask, but realized that nothing even made sense anymore. I took in three deep breaths before I jumped down from my bed, collapsing onto the ground with a yell of pain. My bones ached from the impact, since my mutations they felt as fickle as glass.
On the ground I reached forward and dragged myself towards the door. Each movement brought pain to me, but I was free for the first time, I couldn't waste it. As I continued to drag myself like the worm I was, I couldn't stop thinking of how… Just how did I get free? Was I even tied down from the start?!
'You're a ghost now, Aiden,' I thought to myself. Of course that would make sense. Ghost's could do all that phasing stuff, so would it be possible that I too could phase through stuff? It had to be possible, I mean as a ghost-charmeleon what else could I do besides maybe shadow claw? Maybe star in my own horror movies…
When I reached the door of the room I dug my claws into it and tried climbing my way up onto my feet. I bit down as hard as I could as my muscles strained, but halfway up my climb I fell forward, going straight through the door. I hit the ground a lot harder than I thought I would, leaving me groaning. When my eyes opened I realized I was on the other side of the door…
"Wait… what?!" I yelled, looking back to see that half my body was on the other side of the door. I yelled as I forcefully dragged the rest of myself onto this side of the door. My heart pounded as I got up onto my feet, forgetting all about my weakness as I hugged myself.
"Arceus… I really just went through a door…" My whole body shivered at the thought. I had to wonder if I was really okay in the head and if maybe I was still drugged up. There was no way this could really be happening. Like it was a dream come true in a way, but at the same time a huge nightmare.
Getting a grip on my sanity, I glanced around the halls I was in, realizing that I was the only one around this area.
With this power I would easily be able to escape the Genesis base. If I could phase through walls, then maybe I could phase through bullets too… I mean they're objects and not energy like an elemental attack, and most of the security around here was humans as far as I could tell.
For the first time in weeks, I gave a genuine smile. "Looks like I'm going home," I chuckled, before stopping. "Just how do I get out of here?"
I crossed my arms to ponder that question. I was tempted to lean against the wall, but I was more afraid I'd fall through it like I did with the door… I really hoped that my phasing ability was something I could control… I mean last thing I'd want is to like sit down on a toilet and then phase through into the bowl… Yeah, that'd suck.
"Ohhh, this is so trippy…" I groaned as I pressed my hands against my head and picked a direction to walk towards. The way I chose wasn't random though, I did have one last thing I wanted to do before I left this place for good. I wasn't about to leave everyone here alone, I couldn't, not after enduring all of that and knowing others will too.
Most of these halls were somewhat familiar to me. At first when I got here I did try to pay close attention just in case I got a chance like I did now. I was quite pleased with the past Aiden, so good job buddy.
As I continued on my way, my strength did begin to dwindle a bit. I glanced back at the blue flame on my tail, finding that it was dimmer than what was considered healthy. I wondered if my state would ever improve, or if it was all downhill from here.
After traversing the maze of halls and avoiding a few humans, I did manage to make it to the cell block where they kept me. I pulled a lever by the door, a beep sounded and the dual doors swung open on their own.
I stepped in the dark corridor, listening to the groans and cries of the suffering pokemon. As I made my way down the cellblock most of the pokemon gave me odd glances, noticing that I wasn't being escorted or anything. I mostly ignored them.
Around halfway down the block I stopped in front of Lucy's cell. The servine blankly stared at the ground, not even noticing me. I snapped my fingers, catching her attention. Her eyes looked up at me, looking as if I had just awoken her from a dream.
"Aiden?"
"That's my name," I said with a smirk.
"W-what are you doing here, and why do you like that?"
"Oh you know, just out for a walk, nice day out, you know?" I jested. "As for what they did to me, I'm a charmeleye… or maybe a sableon… I don't know which sounds dumber of the two."
"Arceus…" the servine whispered, her eyes widened as she looked me up and down, probably finding my new visage to be harrowing.
"Anyways," I started up, "I really snuck out, because I got some cool new tricks they probably weren't prepared for."
"Tricks?" Lucy raised a brow.
"Yeah, like this." I pushed my hand against the glass wall of the cell, but as I pushed my hand wouldn't go through. "C'mon, c'mon, don't make an idiot of me!" I yelled as I pushed as hard as I could. The look on the servine was dumfounded, and almost as if she thought I was crazy. "I swear I'm not as crazy as I'm acting right now…"
"right…" the servine awkwardly replied, backing away from the glass wall.
I exhaled a breath as I closed my eyes. I allowed myself to relax like the first time I used this power. For a second nothing happened, but then my hand slipped through the glass. The servine's eyes widened as both my hands reached in and grabbed her. I pulled her as hard as I could into the glass wall, squishing her against it.
"Just look at what you did to me!" I screamed at her, suddenly losing my humorous charm! "Is this normal to you, look! Look!" I pushed the servine back from the wall only to pull her back into the glass wall repeatedly, bashing her bloody.
"This is your fault, yours!" I screamed at her. "I don't even know how the fuck I'm going to fix this! I don't even think I can!" My hands switched over the servine's neck as I ran through the wall and pushed her to the ground, pressing all of my weight onto her throat. The servine struggled for air as she flailed around and kicked. Her eyes widened as I saw the light from them disappearing.
"How do you like it?" I growled at the helpless servine, "All I ever did was try to make you happy, and this is what you made me into. Are you happy, are you?!"
As my grip tightened around the servine I started to feel an emptiness in my chest. A drop fell from my eye onto the servine's cheek as I peered down at her with my crazed stare. All the servine could do was gurgle as she tried to fight.
"Do you really hate me this much?" I asked the servine, "That you'd be willing to let me suffer like this?"
"Ai-den," the servine struggled as she grabbed at my hands, trying to pry me off of her.
"Right, you probably only feel bad now because your life is in danger," I laughed. The servine's grip on my hands gave away as her arms fell limp and her head fell back, the little energy left in her eyes dwindled away.
I watched as the last bit of her life was snuffed out, and for a second all I could see was the look on that snivy during her last hour. That look of helplessness as she passed away. My jaw hung agape as I pulled my hands from her and pressed them into my face. I fell to my knees and screamed at the top of my lungs.
Lucy started coughing on the ground as her hands grabbed at her neck, trying to protect herself. The servine then started to crawl to the opposite corner of the cell, shaking and terrified of my wrath.
"I really almost did it," I muttered, "I almost stooped down to your level." I glared up at the servine, taking in her trembling fear. "I couldn't though… and I won't ever be able to."
"W-why did you stop? Don't you resent me?" the servine spat out, her fear replaced with spite.
"Because," I started as I got back up onto my feet. "As much as I try, I can't stop looking at you the same way, Ivy."
"Don't you dare go back to thinking I'm her replacement."
"Oh no, I know for sure you're never going to replace her, you're too sick in the head. Still, I know you're not her, but I won't ever be able to stop seeing you as her. See, I'm sick in the head too," I tapped my claw against my skull. "As long as I see you, I won't ever be able to move on, because I'm too dumb to wake up and accept things."
Lucy wore a look of annoyance before yelling back at me, "So what, did you come here to kill me or spout more stupid Shit about your stupid fantasy with us working out?!"
"Honestly," I smirked at the servine. "I don't know why I came here. I do intend to find a way to release all the pokemon here, but as for you… I don't know what I want. Part of me wants to break that little neck of yours, another part of me really wants to kiss the side of you that reminds me of Ivy…" I laughed as I turned my back to the servine. "See, I'm really messed up in the head. I just tried killing you and I'm still attracted to you… Some people would find that kind of stuff kinky, but I'm just more very confused in the head and probably need a good punch in the face."
"I'd be glad to…" Lucy snorted.
"Alright," I smirked, "Fine, I'll let you beat the snot out of me if it makes you happy," I laughed as I turned back to her, "But first, you got to help me find a way to release all these pokemon so we have a chance to make things right here."
"So, you really want to save all these pokemon?" Lucy asked.
"That is what I said," I responded as I phased my way out of the cell. "Now I won't lie, I don't know jack squat about this place, you do though. So, let's make a deal."
Lucy sneered, "Let me guess, I tell you how to open all the cells, and you'll get me out?"
"Yeah, simple as that."
"Alright, fine," Lucy's grin widened. "Better make it fast though, I'm pretty sure those pricks will be coming for me within the hour, so I don't really want to go through all of that if it can be helped."
"I'll try, but only if I can. So, how do I open the cells?"
"Simple really," Lucy started. "Go back through the doors you came from, then down the hall, try starting by going left, there will be a control room. You'll know it's the right place if it has a bunch of monitors looking over all of the cell blocks in this facility. Next, in that room there will be a large control panel which has a bunch of letters and numbers on it, like a-24, b-82, and stuff like that. Just click every one of those buttons, it'll automatically open the cell for them. Then if you want find the microphone and maybe hit the red button to give some directions to the pokemon you're freeing. They'll probably need to know that they're being freed."
"Hmm, alright," I nodded. "I'll look for that then, just give me a bit, I don't know my way around this place like you do."
"Believe me, it's really easy," Lucy assured me, "You've already done the impossible part, which is getting out, so I think you can handle the rest."
"I'll take your word on it," I smirked. "Now, as much as I'd love to continue talking, I've got to find that room before your date." I gave a wave at the servine and took off running as best as I could back to the halls. When I reached the dual doors of the cell block I just walked straight through them, entering back into the halls of the facility.
Like before the coast was clear, allowing me to make my way down the hall at my own leisure. While in a hurry, the strain in my body did give me a reason to go at my own pace. The first few doors on the left path led to other cell blocks, but around the fourth door I found my target.
I peeked my head through the door, finding a room full of monitors and a guard leaning back in his chair, gawking at a magazine. The human gave a chuckle as he flipped the page, raising the magazine up to get a better view…
Not even making a sound, I phased into the room. Upon getting a better view I frowned at the contents of the magazine… Of course it was a dirty magazine. I mean this just made things too awkward, it wasn't right to intrude on another man while he was doing his thing, it was just the guy code, even if we were different species… Then again these bastards technically turned me into a walking corpse, so I guess I could make an exception for killing me.
"Psst, hey buddy," I spoke up. The human gave a yelp as he threw the magazine up in shock, struggling to catch it as he spun around towards me in his chair.
"H-hey, who let a charmele-" the human stopped midsentence, shocked over something. "Wait… what are you?!" The human reached down towards his belt, whipping out a pistol and firing off his gun repeatedly at me.
"Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I screamed as the bullets passed through me. I held my hand over my chest, my claws tearing into my scales from the scare. "Oh crap… thank Arceus bullets don't work on ghosts…"
"What the Hell are you?!" the guard shouted as he backed up.
"Woooo, I'm a ghost!" I teased as I waved my hands forward at him, being as cheesy as possible. As I walked towards the human I stepped over the magazine he had dropped to the ground. I glanced down and gagged at the contents.
"I swear, you humans do some weird shit in your mating sometimes…" I grumbled, kicking the book shut, but failed the first three times due to my foot passing through it. "I tell ya, this ghost stuff is kind of cool, but until I get the hang of it this is going to be annoying," I sighed as I walked towards the human. "I mean getting turned into a weirdo might suck, but I'll take it if that means you can't bust a cap in my butt. Plus maybe I can get a job as a super hero after this, maybe get my own marble movie," I continued on at the human, even though each word was just a charmeleye's rambling… Still working on that name.
As I reached the human I hopped up onto his lap and slugged him in the temple. The human flew back in his chair. As he fell I hopped off, landing perfectly on the ground.
"Now, operation breaking the heck out of here," I sneered as I grabbed the tipped over chair from the human and used that to stand on so I could see the control panel. I took a second to fully grasp what I was looking at… but then I remembered… I can't read. I was still able to find the big red button to activate the mic, now it was a matter of figuring out how to do all of this. I stared at the control panel for about five minutes before I came to a conclusion on what to do.
"Alright, screw it!" I yelled as I flailed my arms all over the panel, clicking nearly every button. Most of the buttons lit up green upon being touched, and I could hear the beeps from the nearby cellblocks sounding, so I knew I did something right.
I rolled the chair over by the mic and held the red button down. "Umm hi, not really sure if this thing is working, but if you hear this then great! Anyhoo, if your cell doors opened then that means you have been chosen to break the Hell out of here with me. So yeah, let's fuck them up!" I shouted into the mic.
I clapped my hands together in satisfaction as I hopped down from the chair. "Well, now that that's done, time to go make sure that servine can get me out of here," I stated out loud, running back in the direction of where Lucy was at.
As I ran down the hall many pokemon started emerging from their cell blocks, coming out in hordes. Most were battered and weak, but some had a fire in their eyes, filled with bloodlust for revenge. While I usually wouldn't accept giving into those emotions, I wouldn't stop them. I knew most of them deserved to do whatever they wanted to the Genesis pricks.
"Aiden!" Lucy shouted from down the hall. My head snapped towards the servine, finding her in a mob of pokemon that were hastily beginning their escape.
I ran towards her, skidding to a stop just before running into her. "Alright, now how do we get out of here?!"
"Follow me," Lucy instructed as I followed after her. The wave of pokemon escaping from their cells made everything into a mess. A vine slipped out of Lucy's shoulder. "Grab on and don't let go, best we don't get separated!" she shouted over the crowd of pokemon.
"Right!" I grabbed on and the vine wrapped around my hand. Had to be the first time I felt them without their intent being to wring out my neck. It was almost like a milestone was met in my life.
As Lucy and I made our way down the hall an alarm started to sound through the base. My head rang from the sound, and the flashing of a red light made sent a tremble down my spine. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but things were about to go down.
Lucy took me through a maze of halls. Some of the Genesis security had made it down, they were quick to set up perimeters.
"Hey Lucy!" I yelled as the servine.
"Better be good!" she shouted back.
"If we have to fight any of the Genesis guards let me get them, turns out bullets aren't very effective against me since they just pass right through me!"
"Well if that's the case, be my guest!"
And almost as if on queue we were cut off by three guards, each holding a rifle and pointing down range at me. Two pokemon also accompanied the guards, a luxray and a houndoom.
"Let me go first, distract the pokemon with a ranged attack, I'll get the humans," I instructed as I charged forward.
"Most intelligent thing I've heard from you yet!" Lucy shouted behind my back. All three of the humans had their weapons aimed in on me. I clenched my eyes shut as three separate streams of bullets came at me. I cried as they flew through me.
A spray of thorns shot past me, spraying off at both of the pokemon. The houndoom and the luxray both leapt back from their humans, trying to shield their eyes as they were impaled by the blast of thorns. I sucked in a deep breath as I shot out a bright blue flamethrower at the humans. Purposely I kept the heat down, just enough to sear them a bit. The humans covered their faces, all dropping their guns, one dropping to the ground and rolling in an attempt to put out the flame. I leapt in the air, hitting the first human with a dragon claw. Blood sprayed out from his hip as he collapsed to the ground. The other human turned to me, whipping out hit pistol. I spun and slammed my tail into his legs, making him fall. To finish him I jumped into the air and landed down on his chest, knocking all of the wind out of him. To be sure he wasn't a threat I kicked his pistol away.
As for the third human, he stayed down from the flamethrower, deciding that almost burning to death was enough for today. All that remained were the two pokemon, which were now recovering from the thorns Lucy had shot out at them.
"Their wouldn't be a chance you two would just let us pass, would there?" I asked as my fists tightened.
"That wouldn't make us good guards, now would it?" The houndoom chuckled. "Pretty cool fella you are though, being able to move through bullets like that."
"Heh, thanks," I laughed, a bit surprised by the compliment.
"Will you quit your babbling and just kill him already!" The luxray snapped, her tone sharp and bossy.
"Yikes," I whispered.
Another spray of thorns shot past me, these ones focusing on the luxray. She gave a high pitched screech as her faces was impaled by multiple thorns. She rolled around on the floor as blood covered the floor.
"Actually…" the houndoom started as Lucy joined by my side. "I think I'll let you pass…"
"Well thank you very much, you have a good day now," I smiled at the houndoom. Lucy kept her eyes on the houndoom as we continued forward.
As we continued our way down the halls, a bright flash of orange came from around the corner. Terrible screams came from around the corner as smoke fumed from that direction.
"That's the way to the next floor," Lucy commented. "Elevators are more than likely locked down, so that's our only option," the servine added.
"Let me go fir-"
"You can't dodge elemental attacks," she told me. "Bullets might not count, but those flames still burn."
"And you say that to a sableon," I chuckled.
"Just don't be reckless," Lucy insisted.
"Careful, you almost sound like you care." I walked around the corner, Lucy sticking close to my side. As I peeked around the corner I caught the whiff of burnt flesh. The smell made me gag as I covered my maw with my hand. Standing amongst a pile of burnt humans and pokemon stood a quilava. He heaved heavily as smoke fumed from him. The flame over his back flickered in its dwindling power. His body was covered in many deep cuts, some older than others, bruises and all sorts of wounds.
"No way…" I started as I walked out from around the corner. The quilava glared up at me, his murderous glare dead panned on me. "I know you," I started.
"I swear, get any closer!" the quilava snarled as the flames on his back shot up, blue burning at the core.
"Hold on, hold on!" I nervously shouted as I raised my hands up and slowly backed away from him. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"No, and because of that I'll kill you if you get near me."
"Well I remember you, Merr-something," I responded. "Remember that charmander you all thought it was fun to manipulate? You lied about my human, lead me for months? Yeah, I was that little guy."
"Aiden?" The quilava's eyes widened a bit, his flames dying down before rising back up, his expression going from shock to hostility as he snarled. "Well then, guess we'll have to settle-"
"What no!" I shouted at him, raising my hands higher. "Right now that's the least of my concerns, I just want out of here!"
"fine," the quilava snorted. "For now we'll call it a truce, but do anything to set me off and I will kill you, clear?"
"Yeah, yeah, but when we're done here, you and I are having a little pow-wow, in exchange this servine here is going to show us the way out of here. Sound fair?"
"You really know the way?" the quilava questioned her.
"It's as he said, I know the way," Lucy answered. "Now, enough chit-chat, I want to leave already."
"Fine, lead the way," he said. "Just mind the fact that I'm barely standing right now, so if you want that talk you'll be sure to go at my pace."
"Alright, let's go!" Lucy scowled.
With no further delays we followed the servine. Our rate of progress was cut in half due to the quilava. He moved slower than I could. He limped the whole way, scowling and swearing in pain as he left a trail of blood. Things only got worse when we made it to the stairwell. It was a long trip up, and of course many of the Genesis guards were waiting. The three of us were easily able to take anything that stood in our way. I'd say we made a good team, seeing as we all kind of hated each other.
At the top of the stairwell Lucy lead us left down another maze of halls. "Almost there," she grumbled.
None of the pokemon that had escaped made it this far yet, meaning we were possibly going to be the first to escape… Maybe not the others, but I can pass through any obstacles, so I was good.
A bit further through the maze and Lucy halted upon a large steel door. "I need a lift," she said, pointing her hand at a small number panel for a code.
"Well, I'll find a stool," I replied.
"We don't have time, just lift me up," Lucy demanded.
"Fine, fine," I sighed as I kneeled. Lucy climbed up onto my shoulder and started typing numbers into the panel.
"Let's pray this actually works," she said. A few more clicks and a beep sounded from the panel. "Yes!"
"You got it?" I asked as she hopped down from me.
"Yeah, looks like we get to get out of this Hellhole!"
"Great," the quilava smirked.
The steel door slowly opened on its own. Lucy was the first to enter, I followed her with the quilava lingering behind. On the other side of the door was a long hall, a large one at that. The three of us slowly made our way down the path. I could feel the cold crisp air from outside.
Things almost felt like a dream for me, I couldn't believe I was walking out of here alive. I glanced at the servine, realizing that our time was nearly over. Sure, we would see each other to the next settlement, but that was probably the end of it. I was sure I needed to be away from her from now on, I couldn't keep pretending she was Ivy.
When at the end of the tunnel I had to cover my eyes from the intensity of the sun. Flurries of snow blew around, obscuring the distance as my eyes tried to focus on what awaited. When I took my first step outside I felt a cold bite of wind pushing me.
"Damn that's cold!" I cry as I wrap both of my arms around myself.
"How do you think I feel, I'm grass you're fire!" Lucy said in just as much pain as myself.
When my eyes adjusted I was able to see what I was up against. I collapsed to my knees, feeling all hope being snuffed out.
"I… I quit," I pouted, looking at the expanse of mountains that went on as far as I could see.
"Fine, go back into that hole!" Lucy snorted. "I'm at least going to die trying to get to the nearest town." The servine started stomping away, following a path that lead down the mountain. The quilava followed and within seconds the two were obscured in the snowy weather.
It didn't take long for it to dawn on me that I didn't want to be out here alone. I scurried back up onto my feet and chased after the faint light the quilava gave off.
"Hey, wait up!" I shouted as I caught up to the group.
"Well hurry up, we don't have time to linger around. As soon as they realize some pokemon actually made it out they'll be giving everything they got to find us. Right now, we're Genesis's biggest threat because we've seen everything in there and we know where this base is."
"So we're dead?"
"Not yet," the quilava spat. "As long as I'm standing I'm fighting to the end."
I gave a reluctant nod, still hugging myself in a futile attempt to protect myself from the elements. The process of making our way down the mountain was slow. I lost track of how many times I face planted from slipping. At least I didn't fall off and die…
And today I learned something new. Apparently Ghost types can freeze to death, or at least ones spliced with charmeleon's.
The torment of fighting against the elements only lasted for about two hours before we found a small cave to hide in. By the time I collapsed to the ground I was trembling, my tail flame nearly out.
"I-I think I'm going to die," I said, not even exaggerating. Lucy didn't even play around, she just sat up against me in an attempt to share body heat.
"M-M-Merrick," the servine pleaded to the quilava who found a spot on the other side of the cave.
"No," he snorted, collapsing to the ground, trembling.
I blew a small flame at my hands, trying to warm myself up. While my core might have been fine, the rest of my body still felt chilled to the bone. If only we had some wood, one of us fire types could start a fire. Wonder how flammable a servine is…
It took around an hour of constantly blowing fire around my numb areas to actually get rid of that chill to my bones. Lucy too even seemed to lean forward near the flames I made.
"Man, it's so freaking cold!" I complained.
"Really?" Lucy snorted.
I leaned back against the cave wall, groaning in soreness. My feet felt as if they'd fall back, while heated up the cold did make them ache from walking through all that snow. At times like this I really wish I dressed like the human's did.
Experiencing the frigid weather made me miss home. I remembered a lot of the colder winter days were David and I would go out and play until we had enough, then when we came back in he'd make us some hot chocolate. Man, those were the days, back when life was simple. I chuckled in my reminiscent thoughts.
"What's so funny?" Lucy questioned me.
"Nothing, I was just remembering back to before life sucked," I admitted. Having the servine snuggled up against me for warmth wasn't probably the best idea since I wanted my mind to heal. It triggered my head, making me think of Ivy even more. I felt a warmth over my cheeks, I knew it was stupid to actually enjoy this since Lucy was Lucy.
"I wouldn't know what that's like," the servine admitted. "I barely remember anything before I met Rhys."
"Right, I remember you telling me that."
There was a silence between us for a minute, before Lucy looked up at me. I looked back at her, and I could tell she had something on her mind, probably something snarky.
"Aiden," she started, her voice hesitant.
"Hmm?"
"Listen," the servine averted her gaze from me, "I'm a terrible pokemon…"
"Oh believe me I know," I quipped.
Lucy didn't respond for a moment, her expression looked lost. "I've done lots of things to hurt you too. I know now that you resent me, which is how you should feel towards me, but I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" I said in confusion, "For wh-"
"Everything," she quickly responded, her voice sounding pained. "You've done a lot to help me, I know it was all over that unhealthy obsession for your friend, but you still were nice to me, even when I was cruel towards you… You kept following me, even when I'd physically and emotionally hurt you." The servine gave out a sigh as she looked me back in the eyes, "Even in the end after I said such horrible things," Lucy placed her hand on my arm, "even after I allowed you to be made into this. You still helped me, why? I know you could have easily made it out without ever coming to me, you now have the power for that." Her grip on my arm tightened. "I'm sorry for everything."
I chuckled as I wrapped an arm around the servine, knowing that I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it seeing her like this.
"We're both alive," I pulled her into my chest. I half expected her to kill me, but surprisingly she didn't. "For now being whatever I am has saved us all. Really, if I hadn't been changed like this I wouldn't have been able to break out."
"But you still got involved in all of that because of me," She added. "Not only that I never gave away what Ghost wanted, I allowed you to suffer with me."
I didn't respond to that, I wasn't sure how I felt at the moment. Here I was with the servine that treated me like garbage, and she's in my arms feeling remorse for how she treated me. How would one respond to that? It felt sincere, but could I really just accept what all happened and pretend everything was okay?
"After we get to town," I started, gently pushing the snivy from my chest, "I think it's best if we part ways for good."
Lucy gave a blank stare at me and gave a single nod, "I understand."
The two of us returned back to our silence, the only noise being the quilava's snoring and the howling of the wind. For me it was too cold to sleep, I didn't understand how the quilava could do it. Lucy seemed to be just as restless too. Maybe she also felt too afraid to sleep. That was okay, I didn't think sleeping was fine, we just needed to wait for the snow to chill out.
About an hour had to pass before Lucy said anything to me, "So, I have to ask, but why exactly do I remind you of this Ivy figure? I get that I look like her, but is that really all there is to it?"
I leaned my head back, staring at the roof of the cave, "Kind of. Your personality is pretty evil, she too was messed up in the head, but more so her humor was than her actions."
"I see," Lucy nodded out of the corner of my eye. "So, what happened to her?"
I gave a sigh, I knew one day this question would come up, and I had always tried to stay mentally prepared for it. "Well…" I nervously started, "She got ran over by a lawn mower because she blended in with the lawn…"
"Oh my-"
"No not really," I quickly interjected. "It's something I don't really like talking about, and for some reason I get the feeling you don't really care," I answered spitefully as I pulled my knees up and hugged them, burying my head between them.
"Sorry," Lucy replied. "It's not one of those things I have to know, but I was curious. You seem to have liked her enough to be obsessed with anything that resembled her, so it made me wonder."
"Yeah," I mumbled, "She was amazing. Funny, cute, and crazy enough for me."
"But I'm too crazy," Lucy joked.
"You could say that."
About two hours had passed by the time the snow had calmed. Lucy was the first one to point it out. The two of us took a moment to discuss the route before we bothered to shake the quilava awake.
"C'mon, we're going," I grumbled as I shook him. The flame on his back rose up as his eyes shot open and he flinched back. For a moment he looked ready to kill, before his eyes looked around very confused.
"How long has it been?" He said before he yawned and got up onto all fours.
"About two hours," Lucy answered. "We've lost a lot of time because of all that snow, so we need to leave now and get down the mountain before night. If we're trapped out here around then I doubt we'll have an easy time."
"Right," the quilava nodded.
Lucy lead the way out of the cave, and when outside I was met with a whip of cold wind. I wrapped my arms around myself like I had done before. Already I could tell this was going to be a long descent down the mountain.
"If only they had evolved me into a charizard," I commented.
"You probably wouldn't have an idea how to fly yet," Lucy shot.
I sighed, "Well, thanks…"
I looked out into the distance, seeing how far the mountains went out. I couldn't see anything past the mountains, and I was sure this was more than a day's trip, even if we didn't stop. Plus the snow and slippery surfaces would slow us down. If only I had a sled, then the trip down the mountain would be cake.
All I could do was pray and fight my hardest to make it through this.
Chapter End
Author Note: Two things I need to say. One, sorry I'm a bit late, I had this chapter written ahead of time but with yet another job I started I didn't have time. I'll be working 60 hours a week until christmas passes, then I go down to 36 hours, 3 days on, 4 off. That means I'll have more time to write! Secondly, I realised last chapter I made a funny error lol. I forgot to change (Something something) street to the actual street name, making me look very lazy... That wasn't intentional, I just forgot to change it lol.
Anyhoo, thanks to genericgamer207 for editing this chapter!
Question of the chapter: What do you think of Aiden's changes?