Chapter 29: Where Mo unleashed his inner demon.
With both Nya and Richard on his back Aaron rushed down the many, uneven stairs, followed by Charlotte, who was almost faster than him, and Mo.
Mo hoped Aaron won't trip and fall as he run.
Mo also realised he did not knew how to get to the basement. He did not saw any stairs that go further down while searching the main floor. Thinking about where they found the stairs and the size and structure if this base it should not have been hard to miss. Did they had a basement in the first place?
"Are you sure they have a basement with another cell?", Mo asked Nya. They just arrived at the main floor again. No one was in sight and his voice echoed.
"That's what we were told.", Nya answered and looked down to Mo. "I don't know where else he could be."
Mo looked around himself and thought what to do. Imagining different scenarios of what if.
"I'll do what I can.", Mo answered. He looked at Aaron. "And don't abandon me here."
"Why should we?", Aaron asked back and sounded rather insulted.
Nya bobbed her head to the side to signal Aaron to hurry up and leave this horrible place. And so they did, running straight to the exit while Mo watched them.
He still had this feeling something was wrong. As if the Forces were planning something and they had no idea.
But right now, Ziggy was his priority to focus on.
Mo hurried and began searching around the main floor area. A clue. a secret entrance. Maybe that Trapinch from before could tell him something. He still had the oran berry to rappel him up again. Then again, after what happened with him, he probably wouldn't be so cooperative anymore.
Mo began to get stressed.
While examining one of the many and mostly empty room, he found something. Right in the middle of this room filled with nothing was a hole. It looked like they forgot to add a basement to their base after finishing building it and just cracked the ground and dug a hole. A ladder, half the wide of the hole, connected the floor below with this one.
Mo looked down the hole.
"Is this a hole I see before me?", Mo thought to himself. "That's weird."
Mo climbed onto the ladder and slowly began to climb down. Due to his size and the size of the ladder he had to carefully and slowly take every step.
Seeing the overall condition of this base now added with this Mo expected Ziggy was simply held down there in the open. Like a child that fell into a well.
The lower floor was dark and it smelled like dirt and rotten water. A strange sound could heard, sounding lake the waves of the ocean, but the again not. Similar like they had it upstairs there were candleholder lighting the darkness. Large wooden pillars stabilised the ceiling so the whole facility wouldn't crash down the hollow ground.
The basement was just one big corridor. At the end of this corridor where two entrances, one at each side, one on the left and one on the right. The door to Mo's left was guarded by two Oddish. They seemed bored and also did not take any notice of Mo.
Mo completely failed to realise the "Chosen One's" cell would be even harder guarded than the others. But it was not like this were the first guards he dealt with today or if there was anyone around that could probably hear their screams. Hopefully.
He took a deep breath and directly approached the guards. Then the two Oddish noticed his presents.
"Who are you?!", one Oddish asked him ad tried to sound intimidating. It was a female Oddish.
Mo tried to stay calm and answered in a friendly tone.
"Good day. I'm the new guy and I was told to take over the next shift."
"New guy?! We weren't told of new members!", the other Oddish told. It was also female. She turned to her college.
"I started today.", Mo explained and was now standing right in front of the first Oddish.
These two stood right in front of a huge metallic door. A size that reached to the ceiling and could probably fit a Wailord inside if it was as large on the inside as it was wide. The room on the other said was almost as large but with no door again. Only bars to keep the entrance from collapsing. It also seemed to be empty, but this strange sound seemed to come right out of this room.
"What's your name?", the second Oddish asked.
Mo had to think fast.
"Dough. ... like ... in ... for baking.", Mo tried to sound cute.
The two Oddish looked at Mo.
"And that scarf?", the second Oddish asked again.
"I have a cold.", Mo explained and coughed. "But it's not that bad. It'll get better."
The first Oddish took a more closer look at Mo and stared right into Mo's real face.
"I swear I saw you before.", she mumbled.
She turned around to the other Oddish.
"Isa! Didn't we chased a weird looking Pikachu back then in Sinister Woods?!"
"You mean that one with the pink Eevee and the grey fur ball that got away?", the other one replied.
While they were busy, Mo slowly took his fake tail and began to fill and enlarge it with his dark power.
The second Oddish notices and her eyed popped out i shock.
"What's the matter?", the first one, who still had her back turned to Mo, asked her.
As the first Oddish turned around to see what was going on, Mo slammed his tail on her head. A loud slamming noise echoed and the Oddish was burried in the ground, so only her leafs showed out.
The second Oddish looked a Mo in fear and she saw him carrying the huge wood in one hand and with his eye glowing bright in the dark.
She screamed.
With his other claw Mo grabbed the Oddish and began smacking her against the metal door over and over, until he know she pass knocked out as well. The door did not had any marks or scratches on it.
Still with some rage in him Mo stood in front of the huge door. If everything was correct, his key could open it, and inside would be Ziggy. Mo put he key into the key hole, small in comparison to the door itself. It fit.
Next, Mo wanted to finally open the door, but with the two Oddish not talking anymore he notices this strange sound even stronger than before.
It was probably a waste of time, but curiosity stroke Mo and he just had to check it out.
Mo entered the other room. It first it seemed to be empty as well, just like the many other rooms. As Mo wondered why building so many unused rooms in the first place, he saw something extraordinary. In one side of the room was a huge slit. A cut, a slash. Floating in the air, like the existence itself was wounded. This cut was not only making this weird sound, but was also shining in a light blue light and as Mo approached the cut, he felt a light breeze as well, as if the cut was sucking everything near it.
Mo has never heard or seen of something like this before and for a short moment he forgot was he and his team were doing here in the first place. He wondered what his cut is and why it was here. What did the Forces intended to do with it.
The cut was too high up for Mo to enter it. He could have toughed it, his arms were log enough, but he feared what might happened.
Mo had to focus. Take care of Ziggy, meet the others, get home safely and then tell everyone what he saw.
Mo hurried back to the huge door and turn the key. It was unlocked with a loud "click".
Mo pushed the door to open it. Due to the size and the thickness the door had it was hard for him to do so.
The room itself was made from the same metal the door was. Probably to make sure what's inside would not escape so easily. There was no light inside, only a soft breathing from someone inside. Mo took a candle to lighten up the room.
There he was. Ziggy. Chained to the wall both hands in a sitting position. He was dirty all over as well as covered in bruises and on some part pieces of hair was missing. The most worst thing was his left eye. It was swollen and covered in mostly already dried blood, running all the way down his cheek. Luckily he had this eye shut or it would looked more terrible than it already was.
Mo almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"You still haven't had enough, did ya?", Ziggy said at light filled the dark cell. He spat on the ground and tried to get up, but seemed to be in pain as he tried to and failed.
Mo slowly walked towards the Pikachu. His rival and personal damsel in distress.
"Ziggy, it's me.", Mo answered.
Ziggy squinted his healthy eye to see better.
"Bootleg?!", he realised. Under other circumstances, Mo would have just left him here now, but not now. "Bootleg! What are you doing here?!"
"My team and I came to rescue you. You should be thankful.", Mo explained to him. He put the candle on the ground and presented the key to his chains to him.
"You of all ...", Ziggy did not seemed amused. This was one part of Mo's goal fulfilled.
Ziggy's healthy eye widened in a state of shock and he tried to get up again with no avail.
"Where are the others?! Nya and Richard?!", Ziggy asked him in panic.
"Aaron and Charlotte are escorting them out. They're fine. They told me to get you out.", Mo explained as well, sounded calmer than Mo normally sounded like.
"Well them, hurry up and get me off these things!", Ziggy demanded and rattled with his chains. "I have an itch that's needs to be scratched and my eye is hurting really bad, like REALLY bad."
Mo looked at the key to his chains and began to think. Now or never and no turning back.
He looked back up to Ziggy.
"I'm afraid I can't do that.", and let the key fall to the ground.
"What? Why?!", Ziggy asked and seemed confused over this situation.
"When I found you, you were already dead. Mangled and cold. Blood and gore everywhere. I saw no use of getting you out of there. I would not drag a corpse through the whole facility. Especially not something like this.", Mo calmly explained to him.
Silence.
"What are you talking about?!", Ziggy shouted over what he just heard. "You won't actually let here to rot and tell my team I was dead!"
Mo stepped a little closer to him.
"Of course I won't.", he said. A dark aura rose around Mo. "When you get free somehow at some point and you return, I'll get in trouble for abandoning you. You actually need to die here."
Ziggy's healthy eye widened again, his pupil shrunk and his mouth opened.
"I was imagining for quiet some time how to properly murder someone in an act of revenge, not just you.", Mo explained this plans and future actions to his soon to be ex-rival.
"I think I will simply cut open your belly like a fish and let you slowly bleed out while I watch you. Maybe rip out your still functioning organs if it takes too long.", With one of this sharp fingers, Mo drew a imaginary line all the way down Ziggy's chubby, yellow belly, showing where he wanted to cut.
Ziggy still looked at Mo with his big, blank stare. He inspected Mo from head to bottom and then began to smile all the sudden.
"Aaaah, you got me there for a moment! Giving me a scare as revenge for my mockery!", he laughed. "Clever! Okay, all is forgiven! Now, let's get out of this sick place!"
Mo looked at Ziggy in silence. The dark aura got larger, and so did Mo's anger to this Pikachu.
"You're thinking this is a joke? I've got you where I wanted. No witnesses. No one to interfere. You are at my mercy.", Mo violently grabbed on of Ziggy's ears and began to pull on it, pulling his head with it as well.
"Wait, wait, wait! You are doing THIS for name calling?!", Ziggy asked in shock.
"I can't and will not tolerated mockery, bullying and pranks. Everything someone does to me, I will make them pay a million-fold.", Mo explained his actions, his voice now had a demonic tone and his eyes began to glow, this time not in a white and yellow way. Red.
"Dude, that was just for fun!", Ziggy tried to explain HIS actions.
Mo let go off Ziggy's ear. Shorty after his claw, filled with dark energy slashed across Ziggy's face, leaving a nasty scratch mark, similar to how André the Gourgeist received his.
Ziggy grunted in pain.
"Do you think THAT was funny?", Mo asked.
"No!", Ziggy shouted.
"It never was and it never will be! I always tell everyone, but no one listens! They just watch! They watch but never actually realise what is going on!", Mo further explained why he was doing this. His eyes began to water uncontrollably. "Haven't you seen the signs?! Clear signs! This story is not about adventure, friendship, love. It's a drama! About hate and revenge! Neither these Forces our or Guild are innocent! None of you are!"
Mo swung his claw again, this time hitting the wall and leaving a mark there. It hurt Mo. Ziggy was terrified and shivered. He knew he was at Mo's mercy.
"I dream to be happy. And you are standing in my way to achieve this! I HATE YOU!"
Mo pulled out the oran berry he received from Nya for Ziggy from under his cloth.
"And this!"
Mo showed Ziggy the berry closer.
"Nya gave this to me to give it to you."
Mo squashed the oran berry in his clutch, it's juices dripping down his arm. He threw the remains to the ground and cleaned his now sticky and blue claw on Ziggy's arm.
"Mo! You don't need to do this!", Ziggy tried to change Mo's mind. He shivered and his eye watered as well.
"No, but I want to.", Mo answered and pressed the three sharp fingers of his claw on Ziggy's soft belly.
"I'm sorry, okay!? I'm sorry!", Ziggy cried out and wiggled, trying to get away.
"No, you're not.", Mo told him and dug his claw a little bit into the flesh.
"Mo! Tell me! What do I have to do so you can forgive me?", Ziggy now sounded more calmer and serious all the sudden, still trying to change his mind.
In response to this questions, Mo's eyes watered even harder. His claw disappeared under his cloth again and his dark aura as well as his glowing red eyes vanished.
Mo silently looked at Ziggy again.
"I don't know?!", he shouted in anger again, but not demonic anymore. "Nothing?!"
Slowly, the dark aura appeared again around Mo.
"Give me ONE reason why I should not end you here? Make it good.", he said, again in a demonic voice and lifting one finger to tell him he only had one try to change this outcome.
Ziggy took a deep breath. Even tho it hurt him, he stood up, now being larger than Mo. And in a calm voice he spoke:
"It's not just me you are angry at. It's the whole world. A bunch of Pokémon once did you harm, right? In this case I'm not the only one who is someone's prisoner. I'm the prisoner of the Forces of Evil. YOU are everyone's prisoner. Mine, your own, and of every Pokémon there is. Right now you have the keys for both of our chains. The one for me is in your hand, the other one is in you heart. You don't have to let your past be your prison."
Mo looked at Ziggy and began to think. He looked down and saw the key he dropped.
"You want to be happy? You have two options. You can either let the past be forgotten, or you can do the same thing you want to do to me to literally every Pokémon there is and ever will be. Spoiler: Both ways are hard."
Finishing his speech, Ziggy fell to the ground again and began to cough hard.
Mo picked up the key and looked at it. Then back at Ziggy.
"Set me free, and free yourself.", Ziggy said and smiled to the Mimikyu.