Codename: Beast Killer Chapter Two, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter Two: Welcome Home

"Ma'am, they don't respond to the RKS System. I'm sorry...We've ran many blood tests and DNA samples, and we've altered what we can without accidentally terminating the creatures."

Type:Full's body ached, his paws were sore from poking and prodding of sharp needles and drawing blood. He lied against the cold, uneasy floor, in the farthest corner, his body pressed against the pitch black colored walls.

Any chance to see them was nearly impossible; They purposefully kept his senses restrained, only giving him the gift of sight when there was work to be done. These walls were colorless and so was he.

His ears tuned into every conversation, between the scientists that were too afraid to step near him anymore, and the President with her head leader. All he could do anymore... was listen.

She sighed. "So you're telling me this project was for naught?" "In a way; Yes. We can take what we've got researched and start again, but there's nothing we can do anymore. It simply does not respond beneficially to the RKS System. If we force it, we run the risk of killing all three prototypes, and losing what we've worked so hard to create."

There was a long pause. "These creatures are failures. I refuse to spend anymore time on them. I do not acknowledge anything that won't survive for me. This is the first one?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Take it to cryogenics. Now. Change its name to Type;Null, to be Full would have been in my favor, but it's a shame. Get rid of it. I need to find another way to capture the Ultra Beasts."

The room suddenly flashed, a painstaking white that blinded Null's eyes. He jumped to his feet and shut his eyes, stumbling through the room as it rapidly flashed between black and white. His feet clumsily knocked into each other, he stepped on his own claws and threw his head around to escape the sudden torment.

Pinpointed pain shot into his neck, following him even if he tried to run away. A heavy weight suddenly clamped around his throat, and he felt it all around his mouth, ears, eyes, and head. He ripped his vocal cords screeching and wailing, thrashing and fighting against the device.

His reality began to rush in his mind, clashing against each other like broken glass. His last moments, his entire life would be spent in this room, this cage. It couldn't happen like that, he couldn't die like this.

The lasers in his neck finally subdued, and Null careened towards the door that had opened in his cell. Two humans in white uniforms ran into the room, and Null shook his head straight, lifting his body up to tower over the humans. They stopped in their tracks, staring up at him with wide eyes. There was no time to think for them or for Null.

Null swung his head like a battering ram, and ran for the white light. His body pumped with adrenaline, but it was now or never. The alarms were ear shattering, and footsteps thundered from every direction. Null continued to run as fast as he could; It's what they taught him.

He didn't dare look behind him, as he knew looking back would slow him down, and get him caught. If he were caught now, he'd be dead where he stood. It was escape or it was death.

Null threw himself through another set of doors, his helmet tearing through pipes and alarm systems. Glass shattered to smithereens caught caught in his skin, and he felt a sudden pain of scorching heat on his skin, the blast knocking him through the last door.

He skidded against the concrete, where the wild wind of the night was waiting. It pulled him to his feet, and he for a brief moment, he looked against the building that created him, gave him life, and almost took it away on this night.

The employees were caught behind the fire, but their silhouettes burned in shadows. Little flecks of embers were flying away into the night. Null turned and turned, spinning around for a way out. A curved platform, it all dropped off into an endless abyss of churning water. He heard the captors that called, screamed, and could imagine they were on their way from another end.

By tomorrow, he could have been dead. He launched himself from the concrete and dove into the ocean's grasp, the water cooled his burns. He watched the building fade away into the night, and tonight, he saw things projected on the walls of his cage, to familiarize him with the world before stepping one foot from his containment cell; It was the sky, the moon, and all her stars.

Tonight, for the first time, they were actually real.

His eyes opened to a room full of color. His body jolted; He was prepared to feel the freezing room, he was ready to feel pain coursing through his body, and hear the voice of the dreadful man sneering into the microphone, into his ears.

But things were peacefully quiet. His claws sank into something soft and it felt...Strange. This wasn't the water, and this room wasn't the sea. It was much smaller than what he was used to, strange pictures on the walls, windows that looked into the outside world. So many items in this room, wherever he was, it wasn't in that place again. He was someplace new. Someplace warm. He looked up to the ceiling, around the closets and desks, and his ears thumped against the wood in the helmet when he heard breathing that wasn't his own. He turned his head, and looked at the new humans.

Two humans slept side by side, one in a chair and one on the floor. The older one had her arms crossed, and her chin touched her chest, her blonde hair unkempt and wild, unlike any human he had seen before; The ones who wore the same white uniforms, lab coats and tight, drawn back hair. Old towels were folded against her legs, stained with red. Stained with his blood. Around her feet, were bottles upon bottles, all empty. Her breathing was automatic, and slow.

The other one sat on the floor, leaned against the woman's leg, and they twitched and moved constantly, compared to the woman who was still like a statue. Null had never seen anyone like them before. He took in a deep breath, slow and steady, leaned in his head, and snorted.

His breath was powerful, blowing the kid's bangs back, and for a second, he could see their face twitch, but they quickly pushed their hair back and slid closer to the wall, lying their head on the woman's thigh.

Null huffed again, and fidgeted on the bed, pressing his paws against the comforters and blankets, trying to move against the squishy thing. Adjusting his back legs, he pressed against is stiff and aching body to rise up. He wasn't prepared, however, to see sudden movement and the human on the floor lift their own head, look up, and quickly sat up. Their hands went out, waving back and forth frantically.

"Oh no, wait! Watch out for the-!"

The ceiling shuddered as Null stood, knocking his head into the ceiling with a hard bang, his nerves heightened and his heart spiked fast. Watching the kid in front of him turn sideways, the room going on its ear as Null stumbled clumsily off the bed and onto the floor.

Cassie's head snapped up and her eyes grew wide. She jumped out of her chair, pushing her hair back and looking between Echo and the Pokemon.

"It's awake!"

"It's okay!" Echo climbed to their feet and braced against Cassie as she pushed to get closer. "I think he's okay!"

No matter if he was okay or not, Cassie threw her own arm out and pushed Echo behind her as she neared around the bed. Null rocked and swung his head as he scampered to his feet, keeping his eyes on the new human as she stared into his eyes, and he stared back.

Cassie didn't dare take her eyes away, following his every move as he regained balance, and his head steadied. His eyes inside the helmet were a ghostly, hair-raising silver, narrowed and targeted on her and Echo. Cassie held up her hands, showing him that she wasn't a threat.

"Don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you. No one will hurt you here, you're safe."

She felt wisps of her hair tickle her ears as she felt Null's breath. She continued to hold her hands up. "There's nothing on me. I have nothing." she repeated. Null continued to sniff as he moved his feet, and Cassie noticed how he relied heavily on his left, the right bent to a shuddering angle.

Cassie blinked again, and Null was face to face with her, taking in her every feature, from her head to her feet. Meanwhile, Cassie held her arms out, and didn't once try to touch or examine Null. Eventually, Null huffed again and turned away from Cassie, his fish-like tail simply brushed against her leg with enough force to almost buckle her knee. Cassie clasped her hands together, gently squeezed them as she watched Null begin to sniff the room, bumping into objects with his helmet.

He sniffed and nudged, and reared its head towards the window. Thick trees were as far as the eye could see, bare and stripped of leaves that covered the grounds in reds, oranges, and browns. The sky was a swirl of golden orange and blue, and a light Null had never seen before was on the rise. Null stood at the window for the longest time, and just stared out of the glass.

What a sight...What did it feel like out there? Was it cold? Was the air still and chilly, was it warm and comforting? What was out there...Would he be caught again? Someone would come and find him, and with some strange power, he'd be knocked out and taken back to that place. Was this all a sick joke? Were these humans one of them? Null took his sights from the window and turned back to them.

The only one left was Echo, sitting cross legged on Cassie's work desk, lazily spinning a toy on the wood. They glanced up, and raised their head. "What's wrong?"

Null took a few steps closer; All he needed to take to reach Echo and practically tower over him. In Aether, all he had to do to be left alone was to stand tall, stand still, and stare. He'd feel it in the human, and see it as well; Their eyes darting and hands fidgeting, shoulders tense. In the span of a few moments, they'd quickly make their exit and leave him alone again.

Echo didn't move an inch from their position on the desk, staring up at Null with eyes he couldn't see, hidden behind the hair. Were they scared? Fearless? Eyes told a story of their own, and theirs were hidden.

"I'm not sure what happened to you, or how you got here, but…"

Echo stopped themselves, their hand reached out, their fingers curling back in. They dropped their hand in their lap, and slid off the table.

"Would you like something to eat? Pokemon love food."

Null watched in silence as Echo quickly ran to their bag, dropped on the floor near all the discarded bottles. As they rummaged through, Null turned towards the bed, and carefully climbed back on it, nestling in the soft, warm sheets.

"I don't know about you, but these are screamin'. They come from Goldenrod City. Bean buns!"

Echo stood near Null, and held up a puffy pastry. They gently set it down in front of Null. "You can have the whole thing if you'd like."

Null looked down at the bread at his feet, and with a strong sniff it smelled mouth wateringly sweet. It reached down to try and take a complicated bite, when a new, stronger smell came wafting into the room. Something savory, strange, but left his stomach growling. Echo looked up at Null with a grin.

"You smell that too, right? Let's go take a look."

"I just think it's scared." Cassie rubbed her temples as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "It needs space to figure out that we're not trying to hurt it, but help it."

Damien hummed as he cracked eggs into a bowl, and whisked them quickly, pausing in between to pour and flip pancakes on the stove, grab glasses and pour fresh lemonade, and juggle it all with ease.

"Seems reasonable. I'm just surprised it didn't try to lash out as a first instinct. I woke up peacefully this morning."

"It tried to stand up, bumped its head on the ceiling, and fell off the bed. You think I woke up peacefully?"

With a gracious flip, Damien stacked three pancakes onto Cassie's plate, and slid them down to her. "Just how you like 'em, little sis."

"By two minutes." Cassie rolled her eyes, and passed them down to Lucario, sitting beside her at the counter.

"And this is the downstairs…"

Damien and Cassie both slowly exchanged glances at the thundering of footsteps coming down the stairs. Echo stood at the bottom of the stairs, waving their arms encouragingly with a big grin on their face. "You can do it! Trust me, I don't like stairs either."

Cassie turned to Damien and watched in twisted amusement as his eyes widened and his mouth went agape. He couldn't believe it, it made it through the night, and lo and behold, it staggered down the stairs looking much better than it did hours ago.

"Wow…" Damien mumbled, watching Null look around at the windows and doors, and sniff and nudge anything and everything. It was hard to believe such a strange thing could be in his house, of all places.

Echo lead Null into the living room, where the kitchen was in the corner, and Null had much more space to walk around, much more things to take in.

"And this is where that delicious smell was coming from. Although now it smells burned."

"Oh!" Damien spun and around and waved away the smoke steaming from the frying pan, he shook the pancake from the pan and laughed nervously as he struggled to flip it. He could feel Null's eyes on him, as well as Echo's and Cassie's. He cleared his throat and tossed the burned pancake intro the trash, refusing to look behind him.

"Uh- Anyone hungry for pancakes?"

"Yes, please! Would you like to try one, uh...Would you like one?"

Null swayed his head as he took in the scents of the food being cooked. Edging back as a plate was slid down the counter, he quickly realized it wasn't a threat, it wouldn't hurt him. He leaned down and sniffed it excessively. Damien rubbed the back of his neck.

"Aw, man, everyone usually loves my cooking."

Cassie and Echo both shared a lighthearted laugh, and Null raised his head, tilting it as he looked between them. Echo smiled and gestured to Null and the pancake.

"Go ahead! Would you like me to try one too?"

Echo picked the tiniest bit from the pancake, leaving the biggest portion they could for Null. Echo plopped it into their mouth, and after a few chews, turned to Damien.

"Not bad!"

There was a thin slit in Null's mask, just big enough for him to reach down, and take small nibbles of the pancake, like he did with the bean bun. He never realized just how hungry he was, staying in captivity day in and day out, food came in tubes that were hooked into him, and pumped. He never smelled what he ate, or saw it either.

Null ended up eating and eating until there wasn't any food left in the bowl of pancake batter, and Damien laughed. "That's all I've got for breakfast. I promise we'll have a big lunch for you, bud."

Maybe these humans weren't so bad. The food definitely wasn't. And maybe, just maybe...His life wouldn't be so bad anymore.

Echo, on their knees, pat down and flattened the rest of the blanket, and stood back with a satisfied grin. "Done!"

Cassie glanced over from her space on the couch, her eyebrows raised. "...And what is that supposed to be?"

It was an arrangement of pillows, blankets, and treats in the corner of the living room, with a lamp for lighting and the back porch window for sight-seeing. Echo dusted their hands off as they stepped back, positioning their hands in a square as they zoomed in and out of the corner castle.

"It's for the new Pokemon! Don't you like it?"

"I would, if you hadn't taken all of my blankets and pillows."

Echo waved Cassie's complaints away. "I'm sure it'll like it! I put so much time into it!"

Cassie rolled her eyes and glanced back as she heard the unmistakable tapping of Null's claws against the wood floor. Echo clapped excitedly and stepped aside. "Hey, look! It's a whole space just for you!"

Null tilted his head at the little blanket fort, but only snorted and continued walking ahead. Echo and Cassie exchanged glances as they watched Null continue on towards the back door, nudging it open with its head.

He walked out into the night, the Autumn air blowing and lingering with the smell of the sea. He figured he should be getting used to that smell now. Leaves scattered across the yard, and Pokemon could be heard in trees way up high. Null looked up at the tree tops, and saw a sky filled with thousands of stars. Unbelievable...So many things existed outside one little room. Null yawned from inside the helmet, and lay his head down on his paws.

From inside, Echo plopped down on the couch and lied back, hands thrown over the back of the sofa and a long, quiet groan they made. Cassie only chuckled, and earned herself a fair kick in the ankle from Echo.

"And what's so funny?"

"You. You're taking my blankets back up to my room. And my pillows, and- You're definitely not getting away with keeping my Mantine plush on the floor."

Echo rolled their eyes and made a pinching motion with their hands. "I will, don't worry. It didn't seem to like it much anyway…"

"You just have to give it time," Cassie looked out of the glass door, at the silhouette of the Pokemon curled up outside. "You've gotta be patient."

Cassie adjusted herself, turning towards Echo. "With Pokemon, all of them, most of them, are untrusting at some point. As trainers, it's our job to help them break that mold, for our sake and theirs. Not all Pokemon work the same. My Lucario didn't trust me first."

"Your- That Lucario? Your pal, your partner, your ride or die?"

"Breaking the ice was hard. I had to prove to that tiny Riolu that I could take care of him, I would give him space and freedom, and we could truly grow. I have a feeling this one is the same."

Her look changed as she watched Null sleep outside. Her eyes softened, and Lucario had to double take to make sure that the sudden shift in her aura was really her.

"I'm pretty good at knowing these things, and I hate to be right. I think something awful happened to it. Whatever happened, it's left scarring on more than just its body, and because of that, we face a ten foot wall made of pure steel."

Cassie reached for the remote, and held back a heavy sigh. "I know you'll keep an eye on it. And don't give up. As hurt as it may be...It needs someone to be there for it, too. We can't give up on it."

For the rest of the night, Echo held onto that phrase. 'We can't give up on it.'

If you'd like to read this story and its chapters up to Chapter Eight, my Quotev is reachingcoda or if you search up this title on Quotev, you should find it! I'm still getting used to this website, so if there's a way to link things easily, I would be so grateful to know. Thanks!