Author's Notes: Okay , fair warning. This chapter has a pretty dark part and features a torture scene in the second half. If things like that bother you, please skip the second half of the chapter. If not, read on! :3
"Have you got a scent?" Leo asked Sarah. She'd taken the form of an Arcanine and was sniffing the Honchkrow feather intently. Gloria had pulled yet more medicine out and revived Pidove and Flare, as well as healing the party's Pokémon up. He wondered just how much stuff she was carrying around in that bag.
"It's mostly that bird, but its got Solstice's scent too. I think I got something I can work with." Sarah replied, her voice sounding deep and growl-like coming out of the canine mouth.
"You know, I thought you were a Mew?" Leo asked.
Sarah gave him a look. "Mew can transform. It's natural."
Leo still didn't really get it, but it was convenient anyway.
Gloria nodded. "Lead on, Sarah. Anyone asks, you're-"
"SARAH!"
Leo looked up in a start at the shout from above. A big, green dragon was swooping down, its two diamond-shaped wings a flurry of movement. The Flygon touched down, chattering and buzzing. A huge Houndoom with wings and a bladed tail landed down beside it. It had a rider; Shawn, and he rushed off the dog's back as quickly as he could. "Sarah! Thank Arceus! I thought you were dead for sure!" The Flygon rushed to Sarah and buzzed, hugging her with its small forearms.
Sarah smiled and nuzzled him. "Were you that worried, Chikosu? I'm okay now, thanks to Gloria, Leo, and Amber." She stroked Chikosu's head tufts with a paw, causing the dragon to hum appreciatively. "I'm sorry for scaring everyone."
Shawn nodded once. "Yeah. Poor Chikosu wouldn't even go back in his ball. I think he felt guilty for your fall. As for me," he smiled wryly, "I knew it would take more than a P-O'd Tropius to finish off the Mysterious Mew!" His words were jovial, but the expression in his eyes was pained. It was obvious he was a lot more scared than he let on.
Leo cut in, "So, what do we do? Should we get backup?"
Shawn's face darkened. "I am the backup. It looks like AJ got lost."
Leo looked at Shawn. "Who's AJ?"
"He's a Team Night member, just like me. He's a bit laid-back, but he's got a strong sense of justice. He's only sixteen, and that makes him the kid among our ranks. Sarah asked Eeveen to escort him here so Gloria could have some backup. We always travel in pairs at the least. I wonder what's holding them up?" Shawn pulled out his Xtransceiver and started dialing. Leo's gaze fell on the giant Houndoom as Shawn spoke with someone on the phone.
If the last Houndoom was scary, this one was like a demon!
The huge dog's ember-colored eyes were locked on Leo's own. The bladed tail swished back and forth and smoke trailed out of its nostrils.
"What the hell is that?" Leo blinked and looked back to Sarah, who had a big grin on her face.
"That's Serious." She said.
"Serious?"
"Sure, that's his nickname. We have no idea how he became like this. We called that Pokémon Houndark. He's a lot sweeter than he looks." Sarah got a mischievous little gleam in her eyes. "Go on, boy, say hello!" Serious took one great big step towards Leo and barked once, blowing his hair back a bit. Then, Serious licked him with his forked tongue, the twin tines tickling his face.
"Wah! Yuk!" Leo wiped his face in his arm. He looked back up at the Houndark, and found him with a goofy expression on his mug, his long snake-like tongue hanging out as he panted in Leo's face. "Er...he's a character."
Shawn's smile grew bigger. "You bet! With him and Sarah tracking the trail, we can't lose 'em! Let's do this!"
Fang climbed up onto Sarah's back, and she led the way through the forest, sniffing the air and looking about. Flare was doing her part too, but she seemed to defer to the bigger dog. Serious howled and took to the sky, seeking the trail from above. He grew distracted watching Serious. It was so weird seeing a dog fly! He ran square into Sarah, who had stopped suddenly. She yipped and Leo looked down.
Sarah had stopped in front of a door. The building it was attached to was heavily camouflaged; he would have walked right by if Sarah hadn't stopped. Vines and plants grew freely on military netting hung over the building, and the building itself was hidden in the base of a tree. Clever, but not quite clever enough.
Leo looked at the painted concrete door. He took a deep breath and put his hand on the doorknob. To his confused surprise, it popped open without even turning the knob. The door swung open with a weighty creak, revealing the interior. The dappled light in the forest did little to unmask the darkness; all Leo could see was a long stairwell leading underground.
"So that's the snakes' den." Gloria said.
Snakes' den, indeed. This place looked like it could hide a lot of trouble. Leo strained to see deeper into the inky blackness. Even though he didn't want to be surprised, he knew he had to go ahead. Steeling his nerves, he took a tentative step into the building.
He had a bad feeling about this place...
Awareness was slowly returning to Amber. Her head ached and she felt something pressing on her wrist. Three voices were exchanging some conversation.
"She's kinda fragile, isn't she? Can't even take a good scare," A man's voice commented, "Good thing. Would've been a pain in the ass to put up with that banshee-scream she's got."
"Have the paralytics kicked in yet? We can't have her struggling." A woman's voice this time.
"Her pulse has slowed. I'm sure she's under." A second woman now.
"Where's that damn syringe?! Oh, here it is." This from the man again.
What are they doing to me?!
Amber's head grew clearer and she groaned, opening her eyes.
She almost wished she was still unconscious.
She was in a dark room of some kind. She could tell she was laying face-up and spread-eagle on a cold, steel table.
Was this an exam table? Creepy, but that wasn't the worst of it.
Dim lights in yellow, red, and green highlighted unfamiliar instruments and gadgets. The light was too dim to make out much detail about her room.
Where am I?
As far as she could see, there was inky blackness, punctuated by spooky-looking silhouettes and machines. Amber tried to sit up, but her body was numb. Panic started to set in as she realized she couldn't even prop her body up. She was paralyzed.
But she was not quite mute. She screamed at the top of her lungs, fear overriding any common sense.
A powerful hand slapped her across the face. "Go back to sleep!"
Amber could see a man faintly ; it was the Silicon agent Ferrous. He wasn't wearing his usual trench coat, but a long, white lab coat. His silvery blonde hair, no longer restrained by his fedora, swept his shoulders as he leaned down and sneered. "That's right. Shut up."
"Welcome to Project Ascension." Amber's vision was adjusting by the minute. She now saw a woman with dark blue hair and wearing the same white coat standing just behind Ferrous.
"N-nnnn mmgh?!" Amber tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate.
"Heh, heh. How do you like that, girl?" The woman put a hand on Amber's shoulder. Her touch would have made her jump, but even a flinch was beyond her at this point. "Those drugs we injected into you are potent stuff, hmm? Can't even speak, can you?" She smiled wickedly down at Amber. "Don't worry. Because you're so special, boss has a treat for you. Aren't you lucky!"
Amber was more afraid than ever now. What did she mean, "treat?!" She didn't like the implications one bit.
Someone...help me...!
She struggled to move. Maybe if she just tried hard enough...
No good. She was still as if she were held down.
"Is the implant ready now, Sapphire? I'm starting to wonder..." That voice! It had to be Solstice. That strange monotone of hers was unmistakable.
"Boss," Sapphire turned to face an unseen Solstice, "The implant needs a little more time to complete. She's conscious now, so installing it is going to be..." Sapphire turned back to Amber, a vile little smile on her lips, "...fun! I always wanted to see the transition happen in real-time."
"Think you're ready?" Ferrous chuckled and sneered again, glowering at his prey, "Who knows? Maybe you'll actually survive this. The last two weren't so lucky. That's Pokémon for you. Tough until you try to give them a 'gift.'" Ferrous drew out a syringe and flicked the needle, making the pale green fluid inside leak out slightly.
And she thought she couldn't get any more scared. This was worse than that Houndoom attack!
Amber screamed again as he grabbed her arm and yanked back her sleeve. "It's not your turn to ascend yet. For now, you'll writhe like the worthless worm you are." He placed the cold needle on the crook of her arm, his face resembling a Purrloin who just caught a Rattata, "Feel scared yet?"
I don't want this!
Let me go!
Help!
Try as she might, no words would come. She cried out helplessly as Ferrous stabbed the needle into her. He slowly pushed down the plunger, and a burning sensation flooded Amber's body. She screamed louder, her voice echoing off the walls. It felt like he just set her blood on fire. Her vision swam and she felt very nauseous suddenly. She forced her eyes shut as vertigo replaced the fire.
She could still hear them talking, and she wished she could close her ears too.
"Hee hee, nice! Look at her shudder! What poison was that, boss?" Sapphire's question seemed nonchalant, almost as if talking about weather and not-
Poison!
They poisoned her?! What kind of monsters were they!?
"It's extract from a Beedrill's stingers," Solstice replied, " I made sure to pick a long-lasting venom."
"Hear that, little one? Isn't Solstice nice? She wants you to enjoy this for a long time." Ferrous' voice was jeering.
"I never said its slow, just long-lasting. Beedrill venom is designed to kill small prey, but it'll take longer on a human target. When the implant is installed, the venom won't affect her anymore. She'll be the perfect peon without free will."
"That's the beauty of becoming a machine. I'm actually kind of jealous. She's lucky." Sapphire's response truly creeped Amber out. Becoming a machine? What was that supposed to mean!? Were they really going to turn her into a machine?! And Sapphire was jealous...? Freak. Amber opened her eyes again slowly.
"So, you understand?" Ferrous growled at Amber, "If you try to run from us, the Beedrill toxin will kill you. Only the ascension can save your life. Submit and live, or resist us and die." Ferrous pulled an object off of a table nearby and waved it in front of Amber's eyes. "Just look at this. It's going to be your face!"
The lights were dim, but they did not obscure the thing one bit. It was a metal mask, just like the one Solstice was wearing, except this one was a full-face kind, and it was silver-colored with multiple wires coming from the area just behind the temples. There was one blue light in the middle of the mask, which made it look like a Duskull. The inside of the mask was filled with conduits and sharp spike-like protrusions along the forehead area.
That was when she realized what was with Solstice. She did something like this, except on purpose!
As the three left the room, Amber knew one thing for sure. If she couldn't do something, anything, she was going to get killed. Or worse. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she whimpered.
"Mama?!"
Amber tried to look around. What was-?
"Mama!" Shadow sprang out from under the table, looking back and forth before turning back to Amber. "Scary! Mama okay!?" Shadow must have hidden under there the entire time.
Amber wished she could talk.
I'm not okay... I can't move and they've poisoned me...!
No. That would have only scared the poor little Absol. Shadow jumped up on the table, his claws clicking across the metal. He walked across and laid himself down across her body, resting his head on her chest. He looked straight into Amber's eyes and rubbed his face into her shoulder.
"Mama no die. Shadow help. Want go away with mama."
Wait a minute. Was he reading her mind?
"Mama scared. Shadow scared. Shadow know mama hurt. Shadow help. No know how..." Shadow started to cry a little, "Mama...Shadow sorry. Shadow no help if cry. Shadow so scared..."
Maybe he wasn't reading her mind after all, but it was comforting to hear him talk. Amber was scared beyond anything she ever experienced before. She wanted to get out of this hell and escape.
But how could she do that?