Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo/Game Freak/whoever else.
Two
Why was Barron in charge?
Sure, he was big, strong, and as intimidating as they come, especially when he bared his razor-sharp teeth and locked his blood red eyes onto yours. Not to mention the elbow blades that looked capable of slicing a tree in half. But there were others like Barron at Eclipse. Some were even scarier. Yes, it was possible.
"Eat first. Be quick. I don't have all day," Barron growled, pushing open the heavy door labeled "Mess Hall."
Inside were many other advisors and morphs, seated at long, narrow tables. The chatter was loud and seemed to be one huge drone.
As Marcus and Zack got in line, Marcus noticed a girl in his Fire Class seated with several other girl friends. Her reddish-blond hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wore the same uniform as others, and it was baggy on her delicate frame. She had two pointed cream-colored ears and nine elegant tails that hung behind her. Ren, her name was. She noticed Marcus watching her and looked up, waving.
Marcus was so surprised he thought his heart stopped. He turned bright red and waved back. Ren giggled, and the Ninetales morph went back to talking with her friend.
"Oooooh. It's Reeeeen." Zack cackled and elbowed Marcus in that typical way an annoying little brother would tease his older brother.
"Shut up," Marcus growled. He grabbed a tray and got in line, picking up a carton of milk and some eggs and bacon. The eggs and bacon weren't bad, but the French toast was definitely to be avoided.
Marcus noticed that Zack had gotten all bacon on his plate. Usually the Pokémon DNA changed a person's diet to fit that of the Pokémon's. Zack was now a total carnivore.
A few moments after the two sat down, a pair of other morphs sat next to them. One was a boy who looked seventeen with enormous bat-like wings sprouting from his shoulders. The other was a girl Marcus' age with enormous Espeon ears.
"Mind if we sit here?" the girl asked. "I'm Eva. This is my brother, Darius."
The boy grunted and looked at them with his irritated red eyes before shoveling bacon in his mouth. His teeth were like miniature daggers. His messy, shoulder-length black hair got in the way, but he didn't seem to care. Marcus noticed he had two purple horns hidden in his hair, as well as a forked purple tail.
Eva started on her mixture of salad and bacon. Salad was a common choice for breakfast at Eclipse, especially for herbivorous and omnivorous Pokémorphs. Her brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders, reaching her armpits. Her bangs fell before the red jewel in the center of her forehead.
"Are you new?" Zack asked between bites of bacon.
"Fairly," Eva said. "This is the first time we've been able to interact with others. We're not really like the rest of you."
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked, looking confusedly into her sapphire-colored eyes.
"Tell 'em, Darry," Eva said with a smile. Darius looked less than pleased.
"Oh, okay. Our parents are scientists. One day they resurrected an Aerodactyl from a fossilized fang found in some amber. The specimen they created was successful, except for one thing. It had some sort of weird disease. It escaped from the laboratory and into the wild. One day I was playing outside and it swooped down and bit me on the shoulder. Dad's Espeon battled it and managed to drive it away eventually, but the Espeon was infected with the disease as well."
"The Espeon bit me," Eva said, staring into her milk carton.
"They took us both to the hospital because they noticed weird changes in our behavior and physical appearances. And here we are." Darius brushed his hair back and finished the last of his bacon.
"Harsh," Zack said. "Did it hurt?"
Marcus kicked Zack's foot. "Quit intruding."
"Yeah, it hurt," Darius said. "Unless you think having teeth the length of ballpoint pens sinking into your shoulder is fun."
Both Zack and Marcus shuddered. A whistle sounded and Jaclyn, the advisor of one of the girls' cells, glared at all the people.
"Time's UP!" she screeched. "Time to go train!" Unlike some of the other advisors, she was full human.
"See you guys," Marcus said, throwing the empty plate in the garbage. "You guys need to go to the Psychic Class and the Flying Class. Darius, you'll need to alternate classes sometimes since you're Rock type as well."
"I know, Sherlock. They explained," Darius grunted, rolling his eyes. Eva kicked him in the shin, and the two left.
"Ready to train, Marcus?" a female voice asked. Marcus looked behind him to see Ren, her nine tails swaying casually. Her brown eyes stared directly into his.
"Hi, R-ren," Marcus said, smoothing his dirty blond hair back. His flamed tail curled around one leg, as it tended to do when he was nervous. He grew sweaty and he just knew his face must have been as red as a tomato.
She just smiled. "See you there." He watched that ponytail, those nine tails, as she walked off to catch up with her friends.
"Wooo! Marcus has a giiiirlfriend!" Zack howled.
"Do you want me to shove you in the trashcan?" Marcus hissed. "There's plenty of room, you know."
"Naw thanks, I'm fine." Marcus grabbed Zack's tail anyway just to startle him. He yelped and ran toward the Fire Grounds.
The Fire Training Grounds were in a room filled with rocks and what appeared to be real lava flowing in rivers. It was amazing how the scientists at Eclipse contained it all. Marcus got in line behind a man in his middle twenties and a woman who looked forty. The place wasn't just for young people.
"Lynn, let's see an Ember," a human scientist said as he scribbled on a clipboard.
"Right." The Magmar woman tensed and shut her eyes. Marcus could feel the blazing heat energy surrounding her as she fired flames from her hands, burning a plant to a crisp in seconds.
"Good, Lynn. But not great," the scientist said. "Try it with more feeling next time. Get back in line. You're up, Rich."
And so the line continued until Ren was up.
"Ren, time for a Fire Spin," the scientist said, peering at her from over the rims of his square glasses.
"…Okay." Ren concentrated on the flames, the fire burning inside her body and soul. She then opened her mouth to release the energy.
A burst of flame shot out in a crooked, unruly stream that overlapped its own path and went in every direction, narrowly missing the scientist. The man jumped back with a yelp, and the clipboard fell in the lava pool.
Ren looked at the scientist, her eyes wide with fear. "Sorry! I'm SO sorry! Really!"
"Quite all right, Ren," the man said through gritted teeth "But that was the single most pathetic Fire Spin I've ever seen. Get back in line."
Marcus wanted to tell her she'd do better next time. But he simply wasn't brave enough. He watched her disappointed form find its way to the back of the line, wishing he had the guts to comfort her.
After Zack produced a Flamethrower attack that resulted in a man having to stop, drop, and roll (why didn't they just wear fireproof suits? Marcus wondered), Marcus was up.
"Marcus," the scientist said, running his finger down the list of names until he found the Charmeleon morph's. "Show me a Fire Blast."
"Right."
Marcus concentrated on the wall on the other side of the room. He felt his entire body growing hot, hotter, hotter, until he felt like he was going to explode. He spread his jaws and let out a burst of fiery energy that shot in a line toward his target, forming a perfect five-pronged star.
"Excellent, Marcus! I've never seen a Fire Blast like that from you!" The scientist looked baffled and excited at the same time. "Top marks. Get in line."
"Good job, man!" Zack gave a happy Marcus a high-five.
Training class soon ended - it was time for a break. Marcus took a drink of water in the Break Hall, being careful not to drink too much. It was bad for a fire Pokémon. It was at that time he noticed a group of people discussing something in private. They were huddled around each other and in a corner, peering around nervously.
"Something wrong?" Marcus asked them.
"Hey, kid. You ever wonder?" a tall Mightyena morph asked him.
"Wonder about what?"
"About this place. About why we're here. About what they're using us for. About the outside world."
"Sometimes," Marcus replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you know anything about what's going on at this place? Why are we here?"
Marcus realized he didn't know anything. The scientists had kept the morphs in the dark for a long time. There was absolutely no contact allowed with the outside world at Eclipse. As far as the morphs were concerned, the outside world was just a dream.
"I wanna find out why they're keeping us here and what they're up to," the Mightyena man whispered.
Marcus realized he wanted some answers, too.
To be continued…