Chapter 20: Leader Of The Nine (Part 3)
Four figures ran through the twisting hallways and long corridors to an unknown exit. The fortress's interior was like a maze, and only those who knew it well could find their way out without pausing to see if they were backtracking.
As they ran along, Harley was leading the other three. Behind him was Pikachu, chasing after him on all fours, with Ash and May bringing up the rear. The latter two ran side by side, though neither of them noticed (nor cared at the moment). So far, Harley seemed to know which way he was going. Ash wanted nothing more at this moment to get out of here, wherever "here" was.
Presently, they stopped at a point where the hall they'd been running in branched off in three different directions. A checkpoint office, which was unmanned at the moment, was located just near them. Harley, unfamiliar with this area, decided to see if there was a map in the vicinity.
"I'm afraid…I don't know which way to go from here." Harley said plainly. This caused Ash and May to collapse to the ground anime-style (you know, where someone falls suddenly to the ground when someone else makes a really unexpected statement or action).
"What do you mean, you don't know?" May asked.
"I just need to check for a map of the complex or something. I'll only be a minute…"
As Harley stepped into the office and began doing stuff on the computer in there, Ash turned to May.
"I don't trust him, May. I think he might be trying to get us lost or something."
"Why do you think that, Ash?"
"Well, to begin with, I don't see why we're running when there's nobody in sight. In addition to that, I find it odd how he leads us all this way knowingly, then suddenly admits to having no idea where to go."
"It's fine, though, Ash! Everybody gets lost sometimes, and maybe we're just rushing the pace so that nobody does find us. This place is huge, and Harley's our best bet of getting out of this place in one piece!"
"I wouldn't be so sure. Don't you think his sudden change of heart is odd? I swear, it's like he's got something in mind for us. Maybe we should just leave him here and find our own way out. Better than him putting us in harm's way."
May started becoming irritated. Her eyebrows lowered into a frown.
"Ash, I really think that Harley is sincere about getting us out! He promised to bring us to no harm, and he looks like he knows what he is doing!"
Ash's face started turning red. Why was May being so naïve?
"Looks can be deceiving, May! C'mon, let's get out of here before he tries anything funny!"
"No, Ash! I'm not going without him!"
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you! This way!" Ash shouted, motioning to the hallway to their left.
"What if that's the wrong way? We'll be in trouble! And it would be all your fault!"
"How do we know Harley wasn't going to take us that way, anyway?"
"We don't. We're just going to have to trust in his judgment."
"Tough. I think he's gotten us lost, so I'm going to get us out of here! Now come with me!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes, you will! Come on!"
May crossed her arms and glared at Ash's red face. "No, I won't! I'm going with Harley, and that's final!"
Pikachu, who could stand the back-and-forth argument no longer, stepped in.
"Pika! Pikachu, pika pika, pika cha!"
Unfortuantely, Brock's method of conflict intervention did not work for the mouse Pokémon, as the two continued their fight.
"Why won't you listen to me? I'm trying to say –"
"I know what you're going to say! You're going to be all 'We must go this way and have no clue what awaits us'!" May violently said, doing a horrid impression of Ash.
"Oh, I sound NOTHING like that!"
Pikachu was mad at the two. They were making so much noise that they'd be discovered shortly. In an act of desperation, he unleashed a mighty thunderbolt attack on the two warring trainers, who shouted in agony. Unfortunately, this bid to end the fight also ended in failure.
"What the heck is wrong with you, Pikachu?!" Ash said angrily, turning to face the small yellow mouse.
"You leave Pikachu out of this! He just tried to shock some sense into us, and by us, I mean YOU!"
"Then why'd YOU also get a zap?!"
May hesitated a moment before countering in a calm, yet irritated voice. "I think…you should just leave us, Ash."
"Fine! I'm taking Pikachu with me."
Ash scooped up Pikachu, placed him on his shoulder, and began running down the hallway to the right.
"I hope you get caught!" May shouted at the retreating duo.
"And I to you, too!" Ash shouted back, before resuming his pace.
May was still fuming when Harley finally stepped out of the office.
"Hey, I found out where the exit is, and then I heard some shouting, so…wait…where'd the other two go?"
May, still frowning and keeping her arms crossed, closed her eyes before responding.
"Ash decided he was better off without us, so he took off in a hurry."
"Oh…uh, well, let's get going! We need to continue straight ahead."
May followed Harley across the intersecting hall and down yet another corridor. He smiled.
Perfect. I can take them out one by one. First, I'll get rid of May, my rival that I HATE SO MUCH! And after she's dead, I'll hunt down Ash and that filthy rat of his!
A few minutes into the villains' hideout, the heroes were lost. Mew and Mewtwo, who were leading the way, stopped at each intersection, carefully thinking about what lay ahead before continuing along the path.
Suddenly, Mewtwo stopped and closed his eyes.
"What's wrong, Mewtwo?" Misty asked.
Mewtwo paused before answering her. Then, without opening his eyes, he replied, "There is a disturbance at work here. I sense two people in conflict. I feel their energies flowing freely. They are…this way."
Mewtwo opened his eyes and pointed a tri-digit hand in the direction from which he felt the impulses (which was the path straight ahead).
Everyone knew that meant Ash and May, though the exact definition of "in conflict" was obscure. Everyone assumed this to mean that the two were indeed in the building, and were likely fighting guards.
It seemed somewhat odd that there were no guards in the corridors, though it was probably because of Mew and Mewtwo's psychic energies. Regardless, everyone went ahead, hoping to find their friends before any trouble happened.
At the very center of the gargantuan facility, the energy laboratory sat, its roof made of glass. This room was set up in much the same way as its sister lab back in Viridian City. However, the machine in the center of the room was larger and more powerful. This pricey investment would now weigh in its weight in gold.
Cyrus held two black pokéballs by the red chain that attached them. On the flight to the Sevii isles, he'd been in luck, spotting Dialga and Palkia as they soared through the air. Because they were still bound to the red chain's energies, reclaiming them was a piece of cake. The hard part would be setting them up in the machine again.
The room was filled with guards from all four syndicates, though the bottom floor consisted only of Galactic researchers. The rest stood up on the observation deck, along with Archie, Maxie, and Giovanni. The time had come to start the process over again.
Two guards, a Magma grunt and an Aqua grunt, held rifles that were loaded with plenty of tranquilizer darts. Cyrus carefully placed each ball in its place, releasing the Pokémon inside as a result. As expected, the legendaries were uncooperative, but before they could make any serious escape attempts, several tranquilizer darts were shot into their hides. The dosage in the darts was small enough to make their sleep last only a few minutes, then they'd be powering the machine again.
Ash slowly wandered the hallways, seeking out an exit. He was lost, though it took him a while before he was calm enough to realize this. His heart felt heavy, now that he was no longer blinded by his rage. He stopped and sighed, then turned to Pikachu.
"Hey, Pikachu, I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier. I just lost my cool and all self-control went with it. I still can't believe May could be so naïve."
"Pikachu, pika pika," Pikachu said in a reassuring voice.
"Thanks for forgiving me, old pal. I didn't mean to get short with May either. She just doesn't see what I see. In fact…" Ash turned around to look the way he came. He was worried about her. More importantly, he wanted to find her and apologize to her, too.
"Where could they have gone, I wonder?"
Pikachu hopped off his shoulder, ran a few steps ahead, and sniffed at the air.
"Pika! Pikachu!" he shouted, pointing at the hallway to the right.
"Wow, Pikachu! They're that way? C'mon, I've gotta find May before something terrible happens!"
Together, the two ran down the hallway, hoping they'd run into May before long.
Harley stopped at a doorway a few minutes after getting the directions here. Inside, Giovanni was in the lab with the other syndicate heads, preparing the doomsday device again.
He decided he'd guide May in there to give to his master. Once he got through with her, that's when Harley would have his way with her.
"Are we lost again?" May asked.
Harley chuckled nervously. "No, of course not! In fact, the way we go now is right through this doorway! After you," he said, opening the doorway. After May stepped in, he released his Ariados.
"I want you to keep an eye on this area. Spin webs around all the hallways. Also, if you see Ash and that rodent of his, I want you to play this," he whispered, handing the Pokémon a portable media player that he'd created back at the checkpoint. Once Ariados was gone, Harley followed May through the door.
No sooner did May step in than she wished she hadn't. As Harley followed her, he closed and locked the door behind them. They were now standing on the laboratory's observation deck, with the machine below about to be activated.
"Oh no! Harley, we took a wrong turn, and –"
Giovanni, who was seated nearby, turned and faced them.
"Ah, Harley…I was wondering when you'd show up. And what do we have here?"
May was very frightened as Giovanni eyed her. She thought to herself, Ash was right! Harley was trying to betray us! Why didn't I listen to him?
"Yes…Cyrus was wanting this girl for something. Where is the other, though?"
"I…I don't know…he ran off somewhere…"
Giovanni frowned briefly, but then relaxed. "No matter. I'm quite sure the little firebrand will try to find his way here. In the meantime, we must secure what we have right now. Guards!" he said, snapping his fingers.
A pair of Rockets appeared and quickly took May from Harley, and soon had her feet bound with a steel cable. They then carried her down to the machine, to hook her up to her corresponding place. Now there was only one slot left. The slot for the other trainer capable of destruction. The slot…for Ash.
Ash was running along the corridor. He noticed, too late, that there was webbing everywhere. He didn't know what was happening, and neither did Pikachu, who was also caught in the sticky web.
An Ariados came into view then. Taking a media player from around its head, it used one of its legs to push the play button. Harley's voice was heard. The recording was meant for Ash, as the message dictated.
Naughty little fly,
Why does he cry?
Caught in a web,
Soon you'll be beaten! (Evil laughter)
So, Ash, you've made it this far. I knew you'd leave us when I heard you arguing with that brunette bitch (Ash winced at this comment, particularly at Harley's emphasis on the word). I know what you're thinking. Go ahead. Try to find us. It'll be futile in the end, though. The master needs you one last time, so do come quickly! But first, a little test. If you're hearing this, you are probably unable to defend yourself! (More evil laughter) Ariados, attack!
Ariados threw the hardware into the web it was standing on, then leapt onto Ash and Pikachu's web. It withdrew its head, opening its venomous pincers wide apart. Ash had an idea, and he ordered Pikachu to zap the netting before the strike landed.
"Pika-CHUU!"
Pikachu was the only being who wasn't zapped by the electrical attack. Ash did get electrocuted, but it was worth the price to pay. Ariados collapsed on the other side of the net, but recovered quickly.
Ash managed to pull himself off the web. He reached for his belt, and felt relieved his Pokémon were with him this time. He grabbed Chimchar's pokéball and sent the Sinnoh fire starter Pokémon out.
"Chimchar, use fire spin on the webs and aim for Ariados!"
Chimchar complied. The jet of flames erupted from his mouth, shot through the webbing that Pikachu was on (freeing him but charring him as well), and landed a strike on Ariados, who fainted when the attack ceased.
Ash ran over to Pikachu.
"Pikachu, are you okay?"
"Pika, pika!"
"Great! Sorry to do that, but I guess we gotta make sacrifices sometimes to get what we want."
Ash thanked Chimchar before recalling the flaming chimp. He proceeded onwards, stopping periodically to let Pikachu get a scent to follow. It wasn't long before they found a heavy steel door. Ash started searching for a panel, but the door suddenly opened. Nobody came out, however, so Ash and Pikachu leapt in.
There were, however, two large, powerfully built guards standing beside the doorway. As Ash entered, they immediately grabbed him.
"Been waitin' for ya, kid!"
Less than ten minutes later, Ash was secured into his own slot on the monstrous machine. He was placed at such an angle that he could not see May, nor could she see him. Pikachu was hooked up to the machine in much the same was as Dialga and Palkia. Like the resisting legendaries, every time Pikachu used an electrical attack, it would power the machine.
Cyrus smiled. The time had come at last. He would now begin the creation of the world's most powerful vessels of destruction, in two mere trainers!
"Commence activation of summon beam!" he ordered. The engineers began working frantically.
There were two control panels. Each panels was fitted with a stone for the summoning of two particular legendaries. One panel held the blue orb, the other, the red orb. These panels would channel commands and energies to the machine, which now sent out a large, multicolored ray into the sky above.
After a few minutes, the effect was noted. The clear blue sky became cloudy. Outside, the wind howled. Small seismic tremors became gradually more noticeable.
The four syndicate heads knew many legendaries were outside the building now. There was Moltres, Zapados, Articuno, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Latias, Latios, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Jirachi, Arceus, Manaphy, Heatran, Regigigas, Giratina, Cresselia, Darkrai, and Shaymin outside the building. Amongst all those, Mespirit, Azelf, and Uxie, who had been left behind in Viridian, were there.
The machine worked beautifully. Even the Galactic engineers were amazed that such a device wielded such power to mentally disable legendaries and bring them all here in a hurry. Truly, the fate of the world was now in their hands. Or rather, in the hands of the two young trainers attached to the machine's side.
Cyrus took a moment to survey the sky and surrounding landscape. He accounted for many of them, with the disturbing exception of Mew and Mewtwo, who were oddly absent from the powerful horde of legendaries.
"How much further?" Brock asked to no particular one of the legendary Pokémon leading them.
"Not far, human," Mewtwo said. "In fact…"
Mewtwo stopped speaking suddenly, as he took on his constant meditative pose. Even Mew seemed to be acting oddly, flying slowly in different directions and mewing a lot.
After a time, Mewtwo opened his eyes and spoke.
"It has happened. The legendaries of the Pokémon world have been assembled outside. I fear that if we do not hurry, the consequences will be dire. This way, posthaste!"
The legendaries led the seven humans down one last hallway to a large door. After everyone tried and failed to open it, Mewtwo took his turn at the door. Tapping into his powerful psychic energies, he busted the doorway open.
Giovanni was impatient for the final step to commence. Getting up, he walked up to the railing and called down to Cyrus.
"What's taking so long? Aren't all the legends here yet?"
Cyrus was hesitant before speaking. "All except Mew and Mewtwo, sir. If they're not here in a matter of seconds, we'll have no choice but to begin the finishing processes."
"Dammit," Giovanni cursed to himself. He faced Cyrus again.
"Never mind. Just go ahead and get started, and I'm sure that –"
A loud clanging of metal sounded as one of the nearby doorways busted open. Two Pokémon led seven trainers onto the observation deck. Giovanni gasped upon seeing the leader.
"Mewtwo!"
"Hello again, Giovanni. It's been a while." Mewtwo spoke with a tone of aggression.
Suddenly, Giovanni's surprised expression changed into humor as he started laughing.
"So the heroes arrive at last, as do Mew and Mewtwo! But you're too late! Cyrus, begin the final blow!" Giovanni shouted down to Cyrus, who nodded in acknowledgement.
"Commence power transfer rays!"
The engineers pressed more buttons, pulled more switches, and turned more knobs. The machine gave an unearthly groan as a pale yellow beam emitted into the sky, but visibly formed a dome of energy in which the facility and all nearby legendaries were engulfed.
Every legendary outside the building, as well as Mew and Mewtwo inside, started writhing in agony as their powerful essences were slowly sucked from their bodies. Appearing as green energy rays, they traveled from the Pokémon to the top of the dome, then down the beam, through the glass ceiling, and into the bodies of Ash and May.
Both Ash and May screamed in pain as green electricity zapped them with its power. Ash thought it felt like ten times the power of Pikachu's thunder attack. He felt revitalized, but at the same time, he felt like his mind and body were becoming two separate things. In a few moments, the shockwaves stopped altogether.
Mewtwo struggled as he regained his footing. Outside, only a few Pokémon were still conscious – the energy drain had sucked a great deal of power from them, and quite a few had fainted.
Ash and May easily freed themselves from the machine. They were no longer themselves. Instead, they were everything that immense power can do to a person – they had been overpowered and served no master but themselves. Their eyes glowed every color of the rainbow, replacing their pupils, irises, and all other recognizable parts of the eye. If they spoke, their voices would be unnaturally deep (Author's note: I don't know what that would sound like for May, but for Ash, I would imagine him having the same voice he did when he got possessed in AG177 (Titled "Battling the Enemy Within"), where he was accidentally possessed by the spirit of the king of the Pokélantis Empire)
However, the two kept their mentalities. Essentially, they were themselves mentally, but their bodies were free from any conscious neurological control. In short, themselves mentally, somebody else physically.
The four syndicate heads marveled at the spectacle of transferring power from over a dozen legendary Pokémon to two small humans. Before them stood the two beings that could destroy the world. The question now was how to bend them to their will. And they had just the answer.
They stood by Mewtwo, who stood with assistance from Brock and Misty. The others tended to Mew, who was barely meeting the definition of being conscious.
"What…do you…want?" Mewtwo managed to say.
Giovanni smiled. "I'm bringing you back into the fold. Given that you are now weakened, I don't think you'll be able to just defeat me and flee like you've done in the past. You and your friend, Mew, are going to be rendering to us an invaluable service. I need the two of you to control those two individuals with whatever power you've got left."
Sorry, it's getting late (currently 11:35 PM), so I'm afraid I'm going to implement another cliffhanger here for tonight. Don't worry, I'll post the resolution tomorrow night, same as I've done regularly for over two weeks now. In it, I will also tell what film trilogy I've parodied. Stick around, I'm just as excited for chapter 21 as you! Good night!