Broken Honour and Armour: Wasaki's Tale – Part III
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Authoresses Note: Ermmm…. Well, the only thing I can think of saying is sorry. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting. Also, you guys can hate me if you wantfor leaving you hanging for so long.
Schemer buried Wasaki deep into the garbage pile and quickly followed suit. Footsteps, although slightly muffled by the garbage bags, could be heard moving about the room.
After what felt like ages, the two temporary companions finally felt several more bags be thrown atop them and the footsteps fade out the door. Schemer, being the closest to the top of the pile, was the first to dig himself out. He disdainfully removed a banana peel from the top of his head and stuck his tongue out in disgust at it.
"Blech! Would it kill them to throw a few bags down the chute now and again?" He asked aloud. Schemer tossed the banana peel over his shoulder. Wasaki happened to be, most unfortunately, pulling himself out of the pile immediately behind Schemer, and directly in said peel's path. It landed at his front paws without him noticing.
"If they threw the bags down the chute more often then you and I would've had our asses tossed out." Wasaki pointed out before taking a step forward. As luck would have it, the previously standing Absol now found himself flat on his back, having slipped on the peel. And as Schemer would have it, the previously standing Sneasel was now flat on his back, having laughed terribly hard at the scene that unfolded.
"Bahahahaha! Never mind, if they had thrown out those bags I would've missed that!" He shouted out, all the while howling with laughter. Tears streamed down his face and he was flailing his limbs out in his mirth. Wasaki grunted and pulled himself to his feet. Looking unimpressed, he walked past Schemer with as much dignity as he could muster and started towards the door.
"Alright, take it easy, fuzzy. It was all in good fun. Now allow me to check that the hallway is clear before we continue on." Schemer said as he finally calmed down enough to walk. He slipped under Wasaki's legs and poked his head out the door.
"Alright, all clear." The two stepped out of the room and into the hallway. The sterile scent of Pokemon Centers filled Wasaki's nose. But even through the scent of medicine and antibiotics, Wasaki could still faintly detect Sacha's scent.
"He's this way." Wasaki decided and made to move to the left.
Schemer stopped him. "How can you know that already?" He asked.
Wasaki shrugged. "Every Pokemon has their own distinguishable scent. Every Pokemon in a pack also carries very similar scents to its pack members. Once you've been in a pack, you never forget the scent of any of its members and you never fully lose the scent of that pack. Ever." Wasaki explained.
"I see. But I must tell you, that way is out of bounds. That hallway leads right into the lobby. And they will notice two trainer-less Pokemon walking around right away. We've got to take a detour to get around to the basement, without being spotted." Schemer pointed out.
Wasaki nodded. "And that's where you come in."
Schemer grinned widely, showing off a toothy grin. "That's where I come in." He agreed.
Maleah's sharp sense of smell led her through all the places that Wasaki had visited. Her final destination appeared to be the city's Pokemon center. This would be a tricky sort of stunt to pull. There weren't many Ninetails in existence and if she were caught it would be impossibly easy to find Annette and return her. She also didn't want to attack any humans, doing so would risk having her put down. What she needed was a cover.
She peeked inside the Pokemon Center and spotted a human mother and child sitting on the waiting bench. The mother was cradling a sneezing Pikachu and the child, who couldn't have been older than eight, was staring at the opposite wall in a bored fashion.
Maleah saw this as an opportunity and continue to watch the pair until the mother was called in. As Maleah hoped, the mother asked the child to wait in the lobby. The second the lobby was free of any nurses, doctors or patients looking in her direction, she bolted through the automatic doors and sat down near the child.
The child was key in making this look convincing. In order to look inconspicuous, which was hard to do for a Ninetails, she had to appear to belong to the child. She would need to receive attention from the child.
She let out a low whine in the child's direction. The child turned her head to stare at the Ninetails. To look docile, Maleah laid her head on her paws. She fanned her tails to show off her beauty and give off a mesmerizing effect. The child was enamored with the beautiful Pokemon and walked up to Maleah slowly. She extended a hand towards Maleah. Maleah accepted the proffered hand with a lick. The child started to pet Maleah's head and Maleah purred out of contentedness.
This would be perfect until Maleah could determine where Wasaki was and how she could get him back.
Schemer maneuvered Wasaki through the back hallways of the Center. He took him through the older part of the building, the part that was rarely in use anymore.
"Are you sure that we won't get caught?" Wasaki asked worriedly.
"I can't guarantee that." Schemer said nonchalantly.
Wasaki cursed under his breath. "This is taking forever, this Center is bigger than I thought!" He exclaimed.
"Don't worry, we'll make our way just through this doorway here and we'll be at the basement in no time at all." Schemer said, sweeping an arm towards a door on their left.
The two paused for a brief while to listen for any signs of humans in the area. When they deemed it safe, Schemer leapt up and expertly latched onto the doorknob and twisted. The door swung open to reveal a short hallway that ended in another doorway. As Wasaki looked at this door, he realized that this must be the place where they kept Pokemon that would potentially be put down. The door was heavy looking and made of a metal that reminded Wasaki of a Steelix. A complicated lock was also built into it. It gave the aura of a door that was meant to keep whatever was held in the room, away from prying eyes.
"Hmm. Well, this is definitely the basement. I've never actually been down this way. I've had no reason to be down here, so I can say that I've never seen this kind of lock before. But hey, locks were designed so that I could break into them. So here goes nothing." Schemer said while flexing his claws and leaping for the lock.
Wasaki stopped him by gripping one of Schemer's legs gently with his teeth. "Hold up," he said, voice sounding slightly muffled, "We want this to be clean." He dropped Schemer down gently.
The Sneasel picked himself up indignantly, "How do you propose we get in then?" He asked.
Wasaki opened his mouth to answer but stopped suddenly. His ears pricked up and his eyes went wide. He turned to Schemer, who stood frozen before him.
"Shit…" Schemer started as the door leading into the basement hallway opened. A Nurse Joy walked into the small room, carrying a tray with a bottle of clear liquid and syringe on it. She had been heading down to enter the basement when she saw the two Pokemon standing frozen before her.
She screamed as Schemer took a flying leap towards her, claws extended. She swung her body violently against the wall to dodge his sharp talons, only just preventing the contents of the tray from falling. Wasaki acted just as quickly, grabbing the Sneasel in his jaws for the second time to prevent him from damaging anything, or anyone, with his claws.
Wasaki wanted to use his hypnosis but with a thrashing Pokemon in his jaws it was near impossible to cause the nurse to fall asleep before she snapped out of her shock and could run out the door and alert others.
Instead, she did something even more frightening. While Wasaki fought his rabid partner into submission, she jabbed the syringe into the bottle and filled it with liquid. She raised it above her head, poised to strike either of the two Pokemon in front of her, when suddenly her eyes went dull. She lowered her arm and the hand holding the syringe dangled at her side limply. Wasaki couldn't comprehend what had happened until the nurse stepped aside to reveal a very welcoming sight.
Maleah entered the room from behind the nurse. She had used a confuse ray attack to subdue the hysterical woman and put her under a sort of psychic control.
"Maleah! You're a sight for sore eyes!" Wasaki exclaimed, dropping the now subdued Sneasel.
"And you're a stupid git!" She exclaimed angrily. "What on Earth do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry." He said, bowing his head in shame. "But I have to free that Absol. I know that if I talk to him, he'll come around."
"But, he tried to kill you. How can you be so sure that he won't try and kill you again, after you free him?" She asked worriedly.
He sighed. "I don't, but I have to try and apologize properly. If he won't accept my words than maybe he'll see that I'm sorry through my actions."
Maleah was about to speak up when Schemer angrily cut in. "Yeah, well could you just hurry things along kid! This is turning out to be much more trouble than this is worth!" He snarled at Wasaki.
"We still need to get into the basement." Wasaki said as he looked at the door.
Maleah gave a small smile. "I think I can help. While she's still confused, I can get her to open the lock." Without a word or movement, Nurse Joy moved forward, under Maleah's command, and entered a card key into the door. She typed a code on the number pad and with a hiss the door slid open.
Schemer stomped forward, closely followed by Wasaki and Maleah, and with Nurse Joy taking up the rear. Through the door was a set of stairs, which led to a large, laboratory looking room. There were several cages along the right side of the wall, yet only one was occupied. A white ball was huddled against one of the sides of the cage and didn't even lift its head when the group of four stopped outside of it.
"Sacha. I know you don't want to see me alive right now but I have to talk to you." Wasaki approached the cage mournfully.
The ball of fur known as Sacha barely moved. But his body gave a slight jerk when he heard the addresser speak. Therefore, Wasaki could tell that Sacha could hear him just fine.
"There is nothing I could ever say or do that could justify what I did, how I acted. Absolutely nothing at all…. But there is something I can do. Something I can do that might at least convince you that I am sorry beyond time and space."
Sacha raised his head. He didn't turn to space Wasaki, in fact he still kept his back to him. But at least Wasaki knew that he was least absorbing what was being said.
"I want you to know that I'm not doing this out of selfish reasons. I'm not doing this because I want to silence my own crying conscience. I'm doing this because I want to. Because you deserve a second chance at life, not the life of a trainers Pokemon, but the life that you were born into. The life that we shared together in the distant past, the one where we were good friends. The life that you once had a loving mate, the life that you learned what it was like to love another. The life of a wild Absol, the life of being in a pack. I don't deserve to return to that life or that pack. But you do, and I want you to." Wasaki said somberly.
Sacha turned his head to face Wasaki this time, "And what is it that you want to do?" He asked, his face holding no emotion.
Wasaki sighed. "I want to take your spot on death row. You would be free to return to the outside world."
Sacha stared at Wasaki's face for a long time. The negative emotions of betrayal, sorrow, and anger seemed to have permanently made their mark on his once youthful face. However, the traces of new emotions seemed to be slowly replacing them. Pity, renewed hope, and slight forgiveness seemed to be making their way onto his features. For a moment, time seemed to reverse and in their mind's eye each could see the other as they did when they had been friends.
They both had tears streaming down their faces. Wasaki approached the cage and wedged his snout in between the bars as best as he could. Sacha moved forward and pressed his cheek to Wasaki's. They both placed a paw through the bars and gripped the other tightly as small sobs wracked their bodies.
They could've stayed like that for all of time until a rude voice interrupted them.
"So, you take his place, get yourself killed and he goes free. When, may I ask, would you be paying me?" Schemer hissed in a feral manner.
Wasaki moved back from the cage. "I, erm, hadn't thought about that." He admitted. "Can't you find it in your heart to do this one for free?" He asked.
Schemer's temper flared up tenfold. "Free? FREE! I do NOT work for free you mongrel! I demand that you pay me my human money right now!" He bellowed.
Maleah stepped forward. "Calm down, this will all work out in the end. If Wasaki really were to end his life, which I hope he knows I would be heartbroken if he did," She said with a small smile to Wasaki, "I will personally find payment. However Wasaki, if you do go through with this, and I know I can't stop you if I tried, I want you to know that I love you." She admitted, while blushing under her fur.
Wasaki smiled in a loving way. He was about to respond when Sacha spoke up.
"Can you go through with ending your life when you know that someone who loves you will be left behind? Wasaki, I forgive you and please know that I will keep my spot on death row. You can be with your love, and I can be with mine." He said.
Wasaki shook his head. "I said I'd take your spot and I will. I love you too, Maleah, and you don't understand how much it means to me that you respect my position." A tear fell from Maleah's eye.
"Why don't we prevent any deaths from happening? If you both go free then maybe there's a chance of harmony." She suggested.
Schemer's temper seemed to flare out of control at that particular moment. "IF I DON'T GET MY MONEY, RIGHT NOW, THERE WILL BE MORE THAN ONE DEATH TODAY!" He howled and charged at Maleah, the closest one to him.
Wasaki growled and leapt upon him. The two fought tooth and nail, both as hard as they could. Schemer ended up pining Wasaki to the ground with a claw poking his throat.
"Nobody better make any moves. Or fuzzy here will get –" He started but was cut off. Without anyone noticing, including Maleah, Nurse Joy had snapped out of her confusion. The syringe that held the serum intended to put down Sacha was now flowing into Schemer's veins. Schemer went limp and slid off Wasaki, the syringe swiftly removed from his back by Nurse Joy.
She wordlessly opened Sacha's cage, who bounded out with renewed life and moved over to where Wasaki and Maleah were.
Nurse Joy looked downcast as she picked up the Sneasel's body. "The paperwork will be changed to note that a Sneasel was due to be put down. The three of you will get out of this town now and if I ever see you return here then I will promise you I won't help you again.
They gave a nod, and a silent thanks before walking up the stairs. Wasaki turned back to watch the body of Schemer be zipped into a small Pokemon body bag. He turned around to face forward and moved on with pity for the Pokemon who had only wanted payment, but instead met death. If anyone were to die from that syringe, it should've been him.
"Don't worry Wasaki. It was an accident. This time, you can sleep soundly knowing that it wasn't your fault and there was nothing you could do to stop it." Sacha said knowingly, with a comforting nudge to Wasaki's side.
Authoresses Note: I'm actually really please at teway this chapter turned out, seeing as I've been absent for far too long. I hope this could sart to make up for the absence.