Chapter 11

Power

A/N: And now for the exciting conclusion!

"Hello, Sam."

She stared slack-jawed at the imposing man before her. They had never actually met, but she knew by the shiver down her spine who he was. "Roth."

The door behind them slid shut and locked with a click.

"So nice of you to come. I was hoping you could be the first to see."

Luca held up a hand, a sphere of blue energy appearing in an instant and flying across the room. But it never reached its target. The sphere vanished a foot from Roth's face.

"Did you really think something so trivial would do anything?"

Luca's face visibly went slack, just like Sam's.

"Perhaps you should relax a bit."

An invisible force began to press down on Luca's arm. He tried to keep it raised, but it moved despite his will until it was loose at his side.

"I don't want anything happening before the show."

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Braun fingers moved across the keyboard, completely oblivious to what was happening in the next room. Warning sirens blurted out, telling his handiwork. Pokemon all over the facility were now running amok. A select few, including most Buizels by Wasser's request and most from Sector 6's cages, were in pokeballs on their way to the hangar. A chopper was warming up to take them out. It would be ready by the time they arrived.

Wasser stood behind the chair. "How much longer?"

"Just let me clean up." He wanted to take every extra precaution he had available. None of the others knew about this part of the plan, and he wanted to keep it that way. He opened up a program on one of the dummy terminals, a program Phil had set up earlier. The moment the program booted, the screen went black. "Finished."

He moved away from the computer, Wasser watching the screen. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Just some extra pain for Roth. Let's go."

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The door slid open just long enough for them to enter the laboratory and then slid shut, locking closed. The entire chamber was now sealed.

Roth smiled. "The guardians are assembled. How pleasant."

Braun's hand flew to his pistol. But as he drew it, the piece of metal flew across the chamber, clashing against the wall. His other hand started to reach for the stuns, but it froze in place.

"Please just stay and enjoy the show, Braun."

His arms moved against his will until they were at his side. But his face held a hating scowl.

"Besides, your friend is the star."

The back wall, which was white, became clear. It was his testing chamber. Inside, Phil held his hands up to the glass.

Sam watched with shock. Braun's face, which she had only seen firm and strong, was now one that she recognized.

Roth continued his triumphant monologue. "For 2000 years I have tried to find a way to manipulate human and shaiya DNA in the perfect way. But I could never figure out how to control the DNA deconstruction. It would always result in the subject's death."

He walked over to a bar within striking distance of Luca. An aura appeared around the Halfling that stretched out to Roth, but it dissipated as soon as it touched his skin. "Don't be so overzealous, boy."

Luca's entire body lit up with pain. He howled in agony as every nerve in his body was crushed. It felt like every possible death at the same instant. Then the pain stopped, leaving Luca breathless.

"That is, until I discovered that my Mäyto race still lived. I almost had you several years ago, but that bitch Ella foiled my plan and escaped before I could capture her."

She recognized the name instantly. Ella was Feuer's mother. So he had been after them for a while.

"And now, my best agent has delivered you to me."

If his face still weren't slack from seeing Phil in the chamber, Braun would have scowled.

"Thanks to you, my formula is now perfect. My race shall rule the world, as it should."

Roth hit a single button on the computer. Sprayers in the chamber began to fill the space with a thin mist. Phil seemed to realize that he could now do nothing. He backed away from the glass, looking Braun straight in the eye. With a sullen face, he gave the man a salute. Braun was too taken in to feel a tear roll down his cheek. Phil began to cough.

"Now the formula will begin to take effect." Roth's smile was stretching far beyond any normal grin.

Phil's cough got deeper and stronger. He collapsed down to his knees.

One of the monitors set off a long whistle. Roth twisted his head, the grin vanishing in an instant. His eyes scanned the monitor in a second. "What's going on?" He turned back to the test chamber, where Phil was now on his side. "Why is it not working?!"

He spun at Sam, coming within an inch of her face. "Why is the formula not working?"

Sam was far too scared to do anything. Her body quavered, completely lost to her control.

A hand moved in a blur, slashing across Sam's face with a crack. "Tell me! Why is it not working?!"

Sam remained motionless and silent, her face turned towards the ground.

Roth began to snarl. He brought his arm around again. But this time, a white-furred hand came up to catch it. The scientist's face popped. Her entire arm was covered in white fur, tight muscle flowing underneath.

Her face lifted up. Her normally brown eyes were gone, replaced by a fiery yellow. "You will not touch her," she growled, but it wasn't entirely her voice. Hers was there, but there was another, lower voice with it.

Her furry hand thrust forward, invisible energy tearing at the air. It struck Roth through the chest, turning his body into a rocket. He smashed through the glass into the test chamber.

For a second, the only sound was Sam's heavy breathing and glass tinkling to the floor. The fur slowly receded from her skin, returning her arm to normal. Luca had felt the energy from her, yet it hadn't touched him in the slightest. "How did you do that?"

She looked over at him, her eyes also back to normal. "I didn't," she said in a quaking voice. "Feuer did."

Roth slowly lifted himself up onto his arm. She should not have been able to do that. He would just have to make her suffer more.

A mist covered his fingers and entered through his nostrils. He realized that he had already breathed the formula.

Roth chuckled. "I'm dead."

His heart suddenly seized and he fell to the floor.

The force that held all of them in place vanished. At the same time, a red light flashed overhead. "Warning: Containment Breach. Evacuate." Everyone quickly made for the door except Braun who remained rooted, eyes still towards the test chamber.

Wasser stepped back through the door. "Come on, Braun. Mission's not over yet."

"Right. Mission first." He turned and ran to join the others.

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The hangar was empty. Braun guessed everyone was busy taking care of the Pokemon problem. Luckily, the chopper was still ready with all of the pokeballs loaded. They all quickly ran and jumped in.

Braun went straight for the cockpit to do pre-flight. Phil's strong face repeatedly pressed into his mind, but he forced it back, putting the flight check into the front of his mind.

Another body came up into the cockpit and sat next to him. "Need any help?"

"Watch the fuel-oil mixture."

Wasser looked around the cabin until he found a small dial and readout to his right. He had no idea how to read it, but it was around the middle of the gauge, so he guessed it was good. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend."

"He wasn't my friend." He continued setting switches.

Wasser looked over at him. "Don't give me that crap. You may think you're some sort of tough guy, trying to keep all of your emotions down, but you can't hide what you really feel."

Braun stopped partway through doing something on the overhead. He slowly let his arm come down. "He was a good man. He stuck with me through everything. There was nothing he wouldn't do."

"He died fighting for a good cause. Without him, we wouldn't have gotten so many Pokemon out of here," Wasser said gently.

The gentle sadness in Braun's eye vanished again, replaced by his usual determination. "Let's get this bird in the air."

Luca and Sam went to the rear of the large chopper. The pokeballs took up most of the cabin, but there were still a few seats by the doors. They each took a seat on either side and waited for Braun to take them out. But after several minutes, Luca couldn't stand the silence. He pushed himself up and stepped to the other side, sitting beside Sam. "What happened back there?"

Sam's eyes didn't move. They stared out through the metal walls to some far-off object. "I don't know," she said with a shake of her head. "When he slapped me, it was like a couldn't move my own body."

"He had a grip on all of us. None of us could move."

"No, not like that. I could move; I did move. But it wasn't actually me."

Luca waited. He couldn't really comprehend it, so he waited for her to continue.

"I felt Feuer. He was there with me. He's the one that stopped Roth. I was only watching." There was another moment of silence as Luca let it sink in. "Luca, I know you have deep feelings for me."

"Do you?"

She slowly looked at him. "I want to. I really want to love you." A tear fell from her eye. "But I don't think I can. Not yet." More tears fell and she started to whimper.

He reached an arm over her shoulder to comfort her, but she shrugged it off, so he took it away.

As much as she wanted to feel the warmth, she couldn't accept her savior's protection.

The chopper slowly lifted from its pad, taking its precious cargo to freedom.