Chapter Sixty-Seven

Seven blinked spots out of her vision. Even with her eyes shut, her hands over her face, and huddled deep in a trench, the violent flashes of light that accompanied each nuclear blast blinded her. Through stinging tears, she saw the flickering glow of plasma corral the cloud of nuclear byproducts into an incandescent slag mound. On the shattered ground, metal disks with treads gathered in the epicenter of the blasts, each trailing a curtain of plasma, until they formed a huddled group. The plasma squeezed tighter, and the machines opened to engulf the radioactive waste material.

A figure strode through the churned dust. As they studied the mound of robots, a red light pierced her head. Her arms shook, and she shrank into the trench, but she didn't avert her eyes.

"Not bad, but the efficiency drops as more units are used," he murmured. "Perhaps if they were designed to meld into a single whole, with the programming to account for different quantities…" They trailed off and chuckled. "I won't be needing nukes anyways."

Seven also knew the voice, but it and the light refused to converge in her mind. The words were all Ghetsis, but not the voice. The figure was too lean and too short. He was dead. This was someone else.

The figure turned its head further. The light gleamed. Seven strangled a cry at the back of her throat and tightened her grip on her shoulders.

"I know you are here, Subject Seven."

Seven sprang half to her feet, poised to sprint down the trench, but she forced herself to stay. It wasn't Ghetsis. She was done running from a dead man.

"I don't know exactly where you are," he said jovially. "I haven't quite configured all the neural interfacing, but the Lucario's mind is absolutely quivering from your presence. Oh yes, you're close. Perhaps over there?"

He waved an arm at her. A torrent of aura doubled her over as the trench ten feet to the right erupted, spewing stone and dust into the air.

"That'll require more calibration. No matter. I'll be seeing you soon anyways."

He turned east and walked away. Seven rose to watch him. Flailing his arms, he stumbled over stones and tripped on a cracked strip of concrete. Pokémon gathered around him, and an Arcanine offered its back. He took a shoulder instead, leaning against the towering canine and clutching its sleek red fur.

The crunch of stones beneath boots was all the warning Seven had. Though her head swam from the nuclear strikes and the aura, she threw together the image of Admin Sun and stood to greet the scouting party.

Admin Fisher was sooty gray from head to heels. Sweat formed murky rivulets down his face. He swept his gaze from left to right and settled his eyes on her.

"Where is Mewtwo?"

"Dead. All those nukes were aimed at it."

"N betrayed us that quickly? At least tell me he took care of Bruno on his way out."

"I – I don't think so. That was a Lucario I just saw, but it had Ghetsis' eyepiece. It spoke like him too." Seven hid her trembling hands by rearranging her shirt. "I don't know what happened. I couldn't see."

Fisher shrugged. "Giovanni ordered us to fall back. The Pokémon are retreating as well, but it doesn't look over yet." With a wave of his arm, the twenty Grunts that had followed him fanned out, guns raised, headed towards the city. Fisher trailed behind them with one hand on his pistol. After a start, Seven ran to catch up with them.

"Celeste and Colson are dead, by the way," Fisher called over his shoulder. "The Pokémon got them."

Seven struggled for words. After tripping on a charred bone, she said, "I don't know what to say."

"Can you still fight?"

Seven pried the knife from its sheath. Despite clouds of ash blocking most the sunlight, the blade gleamed.

"Yes."

"That's all you need to say. Now get moving, we're falling behind."

Fisher jogged forward. Fire crept into her lungs as she raced to catch up with him, but a minute later, they came upon the temporary headquarters. They took the stairs down, with the Admins sandwiched between the Grunts. A man holding a bulging garbage bag struggled past them. Green ichor dripped from a hole in the side.

At the bottom, a ring of Rockets in white coats surrounded a body bag. Fisher shoved his way past them and unzipped it.

Celeste could have been sleeping, had it not been for her deathly pale skin and blue lips. Post-mortem tightening of muscles had locked her face into a slight frown.

Fisher stared at the corpse for a moment and zipped it back up. "Where is Giovanni?"

"In the break room." A short, scrawny man stepped forward. A bald spot, ringed by wiry gray hair, glittered in the light overhead. He squinted as he studied Fisher. "I am the new Admin, taking Celeste's place. Where is Admin Colson?"

"Congrats Barnes." He strode past him. Barnes' mouth worked in silence, and he hustled after. Seven looked around the room, at the bullet-ridden Argus, the streaks of green being mopped up by a Grunt, and the Rockets staring at her. A twinge of fear made her check her disguise and rush towards the break room.

Barnes had a seat in a corner by the door, while Fisher sat at a table to Giovanni's right. The boss motioned towards a seat to his left, and Seven accepted it.

"Is Colson dead?" Giovanni asked.

"Yes sir."

Giovanni leaned forward. His hands nearly touched the table before he drew them back, as if stung. Fumbling in his pockets, he brought out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and squeezed a dollop onto his palm.

"The good news is, the Pokémon are in full retreat, for the moment. The bad, Bruno is still alive, while the other Lucario and Mewtwo are all dead. Now, does anyone have any idea why N sided with Bruno?" He turned towards Seven.

She cleared her throat. It burned for water, but she forced herself to speak. "N is dead, I think. I didn't see clearly."

"What about Ghetsis' eyepiece? Do you know what happened to it?"

The image, blurry from nuclear flashes, snapped into focus. "Bruno had it. He was wearing it and talking like Ghetsis." Her stomach flipped over, and she rose from her chair with trembling hands. "What is that thing?"

Giovanni stared through her. He stroked the jagged scar in his lip with his teeth. A hand rose, and it slammed into the table. Blood trickled from a gash his teeth made in his scar.

Fisher raised an eyebrow at Giovanni, while Barnes huddled deeper into the corner, glancing at the door. Seven fell into her chair and clutched her knees.

"I should have warned him when I had the chance," Giovanni growled. "Damn it. I was expecting Ghetsis to look for another human, me perhaps. It should have been impossible, the brain is too different. How the hell did he make it work?"

"It would seem," Barnes said from his corner, "That Ghetsis used the data gathered by us and by N to chart out the Lucario's brain and alter its structure accordingly. We analyzed our systems and found that all the files we had on Bruno–"

"That doesn't matter," Fisher cut in. "What matters is what we're going to do about it."

Barnes leaned forward and massaged his forehead. "If we intend to strike, it should be now."

Fisher grunted. "We put one hell of a dent in their forces, but they put an even bigger one in ours, and to cap it off, we're nearly out of supplies. If every bullet we had killed a Pokémon, they'd still have half their number."

"Luckily, it would appear that Ghetsis doesn't have complete control over his new body yet, and in the battle, the other ones able to channel Aura were destroyed. It is currently safe to use our Pokémon against them."

Seven felt the room close in around her. The conversation slipped from her grasp, reduced to a background buzz, but every mention of Ghetsis cracked like a whip. She thought her knuckles would pop from how hard she gripped her knife.

"And if Ghetsis suddenly acquires control in the middle of the battle?" Fisher asked. "He may be luring us into a trap."

Barnes grimaced and rubbed his temples. "Yes, I thought of that, but frankly, we don't have any other choice." He looked up at Giovanni and added in a murmur, "Unless you think we should surrender."

Giovanni stared straight at his new Admin, eyes like emerald knives. Barnes blanched and squeezed himself into the corner.

"I would sooner die than live the rest of my life as one of Ghetsis' trophies." Giovanni leaned forward and took out his knife, balancing the point on the table. "I think he would keep me in a tank, just like I kept all of his. The irony would amuse him."

Seven thought of herself in a tank, with syringes jabbed into her arms and legs, with her ribcage split open so he could admire the beating of her heart. Flashes of pain danced across her skin.

Fisher stood. "I'll have all the Pokémon we have taken out of storage and deployed at the front lines. Give me word when you find out where he went."

"He went to that castle beyond the river," Barnes said. "About thirty-thousand surround it."

"Punch through, find him, kill him. Got it." He strode out of the room bellowing orders, and the pattering of footsteps pounded through the room until the door closed.

Barnes stood and went to the door. "I should see to preparations as well. I'll – I'll make sure Fisher knows how best to deploy the Pokémon."

The Admin bowed and slipped out the door, letting in only a murmur of running feet before the door clicked shut.

An uncomfortable silence fell around Seven. Each breath rasped like a howling wind, and each heartbeat was a clap of thunder. Sweat poured down her face and back, and a chill clutched her chest.

"So, Seven," Giovanni said in a flat, calm voice, "What do you think you should do?"

Seven's mind scrambled in every direction at once, trying to find the answer he wanted. Several times, she came upon a response. She shied away from it until a frown crept into the corners of Giovanni's lips.

"I think…" Seven swallowed, almost choking on the dryness of her throat. "I think I should sneak in during the commotion and – and kill Ghetsis."

The frown vanished. "That would be unwise. Ghetsis would expect that kind of move and have countermeasures in place. No, I think you would be of much better use out on the battlefield. Obscure our troop movements and trick the enemy into fighting each other."

Seven let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. "I can do that, sir."

"Good. Then get moving, and remember that I'm counting on you."

Those last four words made her face tingle. Gone for a second was her fear of Ghetsis, gone until she looked down and saw that her illusion had vanished. It was back just as quickly. She glanced at Giovanni, but he gave no sign that anything had happened.

"I won't disappoint you," she said. "I'll do anything you ask."

Changelog

12/31/18 – minor edits