Chapter 43: Crystals of blood
Present time (one year ago)
Johto, Mahogany Town
Dex criminal's hideout
Diamond watched the prisoners indolently; he stuffed another article of food into his mouth and munched slowly, savouring the different flavours melting on his tongue. He didn't really have to be here but a few days ago his commander, Red, who was supposed to be recuperating in the infirmary came inside the dingy room and dished out a few attacks when the occupants inside refused to answer him. The older man cited that doing so managed to shave off a little of his boredom. Dia discreetly observed black electric burns decorating the two men's bodies. Charon quivered in his leader's shadow, the round spectacles he wore magnified the terror shown in his eyes. Cyrus himself showed a nonchalant mien. He merely sat on the cold stone floor and disinterestedly beheld the room beyond the steel bars. Both of their faces were ashen and lifeless, the Galactic commander's eyeballs had sunk into his sockets. Shuffling closer to the imprisoned and obviously miserable duo, the Sinnoh native held out a small parcel.
"Here… eat this..." the pre-teen swallowed his morsel with an audible gulp and continued, "it'll keep the hun-ger pangs at bay." The cobalt eyed man angled his head away sharply and a look of displeasure flitted across his frozen face. Awkwardly, he shuffled away from the bars and deeper into the dank cell. Shadows cloaked him as he leaned on the wall and sighed.
"I'm not eating anything you give me; you are known to poison people with food..." A dead voice sliced through the silence and Dia's mouth fell agape with shock.
"I don't poison people!" he sputtered heatedly, "I put them to sleep!" a brief silence lapsed and he retreated his outstretched hand, "fine, if you don't want it, I'll… let Lax have it." The silver foil was eagerly torn by the gluttonous monster and wolfed down in a manner of seconds. Charon's wrinkled visage grew heavy with worry. The floor was cold and the confinement bare save for a toilet hidden behind a screen. Pokemon brought them food and just when he entertained thoughts of escaping, a black haired devil barged in here unannounced; the raven locks were partially obscured with bandages. Pikachu, who sat on the adolescent's shoulder, let loose several bolts of searing hot lightning when Cyrus refused to respond to his questions. How could they reply when they didn't know the answer themselves? And the query itself sounded ridiculous; the aged man could still hear it in his ears, whispering like a broken record:
"Will I be able to meet people who passed away a long time ago in the distortion world?"
They studied him for a while but the blank face gave nothing away, it was a simple, bizarre question. When no words tumbled out of the two convict's mouths, the pain came, frying flesh and leaving the odour of charred skin behind. Mumbling angrily, he vacated the room and a few moments later the Sinnoh brat entered, his azure eyes shining with sympathy. From there onwards, the boy made it a point to visit them at least once every day. At one point, he brought in an extremely loud, hyperactive blonde who tried to interrogate them, his wild gesticulations were ignored and to the prisoners' horror, the two brats started an infernal comedy routine. Nothing could make them laugh, especially Cyrus, perhaps the man might allow himself to smile if he was graciously released and offered a ticket back to Sinnoh. But he knew there were no such luck, despite being far younger than him, these individuals possessed a streak of brutal cruelty and it showed with the way they treated their hostages.
The room was small, one half dominated by a simple cell whose the bars were thick and shiny whilst the tiled floor of the lockup was a cold, uncomfortable seat; the other side of the room revealed nothing of interest. A pale blue painted wall was the only thing they could stare at and at in one corner, a steel door stood shut. Said entrance creaked open to reveal the person Cyrus dreaded to meet the most. A woman with long flowing hair, the cinnamon tresses bounced as she walked with a spring in her step towards them. She came in smiling whilst her knee high boots clacked on the ground. The cobalt eyed man knew that smile; it looked kind but promised torture. Another female entered as well, this one younger with a demeanour devoid of emotion and hair as blue as ink. The two came to a stop before the bars and Blue peered at them with great interest. Charon felt like a rare specimen at a zoo, the deep cyan irises of the lady who kidnapped them appraised them critically, like she was trying to gauge who'd be the better sacrificial lamb of the two. Charon swallowed nervously, he was old and he hated being pressurized. Now beads of sweat rolled down the wrinkles of his forehead and drenched the collar of his once pristine lab coat. He scowled at Blue, as if to mock him, she too wore a lab coat which was made fancy by a large brooch at the lapel.
"Don't I look great?" Constellate's commander cooed and twirled in the space whilst Dia clapped twice to show his appreciation, "I took this coat from Strategy's common room when I saw our dear Green fast asleep on a pile of books" she sniffed, "it smells like ink and old paper...can't the professor wear some spray or something?" she chuckled and then trained a sombre gaze at the detainees. "As for you two..." Cyrus felt something cold slide down his back, "I have some questions and you better answer them...you don't want to end up burnt or paralyzed do you? Or worse...in a permanent jail cell for the rest of your insignificant lies. I heard news that the Sinnoh Police are looking for you. Tsk tsk... what a catch it would be for them if they suddenly woke up to find the commander and his old lackey on their doorstep don't you think?" She imparted another smile and Cyrus' eyes briefly flickered to the noble standing quietly next to her superior. "Platina here is also interested in the information we hope to gather from you and since she has done her research, I can refer to her if I'm confused about something.
The girl nodded and Diamond stared wondrously, the moment shattered when Pearl barged in screaming. "Senior BLUE!" he hollered breathlessly, "Green wants his jacket back and he wants it NOW! Dear Giratina, why did you take it from him?" Panting, the blonde irritably pushed up the sleeves of his shirt and crashed next to his best friend.
"Because he is keeping secrets." The single sentence had the three juniors look up at her in alarm. Secrets? What was she talking about? In an instant, the atmosphere in the room became strained and the brown haired adolescent patted her pockets, out came two pictures and she held them up gleefully in the air. Pearl, being a member of the said department bounced up to see the photos and Dia copied his actions a bit slowly. Platinum on the other hand was too cultured to snoop in other people's private lives. The images were faded, one showed a girl with blonde hair trailing down her back. The young woman held a straw hat in her hand and wore a cute sundress with frills. The other showed three individuals, an ebony haired man had his arms around the shoulders of a brown haired woman and a solemn faced, spiky haired man. The person in the middle smiled widely, his eyes scrunched up in pleasure.
A shadow fell across the door.
"Senior Blue...Green is throwing a fit, could you please give his coat back?" Yellow strode in the room and made it a point not to glance at the two convicts sitting on the floor. Instead of shrugging the jacket off her person, Blue merely handed her the two photographs. On taking it, the blonde blushed to see a picture of her standing serenely near a lake in the Viridian forest. Blue's lips pulled into a Cheshire cat grin.
"Give him these mementos and I'm sure he'll calm down." the older female winked.
"Mementos?" The aide's face had turned into a nice shade of scarlet and the thought of handing these photos back to her disgruntled superior scared her a bit. Cheeks aflame, she fled with Blue's laughter echoing in her ears.
"So back to business..." the leader whirled around and pinned the barred duo with a calculative gaze, "tell me, how are the red chains made?"
Silence permeated the room. Neither Cyrus nor Charon uttered as much as a peep. But Blue was good at the waiting game. An hour almost passed and on the floor, Pearl and Diamond fell fast asleep whilst leaning against each other and her subordinate politely stifled a yawn. In the end Blue sighed and flipped her shock of hair backwards, she saw Charon glance at her discreetly.
"Fiinnee!" The word stretched out, "I'll let you go if you tell me what they are at least made of and come on...Your freedom hangs on your words!" The man in glasses shifted uncomfortably and glimpsed his superior's displeased face. Grey lips were set into a thin, thin line.
Another silence settled in and this time Blue went out to grab herself a cup of coffee. Charon was left alone with the company of two snoring children and a girl who found the ceiling more thought provoking than him. The moment seemed to go on forever and quite suddenly Constellate's commander came back, behind her an annoyed Ruby pushed a chess table. The fashionista was in the middle of grooming himself and one hand was neatly manicured, with low threats rumbling in this throat, he set up the table and bolted out of the chamber. Blue and Platina began playing a game of chess and the pieces clacked thunderously loud when they were placed on the marbled board. The playing field was even and Charon allowed himself to be ensnared by the proceedings. He averted his gaze when Blue looked at him and his throat became sandpaper dry. Swallowing did nothing; it only tightened the invisible leash around his neck.
The game finished with Platina as the winner, her superior said nothing, instead she clapped and praised the junior on a job well done. Sweeping the chess pieces away, the duo conversed, the topics ranging from planned future missions to the weather, jewellery, clothes, Green's temper, Red's face and mental health, Platina's mansions and what to do with the two prisoners who were eavesdropping on their conversation. In the shadows, Cyrus grunted and Charon's tiny pupils flickered back and forth. A ball rose from the pit of his stomach and threatened to suffocate him, he felt nauseous with worry. He was going out of his mind. The conversation his capturers were having flew over his head, nothing registered and he contemplated on knocking himself out when one word out of the jumble hit his ears forcefully.
Freedom.
He didn't care if Cyrus got angry; nothing else mattered because Charon wanted to get out of here at any cost. Everything closed in on him and every time one of those twisted members visited him, it left a lasting, stinging impression. Those kids looked down on him, mocked him and ridiculed him.
And they scared him witless.
"Oh! Are you interested now?" A silky voice wormed into his ears and he nodded, "yes, I'll let you out of here if you tell me how the crystals are made. I swear it on the honour of my department!" The aged man sluggishly stood up and swayed on his feet for a few seconds. Coming closer to the bars he spoke:
"Blood..." his disused voice sounded horrible. "The red chain is made from the blood of the three psychic legendries, Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie."
Afternoon
Mahogany Town
Execution's room
Pibo hopped happily around the dusty floor of Execution's common room. Lack-2 watched, his russet eyes glued to the spiky eared creature as it bounced at Gold's heels. The raven haired man played with the baby pokemon, cooing and tickling it in an affectionate manner. Pichu squealed with delight and Pika came over, nudging his son lovingly. The brown haired boy let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding. Getting up from his squatting position, he meandered over to the second floor to see Black and N poring over notes. The black haired boy furiously scribbled something and the two stones sat on his cluttered desk side by side, even in the dim light, they glowed eerily and N, who helplessly stared at all the notes and files heaped on the little desk, crouched down to pick up a document which felt to the floor. The duo worked in companionable silence and the rustle of papers punctuated the otherwise still space. Black, so focused and calm presented a strange sight to see and the younger Unova native thought only Musha could subdue the normally flailing, screaming teenager. Feeling bored because the two ignored him in favour of their research (or whatever they were doing) he hopped back down to see Silver joining Gold on the floor. Now he really felt alone. The two adolescents spoke in hushed tones and looked like they didn't want to be disturbed. Climbing down the ladder, he swerved past them and busied himself with staring at the kitchen set in the back and the still swinging punching bag. Half an hour earlier, both Sapphire and himself were called by Ruby to join him in Constellate's room. The female lazily kicked the punching bag as the Hoenn native appeared, welcoming the distraction, she smiled widely at Lack-2 and held her hand out, for a brief moment, he reached out and then something jolted in his mind and he retracted his hand. The two older teens waited for him and he waved them away.
"Sorry" he shrugged, "I want to stay here for a while." His mentor wasn't in the room and once the area became totally deserted, he set about scouring every nook and cranny. Still no sign of an escape route. But then again, he wasn't searching seriously, no matter how impregnable a fortress or building, there is always a chink in the armour and all he had to do was find it and bail himself out.
Alas, things had changed. He felt more and more comfortable with them and eventually gave up on escaping all together. Few minutes had passed and the golden eyed adolescent swaggered in with Pichu at his heels. Involuntarily, Lack-2's muted visage lighted up and he was about to approach his older brother figure when Crystal walked in with him. Gold made some sort of a ruckus and the indigo haired female first endured him with a sufferable expression before outright kicking him altogether. She got up to leave and he observed, from his position on the sofa as Gold looped his arm around her and brought her close to him.
She left and Lack-2 felt empty for some reason. He ignored Gold who played with his pokemon and opted to prowl around the room instead. The brown haired boy was acutely aware of his mentor following his every move and in a few seconds he would call out.
"Lack-2! Come sit next to me buddy!" Giving up and feeling rather lightheaded, he dragged himself over and slouched. The moment he sat down, Pibo was dumped into his lap. Lack-2 stared at the wide, innocent eyes of the baby pokemon and found his own, tainted innocence reflected back at him. Reaching up, he ruffled pichu's head and the little monster rewarded him with a satisfied squeal.
"You can have Pibo" Gold announced and ran a hand through his matted hair, "he is one of my most precious pokemon but since I don't use him, I decided to give him to you. I bred and raised Pibo up by myself and since he's Pika's child, I can assure you that he's got some very good stats. Hopefully you will take good care of him Lack-2; this pichu means a lot to me."
Something inside the Unovian broke; he couldn't do this any longer.
Gently, he picked up the tiny rodent and cradled it to his chest. "Thank you..." he whispered and tightly hugged his new treasure, "I'll take care of Pibo, I'll take very good care of him, I promise." To him, it felt like Gold gave part of him away; a living memory and the boy made it a mission to protect it at all costs. Once again, he questioned if he'd done the right thing. He knew he was dreadfully attached to the grinning, perverted man before him and one day it will cause his downfall. After his parents' death, he chose not to get close to anyone.
Unfortunately people can't be alone forever.
Face splitting into devious a grin, Lack-2 tackled the amber eyed trainer into a hug and thereafter picked himself up. Waving Gold's nicked coin case in the air; he delicately scooped Pibo in the crook of his right arm and hightailed from the room with a furious Johto native at his heels. The cinnamon haired boy took a moment to flash strategy's murderous looking commander a wink and then he tore off, dashing down the corridors and trailing laughter. Silver and Crystal saw him blur pass with their best friend screaming behind. The two took no notice as Yellow squeaked and flattened herself against the wall to allow them through, they ran past the infirmary and here Gold broke away and entered the stark place. Red slouched on the bed with a look of utter boredom on his face. Once again, he held a thick, ancient book which pointed the wrong way up; on seeing his underling, the man smiled and beckoned him closer. Pulling up a chair, the younger man sat near the steel framed bed. The chamber smelled unpleasantly of disinfectant and his superiors clothes seemed to reek of the same.
"What's with all the noise?" Red drawled, "and I think I'm going to spend the next few years of my life in here...Decreed by Doctor Green. I feel perfectly fine and he still insists on me staying here."
"You always look tired senior" the gold eyed trainer mildly intoned.
"Well you would too if you had nothing but a boring book and white walls for company! I mean come on! Will it kill me to get out of this place? He he he, actually it won't, I'm really fine and comfortable in here..." Saying this, the crimson eyed trainer feebly slid downwards and brought up the covers till his chin. Gold was puzzled and his confusion dissipated when a set of footsteps echoed behind him. Half turning, he saw the homicidal visage of Green. The man walked in with clenched fists and anger mapped on his face, he was not wearing his trademark lab coat. Gold felt torn, on one hand he really wanted to leave, on the other, Red looked at him pleadingly; clearly the older trainer did not want to be left alone with his best friend. Grimacing, he took his stool and scooted a bit further from the commanders. They needed some...Space.
"How are you feeling?" a taut voice asked Red and the raven haired quickly replied:
"Great!" he grinned, "I'm ready to roll."
"Good, then you can get out of here." The spiky haired brunette crossed his arms and stared out of a black window. Silence hung in the room.
"What? Seriously? I can get out of here?" the ex-champion was already throwing off the heavy cotton sheets and one leg dangled off the bed, away from them, the Johto trainer noticed a feral gleam in Green's jade irises.
"Yeah" the professor's lips morphed into a humourless grin. "We have a meeting to attend to, let's go." Saying this, he spun around and slinked away whilst Red halted in his actions.
"Sometimes...I hate your guts" he grumbled and pulled himself out of bed.
Around the same time
Dex criminal's hideout
Constellate's room
Ruby sat on the grey floor in front of a large mirror and examined his delacatty. The fur was smooth, dense and glossy. Using a pair of sharp scissors, he carefully snipped away at the excess hair that grew haphazardly around its ears. Taking a fine toothed comb, he brushed the top of his pokemon's hair and set about measuring the tips of delacatty's ears. The fur on the left grew a few centimetres longer than the right and so he pushed up his spectacles which were sliding down the bride of his nose and set about remedying the situation. Spraying the fur down with a mist of water, he leaned closer and clipped away, admiring both himself and his partner's reflections.
Snip snip.
A few paces away from him, the holographic coffee table was gingerly moved to the side of the room and three females sat on a plush black leather couch before a moderately sized flat screen television. Whi-2, Sapphire and White watched a movie and what better place to relax than the well decorated and lavish common room? The trio's hypnotized gaze locked into a world of flashing lights, flying kicks, stunts and love confessions. Discarded snack packets lay at their feet and littered the sofa's arms and when Ruby took a moment to look up, his handsome features distorted into disgust. Shaking his head, he returned to his work whilst the girls sighed when the male leading character professed his undying love for the female one. The credits rolled and the screen went blank. In the middle, Saph moved first, she uncurled and moaned, White sighed blissfully and slumped further in the comforting couch whilst Whi-2 kept on staring at the screen. Her thoughts strayed to home and a certain spiky haired individual. The young girl kept on gazing at the black monitor with a blank expression and she did not notice when another boy slithered into the room and began twirling her long hair in between his fingers.
"Thinking about me?" Her female seniors laughed when she startled out of her daydream by a silvery tone. She looked up to see Lack-2's fingers in her hair and a yellow rodent snuggled in his right arm. It took her a few seconds to return to the realm of reality and once it registered that Lack-2 was grinning at her, she shook herself free and turned to her seniors. The older girls were giggling at her expense and the fact didn't sit well with her. Shooting them a somewhat fierce look and scowling at the simpering pervert, she voiced out in a clamorous tone:
"And what about you senior White? I'm pretty sure you like Black! And senior Saph is no better; you have the hots for Ruby!" Triumphantly, she watched the older females' visage crumble and pale a few shades. Sensing drama unfolding, the brown haired boy tactfully made himself comfortable on the arm of the sofa. A peek at his newest companion told him Pibo still slumbered sweetly. On the other end, White's face transformed into dismay and she denied ever having any feelings for an obsessive guy such as Black. The only thing the teenager dreamed of was conquering Unova's league and becoming champion and she would rather spend some time with a person who actually took note of how she looked. Sapphire had a different reaction, similar to an animal raising its hackles when threatened, she too, bunched on the sofa and hissed audibly.
"Me liking that prissy boy?"
"Don't bring me into this!" Ruby cut in sharply and sniffed, "if you three want to argue, do it somewhere else!"
"Why don't you take your saloon business somewhere else?!" the wild trainer turned on him, the crimson eyed male simply ignored her in favour of cooing over his Nana. Seeing his offhand response, Saph calmed down a bit but like White, furiously denied ever having an ounce of feeling for the flamboyant moron sitting on the floor.
"So...This Hugh..."
Lack-2 jerked involuntarily. Thinking of his classmate took him almost two and a half years back. He was at school, a mischief maker, a flirt and something else. Even though he stood heads above the lilac haired trainer in terms of raw skill, there was something about Hugh that made his blood boil. Perhaps it was the latter's spontaneity or perhaps it was because Whi-2 favoured him. To be honest, he didn't have any romantic feelings towards his female classmate, in any case, watching her admire the quilfish made him mad for some utterly nonsensical reason.
"Yes..." Whi-2's giddy tones forced into his deep musings. "I...Er...Do like him. I'm sure he'd be an excellent addition to the organization. But..." she bit her bottom lip, "he'd probably try to tear the place down. Hugh is very forceful." On the grey floor, Ruby stopped grooming his partners for a moment and he took a quick glance at his junior, the mere thought of her wanting Hugh to join was a testament of how much she ingrained herself with them. Scarlet irises slid to the boy perched stiff on the black leather couch. The younger child grimaced slightly as if he couldn't believe what his friend had said, nonetheless, he too was being tamed by the organization and very soon the last vestiges of rebellion rimming his copper tinted eyes would've faded into nothingness. The fashionista never met someone as enigmatic as Lack-2, the boy kept a carefully guarded expression, however, the facade had long since melted and now he participated in their criminal activities without openly showing disgust. Gathering Nana into his arms, Ruby buried his face into the creature's sable fur and sighed. He wondered how his semi-paralyzed father fared. Unbeknownst to him, his blue eyed comrade took a peek at him. A look flitted over her face but when she turned back to join the raucous conversation, the concern already vanished under a cheerful mien.
Evening
Johto
Dex criminal's hideout.
"Blood."
Two male voices droned and Blue peered at them. True to what she thought, her co-workers were rather hesitant to create the chain via such brutal methods. After she heard the material needed for the red chain, Constellate's leader vigorously interrogated Charon, alas it seemed like the old scientist wasn't lying. When she thought back to the myths surrounding the three psychic legendries it suddenly dawned on her that it might be true after all. The crystalline restraint was fashioned from emotion, knowledge and willpower. Obviously it is improbable for it to be manufactured from such abstract components, then the only remaining option would be to use the essence of the creatures...Their blood. The idea made her sick and since it was not her decision alone, she decided to hold a meeting. A furious Green tersely replied that he will relay the information to Red. The black haired adolescent was supposed to arrive quite some time ago and when he finally appeared, Blue understood why he took so long. Released from the infirmary, the fighter first went to scrub the awful stench of disinfectant off his person. He walked into the small, quiet room wearing a new pair of jeans and a tight fitting long-sleeved shirt, none of his pokemon were with him.
"It doesn't feel right, are you sure he said blood of the three legendries?" Red queried for the umpteenth time and Blue rolled her eyes.
"Yes Red. My ears aren't blocked you know...Not sure about you though." she snidely added in an undertone. "I even went back to re-read the myths and...It makes sense. You can't make something out of nothing, which is to say the abstract concepts. We need proper living material to create the chain and if you think about it, blood is the perfect material. It embodies our life." She spied the vacant look on her best friend's face, "do you understand what I'm saying Red?"
"He's not that dumb." Green retorted and then whispered, "or maybe he is."
"I...Just don't like the entire idea of it. I mean, it's..." he broke off, unable to find the right words to describe how he felt.
"It's ludicrous." The spiky haired brunette finished, "I wouldn't want to cut open anything to make that chain. Have you researched other ways Blue?"
"Yes, I've trawled through numerous amounts of data and found none. Seriously, do you think I'm that incompetent? If there was another way, I'd be proposing it to you already!" she huffed and turned away. Clearly none of them were happy with how things turned out. Letting a pokemon bleed to death for their own desires did not suit them.
Unfortunately it had to be done, for the sake of their goals.
"I'm pretty sure those Galactic people didn't give this information very easily." Red pushed his still damp hair away from his forehead, "what did you offer them Blue? I hope it's nothing expensive...But then again, knowing you, you'd never offer them anything that will detriment you."
"Of course not" she winked, "who do you think I am...Anyway, back to the topic, what are your thoughts, Green, Red?"
"First give my lab coat back!" strategy's commander spat and the other two blinked, for him to act childish in the middle of a serious debriefing was farfetched, "and take that brooch off, I don't want to go around wearing it." The woman stood up from the snug couch and shrugged off the coat and on taking it Green wrinkled his nose. "It smells of your perfume..." he forlornly stated and opted to dump the article of clothing on carpeted floor. "Red, this is your decision." he crashed back down to his seat.
A heavy decision and privately the ruby eyed adolescent loathed how he was supposed to make it. Sure he might be the supreme head of the organization but he never acted like such. Now of all times he was subtly reminded of the weight he shouldered. He scrutinized his friend's faces, Blue examined her nails, however her eyes were far away. Green resolutely stared back at him, a hardness swirling behind the glassy jade irises. If he pulled out now, what will happen? Will things go back to normal? What will become of Gold and the rest of his team should he disband the organization?
"I say we go ahead." Two sighs of relief were heard, "although, I don't want to do it, someone else should take care of making the chain."
"Red...Who'd want to do this anyway? If the rest of our juniors get a word of what we are saying, they'd get a shock. None of us wants to do this..." Blue broke off as a figurative light bulb went off above her head. She did a fist pump. "I promised Charon and Cyrus their freedo-"
"And why did you do that?" a sinister tone quizzed.
"Listen to me Green, once Charon and Cyrus are free, they can work for us. They'll be in charge of creating the crystals needed to make the chain and I'll handle the monitoring and motivation. In this way, we won't need to dirty our hands. I've already salvaged all the equipment and other stuff from their airship. I'm sure they will be able to do something. If not, Red can fry them.
Night
Dex criminal's hideout
Charon watched disbelievingly as Blue began unlocking the gate. Those criminals actually kept their word! The female leader was alone and she wore a furry hood to ward off the chill seeping in the air. Cyrus, who preferred to stay in the gloom, slowly got up, his joints creaking with effort. The brown haired woman motioned them to step outside and they did, crossing the steel threshold cautiously. It was still surreal and grudging respect bloomed in Charon's chest, thanks to this, he will consider not reporting them to the police. The two males were led outside of the room and down a set of twisting, metallic corridors. While they traversed, the galactic executives met no one else. An eerie atmosphere hung in the air like an oily film clinging to water
A trap.
His instinct screamed a moment too late when they entered another larger room. Fortunately, another cell did not wait for them, rather a nasty surprise. The interior of the spacious, well lit chamber was bedecked with equipment stolen from their base in Veilstone and their airship. To his growing horror, he saw three machines clustered in the middle of the room. These were tailor made for the three psychic legendary pokemon, the machines will extract their blood and coagulate them into a solid crystal, from there, these crystals would needed to be joined together to create a chain. Why did the vile woman bring them here? To gloat about her victory? The silver door set into the otherwise stark white room opened abruptly and two other individuals walked in. By now, the diminishing hope in Charon's chest depleted rapidly.
"You are free..." Blue flipped her hair back and genially grinned, "...to work for us. See, we have all the equipment you'd ever need to create the chain and once you are done. You can go, I'm serious."
Cyrus graced her with a look of pure hatred and Charon had never seen his dispirited superior look so angry. Wordlessly, he trudged over to Red who held two of the three mythical pokemon in his hands. Snatching all three masterballs, he went over the machines and fired them up. A series of lights flashed into existence along with metallic whirrs, crunches and electronic beeps. The device was shaped like an electronic pedestal but with a covered seat built into the top. The glass covering hissed open and after releasing Azelf, the cobalt eyed man rudely thrust the tiny beast into a machine. Two plates immediately bordered it and released an electric charge; the blue pokemon went limp instantaneously. With another whine, the glass re-covered the comatose creature and that's when the real nightmare began. The three commanders beheld, with revulsion on their faces, as a paper thin blade came out of nowhere and sliced Azelf's forelimb. The crouched creature jostled and its body jerked with pain, a thin trickle of blood ran down and collected on a ceramic plate set underneath the psychic. It pooled and began to solidify. Above, the cutting process repeated.
N ambled down the corridors with bare feet when a paralyzing screech played out in his mind. The source came from deep within the base and he stopped. The king knew he was not allowed to walk around night and after admonishing him severely, Black stopped caring. Once, he met Gold in the passages, the amber eyed adolescent leant on the walls along with Silver and Crystal. When he saw N walking down alone, he invited him in to stay in the room. A bit repulsed by the thought, he stared at the black haired adolescent and denied the offer. Now his feet carried him to the sound pervading his mind. An awful screech of pure agony.
Fifteen minutes later he came by a silver door, the whine of machines leaked out and he wondered if it was safe to go inside. What were his seniors doing and who was in there? Pressing his ear closer to the door, he only managed to pick up the drone of machines, if there were people in there; they were doing a good job of keeping quiet. Another gasp of pain went through him and N slid down helplessly, tears were leaking from his eyes. The intense pain darted through his body and he curled up at the threshold. Sniffing, he tried to keep his breath in.
Torture. Unadulterated torture.
A/N: Much thanks to Kanarazi, XingStyx and shadow of balance for favoriting and following my story. I hope the story will keep being an entertaining read. The previous chapter is set into the distant past and the near future, hence all the confusion. At Eevee: I'm still using Mindy's laptop since I'm starting to think that mine will not recover. And my sister's laptop is also experiencing keyboard malfunctions :( Lol for your Green analysis. I suppose it all makes sense. At Silver: I chose this specific poem due to its ambiguous meaning. You already cracked the first part (Regret) by the end of this arc, you will understand the hidden meaning. More like, I'm so glad you actually took note of it :) Who says there is no after life? *grins* As for how the universe works you will have to read to find out. At AceTrainerLeaf Thank you for the warm compliments. My accident is all okay now, thanks for asking. The rest of the arc will go about explaining the events leading to Chapter 42 so look forward to that. At GrotesqueChimera: What happened to Red? (The question on everyone's minds!) No you didn't skip anything. I deliberately left it out. It'll be explained I promise, but much later. In the meantime I'll welcome any theories explaining his (and the other Execution members) disappearances. At Jack54311: Your review made me laugh! Why would you want everything to go wrong?!
Thanks to all those who reviewed. Virtual chocolate cookies and cake people! Please keep on reviewing and feel free to send in theories! I'd like to see what the readers think!