Avery knelt there, continuing to cry as he held Takuya's corpse. Kasi walked up behind him, putting her arms around Avery's shoulders in comfort as she quietly wept as well.
Ash wasn't sure what to say, what to do. Tyler was also in the same boat, as he looked up towards the broken skylights.
Tyler saw something twinkle in the clouded sky, feeling a presence. Something was coming…
A blur of purple and blue shot through the skylights and slowed as it revealed a figure in front of them, cloaked in a blue aura. It appeared to be human, wearing a trench coat with a high collar, a cowboy hat covering its head.
The figure turned its head to face Denzel and his goons. Then, with a flick of a hand unleashed a burning wave of psychic energy on them! It threw them up and out of the building with great force!
Avery forced himself to stand up, as he clutched Takuya's corpse trying to call on any energy he had left to fight this new foe as it turned to face him…
Avery then saw the being's eyes glow from underneath it's hat, staring him down. "Sleep…" The stranger spoke, putting Avery and Kasi under its spell.
Avery 's knees started to buckle as the effect took ahold of him. He tried to fight it, but he didn't have enough strength.
"Rest…" The stranger continued.
Avery was drained, running on fumes. He felt his eyes starting to close, as he fell to his knees with Kasi.
"Dream…" The stranger finished, as Avery and Kasi lost consciousness falling to the floor. Everyone else's eyes looked on at the scene, no one was sure what to do.
The stranger then levitated Avery, Kasi, and Takuya. He held them up in front of his face, looking over their battered and broken bodies.
"You poor souls." He sighed. His words were genuine. "This is going to be a big mess to cleanup…"
The stranger enveloped himself and the trio in a psychic field, and flew off through the skylight at incredible speed, leaving behind a sonic boom that shattered the remaining glass in the colosseum.
# # # # # # # #
Avery opened his eyes, seeing he was suspended in a void. It was dark, but there were sparks of light in the distance, like stars in the night sky. He saw Takuya floating in the void, right in front of him as a soft breeze flowed through his loose fur and wild mane.
"Takuya…" Avery spoke.
Takuya slowly turned around to face Avery, his eyes set with a soft, friendly expression as the entire void became bright with light, though it wasn't intense enough to be blinding.
Avery looked on at Takuya, starting to cry again. "I failed to save you…" He sobbed, looking up at his friend suspended in the ether. Takuya gave Avery a warm, forgiving smile. Then he held out his hand, as if beckoning Avery to come forth.
Avery reached out with his hand, struggling to reach Takuya, both slowly floating towards each other. Avery was almost in reach, just a few more inches…
Avery's fingertips touched Takuya's, as a bright light shined between their hands, then faded just as quickly. Avery's eyes widened as he saw Takuya starting to dissolve into golden particles of light, his body fading away as his expression remained unchanged. The rest of the white light around them dimmed into despairing darkness.
"Takuya…" Avery didn't want Takuya to leave. "Takuya, don't go… Please, don't' leave me again!" Avery begged as he watched his friend dissolve into nothing. Avery then felt something reach out from the darkness, grabbing him.
"Takuya! Don't leave me behind!" Avery yelled out, struggling against the force dragging him deeper into the darkness. "Stay with me, please! I can't leave you like this…" Tears ran from Avery's eyes as he was swallowed up by the darkness, unable to escape. He screamed out Takuya's name a final time before the void overwhelmed him.
# # # # # #
Avery's eyes shot open as he desperately gasped for air. He rapidly sat up from a laying position, only to have pain shoot through his chest and abdomen. Avery let out a loud grimace, clutching his stomach until the pain died down. He noticed that his lower torso was now wrapped in bandages, as well as the shoulder he dislocated. All his other wounds had been dressed as well.
Avery looked around, his eyes adjusting to the dark room. He was on an old bed, covered by a few blankets. It was one of several identical beds in the room. Kasi was laying on one to his right, asleep. Her injuries had also been tended to.
As Avery looked to his left, he saw Takuya, laying down in some sort of pod with various medical machines connected to his body. It looked like he was breathing, which Avery wouldn't have been able to believe if he didn't notice the active heart rate and oxygen monitors next to the pod.
Avery then heard some faint voices. It sounded like arguing. He looked over to his far right and saw a door. It was cracked open, a sliver of light shining through.
Avery slowly pulled the blankets off the rest of his body and carefully got up off the bed. He crept towards the door, listening carefully for anything suspicious. One he was sure he wasn't in any danger, he carefully opened the door and stepped out into a short, small hallway, the sides strewn with cables which led to a staircase.
Avery sneaked over to the staircase, as the voices he was hearing became clearer.
Avery crept down the stairs, seeing a cluster of computers complete with screens downstairs as he looked over the rail to the lower floor. There were also bookcases strewn across the walls, filled to the brim with books. The voices he was hearing were coming from a nearby room, the door halfway open. Avery crept up to the door, hugging the wall as he approached.
"…Don't we have enough trouble here as it is?" A young woman spoke. "It's bad enough that Team Midnight is up to their old tricks, but then you have to bring home three more splices?"
"What, you think I would just leave them behind in Denzel's clutches?" A man said casually. "Sorry, Mary. That's not my style. Besides, seeing the kid just sitting there bawling his eyes out just seemed to tug at some of my heartstrings. How could I just stand by and do nothing?"
Avery set a hand on the door, preparing to barge in.
"You should have at least let me know something about this." Mary said. "It would have been nice to have a heads-up."
"Not everything in the future can be seen as clear as day," Another lady spoke with a smooth, honey-like tone. "You know that better than any of us, Mary."
"Not helping, Trisha." Mary said with irritation.
Avery shoved the door open, turning the corner to face his captors. He barged into the room to see two more splices, and a young woman. One of the splices appeared to be a Mewtwo-human hybrid. He was wearing the trench coat he saw earlier with some long shorts that went below the knee, sitting at a large desk in an easy chair with his legs propped up on the surface. The other spice was female, a mix of Jolteon and human, wearing some black jeans and a spaghetti-strap top with a very short hemline, showing a lot of her midriff. She was currently leaning against a bookcase in the room. The other woman in the room was fully human, wearing a miniskirt with a T-shirt covering her midsection with knee-high boots, sunglasses covering her eyes. The whole outfit appearing like a school uniform standing in front of the desk.
The trio in the room paused their conversation, looking over at Avery as he stood in front of the doorway. A silence permeated over the room for a few seconds.
"Well, look who's awake." The Mewtwo splice said with a friendly grin. "About time. I honestly wasn't sure if you were going to make it, kid. Feeling better?"
Avery surmised the Mewtwo splice was the leader of the three. "Where have you taken me, and what are you doing to Takuya?" Avery demanded.
"Feisty." The Jolteon said, walking around Avery. Avery quickly figured out that was Trisha. "He's got quite the attitude, and a nice bod to boot. Doesn't have quite the beefiness as that Entei splice, but still not bad."
"Just answer my questions, before you make me mad, toots." Avery said with an intimidating tone, baring his teeth. The trio was unphased.
"Wow. Such gratitude." Mary piped up with a nasty tone, walking up in front of Avery. "I guess that's how you thank someone who just saved you from death's door. Nice. I'll remember that when you come back crying for me to patch you up."
"Now, Mary." The Mewtwo splice chuckled. "Give him some slack, he just woke up after one hell of a fight, with no idea where he is or what is going on." He then turned to Avery. "Cool off, kid. We're not here to hurt you. The name's Dante. Come over here, let's talk." He motioned for Avery to come up to the desk.
Avery walked up to the desk, standing in front of Dante. "Dante… Reminds me of the protagonist in that video game I played once. Weeping Demons If I remember correctly. You seem to emulate his attitude, as well."
Dante rolled his eyes nonchalantly. "Here we go again… You just had to give me that name after you found me, didn't you Mary?" He said casually with a sarcastic smile.
Mary grinned, unapologetic. "You're the one that picked it out from the list, not me. Besides, it fits."
"Touche'." Dante chuckled.
"So, are you going to cut to the chase and tell me what's going on here, Dante?" Avery asked, growing impatient as he leaned on the desk. "Or are you going to keep me in suspense here?"
Dante was starting to tire of Avery's belligerence. His tapped into his psychic powers as his eyes glowed blue again, putting Avery under another hypnotic gaze.
"You want to sit down, and start reading that book." Dante said, motioning with a hand to a hard cover book on the desk.
"I… want to sit down… and start reading that book." Avery spoke, falling under the hypnosis. He picked up the book and sat down in a chair near the desk. Avery opened the book to the title page, and his eyes widened as he saw the title: Fifty Shelves of Pokeballs!
Avery immediately snapped out of the trance, rapidly tossing the book back onto the desk as he jumped out the chair. Dante just looked on, breaking out into rancorous laughter.