Takuya raised his head weakly up towards the hole in the ceiling, still strapped to the table. He heard Avery's yell.
"No…" Takuya breathed. He started struggling hard against his restraints. They should not have come! The whole point of giving himself up was to keep them out of danger...
The door to the room opened, and in flew Reaper, followed by Sparta. "I guess you already know. Not surprising." He landed in front of Takuya, holding up a hand the claws covered in red. "His blood is sweet. Maybe I'll let the techs drain him dry, and sip on his essence like an aged, vintage wine…" Reaper carefully licked the blood off one of his claws in a sick fashion.
Takuya could have sworn his saw Sparta flinch unperceptively at the sight if he wasn't enraged with Reaper's actions. He pulled violently at his restraints, letting out an enraged roar. "You sick bastard! You had better pray I don't get free, or I will tear you apart!"
Sparta strode forward and punched Takuya in the gut with his left two fists. Takuya had the breath knocked out of him. After Sparta withdrew his fists, he watched as Takuya vomited.
"Whoops. Looks like I don't know my own strength." He snickered.
"Excellent work, Sparta. I couldn't have shut him up better myself." Reaper said, wiggling his clawed fingers one by one. "Well… actually I could. But that would leave a big mess, and we are not ready for that. Not just yet, anyway."
Takuya raised his head up in defiance, doing his best to ignore the pain. "You won't get away with this… I brought you into this world, and I sure as hell can still take you out of it…"
"Yeah. Good luck with that." Reaper taunted.
At that moment, Malak Denzel walked into the room. "Reaper, Sparta… Apparently Takuya's little friends have found another way into the base. I've also noticed that Venin has been showing some… erratic behavior. I have a feeling his resolve is starting to crumble. If he does end up turning on us, give him the same treatment as you have the others."
Sparta's eyes widened in shock, but he regained his composure quickly. "Understood, master." He said.
"Good." Denzel crooned. "Now, onto other matters. I've put in place a contingency plan, If Takuya's friends manage to break through our defenses and rescue him." Denzel snapped his fingers, and a team of techs walked into the room, followed by more pushing in tables of equipment and instruments.
Takuya felt a knot form in his stomach as one of the techs took a syringe and loaded it with a serum. "What are you planning to do?" He asked.
"Quite simple, my sacrificial lion." Denzel continued. "Your former Pokemon may be able to inflict some harm on your friends… But you will be the instrument to tear them apart… from the inside-out."
# # # # # # #
Ash, Pikachu, Tyler, Quilava, Avery, and Kasi popped out of an air vent, landing on the steel-plated floor of the base.
"Tyler, can you sense Takuya nearby?" Avery asked.
"I can give it a try." Tyler said. "Hold on…" He closed his eyes, raising his hands in front of his face as he started to focus. He sent out feeler waves, letting them snake all throughout the facility. He felt his mind drift through the corridors, until the feelers went through a door and into a dark room…
(Takuya, hear my thoughts…) Tyler called out with his psychic abilities. (Reach out to me, tell me where you are…)
The link then jumped alive, feeding back with intense sensation as flashes from Takuya's mind filled Tyler's vision. (Tyler! Get out of here! You must take the others and escape!) Takuya demanded.
Tyler intensified his focus now that the link had been made. (Takuya, we are in the facility. We're not leaving without you; we have come too far. We can save you if you can tell us where you are…)
(No!) Takuya cried out through the link. (Denzel is here! He's going to use everything at his disposal on you! You can't get here in time, you need to-)
Tyler then felt a surge of intense pain through the link, and a loud roar echoed through the hallways, shaking the lair to its foundation as the connection was suddenly cut. Tyler stumbled backwards, stunned from the sudden surge.
Kasi caught Tyler before he fell. "That doesn't sound like good news…" She spoke.
Tyler opened his eyes. "We have to hurry! Takuya's in deep trouble… They are doing something terrible to him as we speak!"
The group then took off down the corridor in a run. As they turned the corner, they came face to face with Venin!
Avery started charging an electrical attack as they prepared for a fight.
"Woah, hold on!" Venin raised one of his hands. "Hear me out, first!"
"Why should we trust you?!" Avery demanded.
"I have no time to explain, kid." Venin said. "Takuya's been taken out of the torture room; they're transporting him to the vivisection chamber as we speak! You won't be able to find him in time without my help. I can't let this go on. Not anymore…"
Avery was still skeptical. "Tyler?"
Tyler used his psychic powers, probing into Venin's thoughts and mind. "Avery, he's telling the truth."
"How can you be sure…?" Avery started.
"Avery!" Tyler snapped, holding a finger up to his head. "What kind power do I have?"
Avery felt a sweat drop run down the back of his head. "Oh yeah. Right."
# # # # # # #
A short time later, the group of trainers were outside the gate to the vivisection lab. Tyler opened the gate, as it slid upwards. They walked into a large, dark room, about the size of large gymnasium. There was only one light visible in the room. It shined form the ceiling, illuminating a small patch of ground in the center of the room.
In that light, stood a stone pillar, with Takuya chained to it. He was unconscious.
Avery and Kasi sprinted forward, checking his injuries when they got close. "This is bad." Kasi said. "We have to get him free of this thing!"
Avery lifted a section of Takuya's long mane to free him from one of the chains around his neck.
That's when he noticed the strange collar wrapped around his neck.
"What's this?" Avery spoke.
Tyler then felt a presence in the room, along with what could only be describe as a disturbance in the flow of the room. "Guys, I don't think we're alone here…"
"Oh, really?" A voice boomed through the large room. "What gave you that idea?"
The gates to the exits of the room then slammed down, sealed by blast doors shortly afterwards. Light strips on the ceiling then lit up in sequence. This room was not a vivisection lab, it was a colosseum!
Descending from the ceiling on a hovering platform was Reaper and Sparta, along with Denzel in the flesh.
"Tut tut, Venin." Denzel said. "I figured you were the weak link in the chain. Oh, well. It doesn't mean we can't forge another to replace you."
"What is this?!" Venin snapped. "This was supposed to be a vivisection lab…"
"Isn't it obvious?" Reaper said as he took flight. "We lied. I had a hunch that you would pull a stunt like this anyway, after Takuya tried to get through to you. I never thought you would be that gullible."
Avery turned to Venin. "You tricked us!"
"Avery, hold on!" Tyler said, standing in between the two. "There was no deception from him when I looked into his thoughts! He genuinely believed that this was a vivisection lab and wasn't expecting this to be a trap!"
"Like I said before, gullible." Reaper said, lading on the ground in front of them while Sparta jumped off the platform and landed at his side. "Now witness your doom, as you will now have to face off against your friend. The one you raced all the way here to try and save… Too bad it's all going to be for nothing."
Kasi looked up to Denzel. He had retrieved a controller from his pocket. She quickly figured out what was going to happen.
"Avery!" She grabbed Avery by the arm, and jumped away from the pillar, dragging Avery with her right as Denzel hit a button on the remote.
The collar Takuya was wearing activated, surging with electricity as he let out a pained roar. He pulled at the chains, flexing his arms intensely as the started to give, and eventually snapped! Takuya fell from the pillar onto one of his knees, sitting still like a kneeling knight as his body started to generate a violet-colored aura. He slowly stood up, raising his head as the aura engulfed his entire being.
Takuya's eyes then slowly opened, revealing nothing but black. Pure, deep, solid black as if his pupils had dilated beyond his irises, and back into his brain. Then, the core of his eyes started to glow with faint dots of red as a hungry growl rumbled from deep in his throat, as Takuya showed a demonic smile, his head slightly tilting to one side.
"Oh… Shit…" Tyler said, realizing just how much trouble they were in.