AN: Btw, have any of you figured out the dark Pokémon's species yet?
I really rushed through this chapter... not because I was in a hurry, but because I enjoyed writing it and wanted to know how it unfolded, if that makes sense. I hope I didn't make too many errors here. Reviews are always appreciated!
The first thought that entered her mind was 'is that a gun?' as she had only ever seen them on tv, never mind have the cold steel barrel of one pressed against her head.
Xavier made a show of stumbling back and nearly tripping over himself but she caught his hand closing over the flashdrive and she had to begrudgingly admire his ability to keep his head straight in a situation like this. Especially since hers wasn't thinking about anything aside from that she really didn't want to die out here.
"Care to explain what the two of you are doing here, snooping around my office?" His voice was surprisingly pleasant and well humored for a man that was holding her at gunpoint.
It didn't stop her friend from scowling at him with all the heat he could conjure. "Taking back what you stole from us." He spat while patting his bulging pockets, that held his recently reclaimed Pokéballs. Yun almost missed the moment he slipped the USB stick into one of those pockets.
"Hm, interesting. And I don't suppose one of you brought along that dragon?"
Xavier scowl deepened, seemingly giving the man all the answers he needed.
"I see, you kids are going to take a walk with me. You go first, boy."
Xavier hesitated, making the man click his tongue in annoyance.
"Move, before I have you cleaning your friend's brains from off these walls." He threatened, making Yun's blood run cold. "And don't make the mistake of thinking my threats are bluff. I've done worse."
That at least, spurred Xavier into moving. Stiffly, and pale faced, he shuffled towards the glass door and pushed it open, then he looked back at Yun.
"Keep moving, we're going to the deck." The man said cheerily, taunting them by pushing the gun harder into Yun's temple. Yun's whole body felt numb in fright and she actually stumbled while trying to get her legs moving. Her captor, said nothing but simply half dragged her along.
As they moved towards the elevators they ran into several people. It quickly became clear the man was some sort of authority figure on the boat as he gave orders to those he passed and they were followed without question. Two men joined them, silently flanking their leader. Yun couldn't focus on what was being said by who, so terrified, all her immediate focus was on the gun occasionally bumping into her head as they walked.
They got into the elevator before Xavier spoke up again, sending Yun a sorrowful, apologetic look. "What do you plan to do with us?"
She could almost hear the man smile as he rested his chin on her head, his gunned arm slung over her shoulder to point at her friend. "Oh, don't worry. You and your little girlfriend won't die as long as you behave. First you're going to summon that dragon of yours and recall him, then after you give it to me, you two are going to take a nice long swim back to Veilstone city."
His lips pressed together in a thin line before opening his mouth again. "Why, what do you need Seirei for?"
She was almost relieved when the stranger righted himself and returned the gun to it's previous position, aligned with her temple. "That, kids, is my business."
If looks could kill, they would be out of this situation by now, for the venom in her former classmate's eyes was lethal. All it managed to do now, was make their captor chuckle.
The deck was positively crawling with people and, again, while some turned to stare at them, no one asked questions. The man ordered a handful of nearby grunts te release their Pokémon and the ones Yun recognized were all fully evolved, others were taking out their guns. It didn't take a genius to realize they were preparing for Seirei to throw a tantrum. Dragons were notoriously volatile after all.
"The Pokéball." The voice from behind her drawled.
Reluctantly, Xavier fished the minimized ball from his pocket.
"Take it." He commanded.
Right away one of the goons at his side stalked forward and snatched the ultra ball out of the boy's hand. His fingers clenched for a second, as if trying to grip something he no longer had.
"Now you're going to call for your dragon."
"He doesn't always listen to me." Xavier was starting to look truly frightened now. "He's not-"
"Call him." Their captor interrupted.
Her former classmate pressed his lips together for a second, before taking a deep breath. "Seirei! Seirei, here boy!"
The silence that hung over the deck was laced with anticipation. It stayed silent. Meanwhile, Yun had a good view of the rapidly shrinking coastline and thought that even if they were allowed to swim away from the ship, she wasn't sure if she would even make it back to land.
"Seirei, come on!" Xavier tried once more.
However, there was no response.
"Well, that is anticlimactic." Their captor said dryly.
In that moment a noise boomed through the ship, tremors running through the deck./
A few things happened at once. Seirei burst through the floor, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the deck. Along with him, the dark monster rushed in from the hall they just left, dripping blood and with murder in his eyes, Xavier took that moment of distraction to release Guillaume and Yun similarly pounced the second the guy moved his gun towards the newcomer to shout. "Now, Reign!"
Reign who had been biding his time from the position of her back, the entire time, wasted no moment to strike the man with his stinger before dropping himself from her back to the ground. With a pained shout the man's grip on her loosened and she instinctively went for his gun, wrestling it from his weakened grasp.
What followed next was pure chaos. Several people opened fire on the Dragapult who had tripled himself in size since she last saw him, he retaliated by raining down his dragon breath on them. The blue flames engulfing large parts of the deck and catching Pokémon and people alike in it's path.
The screaming reached Yun's ears but before she could even understand what was happening, or feel the heat on her skin, she was tackled to the ground as larger hands encased the gun she was holding.
"Give it here, you little runt!" Though strained by the poison doing it's work, she recognized his voice and finally saw the face of her captor as she kicked her knee into his ribs. She could only guess at his age, even with the red blotches on his face and neck from exertion his skin looked smooth and unmarred, yet at the same time, he had nothing boyish about him. His hair had only been dyed grey, proven by the black roots showing through.
Perhaps in another setting she would have described him as conventionally handsome but there was something hideous staring at her from within his dark eyes. Something that told her that if he got his hands on that gun again, she wouldn't live to tell the tale.
"Let go." She hissed and tugged harder on the weapon.
Even with adrenaline flooding her, she would never have stood a chance wrestling for control against a full grown man, but Reign's venom did a good job at leveling the playing field. After a few more stings, it even manged to tip the scale in her favor.
She kicked him off of her and pointed her gun at him as he rolled on his back.
"You know, I would offer you the antivenom," She was panting between breaths, "if you hadn't threatened to murder me just then." Another break. "Now, I think I'll just let you be."
This man was not of the same caliber as the thief she encountered in Veilstone city, he didn't so much as look bothered by her words and merely smiled. "Really? How coldblooded." He had to catch his breath himself, more likely from the poisoning than from adrenaline. "I can appreciate that."
The way he said that made her grimace, as if mildly impressed, and she turned around in disgust. "Don't you want to know the name of the man you're about to kill?" He called behind her in a sing song voice, making her stop dead in her tracks.
With the thief she could at least claim innocence, so wrapped up in the fear of losing her Pokémon, she hadn't thought about the consequences of her actions. He may or may not have died but she hadn't just calmly walked away with sure knowledge that she had ended his life. There was no sure way of knowing whether Reign was even lethal yet, but with this many attacks it was almost a given.
"Jun'ichi Meguro."
Her finger twitched.
Could she? Could she willingly kill a man? He was a threat to her and Xavier, a cold blooded killer but... What did that make her? What would her parents think of her? It was that thought, that silly fleeting thought passing through her mind that made her turn around and reach for her bag.
Only for a muscular arm to clench around her neck, dragging her back while cutting of her air supply. Choking, she used her free hand to grab for one of her Pokéballs in her pocket and Tenno was released with a fierce battle cry accompanying him. Her bird wasted no time attacking her assaulter's face and she fell to the ground as he let her go. Reign scuttled closer, taking a defensive position in front of her.
The sound of bullets flying, the noise of Pokémon battling and heat of the fire surrounding the deck were disorienting her. With a trembling hand, she released Twinkle for extra defense and ventured to look around from behind her. She couldn't see Xavier but noticed his Gallade flashing across the deck, taking out one gunner after the other with brutal precision. Seirei was entangled in an epic aerial showdown with a Charizard and an Aerodactyl. Mostly, he seemed to be enjoying himself out there.
A shot rang near, the bullet went flying and bounced off of Twinkle's armor and Yun saw red when she noticed someone with a smoking gun, aimed at her Pokémon. If that had hit anything other than the steel type's impenetrable armor, she would, she- In blind rage, she lifted her arms, pointing at the woman wo tried to hurt her team, and pulled the trigger of her own weapon. Laughter sounded behind her, belonging to a now familiar voice. Later, much later she would be forever grateful to whichever deity watched over her that made the bullet fly wide and miss it's target by a mile, even more so that it hadn't managed to hit anyone else.
Now, she only released a strangled snarl at the stunned woman and she ran to her with the intent to throw her down. She didn't have to, because in the blink of an eye, the dark beast was upon her, tearing a chunk out of the grunt's arm, making her drop the gun with a pained scream.
Yun briefly entertained the idea to throw it overboard before Twinkle fixed the problem and ate the gun whole. She returned her focus to the scene before her, watching the beast attack a stranger as it had once attacked her.
Their eyes met as he held down the struggling woman, rib cage straining with each breath, and Yun noticed its eyes weren't red. While they were only lined with red, contrasting with its nearly black fur, the eyes were a striking cyan color and they lit up with recognition. She saw when it pulled up what remained of it's lip, the beginning of a snarl, but then aborted the motion and pulled it's ears back.
It dipped it's head once, as if to say, you are not the enemy today and then dashed off to pick another target. All the while she had been holding her breath and wondered what happened just then.
A jet of blue fire landing too close for comfort, jolted her back to awareness. The ship, while not made of wood, looked like it was going up in smoke anyway. They needed to get out of here, and fast.
"Xha-vi!" She called, because fighting a dangerous criminal organization in the middle of the ocean on a ship that likely wasn't going to last much longer finally helped her to get over her fear of mispronouncing his name. There were worse things out there, she now knew. "Xha-vi?"
"Yun!"
He came running to her, looking rather frazzled but uninjured, a Pawniard -probably Deva, she assumed- running swiftly besides him.
"We need to get out of here!" She yelled to be heard above the ruckus.
"Recall your Pokémon, Guillaume can't teleport that many!" He shouted back while sliding to a halt next to her.
She turned just in time to witness Twinkle tackling a grunt to the ground, a sickening crunch coming from his shins as her steel body landed the hit. His scream was deafening and Yun recalled her Pokémon with trembling hands. Reign was next, having never left his position at her side, but she couldn't find Tenno amidst the smoke.
Before she could worry about him, an explosion shook the ocean liner and it started to tilt sideways. They both slid backwards and hit the railing, an ominous creaking sound surrounded them.
"Guillaume!"
The Gallade appeared in a flash, holding onto his trainer's arm.
"Get us out of here!"
"Tenno!" She protested.
"He'll come back for your bird right after, he isn't at risk of drowning." He reasoned and she hated it but nodded her consent anyway, feeling tears sting in her eyes.
"Guillaume will double back for him right away." Xavier reassured while recalling Deva and holding out his hand towards her.
With a nod she moved to take his hand. A static like noise filled her mind as the Gallade spoke up.
'Beware, the scorpion girl.'
His cold, indifferent red eyes met hers right as she grazed Xavier's hand and then she only saw the ocean and the flames around her. They were gone, had left her behind. She was gaping, unable to pull her jaw back up just as she was unable to process what had just happened.
She wasn't given the chance to dwell on it, a moment later another explosion rocked the boat and she lost her balance. Tipping over the railing, she hit the cold water in a daze. For a moment she was unable to tell up from down before survival instincts kicked in and she swam for the surface.
Her immediate concern was to swim away from the ship, before it could drag her under but something rough hit her back and she turned around. She didn't think it was possible to feel any more terrified than when she realized she was on her own... but of course it was.
Sharpedo. A lot of them.
The bullies of the sea had gathered around the sinking disaster, probably hoping to catch a feast on their way. Another one bumped into her side, it's rough skin shredding the sleeve of her hoodie.
She was going to die out here, her Pokémon along with her. It was that last part that bothered her the most.
A familiar fierce cry sounded overhead and she bit back tears of relief. Tenno circled around her, assessing the situation. Then he gripped both her shoulders and pulled, but was unable to lift her. Of course, he didn't know Fly, she realized. He flew back up and eyed her again, seemingly thinking.
There was no way out of this, she realized but at least he could...
"Tenno," She held up her hands towards him, one Pokéball in each hand. "Take them to safety."
A Sharpido tackled her stomach, dragging her under and knocking the breath out of her. She kicked out and managed to hit something before breaching the surface again, sputtering for air.
Fire hit the water near her then, aimed at one of the Sharpedo's. The flame hit the surface of the water and harmlessly dispersed. Her bird let out an enraged call before releasing another ember, with much the same results.
"No, Tenno don't." She panted, kicking to stay afloat while holding her Pokéballs like a lifeline. "Take your team, please."
One of the sharks splashed some water towards him and he had to dive out of the way.
"Please, Tenno," She called more desperate now, "Please, make sure you're all safe. I beg you!"
He gripped her shoulders again, trying to pull her away from the circling sharks. It did nothing but pull up her hoodie. He tried again, and again, before he let out a soul piercing cry.
Then, accompanied by a broken sound he gripped the Pokéballs she was holding out for him. It was wrong, he wasn't supposed to look like that, so defeated, so small. He hovered a bit above her, unwilling to leave.
"I'm so proud of you." Looking into his pained eyes, her voice broke but she bit back a sob. He didn't need to see her cry, instead she smiled. "Take care of them for me, I know you will."
Her bird bowed his head, tears running down his beak, before he tore himself away and turned towards land another heartbroken cry reached her ears.
Before she could allow herself to cry, she was once again dragged under. Working on nothing but adrenaline, she kicked out desperately, she couldn't die just yet, she had one more thing to do. Breaking free, she reached into her waterlogged bag and took out her last Pokémon. Aiming for somewhere behind the Sharpedo, she pressed the release button of the Pokéball and threw it as hard as she could.
She was relieved when Fish landed behind all the sharks. The ocean was a nice big place for her fish to explore, the thought managed to console her somewhat.
"Swim away, you're free!" She shouted, her voice hoarse by now. The sharks were getting more restless and water splashed into her face as they rounded on her but she swore she saw the little fish attack with bubble beam, trying to make his way over.
"No, don't." Her voice was reaching hysterics now. "Live, leave!" One fish, against more sharks than she could make a head count of, she knew how that would end.
"Pleas-" Her plea was cut off as she was dragged under once more, a Sharpedo had his jaws in her leg. Instinct had her trash around, but it was a losing battle. A light started flashing before her eyes when she ran out of breath.
She stopped resisting.
AN: Meguro means sinister eye, and I liked that. Anyway, my cipher is only loosely based on the one from the orre games. Unfortunately, none of their admins left an impression quite like Giovanni or even Ghetsis, so I won't be writing them. I did like the organization's concept though.
I promise you I will not end next chapter on a cliff hanger.