Chapter 16: Put the Beast Down
Dee came too slowly, still in the lobby of the Sierra Madre as the lights flickered on and a blue hologram of the starlet, Vera Keyes, began to walk up and down a short staircase ahead of her. Dee looked around the lobby but didn't see her team anywhere.
The Lobby itself was completely intact, the only non-functional item was the large fountain just ahead of Dee and next to the curved stairwell. Otherwise, even in the dim lighting, Dee could see that the place was pristine: no chunks out of the wall, no broken lights, no smell of death, it was a perfectly preserved piece of the old world. Ahead she could see two doors, one on the current level that had "CASINO" over the door and one on the level above titled "SUITES".
Elijah's voice suddenly came through the intercom speakers. "You inside. Can you hear me? Power's fluctuating… emergency power. Oh! You are in. Good… thought that might be the end of you. Unfortunately, your… 'friends' also found their way here. Knocked unconscious… just like you. Wondering what happened? Casino security interfered with the Dark Ball's control ring," as Dee listened she felt for the ring around her neck and sadly found it was still there, "signal interference used up 90% of their power, but didn't manage to kill any of you, now I can't activate them and need to rely on the Madre itself to track you. Looks like the casino moved your 'friends' around once inside… might be useful. Or not. Wonder if they came to help or kill you. Still…"
Dee gripped the sides of the energy ring around her neck, it tingled painfully but not the powerful shock she'd felt before when Elijah used it to torture her. Desperate to free herself, Dee poured aura into her hands which started to glow blue in her palms. It hurt but she grit her teeth, focused harder and pulled at the ring. Even as the pain intensified her aura surrounded the ring and she pulled until the ring finally burst! Dee fell to her knees, panting and rubbing her neck but she felt an immense weight off her shoulders.
As Dee stood up she finally caught back up with what Elijah was saying, "Heh, heh! Welcome to the Sierra Madre, in all its glory." Elijah sounded elated for the first time since Dee had arrived at the Villa. "This is what the Old World stood for, even with war about to break out. Now look at it. Beautiful… now its guests are all dead. Better this way. Quiet. How Kalos should be."
Dee jumped and looked up at the nearest speaker, "What?"
Elijah couldn't hear her so he kept talking, "Now – with the casino sleeping, it's got places closed off – won't let you go yet. We'll get there, trust me, just need to wake it up. The controls should be in the casino area itself."
Dee turned to face the casino doors then looked down at her hands. If the rest of her team were in the Madre she wouldn't leave them behind, in fact she could free them from Elijah now! She fixed her gaze then walked through the casino doors.
Dee almost ran right into a security hologram which turned to face her and changed from blue to yellow then suddenly to red! Dee dove behind a nearby wall next to a computer terminal as it started shooting lasers where she had been a second ago.
Elijah's voice came through the intercom again, "This is the past you're walking through. Few have ever seen it. No one else ever will. I worked hard to get here, it'll give me what I need before I leave. And it'll always welcome me back. Now… look for a way to wake this ghost up, remind it it's got guests."
Dee held her chest as her heart calmed down then turned to the wall-mounted computer terminal next to her and was relieved to find it was hologram controls. She set the nearby hologram to patrol the far end of the casino floor then waited for it to walk away. The hologram had ben guarding a set of stairs which Dee ascended to find herself in a restaurant and bar that overlooked the casino floor. There were two security holograms patrolling the floor but neither seemed to notice her presence.
Dee found a door behind the lounge's bar which led to the casino offices and another security hologram that blocked access to the rest of the offices. It took far too long for Dee's liking to find the controls for the security hologram so Dee could access the controls to unlock the casino's electrical closet. Then she just had to hop across the rafters, over the heads of the two security holograms and into the casino's electrical closet, where it just the flip of a switch and the whole casino lit up, which shut off the security.
"You woke it up… good." Elijah's voice came through the speakers again, "whole place is lighting up. Casino's security is shutting down… opening up its vendor and gambling programs in the back casino… Heh! Still might be something for sale."
Dee stepped out of the electrical closet and saw more holograms, these ones standing at the cashier and gambling tables. Dee had only been inside one casino before, the small one in Santalune City, but she never tried gambling before and this was definitely the wrong time and place to start.
Elijah seemed to agree, "After you're done looking around, head to the lobby, and we'll deal with your… friends."
Dee returned to the lobby and Elijah kept talking through the Madre's speakers. "Wondering what happened to your team…? Looks like the got moved to other floors. Interesting, maybe that's why… hmmm, yes… yes. Perhaps the casino recognized specific guests… or guests with a voice or look close enough for them to be… assigned to that floor. We'll see. Your teammates on each floor, they're interfering with my plans. You need to find them, stop their interference and kill them."
Dee froze, "What?!"
"Find the mutant reject first, he's doing something in the restaurant… End them now. They're of no use." Elijah sounded annoyed, "I'd do it myself but the Dark Balls rings were shorted out by the casino's security and need time to recharge, or else I'd set them off, be done with it, but it might be too late by then."
Dee just stared at the speakers, then clenched her fists and grit her teeth. She would free them no matter what!
Elijah kept talking as Dee made her way to the restaurant, "What we need is in the basement, we need to go to the top first and ride our fortunes down. After we deal with your team on the other floors."
Once Dee entered the restaurant, she heard both 'God' and Dog's voices coming through the speakers.
"GOING TO MAKE CASINO BURNS, HAVE TO. Have to keep you safe, keep you. IN CAGE, DOG WON'T GO BACK IN CAGE, MUST FIND MASTER. Master, yes old man, wants to just control you and-"
Dee tried her best to shut out the voices alternating as she searched for the source of his voice but only found locked doors. Eventually her searching turned up a key marked 'maintenance' which she was able to match to a door to the kitchen.
Elijah's voice cut through the giant Morpeko's ranting as Dee approached the door, "That idiot's opened the gas valves, just one spark will destroy the whole building! Shut off the gas in the kitchen then finish him!"
As Dee stepped through the door it automatically shut behind her and she found herself staring at the back of Dog/'God' who was still ranting at himself, his body shifting from full Hangry to Full Belly mode as each voice took prominence. A hiss nearby and the smell of gas drew Dee's attention to a gas valve that had been broken open. While the mutant Pokemon was distracted she crept over to the valve and forced it shut. Thankfully Dog/'God's' ranting kept him distracted enough that Dee was able to avoid his notice and find the other two gas valves. Dee breathed a sigh of relief as the hissing stopped. Now all she had to do was confront Dog and 'God'.
The huge Morpeko turned to face Dee, his body shifting to the purple and black Hangry Mode as he focused on Dee. "YOU! DOG REMEMBERS YOU! MEAN TO DOG KEPT DOG IN CAGE AND…" his colors shifted to Full Belly Mode as Dog's rough voice receded and 'God's' now strained voice took over, "Can't… can't keep him under, control much longer. Hurry, trigger this ring and get rid of him and…" his colors shifted to Hangry Mode again, "AND DOG WANTS TO MAKE YOU SUFFER! MASTER! OTHER VOICE! ALL PAY!" His body flickered back to Full Belly for a moment, "No! Stop! Can't control-" he suddenly shifted back to Hangry Mode as Dog shouted, "KILL YOU! EAT YOU!" He charged and smashed down.
Dee dodged back as Dog's fists smashed the floor where she had been, denting it. Dog raged as a dark ring of energy formed around him and he charged. Dee blocked the Aura Wheel with her arms, which pushed her back but barely hurt. As the wheel dissipated, Dog tried to grab Dee but she jumped over his head as he grabbed at empty air and Dee landed on his back. Dee grabbed the energy ring around Dog's neck and focused her aura into it as Dog tried to grab at her.
With a groan, Dog shifted back to Full Belly mode as 'God' spoke up," Yes… it hurts… pull that until it crushes… crush…" He shook violently as he became Hangry again, "CRUSH YOU!" Dog tried to grab at Dee who dodged side to side as she focused her aura into her hands and pulled at the ring.
"I won't… leave you… like this!" Dee pulled as hard as she could, Dog and 'God' screamed in pain as the effort made her vision go white.
Dee blinked.
She wasn't in the kitchen anymore, instead she stood on a shore facing a world split in half: on her left a raging torrent of darkness where Dog stood in Hangry Mode and on her right several straight lines of electricity where 'God' stood in Full Belly Mode.
"Where is this?" Dee didn't expect an answer.
"DOG IS… DOG IS IN CAGE BUT NOT ALONE?" Dog stared at Dee, "YOU? WHY YOU IN CAGE WITH DOG."
"How are you here?" 'God' looked around, "What happened?"
Dee could feel their whirling emotions literally everywhere around her, her senses going nuts. If this was the 'cage' Dog got locked in when 'God' was in control, did that mean she was inside their mind? She looked back and forth between the two parts of the Morpeko's mind then focused on the Hangry Dog.
"Dog, listen to me."
"DOG CAN HEAR YOU. ARE YOU NEW MASTER?"
Dee shook her head, "No, you don't need a master," she turned to Full Belly 'God', "You need to let go of your need to control and need to feed." Something flashed through her mind, not images but emotions as something from their fractured past came to her. "Your mind is fractured from how you were made. I know how you feel, I was an experiment too." She took a deep breath, "You need to stop hiding from yourself. Turn to look at yourself."
Dog and 'God' turned to face each other, "DOG CAN SEE IT, LIKE LIVING WATER THAT LOOKS LIKE DOG."
"And Dog looks just like me."
They each raised a hand towards each other.
"We've hurt ourself too much like this."
"DOG UNDERSTANDS NOW. DOG KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED."
"Then step into the water, step into yourself," Dee watched as their hands touched briefly then pulled back. Both turned their heads towards Dee
"But if you merge us, we will forget you and everything."
"DOG DOES NOT WANT TO FORGET."
"We won't be able to help you against the old man."
"YOU BE ALONE. DOG CAN'T HELP IS MASTER GETS MAD. DOG WANTS TO HELP."
"He's right. If we merge then… I… we… or whoever we become... we won't be able to help you when you face the old man."
"I can handle it," Dee extended her arms forwards, "I want you to be free, free of him, free of hunger and free of control. Do it, please."
The two halves of the huge Morpeko's mind touched, then their bodies began to fuse as the darkness and the lightning in the are flowed together and the whole area was overwhelmed it bright light.
"YOU WERE THERE ALL THE TIME…"
"…all the time, you were there and so close…"
"ToGeThEr"
With a cry and a bright flash of light, Dee shattered the ring around the huge Morpeko's neck and fell off his back onto the floor. As she stood up she saw him rapidly shift back and forth from Hangry to Full Belly Mode colors before he finally settled on Hangry Mode.
"Dog?"
The huge Morpeko turned to face Dee, "Who…who are you?" He looked around, "What is this place?" His voice was calmer than Dog's but not as strictly controlled as 'God's' had been.
Dee settled her senses, realizing she was back in the real world. "We're in a casino kitchen in a ruined city under a dark shadow. How are you feeling? Is everything alright?"
The huge Morpeko blinked then stared at Dee, "That's not the… answer I was expecting." He looked down at himself and saw the scars of previous fights from untold years in the Villa, "I'm injured… how did I get this far with all these wounds…" he lifted his left arm and saw the trap still gripped onto his forearm, "And how did I get this toothed trap on my arm?"
Dee stepped forwards, "Here, let me help you with that."
The huge Morpeko held his arm forwards and Dee grabbed both ends of the trap and pulled it apart with all her might until it opened and she pulled it back and dropped it on the floor, where it snapped shut.
"Thank you, whoever you are." The huge Morpeko rubbed his stomach, "I'm so hungry."
"My name's Dee, and there's a walk-in freezer this way," Dee motioned for him to follow her.
He nodded, "I feel like… I can trust you… like I knew you once before…"
"That's because you did know me once before" Dee gave him a small smile as she opened the walk-in "But we can discuss that in a minute. First, let's get something to eat."
Dee wasn't sure how all the food had survived so long, even in the Sierra Madre's freezer. She decided not to question it and just found some preserved food she packed into lunch boxes to fill her backpack with for what would be a long walk back to Kalos, then ate what she couldn't fit into the backpack. As the huge Morpeko ate whatever he could get his hands on, Dee did her best to explain what the Sierra Madre was and why she was there.
Eventually the new Morpeko finally ate enough that his colors changed to Full Belly mode. "I see… this place is dangerous… not just to those here but those who might stumble across it. When this is over and the old man is dealt with, it will need a guardian. Both to keep these… Shadow Pokemon in and others out." He looked down at his body, "I feel a great strength in this body, and perhaps that might be a good way to… repay what you've done."
"Thank you, but you have no obligation to me. Do that if that's what you really want to do." Dee took the Morpeko's hand one more time. "I've got two more people to free from Elijah, stay here and get the rest you need. I wish you good luck." She turned and headed back to the lobby.
The Morpeko nodded and exited the freezer, "I'll just stay here, rest until I get my strength back. Good luck."