LETHAL VECTOR - 4. Desper4te Measures
Insert disclaimer... >here< Insert random stuff... >here< "Telepathy." Or emphasis. Character thought. SUPA-EMPHASIS! Or telepathic emphasis. Or if I'm yelling at you for plagiarism... Insert story... >below< [////////// LETHAL VECTOR \\] [4: Desper4te measures]
Nova stepped across in front of Six. Before Toby could recoil his hand back and ask what she was doing, she grabbed his hand. "Deal."She said coldly, exuding menace and squeezing Toby's hand tightly. Toby smiled nervously, and tugged his hand free after a second. "Cool." "We leave in ten." Six told him. "Pack your stuff, then meet me at the car." 1 hour later Nova hummed quietly alongside the car stereo, bobbing her head slightly with the beat. Six hummed alongside - the pair of them head-banging in unison as they glanced out their windows. In the front passenger seat, Toby sat with Hanas in his lap. She stood with her paws on the windowsill, staring out the window in awe at the sheer drop just to the right of them. Beside her, Ryus stood on Toby's knee and stared similarly. "A nice view." Elise commented, but remained focussed on driving. Navigating treacherous winding roads was something which tended to require focus. "Is it just my experience, or does the word "vista" accompany danger? A flower garden is calm and safe, and a scene, but a mountain range is wild and untamed and treacherous, and so a vista. Beauty and danger as one. The raging seas - so deep and mysterious, yet cruel and cold. The pristine valleys and mountains of Mount Coronet - glowing and silver-white, yet centred within sheer drops and the region's landslide zone. There's something... special, about dangerous beauty..." "Thank you." Nova chuckled. Elise heard Nova's reply clearly, and couldn't help but laugh a little herself. However cold Nova had been to her, her laugh was a melodious sound. It stimulated the ears and the mind, piercing through sound and telepathy alike. "You are most welcome." She added pleasantly. Nova smiled a little, and grunted, then fell back into her seat. Six smiled a little at her, and nudged her softly on the arm. "I knew you'd warm up eventually." "Oh, please." Nova rolled her eyes. "You of all people know I'm not a total bitch all the time to everyone." "I do." Six nodded. He leaned across, and planted a short kiss just beneath Nova's ear. "But it's nice to see you can ease up when you're able." "I was thinking about what you said last night." Nova admitted finally. She kept her transmission private with Six. "About having fun while we still have lives to live, and about being cautious..." "And...?" Six responded, also through telepathy to give Nova a little privacy. "And I realised I've been doing too much of the latter. I haven't really had fun lately, because I've been too hostile..." She glanced up at the back of Elise's seat. "But you have to see where I'm coming from. You aren't exactly too capable of defending yourself..." "Ahem?" Six jerked a little. "From Pokémon." Nova added quickly. "I mean- sure, you took out that snake, but if I hadn't intervened and stopped those Pokémon, what would have happened?" "I would have died." "Exactly." Nova smiled softly. Six did understand how serious her situation was. "You can't really defend yourself, or look after yourself with your hands the way they are - and that's why I have to stay vigilant, be prepared, stick close and be careful. I have to be there to react as quickly as you could if your hands worked..." "But...?" "But sometimes, you don't need me that close... do you?" "You're beginning to understand." Six smiled. "I'll try, Six." She hung her head with another sigh. "I'll try and settle down when I think I can... spread my time out between being careful and having fun..." "Is that all?" Six nudged her lightly. He knew when she was holding out on him. "I've been thinking of our childhood." She went on. "When we first met... it made me really think..." "We didn't exactly get along back then..." Six smiled fondly at the memory of Nova as a Riolu. Somewhat more fondly at the memory of her laying into him when they first met. "We didn't..." Nova agreed, sharing in the memory. "It got me thinking. I gave you a chance to show me you were trustworthy, way back then - and look where we are today. I owe Elise at least a chance..." "Thank you." Six extended finger of aura, and brushed it against Nova. She squirmed a little in her seat at the touch, giggling a bit. She settled back into her seat after a moment, and set her shoulders back. She loosed a heavy exhalation and dedicated a moment to calming herself down, then opened a private link with Elise. "Elise - don't say anything." She said. Elise jerked upright a little at the surprise voice. "What's up?" Toby noticed her jerk. "Nothing." Elise dismissed him. "A muscle spasm. Don't mind me." "I wish to apologize." Nova continued once Elise stopped speaking. "I really shouldn't have acted like that. Attacking you in the middle of the night was a little harsh on my part..." Elise nodded ever-so-slightly, smiling faintly. "Six means a lot to me, and I just don't want him hurt. We've been betrayed before, so I still don't trust you..." Elise's smile fell again. "But, I'm willing to give you a chance to show me I can trust you. I just hope you can understand why I have to act like this toward you. It's nothing personal - just Six's safety." Elise smiled again. "You seem like a nice girl so I really hope you have a logical reason for having that bounty notice in your pocket. A reason that won't make me angry..." Elise murmured a little at that. She did have a good reason, but she wasn't sure if Nova would believe her. Her reason, of course, was simple curiosity. She had found it pinned to a noticeboard in Snowpoint. The huge bounty up the top immediately drew her attention, so she took it. It was still the focus of her curiosity. Why such a huge price on his head? Six was a cripple. He couldn't move his hands. He seemed to have limited aura powers, but aura sight was becoming a common thing nowadays. With the excessive prevalence of Lucarios appearing through all regions, trainers bonded with Lucarios often developed aura powers - so Six's aura was nothing too special. He was, however, very quick. As she had seen when the snake had tied her up and Six had killed him, his footwork was divine, and his reaction speed instant. But it still didn't make sense to have such a high bounty. That left two options open. The first: He knew something that somebody didn't want him to know. The second: He had done something to the wrong person. Judging by what he yesterday about having done "something really bad", this was the obvious choice - though Elise didn't rule the first option out, either... Forty three minutes later. Sinnoh Region. "Hamish!" "Hhmm?" The manager glanced up as a young man came rushing towards him, gripping a plastic bag in his hands. "You remember..." The boy paused, catching his breath and wheezing, "you thought you heard noises upstairs... last night?" "Yeah..." Hamish nodded. "They woke me up. What was it?" "There was a battle up there!" The boy squeaked breathlessly. His lungs still burned after rushing down, having discovering the scene. "A wall's smashed, part of the floor in one room's scorched, and there's a big freakin' hole in the roof!" "What?" Hamish leapt up, disbelieving his ears. "They left this..." He lifted the bag and dropped it onto the counter. Wads of cash immediately spilled from the top and fell across the counter. "Those people... Marcus and Elise. They left an apology note, and the money to repair the damages..." "Oh, Arceus..." Hamish dropped back into his chair and slapped a hand across his eyes. "Oh, sweet Arceus... how am I going to get a repairman in the middle of a war?" "They left early this morning." The boy continued. "Peter Kirk said he saw them leaving. They went with Toby..." "Toby?" Hamish jerked upright suddenly. "Toby's gone? But he's been here for months!" "Turns out he was looking for a ride out." The boy smiled painfully. "Huh... and here I was thinking he just stayed because he enjoyed my company..." Hamish chuckled lightly. "Huh... all right then." "Those guys are bad news." The boy continued. "They show up first - nek minnit, there's that creepy guy in the overcoat with the shades.Then his Lucario shows up, growling at everyone, then bolts upstairs, and then the military?" "His Lucario must have been following him..." Hamish added after a moment of thought. "That part didn't surprise me. As for the military..." He glanced into the lounge. The four remaining soldiers - the two previously wounded and the two who survived the fight - sat around the fireplace drinking cocoa. "They pass here often, but leave us be. They only showed up because they needed a place for their friends to heal up. But the guy in the overcoat..." Hamish's eyes flew wide open. "Wait - did he ever come downstairs?" "None of us has seen him since, so he must have come down at some-" The door clicked open. The boy gulped a little. Here comes more trouble. A black cowl hung over his forehead, casting a shadow across his eyes. Below that, his mouth was invisible. As he strode into the room, leaving the door wide behind him, the ceiling light glanced off his armoured plates. "I'm looking for someone." He lifted his head a little. Hamish froze as their eyes met. His red, glowing eyes bore into his skull, blazing ferociously. "Tall female. Dark green hair. Unovan accent which may be disguised. Ranger uniform. Where is she?" His own voice was distinctly Unovan. "Haven't seen her." Hamish kept his cool, and returned to his seat. The other boy's face flushed, and he quickly walked away in the opposite direction. "Is she supposed to be staying here?" "I don't play your games, old man." Tallon strode towards the counter, glowering coldly. "I know you're lying to me. Your aura leapt and cringes in fear every time you lie." In a second, he was leaning across the bar, face-to-face. His rancid breath seethed through his teeth as he bore them with a growl. "Where is she?" "I don't know what you're talking about!" Hamish fell backwards off his seat with a cry of fear, and quickly scuttled backwards. Tallon growled louder, and leapt across the counter in pursuit. "WHERE IS SHE?" "Hey!" Tallon spun as the boy cried out. "Dickhead! If-" "I-" Tallon threw an arm at the boy. The boy screamed briefly as a flash of silver split the air, but the thing sunk itself into his throat, cutting him short. "- wasn't talking to you." The boy gurgled loudly as he staggered backwards. His eyes and mouth were wide, and his hands pawed frantically at the metal spike stuck through his neck as blood welled around the wound. He fell into a table behind him and collapsed with a squeak, banging his head on the edge. He lay still. "ShIt! SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Hamish scooted away, screaming at the offender. "Tell me what I want to know!" Tallon roared. "Or I'll get someone who can make you talk..." "Thunderbolt!" Sensing the order before it came, Tallon spun around before the soldier had even instructed his Pokémon. His palm opened, and flashed silver. A tiny glowing ball appeared in his palm. The glow quickly subsided, and the ball was polished, silver metal. As Tallon raised his arm high in the air, the ball contorted, and expanded. The top and bottom expanded quickly, and in a second the thing had formed a four-foot long steel javelin. Tallon swung his arm down just as the Pikachu fired. The javelin cracked cleanly though the carpet and cleanly through the floorboards. The end was so fine and sharp, it speared straight through without cracking the boards. He stepped back as the air crackled and sparked, and a searing bold of lightning shot towards him. The lightning immediately arced for the javelin, and struck it. The jolt of electricity shot down the shaft of the spear, and disappeared harmlessly into the ground below. The spear had acted as a lightning rod, and absorbed the attack. "You want a fight, huh?" Tallon smirked cruelly. "Well I have a friend who's dying for a fight." He lifted a hand to his ear, and placed two fingers on the button of a comm headset. "Grue. Drop him." "Dropping the bomb." "Oh, very funny. Is that a fat joke? I'm not-" The second voice disappeared. Tallon lowered his arm, smiling wider. "Say hello to my little friend." The roof exploded. Boards exploded into a rain of fragments, then the floor beneath exploded into a cloud of dust, dirt and splinters. A chorus of screams and shouts rose briefly from the room, but all they were all drowned out by a mighty earth-shaking bellow: "HERE'S TERAPH!" Vines whirled through the air, briefly throwing up a gust and clearing aside the dust and rubble. The room was wrecked. Rocks and dirt clumps lay everywhere, furniture was smashed and torn to pieces by the rocks, the ceiling had a huge gaping hole through it and was crumbling, and in the centre of the room, a small crater left another huge hole in the floor. The soldiers and Pikachu who were previously standing where the crater was, were not to be seen. And standing above this crater, held in the air by a pair of vines wrapped around his ankles and supporting him- was Teraph. "Non-lethal takedowns." Tallon ordered as the trainers form the now-wrecked lounge climbed to their feet and reached for their pokéballs. "Aaw, killjoy." Teraph grunted. His eyes narrowed, and snapped quickly from trainer-to-trainer as they released their Pokémon. Seven trainers, nine Pokémon between them. A Sneasel, a Croagunk, a Quagsire, two Lucarios, a Skuntank, an Aipom, a Cranidos and a Staravia. Nine Pokémon. "Nine on one?" He scoffed, "That's a bit unfair. You're gonna want more than that to take me down." "Damn this freak's cocky!" One trainer growled as his Lucarios moved into battle position. The Pokémon all glanced about momentarily, taking a second to deduce what was going on. "Whenever you're ready." Teraph held a hand up, making a "bring it on" gesture. He took no note of the Pokémon around him. They were enemies. What type of enemies didn't matter. They just had to be taken down. "Bullet punch!" The same trainer called to both his Pokémon. "Doubleslap!" The Aipom's trainer called. Both Lucarios glanced at each other with simultaneous nods. They disappeared in a pair of silver flashes, and lunged at Teraph. The Aipom let the Lucarios move first, then leapt at Teraph from behind. What happened next was the real shocker. Teraph drew his arm back, and swung a punch. Not a particularly special punch. Not an elemental punch. He just swung his fist in a wide arc in the general direction of the Lucarios. A pair of cataclysmic booms ripped through the room as his attack connected twice. Two blue blurs were launched away from Teraph, and smashed through the exterior wall of the lodge. He wasted no time, uncurled one vine from one leg and immediately lashed out backwards with a kick at the Aipom. The small Pokémon let out a sharp squeak of pain, before it was launched away and thrown into the wall behind it. It's head hit with a sharp crack, and it fell unconscious to the floor. "Non-lethal takedowns." Teraph sighed as the trainers stared in awe. "Suck so hard..." He swung his arms out at his sides. His fists clenched momentarily as he focussed his energy, and formed a handful of small objects in each palm. The vines tied around his legs twisted around. His body spun around 360 degrees in the air as he was thrown upwards, and he threw his arms to his sides, tossing handfuls of small seeds all around. The room exploded into dust again. Or what seemed like dust at first... Random clouds of "dust" burst from the floor where the seeds hit, instantly erupting into clouds of pale yellow gas. "The hell?" One trainer yelled in an intermission of his coughing fit. "AH! What is this stuff!?" Another called - and immediately fell back into a fit of wild coughing as she tried to unclog her throat. She lurched forwards with an exceptionally painful splutter, landing on her hands and knees. Tallon stood at a safe distance, watching with his arms crossed and a silent expression. The entire room collapsed to their knees, breaking into uncontrollable spluttering and choking. One-by-one, their gagging stopped eventually, and trainer and Pokémon alike collapsed quietly to the floor without a sound. The floor beside him cracked a little. The boards lifted away a bit, twisting and bending upwards, then snapped upwards. Teraph rose from the hole in the floor, lifted by a rising pile of dirt underneath him. The top of the dirt mound spilled out the hole and onto the floor around him. "Sleep powder spores." He explained, stepping off the dirt and onto the floor. "Mixed with a tinge of poison gas, for the gagging effect. Non-lethal, but they won't be getting up anytime soon." He winced as a hand smacked him upside the head. "We needed them awake, dipshit!" Grue growled, appearing from behind. "How are they going to answer our questions now?" "Nobody told me that..." Teraph shoved his hands into his waistband and looked down. You could have mentioned that to begin with... "It doesn't matter." Tallon strode towards the petrified managed. He grabbed him by the collar, and hoisted him to his feet. "We have this guy." "I don't know anything..." He bawled as Tallon dragged him through the front doorway and into the outside world. "You know something!" Tallon snapped, silencing the man with a growl. He dragged the man outside into the carpark, and threw him to the pavement. "Teraph." "Ye' baws?" "Those trainers. We don't need them anymore." Ferice glanced over his shoulder to see Teraph's face light up with absolute joy. "Did Ghetis have any policies against collateral damage?" Tallon laughed a bit now. He saw it coming all along, but there was something about that "collateral damage?" smile that got to him. "Knock yourself out." He picked up the manager from the ground, and held him up to face his lodge. The man didn't even bother to struggle. He saw what these people were capable of. Teraph cracked his hands leisurely as he swaggered towards the building. He stopped ten metres from it, and placed his feet apart on the pavement. "You should have answered me truthfully." Tallon advised the manager as Teraph lowered his hands to his sides and crouched, building energy. "Then we wouldn't have had to do this." First it was just a crack. The pavement around Teraph's feet cracked, splitting the surface. The cracks extended further now, and a low rumbling sounded from somewhere beneath them as hazy light shone from the cracks. Pure power radiating from the ground beneath, and escaping through the crevices. Teraph's brow furrowed and his fists tightened as he stared intently at the building, continuously firing pulses of energy through his feet and into the ground. It took a few seconds for it to start. But once it started - it started. The manager swung his gaze to his feet with shock and terror as the ground began vibrating. Shock after shock beat through the ground and up his legs as the earth below was distorted. The mountains boomed and roared as rocks were shaken free by the tremendous shaking, and hurtled down the mountainside. The valley moaned as the vibrations travelled up from the bottom, bouncing off the sides and emerging as a labouring call at the top. It was an earthquake. Around the outside of the lodge, the ground exploded. The rocky terrain uprooted: tossing and churning and rolling and breaking. Each pulse of energy fired struck the ground with more and more force, breaking the terrain down into smaller and smaller pieces. The walls of the building quickly gave way. They bend inwards and outwards with snapping and cracking as gravity bore on them with nothing stable to support them beneath. In a second after, the tin roof came crashing down with an almighty rattling. It crashed and buckled and fell inwards. The roof crashed onto the second story, and the second story then collapsed onto the first, whipping up a storm of dust. Hamish's eyes stung. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes as his home crumbled before his eyes. The place his parents had bought him. The place he had raised his own children. The place he had housed trainers for them to recover. His slice of heaven, untouched by war... He fell limp. His will to stand no longer existed, and he fell limp. Tallon held his arms under the man's armpits and held him up. He shoved a hand under his neck and jerked his head back up to look. "Watch..." He growled. The ground broke and disintegrated further and further. The pile of crushed wood and plaster -which was once a building - was slowly sinking into the ground. Around the base of the building, the ground had disintegrated into a stone powder as fine as sand. The weight of the crushed building sunk into the sand. Beneath the building, the sand parted outwards. The sand rose from the middle and flowed up to the outside, forming a whirlpool-shaped sand-trap. The centre of the building fell inwards into the bottom of the sand whirlpool, slowly turning and spinning around the outside. The outsides of the building fell into the centre as it was engulfed, and slowly swallowed beneath the ground. Everything was sucked into the centre of the whirlpool, and within the minute it was all devoured by the ravenous earth. Teraph fell forwards as soon as the whirlpool stopped spinning. He fell to his knees and his fists slammed into the ground. His entire body shook as he panted heavily, fighting the massive draw of strength. His head hung to the ground as he willed himself to lift it. He glanced up after a moment of panting. The lodge was gone. Not a trace of its existence, save a single board poking from the surface of the sand. A painful grin broke his lips as he marvelled at his handiwork. "Need a hand?" "Huh?" He glanced over his shoulder. Grue knelt beside him, holding one hand out. Teraph nodded a little, and took the invitation. Grue hauled him to his feet, quickly wrapping an arm around his back to steady him as he stumbled a bit. "Damn mountain rock..." Teraph muttered through gritted teeth. "Hard shit. Takes a lot to break it..." "This is what happens when we don't get what we want." Tallon added darkly. Hamish still hung in his arms, seemingly devoid of life. "Now - I'm going to ask again..." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Teraph lifted his head at the sound. "Yeah... I'm on it..." He groaned. He lifted one hand, and a single vine emerged from the ground in front of him. The vine shot towards Hamish and wrapped around his ankles, and lifted him up off the ground. Hamish didn't make a sound as he hung upside down. His arms hung limply beside his head, and his tears dripped down his brow with a soft snivelling. Grue strode toward Hamish. He stopped beside him at a distance, and sat down. He looked up, facing Hamish in the eyes. Only now Hamish saw. His skin was purple, and he had no eyes. At the top of his head, Grue's purple skin began folding down. The purple membrane pulled away at the top of his head, and peeled down, revealing a pearly white skull beneath. As the skin over his eye sockets pulled away, it revealed a skull filled with purple ooze. The ooze too emptied as his skin peeled away. Around him on the ground, ooze flowed from the hems of his outfit. The ooze surrounding the skeleton and bones inside the suit drained away into a puddle around him. As the ooze left the skull, it suddenly fell limp with nothing to support it. Then, the torso and arms fell limp as the ooze coating them flowed away and into the puddle. Soon, it was just a dressed skeleton in a pile of purple slime. The puddle rolled across the ground now, away from the skeleton. It flowed across the ground, and spread itself out underneath Hamish's dangling body. "Here's the deal." Tallon said coldly. He flicked his arm to the side, transforming his forearm into a long, thin metal blade. He drew the blade alongside the vine holding Hamish hanging, but halted it a centimetre away. "Beneath you is Grue. By now, he has transformed his entire body into an incredibly powerful acid..." Hamish's body jumped a little at that. His head jerked to face Tallon. His face had paled to nearly white now. It was totally stricken by fear. "I'm going to ask you the same question again, and you're going to-" "They left..." Hamish sniffed. "They?" Tallon moved his blade away a little. Just enough to give Hamish a little reassurance to think clearly. "A guy named Marcus, a girl named Elise, and a Lucario. They left about an hour ago..." "Which way?" "I don't know..." Hamish sobbed fearfully. "I was asleep. That's all I know..." "I see..." Tallon's brow furrowed. "Please... let me go..." Hamish bawled, pleading whole-heartedly and looking into Tallon's eyes. "Please let me go... I've told you all I know..." Tallon leaned across the acid a little, and whispered. "I never said I'd let you go." Hamish ceased up. "But I'll make it quick." Tallon spun away. As he turned, he swung his blade through the air, and cleaved cleanly through Hamish's neck. The man's head fell into the goo below. The sludge quickly lifted overtop and engulfed it, wrapping around it. Tallon scooped his hands under the clothed skeleton Grue had occupied earlier. He lifted it and carried it towards a second skeleton at the edge of the parking lot. A large bird Pokémon of some kind. The pile of goo flowed past him as he walked, and moved for the skeleton. As it connected, the ooze climbed up the skeleton's leg. It formed around the bone and grew up it, moving from the leg up. The ooze climbed to the rib cage, and spread across the bones, forming a purple membrane across them. The inside of the ribs filled with purple ooze, transforming to form artificial organs and muscles and nerves. The ooze spread across the wings, and grew into a thin membrane spanning them. It grew up the neck, filling vertebrae and forming around them, and finally, enclosing the head. It only took a matter of seconds. Grue was now a purple Fearow. Tallon placed the skeleton beside Grue, and threw a leg over his back and saddled him. As Teraph approached, a block of rock lifted out under his back foot, propelling him into the air and onto the Fearow's back also (Think Avatar. Earthbenders.). Grue wrapped his talons around the human skeleton before setting off - securing his other host body. Gripping an arm and a leg, one in each talon, he threw his wings down, and launched himself into the air. "There are a few aura signatures leaving this place." Tallon called over the mighty beating of wings. "The two freshest go in different directions, so we have a fifty-fifty chance of finding our target.." "Let's go south!" Teraph punched the air enthusiastically, gripping hold of the ooze with his free hand. "Why?" "Why not?" He shrugged. "Fifty-fifty chance, right?" "You want to go south?" Tallon raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Yeah..." "Grue?" Tallon grinned teasingly. "Yeah?" "Go north." Teraph frowned. "Douchebag."
"Looks like our little friend has made a lot of enemies." A man commented, lowering his high-power binoculars. He stood at the lip of the cliff on the west side of the valley, opposite the action on the other side. "He sure has." Another growled, watching the trio leave on their Fearow. "Fawce. You can stop now." "Kay." Behind him, a Lucario stood with his paws raised over his head, glowing with aura. He lowered them and dissipated the aura on command, wriggling his fingers a little. The aura cloak hiding them faded away. "We all saw that, right?" The Lucario's owner lifted his binoculars again. Five other heads nodded. Four other humans and his Lucario. Each of the humans wore a black suit of civilian clothing. Fawce simply wore a pair of grey slacks, decorated with a small "TimeXpace" logo on one thigh. Nothing covered his torso; his chest spike was proudly visible. "That was freakish." Another lifted his binoculars too, re-examining the site. He still couldn't quite believe what had just happened. First a Fearow dropping a man onto a building from way up in the sky, then the Fearow seemed to have... died, and reformed as a human, and then entire building just swallowed up into the ground, and the Fearow skeleton coming to life again and flying off. "The first one... the one with armour..." The men turned to Fawce as he watched the bird in the distance. "He has aura. Powerful aura..." "They're none of our concern right now." The owner interrupted sharply. "Fawce, do you know where he went?" "I do." The Lucario nodded distantly. He gazed at the horizon for a second longer before turning and locating the trail of aura on the road opposite. "I remember... in Snowpoint he brushed past that pillar. I picked up his aura signature from that."' "Which way?" "South." South. J (Even I'm right sometimes...) Elise's fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel. Her eyes remained focussed on one guardrail at the corner ahead. One pinpoint spot to focus on while she waited. The car didn't move. The engine was silent, and the wheels still. The road ahead curved around the next bend, and wound out of sight. Six sat in the back, making not a sound. His eyes held shut and his head hung, attuning himself to the world around him. The wind whistling past, the snow flurries curling through the currents, the aura of the world twitching and writhing with life. Beside him, Nova did similar, sharing a mental link with him. "Okay - I give up." Toby sighed after a minute of silence. "What are they doing?" "Aura stuff." Six said without a movement. He forwent most physical movement in favour of projecting his aura body ahead. Everything numb, except the mind. "So shut up." Nova added. Toby huffed in annoyance and fell back into his seat. He glanced across at Elise, but she offered no support. She seemed fine with the wait, and looked to be in a similar state of thought, staring blandly ahead. Her eyes remained perfectly still. Long, luscious eyelashes hovering statically above. "(He's staring at her again.)" Hanas giggled, rolling on Toby's lap with a purr. She stopped on her back and smiled up at him, but he was still staring. "(He's a teenage boy. That's what they do.)" Ryus muttered. He watched ahead similarly to Elise, waiting for something out of the ordinary to happen. His eyes too were still. "There's a checkpoint ahead." Six's eyes flicked open and he lifted his head; bringing himself crashing back into the physical world. He glared at the distance, frowning. "West Sinnoh. Two hundred metres ahead. Nine humans, eighteen Pokémon. A thick barrier across the road which can be lifted and lowered." "So what's the plan?" Elise asked. She still stared ahead as she visualised Six's evaluation. She somehow knew what was to come next wasn't going to be peaceful. "The barrier's locked into place on either side by two clamps." Six observed. "The clamps support the barrier evenly, dividing half of any incoming force into each. It's too strong for us to break through the barrier..." "But?" "But the clamps themselves are weaker." He said. "If we could make a break in the barrier somewhere, and ram it, then the barrier would break the clamps. Without the barrier being connected on both ends, the impact force would be diverted entirely to one clamp, and that would snap the barrier free." "Wait - what's all this about "breaking"?" Toby cut in, sounding concerned. "Why don't we just pull up? Why would they not let us through? We're not -" "You don't still think my bounty was because I skipped on a court date?" Six shook his head sadly. "I thought you were smarter than that..." "I knew you were bullshitting me..." Toby grunted. That was his only defence, and the only way he could deflect the question. "We're smashing through." Six decided. "We could just go around-" Toby suggested, but Elise - of all people - interrupted him. "Sometimes you just have to man up and live dangerously." Her face thinned into a sly grin, and her eyes captured a twinkle of excitement. "Take a chance and be a little wild. That's how I get my kicks, anyway." "Whoah." Nova's eyes flew open. "Did you actually just say that?" "Mm-hmm. I did." Elise chuckled a little. "I know how to have fun when I want to." She draped an arm over her seat and glanced over her shoulder. "So what's happening?" "I like your enthusiasm." Six smiled a bit. "We need a roster. All the Pokémon we have on us." "Deli!" Jobey leapt from Toby's feet and onto his knee with Ryus. He stepped onto the console between the front seats and saluted readily. "Yeah, there's Jobey..." Toby nodded unsurely. "Hanas - Luxio, and Ryus my Cubone..." "I have my Volcarona." Elise added, also nodding. "A Zoroark and two Emolga." Six's attention was suddenly grabbed at the mention of "Zoroark". "You have a Zoroark?" Elise's smile dropped a little at Six's reaction. "Yes. Is that a problem?" "No... but... a Zoroark and a Volcarona?" He inclined his head a little, his smile spreading as he dug something up from memory. "You have a Duskbreaker." "A what?" Elise recoiled a little too much. She overplayed her reaction slightly. "Don't lie to me. You have a Duskbreaker, don't you?" "Um... Toby is confused..." Toby put a hand up, glancing about for an answer. "What's a "Duskbreaker"?" "A Duskbreaker -" Six directed Elise an accusing glare. She had already turned around and was looking away out her window in embarrassment, going a little red. " - is the term used to describe the combination of a Volcarona and a Zoroark. They are connected through implants. The Volcarona flies into the Zoroarks hair and hides there. It holds the Zoroark's body and its wings emerge through the hair, giving the Zoroark flight capabilities. The Duskbreaker also happens to be the symbolic Pokémon combination favoured by the Unovan royal guard..." "What?" Toby stared at Elise, gaping in shock. "You're a soldier? From Unova?" "Royal guard, idiot. Not soldier." Nova grunted. Elise still remained still, staring out the window motionlessly as her secret was revealed. "The royal guard are the elite of Unovan soldiers. They are the personal bodyguards of king N, and his advisors." "That's right." Elise sighed and turned back. "I'm a member of the royal guard. But something happened..." She balled her fists slightly, pausing, "and now I'm running away." "What-" "It's a personal thing, you dope!" Nova cut in before Toby finished his sentence. "Don't pester people." "It doesn't matter." Six called, bringing back the conversation. "A Zoroark, a Volcarona, two Emolga, a Delibird, a Luxio, a Cubone and Nova. Now, all we need is something to break that barrier..." "Bone?" Ryus appeared on the console behind Jobey. He held his bone over his head and cocked his head questioningly. "I don't think that's going to be big enough..." Six added reluctantly. He didn't like to crush a Pokémon's enthusiasm, but it wasn't going to work. "Ubone?" Ryus smirked a little under his skull helmet. He stepped back a little, and wiggled his bone a little. On command the thing began glowing. The bone was engulfed in a bright, white light. And it began expanding. One end grew a little further and thickened a bit, forming some kind of handle, while the other end grew exponentially and flattened out, tapering to a sharp spike at the end. It only took a second. As the glow faded again, Ryus was holding a massive bone sword. "Holey..." Elise's jaw dropped. The thing was bigger than Ryus was! It was nearly as long as Six was tall, and held by a tiny Cubone barely one sixth of its size. Six raised an eyebrow. "That might just do it..."
"Just relax..." Six called, both physically and through telepathy. Atop the car, a Zoroark sat cross-legged. A pair of large orange wings sprouted from his hair, where the Volcarona hid beneath. The Pokémon nodded slowly, and drew a deep breath through his nose. Beside him, Ryus did similar, listening to the lingering voice echoing in his mind. He held his eyes closed gently, and attuned himself to the feel of the blistering mountain wind blustering past. "Hear me..." Six called softly. "Feel me..." His voice penetrated the deepest reaches of the psyche. "See what I show you... feel what I show you..." All three Pokémon nodded exactly once and in perfect synchronisation. Their heads lifted and fell simultaneously, and stopped at the exact same moment. They could feel it. They could all feel it growing in them. None were sure what it was - but their trainers had instructed them to listen to Six. They would. "My name is Six..." The words slipped in through their ears as sound, but then they dissipated into aura and swirled around their minds like an ominous fog: lingering and ringing from the inside out, as if pertaining from their own beings. "My name is six. I am an assassin, once member to a secret sect of aura masters known as the "vectors"." The Pokémon let his words flow into them. They didn't flinch or react to his speech - they simply took it in. they took it to heart, and let him continue. They lusted for the deep contact with which he touched them. "We vectors are the most powerful beings on the face of the earth." In the car, Six's eyes flashed open. Their icy silver irises ignited, and blazed with a fierce azure. "I'm about to show you why." He drew in a powerful breath, harnessing every impulse of aura contained within and streaming it through his. He took hold of the force behind every breath and streamed it to the Pokémon on the roof. "Open your eyes. Anew..." On the roof, the Pokémon all opened their eyes. Elise's Zoroark gasped - the loudest. "What do you see? What do you feel?" Six's voice barely touched his mind. He was so overwhelmed he barely noticed. "Everything..." He gasped. "I see... everything..." He felt it. He felt everything. The air enclosed him, thick as water with aura. He felt every sweep and brush of energy against his. He saw everything. Ahead, a snowflake twirled and spiralled in the wind. He knew its shape. He knew every ridge and jut and spike and bump and titbit of the thing. He knew where it had been - remembering the wind pattern and gauging its aura, he knew where it was going to land - the wind and its shape and a million other variables told him the exact spot. He knew its temperature, he knew its exact colour. He knew it inside and out. Then there were more. Thousands upon thousands of snowflakes whirling and twisting all around, each uniquely shaped and tempered and distinctly blown about. He knew every single little minute detail of every flake surrounding him, and he knew it all at the same time. He knew he shouldn't be able to comprehend what he was seeing. He knew the overload of information should have fried his mind. But it just... didn't. He saw everything. Trajectories, speeds, distances, everything. A rock tumbled from a nearby bank. Instantly he knew it from every angle. He knew exactly the moment it would hit the ground. He knew exactly where it would hit, which side it would land on, where it would bounce and how high, which points would contact the ground and where, and where it would eventually come to rest. He knew the exact composition of elements inside the rock. He knew the exact shape. He ever knew the brownish path on the opposite side, where he couldn't see. He saw everything there was to see from every angle, from outside-in and from inside-out. He felt the car beneath him, and instantly he knew everything. He felt every scratch on the bodywork, ever notch or bump in the chassis; he felt the internal mechanisms and their condition and everything - even the fuel level. He knew the back window had a hairline crack in it; the passenger window roller was stiffer than the driver, the driver side lock locked a little faster than the other locks when the car was locked from the outside. It was all there. He wasn't even looking through his own eyes anymore. He was looking from everywhere. And processing all of this information didn't even take him a second. Ryus and the Volcarona also stared, wandering about the world around them. They felt the same as the Zoroark - connected to him. All that he felt, they felt. All that they felt, he felt. They were all joined together, and then to Six. "This is my power." Six called through their minds, speaking to each on a deep level. "Now... shall we apply this power?" "Yes." All three answered simultaneously through telepathy. Suddenly, their bodies were back. They could feel themselves and see again - but they could still sense every bit of aura and feel everything about them. The car door opened. Nova slipped out, and closed the door behind her. She turned and walked backwards a few steps, watching the Pokémon on the roof. "Having fun there, boys?" She smirked. She knew what they were feeling. "(How is this possible?)" The Zoroark still glanced around at the world, viewing everything through aura and his own eyes. "We call it "Simultaneous Remote Viewing". A term Six adapted from research into dreams. All life happens at once, however our minds are limited to how much they can take in at once. Simultaneous Remote Viewing - or "SRV" - however, lets us recognise all these things in one moment by unleashing the mind's full capacity and increasing it with aura. Combine this capacity for knowledge with Six's precise aura powers, and we can identify nearly everything going on around us. We can think at incredible speeds and perform highly complex tasks that none other could hope to achieve. When you experience SRV, the only limit is your physical body." "(...)" Ryus still stared at the sky. "(So how does this make us powerful?)" The Zoroark asked, still taking in everything he could find. "How else?" Nova snorted. "When you can feel and predict where every attack is going to land, you suddenly become very hard to hit. When you can't be hit, you can't be killed. When you can see every attack behind you and in front of you, and you have infinite time to decide how respond to these attacks. You can gauge the foe's distance, their strength, any weaknesses they have, anything in the environment you can use to your advantage, you can sometimes even guess how they will react to a counter-attack or block. With enough practice you can even visualise a subconscious Heads-up-Display, showing your own condition, distances and other vital information." "(Wait - if we can see where they attack us and dodge it... can we even be defeated?)" "Of course." Nova rolled her eyes. "Some attacks are too large or too fast to dodge. We can plan ways to counter or dodge these attacks, but that doesn't mean our bodies are fast or strong enough to counter or dodge. Some enemies will strike us. We will know how to stop them, but they may be faster. They hit us before our bodies can move to dodge. SRV does not mean you are invincible at all. In fact - if you become overconfident, it can be your downfall. You will believe yourself unkillable, and put yourself in a position where you cannot defend or dodge. Then - you will be killed." The Zoroark gulped and nodded. "(I understand.)" "Do you?" Nova placed her paws on her hips. "As this is your first experience with SRV, Six will be controlling you three." "What?" "NO arguments!" Nova stepped forwards quickly, growling. The Zoroark growled a touch in response, but he shied away with a grunt. He knew better. As much as it pained him to admit it, Nova was right. "(Very well.)" He conceded. "(I will do as he says.)"
Elise's eyes were welded shut. Sweat poured from her hot brow and onto the windowsill upon which her head lay. Her right hand groped the door handle tightly and trembled as her knuckles turned white. Her breaths came ragged through her teeth - seething in pain as her head stung mercilessly. "Hey! Elise!" Six called. Elise's breath escaped as the pressure immediately subsided. Her hand on the door handle fell limp, and she moaned a little - relieved of her pain. "What the hell?" Toby demanded - yet again. "Are you alright?" Six leaned through the front seats a little. "What... was that?" Elise clutched her head in her free hand. "That hurt so much..." "Sorry about that..." Six smiled sheepishly. "I forgot that you're implanted. That feeling is what your Pokémon are sensing - but translated through your implants it doesn't work, and causes extreme migraines." "Migraines...?" Elise seethed. "YOU CALL THAT A MIGRAINE!" She exploded. "Elise... I'd settle down if I were you." six stated calmly, despite Elise glaring at him red-faced. "Why should i-" Elise halted suddenly. She gulped a little as her lips went dry. "She's behind me..." "I am behind you." Nova affirmed darkly. Her face was pressed into Elise's window. "I sure hope you weren't about to do something stupid..." "Sorry..." Elise sighed in shame and returned to her seat. "That just messed with my head... I can't think straight..." "I'm blocking your implants with my aura." Six explained once Elise had settled. "Next time I'll include you in the SRV. That way you won't be overwhelmed like that." "I would have appreciated it if warned me about that first..." "Sorry." Six apologised again, falling back into his seat. "Well - the Pokémon on the roof are ready. Your Zoroark's going to carry the Cubone in, then hit the barrier. We're coming in behind that." "And then?" Elise asked as she twisted the ignition. "Just do what I say. Don't stop for anything, and trust that I know what I'm doing." As Six spoke, Nova pulled open the back door and slipped inside. Elise nodded. She pulled on her most serious expression in a bid to psyche herself up, and took a deep breath. "Just like the castle..."She whispered, and slammed the accelerator. On the roof, the Pokémon felt the lurch coming. Tapping into his new RV senses and feeling the foot slam down, the Zoroark fell forwards onto his knees and gripped the roof with his free hand as shot forwards. He held Ryus against his chest with his free hand and braced his legs for a jump. "(Are you ready?)" He called over the wind rushing past. "(I'm ready for anything.)" Ryus murmured darkly. Barely audible. "(Life or death; victory or defeat. Let it come.)" "(Um... okay...)" The Zoroark nodded despite being suddenly confused. He knew Cubones were sometimes dark, but this one was justradiating sorrow at the moment. The vehicle skidded around the next corner as Six passed instructions to Elise. "65."He instructed. Elise complied and shifted up a gear, bringing the speedo up to 65. The next corner was longer and more gradual, and Elise sped around it without pause. Reaching the end of the turn, they all found themselves facing down what Six had expected. The road ahead was barred. On either side of the road, a solid concrete fortification bordered the road gap between. In a nest atop each tower, two soldiers stood guard with their Pokémon. Two Pokémon each. Four Pokémon in each tower. Across the road below them, a huge yellow-and-black striped barrier spanned the entire width of the road. On either side of the road it was locked into place by a pair of clamps. Just as Six had said. "Accelerate to one hundred kilometres." Six instructed. "It's time." Atop the car, the Zoroark shuffled about a little. "(Here we go!)"
"Coffee or cocoa?" A man glanced over his shoulder. His camouflage suit was baggy on him - being on the scrawny side. "What happened to the tea?" A second man sitting at a table responded. A light bulb hung from the ceiling just above his head, casting a dull light across him and an awkward shadow across his newspaper. "I don't know for sure." The first shrugged as he mixed a steaming cup of cocoa. "You, Greg and Mikey's the only ones who drink the stuff." "I'll just have a coffee then." He shrugged. He returned his attention to the table before him, licked a finger, and turned over a page in his newspaper. "Anything going on in the world?" The first asked after a moment in an attempt to make small-talk. "Yeah, actually." The second man looked up with a grin. "There's actually a war going on, over in Sinnoh." He stopped suddenly. Seemingly something had hit him. "Wait a second - we're in Sinnoh!" "All right, smart-ass." The first man chuckled a little. He turned around and carried a cup of coffee to his friend, and sat opposite. The other took his cup with a friendly smile, and went back to his paper. "If it really interests you, Google's gone down one point three percent." "Oh, yeah?" The other nodded distantly. "How's Marie?" "She's great." The other man brightened up a little suddenly. "Casey's three months old now. We've organised a Skype session this coming Friday. This is going to be my first time properly seeing her." He reached a hand into his pocket and scooped out a photograph. He smiled a bit and passed it across to the other man. "You showed me this last week." The other man smiled also, turning the photo and looking over it again. "I'm showing everyone." The other man laughed. "She's got my eyes. You can te-" "GET OUT HERE!" The man with the paper lurched - smacking over his cup of coffee in surprise. "Crap!" He jumped to his feet and pulled his paper out from underneath his cup. "Fuck it! I don't get another paper until-" "There's a car coming! Fast!" The men stopped and stared at one another. It took their brains a second to work it out, and they both grabbed pokéballs from their waists and rushed through the nearby doorway. The unwelcoming chill of the wind bit them immediately, but they rushed out into the road and stared down the road they guarded. A red shape. Coming fast. That was all they needed to know. They each dropped their two pokéballs. The first an Infernape and a Lucario, the second a Carnavine and a Luxray. "Behind the barrier!" A man in a watchtower called to them. "They won't get through it, so you'll be safe!" "East?" The first man called to the man in the tower. "Negative!" The man in the tower lowered his binoculars. "Civvy vehicle. Occupants are dressed in civvy getups." "So what the hell are they doing, then?" The second called up. "I don't know, but-" "Hey!" The first man's hand jerked up in the air. "What the hell is that?" The other two traced the first's arm and finger into the sky. Up high, something dark crossed the sun.
The Pokémon hovered at their spot - gazing down below. The Zoroark held his arms around Ryus as the Volcarona beat its wings steadily to elevate them. "(Here we go, then.)" The Zoroark murmured. He closed his eyes as Six's aura nudged him, and let it flow in. Connecting with the Volcarona through both their neuroimplants and through their SRV link, the Zoroark tipped forwards. His wings went rigid as he fell forwards and he dropped into a rapid dive. He scanned the ground below one last time, marking their landing point as ten metres north of the barrier. On the ground below, fire erupted upwards at them. An Infernape loosed a flamethrower, a Lucario fired a fusillade of aura spheres, and the Luxray shook its mane as it began charging power. The Zoroark and Volcarona immediately identified the trajectory of the flamethrower, and swooped around it as it seared past. They dived and ducked around as the column of flame swept and wavered all across the sky in an attempt to follow them, but they saw every swing early and avoided it. Next came the aura spheres and the thunder attack. The Zoroark released Ryus for a moment, but caught him in one hand. He threw him downwards just as the thunderbolt fired. The bolt cracked the air and shot towards them, but Ryus ended up between the attack and its target. The electricity coursed harmlessly through his body and sparked away into the air. The Zoroark then quickly beat its Volcarona wings and surged downwards to catch the Pokémon again. Then came the aura spheres. Right on time - a separate fusillade of aura spheres intercepted those incoming. Nova had the aura spheres locked onto with her own, and fired hers at a higher velocity than the other Lucario to meet them. The aura spheres all collided metres below the Zoroark - detonating harmlessly in a cloud of blue vapour. The Volcarona wings curled in for a moment, on Six's instruction. The trio increased in speed just a little without the added drag, but veered out of control in a nose dive towards the ground. Just at the last millisecond possible, the Volcarona unfolded its wings and flared them out. Their trajectory curved up as they neared the ground and shot along it, levelling out to a horizontal angle as Ryus transformed his bone into a blade. They were so close to the ground that Ryus' bone actually sparked against the pavement as they shot towards the barrier. It was purposeful - Six relied on the fractional friction of the blade on the ground to slow them the minuscule amount required for his manoeuvre to work. He held his sword in both hands, and swung upwards as they neared it. At the last moment the Volcarona tilted its wings back, and they lifted just enough to make it over the barrier. At the same time - approaching very close behind - Elise rammed it. The move was so precisely executed that Ryus' bone sword actually touched the front bumper of the car just before he swung on the pass over top. Combining the strength of his swing with the added momentum of flight, his blade sliced straight through the barrier without any resistance. The Volcarona pulled up mid-way through his swing, and lifted just high enough that the roof wouldn't hit them. The car hit the barrier not a second after it was sliced in two. The occupants lurched forwards on the impact, but the right side of the barrier snapped away from the last clamp holding it in place. The barrier exploded inwards. It snapped around and smashed into a hapless soldier who had been standing in the road still. They were through. The Zoroark flew right a fraction and dropped Ryus as they lifted. They had all timed their speeds perfectly. Ryus was flung through the air forwards at ninety-nine k's speed, the car was travelling at one-hundred k's speed, so the impact when Nova stuck her arm out the window and caught him was barely felt. "(That was awesome!)" The Zoroark laughed as they lifted again, ignoring the cries of rage thrown after them by the soldiers. "(That was great!)" The Volcarona cried, though his voice was muffled by the other's hair. "(Wait - hold on...)" He veered left as another flamethrower flashed past. "(Yeah, that was incredible!)" "(Everything worked perfect...)" The Zoroark shook his head. "(The timing, the planning, the execution... that was brilliant...)" "Thanks." Inside the car, Six smiled. "I do my best."
"Reggie!" The first soldier dashed across the road. Sweat poured off his brow as he fell beside the soldier opposite. The second soldier lay motionless. The huge barrier beam lay across his stomach, and blood smeared the concrete wall behind him which his body was crushed against by the barrier. The pavement beneath him too oozed red as blood drained from his shattered ribcage. "Reggie..." The man's breath escaped him. The sight before him shook him to his core. One of his trembling hands reached for his pocket. He dug about awkwardly, and pulled the now-folded photograph from inside. He whimpered pitiably as he stared at the picture, shaking his head, and he slowly placed it on Reggie's chest. He placed it at the top on his breast. Right over his heart... "I'm... I'm sorry..."
Every soldier deserves a name. Every soldier is capable of feeling rage. Every soldier can seek vengeance... Review and stuff! I like to know how many people read these - oh wait, there's a system for that, isn't there?