FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Lucario sighed. Out of all the possible scenarios and events he had expected out of this mission, "complete and utter tedium" was placed somewhere very low on the list. Following Zoroark they had found their path leading downwards, moving a level or two underneath the Stadium's bottom floor. There was a sense of familiarity to it, and Lucario thought he could occasionally see Zoroark nod in approval of the base's subterranean structure. He knew she thought of it as a strategic boon, but so far it had been the only thing even remotely strategic about this hideout.

Again Lucario sighed. There had been no vanguards to defeat, no trap doors to avoid, no hidden walls to burst through, no clever puzzles to solve and no locked doors save the creaky iron bars at the start. Nothing but endless, undecorated corridors lit up by dull fluorescent lamps. Although the wretched smell of gore ensured a stifling atmosphere, Lucario's demeanor had shifted from being nervous to being bored. Looking over at Zoroark he was certain even she had stopped being on edge, and the fact that he was unable to sense anything ahead made it impossible for him to stay worried about what was to come.

"So... Let's say they're holding the virus in a vial or something," Lucario said, breaking the silence and waving his arms around while painting up a scenario, "Says 'Take one more step and I'll smash it!' What happens?"

"... We celebrate?" Zoroark replied calmly before looking around to make sure their conversation was not alerting anyone to their presence, their voice reaching quite far in the stretching corridor, "The virus is not yet finished and still lacks sustainability. It's... Well, I suppose the two of us would die, but everyone else would be safe."

"... That is a HORRIBLE solution!" Lucario snapped back with a terrified expression, taking note of Zoroark's persistent relaxed demeanor and deciding to copy her, "How about this; I'll stand still, snipe them with an Aura Sphere while you dive in and grab the vial?"

"And not a single step was taken," Zoroark finished his line of thinking, "Great plan, although people have a tendency to not uphold agreements while they are being shot at. Can we refocus on where we are currently at...?"

"... Preferably not..." Lucario muttered, the allure of the eventless passageway beckoning him once more. So far the stench of blood had been the only thing separating this mission from an on-foot tour of the battle subway, and indeed it was stronger than ever before. The air was thick with it, and Lucario was certain he would have to bathe several times before being able to come into contact with Zerobi again. As bored as he was, he realized she was probably worse off, standing by herself at the entrance and imagining all the harrowing experiences he was supposed to be going through right about now.

"... Nothing?" Zoroark suddenly asked, looking at Lucario.

"Not sensing a thing," Lucario responded in assumption of what she meant.

"What about hearing? Anything at all?" Zoroark continued with a concerned voice. Lucario shook his head and she felt a sense of unease. Something was not right, and in a situation as vital as this that was not a good thing. Going over the plan once more, she wondered if she had missed something important, a tiny detail slipping through her tired mind and costing millions of Pokémon their lives.

Both their minds burdened with widely different issues, they continued their trek until they finally reached the end of the corridor. Ahead of them was a simple door standing slightly ajar, leading into a dimly lit room. No sound nor aura present, but Zoroark remembered this to be what her spy had declared to be their destination and decided to reinforce her vigilance.

"Be ready for anything..." Zoroark whispered one last time to Lucario. He nodded, and she quietly pushed the door open while peeking inside.

The stench of decaying flesh hit the two of them like a windstorm. The room was quite a bit larger than the passage that had led them there, but ten times more unpleasant as Lucario felt like following his stomach's example and turning around.

Fresh blood was pooled up on the floor and could be seen splashed against the various computers and monitors, dripping down from the desks and chairs strewn about the room. Lying on top of this river of wasted life were both humans and Pokémon, every one of them a sadder sight than the next. The four humans were neatly arranged at the foot of some complex machinery covering one of the walls, eyes closed and with open gashes across their throats. There were only two Pokémon, but their corpses had been dissected and mutilated to the point where they were now unrecognizable hunks of flesh and internal organs. Zoroark recognized the telltale horn of a Gogoat sticking out from the first cadaver before instinctively covering her nose, the smell seeping inside and coaxing her to vomit.

"K... Keep it together..." Lucario whispered. Zoroark looked at him and quickly straightened herself up.

"Do not underestimate me - I can handle this," Zoroark assured him while strengthening her resolve and reminding herself that this is not the worst thing she has ever seen.

"... Wasn't referring to you..." Lucario muttered, once more trying to comprehend the situation presented to him. He couldn't care less about the massacred Pokémon, but staring at the four dead humans sent a chill up his spine. They were all dressed in white lab coats, blood running down their necks like red ties. Slumped over against the wall with their eyes closed or staring at the floor they appeared almost peaceful, utterly contrasting the butchered Pokémon.

Zoroark exhaled as she forcibly shut down her stirring emotions and relaxed once more. Walking inside she paid no heed to the blood running through her toes as she began examining the crime scene, analyzing the situation.

"H-Hey, this is pretty bad..." Lucario stammered as he swallowed hard, finding it difficult to remove his eyes from the dead humans, "Did someone get here before us?"

"Doesn't seem that way. It does not look like there was a fight," Zoroark responded quietly, stopping herself just short of digging a claw into the second Pokémon carcass as she noticed a thin, broken wing buried under a layer of meat, identifying the being as a Vivillon, Butterfree or similar Bug-type.

Lucario tore his vision away from the grisly scene and took a second glance around the area, realizing why his initial assessment had been wrong. Despite the blood and corpses the room looked strangely well-kept, the chairs standing upright and the computers were still in working order. Moving up to the perished scientists, Zoroark crouched down to examine the wound across their throats. Lucario suddenly held out a hand, noticing it was shaking. Not sure of why he was acting this way, the initial shock finally disappeared as he took a firm grip of reality and forced himself to approach Zoroark and the dead bodies.

"If there really was no fight, they must have been were restrained and executed..." Zoroark whispered as she grabbed and held up one of the dead humans' arms, "... At any rate, it seems they were killed by a method you should be familiar with."

"... Me? Killed?" Lucario repeated, not sure if she was trying to make a joke or actually knew about his previous brush with death at the hands of Deoxys.

"Cut, rather," Zoroark mumbled and checked the corpse's wrists for marks or blemishes, "By human tools."

Lucario's stomach turned once more as he remembered the same words coming from Zoroark's lips back when they had been trapped inside the cage together. He ran a hand through his chest hair, noticing the scars across his body feeling slim and precise while staring at one of the cut throats, noticing the wound to be similar in appearance.

At that moment, Lucario thought he could hear someone snicker. Spinning around, he grabbed Zoroark's shoulder to alert her.

"What?" Zoroark whispered questioningly.

"I hear someone..." Lucario explained, "Further ahead... I think someone's laughing..."

Tensing up, Zoroark realized there was yet another door in the room. Busy with taking in everything else she had initially assumed it to be a supply closet. Moving there and opening it, she found it being a regular door leading into another room.

There she was presented with a sight she recognized all too well. A large, grim surgical table stood in the middle of a sterilized room completely devoid of any traceable details, one she had researched thoroughly ever since first finding the Tape. It felt unreal to be standing where she had seen so many Pokémon be painfully experimented on.

What was even more unexpected was that just like in the Tape, the surgical table was not unoccupied. A man was sitting on the opposite end of it, his back turned towards them. He was slender and wore a lab coat just like the others, but this one was clean of all traces of blood. The scalpel lying next to him was not however, and the man seemingly noticed their arrival as he gave off yet another sinister snicker. "Zoroark, I presume? You are most welcome," he said with a cold, calculating voice before standing up and turning around. Despite wearing glasses, neither Lucario nor Zoroark had any trouble recognizing him as the scientist from Saffron City. Zoroark kept herself cool, but Lucario felt his fists clench up as he vividly remembered the Dragonair and what he had done with her. The twisted Pokémon professor eyed him for a moment before turning back towards Zoroark.

"You decided to bring someone with you?" the scientist asked quietly as he reached a hand down towards the scalpel, "Is he aware of our cooperation, or shall I handle him before we continue our proceedings?"

As quickly as Lucario had felt his temper rise, he felt his breath taken away. Staring wide-eyed at Zoroark, her calm demeanor through all this suddenly made sense.

"T-Traitor!" Lucario shouted as he took as step back, Zoroark's expression turning into surprise.

"Stop being stupid, he's just trying to trick you!" she said sternly before aggressively pointing towards the human, "And you! You are acting awfully familiar for someone who ended up being stabbed during our last meeting!"

Lucario calmed himself down as the professor's smile vanished, hesitantly retracting his hand.

"Ah, yes. Pardon my rash behavior the last time," he replied with a slightly bothered tone to his voice, "I was under the influence of a very powerful mind-enhancer, courtesy of my loyal Alakazam. Needless to say, it was a requirement for properly extracting the necessary genes from..."

His eyes suddenly turned towards Lucario once more, the Pokémon meeting his gaze with a wry grimace. The professor's smile returned as he snickered quietly to himself.

"... I understand. You came to see the fruits of your labor?" the human asked before holding out his arms as if ready to embrace someone, "Rest easy! Thanks to the experiments you let us perform upon you, we can make sure that all Pokémon in the world-"

"Shut up, asshole!" Lucario yelled out, clearly not at home to having had any part this insanity, "Zoroark, he's stalling us or something, where's that damn virus!?"

"We know you have been working on a virus," Zoroark said with an icy cold stare, hoping the human was as understanding of Pokémon language as he appeared to be, "You have 10 seconds. Give it to us, or we start looking."

The corner of the scientist's mouth twitched as he suddenly gave her a warning glare, as if she had said something very disrespectful. Zoroark refused to be intimidated, and to her surprise the human's fierce expression slowly died off into melancholy.

"Ah, I suppose it is for the best..." he whispered with a far less enthusiastic voice than before, turning towards a freezer in one of the corners, "To tell you the truth, I am quite excited... Yet still a little sad... But for the sake of the world, I know sacrifices have to be made."

Zoroark eyed him carefully, confused to see their foe cooperating so willingly. Keeping herself on edge and ready for a trap, she nearly flinched as he hastily drew out a key from his pocket, unlocking the supply closet and reaching in with a hand.

"Yeah. Trying to kill all Pokémon was really noble of you," Lucario scoffed sarcastically and shook his head.

At that moment, the human's shoulders stiffened. His hand stopped moving as lowered his head and chortled.

"Hehehe... I see... You too fell for the lie?" he sniggered while a sense of relief washed over him, "I was wondering why you were so rude towards me."

"Lie?" Zoroark repeated before crossing her arms in disapproval. She did not like where this was going one bit as the scientist gave up on retrieving the virus and faced her fully, his arms extended in a glorious gesture once more.

"Indeed," he uttered and let escape a breathy sigh, "In order to be given the funding and resources required for the enhancement of Pokérus, I had to convince my superiors and co-workers of false promises, such as this virus being a lethal applicant towards Pokémon... They jumped right on it after the Deoxys fiasco..."

"Wait... The virus..." Lucario muttered before hesitating, wondering if he was being played for a fool, "It's not going to kill all Pokémon?"

"Of course not!" the human replied quickly while showing a surprisingly earnest face, "What fool would have anything to gain from the death of Pokémon? Erasing the foundation of the ecosystem would only lead to the world decaying and being destroyed. What I strive for is the opposite - This virus has been created to save the world, not ruin it."

As he stood there with arms wide open and a face that displayed confidence, both Lucario and Zoroark could not help but suddenly pay note to what he was saying. The whole situation was simply too unusual to ignore. The executed humans and gutted Pokémon in the room before were unaccounted for, and the scientist's chill, almost hopeful demeanor seemed off. Although a complex situation, things were beginning to add up in Zoroark's mind.

One specific thought lit up, accompanied by a rather painful twitch of her heart. A very bad feeling started to grow in the back of her head as she drew in a shallow breath while staring at the human.

"Doctor," Zoroark spoke anxiously, "If released, what will the virus do?"

The scientist smirked and lifted his head once more, as if he had been waiting all his life to say this.

"Is it not obvious?" he replied optimistically, "It will kill the human species."

A moment of silence passed as everything seemed to turn colder around them. Zoroark's eyes widened while Lucario felt the words stir something awake in the pit of his stomach.

"Bullshit!" Lucario shouted while pointing accusingly at the professor, "You're human, you'll be killing yourself!"

A bitter expression suddenly flashed past the human's face, as if he had been insulted by his claim.

"I may be human in body, but I am Pokémon in both mind and soul," the scientist muttered while gently placing a hand to his chest, "Such is what allowed me to see beyond my own needs and do what is best for the world, even at the expense of my own life!"

"Well, I'm Pokémon in body, but human in mind and soul!" Lucario responded angrily while pounding his own chest once, "And I'm telling you, you're stark raving mad!"

The scientist dismissed Lucario with an annoyed sigh and shrug, turning towards Zoroark instead.

"Ah, the barking of your ignorant mutt is quite annoying," he said while reaching a hand towards her in a plea, "Might you put a leash on him so we may discuss the details like mature beings?"

"Yeah, no. You're done," Lucario growled as he quickly stepped between them and made a gesture towards the freezer, "Zoroark, go grab the virus and put it somewhere very safe. I'll kill him up if he tries anything, and I do mean ANYTHING!"

Confidently facing the disgusting human, he was surprised to see that he was paying him no mind. He was looking past him, continuing his eye contact with Zoroark.

"... Will it truly be the end of humanity?" Lucario suddenly heard a whisper coming from behind, "... No struggle, no... Risk of retaliation...?"

Lucario turned around in horror, seeing Zoroark facing the scientist not with repulse but rather curiosity and the same kind of hopeful expression he had shown not long ago.

"Overnight, the nation will belong to Pokémon," the professor sang in a dreamy voice, "In less than a week, the rest of the world will follow..."

"Hey, ignore that asshole!" Lucario shouted while putting his hands on Zoroark's shoulder, on the verge of slapping her awake, "The death of all humans is just as bad as the death of all Pokémon, so let's do what we came here to do!"

Zoroark jumped slightly at his touch, looking up at him with a different expression than before.

Defiance.

In a rapid motion she knocked his arms away from her. Lucario suddenly felt very powerless as he simply let his hands drift downwards and hang at his sides. Through it all, he could hear the agitating snicker of the scientist from behind.

"Hehehe... The Lucario knows not?" the human chided before putting his hands together and gazing at the Dark-type with admiration, "Ah, but you do, Zoroark. I can see it on your face. You have experience that he lacks, knowledge he cannot understand. Just like me, you know what is to come and what has to be done."

Hoping Zoroark would shake her head in response and violently attack the filthy scum, Lucario felt his mouth go dry as she continued saying and doing nothing. Rather, her face was shining in recognition. Taking a few steps away from the two of them, he tried to comprehend what was happening.

"Know... What...?" Lucario wheezed weakly, looking back and forth between Zoroark and the scientist. Zoroark suddenly looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself at the last second.

"She knows what all educated beings know. The current state of the world... And our inevitable future..." the scientist whispered before raising his voice to a bellow, "... Courtesy of the infallible, unchangeable nature of man!"

His words were meant for Lucario but resounded in Zoroark's ears as well, her inner thoughts finally giving way to echoes from the past...