Armageddon: Chapter 5 - "Trust"
#7 of Armageddon [Abandoned, superseded by Acolytes of the Apocalypse]
A new Pokemon series I've decided to write, depicting a human named Richard, who finds a Sneasel that agrees to be his Pokemon. This is a story about their survival in a series of devastating natural disasters. Will they have the courage and strength to survive the incoming Armageddon? Only time will tell.
Hey there! This is a new series that I'll be writing, called "Armageddon"! It's a Pokémon story; some scenes in this story may be slightly disturbing to some readers. There will also be a few 'suggestive' scenes as well. However, those will be very few and far between. For a lot of reasons, this story is going to be focused on plot development for the most part. Also, keep in mind that I am not the most knowledgeable about Pokémon, so excuse any spelling errors or mistakes in the naming of certain places, items, etc.
Pokémon™ is intellectual property of Nintendo© and Game Freak, Inc. respectively.
Here is some information about the story format:
'Character Thought' (Not projected to other characters)
^^^Story break or a switch between character scenes/perspectives ^^^
~XXXXX~ Represents a lapse in time. But not a character perspective switch.
'Character Thought' (Projected to other characters)
(Pokémon Speech)
"Character Dialogue"
I think that's about it. Enjoy the story!
Armageddon: Chapter 5 - "Trust"
"V-Victor is that you?!"
"Yes."
"W-What happen-"
"None of your concern."
"B-but you-"
"NONE of YOUR concern!"
"..."
"..."
"Look, I need the deadliest weapon you've got."
"May I ask why?"
"I've got some... loose ends that need tending to."
"Victor, I-I know that you have been a loyal customer for years, b-but I can't just give anyone a weapon that deadly without a special license."
"Will fifty-thousand Poke dollars cover it?"
"..."
"Second floor, first door to your left, combination is 4587."
"Excellent. Nice doing business with you."
"Wait."
"Hm?"
"Could you at least tell me how you got that... robotic...eye?
"Okay. First of all, it's 'cybernetic'. Secondly, it's none of your business."
"Well could you at least tell me what caused such an injury?"
"A Sneasel."
"A...Sneasel?"
"I don't have time to elaborate further. I'll see you around, Carl."
"Ugh. Why...won't...this...headache...go...away?!" Mia groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, then slowly rolled over and sloppily fell out of the bed with a *thud*. "Damnit." She cursed to herself as she stood up. Mia glanced at the alarm clock resting on the night stand in between both beds, her eyes widened. 'Five hours?! I was out for that long? Hmph. Sure doesn't seem like it.' Mia grimaced as another wave of pained surged through her head. "I need some pain killers..." She said with a sigh as she clutched the side of her head with one claw, and opened the door leading into the hallway with the other, only to find Richard grasping a pocket of air of where the door knob would be on the other side.
"Oh. You're awake." He said as he hurriedly put his arm against his side.
"Yeah, and I still have a killer headache. Does Nurse Joy have any pain killers for Pokémon?" She looked up at Richard with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Uh, I could check if you want me to." He replied with a guilty sigh, as he scratched the back of his head.
"Please." Mia responded with unintentional desperation.
"Okay. I'll be right back. Stay here." Richard then went to turn around when Mia saw another figure in a blue sweatshirt standing behind him.
"Derek?" She asked with mild surprise.
"Hey, Mia." Derek responded with sadness apparent in his voice.
"What's with the long face?" Mia asked with a concerned tone of voice, hoping that focusing on other people's problems would take her mind off of her headache.
"I'd... rather not talk about it." He said as he sighed and looked down at the ground.
Richard crouched, then leaned in and whispered into Mia's ear, "I'll tell you later." Mia's ear twitched in response, letting him know that she understood while her gaze still remained fixated on Derek. Richard stood back up and motioned for Derek to follow him back down the stairs, and after a few seconds he trailed behind Richard without protest.
Mia scratched underneath her chin with a single claw in thought for a moment, before shrugging and retreating back into the room while she waited for Richard to return with the pain killers.
"Derek, do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?" Richard asked as they walked towards the pharmacy.
"I'll probably just... sleep on a bench in the lobby, or something." Derek mumbled with dismay.
"Well if you'd like you can stay with Mia and I. We rented a room with two beds, but we really only use one of them."
Derek stopped walking and gave Richard a strange look while cocking his head to the side. Richard looked back in confusion for a few seconds, before his face lit up with realization. He then proceeded to slap his palm to his own forehead with an audible *smack*.
"Not. Like. That." Richard replied slowly as he gave Derek an embarrassed look once he understood the context of what he had just said. Derek gave a slight chuckle.
"I'm just messin' with ya." Derek said with a grin as they continued walking down the narrow corridor.
"I'm just glad you aren't as depressed as you were a few hours ago." Richard replied sarcastically, hoping poking a little fun at him wouldn't hurt.
"Heh, you think this is bad? You should've seen me just after..." Derek replied enthusiastically, before his voice trailed back off into sadness when the memories came flooding back.
"You never really told me exactly how she... you know."
"A Beedrill impaled her straight through the chest with both of its arm spikes." Derek quickly mumbled. Not wanting to dwell on the graphic moment.
Before long, the narrow corridor opened up into a much larger room with a glass counter blocking off a smaller room behind it that was filled with shelves of miscellaneous pills and medicines. There were several chairs off to the sides of the doorway in front of the counter, and two televisions were hung from the ceiling on both sides. Said televisions currently were switched to the news channel.
"Huh, place is larger than I thought." Derek spoke out in awe at the glass dome high above them, several walkways intersected with each other all the way up.
Richard didn't bother to look and quickly walked up to the glass counter then rang a small silver bell that was resting in the center. No more than a few seconds later, a Chansey walked out from one of the back rooms with a smile on its face.
"Chansey!" It yelled out with enthusiasm once it was in front of them; leaning over the counter with its stubby arms.
"Uh, do you have any pain killers for Pokémon?" Richard asked, wondering if the Chansey could understand him.
The Chansey cocked its head to the side and stared at him for a few moments, before nodding and walking back towards the myriad of different bottles placed on the shelves behind the counter. It then carefully picked up one of the bottles between both of its hands, walked back over, and gingerly placed the bottle on the glass countertop.
"Chan-Chansey!" It yelled out again with a slightly more demanding tone.
Richard took the hint and handed the Chansey his Poke dollar card; which the Chansey almost immediately swiped out of his hands. Once the card was scanned the Chansey placed his card back on the counter top, then handed him a receipt.
Richard picked up the bottle and his card. Then analyzed the bottle carefully, and said "Thank you." as he and Derek turned around to walk back to his room. The Chansey happily nodded and returned to the storage closet behind the desk.
~XXXXX~
Richard knocked on the door leading into their room, with Derek closely behind.
"Mia, you awake?" Richard asked in a hushed tone at the door.
"Yep!" Mia resounded from the other side of the door. With that Richard opened the door where he saw Mia casually laying on the bed.
"Think fast!" Richard quickly yelled as he threw the bottle to Mia. Mia quickly stood up and caught it between her jaws. Trying to catch the bottle with her claws would only cause pills to fly everywhere. She carefully took the bottle from her teeth, unscrewed the cap, fished around inside the bottle with one hand for a while, and then popped one bright red pill into her mouth.
Mia heaved a sigh of relief and then set the bottle down onto the table. She quickly hopped off the bed then ran and embraced Richard in a hug while muttering "Thank you."
Richard was caught off guard with the sudden show of affection, but reflexively returned the hug. Derek just snickered behind them.
Mia eventually let go of her embrace. "Heh, sorry. You have no idea how painful those headaches were." She said sheepishly as she glanced to the side.
"It's no problem. Though three-hundred Poke dollars is pretty expensive for some miscellaneous Pokémon aspirin." He replied with a smirk.
"Don't worry, I'll find a way to pay you back." She replied, releasing her embrace and grinning while crossing her arms.
"Well, if you two lovebirds are done flirting, I'd like to catch some shut-eye." Derek mocked while trying to stifle a laugh. Richard and Mia both glared at him with soul piercing stares.
"Uh... did I push the joke too far?" Derek worriedly asked as he took a step back.
Richard just sighed. "We should get some sleep. It's starting to get pretty late." He said with a yawn and walked into the bathroom. Mia continued to stare down Derek for several more seconds before yawning herself.
"Wow, you sure those aren't sleeping pills?" Mia asked tiredly as she turned around to face Richard who was now at the bathroom sink. "I don't think I should be this tired after sleeping for half of the day." She continued as she stretched and gave another yawn.
"Well, I got you the most powerful stuff they had." Richard responded while brushing his teeth.
"And yet that still wasn't enough to shut her up." Derek retorted, giving Mia an evil grin as he did so. Mia quickly looked back at him with an insulted look on her face, before it softened and gave a mischievous smirk of her own in return.
"Glad to see you are back to your old self." She quipped.
"Getting there." Derek replied as he collapsed onto the bed and heaved an exhausted sigh. "Ugh, I wish I could just curl up and die. I'd get plenty of sleep then." He lightly shook his head before looking back over to Mia. "I hope you two didn't plan on making a lot of noise tonight. I need my beauty sleep." He said as he covered his mouth with his right hand and snickered.
"You'll REALLY be wishing you could just curl up and die if you keep that up." Mia warned, flashing her fangs at him menacingly. Resulting in an audible *gulp* from Derek.
"Alright, I'll stop teasing... for now." Derek said as he rolled over to face away from Mia. "Night." He uttered, and then closed his eyes. Mia turned her attention to the window next to the bed that was overlooking the street below. She marveled at the unsettling stillness of the night.
~XXXXX~
Eventually, Richard emerged from the bathroom, and quickly noticed that Derek seemed to be sleeping. "What'd I miss?" He asked jokingly.
"Oh, I just drugged him and then slit his throat." Mia responded intimidatingly while still looking out the window. Richard gave a nervous laugh before he did a quick double take at Derek, just to be sure Mia didn't kill him; an action that didn't go completely unnoticed by her.
"What, you think I'd actually do that?" Mia scoffed with an exasperated expression.
"Well, knowing Derek..." Richard trailed off. Mia gave off a slight chuckle at his remark.
"Oh, speaking of Derek, why was he so...down a while ago?" Mia's expression suddenly turned to one of worry.
Richard peered over his shoulder to get confirmation that Derek was in fact sleeping. Seeing no unusual movement, he reaffirmed his eye contact with Mia. "I don't know how to put this lightly, but..." He swallowed hard, before continuing.
"Isabel is..." He trailed off once more; taking a brief pause to look back at Derek again.
"...dead." Richard finally finished with a sharp tone as he looked back over at Mia.
"W-what?" She asked with a shallow breath.
"Isabel is dead." Richard repeated in a sorrowful manner.
"H-how did s-she die?" Mia asked, surprise overtaking her expression.
"Derek told me a Beedrill stabbed her straight through the chest with its arm spikes." Richard shivered at the thought for a second. "He never told me why, or how."
Mia gasped. The air around her seemed to become very dense in an instant, causing her to struggle to catch her breath. Despite not even being remotely close to the now deceased Scyther, she knew that they would have become great friends in due time. She glanced back over at Derek's sleeping form. Now wishing she had been a little more sensitive with him; even though she didn't know about his situation. "So, now what do we do?" Mia asked. The words that Richard said previously still hung heavily in the air.
"I'm going to ask him who killed her. Then, we come up with a plan." He spoke as he raised his arm and pointed an index finger at the ceiling.
"Um... a plan? For what?" Mia worriedly asked, fearing the answer.
"Vengeance." Richard spoke in a confident, but barely audible whisper. Mia slowly nodded her head.
"But let's save that for another day. I'm beat." Richard said once he was underneath the silken sheets of the bed. He placed his arms behind his head on a down pillow, and then stared at the ceiling for a moment before drifting off to sleep.
It wasn't long before Mia could barely keep her eyes open herself. She envisioned the fate of the Scyther she had sparred with only a few days prior. Her thoughts became more jumbled as time went on; until she finally succumbed to the powerful side-effects of the aspirin she had taken earlier, and fell into a deep but troubled slumber.
~XXXXX~
The morning sun pierced through the closed blinds of the window with unwavering intensity; slivers of light were cast onto the bedroom floor, and the opposite wall. The loud hum of cicadas could be heard from the outside, as the residents inside of the bedroom began to stir.
"Hey...Richard. You...awake?" Derek mumbled barely loud enough for anyone to overhear. His eyes were still shut tightly, not wanting to give up the comforting embrace of sleep.
"Mhhrhh..." Richard responded. He had trouble giving up precious sleep as well. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and took a look at both Derek and Mia. Derek was noticeably awake. Mia, on the other hand, was still out cold. Not fearing the consequences; Richard nudged Mia with his elbow.
"Stupid... Butterfree..." Mia hazily mumbled while aimlessly swinging her claws in the air with her eyes shut. One of which she felt cut into Richard's side.
"FUCKING HELL!" Richard yelped as he jumped out of the bed, landing on one knee while grasping the left side of his waist in pain. Mia suddenly shot up from her resting position.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..." Mia kept repeating as she hopped off of the bed and ran to Richard.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Derek laughed hysterically, clutching his stomach. Mia shot him a nasty glare as she checked on Richard.
"Are you okay?!" She asked desperately. "I'm so sorry!"
After a few moments of silence with the exception of Derek's chuckling; Richard slowly stood up, still grasping his side. He winced as he slowly took his hand off of the bleeding wound. His hand was covered in a red sheen, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected.
"I'll... be fine." He stated with pain apparent in his voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Mia kept apologizing as she hugged his thigh.
"I'm fine! It's alright!" Richard exclaimed; forcing a non-convincing smile. He kneeled down and reassuringly rubbed her shoulder. Mia couldn't bare to look him in the eye.
"No, it's not alright! I-I cut you!" She despairingly blurted out; she faced away from him and crossed her arms across her chest, letting her claws rest on her shoulders. Richard lightly shook his head and gently coerced Mia to turn back around and look at him.
"Mia. It's perfectly alright. I know accidents happen; don't beat yourself up over it. Okay?" Richard said softly. Mia still had a look of guilt on her face; she solemnly shook her head while her eyes glanced away from him. Richard sighed and stood back up.
"I'm going to grab a shower." Richard proclaimed as he gave off a slight chuckle. "I know I need it at this point."
"I'm starving. I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat." Derek slowly stood up from his bed and stretched. "Good luck with that...uh..." He trailed off as Mia stared at him and did a quick slicing motion across her neck. "...Nevermind." He then immediately walked out of the room. Richard paid no notice to this, and shut the bathroom door as he proceeded to wash the blood off of his body.
Mia slumped as she returned to one of the beds and sat down. Despite Richard's words, she couldn't help but feel terrible about cutting him, even if it was an accident. 'Why must I have these...knives for hands?!' She angrily cursed herself while slashing at the air with anger.
Mia then noticed a lone mirror standing in the corner of the other side of the room. Curiously, she slid off the bed and walked across the room to stand in front of it. After staring at her reflection for a few moments; she came onto a depressing realization. 'Why couldn't I have been a Gardevoir? At least then, I'd probably have a chance.' She stared at the mirror with dismay; while placing a claw onto its reflective surface. She stood there in silence for a few moments. Several thoughts had passed through her mind during this time, but one stood out to her the most; the one thought that was the most depressing of them all.
'At least then... I'd probably have parents who would still be alive.'
~XXXXX~
Richard stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a bath robe. He wondered why Mia seemed to be so stressed out when she cut him. Sure, it hurt and it sucked, but it was entirely an accident! He knew that they both were close friends, but Mia should know that accidents like that are unavoidable and are simply just a part of life when you have large claws. Still, he worried about how this would affect her; what was seemingly such a small accident to him might mean something much more to Mia. Perhaps... there was something she wasn't telling him.
He walked up to the bathroom sink, and wiped the steam from the mirror with one of his hands. Many thoughts rushed into his head and he had to wonder if any of them were true. What if she just had so much on her mind, and so much to deal with lately that all it took was that one incident to make her react like that? It was a possibility. But there was only one way he could really find out.
Ever so carefully, he opened the door; being as silent as he possibly could. Peeking around the one inch thick slab of wood he spotted Mia staring into a mirror just a couple of feet away; before fully stepping out from behind the door. Richard wasn't sure if he was in the reflection of the mirror or not, but it didn't matter. He just wanted to know what has been bothering her all this time and if he could help her. Richard opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent when Mia silently began speaking to herself; unaware that Richard was now standing in the same room as her.
Mia glanced down at the ground, her claw still outstretched in front of her against the mirror. "Why must I be a Sneasel? My body is the reason that I and everyone around me suffers..." a solitary tear ran down her cheek. "...I don't know why Richard even decided to be involved with me in the first place. He says he is just doing what is right, but after all that I've put him through... I think he is just acting completely on sympathy alone." She quietly uttered as she slowly dragged her claw all the way down the mirror; leaving a well pronounced scratch mark in its wake. "It's the very same reason my parents died... and the very same reason that Richard..." She paused mid-sentence, and sighed. "...Richard, I wish you could understand how I-" She suddenly looked back up at the mirror and noticed a tall figure standing behind her. Mia slowly turned around and looked into his eyes; she saw the same kind of look that had haunted her since he rescued her from that cave.
A look of sympathy.
She shuddered and looked away. "No, I don't deserve it."
Richard was dumbfounded. Had she really thought this way all this time? Or was this something that had happened right after the accident earlier in the morning?
"Mia..." Richard trailed off, not knowing where to begin. His arm was outstretched slightly towards her.
Mia looked back in disgust and self-loathing. "I don't deserve your sympathy. I've put you through enough as it is." She crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling, she just wanted to disappear.
"...What makes you so sure of that?" Richard asked stubbornly and took a step forward. He knew that going too easy on her wouldn't snap her out of it; he hated seeing her hate herself over something that wasn't even her fault, or hating herself in general!
Mia scoffed. "What makes me so sure of that?! You. Almost. DIED. Because of ME!" She was shaking with hatred and anger; reflexively clenching her clawed hands into fists.
"No, I am the one that almost got me killed! I am the one that got me into this in the first place!" Richard looked at her with a gravely serious expression, while pointing an index finger at himself. "And you know what?" He paused. Mia looked over her shoulder; her eyes deep amber in color. "If I had the chance, I wouldn't change any of it!" He yelled with exasperation. "Do you know why?!"
"WHY?! Why the hell do you want to even deal with me?!" She spun around and outstretched both of her arms to her sides.
Richard took in a deep breath. It was make or break at this point. "Mia. You are one of the best things that have ever happened to me." He began, forcing himself to calm down. "You've become one of my closest friends in a matter of months, something that would usually take years for somebody else to accomplish." Richard continued, his voice becoming strained. "I am not acting out of sympathy! I am acting this way because I genuinely care about you, and always have!" He exclaimed as she outstretched his arms to his sides just like Mia. She then crossed her arms and stared into his eyes with anger.
"Prove it. Prove to me, that you just aren't acting this way because you feel like you have to!" Her voice carried a highly venomous tone to it as she spoke.
Richard walked over to the nightstand that his already open backpack was resting on. He searched inside of the pack for a moment, until his Poke ball belt came into view. He carefully took Mia's ball out of the belt, then walked back over until he was standing right in front of her. Richard pressed the white activator button in the center and the Poke ball enlarged to the size of a baseball in his hand.
"I'm going to hand over your Poke ball. It is up to you if you want to break it, or not." He stated in a tone that left no room for rebuttal, then fully extended his arm with Poke ball in hand and dropped it into her outstretched claws.
Mia carefully grasped her custom made Poke ball. Still as reflective and shiny as the day it was bought. The colors on the ball matched her fur perfectly; liquid black on bottom, gold on top, and with a strip of pure white horizontally cutting through the center. She looked back up at Richard, who was standing with his arms crossed. His expressionless face telling her more than a thousand words ever could.
With a sudden feeling of determination, she opened the Poke ball with her claws, revealing the complex circuitry and technology that was held within its confines. Mia then grabbed both halves with each claw, and without hesitation, snapped the Poke ball in half. The two pieces fell to the ground with a high pitched *ting!*. She looked back up at Richard in triumph, hoping to get a reaction out of him that would confirm her suspicions. But when she did so; she was met with the same expressionless face. Not even a slight flinch from her snapping the Poke ball in half; an act that meant so much by doing so little.
"...R-Richard...I...I..." A wave of shame and guilt washed over her like a tsunami. If Richard didn't even so much as flinch when she broke her ball... that means...
"Now... do you trust me?" He asked. His voice devoid of all emotion.
Mia was at a loss for words. 'He... he didn't do all of those things, simply because he felt sorry for me?" She thought as her eyes went wide. 'He... actually...cares...?' Her dazed expression turned into one of despair. 'I've been lying to myself all this time!' She audibly whimpered at the thought. But once she re-established eye contact with Richard, she could barely see a miniscule grin on his face. Her face lightened up, she could feel the tears begin to cloud her vision. No matter how hard she tried to hold them back.
For the first time since they've met. She found herself to be actually happy, without the nagging thoughts consuming her conscience. "I...Yes, wholeheartedly!" She chirped. Tears were now beginning to roll down her face. She ran, jumped high into the air, and locked Richard into an embrace like no other; nuzzling against his shoulder once she did so. Richard smiled, and returned her embrace; resting his head on hers while shedding a few silent tears of his own. He found it hard to believe that just a few seconds prior; he thought he had lost a dear friend.
However, looking back at their brief past together, He now realized that such a thing was simply... impossible.