FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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 9 - "Scars of the Past"

"Sir, that Weavile just defeated Axel!"

"...I know."

"Do you want us to execute her anyway, sir?"

"No. That would raise public suspicion. I have a much better idea..."

"What would that be, sir?"

"...If she defeated that Lucario, she may be much more useful alive, rather than dead."

"Any orders, sir?"

"Relocate her to Cell Block E. I think I have a plan to get her little partner out of the picture."

"The human? Why?"

"Guilty by association."

"But sir, he..."

"Silence!"

"..."

"... Relocate the Weavile to Cell Block E. I'll take care of the rest."

"Right away, sir."

---

Richard awoke from his slumber. The cement floor providing him with a whole week's worth of back pain. He grimaced as he stretched a stiff shoulder to rub the center of his lower back; an unfruitful attempt to alleviate any amount of strain that he could. He surveyed his surroundings as his vision came in to focus; coming up with nothing but him and the empty halls that surrounded his wretched prison cell.

It had been several hours since Mia had left the cell, and yet there was still no sign of her. His exhausted expression turned into worry as he carefully sat against one of the bare walls. Many thoughts flew through his head, 'Is she dead?', 'Is she getting torn to shreds as I sit here?', 'Has her death been glamourized to the public eye, as a demented act of "vengeance"?'

He had to know, but how could he find out? It was hopeless, he was stuck there, to wait it out until his inevitable death would beckon to him from beyond those steel doors. Like it had for so many others. Richard sluggishly stood up from his sitting position, using the wall he was leaning against as support. How long had it been since he had any food, or water? More than a couple of days, that was for sure. As his stomach roared for sustenance, and his parched throat practically begged for moisture; he clumsily walked to the other side of the claustrophobic cell, and gripped the rusted iron bars with his hands.

Richard didn't care about himself at the moment. What he really cared about was the well-being of the only other person in this entire complex that had taken to such a passionate fondness of him.

'Will she ever come back?'

---

Mia was escorted by several Unown to the new prison cell she would be residing in. To be honest, she thought it would be good for herself to get some solitary confinement in order to think things through. The Unown surrounding her made minute buzzing and humming noises to communicate with each other, which brought up an entirely new set of thoughts in her head. 'How was Victor able to gain control of all of these Unown?' She mused. 'Where did they even come from?'

Her train of thought was interrupted by the harsh grinding noise resonating from an opening cell door. Not a moment later, Mia was shoved into the cell and nearly collided with the opposite wall. She winced and covered her ears as the grinding noise made itself known once more.

The cell door then slammed shut, trapping her within its small expanse. Cautiously, she opened her eyes once more, as if the horrific grinding noises would once again reverberate through the chambers.

To her relief, silence was the only thing permeating the air. That, and the muffled snoring of a sleeping Snorlax in a distant cell somewhere down the massive hallway. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and leaned back against the back wall of the prison cell. Mia's eyes idly shifted from position to position while she reflected on the fight that had taken placed only a few minutes before. She slowly raised her right hand in front of her face, the steel surfaces of her claws were still tinted with a dull shade of red; a memento not only to the bravery of the Lucario that impaled himself on them, but to the corrupt mind of Victor; who had started it all.

A hostile gaze aimed at no one in particular formed on her features as she analyzed her blood-stained claws. She longed for the day that those same claws would be piercing the flesh of the wicked poacher who has claimed so many lives without so much as single shred of remorse. She would pay back onto him what he had given her ten-fold. That much she was sure of.

However, what she wasn't sure about, was her future with Richard. If there ever was going to be a future with him, at all.

'Can I learn to forgive and forget? Or continue to follow my dreams?'

---

Richard heard the opening and heavy slam of the steel door at the end of the hallway, his heart suddenly rose for a moment, only sink back down again when no footsteps could be heard.

An Unown with a half-open eye silently floated towards his cell. If Richard didn't know any better, he would've guessed it was tired. The Unown bent itself into a ninety degree angle, and pointed towards the steel doors it had entered from.

Richard's demeanor suddenly turned somber, it was his turn to fight, and if Mia didn't come back...

No. He refused to believe that she was dead. His gut told him that she was still alive, but his mind tortured him with brief flashes of impossibly painful ways that she could've been killed. Richard didn't know what to think of it anymore, he just wanted to stay alive so he could find out.

... And if he discovered that Mia was in fact, dead ... those who were involved would have hell to pay.

~XXXXX~

Richard was sitting on a concrete slab in the so called 'Prep-Room', drinking water from a flask. Aside from a few havens of light provided by extremely weak ceiling lamps, the large room was consumed by darkness; forcing him to squint his eyes just to make out simple shapes in the unlit sections of the chamber.

The water he drank had a very strong metallic taste to it, as if he was licking the iron bars that held him in his cell. He couldn't complain though; it was the only water available.

A small amount of movement at the far reaches of the room caught his eye, focusing on the object, he could see the tan color of the creatures' skin that contrasted heavily with the gray cement that it was standing on. It's long and menacing claws had what looked to be some sort of caked-on red substance covering the smooth surfaces, its dark eyes were fixated onto him, making Richard shiver slightly.

"Humans too, eh?" The Sandslash spoke in a disappointed fashion while slouching.

"...Yeah." Richard said after a long pause. He let out a dissatisfied huff once he acknowledged that the water flask was now empty. Another long silence followed, until a question popped into his mind.

"Say... you wouldn't have happened to see a Sneasel running around here, have you?" He asked in a sad tone.

"A Sneasel?" The Sandlash started as it rubbed its dirty claws against its chin. "...Yeah. I saw one that had to be evolved into a Weavile so that she wouldn't get annihilated by that Lucario she was going to fight." He continued nonchalantly. "...Of course, I don't think that helped much... Why? She yours?"

Richard flinched at the prospect of Mia trying to fight a Lucario. More unbearable thoughts of her death rushed to his mind as he quickly tried to shake the awful visions forming in his head.

He let out a long sigh. "...Yeah. Well... sort of." He replied.

"What's with the color scheme?" The Sandslash asked curiously.

"Shiny mother and Non-shiny father." Richard quickly explained.

The Sandslash subtly nodded while he proceeded to approach the concrete slab across from Richard, and then sat down.

"Before you ask. No, I do not know if she is alive." The Sandslash said while rolling his eyes. "... and to be honest, I don't think she is, especially if she had to fight a Lucario."

Richard shifted his gaze onto the floor in response.

"I guess the only thing you can do is hang on to a sliver hope that she somehow managed to defeat the Lucario." The Sandslash continued while crossing his arms over his chest.

Not more than a moment later, a loud static noise permeated the air around them, causing both Richard and the Sandslash to cover their ears in reflex.

"Laaaadies and Geeentlemeeen!" A voice instantly recognized by Richard to be Victor's enthusiastically shouted through the mounted speakers all around the complex. "Welcome to our first match of the day!" A short pause ensued, while the shuffling of papers could be heard in the background. "Today, we have another Human versus Pokemon match-up! A human, by the name of Richard, and a Pichu by the name of Casey!"

Richard's expression turned into one of pure disgust, and fear.

"He's making me... kill a child?" He slowly whispered

"That Pichu wouldn't have made it far anyway." The Sandslash muttered in a dull tone as he shifted his gaze towards the steel door leading out into the arena. "It's better for you to do it, rather than any of the more... competitive prisoners."

Richard rested his elbows on his knees while cradling his head in his palms. "F-fucking s-shit." He solemnly stuttered while shutting his eyes tightly.

"The match begins in sixty seconds!"

"I hope this doesn't take too much of a toll on whatever sanity you have left." The Sandslash said with sincerity. "I know that this would be just as difficult for me if I were in your position." He continued while he refocused his attention onto Richard. "... But you have to do what you can... to survive."

Richard rigidly raised his head out of the palms of his hands. "What are you even doing here, anyway?" He said coldly.

"Waiting." The Sandslash simply responded.

"For?" Richard asked in a quizzical tone with a hint of sorrow still apparent in his voice.

"You'll know it when you see it." The Sandslash replied with a single nod of his head. "Good luck out there."

"...Thanks." Richard couldn't help but retort with a bit of sarcasm. He slowly stood up and took several steps towards the steel door, the turning of gears could be heard as they began to speed up. A light, scraping sound accompanied the whirring machinery as steel grinded against concrete. A sliver of light that appeared beneath the opening door became exponentially wider with each passing second. Until the whirring of machinery came to a halt, and the blinding rays emanating from the massive floodlights that were mounted onto the edges of the dome-shaped ceiling obscured his vision.

Richard shielded his eyes from the bright lights as he stepped out onto the field. At the same time, an excited looking Pichu pranced around innocently in circles on the other side of the arena; seemingly unaware of the sheer weight of the current situation.

"Thirty seconds until the start of the match!" Victor's voice echoed around the large complex.

More whirring of machinery and grinding of gears could be heard as a third door in the arena opened; revealing a Machoke with a black, blood-smeared apron and mask; grasping a short sword in one of its powerful fists.

Suddenly, the sword glowed a strange pinkish color as it floated out of the Machoke's grip. The lethal iron blade then flew in mid-air towards Richard at a startling velocity.

Unsure of how to react, Richard helplessly held out his arms in front of him with his palms open as he turned his head to the side; expecting the worst. To his relief, the sword abruptly stopped a couple of feet in front of him, then gently floated into his open palms. Without hesitation, Richard gave the sword a firm grip within his hands. He curiously looked up to the spectating deck that jutted outwards slightly from the wall around it. The faint silhouette of an Espeon was visible through the large glass windows inset into the walls and floor of the deck, along with a much more foreboding figuration of a human leisurely tapping his fingers against an arm rest of a chair he was sitting in.

Richard turned his attention back to the Pichu on the opposite side of the field that innocently waving at him, and returned a subtle wave to the small Pokémon along with a forced smile. The Pichu happily jumped up and down in response. Richard couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the electric Pokémon's actions, before the ominous voice of Victor brought him back into reality.

"Ten seconds!"

Richard's expression turned fearful. Would he actually have to kill this innocent Pichu? Deep down inside, he was hoping this was some kind of twisted joke.

"Five!"

But as the seconds counted down...

"Four!"

The actuality began to really sink in...

"Three!"

He was being forced to commit...

"Two!"

A horrendous act...

"One!"

...Of murder.

---

_"FIGHT!"_Victor shouted through the microphone in his hands. He then flicked a switch on the left arm of his chair to stop his voice from being broadcasted around the structure. With a satisfied sigh, he gently reached behind him to rub the back of the Espeon perched onto the headrest of the chair he sat in, getting a purr in response.

"Meowth." He sternly spoke.

"Yes, sir?" The bipedal cat sitting at a control panel responded in a timid voice.

"Record this fight." He simply stated.

"Why, sir?" The Meowth asked while giving him a surprised look.

Victor let out an irate grumble. "I need our editors to make Richard look like as much of an evil bastard as possible, in order to continue with my plans." He nonchalantly explained. "But, without footage, that can't happen. So I suggest you hit that record button if you know what's good for you."

The Meowth gave Victor a single nod, then returned his gaze to the control panel in front of him while pressing a red button on the dashboard with a single paw.

A metallic voice filled the air inside of the room.

"Now recording observational data in- 'Coliseum'."

A sinister grin appeared on Victor's face. His plans were finally being set into motion.

---

"Hey, Mister! Look what I can do!" A Pichu said excitedly, performing a near-perfect cartwheel in front of Richard.

"That's... really cool!" Richard tried to say with as much enthusiasm as possible, but couldn't bring himself to do so. He knew that one of them was going to be dead by the time this match was over, and in order to avenge those who have died by Victor's hand, it would have to be the Pichu.

Guilt and shame clouded Richard's mind. The mere thought of stabbing an iron blade through the Pichu's gut was nearly enough for him to lose his sanity all together. He shut his eyes and shivered fiercely. The only way he could bring himself to do such a thing would be to cause the least amount of pain that he possibly could. He thought back to the demise of his older brother; Gregory. Victim of the same demise; being stabbed in the gut with a concealed knife during a robbery of his own home.

The moment came back to him in a rush, the blood spurting from his brother's mouth, and Richard coming to his aid by swinging a chair directly into the back of the assailant's head; knocking him unconscious, and sending him to the ground. Richard fell to his knees next to his brother, leaning over him with a terrified expression.

Gregory's last words echoed in his mind once more.

"Take care of Mom and Dad..." He paused, giving Richard a sly smile. "I-I know that you will become something great one day. I only wish that I could be there to tell everyone that you... are... m-my brother." His green eyes; the same shade as Richard's, rolled into the back of his head, as Richard clenched a fist into Gregory's bloody t-shirt, and buried his face into his brother's chest.

"...Please don't go." Richard pleaded. "You're my big brother... you can't die..." He desperately spoke as his tears soaked themselves into Gregory's shirt. Richard felt the frustration and sadness ball up inside of him.

"YOU CAN'T DIE!" Richard shouted into the shirt, as if trying to wake up his brother from a deep sleep. The faint sounds of sirens could be heard as brief flashes of red and blue light leaked through the windows.

Richard relived the moment for years afterwards, and sometimes even to this day.

The present made itself known once again as Richard found himself to be on his knees on the hard soil. The ecstatic Pichu from before now had a curious expression on his face while tugging lightly on his ragged clothing.

"Is something wrong...? Mister?" He asked while looking into Richard's eyes and tilting his head to the side.

Richard sucked in a shaky breath while trying to think of more happy times with his brother. He remembered when they used to play hide and seek all the time when they were children. He remembered being fascinated about how Gregory seemed to always be able to find him, no matter where he hid. Truth be told, it was most likely from Richard's incessant giggling when it was his turn to hide.

His brother's voice filled his mind as he re-opened his eyes to meet the Pichu's perplexed stare.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Do you want to play a game?"

The Pichu's expression lit up at Richard's words. "What game?" He excitedly asked.

"Hide and Seek."

"Hide and Seek."

The small Pokémon nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes, yes!" He happily chirped.

"It's your turn to count. I'll hide."

"It's your turn to count. I'll hide."

"Okay!" The Pichu replied. "Count up to what?"

"Ten."

"Ten."

The Pichu nodded; covering his eyes while turning his back to Richard, and beginning to count.

"One..."

Richard slowly raised himself from his kneeling position. Numbly holding the iron short sword in his hands.

"Two..."

He shakily held the sword out in front of him. Examining the blade, as if trying to find the sharpest point.

"Three..."

Richard focused to keep his composure. Silencing the counting of the Pichu from his mind for a few seconds.

"Eight..."

With a heavy sigh, Richard slowly drew back the handle of the sword to his chest, while gripping the handle with both of his hands.

"Nine..."

With the final second now upon him, there was no turning back.

"Ten..."

Richard closed his eyes again. "I'm sorry..." He muttered. Without delay, he thrust the sword forward.

"Ready or not! Here I co..."

The gruesome sound of the sword tearing through the Pichu's flesh made him shiver. The cracking of the small Pokemon's voice tortured his ears.

"I'm so...so...sorry." He murmured again; tears falling from his eyes. He quickly jerked the sword out of the Pichu's body and threw the blood-covered blade as hard as he could away from himself, the husk of the Pichu falling face-first to the ground as he did so.

Richard crumpled to the ground with his hands covering his face. The deed he had done would never be justifiable, and haunt him for the rest of his days.

"So...sorry." He muttered once more.

Richard lowered his hands from his face; sharply taking in a shallow breath at the sight before him. He refused to hold his gaze for more than a second, and turned his attention to the observation deck.

A smile on the man's face could be seen from where Richard was on the ground; idly petting the Espeon in his lap. Richard would love to see Victor in his position, being forced to kill an innocent child in the name of 'entertainment'.

Richard shakily stood up, still staring at the man in the observation deck with a spiteful glare.

Victor noticed this, and just kept on staring back with the same smile formed onto his features.

'One day, I will be the one who smiles...'

---

POST STORY NOTES:

Hey there everyone! I know that this chapter was a little shorter than usual, (About 3,600 words compared to the standard ~5,000). The reason being that I wanted to keep a sort of 'lasting effect', similar to the last chapter. However, due to how the chain of events managed to play out, I had to cut it a little short. Hope you understand!

As far as the writing of the actual chapter goes. It was a fairly interesting experience to write a sort of 'pseudo flashback'. I hope that it was a smooth read! This chapter has also been subjected to various experimental writing techniques, so I apologize if the quality isn't quite up to par with the previous chapters. Hopefully, I can find my own writing 'style' to adhere to in the near future.