War

Remember the war-torn story, this is some of it. Chinese sucked. Yay. Signboards coming up.
It was around midnight when I finally came to a stop. I was panting for air, I had been running for several hours now, and I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere at all. At this rate, I would have a heart attack before I could reach safety. I looked down at my PDA, it said this city was about twenty five miles wide, not to mention the extra ten miles between it and the airbase... there was no way I was going to get there on foot... specially carrying all this damn equipment. Dawn was already near, and I knew that if I was seen, I was sure dead meat. All my training came down to this; I needed shelter until nighttime, night was the only safe time to move. I looked around for suitable shelter, just then, I spotted it, a twenty story building, it was in ruins, but that's what made it even more suitable, no one would look for me there.
I moved as quickly as my body could take, finally making it to the lobby. To my disgust, the place was filled with dead bodies, most of them morphs. Their rotting corpses releasing a horrid stench into the air. At first I wanted nothing but to gag on the spot, the annoying buzz of insects only made things worse. But as I got used to the stench, another idea hit me.

"Maybe... Maybe I can use this to my advantage..."

I held my stomach hard as I began to move the bodies from side to side, setting several at the entrance of the building; the corpses would surely turn anybody who wanted in away. Most of the bodies where already on the higher stages of decomposition. Some were already skeletons. Many of them had maggots feeding on their exposed entrails and rotten flesh; it was enough to make even a vulture sick. At lest this would buy me some privacy, until nighttime of the next day at the very lest. After leaving the little grim reminder at the door I began to walk upstairs, several of the stairs where missing, no surprise there. The city had been bombed quite hard. As I got to the third floor, I realized that the stairs stopped, the rest where missing. I cursed my luck. Just then I spotted an elevator shaft, it was in ruins, but the cable was still attached, maybe I could climb it to the top floor. I wasted no time, I began to climb as best as I could, my coat was making this endeavor harder, and so I eventually discarded it. After sixteen floors, I found that I could go no further, I was one floor away, and the stairs where still missing. My arms felt like they where ready to fall off any minute now. When the numbness kicked in, it would be sending me spiraling down towards my demise sixteen floors below. Just when I thought my luck was out, an elevator platform came down with quite some force and speed; I managed to pull the last of my strength and jumped out of the shaft in time to avoid been hit by the damn thing. It hit my floor and stopped with a huge impact. It shook the entire place, and several parts of the floor caved, falling into the lower floors. The loud boom would have been enough to wake even the dead sixteen floors below. To make matters worse, I heard footsteps coming inside the building, several voices shouted orders. My mind was racing back and forth between what had just happen and what was inevitably about to happen. My worst fear was becoming a reality

"Shit! they found me!"

Without even questioning anything, I jumped into the elevator. I had no idea why I did that, for all I know, the things could fall apart before my eyes, but it was better than been shot to death. I found no buttons to make the damn thing move at all, it was just a simple plank of metal, held by a motor. Then I looked at the motor, it had what looked like a handle, it was connected to the motor, and a closer look revealed that a battery of some kind was needed to make it move. But as usual in my life, the battery was missing. I knew if I could somehow charge it with enough electricity... I looked at my hand and I charged my fist with electric energy, I knew how to use several types of elemental attacks, and an electric punch should give off enough electricity to move this thing. The footsteps where getting louder, I knew well they could not reach me since there where no stairs. But then I saw several cables shoot up past me and strike the upper roof, and I heard the distinct sound of grappling hooks revving up. I grabbed the handle, and began to charge my fist with more electricity. For a few moments, nothing happened. The sound was getting louder and louder, any moment now I would be seen, and possibly shot. Just when I though my luck had run out, the platform began to rumble, and it moved up, with quite some speed. I sighed; I wasn't going to get killed today at least.

After about a minute, the elevator came to a stop. I looked around; I was at the very top of the building, the penthouse. I walked as quietly as possible, but after a short stroll I came into a huge garden, most of it in ruins. At the very edge of the building stood what was undeniably a mansion of some kind, or at least, what had been a mansion, for almost all of it was burned down. My nose couth whiff of the stench of death again, but this time, I smelled burned rubber and fat as well. I leaned over the edge and pulled out my binoculars. Several soldiers exited my building; I could clearly hear what they were saying to themselves.

"You find anything?"

"Nope, whatever that sound was, it was probably debris"

"It took us some time to get in there anyway, there were a lot of bodies in the entrance... somebody put them there"

"Nah fool! You're just imagining things!"

One of the soldiers was smoking, he was a Banette morph, as he slowly rose from his position, a weird feeling ran down my spine; almost as if I knew him somehow. He threw his cigarette aside and straighten himself, his visage revealing nothing about his personality, save the obvious fact that this being had seen all kinds of hell. But in war, who doesn't?

"What are two talking about? There is nothing there, we made sure of it; remember?"

The other soldiers only looked at each other

"But sir! The bodies! Somebody moved them!"

"Yeah, they couldn't have moved themselves! Could they Hibiky?"

This soldier, Hibiky... Somehow that name rang a bell, I had no Idea why, maybe I owned him money or something...

"Both of you guys are pussies! There is no one there! I don't even know why we are wasting time here! We got better things to do"

He turned around and began to walk towards the military vehicle, it was some kind of tank, it was a beast that could tear this whole building in seconds flat, and I did NOT want to mess with that thing; at least with the weapons I had on me, which where only my hands. The other two soldiers jumped aboard as the tank roared to life. It took off in quite a hurry, spilling dust and smoke into the air. I only kept my guard up until the tank was out of view. Once it had past my field of vision, I sighted and lowered my guard. There appeared to be no one else here, at least no else that was still amongst the living. So I decided to make myself comfortable.

I walked towards the mansion; the fire was still raging with some fury. I walked past what used to be the lobby and kept going, most of the place was torn down or burned up, and so I made myself as comfortable as I could around the lobby. Everything else was inaccessible unless I had some kind of bulldozer. I sat next to the raging fire, it was fierce, but was under control. By the looks of it, it only had a few hours left before it went out. Seeing my situation, I needed that fire to last until morning of the next day. or longer if I could manage. I needed something to burn, fast. I looked around, I found plenty of wood to burn, but wood alone would not be sufficient, I needed something a little more durable, that’s when it hit me...

"No need to have so many bodies lying around here..."

************************************************

I began to take off my armor; this thing could get me killed here. Ironic really, this armor was supposed to protect me against bullets, but it was heavy as hell, at lest by my standards anyway. The only thing I left on me was my under shirt, my pants, my boots, my topless gloves, and my lucky headband. I was going to travel as lightly as possible, which of course meant that I was exposed in combat. Then it was settled, I was going to avoid any type of combat if I could. I looked down at the only technology I had left with me; it was a PDA, which Ironically looked a lot like a pokedex. This brought back some bitter memories for my kind. Long gone where the days when humans and pokemon lived in peace, gone where the day when awesome battles took place, but not for land, or survival, but rather for sport and glory. I sighted, I would give anything I had to see those ancient glory days the elders always spoke of. But I knew all too well, things could never go back to the way they used to be. Everyday; I wondered if I had died and landed in hell? Or had hell just come to earth? Tough to answer. But it sure could confuse a guy. The PDA had a GPS system and a communicator, but ironically enough, he signal was dead, I had to get to higher ground to use it. It was almost as if the damn machine was teasing me.

"Useless technology... if only I had a cell phone..."

I began to curse my cheapness. Finally after several hours of relaxing to the best of my ability, I remembered the note that mike had given me before his untimely demise. Somehow thinking about it gave me chills, more chills than the winds outside, I had not realized it, but it was already getting dark, and my PDA read that the temperature was at about ten degrees Fahrenheit. Had it not been for the fire I still kept alive by feeding it dead bodies, I would be an ice cube. this night was cold, something told me walking in this weather would kill me. my thoughts went back to someone else who had died the prior day

"Poor kid... no one deserves to die like he did..."

I looked at the note, and found nothing written in it. In fact, it wasn’t a note at all. It was just a plain piece of folded paper, it was wrapped around what appeared to be some kind of chip, and a closer look revealed it was just a PDA memory card. Was this what he wanted me to deliver? But to whom? I looked at the chip; maybe the answer was within it. I put it into my PDA, it began to load, and after several seconds, four files appeared in the screen, the first one was a letter entitled 'Bleed' it was labeled under 'poetry'. Ignoring the little voice in the back of my head that told me this was wrong, I opened it and began to read it.

"BLEED

By mike Rossi

I am here on the field
Bleeding, dying.
My life slowly fades away, as my essence sips out of my body.
The crimson liquid of life.
The battle was won but at what cost?
I'll tell you at what cost.
10,000,000,000
My life comes to an end, yet...
This feeling,
So warm,
So comforting,
Jessica....

Death, she finally has come for me..........
............................................
Jessica.....................................
...........................................
With the last of my energy I think to myself
I am dead now, right on this field, but it does not matter now.
My life, my death....
They were my own....
No one..........................................
................ Else's....................

I became number 10,000,000,001"


Somehow reading this gave me chills, even more than thinking about mike’s death or the cold air that would come in every now and then. It was almost as if he had known he was going to die, mike had always been kind of a freak; he even had a sort of second sight. But other than that, it didn’t surprise me much, mike had always been a poet, while I’m not entirely sure he was good, at least he wrote. Proof that art still existed in this husk of a world. The next poem was a philosophical entry; I was never really that good at thinking critically, but I wanted to know just how smart mike really was, he had always boasted a pretty high IQ


"Here are some bad thoughts...
Smart, but bad.
Our world is at its limit.
We are about seven billion strong... and we keep getting bigger by the years...
In about fifty years, within most of our lifetimes, we will hit the ten billion mark,
This planet can only hold seven billion lives,
Why are we so keen on destruction?
We live our lives oblivious to our surroundings, ignoring warnings and signs, the world is getting hotter, and we burn trough our resources, it won't be long before war breaks up for what little resources are left."


This was obviously written several years back. everything mike had written up to this point had come true. It makes you wonder just how much can a person really do? How far can you push Gaia, before she decides to push back? Ten billion, which had been the official number of inhabitants of earth, but then, the wars broke out. Some blame the need for resources, others blame the fact that the world had entered another ice age, and other went as far as to blame aliens. But most people turned to face one another, and shot each other on the face. The first few years of the war had been total chaos, entire nations burned to the ground, billions of people who simply vanished in the firestorms, and to make things worse, the environment had taken a side against everyone. With ferocious storms at sea, earth splitting earthquakes that opened the very crust of the earth itself, and just about every volcano going active. It wasn’t long before nuclear winter hit hard. The very sky becoming so pitch black, that for several months, the sun became nothing but a memory. When it did resurface, it had taken on a red hue, the same color as the blood that ran so rampart on the soil and water. In certain places, blood was more common than water itself. The plants began to turn red from all the blood they where sucking from the ground, before they shriveled up and died. Today, only about 10% of those who lived in this world remain. Soul energy has become so abundant, that most machine nowadays run on soul energy itself. I always did wonder, when I die, would I too be used to powers some kind of death machine? Would my energy be responsible for taking even more lives?

I only kept reading.


"There are many people that hold a deep grudge against morphs and humans, who is to say we are all safe? They tell you on the news everyday about people who have paid the ultimate price, and all for what... NOTHING! They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong Idea....
But wait a minute, maybe they had the right idea, who am I to say that killing yourself for what you believe is wrong? What if it's the only real way out? Would you not rather take as many people as you can with you? If you had a loaded gun with twelve bullets, would you not rather waste eleven of those on somebody?
Then again, who am I to say what people can't or can do...?"


Mike was pointing out the terrorism that took place during the first few years of the war, many people had resorted to suicide bombing as a way to not only make a point, but also to get out of this sinking ship. Now that I think back on it, blowing yourself up doesn't seem like that bad of an Idea, considering the current set of events anyway...

I continued reading.


"You sleep soundly in your bed at night, thinking only how good/bad was your day, and you plan for tomorrow, but who's to say, that tonight may be your last night amongst the living, what if you never really woke up, what would you really find after life? Are all of our dream and aspirations really for nothing? Are we living only in a delusion in which we believe ourselves as gods? Are we really doomed to be forgotten and lost to the sands of time and the seas of ignorance? Is the end, really the end?
Your asking the wrong guy, but then again.... hunger knows no bounds.... and takes no prisoners either.

So, breath while you can
eat while you can
enjoy life while you can
because who is to say that one will find peace in the other side?
Who is to say that maybe, just maybe, you already live in hell, and who is to say that another type of hell awaits... prove to the world that you exist for a purpose other than dying, other than being forgotten. Become a legend like so many have done, aspire to be the best at what you do, strive for immortality, and never give up on your dream, only you have the power to shape your life, Arceus gave us that gift
Who is to say... maybe one day you too will become a god, even if you already think you are one....
The end may come at any time and in so many different forms, its nice to know that even if you are doomed, that life is worth living. Do not waste it, if you do... then you are a real loser, a loser on a cosmic scale."


My thought where now a nasty mix, one side, I found myself cursing even more the fact that I did nothing to save the guy, but in the other, I just found myself thinking that this was the reason why he loathed fighting so much. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, mike had not just thought this things would happen; he had known they would happen. It made me wonder... just what the hell was mike?

Even if it made so sense, at least mike had been right about something...
This life was hell, and the one that awaited me was even worse. No matter how much you wish to deny it, you just can't run from that fact. I knew now, that no matter what I did, I was doomed.

The next two entries where a video and his final diary entry, I watched the video, and found myself even more depressed. It was a video of Mike's girlfriend, a beautiful ninetails morph, she was holding Mike's newborn child, a silver Eevee, she seemed happy, and was telling him how much she loved him and how she wanted him back soon. The next one was mikes own diary entry, it was a letter for her, and it read:


"Dear Jessica:
Its been months since I last saw you, and god... its been hell!
I got your video, and to tell you the truth, I can't begin to explain my joy! To think that I am a father now! The thought of it fills me with such joy; it's like a new meaning to life itself! To think that a new life has been brought forth in a time when so many are lost...

God, you have no Idea how much I miss you, and how I wish I could be there for you like before I was shipped to this pointless war. I mean, why is it that our nations have to fight for? If the old gods where here; nothing like this would be happening now.

I just wished that the cities were safer... if I lost you... I... I don’t know what I would do...

But don't worry much about me, I making the best out of my situation, although everyone here keeps their distance from me, calling me 'new meat' they say I won't last more than a week! Well guess what? Its been a week, and I've saved more of those unhappy bastards than they killed! yeah, to tell you the truth, we’ve been getting our asses handed to us for the past few weeks, although there hasn't been that much casualties in the field, mostly because many of out commanders know how to use recover, I'm even beginning to learn it myself! I've also considered using evolution stones on myself to get stronger, but my best friend says it's not a good idea...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention him! his name is... Wait... I forgot his real name! Some friend I turned out to be! anyway; the other call him 'Cos' it's supposed to be some kind of abbreviation to his real name... he is an odd one. But I don’t blame him; after all, he's had a terrible past. The poor guy barely gets any sleep, every time he manages to sleep; he mumbles about a girl named 'Rukia' though the commanders have tried to get him to talk, he never spills the beans. He's a though one, I'll give him that! But the thing that scares me about him is the fact that when he fights, he does it in a way that tells me that he has a lot of anger problems. I can feel them exploding from his soul. But in war, odd people make the best friends. He's given me so much advice, that I feel like a pro in certain areas. Cos, he's been there, he's seen hell, I'm just glad he's on our side.
You know it just as…”

More useless babble. Although I was surprised he thought so highly of me, going as far as to call me his 'best friend' in many ways though; I was the only person he got along fine with. Most of the people though he was gay at first, but after he hung around me for a while, that though quickly melted away. The poor kid had been scared out of his mind when he got assigned to our unit. His records said that he had some very special abilities in the field of medicine. So he was made our unit's medic. Many of the others looked at him as a worthless addition to the unit. Some even went as far as to say that he cheated his way to the medic's. Medics rarely get killed in combat, at least that's how it had been in the old days. Nowadays, everyone was free game. I sighted.

"...If only he had known my real past…"

After I finished reading the last of the letter, I was more determined than ever; this chip was going to make it to its destination, it was the only thing I could do for the kid now. I just hoped that his girlfriend would not be so heartbroken... at lest it gave me a reason to push forward. In war, there are only two things that will save you; determination, and rage. Either one will give you strength unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, like being high on adrenaline.

I thought to myself, if Rukia were still alive... what would my children have looked like?

I began to recall the fact that both of us, though young, where already determined to have children, whenever I think of the good times, I find myself warming up to the idea of having children... someone to pass the line on to, someone who looks up to you and calls you daddy... but that dream was long gone, and so was the will to even try and reproduce. When it came to my future, no one would do it justice other than Rukia.

The chill of the snow and ice quickly had me curling up into a ball. The building was torn, yet... it wasn’t as cold as it should have been. The PDA said it was at minus twenty degrees, yet it only felt like it was only fifty degrees. Maybe I didn’t feel it because of the raging fire? Or was it because my soul was colder than any ice, even colder than that of a Regice? Or maybe my will burned as hot as moltre’s flame? Who knew?

I got as comfortable as I could and tried to doze off, no sense walking in this cold weather, I had a long walk ahead of me. To my surprise I fell sleep rather quickly, and for the first time in years, had a good dream, a dream of having children with the one person who I knew would make me happy...

I smiled silently in my sleep.

Too bad some dreams have a nasty tendency of going awry when you lest expect them to. As it happened to me way too often...
It had been several days now since I became lost in this damn metropolis, no matter where I went; everything looked the same, the rotting corpses in the sidewalks being the only thing that broke the urban shape. By now, I had become accustomed to the smell, in fact, I was so accustomed to it, that last night, I had fried swellow for dinner. Though eating a fetid slab of rotten meat was NOT my idea of a gourmet meal, I kind of felt sick now.
Sick not only in my gut, but also sick in my mind.

This current war had raged officially for ten years, but in reality, this war began that faithful day, the imperfects began to take over. It’s been nearly one thousand years since all humanity officially became ‘imperfect’. A thousand years since the morphs first appeared, thousand years since the death of the only being who could possibly bring any peace into this mad world. Now look at us! Morphs fighting human, human fighting morph, human fighting human, morph fighting morph… this was no war I tell you… this was genocide disguised as war. When I joined legion, I never signed up for this.

The war had four sides to it, there where the Imperfects, the Perfects, the Cipher syndicate, and Legion. Each one had its own agenda to fulfill, and was willing to do it at any cost. Now that I stood in this city of death it became clear to me what that agenda was, regardless of which side you belonged to. It wasn’t enough that the world was tearing itself apart, or that there is almost no fertile land left in the world. It isn’t enough to see the fields of blood red plants, or the pools putrid water. It isn’t enough to see the frozen bodies of soldiers everywhere, or the fact that almost every city now days is a city of the dead.
Legion was probably the only old school good guys around here. Ironic, considering that the Legion was supposed to be based on demons. The Cipher syndicate still remained the most enigmatic of the bunch, it was unclear what they were after, and who their allies where. One day, they might fight along side us, the next they might be against us. As I continued to walk down the streets, I noticed several banners still hanging from buildings. They where Imperfect and Perfect banners. Those two bastards where the most dangerous of the bunch. Perfects where Composed mostly of pissed off human and morphs with genetic implants, they went around from city to city killing anyone they deemed to be an ‘Imperfect’; which to them, was pretty much everyone. And of course there where the Imperfects. They called themselves that due to the fact that they considered themselves direct descendants from the original ones, these guys where far from saints. Those soldiers I had seen several days ago must have been Perfects soldiers, and those things that killed most of my unit… where they Perfects or Imperfects? This was too weird for me to think, I had other things in mind at the moment. Like the pain in my gut.

“Oh man! My stomach! It’s killing me!”

The more I walked, the sicker I felt. It wouldn’t be long before I collapsed from the pain, but I had to keep going, I had to find shelter, even if I had to crawl into a sewer. The frozen ground made things harder, as I tried to maintain my footing in the frozen ground. Then, I found what I had been looking for, this time it was a house. It was in pretty good condition, which lead me to believe that maybe there was some medicine in there, as well as somebody still alive. Suddenly I felt my stomach cramp up, the pain it inflicted was intense, as if I had just gotten shot in the gut, I had to look to make sure there was no real bullet. I tried to ignore it as best as I could. Grinding my teeth, the more I walked, the more intense the pain became. It got to the point that I could have sworn I had not only one bullet lodged in there instead of food, but several bullets. I was only a few feet away from the house, yet every step felt like fifty, I wasn’t going to make it. So close… yet so far… Before I could go any further, I fell on the floor; my vision was becoming blurry. The frozen ground sending a strange sense of numbness down my body and soul

“Dammit… I knew… I should… have brought some…………………………….aspirins… huuuu”

I fell on the floor face first, and passed out.

************************************************

“Do you think he’s ok?”

I could faintly hear the voice of a little girl

“He’s been out for some, I doubt he’s still alive, his temperature is way too low”

It was the voice of another little girl

“Well, there’s only one way to know for sure”

This time it was the voice of a little boy

“Hey! Put that that stick away!”

it had been the first girl who said that

“Why should I”

the boy replied. the other girl interrupted

"Because… look, he’s waking up!”

I began to stir; my right eye was the first thing to open. I realized I was in a dimly lit room, it was nighttime outside, I could tell by the dark frozen windows. My stomach was no longer in pain, but I still felt dazed. I slowly rose from the bed, and tried to get up, but my legs and arms felt like jelly, I was still dazed but I managed to talk as best as I could

“Who… who are you?”

The kids only smiled

“We where just, you know… around!”

I only shook my head, this kids where lying. I could tell by their distinct tone of voices and their eye movements. Not only that, but I could also tell by their eye movements. Something was up, but I decided to play along… at lest for now.

“You’ve been hiding here for some time? Haven’t you?”

This time it was the little girl that spoke, my eyes had been dazed at first but after several minutes of recovery, my full eyesight returned to me, for a moment I was surprised, but my shock passed as fast at it came. Most of the kids where morphs, the little girl to the left was a sneasel morph, the other girl to the right was a croagunk morph, and the boy in the center was to my surprise, a normal human boy. All of them seemed to get along just fine. They all wore rags. they where orphans by the look of things. Or at least wanted me to believe they where orphans of some kind.

“Well… I guess you could say we have lived here all our lives… in a way…”

I slowly tried to get up again, but it was to no avail, I was still too weak to move, so instead I decided to burn some time by asking these kids what they knew about the surroundings, I also tried to see just how good of a liar this kid was. I noticed that I no longer felt any pain

“The pain… it’s gone”

The kids only smiled, the boy responded my question with rather some speed

“Boy mister, you sure had a bad case of food poisoning, a little longer and you would have died of one hell of an indigestion!”

I nodded, following along

“So… how did all of you end up in this predicament?”

The kids immediately grew quiet, they looked at each other, then before any of them could answer, a voice sounded from somewhere in the shadows

“I can answer that”

It was a feminine voice that sounded too familiar to be a coincidence, it sounded as old as I was, yet it retained a fine balance of grace and intimidation. This voice, I have heard it in my dreams for years, tormenting me, taunting me, and at the same time… keeping me slightly sane.
I turned to face a shadow in the entrance to the room; I could clearly see the outline of a female Banette.

“No… it’s not possible… you can’t be alive…. This is just a dream… you can’t….”

She walked into the room, but to my surprise, she was only half of what I remember. Half of her body was mechanized, one eye completely replaced. She was still wearing the headband I had given her as a gift, it partially covered her bad eye.

“Well, only half of what you remember is alive… the rest of me died that day, glad to see that it wasn’t in vain.”

Right in front of my eyes stood the very person whom I owned my life to, the very person whom I had chosen to spend my life with, the one reason why I was still alive; Rukia.

She sat right next to me, and gave me a gentle stroke across my face, three years of absence hadn’t changed her feel at all, even if her arms where part mechanical now.
Suddenly, I blurted out the one thing that had bugged me for so long

“Rukia, why did you do it?”

She looked at me in the eyes; her one eye still maintained the very same glow from of warmth from before everything went wrong for us

“I think you already know the answer to that”

To tell the truth, that’s all I needed. Now I felt as though I could finally sleep well.

But one thing still bugged me, and I had to know the real truth…

“But how did you survive that explosion, I mean, I saw you blow up in front of my face!”

The children who had been watching our warm moment suddenly became restless and worried about something, up until that point they had seemed fine, suspicious, but fine. But now, they seamed to be emanating a dark aura, me being part Banette, could feel it as plain and simple as looking at someone. But something was off, I could feel it at the bottom of my gut. But for the moment, I went along with it. I had to kill some time and see what I was up against

“So… how did you end up here, on babysitting duty Rukia?”

Rukia got up and walked towards the door, she looked around as if trying to spot someone, when she noticed no one was watching she walked towards the sneasel girl, and placed one hand inside of her coat pocket. The girl seemed to have noticed this and spun around, but Rukia was first to strike, Rukia using a rather long combat knife Stabbed her in the gut. I was shocked at first, until I realized that the girl was holding a gun, can’t believe I missed that.

The little girl screamed in pain at first, but then I realized that the scream took a low pitched roar as the girl’s body began to change into something that resembled some kind of pink jelly. The other children then proceeded to try and attack Rukia, but she was too fast. She jumped and decapitated the croagunk morph. she let out a howl of pain from her severed head that resembled a deep growl. She too dissolved into a pink jelly-like material that sank into the floor. The boy was making a break for it, but this time, it was me who made the next move. by that time, I had recovered all movement. I jumped from my bed and grabbed him by the arms. I placed him in a stranglehold as he struggled to get free. The boy screamed in rage

“You have no Idea what you’re doing! Death to the enemies of the land!”

I tighten my grip on him and slammed him against the nearest wall

“Who are you, no; what are you?”

The kid only laughed, I continued to smash him against the wall, every time drawing some blood that stained the wall

“We are the only thing standing in this impure world, you and your kind only putrefy the place with your presence, we stand here today as the regulators of you kind! DEATH TO THE IMPERFECTS! LONG LIVE PERFECTION!!!"

The damn kid was a perfect fanatic. But to make things worse, he seemed to be made of that gelatinous material as well, he dissolved his own arms and caused me to loose my grip. He dissolved into the floor, but reappeared right in front of me. Then all of the sudden, he took out what I knew too well was a grenade, he pulled the pin. Things went into slow motion from that moment on. his evil smile being the last thing I remember before I jumped out of the way. I grabbed Rukia with my arms and embraced her; I would not let this happen again. I would not loose her one more time.

The grenade went off, blowing half of the room away in the process. The explosion was so intense I was hit by thousands of pieces of debris; I could feel it penetrate and stick into my body. One of the pieces was so big, that it took my leg off; it would have taken Rukia’s leg off if I had not been there. When the explosion was over, Rukia and me were on opposite ends of the room. she was scratched, but ok. I on the other hand was not. As I looked at my stump that was once a leg, I let out a howl of pain, then I realized that my chest was bleeding as well, I had been pierced from almost all sides, my arm was almost removed, it was just hanging by a small tread of flesh. As I looked up, I also realized that half of my head was gone as well. my brain was just about to fall off. Had it not been for my ghost nature, I would have been dead on the spot.
The pain was so intense, my blood was freely flowing. I knew I was dying; there was no denying it now. I looked over to where Rukia was. She was beginning to awake. At first, she was slow to get up, but once fully awake she saw me, she let out a scream of pure shock

“OH MY GOD!!!”

She ran towards me, and picked me up with surprising strength, she looked at my eyes and asked me while sobbing

“But… but… WHY?”

I only needed to smile, but I still said it just to make the point stronger

“I…think you already know the answer to that”

This was it, this was my last dance with fate, and I contemplated at my life up until this point, so much, in such a short time. I guess I had been right all along, no matter what path I had chosen, it would all have ended the same way.
Several things began to run through my mind as my blood slowly spilled all over the floor and into the snow outside…
Mike, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to deliver your last thoughts…
Rukia… a life for a life… I believe that’s a fair trade…
I looked at her one last time before death took me away, her stare, so full of life, so warm… I couldn’t help but call her name one last time…

“Rukia”

She looked at me with tears in her one good eye

“Take care… Of yourself…”

She shook her head

“NO, I WON’T LET YOU DIE! NOT AFTER EVERYTHING THAT WE BOTH HAVE GONE THROUGH! NO, I WON’T… I… WON’T…”

Her voice slowly faded away.

Eternal darkness welcomed me with a tight embrace. For a few moments, I could clearly see her holding my lifeless body as I slowly floated away. My blood was spilling into the snow, leaving a river of crimson liquid that stained it. But this was apparently not my real end…

************************************************

It was an excellent afternoon, nothing in the sky but the setting sun. As the sun slowly set, it cast a warm orange glow in the horizon. I was lying on the ground; next to me was the girl that I had sworn to be next to for all my life, Rukia. Her beauty filled me to the brim; I sometimes wondered what I had done to have such luck. Rukia was a descendant of a long line of powerful Banette morphs, legends even spoke of them been blessed by Giratina before she was killed. I never really cared for the past much; all that really mattered was the present. As the sun was setting we both looked at each other, Rukia smiled at me

“Aren’t sunsets beautiful?”

I returned the smile

“I guess, though I can think of something even more beautiful than the sun”

She shook her head while still smiling

“You flatter me so! I think I might blush!”

Both of us shared a laugh, the sun was about to set, Rukia looked at me in a hurry

“Quick, make a wish!”

I looked at her somehow confused

“What do you mean? Its just a sunset”

She shook her head

“No, this one is special, a thousand years ago, at this very time, the ancient god took his wife in marriage, it is said that even the earth celebrated their union, as a hope for the future, a future in which humans, pokemon, and morphs could live in peace. Since that day, whenever the sun sets, you’re supposed to make a wish, and it might be just granted!”

I looked at the setting sun

“Then there is only one thing I wish for…”

************************************************

“Wake up…”

“Wake up…”

“Its time to rise”

“Its time to rise anew”

“Death is not your end”

“Up Cos”

Managed to open one eye slightly, I managed to catch a look at what was happening, someone was opening my chest with an electric saw.I Closed my eyes. Then opened them again, this time I could see a bright light as someone was opening my head open, I could feel my blood flowing down my back… Closed them again. Opened them one last time to see someone setting up what looked like a mechanical leg… And I blacked out for a while.

“Listen to me…”

“You have got to wake up…”

“You are the last of the line…”

“Your destiny is greater than you can possibly imagine…”

“Your fate is the world’s fate… so…wake…”

I slowly mumbled into the apparent void

“Who are you…?”

The voice only replied with an emotionless tone

“I go by many names, some refer to me as god, others as Arceus, others as the beast, and others simply as Edgar”

I opened my eyes into what appeared to be an endless void

“Edgar? But you’re…”

The voice filled the void once again

“Dead? In a matter of speaking, yes. But not all hope is loss, for I still live as long as you live”

Now, I was confused

“What do you mean?”

Edgar appeared before me, not as a shape, but rather as a light of some kind

“As you can see, only my soul remains, and part of that soul lives within you”

I asked with shock at his statement

“But why me?”

Edgar only laughed

“In time you will know”

I shook my head in anger

“AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?”

Edgar only laughed some more

“Seek my power out. Some of it already lives in you. All you have to do is search… search and you will find it… now WAKE UP!!!”

************************************************

I opened my eyes in surprise, and looked around. I was in what looked like a lab; it was filled with high tech tools. I looked around once again and suddenly spotted Rukia, she was standing a few feet from where I was, as soon as noticed me awakening, she rushed towards me, and held me in a tight embrace, I had no Idea how this was possible, I was supposed to be dead, yet here I was clearly breathing, something told me it had to do with the little conversation I had with Edgar. I tried to look around, but I could not move my head much, Rukia got close to me and whispered into my ear

“I’ll fix that”

She pressed a button, and released me, the first thing I did was to look at my arms, they were somehow different, then I noticed it, there were that of a Banette. But one of them felt heavier than normal. I looked around at my leg, it was also attacked, but it was covered by what looked to be an exoskeleton of some kind, I got up in a hurry, nearly tripping on some cables on the floor

“RUKIA, what… what… what…”

She only pointed at a mirror in the wall, I raced towards it fearing the worst. And I was right. I looked at my new face, all while my hands shook from what my eyes where perceiving. I couldn’t help but letting a scream of pure terror

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! MY Face! MY BODY! AHHHHHHH!!!!”

I held my face in shock

“I… I… I… what… wa… wa…wa…”

I was lost for words, for the first time in my life; I actually looked like what I was supposed to be. A Banette morph. But this was unnatural, how could it be possible?
I turned to face Rukia, she only moved aside to reveal my savior. He was wearing a blood soaked lab coat, his goggles also stained with my blood. he looked at me and smiled.

“Well, well, well. Small world after all, huh… Cane?”

I was only filled with hatred towards this man; he was responsible for all my suffering up to this point, my nightmares where filled with his evil laughter. Rukia only gave me a sad look, I understood fully what she meant to say, but I still refused to believe it, it just couldn’t be true.

Both of us owned our lives to the man who destroyed them in the first place.

“SILTH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!”