Fragmented Afterthoughts
Chapter Four:
Connections and Reconnections
Chapter Four:
Connections and Reconnections
"No way," Jads said, a grin on her face. "You know her too?"
Magick fell over. "It's ME! There's only one of me, though some people
mis-spell it and end up confusing me for some sort of rabbit in a top hat
with a magician type person standing over me!!"
"It's her," Crash said, laughing. She tossed her head slightly, sending
that orange hair that Magick had remembered through the years spinning back
over her shoulder.
An awkward silence ensued, and Magick slowly walked up to each one,
receiving a hug in turn from each one of them. It felt different to her now
than it had before, most assuredly since she was now back in the realm where
it was all Big Eyes, Small Mouth. She could already feel her eyes changing
back into the large, sequin-like jewels set high in the face. It really did
feel rather odd.
"What have you been up to and what is that thing you're holding and where
did you go for so long!?" Questions shot at her like cannon-fodder, and
Magick most likely would have ducked, were it not regaurded as so rude to do
so.
"I've been on Earth, like I said, and this is Madoki. He's a slime, which
are in their own sense much like pokemon, 'cept you don't catch 'em, you just
grab them. They're durable and non-flammable, sadly enough. I was in school
on Earth, which is more boring than you'll ever know, I swear," Magick said
rather hurriedly. She was so glad to be back she wouldn't have cared if the
scratches on her legs had been huge welts.
"You mean Urth," Joey corrected. She smiled, showing what could have very
fairly been judged as a fang. She had changed so much in so little time, and
in a completely straight fashion, Magick recognized that they weren't quite
such small children any more, and were three very pretty young ladies.
A sudden thought struck Magick as she finally accepted she was back on
her home planet. Surprisingly, she felt like an alien. "The HQ... has it been
re-built?"
The three girls looked at each other, then broke into laughter. "Of
course it has!" Jads exclaimed, eyes full of mirth. "It's been a while since
you've been gone, you'll need a tour and everything, won't you?"
"I.. suppose," Magick said reluctantly, looking at the other two as well,
who had mischeif in their eyes. "Ok, what's been new and different since I
was gone?"
"Everything," Joey said, eyes still shining eeriely. "Anything you can
name, we rebuilt, and everything we remodeled became better and better as
time went on."
"You mean you re-built everything?" Magick asked, glancing down at Madoki
as he started chewing on her shirt. She swatted annoyedly at him, and he
recoiled into the crook of her arm, then puffed back up and started chewing
on her hand instead.
"Uh-huh... you think we could see your... thing? The Madoki thing?" Crash
asked, eyeing Madoki warily.
"Be my absolute guest," Magick said, handing him over. Madoki clung to
her valiantly, but ended up in Crash's arms anyway, flailing feebly. Crash
blinked down at him as Jads peered over interestedly, and giggled when he
bounced.
"Eep!" Madoki squeaked as Crash prodded him with a finger, and bounced
back, very rubber-like. Crash gave a startled squeak of her own as she
released him, letting him fly towards Jads, who caught him neatly on her
head. She peered up at him, and he peered down at her. She smiled sweetly,
and it seemed eminent that they would get along fine.
"Away from the subject of the Madoki," Joey said, clearing her throat and
snapping everyone out of their reverie, "we should head back towards the HQ
and let everyone know who's back. I'm sure it's going to make a difference."
Joey looked over at Magick, who blinked and looked down at herself.
She could envision herself as she had been only a little while ago, back
when she had lived with the others; a small ,gangly, and uncomfortable child
who had often dragged others into her anger or depression.
It was easy to remember, now, being back on the Pokemon planet. She say
what had happened in her past, and she stood quite dumbfounded as the wave of
memories hit her...
The young man stalked down the hallway, rather pale in a macabre sort of
way. His neat, black hair was swept up into a loose braid at his back, and
his shadowed eyes cast haunted looks about him as he carefully opened a door
and slipped into the room. The door was shut with a soft "snick" behind him,
nearing catching the lab coat tail that whipped up in his fast movements.
Surveying what was inside the room, the man swept forward casually.
"Good evening, doctor," a voice said humourlessly from his side.
The doctor recoiled back to the door, peering into the shadows which
enveloped his master, or rather, the head doctor behind a secret
organization. "Good evening," he said, trying to said as calm as he could,
putting the racing fear out of his heart. His master was not a fool, and it
was easy for him to sense that his client had fear echoing in the corners of
his mind. "I trust you are well."
"Well enough to await the information you have to present," the shadowed
figure said. "I am not as patient a man as you think."
"Yes sir, I understand," the doctor said hurriedly. He dug into the lab
coat pocket to his side, producing several ripped pieces of paper on a board
and a rather chewed on and frayed pen. "Your report."
"Excellent," the shadow purred, his voice rumbling, barely concealing his
pleasure in the dealings of the matter. A hand reached out and took the
clipboard, showing that the skin was pale and translucent. A rather pregnant
pause set up between the two figures as the one read and the other waited,
shifting from foot to foot in his anticipation.
"You have yet to fail me," the voice finally said, sounding altogether
more than pleased. It seemed that the doctor had gotten by another day
without being repremanded, much to the dismay of his colleagues. The hand
reached out again, this time to the side, where the notes were placed on a
dresser-stand.
The doctor sighed, and the figure slouched in it's chair. The doctor
could tell this because of the shifting of materials, and instantly worried
for his saviour. "Are you alright?" he asked cautiously, knowing that his
head of command had violent fits of rage for no reason in the past. The
doctor could still feel the scar that meant the sword had peirced through the
side of his cheek and onto his tongue. It gave reason for his cautious ways.
"I am well," the voice responded, somewhat fainter. "Just weak. I will
revive once I have had this mission completed, my son." The shifting of
materials told the man that the shadow had begun to strive for a sitting
position.
The doctor bowed, placing his right hand, to the side, over his heart,
then bringing it up to his eye level and nodding. "In your command." He
turned to leave, briskly stalking out and assuming once more the position of
the beaten and helpless shell of a human being when he was halted by his
master clearing his throat.
"Remember, Hiyoki, one mistake. It's all that it takes."
Hiyoki shuddered visibly, and slunk out the room, closing the door behind
him. He quickly gave a glance around, then back, and ran as fast as he could
from the office that held the dying power that was his master.
* * *
Hiyoki sat in his bedroom, placing a hand at his temple and looking down
at the paper he was composing for passing his tests. There came a soft knock
on the door, and he abruptly sat up, bewildered and shocked anyone would be
calling at this time of night. The face he saw was that of his close friend,
Mazaki.
"You alright?" Mazaki said, leaning against the doorframe with arms
crossed. He made quite a stunning figure, wearing a long, orange shirt and
long shorts. It hurt the eyes.
"Fine," Hiyoki replied, sighing and putting his knuckles on his temple
and going back to work. "Just have to get something done. Studying, you
know." Here he raised a brow, still staring at his paper. "Something you
should be doing too."
"Yeah," Mazaki replied, coming to stand behind his friend. He leaned
down, arms wrapping around Hiyoki and resting his chin on his head. "But
you've really got to take a break sometime. All work and no play..."
Hiyoki looked up, and Mazaki, startled, moving his chin and grinned down.
"I have work, Mazaki, it's something that can't be avoided."
"Oh please," his friend said, eyes rolling back in his head so that he
stared at Hiyoki, eyes white. "Work is everything. You should really have
some fun. Fun, do you hear me!"
"Not when I have someone to look up to," Hiyoki replied, and Mazaki's
grin fell from his face, hitting the floor and shattering. "And not when
you're part of a conspiracy."
"Shut up, will you?!?" Mazaki hissed frantically, letting go of Hiyoki
and looking back to the door. "Damnit, Hiyoki! People could be listening! You
never know who's involved in these affairs! For all you know, someone from
the 47 gang could be a dorm member, you get me?"
"I 'get you' all right," Hiyoki said, bringing a fist up and grazing his
friend's chin. "But I don't see how we can get rid of them and have it be all
hushed up. Say they know someone big, right? Then the matter gets transferred
over, and there, the whole operation blows up in our face. Do you realize
that it really doesn't matter if they know we're coming or not?"
"It DOES matter," Mazaki said, giving the man a stern look and crossing
his arms again. "Taking over or destroying an organization is something,
believe me, especially if that organization wants to be kept quiet, too.
There's nothing you can do to stop it, whether you like it or not."
"Well I DON'T like it," his friend responded, giving him an extremely
pained look. "You think I LIKE studying? I'd rather be out there just as much
as you would, killing and rampaging, but sorry, I've got finals soon!"
Mazaki raised a brow. "I wouldn't call it killing and rampaging. Looting,
raping, plundering... much more official that way."
"One way or another, Mazaki-kun, I've got to finish working in here. THEN
I can talk to you. Alright?"
"Hiyoki, if I have to drag you away from here and beat you senseless with
a large, blunt object, I will do so. But DON'T CALL ME KUN!" Mazaki glared at
his friend, then brushed a long strand of dark green hair back from his face.
"And besides-"
"If I throw a stick, will you go after it?" Hiyoki said nastily, glaring
and turning around in his chair.
Mazaki looked shocked. "I'll hurt you so badly," he said, eyes gleaming
and dancing over the desktop. He took a step backwards, then leaned over,
putting his palm on Hiyoki's thighs and leaning down. "Just finish. Finish,
and then you won't have to worry about me, or the boss, or anything else. We
can be together at last and be victorious over this little society."
Hiyoki turned around again, looking down at the paper, which writing's
blurred and fuzzed before his eyes. "Fine. Wait for me. I might be a little
late."
Mazaki turned on a heel and spun out, moving quickly down the hall and
out the corridor and wing. Hiyoki could still hear his boots clacking on the
silent flooring of the building when he went back to work, flames dancing in
his eyes at the thought of destroying the HQ.
* * *
"YOI!" called the ultimate being, the sky dark. He shadowed the entire
army of his people as they sent out their strongest pokemon and waited the
command from the same being that controlled the people about to attack the
HQ. The being floated like an unowned type of cloud, dark and ominous beneath
his huge, grey cloak.
"ONWARD!" he shouted, laughing gleefully, and the entire army charged
forward, bearing their weapons and pokemon to the HQ. Startled, few people
stepped out of the small headquarters, and were instantly surmising an
instantaneous fate.
"CODE WHITE!" they yelled, heading back for the building as wind started
to whip up around the elite troops heading for the building. Pokemon of the
winged type were instructed to use missile attacks from afar and on the base
of the building, as a building without foundation would fall fastest. The
smaller and quickest types of pokemon were told to attack from the sides,
using agility and quick attack to shatter windows and therefore cause hazard
within the building. Nobody would get out without at least some sort of blood
on them.
The first people out of the building were classified easily by the great
master as he formed a large ball of energy to throw at the base. The first
was Joey Simyuu, the purple mew with the strength of spell-control and brute
stength, though delicate in nature. Her weakness lay like most psychic
pokemon, and that was to the same type as they. The second, standing near her
and even impressive against his own troops, was her boyfriend, Feathers, the
Pidgeot boy. His strength lay within his wings and noble height, along with
his cunning, but the weakness that surrounded him was his ability to be
damaged easily by electricity and the same wings that now beat loftily
against the wind, for they could easily be cut off and cause him great pain.
The third person out was Luke, who stood by the fourth person, Crash. The two
were Raichu's, valued greatly because they had each other to base power off
of in specific areas. Luke held within his grasp the astounding ability of
great electric powers, and even now his body glowed against the dark day with
it's own electrical charges. His girlfriend, Crash, was the one with the
smart moves and amazing agility, who could easily carry the current of her
boyfriend's powers and attack with the speed she had. The fifth and sixth
people out were Jads and Ira, two of the few humans who lived within the HQ
walls. Jads was an amazing figure, standing against the wind as it whipped
about her, narrowing her eyes and clenching her fists around the pokeballs
that she was sure to use wisely and in fair accordance. Ira, her boyfriend,
surely braced her, standing strong through the wind, dark eyes surveying the
onrushing army coldly. His hands, too, held pokeballs, though slightly
stronger than those of Jads. They were splayed between his long fingers, and
his dramatic stance prepared him for the slaughter that was sure to ensue.
Next, and seventh, was Kaxic, a strong mewtwo type. His dark, silvery hair
was long and put back in a braid, flowing in the wind. He stood firmly in
front of the building, his prescence denying the army access. His whole body
glowed a rich blue with the energy he stored thoughtlessly, and his crossed
arms were also his strength, holding that same energy. Last, coming out and
being sheltered by the mewtwo, was a small girl, no older than twelve, black
hair immediately catching in the wind and being pushed to her side. She held
no real power, and was probably going to be the easiest to dispose of. Her
name was Magick Sudomyuu.
The seven immediately begin to attack, Joey launching off a large amount
of purple energy that smashed into the small creatures sent out by the
opposing side. They flew back and into trees and their trainers, dazed from
the first outburst of energy. Carrying a large current of bright electricity
was Luke, and he channeled it through Crash, who sent it at the flying
pokemon and blasted them nearly out of the sky. Feathers leaned back, then
threw his hands forward, releasing a whirlwind stronger than that of the wind
pressing down on the troops. It, too, rammed into the flying pokemon, and
made a sincere dent in the fighting forces. Jads and Ira released pokemon of
kin, twin Ninetales. They filed out tremendous fireblasts, letting the fire
wash over not only the pokemon, but starting to break into the humans on the
other side. They cringed, overthrown, and were incinerated. Magick stood,
trembling, behind her saviour, Kaxic, as he uncrossed his arms and delicately
folded them into a circle, then released a psyburn that skidded along the
ground, then lifted and broke into the ranks of the humans.
The thought that could only be described as evil crossed the dark ones
mind as more people emerged from the building. Oh well. They would all be
dead soon. The master let his hands fly out the front, and, yelling into the
wind with the pain that the energy caused him by ripping into his soul, and
it slowly enveloped the people on the opposing side with dark, flat, and evil
energy. They crossed their arms in front of their faces, trying to keep the
power off them, but it slowly ran around the bubbles that they created and
into them, gashing them open in various places and flowing off, only to
double back and attack again. The wise one sat back, pleased with his work as
he watched the multicoloured bubbles caused by the sheilds each person put
up; purple, white, yellow, orange, blue covering three of them, and one small
bubble, black, covering the littlest one.
Peering down and around his forces, the great one smiled as the small
girl fought her way up agains the energy that kept coming back at all of her
allies and herself. It was almost amusing, how she fought, ut she would be
the first to tire for her energy loss, and then she would be conquered by the
darkness and eradicated. It was a possible idea that the master of all would
re-use her, maybe as a re-incarnate, like so much as a puppet would be used.
He sighed, then sat back on his own power, keeping himself aloft with little
effort. It had been many years since he had been able to flaunt power such as
this, and he had built up enough to do so. How good it felt!
Slowly, incredibly slowly, he saw the bubbles flickering in and out of
existence. With satisfaction, he saw them dim out of existence, and the
people being surrounded by his power were slowly falling. His troops were now
sending the people holding firearms forward, and the snipers were coming
around from the sides and shooting at them. More people were coming from the
inside, fighting back the forces that he had produced and trained for so
long. The vengeance would soon be his, he would soon rid the world of the
organization which had corrupted so many minds...
But he thought for a moment, becoming reasonably calm in the day which
was night, the fighting becoming a quiet noise beneath him. Would he be
considered a hero for doing this, and ridding the world of a society which
tried to take over the world, stealing what they needed and trusting few? Or
would he be an evil man, considered banned from the world forever because he
had killed a well-loved, yet quiet society? It puzzled him thoroughly, and he
slowly turned to the people below him, once again regaining concious thought
about the world below. Feeling even more powerful from the anger that flowed
through the battlefield and through his veins, he once again powered a dark
mass of energy, raw and untouched before his meddling hands had quarried with
it. He shaped a large ball, and sent it once more at the small shapes below.
They cringed, and he could very barely hear the voices as he willed himself
camoflauged and floated nearer.
"...get her out of here!"
"If we all have to die, then she might be able to live, the youngest!"
"Somebody give her the damned transport!"
A scream. "No, don't!"
"They got to him! Look what they did to him! Somebody get to him,
quickly!"
People were now gathering around one of the fallen, still fighting off
the invading forces. Joey angrily fought the nearest people, sending them
with the inclines of her hand into trees. Feathers had grabbed two men and
thrown them off, and now they were still doing acrobatics in the air as they
spun off. Luke, Michelle, and Ira were guarding the other side as he floated
closer, and they viciously lashed out with whatever means they had. But the
one who lay stricken in the middle was Kaxic. Blood trickled from his mouth
and from his chest, and he coughed weakly, handing a necklace over to the
child. She cried feebly at his side, grasping for his hand as Jads and Crash
forced the necklace around her neck and shoved her backwards, yelling at her
to leave.
"Go now! NOW! You won't have another chance!! Does the falcon fly? Now is
the time to strike!!!"
The little girl was suddenly gone, a portal in her place, and a thing of
great beauty. But now, as the portal was closing, the wise man found his
place for taking what he needed. Moving up next to the group, becoming normal
again, he fired a small band of dark energy at all of them. They were encased
in it, crying out as pain, unbeleivable pain wracked their bodies. But the
blood was what enticed the master of all.
He moved forward, and the blood was raised to him. He looked over to his
most trusted deciphels, Mazaki and Hiyoki, and the two were grim in the
firelight, shooting at the building and attacking relentlessly. He drank
deeply of it then, as it shaped into a chalice and tipped down his front,
feeling the power coursing through him now as he felt he was surrounded by
his loyal servants and minions. THIS was the face that had been shadowed by
her memory, but it remained so, and it laughed evilly, the fallen ones lying
in the pool of blood on the battlefield. It laughed, and it spiralled out
over the entire world, chilling the day so that all felt the evil that
eminated from that place. The firearms took over the building, and soon it
burned, the evil becoming so that the sky became of the darkest black, darker
than twighlight...
Magick shuddered. She could remember it all so clearly. Crash looked over
to her as she shuddered again. "Are.. did... who lived from the day I left?"
she whispered, eyes wide with fear. These people were certainly not from the
dead, so she assumed others lived.
"Everyone still lives," Jads said, eyeing her oddly. "Everyone is still
alive and well. But come now, we'd pretty much better get back. Everyone'll
wonder where we are!"
"Yeah," Joey said, laughing behind her hand. "Wouldn't want to frighten
people into thinking we've been consorting with the people from Urth again,
would we?"
The three girls stepped in front, leading her back to the new
headquarters. They shook their heads happily as they talked and walked, and
Magick stepped back behind them, only for a moment. Unbeknownst to the three
of them, she wept silently, praising all that was good for the strength and
life of her friends.