I would like to stress one final time that this is NOT a re-write of the original story, as that would not be fair to the original writers. I no longer have access to the original for reference or I would have probably just compiled it here for you all to read. As it is, this is more of a summary; though sections I wrote may be related more as a narrative...so it's a narrative summary now. I'll try to keep this as close as possible to the original, though my mind is far from perfect. I'll probably be asking Doof and Kanashiikoto to help me remember everything (like certain characters' names... >.>).

Without further ado...

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Our scenario opens on the cell of one Samantha Hakan. Her dinner is delivered with the instructions to eat quickly because her training session starts in less than half an hour. Of course, only to irritate the guard, she doesn't respond. After he instructs her further to starve to death for all he cares, he slams the door and stalks off down the hall angrily. Only then does the Ninetales anthro experiment smirk and stir, crossing the room quickly to her dinner. As she digs into her meal, half-cooked T-bone steak of course, she chuckles and muses on her little game. She had to find some way to stay sane in this place, right? With barely enough time for her food to settle in her stomach, she has another visitor calling for Experiment #036. Ah, her dear Uncle Carl Hakan.

She had him to thank for her ending up in this place afterall. Well, him...and herself, but still. She was young and afraid...of course she'd chosen life over death at any cost at the time. When a mere child is told that their organs are failing due to their diabetes and no one knows why, yeah, she's going to be terrified. Add on top of that the revelation that only a drastic organ transplant involving most of her bodily systems will even carry a chance of saving her life. It's no wonder she practically begged them to try it. While she wondered if she could still make the same choice now, knowing the real cost of her decision, she knew better than to muse on the matter. Of course, she never told the other experiments that she'd been here for well over six years of her life. They believed she'd been here for around a year, or year and a half much like the rest of them. It was generally believed that the older experiments were loyal to the lab, and Samantha didn't fancy fighting any false assumptions and prejudices, so she never told them any different. It wasn't lying, persay, just...omitting the truth.

At her uncle's call for #036, she bounded over to the door and made a face. She hated those stupid numbers. She had a name, ya' know. Even her uncle used those stupid numbers when talking to her. Luckily, the others thought the numbering system was random and never thought anything about her seemingly small number.

Little did any of the existing experiments know of the fates of subjects #001-#032. And so it would remain. Their records had been either wiped clean or locked away long ago. There was no use dwelling on failure.

"Uncle Caaaaaarl! I wanna' go outsiiiiiiide! Come oooooon! You promised I could!" The Ninetales anthro giggled and leaned on her uncle's shoulder as they walked down the hall. He refused to look at her, either out of irritation or lingering shame at what he had done to his own flesh-and-blood, she never knew. She only knew it was fun to irritate him so and that if she didn't, she'd probably go insane in this stuffy place.

"#036..."

"Ahem..."

He sighed tiredly. "Fine. Samantha. I told you that I'd try. Now, you can't go out today, but I'll see about tomorrow. You have tests to run today."

Samantha made another face. "Bleh. Enough stupid tests. I'm sick of tests! How in the world you stupid scientists can even still have tests left that you haven't run fifty times, I'll never know."

The pair continued on in silence with tension so thick a Scyther couldn't hope to cut through it.

Sometime later, Samantha found herself in an exam room, facing a bad-tempered Vaporeon that snarled at her from the corner. Her vulpine tails twitching with anticipation, she was wary, but unafraid. She'd had to face worse for CRONUS' stupid tests before. She planned to ace this one just like the rest. When the signal sounded through the room, the canines eagerly leap for each other and the fight was on. Unfortunately, Samantha seemed to have underestimated her foe. CRONUS must have realized she was getting a bit bored and found her a higher leveled opponent. Snarling, she stayed away from her elemental attacks and relied on both her speed and physical abilities to carry her through this one.

It was a thoroughly worn-out Ninetales anthro who emerged victorious some time later...though just barely. Releasing her Bite hold on the fainted Vaporeon, she spat to the side and nearly collapsed on the rough floor. She couldn't resist a cocky comment, however. "That's the best you guys could do? I think you're slipping."

"Oh no, #036. That was just your warm-up for today. Now, shift."

Samantha rolled her eyes, but followed the order, her form quickly shifting to become more and more Pokemon than human...well, anthro. Within two minutes, what appeared to be a normal Ninetales posed in the center of the room, her usual green stone pendant more obvious in this form than her last.

"New rrrrrrrrecord, rrrrrright? Imprrrrressed?" She shot a cocky grin at the nearest security camera...which quickly fell at the next order.

"No. Shift back, #036. Now."

Growling at the researchers she couldn't see, Samantha's fur bristled, standing up straight all down her spine. "Impossible! I'm exhausted! Give me a minute to rrrrrrrrest!"

"Shift. Now."

Then, the response she feared most of all...

Hidden slats near the floor, located all around the room, slid open as small pipes protruded into the room. Within seconds, her sharp ears pricked at the dreaded sound...

Water...gushing into the room. Snarling, she hurriedly pulled one of her back paws away from the accursed stuff, trying to stay in the remaining dry spot in the middle of the room, even as it rapidly shrank. "I'm trrrrrrying, dammit!" she barked in desperation, giving it all she had despite her exhaustion to try and will the changes to start. As the water rose, it chilled her to the bone and her panic grew. She barely noticed that the changes had begun slowly progressing, as she struggled to keep out of the rising water. "Stop it! Make it stop!"

She couldn't think, she couldn't plan...she could only react. She even believed for a moment that they had had mercy on her for once as the water began slowly draining away. She didn't realize she was already completely back to her normal anthro form. As the last of the chilling liquid drained away, she collapsed on top of the metal grate, shivering and whimpering. Then she lost consciousness.

She awoke to realize that someone was carrying her down the hallway, none too gently, seeing as her feet were dragging along the floor. No matter...a rest was a rest, and she'd take what she could get, so she feigned unconsciousness a little longer, eyes open only a slit to see where she was going. She caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a Jynx anthro along the way, probably being dragged off for other tests. She didn't seem to be a full anthro like Samantha, as she only possessed Jynx hair, but maybe she wasn't finished changing yet. Or maybe she was another failure. They still happened. Partial-changes because the human and Pokemon DNA continued to fight each other. Sometimes their abilities were hindered as well, but at least they survived, right? Wasn't that something? Or was death preferable over these conditions? It was hard to say anymore...

The guards must have realized that Samantha was awake by now, because they shoved her roughly into the next room before locking the door. Ah, no more individual tests today it seemed. Group work time. Or private training. Whatever you wanted to call it. Smiling, she headed over to join a male Persian anthro who almost seemed to be waiting for her. The Ninetales pointedly ignored a certain female Espeon anthro who seemed to be shooting daggers her way.

"You look like something the alley Meowth dragged in. Or is it Gyarados by the look of it?" He shot her a cocky grin, eying the puddles that dripped in her wake.

"Shut up, Darren," she shot back, wringing out her hair and flinging the water dropplets in his direction. "You have no idea what they wanted me to do today."

After sharing her morning adventure in the exercise room and taking the time to recooperate, Samantha was ready to get down to business. "Now, you were teaching me to alter my own attacks? We were working on Thundershock, if I remember correctly. Might have done me some good against that snarky Vaporeon this morning." She rolled her eyes.

Smirking, Darren ran a clawed hand through his shaggy black hair and scratched at a matching furred ear that flicked lightly at the attention. For some reason, his DNA had reacted in yet another odd manner with the Pokemon DNA and caused his changes to take on irregular coloration. Much like the sought-after Shiny Pokemon, his fur wasn't tawny like the typical Persian's, but instead of the usual Shiny coloration, he'd taken on fur of the darkest jet-black. Lugia only knew why.

"Yeah, if this is possible, I swear, we'll figure it out. Now, concentrate on focusing your energy into your hands, much like you would for an Ember attack. Instead of fire though, I want you to concentrate on electricity. Then, focus on that target over there."

This continued for a while and Samantha could feel a bead of sweat form and roll slowly from her temple and down her cheek. Without warning, however, the energy she had been storing erupted, shooting across the room. Unfortunately, flames raced rather than bolts of electricity...and since she hadn't been ready just yet, it wasn't exactly heading for the intended target.

"LAYLA! LOOK OUT!"

The warning would have been too late, except that the meditating Espeon anthro had already seen the flames and Teleported herself to safety. Samantha eyed the charred spot on the wall with relief and almost missed the look of utter hatred when Layla reappeared just feet from her. "You did that on purpose." The words were quiet, but coated in malice.

The Ninetales anthro was quick to meet the steely gaze with her own fiery one. "Excuse me? I tried to warn you! I wouldn't have done that if I'd done it on purpose, you imbecile!"

"Your warning was far too late. If I hadn't been watching you myself, I might have been singed," Layla sneered, taking on an arrogant air.

"Singed? Try barbequed," Samantha growled back. She was insulting her abilities now? Ignorant, stuck-up... "But trust me, dearie," she shot back in a sugary voice, failing to mask the venom beneath, "If I'd been trying to roast you...there'd be nothing left."

Leaning in close to Samantha so that even Darren's sharp Persian ears wouldn't hear, Layla sneered, "Try as you might to impress him, you're still nothing more than a mongrel dog compared to me, dearie. Give it up already...you've lost to me, b--"

"Girls, please...is this really the best time...?" While Darren knew better than to get between the girls physically, he still thought he'd give it a last ditch effort to talk them out of it. Admirable...but too late.

"Any time is just fine by me, Darren dear," Layla called back, smiling sweetly as she attempted to dig the barb deeper into Samantha. "It seems a certain little girl needs to be taught another lesson..."

"You stupid, uppity b***h!" Unseen by either of the other anthros in the room, Samantha had taken the opportunity to shift to her Ninetales form for added power and agility. Her lost energy must have been replenished, aided by her rising fury at the Espeon anthro, as she'd done so quickly and remained unnoticed. She leapt on Layla, disregarding any technique to give in to her anger. Not a smart move. The icy Espeon anthro remained calm and focused, rolling with the tackle and kicking the snarling Ninetales away, using her own momentum against her.

Samantha skidded across the floor several feet, but was on her paws again in a flash, leaping after Layla, who didn't seem bothered to even attempt shifting forms. Snarling, she was in mid-air when suddenly, she froze. Alternately cursing and growling, she recognized the signs of a Psychic attack only too late to stop herself from slamming into the nearest wall. Her vulpine form slid to the floor with a sickening thud, but she was climbing to her feet again a minute later. The flames in her eyes had waned only slightly, but she was taking this more seriously now. She had to focus...remain calm...like her foe. Don't give in to the fire and the fury. She'd learned that much with her constant training...even if she had trouble following it sometimes.

She paced around Layla, the two glaring at each other as if they could kill the other with a mere look. Without warning, Samantha charged, smirking to herself as she noted the tell-tale glow of Layla's forehead gem. Her feet were lifted off the ground in mid-dash, but she was ready this time. As she was sent flying for the opposite wall, she twisted in mid-air and tensed her leg muscles. Her feet hit the wall and her muscles cushioned the rough blow. Taking the inertia, she rebounded, sailing through the air back towards a surprised-looking Espeon anthro...who soon had a snarling Ninetales locked onto her shoulder with a Bite attack. Samantha could practically sense her victory close at hand, as Layla was obviously weakening quickly. Too bad she never noticed Layla's gem glowing again just before she used a Psybeam to send Samantha flying across the room.

It was with some surprise that Samantha found herself staring up at the ceiling on her back. Feeling rather vendictive about this particular skirmish, Layla wasn't about to let this one go so easily. Stalking over to her fallen foe, she glared down icily. "I'll just take a prize for my victory here today. What is this thing anyway...?" Her hand closed around Samantha's pendant...

"OW!"

Blood splattered across the pristine floor as Layla pulled her hand away sharply in shock. Samantha roughly kicked her way free, shifting back to her anthro form as she spit blood from her mouth and fangs. "Keep your damn hands away from me," she hissed, even Layla taking the unspoken promise of serious violence seriously for once as she slipped away to sulk and heal herself.

Darren merely sighed and shook his head for now. This happened fairly often, the two would exchange words, then blows, then one would emerge the victor when they'd tired themselves out and it was over for the time being. He'd learned early on that it was a bad idea to try and get between them. Best plan was to just let them go and worry about tending wounds afterwards. He'd had to explain this to many a concerned on-looker in the past.

And still he remained oblivious as to why they seemed to despise each other so.