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 Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:51 am
A ghostly apperation. The flash of a malevolent grin. Darkening shadows closing in, ready to devour their prey...
"Unh...no...N-NO!" Shawn screamed as he sat up, gasping for air. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, though the floor he lay on had felt cool.
He had passed out in the hallway on his way back to his room.
The first hint of this was the blinding white-washed walls and spotless, gleaming floor. It was so sterile it seemed alien. Shawn was born a city street kid, and thus had known little more than filthy back allies, purtid sewer stenches, and toxic pokemon. In the absence of all those familiarities, vile though they were, the rebellious 15-year-old felt strangely intimidated with his surroundings.
Must have tried to sneak away from the cafeteria when the guards weren't looking, he pondered. They can't make me eat their stuff, no matter how good it looks, or how hungry I am. Shawn looked up and crawled over to a wall to sit and lean against it. Fat lot of good that did me. I'm hardly strong enough to move...
Peering down the expansive corridor, Darrow eyed each of the identical doors. The chances of him being able to identify his room amongst them were slim. Not that he wanted to go back. He was perfectly fine where he was. His only fear was that the guards would realize he was missing and come looking for him. Then there would be concequences.
Who cares what they do to me? I don't, Shawn tried to convince himself. However, he couldn't help remembering the possibility of the many pokemon hidden behind those countless doors. All of them were dangerous. Perhaps he would be fed to them? But no - he pokemon were probably just as much prisioners as he and the other humans were. They were probably locked up somewhere.
Sighing to himself, Darrow suddenly realized just how overcome with fatigue he was. It really was no wonder he had passed out, with how little he had had to eat and his refusal of the cafeteria food. His thoughts were cloudy and movements lethargic. Laying back against the wall, Shawn closed his eyes, preparing for some CRONUS staff to come yelling and running at him from around the corner any minute.
Let them come, he thought vaguely. He could already feel himself drifting out of conciousness once again. Maybe they'll keep me awake...and anything they do to me has got to be better than those terrible nightmares...
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:33 am
A low whisper of a rumble coursed from behind one of the doors in question, hanging briefly within the unnaturally clean air, tinged briefly with the faint scent of medicine, before it slowly slipped away. The beast that had been knocked unconscious only moments before was beginning to stir, gathering itself in great, fishy coils, its massive head drooping with the drugs that had intoxicated its system, and fatigue.
The Gyarados panted softly, his head fins limp, sticking slightly to his dried scales. He felt so...so weak, as though his very strength had been leeched away by that cursed hume and his ilk...That was enough to make the monster lash out, smashing its bared fangs straight into the door, yet, the strength reducers from before had worked wonders, and only an agonized screech emitted from the solid, white door as his fangs skidded roughly against it.
A frustrated half-roar managed to force its way from his throat, and Icarus slapped his tail limply against the floor. Was he stuck? Certainly not--he'd never been caught and caged before...permanently. The very thought struck a chord of disarrange with the monster, and, rearing backwards like a serpent about to strike, the Pokemon opened his jaws wide and screamed, the sound causing his thick body to vibrate angrily from the sheer strength of his lungs.
He wanted out!
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:15 pm
"AHHH!"
Leaping up with a new surge of energy brought on by terror, Shawn's gaze swept around the corridor, eyes wide. What was that sound?! It was like a small earthquake!
Noting one of the doors that trembled as if in fear, the boy cautiously tilted his head, hoping to peer in through a window. He couldn't see anything. Curiosity getting the better of him, he forgot his weariness and attempted to take a step toward the room. It was difficult with how badly he was shaking, and his wobbling knees threatened to collapse any second. It seemed even if he tried to ignore his exahustion, his pokemon-phobia was just as hindering.
Come on, Shawn...he thought determinedly, quivering hands balling into quivering fists, It's locked up...otherwise it'd be on you now, ripping your limbs off...s-sounds like it could do some damage... Personally, when it came to 'pocket monsters', Darrow didn't believe in the saying 'all bark and no bite'. There was always bite, and the louder the bark, the worse bite it herald.
After what seemed like an eternity, the boy finally had managed to drive himself close enough to the door to lean forward and put his ear up to it. Not like he needed to - the sound was carrying all the way accross the hall. It was a wonder the guards hadn't shown up yet.
With every fearsome screech or angry growl, it took all of Shawn's courage not to bolt back towards the cafeteria. The roars were the worst. But even in those, Shawn could sense a weakness. A sort of loathing desperation. Whatever it was was alone in its room, but it gave the impression of a mighty beast surpressed by lower life forms. He had felt that frustration only too well when he had been trapped in his own room, smothered with sleeping gas by cowards who had used trickery to get him there. What a fool he had been.
His dawning empathy for the creature gave him new heart. He realized the pokemon was probably the same as he was. No - maybe not. It definately wasn't near as helpless. Never the less, it was being held against its will. He wondered if it had eaten anything since it had been caught. Certainly they couldn't capture it in any pokeball, or at least hadn't tried. CRONUS probably had other plans for it.
That's sick! Shawn thought, even as he trembled, leaning against the door. No one should be locked up like this...I wonder if they're doing things to it like they did to us humans... The boy glanced down at his pin-p***k wound where he was now certain an injection had been administered. Only we're too stupid and weak to put up a fight. We're too gullible.
Overcome with a sudden burst of defiance, Darrow forgot his fears of both CRONUS and pokemon and grabbed the door handle. He beat on the door itself a couple times with his fist. "Hey, you in there! Calm down, you're going to make a scene! If you don't shut up, they're going to come and gas you! Is that what you want?"
Without giving thought to his tactless words, he twisted the door handle absently. He had to free whatever was in there, or at least pacify it somehow. If he didn't, they'd both be discovered.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:21 am
His ear fins flared with surprise at the resulting thud on the other side of the door, and Icarus wrinkled his lips aggressively--rearing back with surprise when the door was yanked open. "Calm down? Calm DOWN?!" The monster roared, his words intelligebile to the tiny hume's ears. His words had been wasted, swallowed and thusly consumed by the tangible rage that radiated from the furious Gyarados. "Let them try! I'll crush them to bloody bits: the fools will never hold me!"
This one was still a youngling--he carried not the scent of those who had dragged him against his will in such a shameful manner. For all his bravado, Icarus was beginning to realize that his strength had fled for reasons he could not comprehend. For now, it was dismissed as merely an affect from the gas and electricity that had been used to subdue him.
Deep-hued eyes of fiery indigo were narrowed as they took in the boy, and, with a threatening hiss, Icarus lowered his massive head in order to take a better look, the sinuous curve of his neck rippling powerfully. Sensitive whiskers twitched as another hoarse sound of suspicion made itself known from the monster, who, with a reluctant sort of hiss, drew his head back. He would not harm younglings--not unless they presented themselves as a threat, or a nuisance. Besides, Icarus was distracted by the open door.
Uncoiling his thick, lengthy body, the sea-serpent pumped his tail and took to the air, hovering slightly in place, his body rippling with an easy, swimming sort of motion. Ignoring the boy, the Gyarados extended his long neck to peer warily outside, the tell tale stab mark on his belly showing where he had unknowingly been injected. Disdainful, Icarus lowered his head to snap aggressively at Shawn, giving him a single chance to get out of the way before the water Pokemon proceeded to slip from his confined enclosure.
And his current task in mind? Why, to visit the dear Doctor of course...but Icarus hesitated, his tail smashing itself angrily into a wall when he realized he didn't know even where to begin. Jerking his head about, a low, snarl vibrated deeply in his chest, "Where is he, hume? I will start with you first, if you choose to be slow..."
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:46 pm
"You can't go here. You can't do that. No, I'm sorry..." Samantha mocked in a nasal voice, nose wrinkling in disgust. She stalked down the hallway, fists clenched tightly at her side and eyes narrowed. She was passing from the cafeteria back to her 'room,' if you could call it that. It was about the only places she could go without a guard to escort her. Each time they emphasized that, she just got more and more irritated. She swore, soon she was just going to explode and wring the neck of whatever peon guard was stupid enough to tell her that.
"I gotta' get out of this place before I go completely, frickin' bonkers," she muttered. Her strength had MORE than returned during her brief recovery period and even her incisions had mostly healed! To say that she was impressed was like the greatest understatement of the year...no, decade. Forget that...greatest understatement of all time. Something was weird about that, but she'd worry about that strangeness later. For now, she wanted out. She was healthy and well-past recovered. So why wouldn't they let her leave?
It didn't matter how many times she asked to see Uncle Carl either. Each request was politely and definitely declined. So much for that "anything you want or need" that she'd been promised. Instead, she paced the hallway, feeling more like a trapped, wild animal than anything else. She didn't want to go back to her room, but she didn't want to stay in the cafeteria either. What to do now?
Speaking of wild animals...
Her blood froze at the series of furious, savage roars that echoed through the hallway. Covering her ears and cringing in pain, she wondered what in all hell was going on? That certainly wasn't human...so what was it? Were they keeping more than humans locked up in the cells here? Despite what the logical part of her brain told her to do, she dashed down the narrow, sterile hallway, the already painful screams growing louder to the point where it felt like the very walls and floor were shaking. Rounding the corner, she saw a sight she could have never predicted ever seeing. In front of her, a huge Gyarados, or at least his head, hovered dangerously over a much smaller figure. A suddenly familiar-looking figure.
Shawn.
Without thinking, Samantha dashed forward, some sort of primitive instinct taking over. "Shawn! Look out!" Practically tackling the poor boy with a body slam, she took the impact with the floor on her shoulder, rolling to minimize damage. Still cringing slightly, she opened her eyes and immediately asked, "Are you okay?"
She glanced over her shoulder at the head of the great beast, wondering distractedly for a moment how he could even fit... Snarls and fierce growls issued from his dangerous maw, and yet...still he didn't attack the poor defenseless humans. Why? Inspiration struck Samantha and she frowned, wondering if it could be true.
"Are you...talking to us?" She blinked, not sure how she would be able to interpret an answer even if she received one. "I'm sorry. If you are, we can't understand you." Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she realized belatedly just how close to death they were. "Please, I'm sorry for anything that has been done to you here, but I assure you, we had nothing to do with it. We wish you no harm, I swear. I hope you can understand us better than we can understand you," she trailed off, feeling desperate. She glanced at Shawn again, worried more for him than for herself. From what little he had told her of his past before, the poor boy could NOT be dealing with this well. In fact, could he have simply frozen up before? That would explain why he'd been standing so close to a Pokemon...let alone a Gyarados...without moving.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:12 pm
The sound of soft leather brushed against the side of the wall as a girl walked around a corner, the end of her long jacket flaring out behind her for a moment. She was sure she had heard something coming from this hallway. The woman tucked a strand of her bangs that had fallen into the view of her good eye behind her ear, brushing her little finger of the same over the bandages covering the other side of her face at the same time.
...Was she even supposed to even be in this hallway? Pah, since when did that matter? She wasn't here on her own free will; she should have at least been able to wander a bit. She detested this place already. It was too... clean. Almost to an unearthly point.
Tara found herself lost in her dismal thoughts as she wandered seemingly aimlessly. She had ignore the sound from before, not paying much mind to the various sounds around her. Hands were shoved into the pockets of the thin leather jacket as the woman gave an idle heavy sigh.
Her posture straightened as the sound wafted through the air once more. Perhaps 'wafted' wasn't the best word. The grieving roar seemed to shoot past like an arrow through fog. The sound of ruffling leather broke the silence that followed and narrowed her good eye. Perhaps this would be worth checking out?
Tara Magin quickened her pace, walking briskly towards where the ear-shattering noise erupted from. Rounding a few corners, she saw what she had been looking for, though not what she expected. An eye narrowed and she glanced at the pokemon that was before her. She stepped backwards in slight shock, looking to the two that were fallen. Of course she was freaked out, but her ego was way too inflated to let it show....
"What... is going on here?" She growled darkly. She recognized Samantha. The girl from the yard. But the other kid... She did not recognize him. Was he new to the island? Or was she just not too thorough in meeting everyone. But... in her case, she wasn't too disappointed about that fact.
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:15 pm
The boy's mouth dropped in shock as the door swung open. A towering serpentine beast screamed uncomprehensible words at him, its gaping jaws lined with rows of bone-crushing teeth. He could only stare, paralyzed, never having felt so afraid since the day he had encountered the Haunter in the night-felled streets of Goldenrod. He had never before seen a Gyrados, and the impact of the sight on him was paralyzing.
Shawn's brain stopped functioning. He could only stand there limply as the creature continued to bellow at him deafeningly in a language unknown to human beings. However, it was obvious the thing was ready to destroy somebody. Sepia eyes wide as they appraised what they were certain was Death itself, sluggish thoughts gradually oozed past Shawn's initial shock.
What's the matter? Why hasn't it eaten me yet...? He pondered in a detatched manner. It was as if the whole thing was a dream. The full impact of the situation hadn't fully come through yet, and so Darrow could find no will in him to move. He was deaf, blind, and dumb to all else; including Samanta Haken as she emerged from the cafeteria.
It still hadn't occured to Shawn that he was the only thing standing between the Gyrados and its freedom was himself. After all, he hadn't ever given thought to the idea that the CRONUS staff might have left the door open. Especially not with a pokemon. But as the creature must have been earlier sedated and had few limbs to help it unlock a door, perhaps they underestimated it. Even as the creature snapped a warning at him, Darrow stood in a daze; unable to tear his eyes away from its terrible magnifcence and awful, raw power as his own legs turned to jelly and his ears rung painfully.
The boy was just getting around to wondering how the heavy-looking pokemon was hovering in mid-air when a voice screamed his name. In an instant, someone leapt upon him out of no where, throwing him to the floor in the process and falling on top of him, knocking the air right out of his lungs. Not that he had any air to begin with - he had forgotten to breathe while his gaze had been locked with the monster's own intense, firey indigo one. As a result, Shawn had not the wit to answer Sam, nor the breath. He was still recovering from his trance when he recognized her face.
"S-sam," he gasped after several moments. He felt light-headed and terribly weak, scarcely able to comprehend her words as she turned back to speak to the massive dragon type. He wanted to block it out of his sight; out of his mind. But he knew it would always be imprinted there, just as the ghost and poison pokemon were.
...Why is she talking to it...? he wondered vaguely. There's no way it could understand...it should have eaten us by now, or ripped a limb off at least...why is she here? Did...did she save me? His lethargic thoughts kept freezing up and drifting apart, failing to make sense. Sam was here; how had she appeared? Where were the guards? Was he hallucinating? Or was it a pokemon trick?
Suddenly, a second female voice pierced through his conciousness - an unfamiliar one. It seemed angry and maybe a tad pit confused. At first Shawn believed it may have been emitted from the Gyrados itself, but then he looked up past Sam and a second young woman he had seen once in the exercise yard came into his line of vision. He couldn't bring himself to respond. So instead, he tried asking a question.
"S-sam...w-what is that?" His voice was timidly hoarse and trembled so that not even Shawn could recognize it as his own.
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:27 pm
A flash of movement. An attack! Icarus immediately reared his body upwards in a threatening 'S' shape, his ear fins flaring out aggressively and his crests bristling wide. As the humanoid shape tackled the youngling in front of him, the Gyarados roared, raking his massive maw downwards in preparation to snap the threat in half--jerking to a halt only inches from the floor, his indigo irises seeming to flare with rage as he sought their new location, noting that while they were still in range, he'd have to lunge for them. But...They carried not the stench of loathing that he'd come to associate with this place, and neither of them could ever hope to be a threat to him.
Low, aggressive growls shook his thick frame, and Icarus fixed his narrowed eyes upon the female who had acted so recklessly, warily taking in her words. Couldn't understand? Pathetic--he should have expected as much. A threatening, bass-like hum twisted itself up his throat, and the Gyarados allowed his jaws to open a little wider, displaying his sets of piercing fangs, and possibly the fact that he could swallow one of them whole, if he chose to do so.
"I care not if you can understand me, hume. Know this; I've granted you warning, and I will not take lightly if you choose to cross me again!" This statement was punctuated by a vicious slap of his tail, and without warning, the monster froze, swinging his head around to snarl threateningly at the other woman. Look at them, scurrying about like ants. They made his skin crawl. His jaws widened a little more, and a crackle of electricity rippled across his plated skin, threatening to unleash a Thunderbolt. However, as before, Icarus did not attack.
"You have brought me here against my will." The Gyarados hissed deeply in his throat, lowering his head so he was eye-level with the impudent female from before, his whiskers bristling as he was only about a foot from her body. Could they truly not understand him? A frustrated sound rumbled deep within his chest, and Icarus lashed out without warning, his tail cracking against one of those white walls, the urge to bellow with fury welling up.
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:34 pm
There was no way Samantha could hold up a strong front in this situation. Cringing visibly, she tightened her hold on Shawn, still shielding him with her own body...for all the good it might do. "Shawn, just hold on, okay?" she whispered. "That Pokemon? It's a Gyarados. Judging by this one, short-tempered and violent. I'm going to do everything I can to get us out of this one alive, okay?"
Moments later, she let out a shameful squeak, curling up tighter around the small boy. She could feel the hot, moist breath coming from the Gyarados' open maw mere inches away. Whimpering with eyes closed as he began lashing out again, she prayed for it all to be over soon. Preferably with the two of them still alive. And Tara...what was she doing here?
Desperate times called for desperate measures...right? Samantha decided this was probably a good time to change tactics. She'd have to risk some assumptions, but maybe she could placate the Pokemon just enough for him to listen to her. He'd acted like he could understand her earlier at least, though she wasn't exactly sure what she'd said that had set him off again. "Please, please! We're no better off than you are! We are also here against our will! We cannot leave, and unlike you, we are too weak to hope to do anything to defy our captors."
Uncurling from her place on the floor, it took everything she had just to move with those vicious fangs hovering inches from her body. All it would take was one, tiny jerk of his enormous jaw... She shivered at the thought, pressing on, though her voice quivered. "Please. I apologize for my earlier actions. It was foolish, but I was only following my instincts. I feared for my friend here and I was only trying to protect him. He has...some problems," she answered awkwardly. "I only feared for his safety. I am sorry if I startled you or offended you in any way." She lowered her head humbly, praying with everything she had that he didn't decide this was the perfect time to simply decapitate her and end the whole affair.
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:21 pm
The boy swallowed, by now his mind having processed the situation they were in. Why in the world had he been stupid enough to even go near the damn door?! Now not only was he in mortal danger, but Sam was here too. And she seemed determined to do anything in her power to protect him.
Shocked and surprised by her actions, he decided then and there that Sam Hakan was as crazy as the uncle of hers whom he had heard so much about. What person in their right mind would put themselves in such danger? And for someone they'd only recently met? Darrow certainly couldn't claim that he would have done the same thing in her place. Yet she had jumped in without a moment's hesitation.
As her hold tightened on him, Shawn curled up against her as small as he could; no longer the tough street kid from the back allies of Goldenrod, but a mere child rigid with the worst of his fears. Despite that he could tell that Samantha was probably as frightened as he was, he could hear her trying to comfort him, and even attempting to explain. He admired her withstanding courage. He couldn't let such a brave soul face this danger alone - for him, possibly at the cost of her own life. No; he wouldn't. He'd already lost one person who'd tried to protect him that way. It wasn't about to happen again.
"Sam," he whispered back, keeping his voice as even as he could, with his eyes still on the thing she had called a Gyarados. "...you're not my mother."
Carefully, slowly, he tried to free himself from her protective embrace. "I'm not your problem. I don't want you getting yourself hurt or killed because of me, espeically not after you just got yourself cured, so leave." His whispers were harsher now, insistant. If he was going to get her to escape, he couldn't have her knowing how much it meant to him that she actually cared. "I'm the one who let it out, so it shouldn't go after you. Get out of here. Now!"
He couldn't believe she was trying to talk to it. It seemed the beast was already enveloped in a mindless rage beyond comprehending their puny words. Besides, it was likely her apology was drowned out by the glass-shattering screeches and those roars of impending doom. Shawn could tell when she moved that it was a great deal more difficult than it looked. But if she could do it so could he.
Slowly, as not to attract the pokemon's attention, he sat up beside Sam, placing his hand on her arm. If she thought talking to it would help, he wasn't about to argue. It wasn't as if he had anything better in mind with those gaping, eager jaws so damn close to them.
The Gyaradios probably thinks we're a couple of whiny little morsals begging for our lives, he thought with a grim sort of paranoid amusement. Being so close to his greatest fear wasn't having such a great affect on his mental state at the moment. Problems? he thought, somehow picking up on Sam's reference despite everything. You're talking to a 20-foot-long monster that's about ready to eat us, and I'm the one with problems?!
However, with little hope of living left in his mind, Shawn nodded humbly in agreement with Sam's statements, deciding the situation couldn't possibly get any worse. It was best to go along with whatever the bold young woman had in mind, no matter how much he was begining to question her own mental state.
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