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What Lies at the Core	By : Twill Category: Pokemon > General Views: 6203 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I'm not worth anything so don't sue.

Chapter List
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No tears fell as Rel peered into the hollow eyes that stared up unblinking. A light evening breeze caressed her fur as she closed the human's eyes with her clean paw, the wind carrying away the stench of blood, replacing it with the earthy scents of life from the surrounding forest. There was no reason the man had died. No reason other than he had chosen this day to stroll down whatever pathway Master had brought her to. Because she had tried to avoid killing, this human was dead.

“See? Wasn't that easier?” a soothing voice cooed behind her, his words dripping with satisfaction. “You did well.” A hand gently stroked the fur of her head.

An intense loathing filled her, hatred and disgust with herself, because as he stroked her, part of her enjoyed it. A small part that Rel tried to push down and bury within her tormented mind, but a part nonetheless leapt at the praise, swooning at his approval. She was losing herself to this twisted human, losing with nothing to light the way back.

“You know why he died, don't you?” her master asked, voice serene, at odds with the tempest raging in Rel's mind. She could only nod slowly, a paw still holding to the pale skin of her victim. “If you had just accepted this the first time, this man would still be alive, but you had to make it difficult. And now he's dead because of you. Just remember that,” he said standing.

“Let's go, grab his pokemon, a wild pokemon attack wouldn't leave that kind of wound so no point in trying to make this look like an accident.”

Rel felt even worse for looting the man she had just killed but took the small spheres without protest, her bloody paw sticking wetly to the light jacket she had pulled away to reveal them. It was a short walk to where Master had parked his small vehicle. It had large, heavy treaded wheels that looked meant for driving through the untamed lands of Hoenn. There was nothing surrounding the vehicle like the car she had rode in with Professor Eric, but apparently it didn't seem to bother her master.

After handing Master the pokeballs she moved towards the stasis chamber and looked up. At his nod she pressed her clean paw to the device and in what seemed like a blink they were outside of Master's large mountain facility. Sunlight glared down on her, warm against her fur. It was earlier in the day than when they had left, though her master looked as immaculate as ever.

Hydreigon fell from the sky as well as Rel was following Master towards the deceptive entrance that lead to the large warehouse like interior. Mocking laughter chased her as they made their way towards the entrance, but Rel didn't look at the blue and black beast, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear on her face.

“Get out of my sight,” her master shot over his shoulder before making his way towards one end of the enormous room.

“Maybe next time I will be allowed to feast on you little Zoroark.” Hydreigon's rumbling laughter chased her off as she scurried to the shower. It hadn't worked previous times, but she would try and scrub the sins from her red stained paws.

Rel let the cold water wash over her, feeling the rivulets run through her fur as she stared down at her weapon. Blood red claws reached out of her gray fur. They had parted flesh with ease, spilled her victims' blood with unmatched efficiency. Was this what she was meant to be, an executioner of the innocent? Rosy water ran from her sullied paw. If not for her then those others would be alive. And if she had just killed that Zangoose like Master had asked the first time...

Rel clenched her paw into a fist and slammed it into the tiled wall of the shower. The heat of pain that flowed through her paw mixed with the frigid water that crashed against her skin. Nothing she had done in her previous life came close to making up for her actions. But it was what she might do in the future that truly scared her. She would never be able to make amends for her crimes. And if Master was serious about using her to dominate this region... She shuddered, letting the shower numb her. The Core Assembly wouldn't allow him to get that far, they would have both of them killed. Surely they would.

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Scalding metal met flesh, hissing and cracking. The proteins denatured, twisting and writhing as if in agony themselves. He could practically see them folding in his mind. His talents were wasted in this forsaken land, and for what, so the useless bird could keep his precarious hold over Vasedra? He flipped the chunk of meat over in the pan.

He could have saved Vasedra from the shadow it was compared to the other two countries, but Lugia would rather keep his seat of power than further the progress of their nation. It was based on some pretense about keeping pokemon and humans safe, but lives were nothing compared to what he could have accomplished, was accomplishing. Cutting edge cybernetics, technologies that could have outclassed even Unova's most advanced products. It could have been a revolution, no more bowing to that demon Mewtwo.

No matter, he had the pokemon's little pet Zoroark now, and she was his. Breaking her was like spitting right into the hypocritical psychic pokemon's face. He knew Mewtwo was watching, scrambling to rescue his poor little friend. Chuckling to himself he finished preparing his meal and sat down at the small kitchen's solitary table.

If Mewtwo only knew how easy it had been to raise opposition against Unova's leader, even from across the ocean. There was no name behind the dissent, but money never needed a name, it just needed to find its way to the right people with a few gentle words. Not that any of them needed much persuasion to oppose Unova or its pompous leader. Not even within Mewtwo's own inner circle. He was untouchable in this land. Ironic how his punishment had given him such complete freedom and protection.

Now he only lived for the pleasures of life. That and to do what he could to bring down those who had used him and then tossed away his talents, squandering him amongst the worms that inhabited the undeveloped world. Unova would burn, and it would be the flames of Vasedra that lit the inferno. He would end the dream.

Mewtwo's stolen powers wouldn't protect him, nothing would. History was written by the victors, but even the psychic abomination couldn't erase hundreds of years of atrocities. Not completely. And he knew, he knew all about Mewtwo's past, he wouldn't let the pokemon have his way, not for much longer.

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“Rel,” a gentle voice came from behind her. A voice she knew well.

“M-Mewtwo?” Rel spun to see the gray and purple pokemon towering over her. “You came to save me! I knew you'd come!” Tears streamed down her muzzle as she threw herself at him, and passed right through.

“Rel...” The psychic pokemon looked down at her as she tried to figure out what happened, staring at her hands and then back up at Mewtwo. “I'm sorry, but I'm only projecting myself here. You know I can't actually come.”

Rel shook as she looked up at who she thought was her savior seconds ago. “But, then why? No, are you sending someone to come rescue me? Mas- My captor he, he implanted me with a neural computer, I can't do anything. And Professor Eric, is he alive? Please, someone is coming right?”

“I...” the impressive pokemon sighed, looking older than she'd ever seen him. “No, there is no one coming. I'm so sorry, if I knew anything like this was going to happen I never would have sent you away,” Mewtwo said looking down at her, holding out a hand towards her. The world seemed to lurch as his words crashed into her as if shouted. Shock and then anger flared up in her. Anger that boiled into a rage she never knew she was capable of. Everything that had happened, that she'd been put through, fueled it.

Rel hissed at him. “He was right wasn't he?! You knew I was here the whole time didn't you?! I bet you even know who he is!” she shouted, standing up to confront him. There had been few people she'd been closer to than Mewtwo back in Unova, but now that she was an inconvenience she saw what he really thought of her... Now he came back to taunt her, to belittle her as well.

“No. You can't listen to him, you must see what he's trying to do to you,” Mewtwo said. His eyes still held a gentle kindness which only angered Rel further.

“Then answer me. How long have you known?” Rel snarled.

“Rel I-”

“Answer me!”

Mewtwo dropped his hand, his face falling into a frown. “I've known since it happened. We know who your captor is, and we were able to follow the signal on your transmitter. But you know we can't make a move outside of Unova without approval from the Core Assembly, and they're making things difficult for me to send help. It was a big enough risk to reposition the satellites just so I could talk with you.”

“Liar,” Rel growled. “You could come here yourself. It wouldn't even be difficult for you. You could end this hell, but you refuse.”

“Please Rel, you know I can't come to you. Breaking treaty like that would be-”

“Do you think I fucking care? You sent me here. You did this to me. I-I've killed them. He tortured me and I c-couldn't...” Rel fell to her knees, sobbing. She raised a hand, pointing a blood red claw accusingly up at Mewtwo “You knew. You knew all along, and you sent me here.”

“You know that if there was anything I could do I would, but everything I've worked for would be thrown away if I so much as stepped foot into Hoenn. The peace, everything we've built, the entire world would suffer.”

“You just used me like you use everyone else didn't you? Then at least end it. You could order a strike and end this. No one would know, and I'd be dead.”

“There's no guarantee it wouldn't be traced, and you can't give up hope. I won't lose you like that, you don't deserve this. I'm doing everything I can from here. I promise you that everything will be okay, just please hang on. I'll fix everything.”

“You fucking coward!” she raged, flecks of spit falling to the floor as her shouts reverberated around the small concrete room. Rel fell into a crouch, baring fangs at her one time friend.

“Please-”

“Get the fuck away from me! Get out!” Rel flared her dark energy, forcing Mewtwo's psychic projections away. Static called out to her as his image wavered and eventually flickered out. Hugging her mane she fell to the ground with tears filling her eyes. Mewtwo had betrayed her, no one would be coming. She was alone. Clenching her fists she roared into the emptiness, imagining her claws tearing into Mewtwo, ripping him apart for doing this to her. The anger burned itself out, and exhausted, Rel lapsed into dreams of violence and revenge.

A cold sweat woke Rel shakily, chest heaving as she sat up to the florescent sunrise. Nothing but flashes remained of her dreams, but they scared her almost as much as the remembered feelings of the previous day. Her outburst at Mewtwo, when he had risked talking to her, the first friendly person she'd seen since being captured. What was worse was the hatred she still felt searing just below the surface, barely contained.

Time drifted by slowly. Rel didn't move from where she had collapsed to the ground, despondently drifting in and out of sleep. She felt hollow. Even memories from her time back in Unova felt more like a dream, a delusional fantasy conjured up by her tortured mind, some coping method to give her hope, anything to let her cling to sanity. That tentative grasp was beginning to slip, she could feel it.

Footsteps signaled her master's return. “We're going. It's finally time that I see what you're capable of. I'll explain on the way.” There was no malice in his voice this time. Instead his tone was militaristic, as if he were talking to a weapon, no emotion, merely explaining what she would do, and expecting it would be done. The voice that had screamed, fought with everything it had, plead to struggle against him was gone. Rel pulled herself off the ground and followed.

His instructions were quick and precise, and despite her depression, every word rang in her mind. Maybe no one would die this time, maybe this time she wouldn't have to kill. Rel balled her paws into fists, a pointless attempt to stop them from shaking. They returned to the small garage and Rel to the stasis chamber. With a touch the world flashed around her.

“Hide us,” Master's whispered command came from nearby. It was dark and heavily wooded when Rel was released. The seeming time travel from being in stasis was disorienting, but she quickly wrapped the pair of them in invisibility. The night was silent around them, a heavy silence under the bright, almost full moon. The two of them moved like wraiths below the stars shining high above a cloudless sky.

It was a fairly long walk to their destination, but according to her master, the building's defenses would be tight, and he wanted to remain undetected for as long as possible. After close to an hour the trees and vegetation stopped, the foliage cut right to the ground for about fifty feet leading up towards a towering metal fence. A large mansion loomed in the background, their target. Master approached the fence, quickly examining the barrier.

“Pathetic metals,” he muttered and hastily pulled a knife from a small pack he wore on his back. The blade sliced through metal bars without resistance, and within seconds was an opening big enough for the two of them to slip through. Guards moved in the distance but with their shroud of invisibility, there was no chance of being detected. Rel created illusionary bars to replace the cut ones. Once they reached the house, Master led them to a small door at the side.

“You remember what to do correct?” he asked as he took out his knife again, preparing to cut the locks on the door.

“Yes,” Rel whispered looking at the ground.

“You sure, if you fuck this up...” The threat was left unfinished, but Rel nodded. With a quick motion the door was sliced open and swung inward, letting off a shrill alarm. With all of her remaining concentration, Rel focused, and the mansion disappeared. Her master took off in a run and Rel scurried behind him, ignoring the grandiose furnishings and spacious rooms of the building. The third floor, that's where whatever they were after was.

He must have memorized the floor plan as they didn't take a single wrong turn, and after each room they passed Rel removed the light from it. No illumination would be able to enter the rooms, making it almost impossible for anyone to purse them through the perfect darkness. It took less than a minute to reach the top floor.

“That room, grab the kid and meet me two doors down,” Master commanded and ran off to the room he had indicated. The kid? Apprehensively Rel opened the door and recoiled from an incoming attack. Rel was no fighter, but the paltry rush was easily swatted away, a small Eevee bouncing to the ground as a young boy cried out in concern. The only illumination was from the open window, casting Rel in shadow as the human cowered in front of her. Eevee got up quickly and placed itself between her and the boy, growling fiercely.

“Come with me,” Rel tried, hoping the kid would follow, she had no idea what she was doing, but if she didn't hurry, her master would torture her. Maybe even the kid as well just to get to her.

“Get away from me. Dad!” the kid shouted, Eevee baring its fangs. Rel couldn't wait any longer, not with the kid making noise. Unable to think of anything else she grabbed the two, one in each paw and rushed to rejoin her master.

Two adult humans were already on the ground before her master. The woman looked scared and began crying as Rel entered with what she assumed was the woman's son. The man looked furious.

“Barricade us in,” her master commanded as Rel dropped the child and its Eevee, the woman hugging the child fiercely and sobbing into the boy's hair. Rel didn't hesitate, anything to turn away from the terrified woman and now crying son.

“How dare you, who do you think you are?” the captured man spat as Rel shoved a bookcase, the heavy oak crashing to the ground and barring any entrance by the room's door. Master smiled down at the man.

“I want the codes,” her master demanded, smiling down at the man, unfazed by the hatred in his eyes. Rel hid in the shadows, desperately trying to escape the accusing eyes of the others. They didn't understand; she didn't have a choice.

“Hmph. I have no idea what you're talking about, now get away from my family, they have nothing to do-”

“I don't have time for this. The dreamer is dead. Give me the codes.” The effect her master's words had on the man was astonishing. His eyes widened in shock, skin paling in the soft moonlight.

“Impossible. Who are you?”

“Give them to me or your family starts dying,” her master ordered, ignoring the other man's words. Eevee growled fiercely despite its small size. “And Zoroark, silence that fucking thing.”

Rel froze. Eevee had no chance, even against her, but it still fought to protect its owner. She couldn't do it, so she ran, hid in the darkest recesses of her mind as her body moved of its own accord towards the small pokemon.

“Stop! Get away from him!” the small boy shouted, attempting to run to the small pokemon's aid.

The boy's mother stopped him. “No Tyler, stay back,” she plead, grasping the boy in her arms. Rel's paws grabbed the struggling Eevee, avoiding the creature's gnashing teeth and brought a claw to its throat. She hesitated.

Her master threw a pad and pen at the man. “The codes, or this continues.”

The man still look dumbstruck but put on a brave face. “You sick piece of shit, I won't give you a damn thing.”

Her master sighed. “Make it suffer,” he told the Zoroark controlling her body, and she watched as her claws moved to the Eevee's belly, and tore it open. The pokemon shrieked, its cries echoed by the boy. Rel cringed as she watched, as if she weren't even a part of what was happening. She threw the dying creature at the boy's feet, and he threw himself on his injured pokemon. Blood had splattered the floor on impact, the Eevee's cries already beginning to weaken.

Everyone began yelling at once, the boy lamenting over his injured pokemon, mother hysterical, and the father jumping to his feet. “You son of a bitch-”

“The codes, Mr. Kendrick. The dreamer is no more.”

“I would have heard.”

“They wouldn't tell you anything, what do you even do in this backwater place? Do you think you serve some purpose here? They just wanted you out of the way.” Cool surety met blazing hatred, but the man didn't give in her master's demands. “Fine then, break the woman's arm.”

Zoroark moved as Rel watched, a prisoner in her own body, unable to intervene. Bone shattered with a resounding crack as the woman screamed. Something crashed into her, but with a quick spin Rel threw her attacker to the ground, the man's eyes burning into her.

“Please John,” the woman whimpered, cradling her ruined arm, tears rolling down her red cheeks. The small boy still sobbed into his fallen pokemon, blood staining his clothes, Eevee letting out pitiful noises in its final minutes. She had done all of this. Rel stood frozen as her master took over once again.

“Next my Zoroark here starts killing, no one wants that, so just give me what I want and we can leave,” her master said coolly.

“My guards-”

“Are not going to make it here. In fact you may want to hire a more alert staff once we're done here,” he interrupted with a sneer. Under his family's suffering and her master's victorious smile, the man relented, picking up the pad and beginning to write.

“I don't care who you are, I'll kill you,” the man snarled quietly as he finished, and her master grabbed the offered pad.

“I won't hold my breath,” her master chuckled. “Zoroark, jump out the window.”

Rel blinked at the order and then looked over at the window, already slightly open to let the cool night air in. Looking out of it showed a three and a half story drop, fatal even to her. Without hesitation she threw the window fully open, pushing the screen out and throwing herself from the building. The order finally allowed herself to end it. Her stomach lurched as she fell, wind rushing through her fur, and pain. Teeth bit ruthlessly into her flesh, pulling her from her fall in one of the mouths of a blue and black dragon.

“Hide us,” her master commanded from atop the back of the large dragon as they flew away from the mansion, quickly taken into the forest on Hydreigon's wings. They landed just past the cleared patch, as Hydreigon spit Rel onto the ground unceremoniously. Small cuts covered her side where the creature’s serrated teeth had bit into her flesh. Rel dissipated all of the illusions once the trees were covering them. Her master was silent as he began to walk back into the forest, and Rel walked after him, Hydreigon taking back to the skies.

A loud explosion caused Rel to spin around just in time for the shock wave to slam against her, rippling her fur. She looked on in horror as the top two floors were completely destroyed, the bottom faring little better as fire spread quickly.

“Wha-why?” Rel stuttered before thinking, the heat of the flames noticeable even at this distance.

“They saw you, can't have my little secret getting out now can I?” he laughed raucously without turning, continuing into the forest. It was always her.

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“How reliable is this information?” the man across from him asked. He didn't know what exact purpose the man served, or much about any of them really. The mere fact that all seven of them were gathered though was indication enough that this was a very important topic. The well-lit conference room was so ordinary compared to the group that met within it.

“Very, this one came from across the sea, high up. Those guys don't generally give a damn what we think, so if they're giving us information then they have no reason to lie,” a wiry man answered. That one was often the most vocal at these meetings, and clearly had connections to a great many people.

“Why would they bother then, what do they want from this? Do you think we're being played?” the first speaker followed up.

“Of course, but does it matter? We want him anyway, and think of what else we can get from this. We could gain much from this operation. His sudden boldness is also troubling; he must have acquired something big. What that may be I can't tell. Nothing we were sent hints at anything we didn't already know.” He had always liked to think of the man as a spy master, always dealing in information, knowing of events before they even happened. As for himself, he was a man of numbers. There would be no input required from him exactly, but he was always invited, as he would be the one to make the money appear to fund their little operations.

“They would be doing this themselves if it was an issue. Or at least they'd go to the government, maybe the military even. Why resort to us? This doesn't sound like them,” one of the women spoke up. He didn't know exactly what she did either, but she was another of the well informed, probably some politician or something.

“This was sent through alternate channels, I don't think it is the popular opinion. Someone has a special interest in this mission.” the wiry man said.

“So what does the intel say about this place?” the crop cut military type asked. It wasn't hard to tell that one's purpose, always straight to the point. The man didn't even make an effort to cloak himself, and if he didn't know better it would have been a decent ruse, but the blunt man didn't seem the type for mind games.

“It's built like a bunker, but there should be little resistance, it's almost completely unmanned. We'll need some serious equipment to get close undetected though, if that's even possible. And if he has time to prepare, who knows what we could be up against.”

“Orders?” and all six of them looked to the man who sat at the head of the table.

“We're doing this, it's too good a chance to pass up, but we've been trying to get this guy for a long time, this will take time.” the boss said.

“What do we have to work with?” the military man asked as he looked over the provided floor plan of the target structure.

“Anything you need. We know two of his pokemon, and there's also a lot pointing to a powerful psychic type as well. He could very well have others too, don't take any chances. I leave it to your discretion to kill the three we know of, anything else I want alive. Ideally you should cause as little collateral damage as possible, but the priority is to get him. If it comes down to it though, dead is better than him escaping again. I expect a full plan in the next forty-eight hours, you're dismissed.”
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What Lies at the Core