Power Revolutions
by Darkangemon
Writers Note: This Chapter is officially devoted to Kumakazemon, whose bravery is an inspiration to all her comrades at RYUX. May this chapter help you feel a little better in the middle of Chemo and radiation treatments
Chapter 5
The Ultimate Angel
Keladon is the southernmost continent on our world,
it is also the continent least is known about. Approximately twice the
size of the Hoën region Keladon is a mass of different environments,
from murky marshes to sun baked desert.
Government: Keladon is a communist country and has been
under the control of one general Tanatus since the Keladon /Johto war
of twenty years ago.
Fauna: the continent is populated by predominantly
unknown pokémon as well as Donphan, Rhyhorn, Girafarig and Croconaw
An introduction to
Keladon
Alicia Wolfstar
1298 AL
West Shinjuku
2 months later
Jeri and Mewtwo walked silently in the park, it was a quiet
little ritual they had developed together. He and Jeri would walk across
the park, all the way to the cemetery.
Mewtwo had a strange reaction to
the whole little ritual, he had barely known Renamon and Rika, yet he felt
held to the promise he’d
made, Jeri fascinated him.
< So young…> he muttered <And yet so old>.
“I
miss them,” said Jeri to no one.
< They were heroes, but fate is cruel> replied
Mewtwo bitterly.
“You believe in fate?” asked Jeri, her concentration broken.
< I believe that everything is part of a master plan,
we’re just too small to see our own destiny>. Replied the clone philosophically.
“Maybe
my destiny is to be alone,” said Jeri.
Mewtwo looked at her; he could see
she meant it.
< Never say that again!> he said emphatically, <You
are never alone>.
“Oh Mewtwo, I don’t know, everyone I ever care about
gets taken away from me,” said Jeri her eyes moist.
< I’m not going anywhere, I made Renamon a promise and
I intend to keep it>.
Jeri gave Mewtwo a hug, taking one of his oversized
paws to wipe her tears.
“I really appreciate it Mewtwo,” she said softly.
< It’s my pleasure; I’ve never had a real friend before,> replied
Mewtwo softly.
“Never?” asked Jeri in disbelief.
< I’ve had allies, and I suppose in a
way the clones are my children, but no, nobody is truly my friend.>
“Why?”
< For a long time I merely chose to be alone,> said
Mewtwo uncomfortably <I am… “Unique” >
Jeri smiled sadly
“I guess that makes two of us,” she muttered.
Wolf 359 Blackthorn City
Misty was exhausted,
To say that Tamer Training was difficult was the understatement
of the century; it was amazingly mind bogglingly hard to do anything.
Constant
Physical exertion, extra lessons, lectures by Gym leaders and then there
was the addition Digivice and digivolving training.
Her day seemed to be so
crammed that even sleep was a minor feature.
She was currently rushing from
an obstacle course so she could catch some dinner before heading out for another
Digivolving lesson.
It was awkward for them as none of them had managed to
do it yet, Gary and Eevee were close, and so was Ash for that matter.
Misty
had been shocked when the brick headed Black haired Teenage trainer had joined
them in the middle of a class with Jennifer,
she hadn’t expected him or Pikachu to show Digimon traits.
She’d been even more surprised when Jared had left mysteriously
a few hours later.[1] Not
that it was a mystery; Jared had never gotten on with Benjamin perfectly,
the two had been rivals since they were old enough to walk and talk coherently.
Benjamin had always shown positive leadership, he could lead the horse
to water and make it drink more than it wanted, while Jared could incite
a riot against the water’s condition. Yet people liked Jared, he was sort
of like the statues of the great trainers of old, he wasn’t there to be
nice, or kind, he was there to do a job and people got used to him.
Still, even Jared’s escapades weren’t that important everyone
was pretty busy these days, she’d actually had little time to see anyone
who wasn’t a Digidestined or in her class, Aeron was barely out of his
lab these days and many of the other instructors were little more than
a blur on the film of life.
She rushed into the dining hall, flashed her
card at the cook who sighed and proffered a tray of food to her.
One thing
you could say for the Tamers, other than their uneasy balance of intelligence
and muscle, was that they knew how to cook
well.
She sat down between Gary and Ash and began to hurriedly
wolf down her shrimp and Mushroom surprise[2]
It was shaping up to be another full night; she had a feeling
that Chloe would drill them till at least 11 that night.
There was a newsflash
on the small television above her; there was always a newsflash these days.
Tamers weren’t just there to handle
the dark designs of the digital world. They had real world concerns as
well. Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua and Team Dragnet[3] all had to be monitored by the
beleaguered agents of the Elite 4.
Jared was actually not so much a head
as a sort of intermittent sergeant, actually knowing how to keep his ear
to the ground in times of
crisis.
The official heads of the Tamers in Kanto, Hoën and the
Orange commonwealth had actually arrived a few hours after Ash and Benjamin
and as usual taken over most of the non intelligence coordination duties.
Today’s
headline was: “Keladon Revolts”, Misty had made it clear that the politics
of the wayward southern colony were of little
interest a tamer like her.
This was about to change
The chair across from her scraped out as the very
tired figure of Jared Sancheras slumped down into it.
“So what’s happening
Mist?” he asked tucking into his own food.
Misty was shocked, this wasn’t
the way Jared usually went about things.
“What are you doing back?” she asked
in astonishment.
“Curacao summit next week!” said Jared patiently “Benjamin
knows I need to prep the security teams for the meeting,”
“Curacao summit?”
questioned Misty, the word sounded familiar but she hadn’t listened terribly
carefully. To her, Curacao was just an
island resort between Hoën and Keladon.
“Good grief!” exclaimed Jared irritably
“I think that Daisy lost the invitation again,”
Misty sighed, not telling
her about unofficial gym duties, losing important documents, yup that sounded
like Daisy, Violet and Lily.
“So what’s the conference?” she asked patting
Togepi
“Essentially it’s the meeting of the major pokémon league
officials, each has its own private convention and this is a little like
the grand forum,” replied Jared as if Politics were his second nature
“Oh
that!” said Misty smiling “I went to the one on Seafoam island last year,”
“Excellent,
then you won’t mind being the Cerulean delegate this year,” dared Jared whistling
for Aeron to join them.
“Delegate? But Daisy is the official leader now! Anyway
I have training,” stammered Misty.
“Actually were off priority alert, we’ll
probably be sent to Curacao on security detail anyway,” chimed in Gary giving
Eevee a piece
of shrimp.
Misty glared at Gary; there were a few times she thought
he was getting too comfortable hanging around with her and Kristen.
“You had
this planned all along didn’t you!” she accused Jared.
“Actually Gary is right,
the digital world appears to be having some sort of civil war at the moment,”
said Jared calmly digging
in his bag for something “Contrary to what gets spouted here, most wild
ones find humans quite personable, there’s even a digidestined who used
to live in the digital world,”
“Really? Which one was that?” asked Misty,
both she and her companions became focussed on Jared’s face to see if he
was joking
with them.
“Oh you’ll meet her,” said Jared smiling evilly “she’s
right behind you”
West Shinjuku
Lucy hummed a tune to herself as she and Alison entered
the Hypnos buildings.
She was sorry about Takato and Rika but she found
it hard to be sad in spite of herself.
She was back with her dad and Snoopmon
had quite happily found that she could lurk just as well in Tokyo as she
did in London.
Having Alison along wasn’t bad either, she and Vandemon,
being Anime fanatics had jumped at the opportunity to visit the capital
of their art form.
All the south Africans except Gareth had had important
exams and were allowed to remain at home the others however got no quarter,
although the rips were gone and the only evidence to their having been
there was some minor property damage and a lot of Blue eyes damage at Heathrow,[4] Yamaki
still maintained an uneasily paranoid watch at the base.
What surprised everyone
was the way that things had just quietened down. Even when the wild ones
were around, there was always something
to track; now there was nothing.
Alison and Vandemon were happy though, this
catastrophe meant just about every Tamer who would help got to go to Japan,
for Alison
this was kid in the candy store time.
The Australians were also there, but
Yamaki seemed to keep everyone at arms length the creatures at Heathrow were
not the normal run
of the mill digimon, he was worried.
Jay, Bob and Jackie seemed to keep themselves
busy; hanging around the headquarters looking bored seemed almost the thing
to do.
Then there was Davis, it was Davis D3 and all sitting in
the middle of this whole mess, he had been shocked when after a shave and
a hot shower he had discovered his likeness upon a pack of trading cards.
“Like
why can’t this happen where Kari can see it,” he would moan as he, Kenta
and Kazu walked about the complex’s claustrophobic
corridors.
Jeri Kato was also there, her hair was longer as if she’d
let herself go the last couple of months. Most people had also learned
to see the strange creature who seemed to follow her like a second shadow,
it wasn’t that you couldn’t see him, it’s just you had to look harder when
you did, he was there 1 second, a blur the next.
Lucy herself also had a
strange twinge towards Jeri, Alice’s joy at the semi return of Dobermon combined
with the loss of her 2 closest
friends had caused her to become even more reclusive, she and Mewtwo spent
more and more time alone.
“She will get better with time!” intoned Vandemon
behind her.
Lucy turned around
“Alison doesn’t like you reading my mind Vande,” she scolded
playfully.
“Alison need not know,” replied Vandemon placing a hand
on her partner’s friend’s shoulder “Something is bothering you and Snoopmon
is growing worried”.
“It’s nothing Vande, just a weird vibe I get about Jeri
that’s all,”
Vandemon merely nodded she knew that Snoopmon’s partner
was, despite an annoying know-it-all tendency, probably the sanest of this
motley crew of earth defenders.
People fitted and Lucy had found the mould
of know-it-all with the ease of a duck looking for water. And you trusted
her instincts,
if you needed someone to scare the hell out of people you called Alison,
if you needed someone who knew the definition of weird, it was Lucy
“She is
strange yes, but she has suffered a lot, she is allowed to be strange,” answered
Vandemon shuddering slightly, being sympathetic
did not come naturally to a digimon whose primary ambition was to meet
a nice Myotismon and settle down[5].
Lucy looked up at Vandemon and gave her a hug.
< Alison could you help me? Your friend is acting like
Snoopmon and I don’t want to be sick again,> requested Vandemon in her
head.
< Nice one Vandemon> nudged Alison in her head <I
leave you for five minutes and the squirt gets you body locked,>
< Are we intruding on something Vandemon?> asked
Mewtwo psychically in her head
Vandemon blushed even deeper, Mewtwo smiled
a wan smile at her as he and Jeri entered through glass doors.
< I heard
that Yamaki was finally going to reveal to us why we’re all in one place,>
“You
heard correct Mewtwo,” said Yamaki strolling sternly towards them, “I have
something serious to discuss with all of you,”
“What’s so serious you dragged
us all from our countries?” asked Gareth entering the room, Lucy noticed
that he had a vague belligerence
about him, as if being moved to Japan had not been his idea of fun.
“Yes,
we were sifting through the wreckage at Heathrow airport,” said Yamaki “And
just recently we found something!”
“I do hope it’s not something red and cable
like,” muttered Vandemon exchanging a dark glance with Alison
“Actually,”
said Yamaki seriously “it is, however it appears that most of the body was
destroyed in the explosion which vaporised Takato
and Rika.”
< You brought that thing here?> asked Mewtwo imperiously, <After
it murdered Renamon and Guilmon you brought that evil revolting thing here?>
“No
one invited your opinion Mewtwo but yes we brought it here for study, we
wanted to show you what we’re dealing with this time,”
said Yamaki, Lucy could see that the clone’s question had hit him pretty
hard, it was obvious he felt guilty about the four deaths that had happened
on his watch.
“He’s doing what he has to do to be prepared Mewtwo!” said
Gareth “It makes sense to find out what your enemy is,”
< Your enemy? Don’t you mean our enemy tamer?> seethed
Mewtwo, he had seen what the loss had done to Jeri; anything that did that
had to be his enemy too, now this tamer mocked him.
Gareth didn’t respond,
Lucy noticed that he had a strange look on his face, as if thinking about
something only he knew.
Yamaki looked at the two dissidents in the ranks and
continued as if the argument hadn’t happened.
He pushed a button a large glass
cylinder descended from the ceiling, Lucy looked forward to see a vaguely
eagle shaped head made
of red cables.
What we discovered using the most advanced methods available [6] we’ve
determined that the creature is not a digimon, it appears to be an artificial
lifeform of undisclosed power and as far we can determine it’s made of
D-reaper hardware,” he said.
Jeri approached the Cylinder quietly putting
a hand on the glass. Lucy joined her; the head seemed to be a lot more threatening
now than it had been from afar.
Jeri drew breath looking at the head and stepping
back very quickly.
“It’s moving!” she muttered.
Tamer HQ
Misty jumped, the second Jared had spoken her spine had
prickled.
Behind her was a small girl, at most nine years old, but
there were things… wrong, perhaps it was the gaze, it looked like a cross
between Jared’s “Don’t waste my time” glare and Jennifer’s “I’m going slightly
mad with all this stress,” stare.
There was also a Raichu lounging lazily
on its tail behind her, he was giving her the dull studied stare of a professional.
Misty wasn’t sure how to react, she was obviously too young to qualify as
a tamer, how could she be a digidestined.
“I’ve been one since I was six,”
answered Yani laughing at Misty’s discomfort,
“Misty I’d like you to meet
Yani Plainstrider, she’s what I like to call an unexpected surprise,” laughed
Jared, Misty noted that
he was looking more worried than usual as if this little girl was a lot
more than she looked.
“He’s fought things bigger than him for years,” she
thought “He’s always been on the underdog’s side, how does this little girl
set
him on edge,”
“He’s not on edge about me” said Yani blowing a tuft of
blue green hair out of her face. “He’s on edge about the conference,”
Misty’s
jaw dropped, could this girl read minds.
“Not minds! Faces yes,” replied Yani
ambivalently.
“We’re very proud of my sister she’s got all the power
of a digimon but she’s got the morals of a human” purred a voice on the
ground as Genetmon slunk out of the forest of ankles.
“Your partner?” asked
Misty quietly
“Yup,” replied Yani picking up her feline partner “We’re
sort of your Black ops digidestined,”
“Black ops?” asked Misty sceptically
“Aren’t you a little young?”
Yani looked puzzled; Jared nodded off to the
side towards where Aeron and Max sat tinkering with a strange blue device.
“I
think I’ll go say hi to Aeron,” said Yani taking a hint and pulling Genetmon
away, the Raichu also appeared to lose interest rocking
back on it’s tail a little more as if to focus elsewhere.
“We’d better get
to class,” muttered Gary
“But Gary we don’t have class til…” started Ash vaguely
Gary sighed and began
pulling a mildly protesting Ash along behind him; before he disappeared Misty
was sure she saw him wink.
When they had left properly Jared refocused on Misty.
“How old do you think
I am?” he asked seeming to be slightly surprised at Misty’s attitude.
“I don’t
know, mid or late twenties, what’s that got to do with Yani?”
Jared laughed
in a good natured manner.
“Try late teens Misty, I’m no older than Benjamin!”
corrected Jared quietly “You’ll find that here age is irrelevant” Misty could
pick
up a bit more sadness in his voice as if he himself had lost the right
“Our
world changes us; it’s seldom the other way around,” he continued dourly “Yani
has lived in the digital world almost her entire
life. She hasn’t had time to be a nice little girl,”
Misty tried to divine from
Jared’s expression why he was telling her this, it seemed almost as if he was
attempting in his own gruff
way to reach into her soul. His eyes were full of an emotion she had never
seen the hard nosed head of the tamers exhibit.
“Get together a staff, choose
those that can truly give you strength,” he finished reaching into his jacket,
“I would advise you
choose at least one girl who is actually feminine and not over aggressive
like Kristen”
Misty looked into those sad grey eyes one last time, she
got the feeling she was being ribbed.
“I will!” she promised “I have a certain
girl in mind,”
“Who?” asked Jared curiously.
“The person people expect me to hate… ask May
to see me at training”
“Sure thing I’ll send Sparky for her ASAP,” replied Jared
mindfully as if considering something.
“Get her yourself,” exclaimed the Raichu
pricking an ear threateningly “I’m not your errand boy!”
Viridian City
There was faint patter of water as Maxie and Archie entered
the large conference hall.
They were nervous, it wasn’t normal for the leader
of Giovanic industries allowed his Hoën counterparts into the illegal side
of his operations[7].
Archie
coughed slightly as 2 Rocket grunts ushered them into a smaller boardroom
it was lit on the sides by the kind of strobe
lights which indicated professionalism.
Giovanni sat at his desk, his Persian
purring as he stroked it affectionately.
Maxie broke the silence.
“What is this about Giovanni? You called both of
us here for something” he asked tartly, feeling uncomfortable in the Headquarters
of a foreign organization.
“Yeah, what is this about?” seconded Archie in
a coarse tone.
Giovanni gave them a quizzical look, giving nothing away.
“Did I call you?
It was merely a kind invitation,” alleged the Rocket leader confidently.
“Kind
invitations are seldom attached to small but rather deadly looking knives
embedded above one’s bed,” retorted Maxie, who had
gotten quite a shock when he’d finally noticed it.
“Agreed!” parroted Archie,
who had found his embedded in the wall.
“Merely a way of getting your attention
gentlemen,” continued Giovanni in a voice smoother than oil.
Maxie nodded,
if you wanted something done in Hoën you
had to break a few arms, provided they were on other people.
“So, why all
the cloak and dagger?” asked the Magma leader smiling.
“I am well aware that
your personal plans for domination have failed so I propose a temporary alliance,”
“Alliance
with Team Aqua!” spat Maxie leaping to his feet.
“Alliance with Team Magma!”
mimicked Archie.
“Are you crazy?” they both questioned together each leader
moving towards the door.
“Not permanent my dear fellows, the two of you can
shoot each other as much as you like back in your home province when this
is
over. I’m talking about a different sort of alliance,” continued the Rocket
Leader, “an alliance in which we aid each other to remove a common enemy,”
“Common
enemy?” questioned Maxie “You mean we have an enemy common with Kantonian
organised crime?”
Giovanni smiled, Maxie was a little smarter than Archie.
Perhaps he could pull this off after all.
“I’m talking about the Tamers my
dear colleague, the very organisation which is responsible for the Elite
four and their insistence
at meddling with our plans,” he commented.
“Take out the league?” questioned
Archie in a concerned tone.
“Without trainers like Steven and Wallace interfering…”
pondered Maxie “We could truly revive Team Magma’s true power,”
“Agreed! And
without Lance and Sancheras breathing down my back Team Rocket can finally
succeed at an operation bigger than petty
theft” finished Giovanni
“What are you proposing?” asked Maxie Giovanni could
see he was still curious.
“I am proposing a little “shake up” in the organisation
of the pokémon league’s elite,” replied the Rocket leader, gleeful to have
his audience caught.
“Shake up?” continued Maxie, a smile on his face, “Of
course, the Curacao summit!” he added realisation
Archie laughed “Brilliant,
that way we get rid of our enemies in the league and give Team Dragnet a
reminder of what we’re capable of”
Giovanni nodded, he made a note to update
his file on Archie. He was too ambitious in taking Rocket interests.
“I’m
glad you see it my way gentlemen, I hope this will be the start of much lucrative
business between our organisations” he said
“and now let me introduce our final partner in this business”
Giovanni pressed
a button on his desk; he hadn’t used this particular button since Mewtwo
had demolished his headquarters. It was
the button which revealed the Team Rocket’s secret pokémon laboratory;
today it contained something else as well.
Maxie and Archie were surprised
as well; this was starting to smell like a set up.
“Don’t fear gentlemen this
is just the final seal of our deal,” said Giovanni proudly “Julius reveal
our capture!”
Up on the ramparts a man in a white lab coat saluted and
came into the light a small white remote in his hand.
“I will warn you sir,
he is very… unsettling,” started the lab coated man
“Just reveal him Julius,
we have much to do,” cut Giovanni.
Julius grumbled and pushed a button on
his remote.
Both of the Hoënian bosses jumped, they never suspected
this
“Behold my failsafe” said Giovanni.
Tamer HQ
Misty nearly fell off her seat this time; an evolved Sparky
on top of every other crazy thing Jared was telling her seemed to be the
final straw.
“So what do you think of the new look questioned Sparky
grinning cheekily
“I’m a little surprised that’s all,” replied Misty
“Desperate times surprise
us all!” stated the Raichu grinning at Misty’s discomfort, “I’ve been planning
to evolve a long while now,
I just never got round to it til now.”
It began to dawn on Misty that despite
being the world’s only natural talking Pikachu,[8] Sparky
wasn’t stupid, like most of his human counterparts he was expedient, can’t
defeat an opponent as a rookie beat it as a champion.
“Anyway how did you
know May was still here? She’s not exactly ideal tamer material,” added Sparky
his face full of cheekiness.
“Kristen!” stated Misty “If I know anyone here
I know that Kristen keeps May around because turning May out would be like…”
“Kicking
a Growlithe puppy,” finished Sparky “I know.”
Misty sighed, she’d hoped that
evolution would equal maturity, she’d been mistaken.
Her exasperation was
interrupted rather abruptly, there a scuffing cursing sound not far from
their table Misty turned around just
in time to see Ash and Gary being pulled apart.
“So much for a peaceful day.”
She thought as Jared rocketed past her in a ball of authority, sweeping up
Gary and Ash in his wake.
Frontier Universe
The Plains of the Dark Continent stretched for miles, nothing
much could live there except those digimon that had nowhere else to go,
right now, it also contains two humans, this is their story.
“Find your
own way then!” yelled Rika stubbornly.
“Fine! I will!” yelled Takato in response
marching along the dusty tracks towards the forest.
“Idiot!” hissed Rika “Renamon!”
she called,
Her partner looked at Rika for a moment,
Rika was still seething; Takato had
opted to go to the right on the tracks, good riddance to bad rubbish.
Renamon
sighed, she knew that despite Rika’s mood, this was a decision that she would
regret.
Takato meant well, but sometimes he said things that made
Rika a little too bad tempered.
She’d never thought that they would disagree
enough to split.
Tamers Stuck together!
Rika struck out along a path.
Renamon followed slowly, looking back at the
forest every now and again.
This wasn’t going to end well, she could feel
it.
Far above them, Cherubimon watched with fascination, finally
a specimen worthy.
Worthy of the Spirit of Darkness.
Jared’s Office
Jared sat back in his chair and sighed. In front of him
stood Gary and Ash, both of them were in the traditional position of shame.
Ash was twiddling his cap in his hands, his head was down and his eyes
averted.
“Of all the stupid, arrogant things the two of you could
have done this tops it,” started Jared his piercing grey eyes scowling
at his two charges “I don’t mind a little rivalry, in fact Benjamin and
I encourage a little competition between our top students, but this is
ridiculous!”
The boys averted his gaze Gary shuffled his feet while
Ash opted to twiddle his cap faster.
“Now would one of you please tell me what you too were
fighting about anyway, contrary to popular belief I do not have ears everywhere,”
continued Jared looking at both of them irritably
Neither of the young digidestined lifted their head, neither
wanted to admit what the fistfight had been about.
“Come now gentlemen! I’m not getting any younger!”
Gary muttered something under his
breath; Jared leaned forward causing Sparky to hook his tail bone into
his trainer’s shoulder.
Jared smiled.
“Ah I see!” he mused sitting back in his chair, “What have
I said about personal problems?”
Gary swallowed hard; he knew that
Jared had a tendency to look dimly on people who didn’t obey his rules.
“I hope you two will sort it out without fists,” he chuckled.
Ash and Gary’s mouths dropped like cash register drawers.
“Do you two know that Jennifer and I were an item several
years ago? we were both young and particularly stupid,” started Jared throwing
Sparky a glance daring him to add something.
“No argument on the stupid part!” chuckled Sparky.
“Well as you can see, it was short lived affair which ended
in my rival getting the girl. Now if the two of you are done looking ashamed
I believe the two of you have class. I shall send someone with details
on your punishment,” With that Jared opened his desk drawer and began to
fiddle with what appeared to be a model of something.
Ash moved off but Gary lingered a second.
“Jared?” he questioned.
“Yes Gary,” replied the tamer lifting his eyes again.
“Why did you stop pursuing Jennifer?” he asked.
“I stopped because I wasn’t doing it for Jennifer’s attentions
any more, I was simply doing it to beat your brother,” replied Jared in
a slightly subdued voice.
Gary nodded and exited the office.
Jared got up and moved over to a bookshelf, that boy was
more intelligent than his brother that was certain; he might have to reveal
things a little earlier than expected. He pulled out a book, unremarkable
in its appearance yet it was obviously precious to him.
“A special book,” he muttered thumbing through the onionskin
pages until he found what he was looking for.
A very special book, with a very special bookmark.
West Shinjuku
Glass shattered as the
sentinel’s head opened its eyes again.
The thin spindly cable thickened quickly as a body formed.
Evil looking wings and claws burst from its form.
Vandemon threw a bolt of lightning only to be thrown back
by a whip like arm.
“Breach!” Yelled Yamaki pushing the emergency evacuate
button
Mewtwo lifted an oversized paw to shield Jeri from the
debris falling from the roof
Jeri’s Digivice glowed gold; lightning climbed up Mewtwo’s
back, his eyes burned with fierce fire.
Mewtwo roared.
It wasn’t the cry of the fragile thinker Jeri knew; it
was the bellow of a primal hunter. A very angry primal hunter.
Jeri fell back, the anger seethed and screamed in her head
just as vibrantly as it screamed in his.
“You will not harm Jeri,” growled a voice out of Mewtwo’s mouth.
The Harpy creature froze; it had been built with slightly
more intelligence than the D-reaper agents it had been created from and
right now warning lights were flashing in its head.
“I will rip you apart if you hurt her, you despicable
brute” continued the voice from Mewtwo’s
lips
The harpy creature spun a length of feathers at the Psychic
pokémon’s head.
Mewtwo put up his hand, the feathers incinerated instantly.
The Harpy screeched and rushed forward, Mewtwo grabbed
and the wing and pushed back with a strength that his muscles certainly
weren’t capable of.
The Harpy creature turned and raked its claws across Mewtwo’s
face; Black green blood oozed from the wounds.
Mewtwo put up his hand, a giant ball of fire belched forth.
PSIBLAZE
Mewtwo’s three fingers seemed to become five for a second
The Harpy burst into flames ashes flew away in all directions,”
Jeri screamed, Mewtwo seemed to wake up from his trance.
He looked around, his head hazy, Jeri was whimpering, his
face stung, he was covered in ashes.
< What just happened?> he asked in utter confusion
Jeri whimpered again, Mewtwo looked confused for a moment
and then looked at the blackened wreck of a station wagon behind him.
< Bleeders> he thought out loud <Did I do that?>
Jeri looked at her friend again; his face had seemed different
when he’d spoken, harsher, more aggressive, now it was the all too familiar
coward.
“You, you don’t remember?” she asked.
Mewtwo shook his head but there was something gnawing at
the back of his head, a nameless beast screaming to be free.
Jeri put her hand in his paw,
“Well, whatever just happened? Thank you!
< I only wish I knew what that thing was, and why it
attacked you> answered Mewtwo thoughtfully
“I… I don’t know,” mumbled Jeri allowing Mewtwo to hold
her in his spindly arms.
“I know,” said a voice behind them “but you won’t like
what I have to say,”
Mewtwo and Jeri turned around to see Gareth Sancheras step
out from behind a burnt out wreck of a car
“I may not have my brother’s gravitas,” said the young
Tamer in a tired tone, “But I recognise old D-reaper hardware when I see
it, Jeri is in trouble Mewtwo you need to take her somewhere safe,”
Mewtwo gave him a strange look, with his lavender eyes.
< Where do you propose human?> he asked disdainfully,
this human put him in mind of another he had met, when he had been young.
“Home Mewtwo, but take her to Curacao not your valley in
Johto” replied Gareth locking his concerned grey eyes with Mewtwo’s
< The only people I spoke of home with are Renamon and
Jeri, explain how you know of Johto at all let alone my valley> replied
Mewtwo
Gareth continued to stare at him blankly it was as if this
tamer was daring Mewtwo to read his mind, Gareth held up a strange red
rectangle that looked like a miniature digital camera.
There was a beep as a second half folded seemingly out
of nowhere.
“Mewtwo the genetic pokémon, also referred as experiment
X279 is the most powerful of the pokémon clones created by the late Alexander
Oak of New Island labs, Mewtwo is believed responsible for the gigantic
storm documented off New Island which killed 4 researchers on the Wolfstar
frigate Camelot” chimed the metallic voice of Gareth’s pokédex.
Mewtwo seemed to close his eyes for a minute, a quiet smile
forming on his usually inexpressive lips.
< Oh, you’re his brother> stated the clone
with familiarity.
“Yup, I guess you could call us twins”
< Twins are not born seven years apart, but yes I would
call you twins,> thought spoke the clone.
Gareth smiled his grey eyes twinkled as he turned to Jeri.
“Jeri I must tell you that whatever just attacked you was
after something, I don’t know what, but I know you’re not safe here.”
Jeri looked surprised. The last minute had obviously gone
right over her head.
“Where would I go?” she asked faintly.
“To my home Jeri, They’ll never find you there!” said Gareth.
“South Africa?” asked Jeri.
“A little further than that,”
Olivine City
The say that the sea has no memory,
Misty wondered if perhaps there was some truth in this as she and her new
diplomatic staff left Olivine
port, she had spent some time asking Jared why there was such a big grouping
of Tamers acting as diplomatic staff to her, Claire and Pryce. Jared
had responded in his irritating manner, stating that he “had his reasons”.
But perhaps he did have reasons, the digital world was
quiet, the ports seemed to remain unfilled, as if the great invasion
feared had its own problems.
This was strange; Benjamin had seemed almost relieved to
see Jared back and ordering people about as if he’d never left. Even
Lance and Steven seemed slightly more at ease when the Kanto champion
was around.
Misty sat back in her deck chair, she was getting a free
trip to a luxurious tropical island and all she had to do was spend three
hours a day in a stuffy conference hall with a bunch of hot aired gym
leaders.
“This is still a great break from Chloe and Jennifer,”
she sighed reaching for her D-power it seemed to sparkle brightly near
the deep ocean.
“You really did get overworked didn’t you” asked May putting
a hand on her shoulder.
“Not half as bad as poor Aeron’s been working, I get the
feeling Jared is grooming that poor boy to succeed him in running the
Tamers” replied Misty staring again at May.
She sported a new look now, instead of the red and white
outfit she had worn since leaving Littleroot town, she now wore a black
spaghetti strap top and a longish white miniskirt, it was quite a shocking
transformation and the first time Misty saw her she’d thought that the
girl had gone Goth on them. Luckily it was still proved after re-inspection
to only be the latest in May’s desperate attempts to follow the fashions
of Blackthorn City. Now May was officially in charge of Misty’s wardrobe
and had made sure that Misty who was the same size as May had enough
swimsuits to be more than willing to share[9].
“I guess so,” finished May as if to finish the conversation.
There was a long pause and Misty understood that May was
trying to phrase a question
“Hey Misty, when you and Ash were travelling together…
did you ever… well you know?” asked May sitting down in a deckchair next
to her friend she had the awkward look of innocence on her face.
Misty nearly exploded laughing.
“Me? And Ash?” she sputtered with shock, “Ha that’ll be
the day Chloe shows emotion and Jared stops smiling like a reptile,”
“Sorry,” apologized May “It’s just that he’s been a little
preoccupied ever since we came to this Tamer stuff,”
“We all have May, I mean take a look at Yani,” started
Misty.
“The little girl with the greenish blue hair?” asked May
with curiosity
“Yeah her,”
“My brother says that she’s the strangest person he’s ever
met,” answered May flatly “and my brother is the definition of strange
and irritation.
“I guess so,” replied Misty “It’s just whenever I look
at her I think of Professor Oak, they have the same kind of eyes, eyes
that could tell you stories if you ever listened.”
“Mmm yeah…” said May distantly.
Misty sighed, May had that lost look of someone who had
totally lost the thread and was waiting for some indication the subject
had changed.
“Dinner’s ready!” yelled a voice a deck down.
May split into a huge grin.
“This I understand,” she said racing towards the galley.
West Shinjuku Park
Gareth Sancheras looked at his watch
in an angry and impatient way. He knew that he was on a tight time budget
and Mewtwo and Jeri were
taking their precious time. They only had a five minute window in which
they could launch without causing the Americans to go ballistic and start
accusing the North Koreans of a secret ICBM project again.
He had in easy hiding his ship from local traffic; Aeron
had designed it to be virtually invisible to anything the Terran people
could develop, however it had to decloak when leaving the atmosphere and
Gareth didn’t want more people spotting his ship than necessary.
There was a rustle to his left and Jeri Katou arrived holding
a small suitcase.
Gareth smiled, when Mewtwo had confessed that his powers
were waning and he could no longer hope to take both of them on the dangerous
6 light year journey to Wolf 359 without something going wrong.
“So you gonna show us this spaceship or what?” she said
sceptical voice.
Mewtwo gave Gareth a glance as the Tamer pulled out a device
which looked a lot like a car remote.
Beep beep
Jeri jumped what she had thought was a clump of bushes
had transformed into a sleek looking plane, it was about the size of an
SUV in front but quickly tapered back into a complex assembly of engine
components.
< A car alarm?> asked Mewtwo imperiously <I’m surprised
Human!>
“I’ve heard stories about this planet,” laughed Gareth.
“Terrans will steal anything!”
< No more than humans back home do,> responded Mewtwo
Curacao Coastline
Lunar Loch hunter Independent operations
Misty
smiled quietly as May crooned and preened over her Combusken, Skitty, Bulbasaur
and Beautifly.
“Just because we’re acting on guard, doesn’t mean we can’t
look good,” she muttered as she fussed about polishing Combusken’s legs.
“I guess so…” started Misty, her eyes darting to Brock
uncertainly, Brock nodded and sighed.
“Yes she’s always like this!” he exclaimed catching her
expression.
Misty, laughed, she’d missed Brock a lot over the past
year, the only non family company she seemed to get at the gym was Tracey
and occasionally Casey when the Electabuzz played in Cerulean[10].
“Your pokémon look really primped May” she ventured watching
Skitty fidget with its new pink scarf.
“Thanks Misty I really appreciate the vote of confidence,”
replied May, she had abandoned her normal red ensemble for a blue bathing
suit and board shorts, Misty had noted in her own quiet method, how
“It’s nice to get to know you two without some maniac coming
in to steal Togepi” replied the redhead quietly “And I really missed Ash
and Brock,”
“We’ve all missed you Misty and getting to know May is
probably for the best” replied Brock, “I’m glad you picked the others to
be your bodyguards that way we stick together, like old times,”
Yeah but in the old days we didn’t have Ash’s cousin and
his royal highness looking over our shoulder to see we’re behaving,” said
Misty in response “Anyway I’m glad the conference only starts tomorrow,
it means I can have some quality time with my bed tonight,”
“Lucky you!” responded Gary, who had been observing the
ritual from Brock’s bed “I have guard duty tonight,”
Brock laughed the shock of Ash and Gary’s impromptu fist
fight back at HQ was now little more than a memory, both of them were now
settling on avoiding each other, Jared had obviously said something quite
stern to them if they were patrolling parallel corridors, it was as if
they were avoiding all possibility of an encounter.
“I’d better get to work,” he muttered moving our of the
room “It’s almost dark and time for my shift,”
Brock sighed and said he had some bird watching to do.
And once again May took her leave, obviously taking a hint or to from Brock’s
exaggerated coughing.
“Well” thought Misty “Alone at last,”
Main Deck 3 hours later
Jared sat in the darkness and thought,
there was a great deal on his mind tonight and it wasn’t just from the conference
either
there was something else, something elusive.
Yani sat beside him her blue green hair falling about her
like an interstellar floor mop.
“It doesn’t feel right!” she mumbled softly, “This storm
isn’t normal at all,”
“I know I can feel it too,” replied Jared “I haven’t felt
this way since…”
“Since what?” asked Yani confused by Jared's unusual temperament.
“I don’t want to talk about it” muttered Jared, Sparky
pricked his ears.
“What’s up bud?” asked Jared, more attentive suddenly.
“Something bad,” replied Sparky.
“How bad?”
“Rex bad!” answered Sparky with significance.
Twap
One of Jared’s pokéballs emptied onto the deck, Yani could
just make out the distinctive outline of a Charizard before she closed
her eyes.
Two rockets cursed as Jared and Yani kicked forward.
“First thing to go in the presence of light is the ability
to see in the dark,” said Jared instructively “If I were their Sergeant
I’d flay em alive for forgetting that,”
“I know that,” replied Yani pushing their would be attackers
into the deck railing; another unfortunate Rocket received a Comet Punch
from Jared’s Charizard and went flying into dark waters of the bay.
“Well that’s them beaten,” crowed Sparky.
Blackened fingernails grasped the railing pulling Sparky
off the deck into the water below.
“Am I too late to add my input?” asked Satamon maliciously
coming out of the water with a slurping sounds, “The sooner I kill you,
the sooner Giovanni removes the collar from my neck,”
Jared looked at Satamon noticing he had a Namba Aggression
generator on his neck.
“Nice fashion statement,” he snickered.
Satamon screamed and rushed at him full of rage.
“Yani!”
Ho-oh Shrine
Silver town Johto
Darinia Warden
was also in a disturbed mood, it was his night to change the oil lamps
in the shrine again and as always a massive storm had decided to kick up
tonight.
He hated the shrine, it stuck him as a little obsessive,
Ho-oh was little more than a legend of a bygone era to him, he’d only joined
the order as a monk because the pay wasn’t bad and these days the Ocorian
church needed very little maintenance to continue its downward spiral into
the shadows of ignorance. Pokémon worship cults never worked out, people
tended to realise they were worshipping something that was all to willing
to serve a human master. Right now the rain was bucketing down the sides
of the small shrine and he was shivering in the cold.
There was a skittering sound in the upper eyries as another
bird pokémon settled in.
“I hope I don’t have to clean pidgey droppings off the
statue of Ho-oh tomorrow,” muttered the monk.
Pidgey do tend to leave droppings everywhere, so don’t
feel ashamed of them, they are simple creatures after all!” replied
a voice somewhere in the sanctum.
“Eh who’s there?” asked the monk in a discontented voice
“Simon is that you?”
“No it is I who speaks,” called the voice again.
Darinia turned and was horrified, where recently there
had only been the gold statue of a long dead myth; now standing next to
it was the real pokémon.
“It is good to get some reverence, the last human I
met called me a pesky mossie and tried to throw a pokéball at me” replied
Ho-oh’s tranquil voice in his mind.
“Surely not!” stated the monk shuddering, his oil falling
out of his lamp.
“Actually it is he I seek, tell me young one where is
the one they call Jared Sancheras?”
The monk pinched himself, the greatest of the legendary
birds, ho-oh the life-kindler was asking him where a particularly unpleasant
and vicious tamer was.
“I’d guess he’s at Curacao Island where all those Tamers
head,”
“Thank you human and one other thing,” said the
guardian quietly
“What is it oh great one,” replied the monk
“I’m not really that fat am I?” Asked the golden
phoenix in a disturbed tone
Curacao Summit
Misty was shaken awake
in an impatient way, by a worried Gary.
“Mgphh” she mumbled as her mind bullied her muscles into
a sitting position
“No time to sleep now Misty, something’s up,” muttered
Gary “There are Rockets all over the place and their not Jared’s buddies
either[11]”
“Rockets, but we’re not even at the conference yet,” said
Misty seriously “How did they get on anyway.
“Submarine!” answered Gary in a whisper “They caught Ash
by surprise, that’s how I got away, idiot doesn’t know how to shut of his
walkie-talkie and Rocket grunts are the worst secret keepers I’ve ever
seen.
“Why are they here?” asked Misty becoming more and more
worried.
“Tamers tend to get on the nerves of those they try to
stop,” stated Gary matter of factly.
Misty considered this; Gary was falling back into his default
calculating self.
“Their Leader is a guy called Rune, nasty bugger!” he added
emphatically
“Who has a great tendency to corner his enemies,” sneered
a voice from the doorway.
The friends looked up; standing in the door was a pale
looking Rocket in Sergeant’s colours. He was flanked by two grunts that
were dragging something between them.
“Ash!” cried Misty in shock, the Rockets had truly been
cruel to him, Ash was unconscious his nose was broken and his face looked
as if they had hit him til he blacked out.
“Would you like to see me beat this pathetic excuse for
a guard some more?” laughed the Rocket fearlessly.
Misty was furious, nobody called her friends pathetic.
Ash groaned as Rune smacked him again with a blackjack.
“Put up a blazing fight this one,” he chuckled meanly “And
his Pikachu will fetch a nice price on the black Market,”
“If you think we’re going to roll over and surrender your
mistaken,” started Misty.
Rune laughed and sent out his Manetric.
“Give it up babe; I’ve seen you fight on TV! My pokémon
wipe the floor with water types, you can’t beat me even with pokémon like
that!” he intoned motioning at Togepi
“Let’s see how you handle something all new then,” yelled
Gary helping his charge up, “You rocket’s are real tough when you use tricks,
let’s see how your Manetric handles this”
Gary pulled out a pokéball, Misty
stared. This was the Gary Oak she remembered from the Silver conference,
an utterly confident pokémon trainer.
“Bring it on little body guard,” challenged Rune making
a rude gesture at them both.
“As you wish,” challenged Gary, “Let’s go Hipparb,” I choose
you,”
The pokéball flew out of Gary's hand like a bolt of lightning.
Pah
Features formed, Teeth, hooves, small eyes and stubby tail.
“Hipparb” brayed the new pokémon; Misty was amazed at how
cute she found it.
“Go Hipparb, use water gun on Manetric,” commanded Gary
in an angry voice.
“Manetric, Thunder wave,” screamed Rune.
Manetric jumped up and fired its weak jolt of electricity
at Hipparb
Tsap
The bolt hit Hipparb full and then… dissipated, Rune shrank
back slightly in surprise as Hipparb launched a massive torrent of water
in retaliation knocking Manetric senseless.
The water rushed at Misty but Togepi was ready.
Togepi digivolve to
Togetic
Water splashed into Rune’s Rockets, Togetic deflected another
tide off the side of the deck
“We don’t have time for you now, Jared needs us to save
him,” said Gary sternly “Let’s go Eevee!” he commanded his small furry
companion.
Eevee let out an enraged squeal, there was a loud barking
noise, Gary’s digivice glowed dark red.
Eevee digivolve to
Umbreon
Umbreon leapt forward and knocked the Rockets back, he
was bigger now, far bigger than an umbreon should be. He was nearly the
size of an Arcanine now.
“It’s like an umbrella, it works when you need it,” mused
Gary mounting his impromptu steed and pulling a bloodied up Ash in front
of him,
“I guess we couldn’t digivolve until we needed to,” murmured
Togetic fluttering next to them as Umbreon lumbered down the beach front
towards the black clouds.
“We have to hurry!” said Gary urgently “Jared may be an
obnoxious jerk sometimes but he is my brother’s friend and he’s very good
at helping people out when they are in trouble, we’ve got to save him,”
The dark clouds shuddered, for a second the entire ship
was lit up in a flare of golden light.
“Maybe Yani is the one who needs saving,” said Misty darkly
“Jared just got some help,”
Main Deck
Yani threw a dagger at Satamon
who slammed her against the wall painfully as the darkness swirled about.
“I think you’re special enough to warrant a trip to my realm,” he
grinned through gritted teeth.
Jared and Satamon stared at each other, the dark hatred of good and
evil passing before their eyes.
“The little rat was a surprise I’ll admit, but I am not some weakling
rookie either,” sneered Satamon closing the gap that separated them.
“Sparky is my friend, something a warped freak like you can never
understand,” exclaimed Jared backing away guardedly.
“And where is your friend now! That thunderstone may have made him
more powerful but when the endgame he is just another weakling pokémon,”
laughed the demon digimon, his bloodshot eyes drawing level with Jared’s.
Jared stopped backing away. He and Satamon were less than a meter
apart now, the ominous glow was gone now and the only light seemed to come
from Satamon’s glowing bloodshot eyes.
“So!” mused the monster evilly, “I seem to have won,”
Jared looked into the face of his accuser, his face illuminated only
in the red glow.
“You know what they say about light Satamon?” Jared said softly closing
his eyes as he spoke “It only makes things clear at the last second,”
Flames
surged forward, coming from all directions at once, Satamon shrieked only
to be silenced by an even greater screech.
“There’s a saying which I never really liked till now, it’s that legends
are slow choosers,” laughed Jared.
Golden ash rained from the sky as the phoenix song grew louder and
more beautiful.
“Now allow me to give you an education in pokémon attacks,” continued
Jared his voice growing louder with each consecutive word, “Sparky, IRON
TAIL ATTACK!”
Satamon turned just in time to receive the tail blade of a very
angry Raichu directly in his mouth.
“So you wanna be the master of pokémon, you don’t have the skills
to be number one,” chanted Sparky, his body covered in golden light.
Jared’s eyes glowed white the power of Ho-oh coursing through his
body,
“Sparky! Digivolve!” he yelled.
Sparky glowed even brighter; the sound of a berserk Orca filled the
dark micro universe.
“Perhaps I can win in your little corner universe,” laughed the golden
Raichu “Let’s find out,”
Satamon looked horrified, Giovanni had deceived him. This boy was
not a mere pokémon trainer after all; he was a digidestined and a strong
one at that.
The Rat was changing now; Satamon knew the marks of digivolution when
he saw them. Light spilled off Jared’s face as his mind was filled with
the awesome connection of digimon and partner.
RAICHU DIGIVOLVE TO
Sparky leapt forward, as he did so they lengthened, the small rabbit
like feet giving way to huge golden sandals. Now his body lengthened. Four
feet, five foot, six. Finally with a cry of amazed triumph the last traces
of mouse fell away, leaving behind a shining figure. Everything that is,
except the ears, they were big and gawky and still very Raichu
Jared’s face dimmed slightly, he smiled, almost satisfied, almost
there
“Now for the last touch,” he muttered enjoying Satamon’s Dark horror,
“Take my light partner,”
Sparky looked at him with determination and then turned to Satamon.
“Let’s do it,”
Down came the helm, silver with gold latches, it settled softly on
the newest member of the last line of defence.
Satamon overcame his dumbness now, anger and hatred knew the form,
it was the form of treachery and betrayal, the form of the one who turned
his back on evil.
Sparktramon the name seethed in his mouth,
not the original, but the form betrayed his origins.
Satamon rushed in, claws flailing blood red eyes ablaze, Sparky neatly
dodged, tripping up the demon digimon as he went rushing past. Satamon
bellowed, his mind not computing his defeat. Rebalancing himself again
Satamon threw his weight forward in another spinning whirl of death.
Sparky had had enough at this point, he had hoped that he wouldn’t
have to kill the poor misguided creature, but his options were seldom allowed
by life.[12]
Sword of the spirit.
Sparky’s hand shot out grasping his sword; in a flash he landed the
blazing blue blade in between his enemy’s eyes.
“That wasn’t right, you’re the good guy, your meant to give me a chance,”
hissed Satamon indignantly.
“Don’t confuse kindness with weakness, you already do it enough,”
replied Sparky sadly.
Satamon gave a small choking sound and collapsed, his body spilled
into the millions of tiny fragments which made up all digimon.
“Don’t touch it!” commanded Jared the glow disappearing totally.
“Wouldn’t touch it on a good day,” replied Sparky ceasing to glow
as well. “ASCII to ASCII, Dos to Dos,”
Jared laughed, it wasn’t the laugh of amusement, it was the laugh
of the pure exhaustion, the laugh that said, “I’m alive, and I can laugh”
“If Kouichikins could see me now,” he mused to his partner as the
darkness began to melt away in the growing power of reality.
“Sabrina would have fainted or screamed and you would have a lot of
explaining to do,” replied Sparky, “I think we still will have to do some
explaining about this, I sure aren’t a cuddly little Pikachu any more,”
“You weren’t cuddly to begin with,” laughed Jared “Anyway, you weren’t
a digimon until about half an hour ago anyway”
The darkness cleared away slowly the world of reality came back into
focus.
“Hey Sparks?” asked Jared.
“Yeah Jared?” replied his partner, there were voices now, Misty and
Gary.
“I guess you’ll be doing that explaining alone,”
Jared collapsed.
[1] Jessie and James later confided in her later about the argument they had heard, it was no secret to them that “The Sarge” had the loudest voice in the academy
[2]Believe it or not I have actually made this as a dinner and it is quite nice
[3] The organised Crime syndicate that ran amok on the southern continent of Keladon and quite often conflicted with Team Aqua over the island of Curacao, or at least that’s what Tracy said.
[4] Mind you considering air travel, no one noticed another blown out hall.
[5] Forgive me Vande I couldn’t help myself
[6] At this Gareth Sniggered
[7] Giovanni, contrary to popular belief held a firm respect for his Hoën Counterparts; they had a way with Violence and Terrorism that Team Rocket had given up years ago. (The Elite 4 had made it clear that if they caught any Rocket terrorists in any of their protectorates. Things would get interesting). But most of this respect came from the fact that his Legitimate corporation sold a lot of weapons surreptitiously to both sides
[8] Or Raichu now
[9] Thus proving you can take the May out of Hoën but you can’t take the Hoën out of May
[10]This actually was quite common as the Vermillion based Baseball team was in fierce competition with the Cerulean City Starmies both teams seemed to climb and fall the ranks accordingly
[11]Jared was the worst kind of Team Rocket defector the kind that not only left the organization but then successfully recruited members of Team Rocket to sufficiently cripple its ability to strike back.
[12]Contrary to popular belief Sparky was not a bad pokémon, merely a tarnished person with a tendency to dislike authority even when it came from his own partner and like his partner disliked killing things unless he had to.