Repulsive.
It was all repulsive.
Arun didn’t even bother attempting to scout ahead with his senses, instead relying on his eyes and ears as they made their way down stone steps. His fingers traced the wall, moulding over grooves and scratches, burns and cracks. It resembled the walls during the brother’s attempted escape from Galactic. Back then the Pokémon fired off their moves without hesitation, the narrow halls ensuring every attack would hit.
It told him a story of battle, but one for which he couldn’t find a reason for yet.
“Aken says it smells sweet.” Pranav whispered.
“Is that a good thing?”
“Not for us. Feeds off misery and negativity, remember?”
Arun shot the ghost a look, to which Aken replied with what could have been called a shrug. Despite the apparent euphoria in the Pokémon's overall being, Aken was cautious, eyes darting around as if danger would pop up at any moment.
Silent footsteps eventually reached a second door, this one one made of heavy steel that Arun thought would look better on a submarine or a safe rather than wherever they were.
Before he could reach for it though, Pranav grabbed at his arm, pointing to Aken to scout first instead. Arun nodded, letting the ghost peak through.
Only for him to return half a second later, eyes wide and fear apparent.
Pranav wasted no time, returning Aken to his ball as the two tensed, waiting for whatever it was that scared the Ghost to approach them.
…He felt small.
The shadows of the room seemed to stretch and darken. The hair along his arm bristled, goosebumps running up and down along his skin. The temperature had dropped so low that his breath began to mist in front of him, and for the briefest of seconds it felt as if something had wrapped its fingers around his neck, wanting to squeeze the very life out of him.
Two baleful red eyes flickered into existence atop the door, causing every instinct in Arun’s system to go berserk. He wanted to run, to fight, to scream or hide. Instead he was rooted to the spot, watching with growing dread as a wicked grin began to form.
“So…so close…” The ‘door’ whispered. “Have you two seen a little ghost?”
Arun…Arun understood it. Not the strange translation of emotions, but everything it wanted to say. A glance at Pranav confirmed that he was hearing it too, which would have been impossible given the limitations of his powers.
“You…can speak.” Arun said slowly, trying to give himself time to calm his beating heart.
“And you can understand,” The Ghost replied. “Yet you still haven’t answered my question.”
“I only see you,” Pranav said, his voice just as careful. “And you’re blocking our entrance.”
“Am I? I didn’t notice. Step inside then, please.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Well why wouldn’t you? You’ve made the journey after all. Is this not your destination?”
The eyes blinked, and the grin grew longer. “Unless of course, you aren’t supposed to be here.”
The brothers shared a glance. They’d cleaned out their uniforms as much as they were able, but that iron scent of blood still clung to them just a tad. If they could smell it, he was certain whatever this was could probably sense it as well. So what was the play here, lie? Tell the truth?
Stall. That was the signal Pranav sent him, and Arun gave a slight nod.
“We’re more concerned about you. You were hunting ghosts, why?”
“Because I haven’t had a meal in so long,” The eyes groaned. “The humans have ordered me to remain here, and as such I haven’t been allowed to hunt.”
“Just food then?” Pranav asked. “I’d figure someone with your power would be treated with dignity.”
“Oh don’t misunderstand, this place is more than enough to sustain me. But I miss sinking my teeth into screaming flesh, feeling the life-force wash over my tongue. It’s…invigorating.”
“So they’ve made you a guard. Against outsiders?”
“Of course, a lowly task if you ask me, but who am I to refute my masters?”
Pranav gave Arun a look, the one that said I got an idea. He stepped back slowly to let his younger brother take the stage, one hand trailing to Valor’s Pokeball just in case.
He knew his partner would do little against…that, but the action brought him comfort.
“Now is it safe to assume you don’t like your work?” Pranav asked.
“Oh finally, we’re at this stage. Yes, I dislike my work.”
“You’ve called them your ‘masters’ and that they’ve ‘ordered’ you to do their guardwork. Where is your trainer?”
The eyes seemed to crinkle up with delight, as if recalling a faraway dream, “I murdered her. She sought to contain me. That just wouldn't do, so I staged a little...accident."
"Then all this?"
"I was never released, so now I stay here."
Pranav nodded slowly. “How would you feel if we took care of all that for you?”
“And how would you do that?”
“Does it matter?” Pranav asked. “The two of us are clearly Chronos, of course you’d let us in.”
Its grin stretched wider, “Why of course you are. And the blood just happens to belong to some unfortunate scuffle outside, yes?”
“Of course.”
“Then by all means, enter.”
The great iron wheel spun, and the door groaned as it opened up. Immediately the scent of blood and rot filled their senses, causing Arun’s nose to scrunch up in disgust.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Enter.”
Pranav glanced at the doorway, and swallowed, giving Arun a look that said I don’t like this. Doubts were forming in Arun’s own mind. Whatever Pokémon this was, it was trapped inside. The second they stepped inside, they were in its territory, its home.
What if it was playing them?
“You’re scared,” The ghost grinned. “You’re wondering if I am a liar. That I may simply decide to sink my fangs into your soft flesh. That I may decide to rip your soul and feast on its screaming remains.”
“You could say that.” Pranav said stiffly.
“Well, I am a liar.”
The thing leapt out at them, both Arun and Pranav jumped back at the same time, throwing out their partners in a desperate attempt to defend themselves. Valor arrived with a hail of Razor Leaves, Aken bound the shadows to his will in an attempt to stab the eyes of the creature.
It laughed at their defiance, turning into mist around the razor leaves that broke against the steel door. What shadows moved to strike its incorporeal form were changed, as if forced against their will to pierce Aken instead, who’d barely managed to dodge out of the way.
A thick pudgy claw formed around Valor’s neck, hefting him above the ground while more shadows lashed out, binding Aken and dragging him closer.
Gengar.
It was a fucking Gengar.
“Very good reflexes,” It mused. “Though it seems I’m not the only liar here.”
“Let them go.” Pranav growled.
Gengar’s grin turned into a snarl, “Don’t you dare order me! If I so wanted, I would rip your entrails out through your bowels, and make you watch as I feasted on your precious partner here.”
It emphasised its claim, maw opening three times what should be anatomically possible. “You are in my territory, you are mine.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“But we’re not dead yet,” Arun grit out. “Which means you need us. So stop with the fucking showboating and tell us what you want.”
“I need you to understand that we have a deal,” The Gengar said, bringing its face back to normal proportions. “The only reason I’m entertaining this offer is because you’ve killed 3 already, do not deny it. But if any of you even think about capturing me…”
Gengar transformed to purple mist, its voice echoing into a dozen dissonant whispers, “You’ll be dead before you even know it.”
And then they were alone. An empty doorway beckoning them inside.
“Fucking asshole.” Pranav muttered.
Arun was inclined to agree.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pranav was getting real tired of being shown just where he stood on the food chain. It was always a one step forward, two steps back situation. Even as they entered the musty section of the underground base, he felt confident he could take out whatever was waiting for them inside.
But that was only because something far stronger than them had allowed them too.
Frustrating. It was getting really fucking frustrating.
So frustrating Pranav didn’t even notice he’d stepped on a corpse before he heard the crack.
He glanced down, ready to complain as was his job, only for the words to die on his lips. He stared into the milky blank eyes of a Kricketot, its carapace and body resembled a bottle of dried up toothpaste, all shrivelled and contorted.
“...Oh.” Was all he could say.
Arun’s hand pulled him away from the corpse, his feet coming free with not even a squelch. Pranav looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as they finally took in just where they were. Corpses were scattered about, Pokémon, all of them. Dead and shrivelled up like they’d been out in the sun for too long.
None appeared that powerful, from Bidoofs to Starly’s and Kircketot’s. He wondered if that’s why there were so many of them.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Arun said, inspecting one. “This is a lobby, why are they storing the dead here?”
It was the first room after Gengar's door. He was right, why were they being stored here? It would be literally impossible to cover up if the police came banging at their door.
“Look,” Pranav pointed at the dead Kricketot. “It’s been cut. A lot.”
It was like someone had taken a knife and stabbed the Pokémon over and over again. It didn’t all happen at the same time either, he could recognize the fresher cuts from the ones that were healed.
The lobby eventually led to a stairway that opened up to a larger open square, almost resembling the factory up above. Even from their vantage point though Pranav could tell something was wrong. The machines were made for cutting, buzz saws and axe blades currently inert.
This was a butcher's shop.
They were chopping up Pokémon, why? The question, despite Pranav trying not to think about it, continuously bounced around his mind.
“We should scout this place the way we usually do,” Pranav said. “Avoid your senses.”
Arun shook his head, “It’s faster if we do it this way.”
“Faster, sure. But I don’t think you can handle it.”
Even Aken, who sustained himself on negativity, seemed almost fearful of the place.
“It’ll just give us a reason to ice the Grunts here.”
Pranav knew that tone of voice. It was the stubborn voice. The one that refused to listen because Arun was convinced it was the best action forward. Pranav sighed, before nodding, keeping his own senses trained in case something tried to sneak up on them.
Arun let out a deep breath, going silent for a few moments.
Pranav waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
“Sirius?” He finally asked, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
He was trembling.
“Hey. Look at me.” Pran ordered, forcing his brother to turn. He blinked in surprise, there were tears on Arun’s face. His brother rarely cried, and never during a time they could be hurt.
“I’m…scared?” He asked softly, as if he needed confirmation of the fact.
“No you’re not,” Pranav would deny him that. “Something here is. That’s what we’re looking for.”
“It’s not me. Yeah…yeah it’s not me…”
“Take us there. Where’s all this emotion coming from?”
Arun led their little crew through darkened halls and dim floors. More than once they had to watch their step, discarded Pokémon bodies left strewn about as if they were common trash. Pranav wondered if there was any real disposal spot.
At one point Aken stopped, bumping Pranav’s shoulder as he gestured to a door. He tried it, locked.
“What’s inside?” He asked, yanking at Arun to get him to stop as well.
“Misery,” Aken said, “Subdued, the feeling is hidden over something else, I cannot get a read.”
“Do you want to check inside for me?”
Aken nodded, disappearing, before reappearing a second later. “It is a tiny room. Like the one we reside in, but dirtier. One woman.”
“What’s her condition?”
“She speaks to herself.”
A prisoner? Maybe it was the missing PI. He chewed his lip in thought, the last one to be captured by Chronos was fed Amber and turned basically useless. He wondered if it was the same for her. Whatever the case, he’d have to find the key to her cell if he wanted to get to her.
“Let’s keep going.”
Arun was silent for most of the trip, Pranav suspected his brother was doing his best to separate his own emotions from the emotions of whatever was trapped here. Valor and Zubat did their best to help, the former clutching onto Arun’s finger while the latter was emitting what could only be described as a purr.
“I should ask Omega if there’s a way for Arun to isolate the outside emotions,” Pran thought. “Maybe after this.”
After this they’d have proven their value 10 times over. It would be more than enough to–
“Umph.” Pran grunted, he hadn’t noticed Arun had stopped, bumping into his back.
Arun held up his hand, pointing in two directions. The first was down the hall, the second was a branching hallway, where Arun held up two fingers.
“Which one’s human?”
Arun pointed with the two fingers.
“That’s the way we’re going then.”
There were two main reasons why Pranav wanted to see the humans before anything else. The first, was that he rationalised that any Pokémon out there were either prisoners or belonging to the enemy. Enemy Pokémon would probably sense they weren’t part of the crew, and he doubted prisoners would actually speak to him.
Second, he really wanted kill the fuckers who were in charge of this Saw-esque facility.
“Tell me if there’s anyone approaching.” Pranav said, as they approached what looked like a Janitor’s closet. He could smell the sharp stink of cigars and see wisps of smoke that accompanied the voices.
“I can’t do this shit anymore,” A first voice said. Young, perhaps younger than them.
“Fuck are you on about?” Another said, feminine. “This is the cosiest job we’ve ever been assigned.”
A snort from the younger, “Yeah. Cozy. I don’t think I can get the smell of blood and shit out my clothes anymore.”
“The pay is worth it.”
“Yeah…just wish these thugs weren’t so messy with their work. We gave them the recipe, it’s like they’re doing it on pur–”
Pranav chose that moment to knock.
”Occupied.” The woman snapped.
“I’m giving you five seconds before I kick down the door.” He deadpanned back.
Muffled cursing and the sound of fabric slipping onto skin. The door opened with a heavy swing, revealing two dishevelled Grunts.
“Had fun?” Pranav smirked.
The woman’s eyes narrowed, about to say something only for her to pull back. “I don’t know you.” A statement, not a question. She reached for a belt that hung loosely by her waist.
“No. You don’t.”
“Are you going to introduce yourself?”
“Why should I?”
“So I know you’re not an enemy.”
Pranav made a show of rolling his eyes, “I suppose the fact that my Gengar let me in means I’m an enemy. What sound logic.”
“That…that thing is yours?” The man whispered, his eyes wide. The woman had her own words die on her lips, the two glanced at each other, before they dropped to their knees in a kneel, one fist planted onto the concrete.
“We’re sorry–we didn’t realize–”
“That was the point,” Pranav said, clicking his tongue. “It was a surprise inspection. And color me surprised when I found assets littered across the fucking lobby. Are you trying to get us all arrested?”
“We’re sorry sir,” The younger one stammered. “We’ve had issues with disposal, it’s just been refusing to work the past couple of days. We just had to find space wherever.”
Arun snarled and Pranav had to stop in his tracks. He turned to them slowly, a smile on his lips to hopefully disguise the growing dread he felt. “Are you telling me…these bodies are simply from two days of work?”
“Yes sir,” He nodded vigorously. “Not a lot of product can be extracted from prey Pokémon, so we burn through a lot of our supply.”
“Well look at you two!” Pran laughed, clapping them both over the shoulder. “Efficient eh?”
“We try our best, sir.”
“Show me the supply.” Pranav decided. He wanted to see for himself what the fuck they were doing. They called it product, this was an Amber facility. How was Amber made? He needed to know.
They led him down through the facility, more than once Arun signalled that there were others coming by, and so Pran forced them down other halls instead with the excuse he was “inspecting”. They didn’t complain, he apparently owned a Gengar.
And Arun looked very pissed off.
“Could I uh…ask you something sir?” The man asked.
“Speak.”
“Are you two foreigners?”
“What gave it away?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean disrespect. It’s just…Chronos doesn’t usually take from outside the clan.”
Clan?
“We’re clan,” Pranav chuckled. “A few cousins removed, but Clan all the same.”
“Which branch?” The woman asked suddenly. Pranav turned slowly, there was suspicion dancing in her eyes. Fear, yes, but a very healthy dose of suspicion.
He needed to change that.
“What do you know of the oversea operations?” Pranav asked. Sudden questions made those who weren’t expecting them to want to answer.
“Just the ones on Kalos.” She answered.
Kalos? What were they doing there? Questions for a different day, all that mattered was that he had something to bullshit on.
“Do you want to know why my brother and I were relocated?” He asked, stepping closer. The Woman’s uniform was still rumpled from her little tryst with the young man. He made a show of fixing her uniform, starting from smoothening out her blazer, to fixing the buttons that were hastily attached.
“We’re perfectionists, you see,” He continued, folding down the collar of her Blazer. “We like efficiency, when things go our way. But when we’re asked stupid questions or stopped from doing our job…”
Pranav signalled to Aken, and shadows began to creep up onto the woman’s skin. Her eyes went wide and she tried to move away, but Pranav kept her still, holding her in place by her blazer.
“We get violent.” He hissed, letting Aken pierce her a couple times with Shadow Sneak. It wasn’t very effective, but she thought it was Gengar who was latching onto her. “Kalos needed a softer hand to guide them…we were an iron fucking fist, isn’t that right, brother of mine?”
Arun, who’d moved behind the younger man and slung an arm around his neck, grinned. “We’re problem solvers. You two aren’t problems, right?”
“We…we understand.” The woman gasped. “Please.”
Pranav held her for a couple more seconds, before nodding to Aken who slipped back into the shadows and released his hold on her. “Good,” He said, smoothing out wrinkles on her shoulders. “Now take me where I want to be.”
It was music that signalled their arrival. A low melancholic tune that reminded him of a synth and a violin at the same time. It was a familiar sound, one he’d heard over a thousand times within the Music-filled streets of Veilstone. Kricketune Buskers.
If only it were the same.
The room opened up to a vast floor, cages filling every conceivable floor space, leaving very little room to walk. The scent of unwashed animals forced its way up Pranav’s nose, and he scowled, turning to the other two.
“Explain what I’m looking at.” He demanded.
“Uh…these are the breeding pens sir,” The Younger said. “We take the newly hatched and then process them for the product.”
“Impossible,” Arun grunted. “Pokémon don’t…breed unless the conditions are perfect.”
Pranav didn’t know if that was true or not, but hey, his brother was the better expert.
“We use drugs, sir. Keeps them loopy while Dittos do their work.”
Arun tensed, but Pran shot him a glare. “Not now,” he wanted to say. “Soon.”
“Where’s that music coming from?” He asked instead.
“Ah,” The younger Chronos scowled. “We call her Biter, we’re shipping her off to the fighting pits, too violent for egg-rearing.”
“Show me.”
Biter’s cage was off to the far corner, as if isolated from the others.
“So what makes her dangerous?” Pranav asked.
“Highly tolerant against the drugs we’ve tried pumping into her,” The Younger Chronos explained. “She’s killed maybe three of our dittos, and everytime we’ve managed to get a clutch of eggs, she smashes them to bits before we can get them.“
“A fighter.” Pranav whispered, stepping closer to the cage. He could see her outline, the membrane along her bladed arms reflecting what dim light there was as she played softly.
“Yep. Three dittos is roughly double all our salaries combined, so Jal decided if he couldn’t make any eggs from her he’d put her in the pits. At least that way we can make back some of the profits.”
Pranav wasn’t listening, instead he stared into Kricketune’s eyes. He saw it, rage, defiance, pain. He could see the way she subtly shifted her form, crouching almost, she would cut apart his hands if he got any closer.
He chose to wrap his fingers around the cages of the bar.
“You shouldn’t–” The Younger said, only for Arun to place a hand on his shoulder and shush him.
“You…I see you,” Pranav said softly. “Aren’t you beautiful? You could cut me apart in seconds and I wouldn’t be able to scream.”
The Kricketune tensed, she knew he knew she was going to go for it. The fact that he called her out stalled her.
“How about I offer you a deal?” Pranav said, “You show me what those blades can do, and I’ll give you anything. We could even find you a little Kricketot to adopt--”
Biter let out a screech, leaping forward. Pranav backed out barely in time thanks to Arun grabbing him by the collar and pulling him back. Pranav blinked a couple times, before raising a hand to the warmth that had bloomed on the bridge of his nose. When he pulled it back it came away slick with blood.
She’d managed to cut him.
“No deal?” Pran grinned. “How about I sweeten the offer?”
He spun, knife twirling in his hand as he slashed across the Woman’s throat. Blood splattered across his face as her eyes went wide, her sounds of protest dying out immediately as he shoved her into Biter's extended arm, the blade piercing her chest.
Arun followed up quickly, grabbing the younger by the back of his head and smashing it against the bars of the cage. He gargled a protest, but it was lost against the banging of iron and shattering of bones.
Biter stared at them, confusion and suspicion in her eyes.
"So, do we have a deal?”