Deep Space

Chapters

Part 1: Jupiter
#02
Part 3: Ghetsis
Part 4: Looker
Part 5: Jupiter II
Part 6: Mars II

Part 1: Jupiter

Deep Space #01

By Yugoslavia

1: Jupiter

Wednesday, 7:50 PM. Team Galactic HQ, Veilstone City

The little cab stopped at the far end of Veilstone City, where a tall building loomed. Grabbing his little suitcase, Ghetsis passed a wad of cash silently up to the driver as he looked at the Team Galactic building, and stepped out.

At the edge of the curb the staircase trailed far up to the gated entrance. The sound of the cab revving up and zooming away snapped Ghetsis out of his stupor, and he began the slow climb up. A long shadow covered the entire width of the street. Ghetsis squinted up at the spikes jetting from the sidewalls.

“Ah, Ghetsis!” said Saturn, standing at the top of the staircase. “Good to see you’ve arrived safely. Nice flight?”

Ghetsis grunted on the last step. “Yes, very much so.”

Smiling awkwardly, he took the case from Ghetsis. “I apologize, Master Cyrus– I mean, our… Boss Cyrus… He liked the, ‘formidable look’ the stairs provided,” he said. For a brief moment, he frowned.

“I don’t mind, just as long as you don’t mind a sick client,” said Ghetsis, smiling and waving Saturn away from his case. Saturn turned to lead him in; he caught the odd look Ghetsis gave the guards at the gate. Deploying the handle, the little case rolled behind him as he followed Saturn’s lead into the compound.

“My apologies, we’ve had some special guests,” said Saturn. “They’re tricky business. Believe me, it was my last intent to invite them. Just be careful.”

At the foot of the building, a steel gate door sat shut, surrounded by guards who immediately cleared when the two approached. The blue-haired grunt at door briefly snapped a salute, before he keyed in the passcode to the panel. “Nobody does,” said Ghetsis. He stepped alongside Saturn down the bright white corridor. “Unfortunately, you had a… Unique situation…”

Saturn chuckled. “I have yet to hear a term that accurately defines it.”

He led the both of them to the end of a hall where two heavily reinforced doors sat shut. With a single hand motion, Saturn directed two grunts to a console, where they both gave clearance.

The doors pulled apart with a loud whine. Inside, the hall opened up into a massive warehouse, filled with rows and rows of perfect conical steel devices Ghetsis stared oddly at. One at the far end had several grunts in HAZMAT suits inspecting an open panel on the cone.

“I’m unfamiliar with these devices. What are they?” asked Ghetsis.

“The complete collection of live Galactic Bombs, assembled and armed.”

Ghetsis gave Saturn a complicated look, rubbing his forehead. “This wasn’t the energy proposal I was invited to hear. I don’t associate ‘bomb’ with electrical power.”

“It is, actually. The program you would be backing would be putting these into a renewable energy source. Haven’t you seen what they’ve done with nuclear reactors in recent years?” Saturn asked.

“Yes… But I cannot afford to have a nuclear weapon in my inventory… Have you even detonated one of these?’

“The correct terms weren’t appropriate for a phone conversation. I apologize, it’s perfectly acceptable to leave,” said Saturn. He pulled a clipboard from a wall-mounted rack. “It would not be the first time. Here are the specifications on energy output.”

Squinting down, Ghetsis tried his hardest to read the numbers even in his own hands. “You didn’t answer my question, Mr. Saturn,” Ghetsis said. When he turned to see Saturn, he had disappeared to a long wall console. He clenched his chest, realizing his own heavy breathing had distracted him.

At the console, a pot-bellied man with old tufts of lavender hair sat on a wilting stool. The back squeaked as it fought to keep him upright. His sleepy eyes poked out from his fat rolled eyelids to stare at Ghetsis.

“Who is this?” asked Charon. His laser-like gaze never left Ghetsis, looking dissatisfied with him.

Saturn smiled. “This is our guest, Ghetsis.”

Ghetsis smiled quickly, surprised to wipe the sweat from his palms before reaching out to shake his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“My name is Commander Charon,” he said. “I am the final Team Galactic Commander, and the only one who isn’t in there twenties.”

This gave Ghetsis a chance to laugh. Saturn didn’t, nor did Charon.

“I am the developer of the Galactic Bomb, and the one who can answer your questions. It’s a rather genius design, if I do say so myself.”

“You’ll hear him say that more than a few times,” said Saturn.

Charon continued to stare at Ghetsis. “Commander Saturn here is the only member to have detonated a Galactic Bomb. I wouldn’t necessarily have agreed with the timing or need for it, but I certainly wouldn’t have made that call anytime. It’s an awe-inspiring weapon of the destructive nature.”

“Then you also have the specifications for an energy conversion? I know I don’t, nor do I know how,” Ghetsis said. He handed Charon the clipboard, who quickly reviewed it before setting it beside his tea.

“I will review these later. You have made an excellent choice, Mr. Ghetsis, seeing as the last Galactic Bomb was of such a destructive nature. An accident would not be welcome at your place of business.”

Rubbing his eyes, Ghetsis looked over to one of the warheads. “I still don’t see the why in all of this. If they’re so destructive, then what purpose do they serve? You haven’t even let me in on how powerful they are.”

Saturn grabbed a town map off the desk, opening the plastic lid and pulling out the thin glossy illustration of Sinnoh. He pointed to Lake Valor and traced a circle with his fingertip. “This whole area was destroyed in the blast. All the water was knocked out. No dead or injured, just enough force to knock Mesprit out of it’s cave. Clean and simple bulldozing.”

“Let’s not forget the Magikarp,” Charon smirked.

Stumbling back, Ghetsis caught himself on a rear panel. He store down to the floor, his face had gone pale. “What…? Wh– I..”

Saturn frowned, setting the map down and putting an arm on Ghetsis’s shoulder. “Is everything alright?” he asked. Ghetsis legs slid out underneath him briefly and Saturn caught him.

“Mm, I’d recognize hemophobia even without such a clear image,” said Charon. “Our friend has an active imagination.”

“Hemophobia is a fear of blood, not armed weapons,” Saturn grunted, helping Ghetsis to his feet.

“But… Do you really think it’s safe to have all of them in one room?” Ghetsis said, leaning up against a computer console.

"I'd offer you my medication, but it's a little too strong I'm afraid," said Charon. His sleepy eyes flicked to the cabinet below the console lip, sealed with a lock.

“Not helping,” said Saturn.

“We are professionals, Mr. Ghetsis. The possibility is very low, I wouldn’t doubt the reinforcements either,” said Charon. “How’s that for uplifting?”

Ghetsis sank to the floor. “You’ll have to forgive me, Commander,” he said, panting heavily. “I have a, well, a very weak stomach. Is there some place we could…” he paled. “Get fresh air?”

Wednesday, 8:30 PM

From the manifolds of the Galactic warehouse was a steel door, where the hallway ended. Saturn paused at a control panel and gave the both of them time to pause. Ghetsis heard the laughing and chatter of people from just beyond the door.

"As you can imagine, we've been walled in for the last two days. The terms of surrender haven't been kind on our people, especially when some of us refuse," said Saturn.

"Refuse?" Ghetsis asked. "That's suicide."

Saturn chuckled. "This whole event has been suicide. It's too bad you weren't around for the days we were proud of, it was a scientific wonder," he said. With one last wretch, the lit control release gave and the doors squealed open. Ghetsis was immediately blinded by the direct sunburst ahead of him where the sun was setting. As soon as he pulled his eyes open, a wall of sound assaulted him.

Commander Jupiter was drenched in sweat, entrenched in a shouting match with a grunt who was struggling to find his next Pokeball. A crowd of identical blue-haired grunts jeered and shouted at the two combatants' final round. In the center of the ring was Jupiter's Stunky, roaring with adrenaline while scraping at the pressed concrete floor.

Ghetsis smiled, stifling a cough. "Far from bored however. They won't have time to reflect on their mistakes."

Saturn looked to him, frowning. "I had no role in this."

The grunt swung his arm over his head and launched his Pokeball, deploying an Onix who shook the compound. Jupiter laughed at it's rearing head, it's bellowing battle cry, and the victorious smile the grunt wore.

"So you think you've found the flaw in my Flamethrower, hm?" Jupiter shouted over the roar of the grunts. "STUNKY! Fury Swipes!"

"ROCK TOMB!" the grunt said, voice cracking and teeth gnashing.

Onix's fully extended body crashed to the ground and rolled along the surface at lightning speed to Stunky, kicking up rocks and a thick dust cloud. Leaping high, Stunky pounced on it's flailing tail and sent a fury of claw strikes shimmered in the sun. Jupiter's Stunky was flung from the tail as soon as it had landed. By the time Onix had swung it's full weight around, Stunky had made it back atop her feet and bearing teeth.

"Grrraaaah! Stand down Commander, I have the advantage!" said the grunt, arms held high, ready to react to Jupiter’s next command.

Jupiter lifted a fist. "Bite Stunky, BITE!"

The staring match between the two Pokemon ended. Stunky lifted onto her hind paws and kicked up to Onix's flailing head. It's rocky jaw snapped up at Stunky as she flew, and found itself wailing when the smaller Stunky chomped down on it's horn. The momentum took Onix to the ground hard.

Onix stopped moving. "I'm disappointed, no commands! That was when you give a command!" Jupiter shouted.

"IRON TAIL!"

Stunky's stretch was interrupted by Onix's high-speed tail. A hard swing on it's head sent Stunky flying into the crowd, far out of sight. Onix bellowed a deep-throated cry, regaining it's full height on it's tail.

Jupiter briefly made eye-contact with the laughing grunt, and held her rage silently. "Look who gets to use the shower tonight! Me!" said the grunt, putting a thumb to his chest and laughing loudly.

"They turned off the water to get some momentum on the terms. It’s in limited supply, possibly the only reason Jupiter would be interested in fighting," said Saturn. Ghetsis hadn't realized how confused he himself had looked, until he saw Saturn’s look of concern.

Suddenly there was a crack of lightning to Onix's horn. "HA! " laughed the grunt. "Electric type doesn't work on Onix's Rock type!"

Stunky barreled through the crowd, tossing grunts aside as it bolted to the center of the ring. Onix was still staring up at it’s horn, when Stunky flipped onto her front paws and slammed her back into Onix’s chest.

"Rollout Stunky, very good," Jupiter said. The grunt with the Onix paled.

Onix had gotten up to it's full height and rolled onto it's back slightly. It's tail was given wide berth to swing and bash at Stunky, who lept over the rolling rock body of Onix to pounce up to his neck and deliver a tough blow and return. Groaning, Onix's movements became less and less coordinated, it's eyes twisting into pained shapes. Stunky's steeled determination plowed it through thick clouds of ground concrete and physically chipped away at Onix.

The grinding sound of rock faded, as Onix gave one last roar before collapsing into a motionless trail of boulders. His eyes hung open exhausted, his jaw refusing to close.

"I'll be taking that shower now," Jupiter smiled eloquently. "It was my pleasure, however. You are quite the trainer. Perhaps one day you'll be an excellent trainer," she said. Her smile widened. "First, you should probably go through puberty."

From the thick dust cloud that had encircled the battle, Jupiter emerged. The flashes of light no longer glowed, nor the battle cries, only the cheering of grunts. Jupiter walked up to where Ghetsis and Saturn stood devoid of conversation.

Ghetsis turned his sick green eyes to her, and before he could begin Jupiter took a deep snort. "It seems we have business with this foreigner?" she asked, giving Saturn aside a disturbed look. This was the only time she looked away from studying Ghetsis. "Don't act so surprised, I know a man from the outer regions when I see one. You didn't even bother to shower that thick city smog off you."

Jupiter looked to Saturn again, who had put a heavy hand on her. "Jupiter, time to stop. You’re a little excited from the battle," said Saturn.

"Oh no, I'm not stating anything new," sneered Jupiter, approaching Saturn's mortified face. "He knew this, it's his Unovan arrogance. They're so casual over there. I'm amazed you put on a shirt," she said. Her voice raised sharply as she turned her full intensity to Ghetsis. "How dare you come to us on the eve of our deaths so lightly?"

She took the time to study Ghetsis's face, and smirked. "Oh look at you, sick as a Houndoom in winter. Saturn? Do we have any extra sympathy lying around? No?" her smile widened. "No, no we don't. Do you know why?"

Ghetsis's head returned to spinning, involuntarily clutching his stomach, leaning away from Jupiter’s grim stare. Every step he took back, Jupiter took another forward, feeling her hot breath on him. "I wish I could agree with you, but I'm afraid this conversation is equal parts unprofessional."

"Unprofessional? How unprofessional do you need to be to someone as thick as you!"

At this, Ghetsis sank to his knees. "How dare you bow to me so mockingly," Jupiter hissed. "How DARE you! I know what your kind is like, you inherit the family business."

Ghetsis made a hard choking sound. Saturn paled.

"And then you think it'll make up for being a cripple. It's all the same isn't it? I bet you don't even like business, because you're a 'free spirit'? Has this gone on long enough?"

"Too long," Ghetsis wheezed.

Jupiter squatted down, fighting Saturn's grip on her shoulders. "And you know something?" she whispered, closed in on him. "You're still listening."

Saturn blinked, and then grunted once again, rocking Jupiter onto her heels and receiving a nasty glare. "Stop, now. This is our guest," he said.

"No no, this is not our guest. He would have left ages ago if he were our guest," she said, slapping his arm away. "You need this deal, don't you?"

"You don't even know his name, do you?"

"Of course I know who Ghetsis is," Jupiter smiled. "I picked him. He's my first choice, and do you know why? He's our most viable option. I only pick winners Saturn, something Master Cyrus learned too late."

Ghetsis looked up pleadingly to Saturn and Jupiter's conversation, fumbling for support on his weak knees. "Saturn... What's going on...?"

Jupiter reared up and kicked him in the stomach. Saturn yelped louder than Ghetsis did, receiving laughter from Jupiter, who reared back into a skip. "You don't get it at all? Any of you?"

"Jupiter he's got a weak stomach," Saturn pleaded. "Do you have any respect for what we're trying to do?"

"Oh but the utmost," she cackled. Ghetsis's pale throbbing face swung sleepily, fighting for control of his own body. Looking wide-eyed to the floor, he was looking into the polished reflection on Jupiter's boot. "Don’t vomit if you know what's good for you.”

"He'll throw up if he wants too, because he's a human being."

"If he does he will send his potential client into a very expensive fury. Saturn, he's no idiot, he's a human being."

Ghetsis rolled to the side, fighting to get his jacket off. Jupiter continued to watch waiting for his fighting to cease. As soon as the jacket was off he covered his face with it. An ungodly noise came from beneath the wool coat, where a large dark spot was forming. Saturn covered his face.

Jupiter's laughing fit didn't die down. Wrapping his arm around Ghetsis's back, Saturn lead him into one of the main facilities on the compound, where Ghetsis blindly stumbled into a stall.

"I'm so, so.... Sorry..." Saturn sighed. "I hope that jacket wasn't too pricey, but if not, I can assure you it'll come out of Commander Jupiter's pay... Well... I suppose Veilstone sells some excellent jackets... I'm really sorry about this. If you'll excuse me, I have a Commander to reprimand. If you want to watch... Well... Forget about it. Take it easy."

#02

Deep Space #01

By Yugoslavia

2: Mars

???

Wincing hard, Ghetsis realized he was napping on bathroom tile. His lips were caked with saliva, his mouth more dry than he could remember in recent memory. After a quick reassessment in the mirror, he exited, leaving his coat in a disposal bin.

The futuristic hallways had been replaced with more homely office decor; plain white walls and blue carpet. Offices, he guessed. Outside the glass on the steel door, there was no short supply of excited grunts, even with the moon barely becoming the only source of light for the entire region.

At the top of a short staircase the hall bent around, at the end featuring a snack machine. Upon closer inspection Ghetsis saw that the glass display on it had been smashed in. Most of the supplies had been taken, besides a few plastic wrapped tubes of trail mix that had been left in perfect array. With a few bills, Ghetsis bought out the machine, and took all three trail mix packages.

Where the second staircase began was a loose wrapper, and then another in the middle of the stairs. A gentle reflected ray of fluorescent office light indicated that there was something at the end of the hall. He hopped up the stairs quickly, and found himself clutching his stomach once more. The little handful of trail mix he had downed was stale, and stirred up his seasick stomach. Remembering earlier, he quickly pictured the nuclear weapons in the main hall, and began to get tipsy.

Blinking sweat away, he crinkled up the plastic container and set it in his pants pocket. He continued down the hall, until another plastic wrapper fluttered down ahead. Ghetsis approached and inspected the slowly unfolding wrapper; freshly folded up.

"Hyyahh!!"

Ghetsis was plowed into the floor by the force of a piledriver. A loose tube of trail mix sprayed out down the hall. Turning his head around, Ghetsis's nose bumped into a black latex knee, instantly recognizing the Team Galactic trademark.

"What is this? What’s going on? Ugh… What the heck…"

"That's very unprofessional," the mysterious attacker said, "especially when I asked you first."

"Hm?" Ghetsis grunted under her weight. "I don't believe so- AAGH!"

Another huge blow to Ghetsis's back. "I asked the question again, but did you listen?”

"My name is Ghetsis," he said. "I'm a visitor from Unova, and I've been asked by Commander Saturn to help take care of some special energy resources you have."

The stranger rolled off his back, grabbing a loose hand of his. He came face to face with a smiling redhead. "My name is Mars. I'm a Team Galactic Commander... Or, well, was..."

Ghetsis settled his stomach, adjusting the buttons on his shirt and assessing the status of his trail mix tubes. "I'm sorry for your loss. It's tough losing a coworker, much less a boss."

"I'm sorry for your loss of flavor," smirked Mars, picking up a popped trail mix wrapper. "Seriously, trail mix? Might as well eat the Eterna Forest. No point, a waste of chocolate."

"Not a fruits and vegetables kind of person?"

"No, that's been my favorite part of Team Galactic," she said, walking down the hall. "Though, you can get some pretty nice apples in Floaroma Town. They dip them in honey, so it's not like a lot of real work to enjoy them. But that aside, I hate small talk."

Ghetsis smiled. "Was that Jupiter’s idea?"

"Hah! Jupiter, she's not very interesting, which is odd for someone like her."

"What's that?"

She wrenched open an office door. "A Commander."

Ghetsis entered. "Saturn's fairly interesting. I enjoy his company, when he's not selling nuclear weapons."

"Yes, he's very interesting," she mused. At the far end of the office was a little desk light, and a beanbag coated in Twinkie wrappers. Mars walked gracefully through knocked over stacks of paper that littered the hall. Many of the calendars in there were all about a month behind, some even two. "Charon is pretty not interesting, but not as not interesting as Jupiter."

"Charon? I haven't seen much of him," Ghetsis said. Hovering at the edge of a window, he turned to Mars sinking into a red beanbag chair, diving into another Twinkie.

"He's pretty antisocial. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see him for the whole visit. We don't have much to talk about anyway. Master Cyrus and him were good friends, so that's good enough for me," Mars said, spitting out chunks of Twinkie while lost in thought. "You can have the beanbag over there, I usually use it for leg support, so it shouldn't have much use."

Ghetsis slowly sank into it, visibly relaxing with all of his muscles. "Have you been living here?"

Mars nodded. "You have no idea how depressing it is out there. The grunt barracks aren't very fun at all, and I'm the only Commander in there. Jupiter's taken Cyrus's bedroom and Saturn doesn't sleep. "

"And Charon?"

"Who cares? He could have a wife and kids for all I know," she said. "All there is to do is sign some 'terms of surrender' crud that nobody really likes. I'm certainly in no position to go hangout in town, those International Police guys are good."

Sinking further into the beanbag, Ghetsis tore into another container of trail mix. "There's a lot of talk about the terms of surrender, what's that all about?"

"Well," Mars began. "I think the reason you're here is that so we can't prove we have nuclear weapons. Saturn mentioned that we need to figure out how to get rid of them so we can take a load off our charges. The terms of surrender are like saying we'll come quietly if we get less of a criminal record. Much of this is pinning it on Cyrus, who's like a scapegoat now that he's... well... lost."

Ghetsis took a minute to process all of that. "I don't understand," he said. "What's the problem? Jupiter doesn't like them, even if it's complete forgiveness."

Mars frowned. "Wiping our criminal record doesn't wipe everyone-who's-ever-watched-TV's memory. Jupiter's got this sneaking suspicion that it makes us even weaker. She wants to bargain."

"Business doesn't work like that. I understand she has a power complex, but that excludes cooperation."

"Hmmm, yeah," said Mars, licking her fingers. "So, then do you think I should?"

Ghetsis sat up in the chair, or at least tried to. He tossed the folded wrapper into a waste bin, and then a few of Mars' wrappers. "Absolutely. You sound like a bright young woman, the last thing I should do is condemn you to a dangerous future."

Something like a loud bellow combined with a nasty hissing noise came from the far side of the office. Ghetsis spilled more trail mix all over his lap, shaking the heavy thinking he was participating in. Mars rubbed her moonlit eyes. "What is it girl?" she asked sleepily.

A loud screeching of claws on glass erupted in the office. "PURUGLY! Be careful with that, you know how Saturn is about stuff around here. What is it?"

Purugly bounded to Mars's voice and knocked a panel, sending loose paperwork in scattered drifting paths. When the mess cleared, Ghetsis turned to the sloppy licking Mars was receiving from the gigantic cat.

"Stahahp! Hey!" Mars' giggling turned to frustration. "What? Why can't it wait?"

As soon as Mars knocked her off, she scrambled out to down the hall. "What do you think that was?" Ghetsis murmured, shaking the tingling sensation of sleep from his limbs.

"Something important," Mars said. She hopped up and reattached her Pokeball belt to her hips. "Purugly's usually pretty laid-back, sorry about that."

"Not at all," Ghetsis laughed. "I'm just glad for a distraction from... Ooohh..." Ghetsis's stomach gurgled.

Mars rounded the corner of the cubicle. "Geez, what the heck? There's like a bonfire... And a ton of grunts! Purugly, this is is crazy!"

Purugly cried carnivorously, licking her paws and steeling her claws. "PRRAWWW..."

"Oh yes, the fight," said Ghetsis, coming up behind her and causing her to flinch in his stumbling.

Mars gasped, looking over to him. "The fight? There's a fight? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Jupiter tell me?"

Rubbing his brow, Ghetsis stifled a yawn. "I would've thought it'd be over by now. Jupiter must have some real issues to work out. I wouldn't be surprised if..." he looked around for Mars. He looked in the direction of another loud shrieking noise and flash of red light.

"Hyyahh!!" she shrieked. Purugly barreled through the glass pane, followed by Mars riding a Golbat's back into the night air. Ghetsis had just enough reaction time to dive behind a cubicle divider.

Catching his breath, Ghetsis fumbled for his own Pokeball. The wind had flung the last of the glass shards to the far end of the office and cleared the path where Ghetsis apprehensively stepped out into. He scanned for another violent outburst from the Commander, and realized she truly had disappeared. Fighting sleep, he sprinted down the office's alleyway and returned to the stairs where his trail mix had sprayed out.

He returned to the door Saturn took him through and exited it. Cool blasts of night air made him clutch for his jacket and rustled his hair. The new material of the jacket felt odd between his fingers, as he continued to rub it and his face continued to pale. He fought the crowd of grunts that had formed around Mars' shouting match.

Wednesday, 11:15 PM

Ghetsis emerged beside Jupiter, who pulled away from Mars' challenge to smile at him. "Oh Mars you fool, look at the baby you roused from sleep. Do us all a favor and grab a bottle for him. Doesn't that sound nice?" she cooed, grabbing his chin and tugging.

"I haven't been sleeping well because of you," he said, patting his stomach.

"I don’t know anyone who sleeps well around Mars," said Jupiter. "You're distracting me, go distract someone else."

"Don't you dare talk to my friend like that!" Mars shouted, Purugly bristling alongside Mars's back as it stalked Jupiter with golden eyes. "You're wearing my patience Jupiter, and you know I've got business with you."

Jupiter smirked. "So the student thinks she is the master, hm? You should do comedy Mars, you have the hair for it."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you should never impress a lady with her own tricks."

"Alright swamp-for-brains, hope you enjoy some of this hot air," Mars said. She pointed a commanding finger. "PURUGLY! Show Miss Jupiter we're not playing games!"

Growling, Purugly tossed it's heavy frame to the side. Thick claw marks dug into the concrete as Purugly launched full speed into Jupiter. Seconds to spare, Jupiter launched a Pokeball of her own. For a brief second, Ghetsis could see pure rage in her eyes.

Bronzong's presence sent a loud metallic ringing into the air around them. Static glowing eyes stayed alert when it intercepted Purugly's trajectory and used a strong telekinetic force to keep itself aloft. It's arms swung in rotating strength, and Purugly sailed far from it and bounced off the stamped concrete.

The thick white chunks caught in her fur sprayed away as it hoisted itself to it's standing position. "C'MON PURUGLY! Eat FLAMETHROWER you brat!" Mars shouted.

"Namecalling won't save you! PSYWAVE Bronzong!"

A hot stream of flames sprayed out from Purugly's cavernous chest, shaking it's fur in ripples. Thick pink wavelengths enveloped Bronzong's body and swung out with electromagnetic intensity. At the center, a heavy wind malestrom whipped up and blinded many grunts with their own hair.

Lights in the compound flickered on and a siren wailed. Mars called off Purugly's attack, but Jupiter did not. The two were hit with the psychic blast and flew far from the ring of grunts that now dispersed in quick scattering. Rolling off the concrete, Mars looked up to Saturn, standing where she had landed. She hung her powdery head and sighed, slouching over and yawning.

"So this is when you choose to come out? To participate in Jupiter's midlife crisis?" Saturn sadly asked, shaking his head. "I can't blame this on your immaturity for long, and I know you don't like that."

Jupiter retrieved Bronzong with her Pokeball. "I will have a midlife crisis when I want, and I will have you know this is not it.”

Saturn brushed Mars’ dizzy head off his boots. “That’s the most human thing you’ve said all night. Seriously, what has gotten into you? I’ve been out all night cleaning up the mess you’ve made with our guest and you go out screwing around with the grunts past curfew!”

Scoffing, Jupiter attempted a playful punch to his shoulder, landing far harder than she intended. “I’ve made my opinions pretty clear on our guest,” she said, stifling a burp. “Would you like to hear them again?”

“What the–“ Saturn shook his head. “Jupiter, you don’t sound like yourself. Was that a contraction I heard?”

“No.”

“JUPITER,” said Mars, cross-eyed. She hoisted herself onto her hands, but failed to kick her knees beneath her, stumbling to the floor. “Eat some… PURUGLY! F’naa… And no more Psychic-type moves… I feel… Awful…”

“It wasn’t the Psywave was it Jupiter?” asked Saturn. “Ghetsis, what’s seven times nine equal?”

“Sixty-three,” said Ghetsis.

“Alright, so no radiation from than then…” Saturn trailed off.

Saturn wrapped his arms around Jupiter, reaching around through her Pokeball belt holsters, to the leg pouch that usually held her communicator. “What the heck? Saturn?” Jupiter choked out between struggling. The pocket popped off, and just as Saturn reached in, Jupiter head-butted him really hard.

“Aaugh–!” he said, falling back. Saturn still had a small silver hip flask clutched in his fingers. The pale expression he always wore faded away.

“Hey… How’d you get that…?” said Mars, wobbling on her legs.

“Yes, Jupiter, how did this little wonder get in there?” said Saturn. All the grunts collectively took a few steps back, unsure if even to speak. He uncapped and took a deep whiff. “Oh look! This isn’t Moo Moo Milk, is it?”

“Saturn… Screw off…” said Jupiter, stomping her foot.

“No, you’re the one screwing us. You’re screwing us ALL!” Saturn shouted.

Jupiter lurched forward, footsteps almost as unsure as her arms. "Look, Commander," she said, coughing heavily, "even if you hadn't figured it out, it wouldn't change the situation we're in. In fact, I'll even go tell a guard right now."

"Not in your condition," Saturn said, grabbing her by the arm. Jupiter turned to face him, blinking steadily at his grimacing face. "We have drug tests in the morning, and you will surely fail, just as you have failed to read your documentation."

"That garbage? Reading is for the weak."

"Reading is for the ones with careers," hissed Saturn. "Alcohol is a banned substance, everyone on the compound knows that. Where did you get it?"

Jupiter chuckled, resulting in a heavy jostling from Saturn. "Check the grocery list sometime, Commander."

"Grocery list? Rations aren't pickable."

Jupiter chuckled some more. "Oops, guess not everything is under your control, Commander."

"Stop calling me that," said Saturn. He let go of her arms, and Jupiter stumbled over her own weight.

Wiping the little cut she had earned on her cheek, she leaned up and smiled. "What, your name? Commander, Commander, that's all you ever ask for around here."

Saturn turned. "I know mocking when I hear it. If you wanted to give respect you would have given it to our guest," he said. “And I ask for a lot more than my name around here–“

"Ghetsis is a weakling, and he reads," Jupiter laughed. "You really screwed this one up. Let us all point fingers at Saturn, it will probably be the only time ever."

"And he's right here," said Saturn. "You have no respect at all!"

Jupiter leaned back and lay completely spread across the floor. "I was saving it for when he was here, thanks for that, Commander."

Sighing, Saturn walked away from her. Three grunts had lined up in military fashion, staring blankly into space while awaiting orders. "I want this handled. Go find where we're getting alcohol from. Now," he said. After a snapping salute, they sprinted off in three different directions.

Ghetsis popped open a container of pills and downed two. The wet squelching noise from him swallowing snapped Mars out of her train of thought, shaking loose concrete dust that had caked in her hair and sprinkling down the front of her uniform.

"Mmph…” she breathed, rolling onto her back and sitting up slowly. “What was that?”

"Ibuprofen," said Ghetsis. "My apologies, didn't mean to shake your train of thought."

"Ehhh," Mars sighed. "I’m pretty tired anyway, I should, well, go.”

Nodding, Ghetsis reached his hand down. Mars waved it away.

“I’m fine, really,” she said. Mars only stumbled forward a little bit, shaking the rest of the concrete out of her hair. As Ghetsis walked beside her, Mars waved him away. “Please, I’m totally fine. I look like I’m doing fine, right?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Ghetsis sighed.

Mars smiled. “Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some sleeping to take care of,” she said. She stopped her steady walk. “Good night, Ghetsis. It’s been great to meet you.”

“As for you I feel the same,” he said, saluting her.

Purugly returned to her Pokeball, her exhausted form enveloping in laser and leaving a concrete cloud. Mars’s smile faded, as she stumbled off down the long stretch of pavement towards the door they started at. Ghetsis’s smile faded as well.

Saturn stepped up beside Ghetsis. “Mars is a nice lady once you get to know her,” he said. “She takes a lot of cues from Jupiter, which makes it weird when she disagrees with someone she likes.”

“That would be a major dissonance, wouldn’t it?”

Saturn laughed, nodding. “Yes, yes it would. I’m not so sure why Jupiter is taking this so hard, but I’m sorry you have to experience it.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Ghetsis sighed and looked at his shoes, rocking back and forth on them. “Has she signed the terms?”

“No.”

Part 3: Ghetsis

Thursday, 4 AM. Team Galactic Barracks.

There's nothing but rolling hills thick with trees. Ghetsis's breathing is heavy, his face is red. The last few clouds in the sky roll away and clear the blue expanse, and the sun bears down on Ghetsis's searching face. Just as he sits down, a twig snaps behind him.

"Come on Ghetsis, just another mile. What kind of kid did I raise?" the man laughs, smiling and reaching his hand down to Ghetsis.

Ghetsis grabs it. The man pulls him to his feet and Ghetsis immediately stumbles into a barkdust drift. Sap coated hands claw through the dirt and pull onto his hands and knees. "Father...?"

A shrill roar is ringing upwind of Ghetsis. He turns around, just as a massive Usaring is running full speed at him. Grabbing for a supportive root, his hand lands squarely in the center of a Twinkie package, sending a shot of cream filling out the side with a loud crinkling noise. The Usaring's nose wrinkles, and it goes into a full sprint.

From the far left, there's a huge surge of light as Darumaka crashes down in front of the Usaring. It's long trunk-like arms shoot up in resistance and flip the Usaring into a shrub. Ghetsis takes this opportunity to get up and run behind Darumaka. Even though he's running as fast as he can, his legs feel like they're underwater.

"NO, Ghetsis! Not behind Darumaka!"

Ghetsis turns to see the source of this voice, but only sees a furry wall of red flying full speed into him. Darumaka's limp body rolls helplessly down the hill and drags Ghetsis with him.

Ghetsis's body shudders violently. He fights for air, until the convulsion ends.

Usaring is atop Darumaka, and beneath both is Ghetsis. Twigs and bark are rammed into every square inch of skin, besides the heavy hairy beast atop him, screaming in his ear for the Usaring's mercy. Fighting back tears, Ghetsis cries for help.

"GET OFF MY SON!" the man shouts. Darumaka bounces into Ghetsis as the Usaring pushes off. His arms are still trapped, though he can look up into the blank eyes of fainted Darumaka.

Ghetsis is fighting as hard as he can to clear the body. "No," he pleads. "Not this part."

"Get off me, you beast! AAAAAAUGGHH!!"

There's a loud thud. Shrill shrieks of the man are incessant, as he begs for his life.

"Nnghhhuu..." sighs Ghetsis. He rolls over and plows his head into the floor. Weakly clawing at the floor, he rolls over and closes his eyes tighter.

"URUUUUUUOOOGGHHHHHH!!!"

Ghetsis is crying, blinking away tears and the thick globs of bear mucus flying from the Usaring's snapping maw, not a foot away. Each time he pushes, he rams his head into the rock that blocks the back of his head. Darumaka's blood has formed a tiny pool on his cheek, where Usaring's snapping teeth have made their marks.

"Father... Please help!"

It's been silent in the direction of where the man was last heard. Even when the Usaring's growls die down and he wanders off, it's completely silent. The only sound is the gnashing of teeth and tearing of plastic wrappers. Then, there's a low cry.

"Ghetsis... Ghetsis, my boy... Are you still there?"

Spitting up the dried blood and saliva from his face, Ghetsis screams as loud as he can. It's unintelligible, but loud.

"Please... Ghetsis... Make a sound for me... I need to hear you one last time..."

Ghetsis is screaming at the top of his lungs. His throat burns, and the thrashing he does only serves to bash his head against the boulder. He can barely hear the slow shuffling that the man struggles to make over the shrieks.

Coughing heavy and wet, the man's sound is much closer. "Darumaka... Are you okay? I need," he erupts into a coughing fit. "I need you to help me find Ghetsis... Please... It's my last revive..." A quiet hypodermic sound is close, and so are the man’s heavy breaths.

Darumaka struggles atop Ghetsis. It's heaving chest shoves Ghetsis further into the twigs and bark, and his yelps of pain are drowned out by Darumaka's groaning.

"Darumaka, is your leg stuck?"

The leg shielding Ghetsis's shoulder tugs hard where the fist is lodged with a boulder. Looking up, a bloody hand is reaching to clear the boulder. Ghetsis tries to scream again, but he's cut short by a sharp intake of breath.

"UUUUGRRRROOOAAAAARRRRR!!!"

A claw sweeps the source of the bloody hand, and the heavy sound of taking a blow is drowned out by the Usaring's battle cry. It's swift speed is aided by pulling over Darumaka's exhausted head. Out from the forest there's a crashing sound. Ghetsis struggles to get out once more.

Letting out a yelp for joy, Ghetsis finds his left leg is free. Heavy vibrations of heavy footfalls are felt over there. Ghetsis stops wiggling his foot.

"No... No no no..."

Ghetsis screams until his voice falls out. A rush of thick red fur later, he's on the other side of Darumaka, flipping through mud and dirt. The foot inside Usaring's mouth tears away from the teeth and stops Ghetsis's roll down the steep ravine. His voice returns to air his pain, as he pulls it away to check the connection to his ankle; still attached.

Usaring pounces again. The loose dirt sends Ghetsis further down the ravine, just giving him a narrow glimpse of the slowly rising blood soaked chest that belonged to the man before it disappeared. His utility belt had torn from the buckle with out it's Pokeballs still attached.

He had moments to scan the scene, as Usaring reared onto his legs and bellowed out his yellow-stained jaw. A Pokeball was trapped in a bush's roots, bearing a green sticker and a '4' in marker atop the sticker. "Flaafy," he breathed.

Looking up, Usaring was tipping onto his front paws, prepared to strike. It's first sweep sank into the tree where Ghetsis ducked in time to release his grip. He tumbled down until his head caught on the bush. Flaafy's Pokeball rolled down out of the roots, and right into Ghetsis's quick grip.

"GO! FLAAFY!!" Ghetsis shouted. "THUNDER FANG!"

The red burst of light erupted into bright yellow, as Flaffy hurtled into the beige 'O' on Usaring's chest. Usaring wailed in a much higher pitch than it had for the entire attack. Doubling over, it rolled down into the ravine at hurtling speed.

Flaafy dodged the oncoming Usaring by kicking off it's chest and sliding to the side. The build up of mud beneath it's stubby hooves brought her to a full stop.

"FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

A thunderbolt flies to Usaring's resting place, where the grunts that echo up are silenced by the crack of lightning. Ghetsis shields his eyes from the pure light.

Ghetsis pulls his hand away from his eyes. Back atop the ridge, Flaafy nudges the man's inanimate body. It's not until Flaafy is nudging Ghetsis's leg that he breaks his train of thought and looks down. Thick wet strands of hair hang down over his eyes, and when he brushes them out of his forehead he receives a fresh blast of rain on his face.

"It... It's raining... How long has it been raining for, Flaafy?"

"Your entire life," said a familiar voice behind Ghetsis. He turns around and comes face to face with Mars.

Ghetsis frowns. "You're not supposed to be here," he said, voice wavering. "This isn't how it happened."

Stepping around him, Mars continues to stare. "This is weird enough Ghetsis, I don't understand."

"I don't understand."

"STOP," Ghetsis says, shaking his head violently.

"Stop what? You're a grown man Ghetsis," she smirks. "Why do you have shame when we don't?"

"Shame is a weakness Ghetsis, a weakness you have..."

Wednesday, 12:45 AM. Team Galactic Offices.

"They still haven't signed the terms?" Ghetsis asked, grunting and walking stiffly, holding Mars's hands as Saturn carried her feet towards the secondary offices.

Saturn set her legs on the floor and slid open the door console. "No, unfortunately," he said. With one hand he punched in the passcode and hit 'accept'. The door chimed, slowly sliding open with pneumatic precision as the lights flickered on in the halls. "Sorry for forgetting the lights in here earlier."

Both of them wiped their brow and hoisted Mars back up again. "No problem at all. I probably would have hurt worse with the lights on," Ghetsis laughed. Just as he finished speaking, the lights flickered out. "I suppose it wasn't your fault after all. You would think Mars would have mentioned it your way. Odd, actually. This way," he said, pointing to the light down the hall.

"What is that?" Saturn asked, heading back first down the narrow hall. A shard of glass cracked beneath his boot.

"Snack machine. I assume Mars smashed it in."

Saturn stopped. "What?"

"There's a snack machine in this hall, didn't you know?" asked Ghetsis. "That seems to be under your jurisdiction here," he grunted as Mars's legs dropped out from Saturn's grip, her full weight resting on his arms.

"Of course I knew there was a snack machine, that's ridiculous," Saturn said, stepping over broken glass shards easily highlighted by the blue fluroscent light of the machine. "Aagh!" he shouted, banging his fist on the dial panel. "I aught to punish all the grunts, this is getting out of hand."

"Hold on now, this isn't the grunts's doing. Theres a little cut visible on Mars's knuckle," Ghetsis said, holding her limp hand up. "And what do you mean 'out of hand'?"

Kneeling down, Saturn checked the deposit slot. "You saw Jupiter's stunt back there. If she has alcohol then you can't rule out that others are involved. Breaking into the snack machine isn't an isolated incident either. I had a deposit on this machine, let's not forget."

Thursday, ???

The wall opposite Ghetsis came swirling into view. By the light in the room, he could tell it was still early, until the warm light of the hall came through the crack in the open door.

"Grrhhuuu... Who is it...?" Ghetsis groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"A Commander with a friggin' big headache," said Mars. Ghetsis turned to look, seeing her dark outline in the doorway. He sat up while rubbing his eyes, inviting her in. She had already walked around to the side of the bed. "Who took me home last night? Was it you?"

"Saturn did it...Shhhshshhh," said Ghetsis, waving her off. Through squinted eyes he put a finger to his lips. "What time is it even?"

Mars frowned. "Saturn? Saturn doesn't have any body mass to him, that's impossible."

"Mm, well, I suppose I had a hand in it too. That's irrelevant though. What time?"

"Were you the one who banged my head up?" Mars asked, straightening her lopsided upjet of hair.

Ghetsis groaned. He leaned over his lap and popped his back loudly. "No, that was Saturn. Seriously, what time is it in here?" His eyes sleepily searched the room. "Odd... They forgot to put a clock in here."

"Why did Saturn get mad?"

Blinking, Ghetsis finished rubbing one eye and looked up at Mars, who had leaned over on the bed to inspect Ghetsis. "Mad? What makes you think he's mad? Saturn's the most rational person here, he probably has a fantastic temper."

Mars scratched her head in confusion. "Saturn? Saturn's the most trigger happy person I know. Charon gave him a very long talk about manners before you or any other of his guests arrived. I bet that's why he's so mad."

"Other guests? That would explain Jupiter's anger too, I suppose. That's a tough road to walk."

"I bet," Mars nodded. "Jupiter hasn't been helping either."

"Oh of course not, she was the catalyst for last night."

It was Mars's turn to rub her temples. "I was about to ask about that. Last night... I remember you, Jupiter, and Saturn, and something Saturn was really pissed about? Oh! Wait... There was... A metal bottle? Jupiter's hip flask!"

Ghetsis nodded. "The hip flask, right. It was filled with alcohol, and Saturn took it from her."

Mars gasped. "What? She's had that thing on every mission! And she every time I asked, she ignored me," she said, crossing her arms and rolling onto her back, resting on the side of the bed.

"Mm, I wouldn't mention that in your reports."

"Wait a minute, something's not right here," said Mars. She paused, tossing her Pokeball up and down in thought, slowly chewing her lip. Her head slowly turned up to Ghetsis. "Why then? She would've smacked Saturn if he took it."

"She was quite intoxicated by the time we got there. You were in battle, remember? Right before the Psywave?" Ghetsis asked.

Mars had turned her gaze to the wall. "And Jupiter knows where because she's getting it directly... Y'know, Saturn's been on my case all morning about getting you up, even though he's been having me do all sorts of things... It's not like Jupiter goes anywhere unusual here..." she picked at a cut on her chin, looking up at the ceiling and pushing her head into the side of the mattress.

Ghetsis had rolled out of bed, sliding his arms through a shirt sleeve and buttoning it up. "What time did you say it was?"

Train of thought broken, Mars pulled out a Pokegear phone, flipping up the screen. "A little after noon," she said. "Oh look! A message!"

Mars hopped up on the bed and sank into the spot where Ghetsis's body had impressed upon the foam. She patted around the much larger outline, until Ghetsis got up and looked over.

"It says?" he asked. He leaned over, smoothing the long sickly blonde hair out of his eyes, and read:

Meet at Charon's room in 15 min, bring Purugly.

--Saturn, 12:33 PM

"Hmph," Mars said. "I wonder what that's all about. I should probably go then. You're good to go then? I think you'll probably be needed at some point..." she looked up at him. "Ghetsis?"

Ghetsis was staring at the wall with a concerned look on his face.

"I'd offer you my medication, but it's a little too strong I'm afraid," said Charon. His sleepy eyes flicked to the cabinet below the console lip, sealed with a lock.

"Charon..."

"Yeah? That's where I'm going, if you'd like to come," said Mars. "Are you okay? You don't look so good. Are you going to be sick again? Come on, get it together!"

Ghetsis turned to Mars. "Does Jupiter ever visit Charon's office?"

Frowning, Mars got up, going to the door. "Like daily, why? Is something wrong?"

Mars was about to exit, when Ghetsis grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her to her.

"Charon has the alcohol, it's a part of his medication."

"Wait what? What does that mean?"

"Charon is about to get arrested for a crime he doesn't know he's committing. We need to stop Saturn before he gets there," Ghetsis said, wide awake now.

Mars flipped the screen on her Pokegear again. "Ghetsis, this message was sent at 12:33 PM; it's 12:49 PM now, we'll never make it."

The door swung wide open, rattling from Ghetsis's blunt shoulder. Mars stumbled out with his hand still on her shoulder. Ghetsis looked down the long hall, where various grunts sat on the floor bored. "Not if we run," he said. As he finished speaking, his stomach gurgled. Mars looked over at his stomach.

"I think I'll do the running. You get yourself a trash can, meet me at Charon's office."

Ghetsis smiled, nodding. Mars sprinted off before she could see him.

Mars rounded the last corner in the hall, running into Jupiter and falling over onto her rear.

“HEY! Watch it!” Jupiter shouted.

With her sleeve, Mars wiped a bit of saliva that had been knocked from her mouth. “Sorry! Sheesh,” she groaned, getting up. “I was just looking for Charon. Have you seen him? It’s an emergency.”

A thin smile appeared on Jupiter’s face. “Charon, hm? There’s not much trouble around here these days, must be related?” she said, pointing to Saturn grilling a grunt outside the window.

“Yeah,” said Mars, getting to her feet. “That was pretty good. Did you know already?”

“Of course I knew already, who do you take me for?” asked Jupiter, punching Mars on the shoulder. “I was looking to save him from this too. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Fun? We’re helping cover his rear, that just seems more right than fun.”

Jupiter chuckled, gripping Mars by the shoulders and backpedaling with her. She pointed to the gated perimeter, where the rounded hull of the Galactic Shuttle sat. “Oh no, this won’t be so simple. A violation of the terms of surrender here will be almost certain death for Charon, so we need to give him a great send off.”

Mars gave her a confused look. “Send off?”

Sighing, Jupiter punched in the exit code on a console. “It’s not worth explaining. In fact, this conversation never happened. I don’t need another accessory here, you wouldn’t understand.”

“What? What do you mean I wouldn’t understand? What’s there to understand?” asked Mars, lighting up.

“Mars, you were a fantastic Commander, but don’t you need to go live a life? Team Galactic’s done. Why else is Saturn selling us all?”

Just as Jupiter was stepping through the doorway, Mars stopped her. “Wait! So, there’s no Team Galactic to go back to? It’s just, whatever I had before, right?”

Jupiter nodded. “That’s it. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. Please Mars, be normal, be the better of all of us.”

“I see,” said Mars, letting her go. “I suppose that’s it then?”

Part 4: Looker

Team Galactic Barracks. Wednesday, 1 PM.

Ghetsis raised his head from a sink, looking at his reflection. Water droplets dripped from his face as he hucked another wet paper towel into a bin.

“C’mon Ghetsis, you can go back in there,” said Ghetsis, staring into his own eyes. “It’s for Charon, not you. Charon needs to be saved. He needs to be, he needs to be,” he smiled, backing up. “He does!”

Putting on his new coat, he stepped towards the door, when the mirror came crashing down. Ghetsis ducked, a trash bin collapsing on top of him, trapping him between the tile and the floor.

He only lie there for a moment, as the trash bin was lifted from him. The stranger hoisted Ghetsis by the collar to his feet, pulling his head back to take a good look at his face. “Ghetsis? Fascinating, you’re a hard man to find alone. Looker, pleased to meet you.”

Ghetsis dropped onto his feet, immediately tipping over and grabbing onto the archway. “Looker? Who are– Why–?” he found himself hyperventilating.

Looker leaned over the sink, pulling out a pillow case and dumping it’s contents into the upright trash bin; hundreds of bent metal spoons. With his balance restored, Ghetsis walked over to the hollowed mirror frame, finding the concrete walls inside had been hollowed out by thousands of tiny pockmarks. Ghetsis looked over to a bent spoon on the floor, crusted with concrete.

“My name is Looker, I am a special agent of the International Police Force,” he said. “My special detail is– Hey! Stay out of there!”

Turning, Ghetsis saw Looker within an inch of his face. “Sorry?”

“My special detail is Team Galactic,” said Looker, climbing into his tunnel. “It seems as though my mission is over, though you seem to have a crucial role in all of this.”

“Well, it’s all fairly relative– Hey!” Ghetsis protested. Looker held him by the shoulders, inspecting the outer hall. He stepped out and took Ghetsis to the nearest window.

"Look! Something serious is brewing," said Looker. Ghetsis stumbled forward by force of Looker's hand. He caught himself on the window, looking down at the ground where several grunts were chatting with concern. Both Ghetsis and the grunts looked to where a flash of light came from behind a fence, direct light shielded by steel sheets. "The Galactic Shuttle..." Looker breathed. For the first time, Ghetsis saw his stern expression fade to fear.

"The Galactic Shuttle? I didn't think they could leave."

"They're not allowed to," said Looker. "But someone has the startup sequence."

Ghetsis looked back down the grunts, searching the area for clues as to what they were concerned about. He spotted a thin trail of smoke from the console on the door, wall lined with soot-colored blast marks. Looker leaned in beside him and spotted it too.

"What would be in there that they could want?" asked Looker, scratching his chin.

"Charon," Ghetsis said. "Mars is saving Charon. I knew about this, it's okay."

One of the grunts approached the door, and met with the snapping jaw of Skuntank. The grunt was sent reeling back onto it's back, slithering away on his hands, as Skuntank retreated through the door slowly and snarled.

"Uh oh," said Ghetsis.

Looker pushed Ghetsis back, leaning him against a desk and staring with an inch of space between their eyes. "What? Something not to plan? How are you involved?"

"How could Jupiter be involved? That doesn't make sense," said Ghetsis, lost in thought. "I just asked Mars to get him, why would she need help?"

The bright flash of light returned from the fenced area. This time, it was followed by a loud engine rumble. A computer monitor lit up in the office, beeping a static alarm. "Warning," said the computer, "Galactic Shuttle Typhoon is not clear for launch. Clear all personnel from tarmac."

Looker leaned over the desk to read the tiny yellow scrawl on the black monitor, inspecting the odd keyboard. When he turned to Ghetsis, he was sprinting to the exit. "You! Ghetsis! Stop there!"

Ghetsis did not stop. "I have to go stop Mars, figure out the shuttle!"

"I'll get the Commanders, you stay put."

Just as he had left the room, Ghetsis poked his head around the corner of the door. "You and I both know two is better than one," he said, wheezing slightly. "It's also more likely you'll know how to deactivate a Shuttle. Is that correct?"

Looker nodded. "But-" he started, but Ghetsis left before he could finish the thought. He dropped the keyboard on the desk and ran to the far window where they had been. Down on the ground, Ghetsis pushed past the grunt Skuntank had toppled over and into the fried doorway.

Inside, the lights were still on. A loud alarm was ringing, as well as an automated voice box that Ghetsis couldn't understand over the ringing. Loud hydrolic clamps whined as they rose from the floor and secured the warheads. The ground was shaking gently over the roar of engines outside the door. Ghetsis looked back to the doorway and saw a grunt shielding his eyes from the whipping winds.

With his back turned, Ghetsis suddenly felt a huge force knocking him to the ground. Skuntank's gnashing teeth made wet crushing noises next to his ear, her whole body weighing down on Ghetsis. She rolled off him, relieving the vacuum in his chest. He clung for a support on the clamps, and then immediately felt his arm kicked away.

"Oh you don't want to touch that," Jupiter said, walking over to him. "Knock the core around and you'll set them all off."

Ghetsis felt his stomach shoot into his throat. "Hello Commander," he choked.

"Aren't you just part of the problem?" Jupiter shouted, head tilted back over shoulder as she glared at him. "The failure of Team Galactic, charming."

"We've been over this before, haven't we? I wouldn't get ahead of myself just yet, it wasn't sequel worthy."

She squatted down to his level. "We have a guest listening, don't you know what that's like?"

"Do you?" asked Ghetsis, rolling over. Between Jupiter and Skuntank, he could see Charon standing and listening with a frown.

"Mister Ghetsis," said Charon, wandering over. "Were you aware of the conspiracy here? It seems something has passed under my nose unwittingly. I have very low tolerance for such a thing, if you could assist that would be most pleasing," he said. As he approached, Ghetsis saw him shaking, voice wavering. Charon's eyes were blood shot and squinting.

"No... I wasn't aware of any conspiracy... The only conspiracy-"

Charon lifted his leg stiffly and slammed down on the side of Ghetsis's stomach. He groaned loudly, clutching his side and looking up to Charon.

"Jupiter... She's been taking your medication..."

"That is where you'd be wrong," said Jupiter. "Saturn needed a scapegoat to pin any incident that would happen on the premises during lockdown that would threaten the terms of surrender. So, he took my canteen and said it smelled different. Notice how he didn't ask anyone else to fact check him? He knew about the medication, and was going to catch Charon red-handed and blame his failure of leadership."

"That's... No... " said Ghetsis, fighting to get up. He propped himself up against the hyrdralic clamps, looking up at them and fighting to swallow. "Saturn's not that kind of person... He genuinely cares about the well being of all of us... You were clearly drunk!"

"Psywave, Saturn lied again. Anyone who was there knew that the wave built up beside me, it's a rule of prolonged exposure that doesn't come up in normal battles. This is why you don't place your faith in humans," said Jupiter, stroking Skuntank's head nuzzling against her thigh. "You're exactly what Team Galactic needs, someone who doesn't understand why we do what we do."

Charon attempted to bend down on his knees, but the audible creaking and his cries of pain caught Jupiter's attention. She reached down and yanked Ghetsis from the floor, standing him up on his legs. "I have very little in this life," Charon hissed. "Are you going to take more from me? Again?"

Face pale and breathing heavy, Ghetsis looked him in the eye. "It depends... What do you plan to do next?"

Gripping his collar with a trembling hand, Charon pulled him close. "I intend to never be bothered again. To never be pinned for anything ever again. And I want them to know, all of them to know, there are serious consequences for their actions."

The rumbling of the engine was much louder now, but then stopped. A final gust of wind blasted through the doorway. Ceiling lights swung and flickered under the force that rattled the floor. Another alarm filled the warehouse, signaling both Jupiter and Charon's attention. A thin line of panels dropped through the floor, and the whirring sound of motors pulled the secured warheads from the warehouse floor and down a neat line out the door.

"They're lying Ghetsis," said Saturn, leaning over a balcony, lights flickering behind him. "You too Charon, it's all a lie. Jupiter wants your loyalty, and she wants you to take it from me to do that."

The balcony creaked. In a panic, Saturn turned to the rail behind him, examining the pink glow surrounding the bars briefly, before they snapped. Saturn had just enough time to grip the opposite rail before the path beneath his feet dropped out and the entire balcony rolled sideways.

"Saturn... No!" Ghetsis shouted, fighting Jupiter's grip on him. She released and he stumbled forward, landing on his chest and sliding forward gently. Something hard hit his forhead, and when he looked up he was face to face with his own Pokeball belt.

"Ghetsis!" Saturn said, voice straining. Ghetsis looked up and saw his feet kicking to get support on the torn housings of the rails. "Move your Pokemon! I'm going to drop!"

Looking down, Ghetsis saw Zwellious looking up with both heads, snarling at Saturn's legs. Each head made his own attempt to stretch up and snap at Saturn. Ghetsis looked back and saw Jupiter rolling his Pokeball his way.

"Commander, you wish to stop us? Just as you have all along?" said Jupiter.

"Hrrrggh," groaned Saturn. "You can't take the shuttle... I will absolve all charges, it was a misunderstanding! Charon, you don't have to do this, just don't break the terms... Aaaghhh..."

Jupiter led Charon on the track behind the last warhead. "Well Saturn, I'm not the one you should be pleading with. It's Ghetsis's Zwellious beneath you, and it's his Pokeball," she said, calling up to Saturn. She then turned to Ghetsis. "Choose wisely Ghetsis."

Ghetsis hoisted himself to his knees, gripping the Pokeball. "That will not be a hard decision to make," he said, steadying his finger on the button.

"Will it?" Jupiter smirked. "Let Saturn down and you'll have all of us arrested."

"That does not concern me."

"Along with Commander Mars," she finished. "Unless you want to give her enough time to escape and live a happy free life, you may do the honors of handing her over."

The breath escaped Ghetsis's chest. He pulled his finger from the button, but did not lower his arm.

"AAAAGGHH!! Ghetsis! Let me down! They will escape!" Saturn shouted, kicking the balcony floor and making a loud rattling sound.

Charon crossed his hands behind his back, leading himself up the ramp to the shuttle, obscured from sight by the large white paneled engines. Just before Jupiter dipped behind the engine, she winked at Ghetsis, and the ramp raised up into it's locked position.

The Pokeball laser captured Zwellious, clearing the space below Saturn, who immediately dropped down from the balcony. Saturn collapsed through his knees and rolled to the side. Before he could pull himself back on his raw hands, a huge blast of wind rolled through the warehouse. The engines coils engaged and roared their deafening roar.

Minutes later, Ghetsis pulled his head out from between his legs, uncovering his ears. A thick dust cloud surrounded him and darkened the room. A thin stream of light trailed in through the door as the only source of light. Feeling for support on the ground, Ghetsis felt the thousands of little glass shards from the overhead lights.

Ghetsis looked up from the glass shards just in time to see Sneasel's dark silhouette fly in and knock him to the ground. He slid across the glass covered floor and slammed his arm into a raised platform for the warheads. Wincing in pain, he quickly got up to his feet and retrieved Zwellious's Pokeball.

Sneasel leapt out again and Ghetsis raised his good arm over his head. When Sneasel's limbs curled over the arm and sank it's claws in, Ghetsis flung it far from him and bounced him on a platform.

Saturn sprinted in and pushed Ghetsis back, knocking him over the platform and forcing him into a flip. Ghetsis slid back further on his chest, this time feeling the cuts going deep into his shirt. He looked up and saw Saturn leaping up and reactively tossed his Pokeball.

The Pokeball hit the platform on the release button. Saturn was still in mid-air when Zwellious materialized beneath him, and as Zwellious reared it's head back it rammed between his legs and tossed him the other direction. Saturn let out a cry of pain he landed on his shoulder blades.

Zwellious was midway into a victory screech when Sneasel came bounding back. She was met with a hot stream of flames from Zwellious's other head. A Pokeball laser shot into the fiery fray and returned to it's origin deep in the dust cloud. Flames stopped, Sneasel had disappeared.

It was silent, until another bright light erupted in the diffusing dust, far off with the pressurized release sound. Ghetsis stepped up onto the platform with Zwellious, squinting.

Saturn cleared a small path of dust as he stepped carefully into view. "Who are you loyal to?"

"Saturn, I share the interests of your people, you have to-"

"Who are you loyal to?" he asked, voice shaking. "Who did you say you were loyal to?"

"I-" Ghetsis protested. His eyes flicked to the heavy stomping to the right.

"You swore to help us!"

"AND WHAT? YOU SIDE WITH THE- THE CHAOS? THE ONES WHO WANT TO DO WHAT THEY WANT? EVEN IF IT HURTS US ALL?"

Saturn was getting increasingly close. Ghetsis signalled to Zwellious to step forward, until he was yanked into the darkness by a thick rocky claw. Pale, he turned back to him. "Saturn, it was for the best interest of everyone."

"Do you think I'm any different?" he bristled. "Do you think I don't have the same interests?"

"No! You don't understand," Ghetsis pleaded. He sank to his knees, looking up at him. "I made a promise, don't you remember? I would," he swallowed. "I would help this community at all costs. Your community. It's what I do."

Saturn's face was stern. "I know that's what you do. I know a broken when I promise. I know a person's special talent when I see it. I know when it's not being used."

"Then you know I'm the protector, it's what I do," said Ghetsis. "Saturn, please. Let me do my job. Let me continue."

"I know we're done," said Saturn coldly. He looked up over Ghetsis's head. "Rhyperior?"

Ghetsis's chest sucked in by force of a stone claw. His legs dropped out underneath him, his back bouncing against Rhyperior's stone chest.

"Courtesy of Charon. It's always great to have collector friends around."

"I bet you learn a lot from your colleagues," Ghetsis wheezed.

Saturn nodded. "You can understand why I'd like to keep them out of trouble. Even if they were safe in prison I can always know where they are."

"Understandably. I've learned a lot from them too," said Ghetsis. He twisted hard in Rhyperior's grip, knocking a Pokeball to the ground. Eelektross materialized in an instant and immediately swept it's thick wet tail into Rhyperior's knees.

Rhyperior wailed, and Saturn screamed. Ghetsis rolled out of his grip and onto a glass drift he had created. Just as he returned to focus, Saturn was leaping down to his level.

His fist curled, Ghetsis hopped up and delivered a hard blow into his stomach. Saturn took the opportunity to wrap his arm around Ghetsis neck as he barreled blindly over him.

Ghetsis's head was slammed into Saturn's knees by raw force. Blood streamed from an open cut on his forhead, as he looked up just in time to see Rhyperior's massive body grip Eeletross's and leap over the Saturn and him on the floor. Saturn broke Ghetsis's awe with another slam into his knees.

"See? The type match-up just doesn't work," Saturn said, breathing heavily. His head rattled on the floor with Rhyperior's ground collision. "Basic mistake, just like th- AAAGH!!"

Ghetsis punched his thigh and then hit upwards, flipping Saturn's legs over. He then took advantage of Saturn's dazed look and punched his head in.

With a howl, Saturn launched full speed into Ghetsis and pushed him into the floor. Flipping Ghetsis onto his chest, he slid him along the glass-strung floor. His grunts of pain distracted him enough to have his arm pulled by Saturn into a restraint.

“Looks like we’re almost done here,” Saturn said. “Let’s watch the rest of this?”

Rhyperior’s stone fist smashed down into the ground, sending shockwaves down the warehouse floor. Eelektross leaped to the side and returned a thunderbolt. The attack missed Rhyperior’s legs, and diverted it’s attention to where Eelektross was.

Ghetsis struggled beneath Saturn, trying to get his chin upright. “Eelektross!” he wheezed.

Eelektross’s wide set eyes turned to Ghetsis, and then immediately up to Saturn. “Eeellelelekkktt!” he screeched, flinging an arm his way and sending an arc of intense electricity.

“Aaaagghhh…” Saturn said, sighing. “Who… Why…?”

Ghetsis’s arm released from Saturn’s grip, before the commander slumped over unconscious. “Excellent work, Eelektross,” he smiled, shaking Saturn off him.

“Rrrrrhhuuhhppp…” Rhyperior groaned. The entire floor reverberated the Pokemon crashing to his knees.

“Wow, an outstanding job. Doesn’t seem like we’ll be talking about accuracy issues for a long time,” chuckled Ghetsis.

Eelektross’s fish eyes slid down with a sleepy look. “Trooooooosss…”

Ghetsis scratched his chin, and then wiped the blood from his hands on his shirt, picking out glass shards. He turned to Saturn, but his eye was drawn up to one of the lamps that had caught fire. When he looked back at Saturn he noticed that the thunderbolt had only singed the top of his hair. Then his eyes were drawn to the syringe embedded deep in his chest.

“Troooosseeeellleeekk….” Eelektross moaned. His right arm fell beside Ghetsis’s leg, brandishing a syringe sticking out of the top.

*Fwip

Reaching around, Ghetsis felt an object drive into his backside. He let out a gasp as he tore it out. The syringe was completely drained of it’s contents, and Ghetsis let it drop as he fell to his knees. Turning around, Looker was walking in from the open warehouse door, brandishing a tranquilizer rifle.

“L-Looker? What…?”

Looker picked up loosely strewn Pokeballs off the floor and retrieved the fainted Pokemon, tossing them back down on the floor in neat piles. He came over to Ghetsis and eased his head back down. “Easy now, you are in a lot of horrible pain now,” he said.

Ghetsis fought to keep his head up, reaching his hand out blindly. “What… Why…?”

“Nothing wrong here Ghetsis,” said Looker. “Get rested. I’m now in charge.”

With a final groan, Ghetsis shut his eyes.

Part 5: Jupiter II

Jupiter II

Sitting on a flat-topped boulder, Mars tossed her Pokeball up and caught it, rolling her eyes lazily to see where the ball would go. When she missed and the ball rolled away, she found another off her utility belt and tossed it up and down once more. A high wind from Stark Mountain's core whisked the last ball away, and she defaulted to tapping her boots and kicking up ash. She sighed loudly.

Mars received a hard blow to her shoulders. "Shape up Mars, time to go to work," said Jupiter, striding past her through ash clouds.

"Work...? We don't... Uh..." Mars blinked. "Did you battle him?"

Jupiter pulled a small metal box holstered on a leg strap. Flipping the lid, there were six round slots dug into the black tungsten internals. She slid three of her Pokeballs in the slots, motioning for Mars to join her. "I did, you missed an excellent opportunity to watch me get stomped by some brat."

Lost in thought, Mars slid her three Pokeballs, just before the lid shut. Between the aluminum-lined edges, a neon blue glow emanated. The familiar healing tone buzzed from a tiny speaker that fought the volcano's wind. Mars looked up to Jupiter incredulously. "A portable Pokemon center? Where was that during the fight against him?"

"You wouldn't have needed a second chance to stop him if Team Galactic really mattered anything to you. Knowing you had one chance, you still let him beat you? You're even more of a brat than he is," said Jupiter. She flipped the lid on the machine, releasing pure white smoke into the black ash plume. Mars reattached her Pokeballs to her utility belt, and Jupiter did the same, continuing to stare at Mars. The two staring back at each other, Jupiter was the only one who chose to smile. "We're going to have a lot of fun in prison, you and I. You must have known though, you did choose it-"

"You had a part in it too!" shouted Mars. Jupiter's smile grew wider.

"This is too funny," Jupiter laughed. "Of course, you don't think you'll be arrested if you're in Distortion World with 'Master Cyrus'," she said, heightening her pitch to imitate Mars and made kissy lips.

Mars ground her teeth to a pulp. She opened her mouth several times, choking every time. Jupiter tossed her head back in giggling delight. "What's so funny?!" Mars screamed. Jupiter only laughed harder.

"You, that's what," Jupiter said, turning her eyes onto her with new laser precision.

"Look at me."

Stumbling back accidentally, Mars looked away briefely, before turning the full glare of her red eyes onto her. Jupiter refused to flinch.

"Look at me," said Jupiter. "You see this? We've made eye contact. Your Pokemon look well rested too, and so you must know what that means."

Mars instinctively reached for her belt, thumb landing on Purugly's release and pressing in gently. "Your challenge?"

"Yes," Jupiter said, batting her eyelashes at her. "Make me feel like a princess." Swiftly, she revealed her Pokeball already resting in the palm of her hand. She took three long paces back, eyes continually locked on her.

Breathing heavily, Mars slid her thumb over Purugly's release. "I have the best feeling about this," she lied.

"Three," said Jupiter. It was if that smile had always been there.

Mars exhaled, eyes swarming in the ash and heat. "Two."

"One!"

The Pokeballs whizzed through the smog and out of sight. Two mass eruptions of light scattered the clouds and shook the ground. Purugly landed on the ground, roaring deep from inside it's cavernous chest, shaking thick gray and white clumps of fur away with clumps of dust clinging to the volcano floor.

Hovering gently above the ground, Bronzong shuddered a loud metallic sound before exerting telekinetic force to eye-level with Purugly. Mars held her ground, intensifying her gaze against Jupiter's relaxed arms.

Purugly whipped her tail down and flashed her teeth. "Still feeling good about this? I knew you'd regret it," said Mars.

"Make a move already," said Jupiter. Bronzong's red disk eyes glowed in time with it's low hum.

Mars grimaced. "PURUGLY!" she shouted. "Use Flamethrower!"

Purugly bellowed out a red hot stream of light, blasting out at the Bronzong's direction and crashing down. "Light Screen Bronzong!" said Jupiter over the rumble. Bronzong's red disks flashed white as it's body enveloped in light. The flying magma knocked Bronzong adrift, until it washed on the stone floor below and Bronzong returned to it's drifting zone, completely untouched.

"T-that's now how Light Screen works! Jupiter! That's cheating!"

Jupiter laughed. "Cheating? Are you going to report it to the police? I rename a move and you get both of us arrested?"

"Flamethrower!" Mars said. "If you can't follow the rules, good luck making me do the same."

"Light Screen."

Mars kicked a rock. Balling her fists in anger, she mentally went through her moveset.

"Um, Flamethrower! You'll run out soon!"

"Oh Mars you're so annoying. Bronzong, use Psychic!" Jupiter shouted.

At the unbearable metal sound, Purugly slammed her own head into the ground, mashing it until the noise stopped. Jupiter laughed mockingly, standing firm in the ground as Mars scrambled to get Purugly back up, who was sputtering on the rocks she had created herself. The winds whipped harder and carried more ash between them.

Purugly lurched forward, stumbling on it's own paws. Her yellow eyes had reddened in exhaustion and rolled up to Bronzong's level. Mars brushed her hair back up, eyes and mouth agape, and shot her arm out to Jupiter. "Aha! Prepare-"

"PSYCHIC!"

Bronzong's eyes flickered. Metal arms swinging, it's body reverberated and swung out violently. Mars was forced down by sheer energy, clinging to a small cluster on the cavern floor. Flipping aimlessly, Purugly bounced along the gently angled rock face. She stuck out the correct Pokeball over a small ridge that had stopped her fall and hit the release. The laser stream snagged Purugly just before a tumble in the lava pools.

"Let's try another Pokemon?" Jupiter smiled.

Struggling, Mars leaned up and swapped Purugly's Pokeball for Golbat's. She slid her thumb over the release, and stopped from throwing it into battle. A drained noise emitted from a tiny speaker inside.

"Oh Mars," said Jupiter. "One tiny rule breaks and you crumble."

Mars tried her own Bronzong's Pokeball with the same result. "W... What is this...?"

"Same exact problem from the beginning. If something matters to you, shouldn't you be able to give it your all?" said Jupiter. She knelt down to Mars, who was shaking in anger.

Mars shot up with her arms flying around Jupiter's neck, threatening to flip her over the ridge. Jupiter laughed and kicked her in the side. "Bronzong!" she shouted. "Take a nap on Mars."

The high squeak of Bronzong's parts going loose came awfully close to Mars. Jupiter rolled towards Mars's feet, taking Mars's arms with her. Bronzong's dark outline shuddered as it crashed down on her torso and trapped her grasping arms. Mars wheezed, and then screamed in anger.

Jupiter got to her feet, walking over slowly to Mars while straightening her hair. "I don't like goodnight kisses, you know that already. What am I going to do to a little brat like you?"

"Let me out and I'll show you."

"No, that won't be necessary. You look tired, don't get up," Jupiter said. She delivered a swift kick to Mars's head. Spitting, Mars realized this was the first time she had been hit.

"O-okay," said Mars, coughing, "what's your big plan?"

Jupiter smiled. "Nothing that would interest you. I see your arm is free, don't think you can fool me so easily."

Glaring at up at her, Mars nodded. "You got me, congratulations."

"I bet you'd like a deal right about, wouldn't you? No more stories?"

Mars nodded again.

Jupiter extended her arm. "Okay Mars, give me your Pokeballs. I'll show you Purugly one last time before I dispose of her ugly hide."

As Jupiter reared down on her knees, Mars continued staring up at her. Both paused, waiting for the other, until Jupiter made her move. She pinched Mars's cheeks.

"It's in your best interest to obey, my dear," she seethed in her ear.

"It doesn't sound like you'll find anything to do if I don't," said Mars, forming a smile. "I got back at you. Don't you know it's the little things?"

Jupiter frowned. "You're still in no position to do that. In fact, I bet you don't want to find out what I could entertain myself with. Seen a lot of horror movies Mars?"

Mars shook her head.

"Know how I figured that one out?" Jupiter said, leaning into her ear. "Because you're a PANSY!" she shouted.

The violent reaction Mars had cut her cheek against a chipped rock. She couldn't rub her ear, and twitched involuntarily in her trapped position. Jupiter remained over her, lips inches from her ear. Giggling, she dipped her tongue into the crevaces of her ear, gripping Mars's hair as she did so. Mars shrieked and gently rocked Bronzong's titanic body in her struggle.

"My gosh Mars, you're so immature."

"AAAAA!! STOP!! WHAT THE HECK?!" Mars wailed. "What do you think you're doing?"

Jupiter sneered and shouted. "You know how to fix this, don't you?"

"I surrender! I surrender already!"

"You wanted to know what I was doing? I was proving a point," said Jupiter, getting to her feet. She released Mars's hair and wrist, and the young commander caught her breath from screaming.

"You're always proving a point..." she breathed. "You... You think you're so smart..."

Delivering a swift kick to Mars's back, Jupiter shouted. "If you knew a smart person when you saw one, of course. I suppose you couldn't look in the mirror then."

Mars tried to tend to the fresh cut on her arm, stuffing her sliced uniform onto the uniform. She turned, Jupiter presenting the box to her once more, and then looking up at Jupiter's dead serious face. Subconsciously, she reached for her last three Pokeballs.

"This has gone on too long, time to say goodbye."

She looked down at the Pokeballs in her fist, and up to Jupiter, who stood impatiently.

"Oh what?" said Jupiter. "You like this game? Want to keep going? You're such a baby Mars, I beat you already! Didn't your mother tell you to be a good sport?"

"Shut it."

"No!" shouted Jupiter. "No! All you're going to get out of this is another beating. What am I supposed to do? Don't you dare tell me now you liked the ear licking thing. That's not all I've got. Do I need to break your fingernails off? I know how ticklish you are, don't think I forgot. I'd hate to send you to the hospital. After all, you've got a long life of running to get to."

Mars sighed. "It's torture enough just talking to you. Here, take your stupid prize," she said. It felt like eternity as she slowly handed the Pokeballs up. They slid into the slots neatly, and Jupiter shut the lid.

"It's fits perfectly, thank you," she smiled. The lid slammed shut, locks clamping.

"That's new..." said Mars, sniffling slightly.

"Are you going to cry? Are you?!" Jupiter shrieked. "This is NOTHING! I can give you something to cry over. Bronzong, return!"

The red laser shot out and enveloped Bronzong. With the weight gone, Mars shot up to her feet, but before she could get off her knees Jupiter slammed into her full force, sending them over the edge she had been leaning on. Jupiter rammed Mars in the head, breaking Mars's focus. Eyes returning to focus, Mars saw the sheen of purple fingernails right before she received a blow to the jaw.

Both commanders slid down the dusty stone floor. They had been stopped by Mars's skirt bunching up on a trapped boulder, Jupiter sliding up atop her. With quick thinking, she jammed her boots under Jupiter's torso and kicked with all her strength up. Jupiter tipped up over Mars's heels and tumbled away. Mars rolled onto her palms and finally found footing. Catching her breath, she saw Jupiter had returned to her feet, and was approaching much quicker than Mars. She eyed the steady limp she had earned, looking at the gash in the exposed bands on Jupiter's legs.

Mars smiled. "Geez, you're fit."

"Thank you, let's keep it that way."

Jupiter swung hard into Mars's stomach. Mars naturally bowed over and then propelled herself between her legs. She caught herself pushing off of Mars's back and rolling down onto a gravel face. When Mars wheeled around, Jupiter was still down. Biting her lip, she kicked Jupiter in the stomach. Jupiter dropped to the ground again, cutting her palms on the gravel.

"Key, NOW. I don't have all day," Mars shouted.

Jupiter rocked onto her toes. Her long wisps of purple hair had come undone in the struggle. An obvious cut had appeared in a nasty bruise on her cheek and nose. She looked dizzy, her legs weak. Mars walked up and grabbed her collar, kicking her feet out from under her until she was supporting her. Holding her up tipped her forward, and Mars realized how heavy she was.

"Wait... Hold up..."

Mars squinted to see where she was looking, shaking her thick red hair out of her eyes against the wind. Jupiter's head was dark and backlit. Mars looked down and realized they stood ten feet from a magma pool. "Fair is fair, I'm sorry."

Updated Below

Extending her arm, Jupiter clutched Purugly’s Pokeball. Her finger hovered over the release aimed over the magma pool. Mars shrieked and took a step back.

“Jupiter, wait! Please don’t,” pleaded Mars.

“I’ll tell you when I have a reason to not. You’re not giving me any reason, are you? You won’t even try?”

Fighting for words, Mars’s lip trembled. “P-Purugly… She’s innocent… I’m the one you have a fight with! I should be the one you’re threatening!”

“Now it clicks, doesn’t it? It was always this way. Pokemon to their trainer, trainer to their Pokemon. That compassion you feel isn’t compassion, because compassion isn’t selfish,” Jupiter smirked.

“Jupiter… Please…”

Jupiter widened her eyes in mock surprise, mouth agape in a taunting grin. Her finger twitched. Mars lurched forward in panic.

“I get it, Purugly is a piece of you. Killing her would be like killing you,” said Jupiter.

Mars nodded.

“Right,” Jupiter smiled. She swung her arm slow and wide, pointing the Pokeball at Mars. “Then I suppose everything you want is good for you?”

Before Mars could protest, Jupiter hit the release. The whooshing sound of released energy overwhelmed the ‘fainted’ tri-tone in the Pokeball. Purugly materialized out of bright blue light and crashed down on Mars.

“Same problem!” Jupiter laughed. “Same exact problem! You know what that is Mars? A science!”

Mars groaned beneath Purugly’s weight. “You don’t sound like yourself Jupiter, I don’t get it.”

Part 6: Mars II

Mars II

Ghetsis's eyelids flickered open, blinded by the overhead lamps. Reactively, he rolled over and buried his head in his arms. His shoulders relaxed and he let out a snore.

"You know this is day one," said the lawyer across the desk.

Staring into his reflection on the polished oak, Ghetsis sighed. The lawyer paused and brought his hands together over the paperwork. He wiped his glasses on the lining of his coat impatiently.

"Ghetsis."

"Day one of the rest of my life, I know," said Ghetsis.

The lawyer smiled. He picked up a paper cup and held it steady under a tall pot of coffee, pumping the top lever and collecting the hot black coffee. His face seized up in growing pain, and he snagged another cup and placed the full cup inside, double layering it.

Setting the cup in front of Ghetsis with a quick smile, he returned to filling another cup, this time double layering the cup to begin with. "18 is the greatest time of your life, I sure wish I was..." he was caught off guard.

The cup sat empty on the table. Ghetsis wiped his lips with a pained expression, nodding to the lawyer's cup in hand. "It's starting to get full, watch out."

"Hm? Oh, right," said the lawyer. He released the pump and gently set the very full cup on the table top. "Did you drink that in a whole sip?"

"Hey," Saturn wheezed. The bedframe rattled sharply, releasing a groan from Ghetsis. "Can you get up?"

"Where was I?"

Ghetsis smiled, his nose reflecting in the scissors. The smile disappeared just as soon as it had appeared when he looked to the left. 'Nacrene University' was beneath the scissor blade, gently obscured by the faint silohouette on the other side.

"Are you serious about that?" Concordia asked, head resting on the doorway. Ghetsis instinctively pulled the scissors away. "Oh come on, don't hide that from me. I just pointed it out!"

"I wasn't hiding it!" said Ghetsis. "Just instinct, that's all. If you scared me and I had cut it, then what would I do?"

Concordia stepped in beside Ghetsis's card table desk, leaning on the bedframe.

Saturn kicked the bed frame again.

Her eyes shot down to the bed frame rattling. When she realized she had sat up slightly, Concordia repositioned herself to something more comfortable.

"Somebody slammed the door downstairs," Ghetsis mumbled. He buried his head further in the folds of his arm.

"What? Ghetsis, get up!"

"I wouldn't be a man of my word?" Ghetsis asked, slowly closing the scissors. "This is what father would have wanted."

Concordia sighed. "Stop trying to be your father, that's where all your worries come from right now," she said. Leaning back on the bedframe, Concordia sat on the bed and leaned back on the rear wall that the desk and bed rested along, keeping her legs up on the frame.

"My father was a great man, and he can't fill that role any more."

"Yeah, but that's not for you to do!" said Concordia. "He wanted you to be you, not him!"

Ghetsis sighed, leaning back in his chair. His eyes slid shut.

"You don't need to tell me about how he saved your life again. You tell that story more than you realize, and it doesn't get any less important."

"It's important because-"

"And I think that as your friend you should know I already know," finished Concordia, smiling warmly.

His lips twisted as he squinted up in thought. When his eyes turned to Concordia, he caught her smile. Looking further down, he saw her pink ballet flat dangling off. Ghetsis pushed up and let it clatter to the floor. "Do you know anything about natural selection?"

"Of course, I had that class with you," said Concordia, wiggling her toes in the open air. "Survival of the fittest?"

Ghetsis's hands clapsed around her upper sole, rubbing gently. "When we were attacked, I should have died. My father is the only reason I lived. But without his intervention, I should have died, that doesn't change."

"Oh come on now," said Concordia, sighing gently. "This isn't what I think you're implying."

Swallowing, Ghetsis continued. "My way of life was totally wrong-"

"Stop it."

"And I was saved because of a way of life. My father was about providing the correct example, right? Then why did my example get him killed?" asked Ghetsis. His grip on Concordia's foot released slightly, looking down and looking at the returning pink color from where he had been squeezing.

"Ghetsis please, this is ridiculous."

"Do you know what a debt is like Concordia? It's like that, I'm always paying it off."

"GHETSIS!" Concordia shouted. "Of course I know what a debt is like. Would you like to know why? Can you guess?"

Ghetsis swallowed. "No."

"You don't know?"

"How's the job search coming? I put in a good word with Cilan," said Ghetsis. His hand returned to rubbing her heel. "We're not here to discuss me, after all."

"No, but you know how to make it that way," Concordia sighed. Her toes flexed again, a melting expression only faintly overlaying her concern. "I'm still talking about your debt"

Brushing wispy pink strands of hair out of her eyes, Concordia sat up. "When we talk about this, like you always do, you're constantly having others pay back your debt. That's why we only ever talk about your father."

Lips forming words, Ghetsis was silent. He sat back and closed his eyes. "Oh no..."

"Do you want to be like your father?"

Ghetsis nodded, refusing eye contact.

"Then start paying others' debts," said Concordia. "That's what he did, and that's what he did for you."

"Ghetsis! Come on!" the bed rattled again. "How long are you going to sleep for?"

Tyranitar's little rubber eyes squeezed out. Resting his wrist on the bedframe, Ghetsis put the stress toy in the unshelved pen drawer with the scissors, replacing it where the pen was.

The pen hovered above the blank labeled 'Reason for Acceptance'. His eyes reread the top of the form.

'Nacrene University Scholarship Acceptance Form'

In the recepient blank, it read 'Concordia Hamonia' in dried ink.

"Like a sister," Ghetsis said with each breath. "Like a sister, like a sister."

Saturn gripped Ghetsis by the shoulders. Ghetsis's head rolled with his eyes backwards, mouth sliding open carelessly. "Ghetsis... Please... We have to save Mars!"

His eyelids fluttered, groaning in acknowledgement.

"What do you think you're doing with that form?" Mars asked, near inches of Ghetsis's bewildered eyes. The pen in his hands rolled out of his grip and clattered onto the floor.

"Mars, what are you doing here?" said Ghetsi. He hunched over and picked up the pen, recognizing the pink ballet flats they had landed on. Concordia's pastel pink skirt brushed against Ghetsis's hair.

"Mars?" asked Concordia. "Who's Mars? What are you-?" she cut off her question when she spotted the scholarship form. Ghetsis briefly saw the flicker of rage in her eyes bloom. Then her gaze shifted to the stamp at the bottom, reading 'Accepted'.

Looking down at his knees, Ghetsis listened for her silent rage. "Surprise," he mumbled. "Guess who's going to college."

Concordia's lips twisted into total uselessness. The bedframe screeched against the hardwood floor as it caught Concordia's tipping arm, and she leaned into her usual place. A beady tear formed along her eyelid.

"Are you okay?" Ghetsis finally asked.

"No!" she shouted. Three more tears replaced the first one. Sucking her breath in hard, Concordia wept fully now.

"Wait, hold on, this isn't what I meant to happen," said Ghetsis, rolling his chair closer. "You know I didn't mean for this to happen, right?"

Concordia kicked his chair away. "No! I- NO! Ghetsis, you did it again!"

"What? Oh no... This isn't about the debts thing again? You know I-"

Flinging her head back, Concordia let out a low cry. Her head slammed into the mattress and shot the air out of her lungs accordingly. Ghetsis realized his chair was as far against the wall as he could, clenching his hands together with each babbling noise she made.

"T-this is about m-my debt... Isn't it-?" Concordia choked. Ghetsis was silent, looking up at Concordia's pink irritated ones. "It is..." she conceded. "It is, it is..."

"You were never supposed to know about this. It was an anonymous gift."

"Oh please," said Concordia. "You're way too obvious sometimes. I'm not that oblivious. That's what a lifetime of you hitting on me does to you. Which, by the way, I knew about."

Ghetsis paused to process that, slowly shaking his head as he looked up at the ceiling. "No, that's not true. That never happened."

*** (continue above)

Ghetsis slowly opened his eyes, gazing up at the boilerplate ceiling. His back creaked as he sat up in the hospital-style bed. After he brushed his hair out of his eyes, he paused in thought.

"Saturn?" he asked.

"What," Saturn groaned, voice muffled by the floor. Ghetsis's bed shuddered as an arm slapped the thin metal frame holding the mattress and it's occupant inside. The side lip detached and fell over it's hinge, giving Saturn eye contact with Ghetsis.

Sighing, Ghetsis looked at the puffy red eyelids housing Saturn's eyes. He stuffed the pillow up against the wall and re-fluffed it. While he stared at the wall, he chewed his lip, finding the words.

"I'm sorry," Saturn said. His hand gripped the metal rung of his own bed and hoisted himself up, sliding his legs out and propping his spine against the support column beneath the bed. "I... I got carried away... Classic Team Galactic..."

"No, no Saturn. That was my fault. I really should have considered my position in that," said Ghetsis apprehensively, following a beat of silence. "You know it was my fault, right?"

Saturn made a sound between a scoff and a chuckle. "That's ridiculous. This whole, well, thing, has been out of hand since day one. This wasn't going to work... I knew that..." he sniffled. "I just wish I was the one paying the price."

Ghetsis slid to the foot of the bed, feeling beneath for where Saturn had knocked his shoes over. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I've seen what you've done for everyone here- if anything, you should be proud!"

The silence that descended upon the room was Saturn's doing, as he stared into space with an empty look. His arms lie in a twisted pile imitating his legs. On his hair the split cat ear Ghetsis had given him during the fight still sagged unaddressed.

From where Saturn lay, Ghetsis's gaze turned to the loose closet door, where he could see a hanger with his utility belt hanging off it. He paused when reaching for the handle, looking back at Saturn.

Saturn was looking up at him too. "My legs... They don't work... Paralysis, I presume," he said, looking down at his legs. He barely got them to kick the support column they rested on. "Sorry if I was a little enthusiastic to wake you up..."

"Heh, you know why that is, right?"

Attempting to shake his head, Saturn rolled his head back to where it was, staring at the wall. "No."

"You were winning," Ghetsis chuckled.

Saturn chuckled too. "I bet," he said. His smile faded after a moment.

Ghetsis kept smiling, pulling his utility belt out and putting it through the belt loops. The door nudged open while he fumbled with the buckle. His eyes caught other items that had been on him, like his wallet and watch.

Thursday, 4:57 PM

"Looks like we haven't been out for very long," Ghetsis smiled.

"I wouldn't be celebrating," said Saturn. "I've been in this room only once before, and if it means what I think it means I think we're in trouble."

Closing the door, Ghetsis ran his hand over a painted Galactic 'G' on the door. "It doesn't look like a International Police cell to me."

"Seeing as we're not moving, I assume that this is a makeshift cell, which means someone is on the way."

"Moving?" Ghetsis paused. "Ah, Galactic Shuttle. Fascinating. We're on the ground in Veilstone?"

Galactic Compound Tarmac. Thursday, 4:59 PM

Ghetsis dove for the bed rail as the floor swung beneath him. All the steel plates above them shuddered loudly with a violent clash. A loud 'thunk' turned Ghetsis's eyes to the origin of the sound, seeing Saturn rubbing the back of his head and wincing.

As the floor eased it's rocking motion, Ghetsis dove onto his knees and slid under the bed, securing Saturn with his arms. "It seems we may have been a little off in that guess," he said over the creaking.

Galactic Shuttle over the Sinnoh Region, Thursday, 5:00 PM

The shuttle settled, giving Ghetsis the chance to get to his feet. His arms still wrapped around Saturn's torso, hoisting him onto the bed. A small beeping alerted Ghetsis to the belts that had released from the rails. He secured Saturn in the bed and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Ow..." Saturn finally said. The muscles in his neck seized up and his head rolled forward. His face was pale and his eyelids rolled up, fighting the heightened pain. "Ghetsis... What-" he swallowed, "-What happened?"

"Try to relax," Ghetsis whispered. "I'm going to get help."

The panel across the room slid down by hydraulic command as Ghetsis approached it. He tried the groove in the door, but the door barely slid. As soon as it slid forward even slightly the door fought back, magnetically sliding into place. When Ghetsis had slid it open just slightly, the door vacuumed into place and an alarm sounded.

A speaker inside the panel crackled to life. "What can I help you with Ghetsis?" asked Looker. The golden inner frame of the wall panel lit gently with each syllable.

"Saturn is still paralyzed," said Ghetsis. "You overdid the tranquilizer. Do you have a cure?"

The frame didn't flicker at all. Moments later the door slid slowly open and Looker stepped in from the darkness holding a police-issue first aid kit, eyes fixed on Ghetsis. "Hm! An easy fix," he said. "Don't go off anywhere, okay?"

"Where are we?" Ghetsis asked. His arm barred Looker from going further.

Looker paused and looked up at Ghetsis from the medical bag. "I'm not in the position to tell you. Mr. Ghetsis, please, it looks like Saturn has a serious bump on the back of his head," he said. Looker paused, looking back at him. "Did you do that to him?"

"Nnnnhh..." Saturn groaned.

"No I didn't," Ghetsis translated. He looked at Looker. "He hit his head on the bed when the shuttle rocked. I'm a witness, and I need an explanation before I end up testifying against you."

Pausing, Looker seceeded. "We're parked 10,000 feet above Stark Mountain. Please let me g-" His usual wide-eyed expression got wider as he looked at Ghetsis's left arm, stopping him from driving the tranquilzier dart into his backside. "Mutiny? From y-"

Ghetsis flipped the medical bag up. The open case of tranquilizer darts in the bag dumped onto Looker's white dress shirt before clattering to the floor. "Thank you, officer. Let that be a lesson in boxing up your ammo," his gaze shifted to Looker's right arm, "even if you plan to use it."

The tranquilizer rifle fell out of Looker's hand, as he stumbled back against the doorway. His stain-free, wrinkle-free dress shirt was now riddled with tiny holes where darts fell out to the floor. With a final sigh, Looker's eyes rolled back and he slumped over on the floor.

Lifting Looker's limp body, Ghetsis carried him to his original bed and pulled out belts similar to Saturn's, securing him to the bed. He had caught the medical bag and slid it to Saturn's side of the room on the polished metal floors.

Saturn stirred, wincing over his head injury. "What was the awful loud noise?"

"The sound of a man full of eight tranq shots and the law of gravity at work," said Ghetsis, retrieving an ice pack. "Did you here where we were? Parked above Stark Mountain."

"Great."

"What's wrong with Stark Mountain?" asked Ghetsis. He steadied himself over Saturn's bedside while applying the ice pack to Saturn's forehead.

"No, you put the cure for my legs to sleep," groaned Saturn. His eyes shut hard at the touch of the ice pack.

Ghetsis unclipped Saturn's restraints, easing him up into a sitting position. "Do you know how to fly one of these shuttles? Can you do it sitting?"

"Of course not," Saturn wheezed, feeling his stomach double over as Ghetsis set him against the wall. He tugged on the sheets and pushed his legs up from their cramped position.

Watching Saturn, Ghetsis slumped against the wall, gazing off in thought. "We need a way to get down to Mars," he said. His head rolled in the nook his arm uncomfortably. "Well... It looks as though you have pretty good control over your arms. Maybe try-"

"No," said Saturn. "There's no way. This shuttle can't get into the volcano without collapsing or catching fire. Charon and Jupiter knew that when they took the prototype."

"Prototype? There's a new kind of shuttle down there?"

Saturn paused, rubbing his brow as he thought. "Yeah, major 'oops'. It was a personal project of mine. I developed a kind of Galactic Shuttle to take into Distortion World. It was the first thing to go when we were shut down, because it was a way to get Cyrus back."

"Does it worry you that they could use it to get Cyrus back? They were the ones who wanted to get him back," asked Ghetsis.

"Everyone wants Cyrus back, we all miss him," said Saturn. "But he was unhealthy, and like anything unhealthy we had to cut him off- What we wanted wasn't good for us."

Folding his arms, Ghetsis closed his eyes in thought. He let a beat of silence pass before finally opening his mouth. "Whose idea was that?"

"Pardon?"

"Surrendering. Giving up Cyrus for the better," said Ghetsis. His face twisted up in thought. "There's an element that doesn't make sense here."

Saturn sat back, thinking. He finally answered promptly. "Charon. It was Charon's idea."

"Charon. He's a very intelligent man, one might say the brains of Team Galactic?"

"Well, of course. He developed a lot of things-" Saturn started.

"Like the Galactic Bomb?" asked Ghetsis.

Saturn frowned. "Of course..." he trailed off.

"Any strategic thinker would have known- heck, even a child- could have put together that if you hold the power you don't give it up if you're intimidated. Charon willingly surrendered Team Galactic-"

"As soon as he gave up Cyrus," Saturn coughed. "Right," he said, coughing several times.

The coughing fit was interrupted by Ghetsis picking Saturn up fireman-style and exiting through the hydraulic doors. Inside, Ghetsis nearly dropped Saturn in his haste, when he suddenly received a blow to the kidneys.

"Aaagh-!! Watch it!" Ghetsis seethed. "What was that supposed to be."

"An apology," Saturn smiled weakly.

Ghetsis smiled back, hoisting him up over his shoulders. "I would have appreciated it a lot more if I didn't have a bruise there by your own doing. Get this thing going," he said, swinging Saturn's arm to the upright panel in the middle of the platform.

Limply hitting the correct key, the platform seized up with the whir of a motor beneath them and lifted them to the next door at an angle. Saturn reached his limp hand to direct Ghetsis to the other wall not far from them, and Saturn keyed in another command to the panel beside the door opposite another.

The bridge was completely devoid of people, but little lights on panels that lined the walls still warranted attention. A chair in the center caught Ghetsis's attention and he carried Saturn to it. Setting him in the chair with the belts on, he steadied it in front of a center console.

"Do you think you can keep this ship afloat until I get back?" asked Ghetsis.

A lone bead of sickly sweat drizzled down Saturn's forehead as he used all his might to swing the chair to face Ghetsis, who had approached the door they had entered.

"It's on autopilot. More importantly, why?"

Stepping up to the outer rim platform of the bridge, Ghetsis paused. "I have a theory on what they're doing down in Stark Mountain, and I think it involves marooning Charon."

"So that Mars and Jupiter can fight the world together?" Saturn said, raising a coy eyebrow. "Ghetsis, you know what Jupiter thinks of Mars. Mars is the strategic one after all, we can only guess that of Charon knew so did Mars."

Ghetsis looked down solemnly. "Of course, stranding the two biggest threats to her."

"I'd be happy to give her two more if it's all the same," Saturn smiled.

"Right," Ghetsis chuckled. "We have already set up for us, let's go use it."

Saturn stretched his arm out to the primary console, rolling the chair back around. He immediately set to work a few keystrokes. "Do you know about the rear hatch?"

"Just going there now," said Ghetsis. He stepped through the sliding doors and faced the next set.

"Alright, be mindful of the time. Looker's sent out an encoded message to his superiors with out location," said Saturn. "And Ghetsis?"

Ghetsis turned. "Hm?"

"That's my commander down there, be gentle, even if she resists."

Ghetsis nodded.

"I have a sneaking suspicion I've already had the last time I'll ever see her," said Saturn, an even more sickly expression appearing on his face. "Wherever you take her for safety, just make sure she knows that there's people who care about her. Just be good to her, okay?"

A similar expression appeared on Ghetsis's face. He swallowed, nodding again.

The last set of doors opened, catching Ghetsis's attention. In the dark lift area the glowing rim of the wall console returned to light the way out.

"Ghetsis," Saturn coughed through the speaker. "You've been in there for awhile, is everything okay?"

"Yep," answered Ghetsis quickly. "Going into the hangar now."

"Liar."

Ghetsis shook his head. His attention focused on the thin steel ramp that led out of the lift, walking with loud resounding clanks in the hollow hall.

His eyes immediately turned to the ceiling, lined with metal sheets and the standard warehouse archways, lined with large halogen lights in extra sturdy cages. As much as he tried, Ghetsis's gaze eventually turned downward to the 15 foot space between the ramp and the bay doors. A loose cable dangled right in front of Ghetsis's face, catching his distracted eyes and bringing him back to the task at hand.

"I know you what you talked my daughter into," said the woman in the doorway, sporting a white apron and faded pink hair, reminscent of Concordia.

Sitting at the familiar card table, Ghetsis set down his Johto Scratch-A-Day calendar, crinkling up the drawing of a lustrous blue Apricorn buried in a bush and leaving the 'September 1st' card face up, featuring a red Apricorn.

'Apricorn of the Month: Red. Known for it's brilliantly sweet taste, the Red Apricorn is often used for replacing apples (despite featuring hints of cherry), not commonly found in the Johto region. Red Apricorns are used for many traditional dishes (to be featured this month) that apples are usually used for.

'These are popular this time of year for the start of school, when apple-featured dishes are tradition for teachers and students alike, or to remind one of their childhood.'

"Concordia was supposed to stay here and run the bakery with me," said Concordia's mother. "Are you even taking me seriously?"

"Alright, I'm about to release the doors, brace yourself for heavy winds," crackled a speaker mounted on an arm rail post.

Ghetsis sturdied a Pokeball in one hand, gripping the rail with another. His finger gingerly slid beneath the beacon and hit the button marked 'talk'. "I'm ready," he said, knuckles whiting around the arm rail.

Overhead, a siren wailed and the lights dimmed, replaced by red backups. Ghetsis tucked his ears beneath his arms and curled his Pokeball-wielding arm into his chest.

"GHETSIS! Are you listening?" asked Concordia's mother.

Ghetsis caught her out of the corner of his right eye and did not flinch, even as she approached. He continued to drum his fingers on the armrest and rest the side of his head in his hand.

"That was my daughter..." she said. "She wasn't yours to take... Did you know what you were doing when you signed that form?" She found the bed frame easy to lean on, almost genetically.

Pursing his lips, Ghetsis drew his hand away from his head, releasing a sigh. "I... I thought I was doing the right thing..."

"The right thing," said the mother. "The right thing... Who decided that was the right thing?"

Ghetsis winced. "Me."

A huge blast of wind shot up, bathing the area in a brief moment of silence before the howl came.