Deep Space

1. 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.