Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.coming soon:-Lover's Tiramisu: I want this to be my materpiece, so it might take a lot longer.-A storm: Family's first. Would you give yourself up for them? Lance, a Luxray, did.-Box of boxes: An absurd. It will make no sense and will get a 2/10 but I'll still put it up.
Leon (Deleted scenes) / Carmine: Vive le resistance!
Silence filled the night as the streets of the occupied Lizean were tense and quiet. Everyone was asleep in their homes or holed up in them out of fear of the oppressive army. Steam coming from grates on the floor and ground at the base of buildings warmed up the air and took care of the natural cold the city suffered because of its location.
No one would think that, even then, a silent war raged around the city. For a while now, a resistance movement had risen to fight back against the invaders.
A few days ago, following the resignation of their leader from the Midnight Voices, and that of Professor Leon Van Burke, the Minun and Plusle known as Lapis and Carmine, respectively, had resigned as well. While Lapis' whereabouts are unknown, Carmine had landed right in the city, where he sought out an occupation opposite to his former one...
The Glaceon slowly stepped out from behind a brick wall and took a look around to make sure no one was in their way, then spoke to the alley behind him before stepping out.
"No one around, bro!"
"Got it," A Jolteon answered, stepping out behind him and looking back. His tone was saddened and resentful, and he lacked the energy he usually had. "It's clear, Pops..."
"Thanks, Hagen." A Typhlosion answered, following the two. He was large, even for his species, and seemed to be quite old as well. Both hands and his arms were covered in bandages and he had a small scar in the spot where his heart would be located. That was Hell, as he called himself. His real name was not known and Daisa the Glaceon and his brother Hagen the Jolteon just referred to him as 'Pops'.
All three began walking through the street towards the alley on the other side when they stopped in the middle of the empty street and looked back.
"New kid!" Daisa called back into the alley, "You coming?"
"Yeah, yeah!" The Plusle replied, walking out of the darkness, "Here I am! Ready to work!"
"See?" Daisa told his brother, who seemed to be in a different mood than usual , "That's the kind of attitude we need!"
"Shut up," Hagen answered as he kept heading for the alley, "There's a lot of stuff you don't understand."
"Oh, so now we're talking to each other like-"
"Little Snow's been kidnapped by those bastards, Daisa," Hell interrupted, staring sternly at the Glaceon. "If you had a daughter and had her taken away from you you'd be the same your brother is right now."
"You've gotta cheer up!" Carmine told Hagen, patting the Jolteon's spiky-furred back, "We're getting her back sooner or later!"
"You shut up too," Hagen dryly answered, keeping on his way. "It's thanks to bastards like you she's gone to begin with."
"Ow..."
"Alrite, listen up!" Hell said, looking at the other three, "You're gonna keep your strong feelings about Carmine's past aside, Hagen! Our job for today's some big, ugly building them MV's are making around Freya's square! We're gonna go there, introduce ourselves to them, and blow that ugly piece of crap to kingdom come! Understood?!"
"Oh yeah!" Daisa answered in his usual upbeat style, "Come on, bro! Time to get back at those guys!"
"When you put it like that..." Hagen answered calmly, "It's hard not to like the idea." Saying this, the Glaceon and Jolteon took off running.
"Come on, new kid," Hell told the much smaller Plusle, who looked at him with a certain degree of admiration. "We've got a boom to make."
"Er... Yes, sir!" Carmine answered, making a small salute as he followed the Typhlosion.
The four Pokémon snuck around another alley, walking slowly through the artificial mist of the steam that covered their approach as they neared the large, open space of Freya's square, one of the city's most historical places. They stopped just around a corner.
Daisa peeked out again, and noticed a pair of Sneasel in the trademark overcoat with an '8' on their forearms talking. Probably guards of some sort set to keep watch around the target.
"Two morons, just outside," Daisa whispered at the others, "What do we do?"
"Have 'em come here," Hell answered, "Hagen and Carmine will take care of things then... Right?" He finished, looking at the Jolteon and Plusle.
"Will do!" Carmine answered, trying not to be too loud. Hagen just nodded.
"Okay, now get in position."
Carmine quickly and sneakily stepped out of his side of the alley and crossed to the other, meaning that Hagen was waiting around the corner of one side and he was on the other. He looked back at the other three and nodded. It was a little hard for him to be seen, but Hell managed to make out the Plusle's shape and told Daisa to go on.
"Okay..." The Glaceon took a deep breath, then jumped out , stopping a few feet away from the alley, just enough to bother the Sneasel without endangering himself. "Yo, featherheads!" Once he got their attention, he turned around and wagged his tail to annoy them, "Bet you'd like some of this, huh?!" Saying this he jumped back into the alley, where Carmine and Hagen were waiting to do their part.
"Son of a-" One of the Sneasel grunted, looking at him. Without hesitation, he rushed after the Glaceon followed by the other one. The moment they turned around the corner, however, they got a surprise.
Hagen jumped tackled one of the Sneasel and knocked him out with a powerful shock while Carmine jumped on the other one's back and did the same. Apart from the obvious burst of light that was easily visible to any other guards around, the resistance was clear to move.
They ran up the alleyway the Sneasel were guarding and arrived at the square, a short distance away from the building. It was about a hundred meters tall, made of a strange copper-like metal that was quite rare to get. It was still under construction, however. To the little Plusle, it seemed to reach all the way up to the grey, lifeless sky.
"There's the ugly thing," Hell said, stepping ahead towards the building and upping his pace as he headed inside. "You kids better make haste before someone up in a rooftop spots you."
"Right!" Daisa nodded and hurriedly ran into the building, followed by Hagen and Carmine. Once inside and 'safe', they took a moment to plan things.
"Carmine," Hell said, looking down at the Plusle, "You worked for these guys. What do you know about this thing?"
"Nothing..." Carmine shook his head in disappointment, "This is the first time I ever see something like this... Lords- I mean, II , X and XII are the ones in charge of anything buildable." He looked down, "I'm sorry..."
"You're as useless as they come, huh?" Hagen scoffed at the Plusle.
"What did I tell you, Hagen?" Hell looked sternly at the Jolteon, "Mister M trusts this kid. You should too. Throwing tantrums about your daughter's not gonna help."
"Throwing tantrums?!" Hagen snapped in anger, "Throwing tantrums?! Seriously?! My daughter's gone, I'm being THREATENED that they're gonna kill her if I don't give up, and I got Tanya getting riled up at me because of it! You have any idea of how much trouble I'm even going through just so we can stay hiodden?!" He stopped, panting, hoping his words left at least a little impact in the Typhlosion... They didn't.
"Yeah, come on!" Daisa answered, "Bitch some more so we get guards all over us!"
"You'll never understand..." Hagen sighed.
"Okay, then..." Hell spoke, "This is where we split. Let's find a load-bearing spot or someplace we can bomb to send this whole place down. Move!"
"Yes, sir!" Carmine nodded as he ran up a set of stairs to his right. He arrived at the second floor: A flat expanse of floor made of the same metal, split in half by hard glass. Through it he could see Daisa and Hell going up another set of stairs... Now, something wasn't right... Why wasn't it being guarded? No time to think. He took a quick look around the floor for anything close to what he had been ordered to find, but was unsuccessful. So, he went up the next set of stairs.
The next floor was surprisingly similar to the previous one, with the exception of something that was more common to see: Sneasel. Three of them, to be precise. Direct combat wasn't really the Plusle's forte, but he had been taught how to win a fight in spite of that. The moment they spotted him, they dashed at him with the intent to end his life. Quickly, the Plusle jumped to the side and hit one of them with Thundershock. The jolt stunned and incapacitated the first one. The second one lunged at Carmine with his claws, ducking in order to hit the Plusle in the chest. The rabbit reacted and jumped, bouncing on the back of his attacker's head and using it to spring towards the other, who, unprepared for the Plusle's sudden movement, was left wide open for a Spark that knocked him out. The second one recovered and managed to claw at Carmine's chest, leaving a cut that made the Plusle grunt in pain. Quickly reacting, he countered with another Thundershock that knocked the Sneasel out at last.
With the fight over, Carmine took a moment to catch his breath. Panting, he felt his chest around the cut the Sneasel had made and felt the warmth of his blood. Somehow, it felt good against the cold... He stopped to wonder what became of Lapis. After they jumped towards the world in their escape they became separated, and since he arrived, he had been wondering the same. Lacking Lapis not only affected his emotional state; it affected his efficiency in a fight. Minun and Plusle are meant to fight together, not on their own... But feeling sorry would get nothing done. The moment it was all over he'd get some bandages on the cut and hopefully that'd be it. He ran up the next set of stairs towards the top floor.
He arrived at another room, near identical to the previous one again, except this one had a large window overlooking the city, along with a Hypno in a labcoat looking out it in company of four Lucario... Specially trained guards from Bernard's unit, no doubt. That must have been someone very important to have been assigned an escort like that.
The Hypno turned around and noticed Carmine standing there. He seemed, if only a little, surprised to see the Plusle.
"Hmm... 015-02 CC, am I correct?" The Hypno stated, not moving an inch as the Lucario began to walk towards Carmine, creating the staves for Bone Rush in their hands. "It strikes me as odd to see you fighting in the side of thugs, but after the mass desertion you instilled, I suppose it is natural... Now," He raised a hand, and his bodyguards got into an attacking stance. "Kill."
They leapt at him. But thankfully, he only had to face one, as the other three were intercepted by Daisa, Hagen and Hell, who had just arrived there. Two sweeps from the staff sent Carmine flying away, but he regained balance in the air and went back into the fight, doing the best to hurt the elite warrior with sparks. He tried to hit him as best as he could, but the canine easily avoided his attacks and hit him harder and harder everytime.
Finally, Carmine got a single spark through the Lucario's guard. The guard just shook himself aware, flattened some of his fur that stood because of the electricity, and looked at Carmine, angrier than before. With bone-crushing strength, he kicked the rabbit against the wall. The hit was so strong it made Carmine's vision go blurry. As he prepared to move in for the kill, he was punched right in the back of the head by a flaming fist that took care of him in an instant.
Carmine looked at his defeated foe, not quite sure of what happened, until he noticed Hell standing there.
"You know," Hell said as he held his hand out for the Plusle to help himself up, "You kids never ask for help."
"Fools!" The Hypno told them, furious and frustrated, "Do you not understand the purpose and glory of this grand monument to progress! It wi-" He had no time to finish as a ball of ice crashed against his head and knocked him out the window. Unconscious and doomed, the Hypno fell like dead weight to the snowy ground outside.
"I'm sorry," Daisa chuckled, "Did you want to hear him rant some more?"
"Nah, it's all crap." Hell answered, noticing a column in a corner of the room. He walked up to itm punched it a couple times, then stopped... "Yeah," He told the others, "Perfect spot." He pulled out a heavy lump of steel from a bag he was carrying and set it at the base. "Hagen," He said, looking at the Jolteon, "Will you do the honors? You could use something to cheer up."
"Fine," Hagen answered. He walked up to the bomb and sparked it, making the fuse come to life.
"Okay..." Daisa said excitedly, "RUN!"
They rushed out the building and stood at a safe distance, ready to watch the bomb go off.
"Tick-tick..." Daisa murmured, "BOOM!"
The large edification exploded into a thousand pieces of the strange metal, bathing the square in shrapnel. The view of the sky was clear and the resistance had scored a victory... Or did they? As he watched the chunks of metal fall, Hagen noticed something that made his heart stop.
"No way..." He said, almost breathless. He ran in anguish and disbelief towards the debris, begging that what he had just seen wasn't true... But it was. There, burnt and almost dead, was an Eevee. "No..." Hagen muttered. He couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true! "Snow..."
"Daddy...?" The Eevee faintly asked, looking at him. "You... Came..."
"No..." He picked the Eevee, placed her on his back, and took off running as fast as he could, "Hang on, baby... I'll get you home..."
No one would think that, even then, a silent war raged around the city. For a while now, a resistance movement had risen to fight back against the invaders.
A few days ago, following the resignation of their leader from the Midnight Voices, and that of Professor Leon Van Burke, the Minun and Plusle known as Lapis and Carmine, respectively, had resigned as well. While Lapis' whereabouts are unknown, Carmine had landed right in the city, where he sought out an occupation opposite to his former one...
The Glaceon slowly stepped out from behind a brick wall and took a look around to make sure no one was in their way, then spoke to the alley behind him before stepping out.
"No one around, bro!"
"Got it," A Jolteon answered, stepping out behind him and looking back. His tone was saddened and resentful, and he lacked the energy he usually had. "It's clear, Pops..."
"Thanks, Hagen." A Typhlosion answered, following the two. He was large, even for his species, and seemed to be quite old as well. Both hands and his arms were covered in bandages and he had a small scar in the spot where his heart would be located. That was Hell, as he called himself. His real name was not known and Daisa the Glaceon and his brother Hagen the Jolteon just referred to him as 'Pops'.
All three began walking through the street towards the alley on the other side when they stopped in the middle of the empty street and looked back.
"New kid!" Daisa called back into the alley, "You coming?"
"Yeah, yeah!" The Plusle replied, walking out of the darkness, "Here I am! Ready to work!"
"See?" Daisa told his brother, who seemed to be in a different mood than usual , "That's the kind of attitude we need!"
"Shut up," Hagen answered as he kept heading for the alley, "There's a lot of stuff you don't understand."
"Oh, so now we're talking to each other like-"
"Little Snow's been kidnapped by those bastards, Daisa," Hell interrupted, staring sternly at the Glaceon. "If you had a daughter and had her taken away from you you'd be the same your brother is right now."
"You've gotta cheer up!" Carmine told Hagen, patting the Jolteon's spiky-furred back, "We're getting her back sooner or later!"
"You shut up too," Hagen dryly answered, keeping on his way. "It's thanks to bastards like you she's gone to begin with."
"Ow..."
"Alrite, listen up!" Hell said, looking at the other three, "You're gonna keep your strong feelings about Carmine's past aside, Hagen! Our job for today's some big, ugly building them MV's are making around Freya's square! We're gonna go there, introduce ourselves to them, and blow that ugly piece of crap to kingdom come! Understood?!"
"Oh yeah!" Daisa answered in his usual upbeat style, "Come on, bro! Time to get back at those guys!"
"When you put it like that..." Hagen answered calmly, "It's hard not to like the idea." Saying this, the Glaceon and Jolteon took off running.
"Come on, new kid," Hell told the much smaller Plusle, who looked at him with a certain degree of admiration. "We've got a boom to make."
"Er... Yes, sir!" Carmine answered, making a small salute as he followed the Typhlosion.
The four Pokémon snuck around another alley, walking slowly through the artificial mist of the steam that covered their approach as they neared the large, open space of Freya's square, one of the city's most historical places. They stopped just around a corner.
Daisa peeked out again, and noticed a pair of Sneasel in the trademark overcoat with an '8' on their forearms talking. Probably guards of some sort set to keep watch around the target.
"Two morons, just outside," Daisa whispered at the others, "What do we do?"
"Have 'em come here," Hell answered, "Hagen and Carmine will take care of things then... Right?" He finished, looking at the Jolteon and Plusle.
"Will do!" Carmine answered, trying not to be too loud. Hagen just nodded.
"Okay, now get in position."
Carmine quickly and sneakily stepped out of his side of the alley and crossed to the other, meaning that Hagen was waiting around the corner of one side and he was on the other. He looked back at the other three and nodded. It was a little hard for him to be seen, but Hell managed to make out the Plusle's shape and told Daisa to go on.
"Okay..." The Glaceon took a deep breath, then jumped out , stopping a few feet away from the alley, just enough to bother the Sneasel without endangering himself. "Yo, featherheads!" Once he got their attention, he turned around and wagged his tail to annoy them, "Bet you'd like some of this, huh?!" Saying this he jumped back into the alley, where Carmine and Hagen were waiting to do their part.
"Son of a-" One of the Sneasel grunted, looking at him. Without hesitation, he rushed after the Glaceon followed by the other one. The moment they turned around the corner, however, they got a surprise.
Hagen jumped tackled one of the Sneasel and knocked him out with a powerful shock while Carmine jumped on the other one's back and did the same. Apart from the obvious burst of light that was easily visible to any other guards around, the resistance was clear to move.
They ran up the alleyway the Sneasel were guarding and arrived at the square, a short distance away from the building. It was about a hundred meters tall, made of a strange copper-like metal that was quite rare to get. It was still under construction, however. To the little Plusle, it seemed to reach all the way up to the grey, lifeless sky.
"There's the ugly thing," Hell said, stepping ahead towards the building and upping his pace as he headed inside. "You kids better make haste before someone up in a rooftop spots you."
"Right!" Daisa nodded and hurriedly ran into the building, followed by Hagen and Carmine. Once inside and 'safe', they took a moment to plan things.
"Carmine," Hell said, looking down at the Plusle, "You worked for these guys. What do you know about this thing?"
"Nothing..." Carmine shook his head in disappointment, "This is the first time I ever see something like this... Lords- I mean, II , X and XII are the ones in charge of anything buildable." He looked down, "I'm sorry..."
"You're as useless as they come, huh?" Hagen scoffed at the Plusle.
"What did I tell you, Hagen?" Hell looked sternly at the Jolteon, "Mister M trusts this kid. You should too. Throwing tantrums about your daughter's not gonna help."
"Throwing tantrums?!" Hagen snapped in anger, "Throwing tantrums?! Seriously?! My daughter's gone, I'm being THREATENED that they're gonna kill her if I don't give up, and I got Tanya getting riled up at me because of it! You have any idea of how much trouble I'm even going through just so we can stay hiodden?!" He stopped, panting, hoping his words left at least a little impact in the Typhlosion... They didn't.
"Yeah, come on!" Daisa answered, "Bitch some more so we get guards all over us!"
"You'll never understand..." Hagen sighed.
"Okay, then..." Hell spoke, "This is where we split. Let's find a load-bearing spot or someplace we can bomb to send this whole place down. Move!"
"Yes, sir!" Carmine nodded as he ran up a set of stairs to his right. He arrived at the second floor: A flat expanse of floor made of the same metal, split in half by hard glass. Through it he could see Daisa and Hell going up another set of stairs... Now, something wasn't right... Why wasn't it being guarded? No time to think. He took a quick look around the floor for anything close to what he had been ordered to find, but was unsuccessful. So, he went up the next set of stairs.
The next floor was surprisingly similar to the previous one, with the exception of something that was more common to see: Sneasel. Three of them, to be precise. Direct combat wasn't really the Plusle's forte, but he had been taught how to win a fight in spite of that. The moment they spotted him, they dashed at him with the intent to end his life. Quickly, the Plusle jumped to the side and hit one of them with Thundershock. The jolt stunned and incapacitated the first one. The second one lunged at Carmine with his claws, ducking in order to hit the Plusle in the chest. The rabbit reacted and jumped, bouncing on the back of his attacker's head and using it to spring towards the other, who, unprepared for the Plusle's sudden movement, was left wide open for a Spark that knocked him out. The second one recovered and managed to claw at Carmine's chest, leaving a cut that made the Plusle grunt in pain. Quickly reacting, he countered with another Thundershock that knocked the Sneasel out at last.
With the fight over, Carmine took a moment to catch his breath. Panting, he felt his chest around the cut the Sneasel had made and felt the warmth of his blood. Somehow, it felt good against the cold... He stopped to wonder what became of Lapis. After they jumped towards the world in their escape they became separated, and since he arrived, he had been wondering the same. Lacking Lapis not only affected his emotional state; it affected his efficiency in a fight. Minun and Plusle are meant to fight together, not on their own... But feeling sorry would get nothing done. The moment it was all over he'd get some bandages on the cut and hopefully that'd be it. He ran up the next set of stairs towards the top floor.
He arrived at another room, near identical to the previous one again, except this one had a large window overlooking the city, along with a Hypno in a labcoat looking out it in company of four Lucario... Specially trained guards from Bernard's unit, no doubt. That must have been someone very important to have been assigned an escort like that.
The Hypno turned around and noticed Carmine standing there. He seemed, if only a little, surprised to see the Plusle.
"Hmm... 015-02 CC, am I correct?" The Hypno stated, not moving an inch as the Lucario began to walk towards Carmine, creating the staves for Bone Rush in their hands. "It strikes me as odd to see you fighting in the side of thugs, but after the mass desertion you instilled, I suppose it is natural... Now," He raised a hand, and his bodyguards got into an attacking stance. "Kill."
They leapt at him. But thankfully, he only had to face one, as the other three were intercepted by Daisa, Hagen and Hell, who had just arrived there. Two sweeps from the staff sent Carmine flying away, but he regained balance in the air and went back into the fight, doing the best to hurt the elite warrior with sparks. He tried to hit him as best as he could, but the canine easily avoided his attacks and hit him harder and harder everytime.
Finally, Carmine got a single spark through the Lucario's guard. The guard just shook himself aware, flattened some of his fur that stood because of the electricity, and looked at Carmine, angrier than before. With bone-crushing strength, he kicked the rabbit against the wall. The hit was so strong it made Carmine's vision go blurry. As he prepared to move in for the kill, he was punched right in the back of the head by a flaming fist that took care of him in an instant.
Carmine looked at his defeated foe, not quite sure of what happened, until he noticed Hell standing there.
"You know," Hell said as he held his hand out for the Plusle to help himself up, "You kids never ask for help."
"Fools!" The Hypno told them, furious and frustrated, "Do you not understand the purpose and glory of this grand monument to progress! It wi-" He had no time to finish as a ball of ice crashed against his head and knocked him out the window. Unconscious and doomed, the Hypno fell like dead weight to the snowy ground outside.
"I'm sorry," Daisa chuckled, "Did you want to hear him rant some more?"
"Nah, it's all crap." Hell answered, noticing a column in a corner of the room. He walked up to itm punched it a couple times, then stopped... "Yeah," He told the others, "Perfect spot." He pulled out a heavy lump of steel from a bag he was carrying and set it at the base. "Hagen," He said, looking at the Jolteon, "Will you do the honors? You could use something to cheer up."
"Fine," Hagen answered. He walked up to the bomb and sparked it, making the fuse come to life.
"Okay..." Daisa said excitedly, "RUN!"
They rushed out the building and stood at a safe distance, ready to watch the bomb go off.
"Tick-tick..." Daisa murmured, "BOOM!"
The large edification exploded into a thousand pieces of the strange metal, bathing the square in shrapnel. The view of the sky was clear and the resistance had scored a victory... Or did they? As he watched the chunks of metal fall, Hagen noticed something that made his heart stop.
"No way..." He said, almost breathless. He ran in anguish and disbelief towards the debris, begging that what he had just seen wasn't true... But it was. There, burnt and almost dead, was an Eevee. "No..." Hagen muttered. He couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true! "Snow..."
"Daddy...?" The Eevee faintly asked, looking at him. "You... Came..."
"No..." He picked the Eevee, placed her on his back, and took off running as fast as he could, "Hang on, baby... I'll get you home..."