Olivia reached for the door, and quickly opened it. But much to her horror, there was a massive black colored creature waiting for her on the other side. Its claws dripped with a dark, oily liquid. Its maw frothed with a mix of white foam and crimson blood, and its breath was rancid and rotten. The foul creature was maybe five feet taller than her, and seemed ready to pounce on the nearest living thing, which so happened to be Olivia.
Horrorstruck at what she saw before her eyes, the young Gardevoir took several slow and careful steps backwards, towards the back of the still bright ward. The creature seemed to be delighted at its find, and showed it with a rather twisted and malicious grin- if you could even call it a grin. It moved forward with unexpected grace and speed, its very footfalls shaking the ground it walked on, amplifying it's portrayed menace. Olivia suddenly felt the cold cement wall behind her, and knew she was cornered with no way to escape certain death. As if reading the Gardevoir's mind, the monster quickly raised its left claw, sneered in delight one last time before taking careful aim at the Gardevoir's head, and letting loose a powerful and quick swing.
Olivia covered her face with her arms, knowing full well that her end was but mere seconds away. The only thing in her mind was the boy she would never get to be with ever again.

Blood splattered all over the small room. A sharp, terrified shriek echoed through the seemingly deserted hospital floor, followed by a loud sickening thud that echoed trough the halls.

Six: Quarantine syndrome.

Olivia slowly lowered her hands, and looked in horror as the creature stained the floor with a puddle of its thick black blood. The being's torso seemed to have been ripped in twain from the waist up, by some kind of explosion- very much as if a grenade had gone inside its body. However, there had been no blast, or fire to be seen or heard. The monster's blood painted the small room- and the terrified Gardevoir- a black color as the creature desperately tried to remain standing. Not a single wall or floor tile was spared from the streams of thick blood. Finally, the creature twitched and wined for two more seconds, clinging to its life as best possible, before letting out a soft snakelike hiss and dying. Its puddle of blood had now become a pool as black was the night sky.
The young Gardevoir shook in terror at the sight of the fallen beast. A mixture of nausea and faintness filled her body. She looked at her hands, which glowed in a vivid dark purple color that pulsated every so often, as if alive in some way. She took a step back, towards the concrete wall behind her, and was suddenly with the being's last thoughts. They forced their way into her head, pounding on her skull like mallets against hot iron, slowly making her go mad with agony. She stumbled madly about, holding on to her head, before collapsing on her knees. Suddenly, she begun to experience the last thoughts the creature had formulated in its head before his untimely death. The images were so vivid and lifelike; it was as if it was her own memory being played before her eyes. The ideas and emotions that flooded into her being filled her with all the emotions of the spectrum: anger, fear, hatred, pleasure, and pain... It was almost too much for her to bear at once.
Then, just before Olivia collapsed from fatigue, the whirlwind of emotions abruptly stopped, and a more tranquil side of the being's memory begun to play before her sore eyes.
The creature had once been a human male, aged at around twenty. For as long as the guy remember, he had been a good person; cautious, well behaved, generous, and good willed. He had held a good job, which he never missed. Had lived in a humble, yet comfy house, and loved his girlfriend with such sincerity, it was almost unbelievable. But suddenly, something sinister had entered his body, and caused him to turn into the monster, which now lay dead on the floor. Though it had thirsted for blood and carnage at the moment of death, a deep and strange sorrow seemed to impart from his soul, as if he knew what was really happening to him and those around him, yet was helpless to stop it. At the same time however, a sense of relief and happiness seemed to be present- as if the young man was glad to have been slain before he could slay anyone himself.
Olivia's mind quickly returned to her body, which felt weak and wobbly from the trip. She planted both her hand firmly on the ground, and panted in exhaustion, as if she had run several miles nonstop. A deep and strange grief befell her, filling her heart with foreboding anxiety. She looked into the beast's blank eyes, and could not help but imagine Edgar as one of the creatures. She shut her eyes, and averted her head away from the beast, thick and salty tears rolled down her face and down to the ground. The very thoughts of Edgar as a monster made her feel sick and ruined, but the thought of Edgar as a corpse made her feel dead inside.
Olivia slowly turned her gaze back to her own body, and looked at her still bloodstained hands and body. She then turned to face the dead creature once more. A very real sense of dread unlike anything she had ever felt filled her soul.
Had she really killed the beast? Had she actually slain the beast in such a cold-blooded manner? No, it was impossible that she could have done something so... ghastly.
She slowly stood up, and looked at her hands one more time. A very real sense of terror rolled down her spine.

-567400-

"Man, today is not my day..." Was all Cyrus could angrily say out loud as he and his companion were suddenly surrounded by what could only be described as human-lizard hybrids from hell.
The creatures had apparently been following them around the hospital, and had suddenly decided to make their existence known. Both Cyrus and Sophia stood frozen in shock as they stared down at the grotesque creatures that proved just how evil science could be if used incorrectly. The Monstrosities seemed to smile in twisted delight, their stomach growled in undeniable hunger for the fresh meat that stood but a few yards away from their faces. Their claws were ready, and their fangs more than willing.
Suddenly, and with no real warning on its part, the nearest creature to Cyrus pounced on him, claws extended, ready to rend they young man's flesh off. Cyrus barely realized what was happening, when the creature's lounge was drastically stopped as he seemingly slammed into an invisible wall, breaking its snout in the process. The monster staggered backwards, howling in pain and holding it's freely bleeding face. It roared and trashed, clearly angered at the unexpected assault. The rest of the creatures looked at their wounded comrade, and roared in anger. Squatting on all four legs, they all turned to face Cyrus and Sophia, and harmoniously screamed in a shrill, earsplitting screech that made both Sophia and Cyrus duck and cover in pain. The high-pitched sound was so intense, it begun to break all the windows, flooding the once dark halls with the bright sunlight of early afternoon.
Once the creatures finished their pain chorus, they lounged at the stunned pair, all meeting the same fate as the first of their brethren. But that did not stop them in the least. They only continued to lounge viciously, hoping to break the invisible barrier that kept them but inches away from their future meal.

---

Olivia slowly and weakly got up from the cold floor, feeling dazed and confused. A few moments ago, she had been about to check out the source of all the commotion outside the ward. Then all of a sudden, a horrid screeching sound knocked her straight to the floor, much like getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer. The sound had been so intense; all the windows in the ward had been shattered in a single explosive blast. Many of the pieces landed on her body, and made small cuts, none of which were life threatening. Olivia slowly begun to regain all her senses, and realized something big was amassing just outside the door.

---

Cyrus opened his eyes, and turned to face his companion, face white with panic. His heart could be clearly heard beating like a war drum among the snarls and growls of the creatures. Sophia leaned on Cyrus' shoulder, holding on to her head in pain. Some blood rolled down from her ears. Feeling completely out of it, Sophia's vision was blurry, and her head burned with an unbearably painful headache. Cyrus turned his attention back to the creatures, all of whom had stopped their wild attempts to break trough the invisible wall, and merely stood in all fours glaring at the pair, faces still filled with feral rage. Cyrus felt chills quickly run down his spine as the creature's cold glares burned into his very heart, making him fell the uneasier. Then, out of the blue, all the creatures begun to slowly move aside, making a clear walkway for something big. Cyrus suddenly begun to fell the ground shake, stirring the very floor and walls of the hospital. At first, he believed it to be some kind of minor quake, but he begun to realize it was no earthquake that shook the building, but rather something incredibly huge and heavy. Seconds later, all the creatures had moved aside to make room for whatever was coming. They continued to stare at Both Cyrus and Sophia. The rumble and shaking got stronger and more powerful with every passing second, beating an ominous sound much like the drums of the devil himself.
Out of what little darkness remained on the tent floor, appeared something completely unexpected...

-567400-

Sectran leaned with his right hand against the wall, body brightly lit in pain. He looked at his still glowing hands, and begun to feel faint and dizzy. His arms and legs ferociously shook, as if he was experiencing an intense seizure. His sweat was colder than artic ice; it slowly flowed down his battered body, mixing in with his warm blood, creating an almost shooting feeling down his nerves. He took a deep breath of air, straining his badly broken ribs, and begun to wobble forward, despite his numb legs. He Panted and wheezed in exhaustion and anger, growling and grunting from pain every so often. His very bones and muscles were straining beyond their superhuman limits.
Finally, Sectran couldn't take it anymore. He painfully leaned with his left hand against the rock wall of the cavern, and let out a long painful sigh. He looked back at his right hand, which had now stopped glowing, and then turned his rear to the wall, and placed his badly beaten back on it. He slowly slid down the rock wall, leaving a very noticeable streak of blood in his wake. He sat leaning against the cold wall, legs completely numb before his rear even hit the ground. He looked at his torso, and realized just how much blood his body was spewing out. He was slowly bleeding to death, unable to stop the waterfalls of red body fluids from draining out of his battered body.
Sectran tuned his hearing- one of the few body functions that still worked in optimum condition- and caught the unmistakable sound of heavy footfalls and scratching claws, all ringing from somewhere ahead of him. The noise suddenly shifted, and begun to ring all around his location, emanating from walls, floor, and ceiling like, echoing in an ill-omened sonata. Closer and louder the sounds became, feral snarling now accompanied the footfall and scratching orchestra. Sectran's vision was too fuzzy to make out any kind of shape from a distance, yet he knew whatever approached his location was not friendly.

Out of the darkness appeared several lizard-like creatures with tentacle appendages growing from the back of their heads. Sectran, though dazed and seemingly brain dead, managed to recognize several of the creatures, for some still wore their battle armor, or what remained of it at least. It appeared that the creatures were, or had been, his men. He could not believe what he was seeing. It had to be some kind of sick joke.
The Creatures slowly walked towards his position, sniffing the air around them, looking for something or someone. The creatures would often growl at each other, communicating in some kind of language. The creatures seemed quite oblivious to Sectran's body at first, who simply sat against the wall like a dead piece of metal or wood. The creatures stopped a few inches away from him, still seemingly unaware of his presence. The beings seemed to be more preoccupied with something else. Knowing well that his life was in mortal peril, Sectran decided to slow down his breathing, and stomach his pain as best possible, hoping to blend in with the countless other corpses in the base. But try as he might to hide his presence, it wasn't long until the foul creatures noticed him lying on the cold ground just a few feet away from them. One of the creatures pointed at him, snarling and growling. The rest of his brethren quickly pounced on Sectran's body.
At first, the creatures merely looked at each other, apparently convening messages trough growls and grunts. Those that still wore their armor almost seemed distraught at the sight in front of them, but they quickly got over it; the sense of hunger overwrote what little mind still retained in them. The nearest of the creatures got right up to Sectran's numb leg, hissed in delight, and drove one of its sharp claws trough his right leg, attempting to see if the young man was still alive. At first, Sectran had expected a sharp, unbearable pain to erupt from the wound; but nothing happened. The pain never surfaced. His rather dark blood flowed out by the buckets, yet no detectable pain accompanied it. Looking at the still lodged claw in his foreleg, Sectran and felt the strong urge to reach for his Mauser pistol, and splatter his attacker's brain all over the floor. But he could barely move his arms, and when he did, the agony was nearly unbearable.
Seeing that their future meal would not fight back in any way, the group of creatures snarled in joy, and formed up in a circle, reaching forwards, claws and fangs ready to tear flesh from bone. Sectran closed his eyes, knowing well that his goose was finally cooked. He could almost feel the hot searing pain of fangs and claws ripping into his flesh. He let out one final breath of air, and smiled pretty for death to see.

---

Sectran could hear the indisputable sound of tearing flesh and bone, but his pain nerves continued to be unaffected. Feeling no real need to look, he remained with his eyes closed for several more seconds, not knowing if it was wise to look at the face of his killers. But then, he realized the sounds he was hearing were not just of plain bone tearing and muscle ripping, the sounds were of combat. The noise became more furious as angry roars and pain stricken screeches that nearly left Sectran deaf rang loudly. Pushing down whatever fear had been building up his soul, Sectran defiantly opened his eyes, hoping to see what was the source of the commotion.
What he saw in front of his gaze instead, defied everything he had been trained to believe.

-567400-

The creature was a gigantic ball of blubber with legs, arms, and a burly, unrecognizable head. It stood at seven feet tall, and seemed very, very clumsy. It moved forwards using short, stubby steps. However, with every step it took, an ever-intensifying quake shook the ground, implying to just how heavy the creature really was. It was colored a light shade of green, and bore what appeared to be thousands of smaller balls of rubber attached to its main balloon-like body.
Cyrus could only watch in both amusement and horror as the giant blob creature slowly made its way to the barrier. Suddenly, Sophia let out a sigh, and slumped over his shoulder. Cyrus caught her before she hit the ground, and realized Sophia was burning up with fever. She was violently ill.
Suddenly, the quakes stopped. Cyrus turned to face the invisible barriers and realized the balloon creature had finally made its way to the field. It attempted to get trough, but only kept bumping into it like bee would bump into glass. Eventually, this constant bumping caused the being to loose its balance, and fall flat on the ground, causing quake upon impact. Cyrus could see the cracks run up the walls and floor of the hospital. He was just amazed the place had not fallen apart by now.
Cyrus- though mortally terrified- couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the sight of the creature's futile attempts to get back on its feet. Cyrus turned to face the remaining creatures, and continued to glare at them, trying to show no fear. Seemingly spooked by something, all the creatures begun to disperse into open rooms and the outside of the hospital. One of the creatures however remained behind.
Cyrus and the Strangely familiar creature glared at each other in a staring contest. Cyrus could feel like he somehow knew this creature, almost as if it was family of some sort. While Cyrus and the being continued to stare at each other, the gigantic creature still attempted to get back up on its feet.
Suddenly, the creature on the other side of the barrier smiled broadly at Cyrus. It pointed at him with one of its claws, then brought it back to its neck, and using his thumb, made slow swiping motion on his neck. He then laughed, and surprisingly, waved at Cyrus with a malicious toothy grin. He then took off towards one of the windows, and jumped outside in haste, leaving only the struggling ball of blubber in the hall behind.
Cyrus stared at the blob creature, which had stopped trashing about, and suddenly had begun to inflate into a gigantic balloon of flesh. Cyrus gulped yet again, his instinct told him to run, and his brain supported the idea, but he could not hope to get far with Sophia in her condition. So he instead grabbed Sophia by the waist, scooped her up with both of his arms, and made a run for it as fast as his legs could manage.
The creature- now a gigantic ball of dark green flesh- let out a sharp screech as it suddenly exploded with immense force and energy, sending a shockwave comparable to a nano nuclear explosion towards the still fleeing Cyrus.
At first, Sophia's wall held true and strong, blocking the worst of the blast. But even the psychic wall could not hold back the power of the explosion. The wall completely shattered, sending the shockwave in every possible direction. Cyrus still ran like hell itself was after him, hoping to outrun the blast. The shockwave eventually caught up to him, and flung him and the unconscious Gardevoir right into an open door.
The blast caused so much dust to be raised; it became impossible to see anything for a few minutes.

---

As dust slowly subsided, it became apparent just how much damage the tenth floor had received. The hallway- or what was left of it anyway- looked more like something out of a WW2 battle zone. The ceiling was no more, the walls were partially missing, illuminating the place with even more of the intense sunlight of early afternoon, and the pipes and pluming were now leaking, flooding the torn floor with the smell of raw sewage and cleaning fluids.
The creatures that had jumped outside suddenly begun to reappear, faces smiling in malice. They all marveled at the wonderful destruction left behind by one of their kin. They then turned to face ward 56, and smiled even more maliciously than before. The menacing footfalls of dozens of creatures neared the shambled room, sounding more like an ill-omened demon chorus than a pack of scientific misfits. Their claws scratched against the very concrete and marble floor, producing an almost unbearable screeching sound with every step the creatures took towards the room.

---

Olivia was the first to get up from the floor. She shook some rubble off of her, and checked her body for any injuries. After finding no serious cuts or bruises, she turned to the pair that had been blown right into the ward by the blast- another female Gardevoir, and a human that seemed awfully familiar- both seemed beaten up, but alive. Unfortunately, the pair had been knocked unconscious by the impacts with her and the wall.
Olivia quickly picked up the clawing sounds outside, and quickly ran for the door, which she closed to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately, the door had been blown of its hinges by the explosion, leaving it nothing more than a useless piece of metal. Seeing the door would not close again, Olivia decided to use what little psychic power she still had to forcibly close and reinforce the metallic door. She then picked up the medical bed using telekinesis, and used it to barricade the doorway. Seeing the door was momentarily secure, she directed her attention to the unconscious pair at her feet.
The female Gardevoir was older than Olivia by ten or so years, yet still seemed full of youth. She wore a brown robe that covered her entire being save her head, and sported a limb colored in what appeared to be a dull copper color. It seemed to be metallic, much like some kind of gauntlet or glove, yet also seemed to be organic. No doubt some kind of prosthetic limb. Her features were soft and delicate, making even Olivia feel slightly jealous of them. Her ears continued to bleed, signaling hearing damage. Olivia placed her hand on her forehead, and realized she was burning up. She seemed stable however, so she gently placed the Gardevoir in a comfortable position against the wall. Olivia directed her attention to the familiar figure of a young human male next. He was about the same age as Edgar- about eighteen year- yet this guy's body was scrawny when compared physically to the her boy. He wore a very unusual getup for a guy his age, composed of a white lab coat, thick glasses, and a pair of black, plain pants. The young man also sported his brunet hair tied back into a ponytail, making him seem quite edgy.
Olivia then slightly opened the young man's eye to check for mental trauma, and realized who he really was; Cyrus, one of Edgar's closest friends, almost like a brother in many aspects. He had most likely heard what had happened to Edgar, and rushed here to see if his friend was ok.

But things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

Olivia's barricade suddenly begun to shake and ring violently as violent banging and scratching buffeted the other side of the door. The mob of baserk creatures desperately tried to force their way into the small room.
Olivia reached deep within her anima, and managed to summon just enough energy to reinforce the barricade further, making the noise suddenly stop. She slumped over, feeling even weaker than before. She knew the barrier would not stand for too long, and whatever was attacking would force its way in. She panted in exhaustion; she did not nearly have enough anima to teleport everyone out, and if she tried, she could get everyone killed.
She would need to find another way out, and fast.

-567400-

"...And that's my story," Raijin finished with a broad smile on his face. "Pretty messed up huh?"
"Fifteen years of age, and you're already seen the worst that could happen to you." Edgar shook his head as he smiled, "Well, can't say I feel really bad about it; I've been there myself."
"Really?" Raijin asked in intrigue, "Did both of your parent die as well?"
"They didn't die... They were murdered."
"Murdered!?" Raijin shouted in shock, "By who!?"
"Long story, don't really want to talk about it." Edgar sighed in slight guilt, "All you need to know is that ever since then, I've attempted to find out why these two innocent souls were taken before their time."
"Heavy." Raijin said with some dejection. He turned to look at his Raikou, who simply gave him an annoyed look. "Humans are such feeble beings." He said in slight boredom, "Can't say I fell sorry for any of your loses."
"Well, at least your honest you old bag of bones." Raijin said with amusement in his tone. The Raikou merely sighed as he brought his pokeball up to his maw, and pressed the button in the middle, sealing him inside. Raijin laughed as he grabbed the container, and placed it on his waist. "He was never much of a talker anyway." He said in laughter.
Raijin returned to face Edgar, who had all of a sudden lost his smile. Raijin noticed something was up with the young man. He had begun to sweat slightly, grabbed his left arm in apparent pain, and seemed to be more edgy than before.
Suddenly, Edgar grasped his arm even tighter as he lowly grunted in pain. He slumped over, and started to make a hissing and growling sound, much like a wounded animal would.
"Dude! You ok!?" Raijin asked in clear concern towards Edgar.
"I'm fine!" Edgar brashly replied, hoping to get the Raijin of his case. But Raijin only seemed more curious about his sudden course of action.
"NO! NOT NOW!!" Was all Edgar screamed in his mind as the pain intensified. What appeared to be black, oil-like liquid begun to ooze down his forearm, and right into this fingertips, completely covering every inch of his left arm. Edgar quickly unrolled his jacket sleeve, and covered his arm, hoping to conceal his now active condition from Raijin. He suddenly begun to feel strangely mad about something he could not explain, almost as if the seeds of hatred were sown in him. A feeling of dread quickly replaced his anger as his personality begun to tear itself in half. He felt unimaginable rage towards everything he laid his gaze on, while at the same time, feeling empathy towards everything. Something in his soul burned viciously, making him feel like something very dear to him was in mortal peril. Yet, could not even begin to understand what, or who it was.
"Raijin" Edgar suddenly snapped out as calmly as he could towards the kid, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!" Raijin answered, averting his eyes from Edgar's arm, and straight into his face, "What is it?"
"You told me you came here to find proof to clear your brother's name, correct?" Edgar asked, "But is that everything you are searching for?"
"Come again?"
"Why did you come down here?!" Edgar asked with a deeper tone to his voice, "Why would you venture into this fucking hellhole!!" He screamed at Raijin's face.
Raijin looked at Edgar with surprise and fear, taking a few steps back, and reaching for his belt. He kept his mouth shut at first, eyeing Edgar and the strange black liquid that was now oozing into the floor with wariness. But then, he sighed in defeat. He relaxed his pose, cleared his throat, and spoke softly, as if passing on some secret.
"I came to this place to try and find out what the Apogee project really is. More precisely, what it has to do with my brother."
"Apogee project... I've heard that name before." Edgar said as he shifted his body to try and ease some of the pain. "I read a log entry on it right before I was-"
"Infected?" Raijin finished, looking straight into the now meter wide pool of black ooze emanating from Edgar's left arm.
"How did you now?" Edgar asked in slight bewilderment.
"It's kinda of a long story." Raijin replied with honesty.
"Well, we've got plenty of time, don't we?" Edgar said in a menacing tone.
Raijin took the hint, and smiled nervously. "Ok, don't get so moody!" Raijin then took another deep breath of air, and begun speaking in a serious tone of voice.
"Remember how I told you how my father was part of Legion? Well, after he passed away, my brother got a gig working for them. He landed the job of genetic research, something he did exceptionally. He had been fifteen then." Raijin smiled with some pride. Edgar only listened, never once moving his face.
"During one of his countless nights of experimentations and research, he came over an old file dating back to 1999. As the report stated, a pair of scientist who had apparently worked hand in hand with the legendary Silth had handed the files to Legion before they disappeared from the face of the planet. On the files, were plans for the reboot and creation of the virus-like strain called the F.E.S." Raijin sat down on the ground, and continued speaking.
"Now, when my brother first dwelled into the files, he had no idea what kind of effect the strain had on living tissue, or if it even worked. But the more he read on it, the clearer it became: The F.E.S was at the root of all Morphs, Pk-noids, And Homo superiors that exists in the world."
"That is old news my friend." Edgar said in annoyance. Raijin only rubbed his head with some amusement. "Not back in 2001 it wasn't! Anyway, when the reading was all said and done, my brother, Fuijin, decided to see if he could acquire a sample of the F.E.S. but at the time, our commander, Sain, would not allow him to take such a risk. All that changed a couple of months ago however."
"Wait!" Edgar snapped at Raijin, "How do you know so much about what your brother does at work? Isn't Legion a private military group under the employment of the U.R.N?"
"Not if you work for them!"
"Figures." Edgar scoffed in a deep voice. "So you are a genetics genius like your brother. Must run in the family."
"Yeah, I guess it does." Raijin said with mild amusement as he glared at Edgar, who in turn, glared back.
Raijin decided to ignore the stare, and continue talking. "My brother decided to pay a visit one of the many abandoned rocket installations scattered trough the world, but he choose the nearest location to our home base in Japan. There were two problems however; one was that the bases were located here on Coalition territory. The second was that he never really specified which one he would come to. So far, he was not in the Canalave base, so I decided to search this one, The Jubilife base." He looked at Edgar with even more intrigue, "But so far, I've come up with nothing to show to Sain. At this point, I would not be surprised if we have been labeled as AWOL."
"Wait a damn second!" Edgar snapped harshly, "Did you say 'other bases'? There are more of this hellholes!?"
"Yes and no." Raijin said with a slight smile. "Yes, because other experiments were being developed at the same time this particular one was researched. But no, because this is the only place where this particular type specimens was made." He looked down Edgar's mutated arm. "From the looks of things, my brother's report was right in that matter."
"Ok smart guy! According to your so called 'report'," Edgar said as he grinded his teeth, struggling with the dark matter slowly crawling up his arm, and into his chest. "Just what the hell are those things that attacked me and so many others in this base?!"
"The rockets dubbed them 'Imperfects'." Raijin said in a grim tone.
"Imperfects?" Edgar repeated rising his eyebrow.
"Yes, Imperfects." Raijin said in a 'matter of fact tone.' "They named such, because they did not conform to any type of standards." Raijin looked at Edgar's eyes, "In other words; the creatures that attacked you and so many others are nothing more than genetically incorrect misfits."
"So, if the damn things are all wrong, what are the correct creatures named then? 'Perfects'" Edgar asked as he grunted in pain, his right arm now being slowly consumed.
"They are named after the project that created them." Raijin replied.
"Apogeeans?" Edgar asked in slight disbelief. Raijin only shook his head. "Actually, they are called apogees." Raijin looked at Edgar, who in return, simply grasped his left arm even harder.
Suddenly, Edgar released his left arm, and grabbed his right arm instead. He grunted in agony as he begun to tear away at his right sleeve, revealing just how much the consumption process had advanced. His right arm was now entirely consumed in the ebony liquid, which continued spreading towards his neck. Edgar grunted and screamed frantically, throwing himself on the ground, and squirming much like a dying roach. Finally, the terrifying experience came to its climax when Edgar fell on all fours, and let out an earsplitting, demonic roar forth from his now expanded vocal cords. He tossed about some more, smashing and kicking any surface he could reach, and finally fell on his back, sweating and panting in extreme agony. The dark liquid then slowly crawled up his head.
Raijin literally stood frozen in place, paralyzed with shock. He stared at Edgar, eyes wide open with a mix of terror, and sadness as the darkness crawled up Edgar's face, entered his mouth and nostrils, and begun to fill up his eyes and ears with the shady liquid. Edgar let out one final human scream as the dark liquid-which by then had entirely covered his face-quickly muffled his begging for divine help.
Just as quickly as if had started, all movements from Edgar's body ceased as the ebony ooze swallowed him whole, forming what appeared to be a giant black bubble. Raijin slowly inched backwards, trying to make the least amount of noise possible, trembling in terror. He knew full well what would happen if he did not run away.
Suddenly, the tunnel was filled with the sick cracks and snaps of bones and ligaments. Then, silenced once more by the all-consuming black ooze.
Realizing the small frame of opportunity he had, Raijin decided to make a run for it, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
The black mass that lay on the ground shuddered and shifted from side to side. Something huge was fighting its way out, stretching the bubble to its very limits. Suddenly, a deep menacing growl echoed trough the deserted halls, followed by an earsplitting shriek of such massive proportions; it shattered all the lights in the tunnel, causing the darkness to blanket Raijin.
Hearing the sharp screech, Raijin found himself stopping in his tracks, and covering his ears, screaming in pain along with the shriek.
The force of the sound was so intense; Raijin could not help but feel a massive headache buffet his head. He looked towards the bubble of black ooze, and could make out the figure of a huge creature rip its way out, look at his direction, and pounce towards him.
Before Raijin could even reach for his belt and unbuckle his Raikou, Raijin begun to black out from the pain. The last thing he saw was Edgar's menacing figure pounce on his defenseless body.

-567400-

Rasputin had been walking down the woods for almost an hour, the sun constantly hitting her eyes, making it difficult to clearly concentrate on her surroundings. She could feel the shifting leaves and cracking grass around her, but had no idea if it was just the wilderness playing tricks on her, or something more sinister.
She decided to stop for a few minutes to catch her breath, and get her thought straight. She found a nice tree to lie on, and sat on the cold soil underneath. She had begun to think about everything that had occurred so far, and sighed in clear hopelessness. She went over what Chadron had told her, and could not help but frown in misery. She had killed Ragde; and killed him in cold blood. Worse, was the fact she knew she had done it, and did not deny it one bit. She wished with all her heart that it was all false, that it was nothing but a bad dream she could wake up from, but she knew deep inside it was not. She knew that her past was beginning to catch up.
At the moment she killed Ragde, she had felt all her pent up rage and hatred boil beyond the breaking point. That rage in turn drove her body to commit the atrocity, but her body was used to doing such atrocities.
Now she stood on a crossroad she feared to traverse. It seemed like no matter what road she took, her life would simply end, or worse... return to what once was.
On one side, she knew that Edgar, Olivia, and Gengar would turn their backs on her if they ever found out what she did to Ragde. She would become an outcast again, and she knew the pain and shame would be too much for her to bear this time around. But worse was the tough of Edgar turning his back on her before she could tell him just who she really was, and how she felt about him.
On the other side, Chadron had promised to bring Ragde back to life using something called F.E.S, but she had to betray the one person who had saved her from the loneliness and misery that had nearly driven her to the edge of insanity.
Regardless of which path she choose, Edgar would end up begin hurt, or worse. The choice was too tough to take, she just could not go trough with it.
She began to silently cry at her poor life choices. How could fate, which had so far smiled on her, suddenly turn so horrid?
She closed her eyes, hoping to find some peace. Instead, the memories of what once was quickly flooded her mind.
The memories filled her with dread. For her past... was a nightmare.

Suddenly, Rasputin heard several footsteps resonate around her, coming from almost all parts of the woods. She quickly returned to reality, and looked around, but could not spot anyone or anything at all. She begun to fell weary, something was around her, but she could not spot it. She started to walk towards the source of a particularly strong noise. As she moved in closer, the sound became more intense. She pushed aside some foliage and bushes, and found nothing in front of her, yet the sound was stronger than ever. She focused on the sound itself, and realized it was... Footfalls. Too late did she realize she had walked into a trap. The next thing she knew, she had been tossed towards one of the trees, causing her spine to break on impact. She slumped forward, and moaned in agony. Suddenly, she was lifted off the ground by the right arm, and spun around so fast, the force of the spinning tore off her arm. She fell on her broken back, a trail of her own blood splattering on her face. Rasputin screamed in both pain and terror, not knowing what was really going to happen next. As if replying to her scream, dozen of lizard like creatures surrounded her body, and literally begun to tear her into pieces. With what little strenght Rasputin had, she reached for one of her pockets, and pulled out the vial Chadron had given her. The pain being inflicted on her body was nearly unbearable, her mind only screamed for it to stop. She looked at the little vial in her hand, and without thinking, opened it, and drank its contents. The creatures continued their attack, now tearing Rasputin muscles away. Rasputin realized nothing was happening, the vial had no effect on her whatsoever. Realizing she would die, she tried to focus what little energy she had left. She concentrated harder than she ever had, and with one final scream, released a blast of dark energy that disintegrated all her attackers.
Rasputin opened her eyes, and saw just what damage had been done to her body. Her legs were missing, her stomach was open, and most of her skin was torn, revealing muscles and bone. She knew death was but a mere moments away. She burst into tears, knowing that she would die without telling the boy she loved how she really felt. Worse yet was that she failed in saving Ragde.
Rasputin then coughed as the darkness begun to take her. The last thoughts in her mind were of Edgar. She looked at her remaining arm one last time, and realized something was wrong. Her arm was dripping in what appeared to be a black colored oil-like liquid. It slowly crawled up her body, sealing any wounds that she had sustained. Suddenly, the pain was gone, replaced instead by a newfound strenght. Rasputin realized something was going on with her body, but she had no time to react, for the black liquid quickly overtook her face, and muffled her screams of pain and terror.
As the darkness took her being, memories of her past quickly begun to flash in front of her eyes.

---

"Fate... Fate never once smiled on me. It seems like I am really cursed to suffer..." Rasputin told herself as she sat on the window of an abandoned building. She looked ten stories down at the streets, and saw everyone walking by, seemingly happy with their empty lives. Rasputin could not help but feel rage towards every single person down there. How could happiness still exist, when the entire world had turned on her!?
She punched the windowsill with her left arm, flinching from the pain of the blow.
She brought up a liquor bottle to her lips, and took a big gulp out of it, causing her eyes to slightly water as the strong liquor passed her esophagus.
She let out a grunt of slight satisfaction as the last of the burning alcohol quickly passed down into her gut, where it begun to stir and burn. She grabbed onto her gut, wincing in pain, and reached to her right side towards a small black medical bag. She plunged her right hand into the bag, and quickly brought out what looked like syringe containing a transparent reddish liquid. She aimed the needle of the syringe at her left arm, closed her eyes tightly, taking one final breath of air as she plunged the needle into one of her vein. She slowly pushed the contents of said syringe into her system, and then let out a sigh of relaxation as she pulled out the needle from her arm. A few drops of her blood seemed to have stuck on the needle tip. She tossed the syringe aside with clear hatred. She closed her eyes, and leaned against the windowsill, looking at the slowly approaching dusk.

Rasputin was a mere shadow of her former self. Eyes were soggy and dull, coloring almost pale as a corpse, and her once feminine beauty wasted away into an almost skeletal figure-something almost impossible for a ghost type.
She had lost everyone and everything that mattered at an early age, all thanks to Sinnoh's military, and their stupid ideals. She lived mostly on the streets, avoiding the police as much as she could, hoping to god that she would not have to kill anyone else that wanted to rape or kill her.
She hated her existence.

Not many knew it, but Rasputin is a Pk-noid. Her mother had been a Pk-noid Banette, but her father had been a plain human, a trainer to be more precise. Both of them had started like every other pokemon and trainer in the world, going about their quest to 'become as strong as they could be and win all the badges' crap. But as time went on, the two grew closer and closer to each other. When Rasputin's mother had revealed what she really was, and what she could do, the wall was shattered, and Rasputin had been born despite everything that existed to prevent it from happening. Those who knew what had occurred looked at it as a beacon of hope for the future.
But when Sinnoh found out about the occurrence... that beacon was quickly put out of existence.
Rasputin had managed to escape thanks her father's closest friends. Eventually, they were all was tracked down, and killed like animals. But that extra sacrifice had allowed Rasputin to survive trough it all.
Ever since then, Rasputin has had to make due in the streets of Jubilife as best as possible.
With no family to call her own, no friends to help and comfort her, and society itself having turned its back on her, Rasputin's fate seemed to be sealed. She did not even have name to call her own. Once, she had bared a beautiful name, one given at birth by her loving parents. But that name had long been forgotten.
She had instead opted to call herself Rasputin after the infamous Russian magi that everyone had loathed so much. She felt his fate would befall her soon enough. It was only a matter of time.

Nighttime quickly fell over the city, blanketing it in a deep and menacing darkness; one that was quite welcome, for it was the only safe time to move about.
Rasputin jumped down from her windowsill, landing perfectly on the ground. She reached for her black neckerchief, which she wrapped around her mouth. But before she could cover her face, she took one last gulp of her booze, and placed it on the floor. She then grabbed a black torn up jacket, which covered most of her body, and turned towards the door of the abandoned building. She took one last breath of air, and sank into the darkness.

She resurfaced several miles away from her hideout, right in front of a very prestigious looking house. In the dark, it was impossible to fully determine whom the place belonged to, but that did not mattered in the least to Rasputin, she would go in, take whatever she needed to sell and survive, and hopefully get out without killing anyone in the process. Her last hit had turned out sour. Five people were now dead because of her mistake, and she did not hope to repeat that, even if the ones now dead had been part of Team Rocket.
She took a deep breath of air, and proceeded to carefully pass trough the gate, and quickly made her up the stairs, and deeper into the manor.

-567400-

"Get off me you damn bastard!" Blade shouted ferociously as he shoved yet another Imperfect off from his body. He grabbed it by its tentacles, and flipped it off his back, much like a judo flip. He then slammed the creature against the wall, and using his blades, quickly carved the beast into ribbons. Blood and body parts flowed down the wall, and spilled to the floor.
Just as the gallade had finished off the attacking Imperfect, another of the beast jumped at him, howling and growling in fury, tackling blade, and causing him to hit the floor skidding. Before he had even stopped moving, the Imperfect had already started to claw at his face and body, which were still protected by his visor and armor.
Blade managed to grasp the Imperfect's jaws, and prevented it from using his fangs to bite at his throat.
Hands busy, Blade had no way to push or shove the creature off his body, so he went for the next best thing. Using his legs to get underneath the creature, he dug deep into the beast's gut, and quickly pushed into its body, causing the being great pain and agitation, enough to stop its snarling and biting. Blade then used the force of his push to toss the Imperfect right over his body, sending it flying into the darkness. He then used the same inertia from his previous action to flip on his arms, and push himself right off the ground. With a masterful back flip, he landed with great precision and grace, managing to not only get back into the fight, but also slice the imperfect on the way down. He turned around, and caught the rolling head of his vanquished enemy with his left foot. He chuckled as he picked it up, and crushed it with his bare hand, batting him in a mix of black blood and brain matter.
Blade turned around, smile broadly planted on his face, and continued on his rather merry way.
As soon as he made a step, he was surrounded by hundreds more of the Imperfect creatures, all snarling in rage. Blade stood his ground, crossed his arms, and begun to cackle in amusement. He snapped his fingers with a big smile on his face, and suddenly vanished into thin air.
The creatures looked around, trying to spot the Gallade, but they would not get the opportunity. Just as quickly as Blade had disappeared, he reappeared, blades drawn, and still cackling in delight. The creatures turned around, and begun to roar, but Blade only snapped his fingers one more time. His blades completely covered in black liquid.
All of a suddenly, every single last one of the creatures begun to scream in agony and pain as blood filled the floor like rainwater. Then, every single last one of the Imperfects fell to the floor, bodies cut into tiny squares.
The creature's bodies begun to dissolve, until there was nothing left of them but one gigantic puddle of black ooze.

Blade continued to chuckle as he cleaned his blades, and continued to walk onwards towards the laboratory in the next room.
On the way in, he noticed a gigantic metal door with several caution sings. He stopped in his tracks to look at a sealed door, wondering just what the hell was behind it. He could clearly hear roaring and banging. A pair of piercing green eyes stared at him from behind a small, eye-wide opening.
Blade walked up to the door, and placed his hand on it, hoping to make psychic contact with whatever was inside. Immediately, he entered the mind of a very evil being.
"Let me out, and I will make it worth your while Gallade."
"First things first, who or what the hell are you?"
"Who I was or is, is not important. The only thing that matters is what I can do for you if you free me."
"Yeah? What CAN you do for me?"
"I know were you can find the power you seek Gallade."
"Keep talking."
"I know what you really are, and I know what you aren't. You seek power that is both untainted, and potent enough for you to use. Yet, so far, you have come empty handed. But all that can change if you just let me out."
"Do you really think I am that stupid? I already know what you've done, and why you were locked up in this cage of yours. Do you think I would let a monster such as yourself out into the world? I mean, sure, you can probably show me what I really seek, but not if you kill me first. One monster in the world is enough."
"Your powers of deduction are impressive, but they are not without their flaws. While it is true that I did something horrible in my past, it does not mean that I would be vicious enough to do it again. It has been five years, enough time for me to develop a sense of control over my body and instincts."
"That still does not convince me of your word. If you were who you are, then letting you out would be a very horrible mistake, even for someone like me. I may be cruel, but I am by no means evil."
"Evil comes in the most unexpected of packages. I can already feel what you've done in your past; your soul is just as black as mine... Face it, the only reason you seek this power is for your own personal gain. You and I are not different in the end."
"That is were you are wrong. While you will settle for anything that can give you power regardless of what it may do to you and your soul, I seek power in my own way."
"But who is to say that the power you wish to find, is the power you really want?"
"That is something that I must find on my own terms. I don't need the likes of you to tell me what I may or may not want."
"Let me out, and I can show you what you really seek."
"I'm afraid I will have to let that offer down." Blade backed away from the door, "All I really need is some info from this computer, that is all." Blade walked up to the computer terminal, and proceeded to hack it. He began to copy the files and folders that already existed on it into a clean disk. Once he was finished, he entered into the security mainframe, and closed down all possible exist from the base, save one.
He walked past the metallic door once more, and smiled in malice. "Sorry, but it looks like you will never get out of here now."
"But neither will you."
"I have ways of getting out. Have fun rotting for eternity!" Blade smiled as he walked away, laughing in clear amusement. The creature behind the metal door simply cackled evilly.
"Walk away while you still can Gallade... for soon, you will be part of my personal army of Imperfects."

To be continued...