Opening its eyes half-way, the being looked up at Ranma with a pained expression. Its lips moved in silence for a moment before whispering, “Eeveeeee...” it gently moved its head to look at the pigtailed man’s hand. Sniffing once, twice, it licked at the pigtailed martial artist’s fingers.
Having grown up being taught the lessons of never getting involved with a wild animal out, the pigtailed martial artist was torn; leave the natural balance as it was meant to or save the little thing? Ranma sighed as he looked at the little wounded animal while it licked his hand. Damn it! His heart-strings were being plucked expertly by the Hayao Miyazaki-esque fox-squirrel! Or at least, that was the best he could figure it to be; it had some physical traits of raccoons, foxes, squirrels, dogs... he shuddered... cats. Whatever it was, the little thing was definitely a mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy tail that had a cream-colored tip and a furry collar that was that same cream-color. But damn, it was those big, sad brown eyes and big brown ears folded back that really killed Ranma. The little creature was the look of abject misery.
“That’s it...” Ranma whispered to himself. It was a martial artist’s duty to protect the weak and right now this thing was as weak as could be in its injured state! “Hang in there little guy...” he told it as it he took his right hand back. He brought his left hand over to the end of his right forearm and grabbed onto his arm bracer, sliding it off. “Easy there he told the little brown-furred thing as he lifted it up with his right hand and slid the bracer underneath it before letting it lay back down. It took a bit of work but he wrapped it around the little creature’s torso to close the wound, all the while making sure it wouldn’t be too tight and painful. “There you go. Feel any better? Can you move?”
Amazing to the martial artist, the little thing to understand what he was saying. Blinking its big brown eyes for a moment, it tried to stand on all fours. Its legs wobbled lightly before it fell back down to the ground. “Vee!” It cried out as the pain was too great, the little brown-furred lump of innocence lying on its side, trembling all the while.
Frowning at the fox-squirrel-thing’s inability to stand on its own, the raven haired Asian nodded his head. “That’s it...” he said in all seriousness. “I’m taking ya home.” He couldn’t leave the thing the way it was but he had no clue how to properly take care of an animal! If he was lucky maybe Kasumi would know or even Dr. Tofu. Hell, maybe even the old ghoul would help; the uniqueness of the thing might be enough to make her help without wanting something in return!
The little brown creature winced as it felt the human’s hands move about it but it calmed at the gentleness with which it was suddenly being held. “Eevee?” It seemed to inquire as it was being cradled in one arm as the person holding it was digging into his pocket with his free hand.
“Gimme a minute,” Ranma assured the little animal he was holding. Digging around for in his pocket for his portable hole, the pigtailed martial artist realized that maybe putting a hole in one’s pocket wasn’t the best of places to keep it. It felt like he was reaching into an endless space rather than grabbing onto said portal between dimensional planes. Despite time being of the essence, he kept calm and felt around for it as best he could.
Fortunately for Ranma, the decree that if something could go wrong with him that it would, didn’t seem to apply when an innocent animal, (or in this case, PokéMon) was involved. Grabbing onto the edge of the portable hole, Ranma pulled it out with a flourish. “AH HA!” He shouted as he threw it to the ground, letting it roll out completely. “Saotome School Anything Goes Escape Manuever!” He shouted out in a prominent, booming voice. “I Got A Hole In Me Pocket!”
A sweat-drop poured down the side of the Miyazaki-esque fox-squirrel’s head. “...Vee...”
Turning to look at the little creature cuddled against him and his arm, Ranma told it, “You come up with something better.” And with that said, he stepped in through the hole, disappearing back to Nerima with a ‘passenger’. He just hoped there wouldn’t be any of the usual gang of idiots around where he got out. He was in no mood to stop and have to deal with any distractions.
Men and women scoured through Eterna Forest, their uniforms of PVC and spandex, bowl-cut hair-styles that were dyed aquamarine stood out like a sore thumb in the very natural surroundings in their outfits that spoke of high technology, (and bad cosplay).
His eyes widening, the Commander of Team Galactic with his hair down up similarly to a pair of horned looked at the device in his hand in complete shock. Looking around and seeing Galactic Grunts who had similar looks as they looked at their own tracking devices told him all he needed to know. “Lord Cyrus!” He spoke up in alarm. “There’s something you need to see!”
The man who’d lost his emotions long ago to one of Sinnoh’s three Legendary PokéMon asked, “What is it, Saturn?” He stood with a poise that belied the strength that lay deep within him; it was a presentation that commanded respect of all his underlings. “You normally don’t lose your cool unless we have a problem.” He eyes narrowed. “Do we have a problem?” The tone in his voice could have frozen running water.
Sweat trickling down the side of his head, the man nodded slowly in confirmation. “Yes, Lord Cyrus. Project Eeveelution has disappeared.”
While it was long-known that Cyrus had lost his emotions he could still convey a hint to the most powerful active emotions, such as anger. “Explain.” That little experimental PokéMon had cost him too many people and resources to successfully steal from Team Rocket for it to have just slipped through his fingers. He was going to be... displeased if this was due to incompetence on the part of his people.
“As I said, the project has just disappeared!” Saturn said as he turned his tracking device so that his boss could see the radar screen. “It’s just not there anymore! It was one moment but it’s gone now! Like a puff of smoke!”
Grimacing slightly the leader of Team Galactic demanded, “What could have caused this?” That PokéMon was to be part of his personal warrior team.
Considering it for a mere three seconds, the Galactic Commander was quick to reply, “A number of reasons but the majority of those deal with someone getting to Project Eeveelution before us; someone could have broken the tracking device implanted within it, PokéBalled it or Teleported out of range with another PokéMon.” As an afterthought, he added, “Yes, the implanted tracking device’s battery running out is another possibility but a highly unlikely one.”
Snorting in annoyance, the individual with combed back pale blue hair and a chiseled expression replied, “Fine. Ready the helicopters, we’re getting out of here. There’s no use wasting any more time and effort to capture something that is beyond our reach; cut our losses before we waste anything more.”
Nodding his head, Saturn replied to his boss, “Yes, Lord Cyrus. I am sorry that we’ve lost track of Project Eeveelution. I understand it was a special Eevee, one with a truly special unstable genetic structure. The ability to have a PokéMon that could switch between elemental types at will would have made you a very pretty PokéDollar to the right buyer.” Bowing to his employer, the dark blue-haired male apologized, “Forgive me Lord Cyrus, this is my fault. I was the one that had set up the arrangements for the experiment’s transport from Floaroma Town to Eterna City. If I’d have known that-”
“Saturn,” Cyrus spoke up, interrupting his underling. “I thought you’d have known me better by now. I have no interest in things such as money. I already have more than I’ll ever need.”
The Galactic Commander blinked his eyes once, twice. “Sir? Then why invest so much into that Eevee?” At the silence he received, Saturn further inquired. “...Sir?”
Slowly, the tall and long-jaded individual reached into his jacket pocket with his right hand, removing a golden pocket-watch from it. He looked at the clock’s face, his attention on it rather than his high-ranking subordinate. “There is only one thing that I desire... the one thing that, for all my power and wealth, can’t do anything about: Time.”
Blinking his eyes once, twice, Saturn wasn’t sure what to say. Fortunately, nothing was required of him as his master continued speaking.
“Time is handed out equally to everyone,” Cyrus told him, his hand gripping the watch tightly. “The power to control time... that is the power of the gods. The thing that I am after is the power that Dialga possesses. Do you understand?”
Watching as the glass face of the watch started to crack in his boss’ grasp, Commander Saturn nodded in understanding. It was one of the team’s main goals, to see that a new world was created and ruled by Cyrus. “To become the new god?”
“PRECISELY!” The leader of Team Galactic answered, the glass shattering in his hand and the gold becoming dented inward. Fingers bleeding from the broken glass stabbing into his digits, he told his subordinate. “I want to be a god! I will take that power for myself and become the god of a new and better world!”
Holding out his hands, Cyrus dropped the broken pocket watch in a shower of metal, springs, broken glass and specks of blood. “There are many possible stepping stones to achieving my dream. I felt the limitless power afforded by PokéMon evolution would be useful. Since it seems that is no longer an option we’ll just have to think... bigger.”
Staring at the bits of metal and class that clattered onto the floor of Eterna forest for a moment, the Galactic Commander raised his head to look his boss in his sunken, slate-gray eyes. “Bigger?”
Those eyes slowly closing, the man in charge of Team Galactic replied, “Bigger.”
Somewhere within the existence between dimensions, a god-like being that opposed and paralleled the powers of time itself let off a deafening shriek that could rend space. But if that was in reaction to a mad-man’s scheme... or a boy using a small magical circle that worked alongside the power of inhuman. draconic creature... one could not be certain.
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(Posted Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:13)
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