The Light-less Dawn: Black Hole Rising (Advance Wars/Pokemon, PG13)

[FONT=&quot](Finally, here it is; the chronicles of Dream's Epilogue, Dark Pikachu and Commanding Officer of Black Hole. I've been itching to do something like this for awhile. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it...)

[FONT=&quot]First [/FONT]of all, a note. I am not writing this to chronicle Black Hole; that is a task that will deal with itself. Nor am I writing this to brag of my own exploits; my accomplishments are minor and inconsequential in the eyes of a single world, much less two.

I am writing this to share a story. A story of a young nation, a brilliant mastermind, a bratty genius, a slithery fool, and a mindless brute. A story of a loner, an outcast in his own world, who finally found a purpose, and even a kind of home. A story of great ambition, of a grand dream to bring not only one world, but ALL worlds under a single banner, and usher in an era of unchallenged peace. A story of Black Hole, the soldiers and officers who form it, and one tiny, insignificant mouse who ended up a commander in the greatest army of all time.

Now, where to begin? The best place would be, I suppose, the first time I learned of Black Hole. An ordinary day, where a chance encounter and a subsequent abduction transformed my life and gave me purpose.

Why, you ask, do I not start at the beginning? Simple; because there is no story to tell there. I was unhappy in the wild, ended up in the hands of a trainer, quickly grew tired of that, and ran from trainer to trainer, until the day in question. There are no tales there; I cannot recall the names of those trainers, the others who fought alongside me, or whom we fought. The only thing that had any meaning to me was the fighting, and even that was pointless and ungainful. In all honesty, I was perfectly content with being taken from that world.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Time to begin...
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"Damn, it's hot..."

Jared tore off his helmet, savoring the cooling breeze that swept his brow. He lifted a thick arm and wiped a line of sweat from his face, and slung it upon the grass. The sun was beating down, and the summer air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Thin patchs of flowers sprung up from the earth in rare groves.

His partner walked alongside him, encased in an identical uniform. The suit's thick padding was made to stop high-impact shells but was not, unfortunately, made for comfort. The suit retained heat like a sauna; in particularly hot climates, it was unbearable. Or rather, it would be, if not for the suit's built-in air conditioning system. Every suit came with one standard-equipped. Jared's partner had a functional one. Jared himself was not so lucky.

The man walked along casually, and gave a cheery answer.

"Really? I hadn't noticed. Actually, I think it's pretty nice out today, don't you?"

Jared paused for a moment to shoot his squadmate a searing look. "You're an ass, you know that?"

"Thank you. I try."
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The night before, I had made yet another flight from yet another nameless trainer. This one was perhaps more diligent than the others; he called out search parties to look for me once he realized I was gone. From what I learned later, the poor fool had actually deluded himself into thinking I'd been kidnapped. Rather ironic, actually, considering the events of the following days.

In no mood for another disastrous confrontation, I'd made every effort to get away before I was located. It was late, and this left me quite exhausted; once I was confident I was far enough away, I decided to rest for awhile. I found myself in a forest, and decided to take a nap under a nearby tree. I laid down and soon fell asleep...
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Jared wiped yet another pool of sweat from his face; it must've been his fourth one in fifteen minutes. The summers here were sweltering, and the suit wasn't helping much.

He'd been thinking of asking, but hesitated. Now, encouraged by the thought of another patrol in this heat, he did.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Eh?"

"I don't suppose...could you loan me some money? Enough to get the suit's A/C fixed?"

"What're you, nuts?! Just ask the techs."

The techs were in charge of maintaining the various machines and hardware, and were notoriously underpaid. They'd look for any excuse to part a man and his money. A desperate man, even more so.

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Well, actually..."

"Answer, and you're dead."

"Yeah, yeah...whatever."

"..."

"..."

"You're still an ass."

"I know."

Some time passed. Then,

"Hey, look at that."

Jared turned to follow his squadmate's finger. He saw what looked like some sort of mutant rat, lying underneath a tall tree.

The two had never encountered anything like it before. Although, truth be told, they'd only been on this planet for a matter of weeks now, and save for the occasional patrol, had never ventured outside of HQ.

His partner gave him a nudge.

"Go poke it."

"WHAT?! Are you insane?! I have no idea what that thing is! What if it's, I dunno, poisonous or something?!"

"Only one way to find out, right?"

"Dude, there's no way I'm going to poke that thing."

"Alright, then; how about this. I'll agree to pay for your A/C repair if you do."

"Hey, you serious?"

"BUT, it has to be a hard poke. Enough to wake it up."

"I repeat: you're crazy. Not gonna happen."

"Fine. Have fun boiling out here again next patrol."

He waited a few seconds, then,

"Fine. I'll do it." Jared selected a long stick from a nearby pile. "If I die, you're paying for my funeral."

He approached the small creature carefully, eying it. It had yellow fur, and a bizarre-looking tail; there was something odd about it, but it was partially hidden beneath the creature, so he couldn't quite place it. It had two sharp ears with black tips, and brown patches along its back.

He was close enough now.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] He lifted the stick and gave the creature a soft jab in the back. It twitched, and he instinctively recoiled. Once he was sure it was safe, he reached forward and gave it another jab, this one much sharper...
[FONT=&quot]----------------[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I woke to a sharp poke in the back. At first, I thought it my imagination, and went back to sleep. A few moments later, however, another, sharper poke came. This one actually stung.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I didn't really feel like moving, so I simply directed a strong charge along my back to the source of the jab. I heard a loud yelp behind me...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]----------------[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Conner stared in awe. One moment, his squadmate was innocently jabbing a tiny rat, the next, he's lit up like a fireworks display. He gave a sharp cry of pain, and a few moments later, he was hurled back onto the ground. Steam lazily curled up from him. He was twitching slightly.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Conner's soldier instinct took over. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly dangerous. It had to be eliminated. He ran over and leveled his gun at the creature...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-----------------[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I felt a sudden sense of danger, and a prickle of annoyance; I was still tired and lazy, and really didn't want to deal with anything just yet. But I'd learned long ago not to ignore these kinds of feelings.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I groggily climbed to my feet, and turned, rubbing one eye with a paw. I froze.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At that time, I honestly didn't know what to think of the bizarre...thing standing in front of me. I suppose it reminded me of a cheap space-monster flick; I felt a ridiculous urge to say "take me to your leader!" though I realized that it probably wouldn't understand me anyway.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]But, it wasn't the thing's outfit that made me freeze. It was the strange, horizontal bar attacked to it's right arm. I might not've known what it was, save for that telltale barrel at the end...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-----------------[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Conner had his gun trained on the creature, but he still felt a cold sweat as it slowly got up and turned to look at him.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It had a round, rodent-like face with glossy black eyes and two bright-red cheeks. Now that it was standing, he could see the tail in it's entirety; it was shaped like a lightning bolt. A pretty obvious sign, but fat lot of good it did them now.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Jared had regained consciousness, and was cursing.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Sonova...bastard shocked me!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"You alright?"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Other than the...shooting pain and...partial numbness, yeah...I'm fine. Thanks for...the concern..."[/FONT]

"Hey, take it easy. I got my gun on it. It moves, it dies. S'no threat anymore."

Jared climbed awkwardly to his feet. He panted heavily, and managed to take a good look at the creature. He eyes moved to the tail.

"Son of a...would've been...good to know before..."

He managed to level his gun...
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Two on one. I didn't like those odds. Two with guns on one, I liked those even less.

In all honesty, I'd gotten quite fast in my training, but not quite fast enough to outrun bullets. I'd really hoped to avoid a fight, but it looked like the only way out of this particular situation...
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(It's late now. I'm going to put up the next part tomorrow.

No, I'm not done with LDA. I'm going to alternate between that and this.

Like before, I'm open to criticism. Just keep it to a flame-minimum.

I know it's slow for right now, but this is still exposition. Trust me, it gets better shortly. After all, I get to meet Lash for the first time soon...)
[/FONT]

I love it! I'm guessing this is a SC-Fi genre fic, with aliens and possibly other universes or at least other planets? Sweet! I always wanted to read a story with a space-ship Captain Pikachu-- in one of the mangas, there was a pikachu named James T. Kirk, or it might have just been Kirk, and ever since I've wanted to read such a fic.

I have no idea what that other fic you speak of is. Perhaps you should put links up in your signature.

Conner kept his eyes and his gun on the creature, watching for the smallest movement. Nearby, his partner half-stood with his gun trained on it as well. His hands were shaking, though; he didn't look like he could even hit a full-grown man right now, much less a tiny rodent.

The creature simply stood there, looking back and forth between them. Hopefully, it was smart enough not to try anything. If not, well...at least Miss Lash would have a new specimen to play with...
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I couldn't help but think of the irony; running so far away to avoid a confrontation with that trainer and his escorts, and here I am in a significantly less-desirable situation.

Both of the creatures were watching me, and had their guns aimed and ready to fire. I finally got a look at one of them without a helmet; the one who had been poking me. He was definitely human; at least I wasn't dealing with space aliens. He seemed a bit pale, though that might very well have been from the shock I gave him; humans were notoriously frail.

I needed to act. All it would take was for one of them to get twitchy, and I was history. I noticed the one I shocked seemed a bit unsteady; his hands were shaking. That gave me an idea. If I targeted the other one and took him out before he could fire, his partner wouldn't likely be able to hit me. As long as I kept moving, anyway.

Of course, they'd still be firing at me, and if I slipped or they got lucky even once...
-------------------
Jared tried to keep his gun up. He was still aching from the shock; his muscles were protesting at his every movement. If that thing decided to attack, he'd be almost useless. It would be entirely up to his partner. Not a concept he liked.

Oddly, it was just...watching them. Did it somehow understand what they were able to do if it did attack? Was it possible this thing was more intelligent that they gave it credit for?

Not likely. Animals were still animals; the idea of an intelligent squirrel, much less a rat, was outright absurd. He relaxed a bit. He didn't particularly enjoy the idea of shooting a mindless animal like this, but for what it had done, and what it might do again...
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I kept my movement to a minimum. Best not to provoke them until just the right moment.

That moment came. A quick use of Agility, and I made a dash for the okay one.

You had to give him credit; he tried. He really did. He managed to squeeze off a few rounds at me before I reached him, but he never had a chance. Once he was down, there was just a matter of the other one...
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Unbelievable. In the time you'd blink your eye, the creature had rushed Jared's partner, and knocked him flat with an electrified tackle. The poor guy didn't move.

Unfortunately, Jared knew he was next. When he'd tried to turn to follow the creature's lightning-quick movements, he'd been hit with a crippling dizzy spell and fell flat on his behind. He could barely see straight, much less fire his gun.

There was one option left. Nearby, he made out the shape of his helmet; he'd dropped it when the thing had zapped him. He just hoped the shock hadn't fried the link between the suit and the helmet, or the helmet's comm function...

He managed, shakily, to hit the relay button on the forearm of his suit, and quickly slid down and hit the "SOS" button. A few local radio stations might get a very bizarre transmission, but at least his death wouldn't go unpunished...
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It seemed their suits, whatever they were made of, were potent conductors for electricity. Fortunate for me. Less so for them.

The first one went down almost comically easily. He was unconscious almost from the moment my Volt Tackle made contact.

That just left the other one. He'd tripped when he tried to turn; from the way he was groaning, I doubt he was much more of a threat. Still, it was probably a good idea to knock him out anyway, just to be safe.

He seemed to be struggling against some unknown force; his arm was flailing about weakly. An easy remedy. I placed a paw on his neck; in a couple of seconds, he was out cold.

If I had been more aware, more alert, I might've noticed the blinking light on the arm of his suit, and might've realized what it meant; unfortunately, or fortunately as it were, I was still a little groggy, and my senses weren't at full yet.

I continued on through the woods for awhile, but I hadn't gone far when I encounter yet another nest of nasties.

I watched them carefully. There were five of them. They all wore the same uniforms as the other two, and they all had the same guns mounted in their suits. They were poking through the woods, looking for something. Possibly their fallen comrades. Possibly me.

I couldn't let them stumble on their buddies just yet; the last thing I needed was to have an army of these guys chasing after me. At least until I was far enough away for it not to matter anymore.

I readied myself. I remembered how easily the one had fallen and hoped the same rule applied to these guys; if not, this would be a very short attack indeed.

I built up a sizeable charge and held it; I needed to do this in one, fluid motion. Aiming at the nearest one, I prepared to spring...
---------------
Quinn kept his gun leveled, and scanned the woods carefully. He had little to fear; four fellow soldiers were nearby, mulling about, searching for the source of the distress beacon.

A few minutes ago, their unit had received an emergency transmission from somewhere around here. The meaning of the transmission was clear; one or more of their soldiers were down, possibly dead.

The transmissions weren't wasted on simple accidents; certain figures back at HQ tended to react very unpleasantly at that sort of thing. Which meant only one thing.

Hostiles.

The Allied Nations had no presence here; this WAS another world, after all, and the Allies barely had space exploration technology, much less inter-planetary shuttles. Somehow, however, that didn't relieve him very much.

He calmed himself. After all, he had half a unit of highly-trained, heavily-armed infantry with him; no one would be crazy enough to pick a fight with all five of them, right...?
-----------------
I struck. I leapt from my hiding place. Volt Tackle combined with Agility.

My prayers were answered; their suits were just as vulnerable as the other two. Two of them were down before the others even had a chance to react. By the time they'd realized what was happening, another one was down.

Unfortunately, that still left two to shoot at me. I managed to avoid the hail of bullets by the skin of my teeth; thank goodness for Agility. I reached one and leapt at his chest, the charge knocking him out almost instantly. Using his body to reverse my momentum, I propelled myself off of him and towards the last remaining soldier; my small weight should have made little impact, but with the momentum I'd built up, fused with the several thousand volts coursing through me, my tiny body may as well have been a cannonball. He was hruled backwards, tubling across the ground before coming to a stop. As I cooled off and dispersed the charge, I silently wondered if I'd killed him.

No time to dwell on that now. I brushed myself off and moved on...
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(I actually wanted to keep writing, but I felt this chapter was long enough. But I'm stil feeling creative, so I'm going to get the next post of LDA up soon, then another of this one.)

The day was not going well. I'd survived two encounters with the mysterious soldiers, but I didn't know how much longer my luck would hold out. On top of that, it was getting uncomfortably humid; the heat, mixed with the fact that I was still groggy from my interrupted nap, was making me lethargic.

My pace was slowing. Two days of running and as many hours of sleep between them were beginning to take their toll...
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[Alright. This place'll work. Everyone, spread out! Eyes open, safeties off! We've got half a unit down, hostiles unknown. Watch for anything suspicious. Shoot to kill!]

The replies chimed in, one after another.

[Roger.]

[Acknowledged.]

[Acknowledged!]

[Yes, sir!]

Now there was nothing to do but wait...
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I needed to rest. I'd been running for at least half an hour now, and any energy my brief nap had earned me was spent. I still didn't feel safe; my instincts were screaming at me. There was danger everywhere. But I had no choice. I'd be crawling soon if I didn't rest for at least a few minutes.

I stopped, and leaned against a nearby tree. A cooling breeze drifted by, slicing through the thick air. It felt good on my sweat-drenched fur. I enjoyed the silence for a moment more...
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[Contact!]

The report was accompanied by a ping marking the location of the hostile. All eyes immediately turned to it.

A strange creature was stumbling along. It appeared to be quite exhausted, and it definitely qualified as suspicious. Amongst the thick brush, several guns raised towards the creature...

[Hold it!]

As if the message carried some sort of mystical power, all movement stopped instantly.

[Based on the timing and location of the beacons, I'd say this is our target. It's alone...and it's tired. Safeties on; we're gonna take a little 'souvenir' back to HQ with us. Everyone, be ready to move, on my mark...

...NOW!]
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Then everything went to hell. I became instantly aware of no less than ten figures emerge all around me. More of the soldiers; I was outnumbered, outgunned, exhausted, and surrounded.

I truly thought that was the end for me.

I didn't want to just give up. I wanted to at least take some of them with me, but I knew it was pointless. No matter where I ran, it'd be straight into the line of fire for one or more of them. I'd be shot dead before I got close enough to even touch one. I couldn't build up a charge either, since they'd shoot as soon as they saw the electricity begin to gather. I regretted showing mercy to their comrades, a favor I was sure I wouldn't also be granted...
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[What...IS this thing, sir?]

[No idea. All my years, never seen anything like this. We ain't home anymore, that's for sure.]

[So, what now?]

[One of you, get up close to it and knock it out. Don't bother with the taser; judging by it's appearance, I'm guessing this thing has something to do with electricity. No point taking risks. Good solid whack to the head will work just fine.]

[Roger...]

The soldier cautiously approached the creature. "Night night..." he said with concealed enthusiasm...
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I sensed the man approach, I heard him speak, I felt the rush as he swung some sort of blunt object at me, but really, what could I do?

"Night night..."

A sharp blow on my head. Everything grew black, and my thoughts slipped from me...

As I regained consciousness, I realized two things: one, that I was blindfolded, and two, it was mercifully cool.

I had no idea where I was, and my eyes were useless. I felt a slight but steady tug in one direction, which suggested I was in a vehicle of some sort. I heard a soft pitter-patter; by the sound of it, I guessed rain. The humidity must've finally squeezed the moisture in the air into a lukewarm shower. The vehicle was enclosed, so I couldn't feel the rain (and, thank Arceus, it was also air conditioned.)

I realized how lucky I was. Though this was by no means a positive situation, at least I was alive. I didn't know who these guys were, or what they planned to do with me, but it was better than the alternative. As far as I knew, anyway.

"Hey, take a look. Little bastard finally woke up."

Obviously, the whatever-it-was must've had other occupants. Never leave a prisoner unguarded; it was Abduction 101.

"Hello, you ugly little rat bastard. What's wrong? Not gonna try to zap me or anything?"

Well, how could I turn down a flat out challenge like that? I built a sizeable charge, and hurled it at the source of the voice. I waited for the cry of pain, but it didn't come. Instead, I heard a roar of laughter.

"Hahaha, you'll have to try harder than that!"

I moved a bit towards the source, and ran into a series of bars. A cage. I was in a cage. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's cages.

"Yep. Trapped. Just like a...rat in a cage, haha!...hey, Jerry, 'ja see what I did there?"

"Uh-huh. Hilarious. Can you keep the lame jokes to a minimum, please?"

"Why? The littlle bastard's not going anywhere soon. I guess he's found himself in a..."

"PLEASE don't say it."

"SHOCKING situation! Hehehe..."

Of course, there were many things I couldn't stand, and the owner of the voice was quickly making his way up the list.

"Dude, seriously. Shut up, or I'll open the cage and let it fry your fat ass."

"C'mon, already! It's just a joke, and besides, how could I resist?"

"You could stop talking for once."

"Fine, fine, whatever..."
---------------
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I rode in silence for what felt like forever; eventually, the rain stopped. I didn't know how long I'd been in here, or how far we were traveling.

Eventually, we arrived. I felt the vehicle stop, and my cage was picked up by someone. I considered sending a shock through the bars, but I remembered how that had turned out last time, and I was in no mood for a repeat.

The first thing I noticed when I was taken outside was that it was cold. REALLY cold. I gave an involuntary shiver, and my carrier must've noticed it.

"Feeling the cold, huh? Guess you're not in Kansas anymore, eh Dorothy?"

I honestly had no idea what he was trying to say. If it was intented to be a jab, it was a terrible one; I had no idea who Dorothy was, or what this "Kansas" was either. Nevertheless, I fought the urge to shock, and focused on listening for anything useful.

I heard a mixture of noises. The sound of engines, of conversation both close and distant, and far off, the sound of gunfire. I was unable to distiguish anything from the racket, and soon enough, I felt a sudden change of temperature that suggested I was now inside. Hoping I'd be luckier here, I opened my ears to anything that might give me a clue as to where I was.

Unfortunately, as I moved along, I heard nothing more than quite whispers too faint for even my sensitive ears to pick up on. I sensed an aura of awe, as though I were a carnival freak who had just made his appearance before a dumbstruck audience.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, I came to a stop. I heard a gentle knock, and someone nearby spoke.

"M-Mistress? We have something for you, ma'am..."

This was my first encounter with her. I'd make many assumptions over the next few days, and most of them would turn out to be right...but not quite in the way I'd expected.

"HEY! I'm busy! Come back later or something!"

"Er...Mistress Lash? We've obtained something you might be interested in..."

"WHAT did I just tell you stupid monkeys?! Geez, how does birdbrain expect me to run this stupid place with idiots like these guys running around?!"

"Um...I can hear you, Mistress..."

"Fine! WHATEVER! The experiment's totally ruined anyway, thanks to you! Just bring it in here, already..."

I heard a door open, and I was carried a short distrance through it. I felt a sharp stick poke me, and then my blindfold was removed.

Everything was a dizzying white and silver; the walls made the room appear to stretch on into infinity. The floor was made of metallic tiles, and there were a number of unreadable charts, monitors, and unidentifiable devices lining the walls and ceilings; the pattern of the wall made them appear to float in midair. A number of various objects adorned tables, some of which were ominously spotted with flecks of red.

I saw her. In front of me stood a rather short girl with bizarre black hair and an equally dark labcoat. She was bent over and looking at something on a table, and apparently shaking her head.

"This batch is no good. It's been exposed for too long. Guess I'll have to start from scratch. Again."

She straightened up and started to turn around.

"So what's so important that you losers have to ruin my-"

She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell on me.

"Oh? What's this?"
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(Heh heh heh...)