[PKMN FULL] The Darkest Timeline

[Groc]

Dennis Coleman
Chapter 3: Revelations

"Jasper!" Dennis keeps his hands neutral, ready to either raise them in defense or grab for his Pokeballs or gun. "You bastard!"

Jasper cocks an eyebrow, not moving from the tree line. "How eloquent. Petty name-calling is beneath you, Dennis. Which, considering your actions, is pretty low, indeed."

"Why?" Dennis takes a step forward, his hands clenched in fists of rage. "Why did you lie? Why did you turn her against me?!"

Jasper idly reaches down to scratch Poochyena behind his ears. "You should be careful, Dennis. Worms sometimes live in apples. And worms are used as bait."

"What are you..."

"Bait for traps." As soon as he says this, three Amethyst soldiers drop from the tree, landing on top of Dennis. He struggles to rise, but one of them kicks him in the face.

Jasper finally moves forward while Dennis struggles with the goons, visibly annoyed. "Honestly, were my instructions that complicated? I said take him down while I was distracting him!"

Two men keep Dennis on his knees while a woman stands before him, keeping him off balance by occasionally hitting him. "Sorry, boss. We didn't want to interrupt you."

"I hadn't even started yet! I had to improvise and practically spell it out for you!"

"Wait... boss?" Dennis blinks in confusion, the pieces starting to fall into place. The woman punches him in the jaw.

Jasper nods, clearing his throat. "Yes. Now you begin to understand. I was never truly on your side. I've always worked for Lady Amara, not that buffoon Archie."

Dennis gets the feeling Jasper has been working on this for a while. He is far too into this. "So you lied? Betrayed your friends? Even Terry and Heather."

The woman punches him again as Jasper scowls. "You don't know what you're talking about. You didn't know them. Terry was never my friend, and Heather could never see me because he was always standing in the way! What do you say now?"

Dennis grins. "I think your underling hits like a girl." The female goon blinks in confusion, while Jasper sighs. "Well, you're not wrong. Go for his ribs."

She steps in, aiming a kick into Dennis' chest. He winces, refusing to cry out. "Again." She kicks Dennis again, knocking the wind from his lungs. Jasper crouches next to him, lightly slapping him.

"For years, I've been feeding information to Lady Amara, all the while playing the good little soldier. Then, my big break came when I revealed the biggest operation of their pathetic careers. I set up the ambush, stepped aside to avoid the firefight, and prepared to collect my reward. But there were just two little problems. Friendly fire, and you."

He starts pacing. Dennis tries to follow, but his head drops from exhaustion and pain. "I thought I had made my escape, but one of the new recruits got a little trigger happy. Luckily he was a poor shot, but when I called for help, who should come along but you? You were late, you avoided the trap, and you killed the guys who were coming to get me! I couldn't be rescued with you dragging me along, ruining everything, so I had to distract you, slow you down until reinforcements could arrive. Instead, what do you do? Leave me to die, and try to shack up with my woman!"

He pulls his gun, pointing it at Dennis. "I could have handled missing one soldier. I could have handled a few flesh wounds. I would have killed you immediately if you had just stayed there, or gone on to that ridiculous gym. But you insulted me, abandoned me, and tried to take from me everything. So now, you'll be coming with us, where your demise will be slow and painful."

Dennis looks up, forcing a smile. "Can't be any worse than listening to you talk." Jasper stares in disbelief, then shoots Dennis in the shoulder. Dennis cries out in pain, but Jasper slams the gun into his temple, knocking him out.

"Tie him up! We're leaving now!" The goons obey, nervous about the angry look on Jasper's face. "Yes sir!

((End Chapter 3))

 

[Gandhi Savage]

@Godzil: WOW THAT TIED UP EVERYTHING I WILL GET WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER ASAP!

 

[Gandhi Savage]

CHAPTER FOUR: Abandonment

"Remember you can't reach what's in front of
you until you let go of what's behind you."
~anonymous

Dennis Coleman

Spoiler:

After the whole fiasco with Jasper, Dennis wakes up being tied to a chair. Jasper is nowhere to be seen but, even worse, the man he previously stabbed is. He towers above Dennis and cackles at him before laying into him. After a very long time of being beaten Dennis falls unconscious and awakens in a cell. It is very run down and tiny, there is nothing but a sink (which is broken) in the room. Seemingly days go by, and Dennis is given next to no food, and it is of very low quality.

Eventually, a blip takes place and the cells are cleared out and sent to a local prison in the now pro-Amethyst town of Mahogany. Dennis is taken to the prison without Jasper's permission and is loaded onto the truck. Just as it is about to take off a gunshot is heard, followed by several more. The back of the truck bursts open to reveal Bigby, a big grin painted on his face. The truck has an uproar and rushes into the Weapon HQ of Amethyst to riot. The number of prisoners exceeds guards and there is immediately a massive battle within Azalea and Bigby hauls you away from the fray.

After escaping the jaws of permanent imprisonment Dennis eventually tells Bigby what happens. Bigby already knows however, Heather communicated this to the A.A.V branch. Bigby however, didn't buy it and was exiled for his opposite views on the subject.

(Just a bit of a transitional chapter, lemme know if you want to tweak anything)

Charlie Arthurson

Spoiler:

You begin your adventure in Goldenrod city. Amethyst have cracked down on the rebel activity here in recent times. Rumour even has it that Amara herself resides in Goldenrod! The safest area for non-Amethyst promoters. Hordes of people gather here, and it often is home to people of questionable motives. It's certainly safer than crossing an Amethyst member on the upper ground. Many people are locked up for even looking at them the wrong way.

While venturing underground, either for the first time or if you're a regular, the area is stormed by Amethyst members. Amara has clearly gotten fed up with the dissent she's been shown in her primary city. While fleeing you run into what appears to be a dead-end. Here you're grabbed by someone on your blind-side and are hauled into a secret entrance. Here you're met with a group of peopled cloaked in black. It's the local rebellious group; Team Rocket! Their motives have drastically changed from their Giovanni days or even Neo-Rocket days. The A.A.V have been defeated in Goldenrod and this is the last band of defence. They ask you to enrol and the choice is yours, do you want to be a Team Rocket member?

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[Groc]

Dennis Coleman
Chapter 4: Darkest Hour

Dennis slowly comes to, his head pounding. He can feel something going on behind him, but when he tries to turn, he realizes what it is: someone tying his arms to the chair he's sitting in. He starts moving, discovering that his kegs are tied to the chair as well, with another rope around his thighs tying him to the seat. In short: he's not getting out of this chair any time soon.

"Tied to a chair? That the best you can do, Jasper?" His voice is rough, and he realizes his throat is a little dry. He must have been out for a while. Whoever was tying the ropes finishes up, stepping into view.

"I'm not Jasper. The name's Buford." The man is slightly shorter than Dennis, scrawny but wiry. Of course, with Dennis tied to this chair, the man practically towers over him, and seems fully aware of it.

Also, he seems familiar. "Hey. Almost didn't recognize you without my knife sticking out of your chest." Dennis tries for arrogance, but can't keep the quaver of fear out of his voice.

Buford grins, unsettling Dennis even more. "Time to pay for your little stunt. It's been a long time coming." Without further ado, he punches Dennis square in the solar plexus, knocking the wind from his lungs. He doesn't let up, viciously striking Dennis in the chest and head. When his hands get tired, he moves on to kicking Dennis' shins and stomping on his feet.

In his pain-induced haze, Dennis notes that they've stripped him of his shirt, coat, and boots, leaving him with just his pants. He starts to zone out a little, trying to block out the pain. After all, his weapons training had been with actual staves and clubs. He knew how to ignore blunt force.

Of course, Buford had brought a knife. He slowly slices a long, shallow cut across Dennis' chest, jolting him from his haze and earning a scream of pain. "Hey, you're not fading already, are you? We just got started!" He cackles with glee, slicing into Dennis slowly, resisting the urge to stab the blade in and finish it. Dennis is gasping for breath, wincing through the pain. His wrists burn from the friction of fighting against the ropes, he can't see out of one eye from the swelling, and his chest burns from the cuts.

Buford finally cuts him loose, pushing the chair over and dumping Dennis onto the floor. He struggles to rise, but a painfully placed kick ends that struggle rather quickly. His vision blurs, and the pain mercifully fades into background noise as he passes out.

☆☆Some time later...☆☆

Dennis jolts awake as his chest erupts in fire, but his throat is too sore to scream anymore. He tries to move, but his limbs feel like they weigh a ton. He just manages to move his head to see a man standing over him, applying a rag to a bottle. As the man rubs the rag over Dennis' chest, it erupts in pain again, and he can just make out the label: iodine. The man is apparently a doctor, making sure Dennis stays alive, in the most painful way possible.

The man finishes disinfecting the wounds, applying simple bandages. He stands, but Dennis still can't move. He hears the doctor speaking to someone just out of view. "The muscle relaxant should last for another couple hours. He'll be unable to move until then. I recommend putting him in his cell before then."

"Good. Put him under."

The doctor returns, injecting Dennis with something that makes his eyelids heavy, until he can't keep them open anymore. His last thought before the darkness claims him is that he never should have jumped out of that plane.

☆☆Even more later...☆☆

Dennis awakens in a tiny room, his "bed" just a hard wooden bench. A small tin cup waits by the door, and he stumbles toward it, the feeling not yet returned to his limbs. The cup turns out to have water in it, and Dennis eagerly gulps it down. It tastes like rust, but it soothes his parched throat somewhat. Now if only they'd brought food. He regrets not sampling some of those cookies Heather baked before all this went down.

Of course, he regrets not doing a lot of things. But it doesn't look like he'll have to live with those regrets for much longer...

 

[Gandhi Savage]

@Godzil: OH MY GOD YOUR POSTS JUST HAVE ME HOOKED FROM START TO FINISH, can't wait to see how this progresses.

 

[Groc]

Dennis Coleman
Chapter 4: Cell Reception

As far as prison cells go, this isn't the worst one Dennis has seen. At least he has room to lay down. Sure, he's in constant pain from the torture, but they gave him three cups of rusty water and a hunk of stale bread so he didn't die. He plans on making his escape next time they open the door.

Sure enough, his door eventually opens. He doesn't recognize the guard, and the doctor is nowhere to be seen. Seizing the opportunity, Dennis tackles the guard into the wall, rushing for the now open door. A second guard waits for him just outside, jabbing him in the chest with a shock prod.

Dennis falls to his knees, while the first guard ties his hands behind his back with zip ties. This entire situation is very different from the previous torture session, and Dennis notices two other guards leading another man away. The man doesn't look to be injured that badly, and at least still has a shirt and shoes. Dennis feels a little jealous.

He is hauled to his feet and led toward the door, noticing that they appear to be in some form of storage building, with each individual unit serving as a cell. Outside, he finds himself surrounded by similar buildings, with who knows what inside. A large truck is waiting for him, with dozens of men and women being loaded into the back. While they are all somewhat disheveled, none appear to have been tortured like Dennis was. It almost makes him feel special.

As he is loaded into the back, he overhears one of the guards talking. "That's the last of them. All the prisoners are loaded up and ready for transport! Roll out whenever you're ready!" Dennis doesn't have the energy to hold himself up, sitting down on the floor of the truck. Not exactly the safest way to travel, but he doubts Amethyst cares about prisoner safety.

His brooding comes to an abrupt end when he hears the loud boom of a shotgun blast. The guards outside start shouting, and several pistol shots ring out. There is a moment of silence, before the door is yanked open, revealing a large man with an even bigger grin on his face. "Well, lad! I imagine I'm a sight for sore eyes!"

"Bigby?" Dennis tries to stand, stumbling out of the truck. Bigby catches him, looking concerned. "Can you walk, lad?"

Dennis forces a laugh as he recovers his balance. "I'll bloody well walk out of here!"

Bigby grins, turning to face the other prisoners, who look at him in shock and confusion. "As for the rest of you, the armoury is right over there. Who here feels up for a little payback?!" The prisoners shout in agreement, pouring out of the truck and towards the weapons waiting for them. Dennis is about to follow, but Bigby grabs his shoulder and hauls him back.

"Not you, lad. We need to talk, and you're in no shape to fight. Come on, follow me."

 

[Gandhi Savage]

@Godzil: Sorry about not being up to date with replies, been really busy mate! Awesome post though I love how nonchalant Bigby was, looking forward to seeing your reason for his exiling from the AAV.

 

[Groc]

Dennis Coleman
Chapter 4: Catching Up

"First of all, you'll be needing these." Bigby hands Dennis a pair of shoes, taking him to a small campsite in the woods. It has a tent, fire pit, and camp chair. Dennis immediately sits in the chair while Bigby grabs another one from inside the tent. "Alright, lad. Spill the beans: What happened after you left the warehouse?"

Dennis slinks down in the chair, accidentally kicking over a can of beans, which spill out onto the ground. "It's a long, surprising story. Turns out Jasper's still alive."

"And he claims you're a traitor sent to sabotage us. I've heard his little story. I want your side of it."

Dennis looks up in surprise, finally noticing Bigby isn't wearing his uniform, instead dressed in black jeans and a brown shirt. He continues, slightly more cautious now. "He lied. Jasper was the traitor all along. He was acting as a mole, feeding Amethyst information. He blames me for ruining his ambush, leaving him for dead, and trying to steal Heather from him. I came out here to wait until things cooled down, but he found me and threw me into that cell. Said he'd make my death slow and painful, as punishment..."

Bigby says nothing, studying Dennis' face. After a minute, he gets up and enters the tent. He returns a moment later, tossing Dennis his green jacket. Dennis is overjoyed to find his Pokeballs still in the pocket, although his weapons are gone.

"I knew you couldn't be a traitor! You're a good man, through and through! I told the others that, about how you took out that depot by yourself, but they said I had no proof! Jasper's story added up, they said. You didn't kill anyone, they said. The goons escaped after you left me alone, and Heather said you ran off! All the evidence, circumstantial though it may be, was stacked against you! But I never gave up!"

Dennis smiles tiredly, gesturing at Bigby's clothes. "So why the casual look?"

Bigby seems to deflate a little, suddenly looking remorseful. "In my zeal to defend you, the others worried I might be a traitor, too. It didn't help that I was the only field agent who didn't show up the day of the ambush, on account of calling in sick that day. Jasper proposed that you and I planned the whole thing, so I punched him in the solar plexus for insulting my honor. In hindsight, it made me look pretty guilty. They kicked me out- of my own gym, no less!- so I hid out here. I started following Amethyst patrols that mysteriously showed up in this forest, and they led me to you. So I staged a rescue mission!"

"And I appreciate that. But why'd you risk your neck for me? Aren't they all your friends?"

Bigby scoffs. "All they ever did was talk. You and I are men of action. You earned my trust and respect when you walked with me into the enemy's lair, and came out on top."

Dennis nods, finding the folding chair more comfortable than anything else he's been in these past few days. "So..." he says, yawning. "You're the leader now. What's the plan?"

"The plan is... to figure out the plan. I have no idea what to do next."

(End Chapter 4)

 

[{Swan}]

Charlie Arthurson :: Chapter 4.1

Charlie stuffed her hands in her pockets and kept her head down. There was a balance somewhere between walking fast and staying unnoticed and she was doing her best to reach it. She hated the Goldenrod underground, not only were there were always too many people there, too many unfamiliar faces, but it also made her feel very claustrophobic. Charlie was used to the open air, she was made for climbing the sides of buildings, running over rooftops. She was not made for cramped, dark undergrounds.

Still, it was miles better than walking the streets op top.

She kept her head low, refusing to look anyone in the eye. At this point if she recognized anyone it wouldn't be a good thing . Best to keep to herself and draw as little attention as possible, even in a place mostly free of Amara's influence.

She glanced at the shops lining the long tunnel. A lot of them were boarded up, their owners bankrupt or indisposed and no one with the ambitions to open up a shop in these times. She knew her mother had once considering opening up a clinic here, when the occupation had started, but there hadn't been anyone who wanted to run the shop that would act as the front. Amethyst generally stayed out of the underground, but that didn't mean anyone would risk their neck harbouring an illegal clinic. And so Mira Arthurson continued to operate out of their basement during her off-hours. Not the safest place but it had served them so far.

Finally Charlie got to her destination, the little store run by an old lady with too much kindness for times so hard. She sold practically anything she could get her hands on, from canned food to clothes, even cigarettes on a lucky day. Nobody asked where they got any of it. Nobody wanted to know.

"Ah Charlie!" Mrs Graham greeted her into the shop. "I was expecting you earlier."

"Evening," Charlie said with a small smile. A brown scarf was hanging on a rack behind Mrs Graham, she had cigarettes in stock today. "How are you doing? Are you eating well?"

"As well as can be expected," mrs Graham said. A familiar question with a familiar answer. With all the Amethyst troops in the city, most of the food when to the barracks leaving Goldenrod's public stores half empty on a good day. Are you eating had become the standard greeting.

Mrs Graham reached beneath the counter and grabbed several neatly wrapped packets that Charlie could easily put in her many pockets. "I'm sorry dear," mrs Graham said. "It's not as much as I would have liked, but we must make do." That, too, was a familiar phrase nowadays.

"We're happy to receive anything," Charlie said as usual, and gave mrs Graham the appropriate amount of money. One time Mira Arthurson had saved mrs Graham's grandson's life after an acquisition gone wrong and since then they got medicine at a greatly reduced rate.

"Love to your mother," mrs Graham said as she always did. She threw Charlie an apple. "and that's for the road."

***

Walking back was the worst, her pockets heavy with the medicine. It felt like they were weighing her down, pulling her there where she couldn't get out again. She could feel anxiety creeping up, that unwelcome fiend. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, counted to ten, and released it.

And all hell broke loose.​

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[Gandhi Savage]

@Godzil: I love the interaction between Bigby and Dennis, looking forward to their future endeavors. Let me know if you have any plans or want anything incorporated into the next chapter.

@Swan: Brilliant start, well paced and a great read. Hyped to see what happens next!

 

[{Swan}]

Charlie Arthurson :: Chapter 4.2

There was a shout. There was a gunshot. There was silence. Then there was running.

Hundreds of bodies ran away from the source of the shot as mass hysteria set in, trampling over each other. Charlie was pressed into the wall by numerous bodies and elbows and for a second she blanked. She had no idea what to do. An elbow hit her in the sternum and the pain brought her back to her senses. She had to get out of here and at the same time keep from being swept away or trampled by the mass.

She stuck to the wall and hurried along, not quite running but trying to go as fast as possible. Panic kept rising up, a bitter taste in her mouth and a cold sweat on her back, but she pushed it down. Panic would meant it was over for her.

The crowd was thinning and she heard authoritative shouts behind her, time was running out. She knew she'd never make it to the exit. When the wall stopped to make way for a branched alley she didn't have to think hard

She broke from the path and ran through the alley looking for any sign of a door or an alcove, anywhere that might lead somewhere other than here. Even a hiding spot would do. Anything. But the walls were bare and the voices getting closer.

She rounded a corner and… a dead end. "No!" She punched the wall in aggravation. A tile gave way and the wall moved! Then someone grabbed her arm, hauled her inside the wall, and slammed the passageway shut again.

"What the hell are you doing?" A male voice hissed, but it wasn't directed at her

"She'd already opened the passage what was I supposed to do?" a woman whispered back.

Charlie was incredibly confused right now.

"I was just out there," she said with a halfhearted point to the door.

"And now you're in here," the woman whispered. "Keep quiet."

Charlie looked around, a little dazed from, well, everything that had just happened. She was in a small hallway, the tiles indistinguishable from those outside. There was a blonde woman and a brown haired man dressed in all black. There was a red "R" embroidered on a band worn on their sleeve. And the man was very familiar.

"I know you," she said. "You were with the guy who was shot in the chest. He didn't make it."

"He was… an unfortunate casualty" the man said. You're Mira's daughter. Your mother is going to be very busy after today."

Charlie leaned against the wall, the one that wasn't a secret entrance into the underground. Count to five, she told herself. Just count to five and calm down.

She took an unsteady breath and looked at the two Rocket members, for she knew the red "R" rell enough. "You said you were resistance when you brought him in, but you're Rockets aren't you?"

"We're both," the woman said. "The A.A.V. is long gone and buried in these parts, kiddo. Team Rocket has since taken up the responsibility to thwart Amara where we can."

The man tapped the woman's shoulder.. "Eve we have to go, the others are waiting."

The woman nodded and turned back to Charlie. "Listen kid, if you want to make a difference, you could join us.

Charlie shook her head. "No no no no, I can't- I won't-" she took a breath. "My mom needs me," she said decisively. That might be true but it certainly wasn't the reason she was saying no. Joining a resistance movement and fighting team Amethyst? That was madness! No all she wanted was to get these meds back to her mother and just keep her head down.

"It's okay kid, calm down," Eve said, probably reading Charlie's panic plain as day. "We're not forcing you to join, it was a suggestion." She grabbed the man's arm and gave him a look. "Best not tell anyone about this though."

The man gave a snort but stayed silent.

Eve gave his arm a squeeze. "Edilio."

"Yes fine I heard you." he pushed her hand from his arm. "Boss won't be pleased."

"The boss can kiss my shiny arse," she retorted. Then she turned back to Charlie. "Stay here for a little while longer until you're sure they're gone. Keep quiet as a mouse, okay? Then tap this panel," she pointed at one of the tiles, "and the passage will open. Got that?"

Charlie nodded.

"Good. Let's go Edilio, wouldn't want to keep the boss waiting."

And then they were gone and Charlie was left alone. She curled up in a corner, letting quiet sobs overtake her. Amara was taking everything away from her. Her city, her friends, and now the last refuge that was the underground. She should be livid, the stories always told of the hero rising up after defeat, vengeance on her mind.

Not Charlie though. All that Charlie felt was scared.​

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