Shades Of Gray

Chapter 1: Awakening

Thanks for coming here to read this completely awesome story. Those who are OC/OC, Ash/May fans like myself will love this fic unless you have no sense of, well, anything. Anyway let us continue.

Darkness...

That was all I could see, before I realized that my eyes were closed. So I opened them slowly, carefully. But then I wish that I hadn't. I was floating in a tank filled with a strange, green liquid, which stung my open eyes. Outside the tank, there were people everywhere, most of them wearing white lab coats. As they hurried back and forward, checking computer screens and clipboards, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I knew that something bad was about to happen.

Suddenly, my eyes locked onto a single figure, one that, instead of wearing a white lab coat, was wearing grey denim jeans and a black T-shirt, which said on the front, 'Chimaira'. He looked to be about six feet tall with lean, yet well muscled build. His hair was very long, going half way down his back, and was a strange combination of orange and white. However, his most striking features were his eyes. They were a dark pink color and instead of having round pupils, his were slits, just like a cat’s. He was coming straight toward where I was being held, in the tank.

"Hey, Gray! How are ya!" he said cheerfully, revealing his smooth, youthful voice.

My instincts told me that I hated him, instantly.

"Where am I, you asshole?" I yelled, wanting more than anything, to just reach out and...

However, the boy had started to talk, so I forced my attention back to what he was saying. "Well, I'm not supposed to tell you, but, you’re in a top secret lab on Jade Island."

"Where, in the fucking hell, is Jade Island?" I asked, my hatred for the boy increasing with every word that came out of his mouth. I looked around the supposed lab and looked for any escape exits, that I might be able to use if I managed to get out of this fucking tank. There were two door leading out of the room but, unfortunately, I had no idea where they went.

The boy, seeing the direction of my gaze, said in a smug voice, "Don't bother, Gray. You'll only get outta there when the Boss wants you out."

I was starting to get very annoyed, so I growled angrily, "Who is in the hell is the 'Boss' and why the fuck do you keep calling me Gray!"

The boy smirked, and I so wanted to rip out his heart, then feed it to him. "The 'Boss' is... well, you'll find that out for yourself. The reason that I keep calling you Gray is because, that's your name."

"No, it isn't, you asswhipe, my name... my name is..." I suddenly felt that something was terribly wrong and I knew that these scientists were responsible. "Why can't I remember my name?" I asked, quietly, even though I was still angry.

For the first time since meeting him, the boy looked sad, maybe even, slightly bitter, "Gray, I was informed that we used to be the best of friends, shortly after getting out of one of those tanks, but I don't remember you at all and I'm sure you don't remember me."

I shook my head. I was sure this was the first time we had ever met.

"For some reason the idiots here, just decided to kidnap us and use us in their vile experiments." He looked angry now and I felt a power coming off him in waves.

I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off, "Look woman, have you looked at yourself since you woke up?" I shook my head again. He looked tired now, "Well, look down, before I have to explain.

I did... then blinked... I looked up, then back down again... Then it hit me, I was all wrong.

My skin looked like it had been in the sun too long and was a light orange colour. I grabbed my long locks of hair to discover that it was a midnight black with one lazy streak of white going down the left side. My fingernails were now sharp and a lot longer than they should have been. I also realized to my disgust and horror that I had been stripped of all my clothes. I let out a scream of anguish and rage, punching the thick glass that held me from my freedom. Then I felt it... I reached behind me with trembling hands and pulled something from behind me.

It was a tail. A long, black tail with a arrowed-point on the end. Tears swam in my eyes as I tried to comprehend why I had a tail sticking out the back of my pelvis. I gulped and grabbed my throat as I felt the bone-like collar around my neck. I also felt what seemed to be a funny skull-like shape imbedded just above my chest between where the collar met.

"So whadda ya think?" the boy said again, slightly happier. "I see the pervert scientists decided to give you greater assets."

For some reason I was compelled to look down once more and saw that he was right. My breasts were quite a bit bigger than they should have been. All I remembered about myself was that I was around 16 years of age. Now I was pissed... first they made me a freak, then they put me on display like a hussie, then they even gave me a boob job without my permission.

"That's it!" I roared.

I reeled back my fist, surprised I could move so fast in this liquid, and punched the glass as hard as I could. A tiny crack appeared, like a mini spider's web. The boy looked decidedly nervous and stepped back a little ways, never taking his eyes off of me. I didn't care. I just wanted out. Then the boy laughed nervously, but with a small air of confidence around him that I just wanted to rip out of him with my claws.

"You try and break the glass and it'll just get stronger. Nothing but an assault tank could get through it!" he claimed.

I ignored him and punched out again. The glass heaved slightly and the cracks widened dramatically. The boy was now very nervous and looked to the scientists that were watching with curiosity. He seemed to get markedly more annoyed and waved at them irratibly.

"Call security!" the boy demanded.

One of the scientists ran off, presumably to tell the guards what was happening. I punched one more time with my now bloodied fist but I was feeling weaker by the second. The liquid I was in seemed to be draining my strength right from my body. I gave one last cry and smashed my head into the glass. The boy screamed as it gave way and shards ripped at his face. I fell forwards and landed in a crouching position... but my head was clear and a single thought ran through my head. Escape...

The boy that had made me so angry groaned and stood. His right eye was bloodshot and the iris was now white thanks to a slash that ran right across his face, over the eye, with glass embedded in it. He gave me a hard look and growled at me angrily. I glared right back and stood, now almost unaware of my nudity. He seemed to notice it more so than me and didn't attack, which was surprising. He just spat at my feet and spoke in harsh tones.

"My name is, apparently, Matthew Davidson but you can call me Zan. And you, my friend, have just made a very powerful enemy!" he said, before jumping ten feet into the air and, with a blinding flash of light, he disappeared, leaving no trace.

I stood there for a little while, trying to find him but it was futile. Zan was gone but now an alarm bell blared out through the room and I panicked. Surely this meant that I was being hunted again. I ran out of the nearest door and appeared to be in a corridor twice the length of the room I just left. I ran to it's end and turned to my left. Three guards were staring at me in surprise. Well... not at my face. I snarled and slapped one across the face, causing his head to snap to the side with a loud and sickening crack. I had snapped his neck. Also, my sharp fingernails left deep claw-marks in the young man's face and I gasped as blood splattered my hands. The other two guards then seemed to come to their senses and ran away. I sighed and pulled off the young man's black shirt and jeans. I pulled them on quickly and ran the opposite way the guards had come.

I had absolutely no idea where to go, the entire place looked exactly the same, white, cold and sterile. From where I had killed the guard, I ran straight on, hoping that eventually I would come to an exit. I contined on like this for about ten minutes, until I realised that the corrider was sloping upward ever so slightly, meaning I was most likely getting further away from my escape. "Dammit!" I shouted out loud, needing to releive my frustration in some way. I felt a little better but unfortunately my shout had attracted attention and several guards came barreling around the corner. There were six of them and they were all dressed in full riot gear. A tall, blonde man in his early thirties montioned to the other men around him and they spread out around me so that I was trapped.

"Just come quietly back to your tank, Specimen, and we wont hurt you... too much." Gray's eye twitched as she heard what the man called her. The man spoke in deep and loud voice, this was a man who obviously used to getting what he wanted, if his tone was any indication. I felt inclined to disappoint him.

"Sorry but there's no way that's gonna happen, dickwad!" I felt a spike of adrenaline shoot through me as I saw the group readying their various weapons. Most of them were carrying stun batons and tasers but some were holding real guns, shotguns most likely.

"Oh, that's too bad, I guess we'll just have to kill you then." The man said, no emotion showing in his hard blue eyes. I realized this was a man who would kill me as soon as look at me. He raised a gloved hand and I heard the cocking of many weapons. I tensed, getting ready to kill as many as possible before I was slain myself. Someone coughed behind me and as though that was a signal, all the people around me raised their weapons, getting ready to shoot.

I sprang forward, snapping out my fist as fast as a striking snake, as I slammed said fist into a guy's helmet, cracking the visor and sending him flying into the opposite wall, crushing one of his friends who was unfortunate enough to be in his way. Both of them slumped to the ground unconscious. Two down four to go. I ducked under a taser shot and scooped up one of the fallen men's weapons, a nice heavy-duty riot shotgun. I spun around and pulled the trigger of the weapon, unloading a supersponic, basketball-sized group of hard pellets right into one of the guards' abdomen, causing a cracked rib and sending him off his feet as well. Three down. Three to go. I sensed, rather than heard a man run up behind me and from the crackling in the air, he had a stun baton.

The shock, though expected, still felt incredibly painful and I couldn't stop a cry of agony bursting from my throat. Along the lines of near 800,000 volts of electricity raced up my spine and caused my muscles in my legs to contract, making my knees fold under me. I hit the floor hard, winded, as the guard above me smirked. As he prepared to jab me once more I noticed his boots had rather thin soles and metal toe-caps that also went to the base of his boots. The metal surface under me would make an effective conductor I deicded as I rolled to the side before he could touch me again. There was a great flash and a scream as the guard electrocuted himself with his own weapon, my own rubber-soled slippers protecting me from the energy racing through the surface underfoot. As the screaming stopped I opened one eye a crack and grinned at the smouldering trio of guards, twitching on the floor. One of them had managed to resist the painful effects of electrocution enough to be trying to get back up. I sighed and grabbed him by the loop of his belt and the scruff of his shirt and slid him across the floor, head-first into a wall. The satisfying crunch of bone could be heard from his neck as he collided with the partition and I let out a small grunt of satisfaction. The other two guards stayed down as I kicked one in the balls and the other by stomping on his chest once, winding him too badly to stay conscious. I turned to leave but before I could, I heard the groan of someone regaining consciousness. It was the leader guy...

"Okay you Grumpig fucker, you tell what I want to know and maybe I wont crack your skull," I whispered in his ear as I sat down on his back, pinning him to the floor.

"I'm loyal. You'll get no information from me-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" he squealed in pain as I twisted one of his arms back, close to popping out his shoulder joint. "Okay! OKAY!! What do you want to know?"

I released the pressure slightly as I replied, "Where's the exit?"

"Follow the green arrows on the floor, they lead to the exit. We'll find you though, even if you do escape," he muttered back. I twisted his arm harder and he wisely decided to shut up.

"Also... are there any others like me here?" I asked, wondering what compelled me to say such a thing.

"Yes... around three others... there's a Golduck-morph being moved to the Holding Cells in a minute or so... the red arrows," he grunted in response.

"Excellent. You've been very helpful," I said sweetly before I slammed his head brutally into the metal-tiled floor, sending him back to the land of darkness.

I stood once more and found that there were indeed arrows on the floor leading down seperate pathways. I spotted the thin red one and decided to follow it, there being strength in numbers. Had I followed the green arrows though, I would have been outside in under a minute seconds, though I didn't find out as such until much later.

On the way to the Holding Cells, I 'met' several other gaurds, suffice to say none of them were concious long enough to radio, or even call for help. I travelled onwards, following the red arrows, for about five minutes, until I rounded a coner and saw the largest concentration of guards yet, at least twenty, walking in a Box Formation, surrounding their captive from veiw, though because of the guard's information, I knew it must be the Golduck-morph. I felt excitement rise in my my chest and my palms starting sweating like crazy. 'What's happening to me?' I thought. Suddenly the guards stopped and I heard a voice shout out, "Keep moving, Specimen-scum!"

Just then a guard shifted and all of a sudden I could see the other morph. His skin was tinged blue and his short spiked hair was dark blue, almost black in colour. He hands were webbed, a thin membrane connecting each of his fingers, which ended in vicious looking claws. He stood at least 6ft10, around my own height and had the physique of an athelete and...he was looking straight at me! Then a second thing caught my attention - he was completely naked. I kept my eyes on his face, a blush coloring my cheeks.

The Golduck-morph smirked at me as if to say: Aw, are you embarassed? Then his eyes become serious and he moved his head slightly, in the direction of the guards and I understood what he wanted: for us to team up on the guards. I nodded swiftly, getting ready to charge out and do some damage.

The guard who had spoken obviously got annoyed when he was ignorged, so he vicously backhanded the defenceless morph across his face, causing his head to snap to the side. The guard smirked for a second before a confused expression came across his somewhat ugly face. Then he crumpled to the floor, dead. The other guards looked confused also, then suddenly another five of them fell to the floor convulsing, their muscles spasming violenting. The Golduck-morph raised hands towards where I was hiding and said, "Do you mind?"

I came around the corner and trying not to look down, I wrenched the hardened steel manacles from his wrists, before the rest of the guards could react. The other morph rubbed his wrists, and grinned at me thanfully. "Thanks gorgeous, my name's...uh, oops, it's appears to have slipped my mind..." The morph's face srunched up in concentration , which I found quite comical. Then the rest guards decided to put an end to their conversation and attack them. The result was short yet extremely bloody. While seperately we were both extremely good fighters, when fighting in snyc, it was like we'd reached a whole new level of power. It was intoxicating.

When all of the guards were dead, The Golduck-morph turned back to me and, as though nothing had happened, he said, "So hotstuff, since I can't remember my name...how 'bout you grace me with one, huh?" I blushed at what he called me and tried not to stutter as I answered.

"Umm..how 'bout...Blue?" I said, realizing as I said it that it probably sounded pretty lame. 'Blue' just grinned and said, "I think that sounds great, anyway what's your name, since I don't wanna have to keep calling you names that accurately reflect your sex appeal." His grin widened as he finished, seeing my blush. I struggled to say something witty but nothing came to mind. So in the end I said, "My name is Gray. We should leave before more scummy guards get here and we have to kill 'em again."

Blue inclined his head, "Lead the way, milady Gray! I shal proctect you with all my might from the scum-sack humans!" I looked at him strangely.

"Don't you think of yourself as human anymore?" I asked, curiosity coloring my voice.

His almost constant grin faded slightly. "No, I don't. Not anymore. I'm something...more than human now. Compared to us, humans are horribly weak, even though they pretend to be civilized and it's this civility that cripples them."

He had piqued my interest now. "How's that?" I asked.

"Well, they deny themselves the raw power of nature, of how they should be. I mean look at us, we are the pinicale of evolution, the overall form of a human but the strength, speed and passion of a pokemon. We don't have to follow any rules except our own."

I had to admit to myself that this did sound very tempting and I told myself I'd think over it later, once we have gotten out of here. I wondered what we should do next and was about Blue, when he piped up. "We should probably go back to where you came from and follow the green arrows, since we have no idea where the other morphs are, it would be a waste of time looking for them, plus we might get captured if we just go wondering around the place." The way he said the last part, I knew that he thought that that was never going to happen.

So we started back down the way in which I had arrived from, keeping a lookout for guards and the like. I found that if I concentrated, I could hear sounds which normally I probably wouldn't be able to, like the deep humming of electricity coming from the walls and floor and the steady beating of Blue's heart. I mentally added this to my list of powers that I now seemed to have: improved strength, speed and hearing.

We eventually reached the point where I had beaten up all of the guards and I stopped. All the guards where gone, even the one whose head I had slammed so hard into the ground. 'What the hell?' I thought, 'Where did everyone go?' We continued on, now moving down the green-arrowed path but now I strained my ears to catch the slightest noise that would betray any ambushes or traps. As we continued, I felt something in the air around me, like a tightening of the oxygen molecules. I spied a huge, heavy-duty door ahead of us and I could just tell that even with our combined strength it would take a while to bust through it. The feeling in the air got worse the closer we got to the door, until it got to the point that we couldn't go any futher because of an invisible wall of air.

"What the fuck? This is new, it definetly wasn't here the last time I tried to escape." Blue mused, his hand reaching to touch the door that most likely lead to freedom and instead of touching metal, his hand stopped a couple of inches from it's surface and came into contact with...nothing, that was obviously something. He turned to me, his handsome face set in a mischevious grin. I shivered under his gaze, my palms suddenly sweaty.

"Hey Gray, why don't you take a crack at this? Use some of that strength, huh?" He mimed punching the invisible barrier and it exploding and disappearing, using various sound affects. I waited for him to finish, an anime-style sweatdrop on head.

"Ummm...yeah, I suppose I could, you might wanna stand back." He took my advice and moved father back down the hall. I moved into a better position, my legs apart, knees bent and fists clenched. I reared back and put all of my strength into a single blow. "Hi-ya!" I yelled slamming my fist into the barrier. To my shock, it didn't even budge, not even slightly, something else that was weird, even though I'd struck the barrier with all my might, I hadn't hurt my fist at all. I stared at where the barrier, frustration evident in my gaze.

"Hey," called Blue from down the hall, "I have an idea." I raised an eyebrow, showing I was curious. "Well, maybe we could combine our power, your strength and my mental powers, maybe that'll be enough to break the damn thing."

"You might have something there." I said. "How would we go about it?" A sly grin came across his features.

"It requires, uh, skin-to-skin contact, the more the better." I blushed furiously but not knowing why. It was probably nothing. Even so, I couldn't keep the fiery blush from my cheeks. Blue saw it and his cheshire cat grin grew even bigger. "Don't worry, Gray, I won't do anything...untowards...hehehe."

I didn't understand what he meant, so I didn't say anything. Instaed I reached out with my hand, which he took in his. I was surprised by how warm his skin was, I guess I had been thinking he would have cold skin because of his blue skin. Blue closed his eyes and I felt the warth up my arm and into the rest of my body. I gasped as I felt new power rush through me.

"Oh god, I feel amazing, Blue! Like I could do anything!" I cried out. Blue grinned and pointed to the barrier suggestively. I got the hint. I spun round and once again smacked the barrier with everything I had...

BOOM! The very air seemed to shriek as the barrier shattered and the pressure in the air disappeared. Blue let out a whoop of triumph, as he pumped his fist in the air. Not wanting to lose the thrill I had gotten I then proceeded to wrench the massive security door straight from it's hinges all by myself. As I threw the door back down the way we had came, I heard Blue mutter something about, "turning him on," whatever that meant. After calming down a little bit, a relised that I could feel something new in the air I motioned to the Golduck-morph, "Shall we get going?"

"Blast away," he replied.

I met a door with the name ‘M. Davidson' written on it and walked inside, ignoring the presence of the door in front of me... which meant I basically went through it like a fireball through toilet paper. It was a large room with a table and chair facing the large window. I looked out a saw that I was two floors above the ground. However the ground was the steep slope of a mountain. Heedless to my safety I scratched a message for Zan in his window and opened it. Blue went first and I followed afterwards onto the steep slope, unknowing that we were both in plain sight.

"Do you feel that?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"Yeah... we're being watched. Run!" Blue exclaimed.

We both began sprinting down the slope, hoping we wouldn't fall over. Blue was panting now, I wasn't sure why but after that thing he did to help me take down the air wall he had seemed weaker. 'I hope he's okay,' I thought to myself. However that became a moot point as I suddenly heard a "GET DOWN!!" before I was flat on my stomach with Blue stumbling away, a large crack resounding through the air. As I looked up I suddenly wished I hadn't... something had hit him incredibly hard or fast, I didn't know what but he had a fist-sized hole on the surface of his chest, on the left side, letting me get a glimpse into his inside, which were also blue and leaking blue fluid at an alarming rate. Blue noticed my shocked stare and gave a weak, chershire grin, more of said blue fluid dripping from the corner of his mouth and off his chin.

"Well I didn't see that coming..." he said with a weak laugh.

With that he stumbled back little more and keeled backwards, right down the steeper side of the mountain.

"BLUE!!" I screamed.

Heedless of my own safety I got up onto my feet and ran after him and flattened myself to the ground on the edge of the cliff, looking for him. Blue was nowhere in sight and I felt tears well up in my eyes at how he was gone. But with his knocking me out of the way of whatever that was he had placed me near a line of trees, which looked dark and inviting. Swallowing my grief at the moment I leapt into the darkness and felt comfortable in it's covering shade. I landed lightly on my feet and didn't stumble like I should have. I was just about ready to run when I spotted the moon... The big, bright full moon. A feeling erupted in my chest and I howled loudly, the noise almost ripping out of my throat, a loud and mournful cry. I looked around through the darkness and chose a random direction before I leapt off into the cover of the undergrowth.

0o0o0o0o0

A baying howl broke the silence of the night. My sharp senses told me that whatever had howled was close... very close. I stood up from the log I had been sitting on and looked through the darkness. My eyes had adjusted to the gloom and I could see quite clearly so I had assumed it was the moon's light that gave me my vision. I heard a panting noise ahead of me and narrowed my eyes. A quiet padding sound... then something came out of the bushes in front of me. It was black, with an orange muzzle and underside. White horns grew out of it's skull and curved back, giving it the appearance of something evil. It had four legs to walk on but the features most noticeable on it were it's black tail like mine and the exact same bone-like appendage that grew out of it's neck that I had. It gave a bark of question but I heard it as if it had spoken plain English.

"What?" It asked, as if confused.

"What the fuck do you mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"You called for me. I heard you from down here so I came. What do you want?" the thing asked.

"Oh. You mean when I howled? Well I wasn't calling on anything; I suppose it was on instinct..." I trailed off.

The creature gave me an appraising look and saw my collar bone (no pun intended). It gave a few growls that I deciphered as it questioning itself. It padded slowly around me and I became uneasy. This thing looked familiar somehow but I couldn't remember anything about it. I didn't even know what it was called. All I noted was how its horns curved back so sharply that they almost came back to where they grew. I could sense the power of this creature as if it was me I was looking at. Finally the thing stopped walking and sat down in front of me.

"It appears that you are like me. Except that you are also human. How is this?" it asked seriously.

"I dunno. I woke up in a funny building back up there inside a fucking tank and escaped. The fucking scientist bastards did this to me," I replied.

"WHAT! They have disgraced the name of the Houndoom! I will make them burn for this!" the creature barked.

"Hold it, Fido! You can't just leave me here!" I cried. "I don't even know what you are or who I am! Why can't I remember?"

The creature paused in its stride and turned back to me. It gave me one last appraising look before walking back towards me and lying at my feet. It looked up at me and gave me a small bark of reassurance. I smiled and patted the thing's horned head.

"So what exactly are you?" I asked.

"My species are the noble Houndoom and we are Pokemon. Pokemon inhabit all corners of the world and have different attributes. Mine are of Fire and Darkness," the Houndoom said.

"And do you have a name?" I asked.

"My name is... Sirius," said the Pokemon.

"Cool. Well hiya, Sirius, my name is…Gray" I said somewhat happily. "What are we gonna fucking do? I heard a kid called Zan up there in that building say that we're on Jade fucking Island. Where the fuck is that?"

"I have heard from my friends that Jade Island is east of the Orange Islands and close to the Orre Region," Sirius replied.

"Hmm... Well I don't remember those places but anywhere is better than here. But I tell you this, I'm gonna take those sons of a bitch, fucking bastards down!" I declared angrily.

"And I will be at your side, human. For it is a disgrace to attack a youngling and make her so..." Sirius paused as he tried to find the right word.

"Different?" I asked.

"Yes different. This is a disgrace to my species' name to have a human made one of us against her will. You realize that people will fear you, hate you, and try to kill you if they know of your condition. This is unacceptable and I won't stand for it," Sirius said.

"Well how the hell do you suppose you come with me? I doubt people will like seeing a Houndoom following some girl around would they?" I asked in annoyance.

Sirius stood up and looked at me blankly. Then he jumped into the wilderness and I was left thinking I had upset him. Just as I was about to follow him he burst back from the undergrowth with something in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and I picked it up. It was a metal ball with one half red and one half a metallic white. It had a button between these two halves and I pondered it's purpose while Sirius looked at me. Finally he spoke again.

"This is a pokeball. My pack had confiscated this from a trainer who foolishly wandered up here. It is used to contain Pokemon until their trainers see fit to let them out. Use it to hide me from the humans," Sirius explained.

I looked at the ball in my hand and felt disgust uncoil itself inside me. I threw the ball away into the undergrowth and heard it crash into something. Then I turned to Sirius with a resolute expression.

"Forget that. I refuse to fucking trap any creature inside a shitty thing like that. It's unkind and I think it's fucking wrong. You have the right to freely choose if you wanna travel with me. I don't fucking care what other people think of you because I think you're absolutely fucking fine," I said defiantly.

Sirius looked at me with surprise in his eyes. Then he smiled wolfishly and I grinned back. He turned and motioned me to follow him so I did just that. He led me for almost a half hour down the slope until we reached a town. Behind the buildings and lights I spotted a large shape in the waters. It was a ferry... yet how I knew what it was, was beyond me. It was vaguely rectangular in shape, had multiple stories and floated in the water like a twig does, but it was made of metal.

"Down there is our ride off this island," Sirius told me.

"Then let's fucking go," I replied evenly.

"Wait. First you need a ticket for that ferry ride and you need new clothes. They don't just let anyone onboard," Sirius warned me.

"Oh," I said, disappointed. "Fuck."

“Oh, and Gray?” Sirius started, hesitated slightly before finishing, “Please stop swearing so much.”

I just grinned in response. This may just be the start of a beautiful, yet fucked-up friendship...

0o0o0o0o0

We walked through the town, attracting stares for the people around us. I looked around trying to find somewhere to get some money. I had found this out by asking a cheery looking fellow. He had led me to his house saying that I looked like I needed a rest and some food. I followed him warily but he dismissed my fears by saying that I need not worry. He finished by asking if I was an orphan. I asked him what that meant and he had told me that an orphan was a person with no one to look after them and no parents. I replied that I was and he let me stay for the night and had given me a little money to buy new clothes.

I had realized that my tail would attract attention of the wrong sort so it was hidden down the right leg of my new leather trousers. They were black as it was my favourite colour. I had also bought a red t-shirt as they were called and a black leather jacket to go over it. I already had black high-heeled boots from when the man let me have them saying that they used to be his wife's but she had passed away not that long ago. I had asked what that meant and he explained everything to me. I left his house with more knowledge than I thought I wanted. I knew about birth and death, about marriage and romance, about sex and conception. I knew what I need to know to survive. So I left the man's house with a thank you and began my journey, even though I wasn't sure where my journey would take me.

My steps echoed throughout the street as I walked. Sirius never left my side and gave glares to those who came to close. People generally gave us a wide berth and I was grateful for it. Some adolescents whistled at me as I walked past and I was strongly reminded of Zan. Sirius growled and the teenagers hastily shut up. Another guy winked in my direction as I passed. I felt anger rising up in my chest. I was not just some thing to be displayed for the enjoyment of drooling, moronic men. Then they crossed the line. One boy strode purposefully past me and pinched my ass as he walked. I stopped and the guy looked behind him to me. Big mistake... He blinked just in time to see a foot smash into the side of his head. Damn that felt good! The guy crumpled and I made sure to step on his crotch while walking on him. Unfortunately his cronies had seen what I did and surrounded me. I tried to be diplomatic this time.

Diplomatic for me, anyway.

"Let's fight. I really wanna hurt all of you, really badly" I said calmly.

Some of them laughed while others raised fists. There were around five of them and almost all had a weapon of sorts. One had a baseball bat, another had a long chain. A third had a broken glass bottle and the fourth was wearing brass knuckles. The fifth didn't have a weapon but he was bigger and uglier than the others. I sighed and sidestepped as one threw a punch at me. His momentum brought him to my side and I chopped the back of his neck with my hand. The guy crumpled and lay still. Then the fight really started. The four weaponed ones came at me as one and I crouched low, my reflexes taking over. The guy with the chain wrapped it around my ankle and I spun on the other foot, reeling him closer. I punched him in the gut but was then struck with the bat. The guy with the brass knuckles hit me in the side of my head and I felt dizzy. I lashed out at the two with the knuckles and bat and was satisfied when they fell. Then I scorpion kicked the guy with the chain who didn't move fast enough. I spun and was shocked when I felt a circle of glass enter my stomach. I looked down and saw that the guy with the bottle had stuck the sharp end into me. I absently gripped the neck and pulled it out with a small squelch. The guy who had used it looked at me in fear and I used my long nails to slash his chest open. He screamed and I kicked him hard in the stomach. He flew a good ten feet away and didn't get up again.

All the while, Sirius just stood there, looking at me with appraising eyes.

0o0o0o0o0

I sighed as I heard the cheering from the other side of the curtain. The manager of this event had seen me take care of the thugs outside and told me that there was a prize involved if I could defeat his champion in wrestling. I had agreed and he led me here in a dingy warehouse. Suddenly a woman came and told me to go out into the main area. Holding my head high I walked out to a barrage of applause. The last challenger was being carted off in a stretcher and I heard him say, "I can't feel my legs!" I shook myself and leapt onto the ring. Another man stood there and he was huge. He had more muscle than any self-respecting person should and he had a look that spoke of density.

Then a cage was lowered and locked. I frantically looked around. I hadn't agreed to being locked in the ring with the guy! Then a whistle blew and the wrestler came at me with surprising speed. I swept low and knocked him off his feet and jumped 7 feet into the air. The guy rolled to the side before I landed on him and kicked me in the side. Even with my stab wound I knew I was more than a match for him but still I held back. This was a sporting event and I was uncertain of how to proceed. Then he punched me in my cut stomach and all doubts vanished. I jumped so high that I latched onto the top of the cage. I swung forward into a back flip and body slammed the guy to the floor. I bounced to my feet and kicked him in the side so that he slid away. He stood up and glared at me without a word. He proceeded to take a metal pole given to him through the gap in the cage. I winced as he slammed it into my back. But I didn't move an inch and the guy's eyes widened slightly. I grabbed his shoulders and jumped so that I was doing a hand stand on him.

Throwing my weight backwards I threw him face-first into the ground and rolled away onto my feet. Then a did an elbow dive on him while he was down and finished with a jump, flip and crunch on his back. The whistle blew again and I stood proudly as the crowd went wild. I saw Sirius behind them howl with joy and I waved to him. The next minutes became a blur and I walked with Sirius out into the street with a handful of sweet green notes.

Half an hour later I had a ticket for Hoenn and got myself and Sirius a meal. Things were turning around for the better.

Now to find out more about where Zan worked, along with the sinister experiments that they carried out.

End of chapter. Review and tell me what you think, cos if you don't, Sirius will be mad (and so will I). Bye!