At Arceus' Behest Ch. 06 - Ghosts of the Past
Sigma reviving. His new friends being infected by him. Adding on top of that a new body complete with flesh and blood, something he never would have imagined possible, was enough to make even Zero's stoic expression dissolve. He frantically tried to piece together what had to occur for this chain of events to come to pass_. Could I have contracted the Sigma Virus again after I destroyed Omega? That has to be the only explanation..._
"What's a Sigma Virus?" The ominous question echoed in his mind.
The psychic communication startled Zero at first. He recognized Rathien's voice; it sounded just like X. He looked over to Rathien and Midnight, who were both awake now. It only just now hit him that Tundra had talked with him in the same manner. He didn't dwell on how it was possible; Sigma returning was a far more serious issue. He let out a sigh.
"Sigma.. is a virus?" Tundra's expression showed the confusion that the question seemed unable to convey.
Zero looked between Rathien and Tundra, sadness in his eyes, "Yes. Sigma was the first Reploid infected by a virus that had been made by my creator, Dr. Wily. Somehow he managed to transfer his consciousness to that virus. Remember the Eurasia incident I told you and Rathien about? While other reploids went berserk, I became stronger. That was the first hint that I was a carrier. I never pieced together that I was the one spreading it until much later. I thought it was fixed when a new body was built for me.."
Another surge of pain ran through him, throwing him back into the gurney he rested in. It felt like white hot metal was pouring through his new veins. This can't be normal, even for a human.. It subsided eventually.
A minute later, the door to his room opened. He looked over and saw the same nurse and her Chansey escorting Officer Jenny and Professor Rowan into the room. The look on Rowan's face implied something dire had occurred.
Officer Jenny spoke with a hint of anger in her voice, "I don't know what you did to your Pokemon, but your Blaziken is on a rampage inside Jubilife City right now. You're lucky the Professor here vouched for you, otherwise I'd have you arrested on the spot. Explain to me what's going on."
Zero looked at the nurse and asked, "How long was I out?"
"Almost 2 days," she replied as she and the Chansey left.
".. so Sigma turns even living beings maverick.." Zero thought out loud.
Officer Jenny glared at him, angry at being ignored, " DID YOU HEAR ME?! You're going to answer me and you'll answer me when I address you!"
Tundra, Rathien, and Midnight took a defensive position in front of Zero, the anger in Officer Jenny's voice worried them. Tundra especially didn't want to see him hurt anymore than he already was.
"Zero didn't do anything to us, or our friends. If you so much as suggest that again, you'll regret it." Rathien said to her telepathically.
"He's done nothing but try to help us!" Midnight added.
Professor Rowan looked back and forth between Officer Jenny and Zero. As he ran towards the middle to be the peacekeeper, he heard Zero scream in pain again. He watched as Zero rolled onto the floor from the gurney he rested in, the IV and wires attached to him pulled off from the fall. Tundra, Rathien, and Midnight started towards him as well but were pushed back by an unknown force as a bright white light engulfed Zero's torso, then the rest of his body. It began cascading around him and turned into a prismatic spray of colors. When it finally dimmed, Zero was armored again, but in a different suit. Gone were his black and red sleek armor and helmet. He was now clad in a white and red suit with green orbs on his chest piece, with gold accents running along red boots. A different blade appeared in his hand as well, this one being curved like a katana. Its glow flooded the room brightly before dimming as well.
Zero picked himself up and returned the stare after the pain lessened, anger boiling up in himself as well. He felt a surge of energy run through him as he addressed Officer Jenny in a not-so-friendly tone, "Things far more dangerous are occurring than just a Pokemon raging through your city! I don't have time to listen to you complain about being ignored when I might have just doomed every creature on this planet!"
All the while, Officer Jenny's rage was quickly giving way to fear and confusion at the sight before her eyes.
"What the... he evolved?!" she gasped as she jumped backwards, unsure of what to make of the display that occurred in front of her.
As his emotions calmed, Zero's armor dissolved into a prismatic mist, like sunlight refracting through the air after a spring rain. A black pair of pants and t-shirt were all that were left of the transformation. He looked himself over, relieved that the pain he was feeling had subsided.
Officer Jenny looked at Zero, then at Professor Rowan. "He's a.. Pokemon?" She eyed Zero warily, "Wait, no.. what do you mean by 'this' planet? Are you implying that you're from another one?!"
"You catch on quickly."
Officer Jenny's face paled, "What... ARE you? And what do you mean by saying you might have just doomed every creature on this planet?"
Zero's demeanor shifted as she asked the second question, "To answer your first question, I'm a reploid, or I was anyway."
He looked at Tundra, "Tundra saved my life. I took a hit for her from an enraged Steelix named Ridge. It was being controlled by one of those black pokeballs, then someone blew it up, releasing him. I'd be pissed too if I were him.." He looked at Tundra, "I don't know what happened afterwards."
Tundra nodded, then looked at Officer Jenny, "There was an explosion that destroyed a good part of the Oreburgh Stadium. I saw Zero.. right before it had occurred. He was cut in half, mechanical parts of him were everywhere. I saw his aura fading, and tried to heal him. I evolved at the same time, and I think it was only because of that that I was able to save his life. But he isn't completely mechanical anymore."
Officer Jenny's jaw dropped. She tried to articulate a question, "Bu.. mechanical? You.. aren't human?"
Professor Rowan spoke up for the first time since he had arrived, "No, he's not. He comes from a different world. Arceus brought him here. Zero, what did you mean when you said you might have just doomed every creature on this planet?"
Officer Jenny was trying to wrap her head around what she had just been told while Zero answered Professor Rowan's question, "On my planet, I was a carrier for a virus called the Sigma Virus. It made whatever it affected go crazy. Several attempts at a cure were made, and at one point my Z-Sabre had an anti-virus programmed into it, but it couldn't do anything to the virus while it still possessed a victim. You had to kill the infected."
Tundra gasped at those 6 words.
"The thing that makes the Sigma Virus different is a reploid by the name of Sigma was able to transfer his consciousness to it. He is even able to control the thoughts and actions of some of the victims. I don't understand how he was able to infect Pokemon though. What makes the Sigma Virus unique is it is capable of adapting and remaking itself. It's almost impossible to kill it. Early on, the reploids that were infected had to be destroyed."
Jenny and the Professor both looked at Zero with a sadness in their eyes. Officer Jenny now realized what Zero must be going through and spoke up, "Zero, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."
Rathien and Midnight were taken aback as well, but Tundra was taking it the hardest. She burst out crying. She grabbed Zero and wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.
"Zero, no! Don't kill Taiga! Don't kill him, please! Let me try to reach him! He's always been there for me. Please! Don't.. don't.."
Zero interrupted her, "Remember, I said I became stronger whenever exposed to the Sigma Virus. A cure was eventually made.. from me, from my old body. A being of living data called a Cyber-Elf was made from it that was able to overwrite the virus. She was called the Mother Elf. Other Cyber-Elves were made and based off of her design. I don't know if that's possible now, though.. it was incredibly difficult to make her then, and that was with the cutting edge of technology of my world." He held Tundra close to him, more for her benefit than his own but it did offer a peaceful feeling to him. It was something he rarely felt.
Professor Rowan began thinking out loud, "We might be able to make a vaccine from your blood. It may not cure any pokemon already infected, but we might be able to protect others from the same fate.."
"That's a good idea, Professor." Officer Jenny commented, turning towards Zero, "We may not have the same level of technology as where you're from, but I know this is possible. We've done it before with other diseases."
A bit of relief washed over Zero's face, "Okay, at least then Sigma won't be able to infect other pokemon at will. What do I need to do?"
"The nurses should still have a blood sample of yours. It's standard practice for any patient, pokemon or otherwise," The professor replied, "It might be a good idea to give some more just in case there isn't enough though."
"Okay, let's take care of that before we leave. I'm guessing the pokedex and pokeballs I had.. were... destroyed.."
Zero suddenly remembered Professor Rowan's words when he first talked to him about Pokeballs. "I don't understand exactly how the technology works myself, other than it is able to store Pokemon as data."
Realization hit him, "I have an idea as to how Sigma was able to infect part of my team." He gently pulled the cream colored Lucario away from his chest and looked at her, "Tundra, who all returned to pokeballs while I was unconscious?"
"Everyone who isn't here! The nurse returned everyone except us to new pokeballs in your name. We wanted to wait for you to do it. But why?"
Zero responded quickly, "They were stored as data. That's how Sigma infected them."
A light bulb went off in Officer Jenny's mind, "Okay, I've been looking at this the wrong way, Sigma is more like a computer virus than a biological one.. Would a vaccine even work on something like that?" She asked.
"I don't know, but it's worth a try. First thing's first though, I need to get the team back. Has anyone tried to capture Catziah?" Zero asked.
"Yes. To put it bluntly she tore apart everything thrown at her. Even the innate weaknesses a Blaziken has didn't work on her."
Zero began to pace around the room, trying to get used to his new body, "That's Sigma for you.. We've got to knock her out," he looked at Officer Jenny, "You coming?"
She nodded.
"Then let me handle this on my own, I'm responsible for this."
Before leaving Oreburgh, Professor Rowan gave Zero another Pokedex, and Zero bought enough Pokeballs for his team, and the nurse at the Center took some more blood from him, "We'll see what we can do about getting this vaccine sequenced."
On their way out, Zero stopped them just inside the Pokecenter, "Tundra, before I do this, I need you to look around with your Aura Sight. Tell me if you see any auras without bodies associated with them."
Tundra nodded, and an azure hue befell her eyes. She looked the foyer of the building over, making sure everything was in order, and nodded as she finished, "Nothing looks out of the ordinary."
"Okay, let's get this over with quickly."
He handed the pokemon each a pokeball, and they activated it. A red glow began to encompass each of them, and then they were absorbed into the spheres. He released them right after and placed the Pokeballs inside hidden pockets on his amber cloak.
"I don't want to give Sigma a chance to infect any of you, so we're not going to be using these until this situation is taken care of." Everyone agreed it was a wise precaution.
Night was approaching. It was hard to see Officer Jenny waving the group over from her idling Jeep as they exited the building. As they approached, Zero saw the professor was already in the front passenger seat. "I'll drive you all over to Jubilife." She looked at Rathien, "I know you can teleport us, but you should save your strength. That Sigma Virus has turned Catziah into a one-bird-killing-machine." Rathien nodded. The back seat was deceptively comfortable once Zero sat down. Tundra climbed in from the left, and Rathien sat opposite. Jenny floored it as soon as the Gallade sat down.
Zero was wondering where Midnight was, when he heard a ghostly cackle of glee above him. He looked up and saw the Mismagius holding onto the top rail of the roll cage, floating in mid air behind it. Must be a new experience for her, he thought to himself.
Officer Jenny's driving skill was impressive. She sped through the caves of the Oreburgh Pass in record time, and weaved through the shrubs and trees of the route beyond with unmatched precision. Within an hour they were on the outskirts of Jubilife City, and the destruction of Catziah's rampage was immediately evident. Both Rathien and Tundra paled at the sight of burned and damaged buildings as Officer Jenny passed through. Zero looked on stoically, keeping an eye out for the enraged Blaziken.
"Tundra, can you look for survivors with your aura vision? Knowing Sigma, there won't be any, but we should make sure," Zero asked the Lucario.
She nodded, and an azure light emanated from her eyes. She sighed at the empty sight before her.
"What's wrong? What do you se-" Zero's question was interrupted as he rested his hand on her shoulder. The cyan circle on his hand emanated the same azure light as Tundra's eyes, which creeped across his arm to his chest, then his eyes. He lifted his hand off her shoulder immediately, and looked tundra over. She didn't seem hurt by what had transpired. As he continued to look her over, an azure and green intertwined light began to encircle her. He saw a similar effect on Rathien beside her. He looked forward, and saw an azure and purple hue surrounding the Professor, and an azure and indigo hue surrounding Officer Jenny. He had an idea of what happened, but he usually had to destroy a reploid before he could learn an ability from them...
"Tundra.. are you ok?" He asked cautiously.
She turned towards him and her eyes widened when she saw an azure light emanating from Zero's eyes, just like from other Lucario and Riolu using aura vision, "I'm fine, but what happened to you? How are you using Aura Vision?"
Everyone looked at Zero in curiosity. Sure enough, they all saw the telltale deep blue glow coming from his eyes.
"I think I just copied an ability from you."
The professor had an inquiring tone in his voice as he spoke, "I've never seen anything except a Ditto copy abilities from other pokemon. How did you do that?"
Zero raised an eyebrow, "What's a Ditto?"
"It's a Pokemon that can take the shape and abilities of any other Pokemon."
Zero immediately thought of the endless bodies Sigma had constructed for himself, "That could turn out very bad.."
Officer Jenny cringed, "It could get worse than it already is??"
"Far worse.." Zero replied, "My creator endowed me with the ability to learn skills from defeated Reploids."
Officer Jenny was making a mental map of the destruction Catziah had caused, when she realized that the only buildings that were attacked were suspected pokemon abusers.
"I don't like this, I can't sense anyone nearby." Rathien added.
Officer Jenny began to slow the Jeep down as they approached a heavily damaged and still burning warehouse. "You're full of surprises, Zero." As she looked around the area, she recognized the street name from one of the cases she was working. "Okay, I recognize this place. It was used for trafficking Pokemon.. that were used as..." her voice lowered as she thought of what to say, "well..love slaves.."
Silence overtook the group.
She took the Jeep closer to the warehouse, "Looks like it took much more of a beating than the other ones we passe--"
Zero's hearing caught the roar of flames approaching, "TAKE COVER!"
An eagle's call, and then an explosion right next to the Jeep sent the 4x4 skidding and would have flipped it over if not for the widened axles she added to it. Everyone was dumped from the vehicle before it started to right itself. Zero's armor and Z-sabre appeared in a flash of prismatic light as he rolled with the force of being thrown from the jeep. Rathien quickly caught himself and professor Rowan with psychic energy and descended slowly to the ground, while Tundra landed on all fours after a flip. Midnight descended from the air with Officer Jenny in her arms, hovering beside Zero.
"So there you are, Zero! That's a nice trick you pulled there, masking your armor. I'll kill you first!" A deep voice overlapping Catziah's came from in front of the burning building. Standing in front of it was Catziah herself, but Zero and his team saw a blurred dark green wireframe of Sigma's body encompassing the Blaziken. Professor Rowan and Officer Jenny were confused; to them Catziah was speaking with a male voice in the human tongue.
"You never could kill me, and you never will," Zero quipped as he slowly began to walk forward.
The possessed Catziah charged at Zero, swiping at him with a left claw, then a spinning kick to the chest, followed by a ball of flame from her claws. Zero had no choice but to take the claw swipe and kick, they were so fast. The scarring on his chestplate was deep, almost too deep. He was thankful he barely managed to dodge the fireball which scorched the pavement behind him. He quickly back tracked to put some space between him and his possessed opponent. "Get back! She's possessed by Sigma! Jenny, take the Professor with you and find someplace safe!"
Jenny carried that insulted tone as she spoke, "I can help!.." which disappeared rather quickly..
She swallowed her words as she witnessed what happened next. The speed with which Catziah had moved was frightening. It was far beyond anything even a champion bred Blaziken was capable of. Rathien instinctively closed his eyes and tried to use his psychic power to hamper her. His concentration broke when he heard her laugh maniacally while dodging each wave he tried to assault her with. He watched them all kick up small half circles of dust and debree behind her. For the first time in his life he watched his attacks have absolutely no effect.
"fight.." as Jenny finished her sentence.
"I can't hold her! She's moving too fast!"
He barely dodged a volley of miniature flames as Midnight began chanting. Electricity danced across her palms. At the climax of the chant the electricity formed into a ball between her hands and flew towards Catziah. The collision with the ground where she stood made the ball rupture into thousands of arcs of energy, each of them reaching towards the Blaziken as she ducked and dodged in between the different currents. Within seconds the static died down, yet it seemed to have little to no effect on the bird; only a slight charring on her left leg.
"She literally danced through my thunder ball.. H.. How?" was all that Midnight could think of.
Tundra and Zero began circling Catziah, Tundra at her back. Zero made the next move, charging in. His Z-Sabre began to leave echoes of itself as he cut towards her at lightning speed, each echo capable of doing as much damage as the sword itself.. but she easily sidestepped the attack, and countered with an elbow to the back of Zero's head, knocking him senseless, and launched a massive wave of flame at him as she spun. Zero couldn't hope to dodge it, and let out a cry of pain as he was engulfed.
"Get on her, Zero's down!" Rathien screamed psychically.
Tundra leaped over Zero as he stumbled towards her and fell to the ground dazed, and caught Catziah off guard with an Aura Sphere she had been building the whole time. The attack flew from her hands and tore into Catziah's chest, the pressure waves ripping off loose feathers and down before exploding, knocking Catziah onto the ground. Tundra ran towards her fallen opponent, trying to get another attack in before she could recover. She brought her paws forward, quickly pouring as much Aura power into a force palm attack as she could and let it loose, but Catziah rolled out of the way just as the attack was released. The impact shot up a lot of dust and debris. While it didn't hit Catziah, the aftermath was enough to keep her from being able to see.
Rathien and Midnight both took advantage of the situation. Rathien started letting loose indigo crescents of energy from his bladed elbows while Midnight charged another thunder ball attack. Each blade Rathien threw hit their mark, from what he could sense, but Catziah showed no indication of being hurt by them. The ball lightning hit Catziah square in the chest, but the energy had dissipated through the debris Tundra had kicked up, and had even less effect than before.
Catziah sped out of the debris cloud covered in blood and dirt, right toward Rathien. He saw the damage his attacks had made; it would normally drop any other opponent, but Catziah seemed unfazed by it. As she charged at him, the flames around her wrists began to intensify. Smoke began to ring around her arms, becoming thicker and thicker, and coalesced into a sword of pure carbon. Rathien was left speechless; he had never seen any Pokemon do such a thing before.
He heard Officer Jenny yell at him, "Rathien, look out!"
He barely regained his senses in time to knock a heavy overhead chop away from cutting him in half. Red flames and smoke flew from the impact of the sword colliding with his elbow blades. Catziah followed through with the momentum and brought the sword back up and around to her other side, moving in for another swipe.
Rathien stood his ground and blocked the carbon blade. An explosion of red flames blinded him and pushed him to the side. He tried to hold his footing as a third attack came in from the same angle, only lower. He never saw it coming. The carbon blade bit into him. He screamed in agony as the blade ignited again. The inferno began wrapping around his body, the pain threatening to tear his sanity from him. Catziah began laughing maniacally again, the male echo louder than hers now.
Rathien's painful scream brought Zero back to his senses. He saw the Gallade become engulfed in flames. He began to overcharge his Z-Sabre; green and yellow motes of energy massing inside the blade, then made an overhead swing aimed in between his two friends. A massive wave of energy cut through the air, severing Catziah's fiery sword and pummeling them both into the ground. Rathien tried to stand but dropped to his knees right after, severely injured, but still breathing.
The possessed Catziah looked over towards Zero, then back at Rathien. A sinister laugh left her as she reached down toward Rathien, flames gathering on her claws.
"I sense a weakness, Zero."
"Back off!"
Catziah turned her head toward the psychic scream, right into the electrified grip of Midnight. The sheer strength of the attack tore the voice from her. She began convulsing in Midnight's grasp, her nervous system no longer responding to Sigma's will. Sigma finally released his hold on Catziah and began to float freely in the air, visible to everybody.
He rushed forward, "Midnight, stop!"
Immediately she released her grip and Catziah fell to the ground. He jumped over both of them, and grabbed the now free roaming Sigma virus in his off hand, bringing them both to the ground.
"I'll TAKE your body then, Zero.."
Sigma's hands began to pulse with energy. Violet tendrils began probing Zero's armor. He searched for a point of entry into Zero's circuitry. He's masked his core well, but it will still only be a matter of time.. The more he searched, the more frustrated he became. It was only by chance that he had possessed the body of an organic being, could Zero now have an organic one now as well?! His eyes widened as his search for a way to take over Zero continued to fail..
"Problems, Sigma?"
Zero grabbed Sigma and threw him into the ground, then dived into him sabre first as electricity began to dance across it. Sigma rebounded off the ground and into the business end of Zero's followup. Zero made a horizontal cut into Sigma's ghostly body, with a trail of blade echoes behind it, each mowing into the area around the initial slice. The electricity began coursing through Sigma, locking his body and preventing any kind of defense or reversal. He followed through with his next attack, an overhead strike straight down the middle of his viral opponent, then rolled his sabre in his hand and reversed the momentum, lifting Sigma into the air.. He jumped after Sigma into the air, charging his arm cannon and going into a spin with his sabre extended, hewing into Sigma like a buzz saw cutting through a wooden board. He released the charge in his arm cannon at the end of the spin; a ball of plasma ripping into Sigma's face, distorting the upper half of his body and removing any chance of recovery Sigma might have. More lightning formed on Zero's backside, and the sound of a thunderstrike echoed throughout the area. Zero shot upward through Sigma, lightning trailing behind him and tearing through the disembodied virus. Sigma's body began distorting and parts of it started to break apart. He grabbed what was left of Sigma on his descent with his off hand.
" Ittou Ryoudan: DARK HOLD!"
Zero's body began to glow with an eerie black luminescence. As the light fell upon the area, it seemed to suck all the color out of the surroundings, leaving everything looking like a film negative and began to partially negate the effects of gravity. Sigma yelled in pain as the electricity waned and was replaced by the black light that began to engulf his viral body which held them both aloft. Zero rammed his now black-tinted Z-Sabre through him, and what was left of Sigma ignited in a black flame.
"Nooooo!" Screamed the disembodied virus, "W-Why can't I p-possess you!? No.. N-No! My progr-gramming!"
Sigma's distorted voice echoed throughout the area, "I-I still.. have.. the o-others! I W-WILL.. have... my revenge! AAAAAAARRRRGHHH!!"
Zero looked at his handiwork as he tried to get his breath back, "Shut up.. Just.. die."
And with a final scream of agony, Sigma's viral form was consumed in the black inferno. The area, and Zero's armor and Z-Sabre, returned to their natural colors as the strange light receded. He collapsed to the ground immediately after landing and fell to one knee, exhausted.
"This body..could be.. more resilient.." he said in between breaths.
Officer Jenny and Professor Rowan watched the whole ordeal in silence and awe, both of them seeing Zero fight for the first time. Tundra walked over to Catziah and put her palms over the Blaziken's chest. A Rose colored aura began to form and grow on her paws. She let the aura wash over Catziah, and watched as the electrical burns and gashes faded away. The scars, however, would not heal.
Officer Jenny snapped out of it first when she heard Rathien groan in pain. She saw Zero look over towards her, still gasping for breath and in obvious pain, so she reached into her jacket's inside pocket and procured a canister of healing spray as she walked towards the injured Gallade.
"Okay, hold still Rathien, this will sting."
"I doubt it can be worse than this.." He pointed at the cauterized wound, and grimaced as Jenny emptied the canister on it. Midnight appeared beside the both of them with a roll of bandages and started wrapping them around Rathien's abdomen.
Zero looked at Professor Rowan and beckoned him over, "Can you bring me .. a pokeball?" He nodded, still silent with awe at seeing Zero holding nothing back in a fight, and walked over to the jeep and grabbed one from Zero's amber cloak and brought it to him. Zero picked himself up after another minute of labored breathing and walked over to Catziah. He looked at his friends as the red light from the pokeball engulfed Catziah. After he caught his breath, he released Catziah into the back seat of Officer Jenny's ride.
"Let's get her somewhere safe."