The Dragon Master IV: Chapter Nine

	I reached the gate. Using my katana, I sliced the corner open. Lorelei slid 
through. Three seconds left on the clock. I crawled under the gate, but my 
backpack was caught. Two seconds left on the clock. I unclipped the pack, 
and squeezed through the gate. One second left. Knowing the time left on the 
clock, I pulled the pack out right before the power came back on. 
Electricity flowed through the gate, because one of the branches that fell 
on the tree was shocked and caught on fire. I looked at my companions, but 
Jimmy was the only one paying attention to me. Lorelei and Giovanni were 
staring at each other in pure hatred.
	"What is he doing here," Lorelei demanded, pointing at Giovanni.
	"What is she doing here," Giovanni said, pointing to Lorelei.
	"You're both here to help take down the League," I said.
	"But this bastard stayed with them," Lorelei said, very angry.
	"My Mastery was taken away because I wanted more power," Giovanni said. "So 
I left. Got a problem with it?"
	"I got a big problem with it," Lorelei said, cracking her knuckles.
	"Oh, you want to fight me, eh," Giovanni asked, both of them stepping 
forward in each other's faces. I stepped in between them, acting the 
peacemaker.
	"Quit it," I ordered them. "If you two are going to fight, this is not the 
time nor the place. Just shut up the both of you! Mom, change into this." I 
handed her a black suit, like the rest of us were wearing.
	"Fine," she said, going behind a mass of trees for privacy. I turned on 
Giovanni.
	"What the hell is the matter with you," I asked him. "She's here to help, 
and you're jumping all over her!"
	"Listen," Giovanni said. "The last time that the two of us were in the same 
room together was not long after we gave up you. It's not easy seeing the 
person whom you haven't seen for seventeen years! When we broke up-"
	"Why did you break up, anyway," I asked. "Besides the fact that you were 
with another woman at the same time!"
	"She didn't think it safe for her and I to stay together anymore," Giovanni 
said. "Both our Masteries were developing, though she didn't know about 
mine, so she went to the League for help. Remember, there weren't very many 
Masters back then."
	"Do me a favor," I said. "Just try and act civilized until this thing blows 
over, okay?" Lorelei came back, and she looked ready to go.
	"Let's go," she said. "I want this sorry excuse for a man out of my sight 
as soon as humanly possible."
	"Join the club," I said. "We're going though Diglet Tunnel." The four of us 
walked on, and it was silent for a long time. Jimmy ended up breaking the 
silence.
	"How many concentration camps are there in Kanto," he asked. I was about to 
say that I didn't know, but Lorelei had an answer ready.
	"There are seven all together," she said. "There are three in Johto: 
Goldenrod City, Ecruteak City, and Olivine city. There are four in Kanto: 
Viridian City, Cinnabar Island, Saffron City, and Celadon City."
	"And how did you find out this information," Giovanni asked suspiciously.
	"I overheard it," Lorelei complied. "We need to get to Saffron City, and 
fast. There will be more than one ex-Master in the rest of these camps." We 
continued to walk towards the tunnel. Once we reached it, we went through it 
with ease, and came through the other side. Vermillion City was empty, as 
all of the other cities were. Behind the PokeMart there was a new building. 
A man and his Machop were always building it whenever I passed through, and 
it looked like it was finished. I walked up to it and pulled on the door. It 
wouldn't open. A camera whirred towards me, looking at me. I looked into the 
camera, and my eyes opened wide. But so did the door. An arm shot out, and 
pulled me and my companions in.
	"You're alive," Brock said, elated. I was shocked.
	"Brock," I gasped. "How did you get out of Indigo Plateau? Why are you 
here, of all places?"
	"I got out the same way everyone else did," Brock said. "I was being kept 
in a concentration camp in Celadon City. I escaped, and made my way to my 
uncle's place, here!" Jimmy moved forward, interrupting my thoughts.
	"Who is this," Jimmy asked.
	"Brock," I said. "Jimmy, meet Brock, the ex-Rock Master. Brock, meet Jimmy, 
Bruno's brother."
	"Nice to meet you," Brock said, shaking Jimmy's hand. "Now it's your turn. 
What are your guys doing here?" I explained to him our story, and where we 
were up to now.
	"Now, we're getting a small army together," I said. "We're going to take on 
the League and get Misty back." I looked at Brock.
	"Wow," he said. "I knew that if you weren't dead, you were planning 
something huge. But not this huge..."
	"What do you mean," I asked him.
	"You've saved the world before," Brock said. "Numerous times. But...can you 
do it without your Mastery?"
	"I can," I said. "I will, too. I am not just fighting for Misty, anymore. I 
realize what I owe to Kanto and Johto. I am fighting for them."
	"Count me in," Brock said. "Whatever we need, my uncle can provide 
anything. Just name it." I walked over to Brock's uncle.
	"We need guns, ammunition, and stuff to carry it all in," I said. "We need 
League uniforms, fake ID's, skeleton keys, and skeleton keycards. We need 
fingerprint creators, and voice changers. We need anything and everything 
that can get us in and out of a maximum-security concentration camp 
undetected. Can you get us these?" The old man looked at me as if I was 
crazy.
	"Anything else," he finally said. I shook my head. "Then, yes I can." The 
old man went back to the back of his house, and came back. He stopped, just 
looking at me.
	"What," I asked, nonplussed. He motioned me towards him. I followed him to 
his back room, where there were weapons beyond imagination. The others also 
came back here. The old man got a stack of League uniforms.
	"Try these on," he said. "All of you. Then, come back, and I will give you 
weapons." I took a uniform and walked out of the room. The others did, and 
we all found a separate room. I discarded my own clothes, and put on the 
League uniform. It fit surprisingly well. I went back to the room with the 
old man.
	"It fits," I said. He nodded.
	"What kind of gun do you want," the old man asked. "I have nearly every 
kind. Do you wish to have any concealed weapons?"
	"We'll each take two handguns," I said. "And holsters to go with them. Not 
to mention extra ammo." He nodded, and went back to looking. He came back 
with a belt and a box of ammo along with two guns. I put on the belt, and 
opened the box of ammo. There were about fifty clips. I had room on my belt 
for twenty. While I was loading my belt, the rest of my team came in, each 
wearing a League uniform. When I was done loading all of the clips into my 
belt, I put the two handguns in their holsters. The old man went away, and 
came back with ammo and guns for everyone. The League jacket that I was 
wearing concealed the two handguns that I was carrying.
	"I forgot something," the old man said. He scurried off to the back room. I 
looked at Brock.
	"Your uncle is very weird," I said.
	"Yeah," Brock said. "He has all of this because he believes that he Kanto 
and Johto will go into a war against each other. He's kind of weird." The 
old man came back, carrying five rifles.
	"Standard issue," the old man said. "The League gives one of these to each 
of its soldiers. Bet you that you didn't know where all of the funds were 
going, eh, Mr. Shepardson?" The old man snickered and pulled out a box of 
bullets.
	"Lance was the one that was into weapons," I said. "I halted them. The 
soldiers are given guns, but only in time of war."
	"Like now," the old man said. "Each of you take a box and stuff it in your 
coat pocket." We did as we were told, and the old man brought back five 
radios.
	"How do you work these," Jimmy asked as they were handed out.
	"Eleven frequencies," the old man said. "The League can hack into all of 
them but number ten and eleven. Use ten unless you want to be heard. Use 
eleven if you want to contact me." I put mine on my belt, as did everyone 
else. The old man went back in his storeroom and came back with a box of 
miscellaneous stuff. He threw out a key ring, with some objects on it. There 
was a key, and keycard, a small device that looked like a flashlight, and 
another small device, this one looking like a microphone.
	"How do you work these," I asked. The old man pointed to the items 
respectively.
	"Here," the old man said. "This is a skeleton key. Insert it into any lock. 
It's just like picking a lock, but quicker. This next one is a skeleton 
keycard. Just slide it in the slot, and the door or whatever it is will 
open. This next one that looks like a flashlight creates fingerprints that 
you can slip on your fingers. Just find the print that you need, shine the 
light on it, and the slipcover will come out the bottom. This last one is a 
voice changer. Make the person whose voice you need talk into it while your 
finger is holding the button down. Then, press the button below it and talk 
into it. You will sound exactly like the person that you need to. Here." He 
handed me five pens.
	"What are these," I asked him.
	"Take the cap off," he said. "When you do, it will emit a pulse that will 
knock out all listening devices in the area, in case someone is bugging the 
room. Good luck." I nodded, and turned to my companions.
	"Let's go," I said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
	"Wait," the old man said. He pulled some paper out of his pocket. "ID's. 
You'll need these to access the base. Good luck." I grabbed them and handed 
them out. They already had our pictures on them.
	"Uncle," Brock said. "Could you meet us tonight at midnight on the route 
in-between Celadon City and Saffron City? Bring some more guns and at least 
three more suits and supplies. If you're caught, say that you're a hiker, 
and then gas the guards." The old man nodded and the five of us set out for 
Saffron City.
	Looking around before we went out of Vermillion City, I motioned the others 
out. We started to walk down the route, but we heard something. I peeked out 
from behind a tree, and saw about ten guards sitting around a fire. I was 
concentrating on listening to them talk.
	"This war is so fucking stupid," one of them said. "I wish we could rebel 
against that new Pokemon League Champion. I mean, seriously now, who are we 
fighting?" The other guards murmured in agreement.
	"I say that we just stop doing our job," another said, getting the troops 
rallied up. "We should infiltrate the camps and take over!"
	"Yeah," the troops rallied in agreement. I chose this time to make our 
appearance. I stepped out, and they saw me. One of them pulled a gun on me, 
and I aimed my rifle at him.
	"Hey," I said. "Why don't you just put your gun down, and I'll do the same. 
I'm on your side." The one that looked like the general looked suspiciously 
at me. My four companions also stepped out from behind the bushes.
	"You look familiar," the general said. "Have we met somewhere?" I 
recognized this guy. I personally chose him as the leader of the best of the 
best.
	"Maybe we went to training camp together," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
	"What year," the general asked. I thought quickly. I appointed him for 
command in 2003. You had to have at least two years of training.
	"2002," I asked. The man looked suspiciously again. Then he smiled.
	"That must be it," he said. "Yeah, now I remember. I bunked with you!"
	"Yeah," I said, smiling. My four friends looked perplexed.
	"Huh," Brock asked.
	"Just play along," I said quietly, with my teeth clenched. They all nodded, 
and I took a seat next to my old "friend."
	"Where you headed," the general asked.
	"Saffron City," I said. "Me and my group here are being transferred."
	"Aren't you being escorted," he asked.
	"They couldn't spare anyone from Viridian at the moment," I half-lied. 
"There was a break in."
	"Wow," the general said. "Whoever would try something like that is either 
very brave, or very crazy."
	"No shit," I said. "How long you guys staying here?"
	"Just tonight," he said. "Then, we're raiding Vermillion City to see if 
anyone escaped." Brock's jaw dropped. Jimmy elbowed him, and he closed it 
again.
	"What's wrong with your buddy," the general asked me, nodding to Brock.
	"Yawning," Brock said.
	"Right," the general said, looking more suspicious of my crew and me than 
ever. "How long you staying here before continuing?" He looked at me. I 
checked my watch. It read 4:30 A.M.
	"We need to get there by 6," I said. "So we should leave now."
	"Well," the general said. "It's been a pleasure seeing you again. See you 
later." We shook hands and started to walk away. As Lorelei passed one of 
the guards, he slapped her on the behind, and winked at her. In the blink of 
an eye, Giovanni spin kicked the guard, knocking him out.
	"Hey," I said, moving over to him.
	"It's all right," the general said. "That guy has always been a pervert. 
Serves him right."
	"Yeah," I said. The five of us walked away into the dark wilderness. Brock 
got right on his walkie-talkie and dialed up his uncle.
	"Uncle," he said. "Grab whatever you need and leave...That means extra 
suits, weapons, everything...'Why?'...Troops are coming to wipe out 
Vermillion City...Stay in the underground that goes from Celadon to 
Lavender...Okay...Bye. He's getting out of there."
	"That was close," I said. "Am I right when I assume that he can take care 
of himself?"
	"Yeah," Brock said.
	"Good," I replied. "Let's get moving. Now they're going to expect us at 
6:00 A.M. That means that we're going to have to go in early, and in groups 
of two and three. Any ideas?"
	"Me and you should stay together," Jimmy said. "Brock doesn't know either 
Giovanni or Lorelei that well, so he should come with us." I was getting 
edgy. Any moment now...
	"NO," Giovanni and Lorelei screamed together.
	"This is the only way that it can work," Jimmy pleaded. Lorelei looked at 
me.
	"Sorry, Mom, but he's right," I said sorrowfully. "But you and Giovanni 
know each other a lot better than anybody else does."
	"Fine," she said. "Bob, I'm doing this for you, not to give this bastard 
any joy." Giovanni did a double take.
	"What," he asked, outraged. "Me? Have any joy from being with you? Over my 
dead body!"
	"With any luck," Lorelei said, turning away from him. Giovanni also turned 
away, and Jimmy and I shrugged at each other.
	"At least they're talking," he said.
	"Believe me," I said. "What they are doing now, ignoring each other, is 
what they consider talking because they are in a mile radius of each other. 
I'm surprised she didn't kill him when she first saw him."
	"Let's get moving," Jimmy said.
	"Yeah," I said, dragging my parents to me. "Before we do, let me just say 
one thing to you two. If you two and your fighting screw up this mission, I 
will be so pissed. Remember that." I turned from them and walked down the 
path.
	At about 5:00 A.M., the five of us came up to the gate. Giovanni and 
Lorelei were about to go off, but I stopped them.
	"Remember," I said. "Be subtle. Don't' forget to radio for help on channel 
10. Go in the gate a little ways down the path."
	"Fine," both my parents said in unison. They went off, and Jimmy, Brock, 
and I stepped up to the gate. The guard stopped us.
	"Declare you purpose for entering this camp," the guard said.
	"We are being transferred here," I said.
	"Do you have ID," the guard asked. I pulled out my ID and handed it to him. 
He looked it over. "What about your people?" I took theirs, and handed them 
to the guard.
	"Is everything in order," I asked.
	"Yes, sir," said the guard, unlocking the gate. The three of us walked 
right in, and got our ID's back. I saw Giovanni and Lorelei walk through the 
other South Gate. She nodded towards me, and I nodded back. They were going 
off to the Gym. Jimmy, Brock, and I, however, were going to Silph Co., the 
largest company in Kanto.
We flashed out badges and the door guard saluted us as we walked through. 
League guards were everywhere, waiting for orders to be given out.
	"Where do you think the ex-Master will be," Jimmy whispered.
	"I don't know," I whispered back. "The only other time I've been in here, 
they wouldn't allow me to go past the first floor."
	"Well, we can now," Jimmy said. The three of us walked to the elevator, and 
I pulled out my skeleton key. I stuck it in the lock, and twisted it. The 
elevator door opened, and we stepped in. I pulled out the key, I closed the 
door, and stuck the key into the number pad. I typed in floor eleven, which 
was the tallest one. Without delay, I pulled out the pen that Brock's uncle 
had given me, and pulled off the cap.
	"We can talk now," I said.
	"What are we going to do if we get caught," Brock asked, worried.
	"I don't know," I said. "But we won't have to worry about that."
	"Why not," Brock asked.
	"We're not going to get caught," I replied. Jimmy looked at me.
	"Bob," Jimmy said. "Did you know that Giovanni used to work here? He was 
the CEO. He knows the floor plans, secret passages, down to the wiring 
system. He gave me this map in case we need it." He handed me a slip of 
paper, and I looked at it. it was a floor plan, with wiring drawn out in the 
walls. It showed which wires cut off which floor, and some secret passages 
that could lead us through undetected.
	"Good," I said. "But, we're out of time to talk." The elevator dinged, and 
I put the pen away. With my rifle over my shoulder, I walked out of the 
elevator. This top floor was weird. Cells upon cells where things were being 
tested. I saw a room where two guards were beating on a woman for 
information. I grimaced until I noticed whom they were beating on. My eyes 
turned wide, and I opened the door with my skeleton key. I opened the door, 
and I was right...it was Duplica.
	"Get out of here," one of the guards said. "We're under orders to get 
information from this bitch under any means necessary."
	"I'm afraid that won't be happening," I said. "The Pokemon League Champion 
wishes to question her himself. I will have to take her."
	"Fine," the guard said, stepping out of the room. The other one stepped out 
of the room, glaring at me. I walked up to Duplica, and she flinched. Brock 
opened up his pen cap to disrupt the frequency.
	"Duplica," I said, talking quietly in case the two guards were still 
listening. "It's me, Bob. I'm going to get you out of here."
	"Bob," she asked questioningly. She was about to look happy, but I twisted 
her arm to hurt her.
	"I'm sorry about that," I said. "But pretend not to know me. I'll explain 
everything later. Okay?"
	"Okay," she said, wiping tears from her eyes as I released her arm.
	"I'm going to handcuff you now and take you downstairs and out of here," I 
said. I slipped her wrists through her handcuffs and tightened them. She got 
to her feet, and we walked out of the room.
	"Wait," she said. "There's another of us inside Silph Co."
	"Who is it," I asked.
	"Erika," Duplica said.
	"Where is she," I asked.
	"I don't know," Duplica sobbed. "I just caught sight of her being taken 
down the elevator." She started to cry. I turned to Jimmy.
	"Get her out of here," I said. "I'll get Erika." Jimmy nodded, and took 
Duplica down the elevator. I watched them leave, and went down a hallway 
with many cells. Most of the people in each cell were just normal citizens. 
I felt sorry for them, and was saddened the way that they looked at me. But 
I thought of that I was going to save them soon. I came to the end of the 
hallway, where an elevator was. Pushing my skeleton key into the lock, the 
door opened. Inside were two guards, with a prisoner. This was no ordinary 
prisoner. It was Erika. My eyes opened wide as I stepped in. One of the 
guards pressed a button to go to the eighth floor. I looked up at a camera, 
and felt around the back, while staying out of view from it. Unhooking the 
cord from it, the camera turned off. I felt the elevator move, and Erika 
started to whimper. The other guard raised a hand to hit her, so I stuck out 
my forearm to block it.
	"What the fuck do you think you're doing," the guard asked in rage.
	"Don't you dare hit her," I said in fury.
	"Why not," the other guard asked. "We were told to get information about 
the location of the Rebels any way we deemed fit."
	"That includes beating this poor woman to death," I asked, fist clenched.
	"If that's the way it has to be," the first guard said. "Then so be it." He 
didn't take another breath after he stopped talking before I laid a massive 
punch on his face, knocking him out cold. The other guard abandoned Erika 
and came towards me. I easily took him down with a spin kick. Erika looked 
shocked and scared.
	"Erika, it's me," I said. "It's me, Bob." She gasped.
	"I thought you were dead," Erika gasped.
	"I get that a lot," I replied.
	"What are you doing here," she asked.
	"We can talk once we get out of here," I said. Using my skeleton key, I 
unhooked her handcuffs. I opened the elevator door, and three guards were 
waiting for me there with their guns drawn. Quickly, I closed the elevator, 
and popped the top hatch to the top of the elevator. Bullets riddled the 
doorway just as Erika and I got out.
	"Let's go up to the roof," Erika said.
	"Just climb the rope," I said. She started to climb even faster when they 
started to shoot at us from the elevator cavity. I pulled out a knife from 
my boot and sliced the cable. The elevator plummeted down to the first 
floor. Erika and I crawled out the top. We started to run for the fire 
escape, but a couple of guards came up it. We switched our direction for the 
stairwell, but some more guards popped out of there, too. Erika and I were 
standing on the ledge, waiting for sure doom.
	"Come down and let us arrest you," a guard said, drawing his gun on us. The 
rest of the guards drew their guns, too. I looked down off the ledge. It was 
a long drop. But I had to do something.
	"On the count of three," I whispered. "Fall backwards."
	"Are you crazy," she whispered back. "We'll die." But I had already started 
counting.
	"One," I said.
	"No way," she said.
	"Two," I continued. Pulling the Flying Shard out of my pocket, and grabbing 
the back of Erika's dress, I prepared myself.
	"You better not," she said, noticing my hand on her dress.
	"THREE," I shouted. I yanked her backwards, and we plummeted downwards.
	"AAIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE," Erika screamed.
	"FLY," I shouted. Six-foot wings sprouted from my back, I caught Erika, and 
we took flight. I landed on the ground just in time for them to start 
shooting at us. They stopped, and started to run down the fire escape. I 
heard a gunshot about ten feet to my left, and looked. There I saw Giovanni 
and Lorelei holding a gun to the other's head, both of their fingers tight 
on the trigger. Both of them were waiting for the other to shoot. We didn't 
have time for this, as the other guards were already coming towards us...
-                                         End of Chapter Nine                
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