From: Adrian -Pheonix- Morgan <jesterextreme@aol.com> Subject: [PW] A Rocket Returns Date: Saturday, February 12, 2000 7:13 PM ~ Last time on the Phoenix Saga: Seth infiltrated the team rocket and had a visit from his friend Damion Krice. His last scene was on board the sinking S.S. Anne one year ago. ~ <<Damion appeared walking out of the water, up the side wall of the Anne which had once been it's deck. "Adrian... your still hanging around this place." Even through the screams and the yells, Damion Krice's voice was loud as ever. "I told you that you should kill Dreadite and the others and leave. But, of course, you didn’t believe me. Well now, this is what I taught you teleportation for. Amnesia is horrid isn't it. Without it you would be able to transport out of here." "Damion, I'm getting tired of.." "You think that matters to me? You mean nothing to me anymore. You are now Lucas Damion, a name that has no mystic past or prophetic future. You are now a Rocket, not a young legend. Deal with it, you have made yourself this way. You can't be Adrian and Lucas both. Now is where you choose." "My past has told of my future. I am branded for life because I am the Great Mage who will save us all. Well my town is destroyed! I don't even have powers or spells! What good is it to go on as Adrian, when all who knew me as such are dead or imaginary?" "I'm glad you think so highly of me." "I am Lucas. Adrian died when the Anne went down.">> ~ And now, a phoenix arises again, a little more prepared. ~ He picked up an apple and shined it against his dark red uniform. His jet-black hair fell to his shoulders and the gleam in his onlooker’s eyes was a small silver "R" pinned to his lapel. He was the Phoenix, a previously inactive Rocket with a mysteriously secret past. He never talked about the faded gray scars on his skin or his forehead, or about the town that he could never return to. He’d forgotten all that long ago. He slipped a coin in the street-corner newspaper machine and read the headline. The S.S. Anne Anniversary may be delayed. He knew what the annual S.S. Anne party meant: trainers, Rockets, and ATR. Somewhere in there, there was always a little water. It was times like this when he forced himself to press the ID button on his Pokédex to remind him who he was. It flashed back in it’s red chromatic casing: Lucas Damion. A set of pokéballs were on his belt, three in all. The first was his miniature black dratini Bastion; the second was a cuebone named Kito; the last being a vaporeon named Jas. They were all the team he needed, he trained them well and they learned to live with Lucas rather than Adrian. His sights wafted into a crowd of people, followed shortly by his body. He exited the pokémon trainers, just begging to meet and battle Erica for their Rainbow badges, with enough money to buy him some more gourmet chow his pokémon had grown so stubborn to, along with a nice meal for himself and a call into Rocket-land to reinstate himself. Lucas sat at a table in an outdoor restaurant; he lifted his cellular to his ear and heard a ‘telemarketer’ voice come over. "Welcome to Vermillion Cruise and Travel, how may I direct your call?" "Phoenix- 188486 for reinstatement" "You’ve been absent a long time Phoenix. I believe it has been over a year." "Nearly a year… just tell me if I can be reinstated." "Of course you can. However your latest assignment was completed by another member…" "Enough with the details. Send a message to Dreadite requesting new mission information. I’m sure he’ll be able to find me." The phone clicked shut and Lucas finished his dinner. Bastion crawled out and stretched himself around Lucas’ arm, he had almost grown to 3’. A commotion shook the lines outside Erica’s gym, the crowd began to split and screams lifted to the outdoor café. A white jacket shown through the parting crowd and Lucas just new it meant trouble. A red "R" flew past him, knocking over tables. A few of the intrepid crowd members chased after him. "STOP THAT ROCKET!!!" All of a sudden Luke was part of the chase, the newest target. He jumped from the table and rolled across the ground. At the edge of the dining area he was on his feet and running for a ladder that reached the top floor of the building. He closed in, and jumped… his hands landed dead center on the bottom rung. Quickly he crawled toward the roof. Only one or two of the trainers were still following. The other rocket was only a few beats away, his white uniform more and more dirty from stumbles and falls. The anonymous Rocket jumped fool-heartedly for the next roof. His foot hit the power cord and he fell short. A fatal rookie mistake. Mid-stride Lucas threw a tiny ball to the ground. The air swirled with dark red smoke. The trainers coughed their way through to find themselves on the edge of the roof staring into the empty ally. Below, after the trainers left, Lucas rummaged through the unconscious Rocket’s things as he was hidden by the dumpster; plenty of money, pokéballs, and (the items the trainers must have been after) a couple sets of badges. He took the money and the badges, they might do him some good later. Then he smashed the rocket’s pokédex… it was a disgrace to Rockets all over for someone like this to still have an identity. The white uniform was left untouched, less the small scratched and scorched "ATR" pin that replaced the "R". If he didn’t notice, and it wasn’t likely he would, he'd have a lot of explaining to do at HQ. Lucas flicked his hair back into place and took a bite of the apple that he shoved in his pocket earlier. He walked out of the ally straightening his deep red uniform and laughed lightly to himself. This was going to be more fun than he initially thought. Now he just needed to wait for Dreadite and his orders. ~ I'll update my writers guide a little later, I just couldn't stand being gone any longer. So, hyia again everyone. I'll do my best to stay up-to-date, but you know how this group rolls ~