From: Maria Rocket <mobius101@aol.compactpika> Subject: [PW!] The Unknown Road Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 8:19 PM "You shouldn't be here." Warm. It was warm. For a moment, Seth half expected to waken in Aerie's familiar embrace. But looking around, all he saw was darkness. He sat up and reached out physically and psychically for her, finding nothing existed there but his own presence. He lifted his head and felt a warm breeze play with his hair. He brushed it away, although he could not see even with his hair away from his face. "Not that I'm complaining. You're quite a novelty. And a very convient one." Seth narrowed his eyes. That voice...sounded very familiar. But where was it coming from? He strained all his senses, yet could not find the presence. "Who are you?" "You idiot. You really don't know me?" Suddenly a light appeared, blinding Seth. He winced and looked away. When his eyes adjusted enough to look again, he saw a figure walking towards him. His eyes widened, and he sprung to his feet, stumbling back a few steps before catching himself. The figure looked on smugly. "You're so confused...so little control over yourself, let alone your own power..." He pulled off his black sunglasses and chuckled. It was a smooth, quiet, and cold sound. "And easy to manipulate as well, I'll bet." "You're..." "You." The other Seth smiled coldly. "A another version of you, at least." "What are you doing here?" The other Seth crossed his arms. "*I* belong here. In this timeline, at least. You're the one who is out of place... Interfering with what is mine." Seth watched him like a hawk. It looked like him...it sounded like him...and it even felt like him. But it just didn't sit right with him. "Sorry...but I'm sorta stuck in this time. I'll try to stay out of your way though...now, where's Aerie?" "No." The other regarded Seth with fixed eyes, advancing on him. "There can be only one." Seth raised an eyebrow. "Been watching a little too much Highlander, now have you? Y'know, that show got me into fencing once, but then I nearly accidently sliced off part of Slasher's tail, and he almost intentionally sliced off a delicate part of my anatomy. Needless to say, I gave up fencing after that." The other Seth stared for a moment. Then shook his head in an irritated way. "Do *not* take me lightly!" Suddenly Seth found himself suspended in the air. "HEY! Put me down!" He struggled to break free of his double's psychic grip, but it was too strong. He rushed through various transformations in frustration. "LET GO!" It was no use. The other Seth giggled with delight. "Goddish, you are so *easy* to control! Were you trained by a second-rate Abra!?" Seth fumed. "Why are you doing this?" "Why not?" The other Seth swung his shades around casually. "Seriously though...it sucks being you, doesn't it? I mean...just *what* are you, anyway? You're not human...you're not a Pokemon...you're just...a thing." He smiled too sweetly. "A thing which no one, human or Pokemon accepts as anything but a freak." He dropped his false smile. "But I'll teach them to respect me..." He clenched his fists. "I'll show them all what real power is...and they'll never even see my face." Seth closed his eyes. "I felt that way once...but that's not the way. You aren't alone. Mom and Dad loves us... Aerie loves us." "No..." The other Seth closed his eyes with a pained expression. "You can't possibly understand. It was different for you." He opened his eyes. "But you're going to help me...whether you like it or not." "Help you?" The other Seth smiled. "Yes...I can't let this opportunity slip by... You see, taking over the world from my current position is childs play....but in the past, through you, it'll be so much more fun!" He seized Seth's face in his hand. "As of now, you are mine do with as I please..." Seth's blood grew cold as he realized what the other meant to do. "You're nuts! Isn't there enough bad guys out to conquer the world!?" The other Seth sighed and shrugged. "Perhaps. But I'm the best looking." He grinned as a halo of energy formed between his palm and Seth's face. "Vortex is too far gone in the head to compete, and Uncle Doppler....heh...he's still trying to be noble. Me...I just want good old revenge. Power is fine, but I'll destroy it all first if I have to. As long as I have the last laugh, I don't care how I get there. Hope thinks she can stop me...thinks she can help me. But she's too weak..." "Hope?" "You called?" "HEY!" The other Seth yelled. "Wha.... DAMN! This isn't over yet! You can't escape me! You can *never* escape me!" His voice slowly filtered to silence, with giddy female laughter drowning out his words. Seth blinked. And everything faded out. ... ..... "Seth?" A touch to his face.... Oh no.... Seth struggled to open his eyes, then waited with dread as his vision focused. A face with two violet eyes was looking down at him. "A-Aerie?" Aerie smiled. "You're okay!" She gasped in surprise as he suddenly jumped to his knees to hug her tightly. "...Right?" "Yeah...I...I guess I just had a bad dream." He glanced up from her shoulder. The were in a large room with a bed, a table, a few chairs, a cabinet, a closet, a tv.... He blinked. "Are we in another hotel room? This isn't the bottle...is it?" Aerie kissed him gently and sat back on her heels. "Nope.... This is the SS Anne!" "But...but..." Aerie giggled. "Well, we were in the bottle, when the entire place started shaking violently. You went flying off my back and into a wall....you were knocked unconscious, and I couldn't get you to wake up. You had me really worried for awhile there....so when the bottle started moving again, I just teleported us away at random." She sweatdropped. "We ended up on a crate being lifted onto the Anne here in Vermillion...someone saw us, and told us that if we were Pokemon trainers, we could get free tickets." "Siiian..." Slasher rolled over in the corner of the room. "Purrrsian." He waved his tail at Seth. "Yeah," Aerie nodded. "I told them we were Slasher's trainers, and the guy boarding people onto the boat gave us a ticket! Then I just brought you here until you recovered." She grinned. "Looks like we're on another vacation!" "What about the bottle?" Seth straightened out his shades. Aerie sighed. "It was looking bad....if the bottle wasn't willing to defend itself at that point, nothing we could have done would have saved it. We can only hope it came out for the best." Seth nodded his head...still feeling a bit troubled by his strange dream. "I suppose you're right... So, where are we exactly, now?" Seth got up and opened the door to the room to look around. Some people were still wandering the halls with luggage. He glanced at the front of their door. "Room 132. Heh..." TBC? (For the time being, maybe, maybe not. ^_^; ) ~Maria R "Psy yie yie..." --- http://purplestudio.webjump.com --- "R is for Rrrah...Rrrah...Rocket!" - Meowth --- Rocketshipper Forever! --- TEOTWAWKI