From: Karnivax <karnivax@my-deja.com> Subject: [PW!] Among the Ruins Date: Sunday, December 12, 1999 5:49 AM Reading Roberto's latest story, it occurred to me that we haven't heard from Panopticon in quite some time... --AMONG THE RUINS-- by Karnivax "Yesss...that'sss it..." Panopticon encouraged, watching as the first of his surrogate hatchlings feebly crawled free from its egg. "Awaken, and embrace the glory that isss your birthright!" The small creature that was a baby Scyther, thoroughly exhausted from the rigors of hatching, offered no response. It lay flat next to the remains of its egg and panted. Panopticon popped the top off of the incubator in which the hatchling lay along with the two eggs that housed the hatchling's unborn siblings. The cyber-raptor gingerly picked up the newborn, which was no larger than a field mouse. "I could have sssworn Vorge sssaid that young Sssullivan'sss eggsss would hatch into were-Ssscyther," Panopticon said to no one in particular. "Yet thisss creature doesss not ssseem human in the leassst..." Panopticon ran a quick scan of the hatchling's DNA. "Well, I ssstand corrected. Twenty-three percent of itsss genetic makeup isss indeed human, yet dormant." Just out of curiosity, he then scanned the hatchling for presence of Y chromosomes. He found none. "Part of me wantsss to evissscerate thessse pitiful creaturesss," Panopticon noted, watching as the hatchling let out a yawn. "But I believe I will keep them around. I could dessstroy Jessssica and her consssort unaided...or I could raissse and train Jessssica's children myssself and eventually turn offssspring againssst mother. The look of utter ssshock that will be on young Sssullivan's face when ssshe is ssslaughtered by her own flesssh and blood makesss the latter ssso much more...appealing." "Grrroarrraaar?" queried Inferno the Charizard, who was listening somewhat attentively to his master's monologue. "Oh, face it, Inferno," Panopticon shot back. "We are warriorsss who no longer have a war to fight. Obliterating that annoying young couple isss the mossst entertaining thing I can think of to do with the ressst of our livesss. If you can come up with sssomething better, I would like to hear it." Inferno shrugged. "Now, Proteusss, keep thisss young one warm. Do you think you can handle that?" Panopticon handed the female Scyther to Proteus the Ditto, who nodded happily. In his current state Proteus could only turn into humans and Pokémon. Unable to turn into an electric blanket or a Pokéball or some object that could conceivably keep a young Pokémon warm, the lightweight Ditto simply sat on top of the hatchling. "I could have had a Ditto like Doppler," Panopticon sighed. "But no...I had to be cursssed with the mossst ussselessss Ditto on the planet." Regulus the Starmie echoed its new master's sentiments. The echinoderm stood next to Proteus and crossed the tentacles that were the closest to right and left arms. If Regulus had eyes, it would have been glaring at the Ditto's pitiful display. "Heyah!" The arrogant Starmie hated having losers for company. "It will be ssseveral hoursss before the other two eggsss hatch," Panopticon estimated. "Hmmm...how ssshall we keep ourssselvesss occupied until then?" Inferno seemed to have an idea. He sauntered over to where David Bradley's discarded Cougar Magnum lay on the floor and picked the handgun up. Inferno then proceeded to place several empty Pokéballs atop a steel table. The Charizard, who knew quite well how a gun worked, stood several feet away from the table and used the empty Pokéballs for target practice. As Inferno unhappily discovered, there were only two bullets left in the gun. "Grrrooo..." "Thank you, Inferno, you have inssspired me," a sneering Panopticon suddenly piped up. "We ssshould misssappropriate sssome new weaponry. And I know exactly where to do ssso." "Heyah?" "We will go to the armory of choice for all depraved, trigger- happy lunaticsss," came the reply. "We will go...to K-Mart." "Heyah?" "There isss a K-Mart in Vermilion City, I believe," Panopticon answered. "A mere ssstone'sss throw away from our home here under Sssaffron." Panopticon pointed to one of the many subterranean tunnels that led in and out of Vorge's base. "Come, Regulusss. Proteusss, you ssshall ssstay here and protect the eggsss." "Dit! Dit to!" Proteus cried, happy to be given such an important task. "Inferno, you ssshall ssstay here asss well and ssstop Proteusss from ssscrewing hisss tasssk up." "Rarrr." Inferno saluted. With that, Panopticon took his psychic Starmie in one hand and started off toward Vermilion. Just in case Minax needs to be convinced about the existence of cyber- raptors... ^_^ --K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X-- "Our wretched society is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road." --Voltaire Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.