DC - Blood-Vorse Core Chptr 02

Chapter 32: The decision to leave Merzo

Tomo, Justin, Daisy, Max and Alex all watch the helicopter disappear from their sight, Justin couldn't believe his ears, neither could anyone else, they knew Vincent all too well. Tomo could hear police sirens.
"We gotta go" Tomo yelled to the others, and they disappear without a trace, back to their home as quickly as possible, Justin still a little distraught from what he had seen and heard.

One would think that the people inside the cars or witnessed the incident would remember what was going on and would talk about it to the police, which they did, but as usual all the police do is just turn up at the crime scene and disregard the witness accounts as mind tricks. When they all got home and saw the news cast, all it said was that the driver left without a trace, and whilst the City Vampire was mentioned, they didn't take into account all of the few witness accounts because they didn't seem logical.
"This is getting silly" said Alex, hand on her head, mad about what she just saw on the broadcast, "this disregard for the witnesses just shows how shallow the justice system as gotten, if they cant at least acknowledge what the witnesses have said, why bother mentioning it on live TV to begin with?"
"That's the news for you" Max said, pointing a soda bottle at the screen, "The news sucks and would do anything to cover it all up, its getting old, now gimme the remote I know what I'm watchin'"
Alex snatched the remote before he could grab it.
"What is worse" Alex went on, "is that they fail to mention probably one of the most wanted criminals in the entire Merzo continent appearing by helicopter in the middle of a busy street, I mean why do people fail to mention these things?"
"Because Merzo KNOW what is going on" answered Tomo, "they are fully aware of the situation and don't want the public to panic."
"It's still worth noting his appearance" Daisy added, looking a little pale in the face "I mean did you see the look on Justin's face when he recognised Vincent's voice? Vincent is more than just a crime lord, lets not forget what he did to Justin and god knows how many other Pokemon"
"I just had a scary thought" Tomo said quietly to the others, "what if Vincent is hoping to resume the EX-Raid project? He did mention I had something of his, in other words Justin, who as we all know was part of the EX-Raid experiment. It could be very possible that he is after him in order to get back one of the few remaining samples."

Justin was upstairs in Tomo's room listening to all of this, he knew Tomo was right, coming into the room was a tall white psychic Pokemon with green hair, it was Daisy's Gardevoir, nicknamed "Trinity", and she was Justin's lover.
"You are feeling sad" she said calmly to him, Justin wiped his tears to hide the fact that she was right, and smiled.
"No I am fine" he said, "you missed the fight, turns out the bulldozer was driven by a crazed construction worker…", Trinity crouched down to his level.
"You don't have to hide your emotions," she said, trying to sound affectionate towards him, "I know how you feel about Vincent and I understand you were in shock, after what he did to you."
"Your right, I'm sorry Trinity, I'm just trying not to let it get the better of me, you have no idea what I've been through in his care"
"I know" she said, "but that doesn't stop me from caring, not just because I am your lover, but because I want to calm the pain you have suffered."
"The only pain I feel is that I have little knowledge of what the EX-Raid can do to me, it gives me a strength increase for a short period sure, but it put my life at risk once or twice, and its made me unable to produce offspring, who knows what else it can do to me."
"What's important is that you are still alive" Trinity reassured him, "life is something we all treasure."
"That's true, but it does make me think about what Vincent is up to, we have to stop Vincent's plans somehow."
"Precisely what I was thinking" said Alex as she entered the room, "The only thing we need is a lead, and then we think of a plan to stop whatever he is up to."
"One thing is certain" Tomo added, he was just outside on the landing thinking, "he said he got what he wanted from here, so the biggest decision we have to make now is whether or not we should go after him or assume he is going to come back and wait for him, if we choose to leave Merzo it will go unprotected and crime will be at an all-time high."
"That is a valid point." said Alex
"I don't think we have a choice" Justin interrupted, "whether it is here or miles away, there is no doubt Vincent is planning something big and we can't just sit here, we need a lead on where Vincent is heading, then we go after him."
"Exactly what I was thinking." Trinity answered
"Sorry to ask this much from you guys" he continued, "I just feel if we wait, there is no telling what he will do, he said his ambitions didn't die, I think I know what his ambitions are."
Tomo sat down on the bed, looking at everyone else.
"One thing I can figure out for certain" said Tomo, "There is no way Vincent would leave the continent without a good reason, anything shipped from Merzo to anywhere else has to be checked and scanned, did you see what Vincent had under his arm? Not only would Vincent not take the risk of getting checked, but valuable goods from Merzo attract black market thieves, something I am guessing Vincent wouldn't want."
"Yeah, Merzo City is known for its bustling industry" Alex contributed, "ever since that large oil tanker was hijacked by American mercenaries to replenish their supply, Merzo have been quite picky on who they do business with."
"Hence why leaving this continent isn't an option for someone like him" Tomo went on, "so that narrows it down, he will remain on this continent, the question is where?"
"Import laws aren't the only reason" said Daisy, she entered the room holding a piece of paper, "Take a look at this…"

Alex looked at the piece of paper.
"I did a bit of research" said Daisy, "and I may have sussed what Vincent is up to, it is only vague but it's an old myth that speaks of five fallen stars that fell from the sky in ancient times, that sunk into the ground, threatening to cause a massive earthquake in the continent. Using the energy of the stars, an orb was created, and was used to help push the stars back up into the heavens, not much else is written, but I have reason to believe Vincent has that orb!"
Alex saw a chart, it looked like a bright star constellation with writing saying "The sign of Merzo"
"Now we are getting somewhere!" said Alex with a large grin on her face.

In the front room, Alex laid a map on the table of the continent of Merzo, Merzo was an oddly shaped Island, Merzo City was on the very top of that Island, whilst there was a forest South-East of the City, with a mountain further down, there were a few spots on the map that detailed the names of villages and towns, including Whitestuff Village which was directly at the South. A Desert area was far to the West, and North-East of Merzo City there was what looked like a small arctic island.
"So is there any way you can pin-point his location?" Max asked, not sounding interested.
"I cannot point his exact location" she answered, and then she brought a transparent version of Daisy's chart of the star constellations "because there are five to choose from", and laid it over the map, coincidentally the stars on the chart laid on specific parts of the Merzo map.
"Alex you are a genius!" Justin complimented, Alex blushed at this compliment.
"For what?" said Max "all the moth-lady did was put a chart on a map"
Alex stood on Max in anger, "try calling me moth-lady one more time!"
"This is brilliant!" Daisy exclaimed, "The landmarks were based on this constellation, it's possible that the stars shot back up in a direct vertical path from where they once stood, thus we have our locations."
"Now we just need to figure out which one of these places he plans to strike first" Alex noted, "but we have five choices now, Girder Town, Ruston Mountain, Vaharah Desert, Tower Tyland and…"
"Hold up!" Justin exclaimed, "Alex? In what direction was Vincent's helicopter flying towards when he left Merzo?"
"It seemed like he was heading for the North Arena, but then took a right." Then Alex clicked as to what Justin was referring to, "thus his helicopter was heading North-East, and the first landmark is here (she points to it on the map), Artantica, the artic island"

"Then it's settled!" Tomo announced, "Next stop, Artantica!"
"But there is still the other problem" Daisy reminded everyone, "the question as to whether or not we should leave this city? It will go unguarded and we wont be there to protect it."
"I have a solution to that!" said Max triumphantly with his fist in the air, "lets leave Merzo as it is and not care!"
"MAX!!!" everyone shouted
"No guys, just think about it, this bulldozer incident was the first bit of crime faced in a long time, since the culprit is in ca-hoots with Vincent, and they are taking themselves elsewhere, what other crimes could possibly happen in Merzo? If its nothing major the police can handle it, and I think this Vincent mess is going to be the biggest threat"
"For once I think Max is onto something there" said Tomo, "We could risk it, and after all I consider this to be much more threatening, not just to the city but for the entire continent."
"I agree," continued Daisy, "we don't have much of a choice, especially since more attention has been brought to us today"
"Then its settled!" Tomo said triumphantly, "we set a course for Artantica as soon as possible!"
"We will need supplies and a way to get there" Daisy pointed out, "I'm sure Alex knows what to bring"
"This will be more than a trip" said Alex heading out the door to her room, "so I hope you all realise there will be fighting involved"
"What?" Max said aloud, "Wait you guys aren't actually suggesting we fight them do you?"
"Why not?" asked Tomo, "as much as I would love to avoid it, there is no doubt they will have a go at us, and if we do nothing there is no telling what could happen."
"Besides" said Justin, "you can just Digivolve into the Mega level and stop them, you seem more willing to fight when in that form"
"Well unfortunately for all of us I only Digivolve whenever it feels like it, I can't control what happens. I have a better idea, how about I stay here and protect Merzo whilst you are away, at least then we are all doing our jobs and I don't have to leave to…"
"We are not leaving you here to sit on your butt all day" Daisy interrupted
"Whatever the case" Trinity added, "you can never be too careful, whatever happens, everyone has to stick together."
Max just sighed.

Daisy decided to go into the kitchen and make some tea, she thought it would be a good idea to make some for Alex too whilst she was at it, when she was finished she carried a tray to her room. She noticed Alex there on her computer with some stuff on her bed, some equipment she planned to take she guessed.
"Are you ok?" Daisy asked her
"Just getting prepared" Alex told her, "over there is just some stuff that we are going to need, Artantica is quite far so I am bringing a portable radar to help us get there, plus some warm clothes for the weather, and a radio-hacker, you never know when Vincent decides to be a bit careless.
"I had something I wanted to ask you" Daisy said putting the tray down, Alex grabbed her cup and drank a sip. "Are you ok with this?"
"Ok with what?" Alex asked, followed by a subtle thanks as she continued to drink.
"Well, I know you are still doing research on how to get yourself home, wont this trip delay that?"
"That!" Alex pointed out, "is a long way away from being done, not only do I have to design the device exactly how it looked when I left, but also have to figure out what I used to power it, I have a vague idea but gathering the materials is going to require some work."
"What I mean is" Daisy went on as she sat down, "I know how eager you are to get home, to this Flower City of yours, I'd much rather give you the time to…"
Alex put her hand on Daisy's shoulder
"It's a main goal to get home, yes, but until that day, I want to be part of this little family of ours as much as everyone else, I am not just going to openly abandon you all for my own needs, I will get home, but until then I'd much rather help you all out because at least I am doing something right?"
"It's about your past isn't it?"
"It was enough for me to be forgiven for what I did"
"I know how you feel" Daisy sympathised
For the rest of the night, Daisy and Alex decided to help each other prepare, since tomorrow was going to be a big day for everyone, everyone else was in bed asleep, with Justin and Trinity sleeping together peacefully downstairs on the couch.

The next morning, Justin's eyes slowly opened, he heard noises coming from outside, he noticed Trinity was gone too and after rubbing his eyes he went to see what was the matter. The noise was Alex packing everything up in the mini-van, Tomo and Max was with her, Max was complaining "Did you pack any food? You better have packed food!", with Alex protesting that she wants the supply to last, when they saw Justin they stopped.
"Yo Justin!" Tomo called, there was a silence.
"Are we really going through this?" Justin asked weakily, still rubbing his eyes.
"Of course" Daisy said as she passed him from behind, packing her things including books and her staff for battle, "we already decided we were going to go"
Then Trinity gave him a hug from behind wrapping her arms around him.
"It's because its Vincent isn't it?" she asked him sympatheticly, "we all know you had a history with him, and we know you are afraid of him"
"It's not him I am afraid of, its what he might do that concerns me"
"Hence why we are moving out no question" said Alex, shutting the trunk door shut and making it towards the driver seat.
"Better have breakfast before we leave" said Tomo walking inside "come to think of it I'm hungry too, come on"

After breakfast everyone got in the van, Alex got the engine running in the driver seat with Daisy at the front next to her, Tomo was sitting at the back facing away from the front, whilst Max, Justin and Trinity sat in the middle area.
"First time we left this City in years" Daisy pointed out
"For a good cause" Tomo continued, "all the same I am gonna miss this City"
"Who isn't?" chuckled Daisy
This small talk made Justin feel better.
"You best get down out of sight" Daisy advised to Tomo, we don't want people seeing you along the way"
"Sure"
and with that, they were out the driveway heading towards the interchange, one of their neighbours was a blue dragon named Bahamut who saw them set off.
"Omega isn't going to be pleased" he said to himself, but then shrugged it off and put his MP3 Player back on and continued to rock at Iron Maiden music!

Now they were on the main road, traffic seemed to have gotten much faster after the clean up from yesterdays incident, and it wasn't long before they noticed a huge sign saying "You are leaving the city complex", they were officially out of Merzo! Tomo was a blob of purple plasma on the floor and on Daisy's say-so, he made his way to his clothing and got inside, and then regenerated to his human form.
"About time" Tomo exclaimed, twisting his neck and positioning some of his clothes to make sure they were back on properly, then he looked back at the shrinking city they called home, "Hey everyone, wave bye-bye to good ol' Merzo City!"
Everyone yelled "Goodbye Merzo!" as they drove off into the forest road and out of sight!

End of Chapter 2