Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 7

'Casey? Casey! CASEY PLEASE!! Save me Casey! Save me! CASEY!!'

"Violet!" Casey sat up gasping for breath, hand over his chest. It took him a minute to slow down his breathing, trying to regain his sense of being. Casey cast quick gazes at his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a small apartment. He was sitting on a light blue carpeted floor. To his right was a small wooden dresser that was a bit dusty, as if it had not been touched in a while. On top of the dresser was a small purple vase, lacking flowers. The door was a little ways in front of him. To his left was a small bed. Casey could hear a faint breathing coming from the bed. Someone was sleeping there.

Casey stood up slowly and approached the bedside. He recognized the sleeper immediately. It was Shayla. He sighed a little, glad to know she was alive. Still, it was odd. He vaguely remembered speaking with her in a laboratory-like room but that seemed like so long ago. Had it really happened? Casey shook his head and nodded to himself. Yes it had happened. His memories were just degrading.

"That damn serum still affecting me even after I've escaped." Casey muttered. He wasn’t sure how much of that serum they had injected into him, but whatever they had done to him was ultimately still affecting him. He would have to wait until it had fully exited his system before he could even hope to see a lag in the effects. But that was assuming this stuff could actually exit his body. For all the science he knew, this stuff could be building up in Casey’s body and never leaving, forever degrading his mental power.

Casey frowned when he heard a loud crash outside. It sounded almost… demonic. Casey turned to the door to Shayla’s room. Something in his mind tugged at his instincts, wanting him to investigate. Casey wasn’t sure if it was the serum or his own will, but Casey felt his curiosity starting to awaken and he wanted to settle it. Setting one foot in front of the other, Casey made his way to the door and wrapped his fingers to the doorknob. He gripped it hard, the bronze metal felt cool in his hand. Twisting the doorknob as quietly as he could, Casey opened the door, creaking in protest.

“You’d think that for such as high tech place they’d fix the doors in this place.” Casey mumbled under his breath. He stepped out into the hallway and glanced back and forth. He could barely hear some voices down the corridor to his right. Closing Shayla’s door behind him, Casey started to follow the voices.

“Bro I can’t believe you did that! She’s so going to kill us!”

“Who the hell cares? She’s a diva anyway?”

“A dragon diva!”

“If I had realized you guys were wimps I wouldn’t have brought you. Now come on.”

Casey trailed after the three pairs of footsteps. He only paused momentarily when he reached what he believed to be the scene of the crime. A girl’s door was wide open, and a quick glance inside her room told Casey that these boys either were digging for something personal of hers or were on a panty raid. He hoped it was the latter but boys these days were devious little men. Always wanting to hurt women instead of respecting them. Casey sighed and continued down the corridor, the sounds of the trio in front of him gradually becoming louder. This meant that either he was gaining on them or they were moving to another area where the echoes of their footsteps were louder than where Casey currently was. Casey began to pick up the pace when the footfalls in front of his suddenly ceased. Casey pushed himself up against a wall and slowly moved alongside it. There were some shouts very close to him. Casey peeked around a corner and spotted three individuals bickering.

The first and appeared to be the leader of the group was a man with pink hair. It had a large cowlick in the center of his head. He had large blue eyes and fairly light skin. The man was most likely Caucasian. He had a brown and red poncho on with a pink shirt and pants underneath. He had his feet (which were in pink boots) crossed in the same way that girls cross their feet when they’re mad. His cheeks were a bright red from anger, and the way he clutched the apple in his left hand and the cassette tape in his right, the guy was obviously angry.

Arguing with him were two shorter guys. The first appeared to be a bird base user. He had black hair and wore colorful clothing, a mix of greens, blues, and yellows. He had on a pair of glasses that he occasionally pushed up in frustration as he bickered with the man who appeared to be the leader. He had brown eyes and was light skinned but had a darker tint to his skin than the pink guy did.

The other male was the taller of the shorter males bickering with the leader. He had a large set of wing like shells on his back, mainly blue with a few other colors. He had on sand goggles and was mainly dressed in the same colors as his shell wings. His skin was very dark, leading Casey to assume he was African American or close to it.

"It is necessary! That ***** is a traitor! We'll get it out of her one way or another! Even if it kills us!" The leader shouted.

"I don't think this is needed at all! She's probably not even the spy sir! Why on earth would Sloane of all the people here be a spy? She hates gijinkas!" The bird boy protested.

"I'm with Troy on this one. Sloane has to be the spy. There's no way she's not. Otherwise why would she go on the roof so often?" Shell boy countered. Casey stepped out into the light, cracking his knuckles.

"Now now, you should listen to bird brain over here. Going and touching a girl's stuff isn't a well respected move, even from my kind." Casey smirked a little at the color draining from all three boys' faces. It was like they had just seen a ghost. Maybe they had. Even so, Casey left fire start to burn on his palms. "I might have to punish you if you don't return everything you've stolen. And let's be honest, I have the advantage."

"What makes you say that gijinka?" The pink boy replied, venom slipping past his lips as he uttered the word Gijinka. "There's three of us and only one of you."

"Yes, but I've been trained to know your weaknesses." Without waiting another second, Casey ran at the ring leader. He grabbed the pink boy, wrapping his arms around himself, and then proceeded to knee the guy in the nuts from behind. The boy collapsed and Casey brushed his hands off. "See? I didn't even have to use my powers." He said with a smirk. "Now I'll take this." Casey picked up the cassette tape and ducked down as bird boy leapt at him. The boy hit the ground as he missed Casey. "Now that was just rude." Casey said. He sidestepped another attack before sighing. "Fine if it has to be that way." Casey put the tape in his pocket and clenched his hands into fists. They began to glow a bright green. He looked between his two other opponents, the minions, before lunging at the bird boy.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise as Casey's fist met his stomach. Instantly green sparkled in his eyes. The boy's eyes closed and he fell to the ground fast asleep. Casey looked over his shoulder to find the other boy. Bug boy was fleeing the scene. Casey snorted and smirked, his eyes flashing with pleasure at this sign of a chase. He took off after the boy, tackled him to the ground, and grabbed the sides of his head. The boy started to scream but Casey muffled the sound with his hand.

"You're lucky I don't kill you, activating my instincts like this." Casey whispered in the boy's ear. "You're lucky I don't burn you alive and then feast on your corpse." Warm wet tears trickled down the boy's face, hitting Casey's hand as they went. Casey felt the boy shaking underneath him. Good. His prey needed to be frightened. "However..." Casey breathed, "I've vowed to turn away from that life. So how about we make a deal? You just take a nice deep breath when I say so and I won't do any of the aforementioned things. Ok? Blink twice if you agree." The boy blinked so many times one would think he might be having a seizure. Casey's hand that covered the boy's mouth glowed green again. "Ok, breathe." He felt the sharp intake of air against his fingers. The boy's eyes fluttered then closed as he fell fast asleep.

Casey got off the boy and made sure the tape was still intact in his pocket. He turned down the hallway and made his way back to the room with the door still wide open. Stepping inside carefully, he heard the heavy breathing of someone inside. He looked around before spotting where he assumed the tape was meant to go. Quietly tidying up everything, Casey made sure everything was in place before exiting the room. He paused after a moment, recognizing the victim of the robbery to be Sloane, one of Shayla's teammates. He could recall them mentioning earlier that she was actually a spy but he doubted that was true. The Greek Riders has tried that kind of thing before and the Roman Charioteers were like bloodhounds for these spies. They would find you and they would kill you within a matter of months of you joining them. Given that Sloane had been implied to have been here a while, there was no way she was a spy.

Casey closed the door behind him and made his way back down the hallway to Shayla's room. Stepping inside, he walked over to a chair in the room. Casey felt himself suddenly overcome with fatigue as he collapsed in the chair. He was fast asleep in minutes.

***

"Casey? Are you really there? Casey?" Casey's eyes fluttered open. It took them a minute to focus on me. They flooded with recognition as they registered my face and he smiled.

"Shayla! It's good to see you!" He said, jumping up and hugging me tightly. I was startled by the action and tensed up before hugging him back.

"Hey. Glad to see you too. What's wrong?"

"Oh…" Casey looked somewhat embarrassed as he released me. "I was just worried because no one else could see me yesterday. I was worried you might not see me today." I smiled a little.

"A reasonable concern. It's alright. I'm here and I can see you. Even if no one else can I can see you."

"Shaymin!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Shaymin fuming on my bed.

"Oh and Shaymin's here too. I found her in my arms this morning." I added. Casey chuckled.

"Nice to see you too Shaymin. I was worried about you. Glad to see you are ok."

There was a tense silence that followed this, no one truly sure what to say. We were glad to see each other, don't get me wrong, but we had quite the predicament. Casey was a gijinka. I was a base user. Shaymin was a pokemon. We were in the heart of Roman Charioteer territory. If the three of us got caught together in any way shape or form, we'd probably be killed as traitors. None of us wanted to die just yet, Casey least of all since he'd already almost died several times from the sound of it.

We all jumped when there was a knock on my door. Casey looked around, a terrified spark in his eyes. He grabbed a blanket and threw it over himself. It was kind of obvious he was there but Shaymin was already hiding under the bed and my door was being opened so there wasn't much we could do. Quill's head poked out from behind the door.

"Everything alright in here?" He asked. I threw a shirt at him.

"Privacy!" I shouted. Quill rolled his eyes at me.

"Maybe I want to watch you though." He replied with a snort. I blushed a little and crossed my arms, turning away from him. I could feel the grin fall from his face. "Kidding." He mumbled. He mumbled. “You and Sloane today. All about your privacy.” My arms unfolded a little.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Quill stepped in cautiously, closing the door behind him.

“Someone broke into Sloane’s room last night. We found the culprits unconscious a little ways out of the dorm hallways. They’ve been taken to the medical ward due to mysterious injuries. We think they ended up getting into a fight with one another and don’t want to admit it. Instead their claiming a gijinka has infiltrated the facility and attacked them.” I noticed the blanket Casey was under shift a little. Quill noticed it too and I felt the my stomach hit the floor. “What was that?” He asked.

“What was what?” I replied, stepping between Quill and Casey.

“The blanket.” Quill responded, moving closer, “It moved. It looks like someone is under it.”

“What? No. Of course not.” I stepped back a little, keeping myself between Casey and Quill. Quill narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. A frown fit itself firmly on his lips as he watched my movements carefully. I could see the trained soldier in him observing me for any sign that I was a traitor. I pleaded with my body to not give me away. I had just joined, I had gotten a base, and I had questions that needed answers. I couldn’t leave just yet.

With a swift movement, Quill wrapped his arm around me and gently pushed me aside like a river does a twig. I couldn’t react in time to prevent him from reaching the blanket. He grasped the fabric firmly in his left hand and yanked it aside. I held my breath for one tense moment, before confusion flooded through me as Quill began to laugh.

“I had no idea you were into magic Shayla!” He said with a loud chuckle.

“Wh-What?” I stuttered. Quill turned to me and smiled.

“You really had me convinced there for a moment that you were hiding a gijinka. I mean the blanket looked like it had a person under it and everything! How'd you do it?" I blinked at Quill twice before looking at the chair. Casey was sitting there, frozen in fear, plain as day. But Quill couldn't see him. It was just like the day before.

"Uh… a magician never reveals her secrets!" I finally managed. Quill laughed loudly.

"Very nice! But you have to teach me that sometime! Promise?"

"Promise." I replied, glad to be off the hook for now. "Can I finish getting dressed real quick and then I can meet you right outside?" Quill blushed a little and nodded.

"Ah right yeah! I'll get out of your way!" He quickly made his way out of the room and shut the door. I turned my gaze to Casey. He nervously shrugged and said,

"I was helping a damsel in distress?"

"And nearly got yourself killed. Be more careful. We're lucky no one can see you yet for some reason, except those boys and me."

"Right. I'll stay here for the day then, hide under the bed or something. Stay out of sight and you update me tonight."

"Sounds like a plan."

I went over to the closet and quickly got dressed. I exited the room and walked to Quill who wasn't that far away. He explained to me that we were going to discover my base now and possibly test it. Sloane planned to meet us there because she didn't want to play any first person shooter with the boys. Apparently they were sore losers and Sloane kicked butt. Sounded like a fun time to me but sadly I couldn't watch the fun.

I was still very excited though. I was very curious as to how this system for bases worked. I couldn't quell my excitement, nor could I hold back the nervousness that boiled within me. Casey was here but only I could see him. Was it possible I was imagining him? Or was it something else? So many questions so little answers and I didn't know who I could trust for this.

'You can trust me.' A voice rang out in my thoughts. I nearly jumped out of my skin and glanced around, recognizing the voice to be Casey's.

'Casey?' I thought, testing to see if what I thought had just happened had actually happened.

'Yes Shayla?'

'Oh my gosh. Is this…?'

'Telepathy? I believe so. Not uncommon amongst gijinkas of the same DNA.'

'What?'

'It means they were either related by human DNA or Pokemon DNA. One of their DNA sources had been siblings and in rare cases it was both. Usually if they were related they had telepathy and the closer related they were the stronger the telepathy.'

'But I'm no gijinka.'

'Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how this base system works.'

I frowned. Was he proposing that I might be part gijinka now? That's… well I'm not sure what that is. But it was an interesting proposal.

'At least we can communicate now.' I replied.

'This is true. Keep me posted. And note, I can hear all your thoughts so just say my name if you want to chat.'

'Ok. Will do.'

I nearly bumped into Quill as we reached the lab. Quill opened the door for me and I stepped in. Dr. Mullins was waiting, a suspicious look on his face that completely unnerved me. I shrunk back a little but Quill nudged me forward.

"It's alright." He whispered, "We just need to discuss something." I felt my pulse begin to race as I was forced onto a table. Dr. Mullins stare seemed to pierce into my very soul. I was terrified. Whatever excitement I had felt earlier was gone, sucked right out of me. Dr. Mullins sat down in a chair in front of me, Quill leaning against the wall behind Dr. Mullins. Dr. Mullins opened a file folder and glance down to read it, then looked back up.

"Shall we begin Shayla?"