Search for the Sage II: Electric Boogaloo

[Enzo Matrix]

Mewtwo and Matrix emerged from the dirt trail and into the small settlement of Cinnabar side by side. Matrix’s one natural and one cybernetic eye scanned the immediate area for information, while Mewtwo remained stationary and peaceful. Matrix wasn’t fooled, however. He knew the Pokemon was utilizing his telepathic abilities to scour the area with a matching urgency.

“Anything?” Matrix abruptly asked. He really didn’t have the patience for Mewtwo’s naturally mysterious nature, at the moment.

“No,” Mewtwo admitted. This setback did not stall him in the least. He merely proceeded to the next thing he could have an impact on. “I’m going to speak with the Imperials.”

Matrix’s eyebrow on his one good eye perked up. “And what about Sabrina?”

“Disregard her,” Mewtwo waved a dismissive hand, having had time to ponder the situation now that his misdirected rage towards Matrix had settled. “She left with them. The most she can ask for, now, is to be but a cog in their system.”

“Then what do I need to do?” Matrix scoffed in annoyance. He wasn’t going to be sidelined while Mewtwo dealt with the rowdy ambassadors. That wasn’t his style, and Mewtwo wouldn’t make it so.

“There was another,” Mewtwo said, to his surprise. “Find out what he was here for. I’m sure he’ll be at the center of whatever that blast we heard was about.”

A proper manhunt? Finally, something that utilized his abilities properly. Matrix felt a tiny bit of control over his own destiny in this horrid realm at long last.

“Good enough,” Matrix nodded, and Mewtwo noted the satisfaction in his tone. “Regroup with what we have later.”

“Good luck, and be careful,” Mewtwo responded. “I fear dark forces have infiltrated Cinnabar.”

Matrix departed without another word, and Mewtwo continued in his own direction. It didn’t take long for Matrix to find a large crowd of disturbed and vocal Pokemon. The monsters either were not used to such public acts of terror, or thought they’d long since left such things behind. Matrix forced his way through the growing crowd with no hesitation, disregarding the ramblings of the various Pokemon that comprised the confused mob.

As he made his way through the mob, he fell in awe of what he saw. In the middle of the street was a crater, obviously the result of no small explosion. Something quite terrible had to have caused such a horrific blast, and yet the main culprit sat in a smoldering heap at the center of the same basin. Matrix didn’t find this comforting, because it only added to the mystery. What could bring down such a creature, and so boldly in such a public place?

To his small relief, near the charred and deformed corpse was a blue Yoshi, Syril. This being was a close ally of his, and certainly a welcome sight amidst the  panic that was gripping this island in the aftermath of chaos. Indeed, he couldn’t surpress a grin from forming on his face as he approached his old friend.

“Syril,” Matrix greeted to Yoshi.

“Matrix,” the blue creature responded to the sprite in kind. “As much as I enjoy your company, I never seem to enjoy the circumstances.”

“Likewise,” Matrix agreed, before getting to business. “What happened here?”

“This is an Imperial bio-weapon,” Syril answered as he looked over the charred corpse of the monster, frowning in disdain.

“A bio-weapon?” Matrix repeated, with more than enough confusion evident.

“The Empire has a scientist that specializes in taking a little and getting…” Syril hesitated, before gesturing to the blackened corpse. “…a lot. Certainly someone most residents of this island are hiding from.”

“I see,” Matrix agreed with a slow nod. “The ambassadors brought it?”

“Probably,” Syril scoffed. “No telling what lows the Imperials will sink to once we let them on the island. I wish we’d been here to speak against such an arrangement.”

“I talked to Mewtwo,” Matrix said, keeping his eyes on the dead monstrosity. “I don’t think the Imperials will be an issue for much longer. I’m more worried about what this thing was doing.”

“We don't know for sure, but word is a fight broke out nearby,” Syril answered, crossing his stubby arms. “We apprehended the Imperial involved.”

“Of course,” Matrix almost had to laugh. How ridiculously transparent.

“But the one he was tracking is gone,” Syril responded. “There’s a Camelot astronomer on the island, but he got spooked by the same man. Didn’t get much out of him. He’s certainly a mystery.”

“Spooked? Why?” Matrix frowned in confusion. This was getting stranger and stranger.

“Apparently the astronomer is searching for some relic that’s important to Camelot,” Syril recollected. “But, he already met with two primes searching for it prior to this mystery man. Caira and… Zack, I believe were their names.”

“Zack?” Matrix asked with a cocked eyebrow. Odd name.

Syril shook his head. “Either way, he’s gone, now. I don’t know what we can do.”

“I’ll look around,” Matrix decided. “I want to get to the bottom of this so we can make sure it won’t happen again. We’re already in deep with the Liberation Front, we can’t afford to be dealing with the Empire and a bunch of vagabonds as well.”

“Fine,” Syril reluctantly agreed. “Where do you need me, then?”

“Here,” Matrix confessed. Syril was a proven skillset he was more than happy to have alongside him, but Mewtwo could only be in one place at a time, and Cinnabar was vulnerable.

“Alright,” Syril offered no resistance. He was a better team player than most. “I’ll check in with Mewtwo after we figure this out.”

“And I’ll search for this…” Matrix paused, unsure who exactly he was looking for.

Syril shook his head and shrugged.

“All we know is that he was called ‘The Sage.’”

[Enzo Matrix]

AndrAIa looked up from her seat on the couch as Matrix entered their house. She frowned in confusion, but noticed just how determined he looked.

“That was quick,” AndrAIa commented. She’d been getting dressed while Matrix and Mewtwo had their argument out front, and by the time she made it outdoors, they’d both run off into the village.

“Looks like we have some work to do,” Matrix answered. “If you’re up for it.”

“Of course,” AndrAIa replied, sliding her boots on at the mere sound of adventure. “What, exactly, though?”

“A bunch of people ran amok while we were away. Primes,” Matrix explained quickly. “Seems like it has everything to do with those Imperial ambassadors. We’re going to find one of the runaway primes and get some answers.”

“Sounds like a plan,” AndrAIa nodded. “Does this have anything to do with the Liberation Front?”

“Doesn’t look like it, but we’ll stay on guard,” Matrix admitted. “We can deal with them later. They’re the long problem. This thing can spiral out of control if we don’t get a handle on it, right now.”

“Then what do we have to go on?” AndrAIa scratched her head.

“Two of the primes were Imperials, or at least are now. A third one wasn’t,” Matrix explained. “Seems like he’s the key to all of this. We’re going to find him and figure out what happened.”

“And the ambassadors?” AndrAIa continued to pry.

“Mewtwo’s problem,” Matrix said.

AndrAIa giggled, causing Matrix to raise an eyebrow. She knew what he was about to ask, so she went ahead and answered it for him. “You’re so cute when you’re being a good citizen.”

Matrix rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Are you coming?”

“Of course,” AndrAIa replied, standing up. “It’s probably a good idea to spend some time away, while the assassins are still thinking about us.”

Matrix shuddered. Being ambushed by Liberation Front assassins at their front door just one night earlier had been a trying experience. It was definitely a good idea to spend a little more time away from any more trouble this close to their home. A little detour should give the Liberation Front time to settle down enough that they wouldn’t see the next assault coming. After all, Matrix didn’t intend to just let it go.

The two of them exited the door to their home, and Matrix locked it up behind them. While he was doing that, AndrAIa pondered for a minute before finally making a decision.

“We shouldn’t take that same boat,” she voiced her opinion. “Not while the Liberation Front knows what it looks like. Same as the house, we’re on their minds.”

Matrix nodded, frustrated about how accurate that was. This was going to be the difficult part about staying as residents of Cinnabar. They’d left their troubles and enemies made behind every time they departed with a game beforehand. Now they had real, lasting consequences to deal with, and it wasn’t going to be easy to remember that all the time.

They made their way down the hill to the river their home overlooked. Matrix held his hands out and got to work on summoning a boat that would be somewhat more low-key, but also just as fast as they needed to get them around. AndrAIa could only watch with awe and a little bit of envy at his ability to sculpt the building blocks of this land to his will.

Matrix finished with the boat a short time later, and glanced to his girlfriend. She gave a warm smile, masking her creeping insecurities about the nature of Omnilium, primes, and secondaries. Instead, she simply looked at the vessel. It was a small, two-seater that was designed for speed over anything else. That was just fine, because they could provide their own offensive firepower with little trouble.

“All aboard,” Matrix joked, and AndrAIa gave an uneasy chuckle as well.

In no time at all their speedboat tore down the river and into the open seas. Their search had begun.

[Enzo Matrix]

Somewhere, in the middle of the deep blue ocean that was Vasty Deep, Matrix and AndrAIa sat on their boat. The steady waves of the open water rocked the boat gently, and they sat side by side watching a small tablet. A deathmatch called Dante’s Abyss was taking place, and one of the participants was none other than the man they’d been tracking.

They’d visited many islands and talked with many locals, but obviously the information they had to go on hadn’t provided much. All their were armed with was a generic name and a possible route of travel. They believed they had come close to finding him once or twice, but could never prove it. There had been word of a battle at sea, but even that was something they couldn’t make it to in time.

But, they had their answers, at least. All because the man had appeared on the televised competition. Neither of them faulted their investigative abilities, though. It was just nice to have an answer, however the reason.

“Took on three people at once,” AndrAIa remarked as she watched the replay of a Colosseum fight. “No wonder he raised hell back home.”

“No kidding,” Matrix agreed quietly. He wondered how it would have gone had things actually turned violent.

“Do you think we still need to talk with him?” AndrAIa asked as the video played out before them. “He seems like he might have been just passing through.”

“No. No, I don’t,” Matrix admitted. “I think we’ve seen enough. He brought the trouble to Cinnabar, but it’s over with. The real issue is the Liberation Front.”

AndrAIa nodded. “Then let’s go back. We’ve been gone too long.”

Matrix couldn’t argue with that assessment. He cranked the boat’s motor and it fired to life without another moment of hesitation. In no time at all he’d turned boat around and pushed the throttle all the way forward, launching them through the water at a high speed. The ride was rough, and the water sprayed all over them as they hit each wave, but neither cared. They were eager to be home, and Matrix was lost in thought.

Maybe the Sage or any of the other primes would return to Cinnabar another day. If that happened, they would be ready, but for now he needed to worry about the actual, constant threat to their island sanctuary. There were dangers from all sides, and they couldn’t afford to hunt each and every one of them down.

Choose your battles. Such was the way of the Omniverse.