Trained, unaffected. Lulu had always been cold. She’d been born high up on the food chain, and despite those that aimed to treat her like prey, she wore the disposition of a ruthless predator. Rooting herself in two dangerous crime syndicates had lent her the ability to completely turn off all ethics, morals, and sense of humanity. She hated it about herself. Years reflecting in prison had brought her to that conclusion, but she would not deny the ruthlessness which had taken up residence in her core. It had been the perfect environment, after all.
Of all the things in the world she was capable of, change was not one of them. At least, not in her mind. Regrets and self-disappointments were reserved to moments of insomnia in the privacy of her bed, not acted on. Too many to act on; to fix; to shift. She was a monster.
And the man in the chair snarled at her, straining all he could at the straps which held him down. Her eyes stared at him from another plane of existence; one of importance. She was on the other side of the fishbowl. It was as though he wasn’t saying anything at all, which was infuriating for him.
Luckily for this man, Lulu would get hers. It would be only by the true nature of this dog-eat-dog world that in less than forty-eight hours, she would be on the receiving end of her own share of torture by one named
FERNANDO SILPH .
Never mind that now, though. Today, she was flexing her own power.
She opted not to interact with the prisoner, mostly, choosing not to wear her own brutal lack of empathy on her sleeve so much. For now, Lulu remained as self-aware as ever and utterly in control.
“I try not to look into origin stories.” she answered plainly and then stepped away to assess everything.
“All ready, then.” She looked at Oscar.
“To the controls?”The scientist would lead them out, and the chamber would close behind them.
Back before the panel and a wide, one-way window which exposed the scene to them, she sat and her fingers went to work across some key-like sensors. The room darkened.
“I’ve done my best to recreate the conditions of that night, down to even the humidity level.” There were bright electric shocks from the Ampharos, whose fear was only building. Flashes of yellow filled the room like a strobe between the dark. The vibe of the Rocket laboratory was rendered even more menacing than usual.
She spoke through a microphone in the panel.
“Bronzong: PSYWAVE on the Ampharos.” It was out of the blue, but the Bronzong obliged by launching a deep pink and purple energy towards its trapped foe. There was a loud cry which rang through the glass as it made contact.In desperation, the Ampharos connected with the trembling man across from it and the stone he was strapped to. Its roar growing fierce, it took on a bright light. The room was blinding, and Lulu squinted to see what was happening.
“BRONZONG, PSYWAVE, ON THE STONE, NOW.” Her voice rumbled loudly over the speaker in the chamber, over the prisoner's hollering and other commotion.
But it was a moment too late. The light faded, right before the pink energy went to hit its target—and the man attached to it. The unfortunate prisoner let out his own scream of pain.
“Shit.” Lulu sighed frustratedly.
The Mega Ampharos heaved, adrenaline rushing. It launched a flury of attacks onto the Bronzong, which fought back while it waited on further instruction. In the end, the Ampharos was at a disadvantage, hindered by its restraints. Caught between the chaos, the prisoner was losing his mind as well.
“PSYWAVE UNTIL IT'S DONE.”
Round two started with the Ampharos going unconscious. An assistant stood by, ready to remove it for revival and healing from injury and exhaustion, and then bring it back—so it could relive its torture, over and over, until the experiment was complete, or it was dead.