Chapter 12: One Emerald More
Ash and Sonic soon came upon another cavern. This one, however, was much more hollow and barren, streaks of red giving it an additionally ominous feel.
"What's this place?" Ash wondered.
Sonic ran his hand over the wall, eyebrow raised. "I don't think this is part of the comet's design," he muttered.
"Huh?"
"Pi?"
"Look at this," he waved him over. "This wall is flat as the floor in your room, right?"
"My room's a mess."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Well, okay then: it's as flat as the floor on your front porch, no?"
"Last time I was there, it was covered in dirt."
Sonic sweatdropped. "All right, it's as flat as the floor in your house, then."
"But we have furniture and carpets. It's pretty rough, I'd –"
"Do you get what I'm saying?!"
Ash shrugged, smirking. "Yeah, I get it."
"Good. Now, look out here," he pointed at the corridor. "The walls out here are probably rougher than your house. The contrast is too much for this to be considered natural."
Ash nodded, getting the idea. "You're right. Then this room was artificially carved out...but by whom?"
"By me, you fools."
They started on hearing the voice, and suddenly the room was lit an ominous red. Ash and Sonic turned around slowly and beheld a sight fearsome to behold.
"You," Ash whispered, "You…"
"That's right, you fool," the imposing figure sneered. "I am the Master of Distortion, ruler of the Black Arms. I have made my campaign on this world one that you foolish humans will not soon forget." A tall, oval-like structure, glowing lime, was standing next to him. "I'm rather impressed you made it this far. In fact, I'm almost tempted to let you go just a little farther...to taste one sweet drop of victory. You'd love that, wouldn't you?" He chuckled, sending an ominous shiver down their spines. "But I'm afraid your little game of 'hero' ends here. Your time is up...Ash Ketchum."
Ash gasped. "W-What?! How...How do you know my name?!"
"Who cares?" Sonic shrugged. "I'll take this sucker down the old fashioned way!" With that, he ran towards the evil overlord and attempted to punch him, only to be thrown back by a mysterious shield.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" the Distortion Master chuckled again. "I have decimated your world beyond repair, all the while remaining untouched, and you think your fist can do a single bit of damage to me?" He laughed. "You'll have to do better than that if you want so much as a chance to stop me. Of course, knowing you fools, that simply seals your fate. You have no better than that, but even if you did, I'd drain your strength away."
"Yeah?" Ash growled. "What kind of power do you have to drain someone's strength, huh?! I'd like to see you try!"
"Pika Pikachu!"
The Distortion Master's unfazed chuckle merely angered him all the more. "Oh, believe me, Ash, I don't need a mystical power to drain your strength." His evil chuckle continued to grow all the more malicious, making him feel uneasy. "I merely need to destroy that one vessel that has been your driving force against me and so many others, the vessel that you cannot live without." He leaned right into Ash's face, and if he were grinning, his grin was ear-to-ear.
"I just need to destroy your heart."
Ash suddenly felt himself get viciously grabbed and thrown right next to Sonic, Pikachu on top of him. The Distortion Master laughed wickedly as he stared at the two fallen bodies as they struggled to get up. "Still resisting, are we? Very well, then...perhaps a little persuasion will change your minds. MAGOLON!" With that, an ominous stomping sound echoed through the room as a huge soldier came into view. "Kill the blue hedgehog and yellow rat, and throw their corpses into outer space. Let the boy live, though," he chuckled malevolently. "I want to witness his unspeakable suffering when the end begins." With that, he strode away into the shadows, laughing wickedly all the while.
"Well, well, well," Magolon sneered, glowering down at Ash. "It seems your luck has finally run out, boy."
"Actually," Ash grunted, getting to his feet, "I think I've barely scratched the surface. Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt on this monster!" He hoped to short-circuit it.
"Piiiiikaaaaaa...CHUUUUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu screeched, unleashing his signature attack on the supersoldier. Though slightly fazed, Magolon was largely unharmed as he swung for the yellow Pokemon in an attempt to knock it out. Luckily, he missed, and Pikachu followed up with an Iron Tail to the backside, knocking him forward. Seeing an opportunity, Sonic curled into a ball and stayed put, spinning all the while, so that when Magolon fell on top of him, he was thrown back into the wall.
"Nice one, Sonic," Ash fistbumped.
"You too," Sonic returned the gesture.
"I agree," the supersoldier stood up, furious. "Too bad it's going to be your last!" With that, he threw himself forward, hoping to crush them under his weight, but the nimble heroes jumped to separate sides.
"Supersoldier used Body Slam!" Ash laughed.
"Supersoldier missed!" Sonic went with it.
"Insolent pests!" Magolon roared, curling his fists into hands as small rocket launchers appeared on his wrists. "I'll blow you to smithereens!"
"Uh-oh," Ash muttered.
"Looks like Phase 2 just got started," Sonic gulped.
Magolon fired a missile from each of his wrists, and they quickly homed in on the two heroes. Sonic jumped away, easily dodging it while still having fun with it. Ash, on the other hand, could do nothing but run, hoping against hope that the missile failed to accomplish its goal. It was no use. The missile inched ever closer to him while he tired. Finally, he grabbed Pikachu and threw him forward while he threw himself to the ground, waiting for the explosion.
It never came. Confused, he looked up and saw Pikachu using Quick Attack to evade the missile. It was going for him?! he thought in alarm. "Ugh...hang on, Pikachu!" he ran towards his friend, but Magolon threw him back with an arm thrust. "Ugh!"
"Uh-oh," Sonic saw Pikachu running for his life. "Looks like I'll have to pull a classic. Hey, Pikachu! Let's go back-to-back!"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, understanding. They leapt down into a clearing and, standing back to back, let the missiles come at them. At the last second, they jumped up, and the missiles slammed into each other, exploding on impact.
"Way to go, you guys!" Ash caught Pikachu and held him a moment.
"You raised him well," Sonic nodded affirmatively.
"He raised me well," Ash smirked. The three of them chuckled.
"Okay, that does it," the voice of Magolon snarled. "I'm done being nice. I'll tear you to pieces myself! Herrraugh!" he swiped at Ash, but he dodged. In the process, Pikachu leapt out of his arms and used Iron Tail on the supersoldier's stomach, barely hurting him, but opening a hole in his gut. Then he rushed back towards his friend and pushed him up.
"Ash!"
He looked up in horror as he watched Magolon pin Sonic to the ground, squeezing the life out of him. "No! Sonic!" he cried, rushing towards the supersoldier in an attempt to stop him. His action only put him in the same situation, and soon Sonic, Ash, and Pikachu were slowly but surely losing their lifeforce.
"End of the road, you little pests," Magolon drooled as they started to grow pale. No Ash thought. Please, no! Don't let it end this way. Don't –
"Not today, you monster!"
Sonic and Ash started on hearing the familiar voice, followed by:
"Chaos...BLAST!"
A red blast of energy knocked them to all ends of the room, and in the middle stood none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.
"YOU!" Magolon screamed, rushing at him in rage. "I knew the Master was wrong about you, you two-faced lying traitor!"
"Shut up!" Shadow screamed, letting a streak of energy fly straight into his gut. He put his hand over his gut, groaning in pain. Shadow flew straight at him and threw his hand into his gut, grinning as he glanced into his eyes. "End of the road, Magolon." With that, he pulled out an all too familiar gem.
With his energy source gone, Magolon's short-circuiting body began to slowly combust, becoming ever hotter until he finally collapsed in a heap, burning to nothing but scrap.
Shadow lowered himself to the ground, satisfied, and held the Chaos Emerald in his hand, looking almost amazed. "That's it," he mused to himself. "Finally…"
Ash and Sonic looked up at him, slowly regaining their strength. "What's this all about?" Ash wondered. In answer to his question, six floating shapes around Shadow became visible, the Chaos Emerald he held joining them. The heroes gasped.
"Finally," Shadow nodded, "I've got all the Chaos Emeralds!"
Next time: Answers are obtained and secrets are revealed!
