You're Not Alone Chapter 20: The Demon Inside, a pokémon fanfic

Enfer's ruins passed by like a blur. The words of Ellis Bane hadn't only affected me, because now Drew pushed further down onto the jeep's acceleration, narrowed eyes focused on the street ahead. We had kept this high speed since our departure from the gas station, and with each second that passed, I could only think about Kruismara's destruction progress; and how close that brought Verdana to blowing up the remains.

I looked behind my seat. Harley appeared better than he had before, in the sense that he leaned up against the wall of the jeep's back compartment. His eyes were closed, though, and his chest rose and fell with a slow, unsteady rhythm, as he exhaled through his mouth. I couldn't tell if he was asleep, but with the way that Soledad sat next to him, her hand over his and her worried eyes focused on his face, I knew we didn't have much longer.

I forced myself to look away. I didn't want to think about that – that if we didn't blow up with the last remnants of Enfer City, Harley still wouldn't be saved. If we didn't find the cure for the Chimera Virus, he would…

Change happens fast. Very fast. Physical change is a symptom, but not the beginning. Mental change is faster, yes – begins just as soon as person is bitten. Hunger develops. Humanity is lost. Hunter breaks free and thrives.

"May?"

My eyes opened, and I met Drew's gaze. It was the first time he had taken his eyes off the road since our departure from the gas station.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Just keep going as fast as you can."

Drew frowned, as if he wanted to tell me something – as if he knew what haunted me. But, he didn't say anything else, and he turned his attention back to the road, regaining our speed.

We didn't have time to talk. Not anymore.

Panic filled my stomach. It crawled up my throat, its claws digging into my flesh. I swallowed hard and pushed it back down. I didn't come this far to lose it all now-

An explosion roared from the side of us. It filled my ears. My vision blurred, and I could barely identify anything as the world swirled in front of me. I gripped my seat – or what I thought was my seat – as I heard Drew yell out "Holy shit!" and the car made another complete spin.

Then, it all stopped. I lurched forward as the jeep collided with something.

Once the moment calmed down, I took in air, having held my breath. Pain shot through me. I stifled a groan and focused on clearing my vision. I realized I was still in my seat, and that the jeep was still upright on its wheels. But, smoke billowed from the engine, as the wall of the building we had crashed into had smashed the front of the car in.

I looked to the side. Drew put a hand to his head, shaking away his disorientation. He seemed fine apart from that. I looked over my shoulder. Soledad and Lionel were okay, and Harley had been awakened from whatever state he had been in.

What had sent us flying like that? I looked up the road.

And my heart jumped.

The building we had passed crumbled; as the fresh, gaping hole in its center spread remnants of a fire throughout its supports. Across from it, the burning heap that once consisted a car lay lodged into the wall of a parallel building, and the two fusion behemoths that had thrown it emerged from the other side of the street. They didn't heed the damaged buildings and approached the car, sniffing it, as if looking for something that had once been inside of it.

I gestured at the fusions to Drew and the others, paranoid to make a sound. The behemoths didn't seem to notice that we were here. They were occupied with their current task, and I preferred to keep it that way.

Slowly, we all got out of the jeep, hiding ourselves behind it. My heart hammered against my chest. Not only was our car totaled, but any sudden movements would also attract the attention of the behemoths.

"We really don't need this right now," Harley hissed.

I looked at him. That voice…it hadn't sounded like him. A primal growl, like a caged beast. It sent a shiver down my spine. Something I would never associate with Harley. Our Harley.

However, when he met my eyes, those familiar metallic blue-green irises calmed my nerves.

I made my way over to the side of the jeep and peeked around its edge. The behemoths still surrounded the burning car. One lowered its head, pulling something out from the driver's seat with its teeth, where it then craned its neck and swallowed it whole.

Only one idea of what they were eating filled my head. I fought the urge to gag. Fear flooded through me. My heart continued to beat against my chest, and sweat developed on my hands.

One of the behemoths raised its head. Its ears turned, as if it had sensed something.

I froze.

Fusions hunted people by sensing their fear.

I forced myself to calm down, trying to suppress my racing heart. My hands tightened into fists, and, thankfully, the anxiousness in my stomach began to die down.

Seconds later, my nerves had calmed again. I looked around the jeep's edge and at the behemoths.

The behemoth that had sensed my fear still had its head raised. Its ears twitched continuously, and its nostrils flared, smelling the air. It looked in different directions, then at its partner, who only growled and focused on the car they had wrecked.

Eventually, the behemoth that had sensed me went back to helping its partner.

I exhaled and looked at Drew, who seemed just as relieved as I was-

The jeep rose, and I stumbled back as our only cover disappeared into the air. A low growl followed, and I looked up to see a third behemoth, its narrowed eyes turned to us. It held our jeep with both of its claws, where it then let out a full roar and tossed the vehicle to the side like a pointless object.

The other two behemoths snapped their heads up. Their lips curled back as they spotted us.

"Move!" Drew yelled, and I didn't hesitate to listen to him.

I rolled to the side right as the third behemoth smashed its fist against where I'd been, leaving a heavy dent in the asphalt. It turned in my direction, coming toward me, while the other two behemoths raced past it and after Drew, Harley, Soledad, and Lionel.

I grabbed Blaziken's pokeball from my pocket and tossed it. "Flamethrower!"

Blaziken emerged from the ball. She growled and opened her beak, shooting out a beam of fire that struck the behemoth straight in the chest. It stepped back, letting out what I assumed to be a groan of pain, but just as fast as it had done that, it glared at Blaziken, lunged forward, and slammed its huge claw against her. She flew to the side, crashing into the ground.

"No! Blaziken!"

I reached for her, but I stopped when the behemoth let out another roar.

Instead, I got up, barely avoiding a swipe from its claw. I headed for Blaziken, but the behemoth blocked me with its long tail, curling around to then trap me inside. I escaped through the gap before it closed, and I ran in the only direction I could – toward an alleyway settled between two tall buildings. I could lose it in a maze of alleyways.

I didn't have time to think about it. I raced down the darkened pathway, hearing the stomps of the behemoth as it chased behind me. I kept my eyes ahead, waiting for an alternate opening.

But one never came up.

I hissed a curse. I met a dead end instead, and I stopped and spun around to face the behemoth.

It snarled and approached me.

I reached for Glaceon's pokeball, hoping that she could push it back without getting bitten-

"Hey! Snarles!"

The behemoth paused. It swung its head around, and I looked past it to see Harley. The behemoth roared, coming for him instead. In that one second, Harley turned his eyes to me and made a gesture, and I understood his plan.

I released Glaceon. "Ice beam! Trap it!"

Glaceon ran forward, firing out a beam of ice at the behemoth's feet. The ice crawled up its body, and right as the behemoth reached for Harley, the ice encased its head, ending at its outstretched claw.

Harley let out the breath he'd been holding, and I let out my own sigh of relief.

"Come on," he said. "We gotta find the others."

I nodded and followed him past the behemoth.

However, before we could get far, something cracked from behind us. I turned, swallowing hard as, with one push, the behemoth broke free from the ice. It roared and came forward, its feet crushing any stray pieces of ice that littered the ground.

"Do we have to hit it with everything we got?" I asked.

Harley didn't answer. He pushed me behind him as the behemoth came closer. When the behemoth reached for us, Harley put up his arm – his fusion arm.

The behemoth paused.

I arched a brow.

The behemoth growled, as if it struggled with itself. It flexed its fingers, like it wanted to grab Harley. But it couldn't.

Harley looked at his fusion arm, and then looked back at the behemoth. He nudged his arm toward the fusion, and the fusion growled, stepping back, shaking its head. It roared at him, but did nothing else, as if something prevented it from attacking Harley.

"What the hell?" I said.

"Quick!" Harley said to me. "Attack!"

I blinked, and I mentally scolded myself for not seeing the opening. "Glaceon, ice beam! Full power!"

Glaceon jumped forward and fired out another ice beam. The attack hit the behemoth in the chest and sent it stumbling back from the force. It crashed into the wall that made up the alleyway's dead end, going through it and into the building beyond. It cried out in pain, and I quickly ordered Glaceon to seal off the hole with more ice. If anything, it would give us a longer chance to get away this time.

I looked at Harley, who had turned away from me. "Let's go," I said.

Harley didn't respond. He didn't even move.

I arched a brow. "Harley?" I walked closer to him. "Are you okay?"

Still, no response.

I reached for his shoulder, but I paused before I touched him.

A feeling crept up my throat. He had acted weird since we left the gas station, and the memory of that primal tone he had used earlier filled my head. Why hadn't the behemoth attacked him? Was it because it saw his fusion arm? Or, was it because…

I recognized the feeling that crept up my throat. Fear.

"H-Harley?"

I touched his shoulder, and he turned around.

"Yeah?" he said, his eyes bright with confusion.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay? You spaced out there for a second."

Harley frowned. "I did? Oh, sorry."

"It's fine." I smiled sheepishly. "Let's get out of here."

"Definitely."

I moved past him, Glaceon right beside me.

"Oh, and May?"

I turned and faced Harley. "Hmm?"

Then, those metallic blue-green eyes that belonged to Harley and only Harley vanished. In their place were blood red pools.

"Run," he said – and in that primal tone from before.

That non-Harley tone.

Because he wasn't Harley anymore.

I opened my mouth in a silent scream, stumbling over myself, barely dodging Harley as he lunged for me.

Glaceon cried her name, confused.

"Ice beam!" I managed to get out, and she hesitated before following the command.

The ice struck Harley's feet. Instead of crawling up his body like it had done with the behemoth, it just froze his feet in place. He glared down at the ice, and then at me, unable to move. He roared – a roar that couldn't possibly come from a human.

Tears threatened to pour from my eyes. The man I considered a father – a man who I had known for sixteen years – now stood before me, consumed by the demon that had been growing inside of him. Lost to it – lost to who he was, to who I was. Lost to it all.

Glaceon cried her name again, breaking me from my thoughts.

I got to my feet and ran. I didn't want to leave Harley, but I couldn't stay there. I remembered the promise I had made to him – that if he turned on us, that if the Chimera Virus took control, I would make sure it didn't take him alive. But…I couldn't. I couldn't attack him, definitely with the knowledge that the real Harley was still in there, fighting to regain control.

Seconds later, I emerged onto the street where our jeep had crashed. I kept going, not wanting to stop, but then I ran into something – someone, actually, who let out a grunt. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me – a warm hold that didn't take me long to recognize.

"May!"

I looked up and met Drew's eyes.

"May! What's wrong? Is a behemoth behind you?"

"No!" I shook my head. "I-it's Harley!"

Drew paled. "W-what?"

A roar came from behind me – from the alleyway. Even Glaceon backed away against my leg.

Harley came out of the alleyway's darkness. He bared his teeth, which now resembled fangs. His red eyes glowed; it illuminated the hunger in them.

"No…" Drew said, disbelieving.

Harley snarled. Then, he lunged.

Drew pushed me to the side. I stumbled, but then I turned, and just as Drew intercepted Harley from reaching me.

Harley fell to the ground, Drew on top of him. He snarled, baring his fangs at Drew, and Drew pinned Harley's wrists above him. Harley struggled.

"Dammit, Harley, it's me!" Drew hissed. "It's Drew! Don't you recognize me!"

Harley snarled again.

Glaceon whimpered. I could only stare.

"Fight it!" Drew said. "This isn't you! Don't let it control you!"

At that, Harley freed one of his wrists, and he punched Drew in the jaw. Drew fell back, and Harley got to his feet. However, Drew quickly grabbed him again, this time pushing him against the building's wall. Harley snarled again, but Drew only tightened his grip.

"Remember who you are!" Drew said. "You don't want to do this! I…" Drew swallowed hard, and I could tell that he was remembering my promise to Harley – a promise that he had also made. "I don't want to do this!"

"Harley!"

I turned my head. Soledad rushed forward, Lionel right behind her. She reached for Harley, while Drew kept him pinned to the wall.

"Harley!" she cried. "Fight this!"

At the sound of her voice, Harley seemed to calm.

Soledad took that moment to brush his cheek with her fingertips. Harley continued to squirm beneath Drew's grip, but the more her touch lingered on his skin, the more he seemed to regain himself.

Then, Harley looked in her direction. He opened his mouth, as if to snarl at her-

"Sol…Soledad?"

He had murmured her name, but I still heard it – I still heard the comforting sound of his actual voice. Harley's voice.

Harley blinked, and then he blinked again, shaking his head. With each blink, the redness that clouded his eyes faded away, until their natural hue fully returned.

Soledad smiled through her tears. "Welcome back."

Harley looked around. "Where…what?" He met Drew's eyes, and then looked past him at me. "Did…Did I…?" His eyes grew wet. "Arceus."

Drew loosened his grip on Harley, who fell to his knees, his head in his hands. His shoulders shook, and I could tell that he was crying.

I got up and made my way over to him. Then, I kneeled down, and I wrapped my arms around his shivering figure. I buried my face into the crook of his neck. I felt tears approaching, but I stifled them.

"I could have…I could have hurt one of you," Harley muttered. "I could have-"

"But you didn't," I said. "That proves that you're stronger than the virus – than what these monsters really are."

Harley looked at me, and then at Soledad as she kneeled down to meet his face. She kissed him softly, and I moved out of the way so she could embrace him.

"Blaziken…"

I turned and saw Blaziken approach. I smiled at her, glad that she was okay, but with the sadness that swirled around in her eyes, I could tell that she had seen what happened. She locked eyes with Glaceon, who only shook her head.

I looked down the road. I could see the decline of Enfer's dome – a clear sign that we had reached the furthest point we could go in this direction. The southern district wasn't far. Even with the lack of a car and the behemoths gone, we still had a chance.

But, as I looked down at Harley and Soledad, then at Drew and Lionel, and then at my pokemon, I wondered which of us still honestly believed in that.