Soul link
Chapter Twenty-One: The City of Emotions…
Romeo: SHIT! *dodges a fireball* Holy crude, I should have thought better!
Danny: Our main defenses are down, I'll have to activate the lockdown! If worse comes to worse I'll have to step out there myself.
Romeo: Good luck.
Xellan: *outside the bunker, commanding the raging fans* Come out, you bastard! I'll give you before the end of June to update or Arceus will send me directly to Distortion World after I'm done with you!
Raging Fans: YEAH!
SlayerOfShadowsAndDragons "Slayer": Commander!
Xellan: What is it officer?
Slayer: The requested dragons are due to arrive in a week!
Xellan: Perfect! You heard that, Romeo?!
Romeo: I better get started before I'm done for…
Previously in Soul link…
"Stay away! What do you want with me?! Go back to your fucking girlfriend!" She was so caught up in yelling at him that she didn't notice him come near enough to take her in a hug. By now her rage exploded as she used her powers to push him away and held him against a nearby tree. Standing up and walking towards him, she squeezed the teen from all directions. At his screams of pain Angela, Chris and David wanted to help, but Howard and Mightyena held them back. "What in the fucking Distortion World do you want to do to me?!"
"I… I…" he tried to speak, lines of blood in the corners of his mouth, and Lily almost felt horrible for hurting him, but her rage was overshadowing those feelings. He reached a hand out as much as he could and Lily saw a lone tear fall from his face, pain and sadness evident in him. Even so, he used all his forces to reach out to her, as if trying to grasp the very life she was almost taking out of him. "I want… to remember… you…"
Third Person POV
"What…?" her voice choked as Jake managed to graze her cheek with his hand. He managed to smile at her despite being terribly in pain, with a look of sincerity in his black eyes.
"Whatever happened to me… I know you are a part of it…" he told her "No… you must be the centerpiece… if not then why I would be here? Lily, I want to remember you… to remember EVERYTHING…"
"My Arceus, Jake." Lily gasped as she let the teen fall. He went down with a thud and would have fallen forward if Lily didn't catch him. The tears in her eyes showed remorse beyond belief as she wept, "Jake, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
"Don't worry… we'll get through this… together…" She looked at him, and saw a small, almost insignificant part of the grown Jake in his eyes. He smiled and hugged her, grunting in pain as he did so.
"Here, let me." Lily closed her eyes before she and Jake were encompassed in the pink aura of Heal Pulse, Jake felling as his bones and skin stopped hurting. After finishing it, Lily helped him up and they both walked back to the others.
"My Arceus, I thought you were done for." Angela said, glaring at Lily, the latter looking away in shame.
"So this is why you ran." Everybody turned to see the newcomer, Elena, stepping into view. "Beautiful, even though I've expected something like this. After all, you always enter La-La Land when you get into one of your Gardevoir rants."
"Sue me." Replied Jake and Elena smiled before looking at Lily, who allowed Elena to live just because of the sole reason that she doesn't have heat vision.
"I apologize, I didn't know." Said Elena.
"Let me get through this first, then I'll forgive you." Lily told her through gritted teeth.
"Well, let's get moving." Said Howard after settling the 'armistice'. "Our best shot at getting Jake's memories back is in Lake Valor, where Mesprit resides."
"Plane?" asked Jake and Howard smirked at him.
"Beechcraft 1900D, used by the association to serve rich clients. Expect a luxurious interior and all-leather finish." Howard responded by introducing their ride as they started the trip back to Pastoria City. A team was already repairing the damages made to the café where they took cover from the gunfire, not that Jake could remember though. The hunter led them to the Pastoria airport, and soon after they were inside the cabin, taking to the skies amongst the clutter of regional flights.
"Where did the plane I rode yesterday…I mean a few years ago go?" Jake corrected himself while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"I've ordered a new one, the good ole' Meridian was barely able to make inter-regional trips, even with heavy modification. I am looking to expand my business, to other regions, you know." Howard replied nonchalantly, making sure that they were still on course, but something on the weather radar made him grimace. Motioning Jake to go back to his seat, he spoke into the microphone. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, we are going to go through some turbulence and precipitation, so please fasten your seat belts. We may be experiencing wind drafts, so please secure any loose items. Thank you."
"Look like Rayquaza whipped up another one of his storms again." David, on the copilot seat, remarked as he looked at the weather radar while turning on the seatbelt light. "Be careful; his storms are quite unpredictable and his thunders are have damaged aircrafts before, quite unlike conventional storms."
"I am well aware of that, that's why I'm doing a course change." Howard replied as he inputted the new course into the Flight Management System. "But it looks like the storm is moving towards us and we'll be in it for a few minutes. So, when it comes, control the engines and systems, and I'll handle the flying." He instructed.
As the stormed approached, David spoke into the microphone for the last time to remind the people on the other side of the cockpit door, while Howard disengaged the autopilot and readied himself for the storm.
"Now then, entertain me." Howard mumbled under his breath, never losing his determination and pride as a pilot. The plane, already shaking from the turbulence around the storm, suddenly moved upwards thanks to a strong updraft. Screams could be heard from the cabin as Howard regained control of the violently shaking plane. After the 'warm-up', the worse part of the storm came as a barrage of hail splattered freely onto the plane. Amidst the loud bangs and the few cracks on the windscreen caused by the bigger stones, a lightning stroke the wind tip of the plane mercilessly. As Howard battled against nature's intention to make them perish, David checked the systems to find a failed navigation radio. The conductive body of the aircraft attracted a few more such minor lightning and survived to find itself perilously close to a few dangerously charged clouds.
"Jake, what are you doing?!" Howard shouted as he felt, with his psychic abilities, Jake phasing through the top of the plane, "David, bring him here NOW!" roared the hunter and the scientist nodded.
"FORM CHANGE!" shouted the half-ghost while still in his seat. Changing to his undead body, he phased through the ceiling as well. When he got to the top of the plane, his eyes almost bulged out of his sockets as Jake was holding the biggest Ghost Blade he has seen in his right arm, at least four feet long and two feet wide, but instead of green it was blue. "Don't play with me. He managed to use the Physical Distorter?"
"Come and help!" shouted Jake and David snapped out of it before flying beside the teen and creating an even bigger sword in his left hand, his being five feet long and two and a half feet wide, and blue as well.
"Ready?" asked the ghost and Jake smiled. Almost as in slow motion, the moment the forceful pearl lightning came down both sword users slashed at it. The force of the explosion created such a powerful burst that the plane almost dropped out of the sky, descending like a roller coaster. The same wind explosion sent the swordsmen back, but David reacted quickly and took Jake's arm before flying down and phasing back through the plane, entering the material dimension as he held Jake, almost crashing into a table. They didn't have to suffer that as Lily and Claire were using Psychic and Confusion to hold them, the latter showing more power than what she had previously. Unfortunately, they still had to endure as the plane rolled and pitched uncontrollably while Howard tried to regain control.
"Everybody alright?" The hunter's voice came from the com as the plane relatively stabilized. Jake and David looked at each other and laughed.
"As good as sleeping." Said Mightyena with a chuckle as he could lie down without having to hold himself steady, managing to watch them laugh and getting scolded by the females in the airplane.
"Arceus, thank you." Sighed Howard as he got away from the storm zone, and as he checked his GPS he found just half an hour between them and Twinleaf Town. He swept the perspiration off his forehead, engaged the autopilot and opened the cockpit door, smiling as he saw both Ghost Art users being told off like children. Checking the lightly damaged wings through the windows from the passenger cabin, he soon turned back into the cabin and managed to touchdown at Twinleaf's regional airport. After parking the plane, he called an association member to have him handle the repairs and walked back into the cabin again, to find Jake sleeping soundly on the seat.
"His current mind isn't strong enough to hold all the mental strain his powers put on him." Answered David looking at the almost unconscious teen. "Now, do you have a laptop?"
"Give me a sec." Howard dug into his bag before giving the portable computer to the scientist, who started it up and plugged the USB memory he took from the doctor. Immediately, an array of information was shown in screen, David's eyes darting left and right to scan through all the information. "What are we seeing exactly? I know that these waves here…" He pointed at green waves flowing in wide up and down motions, "…represent Jake's psychic waves produced by his power and recently enlarged mind energy, but this…" He pointed to a wave that was somewhat breaking, then reforming again. "…I've never seen it before."
"This one is Jake's memory waves, if I am not wrong." Answered the scientist, putting a hand on his chin. "If this is right, it seems that Jake's memory is flickering, triggered through emotions or actions. His body remembers his battle experiences, including his powers, but something deeper, maybe his own essence, his soul, remembers his feelings at pinpointed moments. So his memories are somewhat saved in his emotions."
"I wouldn't be too shocked." Said the hunter. "Jake has a vast array of emotions, and they have led to problems before he could settle them and evoke them at will."
"What are you hiding, Howard?" asked David, looking at the teen sideways.
"I'm not hiding anything, and as his best friend I won't share the secrets he has confided me with." Howard stood up, exited the plane, and conducted a check to log all the damages.
"What the Distortion World is going on?" David thought before typing some commands in the computer, navigating to data about Jake's psych. What he got was more than what he expected. "You must be kidding me." He looked back at Jake and then understood that what he was reading wasn't entirely a lie, but something that he would need to check personally. After half an hour, Jake was awake and functioning again, smiling as if nothing happened. "Such childish innocence." David thought as they alighted from the plane.
"Let's keep moving." Ordered Howard and everybody complied, but as they got nearer to their destination Jake started to feel a pressure forming around him.
"What is this?" As if on cue, they arrived at Lake Valor, and as Jake looked at the island in the center he started to walk towards it almost as if his body was on autopilot.
"Jake…" Lily tried to call the boy back, but a hand on her shoulder and a shaking head from Howard kept her silent. When Jake's foot reached the water, everyone expected him to sink, so imagine their surprise when he started to walk as if he was standing on solid ground. Half way through, he suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder before lifting a hand, making a path of ice form from where he stood to the shore. The first one to step on it was Lily, not doubting for a second, while Howard followed closely behind. As everybody got on it they noticed it wasn't really ice, but some icy-blue energy, and it extended as Jake kept walking to the cave, as if he was a pencil drawing a line on the lake.
"What is this?" Elena looked at the weird floor and inquired. David crouched and looked at it for some moments before touching it with his index finger.
"Some ancient energy that just a few can bring forth, it seems." He mumbled, looking at the path before standing up and going into the cave, not without using his pocket dimension to keep some of the energy before. When they arrived inside the cave, they found Jake sitting in a lotus position, mumbling words that kept escalating in volume.
"Thou, Lady of the Emotions, mother of the feelings, guardian of the heart, I call for thy help in this affair I'm through. I beg for thy assistance and thy pity. If thou hear my call, please reveal thyself to me." A pink-purple burst of light appeared above Jake, as the Legendary Pokémon Mesprit made her presence in the room.
"Chosen One, what does thou need my help with?" asked the little Pokémon. Jake bowed down to his knees and voiced his response.
"My memory was lost, my feelings confused, and my only hope at being whole again is in thy pitiful hands." He said. Elena didn't manage to hold a whistle upon hearing Jake talk like a knight from Medieval Sinnoh, receiving just sympathizing gazes and thumbs up.
"For real?" Mesprit looked around the room, and Howard stepped forward before he knelt beside his best friend.
"For real, my Lady." He said. "Our only hope is that his emotions kept his memories, and we have to get them back."
"Thou are aware that I can't do that by myself; after all, the Chosen One needs people who has his utmost trust to enter his mind and get his memories back." She replied, floating away.
"With all due respect, my Lady, I assure you that everybody in this room is willing to help me get back my memory." As Mesprit looked around, the mortals' determined faces told her everything she needed to know.
"Any words before the initiation?" she asked. Jake nodded and stood before looking at everyone.
"I must tell you: inside my mind you'll know facets of me you didn't think possible, and you'll get to know me better than myself. I need every memory if I want to be as I was before, not one must be left behind, alright?" As they nodded he closed his eyes before taking the lotus position again. "Don't judge them, they are as much of me as myself."
"What is he talking about?" asked Angela, but Howard was already mirroring Jake's stance at his right side, Lily occupying the left flank. Everybody sat in the lotus position around Jake, well, everybody that could, and Mesprit floated above them before surrounding her body in a pinkish-purple sphere. Tendrils of energy surged from there and attached themselves to the nape of the people surrounding Jake.
"Don't fight it, just follow it." They heard in the darkness. Outside the mind world three more tendrils came out, two as thin as the others and one the size of an industrial cable, the smaller ones connecting to Jake's temples and the last one to his heart. Everybody felt themselves being sucked somewhere and they got a dizzy ride before landing on soft ground. The first one to regain his composure was Howard, looking around the beach they landed in, before helping everyone to their feet.
"Where do we go?" asked David. Howard made a 'Follow me' motion as he walked to a cliff in the beach. When they arrived, they looked over the edge to find themselves looking at a giant whirlpool in the water below. "Now what?"
"We jump in." said Howard before he, Claire and Mightyena jumped. Gasps echoed at the suicidal action, but without doubt Lily jumped too, followed by everyone else. The moment they made contact with the water they noticed they weren't drowning, and that the whirlpool was the entrance to an undersea route that guided them to a giant, dormant volcano in the center of this sea. When they entered and emerged from the water, they found Howard sitting on a rock, looking around with a foreboding gaze.
"How did you know that?" Elena questioned as Howard stood, and they noticed they weren't drenched to the bone. As Howard walked to the only other exit in the cave he looked back for a second before answering.
"If I must confess … this is not the first time I'm here." And with that he exited.
"Say what?" replied Chris before shaking his head "Whatever, let's follow him." They walked to the exit, but as they stepped out they found themselves in a marvelous place: it resembled the lost civilization of Atlantis with a touch of Venice, with marble alleys, water flowing everywhere and floating ships here and there. Around the edge of the city were giant statues and in the center a tower that ascended to the opening of the volcano was visible. They were looking at it from the top of a rock staircase that went down to the base, where a marble bridge with engravings continued on into the city.
"This is Jake's mind?" asked Angela as they went downstairs, where Howard was already waiting for them. Standing beside him was a white robed individual with a hood over its head.
"Long time no see." They heard the stranger mutter to Howard, and a shiver ran down their backs when they noticed that its voice didn't carry any emotion. No happiness, indifference, hate, anger, sadness, anything, not even monotony.
"Likewise." Replied the hunter before looking at his companions. "Everyone, this is Hollow, and he will be our guide and guardian here. Hollow, please introduce yourself."
"Very well." Said again that emotionless voice. When it reached up and took off its hood, everybody's facial expressions were almost printing 'WTF?!' in capital letters, as the person under the hood was Jake himself. But a look at his face told them something that they inferred from his voice: he wasn't feeling anything. That face was but a neutral mask of nothing, and not even his eyes showed emotion. "My name is Hollow, and I'm the guardian of Jake's mind."
"But, aren't you yourself Jake?" asked David.
"Not quite. Follow me." He instructed and turned to walk away, and they read in the back of his robe the word 'HOLLOW' in black letters. Howard snapped his fingers to bring them back to reality and they started to follow Jake's doppelganger. "This city was built from scrap by Howard himself, hence the reason why he knows about this place as much as its inhabitants."
"You helped build this place? Why?" Elena asked the hunter and he turned for a second.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" he kept walking, now making the enigma in almost everybody's mind more confusing. When they reached the gates of the city, that were at least ten feet wide, eight feet wide and almost four feet thick, Hollow lifted his hand and pushed it back as if it was paper and let them all in. As they entered, their jaws dropped at seeing more of Jake's doppelgangers around the city, all acting and dressed differently from others.
"HOLLOW!" one of them, with most of his shirt and pants ripped to shreds, stomped towards the robed Jake. "Who the Distortion World gave you permission to bring guests?! And furthermore, what is she doing here?!" He pointed at Lily, "Did you forget that she almost killed us?!"
"But Jake, I was…" Lily tried to reply before the raging Jake cut her off.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" and he would have continued if it wasn't because Hollow punched him in the gut and called another Jake, this one wearing a male kimono with peace signs all over.
"Take him." He ordered and the other Jake nodded, bending down to pick up the downed Jake and taking him away. As they walked with their backs to the others, Howard's company found the word 'ANGER' in furious red letters in the back of the one that shouted at them, and 'PEACE' in navy blue letters in the back of the one walking him away.
"Ignore him, he's always like that." Hollow remarked emotionlessly, looking at the tearing Lily.
"What was that?" asked Elena.
"As you may have noticed, Jake has more than one personality." Answered Howard. "When I met him, he changed between them at specific moments when he felt the right emotion, giving it unwilling control of his body."
"Then why is the Jake we know not like them?" questioned Chris.
"That is because when I noticed his multiple personalities disorder, I offered him help. One afternoon, we were in the forest, meditating as Jake let me into his mind. A person's mind is a very abstract thing, so to understand his mind better I imagined a space, where different 'Jakes' will follow a humanly existence and represent his feelings, emotions and behaviors, but I just call them emotions to keep it simple. What I found was a battlefield of them, everyone trying to get to the top of that tower." He pointed at the tower at the center of the city. "That is the Control Tower, and whoever is at the top will get control of Jake for a time. When he felt an emotion in a specific moment that emotion got more power, defeating the others and getting to the top. With the help of Hollow, who is the only one that doesn't feel and as such doesn't attempt to get up the tower, I managed to subdue them all and fuse them with Hollow, as such creating the true Jake inside his own mind. I built, or should I say imagined this place to please the emotions, and set Hollow as the guardian because he, to put it simply, is the only one that is in synch with the real Jake. When Jake needs a specific emotion, Hollow calls it and lets it inside the tower, making the characteristics of the emotion transfer to the real Jake."
"So the data were indeed correct." Mumbled David, who seemed to be the only one who understood Howard's explanation. "There was indeed more than a mind frame in his brain."
"Well, that's all for now, but we need to find all his emotions and make them evoke the memories so we can get them back to the Memory Shrine there." Howard pointed at a shrine that was in the middle of a lake in the east of the city. "Whatever they tell you, don't take it too seriously. After all, they are just focused on one emotion, as you may have noticed."
"A-alright." Said Lily wiping away her tears "What do we look for first?"
"I suggest a passive one, so let's go for Happiness." Proposed Hollow and Howard nodded. "He's usually at the hill, always playing with his toys." They followed Hollow through the streets, looking at some Jakes that were doing daily activities strongly influenced by the emotion they represent. When they arrived at the base of the hill in the south sector, Hollow pointed to the top, where a Jake who wore a yellow T-shirt with a happy face and green shorts was playing with all sort of toys, spinning tops, balls, teddy bears and the like, always with a smile on his face. When he turned his back to them to throw a paper plane the word 'HAPPINESS' was printed in bright orange on his back.
"Happiness!" called Howard and the emotion turned to him, smiling from ear to ear before running to the hunter and hugging him like there's no tomorrow.
"Howard! Man, I missed you!" Said the euphoric emotion. He parted from Howard and hugged everybody with a smile on his face. "Hello everybody."
"Hello… Happiness." Replied Angela with a sheepish look in her face. As the emotion took them all in he stopped for a second to look at Lily.
"And who are you, miss Gardevoir?" he asked.
"I'm Lily." When the name passed her lips, Happiness suddenly started bouncing all over the place, laughing and playing.
"It's you! It's you!" he shouted over and over before hugging the Pokémon as tightly as he could "I was receiving specters of memories I didn't recognize, and in all of them a name was sounding over and over again! It was you all this time, and now I remember it perfectly!"
"Can you give us the memories?" asked Elena and Happiness nodded before he put his hands on his face, presenting an orange orb out of it and giving it to Lily.
"Take it, it's yours." When Lily touched the orb her mind went blank as she started to go through every moment that Jake felt this particular emotion, and in every one of them she was there with him. She let a tear of happiness fall from her eye, knowing that the grown Jake had her as the happiest thing in his life. When she returned to 'reality' Happiness was already playing with his toys, smiling at her.
"Let's go for the others." Said Hollow. They got off the hill and decided to go for another easy emotion, but suddenly someone crashed into them. This Jake was wearing protection all over his body and had multiple amulets in his neck and arms. As he looked at them, he let out a girly scream and ran away, showing the word 'FEAR' in light yellow letters on his back.
"Get him!" Howard commanded and they started to chase the emotion over the city, running through alleyways and bridges, even jumping over some places.
"For being a scared-Glameow, he sure runs fast!" Chris shouted as they continued sprinting after Fear.
"Angela, Chris, Elena and Aphrodite, take that alleyway; the others follow me!" Howard ordered before they promptly split. Howard, Lily, David and Mightyena kept chasing the emotion, and when he entered an alley to escape another girly scream pierced the air. They doubled the corner to find Fear clutched in the arms of Aphrodite and Chris, struggling to get away.
"Let me go! I didn't do anything, I swear!" he shouted. When Howard looked at him he sighed, obviously annoyed by this one.
"Lily, work your magic." Lily nodded and got closer to this Jake, kneeling in front of him and taking his face in her hands to look at her directly.
"Fear, it's me, Lily, remember?" Fear's eyes widened before he clutched the Gardevoir in a hug.
"Please, don't leave, just don't leave!" he pleaded. He receded just a little and put his hands in his neck to extract a yellow orb with the memories. "Take them, you need them. Just please don't lose them!" He pleaded again. Lily nodded and took the orb, this time looking at the moments when Jake felt fear. When he was alone, when he almost failed, when he saw her getting hurt, two times, but then when he saw her sleeping, the fear was him questioning if he was doing enough to make her happy. As the memories ended Lily looked at the emotion, who nodded before running off.
"Two down, ten more to go." Howard said. "Let's go for Love, he's always in the restaurant."
"They need to eat?" asked David.
"No, we don't. Eating is just a luxury." Answered Hollow, appearing next to them, making Angela and Elena jump in fear, ironically.
"Guide us, please." Hollow nodded and brought them to the south sector, stopping on a jetty to board one of the driverless container ships that traversed the river.
"This ships deliver supplies to any emotion that has a shop or business. This one has food for Love's restaurant." Hollow informed them. It was really strange being with a Jake that didn't feel anything, and somewhat creepy too. When the ship stopped in front of a building, they looked up at the name 'Love's Restaurant'. They got off as a container floated up by itself and entered the place. However, when they followed suit, they found not one, but two Jakes talking to each other.
"I tell you, I don't know how I got here, but I keep having images of this woman. I crave her, no, scratch that, I need her." Said the one that was wearing tight pants and a sweat shirt that hugged his defined torso. He was drinking some vodka that the other Jake gave him.
"I'm on the same ground, friend." The one that had his back to them said softly, the word 'LOVE' in passion red letters in his back. This one wore Jake's signature suit, in white and with a red rose below his name. "I feel something for someone, but I don't seem know her."
"Em, guys?" asked Lily, making the two doppelgangers turn to her. Immediately, the one with the suit was on his knees, Lily's hand in his right one and offering a rose.
"Bless Arceus for giving me life to see such a beauty. I've never seen such a fragile looking woman whom exudes this aura of power while retaining her beauty, and my dear, my heart is aching for you." Said Love before the other Jake pushed him away and backed Lily to a wall, his hands at both sides of her head.
"Hi babe, I've never seen you but I know I want you. Want to go wild in my room?" Lily's face burned with a blush as everybody's jaws dropped at the forwardness of this one. Before anyone could react, Lily was yanked from behind this other Jake's arms by Love, who hugged her as if they were doing the tango, while a light turned on over them for emphasis.
"Let me take you on a ride through the galaxy, where we can look at all the stars while the moon shines on our backs under a midnight kiss." Love told her before the other doppelganger took Lily and hugged her tight to him.
"Ignore him. Come with me and I'll make sure you forget your name thanks to the sea of pleasure I'll rack your body with." And when he ended, he took a handful of Lily's left buttock. The blush on her face could very well be used as a stop light, and then Love took Lily and glared at the other Jake.
"This fine Lady doesn't need just the pleasure of the flesh to feel loved."
"Says so the one without guts. Get out, I'm trying to get this beauty in my bed." When Love was about to retort Hollow took both their heads and crashed them together, sending them into a state of unconsciousness.
"I've never seen this one before." Hollow crouched and turned the Jake with the tight clothing over. On his back, with the same red passion letters as the other one, was the word 'LUST'. "Lust?"
"Jake has never felt lust, unless…" Elena started before everybody slowly turned to Lily, who was doing her best to leave a tomato in shame.
"Want to share something?" asked Chris and Lily's blush deepened, if that was even possible.
"She doesn't have anything to share." Howard cut them off, and Lily looked at him appreciatively. When both emotions awoke, they were more calm, but that didn't stop them from looking at Lily with lovey-dovey eyes (Love) and primal desire (Lust). "Where there's Love, Lust follows close behind." The hunter mumbled to himself while chuckling.
"Em, I need your memories." Lily spoke softly and shyly. Both emotions looked at each other before they put their hands on their chests and extracted the passion red orbs, but both were split in half.
"Let's fuse them." Offered Lust and Love nodded, fitting his half with Lust's before handing the whole orb to Lily.
"Good day, dear." Said Love with a wink, making Lily blush again. When she touched the orb she saw the first moment when Jake started to love her, including their nights of passion; the promise he made to her; their first kiss and 'the other first'; the time when they first waltzed; when he fought to protect her, blocking her and Angela's attack that fateful day. Her blush was as hard as a Tamato Berry's red when they were exiting, and only deepened when Lust shouted after them.
"Good ass, by the way!" Called the emotion before returning inside the restaurant. Angela and Elena immediately went to tease Lily with all kind of embarrassing questions and innuendos.
"Come on, you really liked it." Whispered Elena to the Gardevoir.
"Bet he is at least five inches long." Angela told her. At that statement Lily lifted her head and turned away proudly.
"Just so you know, it's seven." Said the Pokémon, looking back just to laugh at the shocked faces of the girls. They kept walking and decided to go the house of one of the few emotions that didn't go out: Sadness. When Hollow knocked on the door, some footsteps were heard before the emotion opened the door. This one was wearing a dark blue pajamas, with crying Buneary all over it.
"What is it, Hollow?" asked the emotion, with eyes reddened from crying.
"Can we enter?" The doppelganger asked and his brother nodded, turning back to the table, his back sporting in deep purple 'SADNESS'. He sat at the table and took a tissue before blowing his nose.
"What do you want?" He asked while taking a sip off a cup of tea.
"Your memories are blurred, right?" Asked Howard and he nodded.
"I haven't seen you in a while, Angela, Elena." Said the emotion with tear filled eyes. "Why did you have to leave?" And with that, he started crying.
"Shush, it's alright." Lily kneeled next to the emotion and embraced him in a hug. The emotion took her as if she was a lifeline and cried on her shoulder, and when he finished he managed a small smile.
"Somehow, I don't feel so sad next to you." He put a hand on his face, collecting some of the tears that were falling from his eyes and a deep purple orb formed out of them. When Lily touched it she looked at the nights when Jake cried himself to sleep remembering Elena and Angela, the time when he was crying next to her unconscious body, the sadness evident in him when he was fighting Chris, the way his heart clenched as his family was kidnapped by Sheva when she was under Cyrus' control. When it ended, Sadness stood up before going upstairs to his room, and they followed Hollow out of the house.
"There's something that is not right." Howard said to himself, "Lust is new here, and if he's new then how many new emotions and doppelgangers have appeared?" he was musing on this before he noticed that they were inside the library, where a Jake who was wearing dress pants, dress shirt, a tie, square-shaped glasses and black polished shoes was trying to arrange some books.
"Why are these books blank? This doesn't make any sense." He said to himself, checking books filled with blank pages. "I don't know what this means! And it eats me away!"
"Intelligence, calm down." Hollow commanded, looking at the emotion.
"It's easy for you to say, mister 'I don't feel anything'!" The doppelganger shouted before turning to check another blank book, his back reading in dark yellow 'INTELLIGENCE'.
"Intelligence…" the emotion turned to Lily as she started speaking. "…maybe this is what you are looking for." She took his hand in hers and started to show him things he learned during his trip with her psychic powers, and that suddenly triggered the forgotten memories in him.
"My Arceus, thank you Lily!" He hugged her before taking one of the books on the floor, which now has letters and title. He turned to a page and took out from it the deep yellow orb of his memories. He gave it to Lily before running off to organize all the now full books. The memory showed a Jake reading late at night, planning for every battle, making strategies from when he was about to act as Atai. They got out of there and walked for a while before a shadow casted over them.
"Courage." Hollow said and looked up, the others imitating him. A giant balloon was looming over them, and standing on the side was a Jake that was wearing trekking pants, climbing boots, shirtless and with parkour gloves. He was tying a rope to his feet before jumping down, with no parachute or protections at all.
"HI!" he shouted the moment he was between them before the rope pulled him back up.
"He always has been a daredevil." Chuckled Howard. David, not wanting to mess around, aimed at the balloon with his fingers as if they were a handgun. To the shock of everybody, a blue sphere the size of a marble formed in the tip of his index finger before he shot it at supersonic speed towards the balloon, the shot leaving sonic booms and recoil force in its wake. The shot pierced the balloon and Courage looked at the deflating object before taking a knife from his right foot's boot.
The moment the rope flung him a few feet above a building, he cut the rope and turned, safely landing on his feet before parkouring from one building to another. He jumped to another lower building, but instead of running he turned and jumped again, crashing against the other wall before jumping back, but now instead of up he was going down. He jumped and grabbed a rope where some clothes were hanging and used it to propel himself so he fell into the river close to them. Stepping out, he wiped his face and put his knife back in his boot before looking at his falling balloon, his back having the word 'COURAGE' tattooed in intense red.
"Good one, Courage." Congratulated Howard and the doppelganger turned to him before pumping fists.
"What are you doing here pal? Thought you weren't going to come back at all." Courage told him while crossing his arms.
"I wanted to introduce you to some people you might know." The emotion turned to the others before smiling brightly.
"You looking for my memories, right?" They nodded and the emotion chuckled. "Alright, I'll hand them over… if one of you can beat me at a skateboard race."
"I'll do it." Said David stepping forward. Courage nodded and lifted his arms, a passing boat with a box releasing two skateboards to him. He handed one of them to David and the scientist tested it before nodding.
"At three, guys." Said Howard, going between them.
"Aren't you going to use some protection?" Courage asked David.
"Why? It's no fun like that." Replied the ghost-changeling and Courage gave him a thumbs-up.
"Three… two… one…" Howard lowered his arms the instant the next word left his mouth. "…GO!" both racers sped up into the city, and David noticed flags all around the place.
"Follow the flags to the finishing line!" Instructed Courage while both turned on the flag with an arrow. They kept turning and even jumping over obstacles, but when David saw a wall too high to jump over, which Courage was scaling through a rail he took before, he noticed a hole where he would barely fit in. He sped and made a Pop Shove-It, taking the skateboard and pressing it against his chest in a screwdriver jump, and passed through the hole expertly before landing on the board. The others were eagerly watching the race through a drone that Hollow sent after them.
"Not fast enough, kiddo!" David shouted, going as fast as he could to tackle the last obstacle: a really wide river. He kept kicking and kicking, going faster and faster.
"Aren't you scared?!" Courage called from behind him.
"I'm scared of losing!" David replied before making a Laser Flip over the river, adding a Kickflip x4 before landing in the other side, stopping in front of the others. Courage arrived a little later, stopping the skateboard before offering a fist to David.
"You have my respect, dude." David pumped fists with Courage before the emotion took his memories out from his back and gave them to Lily. Lily got a good dose of Jake doing his daredevil feats, from jumping from a window to when they escaped Iron Prison, jumping over the edge of the hole. Courage bid them farewell before jumping onto a speedboat in the river and zooming off.
"Man, where did you learn to skateboard like that?" asked Chris.
"You didn't think I am all lab, right?" The scientist replied before throwing the skateboard away. They walked to a Zen Garden that was nearby, finding two meditating Jake in there, the same one that took Anger away, Peace, and another one that was wearing a black business suit. On his back was the word 'MATURITY' in gray letters. This one opened his eyes before looking at them, standing up and offering a hand to Howard, who shook it.
"What brings you back here?" Peace asked serenely, still meditating.
"The same thing that has you both meditating." He answered. "Maturity, Atai Kage." When the name left Howard's mouth, Maturity's eyes widened before he nodded, and Peace stood up, looking at them with his calm expression.
"Here." The word was said with the confidence of an adult exuded as Maturity gave them the gray orb that came from his hand.
"Peace." Said the homonymous emotion while offering the navy blue orb that he took out from his serene smile. After Lily assimilated the memories Peace pointed to a dojo. "Anger and Willpower are there."
"Thanks." Replied Howard. "Maturity is new here too."
"Who were the original twelve?" asked Angela.
"They were the so-called basic emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Peace, Love, Indifference, Willpower, Courage, Fear, Emotional, Intelligence and probably the worst and most powerful of them all: Hate." Howard answered, grimacing slightly at the mention of the last one.
"Is there something you want to tell us?" Lily asked. "About Hate?"
"Not yet, the time is yet to come." Howard replied, shrugging off the question. Everybody exchanged worried glances at that, after all Howard has never appeared to truly worry about something, like now. When they arrived at the dojo, they found a Jake wearing a Keikogi who was doing push-ups, abdominals, hand-stand push-ups, squats, Christ bars and the like. Howard was the only one not gawking at his training, after all, he was keeping a cautious eye on Anger, who was destroying the multiple training dummies and clubs that came at him, with ruthless power and expertly placed attacks from every martial art he knew. When he finished, he was panting heavily, but a last dummy that came from behind got its chest stuck out by an elbow blow. He walked to a bench and took the soda there, drinking it before smashing the can and throwing it at the trash bin, the bench close behind after he launched it too with a roar.
"Anger!" Howard called, stepping forward. When the doppelganger turned to him, his eyes widened, and with a roar of rage he rushed to him. Howard took a battle stance, blocking and evading every attack. Executing a feint, he took the predicted opening and flipped Anger on his back before pinning him down with his arms behind him. "The memories, now."
"Fuck off!" spat the emotion. Howard glared at it before tightening his hold on him, making him scream. "I won't!"
"Anger, please, just give them!" Lily pleaded, kneeling in front of him. Anger glared at her before he, for the first time, calmed down.
"Lily." He mumbled as Howard released him. Standing up, he glared at the hunter before taking his memories orb out of his left pectoral and presenting it to the Gardevoir. "You know, I'm still angry at you." When Lily looked at him worriedly, he scoffed. "I'm angry because you can calm me down."
"Darn…" they heard as a heavy, heavier than they expected, thud resounded as the other Jake fell on his face, groaning. "Not enough…."
"Watch it, Willpower." Hollow said, helping the emotion up. "Take them off."
"Alright." He peeled off the top part of his Keikogi and everybody except Howard gasped as they saw 2 kg weights strapped all over his torso. He tossed them off and they saw that there were ten of them, and the shock increased as he took off another two 10 kg weights from his legs.
"Holy shit." Chris muttered in shock as he looked at them.
"Got the words from my mouth." Angela added. Willpower sat down on a bench and threw his top over it, the word 'WILLPOWER' greeting them in golden letters as they read it.
"What do you need? I must keep training." Willpower told them before taking a water bottle, drinking half of it and then pouring the other half over his body to cool down. Lily was almost drooling as she saw the water droplets travel down his chest, abdomen, arms and face.
"What's the hardest thing you've ever done?" Angela asked as she sat next to the emotion, Lily at his other side.
"Training 72 hours straight with just an hour to eat and rest every 8 hours when I was eleven years old." The emotion responded without hesitation.
"Wrong." When he turned to look at Lily she looked at him fiercely. "The hardest thing you've done was to create a black hole to hold two deadly projectiles and breaking it with your scythe."
"Yeah, right. I would remember doing something like that." Willpower stood up before walking to his weights, but Lily stopped him there and made him turn to look at her.
"I want you to look at me while you train, and if you break our visual contact then you lose." She challenged him.
"You got it." Willpower strapped himself to his weights before starting with some push-ups, looking directly at Lily. They kept looking at each other even as Willpower made hand-stand push-ups, abdominals and even side mortal jumps. When he was doing bar-stand push-ups his arms started to quiver. He lost his grab and was about to fall head first, but he grabbed the bar with his foot and recovered.
"Why are you trying to not lose?" Lily asked him after some time.
"Because I won't give up, not even now, and if you challenge me to do something then I'll do it." Willpower replied.
"Well then, I challenge you… to remember." Willpower looked at her in shock before his determined face settled again.
"Maybe this will help." Hollow made a giant rock appear over the emotion and he caught it, holding it. "Lily, touch the rock and pour every strain you want on it."
"Huff, you won't beat me, not even with that." Lily walked to the rock and placed her hand on it. Willpower grunted as he felt the rock started to weight over 50 kg.
"More?" Lily asked before taking it up a notch, now putting in 60 kg.
"Keep it up." Willpower grunted at her. Lily glared at him before making the rock weight 90 kg. The wooden floor of the dojo started to creak as Willpower kept carrying the rock.
"Give up." Lily told him, upping the weight to 100 kg. "Give up." 120 kg. "Give up." 140 kg. "Give up!" 160. "Give up!" 180. "GIVE UP!" 200 kg.
"I won't give up on you, Lily!" he shouted, carrying the rock with Herculean strength. "You hear me?! I won't give up on anything you ask me for! I won't give up on remembering you!" He started to carry the rock with one arm before using his other hand to punch it, shattering it to pieces. He panted heavily, glaring at Lily before walking to her. "Just like I won't give up, I don't want you to give up on getting our memory back." He took the golden orb out from his right pectoral, giving it to Lily before nodding and returning to his ungodly training regime. Lily's view on Jake's determination changed as she looked at all the times he pushed his body to the limit, and she couldn't even hope to imagine the strain blocking her and Angela's attack that day had put on him.
"Tell me Hollow, are Emotional and Indifference still living together?" Howard asked the void Jake as they walked back to the city, now towards the west sector.
"Those two are complete opposites, so I still don't understand why they live together." The doppelganger replied. They arrived in front of… a video store?
"What kind of movies would they watch here?" David asked, looking at the store with confusion.
"All the movies Jake has seen, and some of his most valued memories." Hollow answered. "Emotional and Indifference are the only personalities allowed in the Memory Shrine; after all, only they will be able to judge Jake both emotionally and rationally." As they entered, they found a Jake wearing a long sleeved white shirt with sweatpants and another one sitting next to him with a purple T-shirt and dressing pants, both watching play 'Romeo & Juliet' from a sofa. The one with the white shirt looked at the screen indifferently while the Jake next to him was crying at the Shakespearean drama they were watching.
"How do you cry from something like this?" Asked the calm Jake with an uncaring voice.
"Just because you don't see meaning of this, doesn't mean I can't see what's beyond." Replied the other one with a sob. As the DVD ended they stood up, the word in silvery gray with 'INDIFFERENCE' written in the back of the one wearing the T-shirt. His counterpart had 'EMOTIONAL' in… pink? Well, it had to be. They turned to look at the adventurers, Emotional looking at them before smiling.
"What are you looking for today, Hollow?" Indifference asked while pouring himself some coffee and throwing at Emotional a box of tissues with a bored expression, not checking if the doppelganger caught the box or not.
"Memories." Answered the empty Jake flatly.
"Those are in the Memory Shrine, so I don't have anything to do with it."
"Awww, come on, man! For the love of Mew can you at least feign that you care?" asked Emotional.
"Can you feign that you don't care about a suicidal couple?" Indifference asked back.
"That cut, really, really deep, man." The other personality told him. As he turned to look at them he saw someone missing "Where's Howard?"
"He is… where did he go?" Everybody looked around for the hunter, who moments later came out from an alley, carrying a book with him.
"Sorry, I was looking for this." He showed them the book: The Journal of Jake.
"Jake has a journal?" asked Lily.
"He seems to write on it before exiting the bathroom, although this is a non-physical version lost in his mind." Howard explained, "After all, the bathroom is the only time of the day where no one sees him, and he has never written on this in front of someone."
"What is it with this book?" Emotional seemed rather interested.
"Read this entry." Howard opened the journal and offered it to Emotional.
"September 25th, 2013. Angela seems to have changed. I'm glad, but it still hurts me having to fight Chris. We're friends, and friends are not supposed to fight, not even over love. I wanted Angela to notice Chris so bad, after all he seems to crave her attention way back, and the fact that my best friend was in love with me, that I already had a girl and that my friend's love was unrequited tore me inside out. I swear, if Angela have kept fighting over me I would have locked her and Chris in a room until they were making out like crazy. Huff, just look at this: I'm actually sounding like a matchmaker. Well, I better get out before anyone suspects. End of entry." As Emotional ended reading he wiped a tissue through his tear-streamed face. "It's beautiful, so beautiful. This is what was lost."
"Why do you care so much about what is lost?" scoffed Indifference.
"Why don't you come here and tell Lily you don't care about her." Angela glared at the emotion.
"However you like it." When the emotion stopped in front of Lily he started to talk with a cold gaze. "I don't care about… about… I don't care…" He was struggling to take out the words. "Why the Distortion World do I actually care about you? I… I can't say it… I DO care about you…There must be a logical explanation…"
"I knew somewhere in that frozen heart is a warm spot." Emotional teased before taking the pink orb out of his abdomen.
"As if I care whether you know that or not." Indifference scoffed, taking the gray-silver orb out of his left shoulder. As Lily took in the memories she understood that Indifference was just directed to those Jake wasn't fond of, so to speak.
"Now let's go for the kill." Grimaced Howard. "The only one that is left is Hate."
"What is it about Hate that you grimace every time you mention him?" Elena was finally unable to control her curiosity. Halting the group, Howard looked at them with a solemn look.
"The only time Jake has ever felt pure hate in his life… he almost committed murder." Everybody gasped at his words. "It's best if you look at the memory once Lily returns them to the Memory Shrine."
"I'll guide you to the Abyss." Hollow walked them to the north, going until they were in front of a heavily guarded shrine. Hollow opened the door and they found a rope elevator to some kind of mine shaft, of which they entered before Hollow activated a symbol in the elevator, making it move down. They kept going lower and lower until the light of the overworld was just the size of a pin, at which Hollow held his palm up and created a light orb.
"Remember: this is Jake's, or should I say everyone's most dangerous emotion, so don't let your guard down." Howard warned before the elevator stopped, showing a cave going even lower. Hollow walked in the front and David used his Ghost Ball as a lantern at the back, illuminating the cavern enough to discern each other. As they stopped, everybody looked at the front to a gate that was twice as big as the entrance to the city, which was full of symbols and patterns. Hollow looked at Howard for confirmation, and receiving a nod he opened the door just as easily as the first one. What greeted them was a room of pitch darkness, spears adorning the back wall where some kind of throne sat.
"I really appreciate you visiting me after all this time, Howard. However, just as I hate everything else, I hate you." The voice that came from the shadows was definitely Jake's, but it was so full of evil intent, of malice, that none of them dared to call him that. Black torches turned on all over the room, illuminating the cave in their dark glow. Sitting in the throne, which they noticed was made with black bones, resembling a throne of death, was the last Jake of them all. This one was wearing a black overcoat from Medieval Age, one that was surprisingly similar to that of Dracula's, black pants that were ragged at the ankles and black boots with spikes as soles. He wasn't wearing any shirt, his chest sporting in black letters 'HATE' in a tattoo. His right eye was covered by his long hair, longer than any other emotion they have encountered so far, and on the top of his head he had a fedora hat. He was sitting with his right leg over his left one and leaning against his left fist, the elbow of the same arm resting on the armchair and the other one swirling a goblet full of what appeared to be wine.
"Hate." Howard said calmly, although it was evident that anger was seeping out of him towards this doppelganger in tsunami-like waves. The emotion laughed cruelly before looking at them with mirth.
"It seems that you forget that anger and hate go well together, Howard." He said before standing, taking a drink of the goblet. "It's just as bad as everything else in here, but you'll get used to it." He threw the goblet to a side and the metal object made a 'clang' sound that echoed easily around the silent cave, so silent that you could hear everybody's breath and speeding hearts. Hate walked down the few steps from his throne to be at the same ground level as his visitors "You do know what comes next, right Onii-san?" he mocked.
"You have no right to call me that!" Howard replied coldly, looking at the emotion with a strong hint of arrogance.
"Howard, how will we battle him? We have no weapons!" Angela asked.
"This is my imagination, my interpretation of Jake's mind, so the method is not the problem." Howard's back shone before a rifle appeared strapped to it, bayonet and scope already mounted. Claire readily jumped off his shoulder and Mightyena took her to safety. "Let's skip the chitchat and battle, shall we? My interpretation does not call for a debate to decide the winner, you know." Howard's ability to control his emotions shone once again as he spoke the lines mockingly.
"If you want it that badly." The doppelganger said with a shrug before he disappeared out of sheer speed. Howard jumped back before a crater occupied his previous place. Pumping a volley of bullets at the crater, he paused for a while before his rifle was replaced with a machine gun. When the smoke cleared Hate was nowhere to be seen, but a cry of help focused them on Elena: Hate held her like a meat shield, with a knife just above her heart. "Reality is conceived by the mind, so if your mind dies…" He trailed off before the same sonic bullet from David made him release the girl and jump away.
"Form change!" David shouted, changing during a run before engaging Hate in hand-to-hand combat, being easily overpowered and toyed with.
"You forget that I'm much more powerful than you in here. After all, I myself have partial control of this weakling's mind." Hate taunted, blocking all of David's attempts at even scratching him with his PGBs using just an arm.
"Don't you dare call Jake a weakling!" Both Angela and Lily called, shooting a level eight arrow and a Shadow Ball respectively at Hate. The emotion smiled before taking David and using him as a shield against the attacks, the Ghost Arts user screaming in pain as he took the direct impact. Hate chuckled and threw the ghost to a side before dodging bullet that would have pierced his right lung, glaring at the hunter with the emotion that he represented in his eyes.
"You were the one who dumped me here, and you'll also be the last one to die so you can watch and see how you have failed at protecting Jake's friends." Hate threatened him before he extended his arm and created a giant ball of dark feelings. "Escape from this!" He launched the ball at them, the attack growing in size to a point where dodging was futile.
"They don't need to escape." They heard another Jake's voice, a figure falling from the ceiling and using a sword to obliterate the attack with a slash of light energy. When the dust settled a Jake was standing in between them and Hate, this one wearing a golden armor with a red cape that had the word 'CHIVALRY' running on it from up to down in glistening golden letters. "So what art thou going to do about it, Hate?"
"Who the fuck are you?" The enraged negative emotion asked.
"I'm Chivalry, and I just know that one day I woke up and found myself near your well, so I descended here after feeling all the evil that was in the air. Whatever is happening, I'll put thou under control, even if I have to give my existence to do it."
"As you want, then." Both emotions rushed at each other, Hate creating a black sword that shone an evil red in his right hand, before both clashed and started to block and slash at each other. As Chivalry made a downward slash Hate sidestepped and threw a roundhouse kick at his left rib, which the knight grabbed with his unoccupied hand before flinging Hate to a wall. The dark doppelganger turned in mid-air and used the wall as a boost to soar at Chivalry, but a bullet that grazed his cheek made his turn so he could avoid the barrage of bullets that Howard was sending, now with an AK-74, giving the knight time enough to hit the dark emotion with his gauntleted fist. Hate staggered back before he lifted a barrier of hate to block Howard's bullets before sending it soaring at the others, Chivalry rushing to block it with a shield he created on his left arm. That gave Hate the opening he needed before kicking Chivalry to a side and appearing in front of Lily.
"The best way to make him feel hate, is to lose love." As he encased his right hand in a dark version of the Purifying Ghost Blade, he looked at Lily with evil sadism. Lily could only watch in horror as the hand sped towards her chest-spike, but a body rushed forward and pushed the evil being away, making him the victim of the attack.
"Hollow?" Lily gasped as she saw Hate's hand sprouting out of Hollow's back. The dark emotion growled at the empty shell.
"Fucking meddler." Hollow kept looking at him with his empty expression before pushing Hate away.
"Now I need to get another robe." Hollow took his actual white robe and pulled it over his head. Looks of horror were directed upon him by everyone that didn't knew what he hid: there was a three inch hole at the place where his heart should be, "This is the reason why I don't feel anything: I don't have a heart to feel."
"So that's your secret." Mumbled Chivalry, landing beside the Hollow. He looked at him sideways before starting, "Even if thou don't feel anything thy duty is to protect this mind, so confide in thou I will, that thou shalt come to my assistance in this fray."
"I must." Replied the empty shell before both sped forward at speeds as fast as Hate's. Hollow threw him a sweep kick that was jumped over, giving Chivalry the chance to land a side kick to Hate's left side. The dark emotion was sent tumbling to ground, but before he could recover Hollow sent him up with an uppercut just to be sent down by an overhead hammer from the knight.
"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" Hate screamed before the room was encompassed in his evil presence. Out of the blue, he grew faster and stronger, punching Chivalry in the gut and bending his armor before taking Hollow and smashing him into the knight. A barrage of bullets, arrows, Shadow Balls and Ice Beams got him from behind as the others lent their support into the fight. Hate growled at them before rushing to Howard, who of all he considered the biggest threat. Howard shot and dodged, not wanting to risk even blocking one of those attacks. A direct fist came out of nowhere and would have smashed Howard in the face if Mightyena didn't jump behind Hate and bit hard into his neck.
The emotion screamed in pain before taking the Pokémon and throwing him against the hunter, sending them into a roll that soon ended upon a wall. As he turned slowly towards Lily, his sadistic smile appeared again, this time growing to a malevolent grin from ear to ear as he approached the females of the group. "Time for your demise, my ladies."
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Hate felt as if a Rampardos just rushed into him with a Zen Headbutt as Chivalry crashed into him with his shield. The emotion was definitely tired, but showed no signs of giving up.
"Chivalry, cover me for a while." Hollow said, sitting in the lotus position and beginning to chant in a weird language.
"For my honor." Replied the knight before he rushed against the dark doppelganger. He wasn't on par with him, but he managed to hold his ground and protect Hollow as Howard gave him artillery cover with a shoulder-launched missile.
"You know your powers don't work on me, Hollow!" called Hate.
"It's not you I'm using my powers on." The room was filled with light as all the others emotions appeared in the room, looking at Hate with disgust. Hollow stood up and all the emotions transformed into light orbs, entering his chest and starting to fill the empty space. Chivalry pushed Hate back and Howard kept him at bay with his bullets, giving the knight time enough to transform into a light orb and enter Hollow's chest. A bright light illuminated the room, before, standing there, was a Jake that wasn't wearing any of the clothes of the emotions. No, this one was wearing Atai's costume, and he looked at Hate with determined eyes.
"Time to finish this." Atai opened his right hand and Chivalry's sword appeared on it before he and Hate rushed to a confrontation. Both were equally matched, not one of them receiving damage or giving ground, a total standstill.
"Just a minute..." Howard mumbled, narrowing his eyes. Then he noticed it: Hate's power aura flickered every ten seconds for half a second, giving an opening. Just as the hunter was analyzing his own interpretation, Hate's power started to grow as his chest, where his heart should be, transformed into a black crystal. His eyes became totally black, even the sclera, and from his back giant demonic black wings grew.
"I won't fall!" Shouted this demonic emotion. Atai glared at him before jumping back for a moment. "Tired?" Hate mocked as he stood upright again, looking down at Atai arrogantly.
"No, I just need to get rid of these." As he opened his waistcoat, they noticed he was wearing Willpower's weights. He took them off, and bounced on the tip of his feet before stretching his neck to side to side. "That's better." Only a gust of wind was left as he disappeared, Hate mirroring him before both combatants engaged into an earth-and-air battle.
"David, I need your help." Howard called to the ghost, who have somewhat recovered. "I need you to use your Sonic Ghost Bullet when I say so, and no screw ups this time, understood?"
"Got it." He replied before aiming at the dark doppelganger with his finger, the blue marble forming at the tip. Meanwhile, Howard climbed onto the hypersonic railgun he have created earlier and readied the projectile. Not long after, it came, the split second barrier.
"NOW!" at the same time the SGB was shot, Howard fired the railgun. The Ghost Bullet cut air resistance as the hypersonic railgun bullet boosted its speed. Just as the barrier was about to close, the bullets entered, hitting Hate in the crystal. The dark emotion arched his back and shouted in pain.
"Jaque Mate." Atai said in Spanish as he appeared in front of Hate. He punched the dark emotion to a side, then appeared next to him and punched him up, appearing there promptly and kicking him to a side. Time and time again Atai sent Hate soaring before appearing next to him to change his course, until he kicked him up, appearing above and throwing his sword down, impaling hate in the crystal and sending him to the ground. Atai opened his palms at him and countless light swords surrounded him as his own black wing appeared behind him, changing from black to white as he rushed down with the swords in tow. He started to pierce Hate until he was resembling a needle case, then he took his real sword and glared at the dark emotion, who was by now in a kneeling position held by the swords with his head hung low.
"Come on, just do it." Hate screamed between pants and pained grunts.
"No, that's not my work." Hate saw as Atai's stylized shoes walked away, replaced by a white dress and flawless feet. He felt the tip of the sword in his chin lifting his face, looking at a glaring Lily who was holding the sword.
"Ironic, wouldn't you say?" The emotion asked with a smirk, feeling Lily's own hate towards him.
"Very much." The Gardevoir before bringing the sword up with both hands. Hate chuckled before bowing his head, waiting for the cold metal to bisect his head from his neck.
The whooshing sound of the blade cutting across the air…
Romeo: And that's it, because I would surpass the limit! Actually, maybe I already have…
Xellan: *outside the bunker* MOTHERFUCKER! Dragons, send that bunker to Distortion World!
Raging Fans: KILL HIM!
Slayer: Commander! I've just received information that the next chapter will be up very soon!
Xellan: Is that so? Then you better hurry up Romeo!
Danny: Those idiots will never know that we teleported to the Artic…
Romeo&Danny: Bye readers!