Chapter 46: Infernal Cult Part 1
Once the group arrives at the cave that leads to the Infernal Base, they see Calreath, Diana, Tobias, Dawn, and Serena coming with them. Damian asks, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We think that you will need some help." Dawn says.
"The Infernal Cult works from here. This is where the broadcast signal came from. It's like a maze in there, we have to be careful." Tobias says.
"We will split up." Calreath says. "Ash, you go with Diana, Nora, with me. Damian, you with Tobias, Gladion, you with Emily. Zachary, you with Serena, Alice, you and Taen."
The others nod, Tobias says, "Good, the main priority is finding a way to reverse whatever mind control he's got the region in. But if you see Zenith, get him. There's no way he should last against twelve legend-users, no matter how strong he is. Ash beat him before, after all."
Once they get inside, they split up. Diana says, "As long as we're careful, and more importantly, quiet, we'll be fine. We'll meet up with them and... yeah. Hopefully."
"Yeah, hopefully." But as Ash and Diana walk one step forward, they hear a sound. "Stop here!"
The two pale as they turn around, Persephone appears in front of them, she is glaring at them with anger.
"Persephone...not now..." Diana groans, and Ash is really surprised at the turn of events. They already have one Cult leader to deal with, and here comes the second one.
"You've been lying to me this whole time. I finally bit the bullet. I followed you, I had to know. Wherever you go... Darkrai is always there. Following you, admiring you. How Dia? How do you do it...and now you are back to the Infernal Cult?"
"I told you that we are-" Diana says, but she is cut off.
"You abandoned me here, Dia! You left me! Cresselia is sent to save all of us! But no, you and Brother were too scared!"
Ash says, "Persephone, please be quiet. They'll hear us."
"I am DONE being silenced by you. I spent three years under that freak's control after you and Brother were too scared to help. We were cultists! Don't you remember how awful it was? You left me in that hell, and you expect easy forgiveness? Do you know what I had to do to escape? How I-"
"You'd know, I want to know how you escaped as well." Zenith comes with two more people behind him. Ash says, "Great, just great. Now we are spotted by my brother..."
"I don't appreciate the name-calling, the freak as well. I am not a freak. I know we're enemies, but let's try and be polite to one another, hmm? Guards?"
Just then, three of them appear and Zenith says, "Lead our fine guests here into their rooms. You'll love it here. We have complimentary butlers and a nice heated pool. I'm afraid the lighting is a little bit different than the rooms under your base, Persephone."
Persephone pales a little as memories flow into her mind, then both she and Diana are taken. Before Ash is taken, Zenith says, "Hopefully, Ash Ketchum, no, my big brother, will prefer my prison."
As Ash wakes up after being captured, he only sees that he is in jail and Zenith is standing in front of him. "You looked comfy, I told you that you would enjoy your stay."
Ash can only pretend that he is under his control, so he didn't say a word. "I'm disappointed you had to hear all of that, brother. I'm sure you've figured out my ability. Mind control is such an ugly term... I prefer "mind optimization". And- it's not perfect. I need someone's DNA to do it."
He scratches his chin and says, "Because we are blood-related, I have your DNA, funny how that works, isn't it? In fact, I have the DNA of almost everyone in the region, thanks to the vaccine. I really owe Reukra one. Fake vaccines are such a convenient excuse for getting the DNA of everyone in Torren."
He sighs, "I was worried at first, Diana was able to escape- it seems that legendaries are strong enough to let their trainers resist my control. I was worried you would be the same. But then I heard that prophecy. Of course, you thought that meant you had a traitor in your midst. But now you know about my ability...we're going to have some fun...I'm going to keep drilling you, constantly reinforcing my power onto you until your mind becomes mine."
Just then, he starts to play with Ash, Ash feels humiliated, but he can't let him know that he is not in his control. So he really did what he wanted. Much to his relief, an explosion occurs and Zenith turns around.
"...okay, then. This can wait. It seems like a fight is breaking out down the hall. I'll be right back. It seems my idiot brother and the others are found." Zenith grits his teeth.
He turns to the guard, "You, guard him, don't talk to him. Don't look at him. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
After Zenith leaves, Ash is not moving as he needs to keep pretending, a few minutes later, Zenith comes back with a female grunt by his side.
"How is our prisoner doing?" Zenith asks.
"He is doing fine, sir." The guard says.
"Good, you can rest now." Just then, Zenith punches the guard, causing him to faint. And then he quickly uses his fingerprint to unlock the door, freeing Ash.
"Zachary?" Ash asks.
Zachary and Serena then show themselves to Ash, they say, "We can talk later, brother. Quick, use Mew's powers to transform yourself into an Infernal Cultist."
Ash nods as he sends out Mew to do so. And then he transforms himself into an Infernal Cultist. The group walk outside of the prison cell and then Zachary also changes himself into a grunt. The three of them walk towards the road and then they see Zenith rushing towards them.
"You three, wait." The three flinches and turns around. Zenith says, "The prisoner's escaped. You know, the one boy who could actually take us down? The one boy who I asked you incompetents to guard?"
"But sir..." Serena says, "We saw you rushing into the cell with another grunt..."
Zenith hears the words, he clicks his teeth. "Damn it...it must be my stupid brother Zachary and his partner... Our big announcement starts soon. We can't have them interfering. You three are going to guard me. Quickly, we are going to the studio room."
The others nod as Zachary rushes away. Ash, Serena, and Zachary are keep running until they see two people locked up in the cell.
"Hey, Garbodor face!" They recognize the voice as Nora, they see Calreath is locked with her. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. I'm just-"
"Wait, Nora. Ash? Is that you?" Calreath says, then Nora is surprised to see Zachary, Serena, and Ash in disguises.
"What? But how?" Nora asks in shock.
"Long story, but I was saved and Mew transformed me." Ash says.
"Wow. That's actually a pretty awesome ability. Manaphy could get me out at any time. I'm just waiting for a time where I won't just... y' know, get caught and put right back in." Calreath says.
"Then we have better hurry, Zenith is making an announcement and we have to stop him." Zachary says.
"Listen, I heard that he will have four guards with him, so listen, I have an idea." Ash says.
After explaining, Calreath says, "Perfect, this might work. Go on, follow them. I'll join you in a bit."
They didn't see anyone of his friends, so they think that they were escaping. Ash, Serena, and Zachary reach the place where Zenith is making an announcement.
"Let's get this started. How do I look?" Zenith asks.
"You look, fantastic sir. Your hair looks great." The reporter who is controlled says.
"Glad to hear it. Are the cameras rolling?" Zenith asks.
"They will be in a second, sir. Just give us a moment to-" Just then, Manaphy appears in front of them and blocks the camera.
"... ... ...what. Is that... a Manaphy? What is a legendary Pokemon doing here?"
"It should be obvious." They see the fourth Cultist laughs. Zenith recognizes the voice and says, "That voice...No, it can't be...Uncle Calereath! How did you escape?" Zenith asks.
"Heart Swap, man. It's Manaphy's ability, a move only it can learn. In battle, it switches the stat changes of two pokemon, but outside... Well, whoever was standing here is in whatever prison cell where you kept me. Ash, Serena, Zachary, you can come out too. Give me a hand."
As the three of them show themselves, Zenith grits his teeth and says, "...I should have realized. Of course, you would use your pixies to bust your way out. Not that it matters. The entire region is under my control, as well as two of the most powerful pokemon in existence- Heatran and Groudon. A prophecy and the future itself protect me."
As the two Pokemon appear, Serena says, "He even got Heatran?"
"This is bad..." Ash says. "But it is a good thing that Heatran is weak to Ground..."
"Remember: It is you who told me that the oracle tells that the chosen one would join my cult! I'll tear you four apart, one Pokemon at a time! So... who wants to go first?" Zenith asks.
Zachary says, "It is obviously a trap..."
"You said first, like you would stand a chance against me." Calreath says as he stands on top of the table. "As your uncle, I know a lot about you. You're the leader of the Infernal Cult- you use Fire- and Ground-types. I run a rain gym. You won't last five seconds."
"All right, we use the table." Zenith says as he stands on top of the table as well. He turns to the cameramen. "You two better get this on camera. I want the entire region to see me throttle the person I told them to hate. 3... 2... 1...Just kidding."
Zenith smirks as he pulls a lever, and then Calreath falls.
"Uncle Calreath?" Zachary gasps as he can't see anything through the hole.
"Well, do you think I was going to battle him? I don't take risks when I can help it. This isn't a game. That trap door opens too deep into the base. Very deep."
Ash says, "Which means that whoever Uncle Calreath's using the body goes into deep...you see Manaphy's ability is to change the humans' mind, so now you do that, Uncle Calreath just got back to the prison cell with Nora."
Zenith realizes that he is tricked, he gets frustrated and says, "Grr...that is it...I won't let this be easy for you three. Even if the two of you are my siblings, I am going to beat you so you will have no choice but to join me and this Infernal Cult."
"We are thinking the other way around." Ash says, "We will beat you so that you will learn your errors for abandoning your family for your own greed!"
Here is a new chapter, and I decide to split this into two chapters. Ash, Zachary, and Serena are going to fight against Zachary in the next chapter, and will they win and have Zenith learn their errors, or will they be defeated by Zenith and join their team as the prophecy says? I hope you like this chapter.
