Chapter 19
Eclipsed
Wayne Manor
Ash had just woken up and stretched his arms out. He got out of bed and headed for the kitchen for breakfast. As he was walking towards the kitchen, he was thinking about what was happening today. After the of him and Harleen released, there was a major uproar for answers and Ash has to do another interview with Lois to try to calm everything down. Then after that, Ash was doing something with Iris and Cilan since the League had given him a day off today and would only be contact if necessary. He was looking forward to that part of the day for multiple reasons. He reached the kitchen and saw Alfred wasn't in there. Ash was confused. He looked at the clock and saw the time was 5:30AM.
"He doesn't start for another thirty minutes. But I'm hungry now." Ash said. Since he was a guest in the house, he thought he'd be out of place if he cooked for himself. Then he thought Alfred had been making his food for him after all this time. Now Ash wanted to return the favour. "Let's see what we can make." He headed over to the fridge and saw what was inside. There was a lot of food in there. He really shouldn't be surprised since he was in a mansion. It took a while but Ash took three ingredients out the fridge. Eggs, bacon and milk. Ash cracked some eggs and put them in a bowl. He then put a handful of bacon under the grill. Ash then poured some milk in the bowl with the eggs. He then whisked until the eggs were well blended. Ash put a frying pan over some heat and poured in the milky eggs in the pan. As that was cooking, Ash took the bacon from the grill and started cutting it up into little bits. The bacon bits were then thrown into the eggs. Ash just stood there, waiting for it to finish.
"Well, I must say, I am impressed." Ash looked behind him and saw Alfred coming in the kitchen.
"Morning Alfred. Hope you're hungry. I'm making some bacon omelettes." Ash said.
"That is kind of you master Ash, but that really should be my job." Alfred said. Ash had finished cooking and put the breakfast on two plates. He picked up the plates and turned to Alfred.
"Well, everyone deserves to have a lazy day every once in a while." Ash said. Ash walked over to the table and placed the breakfast down. Ash sat down. "Please join me Alfred." Alfred walked over and sat down. He cut off a bit of the omelette and ate it.
"This is very good master Ash." Alfred said.
"Thank you Alfred." Ash said, looking smug.
"You could of put some more seasoning on here to enhance the flavour." Alfred said. Ash deadpanned.
"Everyone's a critic." Ash said. As they were enjoying their breakfast, Alfred thought it be good to change the subject.
"What are your plans for today master Ash?" Alfred asked.
"Well, I got to do another interview for Lois Lane." Ash said. Alfred thinks he knows what this was for.
"Is this all about you and Miss Quinn being a couple?" Alfred asked. Ash nodded.
"Yeah. Apparently, it's a hot topic with a hero dating a villain." Ash said. "This has divided a lot of people down the middle. There's people that support Harleen being a part of the Justice League. And yet there a people that think she's still the same and that she's trying to turn me into a life of crime." Alfred could understand. He probably have some reservations if he didn't know the whole story as well.
"Well, hopefully everything will turn out well today." Alfred said. "Is that all you're doing today?"
"No. After that, I'm looking at houses with Iris and Cilan." Ash said. This surprised Alfred.
"Really? This is a bit sudden." Alfred said.
"Well, me and Harleen have been getting on so well since we came back from Ranstad 7. Also I have been staying round hers a lot more often. It just feels right doing this sort of step right now. I want this to be a surprise for her." Ash said.
"I think she will definitely be surprised by this." Alfred said. As him and Ash finished their breakfast, Alfred stood up with both plates in his hands. "Thank you master Ash. I'll wash these up as a way to say thank you. You better get ready for that interview." Alfred said. Ash got up from his seat.
"Yeah, I actually need to pick up some Pokemon before the interview. Just in case another incident happens like last time." Ash said. He then walks out the kitchen. "Bye Alfred."
"Good bye master Ash." Alfred said.
Daily Planet
Ash had just been led to the set since he will be live at any moment now. Ash had been to the watchtower to grab a few Pokemon, one of them being Pikachu. Who was waiting behind the cameras. Ash had been in the changing room for about an hour just for the make up artists to make Ash look good. He thought it was wasting his time since he didn't cared how he looked. Ash had just received a text message. He took out his phone and had a look at it.
Good Luck. Miss you. X. Ash smiled at this. He knew this was from Harleen. He really wanted her to join him today but she was frightened what people would do to her since she's still a villain in the public's eye. He was so engrossed with the message, he didn't notice anyone joining him on set.
"Ash?" Ash looked up and saw Lois looking at him. "You need to put the phone away, we're about to go live." Ash saw she was right. One of the crew were doing the countdown for the cameras. Ash quickly put his phone away and just relaxed as much as possible. The crew member signalled that they were live and Lois began her show. "Hello and welcome to a very special episode of Pokemon Watch. A lot of you have been asking many questions around and Ash Ketchum and Harley Quinn. Well today, Ash is here to answer some of the questions. Welcome to the show Ash." Lois can see Ash was sweating a little, but he was doing a lot more better then before.
"Thank you Lois. Hopefully the same thing won't happen like last time." Ash said. Referring to the car crash that would lead up to Grodd and saving Gorilla City.
"Hopefully not." Lois said. Laughing a little. "Now Ash before we start, I can see one of your Pokemon behind the cameras there." She pointed at Pikachu.
"Yeah. I asked Pikachu to stay behind the camera since I didn't know if he was allowed on set." Ash said. Lois really wanted Pikachu on camera.
"Why don't you bring him on? I think everyone wants to know a bit more about Pikachu." Lois said. Ash was kind of expecting something like this to happen.
"If you're sure. Come on Pikachu." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said. Pikachu came running on stage and jumped up on to Ash's shoulders. Ash itches underneath Pikachu's chin.
"That's sweet. So Ash what can you tell us about Pikachu?" Lois asked. Ash already knew what he was going to say.
"Well, Pikachu's a electric type Pokemon. He's also my very first Pokemon." Ash said.
"Electric type. Does that mean he can only do electric type attacks?" Lois asked.
"No. All Pokemon are capable of doing attacks that is completely opposite of their type." Ash said. Lois found this very interesting.
"Really? I would like to ask more about that. But we'll try to get back round to that. Everyone at home and myself want to get on to the main topic. You and Harley Quinn." Lois said. Ash shifted in his seat a little bit. Getting ready for any question that comes his way. "Let's get to the main question. Are you and Harley Quinn dating?"
"Yes, we are dating." Ash said. Lois was quite surprised that Ash was straight forward with his answer.
"Do you mind telling us how it all happened?" Lois asked. Ash was happy to recount his memory, but he was trying to remember the order of which events happened.
"We first met each other at a cafe that's owned by one of my close friends. She was being all playful at first, but there were two particular memories that told me she could be someone that I could spend they rest of my life with." Ash said. Lois lent in, wanting to hear everything. The cameras and boom mics also got closer. "The first memory was when I was having trouble sleeping because I was mourning the death of my mother." Lois wasn't expecting that.
"Ash, I'm so sorry to hear that." Lois said.
"It's fine. I've accepted it now." Ash said. "When I was younger, I used to have trouble sleeping and my mum had a song that would put me to sleep. Harley got me to lay down on the bed and she sang the same song."
"How did she know the song?" Lois asked. Ash had to lie since she got the song from the spirit of his mother.
"I guess it was one of those lost gem songs." Ash said. "After she done that for me, I asked her out to dinner to say thank you. But I got injured during one of the fights and had to put dinner on hold. That part of the day was the best and worst moment I had. The best was when I saw Harley in her dress. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen at that moment and that hasn't changed ever since. And it was the worst moment because I made her cry when I got injured. I was able to make it up to her and made her a home cook meal. Afterwards I walked her home and after she saved me, we made things official." Lois had caught all of that information.
"She saved you? How did she save you?" Lois asked. Ash didn't know how to answer this.
"I think it's her place that answer that. If you want to, I can try to convince her to come on here to do a couples edition." Ash said. Lois liked that idea and thought of so many things to do on that.
"I'd be very interested in doing that Ash. We can talk about that later on." Lois said. "When you started going out with Harley Quinn, did you think how people would about you and her." Ash had to think about it.
"Not at all. When I first met her, I didn't know who she was." Ash said. Lois found this interesting.
"You didn't know about her. How?" Lois asked. Did she forget what Ash already told her?
"Well I'm not really from around this area. But when I met her, she was just herself. When I found out who she was, there was a rough patch between us. But after having sometime to think about things, I realised that she's the best thing that's happened to me and I didn't want to lose her. We've been stronger then ever after that. Yeah, we get all sorts of mixed comments but we don't let them bother us. But I'm hoping people will give her a chance like the Justice League when they let her into the League." Ash said. This caught Lois's attention.
"So she is in the Justice League then?" Lois asked.
"Yes, she has saved us so many times that I feel like I can trust her with my life." Ash said. But Ash was about to find out that there might be a problem.
"That's great Ash, but do you think the comments that are being made on the Glorious Gordon Godfrey show maybe countering what you are saying?" Lois asked. Ash had no idea what she had just said.
"The what show?" Ash asked.
Watchtower
Ash, Harleen, his friends and the League, except Batman, we're in the observation deck watching the Glorious Gordon Godfrey late night talk show. During the interview, Ash found out what has been said on this show. And he was not happy. Some of the things that has been aimed at Harleen had been uncalled for. Yes, she did bad things in the past. But it's clear that she's trying to redeem herself. But this Gordon Godfrey we're making things very difficult.
"If you saw that Pokemon Watch interview today, then you would of heard how Harley Quinn has wrapped Ash Ketchum's mind and gained her way into the Justice League. If she thinks that everyone will think of her differently because she done a few good deeds. She is sadly mistaken. Ash and the Justice League are the stupidest people ever for letting the witch that has strong connections with the Joker into their team." Gordon said on the tv. Ash turned around to everyone with a angry look on his face.
"What is his problem. He just insulted us and we can't defend ourselves against him." Ash said. Everyone could see he was upset and tried to calm him down.
"Ash you need to calm down." Lana said.
"Yeah, this is just what he wants for us." Kate said. As everyone was attending to Ash, Gary whispered over to Flash.
"Hey, what you say we pay that Godfrey a visit?" Gary asked. Flash gave a smile.
"That sounds like fun." Flash said. Flash quickly grabbed Gary and ran out the room without anyone knowing.
"Ash, it's fine. I was expecting this sort of reaction when I first joined." Harleen said. Ash looked at her and felt bad he didn't defended her better.
"I'm sorry Harleen. If I knew any of this was going on, I would of tried to stop this a long time ago." Ash said. Harleen took Ash's hands and got him to look her in the eye.
"Sweetie I know you would of. That's enough for me." Harleen said. Superman caughts everyone's attention.
"Why is Flash and Gary on tv?" Superman asked. Everyone turned towards the tv and they saw Gary and Flash confronting the tv host.
"What gives you the right to bad mouth people that have saved not only your life but the entire planet countless times?" Gary asked.
"And give Harley a break. She's been breaking her back trying to put her past life behind." Flash said. Godfrey was shocked at first with the sudden appearance but then grinned.
"Well everyone, we have some special guests. The Flash and. Sorry who are you?" Godfrey asked Gary. Gary thought he'd have a little fun.
"Butsniff, first name Ima." Gary said. Godfrey didn't catch on what had happened.
"Welcome I'm a butt sni..." Godfrey stopped himself and looked at Gary. "Very funny. But seriously, who are you?"
"Gary." Gary said.
"Nice to have you on the show. Please, take a seat you two." Godfrey said. Gary and Flash took a seat. "So Gary, are you also part of the Justice League?"
"I'm a part of the science team." Gary said. Godfrey found some fuel. Now to set it a light.
"Really? I didn't realise the League did any advertisements." Godfrey said. Flash was wondering where he was getting at.
"Well, no. I got a job there since I knew Ash since we were children." Gary said. Godfrey found the flame.
"You hear that people. Ash is such a pushover, you only need to befriend him to get on to the watchtower." Godfrey said. Flash didn't like what he said and stood up from his seat.
"Hey. Ash is no pushover." Flash said. Godfrey turned his attention on Flash.
"And as for you. You think because you are a part of the Justice League that you can interrupt anyone without any warning?" Godfrey asked. Flash just stood there, dumbfounded. Everyone back at the watchtower couldn't believe what had happened.
"They went to see Gordon to defend us and they made themselves targets." John said. Ash saw the time and realised he was going to be late for the house viewing.
"Oh I need to go." Ash said. Ash then turned to Iris and Cilan. "Are you two still coming?" Iris and Cilan smiled.
"Absolutely." Cilan said.
"Of course." Iris said. They walked over and went to leave the room with Ash.
"What are we going to do about them though?" Shayera said. Pointing at the tv show situation. Ash had a idea.
"I got this. MEW!" Ash shouted. Mew suddenly appeared in front of Ash. "Can you pick up Gary and Flash please. Also leave a little gift for the Glorious one." Mew nodded and disappeared. As soon as Mew left, Ash, Iris and Cilan left the room.
"What the?" Everyone looked back at the tv and saw Mew had arrived at the show. "What's that?" Godfrey asked.
"It's Mew." Gary said.
"What's it doing here?" Flash asked. Mew looked at Godfrey and his eyes glowed blue. Coulds formed over Godfrey and rain started to pour over him. Gary, Flash and everyone on the watchtower were laughing their heads off. Mew looked back at Gary and Flash and the three of them disappeared. Leaving a wet Gordon Godfrey looking sour on live tv.
Vacant House
Ash, Iris and Cilan were standing in the middle of the living room with the realtor. It was spacious, mostly because it was empty. This was the last room of the house they had seen. They saw all the other rooms and they liked each room more and more. But Ash was just thinking if this place would be the best thing for Harleen.
"So what do you think?" The realtor asked. Ash gave it a thought.
"The house looks really good. Do you mind if we can have some time to talk?" Ash asked. The realtor nodded.
"Of course. Take your time." The realtor said as he left the room. Ash turned to Cilan and Iris.
"What do you two think?" Ash asked. Cilan and Iris looked at each other. They both had the same thought. They then looked back at Ash.
"Well, it is a nice place Ash. But I can't help to think if there's a place that's more compatible with you and Harleen." Cilan said.
"Yeah, also this is a big place. Do you think you'd be able to keep up with the payments?" Iris asked. Ash had looked at the expenses and he did know that there could be a problem.
"It's possible, but then we'd only be left with very little afterwards." Ash said. Iris came forward to say what everyone was thinking.
"Ash, it probably be best just to wait." Iris said. But Ash thought this could be a problem.
"But what if this is the house where me and Harleen start a family and I miss the opportunity to grab this." Ash said. Cilan came in with the final nail.
"There is a perfect house for you and Harleen. And based on my evaluation, this is not the place. If you thought this house was right for the both of you, you would of felt it." Cilan said. Ash knew Cilan was right. It was too bad since he really wanted to surprise Harleen.
"Ok, thank you guys." Ash said. At this point, the realtor walked back in the room.
"So, have you had some time to think it over?" The realtor asked. Ash looked at him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry but I don't think this place is right for me and my other half." Ash said. The realtor looked a bit disappointed but he put on a professional smile.
"It's not called window shopping for nothing. You just need to see what's on offer. I do have a few more house that could be good for you. We can make a appointment to arrange some more viewings." The realtor said. Ash smiled at the response.
"That will be great." Ash said.
High Street
After they left the house, they decided to have a little walk through the Main Street. There were people doing their shopping, catching up with friends, trying out new places, all sort of different reasons. Ash, Iris and Cilan were grabbing hot meals from one of the stands.
"Thank you." Ash said. They then walked away and eating their meals.
"I'm really sorry that house wasn't the one you were looking for." Cilan said. Ash looked at them with ketchup on his face.
"Why are you sorry. It's no ones fault." Ash said. Iris and Cilan were trying so hard to contain their laughter and Ash saw this. "What happened?" Iris pulled out her phone and took a picture.
"You're not a kid anymore Ash. You should stop acting like one." Iris said as she showed Ash the picture. Ash quickly wiped off the ketchup. Iris then had an idea. "You know, I think everyone back at the watchtower should see this." Ash immediately tried to grab the phone off of Iris but she was quick to dodge him.
"Iris, don't you..." But Ash was too late.
"Sent." Iris said. Seconds later, Ash and Cilan's phones went off. They took out their phones and saw the picture Ash. Ash looked at Iris.
"Iris. If you want a prank war, then I'll gi..." Ash was interrupted when he heard a familiar voice.
"THEN HOW DID THEY GET THE CLIP!" Ash and the others looked over and Flash yelling at a man in a suit. They were wondering what was going on.
"Isn't that Flash?" Cilan asked.
"Yeah but why is he yelling?" Iris asked.
"Only one way to find out." Ash said as him the others walked over. As they got closer, they could hear the businessman trying to calm Flash down but Flash was pretty steamed. Ash decided to get his attention. "Hey Flash, is something wrong?" Flash turned round and saw the gang.
"Oh hey guys. There's a blunder clip of me in between takes for an ad. And somehow the producers of Glorious Gordon Godfrey show got hold of that clip." Flash said.
"Flash I told you, I don't know how the clip got out there." The businessman said. Flash looked back at the man with a unpleasant face.
"Oh I think we both know how they got hold of the tape. And if I find out that I'm right, there will be serious legal action." Flash said. Ash and the others thought he was just pinpointing at one person.
"Flash, take a step back and think about this." Iris said.
"Yeah, I mean there were other people duri..." Cilan was interrupted when a explosion was heard. They looked at the source of the sound and saw it came from a nearby power plant. This caused concern.
"That isn't good." Flash said. Ash knew the potential danger everyone was in. He quickly looked at Iris and Cilan and took out his receiver.
"I'm sorry but I need you safe." Ash said. Ash pressed a button and Iris and Cilan disappeared. Now that they were out of the way, Ash turned to Flash. "We better get moving now." Flash nodded and grabbed Ash. The businessman stood in the way of them.
"Hey what about me?" The Businessman asked. Flash just plainly looked at him.
"Duck?" Flash asked. He then zoomed towards the power plant. Flash and Ash arrived at the base of the plant and saw that Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were already there.
"Guys, what's the situation?" Flash asked as him and Ash stopped. The two heroes looked at them.
"All we know about is the explosion at the moment. Nothing else." Wonder Woman said.
"But it's a good thing you two are here. We need to contain this fire fast." Green Lantern said. He wasn't wrong. The fire that the explosion caused was raging. It was in the immediate area but it was going to start spreading soon.
"I thought that would catch your attention." The heroes looked up and saw someone holding a large gun. What the man was wearing was questionable since he was dressed like he was from the retro 80's.
"Who are you?" Ash asked. The man just had a smirk on his face.
"Just someone who wants to see what you are capable of." The man said. Really? The man did this just for that?
"There's a thing called the internet. You can watch our videos there." Flash said. But while they were talking, they didn't know the danger the entire city was in.
"But there's nothing like seeing it first hand. And at the moment I'm really disappointed." The man said. The heroes looked at each other. What is he talking about? "You've been so busy seeing who caused this fire that you haven't surveyed the area to see if the fire is somewhere else." This got the heroes scared now.
"What have you done?" Wonder Woman asked.
"There's a room burning in this plants sewer system that's full of flammable gases. And they could go off at any point if you don't act fast." The man said. Is he serious? The plants sewer system runs through the entire city. If those gases go off, the city would be wiped off the map. The heroes needed to act fast. Green Lantern took charge.
"Flash, you and Ash head down to the sewers and put out that fire. Diana, you take care of the cosplayer up there." Green Lantern said as he pointed at the arson. "And I'll try to put out the fire up here."
"You got it GL. Come on Ash." Flash said as he grabbed Ash and ran into the sewers. Flash and Ash stopped and they were instantly surrounded by fire. The heat was so intense that the flammable materials in the room could explode at any moment. Ash quickly turned to Flash.
"Quick, cool down the gas pipes. I'll put out the fire." Ash said. Flash nodded and started making a vortex with his arms, cooling the area. Ash grabbed three pokeballs. "Guys, put out this fire." The balls snapped open. Squirtle, Totodile and Oshawott appeared. They immediately used water gun on various parts of the area. It took them two minutes to put the fire out. "Great job everyone." Ash said as he returned the three Pokemon. Flash came towards Ash.
"We just avoided a big disastar." Flash said.
"Yeah, no kidding." Ash said. "We better head back too to see if they need a hand." Flash agreed. He quickly grabbed Ash and raced back to the base of the plant. As they stopped, Green Lantern flew down to meet them.
"Did you manage to put out the fire?" Green Lantern asked. Both Ash and Flash nodded.
"Yeah, everyone is safe now." Ash said. Flash quickly looked round the area.
"And I see you managed to stop the fire up here too." Flash said. It's true. The fire had cleared, there wasn't even any embers.
"Yeah. I onl..."
"PLEASE HELP ME!" The heroes looked up and saw Wonder Woman holding the man over the edge of the plant, upside down. The man looked at Wonder Woman. "Please, I don't know how I got here. Put me down, please." Diana looked at the man.
"You are a pathetic excuse of a soldier. I have no use for you anymore." Wonder Woman said. She let go of the man and he started falling. The heroes saw this and shocked that Diana would do something like this. John quickly flew up and caught the man. John landed and put the man on the ground. Diana flew down and joined the others. Ash looked at her.
"Why did you do that for?" Ash asked. Diana looked at him.
"He said I wasn't pretty." Diana said. Ash knew she was lying. Flash lifted up the man from the ground.
"We better get him to the station and start asking questions." Flash said. The heroes nodded and started walking away. But Ash had another idea.
"I actually better head back to the watchtower. I sent Iris and Cilan up there when all this happened. I just want to check to see if they were okay." Ash said. Green Lantern nodded at him.
"It's no problem. This guy shouldn't be too much to handle now. Just rest in case something else comes up." John said. The heroes then resumed their walk towards the police station. Before Ash headed back, he just wanted to check something. He wanted to know if something had changed with Wonder Woman. Ash closed his eyes and used his aura sight. He saw that everyone's but Diana's aura were the same. For some reason, Diana's aura was a dark shade of purple. What? Ash opened his eyes. Ash thought his mind was playing tricks on him. No one can change their aura like that. Can they?
Watchtower
Ash got back up to the watchtower. He checked on Iris and Cilan and they assured him that they were fine. After a while Ash heard back from Flash. The man was named McCormick and he was a general. He apparently had no idea how he got there, the last thing he remembers was that he was still in the army base. When the heroes left the station, they were attacked by a aged man who knew how to fight. He was able to hold his own against the three heroes. They were able to stop him though before he cut off Diana's head. Flash took the man to a mental hospital while John brought Diana back to rest. When Ash saw Diana, he used his aura vision again and saw that her aura was back to normal. So Ash must of made a mistake the first time. To clear his head, he went to the Pokemon room to feed the Pokemon. All the Pokemon were eating while Ash was sat at the side of the room. Ash heard the door open and saw Harleen come in.
"Ash, I heard what happened. Are you okay?" Harleen asked as she hugged Ash.
"Yeah I'm fine. We were quick to stop everything." Ash said. He broke the hug and looked at Harleen. "It was just some wannabe."
"Still, I wish I could of helped. But at least everything's better." Harleen said. She snuggled up against Ash which Ash embraced it. Then a vine whip came between them and broke them up. They looked over and saw it was Bayleef. They chuckled at her reaction. "She still doesn't like the idea of you and me."
"Don't worry. She'll get used to it." Ash said. The two heard the door opening again and saw Brock, Tracey and Clemont walk in the room. They were walking over to the couple.
"Hey you two. How are things in here?" Tracey asked. The two smiled at them.
"We're doing fine Tracey. What are you guys doing in here?" Ash asked. Brock was happy to answer this question.
"We were wondering if we could talk to Harleen?" Brock asked. The reason they couldn't talk in front of Ash was because it was something to do with his surprise party.
"Yeah sure. We can talk outside." Harleen said. Ash was quick to stop her.
"No, you guys can stay in here. I need to see if Flash is back. I need to find out what happened with the attacker." Ash said. He quickly kissed Harleen on the lips and walked out the room.
"I'll tell you what, Ash has gotten a lot more comfortable doing those sorts of things in public now." Clemont said. Did Clemont forget what happened?
"Yeah, because the world knows about them." Brock said. Clemont gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head.
"Ok, what is it that I can help you with?" Harleen asked. The boys looked at her.
"We were just wondering if there's anything we can do to help with Ash's party." Tracey said. Harleen thought it was nice of them to ask but most of the stuff have been done.
"Just keep Ash distracted. Everything's nearly ready now and I hate for everything to be spoilt with it being this close." Harleen said. The boys nodded.
"Yeah, we can do that." Clemont said.
"We can try to keep him out of the part of the watchtower with the party in." Brock said. Everyone's receiver went off and Flash's voice came through the oversize.
"I need everyone to meet me on the observation deck immediately." Flash said. He then cut the line.
"I wonder what this is about." Tracey said.
"I don't know but we better go." Clemont said. The boys turned and left the room. Harleen was going to follow them but she had a bad feeling something was going to happen. She thought it be a good idea to have some Pokemon come as backup. She looked at Bayleef but saw Bayleef purposely did not acknowledge her. Harleen felt hurt by that reaction. She hopes that her and Bayleef can be friends soon. She looked round again and she saw 3 Pokemon that would make great backup.
"Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja." Harleen said. The Pokemon looked at her. "Come with me. I need your help." The Pokemon nodded. They walked their way over to Harleen and followed her out the room. They reached the observation deck with everyone else already there. Harleen saw Ash and to her he looked different. She couldn't put her finger on it though. Flash got underway.
"Thank you for coming." Flash said. But everyone wanted to know what this was about.
"What's going on?" Superman asked.
"The old guy that attacked Diana told me what was happening with McCormick and why he tried to hurt Diana. They were holding a gem that's possessed by reptilians and if you're holding it, they take over control of your body." Flash said. Some of the people in the room found it hard to believe.
"So are you assuming one of us have it?" Professor Oak asked. Flash then went over to the monitor and turned on the screen.
"I know one of you have it." Flash said. He played security footage and it showed Martian taking a AFD from one of the Javelin. Martian looked like he was shocked at what he was seeing.
"What? I don't remember doing that." Martian said. Flash stopped the footage, ran out the room and came back with a clear gem in his hand.
"I thought that might be the case. So the old guy lent me this. The spirits don't do well with bright lights. So everyone stay where you are." Flash said as he began to use the gems power to see who had the evil gem. He started with Martian, he was clear. Then Lillie, she was clear. Diana, clear. Flash kept on doing this a few more times. When it reached Shayera, the gem was destroyed. The thing that destroyed it, it looked like a aura sphere. I can't be. Everyone looked at Ash and saw a dark aura has engulfed him. Ash started laughing menacingly.
"Looking for this?" Ash asked as he pulled out a dark gem. Everyone couldn't believe it.
"He has it." Mallow said. Harleen looked mad.
"Hey, get out of my boyfriend now." Harleen said. Evil Ash looked at her.
"So this hosts body has a close connection with you then. At least I know who to kill first." Ash said as he threw a aura sphere at Harleen. She was paralysed with fear she couldn't move. Batgirl pushed Harleen out of the way and the attack narrowly missed the both of them. When the Pokemon saw this, they knew this wasn't Ash so they got into action. Infernape and Greninja knocked Ash down and pinned both his arms to the floor.
"Let go of me foul beasts." Ash said. He still had the gem in his hands. Sceptile jumped overhead and used its bush tail to knock the gem out of Ash's hand. The gem landed in front of Shayera. With this opportunity, she had one thing on her mind. Smash it. She rised her mace. John saw this action and quickly put a shield up in front of everyone. Shayera swung down and smashed the gem, breaking it into tiny pieces. Once everything settled down, Green Lantern brought down the shield.
"Is everyone okay?" John asked.
"Yeah." Max said.
"I'm just glad that's over." Dawn said. She was wrong.
"I wouldn't say that." They looked over and saw Ash had been repossessed. And the pokemon were standing behind him.
"Oh no, the spirits back inside Ash." Harleen said. She then looked at the Pokemon. "Quick guys, hold him down." The pokemon didn't respond. "Infernape? Gre..." Harleen stopped when the same dark aura engulfed the three Pokemon. Ash had a smirk now.
"This should be fun." Ash said as him and the Pokemon started to approach everyone. Superman quickly looked at Batgirl and Harleen.
"Take everyone and activate the lockdown system in the Pokemon room. We can't take the risk of anymore pokemon getting possess." Superman said. But the girls wanted to help Ash.
"What about Ash though?" Batgirl asked. Superman looked at Ash.
"Me and the others will try to find a way to get the shards of the gem off of them. But it won't be easy since they will be fighting back." Superman said as he levitated off the ground. "Now go." The girls nodded.
"Ok, please bring Ash back." Harleen said. She then looked at everyone else. "Come on everyone let's go." With her saying this, everyone except the Justice League headed towards the Pokemon room. Ash saw them leave.
"It's pointless, everyone on here will not survive this." Ash said. The League had a displeasing look on their faces.
"You won't get a chance to touch them." Diana said as she charged in. Infernape jumped in front of Ash. Diana was about to punch but Infernape used Mach punch and their fists collided. Infernape then used flamethrower and made Diana to back away. Martian flew in and tried to hit Infernape. Infernape jumped up and activated flare blitz. It aimed at Martian and headed towards him. Martian phases through the floor and the attack hit the ground, causing a small explosion. Shayera and Flash were using the hit and run tactic against Sceptile. Sceptile was able to move enough so the attacks were light. Sceptile had enough and divided to sort them out now. As Shayera was going to hit with the mace again, Sceptile quickly used leaf blade to cut her wrist, which made her let go of the mace. With the pain distracting her, Sceptile used pound and slammed Shayera against the wall. Sceptile then saw Flash coming back. He quickly sidestepped and Flash missed him. Flash looked behind him and saw Sceptile was gone. Where did he go? When he looked in front of him again, he saw Sceptile firing bullet seeds at him. The seeds hit and they were painful. Flash lose balance and crashed to the floor. Sceptile was about to attack again but Shayera knocked him down. Greninja threw two water shurikens at John. John brought up a shield and stopped the attacks.
"Ha. Is that all you got?" John asked. Now really wasn't the best time to gloat. Greninja started using double team and the copies of Greninja were surrounding John at all angles. John didn't know what was going to happen so he put himself in a protective dome from his ring. The Greninjas made up water shurikens and threw them at the dome. They hit and they were cutting their way through the dome. John was now starting to worry. "I don't know how long I can keep this up." Ash and Superman has not moved from their spots.
"I'll give you one last chance. Surrender now." Superman said. Ash just laughed at him.
"No, it be a lot more fun to kill you." Ash said. Superman looked angry.
"So be it." Superman said as he flew towards Ash. Ash got a aura punch ready. Superman was about to hit Ash but both Ash's and Superman's fists collided, causing a shock wave. Everyone but Harleen and Batgirl were in the Pokemon room now.
"Ok everyone, stay here." Bargirl said.
"And do not open this door until one of us gets you." Harleen said. Everyone nodded.
"We understand, good luck." Misty said. The door closed and Batgirl activated the lockdown system. Harleen looked at Batgirl.
"What do we do now?" Harleen asked. Batgirl pulled out her phone.
"I'm going to phone Batman. We're going to need his help." Batgirl said. The phone was about to connect but it was destroyed by bullet seed. The phone dropped to the floor and the two girls looked over to see Ash and his pokemon looking at them.
"And here I thought you were going to make it more interesting for me." Ash said. Ash and the Pokemon started advancing towards them. Batgirl had a plan.
"Harleen, go get your bat and head for the javelin. We need Batman's help." Batgirl said. Harleen looked at her.
"But what about you?" Harleen asked.
"I'm going to buy you some time." Batgirl said as she charges in. Harleen was suddenly surprised.
"Barbra wait." Harleen said.
"Go now." Batgirl said. Harleen didn't want to go but knew that this was her only chance. She turned and ran away. Batgirl jumped in the air and dived into the group. Harleen reaches her room and grabbed her metal bat. Before she started running again she heard Batgirls scream down the hallway. She knew she had to start running again now. She ran with all her strength to the javelin bay. She reached the room, but she didn't get far as a flamethrower burnt her leg, causing her to collapse. She looked behind her and saw Ash and the Pokemon slowly walking towards her.
"Be grateful. You will be the first to die before the AFD that I sent into space eclipses the sun." Ash said. What did he say? If that happens then that means, human extinction. "Before the monkey burns you alive, I'm going to let your boyfriend back out so he can watch you burn." Was this it for Harleen. Four against one and she only had a metal bat. She was going to lose. She was never meant to be a hero. She let everyone down. Ash, his friends, the Pokemon, Batman, Flash. Wait. Flash said something earlier on. 'The spirits don't do well with bright lights.' Bright lights. Does that include the sun. Harleen looked over and saw she wasn't that far away from the shutters that were blocking out the sun light. She started to crawl over to the switch that would reveal the sun light. "Is your time living really that precious to you. Just accept the inevitable and die." Harleen grabbed on to the edge and stood herself up. The shutter button was right next to her.
"You first." Harleen said. She pressed the button and the shutters started to open. Sun light started to seep through and the dark gem shards were starting to burn off their hosts body. They were in pain. The light now engulfed the room and the last of the shards were destroyed. The four hosts bodies collapsed to the floor. Harleen tried to quickly get to Ash but fell to the floor since her leg was still in pain. She crawled over to Ash's body and started shaking him. "Ash wake up. Please tell me your okay." Ash started to stir and opened his eyes. He looked at Harleen. "Harleen, what happened?" Harleen was relieved that Ash was fine.
"Ash. You're back." Harleen said. She threw herself over Ash and hugged him. Ash sat up while still in the hug.
"Yeah, I'm fine Harleen." Ash said. He broke the hug. Something then caught his eye. Harleens burnt leg. "Harleen, what happened to your leg." Harleen was about to tell him, but she remembered what evil Ash revealed.
"Ash we got no time. An AFD is heading towards the sun. If it hit." Harleen said. Ash didn't need her to finish that. He knew what would happen. He got up and looked out the window. He saw the device and it was nearly at the sun. Ash looked down.
"It's too late. I won't be able to reach it in time." Ash said. Ash couldn't believe it. He let everyone down. It was because of him that everyone was about to die. But Harleen wasn't going to give up that easily. She's made it this far, she can finish the job. Something could help save the world. But what? Wait a minute. Ash did something earlier today that brought Gary and Flash back from that tal... THAT'S IT.
"MEW!!!" Harleen shouted. Ash looked at her and Mew appeared in front of Harleen. "Mew, you see that device." She pointed at the device in space. Mew nodded. "You need to stop it from reaching the sun." Mew nodded again and teleported itself outside. Mew was out of reach from the AFD because of the suns heat. Mew had to do something. She had to find a Pokemon that's used to the space environment and can send the device somewhere else. And her thoughts had been answered as she just Palkia flying by. She sent a telepathic message to Palkia. Palkia received the message and started racing towards the sun. Ash picked up Harleen bridal style and walked over to the window to see if Palkia makes it in time. Palkia was cutting it close now. But he needs to be closer to do what he needs to do. The AFD is about to hit the sun. 5, 4, 3, 2. Palkia was close enough now. He swung his arm and opened a portal to the space dimension. The AFD went straight in. Palkia closed the portal. The earth is safe. Harleen had a question. "What happened?"
"Palkia sent it to the space dimension. It's where it can't do any harm to anyone." Ash said.
"Will it ever come back?" Harleen asked.
"The space dimension is endless. We won't be seeing it again." Ash said. This was a relief for Harleen to hear. It was only then she realised how Ash was holding her and she giggled. Ash looked at her.
"What's so funny?" Ash asked. Harleen looked at him.
"It's just I didn't know I was going to be held like this, this soon." Harleen said. Ash knew what she was talking about and found it funny too. But overall, Ash felt proud for Harleen. She was the hero today. She saved everyone by herself in the end. They looked at each other and were drawn closer to each other. They kissed with the sunlight raining down on them.
The Next Day
Everyone was in the canteen, celebrating Harleen's victory. After everything was safe, Ash and Harleen let everyone out of the Pokemon room and made sure the League members were okay. Brock and Dawn treated all the heroes and Pokemon that were affected by the event. Because of Harleen, she had to use crutches for a while. As everyone was celebrating, Flash was on the phone to someone and approached Ash and Harleen.
"Hey Ash, Harleen." Flash said. Ash and Harleen looked at him. "My agent Artie is on the phone. He wants to talk to us." Flash then put the phone on loud speaker. "You're on loud speaker."
"Ash, my boy. This is Artie. We met back when that plant exploded." Artie said. Now Ash remembers him. "Anyway I'm going to cut to the chase. There's multiple studios that want to do deals with you three. Films, TV, adverts. And there's big money in it as well. What do you say?" Ash and Harleen looked at each other and smiled. Was this guy serious? He two timed Flash. Ash spoke to Artie.
"Artie. I'm afraid me and Harleen aren't interested in any of that." Ash said. Artie was going to use every trick he knows.
"Ash, please, lis..."
"Artie, you heard him. They're not interested. But I know this guy that would be interested. You can say he's crazy enough to do anything." Flash said as he walked away from the two. Then May caught everyone's attention.
"Everyone, our favourite show is on." May said. Everyone looked at the tv. It was Gordon Godfrey's new show called Gord Morning. After the news came out that Harleen saved the world, there was a huge outcry to boycott Gordon's late night show. Gordon manage to keep his job with three conditions. 1. His show would need to be in the morning. 2. He would need to publicly apologise to Harleen and the League. 3. He was no longer allowed to say anything bad that might hurt the Justice Leages reputation.
"Gord Morning. Welcome to my new show that has the lowest views on tv today. Did I need to say that?" Gordon asked the crew behind the camera. There was laughter in the studio. But Gordon continued with his show. "Before we start, I'd like to say sorry for the thing I said about the Justice League and mostly towards Harley Quinn. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here right now. Everyone deserves to have a chance to show their courage and yesterday Harley Quinn's courage shines the brightest. Okay, today's topic." May decided to mute the show.
"At least we're won't need to worry about him now." May said as she looked at everyone.
"Yeah and every other show is talking about Harleen as well now." Serena said. Everyone felt enormous pride at this point. But Ash had to look at another house soon.
"Well everyone, me and Brock need to take care of something. We'll be back later." Ash said. As him and Brock started to leave the room, Harleen called out to Ash.
"Sweetie, don't get into anymore trouble." Harleen jokes. Ash quickly looked at Harleen.
"If I do, I'll just call my beautiful hero." Ash joked. He left the room and left Harleen blushing.
Street
Ash and Brock were walking towards the next house viewing. They were going at a relaxing speed since they sensed that everyone were at peace.
"I really need to find the right house Brock." Ash said. Brock looked at him.
"You will buddy. It's just going to take time." Brock said.
"I know Brock but I don't want to keep Harleen waiting too long. I want to show her how much she means to me." Ash said. Brock couldn't believe the man Ash was turning into.
"Ash, from the 10 year old kid that I first knew, you really have come a long way." Brock said. They arrived at the house and met the estate agent outside.
"There you are. Nice to see you again. Shall we start?" The realtor asked. Ash smiled.
"That sounds great." Ash said. The realtor let Ash and Brock in the house and he closed the door behind them.
And that finishes this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Some of the bigger chapters are about to come up so things will start to get interesting.
First of all, I like to say thank you for the support you have shown this story. And also I've seen that there are concerns about the story stopping. Let me assure you, this story does have an ending. This story won't be abandoned and it will be finished. Apart from My New Life Academia, I do have other commitments and side hobbies I need to do. I also have been thinking of a few more story ideas.
One more thing. I said one of the chapters would be based on one of Batman's famous storylines. Well as a little treat, let's reveal the title... The Killing Joke. Has that caught your interest?
I'll be writing the next chapter of My New Life Academia now. But after I'm done with that, I'll be back here.
But in the next chapter. New heroes appear, adventures in another dimension and a bit of soul hunting. It's all kicking off with 'The Terror Beyond.'