Chapter 21
Secret Society
Watchtower
In space, there is a space station called the watchtower. The lights were on and everything seemed peaceful. But in one particular room, it was mayhem. It's a room that has been out of bounds to one member of the Justice League. Ash Ketchum. In the room, most of the watchtowers workers are putting up decorations, setting up sound systems and organising food and beverages. But the one that's working the hardest is Harley Quinn. She is literally running back and forth in the room trying to make everything perfect.
"No that needs to be there. Yes keep it like that. Don't move it. What are you doing? Are trying to ruin everything?" Harley asked. Everyone could see that she was stressing out. Everyone saw how much this means to her and wanted to calm her down. Misty and May approached Harley.
"Harleen." Misty started but Harley quickly turned to them.
"I told you before, when I'm in my uniform, call me Harley Quinn." Harley said. She wanted everyone to get used to calling her hero name when she's in her costume.
"About that, do you get hot in that? It just looks like you don't get much air in there with it being a one piece." May said. Harley looked down at her costume. To be honest, she was thinking of a change.
"Yeah, you're not wrong there. Also, I want a fresh costume so I can have a fresh start as a hero." Harley said. Misty and May looked at each other, mentally saying 'we can sort that out.' Harley looked at another area of the room. "Tracey, the banner needs to be over to the right." Misty and May got Harley's attention again.
"Harley, do you think you are overworking yourself here? You're doing this for Ash. He'll love it in any state since you did all this." Misty said. Harley wanted this to be perfect for a special reason.
"But it needs to be special since I'm planning to tell him something on the day." Harley said. Both the girls didn't know what she was talking about.
"What are you going to tell him?" May asked. Harley had a blush on her face and Diana was walking by.
"That I love him." Harley said. Diana stopped in her tracks and looked at her. Misty and May gasped.
"Are you being serious?" May asked.
"That's a big deal." Misty said. Diana joined in the conversation.
"So you built up the courage to tell him the second time." Diana said. Misty and May looked at Diana. What did she mean? They then looked back at Harley.
"This isn't your first time saying it?" Misty asked. Harley put her hands up to stop them in their tracks and put something straight.
"First time didn't count. When I told him he was..." Harley didn't finish that sentence as she was starting the tear up as she remembered what led her to say that. Diana saw she was having trouble and decided to help her.
"She said it during the Dr. Destiny incident while Ash was in that condition." Diana said. Misty and May understood what she meant. Harleen told Ash she loved him while he was dead. So this will be the first time Ash will hear it.
"Harley, we had no idea." Misty said.
"We'll do whatever it takes to make it special for you both." May said. Misty and May went back to helping with the decorations.
"I'm sorry Harley. I know you're still not used to that idea that Ash was gone." Diana said. It was true. It has been some months since the incident and Harley still fears that she will lose Ash at some point.
"It's fine. We're part of the Justice League and I know that's part of the risk." Harley said. At this point, Hawkgirl came up to them.
"It's good that you realise that. But you surely do know that we would do anything to make sure Ash gets back to you at the end of the day." Hawkgirl said. With Hawkgirl and Ash having a mother-son type relationship. Hawkgirl saw Harley as a future daughter in law and would do anything to help.
"I do know and I'm thankful for that." Harley said. "And I'm thankful to everyone that is helping right now." Hawkgirl had a question on her mind.
"Oh yeah, are we still on for the girls day out?" Hawkgirl said. Harley smiled at this.
"Yeah, it's in a couple of days. And remember, Ivy will be joining us." Harley said. Diana still had some worries about Ivy.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring her along?" Diana asked.
"I already told you. She's my best friend and she promised not to do anything nasty during girls day out." Harley said.
"Ok." Diana accepted it for now but she was going to keep an eye on Ivy. Max and Bonnie burst into the room looking like they were running from something.
"Harley, Ash is coming." Bonnie said.
"Yeah, he's on his way here now." Max said. Harley knee what to do but still started to panic.
"Ok, ok, ok. Everyone keep on doing what you are doing and if you have any questions, ask either Dawn or Serena." Harley said as she ran out the room. Harley opened and shut the door within the blink of an eye. She did it at the right time as Ash was about to open the room's door itself. This surprised Harley when she saw Ash standing in front of her.
"You came out of there in a hurry." Ash said. Harley was acting nervous, trying to get his attention off of the room.
"I was trying to work on my reaction times when going from room to room." Harley said. That was probably the worst excuse she came up with but she had to think of something. Luckily for her, this was Ash.
"I would of never thought of that, good work." Ash said. "Anyway, Martian and Green Lantern needs our help with a possible heist."
"Yes, of course. Let's go now." Harley said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the room. Little did they know, this would be the start of terrible events.
Lab
In a dark computer lab, a battle was happening. Ash threw a aura sphere at someone. The aura sphere was quickly intercepted by a dark energy. Ash jumped out of the way of the attack. Martian tried to dive in to punch the attacker. The attacker covered Martian with the dark energy, which caused Martian to crash on the floor. Green Lantern landed on the floor to check up Martian.
"You ok?" Green Lantern asked. Martian got back up.
"I am fine, Shade seems to be well prepared for this fight." Martian said. The League caught Shade stealing a powerful computer chip and now they are trying to get it back from him.
"Why don't you just leave me alone already. We've been here for a while." Shade said. Ash threw another aura sphere at Shade. Shade decided to use the Leagues strength against them. Shade made a dark shield and angled it towards Martian and Green Lantern. The aura sphere hit the shield and it headed towards the two heroes. The heroes jumped out of the way. Harley came running up behind Shade, ready to use her bat on him. Shade saw her and covered her in a shadow. She ran past him and was now heading towards Ash.
"Harley st..." Harley crashes into Ash and they both were laying on the floor. Martian and Green Lantern got back up from that aura sphere attack. Shade thought now would be the best time to make his exit.
"I'd love to stick around but I'm afraid I'm the the sort of person that's on the move." Shade said as he lifted up his cane and his shade power covered the entire room. After a while, the room cleared up and Shade was gone.
"We have failed." Martian said. Green Lantern started to walk over to Ash and Harley as they were both getting up.
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry. I thought I was heading towards Shade." Harley said. Ash just waved it off.
"It's no problem. I've been in one of those things before and I know how easy it is to change direction." Ash said. But Green Lantern wasn't in the mood to waving things off.
"Harley, you should of stopped when you were in that shade. Because of you, Shade got away." Green Lantern said. Ash didn't like his attitude.
"Hey, it wasn't her fault." Ash said. Green Lantern quickly turned his attention on to Ash.
"And be careful where you throwing your attacks. Shade got the upper hand after your reckless behaviour." Green Lantern said. He just drew the line.
"Reckless? At least he was doing something and not standing round like you were." Harley said.
"I didn't know he was able to deflect my attacks so how can you blame me?" Ash asked.
"Quite easily." Green Lantern said. Martian came up to calm everything down.
"Ok everyone. I know we are a little upset about what happened. But there's nothing we can do now." Martian said. Green Lantern thought of something in his head.
"There is. We can do team training." Green Lantern said. Ash and Harley looked at each other and then back at Green Lantern.
"Team training?"
Watchtower
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Hawkgirl and Batgirl were walking towards the teleportation room. They got a message from Green Lantern saying he needed to talk to everyone. Everyone was wondering what this was about.
"The message looked like it was important." Diana said.
"With it coming from John, it must be." Superman said. They were nearly at the teleportation room, but Flash got a quick word in.
"I think Harley will be happy with the work we done for the party." Flash said. Since the team had been gone from the watchtower. Most of the people on the Watchtower were able to help out for Ash's 18th birthday party. Everything was in place and with Ash's birthday just a few days away, they have to try as hard as ever to keep him out of the room.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see the look on Ash's face when he..." Batgirl started.
"When I What?" Batgirl looked over and saw the team had returned and Ash heard what she said. Batgirl had to think of something quickly.
"When you see the new costume Harley is getting." Batgirl said. Batgirl quickly winked at Harley, saying go along with it. Ash looked at Harley.
"You're getting a new costume?" Ash asked. Harley went along with it to avoid the topic veering off course.
"Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise but I guess it's out there now." Harley said. Green Lantern had a retort for that.
"Hopefully your new costume will have brakes." Green Lantern said. Harley gave him a evil look.
"Are you looking to start a fight?" Harley threatened. The League didn't know what was happening.
"Guys, guys. Where did this come from?" Flash asked. Martian stepped forward at this point.
"We lost to Shade and he got away." Martian said.
"So, Shade beat four members of the Justice League by himself?" Hawkgirl asked.
"Yes." Martian said.
"How?" Hawkgirl asked. Ash decided to take over.
"We were out of sync with each other and got in the way of each other." Ash said. Green Lantern came forward.
"That's why were in major need of team training." Green Lantern said. Diana thought that wouldn't be a bad idea.
"I'm up for that. On Themyscira, we'd always train together. So this will be beneficial for us." Diana said.
"Count me in." Flash said.
"I think everyone's in." Superman said. But he was wrong.
"I'm out." Batman said. Everyone looked at him.
"Why are you not joining in?" Batgirl asked.
"I got too much things to handle in Gotham. Plus like I said before, I'm only part time." Batman said. He turned to leave but Green Lantern wasn't wasn't having his attitude.
"No you don't Batman. Part time or not, everyone is participating in this." Green Lantern said. Batman really didn't want to join in. But he thought the sooner he can prove he doesn't need this, the sooner he can leave.
"Fine." Batman said. He rejoined the group. Green Lantern then looked over to Ash.
"We're using the Pokemon to help us." Green Lantern said. This was news to Ash.
"What?" Ash asked. 20 minutes later, everyone was in the training room with each hero having a Pokemon counterpart. Superman vs. Entei, Batman vs. Lucario, Wonder Woman vs. Incineroar, Green Lantern vs. Charizard, Flash vs. Latios, Hawkgirl vs. Staraptor, Martian vs. Mewtwo, Batgirl vs. Leavanny, Harley Quinn vs. Bayleef and Ash vs. Pikachu. Ash really wasn't sure about this. But he thought he'd say something.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I don't want anyone to get hurt." Ash said. Green Lantern looked at him with a face saying we've already been over this.
"Your Pokemon are the only way we can get stronger. Your Pokemon beat the Justice Lords by themselves. They are the key for our cooperation." Green Lantern said. Before Ash could say anything else, Green Lantern continued. "This training will last 20 minutes. Afterwards, we will review the footage and see where we can improve on. If everyone is ready, begin." Green Lantern flew up. Charizard followed. Everyone went off in their pairs. Ash reluctantly turned to Pikachu.
"Okay buddy, let's be careful. And if this starts getting rough we'll stop straight away." Ash said. Pikachu nodded. Pikachu jumped up and tried to hit Ash with a iron tail. Ash dodged the move and saw Pikachu land. Ash threw a aura sphere and it nearly hit Pikachu. Pikachu used its tail to deflect the sphere. Sphere hit the wall. "Good job Pikachu." Ash was pleased. He then charged in with a aura punch. Pikachu made up a electro ball and tossed it at Ash. Ash sidestepped the attack and saw fly past the others. The ball hit the other side of the room but Ash's attention was on the others. Ash was afraid of this, everything was starting to get out of hold. The Pokemon and heroes were not holding back now. They were going to hurt each other. Ash had to stop this now. "STOP!" No one heard him. What else could he do? Maybe not him. Ash looked over at Pikachu. "Thunderbolt. Stop everyone." Pikachu fires lighting up in the roof of the building. The light caught everyone's attention. Green Lantern flew down to Ash.
"What are you doing?" Green Lantern asked. Ash had a angry look on his face.
"Stopping this before someone gets hurt." Ash said. Ash then looked at his pokemon. "Everyone head back to the Pokemon room now." All the Pokemon, except Bayleef, made their way to the room. All the others heroes joined Ash and Green Lantern.
"Ash, it is important that we don't hold back." Green Lantern said. When Ash saw Green Lantern pair up with Charizard, he remembered a incident.
"Yeah, or did you just want to get your own back on Charizard after he knocked you out with one hit during the alien invasion?" Ash asked. Green Lantern got in Ash's face.
"You want to say that again?" Green Lantern angrily said. Everyone saw Green Lantern getting ready to punch Ash but Superman and Hawkgirl got between them and kept them apart.
"You two need to calm down." Superman said. But they were ready to rip each other heads off.
"He took this too far when he got my Pokemon involved." Ash said. Harley got in front of Ash and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Ash just breathe. Relax, everything wil..." Harley didn't finish as a razor leaf cut her hand. She recoiled in pain. Everyone looked over and saw it was Bayleef that did it. Harley was mad. She walked past Ash and charged towards Bayleef with a bat. "This will teach you a lesson." She swung down and made contact. But it wasn't with Bayleef. It was Ash. Ash got in front of her and her used his arm to block her bat. As soon as she realised what happened, Harley backed up and dropped the bat. "Ash, I'm so..."
"Don't say a word Harley. You tried to hurt one of my Pokemon." Ash said. Bayleef put her head underneath Ash's head and started to use it to rub her head. Ash pulled his hand back and looked at Bayleef. "Don't you try to act all innocent Bayleef. You hurt someone I care about. I'll be having a word with you later. Now do what I said before and go back to the Pokemon room." Bayleef saw Ash's anger in his face. Bayleef put her down in shame and left the room. Ash looked back at the other heroes and had enough with all of them. "You know what, just leave me alone." Ash left the room himself. Batman went to leave too.
"I knew this was a bad idea." In the canteen, Ash was sitting alone. He was just thinking about what had just happened. How did the events that happened with Shade lead to this? Ash wasn't feeling bad about standing up against Green Lantern as he used Ash's Pokemon without his permission. But Ash did feel really bad about how he acted towards Harleen. He was just afraid that she was going to hurt Bayleef. Ash was going to have a good talk with Bayleef and let her know how things were going to work now. As Ash was thinking, two helpful pals joined him.
"Hey Ash, mind if we join you?" Ash looked up and saw it was Brock and Tracey. Ash was happy to see them.
"Please. I need some advice." Ash said. Brock and Tracey sat down.
"We heard what happened from Flash. And it sounds like you and the others are having a bit of a bad time." Tracey said. Ash looked down at the table.
"Yeah you could say that." Ash said.
"Well it was bound to happen at some point." Tracey said. Ash looked at him.
"What?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, you been spending too much time with the team and had hardly any time for yourself. Maybe some separation would be good for you." Brock said. Ash didn't know if he knew what he meant.
"But when we were travelling, we never fought this bad." Ash said. Both Brock and Tracey chuckled at his response.
"Yeah because whenever we did, we would always take a break from each other." Brock said.
"And we weren't dealing with actual supervillains that try to take over the world everyday." Tracey said. They made a good point. Back in the Pokemon world, things seemed a lot more easier. Maybe all of the tension of crime fighting was getting to everyone. Before Ash could say anything, his phone went off. Ash took out his phone and looked at it. Batman was calling. Ash answered it.
"What's wrong Batman?"
Underground Tunnel
Ash was walking through the tunnel. Ash received word from Batman that a villain by the name of Clayface was on the loose. This was one of the villains that Batman normally has trouble with. Batman told Ash that Clayface sudden appearance seemed suspicious and expected that he was getting help from someone. Not only did Batman request Ash's help but the whole Justice League. If Clayface was getting help, Batman didn't know how many people were helping Clayface. Ash told Batman that he would meet the team at the interception space.
"Hopefully after we handled Clayface, we can talk and put everything behind us." Ash said to himself. Ash really wanted for everything to go back to normal, back when the team were working together in perfect harmony.
"My, my. Are you and the League having a difficult time?" Ash stopped and looked round the corner into the shadows. There was a large character in there. They start to step forward and slowly reveal themselves. Ash slowly looked up at the furry body. Furry? Ash quickly looked at the face and instantly recognised who it was. Grodd. But he looked different from the last time he saw him. There was a claw mark scar across a part of his face and one of his eyes was just white. "I bet you weren't expecting to see me."
"What are you doing here Grodd? Are you helping Clayface?" Ash asked. Grodd started to walk towards him.
"My, you are a real detective, aren't you. Just like that bat. Yes, me and my colleagues are working with Clayface." Grodd said. Colleagues? How many villains are there. "And I'm here to get a little payback against you. Because of you and that beast of yours, I am permanently scarred." Grodd jumped up and slammed both his fist into the ground, where Ash was standing. Ash moved at the last moment of impact. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this day. Where I would tear your limbs right off of your body."
"You have to catch me first." Ash said as he started to run from Grodd. But he didn't get far as a giant hand blocked his path and captured him. As he was being lifted into the air, he looked at his captor and saw it was a giant woman.
"So you're the famous Ash Ketchum that I heard about." The giant woman said. Ash was still in shock about the sudden appearances. Where did she even come from.
"I would like to introduce you to Giganta. She has been a massive help with recruitment." Grodd said. Grodd then thought Ash should meet the rest of the team. "Giganta, put him down on the floor." Giganta did what she was told but instead of placing him down, she slam him against the ground.
"AHHHHH!!!!!!" Ash yelled.
"He's suppose to be a hero? He doesn't look like much." Ash looked up and saw a red skinned man looking down on him.
"Come on Sinestro. You'd be like that if you were slammed on the floor." Grodd said. At this point, Shade walked up next to Sinestro and looked down at Ash. "And you already know Shade." Shade tipped his top hat towards him. Ash suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and was picked up from the ground and thrown to one side of the room. Ash hit one of the walls and more pain was being sent through his body. Also Ash felt weaker, like something had sucked his power. Ash stood up and looked at the attacker. It was a purple skinned humanoid. "This is the ever hungry Parasite. He will absorb your power once he gets a hold of you." Then Grodd pointed off to the side. "And this is Killer Frost." Ash looked to the side and saw frost heading his way. Ash quickly rolled out of the way. Ash looked above and saw a blue woman riding on ice.
"I might have a little fun with you before I kill you." Killer Frost said. She fired another frost attack Ash. Ash dodged it but wasn't aware of the incoming attack. Sinestro made up a big hammer and hit Ash in his side. Ash skidded along the floor and stopped near Grodd. Grodd grabbed Ash's arms and lifted him in the air. Ash and Grodd were face to face.
"You know I can kill you right now." Grodd said.
"Why don't you just do it then?" Ash asked. Grodd then gave a smirk.
"Oh, very soon I will. But I got some plans for you. Now, how about you say hello to your Justice League team." Grodd said. Ash looked into Grodd's eyes and started to fade from reality.
In another part of the tunnel, Batman found Clayface and has confronted him.
"Clayface. What are you up to now? And how did you get out?" Batman asked. Clayface turned round and looked at him.
"Bats. Long time no see. About your questions, they can be answered as one. I'm helping my new teammates." Clayface said.
"Teammates?" Batman asked.
"That's our cue." Batman looked around and one by one the villains, except Grodd, came out and stared down Batman. "If you surrender now, we'll go easy on you." Giganta said.
"You can't win this fight Batman." Clayface said. Batman looked unnerved.
"I know I can't. That's why I brought friends." Batman said. Suddenly all the Justice League, except Ash, came out of the shadows and stood across from the villains.
"You're outnumbered. Make it easy and give up now." Superman said. Killer Frost smirked and stepped forward.
"I think we have a perfect equaliser." Killer Frost said. She then looked at the shadows at the side of her. "Come out, my love." Everyone looked to the side and slowly it was revealed to be Ash. Everyone gasped as Ash got to Killer Frost's side. Harley wanted to know what was going on.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Harley said. Ash didn't respond, he just looked at her blankly. Killer Frost wanted to enjoy this torment.
"He found himself a better partner." Killer Frost said. She then grabbed Ash's head and turned him towards her. She was going in for a kiss. Harley started stepping forward.
"ASH NO!!!!" Harley shouted. Killer Frost saw her coming. She grabbed Ash's throat and started freezing him.
"Back off wannabe hero or he's going to get a sore throat." Killer Frost threatened. Harley stopped in her tracks. What can she do now. Flash looked closer at Ash and found it weird that he didn't react to the cold. He saw Ash's eyes and saw they were hollow. That reminded him of a past event. Before anyone did anything. Green Lantern flew up and used his ring to hit Killer Frost away from Ash. The League looked at him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Batgirl asked. Green Lantern didn't answer as he flew towards the rest of the villains. Before Green Lantern could reach them, Ash jumped up and punched him into the ground, causing him to skid along the floor. The League were shocked.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Hawkgirl asked. Ash turned back and looked blankly at the Leaguers. Sinestro gave Ash one command.
"Destroy them." Sinestro said. Ash's body flared up with aura and charged at the League. He was heading for Harley since she was the closet. Flash was quick to grab her and move her to the side.
"Flash, what are you doing? What's wrong with Ash?" Harley asked.
"I got an idea what might be going on, but we need to snap Ash out of it." Flash said. As he finished, Martian landed next to them. They looked at him and then looked at the battle. Ash had already taken down most of the League. Only Batman and Wonder Woman stood. Ash threw a aura sphere at Batman but Wonder Woman blocked it. Batman grabbed smoke pellets and threw them towards Ash. Smoke covered Ash and he couldn't see anything. Ash was about to use his aura vision but he kept on getting hit so he couldn't focus. The smoke cleared up and Ash could see Wonder Woman coming in for another attack. Ash intercepted the attack and pushed her on to the floor. Flash saw Ash was about to punch her but he quickly ran up behind Ash and restrained him. Flash looked at Batman. "Quick Batman, knock him out." Batman walked to Ash and sprayed a mist in Ash's face. Ash inhaled the mist and was put to sleep. Flash laid him down on the ground then looked at the villains. But there was a problem. "They're gone." Batman looked over and saw Flash was right. They made their escape while Ash was fighting them. The League recovered and converged around Ash's sleeping body. Out of nowhere, Superman shoved Green Lantern.
"What were you thinking? You could of killed Ash." Superman said. Green Lantern walked towards Superman but Flash was quick to get in between them.
"At least I did something. All of you were just standing around." Green Lantern said. Hawkgirl joined in.
"Because Ash was in danger." Hawkgirl said.
"I can't believe you all are defending him after siding with the villains." Green Lantern said. Flash wanted to defuse the tension.
"You guys need to calm down. I'm sure there's a explanation..." Flash was interrupted by Wonder Woman.
"He's right, Ash betrayed us. We need to take him to prison." Wonder Woman said as she walked forward. Harley ran in front of Ash and spread her arms out.
"You're not touching him. Let him explain." Harley said. Hawkgirl came over with a angry look on her face.
"I know why Ash turned evil. It's because you tried to hurt his pokemon." Hawkgirl said. Harley looked at her. Not believing at what she just heard from her.
"Maybe it was you when you didn't defend him when Ash didn't want to use his pokemon in training." Harley said. Green Lantern hit the final nail.
"Like we'd ever listen to a word you say you filthy convict." Green Lantern said. Everyone was shocked. Harley was about to cry. She thought she left that life behind.
"Well, it's obvious that you all still feel that way. So I'm going to make things easy for you. I'm leaving the League." Harley said. She ran out, crying. Batgirl followed her.
"Harley, wait." Batgirl yelled. Martian looked at the rest.
"This team has changed. Harley has the right idea." Martian said as he phased through the floor. Martian was gone. Batman started to walk out.
"I think we all know what happens next." Batman said as he exited. Superman looked at the ground.
"So, the Justice League is done?" Superman asked. Everyone else felt uneasy.
"I guess so." Hawkgirl said. Green Lantern turned his attention back to Ash.
"Now to take you to prison." Green Lantern said as he made green chains come out of his ring. Flash saw this and acted quickly. He grabbed Ash and got out of there. Everyone looked at the exit. The Justice League was done.
Poison Ivy's lair
Harley was crying her eyes out and Batgirl was trying to console her. Batgirl managed to catch Harley and talk to her about what had happen. After what Green Lantern said, Harley realised that she could of been the cause of Ash turning when she tried to attack Bayleef. Batgirl was trying to calm her down. Even though they were good friends, she didn't know her well enough to cheer her up. Batgirl was really hoping that the girls day out was happening now since everyone would be having fun. Wait. Batgirl thought of something. She might know someone who could help. Batgirl dragged Harley all the way to her best friends lair. Batgirl knocked the door and Poison Ivy answered. When she saw Batgirl, Ivy was about to attack. Then she saw Harley and how upset she was. Batgirl explained the situation and let them in. Ivy walked towards them with a cup of tea in her hands. She gave the cup to Harley.
"Drink up, it will calm you down." Ivy said. Harley took it and took a sip.
"Thank you." Harley said.
"It was a surprise seeing you here. And a bigger surprise that me and you aren't fighting." Ivy joked to Batgirl. Batgirl gave Ivy a smile.
"Theres always a first time for everything." Batgirl said. But now Ivy wanted to get back on to topic.
"So, Ash turned bad, kissed Killer Frost."
"Nearly." Harley said. She still hates the fact that nearly happened still.
"Ok, nearly, Ash fought the League singlehanded and the League broke up." Ivy said.
"That's everything. Still don't know why Ash turned evil though." Batgirl said. She really wanted to know why he did that. Out of everyone, he had been the heart of the League. And would not of done something like this. Harley looked up to answer.
"When Flash pulled me to the side, he said he might know what was going on but he had to snap Ash out of it first." Harley said. Ivy thought of something.
"Snap out of it? Like hypnosis?" Ivy said. That rang a bell.
"Hypnosis?" Batgirl asked. Harley then looked at Batgirl.
"That happened to Ash before." Harley said.
"Really, how?" Ivy asked. Just then, one of the walls blew up and smoke covered the area. The smoke quickly cleared and the three looked at the wall. Standing in the hole was the secret society. Grodd walked into the building and looked at the girls.
"Grodd is King Kong in this house."
Kate's cafe
Ash was sitting alone in the corner of the cafe. Ash woke up an hour ago. Flash explained to Ash what happened. Ash was shocked that he did that to his teammates. Well, from what he heard, former teammates. Ash told Flash what happened when he saw Grodd and the rest. Flash knew something wasn't right. Flash told Ash to lay low for a while. Flash was going to get some information to Grodd's whereabouts. When Flash left, Ash knew there was only one safe place for him at this point. And he was sitting in it. He was just looking at his phone, looking at a certain number, contemplating phoning it. Before he could think any further, he had company.
"This is deja vu." Ash looked up and saw Kate standing there. Ash smiled at the friendly face.
"Kate, am I glad to see you. I need some help." Ash said. Kate sat down, opposite him.
"Everyone heard what happened." Kate said. Ash had to ask a quick question.
"Where's everyone else then?" Ash asked.
"They went back to their places. They thought it be a good idea to stay away until everything is sorted out." Kate said. Ash was happy that his friends were out of the way of everything. He would hate if Grodd or anyone found out about them.
"That's good. But still, I need to find a way to fix things." Ash said as he looked back at his phone. Kate saw this.
"With the League or with Harley?" Kate asked. Ash looked up.
"Both hopefully. But I need to talk to Harley first." Ash said. Kate thought he had nothing to worry about.
"But even after you done all that against your friends. Harley still tried to defend you. I expect if you phone her, you two can sort it out." Kate said. But Ash had something on his mind for a while.
"Yeah but I want to let her know that I can never hate her. That I love her." Ash said without realising it. But Kate heard it.
"Ash, did you say you love her?" Kate asked. Ash had to think to see if he did say that. Surely enough he did.
"I did and I do. I love my perfect girlfriend, Harleen." Ash said. Kate squealed happily.
"You need to call her now and tell her in person." Kate said. Just then, Ash's phone went off and saw it was a text from Harleen. "Is it from her?"
"Yeah, she wants to meet me now at Poison Ivy's place. I got the address here." Ash said. He got up from the table. Ash looked at Kate. "I'm sor..."
"Ash, just go. Let me know what happens afterwards." Kate said. Ash nodded and ran out the cafe with a smile on his face. But he didn't know what was waiting for him.
Poison Ivy's Lair
Ash approached the address and was heading for the door. Before he could reach the door, he saw a giant hole in the wall. Ash thought this wasn't a good sign already. Ash approached the hole and looked inside. There were vines everywhere and some of them were broken. Ash stepped inside.
"Harley? Are you here? I really need to talk to you." Ash said. There was no response. "Come on Harley, I'm sorry for what I did but I can explain."
"Can you? Then please, tell me." Ash looked up and saw Grodd looking down at him. Just then, the rest of the villains showed up and surrounded Ash. "I'm waiting." Ash looked angrily at Grodd.
"Where's Harley?" Ash asked.
"Killer Frost." Grodd said as he indicated to a part of the room. Ash looked over and saw Killer Frost standing in front of ice. She moved aside and Ash saw Harley, Batgirl and Ivy inside the ice. Frozen.
"Let them go now or..." Grodd talked over Ash's threat.
"You make a move and Frost will skewer icicles through their chests." Grodd said. Ash was backed into a corner. If did anything, the girls were dead. Grodd smirked. "We've only met the once Ash and now it has scarred me. You see, I have a lot more things planned and surely you and the Justice League would of ruined them. But I knew all of you were already at tipping point. Even when I manipulated you and the other three when you fought Shade." Ash's eyes were wide opened.
"That was you?" Ash asked.
"Yes. Now I'll make a deal with you. Surrender yourself now and I swear the girls will be unharmed." Grodd said. Ash looked back over to the girls. He really didn't have much of a choice. Ash went to his knees. Sinestro was quick to put shackles around his wrist and ankles. "Good choice." Shade stepped in front of Ash.
"I remembered what you did to Luthor's gang. So just to be on the safe side." Shade said as he raised his cane and struck Ash with it. Everything was dark.
Stadium
Ash heard faded voices. He was waking up from his sleep but still hasn't registered that his eyes are still closed. Ash also heard fainted cheering crowds. Then he felt a big hand grab his head and yank his head up.
"Wake up." Ash opened his eyes and saw Grodd in front of him. "It's nearly show time." Ash looked around and saw he was restrained in heavy duty shackles. Ash tried to break out but wasn't going to be possible. "No need to tire yourself out. They are specially made to keep you lot in place." When Ash heard that, his mind were on the others.
"What have you done with the girls?" Ash asked. Grodd grabbed Ash and turned him round. Ash then saw the girls and the rest of the League. They were in the same shackles to. So right now, they were defenceless.
"Accept the fact." Grodd said. Ash looked at him. "This is the day the Justice League ends." Grodd looked at the other villains. "Wake everyone up, it's time." As the villains went by, waking the League up, the platform started rising and the roof opened up. Ivy woke up and looked confused at where she is.
"Where am I?" Ivy asked. Giganta looked at her with a smirk.
"You'll see." Giganta said. When they reached the surface, they were blinding by bright lights. It took a few seconds for their eyes to readjust to the new setting. Ash looked round and saw he was at sporting stadium and it was a full house filled with people wondering what was going on. Grodd took centre stage to address everyone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for staying for the half time entertainment. And you have a special treat since the Justice League is here." Grodd gestured behind him and everyone murmured to themselves wondering what was going on. "And tonight you will witness history. Tonight is night that the Justice League dies." Everyone in the stands start booing at them. Grodd grabbed Ash's shackles and dragged him along the floor and pulled him up. "Now, you all know this kid as Ash Ketchum. We have met before. He ruined one of my plans in the past and also gave me this scar on my face. So we have quite a nasty history. We are the secret society that took down the Justice League and we going to be the ones to kill them. Starting with Ash." Grodd then threw Ash back to the ground. Grodd then looked at Killer Frost and nodded at her. Frost walked along the stage and kneeled down in front of Ash. She grabbed his face and pulled his face closer to hers. They were about to meet. "Wait." Frost stopped and everyone looked at Grodd. "Out of professional courtesy, I'll give you your last words." This was Ash's last moments. He knew he was going to die on this stage. So if this was it, he knew what he wanted to say and who to. Ash turned his head and looked at Harley.
"Harley, I'm sorry that I failed you. But I wanted to let you know that I want to be with you forever and see where life takes us. Harley, I love you." Ash said. Harley eyes went wide. Did he just say that. He said it. She was so happy. She was about to say something until Frost made Ash look at her.
"Times up lover boy." Killer Frost said as she pressed her on to Ash's. Ash suddenly felt cold and started turning. He was freezing to death and everyone was watching.
"Get off of him. Ash, Ash, I love you too. Please fight, you need to save everyone." Harley cried out. Everyone in the stadium were shouting at what was happening, wanting it to stop. But it looked like nothing can be done.
"Smokescreen." Suddenly, the whole stadium was covered in smoke. Everyone breathed it in and coughed badly. This caused Frost to break the kiss and back away from Ash. What was happening?
"Pin missile." White spikes cut through the smoke and hit Ash's shackles. This caused them to break, freeing Ash. Ash threw them to the fall and looked away. Who did that?
"Your welcome twerp." Ash looked at the top of the stadium and saw 3 figures there with a Arbok and Weezing also there. It couldn't be. Out of everyone, why them? The smoke covered the figures temporarily and when it cleared up, they were gone. The smoke had cleared and everyone saw Ash was free. The crowd cheered.
"How did you get out?" Shade asked. Ash looked round and saw he was surrounded. Ash had no idea how he was going to beat them. He wasn't going to have anytime to free the others. All of the sudden, Ash felt a weight around his belt. He looked down and saw a glowing pokeball. How did it get there?
"Ash." Ash jumped slightly when he heard Mewtwo's voice in his head. "Use her. She will help you."
"Why are you all standing around for? Get him." Grodd said. The villains activated their powers and started to advance towards Ash. Ash grabbed the ball and looked at it.
"Do or die, let's do it." Ash said as he threw up the ball in the air. The ball snapped opened and a blur came out, it hit Giganta in the face, causing her to fall down on the ground. It then went to Shade, grabbed him and threw him towards parasite. Parasite didn't have time to move as Shade clashed into him. The blur stood still and saw what Pokemon it was. Ash couldn't believe it. "Zoroark." Zoroark looked at Ash and smiled at him. "Your timing couldn't be better." At this point. Sinestro flying up to them.
"Your wrong there." Sinestro said as he fired his ring at Zoroark. Zoroark didn't see the attack coming.
"LOOK OUT!!!" Ash shouted. The energy struck behind Zoroark and Zoroark fell to the ground. "NOOOO!!!!" Sinestro smirked at himself. But that soon disappeared when Zoroark's body disappeared.
"Where did it go?" Sinestro asked. All of the sudden, a night slash attack came across Sinestro's back. Causing him to hit the ground. Soon after, Zoroark landed on the ground. Ash wondered how did she do it? Then he remembered, she's able to create illusions. Ash saw Zoroark looking at him and she gave him a quick nod. Ash understood her plan and quickly ran towards the other heroes. But a black energy blocked his path.
"Now it's time for a little pay back of my own." Ash looked over and saw it was Shade. Shade fired more energy at Ash. Ash did a commando roll to dodge it and when he was up right, Ash made a aura sphere and fired it at Shade. It hit Shade and it knocked him down. Ash made another quick dash to the League. He reached them this time and was trying to get Harley out first.
"Harley are you ok?" Ash asked. She nodded. "Look, I'm sorry what happened back at the tunnel, I ha..."
"Ash, it's ok. Grodd told us what he had done when he captured us." Harley said. Did he? Ash looked at the rest of the captives and they all nodded.
"Let me out of here Ash, that monkey is going to get a piece of my mind." Poison Ivy said.
"You rang." A big grabbed to back of Ash's neck and threw him away from to others. Ash managed to land on the ground safely. When he looked up he saw it was Grodd that threw him and now was approaching him. "That's it, little kid. You and your Pokemon have disturbed me for the last time. I'm killing you right now." Grodd said as he charged at Ash. Ash jumped up and managed to give Grodd a aura kick, knocking him off balance. The crowd cheered, along with the league.
"Go on Ash."
"You can do it."
"You're the best." As Grodd was down, Ash looked back at Zoroark to see how she was doing. Parasite tried to grab on to Zoroark but Zoroark jumped in the air to dodge. Zoroark looked around and saw Giganta and Killer Frost coming. Zoroark used Night Daze and pushed the three villains away. Zoroark landed and was instantly engulfed in a shade. Shade looked a Sinestro.
"Do it now quick." Shade said. Sinestro developed multiple swords and they skewed the dark energy. The shade brought down and Zoroark had just been impaled by the swords. Zoroark fell to the ground, lifeless. Ash couldn't believe what had just happened.
"ZOROARK!!!" Ash shouted. Before Ash could move, two large hands grabbed Ash. Ash looked up and saw Grodd had captured him.
"I'm going to make sure you die." Grodd said. Grodd opened his mouth and lowered his head towards Ash. The audience witnessed the most horrible thing. Grodd had blood around his mouth. Ash's body fell to the ground, lifeless and headless. Grodd evilly laughed. "I did it. I took out of the Justice League and it was a sweet victory. Now to finish the rest of you." Grodd turned round to look at the Justice League. To his shock, they were free. But even more shockingly, Ash and Zoroark were alive and standing there. Grodd looked back at the dead bodies and they were gone.
"Confused Grodd?" Ash asked. "Let me introduce you to Zoroark, better known as, the master of illusions." Grodd was not amused and wanted to turn Zoroark on Ash.
"Shut up you brat. Let's see how mouthy you are after Zoroark tears you to shreds." Grodd said as psychic waves were hitting Zoroark. Grodd grinned for a while before it disappeared. "What's going on? Why isn't it under my control?" Ash smiled at this response.
"Zoroark is a dark type Pokemon and they have a special ability. Immunity to psychic attacks." Ash said. Grodd gritted his teeth as the villains gathered behind him.
"It doesn't matter, we're still going to..." Grodd stopped when he heard a commotion behind him. He turned around and saw the grass on the field had wrapped round the villains and were dragging them to the floor. Batgirl looked over to Ivy and saw she was doing this.
"Ivy, why are you helping us?" Batgirl asked. Ivy looked at her.
"I don't know, just be glad I am." Ivy said. Grodd gritted his teeth. He can't take them on by himself. He was getting exhausted after what had happened. Ash saw he was getting tired and thought of a way to take them all out.
"Zoroark. Night Daze." Ash said. Zoroark slammed her paws on the ground and a dark wave headed towards the villains. The move hit and cries of pain were heard. The wave died down and the villains were down, except one. Killer Frost was struggling getting back up to her feet. She got to her knees before she saw a pair of feet in front of her. She looked up and saw Harley standing there with a not so pleasant face.
"What is it, fake hero?" Killer Frost asked. Harley grabbed her by the hair and made her look at her.
"This is your only warning, stay away from Ash." Harley said before knocking Frost out. Killer Frost landed on the ground with a thud.
"Nice work Harley." Harley turned round and focused on Ash within the group. She started walking towards him and Ash couldn't read her facial expression. "Is she still mad at me?" Ash was worried as Harley just reached him. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. They were there for 10 seconds before breaking the kiss.
"I love you too Ash." Harley said. Ash couldn't believe what he heard. He was so happy at this point. He dived in and gave Harley a passionate kiss. The crowd in the stadium cheered for the couple. This was the best way to celebrate a victory.
Watchtower
All the heroes and Poison Ivy were up on the watchtower and welcomed back by the rest of the team. While Grodd and his team were being transported to a high security prison, Ash and the rest of the Justice League made up with each other and agreed to join forces again. The heroes and and Ivy had a check up after the altercation and everyone had a good bill of health. Poison Ivy was heading towards the transporter room but someone wanted to talk to her.
"Ivy, wait." Ivy turned round and saw Ash coming towards her. What did he want?
"What's up Ash?" Ivy asked.
"I just wanted to say thank you for helping Harley when she was down." Ash said. Ivy knew what he was talking about. Either Harley or Batgirl told him.
"She's my friend. Of course I was going to help." Ivy said. Ash smiled at this response.
"Also I wanted to thank you for your help at the stadium. Your powers are impressive." Ash said. Ivy smiled a bit but not much that Ash noticed.
"I was just getting payback, that's it, nothing else." Ivy said. Ash knew this wasn't true and wanted to give her a possible future.
"Well, if you ever want to do some more 'payback', we could really use you on the Justice League." Ash said. This shocked Ivy. Was he being serious?
"You don't know me that well. Why are you saying these sorts of things?" Ivy asked. Ash smiled at her response, finding it similar to Harleys response when he asked her.
"Where I'm from, we always trust in each other and good guys and bad guys work together on occasions." Ash said.
"It sounds like a good place." Ivy said. Ivy then gave a sigh. "I'm not going to accept the invitation now, but if you ever need help, you can count on me." Ash smiled at this statement. At least it was a starting point. Ivy turned away from Ash. "I'd love to talk more but I really need to get back." Ivy started to walk away.
"I can get you home quicker." Ash said. Ivy looked at him. "MEWTWO!" Mewtwo appeared, Ivy was shocked. "Mewtwo, can you send Ivy home please?"
"Of course." Mewtwo said as he floated up to Ivy. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Ivy said.
"I'll see you soon Ivy." Ash said. Ivy gave one last look to Ash.
"Count on it." Ivy said as she disappeared. As soon as she was gone, Ash's smile was gone. His face was emotionless. "Mewtwo." Mewtwo looked at Ash. "You know?"
"Yes, they are here." Mewtwo said. Mewtwo knew Team Rocket was in this world. "What are you going to do?" Ash didn't know. Even though they weren't responsible, they are part of a syndicate that killed his mum.
"I'm going to find them."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And what's going to happen now that Team Rocket is here as well and whose side are they on?
Next time, It's Ash's 18th and... WAIT. Ash is dead? What happened? Find out in 'Hereafter.'