Run of the Gauntlet--Chapter Seven
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nintendo owns Pokemon. I don't.
Summary: Short. Um....dreams. Kind of strange. Lance is, in a way, gone...replaced by something differnt. Cold. And perhaps evil....
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. One word: School. 'Nuff said.
Of crystal flames and burning dreams
The fire dances as he deems
"That you shall die tonight."
Casting me into a forever blight
Throwing me into a forever night
"No!" I say, "It cannot be!"
But he has power over me
My pleas fall upon deaf ears
As quickly cascade my tears
I beg to finish
Before I diminish
There is one thing I yearn for
Before he closes on me the door
So he gives me "One last thing to do."
I chose an answer to a question that haunts me still and calm I am, I ask,
"Who are you?"
Amanda hesitated outside the great black doors, wondering why the heck she was doing this. This was as dangerous as poking a sleeping Gyarados in the eyes. Taking a deep breath and summoning up her courage, Amanda finally pushed the doors open. She took one step inside, as far as she was willing to go, waiting for acknowledgement. Giovanni had his back to her, sitting in his forest green chair and staring into the fire. Persian sat up and gave a low warning growl.
"What do you want, Amanda?" Giovanni said in his deep voice.
"I....I just wanted to know....when....."
"When you and Lance will be on another mission."
Amanda nodded her head, even though she knew that Giovanni could not see her.
"Lance will not be joining you any more," Giovanni said, interpreting her silence. Amanda's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Why?" she asked.
Giovanni snapped his fingers, and from a hidden door that Amanda had never noticed before, Lance's dark and imposing figure appeared. Amanda felt her heart speed up. This was not the Lance she had first met....this was a creature....a creature of darkness....
"Because, Amanda, I am the best...." Lance said softly, with venom oozing from his voice. Amanda gasped at his outfit. Full body....and gray. Amanda knew that Lance was gone. The training and 'conditioning' that the Grays had to go through....the extensive pain on both body and mind.......Lance had been killed.
"You will be recieving your new partner shortly, Amanda. My, my, you do seem to be going through partners don't you? First Aaron and now Lance? Try and keep a tight leash on the next one, will you? I don't want to have to send out for recruits," Giovanni said and waved his hand to dismiss her. Amanda felt betrayed. Lance...that sweet man who had an immense love for pokemon and his son....was gone.
****
Trapped.
Darkness.
Cold.
Pain.
I cannot feel anymore.
My heart no longer beats.
I have forgotten...
Warmth
Love
Why is it so far beyond my reach?
Why am I here?
Did I put myself here?
Shell.
I cannot find myself.
Too dark.
Too deep.
Too harsh.
Too cold.....
****
Ash woke with a start, sweat beading on his forehead. He had had a dream that he was trapped in some sort of cell. One that had no doors. An eternal prison from which there was no mistake. And the feeling was all to real...hitting too close to home, striking a chord deep within him.
"You okay, Ash? You were broadcasting your fear so loudly...." Mewtwo asked from across the campsite, Pikachu looking worriedly up at his friend.
"Yeah, Mewtwo, I'm fine. Bad dream," Ash explained. Mewtwo gave a puzzled expression but accepted it and went back to planning. Ash looked down at Pikachu, who scowled.
"I'm fine, Pikachu. All right? Now go back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Ash said firmly and layed back down. Pikachu still did not accept it, but went to sleep anyway.
****
Lance sat in the darkened room, the only light being a dying one hanging from the ceiling. His legs were crossed and the shadows covered his face, making him extremely sinister and dangerous looking. There was more than just skill that had brought him to the top of the Pokemon League and beyond. No thoughts danced in his head. No emotions were set free. A virtual blank that was the picture of the ultimate warrior.
Giovanni grinned to himself as he watched Lance sit calmly, his muscles gathering energy, as if preparing for an attack. Lance was the supreme Gray, the one he had been striving to create for so many years. A couple more of these and Team Rocket would be feared all through Kanto as well as Johto and beyond.
Broken.
I feel beaten.
Disgusted.
Who are you?
You are not me.
Never was.
I will not be defeated...
Giovanni looked down at Persian, who for once was calm.
"I told you, Persian, that I knew what I was doing. Humans are the same as pokemon. Defiant and often strong willed. They just need to be....broken. After that, they make fine servants," he said and walked off, Persian watching his retreating back with suspicion, wondering exactly what he meant by that.
****
Lance walked out onto the deserted pokemon battle field, his long black cloak trailing behind him. It was an open top stadium, and from what Lance could tell the sky above was black, the only lights being the stadium lights, creating large halos on the ground and casting the rest into shadows. A wind came up, gently brushing the hair away from Lance's face as he walked into the trainer's square.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing. When no one answered, he tried to take another step forward, but he found that he could not, as if a Mr. Mime had placed a Barrier there.
"Is anyone here?" Lance tried again, louder this time. Still no answer. Now sensing that there was something intensely wrong about this whole thing, Lance turned to run but could not move that way either. He knew this could not be a dream...everything was all too clear, too precise. Dreams were always vague...unclear...
"Where are you going, Lance?" a deep voice called out, but it did not echo as Lance's did. Lance turned abruptly to see a shadowy figure up on a balcony he had not seen before.
"Who are you?" Lance asked, surprised that he did not sound more afraid.
"Who do you think I am?"
"What do you want?" Lance demanded, growing bolder. This voice was nothing but a shadow....and shadows can't harm people... in reality or in dreams.
"What do you think I want?" the voice asked and reached up with a shadow hand to snap. A pokemon came out from out of nowhere, but Lance could not exactly tell what kind it was.
The strange thing was was that he did not care at that moment. Lance reached to his belt to retrieve a pokemon, when his hand met air.
"Huh?" Lance voiced and looked down. His pokeballs were not there. It was then that he noticed that his clothes were not the ones he usually wore for battles. It was full body and gray with black boots, and a crimson colored R emblazoned on the front. He looked back up at the shadow man, panicked.
"Go."
With that simple command the pokemon lunged forward, and Lance held his hands up in defense. Lance had his eyes shut, but due to the crazy, nearly nonexistant logic to this place he could see, and what he saw was a beam shooting away from his being and hitting the attacker.
An almost human cry was torn from the pokemon, flying backwards and hitting the far wall with a sickening thud. Astonished, Lance walked over, wanting to know what he defeated. He picked the body, and screamed in terror at what he saw.
A young boy, with hair as black as his and dark brown eyes that were wide open in fear and pain. And betrayal. Lance looked down and saw that there was a small hole in the boy's stomach, dark blood trickling from it.
The last thing Lance heard was his own anguished, screaming voice and the man's hysterical laughing before the world around him and a new one formed.
It was a dark prison, filled with perpetual darkness and cold, with mold and slime on the walls. The cold was so piercing that Lance felt it down to the very deepest part of his being. It was the most horrible place that Lance could imagine. This was a place where the demons go. Where the evil spend eternity.
Only sometime later would Lance realize that he was awake.