Fractured Stars

by Spruceton Spook

Part 9

Dread

Ash's muscles tightened radically in every part of his body. His heart skipped a beat in surprise as all the air froze in his lungs, and a slow, numbing pain beset his palms as his fists involuntarily balled. His bugged-out eyes set into his mother's, whose were wide with excitement and merriment. Her smile sailed from ear to ear.

Managing to swallow, Ash opened his mouth to speak. "W-w-what?" he gasped.

Misty and Brock's eyes widened with incredulous disbelief as what Delia had just told them sunk into them. Their mouths were slightly agape, and they blinked a few hard times to grasp what was really going on.

Delia continued to smile, almost as if with a sense of new-found pride and accomplishment. "You're going to sleep over Gary's house tonight," she informed Ash happily again, giggling. "The three of you," she gestured to all of them. "It's all arranged, and you can go whenever you want."

Ash just stood there for a moment, motionless and speechless. Surely he was not hearing this. It had to be a joke.

"Are you serious?" he finally muttered loudly, a frown overpowering his face.

Delia gave him a weird look, but the smile never faded. "What are you talking about, honey? Of course I'm serious!"

Ash blinked, shuddering. "How—how could you do such a thing?!" he suddenly bawled, watching as Delia flinched as a result of his exclamation. Her smile vanished in an instant, replaced with a look of shock and confusion.

"Ash—" Misty began, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ash didn't seem to notice it at all as he glared with undeniable outrage at his mother. Brock cautiously pulled her back, biting his lip as he watched Ash attentively.

"Ash, what are talking about?" Delia asked, perplexed at her son's unexpected flare-up of anger. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" Ash repeated in alarm. "What's the matter? You're telling me that I have to spend the night at Gary's house, and you ask me what's the matter?"

Delia sighed as if she suddenly realized the problem, shaking her head. "Ash, I know that you and Gary have been a bit distant lately—"

"Yeah, and there's a reason for that!" Ash yelled. His tone was sharp and precise, flooded with perturbation. Instantly the recollection of what had occurred in his backyard barely two weeks before sprang to his retrospection. He remembered the wonderful time he was having with his friends and Pokémon, despite the uneasy tension that was rapidly and unexpectedly building in his life. That one moment alone had been filled with pure enjoyment. Up to an extent, that was.

Ash trembled with anguish as he thought back on that day, when he first noticed his rival standing by the fence, grinning with every ounce of egotistical pride his body contained. He had been warned to stay away, and yet instead he'd struck out more. Ash managed many times to shake what Gary had told him on that warm afternoon, all the things Ash was trying to escape viciously being thrown at him in hurtful words. But the words invaded him now, swarming his head as Ash remembered each and every spiteful statement accurately. They stung him with such force that his teeth ground. He'd vowed that Gary was no longer part of his life.

Ash took a deep, troubled breath. "There is no way I'm going to Gary's tonight," he said, stamping his foot. "No way!"

"Ash…" his mother begged, holding out her hands to shush him. "Hold on…"

"No, you hold on!" Ash shouted. "I said no!"

Delia narrowed her eyes in a riled glare. "Ash," she warned, "don't talk to me that way."

Ash snarled, impervious to her admonition. "I can talk to you however I want!" he insisted. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Delia looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean why am I doing this to you?" she asked, a touch of apprehension in her voice. "You act like I'm hurting you…"

"You are!" Ash growled. "I won't go there! I won't!"

"Ash." His brazenness restored her tone to one of high forewarning.

The commotion had reached Jay and he emerged from the kitchen, his nose wrinkling with curiosity. He approached Delia, who threw a quick glance at him, and focused his attention on Ash.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice soft and inquisitive.

Ash pointed at Delia rigidly. "She's trying to make me go to Gary's tonight!" he whined, his heavy breathing making his nose flare.

Jay shrugged. "So? What's wrong with that?"

Ash felt his pressure go sky-high. "He—" he began, only to have his words stuffed right back into his mouth by Brock's hand. His eyes shot open in alarm, and instinctively his body started to squirm from his friend's grasp.

"Ash has not been getting along too well with Gary lately," Brock calmly explained, finding that the sooner he shut Ash's mouth, the better. He knew that this kind of shock would send Ash off the deep end, and it was time for him to intervene. He paused to give Ash a firm look, to allow himself to take over. "That's the problem."

Brock watched Delia give him an odd glare, and immediately he knew he had just mistakenly gone against his own offer of help to them. A bit taken, he was glad when Delia spoke up.

"Oh," Delia snorted, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "That's nonsense. Ash, you two've always had your disagreements, but you were always such good friends."

"Yeah," Jay agreed, nodding. "You guys spent every waking moment together!"

"But it's not like that anymore," Misty said softly, looking despairingly at Ash as he stood there, his mouth still clamped by Brock's hand. "It's gotten pretty ugly lately."

"Ugly?" Delia asked. "How so?"

Brock glanced at Misty, who returned the gaze with the same amount of question. Their eyes seemed to be discussing, as both knew what the other one was thinking. They couldn't wrench the latest, disastrous event out of their minds, either, and with massive worry they wondering if it would be right to tell.

Brock appeared to have made the decision himself as he let go of his clasp on Ash, allowing the boy to recline from the hold. The mouth didn't hesitate to speak up.

"Mom, I don't have to argue this!" he said, still at a slight whine. "I don't want to go to Gary's tonight, and you should respect that!"

"But I don't understand it!" Delia challenged. "Ash, you act like this is the end of the world! I made these arrangements for you to be happy, not to pick a fight."

"Well, sorry," Ash spat. "But I think you should know better by now that I can't stand Gary's guts! Especially after—" He stopped abruptly, turning away slightly and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Especially after what?" Jay wondered. "What happened?"

Ash looked at him for a moment but moved his eyes away again. "Nothing," he firmly responded. He knew it was best not to bring that up.

"I just don't want to go there," Ash said once again, bringing his voice down to a normal volume with a deep sigh.

Delia seemed to calm down, as well…unlike her persistence. "But Ash…maybe this can be a good thing. Ever since you've started being a Pokémon trainer, you and Gary have been competing like this. I thought that if you two got together in a nice, Pokémon-free environment, you might be able to build your relationship back up."

"That'll never happen," Ash was quick to infer. "It's hopeless between us."

"But Ash dear, Gary Oak was such a wonderful friend to you," Delia sighed sadly.

"Gary Oak is a huge pain in my ass!" Ash freely proclaimed.

"Ashton!" Delia barked. She flashed a momentary, murderous glare at her son, but her attention was quickly snatched away as she heard Jay snicker beside her.

He was indeed laughing, trying best to hide it by covering his face with his hand. He turned away slightly from Delia to further conceal himself, but she easily caught sight of his face, beet red from the unexpected bout of laughter that had erupted out of him.

"Don't laugh at him!" Delia scolded her husband. "He's got a filthy mouth!"

Jay just proceeded to chortle louder, causing Misty and Brock to be helplessly drawn into it. Pretty soon Ash's declaration had a toll on everyone in the room, and even Delia found the laughing too difficult to resist. She bit furiously on her tongue to keep the smile off her face, knowing that laughing was the last thing she needed in encouraging Ash to watch his language.

Through a smile that was hard to keep away, Delia shook her finger at Ash. "I don't want to hear another word like that out of your mouth, you hear me?" she tried to warn, but her fight against the yearning laughter was taking the seriousness away from it.

It didn't affect Ash one way or another. He simply looked at her with indignant indifference, taking deep, slow breaths. He wasn't ashamed for what he said. Whether or not they found it funny, he meant every word of it. He didn't mind what methods it would take—he wasn't going to go to Gary's tonight. Delia had always raised him to keep the swears in, but at times like this Ash's anger took control of his mouth. He could curse up a storm for all he cared, and his enraged mother could do anything she wanted in response; he didn't care. Just as long as he could get out of this nightmare that had suddenly become reality.

"Mom," Ash said quietly, closing his eyes as he did, "please don't make me go there tonight."

Delia rolled her eyes. "Ash, come on! You are going! I promise you that you'll have a good time."

Ash's face slumped as his voice squeaked in a whimper. "But Mom—"

"Uh-uh! No more!" Delia said, putting a warm smile on her voice to coincide with the firm resolution she was stating. "You and Misty and Brock are going to go, and you're going to have a great time. You'll see right away that in the right setting you and Gary can be best friends again."

Ash wanted to say more, but he was silenced after that, slumping his shoulders in defeat. It was no use to go any further. Delia came up to him and hugged him tightly, which he hardly returned.

Bending down to kiss his cheek, she whispered, "Mama knows. You'll be fine tonight."

Ash looked at her as she stood up again, her loving smile warming down on him. He sighed, and threw his gaze at the ground.

"Go get ready now," Delia said, shooing them towards upstairs. "You guys are all sweaty and I'm sure Gary's parents won't appreciate that very much."

At that, she tugged on Jay's shirt for him to follow her into the kitchen. Ash saw Jay wink at him reassuringly as he left, his last attempt at solacing. Ash was left in the living room with Misty and Brock and two tired, worn-out Pokémon.

Misty came up to him, and Ash found himself looking into her concerned, blue eyes. "Ash," she said softly, "what are you going to do?"

Ash shook his head, unable to even think straight. "I dunno," he answered dryly.

"It…it can't be that bad," Brock sighed, patting Ash on the shoulder.

Ash looked up into his face. "You promised me that I wouldn't ever have to associate with him ever again," he mumbled.

Brock froze, his own vow to Ash being thrown back at him. He struggled to find what to say, but he wound up shrugging in quandary. He couldn't offer anything to Ash now except for help. Help to bear through the night that they were forced into against their own will. Brock naturally knew the reason behind their getting out of the house, and that was why he had remained quiet for the course of the disagreement. He didn't want to go to Gary's either—the thought of seeing that little snot-nosed face again made him nauseous. But Jay and Delia needed this time alone, and he had promised to help them achieve that. There was nothing he could do now.

"Come on, you guys," he said, motioning them to follow him upstairs. "Let's go get ready."


Ash threw one last glance at his parents as he, Misty, and Brock trudged down the walk, hoisting the light, yet huge bags that contained their sleeping bags, clothes, and toiletries. They were smiling at him, their arms around each other. Delia blew kisses to her son, while Jay gave him an encouraging, good-luck thumbs-up. They shouted out their good-byes to the kids, their happiness positively radiant.

Ash quivered, jerking his head in the other direction. He wasn't ready to acknowledge their farewells at the moment; he wanted them to know each particle of anger that was reverberating inside of him. The only comforting feeling he was presently experiencing was Pikachu atop his shoulder, holding on gently to his trainer's hair for support. Ash reached up to pet his Pokémon's ears.

"Pika pikachu," Pikachu uttered softly, assuring Ash just as Misty and Brock had countless times beforehand.

"I hope," Ash said, his voice shaky. " I hope this night goes well, too…"

Misty looked back at him, hearing the silent muttering that Ash was relaying to Pikachu. She gazed at him worriedly, scrutinizing his downcast expression and humped-over posture. This was not going to be good for him. She knew that right off the bat, and in that second, she promised to do whatever it would take to make this night go smoothly. She'd never been to Gary's house, as well as Brock, and she'd never met any of Gary's family members aside from Professor Oak. She recalled vaguely that Gary had a sister, but she wasn't sure of it. In fact, she wasn't sure of anything right now.

She turned back around and walked a little more swiftly to be alongside Brock. The trip to Gary's was not a long one, no more than a quarter of a mile from Ash's, and in no time the glowing windows and steep roof of Gary's house came into view. It looked a bit like Ash's, but it was bigger and had a garage. The lawn was much larger, and the house was a soft yellow, which appeared as a rusty mustard in the evening light. The front light was on, the sign of expected company.

"How do you think this is going to be tonight, Brock?" Misty asked, her voice brewing with concern and fear.

Brock was quiet for a moment. "I can't tell ya, Misty. I really can't."

"Well, what do you feel?"

"I don't feel right about this, that's how I feel," Brock answered, glancing back at Ash to make sure if he was still there—he was. "Ash isn't going to make this easy."

Misty mewled softly. "Yeah, but who can blame him? After what that jerk said to him, I wouldn't be surprised if Ash punched his lights out."

Brock shook his head resolutely. "He won't, though. In fact, I don't think Ash is going to say much of anything tonight. I think he's going into withdrawal or something."

Misty sighed as she looked back again. Ash was looking ahead this time, not at his feet. Misty was shocked when Ash gave her a gentle smile as their eyes met, and she smiled back. Her heart sank instantly, trying to ferociously block all the bad aspects of the night that were to come. She wasn't going to leave Ash's side for one moment—not that she didn't trust him, but sort of like a shield. Ash needed protection tonight. He would be the first to deny it, but he needed it. And she was going to provide that to him without hesitation.

We'll get through this night, she pledged both to herself and the two boys with her. God, please help us get through this night.

They walked a bit flaccidly up Gary's walkway, which was lined with pink impatiens. Butterflies began to flutter in Brock and Misty's stomachs as they approached the unfamiliar house, full of unfamiliar people. They stopped at the door and rang the doorbell, which consisted of a few, melodic chimes. Ash finally reached them, stopping and shifting his weight on one leg. Misty and Brock could hear Ash sigh under his breath as the waiting process went into effect. The three stood in silence, the chorus of crickets echoing throughout the dark valley.

The sound of the front door unlocking pricked their ears, drawing their attentions to the front door opening before them. Ash clenched his sweaty palms shut as the door swung open, and the familiar, dreaded face of his once best friend, now hated rival appeared from behind it.

"Hi," Gary said, a melodious smile coming to his face. His voice was low and simple, the usual bite in it mysteriously missing at that moment. He reached down to open the screen door. "Come on in," he welcomed, holding the door open for them.

"Thanks," Misty felt obliged to say, stepping up into Gary's front hall. She quickly looked back to see Ash entering the house. He glanced quickly up at Gary, then looked down again without a word. There was no distinguishable expression on his face, but Misty could guess that it wasn't a happy one. Gary watched him as he came in, then attended to closing the door.

The three took in their surroundings as Gary locked the doors up. Ash had been there many times before, but it had been awhile and even he was surveying the scene. The house had a pleasant aroma to it, a soft kind of potpourri scent hanging in the air. Their feet sank into the rug beneath them, and the sound of a TV somewhere in the house was the extent of what could be heard. It was an attractive house, cozy, and welcoming, easing Brock and Misty's nerves slightly. Ash was unaffected. It was Gary's, and if the clouds of Heaven supported their feet, he'd still find it crude and unbearable.

Gary was done with the door. "We're going to be in the basement tonight," he informed, moving past them. They followed him down the hall. Ash kept his eyes to the ground, watching his feet move underneath him. He'd been in Gary's finished basement dozens of times, and found it the most interesting room in the house. Large, sleep-able couches dotted the room, and it was equipped with a TV and VCR. A beautiful pool table was in one of the corners, one which Ash and Gary had earnestly tried to play on when they were but little tykes, standing on their tippy-toes while trying to hold the heavy cues. They'd wound up smacking the balls around with the cues and praying they'd go in the pockets.

They made their way to the basement door, which Gary opened. He walked down the stairs, followed by Brock, then Misty, then Ash.

As they proceeded down the stairs, Misty looked into Ash's face. She nudged him lightly and he looked at her. She flinched when she saw the amount of worry and disarray in his brown eyes.

"Oh, Ash," she whispered. "Please be strong tonight."

Ash looked away, nodding even so slightly.

Misty swallowed. "I know you can be strong tonight. You can do it. I believe you can. It'll be over before you know it."

Ash took this in, feeling it seep into him gradually. Misty had faith in him, but he didn't have faith in himself. It was impossible to grasp it. There was something wrong here. Something horribly wrong. In that moment, Ash wondered what he'd done to deserve this. What had brought this horrible fate upon him? These thoughts plagued his mind endlessly as they reached the basement level, and Ash began to dread the evening with every part of himself. Somehow, someway, he'd get through it.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

All thanks goes out to our uploader Llyxius! If it weren't for her, chances are you probably wouldn't be reading this right now! So while my computer continues to be baka and not let me sign in and upload, all I can say is thanks Llyxius-kad! You're so cool!

And a special shoutout to AMon! Glad you're feeling better!