Chapter #17

"It's been two years," Andy growled, approaching Mason slowly. "And now you will finally get what you deserve for your crimes against Rukonians." We were in a large lab in an underground base. It was here Mason had been hiding ever since that day when I woke up in that hospital bed after saving Mr. Roloc's life. A lot had changed since then—Andy and Carol lived with my mom and I. We were truly like sisters and our Pokemon enjoyed plenty of exercise ever since we started warming up for the Pokemon League. It's true, just like Victoria had promised so long ago, we were now Pokemon Trainers earning badges like most teens our age.

As I looked at mason, I could see the anger, hate and fear in his eyes. His hands were shaking as he was backed into a wall.

Our wings were out—mine were my usual wings, not the special ones I had grown so long ago. No one was able to explain it, so I concluded it was probably the Tsubasa no Kami. Carol's visions were less frequent, and they were never of anything bad like they used to. She would still play her jokes on us by reading our minds, which was sometimes annoying. Unfortunately, Carol had become a lot like Andy—hotheaded and secretive. She hated Mason more than anything in the world, and she promised herself that she would find him and end his life for killing Victoria.

Our pokemon weren't with us during our final fight with Mason. We didn't want them dragged into our battle—we wanted to get back at Mason with our own hands. It took us almost a year to find it, but after a lot of public investigations, we found it. We didn't think twice before getting there.

Mason growled at us from the back of his throat. His hands were curled into fists and his skin had gone white. He struggled each word he forced out of his lips, "Even if you do kill me, I will never regret my actions. Besides, even with me gone, the war won't be over against you" He snarled.

Carol's eyes narrowed, "The war is long over It will stay that way" She growled as she tucked in her wings. Her hands were shaking in her rage against Mason. Already orbs of ice were forming in her palms. She just couldn't wait to kill him.

Mason smirked, "Oh really?" I blinked. "The Hasidi Clan will never give up As long as the clan's descendents are alive, you foolish Rukonians won't stand a chance"

Andy took a step forward. "What do you mean?" She asked, but her tone made it seem more like a no-choice thing.

Mason's grin widened. "You Rukonians were the reason my ancestor, the man who brought life to the Hasidi Clan, crumbled. You stopped us from achieving our goal of creating a perfect world. Even after so many centuries, the descendents of the Hasidi Clan live on. They will raise up and destroy you all!" He began to laugh almost insanely. He didn't care if we killed him or not—he believed this "Hasidi Clan" would get us. I wondered if it had anything to do with the war my mother described

I couldn't help but wonder at that moment if the Orb of Mew had anything to do with this. So, I spoke up to ask him--why did he want the Orb of Mew? "What about the Orb of Mew?" I asked, "Why did you send us to get it? Why did you need it?" I demanded to know--I wouldn't let him not answer my question. We all risked our lives getting that thing.

"Simple," Mason started, "to awaken the Tsubasa no Kami so she could destroy the world!" He then began to laugh evily, it gave me the chills. "The 'Orb of Mew' is the heart of the goddess. I was mearly hoping you would awaken her and she would destroy the world... That has always been the goal of the Hasidi Clan you fools!"

"Oh shut up!" Andy snapped at Mason's laughing. "You can go on and on about all that crap, but you know what? I don't give a damn!"

When I wasn't paying attention, Mason swiped a pistol out from his jacket's pocket. We all froze dead in our tracks. "You were saying?" He grinned. He had the chance to kill us all right there. But I thought fast and shot a bolt of electricity at his hand and zapped the gun from his hands. It fell to the floor and Mason was about to reach out to retrieve it, but he paused when he saw Andy.

She brought her hands infront of her and began to form a flame in her palms. "It's time for you to die."

Mason closed his eyes, "Go ahead." He sighed; he must've given up.

So much was happening at once. It was less than an hour ago when we heard about Mason's underground base. I almost didn't want to do this. Mason was powerless now—he was a wanted criminal. I would rather leave him hiding and running for the rest of his life than killing him myself. I didn't want to kill anyone—I was sick of people dying.

Andy raised her arms high in her arms, then launched the huge flames at Mason. The flames were hot; I could feel them even though I wasn't very close. They struck Mason down onto the ground. He screamed in pain as the flames swallowed him up and burnt his skin to a black color. I had to turn away, it was a gruesome thing to see—but his screams were almost as bad.

Carol stepped forward, "My turn." With that, she opened her palms and a beam of ice shot straight at Mason. His feet were frozen solid onto the ground. He was knocked down onto his knees and they were frozen into place. The ice crawled up his body until the only part of his body free from the ice was his head. Of course, because of the flames Andy had just used, the ice began to melt quickly. It was my turn now and I didn't have much time.

A few minutes had passed. I just stood there, unable to move. I didn't want to kill anyone, even if it was Mason. "What are you waiting for, Seadra?!" Andy shouted, "Finish him off!" She ordered.

I gulped and looked down at Mason. He had destroyed so many lives, including our own. I wasn't sure exactly what I felt when I looked down at his terrified expression. He deserved to be killed for his crimes, but nothing would come of it.

"Seadra!" Andy screamed as she smacked my back with one of her wings, "Just finish him off with an electric attack!" She gave me one of her unforgiving glares—the same one that she used to give Mason all the time.

I looked back down at Mason, the one I used to look to—the one I trusted with my life. The golden rings in his eyes were almost gone and his sweat messed up his brown hair and dripped down his scar. He wasn't running, he wasn't going to, I knew it. He knew he was trapped, you could tell by the look on his face. He wasn't going anywhere. Any slight movement he would make would probably result in Andy, Carol and I to attack him all at once with our strongest attacks. I bit my lip, almost to the point of drawing blood.

I looked behind myself to see Carol. Her wings were tucked in onto her back and I could see the tenseness in her green eyes. I had never seen her so intense in the two years I had known her.

"If you don't do it, Seadra, I will." Carol said in a straight tone. She was serious, this was really important to her.

I thought to myself, it wasn't right; I didn't want to do it. I couldn't, and I wouldn't let Andy or Carol do it either. I looked back to Andy with a serious expression, "No. I won't do it. It's not right. It doesn't matter what Mason did, no matter how awful. We've done enough to him. We already destroyed his own life..." Since the war had ended, Mason spent his months running from everyone and everything. He had nothing left. He was seen as being worst than Hitler ever since our story was published in newspapers. "Please Andy" I pleaded.

"Are you thinking straight, Seadra?" Andy growled, "Don't you remember everything he did to us? Don't you remember what he did to Victoria?! Shoot, stop and think about it, damn it!"

Suddenly, red lights from around the lab-like room began to flash and whirl around. An alarm went off and its rings stung my ears. The walls began to shake and glass jars and other strange objects began to fall off the shelves around the room. Andy and Carol looked around, trying to figure out what caused the place's alarm to go off.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw Mason take advantage of the situation and reach out to his pistol. By now, all the ice that had trapped him had melted. He had that pistol aimed straight at me. I froze. I could see straight down the hole where a bullet could shot out of in a split second. Carol and Andy paused. They knew if they tried anything, he could fire. I swallowed hard and bit my lip, closing my eyes lightly.

Out of nowhere, the sudden bang of two guns rang through my ears. I heard Andy and Carol scream. I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts. I didn't feel anything at all. Had I been shot and died? I opened my eyes slowly. My vision was blurred but it cleared up quickly. There, lying on the concrete floor, was Mason. A small pool of blood formed around his body. I gasped.

My hands were shaking—what happened? Andy and Carol looked behind them, to the main door. I dragged my eyes to that door and saw a shadowed figure. It was a male, and he had a pistol in his hand. I recognised his face—it was Chris. I hadn't seen him since the day Mason betrayed us.

He ran over to us quickly. His expression was filled with panic as he reached Andy. I looked to her and noticed something—a red bloodstain on the front of her white shirt. I froze dead in my tracks. When Chris had shot Mason, Mason must've gotten Andy.

"Andy!" Carol screamed in horror as she caught her as she nearly collapsed. Chris helped lay her down on the ground. The shot was right in her chest—she was alive, but no doctor could save her. In a few moments, she would be dead. I felt hot tears fill my eyes and cloud my vision. First, I lost Victoria Now, Andy. Both to the same man—Mason.

Andy opened her eyes weakly. Her face had gone pale and the bloodstain was getting bigger. Carol was crying. "I'm sorry" I choked out. If I had just killed Mason when I was told to—Andy wouldn't have been shot. It was all my fault. I hated myself for what I did.

"No" Andy whispered. Her voice was scratchy and weakened. I continued to cry as Carol clung onto her tightly, refusing to let her die. "I'm the sorry one I let my rage take over me and Carol You were right Seadra." Andy coughed up some blood, I sobbed. "You and Carol were my only true family My family always hated me My father hated me because he wasn't my real father And my mother hated me because I wasn't his daughter either They never excepted me as one of them" A single tear rolled down her cheek. It suddenly made sense. Andy never wanted to get close to us because she was never close to her own family. Her father hated her because she wasn't his daughter, but someone else's, and because of that, her mother hated her.

Andy looked over to Carol and she gingerly ran one of her gloved hands through her bright purple hair. "Take care of Ninetales And never forget our origins The Tsubasa no Kami" With that, her eyelids closed and her hand slipped away from Carol, landing onto the floor. Andy was dead.

"ANDY!" Carol screamed the moment she realised Andy was dead. Chris turned away, his hands were shaking.

"I'm so sorry" he choked. I knew he was crying, but he didn't want to show it. "I came too late" He turned around to face me. His normally friendly face had so much regret and hate in it. "I wanted to repay you three for ever helping Mason But I feared that you would've thought I was still with him and you would never trust me I'm sorry"

Carol sniffled as she ran a hand through Andy's red hair. "It's okay You did save Seadra Andy would've preferred to have died than see Seadra get hurt I know that"

I whipped away a few of the tears had that flooded my eyes. I looked down at Carol, "What makes you think that?" I asked.

Carol sighed, "Psychic."