Chapter 12-Tunnel of Illusion

Chapter 12-A Rocky Tunnel

The group had only been walking for a few minutes, when Sol-leks stopped and gave a warning growl. As Vincent stopped and signalled to the others to do the same, the pokemon glanced at his master and stopped growling. As soon as he did, a group of Zubats flew towards the group. Instantly, they all dropped to the ground and crouched there, as the Zubats flew over their heads. When he was sure they were all gone, Vincent slowly got to his feet and held out his hand for Gary. "That was close," he muttered. "We'd better watch out. There'll be plenty of other stuff like that in here"

"Like what?" Jessie's voice shook slightly, and Damon noticed.

"Don't worry," he informed them, as they started walking again. "When Sol-leks growled, it frightened the Zubats and they flew over to us to get away from him. We scared them just as much, I bet. Most of the pokemon here won't disturb us if we don't disturb them"

"What kinds of pokemon live in here?" Ash asked, curious. Damon shrugged. "I'm not totally sure," he admitted. "But pokemon like Geodude, Machop, Onix and Steelix live in tunnels and caves. Rattata is very common and if you're really lucky, you might see a Clefairy or a Graveler but those two are pretty rare"

"Paras is another one" Vincent cut in, brushing away a bunch of spider webs. "In some caves you can find Parasect, but that is again very rare"

"Wow" Brock sounded impressed. "You two sure know a lot about pokemon"

"Well yeah, I guess we do" Damon said slowly. "We were all interested in pokemon from a young age and we studied them quite a lot. We shared our knowledge with each other and learnt a lot. Once we all became trainers, our knowledge helped quite a bit"

"I bet it did" Ash ducked, to avoid hitting a piece of rock. "Say Vince, are we actually going anywhere? This tunnel is getting narrower"

"Nope" Gary informed them. "We can't see much of the tunnel ahead, but there's no opening"

"Oh we won't come to the opening yet" Damon gave a laugh. "We have to go right though the mountain itself"

"Brilliant" Brock muttered in reply. "How long will that take us?"

"Providing we keep up this pace, probably three or four hours," Vincent told them. "We should be out of here by late afternoon. Then we should be in Dark Wood by nightfall. That gives us a full day to get to the shrine. Don't panic, we have plenty of time"

"I hope so," Ash whispered under his breath. "Something is going to go wrong. I can feel it. Oh, please let Misty be okay"

Meanwhile, over in Dark wood, Jack and Clive were making their plans. In the corner, Misty and James were bound tightly to the wall. Knowing that they couldn't escape, they had agreed to keep quiet and wait for Ash, Vincent and the others to find them. "After all" James had pointed out. "Vincent won't let anything happen to us or to the others"

Jack and Clive seemed to be arguing quietly about something. Finally Jack lost his temper. "I don't care if my brothers have got loose" he yelled at his father. "Lana has been caught and the gym is heavily guarded. They won't get passed there. I've also hired someone to ensure that the tunnel has protection. My brothers may be clever and they may be brave, but they won't get here in time"

"Fine" Clive gave a sigh and sat down heavily in his chair. "But what about the other thing?"

"We shall see" Jack said slowly, pushing his black hair from his eyes. "I don't want to hurt my brothers if it is not necessary. They are my brothers after all. But if they do get in the way, either now or later, we'll deal with them then"

He waited until Clive had left the room before picking up a piece of bread and heading over to the prisoners. "I'm sorry about this," he said, kneeling down and offering Misty a small piece of bread. "If you hadn't met Vincent, you wouldn't have been dragged into all this. I didn't want this to happen to you"

"So why can't you let us go?" James asked, taking the food that was offered to him. "We've done nothing to you. I don't even really know who you are"

"I would if I could" Jack sighed. "But we need two more pokemon trainers for tomorrow night. We must have them"

"What are you going to do to us?" Misty asked, her voice trembling. Jack gave a small smile and looked straight at her. "We're going to kill you," he said softly. "As a sacrifice to the dark pokemon Umbreon"

"Don't worry Misty" James said softly, as Jack left the room. "Vincent will rescue us, he's got too. He won't let his brother kill us"

"I hope so" Misty replied, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I want to see Ash, I need to tell him how much he really means to me"

"Don't give up Misty" James urged her. "We've got to be strong. Nothing is going to happen to us"

Meanwhile, back in the tunnel, Vincent was trying to convince the others of the same thing. After catching a glimpse of a Rattata family, who weren't happy to see them, even Vincent's nerves were slightly on edge. He certainly wasn't prepared for the dart, which came flying from the shadows and planted itself neatly in his shoulder. Vincent gave a hiss and sank to his knees. "Damon" he mumbled. "Something is wrong with this…" He broke off and fainted. Damon and Gary were by his side in a second. Damon gently pulled the dart from his brother's shoulder and looked at it carefully in the dim light.

"Shit" he hissed. "Vincent was right. This is no ordinary dart"

"What up, Damon?" Gary sounded worried. "Vincent's going to be alright isn't he?"

"Well yes and no" Damon said slowly. "This dart contains poison. The poison makes the victim see illusions. In a few minutes, he should come round. But I don't know what sort of state he will be in when he does. He might try and attack us or something"

"Who fired it?" Meowth sounded very scared. Damon shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "These darts have to be fired from close range, so the attacker is in the tunnel somewhere, quite near us"

"Hey!" Ash called out. Brock quickly grabbed him and put a hand over his mouth. "Shut up, you idiot" he hissed. "Do you want every pokemon in the tunnel on us?"

"Oh, sorry" Ash muttered. "I forgot"

"It's alright," Damon told him. "Just keep it down, okay. Vincent, can you hear me?"

"Damon" Vincent mumbled, slightly opening his eyes. "What happened? I feel strange"

"You were hit by a poison dart," Damon told him. "Can you stand?"

"I…I think so" Vincent took Damon's hand and managed to pull himself up. "Wow" he said. "That was pretty painful"

"Yeah, I bet. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I…" Vincent broke off and slowly shook his head. "My thoughts are all muddled," he admitted. "I can hear these voices in my head. They're saying…they're saying I must kill you. All of you. I have to obey them"

"Vincent" Damon was beginning to panic. "We're your friends. Fight it; fight it please. You can do it"

"You are frightened" Vincent turned to them and the rest of the group shrank away from his gaze. His eyes had lost all emotion and his voice was cold, cruel. "None of you can beat me and you know it"

"Vincent" Damon grabbed his brother's shoulder. "Don't do this. These voices are only an illusion. They will pass"

"Liar" Vincent hissed, as he hit Damon hard in the face. Damon was knocked off his feet by the blow and hit the wall. Within a few seconds he was on his feet again. "You're not my brother," he stated coldly. "You have taken my brother and so I will fight you"

"You're afraid" Vincent mocked him. "You act tough, but you're scared"

"Maybe. But if the situation were reversed, my brother would fight to protect his friends. He can't do it, so I will"

"Try this" the cold eyes flashed red and Damon was knocked off his feet a second time. Vincent laughed. "You're no match for my psychic powers," he informed them. "Now prepare to die"

"Wait" Gary stepped forward. "Vincent, I know you're still there somewhere. Fight it for me. I…I love you"

"Gary" Vincent's voice was still hard, but his eyes began to soften. "No" he said, shaking his head. "They tell me you're lying"

"Well maybe this will show them," Gary said, as he threw his arms around Vincent and kissed him hard on the mouth. As the rest of the group looked at each other in total shock, Damon noticed something. "Look guys" he whispered. "It's working. Vincent's coming back"

"Gary" Vincent held the younger boy tightly in his arms. "What happened? What did I do?"

"You laid me out" Damon informed him, slowly getting to his feet and wiping blood from his mouth. "Twice"

"Damon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Like you said, forget it. You were being influenced by voices or something. You were going to kill us all. Gary figured that kissing you might help" he shrugged and grinned at his brother. "Anyway, I was waiting for the day when you'd finally get your own back and whack me one"

"Thanks Gary" Vincent looked down at the boy in his arms. "I guess you just saved us all. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I didn't mean it"

"It's alright," Gary said slowly. "I'm glad I could do something to help"

"Luckily for all of us, you had the guts to follow it through" Ash said, still shocked by what he had seen. "I'm not sure that I could have done it"

"Oh, it was nothing" Gary said modestly, exchanging a quick glance with Vincent. "I just did what I had to"

"Come on guys" Vincent said, noticing the amused, 'I told you so' looks, which Damon was giving him. "We've wasted too much time already"

"What about the guy who shot you?" Jessie asked. "Suppose he attacks again?"

"He's not around here anymore" Vincent told them. "I get the feeling that he's waiting for us further up. Let's just take it slowly, okay."

"Fine" Brock said. "As long as you're sure. You had us all freaked out for a moment there"

They carried on walking up the tunnel, all of them in silent. Vincent and Gary were confused about their feelings for each other and they were both trying to make sense of them. Ash, Jessie and Meowth, were all praying that James and Misty were safe. Brock however, had other things on his mind, and after a few moments, he fell back to walk beside Damon. Damon glanced up, slightly surprised to see Brock next to him. "What can I do for you, Brock?" he asked keeping his voice neutral. Brock gave him a small smile. "I just wanted to say," he said slowly. "That when I first met you, I was horrified at the way you treated Vincent. I have many younger brothers and sisters and the thought of hurting them just makes me feel sick" he paused for a minute, and then went on. "But now I'll admit, you're not the bad guy I thought you were. I saw the way you stood up for Vincent when Jack caught us. And the other thing I've noticed is that Vincent really looks up to you. You mean the world to him, anyone can see that"

"Brock, I can't really make any excuses for what I did to my brother. I'm ashamed at myself and I can't believe he could forgive me so easily. Thank you for sticking up for him that day. I suppose in some ways, that made me realise that what I was doing was wrong"

"I'm glad" Brock said quietly, and a look of understanding passed between the two. As Brock moved back beside Ash, Sol-leks stopped and gave a warning growl. The whole group paused and looked at Vincent. Vincent turned and looked at Damon. "There's a big room just up ahead," he said quietly. "Someone is in that room. Damon, help me create a barrier around us"

"Can do" Damon moved over to his younger brother and took his hand. The two stood quietly for a moment, focusing their psychic powers and binding them together. Finally they broke apart and turned back to the others. "It's done" Vincent told them, sounding out of breath. "Are you alright?" Gary asked. Vincent nodded. "Building a barrier around all of us takes a lot of energy," he informed them. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be fine"

"Come on then" Damon said, leading them through into the rocky room. "Let's see what idiot thinks he can shoot my brother with poison darts and get away with it"

It wasn't until they were all on the other side that the cave was lit up with a powerful flame. Ash, Jessie, Brock and Gary looked around them in amazement and fear. Damon and Vincent took no notice of anything other than the man standing on the rocky platform. "You!" Damon hissed. "I should have known that you would have something to do with this"