Chapter 15-A Race Against Time Jenny Jenny 1 25 2001-11-01T17:36:00Z 2001-11-01T18:01:00Z 4 1517 8648 72 17 10620 9.2720

Chapter 15-A Race Against Time

Using what little resources they had, Vincent fought desperately to keep Lana alive. He realised immediately that it wouldn't be an easy task. Her wounds were fresh and hadn't completely healed over. With Damon working silently at his side, he bandaged her head and her arm tightly to stop the blood flow.

"How is she?" Damon whispered. Vincent shook his head slowly. "Not good" he admitted. "As well as the major head wound and the deep cut on her arm, she's also been raped and I fear she has internal injuries. And she seems to be having difficultly breathing…"

As he spoke, Lana's breathing got fainter. Damon quickly felt for a pulse but he couldn't find one. "We're losing her" he panicked. "Vince…"

"Damon, there's not much more I can do" Vincent told his brother gently. "I've stopped the blood, but she's lost so much already that I don't think it's making much difference. But if it means so much to you, I'll try mouth to mouth. That might bring her back. But having said that…I don't know where she's been, do I?"

As he lowered his face to hers, Lana opened her eyes and screamed. Ash, Brock, Gary and Jessie came rushing over to see what was wrong. Silently, they stood around watching her, unsure of what to do. Lana kept screaming until finally Vincent had had enough. Sharply he slapped her face, and she fell silent.

"Shut up" he commanded, getting to his feet. "I'm hurt that you don't recognize us Lana. It's only been a year"

"Vincent, Damon. Thank heavens. I thought they had come back…"

"Who?" Vincent asked quickly. "Jack?"

"Jack and another man. My gym trainers tried to help me, but they…" she broke off and began to cry. The group stood silently, watching her. Finally Damon went over and knelt beside her. Awkwardly, he put his arms around her and let her cry into his shoulder.

"Lana" Vincent said finally. "When Jack came here, did he have anyone with him?" Brock, Ash and Damon glanced at him, suddenly understanding why he asked. Lana nodded and looked up at him. "There was a little girl," she said slowly between sobs. "And a man. They were tied up and they looked pretty scared"

"Were they hurt in any way?"

"I…I don't think so. What happened to your hand?"

"Oh that" In the excitement, Vincent had forgotten about his injured hand. "I had a run in with Lucas"

"And you're still here? I'm surprised. They must have underestimated you"

"Vincent's grown up a lot," Damon told her sharply. "And now we are going to take down Jack and Clive before they do any more damage"

"Well we need to hurry" Brock pointed out. "We only have a few hours left"

"Yeah, he has a point" Damon said with a nod. "Lana, where is the shrine to Umbreon? You know these woods well enough"

"Directly east of here. You walk for about two hours, and then you'll come to a river. Cross the river and keep walking east. You'll come to it eventually" As she spoke, Lana stood up and began to gather her torn clothing, in an attempt to maintain some of her decency. Politely, the group avoided looking at her and instead glanced at Vincent. Their leader gave them a small smile, touched Sol-leks gently on the head and turned to the door.

"Shall we get going?" he suggested, exchanging a quick look with his brother. "We still have a way to go and time is short"

"Yeah" Ash agreed. "I want to see Misty again. Before it's too late"

"You will" Vincent promised. On the inside however, the young guy wasn't so sure. He knew that if Jack realised they were so close he wouldn't wait until nightfall…

"Go outside guys" he told them firmly. "I'm just going to wait for Damon. We won't be a moment"

As the gang nodded and wandered outside, Vincent waited in the doorway. Damon saw him there and looked half annoyed and half relieved. Then, ignoring his younger brother, he turned to Lana.

"Lana, when I saw Lucas he said some things" he began and watched as Lana went pale. "What did he tell you?" she whispered. "What did he say?"

"That you were carrying my child," he said, keeping his voice neutral. "That he told you to get rid of it and you did"

"I…I didn't…"

"Tell me Lana" Damon caught her wrist and pulled her closer to him. "Did you kill my child? Yes or no. Simple question"

"Yes" Lana hung her head. "I'm sorry. Lucas told me that it was for the best"

"Stupid bitch" Damon's voice shook as he let go of her. "Lucas only wanted to hurt me. He didn't give a damn about you or our child. You didn't even tell me…I can't believe you never told me"

"Damon, don't go. I wanted to, I really did. I love you, please don't go" As he turned, she grabbed at his arm. Damon turned and hit her across the face, knocking her to the floor. "Don't you dare stand there and say you love me" he spat at her. "If you loved me you couldn't have done what you did. I hate you Lana. I wish you were dead. I should have just let you die"

With that he turned and walked out of the gym. Vincent took one last look at the sobbing girl and followed him outside. Privately he thought that Damon had been just a bit too harsh, but he knew also that people said things when they were angry that they didn't mean, and he wasn't going to argue with his brother.

"Everything all right?" Brock enquired politely. "Shall we get moving?"

"Yeah, everything's great" Damon muttered under his breath. "Let's move"

"Fine" As usual, Vincent and Gary took the lead. Damon tagged quietly behind the rest, not saying anything. Sol-leks hung back and went to walk beside him. Damon gave Vincent a small smile.

They walked for over an hour, and then stopped to rest. They were too nervous and worried to rest for long however, and so they soon reached the river. It was wide and there was a fast flowing current.

"How are we going to cross there," Meowth asked. "I'm not getting wet"

"You might have to" Gary told him "There's no bridge near here"

"We can't swim, that's for sure" Ash commented. "We'll get dragged away and smashed to pieces on the rocks"

"The rocks" Jessie said suddenly, a thought coming to mind. "What if we used the rocks as stepping stones? There are enough of them"

"I think you've got something there, Jess" Vincent looked hard at the river and nodded. "But we'll have to go carefully, the rocks will be very slippery. I think we'll go in pairs, it'll be safer and we can hold hands. I'll go with Gary, Ash and Brock can go together and Jessie, you go with Damon"

Slowly, he stepped onto the first rock and found that it wasn't as slippery as he feared. Moving carefully the two guys made their way across, helping each other. As they reached the other side, Ash and Brock began to cross. They weren't as sure footed as Vincent, and twice Ash almost slipped into the water. Both times, Brock managed to pull him back before they both fell, but the second time, Pikachu went in. The electric rodent attempted to swim, but the current was too strong.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, about to jump in after his pokemon. Brock held him back and pulled him along the row of rocks to Vincent and Gary. Together they watched as Pikachu was dragged downstream. Damon, Jessie and Meowth were just starting to cross the river, when they all heard a splash. Sol-leks, seeing that Pikachu was in danger, had jumped in and was now swimming down the river to Pikachu. As they watched, Sol-leks caught Pikachu gently in his mouth and began to swim to the bank. He could feel himself being dragged down, but he swam on. Even when his head hit a rock, the pain didn't stop him. He fought on until they had safely reached the bank and he had dropped Pikachu at Ash's feet.

Ash picked up Pikachu and hugged him tightly. Vincent knelt beside Sol-leks and ran his hand gently over the pokemon's head mask. "Lucky he was wearing that" he said almost to himself. "Good boy Sol-leks. You did great"

"Yeah he did" Damon agreed. "Nice one, Wolfang"

"Thank you Sol-leks" Ash knelt down and hugged the pokemon. "And thank you Vincent"

"No problem. He's got a good heart, Sol-leks has. He'll help anyone he likes"

While they were talking, Pikachu got down from Ash's head and went over to Sol-leks.

"Pika, Pika Pika" he said. "Chu. Pikachu"

"Wolfang, Wolfang"

"What are they saying??" Jessie asked Meowth as Pikachu gave Sol-leks a lick and ran back to Ash. "Was Pikachu thanking him?"

"Pikachu was saying that he was very grateful and that Sol-leks would be his friend for life" Meowth said with a grin. "Sol-leks said that he was pleased to be able to help and he's glad that Pikachu's okay"

"Meowth's got it" Vincent said with a smile. "Damon, Jessie, are you ready to move? We don't have much longer left"

"Yeah, we're ready" Jessie told him, running a hand through her hair, which was beginning to look very messy. "Let's go rescue James and Misty"

"I've got a hunch that it isn't going to be that easy," Damon muttered under his breath, exchanging a glance with Meowth. But he smiled for the first time since they had left Lana's gym.

After another two hours of trying to follow a non-existent path, they were all getting annoyed. "Are you sure Lana gave you the right directions?" Brock finally started to ask, but stopped when they finally saw the small stone temple.

"That's it" Damon whispered. "That's the temple of Dark Umbreon"

"Dark Umbreon?" Vincent asked. "What's the difference between Umbreon and Dark Umbreon?"

"Umbreon is just a dark type pokemon," Damon explained patiently. "Dark Umbreon is an evil Umbreon. Anyone can get an Umbreon, but Jack wants to go one better"

"Now you tell us," Jessie muttered. "So what's our plan of action?"

"I'm not sure," Vincent admitted. "I have no idea how many guards will be waiting for us in there. It will be dangerous to just rush in"

"Wait" Gary said quickly. "Does this place have a back entrance?"

"Yeah, just around the back" Damon told him. "Why?"

"Because I think I have a plan" Gary whispered, as they gathered around him. "What we do is this…"

Inside the temple, Misty and James, both held by guards, listened as Jack and Clive made the final preparations. "I guess Vincent and the others got held up," James whispered. "I'm sorry for getting your hopes up"

"We're really going to die?"

"Yeah" Jack said, overhearing their conversation. "You're really going to die. Right now. You first" He grabbed Misty from the guard and held her firmly on the alter, in front of Clive. Clive held up a knife. "Dark Umbreon, we offer you two more sacrifices" he began, but before he could finish, the door burst open, startling them all…