Just a quick note: This is obviously a continuation of Chapter 1. so if you
haven't read the first chapter you might want to start there, Only a
suggestion. :) I want to thank everyone that posted reviews of my story,
and I hope everyone will post a review for this chapter too. Oh just a
quick explanation, PSI is read almost like pronouncing the word "Sigh", and
means Psychic. I'm sure most of you know that, but a friend who looked over
this story for me did not, so I figured I'd just post it and make fun of
that person. you know who you are.
The funeral parlor was nearly empty except for just a few people. Ash's wake didn't start for at least a half and hour. But Ash's mother, Professor Oak, Misty, Pikachu, Brock and Tracey were already there, setting up. Truth be told, the place was already set up. The rows of chairs in place, the book to sign was out, and the flowers were set up decorating the coffin. But Ash's mother wanted everything to be right, and everyone else wanted to comfort her.
At the head of the room, there was Ash lying in his coffin, looking peaceful and a little out of place wearing a suit, instead of his usual jeans and T-shirt. He almost looked like he was sleeping. The police wanted an autopsy but his mother wouldn't hear of having her son being chopped up before the funeral... that could wait till afterwards.
The room was silent. No one spoke a word, but sometimes words just aren't important. What was important was that everyone was there for one another. One the outside, everyone was dressed up looking nice, and proper, but if you looked closely you could see that they were all showing the effects of fatigue, evidence that none of them had much sleep since the tragedy.
Misty spoke softly, "I'm going to go outside for a minute, I need some fresh air." She stood up, and Brock rose with her, "I'll go with you." Ash's mother didn't seem to notice, but Professor Oak nodded to them. Pikachu followed behind her slowly. The little yellow pokemon didn't have the same bounce in his step he usually had.
Outside Misty leaned against a post that held up the awning. She felt like crying, but she had done so much of it lately, she didn't want to anymore. Brock tried to break the silence. "Have you gotten any sleep?"
Misty nodded, "A little, an hour last night, more then I have got the night before. You?"
Brock shook his head. "None last night."
They went back to silence. Now it was Misty's turn to break the silence, "I really can't believe he's gone. I mean... it was only a pokemon battle... you can't die during a pokemon battle."
"I know what you mean... but if its any comfort at all... he went out doing what he loved the most. And he won his last match... I think where ever Ash is right now, he's happy knowing that."
Misty's eyes started to fill with tears, "I know Brock, but no, its not much comfort... it's just not fair... Oh Ash."
Brock hugged his friend close while she broke down in tears again.
Meanwhile, not far from there, Ash was just waking up. "Ohhhh, my head." he thought, "How long was I out for?" His eyes were out of focus and the room was dark. He couldn't make out a thing, but he swore he could smell mildew and dust. Ash tried to stand up, but couldn't feel his legs. He felt dizzy. "Oh man..." Ash said quietly, "Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was battling that doctor guy... and... then he used some weird attack, on me!" The fog in Ash's brain cleared up a little, and he remembered the last moments of his battle. "That's right, now I remember, he purposely attacked me... the cheater..." Ash tried to stand again but stumbled. "That move really packed a wallop. But where am I? If I was that hurt, how come I'm not in a hospital? And where's Pikachu? And Misty and Brock?" Ash starting to panic got up to his feet, and he shouted, "HEY!!! IS ANYONE HERE???" It was still too dark in the room to see clearly, but his eyes were starting to adjust.
From what he could see, the room looked like an old basement, filled with junk. Ash moved forward a bit, "Is there a light switch in here?"
"Here," A voice called from the darkness, "Let me help you."
The lights came on, revealing that the room indeed was a basement of sorts. Stacks of boxes lined one side of the room, covered with dust and cobwebs. The walls, floors and ceiling were all made of stone, showing its age, covered with moss, dust, and spots of fungus. In the far right of the room, there was a set of creaky wooden steps. At the bottom of those steps stood the man who Ash was battling before. "Hey... you?" Ash said angrily, "What's the deal having your Gangar attacking me?!? I could have been hurt!"
A wicked grin came over the man's face, "You mean you weren't hurt? Are you sure?"
Ash took a step towards him, "What are you grinning about?"
The man stood his ground, "You haven't realized it yet... you are thick, aren't you?"
"That does it, get out of my way, I'm leaving" Ash said storming forward, and he tried to push the man out of the way. But to Ash's total shock, his hand went right through then man, and Ash took a tumble to the floor, then nearly through the floor.
"What..." Ash said exasperated, "What the... what...?" For the first time since he woke up, Ash took a look at his hands. They were transparent. "What... what... what.... did you do to me???" Ash struggled to pull himself up from the floor. He was starting to panic. Was he a ghost? Was he dead?
The man stood his ground, "Your probably thinking, 'what's going on', right?" The man took a few steps into the room. His shoes clacked on the concrete. "Allow me to explain. You know me as Harry Rottop, but my real name is Geoff Rankor. And tell me, do I look familiar to you?"
Ash floated in midair, looking at the man. He DID look, vaguely familiar. But Ash really couldn't place the face. Ash admitted this, "I'm sorry sir, but no."
This seemed to really piss of Geoff. His face turned a slightly redder in color. "You ruin a man's life, and you don't even remember him."
Ash was taken aback. "Ruined your life? I don't know you, and I'm not sure I ever met you before,. how could I have done anything to you!"
The man paced around slightly. "Does the name Sabrina mean anything to you?"
"Sabrina? The gym leader?" The man nodded. Ash was even more confused, "But, what does she have to do with you?"
"Think. Before you met her, you met the leader of her Psi classes."
Ash studied the man's face... then it struck him. "Yeah! That's right, you're the guy who bent that spoon." But Ash's realization only confused him more... "I only met you for a few minutes, what could I have done to you? And why did you attack me? And what did you do to me?"
"Patience... all in due time."
Ash floated there, and folded his arms and muttered, "Not like I have a choice."
Geoff smiled at Ash, not a pleasant sight, and said, "Your absolutely right about that. Anyway, you should KNOW what I did to you!"
Ash looked at himself, transparent and floating, "You killed me!"
Geoff smiled, "Actually, no, I didn't. It's your family and friends that are going to kill you."
Ash shook his head, he couldn't believe this was happening, "What are you talking about?"
"Its really quite simple." Geoff said, "My Gangar removed your soul out of your body. It's a little trick I taught him. Right now, your body is a lifeless, soulless husk; dead for all general purpose. No brainwaves, no heartbeat, nothing. However, if you were to re-entered your body," The man snapped his fingers, "Just like that, you'd be alive again. That's the real beauty to this. The irony is so delicious."
Geoff took a few more steps around the room, savoring this moment, "Too bad your friends don't know this. They think your dead, in fact your wake is going on now. I'm afraid your family is going to have an autopsy, after the funeral tomorrow."
Ash's face fell, he was silent for a moment, "But... if my body is destroyed... what happens to me."
The man let out a barking laugh, "I suppose that's for the philosophers, because I have no idea! I figure you'll be stuck on this earthly plain, a damned spirit. Of course, who knows, this is the first time I've tried this."
Ash felt like he could cry at this point. Here he was a disembodied spirit, at the hands of an obvious madman, intent on killing him, for god only knows what reason. "But WHY???? Why me?"
"BECAUSE YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE!!!" Geoff screamed so loudly that it actually shook some of the dust off the ceiling. Ash backed up slightly. Geoff moved in on him, his face twisted with rage, "You little bastard, I was Sabrina's next in command of that school. I was THIS close to becoming as powerful a psychic as Sabrina, but then you came along. You cheered her up, her attitude was completely different afterwards, she started actually paying attention to her students, and to me. She found out the truth about me. She found out that I was a top agent in Team Rocket, and I was there to increase my psychic power to the point where I could control ANY psychic pokemon. It would have practically made me the LEADER of Team Rocket. And I was so close! But when she found out, she was livid, I tried to fight, but I was no match for her powers. She threw me out of the school, I was disgraced. Then came that little fiasco you had with the pokemon-breeding center? Remember that? DO YOU????"
Ash nodded slightly. "Yeah, Butch and Cassidy were running a fake..."
"SHUT UP!!!" Geoff screamed, "You stupid boy, you don't have to explain the plan to me! Who's idea do you think that was? Butch's? Cassidy? Of course not! It was MY plan, those two only my lackeys in the plan! It was a perfect plan. It would have completely erased my shame of my last favor. But then you come around, and you have to meddle in! YOU ruined it! When the plan fell through, the blame was laid completely on me. I was fired. I was arrested. I spent an entire year in a prison."
Ash was completely freaked out now, the man wasn't even looking at him anymore, he was almost in a trance telling his story, Ash started thinking, "He's starting to wig out... maybe I can use that to my advantage and get out of here."
"When I got out of prison," The crazed man continued, "I found out where you were, and I followed you all the way to the Orange League. I tried killing you there more then once. A snapped bridge here. A wild pokemon attack there... but no matter WHAT I did, you just wouldn't die. Then I followed you to Johto. More broken bridges... you really were thick, almost ever bridge you passed over broke, you'd think you'd have recognized a pattern. But you were hard to kill. Much too hard. I was about to give up hope, but when I found out that you were entering the Kanto League Tournament, I came up with this plan. And for once in my life since I've met you, my plan worked, I've got you here, and I get to watch you die." Geoff closed his eyes for a moment absolutely drinking in the moment. Ash saw his moment.
"Well, thanks for the story, I really have to get going!" Ash said quickly, diving through Geoff and flew up the steps. Geoff was taken by surprise, as Ash flew through the door. He tore ass up the stairs and practically kicked down the door. "You're not going anywhere BOY!"
"Well, I'm a ghost, I don't think you can stop me!" Ash called back.
Geoff reached into his pocket, "The hell I cant... Alakazam, STOP HIM!" and threw out his pokeball. In an instant, Ash stopped in midair. "Hey!" he called out, "What happened???"
"You've forgotten," Geoff said, "Ghosts are weak against Psychic attacks. Tsk... and you thought you'd become a pokemon master, and you cant even remember things like that."
Alakazam used his powers to bring Ash back down to the basement. Our hero floated there struggling against the power, but to no avail. "Alakazam," Geoff ordered, "Would you please teach our young guest a lesson?"
The pokemon nodded, and then sent a powerful Psi blast at Ash, catching the young boy full on. "WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Ash let out a sharp scream, he'd never felt pain like this. Finally the pain stopped, and Ash floated to the floor, struggling not to black out.
"Your really unlucky, you know that?" Geoff gloated, "For some reason, your mom didn't embalm you, or have an autopsy yet, both would have killed you completely. But instead, she's going to wait till after the funeral, so I get to play with you for almost two days! Won't that be fun? Much better then having you fall off a bridge, now that I think about it, it would have been much to fast."
Ash struggled to pull himself up. He tried to talk, but he was in too much pain. Geoff was surprised, "You've still got fight in you! After a Psi beam like that? Well then, it just wouldn't be fair to let Alakazam have all the fun. Gangar, come on out!"
In an instant, Ash was staring not only at the powerful Psychic pokemon, but now a powerful Ghost type as well. He was only able to contemplate this for a second, before a nightshade attack drove him back. Ash was sure that if he weren't already 'dead', this would have killed him. The world was starting to go dark again. Ash crawled towards Gangar and Geoff, when an attack he didn't see, but realized it must have come from Alakazam turned his lights off once again. Just before he blacked out, the last thing he heard was the 2 pokemon and Geoff laughing as if this was the greatest moment in their lives.
Back at the wake, Misty was seated in the back of the funeral parlor. She just couldn't bear to see Ash in the coffin. So she hid in the back. Misty took a look around the room. There were about 20 people here already. Some paying their respects, some making forced small talk, some just sitting and contemplating. There were a few faces Misty had never seen before, Ash's relatives, and a few faces she hadn't seen in a while. Duplica, the ditto master in training, came up to the redhead and put a hand on her shoulder. "How are you holding up?" She asked.
"I'm ok." Misty said quietly.
"No... your not." Duplica said just as quietly, "It was a stupid question."
Misty and her friend stood there quietly for a minute. Duplica broke the silence. "I'm really sorry. He really was a great person. And a great trainer. I remember when I met up with you guys again in Johto. When I down he immediately tried to cheer me up."
"Yeah." Misty said, "He was like that."
"You know, I don't think I've ever met anyone with his energy or drive..." Duplica trailed off as Misty started crying again. "Come on Misty" Duplica said, "Why don't we get you some water from the water cooler downstairs."
Misty silently walked out of the crowding room, Duplica leading her gently. Misty was so out of it that on her way out she bumped into someone she didn't recognize, but she thought it looked an uncle or something. "Sorry." She muttered. The man nodded at her.
Brock watched her head downstairs. Much like Misty, he couldn't bare to be in the front near Ash. This was killing him on the inside, but he always suspected that Misty always hid feelings for Ash, and couldn't imagine how she was feeling now. To lose someone without letting them know how you felt. Brock leaned against the wall and stared into space. "Something you want to talk about?" A familiar voice asked him. Brock turned and saw that it was Tracey.
"No. Its ok."
Tracey stared at Brock, "I know what's on your mind. I can read it in your face."
Brock turned his back slightly to Tracey, "No, it's ok, really. There's nothing."
Tracey put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's not your fault that this happened. I can read it in your face that you feel guilty."
Brock started to argue, but decided not to, its something he'd been fighting with since this happened, he decided to let it out, "Yes it is... it is partly my fault. Ash was my best friend, and he was also like a little brother to me. And Misty like a sister. I always considered them like my own family. And I was suppose to take care of them." Brock's eyes started to water over, and he turned to face Tracey, "You remember, what I told Mrs. Ketchum before we left into Johto, I promised her I would take care of her son. Some job I did."
"Brock..." his friend said, "You know there was nothing you could do. This wasn't your fault. This wasn't anyone's fault except that bastard's. If it makes you feel better, I feel guilty too."
Brock gave Tracey a surprised look. "You? But you weren't even there!"
Tracey nodded, "Yeah, that's my point. I was suppose to have been his friend, and I didn't even catch his first round match. I was too busy sketching the new Sandslash that Professor Oak got in... I didn't think his first match was important, I thought I'd catch him in the next round... sadly ironic, isn't it?" Tracey's voice cracked and he stopped talking for fear of crying. Both young men then felt a hand on their shoulders, they looked up to see it Professor Oak. The dark shadows under his eyes from stress and sorrow made him look older then usual.
"Boys..." He said sympathetically, "You can't do this to yourselves. It's not fair to yourselves, and its not what Ash would want. Gentlemen, there was NOTHING you could have done to stop this from happening. Tracey, you feel guilty because you weren't there. But even if you were there, what were you going to do? Stand in front of him during the match? And Brock, you feel guilty because you weren't there for him? Brock you traveled along side him, and from what I understand, you were ALWAYS there for him."
Tears trickled down Brock's and Tracey's cheeks. Oak let out a sad sigh, "Blaming yourselves wont bring Ash back. I could blame myself, you know. Who do you think turned Ash onto pokemon? If I didn't get him so interested in Pokemon, he wouldn't have been there at the league for that match."
It was Brock's turn to comfort, "Maybe, but I really cant imagine Ash would have been happy living a life like that."
Oak nodded, "That's my point, both of you were Ash's friends, and I think if he was able to talk right now, he'd tell you both that there's nothing you could have done to make his life any better."
Ironically, if Oak were able to hear Ash now, he'd be shocked by the profanity that he just muttered. Ash was just waking up from being K.O.'ed by that Psi wave. He guessed from the difference in the light coming through the one window, 2 hours had passed. Ash glanced around the cellar. Geoff was no where in sight. Maybe this would be a good time to try to sneak out. Ash started floating towards the door, but before he could get to it, Gangar appeared in front of him. Ash jumped in shock, and floated backwards, putting his hands up. "Easy there Gangar... you don't have to attack."
Gangar smiled wide with his extra large mouth. Ash kept backing up and then to his shock, he floated right through Alakazam. The psychic type turned around to face his prisoner. Ash stopped in his tracks and pleaded, "LISTEN to me! This guy, Geoff, is using you. You DONT have to do what he says. He's making you do bad stuff! You don't have to be like him."
Gangar and Alakazam exchanged a glance. Then looked back at the boy. "You don't LIKE hurting people do you? You're just following orders. Your just as much prisoners as I am!"
Gangar frowned slightly and Alakazam lowered his spoons. Ash floated a little closer to Gangar, he then said gently, "Listen to me, I'm good friends with Professor Oak, you've heard of him, right?" Gangar nodded. "Good, if you let me out of here, you can come back to with me to my body, and we can go see him! You could live with him on his ranch, free to do whatever you wanted, not having to take orders anymore!"
Tears formed in the corners of Gangar's eyes, and Ash turned to Alakazam, "Doesn't that sound much better then a life like this? All this hatred? All this violence? Come on, I really do want to help you!"
Alakazam and Gangar exchanged looks again. Then Gangar broke out into waterfall like tears, and Alakazam nodded at Ash and pointed at the exit way with his spoons. The door opened telepathically. "That's GREAT you guys!" Ash said excitedly, "Come on, let's get out of here!" Ash floated up the steps, and just about got to the door when he felt an excruciating pain in his back. Ash let out a painful yell, and then fell through the steps and landed on the floor. He looked over at Gangar and Alakazam who were laughing loudly. "What... but, I thought..." Ash said weakly, realizing he must have been hit with some kind of attack, but his brain was too scrambled to figure out which one of them actually attacked. Geoff appeared at the door at the top of the steps and looked down at Ash lying there. He was wearing a long dark trench coat with a long brimmed hat. Obviously he had just come from somewhere. "Young man." He said, "Did you really think you were going to turn my pokemon against me? They are LOYAL to me, and believe me, they hate you as much as I do. You're just a play thing to them."
Almost to emphasize this point, Gangar caught Ash right in this side with a powerful shadow ball attack. Ash screamed loudly and rolled on the floor. Despite the fact that his lungs were about a mile away, still in his body in fact, Ash felt like he couldn't breathe through the pain. "Your not going to pass out again, are you?" Geoff asked. The man held out a hand to Gangar, who was preparing another attack. "Just a minute Gangar, please, there's something I want to tell our young guest first."
Ash struggled to get up to his knees. He didn't want this guy to see him in pain. This guy really liked to see Ash suffer, and he'd be damned if he was going to oblige him in it. Geoff stayed at the top steps, and said, "Your friends are pretty dumb, you know that?"
Ash forgot about the pain and looked sharply at his kidnapper... or spiritnapper at least. "I just came from your wake. Nice affair really, everyone was really upset. Lovely flower arrangement." Geoff tossed down a rose that must have come from one of the vases. The rose floated through Ash's 'body'. Ash's expression grew darker. Geoff continued, "I was there for an entire 15 minutes, oh I was disguised of course, but no one even looked at me twice. I didn't even see any security! Pretty dumb."
Ash's mind was now focused on something other the agony flowing through him, and got to his feet. Geoff continued goading, "That red head girl that you travel with... Misty, isn't it? She seemed particularly upset, almost as upset as your mom. I couldn't help but notice they're both quite attractive... I think I'll go back tomorrow for the funeral and... comfort them."
Ash snapped. All he could see was red. "YOU BASTARD!!! DONT YOU TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!!!" He flew up and charged the man, with every intention to kill him. Strangle him, beat him, whatever he had to do till this horrible man was dead. But poor Ash's rage was useless, he flew right threw Geoff, turned around, and released a barrage of punches and kicks, all of them just going harmlessly through him. Geoff laughed loudly at this. "Temper, temper young man. You should be more like me. Why... at your wake, that young woman, Misty, in her tears, didn't see me standing there, and walked right into me." Geoff grinned, reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a long dagger. "Why, I was very tempted to teach her a lesson about watching where she was going by slipping this blade right in-between her ribs. Mmmm.. That would have been sweet."
Ash, not even realizing his blows weren't landing, just kept fighting. He had never felt so angry. Geoff just continued, ignoring him, "But I decided to wait. If I do it at the wake, not much room to run. I'll wait till after your spirit leaves us, lie low for a week or 2, then I'll go have some fun. Ok... enough play time... Gangar, please get this gnat away from me."
Ash was blasted with a nightshade attack that, even in his rage, took the fight out of him. Ash lay there on the floor; he was starting to feel desperate. He was starting to come to grips that he was going to die. But now, he HAD to find a way out of here or his mom and Misty was going to suffer. He COULDN'T allow that! He loved both of them too much to allow that to happen. But how was he supposed to get out of here? I can't lay a hand on Geoff, and if I try to run, I get blasted by Psi and Ghost attacks, and there's no way to fight against them. If only he had Pikachu with him... he'd have a chance then. Ash lay there on the cold floor, not that in his spirit state he could feel the coldness, and he thought about Pikachu. "I wonder how my pokemon are handling this. Even worse. I wonder how my Mom is handling this." He looked out the window. It was dark now. Everyone must have left the funeral parlor by now. And tomorrow morning would be the funeral. my funeral. And after that. Ash shudderd.
TO BE CONTINUED..
This looks like a good spot to leave off for now. The wake is over and the funeral is tomorrow. Ash's time is running out. Thank you for reading this chapter, and if you have a moment, Please R/R my story, and keep your eyes peeled because chapter 3 is coming soon. Oh wait, never mind, its up already, please enjoy!
The funeral parlor was nearly empty except for just a few people. Ash's wake didn't start for at least a half and hour. But Ash's mother, Professor Oak, Misty, Pikachu, Brock and Tracey were already there, setting up. Truth be told, the place was already set up. The rows of chairs in place, the book to sign was out, and the flowers were set up decorating the coffin. But Ash's mother wanted everything to be right, and everyone else wanted to comfort her.
At the head of the room, there was Ash lying in his coffin, looking peaceful and a little out of place wearing a suit, instead of his usual jeans and T-shirt. He almost looked like he was sleeping. The police wanted an autopsy but his mother wouldn't hear of having her son being chopped up before the funeral... that could wait till afterwards.
The room was silent. No one spoke a word, but sometimes words just aren't important. What was important was that everyone was there for one another. One the outside, everyone was dressed up looking nice, and proper, but if you looked closely you could see that they were all showing the effects of fatigue, evidence that none of them had much sleep since the tragedy.
Misty spoke softly, "I'm going to go outside for a minute, I need some fresh air." She stood up, and Brock rose with her, "I'll go with you." Ash's mother didn't seem to notice, but Professor Oak nodded to them. Pikachu followed behind her slowly. The little yellow pokemon didn't have the same bounce in his step he usually had.
Outside Misty leaned against a post that held up the awning. She felt like crying, but she had done so much of it lately, she didn't want to anymore. Brock tried to break the silence. "Have you gotten any sleep?"
Misty nodded, "A little, an hour last night, more then I have got the night before. You?"
Brock shook his head. "None last night."
They went back to silence. Now it was Misty's turn to break the silence, "I really can't believe he's gone. I mean... it was only a pokemon battle... you can't die during a pokemon battle."
"I know what you mean... but if its any comfort at all... he went out doing what he loved the most. And he won his last match... I think where ever Ash is right now, he's happy knowing that."
Misty's eyes started to fill with tears, "I know Brock, but no, its not much comfort... it's just not fair... Oh Ash."
Brock hugged his friend close while she broke down in tears again.
Meanwhile, not far from there, Ash was just waking up. "Ohhhh, my head." he thought, "How long was I out for?" His eyes were out of focus and the room was dark. He couldn't make out a thing, but he swore he could smell mildew and dust. Ash tried to stand up, but couldn't feel his legs. He felt dizzy. "Oh man..." Ash said quietly, "Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was battling that doctor guy... and... then he used some weird attack, on me!" The fog in Ash's brain cleared up a little, and he remembered the last moments of his battle. "That's right, now I remember, he purposely attacked me... the cheater..." Ash tried to stand again but stumbled. "That move really packed a wallop. But where am I? If I was that hurt, how come I'm not in a hospital? And where's Pikachu? And Misty and Brock?" Ash starting to panic got up to his feet, and he shouted, "HEY!!! IS ANYONE HERE???" It was still too dark in the room to see clearly, but his eyes were starting to adjust.
From what he could see, the room looked like an old basement, filled with junk. Ash moved forward a bit, "Is there a light switch in here?"
"Here," A voice called from the darkness, "Let me help you."
The lights came on, revealing that the room indeed was a basement of sorts. Stacks of boxes lined one side of the room, covered with dust and cobwebs. The walls, floors and ceiling were all made of stone, showing its age, covered with moss, dust, and spots of fungus. In the far right of the room, there was a set of creaky wooden steps. At the bottom of those steps stood the man who Ash was battling before. "Hey... you?" Ash said angrily, "What's the deal having your Gangar attacking me?!? I could have been hurt!"
A wicked grin came over the man's face, "You mean you weren't hurt? Are you sure?"
Ash took a step towards him, "What are you grinning about?"
The man stood his ground, "You haven't realized it yet... you are thick, aren't you?"
"That does it, get out of my way, I'm leaving" Ash said storming forward, and he tried to push the man out of the way. But to Ash's total shock, his hand went right through then man, and Ash took a tumble to the floor, then nearly through the floor.
"What..." Ash said exasperated, "What the... what...?" For the first time since he woke up, Ash took a look at his hands. They were transparent. "What... what... what.... did you do to me???" Ash struggled to pull himself up from the floor. He was starting to panic. Was he a ghost? Was he dead?
The man stood his ground, "Your probably thinking, 'what's going on', right?" The man took a few steps into the room. His shoes clacked on the concrete. "Allow me to explain. You know me as Harry Rottop, but my real name is Geoff Rankor. And tell me, do I look familiar to you?"
Ash floated in midair, looking at the man. He DID look, vaguely familiar. But Ash really couldn't place the face. Ash admitted this, "I'm sorry sir, but no."
This seemed to really piss of Geoff. His face turned a slightly redder in color. "You ruin a man's life, and you don't even remember him."
Ash was taken aback. "Ruined your life? I don't know you, and I'm not sure I ever met you before,. how could I have done anything to you!"
The man paced around slightly. "Does the name Sabrina mean anything to you?"
"Sabrina? The gym leader?" The man nodded. Ash was even more confused, "But, what does she have to do with you?"
"Think. Before you met her, you met the leader of her Psi classes."
Ash studied the man's face... then it struck him. "Yeah! That's right, you're the guy who bent that spoon." But Ash's realization only confused him more... "I only met you for a few minutes, what could I have done to you? And why did you attack me? And what did you do to me?"
"Patience... all in due time."
Ash floated there, and folded his arms and muttered, "Not like I have a choice."
Geoff smiled at Ash, not a pleasant sight, and said, "Your absolutely right about that. Anyway, you should KNOW what I did to you!"
Ash looked at himself, transparent and floating, "You killed me!"
Geoff smiled, "Actually, no, I didn't. It's your family and friends that are going to kill you."
Ash shook his head, he couldn't believe this was happening, "What are you talking about?"
"Its really quite simple." Geoff said, "My Gangar removed your soul out of your body. It's a little trick I taught him. Right now, your body is a lifeless, soulless husk; dead for all general purpose. No brainwaves, no heartbeat, nothing. However, if you were to re-entered your body," The man snapped his fingers, "Just like that, you'd be alive again. That's the real beauty to this. The irony is so delicious."
Geoff took a few more steps around the room, savoring this moment, "Too bad your friends don't know this. They think your dead, in fact your wake is going on now. I'm afraid your family is going to have an autopsy, after the funeral tomorrow."
Ash's face fell, he was silent for a moment, "But... if my body is destroyed... what happens to me."
The man let out a barking laugh, "I suppose that's for the philosophers, because I have no idea! I figure you'll be stuck on this earthly plain, a damned spirit. Of course, who knows, this is the first time I've tried this."
Ash felt like he could cry at this point. Here he was a disembodied spirit, at the hands of an obvious madman, intent on killing him, for god only knows what reason. "But WHY???? Why me?"
"BECAUSE YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE!!!" Geoff screamed so loudly that it actually shook some of the dust off the ceiling. Ash backed up slightly. Geoff moved in on him, his face twisted with rage, "You little bastard, I was Sabrina's next in command of that school. I was THIS close to becoming as powerful a psychic as Sabrina, but then you came along. You cheered her up, her attitude was completely different afterwards, she started actually paying attention to her students, and to me. She found out the truth about me. She found out that I was a top agent in Team Rocket, and I was there to increase my psychic power to the point where I could control ANY psychic pokemon. It would have practically made me the LEADER of Team Rocket. And I was so close! But when she found out, she was livid, I tried to fight, but I was no match for her powers. She threw me out of the school, I was disgraced. Then came that little fiasco you had with the pokemon-breeding center? Remember that? DO YOU????"
Ash nodded slightly. "Yeah, Butch and Cassidy were running a fake..."
"SHUT UP!!!" Geoff screamed, "You stupid boy, you don't have to explain the plan to me! Who's idea do you think that was? Butch's? Cassidy? Of course not! It was MY plan, those two only my lackeys in the plan! It was a perfect plan. It would have completely erased my shame of my last favor. But then you come around, and you have to meddle in! YOU ruined it! When the plan fell through, the blame was laid completely on me. I was fired. I was arrested. I spent an entire year in a prison."
Ash was completely freaked out now, the man wasn't even looking at him anymore, he was almost in a trance telling his story, Ash started thinking, "He's starting to wig out... maybe I can use that to my advantage and get out of here."
"When I got out of prison," The crazed man continued, "I found out where you were, and I followed you all the way to the Orange League. I tried killing you there more then once. A snapped bridge here. A wild pokemon attack there... but no matter WHAT I did, you just wouldn't die. Then I followed you to Johto. More broken bridges... you really were thick, almost ever bridge you passed over broke, you'd think you'd have recognized a pattern. But you were hard to kill. Much too hard. I was about to give up hope, but when I found out that you were entering the Kanto League Tournament, I came up with this plan. And for once in my life since I've met you, my plan worked, I've got you here, and I get to watch you die." Geoff closed his eyes for a moment absolutely drinking in the moment. Ash saw his moment.
"Well, thanks for the story, I really have to get going!" Ash said quickly, diving through Geoff and flew up the steps. Geoff was taken by surprise, as Ash flew through the door. He tore ass up the stairs and practically kicked down the door. "You're not going anywhere BOY!"
"Well, I'm a ghost, I don't think you can stop me!" Ash called back.
Geoff reached into his pocket, "The hell I cant... Alakazam, STOP HIM!" and threw out his pokeball. In an instant, Ash stopped in midair. "Hey!" he called out, "What happened???"
"You've forgotten," Geoff said, "Ghosts are weak against Psychic attacks. Tsk... and you thought you'd become a pokemon master, and you cant even remember things like that."
Alakazam used his powers to bring Ash back down to the basement. Our hero floated there struggling against the power, but to no avail. "Alakazam," Geoff ordered, "Would you please teach our young guest a lesson?"
The pokemon nodded, and then sent a powerful Psi blast at Ash, catching the young boy full on. "WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Ash let out a sharp scream, he'd never felt pain like this. Finally the pain stopped, and Ash floated to the floor, struggling not to black out.
"Your really unlucky, you know that?" Geoff gloated, "For some reason, your mom didn't embalm you, or have an autopsy yet, both would have killed you completely. But instead, she's going to wait till after the funeral, so I get to play with you for almost two days! Won't that be fun? Much better then having you fall off a bridge, now that I think about it, it would have been much to fast."
Ash struggled to pull himself up. He tried to talk, but he was in too much pain. Geoff was surprised, "You've still got fight in you! After a Psi beam like that? Well then, it just wouldn't be fair to let Alakazam have all the fun. Gangar, come on out!"
In an instant, Ash was staring not only at the powerful Psychic pokemon, but now a powerful Ghost type as well. He was only able to contemplate this for a second, before a nightshade attack drove him back. Ash was sure that if he weren't already 'dead', this would have killed him. The world was starting to go dark again. Ash crawled towards Gangar and Geoff, when an attack he didn't see, but realized it must have come from Alakazam turned his lights off once again. Just before he blacked out, the last thing he heard was the 2 pokemon and Geoff laughing as if this was the greatest moment in their lives.
Back at the wake, Misty was seated in the back of the funeral parlor. She just couldn't bear to see Ash in the coffin. So she hid in the back. Misty took a look around the room. There were about 20 people here already. Some paying their respects, some making forced small talk, some just sitting and contemplating. There were a few faces Misty had never seen before, Ash's relatives, and a few faces she hadn't seen in a while. Duplica, the ditto master in training, came up to the redhead and put a hand on her shoulder. "How are you holding up?" She asked.
"I'm ok." Misty said quietly.
"No... your not." Duplica said just as quietly, "It was a stupid question."
Misty and her friend stood there quietly for a minute. Duplica broke the silence. "I'm really sorry. He really was a great person. And a great trainer. I remember when I met up with you guys again in Johto. When I down he immediately tried to cheer me up."
"Yeah." Misty said, "He was like that."
"You know, I don't think I've ever met anyone with his energy or drive..." Duplica trailed off as Misty started crying again. "Come on Misty" Duplica said, "Why don't we get you some water from the water cooler downstairs."
Misty silently walked out of the crowding room, Duplica leading her gently. Misty was so out of it that on her way out she bumped into someone she didn't recognize, but she thought it looked an uncle or something. "Sorry." She muttered. The man nodded at her.
Brock watched her head downstairs. Much like Misty, he couldn't bare to be in the front near Ash. This was killing him on the inside, but he always suspected that Misty always hid feelings for Ash, and couldn't imagine how she was feeling now. To lose someone without letting them know how you felt. Brock leaned against the wall and stared into space. "Something you want to talk about?" A familiar voice asked him. Brock turned and saw that it was Tracey.
"No. Its ok."
Tracey stared at Brock, "I know what's on your mind. I can read it in your face."
Brock turned his back slightly to Tracey, "No, it's ok, really. There's nothing."
Tracey put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's not your fault that this happened. I can read it in your face that you feel guilty."
Brock started to argue, but decided not to, its something he'd been fighting with since this happened, he decided to let it out, "Yes it is... it is partly my fault. Ash was my best friend, and he was also like a little brother to me. And Misty like a sister. I always considered them like my own family. And I was suppose to take care of them." Brock's eyes started to water over, and he turned to face Tracey, "You remember, what I told Mrs. Ketchum before we left into Johto, I promised her I would take care of her son. Some job I did."
"Brock..." his friend said, "You know there was nothing you could do. This wasn't your fault. This wasn't anyone's fault except that bastard's. If it makes you feel better, I feel guilty too."
Brock gave Tracey a surprised look. "You? But you weren't even there!"
Tracey nodded, "Yeah, that's my point. I was suppose to have been his friend, and I didn't even catch his first round match. I was too busy sketching the new Sandslash that Professor Oak got in... I didn't think his first match was important, I thought I'd catch him in the next round... sadly ironic, isn't it?" Tracey's voice cracked and he stopped talking for fear of crying. Both young men then felt a hand on their shoulders, they looked up to see it Professor Oak. The dark shadows under his eyes from stress and sorrow made him look older then usual.
"Boys..." He said sympathetically, "You can't do this to yourselves. It's not fair to yourselves, and its not what Ash would want. Gentlemen, there was NOTHING you could have done to stop this from happening. Tracey, you feel guilty because you weren't there. But even if you were there, what were you going to do? Stand in front of him during the match? And Brock, you feel guilty because you weren't there for him? Brock you traveled along side him, and from what I understand, you were ALWAYS there for him."
Tears trickled down Brock's and Tracey's cheeks. Oak let out a sad sigh, "Blaming yourselves wont bring Ash back. I could blame myself, you know. Who do you think turned Ash onto pokemon? If I didn't get him so interested in Pokemon, he wouldn't have been there at the league for that match."
It was Brock's turn to comfort, "Maybe, but I really cant imagine Ash would have been happy living a life like that."
Oak nodded, "That's my point, both of you were Ash's friends, and I think if he was able to talk right now, he'd tell you both that there's nothing you could have done to make his life any better."
Ironically, if Oak were able to hear Ash now, he'd be shocked by the profanity that he just muttered. Ash was just waking up from being K.O.'ed by that Psi wave. He guessed from the difference in the light coming through the one window, 2 hours had passed. Ash glanced around the cellar. Geoff was no where in sight. Maybe this would be a good time to try to sneak out. Ash started floating towards the door, but before he could get to it, Gangar appeared in front of him. Ash jumped in shock, and floated backwards, putting his hands up. "Easy there Gangar... you don't have to attack."
Gangar smiled wide with his extra large mouth. Ash kept backing up and then to his shock, he floated right through Alakazam. The psychic type turned around to face his prisoner. Ash stopped in his tracks and pleaded, "LISTEN to me! This guy, Geoff, is using you. You DONT have to do what he says. He's making you do bad stuff! You don't have to be like him."
Gangar and Alakazam exchanged a glance. Then looked back at the boy. "You don't LIKE hurting people do you? You're just following orders. Your just as much prisoners as I am!"
Gangar frowned slightly and Alakazam lowered his spoons. Ash floated a little closer to Gangar, he then said gently, "Listen to me, I'm good friends with Professor Oak, you've heard of him, right?" Gangar nodded. "Good, if you let me out of here, you can come back to with me to my body, and we can go see him! You could live with him on his ranch, free to do whatever you wanted, not having to take orders anymore!"
Tears formed in the corners of Gangar's eyes, and Ash turned to Alakazam, "Doesn't that sound much better then a life like this? All this hatred? All this violence? Come on, I really do want to help you!"
Alakazam and Gangar exchanged looks again. Then Gangar broke out into waterfall like tears, and Alakazam nodded at Ash and pointed at the exit way with his spoons. The door opened telepathically. "That's GREAT you guys!" Ash said excitedly, "Come on, let's get out of here!" Ash floated up the steps, and just about got to the door when he felt an excruciating pain in his back. Ash let out a painful yell, and then fell through the steps and landed on the floor. He looked over at Gangar and Alakazam who were laughing loudly. "What... but, I thought..." Ash said weakly, realizing he must have been hit with some kind of attack, but his brain was too scrambled to figure out which one of them actually attacked. Geoff appeared at the door at the top of the steps and looked down at Ash lying there. He was wearing a long dark trench coat with a long brimmed hat. Obviously he had just come from somewhere. "Young man." He said, "Did you really think you were going to turn my pokemon against me? They are LOYAL to me, and believe me, they hate you as much as I do. You're just a play thing to them."
Almost to emphasize this point, Gangar caught Ash right in this side with a powerful shadow ball attack. Ash screamed loudly and rolled on the floor. Despite the fact that his lungs were about a mile away, still in his body in fact, Ash felt like he couldn't breathe through the pain. "Your not going to pass out again, are you?" Geoff asked. The man held out a hand to Gangar, who was preparing another attack. "Just a minute Gangar, please, there's something I want to tell our young guest first."
Ash struggled to get up to his knees. He didn't want this guy to see him in pain. This guy really liked to see Ash suffer, and he'd be damned if he was going to oblige him in it. Geoff stayed at the top steps, and said, "Your friends are pretty dumb, you know that?"
Ash forgot about the pain and looked sharply at his kidnapper... or spiritnapper at least. "I just came from your wake. Nice affair really, everyone was really upset. Lovely flower arrangement." Geoff tossed down a rose that must have come from one of the vases. The rose floated through Ash's 'body'. Ash's expression grew darker. Geoff continued, "I was there for an entire 15 minutes, oh I was disguised of course, but no one even looked at me twice. I didn't even see any security! Pretty dumb."
Ash's mind was now focused on something other the agony flowing through him, and got to his feet. Geoff continued goading, "That red head girl that you travel with... Misty, isn't it? She seemed particularly upset, almost as upset as your mom. I couldn't help but notice they're both quite attractive... I think I'll go back tomorrow for the funeral and... comfort them."
Ash snapped. All he could see was red. "YOU BASTARD!!! DONT YOU TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!!!" He flew up and charged the man, with every intention to kill him. Strangle him, beat him, whatever he had to do till this horrible man was dead. But poor Ash's rage was useless, he flew right threw Geoff, turned around, and released a barrage of punches and kicks, all of them just going harmlessly through him. Geoff laughed loudly at this. "Temper, temper young man. You should be more like me. Why... at your wake, that young woman, Misty, in her tears, didn't see me standing there, and walked right into me." Geoff grinned, reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a long dagger. "Why, I was very tempted to teach her a lesson about watching where she was going by slipping this blade right in-between her ribs. Mmmm.. That would have been sweet."
Ash, not even realizing his blows weren't landing, just kept fighting. He had never felt so angry. Geoff just continued, ignoring him, "But I decided to wait. If I do it at the wake, not much room to run. I'll wait till after your spirit leaves us, lie low for a week or 2, then I'll go have some fun. Ok... enough play time... Gangar, please get this gnat away from me."
Ash was blasted with a nightshade attack that, even in his rage, took the fight out of him. Ash lay there on the floor; he was starting to feel desperate. He was starting to come to grips that he was going to die. But now, he HAD to find a way out of here or his mom and Misty was going to suffer. He COULDN'T allow that! He loved both of them too much to allow that to happen. But how was he supposed to get out of here? I can't lay a hand on Geoff, and if I try to run, I get blasted by Psi and Ghost attacks, and there's no way to fight against them. If only he had Pikachu with him... he'd have a chance then. Ash lay there on the cold floor, not that in his spirit state he could feel the coldness, and he thought about Pikachu. "I wonder how my pokemon are handling this. Even worse. I wonder how my Mom is handling this." He looked out the window. It was dark now. Everyone must have left the funeral parlor by now. And tomorrow morning would be the funeral. my funeral. And after that. Ash shudderd.
TO BE CONTINUED..
This looks like a good spot to leave off for now. The wake is over and the funeral is tomorrow. Ash's time is running out. Thank you for reading this chapter, and if you have a moment, Please R/R my story, and keep your eyes peeled because chapter 3 is coming soon. Oh wait, never mind, its up already, please enjoy!