12 Checkmate
Everyone turned fearfully at the sound of the voice that made their blood run cold. Furious, Jin'ei stalked slowly toward them, his fists clenched in rage. Ash and his friends backed away from the mad psychic and Lilly threw herself over her grandfather's body. Lupus leapt to his feet and put himself between the Jin'ei and the others.
"Leave her alone," he growled.
Chuckling, Jin'ei continued his threatening advance until he stood directly before the hunter. Menacingly, Jin'ei circled him. Suddenly, his expression became venomous.
"Worthless!" he shouted, throwing out his hand.
A blast of psychic energy sent Lupus reeling back. Not particularly interested in where the creature landed, Jin'ei turned his attention back to his true target. It took only a fraction of a second for Jin'ei to close the distance between himself and Misty, taking her by the shirt and slamming her against a tree ten feet behind her. Holding her up eye level with him, he scowled malignantly.
"I warned you not to interfere," he hissed, removing his glasses.
"Don't look at his eyes!" Lilly shouted urgently.
The warning came too late. Trapped like an insect in tree sap, Misty could already feel Jin'ei's golden eyes flowing over her. She struggled to breath, but it seemed even her lungs were paralyzed by his cold, cruel gaze. Slowly the amber surrounded her, freezing her in mind and body. Then it hardened.
Misty's pupils consumed her eyes, devouring the light of life in from them. With a twisted laugh, Jin'ei tossed the limp body to the ground. Ash rushed to his fallen friend, kneeling down beside her, gently holding her.
"What did you do to her?" he demanded.
"I have simply suspended her consciousness," Jin'ei replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "She will remain in this comatose state for as long as I see fit to leave her there." His voice turned acidic. "It is preferable to what I'm going to do to you."
Jin'ei started to put his glasses back on, but stopped. Shrugging, he tossed them away. "No need to hide my power now, is there?"
The esper advanced slowly and sinisterly toward Ash, his blood-and-amber eyes filled with malice. The boy stumbled backward in fear, his eyes darting about wildly in search of something he could use to defend himself. Jin'ei held up his hand, preparing for the kill, but stopped when he heard the hunter scream out his name. Turning, he saw Lupus tie the tattered bandages from his hand around his sword, locking it in his weakened grasp. A cold grin appeared on the psychic's face.
"Two children, an apprentice sorceress and an injured, dispirited warrior are all that stand between me and ultimate power?" he laughed, stroking his ear. "Fate has smiled on me." He looked to Ash. "I'll get to you in a second."
Jin'ei turned to face the hunter, slowly walking around until he stood directly in front of him, one eyebrow cocked in amusement. Lupus stood firm, gripping his sword in both hands as tight as he still could. Jin'ei sneered at him.
"Well," he mocked, "you're a miserable, pathetic excuse for a man. Or an animal. Or whatever." Jin'ei spread his arms out wide, exposing himself completely in an arrogant display of supremacy. "So, kill me."
Infuriated, Lupus howled with rage as he charged, sword raised high. Jin'ei smirked at the success of his taunt. He formed a ball of psychic energy in his hand.
"Bad dog!" he shouted, drawing his hand back. "Sit!"
Jin'ei released his psyonic bolt. The purple missile whistled through the air, striking Lupus in the chest with enough force to knock him from his feet to the ground. Before he could stand, Jin'ei threw out his hand, freezing the hunter's body with a psychic field.
"Lie down!" Jin'ei ordered.
A blast of mental energy threw Lupus onto his back, forcing an outline of his body to be impressed into the hard packed dirt. The hunter struggled with all his strength, but Jin'ei's psychic energy made it seem as if gravity pulled down on him fifty times harder. Slowly, Jin'ei walked a complete circle around the hunter's splayed body, chuckling. Jin'ei completed his insult by kneeling down over the Lupus and giving him kiss on the forehead. Rising to his feet, the esper drew his rapier, his expression hardening.
"Play dead," he hissed.
The blade plunged downward, slipping between Lupus's ribs and finding his heart, slicing it open as it forced its way out of his back. Lupus gasped, his body going rigid, then fell limp. Jin'ei wiggled the blade around a bit for good measure, then pulled it out, flinging the blood away with a single, quick stroke.
"And that," he remarked nonchalantly, turning to the others, "as they say, is that."
Confidently, he strolled toward the group, looking over the two boys with interest, stroking his ear. Drawing upon the strength of his aura, he filled the air with negative energies, hoping to force the children into submission by making them feel overwhelming despair. To his surprise, Brock charged at him. As the boy's fist came forward, Jin'ei held out his open hand and Brock's punch stopped short by a few inches.
"You don't have it," Jin'ei stated.
Brock's arm shot backward, popping out of its socket. He cried out in pain, grasping his shoulder as he staggered backward. Using two fingers to channel his energy, Jin'ei lifted him into the air and tossed him effortlessly away. He hit the ground hard and Lilly rushed to help him.
"You," Jin'ei ordered, pointing at Ash, "Come here."
The words carried the weight of Jin'ei's overbearing will, seeping into Ash's mind like cold water. He focused every thought to resisting the command, beads of sweat forming on his brow. His legs aching, he took a single step forward.
"Come!" Jin'ei ordered again, this time moving his hand in a beckoning motion.
Ash felt a tug, as though an invisible hand had taken him by the shirt. Against the physical pull and the mental barrage, the boy's will broke and he walked heavily toward the crazed esper.
"Not so fast!" cried a voice that almost seemed to gag on itself.
Jin'ei turned, losing his focus on the boy. Ash instantly realized that the psychic had released him and, freed of Jin'ei's power, he dashed back to help Brock.
Jin'ei stared in horror at what he saw. Lupus was standing, wavering from side to side on his feet. A gout of blood burst from his mouth as he coughed, oozing down his chin. Fire devoured the forest of his eyes as he raised his sword.
"That's right," Jin'ei chuckled, suddenly remembering the conversation between the hunter and Lotus he had eavesdropped on. "You can't be killed, can you? I guess I'll just have to break your body into little pieces."
Jin'ei held out his sword, leaving himself ridiculously open to attack. Mistakenly thinking Jin'ei an unskilled swordsmen, Lupus charged, aiming for Jin'ei's exposed lung. Jin'ei sidestepped the attack, allowing the hunter's inertia to carry him past, putting him off balance. As he turned unsteadily toward his opponent, the rapier sank deeply into his shoulder. Twirling around to pull the blade from his body, Lupus tried to strike again, but Jin'ei had followed the hunter's movements, and put his sword through his back, drawing it out with a cruel twist.
'He's toying with me,' Lupus thought, realizing that Jin'ei had deliberately missed puncturing his organs.
Lupus hopped back as he turned, then charged in, focusing on the esper's body instead of his sword. Jin'ei dodged with wide, seemingly clumsy movements, each time exposing one of his vitals. For every strike the hunter made, however, the psychic was one step ahead of him, flirting with death, but keeping out of its arms. Enraged at the overt display of arrogance, Lupus struck too hard and his sword went wild. He paid for the mistake with a harmless, but insulting cut on the side of his neck.
---
"We've got to help him," Brock groaned, trying to rise to his feet.
"No," Lilly warned. "You're too injured to fight."
She grabbed the case she had brought with her and opened it up, removing the jars and bags of components.
"Help me with the spell," she insisted.
Lilly's words rang in Jin'ei's mind, drawing his attention away from the battle for only a second. That one second, however, was all it took for Lupus to strike. Jin'ei saw the blade coming down for his head and attempted to sidestep the attack, but too late. Lupus's blade came out red.
"MY EAR!" Jin'ei screamed, throwing his hand over the bleeding extremity and staggering back in shock. "YOU CUT OFF MY EAR!"
Jin'ei pulled his blood-drenched hand away, revealing the wound. The upper half of his left ear had been sheared off, leaving a ragged edge. Enraged, Jin'ei charged. Lupus raised his sword to parry the blow, but Jin'ei's rapier slipped around it and sank into his stomach. Lupus tried to jump away, but as he did, Jin'ei dragged his sword across the hunter's belly, tearing it open. Lupus threw his arm over the wound to keep his organs from spilling out.
Jin'ei gave his opponent no time to react, throwing out his hand and releasing a volley of psychic bolts that struck Lupus squarely in the face in rapid succession. His head lolling freely, Lupus dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Perhaps that will keep you down for a while," Jin'ei remarked, spitting on Lupus's body.
The esper whirled around to face the others. He stalked slowly toward them, his knuckles white from the grip on his rapier.
"What's this about a spell?" Jin'ei growled.
Lilly's head jerked up in surprise. She saw Lupus lying on the ground, blood pouring from his gash and her expression turned to one of horror. Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder as the boy rose to his feet.
"Finish it," he whispered. "We'll try and distract him."
Lilly opened her mouth to protest, but Ash had already rushed the approaching psychic. Quickly, she turned back to her spell, mixing the ingredients together as fast as she could without being careless.
Jin'ei smiled as the young boy bolted toward him, drawing back his blade for a fatal thrust. Ash stopped abruptly and his pokemon leapt from his shoulder onto Jin'ei's. Unprepared for such an unpredictable move, the esper turned his focus to Pikachu, grasping futilely, but the lighting mouse had already leapt off. At the same moment, Ash dived forward, rolling underneath Jin'ei's open legs and catching his companion as he rose to his feet. The esper turned around just in time to see Ash's foot shoot up in between his legs.
Jin'ei howled in agony, the entire lower half of his body going numb as he stumbled backward. Infuriated, Jin'ei threw out his hand to fire a psychic missile, but he never found the chance. His head jerked back as Dokoto leapt into attack, chomping on his long hair. Quickly, the rest of the pack struck, and the esper disappeared in a mass of fur and teeth. A sudden blast of light hurled the dogs away as Jin'ei unleashed his furry. Dokoto landed in a heap next to Lilly and Brock.
Ash rushed back to his friends, seeing Lupus back on his feet. The hunter tore a long strip of cloth from the remains of his garment, wrapping it around the wound on his gut and tying it tight.
The two opponents glared at each other, each one's rage just as great as the other's. With a cry of rage, Lupus burst forward, his sword held high. Jin'ei, his patience lost, drew back his rapier, surrounding the blade with a field of mental energy. As the hunter's stroke fell, Jin'ie's blade came forward, snapping Lupus's weapon on impact and continuing on to cut into his arm, right to the bone. Lupus tried to back away, Putting his other hand over his arm, but Jin'ei released a blast of psychic power, hurling him like a stone. The hunter struck a tree, blood splattering wildly as his head smashed against the trunk.
Ash saw Lupus fall flaccidly to the ground, realizing he had again lost consciousness. Lilly's spell was almost complete, but with the hunter out of the fight, she would never finish it in time. As the crazed esper turned to face them, Ash nodded to his pikachu.
"Thundershock!" he ordered.
The bolt of lightning arced toward Jin'ei, but, still weakened from its fight with Dokoto, Pikachu's attack barely registered in Jin'ei's mind. Ash charged in to attack, but Jin'ei caught him on the chin with the back of his hand, knocking him to the ground. Jin'ei pinned the boy with his foot and smiled triumphantly. Seeing his victory approach, he sheathed his sword to show his confidence.
Making a quick glance back at the others, he saw Lilly reach for the bag with the final ingredient. Casting out his hand, he used his mental powers to rip it from Lilly's grasp, pulling it to his own.
"You shouldn't play with filthy things," he chuckled. "Let's get rid of this, shall we?"
The plastic bag shriveled in his hand, evaporating in a small burst of flame before it ever began its descent. Seeing their expressions, Jin'ei laughed derisively, confident in his victory as he turned back to Ash.
"What do we do now?" Brock asked quietly.
Lilly stared at the pungent smelling mixture in the jar in despair. Only one ingredient missing and it was one that didn't even influence the effects of the spell. Why now? They had come so close, only to loose now? It wasn't right. She slammed her fists against the ground in frustration.
"There has to be something we can do," Brock said hopelessly.
Lilly fought to keep her despair from pushing her into tears. Lupus was injured to such a point that would've killed any normal person, Misty was trapped in a state of suspended animation, Ash was about to die and Jin'ei was about to achieve everything he had ever dreamed of. It was all so wrong.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck the young magician as she remembered the lessons her grandfather had given her. With a new hope for a chance to win, Lilly turned to Brock, smiling.
"Catalyzing ingredients can be substituted," she told him, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. "If we can find something similar, we can complete the spell."
As the realization sunk in, Brock clenched his fists to contain his pleasure.
"It was hair," he said. "Black hair."
Hearing their words, Dokoto lifted its head, grunting weakly. The dog struggled to its feet, wavering on its weakened legs as it ambled painfully over to them. Dokoto laid down beside Lilly, whining submissively. With a slight squeal of delight, Lilly put her arms around the hound's muscular neck appreciatively. She quickly plucked out a few strands of the dog's fur and dropped them into her jar, quickly removing the spoon from her case and stirring the mixture as she'd been instructed.
---
Caught in a sense of euphoria, Jin'ei sneered at Ash with satisfaction. Everything was exactly as the psychic had hoped and he would soon become the most powerful being on Earth. Jin'ei wanted to prolong his moment of gloating over his adversaries, especially the young boy he held pinned beneath his foot, but knew each second that passed that Cerebral was not in his possession increased the danger around him. Without the medallion, he was still vulnerable and Lupus could awaken at any moment.
He gave Ash only a few seconds to let him fully absorb the understanding of his impending death, then held out his hand. In an act of sheer desperation, Ash gripped at the ground, tearing out a clump of dirt and grass, and threw it toward Jin'ei's face. With a short shriek of alarm, the esper covered his face with his hand to stop it. Though the succeeded in deflecting it, the distraction gave Ash enough leeway to push up with his chest, throwing Jin'ei off balance.
Jin'ei took a step back to steady himself, giving Ash enough time to scramble away from him. Angrily, he reached for the boy. Leaping up at the psychic, Pikachu sank its teeth into Jin'ei's hand, causing him to cry out. Wincing, he tore the rodent from his hand, ripping off a piece of his own flesh in the process. Furious at the injury, he prepared to launch a psyonic missile at the pokemon, but saw Ash coming toward him before he had the chance. Twisting, he allowed the punch to sail past him, then caught the boy in the gut with his own fist.
Ash staggered back, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. Jin'ei took a moment to suck on the bite mark Pikachu had left on his hand, giving Ash enough time to glance at his friends. At that moment, Lilly's spell activated, releasing a stream of gray vapors. Quickly, she stopped the jar with a cork and rose to her feet.
"Ash, get away!" she warned as she threw the jar at Jin'ei.
Ash and Pikachu dived away from Jin'ei as the jar hurtled through the air toward him. Hearing Lilly's words, Jin'ei glanced at them for a moment, then back to Ash. The three friends were beginning to shout out in exhilaration as the jar fell toward the ground at Jin'ei's feet, but at the last moment before it hit, Jin'ei ducked down and snatched the jar, abruptly halting their celebration.
"Were you planning a little surprise for me?" Jin'ei jeered, relishing the horror that the three of them were showing. "Fools. No one ever takes Artemis Jin'ei by surprise."
Laughing Jin'ei tossed the jar into the air, juggling it in shameless ridicule. As the jar came down, Jin'ei prepared to catch it, but at the same instant, the broken hilt of Lupus's sword hurled through the air and struck his hand. Gasping in pain, he took hold of his hand. Growling, he shot a venomous glare at Lupus, who sat on unsteady knees, barely supporting his weight with one hand. The esper opened his hand to form a psychic missile, but stopped, suddenly remembering the jar.
Time slowed to an agonizing crawl for Jin'ei as he reached down in a desperate, futile attempt to grasp jar before it hit the ground. With a half-horrified, half-disbelieving cry of protest, he watched as his hand missed catching it by mere inches. A thousand cracks spread over the jar's surface as it impacted with the ground, expelling shards of glass in every direction. No longer contained, the smoke exploded outward, swirling around Jin'ei in a thick cloud.
Jin'ei cupped his hand over his mouth, coughing uncontrollably as the vapor seeped into his lungs. He dropped to his knees, feeling his mental strength slipping slowly away from him.
'NO!' he screamed in his mind, instantly realizing the effects of the spell. 'This can't be happening! My power! My wonderful power!'
Ash, his friends and Lupus watched with a sense of justified satisfaction as the esper disappeared from sight in the vapors. Finally, each of them knew, it was finished. Without his psychic abilities, the four of them were confident that they could overpower him together. At last, Jin'ei would be defeated.
Suddenly, a dull boom shook the air and a flash of light forced them all to turn away. When they looked back, the smoke had turned an odd shade of light purple. Realizing that all eyes stared questioningly at her, Lilly shrugged in confusion.
"I don't think it was supposed to do that," she admitted. "Oh, my word, look!"
The smoke cloud dissipated, blown away by a wisp of wind. Jin'ei's blood-and-amber eyes slowly opened. Everything seemed somehow different to him. The forest appeared brighter and clearer to him and the shades of color seemed different somehow. Dazed and bewildered, he glanced around at the four people. They were all eyeing him strangely, he noticed with a twinge of resentment.
"What are you staring at?" he growled.
Jin'ei tried to rise, but doing so made his legs become unbalanced and he fell back to his hands. Glancing down in confusion, he saw a pair of cat-like paws, coated in a layer of lavender-colored fur. Slowly, comprehension found its way to his mind, filling it with dread. The paws were his.
Jin'ei's eyes widened in horror, his brain refusing to accept the information they were sending it. Whipping his head back, he saw a long, agile body with sleek, muscular legs and a slender tail, all covered with the same lavender fur. He reached up with a paw-his paw-and felt his face; felt the sensitive whiskers, the blunt nose and two ears-one long and wide, the other hacked off halfway out.
"I don't believe it," Brock said, struggling to hold back his laughter.
"Jin'ei," Lilly stuttered, "He . . . he's . . ."
"He's an espeon," Ash blurted, not bothering to conceal his amusement.
Jin'ei circled around, screaming in protest as he looked at himself, but he had already come to understand the truth. He was no longer himself.
"Girl!" he growled, whirling toward Lilly, his eyes twitching with hate. "Look what you've done to me, you stupid . . ."
His words lodged in his throat, frozen in terror like the rest of him as he saw Dokoto slowly advance toward him, teeth bared. Backing away, he heard another growl behind him. Glancing around, he saw the pack closing in around him, each dog prepared to tear him apart for the pain he had caused their master. Jin'ei swallowed hard, realizing the hopelessness of his situation. He took one moment to glare at Ash.
"Mark my words, boy," he promised, "this isn't over!"
With that, Jin'ei snapped his powerful legs forward, leaping over the dogs and rushing off into the undergrowth. The pack prepared to give chase, but Lupus called them off.
"Leave him alone," he ordered. "He's not our concern now."
The hunter staggered brokenly toward Misty. Distracted in the exhilaration of victory, the others had forgotten about their young friend, who still lay comatose on the soft grass, her eyes staring sightlessly forward. Tears welling in his eyes, Lupus dropped to his knees beside her body. Lovingly, he ran his fingers through her soft hair. Leaning forward, he laid his forehead on hers, weeping aloud.
"I've failed you," he sobbed. "I've failed you just as I failed Morgan. God damn me for being such a stubborn fool. If only I hadn't been so blind."
Ash and the others looked on in despair. What would happen to her? Would Misty be trapped like that forever? Clenching his teeth in frustration, Ash turned to Lilly.
"Isn't there some way to help her?" he demanded.
Lilly looked back at him helplessly. "I don't know," she answered, her voice barely audible. "It was Jin'ei's power that did this. It would take someone with more power than he had to undo it, but I've no idea if anyone really had more power than Jin'ei."
Ash gripped at his hair in despair as he looked back to Misty, feeling his throat constrict with sorrow. Though they had defeated him, it seemed Jin'ei had still won a battle. It was a small victory, but one that came with a high price of failure. Too high.
"Wait," Ash exclaimed suddenly. He again turned to Lilly, who, just as the rest of them, stared at him in surprise. "Didn't your grandfather say that Cerebral could give a person psychic powers?"
It took a moment for the boy's words to get a firm grasp on Lilly's mind. "Yes," she replied, breaking into a smile. "He also said that the powers it would grant would be far greater than anything ever seen before."
Ash withdrew the medallion from his pocket. Cerebral glowed softly, seemingly waiting in eager anticipation for its possessor's command. Lupus drew back a bit as Ash sat down beside Misty, clutching the Sentient in his hand. Staring into Misty's unfocused eyes, he concentrated.
"Wake up," he commanded. "Wake up, Misty."
Cerebral glowed brightly for a moment, then faded. Gradually, the light came back to the young girl's eyes, her pupils slowly shrinking back to normal size. She slowly sat up, groaning as though being awoken from rest too soon. Blinking, she looked at everyone gathered around her.
"What happened?" she asked, nonplussed.
Sobbing joyfully, Lupus threw his arms around her. Confused, Misty continued to glance around.
"What about Jin'ei?" she asked suddenly.
"He's gone," Lupus said. "You don't need to fear him anymore."
Uncomfortable, Misty pushed him away. She turned to Ash. "What happened?"
Ash simply smiled, too happy to find the words to speak.
"Don't worry," Lilly assured her. "We'll tell you everything. Right now, however, I think it's time we went home."
"Pi- pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
