Chapter Ten: Bark and Bite!
"All right, bring it on Sinal!" Ashley barked. "We'll see whose bite is worse than their bark!" Ashley ran blindly forward, similar to Kyte's nature, her left hand clenched into a fist, the other kept out for balance at her quick and sudden movement. She rushed past Metagross, who turned towards her robotically and began to spin rapidly in circles, as the Pokemon was not her target, but Sinal was.
"Ashley!" Des yelled bitterly, and seeing the Metagross begin to rapidly turn, began to hover and rush forward, already morphing into a Flygon for better effects, and dive-bombed into the enemy, sending it off like a top into a wall, as a cloud of dust and debris blew towards Des and the others. Des flapped his powerful wings, and the cloud rushed out, leaving a pile of wall and ceiling in its place. Des smirked, and began to flap backwards, sending him hovering back towards his friends.
"Oh, aren't we in a bit of a rush, Ashley?" Sinal laughed good-naturedly. Ashley froze in her spot, only a yard away from Sinal.
"W-what? How do you know my—"
"Uh-oh? Easily distracted, are we?" Sinal laughed again, and slid up his sleeve quickly, showing some sort of weapon on his knuckles that was studded, and punched forward, knocking Ashley back. Luckily, he had not used his knuckles, or Ashley would have been injured badly. Sinal smirked, and continued," And that was only a punch. No studs!"
"Ouch!" Lexus winced, looking away. Amphie was already in full swing with her tail, suddenly becoming an Ampharos as she spun around once, powering up for her tail-like whip, and let it hit. Her tail whipped Sinal in the side of the head with a loud crack, and Amphie slowly began to grin, giggling every few moments. Suddenly, she was knocked back a few feet and onto her back so quickly, she seemed to barely know which way was up and which was down.
"Amphie!" Des called. He then muttered," He's playing with us now. He's not even using any power, and he's already managing to kick us away with no problem." He gritted his teeth, causing his two dragon fangs to clank with his human jaws. He winced, rubbing his jaw. "Ouch. Damn that hurt."
"Des, don't look so down!" Kyte laughed, watching as Amphie and Ashley staggered up. "I haven't even begun to fight yet! Haven't laid a finger on the man! No need to worry!" He flexed a bicep, showing Des his power in a cocky manner. "When I'm down with him, he'll be nothing but ashes."
"Want to take a bet on that kid?" Des murmured, narrowing his eyes in slits, causing them to go from black to red as the glassy covering glimmered through a ray of sunlight that poured through the window, stories high above the ground floors.
"No need for bets when I know you'd lose." Kyte's forehead creased, forming a frown, as he put on a determined look, flames licking his fingertips. "Let me show you how it's done dragon boy!" Kyte closed his eyes, imagining himself transforming in only a few seconds now, having gotten used to it, and he pounced forward in his canine grace, beginning to rush forward, flames now licking his mane and paws, leaving the floor covered in ash where he had sprinted. He leaped up into the air, the tall ceilings working with him, as he pushed his front paws forward, claws and fangs bared in an offensive manner.
"Oh boy, here comes the mutt!" Sinal spun around, causing his long, black robe to billow, and smirked, rolling up his other sleeve. He then held up both hands, as if to catch Kyte's paws before he could knock him down. Sinal locked his hands with Kyte's paws, easily missing the claws, and allowed the canine to fall to the ground, his jump having been stopped in mid-air. Sinal then let go of his paws, and gave Kyte a kick in the ribs. Kyte whimpered, and winced as he rolled over onto his back.
"Kyte flip onto your stomach!" Lexus yelled, Ashley, Des, Amphie, and Steven glancing oddly at her.
"Damn! Keep your mouth shut girl!" Sinal barked, as Kyte quickly flipped onto his stomach, Sinal's studded knuckles only landing in fluffy, protecting mane. Kyte stood up so quickly, that Sinal was knocked back a bit, having been butted off. Kyte then lowered his front paws and head, and began to sprint forward at Sinal, preparing to head bash him in the stomach.
Sinal quickly gave a quick jump backwards, his feet pushing off the side of the wall, flipping completely over Kyte. Kyte whimpered, and pushed his front side fiercely onto the floor, his rump in the air as he slid to a stop, right before smashing into the wall.
"Good move Kyte!" Steven yelled, beginning to try and undo himself from the ropes that binded his hands and feet. "One of you give me a hand, please."
Lexus nodded, and ran over, kneeling down behind Steve and quickly beginning to try and undo the knots.
"Oh no you don't!" Sinal called, landing on his feet and rushing forward without a stumble towards Lexus.
"Lexus get out of the way! Quick!" Des called, taking a step forward. But Kyte was already there, seeing as he was in canine form, and snatched Lexus up by the collar, bounding out of the way. Sinal put his hands out in front of him as the wall came towards him at his steed, his knuckle studs pointed out, which smashed into the wall and broke it down. He was unharmed, sadly.
"Ugh, this is going to be harder than it looks," Ashley admitted. "We can't land a hit on him!"
"Of course you can't, Ashley. I know every move of yours. I know every thought. I know everything." Sinal smirked, watching as Ashley's mouth dropped open in bewilderment.
"No you don't! You're lying! I've never met you before! Never even seen you!"
"Don't remember? Figures. I'd expect someone like you to not remember that far back. Five years ago is a rather long time."
"What…?" Ashley tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, such a slow girl! Oh well!" Sinal rushed forward in attack position, giving some odd battle cry that sounded more like a very fierce yell by a male. He lurched forward suddenly, overtaking Ashley and pushing her onto the floor, pinning her down.
"Ashley!" Lexus called, running out from Kyte's grasp, ripping her collar slightly. She then suddenly stopped, her Clefable ears twitching and swiveling. She then looked to the pile of debris, and watched as bits began to fall, and a heartbeat seemed to come to life. She cringed at the sound, her ears shuddering. "It's back it's back!"
Suddenly, the debris flew in all directions, luckily missing the group as the Metagross roared to life, its eyes glowing a fierce red as it hovered forward. Spinning its legs around itself, it roared again, although that seemed unlikely from a creature with that x across its mouth, or that was its mouth.
"Damn I thought that thing was dead already!" Ashley called, seeming to ignore Sinal for a moment to give her own opinion on the situation. "When does that thing die?"
Kyte pounced forward, his upper half low to the ground, tail wavering in determination. He then growled, and rushed forward, obviously using Extreme Speed, and colliding into the Metagross, who by the sudden force, slammed into another wall.
"Ignore it! Just try and get that guy off you before he claws your eyes out!" Lexus cried. Des then rushed forward, spreading his wings forward, lifting him about four feet off the ground.
"Not before I do it first!" Des yelled, flying to the top of the ceiling and circling the large room, then speeding low to the ground and swiping Sinal in the side with one of his large, mighty wings. Sinal groaned in pain, and held his side, allowing Ashley to kick him off and roll out of the way. Adding into this without any thought of her safety or that Sinal would probably be very pissed off, Ashley gave a fierce kick in his ribs, causing him to screech and clutch his side, coughing up crimson blood in globs.
"Well, that's odd. It'd expect him to be way harder if he's killed so many people," Kyte laughed, now in fleshy form, watching Sinal growl in pain, now kneeling, resting his arm and head on his knee for support. "Hm. Some threat."
"I'll show you a threat," Sinal coughed, standing up now, his left rib having a gash in the side from Des's wing and Ashley's boot. "Metagross…"
At its master's call, a rumble began to shake the debris lying around, suddenly lifting off the ground, surrounded by a purple aura that seemed to control them, and yet, something controlled even that. With a roar that sounded like metal clashing against metal, like cars crashing together, or an airplane taking off from the airport, Metagross returned, the debris flying at the teenagers from all directions.
"Amphie, try it!" Des yelled, as the debris quickened their pace. Amphie nodded, even at the puzzled look of the other people, even Sinal, as Amphie waved her tail in a semi circle, and suddenly, with a quick whip of her tail upward, the ruby coloured gem flew off her tail, and landed safely in her hands. At that moment, an electrical field encircled the gang, more of a safety dome, with crackles of blue and yellow electricity, that sparked and cracked as the debris smashed into and crumbled at its might.
"But what the…" Lexus stumbled, staring at Amphie, who began to pant heavily. "How did you…?"
"Amphie showed me the trick at the dance while Ashley was busy! Handy, isn't it? Of course, she can't keep it up for long!" Almost as if on cue, the dome began to falter. "But she's planning to strengthen it!"
"Yes, but this is my source of power, so I lose energy quickly," coughed Amphie, placing the gem back onto her tail, almost clicking into place as she sighed in relief, a bit drowsy now.
"Metagross, kill them now!" Sinal ordered, thrusting his hand out towards the group. Metagross nodded and screamed, hovering forward. Gusts of wind pounded from Des's wings, and Kyte added in by opening his throat and allowing streams of flame to pour into the winds, causing a fiery storm which seemed to burn Metagross greatly, as he fell to the ground with a huge pound, laying limply on its side.
"Seems Steel types are weak to fire," Ashley snorted, shaking her head. She then glanced towards Sinal, and asked, "So, what was your threatening plan, then? Your Pokemon is out of commission, and so are you. What are you going to do now?"
Sinal glowered, and then a wide smirk spread across his face, as he opened his lips and a hoarse, maniacal laugh boomed. "Abigail, of course!" He snapped his fingers.
"M-my Abigail?" Ashley stuttered. "M-my Absol? How do you know her name?" she demanded. "I mean, it's almost impossible…"
"Almost? Bah! If only you had remembered! But I guess not!" Sinal laughed, and removed something from a pocket in his cloak, resembling a bell in the shape of a small scythe, resembling the one of an Absol's head. He shook it, and a loud ping emitted, bouncing off the walls and the sound waves seeming to center on the Pokeball of the Absol.
The Pokeball began to fidget, and then in a flash of white, Abigail appeared, bowing her head down, her eyes blood red as usual, but had a sort of pained look to them. Her face looked contorted, also looking as if she was flinching as though to be hit.
"BUT HOW-"
"Hello Abigail! Good to see you're still alive, my pet!" Sinal cackled, and a sweet smile played his lips, that made Abigail wince again.
"Your pet?" Des asked. "Actually, sir, that's Ashley's Pokemon." Des nodded, crossing his arms in defiance. "So, I wouldn't lie."
"Oh, an Absol!" Lexus beamed, ignoring the fact that it was obviously in great discomfort. "Very rare where I come from. Very, very rare."
"Yeah. They aren't common where I am, that's for sure. Can't even find them. Don't live anywhere near Lavaridge Town." Kyte nodded, rubbing his chin. "Never thought I'd see a real one."
"YOU TWITS DON'T ADMIRE HER RIGHT NOW!" Ashley screamed, stomping her foot. She huffed, racking her brain for some reason as to why, or how, this man could be taking control of her Pokemon. It hit her like a ton of bricks. "That bell…"
"Ah, did you see it?" Sinal shook it mockingly, increasing Abigail's pain so that she thrashed and yowled, tossing her head with her jaws clenched, her eyes wide open, yet narrowed into tall slits. "This little beauty has control of this particular Absol. And do you know why?"
Ashley shook her head dumbly, her bottom lip trembling as she waited for Sinal's response.
"…She was once mine." Sinal then smirked, and before Ashley could reply, he took out an odd looking Pokeball, coated in red, yellow, and blue, and tossed it to Abigail, who in a bloody flash of red and a roar of resistance, she disappeared as the Pokeball flew back to his hands. Another one flew from his cape to retrieve the weak Metagross, and once both were secured, he gave a kiddish twirl and disappeared into thin air.
"…A-Abigail…?" Ashley whispered, staring blankly at the spot she had stood once before. Ashley's breath came in short, painful gasps, almost as though she was being strangled, as she threw her head back, stopping the tears that teared at her eyes to break through.
"ABIGAIL!" Ashley screamed in fury, panic, and worry, and the tears began to flood, her cheeks reddening, her eyes puffing, as she fell to her knees weakly.
The others could only stare, before Amphie finally spoke. "W-what was that weapon of his? It seemed to be extremely powerful. Whoever made it-"
"It wasn't made," interrupted Des. Amphie, Lexus, and Kyte gave him a confused look. "Those studs were actually protruding from his knuckles. It wasn't some device."
The others frowned, gasping as they looked back towards Ashley, who continued to sob, until she glanced up at where Abigail had been. A black, tiny paper in the shape of a scythe, like Japanese paper folding, lay there. She crawled over, and cradled the paper in her hands. Concentrating and wiping her tear-stained face, she could just make out small, white, fainted writing.
"Contact Ashton Lott."