After looking for the brunette at all the places Dawn told him about, Ash didn't see a single hint of her. He even made a small detour to May's house to see if she was there. Now sitting on a roof across the Maple household he was thinking about his next move. When he arrived he could see that Norman's car wasn't there so Ash figured that he must've raced to the place where it all went down today to assist the police force.
He might give Dawn another call but he didn't want to worry her even more. He just had to keep looking for May, it was the best thing he could do now. With the warning that a killer was on the loose people locked their doors and closed the curtains while the sun was still starting to set. Pretty much nobody was on the streets now so he could move around a bit more freely than he expected. At least something went right for him today.
Still looking at May's home he noticed something peculiar. While all the streets were deserted a person that is wearing a black hoodie went to the house he'd been keeping watch over. He looked a bit to big for someone of May's posterior but he was still heading to the Maple household. With this change Ash decided to stick around just a little longer to see how it played out.
He could see the person knocking on the door but after a minute nobody opened up. The person in the hoodie kept banging on it losing patience the same way Ash started to do. Still nobody opening the door the hooded figure had enough. Shifting his lower arms beside him they changed into blades with a silver shine. The aura guardian looking from a distance found something else than his first objective.
It was the killer he locked blades with earlier. Even if he didn't found May the source of today's problems is just across the street barging into her home.
Ash ready to fight back could save both him and May if he managed to bring him in right now. But he needed to hurry so the rest of her family would not share the same fate. Quickly forming two blades in his hand he jumped off the roof he was observing from and sped into the house quietly.
"Come out! I know you're hiding here!"
Still on the look for his first target he didn't notice someone sneaking up on him. Ash seeing his chance was going for a hit even he would feel would hurt. Quickly wrapping his arms around the man in the hoodie the aura user locked his hands tight surprising the killer.
"What the!"
"GET OUT!"
With a roar the aura guardian tossed his enemy backwards through a wall. The killer flying quite fast smashed trough a wall back outside onto the street. Pulling himself off the ground he just saw two small objects flying towards him. Raising his arms he deflected the two throwing stars send his way. The way he blocked gave Ash the chance to close the gap between them and with a leap he stood before Bisharp now.
Using a kunai in both hands he kept Bisharp's lower arms away from the center of his body and gave the killer a massive kick in the gut that send him flying into a lamppost. Getting himself up again he finally got a good look on who his attacker is. Seeing the same character in blue who chased him away before he got angry. Twice was he denied his victim today already and a third time pushed him over the edge.
"You're gonna die for that!"
Ash without talking already formed two blades already. He was not in the mood with Bisharp and he didn't plan to go easy on him. Bisharp got up again and out of frustration he cleaved the lamppost he smashed against in half. The post falling down onto the street reminded Ash just how much he needed to watch out for those things.
"Game over kid! You're dead! This whole street is dead!"
He removed his black hoodie. The flesh on his stomach started to disappear with four ribs starting to show. His ribs were sharp, circular and looked every bit as dangerous as the weapons on his forearms. Kicking his shoes off his feet were long and pointy too. Ash thinking to himself he's fighting a Swiss army knife more than a human right now trying to figure how he can punch something that's a walking sword to begin with.
Seeing where he is Ash planted a kunai in the side of a circular drain cover thinking its useful for his current fight. Wedging it loosely with his foot he felt it dislodge a little and kept his heel on the edge of the knife. The cover is just what he needed right now.
Bisharp ran to him with his arms back leaving himself wide open. Ash planting his foot down on the edge of the kunai the drain cover shot out of the hole. Palm thrusting it in midair the cover flew straight to Bisharp's torso. The drain cover lodged itself in the extending pieces of metal that pretended to be his ribs and he fell back on the ground.
Getting up quickly he tried to dislodge the drain from himself. It was stuck and no matter how hard he pulled or pushed there was no movement in the thing. He couldn't cut it off without cutting himself so he was stuck with it until someone else removed it for him.
While Bisharp tried to remove the cover Ash already had set up his next move. He wanted to end it fast as possible to limit his exposure.
Ash allowed his enemy to close the distance and blade met aura. Swinging at each other with the intent of really inflicting pain the two sides moved at speeds you only see in movies. Blades clashing and bodies moving at inhuman pace neither managed to get the upper hand over the other.
Bisharp switched up his upper assault with a kick. Using another part of his body threw the young guardian off balance and he did a spinning slash just barely blocking the toes who were as piercing as the rest of him. Another low sweep took the footing underneath Ash and he fell down on his back.
Quickly jumping and now squatting over him with his full weight the killer twisted his blades and planted them down towards the boys head and neck. Ash deflected his strikes at the last second whizzing by his head. With his opponents lower arms now stuck in the street he head-butted his opponent square in the nose and he flinched. The aura guardian bended his knees, pulled his legs back and donkey kicked Bisharp off him on the cover he used for this exact purpose. He kipped up fast standing on his feet again.
"AW! Is this whole guy made of metal!?" Rubbing his forehead it felt he ran headfirst into a brick wall. He could feel a lump forming on his forehead already that's going to bother him for some time. Making a note to get an icepack on it to stop the swelling when he gets home.
Forming three throwing stars in each hand he held them back for a bit. The shuriken held in between his fingers he waited for the perfect time to throw them while hiding them behind his back. Bisharp got up again and reached into his back pocket. Ash started to grin underneath his mask, he'd been waiting for this. Now just to time it right.
"Got ya!"
Throwing something out of his pocket Ash quickly threw his shuriken to the object Bisharp tossed. One of the stars making contact deflected the throw able back to Bisharp's feet and it exploded. A big bright flash ruptured into the killers eyes blinding him. The sound of the blast ringing his ears too two of five basic senses were taken from him now.
Swinging wildly around him he had no clue what was going on. Now with him somewhat more prone than before Ash took his chance.
"I knew he'd toss another grenade sooner or later."
The young guardian expecting one like earlier today waited patiently the entire time. He could not end the fight as quickly as he wanted so he played the waiting game till he lost his temper and threw one recklessly.
Jumping at Bisharp he made sure to dodge his swings close by before he performed a leg sweep dropping the villain. Quickly putting his feet on the blades the killer started to struggle even harder.
Blow after blow the aura guardian laid on him. Each time he hit him it felt like punching iron itself and even he could feel his knuckles starting to sting. But he kept wailing on him to prevent him from getting up.
After so many punches to the head Bisharp started to lean more than his own two feet. Ash increased the power of his punches before he did a jumping summersault kick launching Bisharp up, grabbed his leg in midair and slammed him down on the asphalt with enough force to shatter the road where he landed.
Still stirring the aura guardian smashed his fist into Bisharp's head. He didn't want to kill him but options were running out on how to contain him. His final hit seemed to do the trick. Now not moving anymore he still could see him breathing slowly finally managing to end this fight.
"Now I just need a way to tie him up and leave him here."
Joking to himself that aura ropes or whips would sure come in hand now. He just had to do with what he had. Forming blades in his hands he stabbed downwards and planted his knives in the ground just around the neck of the unconscious villain. He then made the same for both his arms and legs before going to the lamppost that was cut down earlier in his bout. Lifting it up with ease he dragged and placed it on Bisharp's body softly so the weight of it held him down but the sudden mass wouldn't crush him even more.
His entire body pinned down with kunai Ash was sure Bisharp now is more then enough secured for the police to just pick him up. Although they might need a magnet to lift his out of there. Hearing the sirens he was right on time and he left with a massive jump. He didn't want to be around for the aftermath with the police and possible witnesses who might have peeked in through their windows.
Jumping on the roof he came from he made a small detour till he was sure the police were no longer on his trail and could not follow him.
"Why May? What did she do for someone to send an assassin after her?"
Not one reason came to him in why the brunette is a target. Maybe it's because her dad is a cop but Norman can't be the only policemen with a daughter in the whole city. There had to be another reason on why she's targeted. Did it have something to do with the mass kidnapping?
"Could he have something to do with those corpses me and Riley fought? And how does this Glaceon fit in? Where does she come from?"
Each new day bringing more questions than answers Ash knows he might have to break his mother's rule about not going out in nights during a school week. He wondered if Riley managed to find something that will help them make sense of all the strange things that's been going on.
His stomach growled. Not eating anything since lunchtime and the hard work he's been putting in today drained a bunch of his energy.
"After a quick meal I'll go looking for her again. Can't rest till I find her."
Delia Ketchum was pacing back and forth the whole time n her house. When she saw a visitor today at her doorstep she knew that serious danger once again is happening in Veilstone City and that her son again threw himself into the middle of it. She made extra food due to her visitor and her son's rigid activity today.
"Are you sure you shouldn't be out there too?"
She would feel more at ease if her guest was with her boy instead of her. The visitor tried calming her down although he can understand where she's coming from.
"Calm down Delia. He's on his way home now."
Riley came to the Ketchum household after he kept sensing Ash's aura spike continuously. It wasn't like him to exert this much during the daytime not even when he found a spot to practice his aura constructions. Delia wishing she had her visitor's sensory capabilities since being able to feel where he is would definitely ease her protective motherly side.
"He's here." Hearing him say they went up the stairs to Ash's room wanting to get his version of what horrors occurred at school today.
Ash worked on taking his outfit off switched into a plain white t-shirt and some black training jeans. Feeling incredibly hungry after today he hoped his mom at least saved something for him. He desperately needed some of her good cooking right about now.
With Bisharp out of the way May might be a lot safer then before. Checking his phone he had a bunch of missed messages but he looked at the one Dawn send him a few minutes after he started the search for one of her best friends.
Reading the text he fell onto his bed dejected. He wasted hours looking for May while she was safe all along. Still a good thing came out of it after he decided to check her place. Hearing that someone came upstairs he put on a pair of slippers and when he heard knocking on the door he allowed her in. Taking a good guess on who it is he allowed her in.
"Come in mom!" Ash put away his outfit in his closet and he heard the door open.
Seeing her son Delia let out a huge sigh of relief. Hugging and checking him over the only thing wrong with him seemed a bump on his head. His knuckles a bit white from the punching he did Ash looked in well enough condition that nothing bad happened to him personally.
"Thank goodness. You're ok. This isn't good for my poor heart." Looking into his eyes she could see him smile.
"Sorry mom. I'm fine despite some small bruises." Flexing his muscles he showed her he's more than fine despite some minor injuries.
"Glad to hear you're ok." Hearing the voice he turned around and to his surprise the man who introduced him to aura stood inside the doorway too.
"Riley?"
As happy as he is to see him he still wondered what he was doing inside his house.
"I came here when I kept feeling your aura flare throughout the day."
The older of the two explained that he decided to came over to Ash's house to protect his mother. Knowing that Ash was set in school it had to be anything else than the black dressed figures who appeared to be undead. They seemed even more careful not to reveal themselves to the general public than they were.
"What did you do?"
"How about we discuss this over dinner? I'll go and heat it up for you."
Miss Ketchum suggested while the thought of filling his stomach sounded like a great one. Making their way to the table Ash had some explaining to do and he told everything he went through today which started from his 'self defense classes' till getting back home. As Riley listened to his story he started to worry a bit about the future and the additional threats on the horizon knowing that their skills as aura users is going to be tested more than they could've imagined at first.
Another fight/battle. With another one running in my main story it shows again that planning isn't my strongest side. At least with this one I can relax next chapter since most of that one is ready.
See you around.