*Sigh* here we go, the big moment. It's the moment I've been dreading. The moment that could've ruined this entire story. The moment that caused an entire ship to collapse. The moment that almost ruined my favorite character. This is exactly what you think it is, and dare I say, and I cannot express this enough *SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ACTUAL STEVEN UNIVERSE SERIES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED* Today's chapter is going to be loosely based on the events of Raising the Barn, the episode where IT happened. But of course if I did base it off what is officially my now least favorite episode, this chapter would be at most a half page long. Of course the Crewniverse obviously have a big plan for Lapis later on in the series, but for right now I'm crying after watching that episode and especially writing this chapter. This is probably going to be the most intense chapter I've written yet, so heads up and just to be safe *THERE WILL BE SOME POTENTIAL VIOLENCE ALSO STEVEN UNIVERSE AND POKEMON ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
With the sun beginning to set on Beach City, Ash had finally finished his closing shift at the wash and began to walk home. It had been nearly an entire week since he had encountered Annie and Oakley at Kevin's party and they had gone without incident since. Nevertheless, he had an unnerving sense of being watched in the night as he walked alone in the admittedly beautiful sunset over the beach town, worried he saw a Team Rocket uniform hiding behind every shadow. Once he turned the corner, his fear came to life when everything in his sight became dark, and a burlap sack fell over his face. Before he could fight back, he felt two arms grab onto him and begin to bind his hands and feet with tape. "Oh no", he thought, "they've finally found me". The people who had grabbed him then pushed him inside a carpeted area and he heard a metallic clank, implying he'd been pushed into a van. "This is it" he thought to himself, "they're gonna take me somewhere the others won't be able to find me, then kill me". About a million thoughts came to him as his life began to flash before his eyes, he thought of how Lapis and Pikachu were going to be alone, how he was going to fail Arceus, how Steven and the others were going to possibly fight the invading force that was Homeworld and Team Rocket without him. Not wanting to give the Team Rocket agents that finally caught him the satisfaction, he said nothing as they continued their seemingly doomed voyage until the car came to a sudden stop.
"We have one question for you Ash Ketchum" a man's voice addressed him, it sounded familiar to him but it was muffled through the sack over Ash's head. "Ash Ketchum, are you ready?" After waiting a few seconds without a response from him, Ash's abductors finally pulled the mask off.
"For the greatest night of your life?" Brock asked, looking down at his best friend with a priggish smile.
Ash looked confused at his friend, then around the vehicle he was being held in. Standing behind him, Buck and Sour Cream stood holding a roll of duct tape, implying they were the ones who grabbed him off the street. He then recognized his location as the inside of Greg's van, and this was confirmed when he saw Greg in the driver's seat with Jamie riding shotgun.
"Aw you guys suck. What was all this for?"
"It's your bachelor party dude" Sour Cream explained
"We know the bachelor party is typically thrown the night before the wedding," Buck further incited him "but we, as your best friends, decided you needed this time to relax a little early".
"Yep" Greg agreed "boys, tonight we're celebrating in Empire City! Just gotta grab a few things from the house first".
After Buck cut the ties they put on him, the boys all stepped out of the van. Ash saw parked outside the Temple was Kevin's yellow Himitsu sports car.
"There he is" Kevin welcomed the man of the hour from the couch. "Glad to see you made it out of my party in one piece"
Steven had jumped down from his room with a bag packed "alright, I'm all packed and ready to go!"
"Not so fast Stu-ball" Greg protested "I don't think I want you going to a bachelor party. You're gonna have to stay back here".
"Don't worry Steven," Pearl reassured him, "we can have fun here on our own. I've got a new eight thousand piece puzzle we can do".
"Alright, see you nerds later" Amethyst told the others walking outside.
"Where are you going?" Pearl asked.
"Uh, to Lapis's bachelorette party. Ash gets one, it's only fair she gets one too. Have fun in Empire City boys".
With Amethyst gone, Greg finished packing what he needed and the boys began their journey in their cars, with Ash, Greg, Brock, Buck, Jamie and Sour Cream riding in Greg's van. Driving behind the van was Kevin, who carpooled James and Clemont. Because the hotel they were staying at had a strict no animals policy, everyone had to leave their pokemon behind, with Pikachu being left in Steven's care with Garnet, Pearl, Connie and Bonnie back at the Temple. After the relatively short drive, Greg and Kevin parked their cars in the parking deck of Le Hotel and the nine men carried their luggage towards the lobby and were greeted to the manager sitting behind the front desk, looking very happy to see them.
"Why if it isn't Mr. Greg!" the manager welcomed him and the party. "Shall we escort you and your friends to your suite?" But before Greg could even answer, a mob of bellhops entered from the wings of the lobby and lifted the boys into the air and carried them into a massive elevator. Once they arrived at the penthouse suite, the boys were greeted to a astonishing suite that was complete with a fully stocked bar, a grand piano, a swimming pool complete with a waterslide, and a full view of the city through a plate glass wall. After the bellhops left the men to themselves, Greg lifted an enormous bag from the trolley carrying their luggage. Then Ash realized why Greg didn't want Steven coming to the party.
"Now I normally wouldn't do this, nor would I encourage such behavior, but tonight's a special occasion. Alright boys don't get too rowdy, I don't want to get into trouble with your parents" Greg informed the boys as he set up the keg of beer.
Inside the quiet and empty barn, Lapis laid down alone on the mattress she shared with Ash in a semi catatonic state. While she was laying down and allowing her inner demons to fill her head, she never noticed the group of girls enter the barn until they all began hitting her with pillows in a mass pillow fight.
"What? What are you all doing here?"
"What does it look like Big Blue?" Amethyst cheekily asked "it's your bachelorette party?"
"What's a baguette party?"
"No girl," Jenny said shaking her head, "a bachelorette party is when the friends of the bride take her out before the wedding and have fun together!"
Lapis gave them an unsure look, "guys I don't deserve this"
"Of course you do Lapis" Peridot tried to get her into the spirit, "you've been on edge lately and you really need a night out".
Lapis evaluated it, before finally cracking a shy smile. "Alright, what do I have to do for my bachelorette party?"
"You don't have to do anything girl, come on we're gonna show you the night of your life!" Jenny told her as she and Misty began pushing Lapis out the door."
It was no secret that this wasn't everybody's first drink at the bachelor party, Ash himself was guilty of having his first drink at Shamouti Island when he first saved the world with Misty and Tracey. But then again he only had a single cup that fateful day, and by drink number four he was already acting a little tipsy. But he wasn't alone as everyone else, except for Clemont because he didn't like the taste, were making their intoxication clear. The boys had now encircled him and had all began to toast the groom, Greg going first.
"If you had told me a year ago that I'd be at my technically adopted son from another universe's bachelor party," he stumbled over his words, "I would've laughed at you, yet here I am. Ash is a son to me in every which way but blood. And I'm so glad to call him my son, I'm so proud of you kid, and I know you're gonna do great things with your life. Best of luck kid".
With Greg's words for him over, Buck wobbled up from the floor he was sitting on. "Ash is officially the coolest guy I've ever met. He dosen't care about what other people think about him, yet he will give his arm and leg to help complete strangers in their time of need. Lapis is an incredibly lucky lady to have a guy like him in her life, you're gonna do great things Ash".
"Before I met Ash Ketchum, I was a joyless, all work no play type of guy with no aspirations and was forced into an adult role for my family" Brock toasted, "after I began traveling with him, I almost instantly got my life back. I was free to follow my own path. I was able to rediscover my sense of humor and found joy in life again. Ash Ketchum saved me, and for that he is forever my best friend, here's to Mr. Lapis Lazuli!"
After Brock spoke up, James took his turn. "My life has been nothing but a rollercoaster with many ups and downs even before I met Ash. For six years my friends Jessie, Meowth and I stalked him and his friends across the world to steal his pokemon. It's funny, never in my life did I ever think I'd be attending his bachelor party, let alone living with him. Yet here I am drinking and laughing with him and a bunch of idiots in what has been probably been the best months of my life. And it's all thanks to Ash Ketchum forgiving me for my sins past. Thank you Ash, you truly are a good man".
"If I had known at the time that if I would be drinking in a million dollar suite in Empire City at an awesome bachelor party, then I would've gotten arrested with Ash Ketchum sooner." Kevin joked, "but seriously I was a total asshole before I met this guy. I never had people I could trust or call my friends, and I never trusted people. Ash taught me that I can let people in and trust others. You're a top-notch guy Ash, you're the best".
Clemont had spent a few moments to get his confidence up and think about what he would say, despite him being the only sober person in the group. Finally, he stood up from his seat at the bar, his face beet red because of how uncomfortable he got speaking in front of groups. "Uh, I was never much for being social before I met Ash, and for the longest time I was completely alone. But Ash has been there for me time and time again, helping me throughout the short time we've known each other. He has even saved my life, you truly are the chosen one Ash. you're a true hero".
"I'm not one for emotional speeches" Sour Cream addressed the group as he began his toast, "but Ash is pretty awesome. I've never been closer to my friends because of him, so I've got that going for me. Again, you're pretty awesome Ash".
After Sour Cream's touching yet short words, Jamie took his turn from his seat at the bar next to Clemont. "I was never a person who was considered "popular", and before I met Ash Ketchum I was in a dark place in my life. I was all alone, my dream of becoming a famous film star in Kansas fell well short, Garnet had rejected me, and I think my only friend at the time was Steven, a boy six years younger than me. Now look at me" he drunkenly exclaimed putting Clemont into a headlock, "I have the best housemates in Serena, Bonnie and this guy, and now I've got possibly the best friends a guy could ask for! And you know what? I'm gonna do it as soon as we get home! I'm gonna tell Serena my feelings!" he then began to feel his pockets and pulled out his cell phone "on second thought, I'm gonna do it right now!"
"Jamie, that's not a good idea" Clemont attempted to talk him out of the act, "you should maybe wait when you're sober."
But despite his protests, Jamie had already dialed a number into his phone and began to drunkenly sing the musical song Johanna into the phone, except he sang it slurred, off key and had replaced Johanna's name with Serena's. "I feel you Serena. I feel you, do they think, uh, let's see there's a part about walls in there. I love you!" his "song" was interrupted by him burping very loudly, "oh gosh, I'm so drunk"
Before he could do anymore harm, Clemont took the phone out of Jamie's hand. After looking at the phone screen, he actually began to laugh. "Jamie, you didn't call Serena, you called the house."
After everyone laughed at Jamie's drunken mistake, Ash finally stumbled to his feet and poured another beer. "I couldn't ask for a better bunch of friends. I love you guys so much, and I can't even describe how much you guys mean to me. But this drink I'm holding isn't for me, it's for a guy who deserves to be here as much as you guys do, but couldn't attend. Lars, if you can hear me, you are missed. We love you Lars! This is for you, TO LARS!"
"TO LARS!" the rest of the men raised their cups in one final toast.
"Who's Lars?" Kevin whispered to Jamie, having never met the space bound teen.
"And here's to you to Skinny!" Ash declared, pouring another cup and spilling the beverage all over his chest and onto the floor. Clemont sighed and grabbed a few napkins to clean the mess. And when he moved his feet to allow his friend to clean his mess, Ash fell back first into the pool. "AH! HELP ME LAPIS!" he screamed while splashing around. When Greg pulled him out from the three foot deep water, Ash stumbled back onto his feet, with the rest his intoxicated friends laughing at him.
The joy the boys all felt was cut short however, by a sudden rumbling sensation. At first they all thought it was because they were intoxicated and it was affecting their motor functions, but because Clemont was completely sober and the pool water began to ripple, they realized that an outside factor was responsible for the ground shaking. Sobering up from the sudden shift of the ground, Ash went to the window to investigate, but he jumped back in surprise after two large shadows flew past the glass so fast that nobody was able to see what it was. Clemont moved to Ash's side and saw something large in the middle of the street. "GUYS WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
They all stumbled into the elevator and reached the lobby, where Ash saw the source of the rumbling was a Tyranitar in the middle of the street. Then he saw it's trainer, The Iron Masked Marauder, was standing just outside the entrance to Le Hotel. Thankfully The Marauder had not looked through the front windows and continued shouting into the street, now filled with panicking citizens.
"WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THE CITY CHOSEN ONE! BE A MAN AND SHOW YOURSELF!"
The men quickly ran from the lobby through the back exit through the kitchen and out the delivery docking bay through the back. They ran, or at least tried to run, around the building towards the parking garage and attempted to reach their vehicles. Then a large chunk of a load bearing post nearby exploded into a pile of concrete and smoke as The Marauder had somehow spotted them, and followed the group inside while he began firing a gun while Tyranitar launched a hyper beam attack. The Tyranitar's attack just barely missed them, but it struck Kevin's car.
"MY CAR!' he screamed as the yellow Himitsu exploded into a ball of fire and shrapnel.
"KEVIN COME ON!" Ash screamed at him, grabbing him and piling themselves into Greg's van. Because Clemont was the only sober person, it was decided that he'd be the driver. Unfortunately, Clemont had almost no experience behind the wheel of a car, and as a result he struggled to even move the gear shift. After he finally figured out how to actually move the car, he wound up smashing it into the streetlight in front of the exit of the garage.
"HOW IS IT YOU'RE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN PEOPLE INTO HALF ALIEN SOLDIERS BUT YOU CAN'T DRIVE A VAN!?" James screamed in fear as The Marauder fired more shots in the direction of the car.
"Move aside, I'm taking over!" Greg demanded. Despite his sluggishness behind the wheel, he was able to somehow pull out from the garage and through the city streets.
"We've got to get out of here! We've got to get back to make sure Lapis is alright!"
Jenny and Kiki had snuck a bottle of red wine from Fish Stew Pizza's wine cellar and passed it around the group of ladies that sat around the empty dining room of the establishment. Although everyone else seemed to be having fun at the little get together, Misty noticed how Lapis was just watching everyone else having fun at her own bachelorette party with a distracted and spaced out look on her face.
"Why are you so moppy? Here have some" she insisted pouring Lapis a glass. But Lapis just looked off into space and was practically ignoring her friend, then she leaned over and vomited onto the floor, narrowly avoiding Sadie's shoes.
"WHAT THE HECK LAPIS!?" Jenny angrily asked while Kiki quickly grabbed a mop.
"Alright, let's take it outside" Misty said, taking the future bride with Serena outside. Once outside, Lapis vomited again onto the boardwalk while Serena pulled her hair back. "I had no idea Gems even could barf"
"You would too if you were in my shoes"
"Why?"
"I'm just, I'm just really stressed about everything lately. It's just nerves don't worry. This was a mistake, I should go" she said with her voice cracking from her puking.
"No you don't Lapis!" Serena angrily exclaimed as she blocked her off "you've been keeping to yourself a lot lately and it's not fair to your friends! And it's especially not fair to Ash! What's happened between you two!? You can tell us, that's what we're here for." Now Amethyst, Peridot, Jenny, Kiki and Sadie all joined them outside.
"It's not him or you, it's me. I just can't talk about this with anyone, I just can't."
"Aw come on Lapis-" Peridot begged as she began to try to get her to open up to them.
"NO PERIDOT!" she exclaimed. Then she paused and reevaluated her attack on her best friend, looking shocked and disgusted at herself, she turned around "sorry for the mess I made" she told the twins and flew off towards the barn.
Amethyst groaned in anger, "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HER!? I mean, here we are throwing her a damn party and trying to show her a good time, yet she's treating us like she hates us!"
"I agree," Serena complained "I mean, do you know what I'd do to be in her shoes?"
"Lapis doesn't wear shoes" Peridot said, not understanding the metaphor.
"I KNOW THAT!" Serena finally broke down "DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE GIRL WHO BASICALLY TOOK THE ONLY PERSON I'VE EVER LOVED AWAY FROM ME!? WHO'S BASICALLY NEGLECTING HIM? JUST LEADING HIM INTO A LOVELESS MARRIAGE!? YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!?" her rant was finally interrupted by Jenny slapping her to calm her down. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Peridot".
"This seemed like it wasn't such a good idea" Sadie finally spoke up.
"No kidding, I should probably talk to her" Misty said.
"I should go to" Serena volunteered after collecting herself.
"Are you sure? You just went full metal jacket on Peridot about your little beef with Lapis, are you sure about going to go talk to her face?" Amethyst asked.
She took a deep breath, "yeah, I think I should."
The two pokemon trainers left while Jenny, Kiki and Sadie went back inside the restaurant to clean. While Amethyst and Peridot were left behind outside.
"I don't think that the bayonet party was successful Amethyst". Amethyst just placed her hand on Peridot's shoulder and sighed, leading her back into the building.
"I think I lost them!" Greg announced.
"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Kevin screamed from the back of the van looking out the window. Ash looked out as well and saw the things they saw in the sky earlier were the other Team Rocket agents patrolling the sky on the back of Skarmory.
By some miracle Greg was able to escape the city limits and was now racing down the highway towards Beach City.
"How'd they even know we were in the city?" Ash began to ask, but then he remembered something Jasper had said in the Homeworld Kindergarten, how she had found them that day. "It's Clemont" he whispered out loud.
"What?"
"Clemont has a tracking device in him"
But before anyone could respond, one of the Skarmory blasted at the tires of the van using an air slash attack, and it flipped onto it's top, sliding down the now empty road and crashing into the guardrail.
"Is everyone alright?" Ash heard Brock ask from the wreckage after they all crawled out.
"What did you mean they're tracking Clemont?" Buck asked
"Of course, how could I have been so foolish!?" he panicked while examining his sleeve, "this is all my fault, they're gonna find us because of me. I've got to get out of here! I'll lead them away so you guys can get back safely".
"We're not leaving you!"
"Just let me do this for you Ash! Get out of here, I'll meet up with you guys later! Tell Bonnie I love her" and before everyone else could protest, he turned and ran off into the surrounding forest. As the Skarmory began to land, the boys hid in the forest behind the guardrail.
The Iron Masked Marauder summoned his Tyranitar as he dismounted his Skarmory. "HYPER BEAM!" he exclaimed. Ever loyal to his wicked master, the massive Tyranitar completely destroyed Greg's home in a ball of fire. He then took out his gun and began to open fire on the smoldering remains in case the boys had survived.
"STOP YOU IDIOT!" Oakley scolded The Marauder's display of power, "our orders were to NOT kill him!"
"Looks like luck is on our side sis" Annie informed them "seems like they all got out before the meat head over here blew it up". She then took out a tablet from her pocket, "looks like the target's going north, let's go!" With the three Team Rocket agents gone, Ash and the others stumbled out from the woods now illuminated by the burning remains of the Universe's van, Greg getting onto his knees to mourn his beloved van.
"We can't just leave Clemont out here with them" Ash insisted.
"We have no choice Ash," Brock argued "now we have to somehow get back home on foot, that's seven miles! There's no way we can get to Lapis in time!"
But Brock was contradicted by a large pair of headlights appearing from behind them. The eight remaining boys stuck out their thumbs and a large bus stopped in front of them.
"Sup Ash, what are you doing on the side of the road?" S the mystery girl from Mike Kroll's concert asked from behind the wheel.
"Oh my Arceus S, am I glad to see you. Listen, we HAVE to get to a barn outside of Beach City ASAP! Wait, what you doing driving a city bus?"
"Day job, and I can't just drive anywhere I've got a shuttle schedule to keep. I'll get fired if I do that"
Greg approached butch, pink haired, punk girl and handed her a check he quickly scribbled. "Here, this should cover you until you find a new job"
S accepted the check and her eyes widened, for she had never seen that many zeroes on a check written out to her before in her entire life. "Well shit, hop on boys!"
"Madam, let me say that you can drive me anywhere so long as I accompany a lady as beautiful as you" Brock said taking her hand, only to be grabbed by the ear by Ash himself, as Brock didn't have Croagunk on him.
"You're seriously doing this now!?"
"See, isn't this fun kids?" Pearl excitedly asked Steven, Connie and Bonnie from the couch with Pikachu in Steven's lap, and Garnet sitting on the loveseat next to the sofa. "Three thousand, five hundred and eighty seven pieces down, four thousand, four hundred and thirteen pieces left to go!"
Despite Pearl's attempt to make the puzzle exciting, Bonnie wound up nearly falling asleep, that was until Garnet suddenly stood up, grabbed the children and threw them behind the couch. "PEARL, GET READY!"
Before Pearl could ask for what Garnet saw, the front door exploded into a million splinters and two people wearing familiar black uniforms entered.
"Prepare for trouble!" the golden haired female announced.
"And make it double!" her green haired, male companion continued.
"Here's our mission so you better listen!" they both taunted the group.
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all peoples in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To spread our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"And Butch!"
"We're Team Rocket circling the earth all day and night!"
"Surrender to us now or you'll surely lose this fight!"
"So you're the famous Team Rocket we've heard so much about!" Pearl commented.
"Ah, our reputation proceeds us doesn't it Barrett?" Cassidy arrogantly asked her partner.
Butch was fuming "MY NAME IS BUTCH! YOU HEARD IT, YOU WERE SAYING THE MOTTO WITH ME!"
"If you're so angry Billy, you can take it out on them! Granbull, use fire fang!"
"Primeape, thrash!"
"Kids, stay behind the couch!" Pearl demanded as she summoned Gallade. "Psycho cut!"
"Metagross, use meteor mash!" Garnet commanded.
The four pokemon interlocked with each other, but the Gem's pokemon overpowered the lesser pokemon and instantly took them down. But the pokemon weren't the only ones who decided to fight, as Cassidy drew a sword and attacked Pearl while Butch grabbed a chained mace and clashed with Garnet.
"Where's Lapis Lazuli!?" Cassidy demanded to know from her opponent, who easily outsped all her blows.
From behind the sofa, Steven and Connie hid Bonnie, Pikachu and Dedenne from the clash, but they suddenly heard a high pitch growl from the side. The duo's Raticate jumped at them and began to bite and snarl at Steven, narrowly avoiding it with his shield.
Because Butch was easily outmatched by Garnet, she was easily able to attack him by launching her gauntlets like a pair of missiles into him, and sending him flying outside onto the sand. She quickly leapt from the inside onto the ground above him ready to beat him into submission. But Butch was ready for the attack, and struck her across the face with his mace, slowly getting back onto his feet. But as soon as he was back up, he saw that he had struck her sunglasses off her face and was now looking at him with a furious look. Realizing he had made a huge mistake, he began to scream in fear as she jumped on top of him and began to beat him into submission.
Back inside the house, Pearl and Cassidy exchanged blows with their blades a few times at close range. Pearl took advantage of their closeness by kicking her in the stomach, causing her to fly across the room. Pearl then began to fire beams of energized light from the tip of her spear in her direction, but Cassidy wasn't out yet, and jumped out of the blast's range.
Steven and Connie had become Stevonnie and joined Pikachu, Gallade and Metagross in their match against the Team Rocket's pokemon, leaving Bonnie all alone behind the couch. Cassidy took notice of this, and leapt behind the sofa and grabbed the young girl by the back of her head, holding her sword to her throat. Pearl, Stevonnie and the pokemon all ceased their attacks because of the hostage, and with the situation seemingly under her control, Cassidy made her intentions clear. "Alright, I don't like handling snot nosed brats like this so much. And I WILL take her out if I don't hear what I want to hear from you. So tell me, where is Lapis Lazuli?"
"You have no control!" Garnet announced coming back into the house holding a bloody and bruised Butch by his neck "let the girl go and I won't snap your friend's neck!"
Cassidy looked at her and laughed "you won't do it. But do go ahead and prove me wrong, I don't care what happens to that loser"
"Ash was right" Stevonnie told her "you are heartless".
"Oh boo hoo," she mocked him "it's survival of the fittest here kid, now tell me where she is so I can get out of here"
The standoff lasted for a few uncomfortable seconds before Pikachu was finally able to sneak up behind Cassidy, who was too distracted by the Gems to notice. Then the little pokemon took matters into his own paws, and iron tailed her from behind, causing her to drop Bonnie. With Bonnie safe, Stevonnie punched her in the abdomen and into Butch, who Garnet let go of. Metagross and Gallade pushed Granbull, Primeape and Raticate into their trainers, and Pearl finished the battle off by shooting at them with one final blast of light from her spear and into the sky.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" they exclaimed with the trademark Team Rocket twinkle following them.
On board the bus, Ash was impatiently looking out the window just as they passed a billboard that read "Beach City next Exit", then he noticed the twinkle in the sky. But he knew this wasn't a regular star in the sky, for he had seen this kind of twinkle in the sky on countless occasions. "S, stop the bus!" he screamed at her.
S immediately slammed her foot down on the breaks, causing the bus to come to a screeching halt. Ash then forced open the door and ran off into the woods, knowing exactly where he was going now and knew if he had stayed on the bus he wouldn't reach the barn in time.
"Where is he going!?" Kevin asked, "we have to follow him!"
"I can't just drive the bus through the woods, I'm going to have to go through the city route, we'll meet him there"
"Hey Lapis?" Misty gently asked from outside the barn "it's us, Misty and Serena. Can we just talk?". Inside the barn, they heard Lapis gagging and crying alone. "Come on Lapis, we're not here to judge whatever you're going through, we just want to talk as your friends".
"Please Lapis" Serena asked as she began walking around the building looking for an alternate route inside. She found something alright, but it wasn't something she was expecting. "Hey Misty, what's this?" she asked examining the charred remains of the object that caught her attention from the ground.
"Uh, I don't know. Ash told me he saw Lapis burning it awhile back, but she told him it was a failed project." she then picked it up from the dirt and tried her best to figure out what the thing was. Feeling it's texture, she concluded it was made of plastic and was roughly the size of one of her fingers. Her face went from intrigue to shock when she realized what this could possibly be. "The picture is becoming more clear, her stress, the barfing, the secretive behavior"
Serena gasped when she came to their shared conclusion, "you don't think?"
Before Misty could answer Serena's concerns, a rustling sound came from the corn field and someone came running out from the stalks.
"Ash? I thought you were in Empire City, what happened to you?"
"WHERE'S LAPIS!?"
The sound of Ash's voice finally lured Lapis from her hiding place and into his arms "Ash! What's wrong? What happened?"
"Team Rocket happened" he explained out of breath, squeezing her tightly. "Don't worry, we lost them. I just had to make sure you were alright".
"Are you sure they didn't follow you?" Misty asked, hiding Lapis's dirty little secret in her pocket.
"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that we got away and they aren't going to get her now. Not while I'm here".
Then Lapis pulled out from Ash's grip, "Ash, Team Rocket serves Homeworld right? And they're here now after me. Ash, I can't be caught in this conflict, yet alone be the cause of it. I can't handle the thought of getting caught again," she began to cry "I can't do this, I have to get out of here".
Ash, still being as naive as ever and not understanding what she meant, and tried to come up with a solution "you're right, we'll have to hide you somewhere until they lay off. We could probably hide you at-"
"No Ash, it's not like that at all. They're never going to give up looking for me. I have to go where they will never find me" she cried more heavily "and unfortunately you can't know where I go either." She then slid the ring he gave her off her finger and placed it back into his hand.
"What, what do you mean? What are you doing? Lapis please don't!" But there was no changing Lapis's mind, and she sprouted her wings as she began to fly off, only being held back by Ash still holding her hands, now beginning to sob himself. "Please Lapis, please don't leave me. I can't do this without you!"
"I'm so sorry Ash, and this is the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my entire life, but I am not getting caught up in another war. And I am not going to get caught by Jasper again. I love you so much Ash Ketchum, and I will always be thinking about you, but you need to let me go".
As he continued to look at her with disbelief, he made one final attempt to change her mind "No Lapis please, we've built this life together and I plan to fight to keep it. I know that if we fight together, fight with Lash, we can win. We can beat Homeworld, Team Rocket and Jasper if we fight this together! The others believe in you, I believe in you! Even if you don't believe in yourself, I still do! You're my reason to fight, you're my reason to continue my journey here with the Gems, you're my reason to get out of bed in the morning! Please don't leave me Lapis!"
Lapis looked down at him with a mix of both heartbreak and regret, then she turned to see Misty looking at her angry for not telling Ash the truth, what she was hiding from him. But both knew that if she told him, it would've made the whole situation worse.
A bright light came from the warp pad near the barn and Steven, Connie, Garnet, Pearl, Pikachu and Bonnie all came from the transport pad.
"Ash! We-" Steven tried to explain before realizing what was going on. Then from the other side of the woods, Amethyst, Peridot, Jenny, Kiki and Sadie all came from the house, a little bit more confused.
"Lapis?" Peridot asked, "what's going on?"
"She's leaving us" Misty answered for her with scorn in her voice.
But Lapis wasn't changing her mind, no matter what Ash, or Steven or even Peridot would say, and when Ash finally loosened his grip on her, she floated upwards into the sky, looking down at them one more time.
"I love you" she whispered in Ash's direction, before finally flying up into the sky, out of view of the others.
With Lapis gone, Ash dropped to his knees and with a thick river of tears flowing down his face, he began to scream into the dirt. Steven immediately went to his brother's side and hugged him, now crying himself.
The sound of an engine running and a set of headlights came out from the woods. The bus honked its horn and then finally crashed into a large tree. S stumbled out from the driver seat and tried to inspect the damage while the other boys came running out to greet the group.
But Ash wasn't paying attention to the bus crash, and was still screaming while Steven and Pikachu held him. Greg finally understood what just happened and joined Steven in hugging him tightly. His act of sympathy was followed by Serena, Misty, Garnet, Pearl, Brock, Peridot, Amethyst, Buck, Sour Cream, James, Jenny, Kiki, Sadie, Jamie, Bonnie, Kevin and S, then Ash's pokeballs opened up when they sensed their master's grief and the group hug was joined by Charizard, Greninja, Sceptile, Glalie and Staraptor. It was almost funny, here he was surrounded by people who loved him like family yet the one person who mattered the most to him was gone.
Ash continued to scream and cry until he was numb. Then he realized he was numb in his entire body, and couldn't move a muscle except for his eyes and mouth. Looking upwards, he saw the reason why.
"Are we breaking up a moment?" Aquamarine asked insultingly from the small Homeworld dropship that now floated above them. She had her suspension wand in her tiny hand and had entrapped the whole group in the wand's grip. Dropping to the ground, she was joined by Annie, Oakley, The Iron Masked Marauder, Cassidy, Butch, and a recaptured Clemont. "Despite my agent's incompetence, we finally meet again".
"I'm sorry Ash" Clemont told him from his binds.
"Shut up" The Marauder ordered, bashing the end of his gun onto the back of Clemont's head.
"So, where's your little girlfriend?"
"She's gone" Ash whispered
"Excuse me?" she groaned "is this mission seriously never going to end? I want to get off this planet before it's destruction"
"Well you're too late for that!" Peridot exclaimed "that's right, we're not going anywhere, and the Cluster is useless to The Diamonds! We turned the tables and stopped it"
"I wish you hadn't said that" Amethyst whispered to Peridot after she gave away the only leverage keeping Homeworld away from Earth.
"You're not serious?" Aquamarine asked her and then turning towards her companions "The Diamonds are going to have to hear this. This changes everything. But the Lazuli comes first, Cassidy, Ben, you two are with me, we'll go and find little Lapis. Marauder you're in charge of these dullards, remember your limits"
"Understood" he said with an evil smile on his face. After Aquamarine, Cassidy and Butch left to pursue Lapis, The Marauder approached Ash. "I remember when you foiled my plans with Celebi and got me thrown in jail Ash Ketchum. I also remember what I promised myself I'd do to you if I ever saw you again! Nothing would please me more to kill you right here, but that's for Giovanni and the Diamond's to do. So I'll just do the next best thing, Annie! Oakley! Line them all up! I saw this once on TV and it's going to be fantastic"
After they returned all of Ash's pokemon into their balls, the group was forced into a long line. "Which one of you is Steven?" The Marauder asked, "because I give you my word he isn't going to die tonight!"
"HE IS!" Greg screamed grabbing Steven by the arm and raising it.
"Is what that fatass says true?" he asked Ash.
"Yes"
"Good enough for me, come on kid" he said grabbing Steven and forcing him to sit with Ash. "I'm going to kill one of your friends now Ash. Anyone you have a preference?"
Ash and Steven gave no answer.
"Fine, let's see now,." he started, walking over to the end of the line starting with S. He placed the barrel of his weapon at her head "eeny" he whispered moving to the next person "meeny, miny, moe, catch, a, Taillow, by, his, toe." He counted each person one by one, pointing the gun at each's head. "If, he, hollers, let, him, go, eeny, meeny, miny, moe" he finally stopped at Buck. For the first time in his life, Buck began to sweat and panic at the thought of death, but The Marauder then moved his gun from him after pretending like he was going to shoot. "My, mother, told, me, to, pick, the, very, best, one, and, you, are, it". With his sick little game over, The Marauder had wound up picking Greg. "looks like the lucky one is you fatty, any last words?"
Greg looked from The Marauder to his sons "Steven, Ash, I love you guys. I'm sorry I failed to protect to, to-"
"Too many words" The Marauder exclaimed firing the weapon. Greg began breathing heavily and everyone cried out in fear as the gun only clicked, and Greg had to process that he was still alive. "Oh man I got you!" he laughed, "the look on your stupid, fat face!"
After The Marauder's sick game, the Homeworld ship landed in front of them and the others deboarded without Lapis.
"Where is she?" Oakley asked.
"She's long gone".
The Marauder sighed "looks like we've got to use plan B" he removed a dark ball from his jacket and tossed it. The pokemon that emerged was a Sableye, and at the sight of the Gems, it began to drool and snarl like a rabid dog. "For those of you who don't know, the pokemon Sableye live in dark caves and depend on a fantastic sense of smell to find their favorite food. Do any of you know what their favorite food is?"
Nobody answered.
"They eat rocks and precious gemstones. Gemstones such as Lapis Lazuli. And you can deny to know where she is all you want Ash, but we're still going to find her" he explained taking an actual lapis lazuli stone from his pocket. Once the Sableye smelled it, it began to thrash and cry at the smell of it's favorite food, which was rewarded by his master by being allowed to eat the stone. "Now lead us to Lapis!"
"Hold it!" Aquamarine interrupted "we have to send a message to them, make sure they know that we're serious. To make sure they won't try to fight back later"
"Insurance huh? Let me see, last time I saw him The Chosen One seemed quite fond of these two" he said grabbing Misty and Brock by their arms "so I reckon we'll just take them with us".
"No, no don't!" Steven begged, but the ruthless Team Rocket officers lead both Misty and Brock onto the ship. Ash gave them one final look before the door closed on his friends.
"And just incase you fools don't get the point" The Marauder further went on, pouring gasoline onto the barn. "HYPER BEAM TYRANITAR!" The pokemon fired it's attack and soon the barn erupted into a blazing fire.
"Nice doing business with you, little cutie" Aquamarine taunted Ash as his home burned down "but we have a mission to complete. Alright Sableye, lead us to Lapis!"
And just like that, they were gone, leaving the remaining members of the group to try and process what just happened following their defeat.
Serena slowly got back up and walked over to Ash, sitting down next to him and placing her hand on him supportively. Then he completely broke down as he held the ring in his hand. "Ash-" she began to try and talk to him.
"Mr. Greg are you alright?" Bonnie suddenly asked catching everyone's attention. Everyone looked in Greg's direction and saw him clutching his chest and turning red.
"Oh my gosh!" Clemont concluded, "he's having a heart attack!" he said doing his best to perform CPR. Steven quickly ran to his father and used his healing powers on his father's chest, resulting in his regaining his breath and slowly turned his normal skin color.
With Greg's health scare over, S and Pearl took him on board the bus and escorted him to a hospital while the others supported Ash.
"I'm sorry this happened Ash" Garnet expressed her condolences, "but we'll get Brock and Misty back. And Lapis still loves you very much".
"Thanks Garnet, but I need to be alone now" he somberly said standing up and walking off into the night illuminated by the still burning barn. Serena was tempted to tell him what she now knew about Lapis, and what possibly inspired her to run, but Garnet seemed to know to and held her back to stop her.
"What do we do now?" Peridot asked, nobody having the answer she needed.