-Comes out of the depths of his cave- HEY GUYS! WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS.

To those of you that didn't figure it out last chapter; that was Dragon Quest III. A game for the Gameboy Color, and the SNES. The SNES version was never released in the US, but some people took the Japanese release and translated it themselves. You can find it by googling "Dragon Quest III Reprise English Rom".

The graphics aren't all that great, but it's an old game, so...

Anyway, as an explanation for my extended leave, well... I've been immersed in games, university, anime, manga, life, etc.

In that time, I've bounced ideas left and right in my head, which has been giving me trouble. Unlike some authors who release completed stories, I kind of wing it with every chapter I write. My head keeps jumping far into the future of my story, where Harry is dealing with the world at large. Organizations, heroes, and teams from all over the world. For example, the Devil May Cry characters on one hand, which fits well with the vision of angels and demons. The existence of magic, which allows me to introduce characters from the Marvel universe, which then opens up a huuuuge arsenal of characters for me to mess with (ex: Stephen Strange, Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, etc.)

And that's only from the side of the USA!

I could throw in Ranma's characters from Japan and China, The Breaker's characters from South Korea. Hell, I could also throw in the characters from King of Fighters for good measure. I'm half tempted to tweak my story and remove the Naruto influences; or maybe straight up give someone the Sharingan and cover it with the 'well a lot of fiction is based on truth' excuse lolz. You see, this seriously has no end to it, which is why most nights, I've been imagining entire plot lines and scrapping them constantly.

I am thankful for all of your support. I mean... I still keep looking at my review count, and am astounded by it. Sure I've had a great number of flames sent to me, but the positive reviews are stupendous, and I can't thank you guys enough!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
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Chapter 19: Soul Struggle (2)

~"Why won't he wake?" A concerned female voice. She sounded awfully familiar... Do I know her? I wish I could see.~

I shook my head, and stared.

My ankle itched.

Not ten minutes ago, I was battling Voldemort, who had turned into a five-headed Dragon that spewed fire and ate human sacrifices. The fight was quick, and brutal. Just as I was about to deal the finishing blow, my surroundings had shifted again, plunging me into the final room of the Elite Four of the Pokemon League taking place in Kanto; right before the Champion battle zone.

I continued to stare at the spiky red haired man, trying to make sense of my situation. He stared blankly ahead. It made sense— he was an NPC (Non Playable Character), so that's what he would continue to do until I spoke to him.

I tested it out, and Lance ended up repeating whatever diatribe he'd said to me earlier.

That was definitely Lance the Dragon Master, in front of me. And he definitely said I had to fight 'Voldegary Oak'. What does that make me; Ash Potter?

God, no. I want to be Pkmn Trainer Red! Ash is just a pussy in comparison!

I shook my head in exasperation, and began to take stock of my supplies. I absently realized that I possessed the stature of a little kid. I had a red and white jacket on, a black shirt underneath, and dark blue jeans. Wait...

"Espe?" The purple cat-like Pokémon looked up at me quizzically as it tugged on my pant leg. So that's why it was itchy.

No fucking way.

"Well, aren't you a-do-ra-ble!" I cooed, picking up the cute rascal, and fluffing up his fur. The Espeon looked a little annoyed, before scurrying onto my shoulder, roughly rubbing its head against my face in a 'see how you like it!' manner. Cuteness overload.

"Anyway." I muttered to myself, putting a hand in my pocket out of pure reflex. It hit against a cold, rectangular metal object.

Could it be?

I grasped onto the small box, and pulled it out of my pocket, showing a flash of metallic red.

Yep. That was definitely a Pokédex. I flipped the thing open, and was greeted with a peculiar looking touch screen, resembling the menu from the various Pokémon games I've played in the past. I quickly pressed my finger on 'Pokémon' to check out my current roster.

It said:

"Espeon Lv 62, Modest Nature, Ability Synchronize.

Charizard Lv 65, Modest Nature, Ability Blaze.

Lapras Lv 61, Modest Nature, Ability Water Absorb.

Pidgeot Lv 60, Jolly Nature, Ability Keen Eye.

Aegislash Lv 65, Adamant Nature, Ability Stance Change.

Nidoking Lv 60, Adamant Nature, Ability Poison Point."

Wow. My dream team!

I took my time, reading up on all their stats, and skill sets. Truly, an incredibly powerful team. You might have been wondering: "Charizard? Nidoking? What bullshit choices are these?"

I would simply let the next battle speak for itself. In fact, I planned to utterly destroy Voldemort— Voldegary, no! Voldegreen Oak, fuck it, calling him Voldegreen!— in this battle.

I took stock of my inventory; I had a few Revives, some Full Restores, half a dozen Hyper Potions, and ten Full Heals. I'd say I was ready for whatever lay beyond me. Now, which Pokémon to throw in first? It all depended on which Pokemon he would begin the fight with.

If my starter Pokémon was Charizard, that meant he owned Blastoise, Pidgeot, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Alakazam, and Rhydon.

Safest bet to start with against this final fight?

Easily Lapras.

I changed my Pokémon line-up, and hurriedly made my way to the light at the end of the room. Lance was still staring blankly ahead, even as the door closed behind me, removing him from view. I made my way up the staircase, leading up the the "real Pokémon Champion". The room itself was standard looking. It was large enough to function as an arena, with pillars on each corner of the room, and a fighting area in the middle.

When I finally got there, I had to do a double take.

Voldegary "motherfuckin'" Oak— or Voldegreen!— stood there, giving me a mix of a typical Green look, irreverent and undoubtedly arrogant, and a typical Voldemort look, sadistic and cruel. His wide, red eyes hungrily gazed at my approaching form. He smiled, showing the same razor sharp teeth as before.

I would never look at Green the same, ever again.

"Hey, Potter!" Voldegreen said in a cheerful tone; though, from the deadly look in his eyes, it seemed as if he wanted to drop this farce and kill me where I stood. It was so amusing, watching him struggle within the rules that my soul created to defend itself.

The Pokémon League theme suddenly stopped, and the room took on a more reddish hue, showing Voldemort's influence over the realm.

"I was looking forward to seeing you, Potter." Voldegreen spat out, now capable of dropping all pretenses and niceties. "I have learned of these Pokémon. These pocket monsters. Incredibly powerful beasts locked within the confines of these balls." He pulled a Pokéball out, throwing it from hand to hand.

"With these, I shall eradicate you, once and for all. Without monsters of your own, you shall be powerless to stop me." Voldegreen boasted grandly, and began to laugh maniacally. Something was off about him. He seemed to be behaving very erratically. I chalked it up to the rules of the game not allowing him to attack me outright. Poor bloke must be quite unhinged.

"Oh, you mean something like this?" I threw out a Pokéball, and out came my majestic Lapras. It resembled a blue plesiosaur, what with the long neck, thick body, and its flippers.

"..." Voldegreen looked speechless. Then he looked enraged.

"Damn you!" He threw out his Pokéball in anger. It landed out the ground, before opening to reveal... Blastoise.

Oh this was perfect.

Blastoise is a Water Type, for those of you who didn't know. It is also a Pokémon that can learn a great deal of TMs, or Technical Machines— which are moves that the Pokémon can learn by simply loading it into their brains. I don't know the science behind it, as it was never really explained. Anyway, what kind of move could my Lapras use to beat its enemy? Lapras was Water/Ice, and both those attack types were ineffective against Water.

Except...

I waved my hand at the enemy Blastoise.

"Hydro Pump." Voldegreen ordered his Pokémon contemptuously; the Blastoise aimed its cannons at Lapras, shooting out humongous torrents of water. It barely did any damage, because a Water attack on a Water/Ice type would inflict a fourth of its original damage.

"Freeze Dry." I said simply to Lapras, and gleefully watched the devastation which ensued. Blastoise dropped almost instantly, after receiving the powerful attack head on. I grinned viciously. The attack "Freeze Dry" was an Ice attack. Usually, Ice attacks only inflict half their damage on a Water Type, with the exception of "Freeze Dry", a specific attack tailored to be super-effective against Water Types.

"Useless wretch!" Voldegreen spat, and recalled the downed Blastoise. He sent out another Pokéball.

Out came Pidgeot.

I shook my head in amusement.

I gave Voldegreen no time to bark out orders.

"Freeze Dry." Another snowstorm appeared out of nowhere, mercilessly pelting Pidgeot, who dropped out of the air, unconscious.

"Damn it!" Voldegreen spat out, looking angry and confused.

"For the supposed Champion, you're something of a weakling, aren't you?" I taunted, trying to keep him off his game.

It actually worked. Voldegreen seemed even more unhinged than he was a few seconds ago. It was as if his capacity for logical thinking has been completely removed. Instead, he was a bundle of instincts, and emotions.

The angered Voldegreen threw out another Pokéball, releasing Alakazam. Its snout was long and thin, and it had long, ear-like spikes extending from the back of its head. It had brown armor-like sections over its chest, shoulders, forearms and knees, which covered its yellow skeletal body. There were three toes on each foot, each of which had a white claw. It wielded a silver spoon in each hand, which acted as an amplifier to its already powerful psychic abilities.

"Hm." I made a noncommittal sound, before recalling my Lapras. I sent out my next Pokéball. it opened with its standard light show, revealing my Nidoking. It was a large, bipedal, purple reptile with a long, venomous horn on its forehead.

"Using a Poison/Ground Pokémon against a Psychic type, Potter? You're losing your touch." Voldegreen looked positively gleeful at the easy kill. "Alakazam. Psychic!"

"Just endure it, and use your Focus Sash." I said softly to the Nidoking, who nodded in determination. The world around him shifted into a painful myriad of colors, and he was forced to grab his head in great pain. But Nidoking did not faint. The Focus Sash did its work, by halting the damage being done by the attack, just when Nidoking was about to faint. It would only give me one shot, but I was determined to make it count.

"What.. That was Alakazam's most powerful attack!" Voldegreen sputtered out in shock, staring at the Nidoking in awe, not understanding what happened.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, frowning. "Nidoking. Megahorn."

With great effort, the gigantic purple reptile charged at the Alakazam, embedding its horn into its side with great force, easily puncturing through its muscles and sending it careening into the wall, unconscious.

"A Poison/Ground Pokémon that can learn a Bug-type move, which is super effective on a Psychic-type like Alakazam." I said, not being able to resist taunting my opponent. "What's next on the list, noob?"

Voldegreen's eyes flashed dangerously. He threw the next ball.

"Exeggutor!" The pineapple tree-like Pokémon came out, walking around like it owned the place.

No hesitation.

"Megahorn again."

Knowing that the exeggutor was lower level than Nidoking, and that I'd spent a bit of time increasing this guy's base SPD stat, I knew that Nidoking would— as I was currently watching— rush the tree, and destroy it with one move. Megahorn is a Bug-type nuke attack. Exeggutor is a Grass/Psychic-type Pokémon, which means the already incredibly powerful attack would do quadruple its initial damage; and that's not even considering it it's a critical shot, or not.

Needless to say, that fight lasted about three seconds.

"No!" Voldegreen Oak yelled angrily, before recalling his downed Exeggutor with a snarl. He suddenly smiled at me, his malevolent eyes shining. The hell was that all about?

"You might have beaten my current lineup, Potter." Voldegreen said. "But let's see you beat this."

And he threw out his last two Pokéballs.

The two small red and white spheres landed lightly on the ground, before exploding in a shower of light, blinding my eyes momentarily. When the light died down, I was greeted with the snarling faces of Arcanine and Rhydon.

"My two most powerful Pokémon, fighting side by side against your pitiful attempts at winning." Voldegreen boasted, gesturing at the evolved form of Rhyhorn, as well as the evolved form of Growlithe.

"That so?" I said nonchalantly, glancing at my fingernails, pretending that I was paying no attention to him, at all.

"What are you—"

"Nidoking. Surf." With that simple order, an insanely powerful tidal wave of cascading water appeared out of nowhere, slamming into Charizard and Rhydon with great force. Both of the Pokémon fainted instantly.

"W-What is this!? How can there be such a difference between us?!" Voldegreen fell to his knees, smashing his fist into the ground, over and over. The victory music played.

"NIDOKING IS UNSTOPPABLE!"

I approached the flayed Pokémon trainer, with the intent of finishing him off, before I grabbed my head in pain.

~"Is he responding?"

"I don't know. Ennervate! Ennervate!" Stop it! Stop getting in my way! My magic lashed out.

"Arghh!" I heard the breaking of a few tables and chairs.

"Poppy, are you all right!?"

"F-Just... Fine, Headmaster."~

The voices finally stopped. I shook my head to ward off my confusion, before opening my eyes.

"Enough of these games!"

The world shimmered a deep red for a single moment. Silence followed.

I held my breath, dread creeping up my spine.

I heard a loud crack resonate through the entire building, before everything simply shattered, leaving us in a dark void. I felt myself morphing back into my teenager form, and assumed that Voldemort was turning back into that freaky child monster, again.

"What's wrong?" I asked with a confidence I didn't quite feel in this all encompassing darkness. "Can't you keep up?"

But Voldemort did not reply. The monstrous creature simply laughed, a high pitched grating sound which forced me to grit my teeth in both pain and slight, irrational fear.

I heard movement, but saw nothing in the endless darkness which surrounded me. Pain erupted from my back, as sharp claws raked into my flesh. I quickly turned to enact some sort of counter-attack, sending my leg in a roundhouse kick which caught nothing but air.

"What's wrong?" Voldemort's voice came from everywhere, taunting me as he used my words against me. "Can't you keep up..?"

I repressed an angry growl, unwilling to show him that he'd gotten to me. If only I had access to my magic...

"No doubt, you're wondering where your powers went." Voldemort mocked.

"That would be one way of putting it." I bit out. "What did you do?"

"My, my..." Voldemort said with a false air of concern. "Why would you immediately suspect me?"

"Oh, I don't know..." I retorted sarcastically. "Maybe because you couldn't take defeat like a real man and had to resort to breaking the rules?"

'That's right, keep him talking, Potter.' I thought to myself. 'Keep him talking, and then your stupid ass can find a weakness.'

"One must do anything they can to ensure their survival, Harry Potter." Voldemort replied calmly. What is up with his mood swings? Not a few minutes ago he was angry enough to rip me to shreds with his teeth.

"Indeed. That's why you're going to lose to me, here." I kept stalling for time, trying to figure how to get myself out of this situation.

"Strong words for someone who is completely at my mercy." I heard movement to my right, but no attack came.

"You are definitely right. But who knows what kind of tricks I have up my sleeve?" I kept concentrating, trying to find the monster's presence. It was futile; the darkness was shielding his every movement from me. I could only rely on my hearing for this.

"I know them all." Voldemort retorted haughtily. "I possess your knowledge, fool!"

"I beat most of your Pokémon with my Nidoking!" I countered easily. "Just because you have my knowledge doesn't mean you have my experience. Face it! You're powerless."

"I was powerful enough to impose my will upon your pathetic soul!" Voldemort boasted, unwilling to admit to being inferior.

Wait... Impose his will. Could it really be that simple?

"Enough talk, Potter! You die, now!" Voldemort snarled balefully. I heard him getting closer and closer. No doubt, he was planning to kill me. I instinctively ducked and rolled to the right, knowing that Voldemort was probably going for my vital areas, such as my heart, or throat.

"Impose my will, huh..." I muttered to myself as I began running away from the crazed monster's form. I could still hear it stalking me, as if I was its prey.

"There's no escape, Potter!" Voldemort cackled maniacally. "In this endless void, I see everything!"

I felt his claws graze my left arm, making me yelp in pain as I sprinted harder than I ever had before.

"And what I see... Is your death!"

I was starting to get tired. Sooner or later, he was going to catch up with me and kill me. How would I impose my will on my own soul?

"Uh..." I said as I was running. "Hey, my soul? Could you give me my powers back?"

-Why?- A distinctly childish male voice echoed in my head, startling me. The distraction was enough to let Voldemort tag my calf. I winced, but kept running all the same.

"What do you mean, why!?" I shouted incredulously. I grit my teeth, and forced myself to run even faster.

-Why should I aid you?- The voice replied, sounding oh-so-bored.

"Oh, I don't know, because he's going to kill me and take over?" I said sarcastically.

-It is of no consequence which of you two take over.- The voice callously dismissed my concerns.

"No consequence?" I repeated, getting angry. "This is MY body!"

"Have you finally gone insane with fear, Potter?!" Voldemort yelled out as he was chasing me.

"You shut your trap, no one asked for your opinion!" I yelled back. "Trying to talk to the voice in my head, here!"

-I suppose that is a fair enough reason for me to aid you.- The voice replied.

"W-what?" I said dumbly, floored. "Just like that?"

-Well, if you don't want my help, I can definitely give it to Vold-

"No!" I shouted quickly. "No. Helping me is fine. Thank you."

-So, what do you want?- The voice sounded a little annoyed at being roped into this.

"Well, he broke the rules, right?" I reasoned, before rolling to the right, Voldemort's claws whizzing over my head. "Can't you just make him disappear, or something?"

I heard the voice sigh in my head. -He did, indeed, break the rules. However, I cannot simply eradicate his existence. Only you can do that.-

Talk about being supremely unhelpful.

"Well, what the hell can you do, then?" I asked, a little angry.

-I can change the location, if you so desire.-

"Do it. Anything's better than this. And give me my powers back!"

-That goes without saying.- Did I detect a little sarcasm?

"I've got you now!" I heard Voldemort as he appeared right in front of me, ready to deliver the finishing blow. His flayed right arm shot at my throat, going straight for the kill.

Time slowed down. I was half expecting my life to flash before my eyes. It didn't.

A few things happened, instead.

The world around us shattered once more, bathing the area in endless light, this time. Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise, but he kept going for the kill, confident that our battle was over. The whole thing played in slow motion; his claws were inching towards me, slower and slower. I felt electricity surge into my veins. There was no time to smile or say something witty. I supercharged my limbs with lightning, and dodged Voldemort's swipe before he could end my existence. A split second later, and that would have been it.

"But.. How?" Was Voldemort's confused query.

I did not answer. I immediately rushed the flayed abomination and jabbed at it.

"Edge!" Electricity swirled around my right hand, converging and forming a furiously spinning drill, which embedded itself in Voldemort's stomach, and came out the other side with no resistance whatsoever. I felt his warm blood in my hands. I heard it splash on the white floor, staining it red. Voldemort's eyes were wide as he felt agonizing pain from my strike. The monstrosity slowly looked up at me. I kept my face blank, feeling a bit detached from the situation.

"You..." Voldemort coughed out blood. "You may have won this battle, Harry Potter."

"But you will lose the war." He wheezed out. "You may have broken one of them, but you'll never find the others!" Then he went limp.

The others? What the hell was he talking about? No matter. I slowly pulled my arm out of my fallen enemy, grimacing at the squelching sound it made. I felt bile creep up my throat as I stared at my bloody, gory hand, the implications of what I had just done finally reaching me. This was different than watching gory stuff on video. I had done this. I had taken a life.

I mean, sure. it was Voldemort, probably the worst being to have ever existed... But still.

-Oh, stop being so whiny. Geez.- That voice again.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

-I suppose congratulations are in order.- The voice said dryly. -You've defeated the piece of Voldemort's soul that was stuck inside of us.-

A piece of Voldemort's soul? Inside of me? I turned to look at the monster in question. It was dissolving into the air around us.

-You will find that your power reserves will increase by a fair margin, after this.-

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask.

-Must I spell it out?- The voice seemed a little annoyed. -All your life, Voldemort has been siphoning a part of our energy. With him... out of the way, let's say, we now have access to our full power.-

"I see."

-Or at least, our full power, as we are now.- The voice amended thoughtfully.

It made sense, there was always room for improvement. Though, I would never refuse a free power-up! I shook my head, and tried to get back to the original subject.

"So you're saying, I didn't just kill someone?" I asked for clarification.

-Yes, and No.-

"Could you stop speaking in riddles?"

-Where's the fun in that?-

Good point.

"You said..." I started, adopting a thoughtful look. "That was part of Voldemort's soul inside me. So I guess I... partially killed him?"

-Yes. Voldemort is now only slightly dead.- The voice confirmed.

"Slightly dead." I repeated wryly. "As opposed to completely dead, huh? What would I need to do to accomplish that?"

-That answer lies in what Voldemort's partial-dying words.-

Partial-dying words? Oh, right. Since he's only partially dead... Okay, then.

"He said I only broke one of 'them', and that I would never find the others." I mused out loud, before looking up. "What are 'they'?"

Before the voice could answer me, I began to feel lightheaded.

-It seems it is time for you to leave.- It avoided answering my question.

~"I think he's waking up!"~

I tried to shake off the feeling of lightheaded-ness. No such luck.

"Who are you?" I asked a final question.

-Stupid question. You already know the answer.-

"Right." I yawned, my eyes closing as I began to lose consciousness. "Thanks, me."

-You're welcome.-

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Yay, chapter over!