Chapter 13: Reunion
Point of View Black
It has been two years since Vincent took everything from me, it has been two years since my life has been nothing but a hollow existence. Tonight is the night I get to set things right, the night I get closure with my family, the night Vincent pays for what he did.
The charmander and I both made our way into the warehouse. This warehouse was nothing but a dark void with unknown dangers lurking within it. The only light that was present in this dark abyss was the flame on the charmanders tail. It managed to dimly light the ground near us, but it would hardly compare to a flashlight or an actual light, but it'd have to do.
The two of us walked slowly through the dark abyss, being cautious for any signs of Vincent or any other threats that might emerge from within the darkness. A loud roaring engine off in the distance tore through the silence of the night, and row by row the lights in this warehouse lit up. The charmander and I both stood in place as we looked in every direction possible, but there was no sign of Vincent. As I looked around I got a good layout of the area, it was mostly rows of cargo crates, I'd estimate about twelve or so. The lights that illuminated this facility were dim, and about one in four were burned out, some were even flickering with their last bit of their life.
After a while the charmander and I stopped nervously looking around and we continued to progress through the warehouse. We both began walking down aisle of cargo crates where we would only have two directions to run if we were in danger, forward and back. As we walked down the aisle, I gave a few quick glares at the cargo crates, they were covered in a coat of dust, and appeared to be worn out. This was different compared to how humans usually tried to keep things neat, or at least valuable things like these.
"I wonder if they are still here?" The charmander whispered.
"I doubt that generator turned on by coincidence?" I replied keeping my eyes up ahead. As the charmander and I continued to slowly inch our way out of the aisle, I couldn't help but wonder what was kept in these crates. I mean, why would this place just get abandoned so suddenly? After a bit of walking, the charmander and I soon reached the end of the aisle, and we ended up in middle of the warehouse in a big opening between all of the cargo crates. I gave a quick scan of the area, but their was still no sign of Vincent.
"I see you have finally arrived, Ryder," a familiar voice that sent tremors down my spine called out. The fur on my body stood on end as I quickly spun around. Time felt as if it stopped for a brief moment as I took in the sight of my older brother. Nothing about him changed, from his white fur to his reddish eyes, to that condescending look he always wore.
"Vincent," I said in a low voice as I dug my claws into the concrete ground. The two of us stared at each other in silence, until a houndour with a fresh gash on his eye approached Vincent and stood by his side. My eyes widened as I recognized this one eyed houndour, he was the one who attacked my a few days ago, but I couldn't fathom why they were working on the same side.
"Flynn, would you kindly take our charmander friend away from here, I would like some privacy with my brother." The houndour gave a nod before he jumped off the cargo crate and peered at the charmander.
"Come charmander, leave them two be," the houndour spoke.
The charmander remained silent for a moment as he stood still, "No," he responded, "Sorry, but I don't want to be your chew toy, fido."
"Charmander, this isn't your business at the moment, do you really think you are any safer here than somewhere else? Vincent and I could just easily team up on you and have you dead in under ten seconds," the houndour remarked.
The charmander remained hesitant for a moment, then his fist tightened, "Fine, but if you try anything, don't think I'll just cower as you kill me."
"Fair enough, but I don't wish to fight you," the houndour said as he began to lead the way.
"Are you going to be alright?" I asked the charmander as he walked past me.
"We'll find out soon, just don't be afraid to come help once you finish up here," the charmander replied as he followed the houndour from a safe distance.
After the two left, Vincent and I just peered into each others eyes. The only noise that filled the room was the sound of rain beating on the metal ceiling.
"So how long has it been, two years now?" Vincent broke the silence. There was so many things I wanted to say right now, but I couldn't think of one that would best fit this moment, so in the end I just shot him a spiteful glare that was full of years of built up resentment towards him.
"Not too talkative these days, are you?" Vincent spoke, but I continued to be mute. For the past two years I have done nothing but simulate this night in my head, what I was going to say, how I was going to make him suffer for what he did, but now that I was actually here, it felt different.
"You should be overjoyed to see your brother after two long years."
"You are the last person I would ever call family." I quickly responded with resentment.
"Well, I guess that would be expected from most. I am a bit surprised myself though, I anticipated you to be more impulsive at this point. It's really a shame Merrick failed to apprehend you, it would have made things a lot simpler on my side. But then again, I can't say I'm not curious to see how much you have changed over the past two years."
My ears only interpreted those words as an invitation to fight him, and I would be more than happy to reduce him to a messy corpse. I began charging the energy within my body, I then opened my mouth wide as a shadow ball tore through the air towards Vincent. The espeon just watched with a bored expression. The red gem on his forehead emitted a red light, and before my shadow ball reached him it faded away in an instant. My jaw hung agape as I stared at my unscathed brother, but he looked a lot less surprised than myself.
"W-What just happened?" I questioned Vincent.
"Ah Ryder, still imbecilic as always. I just simply used my mind to separate the materials in your shadow ball, it's really such an unstable energy, which makes it so much easier to dismantle it into nothing," Vincent said as if he was some know it all prick. Vincent was smarter than most pokemon, even humans, but I would never openly admit that to him.
"I don't give a damn about your psychic bullshit, just get down here and fight me with some honor," I snapped at him. Vincent let out a sigh, before he jumped down onto ground level with me.
"Satisfied now?" Vincent asked. Without a moment of hesitation I darted towards him, I swung my claws towards his face, but he was quick to use his paw to redirect the course of my attack. I stumbled around as I regained my balance, but Vincent tackled into me and sent me rolling along the ground.
"You're a bit careless, Ryder. Your attacks have an infinite amount of openings, you'll have to do much better than that if you want to compete with me on equal levels," the traitor brother said as he began walking circles around me as if he was a shark stalking its prey trapped in the ocean. "Ryder, you won't win. Rethink your tactics. With attacks like that you won't harm me the slightest bit, I could have killed you already."
That comment made me snap, I quickly jumped back up and ran towards Vincent with my teeth ready to rip his throat open. Right as I was closing in on Vincent the gem on his forehead shined and I felt a strong force push me back. I slide back away from Vincent from the psychic attack, but I managed to keep my footing. I quickly retaliated with a shadow ball, Vincent's eyes widened in surprise from the quick counter attack as the shadow ball exploded into his chest, and dark matter and crimson red flew everywhere. Vincent flew back until he hit a cargo crate, and I quickly ran towards him.
I looked down at my brother as a pool of blood began to form from the flesh that the shadow ball tore up, it appeared that his chest was ripped to pieces and I may have even damaged his bones as well. Vincent's body twitched as the blood dyed his fur red. My stomach began to turn from this sight, it made me so happy to see this, but blood was one of those things that made me feel uncomfortable. After all this time it was as simple as that, just hitting the cocky espeon with a shadow ball.
"Hmmm, that was a good try, but you missed," a voice called out from behind me. My head instantly cocked back to see Vincent standing atop of a cargo crate, his face wearing that same bored expression as if I wasn't even a challenge for him. I was quick to look back to the corpse I just saw, but to my surprise there was nothing there.
"What?!" I shouted out in confusion.
"I already told you that those impulsive attacks won't work," Vincent told me.
"I killed you though," I snapped at him. There was no way in Hell that Vincent survived that attack, let alone recovered back to perfect health in a few seconds.
"Your perception on reality is wrong, you simply killed an illusion. I'm not sure if I should be proud of myself for making such a convincing illusion, or whether I should be disapointed in you for not knowing the difference between a fake and your real brother."
"Illusions? I'm an umbreon, so your psychic stuff shouldn't even affect me!" I yelled at him.
"I have always been a talented psychic, if I may say so myself. If a psychic is truly talented with their abilities nothing is truly impossible. Us psychic's can accomplish anything if we truly put our minds to it, and that includes beating you," Vincent said with pride. "But I think we talked enough for now. I think we've had enough time to catch up, and I think it is about time I introduce you to Mandus."
'There was that damn name again, who the hell is this Mandus person?'
Vincent let out a sigh before he jumped off the cargo crate, and landed on the ground. Vincent began to make his way towards me, and I got into a defensive position as I began to growl at him.
"What are you looking over there for? I'm right here," Vincent called out from behind me. I quickly turned around and Vincent somehow mysteriously got behind me. I glanced behind myself to see that the Vincent I saw a moment ago was gone. As I turned back I shot a shadow ball towards Vincent, but this time I ran behind my shadow ball to somewhat conceal my attack. As the shadow ball neared Vincent it faded away, and as it faded I attempted to rake his face with my claws. Vincent sidestepped my attack with ease.
"That was a little better," Vincent said with a small smile as he darted towards me. I quickly swiped my claws towards him, but Vincent swiftly blocked my attack with his own paws. Before I could even react, the gem on his head pulsed with energy and a psychic wave shoved me onto the ground. I let out a pained cry as my brain and temples convulsed with agonizing pain.
"Move or you're dead," Vincent instructed me as I looked up to see him concentrating his energy. I quickly rolled out of the way as a psychic beam tore up the ground, it didn't take long for me to get up on my feet and get to a safe distance. My head was still rife with pain, but, for the most part, I could just shake it off.
At this point I knew my chances were low on winning this fight. I quickly scanned the room, but I found that their was nothing that could help me in this battle. Before I could even strategize a move, Vincent's gem flashed and my head began pulsing with more pain. I began to feel woozy as I tried to stay on my feet, but soon my muscles lost control and I fell over on the ground writhing in pain as I placed my paws over my head while I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block out the intense ringing in my head.
"Black!" A voice managed to pierce through the overwhelming ringing in my head. I managed to barely open one of my eyes. To my surprise I saw Flare dashing towards me. Vincent cocked his head back, and a flash emitted from Vincent's head, and Flare slammed into a crate. He let out a groan of pain as he laid on the ground.
"How rude of you to interrupt our reunion, I'll deal with you when I'm done with Ryder," Vincent said as he shook his head. Seeing my opening, I quickly sprang to my feet and I charged at Vincent.
"Lay a hand on him and I'll rip your throat out!" I shouted at Vincent as my blood began to boil. I sprinted towards Vincent, and the espeon's gem began to shine before another psychic beam show towards me. I quickly evaded to the left and I shot a shadow ball towards Vincent. Instead of dismantling my attack, Vincent directed his psychic beam towards my shadow ball, and the two attack collided. The two attack exploded as the pink and black energies masked each other. I continued running towards Vincent, and I ran through the debris from the attacks. I popped through the debris and Vincent's eyes widened as I smashed my forehead into Vincent's jaw. The espeon flung back and rolled onto the ground, but managed to use the momentum to carry himself back onto all fours. Vincent flexed his jaw out a few times until one of his joints popped.
"Huh, tell me, how does it feel to feel real pain instead of hiding behind your petty illusions?" I questioned my brother with a toothy grin.
"I've felt worse," Vincent responded with tranquility as he closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. His eyes popped open and Vincent charged at me. A fiery flash illuminated the room, and a spray of embers singed Vincents left side. Vincent quickly withdrew himself to a safe distance. Flare ran towards Vincent as his body set ablaze and he charged towards Vincent. I joined in as well and followed Flare's lead in this assault. Vincent's gem flashed and a pinkish wave flew towards us. Flare jumped over the wave, while I moved around it. Flare then threw his body towards Vincent, but the espeon dodged to the left. I then came in and swung my claw as hard as I could downward towards his face. Vincent jolted back in time to avoid facial injuries as he rose his arm and slammed it down onto my head and forced me jaw first to slam into the ground as he pressed all of his body weight onto my head.
As I tried to get Vincent off of me, Flare jumped towards Vincent. The espeon quickly ducked below him and as Flare flew past us I felt a wave of heat. Flare quickly spun back towards Vincent for another attack, but Vincent sent a psychic wave towards Flare, and it collided with the fennekin. I felt a surge of anxiety run through me, and I quickly began to force myself up, even if Vincent was pinning me down.
Vincent released his paw off of me, but then struck me down with a psychic wave. My head rang in endless pain as everything became a big blur. I felt Vincent kick me, and I rolled onto my back. Vincent stood over me as he pinned me down with his body weight. Vincent rose his paw above me and began striking me in the face. The ringing in my head intensified as Vincent whaled on the left side of my face non stop. Everything began to fade to black as I lost feeling in my face, and everything in my body became numb. I no longer felt the pain, I was hardly even conscious at this point. Just as I was about to blackout, Vincent stopped, and looked up. A fireball seared towards Vincent. Vincent quickly countered the attack with another psychic wave and the two attacks cancelled each other out in an explosion so powerful that it made the room shake a bit. Vincents weight upon me lessened, and I saw a perfect opening. I quickly jolted forward and clamped my fangs down on Vincents arm. Vincent let out a gasp as my teeth ripped into the muscles on his arm, and I could feel them crunching against his bones. Vincent tried to pull away, but I kept my teeth clamped down on him like a bear trap.
Blood began to pour into my mouth. I could taste the metallic taste of blood, and it sent shivers down my spine. I felt as if I was going to puke, and I could feel myself growing woozy from the disgusting fluid. My grip on his arm began to loosen, and Vincent was quick to dig his fangs into my side. I let out a howl of pain as Vincent jumped off of me and got to a safe distance.
Vincent stood on three of his legs, as he cautiously kept weight off his injured arm. Flare ran to my side as he defensively stood between Vincent and me.
"Are you alright Black?" Flare questioned me with concern. I gave a weak nod to him, but truthfully I wasn't. All this physical trauma was taking its toll, and it didn't help that I didn't get any sleep the night before, everything was adding up and I was nearing my physical limit.
"I don't know who you are espeon," a cold voice called out from above, "nor do I know what you want from us, but I'm not going to allow you to harm those who are innocent." I looked up towards one of the cargo crates to spot Gray peering down at Vincent with a cold glare that lacked any concept of fear.
"You're just postponing the inevitable, absol," Vincent bitterly stated as he looked up at Gray. Gray leaped off the cargo crate with a blue energy charging from his maw. Many needles of hail rained down on Vincent, and impaled the espeon. Vincent flinched every time he was impaled, and soon his body was full of needles that had streams of blood exiting his wounds. Vincent trembled for a moment as his eyes grew wide, before he fell over onto the ground twitching.
A shadow appeared behind Gray, and closed in on him, "Behind you," Vincent said in a cold voice as he threw Gray into a crate with his psychic abilities. Gray let out a groan as he slowly climbed his way back up onto his feet.
"I'm done playing games with you and your friends Ryder, because you can't accept your fate your friends are going to have to suffer because of you," Vincent told me.
"I hit him, how?" Gray said in confusion.
"He uses illusion's and deceives his opponents" I said in a weak raspy voice while I was breathing hard from the pain I was in.
Without warning Vincent quickly ran towards us. Flare inhaled a deep breath and exhaled a powerful flamethrower. Vincent stopped in his tracks as the flamethrower began to incinerate him. The espeon's fur burned away along with his flesh that was reduced to cinder. Once Flare stopped his flamethrower, we all stared at the burnt espeon that was still managing to stand. After a moment he fell over and didn't move a muscle.
"Is he dead?" Gray said in confusion, but almost as if on queue, another Vincent walked out into the open, unscathed, excluding his wounded arm.
"Other than a few lucky hits from Ryder, I'm perfectly fine, thank you," Vincent said as he continued to walk into the opening, "You can't kill me, that won't become reality, not against opponents as weak you as your party."
"Vincent, Vincent, Vincent, I thought you would have been long done with these amateurs," a voice called out, and the one and only psychotic quilava appeared on the scene. He glared at all of us with his psychotic glance.
"Well, it was three against one after all, but I guess I did get a bit careless," Vincent said casually.
"Ahh Vincent, why don't you let me have a little fun, I have a score to settle with that umbreon. Plus, you also look a little roughed up, and I've been looking for a good challenge where I can burn stuff to cinder," the quilava sadistically said as he licked imaginary blood off of his claws.
"No-no, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, I can use my mind to block out most of the physical pain, and afterall, Ryder is my brother," Vincent reminded the quilava.
The quilava let out a whiney moan as if he was a child, "Fine, can I at least kill the fennekin and absol?"
Vincent took a second to process his question "They aren't anything to me, so do as you please. Just keep the violence to a minimum, we will have to clean up our tracks later." A grin grew on the quilava's face as his razor sharp teeth became visible, this smile showed his blood lust and how psychotic he was.
"Why don't we take this to a more secluded place, after all I wouldn't want your umbreon friend to be distracted by your cries of agony," the quilava said as his grin grew wider,"On second thought, I don't even think I can wait that long!" The quilava howled as the flames on his back burned with psychotic fury and he opened his mouth and a flamethrower came towards us. Flare was the quickest to move, Gray's immediate response was to bite down on my neck and throw me to safety. Gray moved to the side, but got singed by the flames, but overall he was breathing. I tried to move off the ground, but I found myself still to weak to move.
"Get up Black," Gray ordered, "This is life or death, and you're not lying around while we protect you all night."
Gray was right, I needed to help, or Arceus knows what'll happen. I rolled over onto my belly and I began to pry myself off the ground. It was a long and slow process, but I managed to get back up. I swayed back and forth as I stood, I still wasn't in good shape from my injuries.
"Gray, he's barely standing, I don't think he can continue this," Flare said, worried for my health. Gray then looked at him with a death glare.
"He's the one who got us into this, so he's not going to sit around while we're risking our lives for him," Gray snapped back. He was right, I did get us into this, but I don't even think I can walk in a straight line, let alone fight two pokemon that outmatch us.
With the little strength I had left I managed to start walking towards Vincent. Every step was a constant battle to not fall over and give in to the pain, but I persevered past the pain. My ears pricked up as I heard the psychotic quilava laugh, I then looked over to see him dashing towards Gray and Flare. As he ran towards them, his front two forepaws ignited on fire, and he attempted to attack Flare and Gray. Both Flare and Gray moved away as they dodged a series of attacks from the quilava.
I prayed that them two would be able to handle him, but I'd have to trust them. I turned back towards Vincent and I began making my way towards him.
"You can't beat me, not in your condition," Vincent reminded me.
"Shut up, I still for some energy left in me," I argued in a very faint voice as I kept inching my way towards him.
"Just roll over and pass out already, maybe it'll be possible for your friends to live," Vincent said as he launched a psychic wave towards me. I felt an intense pain in my head as Vincent began to fry my brain.
"Ryder, just accept that this is over. You can barely stand, I doubt you'll be able to stop me or my partner." I grimaced from the idea of giving up. I would never give in to Vincent, I planned on fighting until I was a corpse on the ground. I groaned in pain as I fought off the migraine in my head and I forced myself up one last time.
"You just can't stay down, can you?" Vincent stated in frustration as the gem on his forehead began to emit its reddish light. I screamed in agonizing pain as I was hit with another attack. Everything was becoming fuzzy so fast, and everything became dark even faster. I felt myself lose touch with reality, and I lost consciousness.
Chapter End
Author Note: Thanks to genericgamer207 and The pokemon Melody for editing.