M-a-r-t-i-o-n-e-t-t-e

Summary: The battle ended in a tie. N told her to become his princess. She gave him the finger and told him to get lost. After going home, she came to a realization: Her every move was being controlled by N. She was his puppet, and he was her master. Who will win? N's desire? Or her heart?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. I'm sorry that this is all I can update. I would love to update X and Y and my other main game stories, but I simply can't. :/ Life happens and stuff. Love you all! xoxo

~String 5~

There's a deep, guttural growl. It fills the clearing and rings out in a low baritone throughout the previously deathly quiet forest. I don't move, feeling Brave tense up beside me as she notices my alertness.

"Braaav?" she inquires, but I hold up a hand to silence her. There's something here...I'm not sure what, but I know there is. My instincts weren't wrong when I'd met N all those months ago, when I'd guessed Ghetsis was up to something, when I'd run away from home and Alder just hours earlier...so I am positive there is something here this very minute...that can't be good.

The growl returns, quieter this time, but nonetheless threatening; it sends a shiver down my spin.

Pushing myself up by my fingers, the dry cracked earth crumbling as I brush it away, and straighten up. Brave rises next to me; I stay completely still, glancing around the dead clearing, and hold my breath.

The noise doesn't return, so I tap Brave's head on the left, signalling which direction I'm intending us both to go. We creep Eastward; nothing comes out of the underbrush to scare us as we slowly trek across the uneven ground. Loose rocks and dried up plants crunch and roll away as I plod along the trail-less woods.

After a while, the unsettling knot of nerves in my stomach slowly loosens, but the wariness remains lodged in my chest in the form of my erratically beating heart.

My thoughts travel back to the last few months. They were awfully strange….like the calm before a storm. I have to admit...I'd never really felt safe during that time. The minute both my Pokemon and N's had fallen, I'd felt the quiet worry set in. It'd taken hold so long ago, but I had simply ignored it.

That had been a mistake on my part. If I had only just seen this coming before it unfolded, perhaps I could've prevented it.

I grind my teeth together. There is only one person who I can guess is doing this.

Ghetsis.

Sure, N is the Plasma King, and he's a freak for wanting me to become his queen, but he could never come up with something so intricate, something...so strategically planned out that everyone I care about could fall like dominos.

It was too easy.

N could never do it.

My thoughts slide back to what Alder had told me all those months ago. That there was a Harmonia who could control the mind and body.

Ghetsis would have to be the one with that power; I can't see anyone else with it.

I frown, finding that even that assumption is a bit off. I get a different vibe from the way this mystery person is controlling people. It just doesn't connect. Not to Ghetsis, nor N.

The feeling of this...is more...crazed.

That's when I feel something cold run across my neck and snake down my shoulder. "Eeeeeaaaaaaakkkk!" I scream, and run off, with the sound of Brave calling after me in worry and getting stuck in some brambles.

What was that-what was that-what was that-!? I tear through the underbrush, sprinting blindly and knocking dead, rotten tree branches down in my hurry.

I trip over something and fall directly onto a damp patch of brown leafs. I gasp for the air that was slammed out of my lungs, and feel tears springing into my eyes.

My body shudders, and I push myself onto my hands and knees.

That's when I see the face.

"B-bianca!?" I stutter, my lips trembling. How did Bianca end up beneath me? I roll off of her, and she stands up.

"T...ou...ko…" she murmurs, looking like a half-asleep doll; her hair is combed carefully and her clothes somehow completely clean.

I throw my arms around her. "Bianca!" I wail. "You're okay! I-...I thought-"

"Princess…" she breathes out, and I tense up immediately. That one word causes my brain to almost shut down.

I pull away from her, my limbs feeling heavy, as if they'd become weighed down by gravity more than should be possible.

"What….?"

Bianca's eyes open, and I don't see the real her in there. When I'd said she looked like a doll, I had been right. That was exactly what she is.

I fall back onto my butt, and scramble backwards. Bianca reaches out to to snatch my ankle, but I kick at her, and bolt like a scared legendary.

I don't know where I'm going...I'm just...running, and running, and running…

Since when did...Brave leave? My mind is a muddle of confusion as I stop and lean against a tree, my palm splayed out against it's rough, wrinkled bark, like a callous.

"Touko."

I whirl around to see a calm and collected Cheren. "You…" I pant, still out of breath from running and fear. "Get away from me."

He takes a step forward, his polished black shoes creeping into the moonlight, which streaks in as rays through the dark clouds.

Cheren holds his hand out. "Come back to…"

I close my eyes. "Go away, go away, go away.." I repeat, and open my heavy eyes to see Cheren directly in front of me. He grabs my shoulders, and his hands are ice cold.

I fling his grip off, with a slap from my hands, and back away. "Bianca isn't real...Cheren isn't real…." I murmur, my eyes wide and my mouth curling into a crazed smile. "Isn't that nice?"

Dashing from the moonlit clearing, I feel my hands shaking as I slow to a stumbling walk. Brave left me...my friends aren't real...and that growling monster is bound to come back...I can just feel it.

"Honey?" someone says, and I look up at my mom; my eyes wide as my face is still contorted in mid-fear. "Sweety…" She looks at me with blank concern, her face smooth and spared the look of a frown. "Here." She holds out a cup of tea. From the smell, it's green tea.

I look at it as I back away, my hands reaching back to touch a tree for support. "N-no…" I say, my voice cracking. "Go away...you're not-..."

"Touko, it's time," she continues.

"No…" I moan, not looking at her.

"Time to go home, dear," she finishes.

"You're not real!" I scream, and reach down to grab a thick, rotten branch, and throw it at her as hard as I can.

I look up; there is not a trace of my mom there. It's like she disappeared altogether.

Slumping down, I feel my hair frizzing out as I realize my ponytail holder is now gone; who knows where it is now. I stare at my surroundings dully as they blur together, like a splash of paint on an already full canvas. Delirious, I run a hand through my filthy hair, as I wonder if there is any water nearby.

I'm thirsty…

"Rrrroooogh…."

The growl is back. My bloodshot eyes snap open as I try to concentrate and get my feet to move; unfortunately, my muddled mind says 'no'.

Yellow eyes appear on the other side of the clearing and I try to make myself focus on them, and watch their every move.

This proves difficult, as I lie in the dusty earth; the tree I'm leaning against bends from the push of my weight.

The eyes move closer, and a hulking figure materializes before me. A chill comes into contact with my body, and I shudder violently. This act cause the tree I'm leaning against to crack, and crash to the ground.

The large figure with yellow eyes rushes at me, as it fills the clearing with its body, and I flatten onto the ground as it flies over my head.

Circling around, it comes back; I finally get my motor skills working, and dart into the forest as the thing behind me roars and pursues.

Terror fills my chest as I crash once against through the sharp and unforgiving lower level of the woods.

I dive to the side as the creature reaches out with its rough, claw-like feet, and roll in between several trees that act like a barrier between the thing, and myself.

Curling up, I shake more than I should, and feel sick. The trees feel like they're closing in, but if I leave this enclosing, I could get killed.

My chest heaves as I begin to hyperventilate. Closed spaces...too little room…

I put my hands to my face, and squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to think of the little space I have.

Closing in...closing in...too little room.

I feel a hot breath run past my body, and slowly remove my trembling hands from my face. The horrid face of the creature is five inches from my face. I gulp, and feel a lump rising in my throat as it stares at me with glowing eyes.

I would recognize this creature anywhere.

Kyurem.

The world around me is starting to ice over, and I stop shaking. "Please…." I murmur.

The things I hate the most...cold….and closed spaces…

Too little room…

"...Make it stop…" I croak, my voice breaking. There's a whoosh of cool air that blows my bangs out of my eyes, and I blink.

Kyurem is gone...the trees have backed off...I can now breathe. There's a soft crunching sound, and my head shoots up at the sound of the footsteps and the soft cooing of..a bird?

The pale face of N looks down at me; I can't tell what his expression is...the shadows blotting out his face are too dark. Brave is next to him, looking worried and nervous.

I push myself to my feet, wobbling on shaky legs over to him, and I collapse into his arms; he holds onto my tightly.

My body shudders as I feel tears roll down my face and wetten his starched shirt. "Take me away…" I whisper, almost silently. "Make it end…"

~Misty/Mrs. Ketchum