Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon, its characters, locations, or names. All of them, with the exception of the original characters, belong to Nintendo
Credits: The original fan fiction Shadow League was based off, Pokemon Master, was written by Acey. I retrieved permission before starting this the first time. Kiall and Elizabeth belong to me. "Paran" is the property of Elemental Sorceress, who had requested that I include her in my fan fiction. "Shadow Fox" is the property of Shadow Fox 05, who also requested that I include him in my fan fiction.
A/N: Well, obviously I failed at getting it up before school started again...blah. Sucks.
I'm possibly going to be starting two more fan fictions.. x.X Way to go Ashura, get yourself tied into a bunch of stories. XD Fun. I should finish all the current ones first..
Warnings: The pairing in this is RivalSibling. This fan fiction has a lot of violence and gore, not to mention some language, and implied rape/sex. Not for kids, that's for sure.
- - -
Chapter 16: Fight of Fire
May rolled the poke ball between her palms, warily watching her opponent. "Atlantic" was written across the grey band that separated the two hemispheres; she threw the blue orb, and a beam of red light shot out to form into a Water and Ice type, Dewgong. "Dewgong, gong, gong!" the sea lion screamed.
"Atlantic, Hyper Beam!" May ordered, and the creature opened her mouth wide, a multicoloured beam shooting out at the Fight Master. He jumped out of the way, the energy beam barely missing his shoulder. She looked past him casually, and her eyes widened. "Somebody go help him!"
- - -
"Ugh, gods..." Ash stood up unsteadily, rubbing his head as the throbbing headache worsened from before, his head feeling like it was about to split open. Frowning, he gripped the Shadow Blade tightly, his hands around the hilt.
"Tired, Master Ashura?" Gideon asked snidely, grinning widely, "It seems as if you aren't as strong as everyone has been saying you are!"
Growling, Ash shook his head angrily. Kai charged at him, daggers held out at alternating angles, aiming for his chest and face. Ash ducked down out of the way, his cloak taking the brunt of the damage as it tore on one of the earthen daggers. Gideon let out an Ivysaur with a smirk. "Vine Whip!" he said.
Ash swung the Shadow Blade up to stop the vines, but they merely wrapped around his wrists, breaking his hold on the weapon, and continued to bind him. Squirming, he gave them a mean glare, snarling. Laughing loudly, Gideon nodded to his Ivysaur, and the plant animal jolted the Shadow Master off of his feet.
Struggling to a sitting position, Ash looked up at them. "You're going to regret this-" he started, as Kai struck him hard in the face with his boot, knocking him over again. He slid into somebody, groaning. "It looks as if you need some assistance, Shadow Master," the black-clothed man said.
Staring up with a startled look, Ash nodded numbly. "Who're you?" Kai demanded.
"I am Shadow Fox. I've come all the way from the abyss to travel in this world, and I suggest that you get away from here before I cause harm to you both." Gideon and Kai looked at each other, and laughed. Fox shook his head in disgust. "Pitiful."
They stopped laughing as a soft glow of Psychic Element surrounded them, lifting them up into the air silently. They protested as they were slammed against the floor time and time again, much to Ash's amazement; he pulled at the vines to get them off. Fox let them go when it was obvious they had gotten the point; whimpering, they jumped overboard, Ivysaur following suit after it has withdrawn its vines. "Are you alright, Shadow Master?" the stranger asked, helping him up.
Ash winced, feeling the aches and pains from the beating he had taken. "I'll be all right after I get cleaned up." he said, brushing dust off his pants, "Who're you? Where'd you come from, I haven't seen you around here."
"I'm lived in the abyss, the Ice Mountains, and then the Abyss once again. I'm a Master of Darkice and Psychic, and us a katana forged from Darkice, Electricity, and Psychic energy." Fox looked at him. "I came here to live as a Bounty Hunter, then a Wanderer, so here I am. Is that all you wanted to know, Shadow M-"
"Would you stop calling me? It's annoying." Ash scowled, then smiled weakly. "That's not my name. It's Ashura, not 'Shadow Master.'"
"Ah, indeed it is. I was unsure of what a man of your great power would be called." Ash snorted.
"Great power? At the moment, not hardly. Just call me Ash, would you?" he requested, then looked away uneasily. "I seem to owe you a thank you. It's a good think you showed up when you did."
"Yes, it was." Fox looked over Ash's shoulder, raising an eyebrow, before looking at him questioningly. "Who is that? There is someone running this way, and she seems rather hurried."
Before he could turn around, Ash was nearly knocked over by May. "I'm going to say this as nicely as I can," he said, "lay off the tackling, would you? I just got beat by two fools."
Ignoring the complaints, May held on tightly. "You had me so worried!" she scowled, "You shouldn't have done that! What if someone hadn't saw that you need help, huh?"
"Let go!" Ash fruitlessly tried to pry her off, frowning miserably. "Everyone is watching!"
"Act your age and shut up." May looked at him, wiping at the cut that bled at the corner of his lip. "You look terrible, Ash! You really should go back to bed and rest."
His expression went dark. "The only reason I'm listening to you," he said, walking over to the door that led down to the cabins as the Shadow Blade shifted back into Pikachu, "is because I feel like shit and am tired. That's all."
- - -
"When we port at Cinnabar, we'll go to the lab there, since it'll have all of the equipment we'll need. You said Ashura agreed?" Beaumont asked, and Lance nodded. "How's his condition?"
"Not so good." the Dragon Master replied, "Ever since that issue with the League where he took that beating, he's gotten worse. Headaches getting more painful, the flashbacks are more frequent, the fever rose to unhealthy numbers, he's not able to keep anything down..."
Fox looked up, green eyes going wide. "That isn't all of it," he said, all attention turning to him. "He's started having dizzy spells. I had to help him earlier because he could hardly walk during one of them."
Beaumont frowned deeply, writing down everything they said. "It's getting stronger. How much longer until we'll be at the island?"
"It'll be about an hour or two more," Misty replied, remembering the times Violet gave to her. The doctor nodded.
- - -
Lance sat quietly, even the rustling of his clothes making him wince. He didn't care to wake up the sleeping Shadow Master, who was sleeping quite soundly in the bed next to him. The boat tilted, jolted, and settled again; it was obvious they had just docked at Cinnabar, even from the windowless room they were in. Waiting for the doctor to poke his head in the door, the bright haired Master cautiously tried waking Ash up, biting his lip. "Ohh. Leave me alone," was the groggy reply to the prodding.
"Come on! We're at Cinnabar, you have to wake up!" Ash scowled.
"I don't care if we're at Cinnabar, or at freakin' Hell! I'm tired!" he snapped, curling up under the blanket as Lance sighed, shaking his head.
"My god, he's impossible!" Lance said, staring in disbelief at the snoozing man. May watched both the Dragon Master and the doctor quietly from the doorway, smirking, before intervening on them.
"I could have told you that before you got your head ripped off." Both men jumped, surprised at the sudden entrance. "Pfft. How in hell did I manage to scare the both of you?"
"You didn't. I was just surprised." Lance huffed, and May snickered. "What do you mean though? You could have told us that?"
She rolled her eyes. "If you'd of asked, I could have told you that you'd have an easier time draining the ocean then you would of getting him to get out of bed at the moment." Sitting on the edge of the bed, she shook her head. "And even if you did, he'd end up in a bad mood. Why do you think I try not to wake him up? He becomes grouchy as all hell because of being sick."
"Oh, for gods sake. We need him awake to go to the lab!" Lance cried, and she frowned at him. "Whatever, would you just try to get him to listen? If anyone can, it's you."
"Wait a minute, get back here-" May yelled as the two men disappeared out of the door, leaving her alone with Ash. "Bastards. I'll kill you both for this!"
Muttering under her breath, she twisted to look at Ash, who had pulled the blanket up around his head to stay warm. "Hey, do you think you could get up?" she asked quietly, brushing the hair away from his closed eyes
Mumbling under his breath, Ash hugged his pillow to his chest. Seeing that being nice was getting no where fast, she took to shaking him. He moaned. "Whaaat?" he asked, peering at her through slitted eyes.
Not wishing to be throttled by him when he finally sat up, May quickly replied, "We have to get to the lab so you can be cured."
Ash blinked rapidly. "Lab? What lab?" he said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes sleepily, "Are we at Cinnabar?"
"Yes. And there's a lab here that has all of the equipment that Beaumont needs to get you cured from that poison. If it wasn't for the fact that he wants to get this done as soon as possible, I'd of just let you sleep."
"How long I've been out?" Ash stretched, peering at her curiously when he finally stood.
"Not that long. Three or four hours." The grogginess that still lingered disappeared when Lance returned, checking on them for the doctor. "How far is the lab from here?"
"Only about a twenty minutes walk from here," he said, and Ash sighed. Hanging onto May, he scowled.
"I'm too tired to walk that far. Can't you carry me?" he whined, getting shrugged off. May shooed him away.
"Like hell. I wouldn't carry you, even if I could manage it," she said, getting a sad smile from him.
"I had to try."
- - -
Beaumont pushed the loud, creaking doors open, wincing as the sound echoed. It was obvious to him that the room they were going into hadn't been used in a while, and the control room – which was covered in a fine dust – proved it. The wall above the panel was glass, affording them a view of the empty room on the other side. A surgical table was all that occupied it, along with large, metal rings that were in disarray around it.
"What in..what is that?" Paran asked in amazement. Beaumont shrugged, leading Ash into the room.
"This used to be used for unstable patients." he said vaguely, indicating the table, "Climb onto this table, if you could do so please."
Sitting on the metal surface, Ash pulled his cloak out from under himself, getting it unclipped and dropping it into a pile on the floor under his feet. "Lie down," the doctor ordered as he swung his legs up, sliding down as both Beaumont and Fox started rearranging the rings and holding them up so he could get in the middle of them. As the latter man returned to the group standing on the other side of the glass, the doctor pulled a helmet from under the head of the table, checking the wires on it carefully before gently putting it on Ash's head, over his eyes and ears.
In the control room, Beaumont shut the door and firmly locked it. As he activated the machine, he adjusted the microphone to his level. "I need you to stay as relaxed as you can. I'm going to strap you down before we begin. If something goes wrong, we don't want anyone to get hurt."
There was a pop, and bands of metal erupted from the table, clasping themselves tightly around him, holding his wrists and ankles, and even around his waist to keep him from moving too much. "I'm going to do a scan right now," he continued, as one of the rings made a grinding noise as it lifted, vibrating, and started moving from one end of the table to the other as the lone leg of it disappeared into the floor. On the screens stats showed up quickly, and Beaumont smiled. "Very good." The ring started spinning, holding its position at the top of the table.
"What are the rest for?" May's question was answered immediately, as the table jolted, and the other loops started a dance around it, spinning and tilting at varying speeds.
"A precaution. There's a strong magnetic field in there that's holding everything up. The only reason Ash isn't protected from it like most people would be is because he has electricity running through him naturally." Beaumont clicked some of the buttons, noting the surprised expressions he was seeing when sparks erupted from the rings. He pulled on the microphone. "Alright Ash, here's your part. You need to work on your own mind. Shut down. Do what you have to do to get your counterpart out."
They sat down around the control room to wait, listening to the bleeping the machines made. "Is it working yet?" Paran asked, yawning, after several minutes had gone by. Beaumont shrugged, watching the screens.
"There's not been much different in any of his stats." They groaned. "This could take awhile to do."
Beaumont frowned when he looked up, noticing a subtle difference; Ash's aura had sprung up, dark and translucent, and the Shadow Master had gone still. Looking back down at the stats, he shook his head. "I believe he is saying something," Fox pointed out, and they all watched; indeed, his mouth was moving.
The doctor pushed some new buttons, and the helmet shot a small microphone out, much like a headset. Flipping a switch, they could hear exactly what Ash was saying. "Let...let me out..." The machine started screeching then.
"WARNING! Strong elemental forces building up! WARNING! Strong elemental..." it screamed, and Beaumont quickly rechecked the stats, his eyes widening slightly. The aura flared up, engulfing the rings and stopping them in their tracks. Looking back at the group, he looked at them in amazement.
Their blood ran cold when Ash struggled against the metal bands, growling impatiently, and they broke with loud cracks and snaps. "Oh god no..." May said, leaned over the control panel, staring through the glass in dread as he sat up.
Pulling the helmet off, Ash looked over at them, narrowing his red eyes, and tossing it aside. "That fool will be dead the moment I see him," he mouthed as he picked up his cloak, the statement being unheard because of the glass. Snapping his fingers, Pikachu bolted from beside Lance, shattering the window as he streaked over to be with his Master. With a smirk, Ash blasted the wall next to him, and disappeared out of it.
- - -
"Where are we going?" Paran shouted as she ran alongside Lance, Misty, Fox, and in the lead, May. "Do you know where he's going?"
"Most likely to Cinnabar Volcano!" Fox replied, "That's where...Blaine would be." Lance nodded in agreement, panting.
"The bad part is, anyone around here could get hurt. Who the hell knows what Ash...Mazin'll do to defeat Blaine," Lance said, slowing his steps to a stop to be alongside May, who was staring at the town entrance. Many of the people were standing, surprised expressions on their faces as they stared toward the volcano.
"Miss?" Misty asked, walking toward a nearby woman. She turned and looked at the redhead curiously. Most anybody within earshot did the same. "Did you happen to see a man, about six feet tall? He's got a black cloak, and a Shadow Pikachu with him?"
The woman, along with the others, noticeably paled. "He go that way," a small voice said, and Misty looked down at a small girl next to one of the couples as she pointed toward the silent mass that was the volcano. "His Pikachu all black, and his eyes were red. I scared."
Glancing at the others, she nodded. "Thank you," she said, walking past her. The crowds parted, letting then through as they fearfully looked on; it didn't at all surprise them that the Shadow Master had, somehow, thrown a whole town into fear. "What a great first impression he made."
May sighed wearily. "That's why I don't like it when it's Mazin we're dealing with, and not Ash. At least he's somewhat predictable and won't attack someone heartlessly unless they deserve it."
"I don't know about that, Ash is mighty cruel at times himself." Lance looked up as they neared the base of the great volcano. The slopping side led up to the sky, where a dark purple vortex swirled with power, the wind whistling softly around them. "It's opening!"
"How're we going to get up there before it's too late?" the blonde woman asked. Fox shook his head.
"We'll have to climb it, or use our pokemon," he replied, and May snapped her fingers, pulling a poke ball out.
"Lance, get your Dragonite out!" she said, enlarging the orb, "I'll get out Fiona."
"What's on your mind, May? I know you have a plan." Lance released the Dragon-type, smiling at it, before glancing at her.
"We'll just fly up. It'll take too long to scale the side of it, and if this thing starts erupting, we're screwed."
"That's right. I wouldn't be surprised if this was unstable because of the changes that're going on..." Misty mused, "We'd die immediately."
"Exactly. Come on, we need to make sure Ash is all right." At they were flown up the volcano side, the two pokemon carrying them easily, and alighted on the edge. Sliding off, May and Lance returned their respective pokemon once everyone was safely on their feet.
There were clashes and shouts of both human and pokemon. Looking over at the steam obscured scene, they blanched. Ash's back was to them as he faced down a massive fire unicorn – Rapidash – as it snorted, pawing at the ground. Pikachu was on his head, sprawled out, and Lucia cooed unhappily. "Wow," Paran whispered as the Fire-type charged at the Shadow Master, horn pointed down.
He sidestepped as it passed, yawning in boredom. "For a Master Pokemon, you are too damn slow. I can walk faster then that!" Rapidash neighed, rearing up, hoofs cutting the air. Ash backed off, eyes glowing red, and a shield of electricity formed around him as the unicorn crashed back down and rock pieces flew up and hit the barrier sharply. "Pikachu, Dark Shock."
Pikachu hissed, jumping up and spinning so his tail was pointed at Rapidash, and a thin bolt of Shadow Electricity shot out at the other pokemon, zigzagging through the air towards it. Blaine laughed at them as he stood safely on the other side of the plateau. "I've seen a Pichu that could do better then that-" he started, before falling silent when Rapidash twitched when the bolt struck it, neighing in pain, and keeled over, sparking from the power of Pikachu's attack.
Returning it, Blaine glared at Ash, who returned the gesture. With a pop, Pikachu turned into the Shadow Blade. Holding it out horizontally, the point even with Blaine's chest, Ash scowled. "You fools do nothing but hide behind your precious pokemon and your precious 'abilities' hoping that it'll be enough to hold me off. Don't you know sooner or later I will get you?" A small ball of dark energy formed at the tip of the sword, electricity sparking out of it. "See you in hell, old man."
The ball blasted a beam of shadow energy at Blaine, swallowing him as he tried to get away. "Damn you!" he cried, as the vortex screamed in rage, it's formation slowed, then stopped completely. Ash watched it for several seconds, before turning to look at the group behind him, blinking, as Pikachu returned to normal.
"I think," Ash said softly, "I stopped it just in time." He accepted the embrace he was given by May, closing his eyes, his head bent down. "We have to go to Indigo City now, and finally finish this nonsense with the Gates. If that one opens...good gods, even if this one is mostly closed, all of them'll be open before you can say 'Shadow Pokemon.'"
"Are you sure you feel up to it?" Fox inquired, and Ash nodded slightly.
"I'll be fine."
- - -
Leading the way, Ash walked past the buildings quietly, looking around. Everyone around watched them with rapt attention, eyeing them. "What's up with the people here?" he asked, frowning, "I'd swear they'd seen a ghost."
"Er, actually...you made an interesting first impression on them when you came through the first time I think," May said, and he sighed.
"I really don't want to know what I did," he mumbled.
- - -