A/N: Wow, what a huge thanks you guys deserve. Well over 600 views and counting. I didn't actually think people would want to read this but I've been wrong before. Enough of me blathering on, please just read this and leave a review letting me know what you guys liked and didn't. Sqcircles out!
Brock had taken them to a private war room, behind his throne room. A table sat in the middle of the room, a map of the area around Pewter on it. Brock instantly started re-arranging the pieces on it to reflect the events of his raid on the enemy camp.
"So we lost twenty men." Brock pushed one of the boulder shaped pieces off the table. "And we slaughtered the Rockets." The R-shaped pieces hit the floor a moment later. "Finally the agents fled, likely to Mount Moon." He moved the last R-shaped piece to where the mountain was on the map.
"Don't forget that there's already a force inside the mountain. There was some kind of facility there when I was fleeing Cerulean." Misty said. "We can't assault the mountain if we know nothing about them. We don't know their defences, their numbers, or their leadership. We could be walking into a slaughter." She finished.
"You know more about war than I thought my lady." Brock said. "Colour me impressed."
Misty smiled confidently. "I did more than just stroll through the gardens as a child. Cerulean is a matriarchy. It was either learn how to rule, or devote myself to artistic design." She spat the last sentence with enough venom to bring a shocked stare from the others.
After a moment of awkward silence, Brock continued. "I will not leave Pewter undefended. My army stays here." He said flatly, furrowing his brow.
"Wait a moment, I need your army." Misty said, clearly upset. "That's the whole fucking reason I came to Pewter. You have the only army in a thousand miles capable of retaking my home."
Brock looked at her calmly. "I will not give up my home for a chance at retaking yours. I am not abandoning you Misty, we just need to be smart about this." He didn't raise his voice, instead choosing to keep his even tone.
She smashed her hand down on the table, nearly yelling by this point. "Then tell me how to be smart about this! I don't see how I'm going to take back my city if I don't have an army."
Ash smiled suddenly, followed quickly by Gary. Brock looked at the two before smiling as well.
Misty looked at them, fury in her eyes. "Let me guess, there's a simple solution that I've missed." She said, sounding resigned.
Ash looked at her then spoke softly. "Misty… You have an army. The best part is, it's already in Cerulean. It's just waiting for you."
Realization dawned on her face. "My mother's bannermen. They're mine now." She shook her head, smiling dumbly. "Even I can be an idiot sometimes." She smirked before looking back up at Brock. "So big guy, how are we getting me to Cerulean? We still have a mountain full of Rockets in our way."
He smiled back, jovial attitude coming back. "That's where I come in. I don't have a single man I trust more than myself, and I don't know anyone who knows that mountain as well as I do. Even if there's some new facility in there, I know every single tunnel and where it leads." He laughed, startling them all. "I'll take you there myself."
Jay could hardly believe how quickly the week until their departure passed. The days flew by, filled with constant preparation. Brock had taken it upon himself to train the boys in combat, taking them out to the practice field and sending them back at the end of the day covered in bruises. Jay's arm meant that Brock only taught him how to fight with only a shield. Somehow, he still ended up covered in bruises at the end of the day.
Their pokemon were put through just as much, if not more, training. They spent hours perfecting techniques and building their endurance. Every single day started with a run, followed by what would barely pass for a meal in most places then mock battles where they were put in various situations they might face in a battle. At the end of the day, they were given another handful of food and sent to bed.
It was hell, Jay thought. He knew immediately that military life was not his calling. He couldn't help but think that all of this wouldn't matter anyways. He'd be dead before they got to Cerulean. He grew bitter over the week, withdrawing into a shell. He barely even spoke anymore, even during the little time off they got between training sessions. His growlithe was the only one he would spare any attention for. Misty hadn't even come to speak to him like she had said she would, but Jay couldn't blame her. Preparing for the trip had taken up all her time.
The week passed in a blur, the sun coming up on their departure day with all of them up and ready to go. Brock was leaving his oldest sibling in charge, a slender girl who was kindhearted and sweet. The three boys, Misty, Brock and his youngest brother set out just after dawn. Brock had insisted on bringing his brother, reasoning that he was a strong trainer and knew the tunnels almost as well as Brock did.
They had reached the old Rocket camp within the day. The smell of burning flesh was still present, charred human remains sitting in piles beside the road. They passed through the camp without words. Nobody wanted to spend anymore time there than they had to. By the time they made camp that night they had already reached the base of the mountain. Brock had made a dinner, boiling the rations they had brought.
Sleep brought Jay a new problem. The closer he got to the mountain, the worse he got. He barely spoke, preferring to walk silently beside his growlithe. The night before they entered the mountain was spent in fitful sleep, images of the pokemon he had seen and Ash's terrified eyes looking down at him flashed through his mind. By the time the sun had risen, Jay had barely gotten even an hour's worth of sleep.
At about mid day, they reached the mine shaft they were entering the mountain through. Jay looked up at the sun, admiring it for the last time. Ash caught him staring at the sun, and clapped him on the back.
"Don't worry buddy, you'll be out in the sun again soon enough." Ash smiled while he made the joke. Jay didn't respond, just giving his friend a weak smile. Ash paused, worry crossing his features for a second. "Are you…" He started to ask.
"Fine." Jay said as he started his way towards his death. "Let's just move."
Ash didn't dare argue with him, simply following with a a concerned look on his face.
"It's not much further." Brock said. The oil lamp he held was the group's only source of light. "You guys are gonna love this. I always thought that it was one of the year most beautiful things I'd ever seen." His face was hidden by shadows, but the smile on his face could be heard in his voice.
The group stepped out of the tunnel into a massive cavern. They were on the edge of a sheer cliff that dropped of into pitch blackness. The cavern walls stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction, and the other side of the cavern wasn't visible in the darkness. Jay seized up and the blood drained from his face. This was where it was going to happen. He was going to die here.
"Welcome to the heart of the mountain." Brock exclaimed. "As far as we can tell, it formed when the onix tunnels compromised the internal structure of the mountain. Nobody has ever mapped the entire thing, and we aren't quite sure what's at the bottom." He laughed again. "In fact, we don't even know if there is a bottom. Every attempt to find it has met with failure. The few explorers that did return from the pit spoke of monsters in the darkness and the never ending climb." Brock spoke with a passion, staring down into the pit. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Brock finished.
Nobody except for Billy, Brock's brother, wanted to get anywhere near the pit. They were all still standing near the entrance to the cavern, warily watching the edge of the cliff.
Jay spoke up, barely even managing to form words. "Brock, we need to go. We can't stay here."
Brock turned with an offended look on his face. "You don't think it's beautiful?" He asked.
"I do, I'm just not comfortable beside a bottomless pit that leads to hell." Jay said.
"I never said it lead to hell" Brock said.
Jay laughed. "No you just said that there's monsters in the darkness. That's pretty close to hell." He looked around. "Let's just keep going. We haven't seen any sign of the Rockets, and we still have a long way to go." He spoke quickly and with a nervous tone.
The others echoed his sentiments, petitioning Brock to keep moving. Brock persisted for a few minutes, but eventually caved under the pressure.
Within minutes they had left the pit behind, making their way into another tunnel and towards Cerulean. Jay breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing how he had avoided the vision he had seen. He brushed off the feeling of discomfort and put on a smile. Maybe he wasn't going to die under this mountain after all.
They had formed into pairs. Brock and his brother, Ash and Gary, and Misty and Jay. For the most part they walked in silence, only broken by the odd question or joke from Jay.
Misty shot him an annoyed look after one of his more cheesy jokes. "How do you do it?" She asked.
"Do what?" He answered with confusion crossing his face.
She sighed, pausing for a moment. "You're always so… I don't know, silly would be a good word but it's too childish. I'd say immature, but you've shown me you know when to be mature. I don't even know what I'm asking."
He smiled, barely visible in the light from Brock's lamp. "I think I know what you're asking. You want to know how I stay so positive. With all the bad that happens, how I keep the smile?"
Misty nodded. "If it isn't that, then it's really close to what I was asking." She said.
He shrugged back. "I don't really know. I haven't had to see as much death and horror as you, so I guess it's just easier for me to stay positive. The worst I've ever had to deal with was when my dad died. We had just moved to Pallet Town and were starting a new life after our farm north of Viridian was overrun by bugs. I just kinda retreated into a shell. I wouldn't smile, and didn't want to do anything. My mum snapped me out of it by giving me my growlithe."
Misty gave him a rare smile. "Pokemon can have that effect on people. I'm glad you're back by the way." She said.
"Pardon me?" He asked.
"Don't even try to deny it. Ever since you woke up in Pewter you've been a different person. Maybe it was the concussion, and maybe it was just a side effect of having your ass kicked. Whatever it was, I'm glad it's gone. As annoying as you can be, things just weren't right with you moping about looking miserable. Ash especially took it as his fault for not jumping into the fight under Pewter faster." She shot him an angry glare when he tried to interrupt, stopping him in his tracks. "Don't even start Jay. If anyone is at fault, it's me. I dragged you guys into this mess."
He smiled. "Knowing Ash, we'd have gotten involved in some other way if you hadn't."
She laughed. "You might be right." She paused for a moment, hesitant. "I never did thank you properly. I wanted to take you aside privately and do it when we were back in Pewter, but we were always so busy. You were acting weird, and I wasn't keen on letting you in as it is." She shrugged. "I guess I'm just trying to thank you for stopping those Rockets. They would have…" She trailed off into silence.
"It's ok. You don't have to finish. Don't say it if it upsets you." He hesitated for a moment. "I couldn't let them just do that to you." He smiled sheepishly. "We did promise to help you get Cerulean back, and it might be difficult to do that if you're dead."
She laughed softly. "Convenient that you left out the reason you're helping me."
Jay laughed back. "I don't know if we need a reason anymore. Ash seems to like you. So do our pokemon, and they're usually pretty good judges of character." He smiled and hesitated. "Despite the bitch queen exterior, you're alright."
"What?!" Misty exclaimed. "Only alright? Damn I thought I'd done a better job than just alright." She huffed and put on a pouty face before breaking and laughing. "You know, you guys are the first people not in my family that I've cared about. I realized it when you woke up the first time."
"You don't have to…" Jay started before Misty cut him off.
"Can it. I'm trying to tell you something you idiot." She shot him a look of annoyance, then continued. "When we first brought you to the Pewter hospital they said that you might never wake up. At first I was just frustrated that I'd lost one third of my hired help. Then you woke up screaming and something inside me snapped. I couldn't just not care. You had saved me in more ways than one and I didn't deserve it from how I treated you." She wore an embarrassed look, frowning to herself. "Did you know that I didn't even know your name until after you saved me? We'd been traveling together for a while. What excuse did I have?"
Jay smiled, before offering a simple answer. "Sometimes being nice works."
Misty pondered his words as they walked, choosing not to answer. For the moment, she was glad that Jay chose not to talk.
Brock was already wary enough, knowing that there were Rockets under the mountain. The lights and noises he could hear coming from the cavern ahead showed him exactly where they were. "Get down! Against the wall, now!" Brock whispered back to the group. They flattened themselves against the wall, joining Brock. "Get your pokemon ready. We might need to fight our way through. There's only one tunnel to Cerulean and it looks like they're fortifying the fuck out of it."
Misty crept up beside him. "Are you sure there's no way around?" Brock's quick nod was answer enough for her. She cursed under her breath then hefted a ball. "If we do this quietly we have a better chance."
Ash spoke up from behind them. "Is there any way we can turn off the lights? It'd probably be easier to sneak by if we do."
Brock stayed grimly silent, then glanced at Misty. "We need to shut whatever operation they've got going on here down. You know what that means." He said grimly.
Misty only grimaced before shimmying back to where the others were laying. "It's not enough to just sneak by. We need to shut them down for good." She looked directly into their eyes, shifting from one to the other. "We need to destroy whatever equipment they've got down here and kill as many of them as we can."
Ash balked at her proposal. "What do you mean kill them?" Misty's flat silence gave him his answer. "Can't we just take them prisoner or something?" He asked.
Misty shook her head. "We don't have nearly enough men to consider that. The only way to make sure this place stays shut down is making sure that there aren't enough of them to continue their operation."
Ash looked down, hanging his head. "If we kill them, what's the difference between us?" He asked solemnly.
Jay put his hand on Ash's shoulder. "We're different because we don't kill unnecessarily. We only kill when there's no other way." His reassuring smile calmed Ash almost immediately. He didn't answer, only shaking his head and steeling himself for the fight.
"We're not going to have any problems right?" Misty asked. The boys shook their heads in answer. Misty looked nervously back at Brock before shimmying over.
"Everyone ready?" Brock asked. When he got nods as answers he stood up, looked back at the group with a wicked smile and released his pokemon. A golem, onix, and ryhorn appeared beside him. "Draw your blades and stay close. Get your pokemon ready. We're about to kick the beedrill nest.
Alrighty then, one final note before the fight really kicks off. There is a poll up on my profile. Please vote on it, I'd like to see a little input from you guys on how you want this story to play out. Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!
