A/N: So…this one has been written for a while and just…you know…waiting for Aetheron to edit it but he was all caught up in gross adulting things like buying a house and painting said house and moving into said house. So…yeah…also though this title...I have been waiting for this title…because this chapter was supposed to have happened like 4 chapters ago
Buffy Vs. Dracula
Ringing.
There's a faint ringing in his ear, like the chime of a distant shrine. Only…
Only it seems to be getting closer.
And louder.
Brock groans and reaches to grab his pillow and pull it over his head. An action that ceases when his hand closes around...sand?
Arceus, it's everywhere. There's sand against his face and arms and...in his ears…
Groaning once again he struggles to sit up and for a few moments all thought stutters to a halt, drowned in a tsunami of nausea. He breathes out through his nose, slowly, his head spinning as if he'd spent the afternoon on one of those Arceus-damned carnival rides that Ash and Misty always seemed to con him on to.
Wait…
Ash?
Misty?
He swallows the nausea down and fights his eyes open, wincing even in the dull light of the night on the beach.
Right.
The beach.
He swallows again and takes a deep breath of salty air. He's on the beach but where are…
A groan by his head has him turning just in time to Ash sit up beside him, hand clutching his head and Pikachu kaaing worriedly.
"You okay?" Brock asks or would have if his words wouldn't immediately swallowed by a hacking cough. He doubles over coughing nothing but bile onto the beach. Ash, beside him, is not so lucky.
Brock wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and crawls over to Ash, patting his back as he finishes emptying his stomach onto the sand.
"You done?" Brock asks when Ash stops heaving. The words sound odd to his ears, muffled and dull but Ash nods miserably so it must be all his imagination. Besides, there are other things to worry about. Like, "Misty?"
Ash nods down the beach, worriedly and Brock finds his gaze following Ash's. He starts in shock when he finally manages to focus on the blurry image down the shore. It's Misty, he thinks anyway. The world is still blurred at the edges, but there's hardly anything else that matches the orange of Misty's hair. If it is her, the girl down the beach, then...well...it should be funny. That girl with Misty's orange hair is standing like the superheroes in those shows that he and Misty and Ash would occasionally watch in the lobbies of centers at 3 am when none of them could sleep, her feet apart and her arms crossed before her, as if she's glaring up at a supervillain.
What Brock wouldn't give for sleepless nights to be the worse problems facing them.
It's not though and Misty-or at least, Brock is fairly sure that the girl screaming at the sky is Misty-is dodging blasts of purple… fire, maybe..? as she screams; her whole body is taught, standing in a way that, had Misty been standing in front of Brock like that, he'd be apologizing for every action in the last year.
But…
What is she screaming?
Brock tilts his head, straining to hear the words through the buzzing in his head. But there's nothing. Just...murmurs like speaking under water. Squinting, Brock looks up from what has to be Misty and is surprised to find Mewtwo, that pokémon she'd brought with her to rescue himself and Ash, is the target of Misty's screams. He's floating somehow, Mewtwo is, a bright purple against the dark sky.
Brock shivers, the view is somehow familiar... though…
No…
It can't be…
He's sure he'd only met Mewtwo just a few hours earlier.
Still though...
Still.
Brock shudders.
Seeing that pokémon in the air, Brock can't help but feel that he's seen it before.
Somewhere…
In a room… with high ceilings and stone walls and stakes that….
Well…
It's familiar...and not just in the way that they always seem to wander into things they shouldn't deal with.
It's just….like a story he's heard many times before….
And one that hadn't ended well…
Brock swallows hard and nearly jumps when Ash taps his shoulder. Blinking, Brock tears his eyes from the distant pokémon and tries to focus on a now blurry Ash. His mouth is moving, Ash's is, but Brock can't hear anything over the sound of crashing waves.
…
Crashing waves coming from the very still, ocean that Brock can just make out over Ash's shoulder…
There's no way that's a good sign.
Ash taps him again, forcing Brock's face back to him. Slowly, Ash speaks again, no doubt repeating what he'd already said. Focusing, Brock tries, really tries, to read his lips but can make nothing out beyond a garbled plea to watch out.
Wait...
Watch out for what?
Ash tackles him down and something shoots past his head. For one shining moment the beach is alight, the sand is a million darkened mirrors to rival the stars. Everything glows a harsh blue, diamond light bounces. And then crashes, a diamond storm of sand and shells and rocks that crashes over their backs in a wave of sharp pain.
The beach blinks out to black.
Empty…
Listless…
Brock floats…
Something rings in his ear, distant and insistent and endless and...
Brock's eyes shoot open, and for a few moments all he can do is breathe and wait until the world is still and the nausea is gone. Breaths later he's finally sitting upright and brushing sand from his shoulders. He coughs, wiping grit and dust from his eyes. The world swims and he wonders, absently, if he hadn't decided to go punch for punch with his geodude again because really, he thought the one time would have been enough of a lesson. A moan to his left underscored by a weak kaa and it all comes crashing back to him.
Strayanthe.
Team Rocket.
The beach.
Misty.
Mewtwo.
"Ash?" Brock shouts, nearly jumping to hear the voice in his ears. He must have said it out loud...but...it sounds so...distant...that can't be good.
A worried piiika echoes somewhere to his left and slowly, slowly, Brock turns towards the sound, wincing with the movement. He's sore, everywhere...maybe he did go a few rounds with Geodude after all. Or Onix. Or maybe both of them together.
He clutches his head, focus completely absorbed by the throbbing pain blooming behind his left eye. In his ear, Pikachu offers a questioning pika and Brock's shoulders jump. His whole body clenches with the movement, head throbbing so painfully that he shuts his eyes against the pain and waits for it to pass. He breathes slowly and finally, finally opens his eyes to find Ash offering him a hand. Brock reaches out and, after a few tries, grasps it so that Ash can pull him from the sand.
"You okay?" Ash asks, mouth set in a grim line.
Brock nods, pain climbing his neck with the movement. He stops midway, head hanging awkwardly down. "Misty?"
Ash opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by a terse "Busy" from somewhere ahead. Ash's mouth shuts quickly enough that Brock can hear his jaw audibly clack shut. Ash steps away and Brock, less stable than he'd believed, steps forward hard to catch his weight.
"You sure you're okay?" Ash whispers hoarsely, eyes already focused somewhere ahead of him, like he already knows Brock is fine and is already sighting the next problem.
Brock hums back, breath caught in his throat-just what does Ash see? Dizzily he takes a hard step forward and, finally balanced, straightens, slowly, painfully, until he can follow Ash's gaze.
Brock isn't at all surprised to find that it's Misty who has claimed all of Ash's attention. It's been that way since Brock can remember. What is surprising is the glittering dust cloud that surrounds her; a ring of sand and debris that's not quite settling even as she stands in the middle of it. Somewhere in front of her, nearly touching her feet, is a large lump is the sand, a dark shape amongst the shining dust. Slowly, she taps the shape with her foot. It doesn't move and faintly, in the dark, Brock can see her grin.
She turns to them and Brock swallows a hard breath, no light reflects from her eyes. They are dark despite the light reflecting from the falling sand around her. "Get out of here." She commands, voice carrying in the silence of the beach. And it's unnerving really, the silence of the beach. Brock is sure it had been loud only seconds earlier but now...it's calm. Quiet. There are no sounds; no waves, no sounds not even the chirping of bug pokémon. Only falling sand and the stars and Misty's voice stretching to them.
Ash answers back, a shouted "Not without you." in a voice harsher than Brock's heard.
"Arceus damn it, Ketchum. Yes, without me." Misty spits and the sand falls around her. Her eyes glisten in the dark and Brock blinks, like some spell has been broken, Brock is finally able to see Misty. She looks tired and worn. Sand and sweat and blood are mixed a paste down her arm and something dark and wet runs down her cheek. She sounds tired too; breathy, like they've just run the last mile to a town. And tinged with panic.
They all need to leave; Misty included. He's going to open his mouth to say as such but Ash, as he always does where Misty's concerned, beats him to it.
"I can't let you do this alone." Ash steps away from Brock, limping down the beach towards Misty.
Misty laughs, a cold sound in the empty beach. Brock shivers at the sound and Pikachu chuu's worriedly. It's not a good laugh, but bitter and tired. Ash straightens at the sound, back rigid and stance widening as though ready for a fight. Ash breathes in and Brock cuts him off before he can speak.
"I thought you didn't let Misty do anything, Ash?" Brock coughs.
The two of them breathe out in unison and Ash's body sags, the tension dripping from his shoulders.
"I don't" Ash whispers, wiping at his eyes. "Pikachu…" Pikachu jumps to attention, staring down the beach in wait of his master's command.
"Stay with, Ash" Misty cuts him off. Pikachu nods, and turns towards Ash, waiting.
Ash sags, body drooping further then even Brock had thought it could. "But, Mist...I…" He trails off, unable to finish his thought.
Misty nods. "I know." she agrees. "But you need to go."
Pikachu offers a solemn kaa towards his trainer but Ash ignores it, focused entirely on his exchange with Misty. Pikachu groans and scampers to Brock, tugging on his leg and pointing. The lump is moving, rocking back and forth in front of Misty.
"Guys…" Brock whispers, but both Ash and Misty glare at him, before turning to one another once more.
"I can't leave without you." Ash tries again.
Misty sighs, shaking her head. "You can so...look: you've got Togepi, I owe you a talk. I have to come back." She smiles.
"Brock can take him. And…." Ash returns, uncertainty plain in his voice.
In the sand, the lump raises up, a faint glow lighting the dark.
"Misty," Brock starts, but he needn't have said anything. The girl whips around almost as soon as the glow begins, a faint tremor in her arms like she's shivering.
"Look out!" Ash calls as she turns, his teeth chattering on his words.
"Just go, Ash." Misty screams back. Her body is almost lost in the sand and dust floating around her. She turns once more, facing Ash and Brock and her eyes are lost in the dark. "I'll catch up."
"Now, now." Mewtwo laughs. "There's no need to lie to the boy."
"I'm not lying," Misty grunts. From as far back as he is, Brock can see her dig her feet into the sand, straining like she's holding something back. Ash slips towards him, holding out Misty's red bag.
"Take this." He whispers.
Brock blinks. "Misty said…"
"Forget what Misty said. Take Togepi, I'm going to go help her." He drapes the bag over Brock's hand and starts forward, moving to dart around his jacket in the sand. Brock grabs him by the wrist and opens his mouth to ask him...something...it hardly seems fair that this will be the second time he's had to stop Ash from running to Misty's aid in the last...24? 48? Some number of hours. But it's Misty herself who argues against it, interrupting Brock before whatever half though of speech can tumble out of his mouth.
"Ash," Misty shouts, dropping into a crouch to avoid...something Brock doesn't see. The sand just behind her explodes upwards in a glittering bomb just seconds after she drops, so she must have missed it...whatever it is. "What in the name of Arceus is so hard about 'get out of here'? I can hold him off, just go!"
Mewtwo laughs, a cold sound that whips, shear cold, around Brock. Ash shivers. "You can't hold me off, girl."
"I did just fine before." Misty hisses, lashing out suddenly with her fist. Mewtwo doubles over and for a brief moment, Brock thinks she's won.
It's a moment that ends far too quickly as the large pokémon rises back into the sky, out of Misty's reach. He glows, a bright purple overtaking the night sky.
Misty scoffs, "What are you going to do? You can't hit me, there's nothing to throw at me except sand and you won't risk Ash."
"Astute of you," Mewtwo whispers, voice carrying like ice down the beach. "I won't hit Ash." His hands glow.
He won't hit Ash….
So who will he…
Oh muk…
Brock's eyes widen and he hits the sand, Ash diving beside him just in time for a blast of bright light to soar straight through where Brock's body had been seconds earlier. It hits the sand behind them, showering them in dirt and rocks and dust.
Brock's eyes shut, darkness over taking his vision even as Ash shakes his shoulder and calls his name.
He's numb. His arms, legs, fingers, toes: nothing.
Emptiness and black and...sand…
Why is there always sand.
He sits up coughing and beside him, Pikachu sighs in relief.
Brock turns to the sound, slowly, the world fading in and out like skipped scenes. Ash is lying beside him, still silent and immobile. "Ash?" he whispers, shaking the boy. Ash moan in response and Pikachu sighs once more.
A crash from down the beach draws Brock's eye and he glances up in time to see Mewtwo fall from the sky once more.
Misty huffs out a deep breath, "Please, Brock. Get Ash out of here." She shouts to him, Mewtwo rising once more at her back.
"Now, now, little girl." Mewtwo laughs breathily, and Brock is cheered knowing that the fight is at least taking some out of him as well. "This bravado is fooling no one. You're scared, in over your head, and you know it. This battle was over before we started. Go quietly and I'll even let your friends walk away… alive. It's a waste of everyone's time to keep fighting."
Brock shakes Ash once more and the boys eyes open slowly. Brock smiles. Now if he can just get Ash up, maybe they can do something to help.
"Well it's my time to waste." Misty scoffs. "Besides," she lunges out but Mewtwo dodges easily, shifting slightly to the left as she punches. The kick that follows hits him though and Mewtwo falls once more only to rise in the same breath. "A friend once told me that it'd be a waste of time not to do something just because I was scared."
"That 'a girl," Brock whispers under his breath as he slowly helps Ash stand.
He's wobbly, Ash is, in the sand, stepping quickly to catch and re-catch lost balance. And his eyes are unfocused. He shakes his head once and then twice and moves like he's going to shake it again. Brock catches Ash's head in his hands.
"Ash?" He questions, frantically searching the younger boys eyes. One pupil looks larger, maybe, and Brock thinks that he remembers that being the sign of something truly bad. A concussion maybe? From what Brock can remember, those are bad.
Ash looks back at him dazedly, eyes struggling to focus on his face. He shakes his head.
"Brock? I feel...sick," he slurs.
Brock's stomach drops; this is bad, they need to find help and soon. A crash sounds down the beach and Brock looks away from Ash for a moment. Misty's fallen but she's getting back up, shakily pulling herself to her feet.
"Low blow." She shouts angrily. Mewtwo doesn't respond, behind him a rock pummels towards Misty, forcing her to roll out of the way before she's fully back on her feet. She raises her face to look at Mewtwo and the pokémon staggers, dropping from the air enough that his feet touch the ground. A thud beside him draws Brock's attention back to Ash. He's fallen and is sitting on the sand, swaying in time to a spinning world Brock can't see.
"We need to get out of here." Brock whispers, kneeling down so that he can see Ash's face.
Ash pales, eyes widening as he leans to the side and coughs, choking up what little is left in his stomach.
Brock leans over and helps Ash to sit back up, ignoring the lightning that now seems to be cracking from the fight behind him.
Ash wipes his mouth and groans, "Pikachu?"
Pikachu darts up, ears drooped in a gesture Brock know is concern. Ash pats his head and looks to Brock. "We need to get out of here." He slurs.
Brock nods. "How?"
"Well...we're on the beach, right?" His words are slow, each teased out with a pause to breathe or maybe think. His eyes are closed as he speaks and his hand clutches his head. He must have a headache...which might be a good sign? Brock can't remember and that alone is terrifying. Misty will kill him if Ash is hurt...and she makes through her fight…
Brock turns his head to check on Misty once more but but Ash reaches out to turn his face back. The boy misses, hand sweeping out somewhere to Brock's right but Brock turns his face anyway. Whatever Ash is trying to say, must be important.
"On the coast?" Ash breathes out
Brock nods once more, concerned that the statement seems to be a question in Ash's mind. "Yes, we are. You remember how we got here, right, Ash?
Ash scoffs, "Of course," and pauses, a crash from down the beach stealing his words for a moment. "We were trying to get here though, I think? Didn't we have to do something once we got here...?"
Brock's eyes widen. "Arceus, Ash. You're right. We just need your pokedex…"
Ash turns to Pikachu and tilts his head, sending the electric mouse running down the beach.
"Ash, Misty said that Pikachu had to..." Brock starts only to duck mid phrase when a large boulder flies over head. It misses them but hits close enough to spray them with sand and shells.
"Hey!" Misty shouts from ahead of them, her words bouncing down the beach. "We had an agreement; the fight stays with us."
"Stop dodging then." Mewtwo returns.
"That wouldn't be much of a fight..." Misty shouts back, sarcasm echoing across the sand.
Brock bites back a laugh; still Misty even in the middle of...whatever this is. He doesn't understand why she's fighting or how she seems to be holding her own against a pokémon but then, he'd never grasped the rules here. Everything was different and wrong. He turns to stare at them again but Misty and Mewtwo both are obscured behind a cloud of dust and sand. Every so often the entire swirl of it lights up blue and purple. But he can't see them. Not even Misty's hair, usually a beacon when she's missing, is visible.
"Brock?" Ash slurs from behind him and Brock spins from the fight. He's going to get whiplash if he keeps doing that.
Ash is kneeling in the sand with Pikachu in front of him holding something in his mouth. Something white and blue and….Ash's jacket? Why does he sound so….Ash pulls a red box from the fabric which blinks a steady light as soon as it is free from the jacket. His pokedex?...
Arceus, his pokedex!
Ash hands it to him shrugging after fumbling with it for a few moments.
"I don't…" he trails off and Brock nods, pressing buttons until the light is constant and blinding.
Brock glances out towards the sea and vaguely, in the distance, he can see a light; boat or pokémon he doesn't know but he can….
Why has it suddenly gotten very loud?
"Brock!" Ash shouts, diving for cover.
Brock has barely enough time to register that the light out at sea has blinked twice, a signal he and Lance had agreed on, before the world grows dark once more.