Thanks to my reviewers!
Then the Scyther opened its eyes, immediately fixing its gaze upon Ash.
It growled, and the boy felt a shiver travel through his body, freezing him in position as the Scyther slowly lifted itself up onto its feet, never taking his steely gaze off of Ash.
"So what are you?" were the first words out of his mouth. The words, the words were as clear to him as English was, yet he knew, he knew that the Scyther was still talking in his own tongue.
"Very" the Scyther trailed his gaze up and down Ash "small, for a challenger." The Scyther waited, then barked "Well! Are you going to speak?"
Ash's throat twisted as he tried to squeeze out some words, something to hopefully not get sliced into two pieces.
But the Scyther just groaned in derision at the sight of Ash's indecisiveness, "can you talk?"
Ash shook his head as a negative, knowing that giving such an answer would be best. Or at least better than the alternative of trying and failing, or worse speaking like a human.
"Well" the Scyther cocked his head to the side, "That's interesting, don't usually get to talk to a mute... or maybe your just dim?" The Scyther began to move forward, "regardless"
"Shing"
"a fight's a fight."
The Scyther tried out its wings, realising grimly that they were too wet for flight. Then turned his attention to the small challenger before him and rushed forward anyway.
He swung, but Ash had more than enough time to block with his own blade. The Scyther tried again. Ash blocked, stepping backwards.
"Not going to fight back?" Scyther roared. Ash's response was to put his blades up before him in a defensive manner. "Coward!"
The Scyther rushed forward sending a flurry of swipes: left, right, left, left, right. But at every turn Ash blocked and blocked and blocked, moving backwards as the sheer force of the blows forced him back.
"Raargh" the Scyther cried, throwing himself into a rage filled flurry, and all Ash could to was hold his blades in front of him, absorbing blow after blow after blow, and constantly moving backwards under the pressure.
Then BAM, the Scyther slashed his Scythes in an 'X' motion breaking Ash's guard, and jumped to send the trainer onto his back with the attacker sitting on top of him.
Ash froze when he stared into the focused eyes of his enemy, only now realising the way that Scyther battled. A mix of speed and power to overwhelm his opponents like he did with Sceptile.
But now Ash was defeated and Scyther just sat on top of the boy, looking down and calming down his breathing from the short battle.
Then the Pokémon spoke, "Your a fool for thinking that you could challenge me, especially when you are so clueless on how to attack" and rose his blades to Ash's throat, "too bad that you won't-"
Bang!
The world turned into a blur as Ash was grabbed by his midsection and thrown through the air, coming to a sudden stop with the shove of force that came with it. The distant sound of people laughing drifting past his ears.
He opened his eyes to see himself wrapped in some sort of mechanical arm. The presence of Team Rocket not too far away, jumping for joy at the prospect of their newest capture.
"We did it!" came the cry from Meowth. "We ain't got that Ditto the boss wanted but these little beauties should sure do the job don't you guys think?"
Jessie and James nodded as the Scyther, finding out his new status as a prisoner began to thrash about, his blades useless now that they were pressed against his sides.
Ash looked at his trappings more closely as Meowth told the elder Scyther just how useless it was to struggle, but before he got any good look at them he was lifted up by the Rockets contraption and thrown into a cage. Only slightly brused from the impact. Able to move with the bindings now off of him, but humiliated by the Rockets who were laughing at him and his companions misfortune.
He groaned, climbing up to his feet. It all seemed hopeless. He was in a new body whilst being sent to a group of Pokémon thieves. His friends wouldn't come for him, and if they did… he was now the enemy.
He looked at the Scyther wondering how the warrior would react to his new status as a weapon. Would he go beserk, would he break down or attack Ash in panic?
The trainer looked at the bars which were probably made resistant to attacks, and felt his resolve stiffen.
Ash stood parallel to the bars, lifted his blades and swung creating an audible "Clang!" from the bars as they shook.
"It won't work kid" was the Scyther's response. But Ash just prepared himself for another strike, and another comment from his cell mate.
"Clang!"
Not to say that the Scyther hadn't done his fair share of bar rattling, he just gave up rather quickly. Whilst Ash had waited till the Rockets had moved away in order to eat lunch before he attempted his jail break.
"Clang."
"Not. Gonna. Work. Kid. It's a simple concept really."
"Clang."
"Oh the youth of today, you're not even doing it right." Ash turned to the elder who smirked, "So now you hear me!"
Ash turned back to the bars "Ching."
"Now now, you haven't even fixed yourself up and you're going for the attack. Explains why you defended in the fight if you're that incompetent."
Ash looked angry now. But Scyther didn't seem to care, "What you gonna do kid, bleed on me?" But Ash merely growled at the lazy Pokémon who sighed, "Look kid, take a break, have some rest. The bars'll still be there when you get up."
Ash collapsed in the corner.
He wouldn't deny he was tired, but admitting defeat was something he'd rather not do to the creature that was responsible for putting him into this situation in the first place.
He glanced at his cell mate, seeing the Pokémon trail his gaze over him. It was disturbing.
"You look just like me." Very disturbing.
"Like a sort of, mini-me." Very very disturbing.
A sharp laugh, "You might be a little idiot but at least you know good looking when you see it." But Ash kept his gaze on the bars.
"Maybe it isn't a coincidence? Maybe you are one of mine" a pause, the Scyther snorted, "I hope not…" His eyes widened, "You are, you got to be one of mine… NO. Is that why you came to me? It wasn't a challenge, more like some… patron-offspring reunion… thing."
Ash didn't shift, "bugger. Your matriarch must have messed up big time… I must have messed up big time in picking her in the first place. Whoever she was" He didn't move, still feeling Scyther's gaze on him.
"Unless she died?" No movement, "or she's… in a coma?" Still sitting still, "Come on kid, you gonna give me something to work with here? We're gonna be working for the forces of evil as a Patron/offspring duo, you're gonna have to say something." Ash wished he could have the silent, murderous Scyther back.
"You know, I've had hundreds of females in my time. If you want some advice-" the Scyther was interrupted by Ash getting up and striking the bars with a renewed vigour.
"Clang clang clang"
"Well if you really don't want to know."
"Clang clang clang."
"Look Stop! I get it." Ash stopped his assault on the bars. "If you don't want to know, you don't want to know. I understand." Ash breathed out a sigh of relief, "So I'll tell you about the males that I've had."
"CLANG CLANG CLANG!"
"I'm joking, I'm joking. By the legends, for my offspring, you're a real serious one." The image of swarms of beaten Beedrill engraved themselves into Ash's mind as he tried not to think about the hypocrisy.
He prepared another strike onto the bars before the Scyther stopped him once more. "Look, if you're gonna break your blades, at least do it properly."
Ash turned his head to see the Bug type standing on his legs and saying "look" whilst making a motion for Ash to observe him as he struck his two blades in sliding motion, making a familiar "Shiing" sound. "Now you try it."
Ash moved his blades together only to have them lock themselves together, or bump up and down on the uneven surface.
"Feel that?" Ash nodded "that's what you get when you don't take care of them, "They become bent or chipped away in places."
Scyther tilted his head to the side "I'd like to think that I'm responsible for most of that, but I suspect that your lovemaking with these gorgeous metal rods here has left with you with a nice little love bite."
Ash growled and struck the bars again, with the Scyther protesting "Stop, stop stop. Honestly, are you brain dead?"
"Look, you've made some nice scratches but it's not going to break them "Even I can't with all of my skill" he said "watch!" and bought his blades forward, enclosing them with a faint white sheen of energy as he let off a slash attack.
"Clang!" went the bars as the Scyther said "See"
But then they heard a "Crack" sound emanate from the bars, a fracture forming in them as the two froze in surprise. They looked to each other and grinned, or at least Ash tried to. He found that his new mouth was incapable of making such an expression. But he saw a twinkle in the elder Scyther's eyes as he looked down at Ash, as if he had just hit the jackpot.
A moment passed, then Scyther's face suddenly turned grimly serious. "All right you lucky little hell-spawn, we're gonna get those humans before they realise that we've gotten out. Got that?" Ash nodded.
"Good, now. They're just beyond that tree line and... what?" Ash looked at him curiously, wondering how he knew where they had placed their camp.
"Seriously kid, what? You got to speak up." Ash growled, "Ha!" the Scyther barked. "What's wrong boy, cat got your tongue? HA"
"Shing" was the sound that Ash's blades made to surprise Scyther.
A beat "well, it looks like you were paying attention to me." He paused and looked at Ash, "I take it you want to know how I knew?" he pointed to where he said the Rocket camp was "where they were?" a nod.
"Well, if you look up, you'll notice the smoke of a controlled fire." Ash's head twisted upwards to confirm the fact, "a little trick you pick up from staying in these border territories. Now come!" They started moving downhill, away from the camp.
"Quickly," Scyther barked "we have to get to the River before they notice we've gotten out!"
Ash shuddered at the thought of returning to that place again.
But regardless, Ash obeyed his command and followed the much quicker Scyther who burst between the foliage using his legs and wings whenever either one became a preferred option.
Ash lagged at a distance having no use from his wings, and not wanting to fail at flying in front of the other Scyther.
But that was before he saw his companion waiting for him several steps away.
"Wings boy. I don't know what you've been taught, but you are allowed to use them." Came the amuse response. Scyther didn't look amused, just impatient. But then again Ash wondered if it was possible to even smile when you didn't have cheeks.
"BOY! Wings!" Scyther shouted, bursting Ash's wings into consciousness with a flurry of movement, forcing the air backwards and the trainer flat onto his face.
Ow.
"Ha-a-a-a-a" the Scyther laughed. Ash looked up annoyed as could be, but was quickly terrified at the sight of the Pokémon's vicious jaws rapidly opening and snapping shut as he continued his inhuman laugh.
"Oh boy, you are truly one-of-a-kind." He finished. Then turned serious, "but we must hurry, time is of the essence." And rushed forward, prompting Ash to follow him in his own, ground bound way.
The Scyther however, noticing this groaned, now realising that the boy wasn't just playing with that stunt of his. Truly shameful behaviour.
He looked at the young one as he struggled to walk on his legs, barely maintaining his balance as he sloshed left and right and resolved himself to sort out this issue.
He leapt purposefully at the boy to snap him out of his efforts and adjusted his stance. Moving his back into a more horizontal position with the flat of his scythe to bring Ash into a better position to run if the boy was truly incapable of any short range flight.
"There, stay like that, and" he kicked the boys legs inwards to allow for greater agility, "that should do. Keep like that and follow" were his last words as he burst forth, the boy following, all be it at a slower pace than he, but no longer one that would have made a Slugma look like the fastest thing on the planet.
Ash was immersed in the rush, having went limp at the surprise of the Scyther's help. He rushed into a run without thinking and began to flow with the motions. Like he had become finely tuned, balanced and much more efficient. He could feel it as he rushed forward, always keeping the elder one in his pinpoint gaze, his legs moving like well-oiled pistons, and his abdomen of all things… he could feel its effects to balance and stabilise him with every turn making him wonder how he had ever survived without one.
Then he skidded to a stop. The bane of his existence in front of him. Calling to him with that awful gargling sound.
"Right" the other Scyther began, "We're at the river to find some help" he tilted his head in a manner that Ash suspected Scyther did whenever they found something amusing, "just don't say anything, okay?" and as annoying as heck.
His unwelcome companion walked over to the river and called out, "Shoo be doo! Shoo- shoo be doo" and for a moment Ash honestly wondered if this Pokémon had broken out of some sort of asylum.
Then a ten foot tall blue sea serpent burst out of the river.
To say that he was shocked was an understatement. As for one Gyarados tended to live in the sea, two there was no way the river had been big enough to conceal a creature of that size, and three, a ten foot bringer of fury had just burst out of the river and was staring at him with eyes that made him feel delicious… in the worst way possible.
Then it began to speak.
"Shoo-be- daa?" in a voice that shook the very earth under him, making Ash fear for his life if this creature was in any way near to the levels of insanity that the Scyther had displayed.
But the Scyther didn't appear at all scared. "I require saving, can you save me?"
"I am RESCUING you!" the Gyarados roared, biting a boulder by the river bank and crushing it within its jaws, "Die boulder! You won't hurt the Delicious!"
He could feel the Scyther flinch at the nickname that he was given. "No! I'm not- I mean, there are bad people!"
The Gyarados swapped his attention to the speaker. "Bad people?"
"Humans." The Scyther said with a heavy gravity about his words.
"Humungasaurs?"
"Er…"
"They will feel my wrath Delicious, they tricked us, abandoned us! Lunch will be served!"
"Wait!" Scyther interjected, waving his arms around wildly "we can't risk it, we need to keep the border safe. It was hard enough to keep the Beedrill in check. We can not deal with the dark humans as well!"
Gyarados growled.
"Remember the Beedrill? The ones that always poisoned you?" Scyther asked.
"Poison is bad."
"and who chased them away?"
Gyarados growled, his eyes boring deep into Scyther's "From one outcast to another were your words."
Scyther looked equally as intense, the humorous antics of the sea serpent pushed to the side "the river flows downhill." The Gyarados growled once more, its giant razor sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight.
"Our only option is a show of force, and then to chase them off."
"Chase is good" Gyarados grumbled, eyes still fixed on Scyther.
"or scare them away."
"Scare is better"
"Good!" Scyther exclaimed as if he had just won the argument "Now, they're in the forest so-"
"Can't" the Gyarados interjected.
"What?"
"Forest is thick, and far, Delicious. Too far." The terrifying sea serpent interjected, "too far to reach".
Scyther looked crestfallen, "can't you?" the Gyarados shook his head before Scyther could even finish his question.
Ash noticed that Scyther had frozen, eyes appearing deep in a concentration that would have entranced any who looked at him for too long, as it had done with the Gyarados who just gazed at what Ash guessed was his afternoon snack that had asked for help.
Was it an everyday occurrence in the Pokémon world that your lunch asks for help?
The Scyther snapped out of thought and told the Sea serpent, "I'll bring them here, will that work for you?" and got a nod of confirmation in return.
The two bowed, and the Gyarados sunk into the river, blending in with the blue until he was completely undetectable to the casual eye. Scyther turned to wards Ash and tilted his head in a manner that Ash was really beginning to hate.
"Boy? How would you like to have the honourable position of being bait?"
Ash turned and began to run away as fast as he could. His wings activating in his panic and throwing him into the ground, on his face.
Could life be any more cruel?
"Come on, now's not the time to be an idiot, now's the time to look attractive. I hear that these types only look for powerful Pokémon. But you can't pull off powerful, so you'll have to look like a female, and maybe they'll try and take you in for breeding."
Life could always be more cruel.
Although, to be fair, he'd experienced worse. Especially during that time when... or that time when- yeah.
So, considering all of that. This wasn't all that bad.
"Psst" but then again, "Go sniff the flowers, that's lady-like thing to do." There could be an improvement in the company.
He stood still, not wanting to go through with any of this, wondering what had happened to the harbinger of terror that he had met not to long ago. The shift in personalities making him wonder if he had stumbled onto one of the Scyther's alter egos. "Hey, kid" or maybe this was the way that they treated others of their kind, some sort of Pokémon racism?
"They're coming, start sniffing those tulips" Ash froze at the prospect of meeting the thieves once more... the thought that he was now their target sending a pang of fear down his... "and don't forget to bat your eyelashes" and the fear went away
The bushes rustled and out popped out the three Rocket members. Two humans and Meowth.
The four froze when they spotted each other, until Meowth spoke up, "Hey guys! It's the chick" and earned a facepalm from Ash.
Ash took a step backwards, as Team Rocket took a step forward, and then took another step. Jessie and James reached for their Pokéballs and before they could even release their Pokémon Ash had turned around and began to run towards the river, body flat as the elder Scyther had taught him. Weaving and ducking through the natural obstacles, the three thieves fast on his tail.
It wasn't long before he broke free from the forest and made it to the river.
Team Rocket quickly followed, looking triumphant, if not a little out of breath at having their target in their sights.
"We've got you now!" was the cry of victory from James.
"You're cornered!" finished Jessie.
Ash paused for a second and looked across the river, then over to his wings. Sure he couldn't fly, but they didn't know that so how was he cornered? His head started to hurt, and he promised himself to stop thinking about it.
"Now if you'll only surrender peacefully-"
"Shing"
They stopped in their tracks and turned around to see Scyther looking at them from the tree-line with his steely glare.
Ash felt a wave of calm wash over him and cool his nerves. The sight of Team Rocket take a couple of steps back acting like a soothing balm on any worries he may have had of being captured.
"Uh, guys!" Meowth said, prompting the humans to release their Cacnea and Serviper.
They didn't hear the crunching sounds of scales against the shingle. They didn't hear Ash jump out the way of the Sea serpent as it slithered onto land. Nor the deep breaths it took as it looked onto them from the side.
What they did see was the Scyther cock his head to the side, then point his snout at an angle. When they turned to see the gaping jaws of Gyarados.
"eep"
Ash cocked his head to the side at the scene as Gyarados lifted its head and let out a mighty roar that threw several globs of spit at the group.
James began to let out a hight pitched wail consisting of the sound "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
And Gyarados began to emanate a faint rumble, a sound that Ash faintly remembered from the past. The sound of rushing water being summoned, rushing, and "SHURURURH!" was the sound that ripped across the riverside as Gyarados let out a high pressured stream of water, throwing the group into the river which washed them far away.
Ash's head remained tilted as Scyther broke into a fit of laughter that looked more like a dog barking.
Eventually he calmed down and offered his thanks to an amused Gyarados, who laughed, took a brief glance at Ash and slithered back into the river.
Now alone Scyther walked up to Ash. None of the intensity of their initial meeting lingering about him. It was as if he had become a completely new person.
When they were face to face he looked over Ash's smaller form, making a small clicking sound in his mouth as he finished.
"You look just like me, kid." he said plainly, "and you... you're a... hmm" he paused, deep in thought.
"Well" his eyes burst wide open to dispel whatever thoughts he was having "it's been fun. If you… well" and began to walk away into the forest, leaving a confused Ash behind him.
Eventually when the Scyther had disappeared into the trees Ash noticed the sound that had bought terror to his foes had returned, and turned around to be blasted by a burst of water, through the trees and into the dirt on his back.
He woke up and was greeted by the sight of Scyther looking down on him, head cocked to one side, and amused beyond words.
"It seems as if you can't seem to get away from me, eh?" he barked one of those terrifying laughs then stopped. He looked at Ash's eyes, focusing intently as a strange sensation began to be drawn between the two of them, a faint call from a place that was beyond either of their reaches, far away and distant, calling to them with the force of a thousand wing beats, and a thousand roars of the heart.
Pounding on and on.
Lost in the presence of the other, they woke up from the moment, and shook their heads of the lingering traces of whatever had taken a hold of them.
"Well." Scyther began, "if you have no place better, follow me. I'll take you to my hive" and began to walk away. Stopping and turning around to tell Ash "It's a better way to find a home than to try and challenge me for territory again." Before he moved on.
Ash was stuck. The warring ideologies of his heart tearing him apart, driving him in two different directions.
He had to go to his friends and his Pokémon, he had to go back. Every shred of common sense told him that this was the best plan. Even if they thought that he was the Scyther that had attacked Sceptile earlier, even if they couldn't find a way to turn him back. He had to go to them, and a least try!
But his legs were already following the Scyther with steady steps, following the sound of the wings, and the colour of the rainbow and a thousand voices calling out to the heart of the world.
He couldn't resist, he had to follow. Every step he took away from Pikachu and his friends broke a piece of his heart.
But when he caught up to the Pokémon, he saw Scyther turn around briefly before continuing to make his way forward to wherever it was he was going, head cocked to the side.
At least he had made one person smile today, and with that knowledge Ash went onward, a small piece of his heart singing in joy. Whilst the rest cried in despair.
I wanted there to be shenanigans in this chapter, and shenanigans there were.
What do you think, too much of a mood swing? I mean it was fun to write, but then again, AAAAAGGGHHHHH I've shifted the tone too sevierly! See, I'm never happy with the stuff I come up with. Oh well: I guess I've got bigger problems, what with the scene where [BLANK] goes to [BLANK] and then [BLANKITY-BLANK-BLANK] and how in the world I'm gonna write that without making it look too saucy.
So remember, in the words of Scyther: "The River flows downhill". Kindness given freely from those who can provide, to those who are in need. Or in other words, I can't wait for your reviews :) *sits and waits*