Max: Things sure are getting tense huh?
May: I can't believe Ash took off without us! I thought we were a team on this!
Brock: Yeah, but you can't be that surprised. After all, he does act on impulse a lot
May: I guess... I hope they'll be okay
Max: Well let's find out! Okay, on with the story
Brock: Hang on- Kyo only owns the story yadda yadda legal stuff... okay, on with the chapter!
x~x~x~x~x
The sun was setting as big green eyes slowly began to open. However, opening his eyes was the only thing Drew could manage right about now, that and letting out a soft mew to alert anyone that he was awake. Ash immediately looked up from where he had just finished tending to Flygon's wounds, and was quickly by the co-ordinator's side.
"Drew! Oh thank God you're awake! Are you okay? Wait... stupid question I know, of course you're not... but you're awake!" Ash carried on babbling to himself as he flung his arms around the kitten, holding him close.
If Drew had the energy to protest then he would have, but he was confused as to where he was and why Ash was hugging him in the first place and so he allowed himself to be embraced by the trainer. After a few minutes, when Drew felt that he could finally use his voice effectively, he managed to whisper, "What... happened?"
Ash ended their hug and looked at Drew seriously. "You... you went off on your own looking for Rayquaza..." he began, but his voice started to rise when he said, "Just what was going through your mind? Do you have any idea how worried you made the others? How worried you made me? You could have died Drew!"
Said boy looked at the ground, the memories of earlier that day flooding back. Despite him feeling ashamed, the kitten still felt that he had to justify his actions. "I refuse to let anyone get hurt because of me," he said quietly. "This is my -mew- problem, and therefore I'll fix it. I appreciate your -meow- help but... I simply cannot allow you or the others to go against Rayquaza."
"So what? You're gonna go against him on your own? Drew... I don't know what happened, but look at you! You were unconscious for hours and Flygon was badly hurt! Do you honestly think you can get the dragon's breath on your own?" Ash stared into Drew's big green eyes as he said this, holding his gaze. The co-ordinator obviously felt uncomfortable with the eye contact, and so looked down sharply.
"I..."
Drew didn't finish whatever he was going to say. He gathered up all of his strength and willed his legs to work. Ash just looked, curious. After about two minutes, Drew had managed to stand up straight and he turned his back to the raven haired boy. Drew attempted to say what he was aiming to say earlier, again.
"I honestly don't think I can do it," he said earnestly, "But I don't think that -nyaa- having you and the others with me will make much of a difference... Rayquaza is strong, and so to save needless casualties I want to go on my own." And with that, Drew started walking away. It took all his willpower to not collapse straight away, but Drew was determined and too stubborn to let a few wounds bring him down. He started to make his way towards the cave that Rayquaza was currently residing in and Flygon, determined to stick with its trainer, managed to get up and make its way after Drew. The co-ordinator smiled at his pokémon and stroked him. "Thanks Flygon, but you don't have to do this..."
But Flygon made it obvious that he would follow his trainer no matter what, and Drew let out a small laugh saying, "Just as stubborn as me... alright then, let's give it our best shot." The two proceeded towards the legendary pokémon's lair, while a certain trainer just looked on in disbelief.
Ash couldn't believe that after all the green haired one had been through, he was still determined to carry on alone. He quickly got up and blocked Drew's path, Pikachu hopping off his shoulder to block Flygon's.
"I don't think you understand," he said slowly, "but I can't let you go alone! I understand that you don't want anyone to get hurt, but the fact is that I promised you that I'd help, and I never go back on my promises! So I don't care what you say, I'm going with you and that's final!" As if to reinforce what Ash had just said, Pikachu said, "Pika pika!"
Drew stared at Ash with a pleading look as if to say, "Please don't do this, just let me go on my own." Flygon was giving Pikachu a similar look, pleading with it to let them pass.
But Ash and Pikachu stayed strong and wouldn't succumb to what the other two wanted. In the end the smaller boy sighed before saying, "I told you that I can't let you get hurt so... let's just discuss this in the morning okay?"
And with that, Drew returned to where they were previously and lay his head down on Ash's shirt once more. Flygon curled up next to him, and within a matter of seconds the two of them were fast asleep.
Ash looked at them, glad that they weren't going to endanger themselves again tonight. After all, they clearly have no energy left to put up a decent fight... perhaps I can talk some sense into them tomorrow morning.
Ash went over and joined his sleeping companions, at first keeping watch to make sure there weren't any threats around, but when Pikachu finally fell asleep a few hours later Ash soon followed.
x~x~x~x~x
Something didn't feel right.
Ash had that feeling that you get when you're half asleep but half awake at the same time, and you have a weird feeling in your tummy alerting you to the fact that something is not right. Unsure of why he had this feeling, Ash slowly opened his sleepy eyes. Pikachu was asleep next to him, and Flygon was still curled up next to Drew. Ash figured that nothing was really wrong, and so allowed himself to drift back off to sleep before...
"Drew!" He sat bolt upright, completely awake. He looked back to where he had a moment ago, this time without sleep in his eyes. Flygon was still there, but Drew... Drew was no where to be seen. He quickly got to his feet and scanned the area around him, coming to the conclusion that Drew had taken off. Damn! I wondered why he was being so reasonable earlier... it was just so that he could sneak off when I fell asleep!
Not wasting any time, the trainer ran off to the cave that the kitten was sure to be in. As he was in a rush, Ash failed to wake up Pikachu or Flygon, and by the time he realised this he was already inside the cave. Looks like I'll just have to rely on my other pokémon this time around!
Ash found it surprisingly easy to see once he was inside the cave, surely it should be pitch black? But Ash used the light to his advantage and carried on running as fast as he could. It didn't take him long to figure out why it was so light in the cave, as he came across Drew five minutes later, who had Absol using Flash to light the way. The co-ordinator was making slow but steady progress, holding himself up as best as he could.
"Drew!"
Said boy stopped and turned around, a look of surprise on his face.
"Ash? What are you-"
"-I'm here to stop you from being an idiot! Drew, why? I thought we were going to discuss this in the morning!"
Drew gave Ash a stern look, which shut the trainer up immediately. Drew spoke in a low voice, but it was also threatening in some way. "I told you, I want to do this on my -meow- own. I don't see why you have to butt in! It's my problem, so just -mew- leave me alone!" The kitten glared at Ash and held his gaze. Despite wanting to look away, Ash managed to keep staring into those hypnotic green orbs.
"Why? I told you I'd help, I gave my word!"
"Words are -nyaa- meaningless! You don't even like me, so why would you want to help?" snapped the green haired boy.
"What? Of course I like you Drew!"
The kitten merely snorted at this, "Yeah right! I've -mew- tried everything I possibly can with you, but you just can't -mew- figure it out! It's your fault that Drew is stuck like this!"
"What?" Ash looked at the co-ordinator carefully. He saw that familiar predatory look that had been in his eyes the past couple of nights. Realisation began to dawn on the young boy. "You... You're not Drew, are you?"
"Heh, look who's finally catching on! Although, I guess you could say I am part of Drew. I'm just not all of Drew." The kitten watched Ash carefully, to see what his reaction would be.
"So then all those times I accused Drew of forgetting the stuff that happened... he honestly wouldn't know..." Ash wasn't really talking to anyone in particular, just trying to sort all of it out in his head. "He wouldn't remember because he wasn't himself... he's you." He pointed at the boy who was Drew but also wasn't.
"I don't understand... why are you here? Why do you only come out at night?"
"Because that's when I -nyaa- get my best shot at some development," said the kitten cryptically.
"Just leave and give Drew back!" Exclaimed Ash, "This isn't fair! You're making him fight Rayquaza alone against his will!"
"Against his will? Hehe, on the contrary actually. I only act on what -mew- Drew really wants. Seeing as you turned out to be a waste of -meow- time, I'm going for his Plan B which was go against Rayquaza. Now, if you don't mind I have a legendary to go up against." The green haired one turned his back on the trainer and carried on walking into the depths of the cave. Ash grabbed his arm before he could make any progress though.
"Stop! What did you mean, I was a waste of time?" Ash needed to know what was going on, for Drew's sake. He needed to understand why this strange counterpart of him existed.
"You -meow- really are an idiot aren't you? Well never mind, you rejected Drew anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."
"When did I ever reject Drew?" questioned the raven haired boy.
"Last night," responded the counterpart.
"No! I didn't reject Drew last night... I rejected you last night!"
The kitten let out a low laugh. "But Ash... we are one and the same. You reject me, you reject him." The green haired one leaned in towards Ash and stole a quick kiss, before grinning mischievously. "It's kinda sad really," he said, "I mean... you were the only -mew- one that could have saved him."
And with that, Drew (?) pulled himself free from Ash's grasp and continued to walk on, commanding his Absol to use Flash once again.
"No," Ash muttered below his breath. "I refuse to let it end this way!" He ran up to the kitten and grabbed him once again, spinning him around so that they were face-to-face.
A smirk came to the smaller boys lips, and he said teasingly, "Aww, if you wanted another kiss, all you had to do was -meow- ask..." He leaned in once again, but Ash stopped him.
"Give Drew back now!" he commanded.
"Sorry, no can do. I told you, this is what Drew wants." The smaller boy shrugged his shoulders, not caring what would happen.
"I don't believe that. Drew wouldn't give up so easily! I don't know why you show up when you do, but it seems to me that you magnify whatever small feeling Drew may have and put him in jeopardy because of it. I won't allow that!"
The kitten just started laughing, which annoyed Ash even further. "I've had enough of you! Drew? Drew! I know you can hear me, please... fight this guy off! You are stronger than him! You don't need this guy to make your decisions, you can do it by yourself! Just talk to me about whatever you don't understand, but please... please just fight back!"
All of a sudden, the green haired one doubled up, clutching his chest.
"What?" the kitten gasped. "N-No!" He let out a pained scream, Ash was alarmed at what was going on.
After a few seconds, Drew's eyes drooped and the kitten collapsed. The trainer caught him before he hit the ground.
"Drew..." Ash hoisted the kitten onto his back.
"Don't worry, I'll get us out of here. Just hang on."
And so a determined Ash started to make his way back through the cave, commanding Absol to light the way.
I honestly have no idea what's going on anymore... but no matter what, I will protect Drew!
x~x~x~x~x
May: Woah... things are getting serious!
Max: I know! I hope they'll be okay
Brock: I don't understand how a fic that started off as a romantic comedy turned so serious!
Kyo: Trust me, I have no idea either
Max: Kyo, they're okay right?
Kyo: Hm? Of course they're okay, they're playing cards over there *points*
Max: I MEAN IN THE STORY!
Ash: Yeah... are we gonna be okay? *puts cards down* Ha! Full house, I win!
Drew: Kyo, for you this has turned awfully serious. I never thought I'd say this but... I kinda miss the cheesy comedy romance stuff *puts cards down* Read em and weep, a royal flush! *grins*
Ash: O_O
Kyo: HEY! My stories aren't that cheesy
May: Kyo! Please tell me everything will work itself out!
Kyo: Well I could, but then that would ruin the story. If you want to know what happens then you know what to do...
Everyone: PLEASE REVIEW!