*Somehow, I almost forgot to update. *slaps self* How? Answer: Drawing on SAI, reading Pokememes, reading Dramione fanfiction, and listening to Vocaloid at the same time. I'm a very strange, hyper person~ By the way, we passed 100 by 8 reviews! Awesome, right? I only got one prize suggestion though- a BluexSilver oneshot. I'm cool with that, but I want more input before I make a final decision. I want to try and write/draw something you'll all like~*
Chapter 22
"She is going to be all right, right?" asked Silver for what must have been the tenth at least. His silver eyes were tainted with sick worry, fixated on Blue's still, pale, but breathing face. "She won't- die- right?"
"Silver, calm down," said Yellow, stifling a yawn. She had given Silver's Kingdra and Blue's Blastoise a heal before attempting to heal Blue herself- which, surprisingly, had kind of worked.
Some color had been restored the older girl's cheeks, from a marble white to a faint rosy pink, and her breathing had been stabilized as well as her heartbeat. When Yellow had tried more than that, she'd nearly keeled over from exhaustion. Healing a person was even more energy-consuming than healing a Pokemon. She felt ready to sleep for a week, maybe two.
"Still, I'm worried," he whispered softly, so quietly that Yellow almost didn't hear him over the crashing waves. "If there's anyone I refuse to lose- it's her. You feel the same way about Red, don't you?"
Yellow blushed furiously, avoiding contact with the younger red-headed boy. Of course she loved Red... It was a bit irritating how obvious it was to everyone though. "Obviously..." she muttered, crossing her arms. "Sometimes I feel like the only one who doesn't see how I feel is Red."
"That's not true."
"Feels like it."
"Have you even seen how he looks at you?" Silver asked. "Like there's no one else but you and him."
If it was even possible, Yellow's blush darkened and spread to the entirety of her face. She pulled her hat down to cover it. "Really?" she replied, voice small, meek, and hopeful.
"I'm sure. And when he and the others kick Rei's sorry arse, I'm sure he'll say something. If not, I'm sure Gold and I can coax him into it." Silver had a small, impish smile on his face.
"You're really talkative today, Silver," noted Yellow, trying to change the subject. "Why?"
"To fill up the time," he admitted sheepishly. "It doesn't feel right to just sit in silence when everyone else is fighting for their lives- ours too- and we're just- you know- sitting here. I feel like maybe if we just sit here and talk about whatever comes to mind, like this all never happened, nothing will, but I know that's ridiculous. Us talking or not isn't going to shift the battle in or out of their favor." He gave a cold, hard laugh. "Sorry if that was being too honest."
"No, that's okay," answered Yellow, sitting up straighter against the rock as the sun threatened to destroy the shade the large rock was providing. "I know what you mean. If Blue weren't unconcious, and if we had any idea where they went off to, I'd be joining them. Anything's better than waiting."
A large gale of wind suddenly attempted to blow Yellow's hat off of her head, and only her quick, practiced grab was able to save it. Big, fat raindrops pattered her in the face, causing her to look over to the sea and rising waves.
"The storm's getting bigger," Silver observed carefully, eyes focused on the approaching waves, ignoring the fact that his damp red hair was flying all over the place. "I hope that doesn't affect us too much."
"I hope not," said Yellow, both hands holding her hat down. "But it's getting bigger fast."
"So it is," he answered, suddenly terse. His body tensed, like a cat ready to strike, and Yellow saw the giant wave that had suddenly appeared only a few feet out, threatening to swallow them and drown them in its murky depths. "Yellow, run!"
She turned, ignoring her flying hat as she let go in her sprint, consumed by worry for Silver and Blue. Silver was very obviously trying to save Blue, which is why she didn't hear his footsteps right behind her, or see him in front, as he was obviously a faster runner, being taller, stronger, and male. But could he beat the wave, which was now the size of a small tsunami?
"Keep on going, Yellow!" she heard him yell again. She hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped running. Silver was hard on her heels, Blue's body held carefully in his arms, and a large shadow covered them all. "Run!"
She struggled to regain her sprinting pace, but right in front of her was the most unfortunately placed piece of driftwood in history. She tripped over the obtrusive branch, feeling horrible dread in her stomach as she felt droplets of salt water begin to rain on her body-
And then her breath was knocked out of her as Silver kicked her swiftly out of the way, not having the time or method to do it a gentler way. She let out a small gasp as her hands flew instinctively to her stomach in pain, but a bigger one still when the wave crashed merely inches from her face, stinging her eyes with salty mist.
"Get up!" she heard Silver yell again, and she turned over to see him still holding Blue, though he was trying to shake her awake, his bright gray eyes filed with worry. "There's more coming!"
He was right, obviously, and as fast as she could, which, unfortunately, was not very fast considering Silver had kicked her very, very hard, she struggled to get up, clutching her stomach as she tried to hobble along after him. Another tsunami was already a good way on the path to them, this one even bigger and more menacing the last.
Why did I have to give Omasuke to Red? thought Yellow despairingly. Omasuke could help me now… Wait! I kept Kitty with me!
"Kitty, go!" Yellow released her Butterfree in a flash of bright red light, feeling herself fly upwards, Kitty's wings flapping furiously as the wave missed again, but this time, by a good couple of yards.
"Why didn't you think of that sooner?" groaned Silver, still running, with his Feraligatyr holding Blue in its muscular arms. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Red would kill me if something happened to you!"
"I'm sorry, it's just the panic-" started Yellow, feeling rain start to tumble down from above. "Silver, it's about to rain. Kitty can't hold me up if her wings get wet."
"We'll run into the forest then," Silver decided, looking into the dense line of trees in front of them. "After all, the rain will put out the fire." While they had been hiding behind the rock nursing Blue, the flames from the beach had spread out into the woods around them, but luckily, they hadn't had too much time to catch ablaze. "See?"
"Silver," murmured a soft voice, and Silver snapped his head around to see a waking Blue. Her blue eyes were hazy with exhaustion, expression tired but expecting. "Silver, what happened?"
"I think Kyogre's coming onto shore," said Silver, quickly taking Blue back from his Feraligatyr, helping her onto her feet, keeping her from stumbling over. "We've got to go, find the others. I don't think there's any use in hiding out anymore, at least now that you're awake. Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you?"
"That second idea sounds appealing," she teased, her eyes twinkling like they always did at whatever mischevious idea she came up with. "But I can walk, don't worry. I'm sorry for taking so long- if it weren't for me, we'd all be in there fighting!"
"Blue, I'm not sure that you're well enough to battle yet," fretted Yellow, fluttering over with Kitty holding tightly onto her back.
"What else is there to do? I'm well enough, and it's just as dangerous to hide as it is to fight," she said, standing up taller as if to prove herself capable. She could ignore the exhaustion and pain in her body if it meant she could help protect her friends and save the world.
Reaching for her belt, she tried to nab a Pokeball only to realize she had none. "Silver, where are my Pokemon?"
"I gave them to Green. Gold has mine, and Red has Yellow's. We would've kept one for you if we realized you'd be waking up," he answered with a twinge of regret. "It's actually pretty useful that Rei has no cronies." Silver had a crooked smile on his face. "We won't need our Pokemon since there's no fight until we get to him."
"Do you know where he is?" Blue asked curiously.
"No," answered Silver and Yellow simultaneously. "But we'll be better off searching than getting drowned here," added Silver hastily. "Unless you think you need more rest, I'm sure the forest is safe enough-"
"Stop worrying about me, Silver, I'm fine!" she assured him, pushing his helping arm off of her shoulder and walking in front of him as if she hadn't just drowned in an ocean about an hour prior. "Let's get started then- any leads?"
"We saw smoke- lots more than other areas, somewhere around the middle of the forest." Silver motioned into the murky shadows of the trees. "It looked like the fire of a battle. Which means we'll have to be careful-"
"I'm sure careful can wait for later," assured Blue, stalking off into the dark woods, shielding her face from the rain that was beginning to pour down upon her. "Damn this rain. It's so annoying- where is Kyogre?"
"It was somewhere out in the sea when we last checked," replied Yellow, flying up and pointing to a patch of deep water. "But if it's coming up, then it has to be because Rei-"
Blue didn't get to hear what Rei had done. Instead, she watched as the blue legendary rose out of the sea, looking magnetic and terrifying with its massive size, glowing red marks, intimidating red eyes. Water cascaded down from its sides, looking like waterfalls as Kyogre started to fly up into the sky, baring its large sharp teeth as it let out a massive, frightful roar.
On the other side of the island, where the sun shone bright and free of storm clouds, or any clouds for that matter, another roar pierced the air, this one more feral and untamed, filled with challenge. Groudon, noted Blue mentally, though she couldn't take her eyes or mind off of Kyogre. It was a lot bigger than she had thought- a lot more entrancing as well. Its presence seemed to keep her still with fear and awe, and she would have stood rooted to the ground if Silver hadn't grabbed her hand and started pulling her rapidly into the forest, Yellow hard on their heels, having returned Kitty so the Butterfree wouldn't have to suffer the rain.
"If you stand still, you'll be killed!" hissed Silver, chancing a stare backwards. The sea level had already risen to completely cover the massive rocks that had been their refuge, and it was only getting larger. "I'm not letting you drown twice, Blue!"
"Silver, the water's right behind me," cried a startled Yellow, a wave hitting her softly on the back of her boot. "I think it's rising with Kyogre- and Kyogre is going to Rei. Don't you think that we should follow it?"
"Follow it?" repeated Silver, staring at the black shadow above them that was Kyogre. "You have a point, but-"
"We should listen to Yellow, Silver. Besides, she's your senior, you should be listening in the first place," reminded Blue, eyes glued to Kyogre.
"Sometimes that gets pretty hard to remember," muttered Silver inaudibly to his Feraligatyr, which ran on the other side of him. "I am listening, Blue," he said more loudly, enough for them to hear.
"Good." She stopped for a second, catching her breath, looking at the sky. "Kyogre's stopped. We're not that far anymore."
"I think I hear battling," said Yellow, looking around them warily. "Do you think Red's-"
"I'm sure he's fine," comforted Blue, though she sounded distracted, trying to find the battle before they stumbled blindly into it. Then she looked concerned. "Kyogre's turning around. It's coming down."
"What?" Silver sounded surprised, a flicker of fear on his face. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence-"
There was a roar from the legendary water-type, and the three watched as it opened its massive mouth, a blue light building inside of it. Preparing to kill the trio, just as Kyogre's master had commanded.
As it was unleashed, Silver jumped away, not to save himself- how could he? He was in the center of the blast- but to push Blue and Yellow out of the massive beam of pressurized water knocked him hard back into the ground, spinning him into unconsciousness. He thought he heard something, or multiple things, crack. Above him, Blue screamed.
"Control... Rei?" repeated Ruby, dumbfounded. Such a plan hadn't even occured to him. "How?"
"Through da orb of course," said Sapphire, suddenly excited, blue eyes bright. This would work- it could, it had to. "Like how Groudon and Kyogre controlled Maxie an' Archie through them! If you can beat Rei in mental strength, ya could control him!"
"Problem is, the guy's already insane. It doesn't look like he's suffering from any mental exhaustion either," noted Ruby warily, combing his fingers through his bangs in thought. He liked the sound of the idea, but it sounded too wild to pin all his hopes on just now... There were too many things that could go wrong.
Not to be put down, Sapphire continued with another idea, "What about controlling Groudon and Kyogre? Turning them against Rei? You've done that before, haven't you?"
"Yeah," said Ruby, remembering the battle in Sootopolis all those years ago. He'd been riding on Rayquaza, his father controlling the mighty dragon, and he'd managed to quell the fight, though he'd suffered plenty of mental exhaustion. Could he actually do it again? "It was pretty hard, but I think I can manage it. Maybe."
"Really?" said Sapphire eagerly. This was it- their chance to defeat Rei. She still wasn't very keen on the idea of death, but what had to be done had to be done. As long as she didn't end up being the one with nlood on her hands.
"I'll try it. I'll try and control Rei too- but I don't think I should try from this far away. The closer I am to him, the stronger the connection is- but since he's the master of the orb, he's got to of power even though we're a good distance away," explained Ruby, staring back at where he had come. "Just to make sure that even if we- I mean I- fail at doing this, I think we should get back to the others. I can trick Rei and make him more vulnerable, and you can go help the others."
"But what if Rei controls you again?" Sapphire protested. At least here, she was guaranteed the Safeguard. "Then you'll-"
"Be putting a weapon in his hands?" A corner of Ruby's mouth tugged upwards. "There's another reason that I want to go back."
"What?"
"If I get back under his control here and you don't manage to Safeguard me, there's nothing stopping him from making me kill you," he said, choking a little on the word kill. "Unless you can promise me you'll be able to take me out, no mercy."
Sapphire thought that over. She didn't want to hurt Ruby, but if she had to... could she? She hoped she could, of that happened, but she couldn't risk that...
"See? Red-senpai won't have any problem with it. He used the Ultimate Move on me," said Ruby, recalling the monstrous vines that had attacked him and his Pokemon, trying to pull him apart. "So did Gold-senpai. Take my Pokemon, Sapphire."
He returned all of them but Coco and handed them to Sapphire, who looked at him in slight confusion.
"So I can't fight back. All I'll have are my fists- and if luck'll have it, Red and Gold will knock me out before I get blood on my beautiful gloves," he said, smiling, and Sapphire smiled a little despite herself. "Just make sure they don't kill me, Saph."
The nickname made her blush, just a little. Her heart gave an uneven beat. "I'm sure they won't," she comforted him. "They're your friends?"
"But I tried to kill them," said Ruby, looking away quickly, not wanting to see the shock on Sapphire's face. "And I would have, if I could. Good thing they beat me... But it looked close for a while."
"They know that's not you," said Sapphire firmly. "They know."
"I know," said Ruby quietly. "I've missed having everyone around, having friends, having you. It feels weird to finally remember everything- I feel like I don't belong anymore, almost. But I know that's not true," he added quickly, catching the look on Sapphire's face.
"So... What's your plan?" asked Sapphire curiously after an uncomfortable moment of silence.
"Well, you see, it starts like this..."
*Le gasp, Ruby has a plan. And you don't get to see what it is! :D I am the ultimate mater of evil and cliffhangers and all that crap. XD Review Reply time~
Light-Sakura: Yup! I got to 108 reviews! :D I'm so happy~ And yeah, Ruby is planning to kill Rei. In the manga, he saved Archie and Maxie, and look where that got them. The Emerald arc, where they were all nearly killed. And this time, it's not just to save the world, he has a personal vendetta against Rei. The man manipulated him, erased his memories, would have had Ruby slaughter his friends, and is having a fun time doing it. Not to mention, if they let him go, he'd be back again, and maybe even worse. Death is the only way to erase someone like that forever. (unless they're Lord Voldemort or someone like that. :P)
ZXCVBNMEM: XD Ruby'll do his best~
blazelight790: XD Ruby's not exactly the same anymore~ It's not like he really regained all of his memories- it just erased the control and gave him back a basic knowledge of who he was. But it's going to be hard to be the same person if the only things you can truly remember are ferocious battles and being controlled by a man you hate...
Fire-Shiell: No, not the newspaper! D: Run, Rei, run~ (I actually like the guy in some weird twisted way...) XD That doesn't mean anyone'll die, but it doesn't mean they won't... Yup! Happy Birthday to Ruby~ He's officially... I don't know, but it's still a great day!
Guest: XD Glad you do!
wolfeclipse25: Everyone sounds so surprised. (I've been reading too many books where the villain always dies- *is shot*) Read my explanation to Light-Sakura above~
Kimiko Heroux: Dark Ruby is always hot. X) (I wrote this fic because I love dark versions of characters so much #SLAP *is shot*) He is a bit scary, but you can't expect him to be all bouncy and positive and "BEAUTIFUL!" *bishie sparkles* after what happened to him. There might be a BlueXSilver oneshot depending on whether or not anyone else gives feedback.
spiritgurl21: Thank you! :D Who can resist Franticshipping? Not me! X) No such thing as too much... Well, maybe in the middle of a battle like this, but most of the time, NO! XD
Guest: Next chapter= here. I hope you enjoy!
Remember to tell me what you guys want for your prize! I can draw too, just look at my deviantART if you wanna see~ Username: iluvshadowclaw! (not the exclamation point though. XD) See you all next chapter! BTW, in case anyone wants to know, this story has 25 chapters and an epilogue! Which means we're drawing quite close to the end!*