This one's a bit of a shortie...but a lot of stuff happens.

Chapter 53 - Confrontation

"All right...let's see what happens."

Khrista rose above the crowd, turning her gaze away from Joshua, Collin, and Matthew, a sinister look crossing her face as she looked a rather haggard Cyrus over.

"Cyrus," she telepathically called out in a sinister tone that only ghosts could possibly have. "Where are you?"

Just as Joshua had predicted, the Galactic leader was certainly not himself after what Darkrai and the storm were doing to him psychologically. Cyrus practically jumped out of his socks at the sound of Khrista's mental voice.

The rest of the (basically) free-minded people in the room were also disturbed by the nightmarish tone. The two Galactic grunts standing on either side of the stage stiffened and shifted their hold on their Voltorb launchers.

However, what happened next was not what Joshua or Khrista had expected.

The Galactic leader snapped his fingers, and Khrista instantly felt a tingling sensation all over her body. A moment later, the entire crowd below her let out a gasp, causing Khrista to look down.

She realized a moment later that she was actually visible.

Foresight! Joshua cursed. This shouldn't have happened!

Khrista, think fast! came Pika's voice from below. Khrista had handed Matthew her backpack and her PokeBalls before taking off, and now Liz was gripping Sparkler's SafariBall tightly while she watched the events unfold before her.

Khrista's eyes narrowed, and she shot upwards towards the air above the stage.

However, she never managed to get there. Something shot up at her from behind and wrapped green vines around her middle, securing her arms. Every time Khrista tried to escape from them by becoming intangible - or simply pulling harder - the vines would tighten or pull harder in an attempt to get her down to ground level. The brown-haired teen was hovering inches above the stage within minutes.

Cyrus gave Khrista a sneer. "Did you really think that you would be able to escape me, just because of Darkrai's influence?" He turned to look at the source of he vines. "And make sure she stays put!"

The Bulbasaur at the other end of the vines glanced over at Cyrus and gave a slight nod.

Cyrus returned his attention to Khrista for a moment, and then he turned to face the center of the stage and put his hands behind his back. As though this was a signal, Ash suddenly stepped up onto the stage and moved to stand in front of Khrista.

Khrista swallowed nervously upon seeing the strange look in Ash's red eyes. It was almost murderous.

Khrista felt helpless. With Ash Ketchum nearby - and defenses against the Types she could work around so well - there really wasn't much else she could do to get away.

Well, there was one thing she could probably do. Khrista trained her eyes on the back of Cyrus' head.

"Well. I knew you'd managed to take over the planet, but I didn't think it'd take that much out of you. What happened? Zombie apocalypse?"

There were some snickers from the crowd - especially from the Avatars standing near the front of the stage.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to show up, face to face," Cyrus sneered at the girl without looking back, ignoring the laughter. "How is it that you have managed to avoid capture?"

"I was busy. What of it?" Khrista tried to up her annoyed tone over the terrified squeaks that were trying to work their way into her voice.

"You're being 'busy' nearly cost my my world," Cyrus replied coldly. "Get her."

Khrista's eyes widened when she saw red gems materialize on Ash's arms. The murderous look changed for a moment - showing apologetic terror - but soon, that was gone. A moment later, a chain of red gems had surrounded Khrista.

The Bulbasaur keeping her up in the air quickly retracted its vines like it had been stung, but Khrista remained hovering as the Red Chain closed in on her. She tried to fly away, but the Red Chain kept her in place and seemed to be weakening her, somehow.

Cyrus turned and gave an evil smile to Khrista. "You have been a thorn in my side because you were not put under my control. Now that I have you, the rest shall follow."

Khrista, watching as the Red Chain closed in, became desperate. She tried to change her Type to something else, in order to try and break free. Her mind began to move at a mile a minute as she tried to find something, do something, that could help her break free.

As Khrista's vision began to turn red, something clicked, and her vision went white.

Cliffhanger!

Originally, I had decided that Joshua's plan to have Khrista mess with Cyrus' head would actually work, but I decided to go a different route when I rewrote this so that things would end up being way more angsty. Especially considering that it now looks like Cyrus has his sanity back...

See you guys tomorrow!