Hello everyone, I'm back once againwith chapter 9. I hope you enjoyed the lastquick update. I wanted to make up for the last rather short and with no action update with one that was longer. Even though the secons had no action in it either. Maybe I should have done a flashback of a battle. I don't know I might just do that. But I'm so happy now because it's vacation and I get to go see my dad in Texas! Maybe even go back to Liverpool for a bit. But anyway thanks to everyonw who clicked on my story, it's very appreaciated and I hope you enjoyed it.

Ultratron562: Crap. I completely forgot they look exactly the same. Well thanks for pointing that out at least, but as of right now they don't.

Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Or they could roast someone's toes of the flame of a Charizard's tail. No, the Man did not get Meowth, they'll see him later on. Maybe in this chapter if I make it long enough. Aaron and J are the obvious ones. As for Archie, I don't know I might have them fight now just to see what would come to mind as a write. Hm, I'm not sire if I should keep the Frantic (Is that what it's called?) positive or negative. I only made it that way so there could be another subplot. I don't know, can you?

Advanceforeverandafter: Thanks, I'll be sure to. I hope you enjoy the rest.

Pretty good: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. But, I don't think that's my style of writing, I can't do Pokemon battles well. I'm more of a man to man/Pokemon to Pokemon to the death fight where the result it victory or death rather than "Snivy fainted". But it doesn't mtter if you don't think you have the skill. Just do it, I'm obviously not the best writer there is but that didn't stop me.

Chapter 9: Flames Reignited

Ruby hadn't slept the entire night. It was obvious even though the nags under his eyes were almost invisible and he showed no signs of fatigue. Ash had stayed up many nights and once had to go five days wothout sleeping because he was being hunted. A few berries and self inflicted injury was all that kept him awake. But when he didn't sleep you could at least tell if you studied him for a bit. Ash had to ask if anyone else was woken up for gurad duty to figure out that he hadn't slept. I was his fault and he knew it. He shouldn't have asked that question, it wasn't even his place to ask. He had only known Sapphire for a little bit.

"Hey Ruby you feeling okay?" Ash asked. Ruby looked up, almost in the exact same position he had been in when Ash left. Ruby nodded in return and put on a smile. "Good enough to kick your ass" He said with a grin. At least he held no grudge against Ash for bringing it up, otherwise he would have just left his answer as a nod.

"That's good to hear" Ash said "Are you going to be escorting us all the way to the castle?"

Ruby smile faltered for a moment "We'll bring you as far as we can go without attracting attention" he responded.

Ash nodded "Thanks, I appreciate it".

"Anything for a friend" Ruby said absently, looking back out into the woods again. Ash walked back towards the sleeping areas. He sat down next to the still sleeping May "Oi, oi. Wake up" he said while nudging her. She just groaned and turned away from him. He sighed and took the blanket off of her. She groaned again and crossed her arms to her shoulders as if hugging herself and curled into a ball. "Get up or you'll miss breakfast" Ash said. The second the word "breakfast" left his mouth May's eyes snapped open. She lept out of bed and sent Eevee flying through the air who landed on the unsuspecting Pikachu. And dashed to the "kitchen" which was really just the campfire with various objects used as seats.

Ash raised an eyebrow at her reaction "She likes food huh? I'll remember that" he said, making a mental note himself. "Pikachu" he called out. He looked around but didn't see his friend anywhere. "Hey Pikachu!" he called again, this time Pikachu came out from around a tree looked dazed and stumbling around. Ash crouched down in front of Pikachu and put a hand on his back to steady Pikachu. "Are you alright, you look like hell. What happened?" Ash asked. Behind Ash Eevee was walking. she turned and gave Pikachu a wink before going on her merry way again. Pikachu flinched and began to scramble away but Ash's hand prevented him from running. "What happened to you buddy?" Ash muttered to himself as he held up the still running Pikachu by his tail.

He set the now slightly calmer Pikachu down and walked back to thew kitchen where breakfast was being served. He sat across from May who had Eevee in her lap and, unnoticed to all but the resident Slugma, winked at Pikachu more who lowered his head. Ash began taking helping for himself and gave the last of it to Pikachu. He stood after allowing Pikachu a chance to jump from his lap and looked at May. "We'll be moving out shortly, so get ready" he said before turning and preparing his own stuff. Thomas jumped up "Alright we get to serve again!" he yelled in excitement. Butch grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him back to his seat. "Calm down Thomas, serving in the Magma Core isn't something you should be happy about" Butch said. Thomas looked slightly deflated but still had the excitement in his eyes.

Ash turned with all his equipment strapped on to see everyone getting ready, he whistled to Pikachu indicating he was ready to move and Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. Eventually everyone was ready to move and Ash turned to head out "Let's go".

-Ruby's POV-

I didn't blame Ash for bringing up a hard subject. Besides, he had every right to know. Ash trusted me with his past so the least I could do was tell him about my present. It was my fault for staying up, but the nightmares her worse every night. The corpses littering the ground, the smell of blood heavy in the air, and the blood covering me.

I'm a monster

I the lowest of the low. How could I be worthy of leading the Magma Core if I couldn't even lead myself down the right path? I beat other people for a living and I let those under my command rob anyone who seems like they'd have coin on them. If my family could see me now. Would dad be ashamed? I know my mother would disown me on the spot. Were they sad when they heard I had died? Dad would probably just shake his head in disappointment, Mom might have shed a tear. But that doesn't matter, I'm dead after all. I wonder if the Aqua Guard told of how we fought with valor and heroism, or if they said that we failed our mission and should be disgraced in the history books. Maybe they even told the truth and said we were slaughtered as they ran away.

No, they probably said that we fell behind during the retreat and most likely ended the report with "The Magma Core had been extinguished" or some corny shit like that. It wouldn't surprise me.

Why does Thomas seem so happy? This is technically serving the royal family of Hoenn again. Technically, we're soldiers serving in the armed forces again. That isn't something we can be. It's not something we deserve. We'd have to earn our place back in the Hoenn ranks. Do something remarkable to gain our honor back, but how could we do that with six people? We can't.

So we'll only go to the border, then it's all up to them. The border wasn't far either. Just a little bit further up and we'd be golden.

Wait, this is wrong. Where are all the birds? There isn't a single noise coming from the forest. That never happens unless a Dragon type is coming through, they demand the respect and fear from the other Pokemon. They all go silent when one walks through. It doesn't matter, we're almost there anyway. We can avoid it if necessary, they aren't the quietest things in the world so it won't be hard to tell when he's coming around.

Ruby stopped before his team and they all stopped with him, Ash turned to look at them "Is this where you all stop?" he asked. I nodded in response. May looked at me "Why don't you come with us? They's give you a heroes welcome when you return to them".

I shook my head "We can't go back your highness. We have disgraced ourselves, the Magma Core, the king, and all of Hoenn. Such disgraces aren't worthy to go back" I said

"That's not true, you would be more than welcome at the castle" May said

"I'm sorry, but we have no right to go into Hoenn anymore. That's why we stay here, the last of the Magma Core. We're a dying breed, something that won't continue till our disgrace has been resolved or until we are needed again. But until any of these things happen, we will stay here"

"You must come with us thou-" the Princess was cut off though. An arrow embedded itself right under my leg, barley missing my calf.

"GET DOWN" I yelled

-Normal POV-

We all hit the ground as a few more arrows flew over our heads. The second they stopped we all jumped up, Ash standing in front of May protectively while the rest got in a defensive line. Ruby took out his own bow and fired in the general direction the arrows came form. At first nothing happened, Ruby notched another arrow into the bow and waited.

Soldiers burst from the trees and ran at the group, all of them with the Kanto crest on their breast plates. Matt began to fire his arrows and Ruby fired the one he had left notched in his bow before slinging it over his shoulder and drawing his sword. Each person was engaged in combat. Ruby hacked and slashed, falling back to defend before going on the offensive again. Pikachu kept into battle, he jumped and turned, electrocuting anyone that got close. He used iron tail as a sword and fended off any attackers that tried to get to May or Eevee.

Thomas was nowhere to be seen. It looked like he disappeared but a second later he appeared and stabbed an enemy in the back with his short sword before diving back into the underbrush and popping out somewhere new for a surprise attack. Butch lay waste to all that came his way. His massive axe turned into the weapon of mass destruction, each swing that didn't connect with flesh dug into a tree, cutting halfway through it before Butch took the bade out and began the next one. Matt looked like death itself, He was hell's angel. His hood and mask were put on at some point and he fired arrow after arrow at the approaching enemy. One got close but the calm look never left his eyes. The enemy slashed at Matt, trying to decapitate him but he ducked under the blow and pointed his bow upwards form his crouched position, his hand almost touching the ground from its drawn back position. He fired the arrow and it went straight into the head of his enemy. And when another soldier came close enough and gave him a slash, he spun around till the soldier's back was facing him. The soldier turned to come face to face with matt's calm but cold stare, and arrow drawn back but still inches from his throat. Matt didn't even release the arrow, he pushed it forward so it impaled into the soldier's throat and slashed his neck open and using the momentum to turn around and fire the arrow at an incoming enemy.

Samantha fought enemy after enemy, she stood and fought ferociously. No strike reached her, soldier after soldier came down, raining blows like a hail storm but nothing made contact. Be it by dodging, blocking by the shield, or a parry by sword, nothing seemed to make contact with her. Her strikes driving them back into the forest, leaving no man in her sight unharmed. David used his longsword to the fullest. His strikes left no one unmarked as he made his way through the enemies. It was like he was marking his enemies, claiming them as his kill, that his handiwork had caused this slaughter if the king's "great army". Well this great army was being obliterated by his longsword and they could do nothing but throw their bodies at his sword.

And Ruby. He had certainly earned the title of the "Red Eyed Reaper" as they called him in the Black Book. Everything in his path turned into his own weapon. He made their swords pierce each other, their arrows kill their comrades. Even the trees seemed to fight for him. Be it a spin to dodge a sword or a duck to abios an arrow, a tree seemed to appear to block the strike of another enemy that seemed like he would have killed Ruby. But he just appeared on the other side of the tree and with fury in his eyes he took them out. This is why they were the Magma Core. They were worthy of the title in all aspects. They always said that when you defeat the Magma Core you only delay your death, for now it is certain that you will perish, your last sight being the red and black of their uniform. Finally there was the "Black Death of Kanto". Ash fought with two knives for a change, a dangerous way to fight if you didn't know how to use them. He was up close and personal with his enemies, going face to face with them before they felt him impaling them with one of his blades, sometimes both. Every motion was fluid, every strike hits its mark, and every kill added to the pile of bodies around him. Just how many were there? They seemed nonstop as they flowed from the trees, a seemingly unending stream of soldier with the intent to kill. And when it looked like they wouldn't stop they were gone. It seemed so quick, like one moment they we're there and the next they weren't.

Everyone was breathing hard, but even in their exhaustion Ash bolted towards May who stood face to face with a soldier, his body blocking Ash's view of May. But he fell to the ground right before Ash got there. And when Ash fought his eyes up to see what had happened, he saw his knife covered in blood and in May's trembling hand. Her eyes filled with terror.

"H-h-h-he w-wouldn't s-s-stop c-c-coming a-after m-m-me" she said with a shaky voice. "I h-had n-no c-choice. I-i-it w-w-asn't m-my f-f-fault". Ash stepped closer to her and geld her arm and took the blade from her hands. She flinched at the contact and jumped back, still think she had a knife in her hands she pointed air at him. "S-stay a-away!" she shouted at him. Eevee tried to console her friend but May pointed her air blade at Eevee too, just the thought of May threatening her was bought for Eevee to become visibly depressed. Ash kept taking step after step closer to her though. And just when he got close enough he wrapped his arms around her.

She froze at the contact

It broke her out of her traumatized state. And she broke down. Tears began to pour down her cheeks and she let out a choked sob before burying her face in Ash's chest and crying. He slowly went down so he was sitting on the ground with her basically in his lap. Everyone reacted differently on their first kill. Most reacted like she did, they burst in to tears. Both men and woman usually did something along the lines of this. Ash remembered when he first killed a person. Meowth had been trapped in a corner by a guy he was supposed to rob for a contract. Ash had come home early from his and seen what was happening. He didn't hesitate to plunge his dagger into the back of the man. At first he thought "Meowth is safe", then he realized what he had done. He had killed a fellow human being. But he didn't shed a tear, he didn't break down, he just looked at the body before kicking it. "He deserved it" were his only words, a cold look on his face. Ash had already killed Pokemon, he had to. He lived in the woods after all, it's not like he could go to the store and buy something with his non existent money. He had to hunt and that man was another predator like him, so he had to take out the competition.

Despite looking invincible in battle then Magma Core was cut up and bleeding. They looked tired and exhausted, but they didn't check their wounds. they could only look at their Princess crying after having to kill someone. Something that they were supposed to make sure never happened. there duty was to serve the royal family, and they were just about to walk away from the long lost Princess. What kind of soldiers were they?

Ruby walked to them and crouched a few feet away from Ash "We'll take you to the castle" he said. Ash looked up from the crying May and nodded before looking back down at May. After a little while May stopped crying and sat there in Ash's arms, an empty look in her eyes. Ash basically hulled her up from her sitting position and stood with her clinging to his arm as if it was her lifeline. "Ready when you are" Ash said in a soft voice. May nodded her head dully.

Ruby nodded and went back to his squad. "Everyone patch yourselves up, we're heading out soon" everyone nodded and grabbed a pouch in their belts that were identical to each other. They were the standard Magma Core medical kit. They began to tend to themselves and each other. Samantha had a gash along her stomach that David was tending to. David had a scrape alone this cheek and visible tear in his cloths that were stained with blood. Butch had a scratches all over his body. Thomas had taken an arrow in the back of his shoulder and Butch was in the muddle of pulling it out. He yelped like a girl. The only person that didn't seem to have a scratch on them was Matt. He was calming looking at Ruby who was in the middle of pulling the broken off blade of a knife from his gut.

"How did you not notice that there was about and inch of a blade in your stomach when we were done fighting?" Matt asked in a sarcastic voice. Ruby just grunted in response. Not being able to talk because he had one of Matt's knives in his mouth so he could bite on it. He took a sharp intake of breath as he pulled the three inch broken blade from his gut. Blood began to pour from the wound and before anyone could say anything he drove it back in the wound. He face was contorted in pain but he smiled and said "I'll leave it there till the bleeding stops".

Matt shook his head "You're insane". Ruby grinned "You're figuring this out now?"

Matt chuckled at that before taking Ruby over to a tree and setting him down so her could treat his wounds. Ash did nothing to treat his, the blood had dried up anyway. They only needed to be covered for infection now but it didn't look like May was going to let go anytime soon, and he wasn't going to make her. So he sat himself and her against a tree and watched the others tend to each other while ignoring the pain. He looked at May "Are you going to be alright?" he asked.

May just looked up at him "How do you do it? Hoe do you keep killing without a second thought?" she asked. Ash sighed and leaned his head against the tree so he could look at the sky. "I grew up in the woods alone for about half my life. I lived with Pokemon and there was only one rule, one standing. You were either prey or the predator. So naturally I became the predator to survive. I hunted with my pack, practiced fighting with my friends, and ate what I killed. Sometimes other predators would attack you to eliminate competition and you had to kill them or they'd just come back. It was the only way of life I knew. So when I killed my first human it was nothing knew. He was about to prey on my friend, the only person who taught me about the human world which was unknown to me until he showed up. When I first met him he was muttering in English, which drew me in. I knew what a Meowth was but I had ever heard now say anything other than "Meowth". So I followed him around for a while, watching him fail at hunting in my territory" Ash smiled when he remembered Meowth's bad hunting talent "But I started copying what he was saying. Some of the first things he taught me were curse words" Ash said, chuckling a bit "But after years of teaching I was finally like a real boy, except his job was being a mercenary. And so as you would expect I joined him in his missions and that led to him being cornered which is when I drove a knife into a man's back. I'm not proud of my skills, but it's the inly life I've ever known. I does get easier as you keep going though. The nightmares aren't that bad anymore, but I still don't like going to sleep anymore. Ruby is the same way. Most mercenaries and soldiers are, and I'm sorry that i had to make you experience something like that, it wash;t my intention" Ash said

May shook her head "It's not your fault. You couldn't have kept all those men at bay. If it weren't for all of them then we;d probably be red right now" She said while gesturing to the other members of their group. "I'd be dead" Ash corrected "You'd be heading back to Saffron". May shuddered, how did you fight without getting hurt though? I figured you would have been injured" May said

Ash grimaced "I'm not exactly scathe free right now May" he said. May jumped up suddenly "You've been hurt this while time and you didn't do anything about it!" she shouted angrily. Ash flinched "Well you were my first priority so..." May's face turned red and she turned to hide her face and grabbed one of the Magma's medical kits before she began ranting while patching up Ash who was laughing a little.

"Looks like she's back to normal" Samantha said to David who nodded, stealing a glance back at the two. "Looks to be that way" he said.

Chapter 9 is done. I'm not too proud of my action scene there, I could have done a better job. I'll probably go back and make it better but this needs to be out on time. Still, I got Friday off so I'm happy. I hope everyone else has April vacation like I do and sorry if you don't. Suggestions, hate, praise or anything else is always welcome. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time.

-novaking2832