Chapter 38: Purging the Darkness

Everyone stared in shock and horror at the sight that presented itself to them. Bonnie was in tears as Max comforted her while glaring at their enemy with absolute hatred. Clemont was trying hard not to cry, more shocked than most of the others. Misty's eyes were wide with horror, while Brock shook his head solemnly. Dawn had her hands over her mouth, horrified tears brimming in her eyes. Iris and Cilan's jaws had fallen to the ground.

And Ash just stood there, eyes wide with horror and pain. Even though he was the one who figured out who the traitor was, it didn't change how much it hurt to see a close friend turn against him like this. Serena, meanwhile, just stood there, dark energy crackling around her. Her beautiful blue eyes had been replaced by voids of darkness, glowing with hatred. Her wonderful smile was gone, replaced by a malicious scowl. Her long golden hair, however, remained unchanged.

"Serena," he finally said after an unbearable silence. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"If there's anyone who should be able to answer that question, it's you, you traitorous devil!" she shouted in return. Her voice, despite the distortion caused by the darkness, was obviously laced with pain.

"I don't understand," Ash shook his head. "I want to...I want to understand so badly. Please...tell me why you're betraying us like this!"

"Betraying you?" Serena exclaimed. She sounded shocked. "It was YOU who betrayed ME!"

"What?!" Misty cried.

"How?" Ash asked, frowning slightly. "How did I betray you? What did I do that hurt you so –?" He stopped mid-sentence, looking down at his hands as the pieces suddenly started to fall into place. "...badly?" he finished, eyes enlightened and arms trembling.

I knew she didn't like me because you chose me over her, but...I've never seen her act so vicious before! She was nervous about travelling in the dark, so I took her hand to reassure her and bring her along. Then she slapped my hand and called me an ugly piece of filth!

"May," he whispered.

"About time you figured it out, you fool," Serena growled. "You left me in the dust for that...that...!"

"No!" Ash snapped back. "I never stopped caring about you, Serena. I have always seen you as a close friend. Isn't that enough for you?"

"NO!" Serena bellowed, shaking the whole atmosphere. "To call me a friend is not enough. You belong to me, and to me alone!"

"Serena, stop this!" he cried. "Do you even hear yourself? You're talking like a madman!"

"I don't care!" Serena snarled at him. "I stopped caring a long time ago. Only one thing matters."

"What?" he asked. "What do you want? What can I do that will stop this madness?"

"Ash, no!" Misty cried.

"Don't negotiate! It's a trap!" Brock cried as well. Ash didn't hear either of them.

"Leave all these fools behind," Serena replied, "and come with me." She held her hand out to him. "They have no place in the future my master has planned. You and I can come together and be happy, just like we always wanted."

"WHAT?!" everyone else cried.

"No!" Ash shouted back at her. "That's insane! Do you really mean to say that Mewtwo will destroy us all?!"

"Unless you wish you cooperate," she leered at him, "yes."

"What about Bonnie? What about Clemont?" he cried desperately. "Will you let them be destroyed, too?"

"Collateral damage is an unfortunate side effect of my master's grand scheme," she replied softly. "But all greatness comes at a price. No: Bonnie and Clemont will not be spared."

"How can you say that?!" Ash cried in horror. "Don't you remember our journey together? We traversed the whole Kalos region together! We laughed together, we cried together, we played together!" He was practically screaming now. "Do you remember any of that?! Does that mean nothing to you?!"

"I remember nothing but darkness!" Serena snarled. "A darkness you cast over us all by abandoning me for an inferior! You think mere sentiment will change the fact that you betrayed me? Pathetic!"

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You…" he whispered. "Who are you? You're not the girl I saved at summer camp all those years ago."

"My offer remains, Ash," she growled impatiently. "Come with me, or you will perish with the rest of these fools."

"You're out of your mind if you think I'll take that offer," he snarled. "Don't act like you care about my well-being, either. I know you're not really Serena."

"What?"

"Serena and I travelled through Kalos for nearly a year before we went our separate ways," Ash explained. "We formed a really strong friendship in that time. When she learned that I'd chosen someone else to be my girlfriend, she was hurt. She struggled for a long time to cope with the fact that her longtime crush was with someone else. Yet even then, in the midst of her jealousy, anger, and sadness, she still tried to be positive about life. She wanted to move on. She wanted to be happy. She told me so herself the last time we saw each other before the darkness took over." He stared directly into the voids that had replaced her eyes. "You are not that girl," he growled. "You're a monster. You care only for yourself. Nothing you say will change my mind!"

"You fool," she growled. "Are you really going to let yourself be destroyed?"

"If it means being with my friends in their last moments?" he replied. "Yes."

"Why? What do you have to gain? Nothing! You have everything to lose! Come with me, and you will have much more than you could ever dream of!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Ash screamed. "I won't leave my my friends in our darkest hour. I will stand by and fight with them to my last breath!"

"GAHHHHHHH!" Serena screamed back, unleashing a dark wave of energy that knocked everyone onto their backs. Ash grunted and stood back up, as did everyone else.

"Go ahead," he growled lowly. "Do your worst. I won't back down."

"You have nothing here," she sneered.

"Yeah, you've only said that ten times," he mumbled.

"Why fight? Your friends are doomed, and your precious May is dead. I should know: I killed her myself."

"Did you really?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, and what a glorious death it was. Her scream of agony, the blood on her body...oh, I waited far too long to witness that sight!"

"You must have enjoyed it quite a bit," he said, fists shaking.

"Now tell, me, Ash...what do you have left here worth fighting for?"
A small smile formed on Ash's face. "You're wrong, you know."

"What?"

His smile grew. "You didn't kill her."

"Huh?" Max looked up, intrigued.

"Heheheh," Serena chuckled. "You were so attached to her, obsessed with her, that even now that she's dead you delude yourself into believing she's alive."

"You're one to talk about delusions, Serena," he snapped back. "And just to be clear, I'm not just playing with obsession here. She's not dead."

"What is the meaning of this?" she growled.

"You were too quick to leave," Ash explained. "I thought I'd lost her when I saw her hand fall limply to the ground. But then Shadow came to us and looked her over. He discovered that she wasn't completely dead yet, and he used the last of his Chaos energy to return her to our world." He turned to Max with a compassionate gaze. "She's in a coma right now," he said softly. "She's asleep and badly wounded, but she's alive."

"Really?" Max whispered.

Ash nodded at him with his smile of assurance. "Really, really."

"No," Serena huffed, her whole form trembling. "No!" Dark energy crackled violently around her. "NOOOO!" she screamed, unleashing another blast. This time, although everyone was knocked back by the force of the blast, they stayed standing, covering their faces for protection. "YOU," she snarled, pointing at Ash. "YOU FILTHY LITTLE RAT! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!" She raised her fists angrily and began forming a ball of energy. Then she shot it at him. He braced himself for the impact, but a massive fist punched the energy away. "WHAT?!"

"Get away from him, you fiend!" a familiar voice shouted. Sonic the Werehog ran up as fast as he could, accompanied by Tails and Knuckles.

"Sonic!" Ash exclaimed. "You guys!"

"Save the pleasantries," Sonic said quickly. "We'll have time for that later."

"NO," Serena snarled, rage consuming her. "THERE WILL BE NO TIME FOR ANYTHING." She glared at Ash with absolute hatred. "IF I CANNOT HAVE YOU, THEN NO ONE CAN!" She rushed forward, dagger in hand, and tried to stab him. He grabbed her wrist right before she could plunge the knife into his stomach and held her back.

"Serena, stop this!" he shouted at her. "I know that this isn't what you really want. Let go of your anger!"

"SILLLENNNNCCCCCE!" she screamed, pushing harder. Sonic, seeing Ash was starting to get overpowered, leapt forward and punched the Messenger away from him, knocking her down.

"He needs help!" Misty cried. Everyone ran up to help him, only for a barrier to suddenly emerge, completely blocking out everyone except for Ash and Pikachu, and Sonic.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU INTERFERE," Serena snarled. "THIS IS OUR CONFLICT, AND WE WILL RESOLVE IT OURSELVES."

"Is that the way it's gonna be?" Sonic muttered, clenching his massive fists.

"Then so be it," Ash nodded, pulling out a Pokeball. "Wait just a moment, Serena. Let me remind you just exactly what kind of power you're dealing with! GRENINJA! I CHOOSE YOU!" He hurled the Pokeball into the air. It opened and unleashed its energy, which quickly materialized into Ash's most powerful Water-type Pokemon.

"Nin-JA!" he said.

"YOUR POWER IS NOTHING AGAINST DARKNESS," the Messenger replied. "BRAIXEN. DESTROY THEM!" In response to her command, something began to rise out of the darkness they stood on. It materialized into a dark and sinister version of Serena's signature Pokemon.

"Let's see how long your Pokemon can keep up your big attitude!" Sonic taunted her. He jumped forward and tried to punch Braixen, but the dark fox swatted him away with her stick. A purple flame glowed on the end of it.

"Watch out, Sonic!" Ash said. "Her Pokemon's stronger because of the darkness!"

"Doesn't affect me!" Sonic retorted with a grin. "I'm stronger because of the the darkness, too!"

"Well, don't be careless!" Ash replied. "This isn't a game anymore!"

"BRAIXEN!" Serena commanded her Pokemon, "USE FLAMETHROWER!"

Braixen obeyed, unleashing a torrent of flames. Greninja nimbly dodged the attack and retaliated with a Water Shuriken. Braixen deflected all but one of them, which struck her gut and knocked her backwards. She quickly regained her composure and furiously fired a ball of flame at the aquatic ninja. It hit him directly, but he quickly shook it off, being resistant to it by typing. Then he leapt up and suddenly created multiple copies of himself, all of which flashed forward to swarm their opponent. But Braixen, to everyone's shock, easily countered this with a dark energy blast that blew up all around her, knocking away everything in the vicinity.

"What?" Ash exclaimed. "What was that?!"

"I KNOW THAT STRATEGY FAR TOO WELL, ASH," Serena sneered. "I WILL NOT LOSE THAT EASILY. BRAIXEN! FINISH OFF THAT PATHETIC TOAD!"

Braixen snarled viciously and generated a massive fireball on the end of her stick. She launched it at the downed Greninja, who had no time to dodge. But just before the attack could hit its target, Sonic's massive fist punched it away.

"You won't lose so easily, huh?" Sonic retorted. "Well neither will we!" With that, he leapt forward and punched Braixen in the gut, knocking her back. She leapt back to her feet and charged at Sonic with a flaming stick. He locked her stick in his grasp, resulting in them pushing one against the other. Both of them were powered up by the darkness within them, but Sonic's strength ultimately prevailed, and he threw Braixen back, slamming her into her trainer. The two of them fell into a heap, but they swiftly recovered and got onto their feet once again. Braixen thrust her stick into the ground, and flames shot out from it like a star. Sonic was confused, but then the flames started converging around him in a cylindrical pattern.

"What's this?" he said.

Ash's eyes widened. "The vortex strategy," he murmured. "The one she made based on Greninja's transformation. I haven't seen her use that in forever!" He looked at her void-like eyes in sadness. "Her heart must be bleeding right now." Then he clenched his fist. "And that's why we need to save her!"

"Augh!" Sonic cried as the flames surrounded him. "I can't...break free!"

"Greninja!" Ash commanded. "Use Water Shuriken!"

Greninja obeyed, unleashing a dozen large shurikens that disposed of the flames surrounding Sonic, freeing him. He shook himself off and glared back at Braixen. The fox Pokemon leapt up and threw more fireballs at him. Greninja, coming to his aid, countered these with several small Water Shurikens. This resulted in a stalemate until Greninja upped his ante, throwing a large shuriken at Braixen and knocking her back to the ground. Taking advantage of the opening, Sonic leapt up and slammed his fist into her gut. Braixen screamed in pain. When he leapt off of her and stood next to Greninja again, she stood up, panting from exhaustion.

"Braixen can't take much more," Sonic said. "Should we finish it off?"

"Not yet," Ash replied, then looked back at his former friend. "Serena! Your Pokemon is tired. Let her rest."

"NO," Serena growled. "I WILL NOT GIVE UP UNTIL IT'S OVER!"

Her words struck Ash in the heart, and he looked at her with compassion. She's still in there he thought. I know she is! We've got to break through to her! "Serena, listen to me!" he called again. "I know you're angry with me and that rejecting you hurt you badly."

"YOU RIPPED MY HEART OUT," she retorted.

"No!" Ash snapped back, though not vehemently as he slowly walked towards her. "I know I hurt you, but I didn't ruin your life. I didn't turn you into a monster, or cast a shadow over you. You did that to yourself."

"Ash, what are you doing?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"TRAITOR," Serena snarled softly.

"Mewtwo twisted your anger and jealousy into madness, but I know the real you is still in there. I know, deep down, this isn't what you want. You don't want to kill me, or May, or any of us, nor do you want to see the world we love get destroyed."

"YOU ARE TRYING TO CONFUSE ME...IT...WON'T...WORK!"

"Serena!" Ash cried, "Please, let go of your anger! It doesn't have to be this way!" He was standing directly in front of her now. "Leave the past behind. You can still find happiness in life. There's an entire, beautiful world out there waiting for you to explore. Do you really want to destroy it? Is that really what you want?"

"UGGGHHHHH...NNNNGGGGHHHH," Serena groaned in pain, clutching her head.

"Break free," Ash encouraged her. "Let it go."

"NO!" she suddenly screamed, whipping out a knife and holding it to his throat. He gasped in fear as he stared into the voids of her eyes.

"Ash, no!" Sonic cried, rushing forward. But dark energy subdued and immobilized him. He struggled to break free, helpless to watch his friend stare death in the face.

"Is this really what you want?" Ash whispered. Serena's only response was very heavy breathing. Ash sighed, secretly fearing that what he said next would be his last regret. "Then go ahead. Kill me."

"What?!" Misty screamed.

"Ash, what are you doing?!" Brock cried. All his friends said likewise.

"Kill me," Ash said to Serena, "but before you do, I have one request."

"AND WHAT IS THAT?" Serena sneered, a malicious grin on her face.

Ash stared into her voids, a single tear trickling from his eye. "Let me...look into your eyes...one last time…"

She blinked, confused. "YOU'RE LOOKING INTO THEM NOW."

"No. I mean your real eyes, not these voids of hatred and darkness. Please," he pleaded, another tear falling down his face. "Just for a moment...that's all I want...then...you can kill me."

Serena just stood there, frozen. Her hand holding the dagger trembled as she clenched her teeth, her eyes twitching. Everyone watched, frozen in terror as they waited for the inevitable.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ash squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for his throat to burst open. But no pain came. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw Serena writing on the ground in pain. He turned and saw that the dagger had been thrown away. He looked at her, frightened.

"Serena!" he exclaimed. "Serena, what's wrong?!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" she continued to scream as she writhed on the ground. Then, finally, with an ear-piercing scream, a dark energy ripped away from her body. When her screams faded, she fell to the ground, unconscious. He rushed up to her without a second thought and rolled her onto her back. Her face was laced with pain, eyes shut tightly yet softly and teeth clenched in the same manner. He placed his hand on her forehead and slowly rubbed it as though checking for a fever. As he did so, her expression gradually softened until it looked completely peaceful.

"Serena..." he whispered.

Her eyelids twitched slightly. Then her eyes fluttered open. Gone were the voids of despair, replaced by the beautiful sky-blue orbs everyone knew and loved.

"Ash…" she said, her voice hoarse. He could see water in her eyes.

His own eyes began to well up, and he pulled her into a tight embrace as the tears fell down their faces. She returned it, still in the robes she wore as the Messenger, and clutched his back as though in desperation. She sobbed loudly as the two of them embraced. Beside them, the barrier that had blocked everyone else off disappeared, and Sonic was freed from the bonds that held him down. They quickly rushed up to the two of them in concern.

"I'm sorry," Serena choked out through her sobs. "I'm so sorry."

"Shhh," Ash whispered soothingly. "It's over now. It doesn't matter anymore."

Finally, the two of them let each other go, in more ways than one. "How?" she whispered. "How can you say that after all I've done?"

"Because you're my friend," he replied. "You have always been my friend. I could never see you as anything less."

"But I betrayed you!" she said. "I betrayed everyone: Clemont, Bonnie, Sonic...and I even tried to kill the girl you love! How can you possibly forgive me for all that?"

"Serena," Ash said, "that wasn't all your fault. It's like I said; Mewtwo twisted your hurt and pain into anger and hatred. Now that you're free of his control, you don't have to feel that way anymore."

"But...what about May?"

He smiled warmly at her. "It's like I said: she's gonna be okay."

"Do you think that she'll forgive me?"

"Of course she will."

Serena returned his warm smile. "I guess that shouldn't shock me," she said. "You two are so alike, yet so distinct; it's no surprise you fell for each other. You're the sun to her moon."

"I guess so," Ash said. He took her hand in his. "Is that okay with you?"

"If it makes you happy," she replied, "then yes."

He nodded and helped her up. She looked around at everyone, a tinge of guilt still in her eyes. Everyone was more cautious than Ash...except for Bonnie. She slowly walked up, looking up into Serena's eyes, then rammed into her and gave her the biggest hug imaginable. Serena looked down at the little girl and gladly returned the embrace.

"I love you, Serena," Bonnie whispered into her chest.

A tear fell from Serena's eyes at that. "I love you too, Bonnie."

So...you have defeated my Messenger, have you?

Everyone looked up sharply to see their true enemy staring down at them from above, a malicious glare in his purple eyes. He was slowly descending upon them.

"Shadow Mewtwo," Ash glared at him.

"At long last," Sonic said, clenching his fists.