Chapter 10

A/N: Hey guys I'm finally back and I am so sorry for taking so long to update. I might have said this before but I plan to update much more frequently in the future. Anyway, as always I hope that you enjoy the chapter and sorry again.

'Wait, how can you be Togoros? I thought that he'd been trapped back in hell', Ash pointed out.

Misty/Togoros laughed again.

'Is that what you heard? Well I'm sorry to tell you boy that you're wrong. You see, I wasn't imprisoned in hell again. No, instead I was trapped on this island. But it hasn't been so bad; every so often I lure a few people here to, let's say, play with. I can access a person's thoughts and memories and use them to mess with them. Everything that you've seen here so far? The deepest fears of the people that have come here before you. Well, almost everything anyway; there are some things that I've created myself'.

'You're sick', Ash spat.

Misty/Togoros smiled sinisterly. 'You don't know the half of it, but I can't wait for you to find out'.

Misty's face relaxed back into her peaceful, sleeping expression and Ash got the impression that Togoros was gone. He looked over to see a clearly terrified Dawn hugging her knees and rocking backwards and forwards slightly.

'We're never going to get off this island. We are so, so screwed', she was muttering to herself. Ash couldn't blame her; it was a lot for her to handle. He touched her arm and she looked at him.

'Hey just calm down alright. I promise that the three of us will make it out of here'.

He said it with such confidence that Dawn believed him. She leaned into him and he put an arm around her shoulders. She fell asleep like that.

The morning sunlight pierced through Ash's eyelids and half blinded him when he opened his eyes. Groaning, he rolled over and saw that Dawn and Misty were already up and had gathered some semblence of a breakfast.

'Well look who's finally up', Misty said teasingly.

Ash smiled back half - heartedly. 'Hey Mist, what do you remember about last night?' he asked.

'That's a strange question. I remember finding this pond, bathing and then I think that I fell asleep'.

'Nothing else?'

'No. What's this about?'

Ash filled her in on the previous night's events.

'He was possesing me?' she gasped, understandably horrified.

'I'm not sure exactly', Ash admitted. 'Technically speaking you shouldn't be able to possessed but whether you were or not, either way he was using you as a mouthpiece'.

'Why me?'

'Probably because you're his descendant', Ash's eyes widened as realisation struck him. 'That's why we're here. Or why you're here anyway. You're the only one that can host him; I think that he brought you here so that he can take you over and wreak havoc when the last part of the ritual is completed'.

Misty looked justifiably disturbed at this revelation. 'Is there any way to stop him possessing me?' she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

'Not as far as I know', Ash replied reluctantly.

Misty looked down. 'Oh'.

'Let's try to be optomistic here', Dawn said in attempt to cheer her up. 'I bet that Brock and May will stop the ritual from happening, so no need to worry right?'

'Right', Misty agreed, giving her a grateful smile.

'Let's focus on getting off this island'.

Ash and Misty nodded and the three of them set off through the forest.

34,000 feet above Kanto, inbound flight from Hoenn.

Drew was bored. The flight to Kanto wasn't paticularly long but he had forgotten to bring something to read and the in flight movie; something about a sparkly douchebag vampire and a wooden faced, air-headed moron, held absolutely no interest for him. To make matters worse the woman sitting next to him was a woman with a baby who had barely stopped crying since they took off and it was beginning to give him a headache.

To try and take his mind off it, he looked out the window. They were currently flying over the Kanto countryside and in the distance he could just make out the buildings of a city. He was on his way to visit May. She had been asking him to come for a while but he had kept putting it off, too focused on a couple of new ideas he had for appeals. She was supposed to be meeting him at Viridian City airport when he landed and he had sent her a text when his flight had taken off but she had yet to text back. He hoped that she would be there to meet him; he'd had enough of his fellow passengers by now.

The baby next to him continued to scream and Drew seriously considered telling the woman to shut it up before he threw it off the plane but ultimately settled for giving her a dirty look. Sighing loudly, he put his earphones in and tried to drown out the evil little puke machine's cries with Linkin Park and Black Veil Brides.

He wasn't bothered by the occassional jolt as the plane hit a spot of turbulence and had drifted off to sleep when he was jerked awake abruptly by a disturbance. It took him a moment to realise what had woken him up and once he had located the source of the noise he watched on in interest.

Across from him and three rows down from where Drew sat, a powerfully built, blonde haired man was shouting at a male and a female flight attendants. The airline employees were trying to calm the man down by talking to him in low, reasonable voices too quiet for Drew to make out what was being said, but the enraged passenger was having none of it.

Drew tensed when the man reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun that he'd somehow managed to smuggle past security. Ignoring the panicked cries of the flight attendants, he aimed and fired three shots at the window next to him, the bangs startlingly loud in the enclosed space. People jumped and screamed and the child next to Drew once again began crying.

The first bullet slammed into the glass and Drew could just make out a few cracks spreading out from the center. The second bullet made the window look like a spider web of cracks, whilst the third shattered the window pane entirely.

The effect was instantaneous and devastating. Immediately the cabin depressurised and the plane tilted downwards in a deadly descent. Unsecured objects inside the cabin were sucked outside. Magazines, books and other smaller objects went including Drew's iPod, it's earphones trailing behind it.

The oxygen masks dropped down from overhead and Drew quickly grabbed his and put it on, already having trouble breathing. Noticing that the woman next to him appeared to have frozen in terror, he put hers on for her.

Larger objects were now being sucked towards the window and Drew thought that he saw part of the fuselage begin to tear next to the window frame. He watched in growing horror as the tear widened and part of the side of the plane peeled away. The man sitting next to the window was torn from his seat and dragged out of the hole with a high pitched scream. After seeing that, a terrified Drew fastened his seat belt although he was too late to help the woman next to him.

Her eyes met his own terrified ones as she was dragged out of her seat, across the plane and out the other side. Drew saw a large duffel bag hit her in the head just before she disappeared from view and hoped that, for her sake, she had been knocked out.

Outside, a piece of jagged fuselage struck the fuel tank under the wing, ripping a whole in it and causing a spark. A huge fireball erupted from under the wing, destroying it and almost making Drew lose control of his bladder. The explosion triggered a chain reaction as sharpnel pierced the plane's fuselage and its other fuel tanks.

People screamed as they burned, the fire quickly spreading over their bodies and the interior of the plane. The plane was falling faster now and, unknown to Drew, straight towards a mountain.

Heart hammering, Drew closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds of screaming and the smells of smoke and burning flesh. He tried to tell himself that he was anywhere but this hell, that this wasn't happening.

As the front of the burning plane crashed into the mountain, Drew smiled to himself as a fantasy of himself and May alone together on a beach at sunset filled his mind and amazingly a feeling of calm washed over him.

He didn't even feel the plane abruptly end its descent or the heat of the fire on his skin. He only felt May's hand in his and the surf gently lapping at his bare feet.

Pokemon centre room, Vermillion City.

May and Brock were sitting on one of the bunks waiting for Gary to come back. Brock had sent him to try and find Ash, Misty and Dawn, thinking that he might be able to locate them from the other side.

May sighed loudly from her place on one of the beds, her head resting in her hands. 'How much longer is Gary going to take?' she grumbled impatiently. No sooner had she said it than Gary appeared standing in her lap. She yelped at the icy touch and threw herself backwards. 'Gary, don't do that!' she scolded.

Brock frowned when Gary failed to produce his usual mischievous grin. 'What's wrong Gary?' he asked, correctly interpreting the ghost's grave expression.

Gary sat on the edge of the bed and met Brock's gaze. 'I couldn't find Ashy-boy and Misty but I found out something else instead', he paused. 'Brock, we're down to the last parts of the ritual and one of them has already been completed'.

Brock was stunned. 'I thought that the situation was better off than that'.

'So did I but apparently not. And I don't see how we can stop any of them. The first four parts of the ritual require four sets of 128 people to die exactly 73 miles away from the island that Togoros is trapped on.'

'Wait', May interrupted. 'I thought that he was trapped in hell'.

Gary shook his head. 'We were wrong about that too. I found out that he was never sent back to hell, instead he was sealed away on that island. Guess whoever did it thought that that would be better for some reason. Anyway as I was saying, the four groups of people have to die via the elements; so air, water, earth and fire, and at the four points the compass; north, east, south and west. The air one has already happened; a plane from Hoenn crashed into a mountain not too long ago, nobody's heard from anyone on board yet. The very last part of the ritual requires someone to willingly sacrifice themselves. When that happens, Togoros will be free'.

Togoros' island

Ash, Misty and Dawn were once again walking through the forest trying to find a way off the island when they heard music.

'Can you hear that?' Ash asked.

'If you mean the creepy music then yes, I can hear it', Misty replied.

'Where do you think it's coming from?' Dawn wondered.

'I don't know, but on this island I'm willing to bet that it doesn't mean anything good', Ash said.

Just then a little blonde girl in a yellow flowered sundress appeared in front of them. Her long hair was matted and tangled, her dress was torn and her bare feet were filthy. In her hands she held an old windup music box. The three trainers stopped and stared at the girl warily.

'Can we help you?' Dawn asked reluctantly.

'Hi', the girl chirped, taking them aback with her cheerfulness. 'Do you want to meet my friend?'

'No, we're good thanks', Ash replied. He had a bad feeling about her "friend".

'Oh, but I really wanted you to meet him', she pouted.

'We really don't want to meet your friend'.

'He wants to meet you too'.

'I said no kid'.

'I know, I'll go and bring him to you', she beamed and disappeared.

Ash grabbed Misty and Dawn's hands. 'We have to get out of here. Now'.

They didn't get too far before the little girl appeared before them again. 'I'm back', she announced. 'And I brought my friend'.

A clown materialised in front of them weilding a large kitchen knife.

Ash swallowed; why did it have to be a clown? He'd hated clowns ever since he was six. He had been just outside Pallet Town playing with Gary when a car had pulled up and a guy in a clown costume had gotten out. After failing to coax either of them into his car, he had grabbed Ash, who had been nearest, and attempted to drag him into the car. Luckily for him, the man had let go when Gary booted him hard in the shin and Ash sunk his teeth into his arm and the boys had run home. They had told Delia what had happened and although the police were called and a search conducted, they had failed to catch anyone. Ash had overheard the officer tell his mother that the guy in the clown seat had been seen abducting three other children so far. He'd had nightmares for weeks after that.

The clown that now stood in front of him grinned maniacally and waved his knife. Ash vaguely realised that he was shaking. This clown had stepped right out of his childhood nightmares, right down to the blood stained knife and clothes to the slightly smudged make-up. The clown raised the knife to his lips and slowly licked off the still fresh looking blood. Ash felt bile rise in his throat and barely felt the tugging on his arms

'Ash come on, we have to move', Misty hissed, giving his arm an impatient yank.

Ash snapped himself out of his daze and the three of them ran for their lives. The clown lunged and caught Dawn on the arm but she didn't break stride. Looking back, she saw the clown start after them at a leisurely pace. It was as though he knew that they wouldn't get away and so was in no hurry to come after them. She faced forward again and skidded to a stop. The clown was in front of them again.

The three of them stared at the clown that stared back at them with malicous intent. Then he advanced very slowly, enjoying the look of terror on Ash's face. Heart hammering, Ash could only watch in horror as the clown approached, knowing that it was pointless to run because it would just appear in front of them over and over again until it eventually wore them out and then it would kill them. He didn't notice Misty leave his side and creep away but Dawn did and tracked the other girl's movements.

Misty moved stealthily away from Ash and Dawn, making sure that she didn't step on any dry leaves or twigs that would snap and give her away. She of course knew about Ash's clown phobia and knew the reason behind it but this was still the first time that she had seen him truly terrified and she didn't like it. She was used to him being able to push past any fear or nervousness he might have to get the job done and she automatically hated anything that made him act like he was right now. So she took it upon herself to do something about it. She would not stand by and let this clown take him out. Or Dawn either.

Gripping her spear tightly, she slowly took a wide berth around the clown until she was standing behind him and crept as close to him as she dared. She noticed Dawn's attention on her and briefly locked eyes with her before lunging forward and thrusting the spear at the clown's throat with all her strength.

The stone spear head punctured the back of his neck and burst out the other side, spraying Ash and Dawn with arterial blood before the clown fell forward with a heavy thud. Ignoring the disturbing gurgling noises coming from him, she braced her foot against his back to pull her spear free.

She looked up when Ash wrapped her in a bear hug. 'Thanks Mist', he murmured.

Misty smiled and hugged him back. 'It's alright Ash, you're welcome', she replied tenderly. Her hand moved to rub his back in a soothing manner and he exhaled and closed his eyes, letting his head rest against her shoulder. They stayed like that until Misty broke the silence a few minutes later.

'Let's get out of here okay?'

'Right, let's go', he replied, straightening up and forcing a smile onto his face that both girls instantly saw through. They said nothing about it though and the three of them continued on.

It was now mid afternoon and there had distinctly been a lack of monsters for the remainder of the day. A volcano could be seen in the distance although thankfully it showed no signs of erupting. The small group was currently travelling towards it, rationalising that it was a landmark that they could use to avoid going around in circles due to the sameness of the forest.

Dawn suddenly realised that Misty was no longer walking alongside them. 'Misty what's wrong?' she asked, backtracking.

Ash stopped and walked back to join Dawn, coming to stand in front of Misty. Misty stared straight ahead blankly, showing no signs that she knew that the two of them were even there.

Ash frowned and waved a hand in front of her face. 'Hey, earth to Misty'. She didn't even blink.

'What's going on?' Dawn asked, drawing closer to Ash. 'Is it like last night?'

'Maybe. Misty', he called and got no reaction. 'Togoros?' he tried.

A smirk slowly stretched across Misty's face. 'About time that you caught on', she said in that chilling voice that was neither male nor female.

Oh great Ash thought. 'What do you want Togoros?' he demanded.

'I was bored and was just thinking that you might like to hear some of my past', Togoros replied.

'Not really', Ash said flatly.

'You see', Togoros began, completely ignoring Ash. 'Way back when I was alive, there was this girl'.

'Oh Arceus', Ash interrupted, rolling his eyes. Please don't tell me that this is going to be one of those symphathy for the devil crap type of stories'.

Togoros shot a glare at him. 'If you really don't want to listen, I guess that we could do something else', he said cooly.

A black aura appeared around Misty's body, it almost reminded Ash of decay. It made him feel sick and sort of drained at the same time, oddly it didn't appear to be affecting Dawn as much as him. Black tendrils slowly extended out towards him. Every Hunter's instinct in him screamed at him to back away from the swirling energy but Ash, perhaps unwisely, ignored them, he had no intention of looking as if he was afraid in front of Togoros.

A tendril touched his foot and it instantly exploded in pain. He struggled to hold back a scream as the pain quickly travelled up his leg towards his torso. Before the pain reached the top of his thigh, it receded and Ash, breathing heavily, glared in hatred at Togoros who smirked cruelly back at him.

'Now do you want to hear the rest of my story?' he asked with a hint of amusement. Ash said nothing in reply and Togoros continued his story as if he had never been interrupted. 'Where was I? Oh yes I remember. There was a girl young, beautiful, red hair; she looked a lot like my descendant here actually. I loved her instantly but there was someone else. A guardian. Your ancestor I believe', he told Ash. 'She liked him instead of me and when I tried to let's say, persuade her, well she didn't exactly take kindly to my methods.

'Yeah funny thing', Ash said. 'The average girl doesn't normally get off on the whole killing and torturing thing'.

'Haven't you learned your lesson about not interrupting yet? Although it's not that surprising really; you do seem to be rather dense'. Ash growled at the insult. 'As I was saying, she rejected me and so I turned to my friend for help. Little did I know that my "friend" was working with a group of people and legendary pokemon, including your ancestor to trap me on this God forsaken island. When I found out about his deceit I was of course furious. I confronted him about it, fully intending to kill him. Little did I know that was part of they're plan. Having fallen right into their trap I was powerless as they completed the last step to trap me here'.

'And that's why we're here', Ash concluded. 'You needed to get Misty here to take over her body and wreak havoc once you get released and I guess that you brought me here to kill since you can't get revenge on my ancestor personally. And I'm assuming that Dawn is related to your friend, right?'

'Actually no. She's just here by accident. Wrong place, wrong time, sorry sweetheart. As for the rest of it, you're surprisingly spot on. Good for you', Togoros added sarcastically.

Something told Ash that Togoros was lying about the part about Dawn but before he could call him out on it, Misty sagged forward. Ash quickly grabbed her and stopped her hitting the ground.

'Misty', he called. 'Come on Mist, wake up'.

Misty stirred and opened her eyes. 'Ash?' she asked groggily.

'Yeah. You okay?' he asked gently.

'I'm okay'.

'Good. Do you remember anything?'

'No. What happened?'

Ash filled her in with Dawn adding in any parts that Ash missed.

'Do you believe him about that's why we're here?'

Ash hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. 'Yes'.

Misty gave him a look that said we'll talk later. 'Alright well let's get going. I'd really rather not be possessed and used to destroy the world'.

Underground, westernmost tunnel of Drillbur mines.

The miners had been hard at work since half past seven this morning and only had twenty minutes of work left for that day. They were already looking forward to showering and, in the case of the younger miners, looking forward to spending the evening with their friends at the local bars. The older miners rolled their eyes and tutted good naturedly at their younger co-workers, remembering fondly what it was like to be young.

Unnoticed by the miners, the steel support beams dropped a notch with an audible click, bringing the roof of the tunnel a fraction closer to their helmets. The picks continued to rise and fall methodically and the good natured banter carried on.

The first thing any of them knew about the failing support beams was thousands of tons of rock and dirt pounded onto their heads. Those that weren't crushed to death outright slowly suffocated before rescue teams could get to them.

Sixty one miners died in the western tunnel and sixty seven more in the north western, adjacent one. Mine bosses were baffled as to how none of the dead miners heard the warning clicks of the support beams as they dropped down a notch under the pressure of the roof.

But one thing was clear; another part of the ritual had been completed.