...
Lance's silver eyes peered out through the dark window of his Study, staring over the grey grounds of the Estate.
He could still picture her,
standing strong out on the fields of Route 11, the wind violently tossing about,
her arm outstretched with her pokeball in the commanding stance of battle,
The anger brimming in her cerulean eyes...
He caught his own reflection now, staring back at him coldly with the thought,
She truly deserves better than me.
He turned back to face his gothic desk, his eyes now falling on the sacred golden book of his Dragon Clan. There were so many days in the past when he had turned to it in times of need, for scripture & advice about anything clouding his mind.
But this time, there was nowhere new the book could guide him.
Its tenets were clear; and the ink had dried long ago.
A small slip of a folded paper bookmark jutted out from the top of the book's gilded edges. Lance's hand found this curiously, parting open the tome now to the earmarked page.
It was the Traditions chapter; the page upon which Maya decided that she couldn't bear to see any more of its words.
Lance's eyes grayed with the thought of this, his fingers trailing down the page of the holy text of the Sacred Union.
The folded bookmark suddenly fell out from the spine of the page, tumbling gracefully down to the Dragon Master's feet. He reached for it, taking it in his hands curiously, before opening up the creases of the old and yellowed paper.
His eyes fell upon the unfinished sheet of music, now scanning gently over the sweet little title of the piece: "Surfing with my Love on the Johtonian Seas".
His face upturned a bit at the familiar curve of the letters; the unforgettable elegant handwriting of his Father.
He traced along the written bars of the music, the notes hanging gracefully upon the faded lines of the sheet, putting a hand to his chin now as he began to understand the melody that his Father had began all those years ago.
Intriguing; it was a song he had never heard before.
He reached for a pen, studying the music carefully now, singing out the tune in his mind as he followed bar after bar.
He then moved his hand to the page, the pen moments away from adding the next little note, before...
FLASH!
The teleporting light encompassed the room.
Lance stood back up straight, on guard, the bright light bouncing off the lines in his face before his gaze suddenly fell upon:
Kadabra, worn and exhausted, its eyes still a bit fogged with confusion, stumbling as it stepped out from its beam of light.
"Kadabra?" Lance's concerned voice hushed out, watching the little psychic fox pant & catch its breath in the new air of the Estate as it found its footing on the fancy carpeted floor.
Its eyes peered up to Lance now desperately, trembling with a horrible, terrible look of worry, its aura completely drowning in anxiety and fear.
The look in its eye; the girl that they both loved so dearly was in deep, deep trouble.
Lance's fists tightened;
"Take me to her."
...
Machoke's hands finished the last little knot, pulling tightly at the ropes that now bound Maya's hands and wrists together behind her back.
She was tethered to a desk chair now, sitting beneath the far wall of cages where the Dragonair still lay captive.
Her mouth was gagged with tape; her terrified eyes peered around the room to spot her boss conspiring with the Staff Writer in the corner of the room.
"She knows too much," The Lead Producer hushed, "We need to take care of this."
"What do you want to do?" The Writer's Meowstic hung in the air above his shoulder, its large watchful eyes gazing down upon them all.
"Put her to sleep. We can put her in a crate and have Abra teleport her to Giovanni's office," The Lead Producer's eyes glanced over to her, "He'll know what to do with her."
"HMMMM, mmmmmm!" Maya struggled through the tape, attempting to rock her body out from the chair.
The Writer & Meowstic turned and began approaching her slowly, the little psychic cat floating closer and closer toward her face.
"Meowstic," he commanded, "Yawn."
The Meowstic's big blue eyes began to glow, now glued on to Maya's gaze, as a sleepy aura began casting out from its body.
The waves hit Maya slowly; warmly, as the defiant look in her eyes began to soften.
"MMMM...Mmmm!" Maya banged the chair against the cages behind her, the Dragonair all watching in horror, their exhausted bodies too tired to even attempt to help.
The crush of the fatigue; it began to wash over Maya's body slowly.
No, she thought, no! She fought it hard, attempting to fill her mind with anything to keep her awake; math equations, pokepuff recipes, directions through the winding aisles of the Celadon department store...
The Dragon Master...
Mounted just in front of her, upon his warm Dragonite's back,
His cape whipping in the winds, the soft pink glow of the morning sky encompassing around them as they flew over the Kantonian clouds...
Her arms wrapping around him now; the smell of the Safari preserve casting off from their bodies, the brilliance of their first embrace still fresh in both of their minds.
His hand is reaching up to grab her own; it's squeezing tight.
His silver eyes; they're closing...
And Maya fell asleep.
FLASH!
An BLINDING LIGHT took over the room, roaring and vibrant and white.
The two men shielded their eyes from the sight, attempting to make sense of its sudden brightness.
From out behind the curtain of light stepped Kadabra, its spoon up and on guard at the sight of the men.
"HSSSSSSSSSSS!"
And just behind it,
a tall, daunting shadow of a man:
The Dragon Master himself.
His stance solid,
His eyes cold, as they took in the sights of the room.
The two men froze in place. Their pokémon looked to them for guidance, but got nothing in return.
"L-Lance!" The Lead Producer stumbled out, "So glad you're here sir, we just stumbled upon this strange room!"
"DA BRAH!" Kadabra yelled, bellowing out at their lie.
Lance's silver eyes,
they saw them now;
The emaciated Dragonair,
Slinking low in their cages, trembling and terrified and positively shaking in their bones.
His jaw dropped in confusion,
He took a step toward them,
His brow furrowing up, as a great and searing pain began pulling in his chest,
A horrible starving hunger aching in his core,
A line of petrifying fear,
Of absolute terror coursing through his veins,
He reached to clutch his chest,
He could feel them all,
Crying out for someone,
For anyone to help.
Lance's face,
It twisted in a newfound FURY,
The anger blinding over his silver eyes as he now spotted the cabling wires, leading down to the floor where they lead to the junction of the satellite.
And as he turned,
in this moment, he now saw her,
His Maya,
Tied to the chair,
Slumped over,
Unconscious to the world.
His eyes,
They FLASHED in their silver bullet sheen as they turned to the men,
in an invigorated RAGE.
"Machoke!" The Lead Producer called out, "Dynamic Punch!"
"Meowstic!" called the Staff Writer, "Sucker Punch!"
The two pokémon came RUSHING over to the Champion.
But he stood frozen in place, the anger coursing through his bones, his teeth grinding together and shaking in this storm as he shouted out to Kadabra:
"REFLECT!"
"DABRA!"
CLANG!
Kadabra's rainbow shield came up in the nick of time, blocking both punches just before they landed their full hit.
The two men stared out beyond the luminous glow of the iridescent screen, its marble swirl of colors clashing with the look of pure hatred plastered across Lance's face as he turned back to them.
Meowstic and Machoke ricocheted backwards off the shield, sliding across the room back to their trainer's feet.
Kadabra's face twisted with a snarl, it's arms still up at the ready, awaiting their next move.
Clang Clang...
A lone Dragonair began grinding itself against the bars, its little blue pearl clanging against the metal frame.
Clang, clang, clang clag!
All the Dragonair began to do this, creating a cacophony of metal jingles that echoed about the room.
Clang-clang, clang-clag-clang-clang, clang-clag!
FLASH!
From out of a sudden beam of light sprung forth: Lance's Dragonite!
They all watched as his ace formed out from the crimson beam to stand beside him at the ready.
But its face; it was lined in confusion.
It could hear something calling out to it;
In pain,
In anguish...
It took a few steps toward the cages,
it's big round eyes slowly digesting this horrid image of its suffering brethren,
their little blue bodies curled and aching,
And its teeth
began to SNARL.
Dragonite turned back to face the men,
It's brow TWISTING, its face COILING with rage.
"ROOOAARRR!"
"Disarming Voice!" The Staff Writer called to the Meowstic, and at its command it began to sing out the charm of a fairy's song.
A blasting ray of the deadly notes began trailing fast down Dragonite's path.
"Barrier!" Lance called out to his Dragon, who instantly threw its giant paws up in defiance of the song. A protective square of light came shining down over it and Kadabra's position, now combining with Kadabra's reflect for a double-dose of defense.
The song still broke through, though much weaker than intended for the super-effective attack. Dragonite took the brunt of the hit, grinding its teeth to bear through the pain of the fairy's song.
"Enough of this!" The Lead Producer called to his Machoke with an outstretched hand, "Thunder Punch!"
But his finger;
it pointed to Maya's position in the chair!
And Machoke obeyed; it jumped across the room toward Maya's slouched and sleeping body and swung its arm back, its fist now glowing as it gathered its energy for the final blow.
"Da-Brah!" Kadabra cried out in horror,
and the Dragon Master's eyes grew wide;
Maya was left unprotected!
He LAUNCHED himself over to her,
"NO!"
CLANNNGGGGGG!
A FLASHING cloud of white sparks FILLED the room;
TZZZZZZZZZZAP!
And then...
Silence.
The two men, who had shielded their faces from the chaos of the sparks, slowly opened their eyes back up,
Their gaze growing wide at the sight:
There he stood, the Dragon Master,
The enormous silver weather satellite now gripped heavy in his hands,
As he held it up high, like a great royal shield; a shield that had taken the hit in Maya's place, Machoke's fist still welded to it with the block.
He had protected her,
He had shielded his Maya from Machoke's nearly-devastating hit.
"Get... BACK!" Lance shouted, swinging the shield forward to LAUNCH the Machoke away. It stumbled backwards to the ground at its trainer's feet.
Kadabra and Dragonite converged at Lance's position, each with their own shields at the ready to protect their Maya from anything more that comes her way.
Lance glanced back to her, still unconscious in the chair. He panted hard, out of breath.
The silent anger washed over his face again. He turned to Kadabra, giving it a little nod.
"Da...BRAH!"
It's black eyes began to glow in a haunted purple shade as its psychic aura began emanating out from its body, now freezing all four of them place: the Meowstic froze in the air, the Machoke on the floor; the two men now calling out in pain with the searing sting as their feet lifted from the ground, their joints stiffening together with its psychic rage.
With the lifting of its spoon, Kadabra forced them all to converge together in the psychic glow, now moving them closer to the door of the room, holding them all in place just a few feet above the ground.
Lowering the satellite shield to the ground, Lance nodded again to Kadabra, who then shifted its opposite hand up into place. The Lead Producer's body began floating out in separation from the others, his face filled with terror, his bones stiffening in Kadabra's hold.
"I'm sorry," He whimpered out in pain as Kadabra drew him in closer, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just following orders, please, I'm sorry."
Lance took a step out to meet him,
before suddenly reaching up to GRASP onto the collar of his shirt.
He YANKED him down from the psychic grip, and THREW him into the opposite wall.
POW!
POW!
POW!
Lance's fists FLEW down with anger, unable to stop himself,
the brutality of this ragestorm overtaking him, his eyes whiting out,
the control in his muscles now completely lost in the throes of his fury as the blood began to spray.
POW!
POW!
POW!
He began SNARLING down at the man with serrated, growling words, unable to halt his ferocity as he continued to pummel at his face:
"You will PAY
for what you've DONE
to these DRAGONS," he hushed out,
"You will SUFFER,
as they have SUFFERED,
You will ROT
in the DEEPEST layers of HELL,
by the GILLS
of GIRATINA,
How DARE
you HURT them,
How DARE
you HURT HER."
POW!
POW!
POW!
He stopped;
The man's body slumped over, unconscious.
Lance stood back up tall, his chest heaving, his breath panting; his fists coated in the man's blood & spit.
He looked down to him; nearly unrecognizable now.
He swallowed hard, still catching his breath as he turned back to Dragonite, who stood at the ready just behind him, it's eyes never leaving the three who remained captured in Kadabra's psychic hold.
"Dragonite," Lance hushed out,
"...Hyper Beam."
...
A crowd had formed behind the door.
The thunderous noises from the scuffle downstairs had interrupted the vibe of the party, and the entire office had filed down to the third floor to see what all the commotion was about.
KA-BOOOOOM!
A white FLASH emanated from behind the closed closet door,
Followed by the sound of three dropping bodies.
The door suddenly KICKED open. Thick, white smoke coiled out into the open room.
Silence, as everybody watched:
Dragonite emerged first, stomping proudly out from the doorframe, raising its paws up to the gathered mob to gently guide the crowd away & part it down the middle.
They all began to murmur at the sight of it:
"Is that Lance's Dragonite?"
"What is it doing here?"
"There's smoke! Be careful!"
And then, from behind the stomping dragon, rising out from the layers of smoke,
Emerged Champion Lance,
with Maya's limp, unconscious body cradled in his arms.
He followed close behind Dragonite into the parted crowd, their murmurs transforming into alarmed callings of shock and awe.
"It's Maya!"
"Is she hurt?"
"What happened?!"
Kadabra followed close behind them into the crowd as the journalists of the pack all began shouting to the Champion at once, the chaos of the room overtaking him.
"Champion, what happened? What are you doing here? What's going on?!"
He turned to Kadabra, who nodded again.
It rose up its silver spoon,
Enveloping itself, Lance, Maya & Dragonite into its teleporting beam of white light.
FLASH!
...
...
Thank you all so much for reading! Here are two sneak-peak samples for this Wednesday's chapter (one of my absolute favorites!), which is entitled: "Always or Never" :
(I)
Her thoughts began to clear as she asked herself,
Where am I?
She looked down upon her body, still wearing her silken maroon blouse that she had put on for the party that morning.
But she certainly wasn't in the office anymore.
The velvet on her skin; it was the hide of an old Victorian chaise lounge, her body outstretched on top and still heavy with a shadow of fatigue.
She sat upright, her hand reaching for her head, now gazing about the rest of the room as it's royal, professional presence dawned upon her with familiarity; the towering bookcases, the ancient antique maps, the garden of trophies sitting in the nearby cabinet of glass...
It was the Dragon Master's Study.
...
...
(II)
Guiding him out into the marble floors of the Parlor, Maya slowly lead Lance over to his grand Piano, where it sat warmly beneath the rainy sunset's fading grey light. The streaks on the towering windows around it looked like fleets of shooting stars swiftly trickling down in a galaxy of glass.
Kadabra floated behind them silently.
Maya carefully lifted the lid off the keys, revealing their clean ivory essence to the cold open air of the room. Lance looked down to her in question, as her whisper rang above it all.
"Please," she hushed out, her cerulean eyes shining now, "Play me something."