PokeWing Z: Dimension Rifters, Episode 74: Breaking the Bonds
A mega-crossover fic by Dustin Dixon, Caleb McGone, and Rob Volzke
ANOTHER FIGHT KTHX
"DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLAME!"
"That won't work, Riku!" Shiro cackled.
"DRAGON OF THE HEAVENLY LIGHT!"
"WHAT?!" Shiro's eyes were wide as both dragons emerged from his arm and immediately merged together. As the forest flooded with light, Shiro closed his eyes and dropped the Spirit Katana, causing the remaining swords in his collection to drop harmlessly into the ground. As the light faded, both warriors opened their eyes, gazing in a combination of awe and horror at the merged beast. Though dark flames burned around it, it had turned a pure white color. Its eyes were now two different colors: the left eye was red, and the right eye was pale blue. It spread its mighty wings as it let out a heaven-trembling shriek of rage, blasting at a wide-eyed Shiro. The purple-haired man let out his own heaven-trembling scream as the blast connected with him, sending him rocketing off into the distance. Seconds later, the dragon turned toward Riku and flew toward him, returning to his right arm in a single intertwined tattoo of the two "brothers"… as the tattoo appeared, Riku screamed as well, every wound on his body deepening as his eyes went wide, everything going white…
"Oh really? Then show me, Danny!" Vlad laughed, feeling his strength returning. His smile turned into a frown as he glanced over in the direction Jack and his duplicate had gone off to. "Huh… seems your father actually WON."
"Just like I knew he would." Danny smirked.
"Enough of this! I think you're just stalling, Daniel! You're hoping that someone will come back and save you from big, bad Uncle Vlad! Well, let me tell you… there is NOBODY TO SAVE YOU THIS TI—" he was cut off as the smirking Danny successfully duplicated into four different copies. "Well… that's a surprise."
"Yeah… I finally learned how to duplicate! I knew you and your buddies had to be stopped at all costs!" Danny grinned wickedly.
"You forget though, that's not really a threat to me, young man!" Vlad laughed. "Or did I hit you so hard that I knocked a few screws loose after all?!"
"That's only part 1, moron!" the four Dannys then surrounded Vlad, each of their right index fingers raising, as Vlad's eyes grew wide.
"Oh FUDGENUTTERS…" he glanced around, hearing them all shout "GHOST GUN!" before the blasts connected, and everything went white for the half-ghost billionaire…
"For the record, I foresaw YOU winning this battle." Kitrala smiled. "I knew that even if I had truly been aiming at you, you would have figured a way around it. Now go… save the world. Kensuke's plan will wipe out all life on Earth."
"Thank you." Janine nodded, turning around. Jenny followed suit, but as they began to walk off, Janine's eyes widened, and she swirled around to deflect a stray claw with her sword. Without missing a beat, she pointed at Kitrala and fired a wordless Spirit Mega Gun at her. As it connected, Kitrala cried out and hit up against the wall, eyes widening before everything went white for her…
"Well, here we are. I'm surprised that Janine and Jenny won without killing my wife." Zenki laughed. "But if you think you're going to just knock ME unconscious… you're out of your mind."
"I have no intentions of sparing you." Wayne frowned, clenching his fists. "But I do have some questions to ask you."
"All in good time… after all…" he glanced over at the gate on his right, which spun open just then. "Ash, if you're going after Ken, the time is now. Once that gate closes, it won't open again for another five minutes, and… well, I've been asked to kill everyone in the room with me."
"Not that you could kill me, but… you're right. I have bigger fish to fry." Ash turned and ran through the opening, turning back to Wayne, who spoke up without looking over at him.
"Give him hell, Ketchum."
"Likewise." Ash nodded, before turning once again and running off. As he vanished, Wayne smirked.
"Now I don't have to hold back."
"Funny…" Zenki chortled. "I was about to say the same THING!" And with that, the two charged at each other…
(Title) Breaking the Bonds
(Jingle) The first ten seconds of "Unmei no Haguruma: Kyoto Prologue"
"We must be getting closer!" Danny shouted. "Feels like Wayne's fighting Zenki already!"
"He is." Enma said, his voice close to a whisper. "This won't end well either way for him."
"What… do you mean?" Riku asked, glancing over suspiciously at Enma.
"If he wins, he loses the closest thing to a father he's had since his real one died. If he loses, well… HE dies."
"Come on!" Zenki said, punching Wayne, sending him into the nearest wall. "Don't tell me that's the best you've got in hand-to-hand!"
"Of course it isn't!" Wayne countered, appearing in front of Zenki and punching him, sending him flying. "But I'm purposely holding back so you'll spill the beans! You said Cassion Aladar didn't kill my parents! Who did?!"
"Don't ask questions you won't like the answers to, Wayne." Zenki warned.
"I deserve to know the truth!" Wayne shouted. "I fought my entire life to punish Ash Ketchum for failing to come to the aid of our people and killing a person I thought had killed my mom and dad!"
"It doesn't MATTER!" Zenki shouted, roundhouse kicking the air in front of him. Instinctively, Wayne dove out of the way, only for Zenki to meet him at the point where he had hit the ground and elbow him in the back. Wayne's eyes rolled back into his head as he hit the ground hard. Zenki moved in for another attack, but Wayne swept his legs out from under him with a mighty shout. As he got to his feet, Wayne slid his letter jacket off, tossing it to the far wall.
"Okay… let's fight!" Wayne snarled, as purple energy gathered around him. "With my new arm… I can't lose." He brought his arms to his left side, as if doing a reverse Kamehameha.
"Devil… Hyperion… CANNON!" Wayne shouted at the top of his lungs, unleashing a purple blast toward Zenki, whose wings sprouted as he flew through it, laughing insanely as he showed up in front of a shocked Wayne, punching him in the face and sending him flying into the nearest wall with a loud thud.
"Is that really all you have? Because you won't get any answers out of me if you can't even do any damage!" Zenki walked over to Wayne, who was once again lying face-first on the floor. As he reached Wayne, however, he was surprised as the boy vanished. "Afterimage…!" He turned his head as Wayne dropped from the sky, broken Gurthang in hand as he swiped downward at Zenki, who caught it.
"Wayne… you can't seriously think that move will work on me." Zenki smirked, holding the broken blade in his hand with an evil grin. Just then, Wayne vanished once more, appearing once again to Zenki's left and kneeling at his side.
'He's expending a lot of energy… just for mere diversionary tactics?' Zenki thought as he delivered a powerful kick to Wayne, sending him once again into the wall. 'He's really willing to die to find out about what happened to his parents!' Zenki stood there for a second, turning his back to Wayne. "You really want to know what happened that night?" he finally spoke up after several seconds of shared silence between the two. "Because I can fill in all of the blanks for you right now. I was there."
"You were… there?" Wayne gasped.
"Do you really want to know or not? You won't like the answer." Zenki shook his head.
"More than ANYTHING." Wayne gritted his teeth.
"Well, that answers my question as to why you were still holding back…" A pause. "Your so-called murderer died that night too." Zenki said, looking down. "Did Enma tell you about that? Cassion didn't kill anyone there. He was killed… by the same person who killed your parents."
"And how do you know all of this?!" Wayne shouted.
"Isn't it obvious?" Zenki trailed off, with a strange grin on his face as he put his hand to his chest. As he spoke up again, Wayne's world shattered. "Right here, Wayne. Here is the person you've been trying to find for the majority of your life… I killed your parents. Both of them… and then I killed the Eltherian traitor Cassion and his squadron."
"…What…?" Wayne shook his head as he breathed heavily. "That… that can't be…! You raised me… like I was a son to you! And I always considered you a father!"
"Well, that was a wasted effort. I had a son, Wayne… and that son was Cassion." Zenki said, glaring over at the younger Eltherian man. "That's right… that night, I killed my OWN SON."
"That… that can't be true!" A pause, as Wayne bellowed. "YOU'RE LYING!"
"Am I?" Zenki smirked, noticing four figures approaching. As they came into identifiable view, he spoke up again. "And here's the person who can confirm everything… right, Enma?"
"Enma…?" Wayne turned to the lord of Spirit World. "Is it true? Did Zenki murder my parents?!"
"…" Enma looked down.
"WELL?! IS IT TRUE OR NOT?!" Wayne bellowed.
"…It's all true." Enma admitted. "Zenki killed your parents. You were researching an innocent man for years."
"See, it's this kind of dishonesty that makes your young protégés turn against you, Enma. Don't be surprised if you're fighting Wayne again by this time next year." Zenki pointed an accusing finger at Enma.
"Shut up…" Wayne growled, his eyes covered in shadow as he spoke up again. "I've heard enough out of you, murderer. You've taken nearly everything that ever mattered to me… and then you lied to me for my entire time under your wing. I thought you cared, training me to avenge my parents' death…" He started to reminisce of his childhood…
"Well, what do we have here?" a man in a blue and white striped shirt asked gruffly as he and another man in the same attire advanced on a young Wayne. "We got a survivor!"
"Nothing personal kid." The second one said, drawing a gun. "Archie's orders." He prepared to squeeze the trigger, ending Wayne's life, until he had heard an agonized scream. He turned and his eyes shot open in horror as he saw another comrade being held up by his neck by a tall redheaded man. The comrade's eyeballs had nearly popped out of his skull, and he had already died due to his throat being crushed violently by the newcomer. "Who the HELL are you?!"
"You don't need to know my name." the man said. "After all…" the first man had fired his gun at the redheaded man, who grabbed the bullet from midair. "Both of you will be dead…" he struck quickly and mercilessly, puncturing through both men's chests. "By the time I'm done speaking." The redheaded man turned to the young boy as the two men collapsed, dead. "Are you alright?"
"T… they killed everyone…" young Wayne spoke up, tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry…" the redheaded man said, his voice breaking as he hugged the child. "I should have been here sooner…" A pause. "Would you like to live with me? I'll make you strong… so no tragedy like this will EVER happen again." Another pause as he separated from the eight year old boy. The boy slowly nodded. "My name is Zenki." He smiled. "What's yours?"
"W… Wailand." The boy sniffled.
"That name is... just a tad too uncommon on this pl- I mean... in this area." He winked. How about… Wayne?" his smile widened. "Sounds close enough to your real name."
"I like it." The boy finally smiled.
"Come on then, Wayne… let's go start your training." Zenki picked up the small boy, setting him on his right shoulder as he walked off…
"Um... mister Zenki? Your name's really uncommon too."
"Yeah, but I'M strong enough not to care."
"All of that… what you did for me… I thought…" Wayne trailed off. "No… you caring for me… protecting me… all of it…" he trailed off once more as he furiously punched the wall with his new right hand, causing the stone to break up somewhat. "WAS A LIE!" his eyes were finally visible, red and wild. "ALL OF IT!"
"So you finally believe the truth." Zenki grinned, holding out his hand. "Then won't you join me in this dance of death?"
"You want to dance?" Wayne snarled. "FINE! LET'S DANCE!" Just then, the gate swirled open for Enma and the others to enter. Enma, Danny, and Jack entered, but Riku stayed there. Seconds later, the other gate swirled open. "All three of you… GET GOING, this is going to get messy!"
"Wayne…" Danny held out a hand for his friend.
"I SAID GET GOING!" Wayne screamed at the top of his lungs. Nodding, Danny, Jack, and Enma took off, leaving Wayne, Zenki, and a once-again shut out Riku, as the gates swirled shut once more for both passageways. Just then, Janine, Jenny, and Jazz arrived, stopping next to Riku.
"What kind of contraption is this?!" Jazz looked at it.
"A swirling gate… seems to open every five minutes." Riku stared on.
"That's wonderful and all, but…" Janine trailed off, seeing the fury in Wayne's eyes. "Wayne looks like his old self… you know, the demon-possessed Wayne."
"He just found out the truth about your parents…" Riku explained, looking down. "Zenki killed them both."
"WHAT?!" Janine stared toward Zenki, then toward Wayne once more, as the fight began again. Zenki made a mad charge toward Wayne, but with renewed determination, Wayne stopped his charge attack in a moment that seemed to stretch on for far longer than it had actually played out. Wayne palmed Zenki directly in the face with a force far beyond the buildup of kinetic energy that Zenki had gathered during his charge, sending the older Eltherian flying at Mach 1 into the far wall, a sonic boom sounding out as he hit the stone, creating an enormous vertical crack in the wall. "Impossible!" Janine gasped upon seeing the spectacle before her. "He cared for my brother for years…! He couldn't… HE WOULDN'T!"
"It's true… Enma confirmed it." Riku sighed. "But I think there's more to it than what either of them have admitted to."
"Do you think…?" Jazz looked over at Janine. "…That Zenki might WANT to die?"
"…He's not suicidal, Jazz." Janine said sternly. "If he wanted to die he could EASILY kill himself."
"Jazz may be right." Riku admitted. "Zenki admitted that Cassion Aladar was his son and that he had killed him. Perhaps he's seeking some sort of penance for killing his only natural child and decided to use his foster son to bring that about." He sighed. "But did he really have to kill your parents to bring about this penance?"
"I don't believe it… I refuse to believe it…!" Janine shook her head.
"The facts are indeed the facts." Jazz sighed. "I don't want to believe something so horrible either, but…"
"Looks like I've got an audience…" Wayne glared coldly down at Zenki as he stepped forward. "Consider this your trial… I sentence you to DEATH… just like my parents were handed their death sentence by you!"
"Wayne seems to believe it." Jazz spoke up again.
"Wayne's looking for an answer!" Janine threw up her arms in exasperation. "He'll believe ANYTHING as long as the person giving him the so-called facts can make it seem believable enough!"
"…" Zenki stared forward, his eyes wide for several agonizing seconds, before they narrowed as he grinned wickedly. "You can't do it… if Cassion had killed them, you could have done this easily. You didn't bond with him. But… you can't do it to m—" he was cut off as purple energy sparked in Wayne's hand, flaring to life as he swung it wildly, creating a smaller version of the Devil Hyperion Cannon which slammed into Zenki, causing him to shriek in pain.
"Can't do it, huh?" Wayne asked, his eyes horrifyingly narrow as he spoke in a near whisper. "Give me some credit… I've killed millions of people, what's one more? I don't give a damn if you ARE my foster father… your admission has destroyed ANY feelings of love for you that I EVER had." Another spark of purple energy flared to life, this time in his left hand, as he let loose with another one handed Devil Hyperion Cannon.
"His rage… it's making him FOCUS… it's allowed him to learn how to use the Devil Hyperion Cannon with a single hand!" Riku gasped. Janine, Jazz, and Jenny stared on in horror as Wayne continued to assault Zenki again and again with his new technique, his grunts getting louder each time he did so until they became horrifying screams of rage. Zenki was doing all he could not to pass out from the pain right then and there. Finally, Wayne let up to catch his breath, and as he did, he ripped off his black t-shirt. Zenki took this opportunity to tackle him against the gate angrily.
"So maybe I was wrong…" Zenki growled. "Maybe you DO have what it takes! LET'S FIND OUT!" Just then, the gate leading in the same direction Ash, Enma, Danny, and Jack had traveled opened up, and Zenki tossed Wayne into it, following him immediately afterward. His eyes had turned amber, indicating that he had exceeded 50 percent of his maximum power. The gate trapping Janine, Jazz, Riku, and Jenny opened just then as well.
"Come on! Let's go!" Jenny shouted. "That gate will close in a few seconds!" As they raced through, the gate started to close, with the four of them barely squeezing through. The second after they did, they saw Wayne fly from one of the adjunct rooms further down the hall. Zenki emerged seconds later with a wicked grin.
"I can't feel my brain anymore, so FUCK YOU!" he cackled, charging a Devil Hyperion Cannon, only to be interrupted as Wayne came back into view once more with a scream, tackling Zenki to the ground and punching him repeatedly.
"YOU TOOK MY LIFE!" he shrieked in rage.
"I took your parents!" Zenki countered. "You're still here!"
"THEY WERE MY LIFE!" Wayne screamed.
"THEN YOUR LIFE SUCKED!" Zenki returned the rage-filled bellow, violently kicking Wayne and sending him into the ceiling. As Wayne crashed, Zenki grinned evilly… a horrifying grin that would make even the manliest of men run scared. "You're about to find out WHY I never exceed my self-inflicted limits… it's like getting blackout drunk. I don't remember a thing about it afterwards… and every time it happens… SOMEBODY DIES."
"The only person who's going to die today will be you!" Wayne snarled. "Well… you AND your friend Kensuke." Purple energy flared in his right hand once more. "I can't do a thing about Raderia, but you, on the other hand…" he let loose with another one-handed Devil Hyperion Cannon, and then another, repeating his strategy from a few minutes ago. "I'LL WASTE YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" However, Zenki was barely fazed by these blasts as he stepped forward, grabbing Wayne by the neck as he stomped up the nearby staircase.
"WAYNE!" Janine cried out for her brother, as her wings sprouted and she flew behind Zenki, punching him in the back of the head. He let go of Wayne, turning to kick her into the wall. She coughed, but looked relieved as she saw Wayne free from Zenki's grip. "Wayne, are you—" she was cut off, eyes wide as a one-handed Devil Hyperion Cannon narrowly missed her head.
"STAY OUT OF THIS." Wayne growled angrily. "This is between ME and this lying sack of SHIT." As he finished speaking, he grabbed Zenki's muscular left arm and swung him around, flinging him the rest of the way up to the second floor and away from the prying eyes of the four spectators. Wayne took off like a rocket after the older Eltherian man. He roared as he tackled Zenki, careening through the hallways at lightning speed as he let go, causing the man to hit up hard against the top of the stairwell leading to the third and presumably final floor of the castle. Before he could charge after him, though… Zenki raised his hands, and a Phoenix Flare began to charge quickly in them.
'He's lost all reason now… if that thing goes off… he dies too.' Wayne thought. 'He must be trying to take me with him… but…' he scowled. "That's not going to happen…" he spoke up, bringing his arms to his left side once more. "I doubt there'll be a stairwell after this, but OH WELL!" Wayne thrust his joined arms forward, unleashing a Devil Hyperion Cannon, As the blast raced toward Zenki, his eyes opened wide, and he smirked.
"So that's that…" he laughed. "Good show, Wayne." The blast struck straight and true, hitting the Phoenix Flare and detonating it, destroying the entirety of the stairwell. A massive dust cloud formed as Zenki let out a final, agonized scream… as the dust cleared, there was nothing… Wayne stared on, having seen and heard Zenki's final actions. Realizing that this was what Zenki had wanted, the truth that had surrounded the death of his parents… everything that had been revealed to him that day finally caught up with him…
*21 second intro*
Wayne reached up to his face, realizing he was in tears. He clenched his fists as Janine and the others walked up behind him.
"Wayne…" Janine trailed off.
"…" Wayne sat there for a few seconds, before punching the floor and letting out an agonized scream.
Meanwhile, above them, Ash heard the commotion happening directly below. He looked down for only a second before he gazed back toward the hallway that stretched before him and kept walking.
*ano hi kara zutto
nakanai to kimetekita kedo
itami o*
Ash finally approached a large door. He looked back once again, only for a second, before he opened it.
*kasanete mo
nanika o yurusezu ni ita
mou modorenai ikutsumo no hibi
boku wa mada nanimo dekizu ni*
The room stretched out before the young Kamoa. Green, neon wires were perfectly fit into creases in the floor and, as he reached the top of the short staircase leading into the room proper, the mainframe came into sight: a giant cylindrical metallic object with a green translucent orb floating a few centimeters above the top. But Ash noticed something he was far more interested in… a door leading elsewhere close by to the mainframe. It was from this door that Ash could feel it: Kensuke's Spirit Energy.
*kimi no ita kioku no kakera
mata hitotsu kieteyuku*
"…" Ash remained silent as he stood now at the door leading to… whatever was on the other side along with Kensuke. "He beat me fairly soundly last time, but…" he trailed off, thinking of Jazz quickly. "I promised I wouldn't lose this time. And with the Life Stone out of my body, I can't lose…" he paused one last second, taking a deep breath. "This is it. Let the final battle… begin." As he opened the door, light flooded into his eyes.
*kyou yori motto
tsuyoku naritai
kono koe ga itsuka todoku you ni*
As Ash's vision cleared up once more, he saw a beautiful garden filled with cherry blossoms, and at the opposite end, Kensuke stood, back turned.
"Amazing… isn't it?" Kensuke spoke up. "Maintenance robots that Dad built kept this place flourishing for over eighty years."
*arukitsuzukete
kaze ga yandara
kimi o sagashite sora miageru yo*
Kensuke turned to face Ash just then. "I felt your energy as you entered Makai… could've sworn I KILLED you."
"I got better." Ash smirked. "You won't."
"Guess I'll just have to kill you harder this time." Kensuke returned the smirk as he completed his 180 degree turn.
*yoake no saki ni hikari ga sasu yo*
"So be it… this time I won't leave a body." Kensuke stared down his younger brother.
*niji ga kakaru yo*
Kensuke's smirk widened into a grin as he stepped forward, arms crossed…