Chapter 14: Dungeon of New Power, Part 3

Touya and the girls were in trouble. Swaths of armed soldiers swarmed the waiting group as Ash faced the trials. The soldiers had Linze, Elze, Yumina, Yae, Sue, Olga and Arma with swords pointed at their bodies. "The Kingdom of Sandora," Touya groaned. "Violating the treaty that was signed, are we?"

"We never agreed to such a treaty," the leader mocked as he approached Touya. Touya had Brunhild ready to use.

"Release us!" he demanded. "As the patriarch of the Kingdom of Brunhild, let my girls go!" Pikachu felt cornered in trying to protect Yumina and Sue from the soldiers. Others were pinned.

"Touya!" shouted Elze. "You got Slip! Use it!" One soldier stomped on Elze's back.

"Can it, pretty!" he scolded. The leader faced Touya as he raised Brunhild.

"I'd put that toy away if I were you," he warned. "You shoot me, the girls are dead!" Touya hesitated to make a move.

"Darling, don't listen to them!" shouted Yumina. Touya was cornered. He didn't want the soldiers to take his girls away. However, the soldiers would kill the girls if he pulled the trigger.

"Now, I was told that one of you entered the temple to challenge the trials and obtain the gems inside," the leader called. "If he brings the gems to us, we may negotiate." Two soldiers came to and pulled Touya's arms behind him. They kicked the back of his knees to force him to his knees. Watching from the temple, Ash saw the situation. He gritted, knowing that Sue was in danger.

"I was told about the Kingdom of Sandora and how they accept slave trading," he whispered.

"They might be thinking about the gems you collected before we were freed," the monkey believed.

"I can sense their hearts being as black as me," the wolf growled. "Even if you give them what they want, they're backstabbers. They'll kill you without a second thought."

"Well, thanks for telling me," Ash mulled. "Still, let's give them what they want."

"How?" the mole wondered. "We were in those gems!" The lion kicked over several rocks.

"Master, allow me to infuse these with magic," he offered. Ash picked one of the rocks before flashing a grin.

"You got it," he agreed. The leader knelt to face Touya as he was held down.

"Now, is there someone challenging the temple?" the leader asked. "We've lost several of our kind to that temple for the gems." Touya feigned to reply. "It's easy to see that someone did take on the trials by the face you made." Linze wanted the soldiers to think that Ash could have failed as their people had.

"What if he also failed to pass the trials!?" she voiced. One soldier dangled a sword to Linze's neck.

"You're in no position!" he scolded.

"No, she could be right!" the leader countered. "Do you know how impossible it is to take on those trials!?" He scoffed before turning to Linze. "At least we won't go home empty-handed. However, let's make sure that your challenger is dead." He nodded his head to one of his men who acknowledged his request. The soldier proceeded to the temple. As he touched the first step, Ash's hand popped out and grabbed the side of the entrance way. He looked roughed up and exhausted. The soldier saw and realized that he had to have survived the trials. He had a bag in his hand. The soldiers gasped to who it was coming out.

"Sir!" the soldier alerted. "He's here!" Seeing Ash, Sue became excited.

"Ash!" she cried. "He made it!" The leader came to Ash as he "staggered" out of the temple. The soldier rose his sword to strike Ash down.

"Lower your blade!" the leader ordered. "Otherwise, you'll damage the gems! We don't want that to happen!" The soldier lowered his sword and guided Ash to the leader. "I assume that you're the one challenging the trials of the temple. If you did, you managed to survive the trials." Ash "breathed hard," still worn out to the belief of the soldiers from the Kingdom of Sandora.

"Let Pikachu go," he "struggled." "I need him."

"Ha, you think you're in a position to make demands? You look like you've been through hell, boy. You definitely got the treasures, and we didn't need to soil our hands, let alone sacrifice my men to do so." Touya growled, sensing that the leader was taking advantage of Ash's fatigue. Ash began to calm little by little, trying not to blow his cover. "Good, everything you fought for is over. Just take slow breaths. You'll be fine." The soldier helped him stay up. "Now, the gems are in that bag, right? Hand them over." The leader reached for the bag, but Ash pulled it gently back.

"Not until Pikachu is freed. If you do, I'll give you the gems."

"You have all of these fine ladies to save, but you'd rather pick one over the rest?"

"I could care less about the gems that I found. Money is money, but Pikachu's life is priceless to me." The leader scoffed to Ash's confession.

"If that's how you feel, I suppose I could give your… Pikachu to you while we take the rest to the Kingdom of Sandora as slaves. Now, which one is this… Pikachu?"

"The mouse… He's been my lifelong partner." Turning, the leader found Pikachu and pointed. The soldiers removed their swords from Pikachu. He dashed to Ash as he "fell" to a knee. Worried, Pikachu palmed his grounded limb. "It's okay, Pikachu." With the leader taking the bag, Ash turned to Pikachu and winked to him. Pikachu sensed Ash's intent. The leader faced the soldiers.

"Let's round up the girls and bring them to the kingdom for slave training!" he instructed.

"YES, SIR!" the soldiers obeyed. That's when Ash chose now to spring the trap.

"You won't check the contents?" he "weakly" asked. The leader scoffed again, Ash's bluff exposing itself.

"Come, now…" he shrugged. "You mean to tell me that the gems you picked up are worthless?" He opened the bag and looked… and the rocks inside exploded in the leader's face. The blast launched him over the crowd and onto the ground, face-first. The soldiers gasped, worried about the leader. Ash turned to the soldier closest to him.

"SLIP!" he conjured. The soldier irked and turned to Ash, but the Slip made the soldier slip forward. In a flash, Ash connected an uppercut to the soldier's chin. The soldier dropped his sword before he crashed the ground in a heap.

"Was Ash playing possum?" gawked Linze.

"If he was, he got me good," Yae gulped. The leader staggered to his feet.

"KILL HIM!" he demanded. Before the soldiers moved, the earth shook. Storming out of the temple were the Divine Beasts that Ash freed. The soldiers gawked at the Divine Beasts that appeared.

"Just like Duke Alfred mentioned," Touya chuckled. Holes emerged from the ground where the soldiers fell and dropped their swords. The girls started to escape where more soldiers stood in front. However, the elephant swung its tusks spiked like maces. Upon impact, armor shattered and bodies flew. The lion saw Kohaku transform into her larger self.

"Tiger of the West," he chuffed. "It's been far too long."

"Indeed it has, Leo of the Fire," Kohaku acknowledged. "My master has also found the dragon, bird and tortoise as well."

"Then, the gang is back together."

"It is. However, we must deal with these fiends and protect the women." Agreeing, Kohaku and Leo charged in and slashed at the soldiers. Blood splattered on the ground as the monkey bashed heads with his pole. The soldiers were launched and the eagle flapped her wings. A cyclone formed and rounded up downed soldiers for the mole to make a hole big enough to capture them.

"Right where we want them," the wolf sneered before jumping into the fray with Kohaku and Leo joining. Bones were broken, blood spilled and clothes tattered. They laid with severe injuries or they were killed. The leader became incensed with the outcome as Ash sneered.

"Who knew learning how to act from Team Rocket came to help fool these guys?" he laughed. Pikachu gave Ash a grin as his reply.

"You will pay for that!" the leader shouted as he cocked his arms back with the sword. However, a gunshot. The leader's knee was penetrated by a bullet and he collapsed, clutching his knee in pain. Ash and Pikachu looked back to where Touya had Brunhild in hand, a small vapor of smoke emitting from the barrel.

"I'd rather have him face a trial of his own than just killing him," he sighed. Ash and Pikachu had their own sigh.

"Did I ever tell you how afraid of guns we are?" asked Ash.

"If it means anything," Touya voiced. "I don't target to kill."

("It doesn't mean anything to us,") Pikachu squeaked. The dragon swooped in before standing over the hole of many soldiers.

"Banishing you to the realms before!" it roared. "GATE!" A gate formed underneath the soldiers who then vanished.

"A dragon that knows Null Magic?" gulped Linze. "Now, I've seen everything." The beasts circled back and surrounded the leader, hobbling on his wounded knee.

"So, did the king send you to find us?" started Touya as he held the leader up by the breastplate. He wasn't armed while Touya pointed Brunhild to his head.

"We do not answer to those who attacked our own fleet," he defended. Ash had an idea.

"Let me try something," he offered as he had a hand out. "It's a little something I found in the temple." The leader remained defiant.

"Whatever you plan to use, I won't be swayed!" he argued.

"Luckily, I won't hurt you," Ash sneered. "Ooze forth, Dark! I see a grotesque form: Green Slime!" The girls gasped to Ash's summoning as the slime emerged and covered the leader.

"That's what you found!?" gasped Yae. The slime melted his clothes and armor.

"It wasn't the only trick I managed to use," Ash chuckled. "Like how I was faking my fatigue." The slime entered the leader's body from the bullet wound and slowly made its way through his innards.

"STOP!" he screamed in pain. "STOP! YOU WIN!" The slime complied and stopped squirming in his body. "His highness wanted the gems from the temple since they held magical properties and were worth thousands of royal coins!"

"And what about the girls?" added Touya. "Did his highness also want more for his concubine?"

"Well, it was a consolation for the adventurer who entered and died!" the leader squirmed before he turned to Ash and the dragon flying down.

"What a sad state of affairs," it mulled.

"Unfortunately, we were the gems that were imprisoned 5,000 years ago," the wolf barked.

"And only one who conquers the trials freed us," the eagle cawed. The leader looked shocked to hear of Ash's victory over the temple.

"So, what should we do to him?" wondered Olga. "We can imprison him for the attacks on us."

"Yeah, I can agree on that," Touya accepted. The girls hogtied the leader before they place him on the back of the carriage, only wearing torn trousers. They looked to the Divine Beasts in wondering how to approach the new situation.

"Master, we cannot tell you how good it feels to help you in your need after you risked your life to free us," the eagle cawed.

"Indeed," the wolf barked. "And seeing that mouse by you, it tells me that you are a kindred spirit to animal kind. Probably being petted by you will be enjoyable." Kohaku and the Leo approached Ash as well.

"The deities of the elements have been freed after such a long period of time," Kohaku growled.

"I wasn't expecting to get a Divine Beast, let alone seven," Ash shrugged. "I mean, I'm not trying to outdo Touya."

"Perhaps, though I'm a little disturbed at your new name, Tiger of the West," the Leo mentioned. "Or, I should say… Kohaku."

"I was summoned by my new master as well," Kohaku minded. "I have enjoyed my new name as well as those back at the mansion. How about you receive new names as well?"

"I can dig that," the mole punned. Hearing the idea, Touya came to Ash and whispered to him. There were a few minutes for Ash to think of Touya's offer. What he said made Ash's eyes opened wider.

"Oh, I like that," he agreed before approaching the Leo. "Your new name is Bajra." The Leo seemed fascinated with the new name.

"Bajra…" he repeated. "Very well. I will be known as Bajra!" Ash nodded before turning to the eagle.

"Your new name will be Tempest," he named the eagle.

"Tempest…" she repeated. "Tempest it will be." The next that Ash faced was the monkey.

"I like Touya's suggestion of you being named Wukong," Ash relayed.

"Nice, I like it!" the monkey laughed before shaking Ash's hand. Ash knelt to the mole to name him.

"So, whatcha got for me?" the mole wondered.

"I'm naming you Duster," Ash answered. The mole thought for a moment.

"Duster…" he repeated. "Well, you're our master, so I'll roll with it." The wolf came by, curious to his new name.

"Are you getting to me, Master?" he barked. Ash petted the wolf's snout.

"You will be Shadow," he named.

"Shadow…" the wolf copied. "How fitting…" The elephant was next as blood was dripping from the tusk.

"Luckily, the blood drops off my ice easily," he sighed. "Now, I'm hearing that you're giving us new names. What do you have for me?" Ash looked to the elephant before deciding.

"You will be named Storm," he answered. The elephant nodded before the dragon swooped in.

"I believe I'm last," he muttered. Ash nodded to the dragon.

"You are now… Treasure," he replied.

"Then, Treasure I will be," the dragon accepted. Ash had all of his Divine Beasts named as Arma, Linze, Elze, Yae and Yumina hugged Ash.

"You were awesome!" cheered Elze.

"You were incredible!" awed Arma.

"I knew you had a plan," Linze believed.

"If I never met Touya, I would've been falling madly in love for you!" confessed Yumina. The pile nearly made Ash fall.

"Thanks, all of you!" he laughed. "Now, can you take it easy? It's getting a little hard to breathe... for real this time." The girls laughed and helped Ash up as Kohaku reached Bajra with another task.

"We can power down," she suggested. "We can relax ourselves." Kohaku reverted back to her tiny form.

"I suppose we should," Bajra agreed. Soon, all of the Divine Beasts shrunk. Bajra was now a red lion cub with a tuff of his mane on top and not on fire, Treasure became a tiny baby dragon with one horn, Tempest was a tiny eagle chick, Duster was a baby mole, Storm was a baby elephant without tusks, Shadow became a wolf cub and Wukong was a baby monkey. The girls cooed at the new forms of the Divine Beasts. Sue then came forward after Yae and Olga had their chance to hug Ash.

"I knew you'd come to save us," she sighed in delight.

"Well, I wasn't going to break a promise," Ash remembered. "It wouldn't be like me to do it." He gave Sue a longing, passionate kiss, causing her face to go red.

'This is it!' she cried. 'Ash really loves me!' Sue wrapped her arms around Ash's head. Everyone ate the scene… except for the soldiers' leader since he was unconscious. Everyone boarded the carriages as Pikachu rode on Ash's shoulder, Yumina held Kohaku, Sue had Bajra on her lap, Elze had Storm on her lap, Linze held Shadow in her arms, Yae held onto Duster, Olga held Treasure, Arma had Tempest on her shoulder and Wukong was on Touya's head as they rode back to Mismede. Olga and Arma thanked Touya and Ash for the time together. After that, they brought the newly imprisoned leader to a dungeon after Touya used Recover. Touya used Gate to bring everyone back to the mansion. Hildgard, Lucia, Renne, Charlotte and Leen enjoyed the new Divine Beasts Ash rescued.

"This is going to feel different here," Bajra gulped. "Divine Beasts as house pets? Though, I do get a chance to be with Kohaku and the rest, so I guess it shouldn't feel too bad."

"Did you say something, Bajra?" questioned Tempest. Renne and Lucia had a laugh while the other Divine Beasts met up with the new arrivals. Rosetta saw Ash and Sue together and holding hands.

"Uh oh!" she teased as she came forward. "Is this love that I'm seeing?" Sue, Ash and Pikachu giggled while Cesca also arrived and to Touya.

"You could say that we're now dating," Ash admitted. Sue and Pikachu agreed.

"I will happily grant them a room together if they need to delve into their romance as quickly as possible," Cesca offered Touya. Touya gawked before waiving his arms to Cesca.

"WAY TOO SOON, CESCA!" he cried out. Lucia and Renne hugged Ash from the news.

"Bringing home Divine Beasts and telling the Kingdom of Sandora what to expect is a threat no nation should take lightly," Leen teased. "Though, Ash has impressed us more than Touya, not that he needs anything more than her." Ash was thankful that not only was he able to save his friends, but his relationship to Sue became even stronger.

TO BE CONTINUED...