The Dragon Master V: Chapter Ten

	When I woke up, I was lying on a metal table, strapped down, and William 
was lying next to me, on a separate table. Duplica was on my other side, and 
Erika on the other side of her.
	"William," I whispered to my friend. I knew that since he had the best 
hearing out of all of us, he would most likely respond to me. Before William 
got the chance to answer, however, John Flargini entered the room.
	"How are we all doing," John asked cheerfully.
	"Shut up," I said, glaring at my half-brother.
	"Oh, feisty, are we," John asked me. I struggled to escape my bindings, but 
he just laughed, waking William up.
	"Bob," William asked.
	"Ah," John said, shifting his attention to William. "If it isn't the only 
blind Pokemon Master, that I know of, at least. I do have something to ask 
of you, though. How is it that you're so accurate with weapons?"
	"What do you mean," William, obviously trying to hide his fighting 
abilities.
	"Don't play dumb with me, William," John said. "The League has cameras in 
every Gym, including the training room in Koga's dojo." William now looked 
worried, and I knew why. He didn't want to end up being brainwashed by 
Flargini, because he knew that his abilities would be too much for the 
League to handle, and he would be used for things that he didn't want to do.
	"I'm not playing dumb," William said. "I honestly have no idea what you're 
talking about."
	"We have tapes, William," John said. "Do you want me to show you?"
	"A lot of good that would do," William stated. "Especially since I'm 
blind."
	"Right," John said. "But William, why won't you tell me. I watched you beat 
the crap out of those dummies. How could a blind man do such a thing? I know 
that you're blind, so just tell me." John walked up to William, and took off 
his ice blue sunglasses, which were fogged glass, as to not let people see 
his eyes.
	"Dragon Claw," I whispered nearly silently, so my left hand, the hand that 
John couldn't see, extended the fingers so they would shop.
	"What was that, Bob," John said, turning to me quickly. I saw William nod 
out of the corner of my eye, telling me that he knew that I needed time.
	"What does it matter," I lied to John.
	"I'm curious," John said. "I would like to know how a blind man could 
possibly be that accurate at weaponry, especially with a bow. Accurate 
enough to nail a life-size dummy in the forehead with an arrow." With that, 
he turned back to William.
	"I don't know," William said. "Just lucky, I guess." I started to claw away 
at the shackles binding me to the table.
	"Come on now, William," John Flargini said. "No man is that lucky. I don't 
care who you are. Especially for a man who has been blind his entire life." 
I had completed cutting through the manacle on my left wrist. I recalled my 
claws, and called my katana. I cut my left ankle off, and Duplica's right 
side manacles. Meanwhile, John and William were still talking about what was 
going on with William's incredible accuracy.
	"I tell you," William said again. "There is nothing special behind my 
accuracy. Everything that I do is purely on my own talent."
	"There has to be something," John pressed on. "You can't just be this 
naturally good."
	"Why can't I," William asked. "Is there some sort of law that says that a 
blind man can't be good at weaponry?"
	"No," John said. "It's just that-"
	"John," I said, interrupting their conversation.
	"What," John asked, apparently angry at my interruption.
	"Just thought that you'd like to know," I said. "These shackles are very 
weak." I rolled on my chained down side, and kicked John Flargini in the 
chin with my foot. I then cut off the other two restraints, setting me free. 
I cut William's off, who grabbed his nine-inch weapon off the wall, making 
his sword with a quarter turn, and freeing Duplica and Erika, who woke up.
	"You stupid little shit," John said, teeth clenched.
	"That's me," I said, smirking at my half-brother. John slapped a red button 
on the wall, setting off an alarm, and guards started rushing through the 
halls.
	"Let's go," John said, calling his black katana. I swung upwards with my 
curved sword, but John blocked it with his. He counter struck with a quick 
swipe at my torso, but I jumped back, making him miss. I swiped back with my 
own katana, cutting him slightly across the arm.
	William, Duplica, and Erika were fighting off the guards with ease. William 
was cutting all of their guns in half using his sword, making them utterly 
useless. More and more guards flooded through the door, and it was getting 
crowded. William, Erika, Duplica, and I were all fighting back to back.
	"It's time to get out of here," William said.
	"Yeah," I said.
	"I got just the thing," William said, winking under his sunglasses. "ICE 
DRILL!" William held out his hands, and ice formed around them, and started 
to spin. He bulldozed our way through the crowd of swarming guards. John 
Flargini had lost sight of us, so we made our way out of the door, and into 
the hallway. All of the guards started pushing their way out of the room, so 
we headed for the sign that told us where the exit was.
	"Over there," Duplica yelled, pointing to where the exit sign.
	"Remember, I'm blind," William asked.
	"To your left," I answered William, and the four of us took a sharp left. 
We ran through the door, breaking it completely off its hinges. I looked 
where we were while I ran down the street. It seemed that we were in Saffron 
City, but things could have changed from my reality to this one.
	"Saffron City," Erika said, slowing down. "We're safe."
	"Not yet, we aren't," I said. "Run to the PokeCenter!" I changed 
directions, and William put his hand on Duplica's shoulder for her to guide 
him. I nearly broke the glass door on our way in.
	"Why hello," Nurse Joy said. "You four are out quite late. Why don't you 
take our last room?"
	"Thank you," I said. "Does it have a lock?"
	"Yes," Nurse Joy said, handing me a keycard. "Here you go!" I took it, and 
went to the room number on the card. I unlocked the door, and Erika, 
Duplica, and William filed in. I looked around for a quick second before 
stepping in myself. Duplica and Erika were sitting on the bunk beds on the 
left side, while William was sitting on the lower bed on the right side. I 
clambered up to the top bed. Duplica and Erika were eager to get some food 
for us, as it had been awhile since we had all eaten. After they left, 
William broke the silence.
	"Bob," William started. "What do you know that can help us?"
	"I know what darkness means," I said. "So does Lance. Therefore, I will 
fight him with my darkness."
	"You and Lance aren't the only ones who know what darkness means," William 
said. "I've never seen the light. I've lived in darkness for all my life. 
What exactly did Lance take from you that makes you hate him so much?"
	"He took my everything," I said. "And now I'm coming for him. I'm coming to 
bring him hell." At that moment, Erika and Duplica came in with lots of 
food. Though I really hadn't eaten since about two days ago, I wasn't 
hungry. I ate a sandwich just for show. Whenever Lance was free, it seemed 
like my anger was feeding me. Until he was dead again, I wouldn't be hungry.
	After our "feast," we all turned in to sleep. I didn't sleep much, though. 
I just thought how much happiness Ash and Misty were sharing with each 
other. Every moment that I wasn't with her, it ate me up inside...
	When morning came, I checked us out of our room, and we all had a small 
breakfast because we were still full from the night before. I just hoped 
that John Flargini wasn't waiting for us right outside the PokeCenter.
	"Let's go," I said, tossing my napkin on the table, and standing up. The 
four of us did stand up, thanked Nurse Joy, and walked out of the 
PokeCenter, wearing a teal t-shirt and some teal pants that a ninja would 
wear.
	"Celadon City fine with everyone," I asked. Erika nodded, already knowing 
our business there. We quickly walked out of the large city trying not to be 
noticed. As far as we knew, nobody had seen us. We came onto the route 
between Saffron and Celadon. It was the shortest route in both Kanto and 
Johto. With any luck, we could get through it without any nuisances. But 
deep down, I knew that that was just wishful thinking...
	Some of the grass started to swish around. I spun to it in a second, and 
called my katana. The grass rustled around some more, and I was ready to 
kill whatever came out of it if necessary. The grass moved more, and 
suddenly, and black figure jumped out of it. I took a closer look at it, and 
it was just a baby Houndour. I lowered my katana. It was normal to see wild 
Houndour in the early morning like this. They probably just didn't feel like 
going to sleep, as they were mostly nocturnal pokemon.
	"Whew," Duplica said. "That was close."
	"Don't say anything of the sort just yet," William said, his cane in hand, 
and I could see that he was listening intently. He knew something besides 
Houndour was out there. He twisted the top of his cane a quarter turn, 
making it a foot and a half long rod, and then another quarter turn creating 
his three-feet long staff.
	"FLAMETHROWER," someone shouted out of nowhere. Suddenly, a Houndoom burst 
out of nowhere.
	"ICE BEAM," William yelled, pointing his staff at where he heard the 
Houndoom come from. Ice flew from the tip of William's staff, nailing the 
Houndoom and freezing it solid. Figures dressed in red ninja suits appeared 
from behind the trees and grasses. A Fire Master dressed a red cloak came 
out from the grass, and walked over to the Houndoom. I knew who it was...
	"Poor Houndoom," Mya Waterflower said. She placed her hand on the newly 
formed ice block, and the ice imprisoning Houndoom immediately melted. 
Houndoom looked very angry with William.
	"What do you want, Mya," I asked.
	"It's okay, Houndoom," Mya said, obviously ignoring me. "You can have your 
revenge later on the Ice Master if he won't talk."
	"Don't worry about it," I said. "You won't get that far."
	"You're surrounded, Bob," Mya said, looking at her fingernails. "You might 
as well just give up."
	"You don't know me very well, then," I said. "Because I won't go down 
without a fight."
	"Very well," Mya said. "How do you want it? I personally want to use 
pokemon."
	"Let's use both pokemon and our own fists," I said. "What do you think, 
Mya?"
	"I like the way you think," Mya said. "It's like you have potential to be 
like Lance."
	"Maybe I do," I said. "But I'll never be."
	"Let's stop this talk," Mya said. "Let's each pick a pokemon and-"
	"A weapon," I asked.
	"Why yes, Bob," Mya said. "You catch on quick."
	"I guess some people do," I said. Duplica tugged on my shirt.
	"What are you doing," she asked.
	"Just socializing," I said loud enough for Mya to hear, and then I winked 
so Mya couldn't see.
	"You do realize that you're 'socializing' with your fiancé's mother," 
Duplica said, teeth gritted.
	"Don't worry," I said quietly. "In a moment, this will all be a huge 
fight."
	"Secrets don't make friends," Mya said, shaking her finger at me.
	"They don't make enemies, either," I said. "So let's just get one with 
this."
	"With pleasure," Mya said. She called her red staff, and I twirled around 
my already-called katana.
	"So," Erika said, nervous because she was against fire trainers. "Is 
everyone ready? Heh heh." She called her black staff as she was saying this, 
and Duplica called her pink bow.
	"Let's go," I said, holding my katana and getting into a fighting stance. I 
was about to enter a fight which could have many casualties...maybe my 
own...
-                                         End of Chapter Ten                 
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