The Dragon Master V: Chapter Seventeen Once we entered the doors, we went into single file lines, where we were being detected just to make sure that we were Masters. A guard was holding a HED, or a Human Elemental Detector. "Thunder," the machine beeped. "Water. Normal. Grass. Steel. Dark. Ice. Normal. Psychic. Dragon. Fighting. Ice. Change. Grass." Those last five elements were my groups' elements, and that was the turn that the machine went over us. We continued into a hall where Pokemon Masters were walking around and talking to each other. I had explosive charges in my cloak, so I set one by the wall behind a plant. I set another one up by the Head Table, underneath of it, right by Lance. I places another remote mine on the other side of the hall, on a bookshelf inside a book. My companions had also been setting bombs. I met them back by the entrance. "Let's sit down," Duplica suggested. "You know I can't take the pressure." "Neither can I," I replied. "I've done this many times, you'd think that I'd be used to it by now." "You'd think," Duplica said, taking a seat near the back. I sat down right beside her. Bruno, William, and Erika came down to sit by us about a minute later. "It's nearly show time," Bruno said, cracking his knuckles, ready for the action. William was as calm as...well...ice. Erika seemed a bit jittery, but I saw that as normal. At that moment, Lance, accompanied by Ash, Marcus, Mya, and John, came to the Head Table by a door in the back of the hall. Each of the Elite Four members took a seat, while Lance kept standing. Everyone silenced immediately took their seats. "My fellow Pokemon Masters," Lance said. "I'm pleased that you all came to this meeting, knowing practically nothing about the topic. But you are here to take a more active part in the League. Gym Leaders already do this, but most of you do not. "What I am talking about is in time of war," Lance said. "The question I ask of you is, 'Will you serve the League with your Masteries during a time of war?'" There was silence, and Lance had paused for cheers. "We have to start now," I whispered to Duplica. "He's getting them on his side." Duplica nodded, and I pulled out a remote from my cloak. "How many of you would willingly serve the League," Lance asked, while most of the Gym Leaders and all of the Elite Four raised their hands. "I know I would. But this League needs you. Don't forget that." I pressed the button, and a huge blast echoed through the hall. Numerous bombs went off, and the one by Lance sent him flying back into the marble wall. Two holes in the wall were blasted out, and Team Rocket came pouring through either side. I got out of my chair and stood up on the table, as did my four companions. "LANCE," I shouted. "It's time to finish this!" "Bob," Lance chuckled, getting up. "Why did I know that you would be the one to do this?" "Because you've ruined my life," I shouted back. "I'm here to reclaim it!" "Masters," Lance shouted. "This is where you could prove your loyalty to the League, by standing up with me and fighting against this evil!" "You're the Evil One," I spat at Lance. "Do you know how many people actually call you the Evil One with capitalized letters? A lot." "Who will you stand up with," Lance yelled, stepping on the table. "Me or him? Choose now!" I saw Brock stand up and come over to my table. He climbed up onto our table and stood by me. "I won't leave you guys," Brock said, and I shook his hand. I saw Janine come up from a distance and come over to our table. I smiled. "I knew you would make the right decision," I said to her. She smiled, knowing what kind of evil she was bringing down. I saw Falkner come up the aisle, standing by us. Busgy and Whitney came and stood by us, ready to take on the League again. Morty walked up by us, ghostly blades in hand, knowing that we were going to fight. Jasmine followed Morty, steel sword and shield, ready to fight. Koga ran up after Janine. Bugsy also came up and stood by us, ready to fight. "I can't let her do this alone," Koga said to me. "I will fight with you." Sabrina teleported next to me, foot-long psychic blade in hand. I nodded in thanks, and she nodded back. "Be that way," Lance said. Many Pokemon Masters had fled the scene, but the remaining forty Pokemon Masters stayed on Lance's side. Evidently, there were more Pokemon Masters than I had expected. Erika, Duplica, Bruno, William, and I removed our cloaks, and called our weapons. William performed a series of turns on his cane, resulting in his sword. I called my katana, Bruno cracked his knuckles, Duplica called her bow, and Erika called her ebony staff. Mya, Ash, Marcus, John, and Lance came forward, each of them calling their weapons. Mya called her red staff, Ash called his black katana, Marcus called for his blue staff, John beckoned his black katana, and Lance summoned his sharp lance. "Let's do this, Lance," I said. "I will kill you now!" I charged at Lance, swinging my katana like a madman. Mya went at Erika, using her element to her advantage. Marcus went for Bruno, eager to take on a worthy opponent. John went for William, wishing to find out the secret of his fighting abilities. The Pokemon Masters on my side ganged up with Team Rocket and the group of Pokemon Masters from Lance's side collided in a frenzy of attacks, elemental attacks shooting everywhere. Lance and I were swinging our weapons at each other, shooting to kill. I swung hard at Lance's side, but he jumped up in the air, doing a back flip and dodging it. Lance swiped at me, but I arched away from him, making it narrowly miss me. I backed away from Lance, resorting to elemental attacks. "I've got some new tricks up my sleeve," I smiled. "And you've already showed your hand." "I can take anything that you throw at me, and you know it," Lance replied. I smirked. "Oh yeah," I asked. "Take this! DRAGON SLICE!" I swung my katana hard at the air, making a vertical rotating beam of energy. I swung so fast, the attack went fast, nailing Lance in the chest. He was flung backwards a few yards, and there was a slight cut on his chest. "You bastard," Lance cussed. The two of us ran together, fighting once again. Duplica and Ash were fighting at a distance. Duplica was firing numerous arrows at once, and Ash was spinning around his katana to block them all. "Can't fight this way," Duplica asked herself. "Going to have to make an alteration. TRANSFORM!" Duplica's form blurred, and when it stopped, she had turned into a Machamp. "Holy shit," Ash swore. He charged at Duplica, and swung his katana at her, but she grabbed it with her hand, stopping the blow completely. Duplica-Machamp crushed the sword with her hand, and then used Mega Kick, vaulting Ash back into a marble wall. Marcus Waterflower and Bruno were fighting hand to hand, not using very many elemental attacks. Marcus was trying to strike Bruno with his blue staff, and Bruno was blocking very easily, his huge muscles absorbing all of the shock. "Tri-Punch," Bruno said. Faster than lightening, Bruno came in on Marcus, hitting him in the chest three times very fast, making Marcus skid back a long ways. After Marcus regained his balance, he spit out some blood on the floor, and charged back at Bruno. Erika wasn't using any grass attacks on Mya, but Erika was being bombarded by fire attacks, dodging them perfectly. Mya and Erika had their staffs hitting at the middle, and them face to face. "Don't worry, Erika," Mya said pompously. "This pain will all be over soon." She laughed. So did Erika. "Pain," Erika asked. "I'm having fun!" With that, Erika pushed her away, and then gave her an uppercut to the jaw with the end of her staff. Mya fell to the ground, and needed to use an attack to fend Erika off. "SUNNY DAY," Mya yelled, hand pointing to the sky. The sun shone brightly through the large window in the ceiling. "Wrong move, Mya," Erika said, her staff pointed at Mya. "SOLARBEAM!" Green energy shot out of Erika's staff, blasting Mya back at least twenty yards. John and William were fighting it out with their swords. John swung his katana through the air, William heard the swishing, and blocked. Using John's shock as a time to counterstrike, William swung at John, but only catching the back of his hand, making it bleed. "You are a good fighter," John said. "I really shouldn't underestimate you." "If you want to survive this fight you won't," William said, smiling. "Hear this," John said, holding out his hand to William, and red sparks flying out of them. William heard the sizzling of the fiery sparks, and did a back flip to avoid them. "Hear this," William replied, smiling. "BLIZZARD!" Ice shot out of William's outstretched hand, hitting John Flargini, and making him fly back nearly thirty feet. Team Rocket and the Rebel Masters were doing quite well against Lance's Pokemon Masters. Jesse was hitting all of the Pokemon Masters in the face, knocking most of them out in a single punch. The ones that she didn't knock out just laid on the ground to avoid another beating. James was picked up a fainted Master's katana, and was going around using it against other Masters. Butch and Cassidy were double-teaming some Masters and making it their advantage. Meowth was scratching up all of the Masters' faces the he could, making it easier for Jesse because they were screaming in pain. Janine and Koga were barely slicing Masters with their katanas, making them obsolete by Poison. Falkner was flying in from above with his sword that had wings for a hilt. Brock had turned his body into solid rock, not even taking a beating from Fighting Masters. Sabrina was kneeling on the ground, hands to her forehead, and sending out Psychic Pulses that affected only certain types of Pokemon Masters. She would change the type of pulse every so often to affect a different element. Morty was twirling around and slicing his swords right through people, as they were ghostly blades. The blades hit Morty's opponents in the heart, killing them instantly. Morty was also in ghost form, so that no Fighting or Normal moves could affect him. Jasmine was taking on many Masters at once, blocking with her shield from one direction and attacking with her sword to another direction. Bugsy had insect wings attached to his back, and his arms turned into Scyther blades. He was going around, picking off Pokemon Masters from above. The Team Rocket members were all ganging up on Pokemon Masters of every element, attacking them fiercely. I was still fighting Lance, sword to lance. He had changed to jabbing motions, and I kept blocking and parrying with my katana. Lance shot for my heart, and I ducked under it, dealing him a blow with the butt of my sword to his stomach. Lance would take a shot for my throat, but I would knock the attack away with my katana. This was getting me no closer to killing Lance. I was just wasting time. Quickly, I backed away from Lance, ready to attack at will. "HYPER BLAST," I shouted, sending a miniscule beam of energy hurtling at Lance. Lance jumped up in the air and flipped away from it. The attack hit a marble wall, the sheer force of the attack crumbling the wall. "You're not tricking me with that one," Lance said. "I know you too well." "Fine then," I replied. "Dodge this! HAILSTORM!" Storm clouds roamed in over the palace. I could see them form through the window on the ceiling. Suddenly, ice flew down from through the window, striking Lance in the stomach, and hurtling him back towards the crumbled marble wall. I ran over there to attack with my katana quickly, but he had already gotten up and was ready for me. The clash between Lance and I continued... Things had taken a turn for the worse for Duplica. Ash was beating the living hell out of her. Duplica's bow had been dropped a while ago, and Ash was punching her, his fists turned black by his Mastery. Ash was pelting Duplica in the face with numerous punches, and she was getting blown back into a wall. "SHADOW BURN," Ash yelled, palms pointed at Duplica. Black flames engulfed her, but she got back up, ready to fight some more. She raised her fists against Ash and wiped some blood off of her lip. She wasn't giving up...she wouldn't... Bruno had also stopped doing well against Marcus Waterflower. Marcus was drowning Bruno with water attacks, and Bruno couldn't fight back. "WATER SURGE," Marcus yelled, pointing his staff at Bruno. Water shot out of the end of it at rapid speeds, knocking Bruno back. Marcus stopped the flow long enough for Bruno to look up, and Marcus nailed Bruno in the face with a drop kick. Bruno was hit in the stomach with a roundhouse kick, sending him sailing back into a bookshelf. Bruno picked himself up just to be punched back down by Marcus Waterflower. Again and again Bruno was hit, yet he wouldn't quit. Bruno was like that. He couldn't take the taste of losing. Bruno got up, and Marcus swung at Bruno with his staff. However, Bruno stopped it with his large hand, smiling at Marcus, which unnerved him. Mya was scorching Erika to a crisp. Another flamethrower after another, and then maybe Mya would switch it up to a Fire Blast. Erika, unlike Bruno and Duplica, wasn't getting up. She was lying on the floor, nearly unconscious, but still awake. Mya was staring at Erika, a little bit disappointed. "Pathetic," Mya whispered. "I had heard great things about you, Erika. I guess that you don't live up to my expectations...Oh well, might as well finish you off with fire...FIRE DRILL!" A small tornado of fire was created at the end of Mya's staff, and she was about to stab it into Erika, but Mya had called her pathetic, and Erika didn't like to be called pathetic... Erika rolled out of the way of Mya's fiery staff, and stood back up. She wouldn't be called pathetic. She now had to prove that she wasn't... William and John were slicing it out with their swords, though neither of them had drawn first blood. In fact, John was talking to William, trying to unnerve him. "How are you this good," John asked, not stopping in his fighting. "I haven't had this good of a fight since I fought Bob a few years back." "I have an excellent sense of hearing," William replied. "I know every time that you take a step with your left foot, because you are putting all of your weight on it, meaning that your right leg is injured." At that moment, William shot for John's right leg, but John blocked it. "Impressive," John said. "In fact, I do have an injury in my right leg. But tell me this. Which weapon do I have?" "Judging by the sounds it makes against mine, which is a titanium sword," William stated. "I would suppose that-" At that point, John had ducked and kicked William's legs out from underneath of him. "Didn't hear that one coming," John said, slamming his katana down on the ground at William, who rolled one way, and then the other. If William didn't pick up a sound, John would kill him... The Pokemon Masters on Lance's side were winning. Elemental attacks were beating the Team Rocket members. Psychic Masters were knocking them out with telekinetic pulses. Brock was fighting against two Water Masters, a Grass Master, and an Ice Master. "DUAL WATER SURGE," the two Water Masters yelled simultaneously. "ICE BEAM," the Ice Master shouted. "SOLARBEAM," the Grass Master yelled. Water, Ice, and Grass energy went zipping at Brock, nailing him in the chest one after another. Two Steel Masters each were attacking Janine and Koga, and their katanas couldn't damage their metal bodies, so poison wouldn't work. Falkner was being buried by numerous Rock Masters, each tossing huge rocks of marble at him. Falkner was steadily being buried under huge rocks... A Dark Master that trapped Sabrina inside of a Dark Shield disabled her Psychic Pulse. She couldn't fight back, and the Dark Master was standing there, dealing her dark attacks through the Dark Shield. Jasmine was hiding behind her shield, undergoing attack from at least three Fire Masters. She would dodge out from behind her shield long enough to move behind a pillar. She was in a lot of trouble. Morty was getting bombarded by Shadow Balls. At least six other Ghost Masters were attacking him, wielding a ghostly weapon of some sort. Bugsy was getting slaughtered by Flying Masters. Bugsy was trying to outrun them, getting away from their wings that he was weak against. Duplica was performing a series of kicks and maneuvers on Ash, who was blocking them all perfectly. She just needed to catch him off guard, and she was looking for a chance. Ash back flipped away, and summoned his katana to him, because it was lying twenty yards away. Duplica also called for her bow, which was twenty yards away. Ash and Duplica's weapons zoomed towards their hands, and the first one to reach theirs would get the kill. They grabbed their weapons at the same time, and Duplica drew an arrow and fired, just as Ash had turned around. The pink arrow hit the hilt of his black katana, and Ash smiled, knowing that he had just barely escaped defeat. Ash charged towards Duplica, katana rose in the air. Duplica quickly drew an arrow, but didn't have time to fire. Instead, Ash had run his stomach right into her bow...and the arrow strung in it. At that moment, Duplica let the arrow go, penetrating deeper into his body. Ash fell over backwards, blood dripping from his mouth. His body was engulfed in silver flames, and one of the five people that we had to kill was dead. Bruno was punching Marcus all over the room. A left, a right, a right again, and then an uppercut with his left, sending Marcus sailing into a wall. "WATER SURGE," Marcus shouted, pointing his staff at Bruno. Water blasted from the end of the staff, stopping Bruno in his tracks. However, Bruno kept walking through, inching closer to Marcus. "BRASS KNUCKLES," Bruno shouted, aiming a powerful double-fisted punch at Marcus. The blow hit Marcus in the neck, snapping it perfectly. Marcus Waterflower fell to the floor, and his body was engulfed by silver flames, as two Masters were down...just three to go... Erika and Mya Waterflower had refrained from elemental attacks, and were now just using their staffs to fight back and forth. Mya took a shot at Erika with her staff, but Erika did an aerial somersault, and dodged it. Erika ducked down and swiped Mya's feet from underneath her, making her crash to the ground. Mya pushed off her back to her feet again, just in time to receive a blow to the stomach from Erika's staff. Another blow to the side, and Mya flew towards a wall, crashing it. She reluctantly got up. "You wanna go, girl," Mya asked. "We'll go. FLAME ENGULF!" A red laser was fired from Mya's staff, but Erika jumped up, dodging it. The red laser hit the marble wall, and the marble wall erupted into flames. Erika ran at Mya again, going on the offensive, and hitting their staffs together, Erika finally getting the advantage she needed against a Fire Master and knocking Mya's staff fifty feet away. Erika pelted Mya across the face with her staff a few times, and then walked up Mya's body, as if she was a wall, and pushed off against her face, forcing her into a flip. "Face it, Mya," Erika whispered. "You just can't surpass the power of Grass. RAZOR LEAF!" Razor sharp leafs were fired out of the tip of Erika's staff at high velocity, and went right through Mya's stomach. Erika then changed the direction to Mya's throat, and with one hit, Mya was dead. Silver flames engulfed her body, and we would soon be back in our reality. William was still facing off against Mysticman John Flargini. William was still on the defensive with his sword against John's sharp katana. A swipe by John, and a block by William. William was having a difficult time hearing the movements of John's katana, as the blade was so thin. However, he kept up...he needed to keep up. "How did you become involved with Lance," William asked, trying to outsmart Flargini. "He told me how my mother died," John said, speeding up the pace. This was exactly what William wanted. "How did that happen," William asked, speeding up his blocks, too. "Bob killed her," John replied in hate. "Otherwise I would have no reason to hate Bob." "Actually," William said. "Lance killed her." "Lies," John said. "Bob did it, and that's all that matters." John had made a fatal mistake and was not paying attention to William's sword. John swung at William's head with his katana, but William ducked, making John miss. William came up on John, stabbing him all they way through his stomach. "Trust me," William said as John choked on his own blood. "Lance killed Josie Flargini. And do you see that bright light? That's not heaven. That's you going back to the real reality. Bye." Still standing and choking on his own blood from internal bleeding, Mysticman John Flargini exploded into silver flames, the signal that he was one of the people that were needed to be killed. Lance and I were not slowing down at all in our dance of death. I swung at him with my katana, but he blocked with his lance. I needed to attack with a different strategy. "Dragon Dance," I whispered, standing about ten feet from Lance. My eyes glowed teal, and a soft sort of music started playing from nowhere. My eyes glowed a fiercer teal, brighter than they're ever been. "DRAGON DISCHARGE!" Teal lightening exploded from my outstretched hands. I started to float up into the air without the aid of my wings. All of the dragon bolts hit Lance in the torso, and he was being blown back each time. He fell to the ground, but got back up. I descended down, sprinted over to him, and shoved my katana right through his chest. I left my katana embedded inside of his chest, and he started to choke. "You think you've won, have you," Lance asked, coughing up blood. "Flargini lied." "What do you mean," I asked him. "He said that there were only five people that you have to kill," Lance said, nearly ready to die. "However, there are six." "WHO'S THE LAST ONE," I asked. Lance chuckled, blood dripping out of his mouth each time he laughed. "Misty," he replied. "She doesn't remember anything about my reality," I said, confused. "She only remembers it as a dream," Lance said, only moments from his death. "A very bad dream, in this reality." "I CAN'T KILL HER," I shouted to Lance. "I know," he whispered, and then laughed again. Lance finally fell over, erupting into silver flames before he even hit the ground. My katana was left lying there, all bloodied up and on the ground. I walked over to pick it up. I held it in my hands for a moment. Misty walked into the room. Apparently, Ash had told her to hide during the fight. She looked at the bloody katana in my hands, and all of the Team Rocket members defeating what was left of the Pokemon Masters. She put two and two together, and then erupted into a rage. "You killed Ash," she whispered. Silent tears slid down her cheeks, and she called one of her sai knives. "I will never forgive you. I hope you can live with that...because I sure can't..." The tears flooded more rapidly, and she shoved her sai knife into her stomach, and out her back. She fell to the ground, and I went over to her. I knelt beside her, and William, Bruno, Duplica, and Erika crowded around. All of the Team Rocket members surrounded around me as her body erupted into silver flames. They weren't even warm flames, as I was holding her. White light spread from her ashes, and I could feel time freezing. I knew where I was going, but there were some things that I needed to sort out when I got there. I felt myself being thrown through thousands of dimensions, realities, and different passages that time could've taken, but I was going back to mine... - End of Chapter Seventeen -