Pokemon: Lunar Dawn

So it's been a pretty exciting night for you, hasn't it, Ash?

Well, strikingly eery voice inside my head, I suppose if you want to understate the painstakingly obvious and consider that medical nightmare of a ghost we saw, the decaying hand of a crushed corpse, random, pokemorphic limbs of which I seem to have not a smidge of control, and... what else?

Oh yeah. I'm frozen in a goddamned block of ice, a semi-functioning ice sculpture. Exciting is exactly the word I would use to describe all this. Exciting, and fucking peachy. What a night, schizoid other self. What a night.

Ash griamced, the countours of her angular face screwing up in pain as anxiously, she sought out the psychotic Glaceon Pokemorph. Given, from the minute she had discovered Yue's extraordinary features, Ash had begun wondering about the potential personalities of the other Pokemorphs. She had for a minute fantasized and mused that each Pokemorph had a personality perfectly coordinated and cookie cut to go along with their new features. But on second thought, realizing that she would have to be some kind of tortured, depraved Gothika, Ash had immediately abandoned that generic, idiotic thought, and adopted a more flexible, open-minded perspective. Still, for a relastic if not randomized selection, this boy was a pretty big Ice Queen. Ash struggled, squriming desperately, futiley against the unforgiving, icey confines which held her hostage. She flailed not only for the one in eight hundred chance that she might actually strike gold and hit a weakness in the prison, but in order to keep her vital organs from completely shutting down, in order to generate the body heat able to stay alive.

It was then that she noticed that the Jolteon, the one who had so suavely bumped into Yue and Ash, had been taken hostage.

"One hit to the head... instant kill." The Glaceon had muttered, a sly, sadistic smile contorting his lips into a horrifying spectacle. Ash's eyes bulged, terror-stricken and bloated momentarily, until a miraculous breath forced its way into her icey lungs, and her eyes narrowed. This depraved, psychotic Glaceon morph had some serious issues.

"That kid's been touched". Ash concluded briefly, affording not a second thought to her makeshift prognosis. Her desire wasn't to analyze this crazy bastard. It was to subdue him, at least long enough to wrench Tanken away. But before Ash could again pick up on her pathetic struggle, Yue began to intervene. On seeing this, Ash wrestled with the unrelenting block even harder. Before Ash's little one on one with herself, Yue had gone into some kind of defensive retaliatory attack, what were evidently the disturbed contents of his brooding mind erupting in the form of violent, merciless blows. Using some kind of unreal telekenisis, Yue had begun hurling everything from rusty nails to dilapidated floorboards and shards of ice back at the original offender. For Ash, who had been caught right in the middle of it all and was still stalled in a block of ice, it felt like a bomb of epic proportions had gone off. Yet, for all of Yue's unexplored rage, Ash was never stricken once.

"Taking a man hostage is a cowardly move," Yue muttered, the cold, biting winds resulting from Makoto's barrage of ice picking up again, and toying with Yue's hair, whipping through it zealously, giving Yue a savage, unrestrained look. Ash's eyes widened, but she said nothing. Instead, she attempted to visually locate the others, those who weren't involved, that is.

"Do you think just because you've taken a hostage that I will stop attacking? Do you...really think that? Yue persisted, seeming not only enraged, but somehow, simultaneously amused, as if this were a game that genuinely enthralled and entertained him. The seemingly sweet, stuttering humble little boy that this Espeon had been previously had vanished. Nothing remained of that modest soul. Instead, what had emerged were the identifying features of a ruthless, sadistic killer. Caught directly in the crossfire of Yue and the Glaceon, Ash braced herself for the worst, her whole body tensing beneath the transparent layer of ice, her head tucked as close as humanly possible to the rest of her body. Ash squinched her eyes shut, and dare not open them until something happened, anything.

You are a coward when it comes to fighting..You froze people who were of no threat to you and now when I started throwing things at you, you decided to take a hostage. A cowardly move indeed." Yue confirmed, gaining ground as swiftly, he appeared beside Ash, and much closer to Makoto, who seemed to grow livelier with the impending challenge. Ash's worst fears were beginning to be confirmed. It seemed as if her newfound friend, who appeared much frailer and more delicate than this Glaceon fellow, would attempt to fight it out to the death with him.

No, no, NO! Ash thought, shaking her head violently, knowing that if nobody else were going to step in, it would have to be her. In such an unstable, unpredictable mindset, Ash realized the potential dire consequences of attempting to save Yue's life against this malignant creature, but she didn't care. She would be playing for keeps this time around. It seemed that just as she made this conscious resolve, a holding chamber deep within her was activated, and her thin frame was wracked with an unidentifiable ghastly source, flooding from the centre of her being, her core, to extend to every part of her body, until she had been consumed by this raw, brute energy. The unexpected force of it was so much, that Ash's head flew back violently, cracking on the corner of the ice block, as a sickening "snapping" noise was heard coming from her collarbone. But just as soon as this sound had resonated, Ash's head flew back into its original upright position, and she was left with he power... and a severe lack of air. With little more than a slight flex of her biceps, the block of ice shattered, and Ash in turn tumbled face first into the ground.

"You are scared aren't you...M...a...k...o.....t....o." Yue taunted, ignoring Ash's recent triumph completely, as he crept closer and closer to the crouching Glaceon who waited eagerly, a little too eagerly. Panicked, Ash glanced around desperately for help. The only others who weren't tangled up in this inextricable scenario were the Vaporeon Pokemorph, and the Flareon Pokemorph. While the Vaporeon Pokemorph was still frozen solid, the Flareon stood by, arms crossed, appearing as ultimately powerless as Ash had. Realizing that she stood a better chance of diverting Yue and Makoto with a little muscle to back her up, she ran to the Flareon, and flustered, took hold of his hand.

"We have to stop this! I know that they're both being stupid and irreconcilable, but we have to do something!" It was then that five minutes of being frozen caught up to Ash, and with a series of sporatic, painful little chokes, she collapsed in shivers at the Flareon's feet.

"Hey! Are you really going to let him kill me?" Tanken piped in, as Yue only proceeded to laugh maniacally, in what was a grossly overexaggerated manner. The hearty laughs sent a chill down Ash's spine, but she knew that she couldn't call it quits just yet. Yue was seriously losing it, and she feared that his loss of touch with reality would hinder his ability to defend himself effectively. Yue continued on with his unabounded psychotic cackles, and as he did, an enormous shard of glass began to manifest a phantom ability, and seemed to be rising on its own.

"One slice of the neck...and you're as good as dead...but no...I don't think I will be that merciful...I'll rip out your intestines and use them to strangle you." Yue giggled, and Ash caught sight of the crazed look in his cerulean eyes.

"...and when you think the pain can't get any worse, you will be surprised." As the shard began to descend on the Glaceon, to Ash's horror, an unexpected turn for the better came about as Tanken abruptly liberated himself.

"Shockwave!" He roared, directing the electrical energy to the Glaceon. The Glaceon was temporarily paralyzed, and Tanken took full advantage of this. Quickly, he drove his fist right into Makoto's cheek.

"NEVER PULL THIS SHIT AGAIN. GOT IT?!?" He demanded nastily, and as he leered menacingly over Makoto, a commanding voice suddenly broke up all of the commotion.


"That's quite enough of that. All of you. Killing each other solves nothing in a place like this. Your only feeding the hate. Ariados, spider web," A man vocalized calmly, releasing a large Ariados which in turn immobilized all of hose Pokemorphs who were behaving naughtily. The man himself, though young and seemingly human in appearance, also appeared to have not been informed of the turn of the century. He dressed in gradiose Victorian appear, and was also quite attractive in a nostalgic sort of way.

"Houndoom, break the ice with Ember." And just as quickly, Ryo, the flamboyant and singular remaining party member encased in ice, was once again freed. Ash breathed a welcome sigh of relief that the action of this sudden turn of events seemed to be falling.

"Hau au au, I hate Spiders!" Yue yelped, bewildered. Ash was floored. This couldn't be the same Yue who had, moments before, been seconds away from driving a sheet of glass through another individual's neck, could it?

"Quite the show, for a pack of beasts," The man walked confidently towards them, casually dragging along another man who seemed to share the same Pokémon features as the others, though his were obviously more geared toward the Grass-type Pokemon, Leafeon. The elegantly dressed blond himself seemed fully human.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lestat de Lioncord, and I will be helping you get out of here. It seems the little Espeon beast has already started feeling the effects of this place," He then turned to Makoto who hadn't stopped glaring at him, "You might not want to do that, I am not a mere were beast like you are and I will not hesitate to kill you if you cross me the wrong way and then I'll make you my dinner. Now come.." Lestat began leading the group to what felt to Ash like Paradise found, as compared to the Inferno they had just emerged from. Still feeling inwardly jarred, but already allowing the events to begin fading in her mind, Ash followed along. She seemed to be in the center of a convoy where Lestat, the new Leafeon boy, Yue, Ryo, and Tanekn where the leaders, and Makoto and the Flareon, Sebastian, were just a few feet behind her. With people preceding her AND flanking her, Ash felt quite snug and secure. Out of a momentary lack of things to occupy herself with, Ash began to halfway listen in on the conversation occuring behind her.

"That was quite a show back there", Sebastian began jovially, and for a moment, Ash's heart plummeted, and her nose wrinkled in disgust, as she anticipated Sebastian congratulating the instigating Glaceon. But he wasn't finished.

"But there's one thing you should know, kapeesh? You pull that kinda stunt again, or do ANYTHING to harm that beautiful young lady again," Sebastian paused, seemingly for dramatic effect.

"And a loud spiky electric punch is going to be the least of your worries."
"I'm sure we'll get along fine." Sebastian finished with a smile, before, to Ash's surprise, he sauntered over to her and wrapped an arm around her. Ash couldn't remember the last time anyone had so boldly initiated this sort of intimate contact with her, but she didn't oppose it. Though the sensation was surreal, and unfamiliar, she found herself sort of relishing the contact. Of course, she couldn't let Sebastian know this. She was, after all, the sole lady of the group, and couldn't give the others the impression of exclusiveness. So instead, she played coy.

"My hero?" She purred, an interrogative, teasingly sidling up to Sebastian, burrowing her narrow face against his broad shoulder, and lightly planting what could've either been interpreted as a provacative, or else obligatory kiss on his shoulder, leaving Sebastian himself room for guesswork. She batted her crimson eyes at him, and let out a leisurely sigh, before pivoting away from him, and walking just ahead of him, savoring that his eyes would be on her the whole time...

With visions of a flabbergasted and twitterpated Sebastion dancing in her head, and finding his dedication beyond flattering, almost intoxicating, Ash was rapidly cheering up from the coronary she had almost had when Yue was threatening to disembowel Makoto. In fact, as she began to reflect on it, and her more vain pursuits slowly drained from her lovedrunken mind, she discovered a note of concern. Who was Yue? It wasn't like everyone else was familiar to her, Ash reminded herself. Makoto, Tanken, Ryo, the Leafeon boy, Sebastion, and Yue were all perfect strangers to her, but Yue, at least she had formerly thought, had been the most familiar. He was, after all, the one who had discovered her after she had all but given in to dispair, and he was the one who had taken charge and pulled her away from that apparition when she surely would've just broken down into tears.

So you want to know who Yue is, eh?

I would appreciate it more if you would for one freaking moment be sensitive to everything that's going on. I just discovered that i'm some kind of mutant were freak, I could've been this way my whole life for how much I know about it, and mosti mportantly, i'm caught inside of a major sausage fest that would be every Anime fan's dream come true, but seems to be causing all kinds of shit for me. So if it isn't too much trouble, please stop popping into my head like that. Who are you, anyways?

Ash had suddenly become suspicious.

I mean, are you my conscience or something? Because if you are, I think you're over-serving your purpose.

Don't get your panties all up in a wad, Ash. I just wanted to help you.

It was then that somebody abruptly tapped on Ash's shoulder in rapid succession, and she let out a bloodcurdling, ear-shattering screech, as she was jerked from her inner war. Once she realized that it was simply a hand bantering for her attention, she flushed a deep scarlet red, but made no move to save face. Instead, she turned, looking like a betrayed child who has just figured out that her mother had given away her Halloween candy to other children, and came face to face with Yue.

Oh my God.. Ash thought wildly. What if he was reading my mind? What if he picked up on me thinking about him. Shit shit shit! Ash thought desperately, realizing that with every thought, the likelihood of Yue picking up on it grew. Instead, she struggled to make her mind a blank canvas.

"Yes, Hello!" She said briskly instead, straining to detect if Yue had 'heard' her or not.

"You're okay, right?" He inquired in a voice so soft and delicate, it was almost a whisper.

"I didn't hurt you during that... that..." Yue trailed off, and looked sincerely scared out of his wits. His cerulean eyes were enlarged, and appeared almost dilated, but Ash had seen him enough times to realize that his eyes were just particularly effeminate. Ash bit her lip to hold back the sudden torrent of emotions that threatened to break upon her, but couldn't prevent a single, solitary tear from escaping.

"To be completely honest, you scared the hell out of me back there, Yue. Not only was everyone's life in there in indirect danger, but you almost killed Makoto. You may not think that I have the right to care about him or you, or anyone else here, and maybe I don't, but I just can't help feeling some kind of bond with eahc and every one of you." Here she paused for a breath, and anxiously tried to glean some kind of nonverbal response from Yue.

"There must have been a reason why we all ended up in the same hellhole, and why we just so happened to have this freaky Eeveelution coordination. Whether we were like this in our previous lives or not, I think the higher power that brought us here has made it perfectly clear that we all need each other. So please, let's just try to get through this without having a body to deal with on our hands."

Yue began to be taking this all in stride, and Ash was relieved that he didn't just completely brush off her little speech. They walked along in silence for a few moments, Lestat leading the way, and everybody following him in front of Yue and Ash except for Sebastion, who trailed watchfully behind them. As the exit to the labryinth of an asylum finally came upon them, Ash exhaled. She felt uncharacteristically optimistic about this fresh start, and even though there was already a bit of negative past in the history of this newfound group, she felt that it could easily be washed away once they all crossed of the threshold of this damned place.

"Um... I'm glad we'll be getting out of this place. I don't think i've ever been so scared in my life.. Of course, I can't remember anything up 'till a few minutes ago so I can't really say that this is the scariest place i've ever been to, haha.." Yue prattled nervously. A line of perspiration had broken out across Yue's forehead, and he looked unsure of himself as idly, he twiddled his thumbs. Ash grimaced, and on an impulse, took his hand, hoping that this small gesture of conern and compassion would mean something to him. When he eventually met her eyes, Ash afforded him a smile.

"You don't have to ever be scared again, Yue. We've all got your back."

"Even Makoto," She added jokingly, gesturing with a nod over to the boy who walked at a conscious distance from the rest of the group.

The exit to the asylum was rapidly approaching, and with this new, welcome insight, Ash was flooded with an indescribable relief. On a spur of the moment decision, Ash reached over, and draped an arm around Yue's neck in a gesture of good will. No words followed this act of solidarity, but Ash felt as if linguistics could never be enough to describe how simply grateful she was to be getting out of here alive, and with all the members of her group intact. The eery, attractive man led them out into the dark of the night, and the vast exapnsiveness of isolated forest embraced Ash. She inhaled, breathing in the deep, musky scent of dirt and pine trees, and smiled. It would have seemed most logical for Ash to delight in and bask in the veil of darkness, but at the moment, what she appreciated the most was the natural world surrounding her. Before they had walked ten minutes, the group gradually came to a stop before an ancient cave.

"We're here." Lestat announced shortly, indicating that the group should follow him in.