During the entire drive to the local mall, Zoey felt embarrassingly nervous sitting next to Dawn. Although they had been in the car before, the additional thought of Dawn possibly loving her made Zoey feel all the more uncomfortable.
Once they got there, Dawn stopped in front of the mall entrance and said, "Hey, Zoey! You can go inside now if you want! I'll drop you off here while I go find somewhere to park."
Nodding, Zoey climbed out of the car and watched as Dawn drove into the parking lot.
'What the hell is going on here?' Zoey thought as she walked into the mall, 'Why didn't Ash tell me about this? Is he planning something to get me and Dawn together? I just don't understand-'
Suddenly, Zoey felt a strange tingling on her right arm.
She looked down and saw thousands of bleeding cuts on her arm. Blood was flowing everywhere, covering her entire body.
The pain was so unbearable yet ecstatic at the same time. Zoey was about to let out a scream, but then stopped. Her arm wasn't bleeding at all.
'W-What...the hell was that?' Zoey wondered as she took a seat to catch her breath.
Lifting up her arm, Zoey saw that it was perfectly fine, albeit some barely-visible marks of her previous cutting. Suddenly, Zoey realized something else: she hadn't cut herself at all for the last few days.
Zoey's entire body began to shake as thoughts of slicing her body with that bloody knife filled her mind. Her need to cut herself was starting to reemerge.
She clutched her head tightly and told herself, 'Stop it! Stop it, dammit! I don't want to cut myself! I'm happy! I'm happy! I don't want to punish myself! Damn, why does it have to come back again NOW? Why? Why?'
Suddenly, another painful memory came back to her: The day her own parents disowned her for being a lesbian. Zoey's face soon turned from fear to anger.
'Damn them!' she thought, her entire body shaking now with hatred, 'Damn them all to hell! What kind of parents are they, disowning me and banishing me from my own home? Fuck them! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! IT'S THEIR FAULT I CUT MYSELF!'
At this point, Zoey was completely oblivious to everything around her. That was why she didn't notice when Dawn walked in and saw her friend shaking terribly on a seat, her eyes filled with tears.
Dawn ran over to Zoey and gasped when she saw Zoey seemed to be having a nervous breakdown.
'I was afraid of this. Damn...why did this have to happen to you, Zoey?' Dawn thought as she quickly pulled out her cell phone. After a few seconds, Ash picked up.
"Hey, Dawn! What's up? You guys at the mall yet?" Ash asked as he made a quick sharp turn down the road.
"Ash, Zoey is having a nervous breakdown! It must have something to do with the cuts on her arms I saw when she was in the hospital!" Dawn cried. She sounded like she was close to tears.
Ash cursed under his breath and replied, "Listen, Dawn, I'll be at the mall soon. Just see if you can get Zoey under control, and then we'll take her to the hospital, okay?" Dawn nodded and looked over at Zoey again. The poor red-haired girl was still in the same position as before.
"Still...if you knew about the scars, why didn't you tell the doctor before?" Ash shouted as the question popped into his head.
"I thought it was from being hit by the car! Even the doctors thought that! We weren't really sure and she didn't say anything about them!" Dawn shouted. This time, Ash could tell she was crying.
When the mall came into view, Ash said, "Okay, Dawn! I'll be in there in a moment! For now, try to help calm down Zoey!" Dawn nodded and put away her cell phone. Dawn turned around, but she froze in her tracks.
Zoey was gone.
Going way over the speed limit, Ash drove into the mall parking lot and quickly found a spot. Without a second to lose, he climbed out and dashed into the building. The moment he stepped inside, though, Ash knew something was wrong.
He barely even had to search to conclude that Dawn and Zoey had already left. 'Why didn't she wait for me? Was Zoey's condition really that urgent...or did something else happen?' Ash wondered.
Suddenly, a familiar voice sneered, "Ah. So it IS you, Ash. I thought you wouldn't show up..." Ash spun around and what he saw made his heart sank. Standing before him was none other than Paul. He had a cocky grin on his face.
What made Ash feel uncomfortable was seeing Misty standing next to him, one arm wrapped around his. "Hello...Ash." she said quickly, her voice emotionless. She didn't even bother looking him in the eye.
Although it hurt him to see Misty treat him like this, Ash knew he couldn't follow up with his challenge. His first priority was to find Dawn and Zoey. "I'm sorry, Paul," Ash replied, "But there's been a change in plans. I-"
"You're running away...again?" Paul snickered, that conceited sneer still plastered on his face.
Ash tried to ignore him as he headed past them, but then Paul turned to him and called, "You pathetic loser! You'll always be a loser! That's why she left you!" Misty hung her head in shame, unable to do anything to stop Paul's vocal attack.
Suddenly, Ash swung around and his clenched fist connected with Paul's face. Misty barely let out a cry of shock as Paul was knocked to the floor, a spurt of blood flying from his nose.
Misty tried to help Paul up, but he just pushed her away while spitting out a flurry of curses. This just pissed Ash off even more. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU FUCKIN' BASTARD!" Paul screamed, his nose red and dripping with blood.
Instead of taking a swing, Paul pulled out a pokeball and shouted, "LISTEN, BITCH! UNLIKE YOU, I KNOW HOW TO SETTLE CONFLICTS THE RIGHT WAY: WITH POKEMON BATTLES! YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY SO EASILY, YOU FUCKER!"
Ash let out a sigh. He dug himself too deep into this mess to get out. 'I'm sorry, Dawn...I'm gonna be late...' he thought as he pulled a pokeball out his pocket. "Do you really have to do this?" Misty asked, hoping for Paul to reconsider.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BITCH!" Paul screamed as he lifted his hand and slapped Misty hard across the face.
That was the final straw. It took all of Ash's will power to keep himself from running to Misty's side as he exclaimed, "ALRIGHT, PAUL! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE! LET'S...BATTLE! 3 VS. 3!"
“FINE WITH ME!”
Paul snatched a pokeball off his belt and threw it high into the air. The ball snapped open and, in a burst of light, an Electivire emerged from within. 'So...he decided to keep it...' Ash thought as he chose his own pokeball.
“Alright!” Ash exclaimed once he made his choice, “I choose you, Ambipom! Go and win!” Ash tossed his pokeball into the air and a purple monkey with two hand-like tails came out of it. “HEH! YOU STILL CARRY AROUND THE PIECE OF SHIT, I SEE!” Paul said.
Ash ignored him and shouted to his pokemon, “OKAY, AMBIPOM, ATTACK WITH FURY SWIPES!” Ambipom nodded in response and dashed at Electivire with all its might. Suddenly, just as it was about to attack, Paul ordered, “ELECTIVIRE, USE THUNDER PUNCH!”
Without enough time to dodge it, Electivire’s electrified fist slammed against Ambipom’s face, sending it sprawling across the floor. Ash cursed under his breath. ‘Damn, Ambipom is my weakest Pokemon in terms of defense! I knew Paul was strong, but I didn’t know he was THIS strong! I hope I can win…’
Luckily, Ambipom quickly regained its composure. “ALRIGHT, AMBIPOM!” Ash cried, “USE SWIFT THIS TIME!” Ambipom leapt high into the air and swung its tails, sending a flurry of stars at Electivire’s face. The giant electric pokemon let out a cry of pain, but this didn’t faze Paul.
“ELECTIVIRE, USE THUNDERBOLT, NOW!” Paul screamed. Electivire let out a roar as a blast of electricity flew from its body. Ambipom easily dodged the attack, however. ‘Fuck! He’s pretty damn good!’ Paul thought furiously. Ash gave Ambipom a high-five and exclaimed, “Nice work, buddy!”
Cursing under his breath, Paul decided his next move. “ELECTIVIRE, HIT ‘EM WITH ZAP CANNON!” Electivire nodded and opened its massive jaw. Several seconds later, a huge electric blast fired from its mouth, completely overwhelming Ambipom.
Ash gritted his teeth as he watched Ambipom fall to the ground, defeated. Ash returned Ambipom to its Pokeball and sighed. ‘You did well, my friend…’ he thought as he prepared for his next Pokemon.
Suddenly, he felt Pikachu tap him lightly on the head. He looked up at his little yellow friend and asked, “Oh, Pikachu! You…wanna fight too?” Pikachu nodded in response, so Ash exclaimed, “ALRIGHT, I CHOOSE PIKACHU AS MY NEXT POKEMON!”
Paul smirked as he pulled out another Pokeball. With a flick of the wrist, the ball was tossed into the air and unleashed a powerful-looking Infernape onto the battlefield. “Ah! Pretty good-looking Infernape! You must have been training it well!” Ash remarked in an almost sarcastic tone.
“ALRIGHT, INFERNAPE, USE FIRE BLAST ON PIKACHU!”
Unfortunately, this battle was coming to an end. Just as Infernape prepared its attack, a familiar noise filled this air. “That…was a gunshot!” Ash cried. Another gunshot rang through the air and Misty let out a cry. Bystanders began screaming and running out of the building, fear getting the better of them.
Paul, however, wasn’t buying it. “DON’T FUCK WITH ME, ASH KETCHUM! YOU WILL NOT RUN AWAY FROM THIS BATTLE! I WILL DESTROY YOU, YOU PIECE OF-”
Paul was cut off as a single bullet flew through the back of his head and ripped out of his forehead, causing him to collapse to the ground in a bloody heap. Ash looked up and saw a mysterious robed figure standing only a few feet away from them, a gun drawn.
Almost instinctively, Ash ran over to Paul to check his heartbeat. However, right away he knew what the result would be. “He’s…he’s dead…” Ash whispered. He looked over at Misty, expecting to see her cry over Paul’s death. Instead, she just sat there, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. This was when Ash noticed how old and tired Misty looked, as if she hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in ages.
Ash was about to say something when the killer hidden underneath the robes began laughing like a maniac. “Too bad about Paul. I was aiming for you…” hissed a voice that, surprisingly, resembled that of a woman’s. Ash glared at the killer and shouted, “WHO ARE YOU? WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?”
“All will be explained soon enough…” replied the killer before running off. Ash didn’t chase after her, however. “Ash…why…who was that…?” Misty managed to say.
Ash, his entire body shaking, stood up and replied, “I’m not sure, but…I’ve heard her voice before…” That was when Misty finally broke down crying.
“I’m so, so sorry, Ash…I’m so sorry…” she said in-between her tears. Ash wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “It’s okay…I...I understand…I don't hate you...”
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