Clash for the Title
"He...he's alive..." Latias whispered as the entire stadium went silent when Axl Ketchum revealed himself as XD-385. In the guise of a human Trainer, he had infiltrated the Hoenn League championship and had just challenged Ash to one on one combat.
"Well, what do you say? Are you up to it?" However, Ash didn't say anything as tears fell from his face. Suddenly, he made a mad dash at Neo! "I thought you were a goner!" Neo took a step back, "Whoa, hey, wait a second!" Not listening, Ash tackled the bioweapon to the ground. "I...I really missed you..." Neo, on the other hand, was trying to pry Ash off of him. "Ash, come on! Let go! We're on global television here!" The announcer spoke, "Oh my! There really seems to be a lot of brotherly love between these two!" Neo blushed as the audience laughed in amusement.
"Darn it! Get off!" Neo finally shoved Ash off of him. "I'm serious! Do you accept my challenge or not?!" Ash wiped his tears away, "But why? Why do you want to fight me?" Neo chuckled, "I'm curious of what you are capable now. I was not conscious when you destroyed the Nightmare, so I didn't get to see what power you had. I also wish to test my abilities against yours. Not to the death, of course." Ash nodded, "OK." He yelled, "I accept the challenge!" The crowd groaned with disappointment. Mewtwo chuckled, "These fools are in for a big surprise if they think they are ordinary boys."
When Ash walked back to his side of the battlefield, he shouted, "Hey, Brock! Hold onto this for me!" Ash threw his hat like a Frisbee at Brock. "OK! Just don't overdo it!" Brock yelled as he grabbed it. The Judge muttered, "Um...I've never done something like this before...uh, this is a one on one match! The first...um, fighter who is unable to continue will be disqualified. Let the championship final begin!"
"This is it! Time to show the world who we are!" To the shock of the audience, Neo dashed at Ash with an intense burst of speed! As he threw a punch, Ash grabbed his fist. "Neo, before we go any further, can I ask you something?" The audience was puzzled at the odd stance the two fighters were locked in. They weren't even trying to move. "Sure. What's bugging you?" Ash asked, "How did you come back to life? I know you died. I just know you did." Neo smiled, "It was all thanks to my dear mother, Ho-oh. When she sprinkled some of her feathers over the grave, they renewed my life force. She is the same person who restored Raikou, Entei, and Suicune to life, so you shouldn't be so surprised." Ash sighed, "Ho-oh... I'll have to remember to thank her later." Ash let go of Neo's fist. "OK. If you want me to go all out, then let's do it!" In an instant, Ash ascended into his first form, his hair silver and his eyes red! The sudden shockwave blew Neo all the way to the other side of the stadium! Neo brushed himself off and listened. All he could hear was the surging of the golden aura surrounding his master. "It would seem that you've gotten their attention. Now, let's have some fun!"
Neo and Ash lunged at each other and met in the center of the stadium. However, just as they were about to attack, Neo disappeared underground! "Hey, where ya going?!" Ash didn't have to wait long for an answer. At the end of the stadium behind him, what appeared to be a shark fin jutted out of the ground and started heading his way! "Oh man, what did he do this time?" When it was about ten feet away, the creature the fin belonged to ruptured out of the ground! "What the?!" Ash dove out of the way to evade a Sharpedo with gaping jaws! "Crazy sand shark!" Ash jumped up and slammed Neo in the face with a kick to the jaw, knocking out some of his teeth and sending him sailing into the wall. A few seconds later, a white blur zoomed out of the dust cloud with claws extended!
"Man, this one brings back memories!" Neo had transformed into a Zangoose and started swinging away with his claws! "Cut it out! You know you can't hit me like this!" Ash was dodging every swing and eventually landed a potent blow to his face. "See? You...uh-oh..." Neo glowed brightly for a second and Exploded! Neo had created a decoy using Substitute! Ash went flying a good distance and was soon intercepted by the real Neo, who slammed Ash into the wall!
Just when it seemed the fight was over, Ash came flying out of the dust cloud and nailed Neo with a blow to the face, sending him a good distance away and disrupting his Transformation, causing Neo to return to his normal form. As the two fighters caught their breath, the crowd went wild with cheers, demanding more action. Neo panted, "Well, whadaya know? They're actually enjoying this!" Ash replied, "They sure are." In the seats, Amber and Onyx were screaming, "YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! GO DADDY! GO UNCLE NEO!!!!"
Neo stood up, "Well, now that we're warmed up, how about we turn it up a notch?" Ash nodded, "You go first." Neo looked to the sky and looked deep inside himself. "Feels just like the first time all over again." Suddenly, he let out a yell with emerald green rays of light shooting out of his eyes, mouth and just about all over him. A shockwave shook the stadium as an orb of green light covered him, followed by another shockwave as a translucent red sphere quickly expanded, followed by a blue one, and finally the green orb of light, which then shrank down into Neo's body and disappeared, revealing his true form, his eyes and hair Emerald green as a fierce green aura billowed around him.
"OK Ash! Your turn!" Ash nodded and closed his eyes. (Going all out might be a bad idea. I'll just hold back a little longer.) Suddenly, Ash let out a scream as a pitch black sphere expanded out from him! The sky turned into a sea of blood for an instant until the sphere vanished. Ash stood there with his hair a fiery red while a dark blue and blood red aura surged around him. His eyes had become completely white, except for around the edges, where reddish overtones gave a hellish looking finish to his dark form. "OK, now I'm ready."
To begin the match, Neo raised his foot high and slammed his heal into the ground, sending out a massive shockwave towards Ash! "Fissure is said to always KO the target if it hits! Let's see if it's correct!" In a simple maneuver, Ash levitated himself off the ground to avoid the rapidly expanding Fissure. "Sucker!" Neo came soaring towards Ash, but the Chosen One had a trick up his sleeve. Ash tore a gash in the dimensional field, which Neo flew right into! A few seconds later, Neo came out of another one that opened just behind Ash, only to run right into his fist! A sickening crack was heard as Neo went flying past Ash due to the inertia from his Quick Attack.
"That actually stun..." Neo grumbled as he repaired his jaw. However, he didn't have time to think when he saw Ash flying towards him with his triple tipped sword in hand! Neo produced a Barrier to hold him back, but Ash came plowing right through it and slashed right through Neo so fast, his body seemed to disappear! Ash looked behind him, but was puzzled when he couldn't see Neo anywhere. Suddenly, he felt something the size of a cantaloupe land on his left shoulder. When he turned to face it, a voice spoke, "That was pretty uncalled for, don'tcha think?!"
"Oh, the humanity! The challenger, Ash, has just disemboweled the challenger, Axl...I mean...Neo! Please, turn off the cameras! The kids don't need to see...huh?!" Ash's face went pale as he was staring at the head of his Guardian on his shoulder! "HWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!!!" The entire stadium was in an uproar as well, with Amber and Onyx completely flipping out at the sight of their bodiless uncle.
"Do I really look that creepy? Hold on a sec." With that, Neo head floated off of Ash's shoulder and began to gravitate the remains of his body toward him, which had been scattered around the edge of the battlefield. A glowing silhouette of a human body began to emerge from the base of his neck. When the light receded, Neo was literally back on his feet.
"Did you forget I can regenerate my entire body from as little as a single nerve cell?" Ash blushed, "Uh.....I guess I did. Sorry." Neo waved at the audience, "I'm OK! You can return to your seats! Now then, I think it's time to get a little more serious." Suddenly, a Rock Tomb rose out of the ground in an attempt to capture Ash! However, since Ash was airborne when he jumped to evade it, Neo countered with a Sky Uppercut! It hit Ash a little low in the chest and sent him pretty high up. "Perfect!" Neo caught Ash in a pincer grasp and turned them both upside down and went into a spin. The two of them collided with the ground hard in a Seismic Toss!
"Phew...I know you're down there, so get back up!" Neo yelled after climbing out of the crater. A trail of raised earth quickly approached him, followed by a sword of shadow erupting from it! "Just a sword?!" Realizing that Ash was coming from behind, Neo used Sacred Fire to blow him away. As expected, Ash erupted out of the ground right next to Neo, only to be blown away by the swirling flames. "OWOWOWOWOW!!!! HOT HOT HOOOTTTT!!!!! Ash yelped while shaking his hand.
"Hiding underground? Clever, but how about this?!" With a wave of his hand, prickly vines grew out of the ground and went straight for Ash! "What the...?! Frenzy Plant?!" Ash took to the air to escape, but countless more vines began to chase him! All the while, Neo was moving his arms and fingers, much as if he had puppet strings attached to the vines. Ash tried to cut the attack down to size with his sword, but more and more just kept coming! Fortunately for him, the vines stopped abruptly when they began to become thick enough to make a bit of a forest.
"Why'd they stop?" Onyx asked. Latios answered, "Because if they had kept growing, we wouldn't be able to see the battle anymore." Ash took a moment to catch his breath, but had to keep moving when a wave of blue energy came smashing through some vines from below! Neo Teleported up to Ash, "How'd you like that one? It's called Aura Sphere. And this..." Neo began to gather energy into a space in between his two palms. Ash wasn't about to just stand by and let himself get blasted and charged Neo, skewering him with his sword! However, he disappeared in a puff of smoke! "A Substitute?!" Neo came up behind Ash and said, "Yup! And this...is Focus Blast!"
Neo unleashed the energy he had gathered and blasted Ash at point blank, sending him through the forest of vines towards the ground in a beam of red energy! As he hit the ground, Ash was consumed in a huge blast, followed by a dust cloud. Neo made the vines retract into the ground to see what happened. "Oh my! It looks like Ash might be down for the count! Is this match over?!"
"Mommy, is Daddy OK?" Amber looked at Latias as if she was going to cry. Onyx also showed a face that feared the worst. Latias smiled, "There's nothing to worry about. Your father and uncle may be fighting hard, but they would never want to hurt each other. They'll both be fine when this is over." The two infants breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Neo was walking towards the spot where Ash had landed. The dust cloud was still obscuring everything in it. "Hey, Ash! You're not done yet, are you?!" A moment of silence went by before Neo's grin started to fade. "Ash, I know you're OK! That attack wasn't a lethal one!" There was still no answer. "Ash, joke's over! If you're alive, say something!"
Just then, as if to answer Neo's pleas, a yell came forth from the dust cloud! However, it didn't stop and rays of golden light began to shine through it! Soon, the dust was blown away to reveal a fierce golden aura surrounding a pitch black flame! As Neo and most of the world watched, a certain foreboding fell upon the stadium. (This sensation...he's really gonna...!) Soon, strange distortions in the dimensional field began to flow across the sky. Intense force was also rippling the ground, making it difficult for Neo to stand his ground. Ash's yell was beginning to echo in everyone's ears as two golden runic gates appeared and began to spin around the black flame. As Neo thought he was going to go mad from the screaming, a shockwave shook the stadium as a black sphere expanded, engulfing the whole city, but quickly withdrew into the black flame again as the yell died away. As Neo composed himself, there was an audible gasp from the audience. When he looked ahead, he stared in awe. "So...this is what it's like to stand in its presence..."
Ash stood where he was as red and black flames enshrouded him, the two runic gates encircling his body. His hair had become longer and was slightly bent back as it stood straight up, golden streaks going through his now white hair. His clothing had become armor and his eyes were a ghostly white. When he spoke however, his voice was unchanged, unlike the first time he ascended to that form, where it was extremely distorted. "You should be proud of yourself, Neo. This is only the second time I've ever had to go this far."
As Neo stared in awe, his dumbfounded look became one of extreme joy! "I...this is such an honor! I really have the privilege of facing you at full strength?!" Ash chuckled, "Well, sure! Now, you ready? I'm not gonna hold back this time!" "That's fine by me! Let's do it!" Neo shouted as he dashed towards Ash. Ash flew towards Neo without even touching the ground. When Neo got within range, he threw a Shadow Punch, knowing he wouldn't miss. However, Ash ducked it with ease! "Wha...I missed?!" Ash then struck Neo from below, knocking him higher and followed up with a flurry of blows to his gut! Neo was not enjoying this at all as he was spitting out saliva with each bone crushing blow. In an effort to escape, he summoned the rubble from earlier in the fight above them and sent them crashing down in a Rock Slide!
As the rubble piled onto them, Ash sent Neo soaring out of the pile with a kick to the back! Neo was yelling as he was soaring skyward. "Ahhh.....that one kinda hurt...Huh?!" Neo looked up to see Ash slug him in the face with a punch backed up with dark forces! Neo slammed into the ground hard. "Jeez! I never knew he packed such a mean right hook!" Suddenly, Neo looked up and saw Ash coming down at him with two orbs of energy in hand. One was pure light energy while the other was pure dark energy. Ash held them out in front of him and plowed into Neo, creating a geyser of the two forces! Neo screamed in agony as his body was smashed. A few seconds later, Ash leaped out of the crater and stood his ground.
After a moment, Neo started to climb out of the crater, looking like he had seen better days. "Good grief...I don't think I've ever been this sore after taking a blow like that...but I'm not done yet!" As Neo managed to get to his feet, the world wobbled a little. "Dang, I'm more mentally worn out than psychically..." When he said that, a dark presence spoke in his mind. "Too exhausted to resist...you are now mine." Neo felt a sudden chill overcome him. "What the...?! Who are you?!"
Ash had relaxed as he watched Neo making some weird movements while holding his head. "Uh...Neo? What's wrong?" At that moment, Neo scratched his head, "Heh, sorry about that. Just a headache. I'm fine now." Ash noticed a particularly sneaky look in his eyes. "Well, now that I've caught my second breath, let's get back in the game!" Neo shouted as he ran towards Ash with Leaf Blades extended.
Ash summoned his sword and locked blades with Neo. "I'm not going easy on you at all this time, brother!" At that, Neo threw his leg up and nailed Ash in the balls! Full power or not, a sick look came over Ash as he reeled from that illegal attack. "Let your guard down!" Neo took full advantage of Ash's pain and struck with a Poison Tail, which came out from the base of his spine! The attack slashed Ash's unprotected arm, but the restorative effects of the light energy negated the poison.
Ash jumped back as he clutched his arm. (What's the deal with him?! Neo would never attack me like that! Wha...?) Ash saw Neo gathering heat, cold, and lightning energy in one spot. "Let's see ya stop this one!" Ash's face went pale, "NO! YOU'RE AIMING FOR THE AUDIENCE!" Neo didn't listen and unleashed the Big Bang attack towards the stands! By now, everyone in the stadium had gone into a panic and was trying to evacuate. Mewtwo looked on in utter disgust and horror, "That fool! What is he planning?!"
Ash wasn't about to let anyone die. As the blast headed towards the audience, he opened a dimensional rift, which swallowed the Big Bang attack! Next, he opened another portal, which directed the beam into the sky, which eventually exploded in a rainbow of three colors! Ash breathed a sigh of relief and yelled, "Darn it, Neo! What's wrong with you?!" However, Ash noticed that Neo had disappeared! Suddenly, Amber screamed, "DADDY! BEHIND YOU!!!" Ash looked behind him to see Neo pointing two fingers on one hand at his forehead, a sparking bundle of solar energy at their tips! "Too late!" Neo blasted Ash point blank with a deadly Solarbeam! Fortunately, Ash was quick enough to dodge to worst of it, but the blast still took a solid chuck out of his right shoulder as it drilled right through his armor with laser like force.
Ash crashed into the ground writhing in pain as he clutched the gash where part of his shoulder used to be. He reverted to his normal state out of pain and exhaustion. Latias was choking back tears as she saw her future husband fighting for his life. "Why? Why is Neo doing this?" Mewtwo grumbled, "I wish I knew. That attack just now contained fatal force." Bayleef screamed, "But why?! Neo said this wasn't a fight to the death!" They didn't have time to ponder this as Neo was already up in Ash's face with a Hyper Beam forming in his hands. "Don't bother! There's no way you can dodge this one in the condition you're in!" Ash couldn't even speak as tears flowed down his face. (Neo.....you're my best friend...but you're really trying to kill me...why...?) As Neo was about to attack, he gloated, "I win."
Suddenly, Amber and Onyx screamed, "UNCLE NEO, DON'T!!!!!" This apparently snapped Neo back to his senses as all maliciousness left his eyes and were replaced with fear. "No!" With no way to disperse the energy for it, Neo threw his arm up and fired the Hyper Beam into the sky until it disappeared from sight. While clutching his head, Neo grabbed Ash's mangled shoulder and applied Recover, regenerating any lost cells. Once that was over, Neo staggered back, "No...I won't kill my..." Neo suddenly yelled out, "You are mine now, so you will do as I command!" Neo then contradicted himself, "Absolutely not! I will not kill my brother!" Once again, Neo yelled, "Stupid fool! This is not a choice for you! Kill him NOW!" Ash and everyone else who was brave enough to stay was baffled by Neo's apparent display of a split personality.
Suddenly, Neo roared, "YOU PARASITE! GET OUTTA MY BODY!!!!" With that, Neo hunched over and let out a yell of strain as the emerald green aura around him surged! Strong winds buffeted everyone around as sinister dark purple mist billowed from Neo's pores! After a moment, the mist stopped pouring out of him and Neo dropped on one knee while holding himself up with an arm.
Ash ran over to Neo and yelled, "Why, Neo?! Why were you trying to kill me?!" Neo wheezed and said, "Sorry, but it wasn't me." "Then who?!" Neo looked up and replied, "I think we're about to find out."
The dark mist that had come out of Neo drifted to the ground and seemed to be taking on a solid shape. Boots appeared, followed by gloves, pants, and a shirt. Soon, a copy of Neo stood before them. However, it had unholy purple skin, and its hair and clothing was an even darker, almost black, shade of purple. But when it opened the eyes, they were black instead of white and the pupils were a bloody red.
Neo yelled, "Just what are you?! What were you doing inside me?!" The figure spoke in a dark and mocking voice, "I'm hurt. Has it really been so long that you've forgotten me?" Ash and Neo, as well as their friends and family in the spectator seats, felt a sudden chill as they heard him. Ash stuttered, "No.....it can't be you! I didn't just kill you! I destroyed you! You can't be alive! You can't...!"
The dark copy of Neo smirked, "So you do remember me after all. I'm touched. Truly, I am. That's right. You nailed it on the head. Now, let this be the day that marks the death.....OF THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!!"Chapter End Notes:As Lugia trembled at the revealing of the dark presence, he muttered, "So...it has returned...
"Well, what do you say? Are you up to it?" However, Ash didn't say anything as tears fell from his face. Suddenly, he made a mad dash at Neo! "I thought you were a goner!" Neo took a step back, "Whoa, hey, wait a second!" Not listening, Ash tackled the bioweapon to the ground. "I...I really missed you..." Neo, on the other hand, was trying to pry Ash off of him. "Ash, come on! Let go! We're on global television here!" The announcer spoke, "Oh my! There really seems to be a lot of brotherly love between these two!" Neo blushed as the audience laughed in amusement.
"Darn it! Get off!" Neo finally shoved Ash off of him. "I'm serious! Do you accept my challenge or not?!" Ash wiped his tears away, "But why? Why do you want to fight me?" Neo chuckled, "I'm curious of what you are capable now. I was not conscious when you destroyed the Nightmare, so I didn't get to see what power you had. I also wish to test my abilities against yours. Not to the death, of course." Ash nodded, "OK." He yelled, "I accept the challenge!" The crowd groaned with disappointment. Mewtwo chuckled, "These fools are in for a big surprise if they think they are ordinary boys."
When Ash walked back to his side of the battlefield, he shouted, "Hey, Brock! Hold onto this for me!" Ash threw his hat like a Frisbee at Brock. "OK! Just don't overdo it!" Brock yelled as he grabbed it. The Judge muttered, "Um...I've never done something like this before...uh, this is a one on one match! The first...um, fighter who is unable to continue will be disqualified. Let the championship final begin!"
"This is it! Time to show the world who we are!" To the shock of the audience, Neo dashed at Ash with an intense burst of speed! As he threw a punch, Ash grabbed his fist. "Neo, before we go any further, can I ask you something?" The audience was puzzled at the odd stance the two fighters were locked in. They weren't even trying to move. "Sure. What's bugging you?" Ash asked, "How did you come back to life? I know you died. I just know you did." Neo smiled, "It was all thanks to my dear mother, Ho-oh. When she sprinkled some of her feathers over the grave, they renewed my life force. She is the same person who restored Raikou, Entei, and Suicune to life, so you shouldn't be so surprised." Ash sighed, "Ho-oh... I'll have to remember to thank her later." Ash let go of Neo's fist. "OK. If you want me to go all out, then let's do it!" In an instant, Ash ascended into his first form, his hair silver and his eyes red! The sudden shockwave blew Neo all the way to the other side of the stadium! Neo brushed himself off and listened. All he could hear was the surging of the golden aura surrounding his master. "It would seem that you've gotten their attention. Now, let's have some fun!"
Neo and Ash lunged at each other and met in the center of the stadium. However, just as they were about to attack, Neo disappeared underground! "Hey, where ya going?!" Ash didn't have to wait long for an answer. At the end of the stadium behind him, what appeared to be a shark fin jutted out of the ground and started heading his way! "Oh man, what did he do this time?" When it was about ten feet away, the creature the fin belonged to ruptured out of the ground! "What the?!" Ash dove out of the way to evade a Sharpedo with gaping jaws! "Crazy sand shark!" Ash jumped up and slammed Neo in the face with a kick to the jaw, knocking out some of his teeth and sending him sailing into the wall. A few seconds later, a white blur zoomed out of the dust cloud with claws extended!
"Man, this one brings back memories!" Neo had transformed into a Zangoose and started swinging away with his claws! "Cut it out! You know you can't hit me like this!" Ash was dodging every swing and eventually landed a potent blow to his face. "See? You...uh-oh..." Neo glowed brightly for a second and Exploded! Neo had created a decoy using Substitute! Ash went flying a good distance and was soon intercepted by the real Neo, who slammed Ash into the wall!
Just when it seemed the fight was over, Ash came flying out of the dust cloud and nailed Neo with a blow to the face, sending him a good distance away and disrupting his Transformation, causing Neo to return to his normal form. As the two fighters caught their breath, the crowd went wild with cheers, demanding more action. Neo panted, "Well, whadaya know? They're actually enjoying this!" Ash replied, "They sure are." In the seats, Amber and Onyx were screaming, "YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! GO DADDY! GO UNCLE NEO!!!!"
Neo stood up, "Well, now that we're warmed up, how about we turn it up a notch?" Ash nodded, "You go first." Neo looked to the sky and looked deep inside himself. "Feels just like the first time all over again." Suddenly, he let out a yell with emerald green rays of light shooting out of his eyes, mouth and just about all over him. A shockwave shook the stadium as an orb of green light covered him, followed by another shockwave as a translucent red sphere quickly expanded, followed by a blue one, and finally the green orb of light, which then shrank down into Neo's body and disappeared, revealing his true form, his eyes and hair Emerald green as a fierce green aura billowed around him.
"OK Ash! Your turn!" Ash nodded and closed his eyes. (Going all out might be a bad idea. I'll just hold back a little longer.) Suddenly, Ash let out a scream as a pitch black sphere expanded out from him! The sky turned into a sea of blood for an instant until the sphere vanished. Ash stood there with his hair a fiery red while a dark blue and blood red aura surged around him. His eyes had become completely white, except for around the edges, where reddish overtones gave a hellish looking finish to his dark form. "OK, now I'm ready."
To begin the match, Neo raised his foot high and slammed his heal into the ground, sending out a massive shockwave towards Ash! "Fissure is said to always KO the target if it hits! Let's see if it's correct!" In a simple maneuver, Ash levitated himself off the ground to avoid the rapidly expanding Fissure. "Sucker!" Neo came soaring towards Ash, but the Chosen One had a trick up his sleeve. Ash tore a gash in the dimensional field, which Neo flew right into! A few seconds later, Neo came out of another one that opened just behind Ash, only to run right into his fist! A sickening crack was heard as Neo went flying past Ash due to the inertia from his Quick Attack.
"That actually stun..." Neo grumbled as he repaired his jaw. However, he didn't have time to think when he saw Ash flying towards him with his triple tipped sword in hand! Neo produced a Barrier to hold him back, but Ash came plowing right through it and slashed right through Neo so fast, his body seemed to disappear! Ash looked behind him, but was puzzled when he couldn't see Neo anywhere. Suddenly, he felt something the size of a cantaloupe land on his left shoulder. When he turned to face it, a voice spoke, "That was pretty uncalled for, don'tcha think?!"
"Oh, the humanity! The challenger, Ash, has just disemboweled the challenger, Axl...I mean...Neo! Please, turn off the cameras! The kids don't need to see...huh?!" Ash's face went pale as he was staring at the head of his Guardian on his shoulder! "HWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!!!" The entire stadium was in an uproar as well, with Amber and Onyx completely flipping out at the sight of their bodiless uncle.
"Do I really look that creepy? Hold on a sec." With that, Neo head floated off of Ash's shoulder and began to gravitate the remains of his body toward him, which had been scattered around the edge of the battlefield. A glowing silhouette of a human body began to emerge from the base of his neck. When the light receded, Neo was literally back on his feet.
"Did you forget I can regenerate my entire body from as little as a single nerve cell?" Ash blushed, "Uh.....I guess I did. Sorry." Neo waved at the audience, "I'm OK! You can return to your seats! Now then, I think it's time to get a little more serious." Suddenly, a Rock Tomb rose out of the ground in an attempt to capture Ash! However, since Ash was airborne when he jumped to evade it, Neo countered with a Sky Uppercut! It hit Ash a little low in the chest and sent him pretty high up. "Perfect!" Neo caught Ash in a pincer grasp and turned them both upside down and went into a spin. The two of them collided with the ground hard in a Seismic Toss!
"Phew...I know you're down there, so get back up!" Neo yelled after climbing out of the crater. A trail of raised earth quickly approached him, followed by a sword of shadow erupting from it! "Just a sword?!" Realizing that Ash was coming from behind, Neo used Sacred Fire to blow him away. As expected, Ash erupted out of the ground right next to Neo, only to be blown away by the swirling flames. "OWOWOWOWOW!!!! HOT HOT HOOOTTTT!!!!! Ash yelped while shaking his hand.
"Hiding underground? Clever, but how about this?!" With a wave of his hand, prickly vines grew out of the ground and went straight for Ash! "What the...?! Frenzy Plant?!" Ash took to the air to escape, but countless more vines began to chase him! All the while, Neo was moving his arms and fingers, much as if he had puppet strings attached to the vines. Ash tried to cut the attack down to size with his sword, but more and more just kept coming! Fortunately for him, the vines stopped abruptly when they began to become thick enough to make a bit of a forest.
"Why'd they stop?" Onyx asked. Latios answered, "Because if they had kept growing, we wouldn't be able to see the battle anymore." Ash took a moment to catch his breath, but had to keep moving when a wave of blue energy came smashing through some vines from below! Neo Teleported up to Ash, "How'd you like that one? It's called Aura Sphere. And this..." Neo began to gather energy into a space in between his two palms. Ash wasn't about to just stand by and let himself get blasted and charged Neo, skewering him with his sword! However, he disappeared in a puff of smoke! "A Substitute?!" Neo came up behind Ash and said, "Yup! And this...is Focus Blast!"
Neo unleashed the energy he had gathered and blasted Ash at point blank, sending him through the forest of vines towards the ground in a beam of red energy! As he hit the ground, Ash was consumed in a huge blast, followed by a dust cloud. Neo made the vines retract into the ground to see what happened. "Oh my! It looks like Ash might be down for the count! Is this match over?!"
"Mommy, is Daddy OK?" Amber looked at Latias as if she was going to cry. Onyx also showed a face that feared the worst. Latias smiled, "There's nothing to worry about. Your father and uncle may be fighting hard, but they would never want to hurt each other. They'll both be fine when this is over." The two infants breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Neo was walking towards the spot where Ash had landed. The dust cloud was still obscuring everything in it. "Hey, Ash! You're not done yet, are you?!" A moment of silence went by before Neo's grin started to fade. "Ash, I know you're OK! That attack wasn't a lethal one!" There was still no answer. "Ash, joke's over! If you're alive, say something!"
Just then, as if to answer Neo's pleas, a yell came forth from the dust cloud! However, it didn't stop and rays of golden light began to shine through it! Soon, the dust was blown away to reveal a fierce golden aura surrounding a pitch black flame! As Neo and most of the world watched, a certain foreboding fell upon the stadium. (This sensation...he's really gonna...!) Soon, strange distortions in the dimensional field began to flow across the sky. Intense force was also rippling the ground, making it difficult for Neo to stand his ground. Ash's yell was beginning to echo in everyone's ears as two golden runic gates appeared and began to spin around the black flame. As Neo thought he was going to go mad from the screaming, a shockwave shook the stadium as a black sphere expanded, engulfing the whole city, but quickly withdrew into the black flame again as the yell died away. As Neo composed himself, there was an audible gasp from the audience. When he looked ahead, he stared in awe. "So...this is what it's like to stand in its presence..."
Ash stood where he was as red and black flames enshrouded him, the two runic gates encircling his body. His hair had become longer and was slightly bent back as it stood straight up, golden streaks going through his now white hair. His clothing had become armor and his eyes were a ghostly white. When he spoke however, his voice was unchanged, unlike the first time he ascended to that form, where it was extremely distorted. "You should be proud of yourself, Neo. This is only the second time I've ever had to go this far."
As Neo stared in awe, his dumbfounded look became one of extreme joy! "I...this is such an honor! I really have the privilege of facing you at full strength?!" Ash chuckled, "Well, sure! Now, you ready? I'm not gonna hold back this time!" "That's fine by me! Let's do it!" Neo shouted as he dashed towards Ash. Ash flew towards Neo without even touching the ground. When Neo got within range, he threw a Shadow Punch, knowing he wouldn't miss. However, Ash ducked it with ease! "Wha...I missed?!" Ash then struck Neo from below, knocking him higher and followed up with a flurry of blows to his gut! Neo was not enjoying this at all as he was spitting out saliva with each bone crushing blow. In an effort to escape, he summoned the rubble from earlier in the fight above them and sent them crashing down in a Rock Slide!
As the rubble piled onto them, Ash sent Neo soaring out of the pile with a kick to the back! Neo was yelling as he was soaring skyward. "Ahhh.....that one kinda hurt...Huh?!" Neo looked up to see Ash slug him in the face with a punch backed up with dark forces! Neo slammed into the ground hard. "Jeez! I never knew he packed such a mean right hook!" Suddenly, Neo looked up and saw Ash coming down at him with two orbs of energy in hand. One was pure light energy while the other was pure dark energy. Ash held them out in front of him and plowed into Neo, creating a geyser of the two forces! Neo screamed in agony as his body was smashed. A few seconds later, Ash leaped out of the crater and stood his ground.
After a moment, Neo started to climb out of the crater, looking like he had seen better days. "Good grief...I don't think I've ever been this sore after taking a blow like that...but I'm not done yet!" As Neo managed to get to his feet, the world wobbled a little. "Dang, I'm more mentally worn out than psychically..." When he said that, a dark presence spoke in his mind. "Too exhausted to resist...you are now mine." Neo felt a sudden chill overcome him. "What the...?! Who are you?!"
Ash had relaxed as he watched Neo making some weird movements while holding his head. "Uh...Neo? What's wrong?" At that moment, Neo scratched his head, "Heh, sorry about that. Just a headache. I'm fine now." Ash noticed a particularly sneaky look in his eyes. "Well, now that I've caught my second breath, let's get back in the game!" Neo shouted as he ran towards Ash with Leaf Blades extended.
Ash summoned his sword and locked blades with Neo. "I'm not going easy on you at all this time, brother!" At that, Neo threw his leg up and nailed Ash in the balls! Full power or not, a sick look came over Ash as he reeled from that illegal attack. "Let your guard down!" Neo took full advantage of Ash's pain and struck with a Poison Tail, which came out from the base of his spine! The attack slashed Ash's unprotected arm, but the restorative effects of the light energy negated the poison.
Ash jumped back as he clutched his arm. (What's the deal with him?! Neo would never attack me like that! Wha...?) Ash saw Neo gathering heat, cold, and lightning energy in one spot. "Let's see ya stop this one!" Ash's face went pale, "NO! YOU'RE AIMING FOR THE AUDIENCE!" Neo didn't listen and unleashed the Big Bang attack towards the stands! By now, everyone in the stadium had gone into a panic and was trying to evacuate. Mewtwo looked on in utter disgust and horror, "That fool! What is he planning?!"
Ash wasn't about to let anyone die. As the blast headed towards the audience, he opened a dimensional rift, which swallowed the Big Bang attack! Next, he opened another portal, which directed the beam into the sky, which eventually exploded in a rainbow of three colors! Ash breathed a sigh of relief and yelled, "Darn it, Neo! What's wrong with you?!" However, Ash noticed that Neo had disappeared! Suddenly, Amber screamed, "DADDY! BEHIND YOU!!!" Ash looked behind him to see Neo pointing two fingers on one hand at his forehead, a sparking bundle of solar energy at their tips! "Too late!" Neo blasted Ash point blank with a deadly Solarbeam! Fortunately, Ash was quick enough to dodge to worst of it, but the blast still took a solid chuck out of his right shoulder as it drilled right through his armor with laser like force.
Ash crashed into the ground writhing in pain as he clutched the gash where part of his shoulder used to be. He reverted to his normal state out of pain and exhaustion. Latias was choking back tears as she saw her future husband fighting for his life. "Why? Why is Neo doing this?" Mewtwo grumbled, "I wish I knew. That attack just now contained fatal force." Bayleef screamed, "But why?! Neo said this wasn't a fight to the death!" They didn't have time to ponder this as Neo was already up in Ash's face with a Hyper Beam forming in his hands. "Don't bother! There's no way you can dodge this one in the condition you're in!" Ash couldn't even speak as tears flowed down his face. (Neo.....you're my best friend...but you're really trying to kill me...why...?) As Neo was about to attack, he gloated, "I win."
Suddenly, Amber and Onyx screamed, "UNCLE NEO, DON'T!!!!!" This apparently snapped Neo back to his senses as all maliciousness left his eyes and were replaced with fear. "No!" With no way to disperse the energy for it, Neo threw his arm up and fired the Hyper Beam into the sky until it disappeared from sight. While clutching his head, Neo grabbed Ash's mangled shoulder and applied Recover, regenerating any lost cells. Once that was over, Neo staggered back, "No...I won't kill my..." Neo suddenly yelled out, "You are mine now, so you will do as I command!" Neo then contradicted himself, "Absolutely not! I will not kill my brother!" Once again, Neo yelled, "Stupid fool! This is not a choice for you! Kill him NOW!" Ash and everyone else who was brave enough to stay was baffled by Neo's apparent display of a split personality.
Suddenly, Neo roared, "YOU PARASITE! GET OUTTA MY BODY!!!!" With that, Neo hunched over and let out a yell of strain as the emerald green aura around him surged! Strong winds buffeted everyone around as sinister dark purple mist billowed from Neo's pores! After a moment, the mist stopped pouring out of him and Neo dropped on one knee while holding himself up with an arm.
Ash ran over to Neo and yelled, "Why, Neo?! Why were you trying to kill me?!" Neo wheezed and said, "Sorry, but it wasn't me." "Then who?!" Neo looked up and replied, "I think we're about to find out."
The dark mist that had come out of Neo drifted to the ground and seemed to be taking on a solid shape. Boots appeared, followed by gloves, pants, and a shirt. Soon, a copy of Neo stood before them. However, it had unholy purple skin, and its hair and clothing was an even darker, almost black, shade of purple. But when it opened the eyes, they were black instead of white and the pupils were a bloody red.
Neo yelled, "Just what are you?! What were you doing inside me?!" The figure spoke in a dark and mocking voice, "I'm hurt. Has it really been so long that you've forgotten me?" Ash and Neo, as well as their friends and family in the spectator seats, felt a sudden chill as they heard him. Ash stuttered, "No.....it can't be you! I didn't just kill you! I destroyed you! You can't be alive! You can't...!"
The dark copy of Neo smirked, "So you do remember me after all. I'm touched. Truly, I am. That's right. You nailed it on the head. Now, let this be the day that marks the death.....OF THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!!"Chapter End Notes:As Lugia trembled at the revealing of the dark presence, he muttered, "So...it has returned...