Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Brock's Love: Maiden of the Dastardly Dr. Rage ❯ Eleven: Attack ( Chapter 12 )

I'm feeling generous, so I'm gonna type up this chapter now instead of leaving you all hanging like I was going to. So count your blessings, darn it! =^O__~^=

Disclaimer: Nope. And I forgot to mention last chapter, the song "When you're Lonely" By Labi Saffré is also not mine.

Claimer: LIZ IZ MINEZ!! MWAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAA!!

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The sun came shining in all of its magnificent glory the next morning. The sky was a light, dusty shade of blue. There wasn't a cloud in sight.

But Brock was not happy.

Brock stood outside, wondering what he should do. He could go to the police, but he didn't even know Liz's last name or which way she went. And it was that same reason why he himself couldn't go after her. It all just felt so hopeless. He went back inside.

"Brock? Are you. . . okay?" Misty ventured as Brock walked into the gym.

"Yeah," Brock said detachedly, "My chest feels a whole lot better."

"That's good. So, um, how about some breakfast?" Misty tried her best not to mention you-know-who.

"No thanks. I'm not all that hungry this morning. If you don't mind, I'm gonna go wash up."

Misty looked down. "Oh, okay then."

Brock made his way to the elevator and went upstairs. As Misty watched the elevator ascend, Ash walked in from the kitchen with Pikachu and Vulpix.

"So," Ash said, "how's he doing?"

"He's hurt," Misty sighed. "I don't think he knows what to do."

Ash's brow furrowed. "I don't think anyone knows, Misty." ~*~

Upstairs, Brock rinsed the soap from his face. He felt a little better, but was still at a loss for what to do now. He didn't want to stay at the gym anymore. He needed to get out. So what if he didn't know which way Liz went? He couldn't just sit there and mope! She couldn't have gone anywhere but to another Pokemon center. Liz told him before of how much safer it was for her to sleep in a secure place like that.

The wheels in Brock's head began turning. If he could figure out where the nearest center was, he would be bound to find Liz! He bolted from the bathroom and into his room, where he began pouring over his map. He saw three centers nearby, each in a different direction north of the gym. `I have to try,' Brock thought. He circled the gyms and put the map in his pocket as he got dressed.

Ash and Misty were sitting in the lobby, trying to think of something they could do. They were ready to give up when Brock came out of the elevator, fully dressed and wearing his backpack.

"Vulpix, let's go," Brock ordered. Vulpix got up and scampered over to him.

"Brock? What are you doing?" asked Misty.

Brock adjusted the straps on his pack before answering. "I have to find Liz. I can't just let her run off into danger."

"A-are you sure that's what you want to do?" Ash asked.

"Yep."

"Okay, then." Misty walked up to Brock and hugged him. "When you find her, give her a big hug for me."

"I will."

Ash put his hand on Brock's shoulder. "Be careful, man." Ash pulled a pokeball from his waist. "Here, take this with you."

Brock took the ball, a little puzzled. "What's this?"

"Not `what', `who'!" Ash said with a wink. "Throw it."

Brock shrugged and threw the pokeball. "Pokeball, go!!" In a brilliant flash of light, Charizard appeared with a roar. "Charizard?"

"Yeah," Ash explained, "If you can catch a trail of Liz anywhere, Charizard can fly you. He's a lot stronger now from his training. You don't mind, do you, Charizard?"

Charizard yawned and shook his head. He sniffed Brock's hand with the pokeball, pressed the button, and returned.

"Huh, guess he was napping." ~*~

Brock walked along the forest path until he came to the three-way fork that would lead him to the three different Pokemon centers. "Which way. . ."

Vulpix looked down the path to the far left. He sniffed it and pawed at something on the ground. It was a fuzzy ring thingy. He picked it up and showed it to Brock. Maybe he could play with it later.

"Whatcha got there, Vulpix?" Brock asked, looking at the fuzzy ring in Vulpix's mouth. "Hey! This is. . . this is Liz's scrunchie!!" Brock fingered it, remembering the "Hello Kitty" patterned scrunchie Liz wore the day they went swimming in the lake. "Vulpix, where did you find this?" Vulpix looked over to the left path. "She must've gone that way! Towards Mount Moon!" Brock reached into his vest pocket where he had stored Charizard's pokeball. "Charizard! I choose you!" ((AN: awww, remember those days?))

Charizard appeared, finally rested. "Charizard, I need you to fly me that way as fast as you can!" Charizard bent down to let Brock and Vulpix climb aboard. He gave his wings a good test flap before taking off at top speed.

"Don't worry Liz. I'm coming!"

~*~ An hour later ~*~

Liz finally woke up. She looked out the window and could see it was almost noon. "Well, I didn't get here until four this morning," she thought aloud. Even Persian was still sleeping, passed out by the door. Liz smiled affectionately at her Pokemon before grabbing some soap out of her bag. She would take a shower and check on Arcanine. `Then I'll leave,' she thought. ~*~

Nurse Joy struggled as the man tied her arms behind her back. "You let me go!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Joy," he said with a wicked toothy grin, "but I have more pressing matters upstairs." He put a towel around her mouth and carried her, kicking and thrashing, into the pantry. He tied a final piece of rope around her ankles and turned to walk away. " Oh, how rude of me! I am Eugene Rage. You should be thanking me for sparing your life. Now be quiet if you want to keep it that way." He walked out and locked the pantry door. There was no reason to kill the nurse; she wasn't the reason he was there.

He slipped out of the back door and reentered from the front. Unfortunately, there was still a Chansey on duty. He ducked back outside. Rage looked around until he spotted an open window next to a tree. He climbed up the tree and into the window in silence. He could see no one occupied this room. He sat on the bed and went through his pockets until he pulled out a small metal box. Rage pressed a button and a long antenna-like rod extended from the box with a spark. It was the locating device he used on Liz, now equipped with a sort of laser-shock cattle prod. If she wouldn't give up the disk and come willingly, which Rage knew she wouldn't, well, she would have to be persuaded.

Rage walked out of the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Liz had to be in one of those rooms; he just had to figure out which one. He looked around a corner to see if there were any more rooms, only to see Liz herself walking down the hall in the opposite direction with a towel. He grinned that same malicious grin, watching Liz enter the women's washroom. When the door shut, Rage stole into the washroom after her. This would be the end. ~*~

Brock, Vulpix, and Charizard touched down outside the Mount Moon Pokemon center. "Thanks, Charizard. Return!" Brock put the pokeball back into his vest pocket. He looked around, feeling very uneasy. It was quiet. Too quiet. Brock walked into the lobby, only to find no one there. Where was Nurse Joy? Where were the Chanseys? There was a small "Out to Lunch" sign on the info desk next to the sign in sheet. Brock reached for the clipboard holding the sheet to sign his name, when he saw the only other name on the list: `Liz A. Rage'. Brock looked at the name, shocked. But more importantly, he saw she was there and had not signed out yet. Brock dropped the clipboard and ran upstairs.

On the second floor, Brock looked into almost every room until he found one with a Persian sleeping in it. Vulpix walked up to him and nuzzled him awake. He looked surprised, but happy to see them. "Percy?" Brock asked. Percy walked over to him and rubbed his leg with his furry face. `Where's Liz?" Percy looked around and returned his eyes to Brock with a puzzled expression. Brock was scared. Liz wouldn't just walk out without her Pokemon. . . unless she was somewhere private. . . "The bathroom!" Brock said with triumph. Brock followed the signs to the ladies washroom, where he found a startling discovery outside the door. There were faint muddy footprints on the floor, at least two sizes bigger than his. One print was right under the door. "Oh my God," Brock gasped. "He's here!" ~*~

Liz ran a tub full of water. This was one of the few centers that even had bathtubs. There were showers set up all over, but the far wall had four tubs, each separated by a wall. Liz sat on the side of the third tub, running her hand through the water to make sure it wasn't too hot. She looked at her reflection on the surface of the water. She could see the sad look of her eyes rippling in the reflection as she focused o the necklace that dangled freely. Maybe she would feel better after a warm soak. As she turned off the faucet, she looked back at her mirror image. But this time, there was something else there. . . A black blurry thing. The water's rippling made it hard to see. Was it her hair? Liz squinted and raised her eyebrow. `What the heck?' she thought. Liz turned around to see if she was just imagining things, and suddenly wished she were.

"I found you!" Rage chuckled in that sickeningly childish voice, clapping his gloved hands.

Liz wanted to scream so badly, but her voice escaped her. Instead, she ran. She jumped up and ran as fast as her feet could take her, until she slipped on the wet tile floor. Liz sprawled in a belly flop on the floor. She scrambled to her knees, trying to right herself. But her bare feet couldn't get a grip. Rage strode over confidently and grabbed the scruff of her neck, along with a fistful of hair, and wrenched her head to face him. Liz winced and cried out through clenched teeth, her hands around the attacking arm, fighting and struggling.

"Well, looks like there's nowhere left to run, Lizzie dear," Rage hissed. "Now where's that disk, hmm?"

Liz was terrified. After all that running, he still found her. And now he was going to get the disk and the Pokemon world would be doomed. She would probably die there in that washroom. They would find her bloodied corpse on the floor, her pajamas strewn about. She would never see Brock or her friends ever again. All these thoughts rushed through Liz's brain. `Well, if this is how I'm gonna go,' she thought, `Might as well go down fighting!'

Liz slashed out at Rage's face with her nails in a fury. She kicked and swore at him, spitting in his face. "Fuck you!! I'm not letting you have anything," she cried, "You BASTARD!!"

Rage found this outburst quite amusing. He liked it better when they fought. "Oh, so I'm a bastard am I?" He said, tightening his grip on her hair. He ran her head into a wall, which put her in a painful daze for a few seconds, and pinned her against it. "Now, Elizabeth," he whispered into her ear, "that's no way to talk to your father, now is it?" Rage pushed a button on the palm of the glove in his free hand and a small dagger, no bigger than an inch, extended from his index finger.

"I want my disk," he growled, "And we can do this the easy way," he brought the small point up for Liz to see, "or the hard way." Rage stuck the dagger into Liz's side. She cried out in pain. "So what will it be?"

"Fuck. . . you. . ." Liz ground out. She locked eyes with him, almost daring him to continue.

"What spirit," Rage commented sarcastically. "I do remember breaking that some time ago." He stuck her in the arm and gave her a warning scratch dangerously close to her throat. Rage noticed the necklace she was wearing. He examined it quickly and gathered it in his hand. "So he gave you a gift. How sweet." He yanked it off her neck and palmed it for a second. "Well, we can get rid of this now," he smiled, flinging the necklace across the room into the tub of water. "You won't be seeing *him* again anyway." ~*~

Brock struggled with the door. It was locked. There was no time to look for Nurse Joy; he had to get in there. "Vulpix," he shouted, "Use your Flamethrower on this door!"

Vulpix opened his mouth and let out a blast of red-hot flames. After a few seconds, the door was nothing more than a couple of melted hinges. Brock, Vulpix, and Persian ran into the washroom. There were rows and rows of lockers. Brock looked around for any sign of Liz. He stepped forward cautiously, peeking around corners.

"You won't be seeing *him* again anyway."

`Who was that?' Brock thought as his heart began to race faster. He ran down the middle of the lockers into the shower area, where a gruesome sight met him. Liz was in the grasp of a man on the wall opposite him, struggling and crying. She was wet and bleeding.

"LET HER GO!" Brock shouted.

Liz looked just over Rage's shoulder to see Brock standing there with Vulpix and Percy. Her heart skipped a beat. Rage turned slowly until his eyes met the young man in the doorway. "Ah, more for the party," Rage whispered.

Brock stomped forward until Rage whipped Liz around, shielding him, with the dagger still at her throat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, especially since I was hoping to get to you anyway."

Brock froze, motioning for the Pokemon to hold. "Well you've got me," Brock said as calmly as he could, "So let her go. Trade me for her."

"How very noble of you, valiant even." Rage said with a smile. "But unfortunately, Liz is mine, and you. . . Well you got in the way of that." Rage reached into his pocket and pulled out the laser prod. He extended the sparking prod. "But don't worry; I don't plan on killing you. Not in the physical sense, anyway." He pressed a button and a bolt of red light sprang forth, shocking Brock and the Pokemon. They all fell to the ground, Brock's head spinning as his body fizzled with sparks. He could just barely raise his head. "I have found that a person's spirit," Rage yanked Liz's head to the side and ran his tongue along her neck, "can be killed in far easier methods."

Silent tears rolled down Liz's face as Brock struggled to support himself on his elbows. Rage laughed darkly, amused at their pain.

"Besides," Rage continued, "I don't plan on leaving myself to blame for Elizabeth's death. No, no; I wish to leave that honor to you."

"I. . . would never. . . hurt her!" Brock stammered.

"Maybe not, but I would," Rage said, slipping his hand under the rim of her pajama bottoms. "The police will hear how I was `too late' to save her; how her love struck friend had lost his mind and killed her." Rage nuzzled Liz's neck as she whimpered in disgust. He lifted his eyes just enough to meet his. "Don't look so sad! At least you got to see her once more. Maybe not under the best circumstances, but. . ." Rage trailed off into a dark chortle.

Liz couldn't take it any more. She seized a chance and bit down hard on Rage's ear. Rage hollered and tried to pull her away. Liz only held on tighter, tasting the blood in her mouth. He unintentionally let her go, and she elbowed him in the stomach. He stumbled backward, but came at her again. She kicked him in the crotch and he crouched, clutching his injury. She gave him one more heel to the head, which knocked his head into the wall. He slumped to the floor.

Liz stood there for a minute, breathing heavily, before rushing to Brock's side. He was just sitting up, most of his body still numb with pain. She dropped to her knees at his side, too ashamed to even look at him. Brock looked at her bowed head, seeing tears drop steadily into her lap.

"I'm. . . so sorry," she sniffled. "Looks like. . . the one thing I ran away from you to prevent. . . happened anyway. . . Just my luck, right?" Liz managed a sarcastic laugh.

Brock put his hand on her cheek, surprising her. "I'm just happy you're alive," he said. "Now let's get out of here."

Liz smiled and helped Brock stand up. She gave one last glance behind her and. . .

"BROCK, LOOK OUT!!"

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Wanna know what happens? Review and I'll post it faster!