Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Codename:ASHURA ❯ Reunions ( Chapter 3 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Legacy 
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Updated On: 06.04.2004 | Pages: 9 | Words: 10.9K | Visits: 376 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Updated On: 06.04.2004 | Pages: 9 | Words: 10.9K | Visits: 376 | Status: Completed
WARNING: Due to the violent content of this story parental discretion is advised
Disclaimer: Pokemon and all their characters are the sole property of Game Freak, the WB, and its creator’s.
ENJOY
For Your Eyes Only
Any information that is disclosed is for your own personal knowledge. If you choose to reveal, said information your termination will be applied. And if you are caught, we at MASTERS have the right to deny any of our prior relationships.
Codename: ASHURA-Reunions
The "Cerulean Highlight" building, the pride and joy of the city, not only was it the tallest skyscraper in Cerulean City. But it also housed some of the most successful trade businesses in all of the Indigo Islands. The "Highlight" was a place of wealth and merit. Only the truly accomplished were permitted to do business there.
Tonight though, the doors of the "Highlight" were not opened for the purpose of money. They were to celebrate the achievements of one special lady.
This lady, through her many years of dedicated work, has brought many new accomplishments in the field of Water Pokemon handling and care. What another must realize is that this woman accomplished all these tasks while still in her early twenties. Never-the-less, tonight all her tireless efforts will finally be recognized and appreciated.
Too bad she hates a lot of attention.
***
‘God, I hate these things,’ Misty thought as she sipped some club soda. This wasn’t one of her best weeks. Not only did she have to rent out a brand new dress for the occasion...Not that she really minded to wear the dress. It was beautiful. A white embroidered dress that not only was true to her figure but, also left enough to the imagination.
Yes, she didn’t mind getting the dress, but the two hour bus ride to the dress shop wasn’t her idea of fun.
Why did she have to take the bus? You may ask. Why didn’t she take her brand new, cherry red, GSX1300R Hayabusa Suzuki? Well it’s seems some guy ran off with it the day before. Not only that but she had to catch a ride to the party, with some jerk from her clinic. Carl then waved, as if on cue.
‘Man, I loved that bike,’ she thought. ‘Geez, three more payments it would have been mine,’ she complained. Misty was upset, not only because of her bike, but the jerk of guy that stole it.
She couldn’t believe her bad luck, to have her bike stolen again by another guy!
True, it looked like he was in trouble but still, WHY HER BIKE!!!
‘You know if the bike thing didn’t happen, I would have gladly given him, my number,’ she pondered without really thinking about it. Then she groaned at her previous notion and gulped down another drink. This time it had some alcohol in it.
That was another thing, for some reason she couldn’t get that guy off her mind. The seemingly daring young man dressed in all black. Sure he was cute and all...but for some reason he still stood out above the rest. ‘Maybe it was his eyes,’ she wondered while nursing another drink.
Those eyes seemed to do wonders on Misty’s emotions. Those light brown eyes seemed to hold so much, a hint of gentleness and pitch of danger. He had a kindness to him, as well as a hidden passion. He seemed some much of a mystery to her. Misty wondered if she would ever see him again. ‘Well at least so beat him within a inch of his life,’ she added.
Then her gaze turned to the dance floor. Dozens of Cerulean’s elite graced the floor, each conversing on their new deals or how the conditions of their golfing range were, dozens upon dozens of happy patrons, all waltzing and stepping to the tunes of the classy jazzy band that was hired.
This seemed to be another typical boring night for Misty Waterflower or maybe I should say her professional name Mistae Waters.
The large dance hall was a sight to be seen. Huge chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling. They were all filled with thousands of lights that shined brightly like a thousand stars. A fully attendant bar was present as gents and ladies discussed they’re daily business. From there, many could see a ravishingly beautiful red-head making her way through the dance floor, cutting through couples as they danced.
Misty finally reaching her destination, took a seat at one of the empty tables.
Warding off all the suggestions to dance by passing (wealthy) bachelors, Misty buried her head into her hands and patiently waited for her night to end.
Raising her head again to take another sip of her drink, Misty glanced over at the dance floor. Couples prancing back and forth...it seemed so DULL to her.
She was about to take another sip, when something caught her eye.
Not really something but someone. A man…
She really couldn’t make out his description, cause of a waltzing couple that blocked her view. Waiting for the pair to pass, she was then able to take in his features. He was a man slightly under 6 feet, with dark shoulder length hair. He was wearing an Asian style collarless tuxedo. The style was emphasized by the five button mandarin coat. It was all black, with a silver vest. The style of the tux drew the breast of the coat to the side, concealing most of the vest underneath.
She couldn’t really see his face from where she sat, so she moved in a little closer. She wanted to see his eyes. She wanted to know if this was the same guy from before that stole her bike...and might have stolen something else.
As she moved, now a few yards away from him. He caught sight of her advancing. The two of them finally made eye contact with each other, both seeming to recognize the other from the day before.
Misty tried to keep her eyes on young man, but found keeping track of him was hard due to the dance floor in between them. Every so often, a couple would pass their line of sight, blinding them to each other.
Misty tried to mouth-out a greeting toward him. Then she found the message was lost, do to the waltzing interference. After waiting for the couple to move on, Misty tried again to convene the message, but found that the young man disappeared.
"Now where did he go?" Misty wondered. It was probably only a few seconds that she lost eye contact with him. But it seemed as though, in that small amount of time he totally vanished. Misty scanned around the whole dance floor, looking for the young gentleman.
She saw one guy... ‘No too thin.’
Another.... ‘Too short’
Another... (Chuckle) ‘Too fat’
Misty was about to give up hope when she spotted a familiar suit. The gentleman was at the bar with another couple of guys. He appeared to be the right height and built. The only problem was his back was toward her.
Cursing how desperate she must have appeared, Misty went over to the gentleman. He was having a conversation with a few other fellows, when she tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around to see her.
Misty, was expecting a young handsome man...what turned around was something else.
The girl recognized the face now. It was Harold, the grandfather of one of Misty’s medical colleagues. He was a friendly guy...but was a little too friendly for Misty’s taste.
After a few minutes of idle chatter and the warding-off of Harold’s wandering hands, Misty found herself alone again aimlessly searching for the dark handsome young man. She sulkily returned to her seat and ordered another drink.
Misty was about to take a sip when she noticed someone besides her.
"I’m not interrupting anything am I?" a man’s voice asked as he took a seat next to her.
"No...Go ahead," Misty said unenthusiastically. She didn’t even turn to look in his direction.
"Nice night isn’t it?" he asked.
"I guess...." she sighed. For some reason, she found fiddling with her napkin more exciting than the party.
"What’s wrong? It’s shouldn’t be natural for such a pretty lady to frown." he stated.
"It’s nothing really, except for one thing....I thought I might have found the perfect person for me..." she said sadly.” And another thing…I’m being honored tonight at this silly thing."
"Really.....then you’re..." he exclaimed.
"Yup! Mistae Waters at your ser..." She would have finished the sentence, but she saw who she was sitting with, a slightly bronzed, young man. His brown eyes flashed as they made eye contact.
"Hi," he said. "I think we’ve already met." he chuckled, while taking her hand gently.
****
"Eleven O’clock. Coffee break!" Ron cheered, as he rose from his chair. You would think being a security guard, would have its share of thrills and adventure. But it was another long and boring night in the old "Highlights" building. The place was so automated, it really didn’t seem like it needed Ron’s protection. "Hey I’m going to the machine do you want anything; Doritos...stale donuts maybe?" he offered.
His partner looked up. "Ummm...none for me thanks. Take your time Ron, she’s not going anywhere," he said while looking into one of the monitors.
"Yeah, see you in a bit, Vinney," he agreed, as he was walking down the hall.
That was Vinny. He was a nice guy. Even though Vinney hadn’t been with the
"Highlight" for that long, Ron was always a good judge of character though.
Ron merrily strolled to the ground floor vending machines. Taking a quick look at the 'wide' selection, Ron frowned; they were out of the frosted donuts.
Sighing, Ron compensated with a bag of chips and a small coffee. After making his delicatessen choice, Ron strolled on back to the front desk.
Vinney had his feet propped up on one of the monitors, enjoying a light snooze. Ron made an irritated face. "Hey! Get up you!" Ron commanded while knocking his legs over. When the monitor was in full view, the screen showed the shadowed silhouettes of three people. Ron looked up through the long hallway, through the set of glass doors to see a small band of people waiting outside. "I can’t leave you for five minutes. Look we already got some loiterers."
"Wa...huh?" Vinny said while still in the process of waking up. "What’s the problem?"
"What’s the problem?" he grumbled some obscenities. "Look outside sleeping beauty..."
Vinney looked up. "Oh sorry man, I guess I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately." Ron still looked pissed. "Hey I’ll take care of it." And with that
Vinney got up and proceeded to deal with the situation.
While Vinney was walking outside, Ron took a look at group of people outside. He couldn’t really make out any faces. All he could tell was they were two guys and a girl out there. Then the image included Vinney in the scene. The cameras that viewed the loiterers didn’t have any sound, but it looked like Vinney wasn’t having any problems from the trio. So...Ron decided to return to his light snack.
After quickly devouring the bag of chips, Ron glanced over to the monitor again.
Everyone was gone....
Shortly he heard the hiss of the electric door opening. He thought that he was going to see Vinney approaching the desk, but instead he saw the three loiterers inside the building. Their backs were facing him.
Sighing he rose up from the desk. "Hey, I don’t know if the officer told you, but the building is closed," he shouted from the desk.
The three remained. It appeared if they didn’t hear him. Now that the three were inside he could have a better look at them. There were two guys: one about six foot even, brown hair, light build, the other guy slightly taller than the first, with short green hair, and a little bit thinner. The girl was a blonde, styled in two ponytails. He couldn’t tell from the front how she looked, but from behind he had no complaints. The three seemed like a normal bunch...expect they were all wearing black.
Cursing Ron approached the trio; their backs were still towards him. Reaching for his sidearm, he shouted "HEY!!! DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME!!! YOU CAN’T COME IN
HERE!!!!" his sentence ended when three semi-automatic weapons were shoved in his face.
The brown hair man grinned. "Sorry, I didn’t hear you the first time. Mind repeating," he taunted. And that was the last thing Ron ever heard...
"Man that was fun," Richie stated with a huge grin on his face. He turned to the side. "Hey you did good Vinney," he added as the former officer/Team Rocket member approached from the shadows.
"Thanks boss," he said, while looking at the body of his fallen ex-partner.
"Actually it was a pleasure. This guy was getting on my nerves anyway. Taking a damn coffee break every five minutes," he ruefully kicked the corpse lying on the floor.
"Anyhoo, thanks for the assistance. Return to "Haven" for your next assignment"
Ricky ordered. The Rocket saluted and walked out the building. Richie turned to the other man with short green hair. "Ok, Butchie. You know what the plan is right?" he asked while throwing him a briefcase.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It will be a piece of cake," he opened the case to check on the item. An SR-60 sniper rifle, one of the most precise sniper rifles on the planet. And it also helped that Butch was a crack shot. He’d never missed in his life.
Closing the case, Butch got himself ready then he looked to Richie.
"Make this quick Butch," Richie said. "Oh yeah, we have men in the building to cover your exit, just in case he is here. And if he is..." he added. "I want him alive."
"Whatever...So what will you be doing anyway?"
Richie grinned. He put his arm around Cassidy and hugged her close to him.
"Ummm...Don’t worry I’ll find away to keep busy."
Cassidy giggled. "Oh, Richie what am I going to do with you…" He laughed and she looked at Butch. The two shared the glance for a couple of seconds, then Butch turned away.
Marching over to one of the elevators, the last thing Butch saw before he entered and the doors closed, was Cassidy going down to her knees.
****
"YOU!" Misty shouted. "You’re the guy that stole my bike!"
The man in black sighed... ‘You know this is sounding very familiar’ he thought.
"I should kill you!" she continued "Where is my bike!?!" she demanded while slamming her hand on the table.
The dark haired man, nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head...An act Misty thought was kinda familiar. "Well..." he started.”You see there was this accident and....yourbikekindagotdestroyed," he rushed the last part.
"WHAT!!!!!!" Misty yelled. Her voice was so loud, everyone in the room turned around to see what was with all the commotion. Slightly embarrassed, Misty decided to lower her voice. "God!" she whispered, to the man. "You know that bike wasn’t even fully paid for yet!"
"Look I’m real sorry about that. It was an emergency and it was the closest thing available. I know that is no excuse so..." He pulled out a little checkbook and wrote a number down. "So do you think this is enough to cover it?"
Misty took the check and looked at the amount. "WAAAAA!!!!!!" she screamed. The man in black could have sworn that sounded familiar.
"Is that not enough?" he asked.
Misty regained her composure. "No...That’s fine." Fine was an understatement.
The amount he put on the check, would be enough to buy probably two motorcycles.
The man seemed pleased. "But there is one catch," he added.
Misty raised one eyebrow, "What...?"
"Well you have to have dinner with me," he said matter-of-factly.
She smirked. "Do tell...so what happens if I decline. Are you going to take the check back?" She thought ‘Yeah right over my dead body.’
The man smiled and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "No...But I guess I will have to try harder." Misty smiled. "Would you like to dance Miss. Waters?"
He asked while, extending his hand and motioning for the dance floor.
Misty sighed. "You know....just about every guy in this place has asked me to dance...." she started. It appeared the gentleman was held on her response. "And the funny thing is…I really don’t know how to," she jokingly admitted.
The dark man gently took her hand. "Well that is something we’ll have to
Remedy," he said while trying to lead her to the dance floor. Although he seemed real nice, Misty was still a little hesitant.
The man stopped his prodding and looked deep into Misty’s eyes. "Miss. Waters, although we just met, I will promise that I won’t let anything happen to you," he finished, while giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Maybe it was the little bit of champagne she drank. Or maybe, she was tired from the days work. Or maybe...just maybe...she was starting to feel something for this guy that she hardly knew. For whatever reason, Misty joined the man on the dance floor.
But she added. "Oh yeah, don’t call me ‘Mrs. Waters’ it makes me feel too old."
Ashura knew it was bad business, to have feelings for a client...but he couldn’t help it. It was as if he was being moved by another part of him....his heart.
"So where should I pick you up at, so we can go to dinner?" he asked the slender, angelic redhead as they took the floor.
"We’ll I haven’t agreed on going out with you," she stated while taking his hand. "...but keep asking."
Ashura smiled. She was something: a beautiful, independent woman that had a good sense of humor. Although, he did pledge his heart to another, he thought after the mission was over maybe...
"Hey! I thought you were going to teach me," she complained. Noticing he zoned out for a minute.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something," he said, his arm going around her waist.
Mistae blushed. "Well, start thinking about me and dancing now buster."
Ash grinned. "Ok, milady." Then the two were ready.
The band started to play a moderate speed jazz song, as they began. Ash, not trying anything fancy, showed Mistae the basic steps. Even though she tripped a few times, Ash was always there to catch her. After a few minutes, it seemed like she was a pro.
"I hate to admit it," she said as Ash dipped her. "But this is fun."
Ash smiled. When the two began, there was about a foot distance between them. It appeared though, for the last couple of minutes the distance became smaller and smaller. "I glad your enjoying yourself. You seemed kind of lonely, waiting at the table."
"Maybe...I really hate these things though," she admitted. The music changed to a slow song. Ash and Mistae changed hand positions and drew slightly closer.
"Why do you come then?" he asked.
"I don’t know...to keep up appearances, I guess," she looked up at him. "Plus the fact, it’s a great way to find a rich wealthy guy," she jested.
Ash laughed, but then grew silent as she placed her head on his chest. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, she sighed. "You know, this is the second time where me getting my bike stolen, has brought me someone special."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. Then he thought about it. ‘Second...time,’ He looked down at her. "Misty?!?" he gasped while breaking their clasp.
"Yeah...that’s my name...oh well WAS my name I..." she paused and then looked at him through narrowed her eyes.”I haven’t used my real name in five years. How do you know it?" she eyed him up and down. Now that she thought about it. He did seem very familiar.
"Well..." Ashura had to think quickly. "I’m a big fan of yours. I saw you perform as the "Mermaid Princess" at the Cerulean Gym." Although Ash was highly trained in arts of deception, he still found it hard to lie to her. But...it looked like she was buying it. "And since then I always had a crush on the original Princess."
Now "Misty" blushed. "Oh that was such a long time ago. I can’t believe anyone even remembers that," she said. "Are you sure that’s all?" He nodded. "Cause you remind me so much of someone I knew a long time ago."
Ash grinned "Tell me about him," he prodded.
She seemed to phase out for a while. The song ended and the two were left standing on the floor alone. She then returned to Ashura to answer. "Oh, it’s nothing. Just someone I knew a long time ago," she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Umm...can we take a seat? I’m going to have to do a speech in a little bit and
I want to prepare."
"Sure thing," he answered. "After you Misty."
It appeared she liked the way it sounded when Ashura used her real name. A smile came to her face as the two left the floor.
"Oh man..." Misty groaned, as she emerged from her purse.
"What is it?" the man in black asked. Come to think about it, Misty never did catch his name.
"I can’t find the rest of my acceptance speech," she stated, while rummaging through her purse. She then produced the check for her motorcycle and laughed.
She looked at the gentlemen. "Hey, this isn’t going to bounce is it?" Misty jested.
He laughed. "Oh course not. You need to learn to trust people more Mist."
"Oh Shut up Ash!!" Misty replied with out thinking.
‘Mist’ was something that only "he" called her. She wouldn’t accept anybody else calling her that. She looked at him apologetically. But to her surprise he looked shocked. Thinking she upset him, she quickly apologized. "I’m sorry. I guess I mistaken you for somebody else."
He accepted and then they both were quiet. The hearing of his old pet name for her was really standing out in her mind. She looked at him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.
"What?" he replied, slightly shaky.
"Nothing....it’s just nobody has called me ‘Mist’ for a long time. In fact..." she started eyeing him again. "Only one person really ever called me that...."
The man quickly recovered with. "Oh, well it just felt kinda natural. I guess."
Misty smiled. "You know you should try another profession, because lying isn’t your thing." The man started to become very uneasy, like he was hiding something. Something Misty couldn’t figure out. "Who are you really?" she asked bluntly "Cause for some reason...I feel like I know you."
"I think I better go..." he said while starting to get up. But a soft delicate hand restrained him. He did not move.
"I know you...Don’t I?" she said while standing in front of him.
He tried to turn away, but her hands guided him to face her. Misty again tried to examine his face, slightly tracing his facial features with her fingertips.
She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she couldn’t stop until she found it.
After a few seconds of trying she had almost given up, but then she noticed that he didn’t look at her. She then sought out his eyes. Struggling a little, they finally made eye contact.
She then realized something; his eyes were different from what she was accustomed to. He didn’t have the cold emotionless eyes of a CEO, a lawyer, or a politician. He had the warm eyes of a young boy that wandered different lands, faced incredible odds, and journeyed through the summers. He had the eyes of the young boy that she told all her secrets too and the boy she secretly loved.
She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Ash...?" she whispered.
Before the man could answer the two were interrupted. "Miss Waters. We are ready to start the ceremony." A slightly older man from the "Highlight" committee said. She believed his name was Jerry.
"So if you would accompany me..." Jerry said. "We can begin."
Misty remembered the she was being honored today. She turned to Ash....or the guy she believed was Ash, only to find him gone. "Oh, where is he?" she cried.
"Did you see which way he went?" she asked Jerry.
"The gentlemen you were sitting with?" Misty nodded. "Well he’s right...." Jerry looked around the room but he couldn’t find any trace of the dark young man that was engaging Miss. Waters. "Why, I don’t know..." Misty sighed. "Miss. Waters, the committee a waits." Dejected, Misty followed the gentleman behind stage.
Unaware to Misty, her every move was being observed by the most dangerous man of MASTERS, Agent Ashura. He had been looking for her, for seven years. Now that he found her he was at a lost. He so much wanted to tell her everything: about himself, about what he is, and about how he feels toward her. But Ashura knew the mission came first.
He looked on, as she scanned the whole room again trying to get a small glance of him. Not finding a trace, she sadly walked away.
There was a pain in Ash’s heart; no matter how much he denied it...he still loved her. "I’m sorry Misty..." he said as he slowly walked away.
*****
"All right, game time Butch," he said to himself.
Butch had been preparing for about an hour now. He found the choice location to get set up, the balcony on the upper level. The spot not only gave him a clear view of his target, it also was off limits do to some minor construction.
Since he had a good hour before the show began, Butch would take this time to meditate. So he could draw in more concentration for the task at hand. ‘Cleanse your mind of all worldly things.’ These words echoed through his mind as his consciousness expanded. His mind, now void of all distractions, was a temple of pure thought and composition. This was the crucial point in Butch’s ritual. The height of his entire conscious mind, any faltering with his thinking could ruin all of his focus.
Seemingly everything was going according to plan, but a thought Butch submerged before started to resurface. The thought wasn’t painful, but it didn’t bring joy either.
He kept seeing himself, in a small room, four walls with no way out. He was alone in the room, but being in solitary didn’t really bother him. He crept over to the one of the walls and found a dark pane of glass.
Then a small hand placed itself on the other side of the window. Butch peered in closer to the glass, to find the owner of the small but delicate hand. He was then face to face with the most beautiful image he could ever hope for.
"Cassidy!" he cheered. Butch was glad to see such a familiar and lovely face. She would have answered his name, but the pane of glass seemed to block sound.
Since the two were not able to communicate, they only enjoyed gazing to into each others eyes. Butch noticing her hand still on the pane of glass moved his hand to mirror hers. Even though there was a sheet of glass separating the two, they never felt closer to each other.
Suddenly there was a new source of light gleaming from the other side of Cassidy’s room. A door opened up. Cassidy turned to face the visitor, but pressed her body up against the glass to try to avoid it. Then hands appeared on her pulling her away. She turned to face Butch, her tearful face echoing the fear that she held.
Butch called out to her and banged on the glass with all his might, but his strength wasn’t even able to make a crack. Cassidy reached out a hand toward his direction, pleading with him to save her. Butch screamed at his totally lack of aiding his love. His mind angered at his own uselessness.
He screamed inside his head as he awoke on the balcony. "It was a dream," he said, with much relief. "Crap!!!" he then remember the job.
Looking down at the podium he realized that, he only missed a few minutes of the award ceremony. "The broad with red-hair, hasn’t even spoken yet," he said with much relief.
Not taking any chances, Butch decided to get ready. He held the rifle on his arm to give the tool balance. His other hand was ready at the trigger. He looked through the weapon’s crosshairs. The aim and sight was perfect, all he needed was the target.
Butch has had forty-eight targets in his life and forty-eight successful hits.
And tonight he wasn’t planning on ruining it.
****
"Let’s check out another one, eh Pikachu," Ash suggested while speaking into his earpiece transceiver. Ash looked at another guest and focused his eyes.
To another person, it would appear he was just gawking at random people in the room. Actually he was really performing a weapons search on all the attendants at the party.
Inside the clear contact lenses that he wore, a tiny search screen was scanning the area. A green grid fell over a suspect, as the lens scanned for a potential threats, the grid would focus on a area of the body, then move up and down the person to make sure they’re not concealing any weapons.
The ‘lens’ though do not make the search on their own, they only transmit a signal to another place that makes the true analysis. That’s what Pikachu’s job was.
While parked outside in Ash’s Dodge Viper, Pikachu was able to help his partner with the task. Not only was he able to see everything in the party, but he also was able to keep in contact with Ash in case things got a little hairy. Pikachu didn’t find staking out in the Viper too much fun, but with a brand new bottle of Ketchup anything doesn’t seem that bad.
"Ok, Pikachu that’s the last one," Ash said while waving off an elderly lady. It seems Ash was staring a little too long and someone got the wrong impression.
Ash was just glad he didn’t take the X-ray lenses. ‘Ooooh,’ he shuddered.
Ash then turned back to the ceremony. It's been an hour since they started and they still haven’t finished talking about all the things Misty has done. Ash smiled. He was glad Misty was so successful in her life, but he kinda wished that he was apart of it. He would have loved helping her achieve her dreams.
‘She helped me achieve mine,’ Ash sighed. Memories could be a painful thing.
Shaking off his reminiscing, Ash returned to his task. He knew someone from Team
Rocket would try to take Misty’s life and over his dead body were they going to succeed. He tried to figure out every possible place a hitman could take but every place seemed to be closed off, or occupied with security.
Ash was lost in his thoughts, when he noticed that the introductory speaker finished his orientation. The speaker then held out a crystal statue, the award Misty was to be presented.
Ash believing that time was running out, decided to slip backstage.
‘Oh my God, I can’t do this,’ Misty thought as she paced back and forth off stage. ‘Why did I agree to this? Somebody else is just as good as me. Why do I have to do this?’ Misty then took a long sigh. She knew why...it was just hard.
She didn’t want to face it, but it was her job.
Shaking off her fears Misty’s mind was now dwelling on another subject. ‘That guy...who is he? He reminds me so much of Ash. But how can that be....Then again
I haven’t seen Ash in a long time. That had to be him, I know it. Nobody but Ash has those eyes and that smile,’ Misty was too busy with her thoughts to notice that the introductory speaker was coming to a close. ‘If that was Ash...’ She concluded. ‘I have to tell him that I’m sorry for...’
Just then Misty thoughts were interrupted as the speaker uttered the phrase "Now for the lady of the hour....Mistae Waters." His greeting was followed by a thunderous applause. Setting aside her previous worries, Misty walked out onto the stage. The audience climbed to their feet in a joyous standing ovation.
‘Here goes...’ Misty thought.
****
‘Man, she’s so beautiful,’ Ash thought as she took to the podium.
The Security backstage wasn’t that tight. Ash didn’t have much difficulty getting back there. Gazing at her from behind one of the curtains, Ash listened as she began to speak, her beautiful white dress, sparkling under the bright lights.
Ash then looked into the audience. There were a series of flashes, in the lower sections as the photographers went to work. There were twinkles of light everywhere on the floor...but suddenly there was a glint coming from the above balcony. That worried Ash because that section was supposed to be cut off.
Cupping his ear, Ash spoke. "Pikachu, magnify the balcony by 10X." Pikachu, cooed in agreement.
Then in a flash another gird opened up in Ash’s sights. The balcony was selected, and then his lenses started to zoom in.
2X...
6X...
10X...
Ash could now see clearly the barrel of a SR-60 sniper rifle, and the wielder of the weapon....Butch Maxwell.
Ash eyes widen. "Misty..."
*****
‘All right Butch it’s the moment of truth’ He slowly clutched the weapon ready to fire...
****
Carl couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did he finally get that promotion today at the clinic. But he also got the chance to escort Mistae Waters to the party.
Not only that but ‘she’ asked him to take her.
He was floating on air the whole night. Even though she had never paid him any mind in the past. This was his chance with her.
He smiled as she gracefully spoke. Carl focused on her every action. ‘It had to be fate’ he thought. ‘She could have asked any guy to take her...Why me?’ He listened-in on some more of her speech, all the while deciding his next move to court Mistae. ‘I know...I’ll just come out and tell her how I feel. Women love honesty. And then she’ll be all mine!’
Smiling as he came to his own conclusion. Carl decided to listen to the rest of the next, Mrs. Carl’s speech. Then he, as well as the other members of the audience became alarmed as a man dressed in black, ran across the stage.
****
‘I have only one shot at this,’ Ash thought as he drew out his hidden berretta from its holster. Running at his full speed, he leaped into the air knocking into Misty, while trying to aim.
"MISTY!!! GET DOWN!!!!!" he shouted while firing a round into the balcony.
There were two shots fired, one from Ash and one from Butch...and neither of them hitting a live mark.
Ash hovering above Misty fired another couple of rounds into the balcony, the magnified sight, from his lenses aiding him. Sparks flew as the balcony was illuminated with gunfire.
Butch, believing escape was more important, didn’t even return fire. Leaving the sharp-shooting weapon where it laid, Butch bolted toward the exit.
Seeing though the threat was gone. Ashura got to his feet and helped the fallen Misty up as well. Giving her the once-over to make sure she wasn’t injured.
Satisfied, Ash leaped off the stage into the audience.
‘Butch was here,’ Ashura thought ‘and if he is then Richie can’t be far behind.’
He was about to take-off. He didn’t want to lose Butch in the building, but then someone called out to him....
"ASH!!! WAIT!!!" Ashura stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the Waterflower. "What’s this about? What’s going on?" she frantically asked.
Ashura took a deep breath and looked forward. "Miss Waters...." his voice was cold as ice.”Contrary to what you may think, I do not know you...." he clutched his berretta tightly as he spoke. "I’m an agent from MASTERS assigned to protect your life...." he then turned his head to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eyes.”Now let me do my job." he finished as he turned forward again toward the exit.
The audience seemed to part way with his gazed. There was no sound coming from them. Ash regretted his words, but remembered that this was for the best. "Stay here Miss. Waters. I’ll be back." And with that he then ran at full speed to exit the room.
All eyes were on Misty as he departed. Misty adverted her vision so they couldn’t see her face. She didn’t want them to know she was crying.
******
The doors of the banquet hall burst open as Ashura emerge from within. The black tuxedo jacket flowing as he moved. Looking around the area, he caught the image of Butch from down the hallway.
"BUTCH!!!" he shouted out gaining the emerald-haired man’s attention.
He didn’t turn to look at him. "Evening Ashura, nice night for a hit, isn’t it," he jested while turning around with a fully-automatic tech-9 machine gun.
Bullets jetted by Ashura, as he dove for cover behind a wall. ‘Smooth move Ash, it’s been only five minutes since you left Misty and you’re already getting sloppy,’ he said to himself as he returned Butch’s gunfire, with some of his own.
The two exchanged more rounds, with Ash still pinned against the wall with seemingly no means of advancing or fleeing. Then suddenly six more Team Rocket flunkies added to the fray.
‘My luck,’ Ash thought, as the wall he was standing behind was beautifully redecorated with bullet holes.
Butch seeing this as he chance to escape called for a momentary cease-fire.
"Hey Ashura, sorry we can’t continue this but I have deadline to keep. But I’m sure these guys here can show you the way out," he smirked as he was about to take his leave. He turned to the squad leader. "Remember Richie wants him alive." The leader taking note of that commanded his troops advance on the target.
Butch took one look at the squad and wished them luck...they were going to need it.
"Ok squad, move in," the leader commanded, as his troops were ready to capture one of Team Rocket’s greatest threats.
With no action coming from the targets direction, the team silently moved with their weapons drawn. The wall coming into closer sights, all the men got ready for a very fearsome battle. So what if he was called "The Ghost." a label given to him from some of the witnessing Team Rocket members. The target was still human and a human can be still killed....Right?’
"Everyone get ready," the leader said as they rounded the corner. The two lead man held their automatic weapons ready. Then they were all surprised. His tuxedo jacket was there, but there was no sign of Ashura.
The leader backed up and was about to command an alternative plan, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned to face it, but then that was when his vision was halted.....by a fist.
*****
Misty was beside herself. Things were moving too fast. She could have sworn that man had to been Ash. But how can that be so... Before the shooting, the man had a look of love in his eyes. The likes where Misty had never seen, but Ash never loved her. She was always his buddy.
The girl paid no attention to the thousands of reporters and security flooding her with questions. Her mind was elsewhere, busy trying to examine what just took place there.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. The agent had returned. "Miss. Waters, we have to leave right away," he stated trying not to look her in the eyes. "There are more men in the building and I have to get you out."
Misty looked at him like he was crazy. "Ash....I mean. Who ever you are?" she corrected herself. "What are you talking about? How do I know you’re not with them?" she challenged. Just as she spoke, both the double-doors to the banquet hall flung open as the Team Rocket commandos started to pour into the room.
Retrieving a Uzi that he ‘borrowed’ from a newly deceased Rocket member, the
Agent sprayed the entering squad. Every member bombarded with lead. They all fell to the ground like string less marionettes. All the aristocrats screamed at all the blood shed.
The Agent then turned to Misty. "Got, any other questions?" There was silence.
"Alright lets move."
With the front double-door entrance on the verge of being stormed with more from Team Rocket, Ashura and the ‘Waters’ woman exited through a smaller exit on the side.
The door, lead the two to an empty hallway. Ash cupped his ear again.
"Pikachu..." he whispered so she couldn’t hear him.”We are on the 85th floor. Give me a floor plan that can show us the fastest way of escaping the building."
"Pika, Pika. Pika-Pi," he heard the yellow rodent complied.
Misty looked at him strangely, "Who are you talking too?" she asked.
"My partner" he replied. There was a flash of green light in Ashura’s lenses.
Another grid appeared in his sights as the floor plan was illustrated. Ash and
Misty being represented by a yellow and red dot, there was a pathway marked out with a purple line.
Ash turned his head to see the stairway doors that were on his course. "Ok, Miss. Waters, my partner says to go this way."
Misty raised an eye brow. "Your partner...?" she looked around, nobody but her and the lunatic agent. "What are you talking about? There is nobody but us here!”
Taking her hand he sighed. "JUST TRUST ME MISTY!! PLEASE!!!" he then groaned.
She again looked at him in shock. "I mean...Miss. Waters. My friend is very reliable. You have my word that as long as I live, no harm will come to you." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked deep into her eyes. "Please trust me...."
Misty saw her reflection in his eyes; he had such a degree of determination that Misty couldn’t ignore. She sighed ‘I really wish he would stop doing that thing with his eyes...’ She agreed to trust him.
Then the couple dashed to the stairwell.
*****
The two rushed down a flight of stairs and came to the doors to the next floor. The Agent taking the lead, he preceded to open the doors.
‘Hey, maybe this will turn out Ok after all,’ Misty thought. ‘This guy isn’t Ash, so "it" should be Ok.’ But then she noticed that the agent stopped. She looked up and saw a nice little band of Rockets in Black.
The eight: ski-mask covered, tech-9 wielding, combat boot wearing fiends, all were targeted on to the duo.
The Agent whispered to her in a voice, she could hardly hear. "....Run."
"But what about you?" she whispered back.
The agent didn’t answer. He then drew back and yelled, "GO!!!!!!" while pushing her into another direction.
Misty didn’t have to be told twice. She didn’t know where she was going but she ran anyway. She ran, despite the heels she wore.
One of the men from Team Rocket shouted. "Kill the girl!!!!" and made a step toward the fleeing girl’s direction.
That’s all Ashura needed to hear....
As soon as the Rocket moved he was greeted with a powerful roundhouse right into his stomach. The Rocket hunched over from the blow and then was delivered a vicious elbow drop that wedged itself in the back of his skull. Ash finished the task, by then grabbing hold of the Rocket’s head and jerked it downward to meet Ash’s raising knee. The final blow sent the Rocket back toward the ground unconscious...and missing a few teeth.
The remaining Rocket’s gasped at the sight, one drew for his gun, but was reminded by another that Richie wanted him alive.
Ash snickered when he overheard that. He then slowly took of his tuxedo jacket and vest. Smiling again he threw the articles of clothing to the side and rolled up the sleeves to his white dress shirt. He eyed up and down the remaining seven
Rockets and grinned. Stepping to the side, he waved his attackers on.
****
"Psst...Mondo," one of the Rockets whispered. "You sure about this...Wasn’t this the guy that whipped our tails on that rooftop?"
The one known as Mondo, tensed at the memory. He remembered that incident all too well. Not only did this guy, beat him and his men like they stole something. But he leapt off the rooftop like he was freaking Superman.
"I don’t care!" Mondo shouted through his ski mask. "I’m apart of Unit 49, and this guy ain’t leaving here till he knows exactly what that means!!!" he shouted as he ran toward the MASTERS’ Agent.
The other remaining Rockets sighed then ran over to assist their leader.
Mondo ran toward the Agent with a wild haymaker, destined to make the struggle short. But the Agent feint the punch away from him, spun counter-clockwise and landed an elbow to the back of Mondo’s head. He then brought his arm in front and attacked him with a quick ridge-hand to Mondo’s face. Then the Agent amused himself with throwing lighting fast jabs to Mondo’s being. Every blow contradicting the previous, directing Mondo left then right, up then down. Then all at once the Agent ceased.
Mondo just stood there motionless; all reason was taken from him. All he knew was he felt pain...AND A LOT OF IT. Agent just smiled and tapped Mondo lightly, sending the poor Rocket to the floor.
The MASTERS Agent looked up and noticed that the remaining six Rockets were planning on attacking at once. Believing the time for games was at an end...The
Man from MASTERS decided to get serious.
******
Even though she was told to run, Misty knew, she shouldn’t have run far. She decided to see how things were going from her little hiding spot in the custodian’s closet. She opened the door to a crack. Just enough to see the action, but what she saw was totally amazing.
The man from MASTERS was not only holding his own against the seven Team Rocket members, but he was making sport of them too.
‘I can’t believe I thought this guy was Ash.’ She groaned. The Ash she remembered and knew was clumsy, uncoordinated and a Klux. The Agent that was valiantly fighting Team Rocket was none of those things. His movements were precise, yet graceful. Even though he was outnumbered, it appeared as though he always had the upper-hand.
She was kind of relieved that this wasn’t Ash, because if it was she didn’t think she would have the heart to...
*****
‘Four down and three to good,’ Ashura thought as he intercepted an incoming fist. He then snaked his arm around the limb finding the joint. ‘A simple…’
CRACK!!! ‘Here and now the Rocket is immobilized,’ Ashura chuckled to himself.
He then jerked the dead appendage with all his might, which resulted in sending the Rocket head first into a nice 'solid' cement wall. The Rocket ricocheted back from the wall and fell to the ground with a sickly thump. ‘That’s gonna sting when he wakes up...’ Ashura thought.
Then he turned to the two advancing Team Rocket members. He reacted just in time, to capture an ax kick on his shoulder. Ashura then placed both of his hands over the knee and thrust downward, collapsing the kneecap. The Team Rocket member screamed in pain as he fell to the floor.
Then Ashura looked up. "And then there was one...." he said to the remaining Rocket.
Ash slowly started to walk in the Rocket’s direction. At first the Rocket held up his fists ready to duke it out. But then he looked at the other seven Rocket members including his leader Mondo. The Rocket, then took off his mask and said
"Screw this. I’m missing "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"" he then took flight from the scene.
"That was different..." Ashura said while walking away. Then he remembered.
"Misty!" he ran down the hallway. "Misty!!! Misty!!!"
He heard a sound of something falling from the custodian closet. Ashura slowly crept over to the closet door. Believing it was another member from Team Rocket, he mentally prepared himself, for another quick take down. He flung the door open and grabbed the person that was inside.
Ready to strike he paused, when he saw the red-head that he held. "Oh Misty, I’m sorry I thought..."
"You better be sorry!" she shouted out. But then she smiled. "Thanks for saving me though," she smiled again and gently reached up and kissed Ash on the cheek.
Ash felt as though his whole body was a blaze. Every one of his senses were going ballistic. Although he held a calm and cool demeanor, on the inside he was going a thousand miles a minute. His mind was so preoccupied with Misty’s token of affection that he didn’t notice one of the Rockets coming to.
******
‘What hit me?’ Mondo wondered as his consciousness, started to return. He remembered the Agent from Master’s and trying to attack him, but then everything went black.
He looked down the hallway. He vision sharpened as he saw both the MASTERS agent and the Waters dame.
"I have to avenge my Unit," Mondo stated as he silently lurked in the shadows.
"Ummm.....I think we go down this hallway," Ashura managed to get out, after most of his senses returned to him. He couldn’t help but to grin though. "There’s an elevator we can take to the first floor. We should be able to miss any other members from Team Rocket."
Misty took his hand, "Lead the way, ummm...." she remembered, she still didn’t know what his name was.”What do I call you anyway? You still haven’t told me your name."
Ashura was about to answer when his eyes narrowed, he knew someone was there. In a flash an arm came out and grabbed Misty. Ashura had an attack ready, but then was startled by the look Misty had.
She whispered to herself. "Oh no he didn’t!" she then turned around with a powerful backhand, followed by a palm strike straight to the Rocket’s temple. She then lifted her dress a little and thrust kicked at the area where no man would like injured. Even Ash, grimaced at that blow.
Holding his crotch, the Rocket keeled over. Misty then took Ashura’s hand and started to walk in the direction of the elevator, Ashura eyeing her strangely all the way.
"What?" She asked innocently. He looked at the fallen Rocket. "Oh, Officer Jenny’s School of Self-Defense," she said matter-of-factly. She then smiled. "A girl has to learn to defend herself, right?"
Ashura laughed, he laughed hard. That was one thing he always loved about Misty, she could always make him smile. "Right..." he answered when his laughter finally died.
The two returned to the Elevator, but were shaken by a voice.
"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" the voice sounded distorted and fuzzy like a radio or walkie-talkie. Ashura found the source, a multi-channel walkie-talkie that was issued to all the Rockets for contact.
The voice continued. "Well assuming that you hear this means my men have failed. Oh well, where they have failed I will succeed..." Ash knew that voice. It was the voice of the most dangerous men alive....Richard Giovanni.
"Anyway, come on down. Sit a spell. I’ll be waiting...." Then the transmission ceased.
Ashura hurried they’re progress to the first floor. For he knew that is where the real battle will start...
The two entered the elevator and the agent pressed the button for the first floor. He then brought out two barrettes from his waist and ankle holster. He unloaded and checked his ammunition. Reloading the weapons again he cocked it back to load the gun.
Misty decided to take this opportunity to speak. "Hey ummm...what are you doing?"
"Well..." he said while still concentrating on the task.”We are about to have company and I’m about to get ready."
"What kinda company?" Misty asked.
Ashura frowned. "An old friend..." Both his Berettas clicked to show they were loaded.
The elevator came to the first floor and sounded with a delicate ding. The doors opened up and the opposing wall was in view.
"Look, you should stay here. This is something I have to do," Ashura stated as he was about to leave the elevator. He felt a soft hand on his arm he turned around to face Misty.
"Good luck," she wished him, with a gentle but uneasy smile.
"HEY ASHURA!" a voice sounded from the down the hall. "I know that is you.
Hurry up, my butt’s about to fall asleep."
"Richie…" Ashura expressed as he ventured down the hall.
Misty was astounded, ‘Ashura? ...but that means...’ her thoughts finally becoming clear. "ASH!!!!!" she called after him.
He paused slightly then turned to face her. "I’m sorry I had to lie to you Misty. I never ever wanted to...It was good to see you again, too. After I finish here we should talk…" he then returned to the walkway.
Misty wasn’t accepting that "...Ash, WAIT!! I....."
He turned again and winked at her. "Don’t worry I’m trained for this kinda stuff." He marched on again, ignoring the girl’s cries and pleas.
As soon as he was out of sight, Misty leaned against one of the elevators walls. Her cries and tears echoing in the tiny room. She always wanted to see Ash again...she just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances.
Ashura moved outside of the girl he loved range. He didn’t want her to see, the battle that was about to take place. Richie wasn’t like the other Team Rocket members. In the last time they met, the outcome resulted in a hundred innocent people being murder. Everyday since then Ashura, made his life goal to bring Richie’s madness to an end.
The walls of the ground level floor was marbleized, sound could travel well throughout the floor. Ashura could hear a voice mumbling or chatting something...something incoherent. As he moved the words became more and more clearer.
Ashura entered the main lobby of the "Highlight." The room was gigantic, with twelve pillars surrounding the center in a circle. There was a glass door in the far left that led to the tempts area and in the center was a desk for that held monitors of the outside and many parts of the building.
The voice came from the center desk, where a man dressed in an all black stealth suit, and a long trench coat. His slick back brown hair and blue eyes already signaled to Ash about his identity. He was the man that hurt millions and murdered thousands, the one that considers a humans life, like that of a cockroach ready to be squashed. The one that, in order to take control of Team
Rocket, murdered his own father at...fifteen. Richard Giovanni.
A Glock 17 was present on the desk. But the thing that seemed to interest
Richie wasn’t the gun but the small black book that he held.
Richie continued,
"And a great Rocket shall shatter forth through the sky,
Eliminating all Sheep in its wake.
And one’s that were once damned shall rule
over all the accusers. Then the 'Ragnorak' shall begin..."
Richie then closed the book and turned to Ash. "The Book of Giovanni" he stated while placing the book on the table. "You think it will be a best seller...?"
Ash grinned. "To be honest I wouldn’t know. I hardly read much..."
Richie frowned a little. "Oh well" he said while placing both feet on the floor. "Hello Ashura." When he said that, there seemed to be a tiny glint in his eye. The sight of his adversary always did amuse him.
Ash narrowed his eyes. He knew this here was his moment of truth, where the limits of his training will truly be tested. Although they have fought before, none of that mattered. Right here and now, that was all the importance.
"Hello Richie...."
Mission to be Continued......
Disclaimer: Pokemon and all their characters are the sole property of Game Freak, the WB, and its creator’s.
ENJOY
For Your Eyes Only
Any information that is disclosed is for your own personal knowledge. If you choose to reveal, said information your termination will be applied. And if you are caught, we at MASTERS have the right to deny any of our prior relationships.
Codename: ASHURA-Reunions
The "Cerulean Highlight" building, the pride and joy of the city, not only was it the tallest skyscraper in Cerulean City. But it also housed some of the most successful trade businesses in all of the Indigo Islands. The "Highlight" was a place of wealth and merit. Only the truly accomplished were permitted to do business there.
Tonight though, the doors of the "Highlight" were not opened for the purpose of money. They were to celebrate the achievements of one special lady.
This lady, through her many years of dedicated work, has brought many new accomplishments in the field of Water Pokemon handling and care. What another must realize is that this woman accomplished all these tasks while still in her early twenties. Never-the-less, tonight all her tireless efforts will finally be recognized and appreciated.
Too bad she hates a lot of attention.
***
‘God, I hate these things,’ Misty thought as she sipped some club soda. This wasn’t one of her best weeks. Not only did she have to rent out a brand new dress for the occasion...Not that she really minded to wear the dress. It was beautiful. A white embroidered dress that not only was true to her figure but, also left enough to the imagination.
Yes, she didn’t mind getting the dress, but the two hour bus ride to the dress shop wasn’t her idea of fun.
Why did she have to take the bus? You may ask. Why didn’t she take her brand new, cherry red, GSX1300R Hayabusa Suzuki? Well it’s seems some guy ran off with it the day before. Not only that but she had to catch a ride to the party, with some jerk from her clinic. Carl then waved, as if on cue.
‘Man, I loved that bike,’ she thought. ‘Geez, three more payments it would have been mine,’ she complained. Misty was upset, not only because of her bike, but the jerk of guy that stole it.
She couldn’t believe her bad luck, to have her bike stolen again by another guy!
True, it looked like he was in trouble but still, WHY HER BIKE!!!
‘You know if the bike thing didn’t happen, I would have gladly given him, my number,’ she pondered without really thinking about it. Then she groaned at her previous notion and gulped down another drink. This time it had some alcohol in it.
That was another thing, for some reason she couldn’t get that guy off her mind. The seemingly daring young man dressed in all black. Sure he was cute and all...but for some reason he still stood out above the rest. ‘Maybe it was his eyes,’ she wondered while nursing another drink.
Those eyes seemed to do wonders on Misty’s emotions. Those light brown eyes seemed to hold so much, a hint of gentleness and pitch of danger. He had a kindness to him, as well as a hidden passion. He seemed some much of a mystery to her. Misty wondered if she would ever see him again. ‘Well at least so beat him within a inch of his life,’ she added.
Then her gaze turned to the dance floor. Dozens of Cerulean’s elite graced the floor, each conversing on their new deals or how the conditions of their golfing range were, dozens upon dozens of happy patrons, all waltzing and stepping to the tunes of the classy jazzy band that was hired.
This seemed to be another typical boring night for Misty Waterflower or maybe I should say her professional name Mistae Waters.
The large dance hall was a sight to be seen. Huge chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling. They were all filled with thousands of lights that shined brightly like a thousand stars. A fully attendant bar was present as gents and ladies discussed they’re daily business. From there, many could see a ravishingly beautiful red-head making her way through the dance floor, cutting through couples as they danced.
Misty finally reaching her destination, took a seat at one of the empty tables.
Warding off all the suggestions to dance by passing (wealthy) bachelors, Misty buried her head into her hands and patiently waited for her night to end.
Raising her head again to take another sip of her drink, Misty glanced over at the dance floor. Couples prancing back and forth...it seemed so DULL to her.
She was about to take another sip, when something caught her eye.
Not really something but someone. A man…
She really couldn’t make out his description, cause of a waltzing couple that blocked her view. Waiting for the pair to pass, she was then able to take in his features. He was a man slightly under 6 feet, with dark shoulder length hair. He was wearing an Asian style collarless tuxedo. The style was emphasized by the five button mandarin coat. It was all black, with a silver vest. The style of the tux drew the breast of the coat to the side, concealing most of the vest underneath.
She couldn’t really see his face from where she sat, so she moved in a little closer. She wanted to see his eyes. She wanted to know if this was the same guy from before that stole her bike...and might have stolen something else.
As she moved, now a few yards away from him. He caught sight of her advancing. The two of them finally made eye contact with each other, both seeming to recognize the other from the day before.
Misty tried to keep her eyes on young man, but found keeping track of him was hard due to the dance floor in between them. Every so often, a couple would pass their line of sight, blinding them to each other.
Misty tried to mouth-out a greeting toward him. Then she found the message was lost, do to the waltzing interference. After waiting for the couple to move on, Misty tried again to convene the message, but found that the young man disappeared.
"Now where did he go?" Misty wondered. It was probably only a few seconds that she lost eye contact with him. But it seemed as though, in that small amount of time he totally vanished. Misty scanned around the whole dance floor, looking for the young gentleman.
She saw one guy... ‘No too thin.’
Another.... ‘Too short’
Another... (Chuckle) ‘Too fat’
Misty was about to give up hope when she spotted a familiar suit. The gentleman was at the bar with another couple of guys. He appeared to be the right height and built. The only problem was his back was toward her.
Cursing how desperate she must have appeared, Misty went over to the gentleman. He was having a conversation with a few other fellows, when she tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around to see her.
Misty, was expecting a young handsome man...what turned around was something else.
The girl recognized the face now. It was Harold, the grandfather of one of Misty’s medical colleagues. He was a friendly guy...but was a little too friendly for Misty’s taste.
After a few minutes of idle chatter and the warding-off of Harold’s wandering hands, Misty found herself alone again aimlessly searching for the dark handsome young man. She sulkily returned to her seat and ordered another drink.
Misty was about to take a sip when she noticed someone besides her.
"I’m not interrupting anything am I?" a man’s voice asked as he took a seat next to her.
"No...Go ahead," Misty said unenthusiastically. She didn’t even turn to look in his direction.
"Nice night isn’t it?" he asked.
"I guess...." she sighed. For some reason, she found fiddling with her napkin more exciting than the party.
"What’s wrong? It’s shouldn’t be natural for such a pretty lady to frown." he stated.
"It’s nothing really, except for one thing....I thought I might have found the perfect person for me..." she said sadly.” And another thing…I’m being honored tonight at this silly thing."
"Really.....then you’re..." he exclaimed.
"Yup! Mistae Waters at your ser..." She would have finished the sentence, but she saw who she was sitting with, a slightly bronzed, young man. His brown eyes flashed as they made eye contact.
"Hi," he said. "I think we’ve already met." he chuckled, while taking her hand gently.
****
"Eleven O’clock. Coffee break!" Ron cheered, as he rose from his chair. You would think being a security guard, would have its share of thrills and adventure. But it was another long and boring night in the old "Highlights" building. The place was so automated, it really didn’t seem like it needed Ron’s protection. "Hey I’m going to the machine do you want anything; Doritos...stale donuts maybe?" he offered.
His partner looked up. "Ummm...none for me thanks. Take your time Ron, she’s not going anywhere," he said while looking into one of the monitors.
"Yeah, see you in a bit, Vinney," he agreed, as he was walking down the hall.
That was Vinny. He was a nice guy. Even though Vinney hadn’t been with the
"Highlight" for that long, Ron was always a good judge of character though.
Ron merrily strolled to the ground floor vending machines. Taking a quick look at the 'wide' selection, Ron frowned; they were out of the frosted donuts.
Sighing, Ron compensated with a bag of chips and a small coffee. After making his delicatessen choice, Ron strolled on back to the front desk.
Vinney had his feet propped up on one of the monitors, enjoying a light snooze. Ron made an irritated face. "Hey! Get up you!" Ron commanded while knocking his legs over. When the monitor was in full view, the screen showed the shadowed silhouettes of three people. Ron looked up through the long hallway, through the set of glass doors to see a small band of people waiting outside. "I can’t leave you for five minutes. Look we already got some loiterers."
"Wa...huh?" Vinny said while still in the process of waking up. "What’s the problem?"
"What’s the problem?" he grumbled some obscenities. "Look outside sleeping beauty..."
Vinney looked up. "Oh sorry man, I guess I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately." Ron still looked pissed. "Hey I’ll take care of it." And with that
Vinney got up and proceeded to deal with the situation.
While Vinney was walking outside, Ron took a look at group of people outside. He couldn’t really make out any faces. All he could tell was they were two guys and a girl out there. Then the image included Vinney in the scene. The cameras that viewed the loiterers didn’t have any sound, but it looked like Vinney wasn’t having any problems from the trio. So...Ron decided to return to his light snack.
After quickly devouring the bag of chips, Ron glanced over to the monitor again.
Everyone was gone....
Shortly he heard the hiss of the electric door opening. He thought that he was going to see Vinney approaching the desk, but instead he saw the three loiterers inside the building. Their backs were facing him.
Sighing he rose up from the desk. "Hey, I don’t know if the officer told you, but the building is closed," he shouted from the desk.
The three remained. It appeared if they didn’t hear him. Now that the three were inside he could have a better look at them. There were two guys: one about six foot even, brown hair, light build, the other guy slightly taller than the first, with short green hair, and a little bit thinner. The girl was a blonde, styled in two ponytails. He couldn’t tell from the front how she looked, but from behind he had no complaints. The three seemed like a normal bunch...expect they were all wearing black.
Cursing Ron approached the trio; their backs were still towards him. Reaching for his sidearm, he shouted "HEY!!! DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME!!! YOU CAN’T COME IN
HERE!!!!" his sentence ended when three semi-automatic weapons were shoved in his face.
The brown hair man grinned. "Sorry, I didn’t hear you the first time. Mind repeating," he taunted. And that was the last thing Ron ever heard...
"Man that was fun," Richie stated with a huge grin on his face. He turned to the side. "Hey you did good Vinney," he added as the former officer/Team Rocket member approached from the shadows.
"Thanks boss," he said, while looking at the body of his fallen ex-partner.
"Actually it was a pleasure. This guy was getting on my nerves anyway. Taking a damn coffee break every five minutes," he ruefully kicked the corpse lying on the floor.
"Anyhoo, thanks for the assistance. Return to "Haven" for your next assignment"
Ricky ordered. The Rocket saluted and walked out the building. Richie turned to the other man with short green hair. "Ok, Butchie. You know what the plan is right?" he asked while throwing him a briefcase.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It will be a piece of cake," he opened the case to check on the item. An SR-60 sniper rifle, one of the most precise sniper rifles on the planet. And it also helped that Butch was a crack shot. He’d never missed in his life.
Closing the case, Butch got himself ready then he looked to Richie.
"Make this quick Butch," Richie said. "Oh yeah, we have men in the building to cover your exit, just in case he is here. And if he is..." he added. "I want him alive."
"Whatever...So what will you be doing anyway?"
Richie grinned. He put his arm around Cassidy and hugged her close to him.
"Ummm...Don’t worry I’ll find away to keep busy."
Cassidy giggled. "Oh, Richie what am I going to do with you…" He laughed and she looked at Butch. The two shared the glance for a couple of seconds, then Butch turned away.
Marching over to one of the elevators, the last thing Butch saw before he entered and the doors closed, was Cassidy going down to her knees.
****
"YOU!" Misty shouted. "You’re the guy that stole my bike!"
The man in black sighed... ‘You know this is sounding very familiar’ he thought.
"I should kill you!" she continued "Where is my bike!?!" she demanded while slamming her hand on the table.
The dark haired man, nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head...An act Misty thought was kinda familiar. "Well..." he started.”You see there was this accident and....yourbikekindagotdestroyed," he rushed the last part.
"WHAT!!!!!!" Misty yelled. Her voice was so loud, everyone in the room turned around to see what was with all the commotion. Slightly embarrassed, Misty decided to lower her voice. "God!" she whispered, to the man. "You know that bike wasn’t even fully paid for yet!"
"Look I’m real sorry about that. It was an emergency and it was the closest thing available. I know that is no excuse so..." He pulled out a little checkbook and wrote a number down. "So do you think this is enough to cover it?"
Misty took the check and looked at the amount. "WAAAAA!!!!!!" she screamed. The man in black could have sworn that sounded familiar.
"Is that not enough?" he asked.
Misty regained her composure. "No...That’s fine." Fine was an understatement.
The amount he put on the check, would be enough to buy probably two motorcycles.
The man seemed pleased. "But there is one catch," he added.
Misty raised one eyebrow, "What...?"
"Well you have to have dinner with me," he said matter-of-factly.
She smirked. "Do tell...so what happens if I decline. Are you going to take the check back?" She thought ‘Yeah right over my dead body.’
The man smiled and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "No...But I guess I will have to try harder." Misty smiled. "Would you like to dance Miss. Waters?"
He asked while, extending his hand and motioning for the dance floor.
Misty sighed. "You know....just about every guy in this place has asked me to dance...." she started. It appeared the gentleman was held on her response. "And the funny thing is…I really don’t know how to," she jokingly admitted.
The dark man gently took her hand. "Well that is something we’ll have to
Remedy," he said while trying to lead her to the dance floor. Although he seemed real nice, Misty was still a little hesitant.
The man stopped his prodding and looked deep into Misty’s eyes. "Miss. Waters, although we just met, I will promise that I won’t let anything happen to you," he finished, while giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Maybe it was the little bit of champagne she drank. Or maybe, she was tired from the days work. Or maybe...just maybe...she was starting to feel something for this guy that she hardly knew. For whatever reason, Misty joined the man on the dance floor.
But she added. "Oh yeah, don’t call me ‘Mrs. Waters’ it makes me feel too old."
Ashura knew it was bad business, to have feelings for a client...but he couldn’t help it. It was as if he was being moved by another part of him....his heart.
"So where should I pick you up at, so we can go to dinner?" he asked the slender, angelic redhead as they took the floor.
"We’ll I haven’t agreed on going out with you," she stated while taking his hand. "...but keep asking."
Ashura smiled. She was something: a beautiful, independent woman that had a good sense of humor. Although, he did pledge his heart to another, he thought after the mission was over maybe...
"Hey! I thought you were going to teach me," she complained. Noticing he zoned out for a minute.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something," he said, his arm going around her waist.
Mistae blushed. "Well, start thinking about me and dancing now buster."
Ash grinned. "Ok, milady." Then the two were ready.
The band started to play a moderate speed jazz song, as they began. Ash, not trying anything fancy, showed Mistae the basic steps. Even though she tripped a few times, Ash was always there to catch her. After a few minutes, it seemed like she was a pro.
"I hate to admit it," she said as Ash dipped her. "But this is fun."
Ash smiled. When the two began, there was about a foot distance between them. It appeared though, for the last couple of minutes the distance became smaller and smaller. "I glad your enjoying yourself. You seemed kind of lonely, waiting at the table."
"Maybe...I really hate these things though," she admitted. The music changed to a slow song. Ash and Mistae changed hand positions and drew slightly closer.
"Why do you come then?" he asked.
"I don’t know...to keep up appearances, I guess," she looked up at him. "Plus the fact, it’s a great way to find a rich wealthy guy," she jested.
Ash laughed, but then grew silent as she placed her head on his chest. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, she sighed. "You know, this is the second time where me getting my bike stolen, has brought me someone special."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. Then he thought about it. ‘Second...time,’ He looked down at her. "Misty?!?" he gasped while breaking their clasp.
"Yeah...that’s my name...oh well WAS my name I..." she paused and then looked at him through narrowed her eyes.”I haven’t used my real name in five years. How do you know it?" she eyed him up and down. Now that she thought about it. He did seem very familiar.
"Well..." Ashura had to think quickly. "I’m a big fan of yours. I saw you perform as the "Mermaid Princess" at the Cerulean Gym." Although Ash was highly trained in arts of deception, he still found it hard to lie to her. But...it looked like she was buying it. "And since then I always had a crush on the original Princess."
Now "Misty" blushed. "Oh that was such a long time ago. I can’t believe anyone even remembers that," she said. "Are you sure that’s all?" He nodded. "Cause you remind me so much of someone I knew a long time ago."
Ash grinned "Tell me about him," he prodded.
She seemed to phase out for a while. The song ended and the two were left standing on the floor alone. She then returned to Ashura to answer. "Oh, it’s nothing. Just someone I knew a long time ago," she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Umm...can we take a seat? I’m going to have to do a speech in a little bit and
I want to prepare."
"Sure thing," he answered. "After you Misty."
It appeared she liked the way it sounded when Ashura used her real name. A smile came to her face as the two left the floor.
"Oh man..." Misty groaned, as she emerged from her purse.
"What is it?" the man in black asked. Come to think about it, Misty never did catch his name.
"I can’t find the rest of my acceptance speech," she stated, while rummaging through her purse. She then produced the check for her motorcycle and laughed.
She looked at the gentlemen. "Hey, this isn’t going to bounce is it?" Misty jested.
He laughed. "Oh course not. You need to learn to trust people more Mist."
"Oh Shut up Ash!!" Misty replied with out thinking.
‘Mist’ was something that only "he" called her. She wouldn’t accept anybody else calling her that. She looked at him apologetically. But to her surprise he looked shocked. Thinking she upset him, she quickly apologized. "I’m sorry. I guess I mistaken you for somebody else."
He accepted and then they both were quiet. The hearing of his old pet name for her was really standing out in her mind. She looked at him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.
"What?" he replied, slightly shaky.
"Nothing....it’s just nobody has called me ‘Mist’ for a long time. In fact..." she started eyeing him again. "Only one person really ever called me that...."
The man quickly recovered with. "Oh, well it just felt kinda natural. I guess."
Misty smiled. "You know you should try another profession, because lying isn’t your thing." The man started to become very uneasy, like he was hiding something. Something Misty couldn’t figure out. "Who are you really?" she asked bluntly "Cause for some reason...I feel like I know you."
"I think I better go..." he said while starting to get up. But a soft delicate hand restrained him. He did not move.
"I know you...Don’t I?" she said while standing in front of him.
He tried to turn away, but her hands guided him to face her. Misty again tried to examine his face, slightly tracing his facial features with her fingertips.
She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she couldn’t stop until she found it.
After a few seconds of trying she had almost given up, but then she noticed that he didn’t look at her. She then sought out his eyes. Struggling a little, they finally made eye contact.
She then realized something; his eyes were different from what she was accustomed to. He didn’t have the cold emotionless eyes of a CEO, a lawyer, or a politician. He had the warm eyes of a young boy that wandered different lands, faced incredible odds, and journeyed through the summers. He had the eyes of the young boy that she told all her secrets too and the boy she secretly loved.
She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Ash...?" she whispered.
Before the man could answer the two were interrupted. "Miss Waters. We are ready to start the ceremony." A slightly older man from the "Highlight" committee said. She believed his name was Jerry.
"So if you would accompany me..." Jerry said. "We can begin."
Misty remembered the she was being honored today. She turned to Ash....or the guy she believed was Ash, only to find him gone. "Oh, where is he?" she cried.
"Did you see which way he went?" she asked Jerry.
"The gentlemen you were sitting with?" Misty nodded. "Well he’s right...." Jerry looked around the room but he couldn’t find any trace of the dark young man that was engaging Miss. Waters. "Why, I don’t know..." Misty sighed. "Miss. Waters, the committee a waits." Dejected, Misty followed the gentleman behind stage.
Unaware to Misty, her every move was being observed by the most dangerous man of MASTERS, Agent Ashura. He had been looking for her, for seven years. Now that he found her he was at a lost. He so much wanted to tell her everything: about himself, about what he is, and about how he feels toward her. But Ashura knew the mission came first.
He looked on, as she scanned the whole room again trying to get a small glance of him. Not finding a trace, she sadly walked away.
There was a pain in Ash’s heart; no matter how much he denied it...he still loved her. "I’m sorry Misty..." he said as he slowly walked away.
*****
"All right, game time Butch," he said to himself.
Butch had been preparing for about an hour now. He found the choice location to get set up, the balcony on the upper level. The spot not only gave him a clear view of his target, it also was off limits do to some minor construction.
Since he had a good hour before the show began, Butch would take this time to meditate. So he could draw in more concentration for the task at hand. ‘Cleanse your mind of all worldly things.’ These words echoed through his mind as his consciousness expanded. His mind, now void of all distractions, was a temple of pure thought and composition. This was the crucial point in Butch’s ritual. The height of his entire conscious mind, any faltering with his thinking could ruin all of his focus.
Seemingly everything was going according to plan, but a thought Butch submerged before started to resurface. The thought wasn’t painful, but it didn’t bring joy either.
He kept seeing himself, in a small room, four walls with no way out. He was alone in the room, but being in solitary didn’t really bother him. He crept over to the one of the walls and found a dark pane of glass.
Then a small hand placed itself on the other side of the window. Butch peered in closer to the glass, to find the owner of the small but delicate hand. He was then face to face with the most beautiful image he could ever hope for.
"Cassidy!" he cheered. Butch was glad to see such a familiar and lovely face. She would have answered his name, but the pane of glass seemed to block sound.
Since the two were not able to communicate, they only enjoyed gazing to into each others eyes. Butch noticing her hand still on the pane of glass moved his hand to mirror hers. Even though there was a sheet of glass separating the two, they never felt closer to each other.
Suddenly there was a new source of light gleaming from the other side of Cassidy’s room. A door opened up. Cassidy turned to face the visitor, but pressed her body up against the glass to try to avoid it. Then hands appeared on her pulling her away. She turned to face Butch, her tearful face echoing the fear that she held.
Butch called out to her and banged on the glass with all his might, but his strength wasn’t even able to make a crack. Cassidy reached out a hand toward his direction, pleading with him to save her. Butch screamed at his totally lack of aiding his love. His mind angered at his own uselessness.
He screamed inside his head as he awoke on the balcony. "It was a dream," he said, with much relief. "Crap!!!" he then remember the job.
Looking down at the podium he realized that, he only missed a few minutes of the award ceremony. "The broad with red-hair, hasn’t even spoken yet," he said with much relief.
Not taking any chances, Butch decided to get ready. He held the rifle on his arm to give the tool balance. His other hand was ready at the trigger. He looked through the weapon’s crosshairs. The aim and sight was perfect, all he needed was the target.
Butch has had forty-eight targets in his life and forty-eight successful hits.
And tonight he wasn’t planning on ruining it.
****
"Let’s check out another one, eh Pikachu," Ash suggested while speaking into his earpiece transceiver. Ash looked at another guest and focused his eyes.
To another person, it would appear he was just gawking at random people in the room. Actually he was really performing a weapons search on all the attendants at the party.
Inside the clear contact lenses that he wore, a tiny search screen was scanning the area. A green grid fell over a suspect, as the lens scanned for a potential threats, the grid would focus on a area of the body, then move up and down the person to make sure they’re not concealing any weapons.
The ‘lens’ though do not make the search on their own, they only transmit a signal to another place that makes the true analysis. That’s what Pikachu’s job was.
While parked outside in Ash’s Dodge Viper, Pikachu was able to help his partner with the task. Not only was he able to see everything in the party, but he also was able to keep in contact with Ash in case things got a little hairy. Pikachu didn’t find staking out in the Viper too much fun, but with a brand new bottle of Ketchup anything doesn’t seem that bad.
"Ok, Pikachu that’s the last one," Ash said while waving off an elderly lady. It seems Ash was staring a little too long and someone got the wrong impression.
Ash was just glad he didn’t take the X-ray lenses. ‘Ooooh,’ he shuddered.
Ash then turned back to the ceremony. It's been an hour since they started and they still haven’t finished talking about all the things Misty has done. Ash smiled. He was glad Misty was so successful in her life, but he kinda wished that he was apart of it. He would have loved helping her achieve her dreams.
‘She helped me achieve mine,’ Ash sighed. Memories could be a painful thing.
Shaking off his reminiscing, Ash returned to his task. He knew someone from Team
Rocket would try to take Misty’s life and over his dead body were they going to succeed. He tried to figure out every possible place a hitman could take but every place seemed to be closed off, or occupied with security.
Ash was lost in his thoughts, when he noticed that the introductory speaker finished his orientation. The speaker then held out a crystal statue, the award Misty was to be presented.
Ash believing that time was running out, decided to slip backstage.
‘Oh my God, I can’t do this,’ Misty thought as she paced back and forth off stage. ‘Why did I agree to this? Somebody else is just as good as me. Why do I have to do this?’ Misty then took a long sigh. She knew why...it was just hard.
She didn’t want to face it, but it was her job.
Shaking off her fears Misty’s mind was now dwelling on another subject. ‘That guy...who is he? He reminds me so much of Ash. But how can that be....Then again
I haven’t seen Ash in a long time. That had to be him, I know it. Nobody but Ash has those eyes and that smile,’ Misty was too busy with her thoughts to notice that the introductory speaker was coming to a close. ‘If that was Ash...’ She concluded. ‘I have to tell him that I’m sorry for...’
Just then Misty thoughts were interrupted as the speaker uttered the phrase "Now for the lady of the hour....Mistae Waters." His greeting was followed by a thunderous applause. Setting aside her previous worries, Misty walked out onto the stage. The audience climbed to their feet in a joyous standing ovation.
‘Here goes...’ Misty thought.
****
‘Man, she’s so beautiful,’ Ash thought as she took to the podium.
The Security backstage wasn’t that tight. Ash didn’t have much difficulty getting back there. Gazing at her from behind one of the curtains, Ash listened as she began to speak, her beautiful white dress, sparkling under the bright lights.
Ash then looked into the audience. There were a series of flashes, in the lower sections as the photographers went to work. There were twinkles of light everywhere on the floor...but suddenly there was a glint coming from the above balcony. That worried Ash because that section was supposed to be cut off.
Cupping his ear, Ash spoke. "Pikachu, magnify the balcony by 10X." Pikachu, cooed in agreement.
Then in a flash another gird opened up in Ash’s sights. The balcony was selected, and then his lenses started to zoom in.
2X...
6X...
10X...
Ash could now see clearly the barrel of a SR-60 sniper rifle, and the wielder of the weapon....Butch Maxwell.
Ash eyes widen. "Misty..."
*****
‘All right Butch it’s the moment of truth’ He slowly clutched the weapon ready to fire...
****
Carl couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did he finally get that promotion today at the clinic. But he also got the chance to escort Mistae Waters to the party.
Not only that but ‘she’ asked him to take her.
He was floating on air the whole night. Even though she had never paid him any mind in the past. This was his chance with her.
He smiled as she gracefully spoke. Carl focused on her every action. ‘It had to be fate’ he thought. ‘She could have asked any guy to take her...Why me?’ He listened-in on some more of her speech, all the while deciding his next move to court Mistae. ‘I know...I’ll just come out and tell her how I feel. Women love honesty. And then she’ll be all mine!’
Smiling as he came to his own conclusion. Carl decided to listen to the rest of the next, Mrs. Carl’s speech. Then he, as well as the other members of the audience became alarmed as a man dressed in black, ran across the stage.
****
‘I have only one shot at this,’ Ash thought as he drew out his hidden berretta from its holster. Running at his full speed, he leaped into the air knocking into Misty, while trying to aim.
"MISTY!!! GET DOWN!!!!!" he shouted while firing a round into the balcony.
There were two shots fired, one from Ash and one from Butch...and neither of them hitting a live mark.
Ash hovering above Misty fired another couple of rounds into the balcony, the magnified sight, from his lenses aiding him. Sparks flew as the balcony was illuminated with gunfire.
Butch, believing escape was more important, didn’t even return fire. Leaving the sharp-shooting weapon where it laid, Butch bolted toward the exit.
Seeing though the threat was gone. Ashura got to his feet and helped the fallen Misty up as well. Giving her the once-over to make sure she wasn’t injured.
Satisfied, Ash leaped off the stage into the audience.
‘Butch was here,’ Ashura thought ‘and if he is then Richie can’t be far behind.’
He was about to take-off. He didn’t want to lose Butch in the building, but then someone called out to him....
"ASH!!! WAIT!!!" Ashura stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the Waterflower. "What’s this about? What’s going on?" she frantically asked.
Ashura took a deep breath and looked forward. "Miss Waters...." his voice was cold as ice.”Contrary to what you may think, I do not know you...." he clutched his berretta tightly as he spoke. "I’m an agent from MASTERS assigned to protect your life...." he then turned his head to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eyes.”Now let me do my job." he finished as he turned forward again toward the exit.
The audience seemed to part way with his gazed. There was no sound coming from them. Ash regretted his words, but remembered that this was for the best. "Stay here Miss. Waters. I’ll be back." And with that he then ran at full speed to exit the room.
All eyes were on Misty as he departed. Misty adverted her vision so they couldn’t see her face. She didn’t want them to know she was crying.
******
The doors of the banquet hall burst open as Ashura emerge from within. The black tuxedo jacket flowing as he moved. Looking around the area, he caught the image of Butch from down the hallway.
"BUTCH!!!" he shouted out gaining the emerald-haired man’s attention.
He didn’t turn to look at him. "Evening Ashura, nice night for a hit, isn’t it," he jested while turning around with a fully-automatic tech-9 machine gun.
Bullets jetted by Ashura, as he dove for cover behind a wall. ‘Smooth move Ash, it’s been only five minutes since you left Misty and you’re already getting sloppy,’ he said to himself as he returned Butch’s gunfire, with some of his own.
The two exchanged more rounds, with Ash still pinned against the wall with seemingly no means of advancing or fleeing. Then suddenly six more Team Rocket flunkies added to the fray.
‘My luck,’ Ash thought, as the wall he was standing behind was beautifully redecorated with bullet holes.
Butch seeing this as he chance to escape called for a momentary cease-fire.
"Hey Ashura, sorry we can’t continue this but I have deadline to keep. But I’m sure these guys here can show you the way out," he smirked as he was about to take his leave. He turned to the squad leader. "Remember Richie wants him alive." The leader taking note of that commanded his troops advance on the target.
Butch took one look at the squad and wished them luck...they were going to need it.
"Ok squad, move in," the leader commanded, as his troops were ready to capture one of Team Rocket’s greatest threats.
With no action coming from the targets direction, the team silently moved with their weapons drawn. The wall coming into closer sights, all the men got ready for a very fearsome battle. So what if he was called "The Ghost." a label given to him from some of the witnessing Team Rocket members. The target was still human and a human can be still killed....Right?’
"Everyone get ready," the leader said as they rounded the corner. The two lead man held their automatic weapons ready. Then they were all surprised. His tuxedo jacket was there, but there was no sign of Ashura.
The leader backed up and was about to command an alternative plan, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned to face it, but then that was when his vision was halted.....by a fist.
*****
Misty was beside herself. Things were moving too fast. She could have sworn that man had to been Ash. But how can that be so... Before the shooting, the man had a look of love in his eyes. The likes where Misty had never seen, but Ash never loved her. She was always his buddy.
The girl paid no attention to the thousands of reporters and security flooding her with questions. Her mind was elsewhere, busy trying to examine what just took place there.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. The agent had returned. "Miss. Waters, we have to leave right away," he stated trying not to look her in the eyes. "There are more men in the building and I have to get you out."
Misty looked at him like he was crazy. "Ash....I mean. Who ever you are?" she corrected herself. "What are you talking about? How do I know you’re not with them?" she challenged. Just as she spoke, both the double-doors to the banquet hall flung open as the Team Rocket commandos started to pour into the room.
Retrieving a Uzi that he ‘borrowed’ from a newly deceased Rocket member, the
Agent sprayed the entering squad. Every member bombarded with lead. They all fell to the ground like string less marionettes. All the aristocrats screamed at all the blood shed.
The Agent then turned to Misty. "Got, any other questions?" There was silence.
"Alright lets move."
With the front double-door entrance on the verge of being stormed with more from Team Rocket, Ashura and the ‘Waters’ woman exited through a smaller exit on the side.
The door, lead the two to an empty hallway. Ash cupped his ear again.
"Pikachu..." he whispered so she couldn’t hear him.”We are on the 85th floor. Give me a floor plan that can show us the fastest way of escaping the building."
"Pika, Pika. Pika-Pi," he heard the yellow rodent complied.
Misty looked at him strangely, "Who are you talking too?" she asked.
"My partner" he replied. There was a flash of green light in Ashura’s lenses.
Another grid appeared in his sights as the floor plan was illustrated. Ash and
Misty being represented by a yellow and red dot, there was a pathway marked out with a purple line.
Ash turned his head to see the stairway doors that were on his course. "Ok, Miss. Waters, my partner says to go this way."
Misty raised an eye brow. "Your partner...?" she looked around, nobody but her and the lunatic agent. "What are you talking about? There is nobody but us here!”
Taking her hand he sighed. "JUST TRUST ME MISTY!! PLEASE!!!" he then groaned.
She again looked at him in shock. "I mean...Miss. Waters. My friend is very reliable. You have my word that as long as I live, no harm will come to you." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked deep into her eyes. "Please trust me...."
Misty saw her reflection in his eyes; he had such a degree of determination that Misty couldn’t ignore. She sighed ‘I really wish he would stop doing that thing with his eyes...’ She agreed to trust him.
Then the couple dashed to the stairwell.
*****
The two rushed down a flight of stairs and came to the doors to the next floor. The Agent taking the lead, he preceded to open the doors.
‘Hey, maybe this will turn out Ok after all,’ Misty thought. ‘This guy isn’t Ash, so "it" should be Ok.’ But then she noticed that the agent stopped. She looked up and saw a nice little band of Rockets in Black.
The eight: ski-mask covered, tech-9 wielding, combat boot wearing fiends, all were targeted on to the duo.
The Agent whispered to her in a voice, she could hardly hear. "....Run."
"But what about you?" she whispered back.
The agent didn’t answer. He then drew back and yelled, "GO!!!!!!" while pushing her into another direction.
Misty didn’t have to be told twice. She didn’t know where she was going but she ran anyway. She ran, despite the heels she wore.
One of the men from Team Rocket shouted. "Kill the girl!!!!" and made a step toward the fleeing girl’s direction.
That’s all Ashura needed to hear....
As soon as the Rocket moved he was greeted with a powerful roundhouse right into his stomach. The Rocket hunched over from the blow and then was delivered a vicious elbow drop that wedged itself in the back of his skull. Ash finished the task, by then grabbing hold of the Rocket’s head and jerked it downward to meet Ash’s raising knee. The final blow sent the Rocket back toward the ground unconscious...and missing a few teeth.
The remaining Rocket’s gasped at the sight, one drew for his gun, but was reminded by another that Richie wanted him alive.
Ash snickered when he overheard that. He then slowly took of his tuxedo jacket and vest. Smiling again he threw the articles of clothing to the side and rolled up the sleeves to his white dress shirt. He eyed up and down the remaining seven
Rockets and grinned. Stepping to the side, he waved his attackers on.
****
"Psst...Mondo," one of the Rockets whispered. "You sure about this...Wasn’t this the guy that whipped our tails on that rooftop?"
The one known as Mondo, tensed at the memory. He remembered that incident all too well. Not only did this guy, beat him and his men like they stole something. But he leapt off the rooftop like he was freaking Superman.
"I don’t care!" Mondo shouted through his ski mask. "I’m apart of Unit 49, and this guy ain’t leaving here till he knows exactly what that means!!!" he shouted as he ran toward the MASTERS’ Agent.
The other remaining Rockets sighed then ran over to assist their leader.
Mondo ran toward the Agent with a wild haymaker, destined to make the struggle short. But the Agent feint the punch away from him, spun counter-clockwise and landed an elbow to the back of Mondo’s head. He then brought his arm in front and attacked him with a quick ridge-hand to Mondo’s face. Then the Agent amused himself with throwing lighting fast jabs to Mondo’s being. Every blow contradicting the previous, directing Mondo left then right, up then down. Then all at once the Agent ceased.
Mondo just stood there motionless; all reason was taken from him. All he knew was he felt pain...AND A LOT OF IT. Agent just smiled and tapped Mondo lightly, sending the poor Rocket to the floor.
The MASTERS Agent looked up and noticed that the remaining six Rockets were planning on attacking at once. Believing the time for games was at an end...The
Man from MASTERS decided to get serious.
******
Even though she was told to run, Misty knew, she shouldn’t have run far. She decided to see how things were going from her little hiding spot in the custodian’s closet. She opened the door to a crack. Just enough to see the action, but what she saw was totally amazing.
The man from MASTERS was not only holding his own against the seven Team Rocket members, but he was making sport of them too.
‘I can’t believe I thought this guy was Ash.’ She groaned. The Ash she remembered and knew was clumsy, uncoordinated and a Klux. The Agent that was valiantly fighting Team Rocket was none of those things. His movements were precise, yet graceful. Even though he was outnumbered, it appeared as though he always had the upper-hand.
She was kind of relieved that this wasn’t Ash, because if it was she didn’t think she would have the heart to...
*****
‘Four down and three to good,’ Ashura thought as he intercepted an incoming fist. He then snaked his arm around the limb finding the joint. ‘A simple…’
CRACK!!! ‘Here and now the Rocket is immobilized,’ Ashura chuckled to himself.
He then jerked the dead appendage with all his might, which resulted in sending the Rocket head first into a nice 'solid' cement wall. The Rocket ricocheted back from the wall and fell to the ground with a sickly thump. ‘That’s gonna sting when he wakes up...’ Ashura thought.
Then he turned to the two advancing Team Rocket members. He reacted just in time, to capture an ax kick on his shoulder. Ashura then placed both of his hands over the knee and thrust downward, collapsing the kneecap. The Team Rocket member screamed in pain as he fell to the floor.
Then Ashura looked up. "And then there was one...." he said to the remaining Rocket.
Ash slowly started to walk in the Rocket’s direction. At first the Rocket held up his fists ready to duke it out. But then he looked at the other seven Rocket members including his leader Mondo. The Rocket, then took off his mask and said
"Screw this. I’m missing "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"" he then took flight from the scene.
"That was different..." Ashura said while walking away. Then he remembered.
"Misty!" he ran down the hallway. "Misty!!! Misty!!!"
He heard a sound of something falling from the custodian closet. Ashura slowly crept over to the closet door. Believing it was another member from Team Rocket, he mentally prepared himself, for another quick take down. He flung the door open and grabbed the person that was inside.
Ready to strike he paused, when he saw the red-head that he held. "Oh Misty, I’m sorry I thought..."
"You better be sorry!" she shouted out. But then she smiled. "Thanks for saving me though," she smiled again and gently reached up and kissed Ash on the cheek.
Ash felt as though his whole body was a blaze. Every one of his senses were going ballistic. Although he held a calm and cool demeanor, on the inside he was going a thousand miles a minute. His mind was so preoccupied with Misty’s token of affection that he didn’t notice one of the Rockets coming to.
******
‘What hit me?’ Mondo wondered as his consciousness, started to return. He remembered the Agent from Master’s and trying to attack him, but then everything went black.
He looked down the hallway. He vision sharpened as he saw both the MASTERS agent and the Waters dame.
"I have to avenge my Unit," Mondo stated as he silently lurked in the shadows.
"Ummm.....I think we go down this hallway," Ashura managed to get out, after most of his senses returned to him. He couldn’t help but to grin though. "There’s an elevator we can take to the first floor. We should be able to miss any other members from Team Rocket."
Misty took his hand, "Lead the way, ummm...." she remembered, she still didn’t know what his name was.”What do I call you anyway? You still haven’t told me your name."
Ashura was about to answer when his eyes narrowed, he knew someone was there. In a flash an arm came out and grabbed Misty. Ashura had an attack ready, but then was startled by the look Misty had.
She whispered to herself. "Oh no he didn’t!" she then turned around with a powerful backhand, followed by a palm strike straight to the Rocket’s temple. She then lifted her dress a little and thrust kicked at the area where no man would like injured. Even Ash, grimaced at that blow.
Holding his crotch, the Rocket keeled over. Misty then took Ashura’s hand and started to walk in the direction of the elevator, Ashura eyeing her strangely all the way.
"What?" She asked innocently. He looked at the fallen Rocket. "Oh, Officer Jenny’s School of Self-Defense," she said matter-of-factly. She then smiled. "A girl has to learn to defend herself, right?"
Ashura laughed, he laughed hard. That was one thing he always loved about Misty, she could always make him smile. "Right..." he answered when his laughter finally died.
The two returned to the Elevator, but were shaken by a voice.
"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" the voice sounded distorted and fuzzy like a radio or walkie-talkie. Ashura found the source, a multi-channel walkie-talkie that was issued to all the Rockets for contact.
The voice continued. "Well assuming that you hear this means my men have failed. Oh well, where they have failed I will succeed..." Ash knew that voice. It was the voice of the most dangerous men alive....Richard Giovanni.
"Anyway, come on down. Sit a spell. I’ll be waiting...." Then the transmission ceased.
Ashura hurried they’re progress to the first floor. For he knew that is where the real battle will start...
The two entered the elevator and the agent pressed the button for the first floor. He then brought out two barrettes from his waist and ankle holster. He unloaded and checked his ammunition. Reloading the weapons again he cocked it back to load the gun.
Misty decided to take this opportunity to speak. "Hey ummm...what are you doing?"
"Well..." he said while still concentrating on the task.”We are about to have company and I’m about to get ready."
"What kinda company?" Misty asked.
Ashura frowned. "An old friend..." Both his Berettas clicked to show they were loaded.
The elevator came to the first floor and sounded with a delicate ding. The doors opened up and the opposing wall was in view.
"Look, you should stay here. This is something I have to do," Ashura stated as he was about to leave the elevator. He felt a soft hand on his arm he turned around to face Misty.
"Good luck," she wished him, with a gentle but uneasy smile.
"HEY ASHURA!" a voice sounded from the down the hall. "I know that is you.
Hurry up, my butt’s about to fall asleep."
"Richie…" Ashura expressed as he ventured down the hall.
Misty was astounded, ‘Ashura? ...but that means...’ her thoughts finally becoming clear. "ASH!!!!!" she called after him.
He paused slightly then turned to face her. "I’m sorry I had to lie to you Misty. I never ever wanted to...It was good to see you again, too. After I finish here we should talk…" he then returned to the walkway.
Misty wasn’t accepting that "...Ash, WAIT!! I....."
He turned again and winked at her. "Don’t worry I’m trained for this kinda stuff." He marched on again, ignoring the girl’s cries and pleas.
As soon as he was out of sight, Misty leaned against one of the elevators walls. Her cries and tears echoing in the tiny room. She always wanted to see Ash again...she just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances.
Ashura moved outside of the girl he loved range. He didn’t want her to see, the battle that was about to take place. Richie wasn’t like the other Team Rocket members. In the last time they met, the outcome resulted in a hundred innocent people being murder. Everyday since then Ashura, made his life goal to bring Richie’s madness to an end.
The walls of the ground level floor was marbleized, sound could travel well throughout the floor. Ashura could hear a voice mumbling or chatting something...something incoherent. As he moved the words became more and more clearer.
Ashura entered the main lobby of the "Highlight." The room was gigantic, with twelve pillars surrounding the center in a circle. There was a glass door in the far left that led to the tempts area and in the center was a desk for that held monitors of the outside and many parts of the building.
The voice came from the center desk, where a man dressed in an all black stealth suit, and a long trench coat. His slick back brown hair and blue eyes already signaled to Ash about his identity. He was the man that hurt millions and murdered thousands, the one that considers a humans life, like that of a cockroach ready to be squashed. The one that, in order to take control of Team
Rocket, murdered his own father at...fifteen. Richard Giovanni.
A Glock 17 was present on the desk. But the thing that seemed to interest
Richie wasn’t the gun but the small black book that he held.
Richie continued,
"And a great Rocket shall shatter forth through the sky,
Eliminating all Sheep in its wake.
And one’s that were once damned shall rule
over all the accusers. Then the 'Ragnorak' shall begin..."
Richie then closed the book and turned to Ash. "The Book of Giovanni" he stated while placing the book on the table. "You think it will be a best seller...?"
Ash grinned. "To be honest I wouldn’t know. I hardly read much..."
Richie frowned a little. "Oh well" he said while placing both feet on the floor. "Hello Ashura." When he said that, there seemed to be a tiny glint in his eye. The sight of his adversary always did amuse him.
Ash narrowed his eyes. He knew this here was his moment of truth, where the limits of his training will truly be tested. Although they have fought before, none of that mattered. Right here and now, that was all the importance.
"Hello Richie...."
Mission to be Continued......