Chapter 7- The Maze of Mirrors

(Location-Under the Phantom Theatre)

“(cough)” Ash coughed as the sandbag hit the ground and broke, sending sand flying everywhere, “Pikachu! Where are you?”

“Pika!” Pikachu replied. He was totally unharmed.

“All right!” Ash pulled the QuickSilver and jumped on, “Hop on Pikachu!” Pikachu climbed on to Ash’s shoulder. Ash looked up, where the trapdoor was. “Here… I… GO!” He zoomed upwards, ready to crash through the door…

CRASH!

“Waaaaaa… This wasn’t the kind of crashing I had in mind” Ash groaned as he lay on the floor. The door was made of several layers of thick plywood, and it probably had a layer of metal in there too. It was definitely too strong to be broken by Ash’s head. Although it did have the reverse effect, “Now I see what they mean when they tell us to wear a safety helm…”

“Pika…” Pikachu groaned

BEEPBEEPBEEP!

Ash’s hand reached into his bag and he pressed the button on the transceiver headphone “Hello?”

“(CRRR…) ASH! This is Ebi!” Ebi spoke

“And Brock!” Said Brock

“What the hell are you doing going against a super fiend!?” Yelled Ebi

“What I’m doing…” Ash said sharply, placing the transceiver phone on his head, “Is saving Misty!”

“How are you gonna do that?!” Ebi yelled “(CRR…) Didn’t I already tell you about the last trainer who did that?”

“Yes, and I’m not him!” Ash replied

“(CRRR…) You’re not as strong as him either! That guy’s an Indigo top 3 ranked trainer! All of his pokémon are over level 50, and Doppelganger beat him!

“Maybe because guy is just has skills…” Yelled Ash, running to the end of the room to a door, “But isn’t very tough!” He kicked the door hard and it broke open.

“(CRRR…) ASH! I could understand why you’re rushing in to things, but do you think that MAYBE you could have waited for us to come in with you?” Asked Brock

Ash ran, Pikachu following him at his heels, “Do you think that you could MAYBE come in here right now?!” He yelled

“No can do! (CRRRR…)” Said Ebi, “After you broke down the door and ran in, some sort of barrier appeared, blocking our way!”

“Do you have anything that’ll break through it?” Ash asked

“(CRRR…) Hey! I’m just a genius! Not a fortune teller!” said Ebi, “Even if I brought the tools to break through the invisible wall, there’s nothing I have that won’t end up destroying the whole building in the process, you included! (CRRR…) Sorry Ash, we’ll have to do what we can from here!

“Well that’s just great!” Ash yelled and reached the end of the hallways. “JEEZ! How big IS this building?!”

“Huge, really, really huge! (CRRR)” Said Ebi

“Well that doesn’t make things easier!” Ash saw another door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. He backed up a few steps… and ran towards it. Ash smashed his way through, and looked around. It was a huge room, and completely empty. On the other side, he could see a closed door, and a high-rise, with another door.

“Ebi! I’m in this room…” Said Ash

“That’s nice, now be more specific! There’s lots of rooms!”

“No, it’s a really huge room and completely empty”

“Huge and completely empty? (CRRR…) You’re definitely in the underground mall” Said Ebi, “This place has been closed for years, and it had years to be cleared and everything. Not to mention, it had years to be changed into an H.Q. Fit for a fiend! If I know Doppelganger, he’s not the type who demands company, so at least there won’t be any Missingno henchmen around! That means you should be careful! If there’s no henchmen around, that means there would be no need for their safety, and this place can be loaded with traps!”

As Ash began to walk, there was a bright flash. “WAAA!”

“PIKAAA!”

Both Ash and Pikachu fell over, their hearts beating really fast. That just freaked him out. Ash stared at the gigantic room, and pressed the button on the transceiver. “Ebi… this is weird! It looks like a hedge maze in here, but instead of a maze of hedges, it’s a maze of mirrors!”

“(CRRR…) Really… a maze of mirrors?” said Brock

“I just said that!!” Ash shouted, “Ugh! Why do I even bother asking you guys for help! I’ll just fly over it with QuickSilver!” Ash said, taking it out and hopping on. He dashed upwards, above the maze…

BAM!

Ash fell to the floor

“Uh… Ash?” Said Ebi Are you alright?

“$%(#&! I just hit the freaking ceiling! What do you think?! LIKE HELL I’M ALRIGHT!” was Ash’s reply, both Ebi and Brock sweatdropped, “Urgh! Dammit!” Ash growled, rubbing his head, “It’s so dark in here I couldn’t even see the ceiling! I HATE THIS PLACE! The second I see that Super Fiend, I swear! I’m gonna kill him!” Ash ran forwards into the maze. After a few minutes, he started to calm down, but the maze… it wasn’t that bad, just a little unnerving. The mirrors made it confusing and it was hard to tell which was a path and which was a wall. Pikachu walked at Ash’s heels, and he didn’t like the looks of this place. There was something VERY wrong with the maze. Then it hit him, the mirrors! “OW!” Ash yelled, they had just walked into a corner.

“Pika!” Pikachu yelled and pointed at the mirrors.

“What is it Pikachu?” He looked at the mirrors, “Hey!” He could see his own reflection, in all of them, but he looked to the left and right, but Pikachu’s reflection wasn’t in either of them! “What’s with this place?” He looked into the mirror in front of him, and felt his heart beating really fast and really hard. The mirror in front of him didn’t have the same confused look he had. It was staring at him, sneering. He looked to the right, they were all smiling wicked smiles. Ash backed off, this was too weird! Before Ash could make a run for it, the mirror Ash on the left shoulders, and the one in front punched him a few times in the face and in the stomach. Pikachu’s cheeks sparked and he was about to help, but the mirror Ash on the right grabbed him. Pikachu shocked it hard, but no effect. The on holding Ash let go and Ash fell to his knees. The one in front kicked him in the face and grinned, and the mirror Ash to the right threw Pikachu to the ground. They all laughed and retreated into the mirrors, out of sight. Ash looked up, the mirror to the left, right, and front of him showed reflections of the maze, but not of him or Pikachu.

“EBI!” Ash yelled through the transceiver phone, “Something really wrong is going on!” Ash started explaining about the mirror images attacking him

Whoa… freaky! Said Brock

“What do you think is going on?” Asked Ash

“I have no idea! Said Ebi, Wait… CRRR… Did you say there was fighting?”

“Yeah”

“This is weird! We didn’t hear anything through the transceivers!”

“How could that be?!” Asked Ash nervously. He had the feeling that he was alone on this one.

“It could be Doppelganger’s powers…” Said Ebi, “Hold on… I’ll look more into it. In the meantime, Brock’ll try and keep you company”

Ash continued. A good way to get through a maze would be to put the hand on one wall and follow it all the way. That way, you’ll eventually reach an exit, but Ash wanted to pass as little of these mirrors as possible. He was also afraid just to touch them. The walking then brought him up to a fork, turning two ways like a ‘T’. He looked left and right, and decided to choose the one to the right. After several minutes of walking, he found another fork just like that one, he turned left, and later on, another fork.

“Talk about déjà vu Ebi!” Said Ash, “I keep passing by these forks in the maze. They all look exactly the same, like I’ve been going in circles, but I keep taking a different turn!”

“That does sound strange Ash, (CRRRR…)” Said Brock, “Maybe if you mark one, then you’ll see for sure”

Ash looked at the right rather uneasily. The whole place was made of mirrors, and each of them had a reflection. He hesitated, and pulled out a marker. He walked over to the one on the right and drew a great big ‘X’ on the mirror (it was on his reflection’s face) Ash looked at it, there was no response, and he sighed in relief. He turned around, but heard growling. He looked up, the one he just marked stepped out of its mirror and had his fists clenched. “WA!” Ash yelled as Mirror Ash #4 punched at him. Ash pulled out the QuickSilver and quickly shielded his face.

“YOW!” Mirror Ash #4 punched the hard metal board and hurt his hand. He held on to his wrist, it looked like the bone had cracked. He looked up… “WA!” Pikachu jumped from Ash’s shoulders, mouth wide open and cheeks sparking. Pikachu grabbed on to Mirror Ash 4’s face and was biting, clawing and shocking him. Ash backed off a little, and his back touched the mirror behind him.

“Uh oh…” Ash sweatdropped, and turned around quickly, swinging the QuickSilver downwards, and bashing Mirror Ash #5’s head. Dazed, the real Ash kicked him in the stomach, and #5 fell into his mirror, on the floor and not moving. Ash swung the board and hit that mirror hard. It cracked and shattered, the pieces fell onto the floor, he had just eliminated Mirror Ash #5. Ash smiled to himself, he knew how to destroy these things! He turned around. Mirror Ash #4 was running in circles screaming at Pikachu who was clinging on the face and still biting and scratching. Pikachu jumped off and Ash whacked #4 on the head with his board and then kicked him on the back, making him fall face flat on the floor into his mirror. #4 got up and looked at Ash. He gasped as Ash swung the board, smashing that mirror to pieces.

“ASH!” Brock yelled, “What’s going on? I heard some crashing! Are you okay? Did you mark the mirrors like Ebi said?”

“Sort of” Ash slung the QuickSilver on his back and continued. He walked further on and the path turned several times. In a few minutes, he came to another fork. “What the?!” Ash said, a mirror on each side was shattered, their pieces on the floor. “I’ve marked the mirrors like you said, and I’m back here again! I’m going around in circles!”

“ASH!” Ebi finally came back, “I’ve checked around. Doppelganger is famous for possesses unique abilities, creating illusions, that’s how he’s able to disguise himself, and maybe that’s what he’s doing now, that’s why we can’t hear anything! Be careful Ash, even if they’re just illusions, that won’t stop you from feeling pain!” Ebi continued, “As for the mirror trap… clear your mind… and don’t let it fool you!”

“All right…” Ash did as he was told… closing his eyes and walking forward. Just when he though he was going to bump into a wall, he was surprised, opening his eyes, he was outside of the mirror maze! “YES!” He cheered, “Ebi! It worked!” he exclaimed… but there was no response, “Ebi? BROCK!? Where are you!?” there was no signal… “What’s going on!?” he growled… as he looked around him, the surroundings have changed. He was surrounded by a circle of mirrors, there was no way out. “Hmm…” He touched one of them… even when he tried to concentrate, it didn’t disappear, they were real. “Hmm?” He suddenly turned around… standing there in the middle of the circle of mirrors, a figure in a flowing cloak, Doppelganger!

“I’m impressed you’ve made it through the maze, Ash!” He clapped, “The last trainer who challenged me went insane at the ‘T’ trap!”

“That was an extremely lame maze! All I had to do to kill those mirror images was send them back to the mirrors where they came from and SMASH them!”

“Maybe fighting your reflections with your strength and skills isn’t that much of a challenge, but could you stand a chance against MY reflection with MY strength and skills?” Asked Doppelganger

“HUH?!” Ash gasped, as suddenly, Doppelganger split into seven! Pikachu’s cheeks sparked and was ready to attack, but Doppelganger only laughed.

“Come and get it, if you dare…” Doppelganger took a fighting stance

“Whatever!” He yelled. He turned around and around; the place was full of them. “I’ll find the real one, and SMASH YOU!” Ash’s hands shot down to his pokébelt, and he quickly grabbed one of the pokéballs, “TAUROS! I CHOOSE YOU!” he shouted, releasing the wild bull pokémon. Hopping onto his back, he shouted “TAKE DOWN!” Tauros charged and smashed through them. The Doppelganger images smashed to pieces, like glass. “OH YEAH!” he cheered…

“DON’T CELEBRATE YET!”

“HUH?!” Ash exclaimed as the real Doppelganger leapt up out of nowhere and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him off Tauros’ back and tossing him down “AGH!” Ash screamed when he hit the ground.

“You don’t know the extent of my abilities!” Doppelganger crossed his arms, and the smashed mirror images of him came back together, and stood ready to fight.

“Why you…” Ash growled, looking at one in front of him… “YOU’RE THE REAL ONE!” Ash pounced forwards…

“HM!” Doppelganger snapped his fingers…

“AGH!” Ash screamed, when he felt a fist slam into his stomach. Before he could fall, a pair of arms grabbed him and held him up. “GRRR…” he growled when his vision returned, and saw two copies holding him up, while another one was punching him! “GRRR” Ash growled. The one in front had to be real… “PIKACHU! ATTACK!” he screamed

“PIKACHUUUU!!!” Pikachu leapt into the air, electricity shot down…

“HMM!” another copy jumped in front of the blast

CRASH!

“WA?!” Ash and Pikachu exclaimed when the copy shattered to pieces, but came back together! The copy quickly leapt up towards Pikachu and slammed him down with his fist!

“Heh, don’t think I’ll go down so easily. The copies’ll protect me with their lives!” Doppelganger laughed, punching Ash across the face. “This is it for you…” he grabbed Ash by the neck and held up his fist… “Huh?” he stopped when he saw something strange, “Why are you smiling?”

“Heh… you should have paid more attention…” Ash smirked, looking behind Doppelganger, “ATTACK!”

“WHAT?!” Doppelganger turned around, expecting to see a pokémon charging at him… but there was nothing, “Huh?!”

“YAAAH!!!!” Ash screamed, struggling hard and kicking his legs upwards, striking Doppelganger in the chest and knocking him down, “TAUROS! STOMP!”

“AH?!” Doppelganger looked up in horror, when he saw Tauros’s raised hoofs coming down at him! “AAAAHHH!!!!”

CRACK!

“WHAT?!” Ash exclaimed when Tauros smashed down on him, and Doppelganger’s body shattered to pieces! “THAT WAS A COPY?!”

“Heh-heh…” a voice laughed behind Ash, “I never said that was the real one”

“GRR… RHA!” Ash spun around and slammed him across the face with his fist, but that one also shattered to pieces. He wasn’t real either!

“DON’T THINK I’M DOWN YET!” the one that was smashed by Tauros just now had come together and tackled Ash from behind

“WAGH!” Ash screamed as he fell, and more and more of them kept piling up on him

“Heh-heh-heh…” Doppelganger laughed, the REAL one, staring at the pile of copies that were pinning Ash to the ground. “What a joke. You couldn’t even find the real one, much less lay a finger on me!” he smirked, “Any last words?”

“Go to hell!” Ash spat, struggling beneath the pile

“Hm… Doppelganger frowned, “That does it…” he growled, “I’m done playing around” he turned around and walked away. “Kill him”

“GRRR…” Ash growled, his handed reached his belt… “everybody… GO!!!!”

CRASH!!!

“HUH?!” Doppelganger turned around, just to see all the copies shatter to pieces!

“Hm…” Ash stood there, with a cold glare on his face. Standing around him were all of his pokémon. “Time for round two. You bastard”

“Grrrr…” Doppelganger growled, “WHY YOU!” he shouted as his copies came back together, “ATTACK!” he howled, as the copies as they charged towards Ash…

“HMM!” Ash swung his arm, smashing one of their heads with his fist. “ATTACK!”

“Bay-BAAYYY!”

“CYNDA!”

“TOTO!!”

“PIKACHUUUU!”

“URGH…!” Doppelganger exclaimed when Ash’s pokémon attacked fiercely, destroying all his copies before they came close! “WHY YOU… I’LL JUST MAKE MORE!!” Doppelganger roared. Immediately, the number of copies doubled and they all attacked, but it made no difference…

“RHAAA!!!!” Ash gave a fierce battle cry, as he and his pokémon tore viciously through the copies, smashing them to pieces with no effort! Even though they were greatly outnumbered and the copies kept coming back, Ash and his pokémon showed no sign of tiring, and continued their assault!

“GRRR… AH!” Doppelganger screamed when Ash suddenly leapt from the skirmish, with Tododile in his hands

“TODODILE! CRUNCH!” Ash shouted, and threw Totodile…

“HMMM!” Doppelganger quickly conjured two more copies… they stood protectively in front of him, guarding him with their lives…

SNAP!

“AH…” Doppelganger gasped, when one copy’s arms were snapped off by Totodile’s jaw! If he hadn’t made that copy… it would’ve been him!

“HAAA!!!” Ash roared…

SMASH!!!!

“AAAAAHHHH!!!” Doppelganger screamed, when Ash’s fist smashed right through the second copy, and right into his face!

“Hmph…” Ash growled as Doppelganger flew back and hit the ground. “Take that”

“Ungh… ngh…” Doppelganger groaned weakly, struggling to stand up…

“CYNDAQUIIIILLL!!!!” Cyndaquil cried as it blasted its flames, enveloping the copies. However, this time, they didn’t break to pieces, they melted like glass.

“So that’s how you kill them” said Ash, seeing that the melted copies didn’t come back… “Very well then… CYNDAQUIL! FLAME WHEEL!!!!”

“NO!!!” Doppelganger screamed, as Cyndaquil’s attack ripped through the masses of copies, and melted under the intense heat of the flames.

“You lost, Doppelganger” Ash glared down at him

“N-no, NO!” Doppelganger screamed and stood up. “A-ah!” he trembled and stepped back, as Ash and his pokémon slowly approached him, “I’M ONE OF THE SUPER FIENDS! I’M ONE OF THE STRONGEST IN THE WORLD! I CAN’T BE BEATEN BY THE LIKES OF YOU!!!” he cried, “THIS ISN’T OVER! I STILL HAVE ONE LAST WEAPON!” he said desperately, raising his hand…

“AH!” Ash gasped at what he saw… “MISTY!” he screamed. She was unconscious, tied up and hanging from an opening in the ceiling, “Y-you…! AH!” he exclaimed when Doppelganger darted forwards and punched him in the face

“HAHAHAHA!!!” Doppelganger laughed as Ash stumbled back, “YEAAAAH!” he spun his body and kicked at him. Ash struggled to block, but almost fell over from the impact, “WHAT’S THE MATTER?! YOU’RE GETTING SLOWER ALL OF THE SUDDEN!!!”

“AGH!!” Ash screamed as he fell back, but Doppelganger grabbed him by the front of the shirt, not letting him fall.

“This is it Ash Ketchum…” he held up his fist, “Now… I’M REALLY GOING TO KILL YOU!”

The battle is far from over, as Doppelganger reveals his trump card, Misty! Now fighting harder than ever, he won’t hesitate to kill. Will Ash be able to stop him? Find out next time on PUA!

(To be continued)