Young Writers Society

Jason looked on in horror as he watched Flannery fall to the ground. I could tell that he was trying to scream her name, but no words came out.

"Hey, Jason!" Jake said. "Be happy you kissed your girlfriend before it was too late." He quickly transformed and flew away.

Jason ran to Flannery's side and held her head in her arms. His knees became stained in her blood.

"Jay-Jay?" She whispered. "I don't want you to become violent..."

"I won't." He answered, turning his head to hide his tears. Flannery cupped his cheek and forced him to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry we let this happen."

"Don't be. I want you to stay happy no matter what." She coughed. "You'll be okay without me right?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're not going to die!" Jason told her.

"You have to know it's true, Jason." Flannery felt the small spear in her neck. It disappeared into thin air at the touch, allowing her to breath a bit easier. "You don't know how powerful Jake is. He did this with that power."

"No..." Jason's tears become more fierce. "I promise, Jake will pay for this. Don't worry, I won't be the one delivering any punishment." Jason kissed her forehead. "I love you, Flannery." He said with clear strain in his voice as he felt he body disappear in his arms. He stood up and averted his gaze when he saw the shock on everyone's face, everyone but me.

Cristina finally dropped her hands from her mouth. "Jason, I'm so.." She said softly.

"Grief isn't what she wants..." Jason interrupted. "Ryan! I need you to promise me something."

"What is it, Jason?" I asked.

"Promise me..." He took a deep breath. "Promise me you wont make another mistake like you did when you met Jake..."

"It wont happen again." I answered. "It can't happen again."

Jason managed a grin. "Good. Now, find him, and make sure to do what you do best. Make that sucker pay. I don't care how long you prolong his suffering because I know you're into that, but I want him dead!"

"He won't be doing all of the work." Pan interjected. "As much as you may not want to admit it now, this is my fault, and I have to settle the score for good."

"Heh heh, I never thought I'd enjoy hearing that." Jason chuckled. "Oh, Ryan what have you done to me?"

I held out my hand and let Zekrom for in front of me. Panara and I leap onto his back. "Jason, you are who you are." Zekrom stole the words from my mouth. "Ryan, I think I can follow him. We shouldn't waste any time."

"Right!" I exclaimed. "We won't come back until we're done." I managed to say before Zekrom sped off.

Jason sat down on the front porch next to Cristina.

"You're not fooling anyone, Jason." She said. "That smile would have convinced anyone else though."

"I know but that was all I could do to keep from getting angry again." Jason finally allowed himself to cry. Cristina hugged him close. "Don't do that while I'm covered in blood."

"Shh, don't worry about it. I just bought a bunch of new clothes. Right now you need to relax. It'll take some time, and then, you'll be yourself again. How old was she?"

"Forteen, four years older than me..."

"I- I shouldn't have asked that, I'm sorry." Cristina said.

"It's fine." Jason took another deep breath. "Did you notice, Ryan?"

"Huh?" Cristina was especially confused. "What about him?"

"I just wanted you to know that Ryan isn't capable of feeling remorse or sympathy. I just don't want you to be confused whenever you notice that."

"I noticed his expression didn't change at all when..." Cristina stopped herself. "What happened to him?"

"Nothing happened as far as I know." Jason shook his head. "That's just the way he is. Don't hate him or anything, but it's the truth." They stood up and Jason shrugged. "Hey I don't mean to push you away or anything, but could you leave me alone for just a little bit? If you don't want to that's-"

"Stop." Cristina interrupted. "I'm not leaving you alone but because that's not what you need right now. I'll always be here when you need me, for anything. You're my little brother, Jason, please don't let your emotions make you forget that."

Jason wiped his tears away. "I wouldn't dare."

----

"Ugh, Ryan, how do you manage to keep your eyes open at such high speeds?" Pan comlained, gripping my jacket tighter.

"Nine years of flying like this does that to you, Pan." I answered. "You seem real calm about all of this."

"Yeah, I can say the same for you." Pan said with a hint of anger. "We just watched Jason's girlfriend get stabbed and die. I know there's nothing you could have done, but... Why didn't you show any shock or sadness. Now Jason probably thinks you don't care."

"Well, I never said I did." I sighed. "Jason knows me very well. He wasn't expecting to to be sad. I don't think I've ever been sad to see anyone die. About a week and a half ago, I almost killed someone, and I was only nine when I first killed someone and that's when I realized that I enjoyed it. I didn't show any remorse or sympathy or guilt, because I can't!"

"Would you be sad if I died? Or if Jason or Cristina died?" Pan asked.

"Ah, see that's a different story. After I was done murdering those responsible for your deaths, I would be sad, because it would mean that I had lost you and I wasn't able to protect you. As horrid as this may sound to you, people who aren't apart of my family are replaceable, but you guys, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you were taken from me..." I looked back at Pan who was just staring at me. "Did you get all that, or am I going to have to say it again?"

"No need. I understand. I'm sorry for judging you so quickly."

"You thought I was offended?" I laughed. "You've been apart of the family for barely a day, and you still have a lot to learn about me."

"Mmm, good to know." She answered. "Hey, down there. I think I see him."

I peered downward and saw Jake resting in a tree, almost completely concealed in its leaves.

"Hover here, Zekrom." I said.

"Mind if I try something?" Pan asked.

"What?"

"I wanna jump from here and stomp him to the ground." She began. "If I'm quick I can grab hold of a branch afterward. He should be a bit dazed from that, and then we could kill him."

I nodded. "Go for it."

Pan released my jacket and got into an almost feline-like perch position. She took a deep breath, jumped down, swung from a branch and kicked Jake in the back of his head. She laughed as he fell to the ground. Zekrom dissipated back into my hand, allowing me to land on a branch next to her.

"That was a lot different from what you said you'd do." I chuckled. "Nice work, there."

"Heh, heh, thank you." Pan blushed. "I was weird. When I jumped all I could see was the branch I swung from and my target."

"Well, I've read that Palkia is especially skilled at focusing, because of the ability to distort space in order to see key points." I explained.

"Really?" Pan exclaimed. "That is super cool."

"Hey, look, he's getting up." I pointed. We jumped down and landed on both sides of him.

"Way to catch me by surprize..." He groaned.

"Save it!" Pn yelled and stomped on his back. "You don't deserve to talk!"

Anger was rushing through Jake the more she spoke. Suddenly, in spite of Pan stepping on him, he leap from the ground and let out a long, ear piercing caw sending us both flying on our backs. Jake staggered a bit and place a hand on the back of his neck.

"So, foolish, both of you..." He said in a low tone. "I suggest you keep your eyes on the sky, 'cause it's not just me you'll need to defend yourselves from."

As if on cue, the sky was swarmed with Murkrow, preventing even the smallest amount of light from passing through their wings.

"Ugh, dammit! I can't see a thing!" Pan yelled.

"Don't move, Pan!" I looked in her direction, still able to see her despite the darkness.

Jake fell to the ground and was swarmed by the Murkrow. Thousands of the engulfed his body and formed a sphere to lift him into the air. I got to my feet and charged towards them. As much as I'd like to, I can't be reckless and drag this out. It has to end soon...

"Back OFF!" Jake screamed, knocking me down once more. In the dark I could see him shove his minions off him and transform. They made an opening in the sky for his to escape while they followed. In a second the sky was clear again. Pan ran to my side.

"You okay?" She asked, helping me up.

"I'm fine, but he's not." I smirked. "As far as I can tell, Jake isn't suppose to be transforming so much. He wasn't telling me to back off, he was talking to the Murkrow trying to help him."

"That's great, but they were too quick for us." Pan stomped her foot like a child. "Ugh! That bastard just pisses me off! Where did all those Murkrow come from anyway?"

"You know what's always been said, a single Honchkrow can summon large amounts of Murkrow with a single cry." I said.

"But if he called them, why wouldn't he accept their help?" She questioned.

"It's pure instinct, Pan. If Jake says 'fly', they say 'how high'. All of those cries were to get us to stay back, but the Murkrow couldn't possibly know that.  There's nothing we can do about that but keep his mouth shut..."

"Whatever. we should follow him on foot, or those Murkrow are gonna keep spawning us. I mean, you could probably zap them out of the air but theres something about littering the ground with paralyzed bodies." Pan said. "That is if you don't kill them all. Then, they'd just disappear, right?"

"Ugh, quit acting like you didn't just see someone die." I said icily, walking in the direction I saw the cloud of birds go. "Come on, don't lag behind."

----

The Murkrow gently eased Jake on top of an extremely tall tree and dispersed into the forest below. One stayed behind to look after him. Jake lifted his head and stared at the straggler.

"What are you looking at?" He groaned. "Go away."

The Murkrow cocked its head and held out one of its wings. It was clutching a small Sitrus berry. "What did I tell you? Go away!" It stayed there, staring. Jake reluctantly took the berry and popped it into his mouth. "There, I took your little gift, so can you go now?"

The bird cawed and flew away, puzzling Jake. "Mindless idiots. Dropping me onto a tree like this. What do they expect me to do up here." He said to himself. "Knowing them, they probably paved a pathway for those two to follow me. So much for being sneaky. Now if only I could get to Jason... He'd be easy pickings..." Jake spread out his arms and transformed. He winced from a sudden pain in his chest and tried to shake  it off. HE was about to take when another Murkrow perched itself on his head. "Ugh, what now!" Jake yelled.

The Murkrow sighed. "You know, even a dummy like you should realize when someone is trying to help you." It began. "The ones who attacked you aren't going to fly here, so why don't you rest a bit?"

"Oh no, not you..." Jake whined "Could you leave me alone for once, Karen?"

"No! You're hurt and you know it!" Karen pecked him. "Maybe you'd feel better if you stayed in this form for a bit. Please, how often do I ever ask you to do anything? Plus this is for your own benefit."

Jake sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're not as much of a bother these days... Okay, fine, I'll stay here until they get close." Jake lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Don't even think about trying to make a move on me while I sleep. I literally just killed my baby sister, don't make me do the same to you..."

"Oh ho ho, Jakey please!" Karen cackled. "I could do whatever I wanted with you, and you wouldn't do anything about it,, so don't kid yourself!"

Jakey was all he heard. "Don't call me that." Jake said. "It uh, brings back bad memories..."