(In the Battlefield)

Ash and Serena are panting profusely as they stand next to each other, one leaning on the other for support.

"That took a lot more power than I anticipated," Serena breathlessly says as she rests her weary head on Ash's welcoming right shoulder.

No one says anything as they all watch in sheer stunned silence. Grace, Delia, Diantha and the others are shocked at the various powers and abilities that Ash and Serena have demonstrated meanwhile Ariel, Calem and the Team Rocket grunts are silent at the fact that they just saw Ash and Serena beat Giovanni so easily. All the spectators who were trapped in the stands, take advantage of this and flee from the stadium without giving a moment's thought.

"But still. The Aura Shuriken got the job done," Ash mutters to which Serena mildly nods.

The very next second, however, something lands in front of them out of the sky almost as if a meteorite has crashed in front of them. So powerful is the landing that the sheer force of the fallout knocks Ash and Serena of their feet.

"Hahahahaha," a familiar yet deadly voice saunters out of the dust-cloud.

"But-but-but how?" Serena splutters as both she and Ash see Giovanni walk out of the dust cloud, completely unscathed from taking the Aura Shuriken.

A feeling of terror floods all of Ash and Serena's family and friends while a feeling of relief sweeps over Ariel and the other Team Rocket members.

"Dragon Emperor... taught you well," Giovanni smiles maliciously.

Ash tries to get up and go to Serena's defence but Giovanni lazily swipes his right hand, sending Ash flying away. Serena tries to back away but can't since she's paralyzed by fear. Giovanni walks up to her before coming to a vicious halt.

"But he didn't teach you everything," Giovanni finishes his sentence before quickly reaching down, grabbing Serena by the neck and then lifting her up.

Everyone watches as Serena thrashes about with her attempting to break free from Giovanni's iron-clad clutches with kicks and punches, only for Giovanni to laugh her futile efforts away.

"NOOOOO!" Grace and Delia shout as they helplessly slam their fists against the protective barrier which Serena had put around them.

"Let her go you monster," Ash snarls as he gets up and then runs at Giovanni.

"You want her that badly?" Giovanni asks as Serena's face starts to turn blue and her kicks and punches become weaker and weaker.

"There you go," Giovanni says before he launches Serena in Ash's direction.

Ash's eyes only have time to widen as Serena gets slammed into his chest and they are both brutally sent tumbling on the ground. Ash grunts in pain while Serena takes in deep gasps of air, trying to regain her breath.

"You really thought that you could put up a fight? Hilarious," Giovanni says before walking right next to Ash, kicking him in his chest and sending him flying into Serena.

Both Ash and Serena cough up some blood as they see Giovanni standing quietly in front of them.

"Do you want some respite?" Giovanni asks while smirking heavily.

Serena throws him a look of pure venom before firing an Aura Sphere at him which does nothing to him.

"Your Aura Shuriken didn't do anything so you thought a puny Aura Sphere will do the trick? Tsk tsk tsk, you are immature and untrained but I, on the other hand, have a use for the powers that you can't yet control," Giovanni says before slamming his fist into the ground, setting off another explosion of black energy.

Everyone one Ash and Serena's family and friends watch as their lifeless bodies are blasted away, only to crash violently onto the ground.

"Aaaassshhhh," Serena softly mutters as blood oozes from within her nostrils.

"Sere," Ash answers as he weakly reaches over and intertwines his fingers around hers.

"Aaaah, love. A great bond or should I say the greatest facade of the century. They say that love is powerful and yet... so easily severed. Your heart-wrenching actions truly make me want to throw up," Giovanni harshly says as he watches Ash and Serena struggle to sit upright.

Serena tries to say something but the excruciating pain in her entire body prevents her from doing so.

"What's the matter Torracat got your tongue?" Giovanni asks.

"You're despicable," Serena snarls before spitting at Giovanni's feet.

"You're right. I won't deny it, I am despicable. But it matters not, whether I am despicable or not. What matters is who has power and the one who has power is the one who dictates what happens," Giovanni says causing Ash and Serena to growl.

https://youtu.be/XJqmCMrQ46Y

"While I have enjoyed this little pow-wow of ours. But I think it is time to put this to an end. But not to worry before you die, you'll have the privilege of being one of the few who shall see my true power," Giovanni says as a malicious sneer appears on his mouth and a look of fear appears on Ash and Serena's faces.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Viscount Giovanni Xavier, the Prince of Darkness," Giovanni says as he gives a sarcastic aristocratic bow.

"Now gaze upon me lesser mortals and DESPPPPAAAAAIR!" Giovanni announces as his voice echoes throughout the entire stadium.

Giovanni's entire body's outline develops a purplish black outline. He raises his hands as powerful bolts of pitch black lightning into the sky turning it pitch black. A gruesome shadow appears behind which takes the shape of a gigantic pitch black cloud. Ash and Serena's hearts leap out of their mouths as a cruel, terror-inciting face peeks out of the shadow cloud for a few moments before vanishing again.

Ash and Serena by now are taking several small rapid short breaths to reinforce themselves. They take a quick glance at the others to see all the Team Rocket member on their knees with their heads bowed and foreheads touching the ground. After a few moments, the shadow subsides and vanishes following which Giovanni opens his eyes. All Ash and Serena see in his eyes is a pitch black abyss full of sleepless malice, almost like the oncoming wall of the quiet night, inevitable and deadly.

"While I have enjoyed this little session of ours I think it's time to put things to bed, nice and simple," Giovanni says as he raises his palms up in the air.

To everyone's surprise, grey smoke starts coming out of the palms. Ash and Serena however, panic even more than they have panicked already.

With teeth stuttering, Serena desperately says, "No. Not that one. Not that one."

"Oooh looks like someone's done their homework. Here I thought Dragon Emperor wouldn't have taught you about the Kiss of Death. But I am glad he did, this way you can die in the satisfaction of knowing what killed you. Think about the closure you'll get by this knowledge, many people don't get to know what killed them," Giovanni smirks as the smoke, floating on top of his palms, becomes more intense... and darker.

"Please. Maybe we can come to some kind of an arrangement?" Ash asks, words imbued with bone-chilling terror.

"Of course we can. But we shall not. Goodbye Dragon Emperor's apprentices," Giovanni says as he pushes his hands forward and the sends the attack towards Ash and Serena.

"NOOOO!" Ash and Serena shout as they raise their hands, muster the last of energies and create a protective dome like Aura Barrier around themselves.

The smoke collides fiercely with the Aura Barrier, causing Ash and Serena immense pain as they struggle to keep their defences intact.

"Hahaha," Giovanni laughs quietly before continuing, "Dread it, regret it, destiny still arrives or should I say, I have."

With this said, Giovanni's eyes shine black once more as the smoke coming out of his palms intensifies, even more, causing the Aura Barrier to reduce heavily in diameter.

"Arrrrrgggghhh," Ash and Serena growl as they sweat profusely, struggling to keep their defences strong.

Their hands shake unlike anything before, rivers of sweat drip down their teeth-clenched faces which are painted left and right with a maelstrom of fear, resolve, desperation and pain.

"Why do you resist? The outcome is inevitable. Give up and it will be over in a second," Giovanni says as the visible cracks now begin to appear in the Aura Barrier which becomes more and more prominent as the assault continues.

"Grrrrrrrhrrrrgrrrrrr," Ash and Serena growl as the shield starts cracking in a cascading fashion with one crack leading to more cracks.

Knowing what's next they turn to their mothers who are helplessly watching the whole spectacle from behind the Aura Barrier, which Serena had placed around them before the battle began. Ash and Serena give their mother a nod before turning to the Kiss of Death which has almost broken through their shield. They grasp each other's hand and close their eyes not wanting to see what'll happen next. Everyone of Ash and Serena's friends and family sharply sucks in their breaths as they Ash and Serena lifted off the ground and get swallowed by the kiss of death.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Grace and Delia shout as they see Ash and Serena's bodies lying lifelessly on the ground.

The very next second the Aura Shield around all of Ash and Serena's friends starts flickering till it vanishes after a few moments. Without wasting even a second Grace and Delia run over to their children whose bodies are still on the ground. Grace and Delia reach Ash and Serena and then give out a gasp of horror. What they see shocks them to the core as they see Ash and Serena's body has become freezing cold with their face pallor turned to grey and their skins cracking at different places.

"Tsk tsk tsk. To come back from their presumed death from five years ago and go now to their real death. Such a pity," Giovanni says as he dusts his jacket.

"No they're still alive," Delia says, refusing to accept Giovanni's words.

"Foolish woman. Why do you think the Aura Barrier that your daughter had placed around you, for protection, vanished the moment your daughter fell. It vanished because the person who cast it, that person's life force also vanished," Giovanni says with a smug smirk on his face.

"You monster. I won't forgive you," Grace snarls, her voice and face imbued with hatred and vengeance.

Both mothers run at Giovanni while shouting hoarsely with their fist clenched much to all the Team Rocket members' amusement.

"Fortunately I don't require your forgiveness. What I need from you is to squirm as your writhing and suffering shall give me a lot of pleasure," Giovanni says while snapping his finger creating a purple cage-like barrier around Grace and Delia, essentially trapping them there.

"Congratulations on the win, father. Those two got what they deserved. They were worthless cowards to challenge your supreme might," Ariel says while smiling.

"Thank you, my dear. You will and always will be my most beloved daughter," Giovanni says causing Calem to fume in silence.

"Resume with the executions as planned and this time, don't screw it up," Giovanni softly says to which Calem complies with a nod.

Within moments of Giovanni's orders, all of Ash and Serena's friends are taken prisoner again with Calem dragging Diantha to the site where all the prisoners will be beheaded.

"Let go of me you insolent little prick," Diantha snarls as she violently struggles following which Calem gets annoyed and telekinetically sends Diantha flying through the air.

"Diantha!!" Lance and the others try to go to her aid but they aren't able to.

"Now now. Don't struggle that much. We want you to look pretty for the camera," Ariel says as she ignites her Aura Sabre wanting to carry out the execution herself.

"Wait a minute are the camera feeds even working?" Calem asks, following which a few grunts perform a few checks.

Upon seeing them shake their heads sideways Calem orders them to get the feeds back.

"Why are you doing this Calem? I was your mentor, surely you can't agree with all this?" Diantha asks following which Calem stops in his tracks for a few moments.

"It doesn't matter what I feel about it. I am a Xavier and I shall do as all the Xaviers have done in the past... which is to protect the legacy of our family," Calem replies.

"Your legacy is mass genocide?" Diantha asks with scepticism reverberating in her tone.

"My legacy is to rule the world. This killing is merely a means. The real reward is what we get after this," Calem says.

"You won't have anything to rule after this. No one will join you. You'll be the ruler of nothing," Diantha snarls.

"But a ruler none the less," Calem answers before walking a little away.

"Sir the feeds should be fixed in a minute or two," one of the grunts reports to Giovanni.

"Excellent. That will be all," Giovanni dismisses the grunt away.

Suddenly the sky starts growing dark as the cloud turn dark and start throwing off azure blue crystalline bolts of lightning.

"Father what's going on?" Ariel asks, completely confused by what's happening.

https://youtu.be/h3Y8vniNhfI

Even Giovanni is a little confused as to what's going on when suddenly a massive bolt of lightning strikes the ground causing everyone to shield their eyes including Giovanni. When Giovanni lowers his hand he sees nothing but when he hears a crackling sound he looks up, only to see two people, sparkling with blue electricity heading for the ground. The two people land on the ground with the force of a detonation sending a ripple throughout the entire stadium.

"Impossible," Giovanni says when he sees Ash and Serena standing in the centre of the crater with every inch of their eyes coursing with blue Aura electricity.

"But father you... you said that nothing survives the kiss of death!" Ariel shouts but Giovanni doesn't answer.

"Get them," Calem commands as a few grunts charge at Ash and Serena.

Ash and Serena don't even react but the electricity that's shooting out from random parts of their body incinerates the grunts within seconds, leaving nothing but charbroiled bones behind. Ash and Serena mechanically raise their fingers and a protective Aura Barrier once again forms around their friends and family.

Giovanni tells Calem and Ariel to get behind him with which they instantly comply. The air starts swirling around Ash and Serena who start floating in mid-air as they rise higher and higher with every passing moment. After they stop rising in altitude, Giovanni watches as they begin to spin in mid-air.

He turns around and with his heart in his mouth he shouts, "Aura Fury, take cover!"

Sure enough within moments, Ash and Serena spin at an incredibly fast rate as their entire body glow a shiny blue. The very next second several powerful Aura Spheres get fired in random directions. All the Team Rocket grunts run left and right as the entire stadium gets bombarded by the fury of Aura Spheres being launched. Giovanni who's protected himself and his children behind his own Aura Shield watches in shocked silence as stands all around them collapse into rubble.

After a few minutes, the bombardment stops as Ash and Serena return to their normal state and drop down to the ground. Giovanni lowers his shield as he watches Ash and Serena looking at their hands with an expression of disbelief.

"What... what just... what just happened?" Serena asks, completely bamboozled by what she was doing without even meaning to do it.

"I... I don't... I don't know," Ash says as he looks at Serena.

Calem and Ariel look around to see what's left of the stadium completely covered in craters. The only ones who have survived unscathed are the ones who have been lucky or the ones who managed to create defensive Aura Shields around themselves.

"What power!" Calem breathes as he looks back at Ash and Serena who're now looking right back at Giovanni.

"I see. Interesting. So it appears that the rumours were true after all," Giovanni says after taking a few deep breaths to reinforce himself.

"What rumours?" Serena asks.

"Nothing that matters now. It seems I underestimated you but still I think it's time I rectified my mistake," Giovanni says as two Aura Sabres slide out of the sleeves of his clothes and into his hands.

"Bring it on," Ash and Serena say as they ignite their Aura Sabres too.

"One shall stand, two shall fall," Giovanni roars as he charges at Ash and Serena with his sabres ignited.

"We shall see," Serena shouts as both she and Ash charge at Giovanni with their weapons ready.

"Yeaaah," Giovanni shouts as he jumps into the air.

"Yeaaaah," Ash and Serena shout as they both jump in the air too, to meet Giovanni attack.

With every passing microsecond, the hearts of the spectators beat more and more strongly as the distance between the two parties reduces with the passing moment. All three shout very loudly when suddenly just before they can engage in a duel a bolt of lightning strikes right in the middle of them, causing all three of them to drop down to the ground. 

https://youtu.be/ytaTjrWEvZI

The lightning bolt then multiplies, taking the shape of an Aura Net which acts as a grid of lasers separating Ash and Serena from Giovanni. Ash and Serena turn around to see a bright reddish brown meteor emerge from the cloud far away from the ruined stadium. The meteor hits, causing a huge column of fire to burst from the crash site. The fire tornado then settles down, creating a dense dust cloud around the crash site.

Ash and Serena immediately get down on their knees and bend their heads forward while Giovanni and the Team Rocket members develop a fowl scowl, knowing full well who have crashed the party. The Dragon Emperor emerges out of the smoke, walking in his characteristic style with his head bent forward slightly, eyes closed shut, calculating look on his face and the Dragon Staff in his left hand.

"Master," Serena says as Dragon Emperor comes to a stop in front of her and Ash.

"Rise my apprentices and stay behind me," Dragon Emperor says as Ash and Serena get to their feet.

Dragon Emperor crosses Ash and Serena as the Aura Net lowers bringing Giovanni and Dragon Emperor face to face.

"So we meet again Dragon Emperor," Giovanni snarls.

"Indeed," Dragon Emperor answers as everyone watches, with baited breathe, the conversation happening between the two individuals.

<Author's Note Begins>

What are your thoughts about the interaction which is going to take place between the Dragon Emperor and the Prince of Darkness? What do you think their relationship is? I want elaborate comments, please.

<Author's Note Ends>