I wanna apologize for the LONG delay in updating this... just a lot of shit's been going on, what can I say?

And Maddie...

This is for you.

Jessie, James and Meowth couldn't believe what Josh had just told them and frankly, they didn't WANT to believe it... but as the teen looked up, sadness and despair clearly visible in his mismatched eyes, they knew it was all true...

"So... Mondo's in that madman's clutches?", James was barely able to gasp out, his voice choked as if he was on the verge of crying

The teen was unable to answer, all he could do was look at the four of them and nod solemnly. Jessie couldn't help but let out a strangled cry like that of a dying pokemon, then buried her head into James's shoulder, terrified to the point where she was sobbing. Farfetch'd looked absolutely sick and Meowth could tell he was having to cover his beak to keep from revisiting the pizza and breaded twists he'd just consumed

"The... the bastard said that if you guys want to see Mondo alive ever again, you have to bring Meowth down to Tenobi Hall by midnight tomorrow night and give him to Harris... otherwise, he'll make sure there's not enough left of Mondo to be buried..."

At hearing the name of the place Harris wanted them to bring him to, a cold chill ran down the cat-pokemon's spine. It was a place he'd hoped to never hear about again...

"Tenobi Hall? Ain't that...", Meowth started to ask, but before he could even finish the question, he saw Josh's head nodding and he felt his heart sink all the way to his feet, "No... please say it ain't..."

"Yes...", Josh whispered, his voice shaken and strained, as if the words didn't want to come out. "The same place I was held captive. The same place where I lived through my own private hell..."

"This can't be happening!", James screamed, clutching at his hair in absolute horror, "It just can't! Please say this is all just a horrible nightmare..."

"It's... it's not a nightmare...", Josh whispered, "It's real... it's all too real..."

"I... I guess that means you guys will have to hand me over...", Meowth whispered, tears coming to his eyes, "If it'll save Mondo... I'm willing.."

As Meowth left the room, tears streaming down his face and his body shaking with the sobs he was trying to hold in, Josh could only sit down on the floor, feeling like he was going through Hell a second time around...

"I can't believe this.. This is all my fault.."

"No it isn't.. You couldn't have known...", James started to say softly, but the teen stood up and, nearly punching a hole in the wall, he started screaming, his voice racked with anguish

"DON'T YOU GET IT! IF I HAD NEVER LET MEOWTH RESCUE ME ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, NONE OF YOU GUYS WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH ANY OF THIS! Thanks to me, Mondo's stuck as a hostage, possibly blind, mutilated, or even dead as we speak! If it weren't for me, none of you would be in this mess. I'm no hero... I'm a goddamned angel of death!"

It was all Josh could take as he started yanking at his head, almost tearing his hair out in despair as he groaned and wept, although no tears were coming out. He was tearing and clawing at his head so badly Jessie and James could see blood starting to trickle between his fingers. In spite of her sadness, Jessie knew Josh wasn't fully to blame for it and she walked over to the teen, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder

"You're.. you're really upset about this, aren't you?", Jessie asked gently, her voice still cracking a little from her sobbing

"What the hell do you think?", Josh spat, brushing Jessie's hand away in his misplaced anger, "I'm responsible for you two going through the same nightmare that I went through! Why couldn't he just have killed me... Why is this happening?"

It was all James could take and, taking a firm hold of the teen's shoulder with one hand, he used the other to spin Josh around and give him a hard slap in the face before he spoke again, his voice now firm and brimming with resolution

"Josh, listen to me! Now's your chance to make good on your promise to be a body-guard. Harris has got Mondo held prisoner! You and Meowth are the only ones who know where that bastard's hideout is! It's up to you two to save him! You can't let despair take you down... You've got to fight back! It's the only chance we have to save Mondo and Meowth!"

As the disfigured teen looked back at the bluish-purple haired male standing in front of him, he knew that everything that James had said rang true. He couldn't give up... not when there was so much at stake... and as he stood up, looking directly into James's emerald eyes, he found his resolve... his determination... his courage all slowly returning to him

"You're... you're right.", Josh whispered softly at first, but he found his voice growing strong with each word that came out, his confidence being brought back by the look of faith in James' eyes, "Damn it you're right! I cried enough when I lost my parents. I'm not gonna lose another friend to that son-of-a-bitch! I... I can't... I'M NOT!"

Hearing Josh speak up, his voice back to it's normal solid self, was all Jessie needed to be able to wipe the last of her tears away and speak up herself. "That's the spirit! We can't let that bastard win! We WILL protect Meowth and we WILL save Mondo!"

It was then that Meowth walked into the room, a firm smile on his face. He'd heard all that had been said and, knowing his friends truly cared about his safety, he knew he'd be safe. But he also knew he needed to see Mondo again, to make sure his friend was still alive... even if it meant going into the depths of Hell itself

"I'm not about to let you go alone!", the cat-pokemon said, his voice firm and ebbing with resolve, "Count me in!". He leapt into the teens arms and gave him a huge hug before he continued to speak. "We can't let Mondo suffer at that sickos hands... We WILL save him!"

As Meowth leapt out of Josh's arms and stood besides Jessie, James and Farfetch'd, James spoke up again. This time his voice rang out with a fierce determination, one that echoed that of a mighty warrior going into battle.

"For no one... but NO one... can stop Team Rocket!"

"So Harris had prepare fo-", Jessie started to say, beginning to launch into the motto that had grown to be accustomed to her, James, and Meowth. But she saw Josh lift up his hand and she stopped mid-sentence

"No.. none of you guys are going..."

"What!", Jessie yelled in shock, "What do you mean we're not? Mondo's our friend!"

"If you guys go too, chances are someone's not gonna make it out alive.", Josh replied, his voice firm and unwavering, "As it is... there's a chance that me and Meowth may end up dead after all this... if you go as well... you could meet your deaths there as well... I don't even want Farfetch'd going..."

"That's a chance we'll have to take!", James spoke up, "If it means leaving our friends to perish... I'd rather die with honor than live life as a coward!"

"Yeah!", Jessie added, her own voice taking back on its normal bossy and proud tone, "After all Mondo did for us, it's time we repaid him the favor!"

"There's no way I'm leaving you to fight that demon alone... not after what he did to you...", Farfetch'd yelled, his wing clenched in a fist... as best it could anyway...

"But this... this could get you all killed! This is our burden... not yours!", Josh burst out

"Well we're making it our burden!", James replied, a fierce determination ringing in both his voice and his amethyst-colored eyes, "After all we've been through with Meowth... whether it was rescuing him from bounty hunters, comforting him after his losses, or even taking care of him when he was sick... we've become more than mere friends... we're family... and a family is never divided in times of crisis... not even if it means risking our lives..."

As Josh stood, looking at James's eyes, he could tell that he meant every word he said. Meowth was more than just a mere partner... after all they'd been through he was like their own flesh and blood... or rather fur and blood... He knew nothing he could say would prevent them from coming along...

"We'll if you're sure about coming along...", Josh said resignedly, "at least get some supplies! Give yourselves a fighting chance against him.."

"No need to worry about supplies...", James remarked as he opened the closet door to reveal a huge array of medical supplies, armor, weaponry, costumes, even rations of food, "We always like to be prepared for just such an emergency! It's how we've survived all the blastoffs over the years!"

All Josh and Meowth could do was stare in awe at the other two, Farfetch'd's beak nearly falling to the floor at the variety of costumes and weapons...

"Are... are your friends usually like this, Meowth?", Josh couldn't help but ask

"Nah..", Meowth replied, a small grin on his face, "They're usually MUCH worse."

"Watch it, hairball!", Jessie growled, overhearing Meowth's quip

James just sighed in frustration and placed a hand on Jessie's shoulder. "Jessie, now is not the time at all for this!"

Jessie sighed in resignation before she turned to James and nodded. "Right... Right... we've got a friend to save!"

With that Jessie and James fetched a variety of weapons from the supply closet and headed for the garage towards their big truck, Meowth running off behind them crying "Wait for me!". But Farfetch'd hung back for a bit, waiting to here from his trainer what he should do.

"Just go, Farfetch'd... I've got something I need to check before we go..."

The wild-duck pokemon merely nodded before he flew off after them. But before he went to join them, Josh went to the computer, turned it back on, and clicked back to the page he'd been looking at before with the gang.

"Mother... Father...", Josh sighed as he clicked on one of the links highlighted on the blackness of the pages background

As the link's information slowly appeared on the monitor, Josh looked at the lines of text describing the fates of the two most well-known victims of Belger's rage.. his mother, Tara, and his father, Kyo.

"I may not have been able to save you two, but at least now, I can avenge your wrongful deaths at the hands of that goddamned psycho Belger!", he whispered before he turned the system back off, making a sign of the cross on his chest before he unseathed his katana and looked at the blade in thought... "It's time to coat this in that demon's tainted blood..."

It was then that Josh reseathed his sword and walking into the garage, opened the truck's door, got in the driver's seat, and turned on the ignition, listening to the engine start up, purring like a Meowth. But as he reached his foot for the gas pedal, James yelled in alarm

"Josh, wait!"

"What? What is it?", Josh said, startled and looking back at James as Jessie, Meowth, and Farfetch'd were doing as well

"Open the garage door first! We're still making payments on this place and we really don't want any more holes in the door... Especially after the last time Jessie got behind the wheel!"

Watching as Jessie slugged James in the shoulder slightly, but having to hide a small grin as she remembered that incident, Josh pressed the garage-door opener and after the door moved all the way up, the teen put his foot on the gas and got ready to start the journey... whispering 10 simple words as he looked at the orange sky in front of them...

"Harris... The end isn't near anymore... the end is HERE!"

And with those fierce words, Josh peeled on out of the Rocket's hideout and the 5 of them started on their way to rescue their friend... as if heading back into the throes of Hell as they knew it.

Please let me know what ya think, I'd love to hear from you guys!