The curse within me

Chapter 34 what lays ahead 

Denny's P.O.V

Denny watched anxiously as they hid in the cover of the tall grass. He turned his attention to Anthony. "I'm not going to let them get you, I promise."
Amethyst was watching him. "Ok, most importantly, we can't let them get their paws on him."
"Ya think?" Denny retorted, and Ava nudged him in the side. "Denny, don't be rude! If we're going to get through this we need to work together without any complaining." Ava huffed, and Denny stifled a sigh. "Ok, fine then what's the plan?" The female Espeon turns her gaze towards the army. "We're going to have to fight a good amount of them before we can run." Ava looked extremely worried now. "We kind of don't stand a chance." Amethyst met her gaze calmly, clammy. "Yes, we do have faith, Leafeon." Denny got up slowly to examine their surroundings seeing if there were any exits for an escape. As his purple gaze crossed over Zeta, he felt his lips begin to draw back letting out a small growl, feeling great hatred towards the Zoroark. 'Shawn had been right about you, you really are a crazy nutcase.' He thought with bitterness as he continued to look around. Amethyst lightly poked him with her forked tail tip. "I think it would be best if Ryker stayed with Anothony while the rest of us fight," Denny growled. "Anthony stays with me!" The Espeon shook her head. "I need you to help back us up, I know you're well experienced in battle." Denny eyed her suspiciously. Not just any random mon would compliment him like that, but he had to admit he did enjoy battle a bit more than he should. 'Does she know that from reading my mind?.... Or should I be concerned?..'
Then Ryker broke his thoughts. "You can trust me, Denny. I'm not gonna let anything happen to him, I'll sneak away while you guys fight." He promised. Denny looked at Ryker and he knew the shiny Vaporeon meant well. But sometimes he slips up and this is serious. If they get the curse, then it's all over. "Denny!" Ava snapped. "There's no time for this, don't you trust Ryker?" He slowly dipped his head and padded over to Ryker, placing Anthony on his back. Then he gave a very strict look at the younger Vaporeon. "Don't worry about us, you need to focus on getting as far away from here as possible, I'll find you later."
"Ok, got it." He replied. Then Ricardo called out. "Ok, Denny! I know you're here somewhere hiding, I'll give you ten seconds to come out before we take a life from one of your friends." Denny stood up and waved his tail to the others. "NOW!" He ordered and with that, he ran out from their spot. Amethyst ran behind him and already targeted Ricardo with future sight. The shiny Inteleon looked shocked as a battle had already broken out with just the three mons. "You fools! Now I'll show you!" Denny got into a battle stance and started throwing attacks at any mon that was close by. Ava used sunny day and for a second Denny felt annoyed until she started hitting mons with a solar beam. Denny powered up for a surf but to his frustration as he used the move the wave of water wasn't very strong as the drought weather had been stronger, though some mons got pushed back. 'And it's been so long since I last used rain dance! I forgot it!' Denny let out a growl as a Zoroark came rushing towards him with extended sharp claws glowing a dark Purple colour.
"Oh No! Not my watch!" He snarled at his incoming foe and before the Zoeoark could reach him, Denny dived down under his legs hitting them hard with an iron tail. "AAAA!!!" He screeched in rage as he flew up in the air then landed roughly on his back just in time for the Vaporeon to meet him head-on with an ice beam attack. "Hello, Zeta. Too bad you couldn't land on your neck!" He said as he reached his claws out, aiming for his throat. Zeta grabbed his arm before he could sink his claws into him. "Heh, hahaha, ah Daniel, funny you are." Feeling rage begin to boil up inside he tried to retract his arm but Zeta had a firm hold of him. The Zoroark then grew a big unsettling grin on his face as he began to slowly twist it. "ARG!!" The Vaporeon yelled now, feeling a bit of panic about what might happen if he didn't get free now. Without another second of hesitation, he dug his teeth in as hard as he could into Zeta's arm, drawing lots of his blood. Denny let out a gargled growl at the nasty taste of blood. Zeta howled in pain, but then started laughing again."Hahaha! I'm gonna break your arm now." Denny braced himself, closing his eyes until he felt a big blast of heat. Suddenly, Zeta released his arm, yelling as more flames hit him, causing him to flee. "Denny! Are you alright?" Felix asked as he came running towards him. The Vaporeon was frozen for a bit, feeling embarrassed as he looked up at the Flareon. 'Oh, of course. Of all mons to save me from breaking an arm, it has to be this guy!' Denny thought. "Of course I'm ok! Zeta just got lucky is all...." He grumbled as he got back to his paws and gave himself a shake. He looked around, trying to find Ricardo, and then he spotted Ava and Amethyst fighting side by side and spotted Kyle and Jennifer fighting together. "Felix, stay with me, we got to get to Jennifer!" He ordered and noticed the Flareon looked excited. Now that the sunny day was wearing off, the Vaporeon was able to use surf, blowing more mons away. "Come on!" He yelled as he ran with Felix at his flank, and when he turned his purple gaze to look back, he noticed that Ava and Amethyst were following close behind, fighting off enemies as they ran. 'Good. We need to stay together, it's our only chance at getting through this.' As Denny was pushing his way through the attacking mons, he slowly became annoyed. 'They're standing in between me and my niece's safety!' As badly as the Vaporeon wanted to start ripping out throats, he thought better of it after Ava had pointed out that they were fighting against their will. 'Well... Perhaps some of them anyway.' He thought darkly, also knowing that some of them did truly fight for Ricardo. Then he felt a sudden pain in his tail, as a Mightyena clamped his jaws on it. Denny gave a yowl then used an iron tail to make the Mightyena let go, and used surf again. "Heads up!" Felix yelled as the whole area became hot. Heatwave! Finally, Denny reached the shiny Glaceon and threw himself towards Ella, grasping the little Eevee in his paws and curling his body around her as the move hit everyone. "ARG!!" Denny gave a painful yowl then felt a wrench of worry as he looked at Jennifer, then thought of Ava.
"Felix!!" He shouted as he got up to face the Flareon. "YOU IDIOT-"
"Denny, I'm sorry, I just-"
"Will you guys break it up!" Jennifer hissed. "Help us!!" Denny gave the Flareon a cold glare, before snarling: "Don't do that again!"
"I won't!"
Amethyst shot a shadow ball at an incoming mon. They all gathered close together, forming a circle, and firing moves at the army. Kyle looked frustrated as he used rock moves on his side. "We're gaining power!" Amethyst called. "We need to stay together to get out of this mess." Denny rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course, it's the stranger giving orders now!" He said sarcastically as he continued attacking Mons, Jennifer used an ice shard beside him as she yelped back: "Guys, how long are we gonna hold out like this? What's the plan?!" Denny looked around, feeling annoyed as of now, all he could see was Ricardo's army. "Well Amethyst, what is the plan? since this was your idea." He asked with mockery in his tone. 'You think leadership is easy? Find out yourself.' He thought bitterly. Then Kyle barked out: "OH NO!" A sudden alarm shot through the Vaporeon. "Oh what now?!" He asked, aware that his tone was sharp. The shiny Lycanroc was hesitant to answer. "Well?!" Denny demanded. "It's Ryker! He came back!" Alarm shot through the Vaporeon from his head to his tail fin. 'I was right not to trust him with this!' Suddenly, he lashed out his claws at the face of a Thievul, who he yipped and backed up. "ER! MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!!" He shouted angrily, lashing his claws out at more foes, attempting to do more damage to whoever got in his way. Ava glanced at him, shaking her head disapprovingly. 'It's not like I didn't warn them! My son needs me!'
"Jennifer, can you use Blizzard?" Denny asks, stifling his growls as she nods.
"Good, and Felix! As soon as she's done, use heatwave!" Denny barked. Ava's eyes grew wide with worry.
"What about us?!" Ava cried.
"Take cover!" Denny said back. Amethyst used a light screen. "I got you covered!" She called, and the Vaporeon gave her a thankful nod. Ava looked mad. "Ummm we're only half covered!"
Suddenly, Jennifer glowed as she used Blizzard. Denny ran over to Ava and pushed her down, taking the damage for her. Then Felix used a heat wave. Ava covered her face with her paws, looking more scared. Denny looked around and felt relieved, seeing the others didn't take much damage. Kyle shielded Jennifer while Amethyst protected Ella. "NOW!!" Denny ordered as he used to surf, knocking out more mons and making a gap for them to escape. Denny led the way. Amethyst used her psychic power to lift Jennifer onto her back. "I got you, girl!" She said as she took up the rear, blasting pysbeam out of her gem. As Denny was hard on his paws, he suddenly heard Ryker's voice. "Denny!!" As the shiny Vaporeon ran over to them, he couldn't hold back an angry yell. "Where's Anthony?!" He demanded. "R..Ricardo!!" He stammered out. "He came after me, there's no time, hurry!!" He turned and was already leading them. They began running uphill, which was making the Vaporeon more anxious. They finally outran the army. 'But it will be hopeless if Anthony is dead!' He couldn't help worrying.
Then finally, Ryker took a left that led them toward a clifftop. Then Denny saw it. The shiny Umbreon was in a battle stance, it was just him and Ricardo. No other Mon seemed to be around. "ERRRR!! You'll never take me!" Anthony shouted.