Hello there! This, in case you missed it in the description, this is a sequel. Have you not already read its predecessor, Dark Moon I suggest you do so (and drop of a long, juicy review while you're at it) before continuing.

That said, welcome to the second story of my series! Here you'll find mystery, adventure, humor, action, awesomeness, Darkrai, and a whole host of the other "Legendaries." No prologue this time, so let's jump right in! I promise you won't be disappointed if you stick with me, and I'll write all the better if you hand over some well-thought-out constructive criticism…

Rest assured, this story has zero relation to the anime.

Anyway, onward!

The woods surrounding Sendoff Spring glistened—with the moisture of the morning dew, and with a hidden nonsentient anxiety that permeated every tree and every blade of grass. The world was growing strained, stretched taut under the malevolent lidded eye of the new moon, which had gazed coldly down upon it for a considerable time without waxing. This phenomenon, christened the Reverse Moon, was bathing the planet in relentless waves of unnatural energy, dark radiation which was causing nature itself to suffer, though it showed no signs of its distress.

In the forest, the trees still stood tall with their blue-green needles on display, but there was an undercurrent of distress in the ecosystem's natural rhythm and a vaguely threatening feeling of foreboding in the air that was not lost on the three who traveled now through the woods—well, maybe save one of them.

"This is beyond ridiculous," griped Darkrai. "Why did he"—with that word he jabbed a finger in the direction of the one indeed completely oblivious to the tension in the atmosphere—"have to come? Deoxys, I can understand you, but Rotom?"

The trio was bound for Turnback Cave, home to the Legendary Pokémon and master of alternate dimension called Giratina. He possessed powers of 'reverse' energy himself, and it was agreed he could likely help them solve the mystery of the moon's altered state…that is—and they had all (again excluding Rotom) caught this in the offing when Arceus had told them to seek Giratina out—if he wasn't the cause of it himself

Darkrai alone had a particular reason to suspect this, as he still hadn't told anyone about what he had seen through a dimensional rift that had opened briefly on the space deity Palkia's domain of Materia Island: the form of Giratina himself, set in grayscale but with ghastly, solid red eyes. He had kept the nightmarish vision to himself, even once the copy of him known as Reverse Darkrai (who had been killed by a dimensional collapse which it seemed he had lured them into) hinted that he was not the true force behind the Reverse Moon plot.

"Hey!" exclaimed Rotom, hurt by Darkrai's affront. "I saved you all!"

Deoxys laughed at that. "Didn't he save you life after you after you lost to your evil clone, Darkrai?"

"Lord Darkrai!"

"Then call me Lord Deoxys."

"Whatever! All Rotom did was finish Reverse Darkrai off after we did all the work!"

"Still," said Rotom, giving Darkrai an irritating smile which might have earned him bodily harm had Darkrai been looking his way, "you're pretty much only alive 'cause of me!"

"You might just cease to be alive because of me," growled Darkrai, "if you don't shut up."

They reached Sendoff Spring, a low, recessed basin enshrouded in dense fog and further hidden by the way the curved terrain deterred line of sight from reaching it. The pines towered especially high around the spring, their imposing forms resembling nothing so much as a palisade, giving the distinct impression the forest did not want or welcome visitors there. The fog, coupled with what despite the water's crystalline clarity and cold temperature appeared to be steam rising from its surface, obscured the entrance to Turnback Cave inset in the rock near the water level, and they spent some time searching for it. They might not have found it at all if Rotom hadn't, after trying to use the ability Defog (which he couldn't use and wouldn't have worked anyway), floated through it at random.

As the three entered Turnback Cave, the light from the opening behind them seemed to be choked by the unnaturally dense darkness within, leaving the chamber they now stood in only dimly illuminated. Ahead they saw among the shadows a worn, ancient-looking pillar with faded ruins etched into its surface. Darkrai ignored it, Rotom gaped unhelpfully at it, and Deoxys went to the column and studied its engravings for a moment. "'Turnback Cave,'" he read, "'Intersection point of time and space. Enter and find only an endless maze from which none escape and within which many lose their tether to reality.'"

"Um, that sounds, uh, bad," said Rotom.

Darkrai was already heading toward the nearest of a dozen doorways set in the polygonal room's stone walls. "Hey!" called Deoxys. "How do you know that's the right way?" Giving no indication that he had heard, Darkrai continued through the door and out of sight. Deoxys and Rotom followed, one muttering under his breath about who they'd have to blame if they got lost and the other, all worries of losing tether to reality now replaced by thoughts of funny Magikarp, humming pleasantly.

-s- -s- -s-

Arceus had of course considered the possibility that it was Giratina who was responsible for the Reverse Moon; considered it well before the battle with Reverse Darkrai had even taken place…but he had not yet allowed himself to believe it could be true. He and Giratina had been nothing if not friends since the beginning of the universe itself, and he couldn't imagine Giratina secretly working against him. It was with something like relief that recently he had become aware of a reason to suspect the Renegade Pokémon was in fact not the cause of the altered moon, a reason he was now waiting to share with his Lieutenants.

Arceus stood, as always, in the Hall of Origin. The Hall was a large, ornate chamber of faintly luminous white stone, removed from ordinary time and space and accessible only through a temporary gateway to it that took the form of a glowing, ethereal staircase. These stairs would only appear if Arceus summoned them or if Mew, Celebi, or Jirachi played a certain song on their Azure Flutes. Those three were in the Hall with Arceus as well, sleeping quietly in a huddle a short distance away. Arceus waited patiently, as he had since Deoxys, Darkrai, and Rotom had left, until Mew stirred and raised her head. She slowly yawned and levitated slightly as though sitting in midair.

"Good morning, Lord Mew," said Arceus warmly. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did," said Mew, dipping her head briefly in respect. "You didn't sleep at all?"

Arceus smiled. "I don't really require sleep on a regular basis."

"You should still sleep when it's nighttime!"

"Ha ha…night in the Hall? I wasn't aware we had night or day here. Is that new?" he teased.

Mew was about to retort, but broke off and turned as Celebi awoke. He too yawned and began hovering. "'Morning, Master Arceus, Lord Mew." Seeing Jirachi still slumbering on, he poked her none too gently in the arm. "You too."

Jirachi groaned and rolled over. "Five more minutes…"

"You sleep all the time," laughed Mew. "Get up already."

Jirachi assumed her usual floating manner, but kept her eyes shut. "Sure. I'm up. Really."

"I'd love for you to be able to sleep all day, Lord Jirachi," said Arceus, "but unfortunately we have several less-than-cheery matters to attend to."

"So much for sweet dreams," grumbled Jirachi, opening her eyes.

Arceus began. "Firstly, the natural disasters we've been seeing around the globe are worsening because a number of Legendary Pokémon with dominion over the elements have disappeared. It seems this happened while we were preoccupied with Reverse Darkrai; I was not even aware of the situation until Deoxys happened to check on his usual charges and found them missing."

"They just...vanished?" asked Mew.

"Deoxys cannot locate their energy signatures, and while he has told me his senses are impaired by the Reverse Moon, I believe he would be able to if they were not being cloaked specifically—by the moon or some other force. None are where they usually reside... I reassure you that if any were to die, I would know; none of them have." He paused. "Secondly: three new enemies have appeared."

"What?" exclaimed Mew. "How can you be sure?"

"They simultaneously spiked their energies a while ago. There was no mistaking the intent; they were sending a message."

Jirachi frowned. "So they're the ones behind the Reverse Moon...for sure?"

"That's just it," said Arceus with a sigh. "They may be, and they may not be. Time will tell..."

"How powerful were they?" Celebi asked.

"It's difficult to say," replied Arceus. "Forgive me, but I am not skilled at differentiating energy levels so far beneath my own... I will ask Deoxys if he came to a determination when he felt the spike."

Mew had an equally reasonable query: "What were they? Pokémon, or...?"

"I wish I knew." Arceus seemed to concentrate briefly, as if recalling the moment when he had detected the three presences. "Their energy felt strange... I can't quite place it. But you should be on the lookout for something different."

"If I had to guess..." put in Celebi. "I'd say you want us to investigate the Legendaries' disappearances, and wait for those three to make the first move."

"Precisely. I don't know their locations anyway."

"Elemental Legendaries missing, natural disasters getting worse, and these three differents running loose?" Jirachi looked significantly at the other three. "I'd say they already made the first move."

-s- -s- -s-

Deep inside the twisting depths of Turnback Cave, Deoxys, Darkrai, and Rotom had finally reached the central chamber. Within that space, dark purple smoke seemed to bend around the cold stone walls like creeping fingers only to vanish in an instant and leave the question of whether it had been just a trick of the light. The air was musty with countless eons of stillness, and the ceiling—if there was one—was obscured by a veil of utter darkness that hovered over them like a physical presence. The chamber was huge. It was intimidating. And at its center was absolutely nothing; it was also empty. There was no sign of the High Lord Giratina, and apart from it unsettling appearance, the room looked to be in perfect order, showing no signs of a struggle. The six giant claw marks in the chamber's midpoint where Giratina had probably stood immobile for centuries were about the most interesting feature of the place.

"There are only faint traces of his energy here..." said Deoxys. "He hasn't been here for a while."

"And he isn't here now," noted Rotom.

"Your amazing energy senses couldn't have told you that before we slogged through this dust trap?" Darkrai growled at Deoxys.

"My senses are the only reason we didn't have to let you lead us the wrong way into an inescapable maze," Deoxys fired back. "This cave is a mess of dimensional warping and it's a wonder I can sense anything five meters away." He sighed, gazing at the claw marks and the ominously empty space around them that made their visibility possible. "This isn't looking good..."

They turned to leave and found the entrances had silently been sealed with large slabs of stone. Rotom yelped and began zooming around the chamber for any Rotom-sized hole which he might slip through to escape, all the while shrieking that they were trapped and doomed to die. "It's a defense mechanism," said Deoxys, volume increased to be audible over Rotom's shrill voice. "They probably only open when Giratina allows them to, but since he isn't here..."

"That," said Darkrai, drawing back a fist, "is a terrible excuse for a defense mechanism."

Cloaked in shadow and hidden from all means of detection by the cave's errant dimensional bending, someone watched them go. A pair of solidly red eyes glowed briefly in the darkness, then vanished.

A/N: Much as I'd love for this chapter to be longer, there's only so much stage-setting one can do. Feel like reviewing yet? Because you absolutely have to at some point.