[A/N: Hi! It sure has been a while since I've uploaded anything here... Well, I'm back with a oneshot-like my previous one, it corresponds with the "Eldes is Michael's father" headcanon. I actually wrote it in response to a prompt on my RP blog, but I liked it enough to put it here!]

When Ardos said he wanted to meet him alone–in the northernmost woods, away from either of their homes, and so soon after their discovery of the Purification Chamber project, no less–Eldes knew immediately his brother's intentions were less than pure. Asking if the matter could be discussed via P*DA proved fruitless, and Eldes knew it was a lost cause even as he typed the message.

There would be more than a little fallout from the discovery that Eldes betrayed his father and brother. Greevil howling with rage at his at son for his betrayal, threatening to cut him off completely, was far from the end of it. Empty threats hardly suited his father, after all.

He cast a nervous glance over to a heap of bushes just northwest of him, where Marduk lie in wait should the worst come to pass. The Vibrava, young though he was, seemed to at least grasp that his trainer was in a degree of peril, and from Eldes' perspective, he was crouched remarkably still; not a single leaf so much as twitched.

Only when a wisp of blue and gunmetal gray edged through the thicket did Eldes' awareness of the outside world return–and so did his rapid pulse. And when he just began to brace himself for the worst, a much darker cobalt appeared by Ardos' side…

And Eldes' racing heart came to an abrupt halt.

Marduk was crumpled and limp beneath the Heracross' claws.

Ardos almost seemed to derive some kind of joy from his brother's horror, his arms folded and his head shaking as if to scold him. Ardos flicked his finger in signal and the Heracross tossed Marduk to Eldes' feet, where the tiny antlion Pokémon slumped like a doll. Eldes fell to his knees and cradled Marduk without a thought, hardly comforted by a twitching front leg indicating he was still alive.

"In the bushes? Truly? As if I wouldn't notice?" Ardos shook his head in a mockery of pity. "As if I would hurt you? Come now, brother. I merely wanted to talk. You don't trust your own twin?"

Eldes couldn't say a word. Even his thoughts were frozen.

"Your bug will be just fine," Ardos asserted. "I didn't kill him, for Arceus' sake! But when I saw him on guard–as if you had anything to be guarded from–well, you understand. What an insult."

With a tap of his Poké Ball, Marduk vanished from the forest clearing, a ray of light keeping him within the safety of red and white metal until Eldes could tend to him. There was no telling what Ardos would do if he tried to leave now; if he attacked Marduk unprovoked… would he really do the same to his own brother?

"Are you going to look at me or are you going to keep gawking at blades of grass?" Ardos' voice had an edge to it, this time–but Eldes knew there was more to his brother's frustration than his being stunned into silence.

By the time Eldes mustered the ability to look Ardos in the eye, his face was already level with his brother's, and he realized Ardos had crouched down.

"You know why I wanted to have this little 'talk' with you, yes?" Ardos growled.

Of course he did.

"The Lab."

The Purification Chamber. Oh, Arceus, especially the Purification Chamber.

If only he hadn't been so careless. If he had never published his research…

"Oh, what it did to poor Father… his dearest son, working behind his back all this time to destroy everything he's struggled for. Worse yet–"

Ardos grabbed the collar of Eldes' shirt and pulled them both upright, then slammed him against the trunk of the ancient cedar behind him. Eldes slumped to the ground and the next thing he felt was a boot colliding with his abdomen. The wind knocked clean out of him, he could only wheeze as Ardos went on:

"–Everything I worked for! Finally, something to give my life meaning–something to dream for–and you betrayed it! Betrayed us! For that whore of a wife and her sniveling crotch droppings! For your precious research! For creatures that are meant for fighting, in the first place–for tools!"

Even through the haze of pain, breathlessness, and disparagements to his family and Pokémon, Eldes could still hear the offended chirr of his brother's Heracross and he vaguely registered the red light that absorbed her back into one of Ardos' three Poké Balls.

Though his breath had hardly returned, Eldes mustered the strength to raise his head and glare defiantly at his attacker. "Is that all you came here to do?" he spluttered. "To insult me and my work? And my–my family?" He coughed. "Then say your peace, Ardos. Say it and leave us–for good."

Eldes was sure he could even feel the muscles in his brother's limbs stiffen.

"I told Father… and now I'm telling you," Eldes continued. "If this is what you are… if this is what the Verich family has become… then I'm through with it. My family, my work–you will never take them from me."

Despite it all–despite himself–Eldes found himself smirking. When Ardos' fists began to tremble, for an instant, it looked like Eldes had won. He could, and would, take every beating in the world if it meant he could protect the people and the life he loved. Even if he never walked again, as long as Ardos and Greevil stayed away from his Lab, away from the people he loved–that was all that mattered for the moment.

But Ardos didn't continue his assault, nor did he leave Eldes on the ground. When he, instead, knelt down to stroke Eldes' crimson hair, an unexplained horror slowly swept across him–each sweep of his brother's bony fingers painting a new layer of dread until his triumph was completely masked.

"Oh, dearest brother," Ardos murmured, "you truly believe it's as simple as that? 'Terribly sorry for bothering you; we'll leave you to sabotaging our efforts, now?' Foolish. You're still a Verich, you know. You might have taken Lily's name–pray tell, why?–but Papa and his money nurtured you just as much as it did me. Without him, without us, without me, Eldes, you are nothing.

"Anyone else, oh, we would have eliminated on the spot. But we love you, brother. We want you with us. We can reach a compromise–we can make this work."

Eldes wanted nothing more than to spit.

"You can continue your research–with us, and on our terms. We have a position lined up for you already, in fact. You'll get to poke and prod all the Shadow Pokémon you want. And the best part? We'll even leave your little family alone, and they will have nothing to fear from us. All you have to do is fake your death. Oh, what do you think? I like the idea of an explosion, myself; you're lost in it, not a trace of your remains found, death in absentia a few years later–"

"Enough!" As if the idea of it weren't sickening as it was; was this a game to Ardos? He talked as if he were planning a damned vacation! "You think this is funny? Breaking Lily's heart, leaving Michael and Jovi without a father–as if I were so sick as to agree to it!"

"Then watch all three of them–and Krane, and the rest of the Lab's staff–burn to death. And they won't have the dignity of it looking like an 'accident.' We've already planted bombs in every room of the HQ Lab, Eldes. You will still work under us, and all of Orre will remember esteemed Dr. Eldes Yoon as a murderer. Our spies–" To make his point, Ardos flipped open his P*DA. "–have confirmed that every single one of them are in the building. Refuse my offer, and I will give the order to detonate the bombs. And I will do itnow."

In that instant, time stood still. The sound of Eldes' own heartbeat deafened him, drowning out wind and birdsong. Even the tears breaking into his peripheral vision clung to his waterline, still as rocks.

Everything was over. If Eldes refused to comply, his family would be dead. If he agreed, he abandoned them as a liar.

The choice was obvious, for he would do anything to save them. But how could he deceive them? How could he destroy them?

Only when Eldes began to force words from his throat did the world continue to spin.

"Okay," he finally sobbed. He hung his head and his tears began to fall. "Fine. Just don't… don't hurt them. Don't hurt them. Don't hurt them…"

Eldes' body shook with sob after sob as he repeated himself until the mantra gave way to garbled wailing. Hot breath laced his neck, and only when Ardos spoke did Eldes realize he was being held in a smothering embrace.

"Oh, Eldes. Oh, Eldes… you did the right thing. Papa will be so proud of you–as he always was." Ardos' comfort had the sincerity of a snake. "Your family is safe, and best of all, you're a Verich again. You're my brother again."

Eldes couldn't bring himself to return the sentiment.

"Now, remember:" Ardos said, pulling away, "you have three days to say your goodbyes. Understand? Pa–no, Master Greevil, now–he and I will be in touch with you during that time. Our bombs and our spies will remain; you know what will happen if you try to warn them."

A kiss to the forehead. Another brush of Ardos' fingers through Eldes' hair. Then, as swiftly as he arrived, he vanished through the trees, leaving Eldes with his arms around his shoulders and his knees to his chest.