"Night Terrors"
"I have had it with these bad dreams!" Warrior yelled from the couch. The Lucario, with bags under his eyes, was looking around the room. He was in search of someone. There was multiple other Pokémon in the living room with him. All but one of them was just as tired from the lack of sleep as he was. "Talk all you want Warrior. It's not going to help." Trickster mumbled under his breath. Warrior looked over to the little Zorua that was lying on the end of the couch. The fox Pokémon's eyes were slowly closing, but then quickly opened back up. A clear sign that he was in desperate need of some sleep. But he knew what would happen if he was to nod off. "You know what? You are right." Warrior said in a somewhat thrilled way. He got up off the couch and walked to the center of the room. The other Pokémon in the room had a feeling they knew what was about to happen. And their feeling was right.
"Phobio, show yourself! Unless you want me to find you the hard and painful way," Warrior said outload to Phobio. Only a moment after Warrior called out to Phobio, did the legendary Pokémon show himself. A dark, shadow-like mist appeared behind the Lucario. A voice that was as deep as how dark the shadowy mist it came from was heard. "There is no need for violence. We don't want nor need for a reoccurring of the last time we had a conversation." The Darkrai finally appeared out of the pitch-black mist. On its left arm was a scarlet colored silk scarf. Underneath the scarf was a long slash wound from the last time the two had been in a fight. If Crimson had not intervened, Phobio might not have had an arm left.
"You know very well why I summoned you here. Admit it; you are behind the bad dreams. You are the only Pokémon with that ability. You need to leave this house and never come back." The other Pokémon in the room turned to look at Phobio. A chill went down everyone's spine. The ones closest to the two Pokémon could see their own breath. Phobio looked like he was about to attack with an ice beam attack.
Finally to break the tension in the room, Jake, the Sylveon, jumped down from the rocking chair and walked over. He stretched and moved his ribbons around to show that he still had enough energy to stay awake. "Calm down you two. Crimson would hate to find her most adored Pokémon hurt again from fighting each other." With a grin, Jake walked over to them to try and make space between the two before a fight broke out. But it was too late. Phobio was about to leave when Warrior tried to hit him with a bone-rush attack. It missed him but the attack was followed by another. This time it was an aura sphere attack. It was a direct hit to Phobio's hurt arm. The attack had knocked him to the ground with a thud. The room went silent as everyone looked on in shock as Phobio tried to play it off as if the attack did not hurt him. When in reality, it was the most painful sensation he had ever felt. He thought he was about to pass out from the pain as he got back up. His arm throbbed with every movement he made.
When he was back up, he looked at Warrior with a deadly glare. It sent a shiver down Warrior`s back but he covered it up by talking big. "I won`t tell you again Phobio. Leave now or… ack!" It happened in a flash, but before Warrior could finish his words. Phobio had lunged at him and quickly grabbed his throat and pined his arms together. Jake, Trickster, and a few other Pokémon fled the room in a panic. Most of them were running in search of a hiding spot from the fight. While only one was going to go find help.
"Your choice of actions was poorly thought out, dear Warrior." He tightened his grip on Warrior when he felt him try to move free from his grip. "I know that you are angry at me for the past events that have happened. But the reason of the lack of sleep is a much greater problem. And I am not the one to be blamed for them either. So let's place the past behind for now and work on finding the real answer for the problem at hand." Phobio slowly let Warrior go, but did not let his grip on his arms go. "If you attack me again, I will send you to the hospital." He then let go of Warrior`s arms. Warrior rubs his wrist and then his throat. "Fine, I will try and trust you this time. But I still think that it is you that is making the bad dreams."
"I don't care if you trust me or not. For trust is earned, and I have not done so for you." With that said, Phobio moved his way out of the living room. "I hate it when he sounds so wise. It makes me start to like him." Warrior thought to himself before following after Phobio.
It was mid sunset and all the leaves on the trees and bushes in the garden where turning a golden brown. They shimmered in the remaining sunlight. The wind blew them around with a brisk cold air. Winter was on its way to the digital world. Crimson was looking down from the top balcony of the castle. She looked stressed as she let the wind blow her cape around. She was feeling uneasy despite how calm and relaxed the day had been. "I feel like by body is being pricked with needles. This pain is so annoying. This cold breeze, despite how I don't like the cold, is the only thing keeping the pain at bay." She turned around to look at her twin sister who was laying on the king size bed. "I know as much as you do that something wrong is happening in the Pokémon dimension. But as much as I would like to go and find out what is going on. I have to negotiate the peace between my rule and Alpha`s de-throning. Despite how a little bit of chaos can make life exiting. A de-throning can end up with many executions. Knowing how Alpha is, she would have more than half my clan killed before she gave up her throne to me." Crimson`s head was starting to get hot. She placed a hand to her head to find out that her helmet armor was very warm. She also realized that her white armor was turning blood red from the heat coming from her as she walked into the room from the balcony. The candles that were next to the bed became brighter as she approached the bed. Crimson`s sister was only looking at her as she approached. The scar on her throat did not let her speak so she could only listen to what her sister had to say. "I know that the people need me as there new leader. They need someone that will care for them. Alpha has only used them to the point of saying that she has made them her slaves." Crimson moved a hand over one of the candles. The flame, like a snake, moved up and smoothly around her hand. The heat from the flame did not burn her. But it does make her armor around her wrist and hand turn into a darker red. Once little crackles that looked like veins of lava started to appear on the armor, she then moved her hand away from the candle. The flame turned back to normal as she walked past it. "My powers stay true to me but it's not likely to be enough to win against Alpha. I will need to find a way to win the battle of the throne if I am to become the Great Ruler." Crimson says as she eases her way onto the bed. When she is about to speak again to her sister, a knock on the door is heard. It is followed by a voice, "Queen Crimson, there is a request for you to appear in front of all the clan leaders at the great meeting. You are to give a speech about why you should be the Great Ruler of all the clans." Crimson gets up off the bed and walks over to the door. She opens the door to find a knight in gray armor. The color of his armor was a clear sign to Crimson as to what rank and what clan the knight was from. He was a low ranking guard, and he came from the trusted Metal clan. Their leader was a relative of hers. Crimson tilted her head as she looked at him, "Sir, what is your name?" she asked, "Smith, my lady." The knight replied.
"As in smithy? So you are a metal crafter. You make the metal tools for everyone. I`m assuming that you hear a lot of talk from the other clans that you meet. So tell me, what might be the talk about me becoming the new Great Ruler?" Crimson asked him. The knight`s eyes lit up for a moment before he spoke. "You are well respected among the other clans and they say you will make a great new Ruler." Crimson tilted her head once more, "Is that so? Is that what they really say? Or is that you trying to stay in line and not speak out too much." She laughs a little at him. "I can take a lot more criticism from a lesser than you think. So tell me, what is it that you truly hear of me?" Crimson relaxed against the door frame to appear less tense from the pain she was feeling. She did not want to make the knight anymore worried about her. It was not long until Smith finally spoke to her. He speaks in a firm voice, "You are truly the kindest and strongest of the queens. Your kindness in known throughout the kingdoms. Your honesty is only surpassed by your great beauty." After hearing that part Crimson was not sure if she was blushing, or it was her body still warming up from the pain. The knight continued to talk, "The clans say that even the most evil of foes that they have faced. End up falling back from the amount of respect they have for you once you inter the fight. In all, dear queen, you are and hopefully will become the greatest ruler ever known." After a moment of silence, Smith started to think that he had spoken too much and started to apologize and kneeled down as he did so. "I am greatly sorry for what I have said. I have stepped out of place with my words! Please forgive me Queen Crimson?" Crimson was laughing in her head as she looked at how the knight was over reacting to her silence. She placed a hand onto the knight`s head. "Smith, you did nothing wrong. In fact, you did what I told you to do. You spoke the truth and for that I cannot be angry at you for doing so." She then moves her hand away from him. "If you want, you may now leave to return to wherever you were before you arrived here. Seeing how you have done your job of telling me of what I have to do at the next meeting." When Smith heard her say that he bowed and left in hast to return to his duties.
Crimson turned around and walked back into her room to return to her bed. Once she looked at the bed, she knottiest her twin sister was not there anymore. This worried her a bit. Because of her connection with her sister, Shadow was able to feel her worry. So Shadow sent her telepathically a vision of her location. She was near the portal room and was moving in that direction. When she entered the room, the portal machine was on. The two guard dogs, who were both Cerberumon, were in front of the machine ready to fight any unwanted guests that may come through the portal.
Shadow was slowly approaching the portal when to all of their surprise, a Sylveon jumped out of it. Crimson, who was still receiving the visions from Shadow, know who the Sylveon was and ran to the portal room as fast as she could.
Shadow went over to the Pokémon to check on it. It was gasping for air as sweat fell off of its body. It appeared to be exhausted from running. Once it got its breath it started to speak. "It's Phobio, he is in trouble. Warrior attacked him again and he is in very bad shape. Before I came here for help I could smell blood from his arm. I think his wound has reopened. And knowing how he is, he won`t get help for it." The Sylveon then collapsed to the cold floor. Shadow sat next to the Pokémon and lifted them onto her lap. She nodded at it to let them know she understood what they had said. Crimson had just entered the room in time to hear the conversation between the two. "Jake, darn it to the underworld. I can`t go with you to help Phobio. I must stay here until things settle down. Before you left that world, did you speak to the elder or strong Pokémon?" Crimson asked. Jake flinched then mumbled under his breath, "No, I was too afraid to think straight. The first think I thought to do was to find you. We have had a hard time sleeping back at the house." Crimson was confused and Jake could tell. So he started to explain what had been going on in the other world sense Crimson had left.
It was dark and humid. The air was thick with the smell of swamp water and other things. Being able to see ten feet in front of you was a challenge, to say the least. But Phobio had no problem seeing in the dark of the night. He could see everything at night with his special glowing eyes. Warrior on the other hand was not having as much luck. He would trip and stumble every now and then from a branch or a log he did not see. He was also having a hard time seeing Phobio in the dark. Seeing how Phobio`s body was mostly pitch black. His blood red crest around his head and his long white hair was the only thing Warrior could see to find him in the dark. The two had been traveling away from the house for over a mile now.
After finally tripping over a dead tree for the fourth time, Warrior started to talk to Phobio. "Are we close to the place you are going? Because I can`t see anything and I`m starting to think this is all a trap for me." That last part he stuttered as if he was cold. But it was warm in the swamp. Phobio knew what was going on with Warrior. He was starting to get scared of the dark. Phobio looked over his shoulder to glans at him. It was a tempting thought to mess around with Warrior`s fear but right now was not the time to push his luck. Perhaps some other time he would have another chance. "Don`t worry so much. We should be close to him now." Phobio explained to him.
"Him? Who is him? I was not informed of the fact that we were going to meet up with someone." Warrior said in a panicked and angry voice. Phobio knew now that he forgot to tell Warrior of what was going on and had a feeling he was about to get in a fight again. This placed him on edge. "Tell me what is going on, now!" Warrior said to him in a loud voice as he grabbed Phobio by his hurt arm. This sent a rush of pain throughout Phobio`s body. Warrior could tell that he had the upper hand on Phobio. But before he did any more harm to him, something very large leaped out of the swamp water next to them. With its large mouth it enveloped Warrior`s left arm. Before he had the time to react to what was going on the monster used its great size and strength to pull Warrior away from Phobio and throw him deep into the swamp water.
Warrior was in a panic. He was in deep water quite literally. He was trying his best to keep his head up out of the water as he swam to land. He knottiest that the creature that attacked him a moment ago, no longer seemed to want to mess with him anymore. For some reason it was more interested in Phobio then him. The thing approached Phobio slowly with its head down but eyes looking at him. Because of the dark it was hard to see what it was. That was until the moon started to peek out from the cloudy sky. The moon light made it a lot better to see in the swamp. But Phobio already know what the monster was, and who it was as well. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mega. Thank you very much for stopping what might have ended in a battle." Phobio bowed to the large Swampert. The Pokémon had a red collar that had the Blood clan`s family crest on a gold plate that was on the front of the collar. The only Pokémon or really anyone in the Blood clan, that had that kind of collar on had been given immortality that would last as long as Crimson was alive.
The Swampert sat next to Phobio. In a deep, gurgling voice, Mega spoke to them. "First off, there is no fighting in my swamp. Second, why are the two of you here at a time like this?" Warrior at this point had finally made it to land and shook off what water he could. "We are trying to find out the reason why everyone at the house is having night terrors." Warrior said as he looked over to Phobio with an angry look on his face. This did nothing to Phobio. After some time of the two Pokémon staring at each other, Mega finally broke the acquired silences. "Well, I don't see how I could help. I only stay here in the swamp and protect it for lady Crimson." Phobio looked at Mega, "I brought all of us here to prove that I am not the cause of the bad dreams. Or like you called them, night terrors. Here is how it goes. If the two of you don't have bad dreams out here from the house, and I am still with you, then that proves I`m not to blame for them. Mega will be the witness of this." Warrior looked at Mega and then back at Phobio. "Fine, we will test out your plan. But if it fails, you are to never return to the house ever again. And don`t even bother trying to show up near it. For I will be looking out for you, and will show you how much I meant what I said." He warned Phobio. Phobio agreed to Warrior`s terms. After some more chat went on between the three, they finally decided to sleep on a dry bed of land in the center of the swamp. But as they fell asleep, they had no idea that someone was looking at them from a tree nearby.
A pair of blood-orange eyes was looking at them with extreme focus. The branches of the tree were starting to make creaking sounds as the heavy Serperior shifted its weight on them. To try and stop the sounds, the Pokémon used its slender body to slowly squeeze the thick branches to make them stop creaking. Then, with its snake like body, it slowly makes its way down the tree. Once it has reached the grown, it slithers its way slowly to the sleeping group. When it reaches the group it scans over them. It then realizes one of the Pokémon from the group was gone now.
A dark, clawed hand reached out from the shadows under the grass snake Pokémon. It grabs the under belly of the Serperior. This surprised the Serperior and made it tense up as it swiftly moved around to see who was grabbing them. A bright blue eye was seen in a dark mist under the Pokémon. "If the tree did not give you away, I would have never known you were there." Phobio moved up out of the mist and slowly lifted half of the snake like Pokémon up with him. "You have grown sense the last time I had seen you, Hope. You`re all muscle now." The Serperior relaxed in Phobio`s loose grip. "I heard a commotion and was wondering what it was. That was when I had seen you three and wanted to get closer. I could also smell a faint sent of blood from you. It`s from your arm, is it not?" Hope said with slight concern in his voice. Phobio reacted to Hopes question by setting him down and looking away as he grabbed his bad arm. The scarf started to drip blood as the pressure from him grabbing it had squeezed it.
Hope could tell the pain was intense from the wound but he also knew Phobio would end up doing nothing about it. He remembered some time ago that Phobio said to him that pain was the world`s way of punishing you for your sins. It still pained Hope to see his best friend in so much pain though. "You really need to get that looked at. I don`t think the wound is closing. Also, I don`t want you to lose an arm, as well." Phobio glanced at his arm. He was still avoiding eye contact. "You know how I feel about hospitals. And you know what would end up happening. I don`t want stitches, and I hate needles." Hope would of face palmed himself if he had hands. He rolled his eyes instead. "You seem all strong and wise on the outside. But you are a stubborn child on the inside. You have no idea how much you tend to act like Crimson, too. In more ways than one. No wonder way you two get along so well." Phobio looks at Hope. "Thanks for the update. But can you please stop acting like a dad to me? I`m old enough to be your ancestor. So please stop it." Hope laughed a little at what Phobio said. He then made his way back to his tree. "Good night, Phobio. I know we all need some sleep. So sweet dreams." With that said, he climes up his tree and falls asleep at the top of it. Phobio looks on and thinks over what Hope said. He looks at his hurt arm, "Good night as well my dear friend."
BOOM! The sounds of an explosion are heard throughout the castle halls. All those who heard it did nothing about it. They had been told earlier that day to not react to any and all loud sounds. They were also told to stay clear of the arena room. For the two strongest queens, were battling it out to win the right to be the Great Ruler. Everyone knew what was going on. It was the day that Queen Crimson finally challenged Alpha for the Great Throne. Crimson had tried to convince her older step sister to peacefully leave the throne, but Crimson`s words had fallen on deaf ears. Now she had no other choice but to fight her sister for the throne. Everyone knew it was going to be a one sided fight. Despite how badly they all wanted Crimson to be the new ruler, it was nearly impossible to defeat Alpha in a fair fight.
The sounds of swords swinging are heard as blood and chunks of red and black armor start flying in the air. Crimson had landed a hit on Alpha`s armor that was under her arm. It was the only weak area of armor on her. But it came at a hefty price. When she had landed the hit with her bladed tail, Alpha swung a sword of light and landed a heavy blow to Crimson`s back and left side. That was why red armor was flying earlier.
Crimson admitted that she had miscalculated the power and speed of her sister. Thankfully, Alpha thought of this fight as a joke and was not using her ultimate weapon, her sword axe. If she was, then the fight would have ended the moment it had started. But that did not mean that her light swords did not do nearly as much damage. They cute through Crimson`s armor like a hot knife through butter. Each and every hit that landed on Crimson made her weaker and slower. The pain from each time Alpha landed a hit on Crimson, made it harder for her to think straight. Alpha had too many advantages over Crimson. First off, Crimson was a virus digimon and Alpha was a vaccine. Secondly, Alpha`s black armor was nearly as hard as diamond and had magical properties. Crimson`s armor was red, and that meant it was only good for speed and attack. And finally, Alpha was an Alphamon. If you are familiar with digimon, then I don't need to say anymore. But if you are not, then let me inform you. In short, it means she is as strong as a god and can destroy any and all enemies with one hand. Only a rare few are able to do any harm to an Alphamon.
Anyways, back to the main story. Crimson was trying to doge the attacks from her sister but it was in vain. Alpha had lander a few hits on her chest, neck, and stomach. Crimson`s healing powers where working on overdrive to keep her alive. The wound on her neck was the main problem. Her body was doing its best to close the badly bleeding gash on her neck. But all of this healing was coming at a cost. The Nano bots that lived inside of her were having a hard time controlling the T-virus that was healing her. The virus needed nutrition to heal her, but it was quickly running out of it and was just as quickly taking over her body to compensate. Crimson could feel it draining her life away like a cup that was pouring out water. She had forgotten to prepare for the fight by filling up on protein rich food. The protein would help with her body healing its self. Instead of food to heal her, the virus was using what parts of her body she didn`t need and was taking away from them to mutate her body to heal the wounds. If she did not end this battle soon, she would most likely lose more than a few limbs.
As Crimson starts to think she would actually not win the fight and die, a familiar voice is heard in her head when her strength finally starts to falter. It speaks to her in a dark and wicked way, "Why don`t you let me take over? You know as well as I do how good I am at fighting. You should give in soon or lose the fight, seeing as how there is obviously no chance of you winning this battle on your own." The evil shadow dragon that used Crimson as a host was enjoying the pain and fear she could feel coming from Crimson. Crimson quickly jumped back from another attack by Alpha. She thought over what Nightmare said and sighed in defeat. She then spoke to dragon inside of her, "I can never trust you. But I have no other choice but to let you have full control over me. So let us get this over with quickly." She blocked another attack from Alpha before saying the sacred words. "My honor is broken. For the act I must do, will be a sin. I forfeit my body and mind to you, Nightmare. Only horror will be your repayment. I, Queen Crimson, awaken you."
Soon after the words were spoken, Crimson`s right eye turned blood red with black veins creeping from it. Her red armor was turning black as she started to cry from the feeling of losing her soul. Her tears were turning a light shade of black as the darkness consumed her mind and body.
It was not long until the transformation was over and Nightmare was in control. The whole time Alpha looked on in stunned fear. She stepped back a bit. Nightmare was the only one that actually scared Alpha. But Alpha swallowed her fear and stood her grown. "As long as she is not in her true for, I have a chance to win this fight." She thought to herself. But she had wasted her time thinking of a way to defeat her that she did not see the finishing blow that was coming her way. All she had seen was a flash of red light go by her head and then it was gone. Nightmare was no longer in front of her so she tried to look around. She found herself unable to move. She did her best to remember what she had just seen before the red light. She recalls seeing Nightmare reach down to grab something. It was a shard of her black armor that Crimson had cut off with her tail blades. Then she had rushed at her with the sharp piece of armor.
That was when it downed on her what had happened. As a cold sensation crept its way down her back, it made it that much clearer as to what happened. Nightmare had cut out a place in her back armor to wedge the shard into her back. The area the shard was at made her body paralyzed. Alpha could still feel the pain slowly moving throughout her body. She could still hear everything around her. She heard Nightmare walking behind her. Alpha watched as she appeared from her right side, and walked in front of her. Nightmare had an evil grin on her face as she lifted up a hand and placed a finger on Alpha`s chest. Having no control of her movements, she fell over onto the cold floor. Alpha was terrified, what was Nightmare going to do to her now? She had all read lost the fight and was now at Nightmare`s mercy.
Crimson`s twin sister Shadow had been spying on the fight the whole time from the darkness of the room. She knew her sister was trapped inside of Nightmare and was in need to get out. But how was the real question. She needed to find someone to help her and fast, before Nightmare did anything bad. Like killing everyone she walks by.
Shadow stopped herself from thinking too much and ran to find help. Thankfully, she ran at the right time. Because, she so happened to run into two friendly faces that could for sure help her. It was Rapidshock and General Grievous. They were the lords of the Cyber and Metal clans. Both of them must of felt a disturbance from there guardians, which must be why they are here. Shadow had a stronger connection to Grievous so she used her telepathy to speak with him. She told him of the situation with Crimson and Nightmare. Rapidshock felt left out and poked Grievous in the arm. He looked down at the Decepticon. "I want to know what you are speaking of with her." He said to him. Grievous nodes, "I will inform you after we are done speaking." He looks back at Shadow. They continued the short conversation despite how nervous and jittery Shadow was acting. After the chat was over, the two agreed to help Shadow out.
The three went into the room that was the last place Nightmare was found. And sure enough, she was still there. She was still looking over Alpha`s limp body and had no idea of who else was in the room with here. Rapidshock took the lead and walked calmly to Nightmare. He felt like he was in no need to be afraid of Nightmare sense she was his guardian. But he was wrong. Once he was behind her and placed a hand on her back. She turned around quickly to attack him but thankfully Grievous blocked the attack and pinned her to the grown. Rapidshock appeared unaffected by Nightmare`s actions and approached her once again. This time he had a dream crystal in his hand. He leaned down in front of her. "This is for your own good Nightmare. You know this is the only good option you have." With the crystal in hand, he places it onto her forehead.
The sounds that she starts to make sound like nothing of this world. The screaming was unbearable but no one held back on her. The crystal was a type of dream crystal that would capture bad dreams like a dream capture. After a few minutes of her screaming past, the crystal turns ruby red and black smoke is seen swirling inside of it. Nightmare is finally absorbed into the crystal. With her now gone, Crimson slowly returns to her body. Everything starts to turn back to normal for her body.
Grievous had let go of her as Rapidshock took the now red dream crystal away from Crimson`s unconscious body. Shadow rushed over to her sister. It was very obvious how worried she was about her twin. The fear of losing her was plastered all over her face. Grievous could see it and got up from the grown. He then grabbed and lifted up Crimson onto his shoulder. "I will take her to the med bay to rest. Don`t worry, I will protect her." He says to her. She looks at her sister`s motionless body and back at the general. "Thank you." With that said, he makes his way to the medical room. Shadow on the other hand, goes to the portal room again.
This time the portal machine was turned off and the guard dogs were sleeping next to it. Shadow looked over the room and spotted the control room. She made her way there and looked at the buttons and levers to the machine. She found the lever that was for the power and pulled it up. The room is filled with the sound of pistons popping and things moving around. The sudden noise startles the dogs. They look around to find the one responsible for turning on the machine. Once they see that Shadow was making her way back down from the control room, they calmed down quickly. They wag their tails as a sign of how happy they are to see her again. Shadow sees them and smiles, then looks up at the portal. The light that was coming from it was bright enough to light up the whole room.
Shadow was at a standstill. She knew Crimson would not heal in time to help the Pokémon. And once she did, she would be far too busy managing her new rule as the Great Ruler. Shadow wanted to help out but was far too scared to go into a different world without anyone to help her. Then she remembered, Crimson gave her a team of Pokémon to have. She had been on many quests with them too. So it was not like they did not know each other well or anything. So Shadow rushed to her room and back to the portal room. The six poke'balls of her Pokémon was in a traveling bag that was around her waist. With her team now with her, she was ready to help with the troubled Pokémon. She approached the portal and jumped into it.
The ground was starting to shake more and more as something made its way through the ground. The vibrations woke up Phobio first. He looked over his left side to see what looked like a shark`s fin moving through the ground like a hot knife through butter. He could tell it was heading straight to them with no sign of stopping. Phobio quickly got up and woke up the other Pokémon he was with. When everyone was awake, the fin went underground and everything went quiet. The group stood their ground with their backs against each other's as they looked around. They did not need to wait long for something to happen.
With no warning at all, a Garchomp shot out of the ground in front of them like a shark breaching out of water. It landed in the center of the group and looked right at Phobio. It was grinning at him with its tail still in the air. When Phobio seen it coil its tail as it started to glow, he braised himself for an attack. It was going to use the attack dragon tail, but not on him. It turned on one foot and hit Warrior in the back with it. The force and power behind the attack was so strong. That it sent Warrior flying across the swamp, and left him without air in his lungs. Phobio could of sward that he heard Warrior`s back crack on impact with the tail.
The other Pokémon started to panic a little as they tried to figure out what was going on. Phobio on the other hand, was about to turn around and attack with an ice-beam attack. But that was before he had a feeling he knew this Garchomp. When he turned around to look at the Pokémon behind him that was when it hit him. The dragon type Pokémon had a scare going down its belly. Phobio recalled that Crimson once had a Garchomp that had a scar on it.
The other Pokémon were now about to attack the Garchomp. Phobio, despite how nerves he was, raised his hands up to stop them. He then looked back at the dragon. "You are crazy? Rushing into a group of strong Pokémon is not a smart idea. Let alone attacking them. That is just plain asking to get killed." He sees that the Garchomp is not looking at him and paying no attention to what he is saying. "Are you even paying attention to what I am saying to you Land Shark?" Phobio asked. The Garchomp looked back at him. "I am, but I`m also trying to read what my master is saying with her hands." Land Shark pointed down the dirt path. Phobio turned to look at who they were pointing at was. It was a female Pokémon trainer as far as he could tell. Next to them was a large Houndoom. It took Phobio a moment to relies who it was by the way they were dressed in dark clothing. It was his master`s sister, Shadow.
Shadow was doing sign language to communicate with her Pokémon. She signaled her Garchomp to come back. They did, but not before rubbing their body agents Phobio`s like a cat. The ruff scales scraped across his chest and left a few scratch marks on him. In response to this, he pushed the dragon away from him. "I am already hurt. I don`t need you to make it any worst." Land Shark only looked at him with a smile on their face, and then returned to Shadow. "Shadow must be just as nerves as I am, seeing as how her Pokémon are acting unlike themselves." Phobio thought to himself.
Warrior had finally got up and walked over to Phobio after catching his breath. "What was that all about?! I did nothing wrong!" Phobio looked at him. "You will live. That is all you need to worry about right now. By the way, did you sleep well?" he asked. Warrior looked stunned at Phobio. "I… I did get a good night sleep. Besides the pain in my back and lungs, I`m doing fine. No fatigue at all." Phobio smiled at his responds. "I told you that it was not me. I`m not to blame for the night terrors." Phobio responded. When he said that last part, his eyes started to flicker and he felt like his strength was leaving his body at a fast rate. "I hate to say it, but you were right all along." Warrior said to Phobio with a half-smile as he turned to look at him. He then sees Phobio start swaying. Before he could ask if he was all right, Phobio collapsed to the ground.
Warrior froze in place but Mega and hope rushed to Phobio. When Phobio fell to the ground, he had blacked out. The amount of blood he had loss had finally got to him. The red scarf was no longer enough to stop the bleeding. All of the stress from Land Shark attacking the group was the last thing needed to pop a vein in his arm and start to make him bleed out faster. Blood was now seeping from the blood drenched scarf. Hope, seeing how the red scarf was not tight enough to stop the bleeding, wrapped his strong tail around Phobio`s arm and tightened around it to try and stop the bleeding. It seemed to work.
Shadow had seen Phobio fall and ran over to them as fast as she could. Her Houndoom was right there by her side the whole time. Once they got to Phobio, she looked him over. When she spotted the bleeding from the arm, a feeling that she had not had in a long time came over her. It was anger, and it was boiling with in her. Shadow would never attach someone unless they attacked first. But this was personal to her. She looked at her Houndoom. It looked at her as she raised her hand and pointed at Warrior. It immediately knew what she wanted it to do and turned to face Warrior. Smoke started to flow out of its mouth with a few flames coming out as well. The mega stone that was inside the skull on the Houndoom`s chest started to glow. The whole Pokémon started to glow a bright white as it evolved into its mega form. Once it was done transforming into its stronger form, it attacked Warrior with a Dark pulse attack. Warrior was hit but it did little damage to him. It was not until a fire that was as hot as the Sun shot out of the Houndoom`s mouth, did Warrior start to worry.
The fire engulfed the area around Warrior as the Houndoom shot it out of its mouth like a dragon. For Warrior`s sake, he was fast enough to doge the attacks of blazing fire. Warrior was starting to get really scared. "Please, Doom, I`m sorry for my part in hurting Phobio! I swear that it will never happen again!" Warrior begged them for mercy, for he knew that just one shot of that fire could leave him six feet under.
The ground was starting to melt into glass from the heat of the fire. Warrior was starting to lose hope of living this out. But then, after one last blast of fire went by him. Doom finally stopped. Not because Warrior pleaded to him, but because Shadow signaled him to. She clapped her hands to call her Houndoom over to her. When he reached her, she held up the now exposed bleeding arm of Phobio. Shadow made a puffing sound with her mouth and got closer to the arm. He slightly opened his mouth and fire came out like a welding torch. With his flame, he cauterized the wound. The bleeding finally stopped completely. But the burned would end up as a nasty scar.
Warrior took this time to run away from Shadow and her Houndoom before things got angry at him again. Mega, after finally figuring out what was going on, went over to Shadow and nudged her right arm. She looked at him and tried to smile. It looked like she was crying earlier and was about to cry again. She knew they wanted to help but she needed to do something on her own. Shadow got up and signaled Hope and Mega to leave. They obeyed her and went their separate ways. With them now gone, and it only being the three of them now. Shadow grabbed a poke'ball from her bag and threw it in the air. It opened and a large Duskinor came out of the ball. The ghost Pokémon helped Shadow lift Phobio up and carry him to the house. It took them about an hour to reach the house that was in the forest. Phobio was still passed out from the lack of blood.
Once they reached the front of the house, Shadow pointed to the doors. Doom walked over to the doors and grabbed one of the handles with his mouth and turned his head. The door opened and they walked inside. They went to Phobio`s room and set him down onto his bed. It was a somewhat large room. With black walls and a king sized bed that was on the right side of the room from the door. The bed had silky sheets that were scarlet colored. The bed frame had dragons carved all into the wood. At the end of the bed frame was a carving of a knight. It had a calm look despite the fact that dragons were all around it.
Shadow signaled Doom to stand guard at the door, which he did. As he was standing guard at the door, he sees from the corner of his eye a shimmering light. He turned his head to look at what it might be coming from. He could see the slight outline of a Gardevoir. It was stand at the end of the hallway and was watching him from afar. Doom took a few steps closer and was able to see them better.
He knew the Shiny Gardevoir the moment he could see them better in the dark hallway. He starts to wag his tail. The Gardevoir starts to slowly approach him. "Hello, Doom. It's a pleasure meeting you again. It's been so long sense we last seen one another." She bows at Doom. "Likewise, Silence. You rarely show your face to anyone anymore. Why is that?" Doom asked. Silence looked at Phobio`s room. A somewhat sad and worried expression appears on her face. "I have my reasons. I hope you will understand. There are somethings I don`t like talking about." She looks back at Doom. "Might we speak of this in a more privet room? I don`t wish for anyone to hear what I want to say to you." She gestures to a room down the hallway. Doom looked at the room door and then at Shadow who was still tending to Phobio`s arm. "I`m sorry, but I cannot leave my post. Unless you can say it to me here, I will not be able to move from my spot." Doom moved closer to Phobio`s room door and sat up straight. Showing no sign of moving.
Silence looked down at the floor, the sad expression still on her face. "I understand. They need you to stand guard. What I wish to say may wait until you are not needed. Farewell, Doom. I most go for now. I will find you later, I hope." Silence said. A confused look was on Dooms face. He was going to ask her why she said that but she had already turned around and was walking away from him.
Crimson was furious. Alpha was gone but there was still trouble brewing in the clans. The Metal clan had a small war with the Cyber clan and now the two hated each other. But this was not the true reason Crimson was so angry. It was the reason why the two clans had a war. One of the members of the Cyber clan had gone out at night, and destroyed the hatchery. Every cans offspring was now dead. The one who had done this was an Eradicon named Steven. He had been possessed by Nightmare. When a few guards had stopped him from doing any more harm, Nightmare spoke through him and said, "The Blood clan shall be the true rulers forever now."
To explain what she meant. Let me tell it to you. First off, to rule the Great Throne. You must be within ten years or older than the one already ruling the throne. The eggs that were in the hatchery would have been the last generation to be in the ten year rang. You might be thinking, "Why don't they just make more eggs, right?" Well, that`s the thing. Only the Great Ruler`s clan can to that. But any other clan can only make eggs once every five years. It is already the tenth year deadline. So now, like what Nightmare said, only the Blood clan will rule the Great Throne for now on.
This is why all the other clans are starting to think that Crimson wanted this to happen all along. And that she must have sent Nightmare to do this. Rumors are being spread all over the clans like, "I all ways thought she was a power hungry queen. She wanted to get us to like her so she could end us all." And also, "That is what we get for trusting someone that has more enemies as her friends." Crimson needed to find a way to fix this problem and fast. But there was another problem that was troubling her. She could not get the thought of Phobio being hurt, and her not being there to help him. All Crimson was doing was sitting in her new throne, thinking herself into a wormhole of thoughts.
She just sat there for what felt like hours. Her golden throne was shining in the light of the torches next to it. The throne was all most completely gold. The arm rests were designed to look like eastern dragons. The back part called the slat was designed with crests of every clan. It was a lot different than her throne back in Lava Falls.
As Crimson thought feebly of what to do to fix her many problems as the new Ruler. She was completely unaware of the fact that someone was quietly approaching her. Once they had made it a full three feet from her, they finally spoke to her. "It's not like you to be this stressed. You really need to chill out, bro." the sudden sound of someone in front of her spooked her for a moment.
Before she looked up to see who it was, she told them, "Bro? That is no way to speak to a queen. Let alone the Great Ruler." She then looked up to see one of her best friends standing there. She was filled with joy to finally see a friendly face. It was her friend Noble. That ole, somewhat lazy, friend of hers was looking at her with a small grin on his face. "You got rid of that crazy step-sister of yours. So you have no excuse for not doing anything. That`s my job, to do nothing. And to try to make others do my work. So, what`s the whole idea? You trying to make me look good? Not that I don't all ready." Noble said to Crimson in a Joking manner. It made her smile. Noble`s humor was most of the time enough to lighten up her mood. Even on days that were the gloomiest.
Despite the fact that the two rarely see each other now and then. Seeing as how Crimson was all ways busy while Noble had free time. He would try and see her every now and then. And Crimson was very grateful of this because she would all ways miss him greatly. It was a shame that when Alpha was leader, she had forced him to break up with Crimson. But now that Alpha was gone, Noble had no one to love now. Crimson had tried many times to get back with him, but he acted like he was no longer interested in her any more. But all that was another story.
Crimson got up from her throne and took a few steps to Noble before she jumped onto him. It was sudden, but Noble was strong enough to not fall over from her weight. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist as she hugged his neck. Crimson`s warm armor felt so good agents his. They were both fire element Digimon so body heat was a wonderful feeling in a cold room.
After some time of hugging, Crimson let go of Noble and stepped back a little. A smile showing on her face. "What brings you here, Noble? I been missing you long time." Crimson says with a grin on her face. Noble glares at her, annoyed at the little joke she made. "*sigh* I came here after I had seen Joy was not so joyful for some reason. The kid told me you were in deep. So I wanted to see if I might be able to help you out." Noble responded. Crimson looked to her side as she crossed her arms. "I don`t see how you could. I have seen what you can do, and clan chaos is not a strong point for you." Crimson said in a unamused way.
They look at each other. Both wanted to stop this chaos as soon as possible. But they could not think of a way to solve the problem in a peaceful way. As the two were stuck in thought, a chime filled the quiet room. Crimson and Noble looked round to see where it was coming from. Crimson looked behind Noble to see two pairs of eyes looking at them. Noble, seeing that Crimson was looking at something, turned around to face the direction she was looking at. The eyes were near the door were it was too dark to see who it was standing there. The color of the pair of eyes on the left was a blood orange, and the other pair was bright gold with black crackles going throughout them.
Crimson had a feeling that she knew who the couple was that were hiding in the dark. She walked past Noble and stood straight. The symbol on her chest started to glow red in a pulsing manner. Crimson was using her inner power to send out a signal of sorts that only a rare few could hear. Once she stopped, the signal was sent back to her as a song by the one with blood like eyes.
Crimson smiled at this. She spread her arms wide open like she was going to hug someone. The two that were hiding in the dark rushed straight to Crimson, then gave her a big hug. It was a pair of twins that looked just like Crimson but their armor was a dark purple with black markings around the face. One was taller and more bulky than the other one. But Crimson was still taller than both of them by a few inches.
"You startled us. Sound Destroyer, Blood Music, what brings the 'to be' leaders of the Shadow clan and maybe even Blood clan here?" Crimson asked as she embraced her beloved children. The one with red eyes, who was Sound Destroyer, spoke first. "We can`t stand the sounds, mother. All of these hateful things that are being said about you is slowly driving the two of us to madness. We had been passing by when we heard the conversation between you and King Noble. That was when we got an idea." Blood Music then looked at her brother. He looked up at his mother Crimson. "We thought it up quickly and have come to a conclusion. The members of the Nightmare clan and Cyber clan are in obvious need of a lesson in discipline. We have called up father and told him of our plan of action. He said that he could not agree more with it. All we need to do is tell you the plan of action and get your approval." Sound Destroyer had a look of determination on his face as he looked up at his mother. Crimson was sure he would do anything to make her happy as long as she approved of it.
Crimson thought it over for a moment. Then looked down at her children and spoke to them. "I may approve of this so called plan of yours. But first, I must speak with your father to understand it more. Seeing as how the two of you like to tell him the full extent of things you have plans for. And the true intentions of those plans." Before she was about to leave the room. A smooth, deep and somewhat dark sounding voice is heard from the doors. "I thought you might say that." Everyone looked at the direction of were the voice was coming from. It was the twins` father, Tarn. "As your first order of Great Ruler. It would be a great idea to show your domination over the other clans by showing that you will not tolerate any form of disobedience that is shown in violence." Tarn said as he approached Crimson. All while keeping an eye on Noble.
The two of them never seemed to get along with each other. Noble would try and act all respectful around Tarn, but Tarn would all ways muddle with him enough to make him enraged. And this time was no different. Noble could see that Tarn was grinning behind his mask that he had on all the time. He sensed that Tarn was up to no good and blocked his path to Crimson. "Coming from you, I doubt it's really a great idea." Noble said in a serious and annoyed voice.
The two powerful men glared at each other. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut it with a knife. Crimson was rubbing her forehead in displeasure. Before finally walking around Noble and pushing the two away from each other so nothing bad would end up happening. "I need help making peace, not more mayhem. The two of you can settle your differences later on in a different room. But right now I demand to have no violent behavior in my throne room. Am I clear?" She says in an assertive voice. Tarn bowed and Noble just looked to the side. He was still bothered by Tarn. "Fine, but I`m not staying any longer in the same room with him." Noble said while looking back at Tarn. Crimson shook her head. "No one is telling you to stay. So you may take leave if you want." Noble bowed to Crimson and then turned to leave.
Only Tarn, Sound Destroyer and Blood Music were in the room with Crimson. Crimson looked at the twins. "I know I`m rushing, but I approve of your plan to help me. Even though I have not heard of the way you are going to carry them out. Just don`t kill anyone." The twins bow and left the room. Tarn stayed. "Soundwave informed me that your sister, Shadow, had left to help the Pokémon." Tarn said as he folded his arms behind his back. Crimson shrugged, she showed no emotion to what he had said. "I know all ready. She wants to help me, so she left to help others for me. She won't be back for some time. I trust that she can handle herself. She has done things like this before. All we can really do now is wait for her return."
Seven day, it had been seven days now sense Phobio passed out. He had still not awakened, even though nothing else was wrong with him health wise. Everyone was still having bad dreams and did not know how to react to not knowing who or what are causing them. Shadow was the only one not having the bad dreams. She had a dream crystal to protect her. It was night time and everyone but her was trying to sleep. They had lost the will to struggle to stay awake, and were just going in a reoccurring lap of falling asleep and waking up screaming.
Shadow was walking around the house. Her dream crystal was pulsing its blue light with the rhythm of her heart. Shadow was in search for the source of the night terrors. She used her crystal to find the main area of the bad dreams by the way it would pulse faster.
On her way through the hallways, her curiosity got the best of her when she spotted a room with burn marks on its door. She entered into the room without thinking. Thankfully it was mostly empty. The room smelled of ash and desert sand. Looking around the room, she spotted a pile of sand in the middle of the room. It had charred sticks around it and in the center of the sand pile was a small Larvesta.
It had seen Shadow and started to chirp happily. It slowly made its way to her. Shadow smiled and leaned down to place a hand on its head to pet it. It leaned into her touch and made a cute little chirp at her. As it relaxed into her touch, she gently lifted it up into her embrace. She set it onto her shoulder and gave it one final pat on the head before leaving the room with it. Shadow exited the room to return to her search for night terrors. The bug Pokémon kept her shoulder and the rest of her body warm in the cold, dark hallways.
After some time of walking around the hallways went by, the dream crystal started to glow a brighter blue. A sign that it was reacting to a bad dream that was nearby. Shadow rushed to the place that gave off the strongest glow from the crystal. Soon, they approached a room that was a few doors down from Phobio`s room. Shadow was about to enter the room, but before she did. Lava, the Larvesta, made another chirping sound at Shadow. Shadow`s instincts told her to look to her right. She could see a dark outline of a dress. Shadow was not prepared for someone to sneak up on her and it made her feel cornered. As a defense mechanisms, she grabbed one of her poke'ball from her bag and threw it in the direction of the hidden figure.
A shiny Umbreon came out of the ball and prepared to fight. with its tail and ears up it was waiting for Shadow`s orders. Shadow moved a hand to her mouth and then quickly moved it in front of her as a fist. The Umbreon used a shadow ball attack at the target. The attack hit the area next to hidden figure and made an explosion that shook the halls. Once the smoke cleared, the figure that was hiding moved into view and copied the attack. It hit Shadow`s Umbreon and sent them back a bit. Shadow held up her hand to stop her Pokémon from attacking again. Shadow could now see who was hiding earlier in the dark. It was Silence.
Shadow walked over to her Umbreon and stroked its head before returning it to its poke'ball. She then slowly approached the shiny Gardevoir. Both could speak to each other telepathically. "Sorry for attacking you. You know as well as I do that I startle easily." Shadow said with a smile. Silence smiled back at her. "I am the one to apologies. I should not be hiding from you. I just feel so guilty." Silence explained.
Unknown to them, someone was finally waking up from the explosion they heard.
Shadow tilted her head. "What do you mean? What do you feel so guilty of?" she asked her. Silence did not say anything for a long time. But Shadow waited patiently for an answer from her. Right when Silence was about to say something, she was interrupted by a deep and dark voice that caused a cold shiver to go down her spine. "She has the trace ability." The gruff sounding voice said behind Shadow. The two turned around and looked in the direction of Phobio`s room.
Phobio was there hovering in the doorway of his room. He looked very angry and weak. His claws on his hand that he was using to stay up with was digging into the wooden wall. They were creating deep, long gashes into the wood.
Phobio suddenly moved over to Silence with what strength he could muster. Once he was in front of her, he slammed her onto the wall and placed his large clawed hands on either side of her head. He moved his face closer to hers and started to speak. "Admit it; it was you this whole time. After that double battle we were in with Crimson, you traced my ability to create bad dreams. You thought that by using my powers you would be able scare off everyone from you. But you did not think it would back fire. The only thing you managed to do was make everyone think I was doing it. And now everyone is blaming me for their lake of sleep!" Silence tried to look away from him but he grabbed her arm and started to squeeze it hard. Silence flinched from the pain. It felt like he was going to break her arm in half. He then used his other hand to grab her chin and turn her face back to his. "Don`t try and hide. It's time to face the consequences of what you have done."
Shadow did not like what Phobio was saying and was starting to worry about his intentions. So as a precaution, she gave Lava a stand by signal with her hand. The little guy seen it and prepared for when she would give him the command to attack Phobio.
Phobio was still talking to Silence. When it appeared as if he was done taking to her, he lets go of her and turned around. Anger was still present in his glowing eyes. "I trusted you, Silence. And you go and turn on me the first chance you get. I once thought that we could have been more than just friends. But I see now, that it will never happen." He looks back at Silence. She is starting to cry from more than her hurt arm. Phobio turns once again to leave the three there as he makes his way down the hallway.
Shadow waits until she no longer sees him before she approaches a now sobbing Silence. She rests a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe, if you tell everyone the truth. Phobio might not be so angry with you. You might never regain his full trust, but maybe his friendship." Shadow said to comfort Silence. A half smile trying to show up on her face. "Thanks, for the tip." Silence replies as she wipes some of the tears off her face.
The grand meeting room was full with nearly everyone from every clan. Crimson was standing at the top of the podium to speak to everyone. Her deep crimson colored armor glistened in the spot light. "I know most of you are wondering why I called all of you here today." Crimson was giving a monthly speech. But this one she wanted everyone from all the clans to hear. Her commanders and generals were all lined up behind her. Some were standing while the others were sitting down. "I`m sure you all love the new law about every clan can now have a child whenever they please. No more law about the ten year old limit. Every clan shall have a chance to fight for the Great Throne. But enough of that. Let's get back to the main reason you are all here. What I wanted to say to you all was that," she holds up a hand above two similar looking children. They almost look like a small version of Crimson but each one has white hair with a dark brown streak going down the middle. Their clothing was very dark as well. One had a dragon`s skull as a mask.
"I have created a new set of twins. Their father stands next to them." Phobio moves closer to the edge of the balcony for everyone to see him better. He looked proud and honored to be there.
Crimson lowered her hand back to her side. "As you all well know. I am only allowed to have a child with the king." She paused to let the crowed speak and mumble amongst themselves before she continued her speech. "So, because of this law, and the fact that King Noble no longer finds me fit to be his queen." The crowd starts to mumble again when they hear that last part about Noble and Queen Crimson. "I, the Great Ruler of all the clans. Hereby make Phobio, my new king. For all that are with me, say 'I'." More than half the clans said 'I'. There was a few that did not agree with making Phobio the new King. So they stayed silent.
"Then that settles it. I now pronounce Phobio as my trusted king." Phobio bowed to her as the majority of the crowd applauded and screamed with joy. Phobio thought that he might cry. He would have never thought so many individuals would be appreciated with him becoming king. Let alone knowing that they all knew of his powers. They still liked him.
As everyone was rejoicing the rule of a new king, there was still trouble brewing among the crowd. There was a group of three individuals that had separated themselves from everyone else. White Blood, Shockwave, and Tarn were looking across the happy crowd. White Blood was the first of the three to speak. "I should be up there. Not my mother." She said in an irritated voice. Tarn looked at her with a calm domineer. "I could say the same for Blood Music. But we know we can`t all have what we want. Is that not right, Sir Shockwave?" Tarn and White Blood look over at him. Shockwave was observing Phobio. A skull from some kind of monster was in his large claws. "All can have a chance at the throne, but in the end" He looks down at the skull as he moves it around in his grip. "Only one will live." He crushes the skull in his hand like it was nothing. Tarn and White Blood agree with him and look back at Crimson. Only time would tell what will happen next.
