I really have no excuse for this long-ass absence. All I have to show for it is this thing that's merely a fraction of what the first chapter was. I promise it'll get better, and I'll even submit a new Shadows of War chapter sometime next week. I won't let any of my stories die, not unless I do.

Nathan slowly curled his fingers and stretched his legs. The stiffness in his muscles took immense willpower to overcome. Almost groaning with effort, he opened his eyes only to be assaulted with a blinding white light. After letting his eyes recover, he opened them slowly to allow them to adapt to the light. He looked at his surroundings and saw that he was in a hospital room, judging by the various pieces of medical equipment and stark-white walls. He turned his gaze towards his body and noticed that he was covered in a white cloth and lightly bound to the bed he was laying on. He easily pulled the bindings off and swung his legs off the bed. He stretched again and pushed himself to his feet, swaying uneasily at first.

"The hell am I?" he wondered out loud. Several pieces of equipment were more advanced than anything he had ever seen in a conventional hospital. Of particular interest was the bed he was lying on, which appeared to be connected to a large horizontal cylinder.

He picked up a medkit that was hanging on the wall and examined it. It was a standard white with a red cross in the middle, but on the back corner was a certain symbol. A jagged red R.

"Rocket," Nathan hissed, "of course they'd capture me, can't just let me die in peace." He threw the medkit away just as the door opened. From it emerged a small floating onion-like creature holding a clipboard. It noticed Nathan and let out a startled gasp.

"You're awake already?" it asked. Judging by its voice, it was female.

"Yeah I'm awake," Nathan seethed, "you didn't think you could keep me under for long did you?"

"What are you-" her question got cut off as he grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the wall. The floating onion slid down the wall and hit the floor with a thud.

"Celebi! What the hell just happened in there?!" called a voice from the adjacent room. A young man ran through the doorway and came to a skidding halt when he saw Nathan and the crumpled onion creature. "What the fuck?" he asked in disbelief.

Nathan charged forward and grabbed the man's wrist, bending it backward. "What does Rocket want with me, huh? Why did you go through all the trouble of keeping me alive?"

"We. Aren't. Rocket," the man said through gritted teeth, "We SAVED you from them."

"Horse-shit." Nathan gripped the man's wrist harder, hooked his arm around his shoulder, and threw him over his back and to the floor. Several loud cracks and pops were heard as he landed, most coming from his now-mangled arm.

Nathan let the unconscious man's arm fall from his grasp. He walked into the room the man came from and was stunned by the state it was in. Papers and charts were scattered across the counters, vials of multicolored liquids were arranged haphazardly in the see-through cabinet, and a cup of coffee was lying on its side and dribbling onto the floor.

All-in-all, it was the exact opposite of what you'd expect a hospital office to look like.

Nathan paused just outside the door and focused his energy. Shadowy wisps slowly extended from his back and wrapped around his arms, but suddenly dissipated and he fell to the floor in exhaustion.

"Too weak...to use my powers," he gasped. He stood up and leaned against the counter for support. "Gonna have to do this the old fashioned way."

He left the office and entered an off-white colored hallway that extended in both directions. He chose to go right just as a voice blared over an intercom.

"Attention everyone," a female voice echoed through the hall, "The newest arrival has just escaped the clinic in a misguided rage. Subdue him, but do not kill him. I repeat, lethal force is NOT authorized!"

"They really want me alive eh?" he asked himself as he broke into a run. He passed by several doors in his sprint, each one having either a symbol or number in the center. He reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner, almost smacking into someone. They both spun out of each-others way, thankfully in opposite directions. As he turned to face them, he felt a large chunk of ice hit his arm and pin him to the wall. He grit his teeth at the cold that seemed to chill him to the bone.

"Don't try anything stupid and you won't get hurt," the woman in front of him said. She froze his other arm to the wall and placed her hand on her hip. She was a Glaceon morph, wearing a light-blue tank-top that matched her fur, as well as tight-fitting athletic pants of a deeper shade. She shook her head in disappointment, her head-crystals lightly swaying, "Y'know, knocking out Celebi and breaking Fred's arm isn't exactly a nice way to introduce yourself."

"I don't plan on staying long anyway," Nathan retorted. He broke the chunk of ice off the wall and swung it at her stomach, sending her flying into the opposite wall. He broke his other arm free and smashed the two chunks together, shattering them both and freeing his hands.

"You ass," the Glaceon-breed hissed at him. She stood up and glared at him, forming a pair of ice balls in her hands. "You just had to make this difficult didn't you?" She flung the balls at Nathan, who barely dodged them. He lunged forward and extended his arm, connecting his fist with her shoulder and spinning her around slightly. She grabbed his arm and flung it to the side and smashed her knee into his stomach.

Nathan winced in pain and took several steps back to reorient himself, but quickly found himself dodging a flurry of blows that threatened to land if he slowed down even a little. He sensed a lull in her barrage and utilized it to ram his shoulder into her chest. She gasped in pain and stumbled backward, an arm holding her breasts.

"Damn it," she hissed, "I just got those piercings removed!"

Nathan froze in place and just stared at her for a few moments. "What?" he finally blurted.

The response he received was a swift blow to the nose, breaking it and spraying purple-black blood across his face and her fist. He retaliated with a right hook that she nimbly dodged, and she swung a left uppercut that he also dodged. He brought his knee into her stomach and hooked his arms around her as she doubled over.

"What the hell are you-" her question was cut off as she was picked up, swung around a few times, and thrown into the wall. He slammed his fist into her as she began to fall, pinning her to the wall.

"What the hell do you people want from me?" he growled at her.

"If you'd stop...being fucking insane," she paused to cough up some blood, "you'd have all the answers you want."

"Not an option."

She grit her teeth and kicked him away, grunting as she hit the floor. She shakily stood up and coughed up some more blood. "Y'know, for someone that's been in a coma for two weeks after literally dying and being brought back, you're pretty damn tough."

Nathan smirked and stood still. "I'm already half dead," he said, referring to his Ghost typing, "and I sure as hell won't let going all the way slow me down."

'He is seriously strong,' the Glaceon-breed thought, 'even for a Gengar-breed.'

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nathan suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and headbutt her in the face, sending her stumbling back. He then brought his elbow back and slammed it into the side of her head, causing her to hit the wall with a sickening crack. She struggled to stay standing and leaned against the wall for support. Blood flowed freely from her nose and mouth, with a small trickle coming from her eyes that clouded her vision with every blink.

"Gloria, disengage!"

Both fighters turned to face the voice. They saw a tall woman, with greenish-yellow skin, a long snout-like face, and long green hair, wearing a one-piece dress that flowed as she ran towards them. The dress had a vague modernized renaissance feel to it Nathan figured, as it hid one leg but exposed the other and barely covered more then the lower half of her breasts. She also appeared to be holding a syringe in her left hand.

"Gloria, you are far too injured to continue fighting," the woman panted, "retreat now, I will handle it from here."

"Not gonna argue," the Glaceon-breed croaked as she quickly stumbled away.

Nathan snarled as he turned towards the woman. He didn't know what the syringe held, but he did know that it probably wasn't good for his health.

"Nathan, I don't want to do this, but you forced our hand," the woman sighed. She ran toward him and aimed a kick at his head. He jumped out of the way and watched as her foot flew an inch from his face. He noticed that the high-heels she was wearing had a small retractable blade in the heel, and was thankful it wasn't deployed. He swung a fist at her stomach, but she caught it and twisted his arm to his back and jammed the syringe into his neck.

He broke free of her grapple and tore the syringe out. It slowly dripped a blue fluid from its tip as he stared at it. Pain flared up from the wound it left and his vision blurred and doubled.

"What...the fuck?" he slurred. He suddenly felt very drowsy and had to lean against the wall for support. "Whaa...?"

The woman sighed and pinched between her eyebrows in frustration. She didn't want to inflict too much pain and damage on him, as it would likely hamper their chances of recruiting him, but she had no choice but to physically knock him out as he destroyed the sedative before it could fully take effect.

'This is not going to end well,' she thought as she tensed her body. She took a few steps forward and launched another kick at his head. His dodge sent him sprawling across the ground with absolutely zero grace. He quickly picked himself up and tried to grab her hair, but she grabbed his arm with inhuman speed and did a roundhouse kick to the back of his head, this time connecting and knocking him out cold.

She let go of his unconscious body and rested against the wall, panting slightly. After a few moments she pulled a small device out of her bra and held it close to her muzzle. "This is Virizion, I have pacified Nathan with little problem, although he is moderately wounded."

"Alright, thanks Viri," another female voice spoke through the communicator, "Take him to the clinic again, I'll have Kyogre patch him up since Fredrick and Celebi are out of commission."

Virizion huffed but didn't complain, instead just stuffing the device back into her bra. It wasn't that she had to take him to the clinic that she hated, it's that she had to carry him there, and she wasn't exactly the strongest pokémon around. Still, she swallowed her grievances and hefted his body onto her shoulder, grunting in exertion from the weight.

xxxxxx

"Alright, take him off the sedatives. Slowly."

Nathan felt himself slowly awaken to a world of numbness and blinding white light. He tried to move his limbs but found that they were heavily bound to the table he was laying on. He then tried to raise his head, but let it fall back down after a massive headache ripped through his skull.

"He looks good, lookin' good. Ease him off now," he heard a voice say next to him. Eventually the light dimmed enough for him to see. To his left was a slightly chubby woman wearing a blue t-shirt and grey cargo shorts, a head completely devoid of hair, and covered head-to-toe in blue-and-red tattoos save for her pure white face. Her arms were folded over her rather sizable breasts as her eyes scanned up and down his body. Suddenly she reached out and brushed his forehead with her hand. It felt smooth and slightly chilled, almost like water.

"He seems fine," she said as she retracted her hand and placed it on her hip, "I'm gonna go check on the other two now, you do...whatever." With that she walked out of the room, her spot being taken by another woman. This one wore grey clothing, had white hair, and looked considerably slimmer without being outright thin (or flat).

"So, Nathan," the woman started, crossing her legs, "I take it you have no freaking idea what the hell is going on right now, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that," he replied. His throat was dry and it hurt to talk, but he figured that he wasn't in a position to ask for water.

She took a deep breath and entwined her fingers. "Alright, here's the gist of it. Right now, you're in the Hall of Legends, you know what that is?" He nodded. "Okay, so you know about the Legendaries and Champions right?"

"Not much about the former," he admitted, "but I've...dealt business with the Champions before." He couldn't put his finger on it, but he swore he's seen the woman before.

"Yeah, you were one of the Horsemen," she chuckled, making his eyes widen, "you guys always were our favorite band of crazies."

"H-how do..."

"You told me," she chuckled, "showed me pics of your buddies and everything."

Nathan didn't recall ever doing that. Although there was a time recently when he had some unexpected guests...

"Lena?!"

The woman sighed leaned back in her chair, "Yes and no. Lena is an alias of mine. My REAL name is Darkrai. I'm the goddess of nightmares."

Nathan nodded his head, utterly lost past her second sentence.

"Okay, what's important is that I'm a Legendary, and the most of us have a champion. I don't after...recent events. So, with the slightly unwanted help of my friend Shaymin, I found a new potential candidate. You." She let the information sink in before resuming. "My question is, do you want to be my champion?"

Nathan mulled over the sudden influx of information. He had a healthy respect for the champions, and now that he knew that they were led by literal gods he respected them even more. But he always was more of a lone wolf, even during his Horseman days. On one hand, he felt uncomfortable with the sudden change of lifestyle.

On the other hand, he was currently bound to a table by heavy leather straps.

"What, exactly, does being a champion entail?" he cautiously asked.

Darkrai leaned her head back in thought. "Well, if you become my champion, then we're usually paired up when it comes time to kick down doors and shoot people in the face. Beyond that, not much different from being in a college dorm, but instead of having poker night with frat boys and sorority girls, its with trained super-soldiers and physical gods."

"Sounds...deceptively easy."

"Well, it kinda is easy," she said with a shrug, "at least until someone does something stupid and we get sent on a mission. Then life fucks you in the ass with small pieces of lead and shrapnel."

Nathan once again absorbed her words. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't have any real reason to say no. "Okay, I accept."

Darkrai allowed a small smile to twitch onto her lips. "Alright, well, welcome to the family," she said as she stood up.

"Yeah that's nice," Nathan sighed, "but can you untie me now? I feel like I'm in a BDSM club."

Darkrai chuckled and began to undo his bindings. "Nah, not a club. Just Ho-oh." She shrugged with a smile at his confused face. "We had to tie you up so you wouldn't go berserk again."

"Again?"

She stopped briefly before looking at him in confusion. "Uh, yeah. You kinda went crazy yesterday and started punching people out left and right." She grew even more confused when he shook his head. "You don't remember?"

"No, the last thing I remember is getting impaled by wood and Clara's scream," he shrugged and scratched his head with his free hand. Darkrai quickly undid the rest of the bindings and he tried to sit up, only to be held back.

"Oops, hold on," she reached around to the small of his back and fumbled with the cord connected to it. He heard a snap-hiss and felt pain as something exited the inside of his back. "Sorry Nathan, Kyogre wanted your implants to switch on slowly instead of all at once."

"Implants?" Nathan queried, "You mean like cybernetics?"

"Yep. Brand new, top-of-the-line Gen 2.5 cybers. Replaced almost every bone in your lower body and one of your lungs. Unfortunately Kyogre thought that having everything installed all at once would overload your body, so they're just the basic model."

"Well that's...kinda neat." He sat up and stretched, careful not to aggravate the quarter-inch hole in his back. To tell the truth, he wasn't all that jazzed up about having half his skeleton replaced by wires and circuitry.

"If you want all the fancy stuff like running faster or whatever," she continued, "you're gonna want to see Mewtwo. He does all the techy shit."

"Uh huh." Nathan discarded the sheet covering him and quickly noticed he was only wearing a pair of boxers. Boxers that weren't his. "Uh, there wouldn't happen to be any clothes on-hand would there?" he sheepishly asked.

Darkrai laughed and tossed him a pair of pants, which he quickly put on. "No shirts, since we didn't know what you like," she shrugged, "besides, you might wanna get used to going shirtless."

"Why?"

"'Cuz we got a swimming pool," she grinned.

"A...pool?" Nathan asked.

"Olympic size," she grinned even wider.

"Riiiight," Nathan said with an eye-roll as he stood up. He was wobbly at first, but quickly found his footing. "Is there anywhere I CAN get a shirt?"

Darkrai sighed and led him out of the room and into the office. It was much, much cleaner now, with everything in its proper place. "Yeah, your room has a bunch of clothes in it, just take what you want and toss th-"

"You FUCKING IDIOT!"

"Oh no," Darkrai moaned. She quickly moved to the door and opened it enough to peer through, just in time to see a large red dinosaur get hit in the face with a tiny white box.

"THAT'S why he went nuts! Because that medkit that YOU brought had the fucking Rocket logo on it!" The screaming voice belonged to an equally large floating whale.

"Hey, I just stole the damn thing like I was supposed to!" the dinosaur protested, "How the hell was I supposed to know we were getting a new guy! And that he'd see it and go berserk because of one little thing!"

"DOESN'T. FUCKING. MATTER," the whale screeched, "You STILL should have scratched the fucking label off, weather or not there was a 'new guy'! You have giant-ass claws, use them for something OTHER than jacking yourself off!"

"I just do what Arceus tells me to do, you want extra shit done, do it your own damn self!" With that, the dinosaur stomped off, his hands clenched into fists.

The whale however groaned and slammed her head into the wall, shaking the whole building. "I can't BELIEVE I'm related to such a fucking DUMBASS!"

"Hey, uh, Kyogre," Darkrai said, barely loud enough for the whale to hear, "can you go vent somewhere else? I want to get Nathan to his room without either of us dying."

Kyogre took several deep breaths to calm herself down before turning to face the goddess of nightmares. "I'm good, I'm good. So I guess he accepted huh?"

"Yep." She moved to the side to allow him to enter the hallway. He was stunned as soon as he saw the whale.

"You're...large," he gaped.

Kyogre took on a pained expression as she felt around her body. "I'm...I'm not fat. A little big maybe, but..."

"Nice going jackass," Darkrai elbowed him in the ribs, "awake less than ten minutes and you're already making people cry."

Nathan let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm sorry if the ten foot tall whale is the largest living being I've ever seen."

"I'm not even at my full size," said whale moaned, "I've shrunk in order to fit in here."

"Wait, you can just...shrink?"

"All of the larger legendaries and change their size to fit through tight spaces," Darkrai explained, "if they couldn't, then guys like Giratina wouldn't even be able to fit through the front door unless they use their anthro forms."

"Okay, now what the hell is an anthro form?"

Darkrai sighed and rolled her eyes. "Show 'im," she told the whale. Said whale was enveloped in a blue light that slowly changed shape and descended to the floor. Once it touched the floor it dissipated, leaving behind the tattooed bald woman from earlier. The process then repeated in reverse, with the woman turning into the whale.

"That was...freaky yet awesome," Nathan said, astonished.

"Yep, and all legendaries can do it too," Darkrai nodded. A blue glow surrounded her as well and left behind a pitch-black phantom with white hair and a red necklace. "Most legends prefer to stay in their normal forms," she said, her voice deeper and more powerful, yet still distinctly feminine, "but some, like me, like our anthro forms more." She reverted back and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Now come on, lets get to your room. Later Kyogre!"

"Bye..." the whale whimpered.

Once the two got a sufficient distance away from her, Darkrai pinched the back of Nathan's arm, causing him to wince. "She's very self-conscious about her weight and gets enough shit from her brother, so don't say anything that might hurt her, 'kay?"

"Yeah, understood," he said as he pulled his arm away. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Darkrai stopped in front of a door. Room 6-32B.

"Okay, here we are," she opened the door, "feel free to change the number to whatever you want, there's no specific numbering system."

He entered the room and closed the door while Darkrai waited outside. She quickly grew impatient and began tapping her fingers against the wall. She grew bored of that and stopped, but was confused when the sound didn't stop.

"Hello Darkrai."

She uttered a squeak of fright and spun around, coming face-to-snout with a green deer-like creature. "Dammit Virizion! Why the fuck were you sneaking up on me?"

"I wasn't sneaking, you simply weren't paying attention," Virizion rebutted.

Darkrai threw her hands up and shook her head, "Whatever, what'd you want."

"I just came to see how you were, and if Nathan had accepted your offer."

"Yeah he did, he's in there getting changed right now."

"But..." Virizion started, "isn't that Meloetta's room?"

"Nah, she moved to the one next over last week," Darkrai said, jabbing a thumb to her right, "guess she got tired of Mew's Halo tournaments."

Virizion nodded in understanding. Mew and Celebi were heavy gamers, and their midnight gaming sessions sometimes kept their up throughout the night.

"Do you mind if I speak with Nathan?" she asked, "I wish to apologize for my actions yesterday."

Darkrai shifted around uncomfortably at her request. "Well, y'know that love tap you gave him upside the head? It kinda screwed with his memory a bit, can't remember anything about it."

Virizion frowned at this information. "And I suppose that apologizing for something he has no knowledge of will only confuse him," she sighed, "or even invoke hostilities."

"Yeah, you might wanna keep quiet 'bout it," Darkrai said while rubbing her arm.

Virizion let a look of sadness spread across her face. "Very well, I'd rather not lose an ally because of a single incident," she mumbled. She began walking away when Darkrai stopped her.

"Hey, maybe in a few days when he's settled in you can talk to him," she offered. "And you can get that date you seem to want so badly, since you and Keldeo aren't a thing anymore," she finished with a smirk.

Virizion paused long enough to mule-kick Darkrai in the chest, sending the latter tumbling across the floor.

"Okay, I kinda deserved that," she gasped as she stood up. She watched the deer angrily stomp away as Nathan emerged from the room, now fully clothed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Ah, just a little argument with a friend," she said with a dismissive wave. Nathan rose an eyebrow and stared at her, but didn't say anything. "C'mon, lets go to the courtyard, let you get your bearings."

Nathan shrugged and gestured for her to lead the way. They walked in silence, Nathan observing the primarily white hallways and Darkrai simply thinking.

'Darkrai, you and Nathan stay where you are.'

"Hold up Champ," she relayed to him. A second later a bright white portal opened in front of them. Nathan shielded his eyes from the light as a woman emerged from the portal, a few wisps of light clinging to her.

"Darkrai, Nathan," she greeted the two.

"Hey Arceus," Darkrai waved, "what are you here for?"

Arceus sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Nothing good I'm afraid. It seems Rocket has acquired sensitive information relating to Johtoian government projects."

Nathan tilted his head and stared at the woman. She wore a simple white robe with a golden band around the center, and her pure-white hair was in a ponytail. Her face and voice were attractive, yet both had an air of authority around them. "I'm guessing this involves us somehow?" he asked.

Arceus nodded. "We need you to steal back that information. Darkrai is the best infiltrator we have, and I hear you're no slouch at stealth either. But I don't want to press you into action so soon after your recovery."

Nathan rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "I've been better honestly, but if important shit needs to be done then I'm game."

"If Nathan's good, then I am too," Darkrai nodded in agreement.

Arceus felt an uneasy smile show. "If you are confident in your abilities, then I give you lease. You have until tomorrow to act." With that, she walked back into the portal, which promptly disappeared.

"Alright Nathan, we're taking a detour," Darkrai sighed, "seems we're going to the arena instead."

"Why?" he asked with confusion. Shouldn't they go get ready for the mission?

"I want to make sure you're good to go," she explained, "I don't doubt your abilities, I trust Shaymin's word on that, but you DID spend two weeks dead. I don't want something going wrong in the middle of a firefight."

He nodded in understanding. He figured some practice would do him some good.

xxxxxxx

We're Champions. 'Normal' isn't even in our dictionary. Unless normal means being plucked off the street, handed several swords, guns, and beers, then being told to go make the bad guy's lives as miserable as possible, all in the span of about ten minutes.

Damien Crane, Champion of Dialga, during an interview discussing the lives of champions. The statement is highly controversial, as the legendaries have confirmed that it is only a mild exaggeration.

Again, I'm really sorry. Things WILL get better though, I can promise that.