A/N Blegh, I'm so obsessed with Dante from Devil May Cry now. His pizza and strawberry sundae food obsessions are just so damned adorable.

And I've decided to add in some OCs into this story. More information about it will be at the end of this chapter.

Also, there's some parts regarding "torture" in this chapter, just forewarning you readers.

Of a Darkness Fortold

Chapter 4: Taken

It was cold and dark inside the tiny cell. The musty scent of rocks and dirt hung around heavily.

"He's still not talking?"

"No, ma'am."

Steven vaguely heard the two voices belonging to the two Galactic grunts that had interrogated him, talk with the female commander he had battled against a while ago. He hung his head low and listened only to his shallow breathing. The two grunts had questioned him on the whereabouts of the Adamant Orb. When he had refused to talk, he received an injury of some sort. By now, he had a bruised cheek, a cut lip, a few broken ribs, and blood that ran down his face from the deep abrasions he had underneath his silvery bangs. He coughed weakly and spat out a bit of blood to the side. The chains around his wrists dug into his skin painfully and his arms felt numb from being held up for some long. He weakly dropped his head and the chains above him clanked together.

He wondered what had become of his pokemon. He knew they were no longer in his possession when he had awoken from unconsciousness. It troubled him knowing that Team Galactic had his pokemon and they could be doing whatever it is they want with them.

When the cell door closed with a loud screech, he had thought everyone had left and he was the only one inside the tiny cell. However, he was proven wrong when he heard the light clacking of footsteps on the hard ground.

"So, why don't you tell me where the Adamant Orb is?" He recognized it to be the voice of the red haired woman that had put him here in the first place.

Steven remained silent as he kept his head down. When the female commander brought his head up by the chin rather roughly, he grunted at the pain that shot through his body. He winced when she purposely touched a bruise that was just forming on his left cheek.

The female commander smiled coldly. "It hurts doesn't it?"

Steven simply glared back at her.

She laughed softly. "You have surprised me. I didn't think you would last this long through our little interrogation without telling us anything." Her lips turned up into an evil little grin. She brought out a small knife from her pocket and held the sharp edges against Steven's bruised up cheek. "And you still won't talk?" Mars laughed softly in amusement. She flipped the knife over and dragged the blunt edges down from his cheek to his neck. Steven turned his head away from the cool metal of the blade. She stopped the knife when it hit the first button holding his dress shirt closed.

Steven flinched slightly when she cut the thread. The small white button fell off and landed on the ground. It was soon followed by four more buttons. Afterwards, he heard her clicking her tongue softly.

"You must be really foolish to not talk after they did all this to you," she said, looking over the dark red bruises dotting his chest and what little bit of his exposed abdomen.

"Foolish?" he muttered. He chuckled quietly. "I expected 'stubborn'."

"Hm, you're in no position to be smart mouthing me."

"Is that so?" Steven whispered lowly, flashing a smirk at her. "You're in no position to use that against me." He looked down at the glistening blade of the knife she held.

"What?" she questioned, irritation showing in her tone.

"You need me alive to know the location of the Adamant Orb. I'm the only one that knows where it is," he lied.

"Who said I'll use this to kill you?" Mars asked, smiling maliciously. She gave a swift slash running diagonally from Steven's left shoulder down to his right side. He let out a pained yell as he felt blood slowly drip out from his deep wound. Mars laughed darkly and leant down close near him, putting her red lips right next to his ear. "See? You're still alive," she whispered, chuckling. "I'm pretty sure someone else other than you would know the location of the Adamant Orb." Mars held the knife up to Steven's pale neck and pressed it down hard enough just so that beads of ruby red blood began to form around the knife. "Now then, tell me the location."

When Steven didn't answer, she removed the knife and hit him across the face. He grunted at the impact and he kept his face turned away from her.

"Well?" she asked, expecting a decent answer now that he was beaten and injured to a certain extent.

The silver haired man chuckled lowly as he spat out a bit of blood. He looked up at her through his disheveled bangs and said in a harsh breath, "go to Hell."

Cynthia blew lightly into her hot tea. She looked outside and saw that the sun had nearly gone down and had painted the sky in a vibrant hue of pink. She had lost herself while staring out the window into the distant horizon that she didn't notice her pokegear ringing sharply.

"Cynthia," her grandmother said. When that didn't grab her granddaughter's attention, she sighed and got up from her seat, putting a pause to her research. She took the pokegear that was on the kitchen counter, still ringing, and brought it to the blonde. "Cynthia."

"Huh?" she seemed a bit startled by her grandmother's voice.

"Someone's calling."

"O-Oh." Cynthia took the pokegear and pressed a button. "Hello?"

"I'm sorry to bother you this late Miss Cynthia."

Immediately, she recognized it to be the voice of Mr. Stone. "Ah, no it's fine. May I ask why you've called?"

He hesitated for a moment before asking, "by any chance, is Steven with you?"

"No, he left a few hours ago. He should be there by now," she stated quizzically. Cynthia heard Mr. Stone sighed softly on the other side of the line. "I'm sure Steven is fine," she reassured, hoping it would calm the nerves on the middle aged man.

"I will wait until tomorrow morning then," he finally replied. "May I contact you then if he still hasn't returned?"

"Of course. Anytime is fine." Cynthia nodded. "Yes, goodnight." When he hung up, the blonde pushed a small button on her pokegear and let out a tired sigh. Her grandmother was back sitting at her desk, going over her research notes.

"What happened?" the old woman asked, never looking up from her notes.

"Mr. Stone called. He said Steven hasn't returned to Hoenn yet," Cynthia crossed her arms over her chest. "He's probably just goofing around somewhere," she muttered to herself. "Come to think of it...Lance hasn't come back either."

Then, right on cue, she saw Lance's dragonite land just in front of the small house. Cynthia only caught a glimpse of it through the window before she ran out the door, but she thought she saw no sign of Lance at all. It was confirmed when she opened the front door and indeed, only saw the orange dragon meekly standing just a few feet away from her.

"Dragonite, what happened? Where's Lance?" she asked, even though she knew that it couldn't communicate with her. It trilled and let out a series of soft growls. Cynthia saw worry in its eyes. "Did something happen to him?"

The dragon nodded rather hurriedly. It cried out in a high pitched tone and pointed in the direction in which it had came from.

"Cynthia, what happened?" her grandmother asked, coming out from the small house. She went up to her granddaughter's side and glanced at the orange colored pokemon. "Isn't this Lance's dragonite?" she questioned. Cynthia nodded, patting the side of the dragonite's thick neck.

"I think something bad happened to Lance, maybe," her voice trailed off as she was suddenly struck with a horrifying idea. "Team Galactic," she whispered, turning to her grandmother. "Team Galactic! They must have done something to both Lance and Steven! That's why Dragonite is here and that's why Mr. Stone called me!" Cynthia shook her head and closed her eyes. "Did we underestimate them...?" she muttered under her breath.

"You couldn't have known they'd go to such lengths to stop you three. Don't blame yourself for any of this, Cynthia."

"But Lance...and Steven..."

"Will be fine," the elderly woman cut in sharply. "For now, we have to concentrate on making sure Team Galactic doesn't get a hold of the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs."

The blonde let out a sharp exhale. She turned towards the direction that Dragonite had pointed towards and then back at her grandmother. "Steven assured me that the Adamant Orb was safe in Hoenn, as for the Lustrous Orb..." Cynthia reached for one of the pokeballs strapped to her belt line. She unclipped one and handed it to her grandmother. "Spiritomb is inside. If Team Galactic were to come here, please defend yourself."

"Cynthia..."

"I'm sorry grandmother. I have to go find Lance." She unclipped another pokeball from her belt line. From her pokeball, came her garchomp. Cynthia mounted it and gave the little star on its head a little pat. She turned back to her grandmother and said, "if Steven comes back, tell me."

The old woman sighed and slipped the tiny pokeball into the pocket of her lab coat. She gave a warm smile and said in a reassuring tone, "do what you have to do, Cynthia. You were always wise with your decisions and you've never once let me down."

Cynthia returned the smile and closed her steely gray eyes. She faced Dragonite and said, "show us where Lance was."

The orange dragon meekly nodded and kicked off the ground. Cynthia gave Garchomp a little rub on the side of its neck and muttered, "let's go."

'Damn it...damn it...'

Lance blankly stared at the tufts of grass that tickled his eyelid every time he blinked. Spots of light danced around the green blades. He had a dull ache on the back of his neck as he told himself to get up. However, his body didn't listen to him. He could only make his fingers twitch as he struggled to get back up on his feet. The thought he could have been paralyzed because of the blow to his neck, but he refused to believe such an outcome. He grunted as he strained to push himself up with his arms. The red haired champion only managed to push himself up a couple of inches before he went crashing back down to the grassy ground.

Just as he tried to get back up again, he heard an ever so familiar low growl from above. He tried to crane his head around to see, but found he could not. Instead he lay there until the light thumping sound of something landing beside him was heard.

"Lance!" It was Cynthia's voice.

He heard her quickly walking around him before she knelt down in front of him. "Lance! What happened?" she asked, her voice sounding as if it was deep with concern. She gently turned him over onto his back and helped him to sit up.

"I was battling a Team Galactic member and these grunts just came up behind me and grabbed me. Next thing I knew, everything...went black." He groaned as he held his head. "Crap, I can't remember anything else," he whispered.

"It's okay," Cynthia comforted. "Do you think you could walk?"

"Not really," Lance admitted. "I still can't move my arms and legs. That Team Galactic...they're always one step ahead of us. The woman I battled...she was expecting me to come here."

"Did she tell you that?"

"No, she didn't. But, everything did looked as if it were all staged."

Cynthia helped Lance up and guided him slowly over to Dragonite. It showed concern for its trainer as they came over.

"I'm fine," Lance said with a soft smile; his voice sounded a bit hoarse. The orange dragon smiled back as its wings beat lightly against its back.

"Do you think you could ride Dragonite back to Celestic Town by yourself?"

"I'll manage," he replied as she helped him onto the dragon's back. As he got himself settled, he asked her, "where are you going?"

"I need to find Steven. His father called me an hour ago and told me that he isn't back in Hoenn yet."

Lance simply nodded. "Let's just hope he didn't have a run in with Team Galactic like I did." He turned his head slightly to look at the dimming sky. It was nearly night time. "Be back before it gets too late," he told her. Cynthia scoffed lightly in response. She hopped on Garchomp and faced him.

"Showing some concern for me now?"

"Hmph, they might be after you next," he replied with a little smile.

The blonde clicked her tongue softly and gave him just a slight wave of her hand. "Get there safely. Come on Garchomp."

The blue dragon kicked off the ground and was immediately airborne. Cynthia felt the cool night air against her face as Garchomp sped through the air. She wasn't quite sure where to go in the first place. In fact, she wasn't quite sure what she had to look for. A sign that Steven had gone missing? That he somehow got into a horrific accident on his way back to Hoenn? That he was just running late?

Cynthia sighed and held her head. "Let's go towards Mount Coronet and circle it once, Garchomp. Perhaps he got lost in its deep valleys." As dragon growled in response, Cynthia wondered if she would even find him there. She pulled out her pokegear from her pocket and pressed a few buttons to call him.

'Maybe he would pick up,' she thought to herself as the line rang. She knew that Team Galactic would still be listening in on their calls, just to look for that one little slip on any confidential information concerning Palkia and Dialga. Even though she tried not to use the pokegear too much, she couldn't help but resort to this method at the moment. The line kept ringing. Finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" she heard Steven say. A bit of relief sparked inside of her.

"Steven? Where are you? Your father's worried that you haven't returned to Hoenn already." There was a period of silence. "Steven?" Cynthia asked again, wondering if he had already hung up.

"...I'm fine. I'm near Hoenn now."

"You sound a bit...hoarse, Steven. Are you really okay?"

"Cynthia...Mount Coronet, that's where Team Galactic's going to summon Palkia and Dialga. Hurry or else-"

The line was quickly cut off after that. Cynthia immediate had the look of panic on her face as she shouted into her pokegear, "Steven! Steven! Answer me!" When she heard the indefinite beeping sound of the disconnected line, she turned off her pokegear and let out a sharp exhale. "Team Galactic...Garchomp! Quickly go to Mount Coronet!"

"So...your little champion friends haven't called yet? Pity," Mars giggled as she stood in front of Steven. She looked down at him with her piercing red eyes and said, "they must not really care about you if they haven't even tried to call you yet."

Steven chuckled, "they wouldn't call me. I've already told them that you've all been listening in to our conversations. They try not to use it."

"Aren't you a clever one?" she sneered, pulling on the chain that held up his right arm. Steven grunted at the burning pain created by the chains digging into his wrist. Just then, Steven heard his pokegear ringing from across the cell. Mar whipped around and went over to the device. She picked it up and laughed darkly. "Well what do you know, it's Cynthia."

Steven clenched his fists as she coolly walked over to him. "Talk to her, "she ordered. "You had better make it sound like you're on your way to see your daddy dearest."

"And if I don't? Quite frankly, I don't care what the hell you want to do to me."

Mars smirked. "It seems that you've forgotten that we have your precious little pokemon. Right now we have them all safe in their pokeballs, but that can change very quickly." She chuckled when she saw him glare at her. "Now then...talk." She pressed a button on his pokegear and immediately he heard sounds of the wind blowing past the speakers.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Steven? Where are you? Your father's worried that you haven't returned to Hoenn already."

The silver haired man glanced up at Mars, who mouthed to him, "you had better not try anything funny."

"Steven?"

"...I'm fine. I'm near Hoenn now," he whispered through gritted teeth.

"You sound a bit...hoarse, Steven. Are you really okay?" She sounded concerned.

Steven turned away from the pokegear held in front of his face. He narrowed his eyes at the dirt ground as he quickly thought of what to do. He knew he had to do whatever he could to prevent Team Galactic from summoning Palkia and Dialga. "Cynthia," he finally murmured. Steven raised his head and looked up directly into Mars' fierce red eyes. "Mount Coronet, that's where Team Galactic's going to summon Palkia and Dialga. Hurry or else-"

The red head quickly pulled the pokegear away and threw it on the ground. She stepped on it and it broke into pieces. She scoffed as she slapped him across the face. "Hmph, you did good. But you got a little disobedient at the end there, didn't you?" She sneered when his bruised cheek was turning red again.

The cell door behind her opened up and a grunt came in, carrying a tray with a single glass of water. She nodded her head slightly, acknowledging her as the grunt brought the glass of water to Steven. The young female grunt knelt down before him and immediately brought the glass to his lips and tilted it back, holding his jaw. At first he refused to drink it and simply let it overflow and run down the corners of his mouth, but before the water was all gone, he lost to temptation as he took gulps of the remaining water.

When the grunt pulled away and exited the cell, Mars stepped forward. She watched him as he coughed and breathed heavily.

"What was that?" he asked, panting. He was suspicious that they slipped something into the water.

"We didn't put anything in there if that's what you're wondering. It was just water. It's only to keep you alive until Cyrus manages to summon the two legendaries. It'd be a real burden if you went and died from thirst in our own hideout."

"Hm, thanks for the hospitality," he replied in a sarcastic tone.

"You're welcome," she answered in a smug tone as she left the cell.

'Good, it looks like I could move my arms and legs again.'

Lance rotated his shoulder a bit to get rid of the stiffness. He looked down at Celestic Town and watched as it grew closer. Dragonite growled softly as it landed on the soft grass. Only a few lights were on in the sleepy town, making the surroundings seem very dim. As he got off of Dragonite, the door to the house opened up.

"Lance," he heard Cynthia's grandmother call out to him.

"Professor," he addressed her as she walked up to him.

"I see that you're alright. That's good. Where is Cynthia?" she asked.

"She went to go find Steven. Apparently he hasn't arrived back in Hoenn yet."

"Hm," the professor contemplated. "We should expect the worst..."

"What?"

"I only know that Team Galactic will not hesitate to resort to violence if it means getting what they want. I'm not saying they have Steven, but if they do...they're probably going to try to get the location of the Adamant Orb from him."

The red haired man sighed heavily and looked out into the distant. He saw the dark silhouette of Mount Coronet. "To think they got this far..." Lance brushed his hand against his waist and immediately froze. Professor Carolina took note of this and asked him, "what's the matter?"

Lance felt around again and finally clenched his fist. "They couldn't have..."

"Lance."

"I don't believe it." He faced the old woman with his red eyes, widened in disbelief. "They took my pokemon."

A/N I know there's probably a billion grammatical errors in there. I'll probably catch some when I read it back again.

Anyways, I need maybe...three OCs. I'll probably make up one, but if anyone could give me permission to use one of their OCs I'd be more than happy to put them in this story. Please don't give me Mary Sues/Gary Stus and don't feel offended if I end up not using your OC. They will only be "secondary" characters. Meaning they won't be given a huge role, but they'll pop up ever now and then. So if you're interested, just review back with a quick run down of your OC. Just give me basic information like, name, age, physical description, personality, etc.

And by letting me use your OCs, you must also be aware that since they aren't my characters I might make a mistake regarding how they would react to this or that.

Once again, review. More reviews mean more updates.