The Animal Within: You can't cage the Beast

by Mad Ass Dragon

The Invincible Monster of the Forest. That's what they call him. The boy who was murdered, and then reborn from the depths as a Monster. Death. All it did was make him stronger. He is hunted day and night by his enemy, who seeks to finish what he started. It comes down to the age old question. How do you kill what's already dead? WARNING!: Dark story.

4. I am the Beast

Chapter 4: I am the Beast

Hey guys!

The Mad Dragon is back!

Shoutouts to Wolfblade84 and Nightgale45, thanks for the reviews and the support!

Last chapter wasn't the best, but this chapter makes up for it. Read on for yourselves, you will see the creature Red fears above all others.

Disclaimer: (Sitting in a foam padded room) I DON'T OWN POKEMON! But I will… Hehehehehehehehehehehehe… One day I will… When I am hit by a meteor and gain SUPER POWERS!

Edit: OK guys I've gone back and rewritten this chapter, it's very different to what it was and is worth taking a second look at – 3/5/16

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Previously

Red had the strangest dream he'd ever had in his short life, seeing himself speaking with a tiny baby Pokémon. He awoke to find it was his and his sister's birthday, and their gifts included a pair of Pokémon.

But they weren't the only ones to receive this gift from P. Oak, Serena, Blue and Yellow all got their first Pokémon.

The ever arrogant Blue challenged Red to a battle, believing he had enough of an advantage with his Water type to defeat Red's Fire type. The battle came to an end, when Red's Charmander turned Blue's Squirtle into a turtle shaped firework.

As the day came to an end, both the twins agreed to letting Serena join them in their training session, which begins today.

---

"Master, today is the day. Is it not?" Gallade asked. "The day we must fight once more"

Luke's uncovered face reflects his fear and his dread of this day. With a stiff nod of his head, he answers his partner's question. "Remember, Red is innocent in all this. You can't kill him; we just need to knock him out. Understand?" Despite his overwhelming fear, his voice remains strong.

The blade Pokémon breaks his meditative pose, to glare at his partner. Even in the low light conditions of the Viridian forest, his death glare can easily be seen. "If we kill him, we can stop its evil before it breaks free again. Think about it, how many lives will we save? One? Ten? A hundred? A THOUSAND?!"

Luke remains disciplined, refusing to break his own meditative pose. The anger and hatred in his voice is enough to tell him he won't obey his orders. "Gallade y-" He is interrupted before he can even start.

"NO! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLSHIT!" He angrily screeched as he jumped to his feet. "Last time I listened to you about this, and look what happened! Innocent Pokémon were slaughtered for nothing! I won't let that happen again. No matter the cost, the Beast will die today"

Finally Luke breaks his meditation, to look upon his partner with a death glare of his own. "I will fucking beat you down if I have to. Now shut up and listen to me" He spat with rage. "I want that thing dead as much as you do, but if we hurt Red to do it, then we're no better than it is"

Gallade's overpowering rage breaks through his flesh, forcing a vein to throb on his forehead. His talons extend themselves, ready to spill blood and split the heads of his enemies. "We make sacrifices so others don't have to. If we sacrifice him, then we can save countless from it, I for one think that's a worthy sacrifice" He growled. "You're just a coward, too afraid to do what must be done"

His jab of anger cuts Luke cuts him deeply, forcing him to his feet as well. "A COWARD?! A COWARD?! AM I COWARD?!" He roared into Gallade's face. "A coward wouldn't choose to fight the Beast; a coward would run and hide from it. A mother fucking coward would kill a defenceless child, to protect himself from something he doesn't want to fight. Look in the mirror, before you accuse me of being a coward… You made the same choice as I did, we're both cowards"

Silence follows his rage induced outburst, giving them both a moment to calm themselves and think more clearly. Gallade turns away from his Master, bowing his head in shame. "You're right Master. I am a coward" He whispered to himself more than Luke. "But I will do what I have to, to protect Lily from him"

The Knight turns his back on his partner, crossing his arms under his black cloak of fur. "And I will do everything I must do, to protect him from you. He's as innocent in all this as the rest of them, and I won't let you kill an innocent child"

"Innocent or not, the fact remains that he is dangerous" He lifts his head as he speaks. "So long as the Beast lives, he as dangerous at it is. He's nothing but a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode and kill us all"

Gallade's words stab into Luke's heart, as much he hates to think of his Apprentice like that, he can't deny that he's telling the truth. So long as the Beast remains inside of him, he is incredibly dangerous. It can possess him at any time, and when it does, there's no stopping it.

With a heavy sigh, Luke drops back to the plant covered earth and returns to his meditation. He and Gallade have little time left to prepare, they must use it to focus their powers rather than fight with each other. Thinking the same thing as his Master, Gallade too returns to his meditation.

Several minutes of silence pass, during which neither of them makes even the faintest of movements. Their minds focus, augmenting their stores of power and discipline. Finally Gallade makes a movement, all be it a subtle one; his talons finally retract into his arms once again. "Master, how long till they reach us?"

Having been searching for them, Luke's able to answer the question in a heartbeat. "I'd say around ten minutes, but there's a complication. They've brought Serena with them" A hint of panic lingers in his voice. "They probably want to show her what training she'll undergo"

The face of Psychic/Fighting Pokémon floods with fear, allowing sweat to trickles down his face and neck. "No. No not another one, it's bad enough Lily must be here, we can't risk another child. Is there a way to warn them?"

Luke can only shake his head in frustration, he's tried and tried to think of a way to warn them all, but if he does then he would sentencing them to death. In his vision, he saw that the Beast was targeting him and Gallade, if he warns them that it's going to possess Red he'll be telling the Beast that he's onto it.

If the Beast feels threatened, then god only knows what it could do. At the very least, it would possess him sooner and slaughter everything it sees. It's a risk that just can't be taken.

"Gallade, we've been partners since we were children. Do you honestly think that if there were a way to warn them, I wouldn't have already done it?" He asked with a depressed tone. "We have no choice; they must come to us… Then we must beat Red within an inch of his life, to prevent the release of the Beast. May god forgive us for what we must do"

---

Elsewhere, three hyperactive children eagerly make their way through the bustling streets of Viridian, on their way to the neighbouring forest to meet with the Knights who will train them today.

"Hurry up you two! You're so slow!" Lily cried out to both her brother and friend.

Quickly closing the short gap between them, both Red and Serena push themselves harder to try and match Lily's speed. "We're coming! Geeze" She called back.

"The sun's been up for ages!" Lily whined as she passed the Pokémon centre, quickly followed by both her tag alongs. "I wanna get there today"

The gentle breeze of autumn rolls through the streets, rippling through the hair of the children, and ruffling their new clothes. As promised, the twins are wearing the clothes they got for their eighth birthday today, if nothing else it'll let them change into their normal clothes once they're done. As Delia expected when she bought them, these clothes hangs freely from their thin and scrawny frames, allowing them to move without restriction while preserving their modesty and dignity. Serena's dressed like she normally does, with the extra addition of her pink bow. After Red's kind words, she decided to wear it on a regular basis, in the hopes that it'll make her stand out to him.

All three of the children race towards the edge of the town, the forest is coming into view now. "SHUT UP BUTT FOR BRAINS! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Red retorted angrily.

---

The lack of light amidst the forest affects the children far worse than it does both Luke and Gallade; to them it's almost pitch black. To safely make their way through this place, they've been force to join hands and form a chain; this will prevent them from separating and getting lost.

Red leads them all through the dense vegetation, using his feet he feels out his surroundings before taking each step. The ground is covered so thickly by plant life; it hides the rocks, fallen logs, tree roots and occasional bone pile. Any normal person would undoubtedly get hurt traveling through here alone, but since when have either of the twins been normal?

Making use of their extensive experience in the forest, Red's able to navigate them all through the vegetation with little issue. While they have to go slowly, as Serena's not built like either of them and can't handle too much of this, they eventually make their way to a large clearing, near the heart of the forest.

The tree tops open wide, allowing an ocean of warming sunlight to flow through freely and bathe the earth below. Normally this would allow plant life to grow freely within the light, but this area is used by the twins and their Masters regularly, as such the ground has been used and abused so thoroughly it can no longer support life.

Dusty earth is all that meets the soles of shoes and feet here, with the occasional rock and boulder half buried in it. Perhaps these rocks are also part of the training, or at least used in their sessions. Regardless, there is a distinctive lack of life in the area, even in the trees surrounding this place there are no visible Pokémon.

Maybe they're hiding, or simply sleeping, it makes little difference, the sounds and sights of the impending training will scare them off before long.

Now they have found the clearing they seek, they break their chain and eagerly explore their surroundings. The twins start off by releasing their Pokémon, having promised to let them watch them train today.

Torchic jumps for joy the moment he is released from his ball, eagerly chirping away. "YAY YAY YAY!"

Charmander takes a less joyful approach, instead of hopping around and screaming like a girl, he instantly begins a search for the ones who will be training his trainer. "I'm looking for my trainer's trainers… That's fucked up"

Deciding to join her friends, Serena let's Charla out. The girl version of Red's starter plops herself down on the floor, curling up on herself. "Too early to get up… Five more minutes" She grumbled, only half awake.

Serena giggles into her hands at the sight before her; she crouches down and gently strokes Charla's scaly skin. "Enjoy it while you can, when Luke and Gallade get here we're goanna watch them train Red and Lily"

While they wait for their Masters arrival, the twins take a little time to stretch their muscles. Normally their training requires them to be active for long periods of time, so stretching first will prevent them from hurting themselves and will let them train for longer.

Before he's able to stretch more than his legs, indescribable pain swallows Red's head, he drops onto the ground with his eyes clamped shut. His small hands clamp down onto his skull, messing up his hair even more than it normally is. "Fuck. My head's killing me" He thought as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

His head feels as though it's a ripe melon and is being sawn in half by a rusty chainsaw. His pain goes unnoticed for a moment, as Lily's mind is focused on readying herself for training and Serena's doting on Charla.

Charmander notices his pain though, turning his attention towards him he watches for a moment with confusion. "What's up with you?" But all his trainer hears is the sound of him growling his own name repeatedly.

The pain in his head intensifies and spreads down to his face, it feels like someone's driving spikes through his eyes to stab into his brain. His tears leak out of his eyes, he fights to hold them in, but they still trickle down his cheeks. "What… Why… When… The fuck's goin' on?" He mumbled.

His voice may be weak, but it's enough to carry his words to both his sister and his crush. They both abandon their tasks to focus their attention on him, just in time to see him press his face into his knees, in an attempt to block out the pain.

"What's wrong Red?" Lily asked as she and Serena scrambled to his side. "Red talk to us"

He can't answer, the pain is too strong, it has him paralysed. All traces of thought are forced from his mind; all there is to him now is his pain, the pain that grows stronger with every passing second.

Both the girls and the Pokémon all close in on him, asking various questions which he cannot answer. Inside him, deep deep inside his being, a tiny spark of darkness forms, bringing with it intense agony.

The new pain dwarfs the pain in his head, so much so that it breaks through his paralysis and forces his back to arch. He drops back, slamming his head hard on the ground, writhing in crippling agony, grunting and crying out in pain. His tears flow freely from his eyes, which remain clamped shut; he couldn't open them if he tried.

A burst of white light forms in the centre of the sunlight, blinding those who can still see and forcing them to shield their eyes. Once their eyes adjust, they're able to clearly see a pair of adult sized figures.

On the left side stands Gallade, his face firmly fixed in a death glare, aimed firmly at the child in agony. Judging by the look across his face, he wants to cleave his head in two. Standing on the right side is Luke, with his hood down to reveal his face to them all. His heavy Mightyena fur cloak shields the rest of his body from sight, but cannot shield the fear written across his face. "Shit. We're too late"

Gallade's talons extend as he takes a battle pose. "It has begun; this is our last chance Master. We should destroy it before it can complete its possession" As he speaks, Luke shrugs his cloak off his shoulders, allowing it to drop to the ground. "I see… We will wait then, and fight it"

All eyes focus firmly on one of the adults, with the exception of Red, who's in too much pain to notice or care. Luke's frame and clothes are revealed to them all, instantly the eye is drawn to the thin chain and pendant hanging from his neck.

The chain itself is very thin; all it'd take to break it is a sharp tug. Its gold colouring gleams in the sunlight, sending sparkles across the ground. Hanging from this chain, is a tiny locket, also gold in colour, big enough to hold two tiny pictures. A stone has been set in its surface, a tiny rainbow coloured stone that sparkles in the light, in its centre a black flame like DNA strand resides. A Keystone, when combined with Gallade's Mega Stone, it unlocks the power of Mega Evolution.

What has their gazes enthralled, is the dim blue hue radiating from the chain. It's barely noticeable in the bright light, but it is there, holding their eyes hostage.

Luke's frame is average, a slight amount of muscle tone resides across his body, just enough to be noticeable. His torso is covered by a dark grey tank top, which leaves his arms free for sharp movement. A pair of black pants covers his legs; they hang freely from his frame, also allowing for quick movement without restriction. His feet are protected from the earth below by a pair of wooden soled flip flips.

As his arms are left to face the elements, the tattoos across the underside of his forearms are exposed. On each arm, he bears a black version of the symbol of the Knights.

With a crack of his neck, Luke takes a battle pose, ready to fight to defend himself and those around him. "All of you listen carefully, get to cover and don't come out no matter what" His tone is firm and commanding, leaving no room for negotiation. "NOW!"

The Pokémon and Serena all turn to Lily, searching for support and a decision. Do they obey him and hide, or do they stay here with Red? She's the only one here, who can actually say something, who knows either of them.

A raging storm of conflict rages inside Lily's young mind, her Master just gave her a direct order, but to obey him would mean abandoning her brother when he's in agony. He needs help, not to be abandoned. "Master, something's really wrong with Red!" Her voice cracks with the stain of her fear. "Please, he's in pain"

Her words stone Luke's heart, as much as he wants to say he can make it better for her, there's nothing he can do. The cause of the pain is something no one can ever treat; all they can do is wait for it to end. His eyes fall shut, as his head lowers. "I know Lily, but you must do I say. All of you need to…" He trails off, as Red's screams abruptly end. "Shit"

The tear filled eyes of the boy rip open, reflecting unparalleled fear across their surface. His screams of pain finally die, giving way to a deep and savage snarl. His lips curl into his gums, revealing his teeth and allowing the snarl to be heard.

He can feel it now, the darkness inside him is growing stronger with every passing second. His body begins to betray him, refusing to do as he says, in favour of obeying the darkness. He doesn't have much time, a handful of seconds at the most, before his mind gives out.

Summoning the last shreds of strength he has left, he manages to force four words through his teeth. "Get… Away from me" He breathed through his snarl.

Without wasting a second, Serena grabs his free hand and moves in closer, allowing her to hear him clearer. "What? What'd you say?" She pleaded desperately, praying silently for his pain to end.

Rage floods through him, rage that doesn't belong to him. His eyes dart towards her; the rage deepens his snarl and rips his hand out from hers. "I said… GET AWAY FROM ME!" His roar sends fear down the spines of every single one of them.

Without him telling it to, his hand swings out to slap Serena. Luckily for her, she's able to avoid the strike. She falls backwards, staring at her crush with horror written across her face, why would he try to hit her?

Her answer comes quicker than she ever could have hoped; he stares at his own hand as though it doesn't belong to him. His fingers coil themselves into a fist so tight, the surface of his skin splits, allowing his blood to trickle down his arm. Instead of the normal crimson colour, his blood is as black as the night sky.

The air seems to freeze as the blood runs down his flesh, the eyes of his sister widen in horror, fear instantly has her paralysed. The others can only stare in horror and confusion, his blood is black? That's never happened before, Charmander's drawn blood more than a few times when he's bit him, but it's never been black.

His fist begins to tremble and pull itself towards the nearest living creature, going straight for the throat. A black hue leaks through the skin, swallowing his arm from the elbow onwards. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He roared in a final desperate attempt to protect his friends and family.

A luminous blue shine forms around those who have been swallowed by fear, Gallade's Psychic attack lifts them all away from him and pulls them behind himself. "You must stay away from him, Red is gone. This thing is the Beast"

They don't even try to resist, their fear of the one they call friend has their attentions so focused they barely even notice it. However, in his haste to protect the young, Gallade missed Charmander; he's still standing at the feet of the soon to be soulless killer.

The fist surrounded in a black hue gives up its search for flesh, in favour of spreading its influence further across Red's body. Charmander's eyes shrink to the size of pin heads, as the black hue swallows his trainer whole, leaving no part of him untouched. As the final shreds of his being are swallowed, thick black smoke rises from his open mouth and eyes, taking away what little control Red has over his body.

Red's body stands up, his mind is screeching for them all to run, to get as far away from his as they can, but his mouth refuses to listen. Instead, the snarl escaping his body deepens, turning darker and more savage with every passing second. As the Beast takes full control over his young body, his flesh begins to morph, twist, and change.

(A/N I don't own this song, Monster by Skillet)

The secret side of me

I never let you see

I keep it caged but I can't control it

The auburn brown hair across the surface of his head grows darker, turning pitch black within seconds. The blood flowing through his veins loses its crimson colour, turning as black as his hair. The darkness of his blood affects his flesh, forcing the tan from his skin.

So stay away from me, the Beast is ugly

I feel the rage and I just can't hold it

In a flash his flesh turns a dull shade of grey, mimicking the skin of the dead. The skin that protects his hands from the world continues to blacken, before long, from the wrist up, it turns as black as the soul of the Beast. His bones grow longer and thicken, forcing his muscles to grow with them. His clothes stretch against the expanding flesh, losing all of their looseness and forcing them to hug his skin.

It's scratching on the walls, in the closet in the halls

It comes awake and I can't control it

Hidin' under the bed, in my body, in my head

He grows taller and taller; the sound of creaking bones escapes his entire frame. When he finished growing, he stands 5 feet tall, with the body build of a teenager, rather than a child. With a demonic hiss, his jaws open wide, revealing his rotting yellow teeth. More than this, his teeth sharpen and shatter, reforming themselves into a full set of razor sharp fangs. Made for the tearing and ripping of flesh.

Why won't somebody come and save me from this?

MAKE IT END!

I FEEL IT DEEP WITHIN!

IT'S JUST BENEATH THE SKIN!

I MUST CONFESS THAT I FEEL LIKE A MONSER!

His tongue darkens, turning a deep shade of purple. With a flick of this growing muscle, he sends strings of drool across the ground below. The tip of the fleshy organ sharpens into a fine point, giving him the perfect tool to lick blood through the tiniest of cuts.

I hate what I've become

The nightmare's just begun

I MUST CONFES THAT I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER!

I, I, FEEL LIKE A MONSTER!

I, I, FEEL LIKE A MONSTER!

The child sized clothes clinging to his bulky frame begin to tear, designed and fitted for children, not the body of a teen, the rags of his shirt manage to hold onto his frame, as does his pants. Before long his legs begin to morph once more, his feet rise off the earth, balancing himself on his toes alone. His ankles and heels grow longer, mimicking the legs of a Lucario.

My secret side I keep, hid under lock and key

I keep it caged but I can't control it

Cause if I let it out

It'll tear me up, break me down

Why won't somebody come and save me from this?

MAKE IT END!

While his legs and feet morph, so does his face and head. His chin sharpens itself into a fine point, not unlike a fantasy video game's elven kind. His nose begins to flatten, making his nostrils grow thinner and longer, as though a piece of glass is being forced against it. When it is finished, his nose has become little more than a pair of long slits, allowing for short, sharp bursts of air.

I feel it deep within!

It's just beneath the skin!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!

I hate what I've become!

The nightmare's just begun!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!

His ears grow bigger, more pointed with the points rising towards the skies, seeking out the warmth of the sunlight. His bones become more flexible, allowing for movements that would otherwise be impossible, while retaining their steel like strength.

I, I, feel like a monster!

I, I, feel like a monster!

It's hidin' in the dark!

It's teeth are razor sharp!

There's no escape for me!

It wants my soul, it wants my heart!

To compensate for the growth of his feet, his toes grow longer, allowing him to balance effortlessly without the need for the rest of the limb. The nails at the end of his toes grow longer, turning yellow with filth.

No one can hear me scream

Maybe it's just a dream…

MAYBE IT'S INSIDE OF ME!

Stop this monster!

The eyes of every single living thing in the area glue themselves to the rapidly growing child before them. The girls cling to their Pokémon desperately, refusing to them anywhere near him. Charmander continues to stare in both horror and shock, never before in his life has he ever felt so terrified than he does now. Both Luke and Gallade can feel what the others cannot, the power radiating from this… Thing, is stronger than it has ever been, far stronger. Stronger than even their own combined power.

In his fear, Gallade loses his Psychic hold over the girls and their Pokémon. With a soft thud, which goes unnoticed by all, they land on the ground again. Still no one dares take their eyes off this thing.

I feel it deep within…..

It's just beneath the skin…..

I must confess that I…..

His snarl finally dies, giving way to a sadistic smirk across his face, one that sends fear flooding through them all.

FEEL LIKE A MONSTER!

I hate what I've become!

The nightmares just begun!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!

I feel it deep within!

It's just beneath the skin!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!

His fingernails recede into his flesh, leaving them devoid of the makeshift weaponry. But not for long, the bones at the end of his fingers and thumbs begin to grow, while the flesh does not. The tips of these appendages split open, allowing the growing bones to leave their fleshy home. Thick black blood clings to these bones, tainting them and turning them pure white. These bones begin to curve downwards, turning each of them into two inch long hook like talons.

I'm goanna lose control!

It's something radical!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!

The orbs of sight that reflect his pure soul grow dark, abandoning their normal electric blue for an empty blackness. The normal round pupils gain a blood red line around themselves, distinguishing them from the black irises. These pupils begin to contract and lengthen, becoming Liepard like.

I, I, feel like a monster!

I, I, feel like a monster!

I, I, feel like a MONSTER!

The transformation is complete, Red is gone, locked away inside his own head and forced to watch this in horror. The Beast is free, having possessed his body; it is now free to spill blood once again. It has corrupted and twisted the body of an innocent child, forcing it to obey its every whim, and fulfil its dark ambitions.

The instant the creature takes control over Red's body, the tattoos across Luke's arms pulse with life. With each pulse, their colour shifts from black to blue, the same colour as his Aura. Each pulse burns his flesh, warning him of the danger he's in, as if he needs a warning.

The Beast slowly examines its surroundings, trying to figure out just where it is. The forest falls deathly silent; no one dares make a sound. Its eyes linger on both Luke and Gallade, but quickly dart off to the easy prey behind them both. Its long tongue licks its teeth; it can taste their blood already.

Charmander works up the nerve to speak again, he's no coward, he won't be paralysed by fear. "Red? What happened to you? You look… Evil"

The eyes of the creature of darkness twist down to face the Fire type, it tilts its head curiously, as if it is a child who has found a new toy. "Red is dead. I am the Beast" It growled, darker than even a Houndoom's snarl.

Its demonic voice paralyses Charmander in fear, that voice sounded nothing like Red, it's dripping with pure evil. It holds its right hand over his face, open palmed to form an Orb as black as its soul. "Die lizard"

A beam of pure Aura bursts through the Orb, burning through the air to meet the flesh of the bad tempered lizard. Before it can hit its mark, a luminous blue haze surrounds Charmander and tugs him to safety. The beam burns through the earth in place of flesh, leaving a smouldering pile of blackened ash behind.

Saved by Gallade's quick Psychic, Charmander stares at the creature before him in horror, it nearly killed him. It tried to kill him. He just avoided death by the skin of his teeth. These thought flow through his mind, as he is pulled to the safety of the earth, at Lily's feet.

The Beast slowly lifts its head, to give a crazed stare at both the adults here. "Hehehehehehehe… You two are next, Knight scum"

It lunges its left hand out to its side, to the horror and confusion of those watching, its limb grows longer and longer, easily reaching into the trees ten feet away from it. The sound of flapping wings escapes the branches of the trees, along with the desperate chirping of a terrified Pidgey. "NO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" It cried.

The Beast pulls its arm back to its normal length, carrying in its hand a Pidgey, flapping its wings desperately trying to escape its clutches. It holds strong though, refusing to release its prey. "Say goodnight" It growled venomously.

Luke's eyes widen in horror, instinctively he turns to face the children. "DON'T LOOK!" But it's too late; they've already seen what it plans to do to them.

The Beast's talons dig into the flesh of the innocent bird, making use of its inhuman strength; it crushes the defenceless Pokémon's hollow bones and organs in its hand. Blood explodes from the Pidgeon like creature's every extremity; its own stomach is forced out from its beak.

The poor Pidgey doesn't suffer for long, in less than a second it's dead. Having no further use for it, the Beast drops its carcass on the ground, before stomping on its tiny head and grinding its foot amidst its brains, feathers and bones. "That was fun, but I think I'll enjoy killing the little ones more"

The blood drains from the faces of the children, all five of them, never before has any of them seen such something die, let alone something die so brutally. Lily silently returns Torchic to his Pokéball, she can't protect herself, but she can protect him. Serena quickly follows suit, before emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground. She heaves for what feels like an eternity, but in reality is only a few seconds.

Luke and Gallade ready themselves for a fight, the green and white Pokémon charges up a Psycho Cut attack, his talons glow hot pink with Psychic energy. Luke forms a pair of blue Orbs in his palms, each the size of grapefruits. They both know that thing is far stronger than they are now, they stand virtually no chance of survival, let alone victory, but they must try.

They must try to defend the children, no matter the cost, they must survive this ordeal. They are the future, without them and others like them; the Knights will weaken and eventually fall.

They both steel their courage, trying to hide their fear and snarl angrily at the abomination before them. "Before we do this, tell us, how did you get so powerful?"

It cracks its neck to the side, smirking demonically at them both as it does. "How? Hehehehehehehe… My Master rewards his most loyal servants, he rewards us with power beyond your comprehension" It holds its blood soaked hand at eye level, to show them the power it commands.

Black Fire forms in the palm of its hand; the flames dance across its flesh, but don't burn it in the slightest. These flames look exactly like normal fire, except they're pitch black. The fire coils around its hand, slowly climbing up to its elbow. "I wield Black Fire now"

The eyes of the adults widen in horror, while the ignorant children watch the flames in confusion, did that thing just spawn fire? Luke's body tenses up at the sight of the flames, a cold sweat runs down his face, dripping down onto the ground. Gallade slowly shakes his head, unable to accept what he's seeing. "No… No… God no, anything but that"

The Beast coils its hand into a tight fist once again, stabbing its own flesh with its talons as it does. If it feels the pain from its own weaponry, it shows no signs of it. The flames dancing across its flesh die, returning to their source. "You know what this means… Don't you?" It hissed with sadistic pleasure.

The moment he saw the flames, a lump formed in Luke's throat, a lump which he tries hard to swallow. His sweat continues to drip, time is only making it worse, not better. "You… You have darkness and… F-f-fire. That can only mean…" His voice trails off, having lost its strength.

It slowly tilts its head to the side, revelling in the fear it can smell from them all, especially Luke. "I am a Fear Master now, I am unstoppable and you know it" Both Luke and Gallade are so enveloped in their own terror, that they mindlessly nod their heads. "Hehehehehehe… Bow before me, and I might let you live to see those… Small things over there, die first"

Serena's finally able to stop vomiting; having emptied her stomach of everything it held. She wipes the remains of her breakfast from her face, the sight of that innocent Pidgey being slaughtered was too much for her weak constitution to handle. Her eyes sting with tears, this is a nightmare.

Being a supportive friend, Lily pulls her up into a standing position and hugs her tightly, trying her best to comfort her. "It's OK Serena, it's OK… My Masters can beat it down, it'll be over soon" Her voice is like that of her Master, trembling in terror.

Serena cries freely into her shoulder, saying something cannot be understood. Knowing this, she lifts her face off her to repeat her words. "Is that su-supposed to ma-make me feel b-better?" She cried. "My friend has t-to be beaten to near d-d-death to get that thing out of him… How's that supposed to h-help? This is worse than a nightmare, a-at least they end"

Lily tries to comfort her with a tighter hug, but she cannot answer her questions. There is no answer to give, not one that won't upset her even more. All she can do right now, is silently pray for a miracle to come and save them. For a miracle to end this horrible nightmare.

Charmander stares at the creature, confused by how it was able to spawn fire like that. Never in all his life has he seen Black Fire before, green fire yes, but that's a Dragon Breath attack. A question forms in his mind, one that begs for an answer. "What are you?"

This question captures the attention of the sadistic creature, that calls itself the Beast. "What am I?" It growled. "I am the nightmare that haunts your dreams. I am the fire that will burn this world to the ground. I am the darkness inside you all, that you try so hard to bury each day. I am an incarnation of all that is evil… I am all of these things to some, but in reality, I am none of them. I am the Beast, servant of the Eternal Master of Darkness"

It abandons Charmander, turning its valuable attention elsewhere. On the girls specifically, it watches them for a moment, confused by their actions. What are they doing? They have their arms around each other, why? What does that accomplish? "Humans are disgusting creatures"

It once again abandons its attempts to understand human behaviour, to focus on the task at hand. Both of the Knights standing before it have begun to visibly tremble, their fear has betrayed them. The sweet scent of their terror tantalises and teases its powerful sense of smell; it has always loved the scent of fear.

It takes a step forwards, expecting some form of attack from either of them, to its slight surprise, they don't even attempt to move. They're even more terrified than it thought; it's gotten to the point where they can't move.

Without fear or hesitation, it takes another step forwards, gauging their bodies for reaction. Still nothing, they're simply too afraid to move. Seeing them as no threat anymore, it turns its attention to the girls once again, they're both easy prey. Unlike the adults, these two have yet to come into their full power, leaving them vulnerable and easy pickings.

"Are you two the ones he's screaming about?" It silently asked itself. "Ah yes, you are. His sister and his friend… Once you two are dead at my feet, he will never resist me again… He will be broken" These thoughts give birth to yet another sadistic grin across its face.

The look across its face doesn't go unnoticed, while they are petrified to the point of losing proper bladder control, both of the Knights know the code dictates they die with dignity and honour. They close the gap between them, blocking the children from its sights. "You want them; you have to get through us first"

---

Finally. Finally Serena understands what Red meant, when he said the Beast was a separate creature from himself. He's cursed, cursed to have an animal like this trapped inside of him. He can't do anything to stop it from possessing him, all he can do is try to warn those around him to go, to abandon him and flee for their lives.

He's a prisoner inside his own body, living in constant fear of this thing, how can he possibly live like this? He can't ever feel safe, knowing that his presence could get those he cares about killed. He might never have known what it means to be safe, truly safe.

It's like he's been imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit, he's just as innocent as they are, and yet he's treated horribly for something he can't control.

It's inhumane. To blame him for what this thing does. Can you blame a person for being born with blonde hair? For having freckles? For having a monobrow? No. And you certainly can't blame him for this thing.

---

The Beast's grin grows wider upon hearing the challenge it has been presented, kill them both, so it can reach the children? That's no challenge. "You're the ones I'm after; those three can wait to die. But you two… My Master has ordered your deaths, so I will rip your flesh from your bones, and devour your souls"

Gallade forces his fear down, deep down inside of him, he has to fight. His second talon extends and glows as a second Psycho Cut is formed across it. "If we are going to die, then we will die fighting"

With that he leaps forwards, spinning in the air as he does to launch his double Psycho Cut attack. Two slashes of hot pink Psychic energy split the air in two, as they crash into the Beast's open hands.

It catches this deadly attack, with little to no effort whatsoever. "Is that the best you can do?" It taunted, before destroying the attack.

Before his feet collide with the earth again, Gallade teleports behind the Beast, extends his right talon and thrusts it through its back. The deep green appendage bursts through its chest, soaked in its black blood. The Beast cries out in agony, as it stares at the foreign object in its body. "No. This is" Gallade hissed confidently.

The hopes of those watching rise, could this attack be enough to defeat the Beast? Is the nightmare over before it truly begins?

No. Not even close.

In a brutal attack, the Beast slams its elbow across Gallade's face, knocking him away from it and removing his talon from its flesh in a single motion. It presses its hands onto its chest, sending black pulses across its body which rebuild its broken bones and severed flesh. Aside from a hole through its clothing and some black blood, there's nothing left behind to show it was ever attacked. "Pathetic" It hissed venomously.

The sight of his lifelong partner, and closest friend, risking life and limb to try and fight inspires courage in his own heart. Luke wants to fight this thing, or die trying. The Orbs are still in his palms, filled with power. Without hesitation or mercy, he hurls them straight at the Beast. "EAT THIS!"

It turns just in time to see a flash of blue collide with its face, creating a cloud of smoke that covers its body. Luke creates another pair of Orbs and hurls them straight into the cloud of smoke, the lack of screams worry him slightly, but he can't afford to think about this, he needs to keep attacking. He continues to fire Orbs in rapid succession, each one create more smoke than the last.

Seeing an opportunity for an attack of his own, Gallade charges up a pair of Power-Up-Punch attacks, his fists glow red with Fighting energy. He slams his attacks straight into its back, like his Master, he attacks in rapid succession. With each and every strike, his body glows red for a moment, signifying his Attack stat is rising.

Together they attack it from both sides, not giving an inch in their battle. The lack of screams or cries disturbs them both, yes the Beast has gotten stronger, but it still should be hurting from so many attacks at once. But there's nothing, the only sounds come from their own attacks.

Realising that this is going nowhere, Luke decides to use a different attack. He puts his hands together at his side, with a small pocket of air between them, and concentrates his Aura into a single point. "GALLADE MOVE!" An Orb forms between his hands, crackling with power.

Responding to his Master's call, Gallade abandons his own attack and performs a back flip through the air to escape the blast range. His leap forces the smoke to leave the Beast, revealing the damage that has been done.

An opaque black shield surrounds it, like an oval shaped bubble. Luke, Gallade and Lily all recognise this to be a Barrier, a shield to protect you or someone else from attacks. After the first blast, the Beast must have thrown up its shield, which means it didn't feel a thing. That's why it wasn't howling in pain, because it felt no pain at all.

It crosses its arms confidently; its entire being seems to radiating an Aura of confidence, as well as darkness and evil. The Barrier that surrounds its flesh dissolves away, leaving it vulnerable to attack, yet its confidence remains strong. "Go ahead, make my day. Vermin"

In a flash of blue light, Luke thrusts his hands forwards and looses a beam of pure Aura straight towards the Beast. The Aura Wave burns its way through the air, illuminating the darkness filled forest in a glorious blue haze. For the briefest of moments, the entire clearing lights up, drawing in all eyes towards the light. The beam doesn't burn or strain the eyes, no; it allows them to gaze into the Wave with perfect vision. It does however; block their view of the Beast entirely.

Before Luke's attack can even leave his hands, the Beast sets its own counter measures in motion. A deep shadow forms at its feet, rising up across its body, swallowing it in its darkness. The Beast sinks into this shadow, filling it up, smirking all the while. Gallade's view of his Master's attack is blocked by the Beast's silhouette, preventing him from being blinded. He's able to clearly see it evade the attack, in a fraction of a second. "Shadow Sneak? It knows that move? How?"

These questions are forced from his mind, when Luke's Aura Wave accidentally collides with his chest. It's original target was easily able to avoid it, but Luke couldn't see that, so he couldn't break it before it struck his partner.

Gallade cries out in pain, as the attack crashes into his armour, forcing him back and sending pain throughout his entire body. Luke breaks his attack quickly, but it's too late, the damage has been done.

Gallade staggers backwards, his mind addled from the pain of that deadly attack. The rest of them are clearly able to see his armour has a hole in the main body, melted away by the Wave; his flesh has also been burned by the same attack. His Mega Stone lies in pieces on the ground, ground into dust by the attack. Gallade and Luke have just lost their power over Mega Evolution, and their one chance to win.

While they try to comprehend just what he has done, the shadow that contains the Beast slinks behind the injured Pokémon, taking advantage of his pain addled mind. In the blink of an eye, the Beast rises from the shadows and strikes Gallade across the back with its Ghost type attack, dealing heavy damage to the Psychic type.

Gallade stumbles forwards, before catching himself and turning to face his enemy. He is met by the Black Flame covered hand of the Beast in his face, instinctively he crosses his arms before his head, to shield himself from the darkness infused fire.

He acts not a moment too soon, the instant he completes his block, the Black Fire blasts out from its hand and burns him. The force from the blast pushes him back, his legs hold strong to dig into the earth, but it's not enough to stop him from being forced back to Luke's side.

The Knight hurls another wave of Orbs straight at the Beast; it breaks its own attack to block. The Orbs collide with its flesh, creating a veil of smoke across its body, this time it howls in a mixture of rage and pain.

Gallade lowers his burn covered arms, panting heavily with sweat rolling down his body. That was no ordinary fire, he's been hit by hundreds of Fire type moves, but none of them has ever hurt him like that. "Master… (Pant) Avoid that… (Pant) Fire. It… It does (Pant) more than burn you" He wheezed through his fatigue. "It was… (Pant) Stealing my energy… (Wheeze) I could feel it, sapping my life force (Pant)… It's trying to steal… (Wheeze) Our Aura from us"

Luke's fear vanishes from his face, he suspected there was more to that fire than met the eye. "Nothing's ever straight forwards with Paladins. I should have known" He thought bitterly. "OK Gallade, I get it. We need to kick up our game. ROCK SLIDE!"

Dozens of rocks form above the patch of smoke that covers the Beast, each surrounded by a luminous blue haze. "DIE ABOMINATION!" Gallade hurls the rocks down upon the Beast, forcing the smoke away from its body.

As the first rock clears the smoke, the Beast can be seen throwing up its arms to try and shield itself from the attack. "NO! NOT A ROCK ATTACK!"

The boulders continue to drop through the air, smashing into its flesh and burying themselves into the earth, with each strike it howls louder, either in pain or rage, there's no way to know. All that Gallade knows for sure is that this attack is hurting it, badly.

Within seconds the Beast drops to its knees, covering its head with its arms, trying desperately to shield itself from the painful attack. It's not long before it's buried alive by the rocks, completely encased in a tomb of boulders.

Gallade knows this isn't enough to end this battle though; he switches tactics, picking up each of the rocks in a single lung with Psychic. The stray rocks quickly cover the underside of the boulder like formation, holding them all together tightly in his mental grasp.

Luke watches for a moment, as the last of the rocks joins the collection. "We need to seal those rocks together, Charmander can you use a Fire attack?"

The young Fire type watches the battle waging before him in horror, Red's actually been nice to him, despite everything he's done to him since they met. Something horrible has happened to him, it kinda looked like he evolved, but he didn't glow, can humans even evolve? It doesn't matter, what does matter is that these two are hurting him, badly. Now they want him to join in?

He just can't do it, he shakes his head. "I don't wanna hurt Red anymore… He's nice to me and treats me like his equal" He whimpered slightly.

The mental strain of holding the boulder like formation is putting a terrible strain on Gallade, he's already extremely tired from the battle, he doesn't need this crap right now. "If you don't do it, then you and everyone else here will die! Do you want that to happen?!" He angrily screeched. "Stop being a fucking coward and attack!"

Charmander snarls angrily at the Psychic/Fighting type, there's no way he's goanna stand around and be treated like that. In a moment of rage, he uses Flamethrower against Gallade.

Before the flames can even get close to him, they're surrounded by a luminous blue haze and freeze in place. Gallade smirks fiendishly; provoking a Fire type is far too easy, they're hot heads by nature. His Psychic attack caught the flames before they could even get close to him; he turns the flames onto the rock formation he has created.

The flames of rage envelop the rockery, their effects amplified multiple times by the Psychic energy that holds them; they manage to melt the surface of the rocks to form an airtight seal. The flames dissipate, revealing the solid lump of rock that has been formed by the combo attack.

His attack complete, Gallade finally releases his mental hold over the rocks that have swallowed the Beast. With a dust raising slam, the tomb like formation is dropped to the earth.

Gallade hunches forwards, his body is soaked to the bone in sweat and he's struggling to breathe properly. Luke carefully places his hand across his shoulder, giving him a look of pride. "You did well Gallade, that thing's gotten so strong, but we still beat it" Gallade's only able to nod his head in response; too fatigued to speak. "It is done. The Beast has been beaten"

The rest of them stare at the makeshift boulder in horror, they've encased it in solid rock, cutting off its air supply. How long can it last for? How long until it leaves Red's body, then he suffocates to death? They've sentenced him to death! All three of them want to scream, to shout, to cry, but nothing comes to them but a horrible feeling of numbness.

They can't take their eyes off the boulder, no, the tomb their friend and brother has been buried in. Unable to accept the simple fact that, he's gone. This time he's not coming back to them, even the Beast can't breathe through solid rock.

Then, seemingly from nowhere, the boulder begins to move. All eyes focus onto it, fear in the eyes of Luke and Gallade, while the rest of them look on in a mixture of fear and a glimmer of hope, hope that perhaps their friend isn't dead after all.

A Black Flame covered fist bursts through the surface of the makeshift tomb, sending splits across its surface. The hope in the eyes of the naïve children dies, replaced by their previous terror. The Beast is very much alive, and judging by the snarl echoing from the boulder, it's pissed.

Gallade and Luke freeze in place, their eyes fixed on the twisting fist protruding from their attack combo. "Is there no end to this things power?!"

Gallade's answer comes in the form of a deafening roar, combined with an explosion of Black Fire and rock shards. Luke manages to throw up a blue Barrier of his own, but not before a shard of rock is able to drive itself into his gut. "GWA!" He grunted in pain.

From the rubble of the destroyed boulder, the Beast rises. Thick black blood runs down its face, the source of which resides in its hairline. An angry snarl ripples across its blood soaked face, sending shivers of terror down the spines of those unfortunate enough to see it. "THAT HURT! THAT ACTUALLY HURT!" It roared at the top of its lungs.

The pain from having a foreign object inserted into his stomach forces Luke to drop his Barrier, and clutch the rock with both his hands. Both he and Gallade struggle to breathe through their fatigue and pain, but they're both able to see the damage that Rock attack did to it. "Only makes sense, GWA! It's a Fire type aft-AAGH! All" Luke grunted between cries of pain.

Gallade nods his head, before extending his talons once again. He can barely stand, but maybe he can fake the Beast out, if he can trick it into thinking he's standing strong it'll back down. It's a long shot, but it's the only shot they have left. "I'm ready for round two, how 'bout you?" He bluffed.

Luke watches Gallade out of the corner of his eye; he can see he's trembling with fatigue and fear. "Gallade you idiot, you can't fucking bluff for shit!" He angrily thought. His eye returns to the Beast, to see the anger burning across its face. "You bastard Gallade" He thought with fear.

Before either of them is able to react, the blackened hands of the Beast coil around their throats tightly, shutting off their supply of oxygen in an instant. The arms of the Beast retract to their usual length, dragging with them the injured and exhausted Knights.

They desperately claw at its hands, trying their hardest to restore their supply of oxygen. The blood soaked claw like fingers of the Beast hold their throats too tightly though, its talons stab into their flesh, dangerously close to their jugular veins. The main blood carrying vessel in their throats.

"I've had enough of you two!" It growled venomously as it tightened its hold over them both. "When you go to the other side, tell them they can't keep my Master imprisoned for long. HE WILL BE FREE!"

The faces of the brave Knights begin to turn a distinctive shade of blue, indicating their blood is running dangerously low on the precious life giving oxygen. It won't be long now; soon the sweet embrace of death will come to them.

"I wonder, how will they judge us for what we have done? They won't forgive us… I wouldn't forgive us. There is no forgiveness for what we have done… The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors, of any and all kinds" As these final thoughts pass through Luke's mind; his eyes shut themselves, as he submits to death. "Sorry Lily… Red… I'm so sorry for what we've done to you both"

The Beast loosens its grip a shade, just enough to allow them to breathe out slightly. "Any last words?" It growled.

Gallade's far too weak to be able to speak again; his body gives out on him, allowing him to drift into the dreamless sleep of the unconscious. His final moments will be of peace, rather than of fear. Luke is not so lucky, he cannot be spared the slow and humiliating death by passing out. Knowing this, he forces his eyes to open one last time, he won't give this thing the satisfaction of seeing him afraid anymore. "Go. Fuck. Yourself" He weakly rasped.

The fingers of the Beast tighten their hold, piercing their flesh with its talons once again. "JUST DDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE ALREADY!"

The young and inexperienced eyes of Serena, Lily and even Charmander shut themselves tightly, none of them can bare the sight of them dying. Being forced to watch the Pidgey die was horrific enough, but at least it died quickly, the Beast is taking its time with Luke and Gallade though.

Dragging out their deaths for as long as it possibly can, sadistically toying with their lives, as though they are nothing but playthings for its amusement.

"You three are next!" It hissed demonically. "As soon as these two are dead, I'm coming for you all"

A squeak of fear escapes the lips that belong to Serena; her terror betrays her and gives the Beast what it wants from them. "I… I can't believe it. This is it… We're goanna die today… Someone, please make it stop" She thought, as more squeaks of fear burst free.

A new sound echoes through the heart of the forest, one that pierces the dense vegetation of this ancient woodland. The sound of cracking bone.

The fingers of the Beast lose all their previous power and strength, unable to hold on anymore, it drops both its would-be victims. Before either of them are able to touch the ground again, a blur of blue, moving so fast the eye cannot take in the sight of its source, catches them both and hurls them against the moss covered trunk of a tree.

They slide down the growth covered surface, to hit the earth once again. They're unconscious, hurt and exhausted, but at least they're alive.

The howls of agonising pain break the silence that had fallen across the forest; the Beast clutches the back of its bleeding skull, as it voices its pain. Its eyes look as though they're trying to burst free from its damaged skull and hang freely by their retinas. Strings of drool hang freely from its fangs, also trying to be free from this creature of darkness.

"WHO THE FUCK DID THAT?!" It howled in rage. Its vision begins to break down, blurring to the point where it can no long see straight. Whether from pain or rage, it doesn't know, nor does it care.

The timid eyes of the children shakily open, daring against the odds to hope that someone has come to save them. They're greeted by the ruffled cream coloured fur of Lucario's back, between his paws sits a black blood covered Bone Rush club.

Overwhelming joy flows through Lily at seeing her Grampa here, they prayed for a miracle and they got one. "GRAMPA!" She cried out, as her tears turn to tears of joy.

Without breaking his attack pose, Lucario responds to her cry. "You've handled yourselves well, all three of you. But you must go now, go and find somewhere safe. The Beast is my concern" His tone is perfectly calm and without fear.

The vision of the Beast finally recovers enough to allow it to see once again, even without its vision it would know who struck it from behind with a sneak attack. "Lucario" It hissed. Ripping two chunks of black, blood soaked hair out of its head, it roars demonically at him.

Several strings of its saliva are sent flying through the air, crashing against the plant life between it and its new challenger. With a perfectly calm expression across his face, Lucario speaks with a tone that matches his appearance. "Don't spit like that. It's disgusting"

Confusion floods through Serena's mind, overwhelming her fear for a moment, just long enough for her to ask an important question. "Lily, why's your Grampa so calm?"

Through the tears of joy streaming down her face, Lily beams at her friend. "Grampa's never lost to the Beast before Serena, if anyone can beat it, it's him. We're safe now, Grampa's here"

Their conversation tugs on the sensitive ears of the aging Fighting/Steel type, his head turns sharply to allow one of his eyes to glare at them all. "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?! Go! Get out of here while you can! The Beast's a lot stronger than it was the last time I fought it, and I don't know if I can still defeat it! YOU MUST GO NOW!" Desperation and terror echoes throughout his voice, confirming his fears that he might not be able to do what he has always managed to do before.

Before any of the children have the chance to do as he asks, a tightly formed, burning ball of Black Fire is hurled straight towards them. "NO ONE ESCAPES ME!" It snarled.

Before the flames even get close enough to warm their flesh, the club in Lucario's paws splits the ball in two, dissipating the potentially fatal attack into nothingness. Without so much a breaking a sweat, Lucario spins his club between his paws and takes a battle pose once again. "You are poorly trained, Beast"

The anger surging through the Beast is unrivalled, its snarl deepens to the point that a thick white foam forces its way out of the twisted flesh that forms its lips. A heavy vein presses against its dead flesh, atop its forehead, throbbing in tune with the beat of its stolen heart.

The terror that seems to come from simply being in the presence of such an evil being, has all three of the children so petrified that they find their legs rebelling against them. They all want to listen to Lucario, to run and get somewhere safe, but the limbs protruding from their hips refuse to obey.

The Aura radiating from this creature seems to have little to no effect on the trained Knight that is Lucario. "How did you get fire? Come on, use the muscle in my Grandson's head and try something called… Thinking" He taunted.

His insult stings far worse than the crack in its skull, deepening its snarl and forcing the vein atop its face to throb harder. "I've transcended the limitations of the Boy's weak body. I have TRULY embraced the darkness, and have transformed into what your kind fears the most. A Fear Master"

Its demonic hiss sends shivers down the spines of the children, their easily frightened minds don't truly understand the magnitude of the Beast's new title, but they don't need to. Its words are meant for its newest challenger, expecting him to react like the children, petrified beyond imaging.

The aged Fighting/Steel former champion stares his opponent down, his Inner Focus ability saves him from flinching at the mention of its new title. Years of training to ignore the overpowering sense of fear now works in his favour, he can maintain his perfectly calm expression. "You are a liar and certainly no Fear Master. If you were, your power would be stronger than mine, and the failures combined. You are just a Paladin"

He's not afraid. Despite the sharp increase in its base power, he's not afraid of it. Just how strong is Lucario? To be able to face it down without even a hint of fear in his voice, sure he was frightened when he spoke to the small things, but that was different. He wasn't afraid of it, he was afraid for them. "Just how strong is he?" It asked itself, silently.

Its own fear betrays it, forcing its young body to visibly tremble at the sight of the Pokémon. Several trickles of sweat flow across its dead flesh, dampening the rags across its frame. "Stop this behaviour! He's nothing now, not even a worthless bug. I can destroy him effortlessly" It said to itself, to try and calm the raging storm of terror brewing inside of it.

The ever calm Lucario flourishes his club, sending black blood flying across the earth and surrounding vegetation. His crimson eyes narrow, in a threatening manner. "I've had enough talk, this ends now"

A mile wide streak of confidence lies at the core of his words, while he has his doubts as to whether or not he can win this fight; he knows he will give everything he has and more, to defend his family.

His old yet strong legs carry him across the battlefield, faster than the naked eye can follow. His Extreme Speed leaves behind nothing but a blue blur, his sheer speed stuns the Beast long enough for him to swing his Bone Rush club straight into its head once again.

With a bone crunching snap, his club snaps in two and dissolves away. The black blood of the Beast has been splattered across the earth, tainting it and destroying any chance it once had to allow life to once again sprout from its surface.

The force behind the blow knocks the Beast off its feet and into the dirt, it could care less about its accommodations now, the pain from that Super Effective strike has it writhing around, clutching its cracked skull. "AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" It howled, as its blood poured out onto its fingers.

Lucario stands over his opponent, glaring down at it with determination in his powerful eyes. "I'll make you a deal, if you release my Grandson now, I'll show you mercy. If you refuse my generous offer, I will beat you within an inch of your life" He said coldly.

The sight of black healing pulses, washing over its blood soaked head gives him his answer. It has never once taken advantage of his offers before, so why would it start now? "You've only just begun to see my power" It hissed, with a grin across its lips.

A second ball of Black Fire burns in its palm, without searing or scorching its flesh. It swings its arm out and hurls the fire into his face, before the flames can burn his fur he performs a backflip, to avoid its burning touch.

Taking the momentary distance between them as a chance to turn the tables in this fight, the Beast climbs to its feet and hisses demonically at them all. Lucario's paws touch back down on solid ground, before he has the chance to launch a counter attack; the Beast begins to change again.

Its jaw hangs open, exposing its teeth to them all and allowing it to snarl like a Mightyena at them all. Its pitch black hair, soaked in its own blood, rises from its newly healed skull and flutters like a flame.

The sharp, crimson eyes of Lucario widen at the sight before him, the Beast is transforming. "Well, I didn't expect this" He thought, before returning to his previous calm expression.

It's already powerful muscles tense up and grow stronger, forcing the rags across its frame to tear and split more, without falling from its body. The now flame like hair across its head begins to grow longer, it continues to flow like fire, even as it clumps together to form solid black spikes, each reaching out towards the sky.

A ghostly black hue surrounds its flesh, causing it to grow darker and more twisted. Before long the hue evolves into a full out glow, surrounding it as though it were a bug zapper. Its eyes open wide, as black bloodshot lines spread across their dirty yellow surface.

(A/N Look up DBZ Gohan Super Saiyan 2, just remove the chunk of hair that hangs over his face and change the colours)

With a deafening roar, the Black Fire bursts out from the Beast's entire body and climbs through the air to burn the tree tops. The burning Black Flames incinerate the leafs and branches, widening the clearing even further. "LET'S GO AGAIN OLD MAN!"

The Beast stands before them all, the Black Fire slowly receding back into its body, as a twisted grin forms across its face.

The inexperienced eyes of both the girls are unable to comprehend what it has done, it has twisted Red's body even further, forcing him to become something he's not… It's horrible. While the eyes of Charmander can offer nothing to allow this to make sense, he can feel something coming from this creature. It's as though he can feel the power burning inside of it, yearning to escape and kill them all.

The eldest soul in this forest tilts his head curiously, while an eyebrow climbs up the surface of his fur. No emotion can be seen in his wrinkled face, he remains perfectly calm. "You can transform into your Burst form… That's unexpected, but it does explain how you have a Fire typing as well as control over the flames… But I am well aware of the weaknesses of your typing, I trained along-side a Fire type all my life, you'll be easy enough to take down now"

The grin across its face dissolves away, replaced by a deep snarl. Its fists clench once again, forcing its own weaponry into its flesh and spilling its own blood again. "I AM A FEAR MASTER! I wield more power than you could possibly imagine" As it snarls, Black Fire spawns across its fists and climbs up the surface of its powerful arms, reaching the joints that comprise its shoulders. "You'll never live to see your grandson again"

Despite the aggression and rage echoing through its voice, Lucario's expression remains perfectly calm. No signs of fear linger across his wrinkles, despite the incredible increase in the Beast's power, he remains calm. "Well you've certainly gotten a promotion, but you're no Master… Not yet. You have a fraction of the full power a Master wields, but without the weapons of one, you have chance of beating me. A shame, all that effort for nothing… Pity"

That taunt stabs into the Beast, far more than it should have. Its snarl deepens, quickly becoming a sound that the human body should not be able to make. The pure rage burning inside of it forces the veins throbbing on its forehead to pulse harder; they're getting dangerously close to bursting now.

"I am tired of talk, the longer you're here, the more pain my Grandson will feel. I'm going to crush you like a Bug Pokémon" He taunted.

In a blur of blue, Lucario uses Double Team and creates over a dozen copies of himself. The copies form a perfect circle around the Beast, trapping it like a Rattata in the centre of the battlefield. Its eyes rake across them all, searching for some sign that will lead it to the original. No difference can be found in any of them, giving it no indication as to which of them is the real one. "This is a trick for cowards! Face me like a man you coward!"

Each of the Lucario's pulls their paws to their right side, pool their Aura into the form of an Aura Sphere attack. A ball of blue Aura, resembling an Orb, is formed. In perfect unison they all hurl their attacks directly into the creature of Darkness, creating a veil of smoke across the surface of the Beast.

The howl of agony tells them all that the attack was successful; it didn't have time to create a Barrier to defend itself. As the smoke clears, the Beast is revealed to be panting heavily and clutching its left arm. "Dam this weak body! That attack should have been nothing!" It snarled to itself.

"You have raw power, but without skill and technique you have no chance to beat me, let alone kill me" Lucario's voice bombards the Beast from all angles, confusing it even further as to where the original is hiding.

An idea bursts through the pain across its battered body, if it can't find the original it'll just have to take them all out at once. A toothy grin slithers across its face, revealing its stained canine fangs.

A second wave of Aura Spheres form between the paws of Lucario and his copies, just like before, they hurl their attacks in perfect synchronisation. Before the second wave can reach it, the Beast throws up a Barrier to defend itself. "I WON'T PLAY YOUR GAMES!"

The Aura Spheres slam into the Barrier, trying hard to force their way through the shield. Its toothy grin broadens; Lucario has unknowingly given it the means to end this battle. "RRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" It roared, as it thrusted its arms out either side of the Barrier.

With a pulse of black light, the Aura Spheres are rebounded from the shield and sent flying back towards their source. Each one destroys its creator, leaving nothing behind but a puff of smoke. After the attack ends and the Barrier falls, there aren't any Lucario's left. The original is hiding from it; maybe he was never amidst his copies and only wanted it to think he was.

The sound of the dirt shifting behind it alerts it to his location, it turns on the spot to see Lucario swinging a Bone Rush club down onto its head. Acting on reflex, its hands cloak themselves in Dark energy, forming a pair of Night Slash attacks. With its right hand, it slices the Bone Rush in half before it can make contact. The club dissolves away in Lucario's paws.

With its left hand, it slashes across the elder's right side, leaving a deep wound that allows his crimson blood to stain and mat his fur. In the instant the attack makes contact, Lucario's eyes widen in pain. His typing gives him a quadruple resistance to Dark attack, yet the damage he has been dealt is enormous, if it wasn't for his resistance that could easily have taken him down.

He doesn't allow the moment to last long though, with the loss of his club he's forced to deliver a kick straight into its gut. The air is forced from its lungs, leaving it stunned for a moment. Not giving it the chance to recover, he slams his free foot into its temple in the form of a roundhouse kick; the blow sends it flying into the moss covered trunk of a large tree.

Taking the momentary peace in this battle as a chance to rest, Lucario takes a step backwards and plants his paws against his wound. "You're definitely a lot stronger than me Beast, now you have the ability to use attacks we're finally on a level playing field" Blue pulses wash across his wrinkled flesh, knitting his flesh back together and pulling his blood back inside his body where it belongs. "Still though, you cannot hope to defeat me… That strike was a lucky hit; luck won't allow you to beat me" He lifts his paws away, having fully healed his injury.

Using the tree as leverage, the Beast pulls itself to its feet. How many of its bones are now broken? The pain is so intense and so numerous, that its nervous system can't identify the exact points of injury. Red's body is far too weak; it can't handle its full power. Despite the radical increase in power it's still limited to his body.

A grin forms across Lucario's face, as an idea pops into his head. "I know what type you are and your weaknesses. Fire types are weak to Ground attacks, and I know a good one"

It's dark snarl drops from its face, replaced by a look of pure terror. He's figured out its weakness already? How? How is that possible?

It can't afford to waste time with these thoughts, they're giving him the time he needs to strike back. It must counter before he can land another attack. In a blur of black, it uses Quick Attack to get in close.

It's met by the paw of Lucario, slamming itself into its face. In an explosion of orange Fighting energy, Lucario unleashes a close range Force Palm. The Beast is hurled backwards and into the dirt, with fresh blood running down its face from its broken nose.

The Fighting/Steel Pokémon raises his right leg, channelling Ground energy into the limb as he does. He slams his foot down into the earth, sending powerful tremors through the earth towards the Beast.

His Earthquake splits the earth in two, forming a miniature chasm which carries onto reach the Beast. In an explosion of Ground energy, the earth beneath it bursts out and swallows it whole. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Its howls of agony stab into Lucario, knowing he is not only hurting his enemy, but also his Grandson.

This battle is taking its toll on him now, he's panting heavily as sweat rolls down his fur. Regardless of his growing fatigue, he must finish this battle before it can harm his family. He creates another Bone Rush, ready to strike again.

The Beast slams back down onto the earth, which reseals itself to be like it was before. The pain has swallowed it whole, its energy is running low, it won't be long before it loses this battle… It has one chance to win, it must take it.

It shakily pulls itself to its feet, Lucario watches it closely. He can see its weakening and will run out of energy soon, he'd rather not harm it further, as every injury he deals makes Red suffer more. Maybe if he just waits, it'll collapse and release Red without him needing to strike again.

His hopes die in his heart, as the Beast wrenches its jaws open and expels the Black Fire from its gut in the form of a sizzling Flamethrower. The Bone Rush club, which was created to be used as a weapon, becomes a shield against the flames.

By spinning the bone in front of himself, Lucario is able to create a shield that blocks the fire, stopping it from ever reaching him. With a flourish of his weapon, he sends the flames back at their source. "You still have much to learn"

He has to end this now, this fight has gone on for far too long, the Beast may be running low on energy but it won't release Red unless he beats it out of him. With this painful knowledge in mind, he leaps forwards and smashes his club across the Beast's face, sending more black blood across the earth.

The blow plants the Beast into the earth, having been dealt too much damage from a barrage of Super Effecting hits; it's all but lost this fight. How could it fail? It has the power of a Master, how could a mere Dead Dog hurt it this much?

Because it's trapped inside Red's young and weak body, it can take more than this, but he can't… Once again the weakling known as Red has cost him a battle. "The moment I am free… The first one who will die by my hand will be the Boy" It thought bitterly.

It lifts its head from the dirt, to stare down its enemy. It is met by the steel covered paw of Lucario, aimed square in its face. This fight is over. "I'LL BE BACK! SO LONG AS THE BOY LIVES SO DO I!" It hissed demonically, knowing its impending fate.

The crimson eyes of Lucario slowly shut themselves, with a heavy sigh he speaks. "I know…" His voice drips with sorrow, knowing that today will not be the last time he's forced to hurt his Grandson.

A brilliant Wave of blue Aura bursts forth from his paw, crashing into the twisted face of the Beast. The Wave not only burns its flesh, it forces it backwards and through the air to slam into the trunk of the tree it was introduced to before.

As its spine slams into the bark covered trunk of the mighty evergreen tree, Lucario breaks his attack and watches it slide down to the earth, with a pained expression across his wrinkled face.

The burns from the attack have left the Beast disfigured beyond recognition; its skin has been burned off, exposing the tissue beneath it. Its eyes have been burned away, leaving them blind orbs in its head. Its hair is singed and smoking slightly, leaving it with bald patches across its head.

It looks like Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

The sight of the boy they all know and care for looking like the victim of a fire, sends waves of repulsion and disgust through the children. More than this the overpowering urge to rush to his side and help him comes to them; they feel like they must do something, anything, to alleviate his pain. But the fact that Lucario is still tense and looks afraid, tells them that the Beast is still in control.

It spits out a mouthful of black blood onto the earth, confirming their suspicions that the Beast is still in their presence. "I'll be back… You may have beaten me today… But I'll be back, and when I return, I swear I'll rip you apart… Enjoy your time while you can, all of you. When I return… I'll kill you all" It weakly rasped.

With this final rasp its body stiffens out, its head arches back to release thick black smoke from its eyes, nose and mouth. Its body begins to morph again, returning to the way it was before it possessed Red, with the addition of the injuries Lucario dealt.

The Beast has been defeated, Red has returned to his body once again. He drops down onto the blood soaked earth, his heartbeat is weak, very weak and his breathing is extremely shallow.

Through the agonising pain of his shattered bones, ruptured organs and burned face, he can barely force down the shallowest of breaths. "I-it's over… It's finally over" He thought weakly.

The calm expression across Lucario's face is destroyed by the sight of his Grandson; tears of joy fill his eyes and drip down his face as he races to his side. He crouches down beside him and gently places his paws onto his chest, instantly healing blue pulses of his Aura swim across Red's broken body. "It's OK Red, it's over… I'm so sorry I had to hurt you, but I had to protect the rest of them from it… Please forgive me" He pleaded, as his tears cascaded down his fur.

As the healing pulses swim across his body, they reseal his bones and heal his injured flesh, more than this they take away his pain, allowing him to speak again. "Th-thank you… Grampa… I tried, I tried so hard… But I couldn't break free" He weakly whispered, as tears fell from his own eyes.

"Ssshhh… It's OK Red, save your energy" He gently replied, as he finished healing Red's body.

The tears of the innocent child burn his eyes and sting his flesh as they fall, carrying with them the shame and pain that comes from being possessed. His weak voice passes through his lips, but his cries prevent the ear from being able to understand his words.

Now his wounds have been healed, Lucario is free to wrap his arms around his Grandson and pull him into a tight hug, in a desperate attempt to soothe the pain he feels. "Sssshhhh… It's OK Red, it's OK it's over now. One day you will be able to beat it yourself, one day you'll be free from it… You'll kill it, on your own, and set yourself free… It's OK, be strong now"

While he comforts his Grandson, Serena, Lily and Charmander watch them both cautiously. Despite the change in both Lucario and what they hope is now Red again, their fear remains strong, what if it's not over? What if the Beast is trying to make it look like it's gone, so it can get them all with a sneak attack?

His advanced senses alert Lucario to their fear, without releasing his comforting hold over Red; he turns to face them all with a smile on his tear soaked face. "It's over. The Beast has been beaten and Red's in control again… It's really over"

With these simply words the overwhelming fear that held them back, that forced paranoid thoughts into their minds vanishes, replaced by unspeakable relief and joy. Without a moment's hesitation, all three of them scramble over to their friend and brother, asking as many questions as their small mouths can allow them.

Their questions are all aimed at Red, but he cannot hear a single word anyone is saying. His sense of hearing has been overpowered, by the sound of a demonic growl. "They will all die… Every living thing that you care about is going to die. I will rip them all to pieces; starting with that bitch you call sister… Don't think that Serena girl will escape me for long, she'll die too… It's only a matter of time until I regain my strength, and when I do, I'll kill them all" The Beast whispered in his ear, drowning out all other sounds.

Just as quickly as it was taken from him, his sense of hearing returns to him. Lucario returns his focus to his Grandson, just as his hearing returns to him and an overwhelming sense of fear takes over his face. "Are you OK Red?"

Unable to speak through his fear, Red nods his head. Having been given permission to let him go, Lucario makes his way towards the adults whom he saved. Both Luke and Gallade are still unconscious and are lying in an uncomfortable slump.

At the sight of them both, Lucario's face twists into a look of disgust. Hatred boils in his heart at mere sight of their faces, a hatred so strong that could only be born from what was once friendship, or perhaps even the love one feels for their family.

With great repulsion and unwillingness, he crouches down and rolls Luke onto his back. His eyes capture the sight of the foreign object protruding from his gut; he grabs it roughly and rips it out from his flesh, before tossing it into the vegetation.

Luke's blood stains both his clothes and the plant life deep crimson, before he's able to bleed out too much, Lucario roughly slams his paws against them both. Healing blue pulses run across their bodies, he heals them both, but not as much as he did himself and Red, just enough to ensure their survival, before standing back up again. "Awaken. Now" He barked.

After a few seconds, their eyes begin to flutter open. They take in the sights surrounding them; the black blood of the Beast covers the earth, as well as the crimson blood of both Lucario and Luke. He turns his head to look his former Master in the eye; he is met by the sharp gaze from his crimson orbs. "Is it over?"

With a sharp nod of his head, his question is answered. "Master would be ashamed of his Apprentices, as am I. Neither of you deserve to be Knights, not after what you did to MY family. You should have been ejected from the order, or better yet executed" He points his armour covered paw into their faces threateningly. "I am disgusted by the sight of you both. Pray that Lily and Red never find out what you have done, neither of them is as forgiving as I am"

He turns his back on them both, but looks over his shoulder one last time. "You are both dead to me now; pray they never know what you have done to them both"

While Lucario spits venomous words towards his former pupils, Red turns his head away from those who've come to his side. His eyes shut themselves tightly, to try and force his tears to stop flowing. He can't bear them seeing him now, not after what the Beast has done with his body. "Go away. I don't want you to see me now… I'm bent, broken and my dignity's been stolen… Just go away" He whimpered between sobs.

His words sting them; and stone the hearts of both Lily and Serena, while stirring rage inside the Fire type starter. A look of hurt hits young Serena's face like a wet Feebas, how could he tell them that? How could he tell them to leave him here? He must be feeling worse than they can possibly imagine, so why would he want them to go?

This experience has been a horrific one for her, for them all, but it is over now. Nothing but a memory, one that will haunt them for years, if not longer. So what effect has it had on Red? The boy who has undoubtedly suffered the worst from it, the idea of her body turning against her terrifies her, so what has it done to him psychologically?

There's no way she could ever possibly understand how he feels right now, but she's certain that isolating himself away from everyone will only make it worse. He needs support and to know this changes nothing between them.

She reaches out and gingerly places her petite hand against his arm, his flesh feels like fire against her tender skin, it's like he's been turned into a living oven. Regardless of the increase in temperature, she holds onto him, knowing that recoiling will only make him feel worse. "It's OK Red; we're here for you… We don't care about any of this, you're our friend and nothings goanna change that"

Her kind words do nothing to ease the pain and humiliation across his face. "I think you're the bravest and strongest person in the world Red, you live with that thing. It does horrible things, but you don't let it keep you down, you pull yourself back up and keep on living… That takes true courage"

Still his tears continue to fall from his reddening eyes, just as strong as before, it seems her words have fallen on deaf ears. Seeing this, Lily supports Serena, saying she's right. "You are the bravest Red, 'cause you always pull yourself back up again… You've always done it before, what's stopping you from doing it again?"

Still the tears flow from his eyes, he pulls his arm away from Serena's tender touch. What's stopping him from pulling himself back up? The fact that the Beast has spoken to him; never in all his life has he heard it speak directly to him, not once. It's spoken about him and referred to him, it's even asked others to pass on messages, but not once has it ever whispered in his ear before… Not like that anyway.

It's left him feeling more vulnerable than he's ever felt before in his entire life, if it can speak to him now, what's to stop it from possessing him again? What if Lucario isn't there to protect everyone? What if he has to watch everyone he loves die? He can't take this anymore, something's gotta change… And there's only one way to do it.

"Leave me here to die" He cried.

As these horrible words hit the children, Lucario returns to their side, crouches down beside him and gently places his paw on his shoulder. "Don't talk like that Red, remember never surrender"

While the girls are hurt by Red's words of pain, Charmander is enraged by them beyond measure. He's seen some horrible things in his life, things no one should see, and he wasn't given the chance to surrender, why should he be given one?

He snorts out each breath he takes sharply, sending a pinch of smoke out each time. "Lucario? Is that your name? Could you be so kind as to pass on a message for me?" He asked with a surprisingly polite tone. With a stunned look on his face, Lucario nods his head to agree.

The young fire lizard clears his throat and takes a deep breath, to calm himself and allow him to think clearly. "OK then… YOU ARE A STUPID, MOTHER FUCKING, COWARDLY, BITCH ASS, PINK WEARING MORON!" He practically screamed into Red's face.

The barrage of insults sends a sweatdrop down the head of Lucario, who now has to tell them all what he has just said. Red finally breaks his pose, the tears still flow from his eyes, but they aren't shut anymore. "Pink? I've never worn pink in my life"

His pathetic excuse for a retort sparks Charmander's rage even further; unthinking he leaps forwards and bites down as hard as he can onto Red's exposed shoulder. Red's timid whimpers finally die, replaced by a grunt of pain. His blood runs down from the small but sharp fangs of Charmander, sparking a knee jerk reaction from him, he grabs him and yanks him of him.

Charmander's grip is nowhere near as hard as it has been previously; as he has more he intends to say. He struggles free from Red's grasp and plants his feet back into the earth. "I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU! COWARRRRRRD! I HATE COWARDS!" He screamed into his face. "HOW DARE YOU FUCKING GIVE UP! THE OLD MAN WAS RIGHT, NEVER SURRENDER!"

Red simply blinks in surprise, as do the others; none of them expected something like this from Charmander, who has remained fairly silent ever since the Beast tried to kill him earlier. Regardless of the venomous nature of the words, Lucario begrudgingly translates for them all.

The Fire type's tail flame burns brighter, as his rage swells inside of him. He takes another breath, forcing himself to calm enough to speak clearly and thoughtfully. "Look, I don't know what the fuck happened to you, you're goanna explain that to me even if I have to claw the Hell out of your face to get it. But my puny mind's been able to pick up that this is not a onetime thing, that means you've been putting up with it for a long time"

His trainer remains silent, waiting to hear what his point is. 'Cause so far it's been nothing he hasn't heard before.

"I don't give a flying fuck what you or anyone else says. You can't fucking give up because something bad happens to you, you get back up and keep fighting, you fight every dam day for the chance to get revenge. YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?! YOU DON'TROLL OVER AND DIE JUST BECAUSE YOU GET YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU!" His calm tone vanishes, as his pang of anger returns to him once again.

Now his rant has been completed, Red turns his head away from them all again and shrugs Lucario's paw off from his shoulder. His tears have stopped flowing from his eyes, and his solemn expression has been replaced by an annoyed scowl. "Why do you even care? You can't fucking stand me, just go back to P. Oak and tell him to get you another trainer. One who isn't pathetic" His tone matches his face. "Just fuck off while you can lizard"

At the mention of the word 'lizard', Charmander's tail flame burns even brighter than before. An angry snarl forces itself across his face, drawing everyone's eye in towards him again. "What. Did. You. Call. Me?!" He snarled.

Before Lucario can even translate from them all, Charmander leaps forwards and sinks his teeth into the exposed neck of Red Ketchum. His fangs sink in deeper and harder, dangerously close to the jugular vein. Seeing the danger in a bite like this, Lily lunges forwards and grabs the Fire starter and pulls him away from her brother. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She angrily screamed.

Red clutches his bleeding neck with a look of shock across his now pale face; he hadn't expected a second bite, a series of insults and maybe a scratch, but never a bite. Lucario doesn't waste time gawking, he plants his paws against his wounds and begins to heal them once again. Serena is the only one who remains inactive, stunned by the foul language coming from him as well as his aggressive behaviour, she had thought the aggression came to an end when the Beast was beaten.

Charmander struggles in Lily's grasp, trying his hardest to lung forward and bite his trainer once again. As he does, he curses the name of Lily and all future children born from her. Realising she can't understand him and Lucario is too busy to translate for him, he decides to go with universal sign language, and flips her off while swinging his tail around at her.

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL HIM! NO ONE CALLS ME A LIZARD AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE! I'LL KILL THE COWARDLY BASTARD!" Lucario finishes healing Red's wounds, just in time to translate the end of Charmander's angry rant. "WHY'D I HAVE TO GET STUCK WITH A COWARD AS MY BROTHER?!"

The end of his rant sparks a silence between them; the only sound that can be heard is his struggling to break free. The boy with the unimaginative name stares at his partner Pokémon, unable to believe that his Grampa has correctly translated for them all. He has to know, did Charmander really just call him his brother? "Do… Do you mean that? Did you really call me brother?"

An unmistakable streak of hope shines in his words, a flicker of joy can be seen through his scowl. The pain of what he has just endured begins to fade from memory; the Pokémon he's been trying to bond with for days has just called him brother…

Despite Red's request, Charmander still struggles as hard as he can against Lily's grasp. Finally he decides to take a different approach; he looks over his shoulder, blood dripping from his lips and fangs and growls a warning to her. "Let me go now, or I set your ass on fire. Your choice bitch. NO ONE HOLDS ME! And only RED'S allowed to touch me, now let me go before I show you how a third degree burn feels"

Upon hearing his threat, the hands of Lilian Ketchum release their hold over him. He bounces off the ground and leaps straight onto his trainer's head, without giving them the chance to pull him off of him; he sinks his fangs into his scalp as hard as his tiny jaws will let him.

Yet another pang of pain forces the boy to cry out, before grabbing his Pokémon and yanking as hard as he can. "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"

Feeling himself losing his grip, the Fire type grabs as much hair as he can in his claws to try and strengthen his hold. "I'm goanna fucking eat you from the inside out! What's your favourite organ?! I'll eat that one first!"

Strengthened by a powerful pang of rage, the Apprentice who was previously possessed is able to rip Charmander off of his head. A searing pain across his scalp tells him that he's likely ripped out a portion of his hair in the process. With a furious glare across his face, he locks eyes with the lizard in his hands.

A chunk of his auburn brown hair hangs from the fangs of Charmander, despite being beaten, he continues to growl angrily. "You just gave yourself a bald spot"

Before Lucario has the chance to inform those who cannot understand the Pokémon tongue, Red tightens his hold and vents his swelling rage. "YOU'RE GOANNA EAT ME?! ME?! Well you're goanna have to try harder than that! I'M FUCKING TOUGHER THAN THAT, BITCH!"

His angry outburst sends a wave of satisfaction through Charmander; a grin climbs across his face, forcing him to spit out the hair in his mouth. Lucario quickly tells them all about Red's new found lack of hair, which sends both Lily and Serena into a fit of giggles. The boy himself is so focused on his anger; he doesn't totally register his now obvious missing patch of hair. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Ignoring the obvious rage coming from the one suspending him in the air, Charmander continues to bear his cocky grin. "Do I have to call you Master now? 'Cause you ain't better than me BITCH"

Lily snickers to herself at the scene playing out before them all, is this what it looks like when they play? 'Cause it's really funny, at least to her immature mind.

The tears quickly fade from the fur of Lucario; his old heart melts at the sight of the two of them finally getting along. After days of fighting, of hitting out at each other, of stealing each other's food, they're finally getting along… In their own way.

"I fucking dare you to try it" Red growled angrily, after being told what his new partner said. "You call me Master, even once, and I'll let Serena give you a bath and dress you up like a girl. You and Charla can do a fashion show"

The blood drains from Charmander's scally face; his head slowly cranks around to look at the one who the threat included. To his horror she's smiling and looks excited at the prospect of playing dress up with him. "You wouldn't dare" He tried to sound tough, but his voice quivers from his fear.

The jackal like Pokémon quickly shakes his head and paws, trying to silently tell him not to say that. "Charmander, Red's never bluffed in his entire life. Never say 'you wouldn't dare', not to him"

The sadistic grin across Red's face tells them all, that he's not bluffing; he really would subject Charmander to one of the worst fates he can think of. "Your choice Charmander, do you wanna play dress up? Or do wanna call me something else? Red'll do. Just not Master, I fucking hate being called that"

The bald, scaled head of Charmander bolts back to face the one who has issued him with the horrific threat of the torture, known by children as a game called 'dress up'. With a furious shake of his head, he whimpers out a response. "I'll be good… Don't let her do that to me, you're the Boss I won't call you Master. Just don't let her torture me, please Boss have mercy"

The disappointment is clearly written across young Serena's face, although it was only on the table for a moment, the prospect of playing dress up with Charmander and Charla brought great joy to her. Something they all need to help move past this horrific ordeal.

Charmander's feet once again meld with the earth; solid ground has never felt so good. The urge to drop down and kiss the earth comes to him, but thankfully it vanishes as quickly as it came.

The hand of Red meets the scally head of his newest friend; their eyes widen as his hand gains a red hue around it. In a moment that seems to last for hours, their Aura's meld together to form a Connection, one that will last a lifetime.

They each see the other's life flash before their eyes, Red is met by the sight of Charmander being abused by his previous trainers; beatings and harsh training were a daily occurrence for the young lizard. In his short life he has been partnered with a total of ten trainers, including Red himself. Many of his trainers were cruel to him; some abandoned him and others he abandoned.

A short life filled with people telling him he is weak, has left him with a hatred for weakness, in all its forms. But it has also left him with an extreme dislike of displays of affection, as he deems them to be a sign of weakness.

Charmander himself is given a brief look into the life of his new brother, what he sees both confuses and angers him. Luke and Gallade have spent almost three years training both him and Lily; in that time Gallade has treated Lily like family, but has come close to physically abusing Red.

Whenever he makes a mistake, he comes down on him as though he has caused the world to end. When psychological attack doesn't have enough of an effect, he turns to beating him both with physical and mental attacks, usually via his Psychic powers, something a child cannot defend against.

Beyond their training though, he grew up relatively happy, his home was always filled with joy. But despite his family, he was always lonely. Very lonely. He couldn't really have friends outside the family, as Lucario was always forced to remove their memories of him, always for one reason or another. Serena's the first friend he's had, who hasn't turned her back on him for being different.

In the blink of an eye, the visions of each other's lives end. The two of them stare at each other, baffled by what they have seen of the other. Their bond was strong before, but now it's as though they've been together since the day they were born, as though they share blood as brothers.

They can each feel a part of the other with them, melding with their Aura and forcing them to take on an aspect of the other. The eyes of Charmander morph to form an evil glare, his arms cross themselves and he grumbles a complaint under his breath. "Get it over with"

He anticipated a hug from his trainer, now aware of his fondness of contact with those he cares about. Despite taking on a part of Red's Aura, he still holds an extreme dislike of displays of affection. The only change he is currently aware of, is that he feels protective over his trainer now. He's his trainer now, that means that no one's allowed to hurt him, but him.

The gesture of friendship he was dreading never comes; Red simply sits there, awe struck by the fact he understood what he said. For the first time in his life, he directly understood the language of Pokémon. Realising that he must answer him now, he shakes his head with a stern look across his face. "Hell no. That shit ain't ever goanna happen ever again, even think of trying to hug me again, and I'll string you up by your tail. You hear me?"

Like Charmander, Red too can feel an immediate change in himself. His previous enthusiasm for hugging his friends and family has vanished, replaced by a sense of repulsion at the mere thought. More than this, he can feel a distinctive rise in his sense of aggression; he's filled with a powerful desire to fight.

As the sweet scene between them unfolds, the exhausted Luke and Gallade rise from the earth, leaning on each other for support. Once they're able to support their own weight, they each delve into their own thoughts.

The earth becomes the focus of Luke's stare; he shamefully holds his head down. Yet again he has failed; he has failed to defeat an opponent and had to be rescued by his former Master. He hasn't changed a bit… "I'm still a pathetic joke of a Knight" He thought bitterly.

The crimson orbs of Gallade have formed into a hard stare, one that is fixed onto the child who was possessed mere minutes ago. His burning rage ignites as he watches them all, acting as though nothing has happened at all. His furry forces his hands into tight fists.

"The Beast slaughters an innocent Pidgey, it almost does the same to all of us, and they all carry on as though nothing has happened… No more. Today this ends, once and for all" He thought with a murderous tone. "The Beast will die, no matter the cost"

He finally breaks his stare, to turn to his brother. Ignoring the shameful look across his face, as well as the undeniable feeling of shame through their Connection, he voices his plan. "Master, we need to kill Red now, while we have the chance" His voice only carries to the mind of Luke, allowing his intentions to remain hidden from the rest of them.

The look of shame is shattered from the face of the Knight, in its place a stunned expression is born. "What the fuck are you talking about?" His voice mimics his face, filled with shock.

The Psychic/Fighting Pokémon turns to face the rest of them again, with a look of serene calm across his face. "The Beast is too powerful for us to face now; the only one of us who can beat it is the Old Man. He won't be around forever; he can't protect them all for much longer. We need to kill it now, before it has the chance to possess him again"

The deep green talons extend from his elbows, as a murderous glare forms across his once calm face. "The only way to do that is to slay Red. A necessary sacrifice, but one th-"

His words are interrupted before they are able to deliver their full message. The Aura covered fist of his Master slams into his face, catching the attention of everyone in the clearing and forcing him to stumble backwards. His glare is broken and replaced by shock.

In the blink of an eye, Luke takes up a defensive position between his partner and his would be victim. He holds his arms out either side of him, in an attempt to block his path. His own murderous glare adorns his face.

The young and old souls, who are out of the loop, stare at either Luke or Gallade, confused by the events unfolding before them all.

The murderous glare across the face of the white and green Pokémon returns, stronger and darker than before. His talons remain ready to split the flesh of a child, and bathe in the blood running through his veins. "YOU'D CHOOSE RED OVER ME?! I'M YOUR BROTHER!" He angrily screeched as loud as he could, his voice reaching all of their minds once again.

The man's stance doesn't waver in the slightest; he refuses to back down, even as he nods his head. "I'd choose either of the twins over you in a heartbeat" He said coldly.

His betrayal sends Gallade's furry to new heights, his muscles tense across his body, pressing themselves against his skin tightly. Countless veins throb against the surface of his flesh, each throbbing to the rapidly increasing beat of his heart. His crimson eyes fill with furry, as they fall across Red.

To his great surprise Charmander is standing before him, shielding and protecting him with his raised claws. "You fucking try it, see what mother fucking happens. Psycho Cut my ass, you couldn't cut your way through a Caterpie"

His words inspire nothing in Gallade, he doesn't even think of his warning as a viable threat. "The world will be a better place, when scum like you are removed from it. Paladin"

His cruel tongue plants a seed within Red's mind, a single seed of hatred. Prior to today, he would have broken down in fear of his Master, but something is different now. Instead of showing even the smallest signs of fear, he scowls angrily back at him. "Fuck you. I'm no Paladin, I'm a Knight"

The deep green talon of Gallade gains a hot pink shine to it, as his signature attack forms. Psycho Cut. "You're too dangerous to be left alive, if Master won't do what must be done, I will. You're too dangerous Red… So I send you to the Other World"

For a moment time seems to slow down, as Gallade lunges forwards to end the short life of his Apprentice. None of them are able to move, paralysed by their fear of the one they trusted.

The moment comes to an end, when the paw of Lucario slams into Gallade's gut. His normally crimson eyes lose their lustre, as indescribable pain tears his body apart from the inside out. That Extreme Speed hurt far more than he remembers, having felt its sting before when he was younger.

The speed based attack leaves him stunned and unable to strike or defend himself, even as Lucario retracts his paw and charges the second half of his attack. His paws connect together at his side, with a small pocket of air between them.

The air doesn't remain for long; a swirling torrent of Dark energy is quickly formed between his black paws. Inside this torrent, countless black rings with purple hues around them can be seen. In the time it takes for the eye to blink, his Dark Pulse forces its way into Gallade's chest blade and forces him through the air and into the tree which he met earlier.

His body slams into the bark covered wood, sending tremors through the tree which sends the branches into a typhoon of activity. Within the same second, the steel covered paw of Lucario slams into his forehead, binding him in place and forcing him to stare at the Metal Claw being thrust into his eyes.

The spike sprouting from the back of Lucario's free paw splits in two, to form a pair of razor sharp four inch long claws. These claws grow over his paw, allowing him to deliver his swift and brutal strike in the form of a quick punch. Without hesitation or mercy, he delivers an excruciating blow to his former Apprentice, who has just threatened the life of his Grandson.

His Metal Claw slices through the firm, yet soft surface of the crimson eyes before him. With no resistance whatsoever, his claws glide through the soft jelly like interior of the eyes. He stops his claws from puncturing the brain of his victim, allowing him to deliver a warning as well as a brutal blow. His voice is easily drowned out by the screams of Gallade, as well as the children.

The blood pours from Gallade's eyes, meeting the cold steel of the Metal Claw. Drops of crimson blood drip down across the blades, melding with the fur of his paws as well as the steel gauntlets adorning his arms.

The pain from this attack combo has frozen the Psychic/Fighting Pokémon's tired body; he can barely tremble as he screeches in pure agony. With a pulse of his Aura from his other paw, Lucario silences his victim, allowing him to finish his warning.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up" He snarled through gritted teeth. "If you even think of harming any of my Grandchildren, that includes Charmander and Torchic, I will destroy you. There will be nothing left of you, not even enough to perform a post-mortem. You understand me?!"

Even if he wasn't binding Gallade's mental abilities, he wouldn't be able to answer through his pain.

"The only reason I don't drive these claws through your flesh and into your brain, is because I made a promise to my Master, a promise that I would do everything I could to protect both you and the other failure" Lucario spat venomously. "But I would break that promise in a heartbeat to defend MY family. If you want to live, NEVER forget that"

Deciding that he's made his point, he slowly pulls his Metal Claw out from Gallade's head. Drawing it out for as long as he can, to induce the most pain he possibly can, at least without killing him. "Today I spare your life, but if you attempt to threaten the life of my Grandchildren again, nothing will hold me back"

As his claws leave the depths of his eyes, his blood pours from the holes in his organs of sight. The second paw of Lucario remains firmly in place, binding his movements and preventing him from voicing his pain. "I am far stronger and more skilled than both of you put together, there is nothing that either of you could ever do to stop me, and you know it. Never fuck with my family"

Finally he releases his hold over him, by removing his paw and turning his back on him. Gallade drops to the earth, clutching his bleeding eye sockets and whimpering in agonising pain.

The children have huddled together, horrified beyond imagining by the sight of Lucario blinding Gallade. Even Charmander is huddling up against his trainer, terrified of what he thought was a kind old man. "Remind me never to piss him off" He mumbled to Red, who slowly nods his head.

Even Luke's face has lost what little blood it held prior to the sight of his brother being mutilated. He's well aware of Lucario's temper, having felt the lash of his rage himself many times before in his youth. The sight of him blinding Gallade makes him sick to his stomach, as well as melts his previous rage towards him and births pity in his heart.

With a heavy sigh, his arms drop to his side and his posture softens. He passes Lucario and crouches down before his lifelong partner, his brother, the man he has been through both the best and worst experiences of his life with… "Stay calm, I can heal this. We need to get you out of here, then I can restore your sight" He said with a sympathetic tone.

Gallade abandons his attempts to cover his eyes, what point is there in trying? He's been blinded, but a wound like this can be healed and his sight will return to him. He will forever carry the scars in his mind, but the physical injuries will fade in time. "When he kills someone, it's on your head Old Man" He hissed, before teleporting both himself and Luke in a flash of white light.

The children all stare at the space the bleeding Gallade was sitting, huddled together for safety. Serena clings desperately to Red, who clings to his sister and who clings to him in return. Charmander's the only one who's able to stand on his own two feet. "I don't like that mother fucker, I'ma burn his ass with Flamethrower. Boss we gotta work on my aim; I don't wanna miss my target again"

---

The day has gone; the sun has set and allowed the nocturnal visitors of the skies to visit once again. The stars shine brightly tonight, allowing those who are still awake to gaze at their beauty. The countless constellations that make up the seemingly endless supply of sparkling candles in the sky, remain a mystery to the Ketchums, and most likely always will.

Most of the family has left the world of the waking, to embrace the tender touch of sleep. While the rest of their family sleeps, Red and Charmander remain fully awake, lying on the surface of cool grass of their garden.

The larger of the two is suffering the effects that come with being possessed; he's simply exhausted, he'll have little to no energy for a few days and won't be able to use his powers over Aura as easily for quite some time.

His small body feels as though it's made from solid led, every movement, no matter how small, takes an enormous amount of effort from him. Through the sheer force of his will, he was able to drag his carcass back to his home, where he has been resting and talking with Charmander. They have all tried hard to push the memories from today out of their minds, focusing on the positive things have come to them all.

It's such a simple thing, a conversation, but to them both it's a novelty. Never before have either of them been able to communicate with each other's kind, they've always had to either guess what the other says or use a translator, something that is in short supply. So needless to say, the ability to effectively communicate is a new avenue the two of them wish to explore further.

"Then it ended with me lightly kissing her forehead, and telling her that I loved her… It was the strangest dream I've ever had" Red concluded, having informed him of the weird dream he had a few nights ago, the one that involved the Pokémon he named Nibbler.

He rolls his head over, to gauge his partner's reaction to his statement. The Fire Pokémon's face is host to a freaked out expression, that was by far the creepiest dream he's ever heard in his young life. "That's a fucking freaky shit dream" He said plainly, as though describing the colour of the grass.

Deciding that he's heard enough about the nocturnal activities of his friend, he quickly thinks of an excuse to change the subject. The perfect excuse comes to mind, causing a sly grin to crawl across his face. "When you goanna tell Serena you're crushing on her big time?"

During the moment they opened their Connection, his feelings for his female friend became as obvious as the dirt covering the soles of his feet. There was no way for him to not see it.

At the mention of her name, his eyes tug his head to face the sky once again. The seemingly endless sea of darkness is broken by the shinning sparkle of the stars. Within seconds it has him enthralled, the beautiful scene of lights has always captivated him, but the sight of the full moon will always have him transfixed.

"I won't… 'Cause I can't have feelings for her, she's my friend. Nothing more, nothing less" His whisper betrays him, revealing his pain. "The Beast spoke to me Charmander… It told me it'll kill everyone close to me, I can't protect my family… We're bound by blood. But I can protect her; if I only see her as a friend then it won't target her"

A confused Charmander sits up and gives his brother a slack jawed look of confusion. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You can't pick and choose how you feel about someone. Don't get me wrong I'm no lovey dovey shit-head, but even I know that much" His words provoke no response, so he carries on. "You're a moron, but this is dumb, even for you"

A moment of silence follows his insult, one neither of them chooses to break by continuing their conversation. Charmander returns to his lying position, and silently gazes up at the stars once again.

During the silence, Red's mind returns to what he endured earlier in the day, being forced to watch the Beast kill that Pidgey, and then watching it try to do the same to the rest of them… It's more than his young constitution can handle.

Before today, his eyes would have leaked their lubricating fluids, indicating his distress to others. But now, no tears flow from his eyes, nothing comes from them. Instead, a terrible pain stones the pump in his chest, the vital organ that forces his crimson blood through his veins.

"I can't live like this anymore… I have to get rid of the Beast, but how? How can I kill it?" He thought aloud, without realising he'd broken the peaceful silence.

The sudden and unexpected burst of emotion catches Charmander off guard, even so, he's able to offer some form of help. "Ain't got a clue what to do? Meditate, if nothing else it'll help calm you down, maybe it'll help an idea come to you"

Deciding that it's worth a try, he pulls himself up from the comfort of the grass, to sit up and contort himself into a Meditative pose. Charmander remains on the grass, but turns his attention to his brother, watching him eagerly as he begins his meditation.

He may have sounded as though he was trying to help Red, with the suggestion of meditation, but really it was just a ploy. What he really wants is to see the flame like Aura, he caught a glimpse of it earlier, during their Connection, but he's eager to see it directly. If it helps Red accomplish his task, then that's a happy bonus.

As Red begins the process of clearing his mind of conscious thought, his breathing becomes far calmer and more efficient. Over the course of several minutes, his mind clears and allows his powers to rise to the surface of his scrawny frame.

After what feels like an eternity of waiting, Charmander's wish is finally granted. The brilliant red flame like Aura burns across the surface of Red's body, shining all across him and illuminating the darkness of the garden.

The moment the flames rise from his brother's body, Charmander bolts up into a sitting position and stares at him, his eyes widen and sparkle in awe of the light emanating from him. "Holy shit… That's awesome"

---

An hour has passed since Red began his meditation; he remains perfectly still, with his flame like Aura burning across the surface of his body. The thrill of seeing what looks like a human torch having worn off, Charmander has dropped back to the ground, asking himself why he ever thought this was a good idea.

"You've done nothing but sit there for fuck knows how long… How much longer? I wanna go to bed! At least put me back in my ball so I can sleep" He whined.

Despite his brother's numerous protests, Red has refused to break his meditation, for anything. But he must admit that this has become pointless, if he was going to have an epiphany that would grant him the power to destroy the evil locked away inside of him, he would have had it by now.

But nothing has come to him; he's as blind as ever. His eyes finally open, breaking his meditation and taking away the glow that surrounds him. A sigh falls from his lips, with his head hung low. "Am I not supposed to beat it? Am I supposed to remain cursed forever?" He thought silently.

"I can't do this on my own… I need help" He whispered, his voice barely audible to even the most sensitive of hearing. "Someone… Anyone, please help me"

No sooner than the request fall from his lips, than both the boys feel the presence of another in the garden with them. Their senses tell them they are alone here, but yet they know someone is here with them.

A voice, whispering in their minds, confirms their suspicions. They are indeed in the presence of another, one that inspires feelings of comfort in them both. "That's it…" The voice whispered.

The voice is soft and tender, warm and comforting, and undoubtedly feminine. The natural reaction of hearing an unfamiliar voice is triggered in them both, they both search their surroundings for the owner of it.

Neither of them has ever heard this voice before, nor have they heard one quite like it. The voice is like that of an angel, yet it makes them both feel as though a pair of soft and warm arms are wrapping themselves around them both, bringing them into a loving hug.

Despite having no clue who the owner of the voice is, both of the boys feel like they do know her, like she's always been there, waiting for the chance to make her presence known. "Now I can finally give you the help you need… Now you have asked for it, now you have chosen to let me in, I can finally help you" She whispered to them both.

The words of this voice have both of them trusting their owner, how? How can they trust a voice when they have no idea who it belongs to? It's mad, to trust a strange voice talking to them inside their heads… Wait a minute, inside their heads?

Red shakily turns to face Charmander, his fear evident on his face. "Can you hear that voice as well, or have I finally lost my tiny mind?"

The lizard of fire shakily nods his head, confirming that he too can hear the voice. "You haven't got a brain, so you can't have a mind, but yeah I can hear it too"

The fear that was evident on Red's face deepens, if he can hear the voice as well, then that means something's invading their minds to speak to them… Honestly, losing his mind is the preferable option. He steels his courage, knowing he needs to find out why this voice has contacted them, to do that he must ask questions.

"W-who are you and w-what do you want?" He weakly asked aloud, trying to contain his fear.

"Sssshhh… Don't be afraid Red, I wouldn't hurt either of you or your family" The voice comforted. As she says these words, the comforting feeling flowing through him grows stronger. "Who am I? Did I forget to introduce myself? Sorry, I'm kinda like what you would call, a dizzy blonde" She added, with a girlish giggle. "I am a Master of Aura, a teacher, a trainer, but most of all I am a mother… And I want to help you, both of you; you've suffered alone for far too long"

The living fire pit, known as Charmander, jumps to his feet. "How the fuck do you know his name? Mine's obvious as shit, but Boss' isn't. You been spying on us?"

The sound of girlish giggling fills their minds, before the voice responds to his accusation. "I know many things Charmander; I know that you lost your family the moment you were born… It was horrible for you; your first sight in this world was a poacher, slaughtering your parents, who were both trying to defend you and your siblings… You were the only survivor" She said, with a sympathetic tone.

The eyes of Charmander shrink in their sockets, as a lump builds up in his throat and his eyes begin to sting with tears. He never told anyone about that, not even Red, but he knows because of their Connection… It showed them both times of high emotion for them both.

"I applaud your bravery Red, there aren't many who are willing to isolate themselves away from everyone they care about… Most adults wouldn't even entertain the idea, let alone children. You're very brave" The voice commented, ignoring Charmander's distress over her previous comment.

Confusion writes itself across the face of Redmud Ketchum, he never said anything about leaving, he was thinking about it, but never voiced it.

"You don't need to say it for me to hear it Red, I'm a Psychic type and can read your mind… I forgot to say that didn't I? I'm such a dizzy head. Well, I'm a Psychic Pokémon and as such, I have the ability to read your mind. How did you think I'm speaking to you?" Her girlish giggle follows her statement, answering the questions that had formed in Red's mind.

Her comment snaps Charmander from his stunned state, allowing him to voice his concerns once again. "WHAT THE FUCK?! That's creepy as shit! You can get in our heads? You need to stay out of my mother fucking mind" He retorted, with a hint of fear in his growl.

"Watch your language young man!" She snapped back. "It's rude to swear in the presence of ladies… Even though I'm nowhere near you both, I'm still a lady and you will speak to me as such"

Her quick retort leaves Charmander unable to form a witty response of his own. He crosses his arms in frustration and grumbles into the ground. "Kick your ass bitch… Ain't no fucking lady"

Once again ignoring his rude comments, the voice carries on. "Red, I've come here today to make you an offer. I can teach you how to control your Aura at will. I can mould you into what you were born to be. I can carve you into a force to be feared. However, I won't be training you, not directly" Her tone turns firm and serious, as though she's trying to sound authoritive. "I will point you in the right direction and give you a swift kick up the backside when you need it, but if you want these things to come to pass, you must do it yourself… If you do, then I know that you will find out what the Beast is, and learn how to destroy it… Then it'll fall to you, to do what must be done"

The sudden change in her tone sparks interest in both of the children, Red is able to pick up on what she's getting at and instantly sees a problem with her proposition. "I've already got a Master, two of-" She cuts him off before he's able to finish his complaint.

"I am aware of both Luke and Gallade" Her tone shifts to one of annoyance, as though she has just scolded a pair of naughty children. "If you stay under their rule, you will never become what you were meant to be. They are both trying to train you to become something you are not; they are blocking your progression… They're holding you back Red… Also, if something doesn't change between you and Gallade, then there WILL be further bloodshed"

"You both require freedom to grow into what you were meant to be, while you look different, you are both mirror images of each other… You are like caged Pidgey, longing to soar free like Fearow! Red, if you accept my offer, you will become more than you ever imagined you could be… You need to think carefully before you decide"

Red'd be lying if he said he said he wasn't tempted by her offer, but there's so much about this voice he doesn't know. Her name being the first on this long list. "Can you please tell us your name? We're not goanna agree to nothin' until we know your name"

Charmander growls in agreement, she's asking an awful lot from them, but is giving so little in return. "Gotta give to get missy"

The sound of her giggling once again fills their minds, it would seem whoever she is, she's fond of giggling like a little girl. "I forgot to introduce myself again, didn't I? My love always says I'm a dizzy head. Well, your kind has given me many names over the years, Mother of creation, God… Pinkie. But I don't like the first two, they make me sound like something more than I am… And no one calls me Pinkie but my love, it's his pet name for me" She once again bursts out into a fit of girlish giggles. "My real name, is Mew"

The electric blue eyes of Red widen in amazement, his words have been stolen from him. No words can express the amazement and breathlessness she has left him with. After a moment, he is able to use his vocal cords once again. "Mew? Y-y-you're speaking t-t-to me? And you want to help me?"

While Red is unable to believe what he has just heard, Charmander just looks confused, with his jaw slacked. "Wha? We don't wanna know what your fuck buddy calls you, and Boss who the fuck is Mew?"

The swift hand of Red slams into the back of Charmander's skull, leaving the lizard clutching the back of his head and growling a death threat to his trainer. "SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR THE PATRON OF THE ORDER! SHE'S A LEGENDARY POKEMON AND THE ORIGINAL KNIGHT!"

"Yes Red, I'm speaking to you both and I want to help you, but this is not simple charity on my part… I need your help Red and yours Charmander" Mew said, ignoring the fight between the children, as though they're throwing a tantrum.

The sound of her voice breaks their argument; they both listen to her carefully, hanging off her every word. "A war is coming boys… The Paladins are coming… They are coming"

An annoyed scowl forms across Charmander's face, he bolts to his feet and stamps them in anger. "OH HELL NO! NO! THIS IS BULLSHIT! I swear to Arceus, if you come up with some bullshit about how 'only we can stop this war, and save countless lives' then I'm walking out of this story right here and now" He turns towards the writer, growling deeply and snorting out each breath. "You hear me Mad Ass Dragon?! If she does that shit, then kill me off and replace me with a Chimchar!"

The amazement and breathlessness vanishes from Red's form, with a sigh he turns towards Charmander. "Well Infernape doesn't have a Mega Evolution at the time this is being written, and the Dragon can't be bothered to think of one or look for one on something like Deviant art. Besides, the cover image for this story has a kid version of me with a Mega Charizard X beside 'im. Wouldn't make sense to replace you with a Chimchar, so you gotta grin and bear it"

Mew clears her throat with annoyance. "Are you two finished breaking the fourth wall yet? I'd like to carry on now, if you two cost me my pay check, I'm coming at you both with a baseball bat"

Both the boys quickly return to the way they were, before Charmander rudely interrupted the patron of the Knights. Acting as though nothing happened, they eagerly wait for Mew to carry on with her speech.

"There is no way to prevent what is to come, it is inevitable. There's no way to prevent the Paladins from unleashing their plans, but we can fight back against them and their Master… I offer you a deal Red, if you and Charmander will journey to my home, alone, I will guide you to the power that is locked away inside of you. I will help you be free of the Beast"

Nothing in this world comes for free, the only way someone will help someone with something this big, is if they want something in return. Normal Knight training is done to keep the order alive, to pass on the knowledge to the next generation, so their noble work can continue… But this isn't normal training; there must be something she wants. "What's the catch? What do you want us to do in return?"

Charmander raises a claw out towards the empty sky, attempting to look threatening. "We ain't doing no freaky shit, if that's what you're after you'll have to find someone else"

Red throws him a freaked out look, before dropping his head in shame. "Why me?"

"I will forgive, but not forget that remark Charmander… Especially if Red accepts my offer, I'll make sure you get a nice Vegetarian diet" Her voice tells them both of her annoyance.

A scared look hits Charmander straight in the face, he's technically an omnivore, but prefers a predatory diet. "I fucking hate veggies" He weakly grumbled. "I'll be good… No veggies"

"Well Red, despite your… Less than optimum cranial capacities, you do have your moments. To know the ways of the world at your age, it's impressive"

Charmander recoils towards his trainer, in an attempt to make his comment secret. "Do you know what she's saying?" Red simply shakes his head. "Me neither… But I think she's callin' you stupid"

"In return for the help I will be giving you both, Red, you must be prepared to sacrifice everything that you are, to be ready and willing to give up your very humanity… To face your darkest demons and spit in their eyes, and I'm not talking about the Beast… That's up to you to deal with"

Fear runs down the spines of them both, it is in the very nature of humanity to resist sacrifice, even in desperate times, and in children it inspires deep fear. Sacrifice his humanity. What does that mean? "What'll happen if we don't go? What'll happen to us if we stay here?" He forced himself to ask, dreading the answer to these questions.

A moment of silence follows his question, before being broken by a heavy sigh. "It hurts me badly to tell you this Red, but if you stay here you will never be free. You will forever be a slave to the Beast. Eventually it will be able to possess you forever, then not even Lucario will be able to defeat it… It will make good on its promise to kill everyone you hold dear… I'm not telling you this to be cruel Red, it's the truth, I'm saying these horrible things so you can make whatever decision you feel is right"

The smaller of the two boys glares up towards the sky, with his arms crossed to emphasis his annoyance. "This stinks of cheese" He growled. "What makes us so special? Why're we being singled out? Why've WE got to leave our home and family?"

"All my children are special, but Red you are different. You were never meant for this world, you were meant for the world I created, not the world of humanity… You were both born to be something more"

A sweatdrop rolls down the back of Charmander's hairless head, as his face contorts into a look of fear. "This is getting fucking creepy now" Red nods his head in agreement.

A sigh of annoyance fills their juvenile minds, the antics of children often amuse her, but not when she's trying to be serious. "Stop that now, this is serious. Both you and your sister are different from the bulk of your kind, you were both meant for the world I intended… You know the world I mean Red. I know what you're thinking, if she's the same as you why can't she go with you? The answer is simple, she doesn't need my help, she will grow into her full potential under Luke and Gallade"

"Only those who are invited can find their way to my home, and I am only inviting you and your Pokémon partners… I'm sorry Red, but without help, you'll never become what you are meant to be. Without a big enough push, you won't ever be able to protect anyone. If you want to be truly free, you need to leave your home and come to me"

She allows them both a moment of silence, to let her words sink in. "At the end of the day, the choice is up to you both. If you don't want to come, you don't have to… But if you don't come, you'll both regret it for the rest of your lives"

Red shakily turns his head back to face his brother, seeking support and advice for making the biggest decision of his young life. Without a moment's hesitation, Charmander nods his head. "We gotta do it Boss, if you've got even the smallest chance to kill that thing, you gotta take it… And we'll get away from that asshole Gallade, so I'm up for it"

How can a child be expected to a make a decision like this? A decision that'll tear him away from everything he's ever known and loved, from his twin sister, whom he hasn't been separated from for more than a few hours in his entire life… But what choice does he have?

If he stays then he'll sentence everyone he cares about to death, but if he leaves, then he'll have to leave everything behind… There's no choice to be made.

"Oopsy, I forgot something. You know that strange dream you had a little while ago Red? Well it wasn't a dream, it was a vision of the future, one I've been trying to give you for quite some time now" Mew added.

Confusion forces all other thoughts from young Red's mind, it was a vision? Not a strange dream? That's weird; he's never had a vision before. "Why'd you give me a vision? I thought they came on their own"

"Oh they do, but sometimes I send them myself as well. I sent you this one, so you can see that there's someone in my home who needs you… Little Nibbler has yet to hatch from her egg, but when she does she'll be all alone in this world" A sorrowful tone fills her voice, pity for the unborn baby.

Charmander's scowl returns to his shaking head, along with his crossed arms. "That's fucking low… Guilt tripping us into going, that's low"

A shrug of Red's shoulders tells him he's not as bothered by her guilt trip as he is. "She's a Mom Charmander, that's what they do. You should hear Mom when she's guilting me and Lily, it's horrible"

"Oh yes, the way she wields guilt she should be in the army"

The scowl across Charmander's face evolves into an angry snarl. "THIS IS BULLSHIT! That mother fuckin' kid ain't nothin' to do with us, why the fuck should be we care what happens to her?"

"Shut your mouth" Red said bluntly, with a scowl across his own face. "I'll fucking go… Just need a little time to say goodbye and get my shit, but we'll leave soon"

"You have made the right decision Red, I'm proud of you… My Apprentice. You won't regret this decision, I promise. This path won't be easy, it'll be full of pain and fear, but if you both walk it, then you'll both become more than you ever thought you could"

Fear begins to set into the young Knight, so much so that his body begins to visibly tremble. Pain and fear… That's all that's waiting for him once he leaves the safety and security of his home. But if he stays, then he'll have to watch those he cares about die.

He steels his courage and takes a calming breath, allowing him to speak once again. "How can I find you?" It's a simple question, but one that is vital for him to begin his journey.

"If you meditate again Red, then I will be able to gift you with the invitation. With every step you take, you will know where to make the next one… Before you even say it Charmander, it wasn't me who decided to make it this way. It was Arcy. He worries about me, and put these security measures in place"

The auburn brown hair covered head of Red bows in respect; he pulls himself into a meditative pose and takes the first steps in completing her task. "It will be done Me… Master"

As he begins his meditation, Charmander just looks around confused. "Who the fuck is Arcy? Sounds like Arceus only short… OH HELL NO! I said we don't wanna hear your god dam pet names for each other! What you two do is your own business, we don't wanna fucking hear it!"

Even as Charmander continues his anger filled rant, regarding the use of pet names in his presence, Red's focus on the task at hand remains as focused as a laser beam. Within seconds his Aura begins to burn across his flesh, shinning brighter than it did only a few minutes ago.

The angry rant of the fire lizard is broken when his eye spots the light shining from his silent brother. "The fuck? That was quuuuiiiii… HOLY SHIT!" His jaw hangs open, as the light surrounding Red engulfs him and lifts him off the ground.

Without so much as moving a muscle, the scrawny frame of Red is lifted a foot off the earth, still in his meditative pose. "There's some exorcist shit goin' down here… What the fuck is wrong with my life? Why does trouble seem to radiate around this moron?" Charmander asked, his face contorted into a freaked out expression. "Do you need an exorcism? 'Cause I ain't doin' that"

Mew's girlish giggle fills their minds again, breaking Red's meditation, forcing him to drop back down to the earth with a thud. "He doesn't need an exorcism, don't be silly. He's a trouble maker, and trouble tends to follow its source. Besides, you can hardly talk; I saw what you did to his bed… Not only did you puke into it, but you took a dump on it!"

A dark smirk forms across the mischievous face of Charmander. "Hehehehehehehe, his face was priceless"

His words birth a dark scowl across the face of his trainer, which is aimed directly at him. "I'll fucking get you back for that one… Puking's one thing, but you took a shit on my pillow. Not fucking cool"

"Both of you behave yourselves. Once you start this journey, you will both become the stuff of nightmares… You will both be feared by the Paladins, some of them will even fear you more than they do their Master… But you Red, you will become something far worse. You will become a living legend, a Monster even the Fear Masters will tremble and bow before"

"You will both be proud, to call you a Monster"

---

Well that's fucking ominous, Red's goanna be a Monster! Well if you read the summery, then you already knew that :/

Maybe now Red's lack of shoes and socks makes sense, can you imagine the cost of them? He'd get through them like a kid through sugar.

The Beast now has a purpose, one that will be fully revealed in time. But not now. Hehehehehehe. I FEEL EVIL TODAY!

HALLE-FUCKING-LUYA! Next Chapter's the last of this Arc! Chapter 6 is where the fun begins… (Puts on an evil toothy grin) Hehehehehehehehe, say goodbye to Red, and hello to the Monster…

Red's a fucking moron, thinking he can pick and choose how he feels… Fucking idiot, but remember I do everything in this story for a reason, sometimes it's for lols, other times it's for important shit. This is a time for the latter.

Credit to Jpr123, you're fic Born Into a New World, which is awesome by the way, inspired the Black Fire used by the Beast. Yes I got his permission to use it, so don't even start. From what I've seen of it so far, I don't think my version of the Black Fire is the same as yours, but if it is, then thanks!

Until next Chapter guys, shit out a review, throw a suggestion at me, say I'm fucking insane, get angry and hurl something pointy at the computer… Do whatever you fucking want, I don't care… OK I lied I do care, please drop a review.

But most of all… HIT THAT FOLLOW/FAVOURITE BUTTON WITH YOUR FACE!

Dragon out!