A/N: Well, here we are. A little overdue but it's still really good. This time we get into the main action. Will the Jewel of Life be returned or will history be repeated? Find out.
A shadow is cast over the entire valley that surrounds Micihina Town. Looking up into the sky, onlookers would think that dark clouds were approaching in preparation for a thunderstorm. They would be wrong in this instance however. The shadow of the moon was beginning its pass over the sun in the eclipse that was due to happen on this very day.
A portal, unable to be seen from far below, opened and out came Arceus. The God Pokémon flew towards the shrine, expecting to find Damos and Maximus waiting for Him with the Jewel of Life ready to be returned.
Flying inside of the shrine, Arceus was surprised to see no one there to greet Him. Surely Damos and Maximus would have been waiting for Him.
"It is time to return the Jewel of Life." He announced, hoping someone would respond in kind.
Arceus felt a presence below and looked down to see what it was. He saw Sheena walk out onto the deck with the staff in hand.
"My name is Sheena," she announced, thrusting the staff outward towards Arceus. "Here is the Jewel of Life."
Arceus was confused. Who was this human and why was she in possession of the Jewel of Life? Where were Damos and Maximus?
"Where are Damos and Maximus?" He questioned. "Did something happen to them?"
"They are not coming," Sheena replied. "They were going to betray you."
Betray Him? That was impossible. It did not seem right to Arceus one bit.
"That cannot be," He denied. "You lie!"
"Please, believe me!" Sheena begged. She opened the top of the staff to show she had the Jewel of Life. "But I have the Jewel..."
It was empty. The Jewel was not where it was previously. She gasped at this turn of events. How could this have happened? Marcus! Sheena realized that he was the one to have the staff before she did, which meant he took the Jewel and gave her the empty staff in order to throw off Arceus.
Above her, Marcus stood along with his Heatran and Bronzong. He gave a signal with his hand and out of nowhere, many electric Pokémon emerged from the shadows. All together, they shot off electric attacks towards Arceus. Arceus roared in pain as the attacks hit their target and the electricity surged through His body.
"YOU HAVE DECEIVED ME!" He raged to the young woman before him, thinking that she was the one behind this.
"That is not true," Sheena tried to defend herself but she lost control of the staff and it fell into the water below. After the splash of the staff meeting the water, a small ripple turned into a gigantic whirlpool almost. Water fell into the hole that was revealed once it drained.
"Now pour the silver water." Marcus then commanded.
High above them, large vats of liquid concrete poured down into the abyss, colliding with Arceus and bringing Him down into the hole. Arceus tried to escape but the liquid hardened before that could happen, thus leaving Him susceptible to the attacks from the Pokémon above. Arceus roared in pain as the electricity surged through Him.
Sheena gave an enraged glare towards Marcus. She should have known he did not intend to help her, only to help himself. He revealed the Jewel of Life from his robes and held it out for her to see.
"Looking for this?" He smugly taunted her. "Don't expect me to simply hand it over. Thank you for revealing what the future will bring, my dear. Because of you, I can now change history. It will remember the name Marcus the Fourth for all eternity!"
"You're a monster!" She seethed. "How could you do something like this?"
Marcus smirked even more as he gave his explanation. "It is quite simple," he said. "I have been overshadowed by Maximus and Damos my entire life. So to step out of the shadows, I hatched a plan to find a way to get rid of Arceus myself. Then you, my dear Sheena, came and provided me the perfect opportunity to get back at them. For that, I thank you." He then started to chuckle before turning into a full-blown cackle.
More liquid concrete was poured from high above into the pit that Arceus lay in, further trapping Him inside. If something was not done fast, then Arceus will end up dying.
Above the action, Troy and his younger companions were just in time to witness all that was happening. To their dismay, they were too late to stop anything. The electric attacks did not seem to end while gallons of liquid concrete continued to be poured down into the hole.
"Maybe we're too late," Ash gave a defeated sigh.
Troy looked around to see if that was correct. He did not see Damos or Maximus so that could be crossed off. It was when he noticed Sheena down below that something was off.
"Look," he pointed towards her direction. "There's Sheena. Marcus must have used her to figure out what would happen and then used it himself. He must be stopped."
"Well what can we do?" Barry shot. "He has two Pokémon with him and there's no way we can beat him."
Troy turned to glare at him. A smile worked its way onto his face, the kind of smile that suggested a crazy idea. "Well we're just going to have to try."
They then watched as Sheena tried desperately to stop the Pokémon from attacking, but none seemed to listen. Then a fall of liquid concrete struck the deck she stood on, causing it to become unbalanced and threatening to throw her off. Just before that could happen, a hand stuck out and grabbed her arm and pulled her back before the deck collapsed. The hand belonged to Damos, which earned a collective sigh of relief from the group.
Troy looked to his apprentice. "Ash, let's go."
Ash nodded in understanding and the two began running towards the staircase that led to the top level. A loud voice from behind stopped them from going up.
"Hey wait up!" Barry ran towards them. "I want to fight too."
"No, Barry," Troy immediately shook his head. "It's too dangerous. I can't be responsible for whatever happens to you."
"I don't care," Barry retorted, determination present in his orange eyes. "I want to do something for a change. I'm tired of being the guy who complains about everything. I want to fight."
"I'm sorry, but no."
"You have to trust me. I won't get in your way."
Troy was now stuck in a difficult situation. He was glad that Barry decided to stand up and do something that helped but he didn't want to drag him into this conflict. He and Ash could handle themselves just fine but he was unsure about Barry. He looked to Ash, who nodded. He sighed.
"Ok," he nodded. "Ok. You can come with us."
Barry would have leaped for joy if Troy hadn't stuck his finger out conditionally.
"But," he said. "If you get in our way or do something stupid, I will not hesitate to kill you myself."
Barry nodded his head rapidly in understanding. "You have my word."
"Alright. Let's go." The three of them ran up the stairs, leaving Brock and Dawn to figure out what to do on their own.
Marcus watched as his entire plan unfolded in front of him. The Pokémon were were continuing their attacks just as he planned and buckets of liquid concrete were being poured in by the gallon. Soon Arceus would be no more and history would forever remember him as the one who saved Michina from desolation.
"Stop this!" A voice cried out, interrupting his thoughts.
Marcus turned to see three younger males with the intent of stopping him ingrained in their eyes. He should have known that the prisoners would escape eventually to stop him.
"You have no idea what you are doing," Troy pointed an accusatory finger. "Return the Jewel of Life to Arceus."
"Or else you are going to get fined so much that your descendants are still going to be paying off the debt!" Barry added with a finger point of his own.
"It's too late for that now," Marcus retaliated. "The Jewel of Life is ours now. Michina will forever flourish and will not be a desolate wasteland ever again."
Troy growled to himself. This guy just did not understand what he was doing. He thought he was doing good for the people but knew it was all about himself.
"You just want the power," he seethed. "That's all this is about."
Marcus frowned at him. "You have no idea what it is like to be overshadowed. To not get any credit for things. Damos and Maximus have taken the credit for everything that I had done and treat me like I'm dead. Well not anymore. Now I will get the credit I so rightfully deserve for changing history."
Troy shook his head. "You really are a madman," he muttered. "We will not let you get away with this."
Marcus stuck out the Jewel of Life in a tantalizing manner. "If you want it," he taunted. "Come and claim it."
His Heatran and Bronzong stepped forward, ready to attack and defend their master. Barry called out his Empoleon and Troy released Lucario. The two Pokémon stood with Pikachu to go after Heatran and Bronzong, leaving Barry and Ash to command them. Lucario knew what Troy was going to do: confront Marcus himself.
"You guys take care of the Pokémon while I take care of Marcus," Troy ordered.
"Will you be ok?" Ash asked, unsure if his mentor and friend would be ok.
Troy smirked.
"Yes, Ash," he replied. "I will be just fine. But those two need to be stopped."
Ash nodded. He and Barry then took fighting positions with the three Pokémon in front of them, leaving Troy to deal with Marcus.
Troy removed his shirt and tossed it to the ground, revealing his tattoos and scars to Marcus. The two of them stared each other down, like two men in a Western movie sizing each other up in a duel before the draw. Troy was going to do whatever it took to take the Jewel of Life from his filthy hands and make things right.
"You foolish boy," Marcus taunted. "You do not know what you are doing."
"No. It is you who is foolish," Troy shot back. "If I am to end this, then I will."
Releasing a cry of determination, Troy charged towards Marcus. Troy dodged a punch aimed for his head and punched Marcus in the stomach, causing the man to double over in pain. An elbow onto the neck brought Marcus to the ground but he swept Troy's legs from under him before anymore damage could be done. Taking advantage of the situation, Marcus dropped himself on top of Troy. The two of them wrestled for control, Troy trying to rip the Jewel of Life out of his hands while Marcus tried to keep it in his grasp.
"Why are you doing this?" Troy demanded as he held the top position before being rolled over onto his back by Marcus.
"Because with Arceus destroyed, there will be no reason for Him to return in the future," Marcus explained. "I am changing history and you all will thank me for it."
"You're crazy!" Troy pushed Marcus off of him and stood up. After catching their breath, the two clashed once again.
Ash and Barry were having a difficult time taking care of Heatran and Bronzong. They could not land a solid attack without being pushed back further towards the edge of the walkway. Also the much stronger attacks from the two opposing Pokémon contributed to their hardship.
"Get 'em, Empoleon! Use Hydro Cannon!" Barry commanded his partner Pokémon.
The fully evolved form of Piplup charged up a small sphere of water before releasing it towards its opponents. While Bronzong was able to get out of the way, Heatran suffered most of the damage from the attack. Barry chuckled confidently at his initial victory until Heatran came back with a Fire Spin attack, which knocked Empoleon back a bit.
Lucario ran along the walls, charging up his speed, before unleashing a Bone Rush attack on Bronzong from behind, causing damage until the psychic Pokémon brushed him off with a Gyro Ball attack, sending Lucario jumping back in front of Ash and Barry.
"They just will not give up!" Barry cried helplessly. "What are we gonna do?"
"We just have to hold on for a little longer, Barry," Ash replied, teeth gritted in frustration. "That's the only thing we can do."
While the two of them were trying to figure out what to do, Heatran and Bronzong prepared to fire off attacks towards them. This caught the two young trainers by surprise and would have been blown off the landing by the attacks had it not been for Bubble Beam and Vacuum Wave attacks coming in and stopping the attacks dead.
They turned to see Dawn and Maximus running towards them with Piplup and Riolu joining the group of Pokémon.
"Need a hand?" Dawn teased.
"Dawn," Ash smiled, happy to see help had arrived. "That would be just great."
Riolu bounded over to his evolved form, telling Lucario what he planned to do. Lucario nodded in understanding and the two went after the two opposing Pokémon. Just as Heatran and Bronzong charged up attacks, the two diverted to the sides and began their attack. Riolu blasted Force Palm while Lucario did the same, doing severe damage to the two Pokémon.
"Nice work, Riolu," Maximus encouraged his Pokémon partner.
The small Aura Pokémon smiled at Lucario and Lucario reciprocated the action. Without warning, the two were sent back by a Fire Blast from Heatran.
"These guys just will not give up," Barry groaned again.
Ash gritted his teeth in frustration. There had to be something that could be done. But what was it?
Damos looked around in horror as the electric attacks continued relentlessly. He could not believe that it all had come to this. Something had to be done in order to save Arceus and he knew what it was.
Turning to the girl beside him, Damos ordered her to give him her hand. She gave a look of uncertainty for a moment until she figured out what he wanted to do. Clutching their hands together, they transcended time and space. Brock watched on in amazement, interested in what the two were doing.
"Everyone, please stop," Damos pleaded. "Arceus sacrificed His very life to save our land. We have all been deceived. Please stop your attacks right now."
"He's right," Sheena agreed. "You have a chance to set things right. Do the right thing."
One by one, the attacks stopped until no one was attacking anymore. Up on the ledge, Ash, Barry, Dawn, and Maximus all noticed this. Looking down, they noticed Damos and Sheena and put two and two together, thankful that the attacks had stopped.
Marcus, on the other hand, was not as pleased. He was shocked to see all of the attacks stopping at that moment. The fury inside of him burned even hotter than before. These meddling kids and their dumb Pokémon were not going to ruin his plan!
"Heatran, Bronzong, finish them!" He commanded.
But the two Pokémon did not do as he said, instead they stayed right where they were, not making a single move. He could not understand this.
"I order you to attack now!" He was practically foaming at the mouth with rage at that moment.
Heatran and Bronzong still refused to move. Bronzong even stopped floating to show its defiance to Marcus. Pikachu and Piplup rushed forward while charging up attacks, Iron Tail for Pikachu and Peck for Piplup. The two destroyed their harnesses, freeing them from Marcus's control.
"You see this, Marcus?" Troy taunted. "You've lost your power over them. It's over. Surrender."
Even though he was backed into a corner, Marcus was going to go down fighting rather than laying down.
"Never," he defied. "Michina will go back to being a wasteland without the Jewel of Life. Desolation will return!"
"But there will be nothing left to save if the Jewel of Life is not returned," Maximus stepped forward. "Your Aura is clouded by greed, Marcus. Let go of your ego and use sense to see our words."
Marcus gave Maximus the biggest death glare in history. "You fool," he sneered. "It is because of you and Damos that I never got credit for anything. It's because of the two of you that I ended up in this situation. Arceus will die here and there is nothing you can do about it."
All Troy could do was shake his head. Marcus was nothing but a pathetic, scared child underneath all of this power. He was not worth the time and energy.
"You're pathetic," he uttered.
Troy turned his back to Marcus and began walking back to his companions. Marcus's face tensed in anger at the sign of disrespect. He was going to put Troy in his place. Snaking a hand under his robe, Marcus's hand clutched a knife that he had hidden. Without a word of warning, Marcus charged toward Troy with the knife in a stabbing position.
"Troy, look out!" Ash cried.
Troy turned to see Marcus come forward with the knife but it was too late. Marcus plunged the knife into Troy's abdomen. Troy grunted in pain as the knife surged through him, piercing his skin and settling into his stomach. Everything went quiet to him, he couldn't even hear Ash, Dawn, and Lucario scream his name in horror. All he could see was Marcus's cold red eyes and mouth curved in a sneer.
Marcus roughly removed the knife from his body, allowing the blood to pour out freely. Troy pressed a hand against the wound to try and stop the flow of blood, stumbling close to the ledge. With one final move, Marcus kicked Troy in the midsection and into the abyss below.
"NOOOOOO!" Ash cried, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
A/N: Is this the end of Troy already? Will Marcus be stopped? Find out next time. Leave a review if you please. They really help me. Catch y'all on the flip side.