Ch. 7- Tora's sacrifice

Yeah.


"Welcome to Shadow isle. I hope you remember this place."

"This island I remember. I do not remember this tower."

"And yet you made it up here to the final floor. But…isn't she why you came here in the first place?" Ardos swept his hand to the right and Tora glanced in that direction. Tora's amethyst eyes once again darkened back to black when he noticed who was in the cage.

"…Jovi?"

Jovi looked toward Tora and her eyes widened in a mix of shock and delight. "Tora?"

"Jovi!" Tora ran toward the cage.

Ardos watched silently as Tora hugged Jovi through the bars of the cage and she returned the hug.

Tora looked down at Jovi. "What are you crying for?"

"I'm so happy to see you, Tora! I didn't think you'd come!"

"Has he hurt you? Done anything to you?"

Jovi shook her head. "He's been very nice actually."

"…Why didn't you think I would come?"

"I don't know." Jovi shrugged slightly as Tora stepped back a little. "…It was kinda lonely without you. I thought I wouldn't make it without you, so I just…gave up hope. …Or something."

"You're wrong!"

Tora's sharp answer startled Jovi, making her flinch slightly.

"When you're gone…when we're apart, I'm the one who can't stand it! In fact…I think…I was even lonelier than you! All those times when you went to Dr. Kaminko's when we were young…I didn't what to do. It's like…everything fell apart in front of me. But when you came home…it was like…a ray of sunshine. Even back when we were kids…I loved you. I was the one always being saved. …If I had just held on tighter to you, none of this would have happened." Tora put his forehead against one of the bars. "It's my fault. It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." Jovi put her left hand on Tora's right hand and Tora looked at her. "I had never seen a helicopter before, so I guess the curiosity got the better of me. I should've never gone near it. So…stop blaming yourself. Okay, Tora?"

"Why are you giving me a second chance? I haven't been a very good boyfriend! I should have been watching you carefully! That never would have happened if I had! So why are you-"

"I believe that every person deserves second chances. …Except for Ardos. Not for people like him. So, please stop blaming yourself."

"She's right." Ardos said, and Tora and Jovi looked at him. "But why don't you show her your true nature?"

"…What nature?" Tora asked. "What do you mean, Ardos?"

"I mean this. Why don't we play some demon tag, 1D078?"

Tora's eyes turned amethyst. Slowly, he stood up and started to walk toward Ardos.

"Where are you going, Tora?" Jovi asked, grabbing the back of Tora's jacket.

Tora looked at her, his eyes turning back to obsidian.

"Demon tag, 1D078." Ardos growled.

Tora looked back at Ardos, his eyes turning amethyst.

"…Tora?"

Tora glanced down at Jovi, his once again changing to obsidian. He looked back and forth between Ardos and Jovi, his eyes flickering between amethyst and obsidian. Finally, his eyes rested on Ardos and he started to walk toward him.

"Tora…?" Jovi asked, as she lost her grip, confused at Tora's reaction. "Why are you going toward him…? He's the bad guy! Tora?"

"Mi…"

"…Pla…"

Jovi looked down to see Pluplu, Thunder, Lightning, and Mimi near her cage. "Pluplu! Mimi! Thunder! Lightning! There you guys are! Where have you been?"

"Mi…!" Mimi growled, as if to say, "Shh!"

"I think it's time you met XD002, 1D078." Ardos said, as Tora stood beside him.

"Yes, master."

…Master…? Jovi wondered curiously. What does he mean?

"Well, then." Ardos smiled, as the wall beside him and Tora opened up. "Come on in, XD002."

A shadow darted up and landed at the entrance to the new opening.

That's…! Jovi thought, seeing the Pokemon. Mewtwo!

Mewtwo had a human-like posture, but also had many feline features. His body was grayish-purple with a purple underside and a long, purple tail. Mewtwo had three digits on each appendage, purple eyes, and two short ears.

Master. Mewtwo said telepathically.

"Mi…" Mimi carefully walked in front of the cage as Pluplu, Lightning, and Thunder stayed near the side.

"Mimi, what are you-"

"Mi!" Mimi ran into the cage, then backed up and repeated the process. "Mi! Mi! Mi!"

Mewtwo glanced in their direction and raised his left hand.

Shadow psychic.

"Mi?" Mimi looked at Mewtwo as he was suddenly slammed into the side of the cage. "Mii!"

"Pla!" Lightning ran out from her hiding spot and shot a thunder attack at Mewtwo.

Mewtwo didn't flinch from the attack as he lost his focus on Mimi.

"…Pla?" Lightning went to Mimi's side and looked at him worriedly.

"Mi…"

Pluplu and Thunder crept out from their hiding spots and stood by Lightning and Mimi.

Pathetic rats. Mewtwo raised his hand again, ready to launch another attack.

"Mewtwo."

Mewtwo looked at Ardos.

"Leave them alone. They are of no use to us. All we care about now is making you into a powerful shadow Pokemon."

Mewtwo slowly lowered his hand. Yes, master.

"Good. 1D078."

Tora looked at Ardos.

"Go get the rats."

"Yes, Master." Tora walked over to Lightning, Mimi, Pluplu, and Thunder.

"Pla?" Lightning asked.

"Pla." Pluplu growled, her fur bristling as she looked at Tora's cold eyes.

"Tora, what are you doing?" Jovi asked, as he picked up the four Pokemon and headed back to Ardos. "Tora! Answer me!"

Tora stopped halfway back to Ardos and glanced back at her. "I am not Tora. I am 1D078, Ardos's experiment. You have the wrong person, human."

"…What?" Jovi asked, as Tora continued toward Ardos. "Tora…what's wrong with you?"

Tora stood in front of Ardos.

"We have no use for them." Ardos said. "Dispose of them."

"Yes, master."

This is perfect! Ardos thought, as Tora headed over to the opened wall. He's got so much shadow energy now that not even the girl can taint him anymore.

Tora held Lightning and Mimi over the edge of the floor, as well as Thunder and Pluplu. "Goodbye."


Kellyn stopped, looking out a nearby window when he saw something.

"What is it?" Eureka asked, as he went to the window and opened it.

Kellyn quickly scanned the trees and saw a Swellow. He lifted up his right arm. "Capture on!" He said, and the capture disk shot out of its slot.

"Swell?" The Swellow looked at Kellyn as the capture disk started to circle around it.

"Vatonage!" Kellyn moved two of his fingers down and then up. "Ha!"

The Swellow glowed white as it was captured and the capture disk went back to Kellyn. "Swell!"

"Swellow! Capture those Pokemon!"

"Swell!"

"What's going on?" Dark asked, walking up to Kellyn and Eureka.

Eureka shrugged. "Dunno."

"Let's go, Kellyn!" Dark snapped. "We're on the fifth floor! This is no time to fool around!"

"I'm not fooling around." Kellyn sad, as the Swellow flew back up and landed inside the room.

"Swell." Swellow gently laid four small Pokemon on the floor.

"Those are-!" Dark said.

"Are these Jovi's and Tora's Pokemon?" Kellyn asked.

"Pluplu and Mimi." Eureka said, as Kellyn released the Swellow, which flew outside. "And Thunder and Lightning!"

"How'd they get outside?" Dark asked.

"They were falling." Kellyn said, carefully picking up the four Pokemon. "That's why I captured that Swellow."

"But who would…?" Eureka started, before Dark interrupted her.

"I'll give you one good guess." Dark growled. "Come on, let's go!"

Dark started to run and Kellyn and Eureka followed after him.

Tora…! Dark thought. We've got to hurry-! Or… Dark remembered the conversation that he, Kellyn, and Eureka had with Nett a few weeks ago.


"It's not a fear of what may happen to Orre." Nett said. "But a fear of what may happen to Tora."

"What do you mean…?" Dark asked. "I don't understand."

"I mean…if Tora really is a tool to be used by Cipher to help XD002 become an unpurifyable shadow Pokemon, how are they going to do it? Merge Tora and XD002? No, they're not that advanced. But what if they had a machine that could drain the energy from Tora's body, kinda like the purify chamber, and transfer it to XD002?"

"…That could be true." Kellyn muttered. "But what would that have to do with-"

"I'm afraid that the strain might be too great for Tora to handle."

"What would that mean…?" Dark asked curiously.

"It might mean that…Tora won't make it. What I'm saying is, I'm afraid that if Tora's energy is drained, then his body will shut down, unable to take the pressure of having what has been a part of him for so long taken away."

"So, you mean he might…?" Eureka questioned.

Nett nodded. "Yes. He might."


Tora…! Dark thought, as he, Eureka, Kellyn, and Umbreon came onto the sixth floor. Please be okay!


Tora stood beside Ardos again.

"Good boy, 1D078." Ardos patted Tora's head. "Now, why don't we play some demon tag. Who's the demon?"

"I am."

"Who's the prey?"

"Your Pokemon."

"Then let's play." Ardos threw 5 ultra balls as Mewtwo stood on his other side and 5 Pokemon appeared in a line before Ardos, Mewtwo, and Tora.

"Blaze!" Blaziken was a tall, fighter-like Pokemon with some characteristics of a chicken. A small ring of fire blazed around both of its wrists.

Salamence roared.

"Agg-ron!" Aggron was a large, steel dinosaur-like Pokemon with two sharp horns on its head and a thick, heavy tail.

Latias squealed. Latias was a bird-like dragon Pokemon vaguely resembling Lugia. The lower half of her body was red with jet-plane wings and stubby feet similar to a Crobat's. There was a blue triangle shaped ring on her chest. Her white and red arms could be tucked into her body when she was flying. The upper half of Latias's body was white. She had triangle shaped ears and a red face with a white pentagon in the middle. Her eyes were a golden yellow.

Latios squawked. Latios had the same body shape as Latias, but a larger build. The lower half of his body was blue and featured the same triangle shaped marking on his chest, only it was red. The upper half of his body was gray instead of white. Latios also had flatter ears and narrower eyes than Latias. There was a gray spot in the middle of Latios's blue face in the shape of a teardrop. Latios's eyes were a fiery red.

"Begin." Ardos ordered.

Tora crouched down a little, waiting for the Pokemon to make a move. After a few seconds, Blaziken charged at Tora. When he got close, Blaziken suddenly ducked, his clawed hands glowing with a dark energy. Blaziken started to strike Tora relentlessly, releasing the dark energy with each strike. Tora tumbled backward from the attack, but immediately got onto his feet, and dashed at Blaziken. He copied Blaziken's shadow combat, forcing the fowl Pokemon to its knees. While Blaziken was down, he drained the Pokemon's energy and caught it. He then glanced at the other four Pokemon and faced them. He made a motion for them to attack, but he did it tauntingly.

Salamence and Aggron both looked at each other, then back at Tora. They gathered dark energy in their mouths before shooting a black beam at Tora. Tora dodged the first shadow blast, then countered the second with a shadow blast of his won, causing the two attacks to collide and create smoke.

Latios and Latias looked at one another, nodded, and they both turned invisible.

Tora glared at the Salamence and Aggron as the smoke cleared, growling. Frustrated, he charged at both Pokemon. The Aggron and Salamence both shot another shadow blast at Tora, but Tora jumped up and landed on Aggron. He placed his hand on Aggron's head and started to drain the energy. Salamence powered up a powerful amount of shadow energy in its mouth, getting ready to use shadow cannon.

Tora hopped off of Aggron once he had drained the energy and caught Aggron.

Salamence fired its attack at Tora, who was defenseless in midair.

Ardos gave a frustrated growl. 1D078 lose so easily? Were the shadow Pokemon that strong…? Or was he just that weak?

Master. Mewtwo said, sensing his owner's distress. Look.

Ardos glanced at Mewtwo, then looked toward the opening in the wall as Tora shot at Salamence. "…He survived?"

Tora placed his hand under the Salamence's chin, managing to flip the heavy Pokemon onto its back, and started to drain the energy. Once he was done, he hopped off and caught Salamence.

"Stop hurting them, Tora!" Jovi cried. "You don't have to listen to Ardos!"

Tora ignored Jovi completely as he searched for Latias and Latios. "You are not allowed to hide." Tora said. "That is not how demon tag is played." Tora took a step back and grabbed something.

Latias squealed in pain as she lost her ability to turn invisible.

"Found you."

Latios squawked angrily, turning visible, as Tora drained Latias's energy. Angry, Latios gather shadow energy above him which morphed into a large, black bird.

Tora dropped Latias as the bird soared at him. Tora grunted when the bird phased through him and froze, unable to move.

Taking his chance, Latios soared at Tora.

Tora slowly shifted his right arm.

Latios squealed loudly as he neared growled, grabbing Latios once he was close enough, and started to drain his energy.

"Yes!" Ardos cried. "That's it! Now, capture them!"

Tora dropped Latios beside Latias and watched them.

"Why aren't you capturing them? Go on! That's your job!"

"…I can't."

"What? Are you defying me? Your spirit belongs to the darkness, but your soul belongs to me! Now capture them!"

"But that's just wrong." Tora looked at Ardos, his eyes black.

…He broke free of the darkness? At this stage?

Tora looked back at Latias and Latios. "Capturing them is like…" Tora crouched down, putting a hand under Latios's and Latias's chins. They both opened their eyes and glanced up at him. "…Chaining down a ghost. You're free to go. Go on."

Latios squawked, looking at Latias, who squealed in response as they both started to levitate. They both looked at Tora, then flew outside and turned invisible.

Tora smiled, standing up, then suddenly remembered something. "Jovi." He turned and headed toward the cage, where he crouched down in front of Jovi. "You okay?"

Jovi slowly nodded, still trying to figure out what was happening.

Tora smiled, making Jovi want to forget everything but him.

I will not lose! Ardos thought furiously. I am not losing at this stage in the plan!

"Tora…" Jovi said. "I don't understand what's happening at all."

"I don't understand either. But we'll get out of this. Trust me."

"Tora…" Jovi reached into her pocket and pulled something out. "I want you to have this."

Tora looked at the necklace that she held out and slowly took it to get a closer look. A teardrop shaped blue gem hung at the end of the necklace. Tora looked up at Jovi. "…A sapphire? Oh, I couldn't…"

"It's yours. I want you to have it." Jovi smiled. "It's my gift to you."

"Jovi…" Tora was about to kiss Jovi when a large, mechanical hand grabbed him around the waist. "What the-?"

"Tora? !" Jovi asked, gripping his left wrist as he gripped hers.

"I will not fail when I've gotten this far!" Ardos growled, shifting a lever down and the mechanical arm that led to the claw-like contraption, which was open, moved backward. "You will give up your shadow energy, 1D078!"

Jovi grunted, trying to pull Tora toward her as Ardos tried to pull Tora toward himself.

"Let go, Jovi!" Tora cried, seeing how she strained to keep a good grip on him as she pushed against the bars of the cage. "I'll be alright!"

"But, Tora-!"

Tora smiled reassuringly. "I'll be alright. Trust me."

Jovi stared at Tora, then looked away. Slowly, she loosened her grip and Tora was dragged into the claw contraption, which immediately closed around Tora, but left large room.

Tora looked down at Ardos. "What is this?"

Ardos grinned. "Your retribution."

"…Huh?"

Dark red lines surrounded the claw, preventing escape, as the machine whirred and the claws started to spark.

"Draining commencing." A female voice said. "0%. 1%."

Tora screamed painfully as he felt like his body was being torn.

"5%."

"Tora!" Jovi cried.


Dark stopped.

"What is it…?" Eureka asked, as she stopped and looked back at him.

Kellyn and Umbreon stopped as well.

"Dark?" Kellyn asked.

"Something's wrong." Dark said. "Tora…he's in trouble! Come on! We're almost there! Just two floors to go!" Dark started to run and Kellyn, Eureka, and Umbreon ran after him, trying to catch up to him.

Tora! Dark thought worriedly.


"Tora!" Jovi yelled, gripping the bars of the cage as she leaned closer, hearing Tora's agonized screaming.

"15%." The female voice said. "16%."

Ardos smiled and looked at Mewtwo. "Can you feel the power, Mewtwo?"

Yes. Mewtwo closed his eyes, then opened them, dark energy tinting them. I can feel the power flowing through me! It feels so good!

"Good. That's how it's supposed to feel."

"Stop it!" Jovi cried. "You're hurting Tora!"

Ardos snorted. "You think I care? All he was was a tool for me! From the very beginning! I needed him only for this purpose! I will surpass my father and my goody-goody brother!"

"You're sick!"

"People weren't kidding when they called me kinda strange. Now…" Ardos looked back up at the machine. "Let's raise the level." Ardos shifted a lever up.

"Calculating…" The female voice said. "Level 1 boosted to level 2. Power drain at 25%."

Tora screamed loudly as the pain intensified.

"Toraaa!" Jovi wailed, shaking the bars of the cage.

Groaning, Tora opened one of his eyes and glanced at Jovi. He forced a smile as if to say, 'I'm fine.'

"32%. 33%."

Ardos smirked, raising the power level once more.

The machine sparked and the dark red lines thickened.

"Power increased from power level 2 to the final power level. Power level 3. 50%. 55%."

Tora gritted his teeth, groaning in pain. I can't stand this! He thought. It's like I'm being torn to shreds!

"Tora!"

I'm making Jovi worry. Why do I always do that? I'm such a horrible boyfriend. She doesn't deserve me.

A tear slid over Tora's scar.

I wish I could have told you how I felt a long time ago…when we were kids. I want to tell you that I was always jealous of you and Adon being together. I felt like he was stealing you from me. That's why I always fought with him. I was jealous. But now when you need me the most, I can't be there. Why? Have I done something to offend Arceus? What have I done to deserve this? I'm sorry, Jovi. I'm so sorry!

"Tora…."

Tora opened his right eye and glanced at Jovi, who was watching him with frightened eyes. …I love you, Jovi. You don't know how much.

"70%."

Tora closed his eye, groaning quietly. He tightened his grip on Jovi's necklace, determined not to let it go, no matter what. You're special, Jovi. That's what grew on me. You were the one who saved me. You became my first friend. That's what I love about you. I love you, Jovi Fang!


Dark stopped and looked toward the direction of the final room.

"Now what is it?" Kellyn asked, getting annoyed with Dark's frequent pausing.

Oh no… Dark thought. …I hope this feeling is wrong. Please, Tora…

"Dark..?" Eureka asked. "What's wrong?"

Dark looked at Eureka. "…It's nothing. Let's go. Now. We're only ½ floor away!"

Kellyn and Eureka looked at each other, confused.


"98%."

Ardos put his hand on a lever.

"99%."

Mewtwo opened his eyes.

"100%."

The machine automatically shut down and Tora fell on one of the claw's rungs.

"Tora!" Jovi cried.

Tora made a weak noise somewhere in-between a grunt and a groan.

Ardos watched, smiling, as Tora slipped from the rung.

"Tora!" Jovi yelled, when Tora's body struck the ground. "Tora!"


Yeah! ... *Ahem* R and R, please.