This should be the last real chapter of Equilibrium. I may end up adding another, and then an epilogue, though, depending on where this goes. This is an insanely long chapter. I would have broken it up, but I couldn't figure out where I could do that.
I don't own Pokemon.
Equilibrium
Chapter Ten
The carnage was overwhelming. Cresselia skirted the town nervously, allowing herself to remain on the ledge of the surrounding crevice. Below her, water ravaged, a frenzy of foam and swirling gray liquid. Above her, dark thunderheads produced long beams of lightning, which lit the land in a surreal way and made stark contrast with the once pleasant scene. The town before her was not much of a town anymore – it was a ruin, it was a mess. It was practically gone. She was transfixed by the sheer terror, the force of the invasion, the devastation. She'd never seen anything like it in her life: Buildings crumbled to their foundations, leaving ragged, jutting skeletal bones in their place. Ghosts of what they used to be. The tower, barely visible in the commotion, was suffering significantly – its bravado and glamour completely destroyed. Obliterated was the majesty that the town once held, and it was replaced by a frightening sense of dismal, hopeless calamity. Chaos reigned in the form of two monstrous gods, who delivered their havoc in the most terrifying ways.
And she couldn't move.
She had never seen such a side to either Palkia or Dialga; she'd never seen them so malicious, so bloodthirsty. In fact, she'd never even seen Giratina in such a state; she was shell shocked. Her body shook, and terror flowed through her veins, thicker and stickier than her own blood. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched the scene unfold. The two dragons raced above the city, throwing attacks at what she could only guess were groups of people. Palkia had a long gash along the back of his shoulders, and the base of his wings were stained an ugly crimson – something she was sure was Darkrai's doing, nothing else could touch them. And as she watched, her stomach sunk as she realized there was no flittering, gray figure trying to stop them. And her blood, thick with fear, ran cold. Darkrai wasn't there, and she knew he wouldn't just let the town be brought to its knees without a fight. "But that would mean…"
She didn't even finish her sentence before her wings jumped into action. She lunged forward, off of the cliff, and caught an updraft. She drifted forward swiftly, raising just high enough to flutter to a halt at the edge of the ruined town. She hid quickly, behind a tall, thin pillar of bricks, and glanced up at the deities. They were focused somewhere else, and hadn't noticed her. With a soft sigh, she darted forward through the alley, flew over a small chain-link fence, then glided into one of the main arteries of the town. She paused for a half a second to make sure she hadn't been seen, then drifted forward once again, headed toward the epicenter of the attack, which lay in the heart of the town.
She was halfway there when an explosion erupted beside her, and forced her back down a small alley. Palkia roared, rearing his head above a building that had just caught fire. A cacophony of frightened voices rose from behind the building, and she noticed a group of people, fleeing. Within that group, she noticed Alice, who was trying desperately to organize everyone. The second Palkia glanced away, Cresselia zoomed around the inflamed building and to the woman trying to rally everyone together.
"Where's Darkrai?" She asked immediately. Alice glanced around, shocked, relieved, and frightened. Her eyes were wide and tired, and her hair was tangled from the sharp wind.
"I don't know," She ushered a small group of Pokemon trainers – Cresselia saw their belts, and realized they must have been tourists – around a corner to seek shelter. They were inching slowly toward the edge of the city, where another large group could be seen conjuring up their Pokemon. It was too dangerous, Cresselia realized, for them to use the only structural exit out of the town, so they were resorting to flying or swimming on their Pokemon. Two small Driftblim bobbed above the group, watching them and urging them forward. "He disappeared a half hour ago, we haven't seen him since." Alice was on the verge of crying, and she had to turn away to get a grip on herself. "We're not going to make it, without him. We're going to die."
Although Cresselia knew this was true, she did not say anything. Palkia had moved to a different quadrant of the town, and she could not see Dialga. The fact that the large indigo dragon was out of her range of vision troubled her greatly, and made her jumpy. "What are you planning to do?" She asked, a bitter edge reaching into the projected voice. Alice didn't look at her.
"We're trying to evacuate the town," She replied hastily, closing the group of trainers off and herding them through the alley. "Maybe if we can get them out…"
"It won't work." Cresselia said, glancing skyward to the deities. "If they want to destroy you, they will."
Alice laughed, a small chuckle bordering heavily on hysteria. "That's what Darkrai said."
--
He groaned. He hurt, everywhere, and there was nothing he could do about it. Edges poked abusively into his back, and his head pounded, like someone was smashing cymbals on either side of his ears. Either that or they had popped, or exploded. Each seemed plausible, given the greatness of his pain. There was a symphony of sounds around him, each edged with despair and destruction, and neither welcoming. All he could see was black, and he wondered if that was what death was like. It was an uncomfortable institution, and wasn't what it was chalked up to be. It was painful, it was disgusting, and most importantly, it was loud. There was a roar, something like fire, and then another roar – a beast of some sort – from somewhere far off in the distance. There was thunder, wind, something misty like rain, and there was wetness. It took him a long while to realize that I must have been raining around him, in his black abyss. Each droplet tingled, sizzled, and made his skin burn – maybe it was acid rain.
He tried to sink back into himself, to get away from the pain, the noise, the smell, but it didn't work. The hot scent of fire was pungent, and the smell of decay was too strong to ignore. He squeezed his eyelids shut, making the darkness even blacker. He was drifting closer to the surface, seemingly held up by an unknown buoyancy. The pain on his back became more concentrated, and then his arms hurt. His head throbbed, and his chest was on fire. The pain became clearer, and clearer, and more unbearable the further he drifted.
And then, he woke up.
--
Cresselia cursed as she flittered around a small group of children. She had no chance against Palkia or Dialga, the tower was destroyed, there was no more music – so the only effective approach she saw was to help Alice. The woman wasn't far away, either. She'd just escorted the trainers through the rubble, and was working on another group of elderly people, who moved too slowly for the span of time they had to escape. The children she was gathering together moved quickly, they were frightened and crying, but they moved. And she was thankful for that. She flew behind them, quickly but not quick enough to exert herself. Their pace may have been swift, but it was frighteningly slow compared to her own maximum speeds – let alone Palkia or Dialga's.
The only factor on her side was that they were blinded by their newfound abilities. They seemed to enjoy destruction far more than they should have, and were focusing their attentions on doing so. Every so often, Dialga would roar and the buildings – or what was left of them – would crumble. Palkia, every so often, obliterated them completely, leaving bare, black spots where they once stood. A large crater loomed to her left, and she didn't know why, but she was afraid of it. She couldn't figure out why, but Cresselia got a terrible feeling whenever she darted too close, so she redirected her group of humans away from it, and changed course slightly. The ground beneath them trembled with the power of the dragons' attacks, and only succeeded in frightening the children even more. "Shhh, shhh," She tried to calm them, "We're almost there."
She met up with Alice on the edge of the town. There, the two Driftblims each picked up a small child. They struggled only a little with the weight, and worked on moving them to the confines of the ruined forest, the only place Palkia and Dialga had completely ignored. A small group of trainers was clustered as well, offering their Pokemon to aid in the evacuation. They were instructing numerous flying types – Pidgeots, Staraptors, a Charizard – telling each Pokemon where to drop off their passengers. Two kids clambered up on the large Charizard, and the Pokemon grasped a smaller one – five at the oldest – and leapt from the cliff. It glided effortlessly across the gorge, to the edge of the forest. Cresselia watched them, unable to ignore the sense of foreboding that was washing over her. With some effort, she turned away from the scene and dashed back into the skeletal remains of the town.
"Where are you going?" Alice shouted after her, but she was too far away to bother replying. She darted toward Dialga, the closest of the two legendaries, and hid behind the remnants of a scaffold. The dragon was too preoccupied with a small cluster of Pokemon – trainer Pokemon – to notice. Cresselia took a deep breath and focused. Her wings glittered with psychic energy, and Dialga followed suit. The dragon waved her head side to side, slowly and mechanically, as if she were dizzy. Suddenly, the beast snapped her face forward, found Palkia, and roared loudly. The second dragon growled as he stumbled backward, into the Contest Hall – crumbling stone at that point – and gripped his head with sharp talons. His wings beat furiously and flightlessly as his counterpart turned toward him and attacked again. Cresselia sighed, relieved, and darted back to where Alice was aiding the refugees.
--
The sky was not a friendly place. Above him, dark purple thunderheads brewed, and rain split from them. To the right of his vision, there was a faint, golden glow, one Darkrai was not unsure of. He knew exactly what it was, and it terrified him. He struggled for a long moment and sat up, wincing. His chest bled, although not as profusely as it must have been earlier. The flow had reduced itself to small rivulets that coated his armor and left his chest splattered with gore. He got up manually, too unsure of himself to hover, and used his arms and knees to support him. He glanced up at the glow, cursing weakly. The glow increased, and a deafening, bell-like hum filled the air. He glanced away from the glow temporarily to see Dialga attacking Palkia – was she confused? His brow furrowed together. Such a thing was impossible, any mortal Pokemon couldn't get close enough to her to do such a thing, let alone tie her mind up with such a basic move. Processing thought was uncomfortable, so he turned his head a fraction of an inch, back to the glow. It looked fainter, but not by much – like a charge of electricity in a stormy sky. He swore, and sorely, got to his feet. With great effort, he bounded into the air, adjusted his balance, then darted toward the deities. They were doomed, now, and he knew it. In such a state – or even in perfect health, for that matter – there was little to nothing he could do now. He could hope, maybe, but hope was a fragile thing, and he didn't have time for it.
He wobbled in the air as he approached the battling dragons, and paused short of them. He charged a Dark Pulse – a shadow of one of his typical attacks – and fired it at Palkia. Despite the weakness of the attack, it connected with the preoccupied deity and sent him crashing to the ground. A large gash appeared in his armor, and he screamed. Dialga descended upon her counterpart with frightening speed, and slashed at him with her claws. In the street below him, people stood perplexed, and out of the sea of faces, he found Alice – smiling, amazingly, in the desperation of the situation.
But then it happened. The clouds erupted and a blinding gold glow flooded the desolate remains of Alamos town. Palkia stopped moving, and Dialga, snapping out of her confusion, glanced up at the beam, seemingly unaffected by the brightness. Darkrai shied from it, naturally trying to advert himself from the path of the light. When the glow died away, a brilliant figure – white as an albino and covered in shimmering golden armor – majestic and demanding, an omnipotent force too powerful for words, remained. Her dark face turned upward, green eyes glittering, and Arceus sung a loud, soprano roar. Darkrai jerked away from it instinctively, but was no worse for wear – Arceus was just starting with a boom, not dooming them all to death.
Arceus' jaws parted menacingly, and from between them, a large beam appeared. It gathered static energy and formed a large, glowing ball between her teeth. It rolled and surged with power, until it broke free and formed a hyper beam. Arceus directed the beam through the town, leaving in its wake a zig-zag of pure destruction that left nothing but scorched earth. Buildings, plants, streets, roads, all were completely obliterated. Everything around it petrified instantly, turning to stone. Ash gathered in the air, leaving a heavy smog where the beam of undiluted power. It lasted far longer than Darkrai had ever seen one last, but finally, after an excruciatingly long period of time, the beam died down and Arceus shifted in the sky. She roared, triumphant, and Dialga and Palkia ascended on him once more.
"You are going to die, Darkrai," Palkia growled, his voice husky and low, a rumble. "You are going to die, and now, it's only a matter of how painful you want to make it for yourself."
Palkia reared his head backward, and from his own mouth, produced a beam of energy. The hyper beam took less time to charge than Arceus', but it was less powerful. Finally, Palkia shot the beam, a powerful – but not as brilliant – display of power, directly toward him. Darkrai jerked backward, then up, and barely missed the beam. Arceus sat, from her front row perch in the clouds, and watched the disaster unfold with an unnaturally smug look on her face.
--
Cresselia saw it before anyone else. Arceus appeared, leaving her own imprint on the empty block of land. Alamos was no more – fire sparked from what little remained of the buildings, and explosions broke out in numerous spots. The thick layer of rain that covered the land was not enough to quell the fires that broke out.
But that was no longer important. She only saw two things – Palkia and Alice. And then, the beam that would connect the two. Adrenaline raced through her and slowed time down, so her brain could make the connection. Darkrai, who had miraculously risen from the ashes – and renewed her sense of worry, was too close to Palkia and Dialga to do anything within the allotted time. He would not be able to stop the charge that threatened Alice. And there was no one, not in the crowd of scattering people, or all the Pokemon in the world, who'd be able to do anything. Except her. The decision was made in less time than it seemed, but Cresselia felt that it took hours to deliberate. Even if they didn't survive the battle, she knew she'd never be able to live with herself if every day of her life, she had to watch Darkrai if Alice died. If she died, that one, fragile little human, then Darkrai would die, too. Not physically, no, but there was something about that little human that the legendary phantom admired. And if she died, that part of him – however large it was – would die as well. She grit her teeth and flung her wings into action. Pink energy swirled around the veils on her body, creating a barrier around them. Moving as fast as she could gather herself to move, Cresselia darted in front of Alice and projected the energy into a barrier before her. The hyper beam hit the thick armor of psychic energy, and everything seemed to explode.
--
Things happened very slowly, then.
Darkrai saw flashes of images all at once. He traced the hyper beam to the ground, and saw a single person amidst a group of frenzying people. While the crowd ran, the single figure stood still, terrified. Alice was no longer smiling, instead, she was watching the hyper beam approach her with startling speed. No. Darkrai made a hissing sound, but couldn't move himself. It was like he was stuck, hung by the strings of a puppet master, unable to shift in even the slightest way. His limbs felt like rocks in a pond, and seemed to sink.
And then something else happened. It all seemed unreal, like a movie playing before him. Darkrai watched as a small, pink blur darted forward from somewhere in the bylines and directed itself immediately in front of the hyper beam. The two energies collided, and there was an explosion of light. When his retinas adjusted, Alice stood, cowering – but otherwise unharmed. And then he glanced up to a small grove of petrified trees. The park itself had been turned to stone, and there was no life radiating from it. One of the trees, the largest of them, was broken in half – the canopy overturned almost comically. At the base of the tree was the small, pink form that had dived in front of the beam. It no longer glowed, and looked dull in comparison to the flash of light. Darkrai blinked to get rid of the dark flashes in his vision, and squinted, until he could see what it was.
And everything was quiet.
Behind him, Dialga and Palkia floated. Their attacks had immediately ceased. Darkrai dropped five feet, as if he had experienced turbulence. He gripped his bloodied chest and stared at the small spot by the tree. The spot was expanding, slowly, but the color was all wrong – it was not the soft yellow or blue that it should be, it was red. Palkia and Dialga mirrored Darkrai's expression as they stared at the unmoving spot on the ground. Alice turned, confused, and immediately screamed.
It felt as if everything had drained out of his body. He was cold all over, and any trace of warmth was gone. His stomach did a paralyzing flip as he stared at his counterpart, hunched over the broken trunk. "No…" He murmured, so quiet he hardly heard it himself. There was an irregular, strained thrum in his chest as he drifted slowly out of the air. When he was close enough to the ground, he moved forward. It was too slow for him, much too slow – even when he knew he was moving very quickly, it did not seem quick enough. Alice was crouching over Cresselia, and she was sobbing. Darkrai's stomach made a funny, painful flopping motion.
"Cresselia…" Alice whimpered at the fallen swan. Her face was drenched with tears, and she was caressing the lunar legendary's wing, which was contorted into an unnatural position. She looked up, helplessly at him, as he approached the two. Cresselia's neck was draped along the stump, so her crowned head hung over the edge. He lowered himself to the ground and carefully reached forward, ever aware of his movements. He picked her head up and knelt. He pulled her slowly off of the ruined tree, careful not to disturb her – she was still bleeding, and any movement could hurt her worse.
"She…" Alice choked on a sob, "She's not… d-dead, is she?" A low rumble of feet catching the ground made him glance up. He pulled the broken swan closer to him when he saw Palkia and Dialga. The pink dragon's carmine eyes were wide and frightened, like he had snapped out of a stupor. In the air, Arceus' smirk had obliterated. Her expression was unfathomable. Darkrai glanced down at Cresselia, assessing her. She had, to say the least, several extreme lacerations, and countless bones were broken. Half of her looked burned. Palkia turned his head upward a bellowed a long, mournful tune.
"Shut up!" Darkrai roared, and the dragon fell silent. Gently, he turned Cresselia's face. Her eyelids drooped, and her eyes were glassy with pain. A chill swept over him as he saw them blink slowly. Palkia crouched and jumped into the air, launching himself forward with blinding speed. Dialga remained, staring at the limp swan that sat, cradled protectively by Darkrai. The shiny glimmer of liquid rolled down the sapphire dragon's cheeks before she too, shot into the air after Palkia.
Everything around him disappeared. He was vaguely aware of Alice shouting for help, or the unmistakable sound of Arceus leaving. He knew that the goddess would be back, just when he didn't know. He didn't know how long it was later, but someone was trying to pry Cresselia away from him. He fought back, to the best of his abilities, but he felt his arms go numb, and finally, they failed him. Whoever it was took his counterpart from him, and left him, sitting alone in the rain.
--
Yes, I'm aware. I am absolutely evil. If I make a sequel, Arceus will be back. I wonder how many of you saw THIS coming, hm? There will be at least one more chapter after this one. This chapter was 3,700+ words long.