Imperfection07: Sorry I took so long previously (Gomen Nasai LoneGunGirl88 and everyone else!), but this time I have a good excuse due to homework, Drivers ED, finishing VPI (AFTER TWO YEARS), trying to work on this chapter in the meantime (OVER TEN PAGES!), getting hooked on a recent game I bought for the Gamecube (Nicktoons Unite), and an old time radio recording of War of the Worlds (which I have yet to finish listening to without disturbance). I apologize for the inconvenience if I take too long on the rest of the chapters. Ah, what the heck: read and enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!

Flame: (Stunned/eye twitch) I have a twin…AND A FAN-GIRL?

Shadow: (Under pile of Fan-Girls that have mysteriously snuck up from behind and glomped him) Yeah-yeah, it sucks to be you…

Dreamscape 2: The Chaos Factor
Chapter 13: Evolution Method
Warning: (in Spoiler Forms) expect some vomiting, back-stabbing (LITERALLY), pain, crude humor, and a goliath……no seriously…and I didn't exactly say WHERE Nega would emerge…
Shadow's POV
Something was a bit different this morning, I was holding onto something very familiar and I wasn't on the couch like I usually was. I decided to shrug it off and return to the peaceful slumber before a loud alarm caught me and whoever I was holding onto off guard. Whatever it was, it sprang out of my grip and had the noise diminish into nothing.

Thank you!

I wasn't interested in waking up except that a cold chill was starting to come over me from the lack of heat, even though I had fur. I didn't care what it was that sprang away from me; I literally snagged it and drew it in close, feeling odd closeness coming over me. I ignored it and felt the thing in my arms settle down before shivering.

(LOUD SNEEZE)

That woke me up…

I wasn't too thrilled and grumbled for emphasis.

"Oh, sorry Shadow-chan…" A familiar voice apologized before I finally got around to slowly opening my eyes. I immediately spotted Mona looking down at me from her seated position.

Shadow-chan? Hmm, that's new…

"No, it's alright…" I replied, sitting up and trying to clear my vision so I could get a better view of her.

"Odd, you told me you didn't have to sleep…" She commented, playfully flicking my left ear with her right hand.

"Only if it's absolutely necessary…" I replied, trying to fight down the purring coming from the back of my throat, even though I couldn't help it. "I got worn out when I saved you from the Steel Elemental..."

"Ah, but you had enough energy to wake up in the middle of the night and…start making out…with me…" She immediately started blushing when I got up close. "…err…you're the first guy (including human) I've actually…liked…and…"

I tilted my head slightly as if inquiring what she was going to add.

"And…?"

"…I didn't brush you off or…give you a vulgar gesture…then there's my ancient unused soccer leg and really fast reflex that lead to the nasty event three years ago when I was eleven…before I met you…" She tried to explain, nervous, her right hand staying behind my ear. "…the event with the…kid in sixth grade…"

I almost froze when I remembered our chat-during-the-movie at least three minutes before the odd emotion began stirring. Mentally shaking it off, I reached up with my left hand so it would close around her right.

"That means I'm the first you've been this close to?" I asked, putting these facts together as I unconsciously shifted closer, obviously the odd feeling from last night wanted to be restarted.

"Yeah," She replied, blushing. "And, you know very well my parents are next door…"

Realization kicked in and I moved back slowly, dropping my hand away before it could touch her chin. "Right, don't want them making a fuss about seeing us…sooner or later they'll figure it out anyway…"

"…and I have to get to school in an hour, ah well, I'm already dressed…" She muttered, looking at her attire.

"I really wouldn't suggest going to school looking like you narrowly escaped a catastrophe…" I said not quite pointing out that there was some rubble on her outfit that I didn't notice earlier. Mona paused before plucking off a small piece of gravel.

"Eh, you've got a point…" She muttered before sneezing and clamping both hands over her mouth. I caught the gravel that flew out of her hand. Thankfully it was just her clothes that were covered with it.

(Shadow: (Towards audience) NOT LIKE THAT!)

"…and you're sick…" I muttered, snagging a tissue from a table and handing it over. She accepted it and sneezed again.

"I'll be fine Shadow. I survived having a cold at school before…" Mona tried to talk her way out of it before shivering.

"Doesn't sound like it…" Carefully, I rested my palm on her forehead resulting in a blush to form. I smirked slightly before testing the temperature I gained in my hand. "Okay, either Mobians have lower temperature than humans or you're past the ninety-nine point…"

"Dang it I'll be fine…" The girl muttered, getting up into a standing position before suddenly coughing into the tissue.

I smirked. "…sick…"

"Survived cough at school…"

"…not happening..."

"This is nothing compared to the flu I had…"

"I'll bet your mother would force you back in bed in a heartbeat…" I smirked, standing up.

Odd, I was at least a few inches shorter than her on Mobius. Ah, I probably got taller than her within those three years... Bio-Genetics…what can you do?

"You'd better not tell her…I have to keep a good attendance at school you know…" She glared although this was in a teasing manner.

I smirked in response. "Alright then, I won't, but you have to do something first…"

"What?" Her eyebrow rose, showing confusion.

Pausing, I suddenly smiled and leaned in close, resulting a blush forming on her face as she leaned in as well and closed her eyes slightly. Before we could close the small gap, I sprang out the room and closed the door. I heard a body fall then and there.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SHAD!" Mona cried out from within the room before grabbing the door knob.

"You're not doing anything until you get into a better outfit that's not waterlogged." I called back, holding the door knob in place.

"Fine! Sheesh!" Mona growled, releasing the doorknob which she was trying to pry the door open with. I slowly released it before hearing a faint click on the other side.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I locked it…"

"Huh?"

"I don't want you to barge in when I'm getting changed…" She hissed. Understanding that this had to deal with a girl's privacy matter, I backed off.

"Okay, I'll be downstairs…basement…" I explained quickly before heading there, recalling that's where I left my things before almost tripping on Eevee. "Holy…!"

"VEE!" Eevee dodged to the side before I collided with the ground.

"Ugh, I swear you camouflaged with the carpet…" I grumbled before getting up, picking up Eevee, and walking downstairs, shoe and gloveless…thank Gerald I had fur!

"Vee-vee…?" Eevee tilted its head as if to propose a question.

"What?"

"Vee-vee-vee-vee…?"

I immediately froze no sooner had I cleared the stairs…

"I did…"

"Vee-vee-vee…?"

"I…I did…" Okay, now I could feel my face burning up…in other terms I was blushing… "Can't we talk about this later?"

Eevee attempted a shrug. "Vee-vee…" Then I heard its stomach growl.

"SIGH, just wait a moment…" I replied, placing Eevee back down before going down another flight of stairs that lead to the basement and reaching my 'clothes' (as in Shoes and Gloves). I glanced up and spotted the still slumbering form of the father before looking back down so I could slip on both my shoes before grabbing my gloves and walking upstairs.

Eevee was there waiting the whole time, wagging its tail back and forth as if it knew I was going to give it breakfast before sprinting into the kitchen where it pawed at one of the wooden doors next to its food and water bowl.

"Calm down," I muttered, opening the door slowly so I wouldn't knock Eevee away before pulling out the 'food' and dumping an abundant amount into the bowl and replacing the stale water.

No sooner had I done that, Eevee buried its face into the food bowl as I put the sack away.

"You're hungry…" I commented, half-closing the door.

Eevee lifted its head up to show crumbs on its face, "VEE!" then it went back into the food. Munching and swallowing like there was no tomorrow until swallowing the last bite, sighing, and placing its head on the bowl with a content smile.

'Ah…'

Cute…very cute…

I turned my attention to the stairs where I spotted Mona's father walking upstairs in his night-clothes, bath-robe, and…bunny slippers?

(Okay, thought it would sound funny…)

I fought down the chuckle and the urge to mutter something on the lines of: "stupid human" before the father walked upstairs to the upper level of the house.

A semi-noisy clatter was heard and I spotted a bluish colored stone near where I pulled out the bag of food.

Mona's POV
Most of the outfits I had were stained with ash, water, some burns, bits of gravel, wood splinters, and (GAGS) sweat (there was some blood but it wasn't like I had escaped from a massacre). I grumbled and threw the ones in those categories into a hamper before digging out an old long-sleeve.

"Glad to see Mom hasn't thrown you out…" I smiled as I recognized it as my favorite long-sleeve from the eighth grade. Smiling, and knowing if it was found mother would throw it out, I forced it back into the drawer prior to grabbing a Mahogany long-sleeve. "Ah, you'll do…"

Within moments I was in a fresh pair of jeans, the long sleeve, and a different head-band. I glanced towards the clock and took note of it being near seven.

"School…what can I do without it…? A whole lot of things…" I muttered. "…that was the worst Haiku in existence…"

Momentarily I had gotten downstairs after that sudden realization that I hadn't done my homework. This had taken me a few dozen minutes…

…well the Algebra portion took me about twelve…

When I had gotten my backpack and was walking downstairs, I spotted Shadow looking at the three element stones I had cloned in the game and brought to the real world.

"What are these?" Shadow asked, somehow knowing I was behind him (a possibility being the telepathic connection).

"Element Stones…" I replied. "Water Stone, Fire Stone, and Thunder Stone. They evolve Eevee into completely different Pokemon like Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. Not in that exact order." I explained.

"Which were you planning to evolve Eevee into?"

"I was going to let Eevee decide…" I replied "I'm fine with whatever Pokemon it decides to become…"

"In other words: you're letting Eevee have a choice in this."

I nodded before glancing at the clock and grumbling. "Terrific…I'm going to be late…"

"You want me to Chaos Control you there?" Shadow asked. "I've followed you there several times already and know exactly where it is…"

"Sounds good, but we have to bring along Eevee."

"Why?" Shadow tilted his head, confused. Eevee blinked and issued a cute "Vee?"

"I really don't know, but maybe it can help against the Earth elemental "Gaion" if it shows up."

"Gaion…?"

"It's the Earth Elemental's name…I just had a really-really weird dream where I was talking to the elementals."

"You can explain later, I doubt your parents will be happy if you're late…" Shadow cut me off before putting on my backpack and stumbling a bit before he regained balance. "What the hell's in this thing?"

"Books, books, pencils…" I started, stuffing in the Element Stones, before Shadow rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand before warping us to the side of the school. "Wow…I thought you were just going to stop time…"

"In some cases…" Shadow replied, handing over the backpack. "I'll be back later!"

With that, I was just faced with nothing but a brick wall.

"Sooner or later I'm going to ask if he can teach me that move…" I murmured before running towards the front door and making it inside just as the first bell rang.

Moments later I had gotten to my locker, swearing about how it was on the top floor and my first-period class was the bottom level. Well…in sarcastic terms I was getting an exercise.

No sooner had I opened the locker and stuck my hand in…

CRACKLE!

I recoiled and clenched my teeth as I looked at my hand. The bolt was a lot stronger than usual and it was a lot more painful.

"The hell…?" I blinked before hearing something whizzing towards me. I abruptly turned and blocked the flying trash bin, using my arms as makeshift shields. "HOLY SHI…!"

CLANG!

"Clang…?" I blinked and spotted Kianna standing across from me, her jaw dropped as the trash bin rolled over until it stopped on the dent. "What…?"

"Are…are you a robot?"

I looked at her, confused. "Robot…? What are you talking about…?"

She only continued staring as I arranged my books, flinching as I got zapped from the static electricity. No sooner had the sparks stopped, I felt like I was in a 90 degree room before shaking it off and zipping my bag closed and stumbling to class.

"I don't feel so good…" I groaned before smacking into a wall, praying that nobody was there to witness me looking like a zombie.

"Warrior, what's wrong?" Watery asked.

"What's wrong with me…? I was hoping you'd know…" I muttered aloud before getting to class and sitting down in my seat. It wasn't that time of month yet but I felt my temperature switching from 100 to 60 then back to regular 98.6.

"You're not stable…you need to have all seven Elementals so our powers are balanced and can be fully developed…" Electrizen answered.

"Stable…that's just hunky-dory…" I groaned.

"Are you alright?" A classmate asked as I turned to her. "You look…pale and…is that melted ice?"

I went rigid and placed a hand to my head as I felt…indeed…melted ice running down my forehead. Right then I bolted for the door, signed out, and ran for the closest restroom (passing by Hiro in the process). I immediately heard a resounding CLANG as my right hand (which had turned metal) grabbed at the door knob (thank GAIA I was the only one in there). I didn't waste any time to get into a restroom stall, close the door behind me, and hunch over a toilet as my vision became disoriented.

-RETCHING NOISE-

"So…what did you say about…developing?" I gasped, keeping my hair back and mentally ranting how I should've kept it short.

"Well…after a while you learn that you don't always have to rely on the Charger Emerald Sword. The backlash is that the powers will drain you slightly and be out of control unless you have at least seven Elementals inside the sword." Electrizen explained

"AT LEAST SEVEN! YOU MEAN THERE ARE PROBABLY EIGHT! YOU MEAN NEGA'S THE EIGHTH! AND WHAT WILL…oh…hold on a sec…"

-RETCHING NOISE-

Eh…serves me right for over exciting myself…

"Sorry…" I gasped. "What will happen if I don't catch Gaion in time?"

I heard Electrizen heave a sigh of remorse. "If you don't, or he doesn't, you'll burn out and eventually die from the strain…"

"I suppose…HUCK! –Even more retching- GASPGASP…vomiting and losing my fluids as ice are side-effects…feels worse than food poisoning…"

"Err…" Aero sounded like he was wincing.

"Can…one of you guys tell him? Telepathy is really…really painful right now…" I grumbled, swiping off ice that clattered to the floor before melting instantly.

"Okay, just…try to remain calm and hold on." Freeze said aloud. "We'll get Shadow to help as soon as we can…"

There was a silence before I continued, "What about Hiro? Can he do anything?"

"Still haven't used the pros or cons chart have you?" Flame asked.

"No, I made my choice… I just want to be sure Shadow is going to be alright…"

"We'll see what we can do…" Watery replied before they raced off.

Then I was alone in the restroom, trying to focus on staying conscious and holding back the vomit while ignoring the fact that my stomach felt like it was going to be torn apart.

Shadow's POV
Something didn't feel right…normally I'd hear the sound of the teacher lecturing inside Mona's head…except I was feeling a bit warm…like what happened in the pod. Eevee was shifting nervously on my lap, looking at me then looking back towards the school.

"Vee," It whimpered and tried to jump off before I caught it.

"Eevee, we'll both get caught if we go in there." I growled, wiping off the sweat as the sword glowed a bit and shifted into an odd red before turning into turquoise and shifting into bright silver. "What…?"

The elementals were acting up. There wasn't any sign of Gaion and Mona was dead silent. Of course, I went back to thinking about all that I had studied about the elementals back on the ARK.

One word hit me when I remembered what would happen if there were only SIX of the seven emeralds or elementals. UNSTABLE…

"SHIT," I partially unsheathed the sword and Eevee stared at the warping colors. They were unstable in the sword, and if I was right (which I hoped not), then they must be unstable inside her! (No duh, that explained the head wave) "I knew I should've kept her home…now what!"

I tried not to panic before sheathing the sword and Eevee sniffed in a direction.

"What is it?"

"VEE-VEE-VEEEE," It barked and lifted a paw in a direction. Sure enough, I heard a loud rumble and the tree which we were in tipped slightly. I scrambled to hold onto Eevee and grabbed the trunk of the tree.

"Gaion, it's probably sensing her being unstable…" I commented before jumping down from the tree, which fell with a loud CRUNCH behind me, and placing Eevee down. "Stay…"

Eevee only shot me a look before I left it near the fallen tree. If I could seal Gaion, then the elementals could become stable…

Easier said than done…

3rd Person POV
Hiro stopped short of the restroom where he heard the shudders and retching originating from the brunette.

"She's unstable…" He murmured. "Just like what happened to the first…only more painful. She's a lot weaker. No wonder she has to rely on that hedgehog in every battle…"

"Better focus on the deal Hiro…you know exactly what she told you she would do if you disobeyed…" Hiro backed off from the door before noticing a teacher next to him.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" She asked with an air of superiority.

"Actually…" Hiro held his hand in front of the 20 to 30 year-old woman's face. "You didn't see me outside in the first place…you're just hallucinating when you were supposed to be finding out where one of your female students went…and she seemed very ill…"

FLASH!

The teacher's vision was blinded for a moment before it cleared and she faced nothing but the doorway to the restroom.

Outside, Eevee waited by the tree before looking at the school. Worry outweighed reason and the Pokemon ran towards one of the windows, sniffed, dashed towards another and froze. Eevee pawed at the window before frowning slightly and backing up. One moment of being tense later, the brown creature dashed at the window and smashed its side into it resulting in a semi-loud crash and creating a small hole in the glass window and Eevee crashed onto the tiled floor.

Eevee whimpered as it stood back up and shook the glass from its fur before detecting a small and pained shudder in one of the stalls.

"VEE!" Eevee bolt in the direction of the noise and recoiled, seeing the human curled up in a pained ball and covered with frozen sweat. The stench of vomit seemed to radiate from the toilet she was facing. "Vee-Eevee,"

"E…vee…" Mona turned slightly, before clutching her stomach and recoiling into another ball. Eevee sympathetically went up towards the human and nuzzled, trying to keep her calm and focus on something other than the pain…

…just in time for the door to the restroom open…

Shadow continued following the pulse of energy from the sword which signified where Gaion was before getting knocked off his feet just as a giant brown claw shot out. The hedgehog dodged in mid-air before shifting the sword into a blue color and a geyser of water shot out, throwing him a distance from the elemental. No sooner had he landed, another arm shot out, this one covered with gnarled roots that snapped as the arm extended upwards towards the sky before digging into the ground and forcing the ground upwards.

"Great…another giant…" Shadow muttered to himself as a dull sting on his torso signaled Mona's condition getting slightly worse. "Just hang on a bit longer…"

The hedgehog backed up slowly as he examined Gaion. He had to be at least the size of a twelve story building, at least three times the height of Steel. Gaion had bright green eyes while his scales were a dark brown, mostly since he was covered with his element and lymph nodes that spread along his back, arms, and some parts of his face, resembling fungus or dead flesh covering a zombie. His head was shaped like a dragon's with finned ears only with Alligator like features and some of his sharp fangs were hanging out. Other than this, Gaion had a long coiling tail that was still attached to the ground (his obvious life line).

"Ah…shit…" Shadow muttered aloud before dodging one of the clawed hands that rammed into the ground, creating a slight crater. He was grateful that Gaion didn't have any real projectile attacks…

…or so he thought…

Gaion reared his head back, a small amount of molten rock dribbling out of the corners of his mouth, before forcing it forwards and shooting out the rest. Shadow, caught a bit off guard, sprang backwards and sent out a stream of ice that cooled down the lava into rocks and chunks of earth before completely melting from the heat.

"The tail…I have to reach the tail!" Shadow grimaced, sprinting towards there before getting cut off by more of the molten rock which he sprang away from and forced to cool it using either ice or water attacks. Momentarily, the elemental shuddered and chunks of earth, rock, and roots shot up from the ground and molded themselves into miniature clones of Gaion, at least three feet in height. "I swear I have no time for this!"

Hiro succeeded in sneaking out of the building in time for a miniature version of Gaion to smash into the ground in front of him. The hybrid wasted no time in turning into his true form, stretching out his wings, delving his sword into the miniature Gaion's head, and flying towards the battle in time to see Shadow turning a bright red color as he was engulfed by the four remaining miniatures.

"Chaos…BLAST!"

Hiro dodged in order to avoid the explosion along with the flying miniatures that smashed into the ground, crackling with raw chaos energy, while Gaion staggered and got back into place. It switched its attention towards Hiro who had let out a panicked "WHOAH!" when he almost got hit by a chunk of limestone/gravel.

"You!" Shadow shouted, pointing directly at Hiro before springing out of the way of Gaion's twelve ton claws. "What the hell are you doing here!"

"What? Am I not allowed to help you and your girlfriend…who's out sick?" Hiro taunted, dodging one of Gaion's claw swipes and Lava Spitting. Shadow clenched his teeth before turning his attention towards Gaion and grumbling.

"Just stay out of the way…" The bio-hog shifted the sword into a violet color and used the sudden burst of wind to vault himself up at a high height so he was face to face with Gaion. Gaion jerked its head backwards out of surprise, but just after Shadow had grabbed onto its nose. "Gah, elemental boogers…SICK!"

Shadow continued having a grip on Gaion's face as the Earth Elemental shook it back and forth, attempting to remove the annoyance.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Hiro asked, floating just close enough to speak to the bio-hog but not enough to get hit by Gaion's thrashing movements.

"I'M…PER...FECTLY…SURE…DUMB…ASS!" Shadow yelled before Gaion rammed its head in the ground in an attempt to squish him. "ORF!"

(Please note: before Shadow was forced into the ground he gained an OO;; expression on his face.)

Hiro kept the smug-humored expression on his face but kept in mind the situation before spotting the tail and flying towards it, dodging the sudden rocks that shot up and raising the sword high above his head.

Gaion's focus on squishing the hedgehog was shattered when jolts of pain erupted from the tail, causing it to rear its head back and unleash its hollow roar of pain, staggering backwards and then biting at Hiro who dodged. Shadow staggered out of the ditch, covered with sweat and dirt, before getting to his feet and watching as the hybrid ducked up, down, left and right to avoid getting hit.

"Guess I misjudged him…BUT HE'S NOT GETTING HER!" Shadow regained focus and charged at Gaion.

Eevee's eyes widened when it spotted the staff member approaching the stalls. Mona turned slowly to get a better view before glancing at Eevee.

"Run, don't let yourself be seen…" She wheezed, enough for herself and the Pokemon to hear before the brownish dog scampered into another hiding place and the door to the stall opened.

"Are you alright!" The staff asked suddenly, Mona looked over her shoulder with a weakened expression.

"What's going on?" A voice outside asked.

"Get the nurse, she's got an unbearably high temperature! NOW!"

Eevee continued watching with a worried expression before frowning and scampering out the restroom resulting in sudden outbursts of: "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

Mona continued watching Eevee before passing out. "Eevee…"

It knew the risks but scampered to where Mona's locker was (judging by Shadow's pointing out). No sooner had it cleared the stairs and pursuing staff members, Eevee skidded to a halt in front of the locker and leapt backwards before firing bright colored star energy from its mouth. The stars broke in contact with the locker door before Eevee spotted the weak point under the lock and charged up a black lump of energy (Shadow Ball) from its maw and shooting it.

The blast (which finally got the locker open) caught the attention of several classes in the vicinity before another ricocheted from the outside, resulting in the backpack getting shook of its perch and falling at Eevee who dodged to the side. Three clatters sounded off and Eevee spotted the element stones of Fire, Water, and Thunder. Eevee glanced left and right, trying to determine which stone to pick (knowing it can't change back) before another rumble from the nearby battle caused it to stumble and pitch forwards, one of the stones flying at it as well.

"VEEEEEEEEEOOONNN!"

As that was happening, Shadow froze one of Gaion's legs and attempted to run up it before getting smacked off. Hiro attempted to land on the elemental's head but kept on receiving scratches and recoiled backwards.

"This thing sure has a good defense…" Hiro muttered before Shadow jumped up, grabbing one of his ankles and tugging the bluenette hybrid down in time for another lava blast to shoot over him. "What the HELL!"

"THE TAIL! THROW ME AT ITS TAIL!" Shadow yelled. Hiro, not quite understanding the hedgehog's plan, did so before avoiding a miniature Gaion that he slashed in two. Shadow charged up the ice elemental's power within the sword before rolling into a spike ball and launching a homing attack, ramming into Gaion and freezing it wherever he touched. He managed to fully freeze the elemental before it shuddered suddenly and shot all the ice off before turning on Shadow and firing another lava spurt.

This time, a strong blast of water rammed into the attack before slamming sideways into the elemental that recoiled and attempted to fend off the water attack before tipping backwards and hitting its element.

"What was that!" Hiro and Shadow turned abruptly to spot a blue form walking towards the elemental.

Instead of having a bushy tail and fur, Eevee had a mermaid fin and scales. The fur collar was replaced by white fins (blue in the back) that connected vertically diagonal, including the ears which gained a yellow hint. The cute expression was now replaced by a serious one with slanted black eyes, and pointed snout.

Inside the Sword…
Watery: EEE! It's so KAWAII!
Freeze: And powerful…
Flame: …pretty good…for a mermaid-dog… (Slapped by Watery and Freeze) OW! OUCH!
The newly turned Vaporeon steadily approached Gaion who got ready to face the new adversary. Vaporeon got focused and its flesh began looking acidic before it vanished. Gaion looked back and forth, trying to spot where the Pokemon vanished prior to getting blasted with water from the left. It turned abruptly to spot nothing and roared angrily, slamming its claws into the ground before Vaporeon dodged to the side, becoming visible. Vaporeon skidded and then rammed itself forwards into Gaion who stumbled backwards.

Vaporeon turned its head slightly towards Shadow and barked. "VAE-VAPOREON!"

Shadow immediately understood and turned towards Hiro, "When Gaion's fully distracted, you slash its tail from the ground and then I'll trap it!"

"Got it!" Hiro nodded, flying up and getting ready for an opening.

Gaion growled angrily before forming around Vaporeon, trapping it and beginning to squeeze the canine. Vaporeon shrieked painfully before burying its newly turned canines into the hide and charging up an Aurora Beam that shot through the torso. Out of pain, Gaion released Vaporeon who jumped backwards and fired a Shadow Ball (the black lump from earlier) from its mouth, striking Gaion in between the eyes, temporarily blinding it.

"NOW!" Hiro flew directly at the tail and stroke as Gaion threw its head back and roared painfully in time for another stab of pain from its torso. Its vision slowly cleared in time to see that Shadow had rammed the entire sword into it, spilling greenish chaos energy. The hybrid was stationed near its tail, which was severed from the ground and slowly dissipating as it slowly got drawn into the CES.

A low and pained moan later, Gaion had shifted into a green color before turning into the same color orb and vanishing into the sword. Vaporeon relaxed and sat down as Hiro landed on the ground. Shadow continued taking in as much air as he could before exhaling heavily and turning towards the school.

"Please be okay…please…"

Meanwhile, Mona began stirring from her position in the recovery room portion of the nurse office. She immediately heard some voices around her that were a bit familiar.

"The temperature's going down! 103.7…101.2…98.9…98.6…"

"She's going to be stable…that's a relief..."

"Should we alert her parents?"

"No, she needs a break from this whole thing…"

"Other than that…what the heck's going out there with the explosions?"

"Ah, some nincompoops are probably setting off fire-crackers…"

Mona's POV
(A full hour later)

I was finally walking out the school with my backpack (which was missing the Water Stone, a possibility being Eevee), homework, and other things after reassuring the nurse and the rest of the staff that I was going to be fine…

Good grief…

Like I was going to tell them about Shadow at any rate…respecting privacy from paparazzi or things related to that. Judging by how I wasn't feeling like crap, the instability was gone and I probably had full control of the elements. Or rather, partial control…

"Shadow…you there?" I asked mentally, approaching the side of the school no sooner had I gotten a good distance from it.

"Yeah, are you alright now?" He asked.

I nodded once I got sight of the black hedgehog who was sitting on a tree branch. The tree he was on was a lot sturdier than the uprooted Oak Tree that had fallen over by the school. Under the branch was Eevee, recently evolved into Vaporeon. The Pokemon's stern expression faded and it sprang towards me, hopping into my arms causing me to stumble backwards slightly before getting balanced.

"Hey Eevee…Vaporeon…" I smiled before looking up at Shadow. "Did he help against the final elemental?"

"Indeed he did…" Shadow replied, jumping down and walking over. Vaporeon leapt out of the way as Shadow went up close, a smirk on his face as he rested both hands on my shoulders and came in close. "You scared me a bit…"

(Countdown to interruption: 3…2…1…)

"Glad to see you're alright…"

Shadow turned abruptly and a grim frown formed on his face. I looked in the direction Shadow was glaring and spotted Hiro standing on a branch, his arms folded and in an at-ease position. He leapt downwards and landed slowly, his feet placed in a practical violinist position.

"Hiro?" I blinked.

"That's me…you could've said you already had a date…" Hiro tilted his head to the side, a smirk gracing his features.

I flushed a bright pink as Shadow went in front of me, a bit defensively.

"Sorry, I got her first…Hiro…" He replied with a semi-smirk, which I tried to see from my position, and said his opponent's name as though it was a disgusting substance. There seemed to be a sense of animosity between the two, concerning myself.

"Can you two stop…?" I stepped in between, making them avoid fighting and attempting to play as a peacemaker. I could tell they were both worn out and I wanted to avoid my parents housing a bloody hedgehog and hybrid. "You both, including Vaporeon, need a break from fighting Gaion. This isn't the time…"

Hiro's POV
I continued watching as the brunette came in between me and the black-red hedgehog. The hedgehog's red eyes were burning into my visor, an animosity I couldn't quite place. Sure he and I were in a bit of a struggle for the human…

He didn't know about the deal I made with HER…did he?

I side-glanced the dagger which was stationed underneath my sword. Just one hit…

I shook it off in time for Mona to face me. I could tell this was bad news by that sincere and apologetic expression on her face. I side-glanced the dagger again, the urge to throw it out and tell her the situation she was in grew at an unbearable pace…

…but my existence was on the line…

"Hiro…I…I chose…I chose Shadow." She said finally. "I didn't want to say it to you…I didn't know what you'd think…"

She was nervous, Shadow was looking at her with a faded smile, I was half-happy she had picked, half-unhappy that it wasn't me, and the rest trying desperately to pick between her life and mine.

I can't believe I was so selfish…the want to live and stay alive…

"Hiro wha-AAAH!"

"MONA!" Shadow's eyes widened.

"VAE!"

"I'm sorry…" I mentally screamed, my eyes squinted shut and I felt tears slightly spilling. "I'm sorry!"

A pained cry later, I was slowly pulling out the dagger which didn't drip blood from the blade. Mona was staring, a betrayed and stunned look on her face as instead of blood, a blackish mass was clinging onto it. The mass formed into a hand once I pulled the thing out from the wound. Vaporeon's teeth had clenched before it charged at me.

The mass grew another arm and slapped the dog away, resulting in a pained cry before the hedgehog charged forwards, catching Mona and holding her close. No sooner had he held the hand on her wound, Shadow moved it away and went rigid as though he had seen it from one of Nega's generated nightmares.

"You…" His fists and teeth clenched before the hedgehog swiftly placed her on the ground near a limping Vaporeon before streaking at me, anger fueling his speed. "YOU ASSHOLE!"

The blob, Nega, had reformed slightly, showing pitch dark eyes with a faint glow before grabbing Shadow by the throat and forcing him backwards without breaking a sweat.

"KUH!" Shadow went back first into a tree and slumped downwards, obviously in pain, before Nega removed her grasp from the blade I dropped.

"What have I done…!" I gaped. Vaporeon was nuzzling Mona's face as she lay on the ground mouthing "why" before passing out as Shadow shot a worn out and pained glare in my direction.

"Hiro…good job…it's been sooo long since I smelt decaying environment…" Nega hissed, forming a mouth that seemed to droop from its place before she pushed it back. She side-glanced me with a faint grin before slithering. "I need time…to reform…"

I was still rigid before Nega's grip on my ankle tightened. "We made a deal…my release for your soul…do you want to break it and be trapped in hell as I was trapped inside that human girl for generations?"

Without another word, I fought back an outburst prior to lifting up the dripping and worn out Elemental of Darkness and holding out my palm.

"Chaos…Relocate…"

The last Shadow and Vaporeon could see of me and Nega was a blinding light and dissipating black energy.

To Be Continued…

Mona: (STUNNED)
Imperfection07: See? What did I tell ya?
Mona: (Looks at authoress with stunned expression and open jaw.) You…you…you…
Hiro: (watery eyes) I'm...I'm a villain now!
Shadow: (Ducks) Here it comes…
Mona: YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME YOU BAKA! YOU NINCOMPOOP! (Draws sword) I'LL KIIILLL YOOU!
Imperfection07: Well…I'd turn her into a random thing but…the transformer gun doesn't work on fan-characters… (Nervous expression) …so I'm…dead-meat… (BOLTS OFFSCREEN) HAVE MERCY!
Mona: (CHASING) MERCY! I'LL SHOW YOU MERCY!
(Off-screen, you can hear the panicked cries of the authoress as she avoids the sword swings and elemental attacks)
Imperfection07: AAAH! STOP! NO! NOT THAT! EEEEEEEEEEEEEK! FIRE ON THE POOPDECK!

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