PREVIOUSLY ON LEGENDARY PKMN...
-"Ladies, Gentlemen, I am Kurades."-
-"I was in Darkrai's body first. My soul is still there in fact!"
-"Round two…Begin."
-"No more.
No more."-
Chapter thirty five: God Complex (Act six: Pain)
"Mewtwo?"
Deoxys had been looking for him everywhere, only to find his actually in his room at the Hall. Though there was an order issued out for all class Four's to remain within the Hall of Origin, Deoxys had suspected Mewtwo would secretly leave.
"Oh no." he assured her. "Only on Tuesday's."
Typical Mewtwo.
"So... this is the experiment you've been working on...?" Deoxys asked, cutting right to the chase looking at a large computer in calculation. Mewtwo grinned and explained its role: after all the data was analyzed, he could hypothetically pinpoint the exact location of the EPM, the Energy Potential Mitochondria. It would be a huge breakthrough in modern science.
"Wow... but... how did you find enough power?" asked the red and blue alien after Mewtwo explained the method.
"Well naturally I could not supply enough energy with electricity alone..." mused Mewtwo, facing her. "So, the majority of its energy came from my own body."
Deoxys blinked. This was a lot of energy they were talking about. He really was amazing.
"No wonder everyone thinks you will be the next class Five..." muttered Deoxys in awe at the machine. At this, Mewtwo nodded his head sideways, signaling that he did not agree with her.
"I don't think that's quite the case..." Mewtwo said modestly.
"Oh come on." teased the alien. "You're the strongest one of us all!"
"I am strong yes." Mewtwo admitted, turning his gaze into the machine. "But I find unlikely I will be the next class Five."
Deoxys cocked her head, and Mewtwo sighed. "I know what you're thinking and no- it isn't that I have low self esteem." Mewtwo explained.
"There's just someone else who I believe has a higher chance."
Deoxys blinked. This was new. "Someone else? Like who? Palkia? Rayquaza?"
Mewtwo shook his head sideways, none of them would be the next class Five, he deduced. There was another Pokemon, with greater potential than he to have the power equivalent of a god.
"Darkrai."
The red and blue alien blinked several times just to make sure she didn't mishear. Darkrai? Sure he was strong for his age, but class Five seemed to be a little bit of an overshot at this point.
"Oh I don't think so at all." Mewtwo said. "It actually makes perfect sense if you think about it."
"What do you mean?"
"His strength lies not in his ability to fight per say, but instead his will." Mewtwo's tail flicked the air. Deoxys stared at him, waiting for the explanation of this statement. Sure enough, Mewtwo had one.
"Consider the following situation." Mewtwo held up a balled finger. "Imagine, if you will, a being who has been forever shunned by the majority of the world. Everyone he has ever met either flees in fear or angrily attacks, due to powers beyond his control. This Pokemon has absolutely no friends, no allies, and not even grudging respect.
He is, without a doubt, perhaps the loneliest Pokemon in the world. They believe it, and he also believes it. He is destined to live in solitude for an eternity, that is his future."
Deoxys widened her eyes slightly. Was that how Darkrai felt? Was he always so alone...?
"Then consider if you will...
He finally befriends someone."
Deoxys stared at him, Mewtwo's words communicating truth.
"Due to accident, his persistent to find even one being he can talk to, or some act of another party, he finally meets an individual who understand him. Who realizes just how lonely he has been, and wants to correct it by becoming friends with Darkrai.
Then, he finds more. More friends that he can rely on, a big brother, and even a rival whom he must defeat. Now, suddenly, the Pokemon no longer feels lonely. He at last feels welcome in the world."
Deoxys was mesmerized by the words Mewtwo had spoken. She sympathized with Darkrai now more than ever. She now knew him a bit more than before, and could finally see why he had the attitude he did...
"We are everything to him, Deoxys." Mewtwo sighed. "And that is where his true strength lies- he would do anything to protect us."
Deoxys slowly leaned her head down. Challenging Absolix to a duel. Trying to defeat a member of Neo- Genesis while barely conscious. Training day and night. Cataclysm.
"We are the few beings who realize Darkrai is not evil." Mewtwo concluded. "He may not show it, but he values us more than we could ever comprehend. And I can assure you that if any one of us were in danger, he would do anything to save us.
Absolutely anything."
"Hm..." the dark type Pokemon cocked his head suddenly, Trueman observing carefully, still trying to find a way out. "That's odd..."
"Kurades has been defeated, hasn't he!" Trueman said loudly, his statement more than a hope than a deduction. Zoroark stared at him, annoyed.
"Nah, that can't be it." he said. "I know the future. I have already foreseen Kurades being revived..."
Yet something was a bit off. Zoroark was now reading another power level in the general area where Kurades was.
It was stronger than Kurades by far.
Arceus could not believe this.
"Keep trying Giratina!" she pressed on, her dimensional warping capabilities pushed to their max. She heard the legendary shadow ruler grunt and extend his antimatter powers as response.
She honestly couldn't believe that someone had actually destroyed the link between Earth and the Distortion World. It was inconceivable was what it was; not only did something like that require a huge amount of power, but it also required dimensional hacking skills on par with Arceus' own.
With a final grunt, Giratina was exhausted. He growled at the invisible dimensional coordinates, cursing them for not working properly.
"It must have been Inori!" he said in a low voice. "Only Inori could have done something like this!"
"Inori can only infiltrate." Arceus reminded Giratina. "...it was someone else."
Giratina then noticed that his friend had turned solemn. Arceus white head hung low, and Giratina realized with widened red eye that Arceus knew who did it.
"It must have been Kurades."
This was naturally met with skepticism for Giratina: Kurades was gone, gone forever along with the Pokemon World War. He had been there to witness Kurades' death personally, his body had been reduced to ash and his soul had been sent to the Distortion World just like everything else.
"You never found his soul though." Arceus stated. Giratina replied that there were many souls in the Distortion World- more than he could count, more than Mewtwo could mathematically equate. Finding a soul in the Distortion World was like finding a needle in a billion haystacks.
"I feel him."
Giratina simply stared. This was serious. Kurades was Arceus' Dual- if she could truly feel him, then that meant he was alive. Yet, that could not be true! There must be something wrong with Arceus' Duality Link; there was no way Kurades could be revived!
Then, a glow appeared on Arceus' leg. It was a golden yellow seal in an intricate pattern of circles. It blinked furiously at her, as if warning her on impending danger. Giratina took one look at it before widening his eyes again.
"No...!" he shook his head. Not now. Anytime but now!
Arceus' began shaking, her own wide eyes staring at the seal, as if willing it to vanish along with what it had came to tell her. In a quivering voice, she announced the death of her son.
"Darkrai's seal has been broken!"
Before them lay a new kind of threat.
This was a monstrosity of a Pokemon. It had to be a class Five without a doubt- his Energy Potential was so overwhelming that none of them could move. His horrid nightmarish power seemed to be everywhere, most of all in a pillar of darkness with twin gigantic claws that zoomed eternally skywards above him.
His face was twisted with an unemotional look, yet all the same time they could tell he was angry beyond comprehension. His left eye had become a seal, seeing everything and nothing at the same time. His right arm, formerly dark grey, was now covered in a mixture of gold and red markings that outshone his natural color.
This was a new threat that none of them had come prepared for.
Darkrai Kurotsuki Prinzfensternis.
"He broke it." Asmodeus nervously chuckled. "Boys, say hello to the end of your life."
Umbreon was confused as to what was occurring with their former host, and Kurades in soul form appeared to agree with what Asmodeus was talking about.
"D-Dar...krai?" Cresselia tried, but Darkrai did not hear. He stared at them blankly, diverting his apparent rage at something they could not see.
"Asmodeus!" Dusknoir yelled, beads of cold sweat dripping down his face. "What on earth is happening to Darkrai?"
"Since there's only a short time before we all die, I'll explain things quickly." said the ever sarcastic demon. "Remember that seal I used to force my soul into Darkrai's body?
Yeah... most of it was designed simply to keep Darkrai's and my soul from colliding with each other. It broke." said Asmodeus simply. "So basically... our souls are hitting themselves inside of his body."
"That's a bad thing right?" Deoxys asked, holding on to Mewtwo, ready for whatever may come.
"Souls have infinite energy and two of them are colliding inside one body. Which means that Darkrai is now being bombarded with a crapload of EP in both mind and body. What the hell do you think?"
Deoxys figured that was a bad thing.
Asmodeus had to wonder why it broke in the first place. After releasing Kurades' own, Asmodeus had purposely used his own powers at the last second to make sure Darkrai was unconscious for something like this to not occur.
"No more."
Darkrai finally spoke again, his harsh words echoing throughout the battlefield. Slicer, Sharkbeard and Banette were paralyzed and scared. They sincerely hoped that this massively powerful being would leave them alone. Only Umbreon and Kurades held their ground- they had seen stranger things before.
"It's never... fair." Darkrai paused a moment to finish.
"He broke it out of his own free will." Mewtwo realized. Asmodeus looked at him, about to protest, but then he too saw that it was the only way the seal could have broken. Darkrai had to have resisted the urge to fall unconscious, and by sheer will alone willed himself back into reality. Yet that did not explain the power...
Mewtwo saw through everything. Darkrai had always held in his pent up rage towards others for their malice towards him. Now, all of his built up rage and aggression to anyone and everyone who hated him was now surfacing. Gliscor too, could see the suppressed rage surfacing for the first time.
"Darkrai." Mewtwo said shakily. "We know you're angry at others. We know what you've been through. But please..."
Darkrai stared at nothing. However, he slowly turned an eye at Mewtwo. Mewtwo felt his gaze and trembled with fear. Fear. Mewtwo never thought he would experience such an emotion towards Darkrai. Darkrai swiveled his eyes back.
"No." he said simply. At this point, Darkrai appeared to have regained some conscious thought. He murmured again how it wasn't fair, the meaning of these words lost to his audience. Darkrai slowly lifted his arm, his wrist, and then a finger. He pointed it.
"Gardevoir..."
The green psychic blinked, eyes still wide with fear and worry.
"It's never fair..." Darkrai lamented, sadness in his eyes.
"Why... does she always have to suffer...?"
There was a silence.
"It's always... her." Darkrai said, now gritting his teeth in anger. "Always... her. They always mock her... for being friends with Me." continued Darkrai. "And then Absolix... he won't leave her alone!"
This loud scream pierced the air, firing off a small Dark Pulse from Darkrai's body.
"And even through all... of this..." Darkrai continued, his left arm now in a fist. "She lost her parents... she suffers every day... blaming herself..."
The world seemed to pause. Deoxys faced her friend. It now made sense. She had never seen Gardevoir's parents because they were never there. Gardevoir had to do all the cooking and babysitting because her mother and father were unavailable. The reason why Kirlia had to make money for them. The reason why Darkrai pitched in all his funds to her.
"Darkrai..." Gardevoir whispered, a tear forming in her eye.
"...She has to look after her sisters by herself... she is hated at school... Absolix..." Darkrai clenched his other fist. "And yet... and yet. You do this to her...!"
His angry gaze was on everyone in the area now. Team Nova, his sister, his brother, his friends, his enemies. Everyone was a target. Everyone was the one who did this to Gardevoir.
"No more!" he screamed, another shockwave sent flying. "I made a promise! A promise to protect her from everything!
I will protect her... by destroying everyone!"
All hell broke loose from Darkrai. From his body was launched the biggest and most potent Dark Pulse that anyone had ever seen. It must have been a mile long, it rampaged the ground, distorting the earth and colliding with everything in is vicinity.
Mewtwo, to avoid this deathly attack, warped himself and Deoxys using Teleport, and then proceeding to pick up Cresselia, Gardevoir, Gallade and Ruby, and even Team Nova into the sky, where they just barely dodged Darkrai's massive Move.
"He's going to kill all of us to save Gardevoir?" Cresselia spoke freely, Mewtwo's Pressure canceling out Darkrai's. The others were horrified that this seemed to be the case.
"His mind is being overwhelmed with approximately 500,000 EP." smirked Asmodeus. "He ain't exactly sane at the moment."
"What do we do?" asked Ariados. Before anyone could answer, dark strings were launched at the group by Darkrai, extending from his hand to team Nova, who were caught in it and dragged to the ground painfully. Not wasting time, Darkrai summoned thousands of Shadow Balls and launched them at the rest of them.
Mewtwo and Deoxys both Teleported everyone to safety on the ground, Darkrai yelling insanely as multiple pulses of dark energy flew from his body. Umbreon raised a shield of paper using his book, and this seemed to only barely block the three Dark Pulses Darkrai had launched.
"...Deoxys." Mewtwo nodded at Umbreon. Deoxys nodded back, and without a word, they reluctantly Teleported next to them. Umbreon seemed unsurprised.
"As spiteful as we are to do this..." Mewtwo gazed at Umbreon carefully. "...we face an enemy that none of us can match."
Umbreon raised an eyebrow. "A team up? Really?"
"Not... in... your... life...!" Slicer managed to say despite the overwhelming EPressure. The rest of them muttered murmurs of agreement, with a 'Yarg' thrown somewhere in between.
"I think not, Mewtwo. We respectfully decline." decided their leader, Kurades. Mewtwo narrowed his eyes.
"And just how do you expect to win against him?"
"Win?" smiled Umbreon. "We aren't even going to fight."
From the sky, a rip appeared created by seals made by Umbreon. The rip grew large, and it soon formed a black and purple colored hole in the sky. "You see... I have the capability of long distance Teleporting."
"So sorry, Mewtwo." grinned the dark sphere. "But perhaps we shall meet again?"
"No! You fiends!" Gallade shouted. However, Umbreon was too quick. In the blink of an eye, he teleported them all, even Weavile, to another location. The rip closed, and all that was left was an angry prince of darkness.
"All of you..." Darkrai charged up a massive Shadow Ball, which had to be at least fifty feet high. "Die!"
Even firing the Shadow Ball created a shockwave that startled the air around him. The massive pitch black sphere shot towards with incredible speed. Mewtwo and Deoxys reacted to this the only way they could- by once again Teleporting everyone out of there. They were transferred up above, where they witnessed the gigantic orb of ghost energy surge through the ground and destroy everything that came across its path.
Enraged that they had lived, Darkrai sent out shadows from every pore of his body. The twisted darkness swarmed through the air, blanketing the sky with a web of black thread that soon found its target in the form of Ruby.
"Ruby!" Cresselia cried as she was unluckily ensnared by Darkrai's web. With a yell, the berserk prince of darkness flung her to the ground from hundreds of feet up in the sky. The resulting impact crippled Ruby beyond repair, she found that as she trickled blood down her mouth, she could not move. This did not satisfy Darkrai however.
One of the giant claws in the aura around him grew larger.
"AAAAAAGGGGHHH!"
The claw swung down. Deoxys Teleported to her side and launched a Meteor Mash over the helpless blue haired Pokemon, it colliding with Darkrai's claw, which was many times the size of her own fist. This was not enough however and Deoxys felt herself being crushed by Darkrai's power.
"Close Combat!"
Gallade saved her at the last second by adding his Move in addition to hers. Their combined power flung back Darkrai's claw, which came back for a second time. Before it impacted them, Deoxys had Teleported them to another location.
"Aura Sphere!" Mewtwo yelled from up above, launching as many Aura Spheres as he could at Darkrai. Darkrai however blocked this assault using one of his claws, then came in and swiped with the second. Mewtwo Teleported right beside Darkrai and slammed him with the strongest Psychic he could muster, hoping to stop Darkrai. The ground and air rippled from the shock of his attack, no doubt its ripping the earth signified Mewtwo's full power.
However the next second Darkrai had used his black seal hand to push Mewtwo's face into the ground. He looked at Mewtwo with a mad eye before detonating a massive Dark Pulse that shook the entire area.
"Mewtwo!" cried Deoxys, immediately rushing to his aid. Darkrai launched Dark Pulses from his body and repelled Deoxys and even Malispite who was trying to sneak attack him.
"Now!"
Darkrai only heard the noise. He had a split second fro his insane mind to register Cresselia, Mercifond, Ariados and Dunsparce focusing their energy into a massive attack. They combined their powers in the form of a brilliant blue beam that was launched at Darkrai just when he became vulnerable. Darkrai was hit with the fearsome attack and flew back into Giant Rock, his aura and shadow claws with his, smashing against the Cliffside of the monument.
"Brother..." Cresselia said sadly. She did not know what to do.
"How long can you keep this up?" Ariados asked, visible beads of sweat upon her red face.
"As long as I need to." Dusknoir answered. A seal was formed between his bare knuckles- using his own Pressure ability, he was able to amplify it and transfer its effects to the others. They were able to fight again.
But for how long? Dusknoir could only use a type of seal like this sparingly- how long could he keep it up!
A multitude of shadows inched their way where Darkrai had fallen to the location of the group. Cresselia called for the others to fire off their attacks at the onslaught of shadows, and that is what they did. Gallade hunched over Ruby, protecting her from further harm by the tendril emitting from Darkrai, while Cresselia and her group launched beam attacks at the tendrils.
"Cresselia..." the lunar swan turned behind her- a purple colored bat, severely wounded. "Heal me...! Let me fight...!"
"No!" Cresselia said firmly, another Psycho Cut launched from her mouth. "You have to stay there! My healing can't heal wounds that grievous and you know it!"
"Then heal a part of them!" Gliscor shouted, eyes closed. "I can't bear to watch my best friend suffer like this!"
Cresselia hated herself for doing it, but forced herself to ignore Gliscor's pleas to fight. He wouldn't last a chance against Darkrai; he would be killed for sure. Cresselia knew Gliscor's feelings, but his friendship would cost him his life in this situation.
"Everyone will make it out of here alive!" shouted the lunar swan, firing off multiple Psycho Cuts at the shadow tendrils.
And then one attached to her. Soon, more. After that, everyone began to be overwhelmed by the shadows, wrapping themselves around their bodies, even Gliscor. The tentacles of darkness strung into them, crushing them at the dark vines grew thicker and thicker.
"No more." Darkrai ranted, giving the final command to crush them.
"AERIAL ACE!"
"FIRE PUNCH!"
In a blink of an eye, the shadow tendrils were cut up into tiny pieces. The tentacles wrapped around them dissipated, leaving only the onslaught of tendrils to deal with. Two Pokemon appeared in front of the group, charging their power.
"Gunk Shot!"
"Thunderbolt!"
The secret agents had returned. From agents Mukker and Shocker, electricity and poison were fired at the tendrils, sending them back, causing Darkrai to yell in rage, unleashing a massive Dark Pulse from his body aimed at the group. The black swirling darkness inched towards them.
Dunsparce then leapt and in stood in front of the agents. There were pleas of him not to get any closer, but Dunsparce ignored them. Gazing at his fallen pupil, he prepared his trump card. Which literally was, Trump Card.
"What!" Cresselia gasped. Dunsparce used massive power to summon a giant square shield in front of him that took in Darkrai's attack, absorbing all of it. Just as the last bit of dark energy was absorbed, from the square came another Dark Pulse, but twice as large as Darkrai's already impressive blast. The blast zoomed at Darkrai, who yelled and commanded his twin claws to protect him. The blast rammed into the claws and surged through them, knocking Darkrai back down as he yelled in rage.
"Trump Card." stated Ariados. "It absorbed an enemy's attack, then fires it back at them with twice to five times the initial force."
Everyone stared at master Dunsparce, now fully realizing his power.
"He can only use it once per day though..." Ariados looked grim. "We need another option."
"You've got one!"
Everyone turned around to see Asmodeus, grinning. "I've enlisted in some help."
Behind him came a large two legged figure. Arms crossed, he walked steadily towards them, his red eyes gazing upon the spot where Darkrai lay black wings slowly unfolding from his back.
"YOU!" Malispite suddenly exclaimed. "HE WAS THE GUY WHO KEPT US BACK!"
"Mn." stated the figure.
Dusknoir was the only one who recognized him. It was HE. The being that had crushed his power so long ago in that fateful battle. He quivered with fear, what on earth was he-!
The being glared at him. It was a simple message: "If you even think about telling them, I'll kill you before you have time to spit it out."
Dusknoir, in fear, nodded his head up and down. The gaze off him vanished.
"This guy's name is Shitface!" Asmodeus introduced. "He's going to beat up my stupid host for us!"
FLASHBACK
"Hey there Shitface!"
The figure furrowed an eyebrow. It really was Asmodeus. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or confused at the demon's presence. The tall, adult looking version of Darkrai extended his legs to the ground, though he was still only an illusion.
"Yo, I need your help to seal myself back inside my host." explained Asmodeus.
"No." was the latters' reply.
"Oh come on! Do it for old times' sake!"
"No."
"Fine then. How about a trade?" grinned Asmodeus devilishly. "If you help me... then I won't tell Malispite and Mercifond who you really are!"
The figure sighed aloud. "Whatever."
END FLASHBACK
"HE'S going to help us?" Malispite was angry. "No way! I refuse! He's a jerk!"
"Dumbass." said the figure.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"
As the figure simply sighed, Mercifond held back her brother who was activating Demon's Offence trying to kill the bat like Pokemon. Asmodeus took center stage again.
"Listen up people! The only way any of us are making it out of here alive is if I restore the broken seal!" explained Asmodeus hastily, keeping an eye on Darkrai in the distance. "When the seal is restored, I will be back inside Darkrai's body and he will stop being berserk like this!"
"No!" Malispite and Cresselia yelled. "We won't let you inside my brothers' body either!" Cresselia glared.
"I'm afraid you don't have room to argue Celeste." Asmodeus grinned. "Because if I don't do it, his body will explode."
There was a silence before Deoxys and Mewtwo, who had just arrived, exclaimed "What?"
"I told you didn't I? His power is already equivalent to a class Five's and growing by the second! Eventually, all the built up energy that he already can't handle will dissolve his body and cause him to detonate!
Darkrai is a living time bomb at the moment!"
Cresselia and Gliscor began to sweat. The others stared at Asmodeus wide eyed, and Mewtwo grimaced, for that was what he had predicted would happen.
"We have about five minutes. At that point, his body will explode into a giant Cataclysm that will give all of us the mother of all nightmares- an eternity of pain in less than a second!" Asmodeus glared at Cresselia. "The shock alone would kill our minds. So what's it going to be, princess?"
Asmodeus did not even wait for an answer. He could see that Cresselia realized they had no other option, and they were running out of time anyway. "Shitface!"
"You get one punch." the bat Pokemon addressed Asmodeus. This pleased Asmodeus, who said that one punch was all that was needed anyway.
"One punch?" Ariados gaped. "How could one punch make a difference with Darkrai's power?"
At this point, Darkrai had gotten back up. However, this time a black bubble surrounded him. It pulsated with a black nightmarish aura that seemed to consume everything. Mewtwo and Deoxys could already sense the massive power behind it- the ultimate nightmare attack, Cataclysm. It was already building up inside him.
"Stand back." was all that the brown and blue colored bat said. "Demon's Offence."
Before Malispite could complain that somebody had stolen his signature Move, the brown bat had activated the red seals, angrily swarming around his arm. Before everyone could gasp how he was able to use Malispite's attack, he shouted
"Demon's Offence level two."
The seals on his arm glowed stronger and brighter, emitting raw power from his one hand. He gripped his own hand tightly, focusing all of his power into his arm. As Dusknoir watched halfway in fear, he announced the attack that had so easily beaten him in the past.
"Black... Inferno."
Black shadows that glowed red surrounded the figures arm. They melded into armor, with the Demon's Offence markings surrounding his wrist, up to his arm, and straight to the shoulder where it leveled off, dark smoke and flames rising from the end of his shoulder.
All of them were wide eyed. However the bat like Pokemon remained unfazed, as if this was nothing. He grunted once, and then turned back to Asmodeus.
"One punch."
"I'll tell you when." Asmodeus smirked, glad that his comrade was as strong as ever. Darkrai even appeared to stare at the figures arm, in primal awe of the raw EP coming out from it.
"By the way, what took you so long to get here?" Asmodeus suddenly eyed the agents. Blaze and Raptor shifted uneasily.
"...We pretended to be fainted so that we could conserve our energy." Raptor replied. "As a direct result, we're better off than any of you at the moment."
Blaze eyed Raptor. This was only partially true- they had only pretended to faint because when they fought Umbreon, they quickly realized he was far too powerful for them to handle. They had seen something there that they had never seen before: A Cursed Seal. Thus, they had pretended to be knocked out, and Umbreon left them alone to tend to his master.
Blaze narrowed his eyes at the thought of an actual Cursed Seal. The art to create them was difficult, and was supposed to be long forgotten. Apparently Kurades was able to recall how to do it... which was definitely a huge problem.
"I need a pathway." Asmodeus told them, flexing his knuckles. "I can fix the seal, but since I'm stuck in this semi-physical form, I have to be right next to him. Sad thing is, his attacks can hit me back since I'm so metaphysically close to the moron."
He eyed the brown bat, who stared at him back. However, it was Mewtwo who answered. He took Deoxys' hand off of him and proclaimed that he would do it. Mewtwo had been holding back before, since he did not want to kill Darkrai...
"...But in this case, if I don't use my full power I won't even scratch him." Mewtwo announced. Darkrai screamed a cry of insanity and anger, somehow reminding Mewtwo of his own. The purple psychic began charging up his attack. It would have to be a powerful Psyburn from the energy that Darkrai was gathering- no other attack would cut it.
"You may want to look after your friend." stated the figure in a low voice, eyes locked onto Darkrai. It took a few second before Malispite realized it was he who was being addressed.
"What? Who do you-?"
Gardevoir was on her knees. She sat there, mouth agape, simply staring at Darkrai. In all the confusion, Gardevoir was unharmed. They could see craters on every spot of the battlefield but where she lay. All of the time, he was purposely avoiding her.
"...Merc." Malispite nudged his sister, who saw it to. "Let me handle this."
Darkrai had gathered every speck of darkness in the area. He was prepared to destroy them all once and for all. Then Gardevoir would be safe. No. He would keep killing. More and more, until she was safe. It was the only way.
"GAAAAAAAHHHH!" Darkrai roared, his body and mind in pain all over, the Cataclysm bubble growing just a bit larger than before. With his giant shadow claws, he formed a sphere of darkness.
"I'll fire it now. Go in the interval between shots." Mewtwo commanded Asmodeus, summoning psychic energy. Mewtwo's energy was equally immense; Dusknoir and Ariados actually had to increase the potency of the seal to compensate for the new pressure being emitted. Mewtwo, using these immense powers, began to accelerate all the particles in the area, forming gray, black and white blobs, each of them still but containing enough energy to rip through steel for each of them. They were held in check only by Mewtwo's will, increasing in numbers by the second, surrounding him in an eerie white light.
"No more..." ranted Darkrai, widened his eye in anger. "NO MORE!"
Darkrai fired the shot. The largest Dark Pulse anyone had ever seen flew from Darkrai's shadow claws. The swirling abyss coming towards them had to be miles long, and maybe even miles wide.
"PSYBURN!"
Mewtwo countered this with his own massive attack- millions upon billions of the charged atoms and molecules flew to Darkrai at super speed, destroying everything in their path. Psyburn collided with Dark Pulse, ripping through the darkness straight at Darkrai. The Dark Pulse was destroyed in an instant, and instant Asmodeus took to rush at Darkrai, red seal in his palms.
Darkrai roared in pain as the Psyburn struck him, and Asmodeus flew on top of the prince. Dragging his head to the floor, Asmodeus began to chant the incantations necessary.
Darkrai roared back in anger.
He fire Dark Pulses in every direction. As Asmodeus indicated, he was hit, flying back more than half the distance he had crossed. The Cataclysm bubble came back, now bigger than ever.
"Shit!" cursed Asmodeus, who had not predicted that Darkrai was this strong. "Now that damn Cataclysm is in the way!"
If Asmodeus entered that space, he would be trapped and vulnerable to Darkrai's nightmares. As much as he hated to admit it, Darkrai's ability for nightmares were far stronger than his own.
"Shit...! Shit..!" Asmodeus gritted his teeth in anger. That was the only shot they had! One minute until Darkrai exploded! Now that the Cataclysm had built up to this extent, not even his comrade with the Black Inferno could do anything about it! Going near him was suicide!
"No...!" Deoxys cried. "Isn't there-?"
"We're done for." Dusknoir realized. His own energy was weakening; soon even his seal would be gone. "We can't win ..."
The black bubbld had at this point built up so much that it covered Darkrai. Spanning an entire city block, it inched towards them, muttering "No more... No more..."
The brown bat silently landed next to the green haired psychic. The green haired psychic took no note of his presence.
"Hey." Malispite said. Gardevoir did not hear him. Malispite noticed she was crying.
"So are you going to help or what?" he said impatiently. "Darkrai needs us now more than ever. He needs YOU more then ever!"
"...This... this is all my fault..." Gardevoir could barely speak of the destruction that she had caused. It was all her fault. It was all her fault that Darkrai was suffering as he was.
"Then don't mope around like an idiot." Malispite said to her. He stood back up, activating Demon's Offence. With a green eye, he turned to Gardevoir, speaking.
"He needs you now more than ever and you are just going to sit there and watch?
Gardevoir... he's doing all this for you. In case you haven't realized it, only you can convince him to stop. And yet here you are acting helpless." Malispite's face darkened.
"Do something about it already."
These words stung Gardevoir. However she realized he was right. In that instant that Malispite flew off to do battle with her best friend, Gardevoir had an epiphany of what to do. Malispite was right, Darkrai needed her. He needed her more than he knew, and she had to tell him that. Gardevoir's fist clenched with renewed determination; it was time for her to protect Darkrai.
"Thanks, Malispite." Gardevoir stood up. "I'm ready."
"Good." the red symbols had covered Malispite's body. "I'll back you up."
She clenched her other fist and she felt some of the strange light energy envelope her. In her mind, an attack came up.
"Lightstream!"
Gardevoir, as the attack implied, moved at just barely slower than the speed of light itself. She easily dodged the numerous shadow tendrils chasing her. To everyone's amazement, with her ferocity, she tore through Darkrai's attacks as if it were nothing.
"What is she doing! She can't possibly dodge all of them!" yelled Cresselia, fearful of her friend. This was exactly what happened, soon the tendrils grew thick in every direction, and Gardevoir could not proceed. Just then however, Malispite came. Where Gardevoir couldn't dodge he punched and sliced the darkness attacks and created a pathway to Darkrai, who was nothing more than a Cataclysm bubble.
"She's going in...!" gasped Deoxys.
Gardevoir activated her Move again, and shot straight through the black sphere, penetrating its depths. Malispite's Demon's Offence wore off quickly due to lack of energy. He fell down, no longer able to move as the shadow tendrils closed in on him.
"Go, Gardevoir." were the words he spoke before being buried under darkness.
"Malispite!" yelled Mercifond. Asmodeus simply gaped. Cresselia began crying, Deoxys and Mewtwo stared into oblivion, and Ruby cried out for her friend.
"Gardevoir..." Ruby said weakly in Gallade's arms. Gallade pursed his mouth, sweating from every pore.
Gardevoir was now inside the greatest nightmare attack of all time.
Everything was black. Everything. No hope. Despair. Die. Everyone should die. Protect. No Why Why does it no die despair be alone I die should lonely die no more no more NO-
Gardevoir shook these thought from her head, painfully snapping herself out of it. The effects of Cataclysm apparently did not affect her as greatly in this sphere. Or was it her tenacity to find Darkrai that kept her awake amidst the sheer chaos of the black sphere?
She didn't care. She was awake, and that was that.
"Darkrai!" yelled the green haired psychic. "Darkrai!"
There was no response. That is, until Gardevoir heard a weak moan. She tore through the shadows, running through the tendrils again trying to lock onto the source of the noise. "Darkrai! Darkrai!"
Visions flashed through her head. Everyone was dead. Everything was gone. All that remained was darkness. All that remained was loneliness.
"My fate."
Gardevoir had not realized that she had caught up to the prince of darkness. Behind her, he sat in a fetal position, floating in the air.
"My fate... alone... no more... no more..." Darkrai cried, visible tears from his eyes. These cold tears flowed down his black body and onto the floor, where they dissolved into nothing.
"Darkrai..." Gardevoir was shaking. Not from Cataclysm, but from the sight of Darkrai looking so pathetic.
"No..." Darkrai moaned. "I promised... No more..." he cried, more tears flowing.
All at once, Gardevoir saw another vision.
"Hi, I'm Gardevoir!"
Darkrai gazed up at her. He looked to his left. Nothing. He looked to his right. Nothing.
Who was she talking to?
"Um, did you hear me...?" wondered the green haired girl aloud. Darkrai blinked for a moment, looking left and right again. It then dawned onto him another possibility.
"...you're talking.. to me?"
"Um... yes..."
Gardevoir kept her distance. She had heard that Darkrai was supposed to be a cruel Pokemon bent of giving everyone nightmares. He supposable wished for the destruction of every Pokemon on the planet.
She was on a dare from her friends. Go talk to the freak. See if he'll try and kill you. Gardevoir knew he couldn't kill her though, because her friends Lopunny and Poochyena were watching her.
And so, here she was, talking to the freak.
"Is this a dare?"
Gardevoir stopped shaking and blinked. Darkrai stared at her friends, then looked at her again.
"I knew it." Darkrai sighed. "Go away."
Gardevoir blinked again. He only seemed annoyed, not hell-bent of destroying her. "Aren't you... going to try and kill me or something...?"
"No." with that simple phrase, their conversation ended, because Darkrai has shape-shifted into a shadow and melted into the wall. Gardevoir watched this in transfixion. He had left, and she had won the dare.
Gardevoir returned to her friends.
As the week went by, Gardevoir could not but help to wonder about that encounter. From what she had seen, Darkrai did not even attempt to steal her things, as the rumors held. The longer she thought about it, the more she realized that all she knew about him were rumors.
"But... he causes nightmares doesn't he?"
"Yep." Poocheyena replied to her one day. "He'll do it to anyone who comes near him. He hates everyone and wants to kill us all because he's such an evil Pokemon!"
As another week went by, she still could not shake him off her mind. If he were truly that evil, why didn't he do it to her the first time? After another week of contemplation, she saw him again. This time, she approached him on her own free will.
"Hi."
Darkrai looked at her malevolently. Gardevoir thought she saw hatred in them, or perhaps it was only annoyance.
"What do you want?" he replied harshly.
"It-it's me... from earlier."
"I don't care. Leave me alone." he replied, crossing his arms and turning away. Gardevoir held a hand to her chest.
"Do you... want to be left alone...?"
"Yes." he replied without hesitation.
"...but... but why...?"
"...I deserve to be alone." Darkrai finally said. "No one should ever come near me. My nightmare powers affect anyone who touches me, and anyone who sleeps near me. I'm going to remain alone forever. Now go away, I hate all of you."
Gardevoir heard all of this, but what she focused on was the shakiness in his voice. He was afraid. Thinking very carefully for about a minute, she gave her reply.
"No."
Darkrai barely acknowledged her. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I'm not leaving."
Darkrai faced her, a look of shock and anger on his face. "Yes you will!"
"No. I'm staying here." Gardevoir was quaking on the inside. She was doing a very risky thing right now, if the rumors were true.
"Go away!" Darkrai yelled at her. "Or else!"
"Or else you'll give me nightmares?" Gardevoir asked, her voice a bit steadier than before. "Fine. Give them to me. I'm staying here."
Darkrai was amazed. She really wasn't afraid of him. He had nothing to threaten her with. True, he could always just turn into a shadow...
He stared at her carefully. She wasn't going to budge. But the real question was: why?
"Why do you want to stay with me?" Darkrai asked, suspicious of another dare.
"Because you look lonely every time I see you." she replied, a tinge of worry in her voice.
"That doesn't matter! I'm supposed to be alone for all eternity!" Darkrai shouted back. With that, Gardevoir sat down leaning against the brick wall next to Darkrai. The latter seeing as it was hopeless, reluctantly sat down, albeit ten feet away from her. Silence passed between them for the longest time.
"..."
"..."
"...I'm Gardevoir."
"..."
"..."
"...Darkrai."
"There she is!"
Gardevoir stood against a red brick wall. Her pursuers had finally trapped her.
"The freak who hangs out with the other freak." the electivire said harshly. His partner, a meganium, murmured with approval.
"We ought to teach her why she can't socialize with the freak." said the meganium, raising her claw for a Razor Leaf attack.
"No!" Surprisingly, Gardevoir was knocked out of harms way by a young Pokemon- black with white hair. "Leave her alone, I don't even know her!" pleaded Darkrai. This was a lie and everyone knew it- Gardevoir had regularly spoken with him.
"Oh great, he really did show up." the yellow twin tailed Pokemon said sharply. "Now we have to-"
There was a scream.
Darkrai looked down in horror, and realized that he had given her a nightmare. Wide eyed, the electivire and meganium backed off a bit.
"The freak did it again...!"
"No...! No! I didn't mean to!" Darkrai cried. He tried to snap her awake, but that only made the nightmare even worse than before.
"Look at what you did to her!" the meganium screeched, running away. "You should have never been born!"
Later on, Gardevoir paid a visit to the infirmary. With the help of Arceus' powers, she was cured of her nightmare that the freak had given her.
Gardevoir awoke the next day, with Darkrai sitting next to her on a separate bed. Gardevoir blinked at first, and then recognized him- the kid she had talked to the other day.
Gardevoir pulled the cover up.
The nightmare giver. Darkrai the freak of nature.
"...Hi." Darkrai said nervously. It was clear from his expression he was mad at himself for what he had done. He twisted his body in sadness and a sense of unforgiving towards himself. Gardevoir simply stared, unsure of whether he would infect her again or not.
"I'm sorry." Darkrai said in a low voice. "I... I can't... my powers..."
She watched as he clenched his fists, cursing himself at what he had done.
"I just thought..." Darkrai chocked. "I just thought I would make friend..."
Darkrai's face twisted into a look of utter sadness. He knew that he would never be forgiven. She saw that in him. In that instant, Gardevoir realized something that no other Pokemon in the school had been able to comprehend.
"Bye. I'm sure your sick of me already." retracting his legs, Darkrai flew off.
"Wait!"
Darkrai stopped, floating in midair. He slowly turned around, to see that the green haired female had staggered out of bed.
"It- it's okay." Gardevoir slowly stood back up.
Darkrai was not a horrible Pokemon. All of the rumors she had heard about him said he was a malevolent disaster that never should have been born. That he was a vicious Pokemon with only two emotions: hatred and rage. That he would not hesitate to give anyone nightmares just for existing. Because that was the sort of freak he was.
"I... I understand." she smiled nervously.
Darkrai was shocked.
"...wh-what!"
"It wasn't your fault." Gardevoir smiled kindly. It was as she expected- instead of the two emotions he could only convey, a feeling of happiness rushed up inside his body- she could practically see it welling up.
"You- you don't hate me...?" Darkrai tensely asked, as if Gardevoir's only option were to bear malice towards the child. Gardevoir bore no such, and kindly extended her hand.
"I can be your friend if you want."
Darkrai simply stood there, wide eyed. He could have sworn she told him that she would be his friend. That couldn't be it though. It was impossible- he was, after all, a monstrosity.
"Where do you sit at lunch?"
The fire was enormous.
The house did not stand a chance. Some were saying it was Arson. Some humans suspected something went chemically wrong in their house. All were waiting for the fire fighters to arrive.
In the midst of it all were three young Pokemon. One was crying hard, wailing for mother and father to emerge from the fire without harm. Another younger one was hugging the first one's leg. She too was crying, because she knew something bad was happening but did not know what. The third one was clutched in the first one's arms- wailing uncontrollably; too young to know what was taking place.
All three of them would never see their parents again.
"Gardevoir!"
The young green haired girl turned around to the spoken voice. It was the prince of darkness, who had heard that something was happening. Flying next to him was a purple bat like Pokemon named Gliscor. They went to Gardevoir, still crying, and gazed up to the burning house.
"Oh no..." said Gliscor in a small voice, covering his head with his claws in fear.
"They're gone..." Gardevoir wailed. She knew her parents couldn't have survived. She knew because they had become trapped in the basement saving the three of them.
The fire had erupted quickly. So quickly in fact, that not even the normally responsive fire firefighting team could answer the call in time. Eventually, they did get there, and doused the burning house in water.
Gardevoir still stood, crying. Kirlia and Ralts were now silent. Kirlia held Gardevoir's leg as if her life depended on it, but not comprehending just what had occurred. Ralts lay in her blanket, sleeping amidst the chaos of yelling and shouting. The only one who never saw it happen.
"Gardevoir..." Darkrai was about to touch her, to comfort her, but realized that he couldn't. He couldn't do a thing.
"Gardevoir..." Gliscor looked at her, trying to cheer her up by hugging her. "It-it will be fine right...? Y-Your parents will come out... right...?"
Darkrai clenched his fist. If only he had been here sooner. If only he knew Rain Dance like his older brother. If only he could touch Gardevoir to show that he really cared for her.
"Gardevoir..." Darkrai felt worthless, but he was going to change that in the only way he knew how. "Gardevoir listen to me!"
Gardevoir and Gliscor faced him, a strange adult look on his face, staring at them with determined eyes. "Gardevoir...! From now on I swear! I promise something like this will never happen again!
From now on, I will make sure nothing bad ever happens to you!"
The visions in her head ended. Tears sprung up in Gardevoir's eyes. Even though Darkrai had gone completely berserk, he still remembered the promise he made to her years ago.
"Darkrai..."
"Never... promise..." Darkrai spoke in gibberish, still crying as he spoke in his fetal pose. "I...promised..."
"Darkrai." moaned Gardevoir. She placed her hand to her chest. It was now or never. She walked up to him. Though the nightmarish visions were intense, like that day several years ago, she was unafraid of getting bad dreams.
"Darkrai... Please listen to me." Gardevoir spoke to him in the softest voice imaginable. "You were always there for me Darkrai. You are the greatest friend I could possibly ask for." Gardevoir smiled, tears in her eyes. "But... you can't do this..."
"I will protect you..."
"No!" Gardevoir cried, with such force that it caused Darkrai to tremble. "You always do this...!" she shouted. "You always shoulder everyone's burdens! You always tell us you can handle it when you can't! You always try so hard to impress us because you're afraid we'll leave! You always...
You always... protect us. Not just me. All of us." Gardevoir said, head down. Darkrai's eye was wide open, tears still flowing.
"Darkrai... you always think of others. But you never once thought for yourself." Gardevoir finally said.
"You never realized that the one who needed saving was yourself."
Darkrai stared at Gardevoir, unimaginable feelings passing him by.
"Let me save you." Gardevoir smiled, extending a hand. Darkrai cried again. He cried for his friends. His priceless companions that he would do anything for. And now, for the first time in his life, Darkrai realized an important fact: That his friends would also do anything for him.
"Gardevoir..." Darkrai wept. "I'm about... to do something horrible... stop me..." he cried, at this point both mind and body uncontrollable as the counter towards doomsday ticked down.
"I know." Gardevoir said. She wrapped her arms around Darkrai, forcing herself in his way until she had draped her body around him. "Rest, you need it..."
Gardevoir's mind went blank as she was stung with nightmares.
"Wait... something's happening...!" Blaze cried out. The bubble containing Darkrai and Gardevoir was suddenly convulsing. In a matter of seconds it had actually burst, the Cataclysm sphere was destroyed, leaving both Darkrai and Gardevoir as the epicenter of it all.
"I don't... believe it!" Asmodeus said happily. Not wasting any more time, he flew towards Darkrai with great speed, already preparing the incantations for the seal.
"No wait- Asmodeus!"
Darkrai's giant claw arms were still active. They sense Asmodeus and flew downwards, preparing to crush him into oblivion.
"Now!"
Before anyone realized what 'now' meant, the bat figure was gone. The next second he was at Asmodeus' side, preparing to strike down Darkrai's claws.
"Heh, just like old times." Asmodeus said playfully, his back against the figure as the shadow tendrils advanced on him. "All we need now is Absolix."
"Black... Inferno."
One punch from the attack was all it took to decimate everything in sight. One punch was all it took to destroy thousands of vine like shadow tendrils. One punch and the shadow claws were gone; even Darkrai's purple aura had disappeared. There was simply a loud 'boom' and everything Darkrai had to attack them with had simply vanished.
"What... the hell...!" Agent Raptor said in awe.
"The power to turn everything into nothing..." Dusknoir remembered. "Black Inferno."
Asmodeus zoomed in to Darkrai, once again pinning his head to the floor and flinging Gardevoir aside.
"Now... Seal Activation: Broken Law!"
Seals appeared from out of nowhere. Small ones, large ones, one even as big as en entire city block. Asmodeus' seal connected with Darkrai's, and the power from the devices began to shine through the darkness and into Darkrai.
"Bind!" Asmodeus yelled above the roar of power he had summoned.
The amazing incantations that had been written across the skies merged downward into Darkrai's body. The seals fused themselves onto Darkrai's arm, flowing into him like a river. As Asmodeus yelled above them to focus their power into sealing himself back in, he began to dissolve in midair. With a final smirk, he gave it his all and every seal surrounded Darkrai at once, and then slammed into him at hyper speed.
When it was over, Darkrai lay on the ground. Asmodeus was nowhere to be seen, as was the strange bat like Pokemon, who had disappeared amidst the act.
"D-Darkr-"
"Darkrai!" Deoxys yelled happily.
Dusknoir finally undid the seal, now power weak. However he smiled at a job well done- Darkrai was once again safe, from both Kurades and himself. The secret agents talked amongst themselves excitably, wanting to explain things as quickly as possible to their boss. Malispite and Mercifond hugged themselves, and Gallade and Ruby collapsed from joy.
Gardevoir remained at Darkrai's side, now conscious with the effects of Cataclysm gone. Knowing that because he had nearly zero EP his nightmare powers wouldn't work, she grabbed onto him and held him tightly.
"It's okay now Darkrai…you're safe."
Darkrai could barely register any of this. He was tired. He was beat up, but mentally and physically. He would need to see a doctor soon or he would probably die then and there. But none of that mattered to him. What mattered were the screams of joy he heard in the background, blurred out by lack of hearing. His sister, already shouting words and phrases he couldn't understand. His best friend, next to him, he as dead as Darkrai was, telling him something he couldn't understand. The soft white fur against his body, telling him everything was going to be all right.
Darkrai breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief.
He could finally rest.
-Arc two "Zero" end-
A/n: Arc two is done! Don't forget to read the movie in between arcs, JudgmenT, which is already posted here!