A/N Hey guys! So, Chapter Twenty-One hm? This is the chapter before the final fight between our heroes and The Shadow Dragon begins, which I've spread over three chapters because it's getting so big, so be prepared for a cliff hanger in every chapter after this!
I'm determined not to split Chapter Twenty Four up, however, so it might run a little over my self-imposed ten-page limit for chapter size. I want to end this on a nice round twenty-five chapters if I can.
This chapter's title, 'Shadowfall' is a reference both to the eclipse and to how the evil of our bad guys has fallen over Fiore. Plus I thought it sounded cool.
Anyway, on to the story!
Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Pokemon, Pokemon Ranger or any affiliated things. So, yeah, this is non-profit and for my own enjoyment so no suing!
Chapter Twenty One
Shadowfall
The Shadow Dragon stood at the ziggurat's apex watching impassively as explosions threw up plumes of dust, smoke and stone high into the air beyond the inner wall of the Fiore Temple. The Rangers had arrived in force before he had retrieved the Staff of Aema. Unfortunate but not unexpected. He wasn't concerned; the Rangers were outnumbered and the walls were solid stone four feet thick. By the time they reached him it would be too late.
Lunick would be dead, the Staff would be his… and Fiore would fall.
His guards did not share his calm indifference, he could see one of them jump at a particularly loud explosion. The Shadow Dragon snorted, sneering in disgust. Cowards and idiots the lot of them! These wretches would be amongst the first to feel the wroth of a newborn God once his ascension was completed. The tyrant turned his gaze to the sky and watched as the sun neared its zenith, only a few minutes left until the eclipse. It was time to begin the final preparations.
"Bring Lunick to me." The Shadow Dragon ordered, "Unfurl my banners and send reinforcements to the gate."
"As you command my lord." One of the Grunts said, bowing in subservience as he left.
Mere minutes later pennants of black and red were unfurled at each corner of the ziggurat and long banners were draped over the walls bearing the black dragon wielding the sword and staff on a red background that was the Shadow Dragon's crest. The sight brought a lingering smile to his face. From the steps he could hear the sound of clinking chains and a few second later Lunick walked up the steps flanked by two of his elite guard, his arms bound by manacles. The blue-haired teen's head was bowed and it seemed as if the brat had finally been broken.
"Lunick, greetings to thee… It doth appear that thine allies have some spine after all." The Shadow Dragon said, gesturing at the battle raging below, "That is good, I shall enjoy the sport of killing them, squashing them like the insignificant insects that they are."
"Your overconfidence will be your undoing. The Rangers will defeat your lackeys and when we're done with you you'll be begging us to throw you in jail!" Lunick spat.
The Shadow Dragon chuckled, "Ah, but how doth thou propose to slay a God?"
"I'm not going to fight a God. Just a man." Lunick replied.
"How little thou know." The megalomaniac replied, "Look up, see there? The sun is almost at its peak. The eclipse will begin soon… now tell me, boy, how wilt thou defeat me when I hold the Staff of Aema?"
"You're not getting it… I won't let you." Lunick replied.
"So now thou have changed thine mind? Dost thou wish me to use Solana instead as my key? I assure thee, if that were to come to pass it would be most… unpleasant for her." He grinned viciously.
"You don't have time to go and fetch her." Lunick said, "You'd miss the eclipse."
"Enough! My patience grows thin. Thou shalt submit or thou shalt die."
Before Lunick could retort a Grunt dressed in the regular garb of his rank rather than the elite guards came running up the stairs, panting heavily and red-faced, "Sir! The Rangers have reached the last tier. Sir Ector begs your aid, if he does not get reinforcements he and his men will fall!"
The Shadow Dragon shrugged, "I will not open the gates so that the Rangers may pour in and ruin my plans. The gates remain sealed. Ector must fight on his own. If he is to fall then let him fall. Either way he has served his purpose. The Rangers will not breach the inner temple."
"B-but…" The Grunt began.
"Do not forget thy place!" The Shadow Dragon snapped, "I am thy master and thou shalt obey me! The gates remain closed!"
The Grunt paled and nodded, shaking in fear, "Y-yes s-sir!"
Sir Ector was afraid. His knuckles had turned white beneath his gauntlets as he clutched the hilt of his Sword-Styler tightly; around him his men were falling like flies. How had this happened? They had the Rangers outnumbered, outmatched… and still they had driven him back to the very walls of the inner temple. The knight snarled in anger and smashed the pommel of his Sword-Styler across the face of a Summerland Ranger he was fighting. The Ranger cried out and fell to the floor, spitting out blood and saliva on to the floor. Ector grinned viciously and raised his sword high into the air, ready for a downward thrust to finish off the Ranger.
The expression on the Ranger's face caused Ector to hesitate for a moment. It wasn't fear, or anger or even regret. The Ranger's eyes were hard, cold and his mouth was set into an expression of grim determination. This Ranger wasn't afraid to die, he wasn't afraid of Ector. He was actually willing to die to defend Fiore and its people. Ector's shock wore off quickly. If the fool was willing to die for a bunch of weaklings and pathetic Pokemon then he was glad to deliver the deathblow!
The sword fell down, ready to pierce the idealistic fool's heart.
But the blade never arrived. Something cold and wet struck Ector in the back, causing him to topple forwards and drop his sword. The knight managed to stop himself from falling and turned with a growl of anger. The normally cheerful, tubby Summerland Leader was stood next to his Pelliper, a look of grim anger on his face, "Percy, get out of here." Cameron said calmly.
The fallen Summerland Ranger's eyes were wide with shock; he nodded and rose, fleeing whilst Ector was busy staring down his Leader. Ector picked up his Sword-Styler, "Thou hath made a great mistake striking me, Cameron. Thou art no match for me!"
"We'll see about that, won't we?" Cameron said, "Pelliper, Aerial Ace."
The Water and Flying type hurled itself high into the air and then with a surprising turn of speed it dropped out of the sky, diving right towards Ector. The knight could barely get his sword-Styler into a blocking position before the attack hit, hurling him several feet backwards as he blocked it with his sword. Ector hissed in pain and shot a dirty look at Cameron, "Thou shalt pay for that! Gardevoir! Gengar! Destroy him!" In front of Ector a single Gengar faded into view, flanked by two Gardevoir that teleported in.
Cameron smirked, "No problem. Pelliper! Water Gun!"
"Fool." Ector spat, "Gardevoir! Psychic! Psybeam! Gengar! Shadow Ball!"
As the stream of water left Pelliper's mouth he was caught in a pinkish glow cast by the left-hand Gardevoir, frozen in place he was unable to dodge as a multi-coloured beam of energy lanced away from the Gardevoir on the right and a ball of darkness launched from the Gengar smashed into him. Pelliper squawked in pain and fell out of the sky, landing hard. "Pelliper!" Cameron shouted, "You okay?"
"Pel…per." The waterfowl squawked in a daze, it shook itself and glared at the psychic and ghost Pokemon, "Pelliper!"
"That's the spirit!" Cameron shouted, "Hydro Pump!"
A powerful torrent of water burst out of Pelliper's mouth towards Ector's Pokemon. The knight laughed, "Pitiful! Gardevoir! Teleport! Gengar! Double Team!"
The Gardevoir vanished as seven copies of Gengar appeared, one of them vanished as the Hydro Pump hit it. Cameron grinned, "Now Pelliper! Hurricane!" Suddenly Pelliper was behind the two Gardevoir who had teleported close together, it unleashed a massive wind from its wings that picked up the two psychic-types and hurled them around like stray leaves. The two let out cries of dismay as they were smashed against the ground, one of them was knocked out and the other looked confused and dazed.
Ector stared in shock, "How dare you! Gardevoir! Psybeam! Gengar! Shadow Ball!"
The copies of Gengar vanished as the real one launched a Shadow Ball from behind Pelliper; unfortunately for the ghost-type, Gardevoir, in her confusion, missed Pelliper completely with her Psybeam and instead managed to hit Gengar with it instead. The ghost fell to the floor with a cry of pain that alerted Pelliper to the threat. It dodged just in time and the ball of darkness sped through the place it had been moments before to strike Gardevoir. The psychic-type cried out again and was thrown back, rendered unconscious by the force of the attack.
Ector seethed at the blunder his Pokemon had made, "No matter! Gengar! Giga Drain!"
As the ghost-type charged at Pelliper, trailing green energy and intent on siphoning off Pelliper's life force, Cameron suddenly shouted, "Forgetting something?"
Distracted by the battle, Ector hadn't noticed the Summerland Leader sneak up on him and was surprised as the Ranger charged into him, knocking him over, simultaneously activating his Styler and sending his Capture Line towards Gengar. Surprised by this move, Gengar stopped its charge for a split second and tried to attack the Capture Line. Pelliper took advantage of this moment of hesitation, however, and blasted the Gengar with another Hydro Pump. The ghost Pokemon was smashed into the ground by the torrent of water. Damaged, dazed and confused, it wasn't long before its will broke and Cameron captured it.
Ector stared at the Ranger Leader in shock, "But…how? Thou couldst not have… this is impossible!"
"Obviously not!" Cameron retorted, "Guess what else is possible? You're under arrest!"
"Thou may have defeated me, but it is too late to stop my master!" Ector said desperately, "He will free me!"
"Don't bet on it." Said a cold, angry voice from behind the knight.
Cameron's eyes widened as Solana stepped into view from out of the tumult of the still-raging battle, holding onto a Grunt by the throat, "Solana! We thought they'd captured you!"
Solana shook her head, "For a while… but I got out." Her smile was menacing and even Ector shuddered at the dark look in her eyes, "I'm here to end this." She turned her head towards the weakly struggling Grunt in her hand, "Thanks for the Pokemon." She struck him in the temple with her Styler and let him crumple to the floor, unconscious.
She walked over to the imposing stone gates of the inner wall, "This needs to come down." She noted, "Luckily I brought help. Tyranitar, Metagross. Hyperbeam. Charizard, Magmar, Flamethrower. Plusle, Minun, Raichu, Thunderbolt. Glalie, Piloswine, Ice Beam."
From behind her a crowd of Pokemon came charging from out of the battle, each one stolen from Shadow Dragon Grunts. Each one answered her command and beams of energy, torrents of fire, ice and electricity lanced from the group to smash into the gates. The ice and fire weakened the stone whilst the Hyperbeams and Thunderbolts smashed into the stone with explosive force. The massive stone edifice simply couldn't handle the combined power of the Pokemon and exploded inwards, scattering massive chunks of stone far across the plateau beyond, some hitting the gathered Shadow Dragons and their Pokemon. Time seemed frozen as the sound of the immense explosion echoed around the temple and the Shadow Dragons tried to recover from their shock.
In an instant Solana broke the silence as she charged forward with a shout, followed closely by Plusle and Minun who unleashed a withering barrage of lightning into the mass of Shadow Dragons. Galvanised into action the Shadow Dragons responded in kind. Not one to let a Ranger dash into danger alone, Cameron charged forward followed by Pelliper, soon more Rangers followed as they dealt with the last of Ector's men and an all-out battle ensued on the plateau before the ziggurat.
At the pyramid's summit, the Shadow Dragon was staring in horror at the gaping hole in the wall and the intense battle below, "No! Fools! You were supposed to hold them back!"
"Not so tough now, huh? Face it it's over!" Lunick taunted from behind him.
The Shadow Dragon whirled around, his eyes burning with anger, "No! It isn't! I can still win! The eclipse is upon us! Look!"
He pointed into the sky where a small sliver of the sun had vanished. Lunick's eyes widened in horror as the sun slowly disappeared behind the moon, causing the light to fade and dim. "Oh Arceus help us… they're too late!"
The sounds of battle below faltered and stopped suddenly as people noticed the light suddenly fading in the middle of the day, people shouted and pointed into the sky. A ragged cheer went up from the Shadow Dragons whilst cries of dismay were heard from the Rangers. Suddenly there was another loud explosion and the din of combat began again, this time desperation tinged the air as the Shadow Dragons fought tooth and nail to stop the Rangers from reaching their master.
The Shadow Dragon grinned wolfishly, ignoring the sounds of a series of explosions getting closer to the temple's summit, "Now, Ranger, the hour of my victory is at hand!"
The chaos of war and the horror of battle were dim and distant things to the Espeon and Umbreon that were stood before the shattered outer gates of the Fiore Temple. They were sat next to each other, almost close enough to touch and both were staring hard at the flame-bordered disk of the eclipse.
It has begun Shadow noted solemnly; The Shadow Dragon will soon seize the Staff.
The battle is not over yet. My Champions still live and so long as they do, your victory is far from certain. Seer replied calmly, But you still feel confident of your success?
Of course, Shadow drawled, What hope do mere children have against my power?
Care to put your money where your mouth is? Seer asked teasingly.
What did you have in mind? He asked curiously.
A bet, a wager. If you win, if the Shadow Dragon succeeds, I will concede defeat and join you. The Covenant will revoke your exile and you shall regain your place on the Council. Seer said.
And if, by some miracle, I lose? Shadow asked, What would you want of me?
You will surrender yourself to the Council. You will ensure that there are no remnants of the Shadow Dragons after their defeat and you will swear an oath to stay out of mortal affairs for good. You will also be stripped of your powers until such time as the Council deems fit to return them. She replied.
And why would I agree to those terms? He asked sceptically.
You are many things dear, but most of all you are very competitive. You will accept my wager. You wouldn't let yourself say no. She replied smugly, Unless you are afraid?
Are you calling me a coward? He demanded.
If you are so certain you will win, I see no other reason why you would refuse. She said.
Shadow growled, I will win! Fine! I'll take your bet, I swear that if your Rangers win I'll leave them alone, I'll disband the Shadow Dragons completely, I'll even go back to the Covenant on my belly begging their forgiveness. Hell, I'll lick Serenity's boots clean. But don't you dare call me a coward!
Calm down dear, you'll give yourself an ulcer. Seer said with a smirk, Now then, why don't we go watch the final act of this drama unfold, hm? I'll bring the popcorn.
Shadow muttered something under his breath, glaring at her.
Solana was racing up the steps of the ziggurat, taking them two at a time and smashing the Grunts out of the way before they had a chance to react. Behind her the Rangers were trapped in an all-out, do-or-die assault on the ziggurat but the almost fanatical resistance the Shadow Dragons had put up was slowing them down. She'd been the first, possibly the only, one of them to reach the ziggurat by the time the eclipse had begun. Now she was streaking past the Grunts with single-minded determination. She was not going to let Lunick's 'murderer' get his hands on the Staff. She was going to make him pay. Behind her Plusle and Minun were zapping every Grunt she bowled over to make sure they stayed down. Despite the fact that these were the Shadow Dragon's 'elite guard' they'd been pitifully easy for the enraged girl to dispatch. The fact that they wore chainmail and wielded halberds, both very good conductors of electricity, meant that Plusle and Minun were able to fry them with ease.
Movement from within the maelstrom of chaos that swirled around the ziggurat caught her eye; Spenser was hanging onto his Fearow and was speeding directly towards the ziggurat's summit. Solana grinned. The Shadow Dragon was in for a hell of a butt whooping. She put on an extra burst of speed. She wanted to get there before Spenser so she could get a piece of the Shadow Dragon…
As it turned out, she and Spenser reached the summit at the same time and both were frozen in shock by what they saw. Solana's first reaction upon seeing a beaten-up and chained Lunick, knelt at the centre of the sun symbol mosaic on the ziggurat's floor was an overwhelming sense of relief and joy, "LUNICK!" She shouted, tears of joy were coursing down her cheeks; he was alive! Lunick was still alive! Her emotion quickly turned from joy to anger when she saw that the Shadow Dragon was stood behind him, a black Sword-Styler held against Lunick's throat, "Let him go!" She demanded
"Not one step closer, Solana, or he dies!" The Shadow Dragon snarled, glancing up at the sky where the last sliver of sunlight was vanishing, "My victory is at hand, and you have the honour of watching the birth of a God!"
"You're insane!" Spenser shouted, he then looked down at Lunick, "Don't worry Lunick, we'll rescue you and stop him!"
"I know you will Spenser!" Lunick replied, "But it might be too late for me…" He looked over at Solana, "I'm… I'm sorry." He said.
The last sliver of the sun was consumed by the spreading darkness. The world was plunged into night… except for the ziggurat's summit. The sun symbol suddenly began to glow brightly beneath Lunick and the Shadow Dragon, a shaft of light shot up, encompassing both of them in its radiance. The light shot upwards towards the moon and seemed to vanish into the flame-ringed shadow. For several tense moments nothing happened and then… Lunick screamed in agony, his eyes shot wide open, but instead of their normal blue hue they were solid pools of white light, he was also weeping tears of light.
Solana and Spenser stared in shock and horror as his wail of agony continued unabated, then what appeared to be a lightning bolt shot down from the sky and struck Lunick. He convulsed and let out an even louder shriek before falling forward and collapsing. A loud grinding noise filled the air and the sun symbol split in two, revealing a staircase. The Shadow Dragon laughed manically and descended it, completely ignoring Solana and Spenser as they ran to Lunick's aid.
"Lunick!" Solana sobbed with worry, "Wake up! Lunick!" She shook him violently.
Spenser grabbed her shoulder, "Solana, stop, you're not helping." He knelt down and put his fingers against Lunick's neck, "He still has a pulse." Spenser stood up, his eyes hard, "You look after him. I'll deal with the Shadow Dragon!" With that he ran over to the stairs and descended down them and into total darkness…
A/N And there we are… Spenser is going down alone to fight The Shadow Dragon. Solana and Lunick are reunited and… well it's not as happy as you guys hoped, huh? But don't worry; I have a lot more pain and heartache planned yet before I finish this story.
Oh, what? You don't want heartache for our lovely Ranger couple?
Tough! It's dramatic and I've already written it!
Muwhahaha!
Ahem. Sorry.
Right, all that's left is to say, Read, Review and Enjoy it! Oh, and does anyone want to hazard a guess as to what The Staff of Aema looks like/does? It'd be interesting to see what idea you guys have… who knows it might even lead to a few last-minute alterations?