Seth held his staff close to his body as the Legendborn gingerly crept through the tunnel the Darkness had crafted. Although every single one of them thought this was a horrible idea, there was nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.
Well, except freeze and die, but that was definitely not near the top of their bucket list.
As they walked farther down, the cold air seemed to cling to them, shadows pooling at the edge of their vision. Blaze's tail and Victor's flaming hands were their only light source, and Seth was painfully aware of how much power the Darkness seemed to hold in this area.
Deeper and deeper they went, with no signs of any end in sight. Seth slowly began to notice spookier and spookier things, all of them filling him with dread. The very shadows seemed to be taking a more solid, viscous state, dripping off the walls and pooling around their feet. And then there was the steady thump thump, thump thump echoing through the tunnel, which only grew louder and louder as they went further down.
Seth realized it sounded like a heartbeat. The heartbeat of the Darkness, the source of the great evil that haunted their every step. Seth realized he was trembling. He felt like he was walking straight for his death, right into the maw of darkness.
Finally, the tunnel opened up, and the Legendborn found themselves in a wide chamber.
The room was truly humongous, capable of comfortably fitting an entire palace. Tall obsidian columns held up the ceiling, and several more blocks of the shiny, black rock filled the room, in various stages of construction.
At the end of the hall, rows of cultists knelt in some semblance of prayer, a tall jagged throne behind them. In front of the throne was an obsidian giant, with four clawed arms, and nine dull dots forming an upside-down five-pointed star. It stood on two thick blocky legs, and a spiky tail curled behind it. All in all, the statue appeared to resemble a strange Pokemon, almost like it was one of a certain group of legendary golems.
But it was not the statue that held Seth's attention. Rather, it was the thing that enveloped it.
A thick, swirling storm of black smoke rose ahead of them, its form constantly shifting. It looked similar to the statue, except with a pair of massive tattered wings, and four glowing red eyes and a massive fanged maw instead of the nine dots.
Seth knew what it was immediately. Only one thing could radiate such malevolence.
"The Darkness.", he growled.
The spirit's maw widened in some illusion of a smile. "Legendborn.", it said, "You took quite a bit of time to get down here. But now that you have come, things can finally get started for real."
All the cultists stood up at once, eerily staring at the Legendborn.
"You have proven to be quite the annoyance, you know.", the Darkness purred, "Time after time, you have fought against my forces, and survived. And yet..."
He grinned, revealing five distinct rows of teeth. "You are still so weak. As many times as you have survived, never have you won a truly decisive victory. Compared to your predecessors, you are AMUSINGLY weak. To think that this is the best the Legendaries can throw at me...they truly must be desperate, hmm?"
He continued, "Now that I have returned, I can sense just how much your world has changed. Now, you humans control the entire world, and my old enemies have grown weaker. After all, they can no longer claim to control as much anymore, and your kind have forgotten that they were once your gods. Best of all..."
He laughed cruelly. "As much as you have grown and advanced, so have your many sins. Seeing as I am the very incarnation of your collective evil, I have only grown exponentially more powerful. With all this, can you truly claim that you have the capabilities to win?"
As much as Seth hated it, he knew the Darkness was right. Humanity had only created their own worst enemy.
But was Seth going to roll over and give up? Heck no!
Tightly gripping his staff, he gave the Darkness a defiant glare.
His friends, seeing his example, all stood up tall and proud, expressing their defiance.
The Darkness smirked. "Your persistence is commendable. You are definitely not like the rest of your species. But unfortunately, most humans are not nearly as heroic, and even you have your own sins. It fills me with such malice and hatred..."
He hissed. "You may think you are facing an entity of pure, unredeemable evil, and his brainwashed minions. Perhaps you are correct. But this accursed existence is so utterly undesirable, that I completely despise it. However, I will last as long as your race is inherently evil, and that brings me to my true goal."
He explained, "There is only one way to redeem your kind. To almost completely annihilate it, and start from scratch. Only then can I know rest. All my followers have their own sins to expunge, their own reasons to reset things. And they will fight for this to their deaths."
The cultists all nodded, and it was obvious that they were doing so of their own compulsion.
But it did not convince Seth or his allies. Just the opposite, in fact.
"Humans may be inherently evil...", Seth declared, "But that does not mean we will stay that way! Together, all of us will fight for our futures, our potential for greatness! And we will stop you from destroying it all!"
The Darkness smiled. "Very well...so be it."
Some cultists wheeled in a cart with Pokeballs on it, while at the same time the shadows rose up to envelop the heroes, Reesy specifically.
"You came here to save your Pokemon, and to stop me?!", declared the Darkness, "Very well. Try and save them now!"
Several of the Pokeballs opened, revealing one of each of the Legendborn's Pokemon. But now, they were enveloped with shadow, and their red eyes glared hatefully at the Legendborn.
They appeared to be the corrupted versions of Twig, Victor's Sawsbuck; Anastasia, Rex's Absol; Mercurius, Cain's Volcarona; Shade, Seth's Hisuian Zoroark; and Zoey's Houndour.
Seth felt horrified as he saw his partner Pokemon glaring at him, his memories and soul trapped under the shadowy influence controlling him. Seth gulped, and readied his plasma fists, hoping Shade would forgive him after this.
The Darkness laughed. "Let's see how well you fare against your own Pokemon! However, Kai and Reesy here might get in the way...thankfully, I have my own needs for them."
Reesy snarled, readying one of her Pokeballs. Behind her, her golems cracked their knuckles and prepared to fight.
"You will never get any help from me!", roared Kai.
The Darkness laughed. "Perhaps...but who said I wanted your permission?"
The dark smoke wrapped tightly around the two Trainers, and they struggled as its power smothered them.
Zoey cried out, reaching out to help them, but at that moment her Houndour pounced for her throat.
However, it was intercepted by her new Hisuian Zorua, the two canine Pokemon rolling away biting and clawing each other.
So the battle began.
Victor leaped for Twig, his eyes full of desperation. The Sawsbuck reared up, and kicked him back across the cavern, sending him skidding across the ice.
Cain rolled across the floor as his Volcarona flapped his wings, sending a wave of boiling heat rippling through the cavern, fighting against the sheer cold of the glacier. Blaze the Charizard absorbed it easily, but he still looked worried as he tried to drive off the shadows without hurting his Trainer.
Rex was surrounded in icy power, sidestepping each of his Absol's attacks. He was murmuring something, as if he was trying to calm it. But Anastasia had been driven into a frenzy by the Darkness.
Seth leaped at Shade, his lightning fists striking out fast and fierce. But his Zoroark fought back with matching passion, slashing at him with dark claws. The cultists watched emotionlessly as the battle continued, uninterested in participating.
Victor got back to his feet, hands burning with fiery power. Thrusting them forward, he sent twin jets of flames roaring for his Sawsbuck, which wailed in pain as the super-effective attack burned him.
"There has to be something we can do to purify them!", cried Zoey, "Cain, Kai, do something!"
Cain stood up, focusing, but Mercurius then rushed towards him, slamming into the boy with his heavy weight. Cain slammed into one of the columns, and slid down with a pained grunt.
Zoey saw her Houndour opening his jaws wide, ready to roast her new partner, and she desperately ran towards them. To her shock, a shield appeared in front of the Zorua, nowhere near her. No one had realized she could summon them from afar!
At that moment, Rex finally struck a blow against Anastasia, sending her careening across the cavern and landing at the foot of one of the cultists. The cultists readied himself for a fight, but a shadowy tentacle blocked him.
"Calm, now.", purred the Darkness, "I'm still testing them. Is their only hope some sort of miracle, or are they actually worthy of being my heroic enemy?"
Seth felt aggravated by the knowledge that the Darkness was going easy on them, as if they were not worthy of his full might unless they completed a test. He knew that was a silly thing to be mad about, but he hated feeling this weak.
Cain climbed back to his feet, and managed to drive back his Pokemon with a few choice jabs of his bone. Green energy started swirling around his feet, the forces of order replying to the raw chaos that filled the room.
Zoey reached her Pokemon, slashing her claws into her Houndour. A pained expression crossed her face, before quickly being replaced by grim determination.
Meanwhile, Reesy and Kai were still trying to resist the shadows. The golems and Blaze were trying to work together, but the shadows were proving too strong.
"Come now, you two.", said the Darkness, "I only need you for a short moment."
The shadows pulled the two Trainers towards him, and the statue behind him. Seth realized there was also an iron coffin beneath the Darkness, and knew that it could not be for anything good.
"The powers of animation and reanimation.", purred the Darkness, "The keys to the next step of my plan. I have been anchored here too long..."
The two heroes, who had now fallen unconscious, suddenly lit up with energy. Seth punched his Zoroark in the jaw, sending the Pokemon stumbling as Seth cried out to the two Trainers.
But it was no use.
Flaring up behind Kai were a pair of ethereal wings, causing the coffin to light up with ghostly flames. At the same time, Reesy's hand was pressed against the statue, and it sent lines of white light flowing through it.
"Behold!", the Darkness declared, "Your powers are not just useful to you. I can make use of them myself, and this is what shall result!"
The coffin exploded, as a skeletal man stood up. The Darkness swirled into him, covering his body with black flesh and steel armor, four red eyes opening on his skull and shadow wings and a tail rising from behind them.
The statue rumbled as well, and the dots lit up with red light. With a loud rumble and grinding noise, it stepped forward, picking up the Darkness as he marveled at his new physical form.
The shadows fell back, dropping the two Legendborn and causing them to gasp for breath, staggering to the feet. Blaze and the golems ran to comfort them and shield them from anything further, but it was too late.
The Darkness laughed in delight. "Yes...YES! At last, I shall be free once more! My legions of Regishado and I will run free once again! I must thank you for this opportunity, 'heroes'! I have come much further than ever before!"
Cain clenched his fist with rage, and suddenly green light exploded throughout the cavern, forcing the shadows back and blasting the cultists back.
At the same time, a healing light suffused the shadow Pokemon and their Pokeballs, forcing the evil out and purifying them. Shade looked up at Seth with shock, before standing to his feet and smiling toothy.
At the same time, the Pokeballs flew back to their rightful Trainers, and Victor sent a wave of energy into everyone's hearts.
Seth grinned at the Darkness and his armies. "I hope you enjoy your freedom, Darkness.", he declared, "Because you won't have it for long!" (-o-)
AN: An explosive ending, all right! But before we can explore what happens next, we're popping back to Azulia. The freedom of the Darkness has many repercussions, and our friends there are just about to experience them!
Well, I'll see you then!
