Legacies
A Sequel to Crossing of the Paths

By MMM/AJ

A/N: Well isn't it ironic that I'm always apologizing for the wait before each chapter, and only now have I actually kept you guys waiting longer than usual! I'm sorry this took such an incredibly long time to write, but I had finals at the time, along with the first bad case of writer's block that I've had in a long time. Anyway, this massive 26 page chunk is the conclusion of Part I! Enjoy!

Chapter XXXV – T9

Tanis' powers seemed to have transcended their original bounds by an unbelievable amount. When he had first come out of his tube a scant few days ago, he had barely even been able to teleport. Now he was managing an entire network of controlled minds across the Aqua ship. The information seemed to flow into his senses, damage reports, weapon statuses, tactical command information, everything that the instruments of the bridge reported jumped straight from the minds of the controlled Aqua members to Tanis. He was able to return commands at an equally rapid pace, he only thought his orders and the Aquas carried them out within a few seconds. It was almost like he had become the ship's brain.

The battle played out much differently than Tanis had predicted. He could see through the cameras that the UN ships were present, but they weren't engaging the Aqua or Magma forces. He could also sense the gathering energy of Ares' ships, but they too seemed hesitant about jumping into the fray. The newly arrived Aqua and Magma fleets were free to pound themselves into rubble without interruption, and Tanis knew that as soon as one side emerged victorious, the UN and Ares would both jump in.

The battle proceeded in a hobbling manner, apparently Team Magma was hesitant to employ any form of melee combat between capital ships, their carriers and battleships were hanging back and firing from a distance. Tanis knew the melee capabilities of the Aqua ships however, and he relayed orders to the rest of the Aqua ships to pursue the Magma ships, break their formation, and board them. The Aqua ships charged forward, their engines pushing 130 percent and blazing away with their guns and missiles. The continuing barrage from the Magma ships cut down the Aqua ships as they approached, but the Aqua ships were still doing considerable damage in return. A fairly large amount of Aqua ships managed to make it to the Magma fleet's front line and the melee began.

What ensued was a messy yet glorious brawl in the sky. Different classes of Aqua ships had different types of melee weapons, but all were devastatingly effective. Destroyer class ships, slightly smaller than battleships, ran alongside Magma ships and shot arms out into the sides of the enemy. These blade-tipped arms skewered and diced through the Magma ships roughly but effectively, and were powerful when used artfully. One ship managed to carve the engines right off the back of a Magma ship, causing it to plummet straight to the ground without further ado. Carrier class ships had the traditional grappling arms and boarding party insertion tubes. These ships latched onto other Magma battleships and brought chaos to their innards like some form of foul poison. Fighters furiously whipped around the invading Aqua ships like enraged bees, vainly attempting to seriously damage them with their small guns. The sky was filled with the black puffy clouds of missile detonations and tracers slashed the air brutally.

Tanis watched as Magma forces dwindled much more rapidly, they were vastly vulnerable to melee attacks, and he had successfully exploited it. As Aqua boarding parties reached the bridges of Magma ships, they took control and several of these Magma ships simply turned and fired on their allies. In this fashion, the formation was completely disrupted, and unified control over the Magma fleet was totally lost. Their numbers dwindled until there were none left that had not been commandeered or destroyed. Tanis turned all his ship's cameras and looked up to see more ships emerging from the clouds above, these bearing the bloody emblems of Ares' empire.

Ares' crimson ships screamed down from the thick clouds at an incredible speed, most likely sped along by gravity. Tanis dared a quick look over at the UN fleet, it had not moved an inch. Good he thought, he could spend the lives of all these Aqua members against Ares and then the humans can finish them off. But upon further study, Tanis saw that an incredible amount of the crimson ships was pouring down out of the clouds. Easily triple the amount of ships that were in the Aqua fleet. Even worse was that this great fleet was splitting itself in half, one half to attack the UN and one half to attack Team Aqua. Things were suddenly looking extremely grim, Tanis knew he had lost his gamble horribly.

"Ashley, I'm afraid we're going to have to sacrifice the existence of Saffron City in order to win." Tanis said frankly, turning toward the still young trainer and her family. "There is no way we can stop Ares without detonating the reactors of several ships."

"Are you sure there is no other way?" Ash said desperately, almost pleading at Tanis.

The ship suddenly shook violently around them, and Tanis heard the reports flowing into his mind. An energy beam from Ares' fleet had struck them and they were losing power to their engines. "I'm sure of it." Tanis said flatly. "Don't think it's something I do lightly."

Tanis sent a frank and emotionless order to the engineers on the ship. He told them to remove the fail safes and lockdown procedures of the reactor. He also relayed the kamikaze orders to the rest of the Aqua fleet. They emotionlessly confirmed the order, not questioning since it was the Aqua flagship that Tanis had seized and they thought the team boss was in control. Apparently, luck had been on Tanis' side when he had commandeered this ship, but a part of him wondered why they had engaged alone before the fleets had converged here. He pushed it aside and concentrated on making sure that everything would fall into place after he and Ashley's family would teleport out. He suddenly struck the captain of the ship and Team Aqua boss dead with a burst of psychic energy, so that he would not be there to cancel the kamikaze assault after Tanis teleported out and lost control over him and his crew.

Tanis then made sure that all of the assault orders and coordinates were cemented in the ship's computer, just in case anyone decided to try and turn the ship back. The ship shook violently as multiple missiles cratered its side, but its engines remained undamaged. Tanis walked over to Ashley's huddled family and held their hands.

"Where do you wish to go while these ships rip each other apart? We cannot stay much longer, the sky here is about to become a storm of nuclear fire."

"The caves of Mt. Moon would be a great place to find shelter!" Misty exclaimed.

Tanis reached into Misty's mind, shoving aside memories of Pokemon battles to find an image of the caves. He eventually found a likely looking cavern and pulled out of Misty's mind. He then grasped dimensional fibers with his mind and twisted them, moving them through space to arrive inside Mt. Moon. The blue painted bridge of the Aqua ship melted away into blackness, which then faded into more blackness which resided in the gloomy caverns under the mountainside.

Tanis instinctively tried to open the light port on his robotic arm, but then remembered that it was gone, replaced by a real biological arm. He muttered and was about to form an energy ball just for the sake of illumination when both Ash and Ashley produced flashlights and turned them on. Natural cave formations appeared around them in the illumination, not like the uniformly even walls of the cave that Tanis' lab had resided in. Stalactites and stalagmites made the passages around them dense with a crisscrossing vertical mesh of stone. The distinct sound of dripping water filled the air all around them. The passageway smelled of age, a sort of must that no regularly human inhabited space contained. Tanis decided not to dally observing the cave and reached out with his mind's eye to see the outcome of his kamikaze assault.

He saw the picture form clearly in his mind, an overview of the entire sky around Saffron. The Aqua ships were charging at Ares' ships, and Ares' ships were doing the same. When the two groups of ships met, Tanis lost the picture for a moment and could only see pure, blinding white from the multiple detonations. As the light died down, he saw a lumpy mass of radioactive clouds. One nuclear detonation normally formed a mushroom cloud, but when almost thirty of them went off in close proximity, the clouds they left merged together into what resembled a great bulging tumor in the sky. Tanis concentrated harder, and saw the scope of the devastation. Not a single ship within many miles had survived. Aqua ships, UN ships, Ares' ships, they had all been evaporated. Saffron City wasn't even a skid mark on the blackened earth below. Tanis sighed heavily as sorrow for the innocent dead flooded into his mind. No matter how much he told himself that an infinitely larger amount would have died should he not have done what he had just done, he still could not get rid of the horrible guilt that was sloshing its way into his mind like some sort of black river.

"Well, is it done?" Ash asked nervously.

"Yes." Tanis said, his voice suddenly breaking. "They're dead, all dead."

Tanis turned to face Ash, tears suddenly breaking free from his once controlled eyes. "For the good of the world, it is done. Everyone in Saffron is dead, and I'm sure the people in any neighboring cities or towns will be dead now. But, the world would have died by Ares' hands, which I have just proverbially chopped off. Though this was probably the noblest deed I will ever have done in my life, I will never be able to forgive myself for killing the people of Saffron." Tanis said, his voice stuttering and the tears flowing.

"You did what you had to do." Ashley said, trying to comfort Tanis.

Tanis suddenly felt something, an energy fluctuation the grabbed his attention away from his emotions and made his heart skip a beat. He couldn't quite pinpoint it for a moment, but when he did it stole his breath from his lungs and he felt panic rise in his mind. He had felt it, there were more of Ares' ships coming, many more still, descending down from space toward different points of the world as if the Saffron City incident hadn't just happened. He suddenly felt an even deeper sense of sorrow and self hatred, now it seemed that the sacrifices of all those innocent people had been in vain, Ares was still about to destroy the rest of the world. Then those emotions changed. They changed into a power that slowly rose in Tanis' mind and body. There was a slight tingling sensation in his right hand, and then heat radiated out from the Triforce piece he owned. His emotions boiled into anger, an anger toward Ares of such a magnitude that Tanis could almost see red like a filter in front of his eyes. It was the most powerful emotion he had ever felt before; his father's words had done it no justice.

"Tanis, you're glowing." Ashley said, her voice indicating fear. Tanis was too absorbed in his rising emotions to notice.

"I'll…" Tanis whispered, his voice echoing with malevolence in his companions' minds. "I'll kill him…"

Tanis' rational mind was absorbed in the storm of rage and his emotions carried him out of control. He suddenly targeted one of Ares' ships descending down toward Purity Canyon and teleported there, leaving Ashley and her family behind.

Chapter XXXVI – R10

"Where do we go from here?" Ruru inquired of Onta as the two of them sat in the grassy Forest Meadow.

Onta took a deep swig from his water skin and pondered for a moment. "Doesn't Hyrule have alliances with the four bordering Kingdoms of Dantun, Theria, Bensor and Il'Nead?" He asked.

"Yes, but talks with them have been thin for quite some time, and we have no idea what they've been doing, especially since the problem with the Iresians first arose." Ruru said.

Ruru heard a rustling in the trees behind her and she turned to see Saria rushing through the foliage. She looked panic stricken, she was blundering through the greenery madly instead of her usual graceful bound. Terror was obvious on her young face.

"Run! Get away while you can! The Iresians are burning the forest!" Saria screamed.

Ruru and Onta leapt to their feet, Onta sprinting deep into the woods and
Ruru running over to grab Saria and help her.

"I can run faster than you, let's escape together!" Ruru said.

"No! I have to stay here and help my friends!" Saria said, her green hair flailing madly.

"But you'll die!" Ruru shouted.

"I've lived for thousands of years now in this old forest. It's about time death caught up to me! Besides, if I stray too far from the Deku Tree I'll die anyway! Now go!" Saria shouted and shoved Ruru away.

Ruru dashed across the Forest Meadow to catch up with Onta, when she looked back she saw smoke rising from the forest behind her, accompanied by the shadowy forms of flying dragons. They were circling over the burn site and spitting fireballs down into the trees. Ruru decided it was best to stay unseen and ran to the cover of the trees alongside the edge of the meadow and ran as fast as she could due East.

Gerudos have always been much quicker runners than Zoras, mainly since Zoras are not well adapted to moving on land. Due to this, it did not take Ruru long to catch up to Onta as they dashed deeper and deeper into the woods. The trees whizzed past them and branches whipped them and slashed them harshly.

"Where do we go from here?" Onta shouted to Ruru as they ran.

"The Dantunian border is five miles east of here! We should seek aid and sanctum there!" Ruru replied.

"If the dragons don't catch us and burn us first!" Onta shouted.

"Don't talk, just run!" Ruru returned, feeling her lungs start to burn.

The two of them ran as fast as they could for quite some time until dehydration caused Onta to collapse. At that time, they had put considerable distance between themselves and the dragons, but they could still smell the smoke in the air and a dragon roar punctuated the atmosphere every once in awhile. As Onta rested and pulled more and more drinks from his water skin, Ruru could only think of her homeland meeting the same fate as the forest. She also feared dearly for her sister, a deep pit of fear was forming in her stomach and started burning like an ulcer.

A dragon's roar sounded at an alarming propinquity to them, and Onta climbed to his feet.

"We need to get moving again. Come on." Onta said doggedly, and Ruru admired his perseverance. She knew she would not perform as well underwater as Onta was doing now out of it.

They sprinted through the trees again, trees that were looking older and older as they progressed. Soon there were no more branches to whip at them as the trees became taller and taller the further they went into the forest. The smell of smoke began to fade and the smell of fresh peat and moss replaced it. But the sound of a single pair of beating wings began getting closer and closer.

The flapping of the wings was a loud, obvious sound when Ruru turned her head up to look. She saw the branches above suddenly part as the blood red Iresian dragon broke through the canopy and dove at them. It roared hungrily at the sight of its prey and the Iresian rider pointed his spear down at them. Ruru suddenly found herself compelled to pull out and finger the elemental gems in her side pouch. She stopped suddenly and Onta turned and shouted something in surprise.

Seemingly reflexively, Ruru held out the gems in front of her in one hand while presenting the Triforce piece embedded in her other hand. Electric energy screamed through her veins and she emitted a cry of rage that pierced the air like a knife. Bolts of colored energy leapt from her hands and ripped through the air jaggedly to meet the Iresian Dragon as it power-dove down toward her. The bolts of energy struck the dragon and enveloped it in a glowing explosion of fire and electricity. The dragon emitted a cry of mortal agony as it was burned from the inside out, a weak and tortured cry that was cut off quickly as its body was flash-fried into a lump of carbon.

A smoldering pile of char and molten steel was all that was left when it fell to the ground. Ruru suddenly felt herself turn cold, her knees buckled underneath her and she fell to the soft peat forest floor. Her hands felt like they were on fire, the elemental gems fell from her hands and the ground hissed and steamed where they came to rest. The Triforce piece in her hand almost completely stopped glowing altogether. Ruru felt hands on her shoulders and saw Onta looking down at her.

"…You…amazing…alright?" Was all she heard through the ringing in her ears. She tried once valiantly to sit up, but she had foolishly used up too much of her energy and she fell to the ground and into the awaiting arms of unconsciousness.

What Ruru felt next was a creeping warmth, the kind of warmth that seemed to specifically radiate from a cozy campfire. She slowly emerged from her sleep and opened her eyes to see the darkened forest trees around her. She sat up and looked deep into the forest, suppressing a yawn. She heard the crackling and popping of the campfire behind her, its warmth radiated against her back. She turned and faced it, Onta was sitting in front of it and warming himself.

"How long was I out?" Ruru asked.

"A day and a half. That was an amazing display you made back there, I wasn't surprised you were out for so long." Onta replied.

Ruru looked down at her right hand, the Triforce piece was glowing at its normal luminosity now.

"I had heard the rumors that you had found a piece of the legendary lost Triforce, but I hadn't believed them until I saw you do that. It was amazing, I can't imagine the power one might gain from the whole Triforce."

"What of the Iresians?" Ruru asked.

"There's been no sign of them since you killed that one and his dragon. I've been carrying you in a makeshift wheel barrow since you passed out, we're getting close to the Dantunian border now." Onta said, gesturing into the dark trees to his right.

"You've carried me all this way? My God! You look positively ill!" Ruru exclaimed.

"Yes, I used the last drop from my water skins this morning, now the dehydration is starting to kick in." Onta said, resting his chin in his hands. His once shimmering damp skin was now dry and cracked, bleeding in some places.

"We need to get to Dantun as soon as possible then, before you dry out!" Ruru said, standing up.

Ruru's knees wobbled unsteadily and she sat back down, discouraged.

"Don't try to get up, you need more rest. I myself do too, in fact. I've been pulling you all day and my muscles ache terribly. Besides, it's dangerous to travel at night in the part of the forest. Without this fire the monsters would feast upon us without hesitation." Onta said.

Ruru reflexively jerked her head around and looked deep into the misty, dark foliage. She was sure that just for a moment that she saw a pair of yellow eyes glint in the bushes before disappearing. It sent a shiver up her spine and she reluctantly turned to face Onta again.

"You've been up tending the fire this whole time?" She asked.

"Yes, though it's not too late right now. You can sleep a few more hours before taking a shift to watch the fire." Onta said.

Ruru looked into Onta's still shimmering, solid black eyes and felt compassion well up within her.

"No, I've slept long enough! You're sick from dehydration and you need your rest! Sleep for the rest of the night, I'll tend the fire!" She said.

"But milady! You're still not fully recovered!" Onta replied with compassion in kind.

"Listen my friend. If you won't respect my wishes as a friend, will you at least respect them for me as the temporary Elder of the entire Gerudo race?" Ruru asked, her apprentice's tiara now feeling much heavier.

Onta sighed heavily and smiled. "I will respect you as both." He said, and crawled over to the pile of leaves he had put together as a makeshift sleeping place.

Ruru watched him climb into the leaves and sighed. She looked deep into the fire's flames and watched as tiny embers broke free of the blazing logs and tumbled free into the air, carried by the glorious updrafts of the flames' warmth. Her eyes wandered a little, she looked down at her feet like one who is embarrassed, and looked up at her waist only to notice her water canteen was still there. She gasped and wanted to smack herself for her stupidity.

"Hey Onta!" she shouted. "Get up for a second!"

"What, what is it?" he asked.

"I think I still have some water left!" Ruru replied.

Ruru crawled over to him and twisted the cap off of her flask. She sighed with relief to see it was brimming full. She handed it to Onta and he greedily took several large gulps from it. When he finished he handed it back to her considerably lighter than it had been before.

"Thanks." Onta said, smiling with a glow of new life in his face.

"Hey, you're the one who carried me in a wheel barrow for a day and a half!" Ruru said, smiling down at him.

Chapter XXXVII – J4

Jenna couldn't believe that she was yet to be noticed as the events she saw unfolded before her. Isaac had stood waiting among the black-clad men for a solid ten minutes, and had began to shift in an impatient manner when something began to rumble deep in the rock around them.

"He has arrived. Please return with us to the surface." One of the red robed ones said.

"Yes, but hold on for just a moment, I have to finish with something." Isaac suddenly turned and began walking toward the Reveal Psynergy Tablet, which Jenna was lying next to. She clamped her eyes shut and hoped Isaac wouldn't realize she was alive.

"All this trouble over a simple little Psynergy, such a shame you had to die like this Jenna." Isaac suddenly said. Jenna felt a bolt of pain scream across her side as Isaac kicked her away from the Tablet.

Jenna spun to a stop and repressed the tears of pain that were forming from the lightning of pain shooting up her side. She wondered how many of her ribs were broken from that.

"Now Tablet, give to me your power! Grant me the ability to see through illusions to the heart of truth!" Isaac shouted.

Jenna felt the wind in the room whip up into a frantic pace. She heard energy hum in the air, emanating from the tablet. The sounds of the magic runes flying forth filled the air and one large flash blinded all those looking for a few moments. Then the air was still again, and Jenna heard Isaac chuckling.

"Three down and one to go." Isaac said under his breath.

"He will not wait long, you must come with us quickly." The red robed one said.

"Yeah yeah, let's just go already." Isaac said.

"Since your summoned creatures have destroyed our APC, we will carry ourselves up to the surface."

"What do you mean by that?" Isaac asked in puzzlement.

At this point Jenna dared to open her eyes again. She saw the black-clad men and the three red robed ones encircle Isaac and then begin to glow. They suddenly hovered up into the air, out the hole in the wall, and p through the tunnel through the ceiling out of sight. Jenna didn't know how it was happening or what was going on, but she knew she had to follow them and find out what would happen next. She quickly utilized her Cool Aura Psynergy to heal the wounds dealt to her and jumped to her feet. She began climbing up the tunnel that the craft had bored through the rock with a brisk pace. It was a sloppy, jagged tunnel with many rock protrusions and so was easy for her to climb. It wasn't long before she reached the surface and poked her head up like a mole out of its hole.

What she saw beyond was a spectacle beyond her imagination. A giant gleaming hulk of metal was hovering in the sky. It was painted entirely in red with that same emblem of three crossed swords that had been on the vehicle driven by the red robed ones. She also saw a strange, distinct line miles higher up in the sky. It was a line that she could trace with her eyes all the way from one horizon to another. But it was not perplexing her as much as the giant hovering thing was, she was trying to fathom the scope and power of the Hover Psynergy that could hold an object like that in the air. Then she suddenly noticed a smaller object approaching, similar in color and markings to its immense fellow flying a few thousand feet higher up. It approached them silently and came to rest on the rocks in front of Isaac and the accompaniment of black-clad men and red robed ones.

A door hissed open on the side of the craft and a ramp extended and came to rest on the rocks below. Out stepped a being very similar to the red robed ones, it too had the same egg shaped head, spiraling horns and purple eyes, but on its forehead was a strange emblem, a circle with curving spines that extended from its top and bottom. The whole creature was wearing a set of crimson body armor not entirely like the kind worn by Dullahan himself. Suddenly the others in the red robes bowed, as did the black-clad men.

I've heard quite a lot about you, Lord Isaac. My name is Ares, and I've come to you with a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?" Isaac asked.

"It's quite simple really. You want to rule this world, but you don't have enough power to do it yet. I do. I suggest we work together. I will let you use my forces to conquer this world for yourself, if you rule it as an officer within my empire."

Isaac only smirked. "You must take me for a fool. I certainly can tell you don't need me to take this world. You have enough power to rule several, I can feel it. Why would you invite me to be an unnecessary middle-man who would only get in the way?"

Ares smirked. "You're quite sharper than you look child. You're still a bit young to be a world dominator, but already you've proven yourself worthy by seeing through my ruse. As one person once said to me, it's time to cut the crap. If you give me the elemental spirits you possess, as well as your third of the Triforce, I will spare your life." Ares said maliciously.

"Hmph. You obviously don't know me very well. I've already killed seven people who used to be life long friends to keep these articles of power. Even if you had a million soldiers at your command I would not give them up!" Isaac said defiantly.

"Oh but you see my friend, I do!" Ares said and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, small individual flashes of light flickered in the air around them and thousands upon thousands of the red robed servants appeared, each carrying a glowing weapon. In addition, more of the black-clad men appeared as well, each carrying one of the deadly fire spitting tubes. Jenna slowly ducked her head down, hoping she would go unnoticed.

There was silence for a moment as Jenna listened, and then she heard Isaac chuckle faintly.

"Bravo." Isaac said in a tone of resignation. "Indeed, well played. You're an artist with the trump card."

"I think you'll find at this point that my first offer was much more attractive, but sadly now it is gone. Now give me the Triforce!" Ares said forcefully.

Isaac chuckled again. "I guess you're not talented at paying attention to what others say to you. I'll say it one more time. You will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hand."

"It will be very satisfying for me when I do." Ares hissed.

The air was suddenly rife with the chattering sound of the fire tubes and Jenna gasped. She dared a glance over the rim and saw that Isaac had formed a golden energy shield around himself, flashes of light were covering it like a swarm of angry bees. This went on for a few seconds without results, and Ares snapped one of his deformed three fingers. The firing stopped and the air fell silent. Suddenly the black-clad men began scurrying into the small red vehicle , which closed itself up after the last one had entered.

"I hope that's not all you can do!" Isaac shouted from inside his shield.

"My friend, that's not even the beginning!" Ares laughed.

Ares suddenly let loose a horrifying battle cry, one that shook every being within miles right down to its core. A glowing axe formed in Ares' hand and he flew forward and swung it at Isaac's shield. The glowing weapon cleaved right through the golden energy as if it were fresh butter out of the churn. Isaac stumbled backwards and right into the arms of one of the red robed ones.

"And if you think that was impressive, every one of my blood acolytes here has the exact same power! Try to fathom that with your small deluded mind and you'll be sitting for ages!" Ares laughed.

"If your force is this powerful, then stop toying with me now and get serious! If there's one thing I can't stand it's to be mocked! Have at thee!" Isaac roared.

Isaac charged forward at Ares, drawing his new sword and swinging it in a vicious arc that would have lopped off Ares' head. Ares suddenly disappeared however, and Isaac stumbled forward and almost fell as the follow-through momentum caused by the lack of a blow pulled him off center.

"But I rather quite like toying with you!" Ares said, materializing behind Isaac out of thin air. "I think I'll do it a bit longer until the fun wears off."

Isaac swung his sword around to try and dice Ares with a powerful blow, but again his melted into thin air. He reappeared standing on Isaac's head, yawning and pretending to be bored. Isaac lurched under the weight and swung his head forward to throw Ares off, but the foe only teleported one more time. This time Ares reappeared lying on the ground next to Isaac. He grabbed Isaac's feet and pulled them out from under him. Isaac toppled over and came face to face with Ares.

"My my my, you're quite easily confounded aren't you?" Ares remarked, and then laughed right in Isaac's face.

Jenna was enthralled as she watched this play out, horrified that someone with this much power could ever exist. He was making an absolute fool out of Isaac, the man who now controlled every Djinni in Weyward. Then it struck Jenna, if Isaac's anger were to rise to far, he might foolishly use another destructive summon with them! Then she realized that there was nothing keeping him from doing it, and she was now in incredible danger just by being within a few miles of this confrontation. She slowly climbed down from the ledge, avoiding until she was out of sight. Once she was sure she was out of earshot, she threw all caution to the wind and began scrambling down the rocks with careless abandon. Reaching the bottom, she dashed into the Tablet room to find that the magic floor Isaac had cast was thankfully still there, it must have been self preserving. She ran at full throttle across the room to the unconscious and possibly dead bodies of her comrades.

The group had always made sure to carry several waters of life collectively, having each member carry a few to ensure there was always someone conscious to administer them. Jenna only had three, and she used them first on the party's healers, Mia and Piers. Mia jolted upright, her mind still in full battle mode from the moment she had been struck down fighting Isaac's summoned beasts.

"Ply Well!" She shouted out the Psynergy spell instinctively as she was thrown awake, the spell simply floated randomly in the air without Mia having directed it at a target.

"No Jenna, it's alright! Our battle is over!" Jenna urged.

"What, did we win? Is everyone alright?" Mia asked frantically.

"No time to explain, we're still in grave danger! I need you to apply waters of life and healing spells to the rest of the party as fast as humanly possible, this whole place could be destroyed in a cataclysm at any moment!"

Mia obediently jumped to her feet, took a quick glance around the room, and then rushed over to Felix's bloody form to administer the potion to him. Within a minute the entire party was back on its feet with Jenna leading them past the ruined craft and down through the maze-like passages that make up the interior of Air's Rock.

The passage through the maze was always much quicker descending than it was ascending, and the party managed to scamper through the already solved puzzles and traps in only a few minutes. Jenna explained the situation to the rest of the party as they progressed, telling them of the necessity to find shelter at a safe distance from Air's rock. They dashed across the stretches of desert and plains that surround the mountain, hoping not to be seen by Ares or his Acolytes. They knew that if any of them weren't currently transfixed by their battle with Isaac, it'd be pretty easy to look down onto the plains and see them sprinting across the dusty ground below. Jenna knew that she would know it right away if they were discovered, given Ares' insane ability to teleport without exit and entry ports. He would appear in front of them holding his glowing weapon, ready to dice them all at leisure. Jenna shook her head and decided not to think about worst-case scenarios and only to focus on her running.

As they ran, Felix suddenly called out to Jenna. "Look! Back at the peak of the Rock! You can see flashes!"

Jenna turned her head back and saw that indeed, flashes of red and gold light were blinking madly atop the mountain's peak. No doubt Ares had finally decided to get serious with Isaac. Jenna returned to staring at the ground in front of as she ran, thankful that Isaac's ire had not been raised enough to cause him to bring forth a summon yet. They still needed to put more distance between him and themselves should that happen, especially when that distance was nothing but open plains and desert.

They ran for some time longer before the rolling crest of a hill rose up out of the shimmering distance. Jenna heard a rumbling growing behind her and she knew that the summon was coming know, but she had no idea of knowing which one. She hoped it was a lesser one, not one like Judgment or Catastrophe, then they would be doomed even if they had put several miles between themselves and Air's rock. She knew they would barely have time to make it to the hill and decided that it was going to be the best they would get in terms of cover. She relayed this decision to the others and then redoubled her pace toward the hill as the rumbling grew louder behind her.

Reaching the hill Jenna leapt behind it and gasped for breath, her leg muscles and lungs burning with fatigue. She had never sprinted so far in her entire life. The others followed suit and Jenna poked her head above the crest of the hill to see if she could determine the type of summon about to strike. The red and gold lights were flashing more furiously than ever atop the mountain's peak, and the clouds in the sky were concealing the summoned attacks that were about to emerge and plunger Air's Rock into oblivion. Then Jenna saw it, the clouds parted almost magically and what emerged struck her cold with terror. Not only were both the Judgment and Catastrophe summons both flying down toward the mountain's peak, but so were the Meteor, Boreas, and Daedalus summons. Isaac must have used every single one of the Djinni. In her mind, Jenna could only weakly laugh, knowing it was like Isaac to overdo it like this in the last second. He was now showing Ares that he too was an artist with the trump card as well.

Chapter XXXVIII - A10

Ashley couldn't believe that Tanis was gone. It was all she could do to sit there unmovingly trying to comprehend what had just happened. It wasn't up until now that she realized how much of a friend Tanis was to her, and now he had teleported himself to almost certain doom. She had seen what just one of those Blood Acolytes could do to him, she couldn't imagine what a whole swarm was capable of.

"Where'd he go?" Ashton asked bewilderedly, not quite grasping the gravity of the situation.

"Do we look like we know?" Misty snapped, looking up and breaking her continuous stare at the cave floor.

Ashton clamped his mouth shut and then looked down at the floor as well. The beams from their two flashlights flickered across the room, providing only fleeting illumination that didn't penetrate past a few layers of stalactites and stalagmites. Shadows danced merry jigs across the stone as the light moved aimlessly around the room at the whims of its holders.

Ashley found herself reaching down into her right pocket for no apparent reason, she pulled her hand out and found it grasping the two sparkling gems that had came out of Mewtwo's Sarcophagus. Tanis had entrusted them to Ashley for protection. She held her Flashlight beam on them and they glittered in a strangely unnatural sense. Ashley suddenly felt a strange warmth emanate from them into her hand. It was strangely reassuring, she looked at them more closely as the heat ran up her arm. She suddenly felt a jolt of electricity run up her arm and something flickered inside her mind. An image formed inside her head, as if she were watching a drive in movie. She saw Tanis inside one of Ares' ships. He was in a rage, slaughtering crowds of black-clad men and Blood Acolytes. She couldn't stop the sequence as it played out in her mind, but she also wanted desperately to know if Tanis would be alright. She watched in rapt fascination and with a tinge of fear as Tanis killed mindlessly, an expression of sorrow driven wrath painted on his face.

When there was nothing left of those who opposed him except for a large pile of gore at his feet, Tanis stood silent, panting like a dog with his eyes closed. Ashley guessed that he was finally recovering from his emotional fit and might be coming back into a reasonable state. She whispered his name in her head and she saw him suddenly perk up as if he heard faintly heard it.

"Ashley?" He whispered confusedly.

Suddenly the picture flashed violently and a bolt of pain arced through Ashley's mind she clutched her head and doubled over on the rough stone floor of the cave. The image faded away into nothingness and as Ashley's senses returned their attention back to her present situation, she felt a burning pain now roaring inside her head and in the palm of her hand. She saw the gems had fallen to the floor, small but definite burn marks were embedded in the skin of her palm where she had been holding them.

"Come on Ashley! Answer me!" Ash said desperately, and Ashley was suddenly aware of his hands shaking her.

"I'm…alright." She coughed and sat up.

"What happened?" Misty inquired, looking at Ashley with a face marred now with continuous worry.

"I don't know…I saw Tanis…I think he's in trouble." Ashley said, the pain in her head slowly clearing.

A distinct, easily recognizable, and somewhat noble sound suddenly echoed through the caverns to meet all their ears, a deep bark. It was a bark that electrified Ashley to the core, made her brain jump with adrenaline pumping recognition. She knew that bark well, she had been tracking its owner for months.

"What was that?" Ashton asked.

"Entei…" Ashley said, her voice quiet with awe.

The bark suddenly echoed forth once more, louder and much closer. Ashley found her strength instantaneously as the adrenaline flooded her system. She stood and pulled a Poke ball off her Trainer's belt. It contained Ifrit, her champion Charizard and first Pokemon. Ifrit was her most powerful Pokemon and also her most reliable, it had once flown her almost thirty miles when she had almost missed registering for her first battle against the old Elite Four. She knew that Ifrit could beat Entei, even if they were both type identical and at disadvantages. This was the same old feeling Ashley got, the rush of excitement of an oncoming battle and the possibility of catching Entei. It was a feeling she had almost forgotten since she had met Tanis and that was now pushing her concern for him out of her mind. She tossed the Poke ball to the floor and in a glorious blaze of white light Ifrit emerged and unfolded its wings majestically.

Like most Charizard of its kind, Ifrit was often unruly and recalcitrant at times. It looked back at Ashley with a look that to her, seemed almost scolding. It struck Ashley that Ifrit was annoyed that she hadn't let it out of its Poke ball to battle in weeks. It let out a short growl to seemingly drive its point across.

"Alright Entei! Show your face! Come and fight me now to prove your strength as a fire Pokemon!" Ashley shouted into the dancing Darkness.

"That's my girl." Ash whispered.

A few seconds passed when nothing happened, and then Entei emerged before them. His head seemed almost ghostly for a moment as it emerged from behind a pillar of rock and out of the darkness. Entei looked straight into Ashley's eyes with a piercing gaze. Ashley was too high on her ambition to even flinch.

"Ifrit, give him a slash attack to start it off with!" She shouted.

Ifrit dashed forward and brandished its claws at Entei, who was still only peeking out from behind the pillar. Entei only smoothly withdrew behind the pillar and Ifrit followed. Ashley ran after the both of them.

"Hey wait up!" Ashton shouted and then followed as well. At this point Ash and Misty decided that they too needed to follow, as being separated in caves like these could be deadly.

Entei moved swiftly and yet deliberately as he eluded Ifrit's attacks. He fluidly weaved in among the stalagmites in a uniformly backwards direction, leading his procession of pursuers along the cavern. Frustrated by the dark and its inability to strike Entei, Ifrit unleashed a gigantic ball of fire, one that flowed through the caverns ahead like water and illuminated every crack and crevice. Being a fire Pokemon as well, Entei was hardly effected as the flames washed over him. He just continued to lead them all deeper and deeper into the caverns.

Reaching what appeared to be the end of the room, Entei pushed himself through a particularly small and tight opening, disappearing into the darkness beyond. Ifrit clambered through after, and Ashley followed. But when Ashley entered the next room, there was absolutely no trace of Entei left, it was as if he had dematerialized. Ifrit roared in frustration, it hated it when foes ran away. Ashley would have been angrier except that her mind was too busy trying to figure out where Entei had gone. She could also sense something in this room, something in the atmosphere. It was strange, a foggy feeling in her mind that reeked of a malevolent purpose. Then she felt a spike of energy in the air, and a horrific hissing voice suddenly laughed a few feet to her left.

"So, you must be Ashley, come here to have a bit of fun eh?" The voice laughed.

Ashley whipped her flashlight beam around and gasped when it lit up the tall ghastly form of one of Ares' Blood Acolytes standing a few feet away from her.

"No! Go away!" She found herself shrieking.

"What's going on?" Ash's voice rang out back in the first room.

"Come now, you're going to be late for the party!" The Acolyte said and began walking steadily toward her.

"Ifrit, I want him well done!" Ashley suddenly shouted.

Ifrit turned to the Acolyte, took a deep breath, and unleashed as much flame as it possibly could at it. The Acolyte simply raised his arm and a psychic shield formed and deflected the beam of flame.

"Now now now, can't you see I'm extending you an invitation from Lord Ares? He would be most displeased if you didn't join him." The Acolyte said

"I'm coming in there!" Ash shouted and emerged from the opening to the other room.

"Ah, enter the bumbling father." The Acolyte quipped, looking Ash over casually.

"R-red…Mewtwo?" Ash stuttered.

"You could call me that." The Acolyte said, "But I prefer the sound of 'Agryn'. It's not my official designation, but I like the way it strangles the tongue which tries to pronounce it." Agryn grinned as he said this, a grin that would send smaller children screaming for their mothers.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Ash bellowed.

"If you remember Mewtwo, then surely you must remember his psychic powers do you not? I think that if you did, you would not threaten me as such." Agryn said, almost chuckling.

"I do remember." Ash said, suddenly smiling deviously. "But the world has changed since his time!"

Ash suddenly produced a golden Poke ball and slung it at Agryn with the force of a professional baseball pitcher. Before Agryn could react it struck him squarely in the face and opened. Red light engulfed Agryn and he disappeared as the Poke ball worked its technological magic on him. It snapped shut and fell to the ground. Both Ash and Ashley held their breaths as it sat there on the ground and wobbled gently. It shook and shook, and then started shaking more violently. Sweat beaded on Ashley's forehead. It vibrated, rattled, and began to emit smoke. Little sparks of electricity suddenly jumped from its seams and joints.

"Just for the record dad, what kind of ball is it, and where'd you get it?" Ashley asked, still watching it struggle madly on the ground.

"It's called the Supreme Ball, I got it as a gift from the Neo Silph Co. CEO." Ash said tensely. "He said that it's like a Master Ball, only with four times the retaining strength. I never thought I'd need it until now."

"I don't think its working…" Ashley said as it begin jumping up and down on the floor, emitting more smoke and sparks.

"Just watch." Ash said.

Moments passed and the ball stopped moving, but its danger light still remained on. Then suddenly, it began to glow. Faintly at first, and then it intensified. When it got to a certain point, it finally destabilized and exploded, releasing a torrent of energy and light that reformed into Agryn.

Agryn emerged panting, his body covered in burn marks. He grimaced madly at them. "That's it! No more games!You are coming with me NOW!" He screamed. He swung his hand at Ashley and she felt a wave of energy gush through her system, paralyzing her instantaneously. She and Ash fell to the ground flat as planks.

"You guys?" Ashton asked, peeking through the passageway.

Agryn waved his hand at him too, and little Ashton fell flat as well right in the middle of the transition between rooms.

"No! You'll not take him!" Misty howled from the other side. Agryn waved angrily at her too, and now the whole family lay immobile on the floor.

"Now then, there won't be further ado! There's a torture chamber up in Ares' flagship that has you all's names on it!" Agryn shouted.

Ashley suddenly felt her gut shift and the world swam past her eyes. As it reformed, she saw the red painted steel walls of the inside of one of Ares' ships. She saw the faces of five Acolytes look down at her.

"Time for some fun!" One of them cackled.

"I can't wait to taste this one's blood!" Another said, poking Ashton.

Ashley felt the gems in her hand, she had instinctively picked them up before chasing after Entei, which she was now convinced was only an illusion concocted by Agryn. Her paralyzed fist gripped the gems tightly and she called out quietly with her mind.

"Tanis…help me!"

The Acolytes continued prodding them and laughing until it got boring for them when they left. Ashley felt lucky that they had not heard her silent plead. Then suddenly, a faint reply echoed back into Ashley's mind.

"I'll rescue you." Tanis' psychic voice echoed quietly, "I promise."

Chapter XXXIX – T10

At that moment, Tanis didn't realize just how much like his father he was. He was making quick work of black-clad men and Blood Acolytes alike, and the air reeked of the stench of burnt death. The Acolytes raised psychic shields and tried to defend with their own swords, but Tanis' rage, along with his piece of the Triforce, were driving him to ever higher energy states. He burst their shields and cut right through their swords. They charged steadily at him, a seemingly endless supply flooding the ship's corridors. Their blood flowed just as freely, blending in with the crimson painted steel of the hallway's walls.

It couldn't last long however, there weren't enough foes for Tanis to kill and he was draining his own energy quickly without realizing it in his out of control state. Suddenly the Acolytes stopped coming and he was left alone with the piles of the dead at his feet. He panted heavily and the emotions started to clear from his mind. He stood over his kills, feeling the blood soak his feet. He stared at them as his rationality returned and suddenly heard a footstep behind him. He turned to see one lone Acolyte standing there, a malevolent grin on its face.

"Your mind is so easy to read when you're in a rage like that." It snickered at him.

Tanis scowled and reformed his swords. He was about to charge the Acolyte when it spoke again.

"I've found your weakness, a human girl named Ashley. I think it would be nice if I could meet her…"

"Don't you dare go near her!" Tanis shouted.

"Watch me, and try to stop me!" the Acolyte responded and then suddenly teleported out.

Tanis tried to teleport after it, but he was blocked by the inherent energy of the ship somehow. He reappeared right next to the outermost hull, wondering why they had even let him in in the first place if teleportation could be blocked. He formed a sword in his hands and was about to cut a hole through the hull when a voice echoed through his mind.

"Soon we will meet face to face my brother, and then all shall be settled." The deeply sinister voice said.

"Come and face me now!" Tanis replied angrily. The voice only laughed back at him.

Tanis turned around and began running through the halls. He dashed right past Acolytes and their men, but for some odd reason none of them followed him. He ran straight to the bridge hoping to find Ares, but only a group of Acolytes were there to greet him. Again using a larger amount of his power he dispatched them without a lot of effort and found himself alone on the bridge. The control holograms blinked and wavered at him mockingly.

"Coward! Why won't you show yourself!" Tanis roared, but no-one answered him. The bridge remained silent as he stood and boiled with rage.

Another voice suddenly pierced the void, it was that of Ashley. "Tanis…help me!" She cried.

Tanis felt a whole new determination well up from inside him. "I'll rescue you, I promise." He replied, and then locked his mind on the direction where it had come from.

Tanis put as much power as he could into one jolting teleportation only to find that the barrier that had held him inside the ship had disappeared. He disappeared and reappeared freely inside another ship, and he could sense Ashley's presence only a few feet away down one hallway. He sprinted down the hall as fast as he could, turned a corner, and came into a room to see Ashley and her family restrained by energy cuffs and hanging limply from the wall. He dashed across the room towards them only to be interrupted in mid step by the same voice.

"Well, the fly falls right into the web as predicted." The voice laughed, and suddenly a door in the wall swished open and the voice's owner stepped forth.

It was the first time Tanis had ever seen Ares, and it came as a slight shock to him. Ares looked just like him, except his skin was deep crimson, his horns were spiraled upward and pointed, and the symbol on his forehead was that of a spiked circle. His eyes were just as purple as Mewtwo's had been. Ares walked right up to Tanis and scrutinized him in turn. He suddenly stuck out his red paw to Tanis as if he wanted him to shake it.

"Well met my brother! You've more than demonstrated your power to me over the last few days."

Tanis refused to grasp Ares' hand, he rather shrank back from it in disgust. Ares just pulled it back and continued smiling maliciously.

"It seems you have some temper problems my friend, no matter. What I'm about to show you could very well make it much worse. Observe!" Ares shouted and clapped his hands together.

From the same door that Ares had entered came two more people, the first a young man with short, spiky, sandy hair wearing battle armor, the other a woman Tanis recognized as being a Gerudo from his father's messages. They were both staring blankly onward and moving jerkily like robots. They lined up and stood before him as if presenting themselves.

"Tanis, I'd like you to meet Isaac and Kalana! They are my trophies of worlds already conquered, and soon your Ashley will join them!" Ares laughed.

"Do you think I'd let you?" Tanis bellowed.

"It's not like you have a choice here." Ares said, and suddenly brandished his right paw as if to show something. "Watch carefully!" He snickered.

Suddenly a glowing golden triangle came into view on Ares' paw, one that Tanis recognized with horror as being one of the pieces of the Triforce. It glinted menacingly at him.

"I got it from Isaac here, the Triforce of Power had chosen him to be its new keeper, and it was easy to obtain it once I had defeated him and controlled his mind! Now I'm going to take your piece from you and add it to my collection!" Ares cackled.

"You're such an unoriginal villain!" Tanis suddenly said in a mocking tone. Surprise splashed across Ares' face.

"What do you mean by that?" Ares growled

Tanis halfheartedly chuckled. "You're not the only one to try that foolish scheme! I remember it clearly from my father's memories, Ganondorf tried the same thing and he died by Mewtwo's hands!"

"Not only that," Ashley sputtered, looking up from her shackles, "But your attitude is just like any other villain character I've seen in cheesy shows on my holo-TV. You've got it all, greed, arrogance, power-lust, blood-lust, and an inferiority complex the size of both Kanto and Johto combined! What makes you so special?"

Ares' blood was boiling and a deadly look was glowing in his eyes, but Tanis continued his tirade nonetheless. "If you weren't such a coward at heart, you would fight me without aid from the Acolytes. We're evenly matched, we both have a piece of the Triforce and we were both engineered with even more power by our creators. Why don't you face me in a one on one match?" Tanis asked.

Ares was grinding his teeth with rage. "Normally I would, but I have better things to do that quibble with you and your human friend! You don't even comprehend the true reason why I want the Triforce do you?"

"It's plain as day, you want more power!" Tanis replied condescendingly.

"That's part of it, there's another reason that neither of you know of yet! And if you want to know, observe what's behind door number two!" Ares shouted and pointed at another panel sliding open in the wall.

Behind the panel was a gigantic machine with a great glass tank, a machine resembling the cloning devices that had spawned the thousands of Acolytes. But something was different, there were a number of distinct slots on the front, and one of them was Triforce shaped.

"What in heaven's name is that?" Tanis asked.

"This…is the resurrector! It is the fruit of all the technology I've either developed or stolen from humans during my stay here on Earth. I bet you're smart enough to figure out what it does by the name, but how it does it is another matter. You see, my men have been harassing you for a reason. When Mewtwo died, he left behind nine gems of power. These gems were the physical embodiments of his power left over after death in elemental form. He left one for fire, water, wind, earth, spirit, forest, shadow, light, and one more. Do you know what the last one was? It was purple and is called 'Mewtwo's Amethyst. It contains the essence of his very soul, created at the exact moment of his death. Together these gems represent each side of him, allowing anyone who wishes to make a complete copy of his physical and spiritual being should they want. But those aren't the only pieces to this puzzle. There was one more artifact he left behind at his death, the Time Medallion. This Medallion contains the entire history of the land of Hyrule, and all of Mewtwo's memories. Taken together with the gems, it would allow a complete copy to be made, mind, body and spirit. All that is lacking is the power to do it. Though together my Acolytes and I are powerful beyond any imagination, we still cannot grant life. That is where the Triforce fits in to complete the puzzle." Ares finished.

Tanis was frankly stunned. He regained some meager semblance of composure and spoke. "But why? What for? If you have that Medallion then surely you've read all his memories. What other purpose would it serve to bring him back to life?"

"Don't you see the possibilities my friend?" Ares asked. "There's one trait I've always admired about some humans, they love to play God. It's for this very reason that Mewtwo was first created and that we even exist! The God-play continued when Mewtwo created you and Team Rocket created me, and now I plan to further it by improving our species even more!"

"What are you going to do?" Tanis asked.

"Well, I told you that each gem contains an elemental aspect of Mewtwo's physical being." Ares said, and walked over to his machine. He produced a purple gem that was undoubtedly Mewtwo's Amethyst and plugged it into one slot. "Now I'm missing most of the gems, so I'll need you to use your imagination. Pretend that I have all of them inserted here now. What do you think would happen if I were to remove one and run the machine? Let's say I remove the Light gem, what do we get?"

Tanis gasped, he remembered the images of Darkest quite well. "You idiot! Darkest would destroy you and take your empire for himself!"

"Of course he would, if he got the chance." Ares said, and pressed a button on the panel of the machine. A set of glowing red body armor rose up from inside the machine into the cloning tube. "This is the neural inhibitor suit, complete body coverage to ensure not a drop of energy can be even grasped by its wearer. I plan to grow myself a copy of Darkest, right into the armor!"

"And what good would that do you? Reducing him to physical strength only would render him only a little more dangerous than a human martial artist. He would be worthless to you! And if you were ever to let him use his powers once, he would turn and strike you dead in an instant!" Tanis exclaimed.

"I don't ever plan to let him free of the tube or to even become conscious. He'll be suspended in stasis for me to feed off of his life and psychic energy for as long as I please!"

"You're more of a fool than I thought! You've seen what he's capable of through the Medallion! An entity like him is too dangerous to even allow to exist!" Tanis said, a look of worry on his face. Then that look transformed into a smile. "You only have one of the nine gems anyway! Even if you manage to take my piece of the Triforce, you're still one piece short! Neither of us know where they have gone to!"

"Oh, but I do! The Medallion recorded every moment of your father's life, including the exact place where he hid the last few gems."

"But the Triforce split long after his death. You don't know where the last piece is!" Tanis said.

"True, but even you should know the way the pieces instinctively seek each other out. It may take me months to track it down, but I will eventually! Now, I tire of talk and I have much work to do." Ares said, and lunged at Tanis head on.

In an instant their energy swords met and a burst of wind whipped around the room. The swordplay was stunted and Ares kept Tanis totally on the defensive. Tanis was inexperienced compared to Ares. In a few short moments Ares had Tanis pinned against the wall. Ares formed a second sword and with one blindingly fast stroke swept past Tanis' defenses and cleanly chopped off his right hand. Tanis let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees, his sword disappeared and blood gushed from the stump where his hand had been.

"Too easy! Whatever happened to 'We're evenly matched'?" Ares asked and laughed sadistically, holding Tanis' hand up as the blood drained from it.

Tanis tried to grasp enough energy to reform a new hand, but he found himself to be completely tapped. He hadn't known how dependant he had become on the Triforce's power. Ares burned Tanis' hand suddenly in a ball of red flames, and what remained was the glowing triangle of the Triforce of Courage.

"Mine! All mine!" Ares laughed.

The Triforce of Courage lifted out of Ares' hands and hovered in front of his face for a moment. It then suddenly rocketed forward and struck Ares in the head just above his forehead emblem. Ares jerked rigid as it merged with his body, all of him glowing red and now green. The glow stopped and he suddenly fell over unconscious. At the exact same time every Acolyte also collapsed, and all the black-clad humans under their control suddenly twitched. They suddenly began wandering out of line, some of them suddenly screamed and fled the room.

"What a stupid weakness!" Ashley said from her imprisonment on the wall. "If Ares goes unconscious, so do the Acolytes, and all his human slaves regain the minds! It seems unpractical, the only reason to sustain such a massively large psychic control network would be to ensure that Ares saw everything his minions saw."

Tanis was now reeling from the physical shock of losing his arm, he was squeezing it as hard as he could to try and stop the blood loss. He staggered to his feet and shufflerd over to where Ashley was hanging from the wall. There was a small flashing panel right near where the glowing manacles held her, and Tanis pressed a few buttons. The restraints faded away and Ashley fell to her feet.

"Quickly, we don't know how long he'll stay out!" Ashley said. "We've got to kill Ares while we have the chance!"

"I'm spent." Tanis tried to say, but his psychic power was completely gone. He was forced to utter the words physically, a feat that he found extremely difficult even as the computer had trained him to do when he was a child.

"I have a knife on my Trainer's belt." Ash suddenly said, lifting his head.

"Dad, are you okay?" Ashley asked.

"No time…take it and kill that abomination." Ash sputtered.

Tanis fell to his knees again and tried to summon up his powers as Ashley ran over to Ash and pulled his knife out of its sheath. She then ran over to where Ares laid and lifted the blade into the air. She was about to bring it down on Ares' head when the knife dropped from her hands and she gasped and emitted a choking sound. She fell over and Tanis looked to see one of the Acolytes had gotten up and had stopped her with its power.

"Ah ah ah, what a naughty young woman!" The Acolyte said in Ares' voice.

"How is this possible?" Tanis asked bewilderedly.

"Do you think I would create a system with such a weakness Tanis? If I were ever to become unconscious, I can transfer myself temporarily to the body of one of my Acolytes until I am recovered!"

Suddenly all the black-clad men froze in their tracks and stepped neatly back in line, and the rest of the Acolytes began to arise. They all lined up behind the one that now held Ares' mind.

"It should take at least a week for my body to acclaim to this new power, and much more time to locate the last piece of the Triforce. Since I love irony, I wish for you to be there when my machine completes it's purpose and I gain the ultimate power. But until then, I have prepared some accommodations for you and your friends!" Ares raised his hands and in a few moments, a group of black-clad men carried in six identical metal pods and placed them on the floor. "You'll be held in stasis until I'm ready to make my show for you!"

Tanis summoned the strength to stand in defiance. "You'll have to force me into one of those things!" He sputtered with his small mouth.

"Oh, you've learned to speak like the humans? How sad that you would ever need to use a skill as worthless as that! Now, say nighty night my brother!"

In an instant the horde of Acolytes overwhelmed Tanis with their power, paralyzed him, and stuffed him into the cryo-tube. As the door closed over his stiff body, he say Ashley being put into the same casket-like tube. Then his own tube clicked shut and he felt a biting cold seeping in. His body still would not respond, and part of him wondered if part of the cold that was creeping on him was being caused by the shock of his injury and his loss of blood. The tube suddenly hissed around him and the next breath he took silenced his thoughts and put him into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Conclusion of Part 1

Ares' ships rendezvoused above the mountainous regions of Johto and prepared to ascend and enter space, where they would activate their dimensional drives and leave in pursuit of the Triforce. Ares' flagship hovered in the center of the formation as more ships arrived after having finished off many major cities of Earth. It was at the exact same moment that Tanis lost his consciousness that the last human assault began.

Just as Ares was about to have his men carry the tubes to the ship's cargo hold, a missile struck them and blasted a breach in the wall near them. Prioritizing, the Acolytes dropped the pods and grabbed the resurrection machine and the limp body of their master to carry into the ship's central bridge. In a careless rush, Ares and his Acolytes forgot the pods and as the ship ascended, they tumbled out of the hole in the hull and down toward the mountains below.

Ares' fleet didn't even bother to stay and destroy the scattered human ships that had come in this last ditch assault, they simply left the atmosphere and disappeared without a trace. Below, the stasis pods landed in the waters of a lake deep within the mountains, where they sank and came to rest on the bottom.

To be Continued in Part II: Resurrection

A/N: Hmmm, what will happen now eh? The only thing I will say is that there will be another massive discontinuity within the timeline. Expect the first chunk of Part II in a couple of weeks, in the mean time I encourage you to please review! See you next Part!