Important information regarding the update schedule for Act III is in the footnotes. Thank you all for your continued support: Here's the finale to Act II.


Chapter XXII - Clash of the Titans


I marveled at the collective fear every single creature in the room showed as I pressed that button, releasing the brilliant, white light I embraced as a savior.

Finally, this arc of our story was over… I'd won the battle for us.

At the very least, I felt like I had.

Mew was facing away from me as she materialized in the air, though I could only guess the ferocity in her blue-eyed gaze…

I couldn't help but let my eyes rest on Seraph, who was staring at me with shock in her eyes. Initially, I couldn't help my let my face soften as I saw her so silently broken. I blinked a few times.

"You feeling alright?" I proposed to Mew to get my mind off the subject, feeling safe now that she was keeping everyone at bay with her glare alone. I was glad I didn't have to witness it.

"Better than alright," she responded, popping her neck by rolling her head around.

"Mew," Reshiram greeted as if nothing were wrong. "I understand this isn't the greatest of circumstances, but please… Please, just listen for a moment."

"I think you've done enough already, Reshy," she replied, feigning lightheartedness in her voice.

"I know we've had our disagreements in the past, but I only hid because I-"

"Coward," Mew laughed spitefully. "Look at Reshy, the big 'ol mean dragon, the mastermind behind the capture of Mew! I woulda just had a nice talk with you if you actually wanted something from me… But you put me in a ball, Reshy, and I really don't like that. Then you masked your core so I didn't recognize you… That's pretty mean of you."

"Mew-"

"But, I'm not an idiot. I'm not gonna kill you, Reshy. You're too important, and I'm gonna have a ton of fun punishing you."

She raised an arm and clenched her fingers into a fist. I could see a response from Drayden, as his hands shot up to his throat. I noted with shock that she was choking him with her psychic abilities.

"I'm just gonna kill your little machine here, and we're gonna have a nice 'ol reunion. Gonna have to wait a bit, though, I'm gonna make sure this is nice and slow, for that complete bullshit he pulled when you captured us."

"Mew," Reshiram spoke quickly, bowing his head in submission, "Drayden was only following my orders… He's done nothing but care for your human, the entire time he's been here, even without knowledge of his true identity."

Mew didn't reply. After a few moments, however, she sighed simply.

"Fine, fine," she said, letting go. Drayden fell to his knees and gasping for breath. "But somebody's gotta get hurt here for what happened… Are you saying it should be you?"

I was growing quickly scared of Mew's attitude. I couldn't control her. She was pissed, and I surely didn't want to get involved in the crossfire.

"Hmm… Who to pick, who to pick. Ray, mind pointin' out which of these stupid little dragons was the most mean to you?"

I opened my mouth to tell her to knock it off with the schtick… I was hoping we would be able to flee at the first chance we had together, but Mew seemed to have other plans. She interrupted me before I began, however.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I already know who I'm gonna kill. Little Haxorus back there was actually pretty smart! I did see everything…"

She disappeared from next to me, leaving me fumbling for words to say… I now felt the slightest bit of regret for releasing her… What was to come next surely wouldn't end well.

I could see she rematerialized in front of perhaps the most terrified individual in the room.

Crag. Her eyes were now about six inches from his own. She was practically laying on the end of his snout in a tantalizingly inaccurate guise of contentedness.

"Not so tough now, are ya?"

"M-Mew," Crag stuttered, finding he couldn't even find the courage to back away from the legendary, "I d-didn't mean to hurt him, honest! I just… I'm sorry!"

"Aww, that's okay, buddy," she said, reaching out with her stubby arm to pat the quivering Druddigon between the eyes.

"I forgive you."

Time stopped…

All that could be heard was a loud thump.

There was no gore, no violence, no pain.

The result in the end, however, was the husk of a dead Druddigon. He was long gone by the time his body, empty of all life, hit the floor.

"Phew-ee!" Mew exclaimed. "Hey Reshy! I thought you didn't like it when your little minions lie! Well, I musta done you a pretty big favor here, cuz he was just lyin' through his teeth to me!"

It took everyone a moment to process what had just happened. I could see the shock on everyone's faces. Misa turned towards me, unbelieving.

An uncontrollable sense of regret spawned… It'd been a mistake releasing Mew.

"You thought you could catch me?" Mew asked nobody in particular, looking around the room with wildfire in her eyes. Her voice boomed in everyone's heads, to the point it made an echo in each creature's brain.

Reshiram seemed like the only individual not shocked by the events. He kept his temper well under control.

"Mew…"

"What're you gonna do, Reshy? Call the disobedient Pokémon back its ball? Huh?"

The Master Ball, empty, began levitating from its place on the ground and shot off towards Mew like a bullet. It stopped suddenly, a few feet next to her head.

For the first time since her release, I saw real rage engulf her face as she clenched roughly with her fist for emphasis, strengthening her hold on the ball and easily breaking through its failsafe mechanism, proceeding to crush the thin steel into near-nothingness.

I could see wisps of energy coming out of her with rapidly increasing intensity. Reshiram took a few steps back as Mew's stare bore into him with hundreds of times the force he himself was capable of conjuring. And yet, he was resolute in the face of her rage.

Drayden finally seemed to finish absorbing what Mew had done previously, however, as her attention was away from him. Crag was dead… In an instant, gone… His companion, lifeless in the blink of an eye. He couldn't have even put up a fight!

To go out in a most disgraceful manner… Even if he broke the chain of command, he didn't deserve death, especially when he couldn't fight against it.

He took a step forwards, clenching his teeth in pure, unadulterated rage. His golden eyes seemed to ignite, commencing shortly afterwards in a soft glow.

"Uh oh, somebody's angry," Mew taunted, gloatingly shifting her gaze from Reshiram to Drayden. "Sorry, shoulda thought of what would happen when you put a Master Ball in my face. Unfortunate how karma works, huh?"

Drayden took another step forward. Mew bitterly laughed him off.

"Hey Ray!" she called out, turning back towards me with the evilest of smirks. "I think I figured it out! Y'see, Drayden are you are like two peas in a pod! You know how I came to you and asked you to be my trainer?"

I fit the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind before she could finish.

"Guess who's Reshy's trainer! Huh, what a coinky-dink!"

That would explain every single question I'd had regarding Drayden's behavior since I'd arrived. His strength, his power… Reshiram's energy was inside him, enabling him to perform superhuman tasks.

"Mew," I spoke out for the first time, yelling across the cavern as I took a few, timid steps forward. "Let's just go, please… I didn't want you to kill anyone!"

"..."

"Let's just get the team and go, please? This doesn't have to end any worse than it already has."

"What? I thought you'd be happy! He hurt you."

"People hurt me all the time! It doesn't mean we should kill them!"

Mew turned fully towards me as some of the intensity left her eyes. After blinking a few times, she looked around confusedly, as if she herself had realized what she'd just done.

"Ray?" she asked, tone more reflecting of fear than of hatred.

"Let's just calm down, okay? I know they hurt you by putting you in that ball, but we're okay now. They never hurt me. I'm fine."

As if to sharply contrast the point, I discharged once more as the mysterious, excess energy rose once more to uncontainable levels.

I ignored the fact I stood now only a few feet from Seraph as I continued towards Mew. It was as if the dragoness was frozen in place entirely.

"Mew, if you want me to be your trainer, you have to calm down. We don't have to listen to what Drayden or Reshiram has to say, but we just can't kill anybody! I didn't like Crag almost as much as you didn't Mew, but he didn't deserve that."

"I…"

"Revenge feels nice, but we still don't know why they did what they did… We just need to leave. They don't deserve to be scared like this."

I could see resolution flash across Mew's face. She stood down, simply levitating lower to the ground in what I hoped with all my heart to be shame.

"Drayden, if you attack Mew, everything we've worked towards will be out of reach. We can still fix this."

Drayden had made quite the advance on Mew, his glare only increasingly powerful by the second. Mew looked at the distraught Gym Leader out of the corner of her eye.

"Go ahead," she mentally sighed, "You get one free shot. I probably deserve it."

A thin silence fell over the room as Drayden stopped before Mew, sizing her up. She was now floating at about his chest level, eyes downcast.

His fist glowed a brilliant orange for a few seconds before he turned and punched her in the side with all his might. He yelled with much the same ferocity I'd heard from Crag during our training sessions prior.

As Mew recoiled in obvious pain, Drayden jumped forward for another hit.

Vulcan was there, however, to wrap his arms around his trainer and bring him to a halt. He held the writing human still, disallowing him from advancing further to fight her.

"Damn it! Damn you! Let me go!" he yelled in as booming a voice as he could manage. Augmented by the raging amounts of energy I now knew he held, the walls managed to shake from the intensity of the sound. "Vicus, do something!"

Reshiram simply resigned himself to look upon the situation with neutral eyes.

"I hope you burn in whatever hell gods go to! All of you!"

"Drayden, my power is inside you to protect yourself and understand your dragons, allowing you to be a more effective partner. Not to abuse it on petty revenge."

"She killed my friend!" he yelled out, unable to break Vulcan's hold on him. The Haxorus was struggling. Was Drayden… Crying?

Crag's body still laid, lifeless on the ground. I still found myself unbelieving of the fact, but Drayden was right… I widened my eyes at the sight, before turning to look for Seraph's reaction to the scene.

I wish I hadn't… I would rather have heard her yell and scold me a thousand times over than see her eyes in that instant, fiery and full of hatred.

"I hope you understand what you've done," she hissed at me, choosing to turn away from me with all the spite she could muster and rejoin Skipp and Misa, who were still standing near the stairs. Skipp tried looking on the scene with indifference, but failed miserably. Misa was staring me with an imperative gaze, as if to ask what I would have her do.

Alder was standing behind them, looking on the scene with an out-of-place sense of apathy. Did he have no reaction to what had just happened?

"He had it coming for him, as horrible as it is to say" Vicus said. "Skemero had the option to cease his interrogation of Mew's ward, but chose not to. He may have had the best of intentions, but he betrayed us all."

"You coward! Ass-kisser! I stick my neck out for this mission and you're going to betray me like this?!"

"Mew, I can't hope to amend whatever feeble relationship we may have had before this," Reshiram readdressed Mew, ignoring Drayden's insults thereafter, "but there's significantly greater problems at hand."

"You think I haven't noticed? Your numbers are a bit off. Drayden said four when he captured me, but it's seven, Reshy. I'm countin' seven that are gone."

"Seven of our kin. Nearly a third of the Primes. Nevertheless, we know who has them, and we know they have the capability to capture almost any of us they so desire. Even Arceus, Mew… You know they have him."

"They don't have Arcy," she countered, rolling her eyes. "That's the advantage of being, y'know, the creator of everything that ever was and will be. He would tear the universe apart before he was captured."

"Then where is he?"

Mew remained silent, looking away from Drayden as his struggles slowly lost vigor.

He was now but an old man with no power, and elected to give up and begin sobbing. What could he do, in the end? Before him was the god of all Pokémon… Did she have the natural right to take whichever life she chose?

No, it was mockery, plain and simple… Drayden was unable to do anything as one of his teammates, his friends died in front of him.

The worst part was that he was seemingly the only one to care… Each of his other dragons were, by comparison, unfeeling. None of them had known Crag to be a partner, or a friend, but still felt his death with a lesser, more muted sense of shock.

"Don't ask me stupid stuff like that. I don't know where he is, but I know he isn't captured… Simple as that."

"I suppose… Nonetheless, it hardly concerns us right now… Mew, I hope you know the reason I had you brought here…"

"Yeah yeah, you wanna team up or whatever, take on the bad guy together. 'Don't go it alone', touchy-feely garbage like that… I think I'll pass."

"Mew-"

"You thought we'd be nice and peachy with each other after you did what you did to my human? After what you did to me?"

"'Your' human isn't well, Mew… I have to ask instead what you did to him."

"What?"

"You've confided in him too much power. His energy is out of control."

As if to accentuate Reshiram's statement, I discharged again.

"Tiny issue… None of your business, anyways. He's gonna get fixed up soon."

"A human isn't a toy… It's not a thing that needs to be fixed. Tell me what happened."

"Pfft, as if! You're gonna put me away in a ball for weeks and expect me to answer all your stupid questions after? What're you gonna do, huh? Question me like you did my human?"

"You can't control him, can you?"

The question seemed to strike a nerve with Mew.

"You're correct Mew, I can't forcibly interrogate you, but everything I need to know is in your eyes."

"Oooookay then… We're just gonna head out if you're gonna act like a weirdo. Ray, you ready to go?"

"Wait, Mew," I responded, walking with as little intimidation as possible towards the pair of legendaries. I continued on in Illusionary speech, as to keep secret what was still between us.

"If he knows what's wrong with me, and what's blocking you out, then why don't we hear what he has to say?"

"You kidding? He's crazy! Bonkers! Always has been. Him and Heatry, out of all the Primes, always just leaving a sour taste in your mouth, you know?"

"He has your power, Mew, but it's not your power at the same time… You were its origin but it… Deviated? An accident. Once it was inside him and tainted, it mutated quickly into his own… Would you like to know why he's locked out to you, Mew?"

Mew was now annoyed. Reshiram knew too much of the situation.

"It's because you've inadvertently created a creature to be your equal, and he doesn't know how to let you in. A god, whose eventual strength, if truly tapped into, will tear the weak shell of a body he inhabits to pieces. A god you can't control without his explicit consent, which he doesn't know how to give, all despite his power once stemming from your own…"

Mew turned towards Reshiram with a sense of suspicious confusion.

"And?"

"And yet, the tiny fraction of power coming naturally from his new body, the Zorua part of him… It was superficial enough to suppress the monster you created."

I discharged again.

"His real ability began to leak out as he ripped a hole in his limited power… You've created quite the mess, haven't you?"

"A mess I'm gonna fix," she promised in rebuttal.

Reshiram actually turned and addressed me specifically.

"You will heal quickly, but if you intend to stay alive for long, you will not overexert yourself again," he commanded, shooting an icy glare that made me shiver. "Imagine your core as a thin film, keeping all your energy trapped inside. If your core tears far enough, so do you."

I could feel Reshiram's power pressing on me from all sides again, as if he was ready to interrogate me further. However, it stopped before pushing and placing pressure on my core. I just felt heavier in the aftermath.

"What makes you think you can tell him what to do like that? Let's not forget I'm the one in control of the situation here, huh?"

Reshiram ignored Mew entirely, as did I. For whatever reason, I couldn't look at him with hatred, as I wanted. Mew was here to protect me now, so why did I have a problem expressing my true frustrations about what he'd been responsible for putting me through?

I looked back at Seraph, Skipp, and Misa again. I looked at Drayden and Vulcan, sitting huddled together on the stone floor.

Oh Arceus… What did I do?

"I'm going to keep my influence around you to contain Mew's power until your core heals from the trauma you've dealt it and a barrier can be reestablished. Considering the abundance of uncontrollable energy you've displayed thus far, I wouldn't be surprised if it was healed in a matter of minutes."

He brought his gaze back up to Mew.

"I want to let it be known that it's in the best interest of all of us to stay together and strike the UPF with a combination of our abilities. I, once again, extend the promise Drayden offered you during your encounter. Remain here, with us, and we will work together as equals for the good of the entire world. Please…"

Mew glanced between me and Reshiram both for a few seconds before sighing. She seemed about ready to speak as she closed her eyes.

Much to my surprise, however, she disappeared, leaving the room in a hanging silence for a few moments. When she returned, however, she wasn't alone.

"Don't worry about the gigantic dragon, he's just a pushover" Mew announced sardonically to the entirety of my team, now present and bunched together near Mew.

I didn't even have to think before taking off in the team's direction. They seemed to be marvelling at Reshiram's presence, though they couldn't say it surprised them exceedingly. The entire situation was revolving around Mew; what more could surprise them?

Vita seemed to notice me approaching and, widening her eyes, broke away from the group to meet me halfway. Deftly wrapping her body around me, she had to adjust as I tried squeezing a hug in to the best of my ability despite my physicality.

"I missed you so much," I croaked out. It had been a rough few weeks, certainly. Not once in the last six and a half years had I gone so long without seeing my team. Vita, wordless, apparently felt the same.

"Vita! Don't hog him!" I could hear Axle yell. I poked my head out to see him and Victor had gathered nearby. Smiling uncontrollably, I squirmed out of Vita's grasp to fall before and get back up in front of the duo.

"You're alright!" I cheered Victor, who simply nudged me with a mandible as I approached. For Axle, I ultimately decided to bump heads as he lowered his own towards me. The gesture wasn't unlike the formality I'd performed with Misa before our failed battle the other night.

Taking a second to ground myself back in reality, I turned my head towards Misa. Skipp was keeping her close, while Seraph stared at the group of us with as much intensity as she could muster. The happy reunion was shattered as I let the fact Mew had just killed Crag grind away all happiness I'd witnessed in the previous few moments.

Somin approached last, looking towards Mew as she seemed to be exchanging a few private words with Reshiram. He blinked and focused his gaze on me.

"Hey…"

"Hi," I said simply, staring back up at him.

"Look, about that shit I said about Mew… I want you to know I was only trying to help you, dude."

I narrowed my gaze.

"I made a judgement call, and it was a bad one… Do I feel any different? No, but I'm real enough to admit I should've told you the truth."

"Vita tell you to say that?"

"Maybe."

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head in exasperation. As a sort of personal payback, I chose to shoot the Zoroark a question I was sure he wouldn't enjoy answering.

"So, you and Vita, huh?"

Even beneath his fur I could see him flush red.

"Screw off," he said, "I was gonna tell you about… That… But, y'know…"

"I'm happy for you, Somin," I interrupted. Aside, though still making sure Vita could hear, I continued. "Is it alright now, then, if I told her about all your complaining over the years about how she ignored you?"

"Hey!" he snapped, huffing when he saw Vita giggle with the comment. "Those were guy talks. Guy to guy. You say a word and I'll tell everyone about all your lovesick complaints too. Capiche?"

"Don't do this."

I could hear Reshiram speaking as conversation died down. We all collectively turned our attention towards Mew, who was apparently speaking to Reshiram privately. At Reshiram's command, she turned and looked for a moment at Drayden and Vulcan, heads hanging and now sitting quietly with each other, close to Crag's body.

A single Pokéball began hovering from his belt and was released while under her psychic grip. Jet, obviously irate, simply stamped a foot on the ground as he materialized.

"Jet!"

The Braviary looked first towards us, then towards Drayden and his remaining team, freezing when he saw Crag's body. As he turned back towards us, he seemed to catch sight of Reshiram and blanched.

"W-what happened?" he asked us, trying to ignore the gigantic, marble-white dragon looming over the entire scene.

"Nothin' important," Mew said simply, floating over towards us. "You guys ready to go? We're finally leaving."

"We're not staying and helping?" I asked curiously. I thought the whole point of Mew's private conversation with Reshiram was to discuss specifics, as I believed she'd internally accepted.

"I fought him earlier," Jet said as if he hadn't even heard Mew's and my exchange… "He's dead?"

The team seemed to notice it for the first time as well. Drayden and Vulcan, sitting silently with eyes closed to mourn their fallen teammate.

"Whoa…" I heard Axle mutter under his breath. "What did happen?"

"Call it a misunderstanding," Mew suggested. "We can go through the whole story later, but we should probably, y'know, head on out… I hate it down here."

Drayden looked up for a moment to glare at all of us. A feeling of overwhelming guilt worked its way around my spine. It was my fault Crag was dead.

"Maybe it'd be good if we just do what Mew says," Victor said, looking away timidly from the searing gaze of the Gym Leader. "Y'know… Talk about this later and leave them time to be alone?"

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, sending a sideways glance towards Seraph, Skipp, and Misa. Some feeling, one I couldn't put my finger on, was beginning to rise towards the surface. "Mew, we're not teaming up with them?"

"Did you hit your head or something? Course we're not!"

"Mew, if the UPF has Arceus, for whatever reason… If he's there, and we help them, we can change me back!"

The argument was improvised, plain and simple. However, I couldn't help but relay my true feelings on the matter.

"Ray, please… I know you're the trainer and all, but we'll all be safer away from these nutjobs."

"Don't talk about them like that," I said, lowering my gaze. I knew now that Drayden truly was working towards what was right… Seraph, Skipp, Misa, even… I tried my best not to harbor feelings, but I ultimately failed.

"I know it's quick and everything's happening real fast, but that's life now, Ray… I'm sorry to say it, but I kinda dragged you down with me, and the only way we're gonna deal with all this stuff is together, away from all the dragons and the crazy weirdos."

I saw an image of Skyla in my mind for a second. I hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.

I looked again towards Seraph, sending her the most pained, apologetic look I could. She exhaled slowly, turning away. Skipp was simply looking at me with a veil of shock, while Misa…

The Axew was obviously conflicted. She exchanged a few, unintelligible words with Skipp.

"Misa?" I called, ignoring my team as I began walking across the cave. Seraph stepped in between Skipp and I protectively.

"You're not dragging her into this too," she spat as I stopped, about a dozen feet away. My ears folded and my tail darted between my legs.

"Seraph, I'm sorry I lied to you, to all of you, bu-"

"You led me on like it was some sort of joke! You bastard!"

I took a step back in shock. Seraph still trying to choke back tears.

"Mew's right," Seraph continued, reluctant tears falling down her cheeks at random intervals. "You should leave. Leave now."

I peered around Seraph to get a good look at Misa. She was looking at me with incredibly confusion. I tried motioning for her to come, but Seraph once again blocked my view, ruffling her feathers as she took an aggressive step forwards.

"Alright, I think that's enough of that."

Alder's voice cut through the tension in the room, attracting all eyes towards him. Seraph, Skipp, and Misa had since moved away from the stairwell, leaving the Champion alone near the exit.

"Right… Forgot he was here. Okie dokie, I'll take care of this quick."

"Mew, wai-"

She completely ignored my protest to the matter, popping out of existence and reappearing just a few feet in front of Alder.

However, the manner in which she reappeared was shocking, to say the least.

She was stopped, mid-teleportation, as if something was blocking her from moving in closer. Her form fizzled like static as the otherwise unstoppable movement of teleportation was interrupted. Stunned, she found herself unable to keep afloat and fell to the ground.

"This is something, huh?" Alder remarked, unfazed as the god of Pokémon was rendered defenseless for a few moments at his feet. "We knew Mew was here, but Reshiram? Been a while, hasn't it?"

Reshiram was confused at the man's casual attitude when it came to the situation at hand. Had they met before?

"I guess two for one is just karma. Makes up for the horrible luck we've had recently with all of you."

He unlatched a single Pokéball from the necklace-like rope worn around his neck. He released its contents with a neutral face.

I knew something was wrong before, but the Pokémon he released exponentially increased the pit I felt in my stomach.

A collective gasp could be heard… Reshiram roared, in anger and fear both, while Mew retreated back to the team, awkwardly running on the ground at first before finding her ability to levitate once more.

It wasn't one of the Pokémon one would see Alder fighting with in his common appearances on the trainer channel. It had a black, jagged body without legs, ending with a red accents around the neck, a plume of white extending and floating above the head, and a single, emotionless blue eye.

Two new legendaries in a single day. My world had grown much larger.

It took Mew a few seconds to notice I was still near Seraph, rather than back with my team. When she realized, however, she simply darted towards me.

I could feel pressure on all sides as I was lifted from the ground. The force… It was choking me, allowing for my mind to get off of the shock of seeing yet another god among us.

Darkrai.

"Thought you guys'd be missing one of your old pals," Alder put simply. Mew was left unable to help me as she was faced with one of the few creatures in existence that had the capabilities to defeat her. I could only watch her pleadingly as I was slowly floated closer and closer to Alder.

"Heeeeeey, Darky," Mew said aloud, hoping to garner a reaction from the creature as I was kept in place by his energy. He seemed lifeless, slack in posture and gaze downwards… It gave me the impression he wasn't completely present… What had Alder done?

"Been a while, huh? How've you been?" Mew continued, sending nervous glances in my direction every few moments.

No response.

"Reshy," she continued, aside. "What's wrong with him?"

"This is what the UPF does to keep the legendaries they have in check… He's gone, Mew… He might have the raw power he may have had before, but any domain over that which he was a god over is now lost on him… An incredibly strong puppet."

"UPF?" Mew sighed frustratedly.

"I myself spent some… Time at their facilities in the past… Drayden rescued me before I was too far gone, and I burnt the complex to the ground. It was a mistake to not ensure the deaths of all the Administrators…"

An Admin? Alder's an Admin?! No, no, no, this is bad! Does he know I'm me?!

"Mew, I think we both know what we have to do."

She nodded, waving her tail agitatedly. Aside, she quietly gave Somin a command, one he wasn't even willing to protest.

"Man oh man… Y'know, you all gotta really give me a pat on the back here!" Alder said, smiling amicably. "You guys got no idea the kind of work we go through just go get us some legendaries! You see, Darkrai here was a doozy to catch, and it was even harder to break him in. But I think he likes it with us, now."

Mew grimaced.

"I see someone's tryin' to teleport? Not much use, missie. That's the benefit of having this…"

He showcased a piece of metal on his belt.

"Scrambles energy, and the like… I don't know all the details, all science stuff I tend to leave to the nerds, but I digress."

I tried struggling, looking desperately towards Mew, Reshiram, and my team. Vita and Axle looked back, completely helpless, while Somin was seemingly an instant away from jumping towards the aggressors. Victor, surprisingly, shared much of Somin's conviction in this situation.

"You guys wanna know the best part?" Alder called out, "I expected Mew to be a bit more trouble, so I brought a friend. Good thing I did, too."

He unlatched another ball from his belt and released it. I watched with wide eyes as the light slowly grew, and grew, and grew to an even larger size than Reshiram himself. Distinctly snake-like in structure, it sprouted six legs as thick as treetrunks and wispy, black cloud-like wings.

Plates of gold stretched around its face and upper torso, leaving behind the appearance of a mask… I could faintly see Reshiram, resolute as I'd known him, quiver as he laid eyes upon perhaps the most powerful dragon in existence.

Giratina.

Mew's eyes, in that moment, lost any sense of hope they'd recently harbored… Yet another one of the few gods in existence that had the power to overcome her… She was put right then in a spot of unyielding worry.

She began breathing quickly as her own eyes met the soulless, red gaze of Giratina's.

"Reshiram!" Alder said cheerfully. "Here, lemme cut you a deal. I know you don't quite like how you were treated while you were with us last time, and I sure know you don't want to go back. Give me Alston and Mew, and your entire team can go free!"

"You son of a bit-" Drayden started, but stopped as Alder instructed Giratina to stare in the older man's direction. If the god of the underworld didn't know how to shut Drayden up, then he wasn't sure what would.

"Course, by that I mean I'll give you a head start… You'll still be labeled terrorists and hunted, yada yada yada, you know the drill. But you've done a pretty good job hiding yourself. Kudos on that."

"We can't take them," Mew said, strangely reluctant to use telepathy, as she looked fearfully towards Reshiram… "I mean, maybe if we got lucky, but we just can't!"

"The Zoroark won't be able to use Illusions to get us out of here. That device of Alder's disallows us to manipulate energy inside a certain radius… If he were to cast an Illusion, it wouldn't affect Alder."

"We don't need it to affect Alder, we just need it to affect Darky and Tina!"

"They hardly have a mind to affect."

"What?"

"It would have just about the same effect as using an Illusion on a rock. Their minds have been reduced to… Nothing… An Illusion requires a mind to affect, a soul to deceive."

"So… They're gone… No coming back?"

"Don't think of it that way…"

"We just fighting them head-on, then?"

"It might create a window for our teammates to escape."

Mew looked at me desperately yet again.

"O-ok… Hear that, Somin?"

"But Ra-"

"I'll get him. Don't worry about it."

"Drayden?"

The Gym Leader was glaring silently at the Champion, proceeding to close his eyes frustratedly and nod. Afterwards, Alder made no reaction as he returned Skipp, Seraph, and Misa to their respective balls on his belt before turning and slowly returning Crag's lifeless body. He looked to Vulcan for solace.

The Haxorus laid a claw on and gripped Drayden's shoulder reassuringly.

Afterwards, and silently, Drayden led the way towards the back of the cave. He looked at my team and reluctantly beckoned them.

"I'd guess Drayden would know the way out of here, huh?" Alder remarked. "Y'see, we found these caves a while ago, but for whatever reason… Nobody ever came out after they went in. Guess we know now why that is."

Reshiram and Mew's attention turned back towards Alder. To him, the two legendaries were simply conversing, more than likely about a strategy to defeat his own two beasts. He knew, however, that no matter what they did, escape was an impossibility. Drayden's and Ray's teams could escape, for all he cared. His true prize laid before him.

Mew began charging an attack, narrowing her eyes and setting her sights on me. Giratina simply stared her down, unflinching, as a flash of pink sparked into existence between her paws.

Yet, as soon as she attempted to feed the conceived projectile energy, she yelled out in shock and pain. A backfire, the attack exploded into light and blew Mew backwards almost as soon as it came into existence.

I could feel Alder sigh, relieved as Mew recovered and looked towards me with shock. She was quick to try again, readjusting herself and-

It happened again. She screamed in frustration as she shook her head back and forth rapidly.

"Alder's machine…"

"Yeah, I got it! Scrambled energy 'n shit!" Mew yelled at Reshiram, letting her paws form into clenched fists at her sides. "Thanks for the news flash, really appreciate it!"

Darkrai, with no warning, shot forwards towards Mew, specifically. Seemingly without any preparation or emotion whatsoever, he fired a superpowered Dark Pulse as he closed in. Reshiram reacted by lunging to intercept the opposing legendary, while Mew simply tried teleporting upwards to avoid the attack.

She didn't even move, form simply phasing in and out of existence for a moment or two before the attack connected. She screamed, thrown back even further.

Darkrai, turning, countered a couple quick jabs from the rapidly approaching Reshiram with a barrier before sending a shockwave of energy his way. Gritting his teeth, Reshiram took the attack with crossed arms before opening his maw and letting out a brilliant plume of flame.

Darkrai's attempts to dodge were rendered futile as Reshiram conjured a Dragon Pulse to intercept him as he flew. The attack didn't seem to have much effect outside of what happened to me.

I dropped to the ground, no longer held up by Darkrai's presence. In that lapse, I took the opportunity to try sprinting away, only to be scooped up by a large pair of hands.

"Where you going?," Alder said, flaunting his control over me by tucking my smaller body against his torso while sending a nasty smirk in Mew's direction. "Can't control your little Zorua when I have him, can you?"

I knew Alder's thinking to be flawed. Did he not see me as my own, sentient creature? Did he think me as a puppet controlled by Mew, one that couldn't be affected because of the neutralizing machine he wore?

My eyes met with Mew's, displaying an emotion of hopelessness I hadn't yet seen from her.

"Are you alright?"

"What do you think?!" she lashed out, turning and screaming at Reshiram.

"Just try to concentrate, power through the effects of the machine. If they choose to attack together, I won't be able to fight them both."

Deciding it was finally time to jump into the conversation, I expressed my concerns to both Reshiram and Mew, who turned towards me attentively as I began speaking.

"If Alder doesn't know I'm Ray, then you guys should just leave!"

"W-Wh"

"Mew, listen. I don't like this as much as you do, but what are they gonna do to me? I'm a baby Zorua, for godsake! Torture? It's a ton more important you protect the team, and find a way to rescue me later."

"Out of the question," Reshiram interjected as Mew looked towards me longingly. "You have Mew's power, and Alder knows. You'd be treated just the same, and turned into a monster like them."

He gave a distasteful look towards Giratina, still unmoving.

"My power…"

Mew looked towards the ground pensively as Reshiram stood in front of her. Alder rolled his eyes, silently commanding both legendaries under his control to advance.

"If he has my power…"

Reshiram breathed flames in a wide pattern as to deter any more movement further. It had little effect. Identifying the bigger threat, he began charging a Dragon Pulse and took aim at Giratina.

"Reshy! Ray's inside the forcefield! He can attack Alder, can't he?!"

A flash of recognition shone on Reshiram's muzzle. He haphazardly fired off an attack at Giratina before turning and grabbing Mew's much smaller body in a single claw. Darkrai lunged at the opportunity.

Reshiram simply pushed past him, taking flight and darting with surprising speed between the gap left by the recoiling Giratina and the attacking Darkrai. Any further progress towards Alder, however, was halted as Reshiram slammed full-force into a barrier, presumably created by one of Alder's beasts to impede their movement.

The duo was now sandwiched between Alder and the mindless legendaries. There wasn't time to try and break the barrier to make further progress towards the Champion.

"Ray," Reshiram began speaking hurriedly, loud voice still easily audible to me. Giratina darted forward, prompting him to push Mew out of the way and meet the attack with a Dragon Claw. He roared and breathed fire to keep Darkrai at bay, seeing as Mew was vulnerable.

"Listen to me very closely," he said as he caught a break. "I can't lift my restriction on you. My energy is the only thing keeping Mew's power from rising to the surface as your own core heals from overextension. I need you to break my influence."

"W-What?!"

I wasn't even sure the dragon heard me. Mew struggled, flustered, to stuff her claws with psychic power. Still scrambled, however, she couldn't keep a grip, leaving her only able to float and zip around Reshiram as she tried avoiding attacks.

"Push, Ray… Find my energy, and push against it. As hard as you can. You can use Mew's energy to break free as long as your own core isn't there to hinder it. It's yours to control. Find it, and push."

He roared once more, this time in pain as Giratina landed a direct hit. Many of the projectiles Darkrai conjured for Mew ended up hitting him as a result of her incessant dodging. The two aggressors pushed in, leaving less and less room for escape.

I looked up towards Alder, who was watching the scene with a calm sense of satisfaction. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes in rage… All my problems over the last month, whether it be my attempted kidnapping, the successful murder attempt, or even my transformation, were his fault. Completely and utterly.

I had foolishly believed the only executive of the UPF was dead. Who would lead them after what I did, the action that undoubtedly set them on my trail in the first place, after fighting Drayden for his badge?


Exhausted and mind racing, I collapsed on the bed. There was no going back.

Vita was quick to enter the room after me, followed by Somin, not exactly in the best of moods.

The Serperior moved quickly and with purpose across the room, and despite my not seeing her through my pillow, I knew exactly the kind of lecture I was about to receive.

I could feel her vines wrap tightly and rather uncomfortably multiple times around my torso and neck. She spun me around, where I was in full view of her terrifying red gaze. She could have very easily killed me in that moment, if she so desired.

Yet, for once, she didn't intimidate me.

"Ser, perior," she said sternly.

"We did the world a favor, Vita," I replied, needing no translation. "Nobody good'll be missing him."

"Ser! Serperior, perior ser!"

I looked to Somin for translation.

"I can't believe you… After the amount of times I told you no."

I couldn't help but feel the same statement applied to Somin.

"Sorry, Vita, could you remind me when you were in charge of this team? I do as I damn well ple-"

SLAP

I cringed, mouth instantly closed as Vita struck my face with a vine. Instantly, I could feel the red-hot pain to boot.

"Ser," she said aside to Somin as I recovered. "Perior ser."

"Zor…"

She turned back towards me. I let my vision flood with anger as I struggled against her restraints. I licked at a bit of blood from where Vita's vine had made contact with part of my lip.

"Sierra would've wanted this. My old man… The center of it all! That whole team, criminals, all of them! I killed him, and I'm proud of it!"

I began laughing mindlessly despite myself.

"I should get a fucking medal for what I did! I helped and avenged everyone that's ever been hurt by what he did! They're nothing without him, nothing without their leader!"

"What if you've dug us all into a hole we can't get out of?! Are you stupid?! You've always been naive, but you can't be stupid enough to think they will let this go! We were fine before, but now?! We'll have to be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives because of some petty revenge!"

Somin's translation was spot-on with the inflection and tone of the Serperior. It sounded exactly like her.

"I killed their highest ranking member and one of their best mercenaries in a single night. Like they'd come for me after that. I'm invincible! Somin and I, we did the impossible, and you're here, slapping me like I'm a kid!"

Vita's eyes softened into one distinct look, that of fear.

"What's happened to you? Me, and everyone else… We thought you were past this. Ray, this isn't right. You can tell me what's wrong."

"What did you want me to do?! Forget about what they did to Sierra? What they made me do to her?! You don't understand, and you never will!"

A moment of silence. Taking this as an invitation, I continued.

"You thought I moved on?! I would think you, more than anyone else, would know what that night did to me! I promised! I promised over Sierra's grave I would kill him, and I did just that!"

"Ray, I can help you. We can help you, just… I know this isn't you. I know Somin put you up to this, but I need you to remember. We all grew together as a family so much because of what happened, you matured so well. I thought we'd finally accepted things for what they were, but now. If you don't want me to see you as a child, then don't act like one and be the bigger person."

I pushed against her restraints some more. A fire ignited within me, and began pushing towards the surface. A fire of rage, hurt, anger… Fear, sadness... It helped me push against her.

I clenched my teeth and growled… Wait, did I? Yes, growled. Growled, and let my ears fall flat against my head as my attempts to push began to hurt. Yet I continued.

Continued pushing, until the fire in my core exploded.


"What the he-"

A flash of light and a whoosh to be heard by all. Already feeling an immense buildup, I had let my newfound energy rush past my skin in the largest discharge I'd experienced yet.

Despite my remaining motionless, the same couldn't be said about Alder, who, without a tight grip on me, was thrown backwards and against the stairs leading out. I fell on the ground roughly as the wave of energy passed, shocking and freezing both Giratina and Darkrai long enough for Reshiram to take action.

He plucked Mew from the air and darted towards me with incredible speed for a being of his size. I could hardly let out a frightened yelp before he, without even stopping, scooped me up from the ground and changed directions.

Before I even knew it, I was haphazardly placed on the back of his neck, left only to dig my claws in as he leaped and flapped his gigantic wings, propelling us forward and yet again towards Giratina and Darkrai.

Targeting the former with a body slam of draconic energy, he allowed his attack to connect before following through and commencing his escape.

Alder, stunned, was unable to command either one of them to set up a barrier as a means of impeding our flee. However, noticing we were quickly out of sight, he sprinted towards Giratina, straddled him, and ordered his own duo to follow in pursuit.

Despite the tunnel system we were quick to find ourselves in being relatively thin, Reshiram, leaving Mew to fly close behind, was able to weave in and out of entrances with ease. Within only fifteen seconds of flying, we'd covered much ground, leaving all hostiles out of sight.

I shot a look towards Mew as I my claws only burrowed deeper into Reshiram's lower neck. If he felt it, he made no indication. Mew seemed pleased I was alright, and was in a good enough mood to smile and wave happily at me in a joking manner. I sent a forced and overly anxious-looking grin back at her.

Before I knew it, we were decelerating, and quite rapidly at that. Curious as to why we were stopping, I willed myself to peek over Reshiram's shoulder.

"Drayden!" Reshiram yelled before we'd even stopped. Coming to a sudden half, I nearly fell off Reshiram entirely. We'd stopped, in the middle of the tunnel, as we caught up to Drayden, Vulcan, and the rest of my team.

"Were you successful?"

"Reshy, we really need to keep going," Mew complained. Reshiram chose to ignore her, and chose to speak after given Drayden a once-over.

"You don't have their Pokéballs."

"None but the Braviary's… They're upstairs."

"Reshy?!"

I could feel Reshiram's frustrated breath at the reveal. "Vulcan, you're to hide for a half hour before leading Ray's team out of the caves. I'll meet up with you at the entrance when I can. Stay hidden as best you can."

I shot a quick, terrified look towards Vita. She seemed relieved I was able to escape, but yet another sudden departure was hardly what she had in mind.

"Drayden, on me. I'm going to need your energy."

Drayden blanched for a moment. "V-Vicu-"

"You'll get it back. But now, I need any and all power I can possibly receive."

Drayden, quickly slipping back into a resolute demeanor, departed from the group of Pokémon and clambered up towards Reshiram's back. I made sure to avoid any and all eye contact I could possibly create with him.

A roar from behind, surely that of the enemy, was all the incentive Reshiram needed to begin flying again. I watched longingly as my team, guided by Vulcan, slowly but surely disappeared from sight.

Alder had made some serious ground, leading Reshiram and Mew to place even more haste in their escape. I could've sworn, while looking behind us every now and again, I could see the faintest traces of gold.

While anxiously watching the rear, however, I noticed Drayden was doing something. From his belt, full with a different assortment of Pokéballs, he clipped off one. Seemingly normal, I didn't notice that it was a dud until he opened it and revealed the spherical object hidden inside.

I didn't recognize it, but I did faintly remember Misa talking about it at one point or another. It shone with a bright, white light, rendering me unable to stare at it directly.

"Don't let it touch me," Reshiram warned, unable to hide the smallest hints of fear in his otherwise booming, unwavering voice.

Nodding, Drayden simply grasped the object, able to fit comfortably in the palm of his hand. Clasping it with the other, now, he closed his eyes and creased his brow.

I widened my eyes as an apparent, gold outline formed around him promptly afterwards. Within a matter of seconds, however, said outline faded. Drayden fumbled for a moment, gasping for air.

"It's done!" he yelled over the volatile air pushing past us. Reshiram, having heard him, simply nodded.

The first of the projectiles came soon after.

Attacks sent to stop our progress were thrown haphazardly and at random intervals. I was confirmed my eyes weren't deceiving me in earlier moments, as Giratina could be now easily seen as we ducked in and out of tunnels, moving in a seemingly random direction.

Mew tried turning around mid-flight in order to erect a barrier, but figured she still didn't have any grasp on her powers. She groaned miserably and tried keeping as close to Reshiram as possible. In her attempt, however, she'd fallen far enough behind to become a possible target.

The Shadow Ball had come out of nowhere, nailing her with a direct hit. She faltered for a moment before realizing that'd taken much more out of her than comfortable. She doubled her efforts to keep up with Reshiram, and when she finally did, just about collapsed onto the base of his turbine-like tail.

"Mew?!" I tried calling out. I doubted she heard me, and even if she did, she was now seemingly too worn out to make any other effort than simply relying on Reshiram to save her. The attacks she'd withstood had proven to be too powerful.

She silently asked herself the last time she'd actually been knocked unconscious… A few dozen generations, at the very least.

Another stray projectile hurtled into a wall dangerously close to us. Somehow, I found a way to dig my claws even deeper into Reshiram's skin.

Yet, such an action was pointless.

The first attack to actually find a hit on Reshiram, albeit his right thigh, had the force behind it to shake him entirely. Without much traction, my claws came easily undone and I was suspended in the air.

Fortunately, I hurtled straight into Drayden, still holding the bright artifact high above Reshiram. He made no efforts to grab me, however, as I, without a way to grab on, slowly slid off to his right.

I caught his belt with a few claws, leaving myself dangling off of him as Reshiram began to maneuver evasively. I looked up towards Drayden pleadingly, begging for him to grab me and hoist me back up.

He acknowledged my presence, certainly, but did nothing. His arms were locked, determined in holding the shining artifact while keeping his own grip on Reshiram. Even though he could have just as easily lent a single hand to hoist me up, he froze. To him, the risk of dropping the ball and letting it come into contact with Reshiram was much more of a consequence than, however regrettably heartless it was, letting me fall.

I tried calling out to Mew, but it seemed she was still incapacitated. I knew she was still conscious, but was burying her head in Reshiram's feathers as if she had a splitting headache.

I looked towards Drayden again, pleadingly.

I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to help me, he truly did. Even after everything I'd done to lie and deceive him, he wanted to help me up. However, a single jostle from the legendary he rode would lead to a slip of the Light Stone. If the artifact came into contact with Reshiram, everything was over.

So, when Reshiram rounded a sharp corner, I could only let out a scream as I became detached from his belt and fell. Swiping frantically, I managed to dislodge a single, otherwise innocent Pokéball from off his belt.

There was a moment of silent shock as I fell, in which I pondered if what was happening was merely a dream. It was hardly as if Reshiram was moving away at all.

The pain I felt upon impact with the hard, compacted dirt floor told me otherwise.

To be honest, I wasn't that high off the ground to begin with. Perhaps just a measly fifteen feet. However, factoring in the velocity with which we were traveling, the landing was anything but kind. I rolled, again and again, clenching my eyes shut and hoping for the best. The breath was instantly knocked out of me as the world turned and writhed, leaving me unable to tell when I finally did come to a stop.

Everything hurt… However, much to my shock, no specific area seemed to resonate more than another. The pain was evenly split between all sections of my body. Had I not broken anything? I supposed that information was soon to come.

I opened my eyes as a whoosh of air slammed past me. I only caught the ends of Darkrai and Giratina, Alder included, as their party darted past me without so much as a second thought. Had they not noticed my fall? Perhaps we were far enough ahead as to avoid detection.

Yet, within a few seconds, I realized I was alone.

Alone, of course, until I heard Misa swear some sort of obscenity. I thought I'd been hearing things at first. A concussion, maybe?

But, her voice continued on, getting louder as she approached.

"Dude, what just happened?!"

I groaned as I let myself go limp again. Everything hurt too much to stand.

"Where's everyone else?! Why's my ball all broke and busted? Wait, you hurt?"

"Yeah," I groaned simply, not feeling well enough to convey my gratitude that she was present. "I took… A hard fall."

Was hers the ball I dislodged as I was falling off Drayden's belt? It was a stroke of luck I wasn't expecting, but very much appreciated.

"Ok, well, uh…"

It was obvious she didn't know what to do. My hope for the situation faltered.

"Where's Seraph? We can get you all patched up before, y'know, all the big guys show up again."

"Seraph isn't around. Neither are the 'big guys'."

"Wait, what? Where are we?"

"Still in the caves," I answered arduously. "Look, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped with the questions for a bit and helped me up."

Thankfully, Misa complied, hoisting me to my feet after testing certain areas of my ribcage to check for pain. She let me lean against her as I felt like my legs were going to buckle.

"I don't think anything's broken," I said simply. Turning back behind me, I confirmed what Misa had said about her Draco Ball. "Except that."

It was completely busted at the hinge, damaged too roughly in the fall to stay intact. She was officially a wild Pokémon again.

"Hey, you gonna tell me what's going on? That pink friend of yours… I saw her once. Is Crag really-"

"He's dead, yeah. Look, I can't explain everything right now. We need to get out of here."

The Axew peered at me aggravatedly for a moment before forcing a sigh of reluctant approval.

I thought back to the moment of indecisiveness Misa had held when I asked her to join me, just a few minutes before while we were still in the large cavern. She had nothing to do with any of this, and yet, she was here. She at least deserved to know what was happening.

"Now I don't really know if I even wanna hear those answers at all," she eventually said, defeatedly looking away. "In any case, where we going?"

"I… I don't know."

The caves seemed all identical to me, and I even remembered Alder discussing how confusing the layout was, as to completely entrap and confuse any who entered. Was such a maze escapable? I had no idea how far we were from the exit.

"Towards the exit, I guess? I got no idea where that is, though… Maybe it'd be best if we just stayed put and waited for someone to pick us up?"

My brain was quick to counter my own proposal. Perhaps Alder had seen us fall off Reshiram afterall, and planned to come and get us when he was readily available. I wouldn't let myself become a target, especially after my having played an integral part in the escape. He knew, at the very least, I wasn't a normal Zorua.

"No, we need to go… We need to get lost, or hide, or find the exit, or something. I don't know, but we need to move."

It took me a few seconds to realize Misa hadn't been paying attention to what I said. Instead, she was looking at the walls of the cave in confusion. Curious, I looked with her, but found nothing.

"Something up?"

"The grooves on the wall are a lot like my old cave."

"What?"

"Can you walk alone?"

"I don't… I don't think so."

"Well then, I guess we'll go slow. Either way, I think I can figure the way out."


If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Reshiram was exceedingly glad Ray had fallen off him. Of course, injuries may have played a part, but the next steps of his escape would be so much easier without having to worry about the extra creature. Mew would be able to find him later.

Speaking of which, he needed her to recuperate, and fast. He'd long since made a decision about what he was to do, but Mew was on the brink of unconsciousness. He couldn't execute his plan without her.

"Give the Light Stone to Mew."

Drayden was instantly in objection to the order, knowing Mew still may have held a grudge against Reshiram. However, knowing not to disobey him in such a dire situation, Drayden slowly turned and began crawling down his spine and towards the exhausted Mew.

Light washed over them all as the cave system ended. Almost instantly upon reaching daylight, Reshiram took a sharp turn upwards, beating his powerful wings in unison to ascend rapidly.

Drayden nearly fell forwards and off of the great dragon as the ground disappeared behind them. He caught glimpses at Giratina and Darkrai as they still gave pursuit. Drayden, concerned by what lay before him, simply doubled his efforts to make it to Mew.

When he did, he was unsure of what to do. Despite his hatred for the deity, he tried rousing her softly, resulting in an uninvested swipe of her paw, mumbling something under her breath. Did she take this as an everyday wake up call?

Drayden, knowing she wasn't going to accept the artifact, simply pressed it up against her forehead, much in the same manner he had done previously with the Master Ball to encapsulate her.

Almost instantly afterwards, her eyes shot open, the store energy trapped in the Light Stone flooding into her system all at once. It was the jump start she needed in order to be set on alert again.

"Reshy, how's it goin'?" she reached out, figuring she could once more use telepathy. Her powers were back!

"Teleport us away! Now!"

Mew, confused, shot a quick look behind them. Giratina and Darkrai were still rapidly approaching. Her fur stood on end, no qualms present regarding Reshiram's order.

Yet, she still couldn't teleport. It wasn't the same sensation as before. She could teleport, but something was still blocking here.

"No use! They got me blocked! You have to get out of range!"

"I can't. With Giratina alone it may have been a possibility, but I simply can't outrun Darkrai."

As if his words had willed it, Darkrai pulled ahead of Giratina, accelerating towards them at a faster pace. Reshiram chose then to deviate from his course, taking a sharp turn to the left.

"If Drayden's your trainer, he can just call you back into your Pokéball, right?"

"You can outrun Darkrai on your own without teleportation? He's much faster than you, Mew."

"Then we gotta fight!"

"I'm weak, you're weak… We're not going to be able to beat them."

"Then we should split up?" Drayden asked all-too-hopefully. He didn't want to spend a second more in Mew's presence.

"Maybe… Though, Alder would more than likely send Darkrai after you and Giratina after us. I can't outpace Giratina, and you can't outpace Darkrai."

A few seconds of silence passed, in which all three beings tried coming up with a plan. Reshiram, with an air of fear about his voice, continued.

"I can see one way out of this, and I won't place the burden of suggesting it on the both of you."

"Just hurry up and say it! Darky's almost caught up!"

Mew, growling audibly, fired a Focus Blast off the back of Reshiram, hoping to keep the readily approaching enemy at bay. In retaliation, Darkrai conjured a Dark Pulse that Reshiram only narrowly avoided.

"You'd have to rupture…"

Drayden was the one to say it, confirming his fears when Reshiram's head fell.

"Wait, wait, wait… You're gonna rupture?! Even if Darky is on Alder's team, it doesn't mean he deserves that!"

"There is no Darkrai, Mew. He's a slave, nothing more. The world has already been managing without him, so what difference does it make if I rupture? Do you have a better option?"

He was nearly upon them now. Reshiram had since leveled out and was flying on, sending hopeless looks in Darkrai's direction every so often. Mew had a moment to think.

"Vicus! You can't be seriously considering this!" Drayden yelled on deaf ears. "You trust Mew with your stone?! You can't!"

"To do this, Mew, I need to be able to trust you'll look after Drayden and his team. Promise me."

Mew couldn't respond. She could only watch Darkrai as he grew nearer, and nearer. Biting her lip, she shot another Focus Blast off of Reshiram's back.

"Mew!"

"Fine, fine! Do it! I have your stupid rock, so just do it!"

Mew kicked off of Reshiram to fly alongside him on her own, promptly before reaching out and grabbing Drayden with a psychic hold. Roughly, she wrenched him away from Reshiram, proceeding to send the dragon a nod and take off in another direction.

Drayden, meanwhile, was yelling the entire way, hoping to prompt a reconsideration. In the end, however, he could only watch the scene to follow as he got further and further away.

Reshiram spun suddenly in the air, choosing to face Darkrai head-on. Giratina was approaching from a bit further back. He would have to make it quick. Sighing, he closed his eyes.

Mew was decently far away by the time the flash of light appeared. Drayden, having refused to look away, yelled in pain as he covered his eyes. They both could feel the heat of the explosion from where the distance they were at now. It would have been brilliant to see should they have been able. An explosion with the full force of a god behind it.

They were high enough off the ground as to mitigate any damage done to the trees below, but humans for miles and miles would see the light and peer curiously at it.

It definitely had more intensity than the explosion Mew had created on Mt Chimney. A shockwave passed over them right then, and she could of sworn she felt every single particle of Reshiram's energy packed into it.

She felt the Light Stone pulse as it rested, tucked between her paw and her torso. She looked at it, determining it was now shining. She let a small smile touch her face as she turned and noted Giratina and Darkrai were nowhere to be found. Reshiram's plan had worked.

At first opportunity, she teleported out of sight, a limp Drayden in tow.


Act II is complete, and I have to say I'm not entirely proud of it for a variety of reasons.

There was an undeniable lack of action throughout, a decision I thoroughly regret. Much of the narrative got repetitive and stale in my opinion, making it exceedingly difficult to write.

This chapter in particular was bumpy, at best. I felt like there were dozens of better ways to introduce Alder as a main antagonist, but I honestly couldn't put any of them into practice. I sneaked a few bits of foreshadowing here and there, but this entire chapter just seemed sudden and spontaneous, something I don't really like.

If you thought differently, I'd be glad to hear it. Even though I'm not that far in, I'm sure I'm going to like writing Act III much better.

Leading to my next point… Since this is the end of the Act, I think it would be in everyone's best interest to announce a hiatus. They're horrible, I know, but I won't feel at all comfortable publishing the story if I don't have a considerable buffer between what I have written and what I have published. However, unlike the last hiatus, this one is going to be a bit shorter…

The first chapter will be published on June 1st, 2018. That may seem like a long time. However, to make Act III as good as it can be, I will need this time to write and edit. That's about three months from now. If I do end up finishing between now and then, I'll be sure to start publishing when I finish.

This last publishing cycle lasted over five months, pushing a single chapter every two weeks. I'd like to thank all those that kept with me since the beginning, and I hope that we can continue on and make a decent story out of this.

Now, for Review Responses. I plan to do these at the end of each Act, as a way of thanking everyone who took the time to review my story. Reviews, more than anything else, are what I love to see, so thank you all.

Top Succ: I'm exceedingly glad that people are hypothesizing about the future of the story. It makes me feel like I'm building something that people enjoy thinking about, which is amazingly satisfying. Hope to see how your theories change (or remain constant) in the future!

Aewynessa: Thanks so much for commenting on the revision of the First Act. I'm so glad I can be considered an inspiration, even in the general sense. It was your feedback that rested my anxiety regarding the revision in the first place.

DracoDraconis55: Yes, Drayden can be a dick sometimes. Even if other aspects of his character were hinted at, I wanted to keep his motivations secret until the end, and let the readers conclude at the same time Ray did whether or not he was truly benevolent.

Clarilune: Thanks so much for your criticisms. Criticism, often, is more uplifting to me than to see entirely positive reviews. I've never been entirely sure how well this story is going, which makes me ecstatic to learn how I can improve it further. A lot of your suggestions ended up making their way into the story, so thank you for being such a driving factor in that regard.

Delta: You flatter me. Really, I don't know what to say. Thanks so much for being there and giving your thoughts, as it greatly uplifted me and augmented my motivation to write.

Raptor Pilot: I love seeing your impressions, honestly. Knowing how an actual person would react to a situation like this is helpful in so many ways. Thanks for staying on for so long, and I hope this hiatus isn't as rough as the last.

Enlil45: I regret having to do much of my exposition in forms of flashbacks, or through small hints at Ray's past. I don't know what I will do in the future to combat this, however, much of the expository aspects of the story are through. The big bad has been revealed. Of course, there is still much more to learn, leaving the possibility of a Prologue in the future. I believe we'll just have to wait and see.

Appna: I'm glad someone doesn't see the abundance of mystery in the story as cluttered. I'm glad to be rid of most of it, as most were resolved in this chapter. Nevertheless, your philosophy of savoring the journey is great to read if I ever need to ground myself back in reality if I get too far off topic with this fic.

Elven-in-name: Glad to see that you like the voice. I don't particularly like writing in the first person, because I'm not always able to emphasize Ray's take on the situation as his own when it's embedded into the narrative. I'm restricted to how Ray sees the world, which isn't always rational.

LonelyQuilava: Your thoughts on the story and me as an author both are incredibly uplifting. I think I may be satisfying many of your hopes for the story as we move into the third Act, so be ready!

Siphon 117: Yes, this scene… Mew is honestly one of my favorite characters to write, and for good reason. The first parts of this chapter were some of my favorites to write throughout the entire story, even if the ensuing situation afterwards didn't really live up to my expectations.

Calvire: I hate to introduce a hiatus right as you say this. I hope to keep a consistent schedule up as soon as I start publishing the next Act, but thanks so much for your support!

GreaterGrail: Oh yes, indeed. Been waiting for Ray to take control of the situation for a long time, and I'm glad to say he'll start getting more involved with the story in the coming Acts rather than be a simple spectator.

ALI: Yup… I got it out kinda late here (yes, I'm American) because of some issues with editing, but I hope it satisfies. Timezones are weird.

Thanks so much to all of you for your support. Hope to see you all in Act III!

END ACT II