Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 83: The Pursuing Shadow

Point of View Stark

Vince and I sat next to each other just outside of the town Sanctuary. We watched as the pokemon community started their day. Off in the horizon I could see the sun's beams shining over the tree line. It always amazed me how these pokemon chose to sanction us here, and not outcast us since we were criminals. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Mandus only told them we were a rebellion for pokemon rights.

"They're back," Vincent said as he began walking towards the town.

I looked in the direction he was heading, and I saw three familiar pokemon, Scarlet, Flynn, and Merrick. I followed in Vincent's paw prints. We approached the trio, and I nodded at them.

"So, did you find that strange pokemon?" Vince questioned the three.

Scarlet shook her head, while Merrick rolled his eyes, and Flynn just appeared emotionless.

"A waste of our time, are you sure that charmander wasn't just lying to you?" Merrick questioned.

"No, I extracted the info straight from his memories. That pokemon is real," Vincent defended.

"Well, there was no sign of it," Merrick replied.

"Perhaps another time then," Vincent said.

"Perhaps you can go next time," Merrick snidely stated as he walked away, leaving only three of us left.

"Anyways, Scarlet, Flynn. Mandus wishes to speak to you two tonight," Vince informed the two.

"About?" Scarlet bluntly questioned.

"A new mission is coming up, a big one," Vince answered.

"I'll speak to him later then, for now I wish to rest, it has been a while since I've had some real rest," Scarlet stated as she departed from us.

"And what about you Flynn, you've been rather quiet?" Vincent asked.

The houndour looked at Vincent and wore a dull expression, "I have no plans as of now," Flynn answered.

"I see, well you can join Stark and I. We're mostly just loafing around since we have nothing better to do today," Vince offered.

A moment of silence passed by as Flynn continued to stare with his dull expression, "Perhaps later, I have some things I wish to do," Flynn stated, "I'll see you two later," Flynn said as he walked past us, but as he did so, he stared at me.

I waited a moment after Flynn left, "He seemed… odd," I stated.

"Agreed, he did seem a little different. Perhaps he is just tired; they haven't slept since they left the other night," Vincent stated.

"Maybe."

Point of View Vincent

Hours passed, and soon it was mid-afternoon. Stark and I were still mostly loafing around doing nothing. It was quite nice having time off for once, usually Mandus had me busy with things., I could go on, but that's a story for another day. Long story short, I'm a busy espeon.

"So, Vince, I've been meaning to ask you something lately," Stark began to ask.

"And what is on your mind?"

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed we both have white fur. Is there a specific reason for your white fur?" Stark questioned me.

I let out a small chuckle before answering, "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to ask that. It's usually something that gets me a lot of attention, because of that I like to stay hidden. But, I use to suffer from albinism. It's just a lack of pigmentation in my body. But, as a result it makes me more likely to get skin diseases, skin cancer and that stuff. Actually, that's one reason my family lived where we did, it snows in Snowbelle most of the year, so it was best to live in a place that was always gloomy, since we didn't have access to medications," I answered Stark with a little more info than he probably needed.

"I see. I actually have no clue why my fur is white, I've done research, but it all points towards stuff like what you have, but I know I'm not albino," Stark responded.

"I see, perhaps we'll get answers on that one day," I responded.

"Yeah well… I don't suppose those answers will come in three months," Stark bitterly stated.

I frowned in response. I could tell he was depressed over his condition. I would imagine having a fixed amount of time left would be horrifying, knowing that each day is one day closer to the end. I tried to think of a response for Stark, but their was nothing I could say that wouldn't make him feel worse.

"Well, Genesis was actually the ones who helped me with my condition. They were able to modify my body to not be as bad as it is. I still have my white fur and reddish-pink eyes, but I'm far less likely to get skin diseases," I said to Stark in an attempt to change the topic.

"Yeah, from the little I did learn about Genesis, they are a very interesting organization. I could only imagine what they can achieve if they continue to grow," Stark said.

With the best of my abilities, I diverted the conversation away from Stark's short time left. I usually tried to keep him occupied, I know first paw that it helped to keep your mind off darker thoughts. About thirty minutes passed by before Flynn reproached us.

"Welcome back," I greeted Flynn. Flynn didn't pay much attention to me, and he instantly pinpointed his attention towards Stark.

"Stark, I need to talk to you, in private," Flynn spoke in a voice that sounded a little ominous.

Stark remained silent for a moment, as I guess he too noticed Flynn's odd behavior. "I can spare a moment," Stark answered.

"Good, then follow me," Flynn said as he began to walk into the forest. Stark didn't bother responding and he followed Flynn.

"Vincent," Scarlet's voice called out from above. My vision panned upward up into the tree's and I saw Scarlet sitting on a branch.

"How long have you been up there?" I questioned the ninja like pokemon.

"Long enough," she answered, before she jumped down. "Have you noticed it too?"

"The only thing that has gotten my attention lately is Flynn's odd behavior," I answered.

"That's what I'm here about," Scarlet said as she looked me in the eyes, a look that showed she was serious about this situation. "I don't know when, but at some point on our trip Flynn's behavior changed without reason. Merrick noticed as well, and I spoke to him a moment ago," Scarlet said to me.

"Now, why would Flynn want to talk to Stark in private is my question. Their bond doesn't go past colleague, and I can sense a bad vibe from Flynn. Something is wrong," Scarlet said as she began walking in the direction they left in.

"Where are you going?" I questioned Scarlet.

"Seeing what Flynn is up to," Scarlet answered.

The two of us quickly yet silently moved through the forest until we spotted Stark and Flynn. On sync we both hid behind a tree. Flynn seemed to be silent at the moment, and Stark was wearing an uneasy look on his face.

"So… I'll ask a third time, why did you bring me out here?" Stark questioned Flynn, but only got silence as a response, "Okay, you're just creeping me out now."

"I'm just wondering how long your teammates are going to keep hiding," Flynn said, and caused my fur to stand on edge. I looked to my right to see that Scarlet was the first to reveal herself, so I followed her lead and revealed myself as well.

"How rude. This meeting was meant for the two of us," Flynn stated in a dark tone that didn't belong to him.

"Flynn, why did you bring Stark out here?" Scarlet questioned. A cold breeze blew by as no one said a word.

"I'll ask one last time, why did you bring Stark out here all alone," Scarlet spoke as she placed her hand on the sword on her back.

"I don't think that concerns you, Scarlet," Flynn answered venomously.

I can't place my paw on it, but something at the moment felt so wrong. Something about Flynn was so unsettling, so fake, like he was another pokemon.

"Stark, step away from him," Scarlet said as she withdrew her blade. Stark gave a nod as he began to walk away from Flynn.

"I'll give you three one more chance to walk away, I'll only need a minute with Stark," Flynn stated.

"That's not going to happen," Scarlet said.

"Have it your way then," Flynn said as he shook his head.

The houndour opened his mouth and blew a wall of fire in our direction. Scarlet responded by shooting a hydropump at the fire attack, which protected the three of us. A few trees ended up ablaze, but Scarlet took the time to put the flames out.

"Flynn, not in the forest, this is the home of many pokemon," Scarlet stated, "I will not allow such brazen behavior."

"Flynn, what are you doing?" I questioned the houndour.

The houndour just sneered as a response and he sprayed off an ember towards Scarlet and I. We both jumped out of the way.

"You've lost it," Scarlet stated.

"I'm not the one who lost anything, it's you who lost something," the houndour stated. The three of us just glared at him as we tried to piece together what he was speaking about. Suddenly his body turned pitch black, and his shape changed into something bigger.

"I won this battle the moment you came near me."

My eyes widened as I looked at the new form this thing took. Time felt as if it froze as I looked at an exact copy of my mother. Everything about her was spot on, her smooth silky fur that was perfect, to even the friendly nature she gave off, her slim body, and even the gentle look she had in her eyes, the look of someone who didn't want to hurt anyone.

"No-no-no-no-no-no," I began to say in a panic as the leafeon began to approach me. I looked to my left and right, and I quickly discovered that I was all alone.

"Vincent, is something wrong?" my mother, no, that thing called out to me. Even her voice was an exact copy. It was a smooth, soft, and a calm voice, one that was very comforting. Even right now I felt that it was comforting, but that is also what terrified me.

"Vincent, why are you moving away from me, you didn't do something, did you?" she questioned me as she cocked her head to the side, and gave me that accusing mother look as if I did something wrong.

"Mom…" I said in a shook up voice.

"You know, I actually think I know what you did," the leafeon said as she moved closer to me, and deadpanned her vision towards my eyes. Soon I found myself backed up against a tree, and my mom was right in front of me.

She gently stroked her paw against my cheek, her fur was warm, just as I remembered it. I trembled uncontrollably as she continued to peer into my soul.

"Vincent, why'd you do it? Why'd you kill me!" she screamed in my ears so loud that I was deafened. As my ears rung in pain, her throat suddenly ripped open on the left side and her blood splattered all over me. Her head hung to the side, unable to support itself, but she still remained standing.

I fell down to my butt unable to stand from the shock. Her paw then pushed against my chest, and she slowly forced me on my back. The blood from her neck poured all over me, the blood was so cold and the feeling just made me want to scream, but there was a lump in my throat that prevented any screams of terror.

"Vincent, are you not going to answer me?" she asked as she began to nuzzle against me with her head. As she nuzzled against me, she rubbed the giant gash in her neck against my muzzle, and I could feel the flesh that was torn up.

"S-stop," I managed to beg fearfully as tears began to stream down my face.

"Did you stop when you killed us?" My mother asked me.

"I-I didn't have a choice. I-I had my…" I began to say but I found myself unable to finish as I choked out a sob. All these years all I've told everyone was that I had my reasons for what I did, and that it was for a better world, yet I couldn't bring myself to say that to my mother's face.

"Well, you've been a horrible son over the years. You can't even start with an apology, you only think of defending yourself. There is a special place reserved for monsters like you," my mother spoke venomously. "You're going to burn for what you did Vincent, you have to pay," my mother spoke, and as her sentence finished the world began to grow dark, and soon the sky was completely black, but this darkness felt much more ominous and much more dark than the darkness you would see when you close your eyes. The trees around me began to wilt and shrivel up. The air soon became a bitter numbing cold, and it became hard to breathe, almost as if I was on top of a mountain.

My attention was directed back towards my mother, I continued to shake uncontrollably as I looked up at the demented sneer on her face. Her teeth were razor sharp, almost as if they were a bunch of tiny daggers. Her teeth never looked this ominous before, this was all a nightmare.

"Please stop!" I begged as I tried to struggle free, but she pinned me down with her paw. I should have easily been able to overpower her, but I felt so weak. I began to try and push her paw off with mine, and that's when I noticed that my paw's were different. I looked downward to also notice that my tail was no longer forked like it usually was, instead it was a big bushy albino eevee tail.

"Poor Vincent, nothing but a defenseless child," my mother chimed with her demented smile.

"Stop, I don't want this anymore, I'm sorry!" I screamed as her claws dug into my flesh. Her head began to lower towards me, and I continued to try and squirm free from her.

"It's too late," she spoke as her teeth ripped into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I began screaming repeatedly for mercy as she began to rip off my flesh, and soon everything became a messy bloodbath.

Point of View Stark

"Who are you, and where is the real Flynn?" I snapped at the houndour in front of me. I stood in a defensive position as I faced this monster. I glanced to my left and right to see all of my teammates mysteriously unconscious. I didn't understand how this thing knocked them all out at once, but why didn't he do it to me as well?

A chuckle escaped the houndour's mouth, "The other night your three friends came searching for me. I instead found them first. So, I played some games with them and tested their abilities. They don't remember anything, but I killed them three, or they would have thought I killed them if I didn't alter their memories. The only one of the three I killed was the houndour, simply so I could get to you," the imposter answered me.

"You killed Flynn?" I questioned in disbelief.

"He's dead, I could bring you his body another day if you'd like, although not much of it is left. I didn't like the idea of killing a Crimson member, but I needed a way to get to you, so one death wouldn't hurt that bad."

"What do you want from me, why is it so important that you'd kill someone?!" I snarled at him. I didn't really care that much for Flynn, but I never really felt that he deserved to die. It was almost a bit painful knowing that I got him killed.

"I'm here to kill you, Stark," the houndour spoke.

"Show your true self," I demanded.

"You don't need to see that today," the imposter stated as he began to approach me.

"The tell me this, what did you do to everyone?" I questioned as I looked at my fallen teammates. Each of them was in a deep sleep, my attention mostly noticed Vincent, who was twitching in his sleep as a rogue tear streamed down his eye.

"What I did to them isn't important, just know that right now they are all suffering, and it will end the moment you die," the houndour said.

"Or, it'll end when you die," I retorted with a growl.

"Then do what you do best Stark," the imposter said as he jumped back and sprayed some embers at me. The attacks came too quick to dodge, so I turned my head and got singed by the attack.

I opened my mouth and shot a dark matter attack that created a thick mist in the area. This creature was now blinded, but I have used this attack enough to know how to find my victims. I sprinted in the direction of my opponent, and once his figure became visible I sprang towards him with dark matter surrounding my fangs. In midair I felt an unknown force push me back, and I smacked into the ground. The mist around me began to clear up as the houndour walked towards me.

"You're not going to win this," the houndour spoke with a bored expression on his face.

I began to stand but the houndour opened his mouth and shot an electric bolt from his mouth. My eyes widened from the attack that shouldn't have been possible. My body was struck and I fell to the ground unable to move.

"I'll make this quick," the houndour spoke. I heard the sound of Scarlet's sword unsheathing, and I saw the blade float into the air and hover towards me. "It'll be over in an instant," the monster said as the blade flew downward.

A blue blur flew in front of me, and a hand grabbed the blade by the handle. Standing next to me now was Mandus. The lucario stared at the houndour with a death glare. The paralysis on my body wore off, and I got myself back up to my feet. Suddenly I heard some rustling in some bushes and Merrick and the black scyther known as Kane jumped out of the bushes. The two joined Mandus and I.

"How did you find us?" the houndour questioned in annoyance.

Merrick sneered at the question, "Simple, Scarlet told me she was going to question Flynn on something. She told me to alert everyone if she isn't back in a certain amount of time, and guess what bub, times up," Merrick chimed with a snide attitude.

"Hmmf, seems she's more meticulous than I predicted," the houndour said as he looked towards the passed out greninja.

"Who are you, and what business do you have with us?" Mandus asked the houndour.

"Perhaps another day, Mandus," the houndour said.

"Then show your true form," Mandus demanded.

"I'll show you something better," the creature said as its body turned completely black, and its shape morphed into something that stood on two legs, but was still around the same height. Soon the form developed colors, and it turned out to be a young riolu child.

Mandus flinched back at the sight as the young riolu looked at him with innocent eyes. Suddenly the riolu sprang into the air, and slammed her leg into Mandus's head. The lucario flew back and smashed into a tree.

Merrick and I both responded by shooting attacks at the young riolu. She dodged Merrick's embers, and ducked below my shadow ball. She quickly tackled merrick to the ground and held the quilava in a chokehold. The quilava squirmed around, and after a few second he began to weaken and his back flames began to die down.

Kane intervene and jabbed his blade at the riolu, but she quickly dodged the attack. Following by the dodge, the riolu jumped into the air and her right arm circulated with electricity as she punched the black scyther in the chest. Kane let out a grunt as he collapsed to the ground.

"Boring," the riolu chimed in a childish voice as she dashed towards me. I quickly reacted by shooting a shadow ball, but the riolu just did a front flip over it. The riolu lunged towards me with her fist, but before she made contact Mandus sprang out of nowhere and grasped the riolu by the neck.

"How dare you take the form of-" Mandus began to say before the riolu shocked him and fell to the ground, but quickly sprang upward and upper-cutted him. Mandus flinched back from the attack, but this time he managed to keep his footing.

"You!" Mandus snarled as he clenched his fist and his body began to pulse with a blue aura that was full of hatred. "How dare you take the form of her!" Mandus shouted as he moved in a flash and smashed his fist right where the riolu was right before she moved to safety.

"Still cold about this, huh?" the riolu said as she got in a defensive position.

"Who are you, Rhys?" Mandus questioned.

"Good guess, but Rhys is up to other things other than tormenting you nowadays," the riolu responded with a childish giggle.

"Then who are you?!" Mandus demanded.

"You can call me Skull Face for now. But, I'm afraid this will have to conclude our playtime, it seems I have run out of time," the riolu stated.

"We're not done here!" Merrick shouted at the riolu, but she ran off into the forest.

"Should we chase it?" Kane asked Mandus, who was standing in place almost as if he was in shock or something.

"No," mandus answered as he began to walk back towards town.

"Mandus, shouldn't we-"

"Now's not the time for that. I'll deal with that thing another day, but for now we don't know enough about it," Mandus stated.

As Mandus left the area, I heard some shuffling and I looked to see Scarlet and Vincent awakening. Scarlet was quick to get back to her feet, but Vincent remained on the ground as he stared off into the distance with a blank stare. It took me a second, but I noticed Vincent was trembling.

"Vince?" I questioned the espeon, but he didn't respond. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Vincent?" Scarlet questioned as she walked towards him and kneeled down. Merrick and I both made our way towards him, but Scarlet extended her hand towards us, and made us stop.

"Give him some space, I think he's in shock," Scarlet stated.

"How do you know?" Merrick questioned her.

"Because, if he went through what I did, I doubt he's in good mental state right now," Scarlet answered.

"Should I ask?" Merrick said.

"While I was unconscious I was thrown into an alternate world where I was faced with my worst nightmares. It was terrifying honestly, but luckily I'm not like Vincent right now," Scarlet answered as she pulled Vincent up onto his feet.

Vincent managed to stand on his own, but he looked very zoned out, almost as if he was in another world. He was still trembling, it looked as if he was frozen in fear. I couldn't help but wonder what happened, or how that Skull Face creep did that to Vincent.

"Come on Vincent, let's get you home," Scarlet said as she helped guide him back towards town. Vincent took weak baby steps forward as Scarlet helped guide him.

Chapter End

Author Note: Well that was a fan chapter to write. Apparently I traumatized my beta reader with this chapter... Well, I actually have a deleted scene for this chapter, which was an extension of what all happened with Vincent, but I didn't put it in since it was a bit graphic, and I think it was best left out since I didn't want to make this chapter about gore and etc. Anyways, I hope this was a good read, and thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I really appreciated it! Also the name Rhys that was mentioned earlier in pronounced "Reese". Just in case someone was confused on it.

Also, thank you genericgamer207 for editing this chapter. I keep forgetting to add his name on some of the chapters also, so always assume he helps me, until said otherwise.