Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 113: True motives

"It pleases me very much that you have chosen to accept this job, Lily." Rhys sat at the chair in his office as he conversed with the sylveon Lily.

"I'm just doing my job, sir," The sylveon replied, keeping her tone professional."No need to be so formal, it's fine, really," Rhys let out a small laugh from the way he was addressed as 'sir.' "There is one thing we must discuss though if you will be keeping an eye on Ryder."

"And that is?" Lily asked, her ears perking up in interest.

"Pay close attention. This is very important, and I need you not to forget this. I had our psychics look into Ryder's memories, and we learned that the night before I found him something happened. This strange pokemon that shape shifts like a zorua did something to his head… We ran tests on his mind, and his mind isn't quite what it should be for an umbreon around his age. He has a very unhealthy level of stress, but not only that, whatever that pokemon did to Ryder did damage to his brain. There's more, but there is no telling how all of this will affect him."

"So what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Well, there is no telling how he'll react to certain situations. He could be just fine, or he could suffer serious psychological problems, hallucinations, PTSD, or just about anything really, it'd be impossible to predict."

"So, he has mental problems?"

"If you want to word it like that, then yes, but I'm just warning you. If anything occurs where he's to act strange or do anything irregular you need to report it to me. It's important that we understand his mental condition if we're going to utilize him."

"I can do that for you, but if he was to have these mental problems, what would happen to him?" Lily asked.

"Hmmm, It would depend really, we'll deal with that if the time comes. Till then I appreciate you accepting this job."

Point of View Stark

present time

All five of us remained frozen from the fact that we had no idea what Ryder was going to do next. His snarls only continued as his head hung low with drool dripping from the side of his mouth, but his two red eyes remained fixated on me, not blinking for a second. The dark matter surrounding his body continued to make a loud hissing noise as it ate away at the ground below him very slowly. Just looking at all of this sent chills down my spine, he looked like a demon, and the cause of all of this stemmed from my actions.

"I told all of you to move," Ryder's voice hissed, not sounding anything like the umbreon I thought he was.

Raiden took small steps towards Ryder as he held his hands up to show he wasn't going to do anything. "Ryder, just take a few deep breaths man, you're not thinking straight right now. You have all of us scared right now, so please let's just all take it easy for a moment."

Black's eyes shifted towards Raiden with his pupils narrowing in on him, "Stay back from me," Ryder rose his voice and the dark matter surrounding him intensified, spewing the dark energy all around.

Raiden covered his face as specks of the dark matter splashed onto him, burning the flesh it touched. Despite this, Raiden still pushed forward, "Come on, let's just talk about thi-" Raiden shouted as he extended his hand out towards Ryder and attempted to hit him with paralysis. Ryder let out a loud yell as the energy around him went forward, Raiden quickly dove to the side as he shot a bolt of electrify out of his fingertip, while Black's dark matter ripped another hole into the train's walls. The bolt Raiden shot hit Ryder and the umbreon slammed into the walkway shaking from the electricity coursing through his body.

"Lily give me a hand!"

The sylveon joined in as the dark matter around Black faded into nothing. The sylveon's fleshy ribbons wrapped around Black's body and convulsed around the umbreon just as he regained enough control to squirm. Lily's grip around him only tightened as he continued to resist.

"Hit him with paralysis!" Lily ordered.

Raiden responded immediately as he reached his hand towards Ryder, but right as he did the dark matter around the umbreon returned and flared up enough to send Raiden back The raichu let out a yell, before the back of his skull collided with the steel bench, knocking him out on the spot. Lily let out a loud scream of pain as he ribbons began to burn up and she was quickly forced to release him.

Lily bit down as hard as she could, before yelled at the top of her lungs with fury, "You mother fuc-" Before Lily could even flinch Ryder tackled into her while snapping his teeth down onto her shoulder. The sylveon screamed as she kicked and cried as she was burnt up by the atmosphere of energy around Ryder.

I watched in complete shock as Ryder attempted to kill her, and that's when I decided I couldn't sit idly by while he did this to someone. "Enough!" my voice boomed as I shot a shadow ball straight towards Ryder. The umbreon only managed to look up to see my attack before he was blasted so hard it sent him flying into the train's open wall, leaving a small imprint of his person. Ryder fell to the ground and let out a snarl, before springing back up to his feet and charging straight towards me.

"Black, stop this!" Naomi pleaded as she rushed out from behind me in desperation.

"What're you doing? Get behind me!" I yelled as I grabbed Naomi by the tail and yanked her back just in time for me to shield her from Ryder. With no chance of dodging I closed my eyes as a reflex of fear. Before I knew it I was tackled down to the ground, and Ryder's energy was eating away at me. The pain felt excruciating, like all the flesh around my body was covered in an acid slowly eating away at me. Even with us sharing the same affinity I felt helpless in this state, and my situation only worsened when he pinned me down with his paw.

"This is for Crystal!" Black yelled that same name again, the name of one of the faces of my victims.

'This is the fate I knew I'd meet one day, leading the life I've lead.' My own thoughts echoed in my head as I clenched my eyes shut and tried to block out the pain.

Suddenly the weight off my chest was lifted and the pain ceased to increase. My eyes opened to see a set of black paws standing over me. My eyes travelled upward to realize that it was Naomi coming to my aid.

"Don't you dare!" Naomi sternly growled towards Black with the fur on her back standing up. "I won't let anyone, including you, take anything from me!"

Black froze at the sight of Naomi in this state, the energy surrounding him even began to weaken. "I... I won't let you get in the way of stopping him," Black responded in a low voice before his dark matter returned to its regular state. "If he lives he'll only hurt someone else, and I won't let that happen!" Black ran towards Naomi, and she did the same. Black leapt at her multiple times, but with each attack Naomi weaved around him with her fast feet and snuck in a quick attack, but she was smart enough to use her own dark matter to shield her paws from the burns.

"Stop fucking with me, Naomi!" Ryder yelled as he opened his mouth wide and shot a torrent of dark energy towards her. I watched in terror as Naomi stood in place, completely frozen by the size of the attack. Despite the pain my body was in, I forced myself up and charged straight towards Ryder. My timing was too late and Naomi was hit by the attack. The sound of her agonized cry echoed in my ears and converted into my own fury.

"Ryder!" I roared as I swiped my paw at him just in time to surprise him with a quick attack. Three deep gashes were left on his snout, forcing him to let out a grunt as he covered the gash with his left paw. My body too was consumed by my own dark matter as I repeatedly kept swiping my claws at him, and every few quick attacks I would slam my body into him, throwing him off balance. I continued this process over and over until Ryder was on the ground, covering his face with his paws.

"Stay down," was all I muttered towards him. If I said anything else, I wasn't sure what would come out. Seeing that the fight was mine, I turned from the beaten umbreon and my eyes followed a trail of blood that led to Naomi. "Naomi," I whispered as I ran towards her and tried to think of what I could do to help. My jaw hung agape as my stare stayed focused on the blood escaping from the seared off skin on her right arm. The fur and skin on her limb had been eaten right off all the way up to the base of her neck, revealing the flesh hidden beneath it. Naomi bit down on her lip with her eyes clenched shut, her body shaking from the pain.

"I'm not done yet," a voice growled from behind.

Without looking I muttered towards Ryder, "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" My body spun around and ran towards the umbreon, before a strong ping sounded from atop of the train car. Ryder and I both stopped as we looked up towards the dent on the ceiling. Before I could even process what was going on, an explosion of smoke blew through the ceiling. Out of reflex I hopped back as two figured dropped into the room.

"Now what?" I scowled as the smoke cleared up, revealing two albino pokemon, a vaporeon and a sableye. My head slightly cocked to the side at the two that reminded me a bit of Vincent… or maybe even myself. The two pokemon that stepped into the fight also bared blue eyes that also reminded me of my own. If I had to guess, they're with Genesis. The two pokemon were back to back at first, until both turned towards me.

'This can't be good,' I thought to myself as I shrouded my form in dark matter for protection. In a blurring speed the vaporeon ran at me. As it neared me I lashed my claw towards it, but upon contact I felt my hand splashing into cold water and the part of the water type I hit splashed against the train's wall. I quickly flinched back as I watched the water rejoin with its body, reforming the chunk missing from the vaporeon's head.

"What the Hell?!" I yelled as I shot a shadow ball at the vaporeon. The water type didn't even bother dodging as its body was ripped apart and thrown all over in the form of water. Within seconds of my attack its form rejoined, forming the vaporeon once again.

"What are they going here?" A weak voice spoke from behind. Curiously, I half turned my head to see the sylveon struggling to her feet.

"You know who these two are?" I asked.

"Barely, but Rhys told me about them, and if they're here it can't be good."

"Wonderful," I quipped as I gave my full attention to the vaporeon. The next one to come at me was the sableye, but as he ran to me the Vapreon's body expanded out and created a window of hazy water that blocked my view of the ghost type.

"S-Shit," I muttered as I charged up a shadow ball, but at the top of my vision I made out the sableye phasing through the ceiling. I froze up as the ghost brought his claws down onto me, leaving a deep burning gash travelling down my left shoulder to my chest. I let out a yell as I moved back, but my feet tripped on Naomi and I ended up falling over her.

"You're not going to beat them!" the sylveon yelled at me as she moved towards the back of the train. "These pokemon aren't-" In mid-sentence a loud explosion went off. I felt myself raise up off the ground along with the train, and within seconds everything became a blur. The last thing I could process was flying forward at an alarming speed, but then everything went black.

How long I was out was a mystery. When I did come to, my entire body ached and my head felt like it was being split down the middle. Everything was dark inside the train car, and off in the distance I could hear the echoes of crying, screaming, and yells of pain. I gave my head a good shake to snap out of my daze, and I soon realized that the entire train cart was at a stop, but not only that, the entire car was on its side as well. The only light I could see was a fiery orange that was beaming in from the windows, which mostly casted shadows in the derailed car. My head turned around the room until I found who I was looking for, Naomi.

"Naomi," I attempted to say, before I abruptly spat out my own blood. Ignoring the pain of my body, I attempted to lift myself up, before I felt an intense stab in my side. I let out a whimper as I fell flat on my chest. My eyes traveled down to my side where I found a stray piece of shrapnel in my hip. "Dam-" I spoke, but I spat out my own blood. My head turned back towards Naomi. Other than her previous wounds she didn't look that much worse than before.

Seeing my situation, I know I couldn't just sit in here with Naomi. Those pokemon could still be in the area. Slowly, I reached towards the chunk of metal stuck in my side and bit down on it firmly with my teeth. Through my nose I inhaled a deep breath to help brace myself for the pain. The anticipation of the pain was so strong that my heart was beating against my chest. My grip on the metal tightened and I carefully yanked. My side felt like it was being stabbed all over as I felt the piece of metal slowly slide out of the wound. Halfway through the process the chunk of metal easily slid out along with a lot of my blood. I gasped to catch my breath when I was freed of the metal, but no matter how hard I tried to catch my breath I felt like I just got done running a marathon.

Slowly I forced myself up to my feet and began to limp towards Naomi. When I reached her I placed my head against her chest, and thank Arceus I was able to hear the faint sound of life. From there I placed my snout below her stomach and carefully crawled under her so she was resting on my back. When I went to stand the pain in my side ignited, but I pushed forward and made myself move. I headed towards a large open hole that was ripped into the side of the car from my battle with Black. It was more than large enough for me to get through with Naomi. Before I did completely leave the train cart I glanced back and stared at everyone else who was unconscious in the room. Despite me wanting to help at least Raiden, I couldn't risk Naomi's safety, no matter what her life goes before everyone else's, including my own.

One painful step at a time, I forced myself to continue on until I was outside in the subway tunnel. As I limped along with Naomi, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The entire train was derailed, and at the front of the train was a massive fire, making it impossible to continue on in that direction. Taking my only route, I headed back from the way we went, which would be a long trip in my state.

As I walked along the subway train I spotted a few humans pulling themselves out of the train, some of which were aided by their pokemon. Most ignored me, and I did the same to them, right now I just needed to focus on not passing out. It didn't take longer than a minute of walking for me to be panting with my entire body drugged up on pain.

"You should stop where you are," a voice spoke from atop of the train. I glanced up to see a marowak sitting with his legs hanging off the side of the train as they swayed back and forth. I scowled at the sight of him getting into my business. Unless he was actually going to help, I didn't give a damn what he had to say. I ignored his advice and continued struggling forward.

"Those white pokemon that attacked you, they were specifically trying to kill you," the marowak spoke up again, this time gaining my attention. "Don't feel threatened, Stark, I didn't come here for a fight of any kind. Quite the opposite for a matter of fact." The marowak jumped off the train and headed back towards where I came from. "Sit tight, I'm just grabbing Ryder, we can't have him remaining here, it's too dangerous."

The marowak disappeared for a moment before returning back with Black slung over his shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll send for others to retrieve Raiden and Lily. It'll only be a few minutes before they're retrieved," The marowak went on as he kneeled down in front of me and reached into a bag on his back that I failed to notice earlier. He shuffled around in his bag for a moment before he pulled out a syringe. "Take this, it may not fully recover you, but it'll stop you from dying."

"Who are you?" I asked with distrust.

"Hmm," the marowak's head cocked to the side, before a smirk formed below the skeleton mask of his. "For now call me Rei. I'll give you the truth in private, it's best not to utter my name where anyone can be watching. But, I want you to know I'm the one who sent for your extraction."

"I'm not going to trust you with-" without warning, the marowak jabbed the needle into the side of my neck and pumped the fluids into my bloodstream. Within a split second reaction I smacked the needle out of his hand and attempted to move back, but the result of my sudden movement resulted in me falling flat on my stomach.

"What did you-"

"Relax, I didn't lie to you. What I gave you will keep you going until we can properly patch up those wounds. Now, get up. The Omega squad will no doubt be watching the area to make sure you actually met your fate in the 'train accident.'"

I slowly rose up to my feet, to my surprise that stuff was taking effect really fast. It almost felt like an adrenaline shot, but an effective painkiller at the same time. "And how're you going to protect us if we are spotted?"

"If it really comes down to it, I got some tricks up my sleeve, but for now follow me. We don't have much time, and the faster I can explain things to you the better."

"Fine," I agreed and followed the marowak's lead down the subway channel.

The two of us continued down the subway tracks for quite a ways. It wasn't until the subway train was long out of sight that the marowak started talking again.

"I think we're far enough now where I can start talking about what's going on."

I skeptically glared at the marowak as we walked and talked. "Okay then, who are you?"

"I'm not a marowak for starters. Nope, and it may surprise you that we met once upon a time."

"Don't play, just answer," I growled towards him, but my transgression on got a chuckle from him.

"Names Rhys," the marowak smiled, and the face of an old zorua popped into my head.

"You?!"

Rhys just simply nodded. "Sorry, I didn't plan to meet you like this. I hoped we could have talked somewhere a bit more… comforting for the both of us. But I can't let that get in the way of my mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes," the marowak nodded. "You see; I've been spending a long time assembling a team of the perfect pokemon to fight the greatest threat this world is facing right now." I waited for Rhys to give me an answer, which after a brief pause he did. "Genesis."

"Wait! Don't you work for them?!" I yelled out in utter confusion.

"Mhmm, yeah I do. This is why I've been very careful about the pokemon I've chosen for this mission. Raiden because he has a good heart and can actually understand the good in my actions. Lily because I've known her since she was just an eevee. And there are two other members, but at the moment one is missing, while the other is busy handling another mission to help push us along. And of course a hand picked intel team I assembled, but you'll meet them later."

"What about me then, Naomi, and Ryder? Why us?"

"Naomi was never a part of the plan since I'd assume you wouldn't want her to be a part of this, but I do think we can benefit from someone as smart as her. But isn't it obvious why I wanted you and Ryder? You two aren't any ordinary, run of the mill eeveelutions. You both have gifts that make you living collector items."

"I'm a sickly albino and Ryder has some serious emotional problems… you don't really find this useful, do you?"

"Oh Stark, it's painful to see someone so ignorant about their origin. You and Ryder, you're both two opposite sides of a coin, and neither of you two even realize that you're much closer than you could ever imagine. I'll explain this when you're both conscious though, it'll be a lot easier on me, besides, it looks like we've got company up ahead." With a point of his finger Rhys directed my attention towards the small pokemon running our way down the tracks. She heaved heavily as she closed in on us, only to slide to a dead stop at the sight of us.

The pokemon seemed to only be a younger espeon, only a kid, but that's when it clicked in my head. This wasn't any ordinary espeon, this was the same espeon I ripped her sister from. Suddenly I felt my sins crawling all over my back, reminding me of the heartless choice I made to benefit myself.

The smaller eespeon trembled in place as her eyes froze on me. For a moment her eyes glanced at Black, which made her tremble harder. I took her sister, and I didn't even know either of their names.

Rhys carelessly took a step forward, not realizing who she was, "What's a kid around your age doing around here? You know it's danger down here, right? Are you lost?"

The espeon didn't utter a word to Rhys.

"She's scared of you," Rhys said with his back facing me. "See this Stark? It's the face of what happens when you carelessly take a life, it's the repercussion of your actions. Just think of all those you killed, for every victim there is at least one face like this, just as heart bro-"

"Just stop!" I yelled at Rhys.

"Heh, as you wish, I won't talk about the truth you hide from every day. You may not say it, and you may act like you have thick skin that can't be pierced by guilt, but I know it's all just an act. Deep down inside, you regret every order you took from Jack-"

"I said shut up!" I rose my voice even further.

Rhys just laughed under that mask of his. "Don't be afraid now, my name is Rei, I won't let him lay a paw on you. You're Ebony if I'm correct, right?" Rhys took a few steps towards the espeon before kneeling down.

The espeon 'Ebony' barely managed a whisper below her breath, one that I couldn't make out.

"I'm sorry, you'll need to speak up," Rhys politely asked.

The espeon swallowed the saliva in her mouth before repeating what she said. "W-why do y-you have Black," she stammered.

"This ol' guy," Rhys said as he adjusted Ryder over his shoulder. "Him, he's doing some work with me. It's his chance for atoning for his sins. And it's his way of protecting all of you," Rhys answered.

"I-I don't understand," Ebony sputtered.

"By helping me he's keeping all of you from further harm. Enduring this is his way of making up for endangering all of you. Black only has your best interest in his head."

"Black…" Ebony mused. "So if he's working for you to protect us, then who does that make you?" The espeon's voice rose with a sudden burst of confidence.

"I think it's best if you don't know, for Black's sake. He doesn't want to be remembered for what he's doing, instead I think he'd rather you all remember better times. Now, I'm afraid this meeting must end, little one."

"I'm not leaving without talking to Black! I refuse to believe he's working with Genesis while he's unconscious over your shoulder!"

"That doesn't match the file at all," Rhys laughed to himself. "Weren't you supposed to be timid and afraid of everything? Ahh forget it, it's outdated material, that's all." At a steady pace Rhys began to walk towards the espeon. Her body tensed up as she walked backwards from him, until her backside met with the wall of the tunnel.

"No need to be afraid, kid," Rhys whispered as a purple aura surrounded his hand. "I just can't have you making a scene when I'm on a strict time schedule." Rhys extended out his hand and the aura shot towards the espeon. Her eyes clenched shut as she let out a loud scream before the aura met her and she dropped to the ground. "We'll leave her at the boarding area, from there she should be out of harm's way. Rhys reached down and wrapped his arm around the unconscious espeon and held her against his hip.

"Let's get going Stark, there is much to discuss about the future and the past. Every answer you have will be answered tonight, but in exchange I will ask you to fight this final battle. After, you're a free umbreon."

"That still doesn't fix my small remainder of time left," I scoffed at Rhys as I followed his lead down the tunnel.

"Your condition is easily reversible. While I don't have what we need to fix you now, I will once our true enemy is dealt with. In the meantime I have nanites that were developed just to keep your body from failing you. I've also done the same for Naomi and her brain condition. I know she was given a large quantity of them, but I'd imagine after all that time she's nearly out."

I held my response for a moment after Rhys finished. Here he was telling me to go against the people I was going to for help. In the end I actually had no guarantee that Genesis would take me back, at least he's giving me an offer that might do some good for this world. Still, I had no way of knowing if this Rhys guy was trustworthy. While he didn't seem like a terrible person, I still just couldn't help but be at least a bit skeptical.

"You got somewhere you're taking me right?" I questioned him.

"Mhmm, I secret safe house that Genesis has no way of knowing about."

"Then we'll exchange questions and answers there, after Naomi is conscious. I won't make this decision without her."

"That's fine by me. Back at my safe house I have everything we'll need to treat her. I even have access to Genesis's best medicines, you won't even have to worry about scarring on her arm after that nasty injury, you two will look as if you've never been in this fight to begin with."

"I'm not worried about scars; I'm just worried about her overall safety."

"I understand," Rhys nodded.

Two hours later

It was now very late in the night, maybe a little later and the sun would be coming up. The secret safe house Rhys mentioned was nothing more than an old worn down building that looked like it hasn't been tended to once. The floorboards creaked with each step and lacked carpet, this place was also unheated which made it cold since Winter was just starting. The paint was peeling off the molding walls, and the lights on the ceiling weren't even covered, it was just the bare light bulbs screwed into the sockets.

Naomi was laid out on a low table as Rhys treated her wounds. Ryder on the other hand was wrapped up in a bundle of blankets in the furthest corner of the room. Rhys injected Naomi with a few syringes, and shortly after he was pouring disinfectant over Naomi's skinned arm.

Seeing as this time was good as any other, I decided I would get some of the smaller questions out of the way.

"So," I started, "Who exactly were those white pokemon? you mentioned they were the Omega squad."

Rhys continued wrapping a bandage around Naomi's arm before he responded. "Genesis's newest creation, the fourth kind of pokemon."

"Fourth kind? I didn't even know there were different kinds of pokemon to begin with, unless you're talking about species or affinities."

"No-no, you're thinking of it the wrong way," Rhys stated. "There were naturally two types of pokemon, your average pokemon that you see every day, and then pokemon like you and Black who are one in a million."

"Albinos and shinies?"

"You're still ice cold on the correct answer, Stark. I still can't believe you haven't put two and two together. Do you think Crimson Dawn asked Genesis to reanimate you for no reason? No, there are a lot more pokemon that could have filled that spot if they wanted a normal pokemon to fight with them. It's just like Ryder there, they could have easily found any shiny umbreon, but we both know he's not a normal umbreon, so you don't have to play dumb for the sake of protecting their secrets."

Rhys's retort to me playing dumb actually caught me a bit off guard. "It's not that I'm wanting to play dumb, I just don't know if I trust you over Crimson. Understand?"

"I fully understand, Stark. But I'm not the one that concealed secrets from you."

"Okay then, care to explain further?"

"Yeah, I will. But these answers will have to wait until everyone is well and awake. And even before that I have a lot of explaining to do, Black doesn't quite know the truth of why I brought him to Genesis, he thinks I've been training him to kill Mandus, when really that was a cover up to get him to cooperate. Really, I would like to get the help of Mandus, since his power is unmatched."

"Seems like you're asking for a lot of people who hated each other to suddenly hold hands and cooperate."

"Heh, this whole plan is dependent on people putting aside their differences and assimilating as one. I also aim to get help from The White Reaper, Dawn. If I can convince her to help she can get WPA to join in as well, and only then we'll have a chance of stopping Genesis on time."

"Wait, what do you mean 'on time'?"

"Right, there's a lot you don't know about Genesis yet. While the majority if not all of the workers are in it for money, there leader, R-… Ghost." Rhys paused for a moment before continuing on. "The leader of Genesis, Ghost, he has a plan to forever change this world in a way that he thinks will bring true peace. His plan launches on new year's, and that's just around the corner. If his plan succeeds there will be no stopping him, the fight will be over. Till then I need as much power as possible, we only have time for one good attack."

Before I could ask further questions I heard the sound of shuffling in the back of the room. Rhys and I both turned to see Black tossing and turning before his eyes opened.

"Ahh, Ryder, you're awake. Just in time for a conversation you've been very eager about."

"Who are you, and where am I?"

Chapter End