Book II: Impending Twilight
Chapter 123: God of destruction
Point of View Stark
After the most breathtaking night of my life, it was time to get down to business. Whether I was going to survive this or not, I could at least say I got to leave with a smile. Nevertheless, I couldn't die now, I had a beautiful mate to return back to.
She actually had me excited with the idea of a family. It really did feel like I was going to get a clean slate and just start over with them. No more violence, just me and my family. It did feel like a foreign emotion to me at times, especially when thinking about giving it to anyone but Naomi, but for our child I would share it.
Basking under the moon, I watched the gentle snow fall as I sat atop of a hill, overlooking Snowbelle. Only five more hours and the night would be over. Hopefully by dawn all of this would be over.
"So you've made it," a voice spoke from behind. I looked back to see Rhys in his marowak form. Firmly clutched in his hand was a large black duffle bag. I already knew what its purpose was, I could only hope this would be my last sin.
"Just remember your side of the deal," I spoke quietly.
"You have my word, you and Naomi will be free after this. Of course I will provide you with the cures I promised as well. I am a zorua of my word."
I couldn't help but scoff in my own thoughts. 'A zorua of my word' that's funny coming from someone who can change what kind of pokemon he is.
"Now now, time is of the essence. Every minute we wait is another minute in Genesis's advantage. Go and set up our little plan where we discussed. Be sure that you're not seen by anyone else, and when the time comes be sure to meet me where we discussed. After, I would like it if you disappeared for a while with Naomi."
"Right," I said, grabbing the duffle bag in my mouth. To no surprise it was empty. It would only take one night to commit this crime… but the sins will last forever.
Point of View Black
For most of the night, I found myself tossing and turning alone in my assigned room. I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. I wanted to, my eyes even ached, but I couldn't. Instead, after many hours of struggling, I threw myself off my mattress and snuck out of my room. I stumbled my way through the base, realizing it was very early in the morning, but still dark as night.
Most of the WPA base was empty, most of the pokemon who were awake were those on sentinel duty. It felt odd being awake so late, and I couldn't help but feel out of place from all the odd stares I got. No doubt most didn't trust me up this late, most recognized me from what happened back in Lumiose. My name may have been cleared, but my image wouldn't be the same for a long time, if ever.
I stumbled my way into the cafeteria, to no surprise it was dead, besides two pokemon who were talking alone, my father and his shadow, Isaac. I didn't bother eavesdropping, but I did approach. I figured I would find him around this hour here, after all he did invite me.
"Ryder, you're awake," my father smiled.
I didn't respond, only looking back and forth between the two pokemon.
"I was just talking to Isaac about important matters before I depart to see our family. I'm glad you changed your mind about coming."
I just gave a small nod to my father to at least acknowledge him.
"Anyways," my father turned to Isaac. "We can pick back up on thi-"
"Say no more, sir. I'll be ready when you return." The grovyle gave a nod before going his own way.
"Are you ready, or would you like to eat or bring something?"
"No," I answered.
"Then let's go, I don't want to keep them waiting any longer." My Dad forced a smile, but I saw through it. He was just trying to act strong.
It wasn't until we were out on the empty streets of Snowbelle that Dad started talking again.
"I still remember how I met your mother." he gave an empty chuckle. "She was... ummm different to say the least. Have I ever told you this story?"
I turned from my father, "No, you were gone, I always had to hear it from Mom," I spat out.
Dad didn't respond to that, and only continued. "Well, you know the whole fiasco with her home being victimized by dogged poachers. The WPA had to step in and-"
"I said Mom already told me this," I grumbled.
"I know… but I thought you'd like to hear my perspective."
"I would've loved to hear it from my father when I was a kid. Guess you missed that, did you?"
"I already told you I was sorry about that, Ryder," he said numbly.
"It was hard you know," I started. "Being the shiny freak eevee with red eyes, being the kid with a whore Mom who fucked a flareon who just upped and le-"
"Don't speak about her like that!" Dad demanded.
I stood back a step from his anger, but it was more out of shock. "I would never speak about Mom that way. But how do you think it looked to others? Every time you came back she got pregnant, but you never stayed. People noticed, and they made their stories, and their kids had serious shit to dish out towards me and the others."
This time Dad took his turn to shut up.
"So yeah, I was bullied a lot, everyone thought my Mom was that. Didn't help that I was some deformed freak in their eyes, then I didn't know how to even defend myself because I had no Dad to teach me anything. Do you know how hard that was, then one day I just have all of it taken away, to see everyone slaughtered like that?" When I finished I took in deep breaths, feeling as if I was winded from my own rage. Dad just stared at me like some fucking moron, not saying a damn thing to at least try and lie.
Then it finally came, "You really hate me, don't you?" My father stopped to look at me, his eyes looking heavy, but he never shed a tear.
"What do you think?" I muttered, before turning away from him and walking. "Go answer to my family yourself, asshole."
My father never followed as I left him. He only sat and watched in his shocked state. When I turned down to the next street my legs picked up into running. The cold wind against my tears burned, but I couldn't stop.
I hated him so much, I hated him, hated him with everything! I may have been his blood, but he never earned the right to be my father. I didn't believe he really loved Mom, otherwise he wouldn't have left her to die!
My legs didn't give out until I was on the opposite side of Snowbelle. I managed to crawl under a bench and hide as I continued to tear up. I wasn't going to be seen like this. At least down here I could hide from that self centered prick. I let all my anger out in a cry.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed where I had been crying, but when two feet stopped in front of my bench I was quick to stop.
"You alright?" a soft female voice spoke. "I could hear you from across the street, I was actually expecting a kid or something but…"
"Do you really have to get involved with this, I thought we were busy with something more important?"
"I'm a psychologist that helps people, this is in my nature!"
"Just go," I growled at the two.
"See, he doesn't want our hel-"
"You just don't wanna help because there is no money in it," she argued, before crouching down to peek below the bench at me.
Her two orangish-red eyes met my own. The braixen gave a warm smile and waved her hand. Surprisingly something about her did calm me. It was as if fennekin and its evolutions were all nosey. While it did remind me of Flare, I wasn't in the mood to deal with others.
"I just want to be alone," I said, crawling further under.
"Whoa," the braixen's mouth dropped. "Your eyes, they're red."
My teeth gnashed together, of course she'd notice my defects as an eon. I was ready to run, but then she said something that surprised me.
"How pretty."
"Huh?" I froze, feeling stupefied.
"Sorry, that was rude," the braixen chuckled. "I've just never seen that on a pokemon before, but I thought it looked cute."
"You think my eyes are cute?"
"Annie… stop flirting with the umbreon," the other pokemon scowled.
"It's not like that!" She jumped up onto her feet, throwing her hands to her side like a kid. "You're just jelly!"
Seeing as my cover was blown I pulled myself out from under the bench and saw the zoroark that was with the braixen, Annie.
"Why would I be jealous when you offered me a freebie the other night, hmmm? You do still owe me actually, I could change the favor you know. I am very lonely after all, according to you that is."
"He's lying!" she yelled, pointing a finger at him. "He's a zoroark, they always lie."
"And you just called me racist yesterday you hypocrite!"
"Lies! Lies! All lies!"
"You're the liar!"
"I'll set your pants on fire, liar!"
"What the fuck is this?" I cringed, awkwardly backing away from the bickering two.
"I don't even have pants!" the zoroark pressed his palm to his face. "And I'm done talking about this."
"Because you know I'm-"
"Yeah-yeah, sure you're right Annie. I'm wrong."
"Yes," the braixen threw her fist up triumphantly.
I will admit, whatever stress I was feeling earlier seemed to have slipped away in my confusion. I did not expect the show these two were putting on.
"Anyways," the zoroark started back up. "Before we scare you away for good, any idea where to WPA base is from here? Kinda got lost and this whole city is like a maze."
"I can't really give good directions," I admitted, "But I could show you the way, since I'm going to be heading there soon anyways."
"Wait, are you with the WPA?" Annie asked. "We're looking for the absol known as The White Reaper, ring a bell?"
"White Reaper?" I said in confusion. "I have no idea who that is."
"The spawn of Satan," the zoroark scoffed.
"Reminds me of a pikachu I once knew." I gave a dull laugh as I thought back to all the pranks.
"Right, the zoroark nodded. "So, you'll lead the way then?"
"I can do that," I nodded.
"You're the umbreon," the zoroark said with a smirk.
"Yeah," I shrugged as I began heading in the way of the WPA base.
"You still haven't answered though, what's your relation with WPA?" Annie asked.
"Oh," I started, but then I remembered that I was only linked through Rhys and my father. "I'm just there on business."
"Ah, I won't pry," She said. "And I owe you for this, it really does mean a lot."
The zoroark laughed to himself. "You're lucky man, she'll do anything for you… anything," he winked.
"You're really not going to let that go are you?" Annie groaned.
"Not until I've had my fun, you can at least give me that."
"Alright, fine… but I'll remember that."
"Like you'd need that to remember to tease me."
"You two bicker a lot," I stated.
"Heh," the shadow fox chuckled. "Sometimes you need friction to make fire, and that's what all this banter gets us."
"He's mostly an ass," Annie sneered.
Third person point of View
Back at the WPA base most pokemon were preparing for the assault that would take place in a mere few days. A lot of gossip had spread amongst the pokemon as they tried to piece together what was going on. But in the end they were all kept in the dark of what Genesis's true plan was.
Everything had appeared peaceful as the pokemon continued a busy day of work, until an explosion went off on the south side of the base. Smoke filled the air as metal and rubble flew everywhere. Most pokemon ran from the source and got into defensive positions.
A cold silence filled the air as the smoke cleared, revealing the mangled bodies of those caught up in the explosion. Through the smoke a man walked with his soldiers and pokemon, none paying the least bit of attention to the dead. Leading the group was Ghost who was glancing down at his watch.
"So, which one of you can tell me where Rhys is?"
Point of View Annie
Not too far from where Black had said the WPA base was an explosion went off. In the dark of the night it was impossible not to be caught off guard.
"What was that?" I asked, nearly jumping from the fright.
"A bomb?" Zylen said as he took off running. We all followed behind him.
"I'm going to go ahead, you two be careful." Zylen jumped to the air as his body changed into a Ninjask and took to the skies, leaving just Black and me.
"How much further?" I asked, looking at the umbreon as we ran.
"Just a few streets down," he replied.
And as he promised we arrived shortly. Smoke fumed from a large hole that was blown into the side of the WPA base. Outside the base were dead bodies, all pokemon who appeared to have been killed on the spot.
"Arceus," the umbreon gasped as he stopped in front of the tall link fence. "What's happening?"
Giving a few slashes with my arm I sliced an opening into the fence using psycho cut..
"If I had to guess it's Genesis."
"Then we need to get out of here," the umbreon urged. "I've seen what they are capable of, I can't go through this again," The umbreon turned to run, but just as he did I grabbed his ear, yanking him back towards me.
"There are pokemon in there that need our help, do you really want to run?"
"I…" the dark type clenched his eyes shut as he fell to the ground. "I… I-"
"I can't wait for your decision, it's now or never, Black. All I know is that they will need us." I released the umbreon and ran through the entrance I made.
"Wait!" Black shouted at me and I slid to a halt. "I'll come with, I just can't promise I'll be a lot of help."
"That's fine, you're better than nothing."
Not wasting another second the two of us ran through the yard of the facility. Dead bodies were everywhere, their blood all over the place. The umbreon had to clench his eyes shut to get through all of it. I couldn't blame him, it was very morbid, but it still wasn't the worst horror I've seen.
The two of us passed through the gaping hole in the base, finding that everything inside was lost in a thick smoke. The umbreon began to cough, but me being a fire type I wasn't too bothered by it. We both walked slowly through the base, watching for any obstacles or survivors.
Suddenly the umbreon let out a scream. I looked to see him scurrying away before tripping. I ran to him but stopped at the sight of a dead wigglytuff that had her innards sprawled out along the ground. I placed a hand over my mouth. It was wrong, no one should ever end up like that.
"Black-" I said, before I heard the umbreon throwing up. I waited for him to finish before placing a hand over his back. "We need to keep going."
"Y-yeah," he gave a weak nod. I could see his legs were trembling. I knew at this point he wasn't going to be of much help, but I didn't have time to make sure he got out of here safely.
"Just stay close to me and we'll get through this." He nodded again and I lead the way.
The air inside stank of a burnt meat. The smell felt disgusting, even if smelling cooked pokemon was normal in our world, seeing them as victims made it an entirely different stench. As we went in the horrors continued, most of the pokemon seemed to have been blatantly murdered by the hands of others.
"Zylen," I whispered, praying that he didn't get here on time to join the corpses. I would have yelled, but the smoked kept me from knowing what was in the vicinity. I wasn't looking to blow my cover and risk confrontation with the ones who did this.
Point of View Zylen
Strangely enough, I stumbled upon a hole that had been blown into the ground, leading down into some kind of basement below the WPA base. I had no doubts that Genesis knew what they were doing when they came here, they knew WPA had something hidden beneath it. But what?
I dropped down into the pit, crouching into my fall. Down here the area was lit by ominous blue lights that were built into the ceiling. The walls were made up of technology I didn't understand, looking like server racks or something. Wires snaked all around the floor, making it hard not to trip. Even below me I could see more of the strange technology that was lit in the same ominous blue.
"Did I just stumble into some kind of movie set?" I asked myself, slowly walking down the hall. I exhaled a breath, seeing the mist from the cold. Bastards didn't even bother heating things down here.
The halls continued to twist and turn, sometimes breaking off into multiple directions. It didn't take long for me to feel lost, especially as I descended further into this bizarre place.
A crackle of gunshots echoed. I stopped to listen, but only silence followed. Taking in a deep breath I continued along. I wondered just how long this place had been hidden? That wasn't what was important though, its purpose was.
Eventually, I stumbled upon a large door which had been forced open just big enough for a human to slip through. Bright lights shone from inside, and the sound of yelling echoed into the halls.
I sucked in my gut and passed through the cracked door with ease. What was inside made me freeze. I wasn't even sure what I was looking at. The room I was in was a large sphere, and a steel bridge made up the flooring to the core where some super computer was. From the bottom and top of the sphere, a series of wires and cords travelled up and into the computer, looking like a series of branches coming together to the heart of the room. All along the walls of the sphere shaped room were monitors all viewing random locations around what I assumed was Kalos.
In on specific monitor I could see a man taking a picture of his family, in another I could see that it was a traffic camera. Just what kind of illuminati bullcrap was this?! The WPA was spying on people, that was no doubt a violation of basic right!
"What is this…" I said, before my eyes focused in on the human and the pokemon at the core. I cautiously walked along the bridge towards them, very hesitant on getting involved in this. I instantly recognized two of the faces Ghost and Dawn. The others in the room being a marowak and a grovyle.
"Who are you?" the grovyle demanded as he jumped from the core and landed at the other end of the bridge. Both of his arms rose up in a defensive position as the leaves on them hardened into blades.
"He's with me," Dawn spoke up.
"What is this place?" I asked in shock, still looking around at all of the cameras.
Ghost gave a dry laugh. "The WPA's little secret."
"What?" I turned to the human.
"That's enough," the grovyle snarled. "Shut your mouth or I'll have your head."
"If you could kill me I would already be dead," Ghost said. "All I've come for is that liar," he pointed a finger at the marowak. "Don't think I don't see through your disguise."
"I see," the marowak shook his head. "And here I at least hoped I had a chance of playing this role a bit longer. Oh well, sick of wearing this skull anyways." In a bright flash of purple the marowak shrank down into a zorua.
"You?!" Dawn snapped. A long blade of energy arose from her horn as her teeth gnashed together. "To think you were right under my nose this whole time!"
"Come now, Dawn. I wouldn't have done everything I've done if I weren't on your side. I merely just wanted to eliminate Ghost once and for all, is that really so awful that you have to reward me with violence?"
"I don't care! I remember what you did, I remember all the lives that were lost because of you!"
"This isn't the time for that Dawn!" the zorua snapped back, before pulling his stare to Ghost and pointing a paw. "This is the enemy! And he's here in front of us at our mercy, and you just want to ignore him over your petty vendetta?! Don't be a slave to your emotions! He's the enemy! Together we can kill him right here, stop him from enslaving the whole world!"
"Did you really think I came here so unprepared I couldn't handle two pale pokemon like you?" Ghost turned his back to the two.
"Zylen!" A voice cried from behind. Running to me was Annie and Black, both appearing exhausted but unscathed.
"Stay back," I warned them, "I don't like this."
"Such imprudence," Ghost spoke coldly. "You nearly had everyone at your fingertips, little zorua. But in the end you can't silence the one who knows what you truly desire."
"Don't listen to a word he says!" Rhys snapped.
"You infiltrated the WPA and aimed to gain their trust because they have the power to accomplish what you want." Ghost finally faced back at Dawn and Rhys. "For a government to protect its subjects it must enslave them. How else could one provide peace to this disgusting hell?"
"What do you mean?" Annie interrupted.
Ghost gave a wide grin. "Look around you and tell me what you see? This room can see everything around Kalos. This whole facilities purpose is to collect information, data, secrets from around the world that they have stolen. Who would predict such an innocent, suave group of pokemon would ever conduct themselves in such a heinous fashion?"
"Why though?" Annie persisted. "The WPA have dones lots of great things for humans and pokemon, why would they throw away everything they've worked for, for this?"
"Because, the only way the WPA believes they can truly protect this world is by enslaving them through fear. It's their deterrence against anyone who would oppose them. Not here, but hidden cleverly in the other WPA facilities around the world is technology of mass destruction that could ruin the world in a single day. How do I know such a thing?" Ghost started to sound hysteric in some form of sick joy, "Why the WPA has been fighting to steal our technology ever since. Just think about what they had to gain from keeping you as a spy, braixen. They could have easily stopped what was going on there, but they kept you as an informant. So many pokemon died, and they just watched as they sponged in the results like a science lesson
"And let's not forget many of the other incidents around Kalos that were spearheaded by the WPA, because they wanted me to appear as the bad guy. Did you know that over half of the terrorism you've seen from Genesis was all a lie? No you didn't, the WPA did a good job at framing us, and giving a good reason to scare humans and pokemon into believing they needed to destroy us. What a creative method to purloin what was mine. And who'll stop the angels of peace, when they'd sacrifice their lives for the innocent?"
"That's bullshit!" The umbreon snapped. "My Dad was the one who found the WPA, you can't just tell me he'd lie to me like that! I know he's not the best pokemon in the world, but he'd never do that!"
"Such ignorance," Ghost chuckled. "Zack is full of rage, just ask Rhys about the incident that sparked this wildfire of events. Ask about who Zack's brother was, ask about your father's vendetta."
Black turned towards Rhys, his eyes cold, his paws trembling in rage, or was it fear?
"Go on, tell him or I will."
"It's all a lie-"
"No," Dawn cut in. "Long before you were ever born your Father had a brother. He and Zach were both abducted by Genesis and in the end your father was forced to murder him. And the one responsible for all of those events was him." Dawn shot a cold glare at Rhys, forcing him back.
The zorua bit at his lips, drawing blood as he looked back and forth between everyone in the room. "Alright, it is true! I forced your father to kill his brother!"
"And thus through the flames of hate the WPA was made through his vendetta to murder you," Ghost added. "The WPA is nothing put pure evil, it was made on a lie, and the motives it has formed over the years were all made from corruption of power hungry pokemon."
"Either way I'm taking you down," Rhys snarled.
Dawn stepped towards the human, "While me and the zorua have unfinished business, I will not let this chance to assassinate you slip through my claws."
"I figured it would come down to this." Ghost reached into his pocket and took out a pokeball. "I guess the next time we meet will be in Hell."
The ball released a thick smoke and a radiation of red so powerful I had to squint my eyes. A form took shape as two wings sent a gust so strong it forced my back. Two blue flames burned through the steam as the creature pointed its nose up and gave out a howl so powerful it pushed the steam away, revealing its blood red and jet black body. I held my ears from the pain the high pitched howl brought me.
"Behold, the pokemon God of destruction!" Ghost shouted as he threw a hand up towards the God. With its left talon it grabbed his arm and lifted him up.
"Arceus…" Annie uttered.
"Now die!" The pokemon opened its maw, releasing a red beam that gave out a high hiss. Sparks flew everywhere as the god cut the bridge like it was nothing. Before I could respond, the bridge collapsed, sending all of us towards our deaths.
I quickly transformed into a charizard and flew. I managed to catch both the umbreon and Annie in my arms. The god didn't stop there though, it continued to destroy the room with its lasers.
I flew as fast as I could through the exit and took us through the maze of halls. I Held Annie and the umbreon as tightly as I could, just praying it wouldn't come after us when it was done in there.
"What the fuck was that thing!" The umbreon shouted.
"That was Yvletal!" Annie answered in a panic as she climbed from my arms onto my back. "How does he have control over that Legendary, it shouldn't be possible!"
"I don't know!" I responded. "But we need to leave Snowbelle now!"
After many twists and turns I found my way back into the main part of the WPA base. I didn't waste a second and headed straight for the hole that was blown in the wall. Picking up my speed, I flew into the sky only turning back to the base when I thought we were a safe distance. But I was wrong to think this far was safe. In seconds the WPA base was torn apart by a torrent of lasers. Nothing remained of the base as the god emerged from the smoke, giving out another howl.
"No…" I said in shock from all that power. If we had been just a few seconds later we wouldn't even have our bodies to bury.
A powerful pulsing aura emitted from Yvletal as its wings flapped in the air. I couldn't move, just how unreal its power was had me petrified. That thing was on a whole different level than Xerneas or the other Legendary beasts, and it was in the hands of a mad man.
I was so stuck in my shock I didn't even notice when the creature turned its glare at me.
"Zylen!" Annie screamed.
All I could yell was a swear as I swooped away. The beam deafened all sounds as a wave of power threw me from the air. I went back and forth as I tried to correct myself, but the best I could do was to hug the umbreon in my right and take the brunt of the blow into the roof of a building. My body slammed down onto the concrete of the structure, I tried breaking to fall with my left arm but something snapped and I gave a scream. My form released and the two fell from me as I rolled along the surface. Annie perfectly landed and grabbed me before I could go over the ledge.
"Zylen," Annie breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled me away from the ledge. The umbreon remained down, wincing in pain as my eyes followed the few streaks of blood he left from scraping along the roof.
"I'm fine," I managed, before coughing up my own blood. I rolled onto my front, and with the first movement of my left arm I felt a raw pain. I pushed myself up with my right and noticed my dangling limb.
"Your arm," Annie said as she kneeled down to look at it.
"I think I snapped it on the fall…" I said. "It's fine though, I can just block out the pain like I always do." And thankfully I could, if it hadn't been for that one technique I developed I wouldn't be moving right now. Although nothing would ever convince me that the sight of the snapped limb wasn't repulsive.
"What about the umbreon?" I reminded her.
"Black?!" Annie called out as she ran to him.
"I'm in one piece," he groaned from the ground. He attempted to stand, but fell before even half way.
The sky flashed red as high pitch of Yvletal's beam cut through the city, creating clean cuts through the buildings. Dancing along the beam was a white blur. I had to strain my eyes, but I was able to make it out, it was Dawn!
"Dawn's actually trying to fight that thing," I said. "We should take this chance to get out of here while we can."
"What about the civilians?!" Annie cried.
"Annie no!" I snapped. "Look at that thing! We nearly died and its attack missed!" I continued to follow the lightning fast blurs of Dawn as she jumped building to building. She was still on a godly level, a level I would never dream of matching.
"I can't sit and watch this happen though," Annie argued. "I have to at least help the civilians get out of here. I can at least do that while others are fighting."
"Annie!" I Firmly grabbed her arm. "I won't let you do that!"
"Let go of me!" Annie pulled herself free. "It's fine, if you want to get out of here, I won't blame you. But I'm not too badly hurt, I can still help."
"Annie, please just come with me, you'll die if you stay!"
"I can't."
"You owe me a favor!" I shouted as I grabbed her arm again, but fell from my fatigue and landed at her feet. All I could do was grab her leg to prevent her from doing something stupid. "Please, you promised me a favor, stay with me, that's all I want now!"
"Zylen…" Annie whispered as she crouched down and assisted me on getting up to my knees. "I'm sorry, that's one thing I can't do."
"What about your brother! If you die you won't see him!"
Instead of yelling back, Annie just simply wrapped her arms around me. She didn't say a word, she just held on tight. With my good arm I returned the hug and held her as if I was going to never let her go.
"You've done so much for me, and I'm too selfish to listen," Annie whispered into my ear. "And I know you're going to be angry."
"Please don't," I struggled out, feeling my eyes growing heavy.
"I know I still owe you, and I really don't have a way to make us even, but for now this'll have to do as a teaser." I was about to ask what she meant, but she pulled back from my ear and surprised me with a kiss. I froze as her lips pressed against mine, but it only lasted a second before another high pitch from Yvletal's laser startled her away.
"W-What was that?" I stuttered.
Annie stood up and gave a smile. In the red flashes of the sky, I could see the light reflecting from her tears. "Like I said, it's a teaser. I already said I didn't know how to repay you, but then it clicked. The best way I can repay you is to always be by your side after this is over. I guess my gift to you is also me being selfish again, because I just want to make myself happy by doing that too. Sorry, I realize this is a terrible time to spill my guts… I umm hope this isn't too cheesy, it isn't is it? Black?" the braixen looked at the umbreon for an input.
I threw myself forward at the braixen, but she leapt away and I face planted onto the hard ground. Pulling myself up, I struggled to speak, "If that's really how you feel, then don't go. Stay with me and I'll take it as payment!"
Annie gave out a sigh and finally said what I wanted to hear, "Alright," she smiled. She crouched down next to me again and held my cheek as I laid on the ground. "I'll stay, and I promise to always be by your side when you need me." She gave such a cute smile, one that took me way back to when she was a fennekin and we had a lot less to worry about. Seeing this almost made me forget about apocalypse, and the fact her hand was resonating with a purple energy.
"Annie… you… liar." In the comfort of her hand I passed out on the spot, seeing the image of what was really a sad smile all along burned into my head.
Point of View Annie
"Watch over him," I said to the umbreon who looked mostly shocked at what had happened.
"He's right, you shouldn't stay here." He was just now able to struggle up onto his feet.
"He should be waking up in three minutes or so, if not force him awake and get him to safety. Tell him to meet me in that small runned down shack we found outside of Snowbelle. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Without waiting for a response I took off running. Using psycho slash I cut the lock off the door leading into the building. Rushing through the building, I found the fire exit which would take me to the ground level. I jumped floor from floor and slid down the railing to save time until I reached the bottom.
When I was finally outside I was met with a wave of running humans and pokemon. The sky continued to flicker with red as the legendary pokemon let out a high pitched scream that echoed through the night. A few blocks down a building gave out. A wave of debris came as I took cover in an ally. My eyes clenched as I felt the wave of debris pass.
Everyone frantically screamed and ran. I could hear the cries of children, the agony of the injured. Arceus, I could only imagine how many died under that building, I didn't even want to imagine where the real battle was taking place. How many had to die tonight?
"Zylen, please stay safe," I prayed as I ran back out onto the street towards where Yvletal was soaring through the sky. On the back of the creature I could see the spec that was Ghost.
"Monster!" I screamed at the human as I ran down the street. It all felt like the apocalypse to me. Something you would see in a movie, but the reality was much more horrible than anything a film could show.
When I made my way further into the ruins of Snowbelle I found that the streets were hardly recognizable. Very few remnants of pokemon and humans remained, and aside from a few charcoaled limbs, all were crushed beneath the buildings or gone entirely.
Yvletal landed on a building down the street from me. Its head reached towards the sky as it let out a high pitched cry that shattered my eardrums. Both my hands folded my ears shut as I dropped to my knees. My head lowered as I screamed too. When it stopped I looked back up at the demon, seeing that its two burning eyes were zoomed in on me.
"No…" was all I could say as the creature opened its maw to annihilate me. A flash of red escaped, but before my death came a blue shooting star that collided with the creature, throwing It off the building and firing its beam into the sky.
The blue flame jumped from building to building before it landed in front of me. A pokemon kept its back to me as he stood proudly. Of course it didn't take more than a second for me to recognize my savior.
"M-Mandus," I said as I wiped a tear that escaped my eye. How close I had come to dying, and only by luck he showed up.
"You need to leave. I was only able to intervene on time because I recognized your aura. I can't guarantee your safety if you stay."
"I came to evacuate any survivors."
The lucario crouched down low to the ground. "There are few out there, but I only sensed them. Hurry if you must, but stay hidden and don't linger." Like a bullet the lucario shot up into the air and left me.
"So you came to help?" A voice said from an alley. I turned to see a greninja hugging against the wall to stay hidden.
"Yeah," I nodded as I ran into the alley with her.
"Then we won't have long. Mandus is powerful, but even with the help of the White Reaper they may not stand a good chance."
I gave the greninja a nod, before heading my own way. All I could really pray was that Zylen would be safe. I didn't want him to die yet, not after finally having a decent chance to express how I felt!
Third person point of view
"Holy Arceus, what have you done?" Lily said as she watched the chaos from afar atop of a building with Rhys.
"Things didn't go to plan today…" Rhys said in disappointment. "Luckily, I always have a backup, so not everything went wrong I guess."
"Jeez, with all this chaos, I'd hope you do. There won't be a snowbelle pretty soon, or a WPA either."
"Perhaps this is what I want though," Rhys smiled.
"How is this what you want?" Lily said in disgust. "How many people do you even think died so far, because I can't even begin to guess, and you're smiling about that?"
"It's all cause and effect, Lily. The world already hates Genesis. This right here will be mass genocide. When the world realizes that Ghost has a weapon as powerful as Yvletal there will be no shortage of volunteers tomorrow to fight him. For the first time ever the world will stand as one to finally eradicate Genesis. He's going to be viewed as the world's next menace. So yes, this works in my advantage towards my revenge. I just happen to be the zorua who knows everything about him, they'll need me to stop him."
"I see," Lily said thoughtfully as she watched the humans run and scream from Snowbelle. "But everyone found out who you are. Won't everyone suspect you? Or are you just going to start from scratch again with a new identity and form?"
"All a part of my back up plan, Lily. Now we just wait for our little aevon to deliver his side of the deal. Might have to kill him though, doubt his lover will survive the chaos tonight, and he'll snap worse than the other umbreon once she's gone."
"How sad," Lily frowned.
Point of View Naomi
"Run, run, run, run, run!" Raiden repeatedly ran as we took the stairs down. I followed after the raichu, just as eager to escape. My heart had never pounded so hard in my chest before, I couldn't believe what was happening! A Legendary tearing Snowbelle asunder like this!
When at ground level, we rushed out of the building and onto the streets. A wave of humans all ran from the monster that soared the skies. Its destructive attacks left nothing as it attempted to fight two other pokemon, both consumed in a burning aura and shooting around like bullets.
Out in all this madness, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about whether Stark was still alive… The thought was harrowing, I couldn't lose him, not now.
"Watch out!" Raiden suddenly dove atop of me as a beam of red destroyed the building to our right. Rubble flew everywhere as the raichu protected me. When things settled he stood up and pulled me to my feet.
"C'mon, c'mon, I don't wanna die here too!" The raichu forced me to run at his pace, even though I was much faster than him. "I knew I should have stayed with Jack!"
In any other situation I might have found the raichu's panicking humorous, but in this situation I felt just as terrified.
Point of View Annie
With a strong grunt I lifted a human child up and cradled him in my arms. Blood seeped from the deep gashes in on his head as he sobbed in my arms. The child was no older than three or four, too young to see any of this even on TV. Poor kid.
"It's going to be alright, I won't let anything happen to you," I softly spoke as I nuzzled up against the humans toddlers cheeks with my own furry cheeks. It helped a little with his panic, but the sobs continued. Being absolutely adorable in the eyes of humans did have advantages when I needed to calm one… just wish I was cute enough to calm him from this.
I held him tightly as I ran as fast as my feet would carry me. The ground shook as explosions went off from the armageddon in the distance. I ran street after street, dead corpse after dead corpse. Who was I trying to convince? Nothing was going to be alright after this.
"We're fine, it's alright, it's fine," I frantically repeated those words over and over in a pathetic attempt to lie to myself. A few buildings down a structure collapse, the shock wave making me trip and drop the child. The child called for his mother over and over, his sobs making it difficult to even make out his pleading for help.
"I'm sorry," I winced as I stood again. As my head rose, my eyes met with a pokemon. His two red eyes staring down at me and the child, looking malicious.
"Saved me the trouble of having to hunt you down."
"What?" I dashed forward towards the child, but before my hand reached I felt the burn of his leaf blade to my neck.
"Tell me, where's the zoroark and the umbreon Ryder?"
"Safe," I said as I felt a trickle of blood seep down my neck.
The child on the ground ceased to cry, only frozen in fear as he looked up at the two of us. I beamed him an unsure smile, but I lacked the confidence to hold it for long. I couldn't fake the smiles anymore.
"You wouldn't mind saving me the trouble, would you?"
"They're fine!" I snapped, swinging my head around the blade and grabbing the child and running as I pulled him into a tight hug.
"You don't seem to get it," his voice blew through the air like wind as I felt a burn in my achilles heel. I fell to the ground, dropping the child again. As I rolled I corrected myself and ended up on three of my limbs facing the grovyle. I withdrew my wand and pointed it at him.
"Stop or I will kill you!" I screamed, flames spitting between my shouts.
"Try as you like, but I've fought a hundred pokemon more worthy as an opponent than some measly braixen."
"Do you have a screw loose in your head?! Look around you, people are dying everywhere! You're with the WPA, help, do something, don't try and kill me because I disobeyed Dawn or whatever you think happened!"
"That's not it at all," the grovyle shook his head. "You and those other two just simply know too much now. To protect my goals I-"
"I don't care!" I shot out a tornado of flames at the grovyle. In retaliation he responded with leaf storm. A storm of fire and leaves collided, but through the storm I felt multiple needles stabbing into me, burrowing in under my skin. I gave out a scream as I fell back. As the storm cleared the grovyle charged through. I jumped up and extended my arm, but suddenly I felt a weakness and I sank back down. Just then he slammed his fist into my nose and grabbed me by the wrist and dragged the blade on his other arm along it. Blood spilled to the ground as he cut into my wrist and finished by kneeing me in the gut. I fell to my knees as blood poured from my wrist.
"That was the radial artery," the grovyle said as he held my wand in his hand, before flinging it into a flame left from our battle.
I clenched at the wound as blood continued to squirt from my wrist. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the child abandoning me. I prayed for him, I really did.
"On average it'd take around ten to fifteen to bleed out from that wound, but I think I accidentally went a bit shallow in my work."
"You…" My body fell limp to the ground.
"Then again, the leech seeds seem to be taking their toll. Rest easy braixen, I will see to it that you're given a proper bu-"
"Don't you dare talk as if you have honor!" I cried from the ground, feeling a heavy darkness overtaking me.
"Hmmf, right. People and pokemon always die under the illusion that battles must be fought with honor. I've seen many lead to their own naive deaths from that ideolo-"
"Just shut up and…" the wind faded from my voice as the grovyle slipped in and out from my vision as he turned his back to me. His arms crossed as he looked at me from the corner of his eyes.
"I won't be dying anytime soon. Sorry to disappoint. I have a lot to do, you see."
"Still… just a… pawn," I said with the little breath I had left.
"Funny you mock me by saying such a thing." A grin formed at the corner of the grovyle's mouth. "Just for a reaction, I'll let you in on a secret no one knows besides me and Zack."
My vision started to dim as my eyes grew heavier by the second.
"I only let Zack pretend to be leader." My eyes closed shut just as he finished, everything becoming numb as I fell into a dark void like nothing I've ever felt.
"Already dead, then take my secrets to the grave." were the finals words I would ever hear.
Chapter End
Author Note: Screw the author note, I'm too hungry to write one. Gonna get some captain crunch or something like that.
PS: as some of you may have noticed, I changed my name to 1Noir, so don't you forget it XD.