Chapter 9: The Escape

It's been one week since Riolu and Zorua got away from the island on the ship. The island that they left has become an Underworld Island.

Darkrai and his army of demons have taken over the island completely and have killed the remaining Pokemon that lived on that island.

Riolu and Zorua saw this with their own eyes on the ship when they look back at the island covered with black and blue fire.

The next day comes and Zorua is looking back at what used to be his home while Riolu is controlling the wooden ship on the deck.

Zorua is a look of depression in his eyes as he thought while looking at his home and friends disappearing before his eyes, 'Audino… Maractus… Mienfoo… why did you all have to die on me?'

Tears of sadness rolls down his cheeks as he continues, 'I can't get the memories of your deaths out of my mind. I keep seeing them happening over and over again.'

Zorua closes his eyes with the tears still streaming down, 'I know this is all my fault, for I accepted the deal of the devil. Now you all are gone and I won't be able to see any of you again.'

Zorua bursts into sobs and he lies down on the floor on his stomach.

While Zorua lies there on the floor, Riolu has his hands on the stirring wheel of the ship, looking straight ahead at the sky with a look of sadness in his eyes.

He closes his eyes as he thinks, 'I can feel it… everyone else around this entire world are going to be after us. They'll get the message soon and will attack us as soon as we make dock onto one of the islands…'

Riolu opens his eyes and he continues, 'There's no other choice. We'll have to dock sooner or later and run into those that will be after us.'

Riolu looks back at the island, looking seriously at the black and blue infernos. 'No matter what happens to the island, it doesn't change the fact that everyone now knows that Zorua is the devil's apprentice…'

Riolu looks straight ahead out at the vast ocean and he continues, 'No matter how one tries to look at it, Zorua will be targeted and possibly…'

Before he could finish his thought, he hears Zorua ask, "Riolu, how long have you been a Pokemon?"

Riolu looks back and sees Zorua looking up at him, his eyes still revealing the evidence of tears.

Riolu has a troubled expression on his face as he replies while looking back out straight ahead, "I'm not entirely sure. I guess for quite a long time…"

Zorua has a depressed expression on his face as he says, "Where do you think we should go now? Since everyone will probably be trying to kill us both…?"

Riolu replies, "The only place we can actually go to is on Mirage Island…"

Zorua has a confused expression on his face and he asks, "Mirage Island? Where's that supposed to be?"

Riolu replies as he continues to stare out at the sparkly ocean, "It's actually an island of legends. It's an island that's completely hidden in a dense fog that covers one hundred kilometers of ocean. The island, however, is not that big, so it will be difficult to find."

Zorua asks with a curious look on his face, "How do we plan on finding this island, and what kinds of Pokemon are on that island?"

Riolu has a serious expression in his eyes as he replies, "Well, we have to stop be some of the neighboring islands first, so we can get supplies for the search. As for your second question, the only Pokemon that I know of being on that island… is Arceus."

Zorua has a shocked expression on his face as he replies, "A-Arceus? You're telling me that Arceus lives on Mirage Island?"

Riolu replies, "Not only that, but he is the one who guards Mirage Island. He is the one who made all of that fog cover the island. In fact, I guess you could say that Arceus is the one who also created Rayquaza's Sky Tower out of a different type of fog."

Zorua has a look of disbelief on his face as he thinks, 'That's unbelievable! I know Audino and the others would have flipped out with excitement if they were still alive…'

Zorua has a concerned expression on his face as he asks, "But what about Darkrai and his army of demons? Could it be possible for them to reach Mirage Island?"

Riolu has a look of concern on his face as he replies, "Actually, they do. Even with the fog surrounding the island, they could still get on it if they find it."

Riolu closes his eyes and he thinks as he pictures Dark Riolu resting the staff of his two bladed scythe on his right shoulder, 'With Dark Riolu by Darkrai's side, he can use the Aura Eyes to search the island. There's no doubt that Darkrai will use Dark Riolu to find Mirage Island…'

Riolu opens his eyes and he says while looking back at Zorua with a serious look in his eyes, "We need to go to Arceus and get him to destroy the Hell Spirit Blade in your body. Are you willing to go through this with me?"

Zorua nods his head with a serious expression on his face and he replies, "Yes! I need to get this damn sword out of my soul before it tries to take over again."

Riolu grins at Zorua and he replies, "Very good…"

Riolu looks back out at the vast ocean and he continues with a serious look on his face, "Let's bring you back to your normal self, Zorua! Let's become strong enough to take down Darkrai!"

Zorua nods his head with a confident grin on his face and he replies, "We'll become stronger, no matter what!"

It is now eight O'clock and Darkrai is looking out at the vast ocean in the direction where Riolu and Zorua are going.

Darkrai has his arms behind his back and he thinks with a malevolent grin on his face, 'Zorua… no matter what you try to do to get away from me, I'll still get you back.'

Darkrai looks back and sees Mienfoo tied up with Dark Riolu standing right next to her.

Darkrai says while facing Mienfoo and Dark Riolu, "So… you managed to get her back to life, huh?"

Dark Riolu replies while kneeling down before Darkrai, "Yes my lord. It was rather difficult, but I managed to get her back to life."

Mienfoo has a look of terror on her face as she asks, "Wh-what do you p-plan on doing to me?"

Darkrai just stares down at Mienfoo with a serious expression on his face and he replies, "You're just going to help us."

Dark Riolu stands straight back up and he asks, "Lord Darkrai is there anything you would like for me to do?"

Darkrai looks back out at the ocean and he replies, "Take Mienfoo into the torture dungeon. Make her go through a living Hell with any types of torture you can think of…"

Dark Riolu nods his head and grabs a hold of Mienfoo with his left hand and starts dragging her away.

After Dark Riolu and Mienfoo left, Darkrai grins with a malevolent smile on his face and he thinks, 'Zorua… you will have no other choice but to return. But not until the time is right.'

After Darkrai finishes his thought, he hears Mienfoo screaming with fear.

Darkrai looks down at the foot of the mountain and sees Mienfoo and Dark Riolu being greeted by a Dark Maractus and a Dark Audino.

Mienfoo tries to back away from the living dead Maractus and Audino, but Dark Riolu hold her in place.

Dark Riolu looks at the two living dead Pokemon and he says, "Take this one to the torture dungeon and torture her. You two understand?"

The two Pokemon nod their heads and Audino grabs a hold of Mienfoo by the rope.

Mienfoo screams with fear and tries to fight back, but Maractus covers her mouth with her right hand and Audino picks her up, and she carries the flailing Mienfoo away towards the torture dungeon.

As Audino and Maractus carry Mienfoo away, Dark Riolu thinks as he pulls his double bladed scythe out of the shadows right beside him, 'So that's what you plan to do… you're going to first torture Mienfoo and then send Zorua the message.'

Dark Riolu has a malevolent grin on his face as he continues, 'Not bad… but how long do you plan on waiting?'

Dark Riolu looks back up at the top of the mountain and sees Darkrai continuing to look out at the ocean.

Dark Riolu looks away as he thinks, 'Darkrai… you're a damn fool for lending Zorua the Hell Spirit Blade. What if you're plan ends up failing and…!'

Before he could finish his thought, his eyes widen with shock when he finds Darkrai standing right in front of him with a murderous smile on his face.

Darkrai grabs Dark Riolu by the neck and lifts him up into the air.

Dark Riolu's eyes are shut tightly as he gasps for air.

Darkrai asks with a serious expression on his face, "So… you think I'm a fool for lending Zorua the Hell Spirit Blade?"

Darkrai flies straight towards a tree trunk and slams Dark Riolu right against it on his back, causing the tree to fall over.

Dark Riolu has a painful expression on his face and Darkrai continues after he drops his scythe to the ground, "You don't seem to understand the plan at all. So allow me to fill you in on the subjects."

Darkrai lightens his grip on Dark Riolu's neck and he continues, "In order for everything to work, Mienfoo must be tortured first in order to be the key to our plan. So until she's been tortured long enough, I'll send you out to retrieve Zorua. But we need to do this right before they reach Arceus. Do you understand what the plan is now?"

Dark Riolu nods his head slightly and Darkrai releases his grip, causing Dark Riolu to fall down to the ground, panting heavily on his hands and knees.

Darkrai turns his back on Dark Riolu and he continues while looking at the direction where Riolu and Zorua are located and he says, "As soon as they both reach Mirage Island, it'll be all over for Riolu."

Darkrai looks back at Dark Riolu with a serious expression on his face and he says, "But first, I need to take care of something…"

After Dark Riolu stands back up with his scythe in his right hand, Dark Riolu says out loud with a serious expression in his eyes, "What if Zorua doesn't fall for your trap and still goes to Arceus? Once he goes to Arceus, he'll destroy the blade, which will destroy Hell!"

Darkrai has a disappointed expression on his face and he replies, "You still don't see it, do you?"

Darkrai instantly reappears right in front of Dark Riolu and pierces his right hand through Dark Riolu's chest.

Dark Riolu's eyes widen with shock and Darkrai says with a serious expression on his face, "Of course I know all of that. Don't forget, I'm the ruler of Hell, which means I'm the ruler of the Hell Spirit Blade. So Zorua will come back to being my apprentice. But as for you…"

Darkrai pulls has hand out of Dark Riolu's chest, causing blood to flow out of his wound. Dark Riolu falls onto his knees with the same shocked expression on his face.

As Darkrai turns his back on Dark Riolu, he continues, "You will be following Riolu and Zorua to Mirage Island. Once they reach the island, you know what to do."

Dark Riolu nods his head weakly and he weakly gets back up onto his feet by using his scythe as a support.

As Dark Riolu slowly gets back up, red, black, and purple aura form out of his wound, slowly covering his entire body.

Dark Riolu has a painful expression on his face as he feels the aura surrounding him slowly crushing his body.

Darkrai looks back at Dark Riolu with a serious expression on his face and he says, "Does that look familiar to you? Remember the last time you went through this?"

The aura now covers Dark Riolu's body from the neck down and Darkrai lifts his right hand, which causes Dark Riolu to be lifted straight into the air.

As Darkrai slowly closes his right hand, the pressure on Dark Riolu's body increases. Dark Riolu coughs up blood as the pressure continues to increase.

Darkrai grins malevolently as he says to Dark Riolu, "But for now, you're going to have to face pain yourself until the time comes."

Darkrai closes his hand all the way, which crushes Dark Riolu's right arm severely, causing blood to downpour to the ground.

Dark Riolu screams in pure agony as his scythe is flown through the air. The blades stabs through a tree trunk as Darkrai opens his right hand again and closes it again, severely crushing Dark Riolu's left arm.

Dark Riolu screams more and more blood spills to the ground.

Darkrai opens his right hand again and swings it into the throwing motion, sending Dark Riolu flying straight towards the tree trunk with the scythe in it.

After Dark Riolu makes contact with the tree and sends it crashing down to the ground, Darkrai turns away from the mountain and looks out at the ocean once again.

Darkrai thinks as he smiles malevolently, revealing his sharp shark like teeth, 'It will be a matter of time until I get you back, Zorua.'

Darkrai points out at the ocean and yells out to the whole island, "Head out and attack Riolu and Zorua!"

An uproar sounds throughout the entire blazing island and millions of flying demons take flight to the sky through the flames, and spread out, covering every direction.

As the demons flew out, Darkrai drops his arm and he thinks with a serious expression in his eyes, 'It won't be long now.'

While Darkrai continues to look out at the ocean, Dark Riolu is back up onto his feet with his scythe in his right hand. Both of his arms have healed already and he runs straight towards Darkrai with a murderous expression on his face.

But Darkrai just points straight up into the air with his right hand.

Dark Riolu's eyes widen with shock as he finds himself covered with the crushing aura again.

As he is lifted into the air again, Darkrai says while still looking out at the ocean, "Want to know what the worst part about being able to regenerate is?"

Darkrai looks back at Dark Riolu and he finishes while slowly closing his hand, "Once you regenerate your damaged parts, you'll feel the same pain all over again, giving the enemy a chance to put you through hell over and over again."

Darkrai closes his right hand, completely destroying Dark Riolu's arms and legs.

Darkrai swings his arm in a tossing formation, sending Dark Riolu flying through the forest, crashing through hundreds of trees and sending them falling to the ground.

Darkrai looks back out at the ocean and he thinks as he starts to disappear into the shadows, 'I shall get my apprentice back…'

He disappears into the shadows, and more demons take to the skies from the blazing island and fly out all over the Pokemon World.