-Part Six: Absolute Zero-
Posterus took another blow from the steel typed maniac. He flew into a building and got injured once again. Snarling and baring his fangs, he used a Recover Move to heal some of his injuries away.
As far as he could tell, he was much weaker than Anarchaoss was. Yet despite this fact, Anarchaoss had not delivered the finishing blow. When Posterus used Recover, the steel type would always wait eagerly for him to be done. To Posterus, it did not seem like it was Anarchaoss' intention to defeat him. Yet if this was the case, why on earth were they still fighting?
As he contemplated the mystery of the grey and silver being, Palkia warped in to congratulate him so far. Palkia told him that so far he was doing good, apparently not noticing the battle was clearly one sided. Once Posterus had recovered, Palkia asked if the blue dragon needed any assistance.
"What do you think Posterius, can you handle him?" Palkia asked the blue dragon. Posterus glared at him in response.
"My name is Posterus. No 'I' in it!" he said forcefully. "Posterius is an insulting name that is similar to the backside of a human!"
"Why's it insulting?" Palkia asked quizzically. "Does something bad come out of the backside of a human?"
"Yes..." grimaced Posterus, thankful Pokemon never had to go through such embarrassment.
"Like what... a Sludge Bomb attack?" Palkia raised an eyebrow. Posterus looked away, sighing.
"Something like that, yes."
BATHROOM JOKE FOR THE WIN
"It sure was funny!" agent Blaze agreed. Agent Raptor smacked him upside the head and told him to pay attention. The two agents were walking down a long hallway, the hallway lead to a plain looking door.
Despite its plainness, beyond the door and into the room lied the office of their supreme leader- agent Neon; the most powerful and most intelligent secret agent within H.I.D.D.E.N.
Gulping their throats, the two agents became nervous. Agent Neon never asked them to give their report in private. But more importantly, this would be the first time that they would get to see his face and see what sort of Pokemon he was. Then again, he may even be human for all they knew.
Swallowing their nervousy, agent Blaze opened the door.
What greeted them was an unbelievably plain office. The shades were drawn, and the light was out, but they could see papers scatter everywhere, things listed on bulletin boards, and a simple home computer in the back. Next to the computer was a shadowed figure with a hat on.
"Ah, there you two are. Sit." the shadowed figure of agent Neon beckoned them. The two sat down as commanded. Instantly, agent Blaze raised his hand for a question.
"Yes, agent Blaze?"
"Can you put some light in this place? Maybe turn on the light bulb up top?" asked the infernape.
"Why would I do that?" asked agent Neon in response.
"We want to see what you look like!" agent Blaze asked eagerly. Raptor smacked herself from the embarrassment.
"Sorry Blaze, you know I can't do that." said agent Neon, still calm. "Now then, you two must be wondering why I've summoned you here."
"Yes sir." agent Raptor replied briskly.
"I've read your report about the field mission in which you encountered Kurades. You report disturbs me, agents Raptor and Blaze. In your report you mention that the two of you fought Umbreon a servant of Kurades. What disturbs me is the method in which he attacked you.
You both claim he used a cursed seal on himself in order to defeat you?"
The two looked downwards, remembering the battle.
"We do, sir." Raptor responded.
"Explain in greater detail."
Raptor and Blaze then began to retell their mission again for their boss. In greater depth, they explained it all from the beginning- first with Gliscor's apparent defection from their group, Darkrai's capture and subsequent escape, Kurades' revival, and finally battling Umbreon and Kurades.
In particular, they described their battle with Umbreon most of all. Umbreon, telling them that he did not need to waste his time on them, automatically used his full power from the start. He changed into a monstrous being and then proceeded to utterly destroy the secret agents. In fact, if it were not for Raptors quick thinking of playing dead, he might have actually killed them.
All and all, they saw strange marks on his body when he transformed. From the information they already knew, they had presumed it to be a cursed seal- the first anyone had seen in over five hundred years.
When they had finished, they could tell that their leader had a grim expression on his face. He quickly typed some words on his computer, then turned back to them. "Thank you for your report… you may leave now."
Wordlessly, they bowed and left their supreme boss alone. Agent Neon felt his temples from within the dark. The knowledge of cursed seals were supposed to have been sealed away five hundred years ago for fear of their side effects. Yet, from the way Umbreon described it as 'A gift from Kurades', apparently the instigator of the Fourth had knowledge of them.
This was of course, disturbing to say the least. With cursed seals, Kurades could create Pokemon that could match the strength of entire armies. From the information Raptor and Blaze had given, they were safe for now because Kurades was still in soul-form. But if Kurades were to fully revive into a flesh body…
"The entire world could very well come to an end…"
Everyone stared in fear. This was it. Zero's full power had finally been unleashed.
Hovering around him were eight Stylers. Zero had full control over each and every one of them. Left eye glowing purple, he grinned enigmatically.
Kairi was about to fall on her knees. It was all over- all that careful planning, all that effort into this one night…there was simply no way to win against Zero now that we was like this.
"That's right." said Zero calmly. "This is a technique that only I am able to use- the Eight Styler Method!"
He grinned at all of them, analyzing their expressions carefully. Eventually, his eyes rested on Darkrai, the only one who was not afraid of him. "Darkrai. If you can defeat me in this mode, I will tell you who I really am." he challenged.
Darkrai gazed upon Zero, a twisted form of the one he knew years ago. If this truly was the Zero Mitsurashi he knew when he was a child… then it was Darkrai's duty to stop Zero at all costs.
"I'm fighting him." Darkrai floated forward. "No one interfere."
"Are you crazy?" Gallade gasped. "You'll get murdered! He has eight Stylers' Darkrai, there's no way to-"
He stopped automatically when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw Gardevoir looking at him solemnly. "Have faith." she said.
Gallade gazed into her eyes. His breathing slowed immediately as he realized something that he never saw before. Gardevoir had total faith in Darkrai. No matter what he did, no matter how cruel he appeared to be, she always put her absolute trust in him.
It was something he had never seen before. Or perhaps he was being blind to the truth…
"We may not like it, but we have no reason to interfere." added Cresselia, gazing at her brother floating towards certain doom. "This is a matter of pride for Darkrai. This is simply something he must do on his own."
"He won't last a minute." Kairi stated. "Zero took on three stronger Pokemon in this form and captured them in less than thirty seconds."
"While this may be true…" Cresselia smiled softly. "None of them were as crazy as my little brother.
I have faith in him, and you should too, Kairi."
Darkrai finally landed next to the center circle, Zero on the opposite side. Darkrai cracked his knuckles and rotated his shoulder for warm-up. Zero watched him, patiently waiting for the fight to begin.
"Hey." a loud and deep voice interrupted Darkrai. It was Malispite. "Don't you dare lose to him. If you do, I'll renounce you as my rival and place you lower than dirt."
"Hah." Darkrai replied, getting back to Zero. "Like I'd lose now!"
The fight began when Darkrai charged at Zero with all his speed. The fight began when Zero unleashed all eight of his Stylers' upon the prince of darkness.
In one moment, all hell was wrought upon Earth. Zero's prowess were indeed as they feared- his eight Stylers controlled eight separate elements that all charged at Darkrai with all intended force. Darkrai was exhausting himself trying to dodge their onslaught as well as being looped by the Stylers. Left and right the fight went, with Zero never once moving from his spot. In contrast, Darkrai was moving at maximum speed every second, bouncing off walls bursting past the Stylers.
"Dark Pulse!" Darkrai fired off a large burst of dark energy to hit Zero's Stylers. They all opened wide and managed to dodge the Move, but this left Darkrai with an opportunity to speed forward and attack Zero.
"Cotton Guard." stated Zero, levitating a grass Styler in front of him. The grass Styler created huge mounds of plushy cotton, each three or four times the size of Darkrai. He punched it, but the cotton sponged his attack and rendered it useless. Darkrai turned around to see two Stylers had caught up with him.
"Lava Plume!" from the red Styler launched dozens of magma rocks, each one superheated to the extreme. Darkrai gritted his teeth and used evasive maneuvers to dodge the fire attack. Unfortunately, he soon found that the ground had been laced with sticky thread, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. Trying to get out, he was hit by another Styler.
"Dragon Pulse!"
A pulse of draconic energy fired at Darkrai. The massive shockwave from above made a direct hit to the prince of Darkness, inflicting much damage upon him. The blast also destroyed the string, which Darkrai used to his advantage by launching himself away from the Dragon Pulse. He was soon met with another blue colored Styler.
"Octazooka!" A blast of ink was fired at Darkrai, and when it his Darkrai evaporated upon contact.
Zero soon realized what was going on as the real Darkrai appeared from behind him aiming to Shadow Punch Zero. The blonde Ranger reacted by using a purple colored Styler. "Spite!"
When the Styler made contact with Darkrai, his energy suddenly vanished and he found himself on the ground, where four Styler surrounded him.
"Four Styler Method:" Zero grinned, launching the Styler at Darkrai. "Tetra Prison!"
The Styler looped around him in a perfect square, and the blow was transferred to Darkrai in the middle, who screamed from pain as his mind fried from the attack. Zero did not left up and told another four Stylers to go to the first four. Darkrai on the ground breathing heavily, all eight of Zero's Stylers surrounded him.
"My ultimate move- Eight Styler Method: Octagonal Alcatraz!"
Kairi thought it was all over. The Absolute Zero attack was the one Zero had used to capture the three raging Pokemon from that day. As far as she knew, no Pokemon could hope to survive that attack and expect to retain their free will. If Darkrai was hit by that, he would be Zero's slave.
However, through sheer will, Darkrai surprised them all by launching the largest Dark Pulse he had ever summoned. It ranged nearly half the arena, and Zero's Styler were hit by it, damaging them but more importantly scattering the Styler to prevent the Octagonal Alcatraz from occurring. He then concentrated a nightmare into his palm and infected himself with yet another malevolent illusion. The effect was quick and snapped Darkrai back to normal just as Zero recovered from the blow.
"Excellent." Zero smiled. "But one has to wonder how many nightmares you can take before you become exhausted from the effort."
"He… right…"
Darkrai widened his eyes. "Oh great, not the dead guy…!"
"Hey… ame… As… deus…!"
"Oh shut up!" Darkrai yelled to the voice inside his heads, charging up a Shadow Ball.
"Ca… you… d… it…?"
Darkrai launched the Shadow Ball and Zero blocked it with a Cotton Guard attack. He then sent four Stylers at Darkrai, trying to barrage him with an Octazooka, Dragon Pulse, Ice Beam and Lava Plume respectively. The range of the attack was massive, so Darkrai summoned a black hole to transport him somewhere else. He reappeared to the side of Zero and fired off three Shadow Balls, again blocked by Zero's grass Styler.
"I can't even hit him…!" Darkrai groaned. He flew back as the ghost Styler tried to hit him again. Once again, he was surrounded by four Stylers that tried to capture him with a Tetra Prison.
Darkrai held both his arms up and shot both his left and right side with a Dark Pulse. The Stylers scattered but two more took their place and looped around Darkrai twice. To shake those, off, Darkrai launched another Dark Pulse and used its momentum to distance himself from Zero.
At this point, Darkrai had figured out all eight of Zero's Stylers. They were Grass, Fire, Water, Ice, Ghost, Dragon, Ground and Bug. Their Moves were, in order, Cotton Guard, Lava Plume, Octazooka, Ice Beam, Spite, Dragon Pulse, Spikes and String Shot.
In addition to this, Darkrai noticed something about Zero's fighting method as well. Four of his Stylers were used defensively, namely the ground, bug, ghost and grass; while the other four Stylers were used for offensive purposes.
At this realization, Darkrai realized he was even harder to defeat than he imagine. By dividing his power on offense and defense, using ranged attack while subsequently not moving from one spot, Zero had the capabilities to utterly annihilate anything that crossed his path in this mode.
"Here we go…!" Zero grinned, shooting his fire and dragon Stylers at Darkrai. "Lava-Pulse!"
The two attacked merge and formed several meteors that attacked Darkrai with boosted speed. Darkrai had a hard time dodging them all, and it was only a matter of time before he was hit by one, and then another until he fell from the air again. Zero was on him with his ice and water Stylers.
"Ice- Zooka!" A freezing sphere of jet black ink was fired at Darkrai, making direct contact in his gut. The resulting blow sent him flying back into a wall harshly.
Darkrai was now severely injured. He had not been able to land a single hit thus far, while Zero had attacked hum and succeeded numerous times. Wheezing in pain, the prince of darkness clawed the ground and forced himself to float upright. Upon doing so he immediately collapsed.
"Are you at your limit?" Zero grinned. "I must say, you've lasted far longer than anyone else while I was like this. But in the end, if this is the best you can do, I will just destroy you right now."
Zero drew back his four offensive Stylers and his four defensive ones zoomed went in front of him as well. The eight Stylers made a curious looking shape with their lines, each connecting one Styler to another.
"Hyper Beam."
There was only a split second for everyone to widen their eyes when a powerful black multicolored beam emerged from zero's Stylers. The blast was huge, at least twice the size of the human utilizing the attack. With great unrealities speed, it closed in on Darkrai and blew his corner away. A large portion of the STAG was destroyed when the beam hit, the enormous power of Hyper Beam decimating everything in its path.
"N-No way…" Mercifond gulped. "Darkrai… is Darkrai…"
As it happened, Darkrai was still alive. He had used a Dark Void to absorb some of the damage, but still took about half of it. Everything beyond him was blown to bits, and Darkrai himself was breathing heavily with injuries on every part of his being. The second he let go of the Dark Void, he collapsed once again, pain overtaking his body.
"Impossible… Hyper Beam…!"said Gardevoir, shaken up and worried for Darkrai's sake. "I thought you had to combine all eighteen elements…"
"Actually… some scientists proved you could do it as little as eight." Kairi clenched her fist, not knowing Zero's power was this much. "Guess which eight…"
"I think that's enough." Cresselia said seriously. "Pride is one thing, but it won't matter if Darkrai is dead. We're moving in!"
"NO!" The voice came from Darkrai, stopping them from moving. "I can still… win!"
With great effort, coughing up a bit of red blood in the process, Darkrai clutched the ground, found his footing, and stood back up with his leg stilts extended. He had a plan, a genius idea that would guarantee his victory. Sliding his feet into the ground, Darkrai prepared himself for what he had to-
COMMERCIAL BREAK TIME!
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Steven: "They lied when they said it worked on androids…"
"So why not buy a couple bottle today? One face rub is all it takes. So how much does it cost? Well, the product is actually worth fifty dollars. But with this special fanfic offer, if you call now you can get it for only three easy payments of twenty five dollars.
But wait! There's moar! If you call within the next five seconds, we will throw in a free kitty in for an additional eighteen bucks.
Don't be satisfied with yor looks. Buy our product to make yourself a better person.
*SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDE VOMITING, HORRIBLE ACNE, LUNG CANCER, LIVER CANCER, HEART CANCER, LUNG CANCER, STOMACHACHES, THE FLU, ALCHOHOL POISONING AND AWFUL TOE FUNGUS FOR ALL WE KNOW.
Zero lay on the ground, heavily damaged from multiple blows of darkness. Darkrai stood smirking some distance away. The rest of the group was confused, until Cresselia finally put two and two together.
"DID YOU JUST ATTACK ZERO DURING THE COMMERCIAL BREAK?"
"Yep."
"DARKRAI!"
"What?"
"YOU CAN'T ATTACK PEOPLE DURING COMMERCIAL BREAKS!" Cresselia blared at her brother's atrocity.
"Actually, I think it's a good strategy." Gliscor noted. He backed away when he saw Cresselia's fierce look. However, much to their surprise, they took another look at Zero and he was fine.
"Actually I knew that was going to happen." said Zero, who was completely unharmed. Darkrai gaped, and saw that there were two Zero's on the field- the one he had beaten up and the one in front of him with eight Stylers in orbit.
"Impossible!" everyone yelled.
"Actually…" Kairi sighed, realizing Zero's plan.
"I put a cardboard cutout of myself as a substitute!" Zero grinned, pointing to his deformed copy. Darkrai stuttered at this.
"No wonder he felt light when I punched him!"
The battle resumed again. Darkrai was forced to retreat as Zero spread all eight of his Stylers in attack position on Darkrai. They nearly caught him with another Octagonal Alcatraz, but Darkrai fired off some Shadow Balls to scatter them before damage was done.
When Darkrai landed next he took to the offensive. Yelling madly, he charged at Zero with both fists charged with dark energy. Zero automatically called his Stylers to defend him, and Darkrai ended up hitting them instead of Zero. Then using the other four, Zero looped around Darkrai once per Styler. This forced the prince of darkness to retreat, and Zero sent four Stylers after him. Panicking, Darkrai turned himself into a shadow by slipping into a wall. Darkrai sped all the way to behind Zero and felt another Dark Pulse at his fingertips.
"This is it…!" Darkrai muttered, actually feeling pain from charging so much dark energy into his fists. Zero whipped around and ordered all his Stylers to defend when Darkrai launched his next Move.
"DARK PULSE!"
Akin to the last large one he fired, this dark Pulse was not like a shockwave, but rather a hurricane of darkness. Zero cloaked himself within a Cotton Guard hoping to negate the damage of the attack. Darkrai's massive burst tore apart anything that came into contact with it- the typhoon of black colored energy seemingly unstoppable. It hit Zero's defense and cut through that as well. Zero realized he was under siege, and quickly dismissed the shield and combined all eight Stylers.
With a roar, his purple eye glowing brighter than ever, Zero launched a Hyper Beam from the eight metallic discs. The black beam collided with the purple and black shockwave, creating a large explosion that seemed to blow apart half the STAG in its range. The audience shielded their eyes from the dust that followed, and it was a couple seconds before it was over.
Darkrai collapsed onto the ground, on his knees with weakness. He gritted his teeth as he felt the small cuts in his hands stinging him. "Damnit… that took all the energy I had…"
Darkrai then felt eight presences in his midst. Gazing from afar, bruised and battered, zero issued his greatest attack.
"Octagonal Alcatraz."
This time Darkrai was too weak to escape. With a fluty of multicolored energy, the eight Stylers formed an eight sided geometric shape, its center being Darkrai. He was instantly hit with so much power that he clutched his head in agony. Darkrai felt a sheer hopelessness before his mind completely blanked. When it was over, Darkrai stood levitating in the air; mouth open, looking at nothing.
"No…" Cresselia gasped.
Zero grinned.
"Capture complete."
Everyone in the area was shocked. Everyone that is, except for Kairi. "We shouldn't have let him do this… he had no chance, even from the beginning…" she muttered.
"At last… you put up the best fight I've had in a long time…" Zero huffed, tired from their battle but satisfied that he had finally won. "And now… for you all…"
He turned to them, eyes maniacal with power. "Darkrai! Destroy them!"
In an instant, their friend Darkrai swiftly and without further instruction sped over to their location.
"Light Screen!" yelled Cresselia in fear. Mercifond complimented with her own Light Screen, causing a double barrier to be formed around their members. Yet despite this barrier, Gardevoir was still on the outside, she had walked their by choice.
"Gardevoir! No!" Gallade said, as Darkrai shifted direction and aimed towards her. Gardevoir remained calm as Darkrai closed in. Inches away, he raised his fist back to deal massive damage to the weakened psychic.
"Gardevoir!" yelled Gliscor and Cresselia. They almost winced as they waited for the blow, but no blow came. Darkrai had paused in mid punch- his arm was shaking and his eyes were wide. Gardevoir smiled at them, indicating she was fine. As Zero watched with great interest, Gardevoir took a step to Darkrai.
"Darkrai… was that really all you could do?" she asked. Darkrai was still, yet shaking where he stood. "You and I both know that you're stronger than that.
We know you won't hurt us. We believe in you."
Darkrai's eyes widened even more. His hand extended fully, and he brought down his claw.
However, the blow was not aimed at Gardevoir, but his own face. With a yell, Darkrai activated yet another Nightmare attack, this one stronger and much more potent than the others combined. Gardevoir watched with a smile as Darkrai's face became softer, and his features less blank. When it was over, Darkrai stood before Gardevoir, gasping and shaking, but looking sternly at her.
"I know all of that. You don't need to remind me."
"Sorry, I was a bit worried and thought you might need help." replied the green haired psychic.
"Tch. I don't need help…" Darkrai turned away, facing a flabbergasted Zero. As Gardevoir walked back to where the others were standing, the prince of darkness muttered a quiet thank you to his childhood friend.
"I don't… believe it…" Kairi gaped. "He… he took the Octagonal Alcatraz and still retained his free will! Darkrai defeated Zero's best attack!"
Meters away, Zero was thinking the same thing. The Octagonal Alcatraz was unbeatable because it raised the power of his Stylers by eight fold. No Pokemon could survive that and expected to not turn into a slave, yet Darkrai had. The impossible had just been done.
And Zero was ecstatic about it.
"You are the opponent I've dreamed of for so long…" Zero said solemnly. "My hat's off to you, Darkrai."
Darkrai did not reply, he was still far too injured to think of a witty comeback that would fall on deaf ears.
"This will go on forever at this rate." Zero stated. "So I'm going to wrap this up. I'm launching the strongest Hyper Beam I have in your direction. If you dodge, your friends will get severely injured."
Zero formed the symbol in the sky with all eight Stylers. Darkrai prepared himself for what he knew he had to do. Zero smiled, and commanded all of his Stylers to convert all but one point of power into their next attack. The shape became complete, and Zero announced his final move.
"Hyper Beam!"
A massive black beam with many other colors surrounding it was fired from the shape Zero had made in the sky. It's circumference was five times as wide as the previous two Hyper Beams, at least twice the size of Zero himself. It was fired without mercy at Darkrai and his friends, and Darkrai knew he could not dodge this one.
Darkrai braced himself. He extended his stilt legs and placed them on the ground for leverage. With a roar, he called upon his last resort. "Dark… VOID!"
A black holed opened in front of him, the exact same width as the beam. The black hole easily absorbed the energy blast . But that was not the end, Darkrai summoned another black hole-one that was linked to the first- and the Hyper Beam redirected at Zero.
"Nice try!" Zero easily swerved to the side by a blast of air. "My shoes have thawed and their ready to be used!"
Zero thought Darkrai would give up, but instead he summoned another Blast hole that took the blast, and a fourth black hole that directed the beam back at Zero. The blonde haired Ranger dodged by swerving below, to which Darkrai summoned yet another black hole. No matter how many times Zero dodge, the Hyper Beam attack was still firing, and Darkrai kept making black holes and linking them. Finally, Zero could turn no more as he realized he was trapped. A final black hole appeared above him.
"Dark… Void!"
The Hyper Beam attack hit Zero directly. He had nowhere to go- Darkrai had manipulated space by created black holes and surrounding him with his own Hyper Beam. The ground caved in where the beam was fired, and it cracked the entire Stag a little, a large crater appearing in the center of the arena.
Darkrai had created a total of fifteen black holes. The instant they were evaporated, Darkrai collapsed to the ground as his body began to rip from over usage of Energy Potential. Zero saw this and laughed, because he too was too gravely injured to make another move.
It had ended in a draw.
But in this case, Darkrai was the winner.
"Darkrai!" his friends rushed over to him, worried about his health. Darkrai weakly smiled at them, not able to do much else. Every part of his body had been overstrained from that last attack; Darkrai had blurry vision and could not even move a finger.
"Geeze… it's always like this…" he heard his sister scold him. "Moonlight…"
"Wish." Gardevoir joined in. With their combined power, some of his injuries healed. Darkrai's vision returned to normal, but he still could not move properly.
"Took you long enough." sneered Malispite. Darkrai replied with a bitter scowl. Mercifond chastised him for his rudeness, but Malispite did remind him they were mortal enemies.
Meanwhile, Kairi had decided to get some closure with Zero. With her faithful Ruby by her side, Kairi flashed her Ranger badge as Zero weakly looked upwards.
"By the power vested in me, I hereby arrest you, Zero Misturashi, under the order of the Ranger Union for the horrendous crimes you have committed!"
"Urg… whatever…" Zero said, too weak to honestly care whether he was arrested or not. Kairi let out a small yelp, she had finally did it! Zero was going to be detained! No matter what they said, Kairi was going to watch over Zero's imprisonment. Only she could reform him and turn Zero back to the friend she once knew. And after that, perhaps thewy could become more than friends…
"Ooh! Juicy thought there Kairi!" Ruby squealed.
"RUBY DON'T READ MY MIND!" Kairi blushed heavily. Darkrai looked over at Zero, still on the ground being healed by the two women. Finally, they had to give up on healing him.
"Your injuries are too great, and we already don't have much EP left." Cresselia sighed. "Honestly, why must you hurt yourself like this?"
"…Cresselia, take me to see Zero."
Cresselia narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"We had a deal. Now take me over to him, I can't move."
The others realized what he was talking about- if Darkrai had won the match, then Zero would be forced to tell him the truth about who he was. And seeing Zero defeated, Darkrai had met the criteria. Zero also seemed to sense this, and stood up next to Kairi, surprising the girl.
Zero made no attempt to move as Darkrai was carried on Cresselia's shoulder; the only one would could touch her brother without being affected by his nightmare powers. At last Darkrai was facing the blonde Ranger, and everyone held their breaths as they awaited the conclusion to the fight.
"Well Darkrai, I lost. I'm gravely injured and utterly beaten. It was a good fight." smiled Zero. "But you want to know the truth, right?"
Long ago, Darkrai had befriended a young boy named Zero Misturashi. However on the day when Darkrai was supposed to become his starter Pokemon, Zero vanished. The boy looked strikingly similar to this Zero, and now it was time to know the whole story.
"Darkrai… the truth is this:" Zero spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I am not the Zero you knew. I am a completely different person."
There was a silence that had passed between all Pokemon and humans in the area. Even Toyman, secretly observing from a hidden camera, could not believe what he had heard.
"I don't know who this other Zero was, but he definitely wasn't me." Zero continued, eyes staring into Darkrai. "I admit I used your suspicion for the purpose of battling you, and it might seem like I'm a dick right now for telling you that I'm not the one you knew… but it's the cold hard truth. I have only just met you."
"Impossible…!" Darkrai groaned. "You look just like him! You even act just like him!"
"Do you remember the middle name of your Zero?" asked the blonde ranger. Thinking it over, Darkrai replied.
"Yeah- Nakura. Zero Nakura Misturashi." At this, Kairi's eyes widened.
"My middle name… is Thomas." Zero said quietly. "My full name is Zero Thomas Misturashi. I was named after my father, who happened to be a good Architect."
"Zero's parents were both Pokemon trainers…" Darkrai looked downwards. "He told me once… so then… that means…"
"I'm not the Zero you know."
Another silence passed between them. Darkrai had nothing else left to say, so he did not speak a word more. Cresselia nodded to Kairi, who took custody of Zero by placing handcuff on him. While she was doing this, she whispered into Zero's ear, so quietly that no one, not even Ruby could hear.
"Zero… you're middle name is Nakura." she said. "And you told me that both of your parents were-"
"I still have enough energy to escape." Zero interrupted her. "But if you swear never to mention my middle name to anyone, especially Darkrai, then I will let you capture me right now."
Kairi stared at Zero. Everything he had said had been a lie. He really was Darkrai's Zero… but he did not want Darkrai to know.
"…why?" Kairi finally asked. Zero sighed, staring at Darkrai from afar.
"When we were younger… I was his only friend." he whispered, looking at the number of Pokemon who supporting him now. "He doesn't need me any more. He has new friends." smiled the blonde haired Ranger. Kairi was still suspicious of Zero's actions, but decided not to question him any further.
"Fine. I won't tell him…"
"Good. Keep it that way." said Zero seriously. Kairi did the final locks, and Zero was officially contained. His Stylers on the ground with one unit of energy left in each were also contained by Ruby, proudly presenting her find to her human partner.
"Alright you guys." Kairi yelled. "Mission completed! Zero is captured!"
There was cheering from all sides. Zero acted like he was sad about the whole ordeal, but he was secretly smiling on the inside when he saw a couple try to hug Darkrai as thanks. The bad part was, they immediately got nightmares.
"Ack! Darkrai!" Cresselia blared, Gardevoir and Mercifond on the floor shrieking in pain.
"It's not my fault!"
Cresselia once again cured the nightmares caused by Darkrai. Gliscor, meanwhile, was suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. He could not explain it, but something was… off.
"Hey guys…" Gliscor said, getting their attention. "Don't you feel like… there's something missing?"
There was a universal pause among the group. They too felt that something was wrong. It was Darkrai who realized what it was, widen ding his eyes. "Oh, I know what it is." he turned to Malispite. "YOU."
"YOU."
"Cresselia! I can't feel my body so use telekinesis to levitate my fist into Malispite's face!" Darkrai quickly spoke. Cresselia smacked her brother into the ground with psychic powers. Malispite laughed at this, but Mercifond punched him into the ground for being so cruel.
"That isn't what is wrong!" Cresselia shouted. Ruby smacked her fists together. Gliscor explained his reasoning further.
"Doesn't it feel like we've forgotten something? Something important?" he asked.
A giant light suddenly flooded everything in sight. Everyone gazed up and saw a massive seal in the sky above them, glowing with awesome power.
"What… is that?" Zero pointed out.
"Oh no!" Kairi shouted, instantly afraid. "It's the Judgment! It's starting!"
"Screw this attack on the Hall! I'm having my holiday now whether he likes it or not!" Arceus shouted, her massive power filling the air. Connecting a seal to the one above the skies of coordinates 3005-2008-1298, Arceus infused it with her massive power.
"Judgment!"
"Oh shoot!" Anarchaoss said randomly, as Posterus began recovering from another assault. "Something just happened!"
Posterus stared at his opponent. "That… is… really vague."
"I know. But either way, it's bad because I'm about to be hurt greatly." Anarchaoss frowned.
"…what?"
"This can't be happening!" Cresselia panicked. "I thought we had more time than this!"
"No… it can't be…" Gallade gaped. "Even after all we've been through… it was all effortless…?"
"Teleportation!" Cresselia gasped, after much thinking. "Quickly, combine all of our powers and created enough energy to-"
The blast was shot from the heavens, the center of the city wide attack being the STAG beetle. Everyone looked up at the white light that spelled the end of their lives.
"I'll make a black hole…!" Darkrai screamed, trying to summon his power. "I can… I'll…!"
"Oh, you all are helpless."
Everyone opened their eyes to a voice they knew all too well.
"And once again… I'm forced to save you from your own silly adventure."
A massive Psychic attack was launched at the Judgment, deflecting it to the horizon. By sheer telekinetic power, the beam of light was veered off course to another location. Everyone stared at their good fortune, and even more at their flying purple savior.
"Mew… Mewtwo!" Ruby yelled happily. Mewtwo turned around and smiled at them, giving one last effort to launch the Judgment in a different direction.
"Oh thank goodness we made it!" another voice, Deoxys, said happily. Using her shifter powers, she hugged all of them by extending her arms and wrapping them all into one giant mass.
"I was so worried about you all! Mewtwo and I rushed over as fast as we could!"
"Um, Deoxys?" Darkrai said. "Not that I appreciate your lack of concern… but I've given pretty much everyone a massive nightmare."
Deoxys paused. Darkrai, being in the center, had afflicted everyone with a nightmare due to close proximity of the hug. "Oh… oops…"
"Cresselia, heal them already." Mewtwo floated down to them, his job completed. Cresselia needlessly obeyed as Mewtwo observed the new face among the crowd. "Well well, you must be the infamous Mitsurashi Zero." he spoke telepathically, so that zero could understand.
"And you must be the famous Mewtwo." Zero cracked a grin. "Once I'm healed, I'd love to fight you."
"Don't joke, human." Mewtwo sighed. "If you can't even defeat Darkrai you could hardly match my own power."
From the center of the arena appeared a hologram of Arceus. She virtually walked over to them angrily. "Mewtwo! Why did you ruin my holiday!"
"Gee, let me think." Mewtwo said. "Oh yes, because you almost killed your daughter and son. As well as their friends and one of their enemies."
"Well… okay I can understand that…" Arceus said, for the first time seeing that they were not at the Hall. "But why did you deflect it in the direction of Destiny City!"
Mewtwo grinned.
"CUZ I FELT LEIK IT."
The great white Judgment soon came to the city of Destiny. It was above skyline so fortunately it hit nothing, but it was still on a collision course for the Hall of Origin. The Legendaries started to panic when they saw the beam, and the space-time dragons on the ground gaped up in awe.
"How the hell did it get here!" Palkia shouted. Posterus and Anarchaoss too looked up. Anarchaoss turned to Posterus.
"You know, I wonder who's stronger- me or Mewtwo?" he asked Posterus. The blue dragon blinked his eyes and Anarchaoss flew away, yet he appeared to be going in the direction of the beam itself. In fact, that was indeed where Anarchaoss was heading- he flew past the beam and jumped into the middle of the apex. With a roar his energy powers activated and he actually began absorbing the blast.
"GIVE! ME! MY! JOB! BACK!" screamed the insane steel type as every bit of Arceus energy zoomed inside his body. The entirety of the Judgment flew into the body of Anarchaoss, much to the awe of every witness present. Even Arceus was surprised by Anarchaoss' level of power. Once the entire beam of light was transferred into his body, Anarchaoss crashed to the ground.
Wordlessly, Arceus summoned another hologram and appeared next to Anarchaoss, who was grinning and muttering about being stronger than Mewtwo. With a calm demeanor, Arceus spoke.
"You can have your job back."
"Sick."
Anarchaoss vanished into a portal that he created. Arceus' hologram vanished, and Palkia warped all three dragons back into the Hall.
"Great job, Posterus." congratulated Dialga. "See you all soon!"
Dialga's clone vanished due to no longer being in the time stream. Palkia also congratulated the blue dragon on his work, stating that if he was ever in town again he could join the Seven EX-cellent Legendaries. Posterus responded with a prompt and immediate "NO".
Palkia joined Arceus on the top floor, where she debriefed him about what had just occurred at the place she was about to blow up. Darkrai had challenged Zero, the most feared human in the world, and won. Zero was now in legal custody of the Ranger Union.
When Palkia heard the news, his eyes widened. "Wow… who would have thought Zero was hiding in that very place you had randomly selected to be obliterated…"
"Oh, that wasn't random." replied the white equine being. "I knew Zero was there the entire time."
Palkia gaped at his mother.
"That's why I chose those coordinates and invented the holiday in the first place."
The dragon of space could not believe his ears. She knew! This entire time! "So you were planning to destroy Zero on your own?"
"No. My intention was never to destroy Zero… but rather to give a reason for my children to defeat him." Arceus said mysteriously, looking over the horizon.
"But… the Judgment attack!"
"That… was a test to see if Mewtwo could really defend himself from such a powerful blow." Arceus continued. "Everything thus far, barring Anarchaoss' odd appearance has been my doing as a test for my children and their friends."
Palkia gazed at Arceus. So then everything so far had been a test? "A test for what?"
Arceus looked sideways. Finally, she responded. "A test to see… if they were ready for a real mission."
Arceus' computer was turned on. Its white screen flickered a message that was sent two days ago, opened up recently.
Dear Arceus,
I am very sorry to be disturbing you like this, I hope you understand.
There have been several disturbing report in Almia that I have read. The details are too secret to be discussed through E-mail, but I can assure you that this is an urgent matter, one that we have not seen since Zero's defection.
We at the Ranger Union request that you consider sending a Legendary or two to help us deal with this problem. Thank you for your time.
-Chairperson Erma