Chapter 12: Reality Check

Note: Happy New Year! I decided to do a quick part of Crossblade for a change! It's nothing special, and it's much shorter than the previous parts. In fact, it was supposed to be like twice as long as this. Or 1.5 times longer. Some real number greater than 1 and less than or equal to 2. I'm not working on Crossblade right now, but like I said, it's a nice little thing to get back into while I'm thinking about other ideas for my stories. I'm working on a new chapter for Endemic, Liquid Starlight, and actually, I got a Fiction Press account. Hopefully, I'll be enthusiastic about my OCs there more than here. ...'Cause that's how it's supposed to happen. Anyway, long note. Enjoy the madness~!

Disclaimer: I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo. They belong to their rightful owners. Few characters are original.

"Jovany? Jovany!" The distraught boy, Riolu, shouted for his friend, straying ever further away from him into the dense fog. There was no surefire way of navigating the area with precision. In the heat of battle ensuing from the various ambuscades, one became disoriented from the many movements. There were no clear landmarks to note. It was a blank landscape, and Riolu soon became ignorant of his allies. The only one he cared for at this point was Jovany. Filled with both dread and anger, he slowed his pace to an aggressive beeline, paws squeezing into fists at his sides. He shut his eyes, once again beginning to lose hope. It didn't matter how quickly he pursued the image of Jovany. He just was not able to catch up. And in the process of doing so, he had stranded himself in the middle of foggy, Heartless-infested nowhere...

And then, he stumbled into something. It was not a tree, although intuition told him that it was leafy.

"Riolu..." Jovany spoke, standing over the other Pokémon and observing him, head lowered. "So that was you after me?"

"J-" Riolu was incapable of even talking further. He lifted his head slowly, examining his partner's new choice of clothing. It appeared to be a black vest only stretching down to the lines on his chest. On the center of this vest was a red-lined heart with a spiky X running through its center. A small stem of some sort split into three curves at the bottom of the heart. "Is it really you...? Jovany, you're alright, right? How did you get here?"

"Don't worry yourself about that." He replied. There was something quite occult about this situation. It was like Jovany knew something that Riolu didn't. The smaller Pokémon wouldn't have been surprised if that were true. "All of it. What matters now is that you and I are finally in the same place again. I have a lot to—" Jovany was cut off by an impulsive action on Riolu's part. He had buried his face in his partner's chest, clinging tightly with his arms wrapped around the other. "...Riolu..." The taller of the two leaned over slightly, the tip of his nose touching against Riolu's head. "You know it was me who sent those Heartless after you..."

"What...?" Riolu pulled away, his mouth agape. "But why! You didn't know it was me...? But then, how?"

"That's what I need to explain. You remember it clearly." Jovany started, at first perplexing Riolu with this. He started for the fog, awaiting a movement from Riolu. The two were soon walking side by side. "You remember the attack on Treasure Town clearly." He elaborated, turning to see his partner's reaction.

"I do." Riolu nodded, facing Jovany in return. "How did you manage to beat that shadow?"

"I didn't." He disproved, smiling a little bit and facing forward. "Nor did I escape. I let the Heartless take me."

"You what?"

"Calm down, it's not that bad..." Jovany reassured, seeming far too relaxed. "I know we've had our scares with 'darkness and evil' in the past. Remember that one time Darkrai almost got me to join him before we fought?"

"Yes..."

"I didn't join him. It was a nightmare. Besides, he was spineless. Darkrai is a joke compared to the power of true darkness, Riolu. He's nothing more than a simple thief!" He took a short breath, scoffing at his own words. "Upon encountering him at the Dark Crater, we were afraid that would have been the most challenging battle of our lives. It was a rush, I'll admit, but look around you now, Riolu... You see nothing anymore."

Riolu did not respond, though he did scan his surroundings. He was in sorrow, though interested to see where Jovany was leading with this.

"We won the battle against Darkrai, and Primal Dialga! Everything on our world turned out to be fine! We even saw what it would have been like if we failed our task... Look around you again, Riolu. Does it look like anyone has succeeded? Does it look like there are any heroes anymore?"

"There are heroes..." Riolu argued under his breath.

"Where?" Jovany stopped, Riolu walking ahead a few steps. He lifted his head and came to a halt when he realized he was the only one walking. "Where are the heroes?"

"...Everywhere!" Riolu turned back to his partner. "Us! You and me! We're heroes! We've saved this world twice, Jovany. Twice! With all of the friends we've made, we can do it again!"

"Reality check: The world's done for already! We can hardly call it a world anymore! It's pieces of a planet now! You think we can save a world of broken time and space? You think we can save that? Look, it's the classic case of 'if you can't beat them, join them'!" Jovany was yelling through this explanation, sincerely frightening his young partner to the point of averted attention. "Riolu... I still want to be with you and have adventures..." He approached the other Pokémon, placing a leafy hand on his head. "But the only way to live here is to live in darkness. The only way to avoid the Heartless as enemies is to be darkness. Trust me... I know it isn't easy to accept. It wasn't easy for me." Riolu shook his head, looking back up at his friend.

"But, we did so much for this world. Now you're saying we let it all crumble away?"

"What choice do we have? If we resist, we, you and I and our friends, will suffer awful fates. If we give our power to the darkness, it will give us life in return, not to mention more power in return."

"Jovany... Do you really believe that...?" Riolu questioned, the dread in his eyes growing. Jovany took little to no time to think about an answer.

"I do believe it." ...He gave his partner a genuine smile before turning and heading in the previously taken direction. About five seconds into this departure, Riolu responded.

"Well, I don't..." The blue Pokémon, still lost in the words of his partner, lifted his head. Jovany ceased all motion... ...The silent fog which separated the two nearly concealed Riolu's vision of his nearby partner. Seconds passed. Jovany returned his attention to Riolu.

"I was really hoping you wouldn't say that." With his body facing Riolu, he glared. "Don't make this harder than it already is..."

"If it anyone's making this harder, it's you. You have everyone worried, and now I find that you don't even care about their wishes anymore? You're trashing our hopes by joining a force you don't even know the true intentions of? What's gotten into you?" Riolu snarled, never before expecting this turn of events.

"Darkness." Jovany responded coolly. "I guess there's no reasoning with you now. You're too flustered. I'll give you time to think about it, not that there is any clear meaning of time anymore." Two puddles of black liquid presented themselves by Jovany with a flick of both hands. "I guess it's pretty hard to blame you for thinking like that... If you're not convinced by the next time we meet, I'll give you a good reason to be thinking like me. Riolu, you're not on my side, and I want you back. We make an unstoppable team... But it looks like I might have to knock some sense into you before we can be Team Crimsongleam again." Accompanied by Jovany's voice, two Heartless shadows climbed from the puddles, soon standing hunched and ready to pounce their prey. That happened to be Riolu. "Maybe this will convince you otherwise." As if the shadows had read the Pokémon's mind, they seized Riolu.

He stood his ground, though at the same time not prepared to do battle...

Jovany was gone.

…

"What business do you have with him?"

"Business that is my own. If you'd be so kind as to leave him alone."

"It's not going to happen. Cruce is an asset to my cause, and a good friend."

"Well he seemed apathetic towards you, lizard."

"It's obvious he suffered from memory loss. He underwent the same transformation another good friend of mine had. Listen, I need him. The world needs him. He holds the key to putting an end to all of this!"

"A key, you say? Cliché, but touché, as we might be after him for the same purpose. Even though we hail from worlds afar, they are connected by a darker star."

"Yes, that is exactly what Axel told Celebi and I!"

"You know the hothead?"

"I assume you do too?"

"A very interesting case, that one! A fool; constantly under the gun, on the run."

"Yes... Professor Shantotto, perhaps we would be more effective as a team."

"True, true, but where do we begin? Clearly, unclear is the fog we are within."

"The fog's bad, but the sooner we start, the sooner we finish... Professor... By any chance, you mentioned something about rewarding us the 'best' upon completing your test."

"Correct!"

"...What is that, exactly?"

"Ohohoho! How curious are you?"

"I'm not too sure anymore."

…

The two small boys kept pace with each other in the foggy forest, trekking at an otherwise leisurely speed. Given their memory had collapsed into nothing and they were oblivious to the crisis of the world, everything seemed free of any sort of problem. Their immediate concerns were of their memory and each other.

"This is kind of spooky." The Eevee admitted, staying as close as possible to his Shaymin acquaintance. He could not keep his eyes ahead. His focus was scattered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you nice and safe." Shaymin smiled. "I'd be fibbing if I didn't agree with you though. This is creepy. I don't even know my own name, let alone where we are."

"Speaking of names, I wish I had something to call you..." Eevee lowered his head as he spoke, slightly embarrassed about the form of a question he had been wanting to ask his friend for a bit.

"Likewise, heh."

"Your ears look like wings... What if I call you Wing? That's cool, right?" Eevee gave the Shaymin an eager look. Shaymin couldn't resist complying.

"Sure! I like it! I wanna give you a cool name too, but all I can think of are cute names. Because you know. You're cute." A grin crossed his face at the sound of giggling beside him. "How about I call you... maybe Fox? That's short and sweet."

"Okay! I like it!"

"You do? It's not too simple?"

"No, I like the simplicity!" Fox dashed in front of Wing, hopping excitedly. "So Wing! Nice to meet you, I'm Fox! Hehe~!"

"That you are!" The Shaymin grinned again, watching in delight as his enthusiastic friend jumped about. He couldn't help but notice something about him; his presence. The aura he radiated was far from normal. Other than that, Wing was under the assumption that Fox could have possibly been his mate. It was a strange idea, although legitimate. The two had passed out together, ergo there was some sort of connection between the two. They shared something. Love was the most positive of the possibilities, therefore it was mutually chosen.

Cheery mood aside, the two worked their way blindly, in various senses of the word, through the fog. So blissfully unaware of the mood were they that one might have been insulted by their demeanor, if not, jealous that they could be so unfazed. Perhaps they were about to get a reality check...

Riolu stood in despair with the top of his head against a tree trunk. His arms hung freely by his sides. It was though he had passed out against a tree in an odd fashion... The Shaymin and the Eevee were in the midst. They approached but could not identify the blue, masked Pokémon.

"Fox, is that dude alright? You see him, yeah?"

"I see him. Maybe we can ask him where we are?"

"Yeah, good call." Wing agreed to his friend's suggestion. "Hey there!"

"Mm?" Now leaning on the tree with an arm, Riolu picked his head up and faced the others. "Oh... you two are up..." Upon saying this, both Pokémon eyed him before watching each other momentarily.

"'Sounds like you know us!" Fox guessed, head tilted. Riolu raised an eyebrow.

"I do know you." He replied in a matter-of-fact way, beyond worried about their newer manner around each other. And him. "Guys, I'm really not in the mood for games... What are you pulling?"

Riolu wasn't necessarily hoping for the following reaction.

"Wha...? What do you mean?" Fox looked nervous now.

"Yeah, we just got here... We were wondering if you maybe knew a thing or two about where we are." Wing paused for a moment, examining the unique physique of Riolu's body. "And what we are."

"...What?" Riolu blinked, standing up on his own. This was enough to distract him from his current misery. "...Cruce? Sora? Are you two alright?"

The two gasped.

"You do know us!" Fox exclaimed, unsure if he was Cruce or Sora.

"P-please! Tell us what you know, man! We're totally lost here..."

"Fine..." Riolu responded after a couple seconds, followed by a sigh of exasperation. "Just try not to lose your memories anymore, okay? Let's get going. I'll fill you in as best as I can on the way to a place I have in mind." The rest of that thought was not finished aloud. At least, to a place I think is around here somewhere. This fog is familiar to me. We might be in Fogbound Forest.

…

"Riku!" A voice came from behind the recipient of the call. The black fox, paws tipped with red and fur fluffed up into a flame shape upon his forehead, turned to see the young lady who was calling him.

That young lady possessed a small, brown body with an enormous tail of pure cotton practically twice her size in dimensions. There was a small puff of cotton at her neck, and two curved green prongs protruding from the hair-esque cotton atop her head. She skipped to the boy known as Riku.

"Riku, why're you all over here on your own bein' all lonely on your own~?" She spoke in with a idiosyncratic redundancy as a sort of speech quirk. She was never able to shake this from her casual manner.

"Sorry, Whimsicott. I just can't get that feeling of foreboding out of my head." Riku splayed his ears a bit, smirking at the other as if expecting some sort of annoyed response.

"How many times will I have you tell you to stop being all stuck on that subject? You're such a qualmy Zorua, you know, with the pessimism and all that?" She shook her head, eyes closed briefly. "C'mon, follow me." Without question, Riku followed the girl through the cavernous surroundings which they called a refuge. Though damp, it was kept well lit with torches placed far apart. There were a handful of other Pokémon in the enclosed area, all of which knew each other from Treasure Town. Riku was the oddball here. He had never been seen before. To the others, his story was shrouded in mystery. He had been found on the way to the refuge, proven himself a capable fighter with his odd ability to summon a dark, demon-wing-shaped blade, and ultimately slaughter the shadows which prohibit the continuity of the survival of the Pokémon. "We've been assigned a little mission that we have to do!"

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"We're gonna go out and save us some Pokémon!"

"Good! Who else is coming?" At that moment, Riku began to notice a slight lack in the number of Pokémon within the refuge.

"The people who are already out there being on that mission!" Whimsicott giggled. "We're gonna rendezvous with them, you know, like meet up with them and then do more stuff having met up with them!" She hopped ahead of Riku, walking backwards whilst speaking. "We're also gonna try an' see if we can find a famous bunch of famous heroes!"

"Famous heroes? Who are we looking for?" In his mind, Riku was thinking of two particular people he'd considered famous. They were in no way famous in this world... Perhaps...

"Why, Wigglytuff's Guild, of course!"