AN: So, I had a series of panic attacks stretching over several days, so I've given my two-weeks notice at work. That means starting next week I'll have more time to write, since I'll only have school to focus on. Um... Other than that... Could you maybe tell me what you think? Or not, whatever floats your boat I suppose... I should point out, obviously, that this story is almost over, but as I don't yet have beyond chapter 15 written, I don't actually know how many more chapters it will be. This one's a bit longer, running about 4K or so. Viewpoint jumps around quite a bit, but it was the only way I could weave around the writer's block that kept popping up. Soo... Enjoy.
Lucas frowned as he tugged his coat around his shoulders a little tighter. Having been born and raised in Sinnoh, he wasn't usually bothered by the cold, but even by those standards, the Frigid Caverns were cold. He supposed it had something to do with the lack of warm sunlight, but stranger things had happened. Articuno and Kyuurem being the two examples that came immediately to mind. Mentally shrugging, Lucas began tromping forward once more, pulling his Pokedex from the bag at his shoulder with one gloved hand. It seemed Piloswines were quite common in the caves, though Beartics were surprisingly common as well. Lucas however was more focused on the unconfirmed sighting of an Abomasnow deeper into the caves.
The assistant professor paused in his trudging as he heard a strange 'eeeeh' sound. Not recognising it as a Pokémon call, he set the Pokedex to record the sound and began glancing around, looking for the source. It seemed to be getting louder, but the ice of the caves meant the sound echoed and reverberated, making it sound like it was coming from everywhere at once.
"Abunai!"
Lucas had just enough time to think that that had been a very strange-sounding Pokémon when the person sliding on the ice to his left smashed into him, sending both of them sprawling onto another patch of slippery ice. Wincing, Lucas's first priority was to check that his Pokedex was still safely clutched in his glove, which it was. Satisfied with that, he glanced over at the teenager who'd smashed into him. The dark-skinned boy was trying, and failing, to get his feet under him to stand, and muttering darkly under his breath.
"Not funny!" The teen hollered, his voice echoing loudly in the cavern and making Lucas wince. From one of the ledges above them, the large head of a Charizard peeked over the edge, the fire-type eyeing the pair below with what seemed to be a mix of amusement and concern. Spotting the Charizard, the teen growled.
"Thanau, please torch him." Lucas watched in confusion as the Charizard lifted its head, twisting as if to look at someone behind it before another voice filled the cavern with laughter.
"I warned you!" A voice Lucas knew all too well called as the familiar blue-haired figure slid down the same slope the teen had come down, angling his feet so he slid to a stop before he crashed into their little pile. And he was smirking. Lucas resisted the urge to growl. The teenager was sitting up on his knees now, and he lobbed a lump of snow at the mess of blue hair, which shifted out of the way with a laugh.
"Oh you are so in for it now." The former commander of Team Galactic smirked, reaching down and scooping up his own handful of snow, taking careful aim as the teen seemed to realize that he had no way of dodging on the ice. Before the snowball left his hand however, the blue-haired young man paused, lifting an eyebrow as his eyes finally landed on Lucas.
"Haven't seen you in a while Lucas." Darius greeted, grinning at the young man Michael had smashed into. Glancing over, the younger agent was surprised to realise that it was in fact one of the Pokedex researchers he'd crashed into. A researcher who was currently busy levelling a veritable death-glare at a certain smirking head of blue hair.
"Titan." Lucas growled in response. Darius's grin dimmed slightly, but it didn't disappear. "What are you plotting now?"
"I'm on vacation; why would you think I'm plotting anything?" Darius asked, mouth quirked in what Michael recognised as a teasing smile. Lucas didn't seem to catch that the agent was joking however, or perhaps was further angered by that fact.
"You've got that damn look in your eyes." Lucas growled. Darius's smile widened slightly.
"What look?" He asked in what he must have thought was an innocent voice.
"The plotting look." Lucas growled. "The look that tells sane people to run for the hills."
"I'd say it's more of an 'I think I know what's going on and don't like it' look." Michael countered, drawing Lucas's glare to himself. Despite having been the one to run Lucas over, the assistant professor seemed surprised to see him.
"It's getting noticeably colder the deeper we go- more than could have been explained by regular weather effects." Darius admitted, his teasing smirk easing into something a little more thoughtful as he settled into a more serious mind-set. "Something's not right in these caves; the air is too tense."
"Is that why you wanted to come explore the caves?" Michael asked, frowning as he carefully tried to get to his feet without slipping on the ice. Darius shrugged in response.
"Like I said, Route 17 is still impassable, and we've agreed Route 16 is undesirable, so there wasn't much else to do besides turning around to go back up Route 15. Might as well pass the time by sticking our noses into places they probably shouldn't be stuck." And with that, he strode off purposely deeper into the caves, leaving Michael to carefully shuffle across the ice to safety. The younger agent was amused to spot Lucas trudging after him, grumbling to himself about suspicious gang members running around like they owned the place.
Darius frowned as he reached his senses out, searching for the source of the uneasiness and tension that had been itching at the back of his mind ever since they'd entered the caves. The deeper into the caverns they travelled, the more agitated the wild Pokémon were. Usually he had a very difficult time sensing Pokémon, but it seemed everyone in the cavern was on edge, amplifying the feeling. He reached out further, letting go of his other senses to focus on the gathering he'd sensed at the end of the cavern. Several spirits filled with curiosity, tinged with a dark amusement, gathered close to another energy which was twitching with a swirling amalgam of agitation, anger, and pain. Whatever group he'd found, it was most likely the cause of the tension permeating the caves. Taking note of the direction the group was in, Darius brought his mind back to himself, only to find Michael standing directly in front of him, hands on his shoulders and green eyes wide. Not a moment later, Darius's senses picked up the younger agents' fright, which was quickly being flooded over with relief. Wincing at the contact from his shoulders, even muffled as it was by layers of coat and mitten, Darius stepped back to let Michael's hands fall between them, glancing between the dark-skinned teen and the scowling, nervous, researcher behind him.
"Did I miss something?" He asked, wondering what had frightened the pair. Michael offered him an incredulous stare in response.
"How about the fact that you stopped walking and just stood there without moving?" Michael shot at him. "You had your head to the side like you were listening to something, but neither of us could hear anything, and you wouldn't answer when I tried to ask what you were hearing. Then your eyes got unfocused, and I almost couldn't tell if you were even breathing anymore. What'd you do?"
Darius mentally frowned even as outwardly he grinned and assured the pair that he'd just gotten lost in thought. The lack of response was understandable, as focused as he had been on the suspicious group ahead, but the lack of breathing was somewhat concerning, if he cast himself out like that for a longer period, it could lead to suffocation, depending on just how little he'd been breathing.
Shaking his head to dislodge the concerning thoughts and set them aside, Darius started in the direction he'd noted earlier, calling back over his shoulder to the two who hadn't yet moved. "Come on, I've got a suspicious feeling about this direction."
Michael frowned as he followed Darius around glittering patches of ice, wanting to ask his companion what had really happened earlier, but he couldn't do that right now; not with Lucas glaring holes in the blue-haired agent's back. He wondered if Lucas's suspicion of Darius stemmed from what Dawn had mentioned earlier about Team Galactic. Dawn had seemed comfortable around Darius, but perhaps Lucas held a more personal grudge against Team Galactic, or perhaps just against the blue-haired agent himself? He hadn't once referred to Darius by name after all, only calling him 'Titan', even when the young agent was grinning and joking around. Michael's frown deepened as he glanced between the back of Darius's head and Lucas's scowl. Either way it didn't seem like he was going to get an answer out of either of them any time soon. As he was thinking, Darius paused, holding up a hand to signal to the other two, who stopped behind him.
"Do you hear that?" Darius asked, tilting his head slightly. Focusing, Michael could hear the faint sound of voices coming from further in, and nodded.
"I think we found our source of trouble." He said, to which Darius nodded.
Lucas tromped along slightly behind the two in the lead, thinking furiously. Logically, he knew Titan was helping out, but he still couldn't shake his first memories of meeting the agent in the Valley Windworks. And he definitely couldn't forget his little sister crying on his shoulder after Mars had released her; frightened by the strange people in the jumpsuits, especially the one with the crazy laugh and the one with the angry, ice-cold glare.
"They seem to be right around the bend." Titan said, slowing his pace and resting a hand cautiously on his belt, while beside him, Ark did the same. The two shared a look, and slipped around the bend, startling those within. Lucas followed after them a second behind, and he scowled in shock and anger at what he saw.
A giant of an Abomasnow stood in the centre of the cavern, purple eyes narrowed as it tried to shuffle away from the Houndoom to the right that was spitting licks of flame as the grass and ice type. However, that set it into range of the second Houndoom to the left, which was also spitting embers and snarling at the trapped Pokémon. Two people in Team Flare uniforms were standing behind the Houndooms, while the blue-haired female poked at a glowing datapad. Off to his right and in front of him, Lucas heard Titan growl darkly, and Ark shot the ex-commander a wary glance, but brought his attention right back to the assembled members of Team Flare. It was one of the lower-ranked grunts that spotted them first.
"What do you punks want?" He demanded, bringing his fellow's attentions to the newcomers.
"What are you doing to that Abomasnow?" Ark demanded in return. The blue-haired woman shrugged, giggling as she did so. At the sound, Titan growled again, and Lucas briefly wondered if he should be more afraid of the giggling or the growling.
"The more agitated we make Abomasnow, the more powerful its Snow Warning Ability becomes." She informed them. "In other words, the more energy it outputs. This will be very useful for our plans."
"But you've already got so much energy from the power plant!" Ark argued, glaring daggers at the woman. She shrugged.
"We need more, and Pokémon are just full of energy." She said casually, as if talking about going to the store to get more milk.
"And what do you need all this energy for anyway?" Lucas demanded, stepping forward even as he kept the frighteningly silent Titan in view. The woman sighed, lowering her datapad to focus more attention on their group.
"It is so Team Flare, and only Team Flare, can survive." She said, still in that horribly casual voice, like Jupiter taunting Barry atop Mount Coronet, effortlessly taking the hyper trainer's confidence apart without lifting a hand. Titan was growling again, and Lucas resisted the urge to shift away from him. The woman continued speaking. "I don't mind a little curiosity, but you need to be removed now." She waved a hand towards the two grunts, and they left the Houndooms to continue harrying the Abomasnow, both facing off against Lucas and Ark. Titan however was stalking across the snow, footsteps not making so much as a whisper of sound as he loomed towards the Team Flare woman.
"Mind tag-teaming?" Ark asked, glancing briefly over to meet Lucas's eyes. The 'dex researcher nodded, withdrawing a Pokeball from his belt as Ark did the same.
"Clefable!" "Broga!" On the other side of their impromptu battlefield, the two flares also released their Pokémon, and the battle began.
Titan stood quietly, paying only a sliver of attention to Michael and Lucas. They could both easily handle the grunts without his help. In the back of the cavern, the two Houndooms had let up on their attacks, watching Titan confronting the woman with wary caution. Behind them, the Abomasnow shook, radiating pain and agitation and fury so thick Darius was having trouble keeping himself separate. Not only had the red intruders hurt it, they'd melted great chunks of the caverns, and raised the temperatures to points that it hurt the other Pokémon living in the cavern. They had intruded on its home, and attacked all inside, and against the fire, there was nothing Abomasnow could do.
The blue-haired scientist tapped at her datapad, watching Titan through her visor with curiosity.
"You seem to radiate energy; so much of it." She muttered. "I wonder how much energy there is inside of you?"
"Why don't you find out?" Titan growled out, supressing that ambient sense of intruders-hate-hurt-them-squish-them-drive-them-away even as he reached for a Pokeball and released Ayashii, while the scientist released a third Houndoom. The psychic-type cast a worried glance at her trainer, obviously recognising that not all the emotions swirling though him were his own. However, she was still ready to fight.
"Houndoom, use Bite." The woman commanded. The Houndoom launched at Ayashii, but the psychic-fairy simply stepped aside, swaying gracefully as she did so; one eye on her opponent and one eye on her trainer. Titan gritted his teeth; his head was beginning to pound with Abomasnow's desire for revenge.
"Aya, use Return." Titan commanded, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily. He heard Ayashii hum as she readied her attack, waiting until her opponent was in range before moving. Ayashii's humming cut off a second later, followed by the sound of something large hitting the ground several feet away. There was a moment when the only sound was Michael's and Lucas's battle, before the woman spoke again.
"Houndooms? Beat Up." Titan opened his eyes again to see the two Houndooms by Abomasnow charging towards Ayashii, both snarling with fangs bared.
"Ayashii, Moonblast them!" Titan commanded. Ayashii hummed again as she gathered the energy before her, hurling it into the two Pokémon's mouths just as they were descending on her. Both Houndooms went down, and Darius had one second of clear thought before Abomasnow's fury smashed through the mental wall Darius had built against the world.
Michael grinned at Lucas as the two Flare grunts backed away from them nervously, recalling their fainted Pokémon. Glancing over, the agent saw the blue-haired woman recalling two fainted Houndooms, and his grin shifted to a smirk. And he continued smirking until Ayashii spun around, looking at her trainer fearfully. Blinking, Michael also looked at Darius, but the young man's face was almost frighteningly blank; the same blank stare as he'd had earlier. Behind him, he heard the Abomasnow Team Flare had been harassing roar with fury, and suddenly Lucas was beside him, looking panicked.
"Abomasnow looks furious." He said, nodding towards the Pokémon that was slowly advancing on the three people that had tortured it. "I think it'd be best if we got out of here; like, now." Michael took one look at Abomasnow and nodded, grabbing Darius by the elbow and tugging him, trying to get his attention.
"Come on Darius, we need to get out of here." Beside him, Ayashii was frowning, looking between the Abomasnow and her trainer nervously. Michael glanced between the two as well, before remembering the time, seemingly so long ago now, that he and Darius had confronted Lysandre. How Darius always seemed to know what others were feeling, and they 'energy' the agent said he could see around others. And he wondered if somehow, Abomasnow's fury with Team Flare had done something to the agent.
"Ayashii, I think we really need some help here." The psychic-fairy started to nod, but froze, red eyes honing in one more on her trainer. Looking over, Michael saw Darius blink, and shudder, and glance around in what looked like confusion.
"Come on Stellon." Lucas growled, finally getting his voice back and drawing Darius's eyes to him. "Angry Abomasnow? Escaping? Now?" Darius blinked and looked down at himself, frowning.
"This was not what I was trying to do." He rumbled, his voice sounding off and instantly setting Archangel on edge. Dilated blue eyes looked up at Ayashii. "Perhaps we should make haste away from this place, before anyone can become seriously injured?" Ayashii seemed hesitant, but nodded and wrapped their gathering in a pink-purple glow, teleporting them out of the caverns.
Lucas had been eager to split from the 'madmen' as soon as they were back in town, and Michael let him go, waiting until the researcher was gone to spin around to glare at the blue-haired agent and the nervous Pokémon beside him.
"Who are you?" He demanded without preamble. Ice-blue eyes blinked, thrown off for a second before a smile that looked like it should have had far more teeth formed.
"Very perceptive, child." Not-Darius said. "It seems the hatchling trusts you more than most, so I shall tell you some. I have strived to help young Darius with his senses for three years, but even now he does lose control when surrounded by intense feelings, especially those of hate and anger. In the cavern, I sensed his mental shields collapse, and I moved to shield him with my own mind, but it seems I was a little hasty, and miscalculated how much force was required." A shrug, casual, but awkward, as if he weren't used to shrugging. "He has almost regained his sense of self however, so perhaps I shall leave him in your care?"
"You still haven't told me who you are." Archangel growled. "And how did you even-"
"If the hatchling wishes you to know, he will tell you in good time." Not-Darius growled, dilated eyes narrowing. "Now, I must return to my own body, before I find I have none left to return to." And with that, blue eyes closed and Darius crumpled like a marionette with its strings cut. Ayashii caught him at the last second, gently kneeling down with her trainer as she hummed fearfully. Michael took only a second to glance around, wary of potentially 'helpful' bystanders before crouching down next to the pair.
It took almost half an hour before Darius's face twitched and he let out a soft groan. Michael watched as blue eyes opened, and one hand wandered up to press against what must have been a throbbing headache. He then waited while Darius slowly looked around, taking note of the bench he'd been laid out on, and the orange-streaked sky of sunset. Ayashii standing behind the bench, one hand resting on her trainer's shoulder as he regained his bearings. Once he seemed mostly coherent, Michael spoke.
"How're you feeling?" He asked. Darius glanced in his direction, upside-down, but his eyes didn't quite focus on the younger agent.
"Hollow." Darius muttered. "Washed out. Not a hospital though, that's good. Troublesome, worried helpful people and touching and can't make 'em go away…" His ramble petered off as he looked around again. "Where are we?"
"Back in town; Ayashii teleported us out when Abomasnow went mental." Darius was silent for several minutes after that, obviously trying to recall what happened. Michael allowed him to think, his own mind full of what Not-Darius had said, and what he'd implied.
"What did you see?" Darius finally asked wearily, his eyes slipping closed even if he still seemed conscious. Michael thought for a moment before answering.
"Lucas and I defeated the grunts about the same time Ayashii took out the second two Houndooms." He said. Darius's head shifted in what must have been intended as a nod.
"I remember that, and then Abomasnow…"
"I can only guess that Abomasnow saw that as the best chance for revenge." Michael supplied. "As soon as that woman retrieved her two Pokémon, Abomasnow went after them and you…" He hesitated, wondering exactly how you explained to someone that they'd been possessed by some other mind that had just been trying to help.
"I got pulled under." Darius muttered, voice slurring slightly with exhaustion. "Abomasnow… it wasn't just him that they hurt. They attacked the caverns, and indirectly hurt every other Pokémon living in there. Abomasnow… he wanted to make sure they never did anything like that again; make sure they never thought they had the right, ever again." He paused. "So I collapsed. What did Lucas think about that?"
"He didn't think anything." Michael replied. "You didn't collapse. I think Lucas just thinks you're deranged or something, but you were still moving and talking, so I don't think he looked into it too deeply." Darius shook his head at that.
"I couldn't have been." He protested. "I could barely remember that I was Darius, and not Abomasnow. If it hadn't been for…" He trailed off, and Michael waited. "I wasn't me, was I."
It was a statement, not a question, but Michael answered anyway. "No. I don't know who he was, but he told me Abomasnow had smashed your mental shield, and that you'd recover in a while." He paused. "He kept calling you hatchling."
Darius scowled at that part. "Three years of being stuck with each other and the dang dragon still refuses to use my name." He continued to grumble, but quieter, so Michael couldn't hear his exact words. Although, that might also have been just because his brain was stuck on the 'dragon' part of that sentence. The three of them were silent for the next half-hour; Darius wavering between waking and sleeping while Ayashii watched over him and Michael watched the sky slowly bleeding into colour. Finally, Darius woke up enough to ask Ayashii to Teleport them to the hotel they'd stayed at before, where he proceeded to fall asleep on top of the bed without even taking his shoes or coat off.
AN: So, yeah. I've actually had that last part planned for a while, but it still seems a little abrupt. Ah well. This chapter gave me so much grief... Compared to this, chapter 15 flowed so easily... Ah... I might get that one up sometime in the next two weeks or so. Sorry about the delays, but we're getting close to the end- I promise.