REVIEW CORNER:

-Ten-X-Legacy: I apologize if my warnings were not up to standard protocol, guns and whatnot are a tricky bunch to access with any degree of accuracy and, being that Michael, Jessica and practically everyone else came under fire, I felt it necessary to put in the labels I did. As far as spoilers go there is still plenty to come, Darkrai was the tip of the iceberg.

-Sega Nesquik: Indeed we are getting closer!

POKESPEECH/THOUGHTS:

"Normal Speech"

'Normal Thoughts/Normal Telepathy'

'Pokemon Thoughts/Pokemon Telepathy'

'Subconscious'

"Pokespeech/Abilities"

DISCLAIMERS: I do not own Pokemon but if I did I would have Ash call his mother more often (Seriously, he talks to her at the end of every season and then not again until the next one is over. SHE IS YOUR MOM!)

-Michael Kramer and Jessica Kramer belong to me.

-Ruby Ciel Garnet belongs to "CR0553"

WARNINGS: (Listed Below)

-Very Graphic Depictions of Violence

-Explicit Language

-Dark and Disturbing Images/Themes

-Attempted Rape and Torture (Depications of it)

Viridian City- Outside the Pokemon Center (Approximetely five minutes after Michael was shot)

Normal POV

"Darkrai! Stalk the shadows!"

Gary flung a black pokeball with two yellow stripes cresting vertically along the upper half. Heads turned at the name of the balls inhabitant, especially Walcott and Jessica, but for two completely different reasons.

Walcott was at a loss for words, as countering a Pokemon like Darkrai took considerable effort. It's mastery over the shadows and all things involving darkness meant only those with an exceptionally strong countenance would be able to stand up to its intimidating visage. It's true power lay within the ability to instill nightmares into its targets and the unpredictability of the nightmares made Darkrai a terror on the battlefield.

One needed only to be able to resist the potent methods the Pokemon used to induce sleep and it's power would have no effect. Darkrai was an incredibly smart Pokemon though, having two methods of forced sleep in Hypnosis and Dark Void. Hypnosis was easily countered if your reaction time was sufficient enough to avoid the paralyzingly intense gaze of the legendary Pokemon.

Dark Void was the real problem, however, as it didn't merely target your visual spectrum but all of the bodies senses. The crippling ability, as told by those who experienced the attack firsthand, made ones entire body become engulfed in darkness. This same darkness would then sap your physical and mental strength from just being exposed to it. You couldn't move, think or feel anything, it was a complete and total numbing of the body through utter darkness.

Once you were asleep there was practically nothing that could be done to stop Darkrai. The nightmares it would awaken inside your subconscious were potent enough to leave you screaming in your slumber. Ones worst fears were brought to the forefront, something Darkrai took great relish in. It was not until it grew tired of planting its nightmares inside of a persons mind when the victim would awaken, sweating and breathing erratically, sometimes still screaming.

All of this made Darkrai a formidable foe.

In addition to its appearance and nightmares you could physically prepare yourself to try and overpower it through brute force, or you could plan ahead mentally and set up all the barriers and defenses. Darkrai would still manage to get through and render you completely helpless. As a Pokemon of darkness it is rumored that only those with a truly twisted mind or those who harbor no fear of death can stand up to Darkrai and completely resist its powers.

Walcott smirked at that thought.

Jessica's POV

I was doing my best to maintain my Barrier, not an easy task when memories of that fateful day started coming back to me in full swing. The nightmare I had, falling into that seemingly endless abyss, the sinister green glow of the one visible eye...and the terrifying specter-like body that comprised the so-called Shadow Pokemon as it spoke to me...

'What is that boy to you? A friend? Well, you are about to lose your friend!'

I had no idea what it's intentions were, all I knew was that the vision I was forced to witness was Darkrai's doing. If it hadn't been for his ominous words of foreboding, however, my beloved would have been six feet under Kanto's soil. In that regard I had Darkrai to thank for, whether it was intentional or not, saving Michael from certain death.

The Shadow Pokemon spared a glance at me before invading my mind and showing me a vision of the numerous snipers and gunmen working for Walcott. There had to have been at least ten or twelve spread out across the remains of the forest. After memorizing their locations I felt Darkrai leave my conscious and sever the link with me entirely. What I saw next was the most uncomfortable grin I had ever bore witness to plastered on the Shadow Pokemons features.

"Darkrai...submerge into the shadows and use Dark Void!"

Garys command triggered an immediate response from the legendary as Darkrai melded to the ground before disappearing completely in a pool of black liquid. Silence prevailed the area for what felt like an eternity, the gunfire having ceased while the dozen or so Agents waited to see what the Shadow Pokemon would do.

Although the Agents were cloaked with their own stealth technology they were ill-prepared to handle a Pokemon of Darkrai's power. Suddenly an Agents cloaking field dissipated and the prone body of another fell from atop a still-standing tree. One by one the Agents fell into a restless but deep slumber, only to be tormented by Darkrai's nightmares. A few Agents were overcome with the mental horrors they witnessed and never woke up again.

Darkrai re-emerged from the ground with a sickening cry as two more Agents were brought out of their cloaked state due to Dark Void. I was amazed that one Pokemon, albeit an extremely powerful legendary Pokemon, could do so much damage in just one move. Once again the Shadow Pokemon gave me a sinister smile before returning to Garys side

"I told you it was pointless to try and outdo me, Walcott! Give up now while you have a chance to go down with some of your dignity intact."

Walcott simply laughed and pulled out four poke balls from his coat pocket, all four dripping the same red blood from before and covered in the same volatile nano machines.

"I'd like to see your face when Darkrai becomes my newest experiment, Gary!"

For some reason the thought of Darkrai turning into a Hell Pokemon gave me the worst case of jitters, as well as a sense of immediate urgency. What strange power would Darkrai obtain if he were corrupted? Thoughts of being dragged into a fiery nightmare suddenly seemed very real. I could not have done anything to prepare for what happened next.

Walcott threw one of the blood-caked poke balls at the Shadow Pokemon who, unfortunately, was too slow to dodge the ball before the nano machines latched onto it's body. The blood-caked ball then exploded in a shower of crimson and twisted black as Darkrai let out the most desperate cry I had ever heard Before. I watched as the one eye that was visible to my line of sight turned to a chaotic orange mixed with red the shade of blood, it's glare producing an even more intense sense of fear and dread than ever before.

I turned to Gary who was staring with what appeared to be unbridled rage, although a quick scan of his emotions revealed the leader of BoE to be trembling with fear. I chanced a look over towards my beloved and he also was trying to process what was happening before his very eyes, the legendary Shadow Pokemon becoming a true nightmare before us.

The nano machines continued to inflict unimaginable pain to their host, creating sparks o electricity powerful enough to fry off portions of the Pokemons ethereal body. Each jolt caused another heart-wrenching wail of pain and agony to leave Darkrai's mouth, causing Gary to whimper and Ash to give Walcott a stare that could kill if such a thing existed.

Before I could come up with any possible plan to save Darkrai or, for that matter, save anyone at all, I felt a heavy weight press against my body. The sheer size of whatever it was that had pinned me to the charred earth under my body was incredible. It took all th strength I had to maintain focus, which was beginning to falter. I could feel a dreadful fog cloud my mind and my vision, making it hard to breathe or put up any sort of fight hit. When the haze clouding my mind finally lifted I found myself staring at a terrifyng sight.

Somehow a massive Mightyena had caught me off guard and was now baring it's impossibly large fangs at my prone form. I could smell its rancid breath and saw a gleam in its blood red eyes that awoke a nameless fear in my heart. Soon enough I found myself frantically hoping Michael saw what was happening to me and would intervene.

I was shocked to hear not a word come from my beloved and, after leaning my head to the side, found myself to be completely alone.

'Where did everyone go? W-What...What's going on?! MICHAEL! MICHAEL! WHERE ARE YOU?! WHY ARENT YOU BY MY SIDE?!' I screamed mentally and went to open my mouth but found no words would come out. I tried again and again to force words out of my lungs but my body seemed to have gone completely numb at the worst possible time. My fear took complete control as I felt a certain appendage rub down between my legs and I chanced a look to see what I was.

My heart nearly stopped when I saw this Alpha male exposing his knotted shaft and preparing to rape me. My entire body began to shake with unspeakable terror as I saw it's eyes turning sadistic and feral, a primal hunger evident in those uncaring orbs.

Panic began to set in as I was made aware of many more sinister presences surrounding me. I saw several Houndooms pushing their way through to my location and felt one bite my left leg so hard I could have sworn it was severed clean off the bone. The numbness in my body seemed to dissipate and the pain of losing my left leg became very real to my mind.

Despite this I still couldnt find the strength to speak or force even a whimper to leave my lungs. Why wasn't my beloved here? He would never allow me to be put in this situation.

He's already left you before...or don't you remember...

The voice that echoed this sentiment in my mind was vaguely familiar. I was in too much of a panic to properly think about it for too long, however. The meaning behind its words nipped at the threshold of my mind and it suddenly dawned on me.

'When I went to check to see if Professor Langston was still alive...'

Suddenly the mere thought of my beloved not being here was the only thing I could do understand. The sheers magnitude of my situation now caused me to forget how to breath momentarily.

Michael was not here, but why would he leave me in such a predicament again? It wasn't possible that my beloved would dare think of separating from me after all we've been through. I told myself this repeatedly and, for the briefest of moments, felt my heart start to slow its rampant beating. Hope continued to build in my heart when I thought about how much MIchael had changed since I was captured by Walcotts Agents. There was simply no way my beloved would forget about me again.

The little bit of common sense I had forced into this situation was dashed to pieces in a moments time.

I heard a chuckle coming from behind me and was made aware of a familiar scent coming from the same location. It was a very masculine aroma, one that reminded me of a Gallade in its prime.

The Mightyena looked up at the voice belonging to what I assumed was a Gallade and quickly backed off. With a lowered head it began whimpering, like a puppy being scolded by its master.

Now that I was free from my would-be attacker I went to move my body but found heavy chains keeping me locked in place on a table-

'T-T-Table?! What in Arceus' name is happening?! MICHAEL! WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE MICHAEL! I NEED YOU TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!' I continued to scream and plea at the empty room, my cries bouncing off the walls and echoing with a mocking intensity. I inspected the room I was in and saw numerous medical kits, syringes and other devices lined up along the counter in front of me. Each of them were filled with liquid of a viscous texture and swirling about chaotically, as if trying to escape.

"Jessi~ how good of you to finally wake up! I was worried you would miss all of the fun we're about to have~"

I stood stock and completely paralyzed with fear as the voice that could only belong to my beloved kept ringing incessantly in my ears about "having fun." It was no doubt Michael, those emerald green eyes were unique and unmatchable in their intensity, that dirty blond hair that fell down in clumps along the sides of his face, the blue jeans and white lab coat-

''L-Lab coat?!'

I was brought out of my fear-induced stupor by the sound of metal grinding against metal, as well as the distinct humming of a laser coming from my left. I tried to turn my head but now found it to be locked in place with several belt straps and numerous metal bindings. My beloved was going to experiment on me.

'MY beloved...is going to experiment on...me...'

"Aww, don't look so distraught, Jessi~ I'm just going to show you how wonderful it is being a Hell Pokemon~" It could have been Walcott or it could have been another human being, it didn't change the fact that it was my beloved Michael who was now injecting me with a strange red fluid that resembled tainted blood, with its numerous blotches of ebony and green-tinted molecules floating around inside the mixture.

'NO! DONT! NO! NO, NO, NO, NO~! YOURE NOT MY BELOVED SO STOP SAYING THE NAME ONLY MICHAEL GIVES ME WHEN WE TALK!'

The look this "imposter" gave me was one of heartbreak and confusion. What he said in response to my accusation was to what I had expected.

"Jessi...you mean to tell me our love wasn't real? What about Amber? Blade? What about the new one on the way? Was that all a mistake to you then? Why won't you accept the fact that I'm a Gallade as well as a human..."

The tail end of his sentence changed in volume, pitch and mannerisms as I now found myself standing before the spitting image of my true beloved, without the lab coat but everything else I had grown to adore was there. I went to hug him but found myself still restrained in my bindings, to which Michael gave me a sympathetic look. It should have been a look of reassurance that everything was alright, not...one that seemed conflicted...

'Well? A-aren't you going to get me free from these, Michael? I can't hug you like this you know.'

Rather than free me like I expected I saw Michael grab another syringe and position it over my chest spike. I looked into those emerald green eyes and suddenly found something very, VERY off about them. Their shade of green began to dull and grow pale, they were not the eyes of my true beloved, a fact that was proven with finality when the form of Michael began to twist and distort itself violently, revealing the true identity of my "beloved"

'Darkrai! Stop your ill-conceived mockery of my true beloved!'

I saw the twisted smile of the Darkness Pokemon shine at my accusation.

'Hmm...you did very well seeing through my nightmare...too bad the same cannot be said of your "beloved" '

I stared daggers at the Hell-spawn now corrupted as a demonic-looking Darkrai slammed the needle of the syringe through my chest spike and began injecting the viscous fluids within directly into my body. I thrashed and went into a deep panic as I waited for the drug to take hold of my body. I found myself surrounded by complete darkness the next time I opened my eyes.

The first thing to come after my vision was my hearing, what I heard immediately thereafter was the frantic, grief-stricken voice of my beloved. I saw Michael clutching his head as if in unimaginable pain and screaming my name over and over. I checked my body for any signs of restriction and, thankfully, found nothing holding me down or keeping me from making an effort to wrest my mate free from his nightmare.

"JESSI~! JESSI NO, DONT LEAVE ME! WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING THIS TO ME?!"

I ran over to my beloved who was in so much pain and tried to hug him but found nothing but air when I went Tom rap my arms aroun Michael's neck. I was utterly baffled as the previous nightmare was real and tangible but this one, it was as though I didn't even exist in this timeline.

"Michael! I'm right here! MICHAEL! LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

My words only echoed through the empty air, yet despite this they still did not reach my beloveds ears. A disturbing voice cut through my reverie and put a knot in my stomach just from the intensity and venom behind it.

"You deserve EVERYTHING that you feel right now, half-breed scum! You killed a human who was only trying to better humans and Pokemon!"

I looked to my right and saw a lone human standing with his arms crossed defiantly and standing on top of the corpse of a Pokemon. Upon closer inspection it was a Charizard, it's tail flame having been extinguished.

"I NEARLY LOST MY LIFE PROTECTING ALL OF YOU FROM CERTAIN DEATH AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! BY KILLING MY BELOVED, MY SON AND DAUGHTER?! BY KILLING YOUR OWN FUCKING PEOPLE?!"

I took a few extra seconds to process what my beloved had just told me and, once I had taken a good look at the scene before me, suddenly found myself wanting to join Michael in his rage...

Amber, now a Kirlia, lay in a pool of her own blood, a gunshot wound to her skull the fatal precursor while Blade was directly underneath his sister, that brilliant crimson chest spike shattered into many pieces, most likely done by human hands. Several humans lay at Michael's feet, slashed, mangled and hideously disfigured by my beloveds' arm blades, now caked thoroughly in human blood.

Then I saw my own lifeless body amidst a throng of dead humans, many of whom looked to have been defending me, Michael and our children. Gary was stabbed numerous times in the chest while Ash was hovering over Latias who, like her mate, had been shot numerous times in the back, the work of cowards.

Dawn, May and Sabrina were stripped naked and had numerous cuts, gashes and hand prints all over their bodies before meeting a similar fate with gunshots to the back of the head. Professor Oak was face down in a pool of his own blood and Ruby...

I wanted to wake up from this nightmare so badly when I saw what they had done to Ruby and her Pokemon.

Her red Gyarados was haunched over in extreme pain, having been assaulted by numerous Pokemon and their trainers had left the shiny Water-Type on the brink of death. Her Gengar was frozen solid in ice, most likely done by a Pokemon and Umbreon had been tortured horribly before being put out of its misery.

In total there were close to three dozen dead humans, not countng the ones who died trying to save us and twelve Pokemon who would never see he light of day ever again.

"That's what you get for having sex with a Pokemon!"

"You forced our hand! We had to kill the Champion of our own region because you brainwashed him!"

"You should just crawl back into your hole and rot!"

"You're a sick monster!"

I had heard enough from the throng of disillusioned people and made my emotions manifest through my words, hoping they would reach my beloved.

"NO! YOU ALL ARE THE MONSTERS FOR DESTROYING EVERYTHING MY BELOVED HELD DEAR IN HIS HEART!"

I clutched my chest spike and stared daggers at the crowd of people.

"You are the ones who are brainwashed! Michael was doing everything he could to protect this town and this region from the plague that is Walcott and his organization! Did you not see that corrupted Moltres? That was Walcotts doing! Half of Kanto's would have been torched if Michael hadn't intervened!"

As expected my outcry went as far as the boundaries of my own lips, nothing I would say could penetrate this nightmare and the longer my beloved cried my name out the more I tried calling him back. I was at a loss as to how I could bring Michael out from the depths of his nightmare, that was when I was hit with an epiphany.

I was a Psychic-Type and had the power to transfer my thoughts into another's subconscious.

'Perhaps I can help my beloved after all...'

I focused all of my willpower into directing my thoughts into my beloveds mind, wherever he may be. We had very little time to practice long distance telepathy but now was not a time to worry about that; Michael needed to be brought out from his bad dream and fast before it consumed his sanity.

'Michael...my beloved...wherever you are...please, wake up from this! None of this is real! It is a nightmare conjured by Darkrai in his corrupted form!'

I received no response so I tried again, this time searching for any award psychic signatures within my mental field but found only darkness beyond. I refused to let this deter me from continuing to try and establish contact with Michael, however.

'Michael! My beloved Michael! Please, you must wake from this lock on your mind! I am still alive and so is everyone else! PLEASE!'

I continued prying at the veil of darkness until I finally felt a pull on my subconscious, it was very minor but it was enough of a tug to warrant further investigating. With another powerful mind scan I zero'd in on the source of the psychic signature and found my beloved locked in a struggle with Darkrai himself.

From my vantage point I could make out his form being suspended in the air, held together by tendrils of void energy with Darkrai feeding more and more nightmares into my beloveds subconscious state. He was writhing in noticeable agony though his eyes were sealed shut, hiding the brilliant emerald I knew resided deep within.

As I attempted to get closer to my beloved I could sense Darkrai fixating his gaze upon me, it was a spiteful and rage-filled inspection that could only end up with me being the next target for his potent nightmares.

I could make out the thin veins sticking through my beloveds skin as the life energy within him was being drained due to the nightmares being fed inside of his mind. I had to stop Darkrai now if there was any hope of Michael ever waking up. We had been through so much together and seen so many wonderful things in our long twenty years of companionship.

From the first moment I had laid eyes on Michael as a Ralts I could feel something tugging at my heart strings. It was as though fate was letting me know how important a role the young boy would play in my life, and what a role it was indeed.

Our love for one another blossomed and was reshaped in the form of two wonderful children- Blade and Amber, both of which were still growing up and in need of their parents...both of them.

Blade wanted to be a great warrior and prove to Michael how strong he was while Amber always strived to be strong and courageous like her father and myself. I could not allow this to be denied by the work of a madman bent on destroying everything that made the threads of human and Pokemon bonding so sacred.

'Michael! We're all waiting for you to wake up! PLEASE, MY BELOVED! WAKE UP FOR ME AND OUR FUTURE!'