Author's Corner.

Slybill: Jay owe I dee! HOHOHO-NO! Now on with the show. Places everyone. Hey! Get back in line, Brat.

Boss: But, I'm not even in this episode.

Slybill:...Oh...ACTION!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON. ELSE, TEAM PLASMA WOULD'VE APPEARED IN THE ANIME BY NOW!

Mistralton City, Unova Region.

Scarlet jammed his hands over White's ears and Skyla did the same as Joid and Hydreigon opened wide and let loose guttural blasts of sound waves, strong enough to tear up the road and shatter several windows. However, thanks to the dragon boost, the hunter was able to withstand the violent attack.

"Let's go!" Skyla cried as soon as the long screaming died down and Skarmory shot towards Alphinia and Salamence leaving silver trails of dust behind. With a loud squawk, the Armour Bird slammed several times into the dragon before letting loose a powerful Flash Cannon aimed for its face. Inches away from Salamence, the attack suddenly deflected and with a loud BOOM, struck a nearby building. Peering closely at her smirking opponent, Skyla made out the faint traces of a Light Screen barrier generated by the blonde's Natu and had her pokemon take a dive as a powerful Fire Blast erupted from Salamence's open jaws.

"This is so exciting," Alphinia exclaimed, bouncing energetically on her pokemon's back. "Maybe we'll even see who the better sky dancer is between us!"

"Hmph!" came the redhead's reply as Skarmory gathered speed once again and executed another Aerial Ace.

Down below, Scarlet withdrew his palms from White's head while keeping his eyes focused on the paused duo several feet away. "Jolteon and I will take on the freak. You take care of the Hydreigon. Be careful."

White nodded. "Right!"

With another battle cry, Joid kicked himself off the building and, like a rocket, soared downwards towards the teens. In response, Scarlet went head on with his foe and threw a hard fist into his open jaws, instantly sending him through two cars and one lamppost. As he skipped across the road like a stone on water, Jolteon followed close by, sheathed in lightning and leaving cracks across the already battered road. In seconds, he slammed into Joid and sent him even further down the street until the boy finally crashed through a wall. Behind Scarlet, Hydreigon slowly reared up to full height and was about crunching him with all three heads when a Hammer Arm and an Ice Punch slammed into its side and knocked it into a nearby tank. Spluttering, the pokemon turned to see Beartic and Emboar standing on either side of White who smirked with anticipation.

"Sorry, but we're your opponents!" she declared and her pokemon charged in again for another round of attacks.

Roaring, Hydreigon flew out from the tank and went head to head against its foes, charging up another Tri Attack.

"Protect!" White called and Scraggy jumped out from behind Emboar before landing on its head and setting up a green barrier of light around his partners. The Tri Attack dispersed in different directions and Hydreigon grunted as Emboar slammed into its gut while Beartic tackled it from behind. Before it even had a chance to react, a blue ball of energy collided with its side and exploded instantly, making it whizz through the air before ramming into a nearby truck. Peering through the dust, the Brutal Pokemon made out the snickering form of Deino and flew in for a Crunch attack in retaliation.

"Ice Beam!" White called and Beartic blew an ice cold beam at the charging pokemon, causing it to freeze over for a brief moment before shattering the blocks of ice around it with a powerful flex of its arms. "It probably seems unfair since its five against one, but I'll have to knock it out fast so it won't get in Scarlet's way."

At that moment, White ducked as yet another large slab of concrete flew her way.

"You hate the road that much?" Scarlet remarked as Joid dug his hand into the tattered road and ripped out another chunk. Just as he lifted it over his head, Jolteon came down with an Iron Tail, shattering the slab and coming down on his head hard enough to knock a normal man unconscious. But Joid made it perfectly clear that he wasn't very normal as the tail bounced off his head without so much as a scratch or a bump. Scarlet took no chances however and followed up with a swift uppercut that sent him into the air before a Double Kick from Jolteon volleyed him into another shop.

If that doesn't stop him, the glass shards should, Jolteon speculated as Scarlet cautiously walked over to the destroyed shop window. He jumped back though as Joid's shape rose from the debris and began to take slow steps towards the duo.

"How is this guy moving?" Scarlet muttered, gazing at the long shards of glass sticking out of his opponent's thighs, arms and back. Is this some sort of trick or is he actually an android or something?

DRIP...DRIP...DRIP..

The ravenette's ears perked up and he nearly gawked at the amount of blood pouring from Joid's torso. Okay, so he isn't an android...Wait a minute, he couldn't be immortal, could he?

"At that rate of blood loss, I don't think he's gonna make it in 2 minutes..." Skyla commented and brushed the hair out of her face as Skarmory went in for another Steel Wing.

"Keep your eyes on me, Trash!" Alphinia called as Salamence let loose rapid balls of fire. "And don't worry about Joid. He's pretty much ready to fight now."

"What?" Skyla asked as Skarmory dodged each searing flame and closed with its steel wings aglow. "It's not like he's immortal or something!"

Alphinia only smiled as Salamence made a feint and got Skarmory close enough for a devastating Flamethrower.

"He's not immortal."

Scarlet and Jolteon arched surprised eyebrows as Joid ripped out each shard with ease and increased his pace. Before he could reach them, the duo closed in from either side and attacked, Jolteon with a Thunder Fang and Scarlet with a glowing purple fist. There was a BOOM as the attacks collided with skin and smoke was thrown up in the cloudy air. In seconds, it cleared and a surprised Scarlet stared at his glowing fist trapped in Joid's outstretched palm. In his other hand, he held Jolteon's muzzle shut and the pokemon struggled at his otherwise iron grip.

"How did he stop that?" they gasped in unison and Joid let out another scream before hurling them both into a building several feet away. Before they made contact with the wall, the white-haired freak zoomed in from nowhere and brought a knee out and right into Scarlet's side earning a short gasp of pain from the ravenette. Now sent in another direction, the hunter brought his feet down on the passing road and skidded to a harsh halt before bringing his arm up to block an oncoming kick from his attacker. Not stopping there, Joid drew his other leg back and sent it down on Scarlet's shoulder before grabbing him by the collar and slamming him down on the ground. Still reeling from the blow, Scarlet ground his teeth as he struggled against the boy's hold. However, Joid lifted him up slowly before spinning round and round and round and...well he spun a lot before letting Scarlet go. The hunter soared high into the air and thanked his body's sturdiness as he went through four buildings (Personally, wow). He marvelled at Joid's speed however as he saw him catching up again. Thinking fast, he grabbed an incoming lamppost and redirected his line of flight, this time, right into Joid's jaws. That seemed to work as the white haired boy flew back and through six buildings (Again, Wow).

The ravenette skidded to a halt again beside White and had to lean back to catch his breath.

"I'm fine, if that's what you're trying to find out by that look."

The girl nodded and lowered her purple eyes to his ripped jeans and jacket. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're not scared of that...thing."

"I'm a little creeped out. I mean, he stopped my punch. Dragon boosted punch. With his bare hands to. And don't get me started on his speed."

"This is just the beginning, Scarlet!" Alphinia called from above. "You'd better keep your eyes peeled or else Joid might rip you to shreds. And I doubt your gloves are gonna help either."

"Hey! Why's he after me anyway?" Scarlet yelled back.

"Well, Joid was designed to kill you so it's only logical that he'll be after your blood," she replied as Salamence dodged several blades of wind launched by Skarmory's Air Cutter. "Draco probably used your blood as a base anyway."

"Huh? That doesn't make any sense and why would that psycho wanna kill me?"

The blonde parted her lips to say something but shut it immediately after with a small grin.

"Classified huh?" Scarlet asked and was only met with her eerie silence. Then that annoying death metal began to play again only this time, it got louder and more threatening.

"Scarlet...where's Joid anyway?" White asked lowly and the ground began to shake underneath her feet. Suddenly, Scarlet pushed her out of the way as the ground erupted in showers of debris and the familiar mass of white hair sprang out from the hole with an uppercut to Scarlet's jaw. Getting back into the air, the ravenette braced himself and threw as many punches as he could at the charging white blur to which Joid blocked every single one of them. Grabbing his hands, the boy swung Scarlet back towards the ground before coming down on his stomach with a knee. From the new hole in the road, Joid sat atop Scarlet and grabbed him by the collar before drawing him up to his face.

"Just…what in the hell…are you…?" the ravenette rasped, vision beginning to flicker. Even with his strongest boost, he still couldn't subdue this monster.

"Ku….ku…" was the reply as blood began to stream from Joid's eyes. Despite the tears, one would've thought he was chuckling in delight or relief like he had finally found what he had lost.

"Let him go!" Skyla called from above and her pokemon dove down, intending to push the white-haired boy off of Scarlet. They stopped abruptly however as Alphinia grabbed hold of Skarmory's sharp tail. How she could catch it by the tail at that speed intrigued the pilot and she gasped as blood dripped from the blonde's pale hand.

"Your fight's with me, remember trash?" she growled and hurled Skarmory into the air again. "We wouldn't wanna interrupt Joid's happy moment."

"Huh?" Skyla blurted as her pokemon stabilized itself and cawed defiantly at Salamence.

Turning to White, Alphinia narrowed her eyes and gave an eerie smile. "Hey, if you wanna help him, just use your pokemon to kill Joid. That shouldn't be too hard to do…right?"

White's eyes widened and she shot a glare at the knight. "I can't do that! Using pokemon for that is wrong and utterly disgraceful to both trainer and pokemon!"

Alphinia stared for a second before clutching her sides and laughing hysterically. "You're so naïve! Just like that dead champion brother of yours!"

"What?" Skyla and White yelled in unison. "How did you know?"

The knight's laughter died down slowly until it was reduced to just an evil smile.

"Isn't it obvious…" she slurred and a dark shadow swept across her face, leaving only two red dots on her murderous expression. "We. Killed. Black."

Silence.

Silence.

Skyla stiffened as the blonde knight giggled mindlessly again.

"What's the matter?"

Her gloved fingers tightened around Skarmory's shoulders.

"Purrloin got your tongue?"

Her teeth ground again each other sharply.

"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have told you guys just yet."

Hatred. Vengeance. White practically tasted it in the air but it wasn't coming from the knight. It wasn't coming from her either. No…someone hadn't let go of Black's death after all.

"You…"

The trainer looked up and gasped Skyla's eyes oozed murder. "Skyla…"

"You killed him…"

Alphinia fingered her own chest. "Got him right in the heart. Stubborn trash still kept moving after we ran him through so someone cut him up slowly until he gave up the freaking ghost."

White clasped her hands over her mouth to hide the frightened scream bubbling up her throat.

"You killed him…"

"Uh…You said that already."

Skyla's head snapped up revealing her enraged expression and without warning, Skarmory executed a lightning-fast Brave Bird that knocked Salamence through two other buildings.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" the redhead screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" Alphinia stated enthusiastically as Salamence retaliated with a Dragon Rush. "If you'd be this fired up, maybe I should've told you sooner."

"Air Cutter!" Skyla cried and Skarmory blew larger, and sharper, blades of wind at its opponents.

"Draco Meteor!" Salamence charged up another giant rock of energy before launching it at the wind blades. The ball tore through each blade until it got close enough to the gym leader and scattered into several explosive pieces. With her skill as a pilot, the redhead weaved through each attack easily with Skarmory speeding towards the dragon pokemon, light already shining round its beak.

"Drill Peck!" Skyla called and held on tightly as the Armour Bird spun rapidly like a drill towards Salamence.

"Fire Blast!" Alphinia ordered quickly. In seconds, a disastrous wave of fire swept across the sky giving the area a yellowish glow. Normally, Skyla should've dodged that but in her current state of mind, she didn't care as Skarmory tore through the wave, splitting it in two as its beak continued towards Salamence. Seeing the impending attack, the blonde knight snapped her fingers twice and her pokemon gave a mighty under-swing of its heavy tail, getting Skarmory in the belly and sending it up into the air.

White stared as the battle raged on between the two air masters and watched as a stray Draco Meteor fell towards her. Luckily, Skyla's Unfezant swept under her and carried her out of the way.

Her pokemon were still to busy subduing Hydreigon (who had suddenly gone into a murderous frenzy) and Joid still had a tight hold of Scarlet. Scarlet!

Looking in his direction, the girl drew a sharp breath as Joid's mouth stretched open and 6 inch canines buried themselves into the center of Scarlet's chest. Screaming, the ravenette grabbed his head and with a sudden rush of strength, snapped his neck backwards making White scream in fright. Her fright intensified however as Joid's broken neck snapped back into place with a sickening wet CRACK and once again buried his teeth into Scarlet's bloodied chest.

Purple eyes widened as blood poured from the ravenette's gasping mouth and his fingers dug and tore through the road in pain.

"In case you're wondering," Alphinia called from above. "Joid's trying to recover something Scarlet stole from him a long, long time ago."

Another agonized scream.

"You've probably noticed that no matter how many injuries he gets, Joid's body functions normally like he doesn't even fell the pain. That's because he lacked something important when we created him. And unfortunately, the King couldn't exactly get a hold of that important piece."

Blood began to spray everywhere as Joid dug deeper into Scarlet like a predator feeding on its prey.

"Do you know what he lacks? What he's so desperately trying to tear out from Scarlet?" Alphinia asked, oblivious of the Steel Wing coming her way. Salamence took the attack right in the chest and looked defiantly at the stunned and tiring pilot and Skarmory. Leaning over her pokemon's massive head, the knight locked her blood-red orbs with Skyla's angry blue ones.

"Just simply look into his eyes."

White gripped Unfezant's shoulders shakily before taking a deep breath. "Please! Get him off Scarlet!"

The pokemon readily complied and slammed into Joid's side, knocking him into a shop window nearby. Jumping off the pokemon, White dropped beside Scarlet and a small whimper escaped her lips at the size of the wound. However, Scarlet sat up quickly with a hiss and gave a shaky sigh as the wound began to close up slowly thanks to the Dragon Boost. Relieved, the trainer threw herself over him and sobbed shakily into his shoulder.

"I'm scared!" she cried. "Joid keeps coming back even when we try to knock him out! What if he tries to kill us?" Scarlet arched an eyebrow. The fact that the same White who could prance in the face of danger was here shaking for her very life surprised him, and made his heart lurch silently. Peeling her off of him, he got up shakily and pulled her to her feet.

"White," he started. "If we're gonna stop that psycho, we'll need to fight to kill."

The girl looked at him and slowly shook her head. "But-"

"It's the law of nature, rookie. That's another lesson I've got for you. It's kill or be killed..." he cut in and whistled for Emboar to pull back and come towards them. "And we need to stay alive so we can fulfill that dream of yours."

Glass crunched as Joid stepped out of the building, swaying to and fro like a drunk. Blood dribbled down his open lips and creepy moans let themselves out of his mouth.

"Graaaaa..." he growled, making White cringe. Scarlet touched Emboar and called for a change in boost. Blinking, the gloves went dark orange as Dark, Dragon, Fighting and Fire fused together.

"Also, Skyla'd better calm down or it'll affect her fight with Blondie and that's the last thing she'd need right now."

White stared for a second before nodding and clenching her small fists. "Okay, but-"

"I'll fight him myself if that's what you want. You may be a ditz, but I appreciate your sense of morality for pokemon." He tightened his gloves and stiffened as Joid began to run towards them again. "Just get rid of that Hydreigon, will ya?"

BOOM went Scarlet's gloves as fire blasted from them, rocketing him towards Joid. Ramming into his belly, Scarlet took his head and slammed it into the ground before dragging him through the road and hurling him into the air. In a burst of speed, he flew up to him and sent his flaming gloves into Joid's torso repeatedly, knocking the wind out of him. Immediately after, he took Joid's leg and threw him deep into the ground before taking a hold of his arm and giving a hard tug, ripping it off totally and eliciting a scream from Joid. Mercilessly, he pulled off his other arm and torched both limbs into ash.

"Sorry freak but I'm gonna need you to stay like that for a while," he stated, tearing a lamppost off the ground and bending it into a semi-circle before jamming it over Joid's torso, instantly hooking him into the ground. With that, he flew towards Hydreigon and crashed a boot into its upper jaw before grabbing it by the tail and twirling it round.

"White!" he yelled and flung the Brutal Pokemon towards her. Thinking fast, she rose both hands and all her pokemon gathered round.

"Beat Up!" she ordered and as one, they let loose their most powerful attacks at the oncoming foe. Hydreigon roared as its body crumpled from the Ice Punches, Arm Thrusts, Focus Blasts, Stone Edges and Dragon Pulses. From above, Jolteon landed on its center head with a Double Kick, sending it into the ground again before huffing and trotting up to White.

"Nice," Scarlet commended, twisting another lamppost around the unconscious dragon pokemon. "Now we've gotta help Skyla."

The sky flared again and the teens looked up to see Salamence, bruised and scratched, firing off another round of Dragon Breath at the equally battered Skarmory who dodged the attack and flapped its steel wings weakly.

"Someone's tiring," Alphinia remarked, chest heaving slightly. "I'm a little surprised that you're still able to keep up with me though."

Skyla kept up her cold glare, very aware of the fact that Skarmory's stamina was spent in comparison to Salamence's almost boundless energy.

"Let's settle this, you murderer," she hissed and Skarmory reared up for one final attack.

"It's not like I care but that Skarmory's too weak to maneuver any more attacks," Alphinia remarked, red eyes scanning the dents on its steel hide. "Oh well, all good things have to come to an end anyway."

"Skyla!"

Skyla looked down to see White atop Unfezant, flying towards her.

"Stay back, White. I have to settle this."

White shook her head rapidly before giving her a pleading look. "Revenge doesn't get anyone anywhere, Skyla. Please let Skarmory rest."

"But I have to do this! If I let her go, I'll never forgive myself especially since it was her group that...that..." she trailed off as tears stung her eyes again. "Please, let me settle this."

"If it helps, I ran the sword through his heart at the last minute," Alphinia chipped in coyly and smirked at the maddening glare from Skyla and hurt stare from White. "Just kidding, but it would've been fun anyway."

Skyla ground her teeth. "Shut up."

"Oh yeah, didn't you have a thing for that weakling?" the knight asked and her smile grew wider at the look in Skyla's eyes. "You did? Who'd love a weird trash like that?"

"Shut up."

"Then again, trash always attracts flies so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised," she jeered and let out a cackle before turning to White. "And you! He was your brother, how come you aren't as mad as Miss Talentless-at-flying over there?"

The trainer bit her lip and lowered her head. "Black always taught me not to get back at somebody for what they did. Revenge always leads people into doing things they'd regret later."

Alphinia stopped her laugh and eyed the girl with a puzzled expression. Where was the malice she was expecting to see?

"Huh. Tough," she remarked and leaned against Salamence's neck. "Figures you'd be that way. You live your life with a weirdo and you become one yourself. Or is it just that childish innocence of yours that keeps you from hating people? Oh well, so much for breaking you with that revelation."

Scarlet arched an eyebrow. Breaking White? That sounded very, very familiar.

"Why exactly d'you like torturing people like this?" White asked, mildly frustrated. "You killed your teammates back in Castelia and you've wrecked this entire section of the city!"

"Why?" Alphinia echoed and tapped her chin. "I don't know...why do people take out the trash? It's because their disgusting...right?"

"So you do this cos you think humans are disgusting?" Skyla asked skeptically. "Are you some kind of sociopath? By extension, you're disgusting too."

Alphinia's smile dropped and she glared at the gym leader. "Don't label me among your ranks, human."

Something about the way she said it so acidly seemed to rattle White and her fingers trembled at the red in her eyes. Then she noticed something. Those same eyes that were said to be the window to the soul seemed somewhat distant and empty. White could feel something...but it wasn't exactly human. Sure her soul had the basic characteristics of a human but it felt like a huge piece of it was missing.

"Incomplete..." the trainer whispered nearly falling off Unfezant. "Your soul...your being...its incomplete..."

Alphinia smirked. "Bingo. I'm not gonna go into details about what makes me totally different from you since the sun's gonna set soon and I told Draco we'd be back by sundown."

"You're not going anywhere," Skyla growled menacingly. "Instead, you're gonna tell me where your base is so I can finish what Black started and end Team Plasma for good."

"Bite me," Alphinia sneered slowly and Salamence charged up another Fire Blast. "By the way, it's time to put our plans in motion."

"Skyla," White pleaded. "Skarmory needs to rest and you don't look so good either."

That was true. Skyla's clothes were slightly singed and blood ran down her forehead from some haphazard swings of Salamence's tail.

"I'll settle this in one attack," she stated, ignoring White. "Get ready, Skarmory."

Despite its appearance, the steel bird cawed and glared at Salamence.

Seeing as she was too blinded by her anger, White steered Unfezant back towards the ground and sighed as Scarlet walked up to her.

"No luck huh? She'll probably tell me to stay out of it too," the ravenette speculated and looked at the air masters. "Best you can do now is hope she doesn't get burnt to a crisp."

"I can't watch while she nearly kills herself and her pokemon. We should step in when it gets rough-"

"Watch out!" Scarlet barked suddenly and pushed White out of the way as a broken lamppost came hurtling towards them. He felt the wind rush from his lungs as metal met chest and sent him across the road. Without warning, Hydreigon, clean as a whistle, rushed up to White from behind and nearly swiped her head off when Emboar got in the way and took the full brunt of the attack to her side. The other pokemon attempted to beat it down again but the Brutal Pokemon took in a deep breath before letting out the most ear-busting Hyper Voice White had ever heard. Jamming their paws over their ears, White's pokemon screeched in pain as their heads swam at the increasing noise. Before long, Hydreigon stopped and, before they could react, let loose a fast Dragon Rush at its opponents taking down Scraggy, Sandile and Deino in one sweep. Emboar tried a Hammer Arm from the side only to be stopped as the head on the left faced her and blasted a cold jet of water, Surf most likely, into her. Beartic on the other hand tried an Ice Beam but fell back as a hot Flamethrower enveloped the beam and hit the bear pokemon in the gut, fainting it instantly.

Turning back to the frightened trainer, Hydreigon growled harshly before hovering towards her slowly. On seeing this, White backed away slowly until she felt the wall press against her back. Her eyes flickered as the Brutal Pokemon grinned at her predicament and reared all three heads up, ready to rip her apart.

BAM!

Jolteon's Double Kick connected beautifully with Hydreigon's eye and Scarlet grabbed its tail from behind before smacking the pokemon down on its back. Before it new it, the hunter shoved his palms into its blue belly and pumped all the boosted energy from his gloves making it convulse wildly as Fire, Dragon, Fighting and Dark coarsed through its veins. In no time, its eyes rolled back and the pokemon stopped moving altogether.

"And stay down," he spat, wiping the blood from his jaw. "Are you okay, rookie?"

White's legs buckled and she sank to the ground, letting out a raggedy sigh. "Thank you."

The sky flared one more time and the teens looked up again to see Skarmory, badly burnt, dropping to the ground slowly. Right after they landed, Salamence fell from above and into a truck with a loud crash and Scarlet could make out ice covering its wings.

Skyla stepped off her pokemon, giving it gentle pats on the neck before walking up to the damaged truck.

"Alphinia," she called out and the blonde girl clambered out shakily from the truck.

"I never expected your Skarmory to know Icy Wind," she remarked and coughed into her sleeve. White noticed the splash of red on the sleeve and lowered her eyes to the machine part sticking out of her exposed belly.

How can she move with that?

"I don't need your sympathy, trash." White's line of thought broke as the blonde pulled out the metal like it was nothing and flung it away.

"Tell me where your headquarters is," Skyla barked, nearing the knight. "From the looks of it, you don't seem to be able to heal like Joid or Hydreigon and with that wound, you're pretty much dead anyway."

"Skyla, maybe we should take her to a hospital first before-"

"I say, let her bleed to death," the redhead cut in sharply and slammed the woozy blonde down on the ground. "Just so long as she tells me where I can find their psycho boss Ghetsis!"

"Easy there, Skyla," Scarlet said slowly as the hands on Alphinia's neck began to tighten. "I understand how you feel after all she's said but she'd be even more useful alive than dead. After all, you'd need her to lead the way to this HQ of theirs, wouldn't you?"

The redhead stayed silent but from the short cough Alphinia gave, they could tell that the grip on her throat just got tighter.

"Naive..." Alphinia coughed out and gave an unfazed smile. "You actually think you've caught me huh?"

"How can you be so defiant? Aren't you the least bit anxious as to whether you'll live or die?" White asked in exasperation.

Alphinia stayed silent before a further press on her neck made her cough again. This time, there was more blood.

"Whether I live or die?" she rasped and let her eyes trail the clouds. "I don't care about that...If the king sees it fit to use my life as a tool, then I don't really mind..."

Another squeeze.

"Kill me Talentless. I deserve it don't I?" she jeered weakly. "I was the one who weakened him anyway. And I have to say that your expression of anger mixed with sadness was priceless. It only goes to show how weak you are as a human."

"You..." Skyla muttered and squeezed again on her throat making her gasp for air. "Why I oughta-"

"Skyla, please!" White cried, clasping her arms round the gym leader. "You don't have to do this! If you kill her, you'll be no worse than the person who killed Black!"

"I don't care!" the woman snapped, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I won't let her go for what they did to him!"

"Go on you, little trash! Kill me!" Alphinia retorted with a smile. "You don't have the guts to avenge the one you love?"

"Don't listen to her Sky! Please don't do this!" the trainer pleaded again, burying her head in the gym leader's back. "It just doesn't fit you to be a killer!"

"So you'll just let his killer go right? What kind of friend, are you?" the blonde knight snapped, her smile growing ever wider.

Skyla ground her teeth and her hands tightened so hard, Scarlet almost guessed that she'd leave a mark.

"Skyla," White murmured and put her hands on either side of the woman's head before lifting it to face a broken mirror nearby. "Is this what you'd want Black to see?"

Skyla froze. Messy, windswept hair framed a dusty face with blood running down the sides and the eyes. Oh Arceus, the eyes. They were hard. Steely. Mad. Murderous. Nothing like what she used to be before.

"Is this the angel Black has been talking about? Is it?"

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Slowly, she realized just what she was doing.

Slowly, the anger and sadness washed away from her body leaving her empty and a little sick.

Slowly, the hands on Alphinia's neck softened and tears splashed down on the blank knight's face.

Scarlet sighed in relief. If she had killed the blondie, it would've been a real hassle getting White to get over the incident.

Said girl smiled in relief too and held the sobbing woman by the shoulders before pulling her into an embrace.

"I'm so sorry," she wailed, holding tightly to the girl. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Sky. It's okay," she replied, stroking her head soothingly. "I'm just glad you made the right choice."

After a minute of sobbing and comforting, White peeled Skyla off her and held her at arms length. "We should get ourselves to the hospital."

The redhead nodded. "We look pretty banged up, don't we?"

"Banged up? Did you see what Joid did to me and Jolteon?" Scarlet asked and crouched beside them. "Anyway, it's over now and I'm cool with that. Just be sure that you two have your gym battle tomorrow."

White and Skyla looked at each other before giggling softly.

"Hey, maybe we should take Alphinia with us too," White offered as they got up.

Alphinia stayed quiet. Just as Scarlet was about picking her up, she said, "How pathetic," and they jumped back as her form began to fade and flicker.

"What's going on-" White was about asking when that familiar wave of bloodlust once again slammed into her. Suddenly and without warning, Skyla's pilot eyes caught a glint and she jumped in front of White. A wet sound filled the air and a scream came after. Blood was in the air.

Author's Corner.

Draco: No fair! I didn't get to fight today-

Slybill: Okay that's all for today people. Take five people.

Draco: Meanie!