A/N - Alright, so this chapter... is definitely a thing. I've got not much to say that wouldn't spoil it... yet, anyway - that can come later. I just want to say... don't kill me. That is all - so please, read on and review!

This world was... confusing, in more ways than one. I'd seen glimpses of it within the minds of those two humans, but those memories were distorted before I even got to them - unclear, and almost useless. As Verden lumbered across what was likely a road once, however, I could see that everything here was not as it should have been.

Buildings everywhere were broken down, from what I didn't know - the remains of most were now homes for the few other Pokémon I sensed while we traveled, or the occasional human or two. Whoever their residents may have been, however, we never actually saw them; at best, I caught a glimpse of what I'm sure was a Meowth darting behind a corner.

If that had been the only thing wrong, I might have mistaken this world for a ruined area of our own; this was not the case. The ground was... mismatched, somehow - cracked stone would give way abruptly to a section of grassy field, only to meet the same stone perhaps twenty feet away. The ruins of some buildings that definitely didn't belong here were seen as well - complete with their foundation, which is the only thing to give them away as 'different'.

But finally, as a shadow passed over us, I was reminded of the last - and strangest - thing that was just wrong: the floating pieces of land. They littered the sky, chunks of rock and soil and grass, simply floating without explanation. Some were no larger than myself, while others could have held entire towns - several, I noticed, were doing exactly that: supporting the ruins of one town or another. Without exception, however, they were all devoid of life - at least, none that I could detect.

After the countless hours of walking, Verden finally broke the eerie silence. "Kairi, you alright? You've been quiet." he asked, tilting his head to glance back at me. My response was to gesture at ourselves, at the landscape around us - at Joey, lying asleep on the Venusaur's back.

"Am I alright? Look around us, Verden - we're lost in some... reason-less world with an injured child, no Trainer to guide us, humans that look at us like monsters, and-" I was interrupted by a muffled growl. I scanned the area, both with my eyes and mind, finding nothing before realizing what the sound was. "… and we have no food." I finished bitterly.

The Venusaur sighed, slowing to a halt before physically removing me from his back with a vine, placing me on the ground. "I know. Especially that last, I know the situation." he said firmly, looking directly at me. "But complaining is going to fix nothing - it's not healing the kid, it won't bring us food, and it definitely won't bring David back. All it'll do is distract us." He paused to look around, taking in where we were.

There wasn't much to it - the ruins of a road that stretched seemingly forever onward, framed by the same inconsistent ground that seemed to be everywhere. Behind us was the remains of a city, and above us those floating 'islands' drifted aimlessly through the air. Ahead of us, however, I could see nothing - nothing but the same unending terrain. Verden, however, seemed to notice something I didn't.

"… There's something coming. I can feel it in the ground." he said suddenly, focusing intently on something. "Something small... a Pokémon?" Sure enough, a particularly tall batch of grass shifted, and I immediately recognized the creature that emerged as a Ninetales. But this one was different from most I'd seen - instead of almost golden fur, it had a silvery coat with its tails tipped in pale blue.

"You search for something?" it asked with a distinctly feminine voice, her tails faintly shifting behind her. Then she seemed to catch the scent of blood that followed us, thanks to Joey, and looked at the child. "You carry an injured human child with you... Why?"

"Our Trainer told us to watch over him. We're going to do so." I replied calmly. When I mentioned our Trainer, I saw and felt a flash of both sadness and anger in the Ninetales, but it was gone before I was sure it was even there. "Do you know this area well?" I asked, pretending not to have noticed - it was a useful question, either way.

The Ninetales nodded slowly. "Indeed. I know many dens in this place, some of human make and others natural. You do not." she said bluntly, yet there was some amount of... elegance in her voice.

With a glance at Verden who nodded once, knowing what I was doing, I asked "Could you help us? You can see the child is injured, and we can't help him. We also don't know where we would find food here, and I'm certain that you do." I paused for a moment before adding, as an afterthought "We will act as proper guests, of course."

Without a word, the Ninetales turned around and began walking off to the right of the road. At first I thought she was choosing to leave us behind, then one of her tails very distinctly motioned for us to follow. I smiled faintly for the first time since David was lost and started walking after the Ninetales, with Verden following behind. 'Maybe things will turn around for us...' I thought hopefully.

As I stepped out of the last doorway of my 'great leader's' base, I stopped to take a deep breath of the air. It was cold, bracing... what one would expect, being high in the mountains. 'Freedom... is a wonderful thing.' I thought slowly, rubbing my armored wrists where I'd been chained to that room. Oh, I wasn't bitter about it - I'd accepted it willingly, for appearances. But even so, the chains had always scraped against my scales.

'… Scales. How strange, the way that thinking comes so naturally to me now.' The thought surprised me - it was so easy to forget that I'd been 'only human' months before. A hunter of sorts, actually - taking down the fiercest animals I could find, for nothing more than the challenge of it. And now, they had made that all the easier for me.

The claws on my hands, the long silvery blades replacing the ends of my fingers, could slice through ten-inch thick steel - so their tests said, anyway. And my strength alone was enough to tear the same steel apart with a moderate tug.

"Predator, don't just stand there! You have a job to do."

And there was that damn Weevil's voice. Put in charge of 'keeping the experiment in line', as he called it... but he was right. I did have a job to do... find a sword, kill everyone in my way. I turned my head to look back at him, his glasses glinting in the doorway. He had a hand held out, a mechanical-looking azure flute in his grasp. "This... should get you into the Halls. You know where to go, and you know what to do."

I gave him what I'm sure was a menacing smile and snatched up the flute, putting it away in one of the pockets of the customized vest I wore. Despite the scales covering my body, I still wore a simple grey hunting vest and a pair of combat pants, both custom made to accommodate my... unique form. It was just... odd, if I didn't wear them. "Yes, I certainly do." I said quietly, still getting used to my new, almost hissing voice.

Without another word Weevil disappeared into the complex, the door sliding shut behind him. And equally silently, I turned my back on the building - half built into the mountainside as it was - and ran. Only when I actually tested myself did I realize how much I'd been given: rocks, trees, the ground itself flew by. In minutes I'd left the mountains behind, minutes more and I was past the forest that surrounded the rocky giants.

'Legendary Pokémon... almost god-like, are they?' I thought dismissively, thinking back to what I'd been told to expect. Creatures with the strength to reduce cities to rubble, skin that could withstand artillery with little more than a scratch... and that was just their known physical abilities. '… I love a good challenge.' With a sinister laugh, I sprang myself forward between two halves of a building - a little too far left.

My shoulder clipped the broken wall to my left, the scaled plating easily shearing through the weakened construction; it also sent me spinning to the ground, though I managed to twist and land on my feet in any case. My little landing seemed to irritate whoever had made that ruin its home, because a three-foot tall, brown reptilian... thing with a skull coveringits head stormed out of the shadows and slammed a thick bone into my leg.

I glared down at the creature - something brought the name 'Marowak' to my mind - and slowly knelt down to be closer to its level. "… you're a stupid creature." I said finally, breaking into a wide grin. "I'll give you ten seconds - run, hit me, I don't care. After ten seconds... hell, you don't even understand me!" I finished, laughing as I stood back up.

What surprised me was when the Marowak took a fighting stance, wielding that large bone like a club. Even more, it talked. "I will not let you drive me away." I heard, the gruff voice sounding like it belonged to someone who'd actually been in a tough fight before, and won. Something told me it wasn't... actually talking, but somehow I was understanding it. 'Side effect of their little experiment? Who knows."

My thoughts were interrupted by that bone club slamming into my head, and I saw the Marowak land back on the ground several feet away. Aside from a slight ache, however, I barely felt anything at all. In response, I smiled again. "Ten... nine... eight..." The Pokémon threw the bone at me, sending it whirling like a boomerang into my chest. For show I staggered back, watching as the weapon somehow flew back into the grasp of its owner.

"Seven... six... five..." I continued calmly, flexing my claws. This was going to be fun. With five seconds left, the Marowak seemed to realize that it was doing a sum total of nothing to me, and its eyes widened behind its skull 'helmet'. "Four... three... two..." Quickly the Pokémon whirled around and started dashing away - it finally got the idea, but just a bit too late.

I tensed up before leaping forward, grabbing its skull in one hand. I lifted the struggling Marowak up to eye-level and grinned maliciously, tightening my grip slowly. "… One." With what some would call a 'sickening' squelch, I withdrew my other clawed hand from its chest. Another, similar sound came along with a crack when I quickly twisted its neck - a little too hard I suppose, since the head came clean off. After a moment, all I had to say was "So... the skull really is its head..."

The broken and bleeding body was thrown aside, and I dropped the head on its chest. "A decent warm-up, I suppose... even if it was boring. Now to actually get to work." Without a second thought I set off once again, relishing in the feeling of near-flight that it gave me. 'Now then... where's that Pillar?'

-Hall Of Origin-

"You almost had it, Dave. One more time - imagine the blade covered in energy, and focus on that image." I could see him getting frustrated ever since we started training. He didn't know it, but he could easily focus Aura when it was reactive - to protect himself against being attacked, for example. More direct uses, however, were giving him quite a lot of trouble.

The other human who'd arrived a few hours ago, the scientist Keith, was also urging him on. "C'mon, kid - you can pull this off." he said supportively, with that strange Eevee - Neureon, I think it was called now - nodding enthusiastically in agreement.

Dave let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and gripping the sword tighter. After a few moments, I definitely saw a faint glow flickering around the blade, but only for a second - then it faded entirely. He snarled something under his breath and opened his eyes, frustration clear in them. "Damnet Aurora, this isn't working - something's in my way."

That got my attention - he'd not mentioned anything blocking him before. "Hm... that is definitely strange. It would explain your difficulty channeling your Aura, but I do not know what would cause something like that..." I thought for a moment before adding "Perhaps the Unown... put certain restrictions on the ability?"

"Great - an ability I can't even train. What good is that, then?!" Dave snapped, glaring at the blade. "You'd think, if I were meant to... what, save the world? You'd think that I wouldn't be so damn restricted on how." I could definitely understand his anger - it did seem arbitrary and a bad idea. Still, it had certainly saved his life once before, as well as my own.

I was about to try directing him again when Darkrai drifted out of one of the walls, a cold look in his eye. "How is your training progressing? Well enough, I hope." he said flatly, eyeing Dave darkly. There was definitely something off about the Nightmare Legend right now, but what...?

Dave gave a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "I've got no idea what I'm doing, alright? I'm convinced the Unown exist to screw me over, even when they do save my life!"

Surprisingly, Darkrai simply nodded. "I expected as much. There has not been an Aura Guardian - a human with the capacity to manipulate Aura - in decades. The few that did exist were naturally skilled, with training to add onto that." He glanced at me briefly, and I swear I could see a plan forming in his mind. "You, of course, have none of that talent. An angry child, in a world of monsters."

The air in the room shifted, and I could feel it fill with tension. 'What is he planning?' I wondered, eyeing the Legend closely. Dave shot Darkrai a glare, matched by the phantom's own passive stare. "What're you trying to say, hm?" he asked coldly, gripping his sword tightly.

Darkrai responded with a quiet chuckle. "I am saying that training you is pointless. Your defense against Giratina was a fluke, as was your lucky strike against the same - all luck. We need somebody that can fight for themselves, not a child playing at war." When he saw Dave shivering in anger, he added "Unless you can prove me wrong, of course."

Dave froze, realizing at the same time that I did what was going on - he was being baited. "… and how would I do that?" he asked slowly, going along with Darkrai's plan. The phantom seemed to smile, and a shadowy barrier flew up to separate the two from Keith, Neureon and myself.

"I will not demand that you defeat me - that is far beyond you. Strike me three times... that is your test. If you can accomplish that, I will be surprised. Use your Aura to do so, I will be impressed." Darkrai flexed his claws, looking both pleased and... worried? "I will not hold back." Without another word he threw his claw forward, sending a pulse of dark energy at Dave - for the first time, a human was directly fighting a Legend.

I used the Master Sword to throw myself away from the Dark Pulse, skidding along the ground before running up to Darkrai. 'Call me a child, will ya? Let's see 'bout that...' I thought angrily as I closed the distance between us, bringing the blade up in a quick slash... only to cut thin air. "Oh, that's your game..." I muttered, whirling around just in time to dodge an orb of shadowy energy. Say what you will about my Aura skills, but my bladework at least got some improvement from my training.

Immediately following the Shadow Ball came another orb, different from the first - the Legendary's signature move, Dark Void. I had no time to dodge this one - instead, I brought the sword up to cut through the attack. It split in half, but for just a second afterward something seemed... off. I didn't pay it any mind, though - I was too busy taking a shadow-infused claw to the chest.

Picking myself up off the ground, I glared at Darkrai who was just floating where I'd been standing. His expression was somewhere between bored and smug, like he was just humoring me. "You have yet to strike me once, David." he said flatly, that damn glowing eye not even looking at me. "It seems this was pointless."

The next thing I knew, I was pinned against a wall by one of his clawed hands over my throat. "You are a liability here. Someone who will get in the way." he continued just as calmly, looking idly at his free 'hand'. "I may not speak for the others, nor do I have to - I refuse to let anybody fall to your incompetence." I wasn't listening to what he was saying anymore; I tried to bring the blade around to cut at his arm, but found that I wasn't holding it anymore.

"Even if you had the blade... you are human." Darkrai forced me to look at him, his claws digging into my skin slightly. "You have survived this long because you were protected. Be it luck, circumstance, or another being, you have been saved from every fatal situation you have encountered. To think you could fight me only shows your rash judgment, and your final mistake." His free hand's claws grew longer, dark energy drifting from their tips.

"Darkrai!" I managed to turn my head, making his claws scratch my skin in the process, and saw Aurora pulling herself through the shadowy wall he'd brought up. "Enough! He's had enough." she called, a faint aura around her paws.

"I will decide when he is done!" Darkrai shouted, the force of it making my head hurt. "But... perhaps you are right." He surprised me by calming down so quickly. "I have certainly toyed with him enough... I think I will end this." It was about then that I realized he never let go of the attack he'd been holding - and Aurora noticed it too. "I did say... I would not hold back." His free arm blurred towards me, and at the same time the Lucario rushed forward - but she wasn't close enough.

I braced for the strike best I could, but... it never came. When I felt myself released, my eyes snapped open again; there was blood on the ground, but it wasn't mine. I hadn't even touched Darkrai, so it couldn't have been his. And that only left... "Aurora!" I moved forward to keep her from hitting the floor, and she fell weakly into my arms. A ragged hole was torn in her chest, blood steadily flowing onto the ground beneath her.

She didn't look up at me, like they always did in the shows. No, she deliberately avoided my gaze - almost ashamed. "I could have... stopped this before. I'm sorry..." she said quietly, her mental 'voice' sounding almost normal.

"No - hell no, don't you apologize." I said quickly, shaking my head. "And don't you think of dying - David would kill me." That addition earned a half-hearted chuckle from her, followed by a sickeningly wet cough.

"There is... nothing to be done. Goodbye... Dave." I felt something... sort of leave my mind, and Aurora went limp - still bleeding, but it didn't take a medic to know she wasn't breathing. '… Just like her, to leave with something so blunt...'

As I slowly set her down on the ground, Darkrai snapped. "This - this is what I was avoiding!" he snarled, all pretense of calm thrown out the window. "Had you not attempted to fight me, this would not have-"

"Shut up." I didn't yell, and I didn't run at him - I said it quietly, slowly standing back up. "Don't... even try to pin this on me." I could see his visible eye widen as I tightened my grip on the Master Sword - when I'd picked it up again, I didn't know or care. Something had snapped in my head, and Darkrai was about to get hell. "You've taken this too far."

It was astounding, his reaction to the nightmare. This was something I rarely found cause to use, the 'living nightmare' - a state where the victim could in fact be harmed by their own mind. All I had done was place a single concept in his mind: that he would fail. Somehow, he had twisted that into something that even I had not considered. And now, he was consciously re-working his own terror... and physically reacting, as well.

That was what I originally thought, of course - then I realized there appeared to actually be blood on my claws, and on the floor there was indeed the still form of a Lucario. 'Wait... oh, I should have expected as much. When dealing with something like the Unown... everyone in the room must be trapped in the nightmare. Even myself... how is something like this possible?'

As I saw him finally raise his eyes to look at me, the concept occurred to me that perhaps something had gone horribly wrong with my plan. But I did notice something about him, and whether it was good or bad I was unsure - he had a barely noticeable red gleam in his eyes, and I could feel... something pulsing through the air. 'What... is that?'

Whatever was happening, David was correct on one point - this was going too far. I needed to end it now, before things got further out of hand. "David, you must bring yourself to think." I said quickly, drifting back a few feet. "None of what just occurred is real-"

"Don't tell me that!" he shouted, beginning to take very deliberate steps toward me. "The blood on your hands - that's real. The Lucario on the ground, Aurora - she was real. And my anger, pal? That's more than real!" His pace went from deliberate to all-out running in a second, and the slash that followed actually managed to leave a shallow cut across my torso before I could dodge it. In the blur of motion, I managed to catch a strange detail: a trail of red-tinted light surrounding his blade.

As many know, Lucario are not the only Pokémon to access or understand the power of Aura - and I could recognize it in an instant. 'Wait - that pulse... is his Aura?' He gave me no time to think further, as I had to melt into a shadow to avoid the next slash. That time, there was something even more to the attack; the trail following his blade extended past the actual metal, seeming to form a longer blade of its own.

"Stop hiding, Darkrai. Weren't you 'not holding back' this fight? Fucking prove it!" I could hear his emotions in the shout - rage, that was obvious. But there was grief, and a sense of failure as well. When I refused to show myself, I saw his expression turn into a snarl. "Fine... we'll do this the hard way." For a moment, I was unsure what he meant - it was impossible for something physical to harm a shadow, I knew that much.

Then I felt a fiery pain stab through my torso, and saw the glowing blade embedded in the ground where my 'shadow' was cast. "H-how...?" I rasped, emerging from the shadows several feet away holding one claw over my chest. Against everything I knew, there was a very distinctive stab wound - he had actually harmed me!

With that knowledge, I truly did need to end this - he was losing control, and now I knew he could do some harm in this state. "I did not lie to you, David!" I managed, ignoring the pain I was so unaccustomed to. "You are trapped in a nightmare. Aurora is still alive!" '… I hope.' I added silently, watching him hesitate. It occurred to me that I had never been so... wary of a human before.

The several moments he spent motionless seemed to stretch far too long - his next reaction would determine how this would end. Hopefully, he would believe me; then he could end the nightmare himself. Alternatively, he would snap - that... I did not want to deal with. I could see the Aura around his eyes flickering between natural blue and angry red - he was making his choice.

Unfortunately, it seemed what I wished did not matter. "You damn liar!" he shouted, slashing his sword through the air for emphasis. What actually happened was the red Aura around the blade stretch to double its length, carving a deep gash in the spatial matter that made up the floor. "You're just trying to pull yourself out of the fire... well, you're gonna burn!" he continued, seeming to not even notice.

In the blink of an eye he was in mid-air in front of me, blade coming down for a strike that would come clean across my torso - with how unpredictable his abilities seemed, my survival was for once in question. The almost flame-like aura around the metal would give it enough range to catch me even if I moved. But at the last second, a voice rang out that I am convinced saved me from, at the very least, a significant recovery.

"D-David...?"

A/N 2 - Muahaha - I'm evil sometimes. At least now we can see some of what the Unown did for our friend Dave... but what sort of cost did it come at? Is Aurora actually alive, or is that somebody else entirely? And why exactly is Dave actually able to hurt Darkrai - the answers to this and more, next time on Pokemon: Unstable Transitions!