Chapter 44 - Dreamscape, Magma Style

Khrista smiled to herself as she looked around the dreamscape, but it quickly turned to a frown.

"What is this?" she demanded, looking around at the volcanoes and red, clouded sky above a rocky, burning desert. Khrista had already shifted to Fire-Type to avoid the heat, but it was still unbearable.

She turned and caught sight of a familiar woman in a gray jacket standing nearby. "Arsenal! Why am I here?"

The blond-haired woman looked a little uneasy, but she didn't lose her composure. "This isn't my doing, Khrista. You know what you need for the Fire-Types. Something else is at work here."

"Indeed."

The two stiffened upon hearing the voice and almost moved back-to-back in order to see who was there without lowering their defenses.

"You need not be alarmed," said the voice. A shadow appeared on the rocky ground and a figure rose up from it.

Khrista blinked in surprise. "Darkrai?"

Arsenal's crystal blue eyes narrowed. "The Nightmare King. What is your business here?"

"The title of 'king' is not mine to hold, Arsenal," Darkrai stated, bowing his head. "And it is not so much my business here as it is that you must do something for me." A black arm swept over the landscape. "This place belongs to a leader of an environmental terrorist group - one of the two that has existed on this world. Avatar, you may be able to guess which one it is."

Khrista blinked as the Legendary looked at her. Looking around, she frowned in thought for a moment.

"...It's a Magma guy, isn't it?" she finally asked.

"Correct. Maxie has been living in a major dream for the entire time that Cyrus has been in control; that is how he is being controlled. The Red Chain, although not completely visible, has its tentacles over almost everyone in this building, excluding you, me, and whatever Pokemon and humans have managed to be freed, break away, or remain free during the duration of Cyrus' reign. Maxie has been living here ever since he fell asleep the night Cyrus managed to return from the Distortion World and summon Dialga and Palkia, bringing along the Lake Spirits and Ash for the ride."

"Maxie?" Khrista's eyes widened as she looked around again. "This is his dream?"

"What do you want us to do here?" Arsenal asked, looking like she was attempting to keep a level head of the situation and barely managing to do so.

The Legendary turned to face Khrista. "I want you to try and free him."

"Me?" Khrista repeated. "Free the leader of Team Magma?"

"You rescued Terrus, one of his grunts, when you used that attack in your cousin's cell. You can certainly rescue him."

"But, why him? Why not start with another one of his grunts and work my way up?"

"Because we don't have enough time. Trust me, when the leader of one organization is broken free, the rest follow. That's how I managed to get Aqua out of their mess, and how you are going to get Magma out of theirs. Now, find him, before the night runs out on us!" With that, Darkrai vanished.

Khrista frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, isn't that just great. Now, where am I to find Maxie..." Her eyes scanned the world, pausing at each volcano. "Is this the world Maxie imagined? The place where land dominates the world? If it is, I don't want a part of it."

"If this is what he sees of this place, I would hate to see what...others have in mind," Arsenal muttered.

Khrista gave the woman a curious look when she heard Arsenal hesitate, but she said nothing.

"This is certainly unexpected."

The blond woman and brown-haired teen turned quickly, catching sight of what appeared to be an old man with receding red hair, wearing a rather regal-looking set of robes with the Magma symbol on it. On one side of him stood a Camerupt, and on the other stood a Blaziken, which Khrista found rather surprising.

"What are you doing out here?" Maxie demanded in a cold voice. "This section of the world has been deemed off-limits to those who -"

Khrista gained an annoyed expression. "Look, old man, we're here to help you out of this mess. It doesn't exist, and we're going to tell you why to help you come to your senses.

The statement seemed to sting - which was good, in Khrista's opinion. "How dare you say that! Blazikan! Camerupt! Take care of this pest."

The two Pokemon charged at the two invaders, who quickly jumped to either side of the attack. Knrista shifted Flying-Type, her shirt changing to sky blue, so that the teen could fly up to avoid any further attacks from the ground.

Instantly, the heat from the volcanoes around her hit Khrista like a brick wall, causing her to slam to the ground, switching to Fire mode automatically.

"O.K.," Khrista muttered. "Looks like I can't be doing anything like that." She rolled quickly to one side to avoid the Camerupt, then scooted backward quickly in order to avoid the Blazikan. "So, how am I going to do this...?"

"Keep dodging for now!" Arsenal called back. "I'll see if there's anything I can do to-"

"What did you just try to do?" Maxie interrupted, turning his attention to Khrista and fixing her with a glare.

"You mean you don't know?" Khrista let out a grunt as she got up from the hot ground. "I'm the kid who managed to escape from Cyrus' tower; I came back in order to free everyone else. Including you."

"Cyrus? That Galactic idiot?" Maxie let out a short laugh. "You amuse me. White stopped him on Mt. Coronet, when he disappeared."

Khrista gave him an odd look. "You think that's amusing? Let me ask you, then -how did you get here? What do you remember taking place before you ended up here?"

The Team Magma leader frowned. "What does that matter?"

"Well, I'm sure that you had a few Magma grunts guarding your sleeping place. Where are they in this world, huh? And what about Groudon? I'm pretty sure that Ground-Type Legendary would be wandering around somewhere - maybe lording it over Kyogre's skeleton? Where are they?" The teen crossed her arms over her chest, watching Maxie as he thought these statements over, his two Pokemon standing in front of him protectively.

Arsenal stopped moving, looking between the two humans as the two Fire-Types stopped attempting to attack and looked back at Maxie with curiosity.

"...I don't know," Maxie stated finally. "I remember getting into bed in my home at Fallarbor, then... I'm drawing a blank."

"The night you went to bed, Cyrus came back from his banishment in the Distortion World and summoned Dialga and Palkia, getting the Lake Sprits' attention, causing them to summon Ash to Spear Pillar in order to stop what was taking place." Khrista gave him a dubious look. "Try and guess what happened."

The Magma Leader's eyes widened. "No...that can't be possible."

"It trapped you in this dream realm, and you've been sleep-walking and following his orders ever since. I haven't seen you in person yet, but I did run into one of your grunts - Terrus, I believe it was? It looked like he had been hit with a Hypnosis spell and hadn't been freed in years. Doesn't sound very fun, in my opinion." Khrista watched Maxie as he looked around his version of a "perfect world," doubt starting to appear on his face. The two Pokemon beside him started to flicker in and out of existence, almost as if trying to confirm that this place wasn't real.

"If this is all a dream, how did you get here?" Maxie finally asked.

"We were summoned here to assist you in breaking free," Arsenal stated, walking over to stand next to Khrista. She was sweating, but she didn't show any other outward signs of discomfort from the heat.

"I'm one of the kids who got dragged from that other world; most of them were put under Cyrus' control, much like you." Khrista smirked. "And then there are the kids who managed to slip away to a rebel base, and my cousin and his friend, who are trapped within the tower. We're planning on causing great amounts of chaos and taking out Cyrus, but we're going to need everyone's help in this, including yours and Archie's."

Maxie bristled at the mentioning of the leader of Team Aqua, but seemingly kept his anger to a minimum, not noticing that his Pokemon had started to flicker in and out of existence. "What is your name, child?"

Khrista opened her mouth and was about to answer, but Arsenal placed a hand over the teen's mouth.

"I don't believe we need to disclose that information at this time," the blond-haired woman stated grimly. "According to what we have heard, names have the power to pull one under the control of the Galactics. If you are still under their control when they awaken, my ally will be in danger."

"But we will still help you get out of this mess," Khrista added quickly, pulling Arsenal's hand from her face. She held out a hand as Arsenal dropped her limb back by her side. "So, what do you say? Will you fight your way out of this dream realm and start chaos in your own way?"

Maxie looked at the teen, a slightly bemused look on his face. Upon noticing that his Pokemon bodyguards had completely vanished, however, he nodded and took Khrista's hand in a firm grip. "That boy should not be messing with the balance of things; I know that now. The world was fine the way it was."

The volcanoes around them started to rumble loudly, as if signifying that something big was coming.

"Go!" Maxie ordered his visitors. "This is something that I must combat alone."

"What is?" the teen asked confused.

"The one thing that has been avoiding me since I had arrived here...the one thing that would have made this place a reality..."

Groudon burst out of the ground in front of them, throwing boulders and lava every which way with his massive, red form. None of the debris hit the humans, but they got pretty close in Khrista's opinion.

Khrista's eyes widened upon catching sight of the Pokemon. "No way am I leaving you to fight this monster alone!" She narrowed her eyes in concentration, and her shirt's red shade began to swirl with another color, coming out with a red-and-light-blue spiral. "Ice Beam!"

For all the heat there was in the air, it didn't affect the move for one reason or another, even when it managed to hit Groudon's stomach.

Maxie gave Khrista a look of surprise, but it turned to one of determination. "No! You can't help. If I am to get out of this dream realm, I can't have you assisting me."

"Why not?" Khrista asked in response.

"I could end up under your control, and not free at all! Now go! I can take care of this pest." Maxie waved his hand, and Khrista was suddenly thrown back by an unseen force, her vision blacking out.

When her vision cleared, Khrista found herself standing next to Lake Verity, with Darkrai and Arsenal standing nearby.

"What just happened?" Khrista asked, looking around on confusion.

"Maxie forced you out of his dream realm," Darkrai responded. "I agree with his statements; he has to fight Groudon alone."

The teen let out a sigh. "Okay. But did I do all right?"

"For an inexperienced child who knows next to nothing about dreams? Yes, I believe you did. Maxie knows the truth, and that's what counts. When morning comes, he should be freed from the Chain's grasp, and his team should soon follow. You did well."

Khrista smiled with relief. "Good." She glanced down at her shirt, frowning at the swirl she found there. "That hasn't happened before."

"Perhaps it was developed out of a need," Darkrai suggested. "The heat of the dream realm, combined with your want to use the Ice-Type form, most likely created the Dual-Type form you are now in."

"Let's see if I can get out of it," Khrista muttered in response. She glared down at her shirt, gripping the fabric hem at the bottom tightly. For a moment, nothing happened, but the swirl slowly unwound itself, the light blue shade vanishing before the shirt dulled and the yellow Master Ball appeared. "There we go." She looked back at Darkrai. "Is there anything else you want me to do tonight?"

The Dark-Type shook his head. "Maxie was my target for tonight. Make sure that you get that new ability of yours under some sort of minor control when the plan starts. As for your next target...trust in Nick's directions. The Aqua grunt knows what he's doing and where he's going - despite not being under their control, he knows this tower pretty well."

Khrista nodded, but then frowned slightly. "Do you think that I have to keep my name secret until this thing is over? I'd kind of like it if Joshua and the Underground Trainers weren't the only ones who knew."

"That is up to you. Aqua members have their ties completely cut off from the Red Chain's power; they are aware of what is happening, and can put their own spin on it." Darkrai glanced about. "Dawn is almost here; I should return to giving Cyrus his living nightmares, lest everything we are working towards be for naught. Keep your wits about you."

With that, the Dark-Type vanished.

Khrista let out a sigh. "Great. To tell them who I am or not to - that is the question..."

So, what'd you guys think?

Next chappie's gonna be another shortie, but it's short for a reason - we get to see what happens to Cyrus as a result of Maxie fighting back... *laughs in a sinister tone*