Alright everyone. Take a deep breath, and let's all recall the memories this story once had. From a memoryless weakling to a Pokémon fighting for her home, Kira has grown well beyond even what I wanted. Sage has stayed the same, mainly since it's his owner's canon personality, although he isn't 100% that way anyways. And Duke... Well, Duke is Duke to say the least. This sequel, which has come as far as possible from a true sequel, has been one of my proudest works. Thank you, everyone. This has been a fun ride. 'Knowing the End is near fills you with Determination. Keep pushing on.'
Kira found her breathing heavy as sweat dripped from her head to the ground beneath her. In front of her, Sage had his paws raised to some sort of barrier, twisting and watching it crack before moving and repeating it over and over. The spell radiated an immense amount of heat, which was likely why she felt like she would be burned to a crisp. Of course, it wasn't like she could move; her gaze went down to the pentagram beneath her feet, which was also sparking with similar energy. It wasn't as hot as Sage's, but it still felt like a small fire beneath her.
After what felt like hours of work, which it likely had been, the heat began to die down to nothing, until the sound of shattering glass reached their ears. Wigglytuff seemed to be the only excited one of the group, but they wouldn't have to deal with each other for very long. After all, this mission was meant for them to split up, and they were already short on leftover time.
"We all know the mission, and we all know what we're to do," Sage told them, stepping to the tower and wiping his claws on its walls. "Kira and Duke, you will enter first, and make sure you head straight for the top. I will follow with Wigglytuff and Chatot, and we will clear out all the Infected from the building, killing any who try to get in our way. If that is understood, then let's get moving."
Kira looked over at Duke before nodding lightly. She quickly bolted into the tower, an odd feeling washing over her as Duke followed in behind her. Instantly, everything around them changed from a simple chamber, to a maze of rooms and Pokémon. As Sage had told them on the way, this place would be a normal Mystery Dungeon. That meant that they have to find stairs to progress through the dungeon. Not only that, but they only had limited time on a floor like this. They would get "kicked out" if they weren't fast enough.
With that in mind, Kira took off through the dungeon, knowing that speed was the only way to get to the exit in time for escape. As she ran through the maze-like corridors of the Dungeon, Duke flew above her, likely keeping an eye out for any opposing Pokémon. He had to fly through the corridors, though, as the walls stretched all the way to the roof, making it even more like as maze. As much as either of them hated dungeons, a maze was a fun twist.
The first twenty floors went by to the duo like time to a sleeping... anything, really. They managed to scale the floors with next to no resistance, but it wasn't long until the Pokémon began to grow not only stronger, but smarter as well. Compared to the likes of Kira and Sage, they weren't very powerful, but they weren't idiots in battle, and knew how to dodge and counter and all that stuff. It was fun for, like, eight or so floors, but then it began to become even more annoying as the floors passed.
It was around the fiftieth floor that Kira actually felt exhaustion beginning to get to her. The amount of Infected Pokémon had risen, and so had their strength and intelligence in battle. Duke seemed to be suffering the same thing, but his own skills in battle had kept him from draining as much power as she did normally. Well, that and he was avoiding most of the battles thanks to being airborne. At least he helped to take care of those in the sky and keep them away - it was even more helpful than the items Sage had given them.
For a small break, Kira sat against one of the stone walls of the tower, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. As much as this was technically wasting time for them both, they knew that being exhausted would just lead to them being defeated even quicker on future floors. With how tough even the weakest Pokémon were now, they knew it would only get harder and harder, until they stood no chance against the Pokémon before them.
"You're really that tired, huh?" Duke chuckled lightly, opening Sage's bag before pulling out some sort of arm band. "He told me this was called a Stamina Band. It should allow you to go for longer without feeling exhaustion." He sighed lightly as he glanced at the next staircase, only to shake his head. "I saw we move on, but we should probably eat first. I'm absolutely famished."
"I feel like another step would tear my feet off," Kira responded jokingly, taking the band from him and pulling it over her arm. At the mention of food, her stomach growled loudly, making her nod in embarrassment. "I agree, Duke. We really can't risk going any further on empty stomachs. Every bad decision we make could lead to failure."
Duke nodded, digging through the bag a bit more before he pulled out several apples. He handed Kira two, taking one for himself and setting the rest back in the bag. If it hadn't been for Sage, they likely would have passed out from hunger. Actually, they all were doing their own part. Sage provided them with what they needed, Duke had books on practically everyone and everything needed, and Kira just had the determination to push forward. They worked together, and that was why they kept living. If it weren't for each other, who knows where they'd be by now.
Kira chuckled to herself and shook her head, quickly dispersing the memories as she downed both of the apples quickly, her hunger quickly fading as she regained the energy needed to battle. As she stood, something slammed into her headfirst, knocking her into a nearby wall. She quickly fell, coughing as dust quickly filled the room, obscuring her vision, as well as preventing her from breathing properly.
"How foolish," a familiar voice mumbled in the dust, red eyes with a golden tint glinting amongst the blinding and harsh storm. "You truly did not stand a chance against us at the top, but I guess you truly are fools of your own nature." A glint of red flashed through the dust before the figure smirked. "Let the battle for the Tower begin. Come at me, Kira, and take us down."
At his words, Kira's body surged with energy. She stood, raising a hand and slamming the floor to the ceiling, her left eye red while the right was green. Silence followed as the floor fell back to its normal place, but Kira knew the battle was far from over. She swiftly turned, the ground moving with her and blocking a sucker punch from the Pokémon cloaked in shadows.
"I don't think you understand who I am," she said, throwing her hand down and slamming him into the floor with the roof. "I don't know who you are, nor do I care, but I'm more than sure I can take you out." As the beast was getting up, she turned and looked at Duke. "Fly ahead and find Sage and the others. I'll catch up once I've finished with this thing."
Duke nodded lightly taking something from the bag and chucking it at her. She caught the bottle, popping it open and quickly drinking it as she had learned to do throughout the dungeon - it was a Max Elixir, which would raise the power points of all her attacks to max. It wasn't like a berry that could restore energy, but it was useful if you found yourself unable to use certain attacks, all of which she had run out of by that point.
Kira licked her lips as the beast glared at her, moving into a battle-ready position to fight against it. As much as she wanted to know who was behind the shadow, the golden glint within its eyes told her that this Pokémon was someone that she would find incredibly difficult to defeat.
As expected from it, the beast rushed at her, throwing its fist forward. Kira quickly ducked under the attack, dashing forward and through the beast like it was a ghost. The chill that was sent through her body told her it was, but why was that feeling so familiar? Why did this ghost feel like she had faced it before? It felt... It couldn't have been Gengar. It was just a shadow.
Familiarity ran through the creature's eyes before it turned and lashed at her. Like last time, Kira dodged the attack, but she countered this time as well. She quickly grabbed its arm and used it to drag the Pokémon closer. She spun swiftly, her tail slamming into its face and throwing it back towards the wall behind it. As it seemed the beast would escape because of her, she appeared behind it slamming her tail into it from above and slamming it through the ground and likely to a lower floor.
"Two Leaf Blades," she panted, collapsing to her knees as her eyes returned to normal. "That and your special position swap are going to drain you if you can't master them by the top of the dungeon." She quickly shook her head and bolted for the staircase. Now was not the time to worry about what she was going to have to use during their fight against a Pokémon as powerful as Arceus.
Just as she was about to take the first step, Kira felt something wrap around her ankle. She yipped loudly as she slammed into the stairs, her vision blurring and body becoming numb as she was dragged back and into the room. It took a while for her to recuperate her vision, but she eventually managed to regain enough control to pull away from whatever had grabbed her.
"So you thought you could get away from me?" a deep voice growled, shadow-like hands appearing from beneath the ground and dragging some sort of being from the ground. "I won't allow such a thing, Snivy. I'll eat you like all the rest!"
The beast itself was horrifying, if not just gruesome, to even look at. Its melting flesh mixed with the ghostly hands that had formed above it, giving it the appearance of some sort of melting human cut in half. Sure, it could have been creepier, but this was the creepiest thing she had ever seen, let alone battled against.
Its voice became distorted and seemed like nonsense as its hands began to move close to the terrified Snivy. It took her a moment to realize this, but as she did, she lashed out against the hands. They were quickly cut in half, but they were quickly replaced as yet another pair rose from the ground surrounding this creature. Whatever it was, she was sure it was more than just a Pokémon at this point in time.
As she managed to collect her thoughts from the initial attack, it struck again, raising a wave of what appeared to be writhing flesh from out of nowhere. Kira's initial reaction would to have been to gag and run, but she knew where that would lead her. She raised her arms, her Terra Crystal shining brightly as the floor raised once more and prevented the attack from hitting her. Whatever this thing was, it sure could attack with only half a body and a few hands.
As she let the wall crash down, she quickly shot forward, slamming her tail into a falling piece and throwing it into the beast. A loud thud echoed from contact with something, but there was no other sound until the rock fell to the ground - the beast had stopped the attack with one of the hands, which then shattered like glass.
"You are... interesting," it whispered, its voice harsh like venom against the blood. "But in the end, I will still have my meal on your flesh. I will have what I want, as I was promised when brought here." It smirked darkly as the hands launched several orb-like attack. "Now die, pretty, and be my meal."
Kira growled and raised her arms, rocks slamming into the attacks and knocking them to the roof. She knew she couldn't beat it at this rate, but what else could she do against it? She couldn't run - it'd just chase her down or drag her back down the stairs. Duke wasn't there to help either, which she kind of regretted. The only choice she had was to either outlast it or take it down. One way or another, she was not getting out of this unscathed.
"Hmph. I don't plan on becoming anyone's supper when I'm so close to my home," Kira told the creature, forcing her hands together before a ball of green energy began to form. "But, thank you for the technique in how to create an Energy Ball. This'll really help in the upcoming battle."
The beast once again reached for her, but she was even quicker, slamming the ball into its face and using the explosion to rocket back and towards the stairs. Instinct and an odd feeling within her gut forced her to turn and retreat up the stairs, and she knew why almost immediately. A loud scream could be heard as she bolted up the stairs and to the next floor, hopefully to Duke or a sense of safety.
Upon reaching the next floor, though, she was met with neither of them. That beast from the last floor, with its head down and hands on the ground, seemed to have appeared before her. She could hear it sobbing, but the sob was also a chuckle to her ears. So many emotions rushed through her at once that they began to hurt, forcing her to the ground and keeping her there as its call echoed around the walls.
"You really thought you could run away from me?" it whispered once more. "I know you don't think you can win, and you're right to think that. You can't kill me. You can't run away from me. But one thing will happen, and nothing can change that: I will kill you, and I will feed upon your flesh."
"Would you shut up with the whole wanting to eat people's flesh thing?" a familiar voice mumbled. "I get you were summoned here for just that reason, but seriously? You really need to get some lessons on how to properly treat others."
The beast turned, only to suddenly be thrown forward, its body ripping from the floor and slamming into the wall behind Kira. Her eyes widened as they landed on Sage, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Of course, this was a dungeon, so questioning it wasn't exactly in her best interest.
With a shake of his head, Sage pulled a cube from his bag and walked over to the beast. "Thankfully, I got enough information from that Diglett to make one of these things," he mumbled, tapping it upon the beasts head and absorbing it into the cube. "Buried Alive. What an odd creature, but expected from Kyofu. He's always been a creepy bastard, and using these fuckers was just too damn predictable."
"What do you mean?" Kira asked, walking over and analyzing the cube curiously. "I've never seen one of those things before, but he's used them before? I question that as the book I read said nothing about whatever that thing was."
"That's because back when he was barely known, he used only two of them. One of them disappeared, and the other is just wandering around doing whatever a Diglett does in this world." Sage shook the cube once before forcing it down into his bag. "Anyways, you're lucky I managed to outpace you and reach a higher floor before setting up a base. When Duke arrived and explained what was going on, I knew immediately that something was wrong. After all, Gengar's leading the charge against Treasure Town. He wouldn't be here during the fight there."
"Wait! So you're saying the Gengar I fought wasn't really the Guardian that I had faced back in that abandoned house?!" Sage nodded at her question, filling her with dear. "We have to hurry, then! That fight won't last much longer, even if anyone remained behind! If we don't take out Kyofu, we'll get swarmed here, and their numbers are massively overwhelming, even against our skills and powers."
"I know that," Sage responded, starting towards what appeared to be the way out of the floors and to his safehouse. "Unfortunately, continuing on would not be in our greatest interests right now. Duke is exhausted, Wigglytuff wants his Perfect Apple, and Chatot is just about to collapse. Even if me and you went together, the later floors are a lot harder than you would think they are. Now let us find them and rest. They should be around the sixtieth floor."
Kira nodded and lowered her head as she followed Sage to the floor he had told her about. Once there, she collapsed to her hands and knees, gasping as she tried to regain her strength. Sage hadn't been joking when he had said their opponents would only get stronger, but this was just becoming ridiculous now. They were almost like that Buried Alive thing, but at least they could be knocked out without too much trouble.
As she was catching her breath, the flicker of fire quickly caught her attention. She looked over and noticed Chatot and Wigglytuff around the blaze, which seemed to have just started. Duke was also nearby, but he was already passed out and deep in a dream, probably. The only ones really not resting were her and Sage, but that was probably because they had just gotten here. With a shake of her head, she quickly dismissed that and tried to think about everything that had been happening in the past couple of months.
First up was the Guardians, each of which had filled her with worry. Sure, they were gone now, excluding Gengar, but a feeling of worry still echoed through her as though they still existed in the physical world. Second was how far they had all come. While they weren't exactly at the top just yet, they were still trying their hardest to do their best, which she had never truly felt before. Third, they were really nearing the end of their mission. She wouldn't have expected it a couple of weeks ago, but this climb was telling that the end was almost there, and so was the growth that they would have together. Finally, she thought about everyone. As much as she would miss them, she knew that this was what she needed to do. Going back to the human world was what she wanted, and at least these Pokémon would keep living on, hopefully. If Kiso hadn't been lying about Sage's false prophecy, then she felt that this world would continue to live on as it had for hundreds of years. And hopefully... Hopefully, one day, they could meet again, but not in this world, nor her own.
Kira felt tears against her cheeks as she closed her eyes, remembering the smiles of every Pokémon she had ever met in this world. Even those creepy smirks from the Infected and Guardians filled her with a bit of joy. It wasn't because she had enjoyed them, but because they had really been smiles in this world. No matter how evil you were, no matter how psychopathic, a smile was a smile. It didn't matter who you were; if you smiled, you smiled.
"I'm going to miss all of you," she whispered, her voice echoing against the walls of the room they were in. "Every step brings us to the end just a bit faster. Every second together is another reason to smile even as we leave each others' grip. I want you all to know... that I am sincerely grateful for everything you have done. Even if it was wrong to you, every single one of you are important to me. Thank you, everyone."
The sun's gentle rays washed over the top of the tower, filling the Pokémon on top of it with a sense of dread. The first, Kyofu, was smirking lightly, although fear shined within his eyes along with a golden tint. The second, Arceus, was simply grinning at the sun's rising. Both of them knew that the end was coming soon enough, and yet neither of them worried for it. Arceus because he felt he knew the end result, and Kyofu because he couldn't feel such a thing because of the freak controlling him.
"Soon, the time will come to break the world and the last thing holding it together," Arceus whispered, his voice nothing but a whisper as a black glow took them over. "With Kira dead and the rest of the world unable to protect themselves, we will be able to destroy it once and for all. Every single plan has been leading to this, and it has been executed perfectly. Soon, the world will know fear as it finally dies under us."
Kyofu struggled against Arceus' control, shaking his head and forcing himself to take a step forward. "This... is wrong," Kyofu growled, blood licking his lips as he struggled. "We don't need to kill so many to kill a world, Arceus. You're a god, you know. You could have done it from the beginning, and yet you chose to tear my family away, and kill me so many times just to find and kill them. You know... this isn't what they would have wanted. They cared about you, Arceus. Why can't you see that?"
"They followed that bastard that raised us all," Arceus responded, his eyes glowing and forcing Kyofu deeper under his grasp. "You should know that, Kyofu. They killed your family as well. The old king ordered it, and they followed it. When you took the throne, you never once thought of revenge. Not once did you think to kill them, until I helped you raise your pathetic hand. And after that, you've enjoyed the bloodshed, haven't you? The feel of that thick fluid that keeps all living beings alive running down your hands and paws made you feel proper, Kyofu. You can't deny it."
"Shut up," Kyofu growled, stopping in his tracks as something grabbed at his heart. "You killed my sister, you bastard. You killed her, and then turned me into this freak. I never wanted to harm anyone, but you made me like it. You manipulated my mind and made me enjoy the blood as it dripped down my hands. Because of you and your want for revenge, you killed hundreds of thousands of innocent humans and Pokémon."
Kyofu's head suddenly turned as claw marks ran from the top of his head and down to his chin on the left. Blood seeped from the shallow wound, making him sigh lightly. No matter how much he resisted, this was how it always would end. He would be bleeding and everything would go dark as he was possessed once more.
"I still fucking hate you, bastard," Kyofu whispered, closing his eyes and forcing his own conscious to black out and hide away where he could truly listen to his own voice. "I'm gonna fuck you over one of these days, Arceus. It's only just a simple matter of time."
Aaannnddd roll the credits! Geez, I didn't expect this at all. Oh, wait, I wrote it, so I should have. Well, in the end, it looks like the end comes in another chapter. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this, as well as an attempt to poke fun at Buried Alive. Anyways, if you enjoyed, consider favoriting or following. Thank you, and goodbye.