His heart pounded in his chest as he lurked beneath the lava, grinning madly and furiously and hatefully as the thick substance clung to his flesh, soothing the gouges and tears left by his challenger. And, worst of all, the burn. How dare this thing burn him. Him! It was strong, not as strong as the proud Iron Warrior that had matched him blow-for-blow, but it came close.

A thrill pumped in his chest at the thought, and he thought to burst from his bath and tear the Dark-Fire limb from limb in a burst of screams, viscera, and victory. His claws sparking with lightning piercing its ribs, the Dark-Fire writhing and helpless while his other claws grasped its curved horns and snapped it off, tearing its mighty jaws agape and spitting true fire down its throat.

He couldn't wait to see if it could ignore that.

But no, he must wait. Must heal. Must bide his time. The voice of reason whispered in the back of his mind - it sounded quite like the Conqueror's raspy words, he thought - and he stilled himself. The pain faded, though his leg burned. It left him roaring and spitting and snarling, but some part of him relished the pain. The challenge - this opponent could burn him! Marvellous.

It truly was a worthy opponent, just like the Iron Warrior or the Swift-Fire that he challenged whenever they returned to the Conqueror's home. He thought fondly of the old Swift-Fire - Arcanine, Conqueror called it - but quickly focused.

In the meantime, he set to work. Every second that passed by with him resting was a moment wasted! He swelled new magma chambers, set new traps, and orchestrated the keys to his victory. This was a mighty foe, and it demanded every scrap of effort for him to crush under his heel.

Infernus allowed some lava to slide down his throat as he waited, embracing its comforting heat. His other wounds were packed now, and wouldn't irritate him for a time. They'd feed him their heat and energy and fuel him on the battlefield. This was how he was meant to live.

His leg kicked, twitching irritably as the soothing warmth of the lava pressed against it. The Not-Fire still gnawed at him, eating through his flesh and muscle and sinew with every passing second. Irritating.

It was not a natural thing - he knew that, of course, he was not stupid like Binder. Nothing natural could burn him except for the touch of Fire itself. Infernus grinned, feeling the pulse of the Fire he'd taken within himself beat in his heart. The Fire he shared with the Conqueror, a bond none of the others could claim.

He'd tasted it twice. The first when it had taken Fire itself to slay him, and Fire itself had brought him back with its power - another bond he shared with the Conqueror, Infernus couldn't help but grin.

And the second? He'd taken it inside himself, usurping that fragment of Fire, and nearly ripped Ice and Lightning into pieces.

That was a good day.

Part of him wanted that power back. The power to burn the whole world, the power to challenge the Concepts themselves on equal ground…

Infernus smirked within the lava, thoughts of those old victories stealing the pain of the Not-Fire away. He would find it again one day, but not through borrowed power. He would take it through blood and fire. He would dominate Fire, just as the Conqueror had with his indomitable will. His strength.

He snorted. Sentimental. If only the Dazed could pluck his thoughts out now. She'd laugh at him, then he'd have to bury her in flame.

No, his wounds were nearly healed save for his leg. It would still support him, though, and the lava had slowed it. He wasn't crippled yet.

It was almost time. His heart pounded. The blood churned in his ears.

His preparations were almost complete, then he could force the Dark-Fire down and spit a Hyper Beam down its throat -

The lava shifted nearly imperceptibly, and his body with it. Ghostly flames - the Dark-Fire - filled his lava pit and Infernus knew it was time to act. He couldn't wait, couldn't jump through space to rip and tear, but he didn't waste a second in clambering up the earthen walls. He bellowed, the blue Not-Fire leaping to devour his lower half and gnawing at him, and his eyes locked on the Dark-Fire where it glared at him, panting.

His bellow turned to a roar of fire, spitting sparks and belching smoke as the Not-Fire seared him to the bone, striking deeper than physical pain… Fire itself stuttered and found itself nearly quenched in his breast, though he refused to let it slip away. Infernus' legs kicked - he kept them in the lava to slow the burn - and he sneered at Houndoom as panic nearly overtook him and he pounded his cannons against the blackened dirt of the battlefield…

Boom.

Infernus was nearly tossed fully into the lava as his traps went off in an earthshaking blast, spitting up earth and the familiar fumes from the earth's heart - the Dark-Fire was flung away with a pathetic yelp - and he roared as he forced himself out of the magma pit. Pathetic, useless instincts, those that had gone unheeded since he was a worthless captive begged him to slip into the pit and hide away from the fight.

He would never allow such weakness, and he charged forth on failing legs. The flesh was still burning, demanding that he stop, but Infernus refused. The Conqueror would not let this paltry weakness stop him, and neither would Infernus - the Conqueror's voice rang in his ears, though Infernus could barely understand it through the pain-filled haze, and he prepared himself for battle.

Just a little longer…

"There!" The Conqueror howled, and Infernus immediately spun to where his friend pointed. He easily picked out the Dark-Fire where it peeked from behind a charred boulder. Infernus spat boiling blood at the sight of it hiding. Coward! It couldn't hide so easily now that his light laid it bare! "Destiny Bond!"

His cannon had barely raised, the familiar heat, the familiar power, building inside -

A strand of purple Not struck him. He had a moment of dumbfounded surprise, then anger, then -

Pain.

He howled. His face contorted into a rictus of agony, fire flooding from his mouth and cannons as every nick, every scrape, every light burn on the Dark-Fire mirrored itself upon him, then amplified a hundredfold…

Infernus collapsed to his skinless knees, the screaming of his body not even a shade of what the Dark-Fire imparted on him. His mind was blank. Not a thought could enter his head, other than staring at the Dark-Fire and dreaming of crushing its neck between his claws, ripping its horns out by the root and disemboweling it with the bones, plucking the tail from its spine and slitting its throat and burning the remains to dust -

All he could take was a measure of satisfaction through the agony. His vision was bleary and spotty, fading out at points, but he could see the awful agony the Dark-Fire was in. His trap had worked…

More than that, he could feel its pain.

And through that, he could relish it. Relish his dominance, that he had struck such a grievous blow against this thing. He was close…

The Dark-Fire sought to end this. Infernus was half-mad now, overcome with the shared pain, but he was still cognizant to the Not-Fire gathering in his mighty foe's throat. It would engulf him. Swallow him whole and end this fight. Smother his fire, silence the blood pounding in his ears.

No. Not yet. He couldn't let this battle end. He couldn't lose. He couldn't fail.

He was Infernus. He was not weak.

Still mad, still in agony, still nearly blind.

Not beaten.

He used the pain as a guide. As a focus. He followed the link that bound him to the Dark-Fire, mustered his remaining strength, and twisted through space in a crack of light and a noise like thunder.

Infernus landed, howling and screaming, atop the Dark-Fire. It looked up, eyes wide, and he relished the not-quite-fear that he saw glimmering in it. Then he landed atop it, claws piercing between its ribs - through his ribs he thought as a new wave of pain rippled through him - and channeling lightning itself into the Dark-Fire.

It screamed, and through it all he smiled -

Dozens of razor-sharp teeth pierced his shoulder, sinking until they struck his bone, and he passed out for a moment. Darkness took him - then pain pain pain pain pain pain. Not-Fire swallowed his arm, vomited forth by his howling opponent, and it was just enough to shock him out of unconsciousness.

He was losing, he realized dimly through the pain. His arm was crippled. Infernus thought he might be screaming as much as the Dark-Fire - then the Dark-Fire shook, shaking its horned head as though it were snapping the neck of hapless prey, and Infernus knew he was screaming.

The Dark-Fire collapsed with his weight atop it. Through the blinding pain he stabbed again and again, claws sparking with new arcs of lightning, and his blood was everywhere. It burned the Dark-Fire terribly as it soaked the creature's eyes and face and fur - he felt it magnified, scorching deeper than flesh. He was just barely aware of the scent of seared black fur and their screaming together.

Blood dripped from his mouth and he couldn't tell whether the broken jaw was his or the Dark-Fire's - he gnashed his teeth, trying to twist down to bite down on the thing's throat and rip it out and then the Dark-Fire pulled off his shoulder, latched onto his neck, sank its teeth deeper and deeper until he screamed and LIGHTNING.

His body convulsed. He couldn't move, trembling as the lightning exploded through his body. It wasn't a new pain - he'd felt it every second he'd shoved his electrified claws into the Dark-Fire - but Infernus couldn't even remember the last time lightning had struck him.

It wasn't over! It wasn't over! It wasn't over!

He smashed his claws into the Dark-Fire's ribs. They slipped due to the Dark-Fire's hot blood.

One blow.

Again.

Two blows.

Again.

Three blows. He felt his ribs - no, the Dark-Fire's ribs shattered. Infernus vision failed him. His maybe-broken jaw fell agape.

Four blows. More lightning. The Dark-Fire shook again, half-dead and going on through sheer force of will, just like him…

He reared his claws back. It wasn't over-

The Conqueror's cries and the Dark-Fire's snarls were the last things he heard.

His body broke before his will did.

XX

The Conqueror knelt as close as he could bear to the lava pool. His soft human skin was already red, would soon burn and flake and blister like it was wont to do. It was closer than any other of his weak species - the species the Conqueror had already risen above as a tiny, weak child - could manage.

He wished to be close to Infernus, and would not allow simple pain to stop him. Infernus thought back to when he had surrendered Fire itself to this child and the single touch they shared.

Conqueror did not let anything stop him.

"It was a good fight," the Conqueror said quietly, eyes locked on Infernus'. He was mostly submerged in the lava pool that he'd filled in a quiet corner of 'Indigo Plateau'. He never understood why humans felt the need to name everything. It was home, now. What else should it be called?

Infernus just snorted. Good fight? Yes. Intense. Ruthless.

Even now he could remember the pounding of the blood in his ears, the satisfaction of pounding the Dark-Fire until it begged for mercy. If he'd had just a minute longer he knew he could have won. He'd leave that challenger broken and unconscious on the floor, or perhaps toss it in one of his lava pits and see if that burned it.

It wasn't right that something could touch him and not be burned, could taste the bite of his flame and shrug it off. Nothing could fight him. Nothing could survive him!

Except for the Dark-Fire. Even the Swift-Fire had winced, had leapt away from his fire with glorious speed and returned with an attack that would crack a bone or leave him stunned. But the Dark-Fire seemed to feed off his flames, returning each burning blast with renewed intensity and shaped into that cursed Not-Fire.

That Not-Fire… it burnt him, just as the filthy thing he'd fought for the Conqueror in the 'Conference' had. Scorched him deeper than flesh, deeper than his flame could. It burnt him. Him! Infernus! It was unthinkable, impossible!

He wanted it.

"We fought hard. You fought through the pain. I don't know if the others could have," the Conqueror shook his head, a faint smile on his face. Infernus leered back from beneath the lava. No, they could not. They didn't understand. They wanted to win, but they weren't willing to sacrifice everything they had to chase it. Only him. Only the Conqueror. "Houndoom was strong."

Yes, it was worthy. He would best it one day. Infernus knew that he was the strongest. He would not disrespect his opponent, particularly not one that had defeated him through strength and force of will. It had won through that Not-Fire, however, and he thought he understood it now.

He would not make the same mistake twice.

The Conqueror certainly wouldn't.

"We failed this time. We won't the next," the Conqueror's eyes blazed, and Infernus felt the Fire in his chest thrum in tune with his friend's. "I will be better."

Infernus dipped his head. His mind raced with all that he had learned in that battle, all that he would put to use in the future.

"I think we've gotten a little complacent since you evolved," the Conqueror frowned. Infernus frowned with him. Complacent? They trained endlessly! There was not a day that went by without them honing their skills! Since facing down Fire on its mountain they had crushed greater and greater opponents, matching them blow for blow until they wept and cried for mercy.

"Not like that," the Conqueror shook his head, always seeming to know exactly what Infernus thought. He grudgingly waited for his friend to continue and shifted in the lava pool. The Not-Fire had been purged from his flesh by a foul spirit, allowing his body to begin its healing, but his legs were still nearly stripped bare. The pain still irritated him. He wished Torrent was here - he'd be a good fight. Just what he needed. "We're better than ever. You're better than ever. You can tangle with the strongest opponents we've met since the Conference."

He smirked as countless victories ran through his mind, then the scant few defeats.

The Conqueror's mouth twitched into a smile. "Yeah. That's what I thought," he rasped. "Stronger than ever," the Conqueror hesitated. "This is on me. I've been lazy. Complacent. We've been improving your skills, but we keep falling into the same trap. You're strong - too strong for most. But when we meet a greater opponent, they take advantage of that. They know how we fight now and they work around us."

Infernus growled, knowing the truth of those words. His last few opponents… they knew what he could do. He had conquered the Clanging Dragon, but it had been prepared, as had the Dark-Fire. And because of that, the Dark-Fire had won. Had sank its teeth into his neck and clamped down until he broke beneath its jaws.

He snarled. The lava bubbled, stirred into action by his fury. The Conqueror hid a smile.

He needed to fight. He needed to break. He needed to conquer.

"We've taken the first step with those bombs," the Conqueror whispered, barely audible over the groan of the lava. His face was cast in a golden glow, and mighty Fire burned in his chest. Infernus felt it in his own. "We'll keep working on manipulating your flames. When we've mastered that… I have some ideas."

Infernus' eyes lit up. That sounded promising. Their current training had focused on guiding his glorious flames, controlling them even after they'd left his cannons. It had been steady progress, though he still needed to work to properly curve and arc them. Soon, not even Binder and his irritating walls of earth and mud would stop him!

"Karen told me a bit about how to fight Dark Masters as well," his friend's grin grew, glimmering in the light. "Gave me some tips on how to deal with those tricks. No more Will-O-Wisp. Want to hear?"

He nodded, claws clenching in anticipation, and listened closely as the Conqueror sat down mere feet from the pool of glowing lava. Uncomfortable, in pain, and ignoring his frail body's warnings with every second. Fire would not protect the Conqueror from it all.

So Infernus listened raptly, and learned to light the dark.

He would not make these same mistakes again, he knew, and neither would the Conqueror. They had lost to these tricks before - and the thought nearly made Infernus sick and angry and in need of burning something strong - but they would not lose again.

The next time, they would face these things wielding the Not-Fire, and they would rip them apart and feast on the remains.

They might wield these dark tricks that attacked the mind, or the Not-Fire that seared the soul, but he was Fire itself.

More than that, he was Infernus!

No, he knew, they would not fail again…

A/N: Well, here we go! I wrote this up today because the mood took me. I felt that we've needed a look in Infernus' head for a long time and his loss to Karen's Houndoom in a one-on-one match in Chapter 53 was a perfect opportunity. I hope you enjoyed seeing this! It was a lot of fun to write, and I figured this would set up some good character growth going forward.

Ash and Infernus have gotten a little too content since he evolved into a Magmortar (I can't believe that was around seven years ago) and these last few matches against Cynthia, Clair, and Karen have led them to realize that. They've been getting stronger and stronger, but I think both are too willing to think of Infernus as an instant victory, which especially won't work now that people are prepared for him after seeing the Conference and hearing the rumors. They've improved his skill, power, and technique, but I think this will be the motivation to push them to new heights and avoid stagnancy.

Oh, and just to be clear, the last part of this chapter occurred while they were still at Indigo Plateau, before Chapter 54.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this! Please leave your thoughts, I'd love to know what you thought of Infernus' POV! Make sure to let me know which team members you'd be interested in seeing next!