Chapter 58: Innocence, Cast Aside
"No! Please, I swear I haven't hurt anyone!" Shadow waved his arms in a surrendering manner, his single blue eye darting between all of his assailants. "I've never hurt anyone before!"
"Liar, we know all about you Darkrai! Dark creatures, monsters plaguing the innocent with nightmares" a Sceptile yelled at him.
"But no, you couldn't just leave it there could you. Now you've taken the life of our friend! Monster!" A Charizard shouted.
"No please! I'm begging you, please believe me I'm not the one you're after."
Before he could continue his plea, he was struck in the back by an empoleon. "Silence, monster."
"No, I'm not a monster, I'm not even fighting back!" Shadow called out hoping they would show mercy.
Again he was struck in the back, a greninja this time. And then another attack hit him again, this time an Ivysaur.
Then Sceptile.
Then Charizard.
Again and again.
Shadow made a move to escape the assault. He flew into the air, only to be stopped by a flaming kick to his head, which promptly sent him flying into the ground. Blaziken.
As Shadow made to hover back into a standing position he was struck several times. Ivysaur was laying into him with vine whip.
"Please stop!"
The pitch black Pokemon felt his claws freeze over, unable to use them to defend himself.
A powerful slash to his back threw the Darkrai to the ground knocking the wind out of him.
"Please…stop"
"Shut your mouth monster."
Shadow was flipped onto his back and forced to come face to face with a garchomp as its claws began to glow. Dragon claw, and another and another. He was beating Shadow into the ground.
"Please…I'm not….a"
"Silence!" He felt his face doused with water as his head went fuzzy. Empoleon stood over him, blasting him point blank with hydro pump over and over again.
'is this not enough?' Shadow thought, unable to see clearly from the relentless attacks. "Please, I surrender!"
"Oh that's nice, then just stay still." He heard the sceptile's voice ring out. "You hear that, he surrenders. Now kill this monster."
Monster. Shadow wasn't a monster. Not yet at least. The poor Darkrai had traveled to so many places. And everywhere he heard that same thing. Monster monster monster. And even now it was no different. No, it was, they weren't satisfied with beating him and sending him away, they were going to kill him, and they were doing so brutally. The Darkrai had made no move to retaliate. No move to defend himself. Why did they want him dead?
"Monster!" the Charizard stood over him, slashing the darkrai's body over and over and over again, splattering black liquid from his body across the ground. He began to build flames within his mouth preparing to incinerate the pitch black Pokemon. "Now die."
Silence. There was no roar of fire, no howl of pain. There was only silence. The charizard was stunned in place, his maw forced shut by a crushing grip. The Darkrai was no longer beneath him. He was above him, looking down on the fire type. And oddly his eye was no longer blue, now a more mesmerizing violet.
Shadow broke the silence. "Monster monster monster. I can't take this anymore! If all anyone will ever see me as is a monster"." His eye flashed into a crimson red as he took hold of the charizard by the top of his head. "Then I'll show you just how monstrous I can be." With a vicious crunch sound, he caved in the charizard's skull with his claws.
A sphere of darkness surrounded Shadow as his attackers staggered back.
"Monster! You…" Empoleon began yelling only to be cut off as he found himself face to face with Shadow. That one gleaming eye staring at him.
"Killed him? Why yes I did." Shadow took hold of the golden trident like mask of empoleon's face before forcefully pulling at it. His intention was unmistakable. Empoleon began struggling and striking the Darkrai. Shadow didn't stagger. "Give me your face!" With one, unrelenting tug it was ripped off, tearing open the penguins face. Despite the pain, no sound escaped the empoleon. So overwhelmed by fear, his voice was lost. The pitch black Pokemon took hold of his head in both claws, pressing into his head until it too, like charizard's, caved in.
Shadow's remaining assailants stumbled back. "Fuck this, run!" Sceptile called out turning around to run, only to find that dark gleaming red eye awaiting him.
"Escape has just become your greatest fantasy. Now, like whatever dreams they had. I will rip that away from you as well" the dark sphere surrounding Shadow had expanded. And with a gratuitously thespian bow it expanded, enveloping everything in sight.
For the remaining Pokemon, the sun had vanished. There was nothing but darkness. Pitch black, they couldn't even see their own hands. The air had gone cold enough to chill their blood. It was silent.
One thing drew their attention together. The flaming glow of Blaziken's body. They all drew closer and closer together. Safety in numbers. But, as they approached the light was snuffed out. Shadow had snapped his legs in several places and, after promptly sprouting legs, began stomping the fire bird's head until it was nothing but paste.
With the light of flame gone, darkness reigned. The only source of light being an eerie crimson glow. Their minds were screaming at them to run, but their bodies were bolted in place.
It couldn't have been, that light, that red glow, was moving.
In the vast darkness Shadow picked out Ivysaur. Silently, as if deafened he wailed as the Darkrai tore the sprout from it's back, pulling it's vines out and using them to strangle the grass type. The little guy thrashed a moment before suddenly going limp.
Shadow moved on. Picking out garchomp next. Shadow took hold of the outer edges of its head. It thrashed against him, laying into him with every attack. Then in an instant Shadow wrenched it's head around until it was upside down and snapped.
That left one last loose end. Sceptile reeled back, crawling across the ground as the crimson glow from the darkrai's eye grew brighter and illuminated the entire field. "It is quite jarring isn't it? To see just how horrific life can be. You had every chance to stop. And yet you persisted. Assaulting someone who was once innocent." Shadow slammed the sceptile's head to the ground. Staring into his eyes he continued. "A pity, you've driven me to a point, I must cast aside my innocence. Now then." An eerie purple glow formed an orb of energy in the darkrai's free claw as he forced the orb into sceptile's mouth. "Perish." With a slight explosion, Shadow was covered in the insides of his opponents head. Brains, blood, bone. It all splattered Shadow coating his cloak-like body. The dark sphere vanished leaving Shadow in the field. Finally in the sunlight it became evident just how much blood he'd spilled, it was caked into his body, and painting the ground. A group of pokemon sat at the edge of the field gazing at him. "Careful now, the first row is a splash zone." As he looked over his crimson red eye lost it's deep glow. Though it retained it's red color. And his gaze sent them fleeing for their lives.
Then as if in a nightmare. "No! Please, I swear I haven't hurt anyone!"
Suddenly everything shifted and faded.
"Oh how cruel of life. I was innocent. I'd never harmed anyone out of anger before, or at all now that I think of it." Shadow thought for a moment. "My life was threatened, my mentality could hardly handle it anymore. To be innocent, but live your life as a criminal. As a monster. I hated it." Shadow looked away. "But they dared not treat me like a monster anymore."