Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 138: Beginning of a Red Stained Night

"Again…" I couldn't help but sigh. Seriously, how many times have I been abducted, captured, taken away? It was almost starting to become a routine. Still, this time was different. It wasn't being captured that I would describe as different, but instead the cell in which I was confined to.

At first it seemed I was free in Snowbelle, I truly believed it as the open grassy fields stretched out. The flowers were in fresh bloom around this time of year, the warmth finally returning from the cold winter. Everything was perfect, but perfect wasn't the reality I had left when Rhys took me.

When I took my first step through the dreamish-land I stumbled forward, barely catching myself. The first thing my eyes caught were two stubby little paws that were a fluffy silver, instead of the usual slender silky black. Even the way my ears perked up freaked me out as I stumbled back in complete shock.

All I could keep reminding myself was that this wasn't right. My head darted around until I found a puddle. Quickly I scurried towards it, not stopping until my paws splashed into it and I was able to gawk down into my reflection. In the rippling reflection it wasn't an umbreon that stared back at me, but instead a child eevee, one who I felt was a stranger, but the red eyes that peered back were all too familiar. Those cursed eyes.

"No way," I whimpered. "This isn't right, what's going on?" I found immediate discomfort on how much higher my voice had become.

I looked back to my tail, finding it much bushier than I last remembered, and not only that, the tail of my child eevee self. I croaked as I looked back between my tail and paws in horror.

"How, how, HOW?!" I screamed at myself in utter disbelief. There was no way Rhys could have reversed my aging, and I've never heard of reverse evolution, not unless it was some freaky experiment Genesis was conducting, and even then, it didn't seem likely.

"What is this place?" I wondered aloud. "Last I remember it was dead winter too." I lowered down and sniffed a freshly bloomed flower, finding its fresh fragrance to be a sudden relief from the dead of winter I had grown accustomed to.

"So, I'm an eevee again…" I said distastefully as I tried to walk with my stubby legs. I didn't like going back like this. Umbreon's might not have been the world's favorite eeveelution, but I was in no way content with going back. I had grown quite used to my eeveelution, even if some might have treated me differently because of it. It was me after all, something I was trying to learn to accept.

"Rydeeeeeer!" A voice called out from behind. My ears rose at the younger voice, and I was almost afraid. It couldn't have been, it was just a coincidence, right? But as I turned my suspicions were confirmed when I found another of my kind running through the field towards me.

"Cassie…" Despite being an amphibious creature, she still moved with the quick speed of a natural fox, even as her scaled tail dragged along the ground behind her. She slid to a stop, but it was too late, she was going to hit me! And like a pin in a bowling alley she took me out and I went flying in the air with a child's over dramatic cry. I landed on my skull and rolled over onto my stomach.

"Cassie… you clumsy idiot," I muttered, and when I looked up I could see a blurred image of three vaporeons moving in and out from the center one until merging. Any harder and I might have been seeing stars too.

"Oh hey, big bro, sorry, umm, still having trouble getting used to this body." Cassie gave a nervous laughter.

I felt a sudden rush of annoyance, I hated it when she called me big brother since she evolved. Sure, I was older by almost a year seeing as our parents pumped her out as soon as possible after me, but here I was, unevolved at my age. Now my younger sister was my bigger sister, not something I was proud of, I was supposed to be the one basking in the glory of my evolution right now.

"Really, stop calling me big," I grumbled out of reflex as I got off the ground and shook the dizziness from my head.

"Aww, but you're always my big bro," Cassie gave an innocent laugh.

Innocent: a word I hadn't been able to think of since Ebony… Ebony was innocent until her sister was murdered right in front of her. My sister was innocent as well, never having hurt someone on purpose, she was a good willed child just wanting to make everyone happy with her smiles. Something different from my current life where a good day is if someone only tries killing me once in twenty-four hours…

When my head was cleared, I couldn't resist looking at my sister's beady purple eyes, untouched by all the murder and corruption mine have witnessed. The longer I stared at my sister, the more I felt something choking at my throat, I couldn't breathe or speak as I tried to say something, anything. I wanted her to know how much I missed her, how much I loved her, Mom, Kaz and even Dad when he wasn't being a jerk. Instead, a broken sob came out. Tears ran down my face as I tried to rub them away.

In my head I just had to ask why this all had to be happening to me? Why couldn't things just have stayed how they were supposed to? My life didn't have to be terrible if I wasn't born as an eon. Yet, things were what they were. This was all a lie, it had to be, but seeing her face even if just for a second made me hate the life I had been forced into, including what had happened to my family.

Before I knew it my bigger sister had moved in to nuzzle up against me. Her paw wrapped around to my back, hugging me in the closest way that we could that resembled the way human's hugged. I pushed my head against her chest. It wasn't like Mom's where my tears would be absorbed into her fur, instead my tears just ran along her smooth leathery skin. Her paw stroked along my back, trying to ease my pain away.

When I pulled away she never asked why I was crying. If my sister knew one thing about me, it's that that I hate spilling my guts out to others. It would have meant everything to tell her what had been happening over the years, but I knew none of this was real, it couldn't have been, no way. I saw them all die, and even-

"We should get heading back, Ry-Ry," Cassie said as she gave me a small nudge with her forehead.

I shook my head clear of any thoughts of the past. Maybe it was an illusion, but until I found a way out there was no reason I could at least enjoy one moment of happiness.

As we strolled along the vast meadow of my old home I felt a strong sense of nostalgia. Then again how couldn't I feel it? Flowers had freshly bloomed all around, and occasionally I'd uncontrollably sneeze, each making me recoil back a bit. Allergies were a nightmare here, no joke. But I could live with that, it was beautiful at this time of year. Plus, some of the avian pokemon were returning home for the season, which meant I had more friends. More friends also usually meant getting into more trouble, just because I was that kid that did stupid stuff to impress others.

On the way we passed by a few pokemon, I said my hellos as I recognized some of the faces as old family friends. It was a bit nerve wracking to think that none of them knew what was going to happen later, but I just lived in the moment. This was my chance to be happy after all.

It was about twenty minutes into our trip home that I was finally able to see that hill our family made our territory. Sitting at the top was a large tree with branches reaching out to the sky with bright green leaves coming to life for the season. My heart skipped a beat as I got giddy over the thought of seeing my Mother again, Kaz too!

Not even warning Cassie, I dashed towards the hill. My little feet ripped up the grass and dirt below as I moved as fast as I could.

"What?! No fair you can't just do that!" Cassie chased after me, and to no surprise the clumsy vaporeon was able to outrun me due to her longer legs. Her tail nearly whacked me too as she passed by, forcing me to duck. The whole run up the hill gave my legs that deep burn from a workout, and by the time I reached the top I was panting and ready to collapse. My nose pointed downward as I took in a deep breath.

When my head rose back up I gave a startled gasp as a cold wind hit against my face, making my flinch back. No longer was the world filled with a bright pallet of colors, but instead the bright blue sky had faded to a black pit, the only other color being the crimson red off in the distance of the sunset that bled into the dark night sky. The grass at my feet had turned to ash and the trees rotted away into a stony gray as their branches began to crumble away.

A sudden thud came from behind, something hitting the ground behind me. Without hesitation I spun to see a cloud of dust rising into the air. The rising debris burned at my eyes, making me clench them shut, before I could make out a shape, a pokemon. It laid motionless in the ashes, not breathing, its smooth skin drained of all real color and smelling of decay.

I moved a step towards the body, before its head slumped back, revealing two pale purple eyes, never blinking or showing any light. A gasp escaped me as I tried to flee back, but I ended up falling back onto my rear in absolute horror of seeing my dead sister. Her jaw hung agape with a trail of blood trickling down from her lips. Her throat had a massive chunk ripped from it, a fatal wound that killed my poor sister.

My heart started to race, ache even. If there is an Arceus, then why are you doing this to me? Hasn't it all been enough already? Did I need to continue seeing these horrors over and over again?

Just now a sudden pain rushed to my head, making my brain feel as if it was being crushed under a great weight. My eyes weighed heavy as well, fighting off the tears I had shed every time my mind conjured up this dream. Not only that though, my mouth tasted funny, metallic almost. Perhaps it was the sudden feeling of needing a drink, perhaps it was my mind completely losing it. I didn't know anymore.

"Why are you showing me this over and over?" I said out loud this time.

As I turned from my sister I found that their had been more bodies, seemingly spawning from nowhere. First was my Mother, a once beautiful leafeon I had come to love more than anything else. Her once beautiful ebony eyes had now been rolled back in a disgusting manner devoid of meaning and life. Her throat had been torn wide open, her blood draining all around, and my head rung more with as a high-pitched ring deafened my auditory senses.

I couldn't bare seeing her like that another second, but turning away only lead me to the final corpse that had been laid out for me to see. My older brother, Kaz. He himself was the only brother I had loved of the two I had, and seeing his throat ripped open like the others brought a deep pain to my heart, making it sting as if a scyther had driven its blade straight through my chest and out the other end. I backed away, but no matter which way I turned their was always a mangled corpse covered in blood.

"Make it stop…" I whispered as I clenched my eyes shut, but all I'd see was the rushing of their blood. Freshly opened wounds that poured like the rain, spilling crimson everywhere.

As the image of their dead bodies clung to my mind, I could feel a darkness clinging to my heart, weighing it down. It was a darkness that I had been with since I first lost my family, one that would always be with me because of what happened.

No matter how tightly I struggled to clench my eyes shut I couldn't escape the dark truth, the fact that I was orphaned when my family was taken from me. The scenes would play out over and over, in a pallet of crimson reds and stark grays. An image of an eeveelution charging at his unsuspecting family members one by one and sinking his teeth into their throats. One by one his family had been forced to lay on the cold ground, bleeding out and looking into the eeveelutions cold crimson eyes.

Of course, there was the truthful way it happened. The unaltered farce of what I never told anyone.

My eyes opened to find two pokemon before me. My Mom and myself as a young umbreon, still innocent of everything. The two were ghosts, nothing more than images of the past playing out, and when I realized what I was seeing I felt a deep stab in my chest.

The night was cool, with a crisp breeze blowing through the air. Stars had been scattered all about the night sky, hardly a cloud in sight. A full moon loomed in the sky, shining down on the young umbreon and making his blue rings illuminate with a mysterious light.

But despite the beautiful night, I knew nothing was perfect about it.

"Arceus don't show me this again…" I pleaded.

The leafeon had a look of concern as she slowly walked towards the younger me. His head hung low, a drop of red falling to the blades of grass at their feet.

"Ryder, what happened?" the leafeon asked, having that authoritative motherly voice that meant no nonsense. "Where is Cassie? She should have been home before you?"

The Ryder of the past didn't respond with a single word, only looking up at his mother in a quick jerk. My Mother flinched back at the sight of my crimson jaw, fur stain red, blood running between my fangs as I stared at her with two empty eyes. Both were devoid of any thought, like a zombie that only knew one instinct to act on.

"Ryder!" My mother's voice rose, "What happened to you, you're covered in-" Their was a sudden movement from me. The tiny umbreon lurched himself forward and leapt at the leafeon. There was only a moment of a shocked expression over her face before the umbreon's teeth met her jugular. There was a wet puncturing noise that could be heard for only a second as the two tumbled to the ground, but the harrowing scream that cried out into the night was the only thing that could be heard for miles after. The umbreon didn't so much as change an expression as his jaw's grip tightened on her neck. His paw pressed over her shoulder and with a strong heave the umbreon ripped her throat apart.

The terrified scream quickly turned to a wet gurgle and the sounds of choking on blood. Her eyes looked up at her child one last time, seeing that devoid look and wondering how her sweet child had snapped. That was the end.

She was gone, dead at my paws all along. Not my brother's. Me.

There was a strong sting in my throat, that taste of bloody iron returning to my mouth. I felt my eyes growing heavy as if I'd break down crying at any moment like I had in the past. Really, I felt I didn't have much more tears to give. I wasn't the one who deserved to cry.

And that was my deep dark secret that I never told anyone.

I closed my eyes for a long time. I wondered how this had to happen, why I had to be the one to suffer through all of this. Why I had to carry the burden of this secret with only one other pokemon knowing the truth, and that pokemon being my brother, Vincent.

I always wanted to tell me friends the truth, that I had slaughtered my brother, sister and mother all with a straight face. Not even flinching once. In reality, it might not have been completely my fault. I always blamed Vincent because he did have a role in what happened. It was him who forced me to do it. He had left me no choice when he got into my head hours before the murders.

But is that a viable excuse? The one who did the killing was still me, and as a result I have the dark powers an umbreon can only get by taking lives.

When my eye opened again it had all been gone, and only a sea of red flowers had surrounded me, all crimson in appearance and freshly bloomed. The moon over head was also a crimson red, shining down and giving each red flower a peculiar light. For as far as my eyes could see there was no end to this field, no objective either. It just went on for as far as my eyes could see.

The only thing that wasn't a flower in the field were the three graves in front of me. Each had a wooden cross constructed that were ages and worn from the years of wear. It almost looked as if a single breeze would tear any one of them down. But, most of all…

I was alone.

"Cassie…"

"Kaz…"

"Mom…"

Each name I recited in a hollow tone, feeling that ache in my heart, and that disgusting taste in my mouth still lingering around. The splitting headache had mostly subsided, but that damned metallic taste that always lingered in these dreams.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" A voice spoke out.

In my pitiful state I managed to scope out the area. I turned in a circle around the field of flowers until I found myself face to face with the umbreon who I had seen in my last bizarre dream. The umbreon gave a brief smirk that showed on his graying wrinkled muzzle but was quick to fade away. Like before his body were covered with deep scars that were held shut by stitches, but despite how much time had passed since last time the wounds still hadn't mended somehow.

"You again?" I said weakly. I stared into his red foggy eyes, finding that there was no light to them, almost like they were dead. "I'm not dead again, am I?" I asked, feeling like the taste in my mouth was going to make me throw up at any second.

"You are never without me, child umbreon," the elder responded.

"If you're always with me, then why is everything so screwed up?" I said, feeling a strong sting in my throat at the end.

The older umbreon scoffed, "Pitiful child. So much help has been given, everything you should have needed, yet you're still such a feeble child."

"I tried, I really did. It's just not possible when everything fails, everyone hates you and you're just better dead like me." My ears rolled back as I felt like at any moment I was going to break down, succumb to my sorrow right in front of him.

The elder umbreon remained silent for a moment and looked at me with his foggy red eyes. I felt a bit uneasy as he peered into me and wanted to turn the other way and run far away. Something about him spelled danger, my more feral instincts told me so in the back of my mind.

"The time has come," the umbreon began. "For you to know the truth."

"The truth?" I said quietly. "What more truth is there to know?"

The older umbreon gave a almost flat smile, "The truth of why everything is happening. Why the world is closing in around you, and why you must push onward for a little further."

Point of view Flare

How long could all of this go on for? This madness never seemed to rest, instead it was like cancer, probably even similar to the one that took Alex's mother from him. It all started small, everyone thought it wouldn't be that big of a threat, but then things grew worse and worse. The cancer continued to spread and before everyone knew it things were beyond repair. All this madness was no different than some disease. It just eats away at everything and sucks all the meaning from life.

Just how much longer did I have to ride it out until all this madness died off? Was it going to be when the world was taken over or when everyone killed each other off in one final bloody deathmatch. Personally, if their was going to be one final battle I didn't want to be around to be a part of it. Yet, as if Arceus willed it I somehow ended up at the center of everything, at least with Zylen. Guess I'm back with Black too now, but I couldn't say whether that was good or bad. I was afraid of what he was now. Maybe he was still harmless, maybe he really was that monster Gray always feared him to be. Maybe just maybe he'd be the one to kill off the growing cancer that was eating away at the world I once knew. Just maybe I wanted it all to burn to the ground, just so I could laugh at all of those who had caused me so much pain and misery. Just maybe then I'd be able to smile again.

Whenever I think about Black being the key to what's going on, I can't help but to look up at him over Zylen's shoulder. Right now, it was hard to imagine him as anything other than a narcoleptic umbreon that refused to wake from his slumber. Even as his jaw hung agape I tried to picture him being some kind of hero. Was he intended to be a hero though? I didn't really believe one pokemon could do a lot to change the world at this point, those sorts of things only occurred in the great fables I was told by Annie as a child. Now I'm a young adolescent adult, much too old to be believing such things. Even if Zylen had been telling the truth of the Legendaries he encountered I wasn't sure I'd be moved that much, after all they are the ones who left our world to rot, like parents who abandoned their child and then the child grew up to be a mess without the proper guidance.

"Only a little more and we'll be with Naomi," Zylen said and pulled me away from my stupor of thoughts.

As I pulled the lucario along in his binds I kept to myself. No matter how hard I tried my mind just wouldn't leave the subject of my umbreon friend alone. Just how had I ended up in this puzzle of events with him? It wasn't until I walked straight into the solid mass of Zylen. I backpedaled a few steps and blinked a few times, wondering just how I had failed to notice him.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

"Shhh." Zylen waved for me to crouch down with him. Mandus followed our lead and we remained silent. "Someone's following us."

"I can sense their aura nearby," Mandus said as he closed his eyes. "More than we can fight in our condition."

I glanced back at the lucario, "Numbers man, what are we working with?"

"It's hard to say." The lucario placed his palm over the snowy ground and dug the snow up between his fingers. "More than ten."

"Then we need to get going." I looked at Zylen for directions, seeing as he was the experienced one. But when neither him or Mandus replied I felt a sudden dread washing over me, making my throat clench up and my feet suddenly weigh three times more. "I really don't want to die, and I can't take any more of this stress."

The lucario's hand grabbed at my muzzle and firmly gripped it shut. "Now's not the time." My body froze up from his cold grasp, and by the time he released me all I could manage was falling back onto my rear with my mouth hanging wide, on the brink of just shouting out from the insanity.

"We're not able to run with both this guy and you." Zylen referred to Black and Mandus. Though, he didn't account for the fact that I felt I was about to piss myself from the threat of ten pokemon coming up on two crippled pokemon, an unconscious umbreon and myself, the braixen that had already passed his limit about an hour ago when I stuck a knife through my childhood friend's ribcage.

"We'll hide then," Mandus responded. "Though… we're not going to be able to hide for long, as I can sense the kind of pokemon that are good at tracking."

"Mightyena?" Zylen asked, and when the lucario nodded Zylen stood. "Well, running it is then. We're no less than a mile from Naomi. If the others are at least regrouped there then we can at least fight together."

With the decision made, Mandus released my muzzle but I was quick to smack away his hand. "Do that again and you'll-"

"Save your barking, now go," Mandus grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and when I felt him yanking me up with a painful jolt I yelped at him. I took no more than three steps and gave him a spiteful stare, but by the time my eyes went for him he had already started on his way with the zoroark. I would have argued, but I knew that at any moment those pokemon would be on us. For now survival would have to come over pride.

Zylen placed down Black and shifted his form doubling in size to an arcanine. He held his broken forearm up carefully, not wanting to agitate it. Through all the transformations the cast we had constructed had fallen apart onto the ground, revealing his inflamed arm. The limb limply dangled around, and that unnatural twisted look it had to it made my own arm ache in pain.

I did as Zylen would have wanted me to do without any instruction and loaded the umbreon onto his back, along with aiding Mandus up. In the end I sat at the very back of the arcanine, which didn't leave me a whole lot of room.

"Hang on good, alright? This isn't going to be the least bit smooth on three legs." With the warning given the arcanine crouched low before pouncing up and running. His path zigzagged as he kicked up snow behind him on what I found to be one of the bounciest rides I had endured since Alex took me on a bumper car. The way he jumped around to make up for his lost limb didn't feel the least bit good on my rear or even between my legs as I landed awkwardly more than once. I'd suck in a deep breath when I landed specifically in one area but the sudden whiplashes would swing my head all around and just make everything painful.

It didn't take long before we were nearing the end of the woods, but off in the background I could make out the high pitched barks of the mightyena and other canines that were hot on our trail. I turned around on Zylen's back and stuck out my palm with a flame attack charging just in case it came down to a high speed chase. But, I didn't have a chance for anything before Zylen took one big jump out of the treeline and into a clear opening.

Sitting in the field we found where we had set Naomi up for communication in an abandoned barn that had been off the beaten road of an old settlement. Most of the wood was rotting away and covered in enough mold to condemn any building, which also gave off the musty smell that'd make anyone heave. When Zylen came up on the barn door we all quickly dismounted him so he could change back, and I started on the barn door. Sliding it open made an awful screech, the kind that made my ears ache, but with just a big enough opening for all of us, everyone slipped in. I was quick to shut the door and leave us in the dark.

Inside the barn was dark, with moldy smelling air. I rose my palm up to my chest and lit a tiny flame and expected to see Blair's red eyes peering through the dark, and suddenly I heard movement shuffling around in the dark.

"Naomi?" I asked as I stepped just enough forward to make out the umbreon's face, scrunched up against the ground with tears welling up in her eyes. Just then I found the hand that was firmly wrapped around the back of her neck, the knee weighing over her back and the other foot that had her ear crushed into the ground.

"Flare, get back." Zylen grabbed at my shoulder and yanked me back. My flame intensified and lit the whole room and showed that it wasn't just Naomi that had been waiting for us.

"And welcome, welcome, welcome!" The human announced as he rose a knife into the air, his black hair masking half his face, but not obscuring those bloodshot eyes.

"Can we get on with this?" a grovyle asked from the corner with his arms crossed as he leaned against a wooden beam. "We're not paying you to make a show of this."

"Isaac," I whispered with a hurt voice, remembering that at one point he had been a good guy in my eyes.

Though, it wasn't just Isaac who decided to join in on whatever was going on here, as there was also a gardevoir sitting at a bench. In her fingers she twiddled with a knife, the flame flickering a bright orange from the reflection of my flame. Though, it wasn't just one knife, she carried three others in a sheath on her back. Between her and Isaac, both appeared very uninterested, unlike the human who had a wide grin plastered over his face.

"Oh, you two know each other, that's priceless," the human cooed. When I realized he was directly responding to a pokemon it came to me that the gardevoir was acting as the middleman and translating for the human.

"What is this?" Zylen stepped forward.

Naomi's eyes pleaded for help as the tears continued to run down her face. At first, I had wondered why she hadn't been screaming, but when my eyes caught the red and silver around her muzzle I realized that the human had tied wire so tightly around her muzzle that it was cutting into her. All that could escape Naomi were her whimpers and unsteady breaths.

"Let her go!" I shouted out at the human as I cocked my arm back to throw the flame in my hand, but it was just then that human placed his knife over Naomi's neck.

"Ah-I wouldn't do that if I were you." The human snickered from his word, his voice teasing me as if he was some child rubbing a toy in my face. "See, I don't know if little umbreon here told you diddly-squat, but she actually happens to be mine."

"Yours?" Zylen asked inquisitively.

"Uh-huh, caught her back when she was a widdle las, all afraid, lost, starving. So, I gave her a home, and then the little thing one day turned one of my own pokemon on me and well… I don't know, she just didn't stay dead." His knife glided over her cheeks and just past her temple and back over to the scar on her forehead. His blade teasingly circled around the mark that I had come to understand was from a bullet.

"Disgusting human," Mandus muttered below his breath.

Zylen was the next one to lash out, "You claim to be her human yet you're tormenting her like this? Aren't trainers supposed to love their pokemon, make them stronger?"

"Oh, I'm making her stronger alright, by teaching her a lesson for crossing me."

"Just what exactly do you want from us?" Zylen asked as his right arm shook as he clenched his fist.

"Well, boss man there wants that umbreon and lucario back." The man pointed back at the grovyle. "But you see, I'm a little upset now, because I've received word that some braixen intruder murdered one of my pokemon… Ran my pokemon's own knife into his stomach and went all psychotic. imagine that."

Zylen was quick to move himself in front of me and let out a snarl at the back of his throat. "You come near him and I'll tear every fucking limb you got off."

"Like you're able to taunt me? Look, just outside this building we have fourteen pokemon who have moved in on the area. You move, and they storm in and take every one of you out."

"What do you want," Zylen's voice went low in a way I had never heard before. It was scary seeing the fur on his back stand on edge, a complete change from the usually composed zoroark.

"The umbreon and lucario," Isaac butted in.

Zylen glanced back at the lucario, "Are there really that many pokemon outside?"

Mandus gave a single nod, "They're ones that had been chasing us earlier, but they've finally caught up."

It was then that I could hear their feet trekking through the snow. I couldn't even feel my heart anymore, just a deep pain at the realization that I was going to die here. I had come so far and done so many terrible things just to get baited in a grubby barn. I really didn't want to die in a place like this, not without at least seeing Alex or my sister again.

"Hand them over." The human motioned for us to send over the umbreon and lucario.

"If we hand them over you'll just kill us either way," Zylen said.

"Right, but if you send them over you're a lot less likely to die, so what do you have to lose? Your pretty close to a game over, and if you don't I'll have you all killed."

Zylen let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry…" the zoroark sighed as his ears lowered and he walked Black towards the human and set him down gently. He then proceeded to cautiously back up from them. When Zylen returned he placed his arm around me and pulled me tight against him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated again as if he didn't know what else to say. "I brought you into all of this thinking we could do it… but I should have known better, your sister would have screamed at me for putting you in harms way…"

"What are we going to do?" I said in a quiet voice.

Zylen just shook his head at me and held his silence as he dropped down to my height. "I screwed up by thinking I could get your sister back… I was so selfish that I was willing to get the both of us killed, and now…"

"Zylen… what are we going to do?" My voice rose as I realized the despair the zoroark had fallen into. When I saw the lucario walk over towards the grovyle I saw the last chance we had of survival leave.

Isaac walked over to the lucario, and looked him over for no more than a few seconds before slamming his fist into his gut. Mandus spat out all his air and dropped to his knees before receiving another blow to his left temple. His body hit the floor with a loud thud. With a motion of his hand two pokemon entered the room, both bipedal and strong and easily able to grab Black and Mandus and take them away. It was like a final slap in the face watching everything I risked my life for get taken away in an instant.

"Do we have a plan?" I tried to plead with Zylen again, but the zoroark gave no response as he held me tightly.

"Well, you got what you wanted," the human smirked. "Now, do you really care what happens to these three?"

"Not at all, execute them as you see fit."

With those final words said Isaac left with Black and Mandus and the room was left with nothing but an eerie feeling. The human kept his eyes on the two of us the whole time as he wore a toothy grin.

"Well," he began, "Don't worry, the other pokemon aren't going anywhere, just the lucario and umbreon. Now, you both seem tense, and the best way to break the ice is with some fun." Neither of us responded, we just looked on in horror as he kept the knife around Naomi's atoms apple. "I say we play a game, I love games."

Zylen's hold on me loosened as he faced the human, but he made sure to keep himself between myself and the human.

"Now, then." The man reached into his jacket and drew a revolver. With a slap of his fingers he made the loading chamber spin and cocked the hammer of the gun back. "So, in this game we do need a judge, which'll be yours truly."

"So now, since the braixen is the one cowering in the back, I'll let you be our first contestant, step forward." Zylen's hand pressed against me, not letting me budge an inch.

"Go to hell, human," Zylen spat as his eyes leered into Jack. Just then a shadow zigzagged from behind the human to his front side. His gun jerked up towards the shadow, but his movement speed paled in comparison of the silhouette that lurched in with its fangs and ripping right into his hand. A muffled scream escaped the human as the tearing of flesh and the cracking of a bone could be heard. The human flung back on his back with a deafening cry as the shadow ripped off half his hand in his maw. The gun flew mid-air, but the shadow caught it in his hand.

Four flashes of silver moved through the air and went at the shadow. But the shadow pointed its gun directly at Jack's head before the knives could cut into their target. The four blades had all stopped just four inches from their target, his throat, side and spinal cord. The gardevoir who had her hand stuck out and manipulated the blades froze, seeing that at any moment her trainer would be killed.

"Nobody move unless you prefer him dead," Zylen screamed over the human's own anguished cries and walked towards the shadow that I came to realize resembled a zoroark.

My stomach churned at the sight of the human's hand. The whole thing hand had been ripped apart in that one bite, leaving only his pinky and index and a massive section of his hand missing with a chunk of bone hanging out. His other hand moved over the wound to try and stop the bleeding as he continued to suck in deep breaths. All it had been was another disgusting display of horror in today's events. Only, this time seeing the one who manipulated my childhood friend in pain brought a sense of joy in my heart. If Zylen was to end him, good, it'd be one less scum in this world, a good deed.

"I'm going to kill every one of your friends and make you watch!" Jack screamed out.

Zylen ignored the empty threat and focused his attention on the gardevoir, "Now then."

"You're very foolish to think you can win." Just as Zylen finished his shadow dodged to the left and threw the gun at the real zoroark with the knives setting after him again. The maneuver only bought the shade a second before the knives shredded it to pieces. When Zylen caught the gun he lunged forward in a roll just in time for the knives to pass over him and at the end of his roll he came out on one knee and his right arm sticking forward with the gun pointing right at the gardevoir.

There was a pause as the gardevoir looked down the barrel and despite all the future telling abilities she may have developed, she didn't need them to know what came next. For some reason, she couldn't help but smile.

"You're fas-" A shot fired and cut off the T as lead went straight into her eye and her brains exploded out the back of her head against the barn wall. Her body stood for a moment, almost as if it wasn't recognizing that it had all ended so fast, but gravity did take its effect and she fell over on her back and her head spilled its remaining innards.

Everything had happened so fast, I wasn't sure what had all happened, how Zylen had managed to go from terrified to taking control of the situation. I certainly felt no remorse for my enemy, but the sudden events left my mind feeling about as bad as the gardevoir's looked. I grasped at the sides of my head and slid down the barn wall, feeling my brain aching from the over stimulation of events.

I heard a shuffle across the room, and remembered that Naomi had been tied up on the ground. I looked up from my pitiful state to see she was a lot calmer than before, but had positioned herself to see Jack in his state of suffering. There was no reason she had to watch such a thing with a poor view, after all, if anyone here had a reason to hate Jack it was Naomi. I crawled up off from the ground and walked over all the blood and brain that separated the two of us. I crouched down by Naomi.

"Hold still," I said softly, and she didn't move. I worked at the wire with my claws, it wasn't too thick, but breaking it without hurting Naomi further was no easy task. Eventually the pieces did separate with the sound of metal snapping.

Naomi instantly flexed out her jaw with a loud grunt. "Thank you two so much," she whimpered out.

"It's okay Naomi, I'm just happy he didn't hurt you past this." I tried to smile at the umbreon, but the moment it formed it melted off into an expressionless look. Pretending to be happy was hard, and I decided cutting the wires restraining her feet would be easier than faking my emotions.

As I worked at her paws, Naomi and I both looked up to see the scene playing out as Zylen closed in on Jack. The human had become mute the moment his only friend in the room died. He bit into his lip to fight back any cries, even to the point of blood trailing down his lip.

"Where's Stark?!" Naomi screamed at the human, her voice trembling. When I freed the last of her paws she sprang to her feet and ran at Jack. I had to act fast to grab at the end of her tail and stop her.

"Let go of me Flare!" She snarled as her body tensed up and she turned back at me to show her fangs. It was a look of resentment, one that I couldn't stand to look at on her. My grip loosened on her and she continued towards Jack.

Jack's head rose up to see the umbreon sprinting at him, just moments before she pounced up and landed on him with her claws digging into his chest. A deep snarl escaped from the umbreon, her body wracked with so much rage that she was shaking uncontrollably.

"Tell me what you did to Stark!" She screamed.

A sudden burst of laughter escaped the human, "Man, there is a reason I left you for dead that night! You're just such a stupid pokemon, too dumb to even realize that I can't understand a word you're saying, but ohhh, I bet you're whining about that other shit Stark, huh?"

"I already know that you know what I want!" Naomi cried out at him.

The human smirked at the umbreon's mental insanity, but when a click sounded through the air he looked away from her and at the zoroark to see the revolver pointed straight at his head.

"Just a moment ago you tried to kill us, don't think for a second I won't return the favor." Jack didn't utter a word, probably realizing that every word of what the zoroark had said registered in his mind as clear as day. There wasn't an illusion Zylen had that wouldn't cease to amaze others, but at this point I had learned that the zoroark had a trick for everything.

Zylen didn't let up his stare on the human. "You cocky bastard, if you knew anything about what I was capable of you would know better than to think you and some gardevoir would scare me. I know your type, you're the kind of man who just loves to see others suffering, but I've dealt with far worse than you."

"And you're calling me cocky, you hypocrite…"

"What have you done to Stark?" Zylen voice boomed.

"Oh heh heh, yeah." Jack's smirk grew. "Well, you're going to kill me anyways, so why not, right?"

"Every arrogant word you speak makes it more likely," Zylen muttered.

"Well, we've got your little boyfriend Stark." Jack's eyes leered into Naomi, looking to see the hurt in her eyes. She flinched back a bit, but snapped her teeth close to his nose.

"You're lying!"

"She thinks you're lying," Zylen relayed to Jack. "Doubt someone as dumb as you actually managed to get him."

"Oh, I didn't, the absol Dawn did, you know, the one with all cute scars? But they just handed him over along with some greninja and said I'd be the best one to get some answers out of them two."

There was a sudden look of hurt in Naomi's eyes as her snarl ceased.

"Oh yeah, I had my fun with Stark for hours. How do you think I found where all of you were meeting up? It's hilarious how cold and quiet he tried to act, like he's all cool and stuff. Then you start cutting away at limbs and suddenly they're a different person. Yeah, that's right, your little mate sold all of you out just for a chance to save himself."

Naomi sniffled as she clenched her eyes shut. I reached my hand out to her for comfort. Just as my hand was to meet her shoulder something moved beneath her. Zylen tried to stop it, but was too slow and a wet noise came from beneath her. Naomi gave out a whimper as she saw the human sticking a blade in her abdomen. His other arm wrapped around the umbreon's neck and trapped her in place as he repeatedly punctured her over and over in the stomach.

"Naomi!" I screamed as I grabbed at the human's hand to stop him, but he was too strong. Then a bang blew up through the barn. The human's shoulder exploded into a mess as his grip on Naomi weakened and he dropped the knife. I immediately pulled Naomi off the human and put her on her back.

My hands hovered over her stomach, not even sure where to apply pressure from how much he stabbed her. 'Arceus…' I thought in my head, she was going to die. I was going to lose another friend.

I did my best and pressed my hand over her stomach, but the pressure made blood squirt from the stab wounds I couldn't cover. Her blood was everywhere, all over her lower half, my hands and the dirty ground of the barn.

I looked up to see Zylen pointing the revolver down at Jack The human reached for the blade one more time, but Zylen shot a round into the elbow of his good limb. The human cried out as his bones scattered around the floor, but Zylen pumped another one into the limb and left it only attached by a single string of meat. His aim quickly readjusted to his knee. He pulled the trigger twice more as shots exploded through the air and completely detached his knee from his body. My ears rang for a moment, I couldn't hear anything as the human silently screamed while Naomi was slipping away.

Zylen pointed the gun at the human's head, their eyes met for one brief second as the human's eyes yearned for his end, to not suffer as he had made others all these years. Just then the zoroark pulled the trigger, but there was only a hollow click.

"Rot in Hell," Zylen muttered. He threw the gun on the side of the human's completely obliterated arm. With the last of his energy he tried to reach for the gun, but his broken limbs wouldn't reach far enough for his tool of mercy. He was going to be forced to bleed out there on the ground, having to stare at the only thing that would put him out of his misery, but unable to reach or even load another round in the chamber.

Zylen ran over to my side and dropped to his knees over the umbreon. His eyes darted all around her stomach, seeing how futile her fight for survival was. Both his hands pressed against his face as he cursed under his breath, sounding as if he had blamed himself for this.

"What do we do, she's going to die?!"

"I know that!" Zylen snapped back, "I think I can do this." Zylen's shifted his form to a pokemon that was about a head shorter and much brighter in color with two sapphire eyes. The zoroark had taken on the form of an audino.

"Move your hands now," Zylen instructed. I did as he said and the moment I moved my hands his took their place. His hands pressed hard against her chest as a pink energy emitted from his palms. The light almost attached itself to the umbreon's stomach as her abdomen illuminated with the pink light.

This process continued for a few minutes. Near the end, Zylen was beginning to shudder and his eyes were growing weak as he overexerted himself to save Naomi. The wounds on her stomach were slow to change, but over time the flow of blood that had escaped her slowed. There was still so much blood everywhere, and while he might have been able to stop most of the bleeding, that didn't mean she was in the clear.

A little further into the procedure and Zylen's head slumped over a bit, his form reverted back to a zoroark and he fell forward. My arms moved out to catch him before he landed on Naomi, and I guided him to landing on his side away from her.

Never had I seen Zylen exert himself to the point of passing out. From the little I knew of healing abilities I was aware they were no easy ability, and completely relied on using the healer's energy and giving it to the other for accelerated healing. It was hard to imagine how exhausted Zylen had been prior to healing Naomi, but then he performed what seemed to be a miracle for her.

But that wouldn't guarantee her life. It was up to me to take things from here. If she was going to live I needed to do what I could to stop her from dying. I stood from the two unconscious pokemon and ran to Jack. At this point the human had bled out, and was more than likely dead. I didn't bother to see if he was still breathing.

I got low to the ground and undid his jacket. Beneath was a cotton shirt, one of the few spots on the human that had avoided most of his blood, thankfully his jacket had shielded most of it. I reached over for the knife the human had used on Naomi and began cutting away at the fabric, creating long strips. They were in no was a work of art, but they would do.

With the strips in my hands I ran back to Naomi and got to my knees. Carefully I wrapped the fabrics around her stomach area, being very careful when getting the cloth under her so I could fully tie a knot. In the end I had done the best I could, all the wounds were covered with homemade bandages. Now, I just needed to get help, or find something that would further aid Naomi's healing.

First things first, before I ran off I pressed my ear against the umbreon's chest, and with my hand I felt against the artery that ran through her neck. The pulse was weak, and I almost wondered if my mind had imagined it. Regardless, I was going to take it, I couldn't let her die even if her heart did stop, there had to be a way to make this work, and I was determined to find that way.

Point of View Vincent

The dark had been working in our advantage. I say that because the jolteon and myself weren't the only ones sneaking around the woods at this hour. It had happened fast, I heard footsteps trekking through the snow and I ordered the jolteon to get low. The two of us watched a while as a long line of pokemon headed down a trail back to the manor.

It was hard to sit still once I realized why so many pokemon had been moving in such a large pack. Isaac, one of the leaders of the WPA had Mandus, and along with my leader he also had my brother, Ryder. My body did feel a sudden urge to lunge into action, and the fact that I couldn't do anything brought a deep pain to me. The only reason I was able to hold myself back was due to the group being so large. If it weren't for the fact that Mandus was severely injured, I would have trusted him to help take care of most of the pokemon, after all I have never met a pokemon better than Mandus. He even fought an army on his own in Shalour.

Yet, now wasn't the time to rely on Mandus. As one of the last members of the Crimson Dawn left, it was my sworn duty to protect Mandus, even if it would cost me my very own life. The question was how? I couldn't just waltz up to them and be like 'Hey, mind if I have my leader back, we promise we won't be bad again.' As nice as that would have been, I'd get my head chopped off before I could even say half of that.

So here we are now, at the drawing board of my mind. How oh how will I save Mandus and my pitiful brother? If a direct confrontation wasn't an option, then a trap might suffice, but the odds of setting up a trap on time would not be likely. The jolteon, Kana, would not be of much use either. In the past I recall her being the weakest link of all them, and that's what made her useless to me, she lacked cunningness, strength, and doubtfully the brain to aid me in this situation. She was extra meat that I felt obligated to help because she could've helped me find Ryder, but even then, someone else beat me to my brother.

"So, how are we going to get him from them?" Kana asked. The jolteon sat in place, the cold making her feet quiver.

I shook my head, "No idea, there are too many, and neither of us have an advantage in the dark of night."

"But if they take him back then you all went through all of this for nothing."

I shook my head, "That's right, anyone who died here, got hurt will be for naught. We just wasted our time and probably made it impossible for another shot to save my brother."

"So… it comes down to us, huh?" Kana looked carefully through the dark, probably counting each of the pokemon in her head.

"The umbreon who was supposed to be helping me isn't responding either." Vincent pointed to his ear where a small piece of technology was in his ear.

"Then if we rush to their location maybe we can get them to come back here and help us-"

"Too far, not enough time," I said and stood from my spot. With the jolteon following behind we followed the group.

Holding my brother was a larger pokemon, a massive blue beast of the fighting affinity. Wrapped around the pokemon was a gee. An agile pokemon with a black marking forming an eyebrow and forming a nose. Sawk's were pokemon you didn't often see in the Kalos fauna, and due to some inexperience with their kind I wasn't sure how challenging it would be to get my brother away from him. It didn't matter, aside from Mandus, I had never met a fighting type that was able to overpower my psychic abilities. He'd die like the rest.

It was almost like an algorithm was running through my mind, each scenario playing out like a simulation. Going straight for Ryder and running would probably result in every single one of them directly attacking me. Practically suicide. Even sending Kana would be similar, she might have the speed, but not the gut to go through with it. Picking them off from a distance wouldn't work either, as the characters of interest would flee if I didn't kill them first, then we'd be overrun. Freeing Mandus wouldn't work because he was unconscious, and would be of no use, another suicide plan.

The simulations ran over and over like moves in my head, but no matter what, I never managed to get Ryder and Mandus away safely. I'd easily trade the jolteon's life just for one, but I couldn't even find a way to do that. This was one of those scenarios where I won't succeed no matter how hard I try. A zero percent chance of survival.

"It's not possible," I muttered below my breath.

"Then how?" Kana whispered.

I didn't answer, I just kept watching on and on, but I couldn't find the right algorithm.

My brother and leader were lost to me.

I gave a long stare at Ryder as he was slouched over the Sawk's shoulder. I felt a mixture of emotions running through my mind. How many years had it been since I had a real conversation with him? Not the ones of us as enemies, but a genuine talk, brother to brother. It was something I sacrificed when I chose to follow Mandus many years ago. The thoughts did make me wonder just how different my life would be if I didn't accept that offer. Perhaps now I'd be dead with the rest of our family, after all, it was inevitable for reasons I can't explain to even myself. I just know that it would happen.

How I missed my brother… Even if I could never pretend to love him as family again. This was the sacrifice I chose, the life I must endure, all for my leader's dream, our dream.

A dream I failed to fulfill today…

But just then, over the Sawk's back two dark red eyes gleamed through the umbra of the woods. It was without a single stir or movement that my brother had awoken. His blue rings suddenly illuminated and the pokemon who had been walking behind the sawk's stopped walking and gawked up in surprise.

"H-hey," a staravia said from behind the Sawk's. "That umbreon's awake, I thought someone said he wasn't supposed to awake no matter-" A dark blade slashed down from the Sawk's shoulder from my brother, it sliced deep down and cut to his hip. The sawk froze for a moment, his eyes twitching before blood seeped out from him and the two halves of his body came apart and his organs spilled all over the ground.

My brother landed upright on his paws, giving a tired yawn as he turned his neck to the side and popped it.

"Immobilize the umbreon!" Isaac shouted at his minions.

The thirteen pokemon that had remained all circled around him, all readying attacks to take down my brother.

"This might be our chance," I whispered to Kana.

Ryder exhaled a huff as he looked past the pokemon circling him and at Isaac. "I really would prefer not to waste my time on this, I have come to understand something important."

Isaac's brows raised a bit, probably feeling like me and not expecting that to be the first thing to come from his mouth.

No words were exchanged as a feraligatr launched himself forward, a strong blast of water from behind him launched him at Ryder. His claws cocked back just on time for Ryder to turn towards him, but a giant spike of shadows rose up from the ground and formed a human-like hand with claws. It moved with quick speed and grabbed the water type by his wrist. The feraligatr gave a loud cry and the sound of his skin burning away could be heard from the dark energy.

"I was trying to say something," Ryder shook his head. The shadow engulfed the Feraligatr and his cries were muffled out in under a few seconds. All the pokemon that had surrounded him suddenly lost their confidence in facing Ryder. After all, he had just taken down two of the biggest pokemon in the group without any effort.

"My, oh my, what happened to you?" Isaac asked as his minions made way for him to enter the circle of pokemon. "What was it, all the years of torture, your friends dying, what finally made that little twig of a mind of yours snap? This wasn't the umbreon I knew days ago."

Ryder looked at the grovyle without a single expression to his face. "I have someone looking after me, I guess."

Isaac opened his mouth to say something, but my brother cut him off with a shadow ball that he conjured within a half second. It flew directly at the grovyle, and it was only a loyal mightyena that jumped at Isaac and knocked him out of the way that allowed him to escape. The mightyena might have cleared the attack, but when it suddenly exploded there wasn't a chance of escape as him and two other pokemon were caught in the attack. Only one pokemon managed to walk away, a sandslash that was clenching at his seared arm.

"Nine left now," I muttered as I made my move. The odds were looking more in our favor now, especially seeing as my brother wasn't as weak as I thought. The gem on my head illuminated and I released a psychic beam at the back of another espeon. His head only turned in time to be met with the attack and his mind was instantly fried to the IQ of a baked potato. He dropped to his side with a grunt.

When I turned to my next target I saw Kana joining in on the fray, and with all her might she tackled into the staravia that originally pointed out Ryder's awakening. The jolteon discharged a powerful shock into the avian, forcing out a desperate cry from the weaker pokemon. The avian twitched on the ground, paralyzed from the attack, but nowhere near dead.

By now things had turned into a mess. Five pokemon remained, and only three of us opposed them. The odds had been made much fairer, but it still wasn't the ideal situation.

I focused on my next two opponents, a marowak and a conkeldurr. The first to charge in on me was the marowak. He held a thick bone club in both his hands and lunged forwards with a strong swing down. I didn't bother to move as my gem illuminated once more and I grabbed his weapon with my mind, making it abruptly stop just inches over my head. Without any fight the marowak staggered back and revealed the conkeldurr's cinder block flying at me.

My eyes widened to see that the marowak was a diversion. I didn't have time to move and I tried to use my psychic powers but that was too late as well! Suddenly something tackled into me and forced me out of the way. I tumbled through the snow with this new pokemon and when we came to a stop with the pokemon over top of me, I realized it was Kana who had come to my rescue.

I opened my mouth to tell her to get off me, but before she had a chance to move a flash of white split across her skull. A high yelp came from her as she flew off me and the marowak moved in on me for another swing. The bone moved at me, but just then an explosion of blue aura blew the marowak away, making him roll around the snow like a ragdoll.

My eyes darted left for just a moment to see Mandus on one knee with blue energy forming at his palm. It was twice I had been saved, twice I could have died there, yet somehow both the pokemon I had deemed useless in the scenario saved my life.

I got back up on my feet to see two of the last pokemon standing, the conkeldurr and the WPA leader, Isaac. The rest had been torn apart by Kana and Ryder, and somehow the umbreon had also managed to ward off the leader too.

The conkeldurr's eyes darted around the area, seeing all his dead and unconscious teammates, even an espeon drooling on himself in his mindless thoughts. "Man… this is a real drag," the behemoths words slurred a bit. "I think I'll go home and spend time with my family… I'm just a volunteer after all." His words were unsure as he backed away, suddenly not wanting to be a part of the fray.

"You can't run, you traitor!" Isaac shouted at the larger pokemon. The fighting type didn't answer, just simply turned to run, but Isaac wasn't going to allow it. The grovyle shot razor blades at him and the leaves quickly moved in on the pit of his leg and cut deep. The pokemon fell to the ground with a cry. Isaac would have moved to finish off the pokemon, but Black shot yet another shadow ball at the grovyle and forced him to maneuver out of the way.

"You'd really cut down your own allies because they fear for their life?" I asked the grovyle.

"The WPA has no more room for the weak. It's an insult to all of those who died fighting here today and even those who will died in the past, and those that will in the future."

"So, you cut down an old pokemon who pleaded to see his family?" I felt a bit revolted by the ruthless attitude of the grovyle, but he didn't even bat an eye in response.

"He's nothing to me, most of the pokemon here would have ended up dead at some point anyways. It matters not if they die here, as long as they die for the WPA. But, I do wonder why you're lecturing me about that, Vincent." The leaf appendages on the grovyle hardened into blades. "After what you did to your family."

My brother glared over at me, "After I kill this piece of trash, you're next."

"Black," Kana said quietly as she tried to get closer to my brother. It was hard for her approach him as he was now, as I found it hard to even look at a pokemon who was covered in so much blood. It was a curious subject: how my brother had become such a killer, when before the sight of blood had always repulsed him. Something had to of happened.

"Kana, get back," Ryder sternly stated.

Isaac shook his head at us, "Oh, and even if you do manage to kill me, what do you think that's going to fix? Rhys is still running things, and do you really think if you somehow eradicate even him that the world is going to be better off with Genesis? You kill us, then Genesis wins. You might consider us evil, but take a moment to think about this, at some point life you do get stuck with the choice of choosing the lesser of two evils."

A wryly smile grew on my brother's face, and before I realized it he couldn't contain it and let out a laugh. "No, that's not true." Ryder stepped forward towards the grovyle. "This friend I mentioned, he's interesting, I talked to him a bit, but I realize now that there is so much going on that I didn't realize. So much is happening that neither of us can see, like the stars are aligning towards something much greater in this game. So, if I'd have to choose between two evils, I'd rather not choose at all. Instead I'll just burn you all till there is nothing left."

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked.

"The Crimson Dawn, The World Peace Association, Genesis, you're all just pawns in a greater game I've come to learn of."

Isaac gritted down at his teeth, "If we're pawns then what exactly does that make you?"

"Why don't you come find out?" Ryder said, his voice emulating a fearless tone, the kind I had expected from Ghost, Stark or even Mandus. The aura around him was chilling too and made the hair on my neck stand on edge. When had my brother become like this, he didn't have this overwhelming presence last time.

"Pitiful," Isaac spat as he moved in on my brother, "I'll end you and every miserable life related to you!" the grovyle extended out his leafy appendage so fast I almost missed it, but what happened even faster was his downfall. The grovyle tumbled to the ground with a grunt. Blood had been stained all around in the snow and continued to pour down as the grovyle clenched both his hands over his left eye.

A glacier had rose from the ground just in front of Ryder to protect him. The giant icicle curved perfectly to meet the grovyle's eye. Now all that stood was a tall pike of ice that was covered in the grovyle's blood, but it only stood for a moment before shattering into hundred or thousands of little crimson pieces.

"This… this can't be happening!" Isaac yelled in a voice that sounded repulsed. Repulsed of what though? His wound, or the fact that he had been bested by my brother with a power no dark type or any eeveelution aside from a glaceon should possess. Yet, Isaac learned the hard way of what happens when you mess with an eon.

Isaac didn't even have a chance to stand before icy fingers sprung out from the ground and dug their digits into the grovyle's chest. In a matter of seconds seven separate holes had been punctured through him, ripping into him and rendering him defenseless. The grovyle was unable to speak, the complete shock of his defeat getting the better of him.

"So, you've finally got the hang of it." My voice was a whisper, but my widening grin was displayed for all to see. "You've changed so much in a few months, Ryder."

For a moment it looked like Ryder was going to end the grovyle, but his glare snapped back towards me, leering into me with all those years of build up rage.

"I did, don't need a full moon now," he responded, taking three steps towards me, but stopped to leave two arms lengths of distance. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now?"

I frowned a bit, even if it was a fake frown, "Well, if you really have such a great grasp on the gravity of what's going on, then maybe you'll understand that I'm more useful alive then dead."

"You're more of a liability alive than anything," Ryder hissed back.

"Tell me, you kill me then what are you going to do next? Run far away from Kalos? These problems will catch up to you no matter how far you go."

"No." Ryder shook his head at me. "I'm going to kill Ghost and end this all. I believe I have the power to do that now, and no one's going to stand in my way. After Ghost is dealt with, then I'm going to finish this once and for all."

"Finish this?" I rose a brow at the question.

"Right, finish this once and for all. Right now, I can see more of the grand picture of what's going on, still trying to wrap my head around it, but this isn't all happening by mistake."

"You're really not talking much sense right now."

My brother nodded once slowly but directed his attention towards the jolteon. "Kana, are you alright, they didn't hurt you, did they?"

Kana didn't respond as first. Her stare had been stuck on my blood soaked brother, stunned by all the pokemon he had just murdered.

"Kana?" Ryder stepped towards Kana, and like a splash of cold water the jolteon flinched and moved back.

"No," she responded. "They just kept me captive, and he freed me." The jolteon nervously looked over at me.

Ryder nodded at her, once. "And why would you go out of your way to save her? Why start doing anything decent now, it's a bit late to suddenly decide to be a good guy."

"All matters of perspective." I shook my head and moved to close that gap separating us.

My brother tensed up as his nose wringed up to show his fangs. "Not another step. We're no longer family."

Regrettably I couldn't help but snort out a laugh in response to how idiotic and melodramatic my younger brother could be. "Like it or not, my sweet little brother, we'll always have the same blood running through our veins, no matter what that won't change."

Ryder hissed in response, "It'd take me only a few seconds to rip you to shreds and change that. Don't test me."

I shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me, for now we need to find our way to the others. We'll have to start making our way back into hiding, because after today they'll be looking for us."

"Others," Ryder said distastefully, "You really think I'm going to go and be with your Crimson Dawn friends?"

"Sadly, I don't have many friends left these days, and for a matter of fact I think you'll be more surprised to see some of those faces."

For a moment all the rage melted from my brother's face, a look of wonder and possibly fear.

"Who are we talking about?" Ryder asked.

"Well, why don't you come with and see. If you're so strong you can just kill me after you're disappointed."

Chapter End

Author Note: "Kept you waiting, huh?"

Looks like I wanted another month gap for this chapter, even though it was almost done when I submitted the last one. BUT, in other good news there is only one chapter left of Book 2, so stay tuned for Chapter 139, the book 2 finale!