Warning: This chapter contains themes such as violence, blood, and other dark themes. Please tread with caution.

"Your world has now come crashing down," Shadow gloated, "so just give up."

I turned my head, realizing I wasn't alone. Everyone who was fighting before stopped. They had made some sort of large circle around Shadow and me, waiting to see what would happen next. Most of the Trainers looked confused, making me realize they knew who I was now. There was no point in hiding that I was Swanna Girl. I looked around the crowd to see Hilbert holding Hilda's hand for the first time. He looked angry, like he was going to be the one to pounce on the leader of Team Oblivion. As for his friend, Hilda just stood there in disbelief, looking down at Rudi's lifeless body.

It had only been a couple of months that we joined forces. That was all it took for them to know who Rudi really was.

Gila and the members of Team Miasma stood there in complete shock. Despite being enemies, I guess I had to give the new leader of their team some credit as tears stung her eyes. After all, there was a point in time her and Rudi were once together. Whether her feelings for him were true was another story, but I mean, I still felt sorry for her in a way.

There was only one person who tried fighting. As I turned my head, I saw Rena trying to escape one of grunts from Team Oblivion's grasp. The man didn't budge, even as Rena stomped on his foot, trying to jerk away to be with her brother.

That was when part of Rudi's last words echoed in my mind. "Take care of Rena and my Pokémon." It was an odd request because I wasn't the strong one like he thought. In all reality, I was broken.

Seeing Rena, I realized what he meant. I wiped away the tears and stood up, looking Shadow right in the face.

"I'm not like most people," I hoarsely said, "because I know this is all your doing."

Without thinking much about it, I took a step over Rudi's body and started charging towards him. While I did so, Swanna flew beside me as my other Pokémon slowly joined my side. I watched as Yveltal shot an attack our direction, but Swanna grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me up. We dodged the attack in time.

When I looked down and the ground, I noticed Shadow give a wicked smile before he turned to the crowd, or more importantly, towards my brother who had his back towards us as he—like some older Trainers, including, Hilbert, and Hilda—was trying to push people out of the way and into safely. It was a bit hard to do as there were members of Team Oblivion blocking the action, yanking people down, forcing them to watch the fight. While Rena still struggled out of the one grunt's grasp, I noticed Lethe having better luck by punching the grunts to get younger Trainers and civilians out of the way.

Shadow didn't have to say a word as I knew what his intentions were. I looked up towards Swanna with pleading eyes, hoping be would understand to let go of me.

"It would just be easier to just give in," the voice from before whispered in my mind. "All you have to do is just accept the failure in front of you."

I shook my head. "Get out of my head!"

People stared at me, Swanna included. I wiggled my way out of his grasp until I fell to the ground, seeing Shadow taking off in a mad sprint towards Lethe.

"Use Ice Beam!" I screamed to Swanna.

A blast of ice exploded from Swanna's beak, hitting and instantly freezing Shadow in place. It almost looked like a victory, albeit a grim one, as the man was frozen solid in a block of ice. As this happened, Swanna swooped down. I jumped off of him and landed on my two feet, slowly straightening them. I relaxed for a moment, thankful that the battle between Shadow and I didn't last as long as I thought it would.

At least that was what I thought.

"I'm going to have you watch everything you love burn in front of you," The ominous voice warned.

That was exactly what Shadow said, but it didn't mean anything now that the man was frozen solid.

Or so I thought.

I was about to run towards the guy when someone yanked me back, forcing a knife to dig under my chin. My eyes glanced over at the block of ice when the thing burst into flames. As the ashes fell from the melted ice, I noticed a tall, black Zoroark standing in Shadow's place.

Suddenly, Lethe's words echoed in my mind. Illusions. That was all it was. If I fell for Zoroark making its way towards my brother as Shadow, which is how I was easily distracted.

However, that didn't mean the Pokémon didn't stop. Zoroark turned around and started running full speed towards my brother. It left me with a tough decision. Shadow slowly pressed the knife into the top of my chin, forcing the burning bleeding sensation to start.

Despite the pain, I had to do something to save my brother.

"Lethe, behind you!" I tried yelling, forcing the tip of the blade to dig deeper into my skin.

Despite the repercussions of the knife cutting into me, I didn't regret it. Just in time, Lethe was able to turn around just in time to dodge the Zoroark. The Pokémon crashed into the ground, rolling onto the ground. I watched as Lethe's Zoura leapt in front of its final evolution and threw a Shadow Ball at him.

Meanwhile, as Lethe stood up, another grunt snuck up behind him and punched him from behind. I almost turned my head to look at how my other friends were doing, but I felt the knife under my chin digging deeper into my neck, ordering me that it wasn't what I was supposed to do.

"I said," Shadows voice brushed up against my ear. "I'm going to have you watch everything you love burn in front of you until you give in."

In that moment, everything made sense. That voice of consciousness that was persuading me to kill my own brother, that was Shadow. I didn't know how he could talk into my mind, sounding completely different, but he did.

Fear. Why was it every villain had to rule by fear?

To think, I almost gave into it. My fears of losing someone, being trapped, being alone, they were all coming to haunt me. Why? All because I let them.

Without moving my head, I averted my eyes to Rudi's lifeless body. He believed in me. He was the first person to ever believe in me. Sure, I had Nurse Joy, but being a parent-like figure, she had to. I didn't even know Rudi that well, and yet, he believed in me.

Rudi would be so disappointed in everything that was going on. I let my guard down. I wasn't fighting back. I was weak.

Where was Braviary Man when you needed him?

He was always there for me. I couldn't let his legacy burn to waste because of my cowardice. How was it he always stayed so calm? There wasn't a time he wasn't afraid, even as we were tied up in Team Miasma's hideout, he had always been calm and ready for anything thrown his way.

Then his words from our most recent fight replayed in my memory. "Sylvia, I was scared," I remembered his voice shaking a bit as if he was reliving his pain in that moment. He was so scared as to what could've happened that he just left.

I didn't have that same choice, and I couldn't stand watching Lethe getting beat up to pulp. His Stunky quickly leapt in the air to help him, but every time Lethe seemed to be doing well, the knife would cut deeper into my chin.

Until I finally felt it broke skin.

That was the last straw.

I stomped on Shadow's foot and grabbed his hand holding the knife with both of mine before tearing it away. Wherever this newfound strength came from, I wasn't going to question it. It came just in time for me. I turned around and saw both Braviary and Swanna taking off in the air, fighting Yveltal to the best of their abilities.

Mienfoo and Audino quickly leapt in front of me, readying themselves for battle. I would've smiled had it not been for Shadow pointing his knife at my Pokémon. He didn't have to say a word for me to know what was going to happen. I'd lost a Pokémon before. There was no way I was going to let that happen again.

The man threw the knife as it aimed towards Audino. I didn't even scream as I dove right towards my Pokémon and tackled him from behind. I could tell Audino wasn't very happy with me as I crashed down on him, but he didn't have the time or energy to waste on that right now. Instead, all we could do was roll away and stand back up.

As I did, I looked to see where the knife landed. A breath of relief escaped my lips when I saw the blade stabbing the ground. I looked back at the man, realizing that he had disappeared.

How'd he—no, I wasn't going to ponder on that thought. I looked over at Audino, Meinfoo, Swanna, and Musharna as they ran towards me. At least they were going to be there when I needed it. They all stood around me, protecting me from when this man would come back.

Remain calm. I turned to look at the knife that stuck in the ground, only to find one of the members of Team Oblivion picking it up. My eyes widened when I noticed it wasn't just any member either, but Shade.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about her, which wasn't good as she started to laugh, reading my thoughts. "Did you honestly think I would let Shadow have all the fun? Honestly, give up while you still have a bit of sanity in you, Swanna Girl."

Give up? Never. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of that. They took too much from me that giving up wasn't even an option. I glanced over towards Audino and Meinfoo, who seemed to know exactly what I was thinking as they started running towards the leader with a Headbutt attack.

While they attacked, Shade quickly threw out her Pokémon: Bisharp, one of which I had nearly forgotten about, and a shiny Medicham. I quickly braced myself when I felt something swoop in behind me. A knot tightened inside of my stomach as I had a gut feeling I knew what was going on, especially since everyone started running away as soon as it happened.

As much as I didn't want to, I gathered as much courage as I could and turned around, finding Shadow standing there with Yveltal by his side. Two leaders, with freakishly strong Pokémon versus some girl trying to be a superhero. It wasn't like I hadn't done this kind of stuff before, but I mean, it was never this much.

"You have a choice on how this is going to end," Shadow explained. "Surrender now, or we blow you and your Pokémon up into oblivion."

Wow, they couldn't seem to get that point out enough, could they? It had gotten to the point where I was getting annoyed with what was supposed to happen. That could be why they were stressing it though, to get under my skin, but there was no way I was going to let that happen.

I looked up in the sky as I saw something dark pass over Yveltal's head. Seeing the navy blue and crimson feathered Pokémon gave me an idea. Slowly, I turned my back to Shadow, seeing Rudi's unconscious body in the back. His Kirlia, despite being very injured, was kneeling next to him, while Braviary landed beside him.

They were Rudi's only Pokémon. While Braviary saw what happened, I think the feathered Pokémon was just starting to realize the damage that had been done. I took a deep breath before glancing to Swanna.

My Pokémon and I weren't alone. True, most of the civilians and members of Team Oblivion had left, but there was just one problem.

We had Braviary and Kirlia.

A plan of attack came to mind, but it would be a long shot if it worked.

"Braviary, Brave Bird, let's go!" I yelled, pointing at Yveltal.

A line of blue and red flashed past me faster than anything I had ever seen before. Shadow didn't even have time to give a command to his Pokémon as Yveltal was hit right in the chest.

Now it was time for the real battle to begin. My Audino and Mienfoo could deal with the Mega-Medicham and Bisharp on their own, especially since I saw the Medicham go down earlier by Rudi's Braviary.

Meanwhile, Swanna, Musharna, and I had to deal with Shadow and his Yveltal. Luckily we would have Braviary and Kirlia help out.

"I will die fighting if I have to," I growled, "because there's no way I'll let you win."

The leader of Team Oblivion didn't seemed shocked. Instead, he looked away from his legendary Pokémon and smirked. My stomach tightened, realizing whatever he was thinking wasn't good. To check for myself, I followed his gaze.

Like I said, most of the civilians of Castalia City had left. My friends were included. At least, they were, until I noticed a sixteen year old fighting my brother, kicking and screaming as he tried to pull her out of the area.

Joy wasn't supposed to be here.

What in the Distortion World was she doing here?

She should've been safe at the Rhea's home.

Why wasn't she there where it was safe?

Do you really want to lose any loved ones, or are you that cold hearted that you'll let another life die?

I glared towards Shadow, knowing he had somehow managed to get inside my head once again. This was the guy that took Joy away from me the first time. I wouldn't let him do it a second time, not if I had a say in it.

His Yveltal didn't even need instructions as the Pokémon flew up into the air and flung a deadly attack towards the two. It was then I realized he wasn't just going after my young assistant; he was after my brother as well. That was low.

I screamed for an attack for my Pokémon to help them, but their attack seemed to have done nothing. I watched as Swanna's Ice Beam flung back within mere seconds of hitting it while Musharna's Psybeam just dissolved in seconds. With it being a Dark-type Pokémon, Yveltal wouldn't have been affected either way. It was all worth a shot though.

Unfortunately, I just wasn't quick enough.

I never was.

I screamed a warning for the two at the top of my lungs, and I watched as both Joy and Lethe turned around to see the attack. They froze, just like I did every time Yveltal threw an attack my way.

An explosion hit, causing smoke to rise where Joy and Lethe were at. I held my breath, hoping for the best. If I lost those two as well, then Team Oblivion would've done their job in crushing me. I still would fight back, but if they were killed, life would've been harder than imaginable.

By the time the smoke cleared, I saw Lethe using his back to protect Joy as the two huddled on the ground. Neither of them had a scratch, at least, not ones that weren't there before. It took me a moment to realize what had happened. That was, until I saw Hilda and Hilbert flying on their Zekrom and Reshiram, glaring at the Kalosian legendary. I sighed in relief.

Wait.

This whole time, they had their legendary Pokémon, and they didn't do a thing?

I'd have to ask what that was all about later.

The two ex-Champions of Unova looked down at me, as Hilbert called out. "We'll take care of Yveltal! You worry about Shadow!"

I nodded my head, turning around. As I did, I felt my body slamming into the ground. I looked over at Lethe and Joy, who knelt down where they were, frozen as they were scared as to what was going to happen.

Without thinking of the predicament I was in, I called out for my Pokémon. "Musharna! Help Lethe and Joy!"

I didn't see what happened as I felt someone grab me by the top of my Swanna suit and yanked me up until I was pushed up against the wall. A knife pressed against my chin agian, forcing me to stare into Shadow's onyx colored eyes. I hardened my glare as I tried thinking of ways to get out of this, but I couldn't. Not when the man lowered his forehead to mine, forcing me to freeze.

"I should've killed your brother the moment I found him," Shadow sneered as he dug the knife to my throat, causing me to not breathe. If I did, the knife would find itself cutting its way into my skin. "You had nothing, but everything to lose."

As carefully as I could I raised my left hand to the hilt of the blade and tried to push it back. The man used everything he had in him to prevent me from doing anything effective, but I did everything I could from causing him to kill me on the spot.

The people of this region needed me more than anything right now. They lost their hero. I had to become that hero of hope for them, even if the choice of giving up was easier.

"What caused you to turn like this?" I asked. "Why go after the people here when they've done nothing to cause you harm? You can turn back, call back your Pokémon, and be set free."

"Free," The man chuckled before jabbing the knife close to my throat that I gasped at the sudden movement. "What do you know about being free? It's a useless right that no one should have. I should know. My parents let me choose the path I wanted when I was younger. They raised me, showing me what the freedom to choose was, but it was nothing but an endless cycle that was worthless.

"People don't know what to do with freedom. They turn to drugs, loose their money situation. They become weak. Hope, the kind you feel like will free everyone, should be destroyed. At least, under my guidance, the people shall be led under guidance to do what they were meant to do. You're just one of the lucky ones," Shadow concluded. "You have a choice. Kill them all, starting with your friends, or be killed. Which one is it going to be?"

Shadow released his forehead from mine, but only letting go by an inch. His black eyes darkening, only now I knew what they were full of. Hate. Greed. Power. All were things that could rightfully corrupt a person. There was no way I was going to let Unova fall to that.

My eyes glanced down, noticing my own blood seeping onto the knife. One wrong move, and this knife would end my life. Shadow was right. If I were to die, all hope in this region would fall, and the people would give up. I couldn't let what Hilbert and his friends work for go to waste. Rudi and I couldn't have helped them if it was for nothing.

I had no weapons of my own to fight with, nor did I know how to fight with them. My Pokémon were always by my side when I fought. I shifted my gaze seeing Swanna in my peripheral vision. The moment he saw me, his eyes widened, realizing what could have happened. Neither of us as to say a word as I looked back towards Shadow.

"So," the dark-eyed man asked again, "what's it going to be?"

He took the knife from underneath my chin, so I could stop feeling it from digging into my skin anymore. I took a deep breath, glaring at the man.

"You must be mad if you think I'll ever side with you," I declared right before kicking my foot into his shin.

Normally, a person would haunch over in pain, casing the knife to pierce into my skin once more, only, I made a silent plan with my partner. Shadow arched his back, as he had felt the effects of Swanna using a powerful Aerial Ace attack on him.

Never had I been found of the idea of using a Pokémon's attack to hurt people, but this called for drastic measures. While Shadow was distracted, I grabbed the knife from his hand and yanked it out. With the knife in my hand, I turned to run out of the place, only, Shadow was quicker, despite the amount of pain he must've been in.

"You really think that trick is going to work," he sneered as he grabbed my knifeless arm and twisted it painfully behind my back. "Then you're the one who's mad."

Before I could realize what Shadow was going to do, I felt my body being swung through the wall, only, I didn't collide with it. I had somehow passed through the wall as if it was nothing, falling to the ground of a burning building. The knife that was in my hand skidded away.

I pressed my hands into the floor, but it was pointless as two-hundred pounds shifted its way on me through the form of a foot on my back. I bit my tongue to prevent me from saying anything. My head looked up, as my eyes locked onto the knife just feet away from me.

The fire in the building was getting worse as a plank of fiery wood fell right behind the knife.

"Isn't Nox's Intangible Box amazing?" Shadow gloated. "At the press of a button I can lock you inside this building. Or, better yet, kill you with both my hands and let your lifeless body burn into flames. I wonder which one will be more painful?"

Instead of fathoming the thought, I waited until Shadow stepped off of me. When he did, I crawled up and as fast as I could, ran towards him before he could even think about killing me. I leapt from the ground, throwing my body on top of his, tackling the man to the ground. As I did, I heard the man laugh as he tossed me off of him, sliding me towards the fire.

My body started to sweat as I could feel the fire heating the area around me. The smoke was infiltrating my lungs, making it harder to fight as it was even harder to breathe. Smoke alone was toxic enough to breathe in. Forcing to fight in it as the world was at stake because of it, well, it was no walk in the park.

I looked up watching as Shadow stroll towards me, raising the knife with his hands. Even though his eyes were completely black, I could see the fire raging around us, reflecting in his eyes. I should've been afraid, but if I let myself feel fear, then I was going to disappoint all of Unova.

Right now, I needed to fight until the end.

"It's all come down to this," Shadow gloated. "The moment the great Swanna Girl was too weak to do anything. Hadn't it been for your stupid Pokémon, everyone would've witnessed this moment that would've gone in history. Had you listened to me, you would've been the one to bring this world down in destruction."

The man fell to his knees on my torso, causing me to hiss in pain. Before, when he stepped on me, at least he just stepped on me. Now, there was momentum to the weight, and it was more painful than before. I glared at the man, not wanting to show him any sign of weakness. Seeing his eyes sparkling with the flames around us, I could tell it wouldn't have mattered any way.

Shadow raised the knife in his hand, the tip of it pointing down at me. "Any last words?"

"I hope Arceus shows you no mercy when you die," I spat in his face, giving him all the reason to smirk.

In that moment, there was a split second of hesitation for him to kill me. I took this as an opportunity to push myself up and elbow the man right in the sternum. Shadow wasn't ready for this, but quickly recovered as he swung the knife at me. I dodged, and scooted out from underneath of him.

"There's no way I'm going down without a fight," I declared as I stood up and swung my leg down at him.

Shadow dodged my attack before jumping up to his feet. We were on even ground as a plank of fiery wood shot its way down in front of us. I looked around, realizing Shadow had even more of the upper hand. He had a clear way of getting out as the door to this building. Whatever it was before it started burning, I wasn't sure, but the fire wrapped around me blazed higher than ever.

If I let myself be trapped, I would die. If I moved, I could catch myself on fire, and die.

I went for the second option, jumping over the plank of wood and jabbed my fisted hand underneath Shadow's jaw. I could hear a popping noise as I did, causing the man to stumble back a bit.

The knife in his hand was secured.

"That's for forcing Lethe to work for you," I stated before I kicked him right in the knee, causing the man to fall back.

"That's for kidnapping Joy on Christmas," I declared before bending down and yanking the knife out of his hands.

"And this," I said, looking the dark-eyed man in the face as I raised the knife in my hand, "is for taking Rudi's life."

Shadow didn't say a word as I thrusted the knife down at his chest. All he did was laugh, even as the blood bursted out of his chest, staining the white fabric of my suit. When I jerked the knife out of his chest, the man fell limp, cackling in his last few moments of life.

For a moment, my vision went red, as Shadow deserved everything that came his way. He did everything to make everyone's life miserable. If anything, he deserved to di—

The knife fell from my hands as I quickly scooted off of him, realizing what I had just done. My hands covered my mouth, as I knelt beside the dead man that died in my hands.

I had just killed someone.

Out of fear.

Out of hate.

Out of revenge.

This was what Shadow wanted from the beginning. Even if he didn't win, he knew he could get to me, causing me to be the biggest villain in all of Unova.

What had I done? I should've been thinking clear. Killing wasn't the answer. As a nurse, I was taught to heal others, even if that person was a felon, it was my duty to do everything in my power to save them. Yet, I had just broken that rule, permanently forfeiting all rights to my nursing license.

I had just become a murderer.

You did it all without losing who you really are, Rudi's voice echoed in my mind.

Rudi.

He'd be so disappointed in me. In these past couple of hours, I had changed completely. He—he believed in me, and I did nothing but fail him.

Just then, I felt something crack from the ceiling. I looked up, only to see a plank of fiery wood come crashing down on top of me.

(-o-)

I should've died.

I should've been the one to take the attack, to take the knife, to do anything but to cause people harm.

Yet, here I was.

When I woke up, my whole body ached. I slowly opened up my eyes, finding myself in a small room laying on a hard bed. I looked down, seeing myself in a sports bra and yoga pants, exposing every bruise and burn, scratch that was one my body, minus my torso that was wrapped up in a bloody bandage wrap. I slowly pushed myself up, feeling the worst kind of pain imaginable.

I killed a man.

And Rudi was...

"Finally, you're up," a voice noted, reminding me of yet another mistake I had made.

It was the worst mistake I had ever made as I was now a member of Team Miasma.

I turned my head to see Gila standing at the doorway, right before tossing me a belt with three Poké Balls on it. I wasn't fast enough, feeling the item land right on top of my lap.

Despite everything that had happened, I knew why she was there. I stared at my Poké Balls, wondering what had happened when I had been knocked out.

"Put that on, and come with me," Gila explained.

A part of me didn't want to, but I knew what I needed to do. I grabbed my belt and concentrated on putting it on, trying not to feel the pain every movement made on my body.

"Did we win?" I dared to ask.

"If by winning, you mean Castelia City went up in flames, destroying the entire city, but Team Oblivion has been officially wiped out of existence, then yes," Gila told me, "You won. Though, I must give you props. Never did I think a goody two-shoes like you would kill someone."

"It was the only way," I tried convincing myself.

"Was it?" Gila asked. "Because the way I see it, you're no better than he was. But don't worry, dealing with him won't be the worst thing you'll ever do."

I glanced up at Gila, not daring her to ask what she had meant because it was then I realized something. I was a slave to Team Miasma, doing whatever they wanted me to do. Gila would make it her mission to make me miserable, making me wish I had never joined Team Miasma in the first place.

"Do they know?" I asked.

Gila turned around, smirking over her shoulder. "Why of course. I was the one who got you out of there. It's only fair that they know what's going to happen to you."

I looked down at my Poké Balls, counting all of them but Musharna's, realizing I had left her to battle alongside Joy. It was only right that she was the one to keep her, especially with everything I had dragged her through.

Though now she'd only see me as a monster.

"Oh, but don't worry, they weren't the only ones to know that the 'great Swanna Girl' betrayed all of Unova," Gila explained. "I made sure as we left the region, everyone knew that their precious hero had betrayed them all."

Wait, left? I didn't care how much I was hurting right now. I pushed myself off the bed and pushed past Gila, finding a door at the end of the hallway. My hand pressed against the wall as I quickly tripped my way over there before opening up the door.

When I did, I realized the only thing separating me from Castelia City and where I was currently at was a huge body of water. I stood there for a moment, realizing Team Miasma must've somehow stolen a boat and left Castelia City. I watched as the place I had once called home lit up in a smoky haze in the distance. It was as if I was too late to save what was left.

I slid back on the wall behind me, falling down in a seated position, feeling every ache and pain in my body. None of it matched the pain that was stabbing in my chest.

How could I be a hero if I couldn't even save my own city? I dug my head into my knees, reliving the events that had happened within the last twenty-four hours, feeling a torrent of mixed emotions.

Regret. Loneliness. Fear. Remorse.

All of my actions came with a price, and as I thought of it, I remembered the one the Lethe warned me about when I was started to get involved in this fight.

This fight against Oblivion will change you if you continue.

At first, I thought it was him trying to scare me into not fighting. Little did I know it was a warning.

(-End of Book 2-)