"Blaze? The hell? Get off me!" Dusk exclaimed, "What is wrong with you? You could've hurt me!" "What were you doing?" Blaze asked, hate radiating from his voice, Is that a little distrust as well? Dusk thought to himself. "Just letting the person that sent me know that Shadow is safe, Shadow is very important, like I told violet, the rest is classified." Dusk said, "and you have no reason to hate me, I haven't done anything to you!" Dusk exclaimed. "You have, don't even try to deny it," Blaze growled at him. "It's not my fault that she hasn't chosen anyone, more specifically you." Dusk said. "I don't like co-" Blaze was forcibly cut off, being launched off of Dusk. "Who the hell?" Dusk questioned.

Night and Shadow were standing where the blast came from, Night smoking. Shadow went over to Dusk. "You okay?" He asked. "I am now." Dusk said getting up, shaking his fur out, "thank you." Night went over to blaze and told him something, to which Blaze seemed to grumble and vanished. "Should I tell mom what happened?" Shadow asked Night. "No, Blaze is telling her, and she can tell when one is lying, you and I bothI know that," Night said "Lemme guess he's telling her I attacked him, I doubt anyone would believe that, considering I've done nothing but help." Dusk said. "She will see through the lies," Night told Dusk, "anyway, you good?"

"Yeah, thanks." Dusk said, then fealt an extreme pain in his back. "GAH! I think that tackle pulled a large muscle in my back, or hit a certain pressure point." Dusk grunted in pain. Night popped the dislocated vertebrae back into place, "surprised that a dislocated vertebrae didn't kill you, or paralyze you at the very least," Night said. "As I told Violet, I came from the Citadel, my bodily structure is able to handle a lot of trauma." Dusk said. "Never heard of the place," Night said, heading back inside. "It's not a place this world knows of, well, it's not common knowledge anyways." Dusk told him. Shadow followed, Dusk stood outside. "This is going to be a very cold night, I think you should head inside." Shadow told him.

"I'll be fine, I need to keep watch for anything dangerous." Dusk told him. Shadow just went inside and to his room and sighed, "the competition has started, the same thing that happens between male mon in the wild, usually over a female, and sometimes over food, I'm afraid things will just get worse and worse for Dusk." Shadow told himself. There was a soft thud and within the minute, Night passed Shadow's door with Dusk on his back. Shadow left his room "Is everything okay?" He asked. "He's been, supposedly, running himself for the past week straight, so he passed out. I'm taking him to one of the guest bedrooms," Night explained, not stopping to talk.

"Okay." Shadow said, going back into his room to continue sorting and organizing his relics/artifacts, he looked at the spell book, his temptation was too great, so he grabbed it, set it on the leaf pile that was his bed and then finished sorting things out, then closed the secret compartment and started reading. Night walked by again, heading back to the kitchen. "These are some interesting spells." Shadow said to himself, "teleportation, dimensional travel, even revival, what the- TIME REVERSAL?!" He exclaimed. "This spell comes at a cost, the hands of time will be powered by the soul of the caster in order to turn back, the caster's body will remain, but with no soul residing in it, rendering it nothing more than an empty vessel." Shadow read out loud.

"Note to self, stay away from that one unless it's my only choice." He murmured. "Dinner's ready!" Night called. "I know they told me not to mess with this thing but I don't care." Shadow whispered to himself and put the book back, closed the compartment then left to the dining room. "So what is it this time?" Shadow asked. "I Brought some things from Alola, so I made pasta," Night said. "Nice." Shadow said. Dusk came out, clearly very drowsy. "Something smells good." He said. "It's pasta, I hope you guys enjoy it, also Shadow, Comet went to Jirachi and he is changed now..." Night trailed off as an alolan ninetails walked in with Lil. "Nice." Shadow said.

"You look good." He told Comet. "Thanks, but that still doesn't mean I'll put all the things behind me," Comet said. "What things?" Shadow asked. Comet just took his place next to Lil at the table. "Well?" Shadow asked. "Forget about it," Lil said, noticing Comet's discomfort of talking about it. "Was it something I did that he's talking about?" Shadow asked. Night came out with a large plate with the bowls of pasta on it and started handing them out. "I'll take your silence as a yes, whatever it is I did in the past, I'm sorry." Shadow said. Neither Lil nor Comet said anything. "Fine, be like that." Shadow said, guilt in his voice, he took his bowl to his room and ate there.

"At least I can't screw things up with this..." Shadow said, grabbing the spell book, reading from where he left off as he ate. Someone knocked on the rock wall. "Who is it?" Shadow asked. "Who else would it be?" Night asked, walking in. Shadow quickly hid the spell book by closing it then sitting on it. "I won't even ask, but are you okay?" Night asked, seeing him sit on something. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just don't know what I ever did to Comet." Shadow said. "The many times you said he isn't part of the family hurt him in ways you may never understand," Night said. "I may have said that but It's not like I ever said he wasn't my best friend, because he was, and still is." Shadow said, "I just didn't consider him a brother because he wasn't the same egg group as us."

"And?" Night asked, "He is still part of the family." "Not before he was in the same egg group he wasn't, but he is now." Shadow said. "He's been part of the family since, well, forever, that is my view of it," Night said, sitting next to him. "Yeah... I guess you're right, I think subconsciously I blamed him for Grayson even when I knew it was never his fault, so I think that mainly caused it, but at the same time that might not be why, which I don't understand why..." Shadow said. "I've been such a jackass to him haven't I?" Shadow said, holding back his tears and hiding any signs of crying in his voice. Night looked at Shadow and hugged him, "start making it up to him." He said.

Shadow squirmed out of his grasp. "What's the hug for? I don't need it, or deserve it." Shadow said. "A hug is a hug, there need no reason for it," Night said. "Like I said, I don't need it." Shadow said, "unless you do for some reason." "You're my brother, why wouldn't I hug you?" Night asked. "Because, neither of us need it." Shadow said. "You don't know everything," Night said. "So you do need it?" Shadow asked. Night nodded. Shadow hugged him. Night hugged back and began to cry. "What's the problem?" Shadow asked, curious as to what he's crying about. Night tried, and failed, to speak several times, eventually giving up.

To this Shadow just hugged him tighter, now failing to hold back his own tears. Comet heard the crying and came to check if everything was okay, "uh... you two okay?" He asked them, concerned. "I don't think he is." Shadow answered. "Holy..." Comet entered the room and hugged the pair of them, "What happened?" Comet asked Shadow. "I don't know, he just said he needed a hug, so I hugged him then he started crying." Shadow said. "I'll ask him when he stops," Comet replied, wrapping his tails around Night, rocking him. Shadow managed to hold back his tears again. It didn't take long for Night to fall asleep, Comet picked him up, nodding to Shadow, "I'll put him in his room, unless you want to," Comet said.

"No go ahead." Shadow said. Comet left the room and went deeper into the hall. Shadow began to silently cry again, he put the spell book away and put the empty bowl on the other side of the room and then lied down, crying to himself. Someone hugged him from behind, "it's going to be okay," Sylvia said. "How is it? I've been nothing but a jackass to Comet." Shadow told her. "Things can only get better from here, hon," Sylvia said, kissing him on the head. "Things have been only going downhill, ever since Gray died things have been doing nothing but spiral downhill, this family is falling apart at the seams." Shadow said.

"You may see it that way, but it just allows for the opportunity to make new bonds," Sylvia said, "I'm always here if you need me," She whispered into his ear. "I know." Shadow said and kissed her. A shiny eevee appeared in between them, sleeping. "Guess it decided it was ready," Sylvia said, kissing him. "Yeah." Shadow said, kissing back then curling up next to it. Sylvia curled up next to him, sighing in comfort. Shadow fell asleep with his fur matted down from tears. Sylvia kissed him one more time, then fell asleep herself.

The next morning.

Shadow yawned and stretched he felt his face, dammit my fur is hardened from the tears. He thought. Sylvia hummed and shifted in her sleep. Shadow kissed her on the forehead and left the room. Dusk was outside keeping watch like usual, and Violet was appearing to be spying on Dusk, the others didn't seem to be up yet. "Whatcha doing?" Shadow asked Violet. Violet jumped, "Just watching dusk," She said, gaining a slight tint. "Why's that?" Shadow asked. "It gives me something to do," Violet said, only telling the half truth. "There's plenty to do, why not watch Night like usual?" "Still passed out, and it's barred, before you even ask," Violet said.

"Why watch Dusk specifically?" Shadow asked. "No one else was awake," Violet said, "why can't you watch someone sleep?" Shadow asked. "Just isn't the same, y'know?" Violet asked. "No, I don't know." Shadow said. I'm surprised she hasn't noticed the matted fur, maybe Comet won't notice, not like he'd care, not after how mean I've been towards him. Shadow thought. Violet layed down on the branch she was on to watch Dusk, not even looking at Shadow the entire time. "Yeah, do you have a crush on him or something?" Shadow asked. "W- No, I don't have a c- crush on him," Violet stammered, caught off guard.

"Suuuure you don't, that stammer says otherwise." Shadow said. "Don't you have anything better to do? Like caring for your little one?" Violet asked, obviously pissed. "Sorry didn't mean to anger you." Shadow said, grinning to himself as he turned around. "1. How do you know about that, and 2. It's asleep, so is Sylvia." Shadow said. "Not anymore," Viole said, watching Sylvia come out with the little one on her back. "Oh hey sweetie." Shadow said. Sylvia looked up to see him in a tree, "what are you doing up there?" She asked. Shadow jumped down. "Talking to Violet." Shadow said. "Where is she?" Sylvia asked, not seeing her. "In the tree, watching Dusk, I think she has a crush on him." Shadow said.

"Oh? Well isn't that cute, but seriously, where is she, I don't see her," Sylvia said. "She's in the tree." Shadow said. Sylvia looked at every tree, looking for her, "Still don't see her," She said. Shadow looked at the tree he saw Violet in, but she was gone. "Huh, guess she disappeared." Shadow said. "Anyways, how's the little one?" Shadow asked. "He's asleep, but what are we going to name him?" Sylvia asked. "I don't know." Shadow asked. "We'll name him soon, but for now, he's just cute, isn't he?" Sylvia said. "Okay, and he is." Shadow said. "Come on, let's head back inside," Sylvia said, heading back inside. Shadow followed her inside. "First I need to say something to dusk." Shadow said.

"Hey dusk, watch out for Blaze, considering you're competition, things will only get worse and worse for you until Aurora chooses which of you two she wants." Shadow warned then went inside. Sylvia was beckoning Shadow to the bedroom. Shadow entered the room. Sylvia set the 'vee down and said, "Dreamscape," then started to fade. Shadow went to sleep. The remodeled lab appeared around him. "So what is it you need?" Shadow asked. Sylvia kissed him, "You~" She whispered. Shadow just fell into the bed, taking her with him. "Hehe~ I love you, you know that?" Sylvia asked, putting a paw on his right shoulder. "I love you too." Shadow said. Sylvia hugged him with both her feelers and her legs. After a bit of snuggling Shadow sighed in comfort and closed his eyes.

An hour later.

Shadow woke up and looked around the room and then stood up and stretched. The little eevee was sitting on the stool that was in here, waiting. "Hello there little guy." Shadow said, the eevee smiled and walked over to her father and sniffed him a little. Shadow then ruffled the fur at the top of her head. "Well aren't you the cutest thing? You're going to need a name, how about.... Zachariah." Shadow said, assuming it was a guy. The vee wagged its tail. "Alright then, let's go meet the others." Shadow said, putting the vee on his back. He then left his room and went to the living room. "Hey Shadow, was wondering when you would wake," Night said, not even looking up from his book.

"I've been awake, technically, I talked to violet this morning, learned a little something, and then dealt with Sylvia's lust." Shadow blushed. "That last part, I didn't need to know, but I await a new arrival to the family, two to be honest," Night said, flipping a page. "Well we have one." Shadow said. "Two more, then, so who is the newest one?" Night asked, continuing to read. "Right here." Shadow said, "Meet Zachariah, Zach for short." Shadow said. Night dropped his book, "Zach?" Night asked, looking at Shadow. Shadow turned so he could see it, the vee looked at Night. Night stood and walked over to the vee, "Shadow, do you even know it's gender?" Night asked.

"According to Sylvia, it's a he." Shadow said. "Did you check its genitals?" Night asked. "No but I assume she did, she did call it a he rather than it when we spoke this morning." "Don't you think that it may be out of habit, as Violet is the only female here?" Night asked. "Fine, I'll check." Shadow said. He checked. "It's female, I guess we'll name it Dawn instead." Shadow said. "Why? It seemed pleased with the name Zachariah," Night pointed out. "Zachariah is a guy's name. She seems just as pleased with this one too." Shadow said. "And you think 'Night' is a guy's name?" Night asked. "Not necessarily, it seems gender neutral." Shadow said.

"In many places it is considered a female's name, as it is connected with the moon, or Luna," Night explained. "Now Luna is a female's name." Shadow said. "Yes, and because Night is connected to Luna, it is seen as a female's name," Night said. "Ah." Shadow said. "But anyway, let's stop talking of names," Night said. "Okay." Shadow said. Night placed a paw on Dawn's head and patted her a few times, I'll speak to you three later, okay?" Night asked. "By the way I think violet likes dusk." Shadow said. "Tell me something I don't know," Night said, heading into the kitchen area. He sounded irritated about it. Shadow thought. Aurora entered the den.

"Oh hey ma." Shadow said when he noticed her. "I'd hug you but I have my daughter on my back right now." Shadow said. "Aw what's her name?" Aurora asked, stroking the 'vee's head. "Dawn." Shadow said as the little thing purred at that, smiling. "Cute, she does shine like a dawn," Aurora said. "Yeah..." Shadow said, smiling and then obtaining a worried look. "What's wrong?" Aurora asked him. "Worried for dusk, things are only going to get worse and worse for him until either he dies or you choose someone, in other words, until he is no longer competition, this happens quite often between males in the wild, thankfully Dusk didn't fight back, I think he's trying to show you he's not that kind of mon though." Shadow said.

"I don't know what to do, Shadow, I like Blaze, but I also like Dusk," Aurora said. "Well you need to figure out which one you like most before Blaze accidentally kills Dusk, knowing what I've read.... You have about a month to choose before it's too late, starting last night." Shadow said. "What would you do, Shadow, what if you were stuck between two females fighting each other and you liked them both?" Aurora asked him.

"Well first I would take and talk to each one in private, one at a time and learn about their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, things they like to do, etc. And whichever has most in common with me, I'd choose." Shadow said, "Besides, Dusk didn't fight back, as I said, probably trying to show you he's the better mon, however, I do trust him but: that may not be how he actually is y'know?" Shadow said. "Yeah, maybe I'll talk to Blaze first," Aurora said. "Okay" Shadow said. "I'll do my best to keep Blaze and Dusk separated." Shadow said. Aurora then left to go find Blaze.

With Aurora when she got to Blaze

"Hey Blaze." Aurora said. "Oh, hey Aurora, what can I help you with?" Blaze asked. "I want to get to know you better, like hobbies, things you like to do, your likes and dislikes, that sort of thing." Aurora explained. "Oh, uh okay," Blaze said, Is this a date? He asked himself. "So maybe we can go somewhere to chat or something like that." Aurora said. Oh my god, it is! He thought, "okay, where do you have in mind?" "Well I suppose that place we ate at before we left for that creepy temple will do just fine, nothing too fancy, not like we're doing much more than chatting and eating." Aurora said. Don't tell him you're going to do the same with Dusk, that'll make things worse for him. She thought.

"Let's go then," Blaze said, leaving the arena. Aurora followed. When they got to the restaurant she opened the door for him. I thought the males are supposed to do that, he thought, "Thank you, but you go ahead." He said. "Okay." So he passed that little trick. Aurora thought, entering. Blaze entered the building after her. "Table for two?" The gardevoir asked them. Blaze nodded to her, "unless you plan on bringing others, Aurora?" Blaze asked. "Table for two please." Aurora said. "Right this way, please" The gaudivoir said, leading them to a booth. Aurora followed and sat in the booth. Blaze followed and sat across from her, seeming nervous.

The gardevoir handed them the menus. "Thank you, ma'am" Blaze said, nodding to the gardevoir. "Of course," She said and walked away. "So what are some things you like to do?" Aurora asked, looking through her menu. "Eh, not much, I like to train and sit in my fireplace, mostly, I do go help out at the greenhouse once a week, what about you?" Blaze asked, putting his menu down. "Well, getting stronger for one, looking after my son and daughter, just making sure everyone's happy." Aurora said. "That's nice, I hear that you are moving back in with them, I'm going to miss your company, but I wish you the best," Blaze said. "Y'know you can always come and visit." Aurora told him.

"I know, but it just isn't the same, you know?" Blaze asked. "Yeah. By the way, I want to know in your honest opinion, what do you think of Dusk?" Aurora asked. "He's a good guy, a bit jealous of him, but still, he's a good guy," Blaze said. "Yeah, he is. Anyways, what are some things you like?" Aurora asked. "I think you can guess one thing, but that and the exact opposite," Blaze said. "No idea what it is, there are a million things a mon can like." Aurora said. "Hmm... why would I be a flareon if I don't like fire?" blaze asked her, smiling. "Ah so you like fire and ice." Aurora said, finding what shue wanted. "Yeah, and some call me Todoroki, for some odd reason," Blaze laughed a little.

"Who?" Aurora asked. "Someone named Ravin, she's a charizard, I don't know who this 'todoroki' is either," Blaze said. "Welp have you figured out what you wanted?" Aurora asked. "From here, yeah, in life, not so much," Blaze said. "Same." Aurora said, as if on cue the waiter came around, "Have you two decided?" He asked. "Yeah, he can go first." Aurora said. "You go first, ma'am," Blaze nodded to Aurora. "Alright, fine." Aurora said and then gave her order. Blaze gave his order as well when she was done. "Alright, your food should be ready shortly." The waiter said and walked off. "Since you asked me, I will ask you, what are your favorite things?" Blaze asked.

"Swimming and peace," Aurora said. "Yeah, should have expected those, don't know what I expected, though," Blaze said. "Probably a little more." Aurora answered. "Maybe, I don't know," Blaze said. "What do you think of Shadow?" Aurora asked. "He seems hesitant about things, but he's nice, in many ways," Blaze said. The waiter soon got to them with their food, "Here you go sir/madam." The waiter said, "Enjoy." "Thank you, enjoy your day," Blaze told him. "Thank you sir." Aurora said and started to eat as the waiter walked away. Blaze began to eat as well. "This is delicious!" Aurora said between bites. "Mhm," Blaze hummed. The two continued to eat and soon finished their food.

"Well that was great." Aurora said. "Yeah, it was, I hope to do this again with you," Blaze said. "It'll depend on something." Aurora said and got up. "Shall we go?" "Yes, we shall," Blaze said as he got up. "I'll pay for us since I asked." Aurora said. "No, I got it, if you will let me," Blaze said. "Okay," Aurora said and then went to the entrance and watched him pay. Blaze tipped the waiter as well, then went to the entrance with Aurora. "Shall I walk you home?" Aurora asked. "I was just about to ask you that," Blaze said, "but no thank you, I thank you for the offer though." "So I suppose this is where we part ways for now, see you later." Aurora said, walking away.

Now to talk to Dusk, give him his turn. She thought, heading back towards the den. "Hey Dusk." She said, "hello there Aurora, what do you need?" Dusk asked. "Let's go on a little walk." Aurora answered. " "I shouldn't accept but sure, not like anything dangerous will come by too soon." Dusk replied. Aurora started walking in a direction, Dusk followed beside. "First off, are you okay, y'know, after Blaze attacked you?" Aurora asked. I'm fine, I thought he was a good guy, but now I don't trust him as much, we don't even know how he met Night, if it's something Blaze did that was so bad he can't even talk about it then why does Night even consider him a friend?

How can any of us trust him in this case?" Dusk asked, "If he doesn't spill soon I'm afraid that despite Night trusting him none of the others will, myself included." "I understand what you mean, anyways, so I know what you think about Blaze, but what do you think about Shadow?" Aurora asked him. "A good kid, confused, full of nothing but self doubt, other than that he's a decent guy." Dusk said. "What do you like to do?" Aurora asked. "Don't have time to do anything else, so I don't know, I suppose, protect and preserve." Dusk said. "What do you like?" Aurora asked. "I like it when others are happy, not necessarily receiving joy myself, but it feels nice y'know?" Dusk asked.

"Yeah." Aurora replied. They spent another hour chatting before they returned to the den, Dusk returned to his position and Aurora went back home to continue preparing to move back into the den.

A few hours later

Dusk lied down and went to sleep. Shadow was in his room reading out of the spell book, once more eating by himself. Night walked down the hall, noticing that Shadow had the spell book, but said nothing. Shadow took care of his dish and got his daughter some food she could eat and then went to bed, putting the book away.

The next morning

Shadow woke up, his daughter asleep, he put his daughter on his back and went over to Night's room and knocked on the wall, remembering about the berry. "Come on in Shadow," Night said. "I almost completely forgot about this berry, maybe we can see that guy today, this is the perfect time to plant it, plus I also want Dawn to see the town as well." Shadow said. "Okay, let me just finish this chapter," Night said, returning to the book in his paws. "Alright." Shadow said and went to the entrance. Night came soon after, "you ready?" Night asked Shadow. "Yeah." Shadow said, "let's go." "Alright," Night said, heading out of the den, "don't forget Dawn." "She's on my back." Shadow said.

"Oh, I didn't see her," Night said. "Anyways let's get going." Shadow said and started walking towards town. Night followed him. When they got to town Shadow woke up his daughter and asked, "So where is the guy?" "She runs a little smoothe bar on the other side of town, please be nice to Clarice," Night said. "A bar? I thought you said greenhouse." Shadow said. "She does both," Night responded. "Bars serve alcohol don't they? I do not trust alcohol, I won't trust someone that gives alcohol, especially if it's for money." Shadow said, "Though I've never tried it myself, I know that alcohol is evil, most of the problems with a lot of humans come from it, alcohol gets people and mon drunk, and then they become addicted."

"She doesn't sell alcohol, she can't stand any of it," Night said. "Good, wait, then why is it called a bar?" Shadow asked. "It has a long counter used in most bars, that is the only reason it is even called one, otherwise, it's not one," Night explained. "So it's a barista not a bar." Shadow said. "Sure," Night said. "Anyways, lead the way." Shadow said. Night continued to walk. Shadow followed him. "So what are your thoughts on mom coming back?" Night asked. "I'm glad she's coming back, I even asked her to come back if she wanted to," Shadow said. "Oh? Well... I consider that a plus, but she is giving up so much for us, well, you," Night said.

"I told her she didn't have to come back if she didn't want to and she said she did want to come back." Shadow explained. "I'm well aware of that, but still," Night responded. "It doesn't seem like she's giving anything up for us." Shadow told him, "Considering she's following her wants." "I know, it's just..." Night shook his head, "nevermind." "You know me, I want to know what you were going to say, if you didn't want me knowing, you should never have begun the sentence." Shadow explained. Suddenly out of nowhere Shadow started to scream in agony and held his head in his forepaws as his starting from the tip of his tail turned pure black, the coloration spreading from the tip of his tail to his muzzle as his eyes turned pure red.

"Finally!!! FINALLY I'm free!!! Free from that wretched prison he calls his subconscious. Glad I managed to kill all those humans back at that lab, those bastards would've gotten in my way. Now, in order for me to stay in control..." Shadow said, suddenly grabbing Night by the neck and pinning him against the wall of a building. "I want your death to be nice and slow yet torturous for you, you, the child, Lilly Comet, Aurora, Dusk, Blaze, and Violet will all die, and me, I'll be able to stay in control, maybe free my brethren from the void to let darkness spread across the entirety of existence itself, or maybe I should just corrupt this world myself, I mean I don't have the same abilities as my brethren, but I can still do it." Shadow? said.

His claws extended. "Any last words, Night?" He asked, holding a nail up to Night's neck. "Yes, I do have a few last words, Jake, first, welcome back, and two, if you hurt Shadow, it will be your demise..." Night trailed off. "Oh I'm not Jake at all, last I heard Jake, the being, was trapped in the void, Jake was merely a piece of Shadow's, rather, my mind, the piece that would cause a mental breakdown if it didn't return, it was caused by such an extreme confliction that his mind split into two." Shadow explained. "Sorry about that, I only knew of one dark side of Shadow, do you have a name, or..." Night asked, seeming unfazed.

"For someone that has so much going on for him you are so stupid. I bet you didn't even work to have a life in this town. Jake was never his darkside, did you not just hear what I said? Jake was caused from Shadow's mind splitting in two from an extreme confliction between anger and an opposing emotion that is just as powerful." This Shadow said. "Me and Shadow are one, I am him and he is me, if it's easier on you, you can call me a separate personality, but at the end of the day I am his shadow side, shadows are typically evil, yes he is part shadow, you're probably wondering 'then how isn't he partially evil' or whatever.

But that is because he isn't full on shadow, me I'm moreless his 'pure darkness' side, we have the same abilities, but unlike him I can use them all, unlike him I am evil, now say goodbye." Shadow said. Night seemed to do nothing but smile at Shadow's shadow side, "thanks for the conversation, bye." Shadow then cut him in a few different spots. "You'll be stuck lying here as you bleed to death, you can suffer with the pain till you die in about an hour. Goodbye." Shadow said and then dropped Night as he started to walk off. "Now to kill your daughter, Dusk, Aurora, everyone he cares about. His friends and family will perish, then I will be free to corrupt the world, fill it with darkness, maybe free my brethren from the void, then existence itself will be ruled by darkness."

"I wish you luck at trying to find them, I haven't seen them in a while, maybe I'll see them again in the underworld..." Night said, eyes dulling. "I know where Shadow's friends and family are, as I said, we are one, I have his memories. Happiness is just a waste of time. Slows you down, most things are a weakness, only some know how to turn their weaknesses into strength, Shadow squanders what he could do with his power, but me? I use it right, it's how I broke free, I turned his weaknesses into my strength." Dark Shadow said. "Now where have I heard that before? Oh yeah..." Night didn't finish his sentence, his unseeing eyes looking up at the sky. Dark Shadow left him there to bleed to death and went to kill everyone else.

"Maybe I'll kill off this entire city next, I mean you gotta set an example, right? Tell the world not to disobey my rule and accept what's coming, accept that darkness will become all this world knows." He told himself as he headed to the den. "Wonder where Shadow's kid ran off to, no matter, her time will come, maybe if she grows up without a family darkness will seep into her soul, she'd become evil too." It appeared that the entire city shutdown and rebooted after he said that. "Either Dialga, the god of time stopped time for a moment or I did that somehow." He said to himself as he walked and eventually reached the den.

"Hey, this den is occupied, Please go away." Dusk told him, he sent a black veil of darkness through the cave. "Should I corrupt you or kill you?" Dark Shadow asked him. "Maybe I can corrupt you, send the leader of the abyss my best regards." He said, sending a small black thing into dusk. "Dad's gone, mom's been gone, what now? Wait, Shadow has Sylvia... What happened to her?" Violet whispered from the tree. "There, you should become corrupted in a few hours, good luck reaching the citadel in time." Dark Shadow said, "now to kill everyone else." He then made a motion with his tail, flicking it towards the tree Violet was in, sending very sharp blades into it, thus cutting it down.

"That should take care of Violet, if it doesn't kill her then it'll still harm her, I'll come back to check when I'm done slaughtering everyone else." He said to himself as he headed inside. What he didn't see was that Violet had formed a barrier as quick as possible and had not taken an injury from the fall. As soon as the debris from the falling tree cleared, she ran to Dusk to try and help him. "Don't touch me, it could spread, it takes a few hours for a shadow to fully corrupt someone. I need to reach the citadel, also known as the golden city, but I don't have enough time to get there before it takes effect." Dusk told her.

As soon as he said 'golden city' violet began to carve into the dirt a circle, there were runes and hieroglyphs around it on the inside and outside of the ring. "That is one way to get there, not the common way, mainly because most don't know it. Mon such as me are unable to, because I don't know how to draw the symbols" Dusk said. "I read it in one of Shadow's books, it is only half way done," Violet said, sending her glowing paws to the drawing and lighting the circle, and bringing the glowing form up and splitting into two identical layers. "Also, his dark side is going to kill everyone, that black thing was him, his dark side had managed to take over, which is why you can't see his blue rings." Dusk said.

"I never liked Shadow anyway, was always a little too self centered," Violet responded. Thin lines connected the pairing hieroglyphs and runes, as the last thread of light connected, the space inside the two rings went to pitch black. "Name one time he only cared about himself." Dusk said, "Also I guess you don't care about whether your friends live or die, he just went inside the den to kill them." "They'll be fine, they can handle themselves, I'm worried about you," Violet voiced, "now, do you want me to carry you, or are you okay enough to walk on your own?" "Yeah, the corruption doesn't leave a mon unable to move, the corruption spreads through their bodies.

Also you heavily underestimate him. Shadow has so many abilities he doesn't know about, like those tail spikes he shot at the tree you were in, his dark side knows all of his abilities and how to use them, he is the most dangerous thing in the world, it is said that if a shadow were to escape the void it would mean the destruction of existence as we know it." Dusk explained. "Hehe, you underestimate an angry mother, especially when going up against the one who killed her son, whether it be biological or not," Violet told him. "A shadow has so many abilities, a mere vaporeon can't stand up to one." Dusk replied. "She is no ordinary vaporeon..." Violet mentioned.

"Sorry, shiny vaporeon." Dusk corrected himself. "Still, she isn't ordinary..." Violet muttered. "Just because the mon she mated with wasn't 'an ordinary mon' doesn't make her unordinary." Dusk told her. "I know," Violet said, stepping into the abyss that was a portal. Dusk followed her in and upon arriving at the citadel, he instantly ran to the pool of light and took a sip. "There, I should be fine now." He said. "Now let's go save the others, I hope some of them are still alive, especially Aurora. I know at least two would be dead by now." "They are giving him a hard time," Violet chuckled, "I don't know what happened, or how it happened, but they seem to be faring pretty well."

"Sure, you don't understand the powers a single shadow holds, a single shadow alone can decimate an entire state." Dusk said, following violet into the portal out. As soon as the both of them were through, the portal collapsed, and what they heard sent a chill down Violet's spine. "C'mon let's go before anyone more gets killed assuming he already killed a couple, if a shadow kills some of them like slow torturous deaths if they, under rare circumstances, do kill, so they'll all still be alive, but going to die without help." "Yeah, come on," Violet headed into the den. Dusk followed. "You are pathetic if you think you can defeat me."

Armaros said, holding aurora against the wall by the neck. Seeing this Dusk rammed him hard, a bit too hard, causing Dark shadow to fly into the wall. "That hurt." Dusk said, moving dizzily. Aurora turned to liquid for the upteinth time and hit Shadow's shadow in the stomach again, "Let go of my son," she yelled. "Never! I am him, he is me, we are one, two souls, one being, I won't let him regain control again." Dark Shadow said. Dusk, despite being Dizzy, grabbed him and pinned him down and started chanting something. "What are you doing you fool!!! How are you not corrupted?!" Dark Shadow asked. "I will do anything to protect the one I love, even if it means my own demise." He said, glancing at Aurora and resumed chanting, Dark Shadow sort of screamed, a strange kind of light going in through his mouth and nose. After the chanting stopped Dark Shadow passed out, his blue rings returned and his eyes returned to normal, his extremely dark gray fur returning. "You may not be able to do the circles, but you do a mean spellcraft," Violet commented. "What?" Aurora asked, confused as to what just happened. "I forcefully let Shadow regain control. He'll be unconscious for a bit." Dusk said, suddenly Shadow woke up again. "Night! He's... he's gone. It's all my fault... that thing took control, it... it made me kill him.... I'm sorry... I'm so very sorry..." Shadow said, struggling to get up and then headed to his room, he cast a barrier spell to prevent anyone from entering the room or talking to him. "Shadow, the barrier can't stop me," Violet said, stepping through the barrier like it was gel. "Go away." Shadow said, completely hiding himself in a shadowy veil. "I, personally, don't care about you, but you were my father's brother and best friend, i can't let you feel sorry for something that you had no control over, Nightmare wouldn't have wanted that," She replied, sitting in front of the barrier. "If you don't like me, if you hate me then why even bother? Go away until you find a reason to care, which there are none, especially not after I killed your father, and tried to corrupt Dusk." Shadow told her. "I don't hate you, but I don't like you, I have yet to see a reason to like you in any way, and that wasn't you, that was Dark you, which is completely different, so..." Violet explained. "Still, why are you even trying to talk to me if you don't like me, there is no reason to like me. I'm surprised Night even likes me, I know how annoying I am, how much of a burden I am." Shadow said. "Shadow, come here, I can't see you, I need to slap you," Violet said. "Slap me? For what? The truth?" Shadow asked. His shadow ability started to clear up because he was low on energy. "It's a lie, to say that there is no reason to like you, look at your mother, she can name five off the top of her head, same with YOUR MATE, shadow, do you really think she would still be with you, caring for an egg that the two of you, together, made?" Violet asked, putting both forepaws on his shoulder as soon as she could see him. "Yes, a mate that has abandoned me I don't know how many times. Just leave me alone. Enjoy your life, don't bother wasting your time worrying about me, don't waste your time on me. Who knows, maybe you'll find a way to bring your father back to life, that would be some feat." Shadow joked sarcastically. "Just make sure my daughter remains unharmed and happy, okay?" He asked. "Lilly and Comet have a place of their own now, the one I want is going after someone else, and I have no idea where your little one is, wait, where is your little one?" Violet wondered. "In town if I recall, she ran off when my dark side took over." Shadow said. "Go find her, take care of her for me okay?" Shadow asked. "You are going to help, I have never been in the town, don't ask why," Violet said. "Then get my mom to help, she's been in the town, and Dusk I bet knows his way around town as well." Shadow said. "You expect me to go around dusk again? After what he said, it's gonna be awhile, and she is YOUR daughter, you help find her." Violet said. "I'm the last person you should ask for help." Shadow said, "Just, get my mother to help, take care of her for me when you find her okay? That is all I ask." He said as he took his claw and slit his neck. If you're no more than a burden and you kill a mon you should die. He thought as he closed his eyes. But death never came. "Not on my watch, I'll take care of dawn if you are so incompitent, but you have to find her, you know her the most," Violet said. "She was born literally yesterday, besides, it's best she doesn't remember such a horrible father. Considering children only gain memory at the age of 3, she wouldn't even know me if I'm gone, it's better for her that way." Shadow explained and tried to stab his neck again. Violet, again, stopped it, "that's going to lease a mark, oh well, now get your sorry ass up, you have a job to do," Violet said, lifting him up. "No, leave me be. Just let me rest in peace." Shadow said, "why? Why are you even bothering with me? There are other people you can go to that can find her, it's best she doesn't get attached to her real father, considering how bad a mon I am." Shadow said. "it's not for her, or even you, shadow, seeing as you don't care, but for Sylvia, I respect her," Violet explained. "I do care, that's why I say it's best I'm not there for her considering how bad a mon I am. I mean I've killed a mon, I've threatened to kill someone that turned out to be a good person. I've done horrible things, caused horrible things, it would've been better if I'd never been born." Shadow reasoned. "Everyone disagrees, hell, even I disagree," Violet said. "Sure you do? Now let me go!" Shadow said, using psychic to counter hers to try to make her drop him. "That isn't going to do anything, Shadow, I have a better mental stat than you," Violet said, melting the barrier and leaving his room with him floating behind. "Let me go!" He yelled at her, struggling. He remembered his spells and started chanting something. "I know the counters for them, shadow, don't test me..." Violet warned. "Even if you managed to get your paws on my spell book, A. There is only one of them in existence and B. It has a blood bond with me, you wouldn't be able to cast any spells." Shadow said and resumed. "The book itself is bonded with you, not the spells, they would have to eat at the book for it to do so, and they like to preserve their work, so..." Violet explained. "You can't use spells from that spell book specifically, if you had a different one with the same spells then you could cast them. Either way you will let me go, even if I have to paralyze you." Shadow said and continued chanting. "I have my own copy, I don't like to use it though" "Are you deaf, there is only ONE in the entirety of existence, no copies, even if you could copy it, the spells would backfire when you try." Shadow said and then finished his chant. "If they were exact copies, yes, but I know how to read spells and to alter them..." Violet said. "If you try to alter them, if you try to create your own or anything, you're screwing yourself over." He said, his spell paralyzing her, causing her to let go. "As I said, you can't use spells without harming yourself. Goodbye, don't tell my daughter about me when she is old enough to remember things, ensure she doesn't know I exist." Shadow said and ran into his room and cut his neck again and slit his wrists. "I have to tell her, Shadow, it doesn't feel right otherwise," Violet said, heading out. "It'll be better if she doesn't know." He said, "Well Night, I'll see you in the underworld." He finished as he closed his eyes. "Well I failed to ensure he didn't harm anyone." Dusk said to himself. Violet just walked by him on her way out. It didn't matter if he could feel others emotions well, Dusk still felt something radiating off of her as she passed him. "Hey Violet you okay?" Dusk asked. She didn't respond, just left him there as she went to go look for Dawn. "What's got her all irritated?" Dusk asked Aurora. "I have no idea," Aurora said, returning to nuzzle him. Dusk nuzzled back but then sensed something. "Something's wrong. I can sense it. We should check on Shadow." Dusk said. "I feel it too..." She responded, getting up. He went to find Shadow who was lying lifeless in his room, his barrier gone. "No... both of my sons in one day..." Aurora gasped when she saw it. "I don't mean to intrude, but is this the residence of Nightmare Astral?" someone asked from behind the two of them. "Yeah..." Dusk said solemnly. "So I am in the right place, good, thought I had gotten lost, shadow here too?" they asked. Aurora just collapsed in sobs. Dusk just collapsed and lied against Aurora. "He....he's gone..." Dusk said. "So you are his parents?" the thing behind them asked. "No, just her. His father has been gone since he was 8." Dusk replied. "Well, they are both fine, just can't return here for a while, Shadow will be longer," it said, walking away. "Whoever that is is clearly stupid, they apparently can't see Shadow's corpse right here, and Shadow said his dark side killed Night." Dusk said.

Two Hours Later

"That wasn't hard," Violet said, carrying the sleeping vee and entering the den. "How is the little one?" Dusk asked Violet as she entered the den. "She's doing fine," Violet hissed at him, heading to her room. "What's her problem?" Dusk asked no one in particular. "I don't know, I don't know what to do anymore, all of my children are gone, either dead or in a faraway region..." Aurora cried. Dusk hugged her tightly to comfort her. "Well, not all is lost... I still have you, after all," Aurora purred, nuzzling him. Dusk nuzzled back and kissed her. Aurora kissed back. Dusk lied against her. "I suppose we should give them a funeral, it's only right." Dusk said solemnly. "Yeah... how would we even find Night's body?" Aurora wondered. "Well they did head to town for something." Dusk said. "That's right, they did," Aurora said. "C'mon, let's go find Night's body, we should also tell Blaze about Night and Shadow." Dusk replied. "Yeah," Aurora said, getting up. Dusk got up also. "I wonder what happened to Sylvia, I mean she was Shadow's anamorphic, if the host dies does the anamorphic die with them?" He asked in thought. "No, they get moved to a different host, I don't understand it, but it just works," Aurora said. "I wonder who Sylvia will get moved to, I bet Terra will go to Violet." Dusk said. "Actually... Terra won't..." Aurora said with certainty. "Then who'd she go to if not her daughter?" Dusk asked. "A few weeks ago, I heard Night crying... it turns out that she disappeared," Aurora said. "What?! Why?! A mon doesn't just leave one they love, not without telling them and telling them why and they definitely don't leave willingly." Dusk said. "I have no idea what happened," Aurora said. "Me neither." Dusk said and left for town. Aurora followed, behind a little. They eventually found Night's body. "He looks so peaceful..." Aurora said. "I know, do you know where Blaze is? We should tell him, I mean Night is his best friend." Dusk said. "I don't know where Blaze is, sorry," Aurora apologized. "Oh, no need to apologize." Dusk said. "I know, but I still feel at fault," Aurora whispered. "How is this your fault?" Dusk asked rhetorically. "I don't know, it just feels like I am," Aurora said. "It isn't." Dusk said, nuzzling her as he picked up Night's corpse. "I think he'd want to be buried near the den." "oh, there he is, sorry, I'll be taking Nightmare, I was told to by him to do so, he was a good friend of mine," someone said from behind them. Dusk turned around. "The dead can't talk you liar." Dusk said, holding Night in his psychic as he looked to see who spoke. It was a cat of black fur and blood red eyes. "I'm speaking of before he quote-unquote died," it said, walking towards the pair, the psychic faltering. "Yeah that's a lie, if anything he's closer to Shadow than, well, whatever the hell you are, which you remind me of Shadow's dark side, pure black with pure red eyes." Dusk said, as he started to walk away, carrying Night's body with psychic. "Do you know anything about him?" It asked, still coming towards them. The closer it got, the more the psychic failed. "Not really but Shadow does, I wasn't really given much detail about him, I was given more detail about Shadow when I was sent here." Dusk said, "not like you know who that is." He finished and then started running holding Night in his psychic hold, Aurora tailing behind. The cat appeared in front of Dusk, "I won't ask again..." It said, malice in his voice. "And why should I trust you, for all I know you could be evil. Hey hun, help me deal with this bastard." Dusk told Aurora. "Aurora, please stay where you are, you knew what you were getting into when you and a shadow had Shadow, Night had suspected it for a while, but he didn't have the time to research, when he made it so that when i'm asleep, I'm able to enter this word, so I did some things..." It said, making Aurora stop in her tracks. "Yeah no way in hell Night would even know whatever the hell you are, so who are you? What are you? And what are you doing here? And how the hell do you know of Shadow, you know nothing about Shadow so either put your money where your mouth is and shut up and get lost and leave Night's body with us or start telling the truth." Dusk said threateningly. "He is, Dusk," Aurora said, frightened. "Thank you, now, I am going to need Nightmare's body," it said, placing a paw forward and making the psychic fail instantly. "Leave him, he deserves a proper funeral, unless you give me reason to trust you get lost." Dusk said, ramming the thing, launching it into a tree. It rebounded off the tree and landed in front of Dusk once again, "now, I have his will, but you don't know Night's signature, do you?" the thing asked. "You could easily forge anything, unless you give me reason to trust you I won't trust a thing you say." Dusk said. "Now, Night is going to get a proper funeral, with the people he calls family being there to attend it as well." Dusk said, "You aren't taking his body for whatever messed up reasons you have, not on my watch." He snarled. The cat started to laugh, "you think mon can forge his signature? Now that is funny, there is one element in his signature that none can copy," the thing told them, "only I know what it is, or so he said." "Sure, I bet he's never even talked to you, considering you don't belong in this world." Dusk said. "You're no more than a liar, both mon that died today are to have a proper funeral." He then strapped Night's body down onto his back and ran to the den. As soon as he started moving, he was surrounded by more cats, one of which released something that made Dusk pass out. "I hate to do this to you Dusk, but he told me to do whatever works," the black cat said, sighing. As soon as dusk passed out irremovable chains came out, strapping Night's body down to his back where nothing in existence could pull Night's body off him, not even a spell. "That's fine, I just need him to see..." The original cat said, "thank you" it said to the others that appeared. "I'll see you back home" one of them said, vanishing. "Now Aurora, I don't want to harm you, so please just come with me," The cat said, picking up Dusk and heading for the center of town. "First I want to bury my son's body, it's the least I could do." Aurora told him. "What I have to show you may change your mind on that, for both of them," It responded, opening the door to Nightmare Arena. "WHY WOULD I JUST LEAVE MY SON'S CORPSE THERE TO ROT?!!! HE DESERVES A BURIAL, you may be trustworthy but you clearly have no respect for the dead." Aurora said angrily and used her vaporeon form's ability to melt into water, using the water in the ground for fast travel to the den, reforming in Shadow's room she picked his body up and brought it outside to bury it. "Ma'am, Night wanted you to see this before you buried them," the cat said, behind her without dusk or Nightmare on him. "Well how can I trust everything you say, and besides, I believe you meant him, not them. Because, for unknown reasons, you only needed Night's body. So like any caring family member, I'm going to bury Shadow, whether you like it or not." Aurora said and dug a small hole in the ground to bury her son in. "I said what I meant, Aurora, and I will need Shadow's as well, but you had it safe so i went to look for Night's" it said, going over to Shadow's body. Aurora blocked it and snarled. "No, I don't even know how you know my name, and besides, you have no need for his body." Aurora said, putting Shadow's corpse in the hole she dug and began to cover it. The cat stopped her before she got more than two pawfulls of dirt in the hole, "I do, because Night asked it of me, also, is Violet in there?" it asked. "First off, did Shadow, my son, ask it, or anything of you? And second, yeah, but she's angry for some unknown reasons." Aurora answered. "Hey Violet, can you come here for a sec?" It called towards the den. "What what what, I was trying to..." Violet said irritated, trailing off when she saw the cat, "Blackflame?" "Yep, it's me, how have you been?" The cat, Blackflame, asked her. Aurora just returned to burying Shadow, using her water abilities to make things easier/quicker. "I've been good, you?" Violet asked, going to hug him. "Well, I'm trying to make good on my promise, but uh... I'm having difficulties with the Shadow part," Blackflame responded. Aurora almost had the hole filled all the way. "Aurora, please, let him show you what he needs to." Violet pleaded. "Okay." Aurora said, patting the dirt down as it hardened back up. "Now you can show me what you need to show me." Aurora said. "Kinda need Shadow's body... but you seem to have finished putting him in the ground..." Blackflame said. "You don't need his body, you were entering the Nightmare arena without it, so let's go see what you needed to show me." Aurora responded. "I can show you the place, but the message says it needs both bodies there to activate, or the correct one, anyway." Blackflame said. "Uhuh, sure." Aurora said, "You can use any body, like mine, just use mine, but leave my son to rest in peace, it's the respectful thing to do." "it's biometric scanning, it has to be his for the right one to show," Violet said. "If it's biometric scanning then you'd only need Night's body since he's the owner of the arena, not Shadow." Aurora said. "It's duel biometric, one trained for Night, the other for Shadow, there are other scanners, but it's for various mon," Blackflame explained. "Well I have pictures of my son, if that doesn't work, I should work because I share DNA with him since he's my son and all." Aurora said. "It's looking for the complete strands, you can't replace Shadow," Blackflame continued. "Well we do have a couple of his blood samples, in case something happens and he needs them." Aurora responded. "That'll work, grab one," Violet said, getting the hug she was after from Blackflame. I went inside and grabbed one and came out. "Now lets go." Aurora said. "I'll see you there" Blackflame said. The two went to the arena. "So what did you want to show me?" Aurora asked. "Well, come on, we head to the elevator to find out," Blackflame said, picking up Dusk and Night's body. Aurora followed him to the elevator. Violet shivered in the eerie silence of the halls, then followed Aurora in, then the doors closed and they began to descend into the earth. After a bit the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened to a dark room, so dark that the light from the elevator didn't go out far. "That's darkness." Aurora said. "Now, let it be gone," blackflame flipped a switch, hoping the lights would come on, and one did. "That didn't help, it's all the way over there, it's across the room," Violet complained. "Stop complaining, it doesn't solve anything." Aurora instructed. "We were all thinking it," Violet said. "Both of you stop, let me think," Blackflame said, "it has been moons since he told me what to do." "Whatever." Aurora said, "Let's just wing it." She exited the elevator and walked into the darkness. Blackflame tapped the back of the elevator in thought, not knowing that the sound would turn the lights on. "Can anyone else see?" Violet called out, being blinded from the bright lights. "See I told you winging it was the right option, the place probably has motion sensors." Aurora said. "I don't know, but I am starting to see again," Blackflame said. "Wimps" Aurora replied as Blackflame started to see large tubes on the back wall filled with a green liquid, "What are those?" He asked. "Dunno, don't care. What did you have to show me?" Aurora asked. "Bring the vial out, we are going to need it, and he said something about that computer, now, does anyone know how to turn the thing on?" Blackflame asked. "I believe someone mentioned its name. Lemme try this." Aurora said and cleared her throat. "Hey Valhalla you online? We kinda need you." She said. "When did you learn about Valhalla? He is the newest AI, about a week ago he was brought online," Blackflame said. "Shadow talks a lot in his sleep." Aurora said. "Should have assumed that was the case," Blackflame said. "I know how to turn it on and get it running," Violet said, sitting in front of the computer and hitting a button and inputting a command prompt. A small window popped up on the screen, Violet read the text out loud, "waiting for input from external drive," She said, then continued reading when it changed, "Drive found, proceed with scan?" she said, the last bit accompanied with a small picture of the desk with an arrow pointing to the left of the computer, on the desk.Blackflame grabbed a steel table from nearby and put it as close as possible to the dest, then set Night on the table and put one paw on the desk. "Aurora," he said. Aurora put the vial on the thing. "Now what's supposed to happen?" Violet hit a key on the board and the lights in the room flickered for a little bit. "Odd" Aurora commented. "Yeah," Blackflame agreed. "'Scan complete, two individuals recognised, Nightmare Astral and Shadow Shirogami, Launching program' what program?" Violet wondered as the lights dimmed quite dramatically. "I don't know. "Blackflame?" Aurora asked, but before he could answer dusk some up. "Arceus I hate sleep spore. Now where the hell have I gone this time?" Dusk asked himself, getting up, Night still strapped to his back. The second he moved, the lights returned to the blinding brightness. "Cancelling program; Reason: removal of one individual," Violet read. "Dusk, I was just about to show Aurora what I promised Night I would when he died, so either lay back down or put his body down there," Blackflame said, spinning back to face him. "You again, you really can't take a hint, I don't trust you, I don't believe you, and you clearly have no respect for the dead, Night is getting a proper funeral I don't know what your problem is but I suggest you stand down before I show you what I am capable of." Dusk said, about ready to ram him again, the chains were still there. "There just so happens to be runes around this room that prevents anyone from being harmed..." Violet said, not looking away from the computer. "I don't need to harm anyone." Dusk said, "I don't even know why you are trusting him, being so gullible get's you nowhere in life except to death." Dusk said as he snapped his dactylies, special chains came out from the earth and chained Blackflame to the ground. "Now these chains aren't indestructible but they'll last." Dusk said. "You should've thought out your choices before deciding to mess with us, I see right through your attempts at deception." Dusk whispered to blackflame and headed for the elevator. "It doesn't work, dusk, the only thing that will happen is you being pushed out again, as my father has the runes set so that none can enter or exit this room without Blackflame, I am 100% positive that they were set by my father, so don't ask," Violet said, looking at him. "Who the hell is blackflame? Also because of where I am from, and because I am 'pure-hearted' as they say, those kind of runes don't work on me." Dusk said. These runes have been selected to work on everything it doesn't matter what you are, nothing gets past them unless it is with Blackflame," Violet clarified. "And to answer your question, I'm Blackflame," Blackflame said. "Ah, so the heartless one is named Blackflame. I can also see why you are heartless, most cats in human worlds that pokemon don't exist in are rather mean, so that explains that part, because you clearly are no different." Dusk insulted. "Kittypets are ruthless, but no, I don't live with a twoleg, I live in the clans," Blackflame said. "I didn't say kittypet or anything about clans, I said the regular human worlds, the ones with dolphins, sharks, lions, wolves, cats, dogs, parrots, etc." Dusk clarified. "I know what dogs are, and cats, obviously, and tales of Lionclan, but what the fuck are thoes other things?" Blackflame asked. "You dense fuck, I said lions, not lionclan, lions, sharks, and wolves are predators, dogs originate from wolves, basically dogs are tamed wolves, Dolphins, well they understand humans better than any other animal, parrots are a type of bird." Dusk said. "These are things I have been told about by the one that sent me here. But you clearly seem no different than those mean cats since you clearly have absolutely no respect for the dead." Dusk said, getting more and more pissed at Blackflame. "Dusk, cal-" Aurora was cut off. "Alright, mouse-brain, if you seem to know so much about me, can you tell me what Starclan is? The great journey? The moonpool? The moonstone? No, you can't, and you want to know something? Me doing this actually goes against everything I have been taught, so DON'T TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK I AM IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" Blackflame yelled at Dusk. "You know, criminals, people that became evil, they go against everything they've been taught." Dusk said. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go show that I have a heart unlike you, you, you heartless freak! Why don't you go back to your world, the hole that you crawled out of, it'll be better, no one even asked for you to come here except you claiming Night did which is a bunch of lies in a gift basket." Dusk said, "so go back to where you belong, freak." Blackflame moved the things on the desk and put his paw on it, "Scan it" He Growled. Violet did as told and the room faded to black as a hologram of Night appeared. "You are good," Violet said. Blackflame sat in front of the hologram. "Hey Blackflame, you are probably listening to this for the upteinth time," It sighed, "I have a year from the first second you put me in one of these" it puts a paw on one of the containers of liquid, then returns to sit in front of Blackflame, "I doubt you would let any other listen to this unless you had a good reason, so hello to any others watching this, treat Blackflame well, and if he did as promised, then me and Shadow should be in these containers, or me at the very least, there are instructions to open each one on the nameplate of each, so when the time comes, you know what to do, The ARM will do everything you tell it to, if you do it right. Blackflame, others in this world may not get along with you, or you them, but at least try, there are always 'mon to meet, just put yourself out there, seriously, it will make life much better, and tell Onestar I said hello," it finished as the room lightened again. "Calling it now, you definitely fabricated this." Dusk said. "There are many reasons I do not believe or trust you or anything involving you, for one rhat entire thing was about you and you only, no one else, not his daughter, not Aurora, not Comet, not Lilly, none of his friends or family, for two, not once has he mentioned you before. and for three, you, again, have absolutely no respect for the deceased, and fourth, you randomly appeared out of nowhere, so tell me again exactly why I should trust you." Dusk explained. "One, everyone has their own, if he knew you well, two he didn't have to, three i do, but I keep promises, and four, to you, I did, Violet has known me all her life, so..." Blackflame said, the tears in his eyes clear in his voice while he still faced the place that the hologram disappeared, "unless anyone else wants to go, replay it please." Blackflame asked. "Don't I don't want to listen to that fake ass recording." Dusk said. "I still need to know WHY THE FUCK I SHOULD TRUST ANYTHING YOU SAY???!!!!!" He yelled at Blackflame. "Because my father would trust him with his life," Violet growled at Dusk. "Well until I see or get some hard proof that I can trust him with anything he is not getting even a speck of what he wants, not without having to mortally harm me." Dusk said. Blackflame ignored him and went over to the closest container of that green liquid, "Violet, prompt: forward slash open underscore 'c' 'o' 'n' 't' colon fourteen, the number is numeric," Blackflame said, violet inputting it on the computer then ran the command. "What's that supposed to do?" Aurora asked. "It's asking for a name, what do I do?" Violet asked. "Screw it, I'm willing to trust you flame, but you betray that trust I am sending you back to your world in a heartbeat and making sure you can't come back, got it?" Dusk asked. "And Violet, I think you need to put in Night's full name, Nightmare Astral." Dusk said, putting Night's body back on the steel table."You forgot middle name, Hoshi," Blackflame said. "Don't forget my warning." Dusk said with finality. "And how do you know his middle name, not even Shadow knows his middle name, and those two were closer than you two are." Dusk said. "How doesn't Shadow know? It was the first thing he told me about himself," Blackflame said, confused. "Well simple, Night never told him." Dusk answered. Violet put her father's name in the computer and hit enter, then the container started to drain as robotic arms came down from the ceiling and levitated Night's body into the emptied chamber and it was sealed with Night's body inside as the green goo began to fill it again. "I guess that's that, the hell is this sven doing. I swear if it dissolves his body imma be pissed." Dusk said. "You and me both, now, Shadow's body, if you will allow it?" Blackflame asked Aurora. "No we got the biometric scan, that's all we needed it for, we had the vial that tricked the scanner so we don't need his body, my son remains buried." Aurora said. "Do you want him alive?" Violet asked her. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do but you can't bring the dead back to life, it's impossible." Aurora said. That is wh-" Violet was cut off by the container hissing. "What is happening with Night?" Aurora asked when it stopped. "I dunno, this is beyond me." Dusk said. "Same, but I trust Night," Blackflame said. "I do too." Dusk said. "The liquid seems familiar, i'm going to need a little to study, knowing dad, there is a little around that I can," Violet said. "So Flame, can I call you flame? Uh when did you and Night meet? And how the hell do you know of Shadow?" Dusk asked. "Sure, you can call me flame, And, well, i first met him on the Great Journey, we were at the Tribe of Rushing Water, and i was poking around while everyone was asleep, and i actually found Night gazing into a small pool of water in a back room, it was called the Cave of Pointed Stones. And how I know of Shadow is because of him," Blackflame said, returning to the group. "But you two wouldn't have had time to meet up ever since he met Shadow." Dusk countered. "The Arena, I talk to him there in person, but talk to him in other ways from my world," Blackflame explained. "Neural link?" Dusk asked. "Not exactly, it is like that, but it isn't that," Blackflame said. "Oh." Dusk said. "Hey Violet, is whatever's happening almost done? I'm not much of a conversator." Dusk. said. "Nowhere close, the message to blackflame said a year, so there is that," She responded, "but i want to see the one for me," She continued, putting her paw on the desk and starting the scan. "So flame, can you let me out of here, I'm not going to sit in this room for a year." Dusk asked. "Yeah, let's go, Violet, i'll be back down in a sec, Aurora, come, please, the messages are special to every individual, if you ever want to see yours, I'll be happy to bring you back here," Blackflame said, heading towards the elevator. Dusk followed. "I wouldn't have one considering I just arrived I think two days ago, barely even talked to Night at all, I think I only talked to him once when I got here." Dusk said. "You never know, hon," Aurora said, nuzzling him. Dusk nuzzled back. "Yeah but Blackflame specified 'if you were close enough.' You can't be close to a mon you talked to one time." Dusk said. "All he told me was that there were files for lots of mon, so there is that," Blackflame said. "Well anyways I need to go somewhere but I can't get there till I get outside the runes, I tried going there while I was inside them but I couldn't." Dusk said and disappeared to the abyss when he entered the elevator and then bowed. "Dear leader of the abyss, I failed my mission, the young shadow is dead and his shadow side managed to kill another." Dusk told the leader of the abyss. "I hear of such things already, Dusk," The leader said from the shadows, purple flames rising off of her. "And if you don't mind me asking have you located the brothers of corruption yet?" Dusk asked. "I know where they are, but I cannot reach them..." She replied. "Oh. I also figured out where your mate is, the higher beings, sent him to the void prison, not sure why." Dusk said. "Same, and your mission isn't done, thank you for the update," She said, walking away. Dusk reappeared in the elevator. "Where did you go?" Blackflame asked. "Nowhere you need to know about." Dusk said. "Mhm... well, up we go," Blackflame said as the elevator ascended. "Sorry about before blackflame." Dusk said. "It was reasonable," The cat responded. "I sort of overreacted." Dusk said. "Meh," The cat said. "Just drop it you two," Aurora said. "Okay hun." Dusk replied. The elevator reached the first floor and the group exited. "Let's go home hun." Dusk said, and he and Aurora left for the den to see Dawn searching around the den for something upon entering. What wasn't clear was that Dawn was looking for her father and it looked like she was about to cry. "Dawn..." Aurora said, seeing her and going to hug her. Dusk also hugged her. "Poor thing's probably looking for Shadow or her mother, or both." Dusk said. "Probably," Aurora replied. Dawn cried into Aurora's chest. "Shshsh, it's going to be okay, Dawn," Aurora breathed, nuzzling her. Dawn calmed down and then went to Shadow's room and lied in the spot Shadow usually lays in. "What are we going to do?" Aurora asked, watching Dawn leave for Shadow's room. "I don't know..." Dusk said, "I hope Sylvia appears soon, for her sake." "Same, I still wonder what happened to Terra, though." Aurora wondered. "Prolly nothing good because no one willingly leaves the one they love." Dusk said. "She disappeared a few weeks ago, though, I only know because i had overheard Night talking about it in his room," Aurora said. "Yeah." Dusk said.

Meanwhile in the underworld, after Shadow died.

"Ugh where am I? Is this death?" Shadow said, getting up from what seemed to be some jagged rocks. Night seemed to be sitting just a few feet away from Shadow, looking over a cliff, "Come join me," he said. Shadow went over to him. "What is this place?" He asked. "Some call it limbo, some the underworld, the afterlife, but it is a spirit realm, nonetheless," Night said. "So I succeeded in killing myself off. Good to know." Shadow said. "Yes and no, if Blackflame has kept his promise, then we should be back in about a year," Night responded. "Who?" Shadow asked. "An old friend of mine," Night answered. "Whoever he is, there is no way in hell Dusk is going to trust him." Shadow replied. "No doubt, but he doesn't stop, Blackflame, I do realize that the promise that he made goes against everything he believes in, but it is better in the end. So what did you do?" Night wondered. "Well as I said, I killed myself." Shadow answered. "Why?" Night asked. "Because I murdered you, that's why." Shadow replied. "You are not at fault, and if my theory is correct, that was your shadow side that came from your father," Night said. "Your heard what it said 'we are one it is me I am it' we are literally the same being." Shadow said solemnly. "I don't even deserve to be here in the afterlife, not after what I did and tried to do." "two different mindsets, Shirogami," Night said, his rings turning black and fur turning white."Still." Shadow said, lowering his head. Ge then jumped off the cliff. Not really expecting much. He landed back next to Night, "I have tried to get over there, but I can't seem to be able to," Night said, looking over to the city. "I was trying to see what would happen if I jumped." Shadow said. "Still, it's a futile thing to try," Night said, jumping off as well, launching himself as far from the cliff as possible, even breaking the sound barrier. "I wonder if it's possible to die here and if it was where would you go? Would your spirit just be erased?" Shadow pondered. "It's not possible, I have tried before," Night said, landing where he was before. "Well there goes my thought but I don't even want to go to that city, I don't really deserve to go to a place that looks so nice." Shadow said and started walking away from the cliff so he wouldn't be looking at the city anymore. "I know what you mean, but it's fascinating to look at, I wonder what's there," Night said longingly. "If anyone deserves to go there you do, me, I have no right, I don't deserve many good things, I wonder when I'll be sent to hell." Shadow said in thought. "Hell is this place, as well as heaven, and as you are a spirit, you have permission to be there, ibut something is preventing us from doing so," Night said. "Well you can find a way there, imma go find hell, which is where I deserve to be." Shadow said. "You can't leave this place, our bodies are still alive, I hope, I have never used the capsules before, so it is honestly an experiment." Night told him. "Well mine should be dead, my body should still be bleeding out right now." Shadow said. "Not if blackflame did as promised," Night replied, the colors of his rings and fur returning to normal. "Then you mean your body should still be alive." Shadow said. "I meant what I said, Shadow," Night said. "Well I never asked anyone for anything or was promised anything sooo." Shadow told him. "I told him to make sure that you were okay, and if not, well, there is a special place under the arena that my body is in right now, I asked him to put it there as well if you weren't," Night said. "I never asked for that and knowing my family they'd have buried me to 'respect the dead.' " Shadow said. "I thought so, so I made recordings for our family, and hopefully it worked," Night said, laying down. "Dusk is going to feel left out but yet understand why he didn't get one." Shadow replied. Night chuckled, "He got one, it may not be as good as the others, but he got one." "Oh." Shadow said.

The living realm

"Now you see why I was told to get Shadow's body?" Blackflame asked them, after explaining the promise that he made. "Yeah." Dusk said. Aurora nodded. "But he wanted to kill himself, would he appreciate being brought back?" Violet asked. Aurora sighed at this. "I don't know, but I won't stop until the promises I made are fulfilled," Blackflame said. "Fine." Dusk said. "Don't blame Night if he tries to strangle you." "I won't, now, am I going to have to get his body myself, or can I get help?" Blackflame asked. "I'll help." Aurora and Dusk said in unison then laughed. "The more the merrier," Blackflame said, starting. The three worked to unbury Shadow's body. Violet headed inside to take care of Dawn. They got Shadow's body out of the ground. "If you want to come watch, I won't stop you, but I need to do this," Blackflame said, getting Shadow's body on his back and starting to walk away. Dusk followed and, of course, so did Aurora. They returned to that one room. Blackflame set the body on the steel table and went to read the instructions on the chamber next to Night's. Then went to the computer and put the prompt in. After Shadow's body was put in the container Dusk said "I want to see if I do have a voice thingy." "Hold on, let me remember the prompt to do that, oh," Blackflame said, typing a new prompt on the computer, "you ready?" "yeah." Dusk said. Blackflame hit a key on the board and said, "Well, it recognises you, but nothing's happening other than that." "Told you I didn't have a voice thingy, we barely talked so I wouldn't." Dusk said. Blackflame put a paw on him, "I'm afraid you are gonna have to eat those words, Dusk, it found one." Dusk was shocked. "Prove it." He said. "You are free to move around," Blackflame said as he hit a key on the board and the lights dimmed. "Well, Dusk, can't say I'm surprised," Night's voice said as he faded into the room as the projector warmed up. Dusk was startled. "I may not have known you very well, but for the little I did, I knew you didn't want to harm anyone, you probably think that you failed your mission or something, but if you see Shadow in one of the containers, then you still have a chance. And knowing my adoptive mother, she will wonder what the hell I'm speaking of," It said. "Yeah, I am," Aurora said. "You don't need to know." Dusk said. "I know you'll say something like 'not now' or 'it's not important' if she say anything about it, but please tell her, I know Abyssius, I know what she wants, and if you can't tell her, scan both of you at the same time, I will explain. If you wonder how I know her, she is the reason I know my birth parents, and I don't mean the eeveelutions that Shadow met, they aren't my real parents either," The hologram said. "How does he know her? He's never been to the-" Dusk cut himself off. "Abyss? Yes I have, not physically, though," Night guessed, "it's because of that trek that I have a quote-unquote 'powered form' the file of that is an open file, search 'v' 'n' in the system and the clip for it will appear. If i am wrong about any of this, feel free to tell me, this clip is being made for the first run, so, there is that," He continued. "How does he do that? Guess us so well, I mean," Aurora asked. "I'd understand you guys but he had no way of knowing anything about me." "Which he didn't" Dusk continued realizing what he just said. "This is Nightmare you are speaking of," Blackflame said. "I know, but we never talked so clearly he knew nothing about me." Dusk said. "I said the same thing when we first talked, he doesn't always need to speak to you to know you, I don't know why," Blackflame said. "You may say that we didn't talk much, Dusk, but the time we did was all that was needed, anyway, I'll leave it here." it finished, the room brightening again. "The only time we talked was when I first arrived in that temple." Dusk said, confused. "But the two files he referenced... something's odd about that..." Blackflame said. "My turn." Aurora said and scanned herself for the hologram voice log thingy. The room dimmed as a holo of Night appeared again, this time sitting and smiling, "Aurora, i thank you for all the years that you have spent protecting me, not just me but Shadow and Lilly as well, you never had to take care of me, but I thank you for it, I have rerecorded this multiple times, I have burst into tears every time before this, this is attempt 42, and it means that in this one, I was able to get to the end without a tear breaking my voice. You have probably wondered how you survived, not only the lava, but my super-kinetic blast, a move I call self destruct. You actually didn't survive it, the only reason you are here is because I made a wish, one that I will not explain what I gave up to get you back. You mean too much to me for me to let that happen to you because of what I did... " Night trailed off, the tears he was holding back evident in his voice. "It wasn't your fault..." Aurora said, Dusk hugging her. "I know what you gave up, Nightmare, you couldn't hide it from me, I know all too well what it looks like," Blackflame said, voice shaking. "I know you think that it wasn't my fault, but you could have survived if I didn't use that move, for that, I must apologize. You don't want to know what I gave up for you, mom, I may know my biological parents, but you will never stop being my mother. I love you to the spirit realm and back, however hard that is. And if you search 'birth' in the system, it will be locked, but you alone will know the password, mom, it will explain as much as I know about my biological parents. I love you and I will see you soon, goodbye, for now." It finished, tears rolling down the hologram's cheeks. Just before it ended, there was a flash and mew was part of the hologram just as it faded. Aurora cried into Dusk's chest as he hugged her. What was that thing? Blackflame wondered as the lights returned, "Was that a pokemon? I have never seen it before..." he said. "That was mew." Dusk said. "Why was it part of the clip? And what exactly is a 'mew?' " Blackflame asked. "A sound a kitten makes." Dusk joked. "But in all seriousness it's a legendary mon." "Okay," Blackflame said, not really understanding the last part. "Oh come on, my joke was funny." Dusk said. "To you, sure, but it's annoying to me," Blackflame said. "How?" Dusk asked. "I have heard those kitten cries too much of my life," Blackflame replied. "It's not even a cry, kittens usually just go 'mew' rather than a 'meow' which is what humans hear from cats such as yourself." Dusk said. "Still," Blackflame said, "Hey Aurora, do you know what he meant by 'you alone will know the password'? His parents, biological, is something he has kept even from me, and I'm curious." "He meant that I'm the only mon that knows the password." "I get that, but why?" Blackflame asked. "I dunno." Aurora said. Can you think of something that only you and him know? That is the only thing that I can think of," Blackflame said. "I know the password." Aurora said. "Okay, you don't have to tell me what it is," Blackflame said, stepping away from the computer. "You never asked." Aurora said. "I know, I would like to know what it is, but like I said, you don't have to tell me," Blackflame replied. "I'll leave it for now." Aurora said. "Okay, well I want to see the 'powered form' that he mentioned..." Blackflame said heading over to the computer again. Aurora headed for the elevator, Dusk following Blackflame saw this and said, "you know what, I can wait," and went to join them. They entered the elevator and returned to ground level. "I'm sure that you have noticed this, but the town has completely shut down," Blackflame said. "Why?" Aurora asked. "Don't know, it was active the day before he left, but after I received... " Blackflame trailed off, "something letting me know Night had died, it was a ghost town." "Maybe the town was a fake and everyone was a hologram." Aurora said. "You and I both know that isn't the case, Aurora," Blackflame said. "The town's entire population has absolutely nothing to do with Night, we both know that as well." Aurora said. "The population, yes, but where did they go?" Blackflame wondered. "Maybe they're there but we can't see them and they can't see us." Dusk suggested. "But how would that work?" Blackflame wondered. "I don't know but it's most likely the case." Dusk said. "No..." Blackflame said, putting a paw to the side of a building, then looking at it, "This is the work of mass teleportation..." "What do you mean? In order to get anyone to leave he'd have to make them but he's dead, it can't be that." Dusk said. "Do either of you know where I can get a map of the city?" Blackflame asked. "Yesh literally in the library, because usually for some odd reason that's the first stop for newcomers in this town, I have no clue why." Dusk said. "Where is it?" Blackflame asked.. "I know where." Aurora said. "Take me to it," Blackflame instructed. Aurora led the group to it. Blackflame went behind the counter to look for a map, then came back and cleared a table and unfolded the map on it, then grabbed a marker. "What's the marker for?" Dusk asked. "What do you think it's for?" Blackflame asked, pulling the map off and putting the circle that was obvious around the Arena and town. "Why are you drawing a circle?" Dusk asked. "The six statues around town, what direction do they face?" Blackflame asked Aurora. "I don't-" Aurora was interrupted by Dusk. "The center." Blackflame made marks from the statues placed evenly around the two rings and had them point to the center, stopping at the inner circle, "and the location of the three fountains?" Blackflame asked. "The one is in front of the arena, the other is in the town square, the center but I don't know where the other one is." Aurora said. "Neither do I. '' Dusk replied. "Hmm... then it can't be that, there are three markers that are the same, or should be, they are spread the same distance from each other, do either of you know something like that?" Blackflame asked them. "Other than the major buildings, no." They said in unison. "Where are they, and what are they?" Blackflame asked. "So there's here, the arena which also serves as the town hall, and the most popular restaurant in town." Dusk said. Blackflame connected the three as points in a triangle, "There should be a mirror of it as well, but I personally don't know the town well enough to be able to tell where or what they are," Blackflame said. "So like a summoning circle?" Dusk asked. "Yes and no, it's a circle of power, the runes in it determine what it does. It can do anything if done right, so mass teleportation isn't out of the question for it..." Blackflame said, being knowledged in this field. "I already know these things." Dusk said. "Not everyone does, so I tend to explain it a lot," Blackflame said. "I know a lot more than you do, I know about the brothers of corruption, about the void, about the abyss, about the void prison, about the higher beings, about other timelines." Dusk explained. "The brothers are actually nice when you get on their good sides, they are just misunderstood," Blackflame said, having met them a few times while wandering this world. "No, they are evil, they will pretend to be nice but then when they see weakness, they will try to corrupt you." Dusk said. "The leader of the abyss rescued me from their corruption some ages ago. They've stayed away from me ever since because I have easy contact with their mother, whom they seem to fear." Dusk explained. "Really? Yeah they are scared of their mother, they have even admitted it, but evil? No, there is no way, I have been with them for weeks on end and they seem just fine, maybe looking for a purpose, but not evil," Blackflame said, marking a triangle that mirrored the previous one, "not physical, but rather purpose." "They are pretenders, they pretend to be good so they can find a mental weak spot to turn you evil, I was around them for about a year before they found one on me, they are so patient it's scary." Dusk said. "Nightmare is a genius, he made the town a power circle, made it so that when he died, all residents, minus a select few, would be transported through a lei line into a mirrored city, protecting them all... and the second set I have yet to figure out..." Blackflame said, laughing a little and smiling. "Oh, still I highly suggest you stay as far away from the brothers of corruption as possible." Dusk said. "I was actually with them when I was alerted of Nightmare's death, it's because of them that I arrived so quickly, I still owe them for that," Blackflame chuckled, "probably gonna make me do something stupid, or let them see my world, they seem interested in a world where magic and the moves that you guys use and love so much doesn't exist, can't exist." "A shadow being can do anything in any world they were created to corrupt, created by the only higher being to become evil and a higher being are the guys that created existence so they can do anything they want, they just created a rule for themselves that they can't remove anything directly." Dusk said. "We had a shadow try, of course we did it in such a secluded place that it couldn't have harmed anything before I got to it and had it removed. Night and I have tried a lot of shit in my world. Some so bad that arceus had to learn to walk to get back to the realm that you so love. He didn't know and he was on board with it, so we tried," Blackflame said, trying hard not to fall over. "If Arceus dies the heaven of this world will fall apart and die." Dusk warned. "I'm well aware of that, I wouldn't let him die, you should really see him as a cat, he looks amazing," Blackflame said, getting his laughing under control. "I don't really care, I am just warning you." Dusk said. "I'm aware of what he does, we had many, and I mean hundreds of safety precautions set up for everything that could have gone wrong," Blackflame said. "Again, don't really care." Dusk said. "Then don't say anything, jeez, such a buzzkill, anyway, back to the circle, and deciphering the second layer," Blackflame said. "As I told you, I was only warning you." Dusk said, "I never asked for details." "Still, you are a buzzkill," Blackflame said, studying the map and writing over it. "Not really, just a bit bored." Dusk said. "Then find something to do, Violet is probably still at the den caring for Dawn, so I wouldn't disturb her if possible, if I were you," Blackflame said, frowning at the map and what looked to be runes. "C'mon aurora let's just go somewhere peaceful, I bet you're bored sitting here too." Dusk said. "Yeah, though arceus as a cat is confusing me..." Aurora said, getting up. "Let's just forget it." Dusk said grabbing her paw and teleporting the two to a beautiful cliffside at a part of the world that it was currently midnight at, the moon reflecting off the water making it sparkle. "This looks familiar, but it is pretty, nonetheless," Aurora said, looking over the cliff. "But not as beautiful as you and the way your eyes and body sparkle in the moonlight." Dusk said, nuzzling her. "Aww, you look like the night sky, much more looked at than I," Aurora said. "Aw thanks." Dusk said and kissed her deeply. Aurora, obviously, kissed back, hugging him. Dusk hugged back, after a good five minutes they lied down, after five minutes more he pulled away and laid his head over her forelegs. Aurora kissed his nose and laid her head over his neck, "I love you~" she said. Why did she say it like that? Dusk asked himself. "I love you too." He told her. Aurora drifted off to sleep laying next to Dusk. Dusk fell asleep too.

A year later

Dusk and Aurora were in that lobby of the Arena, waiting for Blackflame. "Why are we here? We have seen the logs a million times, what is it this time?" Aurora wondered. "We are just waiting for Blackflame." Dusk said. Like he had been summoned by calling his name out, Blackflame walked in with violet by his side and little Dawn on her. "You do know what today is, yes?" Blackflame asked. "Wait, don't start without us!" Comet called out, running into the arena with Lilly. "Ah, you made it, I thought you might want to see this," Blackflame said, smiling. "I don't even know what's supposed to happen, just that something was supposed to happen a year after he was put in that container." Dusk said. "And how long has it been?" Blackflame asked, heading to the elevator, which was large enough to fit all of them comfortably. They all entered. "Just under 20 minutes of a full year, so we have 20 minutes to get there before something happens." Dusk said. The doors slid shut after everyone entered the elevator and they began to descend. "There may be a small miscalculation with it, so I did that so we can make it," Blackflame said. "I can't wait," Violet squealed. "Nor can I." Dusk and Aurora said in unison and then chuckled. They eventually reached the bottom floor and the doors opened. Blackflame went to the dot on the floor and sat. Comet and Lilly sat a little away from Blackflame. Violet sat right next to Blackflame, putting Dawn between her front paws. Aurora and Dusk, sat on the other side of Blackflame from Lilly and comet, Aurora being close to her daughter, Dusk sitting against his mate. After about 5 mins a red light above Night's canister started to flash as the liquid started to empty from it, there was a voice saying "tank fourteen: Alive" over and over, but it was quiet, so it was a little more bearable. Blackflame's paws started to shake, as well as Violet's, who tried hard not to hurt Dawn. After the liquid fully drained, the glass lifted, letting the unconscious Night fall out of it. No one moved as the body shook a little. "Ow, need to fix that..." Night said, slowly getting up as not to hurt himself. "So that's what that does, so that means Shadow will live, but we'll be waiting a good half hour for that." Dusk said. "Oh, didn't realize I had an audience for coming back from the dead, hello Dusk, I trust you found things at least satisfactory?" Night asked, walking towards them on shaky legs. "Come lay down, you just came back to life, your body is going to take a bit to get used to moving again." Aurora said, noticing how shaky his body was. "I know, ma, I'm trying, and seeing as blaze isn't in the room, I assume you chose Dusk here?" Night asked, nodding to Dusk. "Yeah. I haven't even seen Blaze throughout the past year so I never got to tell him." Aurora explained, "I'm worried what he'll do to Dusk when I tell him." "I know mom, but he's been away from you as long as you have been away from him, obviously, so maybe that has changed," Night replied. "No he has never come to visit us or anything in the past year, I haven't been avoiding him at all." Aurora told him. "Here's the thing, he wasn't avoiding you either, no doubt you have seen the Alchemist Rings made from the city itself," Night said, giving Blackflame a hug, "How have you been, old friend?" "better than you, obviously," Blackflame replied, hugging back. "And we managed to settle our differences... for the most part." Dusk said. "No we haven't, you tolerate me because of Night, that is the only reason, I hardly talk to you," Blackflame said. "Exactly what I mean, you can't have any problems if you don't talk to one another." Dusk chuckled. "But that isn't sorting our differences. Get your facts right," Blackflame said, letting Night go. "Aw you're just jealous." Dusk taunted knowing Blackflame most likely wasn't jealous of anything, he was just screwing around. "Night, I'm aware of how much your mother loves him, but may I kill him?" Blackflame asked. "That isn't for me to decide," Night replied, hugging his daughter. "I'd like to see you try." Dusk taunted more, seeing how much he could piss off the cat. "Dad, I missed you," Volet said, squeezing her father a little. "Oh come on don't ruin my fun." Dusk said grinning from ear to ear. Blackflame was intentionally ignoring Dusk. Night went to hug his mother. Aurora hugged back. "Welcome back sweetie." She said. Dusk's grin faded and he sighed. "I'll never get bored of taunting Flame." He chuckled. Night looked to him when he was done hugging his mother, "I will speak to you when we are done here, Dusk," Night said, then went to hug Lilly and Comet. Dusk tilted his head in confusion and then just watched Shadow's container, remaining still and silent, his breathing even and his facial expression was neutral. Night sat behind Blackflame and Violet and waited, petting Shadow's daughter, which whom purred to it. After about a half hour Shadow's container drained itself and the glass lifted, causing Shadow to fall out. He instantly got up, ran to blackflame and grabbed him by the neck "WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! RETURN ME BACK TO DEATH!!!!" Shadow yelled, clearly pissed. "Shadow, calm down," Night said, making Shadow release Blackflame, who seemed unaffected by it. "Fine, I don't need you to kill me anyways." Shadow said, his claw extending as he sent out a shadowy mist. "I killed myself once, I can do it again." "Shirogami, stop this now," something said, grabbing him and preventing all ways for him to kill himself. "Drop the smog, Shadow, it's going to do nothing to help you," Night said. "No! And who's holding me?! Let go of me! It'd be better for everyone if I weren't here!" Shadow yelled. The thing holding him wouldn't let him move. "We know that isn't true, Shadow," Night said, not seeming to have moved from the place he sat. Shadow struggled against whatever was holding him. "It is true, you wouldn't have to worry about me killing any of you, you wouldn't have to waste your time on me, and you wouldn't have to deal with me and my shenanigans." Shadow said. "Shadow, I have already lost part of my family, I don't want to lose another," Night said. Shadow continued to struggle. "WHOEVER'S HOLDING ME GET THE FUCK OF ME!" Shadow yelled. "And lose another what? Good for nothing waste of space?" He asked. "Loved one, shadow, and no one is holding you, everyone is accounted for out here," Night said. Shadow took his extended claw and attempted to stab himself. He wasn't able to move but a centimeter before something cold stopped him and prevented him from moving at all. "Just drop the fog or I will make it disappear..." Night said, threateningly. "What are you gonna do? Kill me? Well go ahead I deserve it, send me straight to hell where I belong." Shadow said. "Mark, Move and magic disable," Night said, the air around him becoming colder as everyone lost access to their moves and magic of all kinds. "Who the fuck is Mark?" Shadow asked, struggling against whatever was holding him. "WHOEVER IS HOLDING ONTO ME LET GO NOW BEFORE I GET REALLY ANGRY!!!" Shadow yelled. The outline of a saw blade appeared in front of Shadow, along with the voice of something in Shadow's ear, "I am Mark, nice to meet you Shadow Shirogami," it said. "Mark is a system," Night said, watching the fog dissipate. Oh a saw blade, It's not preventing me from moving my head, perfect. Shadow thought as he tried to move his head into the saw blade. But it seemed to move with Shadow's vision, staying exactly five meters in front of his face. "How is this saw blade moving where I look?!" Shadow asked as he kept trying to stab his face on it. By this time the fog had completely dissipated. "Because it isn't actually there, it's on an invisible lens in the helmet," The saw moved with every word said to shadow. "Guys, meet mark. An auto defence system, he controls the computers and electronics in this floor," Night said, pointing to the armor that has locked on Shadow's body, covering it. "What helmet? I don't see no helmet. AND MAKE THIS THING GET OFF MY BODY!!" Shadow screeched, trying to move or do anything to get out of the thing. "Mark I fucking despise you, it is not nice to meet you, you are holding me against my will." "and letting one be harmed on this floor is against my programing, sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Shirogami." Mark said. "Mrs.? Unless you mean my mother there is no mrs. Shirogami. Also make me a fucking exception to your programming dammit you good for nothing hunk of junk!!!" Shadow yelled trying to move again. "Sylvia Shirogami, please stop your husband, I can't ho-" Mark stopped as a crack sounded, "My motors are breaking, please stop him from killing himself." "It's just Sylvia, last I checked my mate doesn't have a last name." Shadow said, struggling much more. "C'mon break then you piece of junk!" "Sylvia, please, I don't want to use methods that I hate to use," Mark said, the air around Shadow crackling. "C'mon break already!" Shadow said, slowly managing to move his leg. "I'm sorry, father," Mark said, making Shadow scream then pass out from an electrical charge, sent into his spine, then the suit released Shadow to get repairs from the arms above. "You did what you had to, Mark," Night said. "The hell did it do? I may not like shadow, from what you have spoken of him, but that is a last resort, making him pass out." Blackflame said. "Oi I'm worse." Dusk teased. "But in all seriousness that was hard to watch, very hard to watch." Dusk said. Lilly was shaking from that and so was Comet, who had his eyes covered. "What's up with you two?" Dusk asked. "We have both been in a predicament like that, forced to pass out due to an electrical charge..." Lilly said with a shaky voice. "I thought you two hated him though." Dusk said, "Which with all this hate towards him, it's no wonder he craves death so much." "I'm his sister, I don't hate him, I just know what it's like," Lilly said. "He and I may not be good friends, but I don't hate him," The cowering ninetails said. "Sure, after how he treated you and how you treated him recently, that is totally the case." Dusk said sarcastically. "Violet called him self-centered which even I know is NOT true. But I don't know why blackflame hates him." You say a lot of things aren't true, but most of them are," Blackflame countered. "I'd like to see everyone here name one selfish thing he's done." Dusk said, "Especially you Night since you don't seem to feel like helping, not a very good brother you are." "I didn't say selfish, I said self centered," Violet corrected. "Selfish, self-centered, same thing." Dusk said. "Not really, and you have an update on your mission, Dusk, go see Her Highness," Night said. "I don't know what you are talking about, who is this queen and what mission? Dusk asked, playing dumb. Dusk used sign language to say 'shut it' knowing Night was the only one in the room that knew sign language. "I'm not gonna lie to my mother, Dusk," Night said, turning to the computer and typing something, then the room dimmed. "If you don't tell her, I will. So Dusk, what is your decision?" Night asked, pausing the holo before anything was said. "Fine, just give me some time. I'll tell her when me and her are alone." Dusk lied, thinking she would forget, he wasn't planning on telling anyone anything. Night knew what he was doing, "you have three seconds to start..." he said. "NOT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE ELSE!!! I WILL NOT HESITATE TO KNOCK YOU CLEAN OUT!!!" Dusk said. "Are you forgetting? It's impossible to harm anyone in here, and all moves and magic, including your abilities, are disabled," Night said. "Shit shot shit." Dusk said and formed a plan in his mind. He suddenly grabbed blackflame, using him to exit the room, dropping him inside the circle upon entering the elevator. "Bye! See you guys when you forget about my secret." Dusk called. The doors to the elevator never closed, though, it didn't move either. "I have the master controls, it's not moving till I unlock all external controls," Night told him. "I can climb the elevator shaft." Dusk said. "There are hundreds of steel deadlocked doors stopping you, sorry, I made this place nuclear proof, and you know all too well what that looks like..." Night said. "I don't care, I'm still climbing, and if I fall then oh well, my secret remains safe." Dusk said and started climbing. Night watched him, "you do realize i have every update to your mission on logs here, right?" Night said. "You tell them and I kill myself, no one shall know while I am alive." Dusk called as he kept climbing, using the threat of his life as blackmail. "And I'm not on that floor anymore so Mark isn't allowed to even try to stop me and the fall would destroy him if he does." "While true, it doesn't matter, for he can be rebuilt. And why are you scared of others knowing that you are helping someone get their family back?" Night asked. "Don't, there is more to my story than anyone knows you seem to know that part." Dusk called. "I'm only speaking of the mission from Abyssius, Dusk," Night said. "Who? Sorry I don't know that mon, are they friendly? Trustworthy?" Dusk asked, playing Dumb. "Night stop, if he doesn't want anyone knowing there is clearly a reason." Aurora said. "You need to know what brought him here, it's because of Shadow," Night said, watching the Dark Mistress appear, changing forms himself and bowing to her. "NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW!!!" Dusk screeched, the echo from the elevator filled the room, hurting everyone's ears. Aurora's ears were ringing a little as well as another's. "Are you sure?" Abyssius asked him. Night was still bowing to her. "Shit you started the hologram THERE HAS TO BE AN EXIT AT THE TOP OF THE SHAFT!!! Dusk yelled, fear clear in his voice. "Get your ass down here Dusk, show some respect." Night said. "It's fine, Night, I'll handle this," Abyssius said calmly. "CANCEL THE HOLOGRAM THEN I CAN HEAR IT PLAYING." Dusk yelled. "Dusk, the holo isn't playing," she said, sending a pillar of purple flames up the shaft. "FIRE?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Dusk yelled, now hugging the wall to ensure the fire doesn't touch him. "Are you a man or are you a child?" She asked. Dusk let himself slide down, his fur rubbing against the wall. "Ow ow ow that hurts my fur is being pulled from friction against the wall." He said to himself. "Good, now, what is your answer?" she asked up the shaft to him. "NO ONE SHALL KNOW!!!!" Dusk said. "Why?" Abyssius asked. The others are just sitting there, confused. "You know why!" Dusk said. If they knew my secret... I'd lose everything and become an outcast again, Dusk thought. As he hung off the shaft, "put the pillar away so I can drop down and not get burned." Dusk said. Abyssius stopped the pillar. He dropped into the elevator and then bowed. "About time, Dusk," Abyssius replied, exiting the elevator, carrying the knocked out Blackflame to the others. She set Blackflame on the steel table and backed up. Dusk was stuck in the elevator because Blackflame was no longer at the edge of the ring, Shadow lying on the ground unconscious. Dawn woke up, noticing Shadow she went over to him and nuzzled him then curled up next to him. "Even after this long, she still remembers him," Violet whispered. "It's because of imprint." Aurora told her. "I know, mimi, I'm just a little..." Violet trailed off. "Jealous?" Aurora asked. "You could say that," Violet said, then sighed, "I've taken care of her for the past year, I love the little 'vee." "I guess something good came out of Shadow killing himself. Speaking of, what did you mean by self-centered?" Aurora asked. "He always seems to do things that benefit him, not caring about what it does to others," Violet explained. "Well killing himself doesn't exactly benefit himself and as you told me and as he just said 'it'd be better for everyone' if he wasn't around." Aurora countered. "Because he doesn't want some place that doesn't want him, so he tried to leave," Violet returned. "He left that one time because he felt useless and felt like a burden which he doesn't realise the only way he is being a burden is by trying to off himself at nearly every turn." Aurora said. "He left to find a use for himself, he doesn't care what you guys think of him, and I'm surprised my father still considers him a brother of his," Violet said. "He came back didn't he? He saw what was happening to Night, if he didn't care about us he wouldn't have returned." Aurora countered. "He and I may not have been on the right paw, but I never saw him as self-centered," Comet said. Lilly nodded. "Just Misunderstood." Aurora said, "he fears himself and his own power, he's afraid of what will happen to others if they become out of his control or if the darkness takes over again, please, I know you don't like him but try to see from his point of view, you'll see different." "I have tried, I don't understand him, and I probably never will," Violet replied. "Trust me, he probably doesn't understand himself either, also he does have a mental illness, ADHD." Aurora told her. "And you think me and my father don't?" Violet asked. "Never said that, I was just saying he does, but still, believe me, he doesn't understand himself, sure he may be jealous of Night, because of everything Night has and has going on for him, but he- he tries to not let his jealousy affect him." Aurora explained. "Like I am right now?" Violet asked. "I never said you were jealous of Night, why would you be when he is your dad?" Aurora asked. "Of Shadow, not my father," Violet clarified. "Why? He doesn't have much going on for him other than us and his mate and daughter." Aurora said. "Dawn, she doesn't deserve a father like that, the past year has shown that shadow doesn't deserve her," Violet said. "That's one of the reasons, from what you told me he told you before he killed himself he felt he didn't deserve her, not after killing a mon." Aurora said. "Yeah," Violet said. The arms suspending the suit let it go and Mark started testing the motors "left foreleg elbow: active" He started listing all of them and their status. Dusk was still stuck in the elevator just remaining silent thinking. "Dusk, the field has been dropped, you do know that, right?" Night asked, seeing him in there. "No, no I didn't, no one told me it did." Dusk said. "Then how do you suppose I got in?" abyssius asked. "Well I figured you could phase in and out of any barrier so that's how I thought you got out and then back in." Dusk said. "I may be powerful, but not even i could break through one of those," Abyssius said. "I thought you would've been." Dusk said, re-entering the room. "Not that one, it's a bit... protected by many means," She responded. "Ah." Dusk said, trying to act like he didn't know her. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Lilly asked the dark espeon. "I'm Abyssius, and you are?" Abyssius asked. "Lilly" lilly responded, "how do you know my brother?" she asked. "How do you know if she does or doesn't?" Dusk asked Her. "It was obvious, by both Night bowing to her and switching to a special form that he has reserved for very nice occasions," Comet said. "Oh, it wasn't obvious to me." Dusk said, trying so hard to make it seem like he didn't know much about her. "We all know you are lying, you are trying so hard, you are making it obvious," Violet said. "I'm not lying about anything." Dusk replied. "Yeah you are, Dusk," Night said, typing something on the computer. "Night, don't you dare." Dusk said threateningly.

Will finish editing later.