((I will control Darkrai))

I nodded. "Will do." I started to sprint away, but stopped. "I will be back soon as possible with Sable, try to stay alive and watch out. Darkrai put Magnus to sleep in about 5 seconds, no problem." I sprinted off, Kassie behind me. "Guys, this is Jack here. Anyone who can may want to hurry over to the library. Cause guess what we found? Darkrai, and we found out my best friend and first ever pokemon is infected. I am now in pursuit of Sable, while Massimo is going to see if he can hold out." I spoke into my communicator to all except Massimo.

Darkrai looked strangely at Massimo. "You do not know how badly Jack sleeps then." Darkrai rumbled. "He has asked for his nightmares to end, and if he can defeat me, he will stop having constant nightmares while he sleeps. If he loses, then he will never wake up again, forever having nightmares."

Cassie's eyebrow rose as Axel followed Red, before she quietly followed him, walking up to the Mightyena without fear and gently ruffling his ears as she approached Axel, raising an eyebrow to silently ask What's going on?

Gallade perked up his head. "I sense some people outside the door. Most likely the two that were in the lobby. Do you want me to get rid of them?" I shook my head, "No, I think Haunter will enjoy it. Plus he can teach them a lesson in eaves dropping, especially with me."

Gallade smiled. I released Haunter, "Make sure that no one is listening outside the room. Scare them if you must, but make sure that no one but Nurse Joy is allowed in." Haunter nodded and flew through the wall.

He appeared in front of the two trainers and enlarged his face and features to scare them, while emitting a loud noise. "Haunter!!!!", he yelled.

Gallade laughed, "I hope they leave or else he might lick them. Just hope he only paralyzes them rather than making them unconscious." I smiled, "Yeah let's hope they get the hint."

My body was taut, all my senses alert, trying to pick up the slightest sound. Cassie and I were trying to be quiet and listen, when I heard Red talk to Gallade about us. Damn! At that moment, Haunter came out of the wall. "HAUNTER!!" I about crapped my pants trying to get away. I ran back down the hall, Miten and Dusknoir following closely behind.

I grinned sheepishly. "Well, I guess that plan was doomed for failure anyways." At that moment, Jack and Massimo both came onto the communicators, yelling something about a Darkrai. I raised an eyebrow and replied, "Darkrai?? Isn't that a Legendary?" I looked over at Cassie. "Should we stay here and cover Red, or go help them?"

Cassie leaped back with a startled snarl, hand already going to her belt for a Pokeball when she realized it was Haunter. "Oh, you. Tell your master that the rest of us would like to know what exactly is going on once he's finished." She stood up and left, sauntering down the hallway without betraying her elevated heart rate. Exactly what is Red hiding from us?

"Hmph." Cassie's eyebrow rose in interest as she heard about Darkrai. "Yes indeed... you stay put. I'll go cover Jack."

She opened the Luxury Ball and released her Lucario, picking out a Berry from her belt pouch and handing it to the Steel Jackal before racing off towards the canalave Library.

Before I knew it, Cassie and 'Cari were gone. I was kind of shocked, but I figured she probably had her reasons. Shrugging, I sat back down in the lobby.

Nurse Joy came over. "Sir, the Pikachu is doing just fine. She's starting to come around now." I nodded my thanks, adding, "Okay, well, could you please just tell Red?? He's in her room." "Certainly." She walked off.

Haunter came back through the wall laughing. I looked at him, "Well then I assume they're gone?" Haunter nodded then put his hand onto Gallade's head and began speaking. "I scared them pretty good. They shouldn't bother us anymore, but I do belive I heard the girl say she was leaving to help one of the others at the library." I nodded, "That just means this town is more involved than I had anticipated. Good job Haunter." He returned to his post in the wall while Gallade regained his focus.

Nurse Joy walked into the room. "The Pikachu should be waking up soon sir. One of your friends told me to notify you." I nodded towards her, "Thank you very much Nurse for getting her back to health." She smiled before she left the room. I looked at Gallade, "I need you to be my translator for the night Gallade. Whatever comes out of that Pikachu's mouth I need to hear. She obviously knows more than she's letting on."

-----------------

The cloaked figure ran across the bridge, bumping into a young woman on his way to the harbor. "Excuse me Miss." He continued on his way and arrived at the desired boat. An unmarked vessel with a dark green hull.

It spend off into the night towards Iron Island.

"Pika pi..." Sparky murmured, her eyes just starting to open. A white room...? Was this the Pokemon Centre...? She thought tiredly to herself. Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her. Silver's appearance, Leo's transformation, her and Vaporeon

((What a fight this is going to be))

I nodded, and sprinted away, Kassie right behind me. He was easy to find. he was spraying painting graphiti. "Kassie, you know what to do." I muttered. "No quarter." She nodded, and she charged Sable, slashing at him using her back. He hissed and dodged the worst of the damage. Kassie jumped backwards. For three seconds there was silence, then they were off, slashing at each other, too fast for me to see.


Darkrai took the punch, wincing as electricity jolted through his body. He hurled a ball of darkness at Tivi. "Do not test me, human. I did not leave my home to fight you. I came to see if Jack has the guts to face his nightmares and win." He rumbled.

((Crunchy you know just how my plots twist. It was going to be a surprise later but this is just as good.))

I smiled at the Pikachu. "I knew you were smarter than I presumed." I took a seat across from her. "No, a cure does not exist and it never will. My 'parents', if you want to call them that, said that there was no cure accept death. Vaporeon's and my job is to kill all Touched carriers."

"When we combine our blood and activate our true forms, we will become unstoppable beings. Ten fold the ability of yours or Leo's, that's why we didn't show it at the canal. There were too many innocent lives at stake, that's why we have to move the showdown to Iron Island. The ending I can reassure will not be a happy one for us." I leaned closer to Sparky, "For the war to end, we have to die. If the infected human originals die, then the Touched will follow. The war will end when Leo, Silver, and I are killed."

"We just need to find Issac first. It's been years since I last saw him. Do you have any idea where his lab may be located?"

"Starting the party already, guys?" Cassie's lazy drawl rang out as she stepped into the library, Lucario growling softly at the sight of the Legendary.

"Well, you sure weren't kidding about having a legendary on the loose. Cari, let's go!"

She closed her eyes, concentrating as the Lucario did the same-- Trainer and Pokemon began to slowly glow blue with Aura, something which any Lucario trainer would have long ago learned to harness.

Raising a hand, she gestured to the Darkrai, communicating with Lucario through the bond provided by Aura. Extremespeed to get in close, three good strikes with Close Combat, then out again.

Lucario barked in confirmation, then vanished in a blue blur, reappearing behind Darkrai and hammering his paws into the Dark-type's back three times, before racing away again.

Sparky glared, her realisations confirmed. She looked down to the floor to keep her eyes from Red's cold gaze, "So, it's true... Still, you shouldn't underestimate Leo or Silver. They may be... the latest results from the experiments conducted on yourself and Vaporeon, but one of them may be your match. One of them may even be stronger than you. I'm not going to just sit by and watch you kill them off either. So, when the time does come, expect me to stop you. I don't know why Leo or Silver were created after you, but Isaac is definitely still experimenting, mutating the virus, and working towards a goal of his own... It has to do with the pokemon infected, the marked, and all of your transformations and abilities. As you saw with Silver, thanks to the perfecting the virus, Silver is able to control all pokemon with the Touch, and he can transform without blood exchange... Whether or not Isaac is further perfecting the virus inside us all is uncertain."

"He's a very careful man Isaac. You couldn't get the facts straight from anyone or any book because he is always one step ahead, changing information and making it impossible to learn anything that's not a lie. Only from his own lips could you find the truth. He works in the shadows... he is nowhere and everywhere. I know for sure he has a bunch of labs hidden in Kanto, but I've only been to three and they're probably all covered up by now. It could be possible he has a number of labs in every region, letting failed Touched pokemon free to spread around the world. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't hide from him, yet, he himself is impossible to find unless lured. He must move around a lot. Saying that... I've never met the man personally. If I did, I would definitely catch his scent. But like I said, it's like the man is non-existent. Silver said he met him once."

"It's funny you guys came to the conclusion that Iron Island would be your best bet. That is where the Touch virus was first introduced to wild pokemon. The Wailord you spoke of. It's also where Silver was heading with Leo. I caught the scent while I was unconscious... It's possible the old lab where the Wailord was injected is hidden on the island somewhere..." Sparky was angry at herself for what she was about to say, but it couldn't be helped, "...I suppose, if all of you fought there, that might lure Isaac from hiding. I actually think that's what he wants. But like I said, I'll kill you myself if you touch Leo. I love him, and that's it."

---

It was when Leo woke up, that he found himself lying on a steel bed with only a sheet underneath. He groaned as he pushed himself up, looking around the cave like structure of the room, nothing but pipes lining and falling into another room behind the rock walls. A dim light was rocking back and forth above him. Quietly, Leo leaned up and looked around, wondering where the hell he was. It was then, turning his head for a door, that he saw the back of Silver

"You can try to stop me but we'll never know how the end will be." I stood up and walked over to the door. "Fate is a funny thing, you never truly what will happen. Now let's go see what the others are up to and save Leo."

I walked into the lobby and smiled. "It looks like Sparky is fine. I do advise next time for you not to attempt to listen on my conversations. Haunter enjoys he's a little too much. Where did Cassie go off to?"

---------------------------

The boat knocked against the dock as the man departed. He gazed up at the moon soaked landscape, light reflecting off of some the polished rocks. "I forgot how beautiful this place can be at night." He inhaled the air, "Time for the story to begin."

He ran off into the darkness, heading towards a very faint light.

((Oops, sorry.))

Darkrai roared as the Lucario's attacks connected against his back. His eyes flashed and a ripple of darkness appeared, flying outwards. "I will not be denied." Darkrai rumbled. "You will be lost forever in your nightmares, Tormented forever in a fate that makes you wish you could die, but will keep going forever until you are set free one day at the end of your life." He rumbled.


I stiffened as I heard Darkrai's roar. "Guys, this Jack, I think you may have made him angry, very very angry, and that is probably not a good idea." I muttered into my comn. "I will be there as soon as I can, but I have only the vaguest of ideas to how well Kassie is doing, they are quite hard to follow, but I think Kassie is winning."

I stood up. "Sorry, Red. I just felt like this convo would be worth listening to, so it was worth a try." My sheepish grin faded. "Cassie went off to the library. Massimo and Jack are being attacked by a Darkrai there, and Sable is now infected, apparently. We probably need to go over there and give them a hand. Besides, I want to see my first legendary; last one to the library's a Slowpoke!!" I ran out of the lobby, putting Miten back in his ball on the way out.

Cassie touched her comm to answer, her voice unusually calm considering the situation they were in. "Jack, hurry. Lucario is pounding on Darkrai, and given the type advantage I think we are doing some damage, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out."

Lucario jumped gracefully over Darkrai's Dark Pulse attack, and then slammed an Aura-shrouded paw into the legendary's face to blind him temporarily, hind paws kicking out viciously as he leapt over Darkrai.

((I apologize for remaining in-character and going to help a teammate dealing with a pissed off Legendary with a very bad track record. Next time, tell me you don't want interference first.))

"I understand that, Massimo." Cassie's voice was calm and casual as Lucario landed neatly, growling softly at the Darkrai. "But many hands make light work, and the least I can do is help you wear it down."

"Shouldn't be too long now." I tried to keep from crying as watched Sable get destroyed. Finally Sable lay weakly in front Kassie, who stood over Sable grimly. She saluted with one of her blades, before her blade went whistling down, piercrng Sable's heart, killing him instantly. "Farewell Sable. I had the time of my life traveling with you." I whispered, and turned my back, turning my comn back on. "I am coming now." I whispered, and my voice was full of menace. I called out Abuu and told him to hold Sable's body.

Darkrai winced and retaliated with a another ball of darkness directed towards Lucario. His eyes flashed. "He is coming." Darkrai rumbled. "He doesn't care what you say, Massimo. He is beyond reasoning for now.

((Sorry about that. One of you, I think it might have been Psycho_Trainer, called for help via the comm though, so that would kinda override >_>))

Lucario barked softly as his aura began to take on a faint red tinge. "Darkrai's right, Jack is absolutely furious and inbound." Cassie muttered quietly, before pointing her finger at the dark ball of energy. "Cari, move!"

Lucario jumped out of the way gracefully, one paw slamming into Darkrai's chest to distract the legendary and let Massimo and his Electabuzz have a clear shot.

As a ball of darkness began growing around Darkrai's hand, the Legendary aiming for the vulnerable Electric-type, Cassie's eyes slitted. "Oh no you don't."

Lucario growled, attacking from the back with an Ice Punch, the frost-coated paw slamming into Darkrai's shoulder and knocking the legendary off balance, disrupting its aim and preventing the Dark Pulse from hitting Electabuzz.