Chp 26

	"Alright, role call." Mystic said. She looked at Phantom, and then Zys, and then to Ashley... But she was gone. "She'll be fine. She's with Hunter." Mystic said. 

	"You sure Hunter can handle those two?"

	"Yea, he's strong. One way or another, we need to catch Hearth. If he gets away, then all this is for nothing!" Mystic said. 

	"You're not wrong..." Phantom said, looking back with worry on his face.

	"Exactly. Now let's go." She said. "I'm worried about everyone else too, but we all came here with one goal. Zys, c'mon." She began forward, with the larger pokemon in tow. The shinx took a deep breath, before following last in line. They walked down the hall, the distance seeming to stretch on forever. 

	As they continued, they passed by pairs of doors on either side, but didn't investigate. The entire time, Zys was looking around anxiously.

	"What is it?" Mystic asked when she looked back. 

	"%%%." He buzzed, and pointed at a door.

	"This?" Mystic asked, going over and pushing it open. The doors had no handle, instead having a bar that was quite high up, making her reach up to press it in. The door opened, and revealed a blank concrete room. "There's nothing..." 

	"%%%%." He buzzed again, sounding dejected. 

	"What about the other one?" She said, and opened that one, revealing the exact same room. "Huh?" 

	"%%!" Zys buzzed angrily, while staring at the ceiling.

	"Again..." A voice said. A bird like head emerged from the roof. "You spotted me again."

	"You?!" Mystic shouted, recognizing the creature as the assassin.

	"I am Reaper. One of the Generals. And you," His wing emerged from the wall and pointed at Zys. "Are a threat."

	Mystic raised her hackles and prepared to attack, but she felt Zys push her forward. She turned to look, and immediately understood. 'Go.' "Phantom, c'mon. We can't let this guy slow us down." She started running, and Phantom stayed for a moment before following. Reaper completely ignored them as they went under him, instead staring down Zys. 

	Once the pair got a bit away from Reaper, the walls swirled and waved for a moment, before stabilizing, and revealing the exit right in front of them. Phantom looked back to see Reaper and Zys still glaring at each other, before Mystic went through the door, forcing him to follow.

	They both were stunned by what they found. The room was a large rectangle, and on the far end, was a tyranitar. The state of the tyranitar was the odd part. Instead of the usual scaly skin of an average tyranitar, his was bulging out, veins looking like they were about to pop all over his body. He opened his eyes, revealing them to be completely red. 

+++

	"I know you can sense me. Follow." Reaper commanded, before hiding in the ceiling again. Zys went to the door on the right, and opened it. He stepped forward, and continued on, eyes glued to the wall. He eventually came to the concrete wall, but paid it no mind and continued on. When he stepped into it, it faded away, revealing the rest of the room. The room had several rusty tables and benches all piled up in the corners, and a decrepit kitchen beyond a metal display with broken glass. 

	Reaper rose out of the floor on the opposite side of Zys. "And you can see through my illusions... You really are dangerous. What's your name?" Reaper said. 

	Zys said, and did, nothing. 

	"Silent type. I can relate. However, it is customary for two warriors to exchange stories before battle, so that their legends may live on. I was a contract killer before the Shadow hired me permanently. I have killed many, and few could stand up to me. In an effort to avoid you holding back, allow me to explain our last encounter. I had no idea of your real powers, so I only engaged in a half physical state. Once I saw how strong your team actually was, I decided to retreat and plan more carefully. I know you left me on the beach, but it is lucky that you didn't try to check if I was dead. I would have killed you there. Now for your story..." He said, holding out his wing. 

	Zys once again said nothing. 

	"Well? It is not often I find someone worth words. Speak!"

	Nothing. 

	"Very well." He looked around the room. "I can hear the voices of those who died here long ago. Their deaths were horrible." He looked back at Zys with a sharp gaze. "Do try to give me a challenge!" He gave a mighty flap of his wings, doing little more than showing off. He took to the air, and in the blink of an eye, plucked a pointed feather from his plumage, used the vines on his neck as a string, and his wing as a bow, before letting it fly at Zys.

	Zys' eyes went wide from their previous glare as he dashed into action. His body slimmed as he shifted to speed form and avoided the arrow as it flew past him. His psychic senses picked it up when it changed direction behind him, stopping dead in its tracks and turning around before flying at him again. On the other side, Reaper launched three more arrows, all at different angles. Zys had four ghostly arrows, all aimed at him, flying towards him. His slender body weaved between them as they flew around, darting past him. One of the lights just above him flickered on, painting him in florescent light. 

	One of the arrows flew past his head, and curved straight down, his psychic senses giving him a 360 degree view. Before he could figure out why, it shot into the ground and pinned his shadow, before exploding. The ghostly explosion wasn't a direct hit, but it still hurt, causing him to shift into defense form. This happened just in time as he tried to move, but found his body stuck, and the remaining three arrows hit home, exploding on his body. His well armored body could only do so much, and one arrow, that hit his shoulder, blew one of his arms off. The thick appendage dropped to the floor, wriggled for a moment and then disintegrated. 

	"Well, that was short. Already taking that much damage?" Reaper taunted, still hovering in the air. 

	Zys glared up at him, and his eyes began to glow blue. A new limb grew out from the stump. 

	"Nice trick. It just means you'll die slower. Which is perfect for me." Reaper said, his beak twisting into a sinister grin. 

	But he misjudged Zys, thinking that was his move. Suddenly, a force took hold of the bird, pulling him in two directions. Both his wings were pulled to the side and feathers began to fly off, floating in the air away from him. He grunted in pain as his bones were twisted, before he was sent flying upward, crashing into the ceiling. The sound of breaking glass echoed out and shards were caught up in Zys' psychic hold. They soon fell, along with everything else when the attack ended. 

	Reaper propped himself up on a wing, before getting to his feet. He stretched his shoulder's and winced. Behind him, a few drops of blood fell to the ground. He took to the air again, and readied another arrow. He took a deep breath, and then unleashed a storm of arrows, firing and reloading in a blur. At the same time, the lights began to flicker wildly, changing the direction of Zys' shadow constantly, resulting in him being struck over and over. A cloud of dust and ghostly energy blocked him from sight, though they could still sense each other's presence. 

	As the dust cleared, Reaper suddenly lost track. He wasn't fast enough to dodge Zys, who had teleported behind him. Zys had built up immense psychic power in a ball, and fired it at point blank into Reaper's back. The psycho boost hit home, dealing severe damage to Reaper's internals. Now it was Zys' turn to be on the offense, his body changing accordingly, as he let loose a barrage of attacks, accompanied by frequent teleports. Reaper attempted to dodge, but was only able to avoid some of the fearsome attacks, Zys' unpredictability becoming a huge problem. 

	Eventually, the assault ended. Zys was left exhausted, mentally drained from unleashing so much energy. And Reaper was still standing. Blood stained around his mouth after he had coughed it up, and he was wobbling, but alive he was. 

	"It's over." He said. He floated into the air, not flapping his wings, and something twinkled on his chest. He was wearing a jeweled necklace. Twenty large arrows formed around him in a fan shape. He flapped his wings and flew forward, crossing the short distance between them in an instant, flying just past Zys, with the arrows in tow. The arrows all hit the ground around Zys, some others hit him, but they all exploded at the same time. 

	Reaper turned around to inspect his work. Nothing had ever survived this attack. And from the looks of it, that remained true. Zys had lost nearly all of his limbs, and had several large chunks missing from his torso. "Hah... I win." Reaper grunted. His grin faded as he fell to his knees, wounds finally catching up to him as his adrenaline died down. 

	There was a sudden gust of wind, and Reaper felt a stinging pain in his chest, right where his heart was. He looked down to see a tightly bound spiral of red and blue tentacles speared through him. He gave one last cough, spitting blood all over Zys' still reforming body, before everything went black.

+++

	Tyrant roared again. The entire room was covered in scorch marks, and a few parts had even fallen to rubble. Neither Mystic nor Phantom had even scratched him, with even their best attacks. Not to mention the need to dodge. Tyrant let out yet another roar, before whipping his head down and firing another hyper beam, the most recent of many. He was slow but incredibly powerful. Neither had been hit, and if they had... 

	"What are we gonna do?!" Mystic shouted at Phantom, who was on the other side of the room. 

	"Keep dodging! He'll tire out... eventually... I hope..." 

	Another hyper beam fired at Mystic, causing an explosion near her that knocked her away and to the ground. She rolled away and got back up, but Tyrant did little to track her. It was like he was in a trance. Phantom's fur bristled as he shot as much electricity at Tyrant, but all it did was crackle over his bulging scales. Tyrant reared his head and roared, several stones bursting from the ground and slashing at Phantom, leaving cuts across his body. 

	"You bastard!" Mystic shouted, charging towards him, dodging another hyper beam in her direction, and jumped into the air. She landed on his head, slamming his jaw shut around the hyper beam, and breathed a flamethrower right into his eyes. He shut them too late, the fire burning away his sight. He reached up, grabbed her and threw her into the wall, causing her to yelp and the wall to crack. Despite his blindness, he continued his attacks, firing hyper beams in every direction. 

	Before Mystic could get up, a hyper beam shot right at her. "Mystic!" Phantom shouted. 

	She looked up to see something red taking the attack. The beam continued, only growing in intensity as the new arrival held it off. "Zys..." Mystic said in awe.

	"Ma-ma." A voice said. It was odd and forced, but somehow familiar. Zys looked back at her, and she saw the intensity in his eyes. She knew that he couldn't keep this up. She had to move, now. With her back in agony, she got up and limped out of the line of fire. With her safe, Zys teleported, shifting to offense, and darting at Tyrant. His arms melded, forming fists, and he moved in to deliver a superpower attack to Tyrant's chest. The attack hit hard, cracking through his rocky skin and spurting blood. Tyrant didn't even flinch. Instead, he lowered his head, grabbed Zys' arms, and fired a massive hyper beam point blank. 

	As the smoke cleared, two halves of a purple orb fell to the ground. It looked just like the one in Zys' chest... 

	"ZYS!!!" Mystic screamed. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she charged forward, lost in rage. She tried to head butt Tyrant, but he reached down and picked her up, holding her by the throat and squeezing. Still he didn't utter a single word. His squeeze grew tighter, cutting off her breath, and still she glared at him. She tried to bite at him, but her teeth couldn't penetrate his flesh. 

	"Mystic!" Phantom shouted, trying to free her, but he could do little. 

	Suddenly, a blue ball flew through the air, hitting Tyrant with a massive explosion. The dust blew away, revealing Mystic lying on her side, with no sign of the tyranitar. 

	"What..." Phantom asked, turning to see a new pokemon. "You're... What did you just do?!" 

	"I am Aeon. That was an aura sphere, the signature move of the lucario species."

	"But you blew him to bits! And Mystic is fine!" Phantom shouted.

	"It functions on aura. It harms what I desire, and spares all else."

	"So, why are you here? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you didn't seem to eager..."

	"Your questions are fine. Arceus himself told me of the importance of this, so I came to fulfill his wish. Now, we do not have time for more, we must continue. Are you injured?" 

	"I'm okay, but her..." He said, looking to Mystic, who was crying on the floor, curled into a ball. 

	Aeon walked over to her and placed a paw on her back, before running it down. "You are healed. Get up." The lucario stepped past her and walked to the exit. "There are more pokemon ahead, and something else... The fight is far from over." 

	"Are you okay?" Phantom asked gently as he approached her. 

	"His first word. Mama. And his last." She let out another wail and began to cry more. Phantom went over and picked up to two shards of orb and put them into the pack.

	"We'll give him a proper funeral when we leave, but... we have to keep going."

	She took another shuddering breath, snorted, and wiped her tears away. "I know..." She looked up at him, her eyes full of grief and sunken in. "Let's go."