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_The boy should've been a politician. _Darkrai thought as he watched the child perform the script he was given and with a few little add-ons that dramatically enhanced the believably of the web of lies they were feeding to the general public.

The purpose of the televised broadcast was to explain why the heir of a billion dollar company had vanished without a trace after the slaughter of his entire family. The answer to that question was that evil companies have a tendency to chase down the one that got away when trying to wipe the family that was the tip of the arrow of the top-5 richest companies on Earth. The boy's still healing new/old injuries and 'dead' partner Pokemon assisted making this explanation easy to swallow.

Which was fortunate since the details surrounding the incident were a bald faced lies. But with enough greased palms: the falsifying of evidence to pin the blame on a the weakest no-name company in the business was mere child's play. Crime actually does pay; a whole lot in fact. Greed has a tendency to do that though. It was the reason why their side never once had any financial trouble.

Course the fact that lies was far more sane sounding than the truth helped them considerably as well. Especially with assistance of the Light Ones and the neutral government that wanted to keep the two side's power struggle secret just as badly as the Dark Ones did; but were having trouble laying to rest the half-truth rumors that Darkrai was paying to keep circulating through the rivers of information of the media. A song-and-dance that both sides had created when the first celebrity had become drafted into the war, that quickly became an old favorite.

The boy had told him that each and every one of the Baxters were forced to become lovers of camera lenses, scripts, and TV drama. Darkrai hadn't believed the boy; expecting some sort of disaster to happen any second of the televised broadcast.

But surprisingly; so far the audience was putty in the Elliot's almost professional hands.

Especially during the part when Runt's pokeball had 'accidentally' fallen out of the boy's pocket. Darkrai hadn't believed it was possible to slaughter so many lifeforms with the dull blade of innocent cuteness. A common newborn calf stumbling in a mass of starving piranha had a better chance of survival.

Heck Darkrai was confident that not a soul would remember the nanosecond of a stumble the boy had when someone questioned why he was still wearing a pair of really thick sunglasses indoors. Not only did the boy use the moment of bought time to come up with that commonly heard 'ashamed of the horrible scars and signs of heavy grieving' explanation but he also used the mutt as a launching platform to tell the world his plans of taking on the League challenge.

The boy's abilities to manipulate and think on his feet at such a young age was almost impressive. Almost. Was far too transparent for their enemies minds though.The thievery vice should help that those abilities improve though.

Add in the extremely pleasant mood Elliot had been in since being reunited with a very old and beloved acquaintance: than you might say this was the best day the pair have had in a good long while.

All these almost glorious reasons might have been why Darkrai's joyful inflection probably gave the person that rang him up by phone a heart attack from fright considering what horror usually befell the people that had the audacity to pop Darkrai's happy balloon ride.

The bad news on the other hand was potent enough to make the indomitable calm visage of the self-proclaimed god of fear and terror to mimic the spider-webbed screen of the dropped cell phone as it disconnected from the other caller. Eventually Darkrai closed his wide gaping maw and popped back in the only visible eye back into his head so he could speak to the boy's stone-faced newly hired baby-sitter with a tiny bit of dignity.

"Jasper." The ancient butler froze mid-text so he could look up from his phone long enough to raise a questioning glance towards the Pokemon that gave him a new purpose in life, power, surge of vitality, and his new eyes. "When the boy is done with the meeting tell him to go ahead and hit the road. I won't be able to see him off like I promised." Darkrai's inflection was that of a weary corpse; totally blank and dull.

"He'll want a reason if you want to avoid a temper tantrum and him digging his heels. Especially since you promised that you would check on Zillian for him as a parting gift."

Unlike normally in frustrating situations like these: Darkrai's temper didn't even flicker. Just continued speaking duly "Tell him that Blake's and Cecilia were defeated. The boy should remember them without a reminder. If the boy doesn't then just tell him Blake was the guy with the Dragonite. Tell him that the reason I have to to break my promise is that I'm the only one that has the power and authority to hold them down so they're exuberant amounts of internal and external wounds won't kill them in their efforts to track and kill the one that done them in. On a ending note: stress very very hard that if he sees the agent's that visited your two's estate to covertly flee in the other direction. "

"That should be more than enough to soothe his curiosity."

"Good. I'll be back momentarily to portal you to the first checkpoint of the boy's journey."

"I could just text him the orders while I fly there myself."

"If you think he'll listen without hand-holding: then go for it."

"He will. Good luck in your endeavors sir"

"You too Jasper. You too." They both left the room than. Darkrai by portal. Jasper by covertly raising a nearby window and leaping onto the moments ago summoned Bravery's back with an uncharacteristic whoop of jubilation.

---

Hello my loyal reader. It sure has been awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that...Didn't mean to stop sharing my thoughts with you. Just kinda happened while I got my thoughts straightened enough so that I wouldn't waste countless pages with dialogue that wouldn't make sense or become moot in about five minutes when the next life changing disaster took place.

A disaster that ended up never happening believe it or not. I've actually had it quite great the past...however long it's been since Zil left, give or take a few hiccups.

Yeah I'm still reeling from that surprise too.

Especially when Jasper came strolling through my hospital room door. Yes THAT Jasper. The amazing butler that's been in my family since dinosaurs walked the planet. The person that threw the worlds biggest tantrum when my Dad threw all the servants out onto the streets during the night of the slaughter. The last person I expected to see ever again. Let alone be the one that Darkrai hired to be my babysitter from now on.

Jasper has changed a lot though since the time I've last seen him. I'm not just talking about the changes everyone but me goes through during Conversion.

Like major what-the-hell-happened stuff.

The easy-going stick in the mud is an alcoholic for one. Drinks the stuff like it's water. Apparently took up the habit to numb himself to the grief over the death of the family that became his. Grief that's so strong that he can't seem to shake even piss drunk as a Dark One. An emotion that apparently so bad that employers kept throwing him out once the aura of gloom and doom became too much for them.

I've asked how he's been surviving all this time. Jasper says he'd been doing odd jobs to barely keep himself and the Pokemon under his care afloat. Nearly ended what was obviously not going to work or change; until the night Darkrai stepped in to offer him a job. Funnily enough Jasper refused him until my name came up and he accepted without a moment's hesitation.

Can you say overwhelming sense of loyalty? I'm sure Dad would have been just as floored as I am.

The part that gets me though is that Jasper relayed all this horrible shit without a single thread of emotion. Which was extremely so out of character for the normally soft-hearted easily moved emotional butler. So matter-of-factually that it's as if all the events that took place happened to someone else. The sad part is that I can sympathize at least a little bit.

Prince apparently is attached to Jasper's hip. A creature that has been making Runt's life miserable since both have been going at it like common cats and dogs. I hate how the object they are fighting over is me, it's not fucking right and tears me up sometimes. Jasper said Prince had been behaving the same way ever since he'd been Converted. Which makes me kinda wonder how Jasper, Jasper's Bravery, and Prince are working out the whole sex thing. The whole jealousy thing would put that on ice wouldn't it?

Scratch that...I just realized whose sex life I was questioning. Got to vomit real quick...

Ok back. Now where was I?

Oh yeah. Sucks that I can't travel with the guy. Only meet him at the checkpoints that Darkrai had mapped out for us. If a disaster happens and I can't pull my own ass out of the fire than I'm supposed to press my BitchOut button. A device that's very similar to a LifeAlert since it calls Jasper to my position at the maximum wait of 10 minutes. A device I can't even manipulate because it only turns on when my body goes into the 'death is imminent state'.

A possibility that highly improbable because apparently I have a godly healing factor. Not only that but if you hit me with magic enough times than I gain a tolerance for the move until I'm almost become immune to it. Hence why Darkrai's aura of piss inducing fear and Dark Void attack no longer work on me very well and why Darkrai could get away with beating on me while I was still in the hospital.

Something that I would say is overpowered bullshit if it wasn't for the fact that a) I still feel every ounce of the pain b) It takes weeks of constant influence for me to build up even a slight tolerance. c) A kill shot is still a kill shot. Hit me in a vital point than I kneel over just like any other smuck.

In other words I'm a lot like that guy DeadPool; just not as badass or immortal.

Still can't summon a weapon though or spit fire balls. In fact right now for some reason I'm just a really smart tanky unremarkable civilian whose hands get a little warm when I get angry. A little problem that Darkrai and I have agreed is pretty fucking infuriating.

The last sentence was probably a mistake considering now I've been reminded of the thing writing was supposed to make me forget.

Closing my journal with a slam before shoving it in my bag without the slightest care for it's well being soothed my anger slightly; but it wasn't enough. So I found myself turning around to burn holes in the tree I had my back propped up against for a good ten minutes now with nothing but my gaze. When that didn't work I tried pressing my hot steaming hands against the bark.

Not even a flicker of flame.

Just offended by the smell of slightly burning wood while the bark black enough to tell that some idiot passing by decided that it would be funny to hike out a few miles away from the closest source of human civilization to paint a hand on a random ass tree.

I knew punching the tree as hard as I could would only give me nothing but splinters. But getting stood up by an asshole made me furious enough to not to give a shit. I just wanted to inflict pain on something even if I hurt myself and looked like an idiot doing it: Thunk Ow Thunk Stings only a little keep going Thunk that one is causing my fingers to smart Thunk Ok I might be bleeding Thunk Gah stop you idiot the pain is fucking intense!

Not intense enough considering when I finally stopped to look at the results of my handiwork was it was nothing but a single barely perceivable dent. Not the amount of destruction I wanted. "Fucking break asshole!" I shouted while lashing out with my foot at the stupid plant.

So after I was done jumping around clutching my foot like an idiot for the next five minutes: I decided that lazy break time was over, grabbed the sack that weighs nearly nothing thanks to the various of storage capsules inside, and continued on my merry way deeper into a forest that I didn't want to go hiking into. Would rather be digging. Or at home doing fuck nothing on the sofa playing video games. Ah well... least this one had an actual man-made path: which is a fucking godsend let me tell you! Makes hiking ten times easier. Still didn't mean I wasn't cursing Darkrai with each and every step I took.

Ok done being grumpy. Time to summon the only thing on the this godforsaken planet that seemed to improve my mood anymore.

"Why'd Elly release Runt? No fight. In middle of stupid sunlight. Runt was napping. Good dream."

"Figured you want to stretch your legs. You're the one always telling me how much it sucks being in your ball." Runt of course was mocking me wordlessly while I spoke, apparently not realizing that I could see him in the corner of my eye. After my words ran out I heard a growl that sounded suspiciously like "Get bent" .

Greeeat my wonderful influence was already beginning to show signs of coming into effect. I guess I wasn't the only one being a grumpy-pants. Good. I needed the chance to focus on something else other than myself and the bastard-that-will-not-be-named-until-further-notice.

Only problem is I had no earthly idea what to say to cheer up the person who'd been a hyperactive ball of rainbow sunshine until now.

So me being me I reverted to an old default: ask questions until the moody person starts venting.

"So what's got your feathers all ruffled up." Runt only grunted and hocked a loogie: universal signal for guys that they didn't feel like talking. Still I persisted like a dumbass. "Still not sleeping well? Dreams getting worse instead of better?" Runt froze mid-stride for the briefest of moments before jogging a couple of paces so he could get back to walking by my side.

"Yeah"

"Prince still being a prick?"

"Yeah"

"Getting pissed off that I keep blue-balling you?" At Runt's 'I have no fucking clue what that means' expression that was getting to be a typical thing for him: I elaborated. "Are you mad that I keep saying no to the 'I touch yours you touch mine' game you insist on suggesting every hour or so"

"Yeah."

"What's the longest amount of time that you went without having that particular itch scratched Runt? Just curious."

"About a week every month or so. Da won't let Runt go on large hunting trips till baby fangs fall out."

"And how long have you guy have been uh...playing?"

"About a week or so after Runt hatched"

"Which was?"

"What is season with that cold white stuff?"

"Winter. So a few winters ago?"

"No. Just last winter"

"What the fuc-Waah!" Understandably the last statement made me stumble over my own feet so I ended up falling face first into the ground. Probably would have busted my nose if I weighed more and didn't have like a +10 endurance on my character sheet. I was however too bloody pissed to care "It's freaking Spring. Winter was only a few months ago ! That means you're basically considered a newborn! I thought you were much older!" I tried to calm the sea of red in my vision with a really long intake and outtake of breath but failed miserably. "RUNT you just can't have that kind of stimulation at an age that young! Causes all sorts of developmental psychological and physical damages! Not too mention from the sounds of it you're a freaking sex addict needing his fix! I'm sure even by Pokemon standards that would make your dad a ripe fucking bast-"

I however was interrupted when Runt's jaws latched onto my throat and pierced the skin just slightly enough to hurt and draw blood. Runt didn't say a word: just growled, glared, and panted heavily as if he was just barely holding himself back from tearing my throat out. The message that he was hinting at was crystal clear however: One word against his father and I was a corpse.

"Alright...I'm sorry man. Didn't know you guys were that close." Runt released me after a electrical charged moments with an obvious still furious huff. Didn't get up though. Just stood almost like a statue. Still glaring coldly, almost hatefully into my eyes. I could see a cloudy haze though, as if he was looking at me but not really seeing me but at something else. Finally Runt spoke: " Pack also said game was really bad for Runt's health...especially with pressure Da was applying. Ma did too. Da's temper silenced them all. Da being dead means he couldn't say anything when Darkrai said similar thing while trying to help with dreams."

"Huh...so why are they still going on if Darkrai helped?"

"Temporary fix. Said dreams won't go away until Runt has closure." Runt paused as if wrestling with the words he was thinking before saying them outloud "Tell Runt...was the game Runt and Da playing really that bad?"

I nodded as well as verbally reply "Runt...it's probably the worst thing a father could do with a newborn besides kill them."

"Da tried doing that too...stopped after games began" Tears were welling up in Runt's eyes at this point. The sudden warmth dribbling on my face making me noticeably wince but that's only because each one carried Runt's pain with it. "But Runt started the game. Runt liked the taste and sounds Da made so Runt kept doing it."

Must. not. scream. obscenities. at. top. of. lungs! Must not hunt for Runt's dad's corpse and take a dump on it! "Doesn't matter kiddo...Your dad should have put his foot down after the first time" I took a moment to sigh and think about my next comment to make sure that it wouldn't kill me "One last thing than I will drop this matter before we both say things we'll regret later" Runt's tears didn't stop flowing as he became attentive "Please tell me he at least didn't put anything in your butt." Runt chuckle was actually real this time "Such a funny place to put it. Only once and that was before everything bad happened. Up until that point we used only maws and tongues. Da said anything more wasn't safe.

Okay so maybe Runt's father wasn't a total fucking prick of a bastard that so needed to be slowly roasted alive. Just a good ole' fashioned ass-kicking and maybe a tiny mutilation or two. "Okay then... Your situation wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be. Still fucking horrible though in my opinion... but not world ending. Just try to keep mentioning your Da's name to a bare minimum and you won't have to rip my throat out because of the various bad words I'll spewing against him. Deal?"

"Deal" echoed Runt blandly as he finally let me back to my feet.

"Sorry for getting pissed at something in the past that isn't really any of my business in the first place. I swear if my nose was any bigger I would only be able to attract a Nosepass."

"It's alright. You're just showing Runt how much you care" An odd look had crossed over Runt's face before the mutt began choking on his own spit because he was laughing so hard. Apparently the Houndour actually knew what a Nosepass was; color me surprised. Must have been a cave system somewhere in that jungle/forest that I missed during my stay.

A companionable silence fell over us after that. I hate those! You can't say anything without it being dismissively flicked off with only a few words. So I did what all uncomfortable Dad's did in a situation like this: I turned on the music player to speaker and hit random.

I immediately began grinning when I recognized the familiar ultra-aggressive hip-hop bass beats and whistle to one of my all time favorite songs two words into the hook:

Move bitch, get out the way

Get out the way bitch,get out the way

Move bitch,get out the way

Get out the way bitch, get out the way.

A quick glance at Runt told me he was enjoying the song so far; though he probably didn't know why the bitches needed to get out the way. The evidence of the Houndour enjoyment was the grin for one and there was a slight barely noticeable spring in his step. That last part was what gave me my next idea.

"Runt do as I do man." Runt's gaze flicked over to me while I thrown out my chest,straightened up my back out of my usual teenage slouch, and tilted my head up so that it was erect. Finally to complete this difficult swagtastic maneuver: I thrown in an over exaggerated spring in my step while actually picking my feet off the ground for once but in an over exaggerated fashion.

Runt began laughing again as he mirrored my strut just as the second chorus of the hook ended.

When Ludacris's part ended I began hopping around like a jackrabbit around Runt with the same posture as I stated before. Eventually Runt got the hint and mirrored me: laughing giddily the entire time as he done so. We done this until Mystikal's part came to a close.

When it did Runt surprised me by initiating the next part of our silly dance. In fact I nearly tripped over the little guy as he shoved lightly against my legs when we began our little strut again. A glance at the grin on his muzzle was all that was needed to tell me that he was just getting to the spirit of things. Now we were both laughing giddily as we took turns trying to shove each other off the beaten path. We enjoyed this part of the dance so much that we didn't stop when I-20's part of the song came into a close.

During the rear end of the chorus however, I did time things just right that the next time that Runt went to shove me I was up in the air instead of on the ground. Which means that Runt was sent tumbling head over heels over himself. The bastard got his revenge though because he'd clipped me on my way down; which was enough to knock me off kilter enough to make me land face-first into the dirt. I received a bloody nose as a reward for my mischief behavior .

Yet the reward was still worth it since we were too busy laughing our asses off. As if our stupidity was the funniest thing in the universe and made caring about such trivialities meaningless.

Before I could even think about my next quirky comment however...

Runt's hackles suddenly shot up as a fierce protective growl (for a puppy) rumbled from his throat as he leapt in front of my path. Before I could ask what was wrong the small blur was already on top of it's target: Runt. Probably thanks to the warning in advance: Runt was able to use a speed I didn't even know he possessed to side-step whatever attack this was. I caught a glimpse what looked to be a brown duck with a white underbelly and yellow beck. In its wing was a green vegetable of some sort. I dunno, was never a greens kind of guy. Don't know why it had swung a blunt object like a swo-

That question was answered before it was even finished forming when the duck thing took another slash at Runt only to miss and hit a tree instead. The tree was nearly sliced in half! Ok I'm exaggerating slightly but the deep gash was at least a fourth of the way to the center! This was by no means a small wimpy tree either like the ones you see in small city gardens and parks. At least four people could play ring-around-the rosey around this thing! A slash like that -made by a freaking blunt edged stick no less- just defied all kinds of logic!

I was frightened enough at this point that I didn't even realize I had stepped into the fight until a stinging pain in my punching hand and a squawk slapped me out of it. In the next blink I was wrapping my arms around Runt about ready to flee when what felt like tiny needles pierced my skin. I knew without looking that I was going to be bleeding.

The fucking mutt had bit me!

Growling and biting at the person trying to save him from being cut in half no less! I was about ready to cuss him out when he cut me off before I could "Not Zil. Let Runt take care of this."

I was about ready to bitch smack him and run anyway when the duck thing earned his revenge by braining me so hard I couldn't see until my brain stopped bouncing around my skull. Sad to say I think I blacked out for at least a minute. The time frame was only an estimate but a good one since actual brawls only last about that long, unlike the ones on TV. So I wasn't all that surprised to see that the fight appeared just about over.

Runt apparently seemed mighty pissed about something or another. Which was probably was the only thing keeping him on his paws after taking some damn good swings from that stick thing. Duck was looking pretty crispy in some places though so I guess he must have landed a pretty decent fire attack or two.

Runt was losing. Not badly by the looks of it but still losing.

Not if I have anything to say about that. With one hand I took out the Dex that was in my left pocket while in the other dug around in my bag for something round,soft, and squishy. Once found I waited until the blasted duck thing had missed another ariel swipe and was making a return trip.

"Runt fetch!"

Not only did the wonder mutt fetch the Oran berry that I'd thrown him in an impressive leap before appearing to swallow the damned thing whole: but this freaking Houndour pup also managed to catch the swooping duck thing in his mouth! As if to punish it for trying to steal the berry by Knocking the item off it's Off it's intended flight path; so I assume that the apparent male could eat it instead. Sure the jaw hold only lasted about as brief as it took for the bird to get a grip on Runt so he could toss him to my feet...

But the sly maneuver was still awesome!

Finally the painfully slow Dex blinked into existence with a sharp beep as is verbally telling me it was ready for my orders. As I maneuvered around it's menu I tried to covertly hiss a few words to Runt "You took down a damn Scyther by yourself single handedly. This guy doesn't even have an actual blade and is kicking your ass! So what's the freaking problem?"

Runt seemed to catch on that I didn't want the bird thing to hear us so his response was also whispered "Smog is failing. Can't approach. Bug kept using stealth. Sensed him coming. This guy is always up in Runt's face. Can only dodge."

That's when I finally hit the Information jackpot "What do you mean failing? Is the Farfetch'd blowing the smog away with it's wings or-?

Runt was shaking his head as he talked over me "Seems to see Runt through smoke. Dodges attacks and hits me with his." Using that info as a hint: I basically Google'd in the Dex's records on why attacks that would normally lower accuracy would fail. Again I got another hit.

"It has an ability called Keen Eyes. Basically anything that would restrict its sight of its target will fail. Sand-attack, Double-team, targets moving too fast for it's eye to follow. You name it." I mumbled lowly while racking my damn brain for a solution.

"Runt can't hit it! Moves too freaking fast! How is Runt supposed to win without an appr- GAHCK" The Farfetched had charged at us, apparently had been playing with us the whole time since it suddenly hit a whole different level of speed that made it seemingly disappear from the front of us and reappear at our backs; during that transition it had apparently struck a powerful enough blow to render Runt unconscious. Later on I would learn this attack was a move called Aerial Ace.

The fucking bastard was laughing as it charged in to finish the job.

If however I wasn't already in front of it's path to catch its sword-like leed stalk with my only free hand. Blood was flowing down my arm as if someone turned on a water spicket, but I couldn't find it within myself enough to give a damn. I was more angry at the punks audacity...Ok so maybe the almost unbearable pain had a tiny bit more of the reason why I was practically screaming my response to the duck's actions "You already won asshole so why are you still attacking!?"

"Aaaaarrrrgggh!!! Move out of the way Matey."

I spat in the bird's face "Make me asswipe" I don't know what surprised the Farfetch'd more: the fact that a glob of spit was sliding down it's face or that I had responded to it's command. Apparently it was the latter. "The lad understands my lingo?" I parroted the message in the most ear-splintering squawk I could muster. Instead of pissing the Farfetched off like I intended the bird only grinned at me toothily and began squawking quite excitedly "Oooh what luck! Rare catch. Rare catch indeed! Can't wait to make ye this Old Salt's co-pilot. We'll rule the heaven as a real jolly sort of pair once we commandeer a vessel. Savvy?"

Took me a moment to get over the 'what in the hell is this guy saying?" but subtext of the words gradually came into focus:This nutjob apparently fancies himself a pirate...just one that wants to rule the sky instead of the sea it seems. Don't know what frightens me more: the fact he want's me as his cabin boy or the fact it was pretty easy for me to understand the general meaning of the duck's odd lingo "What are you talking about? I'm obviously taken."

"No-one tell the lad what happens if when an lan'lubbin crew is bested by a capt'n?" While the bird spoke I began to lightly grip and tug on the stalk to test the birds grip. Thinking that I could overpower the small fry or stealthily pry it out of the bastard's beak: no such luck. The bird's grip on the thing was like he was clutching onto a lifeline.

"Lost most of my memory a few days ago and that's even if I didn't skip class that day. Refresh me." My tugs had been gradually getting fiercer, by now they were full bodied. The bird still wouldn't fucking let go!

"Why the capt'n can take the crew as a reward of course! Bloody shame that the previous leader has to feed the fish though...Ah well we can't do anything about the laws of the sea." The bird replied with a 'what-can-you-do' sort of shrug and tone.

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach and my stomach fell all the way to my feet. "I would remember something like that being said." The expression on my face must have told the bird that I really had heard something like that. Evidence being that the Farfetch'd began patting on my shoulder in a display of consolement and pity, then quickly returned his 'hands' to his stick before my shock could fully wear off. Lucky him since that's when I began pulling like my life depended on it. Kind of did in a way even though it was Runt's life on the chopping block.

If I was with Zil I would have blacked-out by now! But since I haven't, well...the only weird but thankfully not sci-fi explanation was that I haven't accepted Runt as mine yet.

Damn you Zilian for putting me in this position!

"Why would you want me then? Given my current track record I'm probably the worst Trainer in history"

The bird's grin was back "At first Vector was just gonna pillage another lan'lubber that crossed his path. Then lad jumped into fight to strike at this devilish rogue. Made Vector mad but bravery impresses Vector. Now lad is multilingual AND is willing to put himself into the battle once more to take a finishing strike to rescue the shark bait from it's very jaws? Than spits in the would be killer's face? Well blow me down! Ye is a tough young brute ain't ya bucko?!"

"Get to the freaking point man. I don't have all day..." I growled as I gave up the effort of wrestling control over the stalk for now. Headbutting was much more effective anyway...if the duck would hold... fucking...still!

In the end all my efforts seem to do was irritate me. The bird was calm as a cucumber as he easily dodged my every shot. When the bird finally had enough: "Fine ye scallywag.-" That's when the Farfetch'd met my headbutt with his. Understandably the trauma hurt us both badly enough to cause our foreheads to bleed; both of us endured this with only a wince as we held our ground. The fucker didn't even pause in his squawking monologue "-See a capt'n needs brutes at his back for those especially tough voyages. You me lad, strikes me as a brute with a thirst for coin even though ya reek with it. A guess made by the combination of a pirate sensing a like-minded individual and a good mark me thinks" The Farfetch'd brief snicker held a undertone that I didn't understand but soon would. "Besides, ye wild brutality appears to be contagious. Affects ye capt'n in different way though it seems" This statement appeared to be punctuated the feeling of something warm press against my arm; with this warmth there was a fluid that I had a teeny tiny inkling wasn't blood.

"If the lad's record is bad than all the more reason for a capt'n to step in and temper the steel." The Farfetch'd fired a quick glare in Runt's general direction and then spat a loogie as if the very sight of the Houndour offended him "The only thing Vector has seen so far is a cutlass too overcome with pride to not listen to the wielder when he orders it to retreat from a fight that is bigger than itself."

A groan behind me told me that I had been successful in buying time; even if I'd done so accidently. "Runt run!" I growled through gritted teeth as mine and bird brain's strength was once again pit against each other in a deadly tug of war match.

I heard the sound of fabric rustling as claws parted it's flap, the sounds of a ravenous maw devouring the defenseless berries inside came seconds later. Through the sounds of eating I heard Runt's matter-of-fact response "No."

"You'll die you fucking idiot!" I shrieked as the burst of rage induced adrenaline gave me the strength needed to yank the bloody -literally- leed shalk out of the Farfetche'd hands; the force of my momentum making me roll several times so that I came to a stop right beside Runt.

The following transformation was instantaneous:

"G-give that back! Was just joshing you guys man honest! Just give that back and I'll beat it ok?" One second we had what seemed like a competent stereotypical pirate trapped in the body of some easily underestimated form of a duck. Now we just had a normal duck whom spoke like an actual guy born of this age. A duck whose confidence of an easy win wilted along with his erection. From overblown cocky bastard to bawling pussy cat.

The change in disposition was so weird it was actually frightening! Was the duck just acting the whole time or was this vegetable thing magic?

When the Farfetch'd saw Runt and I were just going to keep staring at it with stupefied expressions of complete baffled until something snapped us out of our trance: the bird made a lunge for it's weapon.

For some reason the Farfetch'd movements were almost syrupy compared to the his lightning fast movements before; giving me plenty of time to realize the power that I now held in my hands and "Nope." roll out of the way. Next thing I know I'm being overtaken by of the desperate grabby wings batting and tickling my sides in an effort to make me let go of it's apparent precious treasure.

"HA-HAH stOp you ST-hahahahahaha! -upid SHIT! RUNT don't just stand hahahahaHA- there! Roast this goose!"

"My pleasure" Runt growled as he gulped down a sharp intake of breath before exhaling a stream of fiery sparks one usually sees a Pokemon breath when using an Ember attack. Sadly the Farfetch'd didn't faint; only took it as a cue to make like a tree and leaf.

"Did we won?" I mumbled with shocked awe; still gripping the bloody stalk in a near iron-like grip.

"Not yet." Runt growled lowly in his throat before bolting after the retreating bird. I tried chasing after him but the blood loss and excitement choose that moment to tip me over like a drunk who had too many "One more rounds". Instead I was just forced to watch Runt make tracks until some weird instinct told him now it would be a good idea to leap, kick off a tree, and kindly requested the fleeing bird-brain to stick its beak into the dirt. If that fall didn't knock the damn duck unconscious the furious barrage of teeth sure as hell did.

The sight the last part made me smile. Not only because this was mine and Runt's first ever win as a team: but because of the nostalgic value of the scene had transported me back into a more peaceful time. A time where my 'mons biggest threat was the evil metallic box that tore us out of our happy dreamlands.

"Don't kill the damn thing buddy, just take the experience and go like a good boy."

"Aww...but I was thinking about having roast duck for lunch..." The Farfetch'd body seemed to twitch as if to respond to this statement. Good the bastard deserved that comment as retribution for his earlier one about sharkbait. So I let the bird stew on that one before finally eventually saying: "Nah roasted duck for some reason has always given me a real bad case of gas. Besides if we eat him than the money I spent on today's first day celebratory meal would have been wasted. Not only do I absolutely loathe wasting money: But Jasper would be pissed if I told him that I only had enough room for a small dinner after spending all day preparing it."

"Aww..." whined Runt as he padded his way over to me with tail drooping and head bowed low in obvious disappointment.

"Hey Runt. remember those cheeseburgers that we had at that restaurant the other day?"

"Yeah!" The drool beginning to dribble out of Runt's maw was only real needed indicator of how much he had enjoyed that meal. If one was somehow blind to that however the sight of those wide-open peepers and stubby tail moving like a tiny blur would pummel that observer into the ground.

"Jasper's cooking makes eating that look like eating a dirt,bug, and grass sandwich" Sheer utter naked joy and an excitement that only a child could perform on the drop of a dime washed over Runt's disposition than; was like telling a little kid it was time to go to an amusement park.

"Is it really that good?"

"Is Darkrai a violent sadistic prick?" I countered with a mischievous sneer, causing Runt to wince briefly; but relaxed immediately when the pup saw that the reaper of pain didn't come flying out of a black hole. Besides even if the sick bastard had: the smile that had returned on Runt's adorable face with a vengeance would have made it totally worth it...That is until jubilant barks,yips, and puppy kisses than fell upon my head like a guillotine blade. Was too bad I only had only a single good arm to fight off Runt's onslaught so I was forced to endure the full brunt of it until he called down."Ok haha I get it! heeheehee stop wiggling that thing at me it freaking tickles!" Was also too bad when Runt became excited enough about something, the mutt appeared to become deaf as well. I had no choice but to use Runt's Pokeball on him just so I could breathe.

I allowed myself a mild shake of my head to express my bewilderment before gathering my Dex and our battle trophy after a moment's worth of hesitation. Had a tiny feeling in the pit of my stomach that the stalk was going to mean just as much to Runt and mine's relationship as the compass did to Zil and me. Even had several games in mind already that we could play with it. Should help with Runt's extreme energy problem until I can finally break him of his sex addiction cold turkey.

Besides I was not going to become the lover of a newborn. Just fucking gross man.

Those reasons...and I kind-of sort-of had a mild case of sticky fingers. Didn't help that the leed stalk felt really great to swing and twirl around like baton.

During the final glance I shot the unconscious duck: I couldn't help but chuckle a little at how fast events in my life seemed to transition from good to bad to good again. I shrugged that odd thought aside before my brain latch onto a bone that could possibly ruin my good mood and began walking again; whistling a somewhat merry tune as I went.

---

After several hours of walking and fleeing from wild Pokemon that wanted a battle: Elliot had stopped for a lunch break around quarter till noon. Runt was a bit displeased about having to have been stuck inside the accursed ball for a couple hours. But when Elliot started patching up the various injuries the Farfetch'd had managed to inflict: the pup quickly changed his displeasure to thankfulness.

Thankfulness that quickly grew when the Houndour's suddenly ravenous stomach was on it's way to become satisfied with a healthy mix of berries and PokeChow. The latter being the title of what was actually just a glorified gimmick by the same company that made Elliot's bag of trail mix.

Elliot however was taking advantage of the free time the meal provided by working overtime. When Runt asked what the boy was doing: Elliot replied that he was researching if all the Pokemon in the area had a similar weakness that could be exploited like the Farfetch'd 's mind and body dependency over his precious leek stalk; the results of his research had been rather positive thus far.

Runt however had turned deaf in the middle of Elliot's reported findings as soon as he noticed leek stalk that was Elliot was still twirling and bopping things with -including his own head- without even seemingly aware that he was doing such a silly thing. Eventually Elliot focus in his own monologue faltered when he finally noticed that Runt was literally drooling over -lets be real here- both the boy's new toy. With an uncaring shrug Elliot tossed the toy to the Houndour like a baton; immediately the stalk began showing signs of becoming a well loved chew toy.

Elliot however had already dismissed the Houndour existence entirely in favor of continuing on with his research. Research that seemed so intriguing to the lad that the young man was showing the signs of becoming completely overcome with potent tunnel vision. In fact both the boy's senses had become blind eye on the world in favor of their current activities.

Tunnel vision that was tested when Darkrai made his debut using that signature dark portal of his.

Both the boy's passed with flying colors.

Elliot was shocked out of stupor when his phone informed him that he had received a message. When Elliot checked this message it turned out to be a video file from an unknown number. Curiosity now peaked; Elliot clicked on the file. With only a minor amount of time spent buffering: the apparent security footage played all the way through from start to finish. The brutality and sheer amount of power Steve and Trevor displayed during the fight unnerved the boys (Runt had become curious about the sounds coming from Elliott's phone as well) to the point that both were overcome with a sudden cold chill. Both weren't terrified though. Both were well aware of the fact that as long as they stayed far away from the girl the bodyguards were protecting: then they wouldn't have to face the agent's wraith. Something that was child's play for a naive but not stupid Houndour puppy and an intelligent coward.

What caused the many playbacks of the video until Elliot finally get rid of there-is-something-here-that-I'm-not-seeing-but-it's-on-the-tip-of-my-tongue feeling was the odd but so strangely familiar glow Trevor exhibited each and every transformation into the armored knight.

Elliot had seen that dark purple light before.

"He's exactly like me..." Sure it was a different shade of purple compared to that funny spiritual well that Darkrai had shown him weeks ago. But that odd individualistic color was still had been the sign that Darkrai had completely and utterly believed was the mark of the Dark One's king piece. This either meant that there were two dark kings or-

-Elliot wasn't the king piece...

Just the oddity that was a shiny brand new piece being brought onto the board. An extremely powerful piece or at least having the potential of becoming powerful. Sure, Elliot had all this going for him.

The problem was Elliot wasn't THE piece. The problem was that Darkrai had wasted precious amounts of time on him when Elliot could have been thrown into someone else's care or even left to his own devices. The problem was that Darkrai valued time as equally as Elliot the Scrooge valued money: It triumphed above all else.

Both boy's became suddenly aware of the heart stopping, breath catching pressurized presence that Darkrai had been exerting this whole entire time:

Pressure that had reduced many trees into splinters and those splinters into nothing until all that was left of the forest in a good half of mile's worth of diameter was a rather empty grassland that was quickly decomposing into a bland patch of dirt.

Craters had been dug into the ground as if a powerful Machamp had Seismic Tossed a very durable opponent over and over again. In reality each levitated step Darkrai took belted out pressurized air that contained enough force behind it that even solid ground couldn't withstand it.

Some unknown deity seemed to turn up dial of gravity a few notches.

Sounds of wildlife had completely vanished. Even the wind seemed to be holding it's breath.

Elliot took all this with an observant eye as Runt was rendered unconscious again. Not the pups fault, the pressure was just that strong. Elliot however was unfortunate enough to build a tolerance. Like usual Elliot's mouth took over to buy time for whatever plan his brain was going to come up with to get out of what was sure to be a quick inevitable death.

Elliot inhaled and exhaled a weary sigh to replace the oxygen that the tight grip of panic robbed from him. That done the boy said very slowly, almost softly: "This isn't my fault."

"OH yes it is!" was Darkrai's growled reply as the phone that had been slowly melting was finally crushed into a tiny ball and then reduce to absolutely nothing.

"Tell me how?" was Elliot's nonplussed reply. Inwardly the boy was screaming.

"It's your fault for existing!" Darkrai roared as the aura of darkness became larger.

"That's melodramatic even for you." As if to answer the boy's jab the tree Elliot had been using to prop his back against imploded into splinters and than those splinters was reduced into nothing. The fury in the Dark Master's burning glare now held enough heat to make a volcano feel like a tiny ember in comparison. "I'm guessing your plan now is to use me as a punching bag until you either feel better or I die from the trauma?"

Darkrai nodded.

Before the boy could utter another single word: Darkrai seemed to vanish only to reappear in front of the semi-prone boy: claw raised for a backhand that was sure going to be pimp slap of this century.

Only Elliot didn't find out because he had just barely somehow managed to roll out of the way.

"What!? How dare you!" If Darkrai's mind wasn't overcome with the white hot flash of surprise and the sea of red of rage: the living nightmare would have been able to see the boy's hands become alight with dark flame that was making its slow crawl up the boy's body like an oddly heated supernatural aura.

The boy didn't appear to notice either. Terror induced panic was making Elliot's body move entirely out of reflex; meanwhile the boy's brain was trying to induce a reboot but the start-up process was running into too many error screens that kept forcing another restart.

Another lightning speed strike: -this time the slap was purely claws- Another miss since thanks to boy being quick and flexible enough to pull off a rolling somersault that ended when the boy landed neatly onto his feet.

Another strike that was amped up to the speed that made the surrounding air shriek as it pierced the sound barrier: This one was a deadly jab thanks to Darkrai's claws being sharpened into dagger like points.

Another miss as the boy sidestepped out of the way with seemingly no effort.

Darkrai was already on top of him again however and had already prepared the next strike: an overhead slash whose execution was that of an angry bear...Or would have been if this wasn't a feint to cover the shadow's leg appendages journey into Elliot's gut.

Contact.

The poor boy seemingly couldn't even get enough air to even mutter a wordless grunt of pain; just gurgled wetly as his entire body was sent flying across the lake whose existence had been veiled by the trees Darkrai had so heartlessly destroyed. "This is the end!" bellowed Darkrai while lobbing the Shadow Ball he'd been charging during the boy's flight like a pitcher who'd put his entire back into the game ending fastball.

A deadly fastball about the size of a large beach ball that is.

Regret for his current actions slammed into Darkrai than like a sledge hammer once the rage that controlled the 'mon left him quite suddenly with that last kick and creating of that deadly projectile. Sure the boy was infuriating at times. Sure the boy wasn't what he'd had been looking for. SURE valuable time had been wasted recruiting the brat and trying to gently motivate progress out of him while simultaneously keeping him safe. Those facts were all well and true but that didn't mean Darkrai should have so hastily thrown away a valuable soldier with an unknown amount of potential.

Potential that was briefly glimpsed with the boy caught the deadly projectile at least going the speed of sound. It was then that Darkrai finally noticed the boy's dark flaming aura just before that was quenched by the lake's water. A smidget of fear seized Darkrai when the boy didn't come up for several minutes. But that was quickly fixed with a quick psychic probe and a quick portal that delivered it's package along with a bonus six gallons of lake water at Darkrai's feet. Darkrai used that same psychic energy to pull the suffocating liquid out of the boy's lungs which sent the boy into a waves of hacking coughs.

The odd pair exchanged a few moments of silent glares of barely smothered hatred before Runt slowly and carefully joined the pair of them. As if using Runt's appearance as a cue: Darkrai began to speak words that were more like syllables of a growl "What in Giratina's unholy name are you?"

This question finally spread the lips of the boy into an almost mischievous smirk. Hatred didn't leave the boy's eyes though as he answered lowly with an almost growl of his own:

"I'm just the selfish greedy prick that really doesn't want to die."

---

Runt had been glancing back and forth between Darkrai and Elliot with a bewildered expression on his face for several minutes now before finally building enough courage to ask the question that had been eating away at him "Are we really going to completely ignore the fact that Alpha just made an attempt on Elliot's life?"

"Nothing new here" both master and slave replied with a dismissive wave as they continued their weird activities. In response the Houndour did the canine's equivalent of a shrug before resuming gnawing on his new favorite toy.

Elliot was busy spinning the large Shadow Ball on the tip of his finger like a basketball with only an expression of mild amusement decorating his face. The wonder of the little trick was losing its wonder value after the first twenty minutes. All that was left now was the quickly mounting annoyance over the fact that the boy couldn't do anything with it besides hold the globe of dark matter and spin it.

Couldn't even disperse the energy. Both the boy and Darkrai tried that with no success whatsoever. In fact the more Darkrai messed with it the bigger the damn thing got! So everyone thought it best to leave it alone for now.

Darkrai was busy dissecting the security footage over Jasper's shoulder as he waited for the old man's thoughts on what it all meant. Thoughts that will come now:

"Pardon for my rudeness sirs but the answer to most of your questions is outright mooning the both of you." The old butler couldn't have gotten the amount of attention he recieved if he had kicked the teeth in of every single person in a sold out amphitheatre. Jasper didn't think the pair of them were breathing during the tenseful pause that occurred after this statement"

"Rudeness will be pardoned if you quit with the melodramatic pause and elaborate" Darkrai's gravel voice was rumbling with something greater than a warning as his patience was wearing thinner and thinner by each passing second.

"Yeah Obi-wan show us this what great wisdom we are missing" thrown in Elliot as he exchanged his comfy lax lying down position for the more serious cross-legged indian style posture. The combination of the posture position change plus the 'mons and boy's rapt attention made Jasper feel like a school teacher whom held the answer to a difficult problem that had stumped his attentive class for a good while.

Still Jasper couldn't help but laugh at the irony in Elliot's comment "Science fiction is where I got this thought from. An idea that turns out that has a nugget of truth if you look at historical evidence with just the right perspective. The idea of what I'm referring to is the rule of karmic balance" Took a moment but Elliot became gobsmacked by the rear of Jasper's explanation.

Darkrai -whom didn't understand this explanation in the least- saw the sign of this revelation and was rapidly climbing past the threshold of annoyance and heading into another fit of rage. "Explain in words that the rest of the class can understand please..."

Elliot raised his hand then with rapt enthusiasm as if he was wanting to be called by a teacher; something that tickled Jasper profusely. "Yes Elliot?"

Immediately Elliot fell into the explanation speaking fast like a nervous excited student "Jasper's referring to the trope or rule of the media that is dubbed the Sorting Algorithm of Evil. The basic principle of it is that the first villain you meet is the weakest and the last is the strongest. Meaning when there is a bad ass on the the other team; than a badass of equal or even greater power comes to teach the old bad-ass a new meaning to the word ass-kicking. Basically it's a rule of two" Elliot collapsed with an accomplished look on his face; As if the boy hadn't said it all in one huge mouthful than the information provided in this mouthful would be dubbed useless and wrong.

"Don't let Blake hear you say that if you value your life." Darkrai muttered with a shiver. Near silence permeated the area until Darkrai said "I don't see what you mean by historical evidence supports this theory.

"You should Master." Jasper held up a fist and began lifting each one with each example. "Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos vs. Raikou, Entei, Suicune. Lugia vs Ho-Oh. Groudon vs. Kyogre. Mew vs. Mewtwo. Swords of Justice Vs. Forces of Nature. Cresselia vs.-"

"Darkrai." muttered Darkrai. Now the spectre to expressed the look of revelation as he lapsed into the recently gained habit of voicing his thoughts outloud. "Ok so Trevor is either the counter or equal to Blake's strengths. That I can understand... but how is that any relation the boy? It's obvious that they are related in some way. All that we really know for sure that they are cut from the same cloth; but that doesn't really help us" The butler and boy were smirking; both sharing conspiratory glances that puzzled Darkrai immensely. Puzzlement that was voiced seconds later "Does it?"

"You've answered your own question dude!" Elliot replied with hint of a barely contained snicker as he held up the lump of dark matter as if trying to say the answer without saying it. After staring at the lump for several moments Darkrai finally understood and then face-palmed himself as punishment for not seeing what was right in front of his face the whole time. "Which means the activation of their powers are similar in nature." Darkrai was now staring at the unaware Runt with a look of interest as the hound enthusiastically chased a squirrel, barking cutely the whole while "Pokemon power to be precise."

"Exactly." Jasper said absentmindedly as he finished rewinding the video to the part he wanted his audience to see before speaking again "It appears that the man's catalyst is the drive to protect those close to him and grief calls forth massive power-spikes. Very corny, considering that it is the driving force behind every major hero." Another pause while Jasper got his thoughts together "From what you guys told me then that would mean Elliot's driving force should be the most selfish desire of the human race: the need to survive at all cost." Jasper paused again as he wrestled with a thought before saying that thought out loud "The only part that I can't figure out is why the goliath seems to exhibit massive portions of dark magic with only a tiny hints of light magic."

"I can answer that one" Elliot pointed to the image on the Trevor's back when it became visible in the video "See how the design that looks like a canine's jaws closing in on a heart?"

"Yeah" both butler and 'mon replied: not yet seeing what the boy was getting at as he fast forwarded it to show them the image again. "The jaws moved" both realized simultaneously.The movement was slight enough that it wasn't even perceptible unless you seen the before and after photo.

"Exactly. If my assumption is correct than if those jaw close, then...Trevor you said right?" the boy's audience nods exasperatedly "Alright thanks. This Trevor will become well...basically another Blake once the darkness of grief swallows the light and takes full residence over the man's soul. Sure he'll probably have the power to end the Earth if he wanted to but he'll just be a soulless monster on a rampage. Grief turning men into monsters is another common trope by the way Dar- Master."

"That's some double edged blade." Darkrai replied with more than a hint of relish.

"Calm there down bucko. I'm cut from the same cloth remember? So my powers should come with the same drawbacks in theory. Heck I'm pretty sure I'm mostly light based if my personality and actions have said anything." At Darkrai's glare of suspicion Elliot quickly added "I'm not a hero by any means. Just seem to have a corrupt moral system that even I don't even know the details of...course there's that darned desire of wanting to make this world burn for what's it done to me and my family."

"I second that desire" Jasper said offhandedly as he toasted himself before gulping down the last several swigs of foul powerful smelling whiskey. Moments later burping quite loudly and tossing the now empty glass bottle bottle. The sound of glass shatter and the cry of pain the butler got in return seemed to please the old man immensely.

#swagscenetransition

"Are you sure this will do something other than turn me into the Human Torch?"

Darkrai didn't answer. Was too late for words once the spectre allowed the thoughts that had worked him up into a rage previously to wash over him again. The embarrassment of failure and Father accusing him of confusing fondness with importance.

HIM fond of THAT human boy?! Proposuous! The boy was the sum everything Darkrai despised! Each and every tiny miniscule quality and quirk. It's why the boy was his living breathing punching bag for fuck's sake!

Elliot only realized after the three rapid fire bone cracking punches in the jaw,throat, and groin just how serious Darkrai had been about going after him with the intent to kill. Sadly this amount of pain was only enough to make Elliot's hands flicker with warmth.

So Darkrai began using him as a bat to practice his backswing on some poor defenseless trees. Screams of the boy's agony as splinters found in places they shouldn't have went was nothing but notes on a musical score to Darkrai's ear's.

At least the boy and him knew just how deep the well of hatred for each other went.-Darkrai began barking a wild and insane kind of laughter when he heard the sound of a bone snap and the boy's resulting agony laced scream.-Nothing else really mattered in the end.

Not what his allies thought of him: Jasper and Runt were looking at the pair of them with what looked to be barely held back rage and pure stupefied terror for the well being of Elliot. The boy didn't really look so hot at this moment. It seems that the only thing stopping them from interfering was the fact neither had the power of flight and was probably too afraid that they would find themselves facing the same predicament.

Not what his enemies thought of him: Maniacal psychopath that needs to be taken down as soon as possible.

Not even what his father thought of him: "Manchild whose only saving grace was an appetite for destruction, terror, and pain"

Most importantly not what this damn boy thought about him...whatever that was nowadays.

Darkrai was obviously not the type of fool that care about such trivial things such as emotions or relationships. Didn't really care about anything beyond the benefits of sadness,hate,rage,and terror which more less coalesced how much fun he was having. The other emotions were just there for Darkrai to manipulate to get his way.

Course contentment was a fun one. Kinda stinks that not many creatures could make him feel that emotion for very long was his father and...

A crushing realization made Darkrai drop the boy from a good ten feet up in the air. Milliseconds later a wordless bellow came from Darkrai's throat that seemed to carry mountains worth of pain,rage, and depths upon depths of panic inducing terror as he made a beeline towards the source of his misery; end goal was to turn the blasted thing into mush.

A sudden heavy weight slammed into Darkrai's midsection with the force of a charging Rhyhorn before he could finish off the boy. After a few tumbles: Darkrai returned to himself and waited for the moment of nausea to pass; where this nausea came from Darkrai wasn't quite sure. Eventually Darkrai saw the hand being offered to help him up. "Thank you Jasper...for this... and stopping me before I did something that I would have intensely regretted."

"Anytime sir. Runt don't let all that effort go to waste." replied the butler with a well meaning look towards the Houndour. Runt was sobbing quietly as he took stock of Elliot's various injuries. For some reason they were rather minor despite being chewed and spat back out. Was as if the dark flame surrounding Elliot's body was getting rid of injuries faster than Darkrai could dish them out. Not wanting a repeat of that terrible show however Runt used the Ember attack on the black orb as he was instructed to previously.

Even though no one expected what happened next, it was shockingly...anti-climatic.

"Is that one of my pocket dimension portals coming out of the brat's hands?" Darkrai asked with a touch of shocked bewilderment, annoyance, and mild ego inflation that comes with catching another magician performing/stealing his original trick.

"At least the outline is different" suggested Jasper as all three both peered into the hole.

Only for Runt and Jasper to be blown backwards as if bitch slapped by an invisible hand.

"Huh..." Darkrai moved further into the portal then back out again before cautiously entering again; he of course didn't have one bit of interference. Seeing this Runt and Jasper tried entering again...if only to greet the same invisible presence as before. "Well that's a new feature. Guess it goes without saying that I'm the only one allowed in here. Don't know why. Probably the same reason the boy was able to catch my Shadow Ball."

"This is like walking over my own grave creepy weird feeling man! Hurry the fuck up before my heart explodes!" shouted Elliot as he slowly powered down; yet the portal still remained. Felt like every nerve in his body was frozen solid

"Why? what do you feel other than weirdly placed terror?" asked the inquisitive Darkrai.

"Feels like that time you went soul spelunking while my consciousness was separated from my body." That's when the Master of Nightmares found himself in one when his midsection was pulled off his metaphorical feet and deeper into the awaiting darkness. The portal then slowly minimized into the shape of dime; but thankfully didn't close completely.

"Did you just swallow a God?" Jasper asked with an expression complete and utter bafflement,wonder, and awe.

Elliot burped loudly and deeply but said nothing as if that was all the answer anyone needed. A few minutes of what-do-we-do-now shifty awkwardness occurred before Darkrai's arm and face reappeared. Was seemingly fine if a little breathless. Not that the ghost actually needed air. Just was just overwhelmed by the sheer unbridled excitement enough to forget. "Quick! *pant* *pant* I need paper and writing utensil!"

Moments later Jasper returned with the only source of paper lying around in the near open -Elliot's journal- and handed it to Darkrai "What on Earth for?"

Darkrai forced himself to pause so he could calm back down to his disposition. The news was amazing and totally impos-improbable; but it wasn't worth losing time trying make gibberish ramblings into actually articulated explanation. "My memory is amazing but not perfect enough to remember all the snapshots I'm being shown every time I touch a doorknob. Writing it down saves me from repeating trips and wasting time."

"Images of-?" Elliot began, but Darkrai interrupted with a cackle of complete and unbridled joy before replying "Your future boy! You have the freedom of choice!"

---

All the members of the party looked up from their dinner plates when Darkrai's characteristic rumble of a sigh whistled in and out of their ears. Judging from the light by the setting sun the time was a little after dusk.

"That trip took a bit longer. Careful this is hot." Jasper commented neutrally as he handed Darkrai the dinner plate that had been placed on the bottom of an upside down pot in a perfect enough spot that the food nice and toasty but not close enough to cook it. What was on the menu today was steak covered in barbecue steak sauce, onion rings, and creamed spinach.

"Blake has become rabid enough that it takes a fight, a Dark Void bubble, and enough medication to put a Mamoswine to death to knock him out for several hours." The look Jasper's eyes told Darkrai that the old butler didn't believe a single word of the truth. Darkrai only shrugged in response before glaring distastefully and motioning with his head towards the plate still being held in front of his nose as if the smell would make him accept such an offering. " I said I don't need this kind of food."

"You said you could consume normal food. So eat it or both Elliot and I both will be grumpy about the waste of food." Ouch dang Darkrai was cornered now and he knew it. So with another sigh he took a single bite of the steak...

Anything and everything ceased to exist as his exploding tastebuds sent him off into space with some odd but friendly green martins. That trip was rudely cut short however when Darkrai came back to himself exceptionally astonished that the contents of his plate licked completely licked clean. The fullness of Darkrai's almost stomach told him that the food was where it was supposed to be and not stolen. The Legendary may though was wearing an astonished expression, but in reality it was a childlike pout.

Jasper by than already had another plate ready and willing.

Elliot and Runt were already on their thirds and fourths respectively.

It sure pays being rich and lucky enough to have a butler with more abilities and functions than a swiss army knife: the sharpest blade in his kit being his skills in the kitchen.

"We are not worthy. We are not worthy." chanted Elliot,Runt, and Darkrai -surprisingly- as hands/paws/claws went up than down in a worshipping bow. Jasper being the ancient veteran butler that he was AND being used to such foolish behavior from the weird family that had been at one time both his family, and employers: still found himself blushing like a ripe tomato from embarrassment.

"You my good sir will be the only chef that I will eat solid food from now until the doomsday that is your eventual demise." complemented Darkrai saluting the phrase with a very satisfied burp.

"Seconded" called out the nearly comatose boy and hound with a burp and hiccup of their own.

"A'lright quit buttering me up unless you guys plan on taking care of an expensive date." From Jasper's tone the previous statement was obviously a joke "Now we really should get to deciding on Elliot's future before dawn breaks shall we? Let's start with a review to spifen up our memories like we done after the past interruptions." A simultaneous melodramatic groan from all directions. Still the boys all shook off the effects of the food coma they were in with a slowness that was almost irritating for the old butler. Eventually everyone was able to focus on the stack of papers that Darkrai separated until they were individual sheets while levitating them lazily in front of the party.

"We'll be able to get through this faster if we see the image clips sir." Jasper suggested offhandedly in a tone that told any listener that he wasn't trying to offend the dark lord's intelligence.

Darkrai waved the butler's polite gesture off with a dismissive wave as if clearing the air in front of nose(?) of a foul stench."Already on it. Now you remember Jasper: the last slide-show is the mystery card to both our boys and guest." Jasper's affirmative nod went unnoticed as Darkrai began the rapidly aging song-and-dance with too many reruns: Skimming each individual paper attentively before showing that paper's contents to his audience before moving onto the next sheet.

Like all the previous times after the first couple run through: Elliot began whispering words out of the corner of his mouth into Runt's attentive ear. Whom by the way was sitting comfortably in his lap loving the attention Elliot was giving him: "Do you have any clue as to why the last two choices are being hidden from us are yet?"

Runt shook his head no.

"I don't either. Just checking."

Darkrai ignored both the boys and began. These are the images of what Darkrai's audience saw in their mind's eye: