Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Special Episode 11 - Dark Radiance

Every night, as he drew nearer and nearer to evolution, Alex dreamed of the strange blade made from dragon scales and spells. It was the one destined to cut through his neck.

Each time, in that dim haze of a nightmare, his other half would grasp the blade in his mouth, twist his head, and Alex would go tumbling down, down, down.

And then, every night, he woke up first, with a start, as Xander yawned, content and safe, as the head who would win.

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Summer was Alex and Xander's favorite season, and it was one of the few things they could agree on. The two heads of the Zweilous—Alex on their left, Xander on their right—naturally opposed one another. They were two halves of the same Deino, split down the middle and destined to recombine when they evolved once more. Xander, naturally, was going to be the one that would win out.

So, Alex once again sighed to himself when he caught the scent of blood on the table. Dinner. And the beautiful humming of his mother, who drifted soundlessly across the room and tap, tap, tapped on the cutting board with her head-hands.

"Want to have another tug to see who gets the bigger half?" Xander taunted, growling into Alex's ear as usual.

"It goes to the same stomach," Alex grumbled back, commanding the body to march forward. They took a seat once they were on softer ground, their bed.

"But it's the meaning behind it that matters," Xander replied. "We're evolving soon, aren't we? Well. I'm evolving. You... get to fade away."

Alex's chest hurt, but he wondered if Xander felt it the same way. He didn't want to be cruel like Xander. Callous and brutish. As a Deino, he had wondered if being that way was necessary; he supposed their split was taking on that persona or not. That conflict of being so strong, like his father, or being so gentle, like his mother, was what had led to his split. He was sure of it.

All Zweilous 'split' in this way. And according to Father, the stronger one would win, and the weaker one would be a feeble voice in the back of their heads, until eventually it would submit to the stronger one's way of thinking, and truly become whole.

But Mother had a different attitude. She claimed that only through compromise and mutual understanding would they evolve. It was naïve; Hydreigon came about from strength alone. Their heads would be forced together by then, no matter how it happened.

Xander headbutted him.

Alex yelped. "Excuse me!"

"Stop going quiet and thinking," Xander demanded. "It's... annoying. It makes our muscles tense. We don't need that after all the training today. It'll ache."

"Ugh, now I can't even think? My thoughts are the only thing I'm allowed to have to myself anymore."

"Generosity is what Mother believes in, isn't it?" Xander mocked. "Maybe one day I'll have those, too."

As Xander chuckled to himself, Alex only shrank away.

"Hey, hey! Don't do that, either! I don't want to feel your terror. Keep it in your head!"

"Now, boys."

They both tensed and straightened their necks upward.

Mother went on, "What did I tell you about fighting?"

Xander sighed. "That it's something for the ferals, and we can do better."

"That we should speak kindly and take care of our mutual body." Alex nodded. "But I've been doing that!"