Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation ~ The Final Chapters

Chapter 171 - Lord of Nightmares

North Null Village was in pandemonium. From the distant horizon, dark meteors arced through the red skies and demolished entire buildings, shattering light crystals and leaving corrosive craters in their place. Civilians fled into a Dungeon portal meant for travel and were hastily given light crystals to wear if they ended up in Kilo. They were running out of those. Some would have to take refuge in the Dungeon itself.

As higher class Pokémon ushered disoriented Class D Pokémon into the portals, Darkrai remained behind with Cresselia and their specialized forces. Even more ran down the roads to join their ranks.

"Everyone's coming," called Star, flying quickly until she was just in front of Cresselia.

"Good," Cresselia said.

Darkrai tried to calm his nerves. Every explosion rattled him. "Everything we've tried to throw at him doesn't work," he reported. "Even our sentinel beam washes right away!"

"It's just for show. Fire everything!" Star said. "It'll weaken him at least a little!"

"They're close to abandoning the post," Cresselia said. "But... okay. Maybe if we have a few people giving more power to it, maybe a human? Some Legends can, too. Marshadow was always good at powering them."

The ground rumbled from a nearby blast. None of them were close enough to strike where Darkrai stood but they were getting uncomfortably close. Could Alexander see them from so far away? Was he just guessing?

"Let's move," Star said. "The crystal spire! The others should be heading there, too!"

Darkrai drifted after them. Something caught his eye in the corner of his vision. By the time he turned to face it, Star had already dashed in the way and held up a purple barrier.

Then, there was a flash, Darkrai's whole body compressed against the air, and all sound left him save for a high ringing.

He was on his back. Burning ash and stray black embers gently rained down in grotesque, beautiful destruction.

Muffled shouts were all he could hear amid the ringing but the ground rumbling told him the fighting didn't stop. Had he passed out at all?

Something wrapped around his arm and flooded him with healing energy. Darkrai gasped and pushed himself upright, seeing a horrifying monstrosity in front of him. Scales, vines, intense eyes, but not a Pokémon he recognized. Some kind of horrible fusion—a mutant!

"Are you okay?" it asked.

"Y-yes," Darkrai said. "Wh-who are you?"

"Migami. Get to safety, okay?"

"No, I—I need to help. I'm better now!"

"Fine." Migami disappeared. It could teleport?

Darkrai took a moment to figure out where the spire was and then glanced at Alexander's previous location. Skies, he was a lot closer now. He could see where he was from the origin of each dark blast. The sky swirled above him in a vortex, the very weather darkening to his presence.

Cresselia. He had to find Cresselia. She was too proud. If he wasn't by her side there was a chance she would try to take Alexander out on her own. He was a coward who knew when to run. And ever since Cresselia had been there for him all those years ago, he owed everything to her.

"Ah!" There she was at the top of the crystal spire. She shouted something down below and the spire lit up. She ducked beneath the observation tower as a mote of light emerged from the very tip of the gray spike. Each crystal lit up starting from the bottommost diamonds, all the way to the top where the light was like a tiny, marble-sized sun. A hum rattled Darkrai's head and fizzled his wisps.