Dark Arts and Dark Minds

Chapter 18: Leaves Come and Go

*Risk's POV*

Beta turned my head to look at her,

"You're going to be OK! You're just fine..." she chided, but I could tell she wasn't even convinced, herself.

"..."

I tried to respond, but no words would come out of my mouth. Instead, my eyes closed, and an image began to form in my mind...

Two ghostly figures stood in a dark mausoleum-esque chamber, conversing on the platform above an enormous army of Pokemon. Instantly, I realized that the two figures were Von Spectre and Dusknoir, while the army was Spectre's horde of necromanced minions. Among them were a few faces that I recognized- Paul, Tania, and even...

My heart sank. There was my own father, standing among the dead like he fit right in. Tears began to fall down my face, and I tried to open my eyes- to get rid of the horrible image- but my body wouldn't respond.

I watched the Banette turned back to Dusknoir, and I saw that disappointment was written all over its face,

"How could you fail to catch Risk with your mastery as a puppeteer? You did so well fabricating a Risk on Mt. Avalanche and Sophia in my Bastion- why couldn't you do the same with the real Risk?!"

"Sir, I... I didn't have enough time to fully take him with me! That... that Mawile... She..." Dusknoir held up the broken puppet strings.

Von Spectre was crestfallen,

"So they do have the Mawilite... That traitor, Blade, must have killed himself to give it to them... All my plans until now have all fallen flat on their heads. My Serperior was thwarted by Virizion, my maze couldn't kill them... Not even the power of Mega Gengar could stop them. And, worst of all, you failed to fill Risk's heart with darkness and erase his memory of his friends. While I do admire your success with the closing of Riku's heart, your mistake with Risk will definitely be a costly one. There is not enough darkness within him to fully corrupt him, yet has enough ghostly energy in him to willfully control it; this will very quickly work against us. But... If we can harness it... That's it! I have no options left- it is time to reveal my trump card! Dusknoir, bring me the Seven Treasures!" Von Spectre roared.

The last thing I saw before the vision faded was seven Ghosts bringing Spectre what it asked for- among them were the Three Sisters, and a few of the other miscreant Ghosts that I recognized from our many encounters with them.

Whatever Spectre's planning, it can't be good... Hey! A sharp jolt of pain registered for a split second, as Beta brought me back into reality by nibbling on my left arm.

"Ow!" I cringed. Finally in control of myself again, I yanked my arm away from her. Even though the small mark hurt, I knew that it wasn't very serious because it wasn't even bleeding.

"You're alive! Oh, thank goodness. You scared me so much!" The Mawile hugged me, and the rest of the Crusaders walked over to us, each making sure that I was alright.

"I feel fine. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I saw a weird vision of Von Spectre talking with Dusknoir, and it felt like it was happening very close to me."

"Well," Cedric said, curiously.

"Fill us in! What happened in this 'vision'?"

I took a deep breath and explained what I saw to them, ending with,
"The more we wait around, the stronger that diabolical Pokemon gets. I know it will hurt to fight against those we love and those that died for the sake of peace, but..."