Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 61 - Enemy of the Enemy

Rhys found himself on his back with an aching pain on his arms. At first, he thought it was because more of Anam's rot had gotten to him. Then, surprised he was alive at all, he looked down. His fur was intact and his flesh wasn't falling off. That was a good start. He then heard a grunt to his right. Nevren was in a similar state, pained but alive.

The darkness itself must have been blocked by their shields. Nevren always was good with those, and Rhys had put up a similar shield of aura.

But that didn't negate their actual threat. Rhys and Nevren exchanged a look. The Goodra stood a stone's throw away, mouth open and charging a second dark blast.

"Truce?" Nevren said to Rhys.

Rhys grunted and got to his feet. "What did you do to him?"

"This was not part of my plans."

The Goodra fired down the hall. Nevren and Rhys squeezed themselves against the edges of the corridor. It grazed against Rhys' snout; he turned his head away to avoid any further stinging. The black energy smashed the wall at the end of the hall and burned even further through the rocks. It didn't seem to melt. Instead, it turned the rocks into a strange, ash-like substance that evaporated in the wind, becoming more of the rotting fog.

"How exactly do we stop him?" Rhys said.

"I'm afraid that is beyond my knowledge. We should just fight to subdue him." He looked at his Revisor. "My lucky charm is not working."

"You can tell?!" Rhys hissed.

Anam stumbled forward, growling.

"Rhys," Nevren said, pointing. "He's paused. Now!"

Rhys fired two successive Aura Spheres toward Anam. The first one popped on the Goodra's chest; the second one exploded beneath his chin. Nevren followed with a twisting Psychic blast, cutting through the dark slime. Pieces of the Goodra spattered against the walls, sliding and collecting in the corners.

Rhys and Nevren both panted. The Alakazam inspected his Revisor again, grumbling. "Why did you fail me...?"

"Does that truly give you good luck?" Rhys said. "Where did you get it from? What science operates behind it?"

Nevren glanced at Rhys, then back at the Revisor. "It puts the odds in my favor. I suppose you can say I can more easily predict what will happen next with its power."

Rhys flinched. "Some form of foresight?"

"Yes," Nevren replied. "But it failed me right when you had your little outburst and decided to strike me with a rage you hadn't shown in centuries." He watched Anam carefully, but he was still paused. They had a moment to recover their breath. "Perhaps your flaring aura caused it to... no, that's not enough. I've fought countless flaring auras and nothing of the sort happened before... hrm..." Nevren suddenly looked up, realizing that the darkened Goodra had pulled himself mostly together.

"Your attacks..." Anam said. "Pathetic."

He raised his hand into the air; the fingers coalesced into a single, sharp blade that shined in the dim light. Rhys prepared for melee combat, but then Anam plunged the blade into his own chest, right near the heart.

Rhys and Nevren both flinched. Rhys stared, mouth agape. "What is he—"

Anam slid the blade across his chest horizontally, creating a deep, open gash through his slimy body. A dark radiance bled out from the open wound, widening into a full circle many times larger than his mouth.

"Shields!" Nevren shouted, holding his palms forward for a Light Screen barrier. Rhys did the same, forming a wall of aura to reinforce Nevren, just in time for the huge gash within Anam to spew out a blast akin to a black version of ADAM's Hyper Beams. The impact deafened Rhys and Nevren, shattering the latter's barrier instantly while leaking through Rhys' cover next. Deflected blasts tore through the rocky walls and ceiling, poked holes in the aura shield, and cut through parts of Rhys' fur and Nevren's skin. By the time it subsided, Rhys was on his knees, barely able to stand. Nevren was no better, staggering and leaning against the wall.