Sins of the Ancestors

[Flygon King]

*Deep within a movie theater, all the users (IE, those of you reading this), are talking amongst each other in their seats. Suddenly, the lights die out, and all chatter hushes as both me and a tall, 7ft girl with white hair and freckles, and the Ruler of Hell herself, a dark-skinned woman with countless jewlery and a revealing oufit, emerge from behind the large red curtain, before we take a bow.*

Tiffany: Thank you, thank you each and every one of you! It took a very, VERY long time to complete what I consider to be my masterpiece! Several long months of hard work, dedication, and help from afew select people from a favorite forum of mine have made this possible. Again, thank you!

Persephone: And now, without further ado, let the story unfold!

*We all vanish into thin air, as the curtain unfolds, and the presentation begins...only for the lights to flash on abruptly. Time itself seems to freeze, all of us frozen in place, except for one woman, a tall figure with long golden-blonde hair, who leaps up onto the stage.*

???: Flygon King does not own any of the franchises seen in this movie. All copyright is given to the companies that own these franchises. FK's original characters, however, are his and Giratina's property.

*The mysterious woman hads back down into her seat, before snapping her fingers, the lights going off and time unfreezing, the movie now truly beginning...*

Sins of the Ancestors


Foreward

It can be said that love conquers all… that is a basic truth that governs the world… or does it? Here now is the story of a creature named Giratina, who lost the one whom he loved long ago. That loved one was Arceus, the Alpha Being. The two of them had a relationship with one another, a deep, complex love that the other legendaries didn’t have. However, tragedy struck when the Arceus was killed by another Legendary. Giratina mourned over her death, and rage filled his heart. Thankfully for him, the other Legendaries managed to resurrect Arceus after several months, but Arceus… came back as a male, shattering the Ruler of the Distortion World’s heart. He slinked away, from the Pokemon World, into the Distortion World, where he lay in isolation until 1,000 years ago, angered that what had happened to Arceus was his own fault. That day, a rift was torn open in the Distortion World, and many demons emerged from it. They snagged the powerful creature, binded it, and dragged it back to the Underworld, where their master had plans for the beast. For hundreds of years, Giratina, or Crigan, as the demons called him, was used by the demons as a toy, beaten savagely as they tried to turn him into an energy source to fuel their war machine… During this time, the giant’s heart longed to escape the horror that was Hell. Eventually, the Antimatter Master decided once and for all to break free of his chains, and that is where our story begins…

Chapter 1: Escape from Hell’s Chains.

1457

In the center of Hell itself…

Hell. The great place of the damned was, unlike how most people view it, a large city that expanded throughout most of the Realm of the Dead. Massive spires molded from the souls of the deceased rose high above the rest of the city. In the center of the city was the local fountain, the only place in the entire Realm that had actual water in it, instead of lava. The entire city had a hue of dark red to it, and the temperature throughout the region was incredibly high. Normally, the screams and wails of the deceased rang all over the place, from the Torture Chambers to the Palace of Shadows, but today, no such wailing or gnashing of teeth took place. There was no pain being heard from the tortured souls of those that had been loyal to Shi Kahn, the prevous ruler of the homeland of thedemons, the Abyss. There was no crying out in pain that was audible in the entire area. Not even the slaughter pits, where those waiting for judgement in the afterlife were, was active. It was very silent… too quiet.

At the Palace of Shadows, a large explosion blasted out a massive chunk of the upper wall facing the rest of the city. Dust began to build up from the explosion as a large serpentine shape flew out of the dust cloud and toward the city. The figure was like a massive death centipede, with 6 ghostly streamers sticking out of its back. 3 red spikes stuck out of each side of its body, and 4 extra spikes stick out of the sides of its tail. The head of the creature was covered with golden head plates, and along its neck were three golden half-rings that formed what appeared to be the ribcage of the creature. The massive serpentine demon let out a small smirk as it flew into the main city.

Finally, I am free from this horrible place! Free of torture and pain and agony! No more shall I, Crigan, fear the depths of Hell itself! The great fallen death centipede thought, before he glanced behind him once more. Behind him was a massive tidal wave of demons, numbering in the millions. Crigan could hear them cursing for his blood, each of them shouting that no being could escape from them. Rolling his eyes, Crigan rolled over onto is back, the striped black-red markings on his underbelly now airside up. The faceplate on his head parted to the side, allowing for a large bluish flame to form in his mouth. Crigan counted to three, then leg it go, the flame flew right into the multitude of demons, before exploding in the midst of their ranks. Crigan rolled once again and flew off, snickering to himself as he heard the wails of pain as the demons behind him were incinerated in the explosion.

Now, where on earth is that fou- there it is! The demon thought as it spotted what it was searching for. It was the only source of water in all of Hell itself. It was a fountain, with a radius of roughly 40 feet or so, and in the middle of it was what appeared to be a miniature Shinto gate. As Crigan neared the fountain, the ground around it cracked, then began to rotate counter-clockwise slowly, to Crigan’s annoyance .After some turning, it burst upward from the ground, and Crigan could see just why it was now hovering above the ground. Wrapped around the bottom of the fountain was a golden 8-headed serpent, one far larger than Crigan himself. Each head was attached to a massive neck, tick as tree trunks. On each of the serpent’s heads was a Japanese Kanji, and all 8 pairs of its burning red eyes were locked onto the now un-amused escapadee.

“Crigan… For three hundred years, you have been imprisoned down here, to be used by our forces as a energy source against the forces of Vintage, and now you try and escape from these dark confines?” the 8-headed demon gnashed, barring all 8 of it’s toothy fanged mouths at the death centipede, before resuming, “You are more foolish that I have imagined. Escape from here is not possible, and for even trying to escape, I shall show you your rightful place!” With that, the serpent lunged one of its heads at Crigan, but hit nothing. Confused, the powerful demon swerved its heads left and right, trying to find where he had gone, before a shrill whistling brought all 8 heads to look up, seeing Crigan right above him.

“So very sorry, Orochi, but I don’t have time to play with you right now. I have things to do, wrongs to right, and find a place better than this burning hellhole!” Crigan rasped. Orochi cringed in anger and rage upon hearing Crigan copy the voice of the one who slayed him long ago, and before he could control his anger, the other 7 of his heads shot forward, cursing for the traitor’s blood. Crigan smirked as he rolled to the side, dodging the heads with ease. This dodging continued for roughly two or so minutes. Eventually, Crigan looked behind him, seeing 7 of Orochi’s heads completely tangled together, and unable to yank free of their own coils. With them out of the way, he dove right for the fountain itself.

“YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY FROM ME, WHELP!” The Orochi roared as fire spewed from the main head at Crigan, but the renegade simply fired from his own mouth a twister of draconic energy. The twister impacted the stream of flames, dispersing them in all directions… including right back into the Orochi’s eyes. The serpentine evil howled in pain as it’s own flames began to eat away at it’s eyes, rendering the main head blind… thus leaving it in too much pain to notice that the fountain on it’s back was turned into a portal via the twister that was fired. Crigan dove right into the portal, before it closed up behind him.

Eventually, the fire head of Orochi regained its sight, and the other 7 heads had managed to untangle themselves. But, his prey, the traitor, had given him, and the rest of the demons, the slip. As a large army of demons gathered around Orochi and peered into the fountain on its back, they knew now that there was no way anyone could get to him now. They had all failed their master…

And Orochi had failed his masters as well… both of them.

[Flygon King]

Chapter 2: End of an Era

1457

In the Real World, where the Internet will soon be over 500 years in the future….

The land was a barren wasteland. Where flowers and grassland once flourished, now there was only bare rock and little water. Tall rocky monoliths dotted the landscape, and the realm was vacant of life… except for a small group of people who managed to eek out a living in the region. For many years this tribe and several others have managed to survive in this barren land, but now, a new and deadly trial had come to decimate them…

The tribe in particular was huddled together in a dark cave at the base of one of the monoliths, discussing how lately, all the birds in the area had flown off. None of the group, which consisted of 5 grown men, 8 women and their children of varying ages, had ever seen anything quite like it before. As the group discussed about this occurrence, the ground began to shake violently. The group had experienced earthquakes before, but this one was far more violent and never seemed to end. Bits and pieces of the ceiling above them began to come crashing down, causing great fear and terror amongst the group. Realizing that they had nowhere else to go, they fled to outside the cave, where the worst of what was happening became all to clear.

As the leader of the group, a fit young man of 30 years, came out of the cave, what his eyes saw was something he had never seen before. Flaming rocks, ranging from the size of pebbles to as large as tree trunks, were raining down all across the region. Anything that was in their way was either incinerated or simply flattened. A wave of sheering heat also bombarded the man and his group from above, causing them to look upward… and scream in terror.

A gigantic meteor, over 500 miles in diameter, was bearing down upon the atmosphere. Small chunks and pieces of the harbinger of death separated from the gigantic mass of iron and rock and collided with the surface of the planet, raining death and destruction everywhere. The man looked from one horizon to the other, but the massive flaming meteor obscured the sky completely. He, and the rest of his group knew that there was no escape from this kind of death. There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide… the only thing they could do was pray. The men, and the woman and children simply prayed, heads bowed and eyes closed, hoping for their deaths to be painless and swift as the meteor came ever closer, turning the area into a baking desert.

But fate had other plans for these people and their descendants. As they prayed, a portal tore open directly above their heads. The leader of the group looked upward at the portal, which shone a radiant green color and showed a strange, almost space-like land beyond it. To his amazement, a large creature flew out of the portal and headed right for the flaming meteor. To the man watching, it appeared to look like a large silver-colored llama with a golden wheel around its belly. As the large beast galloped upward toward the flaming meteor, 17 tablets flew from its body and began to circle around it, creating a barrier around the magnificent creature. The man watched as it charged right into the massive meteor, before realizing what it was about to do.

“Everyone take cover!” The man shouted at the top of his lungs. The rest of the group, whom had finished praying and had been watching what was going on, obeyed without delay and flew themselves as flat as they could onto the ground, grabbing whatever they could to anchor themselves down. The man himself just managed to duck for cover as the massive meteor vanished in a brilliant white light, a light that obscured all else in the heavens. Mere seconds later, a massive explosion blasted trough the entire region. The explosion uprooted what few trees were in the area, collapsed the massive monoliths that stood, and sent anything that wasn’t firmly anchored to the ground flying off miles away. The people anchored on the ground held firm, trying not to let go as powerful winds from the explosion blasted through the area, blowing away anything and everything around. The entire group had their eyes closed as they tried to endure through this terrible ordeal, hoping that it would all be over soon…

For several minutes, the hung on as tight as they could, refusing to let go as everything around them shook and quaked for what seemed like an eternity. Flames and dusty winds lashed out at them, until finally, it ceased. Slowly, one by one, they lifted up their heads to see what had happened.. and they were shocked at what they saw.

Fiery embers still rained down upon the ground, but the meteor itself was gone. All over the area, fragments of it still collided with the ground, but these no longer posed any real threat. The entire area looked as if it had been blown away by a giant fan. The giant spires that had dotted the landscape had been blasted down all over the place. As he observed the aftermath of the meteor’s destruction, the man squinted his eyes, looking at something in particular.

“ There’s something over there, behind that dense smoke!” The man told the rest of his people, before adding, “ I want the rest of you to stay here while I take a look at it.” Once the woman, children, and other men nodded, the man took off, toward what he thought he had seen. Slowly his eyes began to see through the smoke and fire as he neared it, before he finally stopped.

Infront of him, buried beneath the rock, with only a bit of its wheel sticking out from the rubble, was the very creature that had spared their lives… dead.

[Flygon King]

Chapter three: Fallout

1457

In the real world, where the Internet will be 500 years in the future.

“No… This simply cannot be… please be alive, o great creature that saved our lives!” the young man panted as he began to dig the rubble from on top of the creature. Even as he removed the rocks and dirt, he kept hoping that this wasn’t the same creature that had saved his entire tribe’s lives.

It was the same creature.

He stopped unearthing the dust and rubble when he finally reached the fine, silvery fur of the body of the celestial llama. There was something about the creature lying before him that seemed to instill a sense of fear and wonder into the man. Slowly he placed his hand on the body of the thing, expecting it to be dead… after all, nothing could survive a meteor strike like that.

To his surprise, he felt a very faint pulse beating from the body… it was alive… but barely. The man rubbed the exposed side, almost enjoying the smooth feel of the fur and flesh of the creature. But his attention was cut short when he heard what he assumed to be rock crumbling to his right. He turned, only then seeing the plate that was embedded into the ground not 100 feet from him. He moved slowly toward it, not certain what it was. It was about 5 feet long, and was colored like the grass that used to flourish in the region. On it were ancient runes that the man could not understand. It was like nothing he had ever seen.

“Wasn’t this… one of the things that was circling that creature?” The man asked himself, looking from the plate, to the buried body, then back to the plate. Only then did the idea hit him. “Perhaps… this plate is needed to bring that llama-thing back from death’s icy grip. I just hope this works…” The man gulped as he grabbed the plate in both hands… then tugged as hard as he could. He could have sworn he saw the plate budge an inch, but nothing else. He tugged, and he pulled, but there was no response. After 5 minutes of trying to get the plate out, the man collapsed into a heap, sweating and panting, with the rest of his tribe watching, they obeying the orders he had laid down. He glared angrily at the coffin-shaped object sticking out of the ground. The damn thing refused to budge… it was too firmly entrenched in the ground. He wasn’t strong enough to get it out… he needed more strength…

That was when a cold, icy aura trickled down the man’s back. He jumped, his mind racing wildly. What was that? He looked around, trying to identify the location of the horrid sensation… but couldn’t. As he looked around, his feet seemed to step on something that was warm… and alive. In shock, the man stepped back, his face twisting into pure horror as a massive puddle of Dark Matter formed in front of him, and a pair of large red eyes peered from the darkness. The man stumbled back, his mind paralyzed in fear… except for one, single crazy notion. This thing… is probably a friend of the thing unconscious under the rocks. The man thought as he watched the thing seem to rise up out of the puddle. As he stepped back, the new creature bent it’s eyes down upon the man, while two black, leathery wings spread forth from its back. What appeared to be three golden rings were around the thing’s neck, and a golden helmet, or mask, whatever one it was he was unable to tell, covered its face. Its body solidified from the shadows, producing 6 massive, pillar-like legs. On each wing were three red spikes, and the tail of the creature was short, yet thick. As the man instinctively backed up, the massive creature bent down close, to examine him. Every nerve of his body told him to run, to flee from this unholy terror, but his heart told him to stay and try his idea. It was a crazy idea, but the man hoped it would work…

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After he had escaped from Hell, Crigan had landed back in the Distortion World, the realm which he alone had supremacy over, his home. There, he had planned to rest for a while… until he felt a strange sensation from a far-off place. Wanting to investigate it, the demonic dragon had fired up another portal, before flying through it. Once he had exited from it, his form had changed from the standard Origin Forme to his bulkier Altered Forme, caused by changing from a region of Anti-Matter, or region of incredible heat, to an area of normal Matter or more moderate temperatures. Now here he was, starring down an odd human, in what best reminded him of the aftermath of one of Groudon and Kyogre’s titanic struggles.

It was the closest thing he could compare the landscape to.

“ If you are not here to cause harm to me and my people, O strange lizard, then please help out that poor creature over there!” The human in front of him spoke., pointing a finger at what appeared to be a mound of rubble not too far from him. As Crigan narrowed his eyes to look at the rubble, something sparkled out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, noticing the Plate half-buried in the ground. At that moment, his eyes went wide with horror at the realization of just what this meant.

Don’t tell me… Please don’t tell me… Crigan’s mind raced as he bit the plate, before pulling. It took very little of his energy and strength to pull the coffin-shaped object out. He whirled his head back over to the rubble of rocks, only then seeing, through the fading light, the unburied bit of the other creature’s body. Crigan flew over to the body, a single eye twitching. There was no doubt about it now…

This, was Arceus that was buried here.

“How… how could this have happened? Why did you come to this realm, this realm of little importance to you, and nearly get killed?” Crigan whimpered, as he lowered his head. Of all the Legendaries, Crigan himself knew Arceus best out of all of them. Or, at least, he had known the former Arceus better than anyone else. He knew that the only reason Arceus would head to a remote and stale dimension like this only if it were in some great peril, and looking around at it now… Crigan bashed his head against a rock, tears streaming down his face. The body lying here… others having found it first… Arceus barely alive… it reminded him too much of-

With that, terrible memories began to rip their way back into the frontmost part of Crigan’s mind, memories that caused him to wait out in pain. He tried to shake them away, to be rid of them, but it was too late.

He was already recalling… that horrible day. The day the old Arceus was taken from him…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 4: Death of a Dynasty, Part 1

900
In the Pokemon World; The Hall of Origin.

“Now, would you two mind telling me why both Turnback cave and Birth Island have been wiped off the face of the universe?”

Both Groudon and Kyogre nervously looked at each other. They had known this issue would be addressed at this Legendary Meeting, but they had hoped it wouldn’t be brought up. They had hoped this meeting would have been post-poned for whatever reason they could think. They had prayed that Arceus wouldn’t be there to chew them out and give them a fitting punishment.

Obviously, their prayers had gone unanswered.

“Well?” Arceus once again asked the Leviathan and Behemoth. Both Groudon and Kyogre slowly turned their gaze back over at the celestial llama. They were all gathered around a massive, long table that streached through most of the Hall of Origin. All around the table was every single one of the 47 Legendaries that existed. From Articuno to Genesect, each of them all had a part in the meeting, with Arceus herself presiding over the whole thing from her elevated throne at the head of the table. Normally, meeting like this would have multiple subjects to be discussed, like the latest news and whatnot.

This time, however, there was only one thing to talk about.

“Um, funny story about that actually…” Kyogre began to reply, but Arceus’s glare silenced her.

“This is not funny, Kyogre. Each and every decade, for the past couple thousand years, you two keep getting into stupid fights that, time and time again, disrupt the very fabric of life in our universe. Each and every time, you afterward apologized and swore to never to do it again, and each time, you broke that promise. I have a lot of patience, but this time, you two went TOO FAR! TURNBACK CAVE HAS BEEN WIPED OUT OF EXISTANCE, DAMNIT!” Arceus blasted in fury. The other legendaries all recoiled expectedly in fear, especially both Groudon and Kyogre, who were quaking where they were. Even Mewtwo, who was normally the most calm and fearless of the group, seemed to have fear in his eyes. Arceus looked around her, at all the frightened legendaries. She could atleast understand why there were so terrified. Never had she been this… angry at someone, but this time, the two clowns deserved every bit of her anger… and a most fitting punishment.

“Now, not only does Giratina not have his favorite way into the Distortion World anymore, Deoxys no longer has her home. I have no idea why Rayquaza hasn’t kept a tighter leash on the two of you…” With this, she shifted her angry glare to the ozone dragon, who simply looked down, trying not to make eye contact with her, before she continued, “Now, normally I would have Mewtwo give you two a stern, 200 hour long lecture on preservation rather than destruction…”

At this, both Groudon and Kyogre let out a sigh. Thank goodness. Every legendary here knew that Mewtwo’s lectures were the most boring and lengthy things ever to be invented. All he would do was drone on and on about some microscopic point, until the poor person being lectured to had been driven insane. Both Legendaries had gone through his lectures many a times, and each time made them hate them more. But to not have to deal with Mewtwo’s lectures…

“Instead, you two will be with Shaymin for the next few months and helping her out with her garden.” The Alpha Legendary ordered. A small smirk formed on her face as she saw Kyogre and Groudon’s jaws drop. “Me and the rest of the Legendaries have been discussing what your punishment would be for quite a while now, and we figured this would be the best fit punishment for you. Besides, Shaymin’s garden was also damaged by the both of you fighting… I’m fairly certain neither of you will get into a fight with the other once this begins… Shaymin, will you do the honors?”

Both Groudon and Kyogre gulped as their eyes shifted over to the tiny green hedgehog sitting not too far away from them. Shaymin yawned before she looked up at the Alpha being. “Yes, Arceus, I will” She mewed, before glaring at the Weather Legendaries. “ “ALRIGHT, YOU TWO SLACK-JAWED IDIOTS! TIME TO GET TO WORK!!!” Shaymin barked as two vines shot out of her back and flew right for Groudon and Kyogre. The two Legendaries roared out in pain as the vines began to lash at their backs, leaving painful marks. The vines kept lashing out at them as Shaymin herded them out of the Hall of Origin, and off to her Gracidea flower garden. Even when she was some way from the garden, the other legendaries could hear Groudon and Kyogre howl in pain as the vines lashed against their backs… then, they were gone.

“Now with that settled, it has already been decided before hand that Deoxys will be living with Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave, and Giratina…” Here she looked over at the giant centipede creature, who had a small smile spreading across his face. “… will be living in a separate room here. Now, is there anything else that is to be addressed right here and now before an official meeting is to be held?” Arceus asked the remaining Legendaries. One by one, they all shook their heads. “If that is the case, then this emergency meeting is now over.”

As soon as the words were said, Rayquaza shot off like a rocket out of the Hall of Origins and off to the Sky Pillar. He wanted to be as far away from Arceus as possible, to avoid punishment. Slowly, the rest of the Legendaries began to leave the hall to head back to their places. The three legendary Birds, headed by Lugia, flew off into the distance, while Mew took off for Faraway Island. The Legendary Dogs raced off out of the hall, discussing the terms for their next Halo match, as Mewtwo and Deoxys took off for Cerulean Cave. Ho-oh flew up into the sky, his wings glittering with the colors of the rainbow, to once again wander the globe until the next meeting. Celebi and Jirachi vanished in a bright light, both heading for the Ilex Shrine. The Lati Twins zoomed off for the Hoenn region, while the three Regis stormed off, each going to their own cave. The Lake Trio, bar Uxie, also teleported out, the latter floating off to the infirmary to check up on medical supplies, while Palkia and Dialga warped out, each heading for their own dimension. Cresselia and Darkrai also went off, each going to their respective islands right next to each other. As Manaphy giggled, Regigigas picked her up in one hand, and them lumbered off. Heatran dug into the ground, leaving a large hole where he had been. Victini raced off like a rocket, with the Musketeer Trio after him. The Genies as well headed off, Thunderus and Tornadus bringing thunderstorms wherever they went. Last to leave were the Yin-Yang trio and Meloetta. As the muse played on her harp, the three dragons followed her, until they were out of sight.

All that was left in the hall were Arceus, Giratina, and Genesect. The centipede dragon looked over at Genesect, a curious look on his face. Normally, Genesect would have been the first to leave the meetings, to immediately head off to the isolated laboratory in Unova. He rarely, if ever, was seen outside of there. He was an isolated figure, and one many of the other Legendaries stayed away from Once, Giratina had passed by the abandoned building, when he had heard Genesect talking to someone, someone by the name of Akuro. Out of curiosity, he had peeked inside, only to see that Genesect was apparently talking to himself. He had felt like reporting this to Arceus, but he had decided it was a minor thing, namely, Genesect being brain-dead or something like that, and decided to leave it alone. Perhaps, he had been on the recieving end of a few too many lectures from Mewtwo. Now here he was, and it appeared he needed to have a word with Arceus…

“You go first. I can wait until your done with whatever you need from Arceus.” Giratina growled.

Genesect chuckled. “Oh no. You go first. Everyone knows that you and Arceus are very close together. I’d rather let you two discuss your plans before I talk to Arceus…”

“If that is the case…” Giratina said, before he moved toward Arceus. As the Alpha and Renegade Legendaries meet one another, Genesect simply stood back, arms folded together… He could afford to buy his time…

After all, his plans for Arceus could wait until Giratina was finished…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 5: Death of a Dynasty, Part 2

900

In the Pokemon World: The Hall of Origin

Both Giratina and Arceus stood before one another, their eyes seeing into the inner-most depths of the other. As they gazed at one another, they began to change into their human forms. Normally, it was a rule to always stay in one’s true form, but Arceus and Giratina were both exceptions to that rule. Genesect simply watched from the entrance. He hadn’t seen either of them in their human forms before, and he had always wondered what they looked like.

Giratina had changed into a tall man in his early twenties, with slightly tan skin, semi-loose blue jeans with a thick black belt on them, a white undershirt with a black leather jacket over it, short and brown curly hair, and a pair of triangular shades that seemed to have nothing holding them up on his face. Arceus, on the other hand, was now a short girl with long, purple hair, pale white skin, all-white khakis and shirt, and a red baseball cap on her head. Truth be told, their human forms were something Genesect hadn’t expected in the slightest…

“ Things have changed quite abit since I banished you so long ago…” Arceus said, as her hand gently touched Giratina’s cheek.

Giratina laughed. “Yes, they have. If I remember correctly, the whole reason why you banished me was because I went into a temporary fit of rage, because Darkrai had woken me up from a wonderful dream.”

“That ‘Fit of rage’ ended with you wiping several planets off the map, silly. I had to lock you up in the Distortion World for several millenium before I let you out again.” Arceus reminded him.

Giratina laughed some more, before adjusting the shades on his face. A small smile spread. “Back then, if anyone would have thought that we’d end up being lovers, they’d be erased from existence… but to look at things now…”

“Yeah…”

“Um, so why did you say that I’d be sleeping in the room across from yours? I can still head to the Distortion Word…”

Here, Arceus grabbed Giratina’s face, and pulled him in close. Her forehead touched his, and her eyes sparkled before him. “ because… I like your company, Giratina.” As she finished, they both were about to kiss, when a couch from the entrance stopped both of them. Both turned, to see Genesect waiting, his arms folded.

“Seems like you have someone waiting for you… I’ll give you that kiss later.” Giratina spoke silently, before giving Arceus a quick kiss on the forehead. She blushed, as Giratina then walked off, brushing past the insectoid creature. Genesect turned his head back and hissed at Giratina, who paid no attention. The cyborg bug then turned his attention back to Arceus, who had turned back into her qilin appearance. She had her back turned to Genesect, as if pondering something…

“What is it that you want?” Arceus said in a low, irritated tone. Genesect smirked. Obviously, Arceus was ticked off that she hadn’t been able to give Giratina her kiss, and now she was in a bad mood. “The hall’s closing down in 5 minutes, to make your request quick and to the point.”

“If that is what you want, Arceus…” Genesect hummed, his voice deeper and darker than before. A dark aura began to shroud the insect, and his mechanical compound eyes glowed a dark reddish color. “Then I shall tell you my request…”

“Oh, I think I know what your request is already… AKURO!”

The great Alpha Being whirled as she roared the name, unleashing a fiery pillar of energy from her head at the insectoid creature. Reacting fast, Genesect sidestepped the beam, letting the Flamethrower spiral into the wall. A wave of heat washed through the room as the wall exploded, sending debris flying all over. A large rock landed at the entrance, sealing it off completely. Genesect chuckled as he began to circle Arceus, a sinister chuckle escaping the possessed insect’s mouth. No doubt that others would come from hearing the explosion, but, thankfully, for Genesect that was no longer an issue.

“Hmmmm… for one like you to know of my name is a rarity.” The insect hissed as his dark, red eyes locked onto Arceus. “Few in this universe know of my existence, let alone my name. For that, I applaud you, Arceus…” The insect began to burst out in a deep, chilling laughter, his mechanical head lifted up into the heavens, though his compound eyes kept track on the Legendary, who was shifting her position.

“ When other deities from all over the universe start falling one by one, keeping your existence a secret becomes incredibly hard, especially when you yourself were once a deity, traitor.” Arceus growled as her eyes glowed pure white. It was true. For the past several thousand years, deities from all over the universe were being wiped out at an alarming rate, and it was only a matter of time before the universe was god-less. It didn't take a rocket scientist to connect that with the reports of one deity, Akuro, going insane for an unknown reason and dissapearing. Normally, she would be concerned of Genesect’s safety, but the fact that he disproved of Arceus’s ruling as the top legendary, Genesect’s rather vocal desire to oust Arceus, and the fights between the two of them, made Arceus not regret her next move one bit. Numerous lights shot up from her head up into the heavens, filling the canopy of the Hall of Origin with pretty lights. Then, they came back down, as flaming projectiles, all aimed at the possessed Genesect. The mechanical insect moved like a blur, dodging the Judgment attack with ease. Each flaming meteor missed its mark, and exploded against the ground, littering the floor of the Hall with craters.

“ For a deity, you sure are pathetically easy to read.” Akuro’s voice hissed from the smoke. Arceus, pinpointing him from the location of his voice, roared in rage as she fired off a twister of draconic energy from the top of her head. The twister spiraled right toward Genesect, splitting away the clouds of smoke obscuring him, revealing the charging cannon ontop of his back. With an ear-splitting screech, the cannon fired into the twister, colliding with it. For a second, it seemed like both attacks were locked in a beam-war, but the beam sliced through the twister with ease, before exploding in Arceus’s face. The force of the impact sent the celestial qilin sprawling onto her back, groaning in pain. Smoke once again obscured her sight, and her body ached with pain from the force of the attack. She struggled onto her feet, glaring left and right in vain to locate her foe.

The great being’s heart skipped a beat as she felt something be run through her back . She looked down, too much in shock to attack. What she saw was a sharp claw, covered in her own blood, sticking out of her chest. Genesect roared with laughter as he pulled his arm out, the blood of the Alpha being dripping down ever so slowly. Arceus tried to turn around and attack, but to her shock and horror, her legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed in a bloody heap on the ground. She desperately tried to launch an attack, but she lacked the energy to. Somehow, Genesect’s attack had drained Arceus of all her power…

“ BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Is that ALL you got?!” Akuro’s voice gloated as his willing puppet moved infront of Arceus, before bending down to spit in her face. “ And here I was, thinking that perhaps I could get a semi-decent challenge. You’re a JOKE! AN ABSOLUTE JOKE! YOUR NOT EVEN WORTH CALLING A DEITY! YOUR PATHETIC!" The mechanical insect continued to laugh hysterically for several moments, before he managed to regain enough of his composure to continue taunting the downed legend. “And to think you call yourself a deity… you lasted the shortest of all the fights I’ve had against other deities…”

“What… is it.. that you want… with me, you… maniac?” Arceus groaned, rapidly getting weaker and weaker. Here, Genesect stepped back, and raised his hands upward toward the canopy, all aware of the blocked entrance now shaking.

“What it is that I want with you? I don’t want anything to do with you, Arceus… I wish to recreate this universe, to rid it of all emotions.. of sadness, of envy, of hatred and anger… to create a new and perfect universe… and to do that, those with the power to stop me must be killed off… Oh.” Here, the possessed traitor stopped, and a massive evil grin spread across his face, something seemingly impossible for a cyborg like Genesect. “ It would appear that you have company. I don’t want to keep them waiting…”

Those were the last words that Arceus heard from Akuro, for as he spoke them, dark shadows enveloped Genesect, before he vanished among them. At that moment, the pile of rocks that blocked the entrance began to glow, before shattering, dust and pebbles flying everywhere. The first to come through was Giratina, in his Altered Forme. Arceus raised her head up weakly as the massive centipede-like dragon flew to her side, his face twisted with grief ans shock from the damage he had seen. Behind him, came the rest of the Legendaries, who had heard the commotion.

“Arceus… what happened to you?’ Giratina rasped, his voice choked with sadness as he held up Arceus’s head with his two black wings. Before the Qilin could weakly answer, Giratina roared upward,” GENESECT!!!!!”, a horrible, ghastly cry that shook the core of every being ni the Hall. He turned back down to face Arceus, a single tear streaking down his face, mirroring the tears of the Alpha being’s face. “You’re going to be alright, you hear me? You’ll be alright. I’ll have uxie get some medicine and-“

“No, Giratina.” The weak voice of Arceus whispered, stopping the giant mid-sentence. “My injuries are far too great to be healed… My time is up. Genesect’s attack…w as just too much for me to handle. You must lead on the legendaries, and be their advisor, until I am revived. Besides,” Here, Arceus formed a weak smile. “Uxie’s medicine would kill me rather than make me better.”

No one laughed. Giratina pressed his face against Arceus’s face, trying to keep her among the living. “No… you can’t die, Arceus… please… Please don’t die on me…” Now, the Ruler of the Distortion World, the one who ferried souls to their final destinations, was breaking out into tears, his golden mask failing to hide the deep sorrow that was tearing the legendary apart. ‘Atleast, let me give you… a proper kiss, before you go on.”

“Yes… “ Was the great being’s reply. Giratina turned Arceus’s face so that both were looking at one another, eye to eye. Then, he moved his head in, with the rest of the legendaries watching. Some were letting out the full waterworks. Others weretrying their best to suppress the tears. Even Darkrai, stoic as he was, had a single tear heading down his face. Never would they have imagined that this would happen.

But it was a kiss that wasn’t to be, for as Giratina’s mouth was inches from Arceus’s, he could feel her life slip away. He looked into her cold-lifeless eyes, his own red with tears. Why? Why had the universe gone against him? Why had this happened? “WHYYYYYYYYYY” The giant centipede being roared into the heavens themselves, as a sad, wailing cry. It was a cry that was heard from the mountains, to the sea, from the Celestial Plain, to the Internet World. It was a cry that cut through space and time, and affected all that heard it…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 6: Resurrection and a New Life

1457

In the real world, where The Internet would be 500 years in the future.

Crigan’s face broke out in tears, tears that were now landing on Arceus’s body. When Arceus had died that day, the great Ruler of the Distortion World had torn at himself emotionally and mentally, isolating himself from the other legendaries. They had tried to comfort him, but he had retaliated back, blinded by the sorrow that tainted his heart.

When news came that the resurrection process had chosen a host to be the new Arceus, at first, his heart began to liften. Yes, the resurrection process had never been done before, namely because no legendary had ever died, bar Latios, but that was before his son and daughter, the current Latios and Latias, were given the Legendary status by Arceus. Supposedly, the essence of the deceased legendary selected out the host most suitable for the task , then took over their body. This process could take anywhere between a few minutes, and several centuries. In Arceus’s case, it only took a few months. But whatever joy Crigan had felt was shattered beyond repair when he learned that the new hsot that Arceus had chosen was male. A male Arceus was something Crigan didn’t want to happen, and he fled and locked himself up in the Distortion World, completely overcome with rage, anger, sadness, and countless other bitter emotions. However, in his haste, he had left behind the Gresious Orb, the orb that gave him life and power. Crigan didn’t realize this until the now male Arceus sent him a telepathic message saying he had left it behind. Crigan was about to go get it, but that was when the demons attacked and he had been dragged into Hell, where he had gotten his new name.

Hundreds of years of torture, hundreds of years of agonizing pain and mockery, and he had finally escaped, only to see Arceus, once again killed… He couldn’t bear it. The giant bent down ever so low onto his knees and wept, the humans watching him from a distance away. Why must Arceus always die on him? Why???

At that moment, the plate in Crigan’s mouth began to glow a most radiant light, before it slipped out of his clutches. All Crigan, and those humans watching, could do was stand back as the plate seemed to slip into Arceus’s body. The Alpha being’s body began to glow, and as Crigan watched, plates suddenly began to fly in from all over the area, plates that had been scattered by the impact. They all flew into Arceus, one by one. As the last of the plates vanished, Arceus himself began to rise onto his feet, rejuvenated and revived. The almighty being stood tall, eye-to eye with Crigan, who bowed down immediately, covering his head with his wings.

“ I am sorry, Arceus. I have failed you twice, and for that, you have suffered death twice now. This is all my fault.”

“GIRATINA-“

“No. I am no longer worthy of that name. What has been done to me in Hell had made me more demon that legendary now. Now, my name is Crigan. Forgive me, Arceus, of my failures…”

The Alpha Being chuckled. “CRIGAN” He bellowed out, in a loud and authorative voice, one that oddly sounded neither male nor female, but something in between. “THERE WAS NOTHING YOU COULD DO TO PREVENT WHAT HAPPENED. HAD YOU TRIERD TO SAVE ME FROM GENESECT, HE WOULD HAVE SLAIN YOU ON THE SPOT AS WELL. DON’T THINK SO LOWLY OF YOURSELF. WHAT HAS HAPPENED HAS HAPPENED. IT CANNOT BE CHANGED NOR UNDONE. THAT SAID, I BELIEVE I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU.”

Crigan raised up his head, his eyes locked with Arceus’s. The Alpha Being’s eyes glowed, and an oddly shaped gem appeared before Crigan. He picked it up in his mouth, and swallowed it. Upon doing so, a strength and power long since forgotten to the Anti-Matter master returned to him, and his Forme changed into his more serpentine shape. “Thank you, Arceus. I am in your debt.”

“NO, YOU ARE NOT. I MUST THANK YOU, CRIGAN. HAD YOU NOT COME ALONG, I WOULD PROBABLY HAVE DIED FOR CERTAIN, AND WOULD HAVE TO RELY ON THE RESURRECTION PROCESS.” Arceus replied, before adding on, “THERE IS ONE REQUEST THAT I HAVE OF YOU, CRIGAN.” This caused the basilisk-like entity to move abit closer to Arceus. “ GO FORTH AND FIND YOURSELF A SUITABLE MATE. BEING HUNG UP ON THE PAST IS NEVER A GOOD THING, CRIGAN. FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL TURN YOUR LIFE INTO ETERNAL HAPPINESS. I CAN NO LONGER FULFILL THAT ROLE. THE HAPPINESS THE TWO OF US HAD BEFORE M FIRST DEATH IS SOMETHING I REMEMBER GREATLY, BUT NOW, YOU HAVE TO MOVE ON…” Commanded the Qilin.

Crigan lowered his head once more, now in pondering. A suitable mate? That was easier said than done. His love for the old Arceus, the female Arceus, was something that he could never forget. Far too many cherished memories lay back during those good times. But, if it was Arceus’s wish, then Crigan would fill it out to a T, no matter what. “Yes, Arceus.” He responded.

With that settled, Arceus then turned to face the group of humans that had been watching and listening in on the whole scenario. “ YOU THERE, COME FORTH.” The Qilin commanded to the young man who had tried to save his life. The man came forth, and bowed before the giant creature. “TELL ME, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” Arceus asked him.

“It’s Damos, the name is Damos.”

“DAMOS… YOU HAVE SHOWN GREAT COURAGE, STANDING UP BEFORE CRIGAN HERE AND ASKING HIM FOR HELP. SOMETHIN GLIKE THAT TAKES GUTS FOR A HUMAN LIKE YOU TO DO. AS A REWARD FOR YOUR BRAVERY, HAVE THIS.” Arceus bellowed as 5 of the plates he had absorbed floated out of his body. Crigan noticed that they were the Dragon, Grass, Ground, Electric, and Water plates. The 5 plates spun around one another, before they fused together in a bright light. When the light faded, what was before Damos was a brilliant green jewel, one that seemed to glow with a pleasant lightness to it. “THAT IS THE JEWEL OF LIFE. WITH IT, THIS LAND SHALL PROSPER, AND YOUR PEOPLE WILL PROSPER. HOWEVER,WITHOU TTHOSE PLATES, MY POWER IS WEAKER THAN IT WOULD BE NORMALLY. PROMISE ME THAT YOU WILL RETURN THE JEWEL TO ME, WHEN THE MOON BLOCKS OUT THE SUN.”

“I promise to keep that, and to return these to you, O wooly one.” Damos responded as the Jewel of Life entered into his hands. Arceus chuckled at the slight joke, before he turned once more to face Crigan.

“ REMEMBER, CRIGAN… FIND YOURSELF A SUITABLE MATE… I WILL DEAL WITH GENESECT ONCE I FIND OUT WHERE HE HAS GONE INTO HIDING.” Arceus roared out as he took off, back into the sky. Crigan watched as the Alpha Being flew back into the portal he had come from, the portal closing behind him. As he watched, Crigan began to shrink down, into his human Forme.

From behind him, a voice rang out, “The great llama deity has given us a protector! Let us give him a sacrifice!” Crigan turned, and saw several of the men hurrying back into the caves. Quickly, he was surrounded by the rest, who were thanking him for indirectly bringing them this jewel. They began to ask him to become their king. Normally, Crigan would enjoy such a thing, ruling over these humans, but right now, he wasn’t in the mood.

“I’m sorry, but I have to decli-“ He began, but he stopped mid-sentence as he saw the young woman that was lead out of the caves. She was a tall woman, about 6ft or so, with short, golden hair. Her eyes were a rich blue color, and she had a frame and natural beauty that, to Crigan, rivaled, no, surpassed that of any of the Legendaries. Her clothing was more or less identical to that of what the other woman wore, but she had on sandals, unlike the rest of the people, who were in bare feet. To Crigan, a feeling that he had never felt before smashed into him head-first. It was a feeling that reminded him of Arceus, only on a far greater scale. It was, as Cresselia would put it, love at first sight.

“O Crigan, for enlisting your friend to save us, we give to you the finest maid of our tribe.” Damos said as he moved toward both of them. Crigan, however, failed to hear what he had said. All he could focus on, was the girl.

“ Um, tell me, miss… what is your name?” Crigan asked her, trying to sound his most gentlemen and polite. However, he noticed, that she was looking, lovely at HIM!

The girl took a step forward, and grabbed Crigan’s hands from his sides. “The name is Mara. Is there, anything I can do for you?” She asked him, her eyes sparking with innocence only an angel could have.

“ Um… yes. Actually, there is something you can do for me.” Crigan replied, before he bent down on his knee and looked up at her. Yes… she was very beautiful… with a very nice bust si - Immediately, he squashed any pervertedness haunting his mind, before focusing. “Would you… like to marry me?” He asked her.

And then, with a tender and sweet voice, she replied, “ Yes. I would love to,” Before she kissed him. The rest of the tribe cheered, for they knew, that from then on, the times that laid ahead would be filled with much joy and bounty…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 7: The End of the Good Times

1507

In the real world, where The Internet will be in the future.

To say that the next 50 years of Crigan’s life were the happiest he had ever had would be an understatement. A very big understatement, for never had the Ruler of the Distortion World felt so much joy and genuine happiness as he did during those years. Those years with Mara were very special to him, for they were a very sharp contrast from the years of pain and misery he had undergone since Arceus’s original death. Both he and Mara spend every day with one another, taking care of each other, and strove toward a common goal, that being the other’s wellbeing. Of course, Crigan had to keep from Mara his identity as a giant demonic centipede, so he spent his entire time with her in his human form, only vaguely telling her of his occupation. From time to time, the other Legendaries came to visit him and Mara. They, of course, had to use their human forms around her, so as to not freak her out, since she did not know of that. Every day, Crigan had to leave for the Hall of Origin back in his universe, but never did he tell Mara of just what he did. Several times, she had asked if she could come as well. Those times, Arceus and the other legendaries would get into their human forms and change the Hall of Origin around, so it looked like a pizza point, an idea that Shaymin had come up with. It was a ruse that Crigan had put up with for 50 years, and a ruse that had him hating himself for deceiving Mara.

The landscape also had changed during those 50 years. Thanks to the jewel of Life that Arceus had left, the land had been transformed from a dying desert into a rich grassland dotted with trees, water, and wildlife. Also, countless tribes had joined together with the tribe that Damos had lead, creating a village, then a town, and finally, a massive kingdom that stretched across the land. Crigan himself didn’t know how many people the kingdom contained, but he was sure that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, now were apart of the kingdom.

On one particular day, the great ruler of the Distortion World had found himself flying back from an emergency meeting. He flew over the various towns and villages that dotted the landscape, hiding up in the clouds so as not to be seen. He was already nearing his destination, a tall, green hill that sat along the fringes of the Kingdom. Ontop of the hill was a nice, small, wooden house that he had built.

It’s good to be home. Crigan thought to himself as he landed infront of the house. As he opened up the front door, he changed into his smaller, human form, then entered on in.

The house was filled with the soothing sound of Mara’s singing, as usual. Crigan looked around, but didn’t see Mara. Perhaps… she was upstairs? He moved toward the stairs, and went up them. Up at the top, was a long, narrow hallway. The man moved straight forward, before he came to the door that Mara’s voice was coming from. He opened it.

“Mara, you know that your not feeling well. Please conserve your energy…” Crigan said as he entered into the room. As he thought, Mara was lying down on her bed, still singing even as she turned to face him. Appearance-wise, the 50 years had not been kind to her. Her hair was now gray, and rapidly thinning. Her skin was wrinkled and sagging. Her once bright eyes were now dull, and slightly stained red. All in all, she was no longer the beauty that Crigan had laid eyes on 50 years ago, but she was still the same woman he loved so dearly.

“I know, but you know better than anyone that singing is my favorite thing.” She coughed, erupting into a coughing fit. Blood landed on Crigan face, which he wiped away. He hated seeing her this ill. He wanted to do something, anything to help her out, but he didn’t have that kind of power. Her condition had gone downhill last week, after Crigan had come back from work. At first, it was only back pains and minor headaches, but then came the bleeding out of the mouth, the tumors, the excessive sweating, major headaches, and other symptoms. Neither Mara or Crigan knew what was causing them. Crigan had tried everything he knew to cure her, but nothing worked. Now, he was desperate, and was planning on bringing her to Uxie for help.

“ Not in this kind of condition, Mara. You need your rest, plain and simple.” He stopped, before looking around. “Where’s Bowser? Shouldn’t he be here taking care of you while I have work?”

Mara weakly chuckled. “I sent him off to bring over some company. The turtle took off like a rocket when I asked him to do it…”

Crigan narrowed his eyes. “Okay. Just who did you invite over?”

His questioned was answered by a ring of the doorbell. “You just wait here, okay? I don’t want you to hurt yourself…”

“Oh, you.” Mara teased, sticking her tongue out at him. Crigan sighed, before he went down the stairs once more. He came to the door, and opened it up.

The first thing he was the big-nosed turtle dragon that had been helping him out for the last 50 years, named Bowser. He was a tall, muscular figure, with fiery hair, sharp horns, and a massive spiked shell to match. Bowser was something of a perverted lech, a fact that got him into trouble more often than not when he was near Mara back in the early years. Aside from that, however, he was a hard worker, and very honest, if not just as cryptic about his work as Crigan was. Where Bowser came from was also rather cryptic. All he had said when he volunteered to help out Crigan was that he was ruling his kingdom, when a beautiful woman showed up, froze time, and sent him into this world.

Behind him were two other figures that Crigan knew very well. Both looked human, and one of them was, but the other wasn’t. To the right was a young woman of 19. She had long, blue hair and wore an odd red-cape-like thing that covered all of her except her neck and head. She was Durama, one of his and Mara’s grandchildren. She was only human, but she had the amazing power to foresee the future. That power had given her the job as the royal prophetess, working for the king.

Beside her was a wrinkled old man with barely any hair on his head. He had on a massive green shirt far too big for him, and clay-colored shorts. He had a hammer on his shoulder, and sandals on his feet. Crigan knew him especially well, because he had been there in Hell with him. He was an incredibly ancient demon named Totosai. No other demon that he, or anyone else knew of, was as old as Totosai. Apparently, he lived for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years. His skills as a blacksmith were unsurpassed, and the weaponry and armor he made were perfect in every sense of the word.

“ Why hello there! I wasn’t expecting company.” Crigan lied as he hugged Totosai and Durama, while Bowser backed off.

“Erm… I’ll be heading off now. I got a meeting to go to.” Bowser growled, then took off before Crigan could ask him. The man sighed, before turning his attention once more to his guests.

“Grandpa Crigan, you still look youthful as always…” Durama said.

“Yes, I do… But unfortunately, Mara isn’t doing well right now.”

“Huh? What wrong with her?” Totosai asked, scratching his head with his free hand. Both he and Durama knew of Crigan’s secrets, and they had sworn to not let anyone else know.

“Well… I think you two should just come in and see for yourself.” Crigan replied, before heading back up the stairs and into Mara’s room, both Totosai and Durama following.

“ Why hello you two! I knew Bowser would bring both of you here…” Mara coughed upon seeing her granddaughter and other guest come in. “Would you two like some cookies I made?” This earned a brief glance from Crigan to her. He had told her to not get out of her bed unless it was an emergency, but she hadn’t followed this rule… as always.

Both of them shook their heads. “ What happened to you? You look… terrible.” Durama choked as she was taken back by Mara’s condition. Totosai, however, simply shook his head. He knew what was wrong with her just by looking, but he didn’t want to tell anyone. How were they to be able to cope with an untreatable illness that caused so much pain?

Mara was about to respond, but Crigan signaled to her to keep quiet. She did, then kept her eyes on Durama. The girl was looking up into the sky, muttering something. For a brief second, both Mara and Crigan could have sworn they saw a certain aura of energy surround her, before she stopped. To Mara, she didn’t notice anything after that, but Crigan thought he saw, atleast for a brief second, a horrible shock at what she had just seen. But whatever it was, it was gone in a flash behind a professional mask.

“ I have good news for you, Grandmother. Your illness will go away very soon. It isn’t very serious. Oh, and you will have an encounter with a winged reptile from outer space.” Durama prophesized. That last line caused Crigan and Totosai to chuckle. A winged reptile from outer space? As if that kind of rubbish existed…

But whatever humer was going through Crigan head was immediately banished when Durama whispered into his hear, “I have grave news for you. Mara will bring you great pain and suffering for the rest of your life. Until the day of your death, your heart will break apart. You will wish you could kill yourself, but you can’t…” And then, she and Totosai went out of the room, leaving a very puzzled Crigan and an enlightened Mara behind.

That would be the last of the good times for both of them. For as they were enjoying the visit, the hands of Fate were working against them. A pair of demonic eyes had set their sights on Crigan, and were planning out his very ruin. As Durama had seen in her latest vision, the horror that was to come would be nearly unbearable, and all aimed at Crigan…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 8: Hell Hath No Fury.

1507

The Palace of Shadows; Hell.

The Palace of Shadows… A sinister, dark place that few wanted to be in. It was home to the Ruler of Hell, and little else. It was a magnificent building that towered above the Hellian landscape, it’s shades of red and black cast a horrible image upon those who saw it. The stone-graven gargoyles and dragons that perched upon the Palace walls acted as sentinels, keeping watch over those that came in and almost never left. Most of the time, those who came in never left, and the Palace was filled with the cries of the tormented that came from the torture chambers.

Today was different, however. There was a new sound coming from the depths of the palace… and this was the sound of combat. Something was occurring in the Throne room. On the other side of it were two figures, discussing things in very low whispers. One of them was the dreaded 8-headed Orochi, who could change his size at will and had mastery over 8 elements. The other was Dusknoir, the one-eyed ghost who delivered souls from the Distortion World to Hell. Both of them were high-ranking servants of Hell’s ruler, but what they were discussing suggested otherwise…

“50 years… We had to search the Distortion World for 50 freaking years, and what did we find, NOTHING! Not a single trace of that damn Crigan!” Orochi snapped, his voice slowly rising in anger. "How much longer must we serve that incompetent leader-“

Dusknoir held up his hand, silencing the demonic serpent on the spot. “Keep your voice down, Orochi. We only have to keep up this act until Master Akuro decides to end it. How long that will be is up to him, but we cannot complain of our orders. Still, to not be able to find Crigan in the Distortion World.. means he is now beyond our reach.” Dusknoir contemplated, rubbing his head with his right hand.

Orochi gurgled with distaste, but what Dusknoir said was true. Not going through with Akuro’s orders was a one-way ticket to a fate worse than death itself. As much as both feared the Ruler of Hell, Akuro scared them far worse, mainly because of his deranged state of mind. He was completely unpredictable, and had no rhyme or rhythm. What he did was always impossible to foresee… “ Yes… let us just hope that this act doesn’t last much longer… No being can serve two masters without going insane…That Distortion World creeps me out... all those damn vanishing forests...”

Dusknoir was about to respond, when a loud noise echoed across the passageway they were in. Both of them turned, just in time to see the magnetic dragon Rukodiora be sent flying into the wall behind them. He was a very elegant looking creature, scales black in color, with golden wings on his back, and a golden horn on his head. The dragon struggled back onto his feet, as he was greeted by the confused faces of Orochi and Dusknoir. Like them, he too was a double agent of sorts, also working for Akuro, and all three knew it.

Behind the three figures, smoke began to billow out of the now open doors. They turned, stepping back in respect. As the smoke poured around them, a massive spherical object seemed to materialize out of the smoke. It was large, dwarfing even Orochi. It was black in color, with red lines that criss-crossed across it’s hull, creating an eerie appearance of a face on it. Flames swirled around the sphere, as it shuddered, before the upper half of it split apart and folded outward.

“ Ruko, your fighting style is still rash in nature.” A sweet, feminine voice sounded from the opening sphere. Out of the opened machine emerged the Ruler of Hell herself, a youthful-looking woman with dark skin, long white hair, and rather revealing clothing of the finest materials. Rings adorned her fingers, and bracelets covered her wrists. The three demons all knew that all this jewelry wasn’t for show only… They were her power limiters, keeping her power within a manageable amount. Without them, she couldn’t stay in this form. “You keep rushing at opponents without a plan, and all you’ll end up with is a caved in face. Concentrate on finding the right time and place to attack, okay? With that , you can go off now.” She said to the winged dragon. Her voice was devoid of rage or anger, but akin to that of a mother talking to her child…

The magnetic dragon nodded, before he flew off out of the Palace of Shadows. Once he was out of sight, The Ruler of Hell turned to face both Orochi and Dusknoir, who bowed down before her.

“So, you two have finally come back from your search of the Distortion World… Let me guess, you haven’t found Crigan yet?” She rhetorically asked, sitting back down in the half-sphere mecha.

Both Orochi and Dusknoir looked at one another, before the 8-headed serpent decided to speak up, “Master Persephone, it is as you say. We have searched the Distortion World for 50 years. We scoured every nook and cranny of the desolate wasteland, but there was no trace of him. No doubt he has fled to the real world, where we cannot reach him…”

Persephone sighed, waving her hand to silence the snake. This was just perfect. Ever since Crigan had escaped from Hell, there had been rebellion upon rebellion, 8 in total, all of them she had crushed with ease. Yes, at first they had been humorous, but now, she was getting a little sick of them. If only she could make an example of Crigan… then these stupid rebellions would cease, and she could get some much-needed rest. But she couldn’t, because the Enforcers and Craefr, the Ruler of the Abyss, had strengthened up the barriers between the Distortion World/Hell and the real world. Since the souls of the deceased were ferried to Hell via the Distortion World, the barriers between the two were incredibly weak. Infact, anyone with a significant amount of power could enter into the Distortion World. But what Craefr and the Enforcers had done was strengthen up the barrier around Hell so much that the only way for Persephone or any other demon to get out was either a portal to connect Hell with the Real World, or for her catalyst to be shattered, thus summoning her. But where her catalyst was, was a mystery to her, one that she didn’t like. And all because I revived Orochi from his death. she mentally noted. Sure, she liked ruling Hell, but that damn multi-limbed humanoid idiot would pay for this... once she was done with Crigan. Atleast a few worlds had small little loopholes in the barrier that she could take advantage of... most notably, the one where she had pretended to have actual emotions, changed her appearance, and gave herself a new name, all for the art of trolling. “ I see.” She finally responded, no noticeable change in her tone evident. You two may go now.”

Both Orochi and Dusknoir looked at each other once more, before they both departed. As they made it out of earshot range of Persephone, they let out a sigh of relief.

Once they were out of the castle, Persephone let out a low chuckle. “ Orochi… Ruko… Dusknoir… do you three really think you can play me for fools? I know that you three are agents of Vintage that pretend to serve me… but I won’t kill you just yet… I still have use for you…” Persephone yawned, her eyelids beginning to close. “And as for you, Crigan…" She wispered as she slowly pulled out an amulet from her pocket and opened it up, revealing the one whom she had pretended to love, Brandon, an idea forming in her mind." I Think I know what I’ll do to you… I’ll teach you what happens when you defy Hell… I’ll make you suffer far worse than you did when I used you as a war machine, you just wait…”

[Flygon King]

Chapter 9: Of Dragons and Demons, Part 1

1507

Unknown Location

Bowser looked around cautiously as he made his way past the bushes that surrounded the hole in the ground. For the past 30 minutes, the Koopa King had been making his way here in secret, trying not to get caught, but now, he had arrived. The area he was in now was some distance away from the hill, in a small secluded valley. Had anyone else been here to see, nothing would have looked rather suspicious, aside from the lecherous turtle dragon sneaking around, but to Bowser, this was where he worked.

The Koopa King leapt into the hole, darkness quickly surrounding him. He grunted as he landed on the ground, before he looked around. Already, his eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness, and he could see what appeared to be a large stone to his right. There was nothing else in the cavern at first glance, so he moved onto to the rock, which dwarfed him by a magnitude. He reached out a single clawed hand, and tapped the side of the rock, producing an odd echoing sound, like a hand knocking on hollow wood. At first, there was no response, but after a few seconds, a small section of the rock slid open, revealing a pair of pure white, pupiless eyes.

“… Come in.” A voice hissed, the eyes narrowing. Bowser backed up as the section of the rock was slid back over the peep-hole, then the entire front section of the fake boulder opened up. Waiting on the other side was a mutated Venatosaur, about 18 feet long and 5 feet tall. His head was large and seemed to have yellow horns jetting out of the back of his head. His skin was silverfish, with twin black stripes running along the length of his body. This, as Bowser knew him, was Raptoris, his boss. A deadly warrior and a fierce fighter, he was a master at the usage of Dark Matter. He was also a bandit at heart, and has robbed the nearby Kingdom countless times, always with success.

Bowser nodded, before he walked into the entrance, Raptoris turning and following right behind him. What was inside was an intricate labyrinth of hallways, made with technology far beyond that which was found in any other part of the land. The Koopa king simply continued onward, knowing where he was going. He had been here countless times in the past, and by now he could make his way to his destination blindfolded.

After a few more minutes of walking, the two finally left the maze of hallways and entered into a massive chamber. Television screens, game counsels, computers, and an entire pleathora of other electronical devices far ahead of their time were off in one corner of the gigantic chamber. In the middle was a long table, with several seats placed around the rim. Bowser took the one nearest to the head place, while Raptoris himself took the head seat.

They were not alone, however. As the lighting flickered on and off, they could see that the other members had gathered as well. Across from Bowser was Trinity, an entity identical to Raptoris, aside from a large scar running down her left eye. She had been his mate for the last 200 years, and was the main mechanic of the group. Down from her was General Scales, the leader of the Sharpclaws and the team’s demolition man. Across from him was the Parasite Queen, who was the best spy of the group. There was one other member, however. Far down, at the other end of the table, were a pair of yellow, slanted eyes, the only thing visible through the darkness that covered that end of the table. What was unique about him, Bowser, the Parasite Queen, and Scales was that, unlike Raptoris and Trinity, they weren’t from this universe. Each of them had been sent from their own place to this universe. Each and every one of them had claimed to have seen the same beautiful woman stop time and send them here for no apparent purpose… except for one.

Raptoris coughed. “Now that we of the Guild of Villainy are amassed together once more, we shall immediately begin this meeting with proposals for our next course of action.”

“Perhaps, we could rob the Kingdom of it’s virgins. I’m certain Bowser here would like to do that…” General Scales added in, his metal claw stapping against the table. This prompted a perverted smile from the Koopa King’s face. Of course he’d like to do it! After being denied the same woman over and over again by that blasted plumber, to be able to amass his own harem...

Trinity groaned. “No, you idiots. What we should do is plunder the armory and get our Koopas and Sharpclaws ACTUAL weapons. I mean, look at what they have! Boomerangs? Puny swords? BARE FISTS?!?! Get them something actually worthwhile, like a massive hammer or something…” The female dromaeosaur spat in distaste. In reply, the Parasite Queen simply howled, in an unintelligible manner that only Bowser could understand. He was quick to translate to them that the Parasite Queen was also in favor if Trinity's idea.

“Bah! The bickering of you fools sickens me…” The hidden member hissed, his voice laiden with anger. All eyes turned to face him, including Raptoris. “We’ve been plundering the same damn people for 200 years, yet no-one has thought of trying something different? How pathetic…” Here, the eyes seemed to widen, and the sound of leathery wings beating could be heard. “Why don’t we try something a little more… risky, like, oh I don’t know… plunder someone, or something, of a far more dangerous quality?”

Bowser snorted. “Ridley, I’d LOVE to see you try something like that on the local Shinigami he-“ Bowser clasped his mouth shut, realizing what he had done, but it was too late. The others were now all looking at him, especially Ridley, whose yellow eyes seemed to burn into his soul.

“Well well well… what do we have here? A Death god, here in this region? Don’t make me laugh… unless…” Here, out of the shadows emerged the large, purple, clawed hand of the unseen figure, tapping on the table, “Your referring to your little ‘Crigan’ friend you’ve told us about… I would love to judge his fighting prowless for this guild…”

“N-n-n-n-no, Ridley, please reconsider that. You’re making a big mistake he-“

“Silence, turtle!” the voice snapped, a long-arrow-shaped tail flying from the darkness and stopping just at the tip of Bowser’s throat, silencing him. “Last time I checked, you weren’t in charge here, but Raptoris was.” Here, the voice redirected itself from Bowser to the leader of the Guild of Villainy. “Master Raptoris, please allow me to go off and check to see if this… Shinigami is authentic or not. Please note that had my Space Pirate ship not been cut in half when traveling through a wormhole and ended up here, you would not have any of this technology around you…”

Once again, all eyes were on Raptoris, who looked at Ridley, then at Bowser. Silence filled the room for a full 3 minutes, before, with a grunt, he answered, “Yes. Go ahead, Ridley. However, should you return defeated, Bowser shall have your dinner for the next three nights, understand?”

“Yes, Master Raptoris. I humbly agree…” The voice hissed in delight, before turning once again to Bowser. “If you DARE touch my food before I get back, I’ll have your entire Koopa squad crucified before your eyes!” Ridley barked, before once again the sound of leathery wings beating could be heard, then it got dimmer, and dimmer, until it was gone.

“Raptoris, may I go off with Ridley to make sure he doesn’t go overboard?”

“Yes you may, Bowser.” The wise thief responded. Bowser sighed, before he dashed off out of the room. He had to hurry fast. Knowing Ridley’s methods of violence, there was a very high chance that Mara would be seriously injured, if not outright killed, by him. We wasn’t too worried about Crigan, but were Mara to be harmed… he had to hurry, not only to save Mara, but Ridley as well….

[Flygon King]

Chapter 10: Of Dragons and Demons, Part 2

1507

The Guild of Villany, a few hours later

Bowser couldn't help himself but burst into laughter when Ridley came back. The poor space dragon had been more or less mauled, his right wing burnt, the left half of his body scorched, and part of his tail missing. When Raptoris and the others asked precisely what had happened, all he had responded was, "An unexpected development occurred." Which, to Bowser, more or less mean that Ridley had gone ahead and tried to threaten Mara into telling him where Crigan was. And as Bowser knew all too well, laying a hand on Mara meant being reduced to smoldering ashes. Ridley was lucky to escape alive.

But that wasn't all. He had also come back with a strange vessel in hand. It was a pot, but one with writing on it that no one there could decipher. Trinity recognized it as some form of demonic runes, but the specific dialect was one she had no experience with. Not that it mattered with Ridley, who was now fuming with rage over getting plowed by Crigan.

"Damn him. Damn that stupid ghost dragon. I couldn't even hurt him. Everything I threw at him, he didn't even react!" Ridley cracked in rage as he was now preparing for himself a sandwich. The dragon laid down several slices of meat on the bread, before putting on the cheese and other loaf. "At least I can enjoy my sandwich... Made with the flesh of the Deviljho, and bread straight from the finest bakery in the area." By now, droll was dripping down his mouth, which he wiped away with his clawed hand. He set down his sandwich worthy of a king, before he tapped his new pot. When he did, a sound echoed out, a sound that reminded him of...

"Blood?" The dragon pondered, causing a few heads to look in his direction. "Well, I guess I could add on some blood onto the main dish." He hissed with a grin. Grabbing the pot in his two clawed hands, he held it above the sandwich, before tapping it again, this time punching a hole in it. Black smoke jetted out of the hole, causing the startled dragon to drop it onto his sandwich. All he could do was stare as the smoke bulged and expanded, before it vanished.

In it's place, was a woman, and a rather beautiful one at that. She was sound asleep, sitting upright, right in front of the still stunned dragon. Then, slowly, one eye opened up, and then the other. She yawned, stretching her arms out, before she realized what was going on.

"Well, what do we have here?" The woman pondered, not looking at Ridley, but looking around the base. "Seems like Craefr forgot to hide my catalyst very well…” At last, she was now free to do as she wished! Things were now about to get very interesting around he-

“My sandwich…” Ridley growled ever so lowly, causing Persephone to finally realize that he was there. Slowly, the other Guild members began to exit the area as fast as possible, for they knew what was about to happen. “YOU RUINED MY SANDWICH!” Ridley screamed right in the Ruler of Hell’s face, no longer wondering where this strange woman came from.

“Oh”? Persephone responded, almost with a child-like innocence before she got off the table and looked at where she had sat at. Sure enough, there was Ridley’s sandwich, completely flattened by her butt. She picked it up, then put it right in front of the furious beast. “I’m sorry for ruining your food, but if you excuse me-“

“OH HELL NO!” Ridley snapped, silencing the Grand Ruler of all Demon-kind, before he slowly glared at her. “You think you can just waltz right in here, ruin MY food, and then leave without paying the consequences? I don’t know who you are or where your from, but NOBODY messes with what’s rightfully mine and gets away with their life intact!” The dragon screeched, before he lunged.

Persephone, yawning, simply sidestepped the berserk dragon, who smashed into a wall, then turned and charged again, only for the same thing to happen time and time again. “You know, your aim is downright atrocious.” Persephone remarked, her mother-like voice stinging at Ridley’s pride.

“GAAH! I don’t need you, or that damn Crigan making a mockery out of me!” Ridley howled, but as he prepared to discharge a fireball, nothing came out of his mouth. He tried to charge, but when he did, he collided into something, something he couldn’t see, but was there… an invisible barrier.

“Did you just say, Crigan?” Persephone whispered as she drew toward the trapped dragon, her voice now shifting toward a more… seductive tone. “ I’ll tell you what, dragon. Since you were the one who unsealed me from my imprisonment, and we have a common enemy, I will grant you a special wish…”

Ridley’s eyes narrowed at the demoness. “Are you speaking the truth, bitch?”

“Yes, I am.”

“If that’s the case…” Here, Ridley coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. “I wish for you to kill that fool for me. If you do that, then I will gladly forget about this little… incident.”

A grin spread across Persephone face, and to Ridley’s horror, the barrier he was trapped in began to glow, and a second barrier formed around the first. “Sorry, but I cannot accept that wish.” Persephone chuckled, before she snapped her fingers.

________________________________________________________________________

Outside the base, Bowser, Raptoris, Trinity, and the others were now panting in exhaustion, when they heard a low BOOM echo from deep inside the base. Slowly, one by one, each of them began to chuckle. Each of them knew how mad Ridley got when anyone ruined his lunch…

A form suddenly shot past them, far too fast for anyone to see, but they could feel its demonic presence. Each of them looked at one another, then rushed back into the base. For anyone to get away from one of Ridley’s rampages like that was a near impossibility, but what they were going to find inside was an aftermath far worse than anything Ridley could ever accomplish…

Speeding away from the area, Persephone sniffed the air, until she picked up the one scent she had come here for. At long last, she would do what she had so desired to do…

“I’m coming for you, Crigan…” The demoness smirked as she flew just above the ground, toward the house up upon the hill… Today, Crigan would be made an example… an example of what would happen to those who opposed the Queen of the Underworld herself…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 11: The Queen and the Fox

1507

Crigan’s House, a few hours later.

To one that saw the household after Ridley had attacked it, they would have been rather amazed to see that, aside from a hole in the roof and a few fragile objects shattered, not much damage had been done. Even more miraculous, the ill and elderly Mara had survived her encounter with the Space Dragon with only a few puncture marks on her hand. Crigan, on the other hand, had several scratch marks and a seemingly deep gash across his face, but none of those really bothered him. Now, he had finished wrapping up Mara’s hand and was now cleaning up around Mara’s room, when the old woman turned to him, and said, “Why don’t you address your own injuries? I can clean it up myself…”

“No. You should stay in bed and get some rest. I’ll take care of this.”

“Why, because you’re not human? All this time, I wondered why you never aged one bit, and everytime I asked you, you always replied, “I dunno.” You didn’t have to lie to me for 50 years, neither you nor Durama, or anyone else…”

At this, Crigan sighed, and stopped. “I didn’t want you to know. I thought that, if you knew the truth, you’d hate me and leave me…I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to be with you.”

“Even if you told me the truth, I wouldn’t have left you, silly. No matter if your human, or demon, or deity, I would still love you no matter what.” Mara said before bursting into a coughing fit, causing Crigan to grab her and hold her still.

“ That illness of yours is going to be cured tomorrow, I swear. I have a friend that’s very good with medicine. Your sickness is going down first thing in the morning…”


“Let’s hope so. By the way, the way you protected me from that winged lizard, saying, “Lay a hand on her and you’ll regret it,” the moment you said that, I knew it was you right then and there, even as you dragged into that hole in the air…” Mara said.

Crigan could only smile back at her. It surprised him that she was taking the fact that he was actually a giant flying tapeworm very well. He leaned against the raccoon statue that was lying against the wall, and was about to continue work, when he picked up a scent that struck him in horror. It was the smell of perfume, but not any ordinary perfume. It was very sweet in scent, but also strong, almost overpowering, and it was a scent he knew far too well, especially after 500 years in captivity to the owner of the perfume…

“Crigan? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Mara asked him, but he looked around cautiously.

“Mara, get in the bed and stay right there. Don’t make any movement and stay absolutely silent. We have some uninvited company…” Crigan said to her, and before Mara could ask, he had gone out of the door, changing into his Origin Forme along the way. The door closed right behind him, and Mara was left all alone in the room, with the raccoon statue, as Crigan headed outside to search the parimi-

Mara turned and squinted her eyes at the odd statue. Since when had they gotten a raccoon statue? Neither Durama or Totosai had brought it when they had visited…

“Fufufufu… seems like someone’s caught on…” A voice laughed out of the raccoon statue, and before Mara’s eyes, it began to shake violently, before exploding in a puff of smoke, revealing the Queen of the Underworld, who gazed into Mara’s fearful eyes with an odd, almost benevolent look. “So, your name is Mara… what a lovely name.”

“W-w-who are you, and what do you want?!” Mara managed to cry out in fear. She wanted to shout as loud as she could, to try and get Crigan back here, but she found herself unable to do so.

“I am an old friend of Crigan’s… I’ve known him since he was ferrying souls into Hell, along with the countless other Shinigami at my disposal. I am Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and I have come here to help you out, dear child…” A small smile spread across her face, and her eyelids half-closed.

“Help.. me? I-i-I don’t need any help at all…”

“ What about that illness I heard your suffering? Baby, whatever doctor he’s planning on having you see can’t help you at all. Your dying from something that no physician can cure.. except me…”

“What are you talking about?” Mara asked. For some reason, the fear she had was beginning to subside, and curiosity was overtaking her, though unbeknownst to her, a spirit flew from behind Persephone and bore into the old woman’s mind.

“Did Crigan REALLY say he was going to help you out? Think about it for a moment. The entity your married to, is one that’s been alive for countless centuries, and will live on long after you’ve died. He’s had love interests before, and you are no exception…”

“No, you’re lying! What you’re saying can’t be true!”

“Oh yes, it is. To him, you’re nothing more than a doll that he’s had fun playing with. But now, your time is coming to an end. Tomorrow, he was planning on having you put down like a dog. Oh, he may cry for just a few years, but then, he’ll forget about you and go off chasing other skirts. That’s what happens when a mortal marries an immortal deity.” Persephone told her, sensing doubt beginning to form in the back of Mara’s mind.

“I don’t believe you! Crigan would never do that! He’s far too nice and sweet to toss me aside like trash!”

“Then give me your hand, and I will show you proof...” Persephone spoke to her, and as if compelled by an outside voice, Mara’s injured hand reached out and grabbed the Queen Demon’s own. The old woman felt a surge of energy zap into her hand and pulled away instantly. She looked down at her hand and stood dumb-founded as the bite marks from the dragon faded away. And not only that, her wrinkled, sagging hand turned youthful, as if it had defied the decades it had existed. “So, mind telling me why he told you to hide when I made my presence known, when I could very easily rid you of both your illness and your age? Think about it; I could make you on par with him, no, even greater than him. Both of you will never age… So what do you say, Mara-darling?”

Mara didn’t know what to believe. Crigan had always loved her since their marriage, and had gone out of his way to make their marriage a happy one, but to withhold this healer from her, this old friend of his…

A horrible pain ripped through Mara’s mind. She collapsed on the floor, helpless, as the spirit that had bore into her mind grew off the doubt that had only been there for a second, and was exerting several new emotions, those that she was afraid off…

Hatred… anger… wrath… bitterness…

These all spiraled out of control as the spirit quickly overtook Mara’s mind and body. The woman was quickly overcome with a dark mist that shrouded her body, helpless as she was turned into something against her own will…

__________________________________________________________________


Outside the house, Crigan was flying around, trying to find the source of the perfume. No matter which way he looked, there was no sign of the Queen of the Underworld… He grunted in irritation, unaware of what was going on inside.

“Crigan! What’s going on?”

Bowser’s voice had caught the Ruler of the Distortion World off-guard, and he turned to see his friend walking up over the ridge. He flew down and shifted back to his human form. “Something bad’s about to happen. I have a horrible feeling…”

“Is that perfume I smell? Did you get Mara-“

Bowser’s words were cut off as an electrical sphere blasted out of the side of the house and collided with the Koopa King. He was sent flying off over the horizon from the sheer power of the impact. Crigan was too stunned by what had just happened to take any action to save him.

“ Oh Crigan-boy! Would this be a bad time to visit?” An all-too familiar voice called out from inside the house. His heart now caught up in his throat, the serpentine being twisted around to see the Ruler of Hell standing in the hole in the wall, a smirk on her face. “ I just came here to give you and your wife a little present.”

“What is your true reason to be here, Persephone?” Crigan snapped. How had Persephone gotten inside his house? Unless… “Leave me and my family alone!”

The Ruler of the Underworld’s face showed no change, but her eyes shone with vengeance and glee. “So you don’t want me here? But your wife was all too happy to let me in and be friends with me. Isn’t that right, Mara-darling?”

At that moment, another electrical sphere shot out of the wall next to Persephone, and slammed into Crigan. The Distortion World’s ruler had been caught off-guard, spasming in pain as jolts ran across his being. From the new hole in the wall emerged Mara, but it wasn’t the Mara Crigan knew. She now looked like she did in her youth, but with three crimson triangle on her forehead, two sharp fangs protruding from her mouth, and 9 massive, bushy fox-tails flowing behind her. She gazed at the paralyzed figure with a look that bordered between disgust and hatred as her arms crackled with lightning, and a demonic smile spread across her face…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 12: Day of Darkness

1507

Crigan’s House

Crigan was unable to move, both from the paralysis that had overtaken him, and from the shock of what he was seeing. His own wife, his precious Mara, whom he had cared for and loved for so many years, was now glaring down at him in disgust and hatred, a faint electrical sphere forming in her right hand. The mind of the Distoriton World’s ruler was jumbled up beyond repair. How could this happen? Why… why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve this?

Unfortunately for him, Persephone just so happened to be able to read his mind. “I gave you a choice, Crigan. Either you serve out your time in prison, or you bow and serve me. You choose neither, and rebelled against me. Because of you…” Here, she stepped forward so that she was shoulder to shoulder with Mara. “I’ve had to dispel more riots and rebellions than I would have enjoyed, so I decided to enlighten your wife with what you failed to mention to her. No wonder she’s ready to kill you.”

“You… you ruined my relationship, destroyed my marria-“

A sharp kick to the head silenced Crigan and knocked him out cold. Mara’s frown had turned into a death scowl, and her hateful eyes took pleasure in what she saw. “Marriage? Is that what you call it, using me as nothing more than a doll for your own damn pleasure? Disposing of me once you got bored and go chasing after other skirts?” Mara growled as she blasted Crigan with sphere after sphere, the unconscious legend spared of feeling any of the pain. “YOU ruined MY life, you insignificant worm, and now I’m going to make you suffer for toying with my emotions, you jackass!”

With her hand reared back and an electrical javelin formed in her hand, the Kitsune was about to administer the final blow and kill of Crigan, when a horrible pain shot through her body. She dropped the javelin, and collapsed onto her side. Her body convulsed, and she could only stare in horror as her flesh began to bubble over and expand out of control. She was unable to speak, unable to do anything as she rapidly mutated out of control into a giant mountain of flesh. Now hovering up infront of her, Persephone sighed. The Queen of Hell looked at Crigan's body. By now, it was a horribly deformed and bleeding mass, only kept alive by the Gresious Orb inside him.

“Now don’t take this the wrong way, Mara-darling, but just because I like you, doesn’t mean I can let you do what you wish right off the bat. You want Crigan dead, but I want him to suffer for his ill actions. Hence, if you have him close to death before I determine when he should die, or if you use up too much power, then your body’s energy will spiral out of control like this, understand?”

Bu this point, the writhing mass that towered over her was no longer distinguishable as human. Sensing that she could no longer see her, but still hear her, she reached down and touched the blood of Crigan that was oozing from the unconscious beast’s wounds. She sprinkled the blood onto Mara, and almost immediately, she reverted back to normal, clothes and all, the Kitsune in human form holding her head.

“ I said, do you understand?” Persephone asked again, almost ignoring the fact that the sun was currently being blocked out of the sky.

Mara rapidly nodded her head, not wanting to experience such pain again, before she noticed the sun being blocked out. For a moment, she thought it was the moon that was blocking out the sun, but off to the side, she saw the moon slowly rising up in the sky. Whatever it was that was blocking out the sun wasn’t natural.

Persephone chuckled. “Good. Now that you understand, why don’t we invite a few of my pals from the other side?” She asked. Before Mara could reply, the Queen of the Underworld snapped her fingers, and a rift in space opened up above her head. An ear-splitting screech blasted out from the rift, and to Mara’s surprise, countless demons poured out of the rift. They came in all different shapes and sizes, but all very much evil and seeking blood and vengeance for being locked in Hell for so long. The thousands upon thousands of demons all stopped and surrounded Mara and Persephone. A few stepped back in surprise upon seeing Crigan’s body, but otherwise they ignored it.

“Now as you can all see, you have been freed from your long imprisonment in Hell. No longer has Craefr kept us locked up in our own capital. Thank the Day of Darkness for giving me enough power to release all of you. Now, who wants to go off on a killing spree?”

The hordes of demons roared in reply, fangs gnashing, claws sharpening, tails smashing, and eyes all locked on Persephone… until she pointed over to Mara.

“As much as I’d like to partake in this, I need my beauty sleep. So, I leave my newest and favorite commander, Mara, in charge over you. She does to you as she sees fit. Orochi, Ruko, and Dusknoir are her righthand men, and you all are their soldiers. Understand?”

Once more, the demons roared, while the after-informed three commanders all turned to look at each other nervously from behind their forces back. Mara bowed before her Ruler. “Thank you Master Persephone. I shall use this power wisely. This world shall be our playtoy!”

________________________________________________

The Ruler of Distortion groaned as he came to. How much time had passed, he didn’t know. The moon was now high in the sky, and the celestial body that had covered the sun was now gone. He could feel a hand pet his head, and the half demon, half legend snapped wide awake, screaming out, “MARA! MARA!”

“Crigan, calm yourself down. You need rest…”

The human-shaped being looked around. He was back in his room, and Durama and Totosai were standing by him. He noticed that he was in his bed. He tried to move, but winced in pain.

“When we saw all those demons pouring out from the gate, we came as fast as we could. By the time we arrived, they were all gone, so we took you back into the house and nursed you.” Durama said as she poured some medicine for her grandfather.

“Mara… Mara, where is she?” Crigan groaned weakly.

Totosai let out a painful sigh. “I am afraid that she has come under the influence of Persephone. I should have known that she’d do something like this. In all the time I spend down in the Underworld, I’ve seen her do this very sort of thing dozens of times. Turning wifes against husbands, brothers against sisters, tearing entire families apart with one well-placed malevolent spirit, it’s all just another form of entertainment for her, while serving as a warning to those who dare rebel against her.”

Crigan was about to say something, when Totosai, seeming to read his mind, cut him off. “Forget about trying to save her, boy. Never has anyone rescued a loved one from her influence. She’s now been completely brainwashed to what Persephone wants her to believe. No doubt about it, she hates your guts worse than all else, and will stop at nothing until you, and everything related to you is dead to her. Believe me when I say this, there is no hope for her.”

Crigan slumped back down into the bed. Tears began to flow from his face. His own wife, gone to him. He had failed her horribly. Was this how it was to be? Was he destined to die at the hands of the one he loved so much? He wanted to save her, he wanted to be with her, to restore what Persephone had shattered. He didn’t want her to be yanked away from him.

“Uncwe Cwigaan, why are you cwying? Is sista Persy bein mean to ya?” A new voice whispered around him.

At first, he looked to where Durama and Totosai were, figuring it was just one of them trying to cheer him up, but to his shock, Durama was staring right past him. That in and of itself was odd, but it was Totosai’s reaction that stunned him. The old demon, one of the oldest in all the Underworld, had collapsed against the wall, gasping for air, his entire face pale white, as if he had seen a ghost. He pointed a finger past Crigan and tried to say something, anything, but only a cold gasp of fear came out. Crigan turned over to see who had spoken…

And what he saw caused him to immediately revert back to his Origin Forme in fear, though still retaining his size.

Standing on the other side of the bed was a tall woman with pale white skin. Her hair was white as snow, just like Persephone’s, but was hung in what appeared to be a pony-tail. She had on large red robes that covered all of her except for her head, legs, and hands, which wielded a massive staff just as tall as she was. Her icy blue eyes seemed to pierce Crigan’s own, make a U-turn, and stab right back through. 6 purple, half leathery, half feathered wings beat up and down, streaching from wall to wall. A childish smile spread across her face.

Crigan was face to face with the very Goddess of the entire Underworld, Shinki…

[Flygon King]

Chapter 13: Infinite Being

1507

Crigan’s House.

Crigan was frozen in terror. What was Shinki, the very Goddess of the Underworld, doing here?

“Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to harm you.” The Goddess spoke, her voice losing the childish aspect as it took on one of authority. Instantly, Totosai bowed before the being, with Durama following suit. This prompted a scowl from Shinki. “Why are both of you bowing down to me? You’re not my subjects…” She said, the tone in her voice causing them to stand back up.

“Please excuse us. We just thought…”

A single finger wave silenced Totosai. “It’s alright. Only those demons under my rule in Makai and the rest of the Underworld are to bow down to me. Here, I am but a guest… Which reminds me…” Here, she turned back to Crigan.

‘Why… why are you here, O great Goddess? What business do you have here?” Crigan asked her, his voice laden with the pains of what had happened.

Shinki tilted her head. “I came here to give you comfort. I know what happened. When someone pisses off Persephone, she comes down HARD on them. Losing a loved one is a horrible thing.” Here, she turned away, a tear streaming down her face. “I know how you feel, to have a loved one turn away from you and reject you -“

“Wait a second.” Crigan perked his head up, cutting off Shinki. “Aren’t you above Persephone in both power and position? Couldn’t you force her to bring Mara back to normal?”

Shinki shook her head. “Can’t do that, Crigan. Don’t get me wrong here, I like you, and so does many of the demons not in Hell, but I view Persephone as a child, my own child, one who is not under my jurisdiction. I have already expressed my opinion on what she’s done to her, but I can’t force her to do anything.”

“Why can’t you?” The tapeworm asked, confused and upset.

“Because, I’m not the only one who has close ties with Persephone. There’s a youkai, whom I will only refer to as the gap hag-“ Here, she seemed to spit out the two words like salted vinegar. “- She also likes Persephone, but we both hate each other’s guts. If I try to force Persy to do anything, she’ll be all over me, and vice versa.”

Crigan had little to say about this. When he served as the shipper of souls to the Underworld, he had never known Shinki to back down from anything that she wanted to do. She feared no other demon, no other entity. To hear her say this made Crigan wonder just how powerful this “gap hag” was…

“Now, I’m afraid I spent a little too much time here, but I’ll leave you with this, Crigan. You have my support, and the support of much of the Underworld. And if the going gets tough, dish out some tough love. You may die before Mara returns to her old self, but you two will be reunited once more in peace. We will try to help you out as best we can.”

‘Wait, what does that me-“

A bright flash of light blinded Crigan, Durama, and Totosai, and when it was gone, so was Shinki. The Ruler of Distortion changed back into his human form, clothes complete.

“The times ahead will be tough for you, but trust me, things will get better.” Totosai told Crigan. “Now get some rest, you old fool. You’re in no condition to do any rescuing…”

“Pot… kettle… black…” Crigan murmured as he fell asleep. Totosai and Durama looked at each other, uncertain of what to do now.

They both knew, that the years ahead would be long and hard…