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A fearsome apparition. An eclipse, defiling the purity of the newly fallen snow. Lucario felt despair and confusion as he forced himself to meet Darkrai's searing gaze. The phantom's arm had regrown from his battle with Celebi, although Lucario imagined it could better be referred to as an execution.

"Why...? Why...!?" Lucario spat as he clenched his fists in an attempt to stop trembling, "Why are you after me!?"

"I predict you to be the Mind," Darkrai vocalized clearly as he waved with one of his hands, "Although unaware of it, you are eager to return, yearning for fulfillment."

"I'm just a Lucario! You wanted..." Lucario responded as he felt the pressing need to know something of far more importance, "... Damn it! What have you done with Zerobi and Celebi!?"

They stared each other down for a moment, Darkrai's single visible eye never flinching.

"I killed them," he declared without an ounce of remorse or hesitation. Lucario's frown faded as something violently twisted and turned inside of him. Any latent hint of sorrow disappeared as he felt an overwhelming urge to attack someone. Forgetting all about his various skills in fighting, he charged towards Darkrai with a roar, his arms almost pulling him forward with the bottomless intent of smashing the horrible monster into a pulp of cloth and gore.

Darkrai did not even bother to dodge as Lucario's elbow sunk through his fog-like body, causing the shaded torso to momentarily disperse from wind pressure before reforming. Being carried by the momentum of his tackle missing, Lucario felt his balance slipping and fell down to his knees.

"A physical strike. How quaint," Darkrai expressed while turning around and looking down at his crouching opponent, "Show me something else."

Biting down hard, Lucario felt himself shaking in anger as his mitochondria grew restless. Spinning around, he threw an Aura Sphere directly at Darkrai's head, knowing that if physical attacks had no effect he was sure to be broken by something special.

The blue sphere passed right through Darkrai's forehead without leaving a single mark. This time there was not even any wind pressure, as if neither sphere nor revenant was even there to begin with.

"Cease your childish wailings," Darkrai insisted with a dangerous tone to his voice, "I demand that you show me something different!"

That Darkrai was somehow making himself invulnerable was obvious, but Lucario did not care. All he wanted was to rip him apart. Make him suffer for what he had done. He did not even notice the burning sensation spreading throughout his legs as he subconsciously prepared for ExtremeSpeed. Before reaching the end of the first second he had already tried punching, kicking and biting Darkrai at supersonic speed, each blow passing through the transparent phantom and making Lucario feel like he was trying to dent a cloud.

"Feeble," Darkrai announced while still being attacked, "Is this all you are? Has fate toyed with me once more?"

Lucario tried slugging him a few more times, each failure expending his determination and stamina. Before long he felt the power seep out of him as he fell on his arms and knees from exhaustion. Already his muscles were overflowing with lactic acid, and he felt sick to his stomach. Suddenly, something dry yet smooth connect with his forehead. Looking up, he noticed Darkrai had placed his hand there. A few seconds ago he would have tried to fight back, but now it all seemed so hopeless. Zerobi and Celebi were gone, and even with all his might he could not even lay a finger on their killer. There was no point in fighting it. He was undone.

"I sense an altercation. Your once prominent wisdom, removed by surgery," Darkrai claimed as he scanned Lucario's brain for information, "Arceus is not to interfere, yet what I see in you makes it all too obvious. To be denied the Mind as well as the Body, these coincidences are far too frequent to ignore."

"Stop talking shit, you insane bastard!" Lucario bellowed as he mustered up the last of his hatred, falling back and away from Darkrai's reach, "Body!? Mind!? Did you kill them over that crap!?"

"From the Soul, the Body was born. From the Body, the Mind was born," Darkrai elucidated before floating forward, "Or so I had assumed. In every way, shape and form you are but a regular Lucario. You are not worthy of conjunction. You are not worthy of my time."

Lucario did not have long to ponder his statement as Darkrai suddenly lifted his arm, his hand exuding a black glow.

"Indeed, you were never worthy the air you breathe," Darkrai enounced with destructive power behind every word, "Allow me to alleviate you of your meaningless duty."

Staring up in horror, Lucario could not understand why everything was so unfair. Fleeing did not work, fighting did not work, how could things possibly have ended differently? He lowered his head and braced himself as a strong force hit him from the front.

In fact, a force so strong it knocked him even further away from Darkrai, pulling him back as he slid through the slippery snow. He came to a stop and hastily wiped the cold sludge away from his head, realizing two things - That he was alive, and that Mew was hovering by his side.

One look told Lucario all he needed to know. Just like Celebi she was in pristine condition, unsurprisingly unharmed from her earlier fight, making Lucario wonder if Blue had even bothered to show up. He also noticed that there was something different about her demeanor. Like always she radiated a shine of purity, but her expression was dangerous and her eyes filled with knives. They were clearly pointed at Darkrai and she kept her head at slightly lower angel than usual, hiding her growing scowl from view.

"Mew, caretaker of the fauna... Be gone. This does not concern you," Darkrai enunciated with a calm, deep voice. This only seemed to agitate Mew more as her tail flicked.

"My concern has always been to rid the world of scourges like you!" she said with an uncharacteristically angry tone before she glanced to her side, "Lucario, keep hold of your sanity! Has the virus been secured?"

"... Y-Yeah, but..." Lucario muttered breathlessly as he tried to formulate the unspeakable words, "Zerobi... Celebi... He's killed them both!"

A tremor passed through Mew as her mouth opened slightly in shock. Immediately regaining confidence, she shut it and firmly shook her head.

"No. It is faint, but I can sense Celebi's presence," Mew explained calmly, "Darkrai is a liar and a coward. Fear is the mindkiller - Reject it, and he cannot do anything to you."

The calm lasted only a second as she turned towards Darkrai once more with a glower, and Lucario could tell she was in a very bad mood.

"Yes, Darkrai. I know your secret!" Mew snarled with fires burning in her eyes, "You use fear to manipulate and destroy your prey, but in truth you are not nearly as powerful as you pretend to be. Today, I shall prove it!"

"Have I wronged you somehow?" Darkrai inquired, a hint of curiosity slipping through his stoic demeanor, "What is it you wish?"

"I wish for you to cease your existence! You robbed me of Cresselia..." Mew said before trailing off and shooting Lucario another look, "... But you shall have no more!"

Lucario returned it, realizing she was angrier than he had ever seen her before. He was not even sure if she was doing this to save him or simply get a chance at destroying Darkrai. In truth, both scenarios suited him just fine, although he was still a bit concerned as to the fates of Zerobi and Celebi and wanted to get done as soon as possible.

"... Cresselia..." Darkrai repeated. His lack of an expression made it difficult to tell if he was showing confusion or simply taunting them.

"So, you do remember!" Mew raised her voice with ire, "You will regret what you did to my mother!"

"The one responsible for your mother's misfortune and death is you," Darkrai pointed out as he closed one of his hands, "Alas, I rarely recall the names of the unworthy. I am certain this Cresselia is no reason for you to foolishly throw away your life."

A period of silence reigned, the snowstorm beginning anew as both Lucario and Darkrai awaited Mew's answer.

"Lucario... I must request that you stand your ground," Mew said bluntly while staring down Darkrai, snow falling around her as it was repelled by an invisible barrier, "This blight cannot be allowed to flee, or many more will suffer. Will you join me in battle?"

"... I can't, Mew," Lucario responded reluctantly, feeling outclassed and knowing there was nothing he could do about it, "All my attacks just pass through him, even the Aura Sphere..."

"A Ghost-type?" Mew suddenly chimed as her eyes flashed dangerously, "Never mind. This will not take a second."

Darkrai was a monster shrouded in mystery, his true moves and typing unknown to all. Relieved to hear she at least was not facing a Dark-type, Mew focused. Although adapt with using every element, her psychic attacks were well-honed and far more powerful than anything else in her arsenal. Being so smug and secretive, she figured Darkrai rarely took damage and as a result had low defense. Hoping to end the fight before it even begun, she unleashed a Psyshock to exploit that weakness.

Lucario flinched as several purple clouds suddenly materialized around Darkrai, loudly slamming into him from all sides. The dark apparition was completely covered in a single second as the condensed fog combusted with such power that Lucario felt like the air had turned acidic for an instant; worried he might die just from being close enough to witness one of Mew's attacks.

However, she did not have time to note his predicament as the fog dissipated, Darkrai still present within. What truly bothered her was that he seemed completely unscathed.

"The Mew of six generations ago attempted a similar approach," Darkrai reminisced as he crossed his arms, "It seems haughtiness runs in the family. As with her, I shall be forced to teach you a lesson."

But Mew was undaunted by Darkrai's threat, having trained all her life for a situation like this. Memorizing endless amounts of moves from every elemental type, it was only a question of finding out which weakness her opponent possessed. But with both Fighting and Psychic tested to no avail, she knew exactly what he was.

"Dark and Ghost..." Mew whispered to herself, thinking it obvious that such an annoying creature would possess such an annoying typing. While she could no longer back him into a corner by exploiting his weakness, she could still overwhelm him with something he did not fully resist.

Keeping himself from flinching as Mew lashed out with her tail, Lucario noticed the snow underneath Darkrai melting. In the next instant the hovering specter was engulfed in a pillar of fire spewing from a crack in the earth. Seeing Mew next to a tower of fire felt nostalgic for some reason, and Mew appreciated that Lucario was not as easily spooked as he had been back when he was Ethan. Her inner musings disappeared as the fire faded and Darkrai was still staying in place, unharmed as ever.

"What on earth...!?" Mew exclaimed in shock as she finally lost her cool. What just happened was physically impossible. No Pokémon typing in existence could be immune to Fighting, Psychic and Fire moves at once.

"Elementary elemental control," Darkrai expressed as he was clearly fed up with Mew's silly games and began to move towards her, "How naive of you to think one such as I would be harmed by rudimentary variation moves. Now, suffer."

Seeing him move to the offensive, Mew quickly surrounded herself with her absolutely most powerful barrier. Still coming to terms with the prospect of fighting an intangible opponent, she felt disoriented and surprised but hoped to maybe realize his nature after blocking one of his attacks. Refusing her instincts to turn tail and escape, she forced herself to remain still as Darkrai came closer and reached one of his long arms towards her.

The filthy appendage easily moved through her barrier, unhindered by the immense Psychic defenses just like a pureblooded Dark-type. Mew blanked out, the impossibilities stacking upon one another until every attempt of resistance felt hopeless. Her barrier fell as she remained frozen in midair, helplessly watching as the first of his fingers grazed against her forehead, sending a shiver of disgust through her body.

Suddenly, Mew's face became flushed, but it was neither from anger nor embarrassment. Something very hot passed in front of her, sending prickles of pain through her face as both she and Darkrai suddenly reared back. The miniscule pain faded in an instant as she looked in front of her, a cloud of smoke billowing from Darkrai's arm, the very arm she had felt upon herself just seconds earlier. Wondering if maybe her holy light had burned the foul creature upon touch, she realized there was a far more logical explanation as she looked down and saw Lucario with his palm reached towards them, faint flickers of blue fire still glowing around his hand.

"Hands off, scumbag!" Lucario chimed with his best one-liner, feeling his bravery return. However, Mew's expression was not one of eternal gratitude like he had expected, but rather one of utter shock.

"L-Lucario!" Mew stammered as the final residue from the Aura Sphere dissipated, "Y-You almost shot me in the head!"

"N... No way! My aim's perfect!" Lucario lied before swiftly changing the subject and pointing towards Darkrai, "Never mind that, look! He took damage!"

Darkrai hovered silently, his solo eye beholding them more warily than before. Following Lucario's suggestion, Mew peered beyond the heavy smoke and noticed the rag around Darkrai's hand looking more torn than before, the arm underneath showing irritated cracks in the previously perfect shade of pitch black. Forgetting how close Lucario had come to accidentally killing her, she composed together the information they had gathered thus far and finally came to a conclusion.

"Of course," Mew whispered as she closed her eyes, "Darkrai is not a Dark and Ghost type, rather a Dark-type that can change into a Ghost-type at will. Not Conversion or Transform, but more like the Multitype spoken of in legends. Trading a weakness to Fighting for an immunity, but no longer fully resisting Psychic attacks... Is my assessment plausible?"

"... The hell should I know!?" Lucario blurted out, thinking the regular type properties were hard enough to remember without switching them around. Mew smiled, strangely happy to see he had not changed much in these past months when they had been separated, and then she looked towards her enemy.

"What say you to this, Darkrai?" Mew asked outright, her confidence having found its way back. Darkrai's face was covered by hair and rags, but she could sense something having changed in his demeanor after taking damage from Lucario's attack. It was not hate, fear or denial.

It was acceptance.

"Ah, yes. Cresselia," Darkrai proclaimed with recognition, "The nuisance foolish enough to choose the path of destruction on her own accord. Shall you pursue to repeat the same mistake?"

Surprised by the sudden switch of subject, Mew felt years of suppressed loathing bubble to the surface.

"Mistake? She was fully aware of what had to be done in order to kill you," Mew explained, wanting to make sure Darkrai would not make light of Cresselia's sacrifice, "And so am I! For the sake of your destruction, I have become a fearless being!"

A strong wind full of snowflakes blew past them, setting Darkrai's decaying hair into movement. He took no note of this as his eye was fixed upon Mew, snow whirling and falling all around them. It was subtle, but Lucario could tell that for the first time since the terrible revenant's arrival, he had finally been affected by something.

"Fearlessness does not exist," Darkrai stated with a malignant tone, "Fear invokes a reaction which bypasses the corpus callosum, neither effort nor will can stop it. Everyone was a helpless child at one time, a perfect breeding ground for irrational fears. Perhaps it is something they have forgotten. Perhaps it is something they could not quite understand on their own back then."

His tattered clothing flapped quietly in the wind as he raised his arms. Even the snowflakes seemed to stray away from him.

"I am quite versed in the subject of fear. I help them remember, I help them understand," Darkrai explained before lashing out with his right arm, "And you too will soon relinquish your self-appointed title of being fearless!"

Darkrai's arm stretched an impossible distance, flickering like a disturbed shadow as it flew towards Mew. Overriding her initial reaction of dodging, Mew bravely defied him by remaining completely still, her expression one of contempt as she allowed his hand touch her forehead.

"Mew! No!" Lucario shouted, not having the time to charge up another Aura Sphere. He watched in horror as much like Zoroark, Mew seemed to almost doze off from Darkrai's influence, about to experience a mind-shattering nightmare.

Nervous sensations coursed through Mew as she simply let it happen. She wanted to overcome it, so that for the rest of the battle she would have nothing to fear. Instantly she was struck by powerful nostalgia, feeling weak and infantile. Staring down Darkrai as best she could, images flooded her mind and even obscured her vision as memories from her childhood were brought to life. However, these memories were twisted into a morbid state, filling her with the strange feeling of recognition. The time she had teased Celebi and gotten scolded was now an event of her killing her friend in a gruesome manner and being tortured as a result.

Mew smiled in victory. This is exactly what she had expected would happen. Although being the cause of death for her own mother was hardly a source of joy, there were no genuine traumatic events in her childhood for Darkrai to amplify and exploit. She could sense Darkrai becoming more and more desperate to gain a response from her, the clichés becoming more prominent. Everyone in the world dying in agony. Her friends being skinned alive, their rotting carcasses left to be eaten by maggots. Had she been pampered and protected from the harshness of the world this might have affected her, but her mind had been hardened to withstand worse things. There was nothing there Deoxys had not already shown her. The visions faded as she returned to the real world with a still defiant look, Darkrai's expression predictably unaltered as he withdrew his hand.

"The Mew of six generations ago did not last seven seconds," Darkrai vocalized, and a hint of disdain crept into his shapeless voice, "Your species should not be capable of complete emotional abandonment."

"Another one of your many fault assumptions," Mew replied bluntly before looking down to see Lucario, the fighting-type staring up at her with amazement."Lucario, full assault!" she ordered hastily, "Darkrai cannot switch types fast enough to handle us both!"

Following her cue, she lowered her head and closed her eyes. A massive pressure of psychic force suddenly came down on Darkrai, pushing him closer to the ground. Seeing his opportunity but still hesitating, Lucario ran towards him and ignored the chills running up his spine as he made a ferocious tackle. As if he had been trying to bully a fine mist, he sunk through Darkrai's transparent body and appeared on the other side.

"Didn't see that coming..." Lucario muttered as he turned around to see Darkrai reaching out with his hand again, launching a counterattack. However, it was interrupted as Mew came down and used her Psywave, the shapeless force affecting Darkrai as a piece of his cloth ripped off and vanished into a puff of smoke. Wanting to keep the momentum, Mew immediately tried it once more only to find that it had no effect this time.

"Again!" Mew shouted, moving away as Darkrai's hands began to glow, obviously preparing for something very dangerous. Lucario nearly refused due to her gambit not having shown much effect before, but was not one to pass up a chance to beat down Darkrai. Without really planning a strategy, he stepped up to Darkrai and grabbed a hold of his shoulder, surprised to find he could actually feel it this time. The foul specter was nearly liquid to the touch as Lucario spun him around and slugged him in the face as hard as he could. Darkrai remained silent, but dwindled to the ground like a leaf fallen off its stem.

"Ooh, that felt good," Lucario said with a light shudder as he gently rubbed his knuckles, remembering all the wretched phantom had put him through so far. Darkrai spun around before coming into contact with the soil, rapidly throwing out his large, intimidating hands from both sides in an attempt to put Lucario in a chokehold. A smile steadily forming around Lucario's lips, he swiftly held his arms up around his neck and stopped the attack.

"Hehehe... Hey, not bad..." Lucario grinned while Darkrai made a nearly inaudible grunt, "But now we're playing my game!"

He no longer felt afraid of Darkrai, realizing the ghost was just another target for him to beat up. Hands tied up, Lucario head-butted Darkrai, not quite reaching his head and striking his throat instead. Something felt soft and squishy on contact, he wondered if Darkrai like Zoroark was lying about his gender before noticing he had actually hit one of the fleshy organs around Darkrai's neck. It felt a little like punching someone in the kidney, and judging by the looks of the gruesome necklace he was sure it was not too far from the truth.

"Then, let me introduce you to MY forte!" Darkrai bellowed, snapping Lucario out of his thoughts by grabbing hold of his forehead. Lucario immediately tried to knock the arm away, only to find his fist passing through the transparent appendage like before.

Before he knew it, the gears in his head came to a halt. It felt as if every fiber of his being was trying to reclaim something that did not exist, his mind turning into an empty void. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember who or what he was. A strange black shadow seemed to be attached to his head while a smaller pink thing desperately fought it. Not sure of what this meant, he flailed about a bit to try and keep the pink monster from cutting him in two, clamoring loudly as he failed and the shadow disappeared from sight.

The pink thing shouted some manner of gibberish as it flew closer, staring him right in the face in what he assumed was an attempt at mockery of his defeat. About to smack it away like a pestering bug, his senses were beginning to return.

"Lucario! Are you alright!?" Mew repeated as Lucario blinked, feeling like someone had just run a vacuum through his head. He had no idea what had just happened, but looked behind Mew to see Darkrai examining him with an expression that was anything but triumphant.

"I... Wouldn't suggest digging through my past, Darkrai..." Lucario muttered as he smiled to himself, "I hardly remember a damn thing myself."

"... Man or Pokémon, you never fail to disappoint!" Mew burst out happily, realizing he too was immune to Darkrai's most dangerous attack, "Come, Lucario! Together, let us bring order to the world again!"

Without warning, Darkrai suddenly threw his arm towards Lucario once more. His hands were glowing unusually as Lucario quickly blocked, feeling mundane yet frightfully heavy claws cut into his skin. At the same time Mew found herself under attack as well, a purple explosion of raw force igniting on her position and rattling her barrier. Exploiting his two staggering opponents, he clasped his hands together and sent out a heavy shockwave into Lucario's stomach.

"Oof!" Lucario groaned as he was thrown back like a projectile, Mew not reacting fast enough to reconfigure her barrier as he crashed into her, sending both of them sprawled against the ground.

"Your perception is poor. The world always strives towards chaos," Darkrai pronounced as he brushed a bit of Lucario's blood away from his hands, "All things inevitably break and cannot reform on their own. Achieving order is impossible."

Lucario slowly rose to his feet as Mew instantly flew up.

"If only there were words to define the evils you have wrought!" she responded with agitation before forcing herself to calm down, "There will be no escaping this encounter. It all ends here."

"A far too hasty prediction," Darkrai chided with a display of endless confidence, "I have existed for eons. You have existed for but a moment."

"A new eon starts with a single moment," Mew retorted and braced herself for more combat, "In this case, it will be an eon without wretched monsters like you!"

"Naïve fool. In life, suffering is the only truth," Darkrai explained solemnly while lowering his arms, "All else is but an illusion, a temporary absence of pain. Dreams are fleeting, nightmares remain in you forever. Pleasant memories must be summoned, traumas exist perpetually."

"We don't care!" Lucario shouted, feeling left out and hungry for payback as he activated ExtremeSpeed. Not even Darkrai was able to react quickly enough as Lucario went from standing still to moving at the speed of a charging locomotive in a fraction of a second, lodging an elbow into Darkrai's chest. It barely had time to sink in fully as Lucario withdrew it and unleashed a flurry of punches against his face, smacking him around at the speed of sound as Mew could not help but stare in amazement. After three seconds and somewhere around fifteen successful hits, Lucario felt his attacks begin to pass through Darkrai like before and leaped back, annoyed to not be able to land an impressive finisher.

"Astounding!" Mew burst out with an impressed tone, "Even I cannot do that!"

Although eager to return her compliment with a confident smile and cool expression, Lucario was far too busy staring at Darkrai with disbelief. Impressive finisher or not, the dark specter hovered implacable like always, a quickly fading blemish by his cheeks all to show for Lucario's massive assault. A newfound sense of dread crept up his spine as he moved back to Mew.

"We're, uh... Hurting him, right?" he whispered cautiously.

"Yes. He is hiding his damage in an attempt to intimidate us, but I can tell that he is slowing down," she replied as the scene once more reminded her of Deoxys, "Please do not hold back, I would prefer to finish this before he manages to heal himself."

"Hold back? Nothing about him makes me want to stop punching," Lucario snickered cockily as he raised his voice and pointed towards Darkrai, "He's got so many things sticking out, I don't know what to rip off first!"

His snicker trailed off as something changed in the atmosphere. Even Mew fell quiet, warily watching as Darkrai's unharmed shape seemed to grow more sinister.

"I provided you both with the merciful option of subjugation through terror," Darkrai spoke in a manner that showed he was not amused, "But I see it is my wrath you wish to experience. You will discover many faces of agony until I find what makes you whimper."

Slashing into the air, a purple explosion was set off behind Lucario and Mew. The recoil caused them to fly towards Darkrai as he stretched out his arms, a massive dark void forming in front of him. Mew sensed danger and halted herself in midair, Lucario still recovering from the blast and falling into the black space.

"GAAAHH!" Lucario screamed as he suddenly felt himself being crushed from all sides. Mew gasped and quickly tried to wrest control from Darkrai with Psychic, but found the ability ineffective. Not thinking clearly due to the sound of Lucario's agonized cries, she flew high up into the air and cupped her hands, preparing her mitochondria for the destructive Aura Storm. With an immeasurably powerful attack, she would instantly eradicate Darkrai so he could never do harm again.

Several thoughts flew through her head at once. She remembered what Lucario had said about Rukario, the ability most likely crippling a far more physically apt specimen forever. She had entered this conflict willing to risk her life, but as she stared down at Darkrai and the compressed Lucario she was beginning to realize there was no reason for her to. Reshaping the attack in the last second, she instead let fly a regular Aura Sphere.

And another. And another. The blue spheres ran through Darkrai without impact, and for a moment she was worried he had changed into a Ghost-type again. However, a subtle flinch from the previously undamaged Darkrai told her to keep going, continuing to shoot as he became engulfed in an inferno of blue fire.

Obviously realizing she was not about to stop anytime soon, Darkrai suddenly ceased the black void and drew back. Predicting his course of action, Mew quickly calmed her mitochondria and gathered up a different energy, firing a Shadow Ball. Darkrai seemed more ferocious than ever as he dodged it, only to find another one running through his stomach. She kept up the raid fire and before she realized it, he was no longer able to hide the heavy damage piling up from the relentless assault, a subdued cry of victory sounding under her voice. In one last attempt to come out victorious, Darkrai shifted his type and flew through the last Shadow Ball, heading towards Lucario with the intention of taking him hostage. However, what he met was not a crippled and crushed mess from his previous attack, but a raging beast charging towards him at the same time.

"That hurt, asshole!" Lucario roared as he thrust his hand forward, throwing an Aura Sphere at Darkrai. Lowering herself to ground level, Mew instantly calculated the trajectory and speed of his attack and sent an Aura Sphere of her own from the other direction. Her projectile was faster, both moving at a speed impossible to dodge. Darkrai fruitlessly tried to move up as both of the spheres ran through him and collided in his body, creating a massive explosion of blue fire, like a newborn sun with azure flames spiraling the impact point.

Without a scream and without a sound, Darkrai stopped. Unable to keep himself floating any longer, his corroded form slowly dwindled down on the bed of snow. His body now left an imprint in the magnificent white, showing that he had run out of what once gave him unearthly attributes. Mew lowered herself towards Darkrai as Lucario exhaled and sat down, feeling a sense of victory well up in his chest. Not wanting to ruin the moment, he decided to keep quiet about the fact that he was not feeling well at all, his leg hurting badly from the earlier attack. It was not broken, but for the time being he decided to lay back and let Mew handle the rest. She stopped just outside of arm's reach of Darkrai just to be sure, and this time was ready to dodge should he try to extend it.

"As I suspected, you are weak. And now, you are outmatched," Mew spoke with disdain, but truthfully had no idea on how to actually finish off something like Darkrai. The beam she used to end Deoxys would take too long to charge up, and such a destructive force might accidentally kill Lucario again in the absolutely least fortunate scenario.

"You must have known this day was coming," Mew said as she closed in a bit on Darkrai, showing that she was not afraid and had the upper hand, "Tell me how to give you a quick death or I will be forced to experiment until I find it; an unpleasant scenario for everyone involved."

"Death... A meaningless term for one such as me," Darkrai expressed quietly as he closed his eye, "I will never die. I am infinite. I am everything."

"So you think. Outside the depths of your insanity, you are nothing," Mew explained, finally seeing the defeated Darkrai for what he really was, "The world existed before you, and it will carry on without you. You abused others in order to sustain your own pitiful existence... You are nothing but a filthy parasite, sucking nourishment from the people of this world!"

Darkrai opened his single eye and fixed a chilling stare into her.

"Your beliefs are founded upon ideals of the pampered and spoiled," Darkrai proclaimed without ever blinking, "Your life has been sheltered from the true horrors of the world. You live in an imagination; sustaining false ideals imprinted in your mind. You challenge me based on morals, not of your own free will. Even now, if I were to beg for my life, you could not bear to kill me, because it would seem faulty in your illusion of a perfect world!"

He raised his upper body from the ground, trying to intimidate her as best he could. However, instead of flying away, Mew moved herself even closer until their faces were almost touching.

"I do not think of the world as perfect... But that is no reason for me to surrender my ideals," Mew hissed, remembering Deoxys and wondering if she would ever find anything else intimidating after that, "I have already been forced to kill something far more dangerous than you. In the story of my life, you will be but a passing mention."

For the first time, Darkrai found himself speechless. Mew could see it in his eye that she had taken him off guard, and that he was just barely comprehending what she had said. Feeling proud of herself for having shocked the self-proclaimed master of fear, she rose up higher and decided to put an end to everything. She would have to use all her might, just to be sure of his demise.

"Move back," Mew warned as Lucario stood up to watch the fireworks. Darkrai's surprised eye followed her and remained motionless as she stopped above him and begun to charge up her attack. Although stunned at first, she could tell that he was slowly changing his demeanor into his calm, former self, finally accepting his own death.

"I see. It was you," Darkrai expressed, "The Body was not completely wasted, then."

"The Body..." Mew repeated with some curiosity, "... What do you speak of?"

"I believe you know more of it than myself," Darkrai answered as he suddenly grabbed onto her forehead, "Allow me to help you remember!"

He had moved with a burst of speed previously unseen, catching Mew off guard. Even so, she knew she quite literally had nothing to fear as Darkrai took control of her mind again. However, this time she did not feel like a child again. She felt stronger, more determined than ever to kill Darkrai. This strange course of action on his part confused her as the environment slowly changed, suddenly making her realize his intentions. He was bringing her back to a time and place she had hoped to never revisit.

It was the day she had encountered Deoxys. The sight of mangled bodies making her feel nauseous, the stench of decaying corpses as fresh as it was rotten. It was a perfect replication, and she realized this was Darkrai's last ditch effort to subdue her through terror as he had so many before her. She had to give him credit for indeed having picked out the absolutely worst time in her life, a time that would have successfully broken anyone of lesser stature. It was a spiral of destruction and death, misery and torment with a single figure at the center of it all. She knew all too well who it would be, and prepared herself to once more lay eyes on the nightmarish face of Deoxys.

But the being at the center of it all was not Deoxys.

It was her.

She looked at the image herself, smiling broadly as she carved up the corpse of Ethan. Blood ran like a river as the former Mew continued with glee and the current Mew stared aghast. Her copy dragged out the corpse of Cyon and slammed it into the ground. Mew was trying not to let it get to her, but the scene was too vivid and far too nostalgic. Back then then she had been too out of it to recognize what was happening, but now she was taking in every detail. The feeling of warm blood dripping down her chest like sweat. The funk of hundreds dead filling her nostrils. The gooey sensation as she used her psychic powers to rip and tear, carve and slice, detach and reattach the insides of Cyon and Ethan, all while giggling insanely at her own idea of a masterpiece. Like a clamp fixing itself around her chest, she finally realized why this was affecting her so much. She understood perfectly what Darkrai was trying to show her.

This is who she was. Behind the façade created by indoctrination since birth rests a creature without morals or ethics, doing as she pleases for her own satisfaction. The very root of humans and Pokémon, the animalistic foundation in everyone were not tolerant beings seeking good for everyone, but selfish creatures only seeking their own well-being.

"The conclusion of an adult, even more terrifying than what a helpless child could interpret..." Darkrai uttered as he gave her head a gentle caress with his other hand, "Weep. Blood of the mind, essence of emotion."

Mew tried to resist, but could feel herself losing. What she truly feared is what she had feared ever since that day; that Deoxys was not the one wearing a mask. She is the one wearing a mask. Everyone wears a mask. Were it ever to be ripped off, their true nature would instantly render everyone she knew into unrecognizable monsters. Language, ethics, laws and the very idea of caring about others were all mental constructs that only served to distract them from their true nature as barbarians. They would deny it as she once had, but only until the day they inevitably break down and snap. Even at the apex of her heroism it slipped out of her, and could potentially affect anyone else when put under enough stress. What others referred to as insanity was, in fact, sanity.

The notion filled her with terror unlike anything before, and Darkrai exploited it to its full worth as he lifted her body high into the air. Through visions and suggestions to the mind, Mew went from still and confident to shaking in fear, weakly twisting back and forth in an obvious attempt to get away. Lucario felt his heart pounding faster as he realized something had gone very wrong. He tried to jump up and save her, but his right leg smarted badly as he bent it gave way under his weight. All he could do was sit and stare up at the graven image of Darkrai, defiling the possibly last bastion of purity in the world.

"I am impressed that you kept this hidden from me, freely submitting yourself to my mercy. It was an excellent bluff," Darkrai commended in a chiding manner.

"Mew! MEW!" Lucario shouted with all his might, hoping to somehow reach her, "Let her go, Darkrai!"

The praise and warning were all but lost to the nearly catatonic Mew's deaf ears. Realizing she had already been rendered completely harmless, Darkrai decided to comply with Lucario's wishes and released his hold of her. Going from sitting to running in a fraction of a second, Lucario threw himself forward to catch Mew's brittle body before it smashed into pieces against the harder ground. She fell into his arms with a thud, and he rolled around in midair as to not accidentally land on her.

"I've got you!" Lucario said as he hit the soil and looked at her, "It's just an illusion! It's not real! Snap out of it!"

What he feared most had come true. Just like Zoroark, she was gone. She was not screaming or irregularly opening her mouth, or clawing at him like a madman. She had simply frozen up completely. Withdrawn into a shell, put her own mind into stasis to escape whatever torment Darkrai had inflicted upon her. Lucario trembled as he could not believe he had actually let it happen, thinking she would be fine just like after the first time. What had been different?

"However, I reluctantly accept that your species has indeed become a potential threat to me," Darkrai stated as he lowered himself closer to the ground, "I wished to reap your kind for many more generations, but now I must eradicate you."

Sensing danger, Lucario hastily held Mew closer to his chest while turning his torso away."You're not touching Mew - I won't let you!" Lucario yelled in defiance. He and Darkrai stared down one another, Darkrai clearly winning with his intimidating gaze and fearsome visage. Even so, Lucario refused to back down and held Mew tighter, faintly hoping she would wake up and take care of this whole thing like usual.

"And so, the role for the sacrifice has been switched once more," Darkrai proclaimed, the dark shadow unfazed by the previous battle and speaking with the ominous confidence of an executioner, "Your intentions are clear, but alone you will never harm me. Your struggle is useless."

Lucario found himself agreeing with the specter for once. Without Mew's wide array of powers he was powerless to do anything, even protect her as she lay still and defenseless in his arms. His bummed leg made running impossible, not that he had been able to outrun Darkrai before. There was no aura in the near vicinity, so he could not expect a last-minute rescue from anyone capable of handling a fiendish legendary. Indeed, he truly did not know what he had to gain from this bravado, but no matter what could not see himself doing anything else.

"Sacrifice..." Lucario repeated solemnly before baring his teeth and shouting, "... Seems you're getting two, because there's no way I'll just sit back and watch Mew die!"

"I grow weary of your tired litany," Darkrai responded immediately, "Chivalry is the way of the weak. Losing one's life is simple. Changing it is difficult. You lack the willpower to abandon your pride, and so you choose the easy way out by giving up."

With a flick of his misty wrist, he wrested Mew away from Lucario and pushed him into the snow like a helpless baby.

Lucario protested and cursed as he tried to get up, Darkrai clutching Mew between both his hands. However, instead squeezing her frail form into a broken mess, his hands began to glow in a dark sheen which seeped into Mew's body. Her motionless form was suddenly rocked back to life, her tail standing on end as something very painful was invading her system.

"I have no intention of killing either of you," Darkrai explained as Mew's struggles to get away were renewed with previously unseen ferocity, "But this Mew must be rendered harmless. She will never again utilize her powers."

Just as Lucario had gotten to his feet again, Mew's struggling stopped once more and Darkrai casually dropped her down on the snow. Overcome with desperation, Lucario lounged and tried punching Darkrai one last time as the evasive phantom simply floated higher up into the sky, staring down at him with an eye more chilling than the coldest winter's night.

"I will now take my leave, once more proving my endless graciousness by letting two very much alive Pokémon escape despite having defied my will," Darkrai enounced before suddenly closing his eye, "However... The elements may not be as forgiving."

And so, he was gone. As if having vanished into thin air, carried away by a gust of wind, the eclipse had disappeared in a single moment. It took Lucario a few moments to realize what had happened. He slowly staggered over to Mew, relieved to see her chest moving in breathing motions but still somewhat sad. Zoroark had been physically unharmed as well, but the same could not be said for her mind. How long until Mew would come back to her senses? How long would he have to wait to be able to speak to her again? Hours? Years?

"L..." something wheezed, breaking up his inner lamentations. Wondering who would be rude enough to disturb him at a moment like this, he was suddenly struck by the feeling that something like this had happened before. Instinctively he peered down, realizing that Mew's huge eyes were no longer staring into space, but staring at him.

"... Mew? Can you hear me?" Lucario asked breathlessly. She did not respond immediately, putting on a confused expression as her eyes looked around the area, her head not moving.

"D-Darkrai? Where is..." Mew stammered quietly, Lucario feeling overwhelmed with relief.

"It's OK, he's gone!" he shouted right in her face, unable to hold back his triumph too see her conscious, "We're safe!"

Mew winced as his loud voice hurt her ears before noticing she could not stop shaking. A very unpleasant feeling was wracking every inch of her body, and it took her a few moments to identify what it was.

"So c-cold...!" she gasped as she tried to raise a protective barrier to no avail, "My... My...!"

Mew's voice sounded of panic and her head moved uneasily, but unlike Zoroark she seemed to have kept her sanity intact. Lucario sighed out in relief and decided to take charge.

"... Yeah, he said something about sealing your powers," Lucario muttered as he kept her close to his chest and began to walk, "Don't worry about it for now, I'll take you someplace warmer first."

Her eyes darted around the area once more before a strong shiver wracked her body, calming her down and forcing her to look up at him.

"P-Please h-h-hurry..." she pleaded, the unfamiliar sensation of extreme cold bothering her greatly. She tried to remember what it was that Darkrai had showed her to make her lose grasp of reality, but could not recall anything but a deep sense of self-loathing.

A few minutes passed as Lucario found the snowy landscape far from easy to traverse. There were a few recognizable sources of aura in the far off distance, letting him know he was heading in the right direction. Even so, the storm had picked up into a full blizzard again, the strong winds and biting cold sapping his strength which was already running low from the trying day. It felt like so long ago that he had been together with Zerobi and Zoroark, storming the facility while worrying over the virus. Their mission had ended in success, but it already seemed like a shallow victory, a thing of the past. Looking back, Lucario could not reclaim the enthusiasm he had felt only moments before the arrival of Darkrai. He felt empty inside.

Mew gradually forgot all about the horrible visions she had revisited. The immediate situation demanded full attention to keep her lungs moving with old fashioned physical prowess. She could feel that her powers were completely gone, but at least she was not at risk of choking to death this time. Even so, she wondered what life held in store for her now, weak as an infant with no special powers whatsoever. She had no intention of accepting it - There had to be some way to dispel the curse Darkrai had placed upon her. No matter what, she would find it.

Several more minutes passed in silence. Still fearing Mew's psyche had been damaged somehow, Lucario really wanted to keep hearing her voice to settle his worries.

"Feels nostalgic, carrying you around," Lucario said, sorely wishing for his cape back, "Do you remember?"

"How... Could I... Forget...?" Mew replied slowly with a bothered expression, "So slow... Took months..."

"Eh, whatever. The legendaries weren't exactly in a rush once we got there," Lucario muttered while shrugging, "I'd say everything ended up for the best."

Mew stayed quiet, and he noticed she was turning as pale as if deep in illness. In truth, even without talking she was finding it more and more trying to draw in breath, the icy winds invading her body and damaging it from the inside.

"T-Too... C-Cold..." Mew coughed weakly and closed her eyes in pain, "L-Lungs... H-Hurt..."

"I guess my presence scared off Mewtwo... But hey, that was hardly my fault," Lucario continued in an attempt to get both their minds off the current situation, "And who knows how he would've reacted to all this? Maybe my presence did a lot more than people imagine?"

Lucario's words did little to stop her teeth from chattering. She felt her body grow weaker with each second, wishing to escape from the debilitating and quite harmful cold. She wished she could still fly. She wished she could start a fire. She even wished she had been able to do something as simple as walk, anything to flee the painful environment.

"Lucario... H-Hurry..." Mew stammered desperately, knowing he was her only hope to find a way out of the blizzard, "... I have to live... I have to get back alive..."

"We're almost there," Lucario lied with an annoyed grunt, "Tons of Fire Pokémon. It'll be a crazy inferno. You'll miss being able to chill out here."

Her mind searched frantically for a solution as the biting freeze continued attacking her, millions of tiny fangs prickling her skin. Pain increasing and breathing becoming more labored, she came to understand that if they did not find shelter soon, she was going to die. The thought set her into panic, helplessly tugging at Lucario's chest with what little strength remained within her.

"... Cannot... Face death... Cannot even... Comprehend..." Mew spoke as clearly as she could muster to make Lucario understand the gravity of the situation, "My life is... M-Meant to last eons... I am not r-ready... Not now... N-Not ever..."

"Damn it, stop talking like an idiot!" Lucario suddenly shouted with rage as his expression turned into a snarl, "Regular Pokémon have to deal with death, not you! You're a legendary and you'll live forever, so count your blessings! Not everyone is that lucky!"

Lucario huffed angrily as Mew fell silent. The very idea felt preposterous, he had been out in the snow far longer than her while wearing nothing but shorts. Unable to regulate her temperature on her own, he figured her first real meeting with a harsh climate was causing her to overreact. He wondered if maybe he should shed his modesty and wrap her up in what little clothing he had, but realized his pants were already icy cold due to being soaked with melted snow, sweat and, to his endless relief, nothing else. Not that it mattered, a borderline omnipotent being was not dying to a brisk winter's morning.

Even so, he could not help but notice that her once otherworldly appearance had turned into that of a tattered kitten. No demanding presence or mysterious glow, Darkrai had transformed her from a goddess to peon in a matter of seconds. He had seen her like this before, when Zoroark had temporarily sealed her powers in No Man's Land. Indeed, he had thought she was dead back then, and been proven wrong not long after. Fooled once, he knew better than to doubt her abilities again. Although he was seeing Mew for what she really was, but in his mind he could still see an image of her once graceful appearance.

Without much else to think about, Mew found her mind drifting towards the great unknown. Death had always seemed so distant, so far ahead in the future that it was nothing worth worrying about. But now, she could feel it creeping up on her. Soon, all could be gone. Forever. Thinking about her life, she wondered what had led her down this diminishing path. Could this all have been avoided? No, she thought, she knew that no matter what she had chosen to do, she would one day be forced to face death. Such is the fate of all living creatures. She could save the world, she could extend her reach beyond the stars or she could remain curled up into a ball forever, it is inevitable that one day she would lose everything before the one obstacle impossible to overcome. It filled her with sadness as she weakly clung on to Lucario, wanting to share her newfound wisdom.

"No matter who we are... Wh-What we do... Where we go... I-It will always... End the same..." she stammered as her voice almost failed her, "... Alone... In endless emptiness... And h-hopeless... Despair..."

Lucario looked down at her with confusion, and the idea that she might be leaving him and everything else in the world felt overwhelming. Filled with sadness, it soon turned into anger as she came to realize the futility of life.

"How are we... Supposed to accept that...!?" she continued with the same stammer but more power behind her words, "Is this the price of living...!? To one day lose everything...!?"

"SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled again while feigning fury, disguising the pit opening up in his stomach from her words, "I told you to stop talking like you're going to die, you stupid little..."

He trailed off and swiftly pushed the idea out of his head. He wondered why he was screaming at her so much. Every time he was about to talk, he thought he could see Mew's eyelids flutter a little further down and would immediately raise his voice in order to keep her awake. His fears settled as although she was looking a bit worse for wear, her trembling was finally beginning to slow down.

"... Not so cold... Anymore..." Mew whispered calmly with a mild sense of euphoria, "Stars... Heating up... Earth..."

"Too cloudy... Can't see any stars..." Lucario muttered with a bothered tone, but not because of the shaded skies. If what Darkrai had said was true, never again would Mew shine like the stars. Robbed of everything that made her special, her dazzling form would fade and become an invisible feature in the darkness of the night, soon to be forgotten by the world she had struggled so hard to save.

Mew lay silently in his arms, feeling her limbs grow turgid and her body go numb. She wondered how she looked in this regressed state, especially to those who had so many times seen her touch the sky and perform miracles with ease. Lugia would be disappointed, and she felt a lump form in her throat when she realized this is exactly what he had warned her about for so many years. At least Celebi would support her for as long as necessary, since the two of them were as close as can be. The other legendaries would simply have to cope with it, and she felt regretful that she could no longer be one of them. She drifted away into a delusion as she continued staring up at the sky, seeing only a grey mist.

"... Artic-uno...? Stop..." Mew spoke dizzily as she thought she could see the mighty bird pass her by high above, "... Too much... Storm... Want to see... Stars... Moon..."

"They're not going anywhere," Lucario replied quickly, "Focus on survival."

Although her speech was becoming more disjointed, it seemed his reply had some manner of effect as she slowly switched her vision from the heavens to him.

"... So I did..." Mew whispered quietly, "... But... Why...?"

Lucario met her gaze as he subconsciously picked up his pace. Mew remained still and her expression was calm, which somehow seemed more distressing than her earlier behavior.

"I... Lived in... Celibacy... To survive..." Mew explained and her lower lip trembled without her noticing, "But... But now... I will... Still die... Leaving... Nothing... Behind..."

She turned her eyes away from him as she looked off to the side.

"Celebi... Told me... I tried it..." she continued as her voice was beginning to crack up again, "Th-Thought it... Would bring... Calmness... And joy... But all it b-brought... Was shame... And I... F-Fled... From you..."

"... Fled...?" Lucario repeated, and it only took a second for his long gone concern to revive again, "Wait, you said... You said you didn't avoid me on purpose! It just kind of... Happened?"

"Forgive... Me... I... Lied..." Mew whispered shamefully before closing her eyes, "So... M-Meaningless... Now... Why... Did... I... Not... Speak...?"

"No! Nothing is meaningless!" Lucario shouted again as he saw her close her eyes all the way, his heart beginning to beat faster in fear, "I forgive you, but you've got to live! I won't question it, just keep fighting!"

For a moment he thought she had fainted, but then she peered back at him through tiny slits behind her eyelids. The sight filled him up with strength and determination, not wanting to see her brush with death ever again.

"Rrrrgh!" Lucario growled as he forced his sprained leg and began marching faster through the snow. The bed was deep so he could not fully run, and after only about ten steps he felt himself exhaust the last of his reserves. However, he refused to slow down or stop, realizing he held Mew's life in his hands. He occasionally looked down at her to see that she was still alive, constantly having to remind himself of what she had once been. There was no longer any brightness emanating from her, but in his mind she was like a brilliant beacon of light radiating the purity of a clear spring. An angel, wings clipped and halo faded. Despite what Darkrai had said, he knew Mew would recover her powers. Wounds heal, it's only natural and nothing special. And even if not, it had never been her status or powers that made him like her. No matter what was to become of her, he would stay by her side.

"... Last... Chance..." Mew struggled to speak, rocking back and forth from Lucario's violent charge.

"I only need one!" Lucario replied instantly and knew it was only natural for her to doubt his abilities, considering his track record.

"... Must... Tell... You..." Mew wheezed with urgency in an attempt to shout down his incessant panting.

"Chew me out later, I've got to focus!" Lucario responded, knowing he was definitely her last choice for a last chance but also realizing he was the only one who could do it.

"... Before..." Mew continued trying to get his attention, "... Listen..."

"Fine!" Lucario exclaimed reluctantly as he braced himself for the worst, "I'm listening, I'm listening! What is it!?"

He saw Mew's mouth move, but the sound was too low for him to make out between the whistling wind and trampled snow. Thinking he had gotten off easy, there was something about her pale and colorless face that suddenly stole his breath away in surprise.

Tears. Lucario did not even realize that he had stopped running as he felt petrified, staring with awe.

A strong wind blew past, Mew feeling the cold sensation overwhelm her senses, but despite it struggled to smile one last time. She was eager to see his reaction, and hear his answer. In the state she was in, they were all she had left.

"... I..." Mew started, Lucario focusing his ears.

"... Love..." Mew continued, Lucario's breath getting caught in his throat.

"... You..." Mew finished. She beheld his face as it remained in perpetual paralysis. Mouth unmoving, eyes never wavering, it felt as if time had stopped. She knew this to not be the case as slowly but surely, she felt her life begin to slip away. Desperately clinging on to it just a little longer to hear his response, her words were too weak.

"What're you saying...?" Lucario whispered, unable to comprehend what he had just heard, "You... What...?"

He gazed at Mew in shock as her lips barely moved, as if trying to say something. In a last attempt to reach him, she lifted her two arms towards him, her vision of Lucario obscured by darkness. Too stunned to properly react, Lucario continued staring at her crying, smiling face as her arms and eyelids slowly fell.

"Mew... D-Don't..." Lucario stammered as he felt himself quiver, "No, you can't...!"

Hoping, begging for any sort of response from Mew, he was left sitting in silence. She was still, only shaking slightly from Lucario's trembling. Mind fogging up with panic, he began shaking her harder, vehement to see her stir again.

"Mew...?" Lucario whispered before screaming, "MEW!"

There was no response. Something sucked the air out of Lucario's lungs as he stared at Mew, her beautiful face lifeless and static. Desperately checking for a pulse, he gripped her brittle wrist so hard it felt like it would break off. Pressing against her chest until her ribcage bent, her lungs refused to reactivate. He had thought her dead before, only now recognizing how wrong he had been. Her body was cold. Her breathing was gone. None of this was a fabrication or an illusion - It was reality. Not a single shred of life remained within the empty husk of the legendary Mew.

His mind went blank. His body went limp, a bottomless depth opening and swallowing his insides. Alone with her remains he sat on his knees, no one hearing his helpless wails echoing through the rage of a hateful blizzard.