"Two Against The Tower..." The open area at the foot of the Lavender Tower was once again crowded as the sun set over the harbor turning the sky pink and purple as the ocean became almost blood red. All around the perimeter, small concession stands were set up to service the public's hunger for over-priced festival food as upon the small wooden stage a stocky blond woman with too many piercings operated an array of stereo equipment. Supplying the area with a variety music. The large crowd of people whom either stood talking, or dancing to the music were mostly locals, and couriers at first. To them it was more of a social gathering, and being that the festival ran every year, few of the attractions held their interest for more than a few days. "I still can't get over how many of us there are this year," Miranda commented, shaking her head as the group of four joined the crowd. "I guess the Festival's just becoming more popular," said Zack with a shrug, smiling as Anna took his hand in both of hers and gave him a gentle pull as a rather fast song started up. "Guess so," Miranda replied, smiling in amusement as her friend exaggerated his peril at being dragged off to dance. "Maybe it's a good sign," offered Misty, taking both Miranda's hands and leading her closer as well, "maybe this 'come home for a while syndrome' is contagious." "Well, I can't say I don't appreciate the apparent support," the courier added thoughtfully, "But even without all these people, Lavender Town does seem a lot less depressing than it used to be." "Good," said Misty mysteriously, "Then my work here is done!" "Oh no it's not!" Miranda laughed, catching Misty about the waist as she turned suddenly and made to run away. "Careful!" cried Misty, laughing as Miranda lost her footing and sent them both tumbling to the grassy ground. "Too late," Miranda replied with a grin, rolling onto her back and smiling up at the first few stars in the rapidly darkening sky as the thick grass pressed back against her. "Not going to chase me anymore?" inquired Misty, suddenly coming into view as she crawled across the courier's body and looked down at Miranda, supporting herself on her elbows. "If you're going to run away from me, my love, then I have no right to chase you," replied the courier melodramatically as she slid off her glasses and breathed in the fresh mountain air, tainted only by the salty scent of the sea, "If there's something about me that makes you want to leave, then it's up to me to change that something. Not to force you to stay." Misty sighed contentedly, brushing away Miranda's bangs affectionately. "So long as you don't want me to leave," she added sadly, "Cause you know, I can be very persistent." "Good," said Miranda, sitting up before reaching out to touch Misty's chin, "because I'm just getting used to this being a happy place once again." "Anywhere is happy so long as you're in it," her lover assured her as Miranda leaned down and their lips touched, "Even Cerulean felt like home to me because of you, dearest." "Standing up to your sisters didn't hurt either," the courier added half teasingly, glancing over at the stage as the song changed to something slower. "Hm. That's more like it," she said with a smile, glancing back at Misty and holding out her hand, "shall we?" Misty smiled happily, and took the offered hand as they got to their feet before moving closer to the main group where they embraced, moving slowly to the music. "Wanna know something strange?" said Misty half-rhetorically, suddenly resting her head upon Miranda's shoulder and closing her eyes to block out the rest of the world for a moment, "I've never actually slow danced with anyone before." "You're kidding," Miranda replied, suddenly feeling both shocked and deeply honored. "No, seriously," said Misty as Miranda gave her a reassuring squeeze, "I guess I just made some poor choices in my life, that's all." "It's never to late to change that," assured Miranda, kissing her neck lightly, tasting her lover's warmth upon her lips before glancing up at the Tower. "Now that's odd," she commented as several windows on the second floor lit up with a brilliant white light before fading back to pitch black darkness. "What is?" Misty inquired, looking up and glancing around. "Oh, it's just the ghosts," Miranda replied dismissively, "They're always up to something, and Halloween just makes it worse." Misty shuddered as she glanced at the Tower as well, just in time to see a second flash in one of the first floor windows. "What do you suppose they're up to?" she inquired rhetorically, not really wanting to know. "Oh, probably no good," Miranda chuckled, "Oh, that reminds me. I really should let Wraith out again. He hates spending Halloween night all cooped up in his ball." "Or your 'dex," chuckled Misty as her lover reached for the small metal orb on her belt. "I'd buy a new one," the courier commented, holding the gray and black ball in two fingers and looking at it contemplatively, "but he'd probably take it over too. You know, I had to chase him out of Bob's computer while you were at the Gym, eh? Sometimes he's such a pain." But as Miranda held the ghost-ball out in the palm of her hand, watching as it expanded from storage mode, her smile was happy and maternal. "Wraith, come forth," she said in a clear tone, shivering slightly as the ball's temperature dropped before snapping open and her haunter materialized in the air above it. "Happy Halloween," greeted Misty, smiling at the dark shape of Wraith as he looked back at her with a wide grin and a baleful look. "You're not going to scare her, dear," chuckled Miranda in a maternal tone, "She's getting used to you." Wraith turned back to the courier and pouted for a moment before suddenly looking serious. "What is it-?" Miranda began, but Wraith raised a finger to silence her. For a moment, the air was still, as though a storm were brewing in the cloudless sky as Wraith turned to face the Tower. "Wra..." he whispered before abruptly turning to Miranda with a look a fear that startled his trainer. "Haunter!" he exclaimed, flinging his hands into the air in exasperation, the sudden deeply felt terror clear in his tone as he balled one hand into a fist and hit the activation button on his pokeball. "You can't be serious!" Miranda replied in a deadly serious tone, all colour draining from her face as Wraith vanished back into his ball and the device clicked shut. "What'd he say?" inquired Misty, the fear she didn't feel for Wraith finding a foothold elsewhere as Miranda started shaking, staring up at the Tower as someone on the stage started yelling desperately into a megaphone. "-your ghosts!" she heard the voice yell over the sudden whine of the speaker, "If you have ghosts, please return them now! This is NOT; I repeat NOT part of the festival! We have a situation here!" "Laurna?" inquired Misty, yelling just to be heard as all around them people all started talking at once. "But I don't understand," muttered Miranda, turning to face Misty as she pushed down her sudden panic, "This just can't happen!" "What can't happen?" asked Misty, her tone sounding a little aggravated even as several dozen people let out fearful screams and started running from the festival grounds. "That!" said Miranda, pointing at the sky just above the heads of the crowd as a swarm of ghost issued from the Tower. "That's not normal, is it?" commented Misty rhetorically as Miranda drew her bokken, almost in unison with the half dozen other courier's in their immediate area. "No," her lover replied in a now level tone as the swarm of ghosts dove down towards the humans, all the while shrieking like banshees, "This, this is bad. Very, very bad!" As the tourists ran screaming and tripping over themselves for their lives, the couriers present drew their wooden swords and quickly fumbled for the small, sealed package they all carried as a precautionary measure. "What is that?" Misty inquired as Miranda tore open the clear plastic rectangle with her teeth and quickly squeezed out the greenish, translucent ooze within onto the wooden blade of her sword. "It's just ectoplasm," the courier assured her, quickly smearing the goo along the length of the sword with her hand until it glowed faintly in the near darkness, "Oh, and if you get the chance, could you call out your pokemon? We're going to need back up!" Misty shrieked as Miranda suddenly leapt backwards, barely avoiding the blast of dark purple unlight that sapped the life from the grass where she'd been standing, turning the dull green to sickly yellow and finally dead dry brown as the watched with eyes that went wide with horror. "I should have brought that sword you bought me!" she muttered, pulling out three orbs and tossing them into the air. "Don't worry about it!" assured Miranda, spinning around as the haunter that had fired upon her sailed overhead, laughing manically as he targeted several fleeing tourists, "Just remember for next year! Oh, crap! The graveyard!" "What's wrong with the graveyard?" began Misty, suddenly realizing that she didn't want to know. "Them!" replied Miranda weakly, tossing out two poke balls of her own and indicating the peculiar movement of the ground around the less impressive looking tombstones where the town's deceased pokemon were buried, "Nezumi! Umi! Antipode!" The bewildered looking rodent and dragon wasted little time questioning the command as the haunter herded the fleeing humans towards the cemetery. Instead, Nezumi hopped up on top of Umi's head as they both drew in deep breaths, only awaiting a target. "The ghost!" Miranda ordered, swinging her sword in a wide arch as a gastly appeared out of nowhere and caught the sticky blade in the face, "We're surrounded by bad ghosts! Take down as many as you can!" Umi's eyes blazed red, as one snarled menacingly at the laughing ghost and spit forth a burning ball of flame. At the same time, Nezumi braced himself against the dragon's head and fired an ice beam directly at the small, spinning sphere of burning flame. The cracking blue beam met the volatile burning sphere a short distance away, instantly imprisoning it in a round clear ball of ice, that flew towards the unsuspecting haunter like a comet drawn towards a star. The laughing ghost didn't see the small orb with its sparkling tail of ice crystals as it impacted with his ephemera, but he certainly felt it as the fire within exploded just as the comet pierced his body. The haunter could only scream as fiery shards of ice ripped their way out of him like shrapnel, tearing away a significant portion of his ghostly substance and forcing the haunter to fall to the ground in as a steaming mass of black ooze. "Way to go guys!" called Miranda as a loud roar spit the air and even more people screamed as Leviathan loomed over them, snarling and salivating making the oncoming swarm of ghosts hesitate. "You really have to show me how to teach them stuff like that," Misty commented as Shadow and Umberlee sent jets of water into the air, hitting several of the suddenly startled ghosts. "It's easy," laughed Miranda, feeling much more confident, even as a several dark shapes tore their way out of the ground and crawled towards the light of the torches, "This, though? This could be a problem." Misty's reply was suddenly stifled as she turned and saw the putrid shapes that were advancing slowly upon them. Several other people had their own opinions as well as the product of several hundred years of pokemon/human interaction shambling towards them, loosing bits and letting out awful noises as their vocal cords strained to function after such a long time buried within the earth's cold embrace for so long. "M-Miri," Misty stammered after a moment of watching the hoard of undead pokemon advance on their position, "I- I thought you said there were no such thing as zombies!" Miranda did a double-take, and swallowed hard. "Well, well they're not really zombies, right?" she replied nervously with a sudden shudder, "They're just being controlled like puppets. I'm just glad we seal humans in popper coffins. 'Cause this is bad enough!" "Guys!" she ordered, snapping Nezumi and Umi out of the sudden shock that had overcome them, "Take care of the ghosts, we can handle these things!" Nezumi shuddered as he glanced back at the skeletal raticate that was shuffling towards Miranda, snapping its bony jaws menacingly and nodded before blasting another ghost out of the air. "Zombies," Miranda muttered as she and several other couriers formed a line against them, "As if!" Misty blinked in surprise as the group held their swords at their sides before all moving as one. In unison, the couriers drew their still glistening weapons, taking half a step back before spinning them clockwise over their hands and holding their swords in both hands, pointing their weapons directly at the oncoming army. "Let's send them back to their graves, people!" called out the voice of Joshua who hardly seemed old as he lead the charge into the hoard of undead, "Attack!" "Yup," Misty commented as the air just over her head heated up, and her hair was singed slightly as Leviathan blasted a ghost that was drawing too near her, "I should have brought that sword." But Misty's musing was interrupted by the sudden sound of gunfire, and the pained hissing of small pack of ghosts who ran obligingly into Umberlee's path. "Use Neptune's Might!" her trainer called out, turning towards the sound of gunfire even as the swirling jet of water fired off into the air. "Oh! Hi, Misty!" called out Frank as he and Bow jogged to a halt, watching as the ghosts were reduced to puddles of dormant ephemera, "Seen Miri around?" Misty glanced at the two smoking revolvers Frank was holding and couldn't help but point to them. "H-how?" she stammered as the cop looked up and fired a round into the air, causing a ghost to shriek and flee in another direction. "Ah, it's a little somethin' Viv' cooked up for me," chuckled Frank as Bow let out a barking whine and glanced up at him for guidance, "Hollow points filled with ectoplasm. Oh! There she is!" "Frank!" Misty exclaimed angrily, grabbing his arm as the cop ran off in the direction of the zombies, "What's going on?!" Frank stopped, the amused grin upon his face fading as he turned and looked down at her grimly. "Stryphe," he replied in a serous tone, "That's what's happening." "Stryphe?!" demanded Misty, "H-How's that even possible?" "Don't know," he replied, glancing pensively at the Tower, "the ghosts went crazy right after Viper received a message from the Guardian about intruders. I'm afraid we're just gonna have to keep fighting and get our answers after we've cleaned up the mess." "Hasn't anyone tried going in?" Misty asked, hating herself for even suggesting such a thing. Frank shook his head. "Can't. The doors have been sealed from the inside. So unless you know of a way in, there ain't-" "I do!" Misty interrupted, dashing off before Frank could stop her, "Tell Laurna I have plan!" "Right," chuckled Frank casting about for more targets and being pleased to see that most of the ghosts had been pushed back towards the Tower, "Every time 'I' say that she panics..." *** "You know what this really reminds me of?" inquired Joshua as the line of five couriers moved in unison, spinning their swords over their wrists and taking half a step backwards from the small legion of undead that was even now shambling towards them. "That first caravan run you took where that snow storm blew in and you lost half the team to those snow monsters and you had to take over?" his wife Nancy inquired, wrinkling her nose at the combination of rotting flesh and damp earth. "Or the time you were lost in the mining tunnels and found that lake with the carnivorous blind albino cave fish?" pondered Miranda as the cacophony of wretched voices reached her ears as the long dead pokemon's vocal cords strained to utter sounds that were but twisted mockeries of the noises they made in life. "Ooh, ooh!! Or what about when you wrestled that gyarados under water while being keel-hauled, tore out its fangs and used them to climb back up onto the deck of the Dawn Sister 1 to save my grandfather and his crew from those pirates?!" laughed Zack, seemingly without taking a breath as his shifted from foot to foot, his adrenal gland working overtime. "Um, it's not the liver story again is it?" inquired Anna sheepishly, having only heard one of the elder courier's tall tales. "You still tell that story?" chuckled Nancy with a smile that made her husband blush just a little. "Nope," replied Joshua, taking a deep breath as he adjusted his shoulders, making the old bones within them crack, "This ain't like nothin' I've ever seen before. It'll make me a nice new story to tell the kiddies about. Maybe even this time there'll be witnesses!" "Gee, thanks for the reassurance!" laughed Zack, suddenly bounding off to meet a pack of four zombies and causing Miranda to scowl. "Hey! Wait up, you idiot!" she called, chasing after him as he easily batted away a small fast-moving rattata with no tail, "you're out numbered remember?!" "Ah, kids," chuckled Joshua as Anna's eyes widened. "Is he brave, or just insane?" she inquired, glancing at Nancy for reassurance. "Yes, dear," the woman chuckled smiling as Miranda glowered at Zack, even as they both swung their weapons, cleaving the rotting heads from a pair of bipeds. *** "Bad kitty!" laughed Zack as the mangy furred decapitated electrabuzz staggered around, looking for its head and Miranda's alakazam tossed its twin spoons at her ineffectually as the two couriers between them, moving onwards towards the next pair. "Must you always show off to the girls?" Miranda inquired, a smirk crossing her face as they both turned so that they were back to back. "Oh yeah!" he friend laughed as they both moved in unison, taking two handed swings of their swords as the two couriers stepped between the next pair of poke-zombies, "Hey, it's Nezumi's grandparents!" "Don't even joke about that," grumbled Miranda through gritted teeth as the ancient raticate stood up on its hind legs, menacing her with its broken incisors before her bokken rended a long gash along its midsection at the same time as Zack's wooden cutlass sliced through a second one. "Oh, you're no fun," the psychic chuckled as they both leaped back the way they came before turning their backs on the two wounded rodents and spun their swords, "But as Joshua would say, remember the good ole' days?" "The good ole' days?" Miranda inquired suspiciously as they both jabbed their swords backwards, impaling their opponents before gritting their teeth and yanking upwards. "Yeah!" laughed Zack as they spun around again, raising their swords high before jabbing them down into what remained of the ghoulish raticates, effectively disabling them, "Back when zombies only had a D8 hit-points. I'm tellin' ya, this 3rd Ed D12 thing's a real pain...!" *** "He's really something," commented Anna as she watched Zack and Miranda turn and give chase after the two decapitated poke-zombies, not noticing the huge serpent and flightless owl that was almost as tall as her that were looming ever closer. "Pay attention, kid," came Joshua's seemingly neutral tone as the elder courier gritted his teeth and jabbed his immensely long sword through both the noctowl and the arbok, pinning the birds wings to its body, and yanking them both back before the snake's fangs could sink into Anna's shoulder, "This ain't no time for gawkin'!" "Y-yes, sir!" the younger courier stammered, her blue eyes going wide as Joshua flung the two zombies off his sword before tossing something small and breakable on top of them. Anna then gasped in surprise as the object shattered, wreathing the coiling serpent and the panicking avian in intensely hot flames that lit up the area and sent a hail of smoldering feathers into the air. "Oh, don't worry about him," called Nancy, the two wooden short swords she was wielding stabbing outwards in either direction to impale both the pidgeot on her right and the scaly, bipedal reptile known as a feraligator on her left, "He's just used to being the center of attention, that's all." With surprising strength the woman then lifted herself up, all but dragging the two pokemon to their knees as she kicked out with both feet to shove the off pink shambling mound of a blissy that had been bearing down on her. "A little help would be appreciated, though, dearest!" Nancy added, leaning away as the reptile's skinless jaws snapped at her, breaking several of its teeth in the process, "I'm a wee bit out numbered!" "Oh, sorry!" chuckled her husband, casting a glance over his shoulder. "Hold them two till their embers," he told Anna, his glass eye gleaming dangerously in the flickering light, "and don't be worryin' yourself. They ain't real zombies. Their just Stryphe's puppets." Anna nodded, kicking the arbok in the head as the black charred serpent slithered out of the flames, only to be sent back into the inferno. "Not a problem," she replied, turning in time to see several more zombies moving in to halt Joshua's passage. "I really don't have time for this," the elder courier muttered as though being swarmed by poke-zombies were a regular occurrence, and jabbed the end of his sword into the ground. As a completely skeletal jynx hobbled towards him, stepping on the long twisting strands of its white hair, and yanking it out in huge clumps, Joshua pulled his sword back, bending as far as he dared away from the shambling bog hag. "You could at least pretend to be a threat," the courier grumbled, seeming disappointed as he let go of the weapon, causing the hilt to smash the creature in the face before rebounding back into Joshua's hand. "We can't have everything, dearest," replied Nancy, yanking her sword free of the feraligator as the jynx's face collapsed in on itself and the creature staggered backwards, tripped over its own hair, and tumbled backwards into the pyre. "No," her husband agreed with a grunt as he grabbed the reptiles tail and yanked it backwards so that it landed face first, shattering it's lower jaw against a rock, "But it'd be nice to be defending Lavender against a real threat." "The most powerful evil ghost in history isn't enough for you, my love?" said Nancy skeptically as her now free sword swept across to decapitate the struggling pidgeot zombie on her left after cutting a line across the blissy who'd come lumbering towards her once again. "Well, I suppose you're right," Joshua agreed with a bit of a huff as he swung the gator around and tossed it into he fire before yanking out his sword, "But I still think his minions could use an upgrade." "Would you rather be fightin' human zombies?" inquired Anna, jabbing her long sword through the feraligator's head as it tried to crawl out the other side of the now huge bonfire. "Naw, it's alright," the man replied, bringing his sword down hard, cleaving a raticate in half before swinging it back up to dispatch the ineffectual blissy, "besides. We give 'em actually coffins and stuff. Even if Stryphe were to control 'em, they couldn't get loose. It's better this way, though." "True," agreed Nancy, yanking her other sword free as the gigantic avian flopped down, twitching but otherwise no longer a threat, "but at least this way no one's ancestors are coming to get them." Joshua nodded grimly as Miranda and Zack rushed towards the pyre, holding a struggling persian between them. The still vicious feline impaled on their swords as it's claws rended a tear in Zack's jacket and it made horrible growling sounds that issued more from the hole in its neck than its mouth. "Yeah, I'd hate for Miri to have to see her dad like this," the eldest courier shuddered, offhandedly swinging his sword to cut a zombie growlithe in half as Nancy put her arms around him from behind, cuddling against her husband as his voice quavered ever so slightly... *** "You know what kinda erks me about this?" commented Zack, grimacing as they both flung the enormous feline into he flames before swinging their swords repeatedly to keep it from escaping. "Do I really want to know," inquired Miranda, smiling just a little as she muttered under her breath, "This is for my poetry book you jerk!" "The fact that none of these things has threatened to eat my brains yet!" replied Zack indignantly. "Goodness! Not even your skin!" chuckled Miranda with a hint of sarcasm as she caught sight of something moving in the forest West of the graveyard. "It's almost too bad Rick moved down to Maiden's Peak before he died," commented Joshua as he and Nancy banged the zombie bits from their blades and watched as a second wave ambled out of the woods, slogging and dripping their way towards them, obviously having drown in the bog Joshua knew existed somewhere within. "Why's that?" inquired Anna, giving Zack a smile as they waited for the shambling armada of mostly mundane animals. "Ah, because he had Pyros!" the elder courier replied reminiscently, "Now that'd be a challenge to take him down. Even without the breath-weapon." "Pyros was an arcanine," explained Nancy to the confused looks the others sent her, "Officer Richard was the head Pokeforce officer her when Joshua was little. Apparently Pyros found the firestone by accident one day, and poof! A cute little puppy became a huge direwolf! Ah well, it apparently kept the rowdier townsfolk in order just by being there." "Ya'all ready?" inquired Joshua as the second wave drew nearer, causing the group to form a line once more and nod in agreement before spinning their swords in unison, and standing ready to meet the onslaught... *** Misty soon found herself running through a field of mostly shattered bones and still moving body part parts as she dashed towards Miranda. "Oooh I hate this!" she muttered through gritted teeth, holding her head up as she tried not to look down and hopped over the angrily rocking body of a limbless alakazam, "But I'm gonna hate this even more! Miri!" Miranda swung her sword one final time, and put down what she was certain was Joy's great, great, great grandmother's blissy. "Hey," Miranda laughed, panting as spoke and wiped her forehead with her sleeve, "This was easier than we thought. I guess all those horror movies were wrong after all." Behind her Joshua nodded grimly. "Yeah," he said in a tone that almost sounded disappointed, "but it's gonna be a heck of a mess ta clean up if we ever get 'em to stop squirmin' around like that." "Thanks," said Misty sarcastically with a shudder, "I really needed to hear that. Anyway, I just saw Frank. He said there's someone in the Tower. He said Stryphe's making the ghosts behave like this!" "That'd make sense," Joshua replied thoughtfully before shrugging and helping his wife clean the zombie bits from her sword. "I know," Miranda muttered glumly, looking towards the Tower again and shaking her head, "Someone really needs to get in there and make sure Stryphe doesn't actually escape his ball." Misty caught her breath and stared at Miranda with a sudden panic. "He- He can do this while still being INSIDE his pokeball?!" she exclaimed, "Are- Are you sure?!" Miranda nodded before glancing at Joshua meaningfully. "If he was actually out of his ball," she explained in a tone that barely hid her dread, "We'd all be dead right now." Misty swallowed hard and grabbed Miranda's arm. "Look, someone needs to get in there and stop them, but the doors have been sealed." "There's always the roof," offered Joshua with a shrug. "Anyone got a flier that can carry humans?" Misty inquired, finding herself surprisingly calm and half wondering when the panic would start. "I have Hedwig," replied Nancy hesitantly, "but noctowls aren't large enough to carry anything as large as a person." "Wait!" said Miranda, glancing around, "Where's Zack? He has Pesto!" "Over here!" called the familiar voice as Zack and Anna jogged over, dodging several still clasping claws and snapping jaws, "What's up?" "We need two things," explained Miranda, looking towards the battle at the foot of the Tower and smiling grimly as she saw the shapes of two gyarados's sending jets of searing flame into the air, accompanied by bolts of lightning and torrents of water, "Firstly, we need Pesto to fly someone to the top of the Tower. And secondly, we need a volunteer." "I'll go," said Joshua, immediately, and without hesitation, causing his wife to gasp and clutch his arm. "There's absolutely NO way your going in there!" she chastised, a look of deep worry crossing her aged face, "I've already lost too much of you as it is!" "But-" the eldest courier began. "No, she's right," interrupted Miranda, meeting Joshua's suddenly annoyed gaze without fear, "I think I'd stand a better chance in there." "Not without me you're not!" said Misty sternly, firmly clasping Miranda's hand as the others looked on in surprise. "Misty, no," her lover responded in a worried tone, "I- I'm related to Laurna. If there's any ghosts guarding the Tower, I might be able to convince them to let me through." "She has a point," muttered Joshua begrudgingly, his tone softening as he gave his former apprentice a slow, approving nod, "And judging by the crowd outside the Tower, I'd have to say there can't be too many ghosts left inside anyway." "Think so?" inquired Miranda. "I'd be counting on it," the old courier replied, "Otherwise you could still be in trouble. Related to Laurna or not, Stryphe's pulling the strings in there, and he's got a couple a hundred years of bitterness to work through. So just... Just be careful, okay kid?" "We will!" assured Misty grinning at Miranda to halt any arguments before they could begin. "Don't I get a vote?" inquired Zack, grinning even as he cringed against he resounding "NO!" he received from the group, "Oh, alright, I'll see if I can talk to Pesto..." With a moment's hesitation, the courier pulled a pokeball off his belt and placed it carefully on the ground before him. "Pesto, you're up!" he called, taking a step back as the ball activated and a bird that stood nearly six feet at the shoulder materialized before him. "I'd forgotten how big these things get," commented Misty, walking forward with an outstretched hand. "Wait!" exclaimed Zack as the enormous avian turned towards her with an angry glint in his eye, "He'll bite your hand off if you're not careful!" The pidgeot turned towards his trainer and raised an eyebrow, the long, multi- coloured plumage that sprouted from his head raising dangerously as he squawked out a disapprovingly suspicious remark. "What?" demanded Zack, turning toward the bird with a stern expression, "No, I'm not saying you're a vicious predator. I'm just saying that you can't just walk up to a strange pokemon and not expect to get attacked. That's all." Pesto nodded indignantly, and for a moment seemed satisfied, but as he opened his pointed beak, Zack interrupted him. "No!" his trainer exclaimed in an aggravated tone, "I'm NOT calling you strange and you know it! I'm just saying that you two don't know each other 'tis all!" The avian nodded in agreement and turned to face his two potential passengers as Zack threw his arms into the air muttering. "See what I have to put up with?!" the psychic courier demanded of the universe as a whole. "So is he willing or not?" Miranda inquired with an amused smile as Pesto raised his beak and gave a smug look. "Yeah, it's okay," muttered Zack, shaking his head in dismay. "Thanks," said Miranda, walking over to the enormous bird and running her fingers down his dark brown feathered back, "Because you know, this is such a dangerous mission, and only the bravest, most noble of birds could ever help us with it." Zack quickly bit his lip, trying not to laugh at Miranda's veiled sarcasm as Pesto straightened himself and tried to look noble. "But there is just one more thing," the courier continued, her tone sounding almost helpless as she rested her head against the pidgeot's wing, looking up at him imploringly, "a task so fraught with danger that only the most experienced of flier's could ever hope assist us in it." Pesto glanced down at Miranda and gave a short laugh as though danger were of no concern before holding his head high again and squawking loudly. Miranda smiled at the reaction as the avian held out his wing to help her and Misty onto his back. "Thank you," said Miranda politely, pointing past Pesto to where the diminishing swarm of ghosts were continuing to launch themselves against the other couriers and their pokemon, "Now I just need you to fly low so we can pick up our poke's, and then you can just drop us off on top of the Tower okay?" Pesto gave a snort, as though the task were far too easy and Miranda pulled Misty onto his back in front of her before the pidgeot began running forwards, his wings unfurled and held out to their full five meter span as he slowly lifted off. "Hold on!" Miranda cried, recognizing the subtle movement in the bird's muscles as his special adrenal gland kicked in to give him the extra bit of speed he required, "I've seem him do this before!" "Do what-?!" Misty inquired loudly against the onrush of air before her words were stolen from her by the wind, and the fact that they were both traveling at speeds humans could only reach via machines caught up to her. A moment later, and any explanation Miranda could have given would have been insufficient. A foot away from where he would have crashed into the backs of several couriers, the pidgeot changed direction without warning. As his passengers clinging tightly to his plumage, their stomachs contracting with the mixture of exhilaration and terror. Pesto changed direction with a simple shift of his wings. Without worrying about the blast of wind that knocked the land bound humans to the ground, he shot straight up into the night sky, causing Misty to fall back against Miranda, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth the entire time. "Should have warned you!" the courier called out as the bird leveled off and circled the Tower once before spotting the familiar forms of Miranda's pokemon. "I-It's fun, but I'm not sure I wanna do this again!" confessed Misty, thankful for the comforting presence of Miranda's arms around her waist. "Down there, as well!" Miranda said Miranda, tapping Pesto politely to get his attention, "The two star-shapes over by the small gyarados are with us too!" Pesto nodded, sweeping his wings back and decelerating at a rapid rate before descending in a tight, circle. "Small?!" Misty demanded, looking around to find Leviathan and suddenly feeling her stomach contract at the sight of how far down the ground was. "I meant compared to Kraken!" Miranda laughed, pointing to the second looming serpent that was even now orienting on them with an angry snarl. "Oh. I see," Misty replied, her too quiet to be heard tone sounding awed nonetheless as she got her first good look at Angela's gyarados. Kraken was indeed larger than Leviathan, and considerably older. His head alone was three times the size of the younger sea serpent's, and his maw, filled with a double row of yellowing, three-foot-long blades that passed for teeth was large enough to bite Pesto cleanly in half and come looking for more. His age, however, showed in the faded blue of his scales, many of which were frayed or missing, as well as the long since healed over missing eye with the jagged scar to show that it had been gouged out by something even larger. "What is it?" Miranda inquired, hearing Misty suddenly burst out laughing. "He- He reminds me of Joshua!" Misty laughed, causing Miranda to smile as Pesto let out a defiant squawk that made Kraken nod and turn away with a low rumbling sound that shook the air around him. "You have a point!" Miranda agreed as Pesto glided forward, his taloned feet held against him to avoid hitting the ground as he flew in a wide arc around the battlefield. "There they are!" Misty called out, awkwardly pulling out two poke balls. "Just grab Shadow and Undine," Miranda cautioned, already holding out her own two as she spotted Umi, still with Nezumi hanging onto the top of her head, "I don't think Leviathan fit in there!" "Way ahead of ya, love!" assured Misty as they both aimed at their pokemon and in unison yelled out, "Return!" The four crimson beams of light startled a few people who turned in time to see the enormous avian as it swooped around them, tilting slightly to one side to give his passengers an easier time of it. "Okay, Pesto!" called Miranda as their pokemon dematerialized and she hit the hidden switches to shrink her colour coded pokeballs back to storage mode, "Take us up!" But as the pidgeot leveled off again and began his spiraling ascent, a loud, pleading roar shook the air around them and caused several people to scream. The two riders looked in the direction on instinct, and Miranda had to keep from smiling as Leviathan slithered forward as fast as he could, a deeply saddened look upon his face as the courier's in his path scattered to keep from being crushed beneath the gyarados. "It's okay!" Misty called back as Leviathan let out another pitiful pleading sound, and huge teardrops formed in his eyes, "We're coming back! Just help guard the humans while I'm gone! They need you!" Leviathan came to a halt as Pesto flew around the Tower, and twisted himself around to watch for the pidgeot's return, all the while his lower lip quivered as he waited impatiently for Misty to come back. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Leviathan spotted a trio of haunters floating towards him, pointing and laughing at his sadness. Without hesitation, the gyarados's sad expression turned to a snarl as he glanced sideways at the ghosts, his lips peeling back from his razor edged teeth as smoke rose lazily from his nostrils. "That's my Leviathan!" laughed Misty as they came back around the Tower in time to see her pokemon belch forth a searing wall of flame that threw the three ghosts back against the wall of the Tower where they shattered their way through a window. "Oh, I'm sure Umi'll give him a run for his money when she grows up!" teased Miranda, waving to the serpent as Pesto's ascent brought them up over the roof of the Tower. "When'll that be?" inquired Misty, a feeling of dread creeping in around the adrenaline rush she felt as she looked down at a dilapidated gazebo, surrounded by the remnants of a rooftop garden. "Oh, in about twenty or thirty years," Miranda replied with a shrug as Pesto sought out a landing spot beyond the garden and past an expansive collection of scientific meters and chimneys. "That long, eh?" said Misty rhetorically, steeling herself against what was to come. "They live about as long as we do," Miranda added as Pesto's back winging sent up a cloud of dust and bone fragments as the pidgeot landed, "Sometimes longer." "I hope we live that long," Misty muttered quietly as the pidgeot extended a wing to help them down. "Don't worry, we will," assured Miranda, giving Misty a quick hug before sliding back to allow her to hop off Pesto. "Promise?" her lover inquired with a weak smile. "You know, you can always go back," Miranda offered, swinging her leg over before siding down Pesto's wing. "Not a chance," Misty replied without hesitation, flinging her arms about Miranda before lowering her voice, "Besides, there's no way I'm letting you die without me." Miranda smiled reassuringly, kissing Misty playfully upon the nose. "Hey, I don't know about you," she said in a quiet tone and a sad smile, "But I plan on living forever." "Not without me, you're not," Misty chuckled, reluctantly letting Miranda slip free of her embrace so she could address Pesto. "Well, thanks for all you've done, kind sir," said Miranda with a facetious glance back at her beloved as the pidgeot stood a little straighter and adjusted his feathers, "Be sure to tell Zack that I said you were a big help." The avian nodded twice, extending his huge wings before giving a farewell squawk and running to the edge of the roof and diving off. "He show's off more than Zack does," the courier chuckled as a few of Pesto's enormously long feathers floated down after him, "He's handy to have around, but his ego's twice as big, and four times as fragile." "I noticed," Misty replied, holding herself and shivering against the sudden chill breeze. "It's not to late to back down," Miranda offered, her arms encompassing her beloved. Misty shook her head, though her eyes mirrored her uncertainty. "Is that the way in?" she asked, pointing at the large wooden hatch Pesto had been standing over. "Only one way to find out," replied Miranda, her arm about Misty as they walked over to it before stooping down and taking hold of the pull ring in both hands. Miranda gritted her teeth as she leaned back, putting her weight into it as the trap door made an awful creaking sound and wood began to splinter as the more rotten parts gave way around the nails someone had once used to seal it shut. "Well, at least we know whoever's mucking with Stryphe didn't come in this way," the courier commented as the door came free and she stumbled backwards, still clutching the large metal ring. Misty only nodded as she stepped cautiously stepped closer to the few centuries' worth of dust that had been sent into the air and peered down into the black void. "We're gonna need a light source," she said almost to herself as she reached for Shadow's pokeball and activated it. "Look out!" Miranda exclaimed, pulling Misty out of the way just as a jet of water splashed past her and Shadow gave an apologetic sound. "It's okay," Misty laughed, walking back towards the staryu once the hydrotechnics had ceased, "It's my own fault for pulling him from battle like that." Shadow's arms drooped slightly, even as Misty's knelt before him, her fingers carefully caressing the hard red sphere at his center with the same affection Miranda used when scratching Umi's eye ridges. "I think most of the ghosts are preoccupied for now," she told him, shuddering as she hoped it was true, "so we need you come with us into the Tower itself. We need you to illuminate the area for us so we don't get lost. That is... Assuming you're willing?" Shadow's arms immediately stood out straighter as he levitated several inches off the ground before he gave a confirming reply and caused the core of his being to glow with a brilliant crimson light. "It'll be a bit eerie," said Misty apologetically, glancing over her shoulder at Miranda, "But it's better than wandering around in the dark." "I agree," Miranda replied, holding out her hand and feeling thankful when Misty's finger's touched her own, "I just hope you're right about the ghosts." "Scared?" Misty inquired, unable to keep the small smile from her lips as the staryu floated past them and tilted downwards as he descended the flight of wooden steps to the floor of the Tower's fifth level. "A little," admitted Miranda, stepping carefully after Shadow and grimacing as the rickety wooden stairs strained under her weight. "Good," Misty muttered with a nervous laugh, "I'd hate to be the only one." "Just try not to show it," the courier cautioned before letting out a curse as the third step gave way beneath her foot, and she went sailing forward, her hand prying loose from Misty's as she careened into Shadow. "Miranda!" Misty screamed as the two tumbled down the stairs, raising dust and splinters as the sound echoed ominously through the darkened hallway. "I'm- I'm okay!" Miranda called back in a harsh whisper as she spit out a few splinters and Shadow shook himself off, "The stairs aren't, though." "I see," her lover replied, staring down into the gloom at the now smashed and broken staircase. "Just jump down," the courier urged, standing up and holding out her arms, "I'll catch you." "You're sure?" Miranda couldn't help smile as Misty's voice went up an octave, the sound of it sparking Miranda's more protective instincts and pushing away her fear. "It's that or I'll break your fall," she answered sincerely, her smile only half reassuring. "Okay," came Misty's reply as disappeared for a second before her denim clad legs swung down through the hole in the ceiling as she slid down until she was hanging by her arms. "You okay?" Miranda inquired as her arms went about Misty, holding her patiently until she let go. "Mostly," the trainer muttered, glancing around nervously as Miranda set her down and curling her nose at the thick sent of mildew that hung heavily in the stale air. "I think this where they slept," Miranda commented, glancing around in the dim red light. Misty nodded, shivering despite the comfort of her lover's arms as she survived the long hallway that bisected the Tower. On either side of her were doors, two of which were a set of dark wooden double doors that someone had carelessly left ajar. The others were all securely closed, and in Shadow's luminescence, she could almost make out the pattern in the faded, peeling wallpaper. "I think those are my Aunt's," she heard Miranda say softly before glancing down at the inch-thick layer of dust on the floor. Sure enough, it had been disturbed by a trail of footprints that lead from the open doorway to farther down the hall and back again. "Or maybe Daniel's great-great grandfather's," Misty offered, motioning for Shadow to move forward as she took Miranda's hand and stepped cautiously along thinly carpeted hall. "He found it on the first level," Miranda commented, trying to keep her voice light as the floor creaked ominously beneath her feet, her right hand clutching the hilt of her bokken as her left reached back to take Misty's, "He probably wouldn't have gotten this far." Misty merely nodded as they approached the open doorway as a sense of primal dread crept down her spine. 'Best not to look,' she told herself as Shadow's light illuminated a portion of the room, calling out to her curiosity. With determination, she gripped Miranda's hand a little tighter and glanced over at the single closed door across the hall. For a second Misty tried to concentrate on the door's ornate looking ivory door handle, but as she passed the yawning portal to her left, the temptation became too great. Misty turned her head as quickly as she could, glaring defiantly and fully expecting some horror to come leaping out of the darkness at her. But all she found were the vague shapes of an enormous canopy bed and the outline of a dresser. Near the open window, with its wind billowing curtains, she also saw that the sliding doors of the walk-in closet were open, and many of the garments it held had been haphazardly strewn about the floor. "You think Aunt Laurna did that?" Misty inquired half-rhetorically as relief spread through her and she pried her eyes away from the room she was certain was trying to scare her. "Well, she said she got that dress of hers here," Miranda replied, squinting through the darkness, "Although I think someone's been here besides her. I- I mean recently." Misty moved ahead a little, pressing herself against the reassuring presence of Miranda's back and looking where the courier was currently pointing. Sure enough, the third door on the right appeared to have been blown off its hinges. There were scorch marks along the wall as well, tracing uneven patterns along the charred wallpaper. "What was in there?" Misty inquired quietly, almost dreading to ask. "Kids room, I think," Miranda replied, giving Misty's hand a gentle squeeze before moving forward again and nudging Shadow to continue, "apparently Spengler was really good to them. Devoted an entire floor to their entertainment. I think it's the below us, actually." Miranda turned her head to look through the open doorway. "Turn right for a moment please, would you, Shadow?" The staryu complied without question, and Misty felt a tinge of jealousy that she quickly dispelled. 'Good,' she told herself as Shadow's crimson glow illuminated the room, 'They trust her as well. It's nice to see my instincts were right for once!' Beyond the threshold was a large room with several comfortable looking beds and dressers, accompanied by the remnants of children's toys and few other odd things the ghosts must have moved into the room as well. But it was what had been left there recently that made Miranda stop dead and gasp. Upon the floor as well as one of the beds, were a dozen or so small, round objects. Even in the limited colour spectrum offered by Shadow's glowing center, it was easy to make out the fact that the top and bottom halves were of different colours. And as Miranda ventured cautiously into the room, she was certain that they black and gray. "The missing ghost-balls," she whispered almost to herself as she stooped to pick one up, "It's been used. This one 'missed,' though." Misty gulped loudly as she entered the room, noticing that its cheery wallpaper that depicted pokemon taking balloon rides had been scorched in several places as well. "They must be pretty good to capture this many ghosts," she commented, picking up one of the balls as Miranda's hand slipped free to pull something from her pocket. "Careful!" the courier cautioned as she popped open the spent ball and carefully made some internal adjustments with a small Phillips screwdriver, "I don't know how many of those actually contain ghosts." "This one does," Misty replied with a shiver, tossing the ball onto one of the beds and moving closer to Miranda. "You know," she said, glancing out the window at the darkness outside, "This place is really quiet." Miranda nodded, her attention mostly focused upon the adjustments she was making to the ball. "Yeah, I guess all the ghosts are busy after all. Or captured." "I'd kinda like to know what they used against them," Misty replied, half tempted to walk over and touch the long twisting burn marks along one wall that crossed the still smoldering remains of one of the dressers. Miranda glanced up as she clicked the ball shut and put it into storage mode. "Hold on, I'll tell you," she said as Misty opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. The courier walked closer to the wall, careful not to step on any of the ghost- balls strewn haphazardly across the wooden floorboards. "Off hand," she said, giving the burn an appraising sniff, "I'd say it was a focused particle beam weapon." "A wha-?" Misty began as Miranda turned and walked back towards her. "My mom did some experiments with them when I was a kid," the courier explained, "I guess that's what you get when both your parents are inventors of sorts." "Can a focused particle beam hurt a ghost?" Misty inquired, already knowing the answer judging by the ghost-balls upon the floor, but unable to stop herself from asking. Miranda nodded as she took Misty in her arms. "Yeah, but they're a pain to lug around. You'd be better off with a pokemon by your side. Or a bokken smeared in ectoplasm. Either way," the courier replied with a shrug. "Either way, it looks like someone else thought of the idea as well," commented Misty. "It's too bad we don't know which one's the Guardian," the courier added, "As is, though, I don't think we'd have time to reset the imprint codes on all these ghost-balls." "Not to mention that they all seem to be listening to Stryphe anyway," her lover shuddered, "Now come on, we don't have much time." Miranda nodded, taking Misty by the hand as they followed Shadow from the room to where a spiraling metal staircase went down to the next level of the Tower. It was then that the other footprints became more visible. Laurna's were the oldest, half filled with dust, but there were three others as well, one smaller, one larger, and one who's four toed feet were much too large to large for shoes, and too large to be human. "I don't need my 'Dex to recognize that print," commented Miranda, her eyes narrowing, "Come one. Now I KNOW we don't have much time!" Misty glanced at the prints as she took the stairs, carefully hanging onto the rusting guardrail as she went. "You know," she commented rather glumly, "I'm getting rather sick of reoccurring villains." Miranda's smile was only half amused as she leapt off the last step and held out her hand to accept Misty's before surviving the vast room they had just entered. "The play room," she said simply, reaching out to take hold of Shadow's top arm as they navigated a winding path through the varying assortment of objects strewn across the floor. "They must have done some babysitting as well-" Misty said half rhetorically before catching her breath as her foot kicked a pokeball, sending it into a bouncing and skittering across the dusty floor. For a quiet moment, the two watched the small object skitter across the floor before disappearing within the shadows between the long tall windows that encircled the room before its sound was muffled as it rolled under a couch. The two then waited, expecting the ball to snap open at any moment and have an angry ghost on their hands. But by the time they both remembered to breath, the ball remained dormant and silent. "Must have been a 'miss'," Misty said, gulping down her nervousness as they proceeded more carefully, stepping around a low table baring a dusty tea set. "You know," she added, trying to keep the silence from looming in around them, "I haven't really seen any cobwebs in here. Not that I'm complaining or anything..." Miranda shook her head. "You won't, dear," she said simply, refusing to elaborate. Misty nodded. She didn't need Miranda to say it, but she knew what was on the courier's mind. Nothing lived in the Tower. If something or someone entered wasn't a ghost, it soon became one. Misty gave a shiver and continued following the winding path through the room, carefully avoiding the unblinking gaze of several dozen stuffed animals and porcelain dolls that stared out at them as the moonlight from outside reflected off their hard glass eyes. As the small group moved past them, though, Shadow's gleaming light reviled that many of them had been blown to bits my the particle beam weapon they'd seen evidence of upstairs. Tiny heads and limbs of thoroughly dismembered dolls lay charred amongst the previously detonated remains of the plushy pokemon the ghosts had probably telekinesed into attacking the previous intruders. Beyond them, though, she could make out the dark shape of a wooden gate, obviously designed to keep the smaller children from falling down the stairs. It had been left ajar and was hanging off one of its rusting hinges with a large handprint in the dust as though someone had impatiently all but thrown it out of the way. "They certainly were in a hurry," Misty commented as Miranda pushed the gate back carefully and let Shadow go ahead of her. The courier nodded sadly. "I almost feel bad for the children who lived here once," she replied distantly, "Sure, they all grew up and have all passed on long ago, but... These were things they loved, and now someone's come barging in here tearing up the place, and tromping all over their dreams and memories. You know, I think that might be part of the reason that the ghosts are so..." and Miranda smirked as she used the word "possessive of this place. They're guarding the memories of those who lived here before them." The black rusting metal of the winding staircase thankfully wound down two levels, past the guest rooms and into the main living area. It consisted of a long hall that bisected the Tower as with the top level, but the long hardwood floor was strewn with far more ghost-balls, and the dust still hadn't completely settled. "We're getting close," said Miranda nervously, choking a bit on the dust. "I hate to ask this," Misty asked as they wandered past the open doors to a huge study whose walls were entire lined with thick, leather bound volumes, "But what exactly IS our plan here?" Miranda sighed heavily, shaking her head in dismay as they passed the dining hall with its enormously long sturdy wooden table that could have easily sat fifty. "I don't exactly have one," she explained thoughtfully, "all I know is, is we have to get down the basement before they set you-know-who free." "Why haven't they already-!?" pondered Misty suddenly crying out as a high- pitched wail filled the air and Miranda leapt back into her, causing them both to topple to the floor in a heap. "S-sorry!" the courier muttered, quickly rolling off and staring at the doll she'd stepped on in time to see its head swivel around to stare up at the curiously on looking staryu. "I-it's okay," assured Misty, feeling winded as she shook all over, trying to discern the source of the quiet cracking sound she heard, "Shadow?" As she watched, the staryu began backing up slowly. To Miranda it seemed as though he were simply gliding backwards in his usual method of movement, but Misty could see the fear in him. She could tell that his sightless gaze was focused on the screaming doll Miranda had stepped on. But what she couldn't see was what was causing her staryu to suddenly let out a painful screeching sound and collapse to the floor shuddering, his crystalline center pulsing red and causing an eerie strobe-light effect. "It's an illusion!" Miranda called out as Misty exclaimed and ran to the fallen Shadow, "He knows we're here!" Misty turned to her beloved, her expression stricken as Miranda pulled a second gel pack from her coat pocket and tore it open with her teeth. "D-don't worry, I have a plan!" the woman said, trying to sound reassuring, even as her hands quivered and she found it difficult to open the package sufficiently to get at the ectoplasm inside. "What are you doing?!" Misty asked, unable to keep the panic from her voice as the air turned cold, and the faintly whispered chorus of a building crescendo that she heard was immediately followed by the vaguely humanoid shadows that began to grow from the dark corners of the hall. "Use this!" was all Miranda could think to say as she finally simply tore the package open with her teeth, cursing as the pale, translucent green goo slopped onto her jeans. "For what?!" Misty demanded, tears forming in her eyes as she dragged the immobilized Shadow closer to Miranda. "This," Miranda suddenly said calmly, and as Misty glanced over at her, she saw the courier dabbing her retinas with small globs of ectoplasm, "And put some in your ears as well." "Are you-?!" Misty began before smiling nervously and taking two fingerfuls of the ectoplasm. "No," she said with an apologetic, but nervous smile, "I guess your not crazy, are you?" Miranda smiled. "We should have done this sooner," she said quietly, putting her hands on Misty's shoulders to shield her from the creatures that now swarmed around them, "Don't worry. If you block your senses with this, the illusions can't effect you." "I wish you would have mentioned that before I went to the Gym," Misty teased nervously as she dabbed her left eye and had to blink a few times to get over the sensation of the cold goo upon it. "That wouldn't have been fair, though," Miranda explained softly, knowing all to well that even as Misty dabbed her right eye, she could still hear the illusionary creatures all around her, scraping their foot long curved claws along the walls, whispering in her ears things that no mortal mind should ever hear. "So, how long does this last for?" Misty inquired, plugging her ears without hesitation. "An hour or two at best," Miranda replied with a shrug, "It depends on the person, though. With you, I'd say about an hour and fifteen." "Why's that?" Misty inquired, now sitting upon her knees pulling the unconscious shadow into her lap as his red light began to fade. "You're so full of life," smiled Miranda as the only light source became the meager light from the dining room windows, "'The stuff of death cannot exist for long in the halls of life'. Or so Professor Spengler wrote." Misty nodded as a loud -click!- seemed to echo through the hall and the light of a second pokemon's materialization seemed blinding in the near total darkness. "He's alright," Miranda could hear her lover whisper quietly as a new source of illumination filled the room, and she could clearly see the ten pointed shape of Umberlee as she stood over Shadow, "he just got really scared. We'll take him to see Joy once we're done here." The red beam of Shadow's ball was visible as a slightly darker red against the light that Miranda now saw was slightly pinkish as it emanated from the multifaceted gem at the starmie's center. "Um, aren't you worried about the illusions affecting her as well?" she inquired, tilting her head to one side in curiosity as Misty smiled quietly explained the situation to Umberlee. "No, not at all," her lover giggled, with a wry grin, "She's immune!" "Really?" pondered Miranda, gaining a new found respect for the peculiar sea creature, "That's handy. Too bad these two aren't." With a sad smile the courier brought out Nezumi and Umi's pokeballs. "This is going to be a bit tricky if those illusions are still around," she said, feeling a little guilty as she aimed the first pokeball at her lap, "Nezumi, come forth." The ball snapped open and even before Nezumi had fully materialized, he'd began struggling. "Shh, it's okay," Miranda soothed, keeping her voice low as she used her most maternal tone and held the suddenly terrified rattata close to herself, "Just close your eyes dearest, and hold on a second." Misty gave Miranda a reassuring look as she scooped up some of the ectoplasm that had fallen on her leg and carefully smeared it over Nezumi's ears. "Shh," the courier whispered, "There's no persians. It's all right; no one's trying to eat you. Now just open your eyes for a second, this might feel a bit funny." Nezumi gritted his teeth and wrenched his wide, frightened eyes open long enough for Miranda to dab them with the ectoplasm. "He'll be okay," said Miranda, more to herself than to Misty as she sat cross-legged on the floor, gently petting Nezumi's small quivering back until he calmed down, "I hate to bring them into this, but we're going to need backup." "I know, dear," Misty replied moving to sit beside her before putting her arm about the courier's shoulder, "It's alright. You'd needed justify yourself to me." Miranda sighed contentedly as her lover's head touched her shoulder and Nezumi stopped shaking before glancing up at her. His tone was nervous as he spoke to her, but the courier's reassuring smile calmed his nerves. "We're in the Lavender Tower, dearest," Miranda said carefully, feeling guilty as she saw the expression upon Nezumi's face change from calm to suddenly panicked once, "Shh, no it's okay. All the ghosts are still outside, or are... 'Out of the way.' We only have to worry about the trio who are trying to free Stryphe. Um, the really BAD ghost who's imprisoned here." "Nez?" the rattata inquired, his tone calmer but sounding suspicious and Miranda had to smile. "You're very astute for a rodent, you know that?" she laughed, scratching Nezumi between the ears as he gave a dismissive wave of his forepaw. "What'd he say?" Misty asked, reaching out to pet Nezumi. "He asked if this was Kathy's doing," Miranda replied coolly, but the sudden tension in her body spoke of the effect simply speaking her mortal enemy's name had upon her. "Those footprints certainly did look like machoke tracks," Misty agreed warily, shaking her head at the thought of anyone being stupid enough to try and free a monster like Stryphe, "And her and that guy are both scientists, right? I suppose your mom's not the only person who's thought of particle beam weapons." Miranda nodded. "And contrary to popular belief," she added with a grim smile at the thought, "with the Rocket's backing her, Kathy's resources are plenty more than my mom's. More than enough to make at least one portable weapon." Nezumi shook his head in dismay. 'Hehehe,' he laughed in pokespeak, and Misty was certain she heard him say in an amused, sarcastic tone, 'Ah, we're all gonna die!' Miranda had a similar problem with Umi. When the nearly two meter long serpent appeared, her disorientation gave way to anger and fear. As her eyes swirled with a blazing red colour as Miranda did her best to calm the dragon, assuring her that there were no ice monsters trying to kill them as Misty dabbed Umi's eyes before looking puzzled about where the dratini's ears were. "And here I thought you were a water-type expert," Miranda teased with a loving smile as she quickly smeared more goo over Umi's temples at the base of the small fins that grew from the sides of the dragon's head. "Hey," the trainer laughed as Umi settled down, here eyes swirling pink with embarrassment, "not even Professor Myria knows that much about dratini!" "I'll have to send her a memo," chuckled Miranda, smiling as she patted Umi on the head as the baby dragon looked into her eyes for reassurance and Miranda explained the situation. Umi took the news well, going into her more analytical frame of mind even as she coiled once around Miranda's waist before draping the rest of herself about Miranda's shoulders protectively. "She's getting a big for that, don't you think?" teased Misty, feeling a little envious as Nezumi too Miranda's other shoulder and tried to appear fearless in the dragon's presence. "Yeah, a bit," Miranda laughed, scratching Umi under the chin affectionately as they headed for the double set of stairs at the far end of the hall, mindful of the omnipresent ghost-balls, "I'm just worried she's going to want to still want to do this when she evolves." "She can carry you then!" Misty chuckled, following Umberlee down the gentle curve of the right-hand staircase with its thin red carpet and thick wooden banister, worn down by the many children who'd slid down it. "Well, she's won't get THAT big," said Miranda with a smirk, "She'll still be smaller than Leviathan as a dragonair. Hey, I think I can hear him!" As the group came down the quietly creaking staircase to the main hall, the noise from outside became more audible. They could almost hear Joshua yelling something over the sound of Leviathan's bellow, just before something heavy crashed into the enormous double wooden doors. "Come on," said Miranda, jumping off the last few steps and running across the stone floor to the doors, "We can use the help!" "Good idea!" Misty agreed, giving chase, but as the light of Umberlee fell across the portal, the small hope faded to nothing. The huge oaken doors were locked using a long wooden cross-beam that took two people to lift, which sat in brackets on either side of the doors. Unfortunately, though, the wooden bar had been recently nailed into the door with long metal spikes. Upon closer examination, there were indentations that looked like fist marks around where the spikes had been hammered in. "So much for that idea," muttered Misty, glancing around the sparsely furnished room. "Oh well," sighed Miranda, shaking her head as she walked back towards the stairs, "I should have know it wouldn't be that easy." "Where to now then?" Misty asked, running to catch up. "There," said Miranda simply, pointing to where a secret door between the dual staircases had been broken open with a complete disregard for other's property, "Stryphe's Encumberie is a level below Spengler's lab." "Oh well," Misty replied, "at least we won't have to worry about any traps he set up." "Good point," Miranda chuckled, taking Misty's hand again before descending after the glowing Umberlee, "And hey, maybe we'll be lucky and the traps have taken care of them for us." "That'd explain why they haven't freed Stryphe yet," said Misty with a shudder as the wooden steps came to a landing before a second flight lead into Spengler's vast underground laboratory. The area was similar to the rest of the Tower, with each level being slightly larger than the one above it. The rooms here, however, were clearly labeled with signs that read, "Store Room 1, 2 & 3," "Parahorticulture," "Parazoology," "Ecto-Parazoology," and "Main Laboratory." Each metal door, however, had been either torn off its hinges or blasted open, and each room's contents had been thoroughly trashed in some kind of haphazard search. "There's no tracks in the dust leading out of the main lab," said Miranda once they'd neared its door and survived the damage done to the ancient scientific equipment. "Aunt Laurna's not going to be happy about this I'll bet," commented Misty as Miranda pushed the remains of the door out of their way and cringed at the combined smell of formaldehyde and various other spilled chemicals that permeated the laboratory. "Neither will the Guardian," the courier added, noticing a few stray ghost-balls in amongst the mess. "You know, if she has a brain in her head," pondered Misty darkly, "when they subdued the Guardian, Kathy held onto his ball." Miranda shuddered as she noticed a second secret door leading down. "I just hope his will is stronger than hers," she muttered, climbing over a knocked over shelving unit that once held various small creatures suspended in formaldehyde, "The imprint codes Aunt Laurna programmed are fairly strong and I'd hate to have to fight him to get to Kathy." "This just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?" Misty inquired rhetorically as Miranda helped her over the obstacle that Umberlee simply floated over. "Yeah, but I don't think it gets worse than what's down there," commented Miranda motioning down the set of dark stone steps that descended into a damp, dark void. "So long as you're with me," came Misty's reply, her voice quavering. Miranda turned back to her. "I love you," she said quietly, leaning forward and kissing Misty softly, ignoring the Nezumi's sarcastic chuckle. "I love you two, dearest," Misty replied, putting her arms around Miranda for what she hoped wouldn't be the last time, being careful not to squish Umi, "we will survive this, won't we?" "We have too," Miranda said honestly, "For the sake of everyone and everything. Stryphe's been imprisoned for centuries, "He hated human's back then, and his bitterness has probably only been amplified by his defeat and capture. If he get's loose, it won't just be us who don't survive. It'll be the whole world. And there's no way that I'm letting that happen." Misty nodded sadly as Miranda wiped away her tears and tried to smile. "Don't worry, beloved," the courier said softly, "No matter what happens, I'll be with you. I don't care what it takes; I'm not loosing you. Not even to death itself." "I know," Misty's voice was quiet as she rested her forehead against Miranda's shoulder, "I just wish we could wait a few minutes. I really don't want to rush into this, but we don't really have a choice now do we?" "No," Miranda admitted sadly, running her fingers through her beloved's hair as she spoke, "Spengler's traps can only hold those three off for so long. We'd better go." Misty looked up into Miranda's eyes with an expression made it difficult for courier to think, let alone speak. All she could do was kiss her beloved one last time before turning towards the stairs where Umberlee waited for the order to continue. "Go," Misty said softly, causing the starmie to continue her floating descent into the looming darkness that seemed to cut down on the amount of light she shed. Without further thought, the others followed her. The steps they walked down were solid enough, but slippery and the jagged rock walls were riddled with small alcoves, each holding small grinning skulls. Many were human, but most were not, a fact that wasn't terribly reassuring as they stepped around three, five-foot long blades that had sprung up out of one of the steps. A trap sprung by those who'd come before them. "D-did Aunt Laurna ever come down here?" Misty asked, trying to push down her fear with the reassuring sound of Miranda's voice. "No," the courier replied, her long dark ponytail waving as she shook her head without looking back, "She said there was no reason to." "Think she'll ever tell anyone what happened to her in here?" Miranda chuckled, a sound that echoed ominously up and down the spiraling staircase. "I doubt it," she said, "But I think my mom knows. And my father might have, but he didn't mention anything in his diary." "Well, I hope she had a better time than we're having," Misty shuddered, suddenly feeling her ears pop as Umi hissed at something ahead of them. "Shh," whispered Miranda, scratching the dragon's eye ridges, "It's just a picture." As they came to bottom of the stairs, the small antechamber they entered was immediately illuminated by Umberlee's glow, revealing a set of double doors very similar to the ones that sealed the Dragon Cave, only upon these was carved the image of a giant gengar, surrounded by smaller ghosts and signs of warding. "Um, trick question," Misty inquired as they approached, "What are these doors made of?" "Mithril. Same stuff as the doors to the dragon Cave," answered Miranda with a shrug, "Why-? Oh, crap! That's probably why the ghosts couldn't find the stolen balls! Mithril is the one thing a ghost can't phase through! It's used in ghost- balls for that reason." "Well, at least we know what to do afterwards," Misty replied with a wary sigh, "But come one. We need to get this over with." Miranda nodded, and followed Umberlee through the partially opened doors into a room that was as vast as a cathedral and lit by thousands of candles that never seemed to burn out. Below the high vaulted ceiling, which was decorated with a huge painting depicting the Guardian and Spengler's victory over Stryphe, was an enormous ornate circle, carved into the stone floor and filled with finely powdered silver. The circumference took up most of the perfectly round room, and was done in a double row pattern that was filled with tiny carved runes of warding. Crossing through the circle was a large "X" shape that met at the exact center and stretched out of the main circle's circumference to where four smaller circles sat carved into the floor as well, just outside the main one. Within the main circle, larger runes had been carved into the floor and filled with the same silver powder that glowed with its own phosphorescence to show that some residual power still flowed through the now broken circle. And at the very center, sat a five-foot high pillar upon which a truly archaic looking black and gray pokeball rested. The ball itself resembled the modern pokeballs, except that it was thrice as large, with several extra metal protuberances where the modern one's had concealed buttons, and was wrapped in two intersecting mithril bands to keep it from being pried open. These, however, were not part of the original design. But it was what she saw standing within the circle that bothered Miranda the most. A short distance away from Stryphe's pokeball stood Kathy and Victor with their machoke Tashiro. Each wore a peculiar helmet-like device that Wraith would have recognized, except that they now had goggles that came to long sharp points that glowed and a white light as well. Kathy Forester grinned malevolently as the trio turned to face them, and Miranda drew her sword without a word as her nemesis spoke. "Ah! Ms. Lilcamp!" she cackled merrily, the hard line of her face straining against the smile, "So good of you to come and witness my moment of triumph!" "We'll probably have to wait a while judging by the fact that you haven't just grabbed the ball and ran," replied Misty, trying to sound confident as Tashiro glowered at her, his new Wraith induced facial twitch making him seem somehow more menacing. Kathy shrugged nonchalantly. "A minor setback, I assure you," she said casually, "It seems that Stryphe is concerned about what I'll do when have his precious pokeball in my possession. I can't imagine why, though." "Because it takes five minutes to change the imprint coding on a pokeball," growled Miranda, spinning her bokken over her hand and wielding it threateningly, yet not stepping into the circle. "Two minutes, actually," chuckled Victor, the silly contraption on his head not taking away from his better physical attributes which were only enhanced by the tight-fitting black jumpsuit he wore while wielding the rather complex looking rifle/metal backpack contraption he carried, "We do this for a living, after all." "Stealing people's pokemon?!" Misty exclaimed, rushing forward, and only being stopped by Miranda's sudden hand upon her shoulder, "And murdering trainers who won't just hand them over?! What kind of a monster are you people?!" Kathy laughed quietly to herself as she walked calmly around the pillar, examining it before tapping against the invisible wall that stood between her and Stryphe. "You know, you could join us in the circle," she said simply, motioning behind her to where a small portion of the outer circle had been broken by defacing it and removing the a bit of the silver dust, "We could all have it out right now, Ms. Lilcamp. Wouldn't your daddy be proud to know you not only ended my life, but also stopped my from freeing the most evil ghost in history?" Miranda glanced at the hole for a moment, tempted by the offer. "I'd rather not damage the circle any more than you already have," she called back, walking along it's circumference, dragging the end of her wooden sword along the invisible barrier and causing white sparks to shoot up every so often, "He's powerful enough to raise zombies out of our graveyard and mind control every ghost in Lavender Town just by the small little hole you've made already. How much more damage do you want him to be able to do, Professor? You harm the inside of this circle anymore and he'll probably find a way to nightshade you into next week!" "You lie, Courier!" sneered Kathy, not noticing the way Stryphe's ball rocked slightly at the force of their negative emotions. "Didn't you notice the way the ghosts are behaving tonight?" Miranda demanded as she turned and walked the other way, "They're attacking mindlessly. They're not even bothering with illusions or any kind of tactics, and I see that your crew managed to beat them down fairly easily. Did you stop to think why that is?" "Because," snarled Kathy, walking towards Miranda with an angry expression in her small dark eyes, "My plan was perfect! We caught them off guard and hit them with a weapon more powerful than any pokemon technique! We were strong; they were weak. It's as simple as that." "And those ghost-balls you stole from Professor Laurna didn't hurt either, I suppose," glowered Misty, folding her arms across her chest defiantly. "A useful technology," chuckled Kathy, turning to face the trainer, "One that I'm certain Augustus Giovanni will be pleased to have added to his arsenal. Not that it matters, though. Because once I control Stryphe, I won't need any other ghosts. When he is within MY power, the other ghosts will obey him, and by default, me. And the other pokemon we stole from the lab are just a bonus. You can never get in too good with the boss, after all!" Miranda rolled her eyes as Kathy laughed. "Look, Professor," she said contemptuously, "either come out of the circle or we're just going to have to stand here and wait for the others to finish with Stryphe's minions outside before they all come bashing through the front door looking for us. You'll have more than just us to deal with then!" Kathy's scowl became so dark it almost made the flickering candles useless. "Victor," she hissed, shaking with sudden rage, "It's time to field test our new toy on human subjects!" "Yes, ma'am!" her consort laughed, enthusiastically sprinting towards the small opening. "Now then, Ms. Lilcamp," Kathy growled as behind Stryphe's pokeball seemed to react to her anger, shaking back and forth violently, "We put an end to this once and for all! After I'm done with you, I'll have Stryphe finish off your mother!" Miranda cursed, running along the circumference of the circle to intercept Victor before Misty could stop her. But just as Victor was stepping out of the circle, long jagged cracks appeared in Stryphe's rattling pokeball, sending beams of unpleasant red in all directions just before the ball exploded into a thousand shards of mithril shrapnel. "Victor!" came Kathy's pained shout as a shard hit her in the back, barely missing her spine as she collapsed to the ground. "Ooops!" was all the man could think of to say as a dark fog coalesced above his partner in crime. From within the dark shape a pair of glowing red eyes burst into being as the whole dark mass began to grow, expanding to fill most of the available space. "Victor! Tashiro!" Kathy choked, staring up at the apparition with a pained expression, "Hit it! Take it down! We can still capture it!" "You fools!" exclaimed Miranda, helpless to stop chain of events that unfolded as Victor turned his focused particle beam rife on Stryphe and fired at the same time as Tashiro lunged at the ghost, one had burning with flames, the other cracking with electricity. Stryphe merely laughed, a horrible, echoing sound that seemed to well up from the abyss itself, leaving dark stains on the souls of all who heard it as the sparkling beam of wavering reddish light impacted with him at the same time as Tashiro began pounding on him like a drunken boxer. "You are all fools," the ghost chuckled quietly in a surprisingly good impression of the human tongue as his amorphous mass suddenly radiated with a dark purple, unlight that filled the confines of the circle and unshined out through the gap in it where victor was standing. "Area affect nightshade?!" Misty exclaimed in disbelief as Miranda ran back towards her, and Nezumi did his best to hide in the courier's hair. "Don't worry!" explained Miranda hastily, "I have a plan!" Misty did a double take. "You planned for this?!" "Well, not exactly this," Miranda confessed as the blob of black ephemera began to collapse in on itself, oozing into Stryphe's true form, "But I think we can handle it." "Can we?" Misty inquired, hesitantly taking a step back as Stryphe's toothy grin became visible. Miranda dug through her pockets for a second and pulled out the reset ghost-ball she'd found. "Hold this," she said, tossing it to Misty before pulling out a second small, peculiar object. "What's that?" Misty inquired nervously, glancing at the foil wrapped object, "Looks like a baked potato." "It's something Professor Dave sent us," Miranda explained quickly, "I think it might come in handy." "How-?" Misty began only to stop as Miranda lifted a finger to silence her and the now fully formed gengar stood floating over Kathy chuckling to himself. "Ah," he laughed in mock sadness, motioning to the unconscious bodies of Kathy, Victor and Tashiro, "They're all still alive. I guess I'll just have to try again! Oh! But what's this?" Stryphe held out his hand and from Kathy's belt, a ghost-ball flew into his palm. "Ah! The Guardian!" the gengar commented happily, his voice rumbling and echoing through the room, "In that case, you humans can wait!" With that, Stryphe flew off towards the break in the circle, and ploughed into the far wall at top speed momentarily reduced to a puddle of black, viscous goo that splattered in all directions before quickly reforming. "Gah!" he muttered angrily, turning and focusing on the open doors, "Too much mithril in this rock!" "Get down!" exclaimed Miranda, barely yanking Misty to the cold stone floor as the gengar flew over their heads and through the open doorway, laughing manically the entire time. "After him!" Miranda ordered, surprised when even Umberlee gave chase. "Now, about that plan?" inquired Misty as they got to their feet as Umi slithered off at top speed, and Nezumi leapt from Miranda's shoulder, glowing and expanding in size as he sailed through the air and landing in raticate form, only to scamper off immediately, without a moment's hesitation. "This rock," Miranda explained, running after the fleeing pokemon, "Dave said it's an other de-evolution stone." "Like the one that made Nezumi so much more than he is?" "Yes," Miranda said with a nod as they sprinted up the stairs, "Only he says he's worked the bugs out!" Misty laughed as they both slowed only for the time it took to get around the long blades in the stairs half way up. "So, you think we can catch him if he's just a gastly?" she asked, glancing down for a moment at the mirconized ghost- ball in her hand. "Hope so!" Miranda called back, thankful as she spotted Umberlee at the top of the stairs, waiting for them so that they wouldn't crash into the lab and hurt themselves in the total darkness of it. "This is crazy!" Misty replied, finding herself laughing despite the seriousness of the situation. "I know," Miranda confessed, thankful to be out of the dank tomb and into the stale, acrid air of the laboratory, "Umberlee! Which way'd he go?!" One of the starmie's ten arms fired a jet of water that streamed out the door and Miranda smiled. "Thanks, dear," she said before leaping off the collapsed shelving unit and running out the door in time to see Umi spit a ball of flame down the hall that exploded against something that simply laughed and fired a wavering beam of dark purple nightshade over her suddenly ducked head of the young dragon. "Since when do you listen to her?" teased Misty and Umberlee shrugged in response before following her out of the room. 'You trust her,' came the starmie's eerie, ethereal voice in Misty's mind, 'So, so do I!' Misty smiled at the comment and found Miranda kneeling before Nezumi how was holding his tail and blowing on the end of it as it smoked. "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed skidding to a halt and panting from the exertion as Miranda pulled out a hypo-spray. "It's okay," said Miranda, glancing at the very guilty looking Umi, "I've decided to carry these at all times now since I sprained my ankle." "You sprained your ankle?" Misty inquired as Miranda hit the button and the spray of what looked to be water splashed across Nezumi's charred tail, making it glisten in Umberlee's light. "Ooops!" said Miranda with a guilty look, "I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" "Yes," scolded Misty in a mockingly annoyed tone, smiling as Miranda got to her feet and Nezumi looked relieved. "Anyway, we have to get Stryphe while he's still weak," the courier explained in a more serious tone, "I can tell ya about it later. Now let's go!" "Right," agreed Misty laughing as Nezumi ran ahead of them, but not ahead of Umi who still looked guilty as they headed for the stairs. Once they'd reached the main level, they found Stryphe again, and Misty paused at the threshold, for the first time realizing just how large the gengar was. "Um, do you have an extra hypo-spray?" she asked as the ghost turned to face them, his toothy grin looking somehow more malevolent than usual. Miranda nodded, handing Misty the second vile she had as she stepped forward, spinning her bokken over her hand as Nezumi and Umi stood defiantly on either side of the courier. Misty wasted no time in activating Shadow's pokeball again and spraying the unconscious staryu with the nanite treatment. "We need you," she said in an urgent, yet gentle tone as the pokemon raised himself up and stood a little straighter as he spotted Umberlee, "If you can handle it?" Shadow gave an affirmative sound and floated over to Umberlee whose mind touched Misty's again. 'We will not fail you,' she sent in a reassuring tone, even as Stryphe gave the group an amused look, 'not now. Not ever.' "This is what they send to oppose ME?!" he laughed, still greedily clutching the Guardian's ghost-ball, "No matter. I will prolong your end no longer. Goodbye!" With that, Stryphe raised his free hand and a crackling ball of black nothingness slowly grew out of his palm as he savored the moment. "Neptune's might!" exclaimed Misty at the same time as Miranda called out, "Antipathy!" Without question, both Misty's pokemon spun in place, each going as fast as they could and moving in opposite directions as they both began spiraling streams of water in Stryphe's direction. At the same time, Umi tossed off another small ball of flame as Nezumi's crackling beam of pure cold hit it, turning it into a fast flying sphere of ice that imprisoned a smaller ball of flame. The attacks hit the now half-meter wide sphere of darkness as it left Stryphe's hand, causing all the combined effects to explode in blinding flash of light that was as much felt as seen. The area between the ghost and those who opposed him, though, took the brunt of the damage, sending large chunks of the marble floor flying off in all directions, as a cloud of dust to fill the entirety of the room as Stryphe's echoing laughter faded just on the edge of hearing. "You okay?" came the sound of Miranda's voice, somehow cutting through the ringing in Misty's ears a moment later, the strange fuzzy feeling in her head telling her that she'd been knocked unconscious for a short while by the blast. Misty blinked several times, trying to clear her eyes as she heard the sounds of Umi and Nezumi coughing as she felt the courier's hands upon her shoulders. "I-I don't know," she replied honestly wishing the dust would settle as two dark shapes hovered closer to her and she could just make out the two balls of glowing read light at their centers, "How's everyone else?" "They're not sure yet," Miranda replied, suddenly standing and causing Misty to realize she'd been knocked off her feet without realizing it, "But at this point I don't think it matters, I'm afraid. Stryphe's gone." "Where?!" Misty demanded, leaping to her feet and immediately realizing why her knees had buckled. "Careful!" Miranda cautioned, catching Misty about the waist as she fell forward with a surprised exclamation, "Here, sit down for a second." "But what about Stryphe?" Misty asked as Miranda helped her back down and fumbled for another hypo-spray. "He can regenerate on his own," Miranda muttered as the dust cleared and Misty could see that the tear in her pant leg where a sharp bit of shrapnel had grazed her. "He's still weak," the courier replied, the calmness in her voice an obvious fa?ade judging by the shaking of her hands as she carefully slid her fingers under Misty's knee, "Okay, this is gonna hurt a bit, but we need to get them in where they'll do the most good." "It didn't- OW! Hurt until I stood up," Misty commented as Miranda bend her leg and grimaced a little before dousing the wound. "Shock, I guess," said Miranda, now looking up as she straightened out the leg and gave Misty a concerned look, "We need to give it a few seconds for the nanites to seal it up, but even then it'll take 'em a while to repair all the damage." "We need to get back after that ghost, though!" Misty persisted, reaching out and putting her arm around Shadow to pull herself up, "He has the Guardian, and there's no telling what he's gonna do!" "We'll take care of it," assured Miranda, taking Misty's other arm and putting it over her shoulder, helping her beloved to her feet, "Nezumi, take the others and head upstairs! Just keep hitting him with everything you've got until we get there. I have a plan!" Nezumi nodded, and without question, raced for the stairs followed by Umi and a reluctant Shadow. Umberlee however turned to Misty and made a concerned sound. "Go!" her trainer told her, "I'll be fine!" 'Yes,' came the starmie's ethereal voice in her mind, 'You WILL!' "What the-?!" Misty began as her feet suddenly left the ground, seemingly in response to the suddenly more intense glow of Umberlee's center. "Amazing!" Miranda laughed, stepping back from Misty as she floated a foot off the floor, "Just don't you dare drop her!" Umberlee gave an indignant remark that Miranda couldn't understand but made her gin nonetheless. "Alright then," the courier assured, "Let's go! Those three'll need backup!" As the trio reached the top of the curving staircase, the need for help became quite evident. From somewhere down the hall, the sounds of shrieking laughter, breaking glass, and metal on metal was mixed with the sounds of Shadow's rushing water, Umi's exploding flames and Nezumi's curse accompanied ice beams. "Go! They're in trouble!" ordered Misty, pointing down the hall and looking stern as Umberlee launched an immediate protest, "No arguments! Stryphe's probably gone invisible, and Shadow needs you for targeting!" Umberlee stood a little straighter and looked somehow proud before sailing silently off down the hall, leaving Misty and Miranda in sudden darkness. "Catch me!" Misty exclaimed suddenly as she fell the short distance to the floor and instinctively lifted her legs up in time to fall into Miranda's arms. "And who's gonna catch me?!" the courier exclaimed as they both toppled to the floor in time to hear a cheer from one of the rooms up ahead and the unpleasant sound of Stryphe's voice howling with rage. "Sorry," said Misty, looking apologetic as she carefully touched her knee, finding the injury to now be quite painless. "They've deadened the nerves," Miranda cautioned her before helping Misty up and supporting her once again, "You should still stay off it for now." Misty nodded as she hopped on her good leg while they hurried towards what looked like the kitchen. "Not again," she muttered as three long kitchen knives flew out of the open doorway and impaled themselves into the wall across the way. "He's trying to conserve power," the courier explained glancing around the corner into the room as Nezumi spun around and knocked a flying spaghetti pot out of the air with his tail, sending the now dented object crashing through the kitchen window, "He's used a lot already, so he's just TK'ing things. I think we have a chance." "You again!" Stryphe hissed as they entered the kitchen, his form visible only by the glow of his red eyes and the dark outline of his shape. "Don't worry," said Miranda with a smile, holding up the ghost-ball, "this won't take long!" "Indeed!" chuckled Stryphe, glancing at the pokeballs on Miranda's belt, the black and gray one in particular. Miranda caught on almost immediately, and grabbed Wraith's pokeball, only to have her arm forced straight out in the gengar's direction. "No," she growled through gritted teeth as her pokemon looked on in sudden panic, "This one's mine! You can not have him!" "But I already do!" laughed Stryphe as Wraith's pokeball began to shake in his trainer's hand, "ALL ghosts shall be by slaves. And soon, all humans shall be our chattel!" "No!" Misty shrieked, throwing both her hands around Miranda's in an attempt to keep the ball closed, "Guys! Hit him hard! We have to take him down, NOW!" The four pokemon responded immediately, with blasts of water, fire and ice, only to have their opponent laugh and offhandedly motion for a pile of pots and pans to telekinetically race across the room to block the incoming attacks. "I grow wary of this," the gengar said with a yawn, "Wraith, come ye forth!" With that, the haunter's pokeball shattered into dust, causing Miranda's hand to close about nothing save for the small cloud of dust that rose between her and Misty's fingers. "Wraith..." said Miranda, her voice a barely audible whisper of deep sadness as the haunter formed himself, his chuckling laughter sounding far more malevolent than she could have ever imagined, "I forgive you." Stryphe's toothy grin deepened as Wraith turned to face his trainer with a smile she didn't recognize. "Now then, Wraith is it?" his new master replied in a calm, satisfied tone, "'Take care' of these humans. I don't want them interfering with My plan!" With that, Stryphe sailed up through the ceiling laughing. "After him," Miranda said simply, her tone sounding very much like her mother's as her pokemon stared back at her in disbelief. "I said AFTER HIM!" she ordered, her mock anger hiding her mixed emotions, "We can take care of Wraith. Just make sure Stryphe's down for the count by the time we get there." Nezumi nodded and paused before he reached the doorway. "Nez?" he inquired, looking back over his shoulder as Miranda and Wraith stared silently at each other, daring the other to make the first move. "I know, dear," Miranda replied as Misty motioned for Umberlee and Shadow to follow, "I love you too. Now GO!" Nezumi nodded and chased after the two floating starfish as Miranda's hand slowly slid her bokken out and she took half a step back. "Wraith," she said sternly as the ghost flexed his fingers in anticipation, "You know I don't want to do this, but there's still enough ectoplasm soaked into the wood of my sword to do you some serious harm." Wraith merely chuckled, his eyes suddenly glowing a combination of florange and octarine. "Close your eyes!" Miranda exclaimed, suddenly charging blindly forward as Wraith laughed with all the supernatural might he could muster, sending chills of terror down both their spines as his maniacal laughter technique caused both humans to take pause. "Miri!" Misty exclaimed, trying to push down the fear she knew was artificial as Miranda tripped and stumbled forward, causing one of Wraith's disembodied hands to disappear inside her cranium. The courier gave a shocked look as she fell the rest of the way forward, her expression relaxing as she toppled to the floor where her unconscious expression betrayed the slightest trace of a smile. Misty turned on the hovering ghost, visible only by the phosphorescence of his eyes and the slivery moonlight from the kitchen window outlining his dark shape. "Are you insane?!" the trainer demanded, gritting her teeth and channeling her anger to suppress the lingering fear, "That's Miranda you just- Just... What DID you do?" The haunter chuckled, his hand reappearing again as it clasped the hilt of Miranda's sword and swung it around experimentally as Misty crept cautiously forward. "That's not a toy, Wraith," Misty warned him, glancing quickly at Miranda, thankful as she caught the quiet sound of her breathing in the now still air, "put it down. NOW!" Wraith glanced at Misty, the anger in her voice echoing her determination. But as she walked forward, her sea green eyes betraying her concern for Miranda, Wraith merely chuckled before turning, and sailing out of the kitchen and into the dining room. "Come back here!" Misty exclaimed, and running from the room after the ghost without thinking. The last thing she saw before going unconscious was the dark shape of Wraith's three-fingered hand as she ran headlong into it just before the ghost touched her mind and the darkness took her... *** "Oh, now this is just great," muttered Nezumi bitterly as they came to the top of the stairs and stared out at the black void of the playroom, "How are we supposed to find him in this!" "I suspect," came Shadow's calm, suspicious tone, "that it will not be as difficult to find the ghost, as it will be to distinguish which one he is." "Huh-?" Nezumi began a heartbeat before the room was filled with blinding crimson and the stillness of the air was shattered, first by the simultaneous activation sounds of nearly two-dozen pokeballs and then by the chorus of angry voices as the captured ghosts were released, their cognitive functions being immediately over taken by Stryphe's superior will. "We can not take on this many by ourselves!" shuddered Umi, rearing up and slithering behind Nezumi, her eyes blazing orange and red as she tried not to calculate their chances. "Do not underestimate yourself, little one," came Umberlee's slightly echoing tone, "These spirits are still disorientated, and our adversary has already proven that his control over so many is tenuous at best. We will have three advantages over them." "Th-Three?" inquired Nezumi nervously, glancing over his shoulder and raising an eyebrow as he tried to ignore his instinct to flee. Shadow gave what passed for a nod. "As with the ghosts outside, they will not fight with as much fury as they could," he explained sagely, "Furthermore, they are still weak from being captured so a single strike may be enough. And also, ghosts are vulnerable to their own techniques." "But so is Nezumi!" Umi exclaimed pleadingly, turning to the staryu as the length of her body shook and her phosphorescent eyes brimmed with sudden tears, "And so is Miranda! We must go back and help her!" "As am I," said Umberlee in a calm, determined tone, "And as for our humans, they will be safe. One ghost is not an army." "Yeah, but that is!" muttered Nezumi as several of the disoriented spirits began orienting on them. "Then we must be swift!" Umberlee replied, levitating a little higher as she prepared to dash, "Use what abilities you can. Their aim will be poor." Nezumi nodded, gritting his teeth as his fur burst into a silvery light that immediately made him the center of attention. "Ya ready, Draco Babe?" he inquired, trying to sound confident. "You are the fastest of us," the dratini replied pensively, "but you're also the most vulnerable..." "Hey, so's the esper chick, but who's countin'?" he grinned, sending Umberlee a facetious wink before yelping and ducking under the first blast of poorly aimed dark purple unlight. "Go!" the starmie ordered, "spread out, and attempt to confuse them into harming one another!" "She means cause a crossfire!" Nezumi laughed, leaping atop the remains of the childproof gate and causing it to creak under his weight. "You are correct," said Shadow, flying towards the main cluster and noticing that several of the balls that opened had ushered forth ghosts who could only form themselves into dark puddles upon the floor, "We must conserve our energy!" "Well, I suppose the odds aren't THAT bad," the raticate commented before leaping off the gate, and opening his still silvery glowing fangs wide, tearing his way though a confused looking haunter. "Don't waste that!" Umi scolded him as the silvery light flashed brilliantly before vanishing and the haunter became a puddle of goo as Nezumi landed and skidded across the floor, knocking over a house of cards. "Hey, no worries, kid," Nezumi laughed, picking up a card and examining it as he brought the silvery light into being once more, "I'm savin' the ice for the big- evil-end-guy. Hey, I wonder if this works?" "He is wasteful," muttered Umberlee disapprovingly as she wove and swerved between the oncoming blasts of nightshade that arched dangerously through the air like angry serpents. "The rodent is young and impetuous," assured Shadow, his voice reaching Umberlee's senses despite the cackling of the two gastlies and two haunters that moved to surround him, "but he is correct. It would be better not to approach our adversary too closely." As the two gastlies' spherical bodies crackled with a what appeared to be white, almost ethereal lightning and the haunters did the same, but only upon their disembodied hands, Shadow waited tensely for the moment it took them to close the gap around him. As the circle of ghosts fired off the strange, crackling energy, the five-pointed staryu quickly levitated himself above them and gave a smug smirk as they each hit one another and all spun off in different directions. "They've confused themselves," Umi commented at last slithering from behind the gate and giving the room a good look. 'I guess this doesn't seem so bad,' she confessed inwardly, ducking her head as one of the confused gastlies spun end over end past her, only to have a streak of silvery light slice through him, causing the ball of ephemera to splatter against the wall beside the door. "Nezumi?!" the dragon questioned, her eyes now glowing a deep lavender as she stared over at the raticate who'd now grabbed twin pawfuls of cards and was powering up once again. "Hey! This is fun!" the large brown furred rodent exclaimed merrily, awkwardly tossing the twin glowing piles into the air around him and catching the closest haunter with enough to send him screaming into near oblivion. "Just be careful!" Umi cautioned, feeling embarrassed for being so concerned over a band of wounded ghosts, most of who couldn't hurt them anyway. 'Interesting variance,' Umberlee sent directly to Nezumi's mind as she moved sideways and spun between her two attackers, her tone a begrudging compliment as the two haunters she faced reacted according to her plan. As one, they turned their bodies to track her, their hands still releasing steady streams of dark purple unlight that now arched and writhed as the constant exertion drained them of whatever power they had left. And as the ten- pointed starmie flew between them, they foolishly turned towards each other, their nightshade techniques harmless to the floor and other objects it hit, but nearly the equivalent of lethal to each other. Misty would have recognized the look Umberlee gave as smug, despite the water- type's lack of a face as the two ghosts exploded. But as she was about to scold Shadow for sending a single jet of water at the other confused gastly, pushing it right out the window, Umi's voice called out with sudden panic. "Duck!" the dratini exclaimed as Umberlee's sensory input registered a ball of flame racing towards her, causing the dust upon the floor to spontaneously combust by its passage. Without question, but with some annoyance, Umberlee threw herself flat. As the ball of flame exploded into the gastly behind her, the starmie shot back up to a standing position. "The ocean floor would be preferable if I am to do that again," she muttered, annoyed that no one seemed to be following her plan. "Oh, don't sweat it, lady!" chuckled Nezumi, bounding over and joining her at the same time as Umi, "Look, we're winning!" Umberlee extended her perceptions and saw Shadow firing off a barrage of golden light, formed into tiny star-shapes that only severed to annoy the haunter before him. But instead of returning fire, the angered ghost flew forward, splattering his way through Shadow and careening into the remaining gastly behind him. "I got 'em!" the staryu called back, spinning around and staggering as the strange icy feeling of being phased through disoriented him. As the two ghosts he now faced spun end over end, trying to sort out whose ephemera was whose, Shadow began spinning as well, preparing to blast the two with a bit of style and completely oblivious to the dark, looming, vaguely humanoid shape behind him. "It's HIM!" Umi exclaimed, unaware that she was probably the first female in history to make that sound like a bad thing, and immediately flames came into being amidst her snarling teeth. "Behind you, Shady!" exclaimed Nezumi, leaping up onto the closest comfortable looking chair for a better vantage point as he powered up a blast of cryokinetic energy, only to fall to the floor cursing as the entire thing collapsed under his weight. "You're charcoal!" the dratini threatened, exhaling violently and nearly choking in surprise as instead of a single ball of fire, a jet of searing flames shot from her lips and arched downward onto a pile of old comic books. "Oops!" she laughed nervously, "My aim is bad!" "Hey, now," laughed Nezumi teasingly as Umberlee fired off a blast of water, "Don't burn the place down around us!" "The Tower is mostly stone!" called back Shadow, turning right around and continuing to spin faster and faster, "Now where is he?!" "Before you!" called Umberlee, as water attack only made it a short distance beyond Umi's before falling and extinguishing the flames, "Hit him before he can get off another attack!" Although Shadow could not see it, the smiling gengar before him was pointing with a single finger. At the end of his fingertip, a small sphere of crackling darkness grew, expanding to the size of a baseball. "I- I don't see him!" said Shadow; hesitating hating the fact that he couldn't sense the spirit's invisible presence even as his spinning arms began to crackle with icy blue sparks. "Just hit him!" Nezumi exclaimed, struggling to free himself for the remains of the chair and choking on the dust as Umi and Umberlee rushed to Shadow's aid, "Take out the far wall if you have ta!" Shadow gave half a nod, and pushed with all his might to release the torrent of water from the special glands located at the end of each of his pointed arms. But to the staryu's surprise, the crackling blue sparks suddenly leapt from arm to arm as he spun, forming a crackling circle of electric blue light around him, illuminating the room before expanding slightly and leaving his body. The spinning ring of blue lightning contracted and its wavering shape became more defined in the short distance between the staryu and the gengar. And as the ghost tossed off the shadow-ball, the ring of lightning caught it, trapping the orb at its center before contracting around it, holding the ball in place as it returned to its source. Shadow heard Umi's cheer as the ghost exploded, splattering a blob of black ooze against the far wall. "Curious," commented Umberlee calmly as Nezumi danced up and down trying to sing, "An electrostatic discharge. How did you accomplish this, my l-" Umberlee paused and only Shadow caught the look of embarrassment that few outside their species could ever recognize, "my friend?" Shadow slowed to halt, his pours assimilating oxygen as quickly as he could and wishing he could filter it through water. "I am uncertain," he replied simply, but the hint of pride in his voice was apparent, "But what I am aware of, is that this gengar is not Stryphe." "Aw, it's not?!" pouted Umi in sudden disappointment. "He ain't?" inquired Nezumi rhetorically, saving everyone's auditory senses from his off key singing. Umberlee tilted from side to side. "No, it was not," she explained, glancing up the stairs to the next level, "But our true advisory has more than likely reached the roof already. I suggest that we hurry, and avoid further distractions." She glanced over at Shadow meaningfully, and only he caught what was meant as smile, but to the others was merely a slight crinkling of her fourth and ninth arms. Nezumi scowled thoughtfully for a moment. "Hey! I've gotta plan!" he exclaimed suddenly turning back the way they came, "Just keep you-know-who busy until I get back, okay?" "We will require your assistance," said Umberlee in a dark tone, "It would not be advantageous for you to leave us at this juncture." "Look," said Nezumi, spinning around and catching the sadness in Umi's eyes, "Would ya just trust me? Besides, someone has to check on them two. They've had plenty a time to put Fang Face in his place, and I'm a bit worried." "Please be careful," said Umi as Umberlee's crimson glow deepened in annoyance. "And hey, Shady!" Nezumi called once he'd reached the stairs down, "Take care of Draco-Babe while I'm gone. Ya got me?" "Indeed," said Shadow simply as Nezumi disappeared down the winding stairs... *** Misty awoke with a headache and the vague sense that the dark burgundy carpet with its intersecting green and gold patterns was nowhere to take a nap. For a moment as she pushed herself up from the floor and wiped the dust off her cheek her mind flipped through the disjointed half-thoughts that filtered through it. With some certainty, she knew there was something important going on, and that something was missing amidst the well-furbished dining hall. As Misty walked along the length of oak table, past the single place setting with it plate of small, discarded avian bones, empty wine-glass and hastily dropped knife and fork, she noticed that the crystal chandelier above the table had been lit. For a moment she glanced up at it, the hundred some odd flickering candles bathing the room in a warm inviting light before glancing at the wide, tall fireplace above whose mantle was a portrait of a bespectacled man wearing a white lab coat. "You must be Spengler," Misty said in a tone she barely recognized; only half realizing that she'd grabbed one of the little porcelain ornaments from the mantle as she stared appraisingly up at the man's picture. "Do you know why we're here?" she inquired with a sly smile, tilting her head to one side as her fingers turned the small, ornamental dragonite over a few times, "Because I can't remember. Something about... about..." But Misty's pondering was abruptly halted by the sound of shuffling feet. She turned quickly and saw the disoriented figure of Miranda leaning against the open doorway that separated the kitchen from the dining hall. "Miri!" Misty exclaimed happily, all other concerns suddenly forgotten as she bounded back across the room and held up the tiny dragonite for the courier's inspection, "Look, I got you a gift!" Miranda blinked her stormy gray eyes, trying to bring the world into focus and wondering why it was so difficult to see past a certain distance without a thought to where her glasses were. "Oh, my head," she muttered suddenly, leaning forward as she held her face in her hand and clung to the doorframe. Somewhere in her mind, the courier was aware that there was something far more important than porcelain dragonites worth more than she made in a year. Miri!" exclaimed Misty, haphazardly tossing the ornament onto the dark velvet cushions of one of the table's high-backed, wooden chairs, "Are- Are you alright?!" Miranda smiled as Misty's hands gripped her shoulders and all other concerns vanished with the headache she'd had, replaced with a sudden clarity of thought that the courier had never before experienced. With a quiet giggle, Miranda glanced up to meet the concern in her beloved's sea green eyes that were so full of concern. "No," the courier said, shaking her head slowly as her arms went about Misty's torso, "No I'm not. Infact, I haven't been alright, since the first time I looked into your eyes and saw what I've been missing my entire life." Without hesitation, without thought, without even recalling the split-seconds in between the two found themselves in each other's arms, their kisses desperate as they staggered across the floor in slow circles as they tried not to fall. "Have I ever told you how much I love you," Misty panted, pulling back long enough to practically tear Miranda's jacket from her shoulders before pressing her lips firmly the courier's neck. "More times than I can count," Miranda breathed, tossing her head back and wincing a little as Misty yanked her hair elastic free and let the courier's dark, wavy locks fall free, "But your words have yet to loose their meaning, even after innumerably repetitions." Misty made a happy sound at the reassurance, both her hands reaching into the courier's hair, her fingers coiling about in its length as she pulled her lips away and gazed into the Miranda's eyes. "They're practically, glowing," Misty laughed, pulling Miranda backwards, following the length of the table as her lover's finger's unbuttoned her blouse. "It's the ectoplasm," Miranda muttered, unable to think of much else as her pulse raced and felt herself loosing more and more control, "it reacts to heat." "I see," said Misty, momentarily distracted as they reached the far end of the table and she caught a glimpse of words written in the dust. "You're next?" she questioned with a laugh, "What's that supposed to mean?!" Miranda blinked, her fingers popping a button of the blouse as she did a double take and stared down at the words. For a moment, she recognized their meaning. Somehow, Miranda knew that she'd seen them before. Written on walls in various substances, scrolling across computer screens as the screensaver message, echoing from the speakers in an elevator and being emitted from telephones as well as radios. "Something," she whispered thoughtfully, her head aching as she tried to recall the memory, "Something about a- a gastly?" "Shh, it's okay," laughed Misty, her smile mischievous as she slipped off her own jacket and kicked a chair out of the way before using the garment to wipe the dust off the table, "the only ghost here's the little porcelain one on the mantle!" Miranda glanced in the direction of fireplace, but the mantle, with its small white shapes and large portrait above it were but a blur to her. "I- I can't tell," she began, glancing back in time to see Misty leaning out over heavy oak table. Her arms outstretched with her coat to clear the dust further along it, Misty's legs dangling slightly as she reached as far as she could, her bottom providing an inviting target as the denim jeans she wore stretched across the pleasantly rounded surface. 'Inhibitions!' a small portion of Miranda's mind tried to scream at her above the rising tide of her desire, 'They're gone! He- He shut them off-!' But the thought was quickly washed away as Miranda stepped boldly forward and reached around Misty's waist, her fingers questing. "Oh good!" giggled Misty as she knocked an unlit candelabra off the table with her coat, "I find jeans so confining!" "So long as you don't find my embrace confining," countered Miranda, unfastening the button she found and pulling down the zipper before yanking Misty's pants down a short distance. "Never!" Misty laughed, gripping the edges of the table as Miranda stepped back and grabbed the ankles of her pant legs before pulling them the rest of the way off, leaving Misty nearly naked from the waist down, "It's all I ever think about!" Miranda smiled, finding the exaggerated sentiment amusing as Misty's feet came free and she glanced up at her lover's vulnerable position. "If you were any more beautiful," the courier replied, tossing the garment aside as she stepped forward and cupped Misty's bottom in her hands, "I'd have been blinded by you." Misty's toes curled and she arched her back as Miranda leaned forward to kiss the back of her neck. "Tell me," she said breathlessly, closing her eyes contentedly as she slid from the table to her feel with Miranda still behind her, "Tell me again how much you love me." "I can not," the courier said sadly, kissing Misty's neck as she unbuttoned the rest of the blouse, letting it fall open, but making no move to do away with it, "It would take a thousand bards a thousand years to express a tenth of how I feel for you." Before Misty could respond, Miranda spun her around and found her lover's lips as her fingers took hold of the clasp at the front of Misty's bra. A heartbeat later and Misty was laughing as Miranda's hurried fingers broke the plastic clasp into several smaller pieces, causing the garment fell free of Misty's breasts. "A little impatient, are we?" she teased as Miranda's hands went about her waist and Misty was lifted back up onto the table. "A bit," Miranda admitted, stepping between Misty's knees and smiling as they closed against her hips, "But then, it's hard to think of anything else right now." "Is there anything else?" Misty questioned rhetorically, sighing contentedly as she leaned back in response to Miranda's kisses upon breasts before feeling the courier's tongue tracing slow circles around her nipples. "You are my world," Miranda muttered in reply shivering in anticipation as Misty sat up straight and yanked the bottom of Miranda's long sleeve shirt out of her pants before pulling the garment up as far as she could. "And you're wearing more clothes than me again," her lover replied with mock disapproval as Miranda leaned forward and backed up until she was free of the garment, her tangle of midnight black hair frizzing from the static electricity. "I'm sure you can fix that," Miranda chuckled, shaking a little as she stepped closer once again, sliding her hands beneath the blouse to touch Misty's naked skin before embracing her fully. "You make it sound like a challenge," Misty sighed contentedly, the warmth of Miranda's body against her own making her forget the slight chill in the room, the scent of the courier's skin making Misty forget the dank, musty smell in the air. "Do you accept?" Misty smiled, pushing Miranda a step back and taking her hands so she couldn't escape. "Have I ever backed down from a challenge?" "Only to eat my cooking." Miranda's tone was teasing as she moved forward again and kissed her as Misty tried not to laugh and reached down between them to undo her lover's jeans. "Is that better?" Miranda inquired, feeling the garment fall around her ankles. "A little," Misty replied slyly, reaching up to take a lock of Miranda's hair in her hand and pull her lover forward as her free hand unfastened the courier's bra as they kissed. "See?" teased Misty, opening her eyes and pulling away ever so slightly, "I can open those without breaking them." "Show off," her lover replied with a smile, kissing Misty's nose playfully as her fingers slid across the fabric of Misty's undergarments. "Something you're looking for?" she inquired in amusement as Miranda eyes reflected slight surprise and bemusement of her own. "I think someone beat me to it," the courier teased, pushing two fingers gently against Misty's labia, causing her to gasp and almost laugh when she felt how wet her panties had gotten. "You're usually not 'that' responsive," Miranda chuckled, leaning forward to kiss Misty lightly, "Not that I'm complaining..." "I don't know," Misty said carefully, her mind feeling half clouded as she tried to grasp at the nagging thought, "it's almost like nothing else matters right now. As if we're the only two people in the world." "We might very well be," said Miranda, finding it all to easy to ignore any thoughts that didn't involve pleasing her lover. "But- Isn't there something-?" Misty gasped, throwing her arms tightly around Miranda for support as her lover's fingers slid beneath her panties and touched the bare, hypersensitive skin of her clit, "Something we're- We're forgetting-?" "Shh," Miranda whispered, her free hand holding Misty's back to support her when she started to fall backwards, shaking all over, "only you matter to me right now. Whatever it is we're forgetting can wait." Misty could only nod as the familiar sensation of Miranda's middle finger moving her clit in slow careful circles seemed to no longer cause the slow gentle build-up she was used to. For no reason she could fathom, Misty's body seemed to react far more intensely than it should have, as though all her other senses had been turned down and her sense of touch were amplified. 'This- this is wonderful!' she laughed inwardly, Misty's voice only capable of making sounds that were barely human as her body shook and she found herself clinging desperately to Miranda's shoulders, 'I- I just don't understand it!' For her part, Miranda's near-sightedness made Misty nearly her entire world. It didn't matter that her glasses were lost somewhere. It didn't matter that she couldn't remember where they were or why. All that mattered was that Misty was enjoying herself with the greatest of abandon, and that it was all Miranda's doing. She almost felt like an artist as she withdrew her hand and giggled softly as Misty gave her a suddenly desperately pleading look. "No..." her lover whimpered, her sea green eyes nearly brimming with tears as Miranda's hand came away. "Shh, it's alright," came Miranda's soothing whisper as she laid Misty down upon the long banquet table that would have served fifty in its time, but now was being used only by two, "I'm not finished yet." Misty nodded, and the vulnerability in her expression caused Miranda's mind to go suddenly blank. All she could do was grip the sides of the table and shiver against the sensation that filled her. A combination of love, desire and the need to hold her beloved causing her body to react with the smallest of orgasms. "Goodness..." she whispered, blushing as she glanced away into the dim, hazy twilight of one of the long, tall windows, "That was... Embarrassing!" "I don't think so," came Misty's reply, and as Miranda looked back, she saw her beloved holding out her arms almost pleadingly, "I love you, Miri, and there's nothing you can do to change that." Miranda nodded, taking the way Misty looked at the moment into her mind and committing it memory before climbing onto the table, her knees straddling Misty's hips before leaning down to hold her. As they embraced, holding each other for what felt like a beautiful eternity, Miranda held the image in her mind's eye. The way Misty's hair seemed to glow in the candlelight above them as it fanned out around her. The compelling pallor of her skin, and how soft it now felt beneath her own. And the way the now open blouse she wore conveniently covered the tempting rises of her breasts but fell open just below seemed to tease Miranda in such a way that was far more inviting than her lover's exposed and waiting womanhood. "I love you too," said the courier, catching her breath at last and feeling calm once again as she opened her eyes and looked down the length of the table, "But, I have an idea..." "Oh?" came Misty's giggled reply, her eyes suddenly alight with mischief, "Do tell!" Miranda smiled, leaning back up and supporting herself entirely upon her knees as she looked at the fallen candelabra with its unused candles, sitting mere inches away from the top of her lover's head. "I don't know," she pondered, glancing down in time to catch Misty's expression of mock anger and the curiosity burning in her eyes, "You might not like it." Misty's expression softened as she reached up and took Miranda's hand. "Miri," she said softly, her smile full of love and trust, "You know me. I'm always willing to try new things. And I know you. If it is something I don't like, you'll just stop when I tell you to, and that'll be the end of it." Miranda nodded, squeezing Misty's hand affectionately. "You are the greatest gift I've ever received," she said sincerely, leaning down to kiss her lover's fingers as a single happy tear fell from her eye, "I love you more than anything, and if the only gift I ever receive again is your love, then that is enough." Misty closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to center herself as blissful contentment threatened to push down her desire. "Show me, my love," she said softly as Miranda reached for one of the unused candles before sliding off the table, "I want to experience every wonder you have to show me..." *** The raticate skidded across the floor, bunching up the old dusty carpet beside him as he came to a halt beside the doorway to the kitchen. "Oh, man," he muttered to himself as he bounded into the kitchen, his claws scraping noisily across the linoleum, "We must be crazy for doin' this!" Looking around the darkened kitchen, Nezumi noticed the glow of the chandelier in the dining room and crept cautiously forward, his whiskers twitching as his sense of spatial awareness kept track of where the fallen objects were around him. But as he glanced into the dining hall, however, a sudden chill ran down his spine as something cold touched his neck from behind. Instinctively, and without a moment's thought, Nezumi spun around, his now dark- brownish fur bursting into silvery light as he snarled at whatever had touched him. "Who are you?!" he hissed under his breath, trying to sound threatening even as the aftermath of the sudden fear reaction faded. "Shh! Not so loud!" came the harsh whisper of a familiar voice, and by virtue of the ectoplasm over his eyes, Nezumi could make out the shape of Wraith as he hung invisibly in the air before him, "You don't want them to hear you, do you?!" "Fang-Face," Nezumi growled, his body shaking with anger as he gritted his teeth and balled his forepaws into weak fists, "Why I ought'a-!" "Shh! No!" whispered Wraith holding out his hands and waving them desperately, "It's not what it looks like! Now keep your voice down." Nezumi's dark eyes narrowed. "What'cha do to the Boss Lady, ecto-breath?" he demanded quietly, his spatial awareness keeping track of the objects in the room lest they suddenly fly at him. "Surprisingly little," chuckled Wraith, floating a little higher and glancing out into the other room, "It's amazing how easy it is to keep humans preoccupied and out of your hair!" Nezumi turned his head to one side curiously, his tense stance softening a notch. "Oh? Do tell." Wraith's smile was somewhat prideful. "Well, it seems that old ugly there is still pretty weak," the ghost explained, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "so, when he said 'take care of the humans, make sure they don't interfere,' he left some mighty wide room for interpretation." "And?" said Nezumi suspiciously; suddenly curious about the strange noises issuing from the dining room. "And so, I did just that," chuckled Wraith mischievously, "I'm making sure they're comfortable, unafraid, and above all, out of the way, and not bothering idiot stick. It was pretty easy too! I just had to flip the right switches in their heads, curb their inhibitions, and turn down all but their tactile senses. Humans is sooo easy to play with!" Nezumi's curiosity got the better of him and he peered into the other room. "Oh for the love of Gouda!" he cursed, spinning back around to face Wraith, "This is NO time for THAT!" The ghost covered his wide mouth to keep from laughing. "Hey," he said, "Whatever works! Besides, I have to keep them busy. At least until his power over me wares off..." "When'll that be?" Wraith shrugged. "Whenever someone beats him senseless, I suppose." "Hm, I see," said Nezumi thoughtfully and glancing at the small round object to his right, "Hey, look Fang-Face, you lay low for while, okay? I don't want you getting' any more orders from that Voldemort wanna-be. In the mean time, though, I have a plan!" "You do?" inquired Wraith curiously as Nezumi waggled a digit at him. "No, no, no," the raticate cautioned, "I ain't tellin' ya Jill!" "Jack." "Whatever," muttered Nezumi as his grabbed the ghost-ball Misty had been carrying, "Look, though, uh, have you seen the Boss Lady's coat-thingy? There's somethin' in the pocket I need." Wraith nodded, his right hand reaching out and flying into the dinning hall where it sailed under the table to traverse the length of the room. "Hm, reminds me of a baked potato," the haunter commented as his hand returned a moment later with the tinfoil wrapped object, "What is it?" "Never you mind," warned the rodent as the object dropped into his other paw, "Just stay here until we've taken care of that waist of ecto-goo!" "No problem," said Wraith sadly, "Just one thing, eh." "Yeah?" "Be careful, bro." Nezumi smiled with his most sarcastic grin. "Eh, what's the worst that could happen?" he asked rhetorically with a laugh, "See ya soon, Fang-Face!" "Good luck!" called Wraith quietly, wishing he could help, but knowing that if he showed up, Stryphe would have the haunter in his power, and hating himself for having to waylay the humans he cared about, "Good luck to all of us..." *** Misty opened her eyes and gasped in surprised amusement as she saw Miranda standing before her, wetting the end of the candle she held in her mouth. "It's probably a good thing they never got around to using these ones," commented the courier with a smile as she examined the white wax of the now wetted candle, "But it's too bad this is all we have." "Oh my..." was all Misty could say as the combination of nervousness and excitement made her toes curl and she felt her body react to the thoughts that filled her mind. "Just remember to tell me to stop if you need me to, okay?" Misty nodded, swallowing nervously as she sat up on her elbows to watch as Miranda knelt before her and began lapping at her labia with long, even strokes, causing small flashes of light behind Misty's eyes with every motion. 'It's not supposed to be this intense!' part of her mind tried to tell her, but at that moment it was too difficult to think. It was too hard to find the focus to care about anything else as the tip of Miranda's tongue siding along the contours of her womanhood, drawing all her attention for what felt like forever. "Misty," came Miranda's soft voice, almost seeming to cherish the word as she spoke it, causing Misty to open the eyes her eyes without recalling closing them. Miranda now stood with one hand on the table to support herself as the other brought the rounded end of the candle close to Misty's womanhood. The look in Miranda's stormy gray eyes was intense, but her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke. "It's not too late to stop me," she said calmly, only to have Misty sit up and kiss her full upon the lips. "Please," she said with a reassuring smile, "Before I change my mind. I- I'd like to try this. If I like it, maybe we can find something better another time?" Miranda nodded, smiling contentedly at the way Misty blushed but refused to look away. "Alright then, my love," she said in a soothing tone, "Just lay back, and try to relax. Don't be afraid, and know that you're the one in control here." Misty nodded; ignoring the instinct that told her Miranda was quoting someone as she complied, keeping a careful eye on what it was her lover was doing. "I haven't stopped you yet," she said, biting her lip as the end of the candle gently caressed her labia before being run teasingly between them, making Misty shiver from the contact. Miranda nodded slowly, her eyes tracking Misty's reactions as she guided the candle with utmost care, moving it slowly up and down as her lover's moisture began to invite its passage, almost as though Misty's body were willing it to enter her. "Are you ready?" Miranda asked, not needing the nervous nod Misty gave her to know that she was. At that moment, she could almost feel her beloved's anticipation as a tangible thing in the air as Miranda adjusted grip and slowly pushed the object forward. Misty felt herself shiver as her labia parted, her body accepting the smoothly rounded length inside of her with a sudden rush of desire. For a moment, she laid back against the table, gripping the sides of it with her eyes held tightly shut as her inner walls contracted, holding the candle in place as Misty let the sudden pleasurable sensation wash over her. 'This- this feels so different,' Misty pondered inwardly, quickly comparing it to sensation of Miranda's or even her own fingers. It lacked their warmth, and certainly wasn't as maneuverable, but something about its presence inside of her gave Misty pleasant chills. "It's not hurting you is it?" Miranda asked, her voice sounding distant as Misty opened her eyes and smiled at the ceiling, shaking her head and swimming in a pleasant euphoria that felt akin to the waves of an ocean gently lapping up against the shore in time with Miranda's slow movements. "No," Misty managed to whisper, stretching out her limbs and feeling strangely comforted as Miranda leaned forward to gently suckle her clit as the candle moved slowly back and forth, "It's wonderful." Miranda made a happy sound as Misty reached down and ran her fingers through the courier's long dark hair affectionately. "I feel like I'm floating," she confessed, noticing the way her body seemed to be pulling against the candle as it drew back, almost as though it were unwilling to release the object. "I know a place in Celadon that sells more interesting things than candles," Miranda replied, stopping just long enough climb onto the table and lay on her side next to Misty before reaching down and resuming her slow, penetrative motions. Misty blushed at the thought. "I think I'd like that-" she said before she could stop herself, quickly covering her face with her hands, "Oh no. Did I say that out-loud?" Miranda's response was a dozen kisses upon the hands that covered her lover's face, and finally when Misty moved them, a dozen more upon it. "Alright already!" Misty laughed, smiling up at Miranda lovingly, "I'll stop being embarrassed by this." "Oh," Miranda pouted, trying to sound disappointed, but the amusement in her tone was apparent, "But I think it's cute when you get that way." Misty chuckled, coiling a lock of Miranda's hair around her index finger. "You think I'm cute no matter what I do," she teased; shivering as her body reacted to the gentle quarter-twist Miranda gave the candle. "No," the courier corrected, kissing her repeatedly, accentuating each word with the touch of her lips, "I- think- you're- beautiful." Misty exhaled softly, smiling up at her lover contently as Miranda rested her head in her hand and gazed back down at Misty. "Do you think it will always be this way?" the courier inquired half-rhetorically as Misty moved a shaking hand downwards. "I- I hope so," Misty responded weakly, her smile embarrassed as Miranda's eyes mirrored a peculiar satisfaction as they glanced down to see that Misty's fingers were indeed caressing her own womanhood. Miranda's gaze moved back up to focus on Misty's eyes and the pale shade of green they'd become in response to her condition. "You know," she said thoughtfully, finding it difficult to speak the words that filled her mind, "I really do hope so too, my love. Because sometimes, I just like watching you brought to the brink of ecstasy again and again." Misty nodded, her expression betraying the sudden burst of elation that shot up her spine. "It's strange, I know, but sometimes it's as though I can't be happy without knowing you are first." "No," Misty replied, her words interrupted by a sudden, exclamation and a moment to catch her breath, "No, it's not. It's sweet of you." "And a little perverted," Miranda chuckled, making Misty laugh as she glanced down at the wetted candle and watched for it for a time as it slid easily back and forth as just above it Misty's drew the length of her finger slowly back and forth across her clit in time with the candle's movements. "I don't care, my love," Misty sighed, looking back up at the chandelier and half wondering who had lit the plethora of candles set upon the three rings of delicately molded glass it was made of, "You could be so much worse, and yet your not. I- I just feel so lucky..." "Almost as lucky as me," Miranda replied as Misty lost her train of thought, her consciousness suddenly taken by spasms of joy as Miranda looked on and kissed her repeatedly until Misty regained control of herself. "Thank you..." she replied at last, smiling up at Miranda through half closed eyes and holding the courier's hand to make her stop. "Any time, dearest," responded Miranda with a hint of mirth as Misty met her kiss half way and slowly guided the candle out of herself, finding the sensation of sudden 'emptiness' somewhat disconcerting. "Next time, though," said Misty after a moments thought as Miranda brought the candle to her lips, "I want something more comfortable beneath me. Okay?" Miranda giggled at the thought that came to her. "Okay," she promised, teasingly running the end of the candle across Misty's lips, "For next time, I'll buy you a bed for every day of the year!" "Sure, but where would we put them all?" her lover laughed as Miranda placed the end of the candle against her own lips before suckling its end thoughtfully. "Um, I could always buy you one of the Orange Islands," she said at last, accidentally flinging the candle across the room as she drew the end from her mouth, "Oops! Sorry!" Misty both laughed and cringed as it impacted with the wood paneling of the wall and broke in half before hitting the floor. "You could, I suppose," she said, turning to give the broken candle a disappointed glare, "But that'd probably cost you your entire life savings." Miranda shrugged. "A small sacrifice," she replied as though it were, "But there's what? A few hundred in that chain? I'm sure we could lay claim to one of them and use it as our Winter retreat or something. Maybe make it into our own city or something, making it a nice place for my Mom and Bob to retire to." "When you dream, you don't do it small, do you?" said Misty with an amused smile as she turned back and ran her fingers affectionately over Miranda's cheek. The courier shook her head almost sadly. "Nope," she confided, "I have this habit of reaching for the stars. I guess I just got lucky one time, though." "Oh?" Misty inquired, wishing they had more room so she could hold Miranda. "I managed to reach far enough to find you." Misty smiled, letting the feeling of adoration wash over her. "No," she corrected, "I'm the lucky one. If I'm a star, I was a falling one, and I was lucky enough to have you catch me before I burned to cinders." "I love you," was all Miranda could think of to say as moved to hold her beloved as best she could, the sudden feeling of protectiveness overshadowing everything else as the spark of vulnerability within Misty's strong, self-assured exterior shined through for a brief moment. "If you say that to me every day, I think I may just survive," said Misty in a tone that was both happy and sad, thankful for the embrace of the woman who was now resting her head upon her shoulder and looking into Misty's eyes with a look of both concern and adoration. "One day, Miri," continued Misty after a quiet moment, "Long after you've chased away the last of sadness so that no memory can ever hurt me again, will you still hold me like this?" Miranda sighed contentedly. "Even when the last bastion of darkness has been banished from your soul, only your will, and your will alone shall force me not to, my love. Believe me when I say that my need for you shall span my entire life, but my love for you shall never die..." *** The trails in the dust lead Nezumi to the top floor of the Tower where he found the others looking up at the opening in the ceiling through which silvery moonlight poured through down onto the broken remains of the only way up. "Hey guys!" he called out, catching the change in Umi's eyes from brilliant orange to emerald green as he bounded awkwardly down the hall, his forepaws clenching the two objects he'd picked up, "Wait up!" "Where have you been?" came Umberlee's accusing tone as Umi slithered out to meet him half way. "Gettin' what we need!" the raticate explained, grinning broadly at her before giving Umi a reassuring wink and holding out the foil wrapped stone, "Um, can you hold this? It's giving me a muscle cramp." Umi gave him a questioning look, her eyes shifting through the violet spectrum as she wrapped the end of her tail around the object. "I hate to dissuade you," came Shadow's concerned tone before Umi could comment, "But our advisory has reached the roof and is even now extending his power to reap who knows what havoc on the world." "He is correct," agreed Umberlee in a somewhat harsh tone, "There is no time to loose!" With that, Umi and Nezumi found themselves levitating off the ground and being directed in the direction of the opening. "Oh, man!" complained Nezumi as his instinctively flailed his limbs, "I really hate flyin'!" "I will fly one day," said Umi quietly, her eyes flaring red in anticipation as the group rose up through the opening in the ceiling, out into the cool night air. "At the speed of sound even," agreed Shadow as the cacophony of panicked voices rose up from the foot of the Tower and mingled with the varied noises of the elemental inspired pokemon techniques that were going off far below. And all the while, Stryphe stood at the top of the Tower, floating several feet off the roof, concentrating, extending his will to its maximum capacity as he chuckled quietly to himself. "Hit him hard!" exclaimed Nezumi angrily, suddenly remembering that his favorite haunter had to hide from the monster they now faced lest he be forced to turn against them, "And take him down!" As he and Umi dropped the last few inches to the stone floor of the roof, the four pokemon unleashed the most powerful techniques they could muster. As Shadow spun and summoned forth the electrical charge he'd exhibited previously, Umi concentrated on once more forcing out her flames in a continuous stream and Undine and Nezumi let loose with blasts of high-pressure water and a beam of cryokinetic might. Stryphe merely chuckled to himself. Raising a hand without opening his eyes as the incoming attacks were suddenly blocked by a field of dark purple light that formed a perfect sphere around the floating gengar. "Pathetic," he muttered contemptuously, "When I'm done with the humans in this city, I'll turn all the pokemon for a hundred miles into an army brand new gastlies!" "No!" exclaimed Umi angrily, her eyes becoming such a deep red that they seemed ready to burst into flames, "I'm not becoming a ghost when I die! I'm going to the 'Nice Place'!" With that, she lobbed the stone in Stryphe's direction. For his part, the ghost opened one eye and caught the object in mid-air with telekinesis. "What's this?" he inquired, turning the tinfoil wrapped object over in the air, "A baked potato?" "Something like that," chuckled Nezumi, suddenly glowing a blinding white, "Oh crap! Time's up!" Stryphe's other eye opened as the raticate reverse-evolved back into a rattata. "Fascinating!" the gengar chuckled, "A raticate that becomes a rattata! Or is it a rattata that becomes a raticate? Not matter. I shall enjoy tearing the information for your feeble mind." Nezumi glanced at Umi once the transformation was complete, still clutching the shrunken pokeball in both forepaws. "How do you do this?" he whispered as Stryphe's attention returned to the strangely shaped tinfoil package he held with the power of his mind, slowing unwrapping it as the sounds below became more dire. "The left button," whispered Umi back, speaking out of the side of her mouth without taking her eyes off Stryphe. "Left?" pondered Nezumi his tiny paws running over the surface of the ball until a small portion of it pressed down with a gentle -click!-. "Nope," the rattata muttered, "That ain't it." "Other side," whispered Umi more urgently as the black surface of the stone became visible and Stryphe's eyes grew wide with interest. "Ah! Got it!" laughed Nezumi as he pushed down the second button and caused the ball to expand before him just as the wrapping fell off the de-evolution stone. "What peculiar power," Stryphe mused as the stone began to crackly with dark blue lightning, "I must examine this more thoroughly!" Then, as the four pokemon held their collective breath, the gengar reached out with his dark hand and touched the stone. The effect wasn't instantaneous, but it seemed unstoppable nonetheless. The de- evolution stone sent out several beams of light that lit up Stryphe's suddenly fearful face as the mineral's white radiance enveloped him almost greedily. "Noooo!" the ghost shrieked as his form began to change, "This isn't possible! Do you not know who I am?!" "You ain't nothin'," spat Nezumi contemptuously as the spent stone landed steaming at his feet and a very angry gastly floated before him, "Nothin' but easy target practice." "Take him down!" exclaimed Umi fiercely as the group fired upon Stryphe once more, this time finding his barrier shield to be weakened by his current form, and buckling beneath the pressure of the four attacks. "No! This cannot be!" exclaimed Stryphe in anguish, firing off weak blasts of nightshade as his barrier shattered and he was hit from all sides, "I'm invincible!" "You're trainer bait!" hissed Umi, making Nezumi laugh as Stryphe's body exploded unpleasantly and a blob of sentient black goo splattered to the floor, before the ball that the Guardian had been imprisoned in dropped from the now gastly's telekinetic grasp. "You is less than that," the rattata chuckled, struggling to heft the pokeball up off the ground and struggle forward in his smaller form, "And another thing, ya stupid puddle a ooze. You're mine!" With that, Nezumi dropped the ghost-ball onto the puddle that Stryphe had become. The darkly gleaming eyes that stared up at the rattata immediately became fearful as the ball dropped, landing perfectly, bouncing a short distance back into the air before splitting open and sending forth a blast of crimson light. "Noooo!" the ghost exclaimed weakly, his voice almost pleading as he disappeared into the specially designed pokeball before it snapped shut and landed on the ground, smoking as it wobbled from side to side. "Not to be pessimistic," remarked Shadow as the group watched the ball for several tense seconds, "But we only have one of those." "That's okay," assured Nezumi confidently, "We only got one a him too!" With that, the ball stopped rocking, and for several long moments the four pokemon stood staring speechless, Nezumi at the ball, and the others at him until the sounds of rejoicing echoed from far below. "Looks like it's over down there," commented Umi, unable to resist the temptation to slither to the edge of the roof and peer down. "Think we should free the other guy?" the rattata inquired, only to have Umberlee and Shadow rise slightly higher in the air and give an unpleasant sound of warning. "That would be unwise," hissed Shadow, immediately transposing himself between Nezumi and the Guardian's ball. "Yes," agreed Umberlee, speaking as though to a child, "The imprint codes of the gengar's encumberie must be reset so that he might be free to perform his duties and ensure that this does not happen again." "Huh? Imp- wha-?!" "It is beyond your comprehension, my friend," said Shadow soothingly, "Fear not. We shall wait for the Professor to return and set things right. For now, WE are the Guardians." "Oh, yeah! That's right," chuckled Nezumi, turning towards the entrance down, "I have to go tell Fang-Face the good news!" "Wraith?!" demanded Umi, her eyes immediately burning red as she turned fiercely on the rattata, "Where is he? What has that specter done to Miri?!" Nezumi laughed. "Ah, don't worry, kid," he assured the dratini, "I'll explain it to ya later." "A poignant inquiry," said Umberlee, her multi-faceted center glowing suspiciously. "Indeed," agreed Shadow, causing Nezumi to scratch his head. "Huh?" he inquired, giving the two awakened starfish a puzzled look. "They mean they want to know," said Umi, her tone full of concern as she slithered up to the rattata and fixed him with an unceasing stare. "Oh, okay, okay," Nezumi laughed, "They're fine! They just need a few more minutes I think." The three gave him varying looks of suspicion, and Umberlee seemed about ready to simply yank the information straight from the rattata's mind before a cautious sounding voice called up from the lower level. "Um, hello?" inquired Wraith as one of his hands flew up through the trap door clutching one of his eyes, "Is it safe to come up for a moment?" Umi's reply was a jet of flame that flew just over the macabre object that floated above the hole in the roof, singeing Wraith's ephemera and making him shriek before dropping the hand back down. "I guess not!" he said as Nezumi laughed. "Sorry about that Fang-Face!" he called, "Draco-Babe's a little ticked at you right now!" "I'm sorry," came the ghosts meek reply as the group crowded around the square opening, "It's not like I hurt them or anything." "You didn't?" inquired Umi hopefully, her voice betraying her need for reassurance. "You had better not have," warned Umberlee, her peculiar sounding voice echoing dangerously. "So where are they then?" inquired Shadow, sending the starmie a glance he hoped would calm her fury. "They're waitin' for us in the dinning hall," said Wraith with a shrug, "I told 'em I'd get you guys. Give them more time to um... Prepare." "It's a trick!" exclaimed Umberlee, her entire body glowing with an angry golden glow before it coalesced at her multifaceted center and fired off at the haunter. Wraith yelped as the blast of psionic power hit him, flinging the ghost at an odd angle, ploughing him into the place where the floor and wall met. "Hey!" he exclaimed, his eyes spinning around in his head so fast that his retina were twin blurs, "What'd I do?!" "Hey, that's enough, lady!" said Nezumi angrily as Shadow moved between Umberlee and the opening in the floor. "He is correct, my dear," agreed the staryu before she could argue, "Stryphe has been contained. As a gastly his powers are likely to be far weaker. Especially in his current state." "I do not trust ghost-types," the starmie replied, a sound that seemed as though it were gritted teeth, "If he has injured Misty in any way, I shall-" "Enough," said Shadow simply, turning back to Wraith with a warning glance that the haunter interpreted as such only due to intuition, "Ghost. Lead us to our humans." "I have a name," muttered Wraith bitterly as Umberlee telekinesed Umi to the floor below but let Nezumi jump into the haunter's waiting hands. "Yeah," the rattata agreed with an amused grin, "It's 'Fang-Face'!" *** The lit candles upon the chandelier hadn't seemed to have noticed the passage of time. Whatever otherworldly enchantment had been placed upon them hundreds of years ago still remained, making certain that they never burned low. What flickering shadows remained in the hall were banished, however, by the quiet crackling light of the small conflagration burning in the fireplace. "I hope they didn't hurt him or anything," commented Miranda, glancing at the green illumination of her watch as Misty, now clothed once again, snuggled closer and stared off into the fire the courier had made. "I doubt it," the trainer chuckled with a contented sigh, "Nezumi's a good fast talker, and Wraith can always dodge through a wall or something." "I suppose," Miranda agreed, going over the events that had just occurred in her mind. Wondering if when the small mental blocks Wraith had installed eroded completely if she'd be mad at him or not. But for now, she felt contented, unable to concentrate on much more than Misty, even when her haunter had flew into the room laughing and cheering before giving a quick explanation and flying off through the ceiling. "You know," said Misty in a half serious tone as Miranda held her a little closer, "I get the feeling that when he gets back I'm not going to be quite so contented." Miranda nodded, kissing Misty's hair and looking up at the portrait of Spengler above the mantle. "I'm thinking this guy might be annoyed about what we did in his dinging room," she chuckled, "But with all the dust, I'd say he's probably not around to care very much." "That's sad," commented Misty quietly, holding up the porcelain dragonite she had grabbed off the mantle, "But I guess it means he won't mind if I give this to you." "I dunno about that," the courier replied sadly, "Things are starting to become clearer, and I somehow think that it wouldn't be right to take anything without the new owner's permission." "New owner?" Miranda shrugged. "I dunno, just a feeling." At that moment, the five pokemon game bursting into the room, three of them making ecstatically happy noises as they practically barreled into the two humans, making them laugh as they fell back, raising their arms to protect their faces from the show of affection. "Enough!" laughed Miranda, holding back Umi's head as the dragon wrapped around her torso with eyes that glowed brilliantly green, "I can barely breath!" Misty's problem wasn't as life threatening, but the two starfish refused to let her get to her feet before bombarding her with questions. "I'm fine! I'm fine!" she told them, pushing the two pokemon aside as she sat back up, "The ghost didn't hurt me at all!" "Speaking of which," her lover commented in a sudden dark tone, glancing at the inconspicuous looking spirit floating in the door way, "I think it's time you fixed us. As fun as it is to wander around without a care in the world, it's becoming a little disconcerting." Wraith nodded apologetically before floating cautiously forward, all too aware of the two glowering water-types as he reached his hands out towards Misty and Miranda. As his disembodied hands disappeared through their foreheads, he winced, feeling the flood of memories as they broke through the barriers in the human's minds, suddenly expecting the worst. "I see," Miranda said simply, stepping back as Wraith's hand returned to its normal position before moving to hold Misty in her arms. "Oh dear," her lover managed, giving her head a shake, and thankful for Miranda's sudden support as a feeling of disorientation swept through her, "This could be bad." Miranda glanced at the assembled, and somewhat worried looking pokemon that had crowded around them. "No," she said with a smile that resembled that of a proud mother, "I think they managed to do alright without us. Otherwise Wraith wouldn't have been so ecstatic." "Then, they managed to beat down Stryphe?" inquired Misty, glancing at the now vigorously nodding Nezumi who looked exceptionally proud of himself all of a sudden, "Well then we'd better get there and capture him before he regains enough power to fight back-!" "Tatta," chuckled Nezumi, doing his best attempt at waggling a finger at her. "Oh?" inquired Miranda with a suddenly amused smile as she looked down the slightly blurry image of Nezumi, "Do tell." The rattata chuckled to himself before theatrically bounding about the room, chattering the entire time as he mimicked and vastly exaggerated the scope of the battle they had missed. As Miranda found it hard to keep from laughing and Umberlee gave him a very disapproving look, Wraith did his best to keep up, weaving an illusion into the air of what it must have looked like. "Um, Nezumi's not twenty feet tall," commented Misty with a smile, managing to catch most of what the rattata said after having spent so long with him. Wraith shrugged, sending one of his hands off and retrieving Miranda's glasses in time for the overly melodramatic image of Nezumi leaping high into the air, clutching a ghost-ball in both forepaws before slamming it down onto Stryphe flitted across the illusionary screen he made. "And pokeballs don't illuminate half the continent when they capture something," Miranda added, smiling at the image of the Tower as seen from thousands of miles away as beams of brilliant light shined out from its top followed by a sphere of golden light that was surely visible from orbit as Stryphe was successfully captured. "Could be worse," Misty chuckled, "So, what'cha do with the ball?" The assembled pokemon glanced at each other for a moment before screaming out in unison and scrambling out the door in a panic. "They forgot it, didn't they," said Misty rhetorically. "Yup," said Miranda defeatedly, feeling amused despite all that had happened, "Alright, let's go. I don't want someone else getting to that thing before we do...!" *** As they at last made back up onto the roof, finding that both ghost-balls were exactly where they had left them, a wave of relief swept over the group and a swarm of thankful ghosts suddenly materialized overhead. "Gee," Misty chuckled as Miranda immediately snatched up the Guardian's ball and began making the necessary adjustments to it with a miniature Phillips screwdriver, "I never thought we'd have people cheering us for doing 'that'!" Miranda looked up and smiled, hearing the celebratory sounds from below as the ghosts were met by a flock of other avians. "They probably don't know," she laughed, tossing the Guardian's ball into the air as it clicked open and the brilliant illumination from within seemed almost desperate to escape, "And I think it's better that way. No one'd believe us if we told them what really happened!" As the Guardian materialized in the air, he turned to the assembled group and his perpetual gengar smile became more respectful seeming as he bowed low. "I thank you," he said in the human tongue, making Miranda wonder if the sound was actually an illusion of sorts or just telepathy, "You have done our people a great service, and you will be rewarded." The gengar glanced at the second ghost-ball, and with a mere thought it raced into his outstretched hand. "I shall take this to Laurna," he said as fireworks suddenly exploded in the sky above them, and Misty and Miranda found it difficult to resist the urge to hold each other, "But in the mean time, I would suggest that you take care of the one loose end you have overlooked." The two glanced at each other for a moment, the rainbow colours above them illuminating their bewildered faces as the thought suddenly formulated in their minds. "Kathy!" they exclaimed in unison before a second scramble for the exit began. "Ah, mortals," the gengar chuckled, his voice seeming almost paternal as he floated over the edge and scanned the auras of the living throng at the base of his Tower, his other hand clutching the small, porcelain dragonite statuette between his dark, stubby fingers, "They're so cute when they're young!" *** The room in which Stryphe had been imprisoned in was the same as when they had left it. The candles still burned, and the circle remained partially broken with shards of the nearly disintegrated ghost-ball lying scattered across the floor. The only thing that was missing, however, were Kathy, Victor, and Tashiro. "They would," Miranda muttered bitterly, walking along the circumference of the circle as she noticed something peculiar sitting upon Stryphe's pedestal. "They must have called out that alakazam of theirs," Misty commented, glancing at Miranda and feeling her heart sink at the look in the courier's eyes as she stepped cautiously through the break in the circle. Her lover nodded sullenly, watching as she approached the pedestal. "I should have done something when I had the chance," said Miranda, shaking her head in dismay as she reached the center and looked down at the sheet of paper her nemesis had left, held in place by one of the glow in the dark Lavender Town Halloween Festival buttons. "We had to save world first," came Misty's sympathetic tone as she put her arms around Miranda from behind, "I'm sure he would understand." The courier nodded sadly. "He would have insisted," she said quietly, finding no tears to cry, "He'd say something like, 'You can't avenge me if you're dead, silly.'" Misty chuckled quietly, standing on her toes and resting her chin on Miranda's shoulder. "So what's the note say?" "'Be sure to save the world, I need to take it over later,'" said Miranda bitterly, crumpling the note up in her hand, "'PS: Be sure to stop by Viridian some time.'" Misty took a deep breath and held Miranda a little tighter as the courier glanced at the button, pondering its significance as a diminutive figure stepped quietly into the room and stood politely in the doorway. "Oh. Hi, auntie," said Miranda after a moment spent pushing down the burning frustration she felt. "Am I interrupting something?" the poke-prof' inquired with a sympathetic smile as two gengars followed her into the room, one much larger than the other. "No, no," Miranda assured her, reaching down to take Misty's hand before leading her out of the circle to where their pokemon stood waiting, unwilling to enter the final boundary of the ancient prison, "We just needed to make sure this was over. And it is, at least for now." Laurna nodded as the Guardian swept past her and entered the circle without a sound before setting the new ghost-ball down upon the top of the pedestal. "This'll take us a while, and then we have to go and gather up all the ghost- balls," the woman explained, watching as the Guardian backed away and muttered something quietly to his old adversary, "You two can always help get the door back open and enjoy the rest of the evening. Or at least what's left of it. You've earned it." Miranda smiled as her Aunt embraced her and ruffled her hair as though she were still a child. "Sure you don't need help resetting the protocols?" the courier inquired. "No it's okay," assured Laurna with a sad smile, "I can handle it." "Oh, one thing," said Miranda, feeling a sudden elation at the thought as she scrambled for her cell phone, "I think we figured out where they were hiding the balls. And with any luck I can get Uncle and his people down there in time to save the stolen pokemon." "Where-?" began Laurna as her niece spoke quickly into the device, thankful that Frank picked up on the first ring. "The Dragon's Cave," said Misty grimly, causing Laurna's eyes to widen mixed emotions, "The one place the ghosts couldn't go, and Frank's people would be too respectful to search." Laurna glanced apprehensively at Miranda as she thanked her Uncle and shut the phone off. "What'd he say?" she inquired nervously. "He was way ahead of me," Miranda replied grimly, shaking her head in despair, "But not by much. Someone was definitely there, and storing a few large boxes, but they cleared out pretty quickly. I think they were prepared for this." Laurna nodded sadly, the defeated look in her eyes causing Viper to float up to her and nudge the woman reassuringly. "It- It happens I suppose," said the Professor in the tone she used in her younger days to hide her emotions, "All we can do is make sure it doesn't happen again. Now go one, you've done your part. And, thank you. Both of you, for all you've done." "You sure you'll be alright?" inquired Misty carefully as Miranda gave Laurna's hand a reassuring squeeze. The woman glanced at the center of the circle and nodded. "It's not the end of the world," she said with the slightest of smirks, causing Nezumi to chuckle quietly, "Just be sure to make sure your mom knows you're all okay. She didn't say it, but I know she was nearly in hysterics inside when she heard the news. Now go." Miranda nodded solemnly. "Good luck, Aunt Laurna," she said quietly as her fingers slipped through the woman's and the group made their way from the most haunted building on the entire planet; the Lavender Town Tower...
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