//------------------------------// // A Haunting Feeling // Story: The Disaster Pokemon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Limestone blinked the moment the ghost revealed himself and the next thing she knew Absol was slashing at the king of the ghosts with a horn bathed in a dark light. The ghost king vanished, which caused the attack to strike the ceiling instead of the ghost. Absol landed on the floor a moment later, his horn still glowing with his dark power, while his eyes shifted back and forth across the room as he hunted his prey. "King Spiral. You must be the one responsible for the army of ghosts that has descended upon this land," Absol said to the shadows, eyes waiting for any sign of movement. "That I am, being of darkness," the king's voice said from every direction at once. Marble instinctually moved closer to her sister, who in turn moved the two of them closer to Absol. "However, you have me at a disadvantage. When two ponies, or whatever you are, meet for the first time, most start with their name. Not a lethal attack." "Considering how you will soon be leaving this plane, I do not see what is the point in you knowing my name," Absol replied in a cold tone. "Though if it means that much to you, I will tell you the name of your destroyer. I am Absol. A Dark type Pokemon that brings down the ghosts like you." "Ah, Absol. A powerful name for a powerful being," Spiral replied, a slight laugh echoing throughout the chamber. "Ah yes, you are a being that is not native to this world. You come from...somewhere else. How interesting that I am meeting a being from another world. And what a shame that he is a being that can kill me. What did you call yourself? A Dark Pokemon? Are those types able to kill ghosts?" "Correct. Now reveal yourself so that I can end you," Absol spat. "Straight to fighting with you, eh? But I have so many questions for you before I kill you and I am certain that you have questions for me. And as you've already told me so much about myself, to be kind in return, I will answer one question truthfully. Any question. Like if you wanted to know my backstory? My skills...my weaknesses?" "There is only one question I have. What have you done with Limestone and Marble's families?" Absol asked. Limestone turned her head to look at Absol, surprised and a little bit touched that he would use his free question for her family. "I know that you have taken them somewhere. Tell me where." "Aw, isn't that cute. You care for these two," the voice of the ghost king said. Absol moved in a blur, slashing at the air in front of where Limestone and Marble were standing. A roar of pain echoed through the chamber and a moment later the dark king materialized near the door. "Tracking my voice, are you? You are truly dangerous creature." "The location. Now." "No-nonsense either. You are a problem," the dark king snarled, before boxes and bricks started to levitate around him. "Well then, Absol, let us see how you handle this!" He hurled the items towards the Pokemon faster than Limestone could track, but with an even greater speed Absol sliced the boxes to pieces. He turned to face King Spiral with a smirk on his face, while the dark king said nothing in reply. Then a cruel smile spread from under his shadowy beard and his horn began to glow, wrapping Absol in a violet energy. "Absol, watch out!" Limestone cried out as she saw the light. But then a dark light began to form cracks along the purple energy, before the energy surrounding Absol was shattered completely. "What in all the...?" the dark king asked as he floated backwards. Absol looked down at himself, before a wicked smile began to spread across his face. "That wouldn't happen to be...psychic powers, would it?" Absol asked in a delighted tone. "In my world we call it magic, but yes...I suppose psychic would not be too far off base," Spiral said. Absol let out a dark laugh upon hearing the kings words, before his red eyes locked onto the kings ghostly form. "Well then, here is your first lesson in the type matchup. Psychic types...can do nothing to Dark types!" Absol roared as he lunged forward. He lunged towards the kind with reckless abandon, now knowing that the dark king could do nothing to him. "And if you can use those powers, than that makes you a Ghost/ Psychic type, correct? Well, hate to be the bearer of bad news...but you are at an even greater disadvantage than your army!" Absol slashed towards the dark king without really aiming, forcing Spiral to weave and slither around the room to avoid being struck. Absol kept up the pressure and attack with a relentless force, tearing gashes and holes in the ancient room in an attempt to strike the king down. And despite throwing up psychic barriers to protect himself, Spiral quickly found that none of his once infamous psychic strength could so much as give Absol pause. So if his powers wouldn't stop the Pokemon, his words would have to. "Are you sure you wish to kill me? After all, you have yet to learn of where your precious ponies families are located," King Spiral put forth. The words reached Absol and for a moment he ceased his attack, though Spiral did notice that his horn continued to glow darkly. "That's better. See how much nicer everypony is when we're not at each others throats?" "Says the being that told us he was here to kill us," Absol reminded him. "Details. Alright Absol, I will tell you this. The families of the two right there, the Pies, if I am not mistaken, are being taken to the Eternal Forest on the other end of Equestria. If you head there now, you might, just might, catch up to my forces before they make it there. But that's only if you go right now." "And why should I believe a word out of your mouth?" Absol replied. "You could be sending us to our deaths for all I know. And give me one good reason that I shouldn't strike you down here and now?" "Two excellent questions. You are a smart one. The answer to the first one is that you don't have to believe me. But you have no other options or clues as to where the Pie's could be except for what I tell you. So you'll go looking anyway. As for the answer to the second question..." A blinding flash of light erupted from the center of the ghost king, forcing the three to look away for a brief moment. When the light had faded, Absol looked up with a scowl to find that the king of the ghosts was long gone. He let out a swear and sliced his horn across the wall, adding a new slash mark across it before he regained control of himself. "Come on, we need to get going," Absol told the two mares. "So we're just going to listen to what the pony that's trying to kill us said? We're just going to walk into the Eternal Woods and hope that he was telling the truth?" Limestone asked. "Unless you have a better idea, that is exactly what we will be doing," Absol said to her. Limestone felt her temper flare, but a look into Absol's eyes showed that there was no challenge or anger in his look. Only the same, unshakable resolve that he always seemed to have. Limestone forced her temper back down while Marble, who knew what had almost happened, placed a hoof on Limestone's shoulder. "It's all we've got for the time being. Along the way if we learn anything else, then maybe we can change our plans," she told her sister in a calming tone. "But until then, we will go with Absol's plan. Besides, we have our dark knight here to protect us should any ghosts try to harm us." "Flattery will get you nowhere," Absol informed Marble with a smirk. She giggled and gave him an innocent smile in reply before she headed towards the exit, with Absol and Limestone following after her. It wasn't until the group was outside of the tower, and Marble had gained a little bit of distance from the two, that Limestone finally spoke to Absol. "Thank you," she whispered. "For what?" he whispered back. "For asking about where our family is. I know there were probably a dozen other questions that you wanted to ask him, but you asked about our family. That means a lot to m...to us. To the both of us," Limestone barely managed to get out. "There is no need to thank me. I know how much your family means to you. I've still got the cracked jaw to prove it," Absol told her with a smirk. Limestone rolled her eyes at his words, but couldn't stop a small smile from spreading across her face. "I know and I'm...sorry that's what it came to in order to get you to help us. But at the end of the day, family is all we have." Limestone thought for a moment she had said something wrong, because for a few minutes after that Absol was silent. Then he nodded to her with eyes that were filled with pain. "I agree, Limestone. I completely agree." (]o[) "I told you this would happen," Ahuizotl said with a shake of his head when he looked down at the mess of ghost that had teleported back into the castle. Ahuizotl and Spiral had taken up residence at an ancient and run down castle that had once belonged to Prince Sol, in a time before the sun and the moon. It had been built in an incredibly well defended area, with no way to sneak up on it or cut off. And due to the war between Spiral and Sol, it was also near one of the largest graveyards in the history of Equestria, meaning that there were plenty of spirits around to command. 'Of course, this damn fool runs off and nearly gets himself killed without any of those thousands of spirits to help him,' Ahuizotl thought to himself, gazing at Spiral's shredded ghostly form. The dark king grunted and began to draw the shadows into his form, slowly beginning to reform the parts of him that Absol had taken out. "I cannot believe you were foolish enough to take on this creature by yourself. He can slay ghosts with ease. What did you think he would do to you?" "This pain was necessary to find out more about the foe I will be facing," Spiral said in a pained voice, but one that still held bits of delight in it. "And we both learned a great deal about each other. I learned that my psychic powers are useless against him. I also learned that psychic are also weak to his powers, so that, along with my ghostly form, means that he could probably kill me in a single strike. And he learned the location of some of our hostages. All and all it was quite the learning experience." "Did you learn his weakness? I mean, he must have one?" "Oh, I will have his weakness within moments, but first I wish to learn more about him," Spiral said as he conjured a small stone out of his body, one that was shaped like a crescent moon and filled with dark powers. "This is a dream scrier. It will allow you to look into his dreams and learn what you can. But be careful, I do not know how much his dark typing will protect him from it." "Very well, Ahuizotl replied as he took the stone, before noticing the smile still on the dark kings face. "I do not get it. You were ripped apart, found out that your powers didn't work and he learned where the Pies are being held. So why are you so happy?" "Because, my faithful friend, now I know his weakness. I know everything about his powers. For you see...he told me his name."