LFL, Book 2, Chapter 19. All Gone
Give everything away, so that others have nothing.

"Just focus." Gyran said. Chris, Marian, and himself were sitting in a small circle around a fire. Tiny beads of sweat appeared on Chris' forehead. He gritted his teeth. The green flames on his hands, the representation of his powers, were crackling and sparking as much as the fire he sat by. "Try to feel everything, and at the same time feel nothing." Chris could see, in his mind's eye, tendrils of power uncurling and wrapping around a tree, a rock, a particle of dirt, atoms, electrons, everything....
His eyes shot open. He screamed. "Gaaaaaaaaa!! Too much....." And he sank to the ground. Gyran grabbed a wet cloth and placed it on his head. "He will never get the hang of it. His body's not trained enough, and he's too old now." He looked over to Marian. "But you, on the other hand, have been trained since birth. I will give you more power. There are precious few of us left, we who can use the powers. We two may be the only living ones left. The cult has sought out and killed, or turned, the rest."
He touched Marian's hands, and small flicker of green among blue. Marian felt his touch. It was cold. He spoke. "Your powers are used for more defensive than offensive. That's why Chris may be so valuable. His powers are offensive. He will fight a great battle against the cult's greatest warrior. If he is trained right, he will succeed. Otherwise, he will fail, and die." Chris sat up. "Eh? Die? I've been there, and I don't care to go back." (NOTE. Remember, Chris was momentarily dead during the Man-Scyther Saga?)
Chris continued. "Let's get this training thing on. I can take whatever you have to dish out, old man." Gyran smirked. "Fine. Care to try the exercise again?" Chris sneered. "Fine." He again took the mediational stance. He closed his eyes, and put his hands palm up. He tried to concentrate his powers on a single subject. He scanned his mind for something. He focused on a single subject. Marian. And suddenly the world seamed right.
Outside his mind, Marian shielded her eyes. Gyran's mouth hung open, and he turned away. If Chris would have been able to see himself, he would have been blinded by the intense green light. Yet, his body seamed to hold the power like it was nothing. He showed no effects of anything. He could feel everything. The atoms, molecules, trees, birds, sky, space, pokémon, people, and everything in between. He could feel.....
He opened his eyes, and stood. The green glow-fire stayed. He molded the fire into things, shapes, familiar things. He fired a few bolts of power, just to see if he could. He could. He moved his fingers, a green aura floating off. He muttered few words: "This is sweeeeeeeeeeeet."
The room echoed with a sound heard by none but Chris. The fire-glow went out, leaving a star-struck Chris standing in the middle of a cave, feeling very strange, but at the same time, very content. He was happy, and not only because of some of the thoughts he'd been having of Marian. He just felt.....good. Just good. He also knew there was something he had to do, but that was for later. Right now, he just wanted to be. Just be.....
Gyran picked himself off the floor. "Well, you have potential. Some potential." Marian went over to Chris. "Some potential? I'd say he has a whole boat load of it!" She hugged him. "That's great! Now you won't die!" Chris smirked, but he didn't try to resist. "Yeah, your concern is so authentic."
Mike stumbled into the cave. "What's goin' on here? I was tryin' to rest..." Chris came over and shook him. "I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!" Mike yawned. "That's nice. Now let me get some sleep." (NOTE. That sounds so much like Mike, it's scary :)) He turned around to leave. Then he stopped and looked back at Chris. "What??" Chris grinned. "I was going to die, but now I'm not!" Mike nodded, "Well, that's all well and good." and then went back to bed.
Meanwhile, just outside of the makeshift camp...............
A figure was haphazardly approaching the camp. It was haphazardly, because the figure was completely nackered. Completely and utterly nackered. He couldn't walk a straight line if his life depended on it. He was also one of the most dangerous men on the planet, nackered or not. His name was William Thaddus Kidd. He was carrying a backpack full of many weapons and other implements of destruction. He had a small matter of a vendetta placed upon Mark Dillion and Joe Peterson, and meant to take it out. He was good at his job, and he enjoyed it, more or less.
He tripped over a rock. After cussing it out, he whipped out a small handgun, with a silencer attached to it, and attempted to blast the rock into oblivion. It didn't work. The rock ricocheted, and shot into his foot with a dull "Thud". After some more cussing of the rock, he picked it up and hurled it. It hit a tree, scarring up a rabbit, and a Spearow. He chucked a few more rocks at the rabbit, and then took a half-hearted shot at the Spearow, missing it by a mile. He was so drunk, he couldn't even hit a tiny bird! He burped, and continued on his way.
Finally, he saw the camp. It was nothing but a small cave with a semi parked in front of it. He shrugged. Sometimes looks could be deshev...deseav.....deceiving. Yes, they could be deceiving. Burp. Hic. He tried to focus on one shape, coming from the cave. He squinted. "Hey that might jusht be Marrk!" He said with a slurred speech. He waddled over to the shape, after it came into focus, he noticed it was a boy about fifteen years old. He tapped him on the shoulder. "You'rre Marrk Dillion, and you'rre coming wit' me! Burp. Hic." The boy glared at the taller man. "Mark? No, and I can that you're very obviously drunk, so just push off!" That struck William as strange. From what he had heard, Mark would never talk like that. Oh well, it had to be him right?
Mike suddenly felt the strange drunk man place the barrel of a small handgun in his throat. "I shaid you'rre comin' wit' me!" "Uh, no." Mike said. "I think I'll be staying right here thank you very much." and then he proceeded to kick the man in the gut. "Blegh!" the man said, then vomited. "That washn't verry nicse, you know." He then fired a shot into the air, which caused the rest of the camp to come over. "Oh, thish ish grreat...." He mumbled, "I gueshsh I'll have to do th' motto now....."
"Prreparre to be drriven mad!"
"I'll whup ya now, sho don't be shad!"
"To keep the worrld shafe forr booze!"
"To enshurre that I won't loshe!"
"To announce the evilsh of shoberr and calm!"
"I'll tell you that I'm rright; You're rrun...wrren....wrrong. Therre we go."
"William Thaddush Kidd!"
"Don't make me shay it again!"
"You know I'll win a fight!"
"Booze! It'sh rright!"
William T. Kidd hung his head, as if in honor of the motto. "It'sh a classassassassic." Then member of the group just kind of stared at the mad, drunken man. Then Mike kicked him the gut one more time for good measure. "Whooof!" Then he vomited again. "Don't do that. It hurtsh..."
Robert walked over, and, being the taller of the two, picked up William, and chucked him outside of the camp. "Now scat." He said, and gave him a boot in the rump. "Thish ish'nt the lasht time you'll hearr frrom, uhhhhh... what wash my name again?" "I believe that it was William. "Oh, yesh. Thish ish'nt the lasht time you'll hearr from I Believe It Wash William!" and then he stumbled away from the camp, firing shots wildly around the area.
Mark blinked. "That was weird."
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LFL, Book 2: Chapter 20. Seed of the Future, Death of the Past
It was St. Valentines Day. Chris and Marian were spending time alone together. Gary was following them around, although they didn't know it. Joe and Robert and sped into town to pick up supplies, and call their parents. Gyran was meditating. Charm was sleeping. Mark was doing what he did best, being bitter. Mark spat. He didn't really understand all this "Valentines Day" bullsheznic. It was just another day to him now.

Gyran had warned them that the "Dark One" would rise in a few days, maybe not even that long. They need to conserve, and also increase, their powers. Gyran had communicated with the other members of The Thirty. All six of them. They were going to convince all the trainers in their area to come. They would need all the help they could get. He had also tried to communicate and old friend and comrade. Although not a full member of The Thirty, Gyran had said that this "CoD" was very powerful, and owed him a favor. "CoD", what was next? A myuu2 maybe? A duck named "Binkey"?
Meanwhile............
Two figures were approaching the camp. One had been there before, although he was drunk at the time. The other was there a mission of vital importance. He had to free the Dark One. Neither was aware of the other. The first was somber, for once, and very, very dangerous. The other had high-level pokémon and a secret grudge with one of The Thirty........
The first was named William Thaddus Kidd. He carried a backpack fill with various implements of destruction. He somber this time, and wanted to kill Mark Dillion, and now, Robert Peterson. Mark, because he had to, Robert because he wanted to.
The other had some remote notion of a name, but would revel it only at the right time. He, too, wanted to kill Mark Dillion, but for a different reason: he was programmed from birth to do so. He also had to release The Dark One from his spherical prison. He was very deadly.
William reached the camp first. He whipped out two Glock .8 handguns, and prepared to go into battle. He truged into the camp, weighed down slightly by the huge backpack.
Mike was lounging about in the sun. Next to him was Charm. He looked up momentarly, only to find the angry, and now somber, face of William T. Kidd. It was fuming. "Oh shit. You AGAIN??!" Mike shouted, angrily. "Yeah, me. Gota problem wit' that?" William shouted with a definite Noo Yark accent. The accent seamed to charge on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Mike looked over to Charm. "Why don't you take him?" Charm growled in agreement. Then, she pounced.
"GAAAAA! GET OFFA ME, YA STINKIN' LIZARD!!!"
There were two shots from the Glocks. Both entered Charm. "Chaaaaaaa....." She cried weakly, and fell to the ground. Mike ran over to her. "Oh, nooooo. Charm!" Mike cried, then looked up the William with hate in his eyes. "You creep!" He thundered, then he flew into William's face.
"GAAAAAAA! GET OFFA ME, YA STINKIN'.....!" "Say another word and I'll tear your throat out!!!" "Sounds good ta me......."
In response to this, William got a leg in the gut. "Orf. That hurt a lot....." The sounds of gunfire and screams brought everyone over from whatever they were doing, or in Mark's case, brooding. "What the hell's going on here?" Chris shouted, then saw William. "Oh great. You again?" William looked up from where he was hunkered over in pain. "Yeah, me. Why does everyone say that whenever they see me?" "Cos last time you were here, you were drunk as a skunk." "Do I look like I give half a rat?" Chris shrugged. "Well, cheers then." and warmed up his powers. He saw that Marian was doing the same thing.
Meanwhile............
The second figure had reached the camp. He looked striking familiar to whoever would have looked at him. He had a gleam in his eyes, and it was always there. He was a creation of the cult. He was built to destroy, and the thing he was meant to destroy was the world. He was supposed to free the Dark One, and then kill Mark on the way out.
Suddenly, a large round shape appeared in front of him. It looked egg shaped, but it was black, with two horns on top. It turned to look at him. It had beat red eyes. It was obviously a Chansey, but a dark one. Obviously an after effect of the Dark One's first assault. They were around. The first figure squinted at the Chansey. "Who are you, and who do you serve?" He asked. The Chansey seamed to grin. "I'm know as the Chansey of Death. I follow The Thirty, headed by Gyran." A small dagger was immediately at where a Chansey's throat might be. "Traitoress fool." He growled.
He suddenly felt a horn poke him in the forehead. "Bad show, old mate." The CoD said. Then it disappeared.
It reappeared at the camp. Chris was stomping on William's head, while Marian tried to heal Charm. Chris was stomping in a rythum. "Why" "Ow" "Did" "Ow" "You" "Ow" "Do" "Ow" "That?" "Ow. Could ya cut that out? It kinda hurts...."
CoD tried to cross it arms, then realized that they were too short. No-one had noticed him. He waddled over to Gyran. "Hallo, Gyran, you daft old fool!" It shouted in Gyran's ear. "CoD! I didn't expect you get here so soon!" "Well, when Gyran calls, people, and pokémon, come!" Mark looked at the huge Chansey, completely dazed. "Is that....Is that......Is that the CoD?" He asked. CoD did a kind of semi-bow. "The Chansey of Death, at your service, and speaking. You must be Mark. I've telepathically received a lot about you." Mark cocked his head to one side. "Oh really?"
William suddenly blurted out. "Owwww! Get off!!" Then he shot Chris in the foot. Or, almost shot Chris in the foot, the shot missed. He then sprang to his feet. "There's something I've gotta do, or I'll get booted off Vendetta Squad."
"Prepare to be driven mad!"
"I'll whup ya now, so don't get sad!"
"To make the world safe for booze!"
"To ensure that I won't lose!"
"To announce the evils of somber and calm!"
"To prove that I'm right and yer wrong!"
"William Thaddus Kidd!"
"Don't make me say it again!"
"You know you'll lose this fight!"
"Booze! It's right!"
He sighed. "I hate having to do that." Chris glared at him. "Then why do it?" William raged up. "So I don't get kicked offa Vendetta Squad, you wanker!" His accent had changed in mid-sentence. Mike sprang up. "William Thaddus Kidd? Oh I just got it... How dumb!!!!!" William flew into him. "You dare insult my name! Fool!"
Gyran and the CoD stared on in disbelief.
Meanwhile........
The second figure enter the camp, not stirred in the slightest bit by his encounter with the CoD. He saw his target. It was in a cave. The ball would be opened, and The Dark One would be released. He looked over to the battle field. He saw he second target, in perfect sight. He'd go for Mark first, he decided.
He lurched over there, and tapped Mark Dillion on the shoulder. Mark wheeled around and.....
stared right into his own face. Only a lot paler. The face spoke. "I am Maark. Prepare to die."
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LFL: Book 2, Chapter 21 Seed of the Future, Destruction of the Past: Part 2
Mark stared at Maark. It was like looking in a mirror that had been cover with dust for many years. Maark seamed to be cold, distant, even more so than Mark. Than Maark socked Mark right in the gut. Mark doubled over, and was met with a knee to the face. He jerked upward and was grasped around the throat.
Maark snarled. "Today you die, chosen one.
Meanwhile.............
Chris was still stomping on William's head. Mike and Marian were attending to Charm's wounds. All were oblivious to Mark's peril.
Suddenly, Charm began to glow. She grew bigger, and sprouted wings. The flame on her now longer tail flared up, and never died down. She got up, apparently healed, and flew over to William. He was firing shots wildly, an almost hit Chris several times. When William saw the huge Charizard flying towards him, he dropped the gun, and tried squirm out from under Chris. Chris fell to the ground, and William took off, followed close behind by Charm.
When Chris got up, he saw Mark getting the crap beat out of him by a paler version of himself. He rushed over there with Marian and Mike. Chris charged up his powers, and let loose with a shot of energy. It slammed into the back of the fake Mark, knocking him to his knees.
Mark, now free of his grasp, took a long swinging kick, and it connected with the side of Maark's face. Maark spat blood, then raged forward and clawed at Mark's legs, like some kind of wild beast. He toppled Mark, delivering blow after blow to the fifteen year old. Then, Mike pounced on Maark, grabbing him in a desperate headlock, cutting off the air to his lungs.
Maark wasn't phased a bit.
Primeape and Graveler attacked. It didn't seam to bother Maark a bit. He wouldn't be wavered from his goal of killing Mark. Chris sent out Venomoth, Krabby, Cubone, and Nidorino. Mike called out Hitmonchan, Sandshrew, Pichu, and Farfetch'd. Marian summoned her two ghosts. Mark clumsily threw out Dugtrio, Onix, and Scyther's balls. None of the pokémon seamed to hurt Maark in any way. He was an unstoppable force.
CoD charged for a Hyper Beam, shot it, and it hit Maark. He winced, but that was it. The battle between clone and original was flung into Gyran's cave. They slammed each other into walls, crashed into furniture. They broke tables, chairs, the bed, the dresser. Gyran never moved a muscle to stop them. He knew what was coming today, and he couldn't stop it. He would need his strength for the upcoming battle.
Meanwhile...........
Charm swooped, and launched a flame at William. It turned trees into ashes and cinders. William managed to stay just a few feet in front of the rampaging lizard, just enough to feel the heat, but not be burned by it. He was quickly running out of energy. He stopped for a second, the rolled under a wave of flame. He was slightly scorched.
William noticed that most of the contents of his backpack had been scattered around the forest. He grabbed the nearest weapon; an automatic assault riffle. He let loose with it, spraying bullets wildly around the once peaceful forest. Many of them hit Charm, but she didn't seam to notice. She swooped in, and grabbed William by the shirt, and flew back to camp.
Meanwhile............
Maark had Mark in a choke hold, strangling the life out of him. He tried to cough, and spat out the words: "Who...are you?" Maark smirked. "I was sent to destroy you and release the Dark One so that he may rain terror and destruction upon the world he will soon rule. I am your perfect clone, made stronger by a infusion of matter from the Dark One. I am his son, and your brother."
Mark gasped for air, than kicked Maark into the wall. "My brother? What do you mean?" Maark looked grim, and pale. "I am a threefold son; Son of the Dark One; Son of your blood; And the son of your...." Then he fell to the floor. His chest sparking with green energy. A figure stepped out from the doorway. I kind of looked like Chris, but he had huge gauntlets on his hands, bracers on his legs, and a glowing green visor over his eyes. He said: "Pretty cool, huh? Looks like I just saved you bacon back there."
Maark stood up. Parts of the skin of his face had been peeled away, reveling an oil like liquid instead of bone. His eyes darted around the room. He spotted a pokéball, laying on a podium, surrounded by a mystical field. He what it was. The Dark One. He rushed over and grabbed the ball. He started to laugh, a sound made from fear and death, not humor. He pressed a button on his belt, and said: "You cannot succeed. We will triumph! The Cult of the Dark One shall rule with him, and you will all be dead! He will be released at noon tomorrow." Then he flickered out. Chris sent a power bolt his way, one that just missed him.
Chris pulled out the wires that connected the visor to the gauntlets. He flicked up the visor. "What was that?" He asked. Mark shrugged. "I really don't know. I think that it was a clone of me. I also think that, come noon tomorrow, we're all screwed." Chris blinked. "Well that's not good."
Gyran slowly walked into the room. "He escaped with the ball, didn't he?" Mark slowly nodded. "Joe and Robert have just sent word that they have rallied the remaining members of The Thirty, and that they have brought all the local trainers in their respected areas. We have around two thousand trainers, but it will still not be enough." He looked over to Chris. "I see that you have found the power intensifiers. They are very useful, if your body can contain the power."
"We have around half a day to prepare." he continued, "We will have to know our enemies. Also, the pokémon will have to be evolved. We will work the night through."
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LFL, Book 2: Epilogue, Know Thy Enemy
Gyran and the group were sitting around a dying fire, moments before dawn. The mood was grim, a specter of death hung over them, ready to crush them. Gyran spoke.
"We will be against three times our number, the other trainers included. The other members thought that the cult died out after the first war, but they haven't. They have been growing stronger. They have been build their forces, creating them. This is what I know of them."
"First, we have the Minor Lord Dark. He rules the cult, under the Dark One. I do not know his true identity, only that he is powerful, and deadly. He will do anything to ensure that they will win."
"Then, there is Edgar. You have met him on several occasions. He was created using strange and cruel genetic experiments. He was fused into his exoskeleton from his creation. It emulates the powers, like the ones Chris and Marian have, but adds even more power. The intensifiers were our only defense against him in the first war."
"Then, Specter. He is Edgar's 'brother', but only in a sense they were created by the same person. He also killed Jerium, and attempted to kill Mark at Cerulean. He has the power to change the past, but he will almost never use it. He fears that he will erase himself. His cloak renders him almost invisible, but when he throws it off, he becomes unstoppable."
"Now, we know that the cult has a clone of Mark, Maark. He seams to be able to shrug off pain, as if it never hit him. He can also regenerate parts of his body. He will most likely go after Mark."
"Then there is also that renegade Rocket, William. I'm not to worried about him. He seams to much of a loose cannon to be of any threat, but still keep an eye out for him. Charm lost him on the way back here, and more than likely, he wants to kill us all. There's a pleasant thought."
"Last, but not least, there is the Dark One. Mark, we believe, is the only one who can stop him. We tried to contain him last time, and that blew up in our faces. He must be destroyed. He can, and will, use powerful attacks. If anyone kills you, it will probably be him. He wants to rule, but he will settle for destroying."
"I would prefer to get some more training in, but that is not possible. CoD is trying to get in touch with a powerful gym, known only as The PokéGym. The trainers there are powerful, and there are even more powerful pokémon. I just hope they will manage to get here in time."
He finally stopped talking. "I'm not going to lie to you. Most of you will not get out of this alive. But we have to give it our all." He sighed, than walked out of the cave.
Meanwhile........................
There once was a cave were two old, blind men sat, and controlled the fates. They are there no longer. No more will one of them brake the silence the has fallen over the cave. No longer will they see nothing, yet see everything. They are no more. The Minor Lord Dark had got to them, and they are dead. There is a multi-leveled chess set over in the corner. Many of the pieces are gone, but many more remain. The piece that had once terrified Mark and the others in the Cerulean Forest is smashed. One that looks like a King has fallen.
One a ruined table there's lies a book, one that is still writing itself. It is a book of prophesy. There is one line that the old men had been studying before their death. It reads as follows: And when the Thirty meet the combined forces, both for and against, the Dark One will have already arisen, and started his rampage of destroying the world, for this time he comes not to rule, but to destroy and......LOOK BEHIND YOU, YOU DAFT OLD FOOLS! HE'S GOT A KNIFE!!!! It still writes itself to this day.
The title on the cover has been crossed out and replaced many times, always by the book itself. The title now reads "Legends Found". Formally, "Legends Destroyed", "The Second Legend," and, at the start, "Looking for Legends". It is still continuing. Everyone has a place in it, even if they cannot read, or understand, it. Mark is the central focus, although not for much longer.
Meanwhile...............
At a secret location, the clone known as Maark is delivering the pokéball containing the Dark One to the Minor Lord Dark. He takes it, then stands with all his creations watching. He clutches the ball, feeling the power that lurks inside. He checks his watch. Five minutes. It wouldn't hurt to do it now would it?
The Minor Lord Dark pulls his lips back, as much of a smile has his body suit allows. He pulls back his hood, reveling a scarred face, partly masked by a breath controller. It was also unmistakable as the face of Mark's father. He pressed the button on the small white and red ball, and released the greatest horror the world has ever, or will, know.
It was black. And huge. It looked like squirming mass of death and destruction. Eyeballs popped and formed. It spoke. "I SEE THAT YOU HAVE RELEASED ME, MINOR LORD DARK. COULD IT BE THAT YOU ARE MY OLD FOE, RICHARD DILLION? IT WOULD APPEAR SO. YOU HAVE TAKEN CARE OF EVERYTHING, I ASSUME? GOOD."
Then it burst through the ceiling.
Meanwhile..............
Gyran led the New Thirty up a sloping cliff. Along the way, they encountered a magnificent Moltres. They stopped many times, for the cliff was very steep. Each time Mark had reflected about what was going to happen, and what had already happened. He saw, in his mind's eye, his mother, his pokémon, and all the other factors in his life........
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