TEEN: - Complete When Dragons Clash (The Greater Evil II) (PG13) - The Darkness Falls...

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When Dragons Clash (The Greater Evil II)

When Dragons Clash

by Damian Silverblade​

Being the second book of the Greater Evil trilogy. A summary as well as a list of characters can be found on the second and fourth posts of this topic (as soon as I put it up, anyway).

The Greater Evil trilogy

Book I
Through Fire and Shadows (Completed February 8, 2003)
Book II
When Dragons Clash (Started February 9, 2003)
Book III
Angelic Requiem (Tentative title ; Planned release : Summer 2003)


Index

Summary : What has gone before
Dramatis Personae, Locations, Maps
Prologue : Flight of Dragons (EDITED)
Chapter 1 : A New World (EDITED)
Chapter 2 : Threads (EDITED)
Chapter 3 : Rumors (EDITED)
Chapter 4 : Deads Walk the Earth (EDITED)
Chapter 5 : The Shadow Falls (EDITED)
Chapter 6 : The Rising Storm
Chapter 7 : Downfall
Chapter 8 : Darkness Draws Near
Chapter 9 : Dark Omens
Chapter 10 : Escape
Chapter 11 : Complications
Chapter 12 : Decisions
Chapter 13 : Hesitations
Chapter 14 : Encounters
Chapter 15 : Painful Reunion
Chapter 16 : Dark Mirror
Chapter 17 : Shards of Truth
Chapter 18 : Doubts
Chapter 19 : Regrets

News

04/29/03
Picking back up in speed. Chapter 7 and 8 have been posted since the last update.

04/21/03
Updateage again!

04/11/03
Ooops, forgott to update the news for a while. Chapter 3, 4 and 5 have been posted (5 as of today, the other two for a few days).

02/20/03
After a delay due to lots of factors, chapter II is up!

02/11/03
Updated! Chapter I is now up.

02/09/03 (see? Back in standard date notation)
Well, there we go again! Posting the base stuff, prologue upcoming.

 

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What has gone before

Through Fire and Shadows (Book I)

Summary

(note : this fic follow the anime timeline up to the end of the last episode of Shigeru's battle with Satoshi in the Silver convention).

Shortly after Satoshi's defeat in the Silver convention, Kasumi had to return home, called back by her sisters to assume command of the gym. Heading back to Masara on his way to Houen along with Takeshi, Satoshi encountered Shigeru, who agreed to join him on the way to Houen (as the two became friends after Satoshi's victory over Shigeru at the convention)

However, soon on their way they heard of a fire at the Hanada gym : Kasumi was thought to be dead. Going to Kanazumi for the funeral, they were attacked by the mysterious Kage, a powerful being who seemed to wield psychic powers. This Kage forced Satoshi, Shigeru and Hiroshi (who joined them in Hanada) to go on the run, while Takeshi died holding Kage back.

At the same time, Sakaki, the leader of the Roketto-dan, sent two of his best agents, his own son Hiroru and Domino, to investigate the events in Hanada (as the police accused the Roketto-dan of being behind it. In truth, he hoped to get the two of them as far away as possible from the Roketto-dan, as he knew that his second in command, the researcher Kazo Shiranui, was planning a coup.

Unbeknownst to Sakaki, Shiranui was also related to the Kage matter. He was in fact working in collaboration with Syraelle, who ordered Kage around. They were both parths of a mysterious organization, the Circle of Chaos, (though none but them is currently aware of this).

The disturbance of the Kage attack also drew another's attention : Natsume, psychic gym leader of Yamabuki, intervened, investigating the matter along with Hiroru (revealed then as her much-hated half-brother).

Shiranui struck at that time, taking control of the Roketto-dan through the use of blackmail and threats, using the target of his blackmail, Mondo, to make Shiranui appear insane and unable to lead.

Eventually, Satoshi and his friends came to Shion were they received the help of Imite, as well as of the local ghosts, though that was not enough to prevent Syraelle from kidnapping Hiroshi. The ghosts revealed to Satoshi and his friends that Kage was a human under the possession of a Youkai, a spirit from the hell-realm known as Jigoku. On their own side, Natsume and her groups found out much the same thing.

Meanwhile, Hiroshi was brought to Syraelle's home base, where he was to be tortured and made in a new Kage. However, he met there a young woman long thought dead (though Hiroshi did not know this) : Ai Fuji, now a willing servant of the circle and in fact the prophesied "Handmaiden of Jigoku." To spare him the torture, both physical and that of being forced to watch as the Youkai used his body as a weapon, Ai fred his soul to go to Jigoku (as a welcome "visitor", and thus not to be tortured).

In Yamabuki, Natsume and Kage finally came up against each other ; in the end, through her apprentice's sacrifice, Natsume prevailed and Kage was defeated, destroying the Youkai and allowing the trapped human to recover, revealing that the youkai had been using the body of none other than Kasumi. Rather than explain her apparent resurection, Kasumi elected to take on a new identity - and asked Satoshi for his love, as she felt she could not go on without such support from him, not after what she had gone through.

However, before they could rejoice, dark news came : as the price of her help in taking over the Roketto-dan, Yamato had exiged that she be given leave to launch an attack on Masara, to threaten Satoshi's loved one so that he would surrender, finally ending his opposition to the Roketto-dan. During the kidnapping, a new revelation came to light though only to a select few : Shiranui was revealed as having once worked with Fuji, and more importantly, he revealed to Satoshi's mother that her other child - none other than Ai - was not, in fact, dead. She unfortunately did not have the time to pass that information along.

The group, including the roketto-dan agents with Hiroru, agreed to thwart the attack. During the fighting, Mondo decided to break free from the blackmail, and fought alongside Satoshi, saving his life early on. Among the victims in the battle were Yamato herself, burnt to the death by Satoshi's charizard, and Satoshi's mother, shot by Yamato "to make Satoshi suffer".

Shiranui escaped, but fortunately Kasumi knew of his next target : Houen. Two groups were set to go after him : Kojiro, Musashi and Mondo in one, and Satoshi, Shigeru, Kasumi, Kenji and Imite in the other.

Realizing after the fighting and losses that he could not afford to lose more, and that even if he could not be sure he did truly love her, he would rather not miss the chance, Satoshi told Kasumi he did, in fact love her.

 

[Fig]

Glad to see you'Re still around Blackjack

Dramatis Personae (Quick character reference list)

This is just a sample of important characters. Others will get added in whenever mention of them is made in the story.

Satoshi's group :

Satoshi Ashitaka (15) - Ash Ketchum. A trainer from Masara who lost his mother a year ago during an attack by a rebel faction of the Roketto-dan. Is now pursuing the leader of that faction in Houen.
Kasumi Chirei (17) - Misty. Once known as Kasumi Kaihana, she adopted the new name of Chirei after her apparent death to avoid having to explain what she was put through between her death and return. She and Satoshi have been in a relationship for a year now.
Shigeru Ookido (15) - Gary Oak. Satoshi's once-rival, now his closest friend after the events they both went through.
Imite Yoshinaka (16) - Duplica. A talented young imitator who joined the group as they were trying to escape the assassin Kage.
Kenji Murasaki (19) - Tracey. A pokemon observer, who has rejoined Satoshi's group to help them on their quest.

The Roketto-dan group :

Musashi Kaga - (25) Jessie. A roketto-dan field agent, one of the handful who stayed loyal to Sakaki's son during the rebellion. Now dispatched to hunt down Shiranui.
Kojiro Taka - (25) James. Jessie's old comrade-in-arms, still standing right besides her.
Nyasu - (N/A). Their talking meowth.
Mondo Kobayashi - (16). A young team rocket agent. Blackmailed by the rebels to help them, he eventually turned back on them in Masara (saving Satoshi's life in so doing).

Natsume's group :

Natsume Ningen - (24). Sabrina. The psychic gym leader of Saggron. Helped Satoshi-tachi during the Kage crisis, then helped create Kasumi's new identity.
Muura Mitsuda - (22). One of her assistant. He helped the group during the battle in Masara.
Ameiko Shimomura - (21). Another such, she also helped the group.

Hiroru's Group :

Hiroru Kurohito - (22). Sakaki's son. Leader of what little is left of the Roketto-dan.
Domino Kageyuri - (22). Domino. Hiroru's girlfriend, one of the best field agent of the group even before the terrible losses at Masara.
Bashou Nobumori - (29). One of the few agents who avoided the Masara operation, and one of Hiroru's few remaining agents.

The VILAINS

Circles of Chaos :

Kazo Shiranui (50). Prof Sebastian. Once the number 2 of the Roketto-dan, he dethroned Sakaki to take command, but that turned into disaster. He is now in Houen, on a mission for the mysterious CIRCLE OF CHAOS, an organization he was apparently part of all along.
Syraelle Kiljaeden (38). A powerful psychic. She kidnapped Kasumi and turned her against her will in a weapon to attempt to kill Satoshi. She however now follow loyally the orders of...
Ai Fuji (18). Amber. The long thought dead daughter (and still taught dead by most, though she was actually kidnapped) of professor Fuji. Revealed as the Handmaiden of Death (or Hell), one of two siblings at the center of a prophecy.

The Order of the Lotus

Nanami Ookido (19). May Oak. Shigeru's sister, she has joined with the faith of the Church of the Prophets, and enrolled in the Order of the Lotus, which is charged with the protection of the faithful. To her surprise, she was within a few months selected as the new Master of the order (as it is tradition to pick a novice of the order) when the old one died.
Ethan Starkhad - (41). Original character. A Lord Commander of the order of the lotus, who believe that the best way to protect the faithful is to strike first.
Eric Nelson (26) - Another such, the youngest in recent history. Nanami's closest advisor.

The Deceased and Vanished

Sakaki Kurohito - (Dead). Giovanni. The one-time leader of the Roketto-dan, killed by his second in command Kazo Shiranui in a takeover.
Katsuko Kanno - (Dead). A young woman, one of Natsume's apprentice. She died firing up a massive psychic assault to buy Natsume the time to defeat Kage.
Kikuko Ookido. (Dead). Agatha of the Elite four. A specialist of ghost-type pokemon. Died from old age.
Hanako Ashitaka (Dead). Deliah. Satoshi's mother, killed by the Roketto-dan shortly after she discovered her daughter Ai was still alive.
Takeshi Yamamori (Dead). Brock. A breeder from Nibi. Killed when he commanded his pokemon to use an high-powered explosion attack right besides him.
Yamato Akagi (Dead). Cassidy. A Roketto-dan agent, Kazo Shiranui's second in command during his coup. Killed by Satoshi's charizard.
Kage (Vanished). A mysterious assassin with strange powers sent after Satoshi. Later defeated by Natsume and revealed to be Kasumi, who was fred from the possession.
Hiroshi (Kidnapped). Richie. One of Satoshi's friend, a trainer. Kidnapped by Syraelle.

OTHER CHARACTERS,
In order of apperanace

Jirarudan - (24). Lawrence III. A famous collector, fallen on hard time after his...unfortunate...bid to acquire Lugia.

Yuuki Shirokaze - (15). A young trainer from Houen (RS main male character).

Bishasu - (32) The Marauder. An ex-operative of the Roketto dan, now turned gun-for-hire.

Valerian Ramius (Commander Ramius) - (27). A high-ranking officer of the Order of the Lotus, in charge of the Lotus's airship building program.


Locations list :

(From Kanto and Johto)

Fusube - Blackthorn City.
Masara - Pallet Town
Tokiwa - Viridian City
Hanada - Cerulean City
Sekiei - Indigo (Sekiei Highlands - Indigo Plateau).
Guren - Cinnabar
Locations :
Shion - Lavender
Otsukimi-Yama - Mt. Moon.
Shirogane-Yama - Mt. Silver.
Yamabuki - Saffron

Maps :

HOUEN

The whole "world" (Quick reference map for major locations ; ie so that you don't get lost whenever I mention "Westlands")

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

little thing, it's "Delia", not "Delilah"

Ooh, and you left Sakaki off the list of deceased characters!

 

[Fig]

*shrugs* Actually, I didn't add in an extra l, I just like to have that extra "h" at the end. Deliah, Delia...

I know it's not Delilah.

As for Sakaki, right! Thank you

Anyway, and for what you are *really* waiting for...

Jirarudan = the original name of Lawrence III (for those of you who did not know ; ie, NOT you Blackjack)

And I *hope* I got the name right everywhere, stupid brain kept trying to call him "Jirirarudan" or some similars thank to a certain nickname.

Prologue : Flight of Dragons

The cave was dark and dank, filled with a slightly nauseous smell somewhat reminiscent of wet clothes left too long in a heap. But if the information he had gotten was right, Jirarudan was quite sure that having to suffer that smell for a few hours was worth it. After all, it was not every day that a collector could find what had been described to him as a "treasure trove of antiquities." And anyone who talked about a treasure trove of antiquities, talked about items of a great rarity.

In other terms, items he couldn't afford not to attempt to get. They would be his, there was no doubt on it. He needed something like that, needed to rebuild his name as a collector, after the loss of everything he had ever treasured – save for one lone ancient mew card – when his ambition had taken him too far.

His flashlight illuminated the crystalline spires of the cave, reflecting in a thousand sparkles off the spidery web of columns. Still, he paid the stunning beauty of the cave little attention – that was not something he could collect, something that could be his, something he could gaze upon and feel pride at knowing that he held such a treasure in his hands. If he couldn't even dream of one day making this beauty his own, why even bother with it?

Then the beam of light fell on something completely different. The dark steel did not shine, but it was unmistakable – just as it was unmistakably created by human hands.

"Well now…" He smiled. The man who had tipped him this way had mentioned a chamber he had never managed to get into. But then again, that man had none of the linguistic knowledge Jirarudan had – he couldn't understand half-forgotten scripts. Jirarudan, on the other hand, had to have at least some basic means of understanding them, if he was to follow the clues of ancient tablets to half-forgotten treasures worth adding into his collection.

And now, barring unforeseen complications – which had an unfortunate tendency to crop up whenever he tried to acquire something truly outstanding, such as the beast of the sea – he would finally be able to set his hand on something truly worth it. Not just paintings, the like of which he still had many – after all, much of his collections had been stocked not in the Hikoukyu but in his private mansion – but a treasure dating back to the dawn of mankind, if not before.

There were strange markings on the door, some of which he could recognize, though not all. Those he did recognize seemed to be closely related to the kanjis and kanas of modern Neiyon ; and he guessed they were probably an ancestor of modern kanjis. The other half of the text – which he prayed was only the same text, written in another script – seemed closely related to the alphabet of the westlands, but he had never learned much of that one, and to decode its ancestor was beyond what he could do.

"The memory chamber…" he decoded, skipping words he could not understand "…the roots of the sun…made so that…folly, and avoid…mistakes…Prevent mankind …the world…preserve in memory…the errors…the past" he haltingly read. There was another line further above, near a short keypad – surprisingly, he could make it out in its entirely.

"Input your name." Jirarudan almost laughed. That was all the mysterious defense that had repelled the previous visitors? He typed in his name, and waited…but not long. Soon enough, the great steel door slid open…

And Jirarudan scowled in despite. He had gone this far just to find some kind of weird plane? Chambers of the past indeed.

Then he took a second look. The markings of the plane were, in fact, in the old script he had first noticed on the door. And it did not look close in design to any plane had ever seen in the past – the wings were closer to simple long tube, not unlike the bones of a dragon's wing, and had little on the other hand to do with the wings of any plane.

And there were no visible engine. He blinked. What plane would be built without engine? Unless it was no plane. It did seem, on second look, more like the statue of a dragon of some sort than a plane.

"Welcome, Jirarudan." a voice suddenly spoke within his mind.

"What?" he staggered back. "Who are you?"
"I am Ark." The voice answered. "I am the living memory of those who lived on this world before it changed, and became your world. I am the guardian of the relics of a past more distant than you could ever imagine."

Jirarudan blinked. "The world…what?" This most certainly had to be a joke. What else could it be but…He didn't dare to think of how grand would be a collection made of items predating even the dawn of mankind…and created by the hands of another civilization before.

"I was created by Mankind." Ark replied. Well, so much for that. "But in days when the earth had another shape. In days when there were no pokemon, save the first few. In days before mankind rose again from the ashes of its first civilization.

"Are you a psychic?"
"I am only a creation, and not alive. It was my designers' intent that I be able to input my information directly as thoughts in the mind of those who sought my wisdom."

Jirarudan nodded.

"And who are you, who call yourself Jirarudan?" The machine questioned. That the question came from a machine rattled ; he didn't like the idea of a…thing…reading his thoughts, and taking decisions from those based on mathematical calculations.

"I am a collector. I search the world for forgotten treasures and items of worth, and bring them out of the shadow and to safety." He tried to put as good a light as he could think of on his activity.

"And you have come for me." Ark completed.
"Yes." There was no point in lying when the machine had direct access to his thoughts. Why it even bothered asking questions was beyond him.

"Very well." A ramp suddenly lowered from the dragon's body, at the base of the neck. "If you will bring me out of the shadows, then I will assist you."

Jirarudan barely blinked. The…machine knew who he was, knew what he was…and it submitted to him willingly? That sounded…unlikely.

But before he had the time to think on that, the door behind him closed shut, leaving him with only one way to go – inside the "dragon". He stepped in…and stopped. Against the treasures he could see in this single room alone – ancient tomes, items for which he could not fathom the use but which certainly were as old as the vessel itself, paintings from ages long lost beyond memories – against those, his old Hikoukyu with all the treasures that had been onboard were but a faint glimmer, a pauper's den against an emperor's palace.

"I was so set that I would be a simple guardian to these treasures and the vessel that protected them until one came who could care for them, and preserve them." Ark explained.

"I thought you were the vessel." Jirarudan countered.
"No. I was created to guard it, and guide a new guardian when one would come – but I am not the vessel. This vessel is the Hiryuu, by choice of those who built it.."

Jirarudan blinked. Hiryuu did mean flying dragon, but that was in a modern language…

"The languages of the past and of your modern world are much the same, as you yourself observed at the outer door." So Ark had been reading his thoughts this far back. Interesting…and as uncomfortable as he was with the idea of a mind-reading machine, he could certainly see how worthy as a piece of collection one would be.

"Is this "Hiryuu" just a name for a statue, or is this really a flying dragon?" He questioned. Could it be that he had found the greatest replacement he could have dreamed of for the Hikoukyu – a flying vessel that would be, in itself, a piece of collection more precious than all that he had ever owned aboard the Hiryuu?

"It is much more than a name." Ark answered, and a door opened leading in the neck of the dragon. Jirarudan followed that hallway to what he assumed to be the head, at least judging from the two great windows from which he could gaze outside at the cave. But below those windows was what he was truly interested in, a variety of command and controls. "Press the green switch." Ark instructed. Jirarudan hesitated for a moment, again afraid that this might be some trap of the machine…

But then, if it was, he was trapped already anyway. He pressed the switch…and suddenly, outside, the emptiness between the tubes of the wing filled with a strange energy – and the wall of the caves began sinking. Jirarudan blinked – then realized that the walls of the cave weren't sinking ; the Hiryuu had begun lifting off. He glanced upward just in time to see a second steel door opening, revealing a pit through which the Hiryuu rose toward the world.

Jirarudan smiled. It was good to have a true collection to call his own again.

Perhaps he would not have smiled so much had he realized the responsibilities this particular collection carried with it.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Originally posted by Damian Silverblade
I know it's not Delilah.

Gak, I misspelled your misspelling!

And...WOW. Need I say it again. WOW.

Jiri: *salivating* World's...greatest...airship...*THUD*
Me: ...there's that airship fetish again.
Yukio: ...Ark sounds strangely familiar. Is it going to give anyone its wings?
Me: OK, coming from you, that's just creepy.

 

[Jude]

On another note, there's a T in Ritchie.

Sickening, no?

 

[Fig]

Prologue edited in where I meant to put it, but where my stupid computer wouldn't let me put it.

And I will spell it Richie wheter you like it or not. Always have, always will. Same for Deliah. So NYAH.

Now, to edit in Sakaki.

 

[Jude]

I agree. Ritchie is so un-camp.

*shudder*

Does anyone think I should get a life?

 

[Jude]

*stares speechlessly*

And all I have to say is... Jirarudan, no need for the extra ru. ^^;

 

[Fig]

Well, at least it occured only once. That was easy to edit. And I blame it on the "Jiri" nickname! ^^;;

And no, don't get a life. You're very fine as you are

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Jiri: *stands, blinks* Yes, you seemed to have a bit of a time spelling it...
Me: I only call him 'Jiri' because calling him 'Jirarudan' every time gets a bit monotonous.
Yukio: *prods him* Greatest treasure in the galaxy.
Jiri: *swoons again, the same manic grin on his fair face*
Me: ...must you provoke him?
Yukio: There's nothing else to do around here.

 

[Jude]

Why thankyou! *shows his life about*

Look! my invisible life!

And yes. Jiri is good nickname.

*larfs*

 

[Fig]

Oh, Jiri is a nice nickname. It's just hard to focus when actually having to write his name full-out ^^;;.

Any other instance of the wrong name coming up in the prologue that I missed? I found one Jirurarudan, but that's all so far...

And yes, indeed, the greatest treasure in the world.

But with great treasures, come great responsibilities...err...anyway...

Let's just say that Jiri's going to have to deal with Ark from now on...which will resume in some very interesting situations.

And no, it won't result in obsessionshipping. You can forget that one already.

 

[Jude]

No spelling errors as of such, but you did miss out a double quotation mark when you were doing part of the dialogue near the beginning.

The translation (*swoon*) bit.

 

[Jude]

Originally posted by Damian Silverblade
And no, it won't result in obsessionshipping. You can forget that one already.

*stab*

Because I'm too lazy to edit my post.

 

[Fig]

Lazy togadood.

But sorry, I already have other plans for Jiri's heart that do not involve Kenji (who wasn'T even supposed to be here now by my early plans, but whom I could find no credible reason to leave out at this point). So there.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

In Which Blackjack and Yukio Expound On Names

Me: Cageshipping then?
Yukio: Somehow I doubt the poor sod's going to wind up with anyone.
Me: ...'poor sod'? You sound like him.
Yukio: Um...I mean...uh...You know, by itself, "Jiri" is the Czech form on "George"!
Me: ...So I've heard. But our Jiri--
Yukio: YOUR Jiri.
Me: Ooh, you think so? His name "Jirarudan" is a mistransliteration of a French name, most likely "Gelarden," which the dubbers fixed on the closed captioning.
Yukio: But you just like the mistake name better.
Me: Yeah. It's like how "Bisashu" is a cooler name than "Vicious."
Yukio: ...I thank the Soverigin Gods that my name stayed the same.
Me: Yeah, but they skunked on the order.
Yukio: ...that's not my problem.

 

[Fig]

Cageshipping? Never heard the term ^^;;.

And Gelarden is no french name. Géraldine is a french name - but it's a girl name. I suppose as a family name both would be possible, though.

And 20 posts in less than an hour. That'S got to be some sort of record (for a fic).

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Someone sent me a picture of a wine from Vincent Gelarden vinyards. So yes, it's a surname.

In case you *really* didn't know, rather than just being odd like I suspect, Cageshipping is Jiri/Melody...

Yukio: Blackjack happens to support Stockholmshipping the most.
Me: Indeed I do, but there's no need to tell THEM that.
Yukio: Besides, it could only happen here on the board, as in your world he's a fictional character.
Me: So are you. Or do I have to pull out the episode where you died?
Yukio: *sighs dramatically*