Monochrome gray rocks form the shape of a battered, cracked path on a high cliff. A spark of pink flies along the path, quickly ducking into one of the natural alcoves lining the rock face.

"Phew...another close call. Those ruffians have yet to harm a hair on my pretty head, but they sure are relentless." Celebi sits against the wall, catching her breath.

Running, running, and yet more running - she evades capture at all cost, and yet she's but a living creature. Little time to rest, little time to eat. She munches on a saved half of an Oran berry, thinking of what safe spot she can run off to next, and listening for her pursuers' footsteps. With not a wink of sleep for a full day, she is exhausted beyond reason.

A bright light suddenly blinds her, appearing as if from nowhere. But she can sense a familiar power: time travel. Her mind immediate jumps to Primal Dialga and its own relentless hunt for her, and though she barely got the Oran berry down her throat, she held her arms up at the ready, wings instinctively alert and prepared to flap for a burst of speed in a pinch.

That level of alertness was misguided, for what appeared from the burst of light was none other than Grovyle, the portal linking time together depositing him into the middle of the alcove and promptly closing without a trace. Celebi took a moment to process what just happened, before rushing to the Grass-type's side as he lay bloodied and bruised. And as she got closer, her worry grew.

"Grovyle! You're back...but what...?" It was elation at first to see her love, but she knew something was amiss. Would he have returned if he was successful? Wouldn't they have simply ceased to be if the planet's paralysis was prevented? He must not have been successful; but more than that, in the condition he was in, cuts all across his body, his leafy bits singed...it was as if he was forced to come back. Forced to retreat, beyond his will.

He coughed, sitting upright. Blood spattered onto the rocky ground, dripping from his mouth onto his torso. "Celebi." Another cough. His eyes were glazed with red, and he was a sickly green, as if his entire form had shriveled. "I'm...so very sorry..." His breath was labored.

Celebi saw that he was about to fall back over, rushing over to hold him upright. "Hrk...dear, you need to explain what happened. What was the past like? Did you meet up with your friend?" It mattered not to her that she was staining her body; there were more pressing matters. As she held him up, she could feel how weak he was, like his body was deteriorating just by being in the past.

He formed a fist, and hit the ground with it. Once, then twice. "It's useless. We've lost, Celebi."

Celebi gasped in shock. "N-no...it's not like you to give up so easily, Grovyle. Surely after some rest we can try the Passage agai-"

"No. The past...is lost. There's nothing there. The world was already doomed the second I set foot on it. And my partner...likely fared much worse." Staring up at him, Celebi could tell he was awash with emotions as he spoke. She could feel his loss permeate with every syllable, as if it were her own.

"But...can't we send you back a bit further? Surely there's got to be some period where you can get those Time Gears. Even if...it's by yourself..." She didn't want to so easily cast aside half of the chance of restoring the planet, but Grovyle sounded resolute. It must have been traumatic, she thought, for him to be so stoic.

"I...wish I could say. Perhaps. But I'm in no state to try again so soon..." He struggled to get up onto his feet. Celebi floated up with him, her heart settling a little once hearing his familiar determination.

"Hee, I knew you still had some fight left in you, dear. We should move. Dialga's henchmen are being persistent again. I haven't had a wink of sleep yet."

"..." Grovyle looked down at his battered, bloodied body. Gauging. Estimating. He then turns towards the pink fairy. "Go on and get to a good hiding spot. I'll throw them off your trail." With heavy steps, he heads out to the main path.

"W-wait! You're CLEARLY in no shape to fight!" Celebi fluttered forwards, only stopping when Grovyle held out a defiant, blocking hand, raising the leaves on his arm.

"I'll be fine. Trust me, and get some rest. We'll meet up at the usual." Speechless at his chivalry, and not wanting to turn down the offer despite seeing his clear injuries, Celebi relented without a peep. Grovyle took his leave, disappearing around the bend.

"Doom."

Seeing him care for her well-being...it stopped her heart for but a moment. Yet she knew there was truth in his words. They'd need to be in tip-top shape to attempt another venture through the Passage of Time. It wasn't easy last time, too. They were hounded until the very last, and even before as well.

"Doom."

Pushing her worry of him aside was tough, but as she flew out of the alcove along the path she was going on before, she couldn't help but hope he was in as good a condition as he said. All she can do is rely on his word.

"Doom!"

This time, he will surely succeed. Right when she thought she was out of danger, however, the sound of something cracking filled the air. Before she could get her bearings on its source, a figure cloaked in darkness appeared in front of her. A fist closed in on her.

She had been found.

---
Reactively, the Celebi held her arms in front of her face with a sharp inhale.

"See, she was just daydreaming again."

A reluctant opening of the eyes and scanning her surroundings, and she realized she was in no danger. What was in front of her was a gigantic green hand, having just snapped its fingers close to her. With its size, the sound must have been loud enough to travel a whole mile.

Doom relaxed a little, having been leaning up against the side corner of the Halftime Pub. It was pitch black outside, and the pub had already turned off its lights. While she was at the corner, she was easily visible, with some of the crew having noticed her before they headed home after their shifts ended. Now it was only her boss, Galiana, and one of the waitresses, who was peering out from behind the boss's legs, remaining. While she kept a good distance, there was no 'close' distance that wouldn't result in Doom having to look up to meet her boss's eyes.

She recovered with a scoff, going back to crossing her arms. One foot planted on the ground, one on the bricks of the pub. "Sheesh, I told ya before you don't gotta worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"More that we will be taking our leave. Being lost in thought isn't good for your awareness so late at night. You let my hand get rather close, after all." Gali still kept her disembodied hand where it was. In the dim light, her large body accentuated by her hair was daunting, so close to the small Celebi and so close to the pub.

Doom huffed, fluttering her wings and bringing herself forward without bothering to unfurl her arms. Floating in the air, she lightly kicked Gali's hand back towards her, which floated and flipped as if gravity did not have a hold of it. "If you were practicing your stealth, congrats, you won. Now leave me be. I'll leave when I'm well good and ready."

Gali sighed, taking control of the hand floating towards her and warping it away in a brief flash of light. "Very well. At least get some sleep...please." Satisfied, though she sounded more defeated than not, she turned and began to float away, Mute in tow. Doom exhaled deeply, switching between watching the slowly moving grass in front of her and her boss's figure disappear into the dark.

...How many years has it been? The degradation of time has made it impossible to tell. She can't remember when she first started. It's all blended together, though she's never been one to keep track of time to begin with. It's made for a good distraction from the turmoil inside, though as tired as she was, she's let her guard way down already and she's far from a safe spot. Not that she, as light a sleeper as she is, is ever in any real danger.

Tonight, at least as far as the Pub's time zone is concerned, felt different. She felt nostalgic. Memories were coming back, perhaps brought on by one too many prods by Snowy to open up about her past. It's got her in a particular mode where she feels like she could still kick the teeth of a Garchomp in before feeling tired enough to sleep.

She adjusts the belt of the bag slung around her shoulder, its weight only now reminding her it's still there. As if guided by instinct, she begins floating off to the northwest with a glazed-over look in her eyes. She didn't care that she'd pass through zombie territory, especially during some of the biomes where it's day and she'd be forced to pass by at least a few of them in all their visual glory. The monsters are usually attracted to those biomes anyway, so maybe she'll get some fun in on her way to her destination.

Unfortunately, she found no such luck. With all the biomes she passed through, some in the morning, some at the dead of night, not a one was besieged by a beast that required taming. It was too much to expect the beasts to attack while she was on the move; after all, as common as they are, they are thwarted just as easily with the right defenses. And those defenses take away from her fun.

Either way, with one more biome border passed through, and bordering on passing out herself, Doom found herself at the steps of a very, very familiar site. The Temporal Throne biome, housing a magnificent mountain in the center. While she could simply fly up the mountain, going through the dungeon proper felt like the right thing to do. It'd also help tucker her out for a proper rest, what with the feral 'mons she'd fight along the way.

---

A tingling sensation courses through her whole body as she becomes conscious. A painful tingling that restricts her and holds her in place, barely being able to open her eyes.

"W-what...where am I? Ow...!"

"HEE-hee! Where indeed? You are trapped here with US...For now, at least."

There's naught but indistinguishable gray around her, but there's a small rock in front of her visible against the ground. It vibrates intensely, and a purple light can be seen from within. The same purple light surrounds Celebi, along with green orbs that seem to be patrolling her limbs.

"Release me, you...urk! Can't...gghk..." Her body vibrates. The purple aura expands and the green orbs slightly disperse from her body.

"Don't...resist! H-HEE-hee! Or ELSE...!"

"Or else WHAT?" Celebi was able to feel her body come online again, preparing to really unleash her Psychic power. Out of the corners of her peripheral vision she saw pillars of ice. Pillars she knew well to avoid. Pillars she was surprised to see how close she was to them. She enters a brief moment of shock.

A deep voice bellows from behind her, causing the strange rock to shudder. "Or else, this."

The last thing she felt before passing out again was searing pain. A punch on her head from above...though she didn't register it as such. She hadn't recovered enough to be aware yet.

There's no dream. There's no way of knowing the passage of time. No way of knowing what's being done to her, where she is, where she's being taken. For her, all is blank...

Her consciousness came back when she heard a familiar voice. She didn't need to have her eyes open to know who it was, but she was too out of it. She swore she heard voices talking before, but who and what they were talking about, she didn't know. But she knew of the danger.

"S-stay back! Don't come near!" Her brain was wracking with pain, but she had to get the words out. Fading in and out, in and out.

And then she heard it. The pillars...fired off their soul-stealing electricity.

It was over. She had lost. That's what she thought.

"It was surprisingly easy to get you to stand in the middle of these four pillars. Your heroic chivalry knows no bounds...Grovyle."

"D-...Dusknoir! What is...!?" Celebi forced her eyes open. All she can see is a bright pink light show, with Grovyle in the middle. She can barely tell his form, but she knew he still wasn't healed up. They were far from Dusk Forest...too far. The journey and the stress of worrying about her...that he came for her...she'd feel her heart jump if she could. But it is jumping for a different reason. One she couldn't articulate.

"This forest is unique, Grovyle. Stand in the center of this area here, and your soul melts away...just like that. The past is doomed...and so too shall the future be."

"Grovyle! Fight...fight it!" She can't start her powers up. Her Psychic isn't working anymore. Now, she is completely paralyzed.

"Ce...lebi...! Arrrghh!" The bolts intensify in power. "Celebi...you're...the only one left...!"

"No! NO! Don't say that!" Her adrenaline rises, but it's not enough to beat the paralysis.

"Everything was futile from the start! Master Dialga's rule over time is absolute. Did you think you had a chance?! All of this was planned, right down to every detail." Dusknoir gloated, standing behind Celebi, floating forward as he spoke. "The resistance dies with you, Grovyle. But fear not, for your body shall be offered to Master Dialga. You will make a fine trophy. Mwa...MWA HA HA HO HO HO HA!"

"Celebi...Promise me! Fight...fight to the very end...!"

She couldn't bear to watch. But watch she did. Time, stopped as it was, felt like it truly stopped in that moment. The electricity swallowed Grovyle's body whole, a searing image both for her eyes and mind...and then it stopped. As quickly as it started, the electricity went back into the pillars.

Grovyle's body fell. Celebi's heart sunk. So much so, she felt as if she were going to pass out again. Voices blurred together - it must have been Dusknoir gloating to himself, or perhaps threatening Celebi.

She regained enough of her strength to look up again. The paralysis...was gone. The strange rock had fled, and with it, the numbness. In front of her...was...Grovyle. Her mind raced. Did she remember correctly, the events that just transpired? Or was it a hallucination?

"Gro...vyle...?"

"Yes...yes, take a good look, Celebi. How ironic it will be..." It was Dusknoir's voice. He had possessed Grovyle's body. A semblance of his voice, too, remained, playing alongside the Ghost-type's.

Anger. Anger grew within her. His body...was being desecrated. Paraded around. His. The one that gave her hope...tainted by this evil. None of his failures mattered anymore. The thought of changing the past was but an afterthought.

'Grovyle' raised its arm, 'his' armblades glowing green. "...for you to be felled by your love."

His words echoed in her mind. (Fight...fight to the very end.)

Nothing more need be said.

---

Doom flew up the winding path. Another Aerodactyl swiftly avoided and defeated. A Magnezone powers up a Discharge, but she slams it to the ground with a kick before it could pull off the move, electricity tingling up to the tips of her wings. Not much farther.

Steep rocks. She jumped up to each precarious platform where a taller 'mon would climb, letting her floating ability take her higher and higher with each one-legged jump, her scarf trailing behind in a hypnotic arc.

One last jump, and she's up to the peak. How many times she made it to the summit...only for the memories to come back all the same. Nothing has changed, yet everything has changed; the layout is the same, the wild Pokemon are the same, the colors and smells and icy-ness of the floor is the same. But now, it holds a secondary meaning. One that most, if not all, of the people who come to this biome will fail to pick up on, thinking it's a mere mountain encased in ice.

The Celebi walks forward, approaching a small platform atop the peak, its technical highest point. There's a slight hum in the air, a feeling of tension that radiates from the platform. That...was where the Passage of Time here was. Nothing remains of its existence, and as a Celebi she is naturally attuned with such Passages. Yet, that power is lost to her now, and the Passage was similarly wiped.

That the Passage of Time has disappeared with no trace is not surprising. Nor is the veritable pool of blood that has remained and persisted atop the entirety of the peak, of which Doom walked across with nary a second thought. This was the site...the place where time stopped and started again.

This was, in fact, the center of the world - the epicenter, perhaps. The place where Doom created a new world, perhaps by accident, perhaps intentionally.

She hopped up and stood on the far side of the platform. A blinding sunset made way for nightfall. In the blissful moments where the sky lit up a brilliant orange, Doom surveyed the scene. Beyond the biome borders, the sun set over the ocean. Behind her, a mountain range, iced over, began the process of showing the shadow of the planet among their peaks. Her scarf fluttered in the cold wind. Her fiery heart couldn't care less for the freezing temperatures.

Tired, she sat down after a few moments of merely watching. Why'd she come here again? There's nothing but bad memories here. That's all in the past...if the past even exists anymore. Maybe the Passage of Time she'd be on top of if it existed, never really existed at all.

Whatever, she thought. She tired herself out, so she accomplished what she set out to do. The pale 'bi scooched back a bit so she was on the platform proper, laid back, and closed her eyes. At least this place has remained untainted by the changing times. The twilight sky eventually darkened with night, and with it, total silence. The kind of silence that ate all noise, that all would remain quiet.

---

With each attack her heart broke further, her shattering emotions visible on her face.

Celebi blocks the blades swung at her with her arms. The grassy blade wasn't as sharp as it was forceful, knocking her back against an icicle pillar. She slumps down, bruises and cuts all over her from the fight thus far. They take their toll, the fairy closing her eyes and catching her breath. Her mind knows to not give up, but her body can't take much more abuse. And yet, she is holding back still.

Her pursuer approached with a calm and cool precision. "All that gusto you showed before...where has it gone?" Step. Step. "Don't tell me you're clinging to hope yet. Stay still, and I will ensure you two will meet again..."

'Grovyle' picked up Celebi by the neck, dragging her body up the pillar. His grip tightened, choking her. He rears an arm back, the blades on his wrist glowing.

"...in the next life!"

Was it that split second that sealed her fate? Was it that she finally pushed past her fear, or was she driven to desperation?

The blade. While 'Grovyle' readied the blades on the arm that was free, the blades that were on the arm holding her remained inactive. She had little time to react.

She tore off one of the blades, yanking it with surprising speed. The possessed Grovyle, though a spirit was inhabiting his body, still felt the pain, recoiling. "YEOWCH!"

This was it! The opening she was looking for! She channeled power into the blade, lengthening it, and in the same second that her assailant lessened his grip in surprise, she twisted her body as far as she could in her position...

SLLRRK!

...and he was holding her no longer. Not with a missing hand.

"GYAAARGH! YOU-"

No time to worry about being doused with blood. She had to make this next strike count while the element of surprise was still on her side, even if she had to close her eyes. Blade glowing brighter than before, she kicks off the pillar behind her, returning the momentum from the first swing into a backslice.

SLL-CRRK!

Celebi fell to the ground behind 'Grovyle', tumbling from the burst of speed.

Did she...win?

What...what did she do? No...

There's a thump behind her. No - two thumps. One quieter, one louder. Her heart raced. All was quiet. Deadly quiet. The blade in her hand lost power, and it took her a minute to lift herself up.

Peering behind her, her suspicions were confirmed. She had indeed delivered the blow she was intending. Yet, it was heart-wrenching all the same. She did not anticipate...this. Her arms tremble and almost give way as she held herself up on them.

This must be a dream, she thought. But as she still drew breath, as spotted as her sight became, she slowly realized the gravity of the situation.

There was no hero. There never was.

She was now alone.

Alone in this dark, desolate future.

...No. She wasn't alone. And not just the minions and leagues of wild, tainted Pokemon. There was one more.

She had to be ready.

With tears staining her cheeks, she forced herself up, walking with heavy feet towards the remains of her love. One blade was too few. She forced herself to grab onto a second leaf to yank it free, holding down the hand so she did not feel the body's limpness, nor its dissipating heat.

There was one more thing she wanted. As a Celebi, she helps plants bloom, a feature of her species. Thus, if she keeps the blades near her, she can ensure they do not wilt. Yet weapons were not enough. Those weren't personal. The blade atop his head, however, was. And yet that was located...a few feet away.

Celebi kept her eyes shut, only peeking when she could. She couldn't bear to see more than what was absolutely necessary. Yet she did, all to pull the leaf from atop the head loose. She immediately wrapped it around her neck like a scarf.

The scent...the feeling...it was too much. She took a step away and fell to her knees, sobbing with the grass blades in each hand. Her tears absorb into the leafy scarf.

"...heh heh..."

Celebi didn't notice the voice at first. But as the laughing grew louder, she knew its origins. She wasn't sure just how much more her emotions could turn before she broke.

"Heh...heh heh...heh hah HAH...You...!"

'Grovyle''s head floated off the ground behind her, sporting eerie yellow eyes. She dared not look back into them, but she could feel Dusknoir's presence still.

"You...can't defeat...a Ghost-type...merely by slaying its shell..."

...

Something in her snapped then. The carelessness...treating her love like a tool...

Without looking behind her, she held up a blade-holding hand in the direction of the voice. A pink aura surrounded the disembodied head, pushing back in the bulging spirit inhabiting it.

"These...pillars...melt away spirits, don't they?" Celebi's voice changed. Raw distress and rage made uttering each syllable feel like she was exhaling concrete. The kind of distress one only gets when they speak from the utter bottom of their lungs. She forced the air up through her throat, such that she did not choke on her words, for she felt it wanting to close.

The head writhed, but it could not escape the Celebi's grasp. "No...Y-you can't! I...I am..."

She floated the head to the center of the pillars. A familiar pink electricity begins to well up from the four spires. Still the head writhed.

"You can't win! You have lost! Master Dialga's rule is absolute! All of time belongs to him!"

The electricity from the four pillars met.

A yowl erupts from the center that does not seem to end. Not when Dusknoir's voice stopped, nor when the electricity finally subsided. It rings...and rings...

She...could not bear to see what kind of damage was done to it. Having to see it before was hard enough. With a wave of her hand, still not looking in its direction, she flung it as far as her powers could allow, not even hearing it tumble into the trees surrounding them.

She needed more time to collect herself. The gritting of her teeth, the crying, the shaking of her entire body...it feels as if she was there forever, trying to tell her body to move. Trying, and failing, as any time she tried, she'd slump right back down. At one point she tried to hug herself, but was at the same time disgusted with the leafy scarf, so she tried merely shaking it off to no avail.

Hours passed in complete silence. There were times where she thought of hurling herself into the middle of the pillars to end her suffering, melting away as well. But it was Grovyle's words that kept her from damaging herself further. That, and remembering what drove her to this point; the dull grays of the land and sky, the eerie silence that permeates the world, the tyrannical rule.

If she wanted to live, she needed to act. And now, she is the only one that can.

A planet like the one she currently lives on is but an unliving hell. So long as there can be something done about it, no matter how stupid or foolish, she had to try.

She clutched onto her leafy scarf, forcing herself up onto her feet. Forcing each step forward. Forcing them to the mountain in the distance, where a Passage of Time rested. There, undoubtedly, she will attract the attention of Dialga.

There is nothing else to do but fight. Fight for the future she wants.

---

Celebi found the twin Leaf Blades were more destructive than she had thought. With how effortless it was for her to mow down armies of wild Pokemon, she nearly forgot she was grieving. Randomly she would start crying as she attacked, filling the caves and cliffs with her wails. Whether it was a power inside her finally being let loose, desperation and adrenaline, or if she was merely expending the power she already had, she did not know. So long as it provided a way for her to express her distress, she did not care how much energy it took.

Finally, she made it to the peak, though she was more exhausted than she thought. She barely had time to rest, and was driven solely by instinct and emotion. Such was the toll on her body that she was already limping and running out of stamina by the time she caught a glimpse of the Passage.

It wouldn't be long. Dialga is privy to any and all activity near these Passages, especially when a Celebi is near. Time travel is prohibited under its rule and punishable by death.

Still she trudged forward. As she made her way into the center of the platform, with the Passage in sight, she could feel the tug of time, and the relentless spine-chilling sensation of being watched that she was so used to feeling.

In the blink of an eye, a massive shadow formed in front of her, accentuated with two glowing red eyes. It took shape, and color appeared on it; Dialga, with its dark-blue skin and orange pulsating veins, barred Celebi's way forward.

Talking was useless. Celebi had no choice but to go for the attack, hoping that with the blades she held, that she would be able to fell it.

---

This was...more vivid than Doom had ever remembered it. It was as if she was re-experiencing the emotions as they happened, coloring her vision and making it feel as though she was in the past. She wasn't just watching from her viewpoint; she was doing everything in motion. All the movements, the exhaustion, the pain, the trauma, all relived. All the impressions left upon her in such a short period of time.

The fight with Dialga was no different. Perhaps she mis-remembered the exact motions she took during the fight, but she was flinging her arms in time with her strikes, recoiling from attacks she took, especially recoiling when Dialga had stomped on her worn-out body, nearly bringing her to. Yet she persisted. Her senses were all present.

The last strike she remembered fondly. She held her blades close, then thrust forward...piercing both Dialga's red gem on its chest, and above it, its steely neck. She must have flung herself towards Dialga with all her might in that one last-ditch attempt to finish it off before she completely fainted, but it worked, she knew that much.

She pulled her blades free, jumping away and watching as the primal beast before her stammered, got down on a knee, and then fell. She, too, fell to a knee.

But it was too soon for an ending. Merely defeating Dialga was not going to solve things.

A sinister voice speaks, darkening the sky even more than it already was. "Bravo, bravo. Truly a job well done indeed. You have exceeded...all of my expectations."

Doom, too exhausted to even lift her head, coughed up blood. "What...now...?"

The darkness in the sky gathered into a sphere, swirling with evil energy as it descended onto the fallen Dialga. This darkness, much like the Dialga before, took shape into a being, though it was much smaller in comparison to the beast. It stood on two thin legs, with a collar of red and white flowing hair accentuating its dark body.

"I was correct to bide my time. Now, with Dialga defeated, the world will finally be mine to control...!" It held its arms out, as if basking in its own glory.

"Feh..." Doom forced her head up to see. "I don't know...who you are...but this world has no need for a king of darkness."

The being took a moment to laugh heartily. "Oh, you are in no position to order anybody around, my dear Celebi. You have quite the long list of crimes to pay for, after all."

"...!?" Doom's heart jumped. "You...knew Dialga?"

It stepped across Dialga's downed body as if it were its personal staircase. "Hardly. But you were an accomplice to those that would change the past. You went against all that would have made this world so perfectly bleak...and all who oppose the dark must answer to me, Darkrai."

It brought a hand close to its opposite shoulder, then flung forward a wave of darkness that knocked Doom back towards the edge of the platform. "GuaaAHHH!"

But Doom wasn't about to give in. Not this far into the game. Against all odds, she, with wobbly knees and a face flush with red, not only got up on her feet, but channeled power into her blades again. She was breathing so heavily, hunched over so much that her long, limp arms, dangling down so far, let her hands rest against the ground.

Darkrai chortled. "Still you would oppose me. So be it."

She felt heavy. She closed her eyes for but a brief moment, and when she opened them again, Dialga was standing up again, its damage still apparent on its body.

"Huh? ...What?!" Doom stepped back. There wasn't much room left. Dialga stepped forward.

"This is what it means to rule, little bug. With Dialga's body under my control, all of time bends to my will."

...This is where Doom's memory gets hazy. Was it that she was pushing herself so hard that she had her eyes closed the entire encounter, or was it simply that she was working her body beyond what it was capable of handling, all for the slight glimmer of hope for a brighter future?

Regardless, she remembered what her body did. At some point during the fight, she had gotten between the now-possessed Dialga and the Passage; either by dodging an attack or getting knocked down by one, she was recovering from the ground, at the last sliver of energy she had. Dialga primed a stomp on her body, which she caught...

...

...and didn't lift...? No...she remembered what she did. She lifted the Dialga's whole body right then and there, hoisting it above and throwing it behind her onto the Passage.

Instead, the foot that she was holding up...pushed her down. Down beneath the ground...where she fell. She saw the Dialga above her get farther and farther away.

Falling...falling...beset by voices. Spirits that were all too familiar to her.

"You failed us..."
"The darkness...was it your doing...?"
"We were never meant to be saved..."

She couldn't see in the dark. But she could pick out the voices well. The exploration team she and Grovyle had met with...

One spoke above all else.

"Celebi...you killed me. You killed me..."

"No..." Doom, regaining her pink colors, denied it. She held her head. "I...I didn't! I didn't kill you! You were already...!"

Her voice was silenced. It felt as if she was falling below the ocean, but the water did little to slow her descent. It did, however, stop her voice, and all the voices that surrounded her now showed up in her vision as spirits of differing colors.

"You killed me. You killed us...all..."

She couldn't retort. As much as she wanted to...she couldn't force the words out. The colorful spirits approached her, swirling.

She struggled, holding her neck. She wanted to...she wanted to...!

---

"GUAAAHGH!"

Doom jolted up with her eyes wide open, coughing and gasping for air. Her body felt like it was on fire, and it wasn't because of hypothermia. It was still dark out, and as she looked around her, even in the dim light of the starry sky she could see there were no others around her.

She...simply had a bad dream. How many times must she relive that experience...? The Celebi got up from the hard crystalline platform and began circling it in her stupor. What was a dream, and what was real? Was she still dreaming?

She stomped at the ground. Then again, harder. She brought a fist down upon it, met with hard resistance as she got low. There was little anger in her motive, and yet her body burned just the same. As her heart stabilized, though, she felt the pangs of tiredness reemerge. The sun was nowhere close to rising.

Having not lifted her hand, she simply...fell over onto the platform, using her planted hand as leverage. Any place was a good place to sleep up on the peak.

She wouldn't need to wait long for sleep to overtake her again. The difference this time is that there was no dream; it was, surprisingly, one of the best periods of sleep she's gotten, perhaps in the past few months. Of course, while she rested well, she did not rest well long. By the time she felt the need to wake, the sun had still not yet risen.

Doom sighed, pushing herself upright and blinking out the sand. This time, there was someone there. At the end of the platform, she spied two blue eyes on a black body that blended in with the night sky. She thought she too would be quite invisible in the dark, but one look down reveals the perpetually iced-over platform reflected quite a bit of light from the stars, giving away her brighter body.

The blue eyes approached. "It has been far too long...bug."

Of all places, of all times. It's not like she hasn't been memory-dreaming for months, but to intrude upon her at night... "Tch. What do -you- want?"

Darkrai chuckles. "To thank you for a job well done, of course. If not for your...intervention..." Darkrai's voice strains. "...I wouldn't have had a chance to peer into a world cast even more into darkness than the one before."

Still sitting, not even entirely facing the Dark-type, Doom blinked slowly with her eyelids at half-mast. "You...are entirely too dramatic."

"Hmph. All I speak is the truth. We both played our parts to make the world the way it is."

Doom waved a hand, looking off to the mountain range in the distance where the sun would eventually rise. "Spare me the flattery. I know your schtick, Darkrai. Blah blah, everyone's in a nightmare, you won. Get over it."

Darkrai quietly growled, balling his hand into a fist and lightly shaking it in place. "I am -trying- to be civil with you. But if I must give you a reason to be interested..." He floats around Doom, out of arm's reach.

"...it was I that caused that 'hero' partner of Grovyle's to go astray in the past. And that time that you were captured...that was my doing, as well."

"Tch." Doom avoided eye contact with him. "I figured you had something to do with that. What's your deal, then?"

Darkrai floated out beyond the platform, facing Doom. "I am merely giving my thanks. Because you damaged that Passage of Time in our little fight, you caused this world to split as it did. And not only that, the strain on Palkia caused innumerable universes to cross and merge."

She met his eyes, still looking rather sleepy. "...Ugh. Are you expecting me to be mad?" She lifted herself up, now standing. "In case you don't already know, which you probably do considering you know that much...we Celebi can't time travel any more. Side effect of killing the god of time, or by that Passage shit, I don't know, I don't care. Point is, we gotta live with all the decisions we make. And I already vent enough during the day about things I could have done different."

"Heh heh...good. That means, regardless of the outcome, I still have won. I would have won even back then as well, but you...are quite resourceful. Not that it matters; this world you created is -far- more dismal and depressing. I'd be elated if I wasn't so busy spreading my nightmares as far as the land reaches. Taking two steps and suddenly transitioning from day to dark...what a wonderful place."

"...And me, huh. You're bragging to my face because I'm in the biggest nightmare of them all, is that it?" Doom put her hands to her hips.

Darkrai hesitates for a moment to ponder. "...No, not really. Love is such a boring emotion to destroy. Far too easy. But think about it, my dear little bug, -causing- so many to fall into this world's grasp...You aren't -in- a nightmare. You -are- the nightmare."

Doom brings a finger to her mouth. "Oooh~. Someone's been practicing." A moment to take in the statement, and she begins to laugh, right as the sky begins to light up from the rising sun, bit by bit. "So that makes me a queen of darkness, does it? Sorry, but I'm already taken." She leans forward, as if to admonish Darkrai for the suggestion.

He shakes his head and shrugs. "Ah, but that is a title that is earned, not given. Had I known what you did was the key to this level of suffering on not just a worldwide scale, but a multi-universal one, I'd have done it ages ago. You've surpassed me in that respect."

The sky behind Darkrai is slowly turning orange. Doom walks to the edge of the platform. "It was either that or dying. It's not like I had much choice. Besides..." She points towards Darkrai. "...here, in this world, at least there -is- a sun that rises. You can say what you want about everyone else...I don't care. I've lived through my worst nightmare. So long as I can still feel the light of day, that's enough for me."

Darkrai glances behind him. Sure enough, the sun was rising. "Hmm...you say everyone else. Do you perhaps mean your friends at that gathering spot of walking horrors?"

She laughs. "Friends? You think too highly of our relationships."

"That being the case..." Darkrai rises in the air, the sun's rays gleaming as they finally peek up above the mountain range. His body begins to sizzle in the light, streams of dark energy rising from him. "...I wonder if they think the same about you? Perhaps if they know of the truth of this world's origin..."

"Heh. Go on, then. Turn the world against me, if you think you can. Maybe then I'll actually have some fun." She flashes an evil grin. For all the teasing and prods of causing harm to her coworkers, if push came to shove, she was not going to go quietly. She stares at Darkrai with a determined look, lit by the first of the sun's rays that have finally reached her.

"Hm hm hm...you really are a nightmare." Darkrai rose further into the sky, his body continuing to erupt in dark streams. It eventually is so enveloped that his body fades from sight, leaving only an ominous chuckle behind that echoed in the area.

Doom was left standing at the edge of the platform, facing the sun. She watched Darkrai disappear, choosing to remain still. Time, of course, was the worst enemy for anyone with growing doubts, and Doom had plenty to chew on. Guilt, anxiety, depression - she festered it all in her, with the blood rolling down her cheeks from her perpetually-bleeding eyes steeped in so much negativity that it might as well be coming out as a different substance altogether.

Looking in the direction of the sun, she lets that doubt fester. What-if scenarios played in her mind on repeat. What if she and Grovyle took down Dialga at this very place? Would they have been able to watch the first sunrise in their lives together?

More tears run down her face. Every sunrise was precious, for it was one more that she saw that Grovyle did not. For all the sacrifices she made, for the world she forced into being...the one saving grace is that the sunrise, specifically at this spot, was utterly enamoring. Long after Darkrai left, she remained standing there, scarf fluttering in the light breeze.

If she was a queen, she was doing a terrible job at it. If she wanted to cause more pain and suffering, she would be mercilessly slaughtering all in her path. She is no leader, and she is no hellbent demon. Instead, she chose to help the few of her kin she found, only killing those that would kill others left unperturbed. What does it say about the architect of the merged world that she lives like a rogue?

It was about time to fly. Doom held a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. Her conviction remained unwavering, even in seas of doubt.

There was no fixing the world. She refused to bring doom to its inhabitants, nor herself. The joys of a world with a rising sun, held back by not being able to share that feeling. After all, everyone else already had a sun. Their mornings came simply by living; she had to sacrifice so much just to get one.

She'd be damned if that joy made her a demon.

---

Anne, crossing her legs and arms, leans up against the pub's front door. It was often that she was the first to arrive if she was to be there on the first shift. Her antenna regularly tightens its grip on her stake, stained from having to defend herself on the trip to work.

The sun was still rising in the sky, a slight chill in the wind as the orange farmland got its fill of morning light. Fortunately, Anne could simply turn her head one way and keep from being blinded, with the front of the pub facing south. She kept her eyes closed; with nothing to do until Gali arrived, she could only mull over what she wanted to do with the day.

"Morning, sunshine." A voice from above. Anne need only lightly open an eye to see pink feet above her to know it was Doom, sitting on the roof of the pub. Her flight was silent enough that the wind masked her approach.

"Back at you, freak." Being endearing was hard for her.

The two remained in silence; Doom surveyed the biome, while Anne simply waited, now tapping a finger against her arm, as if the other Celebi's presence annoyed her (which it did).

Doom then broke the silence. "Anne. You came from a place where the sun rose every morning, right?" There's a calmness to her voice; agitated, she was not.

Anne's mouth twitched, and she tilted her head to the side. "You're starting off today on the wrong foot if the first thing you do is try an' backhand insult me."

"Oh, no. I'm serious." There's a sincerity to her voice that makes even the hardened Anne pause. "Would you believe me if I told you I hadn't seen a sunrise since the Merge?"

"..." The green 'bi rolled her head to the other side, with her face now showing doubt. With how long it took her to answer, Doom's mouth curled into a smile as she realized how awkward of a thing it was to ask. "...For all I remember, there wasn't a day where the sun didn't rise. My trainers were all on day cycles, so I couldn't enjoy nights as much."

"Ahh. Nights are pretty nice. Having spent...years, in eternal night, I think my eyes are permanently adjusted to 'em or something."

Anne was quick to respond, agitated. "Doom, you're usually up in arms about something. I got a million things to think about and you hit me with "I've never seen the sun." How the hell am I supposed to go about my day trying to think of how you lived...how old are you?"

A giggle from above. "Old enough."

"Whatever...ugh. Maybe that's why your skin's so pale."

"I thought of that too." Doom raised a hand to look at it, front and back. "But then I figured, the sun's important for Grass types, so maybe part of why the way I am is 'cause I didn't get sunlight."

Anne scoffed. "You know...I'd still drive my stake in your heart, but now I feel kinda bad for you. Jeez. Even I'd go loco if I spent an eternity in the dead of night."

"I guess that says something about the both of us going crazy despite that, huh."

"Yeah." A slight chuckle from Anne.

For what may be the first time, the two vigilante Celebi are in proximity of each other with smiles not born of malice and contempt, though neither can see each other's face.

"...You're lucky, Anne. I'd have killed to live in any other world."

The green 'bi got a little close to the pub walls, putting her head down. "Yeah, well...for all this dumb Merge is worth, at least you have that."

"Mm-hm." Doom's eyes were bouncing all over as she talked, noticing Galiana finally coming up from the southern path but not saying the obvious. With her tall figure eerily floating forth, it was as if she were from another dimension altogether.

"Now this is rare." A male voice to Doom's left. She glanced over. "Usually you two are at each other's throats by now." Standing at the edge of the pub's roof was Snowy, peering down to see Anne, though he switched his gaze over to the shiny 'bi.

"I can be civil when I feel like it." Doom huffs and looks away, crossing her arms.

"Snowball. You don't sleep, do you?" Anne talks from below, still holding her position.

Snowy steps off the side, floating gently down and flapping his icicle wings. "Usually not. With all that I do, I'm surprised I don't turn off more often. Er, two hours max a day, if that. Why?"

Anne opens her eyes and looks over to Snowy. Her eyes glow a shining pink, revealing that she's got quite the dark bags under her eyes. "If I got even that last night, I'd be up for a brawl."

"Aw." His permanent smile belied the emotion in his voice. "Why show up, then?"

"...I have commitments to uphold." Anne growled under her voice. "Sleep or no sleep."

"That's not what we agreed to, Anne." Gali had gotten within earshot. "While it would be nice if you did stay, if you aren't rested, you're bound to make mistakes. Or just pass out...and that's quite dangerous in the kitchen."

"I'm...fine. I can keep myself stimulated." The small 'bi closes her eyes and rubs at her temples. "I've gone through worse with only a few energy roots."

The Celebi-Hoopa sighed, fishing her keys out from her pockets. "Al-right...and you, Doom?"

The shiny 'bi crossed her legs. "Slept like a bebi, though the wake-up could have been better. Oh!" Doom flipped open her bag, rummaging through it. She lifted herself up and off the roof, letting herself down slowly. Gali clicks the door open with an inviting hand wave, noticing the glint in Doom's eyes and watching with interest.

Anne rolled herself over to prop herself up, when Doom landed near her, holding out a carton of eggs. "Don't expect this too often, but I managed to snag these on the way here. Felt I shoulda made up for the other day."

The green 'bi's eyes widened, now quite awake. "Oooo-wait. What species?" Her attitude immediately returned to normal as well.

"Eevee and Rattata." She held out the carton. Anne grabbed it.

"Eee, perfect! Oh, that's enough to get the adrenaline back in me. Thanks, Doom!" With that, she hurried inside, darting past Gali's legs.

"Hmm..." Gali watched as Anne made her way to the kitchen. "You really know how to-" A gust of wind blew at her, and the weeds fluttered in response to it. When Gali looked over, she spotted Doom already zooming off to go about her route.

"...Heh. Maybe all's between her and normal is a good night's sleep after all."

---

"HRRRAAAAAGH!"

Defying all odds, all physical impossibilities and improbabilities, a tiny Celebi has lifted a god many times its size. Sheer desperation and adrenaline pushed her body to the absolute limit of what it can do, and in this instant, that boost was what she needed.

"Wha-!? No--!"

Celebi had planned on tricking Dialga into attacking the Passage, but Darkrai was smarter than she had let on. The only other option was to force him to attack it, and by putting her body as close to the Passage as possible, she ensured Darkrai wouldn't be able to simple catch himself nor would she miss. The only problem was her stamina running low and the strength needed to topple Dialga, heavy as steel and many leagues taller than her.

Yet she did. She would rather her body be crushed than to live in that future a second longer.

The next few moments, at least to the Celebi that dealt the blow, were chaos. The sound of Dialga's head piercing through the Passage was clear, but as time warped around them, sounds and colors intermixed. Darkrai let loose a scream that made its way to all edges of time, with Dialga's body being discarded in the new hole in time. As the hole spread, it was as if all space, all matter was distorting. Bending.

The hole spread, spread. When all of time had fallen in, timelines mixing as the ribbon of the timestream bent all over itself, so too did space. Universes that relied on that very same timestream were forced to collide and mix, land and sky forcing themselves to be one. Finally, Dialga's body shattered amongst the crossing universes, unable to handle the stress of time stretching so thin around it. Biomes and their borders quickly forced their way into being, the universal barriers a safeguard to ensure at least some order existed, but they were never meant to exist in such proximity to one another. 

Darkrai, being so close to Dialga, was rocketed off to a distant biome in an attempt to cling onto space, though as he was not directly attacked, his mind remained. Celebi was relatively safe as she was attuned to time, though was knocked unconscious due to the strain of the attack and by being affected by the merging timestreams.

Time travel became nonexistent as the many crossing timestreams meant one was traveling to the 'same' time. No Celebi had both the powers of time and space to navigate the many twists and turns and ways the timestream was knotted. The different planets and universes constituting the world also meant each biome had its own time they individually ran on; thus, Darkrai's resulting teleportation did not affect 'when' he was sent, but rather 'where.' It was unlikely, with how chaotic a transformation and the rewriting of rules was, that Darkrai would have survived if he stayed in Dialga's body, but even then, he was quite lucky to be intact, wherever he was sent to.

After the damage was done, taking place in what was either seconds or decades depending on where one was in relation to time and space, Celebi was left unconscious at the icy peak. Alone, as Dialga had been absorbed by the time hole and Darkrai had been sent to a separate biome.

Winds began to pick up.

Celebi, after many hours of resting, finally awoke to a stunning sight. At first, she thought she had failed as she felt the strain of time nearly tear her asunder, and had mistaken that as the feeling of death. But when she opened her eyes, she realized she was not dead. She picked herself up off the icy peak, looking east to a magnificent sight.

The rising sun.

She felt emotions well up inside her that she couldn't explain. So much coursed through her body that she went right back down on her knees.

She didn't know whether to finally mourn the death of Grovyle, or to express how happy it felt to see the sun for the first time. She thought of how long she waited for this moment, and how Grovyle would have felt had he lived to see it as well. How she could have saved him, were she not weak. How her world, no matter how inexplicable the reasoning, was saved by her hand, and that the sun was her reward. No knowledge of what the world was now that the battle was over, and no worries of the repercussions.

All she could do, bending her body back and facing the sky, was laugh. A laugh that stained the ground red, covering the battleground that brought her to the brink of death. A laugh belonging to a hero that had to sacrifice all that she had for even the smallest chance of victory, when nobody asked for one, nobody expected her to be one, and nobody was around to call her one. A laugh befitting of one that killed a god, if not out of hope, then out of desperation and revenge.

It was this very laugh that broke her; nothing before, nothing after. Her tears stained the ground, hour after hour. For that entire first day, from sunrise to sunset, as she was able to finally feel the sunlight against her skin, she laughed. Every worry, every stress, every problem melted away in the light. She was finally able to be free.

In her new freedom, the freedom to walk a broken world of her own making, all she could do was cry.
