"--bomb worked perfectly." A pause, and then, "Yes, we've got her."

To Rika it felt and sounded like she was underwater. Her whole body felt weightless, and the voice she heard as consciousness tried to return to her was muffled and far away. She forced her eyes to crack open only to be blinded by bright lights above her, squeezing them back closed.

"Wait a minute," the voice said, growing louder as muffled footsteps indicated they were walking over. "She's waking, this is too early. Sedate her, quickly."

Before Rika could hear anymore she felt a needle prick into her arm, the rush of fluid from it luring her back into dreamless sleep.

---

"--indicate lowered bioelectric charge throughout her body, matching with the higher-than average energy levels of her Gem."

It was the same voice, her hearing just as muffled as it had been before. Rika kept her eyes closed this time as she felt her mind slowly stir awake, not making a sound or movement that would give her away.

"Without prior studies we can't be sure there's a correlation between the two." Another pause, the other side of the conversation lost to Rika. "It's possible, but as far as we can tell she appears to be functioning the same as before the drain."

A hum started and Rika felt her fur stand on end in a line that progressed down her body, from her head to her feet with the hum growing quiet as it progressed. Then it started back up her body again, returning to her head as the hum intensified. With a chirp it stopped and her fur dropped down, footsteps approaching her.

"No, her bioelectric charge does not seem to be regenerating. A second scan shows the same result as the first. Except... Wait a minute. Seems she's awake again."

Rika snapped her eyes open, again a poor decision as the lights blinded her and she let out a howl. She tried to swipe her fists out only to find they were bound down along with her legs. "Let me out!" she yelled, her voice cracking with hoarseness.

"Yes... Despite decreased bioelectric charge she certainly doesn't seem affected. It's possible this has always been her baseline, but such variance from normal hasn't been seen before in our studies. Sedating again, with higher dosage this time."

Once more a needle pricked into her arm, and before she even had a chance to realize it blackness had crept over her mind.

---

"Warning. Warning. Containment breach. Warning. Warning. Evacuate immediately. Warning..."

The alarm went on and on, repeating endlessly. With a gasp Rika sat up, in the process finding that she was no longer bound, and as she carefully opened her eyes she found the blinding lights were gone too. In fact, all the lights were gone. The room was illuminated entirely by the dim glow of red emergency lights.

Whoever had spoken during her previous moments of consciousness was gone, the room devoid of any life but herself. In the dim light she could tell that it appeared to be a lab, centered around the table she found herself sitting up on with various large machines surrounding it. She swung her legs to the side and dropped down to the floor, yanking a bundle of tubes out of her arm.

A counter sat against one wall, Rika walking over to it and glancing at the papers and smaller scientific devices that covered it. Tubes full of skin, fur, and blood samples lined the counter, Rika unable to read the labels in the dim light but already knowing they must have come from her. A calendar hung on the wall above the counter, Rika gritting her teeth as she pulled it off and looked at the crossed out days. Two weeks had passed since her battle against Maverick.

Dread filled her mind as she wondered for the first time what was happening. Where was she? Who had abducted her? Did the academy think she was dead, or did they know she was still alive? And what happened to cause this alarm?

She dropped the calendar to the floor and stepped towards a door with a red "exit" light lit above it, only to collapse to her knees. She panted and felt the world seeming to dim around her, falling backwards only to have her vision lighten up again. Grabbing onto the counter she used it to pull herself up, only for her eyes to come level with the brilliant Gem set into her Aura Blade.

Rika snatched the deactivated sword up, not bothering to look around for her belt as she again turned and ran to the door. To her surprise it slid open at her approach, Rika pausing a moment to look into the darkness beyond. She felt apprehensive about just walking out into this base belonging to her kidnappers, but she couldn't stay in the lab forever.

Gulping a lump down she stepped out into the dim hallway, and without any clue as to where she was or what was happening she began running. Helpfully, red lights let up signs pointing to various locations: "Labs", "Offices", "Housing", and most importantly to her "Elevators".

She was passing a junction when she slowed down, noticing that the different hallways split off to different wings. The elevators were to her left, while straight ahead was housing and to her right the offices. She looked into the darkness of each hallway, knowing she should just head for the exit and get out of here before whatever had caused the emergency caught up to her. Still...

Rika turned and walked down the right hallway, using the softly glowing blade of her sword to light the way through patches where the emergency lights were too far apart. Off to her left and right doors and windows leading into private offices appeared, while at the end of the hallway a large door was sealed. She tried pulling open all of the doors unsuccessfully; they were locked.

Rika tapped her Aura Blade against her paw, thinking. Windows looked into the offices and while they appeared thick... On a whim she activated her Aura Blade and swung the sword at one of the glass windows, it holding with only a scratch as her blade glanced off much to her surprise. Trying again she instead thrust at the window, driving the blade's tip into it. Slowly she was able to push the blade farther in, until she estimated it was about an inch into the thick glass. Her Aura Sensors drifted up as she began to focus, the blade glowing brighter and hotter as Aura Energy pulsed through it. Sure enough the glass began to glow as it heated up as well, the heat spreading throughout the window and casting the entire pane in the bright glow.

In one smooth motion Rika drew the blade back before swinging it around at the now blazing hot glass, the pane shattering in a single hit. She smirked as she dodged out of the way of the glass shards, before hopping through into the locked office. Not much furniture was in it, just a chair and a desk with a computer on top and some drawers underneath.

Rika eased herself down into the chair and flicked at the power switch of a small desk lamp, finding to no surprise that it wouldn't turn on. The computer terminal sitting atop the desk also seemed to lack power, so she resorted to shuffling through papers in the desk drawers instead. Using her Aura Blade as an impromptu reading light she glanced over the papers, looking for something that could both explain her situation and that she could understand with her clearly much simpler vocabulary than the people who worked here.

Finally she found something interesting. A binder with the title "The Dark Sun Project" written on it in plain letters. She had just reached to open the binder when the lights suddenly turned back on with a hum, the evacuation message from the speakers cutting out and replaced by a new voice.

"Subject detected in C Wing! Security teams move in to apprehend subject!"

Rika dropped the folder out of surprise and shot out of the chair, looking up at the ceiling to find a security camera in one corner looking straight at her. Mildly disappointed that she didn't get time to look into what was happening here, she grabbed her Aura Blade and shot out of the office as fast as she could. Her feet pounded at the floor as she passed the other locked offices and came to the junction that split off in all four directions, only to skid to a stop as she found herself staring down the barrels of a line of rifles pointed at her.

Pokemon dressed in black, unadorned outfits blocked her path to the elevators, each one aiming a long rifle at her chest. She looked to the left and right as more guards arrived from the labs and housing blocks; a group even came up behind her, presumably from behind the sealed door. Rika slowly paced around, finally settling at the middle of the junction as she spun around and looked at all four blocked paths.

"This won't be necessary." A strong voice said, the guards dropping their rifles in unison, one of the lines of guards parting to let the speaker through. "Finally I get to meet you in person. From the reports I was given I have to admit I am surprised. I expected someone... Smarter."

It was a Charizard, and one rather short for his kind. A red scarf whipped around his neck as he approached Rika, the guards forming up again and closing the hallway behind him as he stepped into the junction along with her. "I thought there was some containment breach," she muttered.

"A test. A failed one," the Charizard shrugged. "I guess we shouldn't have expected you to go along with the plan. We hadn't anticipated your curiosity."

"So let me get this straight," Rika tapped the still ignited blade of her sword against her free paw as she glowered at the Charizard, "you let me run free and wanted me to try to escape, but because I thought to learn what the hell was going on..."

"The decision was made to cancel the test. You can call me Kane, by the way," the Charizard introduced himself as he crossed his arms across his chest, shifting his weight.

"All right, Kane," Rika growled suddenly pointing her blade at the dragon's neck. "Why don't you tell me what's going on in person, then?"

Kane smirked and shook his head, "I'm afraid you're not entitled to that information. We'll be taking you back to the lab now."

"Oh like hell you are." Rika gave no warning as she leaped at Kane, swiping her blade at his neck. It went about as well as her fight against Kurai had gone, the Charizard bending his neck backwards as he lashed around with his tail. He swiped it at Rika's feet forcing her to stumble back as the flame singed her fur.

The rifles were leveled at Rika again, Kane chuckling as the Lucario collected herself and stood up to face him. Suddenly the chuckles stopped and a stern look fell across Kane's face, his head tilting to the side. For the first time Rika noticed the small radio inserted into his right ear. "Understood," he said to no one Rika could heard before turning his gaze back down to her. "Well well, seems even newer plans have come up. We're done examining you, time to move."

She was familiar with the prick of the needle by now. One of the guards behind her must have stuck her with it, and before she could even turn to see who it was she had already collapsed to the ground in an unconscious heap.

---

She woke up on the ground, her back aching as she sat up and waited for her eyes to focus. She looked around in surprise as her vision returned, finding that she was sitting in a stadium of some sort. It almost looked like the courtyard back at the Academy, but enclosed with a roof overhead.

Rika pulled herself to her feet and turned around, finding the same Charizard from earlier leaning against a door at the rear wall. He pushed away and stepped forward as he saw Rika waking up, holding his arms out to the sides. "Welcome back. I promise we won't be doing that again after this final test."

"Final?" Can I get back to school after this?" Rika asked, feeling at her waist and finding that her belt had been returned to her while she was out, complete with the Aura Blade in it.

"An interesting question," Kane pondered. "Return to that school, the Jaeger Battle Academy, and for what?" Rika was about to speak when Kane waved a clawed hand. "To find out what happened to your dad, we know that. You were only there one day and weren't off to a good start that's for sure."

A growl built in Rika's throat as she started slowly walking towards Kane, matching his steady pace. "I never expected to win against Maverick, you know. Kurai held back, I needed to see what I'd be facing without her restraint."

"Yes, that makes sense," Kane gave a curt nod, starting to circle around to the side. Rika matched him in the opposite direction, the two walking circles around the stadium now as they stared each other down. "However, it is not what I was referring to. That sword there: the Aura Blade you call it. It has a Pure Gem. Yet, you failed to use it. To draw on even an inch of its power without having to... Steal it."

"I'm inexperienced," Rika countered, igniting the blade and holding the point out at Kane as she stopped, the Charizard following suit and halting as well. "Since when are students faulted for failing to perform before they even learn?"

"Oh, it's not that which is the failure..." Kane chuckled, grabbing the end of his scarf in a clawed hand and examining its fabric. "You see... To use a metaphor I heard long ago, using a gem is much like sewing a cloth from two different threads. There's the thread of the Gem, and the thread of you. Your soul. If the two are sewed together in perfect harmony beauty is created, yet if either of the threads resists, slips, or simply fails to synchronize with the other..." he trailed off, dropping the end of the scarf and letting it hang down.

"You're saying I'm incompatible with Gems. That I fail to synchronize," Rika stated, summing up what she got out of the metaphor.

"Precisely. You failed because without being able to sew a cloth out of your soul and the Gem united, you would never succeed at Jaeger."

Rika was quite fond of her unsuccessful surprise attacks, leaping into motion and throwing an Aura Sphere at Kane as she charged at him in a curving arc. The Aura Sphere hit the ground at his feet just as she swung her blade at him, only for his clawed hands to grab the blade and hold it back. Strength surged through the dragon's body and he gave a twist of his claws, the blade shattering as Rika's eyes went wide.

The fragmented pieces of the blade dissipated into raw Aura energy, what was left of the blade sparking from where it had been broken. She tried to focus on regenerating the blade from the thankfully still intact hilt, but before she could she felt Kane's claw close around her arm. She screamed in pain as he bent it backwards until the bone snapped like a twig, the Lucario gasping and falling silent as the Aura Blade's hilt slipped out of her numb paw.

Kane lifted Rika up by the broken arm and swung her over his head, throwing her across the stadium. As she crashed into the ground at the far end he bent down and picked up the Aura Blade's hilt, holding it in his claws as he leapt up into the air and spread his wings. He glided over to where Rika had landed, dropping down on top of her with his clawed feet pressing her battered body into the dirt.

"This is a fascinating weapon, truly. We gave you one final chance to manifest its power and all you could do was charge in head first." Kane's voice lowered and took on a darker edge as he ground his foot into Rika's side, the Lucario gasping and coughing up blood that dribbled down her muzzle. The throw had broken more bones it seemed, and she was powerless to fight back especially now that he held her weapon. "It's a shame I can't use its powers myself," Kane continued, "but that just gives me an excuse to give you one final display."

Kane gave Rika a sharp kick and sent her spinning along the ground as she left a streak of blood behind. He stored the Aura Blade in a pouch on his belt as he watched Rika admiringly trying her best to stand up, despite the fact one of her feet was twisted awkwardly to the side. The worry was evident in her eyes, yet still she held that defiant edge. Kane smirked and reached up to where the scarf was tied around his neck, adjusting it and pulling back a fold.

Sewn into the red fabric set a dark, pure black Gem that looked exactly like a Pure Gem if not for its color. Dark swirls seemed to move across its surface and a black glow surrounded it, as if the Gem was literally sucking in light. "Impure Gem, Synchronize," he spoke in his cool, calm voice.

A wave of dark light emanated from the Gem, streaked with vein-like trails of red. The rings of energy that surrounded Kane much like had happened with Maverick were a dark red and pulsated as if the energy was alive. Kane spread his arms and wings out and craned his head back with a grin spread across his face as the large red energy rings spun around and washed over his body. His flesh literally began to crawl and move, his body growing larger as it shifted into a different, more demonic shape. His wings grew jagged and smaller wings formed along his arms, his head thrusting forward into a point. Spikes erupted from underneath his scales across his body, the now much larger Charizard letting out a roar as a burst of flame shot into the air around around him, seeming to consume his body. When the flames died down and the light bathing the stadium faded away, the now much larger Charizard hung in the air with a new coat of scales mixing blood red and deep black, those jagged wings now seemingly ignited on fire and extending out to the sides far beyond their normal reach. "Corrupted Blood Regalia: Berserker!" he yelled with a roar that seemed to shake the ground, his voice barely resembling his normal voice with how deeper and sinister it was.

Kane could now finally smell the fear coming from Rika as she cowered before him, his new body easily more than twice his former size. He gave a deep laugh as he sprayed fire at the ground below, igniting the dirt around the beaten Lucario. "Come now, don't you want to fight?!" he yelled, sweeping his giant flame wings backwards and diving at Rika with a hand outstretched. He easily grabbed her around the chest as she weakly swiped at him, lifting her back into the air as he beat his wings and flew upwards with her in his grasp.

Rika was silent as she felt herself rising into the air, unable to stop her body from shaking. How could it have come to this? She glanced down only to realize how big a mistake that was as the ground fell away beneath her, gulping down a lump in her throat and stopping her light struggles in Kane's grip. "What do you want?" she coarsely asked, her defiance all but evaporated.

"We've already gotten what we need," Kane growled, looking straight at Rika as he held her before him, his long neck seeming to glow with his inner flame as he spoke. "What I want now is to tie up loose ends and failures!"

His mouth opened and he roared at Rika, saliva splattering across her body as her fur whipped backwards. He could feel her heart rate rising as she stared down into his fanged maw; more than large enough to fit her entire body inside. The Charizard snickered and slowly spoke, "Our Corrupted Gems... Their power is far beyond any normal Gem, but in return they demand far more energy from their user. A whole Pokemon's worth..." Kane tightened his claws around Rika, squeezing her tight until she began to choke and sputter as her lungs were crushed. The Charizard roared again as he yelled out, "Goodbye, Rika!"

The Lucario's vision was already dim from her chest being crushed, so she barely registered as she was dropped into Kane's mouth. She felt her body squelching against the Charizard's wet tongue, which moved up around her body to lick at and coat her fur with saliva. Weakly she struggled, finding that she was released from his claw. She turned around and tried grabbing at the tongue with her one good arm only for her paw to slip off. Still, she tried her hardest to climb up it as Kane tilted his head back, finally managing to grab onto his lower lip.

For a moment Rika seemed to hang there, seemingly literally holding on to her life by a single paw. Above she could see the enclosed stadium, while below her body threatened to slip straight down the Charizard's tongue into his awaiting gullet. She whimpered as she tried to think of what to do, anything that she COULD do. There had to be a way out, something, ANYTHING! She had just barely gotten started at Jaeger, surely this couldn't be her end...

Weakly she forced her broken arm upwards, pain shooting through her body as she tried to move it. She had almost reached it upwards when she felt Kane's tongue push against her, literally pulling her away until her paw slipped off the lip. Her eyes were wide and the world seemed to fall still as she felt her body drop down the tongue, her feet and legs sliding into the waiting throat. Up to her hips in the tight flesh, it was all she could do to squirm as Kane quickly began to swallow her down.

Rika stared upwards with paws outstretched as the mouth around her twisted into a sick smile. Just the first gulp dragged her chest in, leaving her up to her shoulders. When the second gulp came she felt her head squeezing down, her arms still held uncomfortably upwards over her head. She could feel the flesh of the gullet pressing up against her head until just her muzzle poked out.

Rika could barely see through the soft, slimy folds as Kane took his third gulp. She felt her body slipping down, breathing heavily as her muzzle and arms slipped away. She desperately tried to grab onto something with her good paw as it was pulled down until with a final, soft squelch they slipped into the throat along with the rest of her body. The flesh closed in above her and cut out the outside world, leaving Rika in darkness as her prone body was dragged down through the Charizard's long neck.

Kane slowly gulped the Lucario down, feeling her sizable bulge making its way through him. He felt at the bulge as it descended, until with a soft splash Rika slipped into his belly. She was forced to curl up in it, cramped as it was. Kane chuckled as he felt her weak struggles as she moved around as if trying to find a way out, even beating at the walls along with the whisper of a muffled voice shouting something that he couldn't make out. No doubt something about how he couldn't be doing this to her, about how he couldn't eat her, that he needed to spit her out, let her go...

Kane did none of that, dropping down to the ground below as he pressed a claw over his belly and gave a belch. He could feel his stomach pull taut around Rika as the air was sucked out, the Lucario within him yelping and falling still as she found herself unable to move from the tight pressure the stomach put on her now. Soon it would begin gurgling, digestive acid coating Rika's body. Some churns would even begin, moving her around against her will to soak the acid in further and soften her up. Of course, for better or worse, she wouldn't last the whole time.

With little air left in the stomach now Rika's mind grew fuzzy and clouded. She could feel a burning in her chest as her lungs cried for fresh air that wouldn't come, her breaths becoming desperate gasps. Visions of her life flashed through her mind; her years growing up, playing with her sister, the death of their mother, and finally the disappearance of their father. Her arrival at Jaeger, her fight with Kurai, meeting Tsuki, and then the fight with Maverick. All of that flash and show and now... This. She squirmed about as little as she could in Kane's belly, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks. With her dying breath she tried to whisper something, a name, only for nothing to come out.

Then she was gone. Kane felt something shift in his stomach, something seeming to pass on from her body. Where once he could feel life within the Lucario, now it was just dead weight. Useless, beaten, and soon to be forgotten. What had once been Rika would be digested down into base nutrients and incorporated into his body. All her efforts amounting to little more than a meal for him. He grinned and gave another burp, feeling some bones in the corpse crack apart as it was squeezed against even tighter.

Kane closed his eyes, letting time pass around him. Rika's remains were digested much faster than would be normal if it wasn't for his Corrupted Gem; soon the Lucario was little more than compact mush, his belly already smaller and lighter. Light washed off him as his Corrupted Gem deactivated and returned him to his original form and size, his smaller belly bloating out from the mass of the former Lucario within. Despite the weight he turned and walked out of the empty stadium, giving a nod to two guards standing outside. Their eyes went to his belly as he passed.

As he walked through the halls a figure wearing a black cloak joined alongside him, keeping pace with the surprisingly fast--considering the added weight--Charizard. Kane didn't even turn to look at him as he pulled the Aura Blade out of the pouch he had put it in, holding it to his side for the cloaked Pokemon to take it. "Her weapon, as instructed," Kane said in a low voice.

"I assume she was taken care of." He didn't ask it so much as state it as he turned the hilt around and examined it, most specifically the Gem set in it.

"I used her to feed my Corrupted Gem. She finally wasn't a failure in that regard." Kane chuckled to himself, the other Pokemon not joining in his laughter as they handed the Aura Blade back over.

"Begin the next phase as planned."

As suddenly as he had appeared the cloaked figure was gone, leaving Kane walking alone as he pocketed the Aura Blade again. "The next phase... The Dark Suns. Now this is the fun part."

-End of Prologue-