The HARBINGER Team

He flew on the winds with a freedom no other pokemon held anymore; without the confines of fear. Without the restraints of the thought that something might attack him, might hurt or scare him. No. As he flapped his greasy, midnight wings, he knew that there was nothing that could ever provoke that fear into his heart.

Not anymore.

For he was the master of the skies, of the polluted waters, of the infiltrated lands that rolled beneath him as he casually allowed the winds to do their work. Honchkrow looked up to see the sun shining down, not a cloud in the sky. Were his beak able, he would have frowned. If only I could blot the damned thing out, everything would be perfect...

Besides, what could possibly threaten him now? Now that he was the master of this new age, of this new land and new dominant species. The humans had fled his home, the living pokemon were dwindling, and soon, the world would be nothing but his own creations. And he was their god.

Then, he felt a strange rumble, a tremor in the thermals that kept him aloft. He flapped and almost stumbled in the air when the wind stopped completely underneath him. Were his heart still beating, it would have shuddered and hesitated as something pulsated and lashed violently at him, and before he could defend himself, he found himself caught in the middle of a chaotic game of celestial tug of war.

The shapes, images and sounds of things that passed by him were unfamiliar and distorted; he was unable to make out anything he could hear. All he could truly understand was the untainted hatred that filled his mind. "What... is this...?!" he managed to sputter out when he found his body suddenly collided with something very solid.


Honchkrow opened his crimson eyes to see not the bright lighting of Johto's noon, but the fading light of... wherever he was. He picked himself off the ground and looked about; everything around him had the similar look of chaos and destruction, but... His gaze narrowed and he walked to what looked like a destroyed locomotive, with a sign hanging loose from some hinge. Though he could read the human common language, the markings were too blood-ridden and faded to make out. He scoffed in frustration and looked about his surroundings again.

There was no possibility that he could have passed out. So, he was somehow transported from Johto to wherever he was now. Somewhere far enough away for there to be a large time difference as well... He hopped onto the top of the locomotive and decided to get a good look at his surroundings.

He spotted a mountain in the distance and the dim blinking of a lighthouse... and then the gleaming spire of... a coliseum... As he found each landmark, his eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. The strange unknown force had sent him here, to Orre, his true birthplace, of all places...

He closed his eyes and chuckled. If there truly was Divine Intelligence, it would not have sent me here...! he thought as the chuckle grew to a full guffaw. "Of all the places to send me, whatever you are, you sent me here?!" he asked the dimming, empty sky. "BUFFOON!" He did not stop laughing as he heaved himself into the sky, to observe the changes, his changes, Orre had endured.

Away from his brothers, the Legendary, Darkrai has decided to move away to somewhere safe...not safe for him but safe to everyone else. His ability would always bring insanity and madness towards everyone that would fall asleep. Confused, depressed and alone, Darkrai kept on moving not even watching to where he would be going, only heading straight line with his eyes closed.

After a few days of flying, Darkray was growing tired...He hadn't stop to sleep, eat or rest...Uppon looking around he was in a new Region for him, the only thing that brough his attention was coloseum. Floating to that place he sitted down on the crumbled building and watched the sky as the dusk started swallowing the sun and darkness was starting to rise...May Arceus have mercy on every single beast. He closed his eye as Darkrai laid his head back to rest...although, he was aware of a strong presence...something strong was comming close or would've arrived already to this Region.

Honchkrow settled onto a broken pole overlooking the devastated canyon hideout, his eyes ever watchful. While the lack of numerous wild pokemon helped to keep a mass outbreak of the pandemic down, most trained pokemon would have still been infected. Though, the extensive damage done to the hideout was not caused by the pandemic at all; but by some incident of mutiny quite a few years ago, if he had his history correct.

Still, seeing that the humans hadn't even bothered to rebuild it made him smile, if his beak allowed it. He opened his wings and went off to his next destination, the large pyramid shadow pokemon lab.

The lab where he drew his first breath and learned what was exactly in store for him.


The winds were kind and almost drew him into the direction of the devastated lab, and he made good time there. It was easy to find; its large, pyramid shape jutted into the dim horizon, penetrating the smooth horizon. A true eyesore.

The lab itself was in remarkable condition considering what went on inside. He landed on the steep ramp, the bodies he had left there still decorating the sides with their dried blood and decaying corpses. He walked in and took a deep, satisfied breath.

Time to get to work.

Several hours have passed. The night has warped this new region to the point where Darkness prevailed over everysingle corner. Darkrai started waking up from his deserved rest and decided it should be time to discover this region.

But he was still curious about the strong energy he felt before...Could it be a legendary? Or just a strong pokemon?...Or worst of all, the one that started the Epidemic? Not having much of a choice, Darkrai decided to follow the energy source to get some answers, nothing could get any worst than it has been currently. But to not be too care-free, Darkrai dived into the shadows and slided across the floor taking a safer and stealthier aproach.

As his search was continuing it took him to some sort of large facily, as Darkrai entered he could see it looked like a gigantic laboratory, there eventually was something important here...But he didn't wanted to know anything else about the Epidemic...Not for now...His target was the strong energy he has felt...It was close, he could feel it. But where was it?

Navigating through the dense forest, the Tyranitar felt an enormous wave of psychic waves pulse through the very air. He had sensed his masters' presence, perhaps a few hundred miles away, but now it had disappeared...as if he just vanished into thin air.

Where...is...he?....
The harbinger began to lose his control, unnerved by the recent disappearance. His rage began to boil out of control. He slashed at the giant trees of the forest, felling them with one swift blow.
Master! he roared in frustration as the sound of trunks cracking shattered the night air.
He heard the creatures in the forest run away in terror; nothing wanted to face a pokemon that could level a mountain almost instantly, much less one that is driven by bloodlust and insanity.
The earth began to tremble as his rage began to double on itself. He threw his fists into a small cliff face, shattering it into dust.
MASTEEEEERRR! He roared, both telepathically and physically.
He panted heavily, listening for a reply, turning his ears to the sky.

Houndoom growled to herself to interrupt the silence threatening to consume her already precarious mind. She prodded around her to find any sort of skittering feet so she may make their owner cry out in pain. She needed her noises, she needed to find the sounds of distress, the sirens that wailed in her far, blurry memories.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her shook and she was taken off guard. The sensation of gravity was lost to her, and since her eyes had long been taken from her, she could only perceive the strange phenomenon with her few dying senses that remained. She smelled nothing. She tasted nothing. She heard nothing.

Silence.

Silence.

SILENCE.

She tried to yowl or howl in anxiety, to break what tension was going on, but she found her voice gone. When her decayed mind tried to process this new information, she found herself suddenly thrust against the ground, her shoulder digging into the dirt.

The houndoom was not in pain; she had not felt pain in a very long time. Though there was a slight sensation of discomfort as she rose to her paws to try and survey the world around her. It smelled strange. It felt strange. However, there was a loud boom and a guttural voice crying out, "MASTER!" both in her mind and ears. Her body perked and she trotted toward it.

Master... Master... She knew that word, and she knew it well. Another long-forgotten thought. "I know... a master..." she thought aloud, her mind's voice speaking for what her lips could no longer accomplish. "You... cannot find him...?"

She hovered over her nest, the beating of her wings shifting the bones that created the foundation and making a eerie rattle that made the Mandibuzz smile. She so loved the music her bones made when she came home. Her latest kill was lying in her talons, a poor creature so torn to shreds it was no longer recognizable. Happily she tore a limb from the corpse, using her beak to shave the flesh from it and devour it. Carefully she placed the now clean bone, her new trophy, into the structure of her nest.

Before she could begin to feast on the remainder of her kill a force hit her with great intensity. It didn't hurt, but it distorted her her senses. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, it felt like the world around her was clamping down on her, everything was dissolving. As the feeling started to fade she found herself in free-fall high above a desert. With an angry screech she turned her body to catch the wind, pulling herself up before hitting the ground. She was furious, her hunger not satisfied and her beautiful nest nowhere to found.

Though, there was something pulling at her. A sense of something dark, powerful...it thrilled the Mandibuzz. She felt a shiver of delight rush through her at sensation of such wickedness. She quickly took off to find this being, this perfect specimen, only one word formed in her mind..."Master..."

"Blast, blast, BLAST IT ALL!" Honchkrow roared as his large, bloodied talons attempted to work on the keyboard. He needed in, and the damned door wouldn't open unless he had a code. While he knew the code, he couldn't seem to type it in correctly.

Since... keyboards were not made for birds.

Infuriated that he was so close to his goal, and yet locked out because of human stupidity, he pecked angrily at the interlocking doors, barely making a dent in the reinforced steel. He looked over the entry and then back at the door he had come in. He seemed stuck.

Honchkrow tottered out and flapped to perch on the low-hanging roof to analyze the situation. When he and his Harbingers had escaped, they had left an entire wing destroyed, and going back through there was not an option. Tyranitar had seen to that... The only viable entrance was the one that needed the code, and... he was unable to put it in. His beak was too strong and may completely destroy the fragile keyboard and his talons were too large for the small keys. Also, it was very difficult to hover in the air in such a small space...

He turned to the horizon as his mind searched for a solution. He needed something with fingers. Maybe he could find a human corpse and manipulate the fingers to press the keys? It seemed unlikely, but it was worth a try. As he flapped to find a human arm, he noticed something on the horizon. Now, what would that be...?

Curiosity getting the better of him, he temporarily postponed his objective and headed to the incoming figure.

As the Pitch Black Pokemon was slidding through the shadows nothing much impressed him...the usual slaughter and gore. Some pokemon and humans dead...The usual. He wasn't impressed with the rotting bodies or the brutallity that was used...It was all a Nightmare and his whole life nightmares was what he most lived through.

Suddenly a strong headache striked his mind, he clutched his head as he assumed his physical form rising from the ground. It was extremely strong the pain he was feeling...Was it a strong psychic type? No...he was immune to psychic types...But...why is this?! What is going on?! Suddenly his eyes widden and he was stroke with an hallucination. Cresselia was near a few pokemon ... Jirachi... Shaymin ...Deoxys ... Latios ... Latias ... Legendary pokemon he read about. She seemed fine to be with other living...she was smiling, but suddenly a Dragon like beast with three heads attacked her, with a beastial brutality. Although in the eyes of the beast it seemed mesmerized with Cresselia although it tore her head off with cheer brutality.

His darkness started to get out of control as pain started to crawl through his whole body and suddenly it all disappeared leaving him blacked out for 15 solid minutes...after that he woke up and rised holding his head.

"Cresselia...Dead?...Is it...Possible? This...Plague...this Epidemic...This...Thing. Is stronger than I antecipated...I must learn from it...Learn it's secrets, learn it's terrors, learn it's...Nightmares. The Epidemic will plague everything with Nightmares...and it wasn't me who started it...heh...ironic...I became so much inferior..."

Holding himself he walked through the hall tired from the unballance of energies that had suddenly collided with Cresselia's death.

"I know... a master..." a voice resounded in his mind. "You... cannot find him...?"
The scaled beast whirled around in a rage, seeking the source of the noise in his head. Rubble flew and dust choked the air as his heavy tail thrashed angrily.

"Master...he is gone!" he roared, his one good eye glaring the at the rotting beast before him. How did this one get here...I recognize the smell...
"Do you follow the master as well?" He growled, sniffing at the hound.
You are not silent, like the others. he said telepathically as he stomped closer to her, investigating this newcomer, trying to recall where he knew the familiar scent.
His rotting brain was jumbled with memories that made no sense. Fragments and jarring shrieks.
There was something inside that vaguely registered as pain, but he did not understand it.
"Where is master?" the Tyranitar hissed, looming over the decaying Houndoom.

Houndoom thought over the monster's words, the lumbering behemoth watching her with the red eyes that she would possess had she eyes in the first place. His words... he had words... It suddenly occurred to her that he had spoken, even though she had replied out of habit.

The word "master" sunk in, and she sudden;y knew that he was not talking about the master she had once had, the one that brought her sirens and alarms... No... This master was black, feathered... and helped her escape a white maze. The black bird's words had hypnotized her and she followed him without question, since he brought her screams, the sweetest sound of them all. "Yes... I... knew a master... The bird... Helped me..."

The behemoth demanded his location, and her empty sockets seemed to stare back at him, as if she knew where he was. "I want to... find him... I want him to... bring the screams back... It's too quiet... Too quiet..."

She let out an eerie shriek as she soared over the deserts, delighting in the scent of death and decay that seemed to encompass this region. Though she had an idea of where she was, the Mandibuzz rather followed the feeling of power that was steadily getting closer than the landmarks. The limbs on her waist swung back and forth, making her flight seem almost rhythmic, the hands on her left occasionally clapping together. It was like a dance to her, and the Mandibuzz had no trouble rolling and swaying through the air to the invisible beat.

The great power was coming closer, she could feel it, perhaps it was just intrigued by her as she was to it. "Master...master wants...to...play?" she cackled happily at the revelation. Anything with such power would surely recognize her skill and beauty, just as the great black bird did on the day of her escape. Oh how she delighted in thoughts of that bird, the fresh blood still coating his wings, the scent of fear and death filling every room of the white place, his eyes red as the blood he spilled. A shiver of delight ran through her as she recalled her earliest memory, nothing of her time before remaining. Perhaps this power could be him?

A black figure appeared on the horizon and the Mandibuzz picked up speed to greet it. If this was indeed the bird from her past then she would be all the happy to greet him. Her madness was only spurred as she heard the sound of beating wings on approach, causing her to let out another cackle. "Swish and sway...play...play...!"

((OOC: Honchkrow has informed me that his computer has malfunctioned and won't be able to get it fixed until the middle of next week. Please skip him for now.)

Looking around for something of important, the Pitch Black Pokemon started to search for something...He had to learn of the Epidemic somehow...how it started, what it started it, who were the first, etc. The Works. Everything had to be uncovered. He wished to know the effects and maybe a cure...

A cure? Why? This was turning into a great nightmare, his world was rising and turning true. He started to wonder...Would the infected have nightmares? What if there's no living anymore...he might not be able to feed on dreams anymore...Well there's an excuse for a cure.

Looking around, Darkrai found a door, it was locked shut. He noticed a keyboard close to it, it seemed to had scratches...Darkrai could use it well...but the code was the problem...

There must be a way for me to use find the code...but the answers I could get around are quite...Dead...

"Yes... I... knew a master... The bird... Helped me..." the houndoom whispered, almost in reverence.
Tyranitar snarled in satisfaction. Yes, she knows of master.
The hairless ones; he fought them. The pathetic creatures who tried to make him obey. Master tore them to pieces...and he helped. Made them into bloody smears. Master got them out of the cages. Broke the bonds that had kept him from moving.
And it was the bird that they needed to find now.

"I want to... find him... I want him to... bring the screams back... It's too quiet... Too quiet..."
The harbingers' hollow sockets stared blankly at him, but he knew there was cunning there. She was like him. She was not a silent one.

"We must find master. And kill anything that opposes him. Anything...not like us..." He growled menacingly as he gazed up at the sky. In the distance, he saw a faint rainbow that led down to the ground a few miles away.
"The master will want more...he will be proud if we bring him more like us..!" He roared in bloodlust, the ground shaking violently beneath their feet as he used earthquake.

"We must find master. And kill anything that opposes him. Anything...not like us... The master will want more...he will be proud if we bring him more like us..!" The giant before her roared as he began to tromp off, his footsteps revealing to her just how big he truly was. He cracked trees, demolished boulders... Any obstacle in his way was no more.

Houndoom's withered, skeletal tail wagged as the noise filled the void; the behemoth destroyed her silence as he destroyed the forest around him. Yes. Master would like more of ones like them... Ones that did speak, that could understand words did. There were too many that could not, that attacked them even as they passed. All the silent ones would die if they touched her.

"Where... is Master? Where... Where do we look...? she inquired of the lumbering brute in front of her.

It was him, indeed it was him! The gorgeous bird who had freed her from the metal prison, the one who left the halls red with blood and the dying screams of hundreds singing in her ears. As his approach drew nearer, the Mandibuzz trilled in delight, eager to show her master just how happy she was to see him again. Landing on a tall rock formation she paused, waiting for him to join her. She shook her feathers as they fluffed around her, anxiously waiting to impress him with her...collection.

"I will show Master...he will love...my...trophies..."

The limbs and bones of countless victims were adorned on her waist and in her hair, each a fitting prize to their former owner's fate. She carefully traced one talon down her favorite, the arm of a young man who had tried to stop her from eating his child. When she had ripped the arm from him it was still clinging to the hand of the girl, whose insides had long since been ripped out and devoured. Clinging even in death, still trying to stop the Mandibuzz from her meal, and had taken quite some time to pry the hand open to remove it. Such was the very reason she had chosen it. Because no other creature had defied her quite as long, it was her favorite trophy. "Master will...love you...too."

Honchkrow's crimson eyes narrowed as he flew closer to the strange silhouetted figure and suddenly recognized it. It was one of his own, one of his dear Harbingers he freed and unleashed. While pride and something akin to joy erupted from his withered soul, something made him fly slower as he approached the Mandibuzz. Were those...?

He landed next to her, inspecting her bloodied, perfect form when his curiosity was satiated. Why, yes, indeed they were what he thought they were; human arms and other limbs and bones from various pokemon decorating her skirt and feathers. While the macabre decor did not deter him from her, it was more of her odd, distant, manic expression. He did not fear this expression, nor the pokemon who held it nearly permanently on her beaked face, it was just... odd.

Though, he shouldn't blame her, nor any other Harbingers he may find. They were all created before him, when the serum was imperfect... "Good to see you are doing so well, Mandibuzz. I'm glad you've made it out with so many new additions." He turned back to the Shadow Pokemon Lab. "However, I need to get back in. There's something there still that I need... Will you help be break back in? Maybe one of your trophies could help me?" After all, what he needed were human hands and there they were, clapping and smacking against each other, right in front of him...

(OCC: Skip me please. Darkrai is just looking through the books and documents he could find that were left for the password to access.)

Tyranitar has asked me to pass his turn.

(I will have to skip. My posts hinge on what Tyranitar does.)

Mandibuzz trilled in delight when her Master set down beside her, looking appreciatively over her form. She fluffed her feathers and gave him a coy look, at least as best as one she could give with half her skull exposed, delighted that he would gaze upon her. His admiration of her decorations and trophies had her swelling with pride, her ego thoroughly enjoying the praise. "Good to see you are doing so well, Mandibuzz. I'm glad you've made it out with so many new additions."

Ah, to hear her Master's voice again. He was just as dark and alluring as she remembered him to be, slick feathers and the scent of death hovering around him. She felt a shiver of pleasure shoot through her and she keened happily at the words of praise. "However, I need to get back in. There's something there still that I need... Will you help be break back in? Maybe one of your trophies could help me?"

"Of course...Master! I will...help! Any of...my lovelies...you wish...are yours..." She was thrilled! Not only did he want her with him but was basically telling her that she was the only one who could help him. Then and there the Mandibuzz decided that she would never part from her Master again. A fierce glare came over her face as she pictured any potential threat trying to come between her and her beloved Master. She was his, completely, and if anything tried to part them she would see that they were the next additions to hang from her nest. A sick grin came across her beak as the lust for blood came over her. Perhaps..."Could we...hunt...first? ...Master...The blood...calls..."

Honchkrow was somewhat relieved when Mandibuzz had the capacity to agree, but something caught his eye as she asked to go and hunt. His gaze narrowed, and in the dim starlight, he could see a dark figure going about the entrance of the lab. It looked human-esque, but... it was too ambiguous to tell.

"Of course, Darling, but right now, there's an intruder to the labs. We can hunt him," he said as he took off toward the deserted building, wanting to know if a human had actually survived until now. He would kindly request the human unlock the door and then he would let Mandibuzz have her fun with him...

However, when he got closer, he could see that the figure was not human after all, but was some strange pokemon he had only seen drawings and paintings of... An outcasted Legendary from his home region...

In that case, some etiquette was needed. Manners were important. "...May I help you...?" he asked as he landed nearby, red eyes piercing the darkness. "Or perchance could you help me?"

As he read a book, a strange sound approached...Wings? Such sound was not heard for quite a while. He looked towards 2 large figures comming in his direction. An Honchkrow and a Mandibuzz...He heard and read about such creatures. Fascinating as they were...but they were infected as he could notice the blood red eyes even in the distance.

Such a waste of potencial. he lowered his head towards the book as he kept reading, the two large birds landed close to him. Darkrai ignored them...if they atacked it was their fall. Although...there was a certain strangeness in their energy...it was fairly different.

"...May I help you...?" the Honchkrow talked...Darkrai turned his head towards the Infected as he closed the book. "Or perchance could you help me?"
Fascinating...an infected that kept his intellect intact. You wish for my aid? What is it that will guarantee me that you won't attempt to kill or infect me after I have helped you? Darkrai sitted in the hair as he leaned forward, floating on the hair and looking at the Honchkrow with his elbows resting on his knees. Such fascinating momment wouldn't go to waste...a battle of intellects between a legendary and a superior infected would surelly prove rather...interesting.

"Where... is Master? Where... Where do we look...?" The Houndoom asked, trotting behind him almost cheerfully.

"I...I don't know...I can't feel him in my head anymore..." He grumbled, his rage growing again. He slammed his fist into a boulder, sending chunks of it flying off into the distance.

"Maybe...go back home...where master found us." He hissed, looking towards the horizon. "Do you think he'd go back home?" The Harbinger asked, as they continued through the forest.