Reverse World ~ Downsideup City

[Phoenixsong]

In and of itself, the fact that Joule had vanished wasn't that surprising. If Maple could create portals, and she was using Joule's power to do so, surely Joule himself could do something similar. That the tall pokémon—"mewtwo", right?—seemed to have something to do with it was much more concerning.

It wasn't Karat currently gliding down toward them; Skara wasn't sure she could tell one "mewtwo" from another, but several of the others' reactions made that crystal clear. Something to do with Darkwhite? She probably wouldn't be whining for attention if they were, so that was out. Something to do with shades? More likely, given that a shower of them had just come from Joule and Joule, in turn, had disappeared at the creature's command. Well. At least they'd finally found the responsible party.

She glanced at the kubfu who'd spoken up. He seemed to know what a mewtwo was, at least; his pensive look implied that he might know more. "Hey, do you know what's going on?" she hissed. "What is that purple ball the mewtwo is holding? Why did—"

Then the litten launched herself at the newcomer with a scream.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot braced himself as the Mewtwo floated over to them. Was this strange Pokémon part of this 'Team Rocket' and the one behind all of this? Judging from the way he sucked up Joule, the apparent source of the Shades, into that strange Apricorn-like device it certainly seemed so. And Starr... somehow knew him?

When Starr launched herself forward with another Flare Blitz despite all her injuries, Cabot looked over in startled surprise and concern, reflexively reaching out in her direction.

"Starr, don't do it!"

 

[Persephone]

Cuicatl still had no idea what was going on. The dragon had disappeared as something small hit the ground and shook. A ball? Here? Would she be captured? Could she be captured? They didn’t work on people in her world for... she didn’t know exactly why they didn’t work. Probably an energy problem. Humans, even psychics, didn’t have as much as pokemon. Couldn’t be “nothing sentien can be captured” because that happened all the time. She had three, two of which might end up being starter than her.

What would that even be like? Would she be forced to obey? It didn’t usually work like that at home. The ability to withdraw helped condition new captures, but a sufficiently feisty one would eventually either get released, die, or kill its trainer or teammates.

And then Starr stole Cuicatl’s signature move: The Leeroy Jenkins.

“Starr! Stay back! Don’t get captured!”

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, wasn’t that the bedlam! Icetales had barely the time and mind power to register the quick succession of events that transpired in such a short lapse.

So! First they had to face an enormous fusion of the creation gods. Nothing too strange, flaying legendary flanks had become a permanent skill in their curriculums, at that point.

But then some creature that looked like a color-swapped Bahamut pulverized an island and managed to beat the stuffing out of Maple of all ‘mons. Maple!

Oh, and he sent everyone blasting away. Golly, he could still hear the ringing in his ears, piercing through his skull. Nothing that a good head-shake couldn’t fix, however.

Ah, but the surprises were far from over! The Bahamut clone vanished in a red light produced by a purple ball (What…?), Darkwhite appeared once more to taunt the cortège (Again, what?), and someone who looked like an oversized Mew with unnatural proportions grabbed the purple ball and showed interest toward the Litten, who seemed to recognize him and charged forward in a ball of fire (Seriously, what?!).

Besides him appeared the specter of Father, who seemed genuinely intrigued by everything happening around them. Thrilled, even.

…I fancy that mysterious psychic fellow. I would gladly invite him to a tea party followed by a pleasant hunt.

Icetales narrowed his eyes and snorted. ‘Of course thou would, Father. Of course.’

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa put herself between Starr and the aberrant mewtwo, hackles up and teeth bare.

With a primal scream of pain and rage, Starr hurled herself forward in a blazing fireball.

"Starr!"

Brisa's eyes lit up with brilliance as she targeted the mewtwo with a Radiant Arrest, and her fur glowed and sparked as she set off in pursuit of Starr with a Wild Charge.

She wasn't about to let her friend go up against this creep without help.

 

[Dragonfree]

The cold sensation in Dave's chest was heavy and unpleasant. The dragon was down but he couldn't seem to feel particularly like they'd won. His legs shook.

Maple was fighting Joule. Good riddance. Would be nice if they both just killed each other.

It didn't look like that was happening, though. Maple was bleeding Radiance in globs. He'd gotten a taste of how powerful she was; if Joule was making short work of her, he'd have no problem wiping them out, too. A knot of dread tightened in his stomach. The Poochyena brain said run, get away, don't get killed. He didn't move.

Nate yelled at Truffle to rescue Maple, and a lurch of anger rose in his chest. Shouldn't they focus any rescuing on people who hadn't threatened to kill them all, who weren't lying to them and stringing them along for whatever purposes on the mandate of a supposed god? But he couldn't quite find the energy to even yell out about it. This was, this was weird. What was going on? He'd... used a Shadow move, hadn't he. This was a Shadow thing, goddamn it. It was fucking with his head in some way he couldn't even articulate. Fuck.

Then the Necrozma went into a Master Ball, thrown by a Mewtwo, a different Mewtwo, and Starr seemed to recognize him, and... Brisa? Holy fuck, Brisa.

They were... they were just charging in. At the Mewtwo with the Necrozma that had trashed Maple. What the fuck? Wh...

A discordant battle of strange feelings started somewhere in his chest, and then he was charging after them. To... protect Brisa? To take down this fucker? To just...? His stomach twisted in panic, sparks of Radiance crackling in his fur, tendrils of shadow sprouting from his feet. This was the dumbest fucking thing he'd ever done in his life and he was doing it anyway. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste grumbled. After the last fight, surely one higher being couldn’t be all that much work. Even Mewtwo was weaker than three of Arceus’ firstborn. “Let’s get this over with quickly.”

He just hoped they could hold it together for a little longer.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

Fay give a nod to Celeste’s words.

 

[Negrek]

Oh, thank God. Truffle showed up again with Maple in tow. Always great when you asked somebody to do something and it didn't result in them getting fucking incinerated. Nate bounded over to the two of them--as much as he could "bound" on his tinyass mudkip legs, it took like five fucking minutes--and tried to assess the damage. "Nice work, birdboy," he said to Truffle. There was quite a lot of glowy blood-stuff around, which wasn't really a good sign, but an oran berry would fix basically anything, right?

Nate would try a reviver seed on Maple if she was unconscious, or offer her some healing otherwise. "We could seriously use a fucking portal right about now, if you've got one in you."

Then he got distracted by a fucking mewtwo showing up? Another mewtwo? Bad enough this world had one, now it had gone and just upped the fucking ante. And from the way this one was acting, it was even more like the one he was familiar with than that Karat asshole. Using a master ball was quite the fucking switch, but why should he even be surprised anymore? If the mewtwo pulled out a saxophone and started playing smooth jazz, why should he even bat a fucking eye? And now like half the fucking team were charging at him, exactly like people who hadn't seen a mewtwo make somebody's head explode from all the way across the room.

Why was it that all the variants of Mew had to be such colossal assholes? And why did all of them have to be right here, right now, for some fucking reason? At this point, the next person to show up would be--oh. Oh, God. And he'd even thought he'd heard...

To the remainder of the God Squad, he yelled, "I don't know if you can hit that guy or if he's got one of those bullshit forcefields, but now would be a good time to find out! Otherwise I think we're gonna see how good Diyem is at the whole resurrection thing!"

Or maybe Mewtwo would just... fucking catch them? With the master balls he apparently carried around? Would those even work on Dark Matter-former-human-pokémon?

Nate took back everything he had ever said about his human life sucking and being full off bullshit. Back then he only had two Mew-clones causing havoc and basically an entire region that wanted him dead. Right now he would really, really love to trade that for not having to wonder whether the impossible master ball-wielding superclone was going to crush all their skulls with his fucking mind or capture them and make Nate his little mudkip minion or whatever the shit was about to happen next.

 

[Ambyssin]

Imbeciles. Their first reaction to seeing the doppelganger snagged in a pokémon-capturing machine was to charge the very creature that used said device. And with close-ranged attacks, no less. Did they have no survival instincts? Obviously not, or the team would've failed and wound up back in Diyem's abode when the magikarp attacked.

No, this was the work of the previous fights. And Brisa dared to scoff at him for turning his nose up at battling for show. This was the flipside of it all. Aggression taking hold and leading to reckless abandon. If he were one of the team's attackers, he'd probably be going in for the kill, too. After all, this was the very same creature — or, at least, a variant — that had caused him such pain and misery back on Earth. One of the few times he was fine with Eternatus killing a pokémon.

He turned away from his teammates. Maple was down. She had brought them here.

Bahamut still stood on the bastard god-dragon fusion. Maybe there was some lingering energy from it. If there was ever a time for his wormholes to work... it would be now. Please, stars. Just this once. One single portal. A means out of this nonsense. Not even to Destiny Village, since that could lead their foes back. But at least back to the Hidden Land.

One time.

One time.

His core burned as he struggled to concentrate, digging his claws into the Blacklight Dragon's shattered chest-gem. Bahamut's stone was similarly warm. In fact, the fabric of his worn bag darkened, like the stone was going to burn right through it.

 

[Namohysip]

The first thing to happen was Starr rushing forward. She was quick, and based on how Mewtwo drifted back, he wasn't expecting immediate aggression like this. However, he also, as Starr would certainly know, was not someone who could be so easily taken off guard. His eyes widened not with surprise, but amusement, and then they flashed with a Psychic glint.

A deep, bass-like sound snapped the air and Starr was sent spiraling backward and into Brisa, who had made similar attempts to strike. But then Dave's barrier got in the way, fading out from the impact of the Litten against the Protect. Mewtwo's smirk twisted into something more like charmed annoyance. Impressed, but still an inconvenience. He actually had to raise his hand.

He grabbed Brisa by the throat, but he did not want to dirty his hands by doing so physically. A dim, Psychic glow clasped around her neck, completely erasing her forward momentum.

"Now, why would you do that?" he asked.

Owen planted his feet in the ground. Charizard emerged from his shoulder--

Mewtwo, with his other hand, blasted Charizard in the head, spattering it into a puddle of darkness that receded back into Owen. Petrified, he staggered back, "H-how did you see--"

Another deep shock, and Owen was gone in a blink. A trained eye would see him--he'd been blasted back and into Bahamut's side. Potluck rushed for Bahamut, as did Truffle and Maple, the latter of whom was barely conscious and dumbly holding the Oran that Nate had given her. She squeezed it tight and then touched Bahamut's flank.

A rush of power flowed through Bahamut--just one, just one, but Maple was channeling enough power into him to make a portal.

 

[Disco]

Mellow used Radiant Solar Beam!

 

[Namohysip]

Mewtwo saw the attack coming and smiled at Mellow. Why, thank you. It was ever so helpful.

He held Brisa toward the incoming beam of energy, uncaring of the residual damage coming his way.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Fools! If you let him kill any of us, you cannot be recovered!" Is this not what had the whole team up in a frenzied panic when Starr and Brisa disappeared several weeks ago? They had to regroup, but Brisa was still being had captive.

There was a sudden spark of power. It was so familiar. He could do it. One wormhole. He looked at Potluck. What was this thing again? Didn't matter. Type-changing might be the one variable such a psychic couldn't plan for. "Grab the ones closest to our assailant if you can, chimera. We'll have to block that thing from following us if we can."

Bahamut's stone burned through his bag. He caught it with his free hand. The other released a pulse of energy that expanded into a wormhole.

"... go. Now. All of you," he rasped. Bahamut still had the defensive boosts from the battle. They hadn't worn off quite yet. He could stall this creature. And he knew how to deal with strong psychics.

Painful thoughts. Agonizing thoughts. Death. Destruction. Despair.

If it was going to try and read Bahamut's mind, all it would find is misery like aching pins and needles.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste sighed. Mewtwo was grabbing people which psychic force. That, he supposed, meant that the responsibility of trying to free her fell upon he and the others dark types.

He began to approach Mewtwo, keeping careful watch to see if they would react with an attack. If they did, he would follow it up to the best of his ability.

“Here we are, having defeated three higher beings and this abomination standing in front of you, with energy left to continue. I suggest that you release our teammate.”

Would a Mewtwo have a hollow in the bottom of their skull, he wondered...

 

[Disco]

Mellow backed away as the light faded and she realized her mistake. Without another word she turned and staggered towards the wormhole as she held herself.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave's attempt to shield Brisa shattered easily against Starr's body. The Mewtwo picked the Shinx up by the neck instead. No, no, he could--

--he could barely stay upright with exhaustion. The faint sparks of Radiance on his fur crackled vaguely as he gritted his teeth and then fizzled out pathetically. With a strained roar, he tried to drag himself closer, only to stumble and fall.

No, no, fuck, no--

Mewtwo was going to kill her. He was going to kill her and for all they knew she'd be gone for real and of course he couldn't fucking do anything about it because why would he. Probably kill everyone else, too. Why'd they ever even tried?

At least maybe he'd also get the fucking God Squad.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Spiraling pain. Starr struggled to pick herself up even as her surroundings spun all around her in a dizzying whirlwind. She saw Mewtwo, him--Giovanni--standing above her, but her eyes were having trouble focusing. There was a flicker of blue. Someone struggling in his grip. Brisa.

No. No no no, god fucking damn it.

Not strong enough. Stupid, tiny useless, cat body made by Diyem bullshit. Needed more power. Needed more power.

A blinding white light consumed Starr's vision as a surge of strength shot through her limbs. Her inner fire roared to life, blazing heat condensing around her neck. She felt lighter than air. It wasn't Radiance, she didn't know what the hell it was, all she knew was that she was standing taller than she had before, and every inch of her was screaming to make that asshole pay.

In a shimmering haze of heat, the Torracat lunged, claws aimed at Giovanni's outstretched arm.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

This motherfucker was a human who'd become a psychic goddamn pokémon. Gods. Salt and sand and spit. This was too fucking much. Brisa's mind went hot with anger as she first saw Starr sent flying by psychic power, then felt the mewtwo's remote grip around her throat.

Go on. Snap my fucking neck. Do it. I'll come back from where that sends me. I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you. You'll never be rid of me, damn you.

It wasn't Jesse. It wasn't him. It just felt–

Brisa screamed as one of Mellow's Radiant attacks blasted her fully in the back, scorching her body worse than a fully electrical burnout.

Brisa toughed it out to show her best side to the team!

But she clung on to consciousness. She tried reaching for Luz, to Diyem, to anything, to ask for more power. If she could only have more power, if she only had her real body, if she only had– She saw Starr struggling to her feet, and then blazing once again, not with flame, but with infinity energy. She was evolving.

Come ON, damn it, by wind and thunder she just needed her STRENGTH–

The white light took her, just as it once had so many years ago. She cried out like crackling electric infinity energy let loose, like a cage of thunder, like the roar of a storm. Yes. Come on. I need this.

"Wildcat, you're grown! Are ya still... you?"
"As long as I'm protectin' you, I'm me."

The luxio's eyes blazed with radiance and sparks as she called on light and lightning to save her friend.

 

[Disco]

Mellow paused in her walk of shame to turn back at the burst of light behind her. She gasped at the sight and held back on leaving just yet. They both just evolved.

...It made sense. They were both fighters...