Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Negrek]

Nate's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I heard you mighta had a run-in with Rocket before. Didn't realize they showed up all over the place like that." And in every world where there was a Team Rocket, a Red would rise up to oppose them? Maybe? Made some uncomfortably mythic-sounding shit out of what should just be normal real life. Like some gangsters out for money and a kid with his favorite rat. The idea that it kept happening over and over again felt... real fucked up, for whatever reason.

"Oh, I get it," Rocky said. "That's pretty smart. I know legendary pokémon do that sometimes. But I guess it didn't work out so great."

Yeah, if that wasn't the fucking understatement of the century. Nate grimaced. After the way the conversation had gone so far, he couldn't imagine that bringing up Eternatus was going to go great places, but... almost nobody else had even heard of the damn thing. "So, all this... Eternatus shit," he said. "Maple was saying something like it produces this energy-suppressing aura, I guess why we've been meeting shit that Cibus pokémon's attacks can't hit. Do you know anything about that? Or... any way to get around it?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, I can't say if the eternatus here is like the one back home." Bahamut sat on his haunches and looked up. "I can safely assume it isn't, since the one plaguing my world is the sign of a moon." He shook his head. "Regardless, Eternatus warps space and time around it. I don't think it's unreasonable to believe the neutralizing aura is an extension of that fuckery."

He pursed his lips and exhaled a small tuft of shadows. "The thing that's letting us break through the distortion seems to be the energy Dark Matter gave us. If we didn't have it, I'm fairly confident we would be just as useless as everyone else." Bahamut tucked his head to his chest. "And Dark Matter is apparently in danger. If he's done in, I daresay we won't be helping Cibus anymore."

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah, Maple was saying your Eternatus didn't sound like the ones she knew of. So if it sounds like this one's different than the one here, uh, sounds like that's a good thing." The size of the moon, good fucking Christ. Rocky would fucking love that. Nate glanced at the familiar, who was watching Bahamut, rapt, eyes wide. Probably thought the guy's stories were about the coolest thing ever. Nate could only hope he didn't bust out with something super fucking insensitive before they managed to get through this. "And yeah, sure seems like it's something to do with Dark Matter that lets us break through the distortions. You ain't got no Dark Matter where you're from, though, right? Is there anything else you can use to fight it?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"If such a creature existed, it was devoured by Eternatus long ago," Bahamut said. "Eternatus is a living paradox. It has an entire realm inside of it that defies the laws of nature themselves. Time does not pass. Space works on a whim. Daemonic spirits claim to 'protect' the realm from corruptive influences, possessing those trapped inside and warping their bodies to suit their needs.

"And yet, despite all of this, the beast continues to output unlimited amounts of energy." He growned. "We couldn't stop Eternatus, so my friends sacrificed themselves to place it in a sealed stasis. I'm trying to break the seals in the hopes that, perhaps, Eternatus can be destroyed from the inside. Because attacking it from the outside is useless, no matter how much power one musters."

 

[Negrek]

Attacking from inside... Now that was interesting. Bahamut's description made it sound like there was one of those dungeon things in there. If the Eternatus around here was smaller, you'd think there'd be less room for there to be anything inside, but it sounded like there was some kind of spatial bullshit going on in there anyhow. "Well, I guess if we're lucky, we won't have to find out. But what are the chances of that, huh?" Nate glanced away, towards the quiet, snowy trees that ringed them. Easy enough to forget about all the dark shit going on out there when the place was looking pretty as a picture.

"I've been thinking... We ain't seen shit from Eternatus ourselves. And I figure Giovanni ain't got his paws on it yet, or he wouldn't bother with whatever fucked-up shit like mutating Sword. I'm kind of thinking we might have to find it first, make sure he doesn't get to it. And then I guess worry about dealing with it after we make sure that asshole's done for. But I don't know shit about Eternatus. If you had to guess... Where the fuck is the damn thing? Still flying around up in space?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Unlikely. If that were the case, one of these so-called deities would've sensed or seen something by now," Bahamut said. "If I were a betting 'mon, it might've gotten trapped under the planet's surface. No idea how deep underground it could be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's burrowing toward the core of the planet as we speak."

 

[Negrek]

"They'd notice it flying around up in space, but not if it was digging around down there? Wouldn't that piss Groudon or somebody off? Or Zygarde... I was talking to that Bean guy recently, and he didn't mention any weird shit going on underground."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut shrugged. "Then perhaps it is just trapped somewhere, leaking out corrosive energy like a broken faucet."

 

[Negrek]

Nate sighed. "Yeah. Could be." Not like there could have been an easy answer, anyway. If there had been, they'd already be off dealing with it. "Well, I guess we're probably gonna head back into town." He'd been hoping for a little more information about what was going to happen to Silver, but it sounded like Bahamut didn't know much about whatever the hell he was now, either, and... seriously not poking around in all that. Especially with Rocky hovering right there, just waiting for the opportunity to say something that would make him want to die. "You want to come with, or are you gonna hang out and do, uh. Whatever it is you're up to out here?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut had actually been experimenting with something, but it wasn't panning out. And more time wouldn't change that. "... very well."

 

[Negrek]

"Yay!" Rocky snapped out of his trance, raring to go at the prospect of a change of scene. "We should hang out more often, Bahamut. I bet you have a lot of cool stories. You've been so many different places."

"Way to make a guy change his mind, Rocky," Nate said. "How about we play the Silence Game on the way back? Know you fucking love that one."

"You're just grumpy," the familiar said cheerfully. "Both of you. Anyway, I guess you don't need me to melt things anymore. I'm gonna go have fun!"

"Sorry about him," Nate said, watching the familiar bounce around to either side of the path, galloping through the snow and drawing things in it with feet and flame alike. "Let's get going. Leave it too long, and he'll get bored and want to have a conversation or some shit." At least it was only a short walk back into town.

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