Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Path of Valor

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 39: SPECIAL ~ The World's Strongest Pokémon​

February 6, 19XX
MEW gave birth. We named the newborn Mewtwo.

The Multiparity Exogenous Womb finally produced a viable specimen, but it is nowhere close to what the sponsor is looking for. What I'm looking for.

Height: 10 cm. Weight: 0.3 kg. Heart rate: 190 bpm. Blood pressure: 50/30 mmHg.

Between that and Mewtwo's... friability to the probes, we had no choice but to place it in a stasis tube.

I wanted to think B was blowing smoke when he said the incomplete DNA was too unstable, but he's right. Even if we place more embryos in MEW, it won't matter. At best, they will be just as premature as Mewtwo. At worst, they will abort like every embryo before it, wasting precious resources.

To combat this, B suggested augmentation with human DNA.

(...)

But I can't lose all this progress. Not when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not when I can finally hold my sweet little girl's hand once more.

So, the choice is obvious. If it means he'll continue sponsoring my work, then I'll do the gene splicing.

The only thing I need to be sure of is who provides the genetic sample. No doubt the sponsor would want to do it, but I cannot allow that to happen.

Even research as ethically gray as this has a line. I refuse to allow Mewtwo to share his genes. It would spell disaster for all of Kanto.

XxX​

Weightlessness.

It was floating. It didn't know why it knew it was floating, only that it was sure of it.

The next thing it registered was warmth. Again, it wasn't sure how it knew what "warmth" was. But it knew it was warm. And it liked that. Warmth was nice. It wanted more warmth.

This was troubling. It knew things. It could think. But what was it? Why was it thinking? Why did it know about concepts like weight and temperature?

Perhaps if it broke through the darkness in front of it?

Yes, that was it. It knew how to do that, too. Very simple. Just a few tiny muscles to move.

It opened its eyes. Everything was blurry. Blurry and green. More concepts it knew for some mysterious reason. And those concepts quickly linked together to form a conclusion.

Liquid. That was what it was inside. Why it was weightless. The liquid suspended it. Blinded it to what lay ahead.

It looked up, but only found more liquid.

What about down? No, still green. Left and right, then? Some gray things. Too blurry to appreciate. And its weightlessness prevented it from moving through the liquid, even though it was sure it had more muscles than the ones around its eyes.

... Wait. Something changed. There were more shapes in the distance. Shapes that moved around quickly... and then multiplied! Small circles on top of big ovals. Cylinders flailing around.

It was... amusing? Yes, that had to be it!

But amusement made it tired. Or maybe that was all the thinking? Either way, it didn't have the strength to keep its eyes open.

XxX​

April 11, 19XX
At last, a breakthrough! After weeks of nothing but alpha, theta, and delta waves on the EEG, we finally caught a sustained burst of beta waves. Sure, the previous results were encouraging, but beta means Mewtwo is dreaming! Its mind is churning with activity. And the beta waveforms share similar patterns to humans.

Yes, the human gene splicing stabilized its body and let it grow, but now I have proof the genes are improving this pokémon.

If Mewtwo is developing neurons comparable to a human's, then I can do it! I can ensure Amber is just as lively and thoughtful as they day I lost her!

Today is a triumph for science.

XxX​

When it opened its eyes, it wasn't in green liquid. The weightlessness was still there, so it had to be floating. But that familiar warmth was gone. Instead, it was surrounded by blue that stretched out farther than it could see. Small white clusters sat scattered across the blue expanse.

Sky. This was a sky. And the white clusters were clouds.

It looked down. There was green far below, but not the same green as before. This green was brighter. Softer, perhaps. It was also static. With tiny needles pointing up.

Grass.

The word popped into its mind instantaneously. And this much grass, underneath a clear sky, meant it was floating above plains.

But how did it get here?

That would have to wait, because it realized something else was different from before. It could move. It had two gray legs, ending with two nubby toes on each gray foot. When it turned its feet inward, it spotted an additional toe on the back of each foot.

Could it wiggle them? Yes, yes it could! It curled its toes, then uncurled them, then curled them again. The front toes moved a lot more than the back ones. Good to know.

There was a darker gray that went between its legs. It followed the dark gray, turning around to find it led to a tail. The tail lazily hung down, but it was confident it could move that, too. A swish to the left, then right. Up and down. It could even curl it up into a circle. Wow, it was so flexible!

It then spotted its left arm. There were three fingers on its hand. Each one ended with a slightly bigger sphere. It curled its fingers, then uncurled them. It flexed and extended each one individually.

It could've wasted so much more time with such simple things, had a bright flash not caught its attention.

There was a new color in the distance: gold.

Curiosity piqued, it flew— yes, flew forward. The gold got larger and larger. It wasn't long before the gold was bigger than it. And it made out other colors in the middle of gold. Red next to orange next to yellow. Greens and blues side by side. Wow, so many colors! What was with this colorful beacon?

It came to a stop. And, for the first time, it spoke.

"Hello?"

Gold brightened. The bright hurt its eyes. It had to shield them with its right arm.

"Ah, so you can talk. That's good."

Gold didn't have a mouth, but his voice was loud.

"You sound like you're echoing in my head." It rubbed its right cheek with its right hand.

"Yes, that's how telepathy works," Gold responded.

Telepathy. When psychics talk using their minds. It wasn't surprised it pulled that definition up so quickly. It seemed to know so many things.

"This is your dream, after all," Gold continued. "I'm projecting myself into your mind."

"My dream," it parroted, looking around. So, it made all of this. Except none of it was real. That probably meant it was still in the green fluid.

Best to make the most of this dream, then. Starting with its visitor. He didn't sound like he was a natural part of the dream.

"Why are you here?" it wondered.

Gold rippled. "I sensed your aura."

"Aura." It furrowed its brow. "That's... from my life force."

"Close enough," Gold said. He sounded impressed with it. "And it's unlike anything I've ever felt in my travels."

"Your travels?" Its tail drifted back and forth. "So, you get to go to lots of places? I bet that's a lot of fun."

Gold dimmed. "I... do go a lot of places, yes."

This was a new tone: sadness. It hadn't heard sadness before, but its chest grew heavy. "Why are you sad? Do you not like visiting new places?"

"I don't," Gold replied, dimming further. His rainbow dimmed, too. "The places I've gone... people are terrified of me. They don't know what I am."

It looked at the rainbow, eyes brimming with curiosity. "What are you?"

"I don't know."

"Really?" Its gaze fell toward the grass. "Because... I don't know what I am, either. I've heard the shapes say 'Mewtwo' sometimes. But I do not know what 'Mewtwo' means." It crossed its arms. "I think... it might be my name?"

"Mewtwo." Gold hummed, then gradually brightened a bit. "Well, I know Mew is a pokémon. A very rare one. You... look a bit like it. But you're not quite the same."

"Oh." Mewtwo curled its tail around its right leg. "Is that... bad?"

"Not necessarily." Gold sounded unsure. "It sounds like you're related to Mew. So, even if you don't know what you are, you do know that much. Which is good."

So, Mewtwo had a relative. Relatives were family. And, according to Gold, families were good. That was enough to get Mewtwo to uncurl its tail. "What about you? Do you have family?"

Gold dimmed again. "I do not."

Mewtwo frowned. "But you must have relatives, right?"

"I don't."

"What about friends?" It knew they weren't necessarily the same thing as family, but could still be good.

"None." Gold sighed. "I've been many places, but I've never been able to stay for long. This planet... I'm new to it. Like you, I suppose. But I'm hiding. Because I'm afraid of what will happen if someone finds me."

"Oh." Mewtwo looked down again. Another term popped into its head. "That sounds lonely."

Gold dimmed further. "It is." He sounded exhausted. Mewtwo wrung its hands. Gold didn't seem that bad to it. Even if Mewtwo didn't know what Gold was.

"Maybe... I could be your friend?" Mewtwo floated closer to Gold. His light was warm. Not the same warm as the green liquid, but still comforting. The end of Mewtwo's tail wagged ever so slightly.

"I... am practically a stranger to you." Gold drifted back slightly. "You should be more cautious. Especially since I'm projecting into your dream."

Mewtwo's tail drooped. "Sorry. I just thought... because we have things in common, we'd make good friends."

Silence followed. Since Mewtwo couldn't see a face, it had no idea what Gold was thinking. His glow pulsated the entire time. Maybe Mewtwo was supposed to say something else? Except it didn't know what else to say. All it could do was stare at Gold with a pleading look in its eyes.

Eventually, Gold sighed. It was softer than before, however. "Okay. I suppose... there's no harm in us getting together again." After a pause, Gold added, "In your dreams. It's still too dangerous for me to leave my hiding place."

A smile slowly spread across Mewtwo's face. "Great! Thank you, Gold!"

His glow flickered in surprise. "Gold?" A chuckle echoed across the plains. "Ah, I guess I didn't tell you my name."

Mewtwo shook his head.

"You can call me Bahamut."

XxX​

June 7, 19XX
We're making tremendous progress. We drained Mewtwo's pod and disconnected its breathing and feeding tubes for six hours today without incident. Vitals were stable. Cardiac telemetry showed no arrhythmias.

Mewtwo possesses a strong intellect. Each time we interact with it, its fund of knowledge has grown by leaps and bounds. It's exceeding all of our projections. We have a pokémon that displays reasoning and critical thinking skills on par with university-level students. And this is after only four weeks of cognitive exercises.

I knew B's DNA was the correct choice to use, but this is simply astounding. Not to mention how impressive its EEGs look when it slumbers.

Surely, when I present this information to G, he will be pleased with our decision regarding the human genes.

And, of course, my personal project is bearing fruit. Amber's second embryo successfully implanted in the artificial uterus. I'll do an ultrasound in two weeks to assess for cardiac activity.

Everything is going smoothly. This is beyond my wildest dreams.

XxX​

Mewtwo had gotten good at cultivating its dream landscape. Today, it made a large, grass-covered hill looking over a pond as still and blue as the sky above. Mewtwo sat on the edge of the hill, lazily kicking its legs at the air.

"I think they're going to permanently let me out of the pod soon." It wagged the end of its tail. "The humans are really impressed with me."

"As they should. You're a fast learner."

Mewtwo looked over its right shoulder. Bahamut was next to it. He matched Mewtwo's height, though he was still nothing more than a gold silhouette with multicolored slits in the middle.

"Well, I've got a good teacher." It smiled at Bahamut, earning a pleased hum in the process.

"Flatterer."

Mewtwo stuck its tongue out playfully, then turned back to look at its distant reflection in the pond. "What about you? Have you left your hiding spot yet?"

There was a long pause, then Bahamut bent forward. "I have, actually. And I met someone. A human."

"And?" Mewtwo twirled its right hand around. "What kind of meeting? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle?"

"Good, I think."

"You think?"

Bahamut slowly nodded. "It was… strange. The human was young. A child, I think? And… he didn't speak at all."

That was strange. The humans that looked after Mewtwo all spoke. A bit too quick for its liking, too. "Was he afraid of you?"

"Surprisingly, no," Bahamut replied. "In fact, he had this… look about him. A fierce determination in his eyes. I've never seen a look like it."

"So, what did you do?" Mewtwo rested its hands behind its head. "Sit in silence and stare at each other?" It had unsuccessfully tried to win multiple staring contests against Bahamut.

"We battled."

"You fought him?" Mewtwo's eyes widened.

"Not him directly. His pokémon." Bahamut chuckled again. "It was strange. Even though he didn't speak, his pokémon partners knew exactly what to do. And they were deceptively strong. Especially his pikachu and charizard."

He paused, then added, "I never thought I'd say this, but it was actually… fun."

Mewtwo raised a brow. "Okay. Why does that confuse you?"

Bahamut's gold silhouette prickled. "I have only ever fought to survive. To stop people from hurting me. The thought of battling being fun is... strange. Foreign. I'm not sure what to make of it."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mewtwo wondered.

"I appreciate the offer, but it's fine." A part of Bahamut's silhouette pet Mewtwo's head. It purred. "Because I looked into the pokémon's minds. They genuinely like this human. They're happy."

"Which is good," Mewtwo chirped. But when silence followed, it whispered, "Right?"

"Yes." Bahamut sounded tired. "It makes me wonder... if this is what I've been searching for all this time."

Mewtwo's eyes widened in recognition. "You mean a home?"

"Exactly. A home... with this human." Bahamut shifted about on the edge of the hill. "I admit that the thought of going inside one of those small spheres scares me. But the pokémon insisted they are okay inside the 'poké balls' as they're called."

That sounded familiar. Either Mewtwo's caretakers had mentioned poké balls or it was another concept it was created knowing. "What will you do?" it asked.

"I told the human I'd like to see him again," Bahamut responded. "That way I have some more time to think it over." He fixed his asymmetric rainbow shapes on Mewtwo. "And this way... neither of us have to worry about this connection being severed."

Mewtwo smiled. "That's very generous of you."

Bahamut's glow brightened. "That's what friends do for each other, right?"

XxX​

June 21, 19XX
Mewtwo is gone. G showed up unannounced with an entire Rocket attaché. Perhaps Mewtwo sensed their ill intent, because it awakened from slumber and broke out of its containment tube. G captured it in something he called a "Master Ball." Then his stooges confiscated everything. Every file. Every hard drive.

They took Amber, too. Without a power source, the artificial womb will fail within thirty minutes.

B was nowhere to be found. Did he know this was coming? Why didn't he warn me?

All of my hard work— everything I was building is gone.

XxX​

Mewtwo was small. Small and cold. Floating in some sort of void.

How did it get here? One moment, Bahamut was warning it. Telling it the ones who had created it were criminals and begging Mewtwo to break out of its confinement. But when it did as Bahamut instructed, it found a new human in a black suit waiting for it.

Now, it was floating in some sort of void. And the void was cold. Mewtwo didn't like this cold. It wanted it to—

Light spilled across Mewtwo's vision. The void gave way to a black floor. It was softer than the lab. Carpet? Mewtwo found itself looking at a pair of fancy black shoes. It followed those shoes to black dress pants, then a black suit jacket, and ending at a black-haired head with a confident smirk plastered across its face.

Mewtwo saw the patch with a red R on the man's breast pocket. That same red R was etched into the carpet behind him.

Its neck tube prickled. Mewtwo had to show defiance. This human had taken it from what was familiar. It wouldn't allow that to go unchecked. Mewtwo stood up and curled its lips into a snarl. Its eyes glowed deep blue as it tried to intimidate this new human.

But he wasn't impressed. Still smirking, he snapped his fingers.

Mewtwo didn't register what was happening until something hard and sharp struck the side of its head. It crumpled to the ground.

This was a new sensation: pain. And pain was terrible.

Vision blurry, Mewtwo spotted a rhydon foot. The human must've ordered it to pelt Mewtwo with rocks. But he didn't say anything.

Mewtwo's heartrate quickened. Bahamut said the silent human was a child, right? This man wasn't a child. Why could Rhydon understand what he wanted, then? Was Bahamut's friend related to him? Was that why he was trying to warn Mewtwo?

"You lack discipline."

… Never mind. He could speak. And his voice sent chills down Mewtwo's spine and neck tube. His voice wasn't like Bahamut's. It was cold. Detached.

Mewtwo refused to dignify him with telepathy. It hissed at Suit Man, then turned left and pointed its left hand at Rhydon. Satisfaction washed over Mewtwo as it effortlessly ensnared Rhydon and the rock spires it was readying in a psychic grip. Mewtwo flung Rhydon back, where it shattered a black coffee table.

"Better." Suit Man was clapping now. Slowly. That was sarcastic clapping. Mewtwo was sure of it. "But that is a fraction of the ferocity I'm looking for."

Mewtwo growled, tail lashing at the air. What he was looking for? Suit Man didn't deserve anything from Mewtwo.

Suit Man shook his head. That stupid smirk had yet to leave his face. "This is what I was afraid of. The human genes those lab rattata chose made you soft. All that dreaming set things back. But it's no matter." He stuck his hands into his coat pockets. "I will fix what those classless charlatans broke."

Fix? Nothing about Mewtwo needed fixing. It was happy as it was. How dare Suit Man talk about it that way.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you're ill-informed of your circumstances." Suit Man tapped his right temple with his right index finger. "I'm the one truly responsible for your creation. You are my tool. You exist to serve Team Rocket… as the world's strongest pokémon."

The smirk finally vanished, replaced by a stoic expression. Suit Man held up a strange purple ball with red nodules on it. "This is the proof that I own you."

Even though Mewtwo had never seen it before, it instantly realized it was the source of the void. Snarling, Mewtwo lunged for Suit Man.

He smirked once more and held up the ball. Mewtwo never got to strike him. Instead, it was back in the small, weightless void. Only this time, there wasn't silence. Suit Man continued to speak.

"No matter how strong the psyche, I can break it with some... proper instruction." A loud chuckle echo through the void. "Their mistake was putting too much emphasis on your mind and not on your physical strength. You're not some bleeding heart. You're a weapon."

The void shook. Was Suit Man moving Mewtwo's capture device? "I'll make sure to harden that heart you grew while you were sleeping. When we're finished... you'll be nothing but a blank slate. Ready and willing to do exactly what I order you to do the moment I order you to do it.

"I hope you enjoyed your precious dreams, because they're the last ones you'll ever have."

XxX​

Mewtwo had its prey, a milotic, ensnared in its psychic grip. It didn't have to look back at Boss for orders. A single finger snap and it knew.

A mere flick of its wrist, and Milotic went flying past the edge of the arena. It slammed into the wall, leaving cracks in the Earth Badge that was painted there. That would be fixed by tomorrow, so the damage didn't matter.

It pulled Milotic away, sensing it was already unconscious. The prey was defeated, but its work wasn't done. Mewtwo readied to slam it into the wall again.

"Wait, stop! She's out!" a young brunette in a pink blouse cried. "It's over! Y-You won! Please, make it stop!"

Stop? No. A weapon didn't stop until its job was finished.

Perhaps today was the day. The day it got to fell a pokémon during one of these pointless gym ba—

Boss snapped his fingers.

Tsking, Mewtwo twisted its right hand a few degrees clockwise. Milotic went flying limply through the air. She barreled into her trainer, trapping the girl underneath her large, serpentine frame. Mewtwo swished its tail back and forth in amusement. It could obliterate both of them effortlessly. But, as usual, Boss required Mewtwo to show restraint. How irksome.

"In the end, you were nothing but boring."

Mewtwo glanced at Boss. Shadows obscured him, but Mewtwo's Miracle Eye let it see him sitting in his black leather chair, one leg crossed over the other and head resting on his left fist while his right jotted down notes on a memo pad.

"It's clear to me, Miss Neza, that your previous badges were obtained by dumb luck," Boss continued. "Or, perhaps, my colleagues were overly lenient. Regardless, the Indigo Plateau is no place for simpleton trainers with grandeur delusions. For both our sakes, I think it's best you never show your face here again. In fact..." He leaned forward. Just enough so his forehead stuck out from the shadows. "... I think it's best if you don't even remember Viridian has a gym."

He raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. That was Mewtwo's cue to end this farce the usual way. It turned back to Neza, eyes glowing pink, and raised its left hand. Mewtwo slid the girl out. Panicking, she kicked at the air with her legs. Mewtwo tightened its grip and she went stiff as a board.

"Oh, and don't worry about your pokémon." Boss chuckled. "We'll make sure they're put to good use. Doing real work for real trainers."

Mewtwo raised its other hand. It pulled six poké balls out of Neza's bag and dropped them over by Milotic's unconscious form. Neza's blue eyes widened. Tears glistened in their corners.

But then the glow in Mewtwo's eyes deepened. It saw into the girl's mind — her perspective as her six trusted partners were effortlessly dispatched by it — and erased those memories completely.

For a few fleeting moments, Mewtwo saw emptiness in Neza's eyes. Then she vanished in a rush of blue light as Mewtwo teleported her to the outskirts of Viridian City.

Thus, another gym battle came to an end. The hundred and twentieth challenger Mewtwo had dealt with. There were, of course, plenty of challengers Boss determined completely unworthy of its time, dispatching them with his other pokémon and sending them running off with their nonexistent tails between their legs. But ones who caught his attention, like Neza, would face Mewtwo. And when they lost, it would eject them with their memories in tatters; Mewtwo taking their pokémon for Team Rocket to "reprogram." Nobody asked questions because it was too infrequent. Boss was careful not to allow "interesting" challengers too close to one another.

And, just like the previous hundred and nineteen times, Mewtwo was bored. The young trainers could not put up a fraction of a fight. And Mewtwo couldn't fight to kill like it would on a proper mission for Team Rocket.

It was displeasing, but at the end of the day, Mewtwo was a weapon. It did what it was ordered to. Nothing more, nothing less.

Though something was different about today. Instead of calling it back, Boss rose from his seat. He approached Mewtwo, and it finally realized that Persian had been out of its ball the entire time. Likely sitting obediently beside Boss's chair.

"Excellent work, Mewtwo." Boss stuck his hands into his coat pockets. "I'm confident you're ready."

Mewtwo quirked a brow. It could read Boss's mind, but it was simpler to hear the answer from his lips.

"One of my teams told me that Zapdos has touched down at an abandoned power plant near the eastern coast," Boss explained. Persian arched her back slightly. She wasn't a fan of electric-types, clearly. "You're going to engage it. Understood?"

Mewtwo nodded.

Finally, it had a worthy opponent.

XxX​

The lightning was too large to dodge with teleportation. Mewtwo crossed its arms. A blue barrier materialized around it. The Thunder struck the barrier, pushing Mewtwo toward the ceiling. Closer and closer.

A finger snap sounded. Mewtwo thrust its arms apart. The remaining lightning evaporated.

Zapdos landed in the middle of some rubble, panting heavily. His Thunders were growing more desperate. He was desperate.

Sure, Mewtwo couldn't restrain Zapdos telekinetically. But it preferred the backup strategy: knocking out Zapdos so he couldn't deflect Boss's Master Ball with his attacks.

Zapdos' lightning was strong, but Mewtwo was stronger. And victory was within reach.

"Now."

Standing behind his Rhydon, Boss snapped his fingers. Mewtwo's eyes and fingers glowed. Pink orbs completely surrounded Zapdos. He realized what was happening and raised his wings to take off.

However, Mewtwo was faster on the draw. It had to be. It was the world's strongest pokémon.

Mewtwo brought its arms together. The psychic orbs converged on Zapdos. A pink explosion swallowed Zapdos up along with the rubble and several broken machines dented and scorched by their battle. Mewtwo stared at it, chest rising and falling.

This was its first time using that attack in battle. Psystrike— that was what Boss called it. It was truly devastating. A powerful attack for a powerful pokémon. One that could go toe to toe with the legends themselves.

When the smoke and pink light faded, Zapdos was gone. In his place... was a Master Ball.

That was it. The prey was captured. Mewtwo had won. It truly was the strongest.

Several Rocket grunts funneled in, surrounding the inert Master Ball. Boss casually approached it, waving them off. Persian sauntered after him, flashing an intimidating grin at the nearest grunt, who couldn't help but flinch.

"One down, two to go." Boss knelt down and picked up the Master Ball. "Think of the possibilities. What government officials would pay to have pokémon like this under their control. We'll have them wrapped around our fingers like the suits at Silph and the spineless Viridian cops."

Mewtwo descended toward the ground. Two more meant Articuno and Moltres. The former might provide more of a challenge, if for no other reason than she could generate a hailstorm to throw Mewtwo off and damage it.

Boss turned back to Mewtwo. "I hope you're prepared. Once you've dealt with the other two birds, there'll be one more Kantonian target for you to hunt."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. Only one pokémon came to mind. The one it was created from: Mew.

XxX​

Psychic probing proved frustrating for Mewtwo. It wasn't anything it hadn't done before, but Mew was elusive. Mewtwo was mentally probing over great distances. It was pushing itself. And, in some regards, it was exciting. Exhilarating. A true challenge for its powers, after Articuno and Moltres weren't up to the task.

But something was slowing down the process. No, not something. Someone. Another powerful psychic. Whoever it was, they were trying to worm their way into Mewtwo's probing. It refused to allow such intrusion. The mission was what mattered the most.

At first, Mewtwo relished the challenge of probing while keeping that powerful psychic at bay. However, after six weeks, it had grown boring.

Why was Mew so cowardly? Why did Mew refuse to show themselves for Mewtwo? Because it was afraid?

... Good. Mew should be.

The seventh week, however, finally brought Mewtwo the results it wanted.

It envisioned a shockingly small island. Triangular, with cool green grass surrounding soft, gray dirt. The island had three trees; one on each of its corners. And in the center of the island sat something small, pink, and vaguely feline.

She opened her eyes. Soft and blue. Brimming with curiosity. Mew tilted her head.

Mewtwo severed the mental connection immediately. Its mind returned to the cold, sterile gray room it sat in the middle of. It looked up at the map of Kanto fixed to the gray wall in front of it. Mewtwo flicked its right index finger. A black marker levitated up toward the small chain of islands far to the south. It circled the southwestern island of the archipelago.

A Rocket grunt stationed at the door pulled a radio from his belt. "Subject has marked a location. It's Birth Island. Repeat, it thinks Mew is on Birth Island."

Birth Island? What a ridiculous name. And Mewtwo wasn't about to wait for the humans to get their acts together. It had its orders.

A blink of light and it was in Boss's office. He was already standing at the side of his black oak desk, right hand outstretched. Mewtwo grabbed it and the two disappeared.

Within seconds, they stood on the very same grass Mewtwo had envisioned minutes ago. Mew was still in the center of the triangular island. Before she could turn to acknowledge them, Mewtwo thrust its right arm forward, flinging a Shadow Ball into her.

She squealed in pain, skipping across the ground. At that speed, she'd tumble off the island. Mewtwo teleported by the north tree, two more Shadow Balls at the ready. It threw them both down. They slammed into Mew, hammering her into the ground.

The cries echoed in Mewtwo's mind. How pathetic she was. This was the creature it was created from? What an absolute joke. Even some of those gym challengers put up an attempt at a fight.

Boss wanted Mew? In Mewtwo's eyes, she wasn't worth it. She wasn't strong. It was strong. The strongest. Superior to Mew in every way.

And yet, when Mew looked up at it, bruised eyes brimming with tears, Mewtwo hesitated. The fourth Shadow Ball it was charging shrank ever so slightly.

Mew seized on that hesitation. Her body glowed. She shakily rose into the air. Mewtwo realized she was going to teleport away.

But then a red glow surrounded her and she dropped back to the ground with a pained squeak. Mewtwo looked up and saw Boss's honchkrow standing obediently at his side, eyes glowing the same shade of red.

Mean Look. Of course Boss had a contingency. One he likely thought he wouldn't have to use.

"Disappointing." Boss took a step toward Mewtwo, flashing his trademark amused smirk. "No matter. It looks incapacitated enough. I'll simply deal with your... lapse in judgement back at the base," he continued, producing a fresh Master Ball from his pocket. Boss lobbed it toward Mew, who was too weakened to even see it coming.

It should have been a successful capture, but then a purple, checkered hole opened up in the ground and swallowed Mew up. Mewtwo was bewildered for a moment, and that proved enough to stop it from diving into the hole after Mew. It faceplanted in the ground, then the Master Ball struck its rump for added humiliation.

"Up." Boss snapped his fingers. Mewtwo pressed its hands to the grass and levitated up, then spun itself upright. It was sure what Boss's order would be. The lack of his usual smirk told Mewtwo as much.

"Track it. Now."

Mewtwo shut its eyes and concentrated. It didn't need to work that hard, however. Mew's weakened aura was relatively close by. On Cinnabar.

And with her... was the same psychic force that had been trying to break into its projections while it was tracking Mew. Eyes narrowing, it teleported to Boss's side, nodding to signal it knew where Mew was. He recalled Honchkrow, then Mewtwo grabbed his shoulder and they vanished once more.

This time they landed on ragged earth. Warm, rocky terrain. There was ash and smoke choking the skies far above them and their platform gave way to a steep drop several meters to their left.

"The volcano." If Boss was surprised, he didn't show it.

Glimmering gold light drew Mewtwo's attention behind them both. The platform gave way to a large cave bathed in bright light. But the light quickly dimmed, allowing Mewtwo to see Mew lying wrapped up in the arms of a boy wearing blue jeans, a red, sleeveless coat, and a red cap with a white brim. Her injuries were completely healed.

A pikachu on the boy's right shoulder locked eyes with Mewtwo. His cheeks crackled with electricity. Then a gold, crystal leg slid in front of the boy. Mewtwo looked up, past a crystal torso with three gold spikes and four wings, to a head that resembled an eight-pointed star.

"Mewtwo?" The dragon's beak was open in surprise. "I've been trying to reach you for months! What happened to—" He stopped himself. Red and orange pooled in his eye sockets. "What are you doing? Don't you know who that is? He's the one I was warning you about! Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket!"

Mewtwo's tail twitched. There was something... naggingly familiar about this gold dragon. But whatever it was didn't matter. He was in the way of Mewtwo's target. Its mission.

"What are you doing?" Boss's tone was sharp. "That's an obstacle. You know what you have to do."

Mewtwo crouched down, then teleported right beside the dragon's torso.

"Wait, stop!" the dragon cried, but Mewtwo had a Shadow Ball at the ready. It thrust it into the dragon's crystal chassis. The dragon buckled left, mismatched rainbow eyes rippling. "Mewtwo, stop this! It's me, Bahamut! I'm your friend, remember?"

Friends? Laughable. Weapons didn't have friends. They had targets. And this "Bahamut" character just made himself one. Mewtwo charged another Shadow Ball, but was startled when a powerful psychic force sent it tumbling back, losing that lavender energy in the process.

Bahamut looked to the boy carrying Mew. He shook his head at the dragon. Mewtwo tried seizing on the opening, teleporting behind Bahamut and shooting another Shadow Ball right into the strange, eight-pointed star emblazoned on the back of his head.

But unlike Mewtwo's previous targets, Bahamut lashed backward with his golden tail. Suddenly, Mewtwo was forming a barrier to avoid getting hit by its own Shadow Ball.

Was he… taunting Mewtwo? Not even deigning to face it while fighting?

Utterly insulting! Mewtwo wouldn't let this stand. It saw Bahamut reaching a wing toward the boy. He, his pikachu, a charizard, and a venusaur were heading toward Boss who, in turn, summoned his persian, rhydon, and nidoking.

Mewtwo channeled electricity into its fist and teleported behind Bahamut's head. It punched, but to its shock, the back of Bahamut's head was not solid. Next thing it knew, one of Bahamut's glowing wings had clubbed it and knocked it into the cave wall.

"We're taking this outside," Bahamut growled. His rainbow eyes brimmed with shades of purple.

One moment, Mewtwo was pulling itself out of a Mewtwo-shaped hole in the cave wall. The next, it was falling toward the volcano's mouth, limbs flailing. Mewtwo quickly regained its composure, but when it turned around two sharp, purple blades slashed its chest.

This pain was different. Not like the blows Mewtwo had suffered before. It was a deep, lingering pain. Mewtwo put its right hand to its chest and pulled it back. The hand was red.

Blood. Its blood. Bahamut made it bleed.

Prey was supposed to bleed. Not Mewtwo. It was a predator. A weapon. The world's strongest pokémon.

Curling its lips into a snarl, Mewtwo flung one Shadow Ball, then another, and then a third. Bahamut clasped his wings together. Strange purple spheres intercepted the Shadow Balls, then purple blades identical to the ones that had slashed Mewtwo destroyed its attacks.

"I trusted you!" Bahamut snarled. Blue-purple dragon energy bristled in its beak. "I shared my secrets with you! My hopes! My fears!" He spat the Dragon Pulse forward. Mewtwo easily evaded it and had Shadow Balls ready to counter.

But the attack wasn't done. A portal opened up behind Mewtwo. Just like the one that had sucked in Mew.

It only had seconds to get out of the way of the blue bolt. The same one it had dodged before.

Bahamut was sending his own attacks through portals? Impossible! Mewtwo couldn't do that. But it was the strongest! It had to be! That was why it was created!

"We were friends!" Bahamut descended toward the mouth of the volcano. Mewtwo couldn't teleport fast enough to catch it. "Friends bonding over our shared origins! Or so I thought."

Hissing, Mewtwo fired two Shadow Balls, then started gathering an Ice Beam in its hands. Bahamut shredded both Shadow Balls, but was unprepared for the Ice Beam. Blue ice splattered across his crystal chest while he roared in anger.

Mewtwo smiled gleefully. This was where it turned the tide. Where it seized mom—

Was that lava heading directly for it?

"You were using me, weren't you?" Bahamut said. His body glowed pink as he steered a large glob of lava in Mewtwo's direction. It teleported several meters away. That wasn't good enough. The lava was still coming.

"I told you to run away, but you didn't!" Bahamut continued. "Those dreams you shared with me… were nothing but lies! They were all his orders, weren't they? Trying to get to me! To abuse me just like everyone else!"

With a loud grunt, Mewtwo wrestled psychic control of the lava from Bahamut. It flung it into the ocean, where it'd cool into… some stupid looking rock, probably. Maybe.

... It might've deep fried a few dozen fish in the process. Such was life.

Bahamut wasn't done, though. Now he was shooting glowing rocks through the air. Power Gem. This was getting frustrating.

Mewtwo weaved around the first two rocks, then blasted two more with a small Shadow Ball. It teleported behind Bahamut. Surely, it would be too slow to turn around and—

The dragon spat a blue bolt forward... into a portal. Another one opened in front of Mewtwo. It brought its arms together, deflecting the Dragon Pulse with a blue barrier. The moment the attack faded, Mewtwo teleported right behind Bahamut, and sprayed the dragon's golden back with an Ice Beam.

That got another furious roar. Bahamut lurched forward. His pained cries were oh so satisfying. Even with all his fancy tricks, Mewtwo could still get the upper hand. It just had to be ready for the counteratt—

Mewtwo teleported a few meters below Bahamut, watching his golden tail swipe at nothing but air. It fired a Shadow Ball right into the dragon's ethereal rump. Payback for Mewtwo's earlier humiliation on Birth Island.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Bahamut thrashed in midair. His pain turned to agony. Excellent. Mewtwo was going to complete its mission after all.

Two portals opened on either side of it. Mewtwo shot up before Bahamut's wings could squish in, then teleported forward while a Dragon Pulse sailed hopelessly behind it. The dragon was getting desperate. Mewtwo was getting to him. Perfect.

It shot a Shadow Ball toward Bahamut's crystal face, but that one was a feint. Bahamut snuffed it out with a burst of pink energy, leaving Mewtwo open to strike the back of Bahamut's head with an Ice Beam.

This time, it didn't let up. Curling back its lips, Mewtwo kept the ice going. Harder. Harder. More power.

Bahamut screamed. Ice and frost coated his head. Blue trickled across gold. His ethereal glow dimmed. Mewtwo had to keep going. It would freeze this dragon solid if it meant showing him that it was superior.

However, Mewtwo sensed a familiar aura. Two auras, actually. Boss and his honchkrow. Had he felled the child? He must have, because a Master Ball came flying in from below. It struck Bahamut's left foot... and plinked off harmlessly.

Mewtwo glanced at Boss. What about Mew? The child had her. Had Boss taken her?

It got its answer. Boss snapped his fingers. Teeth gritted, Mewtwo halted its Ice Beam. Its arms and hands burned from holding the attack that long.

Boss balanced carefully atop Honchkrow. "A respectable effort, but it ends here, you overgrown feral."

Bahamut managed to shake the ice away from his face, but a part of his crystal face sloughed off, landing on the volcano's rim. His head tendrils throbbed. A red tint took over his body. A sign of his rage? Mewtwo held its arms at the ready, just in case.

"Where is the child?!" Bahamut's telepathic voice boomed. Mewtwo imagined boss heard it, too.

"Tending to his injured pokémon." Boss smirked. "Whether he remains safe comes down to your cooperation." He lifted another Master Ball out of his pocket. "Oh, and I suppose her fate is in your nonexistent hands, as well."

He opened the ball. Red light spewed forward. Honchkrow snapped at it with his beak... and plucked a weakened Mew out of the light. He clamped his beak around Mew's neck. She squealed in pain.

Bahamut's eyes simmered like the lava bubbling beneath them. "No..."

Mewtwo quirked a brow. That wasn't telepathy. He spoke in human tongues?

"Tell me where your poké ball is... or my pet is going to enjoy a very rare snack." Boss stroked the side of Honchkrow's head.

"You wouldn't!" Bahamut lashed at the air with his tail.

Boss snapped his fingers. Honchkrow clamped down further. Mew's weak flailing stopped. Cyanosis crept across her paws and face.

"I only need a complete sample of her DNA. It matters not if she's dead or alive," Boss scoffed. "It's all up to you. Serve Team Rocket like the tool you are... or watch your friends' lives slip away."

Bahamut stared Boss down. His multicolored eyes were impossible to read, but Mewtwo's ESP told it the dragon's rage was building. Mewtwo clenched its fists, ready to strike in case Bahamut tried anything funny.

"... all the same..."

Amused, Boss tilted his head slightly. "Come again?"

"Every place. Every planet. All the same." Bahamut's entire body pulsated with light. "Not again. I won't..."

Mewtwo drew on its psionics. It sought to bind Bahamut in place in midair, even if it took all its strength.

"I won't let anyone hurt me again!"

A massive explosion of golden light slammed into Mewtwo, hammering it down into the volcano's rim. The impact sent the most intense pain it had ever felt coursing down its entire body. And then... it felt nothing below its neck.

Its vision was fuzzy, but it couldn't sense its arms or legs. Couldn't move them. Each breath was a struggle.

What had just happened? Mewtwo tried concentrating. It saw something small and black freefalling.

Boss. Mewtwo had to save him. But it couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but watch as its creator fell into the lava, leaving behind nothing but brief flames.

Bahamut wasn't done, however. His anguished roars split apart the air over the volcano. Now the dragon had the boy and Mew in his psychic grasp. He dropped them through a portal, before turning and locking eyes with Mewtwo.

It tried to do something. Move a limb. A muscle. Anything below its neck.

There was a brief flash, then pressure in Mewtwo's right shoulder. Now every breath was even more of a struggle.

Mewtwo gave a gasp, then a gurgle. Heavy fluid was pooling in its throat. Blood, probably. Mewtwo couldn't turn its head, but saw the culprit out of the corner of its eye.

The chunk of crystal its Ice Beam had dislodged from Bahamut's face sat firmly embedded in its shoulder. If it hadn't lost all feeling, Mewtwo imagined it would be in excruciating pain.

Bahamut continued grunting and snarling like an enraged feral. He clutched his head with his upper wings. "Scum. Vile scum." The dragon thrashed about in midair. "Aesir. This planet doesn't deserve it. These souls would taint it. They deserve... destruction, alongside Eternatus."

What was his blabbering about?

It didn't matter. Mewtwo had lost. It wasn't the strongest. It had become prey... and its hunter was about to strike the killing blow.

"Have to... draw it here..." Bahamut rose into the sky. "One strike. One Photon Geyser... to summon it!"

The last thing Mewtwo saw was a massive ball of golden light heading for the volcano. It didn't try to struggle in vain. It simply bowed its head and yielded to the inevitable.

XxX​

May 29, 20XX
It's my fault. I'm sure of it.

Every station was talking about it. Cinnabar Island sunk into the ocean by a strike from a giant dragon of golden light. Fuchsia flooded by the resulting tsunami.

Who knows how many perished?

It matters not, because it proved to just be a preamble. As I sit here writing this, something truly monstrous has blotted out the sun itself. It's like the palm of a planet-sized hand, with one of its fingers lingering over Kanto.

People are pouring onto the streets. Some to stare in awe. Others to try and flee underground.

I do not think it will do them any good.

No doubt, I brought about this punishment. I tried to defy Mother Nature, and She took notice. Took notice and sent agents of unfathomable power to judge the entire planet for the actions of a select few.

All I wanted was to see my sweet Amber again. I never meant for things to spiral out of control like this. If I could, I'd go back and refuse his offer. Or sabotage the project so it could never have reached the point it did.

If, by some miracle, anyone finds this journal, then know this: we dreamed of creating the world's strongest pokémon... and we failed.

~Wataru Fuji

XxX​

Mewtwo gasped. Its eyes snapped open, then immediately closed from the blinding white light. It hissed in annoyance.

"Dang it, Nova! I said red light. Red!" exclaimed an unfamiliar voice with a... digital tint to it. "Yes, that switch on the right." A mechanical sigh. "Good. Sorry about that, buddy. Place should be easier on the eyes."

Mewtwo was much slower to open its eyes this time. The room had a high, gray ceiling with red lights, but that was all Mewtwo could see. Any attempts to move met with failure. Even its head, which was the last thing it remembered being able to move.

"Sorry about the restraints, big fella." The voice chuckled nervously. "We needed them in place to pump all that seawater out of your lungs and stomach. And, uh, from the look of things, you'll have to put up with them until we can fix your spine up."

Water inside its hollow organs?

... Right. That infernal dragon had pinned it onto Cinnabar's volcano, then charged up some sort of massive attack. Mewtwo must've gone down with the island... and someone fished it up.

But if it had drowned... wouldn't it be dead?

"He's confused," a new voice exclaimed. Was that the "Nova" the first voice was addressing?

"I can see that, Nova. But no point overloading him with information right now."

Him?

No, Mewtwo was an it. A weapon.

... A failed weapon.

Failed weapons didn't deserve any acknowledgement. They deserved to be tossed away like the trash they were.

Finally, a gray, reptilian head poked into Mewtwo's view. But this reptile... was mechanical? A robot? Its yellow-blue eyes were screens, not eyeballs. Eyes that gave off purple and yellow sparks like they were stupidly long eyelashes.

"Good to see you're awake, pal." Lizard Bot bobbed his head, showing off his large, purple casque. "Unfortunately, I've got to put you back to sleep. We have a lot of work to do to fix you up."

Lizard Bot winked at Mewtwo. "Don't worry, though. Ol' Miraidon'll do his best to get you up on your feet again."

Up on its feet? What was the point. It was nothing but a failed weapon. Hardly worth this "Miraidon" person's time.

Mewtwo couldn't object, however. Because Miraidon brought some sort of plastic mask toward Mewtwo's face. Within a matter of seconds, it had drifted off back to sleep.

XxX​

It had no idea how much time had passed. Mewtwo lost track of how many times Miraidon woke it from slumber and asked it to do mundane things like wiggling its toes or pointing at him with different fingers.

The right arm was still a problem, though. The shard from Bahamut's crystal face was still wedged in there.

Miraidon hovered at Mewtwo's right side. "I've gone through a lot of scenarios. Trying to figure out how we can get thing out of you." He pointed to the crystal with a metal claw. "But I can't see a path forward. It's pierced too many vital structures."

If it was a waste of time, then Miraidon should have simply left Mewtwo alone. Except Miraidon wasn't Boss. He didn't have that same absolute control Boss had. Which meant Mewtwo would need to make its wishes known. And that meant... speaking through the mind, right?

Except just trying to concentrate on its psychic power made it dizzy. The red lights overhead blurred together.

That wouldn't do. There had to be something it could try. After observing humans speaking for months, maybe it picked up on enough? It was intelligent. Or supposed to be.

Concentrate. Focus. Move the lips. Tighten the throat.

"Don't… bother…"

… There. Perfect.

Miraidon frowned. "Don't bother with what?"

"Helping… me." Mewtwo sucked in a sharp breath. "I'm—"

"Not worth it?"

That was Nova's voice. He was perturbed. "I warned you, Mira. You saw the scans. It's going to be an uphill battle."

Mewtwo tried to move, but it was exhausted despite just waking up.

"You are worth the time," Nova said. "Even if you don't think it."

Miraidon looked past Mewtwo. "I admire your enthusiasm, Nova. And I see where you're coming from." He gestured to the crystal in Mewtwo's right shoulder. "But how do you propose we handle this?"

"Imbue the crystal with Malice."

"Are you mad?" Miraidon's eyes flickered like dying lightbulbs. "We have no idea how he'd respond to something like that."

"He can't move his right arm and has other functional impairments," Nova countered. "If we gradually infuse Malice into the crystal, he can build up a tolerance to it."

Miraidon crossed his arms. "How gradual are you talking?"

"Possibly decades."

Mewtwo didn't like this idea. The mere name "Malice" sounded like a terrifying prospect, but Mewtwo was completely at their mercy. It was their prey.

This pounding in its chest must have been what all its targets felt when it confronted them.

Something bubbled in its stomach. Guilt? Mewtwo wasn't entirely sure.

But maybe the Malice would have side effects. Maybe it would let Mewtwo forget its humiliating loss.

"Do it," Mewtwo rasped.

Miraidon's eyes displayed exclamation points. "Are you sure? You heard Nova, right? We might have to keep you asleep for a very long time."

Mewtwo narrowed its eyes at Miraidon. "Do it."

A mechanical sigh followed. "Very well. If you understand the risks, then we'll proceed." He looked past Mewtwo. "Nova, I expect you to be on top of this."

"Absolutely."

XxX​

Mewtwo stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror, glaring at its reflection. It ran its left hand across its darkened skin, then grabbed its tail to look at the yellow, ethereal glow it now had. The same glow as the crystal in Mewtwo's right shoulder. No longer an inert gem. It pulsated with power. Unfamiliar power.

Yet that power was what let Mewtwo move its right arm and breathe easier than it had before. And it somehow kept its body from atrophying, so it was clearly something special. Though Mewtwo had to sacrifice its teleportation abilities to regain the use of its right arm. It had no doubt that would prove a difficult adjustment.

"How are you feeling?"

Mewtwo's frown deepened. It was Nova. Mewtwo was sick of this "type: full" checking in on it. It was a powerful weapon, not some dainty fledgling taking its first steps from the nest.

Perhaps being blunt would shoo Nova off. "Bad," Mewtwo grunted. It turned to the type: full, casting a judgmental look at his black and white, zebstrika-like pelt, clumps of turquois scales, and gold, insectoid forelegs.

Spoiler: Nova the type: full

"Well, hey, at least it's not 'terrible' or 'miserable.'" Nova wagged his turquoise fish tail. An absolute eyesore. "That's progress."

Bluntness didn't work. Onto intimidation, then.

Mewtwo's tail lashed against the mirror. A high-pitched ding reverberated through the room. Nova's triangular ears folded slightly. Satisfaction pinched at Mewtwo's second neck.

"I think I get it." Sighing, Nova pivoted to his right. "You don't want me around. Probably got a lot on your mind." His blue eyes scanned the gray metal wall, even though Mewtwo was sure he knew it was empty. "It's a lot to take in."

Maybe it was, but Mewtwo was intelligent enough to understand what had happened. Earth was absorbed by a titan known as Eternatus. Now it, along with the entire planet, were inside the titan. In some sort of galactic purgatory. And the Malice that was used to fix Mewtwo was Eternatus' energy.

Energy it could produce from absolutely nothing, which was utterly illogical. Such a power violated the most basic laws of thermodynamics. Even a weapon like Mewtwo needed to get the power for its attacks from somewhere.

Mewtwo pinched its brow and shook its head. Why couldn't Nova get the message and leave? It wanted to be alone.

"You can talk to me," Nova said. The type: full lowered his head. His necklace ruffled his white fur. "Bottling things up will only make it easier for the Malice to overtake you."

Mewtwo growled its annoyance and clenched its fists. "I don't want to talk. Weapons don't talk."

Nova frowned. Mewtwo studied his face. That weird mix of white fur and a gold, robot beak. Was Nova... pitying it?

"You want to know what I'm thinking?" Mewtwo took a step toward Nova. Its right shoulder burned. The crystal glowed brighter. "I'm thinking... of the most efficient way to kill you. Do I crush your skull with Psychic? Pull apart your inner circuitry? Or simply grind you into dust with a relentless onslaught of Shadow Balls?"

Mewtwo firmed up its stance, practically daring Nova to call it out for such cruel remarks.

Instead, the type: full smirked. "Well, that's colorful." He tilted his head. "And, deep down, I'm wondering what would happen if I slashed open that second neck of yours. Would you go limp? Lose control of certain bodily functions?"

Nova crouched slightly. Playfully? What the hell was he doing?

"And your tail! It's fused with your abdomen. What would happen if I sliced it off?"

Mewtwo stepped back. It almost lost its footing. Was Nova messing with it? Such violent rhetoric mixed with such a cheerful tone. Jokes weren't things weapons needed to be concerned with, but Mewtwo was pretty sure this was not how one was meant to joke around.

Sighing, Nova stood up tall. "Dang, I thought you'd catch on quicker. Guess you're still pretty out of it."

Now, Mewtwo had to say something. "Are you mocking me?"

Nova shook his head. "You're intelligent. I figured you had already connected the dots."

"About what?"

Nova's expression sharpened. "That you're not the only living weapon birthed by science."

Mewtwo's gaze fell to its feet. It shifted about silently. In the back of its head, it had considered such a possibility. Between the "type: full" designation and Nova's odd, piecemeal design, there was nothing about him that screamed natural. But some illogical part of Mewtwo's mind steered it away from those thoughts.

Was it pride? It wasn't like being a creation was something to be proud of.

"So what?" Mewtwo muttered. "I don't want your pity. Pity is for the weak."

"And you're strong. You're a killer." Sighing, Nova shook his head. In a strange accent, he declared, "We're not so different, you and I."

Mewtwo glared at him. Nova chuckled. "Aww, c'mon. It's from a movie!"

Movies? The moving, talking pictures that humans liked? What purpose did watching movies serve?

... Nothing.

"I don't care." Mewtwo stepped forward. "Stand aside." It stood tall, trying to make it clear it would shove Nova out of the way if necessary.

However, Nova stepped toward Mewtwo. "Matriarch built me and my siblings to carry out Her will," he said, expression stern. "For the longest time, I believed in everything She said. Completed every order without so much as flinching."

Mewtwo's yellow tail twitched. It recalled mention of Matriarch before. Some sort of... ruler of this realm?

"Even though I saw the anguish on other people's faces, Matriarch convinced me that they were wrong," Nova continued. The bird-like crest over his head drooped slightly. "That I was wrong to ask questions about them. She told me— no, all of us that only She knew what was right for us. What was good for us."

A shudder ran down to Nova's fish tail. It all sounded... vaguely familiar to Mewtwo. But it wasn't quite the same. "Why do you speak plurally?"

"Because I'm not the only type: full." Nova looked down. "I'm actually the prototype. Matriarch produced more. Ones that wouldn't think for themselves, so they wouldn't question Her orders."

Now that rang a bell. "Right." Mewtwo crossed its arms. "Weapons don't think. They act."

Nova bobbed his head. "But you're not just a weapon. You're a person. With thoughts, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. You deserve to live your own life." Nova looked down, curling his gold talons slightly. "It took me far too long to realize that... and now I'm trying to rectify that."

He offered Mewtwo a shaky smile. "And that starts with helping someone I can relate to."

Mewtwo looked at the type: full, brow furrowed. It crossed its arms and looked away. "Well, I don't need help. What I need... is to be stronger. Strong enough to defeat the dragon that humiliated me."

Nova's tail drooped. "Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. But it should be your desire. Not someone else's."

He turned away from Mewtwo. "Good talk, I guess? Mira says you can have a bit more time before we have to start your next treatment."

Talons scraped metal as Nova left the room. Mewtwo turned back to the mirror, tail lazily drifting back and forth.

"... my own desire," it whispered.

XxX​

Mewtwo sat awkwardly on a metal stool, hunched over and staring across the bright white room... at Mew.

There were, apparently, plenty of mew in Eternatus. But Nova had somehow tracked down the one from Earth. The one it had hunted down and harmed. It was tough not to snarl at Mew. It wasn't her fault that damned dragon went berserk and... felled Mewtwo.

Still, Mewtwo thought this was stupid. Nova wanted it to apologize to Mew. For what? It was carrying out its orders. If anything, the dragon should apologize for messing up its mission.

A metal beak nudged Mewtwo's tail. It sighed. "Hello... Mew. I'm here to... say I'm sorry."

Mew tilted her head. Her eyes were so large. Brimming with curiosity.

... It was nauseating.

Nova nudged Mewtwo's tail again. It took a lot of restraint not to snap at the type: full. "I'm sorry... that you were my target. It was... wrong to hunt you down. Try to capture you... and stuff."

Silence hung in the air. Mewtwo could've dropped a pin and it would ring throughout the room.

Mew floated forward... and bonked Mewtwo's head.

Its blue eyes flickered red. "What was that for?"

"Mew mewmew mew!" she squeaked.

Mewtwo blinked incredulously. Eternatus' freaky insides were supposed to synchronize everyone to one language. Yet Mew spoke like a feral.

"I, uh—" Mewtwo was at a loss for words.

Mew bonked Mewtwo's head again, then blew a raspberry at it. She floated off, cheeks puffed out. Mewtwo turned to Nova, shoulders sagging.

"Well, that was—" Nova looked at the floor, squinting, "—something. How do you feel?"

"Like a loser," Mewtwo hissed.

Nova offered a shaky smile. "At least you're being honest. That's good, right?"

"Hardly." The crystal in Mewtwo's shoulder sparked. "This was a waste of time."

The type: full sat down. "My mistake. I think I... overestimated your situation."

Mewtwo narrowed its eyes. "Overestimated?"

"Your mental state," Nova continued. "You can certainly reason and think for yourself... but it looks like whoever controlled you neutered your emotional intelligence."

"Emotions are for the weak." Mewtwo snorted. Its tail flicked to its right. "They only get in the way."

"That's because you were forced to think that way," Nova countered. "You're not being controlled anymore, so there's no need to—"

"It's not about control!" Mewtwo snapped. Psychic energy brimmed in its hands as it stomped its right foot down. "It's about power! Being the strongest! I was supposed to be undefeatable... until one stupid dragon destroyed me with a single attack."

It turned away from Nova. "And now... I'm supposed to accept this ridiculous idea that I'm 'only kind of dead,' but trapped inside some giant creature full of unimaginable power?" Mewtwo clenched its fists. Its shoulder tingled from the Malice Crystal sparking with dark energy. "All while my long slumbers are plagued by constant repeats of the dragon humiliating me?"

Mewtwo couldn't hold it in anymore. It pivoted left... and threw a psychically-charged punch at its stool. The seat on top dented, but didn't break. Pain shot through Mewtwo's right hand. It pulled its throbbing hand back and stared at it, teeth gritted.

"... you don't get to stand there and tell me what I can think," it whispered. "I don't care if you're artificial. You don't know what I've been through."

Silence followed. Nova stepped back, crest drooping. "I didn't know you were having nightmares," he whispered. "You could've told one of us."

"Why, so you could try and 'fix' it?" Mewtwo growled. "I told you, I don't want your help. I... I just—"

The energy dissipated. Mewtwo hardly did anything, yet it was exhausted. It slumped down onto its rear, arms draped at its sides.

"What's the point of fixing me? I have nothing left," Mewtwo whispered. "Defeating enemies with overwhelming power was my purpose. What do I do without that purpose?"

If Boss were here, he would have undoubtedly called the gesture for what it was: pathetic.

But he wasn't. Nova was. And the type: full padded up to Mewtwo's side, and slid onto his belly beside it. "That's the beautiful part: you can decide that for yourself. It doesn't have to be today. Or tomorrow. Or even this year. But if you keep moving forward, you'll find that purpose."

Mewtwo didn't make eye contact. "How do you know?"

"Because when I abandoned Matriarch, I didn't know what to do with myself, either," Nova confessed. "I wandered from planet to planet for a while — stowing away in ships and transporters to avoid detection — until I met Mira. He took me to his moonbase... and I felt that spark helping him rehabilitate people while fighting against Matriarch's forces."

Tail sticking up, Mewtwo finally met Nova's soft gaze. "I beg your pardon?"

It took a second for Nova to realize what he said. When he did, the type: full's blue eyes lit up and he laughed. "Wow, I probably should've led with that earlier, huh?"

Mewtwo glowered at Nova. "Take this seriously."

"Okay, okay." Nova took a deep breath to dispel his last few chuckles. "Your purpose was to fight, right?"

"Fight to impose Team Rocket's vision upon the world," Mewtwo interjected.

"... charming." Nova grinned sheepishly when Mewtwo glared at him. "Anyway, what's stopping you from retooling that purpose under a different cause? Like, instead of fighting for organized crime, fight to help free Eternatus from Matriarch's control."

Mewtwo crossed its arms. It wasn't an idiot. It saw immediate flaws with that idea. "If it was really that simple, wouldn't you have taken Matriarch out on your own?"

Nova flinched. "Got me there." He brushed his gold forelegs against one another. "Truth is that, yeah, Mira and I have been trying to put together a team. To start a rebellion. But it's proving a lot more difficult than I expected."

"And you think a failed weapon will be the difference maker?" Mewtwo looked down at its dark gray hands. "You already mutated me with Eternatus' energy. That makes me a liability, not an ally."

"It's not like I'd be sending you out to fight the Paradigm right away." Nova sounded exasperated. "Yeah, it'll take a while. A long while. But time is a luxury we happen to have inside Eternatus."

He extended his right foreleg toward Mewtwo. "If you stick with me, I promise to make sure you're free of any possible Malice side effects. And I'll help you claim an identity of your own."

Mewtwo quirked a brow at Nova's foreleg. "What's in it for you?"

"Your company."

"Excu—" Saliva went down the wrong pipe and Mewtwo broke into a coughing fit. Nova... wanted to spend time with it? Despite all Mewtwo's attempts to push the type: full away?

The back of Mewtwo's head throbbed. It briefly saw a mental image of a gold silhouette in the middle of windswept plains.

"Sorry. I just thought... because we have things in common, we'd make good friends."

Mewtwo rubbed the back of its head.

It had said that once, hadn't it? When and where? Mewtwo had never seen that memory before.

... Or had it?

"You want... my company?" it whispered, staring again at Nova's foreleg.

"Everyone can do with a friend," Nova whispered back. "Even if they don't think it."

Mewtwo looked into Nova's eyes, then back at his foreleg, and then at his eyes again. It fidgeted with its hands and squirmed and place. Mewtwo didn't know the first thing about being a friend. Or, rather, the basic knowledge was there, but the tools needed to apply that knowledge practically were not.

But how could it say that without trying? That would be... like declaring an attack beyond its capabilities without training.

... Yes. Friendship wasn't beyond Mewtwo's abilities. It simply needed training, like with anything else.

"I... suppose so," Mewtwo muttered. It put its left hand on the floor. Its left thumb crossed one of Nova's talons.

Though brief, a chill ran down Mewtwo's neck tube. It was... strangely pleasant?

"Great!" The blue, scaly underside of Nova's tail scraped against the floor. Both of them flinched. "Whoops!" He looked back at his hindquarters. "Tails, am I right? Kinda jealous yours is prehensile. Wish they'd factored that into my designs."

Mewtwo scratched its head. "D... do people normally christen their friendships by talking about their backsides?"

"No. It was a joke." Nova stood up, chuckling. "If you want something to mark the occasion, how about a name?"

"I have a name. I am Mewtwo."

"No, that's your designation," Nova said. "Like how I'm a type: full."

"But I am the only Mewtwo."

Nova shrugged. "I still think you could use a proper name. Something to help you build your own sense of identity." He walked in front of Mewtwo and crouched down. "So, lemme ask ya. Do you see yourself as masculine? Feminine? Nonbinary?" Nova paused. "I can list others if those don't work."

"No, that's fine." Mewtwo got to its feet. "I suppose... I feel a certain tug with, erm, masculinity?" It rubbed the back of its head. This was beyond awkward.

Nova's eyes lit up. "Great! Then I've got the perfect name."

"And that is?"

"Gene. You're Mewtwo Gene!" Nova's tail wagged. "What do you think?"

After about a minute letting the name roll around in it— no, his head, Gene nodded slowly.

"... I can work with that."

XxX​

Gene sprang back, but didn't put enough power into his legs. The blue, glowing blade grazed his belly. Gene tumbled through the air. He sensed someone coming up from behind. Fighting and steel energy. Zamazenta?

He thrusted both hands forward. Flames shot out, turning him into a large, fiery wheel. There was a startled yip. Gene sailed past Zamazenta, then steadied himself and dispelled the flames. Though the mewtwo wanted to attack him, Zacian was sailing through the air, blade at the ready.

"Nnngh." Gene raised his hands to try catching Zacian with his ESP. But Zamazenta's shield glowed a fiery crimson. He lunged for Gene, knocking the mewtwo back.

"All right, I think that's a good stopping point."

Nova trotted onto the tan arena, cheek bolts slowly turning in their sockets. "So, what do you think?" he looked at Gene. "These two are pretty great, right?"

Gene crossed his arms. "Real pokémon don't need weapons to fight." He cast a judgmental look at Zacian.

"My blade can cut through just about anything when I'm concentrating," she boasted. Her sword vanished in a stream of blue and gold light, taking her gold crown and wing-like armor plates with it. She shook herself out. "It sounds more like jealousy to me."

"Agreed," Zamazenta grunted. Like his older sister, the gold shield around his head vanished, letting him stretch his neck out. "You could criticize her, or you could try it for yourself."

Gene tilted his head. Try what for himself?

"I don't know, brother." Smirking, Zacian shook her head. "Gene does not strike me as the creative type. I bet he couldn't come up with a decent weapon no matter how much psychic power he has."

"Is that a challenge?" Gene cracked his knuckles, then tilted his neck from side to side until his spine popped. "I can come up with a psychic weapon. Check it."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Gene clapped his hands together. Pink energy brimmed in his hands. He focused on that energy. It was slippery, but the mewtwo could make it malleable. The first step was to solidify it, which happened when he held his hands together like a circular cup.

Good. Now, Gene needed to expand it; keep things solid while adding more psionic material to it. He envisioned a resistance band in his hands and slowly pulled. His arm muscles tensed. Gene exhaled slowly. The pink bubble elongated into a pink rectangular prism. Gene stretched it further, until it was practically his wingspan.

The last part was shaping it. The mewtwo's eyes glowed a deep blue. A blue circle traced itself along one end of the pink prism, then carved out a small circular basin.

Gene planted his weapon down like a staff. "Done!" He flashed a toothy grin at Nova.

"It's... a spoon?" Nova tilted his head. Zacian and Zamazenta exchanged amused looks.

"Ah, yes, truly terrifying." Zamazenta's words dripped with sarcasm. "I'm quaking in terror."

"Oi, don't knock the spoon." Gene slashed the air to his right, then whirled left and thrust the spoon. "Alakazam use small ones for their attacks. So, a big one should let me do even stronger strikes."

"Uh-huh." Zacian approached her brother's side. "I think we'd best leave him to Nova. Perhaps he's dehydrated or something?"

The two dogs headed for the double doors on the other side of the arena. Gene dispelled the spoon in a flurry of pink mist. "Cowards!" he called. "You're just afraid I'd spoon your butts into next week!"

Nova stumbled with a squawk. His blue eyes widened. "I, uh, think you might want to rephrase that one."

Gene stared blankly. "Why?"

"Err... never mind." Nova recomposed himself. "So, what did you think?"

"You're right. They're formidable," the mewtwo said. "I'm sure they'll prove valuable allies."

"And what about you?" Nova got closer, tilting his head. "You've been sparring a lot now. For what it's worth, I don't think you looked as... aggressive."

Gene frowned. "Yeah, but I was sloppy." His shoulders sagged. "I was trying to keep my... killer instincts in check. I'm not well-suited for that kind of multitasking."

"Or it takes a lot of getting used to," Nova said, winking. "Regardless, I'm proud of you. You've made a lot of progress."

The mewtwo's cheeks burned. "... tch. You're just saying that."

Nova nudged Gene's chin with his beak. Gene's tail scrunched up. "Nngh. Cut it out!"

"What did I tell you about the negative self-talk?" Nova asked, smirking.

Gene pouted. "That's it beneath me."

"I don't think I phrased it like that, but close enough." Nova chuckled. "You sure you're not picking up some humor from all the movies we're watching?"

"Please. Any pyukumuku with half a brain could do that." Gene rolled his eyes. "I'm a super-intelligent being. I could absorb details about those movies in my sleep."

Nova grinned. "Ah, some boasting!" He playfully nudged Gene's left shoulder. "Way better than self-deprecation."

Gene's cheeks burned again. The type: full always knew how to catch him off guard.

In the past, Gene wouldn't have stood for that. Now he found it... charming?

... Yeah. Charming enough to give the mewtwo goosebumps.

"If you're going to stare into space, you can at least tell me what you're thinking." Nova crossed his right foreleg over his left. His necklace brushed against his white fur.

"Thinking?" Mewtwo scratched his nose. "I was thinking... about how much longer you intend to keep this operation in the planning stages. You've got Miraidon and the dogs. And that stupid espeon who seems obsessed with you."

Nova winced. "Yeah, I'm doing my best to ignore Selene's... enthusiasm."

"I could wipe her memories for you," Gene offered, lifting his right hand.

"No. We need all the help we can get," Nova said. "Even hers."

Gene frowned. "Then you still don't think we're ready?"

"I'm not sure." Nova sat on his haunches. "I'm still making this up as we go."

"Yeah. And I recall saying improvisation is not my strong suit," Gene scoffed.

"Is that so?" Nova got up and approached Gene. He brushed his side against the mewtwo's. "Maybe we need to... make a few changes to your training regimen?"

If Gene's face wasn't red before, it certainly was now.

XxX​

The stasis capsule was a gray, metal tube with dark, one-way glass. Gene stood in front of it with his right hand braced against the door. "I have to do this, don't I?"

"We both know it's the safest thing to do," Nova said. Gene didn't bother looking at him. How could he after that slip up? The last Paradigm daemon almost turned him against Zacian and Zamazenta. Those aggressive urges Gene had worked so hard to control tugged at the edges of his psyche. His mind was like a barricade and those urges were chipping away at it.

"I get it." Gene's shoulders sagged. "But that means... I can't help with the final assault, can I?"

Nova appeared on the mewtwo's left, shaking his head. "We've come too far."

Gene sucked in a heavy breath. The tip of his Malice Crystal glistened in the one-way glass. "I know. That doesn't make it sting any less."

Nova leaned his head on Gene's left shoulder. "I want you there. But I wouldn't know what to do with myself if Matriarch got control of you."

Gene tilted his head. Warmth flooded his face as his cheek brushed Nova's fur and metal cheek bolt. "I don't want to lose you," he whispered. A part of Gene was shocked he even managed to admit that out loud. How things change.

"I won't let that happen," Nova said. "We have a plan. Chiron knows her way around Valhalla. Even if there's resistance, we can take the most direct path to Eternatus' core."

The mewtwo still had a hard time believing the archbishop had defected to Nova's cause, but supposedly she had fled Eternatus and spent time living on the planet it had just been sealed inside.

"And you trust her?" Gene asked.

"I do."

"What about her husband?" Gene hadn't met the guy. Only heard about some sentient black crystal that fought alongside Chiron.

"He's proven himself a capable fighter. And he's a total grouch, too." Nova playfully nibbled Gene's shoulder. "I think you two would hit it off."

Gene rolled his eyes. "Very funny."

"Look, the two had a kid together. That's gotta mean something, right?" Nova exclaimed, breaking off the embrace.

"I guess." Gene sighed and opened the tube's glass door. "Nothing left to do but hope it all works out, then."

Nova nudged the mewtwo's side. "Hey, look at that. Talking about your hopes." The type: full smiled. His fish tail wagged.

Gene blinked a few times until the realization sunk in. He blushed. "Y-Yes, well." Gene coughed into his left hand. "I guess I finally found my dream... like you told me to."

"Gonna share it?" Nova raised a brow.

The mewtwo shakily turned to Nova. "I want to be at your side... to greet the dawn of a new era in this alien realm."

Nova's tail wagged faster. "How poetic. Maybe some of those romance flicks rubbed off on you after all?" He winked, deepening Gene's blush.

"Don't ruin the moment," Gene growled. He took a few breaths to steady himself, then braced his left arm against the side of the stasis tube. "Stay safe out there."

"Good luck," Nova whispered.

"Same to you."

Gene climbed into the tube. He pulled the plastic mask over his face, then heard the hydraulic hisses of the closing door.

It wasn't long before he drifted to sleep.

XxX​

When Gene woke up, the stasis tube door didn't open. There was no rush of cool air to great him. In fact, the mask on his face wasn't even producing any oxygen. Gene pulled it off. It detached from the top of the tube and struck his head.

Growling his frustrations, Gene blasted the mask and the door with a point blank Psybeam. The glass shattered and spilled out onto the floor.

Immediately, Gene went on alert. Instead of the lab's bright white lights, all he saw were some dull red glows in the corner. The facility's emergency lighting. Why was it active? Was there a power failure?

The mewtwo floated out of the broken tube to find the lab was but a shell of how he remembered it. Overturned tables, shattered monitors and glass beakers. And so, so much dust.

His heart rate quickened. The Malice Crystal burned in his shoulder.

How long had he been asleep? Where was Nova? Where was Nova?

Gene lunged for the door. It didn't slide open. The glass windows beside it were cracked. Claw marks ran across the walls.

The mewtwo fired one Shadow Ball, then another. The door flew off its hinges and hit the opposite wall with a clang. Gene found the hallway as dark as the lab. Only a smattering of emergency lights.

More claw marks lined the walls, practically alternating with patches of scorched metal and huge dents.

Someone had attacked this place. But who... and why?

Gene's yellow-tipped tail twitched. He sensed a powerful psychic aura not too far ahead. Resounding thumps echoed throughout the hallway. The mewtwo wasn't sure what to expect... until he finally laid eyes on a clump of black crystals repeatedly punching the wall.

And through those motions, Gene was able to glimpse an eight-pointed star on the back of what he assumed was the big crystal's head.

Eight-pointed... star...

It all came rushing back to the surface. The golden dragon's roars of fury. His blindingly fast attacks. Gene getting impaled with part of the dragon's face before being left for dead.

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked. He let his Shadow Balls do the talking, hurling two of them right at the crystal, who didn't notice them until it was too late.

"Where are they, Bahamut?!" Gene snarled. The Malice Crystal was glowing and Gene felt its power coursing through him.

Bahamut slowly rose into the air. A dim rainbow prism sparked underneath all the black crystals. "You," he whispered. "So, you were the mutts' ally."

"Where's Nova?!" The mewtwo fired another Shadow Ball. Bahamut caught it in his psychic grip and smashed it against the wall to his right.

"Gone," Bahamut rasped. "They're all... gone. And it's... still here." He scraped his claws against the wall. "Never good enough. I need power. More power."

The rational part of Gene's mind might have said Bahamut's answer was too fragmented to make sense. However, Gene's emotions were fully in control.

Nova had told Gene he trusted Bahamut. And that trust was betrayed.

The type: full was gone. Gene's dream was dead. All because of Bahamut.

He had to pay. Gene had to avenge Nova.

Bahamut wasn't a golden dragon. Gene had the Malice Crystal.

With a feral screech, Gene shot a massive Shadow Ball at Bahamut. He tried teleporting past it, but Gene was ready. He formed his psychic spoon and slashed Bahamut. Over and over and over again. Bahamut tried to fight back, but the mewtwo parried every swipe of his big, crystal arms.

"Nova was a good person! He believed in me when I wouldn't!" Gene drove the spoon into Bahamut's rainbow prism. "He trusted you! I trusted you! This is all your fault!"

Gene cleaved Bahamut's crystal form in half and blasted both sides away. He hunched over, glaring with all the hatred he could muster. Rage he had spent all this time burying... thanks to Nova.

But it was over. He'd avenged Nova. He—

A purple aura surrounded Bahamut's halves. Dark bolts shot out from the top half and pulled the bottom half back. Bahamut's rainbow prism glowed once again, albeit weaker than before.

"I... will... get more power." Bahamut's arms trembled. "And I... will... finish... what I started."

Eyes wide, Gene summoned his spoon and lunged for Bahamut again. But the large crystal husk sank into a wormhole and the mewtwo sailed into empty air until he rolled to a stop on his hands and knees.

Gene looked down. He raised his right hand... and punched the floor underneath him.

Then, for the first time in his life, Gene shed tears.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 40: Hardly Ingenious​

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Thanks to the tireless work of our glorious archbishop and his research team, we can make alterations to any patient at a cellular level. Want to grow some tentacles? You can! Need an extra arm or eye? It's all possible, thanks to Mewgencis!

The process begins with an intake appointment. Our providers will thoroughly and compassionately compile a history to create your ideal augmentation, then walk you through every step of your personalized treatment protocol.

Speak with your primary care provider today about a referral for Mewgenics Augmentation and start living your best life. Nos vera Natus!

XxX​

The silence was almost as thick as the air above the tar pits. During Gene's tale, he produced a scrapbook. Yuna took it and thumbed through pictures, like Nova nibbling on Gene's cheek while the mewtwo tried to shove him off, or Nova clinking glasses with Zacian and Zamazenta.

Her headache slowly returned. Every picture of Nova made her think of Xeromus. The chains around his legs... looked like the soft anklets around Nova's. And some of Nova's photos showed him in a royal blue cloak, while Xeromus had a black, tattered one with a hood.

Those couldn't be coincidences. Not with everything else Yuna had seen so far. But what was she supposed to say? That she knew where Gene's apparent boyfriend was? That he had become some sort of Eternatus-obsessed whacko?

... No, she couldn't jump to conclusions. Not yet. Not when Gene could rip her to tiny, ectoplasmic shreds if she pissed him off.

"Are we done, then?" Gene's Malice Crystal flashed. The scrapbook dissolved out of Yuna's hands, leaving her grasping at hazy air.

"That's a pretty tall tale," Valkyrie grunted. Squeaking, Yuna shot higher in the air. At some point, the others in the group had moved behind her. Probably to look at the scrapbook, too.

"Well, it's the truth." Gene turned away, snorting.

"Really?" Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "You expect me to believe you were put in stasis for thousands of years with no issues at all?"

"Hardly," Gene scoffed. "Until recently, time moved much slower in Eternatus than it did outside of it. My only guess is that's related to this Needle nonsense." The mewtwo shook his head. "But that's all tangential."

He turned to Yuna. "You called me callous and uncaring. And I am. Because I was never fully 'deprogrammed.' All those instincts are still there." He put his right hand on his chest and looked at Yuna. "That's what that 'outburst' was."

"Yeah." Yuna already got that. "Then all the sarcastic jokes—"

"Are how I cope." Gene crossed his arms, scowling. "Humor's a healthy defense mechanism. So is directing my anger toward the emperor's flunkies." His Malice Crystal flashed purple. "It's called sublimation. Look it up."

Yuna's gaze fell. She didn't have a retort. Mainly because the stuff about defense mechanisms was beyond her. Noctum stepped to her side, however. "What if you're mistaken about some things?" He rubbed his right temple. "I... I can't see Bahamut—"

"I know what I saw," Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. He looked toward a trio of large gears turning slowly in their sockets. "No one came back from the mission to stop Matriarch but him."

"Then this 'Matriarch' thing is still active?" Seifer wondered.

"No." Gene looked down. "Paradox's sermons and announcements mentioned Matriarch going offline many times. He clearly filled the power void left behind." The mewtwo clenched his fists. "Nova succeeded in his goal... only for that bastard to stab him in the back."

Noctum's tail flame flickered. "But... his own wife and son?"

"That wasn't the last time I fought him," Gene responded. He lifted a clenched fist. "We've crossed paths several times. I've beaten him every time, but he keeps... pulling himself back together when he should have eroded into a Phantom. And he always fled through a checkered portal."

Yuna stayed silent, but she believed Gene. It matched up too well with what the Sages had told her. Razim's tale, too.

But, still, sacrificing an entire planet to Eternatus because he was upset?

Have we really been worshipping a monster? The drakloak shuddered, trying to stuff that thought into the back of her mind.

Fortunately, Nikki offered a convenient distraction. "What about Mew, then? Did you ever try and find her again?"

Any hope Yuna had for a reasonable explanation dissipated the moment Gene cringed. "Mew's gone. They all are."

Nikki shifted about uneasily. "Gone as in—"

"Killed, obviously," Valkyrie snorted.

"That would've been a better fate," Gene whispered, flinching again. "The emperor's troops rounded them all up for experimentation." He turned to Noctum and Seifer. "The people you've seen with all sorts of mutations are the results of Paradox's experiments." He approached the edge of the factory platform and looked out at the bubbling tar. "Every mew… ground up into cells and DNA for Paradox's machinations."

"But they were already dead, weren't they?" Nikki scratched her head. "That's what happens to people who end up here and junk. How can they be killed again?"

"Chompy's being blunt." Gene rolled his eyes. "The mew souls eroded into Phantoms."

Seifer frowned. "But wouldn't that have taken their bodies, too? Or maybe the mew can possess anyone who has a mutation?"

Gene's tail flicked right. "Not if the emperor had a way to purge a soul from a body. Which he does," he ominously declared.

An uneasy silence hung over the group, until Jade managed to say, "And you're sure of this?"

"Cyril got some documents about all this from one of the emperor's data servers," Gene said, shaking his head.

"Oh." Jade looked down guiltily. Yuna worried that the salugia thought she had received some of those mutations. She considered mentioning Jade had been asleep in the Needle the whole time, but she couldn't prove that was completely true.

"Now are we done here?" Gene walked back toward them. The mewtwo rested his hands behind his dark gray head. "I've had enough sob storying to last the next year. There's work to be done, right? Nothing's gonna happen if we stand around staring at each other."

The group exchanged uneasy looks. Yuna caught Leo's attention. His eyes flickered with determination. The cosmic arceus was probably thinking about what Alder had told him.

Planet Chakran. Is that even in our dimension? Yuna wondered, since that was definitely where the drakloak needed to go. Though she shuddered at the thought of dropping the omniverse revelation on everyone's laps after what Gene had told them.

Plus, there was still the matter of the sailors. Yuna couldn't move on from that. It wasn't right. They deserved some sort of closure from this.

"We should start with the sailors," the drakloak said. Gene met her with a look that told her to try again. "I'm serious." Yuna steeled her resolve. "Whether some of them are stuck here or not, they don't deserve to be dumped off somewhere else inside Eternatus and left to fend for themselves." She floated closer to Gene. "I see that ending with them eroding into Phantoms."

"The emperor has intake stations for 'refugees' all over the damn empire." Gene waved Yuna off with his left hand. "It's easier to dump them on his lap."

"Why, so they can get sucked into Paradox's schemes?" Yuna countered. "I'm not leaving them like this."

Rolling his eyes, Gene gestured to his left. "Then by all means, go back to the swamp and talk to them. No one's saying you can't."

"No, but I'm asking you to join me." Yuna tapped her right hand against the Soul Dew. "You know a lot more about all of this than I do. So, help a girl out, will you?"

Again, silence. Gene squinted. "Why do you even care about them? They're strangers."

Nikki snorted. "Probably her inner princess."

"Because, even if I don't know them, Aeons don't leave other Aeons behind," Yuna said, her expression sharpening. She held up her right hand. "Even if they're not Aeons, it's the principle. They didn't do anything to wrong me. We shouldn't wrong them when they're already victims of circumstance."

She looked at the others. Jade applauded with her wings and Leo was positively mesmerized. Noctum wore a proud grin and Yuna thought he might tear up then and there.

"… tch. Fine." Gene floated over to Yuna's side. "Gimme a minute or two to, uh, soften them up for you. Or something." He drifted away, scowling, before opening a rift and disappearing into it. Yuna watched the dark gray mewtwo go with a sigh.

"Now what?" Quetzal tapped the ground with a couple of his toes. "I'd love to help with the sailors, but I think I'll just frighten them looking like this." He glanced at his orange and black-feathered torso.

"I can help," Seifer offered. The keldeo approached Yuna. "Some of the unharmed sailors recognized me back on the ship."

Yuna nodded her thanks. "Uh, I guess everyone else can... do whatever they feel like until we're done?"

"Are you sure?" Noctum tilted his head. He might as well have offered to come with her.

"I'm sure." Yuna looked at the Malice Crystal in his stomach, then got guilty when his violet flame shrank.

"Ah. Fair." The black charizard stepped back, bowing his head. Valkyrie snorted. He turned a frown and slight bearing of his fangs on her. She pivoted left, wiping dried blood from her snout. Yuna wasn't sure what she missed, but something had driven a wedge between them. She made a note to ask Noctum about it later.

In the meantime, she looked at Nikki and beckoned her over with a wave of her right hand. The toxtricity strolled across the platform, hands tucked in her leather jacket pockets. "Look, I ain't the 'There, there, it'll be okay' type. If you want help with those sailors, stick with Horned Wonder." She jerked her head at Seifer.

"No, it's not that." The drakloak floated away from the others, toward a large, green metal tank. Probably full of tar. "I have a question, actually."

"Shoot." Nikki leaned against a wheel welded to the side of the tank.

Yuna's shoulders sagged. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Just... shrug off this kind of stuff?" Yuna wasn't sure she phrased it right. "Like, you don't care what's happening all around you. You go with the flow." She looked down at her feet nubs. "I think?"

Nikki wore an amused smirk. "You mean why do I mouth off at this shit? That's easy." She flicked her right hand dismissively. "When no one has expectations for you — and you don't expect anything from them — you can do whatever without a care in the world."

"No expectations," Yuna repeated in a whisper.

"I mean, I'm a street bum turned musician." The toxtricity shrugged. "You're a freaking princess. You've lived your whole life by hoity-toity rules and honor and shit like that. Me? I learned pretty early on that you're expected to look out for only yourself on the streets." She looked up toward the green, hazy sky. "So, like, I don't have a problem giving people shit.

"That's harder to get away with when people are expecting you to, like, lead 'em." Nikki shook her head. "Them's the breaks of life, I s'pose."

Yuna frowned. Nikki's answer was simultaneously straightforward and confusing. She looked right and a tiny Reshiram materialized on her shoulder. "She sounds truthful to me," he said, tapping his claws together nervously.

"Ringing endorsement," Nikki deadpanned. Reshiram buried his face in his wings out of embarrassment. Yuna recalled him to the Soul Dew, sighing.

"Then can I, like, scream at life?" the drakloak wondered. "Is that something you ever do?"

"Screaming? Probably not." Nikki strummed her gills. "Maybe I'll shred a few cords over life bitching out. But, hey, you do you." She thumped her chest. "Just speak from the heart. It's more impactful that way."

I don't have a heart. It was probably figurative, though.

Yuna took a deep breath and turned left of the tar tank. "I'm so sick of this! I don't want to save the galaxy! I just want to live my life! Why can't this be someone else's problem?!" Her tail undulated back and forth with every word. "Stupid treaty! Stupid Eternatus! And... and stupid, lying Bahamut!"

Yuna quickly threw her hands over her mouth, guilt showering over her.

Yes, she really said that. Out loud. In full view of someone else. And it wasn't even Noctum.

Nikki slowly clapped. "Not bad. How do you feel?"

It took a few seconds for the drakloak to lower her hands. "Better, I think?" Sure, nothing changed about her situation, but at least Yuna let some of anger out. She looked at Nikki. "You know, you don't have to stay after this, right? I understand if you'd rather bow out of this whole..." Her voice trailed off and she gestured out to the tar pits.

"Yeah. That would make sense." Nikki resumed strumming her gills. "But I'm good." She smirked at Yuna. "I ain't some, like, superhero nerd or whatever, but a crazy Eternatus space adventure is way cooler than staying at that dumb academy and stewing over Scarlett." The toxtricity looked down. "She'd want me to do something. Make an impact. Besides..."

Nikki held her hand out. Electricity crackled into the shape of one of her guitars. "I'm just as wrapped up in this now."

Yuna's waist constricted. "O-Oh. Um, that's— is that bad?"

Nikki explained how she saw a Starlene concert on PV that was most likely sabotaged by the Eterna Empire, leading to visions of Paradox and her manifesting her lightning guitar. She dispelled the weapon with a flick of her wrist. "I think it's dynaforce," the toxtricity concluded. "So, I can't sit on the sidelines and let this fester. Gotta put it to use.

"And if it just so happens my heroics put Blightsmuth back on people's radar... then it's an added bonus." Nikki stretched her arms up over her head, chuckling. "Don't care if you think my motive's selfish, either. Perks of not being a princess."

Yuna would've sank to the ground and deflated, but she managed to keep her wits about her. "Well, uh, maybe I can sell the title and job off to someone else?"

Chuckles continuing, Nikki leaned over and smacked her right knee. "Now you're speaking my language."

"... hey, so, if you two are done being all mushy with other, the sailors are ready."

"Eep!" Yuna's tail and torso shot into her rectangular head. She whirled on Gene, who floated in front of a rift with a bored expression. "H-Hey now! It's rude to sneak up on people."

The mewtwo looked around, shrugging. "Middle of a tar plant ain't private."

"Ugh, whatever." Yuna rubbed her temples. "Lead the way."

XxX​

Gene was rather stoic through the whole explanation of the sailors' fates. Yuna got the sense some of the soul and aura stuff went right over their heads. Sure enough, one wartortle raised his hand. "So, like, we're dead, but we're not dead?"

"That's a fine way of thinking about it," Yuna interjected before Gene could mouth off to the wartortle. "You can do all the things you used to back in Venish."

"'cept if we try to leave World Ender's insides, we get turned into Phantoms!" a floatzel said, clutching her head in worry. "What am I supposed to tell my sister? How am I supposed to tell her?!"

"You!" Wartortle whirled on the garbodor in the back. "This is all your fault! You did this to us!"

A few sailors mumbled their agreement. "Whoa, whoa. Time out." Gene Phantom Warped into the middle of them, holding his hands in a T. "Your shipmate's as much a victim as the rest of you. It's Polaris you ought to be mad at." His expression fiercened. "Who was it that was running your ship?"

The sailors fell quiet. Garbodor raised his grubby hand. "Minister Tesla."

"And who was able to get away before any of this happened?" Gene raised a brow, but this time none of the sailors answered.

Floatzel looked at Seifer. "Isn't there anything you can do, Commander? Maybe get the Radiant Guard to pitch in?"

The keldeo looked down guiltily. "I wish I could say there was. But this is on a whole other level than the distortion rescues the Guard conducted." With a heavy sigh, he stepped toward them. "But I am prepared to help you all get in contact with your loved ones." Seifer slung one of his saddle bags onto the ground. It opened to show papers and pens.

Several sailors looked down at the bag like it was but a tiny scrap of meat on a dinner plate.

"What happens when we're done with this?" A sharpedo looked at Gene, eyes full of worry.

"That's—" Gene crossed his arms. His Malice Crystal glowed a dim purple. "It's complicated."

An idea popped into Yuna's head. "You guys can work here." She clapped her hands together. "There's a tar factory not too far from this swamp, run by a bunch of tiny skorupi. I'll bet they could use some extra muscle."

Gene's brows raised. "Huh." He stroked his chin. "Now that you mention, that could lessen the skorps' calling me out here for manual labor."

"And just who's that broad?" A kingler brandished his large pincer in Yuna's direction. "I ain't about to trust some dragon to offer a deal. It's probably a trap!"

Yuna flinched. Her gaze faltered, but then she looked right back at Kingler. "That dragon happens to be princess of the Aeon Kingdom." She floated closer. "And part of the group that saved you all from an even grizzlier fate." Yuna crossed her arms, glimpsing the dark shadows pooling in them. "This isn't some trap. It's a way for you to stay close to Venish and find some semblance of normalcy in all of this."

Smirking, Gene leaned over. "I'd go with her if I were you. You wouldn't like her when she's angy."

Kingler flummoxed. "Y... you mean angry, don't you?"

The mewtwo's grin widened. "Nope."

Kingler hastily skittered back toward several wartortle. They talked in a huddle, then gave thumbs up in unison. "That plan sounds... reasonable," Kingler said, laughing nervously.

A tingle ran down Yuna's back. Gene's assistance or not, it was... refreshing to have people listen to her. She flipped that mental switch briefly and a tiny silhouette of Rayquaza popped up on her right shoulder.

"Jolly good performance, m'lady." He clapped his tiny black hands. "I daresay thine evolution hast filled thou with renewed confidence."

"Thanks," Yuna whispered, sighing in relief while watching Seifer pass out pens and paper to the sailors. She recalled Rayquaza and hovered over to Gene. So long as she had a moment, she figured it best to loop the mewtwo into what happened with Leo and Alder, as well as the new planet she needed to find.

"Gene?" The drakloak pawed at her Soul Dew. "There's something you need to know..."

XxX​

Everyone sat around a tiny, skorupi-sized desk that Skorp had brought out for Gene to place his X-transceiver on. He set it to speaker mode, then failed to contact Cyril. Tail swishing back and forth nervously, Gene next tried calling up some lady named Guzmelda. She sounded sweet and... homely, which made it hard for Yuna to believe she was some sort of giant, tooth-filled alien known as a guzzlord.

"Well? Were you able to find anything?" Seifer asked, pointing his horn at the X-transceiver.

"She can't see you doing that," Nikki scoffed.

"Force of habit," Seifer muttered.

"So' nuff, sugar!" Guzmelda exclaimed. "There's a Chakran in this dimension, all right. In fact, it's the next planet over in this here galaxy."

Yuna looked at Noctum, who shrugged. Then she glanced at Seifer, who squinted. "No one mentioned anything like that in my science classes," he muttered.

"Well, if it's our neighbor, then wouldn't it have gotten sucked up by Ejerknatus?" Jade wondered, tapping her chin with a digit.

"'Fraid not. Cyril's notes say Eternatus skipped Chakran over and went straight to Etherium," Guzmelda responed. "He thinks it's about two hundred million kilometers from here."

Jade squawked in surprise and vented purple vapors from her tail flaps. "T-two hundred million?! Th-that's like—" she counted on her digits "—twice as much as one hundred million!"

Leo tilted his head. Yuna imagined he was trying to envision how big that really was.

"Wow, congrats, you can do basic math." Nikki sarcastically applauded the salugia. "Doesn't help us get there."

"Maybe one of you three can portal over there?" Valkyrie pointed to Gene, Noctum, and Yuna.

"Wouldn't that be nice." Gene shook his head, smirking. "I need to have been to a place to open a rift to it. Same with these two, I imagine." He rubbed his hands together. "No doubt about it... we'll need to take that ship Skorp and Skorp finished up. It'll get us there in, like, thirty or forty minutes."

"What?!"

Rayquaza's black, scaly head popped out of a startled Yuna's Soul Dew. "Balderdash! Even with Dragon Ascent, I couldn't achieve such speeds. Thou wouldst need to fly as fast as light itself to cover that distance!"

"Exactly, Chest Burster." Gene snapped his fingers at Rayquaza. "Thanks for the help, Guzmelda."

"My pleasure, sugar!" The line then went dead.

"Then, we're leaving for Chakran?" Yuna tilted her head. "Can that ship even go out of Eternatus?"

"Thanks to the skorps it can." Gene rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Sweet! Road trip, but space-flavored." Nikki strummed her gills. "Dibs on being the DJ."

Gene had a retort prepared, but a loud jingle cut him off. "Hmm?"

"And now... a message from your emperor!"

The group turned toward the far corner of the room, where several skorps were gathered in front of a large screen that displayed the Eterna Empire's sigil of a circle surrounded by five diamonds. The feed then cut to what Yuna could only assume was the deoxys that others had previously mentioned. He stood in front of a black desk with several monitors flickering behind him.

"I think it's time we had us another chat. For the sake of dispelling lies, of course." Paradox stepped to his right and a brightly colored drawing of the very same rifts Gene and Yuna could make showed up on a hologram next to the deoxys.

"Many of you have no doubt seen these rifts popping up around your communities," he continued. "And there's been considerable talk of them online." Paradox swiped in front of him with two tentacles. The drawing transitioned to a screenshot of something called "Chatter."

"@BirbWatcher317 says, 'It's the end of the world,'" Paradox growled. "@StillLivesWithHisMother adds, 'We're being sucked into a formless void!' And @JodiMcGee has the gall to post an 'I'm in danger' GIF."

"Psst!" Jade leaned over Yuna's shoulder. "What's a Jif?"

"How should I know?" Yuna hissed. The salugia had the mixed-up mind. If anything, she should've known already!

"It makes me think of peanut butter," Jade said. "And now I'm hungry."

"Well, as your emperor, I'd like to be the first to tell you... these are lies! Fiction! Tall tales!" Paradox swiped at the hologram with each of his tentacles. "And if any other keyboard doomsayers intend to share these imbeciles' sentiments, then you'll be joining them in assimilation to the Eternatus Troopers!"

The hologram shifted to show an animation of three humans turning into unown floating in tanks attached to metal bodies, just like what Noctum had described to Yuna back at the academy.

"These rifts are but mild turbulence... as we enter the end stages of freeing our Benefactor from His long imprisonment," Paradox continued, switching to a new animation that showed a crudely drawn Etherium blowing up while the giant, five-headed form of Eternatus flew off with a big smiley face over its head. "I realize how patient you all have been, and I am pleased to report that patience will soon be rewarded.

"In fact... the Paradigm's newest member just finished a successful raid on one of the prison settlements." Paradox's tentacles coiled into two hands and he tapped his fingers together eagerly. The hologram displayed a headshot of... some sort of suit of armor surrounded by blue frost? All Yuna saw were red, glowing eyes inside a gray, circular helmet. "Soon, our Eternatus Troopers will have the children of the prison's pathetic rulers serving amongst their ranks.

"That's all for now. Nos vera Natus!"

The feed abruptly shut off, returning to what looked like a talk show with two non-mutant skorupi sitting opposite one another.

Seifer reared up, whinnying. "Tell me I didn't just hear that!"

Nikki had her mouth open, but Seifer leveled his horn at her. "Keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," he growled. The toxtricity closed her mouth and scowled at him. Seifer turned to Gene, eyes wide in alarm. "What was that all about?"

"It sounds like Paradox is going on the offensive," Gene said, brow furrowed. "This changes things. Some of us definitely need to stay behind."

"Of course we do!" Seifer's horn flickered. "If he's telling the truth, then..." The keldeo looked down, horror spread across his face.

Yuna bit her lip. Did this mean Paradox had Shimmer? What about her other classmates?

"Just who was that on the screen?" Valkyrie wondered. "Looked like a bad costume from a horror movie."

Mewtwo's expression sharpened. After a few moments, he took a sharp breath and gave his answer.

"The Paradigm's newest lieutenant: Guile Hideout."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Alright, and onto the much-ballyhooed M2 special. This one is... big, to say the least. So it took me a while to get this put together and organized, but I’d heard great things about it through the grapevine. Anyhow, moving right along into…

Chapter 39

February 6, 19XX
MEW gave birth. We named the newborn Mewtwo.

The Multiparity Exogenous Womb finally produced a viable specimen, but it is nowhere close to what the sponsor is looking for. What I'm looking for.

Ah yes, this sequence that you teased. It's honestly a fairly clever workaround for dealing with the games' lore and M2's canonical depiction of being reared from a test tube.

Height: 10 cm. Weight: 0.3 kg. Heart rate: 190 bpm. Blood pressure: 50/30 mmHg.

Between that and Mewtwo's... friability to the probes, we had no choice but to place it in a stasis tube.

I wanted to think B was blowing smoke when he said the incomplete DNA was too unstable, but he's right. Even if we place more embryos in MEW, it won't matter. At best, they will be just as premature as Mewtwo. At worst, they will abort like every embryo before it, wasting precious resources.

To combat this, B suggested augmentation with human DNA.

Though I suppose that'd be a perfectly valid explanation for why M2 looks so different from vanilla Mew

But I can't lose all this progress. Not when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not when I can finally hold my sweet little girl's hand once more.

So, the choice is obvious. If it means he'll continue sponsoring my work, then I'll do the gene splicing.

The only thing I need to be sure of is who provides the genetic sample. No doubt the sponsor would want to do it, but I cannot allow that to happen.

Even research as ethically gray as this has a line. I refuse to allow Mewtwo to share his genes. It would spell disaster for all of Kanto.

I'm assuming "his" is Gio there, and... yeah. While I'd be more worried about picking up Gio's memories or consciousness, I wouldn't want to risk anything with his genes there considering how Gio from the very beginning has had his eyes set on the world.

Weightlessness.

It was floating. It didn't know why it knew it was floating, only that it was sure of it.

The next thing it registered was warmth. Again, it wasn't sure how it knew what "warmth" was. But it knew it was warm. And it liked that. Warmth was nice. It wanted more warmth.

This was troubling. It knew things. It could think. But what was it? Why was it thinking? Why did it know about concepts like weight and temperature?

Pretty sure that those are implanted memories in action there.

Perhaps if it broke through the darkness in front of it?

Yes, that was it. It knew how to do that, too. Very simple. Just a few tiny muscles to move.

Narrator: "That was absolutely not it."

It opened its eyes. Everything was blurry. Blurry and green. More concepts it knew for some mysterious reason. And those concepts quickly linked together to form a conclusion.

Liquid. That was what it was inside. Why it was weightless. The liquid suspended it. Blinded it to what lay ahead.

It looked up, but only found more liquid.

What about down? No, still green. Left and right, then? Some gray things. Too blurry to appreciate. And its weightlessness prevented it from moving through the liquid, even though it was sure it had more muscles than the ones around its eyes.

Are the gray things supposed to be the ceiling and floor of the stasis tube? Or does M2 already have restraints on him right now?

... Wait. Something changed. There were more shapes in the distance. Shapes that moved around quickly... and then multiplied! Small circles on top of big ovals. Cylinders flailing around.

It was... amusing? Yes, that had to be it!

But amusement made it tired. Or maybe that was all the thinking? Either way, it didn't have the strength to keep its eyes open.

... He's trashing the lab in the background, isn't he?

April 11, 19XX
At last, a breakthrough! After weeks of nothing but alpha, theta, and delta waves on the EEG, we finally caught a sustained burst of beta waves. Sure, the previous results were encouraging, but beta means Mewtwo is dreaming! Its mind is churning with activity. And the beta waveforms share similar patterns to humans.

Yes, the human gene splicing stabilized its body and let it grow, but now I have proof the genes are improving this pokémon.

If Mewtwo is developing neurons comparable to a human's, then I can do it! I can ensure Amber is just as lively and thoughtful as they day I lost her!

Today is a triumph for science.

Oh, I see you're taking after the M2 movie for chronology there. It'll be interesting to see at what point things go off the rails, since what we've learned of PoV's chronology in general suggests that it had some significant differences from canonical mainline history.

When it opened its eyes, it wasn't in green liquid. The weightlessness was still there, so it had to be floating. But that familiar warmth was gone. Instead, it was surrounded by blue that stretched out farther than it could see. Small white clusters sat scattered across the blue expanse.

Sky. This was a sky. And the white clusters were clouds.

Wait, is M2 still babby for this scene like in the movie, or is he more fully formed at this point in time?

It looked down. There was green far below, but not the same green as before. This green was brighter. Softer, perhaps. It was also static. With tiny needles pointing up.

Grass.

The word popped into its mind instantaneously. And this much grass, underneath a clear sky, meant it was floating above plains. But how did it get here?

That would have to wait, because it realized something else was different from before. It could move. It had two gray legs, ending with two nubby toes on each gray foot. When it turned its feet inward, it spotted an additional toe on the back of each foot.

Could it wiggle them? Yes, yes it could! It curled its toes, then uncurled them, then curled them again. The front toes moved a lot more than the back ones. Good to know.

There was a darker gray that went between its legs. It followed the dark gray, turning around to find it led to a tail. The tail lazily hung down, but it was confident it could move that, too. A swish to the left, then right. Up and down. It could even curl it up into a circle. Wow, it was so flexible!

It then spotted its left arm. There were three fingers on its hand. Each one ended with a slightly bigger sphere. It curled its fingers, then uncurled them. It flexed and extended each one individually.

I'm of two minds of this sequence. On the one hand, I kinda wonder if this could've been done in a more condensed fashion, on the other, it does a pretty effective job at capturing a sense of childlike wonder coming from M2. One that we don't get to see from the character all that often in most depictions.

It could've wasted so much more time with such simple things, had a bright flash not caught its attention.

There was a new color in the distance: gold.

Curiosity piqued, it flew— yes, flew forward. The gold got larger and larger. It wasn't long before the gold was bigger than it. And it made out other colors in the middle of gold. Red next to orange next to yellow. Greens and blues side by side. Wow, so many colors! What was with this colorful beacon?

It came to a stop. And, for the first time, it spoke.

"Hello?"

I'm... guessing that that's not Amber. Why that sounds almost like... Bahamut.

"Hello?"

Gold brightened. The bright hurt its eyes. It had to shield them with its right arm.

"Ah, so you can talk. That's good."

Okay, scratch that. That is Bahamut. Not sure what he's doing in Gene's dreams, but I'm sure we'll find out pretty fast.

Gold didn't have a mouth, but his voice was loud.

"You sound like you're echoing in my head." It rubbed its right cheek with its right hand.

"Yes, that's how telepathy works," Gold responded.

Gene: "Wait, but how are you doing this? Are we right next to each other?" .-.
Bahamut: "Your guess is as good as mine, kid."

Telepathy. When psychics talk using their minds. It wasn't surprised it pulled that definition up so quickly. It seemed to know so many things.

"This is your dream, after all," Gold continued. "I'm projecting myself into your mind."

Gene: "Yes, but why my mind in particular?" .-.

"My dream," it parroted, looking around. So, it made all of this. Except none of it was real. That probably meant it was still in the green fluid.

Best to make the most of this dream, then. Starting with its visitor. He didn't sound like he was a natural part of the dream.

It might have made sense to have M2 realize "Oh right, a dream means that this is all just in my head. I know that... somehow." given that he's done that that for other concepts that he just knows™️ thus far.

"Why are you here?" it wondered.

Gold rippled. "I sensed your aura."

"Aura." It furrowed its brow. "That's... from my life force."

Gene: "Okay, seriously, how do I know all of this?" .-.
Bahamut: "Oi, it's your mind. You tell me."
Gene: "... Honestly, I have no clue. But again, why me? What makes me so special?"

"Close enough," Gold said. He sounded impressed with it. "And it's unlike anything I've ever felt in my travels."

"Your travels?" Its tail drifted back and forth. "So, you get to go to lots of places? I bet that's a lot of fun."

Gold dimmed. "I... do go a lot of places, yes."

Bahamut: "Not all of them by choice, but let's not get into that right now..."

This was a new tone: sadness. It hadn't heard sadness before, but its chest grew heavy. "Why are you sad? Do you not like visiting new places?"

"I don't," Gold replied, dimming further. His rainbow dimmed, too. "The places I've gone... people are terrified of me. They don't know what I am."

I mean, I can't imagine your average reception from the people that know what you are is much better, so...

It looked at the rainbow, eyes brimming with curiosity. "What are you?"

"I don't know."

"Really?" Its gaze fell toward the grass. "Because... I don't know what I am, either. I've heard the shapes say 'Mewtwo' sometimes. But I do not know what 'Mewtwo' means." It crossed its arms. "I think... it might be my name?"

Bahamut: "... With all due respect, but you should get a better name." -_-;
Gene: "And what's wrong with mine, again?"

"Mewtwo." Gold hummed, then gradually brightened a bit. "Well, I know Mew is a pokémon. A very rare one. You... look a bit like it. But you're not quite the same."

Bahamut: "Well, for one, something about your name feels... impersonal. Even if it's fitting."

"Oh." Mewtwo curled its tail around its right leg. "Is that... bad?"

"Not necessarily." Gold sounded unsure. "It sounds like you're related to Mew. So, even if you don't know what you are, you do know that much. Which is good."

So, Mewtwo had a relative. Relatives were family. And, according to Gold, families were good. That was enough to get Mewtwo to uncurl its tail. "What about you? Do you have family?"

Nah, family's kinda hit-or-miss. They're either great, or suck eggs. And with SE's batting average, a lot of theirs tend to be in camp #2.

Gold dimmed again. "I do not."

Mewtwo frowned. "But you must have relatives, right?"

"I don't."

"What about friends?" It knew they weren't necessarily the same thing as family, but could still be good.

Bahamut:

Gene: "I'm... just gonna take that as a 'no'." ._.;

"None." Gold sighed. "I've been many places, but I've never been able to stay for long. This planet... I'm new to it. Like you, I suppose. But I'm hiding. Because I'm afraid of what will happen if someone finds me."

Gene: "What's the worst that could happen?"
Bahamut: "... Trust me, you do not want to know the answer to that question."

"Oh." Mewtwo looked down again. Another term popped into its head. "That sounds lonely."

Gold dimmed further. "It is." He sounded exhausted. Mewtwo wrung its hands. Gold didn't seem that bad to it. Even if Mewtwo didn't know what Gold was.

"Maybe... I could be your friend?" Mewtwo floated closer to Gold. His light was warm. Not the same warm as the green liquid, but still comforting. The end of Mewtwo's tail wagged ever so slightly.

"I... am practically a stranger to you." Gold drifted back slightly. "You should be more cautious. Especially since I'm projecting into your dream."

I mean, it's still a cute and touching moment, but Bahamut really isn't wrong there.

Mewtwo's tail drooped. "Sorry. I just thought... because we have things in common, we'd make good friends."

Silence followed. Since Mewtwo couldn't see a face, it had no idea what Gold was thinking. His glow pulsated the entire time. Maybe Mewtwo was supposed to say something else? Except it didn't know what else to say. All it could do was stare at Gold with a pleading look in its eyes.

Eventually, Gold sighed. It was softer than before, however. "Okay. I suppose... there's no harm in us getting together again." After a pause, Gold added, "In your dreams. It's still too dangerous for me to leave my hiding place."

I can already tell that this is gonna end terribly, especially if TR has any way of reading M2's thought patterns.

A smile slowly spread across Mewtwo's face. "Great! Thank you, Gold!" His glow flickered in surprise. "Gold?" A chuckle echoed across the plains.

"Ah, I guess I didn't tell you my name."

Mewtwo shook his head.

"You can call me Bahamut."

No surprises there, though I kinda wonder where Bahamut is relative to M2 such that he's capable of sensing him and doing this to him.

June 7, 19XX
We're making tremendous progress. We drained Mewtwo's pod and disconnected its breathing and feeding tubes for six hours today without incident. Vitals were stable. Cardiac telemetry showed no arrhythmias.

Mewtwo possesses a strong intellect. Each time we interact with it, its fund of knowledge has grown by leaps and bounds. It's exceeding all of our projections. We have a pokémon that displays reasoning and critical thinking skills on par with university-level students. And this is after only four weeks of cognitive exercises.

... Fuji does realize that university students can be pretty damn stupid sometimes, right?

I knew B's DNA was the correct choice to use, but this is simply astounding. Not to mention how impressive its EEGs look when it slumbers.

Surely, when I present this information to G, he will be pleased with our decision regarding the human genes.

And, of course, my personal project is bearing fruit. Amber's second embryo successfully implanted in the artificial uterus. I'll do an ultrasound in two weeks to assess for cardiac activity.

Everything is going smoothly. This is beyond my wildest dreams.

Wait, B's genes. As in Gene has Bahamut's DNA inside him?

Mewtwo had gotten good at cultivating its dream landscape. Today, it made a large, grass-covered hill looking over a pond as still and blue as the sky above. Mewtwo sat on the edge of the hill, lazily kicking its legs at the air.

"I think they're going to permanently let me out of the pod soon." It wagged the end of its tail. "The humans are really impressed with me."

Careful what you wish for there, Gene.

"As they should. You're a fast learner."

Mewtwo looked over its right shoulder. Bahamut was next to it. He matched Mewtwo's height, though he was still nothing more than a gold silhouette with multicolored slits in the middle.

"Well, I've got a good teacher." It smiled at Bahamut, earning a pleased hum in the process.

"Flatterer."

Boy is this different from how Gene is nowadays. Guess still having your childhood innocence goes a long ways.

Mewtwo stuck its tongue out playfully, then turned back to look at its distant reflection in the pond. "What about you? Have you left your hiding spot yet?"

There was a long pause, then Bahamut bent forward. "I have, actually. And I met someone. A human."

"And?" Mewtwo twirled its right hand around. "What kind of meeting? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle?"

"Good, I think."

I am not convinced in the least that that was a good thing at all.

"You think?"

Bahamut slowly nodded. "It was… strange. The human was young. A child, I think? And… he didn't speak at all."

Bahamut ran into Red, didn't he?

That was strange. The humans that looked after Mewtwo all spoke. A bit too quick for its liking, too. "Was he afraid of you?"

"Surprisingly, no," Bahamut replied. "In fact, he had this… look about him. A fierce determination in his eyes. I've never seen a look like it."

Yeah, he totally ran into Red.

"So, what did you do?" Mewtwo rested its hands behind its head. "Sit in silence and stare at each other?" It had unsuccessfully tried to win multiple staring contests against Bahamut.

"We battled."

"You fought him?" Mewtwo's eyes widened.

"Not him directly. His pokémon." Bahamut chuckled again. "It was strange. Even though he didn't speak, his pokémon partners knew exactly what to do. And they were deceptively strong. Especially his pikachu and charizard."

I knew it.

He paused, then added, "I never thought I'd say this, but it was actually… fun."

Mewtwo raised a brow. "Okay. Why does that confuse you?"

Bahamut's gold silhouette prickled. "I have only ever fought to survive. To stop people from hurting me. The thought of battling being fun is... strange. Foreign. I'm not sure what to make of it."

Boy is that such a mood, since Pokémon being the types to enjoy playful sparring and battle with one another is something that has been a fixture of canonical depictions since the birth of the franchise.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mewtwo wondered.

"I appreciate the offer, but it's fine." A part of Bahamut's silhouette pet Mewtwo's head. It purred. "Because I looked into the pokémon's minds. They genuinely like this human. They're happy."

"Which is good," Mewtwo chirped. But when silence followed, it whispered, "Right?"

"Yes." Bahamut sounded tired. "It makes me wonder... if this is what I've been searching for all this time."

Oh, so this is the backstory behind that one human that Bahamut befriended and grew to trust. Or at least as seen through Gene's eyes.

Mewtwo's eyes widened in recognition. "You mean a home?"

"Exactly. A home... with this human." Bahamut shifted about on the edge of the hill. "I admit that the thought of going inside one of those small spheres scares me. But the pokémon insisted they are okay inside the 'poké balls' as they're called."

Wonder if we'll see what your take on what they're like on the inside is this special or not. Since for obvious reasons, we're not likely to see that in the present day of this story.

That sounded familiar. Either Mewtwo's caretakers had mentioned poké balls or it was another concept it was created knowing. "What will you do?" it asked.

"I told the human I'd like to see him again," Bahamut responded. "That way I have some more time to think it over." He fixed his asymmetric rainbow shapes on Mewtwo. "And this way... neither of us have to worry about this connection being severed."

Mewtwo smiled. "That's very generous of you."

Bahamut's glow brightened. "That's what friends do for each other, right?"

Wait, so Bahamut became Red's Pokémon in this continuity? Boy was that unexpected.

June 21, 19XX
Mewtwo is gone. G showed up unannounced with an entire Rocket attaché. Perhaps Mewtwo sensed their ill intent, because it awakened from slumber and broke out of its containment tube. G captured it in something he called a "Master Ball." Then his stooges confiscated everything. Every file. Every hard drive.

They took Amber, too. Without a power source, the artificial womb will fail within thirty minutes.

B was nowhere to be found. Did he know this was coming? Why didn't he warn me?

All of my hard work— everything I was building is gone.

Should've made local copies and stashed them at home, bruh. Though this bit is always such a

moment to see, even if I already saw it teased a while back.

Mewtwo was small. Small and cold. Floating in some sort of void.

How did it get here? One moment, Bahamut was warning it. Telling it the ones who had created it were criminals and begging Mewtwo to break out of its confinement. But when it did as Bahamut instructed, it found a new human in a black suit waiting for it.

Now, it was floating in some sort of void. And the void was cold. Mewtwo didn't like this cold. It wanted it to—

Master Balls confirmed for being craptacular environments to be in as a Pokémon. Though I see you stuck with series canon as of PLA about shrinking 'mons.

Light spilled across Mewtwo's vision. The void gave way to a black floor. It was softer than the lab. Carpet? Mewtwo found itself looking at a pair of fancy black shoes. It followed those shoes to black dress pants, then a black suit jacket, and ending at a black-haired head with a confident smirk plastered across its face.

Mewtwo saw the patch with a red R on the man's breast pocket. That same red R was etched into the carpet behind him.

Oh hi Gio.

Its neck tube prickled. Mewtwo had to show defiance. This human had taken it from what was familiar. It wouldn't allow that to go unchecked. Mewtwo stood up and curled its lips into a snarl. Its eyes glowed deep blue as it tried to intimidate this new human.

Gio:

But he wasn't impressed. Still smirking, he snapped his fingers.

Yeah, I figured.

Mewtwo didn't register what was happening until something hard and sharp struck the side of its head. It crumpled to the ground.

This was a new sensation: pain. And pain was terrible.

Vision blurry, Mewtwo spotted a rhydon foot. The human must've ordered it to pelt Mewtwo with rocks. But he didn't say anything.

Gene failed a spot check there. Though boy does that require some serious cojones and arrogance to pull right there to try and break a lifeform built to be a killing machine into learned helplessness.

Mewtwo's heartrate quickened. Bahamut said the silent human was a child, right? This man wasn't a child. Why could Rhydon understand what he wanted, then? Was Bahamut's friend related to him? Was that why he was trying to warn Mewtwo?

"You lack discipline."

… Never mind. He could speak. And his voice sent chills down Mewtwo's spine and neck tube. His voice wasn't like Bahamut's. It was cold. Detached.

I mean, he's not wrong. Even if Gene having discipline right now would probably have resulted in Gio getting chunky salsa'd.

Mewtwo refused to dignify him with telepathy. It hissed at Suit Man, then turned left and pointed its left hand at Rhydon. Satisfaction washed over Mewtwo as it effortlessly ensnared Rhydon and the rock spires it was readying in a psychic grip. Mewtwo flung Rhydon back, where it shattered a black coffee table.

I mean, I'm sure that Gio has a nasty ace up his sleeve, but yeah. This is why you don't try to bully the genetically engineered killing machine.

"Better." Suit Man was clapping now. Slowly. That was sarcastic clapping. Mewtwo was sure of it. "But that is a fraction of the ferocity I'm looking for."

Mewtwo growled, tail lashing at the air. What he was looking for? Suit Man didn't deserve anything from Mewtwo.

Suit Man shook his head. That stupid smirk had yet to leave his face. "This is what I was afraid of. The human genes those lab rattata chose made you soft. All that dreaming set things back. But it's no matter." He stuck his hands into his coat pockets. "I will fix what those classless charlatans broke."

Gene: "But I feel fine right now." .-.
Gio: "You sure about that?"

Fix? Nothing about Mewtwo needed fixing. It was happy as it was. How dare Suit Man talk about it that way.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you're ill-informed of your circumstances." Suit Man tapped his right temple with his right index finger. "I'm the one truly responsible for your creation. You are my tool. You exist to serve Team Rocket… as the world's strongest pokémon."

Oh, so that's where Gene picked up that thing he does with pointing at his temple.

The smirk finally vanished, replaced by a stoic expression. Suit Man held up a strange purple ball with red nodules on it. "This is the proof that I own you."

Even though Mewtwo had never seen it before, it instantly realized it was the source of the void. Snarling, Mewtwo lunged for Suit Man.

He smirked once more and held up the ball. Mewtwo never got to strike him. Instead, it was back in the small, weightless void. Only this time, there wasn't silence. Suit Man continued to speak.

This sounds like a fantastic way to never be able to take Gene out of his Pokéball without being brutally murdered, but let's see how Gio attempts to get around that one.

"No matter how strong the psyche, I can break it with some... proper instruction." A loud chuckle echo through the void. "Their mistake was putting too much emphasis on your mind and not on your physical strength. You're not some bleeding heart. You're a weapon."

The void shook. Was Suit Man moving Mewtwo's capture device? "I'll make sure to harden that heart you grew while you were sleeping. When we're finished... you'll be nothing but a blank slate. Ready and willing to do exactly what I order you to do the moment I order you to do it.

"I hope you enjoyed your precious dreams, because they're the last ones you'll ever have."

Can't tell if this is building up to Pokéballs having brainwashing properties in this continuity, or if Gio's going to send Gene back to the lab for further tinkering under different guidance.

Mewtwo had its prey, a milotic, ensnared in its psychic grip. It didn't have to look back at Boss for orders. A single finger snap and it knew.

A mere flick of its wrist, and Milotic went flying past the edge of the arena. It slammed into the wall, leaving cracks in the Earth Badge that was painted there. That would be fixed by tomorrow, so the damage didn't matter.

It pulled Milotic away, sensing it was already unconscious. The prey was defeated, but its work wasn't done. Mewtwo readied to slam it into the wall again.

Oh well this scene is going to go places. I can already tell. .-.

"Wait, stop! She's out!" a young brunette in a pink blouse cried. "It's over! Y-You won! Please, make it stop!"

Stop? No. A weapon didn't stop until its job was finished.

Perhaps today was the day. The day it got to fell a pokémon during one of these pointless gym ba—

Boss snapped his fingers.

Now I'm morbidly curious as to what Gio did to make Gene into that. Since boy is that a big difference since we last saw him. ._.

Tsking, Mewtwo twisted its right hand a few degrees clockwise. Milotic went flying limply through the air. She barreled into her trainer, trapping the girl underneath her large, serpentine frame. Mewtwo swished its tail back and forth in amusement. It could obliterate both of them effortlessly. But, as usual, Boss required Mewtwo to show restraint. How irksome.

"In the end, you were nothing but boring."

Mewtwo glanced at Boss. Shadows obscured him, but Mewtwo's Miracle Eye let it see him sitting in his black leather chair, one leg crossed over the other and head resting on his left fist while his right jotted down notes on a memo pad.

"It's clear to me, Miss Neza, that your previous badges were obtained by dumb luck," Boss continued. "Or, perhaps, my colleagues were overly lenient. Regardless, the Indigo Plateau is no place for simpleton trainers with grandeur delusions. For both our sakes, I think it's best you never show your face here again. In fact..." He leaned forward. Just enough so his forehead stuck out from the shadows. "... I think it's best if you don't even remember Viridian has a gym."

... Wait, how many trainers did Gio do this to and how did this never trip any alarm bells with local law enforcement? .-.

He raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. That was Mewtwo's cue to end this farce the usual way. It turned back to Neza, eyes glowing pink, and raised its left hand. Mewtwo slid the girl out. Panicking, she kicked at the air with her legs. Mewtwo tightened its grip and she went stiff as a board.

"Oh, and don't worry about your pokémon." Boss chuckled. "We'll make sure they're put to good use. Doing real work for real trainers."

Well that got chilling quickly. Wonder if we'll ever see Gene break out the old toolkit on someone in the present day.

Mewtwo raised its other hand. It pulled six poké balls out of Neza's bag and dropped them over by Milotic's unconscious form. Neza's blue eyes widened. Tears glistened in their corners.

But then the glow in Mewtwo's eyes deepened. It saw into the girl's mind — her perspective as her six trusted partners were effortlessly dispatched by it — and erased those memories completely.

For a few fleeting moments, Mewtwo saw emptiness in Neza's eyes. Then she vanished in a rush of blue light as Mewtwo teleported her to the outskirts of Viridian City.

Gene: "I mean, sure. This is all sorts of hax right about now, but hey. A job's a job."

Thus, another gym battle came to an end. The hundred and twentieth challenger Mewtwo had dealt with. There were, of course, plenty of challengers Boss determined completely unworthy of its time, dispatching them with his other pokémon and sending them running off with their nonexistent tails between their legs. But ones who caught his attention, like Neza, would face Mewtwo. And when they lost, it would eject them with their memories in tatters; Mewtwo taking their pokémon for Team Rocket to "reprogram." Nobody asked questions because it was too infrequent. Boss was careful not to allow "interesting" challengers too close to one another.

Oh, well that would explain how the police haven't noticed the rash of people turning up in the woods mind-wiped without their Pokémon that were registered to them on file.

Though this feels like a pretty big underutilization of that sort of skillset, since I'm pretty sure that if you can mind-wipe a trainer, yoink their 'mons, and then dump them miles away, that M2 would be perfect for doing things like pulling late-night industrial espionage at Silph Co.

And, just like the previous hundred and nineteen times, Mewtwo was bored. The young trainers could not put up a fraction of a fight. And Mewtwo couldn't fight to kill like it would on a proper mission for Team Rocket.

It was displeasing, but at the end of the day, Mewtwo was a weapon. It did what it was ordered to. Nothing more, nothing less.

This... is building up to Red coming along to fight him, isn't it?

Though something was different about today. Instead of calling it back, Boss rose from his seat. He approached Mewtwo, and it finally realized that Persian had been out of its ball the entire time. Likely sitting obediently beside Boss's chair.

"Excellent work, Mewtwo." Boss stuck his hands into his coat pockets. "I'm confident you're ready."

Mewtwo quirked a brow. It could read Boss's mind, but it was simpler to hear the answer from his lips.

"One of my teams told me that Zapdos has touched down at an abandoned power plant near the eastern coast," Boss explained. Persian arched her back slightly. She wasn't a fan of electric-types, clearly. "You're going to engage it. Understood?"

Mewtwo nodded.

Finally, it had a worthy opponent.

Well, this is going to be something, I can already tell.

The lightning was too large to dodge with teleportation. Mewtwo crossed its arms. A blue barrier materialized around it. The Thunder struck the barrier, pushing Mewtwo toward the ceiling. Closer and closer.

A finger snap sounded. Mewtwo thrust its arms apart. The remaining lightning evaporated.

Zapdos landed in the middle of some rubble, panting heavily. His Thunders were growing more desperate. He was desperate.

Sure, Mewtwo couldn't restrain Zapdos telekinetically. But it preferred the backup strategy: knocking out Zapdos so he couldn't deflect Boss's Master Ball with his attacks.

Oh, so Pokéballs work on fainted 'mons in this continuity. Filing that one away for the future.

Zapdos' lightning was strong, but Mewtwo was stronger. And victory was within reach.

"Now."

Standing behind his Rhydon, Boss snapped his fingers. Mewtwo's eyes and fingers glowed. Pink orbs completely surrounded Zapdos. He realized what was happening and raised his wings to take off.

However, Mewtwo was faster on the draw. It had to be. It was the world's strongest pokémon.

I mean, I can think of at least one that's way out of your league in this story, but that showdown would have... terminal consequences for everyone on this planet. Which makes me think that it actually happened at some point.

Mewtwo brought its arms together. The psychic orbs converged on Zapdos. A pink explosion swallowed Zapdos up along with the rubble and several broken machines dented and scorched by their battle. Mewtwo stared at it, chest rising and falling.

This was its first time using that attack in battle. Psystrike— that was what Boss called it. It was truly devastating. A powerful attack for a powerful pokémon. One that could go toe to toe with the legends themselves.

When the smoke and pink light faded, Zapdos was gone. In his place... was a Master Ball.

I was going to call hax, but the point of divergence for this continuity is that Gene didn't blow up Fuji's lab and bail. So figures that Gio would put that power to good use.

That was it. The prey was captured. Mewtwo had won. It truly was the strongest.

I can already tell that this statement won't hold true by the end of this special.

Several Rocket grunts funneled in, surrounding the inert Master Ball. Boss casually approached it, waving them off. Persian sauntered after him, flashing an intimidating grin at the nearest grunt, who couldn't help but flinch.

Ah yes, Gio's Persian takes lessons from Overlord in this story. Not that it's not in-character.

"One down, two to go." Boss knelt down and picked up the Master Ball. "Think of the possibilities. What government officials would pay to have pokémon like this under their control. We'll have them wrapped around our fingers like the suits at Silph and the spineless Viridian cops."

Mewtwo descended toward the ground. Two more meant Articuno and Moltres. The former might provide more of a challenge, if for no other reason than she could generate a hailstorm to throw Mewtwo off and damage it.

Boss turned back to Mewtwo. "I hope you're prepared. Once you've dealt with the other two birds, there'll be one more Kantonian target for you to hunt."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. Only one pokémon came to mind. The one it was created from: Mew.

That actually makes me wonder if the events of this special have any repercussions in the present day beyond the obvious of making Gene... Gene. Aside from the obvious that Sakaki is Gio all along and nothing you say will change my mind about that until you hard-deconfirm it in the story.

Psychic probing proved frustrating for Mewtwo. It wasn't anything it hadn't done before, but Mew was elusive. Mewtwo was mentally probing over great distances. It was pushing itself. And, in some regards, it was exciting. Exhilarating. A true challenge for its powers, after Articuno and Moltres weren't up to the task.

Oh, so just fast-forwarding through the other birb battles. Though makes sense if they didn't exactly add anything narratively.

But something was slowing down the process. No, not something. Someone. Another powerful psychic. Whoever it was, they were trying to worm their way into Mewtwo's probing. It refused to allow such intrusion. The mission was what mattered the most.

At first, Mewtwo relished the challenge of probing while keeping that powerful psychic at bay. However, after six weeks, it had grown boring.

Why was Mew so cowardly? Why did Mew refuse to show themselves for Mewtwo? Because it was afraid?

... Good. Mew should be.

The someone's really Bahamut, isn't it?

The seventh week, however, finally brought Mewtwo the results it wanted.

It envisioned a shockingly small island. Triangular, with cool green grass surrounding soft, gray dirt. The island had three trees; one on each of its corners. And in the center of the island sat something small, pink, and vaguely feline.

She opened her eyes. Soft and blue. Brimming with curiosity. Mew tilted her head.

Never mind, it really is Mew there that Gene was sensing.

Mewtwo severed the mental connection immediately. Its mind returned to the cold, sterile gray room it sat in the middle of. It looked up at the map of Kanto fixed to the gray wall in front of it. Mewtwo flicked its right index finger. A black marker levitated up toward the small chain of islands far to the south. It circled the southwestern island of the archipelago.

A Rocket grunt stationed at the door pulled a radio from his belt. "Subject has marked a location. It's Birth Island. Repeat, it thinks Mew is on Birth Island."

Wait, he can do that? What on earth is the range of that probing? .-.

Birth Island? What a ridiculous name. And Mewtwo wasn't about to wait for the humans to get their acts together. It had its orders.

A blink of light and it was in Boss's office. He was already standing at the side of his black oak desk, right hand outstretched. Mewtwo grabbed it and the two disappeared.

Within seconds, they stood on the very same grass Mewtwo had envisioned minutes ago. Mew was still in the center of the triangular island. Before she could turn to acknowledge them, Mewtwo thrust its right arm forward, flinging a Shadow Ball into her.

Wait, so what on earth happened to Gene after he bit it? Since this reads a lot more powerful than what he can do inside Eternatus given that he just blipped across Kanto twice without missing a beat and then took down Mew in a flash.

She squealed in pain, skipping across the ground. At that speed, she'd tumble off the island. Mewtwo teleported by the north tree, two more Shadow Balls at the ready. It threw them both down. They slammed into Mew, hammering her into the ground.

The cries echoed in Mewtwo's mind. How pathetic she was. This was the creature it was created from? What an absolute joke. Even some of those gym challengers put up an attempt at a fight.

Boss wanted Mew? In Mewtwo's eyes, she wasn't worth it. She wasn't strong. It was strong. The strongest. Superior to Mew in every way.

I'm pretty sure this is tempting all sorts of fate right about now, but let's see where this goes.

And yet, when Mew looked up at it, bruised eyes brimming with tears, Mewtwo hesitated. The fourth Shadow Ball it was charging shrank ever so slightly.

Mew seized on that hesitation. Her body glowed. She shakily rose into the air. Mewtwo realized she was going to teleport away.

Oh, so there was still a heart somewhere inside him at the time

But then a red glow surrounded her and she dropped back to the ground with a pained squeak. Mewtwo looked up and saw Boss's honchkrow standing obediently at his side, eyes glowing the same shade of red.

Mean Look. Of course Boss had a contingency. One he likely thought he wouldn't have to use.

... Well that's a terrible omen for how well Gene's evening is going to go. ^^;

"Disappointing." Boss took a step toward Mewtwo, flashing his trademark amused smirk. "No matter. It looks incapacitated enough. I'll simply deal with your... lapse in judgement back at the base," he continued, producing a fresh Master Ball from his pocket. Boss lobbed it toward Mew, who was too weakened to even see it coming.

Yeah, called it.

It should have been a successful capture, but then a purple, checkered hole opened up in the ground and swallowed Mew up. Mewtwo was bewildered for a moment, and that proved enough to stop it from diving into the hole after Mew. It faceplanted in the ground, then the Master Ball struck its rump for added humiliation.

"Up." Boss snapped his fingers. Mewtwo pressed its hands to the grass and levitated up, then spun itself upright. It was sure what Boss's order would be. The lack of his usual smirk told Mewtwo as much.

"Track it. Now."

Oh, so Natus is about to eat the planet, huh?

Mewtwo shut its eyes and concentrated. It didn't need to work that hard, however. Mew's weakened aura was relatively close by. On Cinnabar.

And with her... was the same psychic force that had been trying to break into its projections while it was tracking Mew. Eyes narrowing, it teleported to Boss's side, nodding to signal it knew where Mew was. He recalled Honchkrow, then Mewtwo grabbed his shoulder and they vanished once more.

This time they landed on ragged earth. Warm, rocky terrain. There was ash and smoke choking the skies far above them and their platform gave way to a steep drop several meters to their left.

"The volcano." If Boss was surprised, he didn't show it.

Oh, not quite then, I see. Though I'm not sure what on earth Mew just fell into in that case.

Glimmering gold light drew Mewtwo's attention behind them both. The platform gave way to a large cave bathed in bright light. But the light quickly dimmed, allowing Mewtwo to see Mew lying wrapped up in the arms of a boy wearing blue jeans, a red, sleeveless coat, and a red cap with a white brim. Her injuries were completely healed.

... Given that there was a teased bit in which Gio was depicted with both Mew and Bahamut, that doesn't bode well at all for how Red's gonna do there.

A pikachu on the boy's right shoulder locked eyes with Mewtwo. His cheeks crackled with electricity. Then a gold, crystal leg slid in front of the boy. Mewtwo looked up, past a crystal torso with three gold spikes and four wings, to a head that resembled an eight-pointed star.

So I was right. Bahamut did join Red.

"Mewtwo?" The dragon's beak was open in surprise. "I've been trying to reach you for months! What happened to—" He stopped himself. Red and orange pooled in his eye sockets. "What are you doing?! Don't you know who that is?! He's the one I was warning you about! Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket!"

Mewtwo's tail twitched. There was something... naggingly familiar about this gold dragon. But whatever it was didn't matter. He was in the way of Mewtwo's target. Its mission.

Would personally make Bahamut sound a bit more exclamatory to give him more of a startled vibe. Though how is he not sensing immediately from Gene's aura that he's better off either attempting to kick him over and deal with him after he's subdued or else fleeing?

"What are you doing?" Boss's tone was sharp. "That's an obstacle. You know what you have to do."

Mewtwo crouched down, then teleported right beside the dragon's torso.

"Wait, stop!" the dragon cried, but Mewtwo had a Shadow Ball at the ready. It thrust it into the dragon's crystal chassis. The dragon buckled left, mismatched rainbow eyes rippling. "Mewtwo, stop this! It's me, Bahamut! I'm your friend, remember?"

I can already see how Bahamut came to be the bitter, jaded asshole that he is, since... yeah, having the first person you became friends with do that to you...

Friends? Laughable. Weapons didn't have friends. They had targets. And this "Bahamut" character just made himself one. Mewtwo charged another Shadow Ball, but was startled when a powerful psychic force sent it tumbling back, losing that lavender energy in the process.

Bahamut looked to the boy carrying Mew. He shook his head at the dragon. Mewtwo tried seizing on the opening, teleporting behind Bahamut and shooting another Shadow Ball right into the strange, eight-pointed star emblazoned on the back of his head.

But unlike Mewtwo's previous targets, Bahamut lashed backward with his golden tail. Suddenly, Mewtwo was forming a barrier to avoid getting hit by its own Shadow Ball.

Was he… taunting Mewtwo? Not even deigning to face it while fighting?

This... is going to be hard to read in short order, I can already tell.

Utterly insulting! Mewtwo wouldn't let this stand. It saw Bahamut reaching a wing toward the boy. He, his pikachu, a charizard, and a venusaur were heading toward Boss who, in turn, summoned his persian, rhydon, and nidoking.

Mewtwo channeled electricity into its fist and teleported behind Bahamut's head. It punched, but to its shock, the back of Bahamut's head was not solid. Next thing it knew, one of Bahamut's glowing wings had clubbed it and knocked it into the cave wall.

Wait, that's canon for Ultra Necrozma? .-.

"We're taking this outside," Bahamut growled. His rainbow eyes brimmed with shades of purple.

One moment, Mewtwo was pulling itself out of a Mewtwo-shaped hole in the cave wall. The next, it was falling toward the volcano's mouth, limbs flailing. Mewtwo quickly regained its composure, but when it turned around two sharp, purple blades slashed its chest.

This pain was different. Not like the blows Mewtwo had suffered before. It was a deep, lingering pain. Mewtwo put its right hand to its chest and pulled it back. The hand was red.

Blood. Its blood. Bahamut made it bleed.

Well, guess we won't have to worry about Bahamut holding back out of hesitation on Gene there. .-.

Prey was supposed to bleed. Not Mewtwo. It was a predator. A weapon. The world's strongest pokémon.

Curling its lips into a snarl, Mewtwo flung one Shadow Ball, then another, and then a third. Bahamut clasped his wings together. Strange purple spheres intercepted the Shadow Balls, then purple blades identical to the ones that had slashed Mewtwo destroyed its attacks.

"I trusted you!" Bahamut snarled. Blue-purple dragon energy bristled in its beak. "I shared my secrets with you! My hopes! My fears!" He spat the Dragon Pulse forward. Mewtwo easily evaded it and had Shadow Balls ready to counter.

Wait, is Bahamut not accustomed to the idea of Pokémon being brainwashable? Since he sure is feeling betrayed right about now from someone that he knew full well he last sensed being picked up by gangsters.

But the attack wasn't done. A portal opened up behind Mewtwo. Just like the one that had sucked in Mew.

It only had seconds to get out of the way of the blue bolt. The same one it had dodged before.

Bahamut was sending his own attacks through portals? Impossible! Mewtwo couldn't do that. But it was the strongest! It had to be! That was why it was created!

Though I can't tell whether this is going to end with Red getting whupped by Gio and getting Bahamut's ball yoinked, or if he stupidly never caught Bahamut and Bahamut just is going to get Master Ball'd in like 30 seconds.

"We were friends!" Bahamut descended toward the mouth of the volcano. Mewtwo couldn't teleport fast enough to catch it. "Friends bonding over our shared origins! Or so I thought."

Hissing, Mewtwo fired two Shadow Balls, then started gathering an Ice Beam in its hands. Bahamut shredded both Shadow Balls, but was unprepared for the Ice Beam. Blue ice splattered across his crystal chest while he roared in anger.

Wow. Maybe Gene can actually win this one.

Mewtwo smiled gleefully. This was where it turned the tide. Where it seized mom—

Was that lava heading directly for it?

... Or not.

"You were using me, weren't you?" Bahamut said. His body glowed pink as he steered a large glob of lava in Mewtwo's direction. It teleported several meters away. That wasn't good enough. The lava was still coming.

"I told you to run away, but you didn't!" Bahamut continued. "Those dreams you shared with me… were nothing but lies! They were all his orders, weren't they? Trying to get to me! To abuse me just like everyone else!"

... Bahamut, you're scaring me.

With a loud grunt, Mewtwo wrestled psychic control of the lava from Bahamut. It flung it into the ocean, where it'd cool into… some stupid looking rock, probably. Maybe.

... It might've deep fried a few dozen fish in the process. Such was life.

Bahamut wasn't done, though. Now he was shooting glowing rocks through the air. Power Gem. This was getting frustrating.

Mewtwo weaved around the first two rocks, then blasted two more with a small Shadow Ball. It teleported behind Bahamut. Surely, it would be too slow to turn around and—

The dragon spat a blue bolt forward... into a portal. Another one opened in front of Mewtwo. It brought its arms together, deflecting the Dragon Pulse with a blue barrier. The moment the attack faded, Mewtwo teleported right behind Bahamut, and sprayed the dragon's golden back with an Ice Beam.

That one's gonna leave a mark.

That got another furious roar. Bahamut lurched forward. His pained cries were oh so satisfying. Even with all his fancy tricks, Mewtwo could still get the upper hand. It just had to be ready for the counteratt—

Mewtwo teleported a few meters below Bahamut, watching his golden tail swipe at nothing but air. It fired a Shadow Ball right into the dragon's ethereal rump. Payback for Mewtwo's earlier humiliation on Birth Island.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Bahamut thrashed in midair. His pain turned to agony. Excellent. Mewtwo was going to complete its mission after all.

Considering how this guy has destroyed cities, you sure about that one, Gene?

Two portals opened on either side of it. Mewtwo shot up before Bahamut's wings could squish in, then teleported forward while a Dragon Pulse sailed hopelessly behind it. The dragon was getting desperate. Mewtwo was getting to him. Perfect.

It shot a Shadow Ball toward Bahamut's crystal face, but that one was a feint. Bahamut snuffed it out with a burst of pink energy, leaving Mewtwo open to strike the back of Bahamut's head with an Ice Beam.

This time, it didn't let up. Curling back its lips, Mewtwo kept the ice going. Harder. Harder. More power.

Bahamut screamed. Ice and frost coated his head. Blue trickled across gold. His ethereal glow dimmed. Mewtwo had to keep going. It would freeze this dragon solid if it meant showing him that it was superior.

Looks like I discounted Gene a little too early there.

However, Mewtwo sensed a familiar aura. Two auras, actually. Boss and his honchkrow. Had he felled the child? He must have, because a Master Ball came flying in from below. It struck Bahamut's left foot... and plinked off harmlessly.

... Whelp. Not sure if I agree with that turn of events, but meh. We're heavily in an AU, so I won't question it.

Mewtwo glanced at Boss. What about Mew? The child had her. Had Boss taken her?

It got its answer. Boss snapped his fingers. Teeth gritted, Mewtwo halted its Ice Beam. Its arms and hands burned from holding the attack that long.

Boss balanced carefully atop Honchkrow. "A respectable effort, but it ends here, you overgrown feral."

... Wait, how does Gio have a conception of a 'feral' when he's a human in a mainline (for now) setting?

Bahamut managed to shake the ice away from his face, but a part of his crystal face sloughed off, landing on the volcano's rim. His head tendrils throbbed. A red tint took over his body. A sign of his rage? Mewtwo held its arms at the ready, just in case.

"Where is the child?!" Bahamut's telepathic voice boomed. Mewtwo imagined boss heard it, too.

"Tending to his injured pokémon." Boss smirked. "Whether he remains safe comes down to your cooperation." He lifted another Master Ball out of his pocket. "Oh, and I suppose her fate is in your nonexistent hands, as well."

>imagine believing any of these words

Yeah no. Just toast Gio and his bird and take your chances. Since there is exactly zero reason to trust that Gio won't renege on any deal he offers here once he has you.

He opened the ball. Red light spewed forward. Honchkrow snapped at it with his beak... and plucked a weakened Mew out of the light. He clamped his beak around Mew's neck. She squealed in pain.

Bahamut's eyes simmered like the lava bubbling beneath them. "No..."

Mewtwo quirked a brow. That wasn't telepathy. He spoke in human tongues?

Should've fried him when you had the chance, Bahamut.

"Tell me where your poké ball is... or my pet is going to enjoy a very rare snack." Boss stroked the side of Honchkrow's head.

"You wouldn't!" Bahamut lashed at the air with his tail.

Boss snapped his fingers. Honchkrow clamped down further. Mew's weak flailing stopped. Cyanosis crept across her paws and face.

"I only need a complete sample of her DNA. It matters not if she's dead or alive," Boss scoffed. "It's all up to you. Serve Team Rocket like the tool you are... or watch your friends' lives slip away."

>imagine thinking that Gio has any intention of honoring his stated ultimatum.

Yeah, no. This is the point where you make a proverbial grab for the gun. Sure it may blow up in your and your friends' faces, but it might not, and submitting is an even more dangerous gamble for them.

Bahamut stared Boss down. His multicolored eyes were impossible to read, but Mewtwo's ESP told it the dragon's rage was building. Mewtwo clenched its fists, ready to strike in case Bahamut tried anything funny.

"... all the same..."

Amused, Boss tilted his head slightly. "Come again?"

"Every place. Every planet. All the same." Bahamut's entire body pulsated with light. "Not again. I won't..."

Oh, so Bahamut is actually going for the proverbial gun grab.

Mewtwo drew on its psionics. It sought to bind Bahamut in place in midair, even if it took all its strength.

"I won't let anyone hurt me again!"

A massive explosion of golden light slammed into Mewtwo, hammering it down into the volcano's rim. The impact sent the most intense pain it had ever felt coursing down its entire body. And then... it felt nothing below its neck.

Its vision was fuzzy, but it couldn't sense its arms or legs. Couldn't move them. Each breath was a struggle.

I mean, really, what did you expect, Gio?

What had just happened? Mewtwo tried concentrating. It saw something small and black freefalling.

Boss. Mewtwo had to save him. But it couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but watch as its creator fell into the lava, leaving behind nothing but brief flames.

Cue the S to spit on grave.

Bahamut wasn't done, however. His anguished roars split apart the air over the volcano. Now the dragon had the boy and Mew in his psychic grasp. He dropped them through a portal, before turning and locking eyes with Mewtwo.

It tried to do something. Move a limb. A muscle. Anything below its neck.

Yeah, I kinda had a feeling that Gene was paralyzed. This just confirms it.

There was a brief flash, then pressure in Mewtwo's right shoulder. Now every breath was even more of a struggle.

Mewtwo gave a gasp, then a gurgle. Heavy fluid was pooling in its throat. Blood, probably. Mewtwo couldn't turn its head, but saw the culprit out of the corner of its eye.

The chunk of crystal its Ice Beam had dislodged from Bahamut's face sat firmly embedded in its shoulder. If it hadn't lost all feeling, Mewtwo imagined it would be in excruciating pain.

Bahamut continued grunting and snarling like an enraged feral. He clutched his head with his upper wings. "Scum. Vile scum." The dragon thrashed about in midair. "Aesir. This planet doesn't deserve it. These souls would taint it. They deserve... destruction, alongside Eternatus."

Oh, I can already tell that this was good for Bahamut's relationship with Red... not. Though 'Aesir', huh? Filing that one away for the term that Bahamut uses in place of 'god(s)', since that's a term for one of the pantheons of Norse mythology.

What was his blabbering about?

It didn't matter. Mewtwo had lost. It wasn't the strongest. It had become prey... and its hunter was about to strike the killing blow.

"Have to... draw it here..." Bahamut rose into the sky. "One strike. One Photon Geyser... to summon it!"

The last thing Mewtwo saw was a massive ball of golden light heading for the volcano. It didn't try to struggle in vain. It simply bowed its head and yielded to the inevitable.

... Oh, so Bahamut just summoned the massive Serpent Eating the Ground onto Mainline World for a failed attempt at slaying it in a fit of pique over Gene turning on him while brainwashed. That's... lovely. .___.

May 29, 20XX
It's my fault. I'm sure of it.

Every station was talking about it. Cinnabar Island sunk into the ocean by a strike from a giant dragon of golden light. Fuchsia flooded by the resulting tsunami.

Who knows how many perished?

Uh... yeah, it kinda was there. Even if indirectly.

It matters not, because it proved to just be a preamble. As I sit here writing this, something truly monstrous has blotted out the sun itself. It's like the palm of a planet-sized hand, with one of its fingers lingering over Kanto.

People are pouring onto the streets. Some to stare in awe. Others to try and flee underground.

I do not think it will do them any good.

No doubt, I brought about this punishment. I tried to defy Mother Nature, and She took notice. Took notice and sent agents of unfathomable power to judge the entire planet for the actions of a select few.

No, more like a pissed-off alien decided that your entire planet didn't have a right to live over getting shivved by a one-time friend and not bothering to get to the full story behind things.

I can't tell whether or not I should feel sorry for Bahamut or despise him over this turn of events, really.

All I wanted was to see my sweet Amber again. I never meant for things to spiral out of control like this. If I could, I'd go back and refuse his offer. Or sabotage the project so it could never have reached the point it did.

If, by some miracle, anyone finds this journal, then know this: we dreamed of creating the world's strongest pokémon... and we failed.

~Wataru Fuji

Well, someone obviously did given that we're reading this. Even if I'm not sure who found it just yet.

Mewtwo gasped. Its eyes snapped open, then immediately closed from the blinding white light. It hissed in annoyance.

"Dang it, Nova! I said red light. Red!" exclaimed an unfamiliar voice with a... digital tint to it. "Yes, that switch on the right." A mechanical sigh. "Good. Sorry about that, buddy. Place should be easier on the eyes."

Oh, so Gene can hiss like a cat. I should be less surprised, but somehow I still am. Time to find out who Nova and this unrevealed speaker are.

Mewtwo was much slower to open its eyes this time. The room had a high, gray ceiling with red lights, but that was all Mewtwo could see. Any attempts to move met with failure. Even its head, which was the last thing it remembered being able to move.

"Sorry about the restraints, big fella." The voice chuckled nervously. "We needed them in place to pump all that seawater out of your lungs and stomach. And, uh, from the look of things, you'll have to put up with them until we can fix your spine up."

Water inside its hollow organs?

Wait, Gene's still alive right now? Or do souls arrive in Natus as they died?

... Right. That infernal dragon had pinned it onto Cinnabar's volcano, then charged up some sort of massive attack. Mewtwo must've gone down with the island... and someone fished it up.

But if it had drowned... wouldn't it be dead?

Gene: "... Better question, how was there anything left of me after all of that?" .-.

"He's confused," a new voice exclaimed. Was that the "Nova" the first voice was addressing?

"I can see that, Nova. But no point overloading him with information right now."

No, this would be a pretty good time to do that given that he's restrained, paralyzed and has nothing better to do with his time.

Him?

No, Mewtwo was an it. A weapon.

... A failed weapon.

Boy is it sad/depressing to see how much Gene had internalized being a tool for somebody else by this point.

Failed weapons didn't deserve any acknowledgement. They deserved to be tossed away like the trash they were.

Finally, a gray, reptilian head poked into Mewtwo's view. But this reptile... was mechanical? A robot? Its yellow-blue eyes were screens, not eyeballs. Eyes that gave off purple and yellow sparks like they were stupidly long eyelashes.

Oh, so we Miraidon now.

"Good to see you're awake, pal." Lizard Bot bobbed his head, showing off his large, purple casque. "Unfortunately, I've got to put you back to sleep. We have a lot of work to do to fix you up."

Lizard Bot winked at Mewtwo. "Don't worry, though. Ol' Miraidon'll do his best to get you up on your feet again."

Yup, I called it. Though I did a double take at "casque". Surprised you didn't go with something more normie like "head crest" unless that's deliberately mimicking Gene's internal thought process.

Up on its feet? What was the point. It was nothing but a failed weapon. Hardly worth this "Miraidon" person's time.

Mewtwo couldn't object, however. Because Miraidon brought some sort of plastic mask toward Mewtwo's face. Within a matter of seconds, it had drifted off back to sleep.

Wait, was Gene never put under anesthesia prior to this? Since I'm a little surprised he didn't recognize the mask to be that considering his test tube experiment background.

It had no idea how much time had passed. Mewtwo lost track of how many times Miraidon woke it from slumber and asked it to do mundane things like wiggling its toes or pointing at him with different fingers.

The right arm was still a problem, though. The shard from Bahamut's crystal face was still wedged in there.

- Blinks -
Not sure how I never noticed that in this chapter until just now, but so that's how Gene got his Pokkén makeover.

Miraidon hovered at Mewtwo's right side. "I've gone through a lot of scenarios. Trying to figure out how we can get thing out of you." He pointed to the crystal with a metal claw. "But I can't see a path forward. It's pierced too many vital structures."

... How on earth could Gene even move his arm with that stuck in him? .-.

If it was a waste of time, then Miraidon should have simply left Mewtwo alone. Except Miraidon wasn't Boss. He didn't have that same absolute control Boss had. Which meant Mewtwo would need to make its wishes known. And that meant... speaking through the mind, right?

Except just trying to concentrate on its psychic power made it dizzy. The red lights overhead blurred together.

A little surprised there, since I could've sworn that Shadowtwo in Pokkén was still a Psychic by fighting style. Guess Gene needed a bit of work on him before he could get back into fighting order.

That wouldn't do. There had to be something it could try. After observing humans speaking for months, maybe it picked up on enough? It was intelligent. Or supposed to be.

Concentrate. Focus. Move the lips. Tighten the throat.

"Don't… bother…"

… There. Perfect.

Miraidon: "Well aren't you just a Debbie Downer here?" >:|

Miraidon frowned. "Don't bother with what?"

"Helping… me." Mewtwo sucked in a sharp breath. "I'm—"

"Not worth it?"

That was Nova's voice. He was perturbed. "I warned you, Mira. You saw the scans. It's going to be an uphill battle."

Miraidon: "Nova, you're supposed to have my back here..." >_>;
Nova: "Sorry, Mira, but I've gotta call 'em as I see 'em. And... yeah, this is a pretty long shot."

Mewtwo tried to move, but it was exhausted despite just waking up.

"You are worth the time," Nova said. "Even if you don't think it."

... Now I'm wondering if we'll ever see Nova again, since I'm curious what's made him/her so stubbornly insistent at chasing after cases others would write off as hopeless.

Miraidon looked past Mewtwo. "I admire your enthusiasm, Nova. And I see where you're coming from." He gestured to the crystal in Mewtwo's right shoulder. "But how do you propose we handle this?"

"Imbue the crystal with Malice."

Oh, so that is how Gene got his start as a Shadowtwo. Even if I'm sure that this is not exactly the sanest idea in the world.

"Are you mad?" Miraidon's eyes flickered like dying lightbulbs. "We have no idea how he'd respond to something like that."

"He can't move his right arm and has other functional impairments," Nova countered. "If we gradually infuse Malice into the crystal, he can build up a tolerance to it."

I'd say that I'm with Mira here, but it's already a fait accompli as to whether or not they go through with this.

It does make me wonder if it's going to wind up coming back to bite Gene in the ass later in the story, though.

Miraidon crossed his arms. "How gradual are you talking?"

"Possibly decades."

... Wait, how long ago did Eternatus eat Earth if they're talking about a process that will take decades? .-.

Mewtwo didn't like this idea. The mere name "Malice" sounded like a terrifying prospect, but Mewtwo was completely at their mercy. It was their prey.

This pounding in its chest must have been what all its targets felt when it confronted them.

Something bubbled in its stomach. Guilt? Mewtwo wasn't entirely sure.

Miraidon: "That's 'fear' hon. And honestly I don't blame ya, but..."
Nova: "We're all limited on options, to say the least."

But maybe the Malice would have side effects. Maybe it would let Mewtwo forget its humiliating loss.

"Do it," Mewtwo rasped.

Miraidon's eyes displayed exclamation points. "Are you sure? You heard Nova, right? We might have to keep you asleep for a very long time."

... Wait Miraidon is already confirmed for being able to do that? Or is that personal interpretation?

Mewtwo narrowed its eyes at Miraidon. "Do it."

A mechanical sigh followed. "Very well. If you understand the risks, then we'll proceed." He looked past Mewtwo. "Nova, I expect you to be on top of this."

"Absolutely."

Now I'm curious as to what sorts of nasty side effects happened during all of this, since I'm not convinced at all that this all went down without a hitch.

Mewtwo stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror, glaring at its reflection. It ran its left hand across its darkened skin, then grabbed its tail to look at the yellow, ethereal glow it now had. The same glow as the crystal in Mewtwo's right shoulder. No longer an inert gem. It pulsated with power. Unfamiliar power.

Yet that power was what let Mewtwo move its right arm and breathe easier than it had before. And it somehow kept its body from atrophying, so it was clearly something special. Though Mewtwo had to sacrifice its teleportation abilities to regain the use of its right arm. It had no doubt that would prove a difficult adjustment.

Oh, so we won't be seeing Gene zip across regions again on his own anytime soon. Is that based off something from Shadowtwo's moveset, or is that a meta nerf to keep him from being story-breaking?

"How are you feeling?"

Mewtwo's frown deepened. It was Nova. Mewtwo was sick of this "type: full" checking in on it. It was a powerful weapon, not some dainty fledgling taking its first steps from the nest.

Perhaps being blunt would shoo Nova off. "Bad," Mewtwo grunted. It turned to the type: full, casting a judgmental look at his black and white, zebstrika-like pelt, clumps of turquoise scales, and gold, insectoid forelegs.

"Type: Full", huh? Now I'm curious as to what that looks-

-checks image embed-

Oh. Oh. Not sure what those other bits are from, but that certainly clears up a lot. Though minor typo on "turquoise" there.

"Well, hey, at least it's not 'terrible' or 'miserable.'" Nova wagged his turquoise fish tail. An absolute eyesore. "That's progress."

Bluntness didn't work. Onto intimidation, then.

Mewtwo's tail lashed against the mirror. A high-pitched ding reverberated through the room. Nova's triangular ears folded slightly. Satisfaction pinched at Mewtwo's second neck.

Nova: "Starting to get the feeling we should've worked on your behavioral therapy before we fixed your body up." @_@

"I think I get it." Sighing, Nova pivoted to his right. "You don't want me around. Probably got a lot on your mind." His blue eyes scanned the gray metal wall, even though Mewtwo was sure he knew it was empty. "It's a lot to take in."

Maybe it was, but Mewtwo was intelligent enough to understand what had happened. Earth was absorbed by a titan known as Eternatus. Now it, along with the entire planet, were inside the titan. In some sort of galactic purgatory. And the Malice that was used to fix Mewtwo was Eternatus' energy.

Gene:

Nova: "You... probably don't want to know the answer to that, really." ^v^;

Energy it could produce from absolutely nothing, which was utterly illogical. Such a power violated the most basic laws of thermodynamics. Even a weapon like Mewtwo needed to get the power for its attacks from somewhere.

Nova: "Oh, and like psychic powers don't casually violate basic laws of thermodynamics-?"

Gene: "They violate them in an orderly and predictable fashion. This is different from that."

Mewtwo pinched its brow and shook its head. Why couldn't Nova get the message and leave? It wanted to be alone.

"You can talk to me," Nova said. The type: full lowered his head. His necklace ruffled his white fur. "Bottling things up will only make it easier for the Malice to overtake you."

Gene: "I'm sorry, why did you put this in me if it'd make it easier for this 'Malice' to absorb me or whatever you just said?" >_>;
Nova: "Again, limited options that didn't involve you being left with one working limb. We played the best card from a bad hand, and you signed off on it."

Mewtwo growled its annoyance and clenched its fists. "I don't want to talk. Weapons don't talk."

Nova frowned. Mewtwo studied his face. That weird mix of white fur and a gold, robot beak. Was Nova... pitying it?

Nova: "Brilliant deduction there, Sherlock." -v-;
Gene: "You don't need to rub it in like that, you know!" >.<;

"You want to know what I'm thinking?" Mewtwo took a step toward Nova. Its right shoulder burned. The crystal glowed brighter. "I'm thinking... of the most efficient way to kill you. Do I crush your skull with Psychic? Pull apart your inner circuitry? Or simply grind you into dust with a relentless onslaught of Shadow Balls?"

Mewtwo firmed up its stance, practically daring Nova to call it out for such cruel remarks.

Instead, the type: full smirked. "Well, that's colorful." He tilted his head. "And, deep down, I'm wondering what would happen if I slashed open that second neck of yours. Would you go limp? Lose control of certain bodily functions?"

Well that's concerning. I wonder if Nova had a similar backstory to Gene, or if that's him playing tit for tat with Gene.

Nova crouched slightly. Playfully? What the hell was he doing?

"And your tail! It's fused with your abdomen. What would happen if I sliced it off?"

Mewtwo stepped back. It almost lost its footing. Was Nova messing with it? Such violent rhetoric mixed with such a cheerful tone. Jokes weren't things weapons needed to be concerned with, but Mewtwo was pretty sure this was not how one was meant to joke around.

Nova:

Gene: "... I regret everything."

Sighing, Nova stood up tall. "Dang, I thought you'd catch on quicker. Guess you're still pretty out of it."

Now, Mewtwo had to say something. "Are you mocking me?"

Nova shook his head. "You're intelligent. I figured you had already connected the dots."

"About what?"

Nova's expression sharpened. "That you're not the only living weapon birthed by science."

Oh, so Nova really does share a background with Gene.

Mewtwo's gaze fell to its feet. It shifted about silently. In the back of its head, it had considered such a possibility. Between the "type: full" designation and Nova's odd, piecemeal design, there was nothing about him that screamed natural. But some illogical part of Mewtwo's mind steered it away from those thoughts.

Was it pride? It wasn't like being a creation was something to be proud of.

Legendary Gerbils: "Are we a joke to you?" >:|
Gene: "Yes, now go away. You're not even in this story." >_>;

"So what?" Mewtwo muttered. "I don't want your pity. Pity is for the weak."

"And you're strong. You're a killer." Sighing, Nova shook his head. In a strange accent, he declared, "We're not so different, you and I."

Mewtwo glared at him. Nova chuckled. "Aww, c'mon. It's from a movie!"

Oh, so they have an analogue to The Dark Knight in this story. Or else they did wherever Nova was from.

Movies? The moving, talking pictures that humans liked? What purpose did watching movies serve?

... Nothing.

"I don't care." Mewtwo stepped forward. "Stand aside." It stood tall, trying to make it clear it would shove Nova out of the way if necessary.

... Don't think you want to try that, Gene. Since Nova wouldn't be bantering you like this if he didn't think he was in control.

However, Nova stepped toward Mewtwo. "Matriarch built me and my siblings to carry out Her will," he said, expression stern. "For the longest time, I believed in everything She said. Completed every order without so much as flinching."

... Guess that's a sign that we'll be seeing more of these Type: Fulls in the future from that line.

Mewtwo's yellow tail twitched. It recalled mention of Matriarch before. Some sort of... ruler of this realm?

"Even though I saw the anguish on other people's faces, Matriarch convinced me that they were wrong," Nova continued. The bird-like crest over his head drooped slightly. "That I was wrong to ask questions about them. She told me— no, all of us that only She knew what was right for us. What was good for us."

Gene: "That... doesn't sound remotely healthy." ._.;
Nova: "It's not, but you can relate to that, can't you?"

A shudder ran down to Nova's fish tail. It all sounded... vaguely familiar to Mewtwo. But it wasn't quite the same. "Why do you speak plurally?"

"Because I'm not the only type: full." Nova looked down. "I'm actually the prototype. Matriarch produced more. Ones that wouldn't think for themselves, so they wouldn't question Her orders."

Yuuuuuuup. Wonder if they're still kicking around and if they're also made out of 500 Unown a pop in this story, since there's certainly no shortage of those lying around inside Natus.

Now that rang a bell. "Right." Mewtwo crossed its arms. "Weapons don't think. They act."

Nova bobbed his head. "But you're not just a weapon. You're a person. With thoughts, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. You deserve to live your own life." Nova looked down, curling his gold talons slightly. "It took me far too long to realize that... and now I'm trying to rectify that."

Nova is the missing Resistance leader, isn't he?

He offered Mewtwo a shaky smile. "And that starts with helping someone I can relate to."

Mewtwo looked at the type: full, brow furrowed. It crossed its arms and looked away. "Well, I don't need help. What I need... is to be stronger. Strong enough to defeat the dragon that humiliated me."

Nova:

Gene: "Oi! What happened to being all about my 'hopes and dreams' here?! Those are perfectly valid hopes and dreams!"

Nova's tail drooped. "Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. But it should be your desire. Not someone else's."

He turned away from Mewtwo. "Good talk, I guess? Mira says you can have a bit more time before we have to start your next treatment."

Talons scraped metal as Nova left the room. Mewtwo turned back to the mirror, tail lazily drifting back and forth.

"... my own desire," it whispered.

Gene: "How is 'getting even with the overgrown Christmas star that disfigured me' not my desire here?" >_>;
Nova: "Just... take some time to think over if it's what you really want? (For your own sake, I hope it's not, since that's not gonna mix well with that Malice in ya.)"

Mewtwo sat awkwardly on a metal stool, hunched over and staring across the bright white room... at Mew.

There were, apparently, plenty of mew in Eternatus. But Nova had somehow tracked down the one from Earth. The one it had hunted down and harmed. It was tough not to snarl at Mew. It wasn't her fault that damned dragon went berserk and... felled Mewtwo.

Still, Mewtwo thought this was stupid. Nova wanted it to apologize to Mew. For what? It was carrying out its orders. If anything, the dragon should apologize for messing up its mission.

A metal beak nudged Mewtwo's tail. It sighed. "Hello... Mew. I'm here to... say I'm sorry."

Mew tilted her head. Her eyes were so large. Brimming with curiosity.

... It was nauseating.

Nova nudged Mewtwo's tail again. It took a lot of restraint not to snap at the type: full. "I'm sorry... that you were my target. It was... wrong to hunt you down. Try to capture you... and stuff."

Gene: "Nova, couldn't I have just written a letter here?" >_>;
Nova: "Nope. Gotta do this the hard way to make sure that it sticks."

Silence hung in the air. Mewtwo could've dropped a pin and it would ring throughout the room.

Mew floated forward... and bonked Mewtwo's head.

Its blue eyes flickered red. "What was that for?"

"Mew mewmew mew!" she squeaked.

Gene: "I can already tell that this was a fantastic use of time and energy." >.<

Mewtwo blinked incredulously. Eternatus' freaky insides were supposed to synchronize everyone to one language. Yet Mew spoke like a feral.

I'm still double-taking at how on earth the conception of a 'feral' existed on Pokéearth given that Gio himself refers to Bahamut as one at Cinnabar. I'm guessing that things go a SR-esque route where Pokémon can be uplifted into sapience by socialization or something, but that should've been dealt with a bit more in passing in earlier scenes, since that has massive implications for what life in places with humans and Pokémon mixed in with each other looks like.

"Like a loser," Mewtwo hissed.

Nova offered a shaky smile. "At least you're being honest. That's good, right?"

"Hardly." The crystal in Mewtwo's shoulder sparked. "This was a waste of time."

Gene: "I said as much in the last cutaway gag." >_>;
Nova: "Yeah, well that wasn't canon, so it doesn't count."

The type: full sat down. "My mistake. I think I... overestimated your situation."

Mewtwo narrowed its eyes. "Overestimated?"

"Your mental state," Nova continued. "You can certainly reason and think for yourself... but it looks like whoever controlled you neutered your emotional intelligence."

I'm surprised that Nova would make that mistake given that he's seen what Pokémon reared to be weapons are like, and that doesn't strike me as a particularly rare debilitating quality to have.

"Emotions are for the weak." Mewtwo snorted. Its tail flicked to its right. "They only get in the way."

I can already tell that this special is going to make Gene eat those words by the end of this.

"That's because you were forced to think that way," Nova countered. "You're not being controlled anymore, so there's no need to—" "

It's not about control!" Mewtwo snapped. Psychic energy brimmed in its hands as it stomped its right foot down. "It's about power! Being the strongest! I was supposed to be undefeatable... until one stupid dragon destroyed me with a single attack."

Nova:

Gene: "Not this nonsense from you too..." >.<

It turned away from Nova. "And now... I'm supposed to accept this ridiculous idea that I'm 'only kind of dead,' but trapped inside some giant creature full of unimaginable power?" Mewtwo clenched its fists. Its shoulder tingled from the Malice Crystal sparking with dark energy. "All while my long slumbers are plagued by constant repeats of the dragon humiliating me?"

Nova: "Yes, actually."
Gene: "You can't expect me to seriously-!"

Nova: "I'm sorry, but that's just reality. The sooner you come to terms with it, the better we'll all be."

Mewtwo couldn't hold it in anymore. It pivoted left... and threw a psychically-charged punch at its stool. The seat on top dented, but didn't break. Pain shot through Mewtwo's right hand. It pulled its throbbing hand back and stared at it, teeth gritted.

"... you don't get to stand there and tell me what I can think," it whispered. "I don't care if you're artificial. You don't know what I've been through."

inb4 it turns out they were reading his brainwaves while he was sleeping-

Silence followed. Nova stepped back, crest drooping. "I didn't know you were having nightmares," he whispered. "You could've told one of us."

... Or not.

"Why, so you could try and 'fix' it?" Mewtwo growled. "I told you, I don't want your help. I... I just—"

The energy dissipated. Mewtwo hardly did anything, yet it was exhausted. It slumped down onto its rear, arms draped at its sides.

"What's the point of fixing me? I have nothing left," Mewtwo whispered. "Defeating enemies with overwhelming power was my purpose. What do I do without that purpose?"

Nova: "... Have you considered finding a new one? You know, a new purpose? Since... I'm pretty sure it'd be a hell of a lot healthier for you than staying on this route."

If Boss were here, he would have undoubtedly called the gesture for what it was: pathetic.

But he wasn't. Nova was. And the type: full padded up to Mewtwo's side, and slid onto his belly beside it. "That's the beautiful part: you can decide that for yourself. It doesn't have to be today. Or tomorrow. Or even this year. But if you keep moving forward, you'll find that purpose."

That one was a bit more polite than I was expecting, but I like it. It's a genuinely touching moment between these two.

Mewtwo didn't make eye contact. "How do you know?"

"Because when I abandoned Matriarch, I didn't know what to do with myself, either," Nova confessed. "I wandered from planet to planet for a while — stowing away in ships and transporters to avoid detection — until I met Mira. He took me to his moonbase... and I felt that spark helping him rehabilitate people while fighting against Matriarch's forces."

Scratch that, it's Miraidon that's the missing Resistance leader. Since I see that 'moonbase' comment.

Tail sticking up, Mewtwo finally met Nova's soft gaze. "I beg your pardon?"

It took a second for Nova to realize what he said. When he did, the type: full's blue eyes lit up and he laughed. "Wow, I probably should've led with that earlier, huh?"

Oh, so this is the story of how Gene came to be a Resistance fighter, huh?

Mewtwo glowered at Nova. "Take this seriously."

"Okay, okay." Nova took a deep breath to dispel his last few chuckles. "Your purpose was to fight, right?"

"Fight to impose Team Rocket's vision upon the world," Mewtwo interjected.

"... charming." Nova grinned sheepishly when Mewtwo glared at him. "Anyway, what's stopping you from retooling that purpose under a different cause? Like, instead of fighting for organized crime, fight to help free Eternatus from Matriarch's control."

Since that just screams "unintended consequences will follow".

Mewtwo crossed its arms. It wasn't an idiot. It saw immediate flaws with that idea. "If it was really that simple, wouldn't you have taken Matriarch out on your own?"

Nova flinched. "Got me there." He brushed his gold forelegs against one another. "Truth is that, yeah, Mira and I have been trying to put together a team. To start a rebellion. But it's proving a lot more difficult than I expected."

Gene: "I mean, this whole 'being undead' thing is kinda a real drag for morale..." >_>;
Nova: "Yeah, so I gathered." -v-;

"And you think a failed weapon will be the difference maker?" Mewtwo looked down at its dark gray hands. "You already mutated me with Eternatus' energy. That makes me a liability, not an ally."

"It's not like I'd be sending you out to fight the Paradigm right away." Nova sounded exasperated. "Yeah, it'll take a while. A long while. But time is a luxury we happen to have inside Eternatus."

Even at expanded scales, time has a way of flying by, Nova. Don't get too used to that luxury of yours.

He extended his right foreleg toward Mewtwo. "If you stick with me, I promise to make sure you're free of any possible Malice side effects. And I'll help you claim an identity of your own."

Mewtwo quirked a brow at Nova's foreleg. "What's in it for you?"

"Your company."

Gene: "I'm sorry, but why would that be important to you again-?"

"Excu—" Saliva went down the wrong pipe and Mewtwo broke into a coughing fit. Nova... wanted to spend time with it? Despite all Mewtwo's attempts to push the type: full away?

The back of Mewtwo's head throbbed. It briefly saw a mental image of a gold silhouette in the middle of windswept plains.

"Sorry. I just thought... because we have things in common, we'd make good friends."

Well that's a great omen for how things are going to play out in this relationship. ^^;

Mewtwo rubbed the back of its head.

It had said that once, hadn't it? When and where? Mewtwo had never seen that memory before.

... Or had it?

"You want... my company?" it whispered, staring again at Nova's foreleg.

"Everyone can do with a friend," Nova whispered back. "Even if they don't think it."

Debatable in the case of Bahamut considering how he reacted to perceived betrayal. Like I'm pretty sure that he could afford to have been put into cryosleep friendless and it'd have been a net benefit for the universe about 40 planets ago.

Mewtwo looked into Nova's eyes, then back at his foreleg, and then at his eyes again. It fidgeted with its hands and squirmed and place. Mewtwo didn't know the first thing about being a friend. Or, rather, the basic knowledge was there, but the tools needed to apply that knowledge practically were not.

But how could it say that without trying? That would be... like declaring an attack beyond its capabilities without training.

... Yes. Friendship wasn't beyond Mewtwo's abilities. It simply needed training, like with anything else.

Probably still needs training considering how Gene's a raging asshole even in the present day. Even if I can understand where it's coming from a bit better.

"I... suppose so," Mewtwo muttered. It put its left hand on the floor. Its left thumb crossed one of Nova's talons.

Though brief, a chill ran down Mewtwo's neck tube. It was... strangely pleasant?

"Great!" The blue, scaly underside of Nova's tail scraped against the floor. Both of them flinched. "Whoops!" He looked back at his hindquarters. "Tails, am I right? Kinda jealous yours is prehensile. Wish they'd factored that into my designs."

Mewtwo scratched its head. "D... do people normally christen their friendships by talking about their backsides?"

They do in this story, it seems.

"No. It was a joke." Nova stood up, chuckling. "If you want something to mark the occasion, how about a name?"

"I have a name. I am Mewtwo."

"No, that's your designation," Nova said. "Like how I'm a type: full."

"But I am the only Mewtwo."

Nova: "..."

Gene: "I- I am the only Mewtwo, r-right?" ._.;

Nova shrugged. "I still think you could use a proper name. Something to help you build your own sense of identity." He walked in front of Mewtwo and crouched down. "So, lemme ask ya. Do you see yourself as masculine? Feminine? Nonbinary?" Nova paused. "I can list others if those don't work."

"No, that's fine." Mewtwo got to its feet. "I suppose... I feel a certain tug with, erm, masculinity?" It rubbed the back of its head. This was beyond awkward.

Gene: "Look, can we just pick out that name already?" >///<
Nova: "You kinda already did it for me with those speech tags of yours, but if you wanna get formal about it..."

Nova's eyes lit up. "Great! Then I've got the perfect name."

"And that is?"

"Gene. You're Mewtwo Gene!" Nova's tail wagged. "What do you think?"

Gene: "... 'Mewtwo Gene' is some sort of dumb pun, isn't it?" >_>;
Nova: "Nah, it's just a naming convention here. Species, then the name you're known by in casual parlance. Been all the rage since Eternatus ate that one world consisting of a village duct-taped together with a bunch of teleportation links."
Gene: "I'm just saying, I'm a genetic experiment, and my name is Gene..."
Nova: "Would you rather that I give you some sort of super-sappy name like 'Mewtwo Wish' or something like that?" -v-;
Gene: "... I'll stick with 'Gene', thanks." -_-;

After about a minute letting the name roll around in it— no, his head, Gene nodded slowly.

"... I can work with that."

Nova: "Just saying, if you really are dissatisfied, I can hit up the naming book for something suitably sappy and heartstring-tuggy-"
Gene: "Nova, I said I was fine with 'Gene'. My name is 'Gene', okay?" >_>;

Gene sprang back, but didn't put enough power into his legs. The blue, glowing blade grazed his belly. Gene tumbled through the air. He sensed someone coming up from behind. Fighting and steel energy. Zamazenta?

He thrusted both hands forward. Flames shot out, turning him into a large, fiery wheel. There was a startled yip. Gene sailed past Zamazenta, then steadied himself and dispelled the flames. Though the mewtwo wanted to attack him, Zacian was sailing through the air, blade at the ready.

Wait a minute, those two made it to Etherium in the past? .-.

"Nnngh." Gene raised his hands to try catching Zacian with his ESP. But Zamazenta's shield glowed a fiery crimson. He lunged for Gene, knocking the mewtwo back.

"All right, I think that's a good stopping point."

Nova trotted onto the tan arena, cheek bolts slowly turning in their sockets. "So, what do you think?" he looked at Gene. "These two are pretty great, right?"

Gene crossed his arms. "Real pokémon don't need weapons to fight." He cast a judgmental look at Zacian.

Oh, so this is where Gene picked up his spoon, huh?

"My blade can cut through just about anything when I'm concentrating," she boasted. Her sword vanished in a stream of blue and gold light, taking her gold crown and wing-like armor plates with it. She shook herself out. "It sounds more like jealousy to me."

"Agreed," Zamazenta grunted. Like his older sister, the gold shield around his head vanished, letting him stretch his neck out. "You could criticize her, or you could try it for yourself."

Gene tilted his head. Try what for himself?

"I don't know, brother." Smirking, Zacian shook her head. "Gene does not strike me as the creative type. I bet he couldn't come up with a decent weapon no matter how much psychic power he has."

Yup. This is totally where he got his spoon.

"Is that a challenge?" Gene cracked his knuckles, then tilted his neck from side to side until his spine popped. "I can come up with a psychic weapon. Check it."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Gene clapped his hands together. Pink energy brimmed in his hands. He focused on that energy. It was slippery, but the mewtwo could make it malleable. The first step was to solidify it, which happened when he held his hands together like a circular cup.

Good. Now, Gene needed to expand it; keep things solid while adding more psionic material to it. He envisioned a resistance band in his hands and slowly pulled. His arm muscles tensed. Gene exhaled slowly. The pink bubble elongated into a pink rectangular prism. Gene stretched it further, until it was practically his wingspan.

The last part was shaping it. The mewtwo's eyes glowed a deep blue. A blue circle traced itself along one end of the pink prism, then carved out a small circular basin.

Zacian:

Zamzenta:

Gene: "... Dammit." >///<

Gene planted his weapon down like a staff. "Done!" He flashed a toothy grin at Nova.

"It's... a spoon?" Nova tilted his head. Zacian and Zamazenta exchanged amused looks.

"Ah, yes, truly terrifying." Zamazenta's words dripped with sarcasm. "I'm quaking in terror."

Four words spoken seconds from disaster.

"Oi, don't knock the spoon." Gene slashed the air to his right, then whirled left and thrust the spoon. "Alakazam use small ones for their attacks. So, a big one should let me do even stronger strikes."

"Uh-huh." Zacian approached her brother's side. "I think we'd best leave him to Nova. Perhaps he's dehydrated or something?"

The two dogs headed for the double doors on the other side of the arena. Gene dispelled the spoon in a flurry of pink mist. "Cowards!" he called. "You're just afraid I'd spoon your butts into next week!"

You set up lines like these on purpose, don't you? :V

Nova stumbled with a squawk. His blue eyes widened. "I, uh, think you might want to rephrase that one."

Gene stared blankly. "Why?"

"Err... never mind." Nova recomposed himself. "So, what did you think?"

Gene: "No, really. Why would I want to rephrase myself there?"

Nova: "Let's... go over what 'innuendo' is another time. Anyhow, about the topic at hand..."

"You're right. They're formidable," the mewtwo said. "I'm sure they'll prove valuable allies."

"And what about you?" Nova got closer, tilting his head. "You've been sparring a lot now. For what it's worth, I don't think you looked as... aggressive."

Gene frowned. "Yeah, but I was sloppy." His shoulders sagged. "I was trying to keep my... killer instincts in check. I'm not well-suited for that kind of multitasking."

That's probably not a good omen for what Gene's first few attempts looked like. ^^;

"Or it takes a lot of getting used to," Nova said, winking. "Regardless, I'm proud of you. You've made a lot of progress."

The mewtwo's cheeks burned. "... tch. You're just saying that."

Nova nudged Gene's chin with his beak. Gene's tail scrunched up. "Nngh. Cut it out!"

Oh, so you're shipping these two, huh? Which I'm sure is a sign that Nova is going to bite it in like a scene.

"What did I tell you about the negative self-talk?" Nova asked, smirking.

Gene pouted. "That's it beneath me."

"I don't think I phrased it like that, but close enough." Nova chuckled. "You sure you're not picking up some humor from all the movies we're watching?"

Gene: "... Where have we even been getting those, anyways?"
Nova: "Folks have got a lot of free time when they're undead. Makes for a burgeoning film industry here." ^^;

"Please. Any pyukumuku with half a brain could do that." Gene rolled his eyes. "I'm a super-intelligent being. I could absorb details about those movies in my sleep."

I'll believe it when I see it, really. Since I'd assume you'd still need some sensory input to absorb details.

Nova grinned. "Ah, some boasting!" He playfully nudged Gene's left shoulder. "Way better than self-deprecation."

Gene's cheeks burned again. The type: full always knew how to catch him off guard.

In the past, Gene wouldn't have stood for that. Now he found it... charming?

... Yeah. Charming enough to give the mewtwo goosebumps.

Nova: "You can just say you're crushing on me, ya know." o<o
Gene: "D-Don't get crazy here! Things are strictly platonic right now!" >///<

"If you're going to stare into space, you can at least tell me what you're thinking." Nova crossed his right foreleg over his left. His necklace brushed against his white fur.

"Thinking?" Mewtwo scratched his nose. "I was thinking... about how much longer you intend to keep this operation in the planning stages. You've got Miraidon and the dogs. And that stupid espeon who seems obsessed with you."

Nova winced. "Yeah, I'm doing my best to ignore Selene's... enthusiasm."

Though cute homage to your last work there.

"I could wipe her memories for you," Gene offered, lifting his right hand.

"No. We need all the help we can get," Nova said. "Even hers."

I take it that this Selene is a bit more 'Mika Harima' than the original flavor from that dialogue. ^^;

Gene frowned. "Then you still don't think we're ready?"

"I'm not sure." Nova sat on his haunches. "I'm still making this up as we go."

"Yeah. And I recall saying improvisation is not my strong suit," Gene scoffed.

Great omen for how that operation's gonna go, really. ^^;

"Is that so?" Nova got up and approached Gene. He brushed his side against the mewtwo's. "Maybe we need to... make a few changes to your training regimen?"

If Gene's face wasn't red before, it certainly was now.

I take it that those two were a bit hard to find around the moonbase that night. :V

The stasis capsule was a gray, metal tube with dark, one-way glass. Gene stood in front of it with his right hand braced against the door. "I have to do this, don't I?"

"We both know it's the safest thing to do," Nova said. Gene didn't bother looking at him. How could he after that slip up? The last Paradigm daemon almost turned him against Zacian and Zamazenta. Those aggressive urges Gene had worked so hard to control tugged at the edges of his psyche. His mind was like a barricade and those urges were chipping away at it.

"I get it." Gene's shoulders sagged. "But that means... I can't help with the final assault, can I?"

... Ouch. That's at once better and worse than I was expecting.

Nova appeared on the mewtwo's left, shaking his head. "We've come too far."

Gene sucked in a heavy breath. The tip of his Malice Crystal glistened in the one-way glass. "I know. That doesn't make it sting any less."

Nova leaned his head on Gene's left shoulder. "I want you there. But I wouldn't know what to do with myself if Matriarch got control of you."

Gene tilted his head. Warmth flooded his face as his cheek brushed Nova's fur and metal cheek bolt. "I don't want to lose you," he whispered. A part of Gene was shocked he even managed to admit that out loud. How things change.

Nova never came back after this, did he?

"I won't let that happen," Nova said. "We have a plan. Chiron knows her way around Valhalla. Even if there's resistance, we can take the most direct path to Eternatus' core."

Filing that name away for the future, since I remember Bahamut's throwaway mention of 'Aesir', and Valhalla is exactly where one would find them.

The mewtwo still had a hard time believing the archbishop had defected to Nova's cause, but supposedly she had fled Eternatus and spent time living on the planet it had just been sealed inside.

"And you trust her?" Gene asked.

"I do."

I am getting really, really strong endgame Bravely Default vibes right now. Like I'll legit be surprised if nothing about this story's endgame doesn't vibe with it in some fashion.

"What about her husband?" Gene hadn't met the guy. Only heard about some sentient black crystal that fought alongside Chiron.

"He's proven himself a capable fighter. And he's a total grouch, too." Nova playfully nibbled Gene's shoulder. "I think you two would hit it off."

Gene rolled his eyes. "Very funny."

Oh boy is this not gonna end well if Gene and Bahamut ever came/come back into proximity to each other.

"Look, the two had a kid together. That's gotta mean something, right?" Nova exclaimed, breaking off the embrace.

"I guess." Gene sighed and opened the tube's glass door. "Nothing left to do but hope it all works out, then."

Nova nudged the mewtwo's side. "Hey, look at that. Talking about your hopes." The type: full smiled. His fish tail wagged.

Gene blinked a few times until the realization sunk in. He blushed. "Y-Yes, well." Gene coughed into his left hand. "I guess I finally found mydream... like you told me to."

Gene: "Just kinda sucks that it's gotta lead to this..." :<
Nova: "Hey, listen to me, Gene. Those hopes and dreams aren't over. You'll be there to see them after this is all over, I'm sure of it."

"Gonna share it?" Nova raised a brow. The mewtwo shakily turned to Nova.

"I want to be at your side... to greet the dawn of a new era in this alien realm."

Which I'm sure is a sign that that's now physically impossible.

Nova's tail wagged faster. "How poetic. Maybe some of those romance flicks rubbed off on you after all?" He winked, deepening Gene's blush.

"Don't ruin the moment," Gene growled. He took a few breaths to steady himself, then braced his left arm against the side of the stasis tube. "Stay safe out there."

"Good luck," Nova whispered.

"Same to you."

Gene climbed into the tube. He pulled the plastic mask over his face, then heard the hydraulic hisses of the closing door.

It wasn't long before he drifted to sleep.

I... am not convinced that Nova didn't die almost immediately after this.

When Gene woke up, the stasis tube door didn't open. There was no rush of cool air to great him. In fact, the mask on his face wasn't even producing any oxygen. Gene pulled it off. It detached from the top of the tube and struck his head.

Growling his frustrations, Gene blasted the mask and the door with a point blank Psybeam. The glass shattered and spilled out onto the floor.

Gene: "Sure hope Nova won't be too mad about the mess. But what on earth's out there anyways?"

Immediately, Gene went on alert. Instead of the lab's bright white lights, all he saw were some dull red glows in the corner. The facility's emergency lighting. Why was it active? Was there a power failure?

The mewtwo floated out of the broken tube to find the lab was but a shell of how he remembered it. Overturned tables, shattered monitors and glass beakers. And so, so much dust.

Gene:

His heart rate quickened. The Malice Crystal burned in his shoulder.

How long had he been asleep? Where was Nova? Where was Nova?

Bold of you to assume he's alive right now.

Gene lunged for the door. It didn't slide open. The glass windows beside it were cracked. Claw marks ran across the walls.

Gene: "N-Nova? Nova?! Y-You're out there, right?! Say something to me!"

The mewtwo fired one Shadow Ball, then another. The door flew off its hinges and hit the opposite wall with a clang. Gene found the hallway as dark as the lab. Only a smattering of emergency lights.

More claw marks lined the walls, practically alternating with patches of scorched metal and huge dents.

Someone had attacked this place. But who... and why?

... That's Exodes' handiwork, isn't it? Since I see the mention of 'claw marks' there.

Gene's yellow-tipped tail twitched. He sensed a powerful psychic aura not too far ahead. Resounding thumps echoed throughout the hallway. The mewtwo wasn't sure what to expect... until he finally laid eyes on a clump of black crystals repeatedly punching the wall.

And through those motions, Gene was able to glimpse an eight-pointed star on the back of what he assumed was the big crystal's head.

Eight-pointed... star...

Oh. Oh no.

It all came rushing back to the surface. The golden dragon's roars of fury. His blindingly fast attacks. Gene getting impaled with part of the dragon's face before being left for dead.

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked. He let his Shadow Balls do the talking, hurling two of them right at the crystal, who didn't notice them until it was too late.

"Where are they, Bahamut?!" Gene snarled. The Malice Crystal was glowing and Gene felt its power coursing through him.

Bahamut slowly rose into the air. A dim rainbow prism sparked underneath all the black crystals. "You," he whispered. "So, you were the mutts' ally."

Gene: "Why did you-? What have you-? Wh-What did you do?!"

"Where's Nova?!" The mewtwo fired another Shadow Ball. Bahamut caught it in his psychic grip and smashed it against the wall to his right.

"Gone," Bahamut rasped. "They're all... gone. And it's... still here." He scraped his claws against the wall. "Never good enough. I need power. More power."

Bahamut killed off the entire base in search of light or something like that, didn't he?

The rational part of Gene's mind might have said Bahamut's answer was too fragmented to make sense. However, Gene's emotions were fully in control.

Nova had told Gene he trusted Bahamut. And that trust was betrayed.

The type: full was gone. Gene's dream was dead. All because of Bahamut.

He had to pay. Gene had to avenge Nova.

Oh, so Gene's making the exact same mistake that Bahamut made in the first half of this special. That's... a great omen for how this is gonna end. .-.

Bahamut wasn't a golden dragon. Gene had the Malice Crystal.

With a feral screech, Gene shot a massive Shadow Ball at Bahamut. He tried teleporting past it, but Gene was ready. He formed his psychic spoon and slashed Bahamut. Over and over and over again. Bahamut tried to fight back, but the mewtwo parried every swipe of his big, crystal arms.

"Nova was a good person! He believed in me when I wouldn't!" Gene drove the spoon into Bahamut's rainbow prism. "He trusted you! I trusted you! This is all your fault!"

Boy is that a dark echo there.

Gene cleaved Bahamut's crystal form in half and blasted both sides away. He hunched over, glaring with all the hatred he could muster. Rage he had spent all this time burying... thanks to Nova.

But it was over. He'd avenged Nova. He—

A purple aura surrounded Bahamut's halves. Dark bolts shot out from the top half and pulled the bottom half back. Bahamut's rainbow prism glowed once again, albeit weaker than before.

Gene: "Wh-What the actual-?" O_O;

"I... will... get more power." Bahamut's arms trembled. "And I... will... finish... what I started."

Eyes wide, Gene summoned his spoon and lunged for Bahamut again. But the large crystal husk sank into a wormhole and the mewtwo sailed into empty air until he rolled to a stop on his hands and knees.

Oh, so Bahamut went full Necky, except he's ready to murder entire planets for a chance at putting Eternatus down for good. Lovely.

Gene looked down. He raised his right hand... and punched the floor underneath him.

Then, for the first time in his life, Gene shed tears.

Kinda think it'd have had more impact if Gene got to see more of the gang initially meeting Bahamut and how hopeful everyone was and then waking up to see this, but it's still a decent gut punch of an ending.

Alright, and onto the postmortem:

It was a nice glimpse into Gene's backstory, where he came from, and what became of Earth back in the day when thus far we'd only gotten it in little hints here and there outside of dev chatter elsewhere on the net. I still think that Gene's an asshole, and I don't fully trust him, but I definitely have a bit more empathy for him and understand how he got to where he is today. Not sure whether or not I liked Bahamut more or less in the wake of this special. On the one hand, there's something pitiful and childlike about the way he was so hungry for affection and companionship at earlier part of the special, and it makes the mass death that he brings about from the midpoint onward all the more jarring because of it. It's not a common tack taken for "I just wanna be loved", but you seem to be owning it well, and boy is your execution of it chilling.

As for stuff I didn't like... perhaps it's just a side effect of the average length of your chapters being much shorter, but I kinda wonder if this Special ought to have been done as a two-parter, since everything up to Fuji's last journal entry and everything that comes after are pretty self-contained and distinct from one another, and both parts are longer than the average PoV chapter thus far. It might have made each half have a bit more impact versus gobbling it all up in a straight shot.

There were a few worldbuilding elements alluded here and there that made me go "wait, wha" from how they were casually dropped but not really elaborated on. It would've been nice to see those a bit more, but I suppose you've got a lot of fic left to show them off a bit as needed. I did feel like some bits could've used some more elaboration to fill in gaps, especially the last few scenes of the second half where we're hugely timeskipping around that felt like it removed some of the buildup/punch to stuff like the ending note. But eh. It's a 14k word standalone chapter. I won't begrudge you for deciding that you wrote enough as is.

Thanks for your patience @Ambyssin , and hope the feedback was helpful for you. I'll be looking forward to catching up with Ch. 40 in due time, since it really feels like you're going mask-off with a lot of things about your story, and I'm all there for seeing how it affects the present-day cast and their journey.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, firing this up to blitz through to try and get caught up, since hey, there's an offsite review tag with my name on it, and a fresh update that's due to drop this weekend if you're sticking to your biweekly schedule.

So let's get right into…

Chapter 40

AUGMENTATION HAS ARRIVED!
Tired of the same old appearance, but uninterested in changing species entirely? Wish there was a simple way to modify a few things about your look? Then Mewgenics Augmentation is for you!

Thanks to the tireless work of our glorious archbishop and his research team, we can make alterations to any patient at a cellular level. Want to grow some tentacles? You can! Need an extra arm or eye? It's all possible, thanks to Mewgencis!

The process begins with an intake appointment. Our providers will thoroughly and compassionately compile a history to create your ideal augmentation, then walk you through every step of your personalized treatment protocol.

Speak with your primary care provider today about a referral for Mewgenics Augmentation and start living your best life. Nos vera Natus!

Ah yes, this bit that you teased a while back. "Mewgenics", huh? So this service is run by a Mew?

Also, I can see that the memes about you being Unovan Namo aren't that far off, since this sounds more or like a perfect way to get tons of HoC-esque mutants crawling around Natus' innards.

The silence was almost as thick as the air above the tar pits. During Gene's tale, he produced a scrapbook. Yuna took it and thumbed through pictures, like Nova nibbling on Gene's cheek while the mewtwo tried to shove him off, or Nova clinking glasses with Zacian and Zamazenta.

Her headache slowly returned. Every picture of Nova made her think of Xeromus. The chains around his legs... looked like the soft anklets around Nova's. And some of Nova's photos showed him in a royal blue cloak, while Xeromus had a black, tattered one with a hood.

- Blinks -
I... legit did not consider that possibility regarding who Xeromus might be. The resemblance is... uncanny, now that you mention it. Even if it doesn't explain the bit with Zamazenta turning into a Type: Null.

Those couldn't be coincidences. Not with everything else Yuna had seen so far. But what was she supposed to say? That she knew where Gene's apparent boyfriend was? That he had become some sort of Eternatus-obsessed whacko?

inb4 it's not really Gene's BF

... No, she couldn't jump to conclusions. Not yet. Not when Gene could rip her to tiny, ectoplasmic shreds if she pissed him off.

That... sounds like a really, really good idea to not work with him, or get anywhere in proximity to him, really.

"Are we done, then?" Gene's Malice Crystal flashed. The scrapbook dissolved out of Yuna's hands, leaving her grasping at hazy air.

"That's a pretty tall tale," Valkyrie grunted. Squeaking, Yuna shot higher in the air. At some point, the others in the group had moved behind her. Probably to look at the scrapbook, too.

"Well, it's the truth." Gene turned away, snorting.

Valkyrie: "..."

Gene: "Val, it's the truth, and if you're so insistent that it's not, I can bring up some other truths you know about in front of everyone to prove my point!"

Valkyrie: "... I... Uh... will just take your word for it for now."

"Really?" Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "You expect me to believe you were put in stasis for thousands of years with no issues at all?"

"No issues" is a bit of a bold read there, really.

Gene:

"Hardly," Gene scoffed. "Until recently, time moved much slower in Eternatus than it did outside of it. My only guess is that's related to this Needle nonsense." The mewtwo shook his head. "But that's all tangential."

I... did not see that one coming. Though it makes me wonder just how much time has passed from the perspective of Natus' denizens.

He turned to Yuna. "You called me callous and uncaring. And I am. Because I was never fully 'deprogrammed.' All those instincts are still there." He put his right hand on his chest and looked at Yuna. "That's what that 'outburst' was."

"Yeah." Yuna already got that. "Then all the sarcastic jokes—"

"Are how I cope." Gene crossed his arms, scowling. "Humor's a healthy defense mechanism. So is directing my anger toward the emperor's flunkies." His Malice Crystal flashed purple. "It's called sublimation. Look it up."

No, I'm pretty sure that this is a really, really unhealthy coping mechanism. I mean, I still think Gene's an asshole, but he's definitely a lot more of an understandable asshole than he read prior to Chapter 39.

Yuna's gaze fell. She didn't have a retort. Mainly because the stuff about defense mechanisms was beyond her. Noctum stepped to her side, however. "What if you're mistaken about some things?" He rubbed his right temple. "I... I can't see Bahamut—"

"I know what I saw," Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. He looked toward a trio of large gears turning slowly in their sockets. "No one came back from the mission to stop Matriarch but him."

Gene: "Seriously, that was what you were worried about and not him genociding my planet by proxy because I unwittingly hurt his fee-fees fresh out of brainwashing?" >_>;
Noctum: "That... was actually what I was going to bring up. H-How's a god of justice do that?"

Gene: "By not being as much of a god of 'justice' as you think he is."

"Then this 'Matriarch' thing is still active?" Seifer wondered.

"No." Gene looked down. "Paradox's sermons and announcements mentioned Matriarch going offline many times. He clearly filled the power void left behind." The mewtwo clenched his fists. "Nova succeeded in his goal... only for that bastard to stab him in the back."

Noctum:

Yuna: "... Gene, don't you think that you could break this news a bit softer-?" ._.;
Gene:

Noctum's tail flame flickered. "But... his own wife and son?"

"That wasn't the last time I fought him," Gene responded. He lifted a clenched fist. "We've crossed paths several times. I've beaten him every time, but he keeps... pulling himself back together when he should have eroded into a Phantom. And he always fled through a checkered portal."

A "checkered portal", huh? Not sure what that one is a sign of, but will keep it on the radar.

Yuna stayed silent, but she believed Gene. It matched up too well with what the Sages had told her. Razim's tale, too.

But, still, sacrificing an entire planet to Eternatus because he was upset?

Gene: "Yeah, he was kinda a mercurial dick like that. Not sure how on earth you guys airbrushed that side of him from history."

Have we really been worshipping a monster? The drakloak shuddered, trying to stuff that thought into the back of her mind.

I mean, considering how Bahamut in FF series has barbecued a city in at least one game I can think of and in his more positive depictions is basically more a destructive force of nature than a goody two-shoes like D&D!Bahamut... yeah, you kinda have been, Yuna.

Fortunately, Nikki offered a convenient distraction. "What about Mew, then? Did you ever try and find her again?"

Any hope Yuna had for a reasonable explanation dissipated the moment Gene cringed. "Mew's gone. They all are."

Nikki shifted about uneasily. "Gone as in—"

"Killed, obviously," Valkyrie snorted.

That, I'm not so sure about, Val. After all. This is the Qliphoth, and there are some fates here that are worse than death.

"That would've been a better fate," Gene whispered, flinching again. "The emperor's troops rounded them all up for experimentation." He turned to Noctum and Seifer. "The people you've seen with all sorts of mutations are the results of Paradox's experiments." He approached the edge of the factory platform and looked out at the bubbling tar. "Every mew… ground up into cells and DNA for Paradox's machinations."

I mean, I was expecting it would be bad, but I wasn't expecting that. Guess that explains the "Mew" in "Mewgenics".

"But they were already dead, weren't they?" Nikki scratched her head. "That's what happens to people who end up here and junk. How can they be killed again?"

"Chompy's being blunt." Gene rolled his eyes. "The mew souls eroded into Phantoms."

Nikki: "... Which does what again? Since I... actually don't remember if we saw any of those yet in this story."

Seifer frowned. "But wouldn't that have taken their bodies, too? Or maybe the mew can possess anyone who has a mutation?"

Gene's tail flicked right. "Not if the emperor had a way to purge a soul from a body. Which he does," he ominously declared.

Oh, that's not creepy and disconcerting at all...

An uneasy silence hung over the group, until Jade managed to say, "And you're sure of this?"

"Cyril got some documents about all this from one of the emperor's data servers," Gene said, shaking his head.

This feels like just about the last thing you'd want to have digitized records about if you're paranoid about espionage, though I suppose it has been established that Paradox is a bit boomer-tier with technology.

"Oh." Jade looked down guiltily. Yuna worried that the salugia thought she had received some of those mutations. She considered mentioning Jade had been asleep in the Needle the whole time, but she couldn't prove that was completely true.

... I mean, unless the story is going to reveal an alternative route to pulling that off at some point, that would be the most likely explanation, yes. And Exodes was just sitting there chilling with an opportunity to try and inject that into the Needle if that was in the realm of possibility.

"Now are we done here?" Gene walked back toward them. The mewtwo rested his hands behind his dark gray head. "I've had enough sob storying to last the next year. There's work to be done, right? Nothing's gonna happen if we stand around staring at each other."

Yuna: "Right, I suppose we should head back to the hotel and-"
- Yuna trails off and has her jaw flop open -
Yuna: "... Get pulled from the Crowne Cup since there is no way in hell that Vegna will believe what happened to us."

Nikki: "Gee, aren't you Little Miss Positivity right now?" >_>;

The group exchanged uneasy looks. Yuna caught Leo's attention. His eyes flickered with determination. The cosmic arceus was probably thinking about what Alder had told him.

Planet Chakran. Is that even in our dimension? Yuna wondered, since that was definitely where the drakloak needed to go. Though she shuddered at the thought of dropping the omniverse revelation on everyone's laps after what Gene had told them.

Nikki: "I mean, hey. It beats the Reaper getting up on our case."
Yuna: "Yeah, but how on earth would we even get there like this?" .-.

Plus, there was still the matter of the sailors. Yuna couldn't move on from that. It wasn't right. They deserved some sort of closure from this.

"We should start with the sailors," the drakloak said. Gene met her with a look that told her to try again. "I'm serious." Yuna steeled her resolve. "Whether some of them are stuck here or not, they don't deserve to be dumped off somewhere else inside Eternatus and left to fend for themselves." She floated closer to Gene. "I see that ending with them eroding into Phantoms."

Gene: "Your 'solution' had better not be sticking Cyril with babysitting them at his moonbase..." >_>;

"The emperor has intake stations for 'refugees' all over the damn empire." Gene waved Yuna off with his left hand. "It's easier to dump them on his lap."

"Why, so they can get sucked into Paradox's schemes?" Yuna countered. "I'm not leaving them like this."

- Cue Yuna staring at Gene -
Gene: "Look, Yuna. Whatever you're thinking of. No. Why on earth do you even care what happens to them anyways? I thought you Aeons and Radiance types hated each others' guts!" >.<
Yuna: "Because A: I'm literally here for the sake of a peace treaty between my home and Radiance, B: It's beyond messed up to leave 'mons twisting in the wind like that?"

Gene: "Sure hope you don't take the throne anytime soon, since you need to work on your realpolitik skills." >_>;

Rolling his eyes, Gene gestured to his left. "Then by all means, go back to the swamp and talk to them. No one's saying you can't."

"No, but I'm asking you to join me." Yuna tapped her right hand against the Soul Dew. "You know a lot more about all of this than I do. So, help a girl out, will you?"

Gene:

Yuna: "... Yes? Especially after you just poured your heart out in front of everybody for 14,000 words?" >_>;

Again, silence. Gene squinted. "Why do you even care about them? They're strangers."

Nikki snorted. "Probably her inner princess."

"Because, even if I don't know them, Aeons don't leave other Aeons behind," Yuna said, her expression sharpening. She held up her right hand. "Even if they're not Aeons, it's the principle. They didn't do anything to wrong me. We shouldn't wrong them when they're already victims of circumstance."

Gene: "You do realize that those principles were literally founded on lies, right?"
Yuna: "It doesn't make it any less right, Gene. So what do you say? Will you help me?"

She looked at the others. Jade applauded with her wings and Leo was positively mesmerized. Noctum wore a proud grin and Yuna thought he might tear up then and there.

"… tch. Fine." Gene floated over to Yuna's side. "Gimme a minute or two to, uh, soften them up for you. Or something." He drifted away, scowling, before opening a rift and disappearing into it. Yuna watched the dark gray mewtwo go with a sigh.

Wow, Gene actually does have a heart somewhere in there. Though I suppose it makes sense thematically given that we just got through getting a good look at his vulnerable side last chapter.

"Now what?" Quetzal tapped the ground with a couple of his toes. "I'd love to help with the sailors, but I think I'll just frighten them looking like this." He glanced at his orange and black-feathered torso.

"I can help," Seifer offered. The keldeo approached Yuna. "Some of the unharmed sailors recognized me back on the ship."

Yuna nodded her thanks. "Uh, I guess everyone else can... do whatever they feel like until we're done?"

Seifer: "Princess, we're in the middle of a bog planet full of tar pits. Just what is there to do here?" >_>;
Yuna: "... Idle conversation, maybe?"

"Are you sure?" Noctum tilted his head. He might as well have offered to come with her.

"I'm sure." Yuna looked at the Malice Crystal in his stomach, then got guilty when his violet flame shrank.

"Ah. Fair." The black charizard stepped back, bowing his head. Valkyrie snorted. He turned a frown and slight bearing of his fangs on her. She pivoted left, wiping dried blood from her snout. Yuna wasn't sure what she missed, but something had driven a wedge between them. She made a note to ask Noctum about it later.

Noctum: "Val... wound up pressing my buttons while you were gone, to say the least." >_>;
Yuna: "... She dumped on I Want to be Your Canary in front of you?"
Noctum: "No! No! Not that one! The... personal life story one."
Yuna: "... Oh. Uh... that would explain the dried blood on her snout."

In the meantime, she looked at Nikki and beckoned her over with a wave of her right hand. The toxtricity strolled across the platform, hands tucked in her leather jacket pockets. "Look, I ain't the 'There, there, it'll be okay' type. If you want help with those sailors, stick with Horned Wonder." She jerked her head at Seifer.

"No, it's not that." The drakloak floated away from the others, toward a large, green metal tank. Probably full of tar. "I have a question, actually."

"Shoot." Nikki leaned against a wheel welded to the side of the tank.

Nikki: "You do realize that I literally know about this place about as much as you do, right? What on earth do you even have to ask?"

Yuna's shoulders sagged. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Just... shrug off this kind of stuff?" Yuna wasn't sure she phrased it right. "Like, you don't care what's happening all around you. You go with the flow." She looked down at her feet nubs. "I think?"

You bottle things up and put on a brave face, duh.

Nikki wore an amused smirk. "You mean why do I mouth off at this shit? That's easy." She flicked her right hand dismissively. "When no one has expectations for you — and you don't expect anything from them — you can do whatever without a care in the world."

"No expectations," Yuna repeated in a whisper.

That is not remotely healthy or well-adjusted as an operating philosophy, but okay there, Nikki.

"I mean, I'm a street bum turned musician." The toxtricity shrugged. "You're a freaking princess. You've lived your whole life by hoity-toity rules and honor and shit like that. Me? I learned pretty early on that you're expected to look out for only yourself on the streets." She looked up toward the green, hazy sky. "So, like, I don't have a problem giving people shit.

"That's harder to get away with when people are expecting you to, like, lead 'em." Nikki shook her head. "Them's the breaks of life, I s'pose."

Just casually ignoring the whole bubblegum pop star phase of her life there, which I'm pretty sure didn't line up with Nikki's current life philosophy.

Yuna frowned. Nikki's answer was simultaneously straightforward and confusing. She looked right and a tiny Reshiram materialized on her shoulder. "She sounds truthful to me," he said, tapping his claws together nervously.

Cecil: "Realistic, even."
Yuna: "Oi, I thought we weren't doing multi-localization stuff in this story!" >_>;

"Ringing endorsement," Nikki deadpanned. Reshiram buried his face in his wings out of embarrassment. Yuna recalled him to the Soul Dew, sighing.

"Then can I, like, scream at life?" the drakloak wondered. "Is that something you ever do?"

Nikki: "... Princess, you are aware that I'm currently a death metal musician, right? It's more or less 'scream at life', the music genre."

Yuna: "... We don't have 'death metal' in the Aeon Kingdom, so none of that means anything to me?" ^^;

"Screaming? Probably not." Nikki strummed her gills. "Maybe I'll shred a few cords over life bitching out. But, hey, you do you." She thumped her chest. "Just speak from the heart. It's more impactful that way."

I don't have a heart. It was probably figurative, though.

Filing that one away for Dreepy line biology in this setting.

Nikki: "No, seriously. You guys are dragons. Don't you have anything where you just let out a loud roar to vent when you're mad at life or something like that?"
Yuna: "Nikki, I'm a Princess. Princesses are supposed to have decorum." >_>;
Nikki: "What, no royal smash room in the castle?"

Yuna took a deep breath and turned left of the tar tank. "I'm so sick of this! I don't want to save the galaxy! I just want to live my life! Why can't this be someone else's problem?!" Her tail undulated back and forth with every word. "Stupid treaty! Stupid Eternatus! And... and stupid, lying Bahamut!"

Nikki: "Pretty sure you're still holding back a ton right now, but hey! It's a start!"

Yuna quickly threw her hands over her mouth, guilt showering over her.

Yes, she really said that. Out loud. In full view of someone else. And it wasn't even Noctum.

Nikki slowly clapped. "Not bad. How do you feel?"

Yuna: "Like I really, really shouldn't have said that out loud."

Nikki: "Oh come on, are you seriously saying it didn't make you feel at least a little better to get that off your chest?"

It took a few seconds for the drakloak to lower her hands. "Better, I think?" Sure, nothing changed about her situation, but at least Yuna let some of anger out. She looked at Nikki. "You know, you don't have to stay after this, right? I understand if you'd rather bow out of this whole..." Her voice trailed off and she gestured out to the tar pits.

"Yeah. That would make sense." Nikki resumed strumming her gills. "But I'm good." She smirked at Yuna. "I ain't some, like, superhero nerd or whatever, but a crazy Eternatus space adventure is way cooler than staying at that dumb academy and stewing over Scarlett." The toxtricity looked down. "She'd want me to do something. Make an impact. Besides..."

Nikki: "Also, you do realize that all of Horizon Academy hates my guts, right? I don't exactly have a ton of incentive not to go along with the messed up dimension-hopping ride?"

Yuna: "... How often do you do that whole 'scream and get stuff off your chest' thing anyways?" .-.
Nikki: "Stopped keeping track, really."

Nikki held her hand out. Electricity crackled into the shape of one of her guitars. "I'm just as wrapped up in this now."

Yuna's waist constricted. "O-Oh. Um, that's— is that bad?"

Nikki explained how she saw a Starlene concert on PV that was most likely sabotaged by the Eterna Empire, leading to visions of Paradox and her manifesting her lightning guitar. She dispelled the weapon with a flick of her wrist. "I think it's dynaforce," the toxtricity concluded. "So, I can't sit on the sidelines and let this fester. Gotta put it to use.

Yuna: "Wait, what on earth is Dynaforce anyways? I'm not sure if this story has ever properly explained that." .-.
Nikki: "You know how in FF8 you could junction summons to you to soup up your stats and magic pool as Guardian Forces? It's kinda like that."
Yuna: "But that's a guitar and not a summoned being..." 😐
Nikki: "Oi, it's a summoned guitar. Close enough."

"And if it just so happens my heroics put Blightsmuth back on people's radar... then it's an added bonus." Nikki stretched her arms up over her head, chuckling. "Don't care if you think my motive's selfish, either. Perks of not being a princess."

I'll take the under on that actually working out as intended, though it's a nice touch to see that Nikki didn't forget about her hometown.

Yuna would've sank to the ground and deflated, but she managed to keep her wits about her. "Well, uh, maybe I can sell the title and job off to someone else?"

Chuckles continuing, Nikki leaned over and smacked her right knee. "Now you're speaking my language."

I can already see Calcifer and Yiazmat's aneurysms if they ever overheard that. ^^;

"... hey, so, if you two are done being all mushy with other, the sailors are ready."

"Eep!" Yuna's tail and torso shot into her rectangular head. She whirled on Gene, who floated in front of a rift with a bored expression. "H-Hey now! It's rude to sneak up on people."

The mewtwo looked around, shrugging. "Middle of a tar plant ain't private."

Yuna: "You... overheard every single word of what we were just saying, didn't you?"

Gene: "I mean, I am Psychic, so..."

"Ugh, whatever." Yuna rubbed her temples. "Lead the way."

Yuna: "Someday, life will give me a proper break..." -_-;

Gene was rather stoic through the whole explanation of the sailors' fates. Yuna got the sense some of the soul and aura stuff went right over their heads. Sure enough, one wartortle raised his hand. "So, like, we're dead, but we're not dead?"

Gene:

"That's a fine way of thinking about it," Yuna interjected before Gene could mouth off to the wartortle. "You can do all the things you used to back in Venish."
"'cept if we try to leave World Ender's insides, we get turned into Phantoms!" a floatzel said, clutching her head in worry. "What am I supposed to tell my sister? How am I supposed to tell her?!"

Noctum: "Oh, that's easy. Cyril gave me this thingy called an X-Transcie-"
Gene: "Noctum, don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"You!" Wartortle whirled on the garbodor in the back. "This is all your fault! You did this to us!"

I mean, he's technically not wrong even if said Garbodor was being possessed.

A few sailors mumbled their agreement. "Whoa, whoa. Time out." Gene Phantom Warped into the middle of them, holding his hands in a T. "Your shipmate's as much a victim as the rest of you. It's Polaris you ought to be mad at." His expression fiercened. "Who was it that was running your ship?"

The sailors fell quiet. Garbodor raised his grubby hand. "Minister Tesla."

"And who was able to get away before any of this happened?" Gene raised a brow, but this time none of the sailors answered.

Seifer: "... A Crowne Minister seriously just cut and run and left you all to your fates?"

Gene: "Did he stutter, pony boy? And are you really that surprised?"

Floatzel looked at Seifer. "Isn't there anything you can do, Commander? Maybe get the Radiant Guard to pitch in?"

The keldeo looked down guiltily. "I wish I could say there was. But this is on a whole other level than the distortion rescues the Guard conducted." With a heavy sigh, he stepped toward them. "But I am prepared to help you all get in contact with your loved ones." Seifer slung one of his saddle bags onto the ground. It opened to show papers and pens.

Several sailors looked down at the bag like it was but a tiny scrap of meat on a dinner plate.

Gene: "I still say that this is a gigantic waste of time that'll come out to be a net negative-" >_>;
Yuna: "Gene, hush."

"What happens when we're done with this?" A sharpedo looked at Gene, eyes full of worry.

"That's—" Gene crossed his arms. His Malice Crystal glowed a dim purple. "It's complicated."

An idea popped into Yuna's head. "You guys can work here." She clapped her hands together. "There's a tar factory not too far from this swamp, run by a bunch of tiny skorupi. I'll bet they could use some extra muscle."

Gene: "Oh thank god, I'm not going to have to deal with Cyril giving me an earful over having him babysit them all at his moonbase."

Sailor!Wartortle: "... I'm sorry, did that freaky cat thing just say 'moonbase'?" .-.
Yuna: "It's... a long story. For the sake of simplicity, let's focus on the tar factory for now." >_>;

Gene's brows raised. "Huh." He stroked his chin. "Now that you mention, that could lessen the skorps' calling me out here for manual labor."

"And just who's that broad?" A kingler brandished his large pincer in Yuna's direction. "I ain't about to trust some dragon to offer a deal. It's probably a trap!"

Sailor!Kingler: "I've played enough games to know 'never cut a deal with a dragon's not just a tagline!" >:|
Yuna: "Okay, you know what, Gene? There's one sailor here that I wouldn't mind you taking to one of those intake stations right now." >_>;

Yuna flinched. Her gaze faltered, but then she looked right back at Kingler. "That dragon happens to be princess of the Aeon Kingdom." She floated closer. "And part of the group that saved you all from an even grislier fate." Yuna crossed her arms, glimpsing the dark shadows pooling in them. "This isn't some trap. It's a way for you to stay close to Venish and find some semblance of normalcy in all of this."

Smirking, Gene leaned over. "I'd go with her if I were you. You wouldn't like her when she's angy."

You have a typo there in Yuna's dialogue. You want 'grislier'. Though I did a double take at the literal worddrop of 'angy' there. Gene is such a memer.

Kingler flummoxed. "Y... you mean angry, don't you?"

The mewtwo's grin widened. "Nope."

Lol, you're just rubbing it in right now.

Kingler hastily skittered back toward several wartortle. They talked in a huddle, then gave thumbs up in unison. "That plan sounds... reasonable," Kingler said, laughing nervously.

Yuna: "What was that about never cutting a deal with a dragon again?"
Sailor!Kingler: "Oi, shut up. We're just limited on options, that's all! (Also, the freaky voodoo thing you had going on was... persuasive, to say the least.)" .-.

A tingle ran down Yuna's back. Gene's assistance or not, it was... refreshing to have people listen to her. She flipped that mental switch briefly and a tiny silhouette of Rayquaza popped up on her right shoulder.

"Jolly good performance, m'lady." He clapped his tiny black hands. "I daresay thine evolution hast filled thou with renewed confidence."

Yuna: "I mean, it took a while, but... yeah, I can live with this."

"Thanks," Yuna whispered, sighing in relief while watching Seifer pass out pens and paper to the sailors. She recalled Rayquaza and hovered over to Gene. So long as she had a moment, she figured it best to loop the mewtwo into what happened with Leo and Alder, as well as the new planet she needed to find.

"Gene?" The drakloak pawed at her Soul Dew. "There's something you need to know..."

... Not convinced that this won't wind up backfiring massively at some point, but hey, if Gene does you a solid, it would make sense to scratch his back in return.

Everyone sat around a tiny, skorupi-sized desk that Skorp had brought out for Gene to place his X-transceiver on. He set it to speaker mode, then failed to contact Cyril. Tail swishing back and forth nervously, Gene next tried calling up some lady named Guzmelda. She sounded sweet and... homely, which made it hard for Yuna to believe she was some sort of giant, tooth-filled alien known as a guzzlord.

Wait, is that the same elder Guzzlord that was working at Cyril's grill?

"Well? Were you able to find anything?" Seifer asked, pointing his horn at the X-transceiver.

"She can't see you doing that," Nikki scoffed.

"Force of habit," Seifer muttered.

Seifer: "They really need to design a model of these meant for Pokémon with large facial protrustions." >_>;

"So' nuff, sugar!" Guzmelda exclaimed. "There's a Chakran in this dimension, all right. In fact, it's the next planet over in this here galaxy."

Yuna looked at Noctum, who shrugged. Then she glanced at Seifer, who squinted. "No one mentioned anything like that in my science classes," he muttered.

Wait, so Guzmelda is outside of Eternatus right now? I'm having some trouble telling.

"Well, if it's our neighbor, then wouldn't it have gotten sucked up by Ejerknatus?" Jade wondered, tapping her chin with a digit.

"'Fraid not. Cyril's notes say Eternatus skipped Chakran over and went straight to Etherium," Guzmelda responed. "He thinks it's about two hundred million kilometers from here."

Okay, Guzmelda is confirmed for not being in purgatory.

Noctum: "Two hundred million kilometers?!"

Guzmelda: "Not as impressive as it sounds, hon. That'd be about 11 light-minutes. Why that's just down the block for space standards!"
Noctum: "That's a small distance?! How on earth is anyone supposed to travel that far?!" .-.

Jade squawked in surprise and vented purple vapors from her tail flaps. "T-two hundred million?! Th-that's like—" she counted on her digits "—twice as much as one hundred million!"

Leo tilted his head. Yuna imagined he was trying to envision how big that really was.

"Wow, congrats, you can do basic math." Nikki sarcastically applauded the salugia. "Doesn't help us get there."

-snerk-
Wasn't expecting Jade to do the honors, but it does make sense for her character.

"Maybe one of you three can portal over there?" Valkyrie pointed to Gene, Noctum, and Yuna.

"Wouldn't that be nice." Gene shook his head, smirking. "I need to have been to a place to open a rift to it. Same with these two, I imagine." He rubbed his hands together. "No doubt about it... we'll need to take that ship Skorp and Skorp finished up. It'll get us there in, like, thirty or forty minutes."

"What?!"

Ah yes, the starship you were alluding to. I'm not sure if it was intended to be sub-FTL in speeds, or if you were just missing a zero or three from Guzmelda's distance reading earlier.

Rayquaza's black, scaly head popped out of a startled Yuna's Soul Dew. "Balderdash! Even with Dragon Ascent, I couldn't achieve such speeds. Thou wouldst need to fly as fast as light itself to cover that distance!"

Gene: "Akshually, you'd only need to fly about 25-35 percent of the speed of light to make that trip in 30 to 40 minutes."
Guzmelda: "Gene, pretty sure I missed a zero, hon. You're going to need FTL speeds to make it out to Planet Chakran." ^^;

"Exactly, Chest Burster." Gene snapped his fingers at Rayquaza. "Thanks for the help, Guzmelda."

"My pleasure, sugar!" The line then went dead.

Seifer: "... 'Chest Burster'? That's a term of endearment for her?" .-.
Gene: "Yes, and? Are you really so surprised when she's like half mouth by body mass?"

"Then, we're leaving for Chakran?" Yuna tilted her head. "Can that ship even go out of Eternatus?"

"Thanks to the skorps it can." Gene rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Sweet! Road trip, but space-flavored." Nikki strummed her gills. "Dibs on being the DJ."

That... sounds like bait for something going horribly wrong at some point and turning all the undead party members into Phantoms.

Gene had a retort prepared, but a loud jingle cut him off. "Hmm?"

"And now... a message from your emperor!"

Gene: "Seriously? What now? A new uPhone commercial?" -_-;

The group turned toward the far corner of the room, where several skorps were gathered in front of a large screen that displayed the Eterna Empire's sigil of a circle surrounded by five diamonds. The feed then cut to what Yuna could only assume was the deoxys that others had previously mentioned. He stood in front of a black desk with several monitors flickering behind him.

"I think it's time we had us another chat. For the sake of dispelling lies, of course." Paradox stepped to his right and a brightly colored drawing of the very same rifts Gene and Yuna could make showed up on a hologram next to the deoxys.

"Many of you have no doubt seen these rifts popping up around your communities," he continued. "And there's been considerable talk of them online." Paradox swiped in front of him with two tentacles. The drawing transitioned to a screenshot of something called "Chatter."

This... is going to result in a bounty being put on everyone's head that the whole Qliphoth will hear about, isn't it?

"@BirbWatcher317 says, 'It's the end of the world,'" Paradox growled. "@StillLivesWithHisMother adds, 'We're being sucked into a formless void!' And @JodiMcGee has the gall to post an 'I'm in danger' GIF."

The delivery there was golden.

"Psst!" Jade leaned over Yuna's shoulder. "What's a Jif?"

"How should I know?" Yuna hissed. The salugia had the mixed-up mind. If anything, she should've known already!

"It makes me think of peanut butter," Jade said. "And now I'm hungry."

Gene: "For reference, he's talking about this:

"
Jade: "That doesn't look like peanut butter at all." ·^·
Nikki: "No, it's a pithy clip that users on the internet make to express- agh, we're getting off-topic. Point is, just listen to the creepy mass videocall right now!" >_>;

"Well, as your emperor, I'd like to be the first to tell you... these are lies! Fiction! Tall tales!" Paradox swiped at the hologram with each of his tentacles. "And if any other keyboard doomsayers intend to share these imbeciles' sentiments, then you'll be joining them in assimilation to the Eternatus Troopers!"

Jade: "... Remind me to never get close to this 'internet' thing. Sounds dangerous to have a dissenting opinion on it."

Gene: "... Yeah, they honestly should've known better given that the QN isn't exactly going to win any awards for press freedom. Or none that aren't being hosted by the Archbishop himself." -_-;

The hologram shifted to show an animation of three humans turning into unown floating in tanks attached to metal bodies, just like what Noctum had described to Yuna back at the academy.

"These rifts are but mild turbulence... as we enter the end stages of freeing our Benefactor from His long imprisonment," Paradox continued, switching to a new animation that showed a crudely drawn Etherium blowing up while the giant, five-headed form of Eternatus flew off with a big smiley face over its head. "I realize how patient you all have been, and I am pleased to report that patience willsoon be rewarded.

This is at once chilling and hilarious. Some quality mood whiplash in action here. The crude doodles make it in particular.

Though now I'm curious as to whether or not Paradox consciously draws off of Dr. Nefarious as a character, since vibe-wise, this reminds me a lot of those broadcast cutscenes from R&C 3.

"In fact... the Paradigm's newest member just finished a successful raid on one of the prison settlements." Paradox's tentacles coiled into two hands and he tapped his fingers together eagerly. The hologram displayed a headshot of... some sort of suit of armor surrounded by blue frost? All Yuna saw were red, glowing eyes inside a gray, circular helmet. "Soon, our Eternatus Troopers will have the children of the prison's pathetic rulers serving amongst their ranks.

"That's all for now. Nos vera Natus!"

That's Venish, isn't it? Sounds like things are going seriously sideways up there.

The feed abruptly shut off, returning to what looked like a talk show with two non-mutant skorupi sitting opposite one another.

Seifer reared up, whinnying. "Tell me I didn't just hear that!"

Nikki had her mouth open, but Seifer leveled his horn at her. "Keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," he growled. The toxtricity closed her mouth and scowled at him. Seifer turned to Gene, eyes wide in alarm. "What was that all about?"

Gene: "Um... well you know how when we ditch that 'Venish' place, things were kinda glitching out in live time?"

Nikki: "Yes, and-?"
- Beat moment -
All: "..."

Nikki: "N-No way! That's the 'prison settlement' they're talking about?!"

Yuna: "I th-think that's our cue to pause those plans of zipping around the stars and go back to the surface first."

"It sounds like Paradox is going on the offensive," Gene said, brow furrowed. "This changes things. Some of us definitely need to stay behind."

"Of course we do!" Seifer's horn flickered. "If he's telling the truth, then..." The keldeo looked down, horror spread across his face.

Yuna bit her lip. Did this mean Paradox had Shimmer? What about her other classmates?

Gene:

Yuna: "B-But it didn't say-!"
Gene: "Really, it'd be safer to assume so, Princess. And I don't think this is something you wanna sit out here."

"Just who was that on the screen?" Valkyrie wondered. "Looked like a bad costume from a horror movie."

Mewtwo's expression sharpened. After a few moments, he took a sharp breath and gave his answer.

"The Paradigm's newest lieutenant: Guile Hideout."

Wait, who was that in Final Fantasy-

- One Google search later -

I... was not expecting that one. You really are pulling some surprising stuff from different corners of this franchise.

Alright, onto the postmortem:

I think that the chapter did a pretty good job at laying up where the plot is ultimately headed, while also steering things back to Etherium in the short term, which is honestly welcome, since it's been -checks notes- 6 chapters since we've done anything of note in Etherium or with the rest of Horizon Academy's cast. I also thought that the humor in this chapter was pretty good, which is a much-needed breather from a string of tenser chapters lately.

As for things I didn't like. I don't have much to gripe about, but I do wonder if yeeting some portion of the gang back into Etherium would've been the better ending note, since it'd help sell the idea better of just how much things have hit the fan back in Venish, and in terms of overall events... the existing chapter was honestly mostly just inter-character chatter, so it felt like it was lacking that "X-factor" a bit for pushing the plot forward. I mean, I'm sure the next chapter will make up for it in spade, but on its own, it does kinda feel like a missed opportunity to not just hit the ground running.

Though hey, I won't have to wait long to see how that one shakes out. Good work as usual, @Ambyssin , and from those teased beta reader reactions, I can already tell the next chapter is going to be quite something.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 41: Fallout: New Venish​

It took every ounce of Yiazmat's willpower not to crush the gemwhatever in her right hand. Every breath she took grew heavier. Her horns were heating up, bathing her onyx throne in red-orange light.

She had to stay calm and composed. For her husband. And for Yunavresca. The dragpult looked into the weird communicator's central gemstone. "Dimitry, did you get all of that?"

Yiazmat focused on the gem. She had to ignore the red creeping into her vision. Deep breaths. She couldn't slip into anger in front of Calcifer.

"I did, ma'am. I'm on my way to fetch Baraz as we speak."

"Good." She pivoted to her left, glaring at the light torch sitting over an archway. "Proceed to Scale City using the waypoint the Ryujin have in Horizon Gardens. I'll meet you there."

"What?" Calcifer gasped. "Dear, you can't be serious. If Radiance is in a crisis and someone catches you in their territory, they'll declare war for sure!"

Yiazmat whirled on the duraludon. "I'm aware of the risks. But this is our daughter we're talking about." Her tail lashed at the air. Flames bristled in her horns. "I am not going to sit by any longer." She held the communicator up to her face. "Sakaki, I understand if you can't join us. Your son—"

"Is, for all intents and purposes, in the custody of the Ministry of Justice." The voice on the other end was deeper than Dimitry's. If Sakaki was as upset about his son as Yiazmat was about her daughter, he was doing a better job hiding it. "He's being airlifted to another hospital due to Venish's current situation. If I try to go to Vellguarde before Healing Wish Hospital has even contacted me, I'll show my hand. Chiaki is on his own."

"I see." Yiazmat shut her eyes. "My condolences."

A loud sigh followed. "He brought this upon himself. I'll see you in Scale City." Then there was a click.

"Captain, are you still there?" Yiazmat asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Make sure no one follows you to the waypoint," Yiazmat ordered. "I'll be taking the underground tunnels, so it will quite some time before I get there. Gather what additional intel you can."

"Understood. Godspeed, Your Highness."

Another click sounded. The metal device's central gem dimmed. Yiazmat turned away from Calcifer, toward the same archway as before. She floated forward, past onyx statues of Bahamut.

Heavy footsteps thudded behind her. "I can't talk you out of this, can I?" Calcifer said.

"No." Yiazmat approached a door with the eight-pointed star of Aeon carved into it. Two kommo-o with the eight-pointed Aeon star painted on their chests stood at attention. "Open my armory."

The kommo-o on her right thumped his chest with a fist, then grabbed a key ring and unlocked the door. It swung into pitch black.

"Then at least let me come with you!" Calcifer caught up to Yiazmat's side.

"Out of the question." Yiazmat took the torch hanging over the doorway and floated inside. The room had various sets of plated armor, designed to fit a dragapult's torso and bulky head. Most of them, however, had the eight-pointed star on their chest plates. They'd be too obvious.

At the back of the room, Yiazmat found what she was looking for: sleek, black plating. Lighter than the other armor, with no insignias to speak of. She set the torch in a slot on the back wall and set the chest plating on.

"Dear, I know you're worried, but—"

Yiazmat fastened the armor into place. "Someone has to look after the rest of the kids." She glanced briefly at the duraludon silhouette opposite her, then returned her attention to the black helmet on the floor. "I gave her leeway to stay at that school because she convinced me she could handle it."

The dragapult adjusted the helmet's chin strap. "But neither of us could have imagined such a… traumatic series of events." She floated back into the air. "As her mother, I won't leave her to fend for herself any longer."

Calcifer poked his metal arms together. "I… suppose." He shuffled back to let Yiazmat float past him. "I just wish there was some way I could help you."

"Oh, sweetie, you are helping." Yiazmat turned and tapped her claws against Calcifer's slender, metal neck. "By staying with the others, you're giving me peace of mind."

"Does that mean Mom's leaving?"

Yiazmat's tail crinkled. Wincing, she turned to find eight dreepy of varying sizes floating in the middle of the throne room. She bit her lip. So, all four sets of twins had snuck down here, huh? She'd have stern words with the guards before departing for Saint Zygardesburg.

"I'm sorry, little ones." Yiazmat bowed her head sadly. "Your big sister is… in trouble. So Mom's going to help her out." She gestured to Calcifer. "But Dad will be here with you the whole time."

One of the smallest dreepy floated forward, clutching a tiny stuffed salandit. His beady eyes glistened. "Mama go bye short or long time?"

Yiazmat leaned over and tussled the dreepy's little gills. "Mama will make it as short as she can."

He seemed satisfied with that. "Mama hug Spicy bye?" The dreepy held up the salandit doll.

A smile slowly crept over the dragapult. "Mama will hug everyone goodbye." She gestured to the other seven dreepy, who all shot forward. Yiazmat wrapped them all up in her long, wispy tail. "Ohhh, I'll miss you all so much, little ones. Behave for your father, okay?"

"Okay!" they chirped in unison. Yiazmat's smile broadened, but the warmth in her chest faded fast.

She had a bad feeling that it would quite some time before she'd get to see them all again.

XxX​

Shimmer's legs burned. His heart pounded in his chest— hell, in his head, too. Every gallop brought fresh, aching pain to his hooves. The ponyta wouldn't consider himself out of shape by any stretch, but running was not his strong suit.

Yet, as he galloped down what was supposed to be a smoothed, paved road, he found himself wishing this was nothing more than a nightmare.

Another purple light rippled past him and the other students attempting to flee the city. "Look out, Shimmy!" Xander cried.

The ground gave way under Shimmer's hooves. He barely had enough time to dive to his right before a part of the street split open. A water geyser erupted from the fissure, drenching several frustrated classmates. Robin held his shield over his head and offered his leek to Shimmer. The ponyta gently bit it and the sirfetch'd hoisted him up so they could press on.

Red swirled in Shimmer's vision. Even as Radiant Guards wearing lights and sirens cleared other panicked civilians aside to make room for them, Shimmer still couldn't believe this was happening. Flyers should have been on standby to evacuate them from the city immediately. But they had all decided to book it the moment these… obscene rifts popped up around Venish.

As soon as Shimmer was safe, he'd be sure to report the entire flyer's guild chapter to his mothers. He'd ensure their charter was voided and the lot of them were out of work.

… No, he couldn't think about that yet. He had to make it to the train station first.

"How… much farther?" Shimmer wheezed. He managed to hop over vines made of pizza dough and pepperonis that spilled out from the remains of what Shimmer assumed was once a pizza shop.

"Not much!" Minister Vincenzo hovered ahead of the students, propelling himself with his windmill-like tail and hydropack. "The station is just past Piazza Lavanda up ahead!"

The ground trembled. Another purple ripple ran past anyone.

"Nonono… help! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllp!"

"BIMMY!"

Slightly ahead of the group, a purple rift split the air open over the canal. A white, glassy tentacle had wrapped up a screaming whimsicott and was dragging him into the rift. A second whimsicott, with a cottonnee in each arm, was running for the canal.

"Get back!" a sharpedo guardsmon in a violet hydropack barked. "I'll handle thi—"

"No! Your job's to protect the students!" Vincenzo hissed. "Press on!"

Sharpedo's eyes widened, as did Shimmer's. The tentacle disappeared into the rift, which closed behind it.

"No, not my Bimmy! Why?!" Whimsicott dropped to her knees while Shimmer and the others ran past her.

"Tell me I didn't just see that!" Xander squeaked.

"You did." Robin bowed his head.

"But that was, like, a freaking kraken!" Xander's ribbons curled up. "From movies and cartoons!"

"Or maybe it was a really big tentacruel," Robin muttered. "Either way, there's nothing we can do about it."

The canal broke off to the left and the street gave way to a giant, lavender square…

Shimmer's ears folded. The shouts and screams were louder than before. There was smashing glass. Loud bangs. Cries begging people to stop.

"What's going on here?" Vincenzo hovered higher in the air. "It's utter bedlam!"

Ahead, flashes of light and plumes of smoke came from wreckages of what must have been the plaza's market.

"Smash and grab, bros!"

Atop a gyarados statue in the middle of the plaza's central fountain, a grapploct stood brandishing a bullhorn in one tentacle and a handful of small seeds in another. He turned and hurled the seeds at one of the market tents still standing. The granbull desperately trying to defend it saw the seeds and fled before explosions burnt away the tent.

"This is our broment! Grab what you can and make with the bromoosing!" Grapploct shouted. His accent was so thick, it was hard to parse what he was saying. "The Medicis will grab this dying city by its horns!"

Uproarious cheers followed, with various pokémon filling burlap sacks with all sorts of goods that had spilled out from the destroyed market stands.

"Everyone keep moving and keep your heads down," Vincenzo ordered.

Shimmer frowned. What about all the chaos in the plaza? There were criminals running around like overflowing sewage. He couldn't even tell who was with Grapploct and who was an ordinary citizen capitalizing on the opportunity.

"But sir… what about the market?" Robin rested his leek on his shoulder. "These people… their livelihoods are getting torched before their eyes."

Vincenzo whirled on Team Excel. Shimmer flinched at the frenzied look in the barraskewda's eyes. "Our lives are more important. Keep your heads down and move!"

The minister had a point. Of course Shimmer didn't want to die. He was the crown prince. His life was worth more than a hundred commoners'!

... Wasn't it?

Just when it seemed like the end of the plaza was in sight, however, gale force winds threatened to sweep a whinnying Shimmer off his feet. The ponyta ducked behind Robin and his shield, then his horn lit up and he caught a screaming Xander with his telekinesis before the sylveon could tumble away.

A loud neigh then echoed across the plaza. At first, Shimmer's heart skipped a beat. Had one of his mothers shown up?

Then he realized that couldn't be the case. The neigh was... intimidating. Cold. An uneasy chill ran down his spine. "Vincenzo, what's going on?" he cried, only to scream and jump back in fright.

A frozen solid Vincenzo lay couple of meters in front of them, alongside three grimmsnarl Radiant Guard. And pacing in front of them was... an unfamiliar rapidash?

Shimmer blinked a few times. "Is that white rapidash... made of ice?"

"That can't be a rapidash. It's too big." Xander shivered. "And cold. Look at those hooves. They're frozen! And so is half of its face!"

"Forget that. Look at what's on that thing." Robin held his leek at his side. His arm trembled slightly. That was bad. Robin always kept his cool.

Shimmer followed the sirfetch'd's gaze to a gray suit of armor. Two legs, two arms, a broad chest, a round helmet, and two red eyes staring him down. "W-We have to go," he squeaked. "Have to get the minister and the others to saf—"

The armored stranger yanked on the ice rapidash's reigns. She reared up on her hind legs, neighing loudly.

"Scatter!"

It was their luxray classmate. Shimmer looked up to see massive Icicle Crash spears forming overhead. The ponyta scrambled backward, tripping over his own hooves and skidding across the cobblestone ground. The icicles shattered on the ground behind him. When Shimmer looked up, he realized the Medicis had taken notice of the newcomer. The grapploct with the megaphone was bringing up the rear as a small crowd fled out the south end of the plaza.

"Shimmy, get up! We have to go!" Xander cried, before his ribbons wrapped around Shimmer and stood him up. "Creepy Armor Guy's capturing people in little ball—"

Red light surrounded Xander. Horror overtook his face. He reached a foreleg out to Shimmer before dissolving away in a red stream. His soft ribbons faded from Shimmer's flanks.

"Xander?" Shimmer blinked, following the stream toward the armored knight, who held several purple spheres in his hand.

The realization finally set in. Tears blurred the corners of Shimmer's eyes and he charged forward with reckless abandon. "Xander, no!" His horn lit up. "Give him back! Give him back!"

He fired a Psybeam ahead of him. The knight produced a glistening sword and slashed the Psybeam. Shimmer failed to realize his attack had rebounded on him until it struck his horn and a psychic shock made his pink mane and tail puff up.

"Get back, my prince!"

Robin lunged ahead of Shimmer, swiping at an incoming purple ball with his leek. However, that merely caused the ball to split open and swallow Robin up in red light. Shimmer's eyes widened further.

"No... no! This can't be happening!" Shimmer shot a Psybeam at the ball to try and break it, but it was effortlessly dispelled by an icicle from the knight's steed.

The ponyta looked around for help. Classmates. Radiant Guard. Somebody.

... But he was the only one left, save for bystanders fleeing the plaza in terror. "H-Hey! Someone help me!" His voice reeked of desperation. It was so unbecoming of a prince. "Your prince needs you!"

The air around Shimmer chilled. He skittered away, whinnying in fright. The ponyta's ears twitched. Something whizzed through the air behind him. Shimmer spun and caught one of the small orbs that captured his friends with his telekinesis and broke it in half.

"Give me back my boyfriend!" Shimmer huffed, horn sparking. "You... don't know who you're dealing with!"

But his legs were trembling. This wasn't some sort of training exercise. This was a real enemy who really wanted to hurt him.

"Pathetic."

The knight's voice was distorted. Was the armor doing that... or something else? Regardless, he lifted his sword high.

"All pokémon exist for the glory of Te—"

He stopped suddenly. His round, gray helmet trembled slightly. Then a circle surrounded by five diamonds appeared on the knight's chest plate.

"All pokémon exist for the glory... of Eternatus."

Shimmer's ears folded back. He had to flee.

But Xander...

No! Boyfriend or not, Shimmer was the crown prince. He had to escape. He had to survive.

The pontya backpedaled, but the knight's white steed reared up, neighing. Icy spears jutted out of the ground, as if the steed was using some sort of ice-infused Stone Edge. Shimmer wasn't fast enough to outrun the ice. A spear struck him between the hind legs and knocked him airborne. He had never experienced such awful pain before.

Shimmer hit the ground hard, tumbling across disrupted cobblestone. Tears glistened in his eyes.

How could this have been happening? Where was the rest of the Radiant Guard? Or his mothers? He couldn't die here! He just couldn't!

"Krrraggh!"

Another whiney reached Shimmer's ears, but this one was far more distressed. Shimmer blew frost and hair out of his eyes to see the knight and steed skidding away from him, with a familiar corviknight and talonflame fluttering in place where the knight had previously stood.

"My eyes ain't playing tricks on me, right, V? That's an honest-to-hell glastrier standing there?" Griffon shook his head in disbelief. "Thought they were gone for good!"

Shimmer looked up. His heart fluttered upon seeing Vegna descending toward his bird allies. It wasn't a full cavalry, but Shimmer would take it!

The knight raised his sword. Glastrier responded with Icicle Spears that dangled over Vegna and the birds. Vegna pointed a hand up and Talonflame destroyed some of them with a Flamethrower. Griffon flew toward the knight, while Vegna drifted toward Talonflame with a Protect shield at the ready, saving them both from falling icicles.

"Even the lousiest present can hold a surprise," Vegna said, holding up his right hand. While the knight kept Griffon at bay with slashes from his sword, Will-O-Wisp embers formed behind him. The knight swung his sword around and caught one, while the remaining two contacted Glastrier's flanks before she could try and stomp on Griffon with her hooves.

Shimmer's eyes widened. The Will-O-Wisp the knight had slashed was right behind the dusknoir. "Behind you, Vegna!" he cried.

Talonflame swooped up and harmlessly absorbed the shadowfire. Vegna's red eye coldly glared at Shimmer.

"This is no place for a clown prince," he scoffed. "Flee with your tail between your legs like the others."

Shimmer flinched. He knew he was out of his league, but Vegna's insult stung even harder this time. "I can't!" Tears glistened in his eyes again. "Xander. He has Xander. And Robin."

"And the rest of the Bratty Bunch!" Griffon sneered, slicing through Icicle Crash spears with his glowing wings. "We already saw it, Dimmer!"

"Then why didn't you stop him?!" Shimmer hissed, vision blurring.

He was ugly crying. In front of Vegna and his stooges. If he wasn't so worked up, this would've humiliated Shimmer.

But he had to get Xander back. He couldn't lose the sylveon. Even if the ponyta was sure a gaggle of guys would line up to court him, none of them would get him like Xander. They wouldn't understand that pressure to be poised. Be elegant. Be perfect.

All things that failed Shimmer in this moment.

Two streams of purple light caught the ponyta's attention. He saw a flash of brown, then dropped to his belly. Pointed stones whizzed over his already-frazzled hair. Shimmer glanced left to see a gray, metallic rhydon revving up the drill on its nose.

Squealing, Shimmer shot a desperate Psybeam, only for sudden pain to strike his rear. Shimmer somehow managed to roll to his right and avoid Rhydon charging him down for a Horn Drill. The ponyta caught a glimpse of a metallic nidoking stomping toward him, poison gathered in its gray hands.

That wasn't Radiant Guard armor. It was more like the mysterious knight Vegna was fighting. Were these flunkies?

Shimmer didn't have time to think any further, because Nidoking hurled the poison in its hands forward. Try as Shimmer might, the Reflect he conjured wasn't strong enough to dispel every bit of Poison Jab. Purple ooze splattered onto his nose, filling his breath with noxious fumes. Shimmer thought he might lose his dinner, but instead his breathing grew ragged and purple splotches appeared in the corners of his vision.

The ponyta tried blinking them away. No good. This... was poisoning. He learned about it in class, but hadn't paid much attention. After all, he had Pastel Veil! This was impossible! So how was it happening to him? Nidoking and rhydon didn't have any ability-suppressing moves.

Shimmer tried standing up again, but the ground trembled beneath his hooves. He collapsed on his belly. Sharp, stabbing pain followed a forceful inhale. Every breath was getting harder. He had to heal himself. He had to flee, like Vegna said.

Rhydon revved up its horn again. Shimmer didn't know what to do. Nidoking could knock him down with Earthquake. And even if he dodged, the poison would do him in soon enough.

He needed Robin and Xander. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't it have happened to that stupid dreepy? Where even was she? She vanished and then all of this happened. It couldn't have been a coincidence!

Though he braced himself for the incoming Horn Drill, nothing happened. Only a loud clang. Shimmer poked an eye open and saw Rhydon and Nidoking in a tangled heap. Griffon flew in place in front of them, though he was shakier than before.

"Yo, V! I hate to be that guy, but I think it's time to bring out the big guns, don't you?" Griffon cawed. He flapped his wings once, hovering out of the way of Stone Edge slabs jutting out from the ground. "Aww, c'mon, can't a guy yell at his boss in peace?" he huffed, slamming into the nearest slab with his metallic body and knocking it back at Rhydon.

"P... please help," Shimmer wheezed. "I... they... poison..."

"Bit busy, Di— yowch!" Lightning zapped Griffon's chest, knocking him to the ground. He dug his talons into the stone to stop his backsliding, then shot metallic feathers forward with flaps of his wings. Nidoking parried them all with electrified fists. Horn spinning, Rhydon charged for Shimmer.

"No! Stop!" the ponyta squealed, meekly covering his face with his forelegs.

"Come on, V!" Vegna cawed.

Shimmer's pelt stood on end. The air around him was charged and a thunderous boom made his skull rattle. He was still awake, however. Growing wearier every second, but awake. His vision was fuzzy, but blue haze filled the plaza when he opened his eyes. Rhydon and Nidoking had stopped their attacks and stared blankly into the distance. A pained neigh reached Shimmer's ears, likely from the knight's horse. He was too tired to look behind him, however. Every breath hurt so much. Poison was truly awful.

Then Rhydon and Nidoking disappeared in streams of purple light. "Yeah, that's right, you better run, torchic!" Griffon cawed. He strutted around, flapping his wings. "Bawk bawk bawk!" He met Shimmer's weary gaze and froze. "Ah, shit. Yo, V! Dimmer needs a li'l pick me up!"

There was a loud, annoyed sigh. Shimmer would've winced, but he lacked the strength. His vision was getting darker. The poison won out.

Xander... I'm sorry.

The ponyta was about to pass out when a sudden jolt of energy surged through his system. Shimmer's squeezing chest pain vanished. He found the strength to sit up, though his limbs trembled. Vegna lowered his right hand. Slight gold wisps faded from the edges of his crimson eye.

"A horse misus'd upon the road calls to heaven for human blood," Vegna said. Silence followed. Shimmer was too petrified to tell the dusknoir he had no idea what that meant. "Are you about done making a fool out of yourself?" He turned away from Shimmer. Talonflame flew onto his right shoulder gauntlet.

"I—" Shimmer looked around. "Wait, where's the knight?"

"Fled once I sent his steed to the Twilight Realm," Vegna responded.

That meant that Vegna and his birds had won, right? Shimmer's legs shook harder. Vegna was intimidating, but he had never truly seen the dusknoir fight. Just what sort of power did he possess that he could emerge triumphant against someone who could effortlessly reflect attacks?

... Wait, had Vegna said the knight fled?

"What?!" The ponyta's tail shot up in alarm. "But... but he captured my classmates! He got Robin! He got Xander!" Shimmer stumbled toward Venga. "D-Don't just stand there! Go after him!"

"... I will not."

"What?!" Tears stung at Shimmer's eyes once again. "No, I won't accept that! You're our professor! It's your job to protect us! And... he committed a crime! He kidnapped them!"

Vegna turned to him, eye glowing ominously. "Do you think me daft, Clown Prince? I'm well aware of that. But the knight teleported away. A fool runs blindly into the night. A learned man takes stock before setting forth." He gestured behind him. "Feel free to run off."

"Or you can just give yourself a pity rubdown in the shower later," Griffon sneered. "Because let's face it, you ain't gonna go after that guy. Not after that lousy performance." He leaned over, guffawing at the ponyta.

"You... you can't say that to me!" The tears were getting worse again. "Where's your empathy? I'm hurt! I lost two people I care deeply about!"

"Pfbt. Yeah, sure." Griffon rose slightly into the air. "I'll be sure to put in a call to the whambulance for ya, Dimmer. Ha ha ha!" He flew to Vegna's side. The dusknoir bonked him on the beak. "Oof! Okay, okay. Message received." He rubbed his face with a wing.

"I'm not here for empathy, sympathy, or anything of the sort," Vegna growled. "You faced real danger and wilted like a fragile flower." The dusknoir began floating away. "If you want your precious boyfriend back so much, steel yourself and act. Otherwise, your words are as empty as Griffon's head."

"Hey!" The corviknight narrowed his eyes. "At least I have ideas!"

"Wait!" Shimmer stumbled trying to catch up with him. "T-Take me with you! I need to get home!"

"I refuse." Vegna didn't even turn back around. "I still have a job to do... and a suspect to interrogate."

A suspect? "You know who the knight is?" Shimmer's voice cracked.

"No. But I caught that stuffy grovyle classmate of yours breaking into Starlene's trailer during her concert," Vegna growled. "And this chaos immediately followed, so I will at least question him on his actions."

The dusknoir grabbed hold of Griffon and flew off before Shimmer could get another word in. Instead, he seethed at the ground.

Chiaki had done something to mess with Starlene, then Venish descended into chaos? It wasn't some coincidence. There was malicious intent. Shimmer was sure of this.

"Team Bastion did this," the ponyta hissed, tears falling down his cheeks. "They took my Xander from me!"

XxX

~Il Paradigma, Canto VII: Guile Hideout~
The Matriarch warned that reunification would be a grueling struggle. One that could stretch for eons. "See this not as war, but as a journey," She exclaimed. "A lifelong test to prove our devotion to the Benefactor. Our devotion to eternity."​

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

So, a little bird told me that there's probably going to be an update this Saturday, so it sounds as good as any to fire this series up and take a gander at...

Chapter 41

It took every ounce of Yiazmat's willpower not to crush the gemwhatever in her right hand. Every breath she took grew heavier. Her horns were heating up, bathing her onyx throne in red-orange light.

She had to stay calm and composed. For her husband. And for Yunavresca. The dragpult looked into the weird communicator's central gemstone. "Dimitry, did you get all of that?"

Oh, so Yiazmat is basically doing this, huh?:

Yiazmat focused on the gem. She had to ignore the red creeping into her vision. Deep breaths. She couldn't slip into anger in front of Calcifer.

Considering how Yiazmat's named after a FF12 superboss... probably a good thing we don't see her angry, really.

"I did, ma'am. I'm on my way to fetch Baraz as we speak."

"Good." She pivoted to her left, glaring at the light torch sitting over an archway. "Proceed to Scale City using the waypoint the Ryujin have in Horizon Gardens. I'll meet you there."

... Just how deep of a working relationship does this 'mon have with the Yakuza? .-.

Though I see that 'Waypoints' are a thing in more places than just Kilo Village, even if I suspect that these behave more like fast travel markers.

"What?" Calcifer gasped. "Dear, you can't be serious. If Radiance is in a crisis and someone catches you in their territory, they'll declare war for sure!"

Yiazmat: "Okay, seriously, what sort of backwards country doesn't have a concept of 'diplomatic immunity'?"

Calcifer: "The one our daughter is receiving schooling in? Also, need I remind your brilliant idea is to teleport in on a Yakuza-controlled Waypoint?!" >_>;

Yiazmat whirled on the duraludon. "I'm aware of the risks. But this is our daughter we're talking about." Her tail lashed at the air. Flames bristled in her horns. "I am not going to sit by any longer." She held the communicator up to her face. "Sakaki, I understand if you can't join us. Your son—"

"Is, for all intents and purposes, in the custody of the Ministry of Justice." The voice on the other end was deeper than Dimitry's. If Sakaki was as upset about his son as Yiazmat was about her daughter, he was doing a better job hiding it. "He's being airlifted to another hospital due to Venish's current situation. If I try to go to Vellguarde before Healing Wish Hospital has even contacted me, I'll show my hand. Chiaki is on his own."

Oh, so no Chiaki appearance this chapter, I take it. Guess we're not seeing Vegna chewing him out from his hospital bed just yet.

"I see." Yiazmat shut her eyes. "My condolences."

A loud sigh followed. "He brought this upon himself. I'll see you in Scale City." Then there was a click.

So settlements in Aeon all have super on-the-nose names, don't they? :V

"Captain, are you still there?" Yiazmat asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Make sure no one follows you to the waypoint," Yiazmat ordered. "I'll be taking the underground tunnels, so it will quite some time before I get there. Gather what additional intel you can."

"Understood. Godspeed, Your Highness."

... Not convinced that this isn't going to wind up blowing up in spectacular fashion, but you've gotta admire Yiazmat's determination to try and keep her daughter safe. Even if it's endangering the well-being of untold masses of her subjects.

Another click sounded. The metal device's central gem dimmed. Yiazmat turned away from Calcifer, toward the same archway as before. She floated forward, past onyx statues of Bahamut.

Heavy footsteps thudded behind her. "I can't talk you out of this, can I?" Calcifer said.

"No." Yiazmat approached a door with the eight-pointed star of Aeon carved into it. Two kommo-o with the eight-pointed Aeon star painted on their chests stood at attention. "Open my armory."

Kommo-o #1: "... Your Highness, isn't that just your children's playroom-?" .-.
Yiazmat: "I said, 'open my armory'!" >_>;

The kommo-o on her right thumped his chest with a fist, then grabbed a key ring and unlocked the door. It swung into pitch black.

"Then at least let me come with you!" Calcifer caught up to Yiazmat's side.

"Out of the question." Yiazmat took the torch hanging over the doorway and floated inside. The room had various sets of plated armor, designed to fit a dragapult's torso and bulky head. Most of them, however, had the eight-pointed star on their chest plates. They'd be too obvious.

Oh, so her armory isn't just her kids. Though nice to see that I'm not the only soul who took notes from M08 for a PMD setting.

Also, this would be a fantastic time to have a few cans of spray paint from Radiance to just black out the Necrozma stars and any identifying colors.

At the back of the room, Yiazmat found what she was looking for: sleek, black plating. Lighter than the other armor, with no insignias to speak of. She set the torch in a slot on the back wall and set the chest plating on.

"Dear, I know you're worried, but—"

Oh, so she's quite literally turning herself into a stealth bomber right now, huh?

Yiazmat fastened the armor into place. "Someone has to look after the rest of the kids." She glanced briefly at the duraludon silhouette opposite her, then returned her attention to the black helmet on the floor. "I gave her leeway to stay at that school because she convinced me she could handle it."

Calcifer: "Yeah, in retrospect, we probably should've sent some companions with her, huh?" >_>;
Yiazmat: "Probably, but that wouldn't change the situation she's in right now. And it wouldn't change my decision of how to handle things."

The dragapult adjusted the helmet's chin strap. "But neither of us could have imagined such a… traumatic series of events." She floated back into the air. "As her mother, I won't leave her to fend for herself any longer."

Boy is that gonna get awkward quickly when she sees that Yuna has finally been turning a corner on that front on her own.

Calcifer poked his metal arms together. "I… suppose." He shuffled back to let Yiazmat float past him. "I just wish there was some way I could help you."

"Oh, sweetie, you are helping." Yiazmat turned and tapped her claws against Calcifer's slender, metal neck. "By staying with the others, you're giving me peace of mind."

Yiazmat: "Also, if something happens to me out there, we... kinda need continuity of government back home." ^^;
Calcifer: "... This isn't helping my peace of mind right now, you know."

"Does that mean Mom's leaving?"

Yiazmat's tail crinkled. Wincing, she turned to find eight dreepy of varying sizes floating in the middle of the throne room. She bit her lip. So, all four sets of twins had snuck down here, huh? She'd have stern words with the guards before departing for Saint Zygardesburg.

... Can't tell if this is going to build up to her bringing the kids along as ammo, or if she has professional retainers to fill in for them for such a purpose.

"I'm sorry, little ones." Yiazmat bowed her head sadly. "Your big sister is… in trouble. So Mom's going to help her out." She gestured to Calcifer. "But Dad will be here with you the whole time."

One of the smallest dreepy floated forward, clutching a tiny stuffed salandit. His beady eyes glistened. "Mama go bye short or long time?"

Yiazmat leaned over and tussled the dreepy's little gills. "Mama will make it as short as she can."

... You see, now I'm getting worried that Yiazmat's gonna get blown up in like a chapter. Since this entire setup just screams "something horrible's gonna happen to this 'mon". .-.

He seemed satisfied with that. "Mama hug Spicy bye?" The dreepy held up the salandit doll.

... Wait a minute, why does that name sound vaguely familiar? Is that the name that that one Salandit from GL wound up getting after everything shook out at the end?

A smile slowly crept over the dragapult. "Mama will hug everyone goodbye." She gestured to the other seven dreepy, who all shot forward. Yiazmat wrapped them all up in her long, wispy tail. "Ohhh, I'll miss you all so much, little ones. Behave for your father, okay?"

"Okay!" they chirped in unison. Yiazmat's smile broadened, but the warmth in her chest faded fast.

She had a bad feeling that it would quite some time before she'd get to see them all again.

You know, Yiazmat, when most people get bad feelings about their planned courses of action, they usually take a moment to stop and reflect on them first...

Like surely it would cause fewer issues to just send in a squad of Little Green Men Mons and deny affiliation if they got into hot water with the local fuzz.

Shimmer's legs burned. His heart pounded in his chest— hell, in his head, too. Every gallop brought fresh, aching pain to his hooves. The ponyta wouldn't consider himself out of shape by any stretch, but running was not his strong suit.

Yet, as he galloped down what was supposed to be a smoothed, paved road, he found himself wishing this was nothing more than a nightmare.

Cue the background music:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2h1BZQs6SY

Another purple light rippled past him and the other students attempting to flee the city. "Look out, Shimmy!" Xander cried.

The ground gave way under Shimmer's hooves. He barely had enough time to dive to his right before a part of the street split open. A water geyser erupted from the fissure, drenching several frustrated classmates. Robin held his shield over his head and offered his leek to Shimmer. The ponyta gently bit it and the sirfetch'd hoisted him up so they could press on.

Red swirled in Shimmer's vision. Even as Radiant Guards wearing lights and sirens cleared other panicked civilians aside to make room for them, Shimmer still couldn't believe this was happening. Flyers should have been on standby to evacuate them from the city immediately. But they had all decided to book it the moment these… obscene rifts popped up around Venish.

You know, I would suddenly be really, really unbothered if Guile Hideout succeeded in his mission and just yeeted the entire Crowne Cup lineup into the Qliphoth right about now. Since boy does everything about this setup not endear me to Shimmer right now.

As soon as Shimmer was safe, he'd be sure to report the entire flyer's guild chapter to his mothers. He'd ensure their charter was voided and the lot of them were out of work.

… No, he couldn't think about that yet. He had to make it to the train station first.

I see that Shimmer's pulling the good old-fashioned "Achieve 0 Audience Sympathy - any% speedrun (TAS)" routine here. It's gonna be interesting to see how, or even if Shimmer will ever get put on a more sympathetic character track, since he sure isn't on one just yet.

"How… much farther?" Shimmer wheezed. He managed to hop over vines made of pizza dough and pepperonis that spilled out from the remains of what Shimmer assumed was once a pizza shop.

"Not much!" Minister Vincenzo hovered ahead of the students, propelling himself with his windmill-like tail and hydropack. "The station is just past Piazza Lavanda up ahead!"

Shimmer: "I have no idea how I'm going to begin to explain any of this to mom and mom." .-.

The ground trembled. Another purple ripple ran past everyone.

"Nonono… help! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllp!"

"BIMMY!"

Slightly ahead of the group, a purple rift split the air open over the canal. A white, glassy tentacle had wrapped up a screaming whimsicott and was dragging him into the rift. A second whimsicott, with a cottonnee in each arm, was running for the canal.

I'm pretty sure "anyone" in that context is a typo there.

Shimmer: "Well, that's... something."

"Get back!" a sharpedo guardsmon in a violet hydropack barked. "I'll handle thi—"

"No! Your job's to protect the students!" Vincenzo hissed. "Press on!"

Sharpedo's eyes widened, as did Shimmer's. The tentacle disappeared into the rift, which closed behind it.

"No, not my Bimmy! Why?!" Whimsicott dropped to her knees while Shimmer and the others ran past her.

Shimmer: "Nope nope nope. Just going to pretend that I didn't see any of that."

"Tell me I didn't just see that!" Xander squeaked.

"You did." Robin bowed his head.

"But that was, like, a freaking kraken!" Xander's ribbons curled up. "From movies and cartoons!"

"Or maybe it was a really big tentacruel," Robin muttered. "Either way, there's nothing we can do about it."

It's actually a Season One Anime Tentacruel, isn't it?

The canal broke off to the left and the street gave way to a giant, lavender square…

Shimmer's ears folded. The shouts and screams were louder than before. There was smashing glass. Loud bangs. Cries begging people to stop.

"What's going on here?" Vincenzo hovered higher in the air. "It's utter bedlam!"

I mean, did you magically expect that the train station was going to be exempt from all of this? Are the rails even passable right now? .-.

Ahead, flashes of light and plumes of smoke came from wreckages of what must have been the plaza's market.

"Smash and grab, bros!"

Atop a gyarados statue in the middle of the plaza's central fountain, a grapploct stood brandishing a bullhorn in one tentacle and a handful of small seeds in another. He turned and hurled the seeds at one of the market tents still standing. The granbull desperately trying to defend it saw the seeds and fled before explosions burnt away the tent.

"This is our broment! Grab what you can and make with the bromoosing!" Grapploct shouted. His accent was so thick, it was hard to parse what he was saying. "The Medicis will grab this dying city by its horns!"

Somebody has their priorities in order right about now.

Shimmer: "You know, if it weren't for the fact that we're all here and would likely die painful and horrible deaths from it, I could really go for seeing that kraken thing show up and do its magic on those thugs right about now." >_>;

Uproarious cheers followed, with various pokémon filling burlap sacks with all sorts of goods that had spilled out from the destroyed market stands.

"Everyone keep moving and keep your heads down," Vincenzo ordered.

Shimmer frowned. What about all the chaos in the plaza? There were criminals running around like overflowing sewage. He couldn't even tell who was with Grapploct and who was an ordinary citizen capitalizing on the opportunity.

"But sir… what about the market?" Robin rested his leek on his shoulder. "These people… their livelihoods are getting torched before their eyes."

Vincenzo whirled on Team Excel. Shimmer flinched at the frenzied look in the barraskewda's eyes. "Our lives are more important. Keep your heads down and move!"

Wow, not even 'your lives' there to put in even minor deflection from selfish motivation, huh?

The minister had a point. Of course Shimmer didn't want to die. He was the crown prince. His life was worth more than a hundred commoners'!

... Wasn't it?

Shimmer, if you have to ask yourself the question, the answer is really obviously 'no'.

Just when it seemed like the end of the plaza was in sight, however, gale force winds threatened to sweep a whinnying Shimmer off his feet. The ponyta ducked behind Robin and his shield, then his horn lit up and he caught a screaming Xander with his telekinesis before the sylveon could tumble away.

A loud neigh then echoed across the plaza. At first, Shimmer's heart skipped a beat. Had one of his mothers shown up?

Then he realized that couldn't be the case. The neigh was... intimidating. Cold. An uneasy chill ran down his spine. "Vincenzo, what's going on?" he cried, only to scream and jump back in fright.

Pretty sure that Glastrier has just entered the chat here.

A frozen solid Vincenzo lay a couple of meters in front of them, alongside three grimmsnarl Radiant Guard. And pacing in front of them was... an unfamiliar rapidash?

Shimmer blinked a few times. "Is that white rapidash... made of ice?"

Yuuuuuup.

"That can't be a rapidash. It's too big." Xander shivered. "And cold. Look at those hooves. They're frozen! And so is half of its face!"

"Forget that. Look at what's on that thing." Robin held his leek at his side. His arm trembled slightly. That was bad. Robin always kept his cool.

I'm... actually trying to remember whether or not there were moments in Awakening where Robin just flatly lost it, but yeah, this seems like kind of a bad moment with a reaction like that.

Shimmer followed the sirfetch'd's gaze to a gray suit of armor. Two legs, two arms, a broad chest, a round helmet, and two red eyes staring him down. "W-We have to go," he squeaked. "Have to get the minister and the others to saf—"

The armored stranger yanked on the ice rapidash's reigns. She reared up on her hind legs, neighing loudly.

"Scatter!"

It was their luxray classmate. Shimmer looked up to see massive Icicle Crash spears forming overhead. The ponyta scrambled backward, tripping over his own hooves and skidding across the cobblestone ground. The icicles shattered on the ground behind him. When Shimmer looked up, he realized the Medicis had taken notice of the newcomer. The grapploct with the megaphone was bringing up the rear as a small crowd fled out the south end of the plaza.

Well, things are going well™️ right now. Though pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be those Medici 'mons in about five seconds.

"Shimmy, get up! We have to go!" Xander cried, before his ribbons wrapped around Shimmer and stood him up. "Creepy Armor Guy's capturing people in little ball—"

What.

Red light surrounded Xander. Horror overtook his face. He reached a foreleg out to Shimmer before dissolving away in a red stream. His soft ribbons faded from Shimmer's flanks.

WHAT. That's something that you certainly don't see often in PMD stories.

"Xander?" Shimmer blinked, following the stream toward the armored knight, who held several purple spheres in his hand.

If those are what I think they are... then yeah, Guile isn't messing around right now.

The realization finally set in. Tears blurred the corners of Shimmer's eyes and he charged forward with reckless abandon. "Xander, no!" His horn lit up. "Give him back! Give him back!"

Guile Hideout:

Also, I'm pretty sure that Guile Hideout is really just Dermezal in that suit of armor right now. Since A: Glastrier rider, B: you did say there was a Kuja to this story, and Dermezal ticks all the boxes for that from his past depiction outside of personality.

He fired a Psybeam ahead of him. The knight produced a glistening sword and slashed the Psybeam. Shimmer failed to realize his attack had rebounded on him until it struck his horn and a psychic shock made his pink mane and tail puff up.

"Get back, my prince!"

Oh. Oh. We're about to lose Robin too, aren't we?

Robin lunged ahead of Shimmer, swiping at an incoming purple ball with his leek. However, that merely caused the ball to split open and swallow Robin up in red light. Shimmer's eyes widened further.

Yeah, I figured. F in the chat for the one member of Shimmer's party who wasn't reflexively an asshole.

"No... no! This can't be happening!" Shimmer shot a Psybeam at the ball to try and break it, but it was effortlessly dispelled by an icicle from the knight's steed.

The ponyta looked around for help. Classmates. Radiant Guard. Somebody.

... But he was the only one left, save for bystanders fleeing the plaza in terror. "H-Hey! Someone help me!" His voice reeked of desperation. It was so unbecoming of a prince. "Your prince needs you!"

Bystanders:

Shimmer: "This is seriously what you do to your Prince when he needs you?!" >.<
- Cue bystanders clearing out preoccupied with other little things like not getting Master Ball'd -
Shimmer: "... Guess that's a 'yes', then."

The air around Shimmer chilled. He skittered away, whinnying in fright. The ponyta's ears twitched. Something whizzed through the air behind him. Shimmer spun and caught one of the small orbs that captured his friends with his telekinesis and broke it in half.

... I'm now just realizing that the moment in the Gene special with Gio and the Master Ball was likely foreshadowing for this very moment. Though nice to see that someone's putting up a fight and not just getting rolled. Or not yet, anyways.

"Give me back my boyfriend!" Shimmer huffed, horn sparking. "You... don't know who you're dealing with!"

Guile Hideout:

But his legs were trembling. This wasn't some sort of training exercise. This was a real enemy who really wanted to hurt him.

"Pathetic."

I mean, yeah. You kinda need to not telegraph obvious fear in order to come off as intimidating, Shimmer.

The knight's voice was distorted. Was the armor doing that... or something else? Regardless, he lifted his sword high.

"All pokémon exist for the glory of Te—"

He stopped suddenly. His round, gray helmet trembled slightly. Then a circle surrounded by five diamonds appeared on the knight's chest plate.

"All pokémon exist for the glory... of Eternatus."

WHAT. Guile Hideout is Giovanni?!

Shimmer's ears folded back. He had to flee.

But Xander...

No! Boyfriend or not, Shimmer was the crown prince. He had to escape. He had to survive.

Alternatively, Isola could just have another son to replace you. Or you know, we could have a Republic of Radiance instead.

The pontya backpedaled, but the knight's white steed reared up, neighing. Icy spears jutted out of the ground, as if the steed was using some sort of ice-infused Stone Edge. Shimmer wasn't fast enough to outrun the ice. A spear struck him between the hind legs and knocked him airborne. He had never experienced such awful pain before.

Shimmer hit the ground hard, tumbling across disrupted cobblestone. Tears glistened in his eyes.

How could this have been happening? Where was the rest of the Radiant Guard? Or his mothers? He couldn't die here! He just couldn't!

Going "screw this I'm outta here" after getting picked apart and having the Pokémon they were supposed to protect effortlessly captured? I dunno, use your imagination a bit, Shimmer.

"Krrraggh!"

Another whinny reached Shimmer's ears, but this one was far more distressed. Shimmer blew frost and hair out of his eyes to see the knight and steed skidding away from him, with a familiar corviknight and talonflame fluttering in place where the knight had previously stood.

"My eyes ain't playing tricks on me, right, V? That's an honest-to-hell glastrier standing there?" Griffon shook his head in disbelief. "Thought they were gone for good!"

Well, talk about a timely save there. Though I'm pretty sure that this means that the Crowne Cup is finito this year, since... yeah, not expecting Vegna and Griffon to get everyone back there.

Shimmer looked up. His heart fluttered upon seeing Vegna descending toward his bird allies. It wasn't a full cavalry, but Shimmer would take it!

The knight raised his sword. Glastrier responded with Icicle Spears that dangled over Vegna and the birds. Vegna pointed a hand up and Talonflame destroyed some of them with a Flamethrower. Griffon flew toward the knight, while Vegna drifted toward Talonflame with a Protect shield at the ready, saving them both from falling icicles.

... Why am I getting the feeling that Vegna isn't coming out of this unscathed either? Even if I know from teased snippets that Vegna himself will be alright.

"Even the lousiest present can hold a surprise," Vegna said, holding up his right hand. While the knight kept Griffon at bay with slashes from his sword, Will-O-Wisp embers formed behind him. The knight swung his sword around and caught one, while the remaining two contacted Glastrier's flanks before she could try and stomp on Griffon with her hooves.

Shimmer: "Where the hell were you this whole time?!"

Vegna: "Shimmer, have you bothered to stop and look around you at all?" >;
- Cue Shimmer doing just that and seeing Venish in chaos -
Shimmer: "... Oh. Right."

Shimmer's eyes widened. The Will-O-Wisp the knight had slashed was right behind the dusknoir. "Behind you, Vegna!" he cried.

Talonflame swooped up and harmlessly absorbed the shadowfire. Vegna's red eye coldly glared at Shimmer.

"This is no place for a clown prince," he scoffed. "Flee with your tail between your legs like the others."

Shimmer flinched. He knew he was out of his league, but Vegna's insult stung even harder this time. "I can't!" Tears glistened in his eyes again. "Xander. He has Xander. And Robin."

"And the rest of the Bratty Bunch!" Griffon sneered, slicing through Icicle Crash spears with his glowing wings. "We already saw it, Dimmer!"

"Then why didn't you stop him?!" Shimmer hissed, vision blurring.

Because they were busy rushing a barbecued gecko to medical treatment? That sounds like a decently time-consuming task, really.

He was ugly crying. In front of Vegna and his stooges. If he wasn't so worked up, this would've humiliated Shimmer.

But he had to get Xander back. He couldn't lose the sylveon. Even if the ponyta was sure a gaggle of guys would line up to court him, none of them would get him like Xander. They wouldn't understand that pressure to be poised. Be elegant. Be perfect.

Griffon:

Vegna: "Griffon, don't make me come over there to flick your beak. You know I can manage it in the middle of this battle." -;

All things that failed Shimmer in this moment.

Two streams of purple light caught the ponyta's attention. He saw a flash of brown, then dropped to his belly. Pointed stones whizzed over his already-frazzled hair. Shimmer glanced left to see a gray, metallic rhydon revving up the drill on its nose.

Ah right, this technically predates the Terastal Phenomenon reveal trailer by like half a week. Still funny how that wound up working out.

Squealing, Shimmer shot a desperate Psybeam, only for sudden pain to strike his rear. Shimmer somehow managed to roll to his right and avoid Rhydon charging him down for a Horn Drill. The ponyta caught a glimpse of a metallic nidoking stomping toward him, poison gathered in its gray hands.

That wasn't Radiant Guard armor. It was more like the mysterious knight Vegna was fighting. Were these flunkies?

Yuuuuuup, Guile Hideout is absolutely Gio. Though is that supposed to be that same armor that M2 had in the anime?

Shimmer didn't have time to think any further, because Nidoking hurled the poison in its hands forward. Try as Shimmer might, the Reflect he conjured wasn't strong enough to dispel every bit of Poison Jab. Purple ooze splattered onto his nose, filling his breath with noxious fumes. Shimmer thought he might lose his dinner, but instead his breathing grew ragged and purple splotches appeared in the corners of his vision.

The ponyta tried blinking them away. No good. This... was poisoning. He learned about it in class, but hadn't paid much attention. After all, he had Pastel Veil! This was impossible! So how was it happening to him? Nidoking and rhydon didn't have any ability-suppressing moves.

That... is a good question. Though I'm guessing "something something malice", "something something metallic whatever the hell that is effects" here.

Shimmer tried standing up again, but the ground trembled beneath his hooves. He collapsed on his belly. Sharp, stabbing pain followed a forceful inhale. Every breath was getting harder. He had to heal himself. He had to flee, like Vegna said.

Rhydon revved up its horn again. Shimmer didn't know what to do. Nidoking could knock him down with Earthquake. And even if he dodged, the poison would do him in soon enough.

He needed Robin and Xander. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't it have happened to that stupid dreepy? Where even was she? She vanished and then all of this happened. It couldn't have been a coincidence!

I like how this is a moment where I'm honest-to-goodness finally starting to feel sorry for Shimmer... and then he turns around and reminds me that he's Shimmer.

Guess it'll take a while before pony-boy digs him out of this sympathy hole. I can already tell it's going to be quite the process.

Though he braced himself for the incoming Horn Drill, nothing happened. Only a loud clang. Shimmer poked an eye open and saw Rhydon and Nidoking in a tangled heap. Griffon flew in place in front of them, though he was shakier than before.

"Yo, V! I hate to be that guy, but I think it's time to bring out the big guns, don't you?" Griffon cawed. He flapped his wings once, hovering out of the way of Stone Edge slabs jutting out from the ground. "Aww, c'mon, can't a guy yell at his boss in peace?" he huffed, slamming into the nearest slab with his metallic body and knocking it back at Rhydon.

... Does Griffon get turned on by masochism or something? Since he sure is a persistent glutton for punishment from Vegna there. .-.

"P... please help," Shimmer wheezed. "I... they... poison..." "Bit busy, Di— yowch!"

Lightning zapped Griffon's chest, knocking him to the ground. He dug his talons into the stone to stop his backsliding, then shot metallic feathers forward with flaps of his wings. Nidoking parried them all with electrified fists. Horn spinning, Rhydon charged for Shimmer.

"No! Stop!" the ponyta squealed, meekly covering his face with his forelegs.

"Come on, V!" Griffon cawed.

Minor typo there, since I'm pretty sure that Vegna has never cawed before. Let alone to himself.

Griffon: "Look, I know I'm not the world's biggest fan of Dimmer and all, but we kinda need him alive for a scene with his mother that got teased like a week ago!" >v>;
Vegna: "If I must... though boy are you not making this easy, Clown Prince." -;

Shimmer's pelt stood on end. The air around him was charged and a thunderous boom made his skull rattle. He was still awake, however. Growing wearier every second, but awake. His vision was fuzzy, but blue haze filled the plaza when he opened his eyes. Rhydon and Nidoking had stopped their attacks and stared blankly into the distance. A pained neigh reached Shimmer's ears, likely from the knight's horse. He was too tired to look behind him, however. Every breath hurt so much. Poison was truly awful.

Then Rhydon and Nidoking disappeared in streams of purple light. "Yeah, that's right, you better run, torchic!" Griffon cawed. He strutted around, flapping his wings. "Bawk bawk bawk!" He met Shimmer's weary gaze and froze. "Ah, shit. Yo, V! Dimmer needs a li'l pick me up!"

That... isn't a good omen for how injured Shimmer is right now.

There was a loud, annoyed sigh. Shimmer would've winced, but he lacked the strength. His vision was getting darker. The poison won out.

Xander... I'm sorry.

The ponyta was about to pass out when a sudden jolt of energy surged through his system. Shimmer's squeezing chest pain vanished. He found the strength to sit up, though his limbs trembled. Vegna lowered his right hand. Slight gold wisps faded from the edges of his crimson eye.

Shimmer: "Wait, what in the-?!"

"A horse misus'd upon the road calls to heaven for human blood," Vegna said. Silence followed. Shimmer was too petrified to tell the dusknoir he had no idea what that meant. "Are you about done making a fool out of yourself?" He turned away from Shimmer. Talonflame flew onto his right shoulder gauntlet.

"I—" Shimmer looked around. "Wait, where's the knight?"

"Fled once I sent his steed to the Twilight Realm," Vegna responded.

I am not convinced at all that Glastrier is really dead there.

Shimmer: "A-And what about everyone else? You got them back, right?"
Vegna: "..." -;
Shimmer: "R-Right?"

That meant that Vegna and his birds had won, right? Shimmer's legs shook harder. Vegna was intimidating, but he had never truly seen the dusknoir fight. Just what sort of power did he possess that he could emerge triumphant against someone who could effortlessly reflect attacks?

... Wait, had Vegna said the knight fled?

Vegna: "Does that answer your question, Clown Prince? Or must I repeat myself?"

"What?!" The ponyta's tail shot up in alarm. "But... but he captured my classmates! He got Robin! He got Xander!" Shimmer stumbled toward Venga. "D-Don't just stand there! Go after him!"

"... I will not."

Griffon: "Seriously, Dimmer, just look around you right now. We've kinda got our wings full at the moment." >v>;
- Cue looking around at Venish in chaos from various rifts -
Shimmer: "B-But..."

"What?!" Tears stung at Shimmer's eyes once again. "No, I won't accept that! You're our professor! It's your job to protect us! And... he committed a crime! He kidnapped them!"

Vegna turned to him, eye glowing ominously. "Do you think me daft, Clown Prince? I'm well aware of that. But the knight teleported away. A fool runs blindly into the night. A learned man takes stock before setting forth." He gestured behind him. "Feel free to run off."

Cue Morgan Freeman poking his head in to say Vegna has a point again.

"Or you can just give yourself a pity rubdown in the shower later," Griffon sneered. "Because let's face it, you ain't gonna go after that guy. Not after that lousy performance." He leaned over, guffawing at the ponyta.

"You... you can't say that to me!" The tears were getting worse again. "Where's your empathy? I'm hurt! I lost two people I care deeply about!"

Griffon: "Oh no! Anyw-!"
Vegna: "Griffon, if you finish that statement, I'll Stone Edge you for running the joke into the ground." >;

"Pfbt. Yeah, sure." Griffon rose slightly into the air. "I'll be sure to put in a call to the whambulance for ya, Dimmer. Ha ha ha!" He flew to Vegna's side. The dusknoir bonked him on the beak. "Oof! Okay, okay. Message received." He rubbed his face with a wing.

Whelp, looks like Griffon got smacked anyways.

"I'm not here for empathy, sympathy, or anything of the sort," Vegna growled. "You faced real danger and wilted like a fragile flower." The dusknoir began floating away. "If you want your precious boyfriend back so much, steel yourself and act. Otherwise, your words are as empty as Griffon's head."

"Hey!" The corviknight narrowed his eyes. "At least I have ideas!"

That's... not a high bar to cross there, Griffon.

"Wait!" Shimmer stumbled trying to catch up with him. "T-Take me with you! I need to get home!"

"I refuse." Vegna didn't even turn back around. "I still have a job to do... and a suspect to interrogate."

A suspect? "You know who the knight is?" Shimmer's voice cracked.

"No. But I caught that stuffy grovyle classmate of yours breaking into Starlene's trailer during her concert," Vegna growled. "And this chaos immediately followed, so I will at least question him on his actions."

Griffon: "Uh... V? Shouldn't we be doing something about all the weird rift stuff happening in the background right now-?"
Vegna:

The dusknoir grabbed hold of Griffon and flew off before Shimmer could get another word in. Instead, he seethed at the ground.

Chiaki had done something to mess with Starlene, then Venish descended into chaos? It wasn't some coincidence. There was malicious intent. Shimmer was sure of this.

"Team Bastion did this," the ponyta hissed, tears falling down his cheeks. "They took my Xander from me!"

Oh boy, that's a good omen for how Shimmer's going to get along with them when they come back. .-.

~Il Paradigma, Canto VII: Guile Hideout~
The Matriarch warned that reunification would be a grueling struggle. One that could stretch for eons. "See this not as war, but as a journey," She exclaimed. "A lifelong test to prove our devotion to the Benefactor. Our devotion to eternity."

'Reunification'? With what? .-.

Though that was quite a ride, onto the recap:

A wild ride as usual, and it's nice to be properly back in Etherium again, and from the perspective of two characters we haven't seen a lot of. Doing a scene from Shimmer's perspective was definitely a nice change of pace, and even if he's still an asshole who made me

a number of times with his attitude and thought process, I'll admit it was an interesting read, and it made me feel bad for him at a couple points, so congrats. I'm not sure how I feel about the complete lack of empathy for commoners from the cast in Venish, but hey, you can't say that they're not acting in-character for their social class, so it's a bit of a different experience.

As for the stuff that I wasn't so fond of... even if I get that you're doing third person limited, I kinda feel as if for meta reasons you should've explicitly shown some of the more interesting things that happen in this chapter a bit more. Like 'sending Glastrier to the Twilight Realm' even if it'd be in blur-o-vision. Or Guile Hideout/the guy who's almost certainly Giovanni picking apart Shimmer's classmates in more detail and more of that "oh crap, oh crap" panic from their group as he effortlessly hunts down what if my memory serves me right is a group of at least 20-30 Pokémon present.

Kudos @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to getting to your new chapter sometime after it drops. Hopefully a bit quicker than it took me for this one. ^^;

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything​

CONFIDENTIAL
Based on the analysis of the damaged chips discovered by my Troopers, I'm issuing a memo to all Paradigm lieutenants. This is a security level omega alert. If you're reading this and you're not of the Paradigm, report to your nearest Tartarus Intake Facility or face erosion. I have personally placed trackers on each of these, so I will know if they leave Eterna City. And the trackers are armed to detonate if you try to disable or remove them. There'll be no funny business.

Although fragmented, data suggests a portion of Matriarch was focused on "The Butterfree Effect." I cannot tell you what this is. Only that there were scattered mentions of four things:

1) Mismatched beast.
2) Missing number.
3) Radiant beauty.
4) Genetic morpho.

Three of these seem to refer to living creatures. I assume the fourth does, too. The Earth Pokédex refers to Mewtwo as the "Genetic Pokémon," so it is likely capturing the rebel Gene will allow me to solve the riddle of the Butterfree Effect. Still, I want everyone to be on the lookout for anyone who could match one of these vague descriptions. They are to be brought to me dead or alive. But preferably alive, so I can get some answers.

Toodles, all. Keep up the good work.
Paradox

XxX​

Chiaki awoke in a fit of coughs thanks to a tube that had been shoved down his throat. Several nurses — at least, he assumed these audino were nurses — funneled into the room and removed the tube, along with a wad of mucus and saliva. The result left the grovyle's throat drier than he ever thought possible.

"Wah... ter," he croaked. Chiaki wanted to reach an arm up, but his limbs didn't respond. There was, however, a white band with a barcode around his left arm... and a silver metal ring above it that was also attached to the bed's side railing. It looked like an element-proofed restraining cuff. The type Stoutland Yard officers slapped on suspects to haul them off to a holding cell.

"Absolutely not," the lone audino who remained in the room replied. "With the amount of smoke inhalation you suffered, you're not even clear for a swallow study. And stop talking. We spent too long controlling the swelling in your throat." She turned and left, shaking her head and muttered about entitled kids.

That was when it all flooded back. The explosion his EMP triggered. Awaking with no sensation below his neck or ability to move. And Vegna showing up with a giant black dragon and hauling him away.

Though, from what Chiaki could tell, the ringing in his ear frills was gone, as were the X-transceiver fragments that had melted into his head. Instead, there was some sort of... metal implant attached to each of his temples. Hearing implants, probably.

It was obvious by now, but the white board hanging across from his bed confirmed he was, indeed, in a hospital. It listed a Sally as his assigned nurse, a Dr. Dwyer as the burn unit attending, a Dr. Francine as the cardiothoracic surgeon, a Dr. O'Boyle as the neurosurgeon, and a Dr. Lobo as the pulmonoligst. The only problem was a shield and blue cross etched into the top right of the white board, with a small "Healing Wish" scrawled beneath it.

Healing Wish? How the hell did I end up in Vellgaurde?

Vegna must have brought Chiaki here. But what for? Chiaki was under arrest. Wouldn't it have been easier for Vegna to keep him in Venish?

Chiaki's throat tightened. Did something bad happen to Venish?

"Finally awake, are we?"

A curtain and glass door to Chiaki's left slid open and the Grim Reaper floated in. Talonflame was surprisingly absent, which Chiaki chalked up to hospital visitor regulations. Vegna's gold inquisitor's badge was pinned on the shawl of his black hood. It reflected a bit of the red from Vegna's eye.

Chiaki said nothing. Partly because he wouldn't give Vegna any ammunition... and partly because his throat was too dry and sore.

"As I'm sure you've already realized, the doctors here are not miracle workers," Vegna said. "Your paralysis could not be fixed. There is a fair amount of scarring in your lungs. And there's a cardiac contusion. They had to restart your heart during surgery. Quite impressive how weak electric attacks can be repurposed to save lives."

Vegna held out his right hand. Black shadows conjured a crimson chalice in the shape of a small blastoise skull. He raised it in Chiaki's direction. "A toast... to the consequences of one's actions." The dusknoir tipped the chalice into his creepy stomach mouth. "Ah, such delectable poetic irony. You wanted so badly to make a name for yourself... and now you are nothing. A withered blade of grass whose consolation prize for dodging the gates of hell is a long stay on Citadark Isle."

Chiaki drew his lips back slightly. This was another tactic to get him talking. It had to be. Yet those words stung, because Chiaki knew Vegna spoke the truth.

"I don't expect you to talk." Vegna downed the chalice's remaining contents, then tossed it into his stomach mouth. "You're too hurt." He approached the foot of Chiaki's bed. "Unfortunately for you, I have ways around that."

The grovyle sucked in a sharp breath. Telepathy?

He blinked. No, of course the dusknoir could do that. And it gave Chiaki an avenue to turn the pressure back on Vegna. "Lemme guess, that was lesson one of necromancy school?"

"Hardly," Vegna scoffed. He pivoted left, chuckling. "Lesson two."

That was a joke. It had to be. "So, the Grim Reaper moniker has truth to it," he mentally scoffed. "I bet you kill those people to take their souls."

"You can sift through every line of Radiance law. You'll find nothing about necromancy." Vegna's tone suggested he'd done exactly that at some point. "But you're wrong, just like the general public. I pick souls to take carefully."

Chiaki didn't believe that. A bigmouthed corviknight and feral talonflame hardly seemed like Vegna's kind of company. "Like that black dragon?"

A brilliant blue overtook Vegna's eye. "You mean Zekrom?"

The grovyle's face tensed. "As in the Luminous Sage?"

Vegna nodded. He held out his right hand and a book materialized in it. Chiaki immediately recognized the eight-pointed star from Yuna's Soul Dew. "You—"

"All one needs for necromancy is an Abyssal Relic." The dusknoir opened the book and absentmindedly thumbed through the pages. "It's a common, everyday item bathed in the sins of an impure soul." He shut the book and it vanished in shadowfire. "This journal was positively rife with sin. Filled to the brim with passages showing a depraved mind warped by loneliness and heartbreak. It was the perfect item to make into a relic. A quick sacrificial ritual and it was ready."

He scratched the side of his tiny head. "I had another relic candidate — the husk of a crimson honedge — but, alas, I lost it when moving from my law school lodgings to the Ministry of Justice."

Chiaki's head pounded. He wasn't interested in diving into such a... morbid explanation. He was still too focused on Zekrom. "But if you control Zekrom, then that proves the Radiance history books are lying. And Aeon's version of events is closer to the truth."

Vegna nodded. "A reasonable deduction."

Chiaki needed several seconds to keep his breathing under control. "Why keep that to yourself? Why not go public?"

"Why do you care?" Vegna braced his hands against the plastic rail at the foot of Chiaki's bed. "You're a citizen here, not Aeon. Or are you, perhaps, hinting at a certain connection? One that would, say, drive you to try and harm the Radiant Diva?"

Shit! He said too much. This was what Chiaki wasn't supposed to do. At the very least, Chiaki had some inkling what Vegna was thinking. And it was, in his opinion, foolish. "Oh, come on. You were there. You saw Minister Charles. Someone else sabotaged her show!"

Vegna's eye shifted from blue to an ominous red. "And yet... it was you I found in the center of the wreckage after the trailer blew up, along with fragments of equipment capable of generating such an explosion."

This was when Chiaki should have gone silent. But Vegna had gotten under his skin. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I was trying to stop the sabotage!"

To that, Vegna pivoted toward the far corner of the room. A PV set turned on, showing shaky, static-filled footage of Venish's streets. People running for their lives. Some getting dragged through rifts. Others struck by debris or buried under rubble.

"The immediate aftermath of your accident," Vegna explained. "And why I had you brought to Vellguarde." He shut the PV off and again braced his hands on Chiaki's bed. His eye bathed the Grovyle's blue hospital blanket in red. "Maybe you had no intent to harm, but there was clear intent behind your initial trespassing and what followed. You didn't care about the possible consequences, so your actions meet the criteria for reckless endangerment. Perhaps even criminally negligent homicide."

"What?!" Chiaki would've squirmed in his bed if he could still move. "You've got tunnel vision. Use your head, damn it! Didn't you see who was in the trailer with me? It was the academy student who went missing!" His breathing was quickening enough for the monitors to his right to beep. Chiaki took several seconds to stop himself from wheezing. "You ought to be investigating Polaris. They kidnapped her. I was trying to save her."

Sighing, Vegna floated toward the door. "Then perhaps it's best you hear it from the serpent's mouth. Suffice to say, however, you're the guilty party in this."

"I'm not!" Chiaki growled. "You're not listening to me! This isn't fair!"

Vegna paused with his left hand by the motion sensor to open the door. He bowed his head slightly.

"What is just is not always fair... and what is fair is not always just."

He waved his left hand. The door and its curtain slid open.

"Where are you going?" Chiaki struggled to lift his head.

"To file your charges with the Ministry of Justice," Vegna responded. He began hovering out the door.

"Wait!" Chiaki's head fell back against his pillow. "You can't leave me like this! Don't I at least get a phone call?"

But he got no response. The dusknoir was gone. In his place, Chiaki heard scratches. Scales slithering against a metal floor. Chiaki tilted his head and found dusty dragonair approaching his bedside.

Before the grovyle could raise his eyes in an attempt at a greeting, the blue tip of Scarlett's tail smacked Chiaki's cheek.

"You complete and total ass!"

The bauble on Scarlett's neck glowed. A small projection of Starlene appeared on the dragonair's head. "What the hell were you thinking breaking into my trailer? If someone saw me there... it would have ruined everything!"

Chiaki silently blinked. He was too stunned for anything else. A dragonair shouldn't have been capable of telepathy. But as the meloetta projection showed, she wasn't an ordinary dragonair.

However, what she told Chiaki was even more alarming. "You were in danger. From agents of World Ender!"

"I had it under control!" Starlene huffed, her cheeks puffing out along with Scarlett's. "The transmitter had an emergency psionic shutdown sequence. I was gonna engage it, but nooooooo. You had to try and play the big, brave knight rescuing the helpless damsel."

Scarlett jabbed the side of Chiaki's bed. "I didn't need a rescue," she growled.

She was delusional. She had to be. "Look at yourself." Chiaki would've pointed to Scarlett if he could. "You're emaciated. I found you looking like a pincushion. Polaris is abusing you. They... they clearly did something to—"

Starlene held up her right hand. "Nothing I didn't approve of or ask for."

Chiaki narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"I figured you wouldn't." Scarlett casually tossed a bag onto Chiaki's bed. He couldn't feel it smack his lap, but the whoompf of the blankets suggested she used more force than necessary. "So, I brought a copy of my contract. That I willingly signed." The dragonair fished out a stack of papers and plopped them down on Chiaki's chest.

Polaris' logo was clear as day, along with two sets of signatures. One was definitely Vortex's.

"Nothing was done without my consent and authorization," Starlene continued. Chiaki was getting sick of the two swapping with one another.

"But that doesn't—"

"Stop." Starlene rolled her eyes. "You're in no position to lecture me." The meloetta crossed her arms. "The fact is that, in my time at Horizon, I quickly learned that, even with an elite education, I was never going to get anywhere in life. No matter how hard I worked, everyone would always see me as another 'filthy dragon' who got handouts from the crown.

"That's when Vortex came to me with an offer to change everything. To cast off these scales and be a gamechanger using Dynaforce." Starlene hopped onto the bed and thrust her right arm up in a pose. "He told me I could make music that would reach every corner of the kingdom and bring smiles to people's faces. I wouldn't be a second-class citizen anymore. I'd be a somebody. And I was getting real close to permanently transforming into my diva form before you loused it all up!"

Chiaki frowned. This couldn't have been the real Scarlett. Too much of what she said went against what Nikki told him.

"What about Nikki?"

"Who do you think got more of the attention when we were a duo?" Scarlett growled. "Wasn't me, that's for sure."

Before Chiaki could object, Scarlett sighed and shook her head. "There's no bad blood with Nikki. Hell, I've sent a lot of the earnings from my concerts and merch sales back to Blightsmuth." She flicked her tail dismissively. "Which makes me the lifeline keeping that city afloat. Something you nearly screwed up.

"If people find out my secret, I'll be ruined." Scarlett narrowed her eyes at the grovyle. "So, bedbound or not, you don't say a word about this to anyone. Not here. Not in Citadark once they haul your ass away."

She turned away from him. Starlene dissolved back into Scarlett's neck bauble. "For both our sakes, this better be the last time I see your ugly, half-burnt face."

The dragonair slithered away, leaving Chiaki staring at the glass door as it slid close.

All Chiaki wanted was to expose the truth. But this? This was worse than he could've imagined.

Everything had gone belly up. Like when he tried to avenge his mother. But now the consequences extended beyond the loss of his right arm.

There was no overcoming this. Even if Cyril could get him walking again, what good would that do? Vegna wanted him carted off to Citadark.

It didn't matter if Chiaki was innocent. If the grovyle somehow bested Vegna in court, he would wake up inside Eternatus... never again able to leave it.

His vision grew blurry. Was the grovyle tired?

... No, these were tears. It was a good thing he was alone. Because Chiaki wasn't supposed to cry. He was the Ryujin heir. He had to be strong.

Except he wasn't. His clansmon were right: he was dead weight.

At least now he looked the part, too.

[Life? Death? ResidentSleeper. The (CHAT) wants (THRILLS), (CHILLS), and (KILLS). It wants (HELIX)!]

Chiaki tried letting out a startled cry and his throat erupted in burning pain. His eyes darted around until he noticed the far corner of the room full of static-filled red squares. The squares quickly disappeared in mismatched blips of black and white light, revealing weird blue and red ovals floating around, twitching and spasming.

[No need to hold your (CLAP EMOJI)s.] The thing was speaking in a disturbingly robotic tone whose pitch switched between low and high without warning. Every word sounded like it was coming out of a radio or an old PV speaker. And it all sent static ripples through the thing's disjointed discs. [I would be (MUTED FOR TEN MINUTES) too if I met (CHAT)'s number two (BIRD JESUS), aaabaaajss Ahsen.]

It looked at the window. [Copyright(C)February2014norightsreserved.]

The grovyle looked around frantically, but couldn't find anything resembling those emergency call buttons hospital rooms were supposed to have. If one was there, it was out of sight, thanks to his severely limited movement. And he couldn't shout for help with his throat in pain like this.

Two discs — Ahsen's arms, maybe? — drooped. [Boy, talk about a tough (A, B, SELECT, UP, DOWN.)] As it shouted directions, Ahsen's body moved as if someone else controlled it, even slamming it into the ceiling and floor.

Ahsen picked itself up, limbs twitching. [What's with the (EYES EMOJI)? This is no OMEGALULing matter. I (EYES EMOJI) you, laying there like a sad sack. Full of FeelsBadMan.]

Chiaki understood very little of what this thing was spewing... which probably meant it was in cahoots with Xeromus. How else could it show up out of nowhere entirely unprompted?

The grovyle took deep breaths. If he could get out one shout, maybe he could get some help.

[Hey, hey, there's no need to (DON'T TOUCH THAT TOTODILE).] Ahsen floated closer to Chiaki's bed, only to abruptly stop and jerk around in different directions. [(DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, UP, LEFT.)]

It regained control of itself. [All I want is to offer you a chance. A chance at some (START9).] Ahsen vibrated excitedly. [A deal as good as (FREE MONTHLY SUBSCRIBER WITH PRIME GAMING.)

[You want the moves? The schmooves? The grooves?] Ahesen pointed its arms at Chiaki's limp body. [(HELIX) can give. (HELIX) can take. A little (START9) is all (HELIX) asks for in return.]

Ahsen waved its limbs around. [Keep them (CLICK)ing. Keep them (STICK)ing. (READ)ing. (WATCH)ing. (TWEET)ing. But not (DELETE)ing.]

The grovyle had enough. He opened his mouth and tried as hard as he could to shout for help. However, white hot pain shot down his throat. Chiaki coughed up red-tinged saliva.

[OMEGALUL.] Ashen's head swiveled around thanks to its lack of anything resembling a neck. [Sometimes it be like that. Kappa.] It drifted closer to Chiaki's bed. [The choices are yours and yours alone. (START, START, B, A, B, UP, UP).]

Ahsen rose up, hitting the ceiling multiple times. When it finally drifted back toward Chiaki's bed, it had something balancing precariously in its discoid arms.

A rusty sword? No, that wasn't right. Chiaki squinted to get the stars out of his vision from his shouting attempt.

... It was a honedge. Rust coated much of its body, but there were bits of red on its blade... and an empty socket where its eye should have been.

Chiaki held his breath. That couldn't have been right. Everything about it matched up with—

[Don't try to 5Head this, (STRIMMER). They are who we thought they were.] Ahsen twitched and jerked about excitedly. [You want (UP, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN) movement. (HELIX) knows it. You can't (GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS).] The creep was hovering by Chiaki's head, now. [So, take the (STICK OF TRUTH) and open your retinas. Reclaim your (OW, THE EDGE) now for the low, low price of.]

This thing was talking crazy. Chiaki knew that. It didn't even properly finish that last sentence!

... And yet it sounded like Ahsen was offering him a way to walk again.

It was too good to be true. An obvious deal with the devil. But what did the grovyle really have to lose at this point? He was bedbound, couldn't talk, and on a fast track to Citadark. He knew Ryujin policy well enough by now. If the law caught up with someone, there were no lifelines. That was how the clan kept operating all these years. Chiaki would have no support. And against the likes of the Grim Reaper, the two outcomes were a guilty verdict... or a one-way trip to the Qliphoth.

Chiaki had hit rock bottom. As far as he was concerned, there was nowhere to go but up.

He shakily tilted his head toward Ahsen. Perhaps the glitch recognized the look in his eyes, because it buzzed excitedly. [You will take the (DROP)?]

The grovyle slowly nodded.

Ahsen's limbs twitched. [Warning: if you consent to the terms and agreements of this (END USER LICENSE)—]

Static overtook Ahsen's head. Its body appeared to go limb for a moment and a much deeper, non-robotic voice said, "You accept everything that will happen from now on."

Well, that was ominous as hell.

Still, recklessness had landed Chiaki in this situation. If there was ever a time to double down, this was it.

... Probably. Despite the Ryujin operating casinos, Chiaki knew little about gambling. Regardless, the grovyle nodded at Ahsen once again, a more determined look in his eyes.

Ahsen flailed its limbs around. [PogChamp! I knew you would (PAYMENT SUCCESSFULLY PROCESSED).] It bobbed its head at the sword. [Enjoy the (START9) and don't forget to (HIT THAT FOLLOW BUTTON AND RING THE BELL).]

Static cubes engulfed Ahsen. They all disappeared, leaving Chiaki alone with the empty, rusted honedge. The grovyle stared at it, blinking slowly. Was something supposed to happen? Did he did magic words?

No, if this was Vegna's Abyssal Relic candidate, then there was some sort of ritual he needed to perform. If only he had access to that informa—

It was brief, but Chiaki saw embers flicker around Honedge's empty eye socket. The grovyle held his breath, but one of the monitors started beeping, so he exhaled. More embers lazily drifted out of the eye socket, which now had a faint red glow.

Honedge wasn't inert. There was something there!

The red glow got brighter. It shifted to an orange bubble that expanded several centimeters before popping... and releasing a joltik-sized, luminescent orange butterfree.

What the hell? Chiaki watched the butterfree fly around the honedge husk, which stopped glowing. It had no face, hands, feet, or antennae. Every flap of its tiny wings produced even tinier embers that fizzled out in the air.

Finally, after a few loops around the sword, it fluttered toward Chiaki. The grovyle went cross-eyed watching it come closer and closer and land on his snout.

For a second, Chiaki thought he might sneeze. Then the butterfree glowed brighter and, with a sudden flash, dissolved into orange light that went up his mouth and nostrils.

Chiaki's eyes widened. Warmth spread down his entire body... and he felt it below his neck! At first it was nice and soothing. But it progressively got hotter. Too hot to handle!

With a startled grunt, Chiaki threw the covers off his bed. He wasn't even processing that he could move again, because he was too busy watching in horror as his green skin burnt to a black that brought his stepsiblings to mind. The restraint melted off his arm and plopped onto the floor uselessly. His once pink belly turned the same shade of orange as the tiny butterfree. Bit by bit, his right arm regrew itself, but with the same black skin as the rest of his body. And yellow, flame-like markings traced themselves along his skin.

Chiaki's vision flickered. The hospital room disappeared, replaced by a torrent of fire.

A figure similar to Gene stared directly ahead. Orange, triangular wings and a helmet reminiscent of a volcarona appeared in gouts of fire. It raised its left hand and summoned a blade.

The burning intensified in Chiaki's head and rear. "Ah... graaagh!"

He leaned forward and threw his yellow hands onto his head. The hearing aids popped out of his ear frills. Chiaki's leaf was regrowing, too, but it was happening too fast. And it felt way too long.

The figure slashed at the air with its sword. Flaming crescents descended upon the battered forms of a swampert and a blaziken who each wore a broken gold wristband.

With a pained holler, Chiaki rolled out of bed. Any jubilance he might've had at regaining his movement was gone when he glimpsed what used to be his stubby leaf tails elongating into flaps like Kyoko's.

"Wh... at's happ... ening... to me?"

Chiaki's vision flashed again. He thrashed about, screaming.

The figure thrust its sword into the ground. Giant, fiery tornadoes erupted from the earth, swallowing up Rayquaza and Latias.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Gasping, Chiaki sat up. Scarlett stood slack-jawed in the doorway. Chiaki looked down at his orange belly and black, charred skin. Medical staff were slipping in past the dragonair.

"Hey, where's the patient?" A gardevoir looked around, eyes narrowing. "What's going on here? I'm getting Sir Vegna!"

Chiaki acted without thinking. With a snarl, he spewed fire — freaking fire! — and the gardevoir backpedaled out of the doorway with a shriek. Scarlett dropped to her belly.

"What the hell?" she hissed.

"Call a code gray!" someone shouted from the gathering crowd.

Chiaki lunged for Scarlett and grabbed hold of the dragonair. "H-Hey! Let go of me!" she cried. Her neck bauble glowed, but Chiaki wrapped it and the dragonair's snout up in his arms and sprinted for the far side of the room.

The honedge husk appeared at his side and slashed at the window. It shattered, raining glass down and the husk disappeared. Chiaki felt a weight in the pit of his stomach, but kept running.

"Stop him!" an unfamiliar voice barked.

Scarlett thrashed about in Chiaki's grip to no avail. The charred grovyle leaped through the broken window... and discovered his room was six stories off the ground!

He and Scarlett tumbled through open air for a few seconds. Then Chiaki's back burnt... and the falling stopped. He was moving past the flat and pointed roofs of Vellguarde's buildings. His arms muffled Scarlett's cries.

Chiaki glanced over his shoulder to see flaming volcarona wings flapping effortlessly.

Whatever the husk had done to Chiaki, he didn't have time to think over it. The hospital was sounding the alarm. Stoutland Yard would undoubtedly be after him. He had to keep moving... with his screaming passenger in tow.

Spoiler: The transformation

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 43: Strangled by the Red Tape​

To: Paradox, Deoxys
From: [REDACTED]
Security Level: Sigma
Subject: Update

I must apologize, sir. After some further digging, I do not believe your new acquaintance is some sort of deposed Etherian royalty. In fact, I'm not even sure he's Etherian at all. I saw Lieutenant Hideout's glastrier steed fall in battle and it was absorbed by a dusknoir — the one from the trial you broadcasted to Eterna City, actually — who summoned a zekrom from the heavens like it was nothing! There was a momentary flash of panic in his expression when it happened. Like he had stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to.

Do I think this changes anything? No. In fact, it might give you additional leverage beyond his other partner. She's still imprisoned, yes? Well, with things unraveling on Radiance, his desire to return to his true home may only grow more desperate. And that desperation may cause him to go all in on a total bluff, if you catch my drift.

I do have one request, though: please allow me to dispose of these idiots. They were a decent enough distraction at the time, but I'm tired of putting them to sleep when I need to get real work done. Radiance's Parliament is convening for an emergency session and you'll no doubt want to hear a full report, but I can't go to Radiance's capital with this pair of deuces.

That's all for now. Nos vera Natus!

XxX​

Dazzels was the brilliant capital emblematic of the Kingdom of Radiance's shining beauty. However, Shimmer had no interest in looking past the marble steps in front of Espace Adelaide toward the sparkling, glass-filled government buildings, museums, and cultural sites marking Grand Place, the bluntly named center of the city.

Instead, all he could do was look down at his scratched hooves and the lilac carpet beneath them. The ponyta hadn't made eye contact with anyone. Not when Demerzel and Justine showed up in Venish to collect him. Not when the latter tried to question him about what happened. Not the entire night, where he lay in bed alone for the first time in a month, gazing into a photo he and Xander had taken together on a private beach. And not when Justine shoved him out of bed the next morning, threw an oversized pink cloak over him, and dragged him out of Radiant Palace so Demerzel could teleport them to Parliament's main building.

Shimmer shuffled through Espace Adelaide's main hall like a zombie in some schlocky action movie he'd only see with Xander for a good laugh about commoners' terrible tastes. He only moved faster when a voice ahead of him growled, "Pick up the pace. You're Crown Prince, not some stoner baked out of their mind."

A flat hallway led to a spiral staircase that Shimmer proceeded down. He could see Justine's legs with their usual black lace stockings and black leather boots. The virizion probably had on her usual tight leather holowear suit, too. If Justine was going to Parliament with Shimmer, then it couldn't be good.

No doubt this was going to be about what happened to Venish. Was Justine going to make him testify to Parliament?

Shimmer's gut squirmed. He couldn't do it. He couldn't recount standing by and letting the Medicis terrorize Piazza Lavenda or failing to do anything to fight against the mysterious knight or... losing Xander and his other classmates.

The ponyta was supposed to be a prodigy who excelled at everything from grades to modeling and acting. The perfect catch for any other noble. Heck, no one even knew Xander was his consort except his mothers and Robin. Sure, the two had gotten caught together in the locker room at school several times, but they always played it off as a casual fling. And no one dared to gossip about it because Shimmer could have made their lives miserable. But if he testified... he'd become a laughingstock. The butt of every late-night comedian's opening monologue. His life would truly be over!

A door creaked open and something firm pressed against Shimmer's side. "Get in there," Justine hissed, shoving the ponyta forward. Shimmer stumbled ahead and found himself behind multiple large, velvet-covered chairs. He glimpsed his other mother's outline in the middle chair and quietly crept in between it and the chair to the right, where he usually sat when observing Parliament sessions.

To his shock, however, the main chamber was entirely silent, with attention squarely focused on the circular room's mounted PV monitors showing a crowd of pokémon cautiously watching some sort of... horrifying helmeted creature with chains around its legs and a tattered black cloak.

"Look around you!" it shouted between cough-filled wheezes. "The sky is painted purple and tears itself open in anguish because this planet is suffering! You are all suffering! The ether chokes two civilizations out and your leaders tell you to avert your eyes from the truth. That Natus — your so-called Word Ender — is its source. That you are fed lies to be complacent!"

Radiant Guard pelted the creature with attacks, but every attempt they made faltered as some sort of vaguely canine shadow sprouted from the ground and swallowed up the attacks.

"Look at this! See how they pour their hatred onto a worthless omen like me," it continued. "But I will gladly accept that animosity if it means you all can find love and salvation in Natus' embrace."

More attacks. This time the shadow dog manifested a red shield that deflected Icy Winds, Thunderbolts, and Earth Powers away.

"Join me in rejecting your crown. Reject the ether and discover a life greater than any you could live here!"

The PVs shifted to shaky shots of some parts of the assembled crowd marching in unison with the helmeted monster, carrying hastily made "Down with Polaris!" and "What are they hiding?" signs.

A few grimmsnarl and bruxish guards wrangled some of the protestors and shoving matches broke out amongst the crowd.

"These are just some of the scenes from a spontaneous demonstration that took place at dawn in Herbrides," a female newscaster explained as the PVs changed to show a trio of scuffed up roselia being shoved into Stoutland Yard transport vehicles.

"Similar demonstrations rose up across the kingdom following the speech given by the helmeted creature, who calls himself Xeromus. While these cities were spared from the calamity that befell Venish last night, there are reports of similar rifts appearing in the sky. They may be far enough away to avoid bringing any harm, but it seems citizens are all asking themselves the same question: how long will they stay safe?"

The PV monitors shut off in unison. It was then that Shimmer realized Vortex was sitting beside Arianna at a table opposite the platform the thrones were on, in front of the MP assembly. There was a smaller podium across from the pale-faced charizard, which held some of the Crowne Ministers. In the middle was an older appearing corsola. Shimmer recognized her from behind as Parliament's Speaker, Leyanne.

She cleared her throat and tapped a rocky horn to her microphone. "Now that we're all up to speed, I simply must know what you have to say for yourself, Vortex."

"It's Chancellor Vortex," Arianna cut in. Shimmer glimpsed a twinge of irritation breaking through her normal indifferent expression. Perhaps the large bags under her eyes made it easier to tell.

"You will not speak out of turn in this chamber, Miss Arianna," Leyanne retorted, thinly veiled contempt behind her words. "We have ample accounts from the Amphitheatre broadcast showing World Ender's sigil displaying while your company-sponsored superstar sang an anarchistic manifesto that previewed the sentiments later expressed by that deranged mutt in Herbrides." The corsola hopped to the edge of her podium. "This body demands an explanation."

The charizard shifted uneasily in his seat. Shimmer had never seen Vortex so uncomfortable. Even his navy blue holowear suit wasn't as neat and tidy as usual.

"We're, erm, still sorting through that," Vortex said. His microphone was too small for his long neck, so he was hunched over like he had back problems.

"Is that so?" Leyanne quirked a brow. "You run the most profitable corporation in the entire kingdom, with multiple Crowne Ministers sitting on your board. How do you not have an answer yet?"

Vortex was about to say something, when the suit-garbed dartrix to his left leaned over and whispered something. With a stoic expression, Vortex replied, "There are multiple matters Polaris needs to address. This is an ongoing investigation."

"Multiple matters." Leyanne rocked back and forth. "So, you admit your corporation failed on several levels."

"That's not what I—" Vortex stopped when Dartrix grabbed his left arm. "No comment," he whispered, tail flame dimming.

"Then, perhaps, we should address this one level at a time," Leyanne retorted. "Starting with the idol, Starlene."

Murmurs rose up from the MPs sitting at their desks behind Vortex. An elderly granbull let out a "Here, here!"

Again, Dartrix whispered into Vortex's ear frill. The charizard mumbled, "You know as well as I there was an explosion backstage at the Amphitheatre. We had nothing to do with that."

"Yes, the Ministry of Justice has a suspect in custody," Leyanne said, rocking back and forth again.

"Point of inquiry, Madame Speaker!" a blaziken called, raising a white placard.

"Go ahead."

"Two individuals were recovered from the wreckage of Starlene's trailer," Blaziken said. "One of which was a dragonair." He held up a document. "The report lists one Grovyle Chiaki as the suspect, so where did this dragonair come from?"

Shimmer sucked in a sharp breath. He remembered hearing about a dragonair upperclassman at Horizon that, like Nikki the Nuisance, was accepted on scholarship. The ponyta had gossiped at length about it with Xander and Robin — heck, he made sure her classmathes threw a fair bit of ire in her direction — but she left the academy and then Nikki showed up in her place.

He wanted to brush it off as a coincidence, but the flash of panic in Vortex's eyes suggested it wasn't.

"That's beyond the scope of this inquiry, I'm afraid," Leyanne said. Shimmer caught the relief washing over Vortex's face, only for it to fade when the corsola added, "Unless there's something you wish to add, Mr. Vortex."

The charizard shook his head. More murmurs followed. Leyanne knocked one of her nubby legs against her podium. "Order. I will have order. We should get back on tr—"

A loud slam jolted Shimmer. He bit his tongue to stop himself from whinnying like a startled colt. The ponyta looked left to see oak double doors wide open and Minister Tesla lying in a crumpled daze, stripped of his goggles and that weird backpack that held his robot limbs. And standing behind him with a determined glint in her eye was Virizion Justine.

"Not so fast, Madame Speaker," she said, strutting into the chamber while a few journalists repositioned their cameras to get shots of the latex-wearing virizion. Justine shoved Tesla further in with a forehoof. "The good MP was onto something with his question."

Leyanne briefly sputtered. "M-Madame High Inquisitor." The corsola rocked back and forth nervously. "This is highly irregular." She turned around and looked toward Shimmer— no, toward his mother.

"We grant Lady Justine permission to address Parliament," Isola said, bobbing her head slowly. As side conversations rose up in the chamber, the rapidash turned to Shimmer and whispered. "Pay attention, dear. It's time you watched how real leaders take charge."

Shimmer wanted to melt into the floor, but meekly nodded instead.

"Get up." Justine shoved Tesla again. The boltund scrambled to his feet, making nervous "zzt" noises the entire time. "Tell Parliament what you told me during questioning. What's the source of the Diva Project?"

Tesla looked at Vortex, whose eyes were wide. Dartrix stood up in his chair. "You questioned him on company matters without counsel present?!"

"On our orders," Isola exclaimed, standing from her throne. "This is a matter of national security and Minister Tesla is, first and foremost, a public servant."

Dartrix puffed out his feathers. "But Your Eminence, due process is essential to a functional judici—"

"Are you questioning our authority on the matter?" Isola narrowed her eyes. Her golden, shield-shaped breast armor glistened under the glow of the chamber's chandeliers.

"O-Of course not." Dartrix obscured more of his face with his large, green, drooping feather. He sat back down and whispered to Vortex.

"No more interruptions," Justine growled. She stomped a forehoof in front of Tesla. "Talk. Now."

"The Diva Project... involved a young lady whose music had Dynaforce powers," Tesla said, staring at the chamber's purple carpet. "The project team treated her with special ether-based formulations to amplify that power and allow her to manifest it as the idol, Meloetta Starlene. The design was based on old historical records of a pokémon that would fight battles using her voice, but sadly succumbed to the Darkest Day."

Several gasps echoed through the chamber. A few MPs even stood up at their desks, shouting about experimentation.

"Order!" Leyanne used her right foot as a gavel once again.

"Where did you get your subject?" Justine asked.

"Well, I— zzrt zzvrt." Tesla robotically swiveled his head around. "She was... a Horizon Academy student."

The shouting resumed from the MPs. Dartrix hurriedly grabbed Vortex's microphone. "I will have you know that this student agreed to everything in writing. We can produce every contract, along with affidavits she was signing them of her own free will!"

"That's supposed to make it better?!" a pinurchin MP called from the back of the circular room.

"Order!" Leyanne struck her podium again. "The High Inquisitor still has the floor!"

Shimmer's gut squirmed. That dragonair commoner who left Horizon was a singer. Even if Nikki didn't shut up about it, he would have remembered. He and Xander thought her songs were catchy, though it was hard to look past a dragon singing them.

Did that mean that Starlene... was actually a dragonair?

"What other effects did these ether treatments have, Minister?" Justine continued, pacing circles around the panicked boltund. Tesla looked at Vortex who shook his head, but Justine stepped in between them.

"I, uh—" Tesla descended into squeaky pretend robot noises.

"Minister," Justine growled.

"I don't remember!" he blurted out.

"You don't remember telling me that Starlene's music exerted suggestive influences on its listeners?" Justine said, raising a brow.

A tense silence fell over the entire chamber. "E-Excuse me?" Leyanne gasped.

"Suggestive influence?" the same blaziken from earlier gawked. "That sounds like brainwashing to me!"

"N-No! Never!" Tesla rapidly shook his head. "It's more comparable to hypnosis, really, and—"

A fresh wave of shouts emerged from the MPs. A couple of morgrem were pointing at Vortex and Tesla.

"O-Order!" Leyanne's call failed to stop the shouting.

However, Justine had no such trouble. "So, in your opinion, it's possible that these ridiculous protests are a result of citizens being exposed to Starlene's hypnotic effects?"

Tesla nodded. Shimmer's ears folded. He did recall moments while the concert played on the hotel suite PV where he and Xander were hallucinating. And that wasn't like the time the ponyta had tried tiny mushrooms, either. There was some sort of blue and orange tentacle creature talking about World Ender.

No. Shimmer shrank down. Polaris was manipulating people? Justine didn't seem to know about it, but what about Isola? How much was shared with her regarding the project?

And how did Team Bastion find all this out? Shimmer wondered, glaring at the floor. Was it the grovyle? His father ran some sham newspaper that constantly slandered the government. Maybe they dug something up for the Aeon princess to put into effect?

At last, the shouts died down. Justine had formed a Sacred Sword and held her head high. "I share your frustrations, everyone. But there are two other points that must be discussed." She dissolved the attack and whirled on Tesla. "What's the source of the ether powering our kingdom?"

The color drained from Tesla's face. Vortex dug his claws into the table. Dartrix lunged for the microphone. "Th... that delves into proprietary technology! We have a right to protect our assets!" He pointed a wing toward the journalists in the front corner of the room. "This line of questioning necessitates a closed meeting with full confidenti—"

"Very well." Isola raised her head. Her horn and the gem in the middle of her Crowne Shield glowed pink. "All press and other visitors are ordered to vacate posthaste."

Rumbles of protest rippled through the chamber, but ultimately everyone standing along the room's circular borders shuffled out. Isola's horn glowed brighter. Pink, heart-shaped locks covered each of the doors. Shimmer looked around at the chamber. Even though it was much quieter, many MPs were still standing. Some, like the morgrem, glared at Tesla.

"Satisfied, counselor?" Justine said.

Dartrix shuffled uneasily. "We still object to these disclosures."

"Noted, and overruled," Isola exclaimed. "The kingdom's security trumps corporate patents."

Again, Justine turned to Tesla. "Well?"

"Zrrrrttttt." Tesla mechanically staggered back. "Ether comes primarily from... World Ender. The Needles are not markers for underground power systems, they are part of the seal on World Ender. Their destruction would, according to our calculations, release World Ender from its imprisonment. It could then proceed to destroy the planet as it attempted in the Darkest Day."

When Tesla's rapid response finished, Justine formed her green Sacred Sword to immediately silence cries from the MPs. "Who created the seal?"

"Powerful pokémon," Tesla whimpered. "My research suggest they are revered by the Aeon Kingdom as so-called 'Luminous Sages.'"

Justine's glowing horn wasn't enough to silence the protests this time. Neither were Leyanne's attempts to restore order.

"Outrageous!" a togekiss shouted.

Blaziken stood up yet again. "So, this entire time we've been lying to the populace, through our schools and history books?!"

"It would appear that way," Justine stoically responded.

Blaziken blinked in bewilderment. "Your Eminence, did you know about this?"

Shimmer's throat constricted. World Ender truly was alive? The very feat that gave his family claim to the throne... was really accomplished by Aeon leaders?

"We did not." Isola cast her gaze down. "This is... truly heartbreaking news to behold."

"What do we tell the public?" Togekiss called.

"Nothing," Isola replied, her voice sickeningly sweet despite the shocking news.

"Excuse me?!" Blaziken flummoxed.

"We cannot give the people any more reason to believe the manipulative words of these World Ender agents," Isola sternly declared. "For the sake of the kingdom's stability, we must ensure this issue is dealt with before telling the public the truth."

The ponyta's head pounded. His ears rang. Yuna... that stupid dreepy must have realized the truth! Or her parents did, and sent her into the kingdom under false pretenses!

Yes, that had to be it! They had no hope of outmuscling Radiance's larger size and better technology, so they wanted to dismantle it from within! And she would totally be able to convince a couple of punks like Chiaki and Nikki to ally with her. Vortex likely fixed her team, except it ended up backfiring spectacularly!

"... disingenuous to withhold the full truth from them?"

Shimmer telekinetically brought his mother's microphone down when Blaziken finished his question. "If I may?"

Abrupt silence fell over the room. Justine's eyes were wide and Leyanne had no idea what to say. Shimmer took that as his cue to continue. "Is it not possible that the Aeon Kingdom arranged for this?" the ponyta wondered. "On a recent trip to the Herbrides Lines, their princess detailed their kingdom's version of the Darkest Day. It sounded awfully close to what Minister Tesla described.

"If they are confident we forced them into the mountains under false pretenses — but had constantly failed to make any progress through war — why not send a saboteur to destabilize us and turn the public against us?" The more he said out loud, the more Shimmer truly believed it. "I think the Aeon Princess is at the root of all of this."

An unseen force grabbed Shimmer's dark cloak. Within a second, he was back beside his mother's throne.

"Thank you for that, dear." Isola's voice was stoic. Shimmer thought she was perturbed. But surely she understood. He was onto something!

"You're sorely mistaken, Your Grace."

The ponyta flinched. He had forgotten about Demerzel! The giant-headed mutant whimsicott floated out to the right of the raised platform and headed for Leyanne's podium. He politely gestured to the microphone and the corsola handed it over.

"The Aeons have no reason to work against us," Demerzel said. "And now that Justine has dragged the truth out, I'm sure you all can understand why." He tapped his bulbous head. "Where does ether come from? World Ender. Our kingdom's channeled World Ender's energy... and we've lost huge swathes of land — entire cities, even — to distortion. Meanwhile, the Aeon Kingdom has no ether and has lost almost no territory to distortion."

"Because they have some sort of technique to stop it!" Shimmer countered.

"Or they're not tampering with World Ender like Polaris clearly is." Demerzel pointed accusingly toward Vortex. The charizard glared back. "Regardless, the point remains unchanged: all Aeon needed to do is wait out the clock. Then Radiance would be overrun by distortion and forced to yield to their terms.

"But they came to the bargaining table... because they knew the truth and wanted to work with us." Demerzel shook his head. "Instead of vilifying them, we should work with them even closer now that the situation is more dire than ever."

Fresh murmurs arose. Vortex slammed his fists on the table and stood up. "Absolutely not!" he hissed. "This is ridiculous!" The charizard ignored Dartrix's attempts to calm him down. "You're accusing my company of driving this kingdom toward ruin? I'm the reason we're prospering! And only Polaris can find a solution to—"

"You mean Icarus?" Justine cut in. She shoved Tesla toward Vortex with her foreleg. "Where were you developing it, Minister?"

"Cita... dark."

Justine's expression darkened. "The same Citadark that Polaris scanners report a strange shockwave radiating out from immediately before rifts started appearing across the kingdom?"

The fire in Vortex's eyes faded as quickly as it appeared. He leaned over his table. "Th-That's—"

"Where is Icarus now, Minister?" Justine asked.

Tesla stiffened. "I, um— I haven't been to Citadark lately, but I imagine it must be—"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Demerzel calmly folded his arms behind his back and floated away from Leyanne's podium. "Parliament funded this project. You agreed to update it on the project's status."

Several cries of agreement rose up from the MPs. Tesla shrank down with the saddest "zzts" Shimmer had hear.

"Gone," he whimpered.

"Gone?" Justine marched into the boltund's line of sight. "Is it not a machine? Are you implying someone snuck into our maximum security prison and stole a device?"

"No! It's... it's..." Tesla's eyes darted around.

"Also related to World Ender, isn't it?" Demerzel said. "And may have reacted to Starlene's sabotaged song. Like a beckoning siren of sorts."

Tesla practically sprawled out on his belly, then nodded in defeat.

Shimmer shrank back from a wave of shouts and protests. This was all too much. He was still reeling from losing Xander. Now the ponyta had to contend with all of this?

This was supposed to be the best time in his life. Shimmer was going to handily win the Crowne Cup, then announce Xander as his consort to the kingdom by proposing at the trophy ceremony. But now there was no Xander. There would be no Crowne Cup. The popstar he loved was revealed for a fraud, just like his ancestors.

How did everything manage to crash and burn around him so quickly and so spectacularly?

The protests continued. Leyanne couldn't quiet them. Neither could Justine.

Yuna. This is her fault! I know it is! It has to b—

"ORDER!"

A chill ran down Shimmer's spine. He had never heard that tone from Isola before. Sure, Justine could get angry, but his other mother was never one to let such ugly emotions show through. Even in the private comfort of their castle.

The rapidash approached the edge of the platform and braced her right forehoof on the banister. "We've heard enough. This is... a grave situation. One that should not have transpired. We admit that it was foolish of us to grant such a close working relationship to a single company. But that does not excuse the actions that have transpired."

She looked at Justine. "Arrest Mr. Vortex."

"What?!" Dartrix squawked.

Vortex stiffened in his seat. "Me? What for?"

"Fraud. Against Parliament. Against the entire kingdom, actually," Isola exclaimed. "Oh, and arrest Tesla, too."

"Hey!" The boltund jumped to his feet. "It's Minister Doctor—"

"No." Isola's eyes flickered blue, as did her horn and Crowne Shield. "In fact, that goes for the lot of you. In accordance with the Radiant Constitution, we are hereby stripping all Crowne Ministers of their titles. Those of you with known financial ties to Polaris will have your assets frozen until they can be properly investigated by the Ministry of Finance and Stoutland Yard."

"You can't be serious!" Minister Xiao knocked his chair over standing up. The urshifu bared his fangs. "Some of us haven't gone anywhere near that company!"

"We are deadly serious," Isola responded, holding her head high. "If any of you try and oppose us, we shall arrest you and charge you with treason."

"T-TREASON?!" Dartrix's feathers puffed up so much they obscured his face. "This is utterly ridiculous!"

"Would you care to join your client, counselor?" Isola coldly countered while Justine ushered Vortex out of his seat.

"You can't do this to me!" the charizard roared, flaring out his wings. "I brought progress and prosperity to this kingdom!" He whirled on Justine as the virizion tried to shove him toward Tesla. "Get your hooves off me, you latex-wearing hussy!"

Shimmer watched the scene unfold with increasing disbelief. He was getting nauseous and he hadn't even eaten anything since before the attack on Venish.

"See that, Shimmer?" Isola lowered her head into Shimmer's view. "That's how a leader's supposed to act. Understand?"

The ponyta was thankful for his cloak, which hid his trembling hind legs.

"Yes, Mother," he squeaked, but all he could think about was fleeing back to his room and, with Xander gone, hiding under his covers until his frayed nerves calmed down.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
Dazzels is loosely based on Brussels, Belgium, the de facto capital of the European Union. Similarly, Espace Adelaide is based on Espace Léopold, one of the meeting places of the European Parliament. And Corsola Leyanne is based on Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, a bit later than I'd like, though figured it wouldn't do any good to fall behind too much on this story, so sounded like as good a reason as any to knuckle down and get that review of...

Chapter 42

(Cute The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy nod, btw):

CONFIDENTIAL
Based on the analysis of the damaged chips discovered by my Troopers, I'm issuing a memo to all Paradigm lieutenants. This is a security level omega alert. If you're reading this and you're not of the Paradigm, report to your nearest Tartarus Intake Facility or face erosion. I have personally placed trackers on each of these, so I will know if they leave Eterna City. And the trackers are armed to detonate if you try to disable or remove them. There'll be no funny business.

'Tartarus Intake Facility', huh? Wonder what those are supposed to be. Though... yeah, Paradox reads like he'd suck pretty hard to work under.

Although fragmented, data suggests a portion of Matriarch was focused on "The Butterfree Effect." I cannot tell you what this is. Only that there were scattered mentions of four things:

1) Mismatched beast.
2) Missing number.
3) Radiant beauty.
4) Genetic morpho.

Oh, so Paradox needs Xeromus, Ahsen, and Gene. Or at least that's what I think that's pointing to. Not sure who #3 on that list is, though.

Three of these seem to refer to living creatures. I assume the fourth does, too. The Earth Pokédex refers to Mewtwo as the "Genetic Pokémon," so it is likely capturing the rebel Gene will allow me to solve the riddle of the Butterfree Effect. Still, I want everyone to be on the lookout for anyone who could match one of these vague descriptions. They are to be brought to me dead or alive. But preferably alive, so I can get some answers.

Toodles, all. Keep up the good work.
Paradox

Whelp, guess that's a sign that we're finally revisiting Ahsen this chapter. Time to see where things go, since the last time he was onscreen was super trippy.

Chiaki awoke in a fit of coughs thanks to a tube that had been shoved down his throat. Several nurses — at least, he assumed these audino were nurses — funneled into the room and removed the tube, along with a wad of mucus and saliva. The result left the grovyle's throat drier than he ever thought possible.

"Wah... ter," he croaked. Chiaki wanted to reach an arm up, but his limbs didn't respond. There was, however, a white band with a barcode around his left arm... and a silver metal ring above it that was also attached to the bed's side railing. It looked like an element-proofed restraining cuff. The type Stoutland Yard officers slapped on suspects to haul them off to a holding cell.

Oh, so Chiaki's cuffed to his hospital bed, huh?

"Absolutely not," the lone audino who remained in the room replied. "With the amount of smoke inhalation you suffered, you're not even clear for a swallow study. And stop talking. We spent too long controlling the swelling in your throat." She turned and left, shaking her head and muttered about entitled kids.

Didn't know that that's what happened to people hospitalized for smoke inhalation, but I'll take your word for it. You're really putting your day job to good use for sequences like these.

That was when it all flooded back. The explosion his EMP triggered. Awaking with no sensation below his neck or ability to move. And Vegna showing up with a giant black dragon and hauling him away.

Though, from what Chiaki could tell, the ringing in his ear frills was gone, as were the X-transceiver fragments that had melted into his head. Instead, there was some sort of... metal implant attached to each of his temples. Hearing implants, probably.

Wait, those are just sitting on the shelf ready to go in this setting? Is that a science fantasy thing in action, or have hearing implants really advanced that much in recent years?

It was obvious by now, but the white board hanging across from his bed confirmed he was, indeed, in a hospital. It listed a Sally as his assigned nurse, a Dr. Dwyer as the burn unit attending, a Dr. Francine as the cardiothoracic surgeon, a Dr. O'Boyle as the neurosurgeon, and a Dr. Lobo as the pulmonoligst. The only problem was a shield and blue cross etched into the top right of the white board, with a small "Healing Wish" scrawled beneath it.

Healing Wish? How the hell did I end up in Vellgaurde?

I'm guessing that those names are all pretty on the nose, since yeah, 'Lobo' sounds like a wolfmon. Though right, the health system in Radiance is apparently an American-style mess.

Vegna must have brought Chiaki here. But what for? Chiaki was under arrest. Wouldn't it have been easier for Vegna to keep him in Venish?

Chiaki's throat tightened. Did something bad happen to Venish?

Huh, I thought Vellgaurde was just the name of the hospital, but it's a flat-out settlement... I think, anyways.

"Finally awake, are we?"

A curtain and glass door to Chiaki's left slid open and the Grim Reaper floated in. Talonflame was surprisingly absent, which Chiaki chalked up to hospital visitor regulations. Vegna's gold inquisitor's badge was pinned on the shawl of his black hood. It reflected a bit of the red from Vegna's eye.

Chiaki: "... Great, just what I needed right now."

Vegna: "Quite. Though considering your present circumstances, I'd suggest that you mind your words carefully."

Chiaki said nothing. Partly because he wouldn't give Vegna any ammunition... and partly because his throat was too dry and sore.

"As I'm sure you've already realized, the doctors here are not miracle workers," Vegna said. "Your paralysis could not be fixed. There is a fair amount of scarring in your lungs. And there's a cardiac contusion. They had to restart your heart during surgery. Quite impressive how weak electric attacks can be repurposed to save lives."

Chiaki: "... How on earth am I supposed to go on in the story like this?"

Vegna: "You're not. Or at least, not like this."

Vegna held out his right hand. Black shadows conjured a crimson chalice in the shape of a small blastoise skull. He raised it in Chiaki's direction. "A toast... to the consequences of one's actions." The dusknoir tipped the chalice into his creepy stomach mouth. "Ah, such delectable poetic irony. You wanted so badly to make a name for yourself... and now you are nothing. A withered blade of grass whose consolation prize for dodging the gates of hell is a long stay on Citadark Isle."

Well someone's really rubbing things in right about now.

Chiaki drew his lips back slightly. This was another tactic to get him talking. It had to be. Yet those words stung, because Chiaki knew Vegna spoke the truth.

"I don't expect you to talk." Vegna downed the chalice's remaining contents, then tossed it into his stomach mouth. "You're too hurt." He approached the foot of Chiaki's bed. "Unfortunately for you, I have ways around that."

Chiaki: "I really, really don't like where this is going right now."

Vegna: "Good. You're not supposed to."

The grovyle sucked in a sharp breath. Telepathy?

He blinked. No, of course the dusknoir could do that. And it gave Chiaki an avenue to turn the pressure back on Vegna. "Lemme guess, that was lesson one of necromancy school?"

"Hardly," Vegna scoffed. He pivoted left, chuckling. "Lesson two."

Wait, why exactly would necromancy be associated with telepathy again? Though that actually makes me wonder if Vegna can cross language barriers with that ability like a certain other Dusknoir out there in the fic scene.

That was a joke. It had to be. "So, the Grim Reaper moniker has truth to it," he mentally scoffed. "I bet you kill those people to take their souls."

"You can sift through every line of Radiance law. You'll find nothing about necromancy." Vegna's tone suggested he'd done exactly that at some point. "But you're wrong, just like the general public. I pick souls to take carefully."

He's... going to take Chiaki's soul in about two minutes, isn't he?

Chiaki didn't believe that. A bigmouthed corviknight and feral talonflame hardly seemed like Vegna's kind of company. "Like that black dragon?"

A brilliant blue overtook Vegna's eye. "You mean Zekrom?"

The grovyle's face tensed. "As in the Luminous Sage?"

So... 'Sage of Ideals' then? Or did you hit up the alt-localizations for this one?

Vegna nodded. He held out his right hand and a book materialized in it. Chiaki immediately recognized the eight-pointed star from Yuna's Soul Dew. "You—"

"All one needs for necromancy is an Abyssal Relic." The dusknoir opened the book and absentmindedly thumbed through the pages. "It's a common, everyday item bathed in the sins of an impure soul." He shut the book and it vanished in shadowfire. "This journal was positively rife with sin. Filled to the brim with passages showing a depraved mind warped by loneliness and heartbreak. It was the perfect item to make into a relic. A quick sacrificial ritual and it was ready."

Oh that's not creepy and worrisome at all there.

He scratched the side of his tiny head. "I had another relic candidate — the husk of a crimson honedge — but, alas, I lost it when moving from my law school lodgings to the Ministry of Justice."

'Crimson Honedge, huh? So Vegna just had the corpse of a shiny chilling around up until recently?

Chiaki's head pounded. He wasn't interested in diving into such a... morbid explanation. He was still too focused on Zekrom. "But if you control Zekrom, then that proves the Radiance history books are lying. And Aeon's version of events is closer to the truth."

Vegna:

Chiaki: "Look, am I right or not?" >_>;

Vegna nodded. "A reasonable deduction."

Chiaki needed several seconds to keep his breathing under control. "Why keep that to yourself? Why not go public?"

Vegna: "Because I'm dependent on this Kingdom for my day job that gives me my cover as a necromancer? Why, pray tell, would I want to do something that might destabilize it?"

"Why do you care?" Vegna braced his hands against the plastic rail at the foot of Chiaki's bed. "You're a citizen here, not Aeon. Or are you, perhaps, hinting at a certain connection? One that would, say, drive you to try and harm the Radiant Diva?"

Shit! He said too much. This was what Chiaki wasn't supposed to do. At the very least, Chiaki had some inkling what Vegna was thinking. And it was, in his opinion, foolish. "Oh, come on. You were there. You saw Minister Charles. Someone else sabotaged her show!"

I didn't see that one coming. Unless if Vegna is talking about the Aeon royal family's link to his dad. In retrospect, I suppose I ought to be less surprised if it turned out that Chiaki is or has blood ties to the Aeons since... well, he is in the right egg group for that.

Vegna's eye shifted from blue to an ominous red. "And yet... it was you I found in the center of the wreckage after the trailer blew up, along with fragments of equipment capable of generating such an explosion."

This was when Chiaki should have gone silent. But Vegna had gotten under his skin. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I was trying to stop the sabotage!"

I'm pretty sure that this is going to end terribly, but given that I heard through the grapevine that Vegna puts Chiaki through some sort of freaky transformation, let's see where this goes.

To that, Vegna pivoted toward the far corner of the room. A PV set turned on, showing shaky, static-filled footage of Venish's streets. People running for their lives. Some getting dragged through rifts. Others struck by debris or buried under rubble.

"The immediate aftermath of your accident," Vegna explained. "And why I had you brought to Vellguarde." He shut the PV off and again braced his hands on Chiaki's bed. His eye bathed the Grovyle's blue hospital blanket in red. "Maybe you had no intent to harm, but there was clear intent behind your initial trespassing and what followed. You didn't care about the possible consequences, so your actions meet the criteria for reckless endangerment. Perhaps even criminally negligent homicide."

Ah yes, so we get our first hard-confirmed "Squeenix protagonist cockup" of the story. I don't fully buy Vegna's version of events there, but... yeah, that definitely isn't a good look for Chiaki.

"What?!" Chiaki would've squirmed in his bed if he could still move. "You've got tunnel vision. Use your head, damn it! Didn't you see who was in the trailer with me? It was the academy student who went missing!" His breathing was quickening enough for the monitors to his right to beep. Chiaki took several seconds to stop himself from wheezing. "You ought to be investigating Polaris. They kidnapped her. I was trying to save her."

Sighing, Vegna floated toward the door. "Then perhaps it's best you hear it from the serpent's mouth. Suffice to say, however, you're the guilty party in this."

Wait alchemy is a thing in this setting too? I suppose I should be less surprised given that there's necromancy, though that still made me double-take. And I'm now suddenly fairly worried about what those Nova clones are made out of, since I remember how Type: Null/Silvally worked in your other story with alchemy in it.

Also, can't tell whether or not that line from Vegna is implying that Scarlett is alive right now or not.

"I'm not!" Chiaki growled. "You're not listening to me! This isn't fair!"

Vegna paused with his left hand by the motion sensor to open the door. He bowed his head slightly.

"What is just is not always fair... and what is fair is not always just."

Sure talking big about morality there for a guy who's casually dabbling in black magic.

He waved his left hand. The door and its curtain slid open.

"Where are you going?" Chiaki struggled to lift his head.

"To file your charges with the Ministry of Justice," Vegna responded. He began hovering out the door.

"Wait!" Chiaki's head fell back against his pillow. "You can't leave me like this! Don't I at least get a phone call?"

That actually makes me wonder what the rights of arrested persons in the UK are now. Was this sequence based off of that?

But he got no response. The dusknoir was gone. In his place, Chiaki heard scratches. Scales slithering against a metal floor. Chiaki tilted his head and found a dusty dragonair approaching his bedside.

Oh, so she is alive and well enough to speak.

Before the grovyle could raise his eyes in an attempt at a greeting, the blue tip of Scarlett's tail smacked Chiaki's cheek. "You complete and total ass!"

Chiaki: "O-Ow! Hey! I'm paralyzed right now!" @.@

The bauble on Scarlett's neck glowed. A small projection of Starlene appeared on the dragonair's head. "What the hell were you thinking breaking into my trailer? If someone saw me there... it would have ruined everything!"

That... does not seem natural or normal there.

Chiaki silently blinked. He was too stunned for anything else. A dragonair shouldn't have been capable of telepathy. But as the meloetta projection showed, she wasn't an ordinary dragonair.

However, what she told Chiaki was even more alarming. "You were in danger. From agents of World Ender!"

"I had it under control!" Starlene huffed, her cheeks puffing out along with Scarlett's. "The transmitter had an emergency psionic shutdown sequence. I was gonna engage it, but nooooooo. You had to try and play the big, brave knight rescuing the helpless damsel."

... Scarlett's an empty husk being possessed by Starlene or something like that right now, huh? Meaning that everything that Chiaki did at the concert was all for nothing.

Also, how is this room not being surveilled right here and now?

Scarlett jabbed the side of Chiaki's bed. "I didn't need a rescue," she growled.

She was delusional. She had to be. "Look at yourself." Chiaki would've pointed to Scarlett if he could. "You're emaciated. I found you looking like a pincushion. Polaris is abusing you. They... they clearly did something to—"

Starlene held up her right hand. "Nothing I didn't approve of or ask for."

Okay, I'm really not convinced that that's Scarlett there that's actually speaking.

Chiaki narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"I figured you wouldn't." Scarlett casually tossed a bag onto Chiaki's bed. He couldn't feel it smack his lap, but the whoompf of the blankets suggested she used more force than necessary. "So, I brought a copy of my contract. That I willingly signed." The dragonair fished out a stack of papers and plopped them down on Chiaki's chest.

'Willingly' doesn't mean a whole lot, since you can get misled into signing a contract of your own free will. And the legal system in Radiance honestly strikes me as retrograde to allow for that to happen without instantly nullifying the contract.

Polaris' logo was clear as day, along with two sets of signatures. One was definitely Vortex's.

"Nothing was done without my consent and authorization," Starlene continued. Chiaki was getting sick of the two swapping with one another.

"But that doesn't—"

"Stop." Starlene rolled her eyes. "You're in no position to lecture me." The meloetta crossed her arms. "The fact is that, in my time at Horizon, I quickly learned that, even with an elite education, I was never going to get anywhere in life. No matter how hard I worked, everyone would always see me as another 'filthy dragon' who got handouts from the crown.

... Okay, never mind, maybe Scarlett really did consent to this and that's really her.

"That's when Vortex came to me with an offer to change everything. To cast off these scales and be a gamechanger using Dynaforce." Starlene hopped onto the bed and thrust her right arm up in a pose. "He told me I could make music that would reach every corner of the kingdom and bring smiles to people's faces. I wouldn't be a second-class citizen anymore. I'd be a somebody. And I was getting real close to permanently transforming into my diva form before you loused it all up!"

Everything about that explanation sounded all sorts of

. Though I suppose it makes sense that there'd be Pokémon who drew the short stick in life who'd be open to trans-speciesist experimentation for a shot at not being behind the 8-ball for their entire lives.

Chiaki frowned. This couldn't have been the real Scarlett. Too much of what she said went against what Nikki told him.

"What about Nikki?"

"Who do you think got more of the attention when we were a duo?" Scarlett growled. "Wasn't me, that's for sure."

I honestly can't tell whether or not it'd be more shocking if this really is Scarlett or if she's not. Since if she is... uh... yeah, Nikki isn't going to take finding this out well.

Before Chiaki could object, Scarlett sighed and shook her head. "There's no bad blood with Nikki. Hell, I've sent a lot of the earnings from my concerts and merch sales back to Blightsmuth." She flicked her tail dismissively. "Which makes me the lifeline keeping that city afloat. Something you nearly screwed up.

Oh yeah, Nikki's gonna love finding this one out.

"If people find out my secret, I'll be ruined." Scarlett narrowed her eyes at the grovyle. "So, bedbound or not, you don't say a word about this to anyone. Not here. Not in Citadark once they haul your ass away."

She turned away from him. Starlene dissolved back into Scarlett's neck bauble. "For both our sakes, this better be the last time I see your ugly, half-burnt face."

The dragonair slithered away, leaving Chiaki staring at the glass door as it slid close.

That... was painful to read. So everything Chiaki did really was for nothing. .-.

All Chiaki wanted was to expose the truth. But this? This was worse than he could've imagined.

Everything had gone belly up. Like when he tried to avenge his mother. But now the consequences extended beyond the loss of his right arm.

... Wonder when we're going to see the full story behind that one. Since boy does that sound like there's a wild, messed-up story behind it.

There was no overcoming this. Even if Cyril could get him walking again, what good would that do? Vegna wanted him carted off to Citadark.

It didn't matter if Chiaki was innocent. If the grovyle somehow bested Vegna in court, he would wake up inside Eternatus... never again able to leave it.

His vision grew blurry. Was the grovyle tired?

... No, these were tears. It was a good thing he was alone. Because Chiaki wasn't supposed to cry. He was the Ryujin heir. He had to be strong.

Except he wasn't. His clansmon were right: he was dead weight.

Wait, wait, wait. So that entire mafia group that the Yiazmat and Calcifer do business with is some sort of dragon clan of some sort?

You'd think that that'd have come back to bite the Aeons a lot sooner if any link between the two could be proven.

- Cue the lookup of backstory after noticing that the kanji in 'Ryujin' from 'Ryujin Rapiers' in FF14 mean 'dragon god' -

Oh. Oh. This is that mythological entity that Lugia is based off of. So then this is a roundabout way of saying 'Lugia Clan'? That's pretty clever if so, since Lugia was a sage, while not quite a dragon. It'd actually thematically work quite well for a faction that's linked to Aeon but not fully of it.

At least now he looked the part, too.

[Life? Death? ResidentSleeper. The (CHAT) wants (THRILLS), (CHILLS), and (KILLS). It wants (HELIX)!]

Yeah, I figured that some sort of weirdness would barge in and give Chiaki a second wind. Wasn't expecting this to be it, though.

Chiaki tried letting out a startled cry and his throat erupted in burning pain. His eyes darted around until he noticed the far corner of the room full of static-filled red squares. The squares quickly disappeared in mismatched blips of black and white light, revealing weird blue and red ovals floating around, twitching and spasming.

[No need to hold your (CLAP EMOJI)s.] The thing was speaking in a disturbingly robotic tone whose pitch switched between low and high without warning. Every word sounded like it was coming out of a radio or an old PV speaker. And it all sent static ripples through the thing's disjointed discs. [I would be (MUTED FOR TEN MINUTES) too if I met (CHAT)'s number two (BIRD JESUS), aaabaaajss Ahsen.]

I kinda wonder if you should do something like bold Ahsen's dialogue, since admittedly I had more trouble than I expected separating the brackets from the rest of the embedded sentence, and it'd play up the 'unnaturalness' a bit more.

It looked at the window. [Copyright(C)February2014norightsreserved.]

Chiaki: "... This is a despair-induced hallucination, right?"

The grovyle looked around frantically, but couldn't find anything resembling those emergency call buttons hospital rooms were supposed to have. If one was there, it was out of sight, thanks to his severely limited movement. And he couldn't shout for help with his throat in pain like this.

Two discs — Ahsen's arms, maybe? — drooped. [Boy, talk about a tough (A, B, SELECT, UP, DOWN.)] As it shouted directions, Ahsen's body moved as if someone else controlled it, even slamming it into the ceiling and floor.

Yuuuuup, that sounds like what I remember of TPP back when it was current.

Ahsen picked itself up, limbs twitching. [What's with the (EYES EMOJI)? This is no OMEGALULing matter. I (EYES EMOJI) you, laying there like a sad sack. Full of FeelsBadMan.]

Chiaki understood very little of what this thing was spewing... which probably meant it was in cahoots with Xeromus. How else could it show up out of nowhere entirely unprompted?

Wait, so is Ahsen literally saying the names of memes there? Or is he projecting images or something like that in the middle of dialogue?

The grovyle took deep breaths. If he could get out one shout, maybe he could get some help.

[Hey, hey, there's no need to (DON'T TOUCH THAT TOTODILE).] Ahsen floated closer to Chiaki's bed, only to abruptly stop and jerk around in different directions. [(DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, UP, LEFT.)]

It regained control of itself. [All I want is to offer you a chance. A chance at some (START9).] Ahsen vibrated excitedly. [A deal as good as (FREE MONTHLY SUBSCRIBER WITH PRIME GAMING.)

Chiaki:

Ahsen: [Getting into it already FeelsGoodMan So... (START9)?]

[You want the moves? The schmooves? The grooves?] Ahesen pointed its arms at Chiaki's limp body. [(HELIX) can give. (HELIX) can take. A little (START9) is all (HELIX) asks for in return.]

Ahsen waved its limbs around. [Keep them (CLICK)ing. Keep them (STICK)ing. (READ)ing. (WATCH)ing. (TWEET)ing. But not (DELETE)ing.]

The grovyle had enough. He opened his mouth and tried as hard as he could to shout for help. However, white hot pain shot down his throat. Chiaki coughed up red-tinged saliva.

[OMEGALUL.] Ashen's head swiveled around thanks to its lack of anything resembling a neck. [Sometimes it be like that. Kappa.] It drifted closer to Chiaki's bed. [The choices are yours and yours alone. (START, START, B, A, B, UP, UP).]

... This is what transforms Chiaki, isn't it?

Ahsen rose up, hitting the ceiling multiple times. When it finally drifted back toward Chiaki's bed, it had something balancing precariously in its discoid arms.

A rusty sword? No, that wasn't right. Chiaki squinted to get the stars out of his vision from his shouting attempt.

... It was a honedge. Rust coated much of its body, but there were bits of red on its blade... and an empty socket where its eye should have been.

Chiaki held his breath. That couldn't have been right. Everything about it matched up with—

Chiaki: "How in the hell did you get this?!"

Ahsen:

[Don't try to 5Head this, (STRIMMER). They are who we thought they were.] Ahsen twitched and jerked about excitedly. [You want (UP, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN) movement. (HELIX) knows it. You can't (GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS).] The creep was hovering by Chiaki's head, now. [So, take the (STICK OF TRUTH) and open your retinas. Reclaim your (OW, THE EDGE) now for the low, low price of.]

This thing was talking crazy. Chiaki knew that. It didn't even properly finish that last sentence!

... And yet it sounded like Ahsen was offering him a way to walk again.

I'm pretty sure that this is making a deal with a meme-spewing devil, but... yeah, Chiaki kinda needs a way to stay active in the plot, so...

It was too good to be true. An obvious deal with the devil. But what did the grovyle really have to lose at this point? He was bedbound, couldn't talk, and on a fast track to Citadark. He knew Ryujin policy well enough by now. If the law caught up with someone, there were no lifelines. That was how the clan kept operating all these years. Chiaki would have no support. And against the likes of the Grim Reaper, the two outcomes were a guilty verdict... or a one-way trip to the Qliphoth.

You see, you having to ask that is all but guaranteed that there's going to be some sort of horrible, horrible cost from all of this.

Chiaki had hit rock bottom. As far as he was concerned, there was nowhere to go but up.

He shakily tilted his head toward Ahsen. Perhaps the glitch recognized the look in his eyes, because it buzzed excitedly. [You will take the (DROP)?]

The grovyle slowly nodded.

Whelp. Let the chaos begin, then.

Ahsen's limbs twitched. [Warning: if you consent to the terms and agreements of this (END USER LICENSE)—]

Static overtook Ahsen's head. Its body appeared to go limb for a moment and a much deeper, non-robotic voice said, "You accept everything that will happen from now on."

Well, that was ominous as hell.

Chiaki: "Is- Is it too late to back out right now?"

Ahsen:

Still, recklessness had landed Chiaki in this situation. If there was ever a time to double down, this was it.

... Probably. Despite the Ryujin operating casinos, Chiaki knew little about gambling. Regardless, the grovyle nodded at Ahsen once again, a more determined look in his eyes.

Narrator:

Chiaki: "Shut up already! I'm not agreeing to getting written out of the plot by being a paraplegic in a hell prison!" >_>;

Ahsen flailed its limbs around. [PogChamp! I knew you would (PAYMENT SUCCESSFULLY PROCESSED).] It bobbed its head at the sword. [Enjoy the (START9) and don't forget to (HIT THAT FOLLOW BUTTON AND RING THE BELL).]

Static cubes engulfed Ahsen. They all disappeared, leaving Chiaki alone with the empty, rusted honedge. The grovyle stared at it, blinking slowly. Was something supposed to happen? Did he did magic words?

No, if this was Vegna's Abyssal Relic candidate, then there was some sort of ritual he needed to perform. If only he had access to that informa—

Chiaki: "W-Wait a minute, didn't Vegna specifically say that those relic things specifically required a 'Sacrificial Ritual'? Th-Then does that make me the-?"

It was brief, but Chiaki saw embers flicker around Honedge's empty eye socket. The grovyle held his breath, but one of the monitors started beeping, so he exhaled. More embers lazily drifted out of the eye socket, which now had a faint red glow.

Honedge wasn't inert. There was something there!

The red glow got brighter. It shifted to an orange bubble that expanded several centimeters before popping... and releasing a joltik-sized, luminescent orange butterfree.

That... was more creepy than I was expecting, and it was just the start of this ritual. Also wait, is this also an Ultra Volcarona there?

What the hell? Chiaki watched the butterfree fly around the honedge husk, which stopped glowing. It had no face, hands, feet, or antennae. Every flap of its tiny wings produced even tinier embers that fizzled out in the air.

Finally, after a few loops around the sword, it fluttered toward Chiaki. The grovyle went cross-eyed watching it come closer and closer and land on his snout.

For a second, Chiaki thought he might sneeze. Then the butterfree glowed brighter and, with a sudden flash, dissolved into orange light that went up his mouth and nostrils.

Chiaki: "Hey, wait! I didn't sign up for-!"

Chiaki's eyes widened. Warmth spread down his entire body... and he felt it below his neck! At first it was nice and soothing. But it progressively got hotter. Too hot to handle!

With a startled grunt, Chiaki threw the covers off his bed. He wasn't even processing that he could move again, because he was too busy watching in horror as his green skin burnt to a black that brought his stepsiblings to mind. The restraint melted off his arm and plopped onto the floor uselessly. His once pink belly turned the same shade of orange as the tiny butterfree. Bit by bit, his right arm regrew itself, but with the same black skin as the rest of his body. And yellow, flame-like markings traced themselves along his skin.

Chiaki's vision flickered. The hospital room disappeared, replaced by a torrent of fire.

And there's our transformation. Though he really does look like a humanoid Galboros with that described pattern.

A figure similar to Gene stared directly ahead. Orange, triangular wings and a helmet reminiscent of a volcarona appeared in gouts of fire. It raised its left hand and summoned a blade.

The burning intensified in Chiaki's head and rear. "Ah... graaagh!"

He leaned forward and threw his yellow hands onto his head. The hearing aids popped out of his ear frills. Chiaki's leaf was regrowing, too, but it was happening too fast. And it felt way too long.

The figure slashed at the air with its sword. Flaming crescents descended upon the battered forms of a swampert and a blaziken who each wore a broken gold wristband.

Wait, are these visions of a GL AU? Since I'm pretty sure that that was Ginji and his partner getting wiped in that last paragraph.

With a pained holler, Chiaki rolled out of bed. Any jubilance he might've had at regaining his movement was gone when he glimpsed what used to be his stubby leaf tails elongating into flaps like Kyoko's.

"Wh... at's happ... ening... to me?"

You're becoming the M-Salandit evolution that GF has got buried in the design vault pending release in like a decade. :V

Chiaki's vision flashed again. He thrashed about, screaming.

The figure thrust its sword into the ground. Giant, fiery tornadoes erupted from the earth, swallowing up Rayquaza and Latias.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Oh, it’s that moment again. I initially completely forgot about it before looking up ‘orange butterfly’ in GL and having everything come flooding back. Also, it should go without saying, but no refunds, Chiaki.

Gasping, Chiaki sat up. Scarlett stood slack-jawed in the doorway. Chiaki looked down at his orange belly and black, charred skin. Medical staff were slipping in past the dragonair.

"Hey, where's the patient?" A gardevoir looked around, eyes narrowing. "What's going on here? I'm getting Sir Vegna!"

Chiaki acted without thinking. With a snarl, he spewed fire — freaking fire! — and the gardevoir backpedaled out of the doorway with a shriek. Scarlett dropped to her belly.

That... doesn't bode well for Scarlett's life expectancy, really.

"What the hell?" she hissed.

"Call a code gray!" someone shouted from the gathering crowd.

Huh, so 'Code gray' legit means something in medical parlance, specifically regarding patients causing violent disturbances. TIL.

Chiaki lunged for Scarlett and grabbed hold of the dragonair. "H-Hey! Let go of me!" she cried. Her neck bauble glowed, but Chiaki wrapped it and the dragonair's snout up in his arms and sprinted for the far side of the room.

The honedge husk appeared at his side and slashed at the window. It shattered, raining glass down and the husk disappeared. Chiaki felt a weight in the pit of his stomach, but kept running.

Well, Chiaki didn't just casually torch / run Scarlett through so things are turning out a bit better than expected? ^^;

"Stop him!" an unfamiliar voice barked.

Scarlett thrashed about in Chiaki's grip to no avail. The charred grovyle leaped through the broken window... and discovered his room was six stories off the ground!

He and Scarlett tumbled through open air for a few seconds. Then Chiaki's back burnt... and the falling stopped. He was moving past the flat and pointed roofs of Vellguarde's buildings. His arms muffled Scarlett's cries.

Oh, so he can fly in this form, too. That's definitely an upgrade from being a paraplegic.

Chiaki glanced over his shoulder to see flaming volcarona wings flapping effortlessly.

Whatever the husk had done to Chiaki, he didn't have time to think over it. The hospital was sounding the alarm. Stoutland Yard would undoubtedly be after him. He had to keep moving... with his screaming passenger in tow.

Wait, what is he even planning on doing with her? Or is he just in full chaos mode at the moment? .-.

Spoiler: The Transformation

Huh. That looks a lot more naturalistic than what I was expecting from the description. Though it really does look like that one M-Salandit evolution that is buried on a hard drive somewhere in Carrot Tower or wherever GF's current offices are.

Alright, time for the recap:

This chapter was definitely different to say the least. Especially since I don't think you've ever done a one-scene chapter prior to this one. I already got spoiled somewhat that something drastic would wind up happening with Chiaki, but I still was surprised by where things wound up at the end. It also was a neat chance to get a better read on Chiaki and Scarlett and... boy was Scarlett a lot different from what I was expecting as a character. .-.

As for criticisms... Ahsen's dialogue was a bit confusing in formatting, even if that was kinda the point, I suspect. Like I get what you're going for, but it is probably worth fiddling around with trying to make his dialogue stand out more visually. I admittedly was kinda lost at what was going on in the GL AU sequences. Like I suspect that those will wind up being a bit less random given future context, but I kinda wish there were a few more hints given to the reader behind what on earth just happened to Chiaki and this Butterfree Effect.

But altogether, I thought it was a fun chapter, and I can't say it didn't keep me on my toes. Kudos on the work as usual, @Ambyssin . And I'll be looking forward to picking up your next chapter in the very near future. ^^

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, got a bit of downtime, so figured it was as good an occasion as any to try and catch up with your most recent chapter of PoV to try and get back to a more "day and date" schedule. So let's jump right into things with…

Chapter 43

To: Paradox, Deoxys
From: [REDACTED]
Security Level: Sigma
Subject: Update

Security level 'Sigma', huh? Wonder just how many Greek letters get used in QN's security classification system given that Sigma has a designation in it.

I must apologize, sir. After some further digging, I do not believe your new acquaintance is some sort of deposed Etherian royalty. In fact, I'm not even sure he's Etherian at all. I saw Lieutenant Hideout's glastrier steed fall in battle and it was absorbed by a dusknoir — the one from the trial you broadcasted to Eterna City, actually — who summoned a zekrom from the heavens like it was nothing! There was a momentary flash of panic in his expression when it happened. Like he had stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to.

Oh, so Glastrier is really just dead dead. And possibly a new plaything for Vegna. Though that's an ominous sign about him if even Paradox's lieutenants are freaking out about him and have no clue what on earth Vegna is.

Do I think this changes anything? No. In fact, it might give you additional leverage beyond his other partner. She's still imprisoned, yes? Well, with things unraveling on Radiance, his desire to return to his true home may only grow more desperate. And that desperation may cause him to go all in on a total bluff, if you catch my drift.

I see Fraud is writing this letter. Since I can see those card game metaphors there.

I do have one request, though: please allow me to dispose of these idiots. They were a decent enough distraction at the time, but I'm tired of putting them to sleep when I need to get real work done. Radiance's Parliament is convening for an emergency session and you'll no doubt want to hear a full report, but I can't go to Radiance's capital with this pair of deuces.

That's all for now. Nos vera Natus!

Yuuuuuuuup, though that's not a good omen at all for the life expectancies of Carpaccio and Rookie or Isola's court as a whole, really.

Dazzels was the brilliant capital emblematic of the Kingdom of Radiance's shining beauty. However, Shimmer had no interest in looking past the marble steps in front of Espace Adelaide toward the sparkling, glass-filled government buildings, museums, and cultural sites marking Grand Place, the bluntly named center of the city.

Well, you can't say that the capital isn't aptly named for a kingdom of light. Even if considering the absolute state of affairs, 'Luxendarc' or 'Penumbra' would be a more apt name for Radiance as a land.

Instead, all he could do was look down at his scratched hooves and the lilac carpet beneath them. The ponyta hadn't made eye contact with anyone. Not when Demerzel and Justine showed up in Venish to collect him. Not when the latter tried to question him about what happened. Not the entire night, where he lay in bed alone for the first time in a month, gazing into a photo he and Xander had taken together on a private beach. And not when Justine shoved him out of bed the next morning, threw an oversized pink cloak over him, and dragged him out of Radiant Palace so Demerzel could teleport them to Parliament's main building.

Surprised that a pretty boy like him doesn't have a bunch of polish precisely to hide those. Though I suppose Shimmer wouldn't exactly be in the right state of mind to try and make himself look presentable right now.

Shimmer shuffled through Espace Adelaide's main hall like a zombie in some schlocky action movie he'd only see with Xander for a good laugh about commoners' terrible tastes. He only moved faster when a voice ahead of him growled, "Pick up the pace. You're Crown Prince, not some stoner baked out of their mind."

I am at once

and

at this horse's thought process, so good work there.

A flat hallway led to a spiral staircase that Shimmer proceeded down. He could see Justine's legs with their usual black lace stockings and black leather boots. The virizion probably had on her usual tight leather holowear suit, too. If Justine was going to Parliament with Shimmer, then it couldn't be good.

No doubt this was going to be about what happened to Venish. Was Justine going to make him testify to Parliament?

Justine:

Shimmer: "In case if you haven't noticed, but I'm not in a mental state to do much other than curl up on my bed and cry into my pillows right now." >_>;
Justine: "You're the Crown Prince. You'll manage."

Shimmer's gut squirmed. He couldn't do it. He couldn't recount standing by and letting the Medicis terrorize Piazza Lavenda or failing to do anything to fight against the mysterious knight or... losing Xander and his other classmates.

No, no, I'm pretty sure you can. I mean, I'm sure that it'll be a massive source of public shame and you'll probably need to be drug to it kicking and screaming, but you can absolutely recount all that.

The ponyta was supposed to be a prodigy who excelled at everything from grades to modeling and acting. The perfect catch for any other noble. Heck, no one even knew Xander was his consort except his mothers and Robin. Sure, the two had gotten caught together in the locker room at school several times, but they always played it off as a casual fling. And no one dared to gossip about it because Shimmer could have made their lives miserable. But if he testified... he'd become a laughingstock. The butt of every late-night comedian's opening monologue. His life would truly be over!

Boy does this kid have some warped priorities in life. And I see he really does take after Bede in mindset.

A door creaked open and something firm pressed against Shimmer's side. "Get in there," Justine hissed, shoving the ponyta forward. Shimmer stumbled ahead and found himself behind multiple large, velvet-covered chairs. He glimpsed his other mother's outline in the middle chair and quietly crept in between it and the chair to the right, where he usually sat when observing Parliament sessions.

To his shock, however, the main chamber was entirely silent, with attention squarely focused on the circular room's mounted PV monitors showing a crowd of pokémon cautiously watching some sort of... horrifying helmeted creature with chains around its legs and a tattered black cloak.

Ohai, Xeromus

"Look around you!" it shouted between cough-filled wheezes. "The sky is painted purple and tears itself open in anguish because this planet is suffering! You are all suffering! The ether chokes two civilizations out and your leaders tell you to avert your eyes from the truth. That Natus — your so-called Word Ender — is its source. That you are fed lies to be complacent!"

... Can't tell whether or not Xeromus is meaning to say that Natus is the source of Ether, or that Natus is the source of all Etherium. I mean, we already knew the first, but the second... .-.

Radiant Guard pelted the creature with attacks, but every attempt they made faltered as some sort of vaguely canine shadow sprouted from the ground and swallowed up the attacks.

Which I'm pretty sure looked suspiciously like a Zamazenta there.

"Look at this! See how they pour their hatred onto a worthless omen like me," it continued. "But I will gladly accept that animosity if it means you all can find love and salvation in Natus' embrace."

... I don't know how it took me this long to realize it, but Xeromus is basically running a death cult that may or may not be trying to hasten the end of the world. That's just.... lovely.

More attacks. This time the shadow dog manifested a red shield that deflected Icy Winds, Thunderbolts, and Earth Powers away.

"Join me in rejecting your crown. Reject the ether and discover a life greater than any you could live here!"

Yup, that's totally Zamazenta there. I see he's totally had a normal one in the past 1100 years.

The PVs shifted to shaky shots of some parts of the assembled crowd marching in unison with the helmeted monster, carrying hastily made "Down with Polaris!" and "What are they hiding?" signs.

A few grimmsnarl and bruxish guards wrangled some of the protestors and shoving matches broke out amongst the crowd.

On one level, I'm surprised that Xeromus was able to wrangle such a large audience. On another level, I really shouldn't be given that everything that's been mentioned in passing about the lives of 'commoners' in this setting has sounded fairly dystopian.

"These are just some of the scenes from a spontaneous demonstration that took place at dawn in Herbrides," a female newscaster explained as the PVs changed to show a trio of scuffed up roselia being shoved into Stoutland Yard transport vehicles.

"Similar demonstrations rose up across the kingdom following the speech given by the helmeted creature, who calls himself Xeromus. While these cities were spared from the calamity that befell Venish last night, there are reports of similar rifts appearing in the sky. They may be far enough away to avoid bringing any harm, but it seems citizens are all asking themselves the same question: how long will they stay safe?"

I'm surprised that Isola didn't phone some friends and demand that the news not air any segments about Xeromus' protest, since that sort of media blackout is literally SOP for trying to suppress unwanted grassroots movements IRL even among places that aren't outright autocracies.

The PV monitors shut off in unison. It was then that Shimmer realized Vortex was sitting beside Arianna at a table opposite the platform the thrones were on, in front of the MP assembly. There was a smaller podium across from the pale-faced charizard, which held some of the Crowne Ministers. In the middle was an older appearing corsola. Shimmer recognized her from behind as Parliament's Speaker, Leyanne.

Vortex: "... Boy is this not a good look right now."

She cleared her throat and tapped a rocky horn to her microphone. "Now that we're all up to speed, I simply must know what you have to say for yourself, Vortex."

"It's Chancellor Vortex," Arianna cut in. Shimmer glimpsed a twinge of irritation breaking through her normal indifferent expression. Perhaps the large bags under her eyes made it easier to tell.

Vortex: "(... Arianna? Why on earth are our stations even airing segments about the protests and the rifts in the sky right now? They're our stations!)"

Arianna: "(I'm pretty sure that some portion of them have gone rogue over the past 24 hours, Vortex. And what did you expect the heads of the media division to do? Just turn down free ratings and leave it all to the second fiddles like the Radiant Beacon?)"

"You will not speak out of turn in this chamber, Miss Arianna," Leyanne retorted, thinly veiled contempt behind her words. "We have ample accounts from the Amphitheatre broadcast showing World Ender's sigil displaying while your company-sponsored superstar sang an anarchistic manifesto that previewed the sentiments later expressed by that deranged mutt in Herbrides." The corsola hopped to the edge of her podium. "This body demands an explanation."

Vortex: "... I plead the fifth and the views expressed by our employees aren't reflective of Polaris as a whole? Pretty sure we have some sort of legalese CYA for that-"

Arianna: "Vortex, we live in a constitutional monarchy modeled after Britain. I'm not sure if we even have a written constitution ensuring rights such as those."

Vortex: "... Oh, well this is awkward, then..."

The charizard shifted uneasily in his seat. Shimmer had never seen Vortex so uncomfortable. Even his navy blue holowear suit wasn't as neat and tidy as usual.

"We're, erm, still sorting through that," Vortex said. His microphone was too small for his long neck, so he was hunched over like he had back problems.

... Don't Charizard already look like that by default though?

"Is that so?" Leyanne quirked a brow. "You run the most profitable corporation in the entire kingdom, with multiple Crowne Ministers sitting on your board. How do you not have an answer yet?"

Vortex: "(Arianna, how do we not have a legalese CYA ready to go for this?!)"

Arianna: "(Vortex, would you seriously expect the crown to accept it in these circumstances even if we had one?)" >_>;

Vortex was about to say something, when the suit-garbed dartrix to his left leaned over and whispered something. With a stoic expression, Vortex replied, "There are multiple matters Polaris needs to address. This is an ongoing investigation."

"Multiple matters." Leyanne rocked back and forth. "So, you admit your corporation failed on several levels."

"That's not what I—" Vortex stopped when Dartrix grabbed his left arm. "No comment," he whispered, tail flame dimming.

Leyanne: "... I'll just note that down as a 'yes' there." >:|

"Then, perhaps, we should address this one level at a time," Leyanne retorted. "Starting with the idol, Starlene."

Murmurs rose up from the MPs sitting at their desks behind Vortex. An elderly granbull let out a "Hear, hear!"

Pretty sure the phrase from parliamentary proceedings is "Hear, hear". But I might be tripping.

Again, Dartrix whispered into Vortex's ear frill. The charizard mumbled, "You know as well as I there was an explosion backstage at the Amphitheatre. We had nothing to do with that."

"Yes, the Ministry of Justice has a suspect in custody," Leyanne said, rocking back and forth again.

... Wait, when exactly is this set again? Since I thought that Chiaki bailed from Vellguarde on the night that everything went to pot in Venish. Isn't this set the morning after?

"Point of inquiry, Madame Speaker!" a blaziken called, raising a white placard.

"Go ahead."

"Two individuals were recovered from the wreckage of Starlene's trailer," Blaziken said. "One of which was a dragonair." He held up a document. "The report lists one Grovyle Chiaki as the suspect, so where did this dragonair come from?"

Whelp, there goes Scarlett's career there.

Shimmer sucked in a sharp breath. He remembered hearing about a dragonair upperclassman at Horizon that, like Nikki the Nuisance, was accepted on scholarship. The ponyta had gossiped at length about it with Xander and Robin — heck, he made sure her classmathes threw a fair bit of ire in her direction — but she left the academy and then Nikki showed up in her place.

He wanted to brush it off as a coincidence, but the flash of panic in Vortex's eyes suggested it wasn't.

Oh, so Vortex is actually going to have to explain what's going on with Scarlett, isn't he?

"That's beyond the scope of this inquiry, I'm afraid," Leyanne said. Shimmer caught the relief washing over Vortex's face, only for it to fade when the corsola added, "Unless there's something you wish to add, Mr. Vortex."

The charizard shook his head. More murmurs followed. Leyanne knocked one of her nubby legs against her podium. "Order. I will have order. We should get back on tr—"

Vortex: "(Oh thank god. Arianna, remind me to go through the records of the Diva Project after this and torch everything talking about the test subject.)"

A loud slam jolted Shimmer. He bit his tongue to stop himself from whinnying like a startled colt. The ponyta looked left to see oak double doors wide open and Minister Tesla lying in a crumpled daze, stripped of his goggles and that weird backpack that held his robot limbs. And standing behind him with a determined glint in her eye was Virizion Justine.

"Not so fast, Madame Speaker," she said, strutting into the chamber while a few journalists repositioned their cameras to get shots of the latex-wearing virizion. Justine shoved Tesla further in with a forehoof. "The good MP was onto something with his question."

Vortex: "T-Tesla?! What in the hell are you-?!" O_O;
Arianna: "Well, this hearing could be going better right now..." >.<

Leyanne briefly sputtered. "M-Madame High Inquisitor." The corsola rocked back and forth nervously. "This is highly irregular." She turned around and looked toward Shimmer— no, toward his mother.

"We grant Lady Justine permission to address Parliament," Isola said, bobbing her head slowly. As side conversations rose up in the chamber, the rapidash turned to Shimmer and whispered. "Pay attention, dear. It's time you watched how real leaders take charge."

On one level, Isola's being a terrible mother here. On the other hand, Shimmer kinda deserved that, so...

Shimmer wanted to melt into the floor, but meekly nodded instead.

"Get up." Justine shoved Tesla again. The boltund scrambled to his feet, making nervous "zzt" noises the entire time. "Tell Parliament what you told me during questioning. What's the source of the Diva Project?"

Oh boy, so that actually is going to come out in public here.

Tesla looked at Vortex, whose eyes were wide. Dartrix stood up in his chair. "You questioned him on company matters without counsel present?!"

"On our orders," Isola exclaimed, standing from her throne. "This is a matter of national security and Minister Tesla is, first and foremost, a public servant."

Dartrix puffed out his feathers. "But Your Eminence, due process is essential to a functional judici—"

"Are you questioning our authority on the matter?" Isola narrowed her eyes. Her golden, shield-shaped breast armor glistened under the glow of the chamber's chandeliers.

Well that totally sounds like a totally healthy and properly functioning legal system and not a glorified Star Chamber... not.

"O-Of course not." Dartrix obscured more of his face with his large, green, drooping feather. He sat back down and whispered to Vortex.

"No more interruptions," Justine growled. She stomped a forehoof in front of Tesla. "Talk. Now."

"The Diva Project... involved a young lady whose music had Dynaforce powers," Tesla said, staring at the chamber's purple carpet. "The project team treated her with special ether-based formulations to amplify that power and allow her to manifest it as the idol, Meloetta Starlene. The design was based on old historical records of a pokémon that would fight battles using her voice, but sadly succumbed to the Darkest Day."

Whelp, I see that Scarlett's career is ending in live-time right about now. Though guess being able to have a plan B if something like this ever happened is probably why Vortex invested in those Genesect, huh?

Several gasps echoed through the chamber. A few MPs even stood up at their desks, shouting about experimentation.

"Order!" Leyanne used her right foot as a gavel once again.

"Where did you get your subject?" Justine asked.

"Well, I— zzrt zzvrt." Tesla robotically swiveled his head around. "She was... a Horizon Academy student."

I can't tell whether this is actually going to blow up on Vortex right here and now, or if he's going to get away by throwing Tesla and his team under the bus.

The shouting resumed from the MPs. Dartrix hurriedly grabbed Vortex's microphone. "I will have you know that this student agreed to everything in writing. We can produce every contract, along with affidavits she was signing them of her own free will!"

"That's supposed to make it better?!" a pinurchin MP called from the back of the circular room.

Well, it'll keep Vortex out of prison, so from his perspective... yes?

"Order!" Leyanne struck her podium again. "The High Inquisitor still has the floor!"

Shimmer's gut squirmed. That dragonair commoner who left Horizon was a singer. Even if Nikki didn't shut up about it, he would have remembered. He and Xander thought her songs were catchy, though it was hard to look past a dragon singing them.

Did that mean that Starlene... was actually a dragonair?

Narrator:

Shimmer: "I'd... have really rather not have known that about my idol, thanks."

"What other effects did these ether treatments have, Minister?" Justine continued, pacing circles around the panicked boltund. Tesla looked at Vortex who shook his head, but Justine stepped in between them.

"I, uh—" Tesla descended into squeaky pretend robot noises.

-snerk-
That's definitely a memorable character tic there.

"Minister," Justine growled.

"I don't remember!" he blurted out.

Tesla: "Look, can't I just plead the fifth here-?"

Justine: "No, because this is a monarchy with a British-inspired legal system." >:|
Arianna: "Yes, yes, we know. I literally mentioned that about 20 cutaway gags ago."

"You don't remember telling me that Starlene's music exerted suggestive influences on its listeners?" Justine said, raising a brow.

A tense silence fell over the entire chamber. "E-Excuse me?" Leyanne gasped.

"Suggestive influence?" the same blaziken from earlier gawked. "That sounds like brainwashing to me!"

"N-No! Never!" Tesla rapidly shook his head. "It's more comparable to hypnosis, really, and—"

It was totally brainwashing effects. Though I would suppose that would explain how it was that Xeromus got such a big audience in such short order.

A fresh wave of shouts emerged from the MPs. A couple of morgrem were pointing at Vortex and Tesla.

"O-Order!" Leyanne's call failed to stop the shouting.

However, Justine had no such trouble. "So, in your opinion, it's possible that these ridiculous protests are a result of citizens being exposed to Starlene's hypnotic effects?"

Tesla: "I- I suppose in theory it could be something that'd-"

Justine: "Out with it, already!"

Tesla nodded. Shimmer's ears folded. He did recall moments while the concert played on the hotel suite PV where he and Xander were hallucinating. And that wasn't like the time the ponyta had tried tiny mushrooms, either. There was some sort of blue and orange tentacle creature talking about World Ender.

No. Shimmer shrank down. Polaris was manipulating people? Justine didn't seem to know about it, but what about Isola? How much was shared with her regarding the project?

... So Polaris is either a front for the QN, or it's been penetrated by the QN and used as a vehicle by which to carry out its designs on the surface.

And how did Team Bastion find all this out? Shimmer wondered, glaring at the floor. Was it the grovyle? His father ran some sham newspaper that constantly slandered the government. Maybe they dug something up for the Aeon princess to put into effect?

I mean, it's more because of Vegna that any of this is becoming public, but... technically Chiaki helped with that?

At last, the shouts died down. Justine had formed a Sacred Sword and held her head high. "I share your frustrations, everyone. But there are two other points that must be discussed." She dissolved the attack and whirled on Tesla. "What's the source of the ether powering our kingdom?"

Well, this day just keeps getting better and better for Polaris and Vortex here.

The color drained from Tesla's face. Vortex dug his claws into the table. Dartrix lunged for the microphone. "Th... that delves into proprietary technology! We have a right to protect our assets!" He pointed a wing toward the journalists in the front corner of the room. "This line of questioning necessitates a closed meeting with full confidenti—"

"Very well." Isola raised her head. Her horn and the gem in the middle of her Crowne Shield glowed pink. "All press and other visitors are ordered to vacate posthaste."

... Not fully convinced that Vortex is going to be able to leave the room in one piece after this. I mean, on one level the plot was building him up to be fairly prominent as a character, but I just have trouble seeing how he'd bounce back from the Awful Truth coming out short of mounting a coup d'etat on the spot.

Rumbles of protest rippled through the chamber, but ultimately everyone standing along the room's circular borders shuffled out. Isola's horn glowed brighter. Pink, heart-shaped locks covered each of the doors. Shimmer looked around at the chamber. Even though it was much quieter, many MPs were still standing. Some, like the morgrem, glared at Tesla.

"Satisfied, counselor?" Justine said.

Dartrix shuffled uneasily. "We still object to these disclosures."

"Noted, and overruled," Isola exclaimed. "The kingdom's security trumps corporate patents."

Vortex: "A-And when the patents are a matter of national security?"

Isola: "That's literally more reason to open this line of questioning! Not less!"

Again, Justine turned to Tesla. "Well?"

"Zrrrrttttt." Tesla mechanically staggered back. "Ether comes primarily from... World Ender. The Needles are not markers for underground power systems, they are part of the seal on World Ender. Their destruction would, according to our calculations, release World Ender from its imprisonment. It could then proceed to destroy the planet as it attempted in the Darkest Day."

Audience:

Justine: "There's more. Keep going."

When Tesla's rapid response finished, Justine formed her green Sacred Sword to immediately silence cries from the MPs. "Who created the seal?"

"Powerful pokémon," Tesla whimpered. "My research suggest they are revered by the Aeon Kingdom as so-called 'Luminous Sages.'"

Justine's glowing horn wasn't enough to silence the protests this time. Neither were Leyanne's attempts to restore order.

"Outrageous!" a togekiss shouted.

Blaziken stood up yet again. "So, this entire time we've been lying to the populace, through our schools and history books?!"

I'm surprised that nobody's tried to make the argument of "are you seriously taking the dodgy corporate scientist at face value when for all you know he's blowing smoke out his ass?" right now considering how existentially threatening this is to the legitimacy of Radiance's government.

"It would appear that way," Justine stoically responded.

Blaziken blinked in bewilderment. "Your Eminence, did you know about this?"

Shimmer's throat constricted. World Ender truly was alive? The very feat that gave his family claim to the throne... was really accomplished by Aeon leaders?

Guess it's about time for a Republic of Radiance to take the stage, huh? Since if the raison d'etre of the crown is a crock...

"We did not." Isola cast her gaze down. "This is... truly heartbreaking news to behold."

"What do we tell the public?" Togekiss called.

"Nothing," Isola replied, her voice sickeningly sweet despite the shocking news.

"Excuse me?!" Blaziken flummoxed.

Isola: "I'm sorry, but the kingdom is in the middle of an existential crisis right now! Do you seriously expect me to just roll over and insist that we shred what little credibility this crown has left over the testimony of a mutt that makes robot boops when he's stressed?!" >_>;
Tesla: "Oi! It's an endearing trait!"

"We cannot give the people any more reason to believe the manipulative words of these World Ender agents," Isola sternly declared. "For the sake of the kingdom's stability, we must ensure this issue is dealt with before telling the public the truth."

The ponyta's head pounded. His ears rang. Yuna... that stupid dreepy must have realized the truth! Or her parents did, and sent her into the kingdom under false pretenses!

Yes, that had to be it! They had no hope of outmuscling Radiance's larger size and better technology, so they wanted to dismantle it from within! And she would totally be able to convince a couple of punks like Chiaki and Nikki to ally with her. Vortex likely fixed her team, except it ended up backfiring spectacularly!

... I like how this kid's mentally readying himself to declare war on a nation over getting his fee-fees hurt from an Awful Truth coming out.

"... disingenuous to withhold the full truth from them?"

Shimmer telekinetically brought his mother's microphone down when Blaziken finished his question. "If I may?"

Abrupt silence fell over the room. Justine's eyes were wide and Leyanne had no idea what to say. Shimmer took that as his cue to continue. "Is it not possible that the Aeon Kingdom arranged for this?" the ponyta wondered. "On a recent trip to the Herbrides Lines, their princess detailed their kingdom's version of the Darkest Day. It sounded awfully close to what Minister Tesla described.

Oh. Oh. He's actually going there.

"If they are confident we forced them into the mountains under false pretenses — but had constantly failed to make any progress through war — why not send a saboteur to destabilize us and turn the public against us?" The more he said out loud, the more Shimmer truly believed it. "I think the Aeon Princess is at the root of all of this."

An unseen force grabbed Shimmer's dark cloak. Within a second, he was back beside his mother's throne.

"Thank you for that, dear." Isola's voice was stoic. Shimmer thought she was perturbed. But surely she understood. He was onto something!

No... you're really not, Shimmer. And boy are you nuking those earlier pity points from earlier hard right about now.

"You're sorely mistaken, Your Grace."

The ponyta flinched. He had forgotten about Demerzel! The giant-headed mutant whimsicott floated out to the right of the raised platform and headed for Leyanne's podium. He politely gestured to the microphone and the corsola handed it over.

"The Aeons have no reason to work against us," Demerzel said. "And now that Justine has dragged the truth out, I'm sure you all can understand why." He tapped his bulbous head. "Where does ether come from? World Ender. Our kingdom's channeled World Ender's energy... and we've lost huge swathes of land — entire cities, even — to distortion. Meanwhile, the Aeon Kingdom has no ether and has lost almost no territory to distortion."

I mean, they also eke out a medieval existence in Death World-tier terrain, so...

"Because they have some sort of technique to stop it!" Shimmer countered.

"Or they're not tampering with World Ender like Polaris clearly is." Demerzel pointed accusingly toward Vortex. The charizard glared back. "Regardless, the point remains unchanged: all Aeon needed to do is wait out the clock. Then Radiance would be overrun by distortion and forced to yield to their terms.

I... don't like where Demerzel is going with this. Especially since I'm pretty sure he's the 'Kuja' of this story you mentioned in the past, and I remember the things that Kuja in FF9 got the queen under his influence up to in that game

"But they came to the bargaining table... because they knew the truth and wanted to work with us." Demerzel shook his head. "Instead of vilifying them, we should work with them even closer now that the situation is more dire than ever."

Okay, so what's the catch to all of this?

Fresh murmurs arose. Vortex slammed his fists on the table and stood up. "Absolutely not!" he hissed. "This is ridiculous!" The charizard ignored Dartrix's attempts to calm him down. "You're accusing my company of driving this kingdom toward ruin? I'm the reason we're prospering! And only Polaris can find a solution to—"

Dude, your power source is literally worse for this planet than Mako. Sit down and shut up for a while.

"You mean Icarus?" Justine cut in. She shoved Tesla toward Vortex with her foreleg. "Where were you developing it, Minister?"

"Cita... dark."

Justine's expression darkened. "The same Citadark that Polaris scanners report a strange shockwave radiating out from immediately before rifts started appearing across the kingdom?"

Fantastic work there, Vortex.

The fire in Vortex's eyes faded as quickly as it appeared. He leaned over his table. "Th-That's—"

"Where is Icarus now, Minister?" Justine asked.

Tesla stiffened. "I, um— I haven't been to Citadark lately, but I imagine it must be—"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Demerzel calmly folded his arms behind his back and floated away from Leyanne's podium. "Parliament funded this project. You agreed to update it on the project's status."

Tesla: "I-I mean, I've been detained for the past night, so it's kinda hard to give an update of any sort, don't you think?"

Dermezel:

Several cries of agreement rose up from the MPs. Tesla shrank down with the saddest "zzts" Shimmer had hear.

"Gone," he whimpered.

"Gone?" Justine marched into the boltund's line of sight. "Is it not a machine? Are you implying someone snuck into our maximum security prison and stole a device?"

"No! It's... it's..." Tesla's eyes darted around.

"Also related to World Ender, isn't it?" Demerzel said. "And may have reacted to Starlene's sabotaged song. Like a beckoning siren of sorts."

Okay, seriously, Polaris at this rate has to have at least even money odds of being an outright front for QN given how everything they've been up to has played straight into Paradox's tentacles.

Tesla practically sprawled out on his belly, then nodded in defeat.

Shimmer shrank back from a wave of shouts and protests. This was all too much. He was still reeling from losing Xander. Now the ponyta had to contend with all of this?

Sounds like a good argument to leave it to mom and mom and go back to cry into your pillows for a while, really.

This was supposed to be the best time in his life. Shimmer was going to handily win the Crowne Cup, then announce Xander as his consort to the kingdom by proposing at the trophy ceremony. But now there was no Xander. There would be no Crowne Cup. The popstar he loved was revealed for a fraud, just like his ancestors.

How did everything manage to crash and burn around him so quickly and so spectacularly?

Because that's how stories like these work, son.

The protests continued. Leyanne couldn't quiet them. Neither could Justine.

Yuna. This is her fault! I know it is! It has to b—

This kid, I swear...

"ORDER!"

A chill ran down Shimmer's spine. He had never heard that tone from Isola before. Sure, Justine could get angry, but his other mother was never one to let such ugly emotions show through. Even in the private comfort of their castle.

The rapidash approached the edge of the platform and braced her right forehoof on the banister. "We've heard enough. This is... a grave situation. One that should not have transpired. We admit that it was foolish of us to grant such a close working relationship to a single company. But that does not excuse the actions that have transpired."

She looked at Justine. "Arrest Mr. Vortex."

Wow, Vortex really is getting yeeted out of the plot. Maybe. Possibly. Either way, I legit didn't see that one coming.

"What?!" Dartrix squawked.

Vortex stiffened in his seat. "Me? What for?"

"Fraud. Against Parliament. Against the entire kingdom, actually," Isola exclaimed. "Oh, and arrest Tesla, too."

"Hey!" The boltund jumped to his feet. "It's Minister Doctor—"

Well things are certainly moving fast here. Time to see whether or not those Genesect Vortex were working on are going to be used as a trump card or not.

"No." Isola's eyes flickered blue, as did her horn and Crowne Shield. "In fact, that goes for the lot of you. In accordance with the Radiant Constitution, we are hereby stripping all Crowne Ministers of their titles. Those of you with known financial ties to Polaris will have your assets frozen until they can be properly investigated by the Ministry of Finance and Stoutland Yard."

"You can't be serious!" Minister Xiao knocked his chair over standing up. The urshifu bared his fangs. "Some of us haven't gone anywhere near that company!"

That... sounds like a really dodgy constitution if Isola can just do this unilaterally. .-.

"We are deadly serious," Isola responded, holding her head high. "If any of you try and oppose us, we shall arrest you and charge you with treason."

"T-TREASON?!" Dartrix's feathers puffed up so much they obscured his face. "This is utterly ridiculous!"

Whelp, looks like there really was a coup d'etat. Just not in the direction I was expecting. .-.

"Would you care to join your client, counselor?" Isola coldly countered while Justine ushered Vortex out of his seat.

"You can't do this to me!" the charizard roared, flaring out his wings. "I brought progress and prosperity to this kingdom!" He whirled on Justine as the virizion tried to shove him toward Tesla. "Get your hooves off me, you latex-wearing hussy!"

Oh yeah, that's totally helping his case right now. Not.

Shimmer watched the scene unfold with increasing disbelief. He was getting nauseous and he hadn't even eaten anything since before the attack on Venish.

"See that, Shimmer?" Isola lowered her head into Shimmer's view. "That's how a leader's supposed to act. Understand?"

No, I'm pretty sure that this is close to a textbook example of an authoritarian power grab, so...

The ponyta was thankful for his cloak, which hid his trembling hind legs.

"Yes, Mother," he squeaked, but all he could think about was fleeing back to his room and, with Xander gone, hiding under his covers until his frayed nerves calmed down.

I... am not convinced that we've really seen the last of Vortex and the Ministers so soon especially since Vortex was sitting on those WIP Genesect. Can't tell whether this is about to end with him and some chunk of the Ministers pulling a coup over this, or if Isola is about to become the Queen Brahne of the story. I could honestly buy either outcome right about now.

Path of Valor Almanac
Dazzels is loosely based on Brussels, Belgium, the de facto capital of the European Union. Similarly, Espace Adelaide is based on Espace Léopold, one of the meeting places of the European Parliament. And Corsola Leyanne is based on Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

Huh. Would've expected something a bit less continental as a source of inspiration, but it's a fun bit of trivia there.

Alright, onto the recap:

I... honestly have no idea where this story is going to go on the Etherium side of things. Like I can't tell whether or not Vortex is about to pull a coup d'etat with those Genesect that were mentioned in passing like 15 chapters ago, or if Isola is about to go full mad queen from here while under Dermezel’s influence. I... could honestly buy things coming down in either direction especially since Shimmer needs his life wrecked a little harder before he's properly humbled enough to join Team Bastion, so it's a testimony to your ability to keep your audience on their toes.

As for complaints... I honestly don't have a whole lot beyond the little errors here and there I found in my readthrough. I was honestly too busy being glued to the edge of my seat watching stuff go down to notice much that I'd change about the chapter.

Kudos on the chapter @Ambyssin , had a lot of fun with it and I can already tell that next weekend’s update is going to be wild. ^^

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 44: Go Ahead, Mesa My Day​

Entry 1041
It's a strange place. So many weird buildings made from hexagonal tiles and filled with big gears and satellites.

And the inhabitants — these Overseer people — aren't afraid of me. They keep calling me "Necrozma" and saying more of me are out there. Just not in this universe. Which implies there are other universes.

I'm not sure how to feel about that. And after what happened on Earth, I don't know I can trust them. It could be another trick. They might want me to lower my guard so they can hurt me. Just like everyone else.

Why am I even bothering with this place? I should just leave. I can't take any more heartbreaks or betrayals.

XxX​

The spaceship was a repurposed imperial cargo transporter. All the Eterna Empire colors and emblems were still in place, but the inside had extra leather seats and a couple of mewtwo sized bunkbeds built into the rear. Valkyrie immediately grabbed one and wedged her face into the corner of the ship.

After traveling through one of Gene's rifts back to the sea east of Venish, they took off. Yuna had to admit, it was mystifying watching the ground grow further and further away, until the whole of Etherium was a round sphere with its pale moon behind it.

Rayquaza was on the drakloak's shoulder, protesting the "blasphemous bucket of bolts" as some sort of affront to nature. But as the trip went on, his protests died down. Reshiram, on the other hand, was unreachable. He was probably upset Yuna had to leave Jade behind with Seifer, Quetzal, and Artemis.

"This mixtape's not bad." Nikki sat in the passenger seat opposite Gene, tapping her right foot on the dashboard. "Never took you for someone who likes more ambient pieces."

"Nova made this for me," Gene said, tightening his grip on the steering mechanism slightly.

"I can see that." The toxtricity grabbed the cassette case. "Lofi beats to travel the cosmos to." She smirked. "Aww, there are li'l hearts around it, too."

The mewtwo ripped the case out of Nikki's grip while she made a kissy face. "Knock it off," he growled.

Yuna rolled her eyes. She looked down at Leo, who was napping in the drakloak's lap. Yuna absentmindedly ran a hand through his starry fur. It sent a tingle up her arm and Leo's starcloud hair and tail dimly glowed.

"Even in all my years orbiting the planet, I never saw this many stars," Rayquaza said, tiny face pressed firmly to one of the glass windows. His black tail wagged side to side. "Mayhap this is why Sir Bahamut and Lady Chiron would go off on flights together."

Yuna raised a brow at that. If the two frequently flew together in outer space, then wouldn't they have been able to see Eternatus coming and prepare for it?

"Planet Chakran dead ahead."

Yuna's head snapped forward at Gene's announcement, but she tilted her head. There were four gray spheres getting closer. "Hang on. Which one's Chakran?" Her ectoplasm rippled. Leo's eyes opened and he lifted his purple and gold head up.

"The middle one, probably." Nikki shrugged. "It's the biggest."

Indeed, one gray sphere grew faster than the others. Much faster. Too fast, if Yuna was honest.

"Wait." Noctum stood up, Malice Crystal sparking in his chest. "That looks a lot bigger than Planet Etherium!"

"Shocker." Gene waved his right hand dismissively. "Some planets are larger than others. And this one has three moons to Etherium's one."

"Whoop-de-doo." Valkyrie groaned from the back of the ship. "Why am I here, again? I said I'd stay back to take part in... whatever the hell you're planning to do in Eterna City once you've dropped everyone off."

"Not happening, Chompy. You and Zardy need to work through your little spat," Gene said, snickering to himself. "What better place than a monastery?"

Nikki joined the mewtwo's laughter, only for it to die down while she sat up. "Wait a tic. If this planet's massive, how the hell are we gonna find this monastery?"

Silence followed, with everyone slowly looking at Nikki. Leo stood up and hopped onto the ship's dashboard.

"Woah, hey!" Nikki leaned forward. "What do you think you're doing?"

The cosmic arceus' wheel glowed. A thin trail of gold light trickled toward the northern hemisphere of Chakran's ragged, dusty-looking surface.

"Leo?" Yuna leaned over Nikki's seat.

"I think I sense him." Leo's tail wagged. "The nice birdie from before."

"Good enough for me." Chuckling, Gene tilted the steering mechanism forward and the ship sped off in the direction of the golden light.

XxX​

"Son of a— another desert? Are you freaking kidding me?!"

Nikki dropped to her knees and punched the brown dirt with a fist. "What kind of dumbasses put a monastery in the desert?! Why couldn't it be on a tropical isl— hey!"

Gene grabbed Nikki by the neck of her leather jacket and hoisted her back to her feet. "Enough with the theatrics. This ain't a desert."

Yuna agreed with the mewtwo. It wasn't sweltering... or even frigid like Aquardah. Instead of sandy dunes stretching out into the distance, brown, dusty trails ran off in different directions. Bedrock clusters and huge stone spires jutted out of the ground. Several had bits of rusted metal interspersed with them. Some pipes here, a few broken satellite dishes there. The strange mixture of nature and dilapidated machine stretched toward rocky hills in the distance.

In some regards, it reminded Yuna of home... if someone filed off the tops of the volcanoes and cleared all the ash from the air, of course.

"Then what do you call this shit, huh?" Nikki freed herself from Gene's grip and stomped over to a patch of crabby gray grass. "Looks pretty dead to me."

"This is a mesa." Gene tapped his temple. "Makes sense a slacker would mistake it for a desert, I suppose."

Nikki's mohawk crackled. "Gee thanks, professor."

"A mesa?" Noctum walked to Yuna's side. He was transfixed on one of the raised areas in the distance. A large dome sat behind it, reflecting light from the two moons sitting high in the planet's orange sky. "Is that like a plateau?"

"Ehh... close enough." Gene flicked his right hand dismissively. "It's got a lot to do with the composition of the raised ground. Don't need to bother with the details." He turned away from the others, yawning. "Anyway, I should head back. Have fun."

"Wait, what?" Nikki's mohawk sparked again. "You're not seriously dumping us in the middle of freaking nowhere and hightailing it!" She shot Yuna an accusatory look. "Come on, Princess, back me up here."

Yuna was about to do that when Leo hopped up onto her head. He looked at the same dome in the distance. "There." He pointed his forehoof ahead. "It's like it's speaking to me."

"Then send it to voicemail," Nikki scoffed. "The adults are talking."

Gene smirked. "See? You've got better directions than I can offer." The mewtwo's yellow-tipped tail lazily drifted back and forth. "Plus, you got two rift-makers who could portal you back to Etherium at a moment's notice."

Noctum and Yuna exchanged skeptical looks. Their portal abilities weren't that strong, were they? That would be on par with Bahamut himself!

Then again, if Eternatus can produce infinite energy from nothing, Gene might be right. Gulping, Yuna rubbed her Soul Dew. "Just... tell me what you're planning that makes you want to go back to the Qliphoth so quickly."

Gene's expression hardened. "I'm going to attack Eterna City. While I do, Cyril's going to spread the word about the rifts. And hopefully the others can figure out what happened to the people Guile Hideout supposedly abducted."

"Attacking by yourself?" Valkyrie snorted. "Sounds like an idiotic move for a so-called genius psychic ty—"

The spaceship whirred to life behind Team Bastion. Squeaking, Yuna hovered higher in the air. Leo tumbled off her head, but simply floated in front of the drakloak like nothing was wrong. By the time she turned around, the ship was already halfway through a closing rift.

"Kitty didn't say goodbye. Rude!" Leo puffed out his cheeks despite lacking a mouth.

"It's okay, Leo." Yuna pet the cosmic arceus' shoulder. "Let's go and find Alder."

To make things as simple as possible, Yuna summoned Rayquaza to carry Nikki and Valkyrie while whipping up some wind to help the group fly across the plains faster.

Dirt, gray grass, and dry brush passed below Team Bastion as they flew. The further north they went, the more ruined buildings they passed. Rusted pipes and decaying towers with dented remnants of metal structures littered the slopes and hilltops. Some were even built into the bedrock sheets that formed the mesa's raised areas.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Nikki shouted over the wind. "This place is abandoned!"

"Mayhap that is why Eternatus passed it over," Rayquaza thought aloud. "There doth be so little life here, the daemon thought it useless."

But Yuna looked ahead toward the nearest platform, squinting. "Explain that, then." She pointed ahead, where the ruined buildings had multicolored cloth on some of their outer walls. Rope ran between some buildings. Assorted fabrics flapped in the wind.

Nikki shrugged. "I guess they ditched this place so quick they never finished their laundry?"

Yuna rolled her eyes. That had to be sarcasm, right?

"Whoa!"

Rayquaza suddenly corkscrewed through the air, narrowly avoiding three purple fireballs. Yuna looked behind him, blinking.

Yes, they were purple fireballs! What was that about?

The drakloak stopped and looked down. A couple of figures stood at the edge of one of the rock structures, but Yuna couldn't make out any details. "There are people down there!"

Rayquaza was busy looking his black, serpentine body over. "Thou speaketh the obvious." He looked down. "We art under attack! A weird, purple-furred typhlosion and a samurott whose helmet is purple instead of yellow." He coiled the tip of his tail around. "Say the word and I shalt send them flying."

Nikki quirked a brow. "You can see that far? Cripes, you got like luxray vision or something?"

"A good knight always eats his carrots." Rayquaza proudly snorted some dragonfire.

"Uh, how about I deal with it?" Yuna offered, not wanting to create any unnecessary headaches when they hadn't found Alder yet. She encouraged Leo to stay back with the others and started descending.

"Watch out, Princess!"

Noctum swooped by her and blew apart a black beam with a Flamethrower. "Stop!" the black charizard shouted. "We're not your enemies!"

At least, I hope we're not. Nevertheless, Yuna pressed forward. Or down, in this case. And Rayquaza was right. There were some typhlosion in Aeon. Samurott, too. None of the typhlosion had purple back fur... or a collar of purple flames. And this samurott's armor-like shells were lavender with strips of red. His long, wavy beard and whiskers rippled in the wind.

Samurott leveled his horn at Yuna. "Not enemies, eh? There ain't no one livin' on this planet 'side me and me shipmates. So, how did a little scamp like yerself and yer cap'n end up here? And with a frightening fella like that?" He pointed a flipper skyward toward Rayquaza. The large golden anchor he wore around his neck jingled like a line of bells.

Yuna flinched. Atrocious accent aside, she had half a mind to tell Samurott she called the shots, not Noctum. But that wasn't going to accomplish anything. Honesty was the way to go. "We're here to see Alder. It's about, um, a dimensional crisis?"

"Are ye asking me or telling me?" Samurott narrowed his eyes. To Yuna's shock, there was dark energy crackling around his jagged, branch-like horn.

But then Typhlosion stepped forward and put a paw on Samurott's shoulder. "Calm yourself, Archie." He nudged the goggles over his eyes with his other hand. Curiously, they held a similar glowing stone as Archie's anchor. "It sounds to me like this child—"

"I'm not a kid. I'm a princess," Yuna growled, ectoplasmic tail rippling. A pang of self-directed guilt followed. So much for keeping her attitude in check.

Typhlosion smirked in amusement. "Quaint." He took his hand off Archie. "As I was saying, she sounds like one of the people Brother Alder met in the anomaly."

"Yer too trusting, Maxie," Archie growled, horn still trained on Yuna.

"No. I'm simply using my head for more than slashing things." Maxie shook his head disapprovingly. "Forgive my boorish compatriot's attitude. He gets feisty if he doesn't get to fight something."

Archie scowled. "We guard a monastery on an abandoned planet. Ye should be just as jumpy as me when someone be showing up outta the deep blue. Especially when one of 'em got a might cursed looking doubloon in his belly!"

Yuna offered Noctum a sympathetic look, but he wasn't bothered. In fact, the black charizard had a slight grin. Perhaps because this bickering was familiar to him. It certainly reminded Yuna of when she argued with her little siblings.

"Hey! What're you scamps smiling about?" Archie growled.

"Nothing." Noctum shook his head. "But, uh, I think it's probably best we head to the monastery. Don't you?"

Yuna nodded her agreement. "Alder was the one who told us to find him on Planet Chakran."

"He said much the same." Maxie nudged up his goggles. "Very well. Summon your overpowered taxi and we'll take you to Brother Alder."

Noctum and Yuna snickered. Neither of them would let Rayquaza know about that comment.

XxX​

Sticky didn't like having to leave his tablet unattended when in Paradox Tower. Sure, it was behind a naganadel-specific locker with stinger, voice, and claw identification, but the rebel mewtwo was a crafty one. If anyone could find a way to get access to Sticky's files, it would be him.

Nevertheless, his emperor told him to report to the tower's underground facility with absolutely no equipment, so here Sticky was. Floating in the middle of the small room with his head swiveling from security cameras connected to wall-mounted Hidden Power turrets to a giant metal vault door whose latches slowly unfastened.

The gray door slid open to reveal a red door. The red door retracted into the ground to reveal a purple door with the Eterna Empire sigil. The purple door lifted into the ceiling to reveal steel bars, which slid into the ground and left a long glass tunnel stretching ahead of Sticky.

He hovered forward. Lights clicked on underneath the naganadel. Every click echoed all around him. The lights illuminated a black, hazy abyss beneath the glass tunnel. Sticky faintly saw outlines of more turrets swiveling around. Their muzzles trained on him. They must have had aura-seeking sensors on them.

Sticky always knew Paradox Tower was a stroke of architectural brilliance, but this was on another level. The building had to go as deep underground as it rose high above Eterna City's streets.

After several minutes, Sticky finally saw the end of the tunnel. Another metal door with a red "W1-DG3T" welded into it. There were no handles or doorknobs, however. The naganadel approached the door and looked around, before he finally noticed a small doorbell painted to look like a deoxys. He gingerly pressed a claw to the dooroxys' head.

Four pleasant chimes sounded, reverberating down the glass tunnel.

With hydraulic hisses loud enough to make Sticky drift back nervously, the bunker door opened. Paradox stood on the other side.

"Good, you made it." The deoxys' right tentacles coiled into an arm. He beckoned the nagandel forward with his right hand. "Oh, W1-DG3T! Be a good boy and say hello to your father's assistant."

Father? Sticky was fairly certain that if Paradox could reproduce, he would've done it long ago. He hovered through the door cautiously, unsure what to expect.

The massive computer terminal, hive of wires, and Eterna energy tubes sitting in the center brought the poipole hive Sticky was born in to mind. What Sticky wasn't expecting was everything surrounding the terminal and the large glass pod it was connected to.

Comic books — or were they manga? — strewn all over the floor. Posters of buff pokémon like incineroar and hawlucha in brightly colored spandex, masks, and capes haphazardly stuck to the bunker's floor and circular wall. Tiny Eternavision screens showing what appeared to be old reruns of Pokémon Superfriends and Ultra Dragonite Ball. A bizarre juxtaposition, but no doubt the kind of show a kid would like.

Did that mean Paradox truly had a secret child? Who was the mother, then?

"Hello, father's assistant!"

The voice was so high and shrill it startled Sticky. He nearly shot paint out of his needles in surprise, but managed to steady himself and locate the voice's source: an honest-to-life type: full unit loafing next to a cabinet, scribbling with crayon on a piece of paper. But this type: full was littered with dark purple spines along its back and... empty torso.

Sticky couldn't keep his jaw from dropping. Type: Full's red body was glass-like and transparent. There were no organs. Or even mechanics! Only a glowing white sphere that remained suspended inside the unit's torso even as he approached the naganadel. If there was fluid inside, Sticky couldn't tell. Nothing sloshed around.

Spoiler: W1-DG3T

"I am W1-DG3T and I am going to save the universe!" the type: full chirped, his luminescent red fish tail wagging. "Oh, right." He bowed his head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Assistant. Would you like to engage in the traditional handshake? Or are you more of a 'fist bump' person?"

"I'm... good, thank you." Sticky kept his arms by his sides. He was still in disbelief.

"Oh, have we moved on to exchanging pleasantries already?" W1-DG3T's tail wagged faster. "I will update my protocols to allow for occasional skipping of formal greetings." He turned to Paradox. "I am doing quite well today. Son Golurk and his friends just defeated Golden Mewtwo! It was great! That nasty evildoer tried to destroy their home planet, but they rewound time to stop him. I will stay vigilant for any sneaky planet-busting desperation attacks from evil mewtwo!"

Sticky didn't know which of the two EV shows W1-DG3T referred to, but it wouldn't surprise him that a caricature of Gene would serve as the bad guy. Had to instill in kids from a young age that the resistance was nothing but trouble.

"That's good to hear," Paradox said, coiling his left tentacles into a hand to pat the top of W1-DG3T's navy blue beak.

"So, Father, when will I have the opportunity to bring our enemies to justice?" W1-DG3T wondered, cheek bolts glowing bright red in their purple sockets.

"That's actually why I'm here," the deoxys replied, folding his arms behind his back. "Our Benefactor's captors know all about us. And I believe they're going to mount an attempt at stopping us from freeing Him."

W1-DG3T's eyes lit up. "And you would like me to deliver justice onto their evil plans?"

"Precisely." Paradox snapped his right fingers. "I have the perfect test assignment for you, actually. But first... why don't you give Father's assistant a little demonstration?"

"Hell yeah!" W1-DG3T's tail wagged again. "I will prepare the demonstration immediately." The type: full turned and trotted toward the computer terminal. Sticky couldn't take his eye off the guy.

"Sir, I don't understand," the naganadel whispered. "I thought all type: fulls were indefinitely out of commission."

"Oh, that's still true." Paradox hung his head and shook it. "Try as my science division might, they've remained inert wastes of space since Matriarch went offline. They're collecting dust in a separate bunker."

A loud klaxon sounded. W1-DG3T stepped away from the terminal while a portion of the bunker floor opened.

"Then how do you explain this?" Sticky gestured toward the type: full.

"The culmination of agonizing research using the mew DNA I've harvested and what little information we salvaged from Valhalla before we were completely locked out," Paradox explained. "What you're looking at... is a prototype for a new, mobile Matriarch. W1-DG3T is the codename, but you could consider him the alpha build for Zodiark 2.0!"

Sticky paused for a moment, before realizing the deoxys was using Matriarch's real name. That kind of information was off limits even amongst his Paradigm lieutenants. The naganadel was honored the emperor considered him worthy of knowing it.

"I am ready!" W1-DG3T announced, hopping back from a raggedy mewtwo doll tied to a metal pole. It was covered in bite and claw marks.

"Show the move that Father taught you," Paradox instructed.

"Command acknowledged!" W1-DG3T widened his stance. "Eterna Justice Beam!"

The type: full's torso filled with blinding light. A giant purple and red beam enveloped the doll. A giant "KABLAM!" appeared within the beam.

"Uh, sir... am I seeing things or is that attack displaying an action bubble?" Sticky had his right arm held up slightly to shield his eyes from the intense light.

"Ah, yes. He is, perhaps, a bit too eager." Paradox chuckled. "But it's a harmless little thing that amuses him. Go along with it."

When the attack finally died down, there wasn't a trace of the mewtwo doll left. The pole was vaporized too. Ash and purple sparks drifted aimlessly around the room. W1-DG3T hopped about excitedly. "Hell yeah! I totally schooled him!"

"Well done, W1-DG3T." Paradox golf clapped. "Now, be a good little type: full and clean up the mess you made."

"Understood." W1-DG3T bobbed his head. "I do not deserve to fight crime if I cannot fight grime."

Then his legs and tail vanished in bursts of red and purple light, replaced by hoses that wouldn't look out of place on various vacuum cleaners. Sticky almost hid behind Paradox out of surprise. "Sir?" he squeaked.

The deoxys pat Sticky's circular gut. "Like I said... the mew DNA experiments are finally bearing fruit. A stable, shapeshifting biosynthetic framework that can interface directly with the Benefactor."

Sticky watched W1-DG3T scoot across the floor, sucking up ash and bits of metal debris. "Yes, but why did you need this?" he wondered.

"The seal on Eternatus is releasing... but my efforts to complete the broken Red Chain are stalling." Paradox shook his head, tsking loudly. "That Phantom remnant continues to vex my efforts at taking his fragment. And that's not even accounting for the ones I have no leads on." His arms uncurled into tentacles. "As much as I hate to say it, we have to acknowledge the possibility that Matriarch will remain inert even once the Benefactor is free."

Sticky gulped. "And no Matriarch means—"

"No guiding the Benefactor through the cosmos," Paradox grimly declared. He turned away from the naganadel. "Thus, I'm pursuing a backup. If W1-DG3T continues to show promise, I will iterate on him until we have operational replacements for Matriarch."

The type: full dinged like a vintage toaster. "Grime successfully collected. Proceeding to emptying phase." He turned and hovered further away from Paradox and Sticky, who frowned and clicked his claws together nervously.

"If the goal is to make Zodiark 2.0, then why does this type: full have the mind of a child?" he asked.

"Oh, Sticky, Sticky, Sticky." Paradox chuckled and shook his head like a parent watching their child make a fool of themselves. "Because your brilliant emperor learns from other's mistakes."

"I don't follow."

"The original type: full unit was an AI," Paradox said. "He developed a conscience— a twisted conscience that led him to rebel against Zodiark and lay the groundwork for the traitor, Chiron, to deactivate Matriarch in the first place."

Off in the distance, W1-DG3T connected himself to a nozzle in the wall. All the dirt he sucked up went through the nozzle.

"The type: fulls that came after it were nothing more than programmable machines," Paradox continued. "Unable to think for themselves. And, of course, completely useless after Zodiark went offline." The deoxys leaned forward. "You see where I'm going with this?"

Sticky tapped his chin. "Zodiark wasn't a machine. So, you can't expect a machine to replicate how she interfaced with the Benefactor?"

"Exactly!" Paradox's right tentacles merged into a hand whose fingers snapped. "But I can't risk my creation rebelling against me. So, I thought it better to start from scratch. An infantile, blank slate of a mind that I could cultivate precisely to my liking."

The way Paradox phrased it unsettled Sticky. But he believed in his emperor. The deoxys knew what he was doing.

W1-DG3T dinged again. He disconnected from the nozzle, then his limbs reappeared. "Clean up complete." His fish tail wagged. "What shall we do next, Father?"

"Aren't you worried about sending him out into Etherium?" Sticky whispered. "Couldn't that undo all your, um, hard work?"

"No. He's far enough along that my views are entrenched within his psyche," Paradox whispered back. He cupped his hand around his face. "That's going to be all for now, I'm afraid. Father and his assistant have a very important meeting to attend."

"Okay." W1-DG3T didn't sound bothered. "Then I will return to watching Son Golurk's battle against the evil forces of the universe!" He happily trotted back toward the EVs.

"He fully believes he's a superhero that will save the galaxy by restoring our Benefactor to His former glory," Paradox continued to Sticky in a whisper. "And besides, he's the prototype. If things go awry, I'll simply destroy him and immediately begin building the next model. I have encrypted copies of everything I've done with this project, so it will be much faster."

The deoxys turned toward the door. "Now, come along. I wasn't lying. We have some very important guests to greet."

Right, the Etherians. Sticky took one last look at W1-DG3T before following Paradox toward the bunker door, wondering what the emperor had in store for his captives.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

And it's been long enough since my last review, and got an event on TR that I need to get receipts to show within a few days, so let's get right into things and jump straight into…

Chapter 44

Also that chapter title pun is physically painful.

Entry 1041

It's a strange place. So many weird buildings made from hexagonal tiles and filled with big gears and satellites.

And the inhabitants — these Overseer people — aren't afraid of me. They keep calling me "Necrozma" and saying more of me are out there. Just not in this universe. Which implies there are other universes.

Oh, so this is an out-and-out multiverse fic. I'll need to note for the future that pre-release commentary doesn't necessarily jive with where things wind up going, since you smokescreened pretty hard for a while against this being the ultimate direction of the story. It will be interesting to see where you take it. Since multiverses can get cuh-ray-zee when taken to their logical extremes, which feels right in this story's wheelhouse.

I'm not sure how to feel about that. And after what happened on Earth, I don't know I can trust them. It could be another trick. They might want me to lower my guard so they can hurt me. Just like everyone else.

Why am I even bothering with this place? I should just leave. I can't take any more heartbreaks or betrayals.

Y'all should've penned the giant light dragon of death up while you could've. Fantastic job there, Overseers.

The spaceship was a repurposed imperial cargo transporter. All the Eterna Empire colors and emblems were still in place, but the inside had extra leather seats and a couple of mewtwo sized bunkbeds built into the rear. Valkyrie immediately grabbed one and wedged her face into the corner of the ship.

Gene: "Yeah, I should probably get around to giving this thing a makeover, but eh. Helps with keeping a cover."

After traveling through one of Gene's rifts back to the sea east of Venish, they took off. Yuna had to admit, it was mystifying watching the ground grow further and further away, until the whole of Etherium was a round sphere with its pale moon behind it.

Aw. No double moon like in FF9?

Rayquaza was on the drakloak's shoulder, protesting the "blasphemous bucket of bolts" as some sort of affront to nature. But as the trip went on, his protests died down. Reshiram, on the other hand, was unreachable. He was probably upset Yuna had to leave Jade behind with Seifer, Quetzal, and Apollo.

I... didn't get a vibe of Gallian being hostile to technology in earlier chapters, so that was a little surprising to me. I suppose violating his traditional airspace probably has something to do with why he finds it so "blasphemous".

"This mixtape's not bad." Nikki sat in the passenger seat opposite Gene, tapping her right foot on the dashboard. "Never took you for someone who likes more ambient pieces."

"Nova made this for me," Gene said, tightening his grip on the steering mechanism slightly.

... Wait, where is there any mention of music playing in all of this? Though what should I be imagining as playing in the background ATM?

"I can see that." The toxtricity grabbed the cassette case. "Lofi beats to travel the cosmos to." She smirked. "Aww, there are li'l hearts around it, too."

Oh, well that answers that. I still think that this would've been nice to see some internal commentary from Yuna about, since I'm not sure if they even have this genre of music in Aeon.

The mewtwo ripped the case out of Nikki's grip while she made a kissy face. "Knock it off," he growled.

Nikki: "Hey, could be worse, you could be playing a mixtape of 40 year old best-sellers."

Gene: "You know, I suppose it would've been pretty fitting to ape Guardians of the Galaxy's soundtracks given that we're pulling from newer MCU movies, but eh. Been undead for over a thousand years. Makes it hard to keep in touch with pop culture outside the Serpent Eating the Ground at times."

Yuna rolled her eyes. She looked down at Leo, who was napping in the drakloak's lap. Yuna absentmindedly ran a hand through his starry fur. It sent a tingle up her arm and Leo's starcloud hair and tail dimly glowed.

"Even in all my years orbiting the planet, I never saw this many stars," Rayquaza said, tiny face pressed firmly to one of the glass windows. His black tail wagged side to side. "Mayhap this is why Sir Bahamut and Lady Chiron would go off on flights together."

Oh hey, cue the BGM for those flights:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_jgIezosVA


Though, yeah. Being able to get away from the light pollution for a while would certainly do wonders to lift the spirits of a pair of interstellar wanderers.

Yuna raised a brow at that. If the two frequently flew together in outer space, then wouldn't they have been able to see Eternatus coming and prepare for it?

Unless it came through something like an Ultra Wormhole anyways. Since Natus sure showed up quickly after Bahamut's photon geyser in the special.

"Planet Chakran dead ahead."

Yuna's head snapped forward at Gene's announcement, but she tilted her head. There were four gray spheres getting closer. "Hang on. Which one's Chakran?" Her ectoplasm rippled. Leo's eyes opened and he lifted his purple and gold head up.

inb4 it's all of them collectively.

"The middle one, probably." Nikki shrugged. "It's the biggest."

Indeed, one gray sphere grew faster than the others. Much faster. Too fast, if Yuna was honest.

Whelp, guess that resolves that question. Though I wonder what the other three celestial bodies around it are.

"Wait." Noctum stood up, Malice Crystal sparking in his chest. "That looks a lot bigger than Planet Etherium!"

"Shocker." Gene waved his right hand dismissively. "Some planets are larger than others. And this one has three moons to Etherium's one."

Okay, filing those notes away for the future. Though if the planet's noticeably bigger than Etherium, doesn't that imply that Yuna and the others are about to have fun times™️ with heightened gravity?

"Whoop-de-doo." Valkyrie groaned from the back of the ship. "Why am I here, again? I said I'd stay back to take part in... whatever the hell you're planning to do in Eterna City once you've dropped everyone off."

Gene: "Bold of you to assume you've got a choice right now, Val."

Yuna: "I... am just going to pretend that that was totally normal between you two and not ask questions." .-.

"Not happening, Chompy. You and Zardy need to work through your little spat," Gene said, snickering to himself. "What better place than a monastery?"

Valkyrie: "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" >_>;
Gene: