Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Jedi Shulk]

“What can I do Owen?” Fay asked.

 

[Namohysip]

“What can I do Owen?” Fay asked.

"Uh--punch and kick things?!" Owen ran faster, looking ahead at the damage. Bahamut's strides were so much larger than his that he could barely keep up. His flame was a blazing blue, and as tempted as he was to search for where Sword was with Wishkeeper, he had a feeling that it would give away his own priorities on who to protect.

But maybe he could search around for suspicious movements from others...

They made it to the western side of town quickly, and during that time, they saw a Mewtwo flying through the air and sending a flurry of small but explosive Psychic spheres downward. It was too far away to see the expression of this one, but it had to have been Karat, right?

But then, Owen shouted something and pointed left--where another Mewtwo was flying across town, following a wave of screams.

"...What?" Soda shouted when Maple glared at him. "Don't look at me! You know my illusions don't have that kind of range!"

The screams didn't seem to be of fear, though, and someone was shouting for him to "come back."

"See, it's Karat. Wait--"

Then the other one was Giovanni.

And then, out of seemingly nowhere, a blast of Shadows struck Owen. He narrowly Protected against it, but a large, shadowy blur raced toward Owen and shattered the remainder of his barrier. There was a hint of terror in his eyes, and whatever that shadowy figure was, it moved too fast to see. Large--taller than the average human, surely, but still bipedal.

Owen was blasted into one of the walls. Wishkeeper evaporated with Owen's consciousness.

 

[Virgil134]

"O-Owen!"

Cabot stared in stunned surprise where Owen had crashed, before turning towards the shadowy figure, summoning a Radiant Barricade and bracing himself for battle.

 

[IFBench]

A heal pulse was fired over towards Owen, as Saltriv turned towards the shadowy figure. They leaf glowed with a fire-red light.

The clouds parted, and the sun began shining down, landing on Saltriv, and the determined look on their face.

 

[Namohysip]

Maple looked back only for an instant to see who it was, but she was more focused on stopping Giovanni. She conjured a blade of light and sliced the air, sending a sharp crescent his way. Predictably, the energy dissipated before it could so much as cut his arm.

Maple snarled and had to trust the others to try to stop Giovanni instead. She burst into the Guild. "Where is Shield?!"

"Ex-excuse me?" Toffee said. "Why are you here?"

"What?"

Toffee flew out of the Guild to address them while several Poppin' Arms guildmates fought off Giovanni to no avail. "S'more got an alert from you saying that things had gone badly against Ho-Oh."

"I sent no such thing!"

"Well, S'more rushed to find Palkia to do a warp, and Shield came with him. He insisted he'd be able to save Darkwhite, brought that strange scarf of his, the one made from the Tree of Life, or, um, you know, the ones that Team Gyro had."

"Then Shield, S'more, Palkia, and--"

"And the rest of your team left for Ho-Oh! After that, somehow, I don't know how, Karat broke out from his holding room, and suddenly I'm seeing double!"

Maple snarled. "We've been tricked."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut's large strides made it fairly easy for him to reach the guild. "Well? What's the story?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate ran through Destiny Village's streets, still fuming slightly with shadow and focused only on keeping up with the group. "Watch out! Keep an eye out for anybody trying to break off from the group!" he snarled at Rocky.

"I'm trying!" Rocky was looking every which way, but realistically he'd have trouble seeing much. With all the chaos, it wouldn't be hard for somebody to slip away despite vigilance on everyone else's part. There was also the fact that Rocky couldn't move all that fast. Nate wasn't exactly in top shape.

"I could, umm, carry you?" Rocky suggested.

"Fuck no!"

"But you're tired and--"

"I said fuck you, no!"

Rock skidded to a halt, crossing his arms and glaring at Nate. The mudkip was already turning, opening his mouth to yell something furious at his familiar, but Rocky cut him off. "Are you really going to risk getting left behind and missing out on everything because you were too embarrassed to let me help you?"

Nate choked on whatever he'd been about to say, caught with his mouth hanging open. After a second he said, "You--you fucker. That's not..." But he couldn't think how to finish that sentence, shrinking instinctively back from Rocky's glare.

A couple of seconds later the familiar bounded up to join the rest of the team outside the guild, a miserable mudkip clinging to one shoulder, so low on the familiar's back that he could barely peek over. Maybe if he was lucky, no one would notice.

Nate glanced between Giovanni overhead and whatever the fuck had just plastered Owen against the wall and cursed to himself. With any luck Karat would show up and distract Giovanni in a second, and they were fucked if whatever the fuck that was managed to tear through their ranks. On the other hand... fucking Giovanni. There was one thing he could maybe try.

Run into the guild if he comes after us! he thought at Rocky, while at the same time yelling, "Hey, asshole! You gonna fight or you gonna hide behind another one of your stupid shadow monsters? Afraid the mudkip's gonna beat your ass?"

Nate used taunt!

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa snarled at Giovanni, at the world, at herself. Nothing– Nothing could ever go fucking right for a goddamn minute.

"We can gripe later," said Luz, still with her confident smirk. "I'll search Owen for the core, you throw down some attacks."

"Fuckin' fine," snapped Brisa, mane crackling with light and shadow. "Be quick about it."

She dashed into the fight, eyes burning with radiance, prepared to get between any of her allies and that smug fucking sonofabitch.

 

[Namohysip]

Giovanni seemed focused on Nate for only a split-second, and he was definitely about to make some kind of retort... But then, a Psychic blast warped the air around him. He glanced left, unaffected, and weaved out of the way of a full-body tackle from Karat. Giovanni dodged several more blows, both melee and physical, and he was... disturbingly good at it, or perhaps it was just the fact that any of the grazing shots bounced right off of him.

"Fighting is below me," Giovanni said, "but I'll at least admit... it's a little thrilling. A mentality to... vacation in, and not live."

That shadowy thing, however, had appeared behind Toffee during the clash, and she shrieked in surprise.

"Out of the way!" Maple shouted, pulling Toffee forward and turning. She took the blow instead, and the haze enveloped her in seconds. She shouted in anger and struggled against its grip, slicing blindly in the haze--but afterward, Bahamut stepped in the way, yanking the creature off, and blocked any further advances. The blows were powerful and rapid--but nothing he couldn't stand up against.

This creature had fists, but was shrouded in a haze similar to Darkwhite's. But unlike her, this one made no sound, no laughs. Cold, calculated blows that delivered no emotion.

"That's enough." Giovanni blasted Karat with a Shadow Ball, and then produced another Poke Ball. The shadowy haze escaped through a window--despite efforts to pull it back in--and Giovanni fired the ball's red beam in its general direction. Something returned, and Giovanni flicked his wrist; like magic, the ball disappeared, and he stared down at them all.

"I hope now," he said, giving a firm kick at Karat, who staggered back, "you understand the pointlessness of fighting against me. If you surrender, perhaps I will repay you with positions underneath me... instead of being eliminated."

But Giovanni didn't wait for an answer. He only smirked and floated back. "Look at your god." He turned his attention to Arceus, who was glaring from the side of Destiny Tower. Filaments of light floated around him, ready to fire. "Even he is helpless to stop me. A shame, isn't it? ...But you're all stubborn, defiant heroes... Mostly." He looked at a select few of Team Spectrum. "Perhaps one day you'll know to give up. Until then... Know that this day, you lost."

In a flash of light, Giovanni disappeared, just in time to dodge that last Shadow Ball from Karat, which went careening toward Arceus, who zapped it with a single Judgement filament.

They stared one another down... But Karat raised his arms in frustrated surrender, and Arceus dissipated his Judgement.

There were far more important things to talk about.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut shook out his metal frame and checked to make sure Esper was still okay inside his satchel. The poipole had, at some point, shrunk back inside his ultra stone.

"... well now, wasn't this fun?" He turned to Maple. "So, who gets to break the bad news to Palkia and Shield?"

 

[Jedi Shulk]

"Uh--punch and kick things?!" Owen ran faster, looking ahead at the damage. Bahamut's strides were so much larger than his that he could barely keep up. His flame was a blazing blue, and as tempted as he was to search for where Sword was with Wishkeeper, he had a feeling that it would give away his own priorities on who to protect.

But maybe he could search around for suspicious movements from others...

They made it to the western side of town quickly, and during that time, they saw a Mewtwo flying through the air and sending a flurry of small but explosive Psychic spheres downward. It was too far away to see the expression of this one, but it had to have been Karat, right?

But then, Owen shouted something and pointed left--where another Mewtwo was flying across town, following a wave of screams.

"...What?" Soda shouted when Maple glared at him. "Don't look at me! You know my illusions don't have that kind of range!"

The screams didn't seem to be of fear, though, and someone was shouting for him to "come back."

"See, it's Karat. Wait--"

Then the other one was Giovanni.

And then, out of seemingly nowhere, a blast of Shadows struck Owen. He narrowly Protected against it, but a large, shadowy blur raced toward Owen and shattered the remainder of his barrier. There was a hint of terror in his eyes, and whatever that shadowy figure was, it moved too fast to see. Large--taller than the average human, surely, but still bipedal.

Owen was blasted into one of the walls. Wishkeeper evaporated with Owen's consciousness.

“Owen!” Fay ran to Owen’s side. “Owen can you hear me?”.

 

[Negrek]

"Motherfucker!" Nate dropped down from Rocky's shoulder, apparently solely so that he could kick a piece of rubble that had landed near the guild entrance. "I am so fucking tired of getting clowned on by that dickhead!"

"Calm down, it's okay, it's over," Rocky was muttering, hovering over the mudkip, hands up like he was considering picking Nate up again but hesitant to give it a try.

Nate was not calming down. "Who's here?" he said. "We missing anyone?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa paced to the middle of the battlefield, scowling up a storm at her inability to lay down Arrests or Cages on that fucking shadow-thing. What was that? The 'deoxys' Sword had spoken of? Fuck. And Giovanni was still untouchable. Fuck. She did her best to snap into that ranger headspace, but she was out of her goddamn depth and she knew it.

"Luz, take a roll-call!" she shouted to her shade. The zeraora obliged, while Brisa darted off to Corviknight Toffee.

"I trust you're alright, ma'am," she said, doing her own check for injuries. "Did I hear you sayin' you received a dubious message from someone impersonatin' Maple? Is there any way to find out who really sent that?"

 

[Namohysip]

He turned to Maple. "So, who gets to break the bad news to Palkia and Shield?"

Maple smirked a little and held her bag up. "What bad news?" she asked. "...The mole clearly didn't know what to think, because I hid Sword with myself. I gave her to nobody... I am the only one guaranteed to not be a spy, after all."

"How humble of you," Soda mumbled, limping his way inside while nursing what appeared to be a bad concussion based on how his eyes were walking. His fur looked matted and a lot duller than usual... Were his illusions not working?

“Owen!” Fay ran to Owen’s side. “Owen can you hear me?”.

"Fay... Fay, you're not gonna believe it!" Owen said in an enchanted whisper, leaning forward as others gathered around to check if he was okay. "I need... to get a gift... for Bahamut! I dreamed... he kissed me! So it must be real..."

He passed out again.

"Who's here?" he said. "We missing anyone?"

The team hastily made a headcount. All of Team Spectrum, as well as their familiars, were present. All except for... Cal.

"Did I hear you sayin' you received a dubious message from someone impersonatin' Maple? Is there any way to find out who really sent that?"

"Um, no, I--it definitely seemed to come from Maple's badge. Could someone have... impersonated her signal, somehow?" Toffee assured Brisa and Luz that she was okay, but she was still shaken up mentally. It was hard to blame her; the building walls had been completely blown away in some spots. "I'm sorry, I'm not a very technical person... You should ask Chip, or Reshiram. They invented those badges not too long ago..."

Meanwhile, Maple was shifting through her bag, pulling out the Ultra Stone near the very top of her supplies. At first, that seemed odd, as Maple was sure during the chaos it would have gone to the bottom with how dense it was... Still, she held it up. "Sword?"

It occurred to Maple that this stone wasn't the right color. Or rather, it was the normal color--which Sword wasn't.

"Ugh, my head... Do I even really have a head...?"

Cal emerged from the stone in Maple's hand, looking hazy and wobbly.

In her shock, Maple dropped Cal to the ground, where she splattered with an annoyed grunt.

 

[Virgil134]

"H-Huh?! If that's Cal, then where is Sword?!" Pleo exclaimed, looking around for any sign of her.

"Did... that shadowy creature take her when it attacked you?" Cabot asked Maple.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa gave Toffee her thanks and a reassuring nod, then prowled up to Maple with her jaw hard.

"Yer fella with the illusions," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Could he have duped you with sleight of hand? Or have used yer badge to send a false message? I'd bet my fuckin' tail it's him we're after."

Luz, still smiling despite their immediate loss of Sword, jogged up alongside. "Looks like we still got everyone! Except Sword, of course."

Brisa shot her a glare, but Luz kept beaming.

"Hey, we'll get her back!" said the zeraora, sanguine as ever. "We saw that hazy entity hit Blade, and it coulda stolen Sword at the time. Not sure why it woulda left Cal in her place, but it hit Owen so it woulda had the opportunity to pick up Cal then. Besides that, we have a much more limited list of candidates to be a mole, now. We have a timeframe fer the theft of Sword's core, and a list of folks who were around at the time, not all of whom coulda sent that message or reported to Giovanni unnoticed. If we assume it weren't Blade who made a secret trade of Sword fer the release of Joule, then there ain't many other folks it coulda been!"

Brisa's glare turned into a shocked grimace. She half expected Blade to vaporise Luz for the implied accusation, but Luz just grinned, all teeth, all confidence. Somehow, being indefatigable seemed wrong rather than enviable, right now.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"...The mole clearly didn't know what to think, because I hid Sword with myself. I gave her to nobody... I am the only one guaranteed to not be a spy, after all."

Celeste groaned. "Are you kidding me? You gave it to yourself? Brilliant. You did the single most obvious, predictable thing possible, and in doing so, you undermined the entire purpose of the randomness. I bet he didn't even need to be told who had the stone: You're the first one I'd have checked, too."

 

[Ambyssin]

The absol spoke the truth. Bahamut had even thought as much at first. Now there really was bad news to pass along. "So, in the end, it's now all but certain another eternatus larva will spawn from her. Or, perhaps, she will be made something even more dangerous. And on top of that, innocent people were injured because of an attack here that, had we not burnt time in the battle on an effort that was ultimately rendered futile, we might have been able to prevent."

Bahamut approached the goopy puddle that was Cal. "And now one has to wonder what this all means for these shades and the ultra stones they inhabit. Will they spawn eternatus larvae as well? If so, that makes them potential liabilities. Ticking time bombs."

 

[Jedi Shulk]

"I need... to get a gift... for Bahamut! I dreamed... he kissed me! So it must be real..."

Fay give a awkward stare at Owen.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"So, in the end, it's now all but certain another eternatus larva will spawn from her. Or, perhaps, she will be made something even more dangerous. And on top of that, innocent people were injured because of an attack here that, had we not burnt time in the battle on an effort that was ultimately rendered futile, we might have been able to prevent. And now one has to wonder what this all means for these shades and the ultra stones they inhabit. Will they spawn eternatus larvae as well? If so, that makes them potential liabilities. Ticking time bombs."

Brisa rounded on Bahamut, hackles raised, about to give him hell, when Luz stepped in front of her and spoke first.

"Fascinatin' theory ya got there! I see the reason in it fer sure. It tracks with this Giovanni fella's way of doin' things, too! He sets others up to do his busywork by disguisin' it as necessary on our part. We never did find out where Ultra Stones came from, and we know he can manufacture or requisition advanced technologies. Could well be I'm due to become Eterna Luz given enough time!"

"Don't be absurd!" hissed Brisa. "Sword absorbed the corruption of a dozen Legendaries afore she turned into that thing! How can y'all be in danger of that?"

Luz grinned, and put her head on one side. "Ain't it obvious? We're constantly bein' exposed to corruption. Your corruption. Team Spectrum uses Radiance and Shadow every battle we fight. If shades absorb that corruption just by bein' nearby..."

Brisa snarled, her mane sparking. "Then we purify you! It's our duty to try to save every life we can." She shot a burning glare at Bahamut. "We don't get rid of folks just 'cause they might be a danger. That's the kinda shit what makes you a goddamn danger."