Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa huffed, taken aback.

"Well, we need to take a collective breather and stock up afore we go stormin' in, which means securin' volunteers, then comin' up with a plan. There's no sense chargin' in just to get bushwhacked. ...Not that I ain't thrilled to have ya with us, but I didn't precisely mean that. I was askin' if you were okay. Y'been spacin' out since that bastard made his appearance."

'That bastard.' Brisa knew Starr knew Giovanni, that was obvious enough even if it hadn't got out, but she hadn't dared pry. Maybe it was time.

"Y'wanna tell me where yer head's at, Starr?"

It occurred to Brisa to reach out and grip her friend's shoulder, the way Luz did to everyone. Her paw shifted, but remained on the ground.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Good, at least Brisa wasn't an idiot who'd rush into danger without a second thought. Hell, from the look she was giving Starr, it almost seemed like she was offended at the implication that she'd do that. It didn't change that much, but it was at least something.

"Y'wanna tell me where yer head's at, Starr?"

Not particularly. But any kind of interaction right now was better than nothing, so--

"This is just a lot to deal with," Starr muttered in a low voice. "I haven't figured out how to feel about it, alright."

 

[Jedi Shulk]

“Eternatus and Giovanni are our enemies and we can’t fight ourselves like we did when we first got here.” Fay said.

 

[Namohysip]

Maple stepped along, nodding to them all and sending off the ones that were leaving to rest, recover, and prepare. They really were quite tireless... "Thank you all for your continued efforts," she said, though there was significantly less confidence in her voice this time. She was saying it on routine, no matter the backdrop.

Then, a new presence made itself known, and back came a great behemoth of a dragon--no, a hydra, standing tall with three unique heads. Owen, startled, went into a battle stance on reflex, but then eased up. "Oh, you're, uh... doing well with splitting up?"

"Please don't point it out," begged Dialga's head.

The trio were still fused together, but they were split into three heads by the shoulder. Still intertwined, it seemed that Arceus was still in the process of untangling their auras.

"We heard that this place was under attack," Palkia said. "But it seems we fund out too late... But I'm glad that you're all here."

S'more seemed bothered by something and approached Maple. Before he could say anything, she said, "Someone impersonated my signal. We need to speak to Chip and Reshiram about this."

And that was all that was needed. S'more nodded. "We should not rely on these badges until we can be sure such a security breach can't happen again. Have you at least recovered Darkwhite? Where is she?"

Shield approached with a quickened pace, unable to hide his smile, though he did try to keep it suppressed. "I was--worried that things had gone badly, but if this was a false order, then did the battle go well? I'd... like to speak with her. I had this." Shield rummaged through his bag and pulled out a blue, striped scarf. "It's something she wore when we were partners. I never had the chance to give it to her, with how much she was running around Cibus and I was kept in the Guild..." He tittered, then cleared his throat. "Where is she? Tuckered out?"

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv looked down at the ground, frowning greatly. "We saved her, but...Giovanni took her once we got here."

Tears were welled up in their eyes. The words "I failed to keep her safe" were on the tip of their tongue, but they couldn't say it.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"This is just a lot to deal with. I haven't figured out how to feel about it, alright."

"I can't blame ya fer that," said Brisa, her voice softening a little. "My own head's still spinnin', if I'm honest. I haven't even had time to process..."

Ah, Starr didn't even know about the Spirit's Edge thing, did she?

"Well, y'remember what I told ya about my pa? Well, Hydreigon Buffet set up a meetin' in some kinda dreamscape and I had it out with him. Or, Dave did, mostly. I reckon the two of us could do with takin' five minutes to get some of this shit off our chests, huh? How about it?"

She smiled, acutely conscious of herself and how much she wanted Starr to say yes.

"Did the battle go well? I'd... like to speak with her. [...] Where is she? Tuckered out?"

Brisa's ears went flat back against her head and her tail dropped. She'd known this was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. She considered making herself scarce, leaving it to the chikorita to take the brunt. But no. Duty over comfort. Every time.

"Hang on a sec, Starr... I oughta break the news to the poor fella."

Brisa approached Shield, who was just processing whatever Saltriv had said. She braced herself for yet another harrowing interaction, and put on the Ranger Escarpa persona.

"Lucario Shield. There's a few things you oughta know," she said. "When Sword went to retrieve Ho-oh, Giovanni did somethin' to her to take control of her. He turned the radiance and shadow inside her into a monster meant to kill us all. But Shield, she resisted his control when we all reached out to her. We fought that horror and won, but afterwards... we couldn't stop Giovanni takin' her back."

She bowed her head, feeling her eyes prickle. That wasn't the persona. Get a grip, ranger. Get a fucking grip.

"We... We're preparin' a rescue mission. We're goin' to the Isle of Light again, in force, to take her back from Giovanni. I think you oughta be there fer that. She asked fer you, Shield. She wanted to see you, afore he took her. She needs you."

 

[Negrek]

Nate had been quiet all through the realization that Sword had been taken, the accusations and the discussion of rescue missions. Not the good kind of quiet, though. The mudkip was shaking with anger, the shadows growing dark around him. Rocky watched him nervously. He was keeping everything under wraps for now, but it wasn't like he was going to calm down. At some point he'd explode instead.

Shield showing up to ask about Sword was, apparently, the last straw.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Nate roared and stormed off, leaving oozing black footprints behind.

 

[Namohysip]

Shield's expression darkened into one of disbelieving grief the more Brisa went on. Nate's outburst startled him out of his silent trace, and he cleared his throat and said, "Y-yes. Right, you... we'll... rescue her. Right, I... So--so she's fine?" he asked dumbly. "Giovanni wouldn't... go through all that trouble, just to kill her, she's fine. She'll be fine, we just need to..."

Maple held Shield's shoulder firmly. "We'll get her back," she said.

But Shield's eyes were already losing their light. He nodded wordlessly.

And then a sudden wave of unease and nausea washed over Team Spectrum. It wasn't quite a headache, but a faintness, tunnel vision, the world closing itself into a little circle... Maple said something but it was complete gibberish. Shield shook his head and held back a sob, replying something back. Only then did they realize that Team Spectrum looked unwell.

"Is something wrong?" Maple asked, their words back to normal. "Was it another one of those... translation episodes?"

"It was," Owen said, wincing. "But that one felt worse... more like..."

...Can... you hear me...? Please...

Owen whirled around, looking skyward, as did Cal. "That wasn't just me, right?" Owen asked.

That was Diyem.

 

[Virgil134]

"H-Huh?!" Pleo squawked, beating his wings in a start. "Is that Diyem?!"

Are you alright?! Cabot's been really worried about you!

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Well, y'remember what I told ya about my pa? Well, Hydreigon Buffet set up a meetin' in some kinda dreamscape and I had it out with him. Or, Dave did, mostly. I reckon the two of us could do with takin' five minutes to get some of this shit off our chests, huh? How about it?"

God, yeah, Starr had heard that she'd been planning to take Buffet up on that offer, although Dave getting involved was news.

"Sure. Yeah. Anything's better than this shit." Ugh, that made it sound like she didn't care. Of course she wanted to hear about Brisa's dad getting chewed out, given what she knew about the bastard.

"Y-yes. Right, you... we'll... rescue her. Right, I... So--so she's fine?" he asked dumbly. "Giovanni wouldn't... go through all that trouble, just to kill her, she's fine. She'll be fine, we just need to..."

Starr still couldn't stand the sight of Shield after the bullshit he'd pulled at the Rayquaza fight, but... seeing him showing up here now, looking all pathetic... made it hard to hate him.

"He wouldn't," Starr replied emotionlessly. "Trust me. I know what he's like."

...Can... you hear me...? Please...

holy shit, DIYEM?? Yeah, I can hear you, what the hell happened?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Sure. Yeah. Anything's better than this shit."

Well, that was better than nothing. Brisa gave a grateful, somewhat heavy-hearted nod to Starr as she went to speak with Shield.

"Y-yes. Right, you... we'll... rescue her. Right, I... So--so she's fine? Giovanni wouldn't... go through all that trouble, just to kill her, she's fine. She'll be fine, we just need to..."

"Trust me. I know what he's like."

Gods, what had Starr had to deal with, back in her own world? Dreadful things, no doubt. Brisa wished her friend could share those troubles. Meanwhile, Shield, for all his former pomp and bluster, looked positively pathetic. Brisa's bleeding heart melted instantly.

"He needs her for something. She's his prize asset. We'll have a chance to get her back, never doubt it."

...Can... you hear me...? Please...

"Wind and weather. 'S'fuckin' Diyem in my goddamn head. You guys hear that too?"

Diyem! Give me yer goddamn orders sharpish, before we lose you again.

 

[Namohysip]

"Diyem?" Maple repeated, seeing that several more of Team Spectrum were looking around by reflex, even if he was definitely not nearby.

His presence felt weak, but different. Like he wasn't speaking from some faraway realm.

That could only mean...

I'm... on Cibus. I don't know where... it... it's burning me...

Where? Where are you? Any hint at all? Owen called desperately.

I don't know... I heard... voices, recently. They can't hear me. I don't know... Names. The names were... Bone... one was...

He was getting softer; he was going to cut off very soon.

 

[Virgil134]

"Wait, Bone?" Pleo asked. "Isn't that that Marowak from the Air Continent?" He paused a moment. "And... wasn't Diyem supposed to be really far away? How can he be here?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's hackles went up in the worst fucking way.

"One of two things is true. He managed to send himself, or he's been dragged here. I'll bet a fuckin' fang this is Giovanni's doin'."

If there's a way to help you, say so NOW. Now, Diyem!

 

[Namohysip]

But they never got a reply.

Diyem? Owen called. Diyem? Diyem, answer! Just a little more!

But his presence faded once again. "Can anyone understand me?" he immediately called out, and indeed, they could. The dizziness wasn't coming, either. One way or the other, Diyem lost his ability to communicate again, however briefly he had it.

"Damn..." Cal frowned, looking to the others. "Okay. He's here. That narrows things down, right?"

Owen nodded. "Maple, can you tell everyone?"

"Of course. We'll have search parties immediately."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Let's be smart about this," said Brisa. "He said it burned to be here, and he said before that he couldn't be here without the consent of the powers that be. That's Pop and Buffet, I guess? Let's check with them if they're aware of a foreign Dark Matter arrivin' that they may not know is Diyem. If he was somehow captured, then we're lookin' at the Isle of Light base or some other Team Rocket base. That means underground, judgin' by precedent."

Luz looked ecstatic. "Hey, this means I might actually get to meet the fella! I'm so curious!"

"Can it, Luz. Not the time."

 

[Virgil134]

"A Team Rocket base would make the most sense," Pleo mused. "We found Bone's bone at the Isle of Light, so we know she was inside one, and she also went missing around that time, right? Since Diyem mentioned her name, wouldn't it make sense that he's at the same place she is?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, frowning. "Yeah, that's right. It ain't hard proof, but my gut says Giovanni's siphoning Diyem's shadows fer his goddamn Eternatus experiments, and... and Joule's radiance."

The pieces were starting to look like they fit together. Goddamnit, if she just had the rest of them–

"I... I gotta get 'em free. I gotta stop this. Where–"

Her head spun. She'd failed Sword. Duty over comfort. Get a grip, ranger.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Dammit. Diyem was gone after only a single fleeting moment. Why the hell did Starr let herself think they'd caught a break. The universe just hated them.

As much as she hated to admit it, having that asshole around was... grounding, in a way. There was just a weird gap there without him. The team felt aimless somehow, even with the God Squad taking charge and organizing missions and crap. God dammit she actually wanted that fake-ass Charizard back at the head of the team, and that in itself was aggravating.

And now Brisa was going off about how Giovanni had probably captured Diyem? And already trying to sort through how to bust him out? What the hell? Literally five minutes ago she was saying they needed a breather, and here she was taking on too much shit like she always did, and--

"Alright, enough of that shit. We're dealing with that stuff later. After you've had a fucking drink. Now come on," Starr demanded, grabbing Brisa's bandana and pulling her away from the crowd.

 

[Namohysip]

The crowd was starting to disperse. Maple looked to Shield and requested that he go back to Poppin' Arms for now. S'more was already muttering about looking for ways to quickly repair the Guild so it can get back to full operations. Some of the dorms were probably shaken up or destroyed, too.

But then Maple's badge buzzed. She answered quickly, but suspiciously. "Yes?"

"This is Maple of Destiny Village?" called a familiar voice.

"Balm? What's going on?"

"There's an incident over in Treasure Town. A black meteor struck the center of the residential district. Pokemon in the meeting Shadowed instantly--Cresselia and Cepa are taking care of purification, but we think you should investigate the haze. It's still there."

"A what?" Maple looked to the others. They had just gotten off a meeting and a fight; the team was in no state to enter another one...

"I'll go," Owen said. "Anybody else?" He squeezed his fist. "This should be quick."