"Everyone get the fuck in there right now!"
So, while he heard Diyem barking, he flew toward Joule and sent the last of the lingering Sunny Orb's light as a Morning Sun toward Eien, Diyem... and Owen
"Celeste, Mother, please be okay."
His gaze locked onto Owen and he bounded towards him, shouting out as he did - "I can take your pokeball."
Focusing, he drew upon the energy needed for Moonlight, aiming it in the general direction of Diyem, Owen, and Eien.
And so many others scrambled in that one moment to do everything they could. Some of them obeyed Diyem and fled; others, for one reason or another, could not or did not. Owen tossed a prepared Shining Bestow--the strongest he'd ever conjured--toward Diyem, Eien, and Pop all at once, finding it insane that he would ever pass along his power to such gods in this way. And yet, he did, just as the world around him disappeared, and he was in a cozy little sphere carried through a portal. All the while, he hoped beyond hope that it would be enough.
Eien fired. The backfire alone knocked her head down several feet, but she endured and pressed onward. Shockwave after shockwave pummeled the land, sending anyone who remained tumbling away and into the remains of the storm and the Sea of Wonders' wastelands. Nip was caught in the blast.
--
They were in Lively Town, the nearest place that Joule was able to quickly set themselves toward. Everyone seemed startled at the sudden, portal-like arrival, especially when so many looked battered and bruised. "Wish us luck!" Joule said with a cheerful salute, and closed the portal only seconds after the shockwaves pulsed through Lively Town, destroying several nearby windows. It was brief--the portal closed right after, with Joule still in the Sea of Wonders.
An abnormal silence followed, like their bodies could not yet believe they'd exited battle. Several bystanders watched hesitantly, intimidated by the sheer, powerful auras they gave off. It was a noticeable change. Team Spectrum had always been powerful, yes, but now... there was an
aura about them that radiated outward. They could feel the pressure of their very presence. How
strong they'd become...
"Look!" Cal shouted, pointing south.
The moon was out, and it seemed distant. But it was so bright that it cut through the afternoon sky. They could see the Lunatic Cannon in its full, distant glory, seconds away from impacting Cibus. It was like doomsday. Several bystanders watched; Nutmeg and Pita flew from the Expedition Society with Mew just behind, staring in awe.
This Lunatic Cannon was different. The energies spiraling about seemed to be different kinds, twisting like a drill toward the planet. An impact like that... would it do more than scorch the archipelago? Would it do worse than that?
"Can we do...
anything?" Zacian breathed.
"We did all we could," Owen said gravely, emerging from his ball. He still couldn't move, but he wanted to see this with his eyes. His claws dug into the cobblestone, trying to rise higher, but Cal urged him to stay put.
"...Wait," Zacian said. "From the ground!"
At the edge of the horizon, a new beam emerged, this time originating from Cibus. The beam was just as large, primarily red-tinged, but spiraled with black and white flames that they knew so well. It was Eien's. Sparks of energy, ever so distant, felt like they were more invigorated than usual--as if Eien had more energy than she'd thought. Was that because of their efforts to heal? Did it... have an effect?
Eien's strike was accented with more darkness along the edges. It wasn't a balanced Blacklight attack. Those looked like Diyem's. There was an accompanying beam next to it--twin golden beams they could attribute to Maple and Joule. There were silver trails of light that weaved through the air like they had minds of their own--that was a Judgement attack.
The two beams collided. The air where they met distorted and clouds disappeared instantly, and the shockwave was continuing outward. After several more seconds, a deafening
BOOM rocked the earth, shattering weaker windows and felling weaker, drier tree branches, all the way in the Water Continent. The earth continued to shake even after the initial shock; several Pokemon lost their footing.
But the shaking... was getting weaker.
"Y-you're kidding..." Zacian stood up once she found it safe enough to.
A red haze enveloped Eien's beam. There was a roar--a defiant cry--but the way other Pokemon weren't reacting, only Team Spectrum could hear it. But they were hearing different things. While Owen heard Diyem roaring, putting more passion into this strike than perhaps anything in his existence, Cal heard a new voice. Deep, powerful, perhaps vaguely feminine, but most of all, one that filled them with untold vigor, just by hearing it. The voice of someone who would put everything they could into protection.
Seconds more passed, and there was a flash of light that obscured the beams' collision. But as it faded, and as the shaking came to an abrupt stop, they could only see one thing:
The moon, scattered into several pieces in the sky.
This stunned silence left the Lively Town natives in complete awe. There was another rumble that startled a few on Team Spectrum--but it was just their badges going off.
[Pop > Team Spectrum]: Heal pls.
Along with that message was an image of Pop, covered in scorch marks and other wounds, with a triumphant glint in his one working eye.
A portal opened. Joule, with half of his face missing, peeked through. "Hello!" he greeted, and then pushed an unconscious and badly injured--yet shielded--Weavile through, along with various pieces of a reforming Ninetales Ultra Shade. "Heal them, thank you! Ah, and then us! I cannot feel my face!"
He disappeared through the portal again, and then promptly collapsed.
