Moonlit Forest

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa went to Shield's side, doing all she could to focus away as much blacklight as she could, and prepared to raise a Protect barrier if necessary. Things were getting fraught in here. Was there anything to achieve now except escape?

"Shield? Are ya hearin' anythin' from 'em? They tellin' you somethin'?"

Brisa's gaze darted around, ready to defend herself or her allies from any surprises. In a place like this, that could be anything.

 

[IFBench]

Gen leaped at Saltriv again, with another Assurance, this one hitting its mark. Saltriv stumbled back, tears in their eyes.

"Gen! Please!" they pleaded, but the Oshawott simply attacked them once more.

The wisps near Saltriv began to form into the shape of a Chikorita, one with a battered body and multiple tears in its leaf.

"What are you doing here with others?!" the Shadow yelled at them. "You're going to hurt them! Get away from them!"

The Shadow launched a flurry of darkened, razor-sharp leaves at Saltriv, several of which cut into the Chikorita's body.

"Run away!" the Shadow screamed.

Saltriv didn't know what to do. So much was happening, and they felt so stressed and scared and overwhelmed-

They panicked.

Saltriv used Shadow Panic

Saltriv's Shadow used Shadow Panic

Shadowy tendrils sprung forth from both of them, hitting the Oshawott, the gunman and the Empoleon, but also Shiron, Brisa, Nate, Dave, Soda, and even themselves.

There was nothing but fear in the Bayleef's eyes as the attack was launched.

 

[Namohysip]

Soda dodged out of most of them with ease, only getting nicked by a few. The illusions were quick to focus on Saltriv. "Goddammit," Soda shouted. "Idiot's a liability! Who brought the Bayleef here?!" He fished around for an Escape Orb, taking aim, before smashing it just in front of Saltriv--a pulling force was about to send the Bayleef right out.

Meanwhile, Soda readied his Badge for a proper escape, but then realized that Shield was still away from the group.

The illusions were flickering again, hostile, blasting them all with as much as they could. The chaos was overwhelming and they were starting to blend into one another. Arceus and Empoleon had become some sort of sick hybrid that put a cold pit ion Soda's stomach, like it was something unimaginable that only the forest could conjure. The gunman was stepping toward the illusory hand, preparing another volley of bullets.

But then the Charmander all took aim above and blasted the illusions with Embers. The Embers became Flame Bursts and then Fire Blasts--and in mere seconds, the whole forest was on fire. Shield marveled at it, but then looked at the Charmander that surrounded him. Several tackled him in an embrace, whispering, whimpering.

"Shield... I'm sorry..."

They squeezed tighter. The illusions were losing form.

"Destroy the Worldcore... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"God, fuck this!" Soda raised his badge in the air. "Gather up! Let's bail!"

 

[Navar]

The illusion appeared again, only to melt together with the others, still looking at Shiron, and extending its arm.

"H-Help... me... don't let... me die... again."

The Swampert backed away, feeling his heart race and his eyes dart around. That wasn't the only illusion getting messed up, and at that point, what could they even do? Soda was right. They needed to leave. Now.

"S-Shit!"

Shiron clenched his fist and ran towards Soda, getting his own badge ready to warp as soon as possible.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grabbed at Shield, meaning to force eye contact.

"Badge," she barked. "Now, Shield!"

Where was his fucking badge? Don't freak out on me, or I swear to the sky, I'll carry you out unconscious.

 

[Negrek]

There didn't seem to be much of anything around. Just more of this Blacklight stuff, wherever it was actually coming from, or if it had just, like, accumulated here as a result of that mewtwo and Giovanni hanging around so much. Nate made a quick circuit of the campsite, looking to see if there were any further trails. Had they really just come in here, sat for a while, and then left the same way they'd come in? Well, if Giovanni recovered enough, he could fly, so maybe there wouldn't be a trail anyhow. Fucking mewtwo.

Nate glanced up when Soda shouted, eyes widening as a judgment attack scorched the earth nearby. Oh, fuck. The forest was getting serious. And where was--there. Shield looked like he finally might be having some luck with the Sword apparitions. Or at least he thought he was having luck. But then Nate heard a familiar voice, finally, so maybe they hadn't. What it was saying, though...

"Oh, not this fucking kill me shit again," Nate snarled, and started to run towards shield. But then something dark and burning hit him out of nowhere, tossing him into the air. He landed hard on his back, and then suddenly everything was fucking on fire what the fuck and when his flailing had managed to right himself something lunged for him, teeth sinking into his shoulder and tossing him through the air again.

At least this time he was a little prepared for the landing, and managed to wrench himself upright before he got hit again. But he froze when he saw what was coming for him: the mightyena, head low and eyes grim.

It ain't real. None of this is real. The heat of the flames beat against him from all sides, and in the background he could hear people yelling, and was that--fucking gunshots? Nate tried to gather water to blast the mightyena away, but it stuck in his throat. He could only stare at her while she leaped. She ain't real! Of course she ain't really here! Blast the stupid thing, you fucking moron!

But in the end all he could do was duck and try to shield his face with his hands when the mightyena fell on him again, mouth open wide and darkness spilling around her teeth.

 

[Namohysip]

All the chaos and Shield was still able to keep it together, if only because Brisa had snapped him out of his initial stupor. He looked at Sword, or the Swords, and shook his head defiantly. "So, you're in the Worldcore? Fine--then I'll save you! You hear me, Sword?! I'm... not going to stand by like last time. I'm going to be there FOR you this time, and... that's what we need. They need me to save you. And I'm gonna do it... so don't forget that! Alright?"

the Charmander looked on, crestfallen, afraid. But they didn't ignore him, even as he stepped away and toward Soda, who was snatching Nate from the ground before he could get attacked more. they huddled in, a few using the residual energy from the Escape Orb, while the rest were within the Badge's radius.

"Alright!" Soda shouted. "Fuck this, fuck you, and fuck scouting missions!"

In a haze, they disappeared from Moonlit Forest and reappeared by the peaceful entrance--covered in injuries and creeping insanity. Darkwhite's whispers were fading, but they lingered for a few minutes in their heads like cognitive parasites. Was this how Buffet felt all the time...?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shook off the prickling, itching feeling of telepathy in her head. Augh.

"Fuck. Okay. Did we learn a goddamn thing in there, besides that some of us need their fuckin' heads examined? Wait, yeah—"

Shit, what had Sword said to Shield? Something about...

"Destroy the Worldcore... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"Darkwhite told Shield to destroy the Worldcore," she growled. "That ain't exactly a ray of hope. Wind an' weather an' wilderness..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Is destroying the Worldcore gonna free her?" Soda asked, looking skeptical.

"It won't free her," Shield said. "It will kill her... and possibly stabilize the world. Arceus might be able to restore things afterward, since his power is there. But... Sword..." He furrowed his brow. "I was talking to her. I got information from her, and... she's not gone. We can save her."

Maple frowned, pensive. This was balancing the life of Sword against the fate of all of Cibus. Would destroying the Worldcore, and leaving Arceus to pick up the pieces, be the right move? Or...

"We'll try to save her," Soda said to Shield, looking at the others. "Destroying the Worldcore is too dangerous, right? Let's face it, that Mew was speaking... from desperation. No way she thinks she can be saved."

"But she's never been thinking straight ever since she became corrupted," Shield replied. "I know I wasn't." He looked to the others. "I'm... coming with you. When we free her. I'm going to be there to help. If there's anyone who can get through to her..."

"I'm coming, too," Soda said. "No, I'm not saying why." He spared a glance at Dave, but that was all.

Shield nodded and looked to the others. "I'm ready to go back. I'm going to get ready. And... rest. I need to be at my best for this."

Soda glanced down the forest path; near the beach, there was a portal set up by Maple that headed back to Destiny Village. They must have finished their mission, too.

"Yeah. I'll see you there."

It was rare, but it looked like there was actually some fire in Soda's voice...

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv was nowhere to be found. Though, shadowy wisps could be seen in the distance, behind the portal.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa looked to Nate and Dave. "Find Saltriv, willya? One or both of ya, just make sure they're okay. Please."

Fucking hell. Cibus' situation was going from bad to worse. Maybe if everyone had taken the job as seriously as they ought to since the first day... If she'd just tried harder...

Quit that. Focus on solutions. The rest of the team needs to hear this shit.

Right.

Keep key info outta the goddamn badge network, sent Brisa, wincing at the incoming telepathic shitstorm she was about to experience. Telepathy only fer anythin' sensitive, y'hear?

[Brisket > Team Spectrum]: nothing useful to report at moonlit forest - just more cursed shit and some trace BL from pannetone/BLM2​

She scowled, full of spite for whoever those fucking spies were.

Right. Do not fuckin' freak out at what I'm about to tell ya. Everyone steady? Okay. Darkwhite appeared to Shield an' begged him to destroy the Worldcore. He seems pretty convinced we can save her without doin' that, mind.

 

[Negrek]

Something pulled Nate away from the mightyena's lunge, and he stared dumbly as the illusion's teeth snapped shut on nothing. But it registered, when Soda started shouting, that the bastard had gone and picked Nate up. "What the fuck? Hey! Let go!" Nate struggled, but a second later the forest disappeared in a flash of energy.

Nate manged to wrench himself free once they reappeared outside the dungeon, dropping to the ground and running back towards the entrance of the forest. But from where he stood outside, nothing was visible between the trees. An ordinary forest, after all. Same as it always had been.

Behind him, people were going on about the whole Worldcore thing, what they were going to do about Sword. Even fucking Soda sounded fired up about it, for whatever reason. "Yeah, somehow I don't love the whole 'blow up the core of the planet' idea, whether or not it means somebody's gotta die into the bargain," Nate muttered. He pressed a hand against one of the bloody stratches on his side and winced, and kept staring into the trees until he heard his name.

Saltriv, Saltriv... what? Had they not made it out with the rest of the group? Nate glanced around at the rather shaken-looking group, a couple of which were already making their way towards one of Maple's portals. How the fuck was he supposed to know--? "Saltriv? Saltriv! Where the hell are you?"

 

[Namohysip]

"The little shithead is around here somewhere," Soda muttered, scanning the shoreline. "Illusions made some of those Shadows go everywhere. Didn't wanna deal with that, so Escape Orb." Soda brushed off some invisible grime off his fur and then headed for the portal. "I'm going. Job's done. Grab Owen and use Perceive or whatever if you can't find the guy." And with that, he slipped through the portal.

Shield, meanwhile, made a cursory glance around as well, not realizing that he, too, had sustained an injury or two from that encounter. Too focused on everything else to care; it didn't impede him very much, at least...

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave stood numbly as Mia turned back around, trying to restart his brain, and didn't notice the man had aimed the gun at him until there was another bang, and something hit him like a punch in the chest, sending him staggering back. His heart thundered in his ears, thoughts flashing through his head: that he'd read sometime that being shot felt like being punched at first, that it was fine he was just going back to the Voidlands--

But nothing happened. He looked down, blinking; it hadn't even pierced his skin. Still stung, but no blood, nothing.

As he stood there, a cold, dark force knocked him back suddenly, sending him reeling off-balance. The Bayleef (Saltriv?) was going berserk. Soda threw an Escape Orb at them and they vanished. The illusions were chaotic, merging together, a dozen Charmander surrounding Shield and talking urgently but he couldn't register the words. Then Soda raised his badge, and they were back out of the forest.

People were talking about destroying the Worldcore and he couldn't focus. He reached out a paw to Mia, touching the edge of her scythe, making sure she was actually there. She turned to look at him but didn't object.

Find Saltriv, willya?

Brisa's voice cut through the static. Oh. The Bayleef was gone. They'd gone first. Where were they? He looked around. Nothing seemed real. Slowly, he lowered his head and sniffed at the ground for their trail. His heart still pounded deafeningly in his chest.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Something was coming through Diyem's telepathy about Eien saving worlds. Ugh, it was hard to concentrate on so many things at once.

Surprised y'didn't mention somethin' like that before now, chief. The fate of countless more worlds might depend on us savin' an' freein' Eien.

Dave and Nate were obliging her request, okay, good. Soda was fucking off, fair enough. Shield—

"Shield, pull yerself t'gether. What didya hear from Sword, huh? I caught th'part about destroyin' the Worldcore. Didya get anythin' else?"

Shit, she couldn't handle this and the telepathy at once.

Gonna try an' round up everyone here. Would someone get ahold the guys in the Reverse World and find out what the fuck is happenin' over there? An' keep sensitive info off the badges if y'all can help it.

 

[Namohysip]

"Shield, pull yerself t'gether. What didya hear from Sword, huh? I caught th'part about destroyin' the Worldcore. Didya get anythin' else?"

Shield growled at Brisa, looking back at the forest. "I'm more together than I've been for a while, Luxray. I know what I have to do now, and I know where to go. Sword's right there." His paw clenched. "Once the team is ready to go, I'll be right with you."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

It had been a while since anyone had addressed her as Luxio. This was the first time anyone had called her by Luxray. It felt at once empowering and diminishing.

Hmph. "Alright. We'll be in touch when we have a plan."

Shield moved to head off, and something compelled Brisa to follow. She tried to catch his eye.

"An' Shield... I ain't givin' up on Sword. I swear it."

 

[IFBench]

"Stay away!" Saltriv's voice yelled in the distance. "Don't come near me! I don't want to hurt you!"

 

[Negrek]

"Fuck's actual sake." Nate sighed. If the guy was having a moment, Nate was inclined to let him work it out for himself; the shit that had been going on in the forest was pretty damn personal. But probably he should make sure Saltriv wasn't, like, bleeding to death or some shit.

Reluctantly, Nate followed the sound of the bayleef's voice.

 

[IFBench]

Nate would find Saltriv coveted in cuts, several razor-sharp leaves embedded in them. Facing them was a Chikorita made of shadows. Both had terrified looks on their faces.

"Please! Stop!" the Bayleef pleaded to the Chikorita. Saltriv's eyes widened as they saw Nate, and they took a step towards him, only for the Shadow to launch another volley of Razor Leaves at them, knocking them back.

"You saw what happened back there!" the Shadow retorted, with Saltriv's own voice. "We hurt them! We failed them! They probably hate us now!"

The Shadowy Chikorita slapped Saltriv across the face with a dark vine. "Run away before we hurt anyone else!"

Saltriv's Shadow used Umbral Urging on Saltriv!