Ambyssin
Gotta go back. Back to the past.
“Owen, stop acting like a school child who flinches with every swear,” Bahamut harrumphed.
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"Stop acting like the edgelord too cool for school," Cal countered.
Owen tilted his head. "Doesn't he have fifteen years until he gets to that phase?"
Owen ducked, narrowly dodging an incoming meteor, though that was meaningless considering he was still intangible.
"E-everyone! That storm's getting thicker! Are we in a position to counter?!"
Owen tilted his head. "Doesn't he have fifteen years until he gets to that phase?"
Owen ducked, narrowly dodging an incoming meteor, though that was meaningless considering he was still intangible.
"E-everyone! That storm's getting thicker! Are we in a position to counter?!"
Ambyssin
Gotta go back. Back to the past.
"The desperation..." Bahamut flopped down and a meteor sailed over him. It was too clear. Too familiar. Wasn't this what he—
No, he was a reproduction. Some corrupted facsimile.
Even so, I— They were still Bahamut's memories. The desperation. The will to survive blinding all reason. Lashing out with frightening power.
Bahamut spun away from another meteor. He shot a look at Diyem. He had to understand. Accidental life. Trying to survive. That was the thread. It could be pulled, couldn't it? That was what was desired, no?
The necrozma strafed right and summoned a Shining Blade.
"You feel it don't you?" Bahamut glanced at Diyem. "You can send me a signal. Tell me where to strike."
No, he was a reproduction. Some corrupted facsimile.
Even so, I— They were still Bahamut's memories. The desperation. The will to survive blinding all reason. Lashing out with frightening power.
Bahamut spun away from another meteor. He shot a look at Diyem. He had to understand. Accidental life. Trying to survive. That was the thread. It could be pulled, couldn't it? That was what was desired, no?
The necrozma strafed right and summoned a Shining Blade.
"You feel it don't you?" Bahamut glanced at Diyem. "You can send me a signal. Tell me where to strike."
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Diyem shared a knowing glance at Bahamut, then at the others readying to strike. Yes. If they could coordinate it well enough... The Shadow leviathan charged his claws, whole body alight with the dark. "Hold one of your strikes, and I will assist once the others dispatch its outer body. That will expose the core. We will have one shot at this. Be ready."
Ambyssin
Gotta go back. Back to the past.
"Very well." Bahamut braced himself. Though, from what he could sense in the others' auras, he'd be moving several more pieces around, himself included.
Maybe I should take up chess when this is all said and done...
Maybe I should take up chess when this is all said and done...
"Fuck it up," Cal had said.
Starr glanced back and forth between Astrid and Brisa. "Fuck it up," she echoed.
Starr glanced back and forth between Astrid and Brisa. "Fuck it up," she echoed.
Flyg0n
Flygon connoisseur
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The skies themselves seemed to rumble, matching the building tone in Koa's throat. One last cry, one last hurrah, for Team Spectrum and all of Cibus. No holding back, no hunkering down. Just attacking with everything he had. For the sake of everyone he loved. Yeah, he could do that
Koa opened his jaws and howled.
"Hun Kal Zoor!"
Koa opened his jaws and howled.
"Hun Kal Zoor!"
unrepentantAuthor
A cat that writes stories.
Oh, she would. She surely fucking would.
Brisa climbed to the apex of the battlespace, and found her moment. With the blessings of two warriors so like her – Blacklight-wielders, tempered by duty and defiance, able to strike with bright intent and dark feeling – she could be a living bolt of blacklightning for as long as she needed. Whatever the cost to her body and soul. Until this thing was done.
Time and space were merely yokes. She could throw them off.
The whole team was striking well past their mortal records, and she was among them, in a dozen places at once, breaking her limits, her bones, and probably several laws of physics. The struggle to defeat the Blacklight Eternal, escalating with every step, pushing them further with every strike... It came now to a cataclysmic close. No holding back. No second-guesses. No half-hearted attempts. Brisa would fight at the very edge of impossibility. So what if her best effort fucking killed her? She had a goddamn job to do.
And she'd be lying if she said she wouldn't enjoy it.
As Brisa struck, she brought Whiplash tethers with her, lassooing the amalgamation with golden threads that crackled with energy. Soon her Blacklight would erupt from her. Not long now.
This power's only hurtin' you. I'll show you how to let it go.
Owen's power-channelling trick – she could deliver that power this way, just as Astrid and Starr had techniques of their own to carry that energy. This always was the plan, really. Their best shot.
"Owen, Astrid, Starr— Let's make history t'gether."
IFBench
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Saltriv leapt all around, dodging meteors as they shouted words of encouragement, rallying, and comfort to the entire team. All the while, energy traveled back and forth down the connection lines, boosting the team's abilities while dampening their corruption.
"THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE FINAL STRETCH! WE'RE ALMOST THERE! WE'RE GOING TO WIN! WE'LL SAVE CIBUS!" they called out, with all they had.
"FOR THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE, LET'S DO IT!"
They began readying one last Void Acceptance...just in case.
Maybe, despite everything...the Eternal Blacklight could be saved, too.
"THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE FINAL STRETCH! WE'RE ALMOST THERE! WE'RE GOING TO WIN! WE'LL SAVE CIBUS!" they called out, with all they had.
"FOR THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE, LET'S DO IT!"
They began readying one last Void Acceptance...just in case.
Maybe, despite everything...the Eternal Blacklight could be saved, too.
TheGOAT
🗿
It was all just one big mush to her—fire, lightning, ice, radiance, shadows, and all these foreign energies now. It swelled up inside her like a churning stomachache, but Radiance most of all tended to do that. She reached for more, but realized it wasn’t necessary. She had enough.
Finally. Enough of the onslaughts! Enough of the strain! Enough of Cibus in jeopardy! Once and for all, Starr, Brisa, and Owen, their catalyst—together, they would decide this now.
Starr. Brisa. Had she ever been a part of something like this before? They fought with her to the end. Only proper they’d combine their powers like this one day, and when they needed it most. This was it. As they coalesced before her, Astrid created distance…
…and readied herself.
Spacetime itself bent around her paws, which she first thought to be an illusion. A tiny blue orb oscillated between them, dense as a neutron star and representing every last bit of her spirit, every damn time she’d exploded to reach this moment and finish it.
It vibrated furiously, accelerating in intensity, and Astrid matches its ferocity with her own, forcing it smaller, demanding it to be denser, just a little longer. And it vibrated more violently, like a prisoner on the verge of breaking their lifelong chains. Like Astrid on a cloudy night, restless, escaping to the Pines to do it again, to get better, to fix herself.
She whisked away, up, up, cutting back into a high-roll, and angling down, down, right at the core as it staggered back.
“Eternal Blacklight—!”
She wasn’t slowing down.
…But then, she saw Brisa moving in, and Bahamut and Diyem from another angle, and knew they were up to something.
She held her breath and smiled. Hear their pleas.
One punch. Wound up, timed perfectly, and with the weight of a thousand hurricanes. Her body screamed everywhere at once, pulled in infinite directions and on the verge of being ripped to shreds. Her midnight sheen struggled against the tide and kept her alive, but there was always pain. And the pain right now was almost too much to bear. A brief moment of lucid clarity, or perhaps delusions of grandeur—was that a black hole cupped in her paws?
The world seemed to bend around her briefly before all went white. Gravity itself destabilized by all her body and spirit had left to give Cibus.
Well. Cibus could have all of her.
Finally. Enough of the onslaughts! Enough of the strain! Enough of Cibus in jeopardy! Once and for all, Starr, Brisa, and Owen, their catalyst—together, they would decide this now.
Starr. Brisa. Had she ever been a part of something like this before? They fought with her to the end. Only proper they’d combine their powers like this one day, and when they needed it most. This was it. As they coalesced before her, Astrid created distance…
…and readied herself.
Spacetime itself bent around her paws, which she first thought to be an illusion. A tiny blue orb oscillated between them, dense as a neutron star and representing every last bit of her spirit, every damn time she’d exploded to reach this moment and finish it.
It vibrated furiously, accelerating in intensity, and Astrid matches its ferocity with her own, forcing it smaller, demanding it to be denser, just a little longer. And it vibrated more violently, like a prisoner on the verge of breaking their lifelong chains. Like Astrid on a cloudy night, restless, escaping to the Pines to do it again, to get better, to fix herself.
She whisked away, up, up, cutting back into a high-roll, and angling down, down, right at the core as it staggered back.
“Eternal Blacklight—!”
She wasn’t slowing down.
…But then, she saw Brisa moving in, and Bahamut and Diyem from another angle, and knew they were up to something.
She held her breath and smiled. Hear their pleas.
One punch. Wound up, timed perfectly, and with the weight of a thousand hurricanes. Her body screamed everywhere at once, pulled in infinite directions and on the verge of being ripped to shreds. Her midnight sheen struggled against the tide and kept her alive, but there was always pain. And the pain right now was almost too much to bear. A brief moment of lucid clarity, or perhaps delusions of grandeur—was that a black hole cupped in her paws?
The world seemed to bend around her briefly before all went white. Gravity itself destabilized by all her body and spirit had left to give Cibus.
Well. Cibus could have all of her.
Cresselia92
Gym Leader
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Everyone from Team Spectrum could tell it — the defenses of that titanic entity had dropped. Perhaps it was still hiding some undetectable trick, but there was no way to tell at the moment.
Still a writhing cloud of nebulas, Icetales dissipated from the epicenter of the battlefield and reappeared beside the others. Blacklight and elements are ready, the entire team was ready to spring forth for the last onslaught.
And he was going to aid them in any way he could. By Chaos, if he was to!
Red horrendous energy flared up from within the center of the cosmic dust, and the Chaos Scythe appeared once more in all its daemonic glory, sparking with black electricity. And then, black fangs held onto it, as the half-daemon slowly recomposed his body, starting from the head.
Eyes closed in contemplation, he recited a few words in his mind.
…And here we are, holding our dearest belated breath close to ourselves. Many of us have fallen and raised once more, but if we are marked to fall… Bejirah, what most calamitous result would that be for all of Cibus.
…
Either we live as heroes, or we die as martyrs. Howbeit… I can assist in tipping the balance in one direction.
Icetales slammed the Chaos Scythe into the ground. The pulse of darkness blew away the cosmic mist, revealing the Cosmic Warlock in all his glorious appearance. Blacklight and Chaos were weaved around the tip of his blade, an asynchronous pulsating energy that had, somehow, reached its own twisted harmony.
He heard Saltriv shouting to save Cibus and flashed a confident smirk.
“Oh, we shall not do any less than that, Mx Saltriv!” he exclaimed back, before turning to the others.
Raising his scythe toward the sky, he channeled every single spark of empowering energy he could gather, with his quasar echoing his heartfelt and inspiriting words.
That was going to be the rally of the ages.
The Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Brisa.
“Oh, hard-working warrior, fiercer than Lord Raikou himself,
Stiffen thy sinews and jaws and claws,
And let the embodiment of the Blacklight taste the fury of a thunderstorm!”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Starr.
“The volcanic power of Lord Entei is nothing in comparison to thy blaze,
Let thy incendiary burst outward,
And be the radiant sun that shall pierce through the darkness!”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Koamaru.
“Falling thunderbolts and maelstroms, this is usually Lord Thundurus’ creed,
Bend the booming of raw thunders within thyself,
And let thy voice be heard by the lost spirit that is the embodiment of the Blacklight.”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Owen.
“Born with demon blood and plagued by thy violent urges,
We both know… that this is the time to be what we really are,
So let us be controlled by our nature one last time,
And show to that demon what other demons can do!”
Yes. He could see it clearly. The golden light shining from the depth of their bodies…
They were once more… a constellation of Hope.
“Onward, my friends!”
And the scythe glowed with a red light, then pointed at one last target — the Blacklight itself.
“For Cibus!”
Rallied by each other’s encouragement and determination, the Cosmic Warlock assaulted the entity with everything he got.
He was unstoppable.
He was relentless.
He was Chaos.
Still a writhing cloud of nebulas, Icetales dissipated from the epicenter of the battlefield and reappeared beside the others. Blacklight and elements are ready, the entire team was ready to spring forth for the last onslaught.
And he was going to aid them in any way he could. By Chaos, if he was to!
Red horrendous energy flared up from within the center of the cosmic dust, and the Chaos Scythe appeared once more in all its daemonic glory, sparking with black electricity. And then, black fangs held onto it, as the half-daemon slowly recomposed his body, starting from the head.
Eyes closed in contemplation, he recited a few words in his mind.
…And here we are, holding our dearest belated breath close to ourselves. Many of us have fallen and raised once more, but if we are marked to fall… Bejirah, what most calamitous result would that be for all of Cibus.
…
Either we live as heroes, or we die as martyrs. Howbeit… I can assist in tipping the balance in one direction.
Icetales slammed the Chaos Scythe into the ground. The pulse of darkness blew away the cosmic mist, revealing the Cosmic Warlock in all his glorious appearance. Blacklight and Chaos were weaved around the tip of his blade, an asynchronous pulsating energy that had, somehow, reached its own twisted harmony.
He heard Saltriv shouting to save Cibus and flashed a confident smirk.
“Oh, we shall not do any less than that, Mx Saltriv!” he exclaimed back, before turning to the others.
Raising his scythe toward the sky, he channeled every single spark of empowering energy he could gather, with his quasar echoing his heartfelt and inspiriting words.
That was going to be the rally of the ages.
The Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Brisa.
“Oh, hard-working warrior, fiercer than Lord Raikou himself,
Stiffen thy sinews and jaws and claws,
And let the embodiment of the Blacklight taste the fury of a thunderstorm!”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Starr.
“The volcanic power of Lord Entei is nothing in comparison to thy blaze,
Let thy incendiary burst outward,
And be the radiant sun that shall pierce through the darkness!”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Koamaru.
“Falling thunderbolts and maelstroms, this is usually Lord Thundurus’ creed,
Bend the booming of raw thunders within thyself,
And let thy voice be heard by the lost spirit that is the embodiment of the Blacklight.”
And the Cosmic Warlock pointed the blade at Owen.
“Born with demon blood and plagued by thy violent urges,
We both know… that this is the time to be what we really are,
So let us be controlled by our nature one last time,
And show to that demon what other demons can do!”
Yes. He could see it clearly. The golden light shining from the depth of their bodies…
They were once more… a constellation of Hope.
“Onward, my friends!”
And the scythe glowed with a red light, then pointed at one last target — the Blacklight itself.
“For Cibus!”
Rallied by each other’s encouragement and determination, the Cosmic Warlock assaulted the entity with everything he got.
He was unstoppable.
He was relentless.
He was Chaos.
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Fugu's paw on his shoulder somehow cleared it all away into nothing. Dave was fine, and she left him with her fucking sword, pulsating with Blacklight. Was he supposed to know how to use that? The blade whipped through the air as if to demonstrate. Okay. Sure.
Without the buzz clouding his mind, he realized he was starving. Goddamn it, Flesh.
The crackling bright Eterna Power in front of him shot a barrage of bright, delirious energy, and that ravenous hunger within him didn't want to get out of the way. It wanted to drink it all up. What. He stood there, and opened his mouth, and fucking ate nine bright blasts of it, and felt great. Better. Almost full.
Flesh, what the fuck.
It left him lightheaded, but a Renewal Seed solved that. He almost laughed. Was that fucking all? The final battle, and he'd never been farther from death in all their time in Cibus.
As if in response, another meteor shower rained down, and he ate four more of them before the aspect of Flesh within him was finally satisfied and he began to feel the strikes again.
This was easy. He was feeling better than he had at the start of the battle. And now they'd destroy this thing before it could try to counterattack.
He barked out to Nip and then charged, readying Chilly Seeds from his bag. The blade swung in front of him, eager to strike. Yeah, you'll get to fucking strike.
Without the buzz clouding his mind, he realized he was starving. Goddamn it, Flesh.
The crackling bright Eterna Power in front of him shot a barrage of bright, delirious energy, and that ravenous hunger within him didn't want to get out of the way. It wanted to drink it all up. What. He stood there, and opened his mouth, and fucking ate nine bright blasts of it, and felt great. Better. Almost full.
Flesh, what the fuck.
It left him lightheaded, but a Renewal Seed solved that. He almost laughed. Was that fucking all? The final battle, and he'd never been farther from death in all their time in Cibus.
As if in response, another meteor shower rained down, and he ate four more of them before the aspect of Flesh within him was finally satisfied and he began to feel the strikes again.
This was easy. He was feeling better than he had at the start of the battle. And now they'd destroy this thing before it could try to counterattack.
He barked out to Nip and then charged, readying Chilly Seeds from his bag. The blade swung in front of him, eager to strike. Yeah, you'll get to fucking strike.
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So came the barrage as Diyem gave the signal. He raised his claws and snapped them, forming a bolt of black lightning that rallied them all to rush in. He called upon Eien, Ionys, Xernatus, and Sword to fall back and be ready to support, but he knew it wouldn't be needed. He instead watched, silent, as his team put everything they'd built towards to use.
"It's trying to defend itself with its powers. It has run out of tricks. Take those down as they come!"
As Diyem spoke, the five powers coalesced in around its body, blocking the team from advancing. A shockwave sent what it deemed the biggest threat--the shedding powers that had been built up by that ethereal tree--and knocked them backwards.
"Gah!" Owen winced, his spirit catching Brisa, while the branches caught Starr, and Cal absorbed Astrid before ejecting her through her chest.
"Wait for an opening," Cal said. "Dad! Keep an eye out!"
Owen held his powers up, looking strained. "I'll try...!"
And just like that, strike after massive strike, every single one forming silver explosions with each divine blow, the powers that their foe and built up had disappeared instantly and completely, not even given a chance to strike back.
Owen looked to his team, and then to all of Cibus behind them in a grand, silver cloud. It all came down to this. They had better make it count.
"Eternal Blacklight," Diyem said as the Powers dissolved and it put up one final barrier, "the nightmare of your own creation, the one you think is the only way to live... will come to an end. You speak of eternal truths, that the world is filled with suffering. I believed you, once! But I also learned that the truth is only partial. Incomplete."
He snarled as Owen raised his hands with the others. The divine power of Cibus channeled around them all. Astrid, Brisa, Owen, and Starr had been given a clear way by the strikes of Koa, Bahamut, Icetales, and Dave, all while being supported by Nip, Vix, Mellow, and Saltriv. This was their team. And this was what they were capable of.
"The whole truth is that in this world, in all worlds, in one way or another--literal or symbolic--there is a force counter to ours. One of hope, defiance, and the stubborn will to live! And THAT..."
The energy reached its apex, dissolving Diyem's hand even as he raised it, but that did not stop him.
"THAT is our answer! Team Spectrum, Cibus, and all others watching... Show them our Eternal Truth!"
The opening was clear and the Blacklight let out a final, defiant roar. It put up a barrier much like the one they'd tackled when it was still hiding in its shell, but a single, opening strike from Astrid took it down instantly. The rest burst through, an overwhelming beam and mixture of silvery Eternal Blacklight energy. It screamed in fear and pain and despair and surprise... and all of Cibus roared to drown it out.
...
...
The air was split by light. Replacing the chaotic vortexes that filled every corner of the realm was a brilliant, blue sky and a grand ocean far below, the beginnings of a new world, its progenitors the Creator Gods from Cibus--all of them.
Most of Diyem was gone and blown away from the shockwave, and he had a feeling that several others had gone through a similar fate one way or the other. However, his hazy body continued to reform, and his core pulsed weakly with energy.
He made a single meaningful glance at Bahamut, nodded, and then looked toward what remained of the Blacklight.
"Even after all that..." Owen squinted. "It's... still there. Not... not moving, but..."
"Ultimately, it is still a soul. Such things are indestructible in the Overworld, and this is adjacent to it. However... we have stripped it of its power and overwhelmed it completely. This place is no longer its realm." Diyem drifted closer, then nodded at Bahamut again, holding a tendril of darkness before reaching toward a flickering core of multicolored light. "Everyone... good work. It is over."
"Then what're you doing now?" Owen asked worriedly, getting closer.
"Giving it one last chance."
The flickering, rainbow ember was small, no larger than Bahamut's eyes. That was all that was left after that fantastic display of power. And now, Diyem, reduced to a sphere, was reaching toward it with a faded tendril, while reaching several more to his team--those who had the energy left--to channel themselves through Diyem. They were going to dive into that faded soul to call out to it one last time.
So far, it seemed that only Bahamut and Diyem intended to go. They had, perhaps, only moments within its spirit to reach out to it before it may try to gather its power again, and ultimately need to be sealed away by the Overseers. After all the pain and grief and turmoil--the existential threat it had given all of Cibus--it seemed that very few were willing to reach out without at least some hesitation.
So Owen was surprised when it was Bahamut leading the charge after it was all over... Perhaps, in part, because he had withstood the blows extraordinarily well. But Owen wondered if his reasons... were deeper.
In some ways, were they not alike?
Drifting among the spirits of Cibus--many of them fading, returning to their homeworld--was that Zygarde from the Overworld. He was observing with purpose.
Ambyssin
Gotta go back. Back to the past.
“Let’s see what happens.” Bahamut grabbed the filament and stuck it against the compass like rune on the back of his head. The filament popped out of his mouth along with his core.
Bahamut pressed them both to the rainbow embers and promptly went limp.
Bahamut pressed them both to the rainbow embers and promptly went limp.
Dave looked around. They were doing the brain-diving thing again? Well, why the fuck not. They'd magically befriended every 'villain' thus far; why not the Eternal Blacklight?
He glanced at Ionys. "Want to look inside this thing's head?"
He glanced at Ionys. "Want to look inside this thing's head?"
IFBench
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Saltriv slowly stood back up, still shaking after the impact of the shockwave. They looked around in awe at the clear skies, ocean below...and a small rainbow ember where the Eternal Blacklight once was.
It was over. They had won.
"We did it!" Saltriv cheered, their tail wagging rapidly. Cibus was saved!
"We..we actually did it!" Burhalla said, staring in shock, yet a bright smile was on his face.
It was over. They had won.
"We did it!" Saltriv cheered, their tail wagging rapidly. Cibus was saved!
"We..we actually did it!" Burhalla said, staring in shock, yet a bright smile was on his face.
IFBench
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"It's over!" Saltriv answered, before running over and hugging Dill tightly with a pair of vines. "We won!"
Sudmensch
Professional Procrastinator
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His burns screamed in protest, but he didn't care. Giving the brightest smile his maw could muster with its pointy teeth, he hugged Saltriv back in a crushing embrace, lifting them off the ground as he managed out a quiet laugh of joy and relief. They'd won. Cibus was saved...
IFBench
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Saltriv gave a small laugh as they were lifted into the air, before smiling warmly at their partner.
"I love you, Dill," they said, laying their leaf on his head.
"I love you, Dill," they said, laying their leaf on his head.
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