Chapter 110: Are You Eternatus Entertained?
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Chapter 110: Are You Eternatus Entertained?
Noctum walked his empty plate and silverware across the hotel suite toward the kitchenette. Scarlett was already coiled beside the open dishwasher, tapping the beaded end of her tail against it.
"So, things are going okay so far?" the dragonair asked.
"I guess?" Noctum handed her his plate, followed by his silverware. "The opponents we fought were, uh, not exactly difficult. One of them scored a direct hit with a Rock Slide and I... barely felt a thing." He poked his right shoulder, where the attack had hit. It wasn't even sore.
"Even Eternatus Troopers are tougher than 'em."
The cosmic charizard's tail flame shrank as he caught Valkyrie out of the corner of his eye. Even during something as simple as dinner, the garchomp kept getting the drop on him.
"I guess it isn't that surprising," Valkyrie continued, voice slightly muffled as she picked a piece of meat out of her teeth with a claw. "The toughest 'mon in Radiance all work for yakuza."
"With a few exceptions," Noctum butted in. He laughed nervously when Valkyrie squinted at him, then quickly tried to save face by asking, "I have always wondered why that seems to be the case, though. Back home, everyone had to train so they could be ready to use Cosmic Blessing to ward off distortion."
"Which would, I suppose, be true for the Radiant Guard."
Artemis slithered his way between Noctum and Valkyrie. The cosmic milotic handed his plate and fork to Scarlett with a starcloud ribbon. "But Vortex's company makes a lot of stuff that encourages lazier lifestyles." He turned and gestured to the PV screen on the wall far behind them.
"Most pokémon have no reason to train or battle." Valkyrie walked around the kitchenette's counter, resting her right claw on the marble. "Which leaves them weak. And generations of that weakness have compounded on one another."
She paused. "Or, at least, that's what Sakaki claims."
"Well, it's not just him."
Igneous was the last to walk his dinner plate over. He placed it on the counter and slid it across, where Scarlett could grab it in her mouth. Shimmer and Starlene lingered behind him. The former lacked a plate, but he'd apparently eaten while watching the tournament on PV.
The grovlazzle drummed his claws on the counter. "He claims he got that from his father who got it from his father and so on." Igneous lazily twirled his other hand around.
"What about the Medicis?" Noctum tapped his chin in thought. "They're yakuza, so—"
Valkyrie snorted out blue-purple embers. "Buncha shortcut-taking, drug-abusing assholes."
"Drugs?" The cosmic charizard raised a brow.
"They make 'medicine' that turns you stronger," Valkyrie scoffed, making air quotes with her claws.
"Part of the Ryujin's business involves stealing the drugs and reconstituting them into stuff that will actually heal someone," Igneous added. "But they work faster than we can intervene."
"Right." Noctum looked at the kitchenette's black tile floor. Did any of that really matter anymore when they were all involved in a much bigger fight?
Igneous must've picked up that from Noctum's expression. The grovlazzle turned around, leaning back against the counter. "I guess none of that's important, though. We're here for Xander."
He glanced at Shimmer. "How you holding up, by the way? Jackass wouldn't shut up over the stadium speakers, so I imagine the PV feed wasn't much better."
The ponytales' ears folded. "I'm... hanging in there." He slowly paced across the carpeted floor on the other side of the kitchenette counter. "He's made me out to be this... slutty bimbo. If this broadcast really is getting a lot of attention, then I don't know what's going to happen when this is all over."
An uneasy silence followed. Noctum wasn't sure he knew Shimmer well enough to offer any support. Even if Yuna were in the same spot, he'd struggle to come up with anything.
Although there was a different angle to it.
"I think... a lot of us are in the same boat," the cosmic charizard offered. He sucked in a sharp breath. "It'll be hard to go back to the way things were, knowing everything that we do."
Valkyrie smirked. "Hell of an understatement, Palkia."
The nebulas in Noctum's belly swirled around.
Igneous pushed himself off the counter. "What he's getting at is that everyone's lives have gotten upended. If we're able to stop Paradox and Zodiark, then we're going to need a lot of time to figure out what's next." He looked at Shimmer. "But it's not something you have to deal with by yourself."
"Look at that!" Starlene hovered between the grovlazzle and ponytales, beaming. "Mr. 'I don't need anyone but me' is embracing the power of friendship!"
She comically shed a nonexistent tear. "It makes a latias so proud."
Igneous' head leaf caught fire. "Do you mind?"
Sighing, Scarlett recalled Starlene to her neck bauble. "Sorry. I think she gets a bit more obnoxious when I'm tired."
"It's barely evening." Artemis turned to the window on the opposite side of the suite from the kitchenette. Even with the blinds down, there was some orange sunlight seeping in.
"She was, um, singing some soothing songs for me earlier," Shimmer admitted, rubbing his forelegs together nervously. "To help me not panic while Xander was going on a tirade about me."
"Ah." The cosmic milotic's eyebrows curled up. "That'd do it, I guess." He stretched out his ribbons. "Well, I'm going to wash up. Dibs on the master bath." Artemis slithered away before anyone could protest.
Igneous lazily walked around the kitchenette counter. "I'll give Scarlett a hand cleaning up."
"Uh, same." Shimmer propped himself up against the counter. "Don't, y'know, want to be a bad guest or anything."
Noctum looked at Valkyrie. The garchomp turned around. "Guess I'll use the other bathroom to shower."
"Oh, uh..." Noctum looked at the layer of dirt caking his starry belly. "I was kinda hoping to go first..."
Valkyrie stopped mid-step and took one look at him. "All right. Fine. But clog up the drain with all that dirt and I'll kill you."
"Aha ha... very funny." The cosmic charizard lumbered past Valkyrie, trying to keep a confident grin on his face.
She stopped him, however. The garchomp grabbed his right arm and dragged Noctum into the smaller bathroom.
"Wha— hey!" Noctum looked around in a panic. "I, uh, don't think this shower was built for us to share."
Valkyrie glared at him. Noctum stared back blankly.
"Was it something I said?"
She smacked the bathroom door closed with her tail, sighing. "I'm not even going to entertain that. I pulled you aside to talk." Valkyrie bit her lip. "Briefly."
"Oh." Noctum knew there were better places for that than the bathroom, but if he voiced that thought he'd probably get another scaly knee to his groin.
Valkyrie finally let go of him and pivoted to her right. "I know you think there was something off about me today."
"Hmm?"
"You saw my arms shaking when I heard Gus over the stadium speakers," the garchomp said, squeezing her eyes shut. "And I kept looking over to the broadcast booth."
Now that she mentioned it, Noctum had noticed that. He figured Gene put her up to it or something. But the way she was describing it said otherwise.
"I take it this Gus guy's the reason?" the cosmic charizard said.
Valkyrie nodded. Eyes still shut, she took several deep breaths.
"He's the one."
"Hmm?"
"Gus was the guy who sold me out," she whispered. A purple tinge took over her claws and fangs. "He's the reason I got locked up in Citadark."
Noctum's tail flame shrank. "Oh," was all he could manage.
"He wasn't always so sleazy," Valkyrie continued. "Gus took much better care of himself when I was younger. Carried himself a certain way. Made me think I could trust him."
She opened her eyes. Her usual fiery glare was back. "As much as I want him six feet under, I'm not about to jeopardize this assignment."
Valkyrie's gaze dropped to the floor. "But I... wanted you to know. B-Because I trust you... to keep me grounded in the worst-case scenario."
Noctum's head throbbed.
Irida stood at the edge of the lake, her gaze shifting between Noctum and Akari.
"Listen." She put her hand to her chest. "I... I want to battle mighty Palkia!"
Noctum's wings folded. Was she out of her mind? He could down Glaceon with a single Spacial Rend. He was sure of it!
"I want to prove to myself that when the Pearl Clan worshiped mighty Palkia, thinking it was almighty Sinnoh...our belief, at least, was real!"
She looked out over the lake. "You told me... that battling is how people and pokémon can start to understand one another, yes?"
Akari glanced at Noctum. He nodded. She'd told him and his siblings that on more than one occasion.
"Then I wish to understand you and mighty Palkia better," Irida said, a fierce determination in her eyes. "Even if our gap in strength is wide, I trust you and Palkia to handle this."
"—tum? Noctum, you there?"
Valkyrie jabbed the cosmic charizard's belly with her elbow.
"Ah, yes. Sorry, I—"
The garchomp scowled. "Were you listening to me?"
Noctum vigorously nodded. "I was. And I'm... glad you trust me enough to bring this up." He offered her an arm. "I'll keep it in mind, though I think you're strong enough to handle yourself."
They gazed silently at one another for a bit. Then Valkyrie whispered, "Thanks."
She silently opened the bathroom door and stepped through it, shutting it behind her.
Warmth rising in his chest, Noctum opened the glass shower door and turned the water on.
XxX
"Time to keep the #Destructapalooza train chugging!"
Noctum stood at the edge of one of the tunnels leading out into the arena. A concerningly buff decidueye with a red holowear hoodie had told him and the others to wait until Xander announced the team before heading out. It was the same deal as yesterday.
He tuned out the other team's introduction, instead focusing on a gyarados flying in with three mantine flanking her.
"Tch. You guys'll have to pick up the slack for me."
Igneous approached Noctum's side, arms crossed. The grovlazzle eyed the gyarados nervously.
"It shouldn't be that bad, right?" Noctum said.
"Hope so."
"And in the blue corner, we got the reptilian fearsome foursome, #TeamScalebound!" Xander declared.
Artemis pushed past Noctum and Igneous to lead the quartet out into the stadium. The battlefield had pools of water surrounded by fake grass. Clearly, it was playing to their opponents' advantage. Valkyrie was looking around at the fake palm trees, trying to scout out a potential sniping spot.
The audience, at least, offered a smattering of applause. So their performance yesterday had won some folks over.
"Could be worse," Artemis said. The cosmic milotic came to a stop at the edge of one of the pools. "He could be actively heckling us. Trying to turn the crowd against us and all that."
"All right. Looks like the combatants are set," Xander said. "Which means it's time for a—"
Instead of the siren their previous day's matches started with, loud bells echoed through the stadium.
"Up there!" Valkyrie pointed a claw skyward. A blinding blue flash gave way to a large robotic corviknight that hovered high in the air, near the top of the stadium.
Noctum flinched as the speakers squeaked and crackled. Whatever Xander was trying to announce became garbled up and a familiar voice soon replaced him.
"Haaa ha ha ha ha! Bonjour, my precious little scallywags!"
Igneous backed away from the others, cupping his claws around his eyes. "Who's saying that? Did someone hijack the stadium speakers?"
Valkyrie's shoulders sagged. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
A small, bird-shaped drone dislodged from one of the corviknight robot's giant wings. It descended toward the ground, carrying a familiar chatot who held some sort of strange rectangular device in his wings.
"Mademoiselle Chomp!" Gilbert fluttered his eyelids at Valkyrie. "What a delightful little surprise to find you here."
After a beat, he added. "I say, knowing zere is no surprise, because Chatot Gilbert, first mate extraordinaire, already knew you were here!"
"Oi, what's the big idea?!" Gyarados roared. "Clear on out, ya little freak!"
Gilbert shook his head, sighing. He raised his right wing. More drones dislodged from the corviknight robot's wings. They rained Thunderbolts down on Gyarados and her mantine flunkies from above.
"I spit upon your rudeness," Gilbert scoffed. "Zis is between ze silly little rebels et moi." He gestured to the quartet.
The startled gasps and mutters from the crowd grew louder. Several were asking what Gilbert meant by that.
Igneous spewed a Flamethrower at the chatot. Squawking, he steered his drone out of the way.
"Asshole's blowing our cover," the grovlazzle snarled. "Let's get rid of him."
"Sacre bleu! So quick to ze persecution!" Gilbert raised his wings innocently. "But I am simply dropping by to give you all ze thanking."
"The hell you talking about?" Embers crackled on Igneous' back. He looked ready to spawn his volcarona wings. But no one on the team had used any of their crazy powers yet.
Noctum glanced toward the commentator's booth. He could barely make out Gus screaming something at Xander, but the sylveon was watching all this with an amused expression.
"For keeping ze meatheads preoccupied, of course!" Gilbert said, adjusting his eyepatch. "What did you call zem, again? Medisees?"
Valkyrie crouched into a fighting stance. "Why are you getting mixed up with them?"
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
One of the corviknight bot's drones dropped a screaming nickit from the air. He landed with a soft thud in the turf between two pools. Seconds later, a greedent and grapploct landed on top of him. Electric burns covered them from head to toe.
Gilbert beamed. "To raid zere stupid homebase, of course! We found ze treasured trove! All thanks to your distractions!"
Igneous and Valkyrie's jaws slackened. Noctum looked up again and saw the perrserker gesturing wildly in the commentator's booth. Xander was laughing and apparently filming the guy with one of those uPhones.
"I was hoping for more of ze drama and emotions, personally, but ze beggars cannot be ze choosers," Gilbert continued, shrugging. His drone zipped him left to dodge a Dragon Pulse from Valkyrie. "Like ze prince storming in to beg his lover to reconsider. He is in ze city, oui?"
That got Xander's attention up in the commentator's box. The crowd's muttering continued. And Noctum heard shouts in the tunnels. Were Medici goons about to swarm the stadium? They'd never reach Gilbert, but they could certainly cause problems for Noctum and the others.
This was bad. But Gilbert was focused on Igneous and Valkyrie.
Noctum tore open a rift and spewed bright blue fire into it. The rift's other side opened by the corviknight robot's head. It was far too large to avoid the Flamethrower. It wobbled in midair, the red lights along its mechanical wings flickering erratically.
Squawking in surprise, Gilbert's drone carried him higher into the air. "What do you think you are doing? Leave Iron Wings Willie alone!"
Noctum let his flames do the talking, spewing another blue Flamethrower across Willie's back. Its altitude dropped further.
"I will not stand for zis insulting!" The chatot's feathers puffed up, though it hardly made him look intimidating. "Willie, make with ze attacking!"
Willie's wings glowed bright red. All the mechanical feathers dislodged into drones similar to the one Gilbert rode. Some immediately fired Air Slash crescents at Noctum, while others carried pirates that took off toward the ground.
The cosmic charizard quickly found himself scrambling in midair. He rolled left past one set of Air Slashes, then right to dodge another. Then he flapped his wings and made it over a third before a fourth smacked his nebula belly and propelled him away.
Now the crowd was screaming instead of muttering. Though Noctum didn't hear the trampling of footsteps to suggest people were running for the exits.
Noctum got his bearings just in time to see more Air Slash crescents heading toward him from the drones. Willie opened its beak and a large cyclone raced toward Noctum. There was no way he could dodge this stuff just by flying.
Wait!
He dropped from the air, opening a rift underneath him. Noctum reappeared behind Willie and doused its backside in blue flames. Sparks raced along its torso. Noctum was already strafing left through the air, which took him away from the retaliatory Air Slash crescents the drones unleashed.
"Non! Left! He's going left!" Gilbert squawked. Noctum had no idea where the chatot was anymore. His hijacking of the stadium speakers had his voice coming from all directions.
Half a dozen drones attempted to surround Noctum, but he flew up into a rift and reappeared between Willie's legs. He turned and spewed a Flamethrower at the robo-corviknight's right leg. Willie tried to kick the cosmic charizard with his left leg, but Noctum dove under its tail feathers, then immediately swooped back up. He caught a glimpse of Artemis and Valkyrie exchanging blasts with a few drone-mounted galvantula.
Noctum spat a couple of fireballs at them, only to jolt as electricity struck his horns from above. His wings stiffened for a moment and three other drones seized the opportunity to shock him from behind. One of the water pools quickly rushed up to meet him.
He couldn't loosen up his wings enough in time. Noctum splashed down, grunting from the force of striking the water.
Instincts initially told him to resurface. His tail flame was going to go out if he wasn't quick, after all! But after a couple of seconds, he realized the starry tail flame was perfectly fine. And surfacing was what Gilbert no doubt expected. Noctum saw blurry drone silhouettes crackling with electricity.
Instead, Noctum opened up another rift. Water poured out along with him, dousing five drones from above. They collided with one another and exploded in bursts of gray smoke.
"Zat is cheating!" Gilbert fumed through the speakers.
"#DealWithIt, dweeb!"
Noctum stiffened. He glanced at the commentator's booth on his right and saw a familiar sylveon in a pink lace dress standing atop it, brandishing a uphone... styled to look just like him, outfit and all.
"You think you're being disruptive? Ha!" Xander pulled down his right eyelid and stuck out his tongue. "We've gone #viral, bitches! #RebelRunts and #PitifulPirates are at the top of Chatter's trending page! The #XanFam's already spent three million eternabucks betting on this, too!"
"Why you— fire all ze things! I want zat charizard sauteed and served with fresh lemon glaze!"
Sizzling in the air sent Noctum flying to his right. He barely avoided a mix of Thunderbolts and Air Slashes. He turned around to see Willie sending another cyclone at him. Noctum dove into a rift and reappeared between Willie's legs again. Only this time, there were two drones ready and waiting.
He threw up a Protect shield to eat the Air Slashes, while drifting toward the robo-corviknight's damaged right leg. C'mon...
"Zere! Fire! FIIIIIIIRE!"
Noctum smirked as the drone took the bait, launching a Thunderbolt at him... and, by extension, Willie's leg.
The Thunderbolt struck the leg, blowing it clean off. Noctum endured a flurry of metal shrapnel slicing at his arms and torso in order to shoot a brilliant blue Flamethrower into the newly made hole in Willie's body.
"Noctum, look out!"
At Valkyrie's cry, Noctum folded his wings and fell into a rift. When he reappeared higher in the air, he saw Willie losing altitude below him. Its red lights were struggling to stay on. His teammates had destroyed most of the drones that went after them and were chasing after a couple of arcanine and manectric pirates frantically trying to escape.
"Aw, snaps! Looks like the #RebelRunts have got the #PitifulPirates on the ropes!" Xander said between bouts of laughter. "Who could've seen this coming? Oh, wait, eighty-five percent of the audience predicted the #RebelRunts winning. My #XanFam's full of #SmartCookies!"
"Ohhhh, poor Willie!" Gilbert's drone hovered toward the failing robo-corviknight. "Look at how zey have massacred you!" He brought his wing up by his head like he was about to dramatically faint. "What a horrible tragedy zat we must blow you up while our insurance eats ze expenses!"
Noctum's mouth flames shrank. "Wait, what?!"
The sole remaining drones carried the battered arcanine and manectric up to the chatot. "Are ye sure?" Arcanine asked.
"Ouuuuiiiiii!" Gilbert proclaimed, his voice growing quieter as his drone rapidly ferried him away from the stadium.
"Stop them!" Valkyrie shouted from the ground. Noctum realized she was yelling at him, but by the time he'd gathered a Dragon Pulse in his mouth, Willie dropped from the air, its body glowing bright orange. Igneous was flying away with his volcarona wings, dragging Artemis along with him. Valkyrie sprinted for the nearest tunnel. And the audience was finally running for the exits.
Willie hit the water and surrounding turf. The initial burst of heat and napalm vaporized the water instantly. But a pink, misty dome covered in sparkling hearts suddenly surrounded Willie, containing the chain of explosions. Noctum hovered high in the air, watching Willie crumble and melt into slag and metallic debris. Once the orange flashes faded, the pink dome disappeared.
"What did I tell ya, #XanFam?" Xander declared, striding confidently atop the commentator's booth. "I had this thing on lock. Can I get some EZ Claps in the chat?"
The crowd — or what was left of them — was... applauding? And the sylveon was basking in it, waving with two ribbons and blowing kisses with another!
Noctum's head pounded. Xander's shenanigans were bad enough, but the pirates' presence raised uncomfortable questions. They could make rifts... and had giant robots like what the emperor was making? Not to mention they seemed to have knowledge about the anomalies and other issues plaguing the world.
Just who were these guys? What sort of resources did Captain Blackskull have?
"Xander, please stop this!"
A nasally, pleading whinny snapped Noctum out of his thoughts. The cosmic charizard spotted a ponytales galloping into the arena with a dragonair and toxtricity hot on his tail.
Noctum quickly dove down. Over to the right, Valkyrie had stopped dragging around Medici goons to whirl on the three newcomers.
"What part of don't leave the hotel didn't register?!" the garchomp growled.
Shimmer clumsily hopped up on some of the non-burning remains of the robo-corviknight. "Listen to me, Xander! I don't care if you don't actually like me and only used me for clout! But this has gone too far!"
He stomped a forehoof down, only to wince when the rubble he was standing on threatened to crumble underneath him. To save face, Shimmer quickly continued, "You're putting innocent lives at risk!" He looked down. "I may be a lousy asshole, but even at my worst I didn't want to hurt anyone!"
"L-O-freaking-L!" Xander's laughter carried through his uphone. Enough so that some of the crowd joined him in laughing at Shimmer. The ponytales started to shrink back, only to freeze when he realized his rear hoof had no ground to stand on.
"Maybe your #FaceTurn suckered those #RebelRunts, but #YaBoiXander sees it for what it is," the sylveon said. "#FakeAF. Cuz everything about you is F-A-K-E, fake, fake, FAKE! At least #YaBoiXander knows when to jump ship to the winning side. You're such a loser you've gone from being #CrownPrinceOfLoserville to #RebelRuntChump!"
Noctum had heard enough. If Xander wasn't going to do anything besides blow hot air, then it was time for him to act. Just like with Gilbert. All he had to do was open a rift and—
Wait.
The cosmic charizard's tail flame shrank. Why couldn't he open a rift to the commentator's booth? They were working just fine for him earlier! Paradigm lieutenants couldn't stop his rift. At least, Noctum didn't think they could. The only one who he recalled having that effect... was Xeromus.
Noctum looked around in a panic. The stadium seats weren't exactly packed. It should've been easy to pick Xeromus out, even in a crowd. But he got nothing.
"You know what I think, Xander? You're projecting!"
Igneous buzzed underneath Noctum, over to Shimmer's side atop the pile of rubble.
"You're calling him a fake loser because that's what you are!" The grovlazzle pointed an accusatory claw. Noctum flew left to scan the other half of the stadium. "All you care about is people watching you and showering you with undeserved praise about how amazing you are for doing jack shit! You're a textbook worthless narcissistic asshole! I bet the emperor treats you like the joke you are!"
No signs of Xeromus anywhere. Noctum tried opening a rift again and it didn't work.
He looked to the sky. Nothing. Then he looked at the ground. Scarlett was nervously watching Igneous and Shimmer while Nikki showered Nickit, Greedent, and Grapploct in electric sparks to paralyze them so Valkyrie could roll them toward the arena's south tunnel.
What was he missing? Why didn't his rifts work?
Ah, forget it. If Noctum couldn't get the jump on Xander with rifts, then he could still go with good old fashioned brute fo—
A loud blast rang out to Noctum's right. He turned to the commentator's box to find it a smoking, smoldering mess with the nearest crowd members practically climbing over themselves to get away.
"Gotcha!"
Igneous barely managed to lift Shimmer up by several of his tails and carry him away seconds before a large, brown and gray bear slammed into the pile of rubble from above. She locked eyes with Noctum briefly. Roaring, a red, moon-like sphere appeared over her head.
Next thing Noctum knew, he was staring down a large red beam! The cosmic charizard rolled right, but misjudged just how wide it was. It grazed his left wing. Searing pain forced Noctum into a rough landing that sent him rolling across dirt and burnt grass.
The stadium speakers crackled back to life, despite the commentator's booth being reduced to burning slag like some of the rubble piles littering the stadium.
"#AdBreak's over, #XanFam!" Xander gleefully proclaimed. "Now that #YaBoiXander's whet your appetite with some surprise pirate shenanigans, it's time to give you all something to really sink your teeth into!"
Rough, scaly arms pulled Noctum back up.
"Look alive. I think we found out what happened to that missing ursaluna."
Valkyrie nudged his head back toward the rubble piles in the middle of the arena. Ursaluna roared once again. This time, though, Noctum spotted someone sitting on her shoulder.
... A certain plump perrserker.
"You really thought you could pull the wool over Big Gus' eyes? Ha!"
Gus pointed an accusatory claw at Valkyrie. "Y'know, there was always a rumor dat li'l ol' Prisma done escaped Citadark. Never gave it da time of day. But dat look in your eyes... oh-ho, I remember it well."
He held tightly onto Ursaluna's fur as she roared and beat her chest.
"You crash my party while your weirdo pirate friends ransack my home?" Gus scoffed. "It's only fair my new friend and I return da favor!"
This was bad. Ursaluna had to be that other Paradigm lieutenant Gene mentioned, right? What was her name again?!
"Gene, we've got a situation," Noctum said. Valkyrie had let go of him and was staring at Gus with a mixture of shock and fury. "What was your plan for Ursaluna going on the offensive?"
"Gene's line's gone dead, Noctum," Cid said. "We can't reach anyone who left for Eternatus' core. I think Valhalla blocks our X-transceiver network."
The ground shook. Yelping, Noctum dove right, taking Valkyrie with him. An Earth Power kicked up a plume of dirt right where they'd been standing.
"Cut it out, Xander!" Shimmer pleaded from somewhere across the stadium. "It's not too late to change! If I can do it—"
"Blah, blah, blah. STFU, #ClownPrince!" Xander responded. "All right, #XanFam, let's get that chat bumping for Big Gus and Lieutenant Turian! You too, crowd! Help 'em give these #RebelRunts hell!"
Noctum managed to get back to his feet, but Valkyrie was still dazed. He got the garchomp standing again.
"Stay with me, Val!" The cosmic charizard jabbed her side.
"Huh? Wha?" Valkyrie blinked several times. "What are you doing?"
"What you told me to," Noctum said. "Keeping you grounded." He jerked his head toward the ursaluna and perrserker. "Now, how about we take these guys out together?"
Crouching into a fighting stance, Valkyrie nodded.
"Right. I'm... I'm with you. Gimme a boost?"
Noctum turned so she could climb onto his back. She was heavy, to be sure, but he was able to take off just in time to avoid another Earth Power.
Sure, the fight with Willie had tired him out. And the lack of rifts was annoying. But Valkyrie's confidence in him had given Noctum his second wind. And with some reinforcements, they'd be the ones giving Xander's cronies hell.
