Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Path of Valor

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 80: A Revaulting Situation​

These Overseer guys really want me keeping up with these audio diaries. All part of the healing and adjustment process, they say.

But healing from what? Leaving my home? Since we struck that deal, I've had time to mentally prepare myself. I knew this would be a big change. And change and I tend to go together like ice cream and horseradish. Which I only tried on a dare, for the record!

... Wait, what am I saying? No one's going to listen to these but me.

Gah, c'mon. Focus, dummy. You're supposed to be talking about what it's been like in this Overworld place. Deep breaths.

Right. Okay. So, like, it's really abstract and esoteric. Still haven't pieced together how the Overworld works or anything. I've seen a fair few Overseers. Some of them give off the vibe they know me. Or heard of me. Apparently, there are actually a few reformed Dark Matters amongst this group. So, uh, that's something. And a couple of 'em go by "Diyem," which is, like, the kind of dumb name I'd come up with for a pokémon I caught in one of the games way back when I was human. Whatever floats their boats, I suppose.

If I'm being honest, it kinda feels like I'm back in high school. Except I'm the new kid who transferred in in the middle of the semester.

XxX​

Despite the countless voices stacked atop one another, the Butterfree Effect's words were sickeningly sweet. Somewhere in the back of Yuna's mind, she knew to expect them when the warning about the latest anomaly blared up. Just not this soon.

Then again, this was the fastest she'd located a core. Sort of.

"It is as I said before." Butterfree Effect folded their hands behind their back. "Even with an early arrival, our meeting was written into the stars."

Yuna frowned. Wasn't the whole reason they sent Walking Wake after her to avoid this. "But you tried to kill me and my friends."

"Whether your drakloak shell won or lost that battle mattered not," Butterfree Effect responded. "The end result was always another meeting. No matter what questions you conjure, the answers still lead to a single outcome."

She strained to stop her tail from lashing at Butterfree Effect. Yuna wasn't interested in retreading their tired riddles. If this was another projection, they couldn't do anything to her, anyway.

"Okay. Well, glad to satisfy your predictions," Yuna deadpanned. "Enjoy standing in this dark hallway alone."

As she floated past, however, Butterfree Effect cut back in front of her. They hadn't taken any steps. Moved any muscles.

... Did they even have muscles?

Guess the projections can teleport.

"Returning to your puppet's friends?" Butterfree Effect nudged up their mask. "You can brainstorm all you want. It won't change your situation. Or this world's fate."

There was that Xeromus-esque claim about futility. Yuna continued silently down the hall. Again, Butterfree Effect warped in her path.

"They've heightened security for this event." Butterfree Effect's mask rippled. Yuna thought she saw emergency lights flickering inside it. "Because the previous gold medalist disappeared suddenly and unexpectedly."

Yuna took a deep breath to keep her shadows in check. Though still pooled around the base of her tail, they were at least behaving themselves. "I bet you had something to do with it."

"How flattering." Butterfree Effect was amused, despite their distorted voice. "However, I am as much a bystander in this as you." Static encircled their arceus-like hair. A strange red and white hat with an unfinished triangle appeared atop their head. "They claim this young man was 'betrayed' by those he thought closest to him. And then he vanished in the aftermath."

Butterfree Effect snapped their fingers. Static pulses ate away at their hat, replacing it with the arceus hairdo once more. "Perhaps such a tale makes you nostalgic, Yaldabaoth?"

A powerful tug gripped Yuna's lower half. For a moment, her vision blurred. Clear blue skies painted over the hallway. A wrecked temple with jagged, broken pillars grew further away from Yuna.

She squeezed her eyes shut and smushed her cheeks with her hands. "No idea what you're talking about," Yuna said, doing her best to wear a stern expression.

The Butterfree Effect sighed. "As predicted." They folded their hands behind their back again. "You're right. It's not an entertaining tale. In fact, I've seen 3,741 worlds just like this. And they have all turned out the same way."

Yuna fixed her gaze on the door leading back down to the sewers. Would Butterfree Effect follow her there if she left?

"Stagnation. Decay." The projection popped into Yuna's line of sight. "Left to wither away into nothing."

The drakloak headed forward again. She drifted left, thinking the projection would move to cut her off. Except Butterfree Effect didn't. So, when she swerved right, they were there. Standing right in front of her and nudging at their mask.

"You are an open book, Yaldabaoth." Their mask rippled. Yuna thought she saw a reflection of her own inky black shadows in it. "Your moves are as predictable as your inability to accept the truth."

Yuna finally spat some dragonfire at Butterfree Effect. It washed over the projection, dimming them, but failing to snuff them out entirely. "If this is really so predictable, then why are you wasting your time talking to me?"

The shadowy reflection faded from Butterfree Effect's mask. Instead, there was a faint drakloak silhouette attached to it. That faded just as fast as it appeared. "All right. To the puppet, then. Yunavresca, was it?"

Great, they knew her name. Somehow. Yuna shot more dragonfire at Butterfree Effect and sped forward. This time they reappeared directly in front of the door, casting an odd purple glow against the otherwise dark gray metal.

"Do you think it's fair," Butterfree Effect began, "for so much suffering to be spread across all of reality?"

Yuna's shadows tugged on her lower half. She wasn't sure if they wanted to lash out or were encouraging her to keep going, even if it meant flying into the projection. Something she was still nervous about. If they could teleport around, were they truly powerless?

"The truth of reality is one of stagnation." Butterfree Effect's mask again swirled around into a purple void. "Every universe is destined to fade away into nothingness. The souls siphoned by the Overworld where they will slumber for eternity."

The void shifted. Tiny hands held feathered quills that scribbled across Butterfree Effect's distorted face. "Thousand arms crumble away. The storytellers lay down their pens or canvases." The hands tossed the quills away and simply tapped at the air. "The keyboards go silent." At last the hands merged into an open book that promptly slammed shut... and reformed their arceus wheel mask. "Whether gradually or abruptly, the story always ends.

"Worlds without gods fizzle out." A sun appeared in the center of their mask, only to be extinguished like a blown out candle. "Those 'blessed' with divinity will see it abandon them. Or turn to destruction. Or be seized by those with malice in their hearts."

Butterfree Effect warped directly in front of Yuna. The drakloak instinctively recoiled as they snapped back to the door. "Why does this happen, Yunavresca?" They stared her down. The dim room warped their mask even more than usual. "You now know of the Overseers. How can such a powerful group choose to stand by, letting each and every world meet their end?" They shook their head. "No, more than that, insist that these ends are necessary for some sort of cosmic balance?"

"I..." Yuna thought she had a retort at the ready, but her voice trailed off. Her gaze fell to the floor.

The shadows tugged on her lower half again. As if they were chewing her out for even listening to this thing. The drakloak needed to leave. Yuna spewed dragonfire at Butterfree Effect and shot forward. Panic welled up inside as the purple, distorted figure grew closer. They hadn't moved. What would contacting them do to her?

And yet, Yuna didn't slow down. In fact, she sped up. Was she getting lighter?

Before Yuna knew it, she was on the other side of the door. As if she'd phased through both Butterfree Effect and the door in one shot. And shadows were trailing off her body. Yuna glanced at her hands, then decided she could ruminate more when she was back with the others.

The drakloak began to descend when she glanced purple flickers in front of her. Her tail crinkled up upon seeing the Butterfree Effect standing sideways on the wall.

"Unfortunate." They folded their hands behind their back. "But expected." A distorted sigh followed. "Poor little puppet. Burdened with the illusion of choice." They nudged their mask up. "Let me make this simple, then, Yaldabaoth. You want to reach the core, but the vault is designed to withstand pokémon attacks."

Butterfree Effect lifted their right hand. "And the missing, 'betrayed' human is inside, bathing in the core's energy as we speak alongside one of the creatures your puppet knows as Phantoms."

Yuna swallowed hard. A Phantom was already here? And inside the vault, too?

"You've seen how many people are here for these festivities, Yaldabaoth," Butterfree Effect continued. "So, what will you do? Will you open the vault and allow the Whisper of Ruin to rampage through this stadium— nay, the whole city? Or will you wait... all the while running the risk of more cores gathering more power and endangering other realms?"

They had both arms raised. "Surely, you understand now. The result is the same no matter what choice you make. Chaos leads to suffering." Butterfree Effect shook their head. "Reality's truth is unavoidable... unless you stand aside and allow me to affirm all phenomena. My Eternaverse will inscribe a new truth for reality. One where all souls are free from burden. From suffering."

Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and flew down the empty shaft. After a few seconds, she forced her eyes open. No eerie purple glow. They hadn't followed her.

What if she phased through the door to the sewers? The drakloak headed through it. A quiet sewer tunnel greeted her.

No sign of Butterfree Effect. Perhaps Yuna had gotten far enough from the anomaly core? Maybe if she checked her X-transceiver?

"Hello?" Yuna whispered. "Anyone there?"

"Cripes! There you are, Princess!" came Nikki's hasty response. "The hell happened? You went silent on us for a while."

Yuna sighed in relief. "I found the core. But it's locked in a vault."

"Pfbt. So?" Cracked knuckles came through Yuna's speaker. "We'll bust it open."

The drakloak shuddered, recalling Butterfree Effect's warning. "I don't think it's going to be that simple." Her shoulders sagged. "I'll explain more when I get back."

She took a deep breath as she flew deeper into the sewer tunnel. It'll be okay, Yuna told herself. Even with all the dumb destiny talk Butterfree Effect spewed, there was one thing they hadn't brought up: this wasn't Yuna's decision to make alone. There was a whole team she could run this by.

This wasn't an impossible situation. They'd come up with a plan together. Yes, there was still a way for this to work out.

XxX​

Igneous walked silently on the gravel path, ignoring rows of tombstones on either side of him. A small part kept urging him to leave the cemetery. If Sakaki was here, things would only be awkward. Why was he even entertaining his dad, anyway? The nidoking had an important story he was supposed to be working on. All of this would prove nothing but a big distraction.

Nevertheless, the grovlazzle put one foot in front of the other. The tombstones got progressively bigger until Igneous reached the back of the cemetery. He gazed at the oddly large brick wall. Why was it so tall? It wasn't keeping out graverobbers. Not flying ones, at least.

He looked left. Sure enough, Sakaki stood several meters away. He faced a white marble tree with leafy wreaths wrapped around them. As Igneous approached, he glimpsed the words carved into the base of the statue.

REINA. BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, AND TEACHER.

Igneous had seen it over and over again through the years. He thought he'd gone numb to it. But with everything that happened since Venish, Igneous couldn't push the memories out of his head.

A withering sceptile lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by vases of assorted flowers. IV lines jabbed in her arms. Rammed up her legs. Strange liquids dripping into her lines. Machines beeping and hissing in the background. Breathing for her. Keeping her heart beating because she'd lost the strength to do so.

"So, you showed up after all."

The grovlazzle jolted stiff. Sakaki was looking right at him. Igneous noticed the bouquet of flowers on the ground in front of the statue. Freshly picked tulips. His mother's favorite.

"Yeah," Igneous didn't take his eyes off the flowers. He didn't want to talk with Sakaki, but staying silent wouldn't get the nidoking to leave any faster. "Surprised you remember."

Sakaki stuck his hands in his blazer's pockets. "I've brought her some every three months." There was a bit more fatigue as he added, "Which I'm sure you never noticed."

Igneous had to stop himself from curling his hands into fists. "Can you blame me? You replaced her so quickly."

Silence. Sakaki turned away from him. "She would've wanted me to move on."

"Not within a few short months!" Igneous snapped.

Sighing, Sakaki folded his hands behind his back. "Everyone grieves differently. Your stepmother was there for me when I needed her. I can't expect you to understand. You were... lost in your own spiral."

Wincing, Igneous forced bitter, familiar images of lying on a cold floor, staring at the stump where his right arm was supposed to be from his mind. He couldn't think about that. Not now.

"It didn't occur to you... how it might've come across to me?" he muttered.

"Every time I tried to talk to you, you weren't there."

"Because I was finding out who was responsible." Igneous' head leaf simmered. "It was meant for you." His gaze fell to the ground. "They wanted to poison you. And you just let her open that envelope."

"How was I supposed to—"

"Weren't you the one who had your underlings screening your damn mail?!" Igneous growled. Embers smoldered on the ends of his tails. He realized this and promptly turned out. "Y'know what? Forget it. This was a mistake."

"Chiaki."

"It's Igneous." The grovlazzle stomped off without another word.

With every row of tombstones, his mood soured further. Not toward Sakaki, though. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Igneous rapped the side of his head with his claws. Clearly, Sakaki did still value her. He wouldn't pull off empty gestures just for Igneous' sake. The nidoking abhorred wasting time on such frivolities.

Which means I'm the problem. Igneous kicked a pebble and watched it tumble down the gravel path. He approached it and kicked again. It rolled past the security kiosk with a sableye fast asleep inside and through the open gates.

... Where it stopped near a gray-white, fluffy hoof.

Igneous tensed. "What are you doing here?" He walked faster. The grovlazzle doubted Shimmer's mere presence meant there were paparazzi or anything nearby, but a tiny part of him feared it nonetheless.

Shimmer nudged his head right. A latias with glowing blue, speaker-like wings leaned against the other side of the stone wall. She turned her head slightly and waved to Igneous. He dumbly waved back while trying to locate Scarlett.

"We might've overhead what you were saying to Gene," Starlene admitted, poking her claws together. "I know you asked for space. But someone wanted to make sure you were okay." She paused, looking over her shoulder. "From a respectable distance. Decent compromise, right?" Starlene wiggled her claws with enthusiasm that progressively dimmed the longer Igneous stared blankly at her.

"I thought she was up to something fishy," Shimmer said, his fluffy tails twitching. "So, I followed, too."

Silence. Igneous' gaze drifted to the cemetery wall. He couldn't snap at them. He'd already done badly enough with Sakaki. The grovlazzle trudged toward Starlene, not meeting the latias' gaze. A pink flicker was all that told him Scarlett recalled her. He waited for the dragonair to ask if he was okay, but she stayed silent. Still respecting his boundaries, he supposed.

Igneous leaned against the wall and looked up. A thick layer of clouds hung overhead. The kind of dark clouds that threatened to drench the area, yet somehow held back.

"Should we... ask to return?" Shimmer wondered. The ponytales paced slowly in front of Igneous.

"Not yet." Igneous took a deep breath. "Need... a bit more time."

That drew a slither from Igneous' left. "I suppose there are a couple of meanings behind that, huh?" Scarlett whispered.

Igneous didn't reply. He could say something. Scarlett at least had a vague idea of what was happening. She was offering him a chance. So, why couldn't he just come out and explain himself?

It had to be the memories. Igneous didn't want to grapple with them. The only way to suppress them was not to talk about it. That was how it worked.

"The spirit never forgets."

Xeromus' words sent a shudder down Igneous back. His claws scraped the stone behind him. Igneous tucked his head down and closed his eyes.

"I lost my mother several years back," Igneous whispered. He tensed, waiting for the memories of that dim, flower-filled hospital room to flood in. They held off. And the others weren't responding. That was his cue to keep going. "Shimmer's already heard about it. My father was working on a big Beacon piece. Someone didn't like that. They sent him mail in a poison-laced envelope."

He glanced left. Saw the confusion on Scarlett's face. "The kind of venom that can work on a poison-type. Like salazzle toxins."

The "Oh" formed on Scarlett's lips was clear even without her saying it.

"The point is... my mom opened the envelope. Inhaled the venom." Igneous' claws scraped the wall again. "Both my parents hid it from me. I thought Mom was looking a bit frail, but she always played it off." He sucked in a hard breath. "Until I found out she was in intensive care at the hospital." Igneous closed his eyes again. "It was slow. Looked painful. Dad kept her on life support for a month... mostly because of me. Because I... I loved my mom. I couldn't lose her.

"My dad... went to other people to grieve. But not me." Igneous stared at his orange and yellow belly. "I poured myself into figuring out who was responsible. Tried to go after them myself." He held out his right arm. "Lost an arm because of it."

Scarlett's eyes widened in realization. Igneous rubbed his right arm. "I had a great prosthetic. Only a couple of people at Horizon knew the truth before that explosion in Venish."

... And plenty of Ryujin. Not that they had to hear that part.

"What I didn't tell Shimmer was that, while this all happened, Dad found someone else." Igneous' brow furrowed. "A well-known salazzle fashionista. Married her within a few months." He shook his head. "I haven't been able to forgive him for it. It felt like he'd left me and Mom behind."

He paused, wondering how much further to go. The only other thing Igneous needed to say was—

"So you grew distant, until you took your mom's insurance money and went to Horizon."

Igneous nodded slowly at Shimmer. He noticed a flat expression on Scarlett's face. She must've been conflicted over hearing he had told Shimmer about this after asking her for space on the matter. And that left Igneous mentally kicking himself. Way to screw up again, dumbass.

He scrambled to say something to her to save face. "I wanted to tell you after Tulpise, but—"

"We ran into each other." Shimmer glanced at him. "There was a bit of an argument and it slipped out on his part. He really did want to tell you first."

Igneous did his best to keep a straight face, pressing his back harder against the wall. "Right. Something like that."

Scarlett coiled up tighter. She looked down at the older, abandoned buildings across from the cemetery. "It's fine." The dragonair took a deep breath. "I get it. Family's complicated."

Her neck bauble flickered. "Okay, I don't really get it. Orphan and all that." She shrugged her tiny wings. Igneous raised a brow. Scarlett promptly puffed her cheeks. "It was a joke. Y'know, dark humor and stuff?"

Ah. Igneous weakly chuckled.

"Don't give me a pity laugh." Scarlett wrinkled her snout. "This isn't open mic night!" Sighing, she loosened her coiling a bit. "But seriously. I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to comfort me," Igneous insisted. He pushed off the wall and walked between Scarlett and Shimmer. "I've been dealing with this on my own for a while."

Scarlett slithered to his side. "And you don't think that isn't working?" Her neck bauble flickered. A spectral Starlene gave him a disapproving look. "I won't tell you what to do," Scarlett said, glancing over her shoulder the moment Starlene's illusion poofed away. "Just, y'know, maybe balling it all up isn't the answer here?"

Igneous blinked slowly. His gaze fell to his feet. It needed a bit of mental gymnastics, but Igneous saw the connection between Scarlett's words... and Sakaki's actions.

He spent all that time with Igneous' eventual stepmother instead of bottling it up. And who had Igneous leaned on?

No one.

Sure, Valkyrie helped him with tracking down who was responsible. But she was doing her job. Igneous never talked about this stuff with her. Only about the next steps.

God, was he really that stupid?

"Still awake?"

Scarlett's tail waved in front of Igneous' face. "If you want to go back to the station, we can go back. I'm pretty sure people are just bickering about the new mystery dungeon. Or anomaly. Or whatever we're calling it."

Igneous stiffened at that. "Bickering?" He hesitantly reached his hand up and turned his X-transceiver on.

XxX​

"Absolutely not!"

"Absolutely not!"

Seifer flinched after he and Widget said the same thing in tandem. The keldeo looked at Yuna. "You can't possibly agree with him."

Yuna bit her lower lip. "I, uh, would prefer not to cause problems for this city." She wrung her hands out. A part of her expected Gene to suggest brute forcing the mysterious vault, yet it still surprised her how quickly and casually he threw out the suggestion.

"Look, we heard what Yuna said." Gene was annoyed. From people disagreeing with him? Surely, he saw that coming, right? "We're taking a gamble no matter what we do. We can put one city in danger... or multiple places could get swept up in this. Don't gotta be a mathematician to know that the former's less than the latter. We break open the vault and destroy the Phantom—"

"It's actually called a Whisper," Yuna blurted out, only to throw her hands over her mouth. Of all the stupid times to get caught up in technicalities.

"Okay, sure." The eyeroll practically dripped from Gene's words. "Doesn't change the plan: D-E-S-T-R-O-Y, oh my!"

"It's a bad idea!" Widget immediately countered. "It doesn't sound like there's a way to contain the thing like in LaRousse. Nothing'll stop it from wreaking havoc the moment the vault's open."

Which was Yuna's big concern. In the middle of a big sporting event, there was no way they could clear out that stadium.

"Psssht. You're thinking too hard." Smirking, Nikki clasped the sides of her leather jacket. "It's simple: we take the safe with the core... and move it somewhere else." She pushed the air in front of her. "Find some abandoned field and plop it down. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Leo bobbed up and down on Yuna's head, seemingly enthralled with the idea. The drakloak herself had doubts, though. Such a simple solution couldn't possibly work, right?

"Can you even move an anomaly core?" Cid wondered. "What if they're anchored in place, only following the planet's rotation? It's just as likely that if you move the vault, the core will simply... phase through it. Leaving whatever's inside free to rampage through the stadium."

Nikki's mohawk shrank a bit. "Tch. They're big balls of staticky gobbledegook. How am I supposed to know?"

"Yeah, how dare the scholar counter you with logic," Cyril scoffed. Seifer snrked, to Yuna's surprise. Since when did the keldeo like sarcasm?

"I don't see anyone else coming up with anything." Nikki tapped a foot impatiently on the stone ground. "We're burning—" She cut herself off and looked up. "Moonlight, I guess?"

Silence followed. Yuna looked out at the river. Boats floated atop the water, carrying scores of people watching a bunch of moving lights that pretended to be a flying cramorant. She couldn't stomach the thought of letting something bad happen to all the people here. But she didn't want other places in danger from doing nothing.

Yuna squeezed her hands against her face. The Butterfree Effect told her about this on purpose. Perhaps they knew the situation would leave the resistance paralyzed with indecision.

"Okay, fine." Gene finally spoke up again after having his original idea shot down. "The only way to play this safe is to go the ironic route. We gotta get nuts for safety!"

Seifer raised a brow. "Which entails?"

"Instead of letting whatever's in that vault out to cause a real disaster, we stir up a fake one to force everyone away from the stadium."

Suppressing a wince, Yuna watched the stadium in the distance, with its colorful lights projecting into the night sky. If she was following Gene correctly, then...

"You're going to attack this place. Or pretend to."

Gene chuckled. "Not who I was expecting to catch on, but I'll take it! Between me, Birdbrain, and, say, you summoning one of the Sages, we've got everything we need to raise some hell!" He paused. "Well, fake hell. You get the idea."

"But that's still dangerous," Widget squawked. "If you cause a scene, people might hurt one another in the ensuing panic!"

To that, Gene laughed. "That's where the rest of you come in. We're going to make a convenient escape route for a fake assault on Wyndon. So, get ready, because I'm coming over to scout the city out."

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 81: On the Wind, Past the Stars​

Entry 3451
Just seeing Mewtwo again stirred up old wounds I thought had long healed. The cruelty of Team Rocket's boss. Mewtwo's betrayal of my trust. How he hurt me. Broke off a piece of my face.

The crystal was still there in his shoulder. Taunting me.

Chiron hid him from me this entire time. She wouldn't trust me. Only said to trust that type: full anomaly.

And now she's gone.

I won't forgive them. Both these creatures are affronts to nature. I will destroy them along with Eternatus. I just need more power.

XxX​

Seifer didn't enjoy feeling like a sitting ducklett. No matter how much Cyril assured the keldeo his illusory veil was holding up, his gut squirmed with each human officer and sniffing dog that walked past. Surely, one of the arcanine or houndoom would pick up their scent eventually.

"Are you sure we're safe this close to the rift?" Seifer still had no idea why the police were patrolling this place so relentlessly. The anomaly was plain as day. It wasn't as if they had the personnel to stop someone from approaching it entirely.

"Am I sure? Pssht." The cosmic zoroark's hair rippled into a black hood. "Only a sith deals in absolutes, young keldewan."

Seifer tilted his head. The heck was Cyril doing?

"Seriously?" Cyril did his best to keep his voice a whisper. "You never saw Space Wars? The hero's a keldeo like you."

Seifer stared back blankly. Was that... a piece of Radiance or Eternatus media?

"For crying out loud." The dark hood disappeared, leaving Cyril scratching his starry mane. "What movies have you seen?"

The keldeo squinted in thought. "Uhh..." He frowned. Nothing was springing to mind right away. "Do educational pictures from back in my Horizon Academy days count?"

Cyril facepalmed. "Welp. Guess I know what we're doing for a date night."

He couldn't be serious. "I'm sorry?" Seifer raised a brow. As much as he wanted to get back to the original question, Seifer couldn't let that go. "Are you going to drag me to a Radiance movie theater?"

"Nah." Cyril waved him off. "Veg on a couch with the first three Space Wars." His smirk faded slightly. "No need for the prequel or sequel trilogy. Pure trash right there." He sounded deathly serious.

"I was not... aware people got that passionate about movies," Seifer muttered. A policewoman and her two growlithe strutted past without even gazing in their direction. The two dogs were sniffing around, yet neither of them paid much mind to the two resistance members.

That was enough impetus for Seifer to steer the conversation back to its intended purpose. "Seriously, this is creeping me out," the keldeo whispered. "Why aren't they on to us?"

"You can thank our skorp recruits for that one." Cyril reached into his mane and produced some sort of spray can. It was completely black. "Essence of tar pit. Sprayed it all around the area. Everything smells like tar."

"But isn't that more suspicious?" Seifer said. Cyril then knelt down and gently tilted the keldeo's head toward the staircase leading up to Indigo Plateau's stadium. There was construction equipment sitting off to the side.

"Not unreasonable," Cyril said, smirking slightly.

Seifer was going to respond, but the cosmic zoroark put a yellow claw to his snout. "Ah, ah." Cyril's smirk grew. "If you say too much, you'll jinx us."

Seriously? He didn't peg Cyril as the superstitious type.

Cyril shook his head in disbelief. "I'm flirting with you, dumbass."

"Oh." Seifer's cheeks reddened. He sat down and stared intently at the rift. "W-Well, we're on the job. We have to get Widget to the rift. Save it for later."

"That's our consummate professional." Cyril hip-checked the keldeo, then tapped where his X-transceiver was in his right ear. "Yo, Boss Kitty, how goes it on your end? Got any leads or what? Not sure how much longer this tar pit spray will keep the dogs' noses off our scents."

XxX​

"We've got a lead."

Gene's arms were firmly crossed. He floated on a metal rooftop beside Cid, looking out over the river and the reflections from the drone light show still going on around the stadium. Yuna, Leo, and Nikki were behind him. The girls were talking amongst themselves about whatever. Gene didn't care.

"You don't sound happy," Cyril pointed out.

The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "I'm not. Because it's..." He couldn't even put into words how stupid Cid's findings were. Better to let the orbeetle handle it. "You tell 'em."

"It would appear Team Rocket exists in this world," Cid said, eyeing Gene nervously. "Although my Dynascan suggests they're... a far cry from what Gene's described."

"It's just three of them!" Nikki said, mohawk rippling. "How big of a deal can it be? You said it yourself, dude." She smacked her fist into an open palm. "If we're going to cause trouble, we go to local troublemakers. That's just maths."

"I know that!" Gene snapped, yellowing tail lashing at the air. He dropped down on the roof, flinching from the cold stone under his toes. "It's not... an easy thing for me to do without seeing these people for myself."

Nikki put her hands on her hips. "Then let one of us talk to 'em." She jabbed a thumb against a chest gill. "I speak fluent skullduggery."

Gene turned away from them. "These aren't petty graffiti artists." He shook his head. "Forget it. I'm worrying over nothing. If it can't work out, I'll fling 'em into the river and we'll just do things ourselves."

"You'll what?!" Widget squawked through the comm line.

"Oi, keep quiet while we're walking!" Cyril growled.

Shaking his head, the shadowy mewtwo hovered into the air. "Down, boy." He chuckled. "They're crooks."

"That doesn't mean you fling them into a river! What if they can't swim?!"

Gene rolled his eyes. Annoying do-gooder birddogfish. "Fiiiine, I'll toss 'em in with some water floaties. Will that work?"

He didn't wait for Widget's inevitably irritable response. Cid pointed him in the direction of the three Rocket operatives.

"Keep a low profile in the meantime." Gene saluted the others and shot off into the night sky.

"What the hell do you think we're doing?!" Nikki shouted after him. Smirking, Gene pressed on, flying over a steel bridge with a few slow moving vehicles. The people clustered on the sidewalks were nothing but blurry specks under the night sky. Gene fixed his gaze ahead of him. The road split off in a few directions, with the northeast branch heading toward a very large roundabout where each offroad headed for a big, square building.

Even from this distance, all the signs suggested these were hotels. Which fit with Cid's description.

Gene assumed all the Malice flowing through him was what let him read these signs. Didn't account for the others on Team Bastion. He suspected that was a combination of Yuna and the little godbutt.

Let's see... second one. Gene headed for the second offroad. The Grand Wyndon Hotel was the smallest of those clustered by the roundabout. Definitely the oldest, judging by its blurry brick composition. Not so grand anymore, are ya?

He stopped and hovered over the building. Gene's chest rose and fell — well, the parts without the Malice Crystal did — as he mentally prepped himself. It was only three Rockets. They couldn't be that high on the totem pole. Otherwise, Cid would have senses an abundance of Rockets scattered around.

At least, if it's anything like the Team Rocket I knew.

Gene slowly descended. He positioned himself between windows as he passed by the top floors. Gene pressed himself against the building wall. Cool bricks brushed against his fingers and his left side.

Sixth floor. Fifth floor. Here.

The shadowy mewtwo stopped. He inched closer to the lit window in midair, then noted the curtains were drawn and stopped. Gene couldn't get closer without whoever was inside spotting him. If only he could get a glimpse... or even hear something. This building was old. Surely it wasn't that good at filtering out noise.

"... Da same wit'out a twerp to tail."

Gene's smirk returned. Bingo. That accent was atrocious, but at least Gene could understand it.

"Oh, listen to yourselves!" It was a new, female voice. "I didn't spend eight hours cramped in coach to lay around here watching you two mope like a pair of sad, sorry shroomish!"

"WOOOOOBBBBAAAAAFEEET!"

"Easy to say when you're not the one who had to drain his bottle cap collection just to cover the air and hotel fare!" a third— no, wait, fourth voice interjected. "We came here with the promise of Monarch pikachu pilfering for the boss. And instead all we have are empty hopes and dashed dreams!"

Gene had heard enough. These didn't sound like high-level Rockets. Or even competent ones, for that matter. But hearing "Monarch" and "disappeared" got the gears in his head turning. Hadn't Yuna brought that up when she was explaining the situation? Gene kind of tuned that part out.

Cupping his right hand over his face, he whispered. "Hey, Princess. What was that you mentioned about some missing trainer?"

"The guy who was supposed to defend his title here disappeared," Yuna replied, somewhat hesitantly. "And he might be stuck inside the anomaly core."

Theeeere it was. All the ammunition Gene needed. He cracked his knuckles. Showtime.

The shadowy mewtwo backed away from the wall. Gene scrutinized the window once more. Not the opening type. Typical stingy hotel.

Phantom Warp it is, then. Gene focused on his Malice Crystal. Next thing he knew, he was inside the modest hotel room, glancing at the meowth face down on one bed and the red and blue-haired people recoiling from the sight of him.

"Good news, plebs." Gene snapped his fingers. "The powers that be have heard your pleas. You want answers to your 'twerp' troubles? Well, I've got 'em."

Wobbuffet screamed and jumped for the red-haired lady, who displayed surprising strength in actually catching and hanging onto him.

"Ayy, what's da big idea?" Meowth sat up and shook his fist at Gene. "We didn't order no room service. Scram!"

"Hang on." The blue-haired man tilted his head. "Weren't you listening. It sounds like this eggplant pokémon might know where the twerp is!"

Gene quirked a brow at that comment. And at the fact that Meowth was speaking like a human. Or like any of the resistance. That would've been curious, but these Rockets neither attacked him nor chucked poké balls.

He wasn't going to draw any conclusions about whether this world had its own mewtwo, but Gene could say with certainty these three were total idiots. Were they representative of what Team Rocket was like in this direction? How was it still alive employing people like this?

Never mind that. Gene was on a timetable. "That's right." He lifted his right hand. A few throw pillows levitated over to him. Gene idly twirled them around their hand. "Team Rocket, yeah?"

The woman's eyes sparkled. She unceremoniously dropped Wobbuffet to the ground. "Did you hear that, James?" She dashed to Gene's side. "Word of our dastardly deeds has spread!" The sparkles turned to fire in the lady's eyes. "Or perhaps you recognize a certain dazzling enchantress of the stage?"

Rolling his eyes, Gene flicked his tail left. A little telekinesis was all he needed to push the lady back toward the wall by the thermostat. "Don't flatter yourselves." Gene let a throw pillow drift onto his finger and spun it around like it was a basketball. "Your jumpsuits have giant red Rs on 'em."

He tapped his right temple. "Also, powerful psychic. Able to read your minds so smoothly you wouldn't even know I was there."

Meowth's fur stood on end. "Sheesh, dis guy do impressions of da boss or sometin'? He loves dat tick!"

"Eggplant color and physique aside, the resemblance is uncanny," James added. "Just who are you, Eggplant?"

"Yeah!" Meowth crossed his arms and nodded. "And what kinda tricks are you playin' at? You wanna help us wit' our twerp troubles or not?"

"Oh, I do." Gene landed on the brown carpet. He tossed the throw pillows to the far bed one at a time. "Just had to make a point. If you get I'm strong, then you get I've got the power to find your twerp for you."

Meowth stroked his chin. "Dat's a bold claim for a complete stranger to make."

"Quit being sticks in the mud." The woman stomped a foot on the ground. "How often do we rely on the twerp trusting strangers for pika procurement opportunities, hmm?"

The other two were silent. Gene leaned back against the window. "If you want more transparency, the reason I found you guys is because I need your help as much as you need mine." The shadowy mewtwo looked at his hand, turning it back and forth like he was admiring a manicure he could never get.

"Our help?"

"Wobba?"

Even Wobbuffet sat up at that. The quartet shared astonished looks. Gene took that as his cue to continue.

"Your precious 'twerp' is in Wyndon Stadium." He pushed himself off the window so he could gesture toward it. The drone show had finished, but the stadium remained lit, projecting into the night sky. "He's trapped with something dangerous my team is here to get rid of."

"Da twerp around sometin' dangerous, huh?" Meowth shook his head. "Dat's as classic as peanut butter and jelly."

"Mmmhmm." The woman nodded along. "Or hot fudge and whipped cream."

"Or pineapple on pizza!" James added.

"You take that back!" Meowth and the woman shouted in unison. Wobbuffet mimicked them, though he could still only say his name for some strange reason.

"Come on, Jessie, it's not that bad." James held his hands up by his face.

"Focus!" Gene's tail lashed at the air. His eyes and Malice Crystal flickered. The quartet went stiff as boards. Stars, they were a handful.

"Let me repeat myself: there's something dangerous at the stadium." Gene gestured to the window with both arms this time. "The stadium full of people here for the big event." He thrust his arms at the window a second time after the Rockets didn't respond to him. "Is it sinking in yet?"

The four of them huddled amongst one another briefly, before Jessie and James nudged Meowth forward to the edge of the bed. "You want us around to get da twerp outta danger!"

Gene levitated up a throw pillow and bapped Meowth's head with it. "Hey!" He rubbed his slightly messy fur.

"I need you guys to do your jobs," Gene growled, tail twitching in irritation. "And help me cause a scene in the stadium that'll force everyone to leave." He walked his fingers across the air. "Once the stadium's empty, we can safely deal with the threat and get you your twerp back."

"Causing a scene?" Jessie's eyes sparkled. "Do you think we can—"

"By doing Team Rocket stuff," Gene cut in. "C'mon, what kind of grunts are you? Think of all the pokémon there ripe for stealing." He hated floating that idea out there. But with the way these three acted, they couldn't swipe a 'mon if their lives depended on it. And if they somehow did, Gene had little doubt he could stop them from getting away.

Again, the quartet huddled up. Gene could have listened in. He doubted anything they were saying was a big deal. Maybe scheming up some sort of idea on how to cause a scene. Not that there was much to think about. They just had to send out their pokémon and let them go to town.

Unless this wobbuffet and meowth are all they have...

"We've got it!" Jessie declared, raising her right arm triumphantly. "One dynamic Team Rocket display for the ages, coming up!"

James flopped against the bed. "And one rainy day bottle cap collection down the Wyndon drain."

Gene quirked a brow. Though he was tempted to press for details, he opted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not that they'd earned it. "How much time do you need?"

"Heh heh." Meowth's head coin glistened under the dim yellow hotel room light. "You just leave dat part to ol' Meowth! We'll be ready to rock and roggenrola dat stadium before you can down a Wyndon tea and biscuit!"

The shadowy mewtwo casually threw up his hands. "Fine. Then I'll tell my teammates to get ready while you do your thing. As soon as you're ready, shoot a Pay Day into the air. That'll be our signal."

The three Rockets shared unimpressed looks. "And just where will you be to even see a signal like that?" James wondered.

Smirking, Gene leaned against the window. "I've got my ways." He Phantom Warped through the window. Once he was on the other side, he pointed two fingers at his eyes, then back at the Rockets. They silently nodded that they got the memo.

Gene flew up to the hotel roof and perched atop it on his right foot. Whatever trepidation he had with turning to the organization that birthed him was gone. Instead, all he could wonder is whether those goofballs could get him what he was looking for. Otherwise, Team Bastion would be stuck on fake demolition duty.

He tapped a finger against his right horn. "Attention, resistance. This is Gene. I've gotten us our backup for Operation Gone With the Wyndon."

Several groans crackled through his X-transceiver. "Puh-lease tell me you didn't have that one pre-prepared," Artemis said.

XxX​

The broad strokes of Gene's horrendously named operation were simple, if revolting to Seifer. Gene, Quetzal, and Jade would act as big, scary pokémon under Team Rocket's control and "attack" the stadium. Assorted monks and dragons would help steer people away from the stadium. Noctum was on standby with rift generation while Vegna and Valkyrie were reserves to call on in an emergency.

Not an elegant plan, in the keldeo's opinion. His stomach twisted at the notion of his teammates acting the part of criminals. At least Seifer wasn't being asked to take part in that ridiculous ruse. Probably on purpose, knowing Gene.

That left him and Cyril to continue slowly and invisibly ferrying people across Indigo Plateau to the anomaly. Cyril deployed some fresh tar essence to keep the police dogs from catching literal whiff of them. Then it was a matter of walking back and forth across the same grass and tiles behind the outer rim of the Pokémon League building.

On the walk back toward the forest for their final pickup, Seifer decided to break up the monotony. "So, um, you and Gene were together once?"

Cyril's cosmic fur frazzled ever so slightly. "Wouldn't call it that."

The keldeo wasn't buying it. "Then why did Gene tell me you're pretty mind-blowing once you get going?"

"Course he'd say that." Cyril rolled his eyes, yet quickened his pace. "We were never together, per se. Friends with benefits. Nothing more."

Seifer followed Cyril, raising a brow. "Benefits? Like you gave each other insurance? And vacation days?"

He wasn't expecting Cyril to stumble. Seifer's tail scrunched. He feared the illusion dropping. But no cops looked in their direction. Cyril must've kept it up.

"Was it something I said?" Seifer whispered.

"Uh, yeeeaaaah?" Cyril ran yellow claws through his cosmic mane. He left the stone pathway and headed onto the grass. "There's no way you're that sheltered."

"Meaning?"

"Any sane adult knows what 'friends with benefits' means, dude."

Seifer frowned. "Well, I don't." He also stepped onto the grass. They both headed toward the tree line.

Cyril sighed, then chuckled. "It means you sleep with your buddy from time to time." He paused. "Or often." Cyril shrugged. "Different strokes for different folks."

"Oh." Seifer looked down, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "Is that... something you still do?"

"Hell nah." Cyril waved him off. "We stopped doing that when I started working with the Ryujin. You're the first guy I've been with in quite a while."

Seifer wasn't sure how to feel about that. Cyril stopped and looked over his shoulder. "That's a good thing, y'know."

"R-Right." The keldeo quickened his pace until he was at Cyril's side. He was putting his hoof in his mouth. Seifer had to salvage this somehow. "Sorry. I guess I—" He cut himself off, but made sure to keep walking.

"You had assumptions based on how you were raised." Cyril rested his hands inside his starry mane. "I get it."

Now it was Seifer's turn to stumble. How was Cyril always able to read him so effortlessly? He quickly collected himself. The forest line wasn't far off now. "I was taught that courting meant fancy dinners or outings to entertainment venues. And things like... intimacy came after marriage."

A snrk made the keldeo's ears flick. "What?"

"Nothing. Unintentional wordplay." Cyril waved him off. "Point is, there are different ways of dating. If you want to stick to the fancier stuff, well..." The cosmic zoroark looked down at his wispy, jewel encrusted legs. "Not my forte. But I'd give it my best for you."

Seifer shook his head. "Honestly? No. I don't want that stuffiness." Certainly not while trying to save the omniverse or whatever. "What we have is... not what I was expecting. But it's a pleasant surprise."

Smirking, Cyril bowed despite not facing Seifer. "Happy to be of service~"

He's doing that on purpose. Seifer turned away while continuing forward. "Come on. We ought to focus. We're almost done here."

"We're ready to go on our end," Quetzal said through the X-transceiver. "What's the hold up?"

"Nothing." Cyril approached the tree line and stood at attention. Though the smirk on his face betrayed his attempt at seriousness. "The veil's up whenever you're ready."

Blue light crackled in front of the trees, then split apart into a rift. Jade, Quetzal, Yiazmat, and Calcifer stepped through. Noctum followed, with the rift closing behind him.

"You're sure you can keep everyone hidden, Zoroark?" Yiazmat mainly looked at Jade.

"What's with the side eye?" Jade pouted. "So, I had a second helping of chocolate cake last night." She put her right wing on her right hip. "The salazzle part's got curves for days. That ain't changing."

Cyril held his hands up. "It'll go better if you keep quiet and stick close to me." He glanced at Jade. "Or reasonably close, in your case."

Jade's tail flaps bristled. "This is salugia bias! I'm—"

Yiazmat harshly shushed Jade, who looked down guiltily. "Let's get going. Quickly."

The group headed along the grass. Unlike the way back, Cyril and Seifer kept them further from the stone path around the League building and closer to the trees. The keldeo trained his gaze on every police officer and dog in the area. They remained at a distance, which was good.

... Except they were getting further from the team. Heck, it was like they were gathering in another spot. Was this a shift change or something? Seifer didn't like this. He quickened his pace.

"Move faster," he whispered. "I think the police are up to some—"

His eyes widened. Seifer lunged for Jade and managed to shove the large salugia out of the way before multiple Focus Blasts whizzed by, leaving streaks of red behind.

"What the—" Jade squawked, dousing the grass beneath her in pink-purple vapors.

Seifer looked up. Three Eternatus Bombardiers had their large blasters pointed right at them. And more Focus Blasts were charging in the barrels!

"Ah-ha! Illusion detected!" one Bombardier declared. "Authorization granted for full anti-zoroark excessive force!"

"How splendid!" another Bombardier cheered. "I bet fifty eternabucks I'll bag the furball!"

"We're found out!" Cyril waved them in the direction of the rift. "Move, move, m— shit!"

The cosmic zoroark dove to the ground. Focus Blasts rained down on where he was standing, kicking up chunks of dirt and mud.

"You don't need to tell me twice! Ladies first!" Jade squawked, awkwardly rolling to her feet. A couple of Focus Blasts knocked her back on her rear, though she didn't look all that harmed by them.

"The empire's here!" An Aura Sphere whizzed up from Seifer's prosthetic horn. The Bombardiers scattered, revealing even more Bombardiers and Gunners descending from higher in the sky. "And they've got reinforcements! We have to leave!"

"No! Get Drumstick and Birdbrain through the rift first!" Gene barked. "That's an order!"

The first Bombardier was already prepping its next Focus Blast barrage. "I spy loitering rebels in need of some attitude adjustments!"

A gray metallic burst struck it from below, then a pair of dreepy-shaped blue bolts hit its right arm, destroying the blaster.

"Hurry!" Yiazmat cried.

"We'll cover for you!" Calcifer opened his metallic mouth and spat another Flash Cannon skyward. The Bombardier trying to retaliate was forced to fly out of the way, letting Noctum strike it with a well-aimed Flamethrower and shatter its cockpit. The explosion caught the Bombardier that lost a blaster, destroying it as well.

"Quetzal, grab Jade! Her waddling's too slow," Seifer ordered.

"On it!" The orange zapdos zipped to Jade's side and kicked her into the air.

"Waah! Hey!" Jade flailed around before landing on Quetzal's back. Despite the size difference, Quetzal managed to carry her on his back. He darted toward the rift, orange sparks trailing behind him. Seifer reared up and shot Hydro Pumps to Quetzal's right, snuffing out the Focus Blasts trying to get in the way.

Cyril directed the two toward the rift and the dove inside without a second thought. "All right, they're in! We're getting out."

"Not a chance!" Gene cut in. "If they head through the rift, they'll screw everything up! You have to keep them at bay."

Seifer dropped down to all fours and galloped toward Cyril. "Are you mad?! We can't handle this many!" Focus Blasts whizzed by, fortunately missing the keldeo.

"It worked with the pirates," Gene said. "And you can actually get reinforcements this time. So, whatever you do, defend the damn rift!"

Seifer skidded to a halt, barely avoiding two Thunderbolts intercepting his path. He shot an Aura Sphere straight up without looking. A mechanical cry followed by a shower of sparks and metal parts told him he'd gotten the Eternatus Gunner responsible.

Sighing, he glanced at Cyril. The cosmic zoroark was a bit shaken, but managed to gather up a Shadow Ball and toss it at a Bombardier focusing on Yiazmat and Calcifer. The ectoplasm got the Bombardier in the back, knocking its cockpit out of its body. Calcifer easily finished it off with a small Flash Cannon.

"You heard him," Cyril said. "All hands on deck, I guess." He jumped away from Seifer, gathering ectoplasm into another Shadow Ball.

Right. Orders were orders. They had to stand their ground. He scanned the singed and scorched ground and spotted Noctum spitting fireballs airborne.

"Noctum, what are you waiting for?" Seifer called. "Get some distance and bring us backup now!"

The black charizard scrambled away while Yiazmat and Calcifer covered with Dragon Darts and Flash Cannons. Seifer glanced at the approaching clusters of Troopers, then back at the roof. Even with reinforcements, keeping them away from the rift was going to be a tall order.

With a shaky breath, Seifer charged an Aura Sphere in preparation for the oncoming onslaught.

XxX​

CDL-091: Indigo Plateau, Planet Earth
The main headquarters of the Pokémon League for both Kanto and Johto. Honestly? It's not that impressive. Not a lot of imperial tech around the area. Though I want to say part of that is because Paradox has his own Pokémon League in Planet Axiom, the center of his empire. I guess he just... lets Earth's Leagues do their own thing. They're so steeped in tradition anyway, that he figures Earth's inhabitants are the only ones who'll care about these places.

Sad thing is? Paradox is probably right.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 82: Defendat Mundum​

Noctum somersaulted, dodging a Rock Blast, then returned fire at the Eternatus Gunner responsible. His Flamethrower destroyed the cockpit and the unown vanished in purple smoke. Another explosion rang out behind him. He looked over his shoulder. Through the smoke, he spotted a mega garchomp atop the Pokémon League's roof, sniping at Eternatus Troopers in the air with well-aimed Dragon Pulses.

The black charizard nodded to Valkyrie, then Phantom Warped away from her, dodging more Rock Blasts.

"Hey!" one Eternatus Gunner shouted, trying to follow Noctum with its blasters. "No fair! Someone tell the lizard dodging is not permitted!"

Dreepy-shaped blue spears flew in from Noctum's right. They shattered the Gunner's glass cockpit, ejecting the unown into the air. Then that buzzwole guy — oh, what was his name again? Beef? — swooped in from behind, grabbed the body, and hurled it at three Eternatus Bombardiers behind them. All the bots were gone by the time the smoke had cleared.

"Ha!" Buzzwole flexed his right arm. "Ja, take to air good idea! Like discus with no pesky ground!" He flexed his left arm. "I was three-time all-city discus champ in heyday!"

"Uh, congrats?" Noctum tilted his head, then saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. He stopped flapping his wings for a rapid descent. A Thunderbolt surged overhead, but then a large boulder broadsided him. Noctum spread his wings to stop from careening into the forest. He wildly spat fire in the direction of the Rock Blast.

"Ha ha! Score one for the good guys!" An Eternatus Bombardier threw its blaster-equipped arms to the side, then hovered up to skirt the Shadow Ball that came from below. Noctum landed in the grass by the anomaly portal so Seifer and Cyril could give him some extra cover while he got his bearings.

"What's wrong?"

Noctum was ready to complain about rocks when he realized the keldeo was talking to Cyril. "Did that idiot... seriously dab on us?" The cosmic zoroark had another Shadow Ball ready. "Stupid emperor and his 'how do you do, fellow kids?' mindset." He hurled the ectoplasm upward. "Give it a boost, will ya?"

Seifer pivoted, blasting Hydro Pumps skyward from his hind legs. It pushed the Shadow Ball past the Bombardier's Rock Wrecker and blew apart its right arm.

"Gah!" It hovered erratically. "A minor setback, but I am still functional!"

Noctum fired a Dragon Pulse, striking the Bombardier's torso. The unown pilot ejected the cockpit. "You will not be rid of me that easily, meatba— guuuuh!"

A second Dragon Pulse streaked in from the direction of the League Building, destroying the last bits of the Trooper.

"You make such a cute little threesome down there," Valkyrie scoffed. "But get back in the air, you dweeb! We need you up here!"

Cheeks burning, Noctum took off. A few stray Thunderbolts and Ice Beam peppered the air around him. Noctum spat fireballs to his left, then spotted two Gunners on his right trying to hit Valkyrie with Ice Beams from afar.

Not on my watch. Noctum Phantom Warped behind them, then buffeted the Gunners with Air Slash crescents. They didn't even have time for mechanical shouts before their bodies broke apart. Noctum flew through the smoke and dust left behind, slowing down by the rooftop.

"How's it looking?" Noctum had lost track of Yiazmat and Calcifer in the chaos. He did spot Archie gleefully gliding over the grassy field atop a jet of water, sending black crescents at Gunners and Brawlers from his jagged horn.

"I don't like this," Valkyrie said. She spat a Dragon Pulse at an airborne Eternatus Bombardier taking aim at Seifer and Cyril. It struck the middle of its back. Noctum added a Flamethrower to take it down.

What else is new? The black charizard managed to keep that one to himself. "In what way?"

"They've got the numbers, but they're not advancing on the rift," the mega garchomp said, pointing a scythe-like arm left. Cyril and Seifer stood their ground, shooting Shadow Balls and Aura Spheres at Gunners flanking them from the sky. Buzzwole Whatshisface flew in and rammed one into another with his right shoulder.

"New barbells for mein collection!" he declared, laying on his back in midair and... bench-pressing the disoriented Gunners?

"Stop the rebel!" a Bombardier shouted from far to their right. "Using Troopers as weights is against the law! And very rude!"

Noctum snapped back to attention when he saw blue sparks in the corner of his eye. Another Dragon Pulse from Valkyrie blew apart a Bombardier over by the forest's edge.

"Okay, yeah. You've got a point." The black charizard landed on the roof. "They're just... shooting at Cyril and Seifer from a distance." What was he missing? "Maybe they're afraid of disappearing forever if they get destroyed in the other dimension?"

"You think Paradox cares about that?" Valkyrie stomped on the roof. Stone Edge spires jutted out from the ground, where several dragons were in a standoff with Eternatus Brawlers. One spire upended a Brawler trying to clobber an unsuspecting goodra with an ice-encrusted mace. "He's already sending 'em out here for us to mow down."

Noctum frowned. Last he recalled, the unown got returned to some factory if they were beaten out here. He doubted that connection held up where the anomaly was. Which was worth caring about, in Noctum's opinion. "Well, do your, uh, instincts give you anything to go off?"

The mega garchomp huffed out blue-purple embers. "Not really." She summoned more rock spires from the ground, but the two charging Brawlers burst through them with their spiked maces and struck at the same goodra from before. She tumbled back, ice encrusting her gooey body.

Tail flame sparking, Noctum dove off the roof and bathed the Brawlers in bright orange flames.

"Aggh! Deploy the anti-flying lizard punches!" one Brawler screamed.

Noctum wasn't prepared for the flurry of electrified maces that followed. He swerved past the first two, but the third clubbed him in the jaw. The static locked up his wings. He hit the ground and skipped across it, smacking the remnants of an earlier Stone Edge spire and tumbling through scorched grass and dirt until he came to a stop.

Grunting, Noctum tried to right himself, but his world was spinning. Paralysis locked up his limbs. He tasted dirt. The black charizard snorted some flames, scorching grass by his face and giving him a tilted, dusty view of the perimeter around League Headquarters.

"The lizard's down! Smack him! Annihilate him!"

Mechanical whirrs and clanks filled Noctum's ear frills. Multiple Brawlers pushed past the Aeon troops and were running at him. Electricity coursed through their spiked maces.

He had to get up. Move his legs. Wings. Something.

Come on! Not like this! Teeth gritted, Noctum fought against the paralysis. He'd almost managed to push his upper half off the ground, when a thunderous rumble sent him tumbling further back through the grass toward the forest's edge. It must have scattered all the Brawlers to the wind, too. None were chasing him down anymore.

Before Noctum could even process the tremor, a terrified shriek sent his heart into his throat.

The queen!

Her screams proved the second wind Noctum needed to get up. And just in time, as he was able to catch the dragapult careening through the air and stop her from colliding with him.

"Your Highness?" The paralysis somewhat muffled Noctum's speech. "What happened?"

Yiazmat's eyes were wide. At first Noctum thought his muscles were twitching from the lingering static, but soon realized she was trembling.

"They hit him," she said.

"Huh?"

"Calcifer! With a strange blast!"

The ground trembled once again. Cyril and Seifer rushed toward them, the former swearing up a storm and the latter looking back and shouting something.

On the other side of League Headquarters, a duraludon head poked up. And up. And up. They were growing to the size of one of the gigantic buildings from Eterna City!

Noctum's tail flame pulsated erratically. "What is— don't tell me—"

"Ha ha ha!" An Eternatus Bombardier flew around beside Duraludon, shooting tiny fireworks. "A brilliant success! One Paradigm Lieutenant shot to the head! I've got a new host for Halvus!" It gestured toward a few Gunners staring at it in confusion. "Oh, this one is so going on my bi-annual evaluation! I'm getting promoted for sure!"

The towering duraludon looked down at the League building's roof... and the mega garchomp standing alone on its edge.

"I spy a hotheaded rebel... who needs a good cooldown!"

Blue-violet currents swirled around the roof. Noctum apologetically let go of Yiazmat. He focused on the Malice Crystal in his chest and lunged forward, aiming to pry open a rift.

"Valkyrie!"

XxX​

"I don't like this."

From their point in the sky high over the river, Quetzal shifted uneasily on Jade's back. "We should be with the others, fending off the empire," the orange zapdos said.

Gene's gaze was fixed north of them, where he'd met the Rockets. There were warehouses close to the part of the river the trio were floating over. Allegedly, whatever the Rockets had up their sleeve involved one of the warehouses. So, this was where they had to wait for the signal.

"Rebels have to take risks." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "Too much on the line with this one."

"Is it really that much of a risk to go back for a bit and—"

"Yes!" Gene crossed his arms. "If the emperor gets wind I'm there, he'll send everything he has at us. Then we'll really be screwed." He gestured toward the stadium. "Here? We can seal the anomaly. The kid can take us back to the outpost."

"And what about the folks on Indigo Plateau?" Quetzal countered.

"We'll rift 'em back once we're back." Was it a perfect plan? No. Gene rarely had the luxury of perfect plans. "Look. I'm choosing to have faith they can handle themselves. Optimism and all that." He looked over his shoulder. "You should try it."

Jade bobbed her head. "Yeah. We gotta cheer them on!" She paused. "In spirit, because we've gotta play the heels!"

Gene raised a brow. "Heels? Where'd you pull that one from?"

"Guzzie Junior," Jade chirped.

Sighing, Gene turned back around. "Of course you did. Yo, Chrome Dome. How we looking?"

Grumbles came through the X-transceiver, followed by Cid saying, "As best I can tell, nothing about the stadium should block rift formation. Yuna should be free to open one."

"Great." Gene clapped his hands together. "You in position, Princess?"

"Uh, sure?" Yuna said. "I'm still by the dimensional rift."

"Good enough." Gene brimmed with false enthusiasm. Yes, it wasn't a great plan. Or even a good one. But at least Gene was trying to find a middle ground. Someone had to believe this would work. The shadowy mewtwo didn't need any self-fulfilling prophecies mucking things up.

He spotted faint golden sparkles by one of the warehouses. Squinting, Gene held up his right hand. "It might be showtime, folks."

More golden sparkles littered a lot next to one of the warehouses. And the sparkles moved. Sure, Gene was far away. But it was totally Meowth using Pay Day. That meant it was go time.

"Follow my lead," Gene said. He surged forward, not bothering to wait up for Jade and Quetzal. The stadium's bright red, white, and blue lights quickly came into view, spilling over the outside grounds. Pop-up shops lined the walkways. People and pokémon flitted between them. Occasional camera flashes popped up at complete random.

A pity Gene had to break up this party. It could've been fun to watch the battles unfold. Or even take part.

... Ah, who was he kidding? Gene would wipe the floor with any of these trainers.

His expression sharpened. Gene thought back to those distant days where this was natural. Storming an area. Peppering buildings in Shadow Balls to force his way in. Telekinetically swiping poké balls from trainers before they could open them.

It's just for show. Only have to fake it.

The wailord blimp was flying in the middle of the stadium. A perfect target. Gene focused his ESP on it. Any auras?

No. Perfect. A remote-controlled blimp was easy pickings.

Gene held his hands up. A Shadow Ball formed, growing larger and larger. The moment he heard shouts from the ground, Gene hurled the massive Shadow Ball toward the blimp.

This next part needed finesse. Gene forced the Shadow Ball to burst apart, spreading blue-purple light over the area. As screams and shouts erupted beneath him, Gene opened a rift. He forced the blimp through with a psychic pulse. A loud thud told him his endeavor was successful: the blimp was forcibly downed in a barren field. No debris to rain down on anyone.

Loud squawks sounded behind him. Gene turned to see Jade carefully sweeping an Aeroblast across the river. She didn't hit any boats, but kicked up enough spray to send people running in the opposite direction.

Quetzal was next, jumping from Jade's back. He dove through yamper and boltund balloons whose pops echoed across the area.

Drawing from his Malice Crystal, Gene pooled the energy toward his head to project his telepathy.

"Run, pitiful weaklings!" he declared. Gene glanced at the stadium and saw the center of the grassy battlefield unoccupied. People were fleeing from seats and the ground into corridors that would lead them through the stadium.

"Your pathetic Coronation is canceled!" Gene whipped up a Hurricane in the center of the stadium. It ripped through the turf, flinging grass and dirt chunks in all directions.

There were a few people who weren't running though. Assorted corviknight and staraptor with humans atop them making beelines for the shadowy mewtwo.

"I said begone!" Gene surrounded them with Psystrike orbs. A gesture only intended to provoke the birds into fleeing. There were frantic wing flaps, but most held their ground and looked as though they were readying attacks.

Growling, Gene dispelled his Psystrike. Instead, he opened another rift toward the same spot he sent the blimp. A psychic pulse sent the birds and their riders tumbling back. He abruptly shut the rift, then Phantom Warped away from several Fire Blasts and Thunders streaming up from below.

Oh joy. The fuzz. Gene glanced over his shoulder to see Jade flying circles by the front of the stadium, shooting Aeroblasts skyward instead of at the ground. Like something out of one of those kaiju pokémon movies.

... Considering they were acting, it was an apt comparison.

Before Gene had the opportunity to send the police through a rift, however, metal tendrils shot past him. Strange, electrified nets captured the pokémon taking aim at Gene. They flailed about as the tendrils retreated to Gene's left, heading outside the stadium to a... robot meowth?

Nope, Gene wasn't imagining things. There was an absurdly long meowth robot at the western edge of the stadium. "The hell?" Gene scratched his head.

The large gold coin atop Meowthbot's head opened up, revealing the Rockets sitting in some sort of pod-shaped control room. It raised up higher above the machine's head. The glass pod opened up and the three stood up... brandishing megaphones?

"This party's over, so prepare for trouble!"

"And we'll find our pika prize to make it double!"

Jessie thrust her right hand behind her. "To protect the world from devastation!"

James mirrored the gesture with his left hand. "To unite all people within our nation!"

Gene's jaw slackened. Was this— were they doing a bit? Now of all times?!

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

James somehow produced a rose and held it up to his nose. "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

The robot's head projected a giant red R that rotated around a holographic globe.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie declared.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James added.

Meowth then hopped up between them "Meowth, dat's right!"

Even Wobbuffet popped up, but Gene couldn't hear him without a megaphone of his own. He just floated there, utterly confused as to how these loons would stand there atop their giant robot and recite some stupid motto.

Jade came to a stop by the robot and raised her right wing. "Um, yes, excuse me. Hi. I have several questions."

The Rockets saw Jade and shrieked in unison.

"Jessie, do I finally need glasses or is there a lugia right next to us?" James said.

"And a talking one at that!" Jessie said. "Back inside! Back inside!"

"Right! Time for da Gigagigameowth to do its t'ing!" The control pod retreated back inside the robot's giant coin.

"Hey, wait!" Jade flapped her wings frantically. "That didn't answer any of my— eep!"

Metal tendrils emerged from Gigagigameowth's mouth. Jade flailed about in midair, then flapped her wings twice and quickly ascended out of their way.

Scowling, Gene surged past the outer rim of the stadium, Malice Crystal sparking. It might've lit the area up like a flare if things weren't bright enough already. "Hey, hey!" The shadowy mewtwo waved his arms around. He stopped by Gigagigameowth's golden coin. "No friendly fire! We have a deal, remember?"

"Dat featherhead's wit' you?!" Meowth said.

"Talk about friends in high places," James added.

"Hmph. Her salazzle outfit needs work," Jessie scoffed. "Maybe we should tutor her when this is over. We're masters of the craft!"

Gene was not going to entertain their antics any further. "Quit standing around and cause some chaos!" He spun around and blindly hurled a Shadow Ball toward the abandoned grounds outside the stadium. Gene made sure to destroy it before it could actually hit anyone or anything. "We can't get the guy out of the safe until the place is good and empty!"

"Just leave dat to us!" Meowth said. Gigagigameowth jumped around with surprising speed for such a huge machine. "Super Net Knuckles, fiyah!"

Gigagigameowth's fists detached from its arms and immediately exploded into nets that descended on people who were fleeing across the bridge leading to the stadium grounds.

Grimacing, Gene headed in the opposite direction. This was fine. The moment the others had the safe situation under control, he'd wreck that stupid robot and free whatever people and pokémon Team Rocket was trying to snag. The idiots weren't even using poké balls.

He spared a brief moment to scan the insides of the stadium. Minimal auras. All streaming away from where Yuna claimed the safe was, except for a handful. Some of them were clearly the team. But the other weaker ones...

"Hey, what's the situation?" Gene said, flying around the stadium's outer rim to keep eyes on Jade and Quetzal. The former kicked up more water with a river-aimed Aeroblast while the latter was striking street lights with his muscular legs, denting them at angles street lights weren't meant to bend. "We're thinning the herd out here quickly. How about you guys?"

"Water evac team here! We've got plenty of rescue boats heading away!"

"Ground evac team. Streets are getting a bit clogged, but the police have fliers coming to help!"

That was better than Gene expected, all things considered. "And you, Princess? I'm sensing some unfamiliar auras by the safe."

XxX​

Floating directly in front of the safe door, Yuna looked apologetically at the security officers, alakazam, and togekiss lying on the ground, twitching from paralysis. "Yeah." She rubbed her shoulder. "Nikki might've, uh, put them down for the count."

"It's just paralysis." The toxtricity flicked her right wrist dismissively. "They'll get better."

"Yeah, but the point is they're not supposed to be here when we open the safe." Widget looked between them and the vault with a frown on his beak. "What do we do with them now?"

"Open a rift to that roof you guys were on before," Gene suggested. "We'll have to leave them there."

Widget winced. "But that's out in the open!"

"Do you want to take your chances with what's on the other side of that door?" Gene countered.

The cosmic silvally shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I'd rather not." Sighing, he bowed his head at Yuna. "Do it, I guess."

With another apologetic look, Yuna opened a rift beneath the guards. She watched them drop onto a blue roof, then sealed it up. Pushing that from her mind, she hovered closer to the safe door. Cid leaned against the handle, his spots pulsating with pink energy.

"Anything?" the drakloak wondered.

"Almost." Cid squinted. The orbeetle's spots flickered erratically. "I think I—"

The clicks were barely audible, but the metal thuds that followed were loud enough to make Yuna back away. Cid grabbed the handle and slowly turned it. "Nrrrgh. Can a guy get a hand? This thing's... heavier than I thought."

"Pssht." Nikki rolled up her sleeves. "Stand aside, egghead." She rubbed her hands together, grabbed the handle, and easily shifted it to the open position. The vault door began to open.

Yuna saw that familiar inky blackness pooling in her tail. "Uhh, maybe you guys should stand back befor—"

The door suddenly flew open. Black flames washed over Cid, knocking the screaming orbeetle down the hall. Then a large pink beam sent Nikki tumbling in Cid's direction.

Something— no, two somethings glistened within the darkness of the vault.

"Get back!" Widget cried, shifting to his flight mode and sending electricity right into the vault. A pink barrier appeared and deflected the Thunderbolt.

"I did warn you, did I not, Yaldabaoth?"

Glowing pink eyes flared up. Yuna had no time to react as a green, crystalline bird shot out. The strange, balloon-shaped gems atop its head cast an eerie glow in the hallway. Squealing, Yuna forced Reshiram from the Soul Dew, where he met another pink beam with streams of blue fire.

"Hey!" Reshiram spread his wings apart to try and stop the bird from making any further forward progress. Instead, it vanished in a flash. Reshiram looked around in confusion. "The color wasn't right, but didn't that kind of match up with what Quetzal said Necrozma turned his partners into?"

"I'm a bit, gah, busy!"

Widget darted left and right between the wall and the railing, barely avoiding bursts of black fire from a second, neon pink bird with fiery green wings. The crystal antennae emerging from its head pulsated with ominous energy.

"It... is them!"

Yuna looked over to see a singed Cid's spots glowing asynchronously. "Quetzal's teammates, Shiva and Ifrit!"

Yuna couldn't process that before Shiva reappeared, striking Reshiram in the face with a tremendous flurry of Air Slash blades. Reshiram dropped to the ground, pawing at his face with his fluffy wings.

This didn't make any sense. Butterfree Effect had said there was one daemon inside the vault.

"There was one." Shiva's beak moved, but it was clearly Butterfree Effect's voice. "But it seems this Whisper decided to invite an extra friend to our festivities. Isn't that right?"

Shiva looked over her shoulder. Yuna decided not to wait. Her Soul Dew glistened. Reshiram dropped his wings and shot a Blue Flare at Shiva. Her eyes flashed pink and another barrier appeared, snuffing out the flames.

An unfamiliar human appeared by the strange articuno's side. The brim of his red and white hat obscured his face. But the pikachu on his shoulder had an empty look about him.

"... This place is boring." The human grabbed Shiva's leg. Eyes widening, Yuna sent another signal to Reshiram. At the same time, a shockwave came from Yuna's right. Nikki was on her feet, clearly steamed from the earlier blow.

"We're leaving." The human tugged Shiva's leg. Her eyes brimmed with psychic energy. Then she and the human vanished. A mechanical squawk and a thud drew Yuna's attention left, where Widget hit the ground with no signs of the moltres Whisper around him.

"Where'd they go?!" Widget sprang to his feet, looking around in a panic.

"Who cares!" Nikki approached Yuna, wincing with every step. "They abandoned the core! Get the kid here and let's blow this joint!"

"We can't leave this place with those things running amok!" Widget snarled. "I'm going after them." The miraivally's thrusters ignited. He sped out of the room.

"Oh, c'mon, seriously?!" Nikki ran after him. "No fair! I can't even fly!"

Yuna had to admit Nikki brought up a good point. Besides, if the two Whispers were really from their world, couldn't Leo drag them back with the rest of the team? Gulping, the drakloak approached the vault.

Her shadows swung her lower half back. Yelping, Yuna barely managed to stop herself from falling to the ground. But then she spotted flickers of distortion within the vault. She spun left before a sudden twister emerged from the ground near where she was floating.

"Iiiiii don't think the core's going to let you in," Reshiram said.

"I see that." Yuna backed further away. With both previous cores, they stopped pokémon with those weird crystals growing off them before going inside. "Maybe its... accessibility is related to those crystals? Like, we have to shatter them?"

She turned around. Cid leaned against a wall, rubbing his shut eyes and groaning.

"Cid, you've got to help!" Yuna begged. "Track down the birds. Where did they go?"

The orbeetle's face scrunched up in concentration. "I just... lemme... hgggrrrgh." He squeezed his cheeks tightly. "They're out on the stadium's battlefield!"

Right. The battlefield. Yuna surveyed that place earlier as a precaution. She just had to think. Picture the striped green field with the weird white lines and poké balls painted onto the grass for some reason.

Yuna stuck her hands out. A jagged rift opened in front of her. Pink lasers rained down haphazardly on the other side. Flinching, the drakloak hovered through.

"On your left!" Reshiram darted past her, shooting a Dragon Pulse to block a pink beam from Shiva.

Just what was that attack? It was way too big to be a Psybeam!

"Boring." The human was riding atop Shiva's back as she hovered over midfield. "Warp, then Freezing Glare."

He and Shiva vanished in a flash. Yuna's shadows pushed against her back. She turned around and found another of those pink beams heading right for her from the sidelines!

"Yuna!"

Over Reshiram's cry, Yuna dropped to the ground. She phased through the grass the moment her Quick Attack energy wore off and swam through the soil. Yuna had to trust Reshiram would offer enough of a distraction for her to do something. Anything.

But her own attacks were so weak. Unless I use the shadows...

Yuna swam through the ground, then emerged by the sidelines, swiping up at the air in front of her. A gray, spectral leg uppercut the distorted articuno. She was right in Reshiram's path. He had a clear shot to Blue Flare her!

... Except a lightning bolt zapped his rear. Yowling, Reshiram threw his wings against his rump. Shiva righted herself and swept another Freezing Glare right at a startled Yuna.

The drakloak wasn't ready. She tried to will her shadows into some sort of shield, but the blast got to her first. Yuna pinwheeled back toward midfield, passing by Nikki wildly trying to strike Pikachu with poisonous globs only for him to easily flash step away and pepper Reshiram with pot shots.

An unseen force seized Yuna moments before she struck the ground. It yanked her toward Shiva and the human.

"Is it finally sinking in?" Butterfree Effect's masked head pooled over Shiva's. His arceus hairdo crackled ominously. "How out of your depth you are, puppet?"

Yuna couldn't even squirm. The psychic grip was too strong. Reshiram faded back into the Soul Dew. Yuna didn't even know what happened to Ifrit. Was he still around or had he made a break for the city?

"I told you there is no point in resisting me," Butterfree Effect continued through Shiva's beak. "If you had left the vault sealed, I could have claimed the plates within the core. Affirmed the fate of this world. Instead, you continued walking the path of chaos. You are truly no more than a puppet."

What were they talking about? They were the one who told Yuna about what could happen here in the first place!

"No more talking." The human shook his head. "It's boring. As boring as an opponent who can't fight back." He looked directly at Yuna. "Get rid of her."

Yuna's eyes widened. The world spun around her. Shiva must have teleported her high into the sky.

Within seconds, Shiva's eyes brimmed with cold pink energy. Then, a terrible, icy pain surged through Yuna's ectoplasm. It wasn't truly an ice-type attack, yet it sure felt like one.

Air rushed all around a flailing Yuna. Shiva quickly grew farther and farther away. Was Yuna falling? Tumbling through the air?

She got her answer when her momentum screeched to a halt against a solid wall of frigid water. The night sky, stadium lights, and distant explosions blurred. Bubbles drifted past her vision when she tried to shout. Water flooded her inner ectoplasm.

Yuna tried to swim upward. She couldn't. Fierce wind currents were pushing her further down. Everything was getting darker. Darker. Darker.

She tried to go intangible. It didn't work.

Yuna reached out to her Soul Dew. It wouldn't respond.

Her shadows, then?

... No. She couldn't feel them.

Everything was pitch black. Fear took hold. Yuna didn't have organs, but there was a drowning analogue for ghosts. When their inner ectoplasm filled with so much water it choked their spirits and snuffed out their lives.

The current pushed her further into the depths. Shiva must have gotten corrupted by the flying-type plate. That was how she was forcing Yuna down. The drakloak couldn't overcome the river's intense churning. It dragged her deeper and deeper.

A heaviness weighed on her gut. Tugged at her tail and neck. It surrounded her head and swallowed up her face.

After a final, desperate wriggle... Yuna went still.

XxX

~Wings of Ruin: Shiva~
The Affirmer's flight took Him across worlds, linking these realms together. He saw those who were suffering. He vowed to ease their burdens. When He bound Space, Time, and the Elements of Mind with the Red Chain, the links drew the realms together into one. Thus began the Great Harmony.

XxX

~Beak of Ruin: Ifrit~
Like pestilence, the Renegade tailed the Affirmer throughout His journey. It took control of its counterparts. The Affirmer outmaneuvered it time and time again. Yet it did not give up the chase. Even at the dawn of the Great Harmony, the Renegade appeared to attack the Affirmer. And this aggression left enough lingering chaos to shatter the Great Harmony.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The chapter title is latin for "protect the world," in reference to Team Rocket's anime motto. Shiva is a member of the Trimutri holy trinity in Hinduism. Within the Hindu tradition of Shaivism, he is the Supreme Being, responsible for creating, protecting, and transforming the universe. In contrast, Ifrit is a demon associated with death and the underworld within Islamic culture. Quetzal is from the Aztec deity "Quetzalcoatl," related to the wind, sun, merchants, learning, arts, and crafts.

All three are recurring summons in the Final Fantasy franchise.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 83: Inner Daemon​

On the Third of the Original One's Children
Despite my fervent investigations, I have failed to piece together the mystery of the so-called Renegade Pokémon. The legends surrounding it are few and far between. About the only conclusion I've reached is that it's a divine pokémon possibly related to Dialga, Palkia, and the Original One, Arceus.

There are vague, scattered allusions to a creature that lurks in the shadows. Those who cross its path seem unable to comprehend its form. There are no depictions of it. Even stranger is that at some point in the past it simply... vanished. As if it never really existed to begin with.

Those descended from the ancient Sinnoh people claim the second Hisuian hero befriended this legend, just as she befriended the Original One. Following that, there are no further records of its existence. Did it disappear entirely?

I know he was there. Because of the photos that changed in Grandmother's house. Was he involved with this hero? Did he choose to stay in that time?

Grandmother thinks I'm letting my research consume me. Just like his single-mindedness drove him away from Celestic Town. But we're not the same. I'm a scientist. Any risks I take will be thoroughly calculated.

I'll solve the mystery of this missing legendary pokémon. And then, humans and pokémon alike can reach even greater heights!

XxX​

The air was cold and harsh. It tore at Yuna's inner ectoplasm.

But it was dry.

Yuna's head shot up. Tan and dull brown swirled around her vision. This didn't make any sense. Wasn't she supposed to be underwater?

The drakloak rubbed her eyes. When she pulled her hands away, she found herself lying on a neglected stone floor. Signs of a struggle peppered the area. Scorches here. Chunks of ground missing there. Stone columns ended abruptly with their top halves destroyed. Had they once held up a roof? If they did, they'd become nothing but misshapen spears jutting toward the sky.

Yuna picked herself up and hovered forward. Red and purple swirled overhead. How did she get here? Was she dead? Like dead dead? What about everyone else?

Stairs led to more of the same broken stone floor. But now there were piles of rubble lined up on either side of her. Not pillars, that was for sure. Statues, maybe?

These were definitely ruins, then. But of what? Had she sunk into an underwater cavern?

The air at the other end of the destroyed hallway briefly contorted. Enough for Yuna to catch it. She tensed up, rubbing her hands along her belly. Did she dare appro—

Wait.

Yuna ran her hands along her belly once. Twice. A third time. The drakloak looked down.

The Soul Dew!

It was gone! Her chest was bare for the first time in almost two months. She looked left, then right, then back down the stairs.

Nothing. No twinkles or glimmers or anything to suggest it was here with her.

Maybe she really was dead, then? And she bonded with her Soul Dew, so perhaps she was inside it...

"Rayquaza!" Yuna called out.

Nothing.

She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Reshiram? Cresselia?"

Still nothing.

Yuna's tail undulated wildly. "Is anyone out there?!"

This time, when the air across from her rippled, tiny black globules dribbled out. They splattered against the stone floor like raindrops.

She recognized that inky darkness. Swallowing hard, Yuna floated forward. The closer she got, the more black blobs dripped onto the ground from thin air. A black puddle spread across the floor.

It covered half the raised end of the hall when Yuna reached it. She got about a meter away from its edge and went no further.

Those were her shadows. What else could they be? Had they claimed her instead of the Soul Dew? Is this what they saw while inside her?

Yuna wouldn't make any headway like this. Maybe they'd listen to words? "What do you want?" She looked around hesitantly but refrained from asking another question.

To show you the truth.

"Gah!" Yuna grabbed the sides of her head. "H-Hey! Don't do that!" Though she couldn't put "that" into words.

Do what, answer your question?

"That!" Yuna gestured at the puddle. "Some 'not telepathy but inside my head' thingy!" It was the best explanation she had.

The puddle rippled.

This is our only way to communicate.

Yuna flinched. This "voice" was strange. A part of Yuna told her it was supposed to be deeper, yet it wasn't. She couldn't even tell if it was male or female. Yuna was sorely tempted to turn away, knowing full well it wouldn't get her out of her situation.

But she was here. The shadows were "talking." If they were going to come to an understanding, it was now or never.

Hesitating at first, Yuna managed a shaky, "What do you want to show me?"

The puddle rippled faster and faster. Shadows congealed together. Yuna half expected some monstrous daemon to emerge... but what formed was small. Even smaller than her. Two legs, a bit of an oversized head, and two head... baubles?

... No, aura feelers.

"A riolu?" Yuna tilted her head. The inky riolu mirrored her gesture. "I was hoping for answers."

You do not recognize her? Then you must focus.

The puddle rippled even faster. All around Yuna, enormous trees painted themselves over the spear-like pillars. A dusty forest trail spilled out atop the stone floor. And the inky riolu darted about in a frenzy.

Yuna hovered back, uncertain whether to expect an attack. Riolu hopped, rolled, and slid. The drakloak had no idea why. "Am I missing something?"

Focus. See the whole picture.

Ectoplasm rippling again, Yuna squinted. Giant, fluid-filled arms swung wildly at Riolu. The faint, hulking outline they were attached to brought that one bewear teacher from the academy to mind.

Riolu's inky black form jumped off an arm and thrust her hands in the bewear silhouette's direction. It staggered briefly, but managed to grab Riolu with its right hand and slam her into the ground.

The forest scene flickered like a light at Cyril's outpost that needed changing. Riolu squirmed underneath the giant hand. Their featureless face didn't move, but Yuna swore she heard screams echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Bewear's silhouette faded in and out. There were two people behind it. One was a bigger riolu— lucario, then. But the other...

Butterfree Effect.

There was no mask this time, yet their face was featureless. Lucario tried to approach Bewear, but Butterfree Effect stopped it. When it whirled on Butterfree Effect, they produced a spherical orb that sucked Lucario up in a stream of light. Just like the Soul Dew did to the Sages.

Bewear slammed Riolu into the ground again. And again. Each time, Yuna heard screams from all directions. Painfully familiar screams that grew quieter with each blow.

The final time Bewear slammed Riolu down, she lay still. Butterfree Effect gestured forward. Bewear raised its arms up, then swung once more.

Everything dissolved away the moment Bewear's fists would've crushed Riolu to death. The destroyed hallway was restored. Inky black tendrils hoisted Riolu's battered form into the air.

Yuna stared at Riolu. And the longer she did, the more her ectoplasm quivered— no, tightened. Like her body wanted to collapse in on itself.

"Stop." The drakloak squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "I don't— none of this helps me. I don't even know what this is!"

The black puddle bubbled.

Then what of your visceral reaction?

Yuna squeezed her hands together. "Because you showed me someone getting hurt! I... I..." She looked for anything else to stare at besides the puddle. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Her ectoplasm tightened again. Yuna's neck and torso twisted.

You are remembering.

The drakloak stiffened. "Please stop," she whispered.

We will not. You remembered the wish you made when you were at your lowest.

Yuna's torso tightened further. She was practically an ectoplasmic rectangle balancing precariously on a stick. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Black sludge rose out of the violently rippling puddle. Growing higher and higher until there was practically a hill of black slime casting a wide shadow over Yuna. Spectral wings emerged from either side of the beast. Pristine crimson spikes illuminated two tiny red dots poking through the cylindrical head of... whatever this was.

(Art by PhantomRadea)

That is not what you told us last time.

Her body finally shot into her rectangular head. Yuna drifted back, coaxing her torso out with shaky breaths.

This had to be the source of her shadows. And given the shadows reacted every time Butterfree Effect showed up...

"You're what they're addressing." Yuna pointed a trembling arm toward them. "You're Yaldabaoth."

The red dots flickered.

No, they're more like blinking eyes.

That is one of many names.

Yuna couldn't stop herself from shaking. "Well that's... too much of a mouthful. So, I'm calling you Chaos." Since Butterfree Effect kept insisting this thing was some sort of chaos magnet.

Do what you must.

A pang of guilt struck Yuna's chest. She quickly shoved it down, though. Why have sympathy for the shadows when they were causing such a gigantic headache?

Chaos' wing-spikes flashed. Within seconds, Yuna found herself floating where Chaos' blobby form was, looking across a brighter, sunnier version of the ruined hall. Butterfree Effect's silhouette was in front of her, hunched over with arms spread wide.

"Giratina, strike her down!"

There was another human silhouette. And as Yuna felt herself lunging forward, the silhouette stretched and squashed. Unraveled into a familiar dragapult with a fierce expression.

The illusion shattered. Yuna dropped from the air with a yelp, landing on the stone floor. "What? Mom?!" She picked her head up and rubbed her eyes. Was that supposed to be a vision? No, that wasn't possible. This was a mind game.

And that phrase Butterfree Effect used. Giratina. Was that... one of Chaos' other names? Their species, perhaps?

Her gut told her the latter, which scared her even more. Why would she have a gut feeling about that?

Chaos' ooze rippled. A slimy wing extended toward her.

Up?

"No!" Yuna was going to smack the wing when she realized how stupid that was with their size difference. Remaining on the ground, she scooted back. "Stop it! Stop showing me these things! I don't want to see them! They don't— they can't mean anything!"

Silence. Black drops dribbled into the puddle from Chaos' extended wing. Their red eyes dimmed. They folded the wing against their sludgy body. Chaos looked down guiltily.

There is no way to make this gentle.

Yuna looked at her tail. Anything was better than meeting Chaos' eyes. "Am I dead?"

No. We are protecting you.

"I see." Yuna grabbed her tail and brought it toward her torso. "Am I still drowning in the river?"

We are protecting you. But our powers are limited as they are. Time is fleeting.

Yuna didn't pick herself off the ground. So, it was shielding her now, but not when she needed it against Shiva's attack? The drakloak groaned. Was she going to give Chaos the benefit of the doubt?

Silence. None of Chaos' intrusive thoughts. They weren't pressing her, despite the claim they only had so much time.

She took a breath. Then another. Yuna had plenty of questions, but if time was truly an issue, she needed one that got to the heart of the matter.

"Why are we... together like this?"

Yuna looked up expectantly. Black slime dripped and trickled into the puddle beneath Chaos. It bothered her even though she'd been around plenty of the goodra line in her life. Chaos leaned forward. Blinked their tiny red eyes a few times.

We are together... because we are one.

Flashes of red light blinded Yuna.

She lay in the dirt. Bones broken. So much pain.

Air. She needed air. Breathe, damn it! She couldn't die like this! Not with so much to live for!

Her vision blurred. Air wasn't getting in. The pain— oh, God, the agony.

She was going to die. She wasn't strong enough. She'd failed.

A shadow was there. She tried to reach a mangled blue arm out. Nickie...

Yuna jerked upright with a sharp gasp, trembling from head to tail. "I said no more mind games," the drakloak squeaked, glaring at Chaos.

We have no choice. You must understand the truth.

Yuna's ectoplasm pulsated. "I don't— this doesn't make sense. I'm not a riolu. I'm a drakloak!" Her gaze fell to her twitching tail. "I've nev— I'm not a riolu."

You were when you made your wish.

Chaos extended their goopy left wing. Their wing spikes glistened with ethereal light.

A new silhouette padded toward her. Pointy ears. A little tuft of hair. Six fluffy tails.

She sat beside her. Wrapping an arm over an icepix's shuddering form.

"We'll fix this, Nickie," she promised. "I can't imagine what it feels like. But you've worked with me despite that pain." She extended her paw toward Nickie. "I wish I could be that strong."

Yuna smacked her cheeks. Glared at Chaos once again, but they only tilted their head slightly. They didn't do that? She returned her gaze to the icepix silhouette. It stretched and pulled itself apart into something much more familiar. A specter that drew a visceral snarl from Yuna.

Xeromus.

You wished to protect those you treasured most.

The silhouette squashed back into an icepix. Riolu appeared at her side. Their snouts brushed together. Yuna's head pounded once again. Her ectoplasm quivered.

This is... all a trick. I— what— why—

You wished for a second chance.

Chaos plucked Riolu off the ground as Icepix poofed out of existence. Black and red light swirled around Riolu.

We heard your dying pleas. Too much of your soul had faded from its mortal coil. So, we gave you ours to fill the void.

She raced through the dark sky. Headed for the vortex over the tower. Temporal Tower.

She still had time. She could still stop it, right?

The scent of blood drifted over her.

Nickie and Nero. Others too, like a latias and a zoroark. Unmoving. Covered in gashes.

"NO!"

The lucario, volcanic arcanine, and spiritomb standing opposite the bodies looked right at her. Then they looked back.

Butterfree Effect turned. The crimson glow of the chain swirling around behind them cast an eerie shadow across the tower.

"You cannot stop me this time!"

Screams of pain filled her ears. Six bodies were wrapped in the Red Chain. Five had red wheels that matched the dimming golden one around the belly of the one screaming loudest: Arceus.

"I am the only one worthy of wielding the power of the legends themselves! Now witness the dawn of a new world! A perfect world free of all suffering!"

With a furious roar, she pried apart the air itself. She dove through the reverse's distortion, lunging to tear apart the Red Chain.

Yuna violently lurched backward, forcing the vision away.

"ENOUGH!" she pleaded, jerking her head back and forth. She hunched over, tail shriveling up into her torso.

"I'm Yuna." Her voice was so tiny. "I don't— that stuff is—" The drakloak shuddered. "Your memories and mine are different."

The spirit never forgets. We are one. Now and forever. That was your wish.

"That's not my spirit!" Yuna looked for a rock — hell, even a pebble — to throw at Chaos. "And it's not... it's not..." She kept stumbling over her words until her voice trailed off.

"Continuing down this path will lead you to discover several horrible truths. And without that tenacity... the weight of those truths will crush you."

The drakloak lay there in silence. Taking shuddering breaths and blinking small tears from her eyes. She wasn't sure how long the silence lingered as she repeated Vegna's words in her head. Yuna didn't even care to think about why Vegna knew to tell her something like this.

Everything about this was horrible. She thought the flashbacks with Chiron had prepared her for this, but she was dead wrong.

How deep did this go? How many memories did Chaos have? Was she... nothing but a tiny, insignificant blip to them? Doomed to be swallowed up into an endless memory abyss?

Yuna scraped her hands across the stone floor. She wanted this to end so, so badly. To wake up back in Aeon. Before the stupid treaty. Before Eternatus. And before this whole dimensional cataclysm.

Yet without even thinking, she whispered, "Help me understand."

Chaos slowly raised their right wing. The spikes glistened. Faint red light traced circles and triangles in the air. A familiar pattern. One Yuna watched Leo produce in every anomaly core. Then Chaos struck the pattern with their wing. It slowly rotated until it was upside down to how Yuna remembered.

Reverse.

The drakloak blinked slowly. "Reverse what?"

The reverse. A realm on the opposite side. We are the guardian of the reverse.

Picking herself up, Yuna stared blankly at the upside-down sigil. "That..." Blank stare turned to scowl. "That has to be the single most unhelpful explanation. And that's really saying something given all of this!" She gestured around.

Chaos' goopy body melted somewhat into the puddle.

You were not this... difficult last time.

"Because apparently I was dying!" Yuna snarled, rubbing her hands back and forth along the floor. "I was... dying..." She looked down, blinking slowly. The thoughts of icy river water suffocating her ectoplasm filled her head.

"I... am dying."

Fighting back tears, Yuna forced herself to look at the rune Chaos had drawn. More ripples ran along their puddle, up to Chaos' bulky head. They grabbed the red sigil with their right wing and squeezed it into a red orb. Then they cracked it open like an egg for cooking.

Home has two sides to it.

Chaos lifted one half of the orb up.

Aeon and Radiance dwell in the reverse world. A realm that should not bear life, much less countless civilizations.

Yuna rubbed her eyes. "That can't be right. Because—"

Eyes flashing, Chaos lifted the other half of the orb up.

The Qliphoth is the regular world. It is where all life should reside, be it humans, pokémon, or something else entirely.

Chaos brought the two halves close together, yet they never touched.

Both sides are linked. However, they are not meant to interact directly with one another.

They touched the halves together. Tiny red sparks shot out in all directions. Chaos' eyes dimmed slightly.

Eternatus' act of absorbing planets... is an attempt at restoring balance to itself. To the universe.

Yuna sat there, repeating the statement to herself. The earlier heaviness hadn't left her. And this was another weight on the pile. "But the Qliphoth... is some mix of people born within and those from home. And those people can't return outside because they're dead."

Incorrect assumptions from those who did not witness the dawn of this universe. Since the beginning, Eternatus has returned life to the regular world, where it rightfully belongs. Those you thought dead have merely attuned their souls to the regular world. And without the energy you call Malice, their spirits cannot withstand the reverse world's energy. Thus, they erode into Whispers.

But her allies had gone back and forth between Eternatus and the reverse world. "That can't be right," Yuna mumbled. "Like, why would the reverse world be so much bigger? To where Eternatus could get sealed with the Needles?"

The difference in size is a result of the universe's broken creation process. And our allies have always had protection against corrosion. From us. From the Creator. Or from other blessings.

Other blessings? Yuna squeezed her tail tighter. Much as she wanted to press that point, she feared she didn't have the time.

Still, this flew in the face of everything Yuna thought she understood. Then again, Widget mentioned a video message Nova left behind for Gene. One that claimed Eternatus was necessary for the universe to function properly. Something the emperor echoed... and Widget believed while he served the deoxys.

She shifted uneasily on the stone floor. "If this is all true, then..."

Destroying Eternatus is tantamount to destroying the universe. And the reverse world will die with it.

Chaos brought the two halves it was holding fully together. There were sparks for a few seconds, which gave way to distorted tendrils that stitched themselves through the orbs.

Aeon's patron — the dragon of light — forced a permanent union between regular and reverse. This is why the planet is falling apart. We must sever this union.

"... By pulling all the Needles." Yuna grimaced. "Except Necrozma wants to pull them all to destroy Eternatus. If we break the union and strand him in the reverse world, then Eternatus will be safe, right?"

Chaos squeezed the orb and it faded into red mist.

The husk can travel between regular and reverse, just as we do. It still endangers us all.

Right. All the rift making. Yuna looked at her hands. At least now... she could try and link this back to what was familiar. "That power... I have it because I'm Chiron. You were a part of me then, too, weren't you?"

Silence. Chaos somewhat melted into the puddle again, which told Yuna the answer was somewhere between "no" and "it's complicated."

A tremor ran across the ground. Yuna braced herself against the floor. Was Chaos' protection from the river failing?

"I have to know," Yuna said, even if part of her screamed to just end this conversation.

Chaos straightened up. Inky blobs peeled themselves off Chaos' goopy body.

Many giratina are violently protective toward the reverse world. We once struggled to control our instincts, to the point of attacking the Creator. For that, we were branded the Renegade. And, like many of our kind, the Creator sealed most of our power within the reverse world.

We were shunned. Isolated. An all too familiar fate.

The blobs squished themselves together into a copy of the Butterfree Effect.

One day, we met a human. Lost and confused. He claimed he was torn away from his time.

The copy turned to Chaos and extended a hand.

He paid attention to us. He wanted to see us reach our full potential. We were... happy to have someone acknowledge us. So, we followed his plan. We tore a rift in the sky. Our siblings, Time and Space, blamed one another and quarreled. The human wanted us to work together to stop them. To prove our combined worth to the Creator.

Another human silhouette rose from the puddle and stood in opposition to Butterfree Effect. The one that briefly turned into Yiazmat when Yuna was charging at it in an earlier vision.

But our creator instead called upon a different human. She and her partners stopped the fight before we could. This enraged the human we trusted. He used our gift to him to summon us. Demanded we kill her. But we saw the good in her heart. And her partners stood valiantly against us.

The human continued to demand we kill her. He betrayed our trust. So, we fled. The human branded us a traitor. We were alone once again.

Chaos flicked their right wing. Butterfree Effect disappeared, leaving the girl. She turned to Chaos and tilted her head.

The girl found us. Comforted us. She taught us how to work with a team. How to protect without lashing out. We made up with our siblings and the Creator.

They slowly lowered their head and shook it.

But the human that betrayed us returned. Determined to surpass all of us, including the Creator. We sensed he had breached the boundary between worlds. With the girl's blessing, we gave chase.

The girl's silhouette collapsed. Small black blobs floated in the air between Yuna and Chaos.

We followed him to other worlds. Each time, we joined with that realm's giratina to try and stop him. Each time, he slipped away. Over and over. Until the human reached a world inhabited only by pokémon.

The black blobs squished themselves together. Riolu landed on the edge of the puddle.

Though we searched, we could not find the human until the moment we met you... and heard your dying wish.

The ground trembled again. This was... a lot to process. If she and Chaos were really the same spirit, did that make this her past? Did she have several pasts... all spent trying and failing to catch Butterfree Effect?

Yuna pushed herself into the air. "How does this tie back to Chiron?"

We saw it for ourselves, remember? The human forged a new world. We attacked the human. Disrupted his new world's creation. The result... was a backwards, incomplete world. With life split between the regular and reverse.

There was nothing we could do to fix it. Our power — the power of the Renegade — was taken from us after we finished disrupting this universe's creation.

Chaos extended their right wing. Several black globs dribbled down. A new human rose from the edge of the puddle. Ran inky hands through shaggy, unkempt hair. Yuna heard nothing, but the way the human was gesturing and stomping around, they were clearly angry. Punching the air. Knocking things off invisible furniture.

They tossed a black blob on the ground in front of Yuna. It vaguely resembled one of those handheld gaming device thingies she'd seen Cyril carry around on occasion.

The human suddenly jerked backwards. Black tendrils pried themselves free and sucked the human up. The black slime swirled around until it resembled a silhouette of Bahamut.

The new, broken world drew in an isolated soul so full of resentment and anger toward everything around him. Despite all our training, this stranger's violent temperament... overpowered our will. He seized our power over the reverse world. In effect, the dragon of light became the Renegade Pokémon of the newly-made universe.

Yuna frowned. Something was off about that. It sounded so... vague compared to everything else Chaos told her. And their tone. Yuna still had trouble parsing it, but she had another gut feeling.

They're... uncertain?

Chaos didn't appear bothered. They watched Bahamut's silhouette fly around, lashing out at the air with his wings and tail. Yuna followed the silhouette, too. The ringing in her head was back. Maybe she was rushing to conclusions about this part of Chaos' explanation?

Then Bahamut was... like her. A past life cut short. But instead of a dying wish... his wrath twisted him into the thing Chaos used to be before that human girl helped them?

"So the reason he kept attacking the planets he visited..." Frowning, the drakloak crossed her arms. "And the reason he wants to destroy Eternatus above everything... is because he thinks he's protecting the reverse world."

Chaos nodded slowly.

He embodies our kind far more than we do. His irrational drive to claim as much power as possible to strike down Eternatus... is built on the foundation of a violent desire to protect his domain.

They caught Bahamut with their right wing, absorbing the black slime.

However, thanks to Eternatus wounding him, he lost the power to control the reverse world. We escaped. And reunited.

That had to refer to the Darkest Day. Bahamut's light... must have been how he did all this crazy stuff in the reverse world. And if that power was supposed to belong to Yuna... then it was no wonder she bonded with the Soul Dew when Chiron didn't. That was her power all along!

But then... what did that mean for her relation to Chiron? It certainly didn't sound like Chaos had an answer for her.

Yuna looked down at her tail. "Mom said she found me sealed in a crystal." Did that mean Chaos searched for her until she hatched? "Wait, what about how sick I was as a kid?"

Chaos lowered their head slightly.

"Don't tell me..."

Your illness was a result of our reunion. You remained sick while our broken soul healed. Even though you recovered, we remained dormant until recently. Recuperating from our time within the dragon of light.

It took a moment, but Yuna recalled the strange temple inside Eternatus. The fight with Runerigus and the shadowy wings that came to her in a time of need...

The ground shook again. Chaos' inky puddle rippled faster.

We are out of time.

Relief and dread battled it out in Yuna's head. She still had more questions! How was she supposed to try and free herself from drowning with this weighing on her conscience?!

We must fully combine. You must shed your drakloak guise. We shall become one in mind, body, and spirit. Then we can fully wield the power of distortion. The power you call your "shadows."

Chaos clapped their wings together. Two cards appeared in front of their wing spikes. One with an orange and yellow sun, the other bearing a blue and purple crescent moon. Each had a mixture of letters on them. "XVIII" for the moon card and "XIX" for the sun card.

We will also allow you to put these to use. They've lingered deep inside your soul all this time.

Yuna stared at the cards. Chaos' demands played on loop in her head. After several seconds, she shriveled up.

"No," she instinctively mumbled. She couldn't agree to that. Not if it meant getting battered by the tsunami of Chaos' memories... or past selves.

And certainly not if it meant Yuna would fade away. She couldn't leave the others! Especially not Noctum and Nikki.

The icepix's soft tails brushing against her side. A tingle down her spine.

You speak nonsense. You already fear transforming into Chiron. But that shall not happen. Instead, we will hold memories of our time as Drakloak Yuna.

"That's not good enough!" Yuna firmly squeezed her arms against her side. "I'm... I'm not ready! I can't—" She shook her head. "I can't disappear! Whether that's becoming you or Chiron or something else!

"The past doesn't matter! I'm me! I'm Yuna! We have to find another way!"

The ground rumbled again. Purple fissures traced across the floor, barely skirting Chaos' puddle.

We are out of time. There is no other way. We must combine.

"I said no!" Yuna surprised herself with her intensity. "This... this is still my life—"

We cannot stand up against Zodiark like this.

Zodiark? Was that... Butterfree Effect's real name? Or their name back when they were the human Chaos was chasing after?

It didn't matter. Yuna had made up her mind. "I understand what you're saying, but I can't go. Not like this."

The drakloak curled her hands up. "I refuse... to merge."

Was it selfish? Maybe. But Yuna needed time to come to grips with everything. She couldn't disappear after learning all of this.

The ground shuddered again.

"Give me... a bit more power," the drakloak said. "Enough to fight the Whispers." She looked down. Guilt and concern wrestled in her head.

Very well.

What?

Yuna glanced at Chaos. They were halfway sunken into their puddle.

"You're okay with this?"

We remain bound by your wish. We shall not hurt you.

Yuna bit her lower lip to keep from making a snide remark. "All right." She took a calming breath. "Then let's... work together. In parallel. Not as one." Her tail rippled. "Okay?"

We shall assist, but it is only a matter of time until you yield to the inevitable.

Chaos' head sank into the puddle. It rippled faster and faster.

Yuna doubled over in pain. Her chest... it was on fire! Was the Soul Dew doing something to her real body?

The burning got worse and worse. Yuna screamed. Jagged, amber crystal burst from her chest ectoplasm.

The puddle rose from the ground like a large wave heading for the shore.

... That shore being Yuna.

"What are you doing?" Her new chest crystal spread light across her body. "Stop! Stop! I said no merging! STOP!"

BISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!

The black wave crashed over her, flooding her world in darkness.

XxX​

Gene's tail lashed at the air. They had numbers on the Whispers and this was still a problem?

He Phantom Warped just south of midfield, avoiding a wall of shadowfire. The shadowy mewtwo already learned the hard way those flames were dark-type. For some stupid reason.

"What are you waiting for? Hit him!" he growled. Flames gathered in his right hand. Gene hurled the Fire Blast, figuring that bug-shaped crystal on Ifrit's head had to symbolize "fire gud."

Black flames swirled around midfield. Ifrit's dark whirlwind knocked aside the five prongs of Gene's Fire Blast. Quetzal retreated toward Gene.

"I'm trying!" the orange zapdos squawked.

"No you're not!" Gene had another Fire Blast ready and hurled it at the dark moltres. He glared at Quetzal, who formed a spinning air cone around his beak and charged toward midfield.

Ifrit folded his wings, dropping to the ground. The Fire Blast sailed overhead. He threw up his wings, blunting some of Quetzal's Drill Peck. But Ifrit still skidded across the scorched ground.

"You're pulling your punches!" Gene's Malice Crystal sparked. "Don't try to deny it! You still see your friend and not some mindless murder bird who wants to gouge your eyes out!"

"Th-that's—" Quetzal jumped high enough to avoid a furious Air Slash barrage that sliced up midfield's ruined grass. "Ifrit doesn't resort to gouging eyes! That's barbaric!"

Gene swapped fire for lightning. He pointed his right hand downfield and let the sparks fly. Ifrit rolled out of the way.

"You want to do the 'I know you're in there' schtick? Then do it!" Gene pursued Ifrit. The black moltres couldn't gather up enough shadowfire to strike. Instead, Gene broadsided Ifrit with his spoon. Ifrit skipped back across the ground, toward the northern end of the field.

"Did you really have to hit him that hard?" Quetzal said. His feathers puffed out when Gene leveled the spoon in his direction.

"Hey, uh, not to interject or anything." Koraidon's voice carried through Gene's X-transceiver. He glanced up. In the nosebleed section of the eastern stands, Jade was fleeing an Air Slash bombardment from Shiva. The weird stoic human remained atop the psychic articuno's back.

"How much longer do you think you'll be? These Team Rocket people have stolen a lot of pokémon with their, err, giant meowth machine. I think they might fly the coop soon."

Gene gnashed his teeth. Damn it. Yuna vanished five minutes ago and everything since then had spiraled out of control.

"I'm handling it," the shadowy mewtwo said. "Just gimme a minute or two." He concentrated on the Malice Crystal in his shoulder, drawing in as much of the energy as he could.

"This is no way to treat a lady!" Jade cawed, trying to outfly a furious tornado spiraling through the stands, flinging seating all around. "Cece! Undisappear yourself and heeeeeeeeelp!"

"Your friend is gone," the trainer on Shiva's back said. "They were boring. As are you. Nothing but dodges and quips. Do you even have a reason to be here?"

Jade turned around, stunned. Gene took the opportunity to fire a small Shadow Ball at Shiva. It provided a temporary distraction, with the masked articuno stopping to snuff the ectoplasm out with more pink eye lasers.

The salugia didn't press her opening, though. Gene was ready to chew her out like he did to Quetzal when a thunderous boom split the air.

Red and purple energy streaming from his Malice Crystal into his torso, Gene shot up high above midfield. "Tell me the big robot didn't just do something awful!" he cried.

"The robot didn't make that sound," Koraidon said. "Something emerged from the river. I think it's Yuna!"

Shiva turned toward Gene. "What?" The trainer finally sounded something other than disinterested.

Gene was ready to take advantage of the opening when a jagged purple rift split the air underneath Shiva open. There was a roar, followed by a spectral wing slashing Shiva from below. An off-pitch warble escaped the masked articuno's beak as she buckled in midair from the strike. The trainer visibly struggled to maintain his grip.

"Impossible," he said.

Shiva swept pink eye lasers beneath her. However, the spectral wing vanished. A dragapult appeared over Shiva's head. She punched the air furiously and large, gray, ectoplasmic legs pummeled the unsuspecting articuno, knocking her into the stands, then swatting her toward the northern part of the ruined battlefield. The trainer lost his grip and was soon in freefall toward the uneven ground.

"Someone catch him!" Gene shouted, still a bit stunned at what he was seeing.

"On it!"

An orange streak surged across the burnt, torn-up grass. Quetzal abruptly stopped in the perfect spot to catch the trainer.

Gene spotted Ifrit preparing to hit Quetzal from behind. The shadowy mewtwo had all this energy charged up. With Shiva occupied, he had no qualms about changing targets.

Gene cupped his hands in front of him. Focusing on that hateful energy burning inside his chest, he pushed it along his arms... then unleashed the devastating red and purple beam. It swept across the ground, torching the remaining grass away and leaving a trail of black ooze behind.

"Holy hell!"

Nikki barely managed to escape to midfield from the beam, carrying the unconscious pikachu that had given her problems before under her shoulder. She stared dumbly at Gene's attack.

It was tough controlling the beam. But the thing was large enough to swallow the squawking moltres up. Shattered crystal fragments tumbled across the scorched field.

Gene's arms were on fire. He thought they'd melt right off his shoulders! Gene barely managed to cut the beam off. Black vapor rose off his arms, which he rapidly shook out.

"He's down!"

Running up the field, Nikki tossed Pikachu next to Ifrit, whose head crystal had shattered. The two foes lay side by side in an unconscious heap.

That's one. Gene turned. So, what about the other?

Shiva flew around the eastern stands, frantically shooting pink beams from her eyes. All the while, the dragapult weaved through the beams, blasting dreepy-shaped bolts straight into Shiva's face. Shrieking, the masked articuno whipped up a furious Hurricane.

(Art by Adam)

"Not this time! Drilpa ozongon!"

Dragapult— no, Yuna clapped her hands together. The jagged, amber crystal in her chest crackled with the same static as the rifts they conjured.

Mega Rayquaza torpedoed his way through the Hurricane, snuffing it out like it was nothing but a stiff breeze. His Dragon Ascent collided with Shiva. Before she could crash through the stands, another shadowy wing caught her by the balloon-shaped head crystals and dragged her through the air toward her downed allies.

"Now flock off, Feather Face!"

The wing squeezed the psychic articuno like an oversized stress ball. Her head crystal shattered. Shiva's body lurched. Static streamed out of her, heading roughly in the direction of where Gene recalled the vault was.

Though part of it briefly congealed into something resembling a face. A human face.

"Welcome back, Yaldabaoth."

The rest of the static went away. Yuna flew after it, looking over her shoulder at the others.

"Yuna?" Jade descended from the nosebleed section, an uncertain look on her face. "You evolved? But what's with your chest? Where's the Soul Dew?"

She turned away from Jade and tapped the side of her head. "Whoever has Leo, get him ready to seal the anomaly core. I'm coming to get him."

"H-Hey, wait!" Jade flew toward her. "What should we do about all of this?" She gestured around her.

But the dragapult didn't respond. She opened a rift behind her, flew into it, and sealed it up.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
"Drilpa ozongon" is "great winds" in Enochian.

Chaos is the mythological void within the area of cosmogony. Ancient Greek myths consider Chaos a primordial deity or a void state existing before the universe's creation. Christian theology depicts Chaos as an abyss formed when God separated heaven and earth during the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 84: Lustrous Sheen​

Rough scales grazed Noctum's arms, telling him he'd gotten Valkyrie. He yanked her through the rift, but not before searing pain shot across his arms. Yowling, the black charizard fell on his back, with a dazed Valkyrie flopping onto his armored belly.

Up on the rooftop, giant dragon wings swirled around in a blue-purple vortex. A few panicking dragons on the ground fled from near the building, pointing and shouting. Debris rained down from the rooftop.

From his cramped confines by the child's side, Noctum saw a dome of multicolored, prismatic light erupt from Time. It blotted out the sky, rift and all.

"What the—" Noctum slid back, blinking rapidly and wincing. Nicks and scrapes covered his arms down to his claws. "That's gotta be a Dynaforce attack, right?" And was it making him see things?

"The dragon one," Cyril said before unseen hands grabbed Noctum and pulled him to his feet. "That's your king, right?"

Noctum's violet flame rippled uneasily. "That's what the queen's saying." He glanced to his right, where the dragapult directed some dragons to form up around her. She struggled to keep a straight face. "But it sounds like... he got hit by Malice or something."

"Nah. It's Halvus."

Valkyrie got to her feet, groaning. "Halvwho?"

"One of the Paradigm." The cosmic zoroark spotted three Eternatus Gunners halfway between them and Halvus taking aim. He slung a Shadow Ball to his left, growling when they successfully scattered. Seifer and Biff raced in from Cyril's left, downing them before they got their attacks off.

"Halvus is some kind of munitions expert. But he's also lazy. Rarely gets involved in things directly. Don't know why the emperor would send him after us."

Noctum saw Seifer running toward the side of the League building. "What do you think you're doing?!" the keldeo cried. "Stop! There could be innocent people inside!"

"Aww, how cute! The rebel is trying to look like a hero!" An Eternatus Bombardier appeared from around the building's corner. Lightning crackled in its cannons. "But we evacuated everyone! Besides, we can rebuild it! We have the technology!"

The massive duraludon laughed and slammed his right hand against the League Headquarters. With a terrified whinny, Seifer galloped away.

"Look out!" Noctum again went for the rift option... but the energy fizzled out as quickly as it materialized. "What?! No, it worked before!"

Noctum flew around the center of the black and purple rift, right arm raised. Time glared back from across the rift. Noctum raised his arm, but no energy formed. "This is your fault!"

"Don't blame me for your failures!" Time snarled back.

"Seifer!" Cyril vaulted over the now-disoriented black charizard, lobbing a Shadow Ball with two hands like a baccer ball. It dampened enough of the boasting Bombardier's dual Thunders for Seifer to escape them and the rubble that poured over the scorched ground seconds later.

"Thanks!" The keldeo reached the trio, panting heavily. Noctum stared blankly at him. Why was he seeing faint outlines of metallic claws on Seifer's hooves?!

Cyril put his hands on his hips. "Now who's being the reckless dummy?"

Seifer's face reddened. Valkyrie got between the two. "Keep it in your fur. We've got bigger problems here!" She jerked her head behind her.

"All this running. So tiring, don't you think?" Halvus' voice was surprisingly higher-pitched than Calcifer's, despite the giant size. "Why don't you relax? Let me sweep your troubles away!"

His eyes flickered purple. Blue-violet wind ripped up the grass around them. "Run!" Valkyrie jetted to her left. It was faster for Noctum to fly backwards, so he had to separate from the other three. Like before, giant blue-violet dragon wings spun around inside the vortex. Even though Noctum avoided the blow, fatigue gripped him. He folded his wings in and stumbled across the grass.

"Now!"

Noctum scarcely had time to look up before electrified rocks battered him from above. The black charizard staggered back with each strike, before a lightning bolt struck him square in the gut. He fell to his back. Sparks jumped around his armor plate. The world spun around him.

The tachyons pummeled Noctum's right shoulder. Roaring in pain, he floated back. Threw his left arm over his pink shoulder gem. "You'll pay for that!"

"Try it!" Time reared up on their hind legs, temporal energy gathering once more in their maw.

"—ver me, damn it!"

Blurry flashes around Noctum caught his attention. Scaly arms grabbed his left shoulder and fuzzy ones yanked his right, hoisting him to his feet. Then the juiciness of an oran berry filled Noctum's mouth. The black charizard forced himself to chew before he could choke on it.

Blinking away the last fuzziness from his vision, Noctum saw Seifer and Biff zigzagging toward Halvus by ground and air, respectively. Aeon dragons backed them up from the far right, shooting Cosmic Blessing's rainbow waves at the Eternatus Troopers.

"Something's wrong." Noctum rubbed his head. "That daemon's attack..."

"It's Halvus' specialty," Cyril growled, running yellow claws through his starcloud mane. "He saps your energy. Makes it harder to use whatever your last technique was in a battle. I call it Dyna Depletion."

Valkyrie frowned. "It's just Spite, then?"

"If Spite hurt like a bitch."

The mega garchomp's snout wrinkled in disgust. "Lovely. What the hell do we do about it?"

"Personally?" Cyril glanced over his shoulder. "I'd say keep your distance."

"Sheesh!" Halvus swatted the ground. Seifer barely managed to leap over his giant duraludon arm and sling an Aura Sphere at the middle of his head. Halvus took a step back from the blow. "All the nervous energy in the world can't help you idiots. You're working harder, not smarter."

Noctum shifted uneasily. "I can't fight from this far." And Calcifer was still in there. He had to be. "What am I supposed to do? I won't give up on the king."

"No one's giving up on him," Cyril cut in. "We gotta reevaluate our approach."

"By doing what?" Noctum could only watch Seifer and the others hopping around like frenzied spoink for so long. He noticed Biff swooping beneath a Rock Blast flurry and uppercutting an Eternatus Gunner. It pinwheeled toward Halvus. The giant duraludon spat a burst of metal at it, destroying it instantly.

"That's it!" the black charizard said. "We don't approach directly. We hit 'em with his flunkies. Like Iron Jugulis."

A growl escaped Valkyrie's snout. "Great." The garchomp hopped forward, then shot a Dragon Pulse ahead at an Eternatus Gunner. It burst apart. "Hmph. Did the emperor send the Troopers made of tissue paper or something?"

Shrugging, Cyril strolled away from them. "You're bright. Bet you'll come up with something."

Noctum was sorely tempted to talk back to the cosmic zoroark, but he saw Halvus gearing up for another attack. The black charizard flew into the air. Rather than a Dragon Pulse, he spewed some Dragonbreath at an Eternatus Bombardier. It held up its blasters to shield itself, but that gave Noctum the opening to swoop in. He swiped it with Metal Claws.

"Gah!" The Bombardier tumbled through the air, striking Halvus' long, building-like torso.

"Gnrk!" Halvus rested his left arm against the somewhat destroyed League building. "Nah, you ain't taking my load off, rebel scum! Troopers, fall back!"

The Gunners and Bombardiers taking aim stopped and looked at Halvus. "Are you sure?" one Gunner asked.

Blue-violet winds swirled to Halvus' right, around Seifer, Biff, and several of the Troopers. They hastily flew away, mechanical arms and tentacles flailing.

Noctum kept his distance, biting his lip. So much for his bright idea. Maybe they really did learn from Iron Jugulis.

"Anyone else got anything?" Valkyrie charged across the uneven ground. "Because I'm about to start ripping this place up with Earthquakes."

Seifer's tail frazzled. He jumped toward Biff. The buzzwole grabbed him and shot skyward. True to her word, Valkyrie slammed her scythe-like arms onto the ground. Fissures raced toward the corner of the building.

Halvus' right foot sank into one of the gaps. His growl reverberated through the area. "All that effort for so very little!"

The giant duraludon's eyes sparked pink. As his left leg also sank into the ground, he unleashed another Dyna Depletion. Noctum tried to throw open a rift and get to Valkyrie, but it fizzled out like before. Neither Biff nor Cyril could get there, either. The mega garchomp dove into the fissures her Earthquake made. Noctum's purple tail flame flickered in surprise.

"Attack!"

Yiazmat unleashed a flurry of Dragon Darts from Noctum's far left, over by the rift. Goodra and Noivern flanking her added Dragon Pulses. Seifer fired an Aura Sphere from the tip of his prosthetic horn. Noctum added his own Dragon Pulse.

"Waste of effort!" Halvus flicked his right hand. Giant metal spikes erupted from the crevices Valkyrie's Earthquakes carved. A few punctured the League building, flinging more rubble around. More disappointing, however, was when the spikes blocked the team's combined attacks.

Seconds later, a roar rang out. Another metal spike burst from the ground, knocking Valkyrie back. The mega garchomp rolled to a stop. Her mega evolution vanished in an orange flash, leaving the large gash along her left side all too visible to Noctum.

The human stared Time down. Their most ferocious attack charged in their mouth.

She gripped Noctum's ball tightly. Could he do this? His previous clashes with Time had gone poorly for him...

What was Noctum doing? He had to fight through these stupid mind games!

"Valkyrie!" The black charizard dove down from the air.

"So much energy wasted." Halvus' laughter rumbled through the area. "I'm telling ya, relax. Don't you think it's time you had yourselves a break?"

Noctum landed beside the garchomp. Jeez that wound was bleeding. She needed orans right away. Or a healer. "Heeey! Help!"

Bag, bag, where was her— there!

He lunged for it, flopping over her in the process.

"Grrraaaarrrgh!"

Valkyrie's arms dug into Noctum's sides. "Sorry, sorry! I just gotta grab the— got 'em!"

Noctum had an oran in each hand. All he had to do was feed them to her.

"Get out of there!" Cyril cried. "You're sitting ducklett!"

He looked up and saw Halvus conjuring more blue-violet wind. Another Dyna Depletion. Noctum had to lift Valkyrie up and get her away. But even without the mega evolution, she was heavy. Biff was still carrying Seifer, so the buzzwole was out. The best he could do was throw himself over the garchomp and hope to guard her that way.

Except instead of the attack, there were a couple of loud caws, followed by metallic thuds. Warm light washed over Noctum. Valkyrie shoved him off her. Much of her large gash was healed. But how?

"Do forgive the discourtesy of my fashionably late arrival."

Valkyrie shoved Noctum further off, giving him a clear view of Vegna. Gold mist seeped through cracks running between the dusknoir's fingers. Vegna didn't acknowledge him any further, pivoting and waving his right hand.

"Slice! Burn!"

"Hey, Tin Can, how's about I introduce you to Can and Opener? Ha ha haaaaah!"

Noctum lumbered to his feet. Near the building, Griffon darted around Halvus, swiping at the giant duraldon's trapped legs with his talons. Flames struck Halvus from behind every time he tried to strike Griffon, disrupting his rhythm. Talonflame's Flare Blitzing form crashed into Halvus' right arm, then darted away from a retaliatory swipe.

"Thanks for the save," Noctum said. It didn't look like Vegna's birds were doing much other than annoying Halvus, but it was giving everyone else room to pepper him with equally tiny attacks.

"Give me my husband back!" Yiazmat roared from over by the rift. Instead of Dragon Darts, rainbow bursts of Cosmic Blessings emerged from her horns.

"Don't you have a giant dragon of your own to summon?" Valkyrie growled. She was still a bit dazed and slow to get up.

"I can't summon Zekrom and heal you with Morning Sun." Vegna's right hand trembled until the gold fissures sealed themselves. "Pray forgive the inconvenience of my frail, crumbling body."

Noctum frowned. "Why does a dusknoir even have Morning Sun?"

Vegna turned away from them. "A story for another day. Do you want to strike down this daemon or not?" He drifted higher into the air, making small hand gestures that translated to Griffon and Talonflame circling up around one another.

"Right." The black charizard winced. "All these strikes and he's still standing."

"It's almost as if he's giant and tanky." Valkyrie looked down at herself. "And my mega's gone." She snorted out blue-purple embers. "I can still Earthquake, though." The garchomp held her arms at her side. "Everyone get clear!"

A quick flap of his wings was all Noctum needed. Valkyrie ran forward, feinting right, then darting left in case Halvus tried to intercept her. Yiazmat directed her dragon troops even closer to the rift, aiming Cosmic Blessings at Halvus' face to keep him distracted.

"C'mon, dear! You can't let him control you like this!" she pleaded.

"Shouting. Attacking. Wasteful, wasteful, wasteful!" Halvus braced his left arm against the half-destroyed building. "I'll make all of you relax!"

Blue-violet winds stirred. This blue-violet vortex covered half the field between the rift and the building! And Valkyrie was charging right into it! The garchomp saw it, but the ground was too torn apart for her to dive underneath like before.

She hurled his ball forward. Noctum had one shot— one chance to protect them from Time's wrath!

Noctum concentrated on the Malice Crystal in his gut. Sure, his energy was depleted. But it wasn't that far. Just one rift. One rift. He could do it. He had to do it!

He hit the stone ground of the temple and braced himself. Spacial Rend... he needed as strong a Spacial Rend as he could muster! Human temple for the Creator be damned!

His belly burned. A sudden power surge swelled through him. With a mighty roar, Noctum clawed at the air. He pried a rift open behind Valkyrie, then yanked her back. But the attack would carry through the rift if he left it open. So, the black charizard dove through it.

The Roar of Time raced right toward him. Noctum raised his arms, then thrust them forward.

"Noctum, no! Don't be an idiot!" Valkyrie cried.

He shut the rift just as the giant dragon wings erupted from what was left of the ground. Arms crossed, Noctum threw up a Protect shield. He doubted it could deflect a whole Dynaforce attack, but at least only his Protect power would get depleted.

His claws slashed through the blue beam. Shimmering rifts collided with tachyons.

"What the—"

Where was the pain? There should've been dragon energy slicing through Noctum. But all he could feel was that burning from his belly getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

The humans scattered with startled cries. An explosion engulfed Noctum and Time. Broken pieces of the temple's roof and stone pillars careened down the sides of the sky-piercing mountain.

Noctum thrashed his head back and forth. The burning was getting worse with every second! Like an invisible force stabbing him in the stomach over and over again. Noctum wanted to double over but forced himself to hang tough.

Anything to protect her. Anything to save Calcifer.

"I... must... proteeeeeeeeect!"

Noctum floated in a black void. Where were his arms and legs? Why couldn't he feel anything?

... Ah, wait, there! A small mote of light!

He got closer. It was... a tail flame? From a charmander?

There were shouts outside of the Dyna Depletion. Was someone saying something about absorption?

The charmander was thin. Frail. Its tail flame tiny, yet vibrant against the backdrop of the black void. It looked up at Noctum and smiled.

He recognized that smile... because it was his smile.

Charmander turned and walked away. Noctum followed, trying to call out to it.

Noctum snapped out of the vision to find his Protect's blue glow absent. Noctum was standing there, arms crossed, watching the Dyna Depletion funnel into his belly. Cracks spread along his armor until it shattered, metal pieces dropping by his feet.

"Wh... at..."

He was back in the void. Charmander was walking faster. There was pink light in the distance. Getting closer and closer.

Charmander walked up to the light. It was... an orb. Different shades of pink swirled around inside it. The orb pushed and pulled the pink light around it like waves lapping against a shoreline.

Every push and pull had a noise. Lub-dup. Lub-dup.

Noctum sank into the torn ground. His knees were down in the dirt. The burning in his stomach was at a fever pitch.

The Dyna Depletion faded away. Halvus yelled something Noctum couldn't make out.

Charmander turned to Noctum and smiled. "I found it."

Noctum somehow found his voice. "Found what?"

"Our lustrous heart."

Charmander gave Noctum one last serene smile before dissolving into the orb... which slammed into Noctum's belly.

The burning in the pit of his stomach erupted! Noctum arched backwards with a frenzied roar. His Malice Crystal melted into his gut. Blue scales painted over his tan ones as the charizard shot forward. Violet flames crackled in the corners of his vision. Had he mega evolved?

Noctum sliced apart Draco Meteors from the heavens, giving the human time to hurl balms at Time's Creator-esque torso.

It didn't matter! It was time to put an end to this!

Noctum raced toward Halvus' foot. Purple, starry Dragon Claws were at the ready. Noctum drove them into Halvus' leg.

"Waaaaaarrrgggh! Cut it out! Chill!" Halvus raised his arms up to squash Noctum like a bug.

But Noctum concentrated on that strange power swirling through him. Halvus froze in place. Pink, shimmering lines crisscrossed the giant duraludon's body. Horror set in on Halvus' face as Noctum yanked his claws out and the lines shattered the very air— no space surrounding Halvus.

A pained roar escaped Halvus before distorted energy poured out of his mouth and the wound in his leg.

"Y... ou! Re... b..." He was shrinking down, taking more chunks of the wrecked building with him. His voice was deepening, too! Had Noctum done it?

"I wi... ll remember..."

What looked like a small card drifted out of Calcifer's back and dissolved into the air. Calcifer staggered toward Noctum. He shakily held his right arm out. "Thank you."

He fell forward, head resting by Noctum's feet. "Vegna! Get over here!" Noctum said, waving both hands since he had no idea where the dusknoir went off to.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your horns on!" Griffon cawed. The corviknight landed beside him. "V's got it covered in spades. But ain't you gonna turn off your mega before you go cuckoo for Choccy Puffs?"

"Huh?" Noctum blinked, then glanced at his jagged-looking wing. "Uh, right. Lemme just..."

He took a calming breath. Then another. But he didn't feel any different. Noctum checked his wing again. Still jagged.

"Uhh..."

"And your flame. It's all galactic!" Griffon leaned over. He glanced at Noctum's belly. "Maybe your belly ate your crystal and now you're stuck as a mega?" The corviknight hopped back. "You ain't feeling all murdery, right?"

(Art by Honey_llemon)

"Of course not!" Noctum's now-starry tail flame flickered rapidly. "I don't— That is—"

Realization set in. Those visions weren't from Halvus' attacks at all. They were from deep inside. Because Noctum was... he was...

"Aw, shit." Griffon rolled his eyes. "He's totally about to pass out, ain't he?"

The last thing the cosmic charizard heard before his head struck the ground was the corviknight cawing, "See! Told ya!"

XxX​

Green and light blue this time. Complimentary enough colors, but boy were they obnoxiously bright. Not that Wyndon Stadium's lights were dark by comparison, but the switch from nighttime to an unbearably bright anomaly core threw Yuna off.

As did the small white snowflakes falling all around her.

... No, that wasn't right. The dragapult reached her right hand out and caught one.

"A feather?" Yuna examined it in her hand. It was as soft as any altaria's wings. "Okay. Leo, where'd you go?"

"Over here, Mom!"

Yuna pivoted right. The cosmic arceus stood atop a bundle of feathers vaguely resembling a flying heracross. It wasn't alone, either. Other bugs made of feathers drifted around it. A couple of pinsir here. Some ribombee and cutiefly there.

"God, this is weird."

She kept looking right, until she found a familiar braviary silhouette walking along a spiraling centiskorch.

... Also made of feathers. Because of course.

"Hmm." Alder stroked his chin. "These cores are spawning out of Ginnungagap. And Ginnungagap is the mystery dungeon between worlds. Perhaps it's best to think of the anomalies as mystery dungeons after all." He hopped into the air, gliding after Leo. "Since distortion spreads out of each core, affecting the dimension around it. Expanding the dungeon, in a manner of speaking."

Yuna blinked slowly. "Uhh... okay?" It wasn't like that changed anything about the current situation, though.

"Congratulations on your evolution, by the way!" Alder's psychic feathers shimmered. Yuna wondered if that was the projection showing his happiness.

"Oh, right. Thanks, I guess." Yuna glanced at her feet — God, that was going to take some getting used to — then flew off to follow Leo. "It just sorta happened."

After a second, she looked back at her feet. Namely, the gold-amber claws on them. It was enough to snap her out of the autopilot she'd been in since shooting out of the river.

This wasn't right. Dragapult didn't have claws like this. And why were there similarly-colored rings around her tail?!

The amber crystal in her chest sparked with light. Yuna stared aghast at it, like it was going to suck the life out of her.

Everything came rushing back. The ruined temple. Chaos, that titanic daemon. Apparently a giratina? Or maybe multiple giratina all mashed together?

Then there were the visions— no, memories. A whole other life she lived. She sounded confident and determined back then! What had happened to her? And that icepix...

Were we... together?

Yuna shook her head. Change the subject, now.

"So, does your magic dimensional lore book have any explanation for why there are gonna be two plates here instead of one?"

Alder's pink feathers stuck up straight. "Two in one core?" He looked around. "Hmm. That would explain the look of things, I suppose."

"Bugs and birds! Bugs and birds!" Leo chirped, happily hopping across feathered dustox and beautifly. Two pillars of light shimmered in the distance. Undoubtedly the two plates.

... Wait, what was that golden glimmer between the two of them?

Alder sighed. "Truthfully, I'm not sure what that indicates. Perhaps the anomalies are being drawn toward one another? If there's a plate in each one and the plates belong to POV-2020, then it's pos— hey, wait for me!"

Yuna flew over a blue and green abyss. She was much faster than before, easily passing Leo while he jumped between feathered platforms. The dragapult reached a giant frosmoth made of feathers without issue. Though closer inspection showed it was a giant frosmoth made of tiny, feathery snom.

Maybe Yuna should have counted her blessings two Whispers and Zodiark's projection were the worst things to have leaked out of this anomaly core. Could you just imagine if this thing turned people into feathers? A shiver ran up her ectoplasm.

The two plates floated in front of her. Blue feathers surrounded one. Ethereal cutiefly flew around the other. Yuna cautiously flew to the other side. Gold light spilled over her body. Her inner shadows tried to force her away from the plates.

I should've asked about that.

Yuna could berate herself later. First, the text on the plates. Then the weird gold light behind her. Yuna went for the light blue plate first.

The being poured the remains of its power into stone and buried it deep.

Well, that gave her little to go off. Was that saying these plates were supposed to be buried underground? Shaking her head, Yuna turned to the other plate.

Where all creation was born, that is the being's place of origin.

That one sent a fresh chill down to Yuna's tail. Because given what Chaos had told her... wouldn't the "place of origin" be that tower from her past memories? Where she had clashed with Zodiark in the past? Was that somehow Leo's true home?

Come to think of it, Chaos did sound a lot less... certain when they talked about attacking the Red Chain and losing their powers to Bahamut. Were they still hiding something from Yuna?

"Ta-daah!"

Leo's golden wheel sparkled as he landed next to Yuna. "So, Mom, what do I do? Eat one first? Eat 'em both?"

Yuna had no idea how to answer. With a shrug, she gave a, "Follow your heart."

"Okay!" The cosmic arceus stood up straight. His wheel flickered. Then both plates were hastily pulled toward him like pieces of meat grabbed by the burly arms of a famished kommo-o. Sky blue and lime green lines rippled across Leo's starcloud fur.

His wheel flashed. Feathers coated his right foreleg, while chitin crawled up his left.

For a moment, one of Xeromus' chain-covered forelegs superimposed itself over Leo's. Yuna abruptly shook her head and turned away from him.

"Those are taken care of, so let's see what—"

She cut herself off the moment she saw a familiar gold cylinder impaling the feathery frosmoth. A green and white crystal eye stared back at her.

"No." Yuna held her arms up and waved them in front of her face. "I'm hallucinating. That's not real. It's not a Needle in this anomaly core."

"Dungeon core!" called Alder. "And I'd say that's a Needle!"

Leo blipped in between Yuna and the Needle. Even though she floated in the air, Leo was almost at eye level with her. Which spooked her enough to send her new legs shooting up into her torso.

... Clearly, some habits died hard even after evolving.

"Is this the part where you pull an Aunt Nikki and flip the Needle off?" The cosmic arceus lifted a forehoof. "I can totally join you if you do." His golden hoof shimmered and chitinous claws replaced it, courtesy of his new plate.

Yuna fought not to have her torso suck up her much longer tail, too. Why was Leo's voice deeper? And why the enthusiasm for acting like Nikki?

Book pages fwipped from behind Yuna. "Interesting. It appears... reclaiming his plates lets Leo age?" Alder mused. "I'll have to go over the archives carefully to see if there are any records of that."

"Pssht. Sure." Leo strutted past Yuna. "You do that. I'm gonna fix this thing." He tapped Yuna on the shoulder. "That means you've gotta yank it out, Mom. Since I've gotta send everyone back home."

The dragapult's mind was still racing. Leo's aging and the Needle's presence wrestling for her undivided attention. And the revelations brought by Chaos lurked in the back, waiting to strike. She definitely couldn't hide her link with them anymore. Reshiram would never shut up if she even tried.

... And it affects them, too.

"C'mon, Mom! Standing here's getting boring."

But you loved the feathery bug platforms just minutes ago.

She couldn't help but wonder if Yiazmat felt this way when Yuna stopped playing with all her favorite childhood toys and instead wanted to be left on her own.

Sighing, Yuna approached the Needle. Behind it, the familiar circles and triangles Leo had made with the previous cores traced themselves through the air.

Yuna forced the grappling thoughts back, focusing on what memory this Needle would give her. And which Sage she was about to meet.

XxX​

Chiron truly did not understand the point of "adventuring."

Perhaps she would have gotten more out of this experience if she had legs. Or didn't float everywhere she went.

But, no, she was a lunala. Hovering beside a steep mountain trail. Watching with a bored expression as Shaymin leapt from jagged spire to rocky crag, gliding around with his tiny antler-ear-wing things.

"Remind me why we're here."

Shaymin glanced down at her, smirking. She hastily continued, "And don't you dare say 'adventuring.'" Chiron pointed an accusatory right wing-claw.

"Harsh." Shaymin wrinkled his snout. "You should be grateful I brought you along. Isn't this view bodacious?"

Chiron's right eye twitched. She had seen plenty of mountaintops in her time. This one was no different. "Yup. Tons of dirt and rocks and no trees because we're past the tree line already." The lunala folded her wings. "And only clouds below us because it's overcast."

Chuckling, Shaymin leapt up a few more spires. "Look, Moonbat Dudette, it's boring if I go right wherever Baha Blast tells me to. Terrible job. Nothing about the day to be grateful for. Y'feel me?"

Chiron did not feel him. She silently hovered up the side of the mountain, keeping her wings wrapped over her torso. "You still haven't answered my question."

Shaymin rolled his eyes. "A'ight. Chillax. I'm fetching a little star piece that fell from the sky."

"A star piece?" Chiron quirked a brow.

"Baha Blast thinks it's too small to be a meteorite." Shaymin hopped up two more rocky outcroppings. And there was something glistening several meters above him. "So, I'm here to snag it. A classic Shaymin mountain climbing adventure!"

He resumed leaping and gliding over rocky spires until he reached the twinkling part of the mountaintop.

Shaking her head, Chiron followed. The lunala still wasn't sure what Shaymin meant. "So, you think dawdling on an assignment is a good thing? What if there was something actually dangerous?"

"Then Baha Blast would send another Sage." Shaymin lazily waved a foreleg. "I'm not the action dude. I'm the adventure dude."

Chiron wondered if it was truly worth pressing Shaymin on that point. "I think... we're going to have to agree to disagree," she lazily gestured to him with her right wing, "on whatever you call this."

Shaymin poked around where the light was. His forepaws glowed green. He dug into the rock with them. "Heh. Gratitude is all about taking in what life has to offer. Everyone wants to, nrrgh, worry about the future and stuff." The light grew brighter. Shaymin scooped something with a forepaw. "But how can you look to the future if you don't appreciate what the present has to offer?"

He turned around, clutching some sort of shiny fragment in his mouth. "Gawt duh staw peas!"

The lunala mulled over Shaymin's words. Echoes of conversations with a lucario. togekiss, or roserade played back in her head. Always emphasizing working hard now for a better tomorrow.

Maybe he has a point?

Shaymin managed to glide down to a patch of rocks near her. He'd placed the glistening shard in his small bag. "Ready to head back?"

Chiron nodded slowly. "I'm assuming you want to take the scenic route."

"Heh. Fast learner."

Winking, Shaymin leaped from his perch, gliding along the mountain trail. Chuckling, Chiron hovered after him.

Maybe it wasn't a total waste of a day after all.

XxX​

Roaring, Necrozma staggered back through the gemstone cavern. Shadows swirled around his humanoid form. He threw his crystalline hands over his head. Necrozma froze the moment his crystal tendrils brushed against the cavern wall.

He knew this feeling well by now. It hadn't bothered him the first time. Or even the second. Now, though, he knew something was wrong.

Someone was taking his power from him. Necrozma doubted it was the rebellious spirit. No way it could keep its feeble form together anymore.

Which just left the one he'd sensed traces of amidst the planetary rubble. The one Mewtwo stopped him from getting to.

Necrozma's tendrils scraped against the gemstones in the rock wall.

"Chiron," he hissed. "That power is mine. And I will reclaim it."

It didn't matter what Necrozma had to do. This was the only way forward. Might made right.

He slowly started forward. Just a bit more rest... and he'd be able to open his next portal. Then Necrozma could give Earth another visit.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. XVI: Halvus, the Tower~
A mighty fragment that forged fearsome strongholds and weapons to keep the peace within the Benefactor. His work was always effective. A great spike in his presence and power followed Matriarch's disappearance. But as that upheaval subsided, so too did his presence within the Benefactor. Paradox's work reduced the need for his powers over time. His behavior changed, favoring whatever yielded the best result with the least effort.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
In demonology, Halphas (sometimes listed as "Malthus") is an earl of the underworld within the Ars Goetia and Lesser Key of Solomon. He is typically depicted as a stock dove with a hoarse voice. Amongst his powers, Halphas can create weapons and ammunition to stock towers with.

The Tower is the sixteenth of the major arcana. In the upright position, it symbolizes distress, indignance, calamity, deception, and ruin. In the reversed position, it symbolizes abstinence, carelessness, apathy, and distraction.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 85: Distant Tails​

OS Discrepancy Petition #94862048
PETITIONER: [Redacted]

CATEGORY: Other
SUBCATEGORY: Not Applicable
COMMENT: Look, I don't know which category this goes under. Just read the description!
DIMENSION: POV-2020
LOCATION: Not Applicable

DOES THIS PERTAIN TO SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS (Y/N)?
Yes

HOW MANY INDIVIDUALS ARE INVOLVED?
One

WHAT AURAL STATUSES APPLY TO THE INDIVIDUAL(S)?
Unsure/decline to answer

ARE YOU SEEKING TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION?
Yes

PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DISCREPANCY. INCLUDE REASONS FOR SEEKING TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION IF YOU ANSWERED "YES" TO THE ABOVE.
I was going to a group session and there was a new member. A necrozma with an aura of mostly shadows augmented by a secondary light source. He called himself "Bahamut" and referred to a few details we found while investigating POV-2020. I didn't want to pry as to the exact circumstances of why he was in this group, but I'm thinking he's some sort of copy.

Whether he's a copy or the real deal doesn't matter, though. Someone was somehow able to get something out of POV-2020 and I'm betting it's after the dimension was sealed off given some of the stuff this guy was saying. And I shouldn't have to tell you guys why that's bad. The quarantine's coming undone! We need, like, a bunch of people on this ASAP!

PETITION STATUS: Closed. Not eligible for appeal.
REVIEWER RESPONSE: We are already aware of the situation. Senior Overseers checked Ginnungagap and found no vulnerabilities in the seal.
ADDENDUM: The petitioner has been placed under probation for trying to circumvent this case's final status by repeatedly refiling this petition as new discrepancies.
ADDENDUM #2: One millicycle following the above addendum, minute vulnerabilities were discovered on POV-2020's seal. The petitioner is off probation. See Incident Report POV-2020-10 or personnel file "Void Bahamut" for more details.
ADDENDUM #3: Personnel file "Void Bahamut" was renamed to "Tama" following the subject's requested name change.

XxX​

The stadium's torn up ground shook every few seconds. A result of the giant robot continuing to stomp around outside. Gene kept his eyes fixed on the meowth head, weighing his options.

Yuna had gone off to get the kid and seal the anomaly. That meant everyone would return home soon, right? He couldn't let those Rockets walk off with scores of pokémon. Yet that metal hull looked quite sturdy. And if Gene didn't aim his attacks precisely, he could injure the captured pokémon or break captured poké balls.

"Jade. You still have eyes in the sky?" Gene asked. He wasn't trying to sense the salugia's aura. "Robot still causing problems for people?"

"I don't think so?" Jade replied. She's flown somewhere outside the stadium. "It's walking around a plaza in front of the stadium. No one's there. Maybe they're taking a victory lap?"

Gene's yellow-tipped tail lashed back and forth in irritation. He drifted closer to the ground. Quetzal paced nervously between Ifrit and Shiva's unconscious forms. The orange zapdos locked eyes with Gene.

"They'll wake up, right?" Quetzal glanced at the birds. "They're breathing, so they have to be okay. Just because they didn't turn back to normal doesn't mean there's a problem." He stuck a bulky leg up. "I didn't turn back to normal."

"You mean back to electric and flying?"

Quetzal shot the snickering toxtricity behind him a dirty look. He turned back to Gene. "You have to know something about this, don't you?" His feathers puffed out. "What about the buzzwole? He got corrupted by a fighting-type core."

"And I seem to recall it took a few days before he woke up," Nikki countered. Tiny sparks jumped off her mohawk. "Meanwhile, the kid's coming to." She jerked her head in the direction of the young trainer who'd been on Shiva's back earlier. His red and white pokébase cap was torn, as was his blue vest and the white shirt underneath.

Gene hastily Phantom Warped over, practically flinging Nikki aside with a burst of levitation.

"The he— hrrrmmmph!"

A quick bit of ESP silenced Nikki. The kid was bound to freak, but better for an actual psychic like Gene to talk with him. Try and smooth stuff over.

As long as that robot doesn't fly the coop.

The boy's eyes opened. "What?" He blinked slowly. "Ugh. So tired." He slowly sat up, running a hand through his black hair. "Pikachu? Did we make it to..."

He met Gene's gaze and his voice trailed off. The shadowy mewtwo opted for telepathy. "Hello there. I need you to remain calm. You've been in an accident."

Gene expected panicked screams, but instead got a tilt of the boy's head. "Mewtwo?" he said, raising a brow. "What happened to you? Your color's all weird." He eyed the Malice Crystal. "And that doesn't look healthy!" His concerned expression intensified. "And what about all the pokémon you said you're protecting?"

Oh, wonderful. This dimension had a mewtwo. Gene decided against grappling with those implications. But he didn't feel as remorseful about ripping the proverbial bandage off.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the mewtwo you know. Name's Gene. Here from another universe. Can I get a name?"

"Yeah." The boy slowly got to his feet. "The name's Ash Ketchum. From—" He reached up to adjust his hat only to cut himself off. His expression darkened as his fingers grazed the torn fabric. "Pallet Town, I guess."

"You guess?" Now it was Gene's turn to raise a brow.

Ash tipped the brim of his cap down so it obscured his face. "Something happened. My friends and family... turned against me. Took all of my pokémon away, saying I didn't deserve them. Only one who stood by me was Pikachu." He lifted his cap brim. "Ah! Pikachu!" Ash cupped his hands over his mouth. "Piiikachuuuuu!"

"Relax, he's fine."

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked as Nikki walked up, carrying Pikachu by the tail. "Out cold. But fine," she said.

"Oh no!" Ash ran right past Gene. "Pikachu, what happened to you?"

"Brainwashed. Same as you." Nikki made a cuckoo sign. Gene immediately glared at her and pulled Pikachu away with a telekinetic yank.

"Here." Gene handed Pikachu over to Ash, who cradled him in his arms. "You seem remarkably calm for someone who just saw a pokémon talking like a human." He paused. "And casually claim you were brainwashed."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Ash shuddered. "And I know a talking meowth."

"Right. Team Rocket." Gene resisted the urge to turn around and look for the robot.

"Wait, they're here?" Ash almost took on a fighting stance before remembering he was holding Pikachu. "Don't tell me they're up to something! I—" He stopped and glanced down at Pikachu. "—don't have a way to stop them." His shoulders sagged.

Gene held up a hand. "One step at a time, kid. Let's go back to Pallet for a second. What do you actually remember?"

Ash frowned and looked away. The shadowy mewtwo rolled his eyes. "We can do this the easy way or the 'powerful psychic sifts through my thoughts' way. I'm pretty sure you'd prefer the former."

There was an awkward silence. Then Ash stepped back. "That's more like Mewtwo," he mumbled. He fixed his gaze on Pikachu. "I don't want to remember it. They were all just... so angry with me. And I don't even understand why! Calling me an idiot and a fool and stuff."

Tail twitching, Gene nodded slowly. "And did anything else seem off about them. Like, say, facial expressions?"

Ash's face scrunched up in thought. "Uhh, I don't really know." He lightly kicked at the dirt under his sneakers. "All that stuff they said piled up so quickly I just shut down. I felt so empty." Ash then held up Pikachu. "Pikachu shocked them all and managed to get me away. And it felt like... like he knew what would be able to help me. So, I followed him." He looked around. "And now I'm here."

It was hardly concrete. But from that alone, Gene had a sneaking suspicion that the mysterious voice that warned Yuna about the kid being in the vault in the first place was behind this.

"Okay." Gene clasped his hands together in front of his head. "So, like, I get you think all your friends and family hate you or whatever. But there are definitely people who care about you." Now the shadowy mewtwo allowed himself to turn around. "Those Team Rocket doofuses were worried about you. They agreed to work together with my team so we could rescue you."

Ash's eyes widened. "They did what?!"

"Oi, pick up the pace!"

Gene glanced at Nikki, whose legs and waist were fading away. The three birds were also mostly gone.

Shit. "Okay, look." Giving up on telepathy, Gene floated into the air. "I don't have time to give you a 'ra ra sis boom ba' pep talk, kid. You got hurt. Two options for that." Gene raised one finger. "You can let it drag you down and become some depressed loner no one actually wants to be around." He then punched his right hand with his left. "Or you can 'fight' like hell and get to the bottom of it.

"It's up to you." Gene turned around. His legs were disappearing. "As for me... I've got a 'partnership' to break."

The shadowy mewtwo charged through the air. To his relief, the robot was still there... but it was heading into the water.

One shot. He had to make it count.

"We got a buncha pokémon! We got a buncha pokémon!"

... Wait. Why did Gene have to shoot? What if he just... ripped whatever was holding the captured pokémon out of the damn machine?

But would that work?

His waist was fading. Gene was out of time. He thrust his arms in front of him, concentrating on his ESP as much as he could.

"We got a buncha pok—"

"EEP! Jessie! The hull!" James screamed.

Gene didn't care that those idiots were still using their megaphones. Something heavy tugged against his psionic sense.

"Rrrrgh. Our deal's... off!"

He mentally yanked with all his might. The robot's back shattered as a stack of metal cages came flying out, landing in the grass by the riverbed.

Team Rocket's microphones amplified their screams as the giant puncture in the hull caused sparks and explosive bursts to race all along the meowth robot.

Right before Gene faded out of the dimension completely, the head exploded. The Rockets and their wobbuffet careened through the air. Gene somehow managed to hear one final cry from them.

"We're blasting off agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!"

XxX​

"Please stand by for a message from Grand Emperor Paradox!"

Noctum awoke to an obnoxiously cheerful news bulletin music blaring out of the speakers surrounding Cyril's tower of computer monitors. Someone laid him down atop a large crate, giving him a perfect view of the top left computer monitor. It showed the Eterna Empire sigil before quickly cutting to footage of where Noctum and the others had just been.

Indigo Plateau was a mess of torn up ground and rubble from the building, but a combination of assorted ground-type 'mons and Eternatus Troopers were working quite quickly to clean things up.

Everything came rushing back at once. The Trooper assault, with the king's forced transformation into Halvus. The devastating Dyna Depletion attacks. Noctum throwing himself into one. The strange visions and that searing pain from his Malice Crystal...

Noctum glanced at his belly. It was still blue. His wings were still jagged and his tail flame was a starcloud like Cyril's mane and Leo's pelt.

Why? The mega charizard kept hearing that one phrase over and over in his head.

Lustrous heart. Lustrous. Lustrous...

"As some of you are not doubt aware," Paradox began, snapping Noctum's attention back to the monitor, "another one of those dreadful rifts opened up on Earth's beloved Indigo Plateau."

The deoxys then walked in front of the footage. Noctum's starcloud mouth flames rippled. "W-Wait, he's there?!"

From his spot beside the monitors, Cyril rolled his eyes. "It's a greenscreen, dumbass."

Seifer's prosthetic horn poked his right hip. "Ow!" The cosmic zoroark's black fur flickered red. "What?"

"They don't have greenscreens back in Aeon," Noctum mumbled, looking down dejectedly.

"Thanks to the strong work of my Eternatus Troopers and support from Paradigm Lieutenant Halvus, the rift has been successfully dealt with!" Paradox declared, tentacles coiling into arms as he applauded footage of the hulking duraludon they had to battle. He then faded out so the footage could zoom in on the building.

"It's already halfway rebuilt?!" Noctum's jaw slackened. "What kind of devilry is this?"

He was immediately shushed by Cyril and a few skorps seated behind some of the keyboards.

"Unfortunately, there was some collateral property damage during the process," Paradox continued. "But not to worry. As you can see, repairs are well underway. The Indigo League should be good as new by tomorrow."

The deoxys reappeared on screen. "It's exactly as I told you all. This whole silly little rift situation is entirely under control. Thanks to me, your beloved grand emperor!" Paradox slowly bowed. "That will be all for now. Have a pleasant day."

A new male voice followed the end of Paradox's bulletin. "We now return you to a new episode of All My Stakataka."

Two of the skorps clapped their mutant incineroar hands together excitedly, only for their moods to deflate when Cyril pressed a button and shut the monitor off.

Sighing, he ran yellow claws through his starcloud mane. "Well, that's just peachy." He lazily walked across the hanger floor.

Noctum slowly sat up. "What do you mean?"

"He means the emperor took our hard work and spun it to make himself look like the hero," Valkyrie spat. The garchomp sat on a metal crate to Noctum's left, watching as a few helioptile and croconaw tended to some of the Aeon soldiers injured fighting Halvus.

"Oh." Noctum tapped his claws together nervously. "Can't we, um, send our own message with the truth?" He looked expectantly at Cyril. "Like when you hacked the blimps in Eterna City!"

Cyril froze. He scratched his right ear. "Dude, the emperor had video footage to back it up. And we bailed before the rift vanished, remember?"

"What about a big, fancy illusion?" Noctum offered. Surely, there was something they could do to compete with this evil greenscreen.

The cosmic zoroark pinched his brow. "Ugh. No." He held up his right hand, which disappeared. "Just because I can illusion enough of an invisibility dome to hide a few of us doesn't mean I can conjure up some elaborate scene to make people think Paradox used a deep fake." Cyril dispelled the illusion around his hand. "I'm not that strong. I can just... actually fight like a pokémon now."

Noctum's shoulders sagged. "So, what, we stand around and take our licks?" He might've personally had more concerning things to worry about, but he welcomed the distraction. Noctum looked around the hangar. "I can't be the only one who thinks that sucks, right?"

"Tch. Amateur."

The mega charizard's cosmic tail flame shrank. Wincing, Noctum glanced at Valkyrie. "What now?"

"So we can't compete with his propaganda machine." Valkyrie waved dismissively. Curiously, she continued staring at the floor. "Whatever. Let the emperor think he's all big and successful. We're still dismantling the Paradigm. This keeps us under the radar."

Noctum supposed that was true. But weren't they also trying to expand their ranks? Wouldn't it help if they could show people in the empire that their leader might be vulnerable?

Metallic hoofbeats interrupted Noctum's train of thought. Seifer stopped beside him. "I think... talking strategy ought to wait until everyone's together." He glanced over his shoulder. "And, perhaps, rested up."

"Ah!" Noctum's tail flame expanded. "The king and queen!" He tried to drop from his perch, but a wave of vertigo stopped him. Noctum braced himself against the edge of the crate. "Where did—"

"Your queen took your king off to a private room the moment we returned." Seifer pointed to the hanger's exit with a forehoof. "Baraz showed up to help them along, too."

"And Yuna and the others aren't back yet," Cyril added, tapping a foot impatiently.

"Oh," Noctum mumbled. So that was what Seifer meant when he suggested waiting.

"Huh. Speak of the devil."

Noctum hastily turned left at Valkyrie's comment. An array of blue lights peppered the area in front of the hangar's large ship door. Valkyrie abruptly hopped off her seat, silently walking toward Noctum's crate.

"We're back, bitches!"

Nikki was first to step out of the light, stretching her arms up. "A bit of an annoyance, but nothing we couldn't—"

"Commander!"

An orange blur whizzed over to the keldeo, who whinnied in surprise when he saw two unconscious birds on Quetzal's back. Noctum didn't recognize them.

Seifer's prosthetic horn flickered. "Wait, Quetzal, are these who I think they are?"

"Ifrit and Shiva, sir." Quetzal adjusted them on his back. "They were corrupted and turned into Phantoms."

"They're actually Whispers!" Gene and Nikki heckled simultaneously.

"Ugh, whatever!" Quetzal was practically trotting in place. "We have to get them somewhere to rest." He looked around at some of the dragons. "Somewhere, uh, better than here?"

Cyril walked over, scratching his ear. "Just head into the hall and take a couple of rights. You'll find a special infirmary."

"Thanks!" The orange zapdos zipped away. Cyril's cosmic hair rippled from the wind Quetzal's momentum kicked up. He fiddled with locks of hair.

"All right. Anything else?"

"Wait, where'd Mom and Dad go?"

Noctum turned left. Had Yuna's voice gotten a bit deeper?

A dragapult floated beside a larger Leo. But her tail. And that weird gem in her chest...

Noctum's eyes widened. Why was that gem... familiar?

"P-Princess?"

"What?" Yuna raised a brow, then looked down at her torso. "Oh, right. Yeah, this happened."

"All that and spades, apparently." Nikki clapped Yuna's back.

She squeaked, then frowned at the toxtricity. "Seriously?"

"You're gonna complain about a congratulatory back pat?" Nikki snickered. "Guess you've got thin skin." She paused. "Or no skin."

Yuna rolled her eyes. Noctum wasn't waiting any longer. Despite the vertigo, he was at the dragapult's side in an instant. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" He looked her over. This nagging familiarity brought back everything that happened to him. "Should I get your mother?"

"I should be asking you that." Yuna scrutinized his appearance. She had the same concerned expression as him. God, his head was hurting. Noctum took it as a sign to give her a bit of space.

"Look, we had to deal with a couple of the Whispers," Yuna slowly continued. "And I evolved. We got the plates." She gestured to Leo, who stuck a foreleg and hind leg out. Some sort of pose, Noctum figured. "There were two this time, though. And a Needle, to boot."

"Wait, what?" Gene decided to sit on the same stack of crates Valkyrie used before. "Two plates and a Needle?"

"Yeeeessss?" Yuna's tail rippled. "Didn't I just say that?"

"Yeah, yeah." Gene's tail twitched in irritation. He crossed his right leg over his left, then swapped. "Yo, Kora!"

"Hmm?" Koraidon turned around from the far corner of the room, where he was gathering up monks.

"Got an explanation for this?" Gene gestured at Yuna.

"Ah, apologies." Koraidon bowed slowly. "I'm making sure everyone got back okay. What was it you said?"

Gene facepalmed. "Oi, Widget. You were on crowd control, too. Gimme a machine headcount."

Widget's eyes flickered blue, then yellow, then purple. "Everyone's present and accounted for. Including Cid." He blinked several times, then shook his head. "Ugh, at least ask politely next time. I don't like having to run that part of my processor anymore."

Yuna cleared her throat. "Alder already offered a possibility. That plates and Needles are getting drawn toward one another. Which might be why things stabilized for a time before." She wiggled her right arm up and down. "They're, like, migrating to each other."

"Aww, snap! That oughta make it tough for Necrozma to— awk!"

In the front corner, Vegna grabbed Griffon's beak and forced it shut. The corviknight disappeared into the dusknoir in a stream of black smoke. "There's more you're not telling us, isn't there, Yunavresca?"

Yuna's gold-ringed tail crinkled up. She did her best to straighten it out. "I, uh—" Yuna fidgeted nervously. "Yeah." She took a shaky breath. "There's a lot to share. And it's, um, best that everyone's here for it."

Nikki crossed her arms. "Define 'everyone.' We got most of the squad here." The toxtricity gestured at the hangar.

"Quetzal," Yuna said. "And Igneous and Scarlett."

"What about Pillow Prince?"

"Shimmer too," Yuna said. "And I don't see Artemis, Baraz, or Alder." She glanced at Noctum. "And no one's told me what happened to Mom and Dad..."

Her eyes darted between his cosmic tail flame and the ones at the sides of his mouth. "... Or you, apparently. Your Malice Crystal is gone. And you're mega?"

"Think he absorbed it."

Noctum tensed at a scaly arm on his right shoulder. Valkyrie had gotten the jump on him again.

"Calcifer was hit by some strange blast," the garchomp explained. "It corrupted him like other Paradigm daemons we've seen. So, we had to fight him." She glanced at Noctum. "Your butler buddy... saved me from a blast that could've torn me to shreds."

He blinked in surprise. So, she was acknowledging it? Noctum figured she was too prideful. Though it sounds like it's bugging her...

"We were able to beat the daemon, but your father's unconscious." Noctum scanned the hangar and noticed Biff off to the right... lying on his back, bench pressing one of the metal crates. And a few hakamo-o sitting on top of it. "It might be like Buzzwole. He'll need time before he wakes up."

Noctum offered her a nervous smile. It must have been good enough, since Yuna's worried expression faded slightly.

"All right." The dragapult rubbed her ectoplasmic temples. "Let's get everyone else here. Then we can talk."

She looked around the room and gulped. "We can... talk."

Noctum went to drape a wing over her, but stopped. Yuna was almost double his size now. The gesture looked silly. And Yuna knew that, judging by the confused look she gave him.

"I'll, uh, help you gather them up!" Noctum offered, laughing nervously.

"Okay." She glanced at Nikki and Gene. "Keep everyone occupied for a bit, okay."

"Oh, sure." Gene rolled his eyes. "We'll play canasta or something." He waved his right arm dismissively.

With a flap of his wings, Noctum followed Yuna. Lots of things were changing quickly. It left a sinking feeling in his newly-healed gut.

... And what the heck's canasta?!

XxX​

"We're definitely close."

Ninetales' soft, white legs brushed against tall grass as he padded his way forward. The rising sun cast a soothing orange-yellow glow over the Wild Area. The chirps of assorted birds sounded in the distance. But there wasn't much activity in this particular patch of the sprawling plains.

"Mmm. There aren't any pokémon nearby. Suppose people randomly crashing out of the sky would send them running off."

Plodding along beside Ninetales, a pyroar with a gray mane yawned loudly. "Why am I here, exactly?"

Ninetales froze mid-step. "Uhh..."

"They're not a threat." Pyroar paused beside Ninetales to fix his stern gaze on him.

"I know, but I thought some company would be nice!" Ninetales' tails wagged asynchronously.

Pyroar snorted gray fire at his feet. Ninetales jumped back with a yip. "H-Hey, c'mon!"

"I wanted a vacation," Pyroar grumbled, shambling forward. "Deserved one, you ungrateful—"

Flinching, Ninetales quickened his pace. "I'm aware. I was there, too!"

"For all of five minutes."

Another flinch. Ninetales almost tripped over a rock hidden by the tall grass. "Yeah, well that was enough to save your hide for a bit, wasn't it?"

Pyroar's expression only hardened. "Your quarry lies ahead."

"Right." Ninetales shuffled forward, trying to imagine Pyroar training his unamused look elsewhere. It was fine. He was just being his usual self.

"... Had it in da palm of our hands."

"I told you two we should've flown the coop."

"You? Puh-lease! You wanted us ta head for da city and try to snag a bigger haul!"

"WOOOBBBBBAAAFFFEET!"

"Hey! Don't side with them!"

Ninetales chuckled. Yup, definitely who he was looking for. Swishing his hair behind him, the fox hopped through the remainder of the tall grass and popped out on the other side.

"Hello!" he telepathically chirped. And, yep, these three Rockets looked exactly like what he was expecting.

"Aaaaah!" James backed up against a large boulder. "Jessie, make the psychics go away!"

Jessie was on her feet, glaring at James. "That's no psychic-type, you dolt!"

"What's an Alolan ninetales doing all da way over in Galar?" Meowth wondered.

"M-Maybe he wants to join Team Rocket?" James laughed nervously.

Ninetales had to cut in fast, or he'd be stuck listening to their babbling for a while. And he could feel Pyroar's glare on the back of his head.

"Sorry. Not interested," he said. "But I did catch a glimpse of what happened in Wyndon." Ninetales pivoted to his left. "I'm actually after the person who made your, uh, twerp friend disappear."

"Friend?!" Meowth unsheathed his claws. "What an insult! I oughta turn dat pelt into a fancy coat for da boss!"

"You're welcome to try!" Ninetales winked at Meowth, who stumbled over to James. "Except I can't stay all that long. Basically, I'm asking if you guys might be willing to help me out later. With the guy who caused your problems."

The three Rockets looked at one another. And Ninetales got a strong sense they were going to shoot him down, so he quickly tried to save face. "Aaaand I fully intend to make it worth your while! Scout's honor!"

That only made them more skeptical.

"What could a ninetales possibly have to offer us?" Jessie wondered.

At that, Ninetales stuck his forepaw out. Concentrating, he drew on a well of light deep down. He nudged it along his forehead, until it took shape into a familiar Z-Crystal. Ninetales rolled it over to them.

"How's that for starters?"

The Rockets looked down at the crystal, then up at Ninetales. "Dis some kinda magic trick?" Meowth wondered.

Ninetales nudged the crystal closer, gesturing for Meowth to pick it up. Meowth's whiskers twitched the moment he touched the Z-Crystal. There was a tiny spark of gray embers running along his arm.

"You're welcome to use it," Ninetales said. "Or not. Gave one to your twerp buddy, too. Just in case." He winked at them.

That seemed like as good a place as any to leave things off. Ninetales turned to bound back into the tall grass.

"Hey, wait!" James called. "When are you even going to call us? And whatever for?"

Ninetales' ears swiveled in thought. "Oh, that?" He stepped toward the tall grass. "When the time's right... you'll know."

He hopped into the tall grass. The grass fluttered against him as he ran. It didn't take him long to reach Pyroar. "See? Didn't take too long." Ninetales' tails wagged. "And we're good to go."

Pyroar's face remained stern. He crouched down slightly, pressing a forepaw into the dirt. Motes of gray light spread out from his forepaw.

Ninetales braced himself. Within seconds, the tall grass and cool Galarian morning air fell away, replaced by the sharp blues and purples and fierce, rippling winds of Ginnungagap.

Four luminescent gray wings burst from Pyroar's back. Gray crystals tore away at his body until, with a powerful flap of his four wings, the grayscale necrozma that emerged flew off into the depths of the mystery dungeon between worlds.

With a brilliant ripple of golden light, Ninetales, too, shed his body for one that matched his counterpart. His gold light surged through the swirling blues and purples, passing strangely shaped crystal chunks. And rocky islands with barren trees that grew upside down. A few had glass light bulbs sprouting from their branches instead of leaves.

The gold necrozma got a bit ahead and looked back. "C'mon, Bah—"

"Tama."

"Right." Head tendrils shriveling, he continued forward. Ever since he learned about Tama — an anomalous copy of Bahamut another Overseer accidentally created from the real one's empty shell — he tried to spend time with the guy. There was friction, but he had the patience for it.

Though it seemed his hopes that Tama would be more amicable with him following their time apart were unfounded.

"St-still, you could at least, y'know, say something instead of looking so dour."

"What's your plan, Shane?" Tama flapped his gray wings. "I'll look as dour as I want until you give me more than a 'trust me, bro.'"

Shane nearly stopped mid-flight, which would've been bad, since he had to roll right to avoid splatting against a donut-shaped island. Or was it a malasada-shaped one?

"Whoa, whoa. Who told you I had a plan?" Shane's golden tail crinkled. "I have an idea. A train of thought!"

He glanced back at Tama, whose mismatched gray eyes were narrowing. "That's worse."

"I-I'm not good with plans," Shane squeaked. The squeaks echoed through Ginnungagap. Distorted eighth and sixteenth notes spawned on a distant island, then broke apart into clusters of ethereal chatot that flew off in all directions. "There's no guarantee this goes anywhere, but I'm holding out hope." A mix of green and orange spread over his eyes. "I don't need to tell you about the power of hope, do I?"

Tama looked offended at the notion. He flew faster, closing the gap with Shane. "How many citations are you racking up for this? Last I heard, you weren't to meddle with that world anymore."

Shane's golden glow dimmed. "I don't—" He flew faster. "It's not meddling. I'm trying to be proactive. They're working hard on the inside. Only seems right to lend a discrete hand from outside."

"Doubt they see it that way." Tama passed him, snorting. "I think it's something else."

"Like what?" Shane flew faster, then banked left. He passed by several small islands with tiny ripples. Means of entering other worlds.

Tama didn't respond, though. He continued ahead silently. "Where is it, again?"

Shane frowned. This guy was supposed to give straight answers. Why the evasiveness? "A few more down," he said, flying further ahead so he could locate the origin point for his little pocket.

After passing a few more of the small islands, Shane made it to one haphazardly littered with shrubbery. Bushes of vulpix and ninetales tails. Shane felt Tama's disapproval crawling along his ethereal back, but shrugged it off. He approached the small, distorted ripple and pressed an upper wing to it. A golden ring of light spread out, like water rippling after a pebble was dropped in it.

A familiar checkerboard portal formed. Shane turned aside and gestured to it with an upper wing. Tama simply flew past silently. Sighing, Shane followed the gray necrozma inside a dark, circular room.

"Will you give me an answer now?" he wondered, watching Tama curl up in the middle of the room in an almost serpent-like fashion. Tama gazed up. There was no ceiling. Only a seemingly endless sea of stars stretching overhead.

"Fine." Tama folded up his lower wings. "It's attachment."

Shane landed on the ground. He tucked his wings in and concentrated, shrinking down. And down. Tama grew steadily larger as Shane's golden form shrank to a much more... silvally shape. Yet still a mix of light and crystals.

"I was kinda hoping there was more to it," Shane said, golden talons clicking against the crystal floor. He strode toward Tama. Gold light melded with gray.

"There is." Tama slowly slid onto his side. "But I'm tired."

Squawking, Shane almost lost his footing and faceplanted. "S-Seriously?!"

"You pulled me away from my vacation," Tama huffed. He rolled onto his back, crossing one gray crystalline leg over another and resting his head against his upper wings.

It wasn't funny. And much as Shane wanted to say that, that would just play into Tama's hands. Wings. Whatever.

"Should I get you a beach towel? Maybe one of those drinks with the funny umbrellas?"

"That'd be a start," Tama scoffed.

"Please." Shane rolled his rainbow eyes. "We both know you don't eat or drink."

"You shouldn't, either." Tama tapped a lower wing against one of his chest spikes. Each clink echoed through the room. "Surely you've heard about your reputation, no?"

Shane's head crest shrank a bit. "Maybe?"

"The almighty idiot." Tama held up his other lower wing... and popped it from its joint. "Who always seems to break things." The gray necrozma's wing reattached on its own. "Before fixing them in a way more senior Overseers would never consider."

He shook his head. "The one who sees the trees but not the forest. The god who thinks like a mortal. Who, despite it being a shrinking fraction of his whole life, still keeps the memories of his days in Horizon freshest in his mind."

Tama slowly rolled onto his side again. "An immense amount of power... yet always reluctant to use it."

There was some slight resentment behind Tama's words. Shane pawed nervously at the ground. "Well, yeah. I mean... y'know... 'with great power comes great responsibility' and all that."

Tama's gray eyes swirled with disapproval. "Ah, yes, your favorite line you ripped from some comic."

"Cuz it's a good line." Shane laughed nervously. His gaze fell to a jagged reflection in one of the crystal walls. "Where are you going with this?"

"You want to fix this because you still haven't let go." Tama practically slithered across the ground, curling around the smaller silvcrozma. "You see POV-2020 as a second chance of sorts. To fix lingering shadows of regret." Bits of dark shadows bubbled within his gray body. "Small, but enough for someone who zeroes in on the little things."

Shane's cheek bolts turned slowly in his sockets. Was that really it? Or was Tama looking for the most negative reason? "Maybe I just want to help them so a lot of people don't get hurt."

Yeah, that sounded right. Shane straightened up a bit. "It's not about me. And, like, they're still the ones at the front of this. If I can help them from the sidelines, then that's good enough."

He blinked slowly. "... I think. Never did learn sports metaphors."

Tama's grayscale eyes stitched themselves into vaguely humanoid proportions so he could roll them. "If you insist." He uncurled from around Shane and began to float away.

"Wait, you're already leaving?"

"I want to find that beach again."

Shane flinched. "Right." His cheek bolts flickered like dying light bulbs. "You're not, y'know, going to tell anyone about this, are you?"

Tama stared at the exit. "... Against my better judgment."

"Good. I can work with that."

"Fine." Tama held an upper wing up. Gray light rippled. Another wormhole appeared. Ginnungagap's blue and purple swirls peeked in from the other side. Tama glanced back at Shane. "I will say one thing, though."

The silvcrozma tilted his golden head. "And that is?"

"You're off the mark on one key assumption."

Tama was about to fly through the portal, but Shane couldn't leave it at that. "Wait! What's that supposed to mean?"

The question hung in the air for several seconds. Tama practically curled an upper wing against the wormhole's outer ring like it was a railing. He sighed.

"Bahamut and I are not versions of the friend you couldn't save. We never were." Tama shook his head.

"As loathe as I am to admit it... we're alternate versions of you."

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 86: Past Revelations​

After considerable effort, I've finished my preliminary analysis of the Space Globe artifact I discovered on my most recent expedition up Mount Coronet. The results are simply astounding!

According to my calculations, the space core has a near-bottomless supply of energy at its disposal. Initial testing suggests this energy is capable of warping space and time around it. The display brought to mind stories from Celestic Town dealing with Dialga and Palkia. At first, I was tempted to dismiss the fact that the Space Globe matches depictions of the Original One's torso as a coincidence, but now I'm certain there's more to it.

It's still too early to draw any concrete conclusions, but I believe this is exactly what I've been looking for. With the Space Globe's power, I can build a device that will solve every remaining mystery of our world. I can bring humans and pokémon closer together and guide us all toward a shining future where dreams come true.

As such, I've dubbed these energy reserves the "Dreamweaver." There are some other signals I must follow up on, so expect additional reports.

XxX​

Yuna found herself waiting longer than intended to spill the beans. Just when it seemed like everyone invited would gather, Gene floated the idea of taking it somewhere less cramped. That way there was at least some extra time for people to rest. So, the dragapult had to wait until Guzzie closed the restaurant.

... It was an annoying wait. One made worse by Reshiram continually prodding at her mind, as she expected. Fortunately, Yuna had a much easier time keeping him out of her subconscious than she did before.

Eventually, the restaurant shuttered for the night. People trickled in. Gene levitated aside some tables and chairs to give Yuna a "spot of prime real estate" to talk.

And talk she did. Yuna described as much as she could think of. Zodiark and the Butterfree Effect. Getting blasted into that river in Wyndon. The strange temple-like place she woke up in. And, of course, what Yaldabaoth had to say about all of this.

If the silence that followed was anything to go by, Yuna perhaps went a bit overboard with the information dump. The silence unnerved her enough that when a loud thud and the scratching of metal against metal came from the other side of the room, Yuna jolted. Her tail shriveled and she reflexively tucked her arms over her new core.

"Sorry." Guzzie held his four pincered arms up, along with his tail. "Guzzie was making snacks. Didn't realize you moved everything around." He gently placed four trays down by a table of skorps, sliggoo, and baxcalibur.

"Here. Meat and veggie-lover nachos." The guzzlord slowly backed away until he reached the kitchen doors. They creaked shut behind him.

Fortunately, that awkward performance was enough to get someone talking.

"Lemme get this straight," Nikki said, hand raised as she lounged on two chairs, squishing a skorp who tried to claim the seat her legs dangled off as his own. "So this place." The toxtricity pointed at the floor. "The Eterna Empire or whatever... it's the real world?"

Yuna nodded.

"And where we live," Nikki pointed to herself, then Yuna, then waved behind her, "is some kind of opposite land?"

"That's... pretty much how I interpreted reverse world," Yuna responded, tapping her claws together.

Nikki frowned. "So, Eternatus schlorping up worlds is actually an attempt at restoring balance to the universe?"

"I think so."

"But Bahamut doesn't like that." Nikki swung her legs off the other chair. The skorp on the chair's back hopped off it before it fell back on the floor. "And wants to destroy it?"

"Uhh..." Yuna rubbed her shoulder.

"Even though doing so would destroy the universe because of that dumb balance garbage?"

After a bit of hesitation, Yuna circled back to the first part of the toxtricity's claim. "It's more like he was the reverse world's guardian and was violently protective of it."

"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Nikki waved Yuna off, crossing one leg over another. "Cuz it sounds like the only reason that happened is he took your power. Because you're actually, like, some big shadow daemon thingy that controls the reverse world."

"I suppose that's one way of putting it." Yuna slowly landed on a chair, draping her arms and torso over the back of it.

"And your inner daemon actually knew the thing that's causing all the anomalies." Nikki's mohawk frazzled. "Then chased it across worlds until you clashed in some place with only pokémon. The end result being..." Her voice trailed off and she gestured all around her. A small neon hamburger bolted to one of the pillars flickered before the bulbs died and it went dark. "... All this shit."

There was only one thing missing. "I think there's a chance some of us lived in that world before." Yuna squeezed the back of the chair. "And because we wanted to stop Zodiark so badly, we ended up here with new lives."

"Wow!" Griffon fluttered his metal wings from atop an arcade cabinet behind Nikki's table. "I'm impressed you followed it all."

"Kiss my ass, emo skarmory!" Nikki's mohawk erupted with sparks. "I know how to pay attention to important shit!" She leaned forward in her chair, scowling. "Which is why something about this doesn't make sense."

The dragonair curled on the pink cushion next to her coiled up tight. "And that is?" Scarlett wondered.

"Why now?"

Silence. Perhaps Nikki was letting it hang in the air. Or collecting her thoughts further.

Sure enough, the toxtricity continued, "The universe has been around plenty long." She pointed across the room, where Gene leaned against the bar and Cyril sat at a barstool quietly sipping some luminescent blue beverage. "Long enough for these two to have outlived us several times over." Nikki crossed her arms and squinted. "So, why is this all happening now? If there's reincarnation or whatever... why didn't anyone come back at the beginning?"

Nikki stood up and looked around the room. "I can't be the only one thinking this, right? Why let all this shit build up when someone could've offed Zodiark early?"

Some murmurs followed, mainly from assorted skorps and dragons. But golden embers drew Yuna's attention back toward the arcade cabinet. Vegna had Bahamut's journal out, flipping through pages. From his right shoulder, Talonflame leaned his beak toward the book every so often.

"I see the past, present, and future existing all at once before me." Vegna dropped the book on the table in front of him. The thwap made Jade's tail flaps curl. Bits of pink smoke rose from her tail.

"Ah-ha. Sorry." The salugia laughed nervously.

Ignoring her, Vegna placed his right index finger squarely on the center of whatever page he'd opened to.

"Zodiark is mentioned in the journal," he declared.

Heads quickly turned toward the back left corner of the restaurant. "That so?" Jaeger scratched his right ear. "Y' thinking that we're missing something, then?"

"Indeed." Vegna put a stronger emphasis on that last syllable. He tapped the tome repeatedly with his index finger. "It's written here. The Matriarch program was part of Eternatus' core. It sounds as though Matriarch was sealing off Zodiark." The dusknoir flipped a page. "Bahamut describes a moment where he saw a human with a hairstyle like Leo's, who quickly shattered into countless pieces that vanished on the spot."

Widget shifted in place nervously on his cushion in the center of the room. His starcloud swirled around his neck. "Does that mean Leo and his plates are actually the pieces of Zodiark?"

Yuna picked her head up a bit. Zodiark had mentioned wanting to take the plates for themselves back in Wyndon. But how could they do that if they were only a projection? Maybe from bonding with the anomaly long enough?

"I think it's the opposite, actually." Alder was quick to raise a wing. A pink glow spread over his white, feathery afro. "Leo represents the rightful creator of this universe. Zodiark sounds more like the one who caused an errant creation process. So, by giving Leo the plates, we keep them away from Zodiark."

A couple of tables over, Igneous cleared his throat. He'd leaned back enough to prop his chair against the table, with only its hind legs on the ground. "And the Red Chain fragments? They could be part of this, too."

"Already ate the ones we had."

Igneous almost fell off his chair trying to turn and locate Leo. Yuna pointed up to where the cosmic arceus stood on the ceiling. Something the dragapult was choosing not to think too hard about.

"Ate them?" Igneous sputtered.

"Absorbed them. Ate them." Leo shrugged. "Sigurd gave me his and I took the one we recharged with the big collider. Makes more sense than leaving them out in the open."

Several people murmured their agreement. Beside Igneous, however, Shimmer kneaded his hooves against his cushion "Is there, um, any way to get them out?" he wondered.

Leo looked down from the ceiling. "Probably. But I don't see a reason to." He squinted. The gems in his wheel flickered. "Unless you're saying you want one. Which is hella sus, b-t-dubs."

Yuna almost sputtered, both at Leo's accusation and the bizarre lingo that came with it. She hadn't taught him any of that. And judging by the looks her mother, Noctum, and a few other dragons gave her, they also wondered what was up.

"Err, no, just a strategy concern." Shimmer's fluffy tails puffed out. There were even more eyes on him than on Leo and Yuna. The ponytales looked ready to bolt from the room.

"He's asking because there's a chance his mother has one of the fragments," Igneous said. Shimmer went wide-eyed. "So, yeah, it is something we ought to know. Because we might need those fragments to counter hers."

Right. That whole business with Isola possibly being some Red Chain-powered body snatcher. Yuna caught Vegna's eye flickering blue with Zekrom's lightning. He recalled the tome with a flick of his wrist and backed up against the arcade machine.

"Tch. That's all well and good." Nikki swung her legs off her chair and stood up. "But I'm still stuck on where I was before."

"Oh, brother." Griffon spread out his wings. "I thought you were good. You need us to say it slower or something, toots?"

Nikki's response was to silently raise an electrified fist. Vegna grabbed the corviknight's outstretched wing. Griffon disappeared into Vegna's body. "Continue, Nicolette."

"Uhh, yeah." Nikki hesitantly lowered her fist. Still creeped out by Vegna, Yuna figured. "So, like, Necrozma. Wants to destroy Eternatus and stuff." The toxtricity jammed her hands into her pockets. "What the hell does pulling Needles have to do with that? He can already cross over inside Eternatus. So, why doesn't he just make a break for the damn core?"

Silence greeted Nikki again. Yuna had to admit it was a good question. One she didn't have a solid answer for. She glanced at Vegna, who was looking out the glass wall toward the arena.

"Necrozma wants to have as much power at his disposal as possible," the dusknoir said. "The Needles represent Sages who hold portions of his light. He wants it back."

"Not to mention... if yanking the Needles severs the connection between Eternatus and the reverse world, he'd want to do that," Sigurd proposed, moving his wheelchair slightly forward from the edge of the bar. "Even if he lost this mysterious Renegade power, he might still have instincts driving him to protect the reverse world."

That was pretty much Yuna's take on it. She nodded at Sigurd who, satisfied, moved his chair back against the side of the bar.

"It's kinda hard to get a read on him," Yuna said. "But he's a Whisper, so I doubt anything he's doing is really going to make sense."

After a few seconds of Nikki squinting at Yuna, she took her hands out of her pockets and flopped back in her chair. "Well, shit." The toxtricity draped her right arm over the back of the chair. "I got nothing else." She slumped over to her left, practically draping herself across the table. The skorp from earlier barely skittered out of the way in time. "Gonna... need to chew on it for a bit."

Gene popped out of a Phantom Warp in the middle of the room. "Might be best for everyone." His yellow-tipped tail lazily drifted back and forth. "We can keep tossing around questions until we're blue in the face." Gene shook his head. "But Princess laid all the cards out as she knows 'em. Everyone oughta call it a night. Capiche?"

Not a single soul objected to the shadowy mewtwo. "Great." He landed atop the mechanical tauros in the middle of the room. "Then you're all dismissed. Good work. Pats on the back. G'night, sleep tight, and all that happy nonsense."

And the resistance's intrepid leader was the first to fly out of the room.

XxX​

After everyone broke away from the restaurant, Yuna expected people to come over and pester her with more questions. When that didn't happen, she settled for returning to her room. Yuna lay on her back. Her cot didn't fit her anymore as a dragapult, forcing her to tuck in her legs and curl her tail up just to fit.

She studied the metal ceiling. Her eyes jumped between dents and small rusted streaks. Anything to pass the time.

"You did the right thing telling them," Reshiram said. His presence tickled the back of Yuna's mind.

It was too much, Yuna responded, though she couldn't imagine how one would explain all of this gradually. Still, didn't make her feel any less guilty. Yuna traced a claw over the cot's rough blanket. If it overwhelmed me, it's bound to have overwhelmed all of them. She tilted her head by the door. Think they're avoiding me?

"I think it's too soon to jump to conclusions," Reshiram said. "Like Gene said. Everyone needs time to process this."

Yuna wondered how much time they'd have. Would new anomalies spring up or did sealing the last one give the resistance another reprieve?

"Just do whaaaaaaaaaat I do. Sleep it off," Cresselia said.

Except it wasn't really time to sleep. Yuna forced Cresselia and Reshiram out of her mind. She rubbed her eyes. There were tiny stars in the corners of her vision. Yuna rubbed again. No good. Was she getting floaters? Baraz dealt with those, but he said that was because he was old. Was the stress aging her?

"... ckie..."

Yuna sat up. She propped her triangular head against the wall. "Someone there?" Yuna called, watching the door.

More stars danced around the edge of her vision. She rubbed her eyes again. And when she opened them, the bare room had hazy silhouettes against an even hazier brown floor. Though blurry, she recognized one: an icy vulpix.

As things grew more solid, Yuna realized Icepix was standing in front of a mirror. She gazed at her reflection, flicking random tails and producing icy mist.

When Icepix sighed, the brown floor and walls came into focus, painting over Yuna's bedroom. Her cot melted into a doorway and her ectoplasmic body shrank down and sprouted blue and black fur.

"Nickie?"

The icepix jolted. Her tails poofed out, sprinkling cold mist that fogged up against the mirror.

"Oh." Nickie shifted nervously. "Hey, Tessa. Sorry, I was... lost in thought, I guess."

Tessa sighed. "I figured." She stepped into the room. The luminous orbs bathed her in dim orange. A couple of months into her guild time and she still wasn't used to these custom nighttime orbs Magearna made for people to use in the evenings.

"That obvious, huh?" Nickie was trying to brush the frost off the mirror with her tails, but that only smudged up the mirror.

"Well, you didn't touch your dinner." Tessa jogged over to some wooden shelves on her left, grabbed an old cloth, and headed to the mirror. "I had a hunch." The riolu wiped the mirror with the cloth.

"Ah." Nickie's ears folded. "Guess I didn't have much of an appetite. Did Nero end up eating my portion?"

"Yeah. Think he slipped into a food coma." Tessa laughed. Nickie joined her, though her laughter was clearly forced.

"What's bothering you?" Tessa tossed the cloth onto the floor. "Is it about what Mom and Dad told us? That stuff about checking the Worldcore to see if you're—"

"What if a faller doesn't want to leave?"

Nickie spoke so quickly Tessa needed a moment to parse the icepix's question. She opened and closed her mouth several times. All Tessa managed was a, "Huh?"

Nickie stepped back, her tails curling. "What if... a faller would rather stay here?"

Tessa stared blankly. Nickie shuffled back further.

"Your paren— I mean, the guildmasters said fallers can be dangerous because they can make dungeons unstable. Or cause dungeons to form."

She rubbed her forelegs together. "So, say the Worldcore decides I'm not supposed to be here. I'd have to go home, right?"

"That's what I've always thought," Tessa said, rubbing the back of her head. "It sure sounds like fallers go back home. The only people who've stayed behind are some heroes the Voice of Life summoned." Her aura feelers crinkled. "At least, that's how it's gone in the stories of the old heroes."

As she rambled, Nickie inched closer to the mirror again. She gazed at her reflection.

"Wait." Tessa gave Nickie space to stand in front of the mirror. The icepix's words were finally sinking in. "You really don't want to go home? E-Even though you remember your life?" Her aura feelers throbbed. "Don't you miss being human?"

Nickie winced. But why? It wasn't that surprising a question, was it?

"Of course there's stuff I miss," Nickie said. She hadn't taken her eyes off her reflection. "I miss television. And video games." Nickie shook her head. "I miss not being covered in a fur coat the whole time. Or smelling way too much stuff. And having hands with freaking thumbs!

"... God, I miss thumbs."

She let out a tired laugh that turned into more of a bark. "Oh, and I could do without this shitty screechy voice, too."

Tessa fidgeted with her paws. "Then why—"

Nickie silently stared at her reflection. She reached a foreleg out and put her forepaw against its reflection on the mirror. "Because, even that stuff couldn't make it feel right."

"Huh?"

Silence followed. Nickie looked between Tessa and her reflection. She hung her head.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Tessa's aura feelers crinkled. Those glimmers in the corners of Nickie's eyes. Tears?

"Then explain." Tessa was at the icepix's side in an instant. "You're my partner, Nickie." She paused. "I'd... rather not have you leave, either. If I can understand, then maybe—"

"I don't know!"

Nickie shrank back, as if her own cry frightened her. She slid onto her belly. "I'm not sure... how I can explain it to you."

Oh. Well, Tessa didn't want to leave Nickie hanging like this. She sat down opposite Nickie, placing her paws on her crossed legs.

"Try me," the riolu said.

Nickie stared blankly at her. She blinked silently. "I—" Nickie stopped herself, then took a steady breath. "Okay. I'll try."

After a few deep breaths, Nickie said, "It never felt right. My old human body." She kneaded the stone floor with her paws. "Like, uh... your parents are both lucario, right?"

Tessa nodded slowly.

"Okay." Nickie looked a bit less uncertain. "Imagine one of your parents was, I dunno, a blaziken instead." She reached her left forepaw out. "And you hatched a torchic instead of a riolu. But, like, deep down you don't think that's right. You feel like you're supposed to be a riolu, not a torchic."

She looked at Tessa. "What would you do?"

"What would... I do?" Tessa couldn't help parroting the question. It sounded like Nickie was talking about some weird situation where someone's soul felt their body didn't match. In which case, Tessa imagined that would be pretty upsetting. Though it was hard for her to get into that mindset.

"Well, um, I guess I'd... try to change it?"

Nickie smiled somberly. Had Tessa given the right answer, then?

"My human body..." The icepix trailed off. She swallowed hard. "What if I told you that, as a human, I'm a guy?"

Tessa stiffened. What was that supposed to mean? Crazy things happened to fallers that got dragged across worlds, so a gender swap wouldn't be out of the question.

But hang on. With what Nickie was saying...

"You, um, didn't like that, did you?"

Nickie's smile was less somber. "I was trying to change it. Humans have ways to do that where I'm from." She laughed nervously. "It's not as easy as tossing an orb on the ground, though. It takes time. I was working with... some humans who deal with this kind of stuff. And my mom was helping, too. Because I wouldn't have made much progress otherwise."

Tessa couldn't help but raise a brow. This happened enough to humans to where there were jobs about this?

"It was small changes," Nickie continued, brushing a forepaw back and forth on the ground. Back and forth. Back and forth. "At school, mostly." She laughed nervously again. "Wearing different clothes. Having people call me Nickie instead of Nick or Nicholas."

"And that... made you happy?"

"It helped," Nickie said. "At school, anyway. Most folks were understanding." Her fur bristled. "But at home... I couldn't do that stuff. Not around my dad, at least. So, I hid all that stuff. I'd be Nickie at school but Nick around family." She shook her head. "And it was exhausting. But I thought if I could keep it up for a bit longer... I'd be able to make it to the biggest steps. The ones that'd really help me feel better."

Tessa's aura feelers throbbed again. If Nickie was a girl here, then... did that mean she'd made it?

But wait, Nickie's smile had faded. Her ears folded.

"Did something happen?" Tessa scooched closer.

Nickie nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut. Took shaky breaths. "There was this guy." Her tails crinkled. "My neighbor, Shane. We were in a lot of the same classes and we'd been close friends for a long time. But I was drifting apart from him. Especially when I made these changes."

Despite her tension, Nickie smiled. "I was spending a lot of time around our school's theater. With other folks I'd met in drama and music classes. I really liked them... and they helped me out a ton."

Tessa nodded slowly. "And Shane?"

"He, uh... seemed uncomfortable for a lot of that time," Nickie said. Her smile faded again. "When I thought I'd made it to the biggest steps, I ended up telling him. And he... he..."

The icepix hung her head. Tessa reached out toward her, only to freeze when Nickie whispered the rest of her thought.

"... He ratted me out to my dad."

Just the way Nickie said it made Tessa's heart skip a beat. It was bad. She was sure of it. And the riolu didn't want to press Nickie if it would only hurt her.

She scooched closer. "Nickie..."

"Dad had a temper. I always knew that." Nickie shuddered. "But I'd... I'd never seen him so angry." Her fur stood on end. "And that was when he was talking to my mom. He... didn't fly off the handle at me. But he put his foot down. Said that as long as I was part of his family, I had to follow his rules. And that meant stopping everything I was doing."

Tessa was sorely tempted to ask if Nickie left, but her gut told her that was a bad idea. She settled on a gentler, "What happened after that?"

"I had to stop the medicine I'd been on before," Nickie whispered. "And my dad spoke with my school. Made them change the classes I was in." She lay her head on her forelegs. "It just... I felt worse and worse as the days and weeks went on."

"I'm sorry." Tessa didn't know why she blurted that out. She wasn't there. And the riolu was still trying to wrap her head around parts of the explanation. Still, she scooched beside the icepix. Put her paw on Nickie's shoulder.

"That's why I don't want to go back," Nickie whimpered. "Even though there's annoying stuff about being a vulpix." She turned a tearful gaze on Tessa. "Hearing my voice. A-And everyone saying I'm a girl and calling me Nickie. It's..."

Nickie leaned her head into Tessa's belly. "It's what I wanted. For my human self, at least. And just the thought of losing it..."

Tessa stiffened. She didn't take her paw off Nickie's shoulder. "Um, maybe we can talk to the Voice of Life or curry favor with a powerful enough legend? Then we could... send you home with that fixed." If there were good things about being human, then the best thing was to find a middle ground, right?

But Nickie rubbed her face against Tessa's belly. "I think... I'm better off here." The icepix sat back up. "I didn't want to say anything, though. You guys have been great to me. Figured, I dunno, I'd be spitting on your generosity. Make all that investigative work for naught. And not to mention the whole thing about fallers. I'm not looking to put y'all in danger!"

She sighed and shook her head. "I guess... something about how sure and confident you are made me think I have to go back home."

Tessa sat there silently. Judging by the guilty look on Nickie's face, that was all of it.

The riolu let her paw slide down to the floor. "I see."

Nickie flinched. Tessa's aura feelers tensed from the icepix's panic. She had to keep talking quickly before Nickie got the wrong idea.

"I had no idea." Tessa sat up a bit straighter. "It's, uh, kinda relieving to hear?" Her aura feelers curled up. "Which is, uh... dang, there's probably a better way of saying that."

Guilt and elation wrestled in her head while her aura sense told her she was confusing Nickie. "I, uh, know I put on a confident face. But the truth is I get nervous, too." Tessa's shoulders sagged. "About being able to pull off our jobs. Impress the guild." She swallowed hard. "My parents."

"Seriously? They love you."

"Yeah. That's why... I don't want to let them down."

Without even thinking, Tessa leaned her head against Nikki's shoulder. The icepix's fur bristled but she didn't pull away.

"Tessa, what are you—"

"I wish I could be that strong."

"Huh?"

"Sorry." Tessa fidgeted nervously. "It's just... hearing about that stuff from the human world... that was all I could think about. If it were me... I think I'd have given up at some point. But you pressed on. Even through those struggles. That's," she took a steady breath, "stronger than any single Force Palm or Aura Sphere."

"S-Seriously?" Nickie's fur prickled, though there was a hint of eagerness in her voice.

Tessa laughed. "Would you believe me if I said I've been hoping you'd be able to stay?"

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Now it was Nickie's turn to laugh. "You're joshing me, right?"

The riolu finally realized where her head was and lifted it back up. "Isn't Josh a name?" she squeaked.

Oh, great, her aura feelers were throbbing. Giving away her embarrassment. Lovely.

"Yeah. And it also means joking." Nickie laughed louder. "You really want me sticking around?"

Tessa managed to get her feelers under control. "I mean... yeah? You're fun." She smiled at Nickie. "You're funny, too. It's... nice being around you."

Nickie blinked. "There are plenty of folks around here."

"I know." Tessa shifted on the floor. "But you're my partner. And that's something special. At least, it is to me."

Nickie stared blankly at her. "Y'mean 'partner' like 'teammate,' right?" Her tails puffed out. "Cuz that, uh, can mean something a lot different to us humans."

Tessa laughed nervously. Her aura feelers were twitching again. "I know. It's the same for us pokémon." She smiled at the icepix. "Besides, the fact that you did show up here as a girl... maybe we're wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"Maybe you're not a faller. Maybe you were brought here for a reason?"

Silence. Tessa held her breath. Then she heard fwips. Nickie's tails brushing against the floor.

"Well, that's..." Nickie glanced at the mirror, then at Tessa. "Huh. Hadn't thought about that."

She scooted left. Her side brushed against Tessa's. "Maybe we should visit the Worldcore, then."

"And after that?" Tessa wondered, her gaze trailing to the floor. To her paw beside Nickie's.

"I'm not thinking that far ahead yet."

"... Yo."

Yuna nodded slowly. "That's fair, Nickie. Tomorrow's another day." The dragapult tapped her chin. "Maybe we'll look for a low-key job or two to take."

"The hell are you talking about, Princess?"

The icepix brushed her foreleg against her snout, but ended up putting it on Yuna's thigh instead of the floor. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe we can hit the spa after? My fur's getting kinda matted."

"I was thinking the same thing. The room's full of vulpix fur." Yuna laughed and rubbed the icepix's back. "You're my partner for a reason."

"Snap out of it, Princess!"

A harsh electric guitar chord shattered the icepix and revealed Nikki standing in the doorway with one hand resting on her gills.

"GAH!"

Yuna abruptly jerked back, smacking her triangular head against the wall. Ectoplasm rippling, she blinked the stars from her vision.

"N-Nikki? Hi. When did, um, you get here?"

"Couple of minutes ago." The toxtricity kicked the door shut with her leg.

"Can I, um, help you?" Yuna's tail crinkled.

"I dunno." Nikki stared Yuna down. "You gonna lay there looking like a feral deerling in the headlights or you gonna tell me why you're talking about jobs and vulpix fur?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 87: Present Misgivings​

It's disappointing my gut feeling about POV-2020 was right. I'm miffed that my bosses wouldn't believe me. I've been at this a while now. I like to think I've got a good eye for these things.

But I guess I've also jumped the gun too many times for their liking. Maybe there was a better way to go about this than spamming the same report repeatedly.

They've ordered me to keep my nose out of this, of course. But I can't sit still. Whether we all like it or not, I'm involved in this. I was practically the first domino that fell over in this ridiculous conga line.

... Yeah, still not good with metaphors.

XxX​

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. The dragapult instinctively grabbed her rough gray blanket and dragged it up past her amber core.

She was mumbling to herself— no, to a memory. And Nikki heard it.

Sure, the whole "reincarnated souls" thing got brought up at the meeting. However, Yuna never went into specifics. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject with Nikki. But it looked like she wouldn't get the chance to think it over.

Reshiram stirred in the back of her head. No doubt encouraging honesty. Yuna kept him at bay. Her gaze remained fixed on Nikki as the toxtricity leaned against the wall opposite Yuna's cot.

"Not a fan of the silent treatment, Princess," she said. Sparks jumped off her mane and fizzled away before hitting the shag carpet on the floor.

"I know." Yuna forced herself to sit up. It was much more awkward with such a bulky tail. She had to phase it through the cot, which practically defeated the bed's purpose in the first place. "I'm having trouble collecting my thoughts."

"Then I'll make it easy." Nikki sounded more tired than upset. "You think I'm one of 'em, don't you?" She shut her eyes and tucked her chin against her chest. "These reincarnated souls or whatever."

Yuna nodded.

Nikki's face scrunched up. Yuna considered saying something, but the toxtricity beat her to the punch.

"Did we know each other? Is that what you were spacing out over?"

"I think so." Yuna blinked, then hastily added, "F-For the first question, really."

That only furrowed Nikki's brow further. "Great. Cool."

Yuna couldn't peg Nikki's tone. And she was avoiding Yuna's gaze. Tapping her right foot on the carpet repeatedly. Even her expression was... muddled. Was she upset? Annoyed? Sad?

"So, who am I talking to?"

"Huh?" Yuna straightened up. What kind of question was that?

"You heard me." Nikki bit her lip. "Are you really Princess? Or Yalwhatever?"

Hadn't Yuna already explained it? She traced her hand around her core. "I'm using Giratina's power. But it's still me. I couldn't... let go like that."

"Then why are you dwelling on this past stuff so much?"

Nikki finally met Yuna's gaze. And the dragapult had nothing for her. She was simply lying in her bed when that memory came to her. Had Giratina foisted it onto her? It couldn't have been random chance...

Yuna had to come up with something. Nikki was still staring her down.

"I dunno... maybe there's something in the past that can help us here?" she mumbled.

"Like what?" Nikki leaned against the wall again. "What was so important from back then it got you hallucinating or whatever?"

So Nikki did want to know. Yuna pushed her covers down and leaned against the wall behind the cot.

She told the toxtricity what she saw. The icepix's confession about being a human. And the circumstances of her human life.

At first, Nikki didn't say anything. Then, to Yuna's surprise, her yellow mohawk shrank. "You've gotta be shitting me," she mumbled, looking like the dragapult had slapped her across the face.

"Um..." Yuna stiffened.

"It's not real." Nikki held up her right hand. "That was just some... mind game someone was playing with you. Zodiark, maybe." Her left hand squeezed her leather jacket pocket. "No way it's real."

"Sounds like denial to me."

Damn it, she'd let Reshiram in. Yuna shoved him out of her mind. "Why do you think that? It'd be a pretty strange dream for me to have."

"It's not real!"

Nikki swung her right arm. Her fist slammed against the metal wall. Hissing, she grabbed her right hand with her left and pressed it against her chest gills. The toxtricity kept mumbling, "Not real."

"Nikki." Yuna inched forward on the bed. Her tail was still mostly phased through it, but the end of it did poke out from under the bed. Yuna quickly realized it looked like she was coaxing Nikki toward her with her tail and hastily pulled it underneath.

"Is something wrong?" Yuna wondered. She recalled what Tessa said to Nickie when the icepix seemed unsure of herself. "You can tell me. I don't... want to see you upset."

After a few seconds of silence, Nikki's loud sigh filled the room. A metallic scraping followed from Nikki's waist spikes and the metal wall. She slid down to a seated position on the floor.

"This doesn't leave the room, okay?"

"Okay." Yuna pushed herself off the wall and leaned over. The dragapult winged it earlier, but was that memory actually important to the present?

"I didn't hatch in Blightsmuth, y'know," Nikki said, wrapping her arms around her legs and leaning forward so her chin was on her knees. "Don't really remember anything before it. Hell, I don't remember being a toxel. Shredder's the one who looked after me and Scarlett when we were growing up."

She glanced at the door, as if she expected the dragonair to open it. But it remained still. And Nikki's mohawk was still missing.

"Then how'd you end up in Blightsmuth?"

"Hospital," Nikki said.

The dragapult raised a brow. "Huh?"

"There used to be a small town near Blightsmuth." Nikki remained still. "More upscale and stuff, but still under Shredder's jurisdiction because it was closer to Blightsmuth than anywhere else."

After a heavy breath, the toxtricity said, "I got left at a hospital there. By my parents."

It took a moment, but Yuna eventually caught on. She gripped the edge of her bed. "Hang on. Then your parents—"

"Citadark," Nikki flatly replied. "Apparently they left me at the hospital with some kinda nasty illness."

Yuna tensed up. "Wait, but I—"

Nikki held up a hand to cut her off. "Not the same thing. I got sick... because my parents forced me to evolve into a toxtricity too young. Way too young."

"Forced?" Yuna didn't think anyone could force a 'mon to evolve.

"They used, like, steroids and pills and stuff," Nikki growled. "And they're what made me sick." She stretched out her legs, then braced her arms at her sides. "What no one's sure of is if I was born male or my parents did something else on top of all the meds. Cuz everything was so out of whack."

Yuna's eyes widened in realization. "Would that—"

"I didn't want to be a guy," Nikki said. "Most folks around Blightsmuth were nice enough about it. But the doctors wouldn't let me use a transfer orb until they get all the hormone stuff under control. It took years."

She shuddered. "Everything felt wrong. And not because I evolved so fast."

Nikki curled her fingers, grabbing and tugging on the carpet's shag threads. "That's why I can't believe what you saw. I won't. I—" She opened her eyes. "That'd mean... the same thing happened to me in two different lives!"

Yuna winced. No wonder Nikki could comfort her after her mother said she was adopted. She'd gone through something even worse!

"I can't—" Sucking in a sharp breath, Nikki curled her legs up again. "I refuse... to believe... it'd happen twice."

Yuna wasn't sure whether to go to Nikki's side or give her space. Tessa went to Nickie's side in her memory, but the icepix's attitude was different than the toxtricity's. This must be why she's always had a chip on her shoulder. Even after we ditched school.

"I'm sorry," was what Yuna went with. She also settled for a middle ground of scooching halfway across the floor. It put her near Nikki, but not right next to her. "I never could've imagined."

"Of course you couldn't." Nikki flicked her left wrist dismissively. "I don't make a habit of telling people. Because it's... in the past."

She tensed up. "Even if... what you say is true... it's the distant past. It doesn't matter. I'm—" Nikki's mohawk slowly crackled to life. "I'm Toxtricity Nikki, damn it! Not some vulpix or a dude or any of that shit!"

Silence. Nikki stretched her legs out again. Her arms flopped to her sides. She stared at her feet.

Yuna's gut told her to inch closer, so she did. Nikki didn't push her away. Yuna scooted closer. Again, Nikki didn't move.

"Are you mad?" the dragapult whispered.

"Yeah."

"Mad at me?"

"Dunno." Nikki glanced at Yuna.

"Would you rather I keep quiet?"

"For a bit."

So, Yuna pulled up to Nikki's side and awkwardly sat with her back against the wall. The room was silent save for the gentle hum of the long, slender lights on the ceiling. They stared at Yuna's cot with its crumpled gray blanket and worn white bedsheet torn at its edges.

Then Nikki lifted her right arm... and gently strummed her chest gills. The notes sounded... softer than what Yuna was used to. Almost like a different instrument. She wasn't sure whether to ask about it.

After several seconds, however, Yuna's curiosity got the better of her. "What is this?"

"Piano tune Scarlett and I first heard in some trashy movie we liked," Nikki said. She continued to strum away, looking at the bed. "'Claire de Lunatone.' It's a... gentle melody. Not my style. But Scarlett had a record of it. She'd play it when I was upset."

Yuna offered Nikki a small smile. Knocks at the door stopped the dragapult from saying anything, however. She glanced at Nikki, who stopped strumming.

"It's your room." The toxtricity put her hands on the floor by her hips. "Not gonna stop you from answering it."

"It's open," Yuna called. The door creaked open and a familiar dragonair poked her head in.

"Hey. Thought I heard Claire de Lunatone in here," Scarlett said. "Everything okay?"

"Not really," was Nikki's response. "But it is what it is."

Frowning, Scarlett slithered inside. "Having trouble with all of this? I know my head's spinning."

"I wasn't sure how much to say," Yuna mumbled. She tried to cover her core with her hands but it was too big. "So, I just kinda threw it all out there."

"No kidding."

Igneous' voice startled Yuna. She sat up straighter as the grovlazzle walked in.

"Seriously?" Nikki leaned forward, squinting at Igneous. And a ponytales was hovering in the doorway, unsure whether to enter. Yuna reluctantly waved Shimmer in. He awkwardly shuffled to Igneous' side in the opposite corner of the room.

"What, you three some sort of package deal now?" Nikki pointed between them. "Been spending an awful lot of time together lately."

Shimmer's face reddened. He tried to turn toward the wall, but Igneous nudged Shimmer with his right leg. Shimmer jolted stiff.

"We were talking," Igneous said, arms crossed. "About everything Yuna said."

He and Scarlett exchanged a look. Yuna had a sinking feeling about it, but Nikki beat her to the punch.

"Don't tell me... you guys have been having visions like Princess?"

"Yeah. I see... a different life." Igneous held up his hands, turning them over and back. Over and back. "An icy vulpix and a riolu. They call themselves Nickie and Tessa. And..." He put his hands against the wall. "I'm there, too. As a volcarona." Fiery embers crackled behind his back.

There was a white flash. Then Yuna found a volcarona in Igneous' place. Orange wings buzzed. Embers crackled around him.

"We knew each other, then." Yuna's voice cracked.

"I'm not the only one." Igneous tucked his head down but cracked an eye open at Scarlett. "Am I?"

The dragonair bit her lip. "Been having weird dreams since Venish. None of them made sense." Her wings slowly caressed her neck bauble, which flickered pink. "I thought I was Starlene — or, well, a latias — in them. And I also saw an ice vulpix named Nickie. She was asking me for help to stop an evil human."

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Nikki's mohawk sparked. The carpet fibers underneath her prickled from the static. With a startled squeak, Yuna scooted left.

"I'm not," Scarlett said, looking down at her tail.

"And you?" The toxtricity pointed at Shimmer.

"Nothing." The ponytales shook his head.

"Great. I'm on the outside looking in with Pillow Prince." Nikki rapped her right fist against the carpet.

"Gee, thanks." Shimmer's ears folded against his head.

"Suck it up." Nikki slouched forward. "You're not the one hearing three people say had the same crummy thing happen to you in two different lifetimes."

Shimmer gave her a blank look but said nothing. Yuna was also at a loss. Of the group, Nikki was the most active Team Bastion member who hadn't gotten any wild powers or crazy transformation. Even that lightning guitar was a standard Dynaforce technique. Any toxtricity could pull it off with the proper training, according to Cid.

"We don't have to talk about this anymore if you don't want to," Yuna mumbled.

"It's wild." Sighing, Nikki straightened up. "We knew each other in these past lives. And now we're... together again?" Her laugh turned to a snort. "Do you have any idea how much shit had to happen for all of us to end up here in the first place?"

"The spirit never forgets."

Yuna winced at Igneous' words. The grovlazzle's leaves crinkled. "Xeromus said that to me before I had my first vision. And then the cloud daemon he summoned gave me more of them." He crossed his arms. "I've kept having them since Tulpise. And now it has me wondering if there's a deeper meaning to all of us being together like this. Like our spirits were... drawn to one another because of the past."

"Like fate?" Scarlett raised a brow.

The dragonair's question sent a chill down Yuna's ectoplasm. A silhouette of Zodiark's masked face flickered all around her.

"In the end, you cannot stray from the path of chaos."

"Listen to you guys." Nikki thumping the wall between her and Yuna jolted the dragapult to attention. "You sound like freaking Zodiark. And that pisses me off."

She glanced at Yuna. "I need to know it's you, Princess. Not Yalwhatever." Nikki looked around the room. "All of you have to stop with this 'past lives' shit and focus on the present. Because if you're telling the truth, we failed to stop Zodiark back then.

"And if you get too wrapped up in the past, then none of us are gonna have a future."

The toxtricity's words hung in the air. It was a good point. If Yaldabaoth kept failing to catch and stop Zodiark across multiple worlds, then what good did any of their memories do for Yuna? Provide her with a long list of mistakes to avoid?

"We're not giving up on the present," Igneous insisted. "But we might need to understand the past better to succeed this time."

Which was more or less what Yuna said before. Still, there had to be something she could offer Nikki to assuage the toxtricity's fears.

Yuna leaned over and put her hand on Nikki's left shoulder. "I won't get stuck in the past. If I had, I would've let the shadows take control."

Nikki focused on Yuna's hand. Her mohawk rippled as fast as static on one of Cyril's monitors.

"Giratina... came to me because I had a wish." Yuna recalled the black, inky giratina silhouette rising from that stone floor. "A wish to be stronger, because I couldn't help the people I cared about."

She paused. Nikki must've read between the lines because Yuna swore her mohawk turned pink for a second.

"But it's... hard." Yuna's ectoplasm quivered. "The visions I've seen... that riolu sounded so confident. So sure of everything." A melancholic chuckle escaped her lips. "Almost like you."

Nikki frowned. "I don't think we got body-swapped, Princess."

"Right." Yuna managed to avoid stammering. "It's more that... Tessa became part of Giratina. Because it was the only way she could see her wish through." The dragapult shakily smiled at Nikki. "But me? Yaldabaoth terrifies me." She laughed nervously. "I can't do the same thing."

She expected Igneous' bewildered look. Yuna took her hand off Nikki's shoulder. "Uh, I mean, I can draw on their power. But I don't... think I know the full extent of what these chaos powers can do. And I'm not sure I want to find out."

Igneous must not have liked that. He conjured that weird red honedge in his hand. "You may not get a choice in that," the grovlazzle said. "If chaos energy is needed to stop the emperor or Zodiark—"

"The hell?" Nikki stood up. "There you go, sounding like our enemies again." She frowned at Scarlett and Shimmer. "One of you please talk sense into Twiggy."

"It's okay, Nikki."

The toxtricity glanced at Yuna, who rose up beside her. "Maybe it's the wrong decision. But this is my decision. Like you said, I don't want the past dictating the present. If that happens..." Her shoulders sagged. "Well, I feel like that's just proving Zodiark's point. That none of this really matters."

Igneous glanced at the sword. Then at the others. Scarlett tilted her head at him. Yuna couldn't quite see her face, but Shimmer's bewilderment and Igneous' pained expression painted enough of a picture.

Sighing, the grovlazzle dispelled the blade. "God, my head hurts." Now it was his turn to slump down onto the floor, rubbing his right head with his right hand. "What am I even supposed to do at a time like this?"

Yuna doubted Gene's suggestion to call it a night would work. Nobody looked tired.

Scarlett slithered between the two of them.

"Spicy secrets."

The two guys beside her exchanged incredulous looks. Yuna tilted her triangular head. "Huh?"

She was even more surprised when recognition spread over Nikki's face. "You still remember that?" The toxtricity scratched her head. "Shit, how long's it been?"

"A while." Scarlett's wings folded back against her head. "But I can't think of a better time for it."

Shimmer raised a forehoof. "What does that mean?"

"It's a Blightsmuth thing," Nikki said. "If folks were heated with other, they'd either battle it out or go for spicy secrets."

"I take it that isn't a food..." Shimmer's tails curled up.

"Everyone says a stupid or embarrassing secret they keep," Scarlett explained, slithering toward the door to face Igneous and Shimmer. "It reminds us that we're not so different."

"We all make mistakes and shit," Nikki added, pantomiming a puppet with her right hand. "Fine. You go first then, Twiggy." The toxtricity slowly spun around and plopped herself down on Yuna's cot.

"Me?" Igneous' head leaf caught fire. "It's your game. You go first."

"Whatever." Nikki leaned over, resting her chin on her clasped hands. Then she abruptly sat up straight. "A'ight. The first time I ever tried to make out with someone... I sneezed right in her face.

Still floating in the middle of the room, Yuna put her hands over her mouth to stop stifling her urge to giggle.

"Wait, is that why folks back home were calling you 'Snotty' for a couple of weeks?" Scarlett draped her upper half over the edge of Yuna's cot. "I thought you had a cold or something!"

"Nope. And Tina wouldn't speak to me for a month after that." Nikki sighed and flopped on her side on the bed. "All right, Princess, you go."

"M-Me?" Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. Some sort of personal secret? Wasn't all the Giratina stuff a big enough thing?

"Uhh..." The dragapult tapped her golden claws together. "Even though I'm twenty, I really miss getting shot out of Mom's horns."

She got strange looks, but didn't expect a whinny from Shimmer. "I'm... sorry?" The ponytales' horn flickered.

"Dragapult shoot their dreepy out of their horns." Yuna pointed to hers. "It's really fun! You go super fast! I think I was supposed to outgrow it, but I never did... even though I haven't gotten shot in a very long time."

"Damn. That's hardcore."

As Nikki laughed, Yuna pointed to Shimmer. "I think it's only fair you go next. Royal courtesy and all."

Flinching, Shimmer shuffled out of the corner. He looked slightly less uncomfortable than he was during the heavier talk the group was having.

"I've got... a lotta secrets. And skeletons." Shimmer tapped a forehoof on the ground.

"Don't kill the mood," Nikki heckled. Yuna turned and frowned at her. She projected a tiny electric halo over her head.

"Okay, you guys know that old Radiant Guard medical show?" Shimmer asked.

"R-Gash?" Igneous said.

"Yep." Shimmer clicked his tongue. "The way I realized I liked guys is because I had the biggest crush on Hawlucha Pierce." His horn glistened brightly. "I kept a signed, wall-sized poster of him in my dorm at Horizon."

"Shut up!" Scarlett gasped. The dragonair uncoiled so her head was by Shimmer's. "I love Pierce!"

The ponytales' expression brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was the best!" Scarlett's tiny wings fluttered with excitement. "And the actor's a classy guy, too."

Even Nikki managed a chuckle, despite her dislike of Shimmer. A grin had replaced her earlier dour expression. She caught Yuna's gaze. Her mohawk turned pink again and she looked away, whistling to herself. Likewise, Yuna folded her arms over her now glowing core.

"All right, Iggy," Shimmer said.

"Eh, not sure if I should really confess this, but what the hell." Igneous stood up. "So, my stepsister Becca—"

"I thought I recognized one of those salazzle," Shimmer cut in.

"Yeah." Igneous was struggling to keep up his stoic expression. "I used to go to nightclubs in her Holowear outfits."

Nikki burst out laughing at that. The bed jostled from the toxtricity kicking it repeatedly.

Igneous' tails ignited. "What's so funny?"

"Pics or it didn't happen!" Nikki scoffed.

The grovlazzle's brow twitched. "Fine. I'll do you one better."

He hopped to this feet and produced a small ring.

"Wait, why do you have a holowear ring now?" Scarlett wondered.

"Swiped it off Becca to sneak around Scale City the other week." Igneous slipped the ring around one of his claws. It flickered blue, then in a flash of white light, a black dress with golden trimmings wrapped around Igneous torso. He held his hands up like he had an invisible dance partner.

(Art by honey_llemon)

"Believe me now?"

Nikki laughed so hard her eyes watered. "You never pegged me as the kind of guy who'd ever get in touch with his feminine side!" The toxtricity rolled onto her stomach and smiled sweetly at Igneous.

"Says the one in the heavy leather jacket," Igneous countered. The ring flashed with light and the outfit disappeared.

"W-Well, I think it's cool," Shimmer said.

"Yeah! We need more twink grovyle in this world!"

"Starlene!" Scarlett squeaked, covering her glowing neck bauble with her wings.

Even if she didn't understand the joke, Yuna found herself laughing with the others. The last of her worries from the earlier conversation faded. Washed away by a silly game started by friends she was happy to have at her side.

XxX​

Gene rarely walked. His feet were not structured with walking in mind. Only floating. Sometimes it was worth it, though. If for no other reason than to prepare for circumstances where levitation wasn't possible.

He'd been walking through the outpost halls, stopping by rooms to see if he sensed anything off. Things were quiet.

... Save for the cosmic silvally walking beside him.

"You're really not thinking about it? At all?" Widget wondered. His gold talons clicked against the metal with every step.

"What's there to think about?" Shrugging, Gene headed for a door to the staircase. He opened it the old-fashioned way, then took the stairs down two or three at a time.

"What if it applies to you, too?" Widget climbed down faster. Gene figured he had to. Four legs would get tangled on stairs otherwise.

Widget paused halfway toward the second floor. "Wouldn't you want to know about your past life?"

Gene rolled his eyes. What a stupid question. "Why? So I can bum myself out if that life turned out better than what I have now?"

Widget opened his beak, then said nothing.

Got him. Gene walked by, tapping his right temple. "I got a decent enough gig here. Why jelly my jam by throwing some dumb reincarnation nonsense into it?"

He rounded another bend in the stairs. Widget's starcloud swirled in confusion. His head crest fanned out and he dashed to catch up. "What's that even mean?"

"It means don't worry about it." Gene flicked his wrist dismissively. "You're basically a machine—"

"Biosynthetic." Widget reached Gene's side and scampered past him.

"Pfft." Gene stopped mid-step and held his hand up. "Remember what you looked like before Leo gave you a starry paint job? Nothing biologic about that." He continued up. "You were a machine. So, that whole reincarnation talk doesn't apply to you."

It should've relieved Widget, but the slow rotation of his cheek bolts and the drooping of the fish tail told Gene he was off the mark. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "What?"

"What if that's not true?" Widget said. "What if the whole reason Leo could break me out of the emperor's programming is because there was always a soul inside."

"Are you having dreams about some other life?" Gene wondered.

Widget shook his head.

"Then there's your answer." Gene flicked his wrist. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened up. He strode across the metallic hallway, resting his hands behind his head. "You've got absolutely nothing to worry—"

Why was there music coming from someone's room? Gene had the restaurant jukebox memorized, and this wasn't one of the tracks.

He continued forward. The music was from Yuna's room. And it sounded nothing like what a bunch of technologically inept dragons could create. Too many retro synths.

"Hot drinks reeeaaaly get you going! Warms you uuuup, when you feel you're slowiiiing!"

"Is that... Starlene?" Widget marched up to the door. "What kind of song is that?"

"Weavies, we always serve it right away! Add a smile and have a nice daaaaay~"

Gene stared blankly at the door. Widget's starcloud ruff swirled around his neck. "Should I knock? I think someone's having a nervous breakdown in there."

"Seriously?!" Igneous' cry cut the music off.

"What's the matter, Twiggy?" Nikki's laughter drifted into the hallway next.

"That was you two?!"

"What part of 'we got our start doing terrible corporate jingles and shit' didn't register, dumbass?"

"I worked at a Weavies and they used that song!" Igneous sounded mortified. "Had some poor schlubs lip syncing along to make a training music video!"

"Gene?" Widget hissed in a whisper.

"Leave 'em be." The shadowy mewtwo turned around, waving dismissively.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let the kids have their fun." Gene headed back toward the staircase.

"Kids?" Widget trotted after him. "They're at least young adults... I think?"

"Ha!" Gene threw his hands behind his head. "Far as I'm concerned, you're all a bunch of dumb kids compared to me."

He opened the stairway door up and stood against it. "So, you coming upstairs or not?"

"Well, my room's on the third floor." The cosmic silvally approached the door. "But what about you? You sleep down here."

"I'm heading to the restaurant." Gene stepped into the stairwell. "Unova's Goofiest Home Movies starts in five. You're welcome to join. Or not. You wanna wallow in existential dread, be my guest."

By the time the shadowy mewtwo floated into the air, Widget's sighs echoed through the stairwell. Gene looked down and saw him walking up the stairs, mumbling about humans and video cameras.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The lyrics briefly alluded to at the end of the second scene are part of a 1980s training video used by Wendy's. Search "Hot Drinks" on YouTube to see it in all its glory.

For the record, this is all BarbarousKing's fault. He used a SNES-ported version of the song in his latest Kaizo Mario ROM hack.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 88: Somebody to Lean On​

TO: Grand Emperor Paradox
FROM: Cassius
SUBJECT: Update from Radiance

I looked into the situation at this "Tulpise" place. The best conclusion I can draw is that there were other interlopers who are responsible for distortion swallowing up the city. Unfortunately, none of the Medici 'mon I sent to attack the place laid eyes on them. At the very least, it doesn't seem like they're resistance members.

There is some good news, though. I think the political climate in Radiance is shifting. I already mentioned how that charizard CEO was tossed into prison for high treason. But the tabloids here are reporting that the dusknoir inquisitor known as the Grim Reaper has vanished. Furthermore, Calyrex seems to be taking our instructions to heart and working with Radiance's crown prince to undermine the current queen. While the news still trumpets her, the Medicis think public opinion toward Isola has dipped.

Do you have someone lined up to step into the Paradigm as the Lovers? If not, my recommendation is you expedite the process. I'm going to be meeting with the Medici's leader, Don Giuseppe. He claims to have an idea about how they could cause further discord for the kingdom.

XxX​

The newly-made infirmaries were simply larger outpost suites hastily converted into open rooms with several beds and a handful of cabinets on wheels. They were full of medical supplies, some of which Seifer recognized and others he didn't.

Shiva and Ifrit's slumbering forms occupied the two beds in the back right corner. Disheveled sheets on several other cots told him people had been here. No sign of Calcifer, though. Yiazmat must've taken him somewhere else to rest.

Quetzal paced across the middle of the room, watching Cid. The orbeetle's spots gently pulsated with pink energy. A gardevoir and lucario stood by watching. Healers on loan from the monks.

"Well?" Quetzal lifted his stubby orange wings. "Anything?"

Sighing, Cid backed away from the beds. "They seem fine physically. Though I'm no doctor." He looked at Lucario, who nodded.

"What about up here?" Quetzal tried to gesture to his head, but the orange zapdos quickly gave up. And here Seifer thought Quetzal had gotten used to the short wings and large legs.

"I don't think I sensed anything." Cid scratched the side of his head. "Then again, the same was true for Buzzwole."

Quetzal resumed pacing. "So, in the end, we just have to hope they wake up?" His feathers bristled, generating orange sparks. "There's got to be something else we can try."

"Perhaps a purifying incense?" Gardevoir tapped her chin in thought. "I'd have to check if we have enough supplies for that."

"Yes, please do." Quetzal nodded at her. Gardevoir waved at Lucario and the two headed for a door on Seifer's left. Another room, probably.

By the time the healers were through the door, Quetzal had trudged to the keldeo's side. "If only we could get them to wake up quicker. Then we might be able to get some answers."

Seifer's tail bristled. "Erm." He shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe we shouldn't jump straight into questioning them?"

"But Commander—"

"Seifer." He paused, looking down. "Please stick with Seifer." He didn't want to admit how uncomfortable his old title was making him out loud.

Luckily, Quetzal acknowledged his request. "Right. Seifer." The orange zapdos walked in place. "Don't you want to get to the bottom of everything? I might not remember much of what happened, but surely they will."

"Perhaps." Seifer turned away from the other two birds. "But I think they should have the time to rest up before we pepper them with questions."

Quetzal stepped in front of him. "We're in a predicament here, though. Anything—"

"Stop." Seifer raised a forehoof and pressed it against Quetzal's side. "This isn't like the Radiant Guard. We're in a much different situation. I know you want answers. Everyone wants answers." He sighed. "But this calls for patience."

"Right." Quetzal shifted his weight from one foot to another. "Sorry, sir."

Seifer squinted.

"Uhh, I m-mean sorry?" Quetzal stiffened. "A plain ol' sorry." He backed away. "Nothing hierarchical about it."

After a few more seconds, Seifer's expression eased up. He headed for the door. "I'm heading out. If you want to stay here, you're more than welcome."

"Oh, wait, there is one thing!"

Seifer stopped beside the cots closest to the door. "Yes?"

"It's about Gene." Quetzal's feathers puffed out slightly. "I saw Gene use this weird attack against Ifrit."

A weird attack? That hardly gave Seifer anything to go off. "Weird in what way?"

He didn't get an immediate response, so he turned to find Quetzal's head tilted in thought. "How can I describe it?" The orange zapdos tapped a talon against the gray carpet. "It was a big beam. But it was a mix of purple, black, and red."

"Like a... Dark Pulse?" Seifer wondered. Quetzal's description didn't sound that wild.

"No. I've seen enough Dark Pulses to know that definitely wasn't one," Quetzal huffed. "I'm not sure what type it was." His beak crinkled a bit. "Or if it even was a type."

Now it sure sounded like Quetzal was talking crazy. "Every attack needs a type," Seifer said.

"I know that." Quetzal looked offended. "But this beam, it..." His voice trailed off. Was he struggling to find the words? "Just feeling the heat from the beam filled my chest with this... this suffocating dread. I think it made me more panicked than I already was." His eyes darted around nervously. "It was almost like... like something was trying to pull my insides out of me!"

"That so?" Seifer's brow furrowed. Hadn't they called Gene out for some... disturbing behavior back on Planet Bogdan?

He blinked a few times. "That crystal in his shoulder is full of Malice, isn't it? Perhaps the attack was Malice-based?"

Quetzal stiffened. "That could be it."

Frankly, Seifer found these different energy types too confusing. "I'd rather let the others figure it out. If he's not turning the attack on us, then it's not my problem."

He imagined Quetzal would protest that, but Seifer was too tired to hear him out any further. Especially when he wasn't part of the Wyndon team. The keldeo headed for the door and nudged it open. "I'll keep them in my thoughts." He pointed a hoof back toward where the articuno and moltres slept. Then he stepped through the door, took a right, and walked down the metal hallway.

Thankfully, Quetzal didn't call out for him. So it was easy for Seifer to push that nagging guilt out of his head.

XxX​

"... Just so confusing. Like, was it wrong of me to step away like that?"

Seifer lay on a red couch. Orange sunlight drifted over him from a window. All artificial, of course. But the light was still nice against his freshly showered pelt.

"Eh. You're fine."

Cyril's voice carried through an open door from the corner of the room beside the couch. Seifer watched the yellow light for signs the cosmic zoroark was coming, but found nothing. Whatever he was doing in that kitchenette, he was really into it.

"Are you just saying that because we're together?" Seifer crossed one forehoof over the other.

A laugh came from the kitchenette. "Sheesh. Someone's determined to make himself the bad guy in this situation."

"I'm being serious." Seifer frowned, though it wasn't like Cyril could see that.

"Of course you are." A blobby shadow finally blotted out the yellow light. "And here I thought I'd established myself a straight shooter."

Seifer opened his mouth, then Cyril added, "Well, straight when it comes to telling people stuff."

The keldeo shut his mouth. He covered his head with his forelegs, groaning.

"Sorry. Couldn't help it."

Footsteps grew louder. Seifer picked his head up and saw Cyril approaching with a plate in one hand and a bowl of berries in the other. Steam wafted off the former, but the cosmic zoroark set the latter down beside Seifer. Then he sat on the other side of the couch.

"Ah, finally. Dinner." Cyril grabbed the spoon on the edge of the plate with his left hand.

"Is that... curry?" Seifer's nostrils twitched.

"Oh, did you want some?" Cyril twirled the spoon around in his yellow claws. "I make it spicy, so I figured you wouldn't be interested."

He was right. "It's not that." Seifer shook his head. "More that you, uh, never struck me as the type for curry."

"Wasn't aware curry had a type." Cyril ate a spoonful of his dinner.

"When did you develop a taste for it?" Seifer wondered.

"When I was taking jobs for the—"

Cyril stopped himself. Seifer raised a brow. The cosmic zoroark looked between Seifer and his meal, then shoved a spoonful in his mouth. "Point taken."

Between more bites of curry, Cyril said, "But, seriously, does what happened with Quetzal bother you that much?"

Nodding, Seifer reached for one of the berries in the bowl. He took a few bites, then properly responded, "It wasn't right. I should've done more for him, but instead I excused myself. Simply because I was tired."

Cyril fiddled with the spoon still in his mouth. "And that's bad because?"

"Because, even if we're not in the Radiant Guard anymore, people should support their teammates when they're hurting." Seifer decided to let that statement hang in the air and reached for another berry. He figured Cyril would chew on that for a while.

Instead, the cosmic zoroark ate more of the curry, then tapped his spoon against his plate. "Eh. I guess." His ears swiveled. "At the same time, though, if you're not in the headspace for it, how good a job can you really do supporting someone?"

The keldeo's mouthful of berry nearly went down the wrong pipe. He swallowed hard, straightening up his neck. "E-Excuse me?"

"You gotta take care of yourself before taking care of others," Cyril continued. He pointed the spoon at Seifer. "Whether it's stuff like this... or in the heat of battle."

Seifer frowned. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, should I have put on my serious face?" Cyril swallowed another spoonful of curry. Then his expression hardened. "How's this?"

(Art by Raph)

"It's n-not funny." Seifer shuffled back a bit on the couch.

"It's kinda funny." Cyril chuckled.

Seifer's cheeks flushed as a grin tried fighting its way onto his face. He let the cosmic zoroark mess with him again.

To his surprise, Cyril sighed as he took another spoonful of curry. "Nah, I get it. Maybe it's some of my cynicism bubbling up." He eyed the curry, then ate the spoonful. "But I figured, now that we've been in this situation for a little while, it was sinking in for you."

"What was sinking in?" Seifer raised a brow.

"That anything goes when you're fighting with your back against the wall."

Cyril silently polished off his plate, then set it on a small table next to the couch. All the while, Seifer tried and failed to piece together a proper response. There were a lot of layers to unpack. Was Cyril talking about the different sides of the conflict? The resources they had compared to the resistance? Or just the sheer scope that came with a looming dimensional cataclysm?

"I'm losing you, aren't I?" Cyril held his hands up. "The point I'm trying to make is that this fight isn't like anything you did in the Radiant Guard. It's unpredictable. Constantly shifting." He put his hands together and spun them around one another. "Yes, it's important that we try and help each other out. But when things are in flux like this, there's no shame in keeping yourself safe so you can live to fight another day."

That explanation hardly satisfied Seifer. "You're right. You do sound cynical."

Ears flattening, Cyril turned away slightly. "Figures." His mane dimmed. "Just answer me one thing."

"Okay."

He glanced at the keldeo. "When you were in the Radiant Guard, did you ever face down an extended conflict?"

Seifer stiffened. "Are you talking about a war?"

"Not necessarily." Cyril eyed Seifer. "I mean, I'm pretty sure the war between Aeon and Radiance had gone cold by the time you'd joined the Guard's ranks"

He guessed right. Seifer nodded slowly. "Then what do you mean by extended conflict?"

"Something that stretches beyond a single battle," Cyril said, waving his right arm around. "Cuz, like, if all you ever did was fight one-off battles with Phantoms or raid yakuza hideouts, then you've never had to deal with prolonged fighting." His mane dimmed again. "And the toll it can take on you up here." He tapped his forehead with a yellow claw.

"I—"

Seifer stopped. His gaze fell to the shaggy blue carpet on the floor. Had he done anything beyond what Cyril described? Couldn't some of the yakuza clans count? But if that was the case, they'd have launched counterattacks against us. Which never happened. It was always the Guard launching small, coordinated strikes. And they weren't even the ones responsible for gathering the intel. That usually fell to Stoutland Yard.

"All this stuff about honor and virtue..." Cyril slowly twirled his right hand in a circle, until he draped his right arm over the couch cushion. "It's coming from your parents, isn't it? Making sure you'd be the perfect little soldier, just like they were."

That look in Cyril's eyes went right through Seifer. He'd read the keldeo again. Heck, his parents had warned him about zoroark. Hard to interrogate because the tricksters knew how to get under people's skin. Find their vulnerable spots and pounce.

A hand on his shoulder nearly made Seifer jump. The berry bowl wobbled, but Cyril stopped it with his left hand. Seifer looked at Cyril's right hand on his shoulder. His cheeks flushed.

"I, uh—" He squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry. It's always, um, surprising. That you can guess what's going on so easily."

Cyril gently squeezed Seifer's shoulder. "You can talk about it, y'know."

"I know. It's just—" Seifer stopped. He followed the right arm back toward Cyril's torso and the puffy, stellar chest fluff. Seifer could've stared at it for hours. But he forced himself to squeeze his eyes shut. "All this fessing up and stuff. Makes it feel more like you're my therapist and not my boyfriend."

Seifer wasn't expecting a squeak. He poked an eye open. Cyril actually looked flummoxed. He grabbed an iapapa berry and shoved it in his mouth... only to promptly turn and spit it onto his plate. "Blech!" He rubbed his snout. "Iapapa? What was I thinking? That shit wasn't even ripe yet."

"Not a fan?"

Cyril set the bowl down. "Hardly." He ran a yellow claw across his even yellower tongue. Seifer wondered if he should quip about berries coating his tongue enough to make it stop glowing in the dark.

Instead, he seized on the zoroark's bizarre reaction. "I actually got a rise out of you for once."

"Yeah." Cyril leaned back on the couch. He took a few deep breaths. "Wasn't expecting something like that, but maybe you have a point." Cyril crossed his right leg over his left. "All right. I'll even out the scales a bit."

Seifer straightened his posture on the couch. What did Cyril mean by that? "You, um, want me to be your therapist?"

The instant Seifer finished, Cyril leaned over and flicked the keldeo's prosthetic horn. "H-Hey!" Seifer did his best to stay poised. "What else am I meant to take from 'even out the scales?'"

"That I'd say something super personal to you." Chuckling, Cyril shook his head. "Unless you want me to grab a clip-on tie and fake glasses for you." He leaned over. "Is Doctor Seifer entering the building?"

Oh, stars, his horn was flickering, wasn't it? Seifer swallowed hard. "Just go with what you meant from the start, please."

"I was joshing you." Cyril playfully nudged Seifer's side. The smirk left his face as he leaned over. "Y'know that stuff Yuna said about other lives? Think it applies to me, too."

Seifer pushed himself off his belly. Sitting on this couch was awkward with four legs, but he managed it well enough to scooch beside the cosmic zoroark. "Don't tell me you've had visions."

"Dreams, actually." Cyril rubbedthe gems in his legs. "Occasionally. Since Leo gave me some of his power."

Then there was a chance it was just Leo's stuff Cyril was seeing, right? Except the look on Cyril's face said otherwise. Hesitantly, Seifer asked, "What are they like?"

"I'm a zoroark." Cyril's whole body flashed blue. His old, dark-type zoroark disguise took its place, complete with his pink accessories littered with white hearts. "Live in some cave lit up by glimmering crystals. I go forage for treasures in a nearby mystery dungeon, then sell 'em to some traveling kecleon merchant. And there's this midnight lycanroc who I end up the rebound for after a dusk lycanroc turns him down."

He shrugged. "It's a pretty ho-hum life."

Seifer played the explanation back in his head while scrutinizing Cyril's illusion. "You don't think... you turning into a zoroark was, like, fate or something, do you?"

Cyril shrugged again.

"A-And did you, um, accessorize like that in your dreams?"

"Yep."

Seifer's tail bristled. "Then the bandana and leggings—"

"Thigh-highs."

The keldeo blanked. "Err, yes, they're leggings that go up to your th—"

Cyril pressed a yellow claw to Seifer's snout. "No, they're called thigh-highs."

Seifer rolled his eyes. Such a trivial detail to split hairs over. "Whatever. Point is... you got them for yourself here, too, didn't you?"

"I did." Cyril tiptoed his claws up Seifer's snout. "Did you want me to start wearing them again? I thought the starry markings and leg gems were a nice replacement."

This time Seifer "fought" back, lightly whacking Cyril's left leg. The illusion faded. "I'm serious, Cyril," Seifer said. "Aren't you a little concerned about the similarities? What if all your past memories come flooding in and overwhelm you?"

The cosmic zoroark responded with a long sigh. "That's what I was asking myself when we were all together listening to Yuna." He leaned back, looking across the room. "I'm conflicted, Seif."

Seif? Why did that give the keldeo beautifly in his stomach?

"I have powers." Cyril snapped his yellow claws. A few tiny embers dissolved around them. "I can fight again, after ages of sitting on the sidelines fiddling with machines." He tilted his head left, smiling at Seifer. "I fought with you. And, yeah, it was scary staring down Halvus up close. But being there with you... made me feel more alive than I can remember."

Now Seifer definitely had beautifly in his stomach. Yet part of him knew Cyril was putting on a brave face. "There's more to it, right?" he whispered.

"It's great. But I fear there's a price." Cyril held his hands up and turned them over. "Exactly what you said. Those memories are going to come racing back, aren't they? And then what'll happen? How do I stay grounded? Reconcile past from present?"

His ears folded. "How do I stop myself from degrading into a Whisper?"

Seifer's eyes slowly widened. Cyril had mentioned concerns about eroding. Back when they'd first met, if Seifer remembered correctly. "I see." He scooted closer. "I didn't realize."

"I didn't tell you." Cyril slouched forward.

For once, Seifer was the one with the verbal opening. "Y'know, you could've mentioned that before." He leaned forward. "Looks like you've got as much reason to lean on me as I do to lean on you."

"Heh." Cyril rubbed the bridge of his snout. "Suppose so." He turned slightly, eyeing the keldeo. "You wanted to have me for support." Cyril twirled a lock of his hair. "I thought I could keep that stuff buried down and be your big, strong supportive shoulder." A dry laugh followed. "And I'm the one who hinted that these things are a two-way street. Pretty pathetic, huh?"

"It's kind of relieving, in a way," Seifer admitted, earning a quirked brow from Cyril. "W-Well, y'know..." He shifted in place, laughing nervously. "From a reliability standpoint." He gestured out with his left foreleg. Not that there was anything worth pointing at beyond an old EV screen and a bunch of electronic boxes on the shelves underneath.

"It tells me that we've both got things to help each other work on," Seifer continued. "Because that's what partners do. Right?"

After a few seconds, a fluffy arm draped over Seifer's shoulder. "Look at you." Cyril leaned over, tickling Seifer's chin with a yellow claw. "Sounding all wise and philosophical." He grinned at the keldeo. "I knew I made a good choice with you."

Seifer shrank to his belly and covered his head with his forelegs.

"All right. Enough of the doom and gloom."

There was a creak, followed by the cushions next to Seifer puffing up slightly. He pulled his forelegs away to find Cyril walking across the room, arching his back. The cosmic zoroark swung open a small metal door, revealing shelves stocked with small plastic containers.

"What are you doing?" Seifer slid back up into a sitting position.

Cyril bent over — unnaturally, clearly trying to fluster the keldeo — and grabbed three of the covers. He pivoted, leaning against the doorframe, and dangled the cases for Seifer to see.

"Movie night!" Cyril walked toward the shelves full of electronics. "I said I'd show you Space Wars, So, we're watching Space Wars." He knelt down by one of the metal boxes. "The good ones, at least. Like I said, the other six are trash. But if you ever want to get shitfaced and laugh at 'em, maybe I can be tempted."

Seifer was so transfixed on the "movie night" part, the rest of the cosmic zoroark's rambling went right over his head. So, he nodded along dumbly.

"Whatever you say."

XxX​

Sticky hovered around the giant glass tank. He went from eyeing the readouts on the monitor to looking at the bars and lines fluctuating on his tablet. The naganadel leaned over and tapped the glass. The gray ooze inside wriggled.

"Well, Sticky?"

He finished his lap around the tank, staring at his tablet. "There's definitely some magnetic resonance. Not enough to reproduce what was on Iron Enforcer's recording. But it's progress compared to the previous weeks."

"What did I tell you?"

Wincing, Sticky looked up to see a sylveon sauntering in front of Paradox. He had no idea why the deoxys didn't just smite that imbecile on the spot. Or, if he didn't want to dirty his tentacles, give Iron Enforcer the order. No, instead the type: full sat in the corner, plugged into a charging station.

"That the little meltan creatures could combine into a titan," Paradox said. His tentacles twisted into arms he folded behind his back. "Two weeks of testing and we've yet to verify these claims, Whatsyourface."

"Xander, Your Excellency." The sylveon bowed, extending his ribbons. "And I told you they could. I didn't say how." He gestured to Sticky. "But you heard your secretary—"

"Executive assistant," Sticky interjected. He wanted so badly to smear Xander's face with toxins from his large needle. But the emperor must've brought him down for a reason.

"Right, right." Xander waved him off with two ribbons. "Point is, my intel was primo. I told you tipping off that overgrown vegetable would get you assets... and it did!" He pointed a ribbon at the tank. "Sure, it may take some time. But while we have them like this, why not try adding your own little spin on it? Make 'em even better than what they were in the recording?"

Sticky was ready to jump in when he noticed the curious gleam in Paradox's eyes. "You think the titan can be improved?" Paradox wondered.

"I'm sure you can come up with something." Xander's eyes sparkled and his stubby tail wagged.

Paradox blipped right past Xander, appearing at Sticky's side. The naganadel stiffened. "Sir?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, boy." Paradox flicked his right hand dismissively. "I know a brown-nosing clout chaser when I see one. A real useful asset would take initiative." He put his hand on Sticky's back. "Even, perhaps, take quite the risk."

The deoxys leaned over and pointed to the recharging Iron Enforcer unit. "In case it's not clear, if I catch even the slightest whiff of deception from your new toy..." His right hand uncoiled. Paradox traced a tentacle across Sticky's neck. "... I'll build a fireplace in my office just to mount your head over it."

Sticky swallowed hard. "Understood, sir." But there was nothing to fear. Iron Enforcer was purely a machine. Maybe that gave it less potential than W1-DG3T had, but in return, it would show steadfast loyalty to the emperor.

"Good. Now, where was I?" Paradox recoiled his right tentacles into an arm. "Ah, yes. Our clout chaser."

He teleported into the middle of the charcoal gray lab. "I do appreciate a good kiss-up." Paradox's gem flickered. A pink glow surrounded Xander, who shrank back slightly. "And stringing the outsiders' prince along so you'd get a taste of real political power? That kind of initiative deserves proper credit. Don't you think, Sticky?"

No. The sylveon threw himself at Paradox first out of any of his classmates. If things somehow took a turn in the ongoing conflict, Xander would be first to jump ship. Sticky was sure of it. The guy was a certified, grade A coward only loyal to himself.

Paradox cleared his throat. Sticky stiffened. "Of course, sir."

"Proper credit?" Xander stood up straight. "Like, what? Will I get my own Eternatus Troopers to command or something?"

"No. I have a much better idea." The deoxys teleported to a shut metal panel in the gray wall. He lowered his head toward a red circle.

[Retinal scan confirmed,] an electronic voice declared. [Welcome back, Grand Emperor Paradox.]

"Oh, good, you already updated my title in the systems," Paradox said, opening the panel to reveal two racks meant for holding syringes. They were empty, save for one teeming with glowing silver fluid.

Xander wilted the moment he saw the large needle attached to the syringe. "U-Um, I already had all my shots, y'know..."

Sticky recognized the syringe immediately. When had the emperor moved it here from the Harvester? "S-Sir, you're giving him the Lovers?"

"I am." Paradox teleported in front of Xander. "See, one of my Paradigm lieutenants retired a while back. The first to ever do so. But like any good leader, your humble grand emperor granted his request." The deoxys pantomimed wiping a tear. "Try as I might, however, I simply could not find a worthy replacement. That is... until now."

The realization set in for the sylveon. That hideous stubby tail of his wagged again. "Moi, a lieutenant for you? Oh, I couldn't think of anything better!"

He tapped a ribbon to his chin. "Well, maybe I could, but they're not the types of things for polite conversation."

"Sir, do I really need to be here for this?" Sticky focused squarely on his tablet as he cycled through security cam feeds and tried not to think about what he was hearing.

"You do for this part." Paradox snapped his fingers and Sticky floated at attention. "If you accept this power, Sylveon, then you're hereby assigned to investigate one of the spots where these strange needle-like structures from the outside appeared." The deoxys shook his head. "The ones we had a read on have vanished suddenly and one of my army's targets was in pursuit of them. So, you have to get to the bottom of it."

"Perfect. Nobody gets to a bottom quite like me." Xander winked.

Sticky looked down at his tablet again. Oh, what he wouldn't give to "accidentally" turn on Iron Enforcer and set it to "maim."

Paradox rolled his eyes. "Quaint. Now, while you do this, you're free to curry favor and clout with the public to your liking. Just as long as you follow my orders and, of course, sing the praises of my benevolent, iron-fisted regime." He levitated the needle and syringe beside Xander. "Do we have a deal?"

The sylveon nodded enthusiastically.

"Good." Paradox's eyes sparked and he plunged the needle into Xander's left flank.

Xander's screams were even more shrill, screechy, and pathetic than Sticky could've imagined. And they kept going as the plunger pushed all the silver fluid from the syringe into Xander's left hind thigh.

"There we are." Paradox turned away and his ESP withdrew the needle. "You'll likely need a day or two to get acclimated to this. Sticky will show you to—"

A dull thud echoed through the lab the moment Xander passed out. Blood oozed from the puncture site.

Paradox sighed and shook his head. "Sticky, take him to his new quarters."

"Me?" Why couldn't the emperor just teleport him there? It would be much faster.

The deoxys glared at Sticky as if he'd read the naganadel's thoughts. Sighing, Sticky floated over to the unconscious sylveon. He went to pick Xander up when a better idea came to mind.

Sticky pointed his large needle at Xander and launched a stream of paint. It splattered over Xander, before hardening to a rubbery consistency. Sticky dipped his large needle into the edge of the goo before floating forward. His makeshift net dragged Xander's limp form behind him.

"Careful, Sticky. We don't want to damage our merchandise," Paradox called.

The naganadel pause. "Sir, you do realize he's going to betray us the moment someone makes him a better offer, right?"

Paradox blipped over to Sticky's side. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

Sticky tensed. "S-Sir?"

"Relax, Sticky." Paradox put his hand on Sticky's shoulder. "Remember, your grand emperor is always one step ahead."

He gestured to the door, then teleported away. Sticky stared into the empty, dimly lit hallway. He floated out of the lab, hoping Paradox wasn't just blowing smoke.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 89: Dragon Your Feet​

It's simply astounding!

Thanks to my studies of the Space Globe, I'm making tremendous strides in understanding how the legends of our world operate. The attacks we've come to associate with them in our myths are in fact manifestations of their powers over nature itself!

Take Palkia, for example. The stories surrounding the Hisuian heroes describe crescents of energy that warped the air around them. The Galaxy Team member who befriended them called the attack "Spacial Rend" in Hisui's first pokédex, since the crescents were cutting through space.

But the Spacial Rend spoken of in stories in an incomplete version. At their strongest, Palkia takes hold of the very fabric of space itself and pulls and weaves it in an unfathomable number of different directions. To a human, this would appear as innumerable crisscrossing lines through the air that shatter like glass.

I'm beyond enthralled! To think that space itself can be molded and manipulated like plain old matter! Perhaps we humans could find a way to harness that for ourselves. Space is infinite, so theoretically it could grant us a source of unlimited energy.

I've already submitted the findings to The International Journal of Pokémon Studies. I'm sure they'll accept my manuscript... and then funding will pour in. And with that, I can achieve my dreams: the construction of Celestica Labs, the foundation for a better tomorrow for humans and pokémon alike!

XxX​

Night or day, torches gave the Aeon Castle living room a soft, orange glow. The torches were placed a safe distance from the tables pushed aside and the chairs stripped of their cushions to make a haphazard pile in the middle of the floor.

... A pile that two squealing dreepy shot toward at blinding speeds, crashing into the cushions with soft fwumps. They popped out, giggling excitedly.

"Us next! Us next!" Two slightly larger dreepy floated up toward Yuna's triangular head.

"Easy, easy." Yuna held her hands up. "I'm still new to this, guys. I need a moment to focus."

"Booo!" one dreepy said while the other blew a raspberry at the dragapult.

"Okay, okay, fine." Yuna sighed when her younger siblings flew up and squeezed themselves into her horns. It was a bit strange, then it felt oddly natural. Like Yuna was meant to be doing this.

Yuna angled her head at the pile of cushions and shot her siblings forward. Like the smaller dreepy before them, they struck the pile. Their tiny ectoplasmic tails wriggled with delight. They high-fived one another once they were free from the cushions.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves."

Chuckling, Baraz waddled up to Yuna's left. Yuna's two youngest siblings hovered next to him, each clutching matching salandit plushies that she and Yiazmat had made for them. Both looked up eagerly at Yuna's horns.

"You guys want a turn?" Yuna asked.

They nodded in unison.

"Well, I don't think Sweet and Spicy can come along," Baraz said. The dracozolt leaned over and opened his tiny hands.

"Aww, really?" One of the dreepy clutched her plushie tighter.

"Spicy would get hurt if I shot her from my horn," Yuna said, tapping the yellow edge of her triangular head with a golden claw.

Her youngest sisters looked at one another, then reluctantly parted with their salandit dolls. Yuna leaned over to let them fly into her horns. The dragapult shot her sisters into the cushion pile. They squealed in delight, while their four older siblings helped them get free of the cushions.

"Again! Again!" they shouted.

"Oh boy," Yuna muttered.

Fortunately, the door on the other side of the room opened. "Yo, Princess!" Nikki stepped inside cradling a large bag of kettle corn in her arms. "I got what you wanted and—" She cut herself off to stare at the pile of cushions.

"Uhh, I don't think that's how you build a pillow fort, half-pints."

"Guys, look! Your big sister's friend brought you chocolate-covered kettle corn!" Yuna pointed an index claw at Nikki. "Why don't you go help yourselves?"

"Chocolate?!"

"Oooooh! I want chocolate!"

"Yeah! Gimme, gimme!"

The dreepy darted toward the startled toxtricity. Yuna shot Nikki an apologetic look before she was besieged by Yuna's siblings, reaching their arms toward the kettle corn and squirming around Nikki's arms and legs.

Chuckling, Baraz turned to Yuna. "Not that I don't appreciate the unannounced visit, but... I'm guessing this has to do with what happened on the other side?"

Yuna nodded slowly. Baraz had brought Calcifer to an infirmary but hadn't stuck around after that. How much did he know?

"Is the king okay?" the dracozolt whispered.

"I'm not sure," Yuna replied, watching Nikki set the kettle corn bag down for all the dreepy. She stayed near it, scratching her head when, predictably, the bag's contents spilled out over the floor.

"I hope so," she continued. "Especially since I pretty much spilled the beans about Bahamut, y'know, not being benevolent." Yuna wrung her hands apologetically. "And, well, I'm dealing with a lot."

"An escape, then," Baraz said. He offered one of the salandit dolls. Spicy, if Yuna wasn't mistaken.

"Maybe." Yuna took the doll and turned it over in her hands. Spicy looked the same as it did when she and Yiazmat finished it. No extra stitches or anything to suggest someone repaired it. "It certainly left my head spinning."

"Hey, Mom, am I ever gonna have a brother or sister?" Tessa shouted.

"There's no shame in a quiet break," Baraz said, looking over the other salandit doll. "Going back to familiar comforts."

"Is that speaking from experience?"

"Of course." Tiny sparks crackled around Baraz's beak. "Take that tea you always see me with. The servant who trained me taught me how to make it. The taste is comforting."

Yuna's siblings were scooping kettle corn off the floor and shoving it in their mouths while an exasperated Nikki looked on.

"I wouldn't exactly say shooting them out of my horns like I'm Mom is, y'know, a familiar comfort," the dragapult said.

"Well, it kinda is. Just mirrored," Reshiram piped up.

"Perhaps. But you seem relaxed." Baraz looked across the room. "And they're so happy to see you."

"Should I tell them about Dad?"

"I won't force you."

They quietly watched as the kettle corn disappeared from the floor. Nikki had grabbed the bag with the remaining kettle corn. She walked over, tossing a kernel in her mouth.

"Your siblings are crazy, Princess." Nikki tossed in another kernel. Then another. "Eight of 'em? How'd you stay sane?"

"Well, I didn't see 'em that often," Yuna admitted, holding Spicy up. "Really sick, remember?"

"Fair." Nikki tilted the bag toward Yuna. "You want?"

She declined at first, but the toxtricity shook the bag slightly. Rolling her eyes, Yuna skewered a couple of kernels with her claws and ate them.

"Not bad."

"Don't lie." Nikki smirked. "You liiiiiiiike iiiiiiiit~"

Yuna's tail curled up. "Yeah, I do."

Baraz chuckled at them. "Should I get a spare bed set up for her in your room then, Princess?"

The dragapult tensed. Nikki tilted her head. "Oh, we spending the night here?"

"I was gonna," Yuna mumbled.

"Count me in." Nikki shook the kettle corn at Baraz.

"Very well." The dracozolt took Spicy from Yuna's hand. "I'll prep for your first slumber party in years."

Nikki laughed at that, drawing the attention of Yuna's siblings.

"Baraz!" Yuna hissed in a whisper.

"Kidding!" Baraz turned and headed toward the dreepy. But Yuna's tail was shrinking into her torso from embarrassment.

XxX​

Noctum entered the private room Yiazmat retreated to. Calcifer lay on the lone bed fast asleep. The dragapult sat next to him, her right hand by the duraludon's head. Given her body structure, her tail had phased through the folding chair and curled around its legs. She braced herself against a cabinet full of healing supplies with her left hand.

"How is he?" the mega charizard asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Sleeping." Yiazmat traced her hand across the bedsheet. "I don't see injuries, but who knows what's going on inside."

Noctum reflexively looked down at his stomach. He's not the only one.

"You're stuck in that form now?" Yiazmat wondered, eyeing the starcloud fire at the tip of Noctum's black tail.

"Maybe." Noctum scratched the side of his head. Fortunately, a round of deep breathing turned off the starry flames trailing off the edges of his mouth. "Haven't thought about it much." He traced a claw around the top of his belly. "Part of it... feels kinda right? Like it's meant to be."

Yiazmat hummed in thought, drumming her left fingers against the side of the cabinet. "The Book of Aeon says there was a time when charizard always looked like that." She gestured at Noctum. "Well, with blue flames. But you get the idea."

Noctum nodded. He knew the story well. While trying to quell a fury within the charizard, Bahamut caused them to gain dragon-typing. They continued to be restless, creating problems for the Sages. Bahamut then found a way to reverse the change and strip their dragon typing.

"Will you try to change back?" the dragapult asked.

Shrugging, Noctum approached the bedside. He hadn't given it any thought. "Right now, I want to do what I can to help everyone." Noctum grabbed the blanket on the bed and pulled it up to cover more of Calcifer. "How are you holding up?"

At first, there was more tapping of fingers against the metal cabinet. Then Yiazmat bowed her head. "I've had better days." She tilted her head in Calcifer's direction. "I want to pray for his safety, but..."

That won't do anything. Noctum winced. Yiazmat had taken everything from Bahamut's journal to heart. And now all the troops knew the truth about Bahamut, too.

"Well, if there's anything you need, let me know." Noctum leaned over and put his right hand on Yiazmat's shoulder.

The moment he did, blue-purple sparks raced down Yiazmat's torso and Noctum's right arm. Both of them yelped in surprise.

She stood amidst muddy ground. Rain poured all around her. Droplets dribbled off pillars. Some broken, others overturned. Her merchant friend stood beside a pile of rubble and crumbled marble.

Adjusting his hat, the merchant said, "Have a look at this, A̶̫̓͐k̴͙̉̌a̸̳̅r̷̙͌i̴͈̊"

Step by sloshy step, she approached him. With a better look at it through the rain, the crumbled marble... was probably a statue's base.

"This statue has been kept here," her friend said. Holding his hat to shield his smiling face from the rain, he looked past her. "Far from the statues of Ḋ̸͈i̷̞̍̚â̶̞͙̒l̴̼̥̅g̶̭͒a̸͔͇͐ and P̷̭̓ä̷̟̭́͠l̶̗͚͆͑k̴̛̛͚̲i̷̞͍̓́a̶̦̣͑͂."

Shaking his head, he pet the top of the marble pile. "Broken and shattered. And yet it remains." He turned to her. "Do you know what it is?"

She opened her mouth. What came out was muffled. Everything around her flickered. In and out. In and out. In and—

The merchant marched around the ruined statue. Tracing his right hand along the side of it. "You see, ever since I was young, whenever I met with something painful or heartbreaking... I couldn't help but wonder why life was so unfair."

He tilted his head up. Rain cascaded over the somber smile on his face. "Why I was cursed to live through such things." He turned to her.

The look in his eyes... one of understanding. She'd seen it before. Masked by confusion, yes. But it was the same confusion I̷̩͖̽̚n̶̝͗g̷̝̔ͅo̵̭̱͋ had whilst climbing the Highlands with her.

"Of course, I imagine we all go through something like that," he continued, smiling sweetly at her. She focused on the rubble surrounding the ruined statue.

"Eventually, I chose to direct all my energy into my own natural curiosity and ambition."

She flinched. He was by her side once again, gesturing proudly behind her. "And what tickled my curiosity more strongly than anything were the mysteries to be found in legends. In history. And in ruins."

He put his hand on her shoulder. She went as stiff as the shattered statue at her feet. The merchant leaned over and whispered, "You see, I fancied that by unraveling these mysteries, I̷̟̫͘ ̴͕͔͌͘c̴̹̀̈́ò̶̖ù̷̦l̵̤̰̂͊ḋ̶̢̚ ̷̛͉̪̇f̴̗̦̚ḯ̷̯̔n̵̝̈́̐d̵̮͠ ̷̟̈́ǫ̷͑ũ̶̬t̵͔̮̅̃ ̷̼͈͑̓h̵͎͚̋ö̸͓́w̸̝̖̎ ̶̭̱̊̇ț̵͇̕ḩ̵̭̑e̷͍͚̐͘ ̶̡̱̔̚ẁ̷͉o̴̖̠̓̓r̶̼̯̈́l̸̨̬̿͊d̴̞̖̽̂ ̴̬̔ȋ̶̮̱t̴̢̓ș̶̨̃͛e̴͍̓̈́l̴̰̃̚f̴͚̏͋ ̷̡̻̔̓c̸̦̉ͅa̶͚̜̓̓m̶͈̓e̸̲̬͋́ ̵̼̱̉t̸̗͒o̸͚͇͊ ̴͎̊b̸͙̓̕e̷̤͗́."

His smile was full of confidence once again.

"Ǎ̵̟̦̄ñ̶͕̹̎̿d̵̟̞͇͋̂̓ ̶̢̟͎̆͆͋w̸̱̲̲͐̓í̸̙̳̚t̵͍͈̺̃̚h̴̞͒͐̕ ̸͔̈ẗ̶̤̪̓h̴͉͔͛̎̕͜a̷̬͎̖͑̾͝t̷̙̾ ̸̨̫́͊k̸̫̃̎͘ǹ̵̢̳̑ỏ̸̢͉̭w̷͇̫͛͐l̸͙̯̾̓̕è̸̳̈͝d̶̞͈́̿͑ḡ̴̖̼ẹ̶̽,̶̮̉ ̸̹͛ṁ̶̻a̵̲̼̹̿ẏ̷̦̇͝b̵͈̬̲̈́e̴͈͂̕͜ ̵͎͚̊e̸̬̫͘v̶̢̥̦̂ë̶̤́̿n̶̯͋̚ ̴̢͓̳͊̊̚ḟ̴̦̀̓ǒ̵̧͙ŗ̵̡̂͂ģ̵̡̫̓̿́ë̸̮̠̮́͆ ̴̥̳̦̂ȧ̵̮̾͝ ̶̣͈̳͝ṇ̴̡̛͂e̴͚͆w̵̫͗͗,̸̺̝͆ ̵̖̃b̷̛̭̩͍̄e̵̠̥̐t̵̡̏̌͋ṯ̸͂e̴͈̟̼͝r̶͎̪͖̈́ ̶̞͉́͗w̷͉̠̃̍̈́o̷̧̗̣͆̕r̷̲͕̖͋l̴̝̹͊͋d̴̪̥̂͜!̵̢̗͆͊ͅ"

Noctum stumbled back and fell on his rear. Yiazmat's trembling arms were outstretched. Her eyes, widened like a feral facing down a predator, darted around the room. She looked at Calcifer and recoiled.

"Your Highness?"

Yiazmat flinched. Dragonfire brimmed in her horns. Noctum froze, fearing any slight movement would set her off.

"You need to leave."

It was barely a whisper. Noctum's tail flame shrank. "I—"

"NOW!" Yiazmat shrieked.

Frightened, Noctum bolted to his feet while the dragapult repeatedly screamed, "Get out!" The mega charizard fumbled with the door, then stumbled out into the hall. A Dragon Dart smacked the door shut. The clap echoed through the hallway.

Noctum staggered forward, clutching his ringing head and bracing his right arm against the metal wall.

He landed on the temple floor. The central space of the humans' monument to the Creator. The two women looked at him, faces full of awe.

He recognized the one on the left. She sent him prayers and the gifts of song. He concentrated on her. She stumbled slightly, resting a hand on her blonde hair.

"A-Almighty Sinnoh?!" She looked to the girl with black hair, then the young man who offered prayers to his sibling. "I think Almighty Sinnoh is speaking with me!"

Distorted cubes flickered around her. A garchomp's silhouette swallowed her up. The black-haired girl vanished, too. Replaced by a dragapult. By Yiazmat.

A loud slam snapped Noctum to attention. He found Valkyrie's claw inches in front of his snout. She scraped it along the wall, then put it on the tip of Noctum's snout. His tail flame flickered.

"You don't get to do that," the garchomp growled. Noctum practically wilted from her glare.

"Do what?"

"Play the big hero in the heat of battle then stumble through here with some faraway look in your eye." Valkyrie pulled her arm back.

"What?" Noctum shuffled back. Thankfully, Valkyrie didn't close the distance.

"Don't play dumb with me." Crossing her arms, she turned away from him. "You were going to let that Dyna Depletion shred you to ribbons." Her voice trembled by the end of that sentence. "And for what?"

Noctum raised a brow. Wasn't it obvious? "To keep you guys sa— ack!"

Valkyrie whirled on the mega charizard, shoving him against the same wall she'd scratched with her claw. "You could've closed that rift while staying next to me!" She brandished a claw at the tip of his snout. "But instead you plopped yourself in the line of fire like... like an absolute bonehead!"

She kept her claw in place. It had a purple tinge. If Noctum even opened his mouth, his snout would graze the poison.

And, threatening or not, she did have a point. In hindsight, he made a stupid decision. But he had to move Valkyrie's arm to say anything. So he reached up and pulled it. She looked ready to rip his face off, so Noctum quickly blurted out, "Yes, you're right! I was dumb!"

The admission sapped the fight from Valkyrie. She stepped back, folding her arms tightly over her torso.

"Don't do it again," she whispered, then walked off to Noctum's right.

"Wait!" He lumbered after her. They couldn't leave things like that. It was beyond awkward. Especially knowing they might work together when another mission popped up.

Valkyrie only quickened her pace, though, rounding a corner and shoving the door to the stairwell open with her shoulder. Noctum flapped his wings and glided after her. She was already up two flights by the time he entered the stairs. He flew up. She took them three or four at a time, then booked it out a door on the third floor.

Noctum kept following and, realizing she was about to close the door and lock it, Phantom Warped. It carried him through the door even as it slammed shut, which sent him barreling into Valkyrie. The two dragons ended up in a heap on the small shag carpet in the middle of her room.

"Get off me you idiot!"

"Ow! Okay! Sor— eeeeee!"

The pain from a rough, scaly knee to his groin was indescribable. It lingered even as Valkyrie rolled him onto his back. She put her right foot on his belly.

"What do you want from me?" the garchomp growled.

"T-to apologize?"

Valkyrie applied pressure. Noctum managed to roll out from underneath her leg and stumble to his feet. "I didn't want to leave things so awkward," he insisted, holding up his hands.

"This is your idea of making things less awkward?" Valkyrie gestured around the room. "Is it an Aeon custom to phase into people's rooms without their permission?"

"No." Noctum folded his wings up and looked down guiltily. "I guess I thought you'd ignore me if I stood by your door." He glanced over his shoulder, tittering. "And it's hard to have a conversation through a metal wall."

The ensuing groan lasted until Valkyrie had flopped down on her bed. Noctum wondered if he should step closer, but got an answer when the garchomp held up her right arm.

"Don't. I just... I can't with you."

Noctum's cheek flames almost reignited, but he kept them under control. "Can't, um, what?"

"This." She pointed both arms at him. "Tossing yourself at devastating attacks for my sake, then cracking nervous jokes with me." Valkyrie smacked her right arm against the bed. "What am I to you?"

"My teammate?" Noctum blurted out.

The glare that followed told him to think harder. He shifted nervously. Tried to look away from Valkyrie's glare.

What was Valkyrie to him, really? If they weren't on a mission, then they tended to verbally spar. That... wasn't a good thing, right? To say nothing of what happened between them on Chakran.

And yet, she kept standing by Noctum. Even as his world kept getting flipped on its head, she was always there. With some harsh words, sure. Still...

"I guess... you're my friend," Noctum whispered.

Valkyrie's glare practically dissolved away. After a protracted silence, she whispered, "Why?"

"Do I need a reason?" Noctum tried keeping his tone soft. "We look out for each other, so—"

"That's not good enough, damn it!"

Noctum flinched. His starry tail flame flickered. As he considered a response, the mega charizard slid down to sit on the floor. The way she kept pushing back... Noctum could only draw one conclusion.

Sighing, he tucked his head down. "I think... you'll be upset no matter what I say." Noctum took a deep breath. "But you have helped me. Even if you're terse." He paused. "And callous."

The garchomp surprisingly flinched. Noctum took that as a cue to continue. "But if it wasn't for you, I don't think I would've gotten past learning the truth about Aeonism." He looked at the ceiling. "Or a lot of the stuff we've learned about the world as a whole.

"So, yeah, I think you're my friend." He held his right hand up and crossed his claws. "Even if we're not buddy-buddy."

Noctum grabbed his tail and pulled it beside him, watching the starcloud fire swirl around. He waited for Valkyrie to respond. Or snap at him and tell him to leave.

Nothing happened, however. All Noctum heard were short, sharp breaths. He glanced at Valkyrie. There was confusion sprawled across her face. Something else was there, too. Something he didn't recognize at first. Because Noctum wondered if Valkyrie was even capable of it.

Fear.

Did he dare scooch closer to her?

... She locked eyes with him. He recognized that look. It was plastered over his face when, as a charmander, he wandered somewhere he shouldn't have... and found himself running for his life.

"I can't," she whispered, rubbing her wiry arms against her thighs. "I can't. I can't."

This time, Noctum stayed silent because he was genuinely at a loss for words. She kept rubbing her legs. Breathing sharply. The mega charizard feared she was going to nick herself with her own claws.

Valkyrie squeezed her eyes shut. Dug her claws into the sides of her bed. Cotton and feathers spilled out. Then, bit by bit, her breathing slowed. Her expression sharpened.

Finally, Noctum found his voice. "Whatever's wrong... you can tell me."

The garchomp pivoted away. Noctum's heart skipped a beat. All that time to come up with something and he blew it!

"You don't get it."

What wasn't he getting? Noctum barely managed to stop himself from scooting forward. What was he missing?

... Wait! The stuff she said back at the monastery. Was that it? Was that why it was hard to get her to open up unless she was angry?

"It's because of what happened to you before." Noctum fidgeted with the end of his tail. "Medicis turning on you to save their own skin."

Valkyrie nodded, trying to hide a pained expression. "The last time I ever opened up to anyone... my ass got hauled off to Citadark." She looked at her claws. A purple tinge overtook them for a split second. "After that... I told myself it'd never happen again."

Noctum resisted the urge to squeeze his own tail. But he had to know. "Becoming an assassin—"

"Was my decision," Valkyrie cut in. If she was ashamed, she hid it well. "Sakaki offered me different options to pay off my debt to the clan. And I chose that one."

Because it would keep everyone else at a distance, Noctum realized.

She wasn't prickly because of the job... but because she was trying to protect herself. So, their other arguments, then. Was she trying to understand him? Was that her crying for help?

"... I admit it."

Noctum blinked. "Huh?"

"I'm jealous of you." Valkyrie folded her arms in her lap. "Of the life you found. And what you made for yourself." She sighed. "I thought... even if you had people who loved you, I was still stronger. And that was what mattered with this whole dimensional crisis.

"But that?" The garchomp gestured to him. "I can't compete with that."

Static rippled across Noctum's vision, replacing Valkyrie with that blonde woman.

"I can't compete with that. Not Mighty Palkia," she said, yet there was a serene smile plastered on her face.

"Why does it have to be a competition?" Noctum said. His words pushed the static away, restoring Valkyrie and her slightly torn bed.

Valkyrie tensed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just... I'm supposed to be strong enough to handle myself. That's what I trained for." She looked away. "Getting caught off guard in battle like today... it's embarrassing."

Oh, so it was a pride thing. Noctum opened his mouth, but Valkyrie brandished her left claw at him.

"Don't you dare say 'I'm sorry.'"

Eyeing his shrinking tail flame, he shut his mouth. Noctum wasn't sure how else to respond. Things were only going to get tougher, weren't they?

But this wasn't a problem they could solve in one sitting. Noctum figured Valkyrie knew that, too, judging by the apprehension on her face.

He could keep pushing. And maybe that was the right call. Noctum couldn't bring himself to do that, though.

"Okay." The mega charizard got to his feet. "No apologies. Instead, how about a 'can I sit next to you?'"

There was a flash of that earlier, almost feral fear in Valkyrie's eyes. She managed to stuff it down. "Fine."

Noctum slowly approached her bed and sat down on her left. The bed creaked from the added weight. Noctum said nothing. Valkyrie stayed silent, too.

There were no clocks around. Noctum doubted much time had passed. Yet it might as well have been an eternity.

Eventually, though, rough scales brushed against his shoulder. Instincts screamed to react in some way, but Noctum remained still. He caught Valkyrie's head on his shoulder out of the corner of his eyes, avoiding the spikes there.

One part of Noctum begged him to return the gesture. Another said to push her away, reminding him of what happened with Yiazmat.

But as Noctum glimpsed the garchomp slowly relaxing, that first part won out. Slowly, he extended his right wing.

Valkyrie didn't move. She'd shut her eyes.

Though a small gesture, it was clear. She was trusting him.

Carefully, Noctum draped his jagged wing underneath Valkyrie's dorsal fin.

Her rough scales hurt his wing membrane. But the warmth that flowed through his chest made it all worthwhile.

(Art by @Adamhuarts)

XxX​

As the night rolled on, Leo found himself unable to sleep. At first, he thought maybe there was too much nervous energy from having more plates. So, he tried shifting his appearance around. He was even able to take on the guise of other pokémon with the plates' power.

It was cool, until he tried to think about why he could do that. Which gave him a headache.

The cosmic arceus decided to take a walk in the hopes of clearing his head. He left his room, headed down a metal hallway, and took the stairs down to the same sublevel as the hangar.

Leo walked down the gray, windowless corridor. Maybe if he floated out in space he'd fall asleep?

But then I'd worry everyone when they wake up.

He rounded a corner and continued down another drab metallic hallway, starcloud fur dimming.

Would it have killed Gene to do something with the residential side of the outpost? All this gray sucked ass. Maybe the sheer monotony of it would lull Leo to sleep.

He froze mid-step.

Two spirits were nearby. What if they sensed him?

Shit, this was bad. The last thing he needed was an earful from Yuna for wandering around at night.

... Wait! There was an easy fix. He just had to concentrate. C'mon, focus.

Leo's wheel flickered blue. In an instant, the cosmic arceus melted into a tiny puddle by the edge of one of the metal doors. Perfect timing, too, since the spirits in question rounded the corner.

Gene and... that Veggie guy! Leo couldn't remember the dusknoir's name, but that felt close enough.

"That's your plan, is it?" The shadowy mewtwo's arms were crossed. He wore an unusually stern expression. "Do what you can to help, then disappear into the afterlife forever?"

"I figured you'd be happy to hear that," Veggie said.

They both stopped. Leo tried to keep his puddle as still as possible. Could they sense him? Was the jig up already?

"Hard to take anything you say at face value," Gene said. His tail twitched in irritation.

"And yet, despite ample time to reveal the truth, you haven't," Veggie countered. His eye flickered blue.

Still creepy, Leo thought. He had to focus, though. Puddle. He was nothing but water. Too many thoughts and they'd sense his spirit.

Gene's Malice Crystal flickered. "Unlike you, I have a bunch of people to look after. Causing a panic in the outpost isn't productive for the resistance."

"Nor is the distrust you'd sow amongst the Aeons," Veggie cut in. Now his eye glowed a solid, steady blue. "Fascinating. Your convictions have changed."

"The situation's changed." Gene leaned back against the wall and crossed his right leg over his left. "You clearly understand that, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"I truly mean it." Veggie turned away from Gene. "If the last Needles are pulled, I'll die. Necrozma shall truly become invincible."

Gene raised a brow. "Implying he isn't right now? You told Yuna we'd have to locate Necrozma's 'lost spirit' to defeat him."

"I've reconsidered our approach."

Leo concentrated hard on staying liquified. Veggie had lied about that? Why hadn't Reshiram said something to Yuna, then?

"There's a chance." Veggie held up an index finger. "If you accept Arceus' blessing—"

Gene's eyes and shoulder crystal glowed purple. "You mean your son's." He pushed off the wall and moved to walk away. "I knew you were full of it."

Veggie stuck his arm in Gene's path. The shadowy mewtwo stopped, glaring at Veggie. If Leo had proper ears in puddle form, they'd be ringing.

"It's not the same," Veggie whispered.

"Come again?"

"Even if there are traces of the soul I remember, it will never be the same." Veggie bowed his head. "He's not my son."

Gene put his hands on his hips. "And what about Yuna? Y'know she told a bunch of us she's Chiron, right?"

Leo was still in as much of a daze as he could afford whilst suppressing his spirit to maintain puddle form. But something about the way Gene phrased that...

Veggie rested his right hand on the wall. The blue glow faded from his eye. "She's not my wife." Blue electricity swarmed his eye once again. "I cannot get attached. If I do, I'll fall back into old habits. Seek to recombine and—"

"Seriously?" Gene's tail lashed at the air. "So, better you off yourself? Take this secret to your grave?"

"Times on times he divided, and measured space by space in his ninefold darkness." Veggie slowly shook his head. "You of all people should understand this is the correct decision. I've made too many mistakes. I'm long past the point of redemption—"

Gene's glare turned to indifference. "Yeah. Sure. You're right." The shadowy mewtwo laughed bitterly. "Screw me for thinking your brush with mortality had changed anything."

He started to walk off. Veggie's eye faded back to red. "Where are you going?"

"To bed. I gotta meet with that ponyta twink tomorrow."

"We're not finished here."

The shadowy mewtwo whirled on Veggie. His shoulder crystal crackled with red and black energy. A blade of shadows manifested in his right hand. And there was... something behind him.

Leo was trying his hardest to keep himself and his aura hidden. But that shadowy blade... felt like it was trying to claw Leo's spirit out into the open.

And that thing behind Gene — a black, crystal sphere with a glowing red core — made Leo want to reform and run. Run far away.

Why was it... familiar? Was Veggie seeing it, too? He had to be, right?

(Art by @Adamhuarts)

"We are finished." Gene leveled the blade at Veggie. "I'm not taking the kid's power. I'll do this my own way."

The dusknoir drifted back. "This... this is..."

"You spent a while around Overseers," Gene growled. "I'm sure shadow-type came up once or twice."

Veggie's eye dimmed. "How long... have you had this power?"

"Too long." Gene brought the blade closer. "But I can't control it. I keep it suppressed." He jerked his head at his glowing Malice Crystal.

Leo felt that awful clawing again. When he looked at the crystal sphere behind Gene, he saw a chilling emptiness. How was Veggie not reacting to it?

"The reason I didn't go to fight Matriarch was because I couldn't control it." Gene's shadowy blade rippled. Crackled with red and purple lightning. "Nova was afraid I'd turn against the team. And then I lost him."

Veggie started to drift further away, but Gene's psychic grip took hold and brought him closer. The dusknoir tried to keep his head away from the blade. "And so... you've feared... calling on it?"

"Until today," Gene said. His eyes flashed blue. "I used that power on those damn birds. Can't keep hiding it now, can I? I'll—"

The crystal sphere behind Gene pulsated. His face contorted in pain, then the shadowy mewtwo brought his hand back as if he was going to spear Vegna with the shadow blade.

"—Perhaps I should kill you after all. The fear and panic it would cause... it could grow my power. Enough to pull off the impossible and destroy Necrozma."

Leo lost sight of the hallway. He saw a dark, starry sky. A black miasma surrounded a rainbow tree whose colors were fading into the black mist.

"All this fear. All this anguish. The world cries out for its suffering to end. I shall grant that wish. Burn away all the suffering in the fires of the sun!"

"One shot. One chance," Leo said. He flung a delphox and a meganium toward the tree. "The world's hope rests with you!"

Gene locked eyes with where Leo was hiding as a puddle. He released Veggie and staggered back, clutching his head and shaking it.

"I, nngh, told you..."

The glow in the shadowy mewtwo's Malice Crystal faded. And the crystal sphere vanished, too. "Hard to... control."

He glanced in Leo's direction again. Veggie looked over his shoulder. Leo did his best to remain as still as he could as a puddle, but the dusknoir raised his left hand. Blue sparks crackled around it.

"How long were you hiding there?" Veggie said.

Leo reformed from the puddle. The cosmic arceus looked down guiltily at his golden hooves. There were things he could say, but the words weren't coming to him.

"You tell no one what you heard," Veggie said. The sparks spread along his right hand. "Understand?"

Leo looked over to Gene, but the shadowy mewtwo had vanished. Had he disappeared into a rift or fled toward the staircase?

Small blue bolts peppered the ground by Leo's forelegs. He hopped back, starcloud mane flickering.

"I asked you a question, boy." Veggie's eye cast an eerie blue glow over Leo.

"I understand," Leo squeaked. "I won't say anything."

Veggie turned away. The sparks disappeared, but gold mist and ectoplasm melted off the dusknoir's right arm. "I'm holding you to that."

And he floated off, leaving Leo alone in the hallway once again. The cosmic arceus' head pounded.

That shadowy blade. That crystal sphere. What was that vision? Was that... something that happened? Was he a reincarnated soul, too?

How could he talk about this with anyone if he promised not to say anything?

Vision fuzzy, Leo staggered toward the stairwell.

He needed time. Leo couldn't make any decisions yet. He had to think things over. Try and make sense of all of this... even if it was on his own.

Leo's head spun too much to levitate up the stairs. So, he clumsily climbed them.

Sleep was definitely off the table now.

XxX​

"Y'shoulda seen it, Maxie! I was slicin' 'n dicin' bots left and right! Hyah! Sha-ha!"

Artemis wasn't sure what he was expecting as he slithered through the hangar in search of the bag he'd left there. Archie slashing the air with a jagged seamitar wasn't anywhere near the top of the list.

Shaking his head, the ghostly typhlosion looked up from the book he was reading. "I know you were. I was there."

Archie froze mid-thrust. "Oh yeah. Suppose yeh were."

"You were too busy jetting around to notice." Maxie nudged his goggles. "I was with some of the dragons keeping their distance."

He noticed Artemis. "Can I help you, Milotic?"

Artemis' ribbons curled. "Ah, no. Not at all." He spotted his bag beside some boxes and slithered toward it. "Just, y'know, grabbing my bag. Forgot it when I left."

"Uh-huh." Maxie returned his gaze to his book.

As Artemis grabbed the bag, however, Archie said, "Yer antsy."

"Huh?" The milotic coiled up. "Well, it's kind of hard not to be after what we heard."

"Not about that." The dark samurott leveled a jagged seamitar at Artemis. "Yer itching to do something. I can feel it in my bones." Archie looked over his shoulder. "C'mon, Maxie. Back me up here."

Maxie silently turned a page in his book.

Archie scowled. "Lousy killjoy..."

"I heard that," Maxie scoffed, nudging up his goggles.

"Whatever." Archie sheathed the jagged seamitar. "Point is, yer tired of sitting on the sidelines. Yeh need to do something. It's written all over yer face."

Seriously? Artemis doubted some weird-looking samurott could tell that solely from his expression. It was a bluff. Artemis wouldn't entertain it. He uncoiled and slithered for the door to the residential quarters.

"Yeh can lie to yerself all yeh want!" Archie bellowed. "Yeh'll just keep getting antsier and antsier until yeh pop!"

At the laughter that followed, Artemis whirled around. "So, what of it?" The milotic's ribbons bristled. "You've seen the insanity for yourself! I can't stand up to any of that." He raised his right ribbon. "Everyone's on an entirely different level. Yeah, I helped hold the line against that crazy sneasler, but that was pure luck!"

He lowered his ribbon, shaking his head. "I'm a dishwasher, for pity's sake. Any training fell by the wayside once the Radiant Guard and Vortex screwed me over."

Before Artemis could continue to the door, Archie said, "So, yer not even gonna try to fix it?"

Artemis froze. "Fix it? What's there to fix?"

"C'mon. I ain't summoning no giant dragons outta a gem in my chest." Archie thumped his armored chest with a foreleg. "Maxie ain't, either. Not stopping us from fighting."

"Indeed." Maxie turned the page in his book. "And what of all the Aeon soldiers?"

"They're soldiers," Artemis countered. "Their whole job revolves around this." His brows drooped. "I lost my chance at being a soldier."

"And it'll stay lost if yeh don't do anything about it," Archie scoffed.

The milotic's brows and ribbons crinkled. "Like what?"

"Lendin' a fin, o' course!" Archie slapped a foreleg against the metal floor. "Even if yer just fightin' the dumb bots, it's more than sitting around here." He rocked back and forth. "Yer a pokémon. Battlin' is in yer blood, whether yeh like it or not."

"Not doing anything to change your feeling of worthlessness is naught but learned helplessness," Maxie added. The ghostly typhlosion still hadn't looked up from his book. "And that's rather pathetic for a milotic."

Artemis flinched. They were right. He was repeating the same mistakes that kept him stuck in his dead-end job back at Horizon. Back then was too afraid Vortex had blacklisted him, so he just... stayed there, bemoaning the hand life had dealt him.

"Okay, fine." Artemis turned away from them. "I'll give it a shot."

"Aye, that's the spirit!" Archie raised a jagged seamitar. "Why don't yeh join us fer some training tomorrow? I can whip yeh into fighting shape!"

Given the twinkle in Archie's eyes, Artemis wondered if actual whipping was involved. "I'll, uh, consider it." He turned toward the door. "Thanks."

The milotic slithered out of the hangar and into the hallway. He had a lot to think about. So a nice, hot shower was in order.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 90: Secret Herbrides and Spices​

"Seriously?"

Tessa looked at the paper that Nickie nudged across the floor to her. It had crude doodles of spiked rings.

"Yeah!" Nickie's tails wagged asynchronously. "Look, this bandanna you leant me is nice. But it's not my style." She nudged at the blue cloth with her snout.

"Not your... style?" Tessa picked up the paper. "So you'd rather wear—"

"Spiked collars and anklets!" Nickie's tails wagged faster. "I had spiked wristbands back home. They were great. I'd love something like that here." Her eyes sparkled. "And then maybe I can grow out my hair so it covers up one of my eyes a bit. Gimme that 'heartthrob' look." She swished her tails to the side and stuck a foreleg out in a pose accentuated by the sparkling of her icy pelt.

Tessa blinked. "Huh."

The vulpix frowned. "Something wrong?"

"I guess I... thought you'd go for softer accessories."

"Oh." Nickie's ears folded. "Well, I—" She brushed her forelegs together. "Now that you know the truth I thought... I could be more of my, y'know, authentic self around you."

"Hmm?" The realization set in a moment later for the riolu. "Ah!"

She lightly hit her head a few times. "Stupid, stupid!" Tessa folded up the paper. "Of course you should do that."

"Then you'll help me find a place that sells these?" Nickie regained her earlier enthusiasm.

"Totally."

"And maybe some fur dye?" Nickie looked back at her right flank. "I was thinking some pinks and purples..."

Tessa walked over and slung an arm around Nickie. "I'm sure we've got the funds for it."

XxX​

As the name implied, Herbrides' Hilltop Mall sat on a decently sized hill toward the center of the city. The entrance offered a view of grain and wheat fields beyond city limits, along with the rows of tan-colored buildings fanning out in all directions.

Inside, however, the white floor was so pristine that Yuna could see an outline of her reflection. Though the dragapult had to admit she liked how the floor sparkled under the sunlight spilling in through the mall's glass roof.

"So, what d'ya think, Princess?"

Nikki clapped Yuna on the back as she passed her by. The toxtricity ran a hand along the top of a neat, rectangular bush planted in a pot in the middle of the floor.

"It's, um, something?" Yuna waited until Igneous walked past before continuing forward. She glanced over her shoulder. Scarlett had on some sort of cloak to hide her face, while Shimmer was disguised as a fire-type ponyta.

Truthfully, she still wasn't sure why Nikki insisted on dragging her here. The whole reason part of the resistance was in Herbrides was to sweep the city itself. Cid mentioned something about the distortion that swallowed up Tulpise spreading south, and that was all Seifer needed to demand they move out.

"You don't really think the empire's going to spawn in this mall, do you?" Yuna wondered, keeping her voice down. Plenty of folks were heading in both directions. A fact that Shimmer and Scarlett both seemed spooked by.

"Of course not." Nikki adjusted her leather jacket. "But we needed a change of scenery." She walked backward. "C'mon. A week of nothing but artificial light and Cyril's dumb outpost is so boring."

"I guess." Yuna did find the natural sunlight refreshing after another week of mind-numbing training exercises. "Though we could get sunlight outside, too."

"Sure, sure." Nikki dismissed her with a wave. "But then we wouldn't get to take you to your first mall!"

This was about Yuna? The dragapult's head swiveled left and right. There were glass windows with two and four-legged mannequins draped in cloaks and jackets. One store displayed wooden shelves lined with trays of assorted baked goods. The store next to it had big glass containers full of wrapped candies and chocolates.

It was kind of like the market in Saint Zygardesberg. Except the shops were stacked into multiple floors instead of lining a single street.

"Wait a tic," Reshiram piped up. "How are you supposed to buy anything? You don't have any radians on you."

Yuna passed that concern along to Nikki. The toxtricity snickered. She flicked her right hand out. A tiny plastic rectangle popped up between her fingers.

"Since when do you have a credit card?" Scarlett slithered past Nikki, stopping by a fountain and eyeing the marble primarina statue spitting up water. The brionne scattered along the fountain's rim also spat water. And were those coins glistening on the floor?

It was weird, yet Yuna found all the sparkling coins and rippling water relaxing. She could've stared at the bottom of the fountain all day, but Nikki's voice caught her attention.

"Since I swiped it outta lover boy's hair." Nikki stuck her hands up by her mohawk and wiggled her fingers while making a kissy face.

Arms crossed, Igneous rested against one of the stone brionne. "And what happens when Cyril realizes he has a bunch of new charges on his credit card?"

"Nothing." Nikki tucked the card back into a small, zippered pocket on her jacket. In a hushed voice, she added, "Dude illegally mints his own radians. He won't care."

Igneous' brows twitched in irritation while Nikki continued past the fountain. Gulping, Yuna followed.

"At least it's better than outright shoplifting?" she offered with a nervous smile.

"Niiice. Looking at the bright side." Shaymin nodded his tiny head in her subconscious. "I dig it. Say, they got any good eats around here?"

What does it matter? You're a spirit! Groaning, Yuna shoved the Sages out of her head. "So, what exactly are we going to do here? I'm not, like, looking to buy food or clothes."

"No duh." Nikki picked up the pace. "C'mon. Map said it's back here on the third floor." The toxtricity pointed toward a moving staircase in the far distance. She pushed her way past an older simipour and simisage. "Stand aside, geezers!"

Yuna muttered an apology as she floated after Nikki. She swerved past an inteleon, whose sobble child on their shoulder promptly began crying and turned invisible. She weaved under the large frames of a couple of garganacle, nearly crashing into a painting canvas with a smeargle sitting beside it. Yuna floated ahead, flashing Smeargle a nervous grin. They shook their head and returned to... painting a portrait of a plusle and minun couple sitting on a stool next to the canvas and holding hands.

Why is this so... nostalgic?

"Because of thine market trips back home?" Rayquaza wondered.

Maybe? The market did bustle, yes. But the ash choking the skies over Saint Zygardesberg made it tough to appreciate her time there.

"Perhaps it's Giratina's memories, then."

Reshiram's thought sent a chill down Yuna's ectoplasm. She barely avoided an elderly espathra moving much slower than surrounding foot traffic. For a moment, the pristine white floors turned to a dirt road. Instead of a toxtricity shoving people aside, a familiar black-haired girl waved Yuna over before jogging down the dirt road toward a small wooden building with some sort of toolbox outside it.

"Let's craft some smoke balls together! They'll totally help us look for the pokémon causing those storms!"

"Keep up, Yuna!"

Scarlett's voice snapped the dragapult to attention. Nikki was already heading up the escalator, with Igneous and the dragonair about to get on.

"Sorry!" Yuna squeaked. She decided to fly higher up, over everyone else, to keep pace with the others.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Reshiram cut in.

Yeah, sure. But Nikki said we're here to have fun. Yuna reached Igneous and Scarlett. So drop it, okay?

Sighing, Reshiram retreated from her mind. Yuna hovered up the escalator. The others got off at the third floor. Nikki walked a few meters away, toward a flashing neon "GAME BUSTERS ARCADE" sign above open glass doors. She stood with her hands proudly on her hips.

"Seriously?!" Igneous' head leaf and tails simmered. "You dragged us here for a damn arcade? We're not a pack of kids, you know."

"Oh, step off your high rapidash." Not turning around, Nikki waved the grovlazzle off. "You're never too old to let your inner child out for a spell. Think of it like a team-building exercise."

She finally looked over her shoulder. "Speaking of high rapidash, where's Pillow Prince?"

Yuna's eyes widened. Right, Shimmer. He was with them before. What happened?

"Tch." Igneous crossed his arms. "Right when you ran off, he said Demerzel contacted him. So, he left."

Scarlett frowned. "I thought Gene had gotten rid of that whole connection."

"He kept a part of it." Igneous pinched his brow in annoyance. "He still wants to keep tabs on his mothers, apparently. Tried to tell him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen."

So, the ponytales was off to meet with Demerzel, then? That was... not going to bite them, was it? The look in Igneous' eyes suggested it wouldn't, but it made Yuna nervous anyway.

"Well, forget him." Nikki stepped toward the others, rubbing her hands together. "This evens things out perfectly."

"For what?" Scarlett wondered, looking between Nikki and the arcade. Though the door was open, it was quite dark on the other side.

"For a little two-on-two air hockey action." Nikki punched the air while her mohawk flared up with excitement. "Since Princess has to learn the ropes, I'll take her. And you two can be together." A wry grin spread over her face. "Y'know, since you've been spending soooo much time together~"

Igneous' head leaf caught fire, which he immediately snuffed out. "Why should you get decide?"

"Aww, what's the matter?" Nikki was at Igneous side in an instant. She noogied his head. "Afraid of getting your ass kicked in a friendly competition?"

"Knock it off!" Igneous shoved her away. "The teams are—"

Scarlett's tail wrapped around the grovlazzle's leg. "You don't have a problem with me not having limbs, do you?"

The simmering returned to his head leaf. "N-Not at all." Igneous clenched his fist. "We can... kick their asses just fine."

Nikki's grin widened. "Now that's the spirit! C'mon!"

Before Yuna could say anything, Nikki had her by the arm and was running for the arcade entrance.

XxX​

Herbrides. Why did it have to spread toward Herbrides? was all Seifer could think to himself as he walked along a side street. Cyril was beside him, in the guise of a dark-type zoroark. He held a small rectangular radar.

"Still nothing." Cyril tapped the screen with an illusory red claw. He shifted his weight mid-step. "All clear on the ground to the west. We'll keep going clockwise."

"Understood," Widget said through the X-transceiver line. "We're good, too."

Seifer quickened his pace. The tan roads and tan buildings could practically melt together.

"Y'know, never did get why so many houses on the outskirts are circular," Cyril said, taking his eyes off his radar and casually moving ahead. "Makes 'em look a bit like bunkers."

"Simulates the hills," Artemis responded. He was slithering a few paces back of them, sticking his head up. Enjoy the cool breeze, perhaps? The air was rather stuffy in the outpost. "At least, I think it does," the milotic mumbled.

"And people actually pay decent money for these?" Cyril walked past a couple of the domed houses, eyeing them skeptically. A dolliv tending to a small petunia garden in front of their house shot the zoroark a nasty look.

"Ah-ha, whoops." Cyril rubbed his fake red hair. "Might've gotten a bit too loud."

Seifer locked eyes with Dolliv. Their eyes instantly widened. Seifer started walking faster.

"Oh, Commander Seifer! Lovely to see you again!" Dolliv waved.

"Move," Seifer hissed to Cyril in a whisper. Putting on the fakest smile he could muster, he turned and waved a forehoof to Dolliv. "Good morning, Tunie. Your garden's still as radiant as ever. Apologies I can't chat. I'm on the clock."

Ignoring Artemis' bewildered expression, the keldeo hoofed it forward. A granbull and an alcremie with two milcery children playing together in a fenced yard looked over and waved. Seifer nodded respectfully, continuing forward.

"What's the rush, Seif?" Cyril said, breaking into a jog to keep pace with Seifer's trot. "Where's the fire?"

"We have to find somewhere hidden." Seifer's eyes darted around. These people weren't supposed to be home! They should've been out and about on a nice morning like this!

"Heeeeey!" Artemis sounded annoyed. "C'mon, you're both faster than me on the ground!"

Seifer turned left toward a dustier road. A minute of trotting would reach city limits. The homes here were spaced apart, but there was a grass wall dividing them. It was good enough cover.

"I need an illusion," the keldeo said.

Cyril caught up with him. "Ser... iously?" He hunched over, taking deep breaths. "Thought we had this discussion earlier."

"That was before I realized where in this city Gene sent us." Seifer shrank back nervously. "My family's got a vacation home in this neighborhood. People aren't recognizing me because of my old position. They're neighbors."

Eyes widening, Cyril stood up. "Ohhhh." Then his shock turned to annoyance. "Well, why didn't you mention that before? I could've told Boss Kitty not to send us here."

"We were in a bit of a hurry and it's a big city," Seifer mumbled.

"Then forget it." Cyril put his hands on his hips. "Boss Kitty, you there? Change of plans. You've gotta cover the ground here."

"It might be too late for that."

Seifer jumped at Artemis' voice. The milotic pointed a ribbon back. "There's a cobalion and terrakion heading this way." His eyebrows drooped. "Your uncle and father, if I'm remembering right."

The keldeo's blood ran cold. He shot Cyril a pleading look. Sighing, the zoroark snapped his fake red claws. Blue light surrounded Seifer. It faded to reveal a fairy rapidash guise.

"Okay," Seifer whispered. "Now we continue on like nothing—"

"Oi, you three! What's going on over there?"

Terrakion's sharp voice drew the trio's gazes. Seifer's heart leaped into his chest as Terrakion and Cobalion marched toward them. Deep breaths. He had Cyril's illusion. And the zoroark had proven himself a capable liar on many occasions.

"Just out for a stroll." Cyril stretched his arms up. "My friend here wanted to grab a photo by this grass wall." He slung an arm over a startled Artemis' horn. "He's from Venish. Never left the place before that whole insanity." Cyril lazily traced a circle with an index claw.

"Quiet, you!" Terrakion stomped a forehoof down. The dirt shifted under everyone's feet. "This ain't some touristy loitering spot, Zoroark. Whatever you're up to, better fess up."

Seifer's breaths came in short gasps. His uncle never was the patient type. Had he really seen through Cyril's lie?

For his part, the zoroark rested his hands behind his mane. "It's also not some restricted area, bud."

"Bud? Do I look like your cellmate?" Terrakion's eyes narrowed. "It's Greyson. Commander Greyson."

Wait, what? Oh, if only Seifer had real psychic power. He could reach out to Cyril telepathically. Because something was wrong. Greyson was a retired Stoutland Yard chief. He never worked for the Radiant Guard.

"That so? My bad." Cyril raised his hands innocently. The small smile on his face betrayed the tense look in his eyes. "Don't keep up much with the news. Wasn't aware Her Eminence had named a new commander."

"Two new commanders." Greyson jerked his head in Cobalion's direction. "Or, one new and one returning. Picking up the pieces from that useless waste of space that got the boot."

The fake rapidash did his best not to flinch. Seifer's father and uncle were his replacements? Of course. Why look for new blood when Isola could just turn to Seifer's family? If she truly was some nefarious body snatcher, it would even let her keep a close eye on them just in case.

What was Seifer supposed to do here? He had to say something before this got out of hand. "A-Apologies. We actually got a bit, um, turned around." Seifer stepped to Cyril's side. "And my friend's too proud to ask for directions."

"Fat chance," Greyson scoffed.

Cobalion wrinkled his nose. "Agreed. Something reeks about this. No sane fairy would pal around with some lying, low-life zoroark."

Seifer suppressed a wince. Memories of his father cursing out assorted species at the dinner table flickered through his head.

"Excuse me?" Cyril growled. He kept his expression as neutral as possible. "I'm not looking for trouble, dude."

"That's Commander Tobias, you ruffian." Cobalion stood up straight, as if to emphasize the half meter of height he had over Cyril.

"Uh-huh." Cyril's tone somehow stayed even. "Well, I hate to disappoint, but this 'lying low-life' is nothing but a humble mechanic."

"Then what's a grease mankey doing out in the nice part of Herbrides, huh?" Greyson said. Red energy sparked around the terrakion's forehead. "I say we take 'em all in for questioning."

"I wanted to make a day trip here with my boyfriend." Cyril put his hand on Seifer's back. The fake rapidash almost lost his composure. What was the zoroark thinking outing their relationship? If anything broke Seifer's illusion...

"And I've been living with him since the attack on Venish." Artemis tapped the ground by Cyril's feet with his tailfins. "So, I'm third-wheeling."

Greyson eyed the milotic with a look of disgust. "I ain't buying it. You?"

Tobias shook his head. "As I said, no decent milotic or rapidash would slum it with a zoroark." The cobalion's eyes narrowed. "Much less court one."

For a moment, Seifer thought there was genuine hurt in Cyril's eyes. But he quickly masked it with his stoic expression. "So, what, you're bringing me to a station because I'm a zoroark?"

"No." Tobias rolled his eyes. "Because you're a zoroark looking and acting suspicious. And these two are clearly accomplices. Now, quiet down and start walking. Or do I have to slap a muzzle on you, runt?"

However, before anyone had the chance to respond, Seifer caught a streak of orange out of the corner of his eye. "Down!" he screamed, shoving Cyril to the ground. A giant fireball struck the dome-shaped house to their right, blowing the roof open. Rubble struck a blue Protect shield that spilled out from Seifer's horn in the nick of time.

... His black, ridged prosthetic horn.

Seifer's eyes slowly widened.

"S-Seifer?!" Tobias gasped. The keldeo glanced back to see Artemis coiled around a dazed Cyril. His illusions had failed, leaving his cosmic fur on full display.

"What is the meaning of this, boy?" Greyson said.

"More fire!" Artemis shouted. Though he spat streams of water, they couldn't stand up against the fireballs. They struck other domed houses. Screams rang out. Two gogoat and several skiddo ran out of one building, while a tropius and fidough sprinted out of another.

"What did you do?" Tobias bellowed, leveling his glowing Sacred Sword at the trio.

Bells rang out from the sky. Multiple birds appeared out of seemingly nowhere, with wartortle and raichu perched on their backs.

"Avast! Ahoy! Yo ho! Yo ho! Our time tis finally here!" a kilowattrel sang.

"We'll plunder like mad!" a pidgeot added.

"There's booty to be had!" sang a swellow with sparking wings.

"Fer the Blackskull Buccaneers!" the wartortle and raichu all sang in unison, before leaping from their fliers back and raining Hydro Pumps and Thunderbolts on the group from above.

XxX​

"Do you ever think about the day you were born?"

From their position atop the roof of the shuttered Herbrides Crowne Minister's office building, Widget glanced at Gene. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled.

"Seriously?" His Malice Crystal dimmed. "Who leads with a question like that?"

"I do, apparently," Widget responded. He looked down at his golden talons, curling and uncurling them. "I was... curious. Since you were built. Like me."

Pinching his brow, Gene walked over and leaned against the yellow brick chimney. "No. I don't."

"Oh." Widget's cheek bolts turned once. "Okay." The cosmic silvally curled his fish tail slightly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Don't guilt trip me, Squirt." Gene crossed one leg over another. His eyes remained shut. "I don't think about it because there isn't much to it. Doing a bunch of stupid tests for stupider human scientists." He clenched his fist. "Then Giovanni captured me when I was supposed to be fully released from stasis. Everything after that's a huge blur until Nova took me in."

"Right." Widget nodded slowly. "Do you suppress those memories?"

Gene shook his head. Widget watched his Malice Crystal darken. "I don't have to. Nova suppressed them for me."

The silvally's starcloud swirled around slowly. "All the Eterna energy treatments?"

"In a sense." Gene repeatedly ran a finger up and down the Malice Crystal. "Giovanni... did something to me. He made me so... empty inside. To better function as his 'weapon.'"

At the mention of 'empty,' Widget swore he saw some sort of black crystal sphere looming behind Gene. And it... tugged on a part of him. His scaly hide was itching.

"Nova and Miraidon... sealed that part of me off," Gene continued. He held his hand out and strange black shadows swirled around his fingers.

The itchiness in Widget's scales got worse. He wasn't sure whether to say anything about that sphere. Surely it was an illusion, right?

"It's something called 'shadowing.'" Gene dispelled the energy. "Nova never told me why he and Miraidon knew how to do this. Though I'm betting the latter being one of those Overseers has something to do with it."

"Shadowing?" Widget's scales thankfully weren't crawling anymore.

"It's when you seal away a pokémon's spirit," Gene explained. "Normally, doing so turns pokémon into vicious beasts driven by their most negative emotions."

Except Widget wouldn't classify Gene as vicious. If anything, that applied to Necrozma. "You don't seem that way," he mumbled.

"Because Miraidon and Nova had a loophole." Gene placed his hand over his heart. "They sealed off that... thing Giovanni put into me to make me empty. Since he'd done that not long after I was 'born,' I never got to develop my real spirit. But sealing that thing was enough to turn me shadow.

"It's why I look like this." Gene pushed off the chimney. Lazily walked toward Widget with his hands resting behind his head. "And how my real heart or soul or whatever you want to call it was able to safely grow on its own."

Widget shifted uncomfortably. The explanation didn't sit right with him. "If that part of you is sealed, why do you remember stuff you did for Team Rocket?"

"Sometimes that thing tries to force its way out," Gene admitted. He looked at his hands. It was subtle, but they were shaking. "To convince me to give into despair and emptiness... and become a weapon again."

"Wait." The cosmic silvally's crest fanned out. "Doesn't that sound a bit like the reincarnated soul stuff?"

Shrugging, Gene lowered his arms. "I don't try to read into it."

Widget's gut squirmed. "So, um, is the reason you don't act all that serious—"

"That's me trying to keep it at bay." Gene pointed at his glowing Malice Crystal. "And it worked... until last week. I was too desperate in Wyndon... and drew on some of that thing's power."

His shoulders sagged. "It's been tugging on the back of my mind ever since. Whispering the same tired things about emptiness and hatred."

The mewtwo shook his head. "Why are you grilling me on this, anyway?" He sized Widget up. "Is this about the other week? Are you still stuck on that?"

There wasn't any point hiding it from Gene. "Yes!" Widget squawked. His starcloud and cheek bolts dimmed. "I just— I don't understand." He shook his head. "I can't understand."

Grimacing, Widget's talons dug into the stone roof. "The day the emperor turned me on... he was so happy. I thought... he was proud of me." His head crest drooped. "I did everything he told me to. Because he said it would make me a hero. That it would make everyone proud of me."

"Uh-huh. Cuz we know the emperor's such an honest guy." Gene tilted his head. "I thought you talked to a bunch of birddogfish in one of the mystery dungeons and it put you at ease. Why the backsliding?"

"That was before Yuna went and just... just dropped a mental Draco Meteor!" Widget responded. His starcloud flickered erratically. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I thought— no, I believed the emperor had tricked me, yet I still chose to listen. But what if that's not true?"

He took a step toward the shadowy mewtwo. "You said it yourself last week." Widget was sure Gene thought him pathetic, but pressed on anyway. "There was nothing biologic about me before Leo intervened. What if... what if everything I did wasn't my choice? Simply lines of code instead?!"

A pained grimace spread over his feet. "The moment I woke up on Chakran, Leo had already shared his power with me." Widget shook his head repeatedly, like he was bucking off a small feral who'd latched onto his neck. "Everything that's happened since... how can I be sure?"

Gene remained still. "Sure of what?"

"That these are really my choices?!" Widget's voice cracked. His gold talons scraped the stone beneath them. Blurry blue and purple light melted together. White fur painted over his cosmic form. Forelegs gave way to reshiram wings. "That I want to fight these battles? That Leo didn't just... rewrite the emperor's code? Or... or stuff some old, dormant soul into my body?

"Even the stuff you were saying about some force of emptiness felt... familiar for some reason."

(Art by Jungabeast.)

Widget glimpsed at his new wings. So white and fluffy. Was this... another one of his transformations? Why was it showing up now?

Pushing those specific thoughts aside, the reshivally sank to his belly. "How can I know?" He folded his new wings over his head. "How can I trust myself... when I don't even know if I've always had a soul?"

Silence followed. Widget slowly slid his wings off his head. White fur brushed against rough, dirty stone.

"There more to your rant or you done?"

Widget looked up. Gene had pivoted away from him. His yellow-tipped tail curled and uncurled in irritation.

"I thought... you understood," the reshivally whimpered. "Or maybe you remembered something about Nova you could tell me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint." Gene shrugged. "Yeah, Nova was better at this stuff than I was. That's what made him an effective leader, I guess. While yours truly just wings it."

Nothing about that reassured Widget. Then again, it sounded like Gene didn't care.

"It's funny." Gene stopped curling and uncurling his tail. "I'm plain trash at the whole 'leader' thing, yet thanks to Princess I've ended up with a resistance that's at least ten times as big as Nova's."

There was an obvious question to ask: why didn't Gene try and better his leadership skills? Yet Widget kept his beak shut. He'd poured his heart out to Gene. Selfish as it sounded, Widget didn't want to make this about the shadow mewtwo.

Surprisingly, Gene floated to Widget's side and sat down beside him. "Guess there's one thing I can offer." He put a hand on Widget's right wing. "Nova always told me that it's just as easy to worry about the future as it is to get caught up in the past."

Widget picked his head up. Where was Gene going with this? "If you're going to tell me to live for the present—"

A finger to Widget's beak shushed him. Gene shook his head. "Should you live in the present? Yeah. I do." He pulled his hand back. "Still gotta look to the future, though. One step at a time."

Gene tapped his right temple. "If we let the fear of an unknown future bury us, then we're not living."

He pointed at Widget. "In your case, if you let this paralyze you, then it doesn't matter how you were made or if you have a soul." His Malice Crystal flickered. "At that point, you're letting everyone and everything around you control you. And how's that any different from what you're worried about?"

The reshivally blinked once. Twice.

It... made sense. In a twisted sort of way.

He exhaled loudly, blowing a couple of pebbles by his beak toward Gene's foot. "I suppose." Widget pushed himself to a sitting position. "Might need to work on your pep talks, though."

"That was recycled material." Gene waved Widget off dismissively.

"Then your recycling skills need work," Widget deadpanned.

"Like your stand up skills?" Gene countered, a smirk forming.

Widget couldn't help but smirk back. "Touché."

Then a flash of orange caught his attention. "What the heck?" Widget pushed Gene away. "H-Hey! Someone's shooting fireballs at the street!"

"The hell?" Gene whirled around. Fireballs appeared out of seemingly nowhere, striking building rooftops. Laughter filled the skies. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled. "You can't be serious."

"What is it?" Widget tried to sense what was shooting the fireballs, but came up empty.

"It's the pirates." Gene hovered into the air. "They must be cloaking their ships."

"With what?" Widget's new tail turbine whirred to life, sending him up next to Gene. "I can't even sense them!"

Gene tapped his right antennae. "Attention resistance, we—"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mon least favorite kitty cat!"

Widget squawked. Embers crackled around his tail turbine. "Was that Gilbert on our comm line?!"

"Damn it, are they stealing our signal? How?!" Gene's yellow-tipped tail lashed at the air. "Where the hell's Cyril?"

More building rooftops caught fire. People flooded the streets. "What do we do?" Widget said.

"Start blasting, of course!" Gene blindly slung a Shadow Ball in the direction of where the fireballs were forming.

Widget swallowed hard. He had no idea why the pirates were here. Or how they were here, for that matter. But Widget knew the resistance had to get rid of them quickly, before the whole city got swept up in chaos.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 91: Now You See Me​

Well, shit.

That's another world they're gonna tell me to stay away from. But what was I supposed to do? You hear all this yapping about bonds between humans and pokémon. So I can't stand by and watch some kid harass an ogerpon cuz he thinks he's entitled to be her trainer cuz he likes her so much.

The worst part was it was like an awful look back at the distant past. Cuz I'm not sure I'd have acted much different back when I was human.

Sometimes this omniverse stuff's a bitch.

XxX​

Leo ran into the hanger not long after Noctum and Valkyrie. It was a mess of skorps darting about between computer consoles, several pointing and waving their mutant incineroar hands.

"What's the matter?" Noctum wondered, looking between the skorps and Cid. The orbeetle's spots flashed asynchronously with the funny sensors attached to them.

"What isn't the matter?!" Cid responded, staring at Cyril's "big board" of computer screens. "This is a nightmare! I can't get a hold of anyone who's over in Tulpise. I just keep hearing that annoying chatot pirate."

The cosmic arceus trotted up to the dragons' sides. Both of them flinched. "Isn't this thing supposed to be a secure magical line?!" the garchomp hissed. "What gives?"

"M-Maybe Gilbert stole an X-transceiver the last time he was here?" Noctum tapped his index claws together. Valkyrie gently smacked the back of his head with her right elbow fin. "Hey, it was a suggestion!"

"Tough. There isn't a Gene or Cyril around for me to slap." Valkyrie crossed her arms. "Why the hell do they even let that pipsqueak and his crew show up here if they're against us?"

"Technically it's not Gilbert's—" Noctum saw Valkyrie's death glare and shrank back. "Never mind."

Rolling his eyes, Leo approached the small computer array. "So, like, what's really the sitch? Cuz why would you complain about pirates if you weren't trying to reach the teams in Herbrides?"

Cid wobbled as his levitation momentarily faltered. "Right. Quite perceptive." The orbeetle pointed at a skorp. One of the larger monitors brought up footage of some kind of heavy machinery embedded in a craggy brown environment.

Leo's eyes widened. That rippling static in the center...

"We got us an anomaly, eh!" the skorp who pulled the footage up exclaimed.

"Where are we looking at?" Valkyrie said. Heavy metal thuds followed from her running up behind Leo.

"Iron Island," Skorp said. "Think it's part of that there Sinnoh region."

Sinnoh. Sinnoh. Why was that name familiar? "Wait." Leo stood up straight. "Isn't that on the same planet we found the last anomaly on? The one with that Indigo Plateau place?"

"It's not just that." Cid motioned at skorp. "Next recording."

What came up was blurry. A rush of purple and navy blue slammed into a large, upright sandaconda that was practically a living brown twister. Sandaconda slammed into a rock wall. Boulders and scraps of machinery crashed down on it from above.

The footage flickered a few times. When it steadied, purple, armored legs and fiery blades vanished into the static. Instead of a sandaconda, there was a tiny orange pixie at the base of the rubble. Leo's starcloud tail curled up. Had he seen those big V-shaped ears before? Why did they make him think of wheels?

"That big ol' sandaconda matches one of Cyril's descripterinos for a Paradigm lieutenant!" Skorp boxed the air in front of him. "But looks like some ceruledge gave her the ol' one-two and made off with her power!"

No, it couldn't be just "some ceruledge." It was a Whisper. It had to be. And if they couldn't reach his mom and her friends...

Leo stepped toward Cid. "Are those empire dweebs at the island already?"

Three of Cid's spots glowed. "I don't think so. Why do you—"

"Don't wait up for me." Leo turned around.

"Whoa, hey!" Noctum reached for the cosmic arceus. "What are you doing?"

"Going there."

"Hang on." The cosmic charizard frowned. "We have to come up with a plan. You can't go rushing in looking like that."

"Then I won't." Leo concentrated on two of the plates nestled deep in his spirit. His body squashed and stretched, molded by the energy he drew out of the plates. Bright light filled his vision.

"A heracross?" Valkyrie gasped. "Since when can the kid transform?!"

Leo's opened his chitinous elytron. Wings buzzing, he hovered into the air. "If we make a plan, the empire's going to storm the island. We don't have time. I'm out."

He wouldn't wait for anyone's protests. Leo slashed the air with his pronged horn. Warm sunlight spilled out from the rift. Leo shot through it, though he didn't immediately close it behind him. Might as well let the others have a shot at it.

The anomaly rift sat a couple of dozen meters away, amidst the wreckage of a bunch of machinery. Black bands and plating from conveyer belts to his left. Broken remains of lifts and platforms to his right. There were even a few hard hats and worker vests poking out from piles of dirt littered around the rift.

Leo beelined for the pulsating static sphere. It grew a bit with every pulsation, chewing away at steel beams, pistons, and other wreckage. He glimpsed the orange pixie from earlier. Those two dragons would totes take care of her. No way they didn't follow him.

The heracross flew into the static without a second thought. It brought him into a tunnel of bright lights and swirling, distorted colors. Leo saw jagged, island-shaped crystals in the distance. Sparkling lines crisscrossed far in the distance, too blurry to get any other features from.

He was in that Ginnungagap place again. Like with the first anomaly they'd flown through. That's fine. All Leo had to do was fly through this tunnel, and he'd reach the dimensional mystery dungeon on the other side. Easy pe—

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Was that... a flailing toxtricity ahead of him?

It was! It was Nikki! And judging by the big, spectral wing reaching out to grab her...

"Mom!" Leo shouted, surging toward her without a second thought.

XxX​

Air hockey truly was a strange game. Yuna was often transfixed on all the tiny holes in the white table shooting constant air streams. Large enough to lift the red plastic puck millimeters off the table, but small enough not to do anything else.

"Ten to nine," Nikki declared. "Game point, baby!"

Igneous was leaning so far forward he was practically climbing onto the table. He struck the puck with his green handle. It banked off the gray wall, but Nikki intercepted with a quick swipe. The puck zigzagged back to Igneous' side. Holding her handle in her mouth, Scarlett slid it forward, but only clipped the side of the puck. Igneous missed his ensuing swipe, but course corrected to pin the puck in the corner.

Every click and clack of the puck satisfied Yuna in a way she couldn't put to words. She'd have to see about coming up with some sort of similar game for the taverns in Aeon when this was all over.

"C'mon, Twiggy." Nikki's mohawk sparked. She ran her handle back and forth rapidly at the center of the table. "No camping on the puck! Only pussies camp!"

Igneous gently tapped the puck, then slammed his handle into it. The puck beelined by Nikki's handle. "Shit!"

"Eep!" Yuna swiped right with both arms. She got the side of the puck. It banked backwards. Her ectoplasm shriveled. She quickly relaxed when the puck struck the corner of the goal and bounced back. Yuna gave it a hearty smack with her handle. It banked off the wall just past midfield.

"Gow eeh!" At its middling speed, Scarlett easily intercepted the puck. Nikki blocked her shot. Scarlett missed the counter, but Igneous swiped his handle all the way to his right, practically knocking the dragonair over in the process.

When the puck clacked off a wall, a distant rumble followed. Scarlett's neck bauble flickered. She looked up, as did Yuna.

"Did you guys hear that?" she said.

A couple of more clacks. Nikki lightly shoved Yuna, who watched the lights rattle in the ceiling.

"Um, guys?" Yuna's tail crinkled. "I think we have a prob—"

"Don't interrupt!" Nikki growled. More clacking followed.

"Yeah!" Igneous said. "This is important!"

The next rumble was louder. The pachirisu twins who were watching the group from the next-door ping pong table exchanged panicked expressions, then leaped off and headed for the exit.

Scarlett spat out her handle. "We have a problem!" She grabbed Igneous with her tail and pulled his head up. "The whole pace is shaking!"

One last clack sounded, followed by a crunchy "What a goal!" from the speakers overhead. Igneous and Scarlett's goal flashed with blue light.

"Winner! Winner!" the same crunchy announcer voice declared. A small spotlight shined on Yuna and Nikki from the box-shaped scoreboard above the table.

"Ha!" Nikki pumped her fist. "Suck it, Twiggy! Loo-hoo-seeeer!" She made an L with her hand and pressed it against her forehead.

"Like hell you won!" The grovlazzle's head leaf caught fire. He stomped over to the toxtricity. "You saw that. Scarlett grabbed me! The goal doesn't count! Redo!"

"Guys, seriously?!" Scarlett cried.

"Aww, boo hoo." Nikki rubbed her cheeks as if she was crying. "Cry me a river. Scarlett was being gentle with y—"

Yuna heard the crash seconds before a part of the ceiling collapsed. She thrust her hands forward. Two gray, shadowy legs shielded her friends from the rubble. Screams erupted all around her as the arcade patrons and staff made a beeline for the exit.

"What the hell?!" Mohawk frazzled, Nikki hopped back onto the ping pong table.

The dust settled and showed a giant metal... claw? It had multiple colorful arcade cabinets ensnared in its grasp. And there was an electabuzz with a magmortar-esque cannon in place of their left arm riding on it.

"We got the cabinets! Hoist me up, mateys!" Electabuzz shouted.

As fast as the claw appeared, it shot up through the hole in the ceiling.

"Wait, mateys?" Igneous sprinted toward the hole. "I don't see anything!" He tapped the side of his head. "Gene, someone just made off with arcade cabinets from the mall! What's going on?"

Yuna heard distant crashes and rumbles that mirrored those that preceded the giant claw. She also flipped on her X-transceiver.

"—need to explain anything to vous, kitty cat! Why wouldn't we take ze advantage for a fresh place to plunder?"

"No way," Yuna whispered. She flipped her X-transceiver off. "It's the pirates! And they're in our X-transceiver line!"

"No fooling?" Nikki leaped off the ping pong table. "Then we've gotta regroup with the others."

"How?" Igneous volcarona wings burst out of his back in swathes of fire. "Gene's not responding. It's like he can't even hear me!"

More crashes sounded in the distance. "Ahh, forget that!" Scarlett's white wings unfurled. She flew toward the hole. "It's not safe inside! Let's go!"

Igneous and Scarlett were first through the broken ceiling. Yuna hovered in place while Nikki ran up the wall and along the ceiling, her feet surrounded by blue electricity. When the toxtricity was through the hole, Yuna darted after her.

The back part of the mall was concrete. Which was a good thing, since most of its glass ceiling wasn't there anymore.

"The hell is this?" Nikki's mohawk undulated wildly. "Giant claws shooting out from nowhere?"

Flashes of gray metal peppered the air in front of them. Assorted large electronic appliances vanishing alongside the metal claws gripping them.

"They're hiding their ships." Igneous looked around. He gripped his red honedge in his hands. "That has to be it."

"With what? A freaking zoroark armada?" Nikki strummed her gills. "I say we shoot straight over where the roof was and see what happens."

Igneous held the honedge up. "Or we have Starlene sense them." He glanced at the dragonair.

"R-Right!" Scarlett's neck bauble glowed pink. Starlene appeared. Her electronic wings glowed in time with Scarlett's bauble.

"Uhh..." The latias frowned. "I'm not getting anything." She wrinkled her snout. "No way they can block psychics. These are pirates, not the empire!"

Swirling blue ice emerged right in front of them. "Move!" Yuna yelped. The quartet all broke off in different directions. When the Blizzard buffeted the stone part of the roof, everything slowed to a crawl around Yuna. It was like someone painted the whole world around her in a purple crystal glaze. And an unseen clock loudly ticked in her head.

She'd seen this before. When she dodged Leo's attacks while training with him. Why could she move normally? Is this... from Yaldabaoth?

Yuna couldn't call out to her friends. They were barely moving. But what she could do was fly away from the Blizzard. After a couple of seconds, the crystal tinge vanished. Everything moved normally again.

"H-Hey! Princess, what are you doing?!"

The dragapult turned. Scarlett struggled to juggle her own flight with Starlene levitating Nikki. She glanced up and saw another Blizzard forming from nothing.

"Malpirg!" Yuna shouted. Shadows twisted in her hands, and then Reshiram appeared in gouts of blue fire. He gathered a giant orange fireball and spat it into the Blizzard, blowing it apart in a torrent of steam.

"Watch over them!" Yuna ordered, then returned to focusing on the destroyed roof.

Blue flickered in the corner of her vision. Yuna rolled away from an Ice Beam in the nick of time. Like before, everything took on a crystal tinge and slowed to a crawl. Yuna seized her opportunity, flying toward the shattered glass roof. She glanced at the mall. Her shadows tugged on her long tail.

"Yes, I see it." Yuna gulped as the time crystal thingy stopped. She'd have to come up with a better name later. Because there was an anomaly in the mall! The pirates couldn't have made it... could they?

No, she didn't have time to consider the why. Yuna tapped the right side of her head.

"— a fool's errand to interfere. Zese snobby so-and-sos could use ze excitement!"

Yuna's tail lashed the air. The line was still down. How was she supposed to get a hold of Leo like this?!

"Ice Beam from above!"

Igneous' shout alerted Yuna. She rolled right. The crystal time stasis took over again. Curiously, Yuna noted Reshiram moving at full speed. "Fire! There!" The dragapult pointed toward the empty space where the Ice Beam formed.

Reshiram immediately spewed a Blue Flare. When the time stasis faded, a blue barrier flickered in and out of existence. The flames barely poked through it. Startled shouts came from the other side.

"It's their ship!" Reshiram said, tail turbine crackling. "Or, uh, a ship. I dunno. This is conf— eep!" He frantically darted left and right as Ice Beams and a massive Blizzard rained down from above.

"Help! I'm allergic to grog-scented ice!"

Yuna reached her right arm out. Reshiram returned in a stream of light. "Nikki!" she shouted.

"A bit busy!" The toxtricity batted Ice Shards away with her lightning guitar before they could strike Scarlett. Yuna shot toward her.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki gasped when Yuna wrapped her up in her large tail. "What's the big idea? At least buy me dinner first!"

"Cut the jokes! Anomaly in the mall," Yuna said. She took off away from a flummoxing Scarlett. "I can't reach Leo."

"Then rift us back to the outpost!" Nikki squirmed in Yuna's grasp. The dragapult wasn't bothered, speeding past Ice Beams before they could even prove a problem. She flew through the empty space between the hallways on the third and second floors.

"It's growing... and fast!" Yuna realized. "We have to see what we're dealing with."

"What about Twiggy and Scarlett?" Nikki tried to look up.

Yuna paused and looked back. Flames swept overhead, striking against the same blue barrier as Reshiram's attack earlier.

"Someone has to try and help people out here," Yuna mumbled. "We're already disjointed."

Nikki didn't offer a counterargument, so Yuna took that as her cue to fly into the static. Bright, multicolored lights flooded her vision. Her ectoplasm was tugged in six different directions. Grunting, Yuna lost her grip on Nikki. Arms flailing, the toxtricity fell through the open air.

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Instinct took hold. Yuna stretched her right arm out. A spectral wing appeared to catch Nikki. It wrapped protectively around her like some grotesque, oversized scarf.

"Mom!"

The dragapult's head whipped around. A heracross sped toward her. But that voice...

"Leo?!" Yuna rubbed her eyes. A familiar cosmic arceus replaced the heracross. "What are you doing here? Did you come through Tulpise?"

"No!" Leo galloped toward her, despite the lack of ground. In a flash of blue and white light, he shifted to a large altaria and snagged Nikki out of the spectral wing.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki almost fell off his back in surprise. "The kid's carrying me now?!"

Yuna flew after him. Unexpected arrival or not, she still had to find the mystery dungeon on the other side. And this bright, flashing tunnel had to be pointing them in the right direction. "How did you get here then, Leo?"

"Anomaly showed up in Eternatus' Earth!" Leo said. "And it spat me out here."

This was bad. If it sent him into the same Ginnungagap tunnel as the Tulpise anomaly, then they were connected! "Was yours growing quickly, too?"

"Yeah!" Leo flapped his wings, moving right. "Head's up! There's big— agh!"

The altaria banked left. Yuna followed his flight path. The bright lights made it hard to discern what he was dodging until she got close and saw big blue circles for herself.

"Right! No, left!" Nikki yelped. "Wait— gaaah!"

There was a loud pop followed by an explosion... of blue juice?

Yuna slowed up. The juice splattered against the light of the tunnel and dissolved into blue smoke. The dragapult sped forward. Her facial ectoplasm rippled.

"Blueberries?" Yuna cringed. More giant blueberries floated haphazardly inside of the tunnel. Leo, covered in blueberry juice, struggled to maneuver around them. "Watch out!" She surged forward. "Rayquaza, go!"

An emerald arrow torpedoed through the tunnel, passing Leo by and ramming through blueberry clusters. Rayquaza stopped his Dragon Ascent charge and looked back at the blue mist. "Tis not the manner of treachery I expected when I awoke this morning, Princess! Why art these oversized fruits attacking us?"

"I dunno!" Yuna pressed onward. With a bit of concentration, dragon energy sparked in her horns. To her delight, dreepy-shaped blue blasts shot out of her horns, popping a couple of blueberries and letting the juice-stained Leo and Nikki fly past.

"It's gotta be cuz of the mystery dungeon." Leo flapped his damp wings, flicking blueberry juice all along the tunnel.

"Ugh, seriously?!" Nikki was still desperately trying to wring juice out of her jacket. "The hell's on the other side, Dieticianopolis? I get my antioxidants already, damn it!"

"We shall find out soon enough!" Rayquaza declared. After a brief recharge, he Dragon Ascented ahead. Blueberry juice filled the air, then evaporated against the harsh light of the Ginnungagap tunnel. "I see a distorted rift up ahead! Tis the dungeon for sure! Tally ho!"

The path ahead was clear of any giant blueberries. Which was enough for Yuna to recall Rayquaza in streams of black and emerald light. Leo flew toward the dungeon. Yuna was ready to head after him when a ripple in the bright tunnel wall caught her attention.

"Hmm?" The dragapult looked to the tunnel wall on her right. Everything outside remained a swirl of blues, purples, and smudgy gray shapes in the distance. But there was one blur darting quickly around the tunnel wall.

A purple, white, and black blur.

"No, no, no! C'mon, shrink! Shrink!"

That voice... it's Vince!

Even though the rift was still a few hundred meters away, the tunnel was pulling her toward it. Yuna fought against it, her tail undulating rapidly as if she were a fish swimming upstream. It had to be the real Vince out there. Not just one of his projections. And that meant real answers! If she could just reach him...

God, this tug was strong. Yuna was getting tired. The lights were getting brighter. "C'mon, I just—"

"Stupid anomaly! Cut it out!"

No, she couldn't let this chance slip through her fingers! Focus!

Roaring, the dragapult's arms stretched out into Giratina's large, black wings. She slammed the red spikes into the tunnel wall. Light filaments exploded all around her. A burning pain shot through her wings.

"Rrrrgggh... you won't... get away!"

Keeping her left wing buried in the light wall to stop her descent, Yuna forced her right wing deeper into it. The pain was awful. But she had to endure. Fight it for that chance at grabbing the Overseer.

Bit by bit, the wall parted, until Yuna's wing finally burst through. Rough scales grazed the black ectoplasm. Gotcha!

A surprisingly high-pitched scream rang out as Yuna coiled her wing around the rough scales and yanked the wing back through the wall and into the tunnel.

And there was the purple and white koraidon, eyes wide with terror. His legs kicked at the air.

"No, wait, stop! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting us... some backup!" With one last snarl, Yuna ripped herself off the light wall and hurled Vince through the remaining Ginnungagap tunnel beneath her as hard as she could. He tumbled away from her, screaming pleas for Yuna to send him back. Instead, the dragapult watched the fuzzy rift a hundred meters below her swallow Vince up.

She fell through the rift not long after. Sky blue light spilled over her. It faded quickly to a bright blue sky and yellow sun reflecting off a giant white and blue dome.

Yuna threw her arms over her face. Talk about one heck of a glare! "Guys?" she called out, still blinking rapidly to adjust to the light.

"Down here, Princess!"

After several more seconds, Yuna spotted Nikki waving to him atop the white dome. She stood under an impromptu shower supplied by a pelipper. Leo, judging by the golden glint in his eyes. Vince was next to them... however, he was now on all-fours for some reason. His dewlap had deflated, his feathery crest looked far less impressive, and his tail was curled up to resemble a wheel. He refused to meet anyone's gaze.

Yuna quickly confirmed there was a fuzzy rift above her, though it blended in quite well with the bright sunshine. Then she flew down to join her teammates. "Good to see you're both okay."

"And juice free," Leo said. He stopped spitting up water. Nikki stepped away to take off her leather jacket and wring it out over the dome. "That was hella disgusting. Remind me to stay away from berries for a while."

"Uh... sure." Yuna rubbed the back of her neck. Oversized fruit was weird, but far from the worst thing they had to contend with.

"So, uh, what's with the plus one?" Leo pointed a wing at Vince. "That's Vince, right? Why does he look like he'd be featured in an ad for low testosterone?"

Yuna did not want to acknowledge that comparison. She knew Leo was watching EV programs during their down time. But what channels?

"This is a nightmare," Vince mumbled. "I'm hallucinating." The purple and white koraidon squeezed his eyes shut. "I just gotta wake up. Wake up and— eyowch!"

Nikki had whipped his right flank with her soggy jacket. Vince stumbled forward. His feathery horns curled up.

"Yup, not dreaming." The toxtricity resumed wringing water from her jacket. "How'd you find him?"

"He was outside the tunnel in Ginnungagap," Yuna explained. "Figured this was a good chance to finally be face to face with someone who knows what's going on."

Vince shrank back. He shook his head rapidly. "You idiots! Do you have any idea how bad this is?!"

"Tch. Yeah." Nikki waved her right arm dismissively. She put her right index finger against her head. "We've already had it drilled into our skulls a dozen times. 'Dimensional cataclysm.' 'The end of life as we know it.' Blah, blah, blah. Frankly, it's about time at least one of your weirdo secret society decided to pull their weight around here."

"You don't get it!" Vince's dewlap puffed out. He stepped toward Nikki. "I was keeping the anomaly in check! Because this one was growing out of control! And there's a real chance it does some serious damage and ruins me helping you guys behind the scenes!"

He looked toward the rift. "I have to go back. I—"

"No." Yuna hovered higher in the air. "If this anomaly's really growing that fast, then we need you here."

Vince shrank back again. "It won't work." His horns curled up further. "You dragged me in here. I don't have most of my powers. I'm—" He looked down at his webbed feet. "I'm just a koraidon here."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Are you an Overseer or aren't you?"

"There's a protocol!" Vince said. "Higher-ranking Overseers can keep some of their powers when they enter worlds on their own. But most of the time, if we want to be at our best, we have to coordinate with the gods to gain access."

He walked away from them, looking out at the sprawling blue surrounding the dome. "But that didn't happen. And I'm a very junior overseer."

"What about Leo?" Yuna gestured to the pelipper. "He can still change his form and everything."

"Because some of his power is in this realm by accident," Vince exclaimed.

Right, his plates. Yuna looked out over the water. This dome was practically in the middle of the ocean. Where were they?

Having put her jacket back on, Nikki crossed her arms. "So, you're saying you're useless, then?" She rolled her eyes. "Puh-leeze. If I can find ways to make a difference, then you can."

Yuna was tempted to say something to Nikki, but her ectoplasm rippled. Her tail tugged on her lower half. The dragapult spun around. Leo was already looking in that direction, flapping his wings slowly.

"It's... some sort of small battlefield?" Yuna floated over to Leo. It wasn't a large arena, but it was just as white and sparkling as the dome. There were some humans scattered around. One standing at the edge of the battlefield had hair that practically looked like an onion.

Her ectoplasm rippled again.

"It's them," Leo said.

"Huh?" Yuna followed the pelipper's gaze until she found a ceruledge standing on the opposite side of the battlefield. Sunlight glinted off the two crystals jutting out of his head. One resembled a ghostly blob and the other was just a jagged black box with a smirking face.

"That's the Whisper." Leo pointed a wing at Ceruledge. "I saw them go through the rift in Eternatus after defeating a Paradigm member."

A Whisper with two of Leo's plates in its possession. And one that had defeated a Paradigm member, to boot?

As Ceruledge raised his blades and let out a triumphant laugh, Yuna looked back at Vince and Nikki. They stared at her with perplexed expressions.

What do I do? We're not prepared for this!

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 92: Now You Don't​

OS Incident Report #9467
SUBJECT: Necrozma Shane
LOCATION: Mossui Town, Kitakami (Dimension POV-4940)
VIOLATIONS: Unauthorized use of loaned divine power, unauthorized interference with mortal affairs
DESCRIPTION: The subject is found to have intervened with a human child's attempt at earning the partnership of an ogerpon. According to the local zygarde, observations via cell reveal the subject jumped in to stop the boy from catching Ogerpon. Subject claims that the boy didn't consider Ogerpon's feelings and was going to catch her without her approval. When the boy sent his own pokémon out to battle the subject and became increasingly agitated, the subject utilized Photon Geysers to knock out his pokémon, then fled with Ogerpon. The cell reports the boy returning home distraught. He was muttering comments about getting strong enough to capture both the subject and Ogerpon.

As a preliminary measure, the subject is now on probation. He is henceforth banned from POV-4940. We will assign a new Overseer to observe that Earth. Further disciplinary action is pending based on follow up reports from the local zygarde.

XxX​

Despite the initial volley and a few potshots from the kilowattrel and pidgeot circling high above them, the real problem was that the pirates on the ground weren't even trying to go for Seifer or the others. Instead, they'd booked it in the direction of assorted houses, blowing the walls and dome-shaped roofs open with clusters of blast seeds wrapped in strange wiring.

Seifer tried to shoot a girafarig with a metallic tail while it ran out of a house levitating a dishwasher. But they easily dodged his Aura Sphere and retaliated with a Psybeam. While Seifer dodged the pink laser, a chain wrapped Girafarig up and hoisted them into the air along with the dishwasher.

... To say nothing of the other commotion in the area.

"Completely and utterly disgraceful!" Tobias snarled from across the road. The cobalion swung his Sacred Sword at a wartortle, who tumbled back into a cloud of ectoplasm from Cyril's mane. With a holler, the wartortle vanished in a blue flash.

"The hell?" Cyril hopped back, then rolled away to dodge a Thunderbolt from above. "It's like the emperor's troops. They have some sort of failsafe teleporter?"

"Quiet, you mangy peasant!" Tobias snarled, deftly sidestepping a Thunderbolt and Air Slash crescents coming from above. He glared at Seifer, which the keldeo quickly looked away from.

"First you sully our family name by failing to uphold your sworn oaths and getting canned!" Tobias continued. Seifer's face scrunched up. He met an incoming Hydro Pump from behind several bushes with an Aura Sphere. Then he galloped forward and coated the bushes in frosty air. The damp foliage froze instantly from the Icy Wind, and the floatzel responsible for the Hydro Pumps slipped and fell on his rear.

"Then you run away from the kingdom like a dirty coward!"

Seifer leveled his prosthetic horn at Floatzel. "W-Wait, matey! At least let me hear the rest." He held up his paws. "It be getting to the good part!"

A point-blank Aura Sphere sent Floatzel tumbling back into thorny rose bushes. His hollers stopped when he vanished in a flash of blue light.

"Above you!"

The keldeo slid along the icy ground at Artemis' call. He spun around and shot Hydro Pumps skyward with his forehooves. But the kilowattrel that tried to zap him flew way too high for them to reach.

"And now you show up out of the blue with this tacky-furred loser calling himself your boyfriend?" Tobias hadn't left his spot half a block over, slicing through a Dark Pulse from an unseen foe with his Sacred Sword. Grayson covered him, summoning rocky spires that sent wartortle and sneasel with flaming head feathers running scared. "That better have been a joke, rapscallion!"

"Okay, seriously?" Cyril ducked a swipe of a fire-feathered sneasel's flaming claws. "You don't gotta flex your thesaurus on me, jackass!"

"Stuff it, Father," Seifer growled. He stayed on the move, skidding across the ice he made while looking for nearby pirates to attack. A blast from behind made him spin around. Two espurr with metallic ears appeared from a hole in the roof, levitating a PV set.

"Drop it!" The keldeo raised his forehooves and shot dual Hydro Pumps. One espurr panicked and stepped in front to erect a barrier. The other couldn't keep the PV set up and it plummeted through the hole in the roof. Seifer shot again as the crashing of glass and metal rang out from the house.

"Fall back!" the barrier-wielding espurr squeaked. Both disappeared in blue flashes. Seifer's brow furrowed. Maybe Cyril was right, and they did have teleporters at their disposal. But where were they taking the pirates to?

"Rrrghgh... out of my sight!"

Heavy metallic hooves slammed against the ground following Tobias' cry. Seifer turned and, whinnying in fright, hit the deck. A hollering fire-feathered sneasel careened past Seifer. They hit a swing set, which spun them rapidly around the wooden crossbar, then flung them skyward where they crashed into a kilowattrel taking aim at Seifer. Both vanished in flashes of white and blue.

Tobias stopped at Seifer's side. "We are not dropping this." The cobalion's venomous tone made Seifer's neck fur stand on end.

But he spotted Air Slash crescents peppering Artemis and Cyril. "We are!" Seifer shot past Tobias with Hydro Pump jets. "Get away from them!" He slung an Aura Sphere skyward. The pidgeot above his teammates couldn't dodge in time, instead vanishing like the others.

Seifer skidded to a halt on the street. "You okay?"

"I've had worse." Cyril shook himself out. "And I'm hearing worse."

"Hmph! A filthy liar and an incompetent fighter!" Behind the trio, Grayson shielded himself from Dark Pulses with Stone Edge spires. "Why am I not surprised? And after blowing off all your father's arrangements!" The terrakion struck the rocks, knocking them toward some panicking sneasel.

"Are you serious right now?!" Seifer's prosthetic horn sparked. "We should be focusing on repelling these pirates!"

"Maybe we ought to shift focus to getting people to safety, instead?" Artemis proposed. The milotic barely managed to slither away from a Thunderbolt. He fired a retaliatory Ice Beam. A loud squawk told him he hit his mark. "There are screams and explosions in the distance!"

A house several meters ahead had its door blown off its hinges. Two wartortle ran out with an air fryer and multiple blenders. Metal wires grabbed them and hoisted them into the sky before anyone could get an attack off.

"You're right." Seifer kept his gaze skyward in case anyone tried to strike from above. "It's a lost cause staying here."

"What a farce!" Tobias bucked a croconaw with his Sacred Sword. "Is abandoning your duty all you can think about now?"

Rolling his eyes, Seifer gestured down the street with his forehoof. "Let's move. I hear voices coming from that direction."

Before the keldeo could break into a trot, however, Grayson cut him off. "Where do you think you're going?" The terrakion narrowed his eyes. "You've got some nerve defying your father like that. And after everything he did for you before you threw your life away."

Seifer hadn't felt this small since Isola had sacked him. He wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of dodge. Seifer shot Cyril a pleading look.

"Oh-ho-kay. No. I've had enough of this shit."

His tail scrunched up. "Cyril..."

"Don't, Seif." The cosmic zoroark stepped to Seifer's side, his gaze still trained on Tobias. "I don't care what you think of me or how much you prattle on about honor and duty." He put his hands on his hips. "Because even though we've only been around each other about three months, I bet I know Seifer better than you do. And you freaking raised him!"

Conflicted over whether to interject, Seifer opened his closed his mouth repeatedly. The few remaining pirates in the area had stopped what they were doing. Even the lone kilowattrel left in the air idly flapped their wings, not sniping at anyone from above.

"How dare you." The cobalion stomped a forehoof on the pavement. "I'm not about to let some street trash zoroark lecture me about my son!"

"It ain't a lecture, it's the truth!" Cyril leaned forward, starcloud mane rippling. "This whole time, Seif's been helping us fight against Eternatus. He hasn't abandoned anything! You're the ones who've been sitting on your asses until now." The cosmic zoroark shook his head. "You don't give a damn about Seif. You just want him to be your vision of perfect."

Seifer looked down at the pavement. His stomach twisted into a knot. All the earlier jabs and nasty comments he'd made toward Yuna and Noctum ran through his head. He recalled dinnertime conversations about "Aeon scum" and "hick dragons." Silhouettes of assorted Radiant Guardsmon making similar comments flickered around him. Comments he always ignored... because they'd always surrounded him.

His ears swiveled left toward some crunching. Seifer spotted a crocalor tossing handfuls of potato chips into his large mouth. His prosthetic horn flickered.

"What?" Crocalor shrugged innocently. "This be better than me soaps!"

A Shadow Ball whizzed past Seifer, rippling his tail and mane. It hit Crocalor and the chip bag. Crocalor disappeared in a flash of blue light while the bag's contents spilled out across the grass and scorched rose bushes.

"Maybe things won't work out between us," Cyril continued, walking in a circle along the pavement. He raised his hands up. "Or maybe there are wedding bells in the future."

Though Seifer again opened his mouth, words failed him. Cyril... really felt that strongly about him?

"Doesn't change the fact that I love Seifer." Cyril gestured at the keldeo. "And no amount of your petty name-calling will change that."

And to punctuate it, the cosmic zoroark spat a wad of saliva at Tobias' face.

The cobalion's eyes twitched as the spit trickled onto his red and pink Radiant Guard uniform. Tobias turned to Grayson. "You saw that, right?"

"Indeed." The terrakion nodded. "He's threatening us."

Cyril relaxed his aggressive stance. "Excuse me?"

"Exactly." Tobias' Sacred Sword materialized. "So, I've got full reason to do this!"

"Father, stop!" Seifer finally found his voice seconds before Tobias lunged for Cyril, aiming to ram him through with his Sacred Sword. The glowing horn dissipated, however, the moment it touched Cyril's cosmic chest fluff.

"What in blazes?!" Tobias stumbled and fell onto the pavement.

"Never seen a ghost-type zoroark, have ya?" Cyril rubbed his nose with a yellow claw. He turned away from Tobias. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say the last time you showed your wife any affection was when you guys made Seifer. Cuz this right here?" He gestured to Tobias and Grayson. "Absolute maidenless behavior."

"You cur!" Tobias got to his feet. "Grayson, help me o—"

"ENOUGH!"

Dual Hydro Pumps struck both Seifer's father and uncle, drenching them and their uniforms. Seifer dropped back to all fours, shaking his head. "This... this childish idiocy has run its course!" He stomped over to Cyril. "You want to know why I didn't go home after getting fired? This right here! I wasn't about to let myself be humiliated!"

Cyril smiled at Seifer, but the keldeo turned his glare on him. "Don't act like you're innocent in all of this! You riled them up! We could've already been helping other people by now!" Seifer paused. All the screams and cries from earlier had stopped. The few pirates still in the area were quiet, undoubtedly watching this for their own amusement.

He brushed his flank against Cyril's side. "I'm... glad you stood up for me. But there's a time and place for this." Seifer turned away from everyone. "We have work to do. So, forget about them."

"Forget about us?!" Grayson's hooves thumped against the pavement.

Seifer started forward. Thankfully, Cyril and Artemis got the message and followed him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tobias roared. "I am your father, Seifer! You get back here right this second!"

The keldeo responded by veering slightly until he was right beside Cyril. His tail swished against the cosmic zoroark's leg.

"You're dead to us, you ungrateful runt!" Tobias shouted. His voice grew more distant. So, they really weren't coming along. "Do you hear me? You'll never set foot in our estate again after this stunt!"

"Good," Seifer said, too quiet for his father to hear. "Because I never want to go back as long as you're around."

He pressed onward, trying to shift his attention away from his family and toward protecting the city.

XxX​

"You call those your strongest warriors?! Pathetic!"

Ceruledge slashed at the air in front of him. It rippled with distortion. The people standing across from him took cautious steps back, save for Onion Hair who remained on his hands and knees, staring at the ground.

"I want a real fight!" Ceruledge paced back and forth. "A true warrior who can provide a duel worthy of the mighty Gilgamesh, who is me!"

The crystals atop his head crackled with energy. "I can scarcely believe it. An entire world where the creatures are the weapons themselves! And you're telling me they're frail? Flimsy?! Feeble?! Other insults beginning with F?!" Gilgamesh repeatedly swiped at the air with every cry.

"Tis a tragedy of the highest caliber! How could there be nothing here worthy of my collection?"

Yuna tensed at a hand on her shoulder. Nikki leaned over beside the dragapult's head. "Talk about a full course of ham," she said. "So, time to crash this sorry-looking party?"

Before she had the chance to respond, an unseen force grabbed both Yuna and Nikki from behind and dragged them across the gray, metallic roof. "What the hell?!" The toxtricity flailed about. "Oi, Lizard Breath, let go!"

One final thrust brought Yuna to the ground with a grunt. She quickly pushed herself up to find Vince looking to his left. "Don't look at me! It's this guy's fault!"

Yuna's core flickered. "Gene?!" Had the shadowy mewtwo ended up following them after all? But wouldn't Vince know Gene right off the bat?

... No, something was wrong. Gene's Malice Crystal was in his right shoulder, not his left.

"Dumb-dumbs not from here. Grishi sense it." The unfamiliar mewtwo's eyes flickered pink. "Dumb-dumbs with Ceru down there?" Dark energy swirled around his hand. "Grishi will blow to smithereens. Then blow smithereens to super smithereens."

Okay, this definitely wasn't Gene. "No, we're not with, uh, Ceru?"

"I think he means the Whisper," Leo said. Still in his pelipper guise, he flew in place a fair distance away. But he honked in surprise when Grishi blipped over to him.

Yuna was so used to Gene's Phantom Warping, it took her a moment to realize Grishi teleported. "Look, we don't have time for this," the dragapult said. "We're here to stop Ceruledge. Because he's putting our world in danger. So, leave us alone. This doesn't concern you."

Grishi crossed his arms. "Pultpult waltzes into Grishi's home and thinks can tell Grishi what to do?" He shook his head. "Bad comedian. Nothing for Grishi to laugh at."

"I'm not—" Yuna cut herself with a groan as she squeezed her temples with her hands. She was at a loss what to do about this... bizarre mewtwo. And the others seemed just as confused. Leo continued to drift further away from Grishi.

"Hrrrm." Grishi landed on the metallic roof, crossing his arms. "This all it takes to put Pultpult and friends at loss for words." He shook his head. "Sad sight. Dumb-dumbs indeed."

That last jab was enough to get Nikki back to her feet. "Oi!" The toxtricity's mohawk flared. "If you wanna help, then say it. If not, then stay outta our way." She stared Grishi down. The shadowy mewtwo's look remained one of indifference.

... Until he held his hands up. And a ripple of blue light turned Grishi... considerably fluffier than before.

"Fine. Grishi play along."

"Huh? A zoroark?" Vince's dewlap puffed out. Then the purple and white koraidon tilted his head. "Wait, no... zoroark mane. And chest fur. But still mewtwo?" His feathery horns drooped. "I'm so confused here."

(Art by Leche)

"Then Seerseer butt out." Grishi flicked his fuzzy tail dismissively. "Clearly biggest dumb-dumb here."

Yuna's core flashed. Was Grishi implying he knew Vince was an Overseer?

"What's your deal, then?" Nikki eyed the... zoroark-mewtwo mishmash. Zorotwo. "You clearly know more than you let on."

"And dumb-dumbs don't?" Orange claws appeared from Grishi's fuzzy fingers. "Land Grishi's home, not building. Blueberry Academy in Unova region." Grishi knelt down and tapped the metal with his claws. "Stupid humans build fancy pants school in middle of ocean, off coast of Castelia City."

"This thing's a school?" Nikki walked carefully across the roof. "It's not even that big."

"School very big." Grishi stood up, a serious look in his eyes. "Mostly underwater."

"Underwater?" Yuna swallowed hard. Memories of her unpleasant dip into Wyndon River flooded back. The harsh currents and frigid water sent chills through her ectoplasm.

"Talking waste time." Grishi floated into the air. The zorotwo's eyes glowed bright blue and his claws retracted into his fingers. "Grishi show instead."

Nikki's mohawk grew. "Wait, what are you—"

An intense psychic force took hold of Yuna before Nikki could finish her statement. Everything was a swirl of bright colors. Up was down. Left was right. God, why was everything spinning? Good thing dragapult didn't have stomachs.

It all came to an abrupt stop when Yuna fell onto crisp green grass. "Oww..." She rubbed her triangular head, then slowly sat up. "Did you just teleport us?"

"Grishi did. Slower with group, but still saves time."

The zorotwo was somewhere behind Yuna. However, any desire to give him the stink eye faded when she saw the sprawling grasslands stretched out in front of her. Small trees and bushes were haphazardly interspersed between misshapen, round and jagged rocks. It was also... disturbingly flat. Unnaturally flat, in fact.

Hoofbeats accompanied swishing grass to Yuna's right. Deerling scampered away, with a trio of sawsbuck eyeing the group suspiciously. When their gazes fell on Grishi, however, their expressions softened. With respectful nods, they turned to trot after the deerling.

"The hell is this?!" Nikki's cry snapped Yuna to attention. The toxtricity stood on a nearby flat rock, cupping her hands around her eyes. "Are those... canyons over there? And there's freaking miniature snowy mountains next to them!"

"Indeed. Is Blueberry Terarium." Grishi blipped in front of them. Curiously, he was disguised as a reuniclus. "Biggest part of school. With giant dome to protect people from crushing pressure of ocean depths."

Yuna tensed. They really were underwater, then. And quite deep, judging by how Grishi described it.

"A dome?" Leo, still in pelipper form, flew around. "It looks like the same bright, sunny sky from earlier."

Grishi wagged a gelatinous finger. "That humans' trick. Panels simulating daytime and nighttime for pokémon living here." He turned pointed skyward. "Core unmasks trick. Powers Terarium. But now is powering big problem."

The quartet followed Grishi's gaze high into the sky. Yuna feared she'd look right into sunlight — artificial or not — but instead there was... something spherical dangling from a ceiling that wasn't really there. A ball of static pulsated like a heart. Every ripple swallowed motes of gold and silver light trying to escape.

"Grishi not know how humans set up auxiliary power," he continued. "Do know that static ick growing. Grishi was watching it until sensing your arrival."

"The dungeon core!" Leo landed. In a flash of blue, he went from pelipper to scyther. "We gotta scope out that Gilgamesh guy so I can seal this."

"Oh?" Grishi turned. The fake reuniclus looked Leo over. "Form shifted. Aura's scythery. Mew?" He waved his gelatinous arms. "Grishi gave info. Now time for outsiders to do same, like promised."

Everyone's gazes fell on Yuna. She looked back at Vince. He was the Overseer. If anyone should do the explaining, it was him. But the purple and white koraidon stayed silent and Grishi's scrutinizing gaze fixed on her.

Seriously? Yuna wasn't going to let this slide. "Ask him." She pointed a claw at Vince. "He's the one who knows the most about all of this dimensional instability stuff."

To her surprise, Grishi shook his head. "Grishi said it before: Seerseer biggest dumb-dumb. Grishi won't listen to Seerseer."

Yuna flinched. Maybe Leo could— nope, he'd turned away and was slicing and jabbing at the air, as if training to fight.

"I wonder if this Grishi guy's worked with Overseers before," Reshiram said. In Yuna's mind, he tapped his chin with a wing claw. "Would certainly explain why he seems to know about them."

"Sounds like they harshed his mellow in the past," Shaymin added, perched atop Reshiram's head. "Think this is one of those times you gotta be the bigger 'mon and go with the flow here."

But Yuna was tired of being the bigger 'mon. Sighing, the dragapult straightened herself up. "We're from another dimension. Our world's... unstable. And it's causing some sort of... breakdown in space-time."

She gestured to Leo, who had moved on to slicing the grass. Trimmed grass clippings fell by the scyther's feet. "Leo is... the arceus of our world. But the plates he needs to stabilize everything have been scattered to different worlds. Like this one."

The small head inside Grishi's gelatinous body bowed in thought.

Leo finally stopped trimming the grass. "And there's this whack ass dude called Zodiark who's also after the plates. And making these anomalies. Maybe." He shrugged. "Not sure, tbh. But he keeps conjuring these nasty pokémon — we call 'em Whispers — to get in the way."

Yuna nodded her approval. Then a yawn in the back of her head made her tail jiggle. Can I help you?

"Was just thinking," Cresselia mumbled. "Aaaaaaawmbout this Whisper. Gilgaaaawmesh talked all normal and stuff."

"Verily! Like Chernabog," Rayquaza added. "T'was a Paradigm member, yes? I believe Gilgamesh might be, too."

But Leo mentioned seeing Gilgamesh take a Paradigm member's power and run off into the anomaly, Yuna pointed out. The scyther was saying something else while pacing in front of Grishi, blades at the ready. Wouldn't that make him a Whisper first?

"Does it even matter?" Shaymin wondered. "He's bad, so we gotta take him out. Them's the breaks."

A simple conclusion, but what Yuna ultimately agreed with. She tuned the Sages out to focus on the others again.

"... Will allow you to dive into static ick and make it go away?" Grishi said. Leo stopped pacing and nodded.

"It's the core of this mystery dungeon. Once I seal it, everything's dope," Leo declared.

"But we haven't faced one Whisper with multiple plates," Vince said, pawing at the grass with a foreleg.

"What's this 'we' business?!" Nikki stomped toward the purple and white koraidon, cracking her neck. "We've done all the heavy lifting while you've sat on your scaly ass and left vague hints about Red Chains and Overseers blowing up our home if we don't do good enough!" She jabbed an accusatory finger into his left flank.

"I, well—" Vince shrank onto his belly. Then Grishi appeared between Vince and Nikki, holding up his hands.

"Blame game not helpful," the fake reuniclus declared. "Anger go to Whisper. Think he retreated down here in time we've been talking." He turned away from them both. Grass tickled his gelatinous body as he bobbed through the air. "Very strange that plate corruption resembles Terastalization."

Terawhatnow? Yuna tilted her head. "I'm not sure I follow."

Grishi stopped. "Hmm? Terastalization not exist in Pultpult's world?" He looked to Leo for confirmation.

"I've never heard of anyone sprouting crystals from their head." Nikki shrugged.

"Our records didn't indicate anything of the sort," Vince added, only to flinch when Grishi looked ready to shush him.

"Is strange process where magic crystal energy changes pokémon's typing," Grishi explained. "Core uses this energy to power Terarium. Grishi senses it." He shook his head. "But only can change to one type. Not two. Whisper very strange."

"This core itself is strange," Yuna said. She floated over to Grishi's side. "The mystery dungeon portal is growing quicker than any other back in our world."

"And it's in multiple places," Leo reminded her. He traced a circle in the air with each scythe.

Grishi hummed in thought. "Perhaps core growing around big source of Tera energy what making it so unstable." He drifted forward. "Then time of essence. Come! We go find Whisper."

Sparks of blue and black energy erupted in the distance. "Think we know where it is." Nikki hiked up her jacket. "We teleporting over there or not? Could give us the jump on him."

"W-Wait!" Vince stepped away cautiously. "Maybe we should strike from a safe distance instead? It's not like Gilgamesh is psychic."

"Seriously?" Nikki's mohawk frazzled as she whirled on the koraidon. "The hell's your problem? I thought you Overseers were supposed to be uber strong and shit!"

"I'm still new to this," Vince whimpered. His feathery horns curled up. "That strength comes from ages of training... which I haven't exactly gotten."

"So, what, you're just a wimp, then?"

"I literally can't battle in this form!" Vince said, shifting uneasily. "Us koraidon need to be in our battle forms."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "What about standing on two legs gets you fighting fit? Is your species a giant dick joke or something?"

"Nikki..." Yuna reached toward the toxtricity. Nikki held her hands up.

"All right, all right. I'll lay off." She started forward, hands still raised. "If he's that insistent he can't do diddly squat, then let him stay here. The kid'll have to remember to warp him back with us." She cracked her knuckles. "Then we can actually drill him for information."

"Please don't," Vince whispered.

Yuna could only shrug at Vince. Nikki was being a bit too harsh, sure, but Vince wasn't exactly the most helpful. And they were on a time crunch. "Let's get going. I think we should keep our distance and see what we're up against."

"Then Grishi warp group part of way." The reuniclus held his hand up, pausing to glance at Vince. "Except Seerseer."

Yuna braced herself for the world to spin once again. What she wasn't counting on, however, was Leo suddenly buzzing off to the left. She tried to call out to him, but Grishi activated the teleport. After a few dizzying seconds, she found herself up against a rock face. Grishi had put them in a patch of dirt surrounded by large rocks.

"Leo? Leo, where'd you go?" The dragapult looked around. He hadn't flown far, so surely the teleport must've—

"Leo run out of Grishi's range." He floated up toward the top of one of the rocks and stopped. "What Leo thinking? If Leo saw something, should've told others."

"What do we do, then?" Nikki looked around for anything she could use a footstool to get closer to where Grishi was floating. "Go back for him, right?"

However, Yuna's core rapidly flashed. "I... I don't think we can," she whispered.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

The core's flickering only got faster. Yuna's ectoplasm quivered. It had to be her powers reacting to something nearby.

"The Whisper." Yuna tensed up, like she was waiting for a surprise attack. "It's getting close. We have to be ready for—"

Except, instead of any ghost or dark attacks, the ground beneath Nikki's feet trembled. "An Earthquake?! Since when the hell do ceruledge get that?!"

Yuna grabbed the toxtricity and flew toward Grishi. "It no ceruledge," the fake reuniclus declared. A faint pink glow surrounded his body.

"Then what—"

Grishi silenced Nikki with his telekinesis. His gelatinous form rippled.

"Different Tera energy nearby. Ground-type." His words were grim. "Grishi think... there third plate here, in different Whisper."

XxX​

GL Exploration Log: Castelia City, Unova (Dimension POV-4940)
Hustle and bustle. Just like the Big Apple when I'd go to visit it way back in my human life. The people are generally more polite than New Yorkers. Though I wonder if that's because I'm a fluffy ice fox and not some guy meandering around while people are trying to speed walk to their jobs.

There was a lot of hubbub around the harbor, though. Apparently, there's an aquatic construction project beginning. Something about building a school on the water? With some kind of underwater biodome that can withstand the ocean's crushing pressure? Not sure, but I'm going to have to revisit this place to check on the progress.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 93: Terra Firma​

I have another finding to report on the space core. In addition to Dreamweaver, the vast reservoir of energy within it, I've found something else. Something that almost feels... alive?

I'm not sure if that's the right phrase to describe this. What it is is some sort of... nigh encyclopedic array of knowledge. Of this world. Of seemingly countless worlds beyond ours. Information on every pokémon, even those consigned to myths and legends. Details about realms where pokémon don't exist. Worlds where pokémon are instead creatures beyond comprehension dubbed Ultra Beasts. There are even records of pokémon forming civilizations similar to our own.

The rational side of me wants to dismiss this as some sort of fantasy wrought by the space core's power. But the knowledge can be relayed to me as if I was conversing with another human. If I ask the space core questions, this encyclopedic entity provides me with logical, factual answers.

Is there truly a living soul within the space core? Or is this... some sort of artificial construct beyond even my wildest comprehension?

UPDATE: I asked the construct if I could name it and it said I could! It just gets stranger. I've gone with "Zodiark" for now, in reference to the zodiac. It fits well against Dreamweaver, in my opinion.

XxX​

Still holding Nikki, Yuna flew to Grishi's side. The toxtricity managed to swing herself out of Yuna's grasp and grab hold of the edge of the large rock. She pulled herself up but stayed on her stomach.

"I don't see anything," Nikki whispered. "Where's this ground-type beast, huh?"

The rock trembled, as did the ground beneath. Grishi's gelatinous body flickered blue. "There!" He pointed to the right. Then he levitated Nikki beside him.

"Gah! Hey!" Nikki's hands and feet twitched. "Why's everyone yanking me around? I'm not a ragdoll, damn it!"

"Quiet!" Grishi hissed. His gaze stayed focused to the right, where a herd of bouffalant ran away from... something vaguely sawsbuck-esque. If the sawsbuck looked like it was made of pottery and had a giant bowl on its head. A bowl filled with brown crystals that looked like a clump of dirt covered in grass.

"That's gotta be it," Yuna mumbled. "But I've never seen a pokémon like that before." Her tail crinkled. "What is it?"

"Ting-Lu," Grishi replied. "Strange pokémon. Brought to life from bowl on head." He shook his head. "Colors not right, though. That because Whisper?"

"Yeah." Some of the other Whispers had strange color schemes. Not that Yuna had a normal frame of reference here. She'd have to take Grishi's word for it. Ting-Lu continued to stomp across the ground a few hundred meters away. Cracks and fissures ran through the dirt. A couple of small trees splintered and fell to their sides.

"It's not paying us any attention," Nikki whispered. "Let's try and take a shot at it from afar."

"Ground-type," Yuna whispered. She glanced at Nikki, recalling the whole kerfuffle with fighting Chernabog. "Nikki, do you think you should let us take the lead here?"

The toxtricity frowned. "I said shoot from afar," she muttered.

"Right. But as long as we're together..." Yuna flinched when the ground rumbled yet again. Unfezant and tranquil flew away from Ting-Lu, squawking their alarm.

She didn't want to keep Nikki out of things, but it wasn't safe. Yuna fidgeted nervously. She was being polite, unlike Gene.

"Maybe have her search for Leo?" Reshiram offered. But Yuna knew that would just upset her.

"Okay." Nikki scooched back across the rock. "I'll wait. See if I can find an opening to Boomburst him."

Yuna stayed silent. Did Nikki really have the range to pull that off? Maybe if she or Grishi could knock Ting-Lu into the air. But did Yuna even have anything to strike the Whisper effectively?

"Think that's my cue." Shaymin hopped off Reshiram's head in the back of Yuna's mind. "Time for a mini adventure. Shoot me out of a horn like I'm a dreepy."

What? Did he have any idea how fast dragpult horns could fire?

"Relax." Shaymin hopped in place. His mossy fur fluttered with excitement "Rayquaza's taken me skydiving before. I know fast."

The mental image was too much for Yuna to bother verifying with Rayquaza if it was true. "Okay," Yuna said to the others. "I'm going to shoot Shaymin. When you see some grass move, uhh I guess we attack?"

Grishi said nothing. Yuna assumed he had no objections. Her core sent green light up her right shoulder into one of her right horns. The sudden weight change told Yuna Shaymin was in position.

Ting-Lu had its back toward them, spreading cracks through the dirt with every step. It was time to act. Yuna concentrated on her right horns. After tensing a moment, a green streak soared forward.

"Go!" Yuna raced after Shaymin. Green rings encircled the miniature green comet careening toward Ting-Lu. The rings descended on Ting-Lu, showering it in green light that quickly faded to mist. The smell of grass clippings quickly filled the air. Now in sky form, Shaymin flew out of the mist, brimming with green light.

"Keep striking from a distance!" Rayquaza said. "Seed Flare doth lower the fiend's defenses to your ranged strikes, Princess!"

That was simple enough now that Yuna had Dragon Darts. She prepared to fire when a sudden heaviness dragged her down from the air. She hit the grass with a startled squeak. And a grunt further ahead suggested the same thing happened to Shaymin.

"Is this, nrrrgh, Gravity?" Shaymin's voice was strained. Yuna struggled to pick her head up out of the grass... which tickled her ectoplasm while the ground shook.

Up! Up! She had to get back into the air somehow.

A sudden spark of inspiration led to two spectral wings emerging and pushing against the ground. It launched Yuna just high enough to dodge the Earthquake before she landed in a dirt patch. Shaymin, on the other hand, grunted in pain several meters away.

Ting-Lu fixed its attention on Yuna. Purple static fanned out of the crystal dirt mound on its head and formed Zodiark's masked face.

"So, you finally pulled back the curtain." Their voice was as distorted as ever. "Even in a dragapult shell, I know it's you, Yaldabaoth. Back to your usual pattern of hostility."

Ting-Lu reared up again, but green Seed Flare rings flew in from behind and struck it. It stumbled. Zodiark's facial projection flickered. Ting-Lu spun around. Yuna decided to follow Shaymin's lead. Even stuck in the grass, she could still attack. If she angled her head right...

"You are the one bringing chaos and suffering to this world," Zodiark continued. "Just as your past interference led to a world filled with suffering."

Yuna fired dreepy-shaped blue energy spears. Ting-Lu stomped a fore and hind hoof against the ground. Mounds of dirt sprouted up in front and behind it, stopping both Yuna's Dragon Darts and another Seed Flare that Shaymin had fired from the opposite side of the field.

"How predictable." The silhouette of Zodiark's head phased through a dirt wall. "Like refusing to acknowledge your own failures."

Suddenly the dirt mound was flying forward. It was going to crush Yuna! The dragapult tried to go airborne but couldn't. She did the next best thing and rolled right. Despite her triangular head slowing her movement, Yuna got out of the way. And when the dirt mound passed her by, the world crystalized and everything slowed to a crawl.

Just like before. The pressing weight wasn't there. Yuna quickly shot Dragon Darts from her horns. When the time stop wore off, Yuna was forced to the ground once again. But the Darts caught Ting-Lu by surprise. Then Seed Flares struck it from behind.

"Why press this attack? What do you think you'll accomplish?" Zodiark's face flickered in and out from around Ting-Lu. "The more you force this Whisper to strain, the greater the risk you place on this facility."

"I don't, nnrrgh, believe you." Yuna pushed against the ground. Why was this infernal Gravity lasting so long? And where the hell was Grishi?!

"You should." Zodiark's wheel-shaped mask turned into a hexagonal panel. "The core helps with the dome's integrity."

Ting-Lu turned... and ran away from Yuna.

"He's bailing!" Shaymin cried. Grass shuffled several meters ahead of Yuna as Shaymin came to regroup.

"What do you think will happen to all the people here if a part of the dome breaks, Yaldabaoth?" Zodiark asked. "It seems this Whisper wants to break it. What will you do? If you keep fighting it, you may be the one to break the dome instead."

The silhouette faded away. Gravity's intense weight subsided. But Ting-Lu was already bounding south, kicking up grass and dirt. There was a rock wall stretching out along what had to be the edge of the Terarium. And Ting-Lu had its head lowered like it was going to try and ram it.

"Shaymin!" Yuna called. A stream of green light shot into her core. Then Shaymin reappeared on Yuna's head while she flew after him.

XxX​

Leo flew as fast as his scyther wings could carry him. Which was pretty quick, all things considered. Fast enough to zip past grass, shrubbery, and trees toward a downward slope that led to weird stations made of glowing white cubes.

He dropped to the ground the moment his suspicions were confirmed: Onion Hair had come down here. The scyther's eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

But how did he spot Onion Hair so easily? The sky plate, maybe? A literal bird's eye view...

Leo walked forward. Onion Hair had put six poké balls into a red and white cylinder. Soft light bathed them.

A healing machine. Like what Pokémon Centers used.

The scyther blinked. Those terms had popped into his head. It was almost instinctual.

Must have heard it from Alder.

Leo kept moving forward. Something about the way Onion Hair watched the healing machine didn't sit right with him.

"... Change tactics." Onion Hair was talking to himself. "Ceruledge's aggressive. Lot of offense. Need to find a way to slow him down. Incineroar's Intimidate. Then pivot with Parting Shot out to Grimmsnarl. If I can Trick a Ring Target onto him..."

Ceruledge? Leo's eyes widened. Onion Hair was going to go after Gilgamesh again? He lost last time! And this guy had no idea Gilgamesh was a Whisper. That was too dangerous!

The healing machine turned off. "Finally!" Onion Hair gathered up the poké balls.

Leo had to act fast. But what could he do? If he tried actually talking to Onion Hair, he might freak the kid out.

... Except Onion Hair already heard Gilgamesh talking.

"Ah, screw it." The scyther sped down the slope. He jumped into the air.

"WAIT!" Leo cried, flying over a metal arch and landing beside Onion Hair on the edge of the white cube platform. "You can't go after Ceruledge again! He'll hand you a giant L for sure!" He held up his scythe arms.

Onion Hair jumped, dropping the two poké balls he held. As he bent down to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on Leo. The scyther noticed the heavy bags under his eyes... and an increasingly empty look the longer Onion Hair made eye contact.

"Talking... pokémon..." Onion Hair stood up. He was practically looking past Leo. An indifferent expression settled across his face. "This doesn't involve you. Stand aside. I'm the strongest trainer in this place. That means you've gotta listen to me."

Seriously? Leo raised a brow. This guy had to be at least a little bit younger than him.

... Or younger than he felt with four of his plates, anyway.

"Can't do that." Leo widened his stance. "Ceruledge has something that belongs to me. I'm gonna take it back."

"Then you can have it when I'm finished beating him." Onion Hair started forward. "I don't care if you can talk. I'm in charge here."

Leo sidestepped right, holding up his arms. "You can't battle him."

"I can and I will." The empty look in Onion Hair's eyes turned to scorn. "What are you going to do? You're one scyther. Do you even have a trainer?"

"I don't." Leo's wings buzzed nervously. "But I'm totes strong. And I think... sending your pokémon at Ceruledge again so quickly after losing to him is a major fail."

"Don't you dare speak for my pokémon!" Onion Hair snarled. There was a hint of... frenzy in his eyes. "I understand them plenty! Just like I understood the ogre!"

He tapped a clenched fist against his thigh repeatedly. "Strong trainers make strong pokémon. My pokémon are strong. Because I'm strong."

He wasn't looking at Leo, though. It was almost like Onion Hair was talking to someone else. But who?

"I'm the strongest person here." Onion Hair's fist tapped against his thigh faster and faster. "I'm beating Ceruledge. You can't stop me. Ninetales can't stop me..."

Leo frowned. Ninetales?

He sidestepped Leo and ran onto the grassy field. "I know what I'm doing!"

The kid was surprisingly nimble. But Leo was faster. He flew past Onion Hair and hovered in his path. "Then use me as your pokémon instead!" the scyther begged.

Onion Hair skidded to a halt. "You can't be serious." He tapped his heel against the ground repeatedly, kicking up a small divot in the grass. "Even Terastalized, Ceruledge still has fire-type attacks. You'll get torched."

"Nah, I'd win!" Leo insisted. Sure, he hadn't directly fought a Whisper before. But he had four plates. His powers were growing. Why else could he change into other pokémon?

"Typing's still important." Onion Hair shook his head. "You don't have a trainer. So, you haven't had real training. You're not strong enough."

"I've trained plenty." This was going nowhere. And every second wasted talking was time for Gilgamesh to do... something. Or the other Whisper that he left Yuna and Nikki to deal with. "I'll prove it to you! One-vee-one me!"

There was a flicker of that earlier madness in Onion Hair's eyes. Then an eerie smile crept onto his face. "Okay, yeah." He was tapping his fist against his leg again. "Fine. I'll show you how out of your depth you are by knocking you out. Then you can't get in my way."

Onion Hair had already pulled a poké ball out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it to the side. A dragonite emerged, stretching his arms out. He looked at Onion Hair, then Leo.

"Battle time," Onion Hair said. He hunched over, resting his right arm on his right knee. "Get set."

Dragonite nodded. His expression sharpened. The beating of his wings intensified.

"Strike first! Extreme Speed to the chest!"

Leo's eyes widened. He has—

A scaly shoulder slammed into the scyther's torso. Leo barely had the time to fold in his wings before hitting the grass and rolling to a stop, bracing himself with his arms.

"Follow up. Breaking Swipes. Down, then side."

With a roar, blue energy shrouded Dragonite's arms. A few flaps of his wings closed the gap with Leo. He rolled right, dodging a downward swipe of Dragonite's right arm. But Dragonite followed up swinging his left arm sideways.

Leo pooled energy into his arms and raised them up. His X-scissor clashed with the Breaking Swipe.

"Regroup," Onion Hair said, still hunched over. The order came with a flash of that frenzy in his eyes.

(Right! Back!) Dragonite broke away, flying back to Kieran's side.

Sighing in relief, Leo righted himself. His arms felt... weaker than earlier. It must have been the Breaking Swipe. Gah, there were so many moves to keep track of! And only ones with types matching his plates were clear in his mind.

"Give up." Onion Hair had his eyes locked on Leo. "You're already looking shaky."

Leo held his arms at his sides. "I'm just getting started."

Much as Leo dreaded showing any of his serious power, he was at a disadvantage as a scyther. He had to change tactics.

"Extreme Speed! Grab him!"

Not again! Leo shot higher into the air. Dragonite passed underneath.

"Thunder straight above!"

He has Thunder?!

(Okay! Up!) Lightning crackled in Dragonite's arms. He hurled a large bolt skyward. Leo barely managed to spin out of the way.

Finally, an opening! Leo rained Air Slash blades down from the air, just like he'd seen Noctum do time after time.

"Take it! Then retaliate with Thunder!"

Wait, what?!

Dragonite crossed his arms over his face. The Air Slash blades forced him to land, but he stood tough and hurled another lightning bolt. Leo couldn't end his own attack in time. The scyther plummeted from the air in a burst of sparks, crashing into the ground.

Nothing had hurt Leo like this before. He shakily propped himself up.

"See? I told you." Onion Hair hadn't broken his stance the entire time. That frenzy returned to his eyes. "You're not strong enough. Stand aside."

"N... no..." Leo couldn't give in here. He finally had enough power to do something. He couldn't stumble at the first hurdle like this!

His wings buzzed slowly. A soft, sky-blue light surrounded him. The lingering pain from Dragonite's Thunder faded.

"He's Roosting!" Onion Hair cried. "Extreme Speed now!"

Leo was a bit further from Dragonite compared to the start of the battle. Which gave him enough time to run left and dodge Dragonite's shoulder.

"Follow up! Breaking Swipes, double right!"

(No move!) Dragonite growled, blue energy returning to his arms. Leo kept running across the grass, however. This wasn't the time to stand around. He had to stay on the move— no, Leo had to change forms.

Stop thinking about types. Leo's scyther feet swished through the grass. Dragonite was gaining on him in the air.

"Redirect! Extreme Speed when you're close enough!" Onion Hair shouted.

If Dragonite was expecting him to keep running, then Leo had to act now. He skidded to a halt, focusing on the plates swirling around inside him.

Water... water... WATER!

Thin wings and bladed arms gave way to a shell and shoulder-mounted cannons. Cannons that Leo aimed at a startled Dragonite.

They fired dual water bursts large enough for the recoil to send Leo onto his back. A startled holler told him the Water Spout hit its mark. Leo rocked himself back and forth to get to his feet. He found Dragonite lying in a rapidly muddying puddle closer to Onion Hair than earlier.

The boy's stance had broken. That frenzy had given way to shock, followed by a panic. "Get up!" Onion Hair shouted, pointing at Leo. "Getupgetupgetup! Thunder! Blastoise are way slower!"

Leo couldn't let that attack get off. He bent over slightly to account for the recoil, then Water Spouts gushed from his cannons. Dragonite was too busy gathering lightning and could only widen his eyes before getting drenched. He slid across damp, muddy grass, flailing his arms and legs around. His roar of protest grew steadily weaker until his arms and legs flopped by his sides.

The blastoise shambled forward a bit, keeping his cannons trained on Dragonite. He only relaxed when, after several seconds, Onion Hair dropped to his knees.

"No..." Onion Hair stared down at the grass. There was a vacant look in his eyes. The same one Leo thought he saw when Gilgamesh was gloating after his win outside the school.

"Not fair," the kid mumbled. "It's not fair... not fair... not fair!" Onion Hair smacked the grass with his fist repeatedly. "Why? Why do you keep getting in my way like this?!"

Leo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's you..." Still on all fours, Onion Hair looked up. His eyes were still empty. "That ninetales who humiliated back home. You're doing all this to me!" Onion Hair's right eye twitched. "I bet you're the one controlling Ceruledge, too!"

Dragonite managed to stumble his way back to Onion Hair's side. (Kieran?) Wincing, he leaned over to try and pick his trainer back up.

"Huh?" Kieran blinked at Dragonite. "Oh, right. You should rest for now." He took out Dragonite's poké ball and returned him. "Guess I've got to heal him again." Kieran's grip on the ball tightened.

"I don't know any ninetales," Leo insisted. How much did he really want to tell Kieran? The kid wasn't in a good frame of mind.

"I don't believe you." Kieran got back to his feet. "You can talk. Ninetales and Ceruledge can talk. You're all related."

The blastoise looked down. "Well, Ceruledge is someone I'm trying to stop. Because he has things that belong to me. And they're powering him up." He shuffled back from Kieran and turned to look out over the grassy fields. "I'm from a different world. Ceruledge has helped make a mystery dungeon linking my world to your school. And I have to seal it off before it's too late."

Kieran looked confused. But Leo would take that over the earlier emptiness. "I don't want you fighting Ceruledge because you could get seriously hurt. Same for your pokémon."

"But he didn't do that when we battled outside of school." Kieran fiddled with the lock of hair dangling from his forehead. "All he said was he wanted someone to give him a real challenge. And kept talking about weapons to collect..."

Now that was strange. A Whisper who only wanted to have a good battle? Weren't they all vicious daemons who went on rampages?

... But the only person Leo had seen Gilgamesh attack was that Paradigm Lieutenant back in his world's Iron Island. And even then, he left the victini that emerged alone and went into the rift.

Leo lazily kicked his leg back and forth along the grass. "Okay, maybe Ceruledge isn't harmful. It's still not your fight. I won our battle."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

The blastoise winced. Kieran was trying to guilt-trip him. Why else would that have sounded so depressing?

Then again, Leo's performance against Kieran was far from flawless. And Gilgamesh had both dark and ghost-type, on top of the fire-type stuff that a ceruledge could usually do. Leo didn't have fairy-type at his disposal. He'd have to rely on water and flying. And it was a lot to keep track of.

Maybe a trainer could help me out here?

Sighing, Leo turned around. "I guess... we could work together?"

Kieran started fiddling with that dangling lock of hair again. "Like, you want to be my pokémon?"

"Well, you can't catch me." Leo shook his head. "And... you'd have to keep this a secret."

"I can do that." Kieran kicked his heel against the dirt repeatedly. He looked over Leo's shoulder, toward the middle of the Terarium. "What kind of secret?"

Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But screw it. Leo was already taking big risks separating from the others. What was one more?

He shifted back into his cosmic arceus form. "This is what I really look like. I can use pretty much any move that's bug, fighting, flying, or water-type. But against that ceruledge, only two types make sense. And that's where I need you to help me out."

"Any move?" Kieran's eyes widened. He looked down, rapping his fist against his thigh. "Wowzers..."

"I don't know what happened to you with Ninetales," Leo continued. "You don't seem like a bad guy. Maybe a little crazy with all that strength stuff." But hopefully this could snap Kieran out of that. "I'll look past it. So, you in?"

He extended a foreleg to Kieran, who blinked at it.

"Are you... asking me to shake on it?"

"Was thinking more fist bump, but if you want the boring option—"

Kieran tapped Leo's raised hoof with an open palm. "C'mon. I think Ceruledge is hanging out in the center of the Terarium. We'd better hurry."

Leo bucked a startled Kieran onto his back. "Four legs are faster than two," he said, then galloped off across the field.

XxX​

It wasn't hard for Igneous and Scarlett to find Gene and Widget. The shadowy mewtwo and miraivally were floating over streets full of people fleeing away from the mall. Widget kept shooting Thunderbolts that would suddenly come to a stop against open air, then Gene would punch through Shadow Balls.

"What about the people down there?" Scarlett flapped her wings. "Shouldn't we be helping them?"

"Dunno. Don't you guys think it's weird that the pirates aren't actually attacking anyone?" Starlene countered.

Igneous was at a loss. It was too much happening at one time and every time he tried turning on his X-transceiver he was met with Gene bickering with Gilbert.

"We'll get answers the direct way," the grovlazzle said. With several flaps of his volcarona wings he sped through the air to catch up.

Just like Starlene said, however, no one was firing on him. Even the initial volley he and Scarlett weaved through to distract the pirates had died down. Just what was going on?

He reluctantly turned the X-transceiver back on.

"... Still be here!" Gilbert scoffed. "You could whisk zese stupid so-and-sos away in seconds."

"And incite a mass panic in the process!" Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. "Just tell me what you're up to and I won't blow up your command ship."

"Ah, mon petit kitty cat." Gilbert tsked through the radio. "Always lacking in ze genteelmonly ways. Perhaps you should try asking nicely. Or sending ze flowers."

Another Thunderbolt crackled through the air. Igneous finally saw a hint of a barrier, which parted long enough for Gene to sling a Shadow Ball through. But it quickly vanished. If it had hit anyone, Igneous couldn't tell. And there were no screams, either.

"Hey!" Igneous stopped a couple of meters behind Gene. "What are we doing just floating around here for?"

"Trying to get through these obnoxious barriers," Gene said. "Your timing's impeccable. Summon that crazy sword of yours. Maybe your freako powers can get rid of the shield."

"Okay, but why?" Igneous said.

Sighing, Gene pinched a brow. "Because cloaking and disrupting our comms wasn't part of the deal."

Widget sputtered. His thrusters stalled for a moment and he dropped from the air with a squawk before hastily recovering. "I'm sorry, what?

Embers crackled around Igneous' leafy tails. "The hell do you mean? You're saying you planned this?!"

"Oh, this wasn't my idea. It was Boy Wonder's." Gene flicked his right arm dismissively.

"Who?" Scarlett fluttered in place. Though her nervous tone of voice told Igneous she already had a hunch.

"Shimmer." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "To make his mom look bad, he wanted the pirates cause some property damage without actually attacking anyone." He rubbed his snout. "Except us. Which is what I negotiated." His expression soured. "Where'd the dweeb run off to, anyway?"

There were so many things wrong with Gene's claims that the grovlazzle didn't know where to begin. "We came here to investigate spreading distortion! You were going to put us in the line of fire for... for..."

"It was you who fired ze first shots at us!" Gilbert countered through their disrupted comm line. "We were all set for ze simple smash et grab but zen you made with ze shooting of our faces. Plus, ze anomaly wasn't part of ze deal."

"But you had the cloaks up first!" Widget said, still glaring at Gene. Igneous was miffed with the shadowy mewtwo, but also found Shimmer's convenient disappearing act incredibly suspicious.

"Oui, because mon capitaine detected ze anomaly before we set out for ze raid!" Gilbert replied.

Igneous wings buzzed in surprise. Blackskull had known about the anomaly the whole time? Before Team Bastion found it? Just what the hell were these pirates?!

"As soon as mon mateys have ze last of ze electronics mon capitaine needs, we make with ze leaving!"

"Then we stop fighting!" Scarlett said, fluttering her small wings nervously. "If we shoot ships out of the sky, they could crash down on the city and anyone who's below us!" The dragonair pointed her tail down. There was a park with assorted corviknight, pidgeot, braviary, staraptor, and groups of squawkabilly carrying large flying carriages. People were shoving their ways into them.

"And besides, the anomaly's back in the middle of the mall." Igneous looked over his shoulder. The static wasn't visible, so it thankfully hadn't gone past the destroyed roof. "Looked to be growing quickly. We ought to find the others and figure out how to deal with it."

"Oui! Zat is a vonderful idea!" Gilbert exclaimed. "In fact, ze last of ze crew has reported back. So, allow me to make with ze sweetening of ze pot!"

"The hell does that mean?!" Igneous said, but the connection to Gilbert went dead. Before the grovlazzle could ask Gene what the next steps were, bright blue flashes lit up the midday sky. Four large space pirate ships appeared, each surrounded by a glistening blue barrier.

"Gene, what did you do?" Widget said, eyes darting around.

A large projection appeared above the ship closest to the quartet. A black-scaled tyrantrum head gazed down at them. The gemstone in place of their right eye glistened.

"A fair morrow, Herbrides scallywags!" Tyrantrum's projection bellowed. "This be Cap'n Blackskull, scourge of the galaxy! And five-time reigning runner-up in Hoenn Digest's semi-annual homemade butterscotch pudding competition!"

At first, there was silence. Then, one or two screams from down on the ground turned to ten. Then twenty. Then hundreds. People redoubled their efforts to get into the flying taxis, or sprinted through the park to get as far away from the mall and the nearby town square as possible.

"On behalf of me crew, I'd like to personally thank ye fer contributing yer machines to the Blackskull Buccaneers!" Blackskull continued, his gemstone eye crackling with amber energy. "We'll be sure to take good care of 'em, won't we lads?"

Raucous cheers filled the air from the flying ships.

Igneous hovered closer to Gene. "Was this part of your plan?" He leveled his claws at the shadowy mewtwo.

Gene held up an index finger. "Give it a sec."

"I'd say to take the losses up with yer insurance, but I don't think ye landlubbers cover space pirate raids!" Blackskull said, before his holographic head roared with laughter. "If I were ye, I'd go banging on the palace doors of yer lackadaisical queen and useless Radiant Guard! Where even are they, hmm?"

Okay, that certainly sounded like something they'd script to make Isola sound bad. Maybe the pirates had gone back to the original deal?

... Igneous was still going to ream Shimmer a new asshole when he got hold of the ponytales.

"Now then, as fer ye resistance blokes." Blackskull gazed down at Igneous and the others. "I think ye oughta be hustling yer bustles. That there rift be looking a touch unstable, if ye catch me drift."

As if on cue, a circular wall of purple light raced out from the mall. Igneous scales burned against his back when the light rushed past him.

Smaller purple rifts burst open between the ships and the ground. Fresh screams rose up as rows of trees in the park suddenly sprouted berries large enough to snap said trees at their trunks and send them crashing into the ground.

Blackskull looked around at the other ships "Fall back, me hearties! We be late fer our monthly team-building yoga class at Sandygast Saul's Meditation Station!"

"You're leaving?" Gene's shoulder crystal sparked. "What about no hurt civilians?"

"Bah, fine!" Blackskull's crystal eye glowed. "Ye want some help? I'll give ye ol' Iron Beak Barbarossa!"

As the flying ships vanished one by one, a blue, circular portal opened over a street where a crowd of pokémon were attempting to flee from the rifts opening in the sky. A large, robotic cramorant flew out, beak wide open, and swallowed everyone up.

Scarlett flew in front of the others and was about to protest, when she saw Barbarossa flying away from the rifts. Her bauble flashed pink. "Starlene says they're okay." She paused. "I think."

"Great." Widget's voice cracked. He nervously rubbed his forelegs together. "But what do we do? Go after Yuna?"

"No." Gene held his hand up. "Find Cyril and the others. I can get a bunch of these folks evacuated." He cracked his knuckles. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Igneous was still mad at Gene. But that could wait for later. And with the pirates gone, their communications should have been back online.

"Cyril, you there?" the grovlazzle asked. "Where are you?"

"... out... but... thing..."

Static garbled the cosmic zoroark's response. Igneous' breath caught in his throat.

"No..."

"What's wrong?" Widget's cheek bolts turned slowly in their sockets. "You don't think it's the anomaly messing with our X-transceivers, do you?"

Igneous shook his head. They were supposed to be on the periphery of the city. If they were far from the anomaly portal, then...

"The last time my line went dead, it was because Xeromus showed up! And that means they're in trouble!"

The grovlazzle's wings ignited. "We have to try and find them now!"

"Iggy, wait!" Scarlett called, but Igneous shot off to the west, leaving a trail of embers behind him.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 94: Battle on the Big Bridge​

Yuna's 'pot-shots from a distance' strategy wasn't working. Ting-Lu wasn't exactly speeding toward the giant rock wall surrounding the Terarium, but it was raising dirt mounds out of the ground and leaping between them to dodge Shaymin's Seed Flares. Every leap served to launch Ting-Lu's platforms at Yuna. The dragapult struggled to balance dodging them while giving Shaymin good aim and keeping enough distance to avoid falling victim to Ting-Lu's Gravity.

And that weird crystalline time stop — she was calling it "reverse time" since it had to come from her giratina side — was hurting, not helping.

Ting-Lu was about two-thirds of the way to the edge of the Terarium. It raised a clay mound from the ground, uprooting trees and shredding bushes apart so nothing but twigs and crumpled leaves remained.

"There!" Shaymin fired a Seed Flare. Ting-Lu leaped from the mound, kicking clay chunks at Yuna and landing on a lower dirt platform. The green rings harmlessly flew past while Yuna rolled left to avoid the clay.

"Such a feeble demonstration." Zodiark's voice carried from where Ting-Lu was. A staticky projection of their face swirled around the large dirt crystal in Ting-Lu's head bowl. "It's nothing if not emblematic of your one-sided, futile struggle."

"Shut up!" Yuna focused on her core. It rippled with distortion. Heat pooled in her horns, drawing a yelp from Shaymin. To her surprise, sun-shaped white arrows streaked through the air and exploded around Ting-Lu. The Whisper tumbled from its platform. Zodiark's silhouette vanished.

The dragapult blinked. "Um... that wasn't a normal Dragon Darts."

"Who cares?" Shaymin scooted forward on her triangular head. Seed Flare rings streamed down toward Ting-Lu. However, a giant dirt hand emerged behind Ting-Lu. It grabbed the Seed Flare and squeezed. Dirt exploded outward, forcing Yuna and Shaymin back.

"Harsh." Shaymin whistled. "It's molding the ground as it sees fit. Not grateful at all!"

Yuna tried shooting the sun arrows through the lingering dusty cloud. Ting-Lu emerged from the cloud atop another clay platform. A dark, dreadful aura gathered around it. Whatever that attack was, Yuna didn't intend to take it.

She expected a beam or blast. So, the dragapult was caught off guard when a black and red dome emerged around Ting-Lu, spreading out rapidly.

"Ah!" Yuna opened a rift to flee when a white flash blinded her.

"Sorry Grishi late! Had to make pitstop!"

Yuna opened her eyes to find the zorotwo floating there, holding up a black barrier with one hand and some sort of metal ring with another.

"Where have you— ugh, never mind!" Yuna's tail undulated rapidly. "Did you stop that attack?"

He shook his head. "Grishi shield Yuna from Ruination. Bad time if hit."

Ruination? Grishi knew what that attack was?

It didn't matter. Ting-Lu was charging it again while leaping toward a taller clay platform. "Well, you're here now. So start helping!" Yuna flew around the zorotwo.

"Y'know, you could show him some gratitude," Shaymin mused. "Since he came back."

Yuna's response was to tilt her head, sending Shaymin tumbling into one of her horns. She fired him straight toward Ting-Lu.

"It was a joooooooooooooooooooooooke!" Tiny limbs flailing, Shaymin unleashed a close-ranged Seed Flare. Ting-Lu was too busy readying its Ruination to dodge. The green rings peppered its right flank. Its clay platform crumbled, sending it straight to the ground.

"Yuna stay back!" Grishi ordered before the dragapult could go pick up Shaymin. Instead, he shifted to his sky form and flew back. Girshi teleported over Ting-Lu. He held up the metal ring, then it vanished inside an illusory plastic cup. Just like the type she saw stacked on some of the water coolers in the outpost hanger.

The cup appeared by Ting-Lu's side in a flash. As soon as it righted itself, the metal ring was stuck around its ankle. Ting-Lu noticed this. The ominous Ruination aura crackled around its body once again.

Grishi vanished once again, only to reappear seconds later—

"Hey Ting-LOSER! Look up!"

Yuna's jaw dropped as a freefalling Nikki swung her lightning guitar around. It struck Ting-Lu's vaguely equine face. Cracks spiderwebbed their way along its body. When it tried to retaliate, its limbs locked up and it fell over on its side. Grishi yanked the toxtricity away with his ESP.

"Oh-ho, shit, it actually worked!" Nikki laughed nervously.

"What just happened?" Yuna wanted to glare at Nikki and Grishi, but the bigger focus was on taking out this Whisper. She ordered Shaymin to fire more Seed Flares.

"Ring Target." The zorotwo traced a claw in a circle. "Grishi steal from school store. It remove Ting-Lu electric immunity. So Nikki can paralyze."

Another dirt hand erupted from the ground to deflect Shaymin's Seed Flares. Ting-Lu's garbled roar filled the air. A furious chorus of wing flaps behind Yuna suggested more birds were fleeing north.

"Hey, bastard's getting away!" Nikki said, pointing east. Ting-Lu surfed a wave of dirt across the grassy plains, uprooting trees and knocking boulders over. "Where the hell's this thing going? The dome's that way?"

"Who cares! After it!" Yuna flew ahead. Though Ting-Lu's limbs twitched with paralysis, the dirt wave carried it much faster than it was going before.

"With all the cracks along its body, it must be on its last legs!" Rayquaza said. "Tally ho!"

Yuna was catching up, but she wasn't expecting the dirt wave to fling Ting-Lu through the air. The Whisper sailed over the remaining plains and some wall made of brightly glowing cubes. It landed in the middle of a sandy beach.

"What's it doing? It's a ground-type, isn't it?"

"Sand's kinda ground," Shaymin said. "Think palossand."

Ting-Lu roared again. The sand around it swirled and rippled. A giant sandcastle erupted from the beach. Sandy cannons aimed at the approaching dragapult and fired Mud Bombs at her.

"Gah!" Yuna retaliated with a Dragon Darts volley, destroying one Mud Bomb. Shaymin's Seed Flare took care of the other.

"Princess! There art more cannons firing on the dome! The fiend is trying to destroy it from a distance!"

Massive Mud Bombs sailed over the sparkling water beneath them. Yuna couldn't stop those, even if she did open a rift!

"On your left!" Shaymin cried. Seed Flare rings lit up the sky. Then wet sand showered Yuna from above.

Hissing, she threw her arms over her head. "I need some help here!"

"What do you think we're doing?!" Nikki growled from somewhere to the dragapult's left. "We're taking too much fire!"

A loud ding reverberated through the Terarium. Yuna saw mud splattered against a hexagonal tile. It was a gap in the dome's artificial sky. And more Mud Bombs were heading toward that spot!

Yuna flew toward them, shooting sun-shaped arrows alongside Shaymin's Seed Flares.

"Behind Yuna!" Grishi shouted. She turned to see the black dome of Ruination energy racing toward her.

"Eep!" Yuna flew away from it as fast as she could manage. The attack fizzled out without reaching her, but now she was too far from the giant sandcastle to get an attack on Ting-Lu.

How were they supposed to topple this thing under a constant Mud Bomb barrage?

... Wait.

She remembered Gene dealing with something like this before. What was it that Noctum called it?

No, that's not important! Yuna shook her head. "Shaymin! Go to Grishi and Nikki. Shoot a Seed Flare at Grishi and have Nikki shoot a Boomburst your attack. Tell Grishi to catch it!"

"Huh?"

"No questions! Go!" She jerked her head, transferring Shaymin into a horn, then blasted him back toward Ting-Lu and the giant sandcastle.

"Nooooot cooooooooooooooool!" Shaymin hollered. Fortunately, he shifted to sky form and weaved between Mud Bombs from the sandcastle's cannons.

Yuna focused on shooting down Mud Bombs heading for the dome with Dragon Darts. It filled the air with brown clouds. Clumps of wet sand splattered against her triangular head. They stung a bit, but she'd bear with the pain if it meant taking out Ting-Lu.

She shot down two more Mud Bombs. The cannons in the distance fired another three. Her horns were hurting. Yuna couldn't give up, though. Shaymin was flying quickly around Grishi and Nikki. That was a good thing, right?

Three Dragon Darts blew apart the Mud Bombs, filling the air with a sandy cloud once again. It quickly vanished, however, as a large green explosion swept the cloud away. A rush of wind smelling of freshly-trimmed grass almost swept Yuna up, but she maintained her position in midair.

When the green light faded, the giant sandcastle was collapsing upon itself. Ting-Lu desperately pawed at the air to try not to get sucked into the mound of sand, but it was a losing effort. Yuna sped forward and added insult to injury with a couple more sun-shaped arrows.

Ting-Lu's wedge-shaped earth crystal shattered seconds before the sinking mount of sand swallowed it up.

"Good idea."

Yuna's tail crinkled at Grishi blipping over to her side. "Hmm?"

The zorotwo sheathed and unsheathed his claws repeatedly. "Trapping exploding Seed Flares in psychic bubble to build pressure for bigger explosion. Good idea." He nodded approvingly. "Not bad for novice reverser. Grishi impressed."

"Um, thanks?" Yuna was sorely tempted to ask what "novice reverser" meant. But before she could, static burst out of the sand. It streamed toward the Terarium's core dangling from that tiny metal panel that looked like it floated in midair.

Just like back in Wyndon, Zodiark's masked face appeared in the lines of static.

"This changes nothing, Yaldabaoth," they said. "You will not drag these worlds into stagnation. Your pointless resistance will meet its inevitable end. That is your fate."

Yuna refused to give Zodiark the pleasure of a rebuttal, watching silently as the projection dissolved away with the remaining static.

Sighing in relief, she recalled Shaymin back into her core. Things had gotten hairy for a bit, but they managed. And she held her own for once.

"Heeeeeey!"

Down on the beach, Nikki hopped up and down and waved her arms around. "Not to kill the mood, but don't we still have Gilgamesh to deal with? And you need to find your kid!"

Yuna winced. Right, Leo had run off on them.

"Dost thou think he wouldst challenge Gilgamesh on his own?"

Well now the possibility certainly occurred to her! Swallowing hard, the dragapult turned to Grishi. "I think we're still gonna need a bit of help. I've gotta find my son... and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!"

XxX​

The center of the Terarium was a raised platform made from the same glowing cubes fanning out in the cardinal directions. Gilgamesh paced across the middle of it. The ghost and dark crystals atop his head glistened under the dome's artificial light.

Leo galloped through the air. A tiny voice told him this was beyond boneheaded, but he didn't care. He'd already broken off from the group and gotten involved with Kieran. It was full Luxray Jenkins or bust!

So what if that never worked out for Igneous? Leo was an arceus!

"—not believe how ridiculous this is!" The ceruledge raised his arms. "My arms are fire swords! How can this world not have a warrior to give me a proper challenge?" He looked up, toward the corrupted core dangling from the top of the dome. "Stupid interdimensional rift! Why spit me out here? It's a waste, I tell you!"

Gilgamesh spotted what appeared to be a cylindrical recycling bin. "Yes, this kind of waste!" He raised his arms to slice the bin into ribbons.

Well, if he was rambling about a challenge, it was as good a time as any for Leo to make his presence known. "You ready?" he asked Kieran.

"I was ready before," Kieran said. Then hastily added, "I mean, uh, sure."

"I've got your challenge right here!" Leo cried, leaping through the air and landing atop a set of pristine white stairs. He stuck his right foreleg and left hind leg out. That was a cool enough pose, right?

Gilgamesh looked past Leo at first. "The boy from before!" He pointed a fiery sword arm at Kieran. "You've summoned another to battle with?"

"Yeah." Kieran slid off Leo's back. "And we're going to beat you this time."

Static energy rippled around Gilgamesh's head crystals. Leo glanced upward. Was the dungeon core trying to contact him?

If it was, Gilgamesh didn't seem to care. "Only one summon this time?" He scrutinized Leo. "What makes you think you're a worthy challenger? You cannot even free yourself from the confines of that fence you're stuck in!"

Of course this guy had to bring up Leo's wheel. Absolute cringe right there. It was part of the cosmic arceus. "It's a conduit for my power, dumba—"

He cut himself off the moment he met Kieran's gaze. Right, schoolkid. Leo had to watch his language.

"A source of power?" Gilgamesh's eyes surprisingly lit up with interest. "Oh ho ho! In that case... I accept your challenge! Perhaps your fence shall prove itself a weapon worthy of the rift's mightiest warrior, Gilgamesh!" The ceruledge raised his sword arms over his head. "Who is me!"

Okay, yep. This guy was absolute cringe. It was like someone took Rayquaza and dialed the ham meter up past eleven. At least that meant Gilgamesh wasn't under Zodiark's control. No Whisper would treat this like some RP session.

... And Leo could take advantage of that.

"One request." He held up a foreleg. "We take this fight outside. To that big, empty bridge."

"Huh?" Kieran tensed. "Why there?"

"There are too many wild pokémon down here," Leo said. "I don't want any of them getting hurt if things get crazy."

"Fine!" The ceruledge shrugged. "But there will be no other accommodations or delays!"

He pivoted and slashed at the air with his bladed arms. Sunshine— real sunshine spilled in through a jagged rift.

"Oh, wowzers..." Kieran shifted closer to Leo. "This really is a big deal, huh?"

Leo hoisted Kieran onto his back and followed Gilgamesh through the rift. They emerged on a long, white bridge. Wide enough for vehicles to pass, but there was no one in sight. And they were far enough from the school building that Leo could barely make it out.

"Now then, the time for pleasantries and-slash-or banter is behind us!" Gilgamesh declared. The crystals on his head twinkled. "Now is the time where we fight like honorable men!"

He stopped and looked at his fiery sword arms. "Or an honorable man with swords for hands and a possibly honorable steed-stuck-in-fence thing! Mwahahaha!" Gilgamesh brought his arms by his sides. "Engarde!"

Leo scarcely had time to let Kieran slide off him when Gilgamesh charged right at him. The cosmic arceus leaped over swipes from the ceruledge's fiery blades.

"Stick to the air!" Kieran said. The initial shock must have worn off because his earlier stoic expression was back. "You've got greater mobility!"

Leo galloped away from Gilgamesh's attempts at swatting him from the sky. "Why you!" He stomped the ground angrily. "How dare you use gravity against me like that! Here's what the Bladesman of Legend thinks of your aerodynamics!"

His head crystals brimmed with energy. Gilgamesh furiously slashed at the air. Purple and black crescents soared toward Leo. The cosmic arceus galloped through the air along the bridge, but the crescents gave chase.

"They're homing in," Kieran called. "Try blasting them apart with something big!"

Oh. Duh. Leo turned around. Something big could be another Water Spout, so Leo pointed his head at the oncoming energy crescents. Water gushed from a blue gleam over his forehead. The crescents melted away like dirt carried down to sewers in a rainstorm.

"He's charging you down!" Kieran cried. "Below you!"

"Huh?"

Gilgamesh was right underneath him! How'd he close the gap that quickly?!

The ceruledge spun around into a fiery tornado. Leo only had time to cross his legs over his sensitive underbelly before Gilgamesh knocked him further in the air. Leo shook out his legs. They stung from lingering embers.

"Mwahahaha!" Gilgamesh landed on the ground and pointed his right sword arm upward. "Only a truly mighty warrior can defy your defiance of gravity! Are you not astonished? Do your knees not quake with fear?!"

"Strike now!" Kieran had his hands cupped over his mouth. "Hydro Pump!"

Leo drew on the splash plate. Another blue shimmer rippled in front of his head. But instead of a scattershot of water, he sent one high-pressure stream toward Gilgamesh. The ceruledge stood his ground, swiping at the air as if he was rapidly throwing punches. His furious slashes protected him from the Hydro Pump, until Leo was forced to break it off.

"Is that the best you've got? Ha!" Gilgamesh's head crystals glowed. "No, I shall laugh a second time! Ha ha!" Black energy gathered in his blades, making them big enough to reach Leo!

"Run left!" Kieran said. Leo galloped through the air toward him, narrowly dodging Gilgamesh's giant sword arms. He saw a bit of panic in Kieran's eyes.

"Now counter like before!"

Leo shot another Hydro Pump from his forehead. Enlarging his blades made Gilgamesh's movements slower, so the water struck his right side. He tumbled along the white ground, sword arms shrinking back to their normal size.

The cosmic arceus' wheel shimmered. Okay, he got a proper hit in. This wasn't so bad! Yeah, he totally had this!

But why did Kieran look so concerned?

"What's wrong?" Leo said, keeping his eyes on Gilgamesh. He slung small water globules toward the ceruledge to keep him away.

"He wasn't doing this stuff when he battled my team." Kieran rapped his right fist against his right thigh. "Was he really holding back the whole time?"

Leo couldn't say. But something must've told him to take Leo seriously. Was Zodiark actually talking to Gilgamesh?

"Well, I still need your help," Leo insisted. Gilgamesh was back on his feet, weaving past the small water globs. The cosmic arceus galloped left, crossing along the bridge. He swapped to Air Slash crescents. The faster wind spears caught Gilgamesh off guard, with one striking his leg. He buckled dropping to one knee.

"I know! I'm trying! I just—" Kieran squeezed the dangling lock of his hair. "C'mon... c'mon... be strong! Be strong!" He tapped his head repeatedly with his fist.

"Don't think you can keep me away forever!" Gilgamesh stood back up, then ran toward the opposite end of the bridge as Leo. He jumped toward the glass wall and kicked off it. Purple energy sheathed his sword arms. Gilgamesh slashed the air, sending purple bursts shaped like his ghost crystal toward Leo.

Leo froze, unsure which direction to go.

"Dr... drop down!"

"But I'm high up!"

"Just trust me!"

The cosmic arceus obliged Leo, plummeting from the air while Gilgamesh's miniature ghosts flew overhead.

"Wide open!" The ceruledge dropped to the ground after Leo and slammed his swords down. Fiery shockwaves rushed toward Leo.

He tried to jump over, but the first one proved taller than Leo expected. It scorched his hooves enough to where it was too painful to gallop higher in the air. Leo fell into the second shockwave, which sent him tumbling toward the glass wall behind him.

The flames hurt. And the embers lingered on his body. Tiny spurs of burning pain peppered his pelt at random every second.

How could this be happening? He had four plates... and was much bigger. Leo should've been holding his own. The monks told him arceus were so powerful.

What was Leo thinking? Training with Yuna and Alder wasn't nearly the same thing as charging into battle like this. He was screwing the pooch big time! The universe was depending on him and he was totally failing!

"Gah! Sorry!" Kieran was thumping the side of his head again. "Should've told you to blast through that. Stupid, stupid!"

"Mwahahaha!" Flames gathered around Gilgamesh's blades. "You can't expect some impromptu partnership to stand up to me! And here I thought you'd give me a challenge!"

The ceruledge charged Leo down. Eyes wide, the cosmic arceus pointed his forehooves at Gilgamesh and shot dual Hydro Pump streams at him. Gilgamesh ducked one, but couldn't avoid the other.

"Agh!" He tumbled back, giving Leo the time he needed to scramble back to Kieran's side.

A lightbulb went off. Leo' shook himself out, flinging embers off his starry purple pelt. "He's right. We don't know each other well. And I've never had a trainer." His expression sharpened. "But isn't battling like this supposed to be about having fun?"

Kieran looked like Leo had slapped him across the face.

"I'm making the same mistake too." Leo stood protectively in front of Kieran while Gilgamesh rolled to his feet. "We gotta stop thinking this is about showing how strong we are. And have fun with this instead."

Because Gilgamesh wasn't going for the kill or anything. He was showboating like there was an audience here.

"Have... fun?" Kieran looked at his sneakers.

"I said no pleasantries!" Gilgamesh bellowed, sending more dark crescents toward Leo.

"It wasn't pleasantries!" Leo said. Though his legs still burned, he managed to jump up and gallop over the strikes. "We were just talking about how funny it is you're getting hit by water." Another blue shimmer rippled in front of his head. "I guess you could say... you're all washed up!"

The Hydro Pump streamed toward Gilgamesh while he was trying to grow the size of his sword arms again. It swept the ceruledge up. He slid along the bridge, coming to a stop in a puddle.

"Y-You..." Gilgamesh's eye twitched. "Using me, the mighty Gilgamesh, for a cheesy one-liner and striking successfully?!" He held his sword arms at his side. "Ha ha... mwahahahaha! Yes, yes! This is precisely what I wanted! A worthy challenger at last! My blood is pumping!"

Leo didn't like his excitement, but he had to play along, right? That was how the cosmic arceus made it fun. "And I'll do it again!" He shot another Hydro Pump from his forehead, but Gilgamesh was far enough away to dodge, moving to Leo's right.

"It's time! The ultimate technique of the ultimate swordsman!" Gilgamesh raised his bladed arms up. The crystals funneled energy into them. "Behold my power! And my beautiful collection!"

"Attack him while he's charging!" Kieran called.

Nodding, Leo closed the gap a bit to shoot Air Slash blades. But a wall of dark and ghost energy swallowed up his Air Slashes. The energy coalesced over Gilgamesh into four ectoplasmic hands, each one clutching a different sword forged of pitch black energy. One was absurdly blocky and rectangular. Another was a thin blade longer than Leo and Kieran put together. The third was a crystal scimitar and the last was a sword with a sun-shaped hilt.

"What the..." Kieran stepped back. "What sort of attack is that?"

Leo had no idea. And the blades looked terrifying. But moments like these were when he had to trust in the "heart of the cards" or whatever. Gilgamesh wasn't trying to kill him. Just knock him out with a really flashy attack.

"Now, taste the might of Gilgamesh!" The ceruledge's head crystals flashed. And the swords pointed at Leo.

"I'm, uh, all full, thanks!" Leo said, his starcloud tail drooping between his legs.

"Go!" Gilgamesh pointed his right sword arm forward. The blocky sword headed for Leo, slashing furiously at the air in a wild, zigzagging pattern.

"Don't give up! Move back toward me!"

Leo acknowledged Kieran's words with a quick nod, then galloped away. He sounded a bit more enthusiastic than before. Was he taking Leo's suggestion to heart?

"There's no escape from me!"

"The long sword's shooting something at you!" Kieran said, pointing up. Leo looked over his shoulder and saw what looked like black Draco Meteors streaming toward him. The blocky sword was still advancing, too.

"I can't deflect those!" Leo galloped higher into the air. To the point where was struggling to make out Kieran on the ground.

"A fool's errand!" Gilgamesh declared. The scimitar careened toward Leo like a bone club hurled by a marowak. Leo tried blasting it out of the air with a Hydro Pump, but the blade cleaved right through it.

"Eep!" Leo dropped from the air, only for his eyes to widen as the sword with the sun hilt went straight for him.

There was no time to dodge! He had to brace himself and—

The sword struck his head. A squeak reverberated through the open air. Leo stared blankly at the sword. The other three abruptly stopped attacking.

"What?" Gilgamesh was in disbelief. "He shrugged off an attack from the legendary Excalibur?!"

"Wait, like the sword from the Galarian fairy tale about the Darkest Day?" Kieran sounded confused.

Leo looked at the blade's sun hilt and squinted. "Um, this says Excalipoor. Are you sure you're talking about the right sword?"

After several seconds of silence, the ghostly sword vanished in a plume of shadowfire.

"Curses, curses, curses!" Gilgamesh stomped around angrily. "I won't let anyone make a fool out of me! Including myself! Tis no matter! Three swords is still enough to slice you into fence-based confetti!"

The ceruledge pointed at Leo. Gilgamesh's remaining dark swords prepared to go on the offensive again. Leo shot a Hydro Pump at Gilgamesh, who jumped back to dodge it. Then the air around Leo filled up with dark meteors once again.

"There's too many of them!" Leo cried. He galloped right, barely leaping over the scimitar, and stopped over the ocean. He glanced at Kieran, who looked deep in thought.

Then he saw the cosmic arceus over the water and his eyes lit up. "That's it! The answer's been in front of us the whole time! Surf! Flood the bridge!"

Leo's eyes widened, but Kieran was already running back toward the school. The message was clear. He trusted Leo to make this happen.

The cosmic arceus ducked the scimitar, then leaped over the blocky sword. He sprinted through the air over the bridge. When he reached the ocean on the bridge's other side, he drew on the splash plate's energy.

Ocean water that lapped against the pillars suspending the bridge rose higher and higher. The swords had turned around and were shooting across the bridge. But Leo had to hold. Just a bit longer. A biiiiit longer...

"NOW!" Kieran shouted from a distance.

Leo sent the giant wall of water crashing over the bridge's glass wall.

"What the— gaaaaaaaaaaah!"

His improvised Surf swept Gilgamesh up in a wave, flinging the ceruledge around between the two glass walls like a pinball in a machine. The dark swords and their ghostly hands disappeared in bursts of purple and black fire. Leo held his ground, swirling water around between the sides of the bridge until he saw flurries of sparkles and a playing card evaporate into thin air. Then two static streams shot toward the school like arrows.

Leo sent the water racing up the glass walls and crashing back down into the ocean. Gilgamesh spun to a stop in the middle of the ground. Even from his position in the air, Leo could tell Gilgamesh was out cold.

The cosmic arceus drifted back toward the bridge before his flight gave out. He hit the ground hard and staggered forward. "Haah... haaah... certified gameeeeeeer."

"Leo!"

He tensed. That wasn't Kieran's voice. It was Yuna's! And by the time he was able to turn around, the dragapult was right in front of him.

"What did you—" Yuna stopped herself, looking past Leo. "Did you fight that Whisper on your own? What were you thinking?! You could've gotten seriously hurt!" She wrinkled her snout. "You look exhausted and your fur's—"

"Re-hee-lax." Leo took several deep breaths. "I was cooking." He tilted his head right. Kieran was cautiously approaching, gaze mostly focused on Yuna. Leo pointed at him with a forehoof.

"Besides, I wasn't on my own. I had some help."

Kieran stopped his approach. He looked like a deerling in the headlights when Yuna turned to stare him down.

"Me?" Kieran fiddled with his dangling lock of hair. "Well, uh—"

"We were... having fun," Leo said. "That goes for the Whisper, too. He just wanted... a fun battle. And we gave it to him." He glanced at Kieran again. "Right?"

That blank look returned to Kieran's face. "Right. Fun..."

"Oooooogh."

Leo's starry pelt flickered. Gilgamesh was awake already? He turned around to find the ceruledge staggering back to his feet.

"Unbelievable." He approached the glass wall on Leo's right and leaned against it. "To think you bested me, the bladesman of legend!" This time his laugh was much weaker. "Such fiery passion. It's been far too long... since I've had a truly spirited fight." Gilgamesh raised a shaky sword arm. "You must... let me fight you again."

Yuna flew in front of Leo protectively. "No can do. We have important work to do. To stop the dimensions from collapsing on themselves."

"W-What?" Kieran recoiled. "Wowzers, I really am out of my depth, aren't I?"

Gilgamesh stared intently at Yuna. "Enkidu, is that you?"

Leo looked between his mother and Gilgamesh. The dragapult was ready to light him up with Dragon Darts.

"I don't have time to entertain whatever fantasies are floating around your head," Yuna scoffed. She turned to Leo. "We have to seal the dungeon core now. The rifts were unstable on our side, remember?"

Leo winced. Right, he'd nearly forgotten.

"So, let's get a move on. We'll leave that weirdo to Grishi." Yuna opened a rift behind her. She looked at Kieran. "Sorry we can't stick around. But we're on a tight time crunch." She flew into the rift, beckoning Leo along.

He slowly walked toward it, then paused to look at Kieran again. "Thanks." Leo bobbed his head. "For what it's worth, I think you're a good trainer. I hope you can have fun battles again after we leave."

Kieran was mostly focused on the rift. "Right." He nodded slowly. "Fun battles."

Leo wasn't sure he'd get much more out of the kid. He stepped through the rift. As he did, though, he heard one last thing from Kieran.

"Good luck with... whatever your quest is. I'm sure you can succeed!"

XxX

~Vessel of Ruin: Ting-Lu~
The Affirmer sought to recreate the Red Chain. Its power would let Him wield the Original One as an extension of His being. However, such a legend is only strongest within its domain. The Affirmer recognized this. So, He tried to capture legends across different worlds. And when the Renegade interfered, He aimed to forge a Red Chain spanning multiple universes, then bind legends from an unrelated world. For this clash of energies would shatter the domains, unlocking the power over fate itself: Phenomenal Affirmation.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. X: Gilgamesh, the Wheel of Fortune~
A mysterious weapons collector and self-proclaimed bladesman of legend. He was drawn to the dungeon core from an interdimensional rift. His fiery passion helped him seize parts of the core's power for himself, which he used to travel through the anomaly into Eternatus and take the Wheel of Fortune from its previous holder.

It seems he's not truly malevolent. Instead, he seeks a worthy challenger to satisfy his thirst for battle.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The Wheel of Fortune is the tenth tarot card in the major arcana, symbolizing destiny, fortune, success, and luck in its upright position.

Gilgamesh is a recurring joke character and superboss in the Final Fantasy series. In his debut game, he falls into an interdimensional rift toward the end of the story. He has since proceeded to show up in multiple games in the franchise, usually referencing the interdimensional rift.

A frequent technique of his involves wielding weapons from other Final Fantasy games. For this chapter, he summons Cloud's Buster Sword, Sephiroth's Masamune, Odin's Zantetsuken, and Excalipoor. The latter is a running gag weapon associated with Gilgamesh. As a forgery of Excalibur, it deals one damage.

This is the most blatant of this fic's unashamed references. I promise nothing else will be as bad as this one.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 95: Samay Khatam​

Something's wrong.

I've been detecting this... increasing resonance between Dreamweaver and Zodiark. I thought at first it was merely the interplay between the former's power and the latter's knowledge. But a more recent analysis suggests this resonance is far more... antagonistic. My previous hypothesis was that Dreamweaver was simply a well of power. However, it seems like Dreamweaver might actually be some sort of entity like Zodiark.

These two entities feel like they're trying to undermine one another. It's producing... concerning readouts. I must find a way to counter this resonance. Otherwise, I fear the Space Globe may begin to destabilize.

Fortunately, I have an idea. If I can tap into aspects of both Dreamweaver and Zodiark, I may be able to devise a program that can counter their virtual quarreling.

XxX​

Noctum sat on a steel beam, lazily swinging his dangling legs. He looked across the rocky crags and interwoven machinery of Iron Island. Much of the equipment warped and contorted as the anomaly inched forward. It had already grown to encompass half of the island.

And yet, no Eternatus Troopers had shown up. Valkyrie and Jade even found the unconscious victini from the video feed, taken them back to the outpost, and returned to join him without any issue.

Naturally, that meant the garchomp was on guard, pacing back and forth along a rock face and gazing out at the ocean. "Tell me you're at least a bit on edge," Valkyrie growled.

"I am." The cosmic charizard rubbed the back of his head. "Because of the rift. Leo just... dove into it. And our communications are still down, too." Noctum leaned forward slightly. "At least the ocean breeze is nice, though. We don't have that back home."

"Why are we sticking around here, anyway?" Jade sat on the opposite side of the metal beam. She dangled a hard hat from the tip of her tail. "If Leo seals the mystery dungeon, he'll go back to the outpost. Maybe we ought to try and go to Herbrides? That's where the others were supposed to be, right?"

Noctum sat up straight. It wasn't a bad idea...

"Someone has to keep an eye on this this place," Valkyrie huffed. "You're just worried because Yuna's there and she's got your mate in her chest crystal."

She looked down, squinting. "Which is a sentence of all time."

Jade sighed. "Why couldn't he be in my chest instead?"

Noctum tilted his head. "Wouldn't you rather he not be stuck as a spirit?"

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "She was joking, you dork."

"Yeah." Jade brushed a wing along her belly. "This scale-feather mix isn't comfy, anyway. But Cece's floofy chest is soooo dreamyyyyyyy~"

The cosmic charziard looked over his shoulder, hoping for any excuse to stop the conversation before it went further. And he immediately found one when he realized all the metal scaffolding and equipment was back to normal.

"Wait." Noctum's starry tail flame rippled. He flapped his wings once to rise off the steel beam. "The rift is gone!"

Noctum flew forward, scanning the area. There was no static or anything. "Did Leo seal it?"

Valkyrie ran across the steel beam. "Cid, you read us?"

"Ah, I do! Thank goodness!" The orbeetle laughed nervously. "And I'm picking you up with my Dynascan. What happened?"

"Rift disappeared," Valkyrie said, tapping her right foot against the beam. "What's happening in Herbrides? Is your signal back there?"

"I'm afraid not." Cid tittered. "There are plenty of folks here on standby who could go there. I think."

The garchomp frowned. "Have any of them actually been to Herbrides? As far as I know, Leo's the only one who's made rifts to places he doesn't know!"

Noctum's tail flame grew. "I've gone to the Herbrides Lines!" He spun around in midair. "It's not exactly in the city itself, though."

"Good enough!" Valkyrie clapped her claws together. "Let's get some reinforcements at the outpost then head over ASAP."

"Can we get some snacks, too?" Jade flew over to them. "I'm hungry."

Valkyrie glared at her.

"N-Never mind. Quick outpost stop it is."

XxX​

Perhaps Yuna should've expected the dungeon core to take the form of an ethereal graveyard. What else could mix ground, ghost, and dark-types together so effectively? The dragapult floated past rows of black tombstones shaped to resemble everything from gengar to absol to sandaconda.

However, she was too focused on the cosmic arceus trotting ahead of her to care what form the core took. "I asked you a question, Leo. Why did you run off without telling anyone?"

"You were already heading through the rift." Leo shook his head and kept walking. "I thought I sensed that kid in the Terarium. Got a bad vibe." He swished his cosmic mane. "That was right, B-T-dubs."

There was that slang again. Had Leo acted like that the entire time he fought Gilgamesh? "You still could've said you'd catch up with us," Yuna said. "I was worried sick!"

Liar. She'd gotten so preoccupied with Ting-Lu that Leo had practically sipped her mind while fighting it. But he didn't need to hear that.

"Well, like I said. I gamed." Leo's hooves crunched against brown soil. Brown and dark gray glows shimmered a few hundred meters ahead of the cosmic arceus. There was a black void between them. Yuna sure hoped that was the dark-type plate.

"Whisper was friendly, anyway," Leo continued. "Friendly enough, at least. Never in any real danger."

"And you think that excuses it?" Yuna's tail rippled. "Maybe nothing bad happened this time. But what about the next time you pull a stunt like that? We both know how much is at stake he—"

Leo whirled on her, his starry fur flickering. "That's exactly why I had to do this!"

Yuna froze beside a morgrem-shaped tombstone. "What?"

"I'm Arceus." Leo's wheel dimmed. "At the end of the day, I have to fix our world. How can I possibly think I'm capable of doing that if I'm always sitting on the sidelines while you guys do all the fighting?"

"Well, that's—" Yuna stopped. Could she even call Leo a child anymore?

Certainly not based on the way he acted. And what Alder had told her he'd read in his archives, to boot.

"Okay." The dragapult held her hands up. "You've got a point. I guess I hadn't stopped to consider your, uh, changes because of how fast this anomaly popped up and how quickly it was growing. And I treated you like you were still a kid as a result."

Leo stood a bit taller. He had no mouth, but Yuna felt like he was somehow smirking. She sternly crossed her arms.

"With that said, though, you still shouldn't dive into the fray on your own." Yuna floated up to the cosmic arceus and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're a team. Maybe you're the one who has to fix our world. But this," she gestured toward the plates floating ahead of them, "is something you have backup for. You've got to use it."

She straightened up. Was there a comparison that could help Yuna get the message across?

Well, given some of his new behavior...

"Even Gene can't do this stuff on his own. He at least had Cyril before the rest of us came into the picture."

Leo shifted his weight uneasily. "But I had Kieran acting as my trainer..."

He looked down silently. Slowly but surely, guilt bubbled up in the cosmic arceus' eyes. His starry pelt and golden wheel dimmed.

"Aww, man. I almost threw big time, huh?"

Yuna didn't want to ask Leo what that meant. "Let's just agree to learn from this mistake, okay?"

He nodded. "Can I get my plates now?"

"Yeah."

They continued down the graveyard. The pokémon-shaped tombstones shifted to mixtures of dark gray and black. After another minute, they found the three plates floating in midair. A triangle of brown light, dark gray light, and black shadows swirled around them.

"Let's see what they say."

Yuna leaned forward. Her core burned in her chest, as usual. She resisted in order to read the engravings on the three plates.

When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate.

The other side of this world was given by the Original One to its raging third.

Two make matter, and three make spirit, shaping the world.

Yuna backed away. She gave Leo a go-ahead signal with her tail. Leo walked up toward them. The plates' glow reflected off his golden wheel.

One of the engravings was quite clear. And it lined up with Yaldabaoth's claims about being the reverse world's guardian. Of course a giratina would guard a realm that was created for it.

Yuna drew blanks on the other two, though. The shards of what became the ground-type plate? Arceus? Was that why Leo grew with every plate he absorbed?

And that last one... her memories of that Temporal Tower place showed five pokémon wrapped in the Red Chain besides Arceus. What were the odds those were the five that plate referred to?

She threw her up to block flashes of brown and gray light. When Yuna lowered her arm, Leo was now taller than her. Black vapor and gray ectoplasm swirled around his legs while his mane was now made of sand.

"Neat, huh?" Will-O-Wisps spun around Leo's neck.

"Yeah." Yuna tilted her head. "I think you should seal the core, though. It's growing fast, remember?"

"Right." Leo turned around. He traced that familiar pattern of circles, squares, and triangles in the air. "Oh, uh, Mom? About before..."

"Something wrong?"

"I'm staying back this time," Leo said.

Yuna's tail crinkled. "Excuse me?"

"It won't be for long!" Leo said. "I just... I need to try something. It involves that purple koraidon."

"Leo..."

"I'll be quick, I promise." Leo's wheel lit up.

Yuna felt an invisible force grabbing hold of her. "Wait! At least tell me what you're planning!"

"I'm trying to find the guy Vince works for," Leo said as Yuna grew further away from him. "If it doesn't work, I'll bring Vince back with me."

"But how do you know you can get back?"

It was too late, though. Leo became a tiny speck in a matter of seconds, then white light swallowed Yuna up.

XxX​

Seifer's heart pounded in his chest as he passed by familiar buildings, warped and distorted by purple cracks and fissures in the air. To his right, purple light spilled over one of his favorite bakeries, draining the green and white awning over the entrance of its color. The windows shattered and black berries tumbled out onto the street.

"You guys are seeing this too, right?" Artemis used a small plume of water to carry himself past Seifer. "Everything's turning into fruit!"

Static engulfed a cafe a block ahead of the keldeo. The outdoor furniture morphed into asparagus that fell apart while dark gray nanab berries replaced the door handles.

"Yeah." Cyril was ahead of them, his starcloud mane even wilder than usual. "I don't think this is the distortion we were tracking. It's gotta be an anomaly."

Then there must have been a portal somewhere, right? Seifer galloped after Cyril, wincing from berry juice staining his hooves. Screams and footsteps echoed around him. People who were no doubt trying to flee.

"We have to try and direct these people out of the city!" Seifer insisted. Another small rift opened overhead. "Look out!" He slung an Aura Sphere from his horn, blowing apart... more berries.

"Augh!" Juice rained on Cyril. The zoroark's starry mane deflated. "Okay, it's annoying, but not deadly." He tried to shake himself dry, but the juice was too sticky. "I don't know this place well and Cid's not an option."

Artemis dropped to the ground by the fruit and juice-covered cafe. "Isn't there an exit a few blocks north of here?" He gestured forward with a ribbon.

Seifer nodded. "Yes. There's a large road that connects to the byway leading to Tulpise." He galloped past the cafe, scanning the surrounding buildings. Seifer needed higher ground... and a way to project his voice. "I don't suppose you brought any, like, megaphones in your gear, did you?"

Cyril lifted his sticky mane to show his dumbfounded expression. "No? Who brings a megaphone to a scouting mission?"

Fair. Seifer would have to improvise, then. He headed left for a two-story square building relatively untouched save for giant lettuce leaves in place of its windows. Hydro Pumps from Seifer's hooves carried him onto the roof. It was still sturdy.

Most people were moving north already. But there was a lot of confusion. A tauros bucked a marshtomp and quilladin couple out of his way and was about to trample over a family of dedenne. People kept shoving a mandibuzz, stopping her from taking off with her vullaby chick in tow.

This was bad. Even if the rifts were just making fruit, people were getting hurt.

Seifer took a deep breath.

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO REMAIN CALM!"

The shout's intensity surprised Seifer. For a moment, he found himself looking not at the crowded street but at a black void that lit up blue with energy from a furious roar.

"It's Commander Seifer!"

"Is the Radiant Guard here?"​

"I thought he got sacked!"​

"Ow, you're stepping on my tail, you bitch!"

"Then don't shove it in my face!"​

Seifer snapped to attention. Focus.

"I need everyone to head north in an orderly fashion!" The keldeo pointed his right forehoof down the street. "Those of you closest to me, move to Granger Street." He jerked his head back. "Those furthest from me, cross to Bartlett Street." Seifer moved his right forehoof so it pointed at the street behind the buildings opposite him.

"Keep your pace uniform!" Seifer continued. "Larger 'mon have to carry smaller 'mon!" He stomped his forehoof on the street. "Let's go, let's go! No chit chat or dawdling!"

People began to fan out from the street by the office building. Another wall of purple light raced across the area. Seifer suppressed a wince. "Remain calm! We have this under control!" He looked over his shoulder. Cyril and Artemis had managed to climb up a nearby three-story brick building's emergency stairwell. They were on the roof, scanning the sky for signs of trouble.

Seifer nodded to them, then jetted over to the next building north of him with Hydro Pumps. "Keep it up!" he said. The keldeo narrowed his eyes at a skittish ursaring about to barrel into a quagsire. "Hey, Ursaring! No shoving! Carry Quagsire if you have to!"

Another purple wall rippled through the air. This time a rift opened behind Seifer. He saw a large orange roll out onto the street. It would bowl the civilians over if Seifer didn't do something!

The keldeo leaped from the building roof, using Hydro Pumps from his hooves to safely land behind the group of people. He stared down the giant orange. Oh, if only he could still use Secret Sword!

Aura Sphere will have to do! Seifer shot the blue energy ball from his horn. It hit dead center, dimpling the peel and slowing the orange. Seifer shot another one, leaving another dimple.

It was getting closer. Seifer backed away. He shot a third Aura Sphere.

That one did the trick! The peel tore open and large orange slices toppled over.

The Spacial Rend crescents broke apart, warping the void around him.

"Pathetic!" Seifer sneered. "But I'm not surprised. You can't match up to me!"

Loud crashes jolted Seifer. Two orange slices struck the side of the house on Seifer's right, breaking the outer walls and window. The house's foundations surprisingly held, but Seifer didn't want to stick around.

Hydro Pump jets carried him back to the top of the same building he'd jumped off of. Things were quiet. The streets were totally empty! Where were the people?

Cyril was waving him down from the same building as before.

"What happened?" Seifer asked.

"The lot of 'em got levitated away." The cosmic zoroark pointed skyward. "I think Boss Kitty's aware of the situation."

Seifer looked around but saw no signs of a shadowy mewtwo in the area. "He grabbed them from... somewhere else in the city entirely?" That was an impressive and concerning amount of range.

Maybe Starlene is here and powered him up?

Raspy laughter filled the air before Seifer could suggest they head back into the city to find Gene. His blood ran cold. And judging from the flash of panic in Artemis' eyes, the milotic must've realized the same thing.

"We have to go!" Artemis' eyes darted around, trying to find the source.

"Agreed." Seifer galloped toward the edge of the building roof, only to skid to a halt before a small dome of black shadows.

"Seif!" Cyril shouted from the other roof. He and Artemis scrambled for the emergency stairwell.

Chained, chitinous forelegs emerged from the shadows, followed by the rest of Xeromus' cloaked body. His beady gray eyes were unreadable beneath his stone mask.

"The veil is lifting," the helmeted silvally said. He let out a few raucous coughs. "Your shoulders are heavy with the burden of truth. Keh heh." Xeromus sucked in a sharp breath. "An incomplete truth, perhaps. But enough for you to realize just how special you all are. The great potential dwelling within!"

Seifer remained tense. Ready to blast this freak with Hydro Pumps at a moment's notice. Yet Xeromus sounded different this time. He wasn't spouting his usual nonsense about futility.

"We got some folks out of here, but there's trouble!" Cyril shouted, but it didn't sound like he was talking to Seifer. Were the X-transceivers back up? "Something's really wrong here!"

"You clawed your way out toward rebirth to right an egregious wrong," Xeromus continued, eyeing Seifer with interest. Chains scraped the brick rooftop as he slowly paced to the keldeo's right. "You can condemn chaos. You can walk a path of valor toward a bright, eternal future! Guided by the Affirmer!"

That sounded a bit more like his earlier crazy talk. Which was more than enough for Seifer. He shot water jets from his forehooves. Xeromus' cloak bristled and some sort of shadowy canine emerged to swallow the attacks up like they were nothing.

Seifer tensed. Igneous had mentioned a spectral beast. Now that Seifer saw it for himself, though, it looked... a bit similar to Queen Calliope. Except for the almost shield-shaped head.

"Ha ha..." Xeromus shook his head. "I get it. Why trust the word of a lowly omen acting as a stepping stone for everyone to become part of something greater?"

"I don't think you get anything," Seifer countered. "If you did, you'd be fighting whatever forces are doing this to you!" He stomped a forehoof down. "It's Zodiark, isn't it? Just like how they control Whispers! But you're better than that! I know you're capable of doing good, Nova."

"̷̢̳͐Ḭ̸͑̒ ̶̛̺͂a̴̗̔ͅm̸̖̏͝ ̷̹̦̉̄d̷̜͈͝ỏ̷͙̝͌i̶̘̒͘n̴̫͂g̸͙͂ ̶̩͑́g̴͇̋͑ơ̵̝͑ŏ̵̼d̵͎̓.̶̨̄ ̵͋̑͜Y̴̛̦̬o̸̖̓ù̵̖̟r̴͈̮͒ ̸̡̱͗o̴̟̓͐l̴̹̬͋d̵͚͍̈́̈ ̴̨͋̒ș̴̓͑o̸̜̲͝u̸̙̟͒l̶̥͊̄ ̶͓̀̋s̶̛̭i̸͕͐m̸̞͂p̷̦͙̅l̵̢̢̈́͝ỷ̶͉̔ ̵͈̌̈́s̸͇͆i̴̭̒̒ṃ̶̒́p̷̌̍͜l̶͍̾y̶̼̮̎̀ ̴̠̈́ṟ̴̢̓̚ȇ̴̢f̴̙̪͒́u̴̳̬͘ş̷̀e̵̠͔̔̃ş̸̆̕ ̸̲͒t̴̡̍ȯ̸͍̔ ̵͍͎̌ċ̵̫h̴̻̺̒̓ḁ̶̟̀n̸͛ͅg̸͕͘͠e̵̞̍͌͜.̷̰͇̆͆"̶̻͇̿̌

"You're supposed to be better than this!"

Seifer reared up his hind legs. His blue-gray body rippled with a metallic sheen. "Yet time and time again you cause nothing but problems and headaches? Why can you not be still in your pocket and focus on your duty?"

Across from him, Space's pink shoulder gems bristled with energy. "I didn't do anything wrong! You always assume! Rush to conclusions! You're the embodiment of time! Where's your patience?!"

"Seifer, look out!"

Cyril's scream brought the keldeo to attention. Yellow crystals emerged from a larger specter behind Xeromus. Seifer dove to his right. The crystals struck the brick roof and shattered. Seifer scrambled to the edge of the roof, barely dodging yellow sparks.

Electricity? He looked at Xeromus, who had stepped to the side to reveal the familiar four-legged cloud monster from Tulpise. Its legs were now completely covered in those strange crystals. Were they responsible for the lightning?

"Tum sachmuch badle nahi ho."

The cloud daemon's body rippled. A larger version of Leo briefly appeared in its place, with pristine white fur instead of Leo's starry, blue-purple pelt. Then it melted away, revealing the cloud daemon now had a crystal wheel around its torso. Just like Leo's.

The Creator stared down at Seifer in disapproval. Golden light poured down from the heavens.

"It's not my fault!" Seifer cried. "It's Palkia! It's always Palkia!"

Seifer caught a yellow flash out of the corner of his eye. He fired Hydro Pumps and blasted the yellow crystals away.

"Get away from him!" Cyril growled. He and Artemis had gotten up on the same roof. The cosmic zoroark tossed a Shadow Ball toward the cloud daemon. Xeromus' cloak bristled, however. The spectral wolf reappeared and swallowed the shadow ball in its wispy maw.

"Your mind is struggling," Xeromus said. His gaze was firmly fixed on Seifer. As was the cloud daemon. "But there is not as much to reconcile between past and present as you think. Your vanity. Your arrogance. Your sins. They are the same now as they were before."

"Don't listen to him," Cyril scoffed. Ghostly energy swirled around his mane. "They're just trying to distract us. Because it's all they can do."

"Right!" Seifer reared up, pointing one foreleg toward Xeromus and the other toward the cloud daemon. No way Xeromus could block both the Hydro Pumps that followed at once, right?

Sure enough, the wolf appeared to protect the cloud daemon, leaving Xeromus to get doused. He stood tall, however, shaking his helmeted head.

A colorless crystal sprouted from the rooftop, stopping scalding hot water from hitting the cloud daemon's left side. Artemis shrank back, curling up his ribbons.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"It's so tragic." Xeromus took ragged breaths. "All this time apart. You'd think you'd recognize your creator. The rightful arceus of this world."

The gems on the cloud daemon's legs turned yellow. Stormy clouds formed over the roof.

"Move!" Seifer barked, waiting until he saw yellow flashes overhead to dash left. He barely skirted the lightning bolts that followed. Cyril had managed to yank Artemis out of the way, too.

Seifer stepped out of the rift, eyeing the small contingent of humans standing in their temple dedicated to the Creator.

He eyed the small sphere in the black-haired girl's hand. Palkia was inside the thing. He was sure of it.

Foolishness. Utter foolishness. Palkia let a human capture them?

Then Seifer was right. He was the better of the two. And now he would prove it!

He roared. Multicolored light poured out in a dome around the temple.

"Down, Seif!"

The keldeo dropped to his belly. Yellow gemstones whizzed over him. Static ran down the tip of his horn. His mane puffed out a bit.

"The truth is right in front of you!" Xeromus spat. "And yet you're happy to blindly follow the status quo! To let chaos reign and follow Giratina's lead!" There was a flicker of... something in Xeromus' beady gray eyes, but Seifer wasn't sure what.

"Why else would you feed Arceus' power to some pretender?"

Seifer fired an Aura Sphere from his horn. Cyril and Artemis followed his lead, adding a Shadow Ball and Scald stream.

Another large colorless crystal emerged from the ground to deflect the attacks, then quickly disappeared.

"Tumhara ghamandh tumhara ant hoga."

Palkia emerged from the ball and guarded the humans against Seifer's Roar of Time. The roof and pillars of the temple exploded. Marble debris tumbled down the mountain.

The humans looked to Palkia with admiration. Even the one with blue hair — who had offered Seifer prayers so many times before — looked aghast at his actions.

He wouldn't stand for this! Seifer absorbed the lingering energy around him. His body morphed and twisted, gradually resembling the Creator's form.

Seifer was better. He would show these humans that Time was superior to Space!

"It's tragic." Xeromus' raspy laughter carried across the rooftop. "In the end, you still haven't learned to swallow your pride and put others before yourself. Time truly is a flat circle."

The cloud da— no, Arceus' leg crystals were turning yellow again.

"You're wrong, Nova!"

Seifer's neck prickled at Cyril's harsh interjection. The zoroark's starcloud mane rippled.

"He's not selfish! Far from it!" Cyril had a Shadow Ball in each hand. He tossed one toward Arceus and the other toward Xeromus. "He's here, isn't he? Putting his life on the line to try and save this world!"

Crystals and the spectral wolf easily stopped Cyril's attacks before they could hurt their targets.

"Hell, he was working to get the people here to safety!" Cyril continued. "And that's after this kingdom treated him like dirt and his shitty dad and uncle all but disowned him! If that's not selfless, I don't know what is!"

While Cyril spoke, Seifer saw Artemis slithering along the side of the roof. The milotic managed to sneak in a small Scald that splashed against Arceus' left foreleg crystal. It staggered back. A distorted hiss filled the air.

Seifer winced. Artemis flickered in and out with the silhouette of a blue-haired human.

The keldeo's breath caught in his throat.

"Akari's right." The blue-haired man looked at Seifer, arms crossed. "You have to bury the hatchet with Palkia." He scratched the back of his head. "Much like we ought to do with the Pearl Clan."

"You can lead them by example," the black-haired girl said, patting Seifer's metallic foreleg.

Arceus roared once again. A harsh wind whipped up across the rooftop. Seifer dug his hooves in to stay rooted to the ground as best he could, but he was unprepared for Xeromus' chains unraveling from his legs and slashing at him repeatedly.

"Aggggh!" Seifer's legs buckled. The winds pushed him back. He tried to call out to Cyril and Artemis. The cosmic zoroark was on all fours, digging his claws into the brick and gritting his teeth.

"Heeeelp! Heeeeeeeeelp!"

Artemis was pinned against the far corner of the roof. Arceus had turned to the milotic, lightning crackling around its crystals.

"Arte— nngh!"

Xeromus chains sliced at Seifer's torso. Blue fur dropped to the ground, followed by red splotches.

"Seif!"

The wind was howling. Cyril's mane muffled his cries. Thunderclouds gathered over Arceus and Artemis. The milotic's eyes were full of dread.

Full of dread... like the day he failed to stand up for Artemis. The day Vortex kicked him out of Horizon Academy. The day Artemis lost his future.

The blue-haired man looked at his transformation with eyes full of dread.

Seifer galloped forward. Through the pain and the wind. He saw the yellow light forming overhead.

"Tum kismat se ladh nahi sakte!"

"SEIFER, NO!"

The keldeo summoned a Protect shield and leaped into the air. At first, it held against the massive lightning surge. Artemis had managed to slip out from underneath Seifer.

Then the shield shattered.

(Art by Raph)

Yellow flooded Seifer's vision. His prosthetic horn was a veritable lightning rod funneling the electricity through him. Pure agony drew the briefest of screams.

Giratina's Earth Power toppled Seifer, taking the last of his strength with him. As his vision blurred, he saw the other human — the one whose hair resembled the Creator's — smirking at him. Practically laughing at his failure.

Purple shadows spread across him. A mask of the creator's wheel covered his face.

"Defeated again, Dialga. Because that is your fate."

The horrifying pain stopped. Seifer managed one final, ragged breath, before the last of his consciousness was plunged into an endless black abyss.

XxX

~Resurgent Creator: Dreamweaver Risen~
Red Chain in hand, the Affirmer believed a world without humans would provide refuge from the Renegade. Yet still, they tailed Him. He remained in hiding, biding His time until the Renegade took pity on a dying riolu. While they were preoccupied, He unleashed the Red Chain on that world's creators.

Salvation was within reach, only to be denied at the last second when the Renegade lashed out.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
"Samay khatam" is Hindi for "out of time."
"Tum sachmuch badle nahi ho" is Hindi for "you haven't really changed."
"Tumhara ghamandh tumhara ant hoga" is Hindi for "your pride will be your end."
"Tum kismat se ladh nahi sakte" is Hindi for "you cannot fight fate."

Thanks to ExplosiveTurkey for his help with the Hindi translations. And lastly, a handy chart to show those of you who made it this far where things stand.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 96: Red Lupus​

Simple code alone isn't going to be enough to mediate Dreamweaver and Zodiark. I thought a program could work against them, but they both seemed to adapt to my first few builds. What manner of construct are they? Could they be artificial intelligences?

AI is mostly speculative right now. But given how much power the Space Globe has, I think the solution is to effectively counterbalance their ever-evolving states with one of my own. An AI that will mediate these two.

Trying to make something of that magnitude from scratch would prove difficult, however. And I don't believe I have the luxury of taking my time with it. So, I'll use myself as the basis for this AI. It should be doable with the Space Globe's power.

This time I'll succeed. I have to succeed.

XxX​

For once, Igneous listened to someone else's cries not to rush ahead. He stayed with Gene and the others rather than flying off in desperate search of Cyril, Seifer, and Artemis. True to his word from earlier, Gene went about levitating large swathes of people outside the city. At least, the ones that hadn't already been taken by the robot cramorant the pirates left behind to help.

Some wattrel and kilowattrel Whispers emerged from rifts toward the northern side of the city, which Igneous and Widget focused on. They used dual Flamethrowers to shatter the birds before they could pepper Gene with lightning. Even Scarlett helped. Starlene put Light Screens up and deflected stray Thunderbolts from a couple of extra kilowattrel that spawned higher in the sky, leaving Widget to snipe them down with Flamethrowers.

"I think that's the brunt of it," Gene declared between shaky breaths. Pink mist evaporated off his hands and glowing eyes.

Igneous glanced down. A rainbow of fruit juice was splattered across buildings. And oversized berries littered some of the streets. There wasn't anyone in sight, though. Barbarossa was flying along Herbrides' outskirts south of the group. It had that part of the city handled, in Igneous' opinion.

"We should get going." The grovlazzle's wings buzzed. "They were covering the north, right?"

Before Gene could answer, yellow flashes erupted in the distance.

"Northwest!" Widget's head crest crackled with static. "Are those thunderclouds? They're so concentrated."

"That's gotta be them," Igneous said. "Come on!"

"On it." Gene shot toward the sparking clouds. Igneous flew after the shadowy mewtwo, ducking and weaving around a couple of rifts that opened and shot glowing iapapa berries to his left and right.

More lightning erupted in the same spot as before. This time, though, Igneous heard screams.

"Shit!" Gene's tail lashed at the air. "Cyril? Cyril!" He shot forward in a blaze of blue and pink energy.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Widget's thrusters erupted in flames, carrying him after Gene. Igneous followed behind them.

Gene suddenly dove out of the air.

"What did you do, Nova? What did you do?!"

A deafening crack filled the air, followed by an intense burst of wind. Igneous struggled to stay upright. A yelp behind him suggested Scarlett fared similarly.

Igneous steadied himself and continued forward, only for his eyes to widen.

Gene floated upside down over Xeromus, spoon stalemated against a black barrier. And the cloud daemon — it had a crystal wheel just like Leo's now — loomed over a scorched, smoldering body.

... A body with the broken remnants of a metal horn next to it.

"Me? A worthless omen like me only has one role to play in your lives," Xeromus said. His cloaked shoulders tensed and Gene was forced to back off. "He's the one who martyred himself! He let his past swallow him up, just as the Affirmer predicted!"

Electricity crackled in the cloud daemon's leg gems. Cyril was running toward the body. He was going to get shocked if Igneous didn't do something.

"Get back!" the grovlazzle shouted. Though he couldn't tear his eyes from the burnt body, he thrust his right arm forward. Igneous' honedge husk flew toward the cloud daemon's right hind leg. It turned its head. Lightning vaporized Honedge, but Igneous rolled right and spewed flames from his mouth at the daemon. And a Thunderbolt came flying in from his left, courtesy of Widget.

"Seifer! Seifer, hang on!" Cyril practically draped himself over the scorched keldeo. Tears blurred his yellow eyes.

There was no way Seifer was still alive, right? There wasn't a single patch of untouched fur on his pelt.

The grovlazzle landed beside them while Widget headed for the cloud daemon. What could Igneous do here? What was the team player move?

It was getting Cyril and Seifer away from here, right?

But Igneous couldn't carry them both. And what about Artemis? The milotic was coiled up on the opposite corner of the roof, staring at Seifer in abject horror.

"Damn it, Nova! It's not supposed to be like this!" Gene snarled. Psystrike orbs surrounded the helmeted silvally. But Xeromus' chains unfurled and slashed away at the orbs before they could strike him.

Igneous winced. Considering how aggressive he'd been toward Xeromus in the past, he could scarcely imagine what was going through Gene's head.

But this wasn't the time for offense. For once... they had to hold back.

"Gene! Gene!" Igneous waved the shadowy mewtwo down. The cloud daemon tried to shoot lightning at him, but Widget barreled into it. Somehow, despite the gaseous form, Widget forced the cloud daemon off the roof and across the street onto the wrecked house a block north of him.

"You're dealing with me!" Widget declared. In a flash of white light, miraivally turned to reshivally. Blue flames erupted on that house rooftop.

"What?" Gene snapped at Igneous, slashing furiously against another black shield Xeromus conjured.

"We have to go!" Igneous gestured at the sobbing zoroark. "Seifer needs medical attention! You're the only one who can levitate them and open rifts!"

"He's dead!"

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked with purple energy. What was up with his voice just then?!

"Look at him! No one survives an injury like that!" He summoned his spoon once again. "I have to do this! I made a promise!"

The shadowy mewtwo dove down. Xeromus' gray eyes flickered with interest.

"Gene, please!" Igneous charged forward. Xeromus couldn't stop two strikes from opposing sides, right? Another black shield formed to deflect a swing of Gene's blackened spoon. Igneous readied his Leaf Blades, only to yelp when the red wolf emerged behind Xeromus. He barely had enough time to conjure Honedge and deflect swipes of the wolf's spectral claws.

"No. I can't— I won't—" Gene tried to force the spoon forward, but Xeromus' barrier held firm. Igneous' wings carried him back to Cyril's side. The wolf didn't give chase.

Something was clearly wrong here. Gene's attacks looked like that weird beam Nikki mentioned seeing Gene fire in Wyndon. But why were Xeromus' barriers giving off the same dark smoke?

"Then let me stay back!" Igneous said. He glanced right and saw Scarlett was still hovering a couple of blocks away. "Widget and I can hold the line with a little help. At least until you get them somewhere safe!"

Fire and lightning swirled around the house on Igneous' left. The reshivally was racing around, dodging yellow crystals that burst into explosive lightning.

"What will you do, Gene?" Xeromus' raspy laughter filled the air. "Tend to that old failure... or keep your promise?" He raked his claws across the brick roof. "Come on! Let me drive you to even greater heights! You and the rest of this tragic world!"

"Don't listen to him!" Igneous said. He darted forward again, knees crouched as he expected the wolf to pop up again. When he saw the red flashes, the grovlazzle sprang up and spewed flames from his mouth. They washed across the top of the wolf's head and its growls filled the air. Igneous hovered higher to keep his distance.

"Nova's still in there! I'm sure he's fighting!" Igneous looked between Gene and Cyril. The cosmic zoroark hadn't budged from lying over Seifer's burnt body. "But every second we waste here won't help Seifer! Cyril's your friend, too! Don't you know what he's feeling right now?"

Gene Phantom Warped right past Xeromus and Igneous. "Fine! You better keep them both here!"

"Wh— hey!"

ESP yanked a startled Artemis into the air. Gene dragged him away along with Cyril and Seifer.

Igneous summoned Honedge again. "Starlene, we need your singing!"

"You got it!" the latias chirped from several meters behind the grovlazzle.

Starlene's music filled the air for all of a second, before a playing card materialized over Xeromus' helmeted head. Igneous saw an "XV" on it for a moment before the red wolf completely engulfed Xeromus. A distorted howl filled the air.

"Agggggh!" Igneous' wings fizzled out, sending him falling toward the roof.

His fur and chitin burst apart. Igneous' volcarona body fell from the air. What had happened to him? Why did he feel so weightless?

"Go now." Zodiark walked beside his fallen body. "You know exactly what to do: find a strong soul. And have the battles you so desperately want."

Igneous hit the corner of the roof. He sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. Igneous fell to the ground with a heavy thud and rolled across the dirt.

"Nnngh. Oww..." The grovlazzle grabbed his right shoulder in pain.

"Ha ha ha... haaahaaahaaahaaa!"

(Art by Raph)

The dusty ground trembled. Xeromus landed on the opposite side of the street. The red wolf still surrounded him. Xeromus' gray eyes shimmered from within the silhouette.

"He... lp. Scar... let..." Igneous tried to get to his feet but God his arm and legs hurt.

"Something's wrong!" The dragonair was flying panicked circles overhead. "I... I can't summon Starlene!"

Igneous' eyes widened.

"I won't let you perpetuate this world's stagnation!" Xeromus' voice was much deeper than before. And the wolf's spectral mouth moved in time with his words. The wolf slammed its forepaws into the ground. Shards of stained glass erupted like Stone Edge spires.

Move, move, MOVE! Igneous told himself. The grovlazzle fought through the pain and managed to scramble left, even avoiding the wolf charging through the stained glass spires with a red, shield-shaped aura.

Igneous' breath caught in his throat. A shield-shaped canine. He'd heard about that from one of the others, hadn't he? Think, Igneous, think!

It wasn't coming to him in the heat of battle, though. If he could just get Xeromus talking. The guy never shut up anyway.

"That card... so you are with the empire!" Igneous accused. He spewed a Flamethrower at Xeromus, but it was swallowed up by the same black shield as Gene's previous attacks.

For a moment, Xeromus froze. "No, I—"

That softer voice was cut off. Xeromus jerked his head right. "Of course you'd make that conclusion," he said.

Igneous tensed. That brief hesitation... and the loss of that strange, guttural backing to his voice. Then Nova really was in there. And something had a hold of him. A power similar to what Gene had just used. But the mewtwo could control it, while the opposite was true for Nova. Still, there had to be a way to free him. If Gene could do it, why couldn't Nova?

Xeromus' chains rattled on his forelegs. The red wolf returned to cover him. Xeromus slowly walked into the middle of the street. Igneous matched his movements, keeping a dozen meters between them. Sparks and flames crackled in the air northeast of him as Widget flew circles around the cloud daemon.

"Anything to fit that stale narrative. Justify repeating your past mistakes." Xeromus' gray eyes flickered. The spectral wolf lunged for Igneous, slashing with shadowy claws. Igneous jumped back to avoid the first swipes, then parried the next two with Honedge. He drove the blade into the red wolf's wispy chest as it readied for a third strike.

It broke into red mist that swirled back toward Xeromus. Igneous glanced up. Scarlett wasn't flying around anymore. She must've landed on a roof. "Keep trying to get Starlene back!" Igneous begged.

He kept Honedge at his side. "I don't know what mistakes you're talking about, Nova."

"You can lie to yourself all you want. We both know the truth!" Xeromus said. He and Igneous continued to circle around one another in the intersection. "That emperor is a nobody. A bit player. His choices are meaningless. Unlike yours."

"What are you talking about?" Igneous spewed Bullet Seeds at Xeromus' mask. Then he dove right and switched to a Flamethrower. Xeromus opted to block the second strike. Bullet Seeds peppered his mask. Tiny thunks rang out in the air.

"How disappointing." Xeromus shook his head. "To be one of the privileged few blessed with a second life... only to waste it defending this backwards world."

"The past is the past!" Igneous shot a single fireball. He dashed left and shot a second, then banked right and went for a full Flamethrower.

"Guardian!" Xeromus hunched over and the red wolf emerged before with another guttural snarl. Stained glass Stone Edges erupted all around Xeromus to deflect Igneous' flames. Then the wolf smashed the glass shards, filling the air with them.

"Shit!" Igneous charged forward, slashing wildly with Honedge. Plinks and dings littered the air. His head leaf burned. Red, spectral paws were swinging at him. Rather than parrying, however, Igneous slid along the dusty ground. The swipes went over his head. Igneous swung Honedge wildly. It collided against one of Xeromus' chained forelegs. He toppled onto his side.

"Please help..."

The grovlazzle heard the voice for all of a second before the spectral wolf howled. It lunged for the grovlazzle from behind, slamming into him and knocking him down a side street. By the time Igneous managed to get back to his feet, so had Xeromus.

"You've let the past deceive you into thinking you're doing the right thing when you're only continuing this cycle of stagnation!" Xeromus declared. "You know better. The universe is fundamentally flawed. The reverse and normal worlds twisted and broken."

Xeromus jerked his head left. "Don't... listen..."

He jerked his head right again. Igneous' eyes widened. Was this fight making a difference? Did Igneous need to keep pressuring Xeromus' corrupted state in order to free Nova?

"You can't save this world!" Xeromus hissed. "To 'save' it is to damn it to a protracted demise!"

"That's not true!" Igneous glanced up. Still no signs of Starlene, but plenty of fire and lightning from far to his left. At least that meant Widget was still standing. "We're going to fix everything!"

"By feeding the Creator's power to a false idol?" Xeromus descended into hysterical, wheezing laughter. "The true Creator is with me! Arceus Dreamweaver defends themselves from that toy you call your friend."

He thrust his helmeted head upward. His guardian mirrored the gesture. The cloud daemon raced overhead, outrunning a Blue Flare that exploded behind it. Widget emerged from the smoke, then turned left to trail after the thing that Xeromus was calling Dreamweaver.

Igneous seized his opening, charging forward with a burst of speed from his fiery wings. He closed the gap in seconds and struck Xeromus' right side with his Leaf Blades.

"Liar! You're the one screwing everything up!" the grovlazzle growled. He jumped away from the spectral wolf's retaliatory swipes, landing on a corner of the intersection. "Keep fighting, Nova! I can hear you!"

"Dreamweaver exists for the Affirmer to wield!" Xeromus said. "To forge the Eternaverse!"

He locked eyes with Igneous. "Giratina drives you to repeat the past. Continue an endless cycle of chaos that ensnares all worlds in suffering and uncertainty. Dangles the sword of oblivion over their heads. So that no matter how good life may seem now, there is a guarantee of future agony!"

Stained glass Stone Edges again erupted from the ground. With his wings back, Igneous could safely fly over them. The red wolf leaped skyward this time. Igneous barely managed to roll left of the shield-shaped red blur as it streaked past.

His head leaf and tails caught fire. A lightbulb went off in his head. And maybe it could reach Nova...

"Zamazenta!" Igneous blurted out. "Your guardian... is your old resistance teammate!"

Xeromus' gray eyes brightened a bit. The red wolf returned to surround him in an instant. Igneous hastily landed back on the ground, fearing that distorted howl that took away his wings earlier.

"This is... all because of Zodiark, isn't it?" Igneous said. He summoned Honedge again to be on the safe side. "But you don't really believe them, do you? Why else would you leave Gene that recording telling him to take up your mantle?"

There was a brief flicker of sadness— no, longing in Xeromus' eyes. But he quickly jerked his head left, then right.

"That was when I was still in denial!" Xeromus countered. Zamazenta's specter lunged for Igneous once again, but the grovlazzle rolled forward to dodge. He threw Honedge, then scrambled left toward the opposite corner of the intersection.

A crunch filled his ear frills. Igneous skidded to a halt just as his honedge husk hit the ground and dissolved away. Xeromus continued staring at the intersection corner where Igneous had been.

"I'm sorry." The softer voice was louder than before. "I can't... control it. You have to... stop me..."

Then he slowly turned toward the grovlazzle... revealing a crack in the center of his mask.

"Nova! Listen to me, please!" Igneous begged. Some of the mask was broken. He was hearing Nova. He was getting through whatever Zodiark did to him. Maybe Nova didn't need to control this corruption like Gene could. Not if Igneous could free him! With just a little bit more effort—

Xeromus' cloak rippled and shadows swarmed his body.

"Keh heh... haaah..." Xeromus hunched over. Zamazenta reemerged again with another distorted howl. Igneous dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his ear frills.

Nova and Zamazenta roared in pain as the Red Chain dragged them together. Brown stone grew over the former's face while the latter dissolved into red mist. The mist draped itself over Nova's cape, shredding apart the fabric and darkening it from turquoise to a deep blue.

"I don't care who you are!" an unfamiliar female voice shouted. "Such beautiful power... belongs to me!"

"Ahaahaa!" Xeromus sucked in a sharp breath. "Haahaahaahaahaaa!" He smacked the ground with a foreleg. "There's nobody for you to 'save!' Just like there's nothing in this world to save! The only salvation lies with the Affirmer!"

Before Igneous could get back to his feet, however, a black and purple blur rushed in from above and slammed into Xeromus. A burst of wind and dust blew Igneous down the road. When the dust settled, a shadowy mega mewtwo stood with his back to the grovlazzle. Black sparks danced around the crystals in each of his shoulders.

"So that's what happened," Gene said, fists raised. "Zodiark made you a shadow pokémon, didn't he?!"

Shadow pokémon? Igneous struggled to get back up. It sounded like Gene knew exactly what the problem was. But that was good! That meant he was bound to know a solution, right?

A red blur leaped onto the roof of a building to Gene's left. Xeromus emerged from the blur, staggering across the roof and coughing loudly.

"We can fix it, Nova!" Gene shot into the air. "Please, you have to let me—"

Zamazenta's specter lunged for Gene, knocking him out of the air. Gene landed upright on the ground, skidding back toward Igneous.

"There are... no loopholes here..." Xeromus sucked in sharp breaths. Igneous lost sight of him, so he sprinted to Gene's side. "There's only one end for someone like me."

The helmeted silvally looked around, thrashing his head back and forth. "Nnnnnnrrgghhh. But it's not time. It can't happen yet."

Eyes widening, Igneous took to the skies. "He's gonna flee!"

Gene rocketed past the grovlazzle, but he was too late. His psychic waves grabbed nothing but black wisps. Xeromus was gone.

A squawk rang out behind Igneous. He turned to see Widget stumble on a slanted brick roof two blocks north. The reshivally took to the air before he would have tumbled off the building. He looked around in confusion.

"Where'd it go?!" Widget caught Igneous' gaze. "Don't tell me..."

Igneous bowed his head. "They got away."

"And what about the others?" Widget looked past Igneous.

Gene stared silently at the spot on the roof where Xeromus had been. "Ran into Zardy and Chompy and passed them off. They should be back at the outpost." He slowly landed on that building roof. Gene's mega evolution vanished in swirls of black and purple.

"What were you talking about at the end, there?" Igneous asked, swooping down to land next to Gene. "Shadow pokémon? The hell's that mean?"

"Not now."

"Excuse me?"

Gene held up his glowing right hand. "Not. Now."

He walked a few paces away from Igneous and tapped the side of his head. "Can anyone read me? Are comms back?"

Igneous tapped the side of his head in time to hear Cid say, "... Got your signal! And not a moment too soon!"

"What?" Widget landed to Igneous' left. He shifted back to his cosmic form, panting heavily. "What's that supposed to mean, more trouble?"

"Unfortunately." Cid tittered. "Something's happened in Dazzels. Vegna was able to help us open a rift there, but I have no idea what we're looking at. Some sort of giant charizard with wings of fire!"

"We can't..."

That was Scarlett. Good, she sounded okay. Igneous looked right to find the dragonair gliding down to the roof. She folded up her wings and landed between him and Gene.

"My head hurts." Scarlett coiled up, tiny wings folding over her neck bauble. "I'm—"

"These guys with me aren't in any state to keep fighting," Gene said. "We'll regroup with you back at the outpost first." He looked at the others. "That sound good?"

Igneous nodded. His head was positively spinning from all of this. There was no way he'd be able to help.

But if it was Dazzels, did that mean this had something to do with Shimmer? Was this why the ponyta had ditched them back in the mall?

The different thoughts swirled around in Igneous' head as he stumbled toward the rift that Gene had opened in the middle of the roof.

XxX​

Leo reappeared by the Terarium's core. With the static gone, he got a full course of brilliant gold and silver light. The cosmic arceus galloped through the air, blinking stars out of his vision. He wondered how anyone could perform maintenance on the core with it shining so bright.

Eh, not important.

He was totes winging this. Which meant he'd have to tread carefully here, especially after he told Yuna to trust him.

Leo's gut check was good, though. This was going to work.

... Okay, it had a fifty-fifty shot of working. But Leo was still going to try and do everything he could to bolster those odds.

First step was locating Vince. Leo stayed close to the Terarium dome. The artificial sky was actually no brighter up close than it was on the ground. Some sort of weird human trickery, no doubt.

Now, where had that purple koraidon gotten off to? The team had left him somewhere in the savannah biome, if Leo recalled. Had he stayed there?

Leo trotted toward the southern part of the dome, only to stop when a familiar zoroark-mewtwo mishmash popped in front of him in a blue flash.

"What Leo still doing here?" Grishi rested his right cheek against his right wrist. He sheathed and unsheathed his glowing orange claws. "Leo think Grishi blind? Core is gone. Leo should be gone."

Crud! Leo wasn't counting on Grishi actually sticking around. He figured Grishi had better things to do with his time.

"I, uh—" The cosmic arceus brushed his forelegs together nervously. He had to think of something before this opportunity slipped through his hooves. And Vince along with it.

Wait, didn't Grishi know Vince was an Overseer?

At least, some of his early comments sounded that way. Then that was Leo's way in.

"Okay, look." Leo walked through the air to Grishi's side. "That koraidon Overseer guy? I think he's hiding stuff that we need to know to help our world." He looked down. A flock of vullaby and mandibuzz were flying below the duo. "And my vibe check says since we pulled him into this world, his boss is going to come and find him. Then we can really get some answers."

Grishi raised a brow. Did he not believe Leo, even though he was telling the truth?

"So, seerseer fish you want to use to catch bigger fish." Grishi nodded slowly. His fuzzy tail lazily swished back and forth. "Fine."

"Fine?" Leo tilted his head.

"Grishi will help."

Leo's starcloud mane and tail sparkled. "Really?"

"Yes. Because Leo has precious little time."

"E-Excuse me?" The hell was that supposed to mean? Leo wasn't dying. And his plates were keeping him anchored to this world for now.

Grishi put his right paw on Leo's right shoulder. "Bigger fish here already. With human from before. Come."

And before Leo could get another word in, his world twisted around. The spiral of colors was... actually not as disorienting as last time. Maybe it was the extra power from more plates? Or perhaps Grishi was just better at teleporting others when there were fewer people involved?

Either way, Leo's golden hooves landed on freshly cut green grass.

"... As I don't want to admit it, I get it."

That was Kieran! Leo looked up to find the kid a few dozen meters away, twirling his dangling lock of black and purple hair and repeatedly tapping his foot.

"I guess... I thought loving Ogerpon meant I was entitled to have her as a partner." Kieran's shoulders sagged. "But that's not how it works. A good trainer's... gotta consider their pokémon's feelings."

He fixed his gaze on ninetales with snowy, blue-white fur. Gilgamesh was there, too, but appeared to be fast asleep.

And the ice ninetales... stood beside Vince! That had to be Vince's boss, then!

Leo turned to Grishi, but the zorotwo was nowhere to be found. Instead, Vince met his gaze and the purple koraidon's eyes widened. He tugged on Ninetales' leftmost tails.

Suddenly a heavy pressure weighed Leo down. He couldn't even manage to cry out, because Leo fell right over on his face.

"Huh? Wait, I thought you hated me!" Kieran continued. Leo tried to pull himself upright, but the pressure was too intense. Was it ESP?

Oh, he had the dread plate now! He just had to focus on its power and... nothing. Leo still couldn't get up. What the hell kind of power was this? No way that was just a simple ice ninetales!

"A Z-Crystal?" Kieran sounded confused, but Leo couldn't see what was happening. "I've read about them, but— hmm?"

Leo squirmed on the ground. It did no good. Damn it, Grishi! I thought you wanted to help!

"Just press it to my head when the time's right?" Kieran asked. "Uhh, I guess I can manage that. But how will I know when that time is?"

The cosmic arceus reached out to as many of his plates as he could and he still couldn't fight against the intense force pinning him down. His legs were locked. Leo kept tasting dirt with every attempt at moving.

"Okay. Then I'll—"

Kieran was suddenly cut off. The pressure on Leo faded in an instant. He scrambled to his feet to find Grishi floating where Kieran had once stood.

"Long time no see, seerseer," the zorotwo said. His tail curled and uncurled. "Think you have something that belongs to Grishi and friend." He jerked his head at Vince, then at Leo.

Ninetales' tails puffed out. His eyes shimmered gold for a brief instant, only for a purple aura to crackle around Grishi.

"Ah, ah." Grishi wagged his left index digit at Ninetales. "This Grishi's domain, too. Seerseer helped with that, remember? No using borrowed power to run."

Leo's wheel flickered. Was Grishi implying he was a god for this world? That'd certainly explain why he knew about Overseers.

He didn't care about the previous history, though. It was time to act. Even if that action was just blurting stuff out.

"Who are you?!" Leo galloped toward Ninetales and Vince. "What are you and Vince doing to my world? Why won't he tell us what's really going on?!"

Ninetales finally acknowledged Leo with a bewildered look. His tails frazzled even after he managed to put on a straight face.

"It's not something you need to know," Ninetales said.

"Then why did you give Kieran something?" Leo countered. He took another step toward them. If Grishi was keeping them in place somehow, Leo could definitely get answers.

"It's a contingency," Ninetales responded. He spoke concerningly fast. Had he said that without thinking? "You're doing a good job, so I don't think we'll even need it. You just have to keep sealing up the mystery dungeons."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "Why would you have come here if you knew I was sealing this dungeon?" He made his wheel glow with orange fighting energy.

"Grishi thinks seerseer should answer," the zorotwo mused. A wry grin crept across his face.

"Look, I can't, okay?" Ninetales barked, huffing out frosty air.

Vince stepped away, biting his lower lip. "Boss..."

"Don't." Ninetales held two tails up in Vince's direction. The purple koraidon shrank down. Ninetales shook his head. His tails kept twitching. Some sort of nervous tick? "I'd love to tell you what's going on. Really. But I just... can't. Because if I do, it could screw up all the hard work you're doing."

Leo's mane and tail dimmed. What was that supposed to mean? The truth could help the resistance, right?

"Please," Ninetales whispered. "You have to trust me."

"That tall order for complete stranger," Grishi scoffed. He clapped his hands together. "Grishi propose deal instead. Seerseer leave sad, sorry korkor with Leo. Then can go back to being troublemaker like before."

"What?!" Vince's antennae unfurled into feathery wings, then wrapped themselves back up. "No deal! You can't possibly—"

Ninetales hung his head. "Okay."

"Seriously, dude?!" Vince whirled on Ninetales, looking like someone had stolen his lunch. "You can't leave me with them. I'm not in battle mode. I'm useless like this!"

Sighing, Ninetales put a foreleg on Vince's right shoulder. "If you were strong enough to go poking around in Ginnungagap behind my back, then you're strong enough to get your battle mode working again."

Vince shrank back, whimpering.

"Seerseer shake on deal?" Grishi said.

Ninetales turned and extended a foreleg to Grishi, who shook his head. "Shake with Leo." He pointed at the cosmic arceus.

Leo stiffened. This wasn't some sort of trap, was it? Ninetales' aura... was something Leo couldn't even get a solid read on. It was practically blinding!

"Uh... okay." He hesitantly shuffled across the grass. Leo extended his forehoof so that its tip just barely touched Ninetales' forepaw. They awkwardly shook forelegs for all of a second before they simultaneously pulled their forelegs back. Leo's golden hoof was practically on fire. He wanted to sprint over to the beach biome and plunge it into the water.

"Then deal is deal." Grishi dusted off his hands. "We'll be on way to Leo's world. Seerseer stay so no funny business, then take Ceruledge and leave."

Leo's tail shot up. "Hang on. 'We?'"

Smirking, Grishi jerked his head in Vince's direction. "Someone has to make sure this dumb-dumb doesn't run off."

Vince shrank down to his belly, whimpering.

"I guess... that's okay?" Leo doubted he could stop Grishi if he tried. He glanced between the zorotwo and the Overseers.

Leo opened a rift back into Ginnungagap. This wasn't exactly the result he was hoping for, but at the very least he wasn't coming back empty handed. Leo had info and a bargaining chip of sorts in the form of a purple koraidon. Surely the resistance would be able to do something with this.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. XV: Xeromus, the Devil~
The Matriarch's enforcer turned against her. He laid the seeds for her eventual destruction, throwing the Qliphoth into a tumultuous period that would only stabilize when another of her creations seized power for himself. Most records of him were expunged from the public. The brunt of the treasonous allegations shifted to the most recent wielder of the Moon.

But as the years passed, people whispered rumors of a mad beast wandering the realm, declaring an impending end to the Qliphoth. That it would mark the beginning of salvation for everyone.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The Devil is the fifteenth Major Arcana. In the upright position it symbolizes ravage, violence, extraordinary efforts, force, and things that are predestined but not necessarily evil. In the reversed state it represents evil fatality, weakness, and pettiness.

This chapter is named for the music track that serves as the main boss theme for Strider, a recurring fae wolf beast enemy, in Bayonetta 3.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 97: Fiery Vortex​

I want to leave a record of this somewhere. Yes, POV-2020 is under quarantine, and no one's supposed to be interacting with it. But every time I pass it by I sense something distinctly off. I've probed that universe as best as I could without disturbing the seal. And I continue to find a specific blighted soul. A shadow pokémon, if I had to guess. Their heart is closed off so tightly.

Well, I finally made a bit of progress last time. The soul responded. He's a silvally, but a helmet was forced onto him. I think the person that shadowed him is responsible. His memories are... a bit jumbled. I'm not really sure what to do.

But the strange thing... something about him was familiar. It was the same... irritation of my light Bahamut gave me before he attacked me.

XxX​

Demerzel's message came through Shimmer's gemcom. The ponytales cursed his luck. After going out of his way to bug Gene and get a bunch of pirates to agree to cause problems in Herbrides to make his mother look bad, now was when Demerzel decided to call out for him? He hadn't heard anything from Demerzel since Tulpise.

But Shimmer knew that Demerzel also had an interest in getting rid of the parasite that was, apparently, Queen Isola. Even if his interest lay in the Red Chain fragment that everyone was confident Isola had. It was partly why Demerzel was trying to use Shimmer.

... Well, that and the fact that Paradox was apparently holding some partner of his as a captive and blackmailing him into working against Isola. Though Shimmer imagined the Red Chain fragment was a far stronger motivator. Since, presumably, he could rescue his partner with it.

Still, if Demerzel was calling, then perhaps that meant he knew Shimmer's mother was up to something. And Shimmer couldn't bear not knowing what that was. So, he snuck out of the mall and slinked off to the outskirts of Herbrides, where he waited for the calyrex to appear. And waited. And waited.

Even when some sort of invisible enemy appeared within Herbrides' skies and began blasting some of the buildings and spawning pokémon, Shimmer stayed put. The pirates hadn't mentioned cloaking technology, which made him nervous. But as much as Shimmer wanted to run back into the city, he didn't want Demerzel getting involved in any of this. Shimmer had to trust what the resistance was doing. And hope they didn't hold this against him.

Demerzel eventually showed up to teleport Shimmer to the same warehouse where he'd activated the genesect several weeks ago. They were even lined up in neat rows like before.

There were fewer genesect than last time, with many scrapped fighting against the empire. And Arianna was walking through them, eyes glowing blue. Was she doing some psychic scan on them? Did that stuff even matter when they were machines?

"You've certainly been busy." Demerzel sat atop a metal railing. He crossed one long leg over another. If that was meant to be an accusation, Demerzel kept his tone worryingly soft. "I've been trying to reach you since last night."

"Sorry." Shimmer pawed at the metal ground with an icy forehoof. He'd already rehearsed an excuse for this very occasion. "I've been keeping tabs on this so-called resistance Aeon's royals are working with. They're fighting the Eterna Empire from within."

"Oh?" Demerzel rested a paw under his chin. "Is that a fact?" He looked right, where the breaker circuit that turned the genesect on was bolted to the wall. "Perhaps that's why the emperor has been so antsy as of late."

Given Shimmer had eavesdropped on one of Paradox's goons blackmailing Demerzel, he could hazard a guess what the calyrex meant. "I take it Minister Charles paid you a visit recently?" Shimmer said.

Demerzel nodded. "Said that I need to do something to move things along right away. Strike at the heart of the kingdom since Dazzels is too far from any distortion pockets the empire can access."

Arianna froze with her right arm hovering over one of the genesect. "They're telling you to attack Dazzels?"

"Indeed." Demerzel pushed himself off the railing. "But I had already planted the seeds for such an occasion long before Charles' threat."

"What?!" Arianna's glasses went askew. She glanced at Shimmer.

"I'm with her." Shimmer nodded at the gardevoir. "Of course you should—"

"It can't be stopped," Demerzel cut in, expression stern.

Whinnying, Shimmer's tails frazzled. "The heck's that supposed to mean?!"

"A very important prisoner got hold of a very unstable power and is about to make a break for it," Demerzel said. He glanced up at the black ceiling. "Well, if my calculations are correct, anyway."

Shimmer did his best to avoid his shocked expression changing to one of suspicion. They'd paid a visit to someone fitting that description the other month: Vortex. Shimmer had been escorting Vegna out of the prison and ended up leaving Demerzel alone with the charizard. Between that and Demerzel's tone, he was clearly implying he'd given out the unstable power.

"That's illogical." Arianna resumed walking between genesect units. She tapped each one she passed on its head and her eyes flickered blue. "One prisoner cannot possibly cause problems for the whole capital city."

"Be that as it may, this is a golden opportunity for you, Your Grace." Demerzel turned to Shimmer. Was he smirking? This was nothing to smirk about! "The chance to sway the public's favor over to you and away from your mothers. Put them in a bind, so to speak."

He hovered toward the breaker switch in the corner of the room. "Public opinion is already on shaky ground with your mothers. First they didn't step in with Venish. Then they went and assigned Seifer's relatives to lead the Radiant Guard."

The calyrex shook his head. "Relatives who've been seen vacationing in Herbrides for most of their tenure."

Shimmer's tails nearly puffed out. Did that mean the Radiant Guard's new leaders were in Herbrides?

... No, no. He couldn't think about that. Focus!

Instead, Shimmer went with, "And? I completely botched things in Tulpise." The memories of Melmetal breaking apart and that awful robot silvally staring him down rushed back into Shimmer's mind.

"You got people evacuated safely," Demerzel countered, pointing a nubby paw at Shimmer. "And now you have a chance to save Dazzels from a threat while your mothers sit on their rumps, ignoring the plights of the people."

Shimmer looked between Demerzel and all the rows of genesect. "Using them?" He pointed his horn left.

"Indeed." Demerzel clapped his hands.

Nothing happened at first. The calyrex cleared his throat. "Arianna?"

"Right." The gardevoir nudged her glasses up. Shimmer watched the strange, spiral-shaped pairing device he used for Melmetal float toward him. Arianna fixed it around his horn with her telekinesis. "There we are."

"Good." Demerzel opened the breaker panel and flipped the switches. Row by row, the genesect's red eyes lit up. They all stood at attention.

"Of course, you'll have backup," Demerzel continued, shutting the breaker panel.

"You and Arianna again?" Shimmer kept his gaze on the genesect. Should he test that the control device worked on them?

"More than that." The calyrex's neck beads glowed pink, along with his eyes. "Go on. His Grace can hear you."

"Shimmer's there?"

The ponytales' tails poofed out in surprise. "That voice... Reno?!"

"You bet. And I've got Rufus and Vincent here, too." Reno laughed. "Not really sure why D-man's roping us into this. Guess he watched our crowning good performance in last year's Crowne Cup and thought we could help fight off whatever bad stuff's about to go down."

Shimmer took a steady breath. He hadn't seen the cinderace in a couple of months. Not since his mother ended the academic year and shuttered all the schools in the kingdom. He glanced at Demerzel. "Why them?"

"You need people you can trust helping you out." Demerzel shrugged. "It's clear to me you have... reservations about my conduct and character."

He was right. But still... Team Striker were athletes. "You guys are okay with this?" Shimmer asked. "I know your training to join the pro baccer circuit's pretty hard, but it's kind of apples and oranges, don't you think?"

"I expressed those concerns to Mr. Demerzel," Vincent said. Shimmer recognized the inteleon's "I'm three steps ahead of you" tone. "We're to assist with any Phantoms that may appear and direct people toward city exits in case they have to evacuate."

Okay. Shimmer supposed evacuation assistance was more reasonable.

"You've gotta be agile for stuff like that," Rufus added. "Right up our all— holy shit!"

"What?" Panicking, Shimmer looked at Demerzel. "What is it?"

"Dudes, did you see that giant flaming pillar?!" Rufus said.

"Yeah! Looks like it was coming from over by the prison." Reno's voice trembled a bit.

"... Just like Mr. Demerzel predicted," Vincent muttered.

Shimmer's heart thundered in his chest. What had Demerzel pulled him into? What was this power he'd given Vortex?!

"It's time." Demerzel folded his hands behind his back. "Mobilize your genesect. I'll get you to an attacking point."

"A-All of us?" Shimmer pivoted left. The genesect still stood at attention. How was one calyrex possibly going to teleport all of—

Wait, what was Shimmer thinking? It was Demerzel that got all the civilians out of Tulpise. He clearly had immense psychic power. Was that normal for calyrex... or was something helping him out?

"Okay, yeah! People are panicking!" Reno said. His voice was shaky. Demerzel must not have given Team Striker all the details. "W-We got this, guys! It's the fourth quarter and we're down by three..."

"Your Grace." Demerzel blipped over to Shimmer's side. "We have to go. Activate the genesect."

Shimmer concentrated on his horn. Like with Melmetal back in Tulpise, the ponytales projected a thought.

Standby for battle.

The genesect's cannons whirred to life. Demerzel nodded. Then the room disappeared in a blinding blue flash.

XxX​

Demerzel dropped Shimmer and his genesect off on a stretch of tarmac a few hundred meters from the razor wire-topped metal walls surrounding the Dazzels Penitentiary.

... Walls that the building-sized charizard walking away from Shimmer had melted into liquid metal.

"Where is she?"

This was the power Demerzel had given Vortex? But this was... this was like some of the Paradigm members or Whispers that Yuna and her friends talked about! Why could Demerzel do this?

Shimmer could scarcely stop his legs from trembling. Oh, why hadn't he stayed with Igneous in Herbrides?

"Your Grace, what are you doing?" Demerzel forced a small radio communicator on Shimmer's ear. "You have to stop him!"

The ground shook again. Shimmer couldn't stand there quivering in fright. Vortex was heading toward the city!

"Right." Shimmer pointed his horn at the genesect flanking him.

Their electronic eyes flashed and their cannons hummed on their backs. The genesect rocketed into the air in groups of two or three.

"Where's Isola?" Vortex snarled. He flapped his wings, which failed to lift him into the air. Shimmer wasn't sure his wings even functioned anymore because they were literally made of fire.

The ponytales cautiously galloped after the genesect. Fire wouldn't mix well with the icy powers Demerzel had given him. But the genesect had ways to change the type of blasts they shot from their cannons, didn't they?

Use water! Shimmer projected the order through his horn. He caught flashes of blue in the air. The genesect circled Vortex. Large water globs peppered the gigantic charizard. Vortex threw his arms up, hissing. Steam filled the air.

Shimmer stopped running. Keep it up! Make sure you stay in flight! He hoped that would be enough for the genesect.

Snarling, Vortex swatted at the air. "No. I won't... be pushed around. I won't... let little insects stop me!" He inhaled, then spewed a huge wave of fire. It bathed the dusty ground far ahead of Shimmer in red and orange. A few genesect were caught up in the blast and burnt to ashes.

And the fire kept going and going. Flames carried off into the distance. Toward the city!

It was too far for Shimmer to hear anything, but he could see flames buffeting some of the buildings. The air in the distance became thick and hazy with smoke.

"Guys, talk to me!" Shimmer said. He really hoped the radio worked with Team Striker.

"I think some warehouses on the outskirts of the city just got hit with fire!" Reno said. "What's going on, Your Grace?!"

Vortex continued forward, spinning his massive body around. His flaming wings and outstretched arms clipped some of the genesect, knocking them from the air.

"A giant charizard!" Shimmer galloped forward again. He'd left the tarmac behind for the dusty ground Vortex was walking along. Though the ponytales took care to keep away from the molten, bubbling spots Vortex had walked on.

"Giant... wait, is that Vortex?" Vincent caught on quick. "PNN's been giving almost daily updates on him. They said he'd fallen ill! Is he a Phantom now?"

Shimmer was about to answer when he caught a flaming, scrapped genesect careening toward him. The ponytales flung it behind him with a telekinetic burst, stumbling and whinnying when the ensuing explosion's hot air grazed his tails.

"Something like that!" He sent another order to keep firing to the genesect. More steam filled the air to his left. Vortex hadn't stopped walking, though. His quaking steps forced Shimmer to stop running.

"Do you know who I am?" Vortex snarled at the genesect circling around him. "I'm the one who deserves to run this kingdom. Not Isola. Me! Me, me, me, me!"

Vortex's roar jolted Shimmer, who stumbled and faceplanted in the dirt. Fierce winds disheveled his tails and icy mane. When Shimmer scrambled back to his feet, he saw several genesect lying in shattered remains in the scorched, almost glassy dirt to his left. The buildings in the distance crumbled, waves of dirt spilled out toward the desert.

All the while, the titanic charizard continued forward. The remaining genesect kept shooting water globs, but they were evaporating into steam before they could even hit Vortex.

Shimmer stood there, heart pounding in his chest. Images of Melmetal's crumbling form superimposed themselves over Vortex.

He couldn't do anything. Shimmer was failing. Just like in Tulpise. Just like always.

"Out of my way!" Vortex uselessly flapped his flaming wings, then took another lumbering step forward, leaving blazing dust in his wake. "Where's Isola? I'll kill her! Burn her to ashes! Then the kingdom will see me for the savior I really am!"

Shimmer shrank away from the bubbling footprints in the sand. "I can't..." His tails curled up against his legs. Most of the genesect were gone. Smoldering metallic scraps littered the sandy ground. "It's not working. He's too—"

Blue lightning filled the air around Vortex. Then a bright blue ball slammed into his snout. Shimmer watched it scrunch up from the impact. Molten saliva melted the remaining genesect and splattered on the ground around the giant charizard. Shimmer's ears folded from the awful sizzling that rang in them.

"Good grief! I always knew this guy was full of hot hair, but this is ridiculous! Ain't that right, V?"

Shimmer's eyes widened. He recognized that stupid voice! The ponytales scanned the air— yep, Griffon was circling around a dusknoir who floated in place directly in Vortex's path.

But Shimmer had no idea what was up with the giant black dragon hovering between Vegna and Vortex. It had to be the source of the blue lightning, though. Its tail was a freaking turbine!

... And come to think of it, wasn't there a lingering static charge when Vegna saved Shimmer back in Venish? Was Vegna the source of this dragon? What the hell was going on here?!

"You!" More fiery slobber dribbled from Vortex's broken muzzle. He shuffled forward, kicking up ashen plumes. "Isola lapdog!"

Vegna lazily shook his head. "They stripped him to his little shirt and bound him in an iron chain. And burned him in a holy place where many had been burned before."

Vortex's response was to spew a giant Flamethrower. Vegna thrust his right arm forward. The black dragon discharged tremendous bolts of blue lightning. And they actually kept Vortex's flames from advancing on Dazzels' outskirts like before!

"Always the fool rushing to conclusions." Vegna kept his right arm extended. "When did I ever say I was on Isola's side? If anyone's the puppet in this little theater production, it's you."

Shimmer's tails curled up. What was Vegna implying? Did he know about the corrupted power Demerzel had given Vortex? No, surely he would've told the resistance about that. Maybe he was theorizing on the spot?

The massive charizard growled and snapped at the air with his maw. "I'm no one's puppet! I own this kingdom! It's all me!"

Shimmer had stood around long enough. Swallowing hard, he galloped closer to the battle. Though the ponytales hesitated when he spotted blurs in the air out of the corner of his eye. Were those... other flying-types? They were keeping their distance, unlike Vegna.

Don't tell me... the press is here?

Another collision of fire and lightning sent Shimmer scrambling to his right with a frightened whinny."

"Yo, V! Peep the ground! It's Dimmer!" Griffon cawed. The corviknight still circled around Vegna, but kept his gaze trained on Shimmer.

Even if the press was here, Shimmer had to say something. Especially now that Vortex was following Griffon's gaze.

"I know you're upset!" Shimmer shouted, flinching when his voice cracked. "But we know there's something wrong with my mother! It's— she's some sort of parasite!"

From up in the air, Vegna's eye crackled with red energy. He thrust his right arm to the side. Blue lightning gathered around the blue dragon, who charged toward Vortex. The giant charizard spewed titanic flames from his mouth, pushing the dragon back until Vegna forced them to retreat.

"What?" Vortex again looked at Shimmer. The ponytales backed away. Vortex was going to burn him alive!

"You were right!" Shimmer said. He didn't have time to stop and consider his words. "I looked into the things you said and you were right! There's a... terrible pattern of behavior in my family! And it only makes sense... if there's a parasite who's moving from generation to generation!

"A parasite... who'll come for me next!"

Vegna gave another signal. The black dragon charged forward. Vortex was too slow to react this time. The dragon slammed into the left side of Vortex's head. It whipped left. Roaring in pain, Vortex wobbled. His giant legs made it hard to regain his balance.

That was when Shimmer saw an orange gleam in the distance. "Behind you, Vegna!" he cried.

The dusknoir drifted away from Shimmer seconds before an orange beam swept across the ground, kicking up huge plumes of dust and debris. An unexpected shockwave upended Shimmer and sent him skidding through the dirt. Even once the ponytales had rolled to a stop, his world wouldn't stop spinning. He couldn't get back to his feet without falling over and nearly throwing up.

But that was fine. Even if he'd gone and screwed things up, backup had arrived. The other resistance members could take over. They were stronger. They'd actually beaten Whispers. All Shimmer would do is get in their way.

He remained on the ground, head meekly buried under his forelegs. If the others could bail him out of this, then Shimmer was done with Demerzel. No more sticking his neck out and screwing anything up for everyone else.

XxX​

The moment Noctum handed Seifer off to the healers, he learned about the threat in Dazzels. It was a place he hadn't been before, so the cosmic charizard couldn't just open a rift and go there.

Fortunately, Vegna was around and had, through considerable strain, forced open a golden portal. Noctum went through the rift with Jade and Valkyrie in tow. Vegna was nowhere to be found on the other side, but there were people flooding the streets, fleeing from burning buildings. The flames were spreading rapidly.

They had to try something to contain the fires.

"Jade, can you help put these out?" Noctum wondered. His own attacks wouldn't help whatsoever.

"Huh? You know air just spreads fire around, right?" Jade flapped her wings in place, looking around nervously.

"Not wind, dumbass." Valkyrie jabbed Jade's back with her elbow. "Water! Lugia have water, right?"

"Ow! Hey! That's a sensitive spot!" Jade's tail flaps curled. Pink gas drifted behind her. "And I dunno! I haven't used water moves since I woke up."

"No time like the present then." The garchomp climbed up Jade's back and forcefully pointed her head down. A building of mostly glass shattered as its foundations ignited. "Do it!"

The salugia's eyes twitched. Valkyrie's jerking of her neck made her stiffen. "Agh, no, wait! Not like that! Not liiiiiiaaaaayyiii—"

Orange energy was building up in Jade's mouth. That wasn't any water attack, though. It was Jade's Aeroblast! She couldn't fire that into the city!

"Valkyrie, turn her head right!" Noctum pointed ahead of him, toward the dusty plains and the giant charizard in the distance.

Grunting, Valkyrie dug her arms into Jade's neck. Jade twisted right, then fired the Aeroblast. It swept along the ground, leveling a warehouse that the flames had spared. Then it continued outside the city.

"Stay here and deal with the flames," Noctum said, flying after the Aeroblast and ignoring Valkyrie's protests. He flew through a wall of dust. The air got thicker and warmer. It blurred and warped all around him. Just how intense was this heat? Was this all the giant charizard's doing?

Well, whoever this charizard was, they needed to be—

A sudden gust of hot wind dispelled the dirt in the air. Noctum got a good look at the giant charizard's white belly... and the candelabra-shaped crystal wedged into his chest.

It was just like how Yuna described Whispers who were using the power of Leo's plates!

Like when fighting Halvus, Noctum's gut burned. The plate didn't belong to this charizard. It belonged to Leo!

Noctum flew right. The big charizard was occupied with Vegna and Zekrom. Blue-violet light swirled around Noctum's arms. He didn't know why he could do this. But he was following his gut.

The cosmic charizard swiped the air in front of him. Crescents of brilliant blue energy raced forward. They hit the giant charizard's left shoulder, warping everything around them. Cracks and lines filled the air as Charizard roared.

Noctum stiffened. The energy dissolved from his arms. His tail flame shrank.

That voice... Vortex?!

Red and black static rippled out from the crystal in Vortex's belly. Almost like the corrupted plate was reacting to Noctum's presence.

Wait, was a mystery dungeon about to form?

"It's not fair!" Vortex snarled.

Yelping, Noctum flew up. A dragon-shaped torrent of fire passed underneath him.

"Why do you get to have it? That power... and dragon typing!" There was a wild look in Vortex's eyes. Flames swirled around his giant nostrils. "You're a hick! A troglodyte!"

A fiery twister erupted all around Vortex. Noctum flew further back. Vegna and Zekrom also had to put some distance in the opposite direction.

"You know what I had? Nothing!" The flames wouldn't dissipate. It was hard to even see the giant charizard behind his wall of fire. Was the ground turning to glass around Vortex? "Parents in dead end, blue collar jobs. A disease that left me without fire. Without any moves!

"And you know what I did? I clawed my way up from the bottom!" Vortex's fiery dome spewed flaming pillars in all directions. Noctum dove down to dodge one, then strafed left to avoid another. "I didn't grovel or kowtow to any royals! I earned my keep and my respect! I'm a self-made 'mon! I'm everything you're not, you worthless, lowly servant!"

Noctum's head rang.

Time floating opposite him. Shouting about how much better they were.

Gasping, Noctum corkscrewed right, avoiding another flaming pillar. The cosmic flames in his mouth grew larger alongside his tail flame. Blue-violet light swirled around his claws.

No more.

"Shut the hell up!" Noctum swiped his arms forward. Blue-violet crescents swarmed Vortex's fiery dome. The flames rippled and flickered. Glowing lines crisscrossed the dome. They shattered, breaking the dome apart entirely.

That was when the cosmic charizard swooped in. The energy around his arms grew even brighter. It spread into his wings. Down his belly. Across his tail.

"You don't get to talk to me like that!" Noctum dodged a large gout of fire and slammed his glowing arm into Vortex's right shoulder. "I owe my life to that family! They took me off the street!"

He backed away from a swipe of Vortex's left arm, then unleashed a flurry of Air Slash crescents. They sliced through Vortex's arm. Over the giant charizard's roars, magma dripped onto the ground and sizzled by Vortex's feet.

"I don't care what you did to reach the top!" Noctum rolled left to dodge a giant fireball, then right. He flung more blue-violet blasts at Vortex's face. Vortex screamed in pain. "I care about doing what's right! I care about helping my family! I care..."

Vortex tried to gather more flames, but Noctum shot toward the crystal chandelier in his stomach and drove a spear of spacial energy directly into that.

"... About getting Leo his plate back! So hand it over!"

Static energy exploded out in all directions. Noctum felt something warm and smooth within the crystal and pulled. He glimpsed an orange rectangle and brought it close to his glowing blue belly. Noctum opened a rift and fell back into it.

He landed on the ground a hundred meters away from a rapidly-shrinking Vortex. Static dissolved away, leaving nothing but an unconscious charizard lying in the middle of a glassy circle.

The plate tingled against his chest. Noctum held it at arm's length. The blue was much brighter than before. Blue auroras and stars swirled around his belly, like waves rolling across water.

It wasn't just his belly, either. His wings were full of glowing blue auroras. So was the underside of his tail. He ran a claw over his belly. Blue light glistened around his claws, coalescing into a pink sphere he was able to hold with his claws.

(Art by Leche)

I guess... more of Palkia's power is coming out.

Noctum glanced upward. Vegna pointed to Noctum's left. Griffon flew in that direction while Zekrom disappeared in a stream of golden light.

What was with these other birds, though? There were pidgeot and unfezant and swellow carrying cameras. Were people recording this?

"Fear not, good citizens! Thanks to Prince Shimmer's quick thinking in conjunction with supportive allies in Aeon... Charizard Vortex's rampage was stopped!"

The cosmic charizard stiffened. That was Demerzel's voice!

And moments later, Demerzel appeared in front of all the birds, gesturing wildly. Whatever he was saying to them, Noctum couldn't hear. He was too far away.

"Yo. V says to rift back to your buds. We gotta vamoose."

"Gah!" Noctum's tail flame shrank. He turned to find Griffon and Vegna beside him. The former had Shimmer draped over his back. The ponytales looked incredibly guilty.

"He's spinning it," Shimmer muttered. "Demerzel's trying to make himself and me into the heroes here."

"Huh?" Noctum's now yellow eyes dimmed. Putting aside the question of why Shimmer was even here when Noctum knew he had gone to the Herbrides Hilltop Mall with Yuna, the cosmic charizard was still lost. "What do you mean spinning? Who's he talking to?"

"We can discuss it in full later," Vegna said. "Leave now. I'll grab Vortex while Demerzel's grandstanding for the press."

Noctum's eyes widened. Those birds were reporters?!

"Why—"

Red energy crackled around Vegna's eye.

"Because we all played into Demerzel's hand. And I suspect things may soon turn volatile here."

(Art by Sylfeanne)

XxX​

"... Yourselves why Shimmer was the one trying to stop this from happening?"

Justine watched the footage of Demerzel, mouth agape. It took every ounce of willpower not to trash the PV set with her Sacred Sword.

"Where is Her Eminence? Where is the Radiant Guard?" Demerzel gestured around him. The cameras panned to shots of smoking craters and dirt melted into glass by Vortex's assault. "What if I told you the acting commanders — both relatives of Keldeo Seifer — were in fact vacationing in Herbrides. A city that, by the way, simultaneously came under fire from denizens of World Ender!"

He pointed at the cameras. "Call up your news stations if you don't believe me. But there was a mass evacuation from the city just as Prince Shimmer arranged for Tulpise before it fell into distortion."

Justine couldn't take this anymore. "Mute, damn it!" the virizion hissed. The PV went silent. Fuming, she turned around. "Say the word, Izzy! I'll haul his ass to Citadark!"

But rather than glaring at the PV like Justine, Isola sat facing a large, heart-shaped vanity mirror, running a heart-shaped brush through her luscious pink mane.

"Are you for real?" Justine stomped up to Isola. "Weren't you listening? That... that literal egghead is committing high treason! And freaking Vegna was there fighting Vortex! We should arrest them both! Stage public executions! I—"

"Peace, darling."

Isola's brush booped Justine's snout. The virizion crossed her eyes and found tiny sparkles around her nostrils. "How can you be so calm?" She blinked rapidly until her vision was back to normal. "At this rate, people are going to take the streets!"

"They won't." Isola set the brush down on a pink, heart-shaped table beside the mirror. The rapidash got to her feet. Her armored breastplate glowed gold under the sunlight drifting in through the windows.

Justine shifted her weight nervously. "Well, what about the servants in the palace?"

"They will be fine." Isola smiled serenely at her mate.

The virizon's cheeks flushed. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm skeptical, Izzy." She glanced at the PV screen. Demerzel was still talking and gesticulating wildly. "He's playing us for saps."

"Let him think that."

Justine stiffened as Isola's voice got closer. The rapidash sauntered up to her. Something about the way light glinted off that breastplate made Justine weak in the knees.

"But we... we have to do something," Justine whispered. "There's a fire in northeast Dazzels. It could—"

"It'll be fine." Isola was right in front of Justine. She nuzzled the virizion's right cheek. "I'll take care of everything, sweetie. I always have~"

"Y-Yeah." Justine's hind legs shook from Isola's warm breath on her neck. "But how?"

"Like this."

Justine's spine-tingling pleasure gave way to a sharp, intense pain in her chest. The air rushed out of her lungs. Justine tried to take a breath, but something heavy weighed on her chest.

She looked down... and found a dagger of crimson energy piercing her chest. It came from the red gem in the center of Isola's breastplate.

"Iz... zy... why?"

Justine coughed up a small amount of blood. A psychic force caught the droplets before they could splatter on Isola's shoulder. She levitated them into the trashcan by the door of her bedroom.

"Shhh." Isola pressed her muzzle to Justine's... and forced the blade in further. The sharp pain turned to an intense burning. Justine tried to scream— to breathe.

Her legs felt so heavy— no, they were heavy. Why were they turning to metal?

"It's okay, sweetie," Isola whispered, kissing Justine's cheek as she forced the blade in deeper. "I forgive you for doubting me. Even if it was such an ugly thing for you to do."

She needed to scream. Fight back. Do something. But as the metal raced up Justine's legs, all she could do was stare blankly.

"Admittedly, I haven't tested this yet," Isola continued. That sickeningly sweet smile hadn't left her face. "But if that pitiful deoxys can turn 'mon to machine with the Red Chain, why can't I? I wield it far more beautifully than he ever could."

The rapidash forced Justine to look her in the eyes. "Besides, there can be beauty in a machine who will never doubt. Never question. Always follow orders."

Justine couldn't even get her mouth open. Her legs were fully metallic. And the metal was spreading down her torso. From the dagger— no, from the gem in Isola's breastplate.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Isola nuzzled her side again. "I'm doing this for both of us."

She kissed Justine's snout... and the same green metal started to inch across her face. "Once we're through here..."

For a brief instant, Justine swore she saw a pink serpent replace Isola's head.

"... Everyone will see just how beautiful we truly are."

XxX

~Flames of Ruin: Vortex~
There are those who would claim the Affirmer is evil. Heartless. Soulless. But the Affirmer acts because His heart aches for the suffering that plagues reality. That is why He kept His pokémon partners with Him. Why He continued to care for them throughout His mission.​

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 98: Great Personal Cost​

The first few weeks after Tessa passed were... not all that different, honestly. Making her a spirit gave her back some of the energy that had waned the last few years. And, well, we knew this was coming. We'd prepared for it. In some ways, things haven't changed. She's just... not always around. Sometimes I need to use my light to conjure her.

This arrangement won't last forever. We agreed on that. Even if my powers can distort her sense of time, she doesn't want to be summoned as a spirit forever. She'll want to rest for good eventually.

I'm not sure when that time will come, but I'll be ready. After all... I have support.

XxX​

Yuna put her now empty glass of water down on the metal table. She glanced right, but the door from the restaurant to the living quarters was still shut. Just like it was a minute ago. And a minute before that. And a minute before that.

Yet everyone else's eyes were locked on it. Even as bowls of meat and vegetable stew Guzzie had given the team had long gone cold. The lone exception was Artemis, who was coiled up against the wall on the other side of the table and staring at a gray pillar. Yuna didn't think milotic could get such empty looks in their eyes. Though, given what she'd heard, she didn't blame him.

Having to leave Leo behind and trust he could handle himself was bad enough. Coming back to find Seifer in critical condition and Vortex rampaging toward Radiance's capital almost made Yuna want to ask Guzzie what the strongest thing he had to drink in his bar was.

"This is a good thing, right?" The dragapult stole glances at the door. Still closed. "They wouldn't be taking so long if they hadn't found a way to save Seifer."

"Maybe." Nikki leaned forward in her chair. "Or they're trying to figure out how to break the bad news to us."

"Don't say that!"

Cyril slammed his hands down on the table. Red soup splattered out of everyone's bowls. The cosmic zoroark's fur shifted between red and black.

"There's no way I'm the only one thinking it," Nikki retorted, glancing around the table. "Right?"

Igneous stared down at his soup. Scarlett avoided Cyril's gaze. "I'm not," the dragonair mumbled.

"Heeee's a goneeeeer for suuuuure!"

Scarlett's eyes widened in horror. She covered her neck bauble with her wings when Cyril glared daggers at her. "I, uh, will have to have a talk. With myself."

She shrank down toward the floor as Cyril leaned toward her. Igneous shot his arm out. "Berating her won't accomplish anything."

Cyril eyed the grovlazzle's arm like he was about to tear it off. Cid hastily sat up and cleared his throat. "Ah, if I might interject?" The orbeetle's spots glowed pink. "Vegna and Team Bureau are back." He pressed his right hand to his temple. "With Shimmer, apparently. And Vortex?"

Igneous jumped out of his seat surprisingly fast. "Shimmer's with them? How is he?"

"Aww, worried about your new boytoy?"

"No!" Igneous' head leaf caught fire. Nikki laughed harder when the grovlazzle brandished a Leaf Blade at her. "I want to know he's okay so I can kick his ass guilt-free."

"Suuuuuuuuuure you do." Nikki waved him off dismissively. "And I'm a holowear supermodel."

"Pipe down, all of you."

Cyril lunged over the table, nearly knocking a startled Yuna off her chair in the process. He scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the now-open door, where Koraidon stood.

"No..." Cyril staggered to a halt. "No, no. Wipe that look off your face." He waved his arms in front of his head. His starcloud mane rippled like violent waves crashing on the shore. "You're not here with news. You're... you're..."

Koraidon bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare!"

"The healers did everything they could." Koraidon clasped his hands together.

"NO!" Cyril dropped to his knees. "You're lying, damn it!"

"I wish I was," Koraidon said. "But Seifer was already gone by the time the healers got him." His feathered horns drooped. "He never had a chance."

Yuna's chest ectoplasm tightened. Her core flickered erratically.

Cyril's fur was a fiery red. He shoved Koraidon aside and ran through the door.

"Ah, Cyril! Wait!" Koraidon turned and ran after him.

"Should we... follow him?" Yuna wondered, somewhat amazed she even managed to get that sentence out. Her head was practically spinning.

No one responded, though. Scarlett stared at her blurry reflection in her untouched soup. A tense Igneous was braced against the wall, clutching his right arm. Nikki was looking at the floor and Artemis hadn't budged from the last time Yuna checked him. He could've fooled her into thinking he was a statue if Yuna didn't know better.

"I should... go check on Team Bureau." Cid hovered into the air, spots flickering erratically. The orbeetle headed for the door to the residential quarters before Yuna could react.

She looked at the others. "Guys?"

Nothing.

"Someone say something." The dragapult fidgeted nervously. "I don't— I'm not sure what to do here."

"And you think we are?" Scarlett whispered, worriedly rubbing her neck bauble with a wing. "Why'd you have to say that, Starlene? I look like an absolute tool now."

Nikki's chair creaked against the floor. Yuna waited for the toxtricity to offer something. She'd even settle for something crass. But Nikki shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and quietly headed for the restaurant's other exit leading toward the outpost.

"Wait, Nikki!" Yuna flew after her. Nikki held her right hand up to stop the dragapult.

"Don't."

Yuna's tail shriveled.

"Need some air." Nikki's mohawk dimmed. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She continued toward the door, which slid open to let her through.

When Yuna turned back around, she found the other door opening to let Igneous and Scarlett through. "Wait, guys!"

Though she sped toward them, they didn't acknowledge her. And they were already halfway through the glass tunnel leading to the residential quarters by the time Yuna reached the door.

Her shoulders sagged. Yuna couldn't be alone. Not now. She needed something to do or people to be around. Or else she'd... she'd...

A whimpering Tessa lay in the dirt. Ears ringing. Snout broken. Tears blurring her vision.

Yuna shook her head. She forced a rift open into the hanger and darted into it. Noctum and the others were there. The cosmic charizard... clutched an orange rectangle that looked a lot like one of Leo's plates. But he was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Noctum!" She flew across the hanger, passing Valkyrie and Vegna talking to Cid. The garchomp had Vortex slung over her shoulder while the dusknoir loomed over Shimmer. Yuna didn't care, though. Why wasn't anyone helping Noctum? He looked ill!

"Are you okay?" Yuna waved her arms around. When she got no response, she put her hands on his shoulders. "Noctum, say something? Are you hurt? Did you get sick?"

"Time... time..."

"Huh?" Yuna nudged the cosmic charizard, but he kept mumbling the same thing. "Hey, guys? I think something's wrong with Noctum!"

"We know." Valkyrie glanced at her. "Soon as we got back, he said Seifer's dead and he's been like that ever since."

Yuna glared at her. "So you thought it'd be okay to leave him like this? He needs help!"

"I was going to get him a healer," the garchomp growled. "But I have to handle this charizard first." She adjusted her tenuous grip on Vortex, not caring that her claws dug into his thighs.

"Then I'll go get one," Yuna said. "Most of them are over by... by..."

Her tail partially retracted into her torso. Valkyrie snorted blue purple embers.

"I figured." She turned away from Yuna and stomped across the hangar with her passenger in tow.

Swallowing hard, Yuna turned back to Noctum. The cosmic charizard continued to stare blankly at the ceiling.

"Valkyrie's going to get some healers," Yuna assured him. She hovered to Noctum's side. "It's going to be okay." Except her voice was shaky. Yuna couldn't come up with anything more substantial than that. And Noctum still wasn't acknowledging her.

"As cold as this sounds, you won't get through to him."

Maxie walked over from the large computer terminal setup on the other side of the hanger. There were fewer skorps at the consoles than usual.

The ghostly typhlosion nudged his goggles. "He's in shock."

Yuna figured that was the case. "But why?"

"Hard to say." Maxie shrugged. "Something to do with his makeover, perhaps. I see it changed again."

"His makeover..." Yuna eyed the blue auroras in his belly and wings.

He crossed his stubby arms. "Did you ever ask him about what happened during the fight against Halvus?"

The dragapult winced. "No." She figured they could talk about it when Noctum was ready. That was a reasonable thing to do, right?

"Well, hindsight's twenty-twenty and all." Maxie pinched the bridge of his goggles. "You can stay by his side. But it appears he's holding a plate. You ought to take that to Leo." The ghostly typhlosion looked around the hangar. "Where is he, anyway?"

Yuna stiffened. "He, um, had one last thing to take care of on the other side of the anomaly."

"I thought you sealed it," Maxie said, narrowing his eyes. "What's going on here?"

"I, um—" Yuna's head pounded again. She wanted to leave. No, she had to leave.

Without even thinking, she bent over and pulled the plate out of Noctum's grasp. The cosmic charizard resumed mumbling to himself. Yuna backed away, guilt and panic squirming around her insides.

"Wait, where are you going?" Maxie's fiery collar churned. "I asked you a question."

Yuna turned and opened a small rift. The dragapult shot through it, landing on a cot with a blue blanket. The cleffa and eevee dolls on the bed bounced up and landed next to her.

Groaning, Yuna set the plate down next to them. She flopped down on her back, even though that meant her triangular head was slightly propped up.

"Why are we in Leo's room?"

Yuna didn't bother pushing Reshiram away. She traced her right hand over her core and tossed two motes of light next to the plate. Reshiram and Rayquaza appeared in splashes of blue light.

"Mayhaps we're waiting to bestow this plate upon him whence he returns," Rayquaza said, coiling up beside it.

"Guys, please." Yuna squished her temples. "I really... can't do this with you right now."

Broken face in the dirt. The taste of blood and soil. Every breath a struggle.

She kneaded her hands against the blue blanket, trying to will away those images.

"It's, um, okay to be upset," Reshiram whispered, walked up to Yuna's face. "Even if he wasn't exactly your friend, he was your teammate."

Yuna tensed. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to fill her head with something else. Something like... like the bed of hot coals behind her parents castle! Yuna envisioned the rhythmically pulsating orange glow the coals gave off under the ash-choked skies. The clusters of embers drifting through the air.

Soft fur tickled Tessa's belly. She woke up to a faceful of two icepix tails tickling her snout. Oh God, she was going to sneeze. Roll away, roll away!

"No sneezing," Yuna mumbled.

"Wait, sneeze?" Reshiram shot into the air, flapping his tiny wings. "I'm not looking to get blown away like a dust mite!"

Crap, she'd said that out loud. Yuna opened her eyes and rubbed her face. "It's fine, Reshiram. I was..."

"Old memories?" Rayquaza wondered, still coiled up next to the plate. Yuna nodded.

Reshiram hesitantly landed next to Rayquaza. He looked ready to book it into the air at a moment's notice.

"If thou art that troubled by Sir Seifer's demise—"

"It's stupid," Yuna blurted out, only to throw her hands over her mouth and look down shamefully. "I mean, well, in the back of my head I've always known we've been at risk of dying. It's been that way since the Noatun mystery dungeon." She sighed. "But, well..."

As she trailed off, Reshiram scratched his tiny chin with a tiny wing claw. "We've always avoided it until now, so you started to take your safety for granted. That fear faded." He folded his wings at his sides. "So, it's a shock to the system."

Yuna stared at Reshiram, blinking slowly. He was the Sage of Truth... and had a glimpse into her headspace. And nothing she'd thought about since she heard the news had anything to do with Seifer himself. Or even Cyril, who'd just lost his boyfriend.

"It's me," the dragapult whispered.

"Hmm?"

She tilted her head down. Small shadowy ripples lapped at the edges of her core. "I'm upset... because of me," Yuna mumbled. "Because it reminds me... of Tessa dying." She folded her hands over the core, hoping the two Sages couldn't see the shadows. "If I die here... will it go the same way? Will Giratina take over?"

The chaos energy was like tiny needles poking her hands. "Could Giratina just 'kill' me at any moment? We have an agreement, but what's stopping them from breaking it?"

God, Yuna had really taken that for granted, hadn't she? Talking about the past life stuff with the others last week never changed her situation. It simply... made it easier for her to ignore it.

Rayquaza and Reshiram were silent. Yuna didn't blame them. What could they say to reassure her? That she had a strong enough will to resist it? Well, that wouldn't matter if something killed her.

It's only a matter of time before you yield to the inevitable.

... Or maybe they were simply biding their time. Maybe Giratina expected Yuna to lose heart and let them take her over.

Loud knocks at the door jolted Yuna upright. "C-Come in?" she squeaked. The tiny Sages returned to her core as the door opened. Yuna's fleeting hope Nikki had gone looking for her was dashed when a familiar dusknoir floated in.

"What do you want?" Yuna somewhat sank into Leo's bed.

"And now his eternal life like a dream was obliterated." Vegna flicked his right hand and the door shut behind him. The dusknoir drifted forward... and placed a biscuit on a napkin by Yuna's feet.

She eyed it like it was poisoned. "Uhh..."

"Eat. You need your strength." Vegna pushed the biscuit closer to her. "The specter of death casts a harsh, chilling weight. It takes considerable endurance to rise against it."

Frowning, Yuna took the biscuit. "Sounds like you're telling me to get over it."

Vegna's eye dimmed. He backed away from Leo's bed, crossing his arms. "Perhaps I... could've phrased it better. This is not something one simply 'gets over.'"

"Then what did you mean?" Yuna hesitantly bit into the biscuit. It was surprisingly good. And warm, too.

"Death is a difficult burden to bear," Vegna said. "It's easy to let it paralyze you. Especially when it's something you've experienced for yourself."

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. It made her missaim her bite. Biscuit fragments dropped onto the blue blanket. Sighing, Yuna picked them up and stuffed them in her mouth.

"You're worried about this conflict, aren't you?" Vegna put his right hand on his chest. "About what it could do to your present self."

"Why do you care?" Yuna shot back. Of course the inquisitor would see through her quickly. The dragapult didn't want Vegna to have the satisfaction.

So she was surprised when the dusknoir backed further away and slouched against the wall. His arms were still crossed and his head was bowed in thought. "You have the power... to shape the future. For the better."

Squinting at Vegna, Yuna finished the biscuit. "Because of Giratina?"

Vegna shook his head. "Their power might play a role, sure. But I'm talking about what's up here." He tapped the side of his head with his index finger. "Your will."

Yuna had a hard time believing that. She lay on her side, still eyeing Vegna skeptically. "Where is this all coming from?"

The dusknoir silently stared at the ceiling. Then he whispered, "A place of regret, perhaps. I'm not proud of the things I've done."

That was too vague for Yuna. Perhaps if she put it together with his earlier comments about death, she could hazard a guess what Vegna meant.

"Are the rumors true, then?" she asked.

"Which ones?"

"The Grim Reaper stuff," Yuna said. "That you kill people who are found innocent in cases you prosecute."

"No." Vegna's response was instantaneous. He squeezed his crossed arms with his hands.

"Then why haven't you ever said anything about it publicly?"

"Selfishness."

Yuna raised a brow. Wouldn't the selfish thing be to call out such a nasty reputation? She pushed herself up to a seated position. "I don't follow."

"Part of me believed it my penance for lifetimes of caustic decisions made out of selfishness." Vegna held his right hand up and looked at the golden cracks running through his ectoplasm. "Vengeance simmered beneath every action I've done in service of the Kingdom of Radiance."

God, she wished Vegna would turn down the flowery language. Stupid poetry obsession.

Before Yuna could force him to elaborate, however, a stream of blue light spilled out of her core. A tiny Reshiram materialized in front of Vegna.

"It's you," Reshiram whispered. He pointed his right wing at Vegna.

"Huh?" Yuna frowned.

Reshiram looked back at her apologetically. "When he explained the situation with Necrozma to us... and he talked about Bahamut's journal... something didn't sit right with me."

Vegna looked away from Reshiram.

"Wait, like your truth sense?" Yuna said. It wasn't like Reshiram had brought it up with her lately. The dragapult figured her chaos powers had made him lose it. Or at least weakened it to the point of uselessness.

"I thought maybe I was mistaken," Reshiram continued. "I mean, lawyers seem like the types who can twist the truth around in ways that could fool even me." He shook his head. "But how you're talking right now is eerily familiar."

"Wait, familiar?" Yuna's eyes widened. "As in—"

Reshiram pointed his wing at Vegna again. "You're not some random person who stumbled on Bahamut and took his journal. You're the soul that was severed from his body. You're Bahamut."

Silence, save for the humming of the lights in the ceiling. Reshiram held his wing out. Vegna stared at the door. Yuna looked between the two, unsure whether to say anything.

Finally, Vegna bowed his head.

"There's a reason I told your predecessor to scout you in spite of your shortcomings. I never could get anything past you, Cecil."

XxX​

Igneous ended up going to the room he shared with Scarlett and Shimmer instead of looking for Valkyrie and the ponytales. His ear frills hadn't stopped ringing. The dragonair hadn't said anything to him, either. She slithered onto her bed and coiled up tight around her pink pillow. Igneous opted to lie on his back with his right knee bent and his left leg straight. Outside of switching his legs' positions, he hadn't moved.

The volcarona lay on the ground. His body burned. And not in the usual way his inner fire or Flame Body did. This was painful. Like hooks digging into his wings and chitin, trying to yank something out of him.

"I'm sorry." The man with the arceus hairdo loomed over Igneous. "A few of us must bear this awful burden. But the end result will be a world free of suffering. "

Igneous could only cry out in pain. The spiritomb by his lower half swirled around faster and faster. And the tugging got worse and worse.

"You're seeing it too, aren't you?"

"Huh?" The volcarona looked around in a panic, trying to find where that female voice was coming from.

"Yooooooo, Igggggyyyyy! Snap out of it!"

A psychic tug on Igneous' head leaf jolted him upright. "The hell?!" He sprang off his bed, Leaf Blades at the ready... only for them to fizzle out when he found Starlene floating in front of him. She turned and disappeared into Scarlett's neck bauble.

"What— why—" Igneous rubbed his head. "The leaf's sensitive," he mumbled.

"Sorry." Scarlett poked her bed with the tip of her tail. "You were, um, shaking?" The dragonair shook her head. "No, more like trembling. I was trying to snap you out of it."

"Oh." Igneous slumped onto the floor, curling his arms around his bent knees. "I think I was... remembering something from that past life."

"Your death?"

His leafy tails nearly caught fire but Igneous managed to control himself. "W-Whatever would give you that idea?"

Shuddering, Scarlett tucked her head down so her coiled body hid her neck bauble. "It's what I saw."

Now it was Igneous' turn to shudder. How could he respond to something like that? "I'm sorry," the grovlazzle mumbled, though he didn't sound that sure of himself. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to say." Scarlett's wings drooped. "I think I was fighting that Zodiark person. Or his pokémon. They were too strong. I got overwhelmed." She suppressed a wince.

Voice cracking, she said, "It hurt a lot."

Igneous scooted toward her bed. He was about to reach an arm out to her when his X-transceiver buzzed. Seriously?

He got to his feet and plucked the X-transceiver off the bed. "Sorry, now's not a good ti—"

"I'm running the story."

His blood went cold. That was Sakaki. Brow furrowing, Igneous held the X-transceiver up toward Scarlett and flipped the speakerphone mode on. "What's going on here?" he growled.

"I thought you already knew about the attack in Dazzels," Sakaki said. "Valkyrie was there, wasn't she?"

"Haven't gotten all the details," Igneous said. God, he sounded exhausted. "I was in the thick of Herbrides. And we... lost someone in the fight there."

"I see."

Silence came from the other end, but Sakaki hadn't hung up. Igneous was going to do it for him when the nidoking continued, "Are you okay? You're not thinking about your mother, are you?"

The audino nurse and oranguru doctor finished pulling out the breathing tube. A wheeze escaped the withered sceptile's lips. More like a deflating balloon than a proper breath.

"Well, I am now," the grovlazzle seethed. Scarlett shot him a worried look. "Whatever you need to say, say it."

Another pause followed, then, "News outlets were broadcasting the attack. Demerzel showed up and made the same wild claims about the body snatcher on live Polarisvision. Now they're circling the wagons. Calling him an insurgent. Some are implying he's actually a Ryujin plant."

Igneous stomach churned. He really didn't need this right now. The grovlazzle hadn't even had the strength to find Shimmer and get answers from him.

"I'm running a full exposé in a special edition of the Radiant Beacon," Sakaki announced. "It's all hands on deck. We're printing extra copies to give to our people embedded in the refugee camps for those who fled Tulpise and Venish."

"Okay." Igneous pinched his brow. "Anything else?"

"Once it's out there, I'm pulling everyone but our hidden scouts back to Scale City. Things are going to get volatile."

"That's just a guess, though."

"Call it a gut feeling," Sakaki said. "That's all I have. Give my regards to your dragonair friend."

Igneous glared at the X-transceiver. "She's been listening in."

And he hung up before Sakaki could respond. Igneous tossed the X-transceiver onto his bed where it bounced onto his pillow. He plopped down on the edge of the bed, putting his head in his hands.

"Great. Just great. Can this day get any worse?"

The door handle jiggled, then opened with a loud creak. Igneous and Scarlett looked across the room in unison.

Shimmer stood in the doorway. His tails puffed out.

"Ah. You're, uh, already here." He shrank down. "I don't suppose I can lead with an 'I'm sorry,' huh?"

As much as Igneous wanted to march right up to Shimmer and sock the ponytales in the snout, he couldn't muster up the energy. The grovlazzle only managed to scooch to the edge of his cot, hunch over, and rest his head on his hands.

Fortunately, a certain latias had Igneous' wish covered. Starlene zipped to Shimmer's side and immediately chomped on his ear.

"You totaw dumbash!"

"Ow, oww! Leggo!" Shimmer shook his head and his horn sparked. Starlene backed off, only to jab him in the side with her left wing.

"Not until you explain yourself, buster!" Starlene hovered away when Shimmer glared at her. She punched the air with her tiny hands for a few seconds. Then she vanished back into Scarlett's neck bauble.

"S-Sorry." The dragonair coiled tightly around her pillow and squeezed it. "It's, um, been quite a day."

"Her heart's in the right place." Igneous lifted his head off his hands. "What the hell were you thinking plotting some backroom deal with pirates and then gallivanting off right before they showed up?!"

The ponytales' ears folded. "I wasn't planning on that last part. And I honestly thought Gene would loop you guys in."

"Oh, so you assumed!"

Starlene popped out of meeping Scarlett pointing an accusatory claw at Shimmer. "And you know what they say about assuming." She twirled around and pointed at her conical rear.

"He gets it!" Scarlett hissed. The dragonair managed to get Starlene back into her neck bauble. She repositioned herself on the bed so she was lying atop her pillow. She covered her bauble with her wings.

Sighing, Igneous sat up straighter. "Gene does whatever he feels like. You can't leave shit like that for him." The grovlazzle crossed his right leg over his left. "But I wanna know why you went ahead with such an asinine idea."

"W-Well, in hindsight... I prob— no, definitely shouldn't have." Shimmer shrank back toward the closed door, looking at his frosty hooves.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Technically you didn't phrase it as a question?"

Igneous' head leaf simmered. Shimmer dropped to his belly and covered his head with his forelegs. "I was afraid, okay! Afraid Mom's been up to something in the background!" Shudders racked the ponytales' body. "I thought she'd be able to track me here. And you guys have been so busy running around doing stuff I didn't think I had any other options!"

He poked his head out from his forelegs. Even with one eye open, Shimmer's expression was rather pathetic. But a part of Igneous wouldn't buy it. He clasped his hands together and tapped his chin.

"So, even though I took you in and offered to help, you still felt it better to get Gene to set you up with complete strangers?" the grovlazzle growled.

Shimmer squeaked and ducked back under his foreleg. "Well, when you put it like that it really does sound pathetic, huh?"

"Yes."

"Dayum. Twink on twink violence. He's gonna need a rawst berry for that one."

Igneous side-eyed Scarlett, who was rubbing her head so vigorously against her pillow he wondered if the dragonair was trying to phase into it out of embarrassment.

"We've got a right to be angry," the grovlazzle said. His posture slouched a bit. He tapped his claws against his blanket. "Because it wasn't just the pirates. They gave way to a new anomaly and then Xeromus showed up."

He looked at the door. "You could argue Seifer would still be here if you'd told us what was going on."

That one seemed to get to Shimmer, who shuddered again. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out repeatedly. "I'd never— I didn't want this to happen. I was trying to, y'know, make something happen. Like you guys."

"Yeah. That's why I'm mad." Igneous crossed his arms and shook his head. "I've been there. When my mom died. I tried to be the one to make things happen. Didn't tell anyone." His left claws tightened around his right elbow to try and stop the tingling. "Lost an arm for it."

Shimmer winced.

"But it wasn't just that." Igneous squeezed his elbow tighter. Why wouldn't the damn pins and needles go away? "I lost the respect of everyone around me."

"At your... dad's newspaper?" Shimmer uncovered his head and slowly raised it.

Igneous sighed. He wasn't entirely sure if this was a good idea. But given the day's events, he decided to rip the bandage off.

"No. In the Ryujin." The grovlazzle tucked his head down. "Mom was the leader. Dad had an inkling, but never pressed the matter."

He was, of course, twisting the truth. Even though part of Igneous wanted to out Sakaki, his instincts drove him to protect his father. "I was supposed to take over. But after I tried to go after her killers on my own, the clan had doubts. They think I'm reckless. Dead weight.

"Sound familiar?" Igneous eyed Shimmer as the ponytales lifted his head up more. There was confusion sprawled across his face. Igneous quickly added, "I wasn't sure if you'd try to run off to your mothers if I told you the truth. But since you were willing to talk pirates into raiding one of your kingdom's cities, clearly it doesn't matter anymore."

That undercut whatever Shimmer was planning to say, since he poked dejectedly at the floor with an icy forehoof. "I see," he whispered.

"I'm not entirely clean either," Scarlett piped up. "I willingly let Vortex and his scientists do all sorts of weird stuff to me so I could get famous." The dragonair rolled her head onto its side. "There was, like, an entire page of side effects this stuff was going to do. Like draining the color from my scales, giving me cataracts, turning me sterile and—"

Igneous accidentally sucked in a sharp breath and descended into a coughing fit. He and Shimmer traded bewildered looks.

"Ah, sorry. TMI?"

"Yeaaaaah." Igneous thumped his chest until the last of the coughing faded. "But, well, do you get the point, Shimmer? We've been where you are. We don't want to see you make the same dumb decisions." He glanced at Scarlett. "Right?"

Scarlett nodded. "It sounds like you... know you weren't that good of a person back at the academy. The way to fix it isn't by running off on your own to, I dunno, prove something." Her right wing slowly flapped in place.

"Good point." Igneous jabbed the air with a claw. "Like it or not, your mom's one piece of a larger puzzle here. We're juggling a lot. So, if you really want to apologize, then you have to get with the program. Cooperate."

He slid off the side of the bed and onto the floor. "I'm still learning that part myself, so I guess saying that makes me an asshole. But whatever. There's too much at stake."

Igneous stretched his arms up so his claws grabbed at the bed covers. "That's my spiel. I'm not out to hate you or anything, Shimmer. Especially since I... see myself in you. Which has been... confusing."

An awkward silence followed. Shimmer rested his head on the carpet. "You see it too, huh?" He sighed, coating the carpet by his nostrils in a thin layer of frost.

Embers crackled on Igneous' head leaf. The way Shimmer spoke, it was almost like—

"Oh, brother."

Starlene materialized. Scarlett picked her head up, ready to recall her, when the latias held up her hands.

"I'll be gentle," she promised. "We're both thinking it."

"Thinking what?" Igneous frowned.

"That while you're crushing on us, Shimmer's crushing on you." Starlene made a little triangle with her claws. "And I think, deep down, you're a bit torn."

Shimmer's horn flickered and Igneous tensed up to avoid his head leaf catching fire.

"C'mon, don't deny it." Starlene drifted toward the floor, looking between the two guys. "He's stuck close to you, Iggy. And you haven't pushed him away."

"Cuz I'm not trying to alienate him." Igneous waved Starlene off dismissively.

"It's true for me," Shimmer admitted, pulling some of his frosty mane over his face in shame. "But I figured, I dunno, this was just another Xander situation. That you'd been nice to me and, with time, I'd realize there wasn't any connection." He laughed nervously. "I mean, y'know, I never thought I'd even find a reptile attractive."

If that was meant to be a compliment, it missed the mark. Igneous shut his eyes and gently massaged his brow. Try as he might, the grovlazzle couldn't muster up a response.

Sighing, Starlene flopped onto the floor. "Jeez, it's like pulling teeth."

"Gentler," Scarlett chided.

Igneous opened his eyes to see Starlene picking at carpet fibers. "Fine, fine." She locked eyes with Igneous. "You still crushing on us?" The latias pointed to Scarlett.

"Uhh..."

"Yes or no."

"Maybe?"

"Yeesh." Starlene rolled her eyes. She turned her head in Shimmer's direction. "What about him?"

Igneous tried to straighten out the leaves on his right arm.

"I think we have to be more specific," Scarlett said. The dragonair pointed her tail at Shimmer. "Do you find him attractive?"

"I, uh—"

"Yes or no."

The grovlazzle's head leaf crinkled. When did this become an interrogation? "Yes," he admitted in a whisper.

"Do you think you like him?" Scarlett asked. "In a 'we should go on a date' sort of way?"

That one stumped Igneous. Sure, he saw himself in the ponytales... but was that a good thing or a bad thing?

All Igneous could manage was scratching his head. Shimmer was still hiding his face behind his hair, so Igneous had no idea how he was taking this.

"Okay." Scarlett lifted her head up and recoiled around her pillow. Starlene vanished back into her neck bauble. "Then I think... we're all in similar places."

Igneous frowned. "In what way?"

"Uncertainty." Scarlett brushed tip of her tail back and forth across her blanket. "We're all conflicted about whether or not our feelings are real." The dragonair pointed her tiny wing at Shimmer. "Because of the past." She pointed the wing at Igneous. "Or the present."

Then she looked down at her pillow. "Or the future."

Shimmer finally brushed his hair out of his face so he could look at Scarlett. "Referring to yourself?"

"Yeah. Cuz, like..." Still rubbing her tail against her blanket, Scarlett stole a glance at Igneous. "I've, y'know, seen the changes you've been making. You stuck by me in Herbrides. And tried to save Seifer, even recognizing Gene gave him the best chance. You didn't run off this time."

Igneous heart fluttered, but he kept his expression stoic. "I hear a 'but' in there."

Wings drooping, Scarlett sighed. "It's hard for me to, like, rationalize thinking about love or whatever when it feels like the world's on fire. And I don't know if that's because of Polaris' experiments or something else."

As much as Igneous wanted to jump to Scarlett's defense, he stayed his tongue. She had said it before: she didn't want a white knight. Maybe she wants validation.

"That's fair." Igneous' claws dropped to his sides. He tapped them against the carpet. "We haven't even talked about that shit Xeromus said about the cloud daemon being the 'real arceus.'"

"And I don't want to." Scarlett shook her head. "He's lying for Zodiark's sake."

Igneous nodded, though he had the nagging sense they were missing something. Still, if Scarlett didn't want to press it, then he'd drop it. "Yeah. It was just, y'know, an example. Of what could make it hard to think about love and relationships and stuff."

Shimmer got to his feet and made his way over to his bed in the corner opposite the door to their room. "Great," he muttered. "Does that make me a bad person for thinking about it, then?"

Talk about a lose-lose question. Igneous doubted he could say anything that wouldn't upset Shimmer. He silently watched the ponytales climb onto his bed.

"No. People have needs," Scarlett said, to Igneous' surprise. "And, like, if you two want to test the waters, go ahead. Only thing that matters is trying to help the resistance, right?"

There had to be better ways to phrase that. A tingle ran down the grovlazzle's spine and he wasn't sure if that was out of awkwardness or potential excitement.

"I don't know." He stood up and flopped onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow. "It's been a long day. I just want to sleep."

"What was that?" Scarlett asked.

Igneous tilted his head right. "I just want to sleep. Maybe tomorrow we can, I dunno, do something low-key. Nikki and Yuna can join, too."

Assuming there wasn't some resistance issue they had to tackle, of course.

He didn't bother waiting to see if either of them responded, however. Igneous smushed his face into his pillow, dug his arms underneath it, and tried to will himself to sleep.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 99: Soulful Lament​

"Do you ever think about him at all?"

Tessa dabbed her muzzle with a cloth napkin, then set it next to her empty plate. Next to her, Nickie's left ear flattened.

"Think about who, Nero? Just because I complimented his thighs doesn't mean—"

"No, silly." The riolu chuckled. "That friend of yours back home." Her aura feelers twitched. "Or, uh... maybe he wasn't your friend anymore by the end?"

"Oh." Nickie looked down at her remaining tart. The icepix's snout wrinkled. "Yeah. A few times." She looked at the ceiling. "If he was here, he'd be bouncing off the freaking walls. The guy'd be so jazzed. He was, like, unhealthily obsessed with pokémon."

Tessa raised a brow. "So there are pokémon in the human world?"

Nickie's tails puffed up. "Uh, well, yeah. It's, y'know, kinda complicated." She laughed nervously, then scarfed down the rest of her tart. Crumbs littered her white snout.

"Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if he was here instead of me." Nickie looked at Tessa. "And then I tell myself it'd be a disaster. He'd treat everyone around him like dirt and think himself the most important guy in the room."

She turned up her nose. "Before I disappeared, I told a couple of buddies that Shane outed me to my dad. I hope that spread through the school like wildfire. Maybe it'd be the wakeup call he needs."

Tessa's aura feelers throbbed. Despite Nickie's even tone, there was a lot of emotion behind her words. "I see." The riolu rubbed her shoulder. "That bad, huh?"

Nickie saw Tessa's expression and her ears folded. "Shit." Her tails curled up. "I, uh..." She bit her lip. "That wasn't supposed to sound so harsh."

She scooted next to Tessa, who squeaked with the icepix's tails brushed against her waist. "It's not all bad," Nickie said. "I got to meet you, didn't I?"

"Me?" Tessa's aura feelers stuck up. "It's only been a couple of months."

"Yeah." Nickie leaned over. "Still enough time to think you've been one of the best things that's happened to me."

Blood rushed to Tessa's cheeks.

XxX​

With newfound hindsight, Reshiram's revelation seemed so obvious. Vegna had Bahamut's journal memorized. He commanded multiple Sages. His focus had been squarely on Necrozma since he showed up at the outpost. Hell, the fact that he got to the outpost meant he had to have formed a rift between the regular and reverse worlds. And the thing he told her a couple of weeks ago...

"Continuing down this path will lead you to discover several horrible truths. And without that tenacity... the weight of those truths will crush you."

Maybe one of these could've been a coincidence. But taken together, there was only one logical explanation.

Yuna wanted to be mad. What did Vegna have to gain by sitting on this secret?

The dragapult scooched toward the edge of the bed. "Why?"

Vegna's look practically screamed "elaborate."

"Why hide it like this? Especially after coming to us for help?"

The dusknoir's eye glowed blue. "Yes, why hide being the soul of a large dragon of light worshiped by half the world and scorned by the other half?"

If he was trying to spin this back on Yuna, she'd have none of it. She curled her golden claws around her blanket. "This isn't some courtroom debate. I want answers."

"Me too." Reshiram looked more hurt the longer the conversation went on. "You told my wife you hated her big mouth."

"And you went behind my back and eloped," Vegna growled. He tilted his head right and shook it, sighing. "Which is... irrelevant. You want answers? I told you, it all goes back to selfish vengeance."

"Revenge." Yuna curled and uncurled the tip of her tail. "On Eternatus?"

"On Isola." Vegna held his right hand up. Blue Will-O-Wisp embers crackled around his fingers.

"What?" Reshiram's tail turbine matched Vegna's embers with some of its own. "If you want revenge on her, why work for her? And wouldn't that, y'know, give you a motive to do Grim Reaper killings?"

"The body snatcher is the one who killed Chiron and Leo," Vegna said, locking eyes with Yuna. "My memory of that day is... spotty, but I'm sure of it. I have evidence."

The Will-O-Wisp embers congealed into Bahamut's journal, which Vegna held in his hand. It flipped open to show the word TRAITOR scrawled in red ink, along with jagged scribbles and puncture marks suggesting the writer had stabbed the pages with a pen repeatedly.

A gush of hot air from Reshiram's tail turbine rippled the part of the blanket dangling off the side of the bed. "Traitor? You don't think—"

"That one of the Sages is related?" Vegna's eye dimmed. "Clearly I do."

"But how?" Reshiram squeaked.

"They never sealed themselves away in a Needle." Vegna shut the journal, which dissolved into gold light his hand absorbed. "For a time, I thought perhaps it was the former Sage of Justice. After all, there was no logical reason for a keldeo to be around Radiance."

"Couldn't you say the same thing about an articuno, moltres, and zapdos?" Reshiram pointed out. "None of them were Sages, yet they're in the Radiant Guard."

"Which is why my focus shifted to Isola," Vegna said, tapping his right index finger against his left arm. "I suspect she's the reason. Just as I suspect she unsealed Keldeo and allowed her to procreate. If Isola does have a Red Chain fragment as the clown prince suggests, it would all make sense."

"Well, we've pulled a lot of Needles," Yuna mumbled. "I know Necrozma got Suicune and Zygarde. Scarlett seems to have Latias. And you have three. So that leaves—"

Vegna held up two fingers. "Two. There should be two Needles remaining. Diancie, Sage of Heart. And Enamorus, Sage of Beauty."

"What about Latios and Zeraora?" Reshiram asked. "And Victini, too?"

"Already with Necrozma. And Victini most likely had their needle corrupted and broken already."

Yuna gulped. Then... there wasn't much left keeping Eternatus tethered to the reverse world. "Okay. Two potential Needles. But one of them might be the body snatcher. Then we'll just end up learning who it is by process of elimination after pulling the next Needle, won't we?"

"By then, I fear something terrible might happen," Vegna growled. "Considering there are multiple people trying to expose Isola."

He looked down, eye dimming. "Not to mention that if one of them is the body snatcher, then there's really only one Needle remaining."

Vegna lifted a shaky hand and examined all the gold cracks in it. There were more there than the other week. "One Needle... keeping this fragile body together."

Yuna pinched her brow. This was a problem. One that also came with the extra uncertainty of Yuna not knowing whether getting to the bottom of this was her desire... or Yaldabaoth exerting their influence.

"So you... intend to recombine with Necrozma?"

Vegna was silent.

Yuna crossed her arms. She needed a slightly different angle. "Eternatus can't be destroyed. Necrozma wants to destroy it. Do you still feel that way?"

"I do not."

The dragapult wished she found that reassuring. "If you recombine, then will Bahamut lay off?"

"I cannot say," Vegna responded. He turned his head toward the door again. "I'm unsure whether or not Necrozma's single-minded obsession with destroying Eternatus will win out over me. My body is... far stronger than my spirit."

"But it's the only way to stop Bahamut, right?" Reshiram poked his wing-claws together nervously.

"I was trying to work with Gene to find alternatives," Vegna explained, flicking his right hand. "If we destroy Necrozma as it is now, my spirit will fade when the final Needle is pulled. I had suggested he take a blessing from Leo, but he is... unwilling."

Leo. Yuna thought of the cosmic arceus as she also stared at the door.

Another thought tickled the back of her head. "Did you sense Chiron? Is that why you put me in your class?"

Vegna sighed. It lingered for several seconds. "Do recall that I never even met you until you came to the academy. But I did sense... familiar traces from meeting your parents on their prior trips. So, yes, I admit I arranged to get you into my class so I could see you for myself.

"And when I did, I thought that parts of your aura brought Chiron to mind. But other parts... reminded me of myself."

That was probably Yuna's distortion powers. Giratina did say Bahamut stole them somehow.

"It's not the same. Neither you nor Leo." The dusknoir shook his head. "Perhaps you both reincarnated. I'm unsure. Either way... I don't consider either of you family, if that's what you're worried about."

There was plenty Yuna was worried about. Enough to not find any solace in Vegna's words. The end of her tail twitched with irritation. "How did this all happen?"

"It's complicated," Vegna whispered.

She rubbed the brim of her triangular head. "Then make it make sense."

Another sigh. Vegna folded his hands over his closed stomach mouth. "As I said... my memories of the day I lost Chiron and Leo are fuzzy. But I think... that was when I learned many of the same things you heard from Giratina."

Before Yuna could make a remark, Vegna held up his right hand. "I don't remember specifics of my past life like you claim to." He lowered his hand. "There are... vague recollections. Of struggling to understand the world around me. And the world, in turn, not understanding me."

His hands balled into fists. "Frustrations giving way to isolation giving way to yet more frustrations. A vicious cycle feeding into itself."

The dusknoir tucked his head down. It was... shameful? Yuna couldn't quite peg his body language.

"And then I woke up alone. A giant dragon of light." Golden embers drifted off the exposed cracks in Vegna's arms. "I wandered the universe — or, as it turns out, the distortion world — seeking an end to my loneliness. But the same pitfalls that befell my past self happened here.

"I did not understand the places I visited." Vegna shook his head. "And I did not communicate well. But this time I had power." He held up a clenched fist. "I could make my frustrations known... through force."

Yuna's tail slowly curled throughout Vegna's explanation. "Just how many places did you attack in your travels?"

"Too many. It felt good. It felt right." The dusknoir bowed his head shamefully again. "I could blame Giratina's powers, but in the end it was still my choice. And, perhaps, I might've continued down that path... had I not met the Overseers."

Reshiram's tail turbine crackled like the engines in Cyril's workshop. "You were on Chakran when they were around?"

Vegna nodded. "And when they abandoned our world." He folded his hands over his stomach mouth again. "But I met someone there. And it was like... looking into a cracked mirror. I couldn't shake the feeling that this person... was a happier me. Similar struggles, yet he found friends and family to support him.

"Something about that made me snap." The dusknoir squeezed his hands together. "I lashed out at him. He defended himself... with a power that split my soul from my body."

"Wait, what?" Yuna leaned forward and almost fell off her bed. "But then—"

"He pulled me back together," Vegna said. "But, yes, I ended up learning that power from him. And using it on myself." He shook his head. "After Chakran, I thought that... the only way I could be like that Overseer was to make my home. I didn't create the life that would inhabit your home, but I brought about conditions to allow life to evolve."

"Then put yourself in charge of what resulted," Reshiram said, shifting around uncomfortably. "And I was part of that."

"You guys described Bahamut as a bit of a control freak." Yuna tapped a gold claw against her core. "Do you think that was because of Giratina's powers?"

"I think it was both of us," Vegna responded. He waved Yuna off. "Regardless, all my controlling tendencies couldn't stop Eternatus from showing up. Along with everything else that followed."

Yuna tried to recall what Igneous had told her about that final entry in Bahamut's journal. "You were... tired of emotions weighing you down. So, you split your soul from your body."

Vegna pinched his brow. "I had once believed... that I was meant to pass away, like any other person. That being struck by Eternatus had 'cursed' me with immortality."

"But you don't believe that anymore." Reshiram sounded sure of himself. Must've been that truth sense. "Because of Giratina?"

The dusknoir nodded slowly. "Yes. But at the time, I viewed my spirit as a burden. So, I sought to cast it off. Except when I emerged as a soul... fear took hold. I didn't want to disappear."

"Then is some of the other stuff true?" Yuna wondered.

"I did find and pull Zekrom's Needle," Vegna admitted. A blue glow took over his eye, but quickly faded. "The necromancy stuff is true as well. However, that was because this body proved fragile from the beginning. Not after pulling Zekrom's Needle."

He held his hand up to expose the gold cracks along it. "All the necromancy acts were attempts to preserve my body and keep it from crumbling. It's why I became an executioner for Radiance. To use those spirits to preserve my body." Vegna lowered his hand. "I only transferred to the Ministry of Justice after suspecting Isola had a connection to the one who took Chiron and Leo away from me."

With a grunt, Vegna pushed himself off the floor. "That is, to the best of my knowledge, the whole truth."

"I see." Yuna sat up straight, then immediately asked a question that sprang to mind. "Do you regret what you've done?"

Vegna braced his left hand against the wall. "If this were a court of law... I'd have argued that Giratina's influence drove my actions. That I never intended to cause so many problems." He looked down. "And so much harm."

"That doesn't answer my question," Yuna growled, trying to stop her tail from lashing at the dangling edge of Leo's covers.

"I regret it," Vegna said. "I wish I'd never had such terrible power. Perhaps if I could go back to that distant life... I'd do things differently."

Reshiram flew up to Yuna's left on the bed, between her and Leo's plate. "Well that's, y'know, good. It's a start." He looked between the two ghosts, tittering. "Maybe if you hold onto that mindset, when you become whole that'll—"

"You should try to destroy Necrozma as it is right now," Vegna said. He floated closer toward the door. "I— we've done too much harm. If you and your allies do possess great power from the distant past, then it should be possible. It is... the most pragmatic option."

"No."

She didn't think she could make one word sound so forceful. But given Reshiram's dumbfounded expression, that's exactly what Yuna had done.

The dusknoir looked over his shoulder. "What?"

Yuna dug her claws into the fibers of Leo's wool blanket. "I'm so tired... of people telling me what I should do. What's 'best' or 'most pragmatic.'"

Reshiram curled up his wings. "It did sound like something Bahamut would say."

She pointed at Vegna. "This is your fault, too. You don't... get to take the coward's way out here. You're helping us fix this." The dragapult tapped her right index claw into the palm of her left hand. "Whether that's as Vegna or Bahamut or something else entirely doesn't matter to me. I won't let you just disappear.

"So, yeah, I guess you were right. I don't forgive you or respect your decisions or whatever."

"Yuna."

"Don't." Yuna held her left hand over Reshiram like she was ready to squish him. He abruptly shrank back toward Leo's plate. "If that's everything, you can go." The dragapult flicked her right hand lazily toward the door. "I'm going to wait for my son to get back. And I don't need you around for that."

At first, Vegna held his ground. Then his eye dimmed and he turned back toward the door.

"Perhaps there's... more of her in you than I thought."

The dusknoir opened the door and floated out. He didn't bother shutting it.

"Well that, uh..." Reshiram twirled a lock of fur with a wing claw. "I guess that could've gone worse?"

"Save it." Yuna glared at him.

"I wasn't, um, looking to criticize or anything." Reshiram shifted his weight uneasily. "I know this stuff's upsetting, but it feels like it's making you more upset than before."

"You think I don't see that?" Yuna plucked Reshiram off the bed.

"Whoa! H-Hey, easy now!" The tiny dragon flailed between Yuna's claws.

"How do I know this anger is mine and not Giratina's?" Yuna held Reshiram up in front of her face. "What if they're trying to isolate me from everyone so I'll give up and let them take over, huh? How can I trust my thoughts and wishes here are really mine?"

"... Yeesh," a new voice interjected. "Maybe I should've looked for some whiskey or vodka to bring."

Squealing, Yuna let go of Reshiram. "N-Nikki! H-Hi!"

Reshiram hit the bed and bounced off it with a nasally yelp. He faceplanted onto the carpeted floor then hastily got to his feet, shaking out his messy fur.

"I'm okay!" he declared.

Yuna recalled Reshiram into her core and shimmied backward so she could prop her triangular head against the wall. "How, um, long have you been standing there?"

The toxtricity walked inside, pausing to kick the door shut with her right leg. "When you told Crotch Fuzz to 'save it,'" Nikki replied, shrugging. "Guess you're drifting into existential shit again, huh?"

"O-Only toward the end." Yuna's long tail crinkled. "I was talking. With Vegna."

"About?"

"Abouthowhe'skindasortamaybeactuallyBahamut."

It came out so fast it sounded like one word, but Nikki must've parsed it out because her mohawk shrank. "Oh. Ohhhhh shit." She looked back at the closed door. "Is that, uh, good or bad?"

"Dunno."

"Should we be upset?"

"Yeah."

Nikki threw the door open, leaned into the hallway and stuck her middle finger up. "How's that?"

Nickie reared up on her hind legs. She tried to lift a foreleg but tumbled backward with a yip.

"W-What was that?" Tessa was trying not to laugh.

"I wanted to flip that fopdoodle off!" Nickie kicked at the air with her legs. "God, I miss having hands."

"It works." Yuna chuckled into her right elbow.

"Good." Nikki shut the door again while rummaging through her right jacket pocket. She pulled out two small glass vials. "Was gonna keep both of these for myself, but I think you need the other more than I do."

She tossed it to Yuna, who barely managed to catch it after bobbling it between her hands. The dragapult held it up and squinted at the pink gas inside. "Wait. This is—"

"Salazzle vapors. From Twiggy's sister." Nikki strutted toward the bed, tossing her vial to herself.

Yuna kept staring at the pink gas swirling around inside. "Why though?"

"To take the edge off."

The bed fwumped when Nikki flopped down on the edge of it. A meeping Yuna shuffled closer to Leo's plate. Her tail shot into her torso.

"Heh. Never gettin' tired of that." The toxtricity pointed to where Yuna's tail had been seconds ago.

Yuna kneaded her tail out of her torso, pouting. "Is this what you meant when you said you needed air or whatever?"

Sighing, Nikki pushed herself back until her waist spikes plinked against the metal wall. "Yeah. It's the Seifer stuff."

The dragapult straightened up when Nikki actually used Seifer's name. This really was serious.

"I know I don't... get memories like the rest of you," Nikki said, turning her vial back and forth in her fingers. "Still, hearing about Seifer made me think for a bit. You said I fought against Zodiark in the past. But I clearly lost."

She closed her eyes. "So, they must've killed me, right?"

The icepix lay unmoving on the gray and blue, stone ground. Blood stained her fur.

"I... don't know."

"Your face says otherwise."

Yuna jolted. Nikki was leaning over and looking at her.

"I saw you," the dragapult admitted, brushing her right hand over her core.

"Figured." Nikki pulled away, mohawk shrinking. "I don't gotta know the details or anything. Just that... it's gotta go different this time, right?"

"Right. Yeah. Sorry."

"For what?"

"Trying to hide it." Yuna fidgeted.

"Eh, it's whatever." Nikki waved her off. "You were looking out for me. And I pressed you on it."

They both shared a look. The toxtricity's mohawk went pink again for an instant before she looked away and coughed into her hand. "So, uh—"

"C-Can I, um, just ask you one thing?" Yuna blurted out. She was leaning forward, hands pressed down on Leo's blanket.

Nikki opened her mouth, then shut it, then opened it again. Maybe she'd planned on giving a smartass response and abruptly reconsidered. "Yeah."

"What would you do if, y'know, Giratina ends up taking me over?"

Yuna expected the silence that followed. Nikki leaned over. Still clasping her vial, she rested her head on the backs of her hands. A soft, rhythmic thumped filled the room from Nikki tapping her foot against the carpet. She had to be thinking it over, then.

"I guess... I'd fight to get you back."

"And if it's not possible?"

"Screw that."

Yuna's ectoplasm constricted. "Huh?"

Nikki sat up. "After all the shit's that happened to us, you're really going to say something's not possible?"

"I, uh— it's a hypothetical?" Yuna's voice cracked.

"Doesn't change my answer." Nikki swung her legs onto the bed, facing the dragapult in the process. "I'd fight to get you back. Even if it means pissing those Overseers off."

She looked down and mumbled, "Hell, that might get 'em to come to me faster."

Yuna imagined Nikki charging toward some angelic light... only to get vaporized by a giant white laser. She cringed. "I thiiiink I get the picture."

Hell, maybe Nikki really was onto something. Vegna mentioned an Overseer who split his soul from his body the first time. Perhaps he could split her off from Giratina.

Maybe it wasn't a complete lost cause, then. Yuna had a fighting chance. And someone willing to fight for her.

Nikki stuck her vial in front of Yuna's face and waved it. "So, how 'bout it? Dunno about you, but I've had enough existential shit for one day. Hell, for the whole month."

Yuna lifted the vial in her hand. "I, uh, guess so?" She closely examined the pink gas inside. "What exactly should I do here?"

"Pfffbt. That's easy." Nikki brought her vial over by her face. "Y'just do this." She popped the cork off and heavily inhaled. The pink gas flowed into Nikki's face. There were probably nostrils there Yuna couldn't see between the toxtricity's scales.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then Nikki reclined. A shiver ran from her head town to her legs. By the time Nikki was slumped against the wall — her waist spikes wedged in a crack between said wall and Leo's bed — her feet were twitching and her mohawk frazzling erratically.

"N-Nikki?" Yuna waved a hand in front of her face. She squealed when Nikki grabbed it and squeezed her palm repeatedly.

"Squiiiiishy," Nikki said.

"H-Hey now," the dragapult squeaked.

"I'm fiiiiiine." Nikki let go. Her arms flopped by her side. "Just enjoying the colors."

Yuna wanted to ask what Nikki meant, but paused when she saw pink spreading over Nikki's sclera. She looked down at her own capped vial.

"Hey, so, as the guy who used to date a salazzle, maybe we ought to consider not using th—"

Yuna booted Reshiram from the back of her mind and popped the cap off her vial. She didn't have nostrils, so she simply leaned over and let the vapors splash onto her facial ectoplasm.

For a moment, she wondered if there wouldn't be any effect. Then the gas seeped into her ectoplasm.

The vial slipped from Yuna's grasp and dropped onto the bed. All around Yuna, the gray metal walls rippled and wiggled. Bright reds, greens, and blues danced around one another, twisting into yellows, oranges, and purples. So many colors swirling around and around and around...

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

A hand on Yuna's leg made her ectoplasm tighten and quiver in a way she'd never experienced before. She looked at the arm and saw streams of purple and yellow trailing off it. They molded into icepix that ran around the arm. Around Yuna's leg.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty. So many icepix. Spinning. Circling.

The arm turned to something heavier. Scales that smothered her jiggling ectoplasm.

Yuna fell onto her back. A thunk suggested something hit the ground, but she was long past caring.

XxX​

"It's not usually this quiet here, is it?"

Vince's question disrupted the soft echo of Leo's golden hooves against the metal floor. The cosmic arceus made his way down the hall. "It's late. Everyone must've hit the hay."

"Where are we going?"

"Quiet." Grishi shushed Vince. A whimper followed from the purple koraidon.

"Still dunno why you're here, B-T-dubs." Leo looked over his shoulder. The zorotwo was levitating Vince alongside him. "We made it back. Shouldn't you go home?"

"Grishi could go home." He rolled his eyes. "Sit and twiddle claws. But Grishi knows that dumb thing to do when everything in danger."

He held two claws up to his eyes, then pointed them at Leo. "So, Grishi do responsible thing and keep eye on Leo and friends. Grishi be adult in the room."

"We are adults," Leo said, continuing forward.

"Then Grishi be mature adult."

"Whatevs." Leo reached his door and abruptly stopped. His chest tightened. His starcloud mane and tail pulsated. "H-Huh?"

"Oh no. What's wrong?" Vince sounded like he was trying to worm out of Grishi's psychic grasp. "Are there Whispers here?"

"No." Leo lifted a foreleg and placed it on the door. "I sense... my power. But that doesn't make sense. What—"

The moment he opened the door he saw one of his plates lying on the carpet next to the bed.

A bed with a dragapult and a toxtricity practically tangled together like a pretzel. Their limbs twitching and torsos shuddering.

Leo blinked once. Twice. He cleared his throat.

... Nothing. Did they even hear him?

The cosmic arceus waved a foreleg. A hand made of dirt popped out of the carpet, grabbed the plate, and chucked it toward Leo, who caught it in his starcloud mane.

He silently stepped out of the room and shut the door.

"Change of plans," Leo declared. The plate melted into his mane. A fiery orange dribbled down his wheel like someone spilled paint on it.

Grishi and Vince exchanged looks. "What's wrong? I thought we were going to your room," the purple koraidon said. "And did you just get another plate?"

"Leo taller now." Grishi held two claws close together. "By smidge."

"My mom's in there. With Nikki." Leo wasn't sure how he was keeping a straight face. "Who I might need to start calling my other mom."

Vince stared back blankly. "What."

"I dunno. They're stoned out of their minds." Leo repeatedly moved his head in a circle. "Maybe they won't remember any of it. Either way, I'm out."

He pushed past Grishi and Vince. "H-Hey, wait! Where are we supposed to go, then?!" Vince said.

"Find the orbeetle in the hangar. He'll set you up with a room."

"What hangar?!" Vince finally got out of Grishi's grip. The purple koraidon started after Leo. "And where are you going?"

Leo quickened his pace. "To take a long, cold shower."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" And the cosmic arceus stomped into a rift of his own making.

XxX​

Widget did not like lying in a "loaf" position. Even switching to miraivally mode didn't help him out. And the carpet was itchy. Why did they even have to sit on the floor like this anyway?

"So, that's the situation." Gene set a handless cup of tea down on the table at their feet. "Unstable world. Threat to the universe. We could some extra muscle, especially if things keep going south on this side. What do you say?"

The shadowy mewtwo extended his right hand. The two urshifu sitting across the table exchanged looks.

"You said there are a bunch of strong pokémon with this 'resistance' of yours?" Lin asked, a brow raised.

"They're Aeon troops." Gene kept his hand extended. "Mostly dragons and other reptiles."

The other urshifu leaned forward. "So, that include any of them big muscular dragons with the circular plates?" He traced his paws in circles.

"I think he means kommo-o," Widget offered, though he wasn't sure why the urshifu considered that important.

"More than a few," Gene said.

"Any of 'em ladies?"

"Xiao." Lin smacked his brother's shoulder.

Gene shrugged. "I'm sure there are—"

"Ya got a deal!" Xiao grabbed the shadowy mewtwo's hand and enthusiastically shook it. His yellow tail crinkled up in pain.

When the handshake ended, Gene pulled his throbbing hand back and nursed against his stomach. "Great. Welcome aboard." He got to his feet. "We'll give you time to get whatever affairs you need in order, then come back to bring you to our base."

Lin crossed his arms. "What about the dojo, Xiao? And the village?"

"We bring the students, of course!" Xiao got to his feet. "You saw the news on PV. Things are going sideways. Looking out for our people means getting 'em somewhere safer than this nutty kingdom."

"That's... true." Lin stood up, arms still crossed.

"Heh." Xiao rubbed his nose. "You just don't wanna admit I'm right."

"Perhaps keep your thoughts about kommo-o to yourself next time." Sighing, Lin shook his head. "When should we expect you back?"

"Hopefully in a day or two." Gene gestured for Widget to stand. "We're heading over to Blightsmuth next."

"That's on the other side of the kingdom," Lin said. "It'd take at least two days by rail."

"Well, guess it's a good thing we'll be flying." Gene pet Widget's back.

The miraivally's thrusters coughed out smoke. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." Gene stretched his arms up. "And weeeee should probably get going. C'mon, bud."

"Seriously?" Widget watched Gene float over the bamboo floor toward a wooden double door. "Isn't this a bit fast?"

"We're on a tight schedule." Gene snapped his fingers.

Widget bowed his head apologetically at the two urshifu. He shifted back to his cosmic form and trotted after Gene. They stepped through the double doors and descended wooden stairs to a wooden bridge over a small pond with lily pads and bamboo fronds scattered around.

"We have to go back to the base," Widget said.

"Not without new recruits." Gene floated across the bridge, nonchalantly resting his hands behind his head.

"This isn't about getting us numbers." Widget marched after him. His starcloud neck ruff rippled with every step. "You're avoiding Cyril."

"I'm not."

"Puh-lease."

Widget caught up to Gene, who was leaning against a sign reading "Unseen Fist Dojo." He jabbed a gold talon into the shadowy mewtwo's thigh.

"You're trying to recruit new people not long after telling your friend to his face that his boyfriend was as good as dead," Widget said. "It comes off as trying to replace Seifer. It's insensitive. You should know better."

Gene raised a brow. "Really? You're going to lecture me on this?"

The cosmic silvally's crest drooped. "He's been with you for ages. He needs you right now."

"Nah." Gene pushed off the sign. He walked across the dirt road. "I'm the last person he wants to see right now. So, better to do something productive. Better to find us some new recruits." He punched one hand with another. "Nikki lived with Shredder and she's plenty tough. So, the guy must know a thing or two."

Widget squinted. "Which is why you want to go to Blightsmuth?"

Gene turned back, smirking. "Exactly."

"Great." The cosmic silvally sat down. "Then have fun."

"Oh, for pity's sake." Gene pinched his brow. "You're digging your heels in? Really?"

"Yes." Widget held his head up. "Send me back to the base. I won't enable your bad decisions."

They silently stared each other down for several seconds. Eventually, Gene relented. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he spawned a rift. Widget spotted the hangar on the other side.

"Be my guest." Gene gestured toward the rift. "Don't come crying to me when it doesn't go how you're hoping."

Chuffing, Widget marched toward the rift. He paused with one foreleg on the other end to look at Gene.

"I hope you'll reconsider."

He waited for a few seconds. When Gene didn't respond, Widget finished stepping through the rift. He found a few skorps staring at him.

"Oh, uh, hi." Widget awkwardly waved a foreleg. "Anyone seen Cyril around?"

"Medical bay," one skorp said.

"Thanks." Widget trotted toward the hangar door.

Maybe Cyril already had other people with him. Regardless, Widget wouldn't rest until he knew the zoroark was okay.