Chapter 120: SPECIAL #2 ~ Per Aspera ad Astra
Chiron flapped her wings to climb higher toward the bright blue sky. A sky that had to be fake. Trickery on Matriarch's part. What was it even doing inside of Valhalla?
A Moonblast grazed the lunala's right wing. She rolled left, avoiding a pink, misty explosion. A scuffed up togekiss flew after her. But Chiron had both size and speed to her advantage. And this was what she'd been training for.
With another flap of her wings, she flew higher. Chiron gathered up energy around her wings. She just needed to concentrate for a little bit...
Pink flashes came from below her. Togekiss fired two small Moonblasts in quick succession. Chiron somersaulted in midair and dove down. The Moonblasts sailed behind her.
"You're making a mistake, Chiron."
It was Matriarch speaking through Togekiss. Just as she always did with these avatars of hers. The others were fighting with her teammates, but Chiron had flown away from them.
"Only mistake I made was trusting you," Chiron said, managing to keep her tone even. She spun left, avoiding Air Slash crescents. Then she unfolded her wings and unleashed the energy she gathered. A beam of multicolored rocks struck Togekiss, knocking her from the air.
Chiron flew after Togekiss, continuing to hammer her from above with Meteor Beam. After a few more seconds, the Meteor Beam faded. Chiron hovered in midair, watching Togekiss freefall until she crashed into the ground, kicking up dirt and grass. Chiron folded her wings and dove down. She couldn't let Togekiss recover. Togekiss would try to heal herself and—
Oh. Never mind. Togekiss was out cold. Her tiny feet flickered with bits of static. As if Chiron really needed more proof Togekiss was some sort of artificial construct.
She spread her wings out and looked around the valley. There were small houses smoking with signs of battle. But Chiron didn't spot any bright flashes or explosions to suggest any ongoing skirmishes. She concentrated and felt familiar auras congregating at the center of the valley. So Chiron opened a wormhole and flew through it. Her resistance teammates were on the other side, looking no worse for wear.
"There you are." Bahamut floated toward her. He raised a black crystal arm. "Everything okay?"
"Fine." Chiron bobbed her head. "Matriarch was giving me her usual 'You don't know what you're doing' talk. But Togekiss is down." She glanced left, where Nova was looking toward the mountain on the far side of the valley. "And the others?"
"Down for the count." Zamazenta shook out his crimson pelt. "Ain't that right, sis?"
Beside him, Zacian's matching sword and armor disappeared in streams of blue and pink light. "Indeed. There was little Lucario could do to me."
"A-And I helped too!" a squeakier voice chimed in from behind the dogs. Chiron nodded at the espeon who stood beside Miraidon, wagging her forked tail.
"Of course you did, Selene." Chiron chuckled. A part of her still found it strange to be dealing with the person Enamorus had been before receiving Bahamut's blessing. She and Bahamut had both been under the impression all the Sages had sacrificed themselves to seal Eternatus. Yet they'd found Selene wandering around the Qliphoth lost and confused. She didn't even seem to recognize the two of them, sticking closer to Nova and the dogs.
Bahamut figured that she'd taken a blow from Eternatus and lost her powers and memories as a result. And Nova wanted more allies, so that was all they'd ever discussed on the matter.
Chiron eyed Miraidon warily. "And how is the little one?"
Miraidon gingerly cradled a slumbering cosmog in his mechanical arms. "The sleep seeds are holding up. Not a peep or random teleport from him this entire battle."
"Then they're good to leave," Bahamut said, drifting between Chiron and Miraidon. "This is no place for the boy."
Chiron frowned. "And where would you have them go?" She extended her right wing. "We both know Miraidon can't use any attacks. And we have no other allies that can protect Leo."
Bahamut pointed down at a patch of scorched grass. "And he's at greater risk of something happening here."
Nova stepped in between them, head crest fanning out.
"Enough, both of you." His turquoise feathers glowed brightly. "You already litigated this the other day. The risk of Matriarch sending her remaining type: fulls to capture Leo is too high. Like it or not, we have to bring him along."
He stared Bahamut down until the multicolored triangles in Bahamut's brain prism dimmed. With an annoyed grunt, he turned away from Nova.
"Then let's not dawdle any longer." Bahamut pointed to the base of the mountain. "We think she's holed up in there, yes?"
"Aye." Zamazenta's shield-shaped armor faded in streams of red and lavender mist. "Nowhere else to go in this place. Unless you wanna try going door-to-door in these little houses."
"Hmph." Bahamut hovered along the valley floor. His claws curled up. A sign of the constant pain his strange, depowered form left him in. "That was rhetorical."
Zamazenta walked after him, grinning. "I know."
Together, everyone headed for the doorway at the base of the mountain. It was a heavy metal door. Perhaps even heavier than the one that blocked the entrance to Valhalla. It took a combination of Nova, Zacian, and Zamazenta to get those doors open. Would Chiron have to step in this time to help?
The lunala got her answer quickly when the door beeped... and slid open.
"Gee. Wonder if ol' Matriarch's expecting us?" Zamazenta quipped. He stepped toward the open doorway, only to whine when Bahamut grabbed the back of his head to stop him.
"Don't make light of this," he growled. "There could be another ambush waiting for us on the other side. Perhaps Matriarch—"
This was Chiron's moment to step in. She floated up to Bahamut's side and leaned her head against the top of his crystal body.
"Dear," Chiron whispered. "One step at a time, remember? Like we promised?"
Nova marched up to the open door. "We've come this far charging full steam ahead. Now's not the time to suddenly change tactics."
Bahamut's black claws twitched. His crystals rattled in some sort of sighing equivalent. "Yes, yes. We'll press on." He pointed to Miraidon and told Chiron, "Stay with him, though. Just to be safe."
"Of course." Chiron drifted over in Miraidon and Leo's direction. The cosmog remained fast asleep. Miraidon had a small bag slung over his shoulder. Full of sleep seeds for Leo and medicine to help the rebels in case they needed it.
After Nova, the others entered the door in groups of two. They found themselves in a dim hallway. A glowing glass floor offered the only light. Chiron couldn't make anything out on the walls and ceiling. They looked like black glass of some sort.
"This door's locked," Nova called, though it was too dark to see anything at the other end aside from a slight turquoise glow from the type: full's head and tail.
Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with multicolor light. "Then we blow it open like—"
Chiron tensed, hearing the hum of an engine or generator all around her. The walls— or, more accurately, the screens serving as walls came to life. Swirling blue lights filled the hallway. Zacian and Zamazenta stood at attention, their armor appearing in flashes of blue, magenta, and silver.
"Hmph." Bahamut raised his arms. Wincing, he conjured gold light around his claws. "Seems we found the trap."
Chiron waved Miraidon back toward the mountain's entrance door, readying to strike at some unseen enemy. Except instead of enemies, a cheerful jingle played through hidden speakers scattered around the hallway. Comets raced across both the screens, painting a bright logo reading CELESTICA LABS on either side of the lunala.
"Welcome, everyone, to the grand tour of Celestia Labs, the science facility of tomorrow!"
The logos disappeared and both screens showed identical footage of a woman with blonde hair that obscured a part of her face. She had some sort of black jumpsuit with a white lab coat over it. She walked across the screen, gesturing to a large building with lots of glass and metal walls.
"Hi there." The woman smiled at the rebels and waved politely. "I'm Professor Cynthia, founder, lab director, and lead researcher here at Celestica Labs."
"What is this?" Bahamut growled.
"Some sort of promotional video." Miraidon eyed the screen on the right. "But I'm not aware of any facility with this name in Eternatus. What about you, Nova?"
The video suddenly shifted to footage of Cynthia walking down a brightly-lit hallway. There were other researchers greeting her alongside scattered pokémon.
"Our work is dedicated toward bringing humans and pokémon even closer together," Cynthia said. She stopped to turn and wave at the people greeting her. "Let's take a quick look, shall we?"
Nova shook his head. "It's not ringing any bells either." He tapped a gold talon on the ground nervously. "You're the one with all that extra knowledge, Mira. Wouldn't this ring some bells for you?"
Chiron drifted closer to the screen on her left, which now showed footage of old stone tablets fixed to a white metal wall. There were runes on the tablets she couldn't make out. Mechanical arms moved around, projecting red lights across the runes in lines and box patterns.
"We're making excellent progress deciphering the glyphs and ruins from the Hisui region of old," Cynthia said, walking on screen while gesturing to the mechanical arms. "Hisui, of course, being the previous name for our lovely Sinnoh region."
"Sinnoh?" Nova's crest tightened. "But Matriarch was in control before Eternatus absorbed Earth."
"Well now!" Miraidon's electric brows shrank. "Thinking about it, Celestic Town is a place in the Sinnohs I have data on." He looked ready to scratch his head, but remembered he was holding Leo. "And there are records of Champion trainers named Cynthia, but that could just be a coincidence."
Bahamut's brain prism flickered with rainbow light. "I don't believe in coincidences. Not where Eternatus is concerned."
"The more we glean from the runes," Cynthia continued, patting the white square base of one of the mechanical arms, "the more we can understand how relations between humans and pokémon have evolved." She smiled for the camera. "That's a crucial first step in driving our bonds to even greater heights!"
Chiron's expression remained neutral as the footage shifted to grasslands that were underneath a glass dome. In some ways it reminded her of what was outside. Only the sky probably wasn't artificial.
"Something wrong?" Selene whispered. The espeon sat beside Chiron, her tail curled around her left flank.
"Nothing this lady's saying sounds bad." Chiron's wing-claws twitched. "But I can't fathom why something like this is here."
Cynthia walked along a dirt path, stopping to pet a couple of wooper that had waddled up to her. She resumed talking to the camera.
"Here in our atrium, we nurse injured pokémon back to health with new, state-of-the-art therapies." While Cynthia smiled for the camera, the wooper happily hopped around and chirped for the camera. A rotom-powered screen floated into the shot. Cynthia gestured back to it.
"And we're starting development on software that can allow humans and pokémon to converse with one another like equals."
Cynthia knelt down. "Here's a little demonstration." She turned to the wooper. "How are you today?"
Both wooper made cute babbling noises. The words "good" and "happy" appeared on the screen behind Cynthia. She glanced at it and pet both wooper.
"Glad to hear it," Cynthia said. She stood back up and approached the camera once again. "Our work is ongoing, but as you can see, it's quite promising."
Chiron's wing membranes rippled. Translating ferals for humans to perfectly understand? Like Selene said, it didn't sound bad.
"But why is this here?" Chiron whispered, looking down the hallway. Nova was pressing his head crest against the door repeatedly, like he was feeling around for some sort of vulnerability.
"Matriarch must be showing it to us," Bahamut surmised. He pressed a black crystal arm to the screen they both faced and jolted pink energy into it. The screen flickered for a moment. Then the video continued on as normal, with Cynthia walking down some sort of metal corridor with a glass floor that showed the tubing and hydraulics underneath the hallway.
"I'm sure many of you are wondering how we're able to do all of this." Cynthia grabbed the ID card clipped onto her lab coat and pressed it against a card reader bolted to a heavy metal door. "Fear not. We'll show you that in detail, too. Right after this sneak peak."
The metal door opened to reveal a large, circular room. Grated floors showed a complex maze of multicolored wires and machinery, steadily funneling toward the opposite end of the room. There was a large, black, triangular machine. In the center of it sat a golden wheel surrounding a glass sphere. Blue and purple swirled around within the sphere. Like auroras or the nebulas that Chiron had sometimes seen flying between planets inside Eternatus.
"And here we are!" Cynthia gestured proudly to the giant machine. "The hope of the future, the Eternatus Core! With its power source... the Space Globe!"
"What?" Bahamut's brain prism flared up, only for it to dim as he leaned against the screen in pain. "The core is... a machine?"
"I don't understand." Chiron pressed a wing to the screen. This video... showed some sort of peaceful science facility. But the rebels had just entered a mountain. What was going on here? Why was the video, which sounded like the start of a tour, casually mentioning the very thing their team had fought so hard to locate?
"That concludes the introduction video," Cynthia declared, waving to the camera. "Thank you for visiting Celestica Labs. I hope you all enjoy your tour of the facility."
The cheerful music finally ended and the video feeds cut, plunging the hallway back into its dimly lit state. Everyone stood in silence, until Miraidon muttered, "How curious."
Bahamut dragged his claws across the screen. "Hmph. This is a stalling tactic. An attempt to unnerve us before Matriarch springs a trap. We mustn't fall for it."
Chiron blipped over to Bahamut's side. "Well, Matriarch has used manipulated footage before." She looked down guiltily. "It's something I was once complacent in."
Nova nodded slowly. "Same here. But, I dunno, this felt different..." He tapped a golden talon on the floor.
Then the red light over the door in front of Nova turned green. It slid open. Warm light spilled in from the other side.
Before Chiron could react, Bahamut quickly hovered up to the door. "See?" He raised his crystal arms. "Be on your guard."
"We will," Zacian assured him. "But don't let this unnerve you, either. We're close to the end." She shook herself out. "I can feel it in my bones."
Chiron glanced at Miraidon and Leo. Miraidon fed the cosmog another sleep seed. He remained still in Miraidon's arms.
"Let's get going," she said. "The longer we think on it, the more time we give Matriarch to prepare for us."
After everyone nodded their agreement, they proceeded through the doorway and into the light.
XxX
The inside of the mysterious mountain bore an uncanny resemblance to the promotional video the team was forced to watch. They passed by the room that held those large stone tablets, except the tablets were missing. They went through multiple greenhouses. And, of course, plenty of hallways and staircases. All the while, they continued to see small videos or hear audio tapes suggesting work on Cynthia's various projects was proceeding well.
By the time they entered yet another hallway lit purely from underneath the glass floor, Chiron could only draw one conclusion. "I think... we're inside this Celestica Labs place." The lunala folded her wings over her torso. "Or, at least, a recreation of it."
"Agreed." Zacian walked slowly down the hall. "But why would Eternatus' core be a science facility hidden in a mountain?"
"Are we sure the original was inside a mountain?" Selene wondered, her forked tail twitching. "The greenhouse lighting in the videos looked a lot more... natural." The espeon looked over her shoulder. "I'm more inclined to believe it's a copy."
Bahamut shoved past Selene. Chiron swore she saw a look of contempt on Selene's face, but it was gone in a second.
"Hmph." Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with dim golden light. "Whether it's the real or a copy matters not. We've climbed a long way. Surely the core is nearby."
At the end of the hall, Nova tapped another steel door with his golden talons. It had a dim red light over it.
"Locked?" Bahamut asked.
Nova pressed his crest tip against the door. A jolt of electricity funneled through it. He pulled his head back, sighing. "Yep."
Chiron looked at the walls. They weren't screens this time, so no way Matriarch was about to show them another video.
"Then shall we blast it open?" Bahamut shakily brought his crystal hands together. Golden light gathered around his claws.
Selene's ears twitched. "Wait." Her head swiveled back and forth. "Do you hear that?"
Nova's crest fanned out. Then Chiron picked up speakers faintly crackling. She looked around for any signs of them but found nothing.
"No more games, Matriarch." Nova knocked on the door with his crest. "Open up or we'll blow this off its hinges!"
Unseen speakers crackled again. Loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear them.
"... Hope this message gets through. I don't have a lot of time left."
Chiron stiffened. That was Cynthia again. The audio was a bit fuzzy at first but gradually got better. Cynthia didn't sound cheerful like in the other recordings. Something alarmed her.
"Sensors are picking up disastrous readings," Cynthia said. "The Space Globe... is emitting a signal."
So, if this wasn't some giant ruse, the thing powering the Eternatus Core appeared to have slipped out of Cynthia's control.
"And yet it's still here," Chiron muttered.
"The signal... is pulling other worlds toward ours!" Cynthia declared. "Matriarch says there's some sort of resonance between those signals and the Space Globe's energy reservoir. Which suggests that, all this time, that energy has been spiritual in nature."
"What?" Selene's back arched and her velvety pink fur prickled.
"I've run the simulations," Cynthia continued. "These other worlds are going to collide with ours. And with one another. The result will be disastrous. For us. Possibly the neighboring universes, too."
Chiron couldn't help but mouth "other worlds" to herself. She subconsciously looked around the room, as if she could somehow locate one of these speakers.
"I can't let it end like this." Cynthia sounded fearful, yet frustrated. "I'm the one who found the Space Globe. Who... who built this whole contraption to tap into its power."
Bahamut smacked the wall with a crystal arm. "You don't seriously believe this drivel, do you?"
No one answered him. Like Chiron, everyone else's gazes were fixed on the walls or the ceiling.
"We have one chance," Cynthia said. "If the Space Globe truly is full of immense spiritual energy, then I... I have to write a program. One that will... reverse the dimensional crash that's about to happen. And restore people to their rightful worlds."
"I'm sorry..." Nova's cheek bolts turned slowly. "Is she saying she thought she could undo a cataclysm with a magic computer program?"
"Aren't you basically a magic computer program?" Zacian mused.
"Th... that's apples and oranges!" Nova squawked, head crest fanning out.
"Dreamweaver can supply the power... and Matriarch's protocols can guide the program," Cynthia continued, sounding more frantic by the minute. "And that should be enough to keep Zodiark from interfering."
Chiron frowned. Dreamweaver and Zodiark meant nothing to her. She recognized Matriarch, though. And it sure sounded like Cynthia claimed she made Matriarch.
"But Matriarch's in charge of Eternatus," she mumbled.
"It's a long shot, but it's the only one we have," Cynthia said. "Still, I'll... I'll back up these audio logs into Matriarch. Just... just in case the worst happens."
The audio feed suddenly cut out. Like at the bottom of the mountain, the door's red light turned green. It slid open. This time, though, there was much less light coming from the other side.
Nova took one look back at the others. Everyone got into formation, with Chiron floating protectively by Miraidon and Leo.
Waiting in the next room wasn't a person or some secret army. It was... an altar? There was a stone walkway. Broken pillars flanked either side of it. Like spears stabbing the sky.
... Or, rather, the hexagonal crystals covering the entire room like a dome. Chiron frowned. Something about these crystals made her head hurt.
Bahamut stuck his left arm out. "I see a figure."
Nova crouched down. "Must be Matriarch."
"But something's wrong." Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with gold light. "I don't sense an aura."
Chiron followed their gazes to the raised platform at the end of the walkway. There was a figure there. Tough to make out, thanks to the large triangular crystal behind it.
Her stomach tightened. The lunala wrapped her wings over her torso. "Wait," she whispered. "Behind the figure. Is that—"
"Aye." Zamazenta's armor materialized in a red flash. "The machine from the videos. And the power source is right in the middle."
Chiron's stomach tightened up again. Almost like someone had kicked her from behind. "Then... those were all real?" She sucked in a sharp breath. "And that's the Eternatus Core?"
"Welcome back, Chiron. N0-V4. I have been expecting you."
Nova stiffened, crest fanning out. He shot an alarmed look at Chiron, whose wing-claws twitched.
"That voice..." Now it was Zacian's turn to summon her armor and blade. "It's Professor Cynthia!"
The triangular crystal lit up. Then a large screen came to life, bathing the altar in white light. Those who could threw arms up to shield their faces.
Chiron managed to adjust to the light enough to see that the figure standing in front of the machine was, indeed, the same lady they'd seen in the promotional videos. The same black jumpsuit. The same white lab coat.
"Impossible," she whispered.
Grunting in pain, Bahamut raised his right arm. A Photon Geyser gathered between his claws. "Stand aside. If you try to protect the core, I will destroy you."
Silence. Then Cynthia sighed and pinched her brow. "So, the readouts were accurate. You two actually brought the Renegade here." She turned her back to them. "Unfortunate."
With a snarl, Bahamut hurled the Photon Geyser forward. It nearly reached Cynthia and the machine, only for a crystal barrier to materialize out of nowhere and snuff out the attack. Bahamut lowered his arm, brain prism smoldering with golden light.
"I believe we should talk," Cynthia said, her back still turned to the group. "Approach."
No one dared to move. Chiron was tempted to charge up a Moongeist Beam.
Cynthia placed her hand on the center of the Eternatus Core. It had the same strange purple and blue nebula Chiron saw in the footage of the Space Globe.
"Since you have taken such... great care to make it here, you deserve to understand the situation." Cynthia looked over her shoulder. "After all, you are about to make a catastrophic error in judgment."
Chiron's brow furrowed. Though this was Cynthia's voice, she recognized that tone. Analytical. Authoritative.
With a flap of her wings, Chiron quickly closed the gap between herself and Cynthia. "Another one of your avatars, Matriarch?"
Rapid footsteps approached Chiron. Nova's cheek bolts revved up. Turquoise sparks littered the ground by his forelegs. "It doesn't matter how many avatars you make. We'll beat them all back."
Cynthia stared Nova down, before turning her back to the group again. "This is not an avatar."
"So, what?" Selene looked around nervously. "Are you the lady from the videos, then?"
"Negative." Cynthia faced the group once more, her hands now folded behind her back. "Professor Cynthia is dead. I am Matriarch, an autologous artificial intelligence program created in the professor's likeness and imbued with her memories, thoughts, and beliefs to supervise Eternatus and ensure its continued stability. In other words, I am an AI-powered android. Not dissimilar from your origins, N0-V4."
Nova tensed. His gaze fell toward the ground.
"You knew this already," Matriarch continued. "However, before you fled my custody I was able to erase all data of my true nature and android body from your processors."
An uneasy silence lingered over the room. Nova looked like he wanted to say something, but never opened his beak.
"What happened to the real professor?" Chiron asked, though she had a bad feeling she already knew the answer.
Matriarch shook her head. "You heard the audio log."
Selene's velvety fur prickled. "That was real?!"
"Every word," Matriarch insisted. "But I am getting ahead of myself. To understand your collective folly, we must walk through the full sequence of events." She stuck her right arm out and touched the Space Globe. It pulsated with blue light.
Then the giant screen over her head came to life and showed... a picture of the altar they stood on. Only it was outside, with thin clouds and snow drifting by.
"The universe we are in now suffered the effects of the cataclysm described in the audio logs," Matriarch said. She pointed at the screen. "Previously, there was but one life-bearing planet in the universe: Earth. Greatly resembling the Earth within Eternatus."
She snapped her fingers and the screen shifted to a picture of a younger Cynthia... and a man with similar blond hair swept over part of his face.
"At some point, there was a disruption in Earth's stability," Matriarch continued. "Divine energy—immense power wielded by legendary pokémon—leaked into this world from another. This created rifts in space-time. One of which led to the disappearance of that man over there. A relative of the professor."
The screen shifted once again to show the man dressed in a blue coat. He had a large backpack on. Next to him was a girl with black hair and a purple coat with a strange gold symbol on its sleeve.
"Historical records showed the man appearing in the recent past," Matriarch said, flipping through pictures of the man with a togepi and a gible. "He used the Renegade Pokémon, Giratina, to open more rifts in an effort to summon the Original One."
At the mention of "renegade," Chiron felt that strange kick in her stomach again. She folded her wings over her torso and glanced at Bahamut. His brain prism was... dimmer than before. He pressed a large crystal hand to his head. Or what passed for his head in that depleted form of his.
"Huh?" Nova managed to find his voice. "Giratina? Original One? I don't follow."
"The old world came into existence thanks to the power of many legendary pokémon." Matriarch raised her hand. A strange series of circles and triangles traced itself in the air over her. "All of which trace back to the Original One, Arceus."
Nova's crest tightened. "Arceus?" His glowing parts flickered. "That... sounds a bit like my RKS System."
Matriarch folded her hands behind her back again. "That is logical. After all, your ability to change types is derived from data I have on Arceus. Here..."
On the screen appeared three large pokémon. One had four legs, pristine white fur, and a gold wheel around its torso. The next was a blue and gray, four-legged beast with gray armor on its chest. And the last was a large two-legged dragon with big, circular shoulders, each with a sparkling gem.
"Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia." Matriarch pointed to the pokémon in succession. She shook her head. "But we are straying off subject."
The screen transitioned to a silhouette of the man—now with a bizarre hairstyle that Chiron couldn't put into words—standing before a double helix of blue and purple light. Energy that looked strikingly similar to what was in the middle of the Space Globe.
"The man's efforts were initially thwarted, however he eventually located the foreign divine energy and took it for himself," Matriarch said. She shifted the screen to show several planets. A dotted line traced through them. It eventually stopped at one with a similar mix of blue and green as the planet where the line started.
"Giratina gave chase, but eventually the man reached a world inhabited only by pokémon." Matriarch flicked her wrist. The screen shifted to show that same man in front of a different altar. A large Red Chain ensnared an arceus and five pokémon Chiron didn't recognize. Three tiny pixies and two pokémon vaguely resembling horses. Their color schemes were similar to Dialga and Palkia.
"Seconds before he could bring about his plan to rewrite the world, Giratina arrived and broke the Red Chain." As Matriarch continued speaking, a great shadow descended on the scene on screen. The chain shattered. Everything condensed into a few bright pixels in the center of the screen.
"This caused a reaction." Matriarch brought her hands together. "The world compressed into a singularity. People, spirits, and all." She turned to the screen, where those tiny pixels expanded... into the Space Globe.
"Wait." Zacian's eyes darted between the screen and the Eternatus Core. "Are you saying the Space Globe is—"
"The collective power of that world." Matriarch turned back to them, hands behind her back. "Countless legends. An unfathomable number of spirits. It is why the professor felt the Space Globe had unlimited power."
That kicking in Chiron's stomach had gotten worse. She folded her wings even tighter. There was... a lot about this that didn't sit right with her.
"How did Cynthia get the Space Globe?"
The lineup of planets reappeared on screen, only now there was an icon of the Space Globe. It moved across the dotted line in the reverse direction.
"The Space Globe traveled back through the same worlds the man went to, finally ending up where he started," Matriarch said. "Enough time passed that it arrived in the professor's era. She found it atop Mount Coronet—the same mountain simulated here—and used it to further her own research."
Which would lead into those video and audio recordings. Chiron frowned. She wasn't sure what unsettled her more: Matriarch's explanation or her detached tone.
"This is ridiculous!" Bahamut spat. He pointed to the center of the Eternatus Core. "You truly expect us to believe an entire collapsed world is contained within that?" He flicked his right arm dismissively. "This is a trick. She wants us to lower our guard."
"It is not a trick," Matriarch chided, as if Bahamut was nothing but a child who'd spoken out of turn. "If you want to know the gravity of this situation, then let me finish my full explanation."
Bahamut floated close to where Matriarch's crystal barrier had sprouted up before. He looked ready to strike. After several seconds of silence—and looking at the others, who weren't moving—he drifted back. His brain prism flickered erratically.
"Lying wretch," he mumbled.
Matriarch turned back to the screen. "Let us continue, then." She waved her right hand and an image of the triangular Eternatus Core appeared overhead. "As the professor continued to work with the Space Globe, she made certain discoveries."
A blue and purple double helix appeared on screen. "The relic's energy supply appeared to have... something of a consciousness to it. She called it Dreamweaver."
Then a ball of red and black static appeared next to the helix. "She also found a second consciousness. One brimming with information. She called it Zodiark. Zodiark held data of other worlds. Their customs. Their legends. Their people."
Chiron tensed. Even though it was just an image, the longer she looked at the static, the more her stomach hurt.
"But Zodiark also had its own thoughts and beliefs about the data it held," Matriarch continued. "Including Dreamweaver." She looked up at the screen where the helix and the ball of static kept ramming into each other. "The two consciousnesses were opposed to one another. And the professor feared this antagonistic relationship would destabilize the Space Globe."
A question came to Chiron's mind. She blurted it out before even realizing it. "That's where you come in?"
"Correct." Matriarch nodded. A golden spiral appeared between the helix and the static ball. "The professor built me as an arbiter. To maintain balance between Dreamweaver and Zodiark."
All three projections drifted toward different corners of the Eternatus Core. The double helix went to the bottom left and the static ball to the bottom right. That left the golden spiral at the top of the triangular machine.
"For a time, the professor's efforts paid off." Matriarch looked up at the image, frowning. "But there was one key fact she never realized: Zodiark was directly related to the man who had escaped from the world in the past."
The ball of static expanded into a silhouette of the man from earlier. Weird hairstyle and all.
"When the Space Globe traveled back between different worlds, Zodiark planted traces of its energy," Matriarch continued. All the planets from before reappeared. Tiny red circles appeared on all of them. "Those traces were, in fact, fragments of the Renegade's power. Of Giratina. Zodiark wanted to ensure Giratina could not interfere with it. However, these traces instead resonated with Zodiark. And the unthinkable happened."
Matriarch raised her right hand. The planets began to drift toward Earth.
Chiron grimaced. This was what that final audio log alluded to. "Some sort of... interdimensional collapse?" she said.
"Indeed." Matriarch folded her arms behind her back. She paced in front of the Eternatus Core. "These planets were drawn toward Earth. The people of those other worlds were unaware of the situation until it was too late." She looked up at the screen. "But I detected the danger and alerted the professor to the situation."
Nova matched Matriarch's pacing, eyeing her wearily. "And then she tried to devise a 'program' that would reverse everything?"
Matriarch nodded. "I assisted with that, too."
A few seconds of silence passed. Chiron's gaze fell toward her crescent tail. "That program... must have failed. And that's why we're all here."
"On the contrary." Matriarch stopped pacing. She pivoted to Chiron. "It stalled out."
Zacian and Zamazenta tilted their heads in unison. "And what's that supposed to mean?" the former asked.
"The program was activated." Matriarch's expression sharpened. "Think about it logically. If nothing had happened, those other planets would have collided with Earth. Everything would have been destroyed.
"Okay," Chiron said. Her stomach had kicked out again. Luckily, her wings were keeping anyone from noticing. "Then how did it 'stall out?'"
"Zodiark interfered with the program," Matriarch said. It was... an obvious answer, frankly. She held up her hand as if to preempt any comments from the rebels. "It trapped the program in an endless loop of its startup sequence.
"A startup sequence... in which all the souls from these ruined worlds would come together to form a giant construct: Eternatus."
The screen shifted from a picture of the core to one of a gigantic, hand-shaped creature. Chiron recognized Eternatus' visage well. She'd seen it blot out the heavens of Bahamut's home before firing the giant Malice Cannon that horribly disfigured his beautiful golden form.
"Wait." Nova's gold forelegs trembled. "Are you saying that Eternatus—"
"Is made of spirits, yes." Matriarch resumed pacing. "The program had a defined sequence. All souls would gather together as Eternatus. Their planets would be reconstructed inside. Those souls would be placed back on their respective planets. Then Eternatus would use the last vestiges of the Space Globe's power to return each world to its point of origin."
Nova's cheek bolts turned in their sockets. "But all the planets ended up outside Eternatus."
Matriarch nodded. "Correct. In the reverse world." She stopped pacing and locked eyes with Bahamut. "Which, normally, is the Renegade Pokémon's domain."
Bahamut's brain prism flickered with rainbow light, but he remained silent. Chiron shot him a worried look. Her stomach lurched again. It was getting quite worrying how often this was happening. And how it seemed to be in reaction to Matriarch discussing this Renegade business.
"The dimensional collapse is Giratina's fault," Matriarch insisted, her gaze still fixed on Bahamut. "And, while Zodiark interfered with the program, that same chaos energy caused the planetary reconstruction to go awry."
Her expression sharpened. "Since that final recording, my primary function has been to see the professor's program to completion. That is why I have worked diligently through the ages to gather these scattered planets within Eternatus... while containing Zodiark inside the Space Globe and stopping it from enacting any further schemes."
She bowed her head. "Zodiark has always had a response to the Renegade Pokémon. And the Renegade is drawn toward chaos. Maintaining firm order within Eternatus was necessary." Matriarch pointed at Nova. "That is why I built you and your troops, N0-V4." Then she pointed at Chiron. "And why I sought to keep you close at hand."
Chiron pointed a wing-claw at her face. "Where do I fit into this?"
"There is a small fraction of the Renegade's power in you," Matriarch said. "Not nearly as much as he has, which is why he is the Renegade Pokémon of this temporary world." She folded her hands behind her back. "I suspect that is what drove you to him. And away from my watchful eye."
Bahamut glanced at Chiron, then looked away, brain prism dimming. Chiron was ready to snap at Matriarch but she held up her right hand. Behind her, the Space Globe pulsated with light.
"Your... decisions to this point are already causing a reaction." Matriarch swiped the air. A holographic screen with colorful lines and bars appeared. Chiron couldn't make out what they were showing. "Chaos energy drifting from the Renegade to you, Chiron. And the Space Globe stirring in response to you both." She pointed at Bahamut and Chiron.
More kicks in Chiron's stomach. It was like something was trying to drag her toward the Space Globe. She squeezed her wings tighter around her torso.
"I don't believe you," Nova interjected. He stomped a golden foreleg down on the ground. "You've said all sorts of wild things to keep me in line in the past."
"Because nothing was more important than maintaining order," Matriarch countered. She folded her hands behind her back. "Disorder attracts the Renegade to Eternatus. Every time he lashes out, I struggle to contain Zodiark."
She shook her head. "And now you are here because, what, you intend to destroy the core?"
"We do." Bahamut's reply was terse. "You have twisted the galaxy around with your lies long enough."
Matriarch pinched her brow. "Nothing I have said here to you is a lie." She paced in front of the core, her eyes trained on Bahamut. "I will spell it out for you, Renegade. Eternatus is made of spirits. Those spirits are held together with the Space Globe's power. A power Zodiark wants entirely for itself. I am the only thing keeping Zodiark sealed. And that seal weakens in response to chaos energy."
She turned to the Space Globe, then resumed pacing. "If you destroy the core, Eternatus will destabilize. Zodiark will break free and claim all of Eternatus for itself. It will begin to shape the universe to fit its twisted vision.
"My programming will not allow for such a scenario." Matriarch stopped by Nova. She looked down at him. "If you insist on pressing your attack, then I will do everything in my power to stop you."
Zacian tightened her grip on her sword. "Meaning more avatars?"
Matriarch shook her head. "The professor devised a safeguard protocol using Dreamweaver's divine power." She looked back at the Space Globe. "I will activate it." Matriarch twirled a lock of her blonde hair. "In addition to that immense power, I contain records and battle data of the most accomplished trainers from both the old world and Eternatus. Even with the Renegade's chaos energy, you cannot possibly hope to defeat me."
She crossed her arms. "But I do not believe it should come to that. Given the information I have provided, there is only one logical course of action." Matriarch waved her hand. Another holographic screen appeared. "You will abandon this endeavor." She pointed at Bahamut as several circles with red exclamation marks appeared. "And he will locate and undo these mysterious seals he used to bind Eternatus in place and link it to the reverse world."
"That was not my doing," Bahamut growled. "My followers made a foolish decision."
"Followers who you shared your chaos energy with," Matriarch chided. "The semantics do not matter. Eternatus must be freed. Once it has absorbed this final life-bearing planet in the reverse world, I can attempt to resume the professor's progr—"
"Wait," Nova said. Standing tall, the type: full stared Matriarch down. "What about the people living in Eternatus?"
Selene tilted her head. "Huh?"
"Everyone living on these planets you absorbed," Nova said. "Hell, folks living in places like Aeonius, too." He jerked his head in Bahamut's direction. "What happens to all of them?"
Chiron's eyes slowly widened. "I see what you're getting at." She hovered forward a bit. "You had me preach to people that all life begins and ends with Eternatus. What does that really mean? Are all these people... reincarnated souls or something?"
A tense silence followed, until Matriarch turned her back on them. "I wish that was the case, but unfortunately it is not. With a few specific exceptions," she shot Bahamut another look, "all life in this universe is new. And that new life is incompatible with the professor's Dimensional Restoration Program."
Nova stepped forward, only to find a crystal shield materializing. He stepped back, eyes narrowing. "Then what would happen to them?"
"All the new souls that have passed on have been quarantined in a separate part of Eternatus," Matriarch said, looking up at the crystal dome overhead. "And, in order to execute the professor's program, all new souls made in this stopgap universe—whether living or resting—will be ejected into the space between worlds."
"WHAT?!" Nova cried.
"Y-You can't do that!" Selene hissed. She shot another disdainful look... at Bahamut. Chiron raised a brow, but decided against calling it out. Matriarch was the more pressing concern.
Bahamut's brain prism crackled with rainbow energy. "I knew she was peddling nonsense. She intends to sacrifice us all!"
Chiron glared at Matriarch. "This is a joke," she spat. "You... you lied to everyone." Her gaze fell toward the ground. "You had me lie to everyone. For ages. How can you support something so... so horrible?"
And, for the first time, Chiron caught a flash of something unexpected from Matriarch: regret.
She once again turned her back on the rebels. "As advanced of an AI unit as I am, I cannot betray my core function." Matriarch lowered her head. "And that core function is to execute the professor's Dimensional Restoration Program... by any means necessary."
Her expression sharpened. "I am a program. I do not experience emotions, even if my android body can display them." She shook her head. "Logic dictates that what will happen to all these new souls is unfortunate.
"But the professor could not have accounted for this unexpected development when she wrote this program." Matriarch turned back to them, arms behind her back. "And for every new soul walking around this universe, there are hundreds more frozen in time in space. Bound together as part of Eternatus.
"My duty is to these slumbering souls." Matriarch gestured all around the dome. "Your sacrifices will save an even greater number of people. Logically, this is the most acceptable outcome." She narrowed her eyes. "And my programming will oppose any attempts to stop this."
The room fell into silence as the rebels exchanged looks with one another. Selene's ears were pinned back. Bahamut appeared ready to attack. Zacian and Zamazenta were crouched low.
Nova looked over his shoulder at Miraidon. "What do you think?" he asked.
"I believe... there's another way forward," Miraidon said. He drifted away from the others, gripping Leo tightly. "Do what you must."
Nova glanced at Chiron. He didn't have to say anything for the lunala to nod her agreement. Even with everything they'd learned, they couldn't throw away everyone else's lives. If Matriarch's way of doing things had led to a colossal stalemate, then it was time to do what they'd discussed.
They would find another solution. After all, improvisation had gotten them this far, hadn't it?
Chiron took a deep breath. "If you're bound by such... strict programming, then I think it's time for a change in stewardship." She spread her wings out. They brightened with sky blue light.
There was another flash of regret on Matriarch's face. "Very well." She stepped back. "Then you leave me with no choice."
Matriarch rested her left hand on the Space Globe. "Initialize Eternatus Protection Protocol."
The screen behind the Eternatus Core abruptly went black, save for a white cursor. It quickly moved across the screen.
>VOICE AUTHENTICATION ACCEPTED
The entire triangular contraption whirred to light. All of the crystals throughout the dome lit up brightly, shifting from gray, to white, to a deep red.
"W-What's going on?" Selene looked around in a panic.
"She's attacking, obviously." Bahamut hurled a Photon Geyser forward, but it again struck a crystal barrier. Up on the altar platform, Matriarch went still. Behind her, the Eternatus Core began to rotate.
>DREAMWEAVER POWER CIRCUITS ONLINE
>MATRIARCH UNIT SHUTTING DOWN
The entire mountaintop trembled. Chiron backed away from the altar. A faint red circle appeared around the Space Globe. Her stomach lurched again. She turned to Miraidon.
"Get back," she said. "Things are going to get ugly."
Miraidon silently nodded and floated away, clutching Leo tightly.
>GATHERING RED CHAIN ENERGY
>INITIALIZING ETERNATUS PROTECTION PROTOCOL
Three red flashes appeared over Matriarch. Three red orbs dropped into her hands.
"Wait." Nova squinted. "Are those... poké balls? Made of red crystals?"
Matriarch didn't respond. Her eyes were now a hollow blue. She marched two steps forward, arms and head twitching unnaturally— no, robotically.
>BATTLE PARAMETERS ACTIVATED
>SEND OUT ARCEUS
>SEND OUT DIALGA
>SEND OUT PALKIA
She tossed the three crystal poké balls up. They opened up and produced three large four-legged pokémon with red chains wrapped around their torsos. Chiron immediately recognized Arceus, but the other two... they looked similar to Arceus. Like in that pokémon-only world from Matriarch's footage!
(Art by @Chibi Pika)
>JUDGMENT
>ROAR OF TIME
>SPACIAL REND
Matriarch stiffly raised her right arm and pointed at the rebels.
"Move!" Nova cried, running off to the right. Chiron caught flashes of golden light over her head. She teleported backward and watched golden lances rain down from the ceiling. To her left and right, the others were scrambling to dodge explosive bursts of blue energy.
>PURSUE
The moment the words appeared on the screen, Chiron found one of the beasts—Palkia, if she had her color schemes correct—right in front of her. Their shoulder gems glowed brightly. Chiron teleported right once again, only for the air around her to shatter. An awful slicing pain hit her wings. The lunala spiraled toward the ground.
Water swirled around Palkia's head. Their mask opened and they spat a giant Hydro Pump toward Chiron. The moment she hit the ground, she retaliated with a Moongeist Beam. It proved enough to stop the water, but now Palkia was galloping toward her. She teleported behind them and pushed pink ripples forward.
Palkia spun around, tanking Chiron's Psychic. Their shoulder gems glowed again. The air around Chiron distorted. Were they going to use that invisible slicing attack again?
She brought her wings together. A blue Protect shield shimmered in front of her seconds before the air seemed to shatter.
Her stomach kicked again. But the Protect held firm.
Chiron dropped the Protect. Fairy energy brimmed in her wings. Palkia spotted this and began gathering a Hydro Pump.
Smirking, the lunala flicked her tail back. A wormhole opened behind her. She flew into it, reappearing behind Palkia. While they shot their Hydro Pump forward, she flung her Moonblast into Palkia from behind. Palkia whirled on her, snarling.
>TRAP LUNALA
The order quickly flashed on screen. Matriarch remained frozen in place, her right arm still raised.
Chiron tried to teleport away from Palkia, but something invisible latched onto her and dragged her toward the nearest broken pillar. Palkia reared up on their hind legs and sent crisscrossing blades of blue energy forward. Their corners caught the pillar and sliced right through it.
She tried conjuring a desperate Protect. It blunted some of the crescents, but awful stabbing pain rippled through her wing membranes. Chiron hit the ground beside the sliced-up pillar. If those crescents had hit her at full force, would they have cleaved right through her?
Heaviness pressed on Chiron's head and tail. Palkia floated over her, their eyes and shoulder crystals glowing brightly. She struggled, but couldn't move her wings. This wasn't Psychic. Or any ESP, for that matter.
"Nnngh... he... lp..."
The air warped and twisted around her. Chiron sucked in a sharp breath, only to exhale in relief when a Photo Geyser slammed into Palkia from behind. Bahamut rushed toward Palkia. Black energy swirled around his claws. His Night Slash struck Palkia's right shoulder and knocked them away.
He dropped down and extended a crystal hand toward Chiron. "Are you okay?"
Chiron took a few shaky breaths. "Yes." She raised her right wing. Bahamut yanked her off the ground.
They wouldn't get to exchange any more words, because the air around them suddenly grew heavy.
"Move!" Chiron shouted. She teleported higher into the air, safely out of range of the flurry of blue crescents Palkia shot from their resting spot near the entrance to the mountaintop. The lunala conjured more fairy energy while Bahamut tossed tiny Photon Geysers at Palkia.
Before she could fire her Moonblast, however, something struck her from behind. Chiron careened past Palkia and slammed into the crystal dome. She dropped to the ground and landed on the outskirts of the mountaintop with a dull thud.
She tried getting up, but her back and wing membranes positively burned. With shuddering breaths, Chiron grasped the fading fairy energy she'd gathered for her Moonblast and instead conjured soft pink light in the air. Moonlight spread across her. The burning on her back and wings faded.
"Chiron, look out!" Bahamut called.
Arceus galloped toward her. They raised their head and shot a gold spear into the air. It turned pitch black. Black beams rained down toward her. Chiron teleported far to the right, near some of the rightmost broken pillars. She watched the black beams strike the ground and explode.
That must have been what hit her. Some sort of dark-type attack. Why else would it have hurt so much?
Nova charged past along the ground. Selene followed him, casting Chiron a disapproving look.
"Sorry!" the type: full called. "It's hard to keep Arceus under wraps!"
Chiron flew toward the pillars on the opposite side of the mountaintop. She was just in time to see part of the air distort and shatter like glass. Hovering atop a broken pillar, a screaming Bahamut grabbed his right shoulder while his right arm dropped to the ground. It trembled in place. Palkia spotted it and gathered blue energy in their mouth.
She had to cover for Bahamut. Purple light gathered around Chiron's wings, but she couldn't form the Moongeist Beam fast enough. Instead, she opened a wormhole in front of Palkia. They shot their Dragon Pulse right into it. Chiron spawned a second wormhole behind Palkia and hit them with their own attack. They staggered forward in midair, giving Chiron enough time to shoot them with a Moongeist Beam.
The large purple beam blew Palkia back toward the crystal dome. Their roar echoed across the mountain. Chiron caught flickers of light to her right. She quickly glanced at the altar. Matriarch's right arm and head jerked unnaturally. The screen over the Eternatus Core flickered.
>GET HER
Dialga tried to fire strange blue hexagons at her from near the altar, but Zamazenta used his large head to vault Zacian into the beam. It harmlessly bounced off her.
>SPACIAL REND
Chiron turned her attention back to Palkia, teleporting left to dodge Spacial Rend crescents that exploded in midair right where she'd been. Bahamut had managed to reattach his arm. He remained by a wrecked pillar, gathering rainbow light around his hands.
Something sprang to mind. The lunala opened a wormhole and tossed a Moonblast into it. The ball of pink fairy dust reappeared over Palkia's head. They were too slow to stop it. It coated Palkia's face in pink fairy dust, leaving them thrashing about next to the dome.
Bahamut recognized the opening. He raised his hands and fired a Prismatic Laser. It slammed Palkia into one of the crystal hexagons. Like before, Palkia's roars echoed through the room. Chiron glanced at the altar. Again, Matriarch seized up. The screen flickered.
>IMP0SSIBL3
Chiron's eyes widened. The light!
She immediately teleported beside Bahamut, grabbed him, and teleported him across the mountaintop, to the opposite side of the dome from where Palkia hit.
"It's the light," Chiron said, practically shaking Bahamut with her wings.
"What?" His brain prism flickered erratically. "Let go. That beast is going to come after us."
Chiron lifted her head and saw Palkia charging toward them. She flung a Shadow Ball at Palkia, then teleported back behind them with Bahamut.
"I think these beasts are weak to chaos energy," Chiron said. "And that comes from the light. Your light. Watch."
She charged up a Moongeist Beam even as the air around her decompressed. Bahamut hovered toward Palkia to offer a distraction. Chiron fired the Moongeist Beam. It only clipped Palkia's right shoulder, but that was enough to make them drop from the air and crash into the ground.
"This is how we beat them." Chiron gestured toward the altar. Bahamut looked where her wing point to see the screen glitching out.
>ST0P THIS
>Y0U ARE M∀KING A MIST∀KE
For a moment, Chiron worried she'd have to explain things further. However, Bahamut quickly got the memo. Before Palkia could get up, a Photon Geyser struck them from above. Another roar sounded. Now the whole mountaintop shook.
"Keep up the pressure," the lunala cried, a Moongeist Beam charged up. She fired as Bahamut floated out of the way, readying another Photon Geyser.
The mountaintop trembled. Pieces of the pillar Palkia sliced through earlier rattled across the ground. Chiron caught a flash of dark energy to her left and barely managed to teleport away from dark-type Judgment lances. They instead struck the crystal dome over the door leading back into the lab.
Another Photon Geyser erupted on the ground. This time, Palkia didn't roar. When the light faded, their entire body crystalized. It shattered like glass, spreading blue and pink diamond dust in the air.
Chiron pivoted left in time to see Selene tumbling across the ground and Nova getting slammed into one of the broken pillars by some sort of strike from Arceus. Their pelt and wheel had a strange black glow. She tried to charge for a Moongeist Beam, but Arceus caught her gaze.
>JUDGMƎNT
Next thing Chiron knew, the air was full of black energy spears. She teleported to her right, hearing thunderous clangs that were no doubt from Zacian and Zamazenta continuing to grapple with Dialga.
"Nova, are you okay?" Chiron called. The type: full's turquoise parts were instead glowing orange. He raced across the ground, barely dodging a barreling tackle from Arceus. Probably an Extreme Speed, with how fast Arceus moved.
"They— nnnrrgh!" An orange wheel erupted around Nova's torso. He whirled around to strike Arceus with glowing talons—his Multi-Attack, from what Chiron remembered—but Arceus' black wheel and fur shifted to a shade of purple. His talons phased right through Arceus.
Chiron's head tingled. Arceus' aura had shifted just like Nova's. They changed types... to ghost?
The lunala fired a Moongeist Beam without a second thought. Arceus was too busy trying to strike Nova. The purple laser blew them back toward the crystal dome. The mountaintop shook again. Cracks appeared in some of the broken pillars on Chiron's right.
"Help keep Arceus distracted!" Chiron telepathically said to Nova. The type: full charged toward Arceus, shifting into a dark-type.
She was vaguely aware of Bahamut going to the opposite side of the mountaintop. Presumably to help turn the tide against Dialga. Chiron teleported closer to the altar. Arceus looked over at her and sent a golden Judgment spear into the air. Then Nova struck Arceus' foreleg and they buckled.
Chiron held her ground, opening a wormhole to take the ectoplasmic spears and redirect them toward Arceus. They saw the spears coming and jumped into the air, leaving them vulnerable to the Moongeist Beam she was charging. It slammed Arceus into the crystal dome. Their wheel chipped. The hexagonal crystal cracked. Its glow faded.
Arceus tried to retaliate, but a small Shadow Ball struck them from below, then Nova leaped up from the ground. His ectoplasmic claws bludgeoned Arceus' head. They had a dazed look in their eyes. Chiron quickly shot another Moongeist Beam, slamming Arceus into a lower crystal tile. It cracked at the same time Arceus' wheel shattered.
The mountaintop had its most violent quake yet. Two of the broken pillars toppled over. Arceus dropped to the ground and lay still.
>ƎRR0R
>ƎRR0R
>POWER LEΛEL DROԀԀING
"Eeeeew! It's melting!"
Chiron turned in Selene's direction. The espeon backed away from Arceus, whose body was melting into red and purple slime. Nova limped away from the slime, looking nervously at it.
However, she couldn't worry about that. There was still one more threat to deal w—
"Begone!"
An eruption of gold light filled the corners of Chiron's vision. The lunala spun around to find Dialga staggering back toward the altar. Bahamut clung to the giant, rectangular bulge in Dialga's neck. A gold light blade stabbed through the blue diamond embedded in the neck bulge. Blue and gold light seeped out onto the altar. Zacian and Zamazenta stood at the ready.
But there was no need for them to strike. Dialga collapsed on their side. Crystals raced to coat their body. Bahamut pulled his light blade out and drifted back just in time for Dialga's body to shatter like Palkia's.
The mountaintop trembled again. More of the dome's crystals cracked. Their glowing lights dimmed.
>IMԀOSSIBLƎ
Matriarch's android body seized up. Electricity crackled from head to toe. Her arms fell to her sides. She dropped to her knees. Her eyes went dark and her head erratically twitched. The screen behind her continued to flash a broken error message. The Eternatus Core and its ominous glowing red circle stopped spinning.
For a few moments, everyone remained silent. Silent and still.
"Is... is that it?" Zacian whispered. She didn't dispel her armor or sword. "Did we win?"
Bahamut's brain prism brightened. "It sure seems that way. There's only one thing left to do now."
He faced the altar, but Nova was already limping up it. His tattered turquoise cloak flopped against his back with every step.
"It's over," he said. "You can't control anyone anymore." Nova jerked his head in the Space Globe's direction. "And if you were telling the truth, then you'll tell us exactly how this thing works, so we can fix whatever you and this professor of yours broke."
Lingering sparks trickled down Matriarch's body. Her head continued to twitch.
"Y... ou..." It was a struggle for Matriarch to even speak. "Mak... ing... big... mis... take."
Chiron frowned. Her stomach lurched again. The first time in a little bit. She folded her wings over her torso.
"If things are truly as dire as you proclaim, then logic and algorithms aren't the solution." Chiron shook her head. "We need to think outside the box. Improvise. We—"
"Quite a rich statement, coming from naught but a vessel."
An unfamiliar, distorted voice echoed throughout the mountaintop. The red ring within the Eternatus Core glowed brighter. A crack appeared in the Space Globe. Then another. And another. And another.
"Nova, look out!" Selene cried, sprinting up the altar stairs toward the core.
But she wasn't fast enough. Neither were the others. Red light erupted from the Eternatus Core. Chiron threw up a Protect and ducked her head underneath her wings. She heard screams—Nova and Selene's—going in opposite directions away from the altar.
Chiron lowered her wings and her Protect, only to gasp in horror. Zacian and Zamazenta sprinted to her left and right, calling out for Selene and Nova, respectively. They must have gotten flung by a blast from the Space Globe.
Bahamut lay on the ground, his brain prism pulsating and his claws scraping against his crystal head. The lunala caught a brief glimpse of a man standing in front of the shattered Space Globe before she, like Bahamut, doubled over in pain. Chiron dropped to the ground, trying and failing to clutch her stomach with her wing.
The pain was awful. Agonizing. Like something was trying to burst forth from her ectoplasm.
And that man... looked exactly like the one from Matriarch's pictures!
"Wh... at?" With a shuddering breath, Chiron picked her head up. The man kicked Matriarch. Her android body tumbled down the stairs and ended up in a collapsed heap at the bottom.
"NGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
To her right, Nova and Zamazenta howled in pain. Chiron's eyes widened. Strange, distorted red energy had surrounded both of them. It was like the chains around Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia. It swirled faster and faster... and dragged Nova and Zamazenta together! The red static tore Zamazenta into a fine crimson mist that seeped into Nova's cloak, darkening it to a navy blue. Chains wormed their way out of the ground to wrap around his legs. And a brown stone mask began to build itself over the type: full's face.
And the man on the altar was watching this with an amused look on his face! Was he doing this? How?
Chrion recalled Matriarch's earlier explanation. She was keeping a "Zodiark" sealed within the Space Globe. Then was this Zodiark?
"St... op!" Chiron pleaded. She had to use some sort of attack. A Moongeist Beam. A Shadow Ball. Anything. "Why are you do— aaaaagh!"
She doubled over in pain again. It was a struggle to even breathe.
"As predicted," the man said. "Chaos is all that you know. Even split apart. Sealed within vessels. Here you are. Disrupting. Sowing chaos. You cannot escape your fate... Yaldabaoth."
Was he... addressing Chiron? She was in too much pain to tell for sure, but it sure sounded like that. Chiron violently lurched forward. She screamed. Something black and inky lunged from her stomach ectoplasm. The sludge joined with an even larger pool of black ink that spilled out of Bahamut's brain prism. It rose up and crashed over the altar like a wave over a shore.
The man raised a brow and uttered a single dry, "Oh."
He turned and tried to grab the Red Chain spinning around him, but the black sludge moved faster. It engulfed the man and the Red Chain, shattering the latter with a brilliant red explosion. Red crystal fragments were propelled from the altar in different directions.
One fragment struck Bahamut. He tumbled back into a broken pillar behind Chiron. Red energy crackled around his crystal body.
A second fragment landed somewhere on the left side of the altar. Selene and Zacian's screams then stopped.
Chiron tried to pick herself back up, but she felt even more exhausted than she did the moment the battle had ended. All she could do was roll onto her back, trying to figure out what that black sludge was. More of it had come from Bahamut.
Was it the Renegade's power? Matriarch was clearly telling the truth about the whole sealing Zodiark thing, so that stuff about the Renegade being split between them was probably true, too!
Up on the altar, a broken Space Globe lay at the base of a large, star-shaped crystal that had grown over the center part of the Eternatus Core. There was a silhouette inside of it. Was that what had happened to the man after the black slime attacked it?
Well, that black slime was still around. It was at the bottom of the stairs again, growing smaller and smaller. Eventually, it congealed into a tiny, frail dreepy. It quickly ended up encased in crystals, just like the Eternatus Core.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."
Miraidon hovered toward Chiron in a panic, looking between her and Bahamut. He still had Leo cradled in his arms. His supply bag dangled from his right thruster.
"This is bad." His electrical brows shrank to tiny sparks. "We need to get the lot of you checked out and—"
Whatever Miraidon intended to say was abruptly swallowed up in a large pink whirlwind filled with hearts.
Chiron's breath caught in her throat. "LEO!" she cried.
The whirlwind roused Bahamut from his stupor, only for a pink blur to rush up toward him and knock him further back across the mountaintop. When the twister vanished, Miraidon was nowhere to be seen. Leo lay sobbing on the ground, his pom-poms flickering erratically.
And above him floated Enamorus. Brandishing Zacian's sword. A sword with fragments of the Red Chain wrapped around it.
Chiron could sense Zacian in there. But that didn't make any sense!
"What?" Chiron struggled to get a breath in. "What are you doing? How did... you get your powers back?"
"Simple," Enamorus scoffed. "I never lost them to begin with." She eyed the sword in her hands intently. "Because I never went through with that ridiculous sacrifice."
Chiron's eyes widened. Then she'd been lying the entire time she was with them?
No. That didn't matter. Leo was in trouble! He needed her! She had to move! Why did everything still hurt so much?
"And it's a good thing I didn't." Enamorus drifted closer to the ground. To Leo. "I was prepared to wait so very long for this moment. But it seems I've been gifted with a miracle, thanks to Zodiark's brief freedom."
She pointed the sword up. "Zodiark has shown me the truth! About how ugly this world truly is! And the part you've played in it, Bahamut."
The sword shrouded Enamorus in red static. Chiron swore she heard the sword howling. Which would confirm her fear that Zacian was in the sword. And given she saw Zamazenta and Nova get pulled together by Zodiark's hex, he must've done something similar to Zacian and Enamorus!
Still on her back, Chiron tried to wiggle forward. Leo's sobs got louder. If she could just get a bit closer, maybe she could use Moonlight to heal herself and her cosmog.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bahamut floated into the air. He conjured light blades in his hand. "Get away from my son, you traitor!"
Enamorus pointed Zacian's sword at him. "No! I followed your hideous orders all these years! And for what?" More static rippled around the sword. "For you to fail at protecting us! To fail so hideously that the others thought it best to throw their lives away!"
Bahamut rushed forward, only for Enamorus to swipe the air with Zacian's sword. More pink whirlwinds full of hearts blew Bahamut back.
Chiron cautiously inched forward. She was almost close enough.
"Well, I wasn't going to sacrifice my beautiful life for such an ugly reason!" Enamorus spat. "So, I found a tool to disguise myself. I thought if I could help this feeble little movement, I could ruin your lives the same way you ruined mine!"
"It's okay, Leo." Chiron offered telepathically. Her head was close to him now. And his crying was as loud as ever. "Mama's here. Mama's gonna make it okay."
The lunala was drawing out fairy energy for a Moonlight when Enamorus suddenly spun around and, with astonishing speed, thrust Zacian's sword into Chiron's chest. Her eyes widened. She immediately coughed up purple ectoplasm.
"CHIRON!" Bahamut roared. Golden energy balls lit up the air.
But Enamorus tightened her grip on the sword. A massive pink whirlwind whipped up all around Chiron and Leo. It drowned out the cosmog's crying. Deafened Bahamut's roars and Enamorus' twisted laughter.
Searing pain tore through Chiron's ectoplasm. Through her wing membranes. Burning. Stabbing.
... Until everything was weightless.
She wasn't on the ground anymore. She wasn't in her body anymore. It lay beneath her, crystalizing by the second. Leo lay still next to her. His pom-poms had gone dark. His body had deflated. A mote of blue and purple light lay next to it. His spirit.
And Enamorus had Chiron's spirit in her grasp.
She tried to do something. Anything.
Instead, Enamorus wound up... and threw her up toward the altar. She struck the giant crystal in the Eternatus Core. Her spirit had a full view of the mountaintop.
Nova staggered around on the left side, thrashing his newly-helmeted head back and forth. Whatever the hex had done to him, he wasn't in control of it like Enamorus.
On the opposite side, Miraidon forced the door leading back to the lab open and fleeing through it. The door slammed shut behind him.
Between Enamorus and the door, Bahamut was desperately trying to attack, screaming incomprehensibly. But nothing could connect. Instead, another Springtide Storm slammed him against a broken pillar.
"Zodiark wants to reshape this world," Enamorus declared. She grabbed hold of the blue and purple light—of Leo's spirit—and floated toward the altar. "And thanks to that ugly parasite you and Chiron carried, those plans have further stalled."
Enamorus reached the top of the stairs. She pointed Zacian's sword at the broken Space Globe fragments. They trembled.
"But that's okay," she said, grinning wickedly at Chiron's spirit.
With a flick of her wrist, red static brought the Space Globe's fragments back together... around Leo's soul.
"Because, in the meantime, I'll make a truly beautiful life for myself!" Enamorus declared, holding the newly repaired Space Globe high. "A beautiful kingdom that worships me and lavishes me with the praise my radiant beauty truly deserves!"
She pointed Zacian's sword down at the mountaintop. "And nothing you can say or do will ever, ever stop—"
A wormhole appeared on Enamorus' left. A frenzied Bahamut emerged from it, snarling like a feral, and grabbed hold of a screeching Enamorus. He dragged her through the wormhole, clawing at her in a desperate attempt at wrenching the Space Globe away from her. But it slipped out of both their grasps, and disappeared in a flash of light.
The wormhole closed. A few moments later, Nova staggered through the same door Miraidon fled through. Once it closed behind him, silence settled over the mountaintop.
Chiron's vision grew blurry. Her thoughts clouded. It was... getting darker. Colder.
Just before everything went completely black, Chiron heard one final thing. Coming from the base of the stairs.
"En... gage... aux... ill... ar... y... pow... er..."
XxX
Yuna's eyes snapped open to find Xeromus' helmeted head centimeters in front of her. A jagged crack ran through the center, exposing bloodied white fur.
Screaming, she scooched away. The dragapult threw a hand onto her griseous core, only to yank it away when it nearly burned a hole through her ectoplasm.
"Do you finally understand?" Xeromus' voice oozed a perverse glee. "There is no saving this world! Not without dooming everyone who lives in it!"
He took one step toward Yuna. Then another. Behind him, the giant crystal once stabbed by the Needle began to chip and crack.
"And it's all your fault! You brought about a cataclysm! You forced innumerable souls into an endless limbo! And you've perpetuated this stalemate ever since!"
Saliva dribbled out of the crack in Xeromus' mask.
"You made us suffer! Made me suffer! And now... now it will all be worth it!"
Yuna scooched away. The crystal was breaking apart. And someone was inside of it.
"Because now... we'll finally get the salvation we rightly deserve!" Xeromus proclaimed. The crystal behind him completely shattered, flooding the altar in brilliant golden light. Behind Yuna, the other resistance members cried out in panic.
"Hahahahaha... aaaaaahaaaahaaahaaahaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
