Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Main Lobby

[Dragonfree]

"He said something when the guy showed up at the tower, like 'I know what makes you tick' or some shit. Wouldn't make much sense if somebody else was ordering the mewtwo around. Dunno what, like insight he might've thought he had."

Dave looked back over at Soda, who seemed to have completely zoned out of the conversation. He took a step toward him, speaking quieter. "Hey. Soda. You know anything about what your other self meant by that? Knowing what makes Blacklight Mewtwo tick?"

 

[Namohysip]

He said something when the guy showed up at the tower, like 'I know what makes you tick' or some shit.

"Hey. Soda. You know anything about what your other self meant by that? Knowing what makes Blacklight Mewtwo tick?"

The Soda with them seemed confused at that, gaining a bit more lucidity so he could answer. "Then he learned something between when I was created and when he went to Destiny Tower," he stated. "That's not really a lot of time. An hour at most... But you gotta admit, he does seem pretty weird. Aside from Darkwhite, he's the only Pokemon we know who looks corrupted even to Cibus natives, y'know? That's gotta mean something."

"Giovanni an' Silver. Where under sky did you even find the Blacklight Mewtwo, anyway? And was he corrupted before or after yer involvement with him?"

"...Well, he is my Mewtwo, so he was always with us," Giovanni answered.

"Well," Silver began, humming, "the way I remember it... we were fighting at Telum's Tree of Life, and then we were defeated. Afterward, I remember waking up knowing that the Tree of Life was too heavily reinforced, and therefore we needed more power. So, I went to Aegis Cave and tried to get used to my new powers, with some assistance from new powers that I had... At least, I thought I did. When I walked, it seemed like my enemies were falling before I even bothered attacking."

"...Mrm. Three foes. An invisible one, one that fights from the shadows, and 'Karat.'" Diyem looked toward the others. "Then this was Silver, who thought he was Giovanni, getting used to his powers."

"But if S'more was there, that means this happened after the scouting mission," Owen pointed out. "If the Mewtwo they were fighting was Silver... where was Giovanni's Mewtwo that time? Just sitting around? If he's so strong, wouldn't he have been helping with this?"

"I took the liberty of getting more information from the golems, by the way," Pop said. "They don't have anything new that we haven't already learned."

"Okay. So, our timeline is... Maple and God Squad fight Eien, and that causes a bunch of things to split off. And some of that must have been the meteor, and some Telum spirits. Then, something happens, which causes Giovanni and Silver to ascend... Giovanni, you switched with Silver because your body was weak, right?"

Giovanni nodded. "A mere Cosmog can't do much. I needed time to strengthen, and what better way than with the heroes?"

Owen nodded. "And you had your Mewtwo do that part. So we already have some precedent for him being able to do these kinds of switches."

"Correct."

"Then from there..." Owen hummed. "I think we know most of what happened between Giovanni and Silver from there. But did Mewtwo ever go off on his own?"

"No."

"Then how did Sword get corrupted? She remembers a little bit before a storm happened, and then she became Darkwhite. If that storm is because of your Mewtwo..."

"Chip, did your sensors pick up anything before that mewtwo busted out of the lab? Anything that might be a signal, or give us a hint why the guy woke up all of a sudden?" Nate rubbed at his head. "I mean, otherwise, I dunno how he knew anything interesting was going on outside. Like, he couldn't hear nothing from where he was, right? Can psychics, like, send their mind wherever, while their body stays somewhere else? Is that even a fucking thing?"

Chip looked up at Reshiram tiredly.

"I took the liberty of going over that data," Reshiram said. "There wasn't a lot, but we did find one pattern. I thought they were blips in our readings, but they were too rhythmic. Once or twice a day, just... perhaps a single pulse of energy. It seemed like an incomplete pulse, so maybe we weren't picking up the Blacklight aspect of it. I then took exact times of when the pulse happened and gave a list of them to everyone who might have information about anything significant happening.

"For most of them--the rhythmic ones--there wasn't anything. But there were also other abnormal blips. Those ones corresponded to something. One was when Silver met Typhlosion. Another was when Darkwhite's Core was destroyed. And lastly, one was just before a surge of activity, where the containment area was destroyed. At first, I thought it was only due to the high-energy spikes in the area, or perhaps a reaction to some kind of lock being undone. Resonance. But perhaps it was..."

"...An alert," Diyem concluded.

 

[Fusion]

"Shit... so someone was keepin' track of all that? Either that Backlight Mewtwo or whoever's controlin' it?" Scrafty asked, grimacing. "The hell would those three specifically need to be kept track of, other than a bein' powerful as hell and jacked on Blacklight?"

"That... That sounds like somethin' we'd want to keep track of too," Puddle muttered, still behind Scrafty. "M-Maybe it has to do with their corruption? It's one thing they all got in common, at least."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave narrowed his eyes at Giovanni. "You didn't answer the question. Did you corrupt him with Blacklight and so on, or was he always like that?"

 

[Negrek]

"Wait, you wanted to swap?" Nate said. "Jesus. And then you hid that you'd done it from yourself. There's complex-ass plans, and then there's complex-ass plans." He shook his head. "One thing I don't get, though. How the fuck did you end up on Telum in the first place? Like, yeah, power, I get it, I get it. But how did you even know there was a world full of pokémon out there you could go to to find it?"

At least Chip had something. "Nice. Sounds like you found something pretty promising," Nate said. "Were those energy blip things coming in or going out? And I don't suppose you got anything on where they were coming from, or going to, if they were going out? Even a general direction?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shuddered, and shook off some anxiety with a shake of her mane. She'd forgotten how distrubing interdimensional invaders were. Her world would fall easily to such creatures as Giovanni, as far as she knew. Certainly to a Blacklight plague.

"And while we're at it," she added to Nate's query, "supposin' y'succeeded, what was yer ultimate goal anyway? To conquer worlds...? Why?"

 

[Namohysip]

"You didn't answer the question. Did you corrupt him with Blacklight and so on, or was he always like that?"

"Well, he was a normal Mewtwo when we raided Telum's Tree," Giovanni said. "Then, on Cibus, it seemed he acquired a new set of powers..."

"Okay," Owen said, frowning. "Then he definitely woke up before you guys and did something."

"One thing I don't get, though. How the fuck did you end up on Telum in the first place? Like, yeah, power, I get it, I get it. But how did you even know there was a world full of pokémon out there you could go to to find it?"

Giovanni shrugged. "I have acquired some equipment that let me travel across Ultra Space and I was in search of power. I learned about a Pokemon known as Eternatus and tracked one down. It fled to a world, so I gave chase. It happened to be Telum, along with all of its strange properties."

Were those energy blip things coming in or going out? And I don't suppose you got anything on where they were coming from, or going to, if they were going out? Even a general direction?

"I'm afraid our readings don't give that information," Reshiram said. "It was only analyzing Mewtwo. So, it came from Mewtwo, but we do not know if it was in reaction to something, or to get a reaction from afar."

"And while we're at it," she added to Nate's query, "supposin' y'succeeded, what was yer ultimate goal anyway? To conquer worlds...? Why?"

Giovanni tilted his head, smiling wryly. "Why not?" he asked. "Power is everything. If I have power, I have control. And if I have control, I get what I want. It is not a complicated thing to desire."

Silver shuddered. "I can't believe I used to have your mindset..."

 

[Negrek]

Ultra Space... whatever the fuck that was. At least it didn't sound like there was anything sketchy going on with Giovanni's plans. Nobody dragging him to Telum, or even giving him a nudge. Or not an obvious nudge, anyhow. Nate smirked. Giovanni was sure sounding more like himself today. "Yeah. Figured it was something like that." He drummed his fingers on the tile a moment. "So the mewtwo was up and about while Silver and Giovanni were still out, and when they woke up, they already had new bodies. So somebody must have pulled the ascension thing in that time. Could the mewtwo have done that? I don't really know how all that legendary transforming stuff... works."

"Too bad about the signals," he said to Reshiram, "but it's good to know that he was at least interacting with the outside world somehow. Think there's any way we could block those pings, if we run into the guy again? Could be pretty interesting, to see what he did when those got cut off. But speaking of running into the guy, did your mewtwo tracker get busted? I think we're probably gonna want that, since, you know. One way or another, I think that mewtwo's one we want to watch out for."

 

[Disco]

Raven made a sound that could easily be interpreted as a frown.

"If this Mew-Two was forced into submission, and was made to do things while following this tyrant's mindset, it would be easy to see him grabbing all the power that he could to have control over himself... And others. He would likely have made steps to ensure that he was never subjected to you again. Bahamut may be right. He became desperate for it, and then lost himself... And in his desperation..."

She swung her tail in Soda's direction, and continued.

"If Soda scouted ahead and encountered him, before he had access to the Blacklight and knew what he was up against, then the Mew-Two realized what Soda was... Then... He found a way to restart his ascension... And did the same to Giovanni and Silver. I am not sure if that is correct, but it is a possibility..."

 

[Fusion]

"Huh... it might just be that I don't know shit already, but that sounds pretty plausible," Scrafty nodded to Raven's theory. "Not like we got that Mewtwo here to ask... or like that bastard would answer."

 

[Namohysip]

But speaking of running into the guy, did your mewtwo tracker get busted?

"That was one of the few things that had been deliberately destroyed," Reshiram said. "It's going to take a few days to recreate it, but by then it might be too late to get what we want... But it isn't as if you can eliminate the knowledge of how it's done, so perhaps this will be a happy accident."

Think there's any way we could block those pings, if we run into the guy again?

"We aren't sure what those pings are to begin with," Reshiram said apologetically. "That might be beyond us. We should certainly try to hunt him down, though."

"I doubt it'll be hard," Chip added. "Who misses something like that flying around, you know?"

"If Soda scouted ahead and encountered him, before he had access to the Blacklight and knew what he was up against, then the Mew-Two realized what Soda was... Then... He found a way to restart his ascension... And did the same to Giovanni and Silver. I am not sure if that is correct, but it is a possibility..."

"Ascension..." Pop hummed. "It isn't an easy task. You need divine energy to perform it, and a strong spirit to withstand it. If a spirit is unable to contain the energy, it will all be expelled at once and the whole process goes back to zero. That's why Meringue is training so hard."

"To their credit, Giovanni and Silver are both strong spirits... one way or another," Diyem said. "I'm sure we've all sensed it. They might have been worthy candidates all along."

"That doesn't explain how Giovanni's Mewtwo gained access to divine energy," Diyem said. "Those can only come from Arceus."

"...Telum?" Owen suggested.

 

[Fusion]

"Yeah, that might be where. Depends on how early on Giovanni was plannin' this body change, though," Scrafty hummed, looking at the Lunala's monitor and nodding. "Feel like spillin' when you told that Mewtwo to swap your bodies, if at all, before comin' to Cibus?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave's gut stung with the absolute worst feeling about this. "Or it's fucking Soda's Arceus."

 

[Fusion]

Vix, finally, said something. Like ancient furniture creaking back to life. "I'd be surprised if Soda's Arceus is involved in any of this blacklight bullshit. But... we can't completely ignore that possibility either. If this Arceus was angry enough to banish Soda from his world, what's to say he wouldn't keep trying to make Soda miserable?" she said, then shrugged and shook her head. "But we'd have to ask why or how that Arceus knew to meddle with the Giovanni's Mewtwo in the first place."

 

[Ambyssin]

Apparently the charizard of the team were the only ones who acknowledged Bahamut unless they wanted to bark at him for being an asshole. "You are all putting too much thought into this. It's as the grass-grower says. This is the logical end result of that clown's mindset and actions." He gestured vaguely toward Giovanni's screen. "So long as one possesses will and drive, absolute power can never be controlled. The only way to achieve it is to abandoned your spirit and become power incarnate.

"The clown will never again control it. I believe it's reached a point where it can atomize you whenever it pleases," Bahamut continued. "Likewise, whatever the other clown on the moon is attempting will also fail. Best case scenario is he blows up the moon and takes himself out with it. Worst case... he winds up powering up the empty mewtwo shell even further."

Bahamut crossed both sets of wings. "In any event, you should all give up trying to solve this convoluted mystery right this minute. None of you are in any state to do anything significant with the information you've gleaned thus far." A sinister red and black spiraled around in his eyes. "Let the developments play out gradually. Otherwise you will mentally exhaust yourselves to the point of uselessness when the time comes to deal with the quarreling immortals in the Tree."

 

[Fusion]

"If we're all here, I see no reason not to try and solve as much as we can. We aren't going to be fighting Maple and Eien for at least a few days, we can spare some of one trying to figure this shit out," Vix hummed. She didn't have a neck to roll, but felt like doing it anyway. Geez, it was like she was standing totally still all damn day...

 

[Negrek]

Ah. Destroyed. How very fucking specific. The mewtwo very clearly hadn't been oblivious, even if he was acting on someone else's orders. "Well, I'm glad you're confident you can rebuild the thing. I got a feeling losing those couple days is gonna bite us in the ass, but getting it back online'll definitely be better than nothing." Nate smiled. "And good call making it back then. It's turned out pretty handy, hasn't it?"

Nate paused for a second. There was something else he wanted to--ah, right. "You heard back from Jirachi about those moon pictures he took? If he finished analyzing them and all?"

There were concerns closer to home, too. "You say you need divine energy for ascension," Nate said. "So, arceus--or could it come from unown? Like maybe the same unown who helped build Giovanni's lab? He gestured vaguely towards the lunala on screen. "And how does it work for somebody like Meringue? I thought it was Lugia who was giving him energy to transform--can a legendary do it themselves. Or do they, like, have to show off a candidate to you, and if you like them, you're the one who makes it happen?"

Apparently Bahamut was getting tired of all the questions. Nate watched the necrozma warily, not sure what to make of the colors flashing in his eyes. "I mean, I don't see how sitting around not talking about shit's gonna help. We've managed to do plenty already, ain't we? And, like, the moon fucking exploding is a pretty bad best-case scenario, if you ask me. Ain't that gonna make the ocean all fucky, aside from everything else bad that might happen?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"It can very easily be repaired or rebuilt by a lunala," Bahamut scoffed. "Which we just so happen to have on hand thanks to all this cross-reality meddling."

 

[Disco]

Raven finally fully came back out, and looked up at Bahamut.

"If something does happen to the moon, then all we've done could be for nothing. And there is no way you could convince a majority of us to trust Giovanni. We should get there as fast as we can...", she then turned towards the others again. "But we should be sure about as much as we can be before we attempt to do anything. That may mean waiting for something to give us more answers. I know that some of you were already researching things, but if all of us do, while sharing any findings... Well, perhaps we can even reach Soda in time. I'll be doing my part by watching the Moon for any strange activity."

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa backed off and sat down, confusion boiling under his skin. All the new information only made things less clear, not more clear. His head spun and he supressed another groan. And here he'd thought that this would be simple. Back when he first agreed to come he'd assumed this would be simple. Find a bad guy, fight the bad guy. Save the day. But this....

Now everything felt so muddled. He wasn't sure if it was just exhaustion from the tree or... everything else.

Blinking, he forced himself to focus. There wasn't time to relax or slip or screw something up again. Focus.

"Hold on..." he said, almost talking to himself. A thought wormed it's way into his mind. He looked up and fixed his gaze on the screen, watching Giovanni and Silver. "When was first time anyone here spoke the term 'blacklight'?" he glanced around the room, directing the question not just at the two of them, but at everyone else. He glanced back at Giovanni on the monitor. "Did your Mewtwo ever speak or utter that phrase?"