Reverse World ~ Downsideup City

[Namohysip]

"Yep! Me again! Glad to see you guys after so long~"

Owen felt a chill run down his spine, then back up and to the back of his head. He hoped the others remembered that the best way to get her to go away was to ignore her, and he tried his best at doing that, similar to how Bahamut seemed to be ignoring her existence entirely.

"Oooh, you beat up that thing? Looks strong."

"What game are you playing?" Soda growled, pointing at Darkwhite. Leg was hissing, and Flesh let out a low growl.

"Yeah," Potluck said, his cheek bolts whirring. "You're the one behind all of this, aren't you?"

"I dunno, maybe, maybe not," Darkwhite said, and then she floated higher and held a tiny paw over her eyes. "Wow, look at that! He's way bigger than your dumb light crystal is!"

And once again, Bahamut ignored her.

Suddenly, Maple disappeared, and Joule seemed alarmed. There was a cloud of dust where she had once been--yes, Truffle was flying her back. Invisibly. That was safe, right?

Joule let out a horrid screech and blasted where Maple had been, completely incinerating the island. Several more stray blasts went flying, one of them hitting the edge of their island--the impact knocked several of the team off their feet, and Owen, who had put a Protect up to block it, went flying back. He eventually tumbled and landed near Starr, coughing dust.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Grey...”

He yawned. “You know, what with all that’s just happened, you seem pretty dull by comparison.”

 

[Negrek]

Oh, wonderful. It was just one fucking thing after another today, wasn't it?

Nate tried to split his attention between DarkWhite and whatever the fuck was happening with Maple. It was fine if the mew-thing kept babbling, but if she started to attack...

Maple's disappearance caught his attention, but before he could feel any sort of relief, the glowing dragon thing completely fucking obliterated the island she'd been standing on. When Nate picked himself up after the resulting explosion, the decidueye hadn't reappeared. Nate scanned the surrounding island, eyes watering from kicked-up dust. No sign of him. The guy was fast, though, right? No way that blast would have caught him. He'd show up again any second.

 

[Disco]

Mellow's attention was quickly torn away from the intruder and back to the rescue attempt when the corrupted Legend completely destroyed the rock Maple had been standing on. The rock that hit their little island caused her to trip and tumble, but she just as quickly scrambled back to her feet. They needed to go. That Legend would target them next, if they stayed there, and there was no way any of them would survive it.

 

[windskull]

"Can't you see that we're busy? Come back later." With that, Nip turned his attention back towards Joule.

Before he had time to react, the necrozma let off a dozen or so volleys of the light attacks, one of which came far too close for comfort. He let out a feral screech and stumbled backwards, his eyes wide and fearful. That was it, they couldn't wait any longer. "We have to get out of here. Now!"

 

[Namohysip]

"We need to go," Owen said.

"Aww, not gonna play?" Darkwhite asked. "He looks kinda like me! I wonder if we're related."

"Y-you don't know him?" Owen asked as the team rounded together. There was another plume of clouds--Truffle had returned. The ground nearby suddenly gained splashes of golden blood.

Joule screeched again, his body spasming violently. More blasts of energy narrowly missed them, and Truffle quickly waved his wings in the air, forming a warding barrier around the entire island. It deflected a few blasts, but Truffle looked like he was struggling to keep it up.

"How do we get out of here?" Owen asked.

"Didn't you guys make a portal to get here? That's how I got here."

Joule flailed more, like he was in pain, and then let out another massive discharge of energy. Truffle grunted and fell to a knee; his barrier flickered out. Something was raining down from Joule--countless little things, black with flecks of light within...

"Wait..." Owen squinted, and then summoned Charizard over his shoulder. "...Shades!"

 

[Tanuki]

The immense blasts shook the earth beneath them. Rubble, rocks and dust soaked the air and made Zane, still unconscious, sneeze.

 

[windskull]

He whipped his head around to look at Maple. Was she in any condition to conjure a portal out of here?

"If we can't portal out," he began, his eyes hanging on the injured smeargle a few heartbeats longer, "then we need to at least take cover. Hide or something. Because I don't know about you, but I don't want to be out in the open when those shades land."

 

[Disco]

Mellow made disgusted face. "There's... so many...."

Was that where they were coming from...? Why did he have all those Shades...?

 

[Namohysip]

Realization flashed in Potluck's eyes. "That's why the Shades looked familiar," he said with a mumble, his eyes turning blue. "They were... like Joule? Somehow..."

But after that initial discharge, Joule seemed to be smaller and weaker. He turned his attention to the group, slumped over but still levitating. And then, he seemed to regain some semblance of sanity, and his eyes stopped looking like TV static and started looking more like Bahamut's colors. Was he still in there, somewhere?

He opened his mouth, like he was about to speak--

And then he disappeared in a twisting, red light. All that remained behind was an odd looking sphere that was purple on top with some lighter dots on the top corners, and an 'M' symbol between them. This sphere wiggled violently in the air, cracks of light streaming out from the ball's equator. But then, that light slowed, and ultimately stopped, as did the wiggling. It clicked. Somehow, that sound was audible even from so far away.

It drifted backward by a Psychic grip, into the hand of a three-fingered feline. The team was just close enough to see the expression Mewtwo held, and the dullness in his eyes.

That hollow smirk. That cold aura. Those intense, confident eyes that were somehow not human, and yet perhaps were precisely human.

Starr would know it well.

 

[Jedi Shulk]

”How...how is this Mewtwo?” Fay had countless questions running though his mind. Who was this Bahumut imposter? Is the Mewtwo the mastermind or another pon? How do the Mewtwo have the best Poké Ball created, the master ball?

 

[windskull]

He. He disappeared. How? How did he just disappear like that? It wasn't a teleport. What sort of magical trickery was this? Nip's eyes dilated as he stood poised to fight. Or to flee, whichever he needed to do. On one hand, they should probably be thanking him for stopping the necrozma's rampage. But the timing, the cold gaze... it all felt wrong.

The creature, mewtwo — he didn't think it was Karat, but a different mewtwo — was a psychic. That much he had deduced from his time here. He could try fighting him, but he doubted that would be a sound idea.

"You!" he shouted to the mewtwo. "What do you think you're doing here? Is this your doing?"

 

[Disco]

Mellow watched in confusion... Then in horror. What...was that? He disappeared? It was some kind of device...? The appearance of another Pokémon- one that she didn't recognize and gave her the chills, was there in his place.

What just happened?

 

[Chibi Pika]

The tiniest bit of life returned to Starr. Another Reviver? She'd already burned though hers, someone else must have...

Slowly, she pulled her limbs under her body and struggled to lift herself from the rough, craggy ground. Brisa was next to her. Starr muttered out a raspy, "thanks," right before her attention was grabbed by a cry of pain. She jerked her head just in time to see the silver Necrozma suddenly transform into red light, sucked into... into...

Starr gaped in horror. What the hell was something like a Master Ball doing here?

She followed its path through the air until it landed in the hand of a tall, wiry feline. Mewtwo. It'd been a long, long time since she'd seen him. Not since the day that she last saw...

Starr's blood ran cold. Mewtwo--his face, his eyes. Why the hell did she suddenly feel like she couldn't move, her breath frozen in her chest, throat clenched, mouth dry--

It's not him.

What the fuck.​

It's not him, it's Silver's--

What the FUCK.​

IT'S NOT HIM, IT'S NOT--

"What the fuck are YOU doing here?!" Starr screamed, her voice breaking.

 

[Namohysip]

Mewtwo stopped, looking at the Master Ball in his hands, and then squeezed it until it shrank to its inert form. Then, the ball disappeared, perhaps in some pocket dimension he held, or maybe a bag behind his back.

He barely acknowledged them, barely noticed them, because he was a very busy man in a mon's body. But then he heard something oh so interesting. Someone who knew him, just by his presence. That, he could tell.

Darkwhite was babbling, trying to get everyone's attention, going so far as to jab Owen in the side, but all she got in response was an annoyed swat from the Charmander as he focused his attention on the one who had captured Joule. Maple, too, was watching in silence.

"Oh?" Mewtwo asked.

It was his voice. No, it wasn't his voice--it was that tone. The voice was, of course, a little different. But the tone, the way it carried itself...

Mewtwo floated forward, tilting his head and tenting his fingers. "Do you recognize me, kitten?"

He was floating even closer.

 

[windskull]

His mind screamed at him, telling him to run. But he was glued to the spot. He kept his eyes on the mewtwo. Shadows swirled around his claws, leaving him ready to strike with poison if the mewtwo made any sudden movements. Currently he was focusing on Starr, menacingly floating towards her. Oh Yveltal, the litten looked like she could barely stand. "H-hey! Stay back!" he stammered. What a pitiful threat.

 

[Disco]

Mellow looked at Starf and blinked. She new this Pokémon, somehow? ...She didn't sound happy to see him. Mellow backed away and glanced between the two.

They still needed to escape. There were several members of the team that needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, with as banged up as they were. They could all use a checkup, after that battle, honestly. The Charmander glanced over at the Zoruark and Decidueye, at Maple, and everyone else. Maple was in no condition to do anything.

It was now that they could really use some divine intervention.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Oh, fuck. Whoever this was... that rawness in Starr's voice? It showed the kind of dread that could only be inspired by an enemy you knew far, far too well. She didn't know who this mon was, but she knew what he was.

Her enemy, too.

Brisa put herself between Starr and the aberrant mewtwo, hackles up and teeth bare.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr was frozen, staring up at the clone--no, Giovanni--in abject horror. Part of her mind was screaming 'how the FUCK could I not recognize you?!' while the other half was snarling 'it's not him it's not him IT'S NOT HIM' until she thought that her head was going to burst.

She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. Her body was running on fumes, kept standing only through adrenaline and horror and spite. And in that twisted mess of emotions, her brain failed to generate any words. There was absolutely nothing she could say that mattered.

It's not him, he doesn't even recognize you, it's not--

With a primal scream of pain and rage, Starr hurled herself forward in a blazing fireball.

 

[Disco]

"Sta-Starf, wait!!", Mellow cried out, but it was already too late. She'd already launched herself.

Were they going to fight this guy too? Did they have the energy too?
Mellow took in a breath and her eyes started to glow as energy began to charge up around her...