The Dragons' Maw

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion looked around in horror. What the fuck had happened to Odette’s request to please be careful and act natural? What fucking idiot triggered this?

“Love you,” he heard in his head. Then the touch of Hazel’s mind disappeared as her crest and tail took on an inky black colour, entering the “nameless style” they had practiced in case it came to this.

She reared up, the nearby shadows cast by the maelstrom flickered, and stretched towards her talons, where they collected and were shaped into blades. She crouched her back legs to pounce at Orzo and bring them down on his skull.

But before she could spring off, Orzo’s vortex above lifted her off the ground. Aimless and with nothing to spring off of, she squirmed for a moment as her blades flickered back out, broken by the lighting and her lack of concentration.

When Clink’s portal opened, she struggled only long enough to make sure Gladion made it through safely before following.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Fast. Fast. Fast.

Everything happened suddenly and all at once. Wes barely had time to stagger and regain his footing before several people started shouting. There were trainers and Pokémon and legends everywhere, everything was wet—how? Why?—and too many people were exclaiming and moving—

And then, inexplicably, it all went still. Wes watched, frozen where he stood, as grey turned to gold and Orzo revealed his true colors with a menacing hiss. The icy chill that shivered up his spine had nothing to do with the water seeping through his coat.

The cold terror in his chest drove him to move just a split second before Orzo dealt his first blow.

Neo and Novo vanished into their Pokéballs with a swift flick of Wes’ wrist. They would not be casualties, not here, not now, not ever—

A psychic blast sent several trainers and Pokémon flying. Wes just managed to duck out of the way to avoid a direct hit, then cursed between clenched teeth. Hoopa—the real one—was nowhere to be seen. He shouted for them, somehow feeling responsible for their safety, and tried to scan the area for any sign—

Something shattered nearby, spraying glass shards in every direction. Wes ducked again, but the stinging in his face and hands told him he wasn’t quite quick enough.

Out. He needed to get out. It was too crowded, too chaotic, too sudden. Everyone needed to get out as soon as—

Bright white light flashed in front of his eyes before morphing and fading to reveal a snarling, enraged Novo. Wes spat out another curse and managed to lock Neo’s ball before he could break out, too.

“Dammit, Novo, get back in your ball!” Wes tore Novo’s ball from his belt and smashed the button, but the Umbreon dodged the beam and ignored him completely. Instead, he spun around, locked his gaze on Orzo’s golden frame, and lunged.

“NOVO, NO!”

Wes’ scream was swallowed up in the chaos whirling around them. He scrambled to his feet and pelted after his Pokémon—his stupid, reckless, gods-damned Pokémon that was going to get himself killed if Wes didn’t reach him in time—

And, once again, Wes wasn’t fast enough.

Orzo expulsed another explosion of psychic energy, flinging Novo away as if he were no more than a bothersome flea. Wes didn’t have time to react before the Umbreon slammed into his chest and knocked him cleanly off his feet. The two tumbled backwards in a jumble of light and sound and Wes didn’t know what was up or down until the ground slammed into his back, driving the air from his lungs, his head spinning—

But Novo. Novo was in his arms, and he was shrieking in pain, which meant he was alive, and that was all that mattered—

An unseen force began pulling at them, dragging them over shards of glass and debris. Wes’ head was pounding from the impact on the floor, but he had enough presence of mind to fumble for Novo’s ball and return him before sliding the lock shut.

Neither of them would forgive him for this, but he didn’t care. He’d rather have them angry and alive than dead.

His vision flickered, strange lights flashed around him, and then he was pulled backwards into darkness.

 

[Negrek]

To say that everything happened at once would be a fucking understatement. From Celebi popping up out of nowhere, to Odette going full Rambo mode (where the fuck had she gotten a fucking gun), to slamming straight from the dorms into screeching smoke alarms, everything drenched, and Evil Orzo zipping around, tossing legends this way and that like they were rag dolls.

Nate hissed in apprehension as Evil Orzo opened a huge portal and chucked the rich guy through--well, fuck, so much for that fucking friendship. He grabbed for Mightyena, who struggled against his grip, whining. "I know you want to get in there," Nate said, practically yelling to be heard over the commotion, "but if Celebi and all them can't stop that guy, ain't nothing we can do about it!"

Not that it seemed they were going to have a lot of choice in the matter. Mightyena's paws skidded forward, and the same gravitational pull was tugging at Nate, too, dragging him towards that strange, starry void. His grip around Mightyena's neck tightened as he felt himself being drawn towards the portal, and his gaze drawn towards Orzo's familiar red eyes.

Then a huge explosion, and another portal dragging even harder at the two of them, and suddenly some huge thorny dragon was screeching away overhead (and was that fucking Odile), and one of the bird-mutants tumbled past in a whirl of loose feathers, and it seemed like everyone, everything, was rushing towards the new portal, with Orzo roaring from behind.

Without thinking, without having time to think, Nate took off sprinting for the new gate, following the other fleeing trainers, Mightyena racing at his side.

 

[Seren]

Whatever Kimiko had been expecting Wes to reveal back in the dorms, it very much was not another Hoopa.

They barely had time to even begin to process that when Celebi had appeared, warning them of impending doom down at the Dragon's Maw. She was the first to meet Celebi's eye and reach out her hand, calling Olivia to her in the process. She couldn't very well hesitate now, especially not to Celebi, the mythic she herself had convinced to aid them, now that there was an opportunity to prove herself. She hadn't a clue what she could do against Orzo that Steven, Wallace, Mitch, or any of the others hadn't tried, but there wasn't much time to dwell on it.

Everything happened too quickly. Celebi teleporting them from the dorms to the Maw. A fireball triggering the sprinklers, soaking everyone to the bone and blowing Orzo's cover. The mythics (and Victoria... and Chef Flygon?) attacking and being blasted back. Two portals appearing out of nowhere, each trying to suck everything inside. Orzo physically grabbing Xavian and throwing him into the darker portal.

Amid the chaos, Kimiko made a quick decision and dashed for Odette. Wes, wherever he had gotten to, still had Hoopa; surely most of the other trainers would want to help protect it, their ticket home. But her friend still had the prison bottle, and it was her idea to collect it to begin with, so she couldn't just leave Odette to guard it herself. She also spotted Steven and Aggron nearby, the former toppling to the ground with Odette (what use did she think her gun was going to be here?) and suddenly, Odile was back in her full-powered form, covering everyone's escape as shadow balls, water, and glass were thrown all around.

An explosion behind her knocked Kimiko off her feet, slipping on the wet floor and crashing to the ground. She was barely aware of the cuts in her arms from the shattered glass. And then Olivia was there standing over her, shielding her from the further glass and debris and elemental attacks flying everywhere. She attempted to stand, only to stare wide-eyed as a purple orb flew directly towards them.

As she and Olivia braced for the shadow ball, Kimiko felt a noticeable drop in temperature, her only warning before she was covered in a relentless, bone-chilling snowstorm. The blizzard from behind them deflected the incoming attack enough to fly wide and impact a wall instead. Shivering and covered in frost, she only had a moment for her brain to recognize the froslass floating between herself and the ongoing battle before her attention was diverted again by a familiar growl - her espeon had started flinging her own shadow balls back at Orzo.

"Looks like we get to battle together now!" Olivia trilled in Aggron's direction, an uncharacteristic bite to her voice. But Aggron was busy shielding Steven and Odette as they made their way to Clink's portal.

That was where they needed to go. Kimiko hated the idea of abandoning the mythics here to deal with Orzo on their own after they'd gone through all that trouble to convince them all that they were allies. But this wasn't the time nor the place. They needed a battle plan, not this chaotic disaster in a cramped space. "Olivia, Lucy, to the portal! Now!"

When Kimiko reached it, she turned to survey the area. There were still a few scattered trainers around, and she was determined to wait until everyone else was on their way to safety before heading through herself, despite the portal literally trying to drag her inside. So on top of the bleeding cuts and the hypothermia, she'd have to fix her hair when this was all - wait, why the hell was that the next thing that came to her mind?

She caught Celebi's eye as the grass-type teleported around, trying to avoid taking another hit. "We're good," Kimiko called to the mythic, desperate to make sure at least one of them knew that the trainers wern't going back on their word. "You all need to get ready to get to safety, too! We'll be back!"

Another shadow ball exploded nearby and almost forced her away from Clink's portal, even despite the force of its pull. It was time to go. As she ushered Olivia and Lucy to go ahead of her, she cast a quick look around, but there didn't seem to be any other trainers left (Or so she hoped, at least... there were none that she could see). There was only Orzo, the mythics, and...

"Odile, we're good, let's go!" Kimiko called out, and only hesitated long enough to see the demon 'mon inch in their direction before turning and literally diving through the portal.

 

[Chibi Pika]

It wasn't as though there'd been no warning. Jade had seen the texts, while she and Laura had been investigating. They'd known that things were about to get a lot worse. That didn't mean they were ready when Latios and Latias had appeared in front of them. A flash of light, and they were in the restaurant, just in time for the sprinklers to go off.

And then the scene dissolved into chaos. Legendaries appearing on all sides, firing attacks at the Golden King. Jade ducked down out of the line of fire while Nine didn't hesitate to fire a blast of lightning, but it disappeared into a ring just like all the others. Someone was shouting that Xavian had been taken. And then a huge ring--as big as the room!--appeared overhead, dragging them all in. Jade scrambled to grab hold of something, but the force was too strong, it had them all, no, no no.

...Until a glowing keyhole appeared from thin air, along with a ringed doorway that cut through the pull of the Hoopa's ring. Jade fell to the ground, coughing hard as she struggled to regain her bearings through a sudden wave of dizziness. Had to get away from that golden ring, nothing else mattered. Everyone was running through the door. Without thinking twice, she scooped up Nine under her arm and then, hair standing on end from the static, she bolted forward through that glowing doorway.

 

[ShiniGojira]

Holding on to that improvised Flamethrower was exhausting, definitely wasn't a wise choice but... okay, yeah... he had nothing to say other than that it was a really, really dumb plan.

Water was dripping down on him, and if it was any other time, he would've welcomed it. But his exhaustion coupled with the pain made the usually-soothing pricks into a shower of tiny stabs.

He heaved a breath, everything was spinning, his legs were wobbling. Flamethrower was not a move he could've done without his Ability activating and–Gah! He thought he could handle it, he was wrong, he was so wrong, always so fricking wrong. He was so stupid, he should've thought up of something that wouldn't have harmed him. What was wrong with hi–

He fell onto his knees, panting like he had just run through a twenty-mile run without stopping. Something was happening? What it was, he couldn't tell. Was someone screaming? Running? What was going on?

A brown mesh came to his view, a familiar voice was speaking to him. "... une... kay?" Not long after, he felt a rush of energy going into him, curing his nausea and fatigue nearly instantaneously.

"June! June! Are you alright?" The brown mesh turned into the familiar face of his partner and he blinked, seeing a dome of green covering the two of them.

"Wh-what's going on?" he said, looking around as he listened in on the muffled screams and explosions. "What happen–"

A sudden warmth enveloped and he flinched from the touch. "Thank Arceus, you're alright." She let go of the embrace and directed a serious look at him. "Orzo's revealed himself," she said, eyes darting to the chaos around them.

"Oh... Oh dear."

She grimaced with a nod and pointed at the pink portal. "Xavian's been tossed into Orzo's realm and the others are fleeing into Clink's portal. We must hurry before it closes."

"I–" He shook his head, steeling his breath. "Al-alright. Let's go."

Evie leaned down, allowing him to climb onto her. Once he was secured and ready, she lowered her Protect and made a beeline for the portal.

Stray attacks were flying around everywhere and she had to stop, slow down or quicken her pace to ensure none of them could hit her nor her friend. Shattered around were shattered glass, puddles of blood and broken furniture but she rammed through them without a care, she was getting close to the portal and close to securing his safety. She could worry about herself later.

Evie briefly glanced at the fight going down. She wanted to join in, to help the Mythicals in taking down Orzo, she wanted to challenge him, to test the might of a legendary... but June's safety was priority number one and she wouldn't dare risk his life for her selfish wants.

Without a second glance, she dived through the portal right before it closed up.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

When the twin dragons appeared to ferry her and Jade to the Maw, Laura had expected a meeting, or a confrontation, or a situation in need of urgent response. Instead they arrived in time to watch Orzo, the 'Golden King', lose his disguise, and all hell break loose. The hoopa was strong – maybe unstoppable – strong enough that her training with Mal and Sleet would count for nothing. No time to plan, to help, to mitigate disaster. Just a desperate scramble to escape to safety.

"Everyone, get clear–!" she shouted, her voice lost to the havoc and cacophany, her nerve lost to the menace and dismay. "Jade–! Run–!"

Orzo's ring pulled at her, and she grabbed desperately onto the nearest wall fixture. Gravity betrayed her; she changed her grip hand over hand until she was as close to the floor as she could get. She kept low, resisted the impulse to send her partners out into peril, wiped sprinkler-soaked hair from her eyes. For a moment, it actually seemed possible that she might never get home safe after all. Her hands screamed with effort. Somehow, she braced against Orzo's portal long enough for Clink's own door to take hold.

With her heart bludgeoning against her sternum and her lungs full of terror, Laura fell into yet another world.

 

[Dragonfree]

Only a minute after Wes had opened his jacket to reveal a Hoopa (Spirit snarled, dark energy gathering in front of her, until Odette began to explain), suddenly Celebi appeared out of nowhere to tell them the others were in danger at the Maw. Which... they weren't immediately, but then Orzo's colors began to melt away, revealing gold and sickening red eyes. May'd been right.

Chaos erupted, attacks flying as the legendary Pokémon attacked. Spirit pressed herself tight against May's body, gathering the energy for a Shadow Ball, ready to defend her. As if she could do much of anything on her own against a super-legendary; with a bunch of other legendaries on their side, was there even any point in joining the fray?

A golden ring formed a portal to wherever Orzo'd been throwing his kidnappees, the Hoopa throwing Xavian into it. And then the Klefki, creating another portal that began to suck everyone in.

"Let's go!" May yelled, grasping for Spirit's mane. The Ninetales stared reluctantly towards Orzo, but then looked back at May in resigned acceptance.

The suction from the portal lifted them both off their feet, and May wrapped her hands around Spirit's neck as they flew through the strange pink doorway.