Worldcore

[Disco]

Mellow growled and flung the rock she'd been holding at him. She didn't hesitate at that, either, but shot a short beam of solar energy afterwards.

 

[Ambyssin]

“And what of the husk you left behind for us to tend to?” The shade’s eyes flickered. It sounded... giddy? “Will you fade into oblivion if we destroy it? Or have you severed your mortal coil?”

 

[Disco]

Mellow hesitated and turned towards the Shade. Something about what he said put her on edge...

 

[Phoenixsong]

"All right, twist an offer of assistance into childish mocking. Your call." Skara sighed. "Fine. You want a quick question?" She had to wrack her brains for a moment, hoping to find something with a likely-not-obnoxious answer. What else had Team Spectrum been investigating recently...? "What happened to the meteor that was supposed to be out in Lush Prairie? What was up with that, anyway?"

So stupid. So, so stupid. Her nerves were jangling; part of her wondered whether she might be ill later. It was leagues less terrifying than fighting.

 

[Negrek]

Nope, nothing. Really nothing. Reminded him of a certain someone. Nate didn't know who the weird familiar asking about the mewtwo was, but yeah--they had a body with no spirit, and here was what looked like a spirit without a proper body. Chip hadn't picked anything up with his sensor, but who knew; maybe this was just the other half of their mewtwo out and about.

But for now, while they had the guy talking... What was safe enough to ask? "Sure. You got a name, or you cool with us just calling you That Shithead? And where should we be mailing your ashes back to after we kick you ass into next Wednesday? I got a feeling you ain't from around here. So what are we talking about? Telum? The other Cibus? Wherever the hell Red came from?"

God, he really needed to have a talk with Red.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz clenched and unclenched one fist, cracking imaginary knuckles, as the speculation, questioning and accusations flew back and forth. Mellow threw a rock. Well, Luz could hardly blame her. Anyway, the Haze was intent on giving clues about the other spies, not unrelated info or anything about themself. Better ask a relevant question.

"So you know yer a spy, S'more is another and he weren't aware, an' the third spy is also a 'sleeper', as y'put it. How would we ever know that we found th'right person, then? There some tech Giovanni uses to control 'em that we can find? Somethin' buried in the skull, past what psychic probin' can find?"

Ask him why there're only three...

"An' if it is somethin' like that, how come th'fella ain't got more'n three agents, anyway?" Luz demanded, frowning.

 

[Namohysip]

“And what of the husk you left behind for us to tend to?” The shade’s eyes flickered. It sounded... giddy? “Will you fade into oblivion if we destroy it? Or have you severed your mortal coil?”

"Eh?" That was about all Bahamut's Ultra Shade was going to get before he transitioned to what the others were saying.

"What happened to the meteor that was supposed to be out in Lush Prairie? What was up with that, anyway?"

"Oh, that thing? No clue. Picked it up for Giovanni and he did something with it, dunno what. I couldn't use it. Maybe some superweapon he never got to use. I've got something stronger anyway."

You got a name, or you cool with us just calling you That Shithead? And where should we be mailing your ashes back to after we kick you ass into next Wednesday? I got a feeling you ain't from around here. So what are we talking about? Telum? The other Cibus? Wherever the hell Red came from?

"Well hey, isn't my name something you're trying to figure out? Look at you, trying to trick me into giving that out. That's cute. Y'know, just for that, I'll let you know that I'm not from Telum. How's that sound? Give that Shield guy some peace for once."

How would we ever know that we found th'right person, then?

"Hmmm..." The spy sizzled at this. "Simple. Something doesn't seem right about them when you dig deeper. Maybe the way they behave, maybe their activities, maybe something you saw them do that they don't remember. Or maybe there's an inconsistency you guys haven't really explored..."

"An' if it is somethin' like that, how come th'fella ain't got more'n three agents, anyway?"

"What makes you so sure it's three?" he replied back with what was absolutely a smirk. "The only one who told you that number for real was Giovanni himself. But hey, even I don't really know that one. I just know that I was the only willing subject. And look how that turned out, huh? He's in a cell trying to bargain for my capture, and I'm here taking advantage of all he's lost. Funny how that works.

"Well, anyway. I guess that's about all I really wanted outta this. Moment's gotten stale. You guys keep cleaning up Giovanni's mess. I'll be around. Oh, I'll definitely be around. Don't mess up too much."

He raised a limb, perhaps getting ready to go, when Owen suddenly shouted. "Wait!" And that was enough to pause. "I..."

A fuzzy sigh followed. "Make it quick."

"You saved Sword, right? And... you weren't really the one who corrupted her or anything?"

"Yeah, I said that. Sure, I made it worse before it got better, but it's not like I wanted to--"

"Then thank you."

"Gh--" The staticky presence fizzled and crackled and shrank. It was smaller than most of the higher Legends, now, before returning to its distorted, full size. "What?"

"You didn't need to save Sword, but you did anyway. That's got to mean something, right? ...And if that's repaying a debt, then I want to repay ours by saying thanks. For that. And if you ever want to talk it out..."

"Enough." His voice was icy. "Don't give me that." Then, addressing the others, he said, with finality, "If anyone wants to defect and work under me instead, wait at the hidden room in the Treasure Town dojo. You know the one. I'll turn up. And I'll make sure you don't get caught... if you're lucky."

And with a zzt!, the fizzling presence evaporated in a blink.

 

[Disco]

Mellow stood there, tense, until it was obvious he was gone. Then she sagged and rubbed at her face before speaking up.

"He can use telepathy. When I took the picture, and he was looking at me, I heard a whisper- it was him. I don't know if he can read our thoughts, but-"

She rocked on her heels a bit.

"That's probably how he knew everything, if he can..."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen suddenly fell forward.

"Dad!" Cal dove under and held him up. "Dad..."

"I--I'm fine," Owen said back. "Sorry. I've been all disoriented when he was around. His body just isn't... normal."

"It was a projection," Soda grunted. "You were searching empty space. I would know." The Zoroark spat on the ground. It was bloody. "Get me a fuckin' medic already..." His eyelids flitted closed.

"Soda!" Truffle rushed to his side. "I hadn't realized how severe your injuries were. Come, let's get you to the infirmary."

"Tch... Been through worse... Fuck off..."

"Did you not just ask for a medic?"

"Whatever..."

Regardless of Soda's wishy-washy protests, Truffle went to perform some quick magical patchwork to tie Soda over.

Maple eyed Soda worriedly, but then looked skyward. "Soda," she said. "What kind of projection was it?"

"Light, sound, aura. As long as you don't try to touch it, it's as real as you can make it."

"But it attacked," Owen said. "The rock Mellow threw..."

"Means either he gave that illusion some energy, too, or he's nearby watching. But if you didn't sense him, then he's out of our range. I wouldn't bother tracking him down while we're weak."

"Perhaps we should try anyway," Maple said. "Those of us who are... in a shape to do so." She carved a portal. "Not a lot of us..."

"I'm your fuckin' scout and I'm saying it's no use," Soda snapped with what little energy he had left. "Let's cut our losses and protect Sword before she gets stolen again. I don't trust a goddamn word of what that traitor said; he left Sword alive for a reason and I'm not gonna let him take her again."

Potluck was still frozen in place, staring at where the projection had been.

"Potluck?" Maple asked.

Truffle glanced at Potluck as well, then gave a knowing look at Maple, who nodded.

"Potluck... do you need... the helmet?"

Potluck didn't respond.

Maple nodded at Truffle, who went into the portal with Soda. The Zoroark mumbled, "How's Flesh doing?"

"He's well. We returned him to your house."

"I wanna see'm again."

"We'll see him soon. You need to be looked at first, Soda."

"Gotta make sure he's alright..."

"We will, we will..." Their back-and-forth faded as they walked further from the portal's other end.

 

[Disco]

Mellow didn't stay around for idle conversation after seeing how bad off Soda was. She headed back as well to go to the infirmary with Soda and Truffle, while keeping a close eye on the former...

 

[Negrek]

"All right, 'That Shithead' it is. I can work with that." Nate sighed, rubbing at his gills. Whoever--whatever the fuck this was sure seemed to like hamming it up with the whole "bwahaha, I know so much more than you" thing, all the taunting and shit, but if they lost it over one fucking "thank you" Nate seriously doubted they had the stones to actually go through with whatever batshit scheme they had going on.

And... yeah, they had really lost it over one "thank you," hadn't they? And talking about feeding off the team's emotions... Well, who did they know who could do that?

Nate glanced around. Had Diyem gone back to Destiny Village already? He didn't know if the guy was in any condition to talk. Hey, Diyem? he tried. You getting any of this shit?

 

[Namohysip]

Nnnngh... can I not get one moment of peace? What happened?

It seemed that, after a brief exchange, Diyem was in the infirmary again, being looked after by Zinc and a few of the other medics.

I need... to get back... to the Tree, Diyem said. I'm fine, but they're insisting I stay...

 

[Negrek]

Wow. Where to begin on that? We chased some invisible thing outside, and it decided to stick around and give us a villain speech about how it's gathering power to do whatever crazy master plan. Supposedly it's our invisible spy who showed up to nab Regigigas and was working with Giovanni, but now that it got what it wants it's ditching the guy in prison. Main thing is, it was going on about how our mistrust would make it stronger, and when Owen said thank you to it, it acted like he'd slapped it. Does that sound like some kind of Dark Matter to you? Because it sounds like a Dark Matter to me.

Back to the Tree, huh? It was weird and a bit creepy that Diyem was so into somebody who had apparently been mind-whammied by his interstellar girlfriend. Like... really into. Nate grimaced. It wasn't great when the best explanation you could hope for on something was that a guy was hanging around with somebody hoping to get closer to the one fucking with their head.

 

[Namohysip]

Nnngh... give me a moment. I'll consult Owen.

After that--and with Owen looking cheerful as he stared skyward like an idiot, occasionally tilting his head and blinking like he was speaking with him--there was a silence as Diyem did as he said.

Meanwhile, Maple helped guide Potluck away, and several others began to shuffle out from the Worldcore's exit. Poffin and others from the Guild headed into the Worldcore proper to assist in hauling out the golems for a checkup with Arceus.

Finally, ...No, that is not what I would expect from the behavior of a Dark Matter. That's what I expect from someone being thanked by their enemy with no animosity. Owen has that effect on people sometimes. Frankly I don't blame the spy for reacting as he did. Having Owen as an enemy is... insufferable.

 

[Negrek]

Oh, yeah, I can imagine. Nate glanced over at Owen. On the other hand, the way that guy had reacted to Owen's display wasn't normal, but whatever. He'd have to defer to the expert on Dark Matter. That shithead mentioned he was trying to gather five kinds of energy to power himself up. We got, what, shadows, light, life, and radiance, right? You know of any others?

 

[Namohysip]

Radiance is Life and Light put together. Shadows is its own power. But Radiance itself is not its own power. What Eien is capable of is a fourth sort of energy, yes. Eterna energy. Dynamax in other worlds... but by the void, that sounds stupid. Diyem paused in thought, humming, which felt like shaking the back of Nate's head. There are many other types of energies in play here, but the four already listed have one thing in common. They are abnormal and not related directly to the mundane energies that Pokemon can normally radiate.

The only other energy at play on Cibus that fits that description is Divine energy. Such energy typically comes from Arceus, or massive quantities of--fuck.

Unown.

 

[Negrek]

Divine? God, the Mightyena would love that. Heh. Those fuckers again, huh? Well. Guess we've got to find ourselves some way of tracking down "massive quantities of unown, then. Among so many other fucking things. Thanks, I guess. Sounds like we got a hell of a lot of work to do yet.

 

[Namohysip]

Seems so.

"I think everyone else is heading back," Owen said to Nate. The Charizard looked tired but he still had that smile. At this point, Cal looked less energetic. "Was there anything else you wanted to check on here, Nate? I can't really sense anything..."

 

[Negrek]

Nate sighed, taking a last look around the area. It would be a real kick in the balls if whoever'd been making that projection was hiding behind a bush a few hundred yards away or something, but even if they were, they'd be gone before anybody found them. He couldn't think of anything interesting back in the cave, either.

"Nah. Let's get moving." There was lots to be done, after all.

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