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Broken Sun - The Mandate of Anarchy (PG-13)

Flash Sport

Whatcha gotta say?
OOC: Apologies for my long absence. I wasn't expecting to be away for such a length of time. Here’s a massive make-up, move along post… It sucks, but I needed to catch up and get this stuff out the way. I'm sorry if I missed anything vital. I have yet to go back and reread all the posts I've missed...


Liechi the Whimsicott
Dysan, Kanat
Underground bunker > Dysan’s main power station


“They’re moving away now,” Liechi spoke as she watched a herd of Scourge move away towards the outskirts of the city all the while stomping their feet. Unstable buildings easily collapsed under the fierce onslaught of earthquakes, while others lost a wall or gained severe cracks. “Looks like they’re just randomly using earthquake.”

“Hardly,” came a snarl from a Pokémon she could not see, but knew to be Gaius. “What is that buzzard up to?”

“Give me a sec,” Liechi told him, moving her mental projection through the air towards Dysan’s iconic tower. A gaping hole lied near the top and that’s where she went. The area was dark with crisscrossing, fallen beams, pipes and twisted metal. Standing before the shadowy recess was a honchkrow who spoke into the darkness where a large figure loomed. Liechi guessed that to be Harpet, the Cohort and commander of the Dysan Scourge. She listened in on their conversation before canceling her vision. Almost immediately she felt herself drop back into her body, which was surrounded by Gaius, Nelt, Montezu, Rycero and a few others who were awaiting the report. Lifting her small paws to her head, Liechi rubbed her temples. Her head swam and her body still felt like it was experiencing the tremors. “It was planned. She’s trying to flush us out. Apparently she wants her playthings from earlier.”

Gaius frowned. “Plaything?” Liechi could only shrug her shoulders at his confusion before taking another glance around the devastated room. Light fixtures were shattered, and the only clock in sight was thrown all the way across to the opposite side. A huge chunk of rock had broken away from the ceiling and slammed onto the floor. Miraculously no one was killed, but there were a few who were unfortunate in having a limb pinned. Most were either unharmed or had sustained a mild head injury.

“Either way, it looks like we need to get moving-”

“ALRIGHT! WHO DID IT?” a voice blared as the door to the meeting room flew open, revealing an old psyduck with age spots. Strapped about his head was a clunky set of goggles that magnified his beady eyes. His webbed paw gripped some sort of mangled contraptions that had obviously fallen apart. He held it up to them, shaking the items accusingly towards them. “WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE?” Liechi’s looked in wonder when Salut hurried over to the psyduck while calling him dad. She watched as the audino checked on the annoyed duck whose magnified eyes continued to glare at them. “I’m fine, I’m fine Salut. What I want to know it…WHO ARE ALL THESE POKES AND WHO CAUSED THAT EARTHQUAKE? I was finally making headway when those quakes hit! Now who’s responsible?”

“The Scourge who currently occupy Dysan if your senility allows you to remember that,” Gaius coolly told him. From the way his eyes slanted, Liechi guessed he didn’t like the old psyduck and apparently, the feeling was mutual with the other. “If you want someone to vent your anger on, it would be them.” Salut scowled at Gaius for his behavior while the psyduck ruffled his dulled feathers.

“Insolent snapper!” he yelled at Gaius who remained unfazed. The psyduck then turned to his daughter. “Who are they and what are they doing here?” While Salut launched into quick, but detailed explanation about the occupants, Liechi decided to study the old duck, feeling like she had seen him before. His face was very familiar. She sorted through her memory banks of all the books she had read, particularly on Dysan. After a moment of hard concentration, she finally recalled seeing his face and gave the bird a surprised look, though he didn’t notice.

“Doctor Dyne! That’s who he is! One of Dysan’s top scientists known for his increasingly strange inventions!” Liechi mentally spoke to herself. Montezu was right. She did recognize him. By that time, Salut had finished giving him the details and he snapped his heads towards them.

“Contumelious brats, why don’t you go topside and die? My inventions are suffering because of you!”

“What the hell?” came Gaius’ first significant reaction that Liechi had seen since she’s been there. She didn’t like where this was going. “Listen here you old geezer-”

“Calm down!” Liechi spoke up, jumping between them despite the two standing far apart. “This is not the time for that.” She then turned to the doctor and gave him an apologetic expression. “I’m really sorry for the trouble sir. I don’t believe any of us meant any harm and neither did we know this was going to happen.”

“And who are you?” Doctor Dyne asked, still angry.

“Liechi. I’m from Lakeville. I came here seeking my brother, whom I found.” She cast a glance over to Nelt before returning her sights to the doctor. “On the behalf of everyone, I apologize for intruding, but am very thankful for your bunker. It provides shelter for Pokémon who could not escape the city nor Scourge.”

“It’s not much of a shelter now is it?” he peevishly inquired, giving the wrecked room a once over to affirm his retort before returning his glare to Gaius. “Salut informed me that you’ve been engaging the Scourge in order to take back Dysan. How do you plan to achieve that result?”

“By overheating all of Dysan’s boilers and causing an explosion-” Gaius began, but was cut off.

“That would potentially obliterate the Scourge and yourselves. A childish and jejune course of action. You sound like a bunch of petulant children.” Then the doctor did a small dance, shaking his balled fins, making whining noises, and squinting his eyes indicative of a child throwing a tantrum. “Wah, wah, if I can’t have it then no one can have it! Wah, wah! I’ll destroy it! Wah, wah! Then no one can have it ever! Wah, wah!” He then stopped with such abruptness that one would think he never did that imitation. Liechi suppressed the bubbling laughter within her as she glanced at Gaius who was now the thoroughly annoyed one. “Even if you managed to get the boilers in the process of overheating, I suppose we’ll be sipping spumante with the demons while we wait.” The psyduck received many confused looks. Gaius kept his mouth firmly clamped shut. Liechi thought she saw an ember escape from the side of his maw. Apparently, the doctor’s antics were having more affect than Gaius was letting on. When no one responded, the doctor sighed dramatically. “Ignorant hellions!”

Liechi chose to speak up again. “What you’re getting at is that the boilers won’t heat fast enough? Is that right?”

“There’s actually someone with brains in this brainless group!” the doctor dramatically announced before returning his sights to the gabite. “You’re not igniting campfires to boil a pot of water. These boilers take time to heat up. It was a task to keep them constantly going. Three weeks ago they went down. How long do you think it’ll take to get these things going again, let alone primed for your precious detonation?”

Someone else in the crowd spoke up. “If we manage to stall them long enough-”

“You’ll be slaves by that time, or dead if I’m lucky.”

“Do you have something of significance to contribute doctor?” Gaius impatiently questioned. “If you hadn’t noticed, we’re running a little short on time and I’d rather not waste it with some balding fowl.”

“The level of asininity in this generation is staggering!” he not too quietly grumbled before throwing his hands in the air. “Fine! Get yourselves killed! You’d be doing me a favor anyway!” As he made to walk out, Liechi ran up to him.

“Please wait a second sir,” she called, stopping alongside him. “You’re Doctor Dyne aren’t you? One of Dysan’s top scientists. Surely any input from you will be beneficial to the cause.” The duck said nothing and continued to eye Liechi with mixed emotions. “All of us need all the help we can get. I agree that their approach may not be the best, but at least they’re trying. No place and no one will be safe as long as the Abyss are here; not you, not them, not Salut…and not even your inventions.” She added that last part as an afterthought after figuring he cared a great deal for his inventions. A simple plea from Salut finally won the old psyduck over.

“Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can do,” he grumbled, but stared Liechi in the eye seriously. “Because educating these snappers quickly and thoroughly won’t be an easy task, I’ll expect something in return from you, Liechi, since Salut informed me that you’re an Indigo Seer.”

------

Dysan’s main power station

Dysan’s main power station looked much more imposing in person. Upon closer inspection, the structure did sustain heavy damage, especially at the top where that gaping hole housed the Scourge’s overseer. Liechi held her position behind fallen beam, scanning the area around the tower’s entrance. She nervously fiddled with the harness that was strapped to her and the little pockets on the straps. The place wasn’t heavily secured. Most of the guards ran off to investigate an explosion that erupted at the other end of the city. Their desire for battle and blood was insatiable, but she thanked the original one for the Scourge’s overconfidence and stupidity. The quicker they could win this battle without losing lives and destroy the bulk of the Scourge force, the better. Though she had yet to tell anyone, she did receive a message from another seer. Zix, that was his name. From his message she learned that the Abyss had overrun another city, Minacen. That was deep in Azmarx territory along that jagged channel and it was there that the Parchment of Fates lied. If the seers managed to acquire that document then the seers would be in an advantageous position. A couple of other telepathic messages arrived as well, but Liechi didn't have time to respond. If she got out of this battle alive, then she'll decide what to do from there.

Distant battle cries brought her back to reality. Scanning the area before her once more to see the remaining guards were looking away, Liechi removed a metallic sphere from her mane. The thing was three inches in diameter and was the color of bronze. Pressing a button at its top started up the small gears and reduced the time Liechi could hold it in her hand. Aiming as best she could, the whimsicott launched it towards the opening of the building, pushing it along with a gust of wind. It hit the ground with a noticeable clang, effectively attracting the attention of the guards who hurriedly followed the rolling item inside. With them out of sight, Liechi kept tabs on them with her seer ability and watched in amusement as the Scourge followed the item like a bunch of cats. Once it was far enough in, she canceled the wind and waited.

The ball rolled to a stop and the guards eagerly converged on it. One decided to pick it up once the item failed to respond to his kick. They closely watched the gears turn and didn't flinch away when two hatches opened on the sphere, releasing a burst of fine gas. They fanned the mist away, thinking nothing of it, but slowly their eyes became heavy and before long they were out like a light. Liechi grinned in triumph as she hurried from her hiding spot and quickly propelled herself into the building.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Rycero said as he dropped his invisibility. Not that it did him much good with a rather large pack strapped to his back. Liechi retrieved the stilled sphere and stuffed it back into her mane.

"Snorlax are known to have some of the most powerful yawns," she informed him, still smiling as she adjusted the brown harness she wore. "I guess Doctor Dyne managed to find one that was extremely potent. How does the other side look?"

“Clear now,” he answered, almost cheerfully through his languid demeanor. “Guards were a little more sparse so I took the liberty of permanently dispatching them." He waved his dirtied knife for emphasis. The kecleon then glanced about himself, spotting the door to the stairwell and a corridor with a label plate. Another explosion, this time closer, attracted their attention and both spotted mighty plume of smoke. “Gaius and the others are already on the move so we’ll have to be quick. Me and Trinket will take care of placing the vials down here and filling the boilers with this stuff. Think you can handle the tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth floors?”

Liechi nodded. “It’ll be no problem!”

“We’ve got only one shot at this. Don’t screw up.”

Liechi rolled her eyes. “The same applies to you. Are you ready Trinket?”

A tiny yellow spider crawled from within the Liechi’s mane and gave a salute with one of his furry legs. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he responded in a child-like voice before hopping onto Rycero’s shoulder. Liechi wished them luck before producing another gust of wind taking off towards the upper floors of the station. She kept her senses on high alert as she shot past each floor while keeping count as best she could. Upon reaching the respective floors, she would enter the corridor and place several vials in the assigned spots. She hoped got the right floors and areas. The briefing of an entirely new plan that Doctor Dyne gave them was indeed brief. Not to mention she had to remember to keep an eye out for the items he sought.

“What I want you to do for me is to retrieve some items that belong to me. It’s most likely located on the one of the upper floors,” she remembered Doctor Dyne telling her as she followed him into his study. “There are three boxes. Each is six inches all around with bronze, exterior gears. One’s black, another’s white, and the last is red. I want you to return those to me.”

“What’s so special about them?” she had asked him as he unrolled a diagram of the items he had described.

“They’re my latest invention that those snakes in the grass said was ridiculous. It was a solution to their complaints about moving many items across Talandra all at once without the need for numerous hired hands. I made the boxes with the capability to minimize and store multiple items. Needless to say it worked, but those slithering fiends kept pestering me about worthless things pertaining to my invention and so I discarded the boxes and the ideas, thinking they were a bunch of contemptible, spoiled brats. It wasn’t until later that I realized my error. It was all a ploy to get me to give up rights on the invention so they could claim the idea to be their own. After all, who would want their local scientist, who is supposed to be mad, coming up with an ingenious contraption that could revolutionize how materials are transported?”


“He’s not as mad as they say he is,” Liechi warmly thought, as her outstretched senses struck something familiar. Homing in on it revealed it to be the doctor’s coveted boxes. The faintness of it told her it was still several levels above her and reeled in her sight somewhat to the identification plate in the stairwell. Floor 82 was where she needed to go. She canceled her extended sight in time to spot a plate with the number six-two engraved on it. “He acts mean because he’s tired…tired of everyone.” Floor six-six. “I see the same look on my father’s face sometimes.” Seventy-one. “Like he wants to give up and cast everything aside because he’s tired.” Eighty-one. “Tired of everything.”

Liechi alighted on the railing and stared at the plate that read: FLOOR 82. The door was formerly closed, but a very noticeable bulge made it ajar. She glided over to the opening and squeezed through, avoiding the pointed edges caused by the dents. The other side turned out to be well lighted due to a gaping hole in the wall. Desks, chairs, tools, and other items were scattered about in complete disarray, broken and twisted. Liechi wondered if the doctor’s boxes could have withstood the devastating force that struck the room.

Wasting no time, Liechi combed the remains, utilizing her senses to home in on the targeted objects. She found two buried beneath the wreckage in the far corners of the room. As far as she could tell, the boxes were pretty banged up, but appeared operational. As she attached the containers to her harness, Liechi couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her confirmation arrived in the form of a shrieking voice that strained the squealer’s vocal cords to the utmost.

“INTRUDER! INTRUDER!” blared the chatot as he fluttered around crazily, torn between attacking the whimsicott and alerting his superior. Liechi decided to capitalize on his indecisiveness and sent a cloud of stun spore his way. The bird inhaled much of it as he made to shout again and his voice cracked before completely muting. His frozen wings failed to keep him aloft and he fell to the floor, struggling to move and shout. Liechi breathed hard, her heart hammering against her chest. He was loud, much too loud. She needed to find that last box and get out of there. After roving the room many times over, the last box revealed itself near the hole’s edge. Liechi hurried for it and hastily clipped it to her harness. The boxes proved to be rather weighty and would require her to expend much more energy than she wanted.

“Now to get out of here.” As she stood, a strong forebodingness struck her. Narrowly did she escape a dark beam that obliterated the spot she occupied only seconds ago. Not use to the additional shifting weight, Liechi landed hard. The boxes sounded out as they banged the ground harshly. She didn’t have time to check the damage as she quickly erected a protect, just barely avoiding a potentially fatal attack. Unfortunately, the floor couldn’t hold up against the blast and caved. The boxes fell through first, snatching Liechi along. She attempted to kick up a tailwind, but slammed into a large conduit. The straps of the harness held strong as the boxes twirled beneath her. Liechi groaned as she sat up, her back wracked with pain.

“You’re not one of my playthings from before. How disappointing.” Liechi immediately came to attention. With debris falling about her, she failed to pick up on the mandibuzz landing nearby. The bird looked annoyed more than anything as it assessed the whimsicott with her red eyes.

“The Abyss have no need for toys,” Liechi told her, shoving herself to her feet.

“I do! I have to be entertained or else I become upset,” she retorted, frowning slightly. “I may consider not torturing you if you can tell me of the location of a certain cacturne.” Liechi raised her nonexistent brows. The buzzard was undoubtedly speaking of Nelt. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. “He was…very entertaining. He has the potential to become my loyal commander.”

“Really?” Liechi sarcastically said as she sneakily released small bits of stun spore. “There is a possibility that I have seen the Pokémon you speak of, but unfortunately, I don’t know what a cacturne looks like. Could you describe him to me please?”

Harpet released a shrill shriek and gave a mighty flap with her wings, releasing a series of air slashes when the whimsicott released a cloud of stun spore. Liechi threw herself over the side as the condensed air sliced through wiring and other weakened material. Multiple copies of herself appeared and converged on the angered mandibuzz. With the bird distracted, Liechi flew up and over the buzzard before releasing another cloud of stun spore. Although the glittering yellow cloud engulfed the mandibuzz, it appeared to have no effect as she fanned away the last of the clones. She easily picked up on Liechi’s location and fired off a dark pulse.

Liechi dove to the side as the dark energy buried itself into another wall of metal, breaking loose more weakened parts that clanged loudly on the way down. She hoped Rycero and Trinket were all right. Mixed in with the noise of debris were the roars and shrieks of combating Pokémon. Apparently, the other squads had arrived with many Scourges in tow. It was even more imperative that she got out soon. Once they ruptured the tanks a chain reaction would take place when the explosion struck the vials they strategically placed about the building. That gave Liechi an idea. Removing the last vial from its pouch, Liechi tossed it at the approaching bird, whose movements had noticeably become sluggish. The glass smashed across the buzzard’s featherless head and the liquid content instantly ignited. She released a shrill shriek of pain as she blindly barreled in Liechi’s direction. The grass Pokémon canceled the tailwind, allowing the weight of the boxes to remove her from harm.

Into the railing the mandibuzz crashed, but Liechi didn’t check on her. Instead she manifested her clones once more and dove towards the ground floor. The battle on the ground floor was chaotic and getting worse. The smell of blood and burned flesh was strong. Liechi prayed her brother and Monetzu were not amongst them. Pokémon of the Abyss were crowding in after the rebels who had intentionally led them into the building while the rebels attempted to escape the facility after leading the Scourge in. Liechi sent in her clones to provide a better distraction and to lure the evil Pokémon away from the rebels. Once the rebels could be more easily identified, she lent them the fast currents of her tailwind to increase swiftness of their escape to the outside.

Stationed around the building were mostly psychic Pokémon along with those who boasted similar abilities. Sweat rolled down their strained faces as they placed their all into holding the barrier that would keep the Scourge inside while periodically weakening it just enough to let out their comrades. Liechi easily spotted Gaius who continued bellowing at the Pokémon to keep holding up the barrier.

“Liechi!” someone called. Glancing about herself, Liechi spotted Rycero heading in the same direction. He gave her a wave, affirming that they had completed their objective.

“Gaius!” she called, reaching him just as Rycero and the barely noticeable Trinket did.

He faced her direction, eyes sharp and focused. Blood trailed down the middle of his face from a gash on his forehead, but he made no motion to wipe it away or even gave indication that he knew he had been wounded. “Has everything been set, seer?”

“Yes, everything’s ready,” she answered. “You’d better hurry because I don’t know how long that cohort will be out of commission.” The gabite gave a sharp nod and gave Trinket the go ahead to set off the explosion. He then bellowed for everyone to quickly fall back. Liechi conjured another tailwind, pushing the stampeding Pokémon along. She didn’t see Trinket send a jolt of electricity down the web that trailed into the power station, but felt the results of its effects. Everyone did. She couldn’t get so many away fast enough before the shockwave hit. The explosion obliterated sound altogether and the ensuing shockwave punched their backs hard. Pokémon were thrown into the air and blown across the ground like ragdolls, their bodies having become limp due to a loss of consciousness or having become stunned. Liechi’s was a part of the latter category. Her thoughts became incoherent and dizziness assailed her. This resulted in her inability to concentrate, which caused the tailwind to dissipate. The boxes acted as her anchors and effectively brought her to the ground. In too much of a daze to get up, Liechi closed her eyes and entered the quiet embrace of unconsciousness.
 
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DVB

Philosopher Knight
Diego The Pikachu
Victakan Plains, Victakan


“Don’t worry. It’ll be over very soon. You have <my> word,” Melanthios chuckled. Hidden beneath that derisive tone was a warmth, a kindness that only those who truly had the single element of the world within their hearts could recognize.

Diego looked at him and nodded. He then began to draw a right triangle on the ground before sitting in it. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. He was filled with a powerful energy.

Chessmasters... Don't think we are not aware of your games. This isn't my first life and it is certainly not my last. Learning your names would be a complete waste of memory. After this...

I'm coming after you.


Diego then awoke before facing where DX was... A massive bolt of black lightning was seen with a shockwave even being able to be felt from here.

"DX reached the Grumpig. It's time..." Diego told the group before he sped there. He mimicked an ExtremeSpeed and began sprinting there at an insane speed.

DX had shifted into an ExtremeSpeed and had began leaping through the landscape at an impressive speed. He then activated Volt Tackle to shred and tear through any obstacles.

He then saw a flash of purple.

Delath.

Before the Grumpig could do anything, he felt two dark Thunder Punches enter his spine with an insane inertia before DX released the energy.
The massive bolt of black lightning cut through the sky and released a powerful shockwave.

DX casually took out one of the bottles made for this occasion and scooped up the blood of Delath. He sealed it shut and tied it with a bow.

"FaTe... wHaT a FoOlIsH iDeA... tO tRy AnD pRoPhAsIze... LoRd WhAt FoOls ThEsE mOrTaLs Be... NoT aS mUcH aS tHe FoOls DeLudInG tHeMsElVeS..." DX said as he put the bottle away and sped to it. He left a massive crater in the Rainforest.

iT wAs Time...


Diego had stopped. DX was in front. The two wordlessly stared at each other. DX created a Substitute who took the bottle and sped off to where Jax and the others were.

Diego had decided no more messing around. He began glowing with the power of a Seer while DX showed no restraint on his Fallen power. They formed Zap Cannons, that dwarfed them in size before they launched them at one another.

The explosion of different energies garnered attention.

The DX Substitute had arrived in front of Jax. It smiled before handing him the blood of Deluth. It then vanished.

You can go now to find the parchments...

or help your friend beat his Fallen...

((OOC: Now, like Mel, Diego also has his background, now it dwarves Mel's bizarreness. Yes, he realizes his soul is not that of a real Pokemon, though he does not tell anyone or let it torment him. His boss is someone far beyond this universe... There won't be much of it showed here, but DX remains a constant of it))
 
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Tasslehoff

ExplicitEclipse
Kraxel the Bisharp
Scarwell, Azmarax


Tariq, there is still a lot that needs to be done for the defenses, I am aware you are staying for I have been tapping in and out of your consciousness, we will me up on top of the gates to the city after defenses are prepared, I am working on setting up the turrets of the garrisons, I want you to either A: go to the palace and make sure the Duke of Scarwell has his defenses in place or B: go to the shipyard and make sure the battleships are equipped with AA turrets and cannons properly, the army of Scarwell know how to fight but they are horrible with setting up defenses. See you on top of the gates soon.

“Kraxel, Bones has sent me to talk to you, my name is Blitz, I am a captain of the Peacekeepers and Zix’s advisor, I am sure you have already met him.”

“I have, and I do not like him, but he is useful enough as it is, we need to get this place up and running, I do not like the idea of the Abyss gaining an advantage over s with our pants down,” I said.

“How can I help?”

“Go inside the city, give everyone who can fight a gun, a sword, bow and arrows, whatever they want, those who can fight however, men, women, older youth, will fight, casualties will be high and so to minimize this, we need all able bodied people to fight.”

“Alright, I will see to that, I am also to report what you are doing in Scarwell to Bones, it seems you are not… trusted… and we all know why Kraxel, your reputation will follow you wherever you go.”

“Good, then you should well enough fear me and do not get in my way if you are wise, I will not be bothered with the likes of you, your order, or anyone else!”

“Kraxel, if I really wanted to, I have seen people who can and would love to kill you.”

“We shall see; in the meantime, you and I are forced “friends” until this battle is over.” I finished the battle of wits with.

Finishing up the turrets on the fifth garrison, I made my way to the sixth and last one; after I finished this, I had to make sure the fleets were in place hopefully Tariq had finishes making sure the AA turrets were in place, and if not, well I could over see to it.

I was half way done with the sixth garrison when a soldier ran up to me out of breath.

“Krax…el we… need you… Abyss scouts… seen over the hill (soldier pointing to a hill a kilometer away) come… quickly.”

“Soldier, stay here, catch your breath.”

Turning towards the hill where he pointed, I jumped off the garrisons and ran as fast as I could. After a minutes of running, I came to the bottom of the hill where the scout had pointed to, already, a few soldiers prepared for battle were at fox holes or setting some up.

Army crawling up towards one of the fox holes were a major was dug in, I inquired what had happen.

“Major, how long have they been here?” in a hushed tone.

“Only for about half an hour, one small patrol came through here on their way to scout out Scarwell, we slaughtered them and dragged the bodies over here, that was three hours ago, then scouts ran down the camp, screaming in a devilish, gurgling tone, we cut their heads off and ran as quickly as we could up here, mons were already here before I got here, and I beat you here only by a few minutes.” His response came.

“When the mon died, did they bleed?” I asked.

“No, why?”

“Dammit! When The Infernal Scourge dies, they still bleed, when people corrupted by the Chorots of Chaos die, they are lifeless; all the people are just husks of flesh, minions to the Chorots to do their bidding.”

“S***!”

Looking out to the approaching scouting party, behind the ghoulish-looking scourge, two black, shadow appearing pokemon were leading them.

“Major, do you see the two ‘mons in the back, leading the ghoulish looking ones, those are the Chorots, to be hit by their weapons is to become enslaved in mind and body.”

“Alright Kraxel, you will lead this battle, you know more about the enemy than I do –Everyone listen up, our first priority is to kill and eliminate the two ‘mons leading the scouting party, dodge their weapons at all cost!”

“Everyone, wait till they get closer, if we can get behind them, the easier this will be.”

Minutes of agonizing anxiety fell over every one of us, soon the scouting party came within a hundred feet of us, directly to our right, giving a gesture of hand signals, I told our battalion crawl down the hill slowly and then rush them from behind and the sides.

After everyone was in their set position, I shouted ATTACK! In a roar, we all ran down the hill yelling, catching the group by surprise, the Chorots was trying to set the Scourge into a defensive position, luckily, the Scourge were cowards.

WARNING, MILDLY GRAFIC CONTENT WILL BE IN THIS!

Taking down multiple tangos within seconds, the Chorots were able to rally the Scourge together, now, they had the advantage, most of us weren’t prepared to have a real fight for we were still far from prepared for an invasion, and I was relying on surprise to take out at least one of the Chorots.

The Chorots were displaying superior swordsman ship, catching men in their abdomen, people let out agonizing screams as they felled to the ground grabbing their heads and shaking.

I was able to sneak up behind one of the Chorots and I sliced its neck and it disintegrated, unknowing the how, savage the scourge became when their leader fell, I turned around and watched a somewhat stupid soul try and pierce my abdomen, unable to help but laugh, the sword wasn’t strong enough t cut through steel, anything with knowledge and intelligence knew that, I cut the creatures head off, a fountain of black blood came as the jugular was completely cut open and now exposed to the world. Doing this to multiple others, I know longer could think clearly, I slipped into a complete savage state, a blood haze fell over me and I felt blood on the skin parts of my body, not knowing whether it was mine or someone else’s I kept going, within at least ten minutes, the whole battle was over, nearly everyone in the squad was either dead, except a few enlisted, or screaming on the ground because their “masters” (The Chorots) were killed, including the major.

“Kraxel, what are we to do with them?”

“Mutilate their bodies, I want nothing of their corpse to live, the Abyss can take over the dead, they can’t or at least won’t take over something that isn’t even put together anymore.”

“Sir… are you sure? That is a little extreme.”

“You coward! WATCH!” walking up to the major, I grabbed the ‘mon by the top of its head, looked into it’s eyes, and cut the head off, “See, the blood is black, he is already turning, they are no longer alive! We have to do this to each one of these slowly dying men, it is a better death than to be undead.”

“I… guess you’re… right…”

After mutilating the rest of the bodies, the two ‘mons and I looked around, they were almost in tears; I was just disgusted, they should know the price of war; the whole ground was filled with red and black blood, the corpses of ours and the Abyss’s were still gushing blood, my kills were easily seen for I cut the head off, it was quicker and more effective, the mon cut off the appendages as did the Abyss, I wonder how slow of a death the would be?

“C’mon soldiers, we need to get back to the city and finish defenses.”

**********************************************************

And sitting on his throne in the destroyed, now dying city of Minacen, sat a Bisharp, made completely with unholy shadows, with glowing, piercing red eyes, was laughing.

“HAHA, ahhh Kraxel, you grow more powerful, ahhh my child, soon, soon we will be united, in flesh and soul, you cannot hope to beat me, either on the battlefield of Scarwell, or if you even prevail, I shall see you here, in Minacen, I shall, and will, be at both of these battles, and you, you will die in the end! HAHA!!!”

“Sir, our scouting squads have been killed, what would you have done?”

“I am already aware you maggot!” the Bisharp shouted, walking down his throne room’s stairs and grabbing the messenger by the throat. “I will rally the army,” the Bisharp stated, closing his hand and completely destroying the Abyss messenger.

(OOC: If you haven’t guessed or even understand who this Bisharp is, everyone will see who it is at the invasion of Scarwell.”
 
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Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
OOC: DVB, I'm just going to make this quick and easy. You're BANNED from the RP. Period. I don't want to go too into detail, but this stuff you insist on pulling with DX is outright spoiling the entire RP. Other people were handling Delath, didn't you even bother to check? And Extremespeed... to fly across the planet in a single post? What were you thinking?

For everyone else, Post #82 is void, pay no attention to it. In terms of Diego's character, he becomes an NPC, and don't worry about handling him, I'm already killing him off in this post.

Jax the Lopunny
Victakan Plains, Victakan, En Route to Sartaras


I didn't fear what was in Sartaras. However, that didn't mean I was going to like it. The Victakan Plains were only growing worse, and while Center Lake City was slightly "saved" without Undax to lead the campaign to corrupt it, it was only a matter of time before the Abyss sent someone else to take care of it. And with the way the plains were looking, I likely doubted any of Center Lake's citizens were going to freely come back thinking everything was fine and good.

As we moved across the plains, I could see the pestilence across the land spreading, moving slowly like a herd of ants, but quick enough to be a very real threat. Meanwhile, the dark fields that lay before Sartaras were sickly and macabre, and already the Abyss had sent out patrols to make sure no one even came close to the city. Trying to make it past them was not going to be easy, but it wasn't impossible. I was sure even Sartaras had a sewer line that could take us to the heart of the city, which would give us better leverage than to be seen by their scouts and sentries.

"Good," Mel commented, agreeing with the plan. "I like it! Clear the victory conditions one by one, leaving no objective to the side!"

"I wish I could get cocky about it, but I can't," I told Mel, obviously still trying not to appear weak. "Getting into Sartaras isn't going to be easy. We can take the main sewer line and hope that puts us in a better position when we get to the heart of the city, or we stay on the surface and use whatever we can to detect their positions and lines of sight."

Syrat just shook his head at the overwhelming nature of it all. I could sense he didn't expect to have to do all this, but truthfully, if I hadn't taken him along with me, he could very well be dead... or worse. And I had a feeling he knew that too.

"I hate both of those ideas," Syrat told me, looking annoyed. "One's dangerous and the other has us wading through manure. You really expect me to choose between the two?"

"Surface it is, then," I told the squirrel. "Besides, considering your small size, we'd run the risk of having you and Diego drown. I can't think of too many fates that would be worse than drowning in the manure of others."

Using my Seer powers, I tried to get an idea of the patrols, sentries, and scouts that the Abyss was using to detect anyone trying to enter Sartaras. From what I could tell, what the Abyss lacked in strategic and ordered deployment, they made up for in numbers. Scourge patrols were haphazard and unorganized, but there were many of them. The Cohorts as the city's sentries were going to be a problem. Our only chance was to wait for a break in their patrols, and hope to slip by their watch while they were preoccupied.

Outside the city limits, the small surrounding buildings provided some cover, but not much. Most of them were twisted apart from the fissures and chasms that the Abyss's arrival had created. Others were vacant or were nothing more than burnt husks. Meanwhile, the smell of death was everywhere. From what I could sense, the Cathedral to Corruption was still quite a ways off, and that was looking too far ahead. I could only focus on where the Abyss's operatives were positioned, and where they were looking. I couldn't directly focus on each one of them, although the clairvoyance did give me the ability to see through the eyes of any one particular sentry, just not all of them at once. I could use it against the ones I thought would be the most amount of trouble.

Moving through the corrupted plains, Sartaras came closer and closer, and their patrols were getting denser and more frequent. I focused on the positions of these patrols and scouts, keeping in mind what direction they were facing, and what they would likely be able to see. Whenever there was cover, be it buildings, dead foliage, or debris, I used it the best way I could. Meanwhile, the bloody rain was beginning to trickle down. The bloody, muddy ground would only reveal our footsteps and our path even further. Hopefully... we would not be watched or weren't being followed.

There was another threat I had not searched for. In my efforts to only trace the guards and the sentries, a sickening, sudden scraping of sharp metal suddenly broke my concentration.

Diego, who had been walking normally besides us, had stepped into one of the Abyss's booby traps, a sickening metallic apparatus consisting of jagged knives and blades in several fan-like arrays, springing up from the ground before tearing into the Pikachu's body. Diego never even got the chance to scream, and was simply cut into pieces from the trap that I hadn't even been looking for. When it was all over, he was missing both his arms, and was impaled fifteen times, standing lifelessly as the blades seized him standing upright in his death. Everything was a bloody mess of blood and blades.

"Holy crap, they put traps down!?" Syrat exclaimed, suddenly encased in fear.

For a second, I disregarded the sentries and the patrols. It was true, the Abyss had laid down many different kinds of traps hidden in the ground and in the buildings. There were many we missed solely because of luck, but there were countless traps ahead that I hadn't foreseen.

"Damn, look at him!" Syrat exclaimed, pointing to the dead Pikachu's carved body. "Shouldn't we-?"

"We cannot stop," I told him, keeping the mission going. "Mel, you watch for the sentries, I'll monitor the traps. From what I can tell, many of them are buried in the ground, but not all of them. Watch where you step. Especially avoid areas of the ground that look like they may have been disturbed."

And that wasn't easy, considering the pestilence spreading over the ground was disturbing everything regardless. Many of the traps involved blades and other stabbing weapons, and they all shared the same common savagery that was overkill when it came to how much was needed to kill anyone that triggered them.

Even just getting to Sartaras wasn't going to be easy. Once there... Syrat would have a good reason to panic.
 

strategiser24

Mewtwo is awesome!
OOC: I hope I get the Fallen role in this right, but let me know if I don't.

Tariq the Archeops
Scarwell, Azmarax


Tariq, there is still a lot that needs to be done for the defenses, I am aware you are staying for I have been tapping in and out of your consciousness, we will me up on top of the gates to the city after defenses are prepared, I am working on setting up the turrets of the garrisons, I want you to either A: go to the palace and make sure the Duke of Scarwell has his defenses in place or B: go to the shipyard and make sure the battleships are equipped with AA turrets and cannons properly, the army of Scarwell know how to fight but they are horrible with setting up defenses. See you on top of the gates soon.

I can't say that he's not right, Tariq said to himself.

Deciding to head to the port, he brought with him two Irfan members, both skilled with engineering. At the port, most ships there were either military ships, or being turned into one, despite the latter not going so well. "Wait, don't set that up there," the Pidgeotto said, wandering off.

The other member was quickly off as well; they must've sounded like the soldier's elementary school teachers, correcting everything wrong.

Before Tariq could help out, he suddenly remembered Seryl's words that he said earlier, They don't get what the real problem is.

Heading back to the gates, hoping Kraxel was already there, he hoped he'd be in agood mood to listen. Back at the walls, things seemed in chaos as sightings of the Abyss being nearby caused everyone to panic. The generals were trying to calm things down, but their effect wasn't at 100% of what they hoped...Nevertheless, Tariq spotted Kraxel returning from over a hill nearby with other soldiers; they must've been dealing with the threat, as they seemed winded and maybe a little horrified. Kraxel didn't return immediately to the gates, so Tariq flew down next to him as other soldiers crowded by them to tend to them. "Kraxel, what happened to everyone?" Tariq asked, letting him reply, "...The port defenses are ready, but I haen't checked on the duke...and there's something else I need to tell you: About the Abyss and why I was in a rush to head north...If you'll listen without getting upset, I'll tell you,"

Elsewhere...

"Sir, we've gotten reports of sightings of Seers near Sartaras," an Abyss soldier explained, "I think they're coming here!"

"...Did you really think they wouldn't?" a corrupted, twisted Archeops replied, breaking out of his meditation. "The citadel is important to our victory, and its here to contain...something else,"

"With all due respect sir, won't Utopia be able to enter the world with the Citadel destroyed?" the messenger Flygon asked.

The Archeops only laughed, but cut himself off suddenly. "Don't you remember the force that prevented US from entering the living world?" he said, "That same force that Utopia created to stop us from entering the world, is now what is keeping THEM from entering the same world,"

The messenger looked at him confused. "No sir, I'm afraid I don't," he replied.

"You don't, and most of the Living don't either..." the Archeops continued, "We have the Black Coming to thank for remembering...but what am I saying? They were just tools that ran out of use...Now, Report back to your station! I'm to help with the campaign of Scarwell on Azmarax, and there's another...issue...that's been brought to my doorstep,"
 

Tasslehoff

ExplicitEclipse
Kraxel the Bisharp
Scarwell, Azmarax



"Kraxel, what happened to everyone?" Tariq asked, letting him reply, "...The port defenses are ready, but I haven't checked on the duke...and there's something else I need to tell you: About the Abyss and why I was in a rush to head north...If you'll listen without getting upset, I'll tell you."

“If it is truly important, and can’t wait, then speak of it,” I managed to pull out, trying to relax my blood fury, “as with the others, all of them are now slaughtered, either by the scouting party or our hands, there were two Chorots and they corrupted most of the mon, we killed the people who were corrupted, these last two are a little shaken down, they never thought they would have to kill their own men.”

Looking out towards the coast on both sides of the city, I was relieved to see warships being already set up, the preparations for battle were running more or less smoothly, as long as no surprise attacks come on, we should be fine, it would take at least three days minimum for a whole invading force to get here from Minacen.

“Tariq, explain to me exactly what you want to tell me on the way to the palace, I want to make sure the Duke is alright and that he has a good enough defense set up, the longer we can keep him alive, the more moral the people of the city will have, trust me on this.”

(Kraxel and Tariq walk to the palace; hopefully Tariq is explaining his plan of the north to Kraxel.)

Tariq and I walked up the palace stairs and were greeted by two snipers pointing rifles at us. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“We are the two seers in town, I am Kraxel, and this here is Tariq, we have come to check on the duke, make sure everything is set up.”

“Very well,” one of them said to the other, (now whispering to him)… “Go inside, for security reasons, you will have an armed escort, we have to make sure you aren’t Abyss spies.”

“Of course,” I nodded, turning to Tariq and winking.

We walked through the main palace doors and was greeted by a taller and more physique-better Lucario, “greetings seers, I am Torlax Ironfist, Duke of Scarwell.”

Not being able to laugh at the irony of his last name, the reaction to the mockery was a nice hit in the back by the rifle of one of the snipers, “I am sorry sir; I couldn’t help myself at the irony.”

“I will overlook your rudeness only because we are going to war and I need every last soldier to fight,” was his reply.

“The only reason I am here is because Tariq and I are wondering if your defenses are in check.”

“Tariq, are you going to inform him too of your plans?”
 

rotrum

Ice Cold
OOC: Well. I haven't posted enough.

Kawahira the Mismagius
Dysan, Kanat


Kawahira, as he travelled slowly across the sea, put numerous herbs, medicines, remedies, and countless salves and plants over his body, as well as consuming a curious looking plant. While he couldn't just be brought immediately to full health, his burns were cooled, his body's temperature evened out, and his pain was reduced to near nonexistence. Overall, he looked a lot better, from a medical standpoint atleast. In reality, he was covered in makeshift bandages, and his coloration was a bit off from the mix of medicines.

It was a good thing he knew a lot about this stuff, and that he carried a large variety of plants in his cloak. Sometimes, it was a good thing that he had his mother's teaching. He briefly wondered how she was doing, knowing that she was still alive vaguely in the back of his mind. She was rather wise, he was sure that she would make it through this conflict, possibly even be a counter spellcaster to the dark magic that was brewing down in Synamax, or even a strategist, helping retake land. He shrugged a bit, this was not the time to be thinking about it. He looked up briefly, stopping for a moment. The biggest wars are still games to someone, the words briefly flickered through his mind. 'I wonder who the players here are? I wonder if this is all written out by fate already, beyond any prophecy of the Abyss, or perhaps it relies on the roll of a die.' Somehow, he smirked at the thought, a vague awareness stirring in his head.

Suddenly, as he floated there, near Dysan, where he was going to try to find the other seer who appeared to be alone in the Abyssal city, a massive wave broke, attempting to crash onto him.

He blinked, losing his form and visibility as he let the wave crash through him. As it settled down, he immediately levitated upwards, evading a string of other large waves. His bandaging and discoloration had falled off of him when he lost tangibility, and now the plants floated gently in the sea. He was pretty glad about this, as it'd make a terible first impression if he looked like that on appearance. Plus, most of that stuff had served it's purpose, he'd be, at the very least, combat ready from now on.

He closed his eyes, before fading away.

---

"ArE yOU sUrE tHiS iS tHe LasT InGreDiEnt?" Delath asked, somewhat suspicious of the black pokemon before him, that black pokemon that faded into the shadows, shifting in and out of his sight. Even if they were allies, he had to remain wary of someone whose very form wavered in the wind, their allegiance may well flicker as easily.

The black Mismagius looked at the other, calm despite appearing immaterial, despite their constantly shifting shape, despite the fact that he seemed to be part of the shadows of the room and nothing more. "Of course. Your Dark Magic can be truly complete with this." With that, he turned, form dissolving into nothing.

"WhErE dO yOu InTenD tO Go." Delath questioned, maintaining a healthy suspicion of the fallen

"Somewhere." Came a mouth that floated in the air, before disappearing at the end of the sentence.

---

The shockwave ran straight through Kawahira's immaterial form, shkaing him up a little, but otherwise leaving him unaffected. And while the same happened to the scourge that plagued the area, more were coming, albeit slowly, by the second. With many people who were fighting them down, Kawahira figured he needed to do something. He appeared above Liechi, looking at her unconcious form and already knowing that she was a seer. If these people made up her army, he was glad to help.

There were no scourge in the immediate area, but he knew they would arrive within moments to attack, to eliminate the weakened people who dared oppose them. He sighed, his breath changing tone as it expanded, becoming a light chiming noise as he put a heal bell across them. While he black coloration might make him appear an enemy, he hoped to put their nerves at ease with this act.

The sounds of approaching enemies, and enemies who were beginning to come to reached him. He span his khakkhara over his head with telekinesis, a series of will-o-wisps appearing at the edge of the cirlce created by the rotating staff. As they disappeared, much larger ones appeared, forming a ring about what he beleived were the boundaries of his "allies." He kept spinning, sakura petals gently appearing from the top of the staff. As the first of the approaching scourge appeared, he made his move.

Hundreds of sharp, little, pink blades went outwards, running through the pale, blue will-o-wisps as they too acquired the blue flame, a beatiful cotton candy parody that sliced and burned into the approaching scourge, a symphony of fire and death. No black blood was shed by the fiery blades, however several of the scourge dissolved into the air during the attack. Kawahira briefly mused about how long he could keep this up before he was either overpowered or overrun, or if he could keep it up until the others came too. He shook it off, focusing his mind away form it.

With a loud exhale, an ominous wind pushed a wave of fire outwards, burning another layer of scourge to crisps.

"Oi, Seer, wake up" He said, keeping his mind mostly occupied by fighting as he gently brushed his cloak over Liechi.
 

Necros

Magus of Fantasy
Melanthios Malachi the Sableye
Victakan Plains, Victakan, En Route to Sartaras


Melanthios shrugged as Jax dismissed his confidence as foolish optimism. It wasn’t that he didn’t agree with the Lopunny, it was just that after having been in many situations where the stakes were similarly high and the odds stacked astronomically against him, the Sableye found it a lot easier to laugh in the face of danger and solidify the belief that he would always ultimately come out alright. Faith could do many things, but for one like Melanthios, it was a way to gain strength and power. Some people might call it overconfidence, others might call it determination. It all depended on how you looked at it…and whether or not you possessed the single element of all creation.

Although strolling would hardly be an appropriate word for what Melanthios, Jax, Syrat and Diego were doing, the Sableye honestly felt as if that was the prevailing mood. Sure, they were cautious, they were watching out for sentries, worrying about what came next…but honestly, it was almost fun. Everything had gone so smoothly so far if you looked at it in objective terms. Xac and Undax had been killed quickly and their blood collected, and Delath wasn’t long for this world if all the many seers gathering around him had any say. And now they were proceeding towards Sartaras without any serious incident. Had his ascension already begun? Had he finally reached that stage where he could laugh at fate? Where everything could be a fun game for him, even life and death?

Slowly, imperceptibly, Melanthios’ jeweled eyes lit up with hope. Had he…finally escaped?

As if to commemorate this realization, there was a bright red burst of fireworks right next to the Sableye. He watched with fascination as the light glinted off those crimson splashes sailing through the air, thudding against the ground like heavy rain. He almost giggled as he felt it land on him as well, so warm and heavy. Such a strange firework. Was it some sort of paint bomb? Magi sure had an odd way of celebrating. This had to be the work of his Master, he loved pulling pranks like this.

Why did it…smell so, though? There was no gunpowder…just a rotten, black smell, heavy and cloying. And the red…it wasn’t coming off of his body. It dried…clumped…or dripped slowly down...

What…was…this…?

Melanthios was dimly aware of Syrat shrilly saying something and Jax responding. Slowly, the Sableye turned his head in the direction of where Diego should have been standing, right next to him.

“Ah-“

At once, the gruesome bladed trap that had so ensnared and dismembered the Pikachu came into Melanthios’ view. He saw the body, pouring out its last rivulets of blood that hadn’t gone splattering over the general radius, the knives and spikes glinting silver in some places, coated with rust in others. He saw the stains Diego’s corpse was making all over. That mangled expression of death.

And he…felt nothing. How could he have? He’d seen far worse than this. He’d done far worse than this. He was prepared for the horrors that came with being the piece of a Magus. His mind and heart were utterly calm. It hadn’t been a celebration of his victory. It wasn’t a firework or paint bomb. It was simply a piece being discarded. It was just a guy being skewered to death. He hadn’t even known him for that long.

“Why…can I feel…nothing at all? Is this really…what I’m becoming?” Melanthios asked, to no one in particular.

The Magi were as cruel as they were clever. In their boredom, they had decided to do away with the piece that was swiftly becoming useless to both of them. But it wasn’t enough to simply take him off the game board. They had to do it in the cruelest way possible. Not for Diego. Oh no. He didn’t matter, he was just a piece. He’d probably go off to be placed on a game board more suited for him, if anything.

They had to do it in the cruelest possible way for Melanthios. They waited for the moment when he was fueled with his true ambition, his hope, the moment that was the sweetest for him. And then they shattered it. Tarnished it with death. Made him doubt his own resolve. No matter what he might feel or decide…there was no way to recover what had come before.

‘Why worry about it? You’re so much more than him.’

‘You didn’t know him. He did nothing to help you.’

‘You owe him nothing. He’s just a bad piece.’


Those were the thoughts running through his head. Or perhaps it was the whispers of the two Magi, gloating over this most entertaining of moments. Was he no better than they? In his own efforts to escape his fate, would he really become as desensitized to the value of life?

No. He wouldn’t let that happen. As soon as his ascension was complete, he would make sure of it. He would find his own game board. One he could seal up so no one would disturb it. And he would take all the pieces that had suffered and struggled through misfortune, even those of the Abyss. He would grant them a world of peace and equality. Where they could all coexist and work together. That would be Melanthios’ ultimate victory.

“Mel, you watch for the sentries, I’ll monitor the traps. From what I can tell, many of them are buried in the ground, but not all of them. Watch where you step. Especially avoid areas of the ground that look like they may have been disturbed.”

It was Jax. Melanthios nodded. The game was far from over. He still had to play, and he had to win. For everyone’s sake.

“<No problemo!> I’ll make sure we aren’t spotted,” he grinned, perhaps looking a little intimidating, splattered in blood like that with such a wide, fanged smile and glinting eyes. It would help.

The Sableye nimbly moved through the pestilence and trap covered ground with little fear, his steps not even making the faintest disturbance as he opened up his mind a bit more to take over monitoring the patrols of Abyssal. Soon he was acting almost like a machine, relaying instructions to Jax mentally and verbally for the benefit of Syrat, clear and concise.

Duck. Stop. Keep moving. Get behind that rock. Go around the left hand side.

He was careful to avoid springing traps too, though he relied on Jax to be paying the closest attention to those. Besides, for one such as Melanthios, physical traps were less effective than certain other methods. He was more just worried about the noise of a trap springing alerting a nearby patrol.

It didn’t matter if it did though. He would still win. Of that, he was absolutely certain.

***

“Want another one?” smiled Ledumos as he wiped breadcrumbs and bits of bloody, ground up meat from his muzzle.

“No thanks. I just found a hair in this one,” grimaced Necros, extracting a clump of yellow fur from a half eaten burger. “It was better when we used humans. Don’t have to worry about all that nasty fur.”

The Breloom tutted. “Ah Nec~ you were always such a picky eater! That’s what I love about your cruelty. You’ll crush and grind someone up and then only take the smallest of bites of their flesh before throwing the rest of them away. If you even take a bite to begin with~”

The dark eyed Raichu cackled a little. “That’s what they exist for. Play with them while they’re alive. Tear out their guts when they’re dead. You can only enjoy them twice. Leaving the remains to steam and rot and stench the entire place with waste as opposed to making some sort of use out of them is the kind of irony I just love to inflict. Especially on those who think their existence has some sort of meaning. ”

“Well more for me then!” giggled Ledumos as he snatched up the other’s burger and gulped it down messily.

Necros sighed, but smiled fondly at the other voraciously gobbling up everything in sight. It was a different cruelty to his, but it was cruelty nonetheless. And that’s why he loved Ledumos.

Because they could understand each other so perfectly.
 

Flash Sport

Whatcha gotta say?
Liechi the Whimsicott
Dysan, Kanat


Her world was a swirling mixture of dull colors when she came to and was still in chaos. At first she couldn’t hear anything, but could feel the rumble of the ground and smell the odor of the explosion. Forcing herself to come around and fight off the throb in her head, Liechi rolled her head in the tower’s direction. Despite the cloud of dust that covered the area, her eyes easily picked out a massive black plume billowing from the destroyed station like a volcanic eruption. Dysan’s iconic structure had turned into a mass of rubble with the mangled gauge that once sat at the tower’s peak being the only piece that gave any indication to what the heap once was. Large flexible tubes and wires that connected it with the smaller power stations had fallen to the ground, creating a suspended wall of dust in different directions. She knew all the Scourge in the city weren’t lured in there and that some even managed to escape, but hoped they had gotten the majority, especially the overseeing cohort.

The ringing in her ears was a good sign, meaning her hearing was returning. Despite it not having fully returned, she managed to pick up on a voice. “…-er, wake up.” It was followed by the feeling of fabric lightly dragging over her. She didn’t want to move, the feeling in her head having abated since it became accustomed to the position she was in. Knowing she was still out in the open and that the battle was not yet over, Liechi shoved herself to her feet. Spots appeared before her eyes when the throbbing returned with a little more force, but it was not as bad as she had anticipated. Truthfully, she felt better than she anticipated considering how close she was to the station when the shockwave hit. She recalled the voice and finally looked in its presumed direction. Apparently, her brain was still on the fritz because all she saw was a hovering shadow and she momentarily looked at it dumbly. The first connection it made was that shadowy Pokémon equaled Scourge, putting her adrenaline back into overdrive. However, her actions were delayed enough for her to realize that the creature was engaged in combat against actual Scourge.

“Who’re you?” Liechi asked as she warily got to her feet, the tug of the harness’ straps briefly attracting her attention. She checked the three boxes to make sure they weren’t badly damaged. All three had lost their outer gear parts and Liechi knew she was going to be in for one when she returned the banged up boxes to their rightful owner. That is if she managed to return at all. Chaos had never left as the Scourge, who were out the blast and shockwave range, descended rapidly upon them and other rebels who were out of sight. Those who were dazed or still unconscious were easy pickings. The Pokémon, which she finally made out to be a mismagius, was doing the best he could at holding the Scourge at bay. As the saying went, there’s no rest for the weary.

“Never mind, I guess there’s no time for real introductions. Watch it!” A staravia had twirled in the air and was coming upon them from behind, moving fast. Liechi felt through her mane and ran across the sphere from earlier. It was predictably empty, but that didn’t matter. Taking aim, Liechi flung the item as the gray bird. The metal sphere struck true, nailing the avian directly in the forehead and sent it barreling into the ground. At the rate it was going, the collision with the ball undoubtedly knocked it out, but some other nearby rebel members wanted to make sure it was out for good.

“Cover me for a second,” she told the mismagius and other rebels that had congregated near them. Calling up her seer ability, Liechi reached out her senses, which momentarily buzzed with excitement when it brushed the mismagius, identifying him as a fellow Seer. There was no time question him. Instead she concentrated her power to assess how many Scourge remained. As it turned out, the number of them had dwindled greatly when she compared it to what she sensed upon her arrival at Dysan. “Not many are left! We just need to hold out a little while longer.” The only problem was that the ones who were left were mainly flying types or had flight capabilities, making them hard targets for the rebels who were mostly grounded. She happened to pick up on Montezu’s form and zeroed in to see him fighting with much vigor despite his battered appearance. Unfortunately, she couldn’t locate her brother.

“Monty, where’s Nelt?” she telepathically questioned him. The sudden appearance of a voice in his head made him falter and nearly got him impaled. Liechi flinched and released a sharp breath when he managed to land a hit directly to the attacking Scourge’s chest.

“Dammit Liechi, don’t do that!” he practically yelled both mentally and aloud.

“Where’s Nelt?” she urgently questioned.

“Hell if I know! I lost him in the fray!” Most of his replies came out as grunts as he worked to both fight and talk. “He’s a mature poke, Leech! He can handle himself! Worry about the battle! The sooner we win this, the sooner we can be on our merry way back to Lakeville!”

The sudowoodo was right, but she couldn’t shake the intense worry. What if Nelt was inside the plant and didn’t make it out? What if Scourge had already gotten to him? He was already in a bad state before this battle. Liechi removed her sights from him and went in search of Gaius and found him atop one of the houses. The gabite was definitely adept at combat and proficient with using his arm fins as he managed to swiftly cut down three Scourge simultaneously. “Gaius, are the snipers still in place?”

Unlike Montezu, Gaius didn’t falter and took the telepathy in stride. “They are or at least that’s how I left them, but they won’t do much good if all the Scourge are scattered as badly as they are.”

“I know, but I have a plan. Watch for me in the sky and be prepared to give the signal!” Gaius was about to question her, but she cut the connection and returned to her own battlefield. Things were moving in a blur and some of the rebels were tiring. A machop narrowly evaded getting carried off. Liechi hoped her plan worked, but she was going to need some actual assistance if it were to work even better. Her clones did well, but actual sentient creatures proved even more beneficial. She turned to the mismagius. “Alright, I have a plan, but I’ll need some help. I don’t know how effective this’ll be, but hopefully it’ll work.” Liechi hovered off the ground thanks to her tailwind. The boxes felt even heavier, but she didn’t trust leaving the items aside. She fired off an energy ball at a lunging cubone, knocking it through a nearby window.

“I’m going to try and lead most of the Scourge’s aerial forces into one center location in the sky. There are Pokémon trained as snipers stationed around Dysan, some of which are electric types.” Another energy ball sent a gligar reeling. “If we can get the Scourge to flock into a central location, then the rebels’ attacks will be more effective when they strike.” Liechi pooled much of her remaining energy together for a massive double team and one substitute. Everything was riding on this, but she was mostly concerned about her brother.

With urgency in her voice, she added, “If you’re helping then, please, get moving!” With that, her clones swarmed around the Scourge to confound and taunt them into forgetting their current opponents and following. Several distracted Scourge were brought down by rebels and that was fine with her. Liechi and her substitute took to the sky, firing off energy balls to attract attention. She truly hoped this plan worked...for everyone's sake...for Nelt's sake.
 

rotrum

Ice Cold
OOC: I was hoping you'd rpely quickly, but I didn't expect this speed o_O. And, um, this is rather short.

Kawahira The Mismagius
Dysan, Kanat


Kawahira was quite busy, trying to protect a group of injured and unconcious pokemon from the scourge tha remained, firing out magical leaf Sakuras as well as burning Will-o-Wisps to keep them back, however he did admit that it'd probably be better in the end to simply end the problem at its root. While he doubted they could truly recapture the city, if that was her goal, he'd help her. He sighed, preferring not to leave them here even if the majority of the scourge was no longer here and they were mostly coming to.

As she flew upwards, he decided to follow, however if her goal was simply to lure all of the enemy to a single point, he saw no reason why they had to fly everywhere. He took one last look at the battlefield below him as he rose to meet Liechi, telekinetically slamming one last of the Abyssal warriors into a wall.

"If all you want to do is lure them, then you simply need a big enough Lure" Kawahira said calmly, immediately planning out how to do this. If most of the enemy was made out of flying types, then they would easily...

The cloud were rearranged quickly, and his illusions were quickly at work. A massive arrow appeared above where the snipers were. On four sides of the arrow, the text "Seer Here. Come and Get me" appeared. Seers were some of the largest bait possible for the scourge, they were powerful enough that they had to be stopped, and the selfishness and powerlust of the scourge would be highly attracted to the idea of killing a Seer. To make sure they believed him, an army of Liechis appeared underneath the arrow, an illusion that wasn't made of clouds. The army of Liechis just floated there, waiting for challengers

Mismagius were actually quite good with electric techniques as well, he simply had a preference towards the elegance of blue fire and gently floating, yet deadly sharp, sakuras. He thought for a second, before adding some telekinesis to Liechi, doing nothing to move her, but rather just making her, and the boxes, weigh less.

"How does this work for luring them all to you snipers?" Kawahira said calmly, trying to direct her attention to his illusion, flying beside her at around the same speeds, his cape swelling around him. And yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized something. A seer was dead. He shook the feeling off, but it was definitely not making thier jobs any easier with one fewer in number. Refocusing on the matter at hand, he waited for Liechi's response, floating determinedly beside her.
 

strategiser24

Mewtwo is awesome!
Tariq the Archeops
Scarwell, Azmaraax, Duke's palace


“Tariq, explain to me exactly what you want to tell me on the way to the palace, I want to make sure the Duke is alright and that he has a good enough defense set up, the longer we can keep him alive, the more moral the people of the city will have, trust me on this,” Kraxel told Tariq, appearing to be angry from his recent mission.

The two of them walked towards the palace, as Tariq explained on the way. "Maybe I should've told this to you at Centraltel, but I couldn't be sure who was listening; I don't think it would've been a good idea to tell the Abyss that we know this," Tariq explained, pushing his way through the crowds, "Do you know about the Citadel in Sartaras? The same one we know is preventing the dead from reaching Utopia?...Well, how do I say this...Destroying the citadel isn't going to have the effect you think it does,"

The Duke's palace came into view, and Tariq hoped he could tell Kraxel before they get inside. "The Citadel was created to make the Infernal Barrier to block the dead from entering Utopia, and that Citadel is important to the Abyss's plans to bring the living and dead into damnation...but destroying it won't let Utopia come help us," Tariq continued, trying to not sound very grave, "Do you know the True Soul Pact? That was the divine force that prevented both the Abyss and Utopia from physically interacting with the living world in order to maintain balance, but even divine power isn't perfect; most people think that it was broken when the Abyss entered the world...but that doesn't apply to Utopia...In fact, the Abyss was likely 'invited' into the world by someone.

This may sound strange, but to most of my colleagues, this is the only explanation that makes sense," Tariq continued, as they walked up the Palace steps, "You may wonder why anyone would want the Abyss in the world if they were going to do this, but I have a thought: This may not have been the intended effect, or, they may have wanted to either ally or control the Abyss...but as far as I know, I haven't seen any visions of any allies of the Abyss. They might have been betrayed, an experiment gone wrong, or they're still out there and haven't been found yet...but how this relates to Utopia, is the fact tha the same force that stopped the Abyss from entering our world, is the same thing preventing Utopia from entering ours,"

The two reached the Palace, and the guard let them through, though only with an armed escort; it seems Tariq wasn't the only one worried about the Abyss learning everything. "I meant to tell you this earlier, when we were at the cafe, but I thought telling you too much too soon would cause you to not believe me," Tariq said inside the Palace, "The reason I wanted to head to the North is because, like I said earlier, that ancient fortress contains artifacts and, perhaps, records left behind by the ancients; I don't know exactly how to let the Abyss into our world, but I know its done by making contact with Utopia, and that...well, that hasn't been done with either the Abyss or Utopia in a while...until now...Look, all I know is this: We need certain artifacts that have unique energy or powers. One of them has to be hidden in the North!..I've got no idea where others could be hidden, but perhaps our visions, or something else, can help with that...These are my only leads right now,"

By now, they were in front of Duke Torlax Ironfist, and Kraxel couldn't help but laugh at his last name; not that Tariq couldn't either, but a prison sentence was the last thing on his mind.

Tariq, are you going to inform him too of your plans?

"The defenses are in...relative working condition, thanks to both of you, but that can't be the only thing on your mind, can it?" the Duke replied to Kraxel's earlier question.

"..Uh, no sir," Tariq interjected, "There's things that only me and Kraxel know at the moment that might add a problem to our already growing problems,"

Tariq explained to the duke everything he'd told Kraxel so far: First the Brother's ability, then the ruins in the North, and finally the problem facing Utopia. Thirty minutes must've passed before he was done explaining, by then, the Duke appeared have asleep. "So...you only tell me these things now? When I thought Divine Intervention wasn't very far, now you tell me that was only a mirage?," the Duke responded, dismayed, "...The ruins in the North you mentioned, and the artifacts you talked about vaguely...Your order, the Irfan, wouldn't they know of things of this nature? You mean to tell me you don't have any other leads?"

"Well...yes...we at least did at one point," Tariq said, disappointed, "Kivian City had stories and records of artifacts of great power, but they couldn't be used for much else other than 'religious' purposes, since they contained mostly energy that related to the powers of the Abyss and Utopia, but couldn't have their physical power used by ordinary living creatures...and I've heard of something of ancients origin that's been long buried underneath Sartaras; it could have been the Citadel, or it could be something...else...Obviously, we lost both locations when the Abyss took control of them, but the knowledge may still be intact, either way, it wouldn't benefit the Abyss to have knowledge of something they already know, so I find it highly nlikely that they would look for it even now,"

Kraxel, you say something; try to change the topic back to the siege, there's still hope.
 

Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
Jax the Lopunny
Sartaras, Victakan


There was no time to bury Diego. If anything, his corpse might serve as a warning for all those that decided to tread here, and weren't Seers like the rest of us. From what I could sense, the Abyss had a fetish for knives and stabbing weapons. There was an entire field of hidden pit traps and pressure plate-activated traps that would cut virtually any Pokémon up into ribbons in seconds.

Mel seemed content, though I could sense his mind was wandering.

"No problemo!" He grinned, still looking quite macabre from the blood that was splattered on him. "I'll make sure we aren't spotted."

He relayed his instructions to me, and I in turn the same, warning him of the pit traps and the guillotine-like traps that appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary to the naked eye. Meanwhile, I practically had to take Syrat by the hand, as he was completely blind to everything and everyone that Mel and I could see. We relayed verbal instructions to him, but as clumsy at Syrat was, twice he nearly sprung a trap that would mangle him in a variety of gruesome ways.

We walked into Sartaras, which no longer looked like a city that would have been found on a normal world. Sartaras had been damned and then transformed into a nightmare that seemed like nothing of this world. The architects of the Abyss spared no remorse for it, no compassion, and no empathy.

Sartaras was the carcass of a city, and the Abyss were the maggots fashioning an unholy hive out of the grizzly, macabre abomination it had now become. Entire buildings were ravaged by the infernal storm, and it all gave way to the new damnation the Abyss had decided to erect from the underworld. Dark citadels, black towers, and other nefarious architecture now made up the city's skyline, giving rise and message of the dead tomorrow that was to come. All the while, a distant wailing and crashing could be heard in the distance, as if some giant-sized unholy engine block was grinding the living and the screaming into pieces.

The Abyss gazed upon the dead, and in that dark moment, they saw a banquet. The feast of evil was restless, and relentlessly sowed its seeds of pestilence, leaving nothing but a damned, inane world. Prophecy stated it had to be relinquished. That there would be no other choice.

In the meantime, the game played on. I knew I was being played, at the moment, as a tool of the Magi. In his hubris, Diego tried to defy it. Tried to go against the wave rather than move with it and accept the drive for now. And as a result, he tumbled from the force and drowned in its wrath, pulled by the undertow and forgotten beneath the sea of ambiguity. He was one more piece off the board.

We were still pieces of the overall scope of the pattern. Bravery was only warranted when one knew there was a chance of overcoming the odds. Without it, that choice diminished into mere insanity. And only the Seers could picture this. And they had to be aware, like in Mel's case, along with mine. The other Seers... not even Tariq or the others that had gone with him... they were all just pieces of the overall effect which connected us in the web. The chessboard. The battlefield.

"Lord Arceus..." Syrat muttered, looking aghast at the sight of the macabre scenery before him. "I..."

"From here on in, there is no god..." I told him, knowing dying here just meant finding ourselves where this kind of travesty was commonplace.

The Cathedral to Corruption was miles away, but legions of the Abyss were still marching on through the streets. Massive amounts of Scourge, several Cohort Captains, and the occasional Fallen. All the while, I heard an echoing, muffled for the most part, but the Seer ability broke through the ambiguity to translate the message into perfect clarity.

Praise be to Zaiaku. For he is the vice that squeezes out the light of the candle, the strangler of the flame. All glory belongs only to Xov, the enigma, the dictator of existence that decides who shall serve.

The dark, dogmatic chants echoed through the fallen city, bringing fear and anxiety to Syrat, although I knew they were nothing more than words. Trying to look into Zaiaku provided me with a rather gruesome picture of evil that I found a little apprehensive to look at first from the such demonic intensity of the situation, but I soon dived in, and beheld the commander of the Fallen himself. A being that commanded the violence and hatred of every sin as if it were his own soldier to deploy for battle. Meanwhile, Xov was no friendlier than he was, being a void-created being made to swallow souls and existences entirely.

DO YOU KNOW WHO ZYDRAX IS, JAX?

I couldn't help but smile a smug grin as I heard at least some elite of the Abyss contact me mentally. Their taunting games were awfully cute. I saw the ways they tried to leverage fear... as amusing. Comical, seemingly casual attempts to drive madness into each and every soul. But yet, no matter how much the world tumbled into disarray and damnation, I was content. I had nothing to lose.

"Why yes, my fine chap. Zydrax is the name of my Fallen. I recognize the name. Why, is he waiting here to see me? Tell him I'm all out of crumpets, but I can still make tea."

And the demon laughed. It was a laughing scream of madness that would have driven the weaker-willed insane, but to me, it was a sad a rather daft attempt on his to try and leverage control and power over me.

COME TO DIE, HAVEN'T YOU? TIRED OF FIGHTING? OF LOSING?"

But he was just a part of the game too. He wasn't too far off... and neither was Zydrax. They all tried to make it that much harder. Like disaster should have been so automatic.
 

Necros

Magus of Fantasy
OOC: Apologies for how little main plot vs. side plot there is in this post, but I don't want to go rushing right up to destroying the Cathedral like we've sort of been doing with the first two Brothers of Despair.

Melanthios Malachi the Sableye
Sartaras, Victakan


Melanthios kept up his duty as sentry monitor even as they entered the dark city, most of his showiness having been pulled back. It was not out of fear as it was more out of pragmatism. Cackling and sneering boldly at the Abyss might work to intimidate them for a minute at most, but it would also serve to draw them to him, and right now he obviously did not want to give their position away. He sincerely doubted they weren’t expecting them though, particularly given the manner in which whomever was opposing his Master was playing. Melanthios wouldn’t have been surprised if they turned the next corner to find both his Fallen and that masked Raichu from before waiting for them. In fact, he was sort of hoping they would be, if for no other reason than to boost his confidence in his own ability to read his opponents. But they wouldn’t do that. That would be far too boring and simple a move to take.

As they proceeded a bit further into the twisted cityscape, moving slowly, babysitting the inexperienced Syrat a little, Melanthios also heard the prayers and chants of the Abyssal to their idols, Zaiaku and Xov. He couldn’t help but snicker a little. People like that…fanatics, cult worshipers, even ones that weren’t so obviously amassed into a side that screamed ‘we’re evil’, were just the sort that the Magi found incredibly entertaining. For one, they were usually so extremely fixed in their beliefs and worldviews that shattering them was such a sweet sensation to experience. Another thing was that they rarely relied on their own strength, using their gods or leaders or whatnot merely as an excuse to give in to sloth, even if they didn’t admit it.

Melanthios, for all his status as the chosen piece of the Magus of Reality, would ascend with his own strength and effort. All Ledumos was really doing was telling him it would work. If you wanted to be cynical about it, Ledumos wasn’t granting him anything at all. If Melanthios failed, Ledumos just had to claim it was because Melanthios had lost his resolve and wasn’t making the effort to succeed. But if you saw it from the perspective of one who possessed the single element of creation, you would know that such a guarantee, a promise that your efforts would bear fruit, was a power that could shape the very future. It was something that many Pokémon took for granted, or misunderstood. It was the reason why Ledumos took such an interest in Melanthios. Because he alone understood what he was wishing for, and he wasn’t holding back.

‘…I don’t get it. I don’t understand you. Why are you doing this?’

Melanthios wasn’t particularly surprised by the voice, save for the fact that in thought, it seemed to lose its distinctive Abyssal accent. It sounded so much more like a lost, scared little child.

‘Even if I told you, would you accept it?’ he replied. He wasn’t trying to provoke his Fallen. It was a genuine question.

‘…No. I guess I wouldn’t. I don’t understand the Magi. I don’t understand this game. And I don’t understand you most of all. But you…you understand me.’

‘That’s hardly surprising. I am you, after all.’

Melanthios felt a wave of pain and frustration emanate from the other.

‘But then why can’t I understand you?! I’m you! You’re me! We should be…closer than anyone else…’

Melanthios sighed a bit. There wasn’t an easy answer to give him. Instead of words, he thought of an image. A story, almost, told through picture and feeling. The kind of thing he was sure his Fallen would at least be able to grasp in some way.

He thought of a single, solitary stream, flowing gently down the slope of a mountain. As his gaze travelled down the length of it, another stream wound its way alongside it and then eventually joined it. And then a third. And a fourth. Each stream coming together until they all became one large river. And that river continued, moving around trees and boulders, even cutting through civilizations, through different climates, until it finally reached its mouth, pouring itself into the sea. And as the view widened, he could see another river, and another river besides that feeding into the same sea. And the sea widened and stretched, becoming an ocean, until it was so vast and large that it ceased to resemble a body of water at all. Just an infinite blue expanse. Ever present. Ever growing.

‘…I don’t get it. Are you trying to make me have to go to the bathroom?’

Melanthios snorted and had to stifle a laugh. He couldn’t help it. His Fallen was so lovably naïve at times.

‘No, not at all. It is my answer to you. Think about it for a bit. If you can understand it, then maybe you’ll understand everything. My motivation. What it means to be a Magus. Our relationship.’

The other was silent for a long time. Melanthios let him think in peace. His Fallen may have only been a crystallization of all his sins across the countless worlds, but he had only inherited the how. Not the why. He was a child born with the burden of a lifetime of endless sin. He had done nothing himself. Any crimes he committed on this game board were the sole responsibility of Melanthios alone. It was for this reason that Melanthios gave him a chance, tried to help him. Because he knew more than anyone what it was like to be born in that position.

‘They never named me. All the other Fallen…they have names. But I was never given one.’

‘I know.’

‘I…I’m not sure…if I want one. Will that…change things?’

‘Probably. But not on the game board.’

‘Then why…why wasn’t I…why didn’t they give me…’

‘To motivate you. To make you feel as if to be complete, you’d need to destroy and absorb me.’

There was another long silence. Melanthios glanced at Syrat and Jax, noting that the latter seemed to also be having a conversation with someone. Poor Syrat might have felt left out if he wasn’t so overwhelmed by the surroundings of Sartaras to notice.

‘…we aren’t complete, are we?’

‘No.’

‘Will becoming one of them…make you complete?’

‘…No. Not at first. But as I gain strength…yes. It will.’

‘What about me? If I get a name…will that make me like you? Will I be able to live…?’

‘It’s…a start.’

Melanthios frowned a bit. Had his Master…or his opponent…really overlooked this? He wouldn’t be that surprised, since he doubted either of them really cared much for the ‘heart’ even if they did understand it, but even so…this was something that could potentially break the game if not handled properly.

‘Give me a name. I want to live. I don’t want to die. Please…Melanthios. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I’m scared…please…I don’t want to die.’

Melanthios gritted his teeth together slightly. The muscles around his eyes tensed up from the effort of holding his emotion back. They probably hadn’t overlooked it after all. They probably kept it in there purposefully. Just to keep things interesting. To torment him some more. This was just some sick way to get at him whether he won or lost.

With the knowledge that he would probably regret it later, Melanthios nodded.

‘Alright. I’ll name you. From now on…you will be known as Simon.’

There was some sort of reaction from the other at the name. Melanthios couldn’t quite read it. Probably because it was a mixture of emotions the Fallen couldn’t understand himself.

‘Your name is Simon. On this game board, you are my Fallen, my heart. But you exist beyond that. You are a young, innocent Pokémon. Just a normal kid…who wants a family. Is that alright?’

Simon didn’t respond. Melanthios could feel something incomprehensible welling up inside the smaller Sableye’s body. It might have been sadness. It might have been relief.

‘I can’t guarantee you will live. Only a Magus can do that. But I promise…when this is all over…I will look for you, Simon. And in whatever form I find you in…or myself…I will do everything I can to make sure you can live as Simon.’

He waited to hear from the other as he crouched behind a twisted, black, wrought metal pillar with the other two, still keeping an eye and a portion of his mind out for any Abyssal sentries, soldiers, or even civilians at this point.

Finally, as the three members of the living began to weave their way forward once more, Simon replied.

‘Thank you…Melanthios.’

The Sableye smiled.

‘Thank you for being born...Simon.’

***

“I don’t know how you stomach this stuff sometimes, Ledu~” said Necros, shifting a bit in his seat uncomfortably.

“It’s just my taste, Nec~” the Breloom smiled, winking at him. “Plus it does put such a lovely pained expression on your face~”

The Raichu hurriedly composed himself. Ledumos giggled in a slightly malicious manner.

“Sooo~? Are you gonna do it soon? Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve got planned for him, Nec~. All the makings for it are in place. Especially when you throw her back in.”

Necros smirked.

“I’m sure I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Ledu~. My only objective in this game is to see that Melanthios doesn’t ascend. Are you accusing me of having an ulterior motive?”

Ledumos just grinned at him. Necros watched with an emotion he rarely ever showed…respect. His beloved really had come a long way since they had last played against one another. It was incredible…he really did care about him that much.

He’d have to thank him specially once it was all over.
 
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Flash Sport

Whatcha gotta say?
OOC: Yeah...I try to respond faster when another poster is involved. ^_^

Liechi the Whimsicott
Dysan, Kanat


Normally, Liechi would have laughed at the display the mismagius had manifested. Anyone in their right mind would have sniffed a trap or disregarded that thing as some sort of mockery. Then again, the majority of the Scourge didn’t have a mind to begin with. From what she could tell, the majority, if not all, ran off the instincts for combat and blood. Part of her somewhat doubted something like that would work because of its sheer obviousness. The other part of her was rather indifferent towards it and didn’t care about how kooky the action was, just as long as it worked. Would the Scourges really be that gullible? She wasn’t too sure, but there was only one way to find out. As a safety measure, she sent in several of her clones that continued to confound the airborne enemies and spiral them in towards the arrow.

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” she said in uncertainty to the mismagius as she watched the Scourge chase after her clones, rushing towards their end like moths to a flame. Reaching out mentally, she located Gaius again. He had moved to a different position and was still in battle, but the number of Scourges that were around him had noticeably thinned.

“Gaius,” she called, choosing to alert him to her presence first.

“Was that your big idea?” came the incredulous reply. She knew he was referring to the arrow.

“That wasn’t apart of my original idea, but more on that later,” she told him and in spite of herself, sent a bit of laughter through the connection. “Get ready to fire off the signal!”

“This had better work Seer.” It sounded somewhat like a threat, but there weren’t many options left to them now. If they didn’t manage to bring down this last horde then that would be the end of it for all of them. Before she had even arrived at Dysan, she guessed they were an all-or-nothing sort of group. When they came to the surface this time around, there was only one goal in mind: to win by any means necessary. That was why they were so ready to blow all the power stations instead of just the large one.

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Liechi muttered aloud as the Scourge flocked tighter towards and around the sign. It was now or never. “Alright Gaius! Now!” Barely seconds afterwards did a large ball of orange energy surge into the sky and break off into many smaller orbs. Electricity then shot from varying areas around the city, slicing through the air towards the massive flock. The Scourges began dropping like flies and were in a frenzy as they attempted to escape. Before they got too far, however, a massive—most likely combined—thunder exited the clouds. Liechi had never seen a bolt of that size. Even at her distance, she could feel her fur and mane begin to prick from the electricity. She shielded her eyes against the blinding light as the horde disappeared within the massive column of lightning. Being that it was lightning, it lasted only a few seconds before it was repeatedly followed by successive combined thunders.

“Gaius, are those really just the snipers?” Liechi asked. She didn’t think there were that many Pokémon in his group that had excellent marksmanship let alone possessed that kind of power.

“It’s not just the snipers. I had the backups join in as well and anyone else who still had energy to spare. We can’t take any chances.”

“You’re very thorough aren’t you?” Liechi felt the pride he exuded. “Aren’t you glad you doc reworked the plan?” The pride deflated and annoyance took its place. That was one relationship that needed time to be worked on. Finally, the lightning stopped and what remained of the Scourge fell to the ground like charred insects. She waited, expecting to see one or more break away from the horde, but none did. Liechi patted her chest in relief before turning to the mismagius with a small smile on her face, which disappeared when her eyes landed on a honchkrow approaching him from behind.

“Look-” That was all she managed to get out she before being blindsided by a fearow. Her substitute was swift enough to intercept the hit, but the attack sent her reeling while the boxes made her plummet towards the earth. The use of agility allowed the bird to circle fast and close in quickly for another strike. She watched as he turned with deadly swiftness. His beak was glossy with blood and his face boasted a mask of dark feathers saturated by the same liquid. She wondered how many Pokémon he killed. What if one was her brother?

Liechi managed to right herself and flipped behind one of the boxes as the bird’s long beak penetrated the item, scraping her shoulder when it came through the other side. The box was strong enough not to shatter from impact, thus getting lodged on the fearow’s beak. He flapped his enormous wings as he whirled around, trying to get rid of the item. A jerk of his head made Liechi lose her grip on the contraption. She intended to drop away in order to put space between them, but had forgotten about the strap and was snatched along. Liechi fumbled with the latch, trying to undo it, but the continuous jerks made it difficult to grasp properly. The fearow dove towards the ground, speeding by the way of his agility before spreading his wings to abruptly slow himself. The momentum threw Liechi forward and caused the box to finally slide from his bloody beak.

She activated the tailwind, dodging his drill peck and countering with an energy ball to momentarily distract him. Liechi followed up with a cloud of cotton spore after realizing she had taxed her stun spore. Her energy reserves were critically low and fatigue had stubbornly begun to set in. She had one attack remaining and hopefully it would be enough. Hovering above the cloud of cotton, Liechi pooled her energy together until her mane glowed white. By this time the fearow had torn through the cotton cloud. Spores only briefly clung to him, most of it getting blown away by his use of agility.

“Please…let this be it! Let this fight be over!” With a yell, Liechi twirled and unleashed the energy. The light disappeared, transforming into a powerful gale that barreled into the fearow who flapped mightily against the wind. For a moment, Liechi thought he would breakthrough, but his wings gave out and the hurricane hurtled him towards the ground. A small dust cloud sprouted, signifying impact. Completely out of energy, Liechi drifted towards the city below before dropping onto a rooftop. She lied on her back, trying to catch her breath.

“Hey, are you alright?” Liechi telepathically questioned the mismagius who probably still somewhere above her. She hoped that honchkrow didn’t best him, but then again, he was holding a horde of Scourge at bay while she and some of the other rebels were out. Certainly he should be able to handle one one one...or so she hoped.
 

Tasslehoff

ExplicitEclipse
Kraxel the Bisharp
Scarwell, Azmarax


(Back outside on the way to the palace.)

"Maybe I should've told this to you at Centraltel, but I couldn't be sure who was listening; I don't think it would've been a good idea to tell the Abyss that we know this," Tariq explained, pushing his way through the crowds, "Do you know about the Citadel in Sartaras? The same one we know is preventing the dead from reaching Utopia?...Well, how do I say this...Destroying the citadel isn't going to have the effect you think it does. The Citadel was created to make the Infernal Barrier to block the dead from entering Utopia, and that Citadel is important to the Abyss's plans to bring the living and dead into damnation...but destroying it won't let Utopia come help us," Tariq continued, trying to not sound very grave, "Do you know the True Soul Pact? That was the divine force that prevented both the Abyss and Utopia from physically interacting with the living world in order to maintain balance, but even divine power isn't perfect; most people think that it was broken when the Abyss entered the world...but that doesn't apply to Utopia...In fact, the Abyss was likely 'invited' into the world by someone; may sound strange, but to most of my colleagues, this is the only explanation that makes sense," Tariq continued, as they walked up the Palace steps, "You may wonder why anyone would want the Abyss in the world if they were going to do this, but I have a thought: This may not have been the intended effect, or, they may have wanted to either ally or control the Abyss...but as far as I know, I haven't seen any visions of any allies of the Abyss. They might have been betrayed, an experiment gone wrong, or they're still out there and haven't been found yet...but how this relates to Utopia, is the fact that the same force that stopped the Abyss from entering our world, is the same thing preventing Utopia from entering ours, I meant to tell you this earlier, when we were at the cafe, but I thought telling you too much too soon would cause you to not believe me," Tariq said inside the Palace. The reason I wanted to head to the North is because, like I said earlier, that ancient fortress contains artifacts and, perhaps, records left behind by the ancients; I don't know exactly how to let the Abyss into our world, but I know its done by making contact with Utopia, and that...well, that hasn't been done with either the Abyss or Utopia in a while...until now...Look, all I know is this: We need certain artifacts that have unique energy or powers. One of them has to be hidden in the North!..I've got no idea where others could be hidden, but perhaps our visions, or something else, can help with that...These are my only leads right now,"

“I will go with you Tariq, after this battle is over and all the lose ends are tied up, once Minacen is retaken, we will hand the invasion of Azmarax to the natives, I am not going to let the whole continent to the hands of the Abyss, one battle means nothing, if we can take back Minacen, perhaps leverage of this war on Azmarax will change, besides, Zix told all the seers a few days ago that the Parchments of Fate is now in the rubble of Minacen, and from what I know, Jax and Mel are at Sartaras, they will probably want the Parchments ASAP.”

(Now in the throne room)


Kraxel, you say something; try to change the topic back to the siege, there's still hope.

“Lord Torlax, as you have already stated, the defenses are in check, we have built a stand able defense for the oncoming Abyss army, and with the help of the Peacekeepers, now already done with their part of the defense, we are set, casualties will be high, but we should still have enough ‘mons to reclaim Minacen. I and perhaps Tariq, will help in the fight for Minacen… a certain object involving the fate of this war lies in the rubble, and Tariq and I need it.” I stated.

“Kraxel, I am hoping you are right about these defenses, we haven’t had enough time to build a sufficient escape route, we must make our stand here; as for retaking Minacen, we will need to retake it soon after this battle, mind you if we win not just survive, so that the Abyss does not have enough to call for reinforcements.”

“Of course Lor—.”

“Stand hut!” Peacekeeper soldiers shouted as the leader, General Bones came walking into the room with an armed escort of his own.

“Greetings Lord Torlax, a pleasure to see you again, the Peacekeepers are well set up, I will be leading the battle in the outer gates and I will make sure the Abyss does not take this city like it did my own!” Bones said.

“Tariq, weren’t we here first? How… rude, of a general of who cares who to come in and ruin a war meeting.”

“Good Bones, thank you, you are dismissed, as long with you seers, I suspect you go to the outer gates to serve your parts in this battle.”

“Of course, lord,” I hissed with a corrupt tone, “Come on Tariq, let’s go.”

We walked out of the palace doors and started to head down the steps when the city bell was being rung.

“Well Tariq, we should run to the gates so that we can see some action,” I laughed and slapping him on the back in a playful manner.

Not wondering if he had got the same idea, I ran as fast as I could to the other end of the city. Nearing the gates, about to charge out, I was greeted by an explosion that blasted me into a near by building. Not enough to knock me unconscious, I stood back up and gazed through the gaping whole in the wall and watched as the Abyssal flying units get gunned down by our ships AA turrets. Climbing to the top of the wall, I looked out into the desert and stood in awe at the black army marching into the valley of where Scarwel
 

R.I. Saraibre

Draconis Deviantus
Seng the Grovyle
Esteran Rainforest, Synamax


Using the veil of the mist to mask my presence, I sat, meditating, speaking with the trees, asking for their pardon of what I may have to do, to prevent genocide of natural beauty. As I did, another voice came into my mind, one of a lighter spirit, one I could tell was not one for such war.

‘I have received your call for help, but I am unable to help. I must help defend Sylath from a pincer attack from Kivian City and post-Oasis. I can not lend support as it is probably by the hands of Delath that I must defend Sylath. I am sorry that I am unable to help you, but I fear that my fallen is coming for me through the assault from Kivian City. I, however, give you my blessing towards victory, as small of a comfort that is…’

I focused on the mind, returning the response I had received.

‘I thank you for your blessing, and pray your battle and endeavor go well. Swift say the winds and sing may the trees.’

‘This is Zix again. The refugees from Minacen have arrived safely at Scarwell. Though we expect an assault on Scarwell, the blood from this Prophet holds the key to our dwindling victory. I am right now over the sea separating the two land masses, but will continue on foot once we arrive on the other side of the desert. We can coordinate our attack then. Your call will not go unanswered.’

‘I thank you for your reply. I will hide in the rainforest, stalling the toxic plague as much as I can without revealing myself or my presence. When you near the edge, please contact me, and I will find you. I pray your travels bode well.’


I returned to a conscious state after that, my cane in hand, staring down the thickly fogged towers that were the trees of the Esteran Rainforest. I jumped from branch to branch, somewhat familiar with the forest. I remember a sister clan living here, but where, I was never sure. The clan never stopped moving, but what I learned from them most, was how to use the willpower of nature to allow them to fight back. I moved forward, using my skills and the nature as an advantage against the Abyss, hoping to find them and start my plans for stalling. As I continued onward in the dark, I felt this pulling sensation, something…calling me to stop.

I passed under a large, hanging bough, only to find myself staring into the eyes of something from my vision. I immediately felt myself frozen, unable to move, and I knew very well why. A dark, violet and reddish eyed version…of no one other than myself. We stood, staring at each other, unmoving for awhile. I had no idea what my Fallen was doing here, but only until she reached into my mind did I feel any change.

‘Kimoa…my mirror in the light…’

‘Aomik…my mirror in the dark…’

‘To mortify the parchment is to mortify your own fate…’


‘…as yours does then.’

‘Correct…’ Her voice was soft, hollow, as if she had no energy to spare for even words.

I questioned her motives, knowing there was always something behind those kind of eyes. ‘Why then…’

‘Forseen the parchment has told me…tainted wings may you have.’

For a moment, I was confused, trying to prevent myself for letting fear get the best of me. I dared not blink either, but after staring at Aomik for what seemed like eternity and a mere moment, she was gone, vanished from my sight, and her paralyzing grip, gone from my gaze. I looked back, wondering what her purpose of telling me this was, or how she found me so quickly. I thought on the words she had spoke, wondering about what tainted wings meant. I couldn’t think of it for very long, I had a mission to do.

For some reason, I knew Aomik left me to my devices, without warning the Abyss…betrayal I knew was no sin of mine, however, there must have been something else I was blind to. I sent out one final message to all Seer's.

'Beware, my Fallen guards the Parchment of Fates.'
 

Slipomatic

Eon Collector
OOC: I may have goofed up with Oasis. I don't remember if oasis really fell or not so a small clarification would be nice. And yeah, my battle writing sort of sucks...

Horizon the Victini
Sylath, Synamax


Horizon felt extremely nervous standing at the port side with other pokemon. He hadn’t battled at all during his whole time spent in Sylath or anywhere else for that matter. He felt his legs shake slightly as he felt very apprehensive with the forces that would be coming very soon. He needed to be brave, for if Sylath fell, they would gain easy access to the surrounding areas of Synamax and they all would be doomed. He sighed as he wished that the army of Utopia would come with reinforcements, but thanks to his knowledge as an indigo seer, it wouldn’t happen until the cathedral of corruption was destroyed.

A loud call from exploud from the west gates alerted everyone on the northeastern side of Sylath that the abyss army from the direction of Oasis was engaged in battle with their forces. That meant that the forces from Kivian City would be arriving shortly. He was about to focus out towards the sea when the same voice that had requested for help in the rainforest came through that annoying channel.

‘I thank you for your blessing, and pray your battle and endeavor go well. Swift say the winds and sing may the trees.’

He nodded in reply although it did get him some odd looks from pokemon nearby. That reminded him of his ability, victory star. He really didn’t know how to work it, but he was told that it helped pokemon he wished to help with their power. He sighed slightly and laid his hands on a pokemon near him. It looked at him funny as Horizon closed his eyes, trying to focus on wishing the pokemon he was holding onto to victory. He felt a small amount of energy leave him and flow to his hands into the pokemon he was holding onto. When he opened his eyes, he saw a very determined pokemon staring back at him. He quietly asked what he was doing and Horizon blushed a bit, being embarrassed for doing what he did. Horizon quietly responded that he was spreading his blessing to other pokemon so that they stood a better chance. Horizon quickly went to other pokemon and repeated the motions until a war horn sounded from the warships. The abyss army was upon their ambush forces on the small islands just outside the port. One island caught his attention which was the closest one to them. It was on fire, all of it. Several pokemon were rushing towards it and he had a sinking feeling that was the one that his fallen was on and decided to go there. But there was water between him and the island, but oddly, something inside him wasn’t worried about this at all as he felt something flow through him and he slowly levitated off the ground.

It took him several moments before he realized it was just using the psychic powers to create levitation and he quickly sped off, using psychic forces to push him towards the burning island. He was quaking inside, but he had to be brave for if his fallen reached the city, he would easily wipe out the defenses in the city, leaving it completely defenseless. As he neared the burning island, several pokemon in the sea were trying to put out the fire in case it spread towards the main land or other islands. He saw one figure on the burnt island and it was indeed his fallen. His fallen grinned maniacally as he saw Horizon coming straight at him. He clasped his hands together and fired a shadow ball at Horizon who dodged it barely.

Horizon felt extremely scared as he saw his fallen grinning at him. It was almost like a complete opposite of him, which in this case, probably was true. He lacked the confidence to beat him, but all he vowed to do was simply keep his fallen occupied until the main abyss forces had retreated. He felt a surge of power go through him as he felt something form in front of his hands and he threw it, feeling a bit weary from using it. He watched in dismay as his fallen deflected it by throwing a dark orb at it which caused it to explode, obscuring his vision of his opponent. Horizon stayed in place, trying to find his opponent only to feel something hit him hard on his back from behind. He let out a scream of pain as he fell onto the beach. He felt like his back was broken. He slowly rolled onto his back, which sent a flare of pain through his body and he came face to face with his fallen who was frowning down at him. Those eyes sent a shiver through his entire body. His fallen shook his head and his frown turned into a grin and he said, “You’re such a disappointment for a legendary pokemon. Killing you wouldn’t make me any stronger as you’re such a weakling. However, I feel like torturing you a bit before leaving you.”

The last statement sent waves of dread through Horizon and before he could plead, he felt pain erupt from his foot. He looked down to see blood dripping from his leg and screamed in massive pain as it throbbed extremely painfully. His body shook with pain as his fallen beat him up until Horizon had passed out from the pain. His fallen frowned a bit as Horizon had fainted on him. But he wasn’t too bothered about it and left Horizon to wreak havoc on another island. He felt sure that Horizon would die from loss of blood so he wasn’t worried about it. He left the island, not seeing a pink blur rushing towards Horizon as he was looking for something to get his fun out of.
 

strategiser24

Mewtwo is awesome!
Tariq the Archeops
Scarwell, Azmarax, Under Siege


Tariq, weren’t we here first? How… rude, of a general of who cares who to come in and ruin a war meeting,
Kraxel said to Tariq.

Being rude is the least of their concerns while Azmarax is in the balance: Just go along with them,
Tariq replied.

“Good Bones, thank you, you are dismissed, as long with you seers, I suspect you go to the outer gates to serve your parts in this battle.” The Duke said.

“Of course, lord,” Kraxel hissed, “Come on Tariq, let’s go.”

Tariq and Kraxel walked out of Palace and down the steps, hearing the city's bell being rung: The battle was actually about to happen.

“Well Tariq, we should run to the gates so that we can see some action,” Kraxel said, slapping Tariq in the back.

Kraxel took off running without warning, and Tariq chased after him after a few seconds. By now, the Abyss's air soldiers were dropping attacks onto the city, hopefully, the ships in the harbor would make short work of them. However, one attack came close to them and caused an explosion in a nearby building, sending Kraxel flying into a neabry wall, and sending dust into Tariq's eyes, irritating them. By the time he'd cleared his eyes, Kraxel was well ahead of him and already at the gate; Tariq ran to an adjacent wall to see what Kraxel was staring at: the Abyss horde that had been sent to take Scarwell.

Hiding his sudden fear, Tariq shouted for the artillery and mounted weapons to start firing; the artillery shells exploded on the ground, sending Abyss soldiers in several directions, but there was still enough to fill the hole they'd made in the approaching army. "Don't let them over the walls!" Tariq shouted over the growing noise, "Pull the trigger and don't let go!"

Some of the soldiers, that were fast, made it to and over the wall, before the others, and clawed, grabbed, and slammed anyone too close to the wall's edge. "Its got me!" a nearby soldier shouted as he was pulled over the walls.

Despite troops being killed on the walls, the battle continued as other troops moved to take their comrade's place. Bodies began piling up around the walls as both ground and air soldiers were shot down; both sides were taking heavy hits, but the Abyss's morale didn't seem to shrink as the Defense's was slowly. Grabbing rocks from a pile behind the wall, Tariq used his strength and abilities to throw them over the edge of the walls and crush anyone climbing them, or anyone in its path below. However, not everyone was working at the pace Tariq was able to work at, and so the idea hadn't worked out as intended, so there were still soldiers making it over the walls, since the Machine Guns couldn't fire straight down.

Kraxel, if you've got any ideas, now's the time! We can't keep losing soldiers at the same rate of the Abyss!

____________________________________________________________

The corrupted Archeops was busy communicating with the commander of the siege of Scarwell, giving advice and help when possible. "The Living may have the higher ground, but you should know by now that our troops won't run in the face of mere guns...You worry too much: Make your next move when you're ready, you're smart enough to know when,"

"Sir!" a soldier shouted, breaking his concentration, "The commander is concerned about the Citadel's defenses with Seers rumored to be nearby; he's recommending that we put mor-"

"No," the Archeops replied, ignoring the request he knew was going to be asked, "Those assigned to the excavation inside the walls are to remain working, do you understand?"

"With all due respect sir," the messenger Flygon asked, "What is it we're digging for that is so important, that almost half of the men here are working to find?"

"That is not anything that even they need to...." the corrupted Archeops began, pausing to let out a sigh, "...Tell the commander...to reassign the weak ones...if the Citadel falls, I fear that the Seers may sense the energy of the relic underground...The Citadel, I believe, is the only thing blocking it,"

"What are you-...but why-..." the messenger began twice, stopping as he noticed that the Archeops was becoming increasingly irritated, "I'll...make sure the orders are received,"

The Flygon hurried out the door, leaving the Fallen by himself once again. Even if they don't know the Urn is here, they're bound to ask questions if they see someone digging under Sartaras, inside the Citadel's walls, the Archeops said to himself.
 

Tasslehoff

ExplicitEclipse
Kraxel the Bisharp
Scarwell, Azmarax, under siege


(This post will start with Zoroki, he is still an NPC, I am just helping people see whats going on both sides of the battlefield for Kraxel dips into Zoroki’s consciousness and Zoroki is also talking to the fallen Archeops.)

Zoroki, Kraxel’s fallen

"The Living may have the higher ground, but you should know by now that our troops won't run in the face of mere guns...You worry too much: Make your next move when you're ready, you're smart enough to know when," the Archeops relayed to me.

“I am aware, but thank you,” I replied

“Haha hello Kraxel, we are near, you do not know me, but I know you, all to well.”

“General! Send in flying units, destroy the forces on the walls, and mobilize more infantry, we have enough mon here, and if not, more are willing to appear here.”

Kraxel the Bisharp

“Haha hello Kraxel, we are near, you do not know me, but I know you, all to well.”

A wave of fear that I have never known in life fell over me, but being the stone cold killer I was, with years of practice and experience of building an iron will, I replied, “Who is this? What is this?”

“You and I Kraxel, we are one and the same. You just have not joined the winning side of this war, you will be on this side sooooon!”

“Well then Abyss soldier, come and get me!”

Kraxel, if you've got any ideas, now's the time! We can't keep losing soldiers at the same rate of the Abyss!


Recommend listening to this


Tariq’s voice now filling up my head, I snapped back into reality and focused on the battle again.

“Everyone, drop the explosive barrels on their heads, send them back to Hell! Machine gunners, aim as far down as you can, kill as many as possible, snipers, aim for the head, and make every shot count!”

“Kraxel! More fliers coming in hot!”

“Dodge their paths, the battleships will make short work of them! If we can hold back the ground units we will be fine!”

“Kraxel this is Commander Zarjax, I am speaking telepathically, Abyss soldiers are on the ships on the southern bay!”

“What?!”

Turning towards the south, I enhanced my vision with my inert abilities, on the ships in the south; the ships were being overrun with Abyss soldiers materializing onto the deck tops. Gunfire, weapons, and Pokemon attacks were thrown at the Abyss in a feeble attempt of killing them, the navy men never had a chance, there were too many against them. Abyss soldiers appearing to be on steroids then started to pulverize their way across the decks, killing everything in their way, Abyss and Pokemon alike, were crushed underneath them.

“See Kraxel, look for what I can do to your… defenses… they are nothing!”

“WE WILL WIN YOU ABYSS DOG!”

Tariq! Take a flying battalion with explosive barrels, fly over the Abyss army, and drop the barrels on their heads, don’t die.

Picking up a sniper, I looked through the scopes and started to shoot down Abyss soldiers, also looking for some kind of general’s tent, I was intent on searching for the leader of this attack. Only a few hundred more yards though and the Abyss would start to run into the various traps that were laid in preparations: pit fall traps, razor traps, and others various ways to help us kill them, if the Abyss leaders hadn’t already seen these designs.

“Arceus damn them, how many flying battalions do they have?!” a nearby soldier shouted.

“Wha… ?” I couldn’t finish that thought; at least 10 Abyssal Skarmories strapped with strange explosives were on a kamikaze run into the wall. “Everyone! Off the wall ASAP!”

Running as fast as I could, I sprinted across the wall walkways to the nearest staircase, coming to the last landing, a deafening ringing sound fill my head, disabling me from even thinking, the world went into slow motion and I watched the whole center of the wall blow up, me within the blast radius, and I was thrown to the ground. Before I blacked out I felt part of me buried in rubble.
 

Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
OOC: Yeah, no problem, I understand that. And finally, breaking out of the laziness...

Jax the Lopunny
Sartaras, Victakan


Sartaras was a literal hellhole. The traps were behind us, but there were still sentries... all over the place in a countless number of ungodly locations. In the general scope of things, all living Pokémon had evacuated and abandoned this place long ago. The only ones left were the dead. Or at least, the ones that should have been dead.

Zydrax was close by, I could feel it. Typically, the whole issue shouldn't have bothered me, but something about it did. I smirked, but I felt like I was kidding myself. Trying to believe my own lie. There was something unsettling about it, and every time I tried to shake it off with a smug grin in hopes to boost my confidence, it was there again, and I didn't feel as confident as I normally did. It was like he knew exactly how to make me weak. Make my hands shake, and suddenly feel tense. Damn it, I was never like this, and I didn't want to fall into the trap now.

Mel... he seemed distant. Instead of focusing on Zydrax, I focused on him, thinking of something else... and I discerned he was communicating with his own Fallen, only it wasn't a discussion of resentment or rivalry.

"W... what's with you g-guys...!?" Syrat suddenly exclaimed, looking very fidgety. "Jax... wake up, man. Mel looks like he's in La-La Land and you're looking like you've seen ghosts! Don't leave me hanging like this! Not here, for pete's sake!"

I figured it would take someone like Syrat to disrupt my way of thinking and break my concentration. Naturally, I would have scolded him for it, but truthfully, it did come at a moment I did appreciate it.

"It's nothing..." I lied, knowing it was something, but me admitting it would have been a stab to my pride, and to Syrat, a genuine reason to panic. I needed neither right now.

Trying to get closer to the Cathedral to Corruption was becoming nearly impossible. Not without a fight, anyway. Besides, I was growing tired of the sneaking around. I could only take so much of it before I felt the need to fight something.

"We're going to need to fight once we attempt to cross the street," I told Syrat. "Chances are good we'll run into Zydrax sooner or later."

"Z... Zydrax?" Syrat asked, looking bewildered yet again. "Who's he?"

"My Fallen," I told him, shrugging and trying to assure the squirrel it was no big deal. "Forget about him for now and just run. As for the Scourge and the Cohorts, we don't need to plunge into the necessity of feeling we should try to kill every one of them. Strike only the ones we need to. Only the ones that try and stand in our way."

It was hard to remain confident. Killing Xac and fighting DX, those were the usual fare of fighting. But fighting Zydrax, it was something I just didn't want to do, or admit I couldn't do it. For a minute, I understood what Mel felt. It was the kind of urge that told me I would rather have someone else kill that Fallen, or just forget they existed completely. But as DX proved, Fallen were extremely hard to kill, and were impossible for their mirror to even confront. And here Zydrax was, simply taunting, sneering, and laughing in my mind.

But he was the typical evil. To fight him... I needed to act... so unlike my typical self. It was not an easy task, but it was possible. But I couldn't fight him, or at least even come close to inflicting the deathblow. Mel or... by some miracle, Syrat would need to attempt that. If it was opportune. If there was even a chance, and we weren't going up against ridiculous odds.

On second thought, there was an alternate path we could take. But as soon as I attempted to act on it, I heard a noise. A loud, horrific grinding noise, and I realized it must have been something very large and heavy. I tried to focus on my Seer powers, but there was a void. A blank slate where the sound should have been coming from. It had such a dark sense of soullessness that I found it difficult to picture, and I knew at that moment, to behold what that thing was... I was going to have to look at it with my own eyes.

Turning around from the wall we were hiding up against, I took a peek around the corner, and beheld what looked like a massive, metallic wagon, or some infernal tank of the Abyss. I was almost surprised the Abyss forged machines of war, but then again, the question of "why not" seemed quite logical and apparent at that moment. The machine was at least two stories high, made of corrupt, black metal with thorns and sickle blades surrounding it, all blood-splattered. Meanwhile, a massive, burning cannon was out in front, with two smaller cannons mounted on its sides. All the while, bone-crushing treads carried the massive metallic abomination along, moving on its way for more souls to incinerate.

DOOMBRINGER

"It's a piece of junk, Zydrax. One good pit trap and the thing is helpless like a Jigglypuff with its feet ripped off."

THAT SO? PROVE IT THEN, JAX. PROVE TO ME A COMMON RABBIT CAN OUTSMART AND OUTPERFORM A DOOMBRINGER TANK. BECAUSE YOU'RE EITHER STUPID, OR MISTAKEN.

I couldn't help but laugh. Zydrax was definitely my polar opposite. He was immature, probably surrounded himself with safeties and relied on others to support him. Definitely not independent like I was.

But could I really take out that metallic monstrosity? Without a doubt, I was in no place to tear a pit trap into the ground, even if the tarmac streets were ripped apart. I had only a mere few throwing knives, so what could I use to overcome that machine?

Either way, it was blocking one of the only few ways we had to move forward. Trying to find an alternate route would cause us to have to backtrack for quite a while, and knowing Zydrax, he would just direct the Doombringer Tank to follow us. He was like Mel's Fallen, seemingly always aware of where we were, and he was in a position of command here. That meant whatever we knew, he would know, and he knew exactly where to find us... especially me.

In the meantime, a squad of two Cohorts and three Scourge were already on their way here. I readied one of my knives, although I had the feeling that was mostly sent out as a joke. Five expendables that Zydrax could sacrifice as an assessment of our fighting skills, and likely what he would need to counter when it came to fighting the Doombringer Tank. I could sense that. But it begged the question... should we have fought differently because of it...?

Or would there be no difference anyway?
 
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