Ambyssin
Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 97: Fiery Vortex
I want to leave a record of this somewhere. Yes, POV-2020 is under quarantine, and no one's supposed to be interacting with it. But every time I pass it by I sense something distinctly off. I've probed that universe as best as I could without disturbing the seal. And I continue to find a specific blighted soul. A shadow pokémon, if I had to guess. Their heart is closed off so tightly.
Well, I finally made a bit of progress last time. The soul responded. He's a silvally, but a helmet was forced onto him. I think the person that shadowed him is responsible. His memories are... a bit jumbled. I'm not really sure what to do.
But the strange thing... something about him was familiar. It was the same... irritation of my light Bahamut gave me before he attacked me.
XxX
Demerzel's message came through Shimmer's gemcom. The ponytales cursed his luck. After going out of his way to bug Gene and get a bunch of pirates to agree to cause problems in Herbrides to make his mother look bad, now was when Demerzel decided to call out for him? He hadn't heard anything from Demerzel since Tulpise.
But Shimmer knew that Demerzel also had an interest in getting rid of the parasite that was, apparently, Queen Isola. Even if his interest lay in the Red Chain fragment that everyone was confident Isola had. It was partly why Demerzel was trying to use Shimmer.
... Well, that and the fact that Paradox was apparently holding some partner of his as a captive and blackmailing him into working against Isola. Though Shimmer imagined the Red Chain fragment was a far stronger motivator. Since, presumably, he could rescue his partner with it.
Still, if Demerzel was calling, then perhaps that meant he knew Shimmer's mother was up to something. And Shimmer couldn't bear not knowing what that was. So, he snuck out of the mall and slinked off to the outskirts of Herbrides, where he waited for the calyrex to appear. And waited. And waited.
Even when some sort of invisible enemy appeared within Herbrides' skies and began blasting some of the buildings and spawning pokémon, Shimmer stayed put. The pirates hadn't mentioned cloaking technology, which made him nervous. But as much as Shimmer wanted to run back into the city, he didn't want Demerzel getting involved in any of this. Shimmer had to trust what the resistance was doing. And hope they didn't hold this against him.
Demerzel eventually showed up to teleport Shimmer to the same warehouse where he'd activated the genesect several weeks ago. They were even lined up in neat rows like before.
There were fewer genesect than last time, with many scrapped fighting against the empire. And Arianna was walking through them, eyes glowing blue. Was she doing some psychic scan on them? Did that stuff even matter when they were machines?
"You've certainly been busy." Demerzel sat atop a metal railing. He crossed one long leg over another. If that was meant to be an accusation, Demerzel kept his tone worryingly soft. "I've been trying to reach you since last night."
"Sorry." Shimmer pawed at the metal ground with an icy forehoof. He'd already rehearsed an excuse for this very occasion. "I've been keeping tabs on this so-called resistance Aeon's royals are working with. They're fighting the Eterna Empire from within."
"Oh?" Demerzel rested a paw under his chin. "Is that a fact?" He looked right, where the breaker circuit that turned the genesect on was bolted to the wall. "Perhaps that's why the emperor has been so antsy as of late."
Given Shimmer had eavesdropped on one of Paradox's goons blackmailing Demerzel, he could hazard a guess what the calyrex meant. "I take it Minister Charles paid you a visit recently?" Shimmer said.
Demerzel nodded. "Said that I need to do something to move things along right away. Strike at the heart of the kingdom since Dazzels is too far from any distortion pockets the empire can access."
Arianna froze with her right arm hovering over one of the genesect. "They're telling you to attack Dazzels?"
"Indeed." Demerzel pushed himself off the railing. "But I had already planted the seeds for such an occasion long before Charles' threat."
"What?!" Arianna's glasses went askew. She glanced at Shimmer.
"I'm with her." Shimmer nodded at the gardevoir. "Of course you should—"
"It can't be stopped," Demerzel cut in, expression stern.
Whinnying, Shimmer's tails frazzled. "The heck's that supposed to mean?!"
"A very important prisoner got hold of a very unstable power and is about to make a break for it," Demerzel said. He glanced up at the black ceiling. "Well, if my calculations are correct, anyway."
Shimmer did his best to avoid his shocked expression changing to one of suspicion. They'd paid a visit to someone fitting that description the other month: Vortex. Shimmer had been escorting Vegna out of the prison and ended up leaving Demerzel alone with the charizard. Between that and Demerzel's tone, he was clearly implying he'd given out the unstable power.
"That's illogical." Arianna resumed walking between genesect units. She tapped each one she passed on its head and her eyes flickered blue. "One prisoner cannot possibly cause problems for the whole capital city."
"Be that as it may, this is a golden opportunity for you, Your Grace." Demerzel turned to Shimmer. Was he smirking? This was nothing to smirk about! "The chance to sway the public's favor over to you and away from your mothers. Put them in a bind, so to speak."
He hovered toward the breaker switch in the corner of the room. "Public opinion is already on shaky ground with your mothers. First they didn't step in with Venish. Then they went and assigned Seifer's relatives to lead the Radiant Guard."
The calyrex shook his head. "Relatives who've been seen vacationing in Herbrides for most of their tenure."
Shimmer's tails nearly puffed out. Did that mean the Radiant Guard's new leaders were in Herbrides?
... No, no. He couldn't think about that. Focus!
Instead, Shimmer went with, "And? I completely botched things in Tulpise." The memories of Melmetal breaking apart and that awful robot silvally staring him down rushed back into Shimmer's mind.
"You got people evacuated safely," Demerzel countered, pointing a nubby paw at Shimmer. "And now you have a chance to save Dazzels from a threat while your mothers sit on their rumps, ignoring the plights of the people."
Shimmer looked between Demerzel and all the rows of genesect. "Using them?" He pointed his horn left.
"Indeed." Demerzel clapped his hands.
Nothing happened at first. The calyrex cleared his throat. "Arianna?"
"Right." The gardevoir nudged her glasses up. Shimmer watched the strange, spiral-shaped pairing device he used for Melmetal float toward him. Arianna fixed it around his horn with her telekinesis. "There we are."
"Good." Demerzel opened the breaker panel and flipped the switches. Row by row, the genesect's red eyes lit up. They all stood at attention.
"Of course, you'll have backup," Demerzel continued, shutting the breaker panel.
"You and Arianna again?" Shimmer kept his gaze on the genesect. Should he test that the control device worked on them?
"More than that." The calyrex's neck beads glowed pink, along with his eyes. "Go on. His Grace can hear you."
"Shimmer's there?"
The ponytales' tails poofed out in surprise. "That voice... Reno?!"
"You bet. And I've got Rufus and Vincent here, too." Reno laughed. "Not really sure why D-man's roping us into this. Guess he watched our crowning good performance in last year's Crowne Cup and thought we could help fight off whatever bad stuff's about to go down."
Shimmer took a steady breath. He hadn't seen the cinderace in a couple of months. Not since his mother ended the academic year and shuttered all the schools in the kingdom. He glanced at Demerzel. "Why them?"
"You need people you can trust helping you out." Demerzel shrugged. "It's clear to me you have... reservations about my conduct and character."
He was right. But still... Team Striker were athletes. "You guys are okay with this?" Shimmer asked. "I know your training to join the pro baccer circuit's pretty hard, but it's kind of apples and oranges, don't you think?"
"I expressed those concerns to Mr. Demerzel," Vincent said. Shimmer recognized the inteleon's "I'm three steps ahead of you" tone. "We're to assist with any Phantoms that may appear and direct people toward city exits in case they have to evacuate."
Okay. Shimmer supposed evacuation assistance was more reasonable.
"You've gotta be agile for stuff like that," Rufus added. "Right up our all— holy ****!"
"What?" Panicking, Shimmer looked at Demerzel. "What is it?"
"Dudes, did you see that giant flaming pillar?!" Rufus said.
"Yeah! Looks like it was coming from over by the prison." Reno's voice trembled a bit.
"... Just like Mr. Demerzel predicted," Vincent muttered.
Shimmer's heart thundered in his chest. What had Demerzel pulled him into? What was this power he'd given Vortex?!
"It's time." Demerzel folded his hands behind his back. "Mobilize your genesect. I'll get you to an attacking point."
"A-All of us?" Shimmer pivoted left. The genesect still stood at attention. How was one calyrex possibly going to teleport all of—
Wait, what was Shimmer thinking? It was Demerzel that got all the civilians out of Tulpise. He clearly had immense psychic power. Was that normal for calyrex... or was something helping him out?
"Okay, yeah! People are panicking!" Reno said. His voice was shaky. Demerzel must not have given Team Striker all the details. "W-We got this, guys! It's the fourth quarter and we're down by three..."
"Your Grace." Demerzel blipped over to Shimmer's side. "We have to go. Activate the genesect."
Shimmer concentrated on his horn. Like with Melmetal back in Tulpise, the ponytales projected a thought.
Standby for battle.
The genesect's cannons whirred to life. Demerzel nodded. Then the room disappeared in a blinding blue flash.
XxX
Demerzel dropped Shimmer and his genesect off on a stretch of tarmac a few hundred meters from the razor wire-topped metal walls surrounding the Dazzels Penitentiary.
... Walls that the building-sized charizard walking away from Shimmer had melted into liquid metal.
"Where is she?"
This was the power Demerzel had given Vortex? But this was... this was like some of the Paradigm members or Whispers that Yuna and her friends talked about! Why could Demerzel do this?
Shimmer could scarcely stop his legs from trembling. Oh, why hadn't he stayed with Igneous in Herbrides?
"Your Grace, what are you doing?" Demerzel forced a small radio communicator on Shimmer's ear. "You have to stop him!"
The ground shook again. Shimmer couldn't stand there quivering in fright. Vortex was heading toward the city!
"Right." Shimmer pointed his horn at the genesect flanking him.
Their electronic eyes flashed and their cannons hummed on their backs. The genesect rocketed into the air in groups of two or three.
"Where's Isola?" Vortex snarled. He flapped his wings, which failed to lift him into the air. Shimmer wasn't sure his wings even functioned anymore because they were literally made of fire.
The ponytales cautiously galloped after the genesect. Fire wouldn't mix well with the icy powers Demerzel had given him. But the genesect had ways to change the type of blasts they shot from their cannons, didn't they?
Use water! Shimmer projected the order through his horn. He caught flashes of blue in the air. The genesect circled Vortex. Large water globs peppered the gigantic charizard. Vortex threw his arms up, hissing. Steam filled the air.
Shimmer stopped running. Keep it up! Make sure you stay in flight! He hoped that would be enough for the genesect.
Snarling, Vortex swatted at the air. "No. I won't... be pushed around. I won't... let little insects stop me!" He inhaled, then spewed a huge wave of fire. It bathed the dusty ground far ahead of Shimmer in red and orange. A few genesect were caught up in the blast and burnt to ashes.
And the fire kept going and going. Flames carried off into the distance. Toward the city!
It was too far for Shimmer to hear anything, but he could see flames buffeting some of the buildings. The air in the distance became thick and hazy with smoke.
"Guys, talk to me!" Shimmer said. He really hoped the radio worked with Team Striker.
"I think some warehouses on the outskirts of the city just got hit with fire!" Reno said. "What's going on, Your Grace?!"
Vortex continued forward, spinning his massive body around. His flaming wings and outstretched arms clipped some of the genesect, knocking them from the air.
"A giant charizard!" Shimmer galloped forward again. He'd left the tarmac behind for the dusty ground Vortex was walking along. Though the ponytales took care to keep away from the molten, bubbling spots Vortex had walked on.
"Giant... wait, is that Vortex?" Vincent caught on quick. "PNN's been giving almost daily updates on him. They said he'd fallen ill! Is he a Phantom now?"
Shimmer was about to answer when he caught a flaming, scrapped genesect careening toward him. The ponytales flung it behind him with a telekinetic burst, stumbling and whinnying when the ensuing explosion's hot air grazed his tails.
"Something like that!" He sent another order to keep firing to the genesect. More steam filled the air to his left. Vortex hadn't stopped walking, though. His quaking steps forced Shimmer to stop running.
"Do you know who I am?" Vortex snarled at the genesect circling around him. "I'm the one who deserves to run this kingdom. Not Isola. Me! Me, me, me, me!"
Vortex's roar jolted Shimmer, who stumbled and faceplanted in the dirt. Fierce winds disheveled his tails and icy mane. When Shimmer scrambled back to his feet, he saw several genesect lying in shattered remains in the scorched, almost glassy dirt to his left. The buildings in the distance crumbled, waves of dirt spilled out toward the desert.
All the while, the titanic charizard continued forward. The remaining genesect kept shooting water globs, but they were evaporating into steam before they could even hit Vortex.
Shimmer stood there, heart pounding in his chest. Images of Melmetal's crumbling form superimposed themselves over Vortex.
He couldn't do anything. Shimmer was failing. Just like in Tulpise. Just like always.
"Out of my way!" Vortex uselessly flapped his flaming wings, then took another lumbering step forward, leaving blazing dust in his wake. "Where's Isola? I'll kill her! Burn her to ashes! Then the kingdom will see me for the savior I really am!"
Shimmer shrank away from the bubbling footprints in the sand. "I can't..." His tails curled up against his legs. Most of the genesect were gone. Smoldering metallic scraps littered the sandy ground. "It's not working. He's too—"
Blue lightning filled the air around Vortex. Then a bright blue ball slammed into his snout. Shimmer watched it scrunch up from the impact. Molten saliva melted the remaining genesect and splattered on the ground around the giant charizard. Shimmer's ears folded from the awful sizzling that rang in them.
"Good grief! I always knew this guy was full of hot hair, but this is ridiculous! Ain't that right, V?"
Shimmer's eyes widened. He recognized that stupid voice! The ponytales scanned the air— yep, Griffon was circling around a dusknoir who floated in place directly in Vortex's path.
But Shimmer had no idea what was up with the giant black dragon hovering between Vegna and Vortex. It had to be the source of the blue lightning, though. Its tail was a freaking turbine!
... And come to think of it, wasn't there a lingering static charge when Vegna saved Shimmer back in Venish? Was Vegna the source of this dragon? What the hell was going on here?!
"You!" More fiery slobber dribbled from Vortex's broken muzzle. He shuffled forward, kicking up ashen plumes. "Isola lapdog!"
Vegna lazily shook his head. "They stripped him to his little shirt and bound him in an iron chain. And burned him in a holy place where many had been burned before."
Vortex's response was to spew a giant Flamethrower. Vegna thrust his right arm forward. The black dragon discharged tremendous bolts of blue lightning. And they actually kept Vortex's flames from advancing on Dazzels' outskirts like before!
"Always the fool rushing to conclusions." Vegna kept his right arm extended. "When did I ever say I was on Isola's side? If anyone's the puppet in this little theater production, it's you."
Shimmer's tails curled up. What was Vegna implying? Did he know about the corrupted power Demerzel had given Vortex? No, surely he would've told the resistance about that. Maybe he was theorizing on the spot?
The massive charizard growled and snapped at the air with his maw. "I'm no one's puppet! I own this kingdom! It's all me!"
Shimmer had stood around long enough. Swallowing hard, he galloped closer to the battle. Though the ponytales hesitated when he spotted blurs in the air out of the corner of his eye. Were those... other flying-types? They were keeping their distance, unlike Vegna.
Don't tell me... the press is here?
Another collision of fire and lightning sent Shimmer scrambling to his right with a frightened whinny."
"Yo, V! Peep the ground! It's Dimmer!" Griffon cawed. The corviknight still circled around Vegna, but kept his gaze trained on Shimmer.
Even if the press was here, Shimmer had to say something. Especially now that Vortex was following Griffon's gaze.
"I know you're upset!" Shimmer shouted, flinching when his voice cracked. "But we know there's something wrong with my mother! It's— she's some sort of parasite!"
From up in the air, Vegna's eye crackled with red energy. He thrust his right arm to the side. Blue lightning gathered around the blue dragon, who charged toward Vortex. The giant charizard spewed titanic flames from his mouth, pushing the dragon back until Vegna forced them to retreat.
"What?" Vortex again looked at Shimmer. The ponytales backed away. Vortex was going to burn him alive!
"You were right!" Shimmer said. He didn't have time to stop and consider his words. "I looked into the things you said and you were right! There's a... terrible pattern of behavior in my family! And it only makes sense... if there's a parasite who's moving from generation to generation!
"A parasite... who'll come for me next!"
Vegna gave another signal. The black dragon charged forward. Vortex was too slow to react this time. The dragon slammed into the left side of Vortex's head. It whipped left. Roaring in pain, Vortex wobbled. His giant legs made it hard to regain his balance.
That was when Shimmer saw an orange gleam in the distance. "Behind you, Vegna!" he cried.
The dusknoir drifted away from Shimmer seconds before an orange beam swept across the ground, kicking up huge plumes of dust and debris. An unexpected shockwave upended Shimmer and sent him skidding through the dirt. Even once the ponytales had rolled to a stop, his world wouldn't stop spinning. He couldn't get back to his feet without falling over and nearly throwing up.
But that was fine. Even if he'd gone and screwed things up, backup had arrived. The other resistance members could take over. They were stronger. They'd actually beaten Whispers. All Shimmer would do is get in their way.
He remained on the ground, head meekly buried under his forelegs. If the others could bail him out of this, then Shimmer was done with Demerzel. No more sticking his neck out and screwing anything up for everyone else.
XxX
The moment Noctum handed Seifer off to the healers, he learned about the threat in Dazzels. It was a place he hadn't been before, so the cosmic charizard couldn't just open a rift and go there.
Fortunately, Vegna was around and had, through considerable strain, forced open a golden portal. Noctum went through the rift with Jade and Valkyrie in tow. Vegna was nowhere to be found on the other side, but there were people flooding the streets, fleeing from burning buildings. The flames were spreading rapidly.
They had to try something to contain the fires.
"Jade, can you help put these out?" Noctum wondered. His own attacks wouldn't help whatsoever.
"Huh? You know air just spreads fire around, right?" Jade flapped her wings in place, looking around nervously.
"Not wind, dumbass." Valkyrie jabbed Jade's back with her elbow. "Water! Lugia have water, right?"
"Ow! Hey! That's a sensitive spot!" Jade's tail flaps curled. Pink gas drifted behind her. "And I dunno! I haven't used water moves since I woke up."
"No time like the present then." The garchomp climbed up Jade's back and forcefully pointed her head down. A building of mostly glass shattered as its foundations ignited. "Do it!"
The salugia's eyes twitched. Valkyrie's jerking of her neck made her stiffen. "Agh, no, wait! Not like that! Not liiiiiiaaaaayyiii—"
Orange energy was building up in Jade's mouth. That wasn't any water attack, though. It was Jade's Aeroblast! She couldn't fire that into the city!
"Valkyrie, turn her head right!" Noctum pointed ahead of him, toward the dusty plains and the giant charizard in the distance.
Grunting, Valkyrie dug her arms into Jade's neck. Jade twisted right, then fired the Aeroblast. It swept along the ground, leveling a warehouse that the flames had spared. Then it continued outside the city.
"Stay here and deal with the flames," Noctum said, flying after the Aeroblast and ignoring Valkyrie's protests. He flew through a wall of dust. The air got thicker and warmer. It blurred and warped all around him. Just how intense was this heat? Was this all the giant charizard's doing?
Well, whoever this charizard was, they needed to be—
A sudden gust of hot wind dispelled the dirt in the air. Noctum got a good look at the giant charizard's white belly... and the candelabra-shaped crystal wedged into his chest.
It was just like how Yuna described Whispers who were using the power of Leo's plates!
Like when fighting Halvus, Noctum's gut burned. The plate didn't belong to this charizard. It belonged to Leo!
Noctum flew right. The big charizard was occupied with Vegna and Zekrom. Blue-violet light swirled around Noctum's arms. He didn't know why he could do this. But he was following his gut.
The cosmic charizard swiped the air in front of him. Crescents of brilliant blue energy raced forward. They hit the giant charizard's left shoulder, warping everything around them. Cracks and lines filled the air as Charizard roared.
Noctum stiffened. The energy dissolved from his arms. His tail flame shrank.
That voice... Vortex?!
Red and black static rippled out from the crystal in Vortex's belly. Almost like the corrupted plate was reacting to Noctum's presence.
Wait, was a mystery dungeon about to form?
"It's not fair!" Vortex snarled.
Yelping, Noctum flew up. A dragon-shaped torrent of fire passed underneath him.
"Why do you get to have it? That power... and dragon typing!" There was a wild look in Vortex's eyes. Flames swirled around his giant nostrils. "You're a hick! A troglodyte!"
A fiery twister erupted all around Vortex. Noctum flew further back. Vegna and Zekrom also had to put some distance in the opposite direction.
"You know what I had? Nothing!" The flames wouldn't dissipate. It was hard to even see the giant charizard behind his wall of fire. Was the ground turning to glass around Vortex? "Parents in dead end, blue collar jobs. A disease that left me without fire. Without any moves!
"And you know what I did? I clawed my way up from the bottom!" Vortex's fiery dome spewed flaming pillars in all directions. Noctum dove down to dodge one, then strafed left to avoid another. "I didn't grovel or kowtow to any royals! I earned my keep and my respect! I'm a self-made 'mon! I'm everything you're not, you worthless, lowly servant!"
Noctum's head rang.
Time floating opposite him. Shouting about how much better they were.
Gasping, Noctum corkscrewed right, avoiding another flaming pillar. The cosmic flames in his mouth grew larger alongside his tail flame. Blue-violet light swirled around his claws.
No more.
"Shut the hell up!" Noctum swiped his arms forward. Blue-violet crescents swarmed Vortex's fiery dome. The flames rippled and flickered. Glowing lines crisscrossed the dome. They shattered, breaking the dome apart entirely.
That was when the cosmic charizard swooped in. The energy around his arms grew even brighter. It spread into his wings. Down his belly. Across his tail.
"You don't get to talk to me like that!" Noctum dodged a large gout of fire and slammed his glowing arm into Vortex's right shoulder. "I owe my life to that family! They took me off the street!"
He backed away from a swipe of Vortex's left arm, then unleashed a flurry of Air Slash crescents. They sliced through Vortex's arm. Over the giant charizard's roars, magma dripped onto the ground and sizzled by Vortex's feet.
"I don't care what you did to reach the top!" Noctum rolled left to dodge a giant fireball, then right. He flung more blue-violet blasts at Vortex's face. Vortex screamed in pain. "I care about doing what's right! I care about helping my family! I care..."
Vortex tried to gather more flames, but Noctum shot toward the crystal chandelier in his stomach and drove a spear of spacial energy directly into that.
"... About getting Leo his plate back! So hand it over!"
Static energy exploded out in all directions. Noctum felt something warm and smooth within the crystal and pulled. He glimpsed an orange rectangle and brought it close to his glowing blue belly. Noctum opened a rift and fell back into it.
He landed on the ground a hundred meters away from a rapidly-shrinking Vortex. Static dissolved away, leaving nothing but an unconscious charizard lying in the middle of a glassy circle.
The plate tingled against his chest. Noctum held it at arm's length. The blue was much brighter than before. Blue auroras and stars swirled around his belly, like waves rolling across water.
It wasn't just his belly, either. His wings were full of glowing blue auroras. So was the underside of his tail. He ran a claw over his belly. Blue light glistened around his claws, coalescing into a pink sphere he was able to hold with his claws.
(Art by Leche)
I guess... more of Palkia's power is coming out.
Noctum glanced upward. Vegna pointed to Noctum's left. Griffon flew in that direction while Zekrom disappeared in a stream of golden light.
What was with these other birds, though? There were pidgeot and unfezant and swellow carrying cameras. Were people recording this?
"Fear not, good citizens! Thanks to Prince Shimmer's quick thinking in conjunction with supportive allies in Aeon... Charizard Vortex's rampage was stopped!"
The cosmic charizard stiffened. That was Demerzel's voice!
And moments later, Demerzel appeared in front of all the birds, gesturing wildly. Whatever he was saying to them, Noctum couldn't hear. He was too far away.
"Yo. V says to rift back to your buds. We gotta vamoose."
"Gah!" Noctum's tail flame shrank. He turned to find Griffon and Vegna beside him. The former had Shimmer draped over his back. The ponytales looked incredibly guilty.
"He's spinning it," Shimmer muttered. "Demerzel's trying to make himself and me into the heroes here."
"Huh?" Noctum's now yellow eyes dimmed. Putting aside the question of why Shimmer was even here when Noctum knew he had gone to the Herbrides Hilltop Mall with Yuna, the cosmic charizard was still lost. "What do you mean spinning? Who's he talking to?"
"We can discuss it in full later," Vegna said. "Leave now. I'll grab Vortex while Demerzel's grandstanding for the press."
Noctum's eyes widened. Those birds were reporters?!
"Why—"
Red energy crackled around Vegna's eye.
"Because we all played into Demerzel's hand. And I suspect things may soon turn volatile here."
(Art by Sylfeanne)
XxX
"... Yourselves why Shimmer was the one trying to stop this from happening?"
Justine watched the footage of Demerzel, mouth agape. It took every ounce of willpower not to trash the PV set with her Sacred Sword.
"Where is Her Eminence? Where is the Radiant Guard?" Demerzel gestured around him. The cameras panned to shots of smoking craters and dirt melted into glass by Vortex's assault. "What if I told you the acting commanders — both relatives of Keldeo Seifer — were in fact vacationing in Herbrides. A city that, by the way, simultaneously came under fire from denizens of World Ender!"
He pointed at the cameras. "Call up your news stations if you don't believe me. But there was a mass evacuation from the city just as Prince Shimmer arranged for Tulpise before it fell into distortion."
Justine couldn't take this anymore. "Mute, damn it!" the virizion hissed. The PV went silent. Fuming, she turned around. "Say the word, Izzy! I'll haul his ass to Citadark!"
But rather than glaring at the PV like Justine, Isola sat facing a large, heart-shaped vanity mirror, running a heart-shaped brush through her luscious pink mane.
"Are you for real?" Justine stomped up to Isola. "Weren't you listening? That... that literal egghead is committing high treason! And freaking Vegna was there fighting Vortex! We should arrest them both! Stage public executions! I—"
"Peace, darling."
Isola's brush booped Justine's snout. The virizion crossed her eyes and found tiny sparkles around her nostrils. "How can you be so calm?" She blinked rapidly until her vision was back to normal. "At this rate, people are going to take the streets!"
"They won't." Isola set the brush down on a pink, heart-shaped table beside the mirror. The rapidash got to her feet. Her armored breastplate glowed gold under the sunlight drifting in through the windows.
Justine shifted her weight nervously. "Well, what about the servants in the palace?"
"They will be fine." Isola smiled serenely at her mate.
The virizon's cheeks flushed. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm skeptical, Izzy." She glanced at the PV screen. Demerzel was still talking and gesticulating wildly. "He's playing us for saps."
"Let him think that."
Justine stiffened as Isola's voice got closer. The rapidash sauntered up to her. Something about the way light glinted off that breastplate made Justine weak in the knees.
"But we... we have to do something," Justine whispered. "There's a fire in northeast Dazzels. It could—"
"It'll be fine." Isola was right in front of Justine. She nuzzled the virizion's right cheek. "I'll take care of everything, sweetie. I always have~"
"Y-Yeah." Justine's hind legs shook from Isola's warm breath on her neck. "But how?"
"Like this."
Justine's spine-tingling pleasure gave way to a sharp, intense pain in her chest. The air rushed out of her lungs. Justine tried to take a breath, but something heavy weighed on her chest.
She looked down... and found a dagger of crimson energy piercing her chest. It came from the red gem in the center of Isola's breastplate.
"Iz... zy... why?"
Justine coughed up a small amount of blood. A psychic force caught the droplets before they could splatter on Isola's shoulder. She levitated them into the trashcan by the door of her bedroom.
"Shhh." Isola pressed her muzzle to Justine's... and forced the blade in further. The sharp pain turned to an intense burning. Justine tried to scream— to breathe.
Her legs felt so heavy— no, they were heavy. Why were they turning to metal?
"It's okay, sweetie," Isola whispered, kissing Justine's cheek as she forced the blade in deeper. "I forgive you for doubting me. Even if it was such an ugly thing for you to do."
She needed to scream. Fight back. Do something. But as the metal raced up Justine's legs, all she could do was stare blankly.
"Admittedly, I haven't tested this yet," Isola continued. That sickeningly sweet smile hadn't left her face. "But if that pitiful deoxys can turn 'mon to machine with the Red Chain, why can't I? I wield it far more beautifully than he ever could."
The rapidash forced Justine to look her in the eyes. "Besides, there can be beauty in a machine who will never doubt. Never question. Always follow orders."
Justine couldn't even get her mouth open. Her legs were fully metallic. And the metal was spreading down her torso. From the dagger— no, from the gem in Isola's breastplate.
"Don't worry, sweetie." Isola nuzzled her side again. "I'm doing this for both of us."
She kissed Justine's snout... and the same green metal started to inch across her face. "Once we're through here..."
For a brief instant, Justine swore she saw a pink serpent replace Isola's head.
"... Everyone will see just how beautiful we truly are."
XxX
~Flames of Ruin: Vortex~
There are those who would claim the Affirmer is evil. Heartless. Soulless. But the Affirmer acts because His heart aches for the suffering that plagues reality. That is why He kept His pokémon partners with Him. Why He continued to care for them throughout His mission.
~Flames of Ruin: Vortex~
There are those who would claim the Affirmer is evil. Heartless. Soulless. But the Affirmer acts because His heart aches for the suffering that plagues reality. That is why He kept His pokémon partners with Him. Why He continued to care for them throughout His mission.
