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Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 61: In Thirty Minutes or Less

Phenomenal affirmation.

It's a phrase I've heard a couple of times across some of the dimensions I've visited. Still don't quite get it. Sounds like a whacky concept where someone can, like, manipulate fate itself. Like it's something a person can mold and shape.

Completely stupid, if you ask me. Fate isn't clay you toss into a kiln or anything. Even the dimensions involving heroes who stopped incarnations of the Bittercold and have those weird Worldcores only had the human heroes give themselves the power to travel between specific worlds. That's giving yourself a special power, not manipulating fate.

... Right?


XxX​

This was bad— no, worse than bad! They struggled enough with the Seekerskorch, but now they were stuck on a pizza truck chasing after a train.

"Scarlett, are you there?" Noctum said. He couldn't remember if the dragonair kept her X-transceiver on. "We have another giant robot situatioooooooon!"

The black charizard's last word got drawn out when a blast struck the back of the pizza truck, knocking it briefly into the air. Noctum tried shooting a Flamethrower at the robot, but its left head blocked the strike with a well-aimed Dark Pulse.

"What are you hitting up Scarlett for?" Valkyrie growled. "You're not in a position to wormhole her here."

It was true. They were moving too fast. A rift would just drop Scarlett behind them and leave her at the mercy of the robot hydreigon. "Well, I'm open to any ideas!" He shot fireballs at some of the Gunners, but again Dark Pulses from the robot brought a stop to his attack. Noctum didn't even have time to sigh his frustration, as the pizza truck suddenly swerved toward the train tracks and took off over them. Ice crystals peppered the ground where the truck had been seconds ago.

"Damn it! We can't keep going like this!" Cyril hissed. And Noctum agreed. Attacks from two sides would bring them down in an instant.

"Are you going to slow down and take your chances with the robot?" Valkyrie scoffed.

"Iron Jugulis," Cid cut in.

"What?"

"It's what my Dyna Scan is telling me,"
Cid elaborated.

"Whatever!" Cyril said. "No, I'm not taking my chances with the robot! We'll have to go faster!"

"Faster?!" Noctum sputtered, and indeed the wind grew even fiercer against his snout. The black charizard couldn't stop himself from snorting up dust particles. "Oh no..."

Hold it. Fight it. Not in the super scope lens. He couldn't afford to—

"WAHCHOO!"

Noctum didn't realize what direction he was facing until the super scope filled the air with orange flames... and yellow snot.

"Agh!" An Eternatus Gunner sputtered in midair. "I'm hit! Someone get me a squeegee! The rebels are bathing me in lizard germs!"

"I'm a dragon!" the charizard squeaked in protest.

Iron Jugulis wasn't the least bit phased by the Gunner's plight. Its mechanical heads glowed bright white... only to stop suddenly when the snot-covered Gunner crashed into its torso. Jugulis' metal heads flickered and it lost a bit of altitude before it managed to regain itself and resume its charging.

"Guys, I think I know how we can stop this thing!" Noctum said, trying not to lose control of the firing platform in his excitement. "We've gotta knock the smaller guys into the big guy!"

The pizza truck sharply cut away from the railroad tracks. Cold air rushed past Noctum and the super scope.

"Easier said than done, dweeb," Valkyrie growled. "We're taking fire from both sides!"

"Can't Noctum open a rift back to Casaroja?"
Cid suggested. "I think you've done all you can there."

Noctum saw Iron Jugulis' heads glowing again. "Left! No, right!" he yelped. "Your right, my left!"

Cyril banked the pizza truck back toward the train tracks and avoided the huge Hyper Beam that scored the ground where it had previously been.

"All right, that's enough," Igneous hissed. "I'm putting a stop to this stupid sandwich."

"Ow! Hey, what are you doing?!"
Valkyrie said.

Noctum spun the firing platform around in time to see Igneous' volcarona wings appear in bursts of orange fire. He flew toward the train while Yiazmat covered him, distracting a couple of genesect with Flamethrowers shot from her horns.

XxX​

This was dumb. This was reckless. The same recklessness that cost Igneous so much. But he couldn't leave. Not if the cloud daemon was on the train.

He rolled away from an Ice Beam. Finally, the grovlazzle was close enough to see a silhouette on the roof, closer to the front of the train. Had the cloud daemon conjured it? Was it some new monster working with Xeromus?

Another Ice Beam. Igneous retaliated with a Flamethrower, then used the resulting steam to drift left in the air.

But the figure's aim held true. This time it was a Psybeam. Igneous dipped underneath it. He focused on his fiery wings. Bursts of orange and red sparks propelled him further, toward someone vaguely... ponyta-ish.

"I don't know what you are!"

The Psybeam headed right for him. Igneous rolled right. He was over the train now, only a car away from someone who certainly sounded like Shimmer. But the flowing white hair and nine, snow-white tails were wrong.

"But I won't let you disrupt this shipment! My people need these supplies!"

My people? It really was Shimmer, then? And this idiot thinks we're trying to attack the train!

"Wait!" the grovlazzle shouted, swooping in for a landing. A Psybeam whizzed over his head seconds later. "This is a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding?" Shimmer pointed his larger horn at Igneous' head. "Your little ensemble isn't blasting my guards out of the sky while those funny little machines keep them distracted?"

"No!" Igneous waved his arms in front of his face. "Those aren't ours!"

"And the big movie prop?" Shimmer pointed his right foreleg forward.

XxX​

Noctum chewed on his dragon comment for all of a second after Igneous flew off. He focused on the Malice Crystal and let its energy wash over him. Even in the confines of the super scope lens, he was able to mega evolve. The next Flamethrower was much larger, striking a genesect and knocking it into Iron Jugulis' central neck. It whipped back, electronic face dimming.

"It's working!" the mega charizard chirped, flapping his jagged wings briefly. "Val, if you mega evolve, your attacks should be strong enough to blast the little bots into the big one!"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Valkyrie snorted. "It's like playing billiards. Except garchomp can't hold pool cues."

XxX​

"Not ours, either!" Igneous growled, leafy tails crackling with embers. "It's from inside Eternatus, like the smaller guys your troops are fighting."

"As opposed to you and your... weird piplup machine?" Pink light glistened around Shimmer's horn. "You look like you wandered right out of the distortion."

"Says the pot to the kettle," Igneous countered. He would've continued, but he got the sense Shimmer didn't recognize him. And he wasn't about to give himself away. "What's with the bad ice ninetales cosplay?"

Shimmer shot a Psybeam in response. Igneous flopped to his belly, but the pink beam grazed his tails. He dug his claws into the metallic roof, resisting the urge to hiss.

"I'm doing what's necessary for my people. For my kingdom."

XxX​

"Right! No, left! Sorry!"

Noctum squeezed the firing platform tightly while the pizza truck sharply banked and dodged an intense burst of wind from Iron Jugulis.

"I have rearview mirrors, you know!" Cyril barked. "I don't need you giving me directions when you're facing the other way!"

The mega charizard didn't know what that meant, but chose to fire at an Eternatus Gunner. His Flamethrower struck true, but Iron Jugulis had gotten wise to his strategy. It pulled its right head out of the way. More Dark Pulses shot toward them. Noctum shot large blue fireballs at them. Yiazmat added Dragon Darts and that proved enough.

"What do you rebels think you're doing?"

It was Paradox's voice. Coming out of Iron Jugulis' head— no, heads.

"Why are you attacking a supply convoy?!" Yiazmat said, shooting Dragon Darts at an Eternatus Gunner who had its blasters trained on her.

"I'm doing what I can to free the Benefactor from its confinement."

"No you're not!" the dragapult growled. "You're hurting innocent people!"

"Stop talking to the robot," Cyril hissed. "Radar says we're less than five minutes out from the bridge!"

XxX​

"Listen to me!" Igneous hissed, scrambling to his feet. "None of us want to stop the convoy. We're trying to keep it safe... and stop you from making a big mistake!"

Psychic energy gathered around Shimmer's horn again. "Explain yourself."

He couldn't belittle Shimmer. Even though the ponyta was psychic and should have sensed that cloud daemon on board the train.

"There's a stowaway on the train," the grovlazzle said. "A very powerful Phantom. And if you let the train make it to Venish as is, then that Phantom will wreak more havoc upon the city." He slowly held his hands up. "Is that what's necessary for your people?"

XxX​

"Gah!"

Noctum's head banged against the right part of the super scope lens as the pizza truck spun out again. The air grew choppy all around him. He instinctively curled his tail up by his side.

It didn't make any sense. If Iron Jugulis was based on hydreigon, why wasn't it using Dragon Pulses or raining Draco Meteors from the sky? That would have been a surefire way to really wreck the truck.

"Noctum, what are you doing?" Valkyrie snarled. "Keep firing!"

"Sorry!" the mega charizard squeaked. He spat fireballs as soon as Cyril got the pizza truck under control. But clumps of earth white beams snuffed out his attacks.

"Stubborn little pests, aren't you?" Paradox scoffed. "You understand you're nothing, right? Your feeble little acts are worthless!"

Harsh wind blades raced toward the pizza truck. Despite Cyril's attempts at swerving, the pizza truck suddenly buckled. Noctum's horns banged against the top of the super scope.

"Gah! What happened?!" He tightly gripped the firing platform while the pizza truck spun out. Spun out and slowed down.

"Damn it! He got a rear wheel!" Cyril growled.

XxX​

Igneous glanced over his shoulder. "Well?" He kept his arms held up to try and signal he wasn't a threat. "Train's getting close to a bridge. If that thing fires on the train when it's going across the bridge, then you'll lose all the supplies and everything will crash down on the village there."

Shimmer briefly pivoted, then looked back at Igneous. His horn flickered. Uncertainty was sprawled across his face.

Harsh winds whipped up a dozen meters away from the caboose. Igneous' wings reflexively flared to life. He was about to turn and head back to help deal with Iron Jugulis. There was no other option for him. Killer robot trumped clouds sitting in the train doing nothing.

"You're right."

Igneous froze. Shimmer was agreeing with him? Great! Then they could—

The icy pontya's eyes glowed blue. "But I can handle this myself."

Next thing the grovlazzle knew, something invisible had yanked him into the air... and flung him off the side of the train!

The moving ground rushed up to meet Igneous. Then flames erupted from his wings, steadying him. He flew beside the train and grabbed hold, digging his claws into the metal train wall and clinging for dear life. There was no point calling for Shimmer, since he was probably the one who tossed Igneous off the train.

But as long as he was here, he could try to take a shot and find the cloud monster, right?

Igneous concentrated on the strange flames crackling along his back. In a red-orange fwoosh the empty honedge appeared beside him... and slammed into the wall in front of Igneous. It punctured through the metal and, at Igneous' command, dragged itself down until it had managed to carved out a hole for Igneous to dive into.

This better wor—

"Augh!"

Berry juice and wooden splinters covered Igneous from head to tails. He had tossed himself through a supply crate. A crate of sitrus, judging by the smell. He was inside the train. Sticky, but inside the train and sitting on a pile of unbroken crates.

The grovlazzle looked around. No cloud monster. Wrong car, then. And this was a freight train, so there wouldn't be connections between the cars like on a passenger train. Delightful. He looked right, then left. Nothing but stacked crates and a single narrow space in the center of the car. Do I go forward or back?

Igneous flipped a mental coin and landed on forward. He summoned the honedge and it sliced a pair of holes leading to the next car. Fortunately, no supplies spilled out of it. There must have been a traversable part in the center there, too.

He dove through the holes without a second thought.

XxX​

The pizza truck had a hover mode. Because of course it did. Cyril had turned it on and took the truck airborne before it totally wiped out. That didn't stop Iron Jugulis, though. It quickly trained all three heads on the truck and blasted Dark Pulses at it.

"Sheesh!" Cyril banked hard left to dodge the black beams. "Machine or not, the thing it's based on isn't supposed to be able to have the three heads operating independently. We've got to be missing something!"

"Ice coming in!"
Valkyrie cried.

The pizza truck slowed and veered even harder to the left, practically going sideways. Noctum managed to stop himself from rotating around and saw a huge ice lance fly through the air. A couple of Eternatus Gunners tried to stop it, but got wrecked for their troubles. Iron Jugulis trained its middle and left heads on the lance, but was too slow to react. The lance struck the left head, encasing it in ice. The ice spread down its mechanical neck... and that's when Noctum caught what they'd been missing.

"The little heads aren't connected," he said. "Guys, the smaller heads aren't connected! They're functioning independently!"

"What?" Cyril said. "So they're drones, then?"

"Doesn't matter what they are!"
Valkyrie growled. A super scope-boosted Dragon Pulse lit the air up bright blue and purple. It struck the frozen Jugulis head and shattered it.

"Hey, that worked!" the mega charizard cheered, only to yelp from a sudden volley of Hidden Power fire. Noctum spat fireballs to counter as many as he could, but a few hit the back of the pizza truck and made it spin out in midair.

"You really think you rebels can keep this up?" Paradox sneered. "I've got you outgunned and outmuscled. Stand down and your deaths will be quick and... minimally painful."

But the air chilled again and an even larger ice lance headed for Iron Jugulis.

XxX​

Igneous hardly had a chance to roll up to his feet and get a sense of his surroundings when he was back on his knees. His vision flickered and his ear frills rang. God, were his insides rattling? It was like someone had stuck a blender in his torso and set it to frappe.

Breathe. In. Out. Was the air getting thinner?

"Punarjanm."

"W... what?"

Gibberish. The grovlazzle was hearing gibberish... in the ringing.

Blink. Breathe. This was the cloud daemon's doing, wasn't it?

He looked over the top floor of a massive tower while an armored lucario charged a red Aura Sphere. The trembling ice vulpix looked at an unconscious Xeromus-like creature with its tails frazzling in panic.

"Nnngh." Igneous grabbed his head. Another vision? Like when that damn fire butterfree went inside of him? "Stop," he rasped. "Go away! Go... away!"

The ringing only intensified, as did the pressure on his head. No... in his head?

"Punarjanm. Punarjanm."

A woman in a lab coat stood in front of him, blonde hair obscuring part of her face. She gestured to him proudly while a group of humans stared at him. Tourists, maybe? But there were machines and computers around them!


Igneous managed to grab his head with his hands and shake it. He had to find that fiery power. Fight past the rattling and ringing. Fight, damn it!

"Sach punarjanm sach."


Louder and louder. The ringing wouldn't stop. It just. Wouldn't. Stop.

Find the fire. Find the fire. The stupid powers kept popping up when the grovlazzle didn't want them, so why couldn't he get them now?

A giant moon bat burst forth from a pile of rubble with a great twister resembling Rayquaza. The machamp standing in front of him shrank back, arms ready to grapple.


"Stop it!"

Amidst the rumbling in his torso, Igneous found the spark and grasped it. The flickering in his vision faded as Honedge appeared in a gout of orange fire. Igneous hurled it forward. It went right through the wispy, yellow cloud creature in front of him, but struck the far wall. Igneous hastily flicked his wrist and Honedge carved a hole.

"Sach. Saaach!"

The cloud tried inching toward Igneous, but the rushing forward of the train sent it drifting back toward the newly-made hole in the wall. Cloudy tendrils tried to clasp some of the supply crates, but all they did was phase right through them. The cloud daemon slipped through the hole and vanished.

Igneous waited one moment, breathing heavily. He stumbled to the hole as Honedge vanished. He glanced out the hole. The cloud daemon was nothing but a wispy puddle on the dusty ground.

The grovlazzle slumped over, sighing in relief. "It's done," he wheezed. "The cloud monster... is off the train."

Silence. Igneous slowly slid his right hand up to his head and pressed against the X-transceiver. "Guys, did you hear me?"

XxX​

Iron Jugulis broke through the giant lance, but it wasn't long before another one headed straight for it. That, too, however, didn't reach the machine.

"If that's really Shimmer up there, I can't believe he's actually doing something useful!" Valkyrie said.

Noctum was more preoccupied with how strong the attacks were. Was this the power that Radiant nobility held? It concerned the mega charizard.

"Help him, then," Cyril barked. "We're less than a minute out from the bridge!"

Noctum and Valkyrie focused their combined firepower on the machine. Eternatus Gunners raced to try and protect it, but they got swept away by genesect.

"Foolishness!" Paradox sneered. "This armor is the finest we can craft. You got one lucky shot in, but it's not happening again, you filthy rebels!"

Iron Jugulis filled the air with a bevy of Air Slash crescents.

"Gah!"

Several peppered the pizza truck and Cyril growled, trying to keep it steady in midair. Noctum managed to hold his position and spewed as much fire as he could through the super scope. It didn't strike Iron Jugulis, but instead hit another one of the giant ice lances, which burst apart in a sudden steam eruption.

"What the—"

XxX​

Still hearing nothing, Igneous climbed out of the hole and onto the train roof just in time to see the giant mecha hydreigon crash into the ground while Shimmer conjured a pink shield to keep him safe from a sudden onslaught of hot air.

Smiling, Igneous jumped off from the roof. His fiery wings appeared and carried him back in the direction of the pizza truck, which was slowing up as it drifted down to land next to the train tracks. The genesect headed back toward the train. Igneous sucked in a breath, expecting to have to do evasive maneuvers, but the genesect flew right past him.

"Guys?" Igneous said, again pressing the X-transceiver tighter against the side of his head.

"Thank heavens, that thing's down!" Cyril whooped. "And the stupid Troopers are running for the hills. Mission accomplished!"

It didn't take long for Igneous to see the cosmic zoroark sliding out of the pizza truck and stretching out his arms. Valkyrie hopped off the other side of the truck and waved Igneous down.

"You got the cloud monster?" the garchomp called.

"I did!" Igneous closed the distance with the pizza truck. His volcarona wings evaporated in orange streaks and embers. He landed by the front of the truck and stumbled toward Valkyrie. "It's, uh..." The grovlazzle looked over his shoulder. Dust still littered the air, but he saw no signs of the cloud daemon. "It's nothing but a little puddle somewhere out there." He vaguely gestured with his right arm.

"That so?" Valkyrie walked up to his side, crossing her arms. "Should we try to find it? Destroy it?"

"I don't think we can." Igneous squinted. He had this vague sense when he was close to it on the train, but now he had nothing. "The train's acceleration is what carried it away, so all the winds that stupid hydreigon robot whipped up probably blew it away."

"Well, that, and a Radiant Guard squadron is leaving Casaroja and heading to your location," Cid said, a twinge of nervousness still in his voice. "Maybe try to get clear before you run into big problems?"

Igneous and Valkyrie exchanged a look. "Guess we ought to head back to the safe house?" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Pssht. Forget that." Cyril flicked his right arm dismissively. "I've gotta get this bad boy back to the outpost for repairs. That's where we're going first."

Igneous and Valkyrie exchanged another look. "I, uh, guess we can do that?" the grovlazzle said, shrugging.

A loud throat clearing followed. Igneous looked up on the truck's roof, where a still mega evolved Noctum remained strapped into the firing platform.

"Yeah, that's a fine idea and all," he said, trying to pull his head out of the super scope lens. "But can someone get me out of this thing?!"

Cyril winced. "Ah-ha... right. Knew I was forgetting something." Laughing nervously, the cosmic zoroark headed toward the roof of the truck.

XxX​

"You cannot be serious right now!"

Paradox slammed his headset on the floor of his office, shattering it. Sticky flinched, then directed one of the poipole in the room to clean it up.

"I did express my concerns about activating it so soon," the naganadel mumbled, glancing down at his tablet.

"It was overpowering them!" Paradox hissed. The deoxys' tentacles twisted into arms. "And then one of them started flinging around giant icicles like... like..."

He abruptly teleported in front of Sticky, who held the tablet up over his head in surprise. "Sir?"

"Guile Hideout's steed," Paradox said, abruptly turning around and crossing his arms. "He could conjure giant icicles, yes?"

"I believe so," Sticky said. When the emperor got like this, it was best to agree with him.

"Then the course is clear." Paradox whirled on him, his arms unfurling into blue and orange tentacles. "Get Cassius on the line. We need to reach out to that frilly vegetable about our little agreement."

The deoxys teleported past Sticky. By the time he turned around, Paradox was nearly at the office door.

"I think it's time we reminded him what he has to lose if he refuses to cooperate."

Paradox headed out the door. Sighing, Sticky looked down and pressed a few icons on his tablet. A video feed pulled up showing a video feed of one of the underground prison cells... and the spectrier lying in the middle of it, mane disheveled, hooves chipped, and patches of ghostly fur missing from its hide.

The cell door opened and a poipole floated in with a small tray of food. Sticky touched a red microphone icon on the corner of the screen.

"Stop," Sticky said.

Poipole glanced up in the direction of the cell's camera. "Mr. Sticky?"

"Emperor said to withhold the meal. We need her looking as famished as can be."

Spectrier weakly tried to lift her head. Poipole hastily turned away from her. "Understood, sir. I'll bring it back to the kitchen."

Poipole left the room and the cell door shut. Spectrier lowered her head back down, whinnying weakly.

Frowning, Sticky hastily closed the video feed and locked his tablet. He glanced at the two poipole cleaning up the broken remnants of Paradox's headset.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

Both poipole nodded apologetically and hastily swept up the fragments into a dustpan. Sticky turned and headed for the door.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, it’s been a while since I popped in to PoV and I’ve got -checks notes- quite a bit to catch up on.

So I suppose we should see how Malie is doing right about now, huh? Picking right up with…

Chapter 58

I'd say I'm pretty new to this journaling thing. Don't even remember who suggested it. The group leader? Maybe one of the Diyems? Guess my memory is getting fuzzier, but when you were once mortal, some things stick. I bet some gods have every memory filed away neatly like papers in a cabinet.

You wot m8. Though does this mean that there's a BLC-2019 and BLC-2020 among PoV's universes?

I start my "assignment" tomorrow. It's not that strict or well-defined, really. I'm traveling to other worlds and cataloging them. Like the people watching I'd sometimes do when I visited my grandparents in the Big Apple. When I go to another world, I'll be bound by whatever rules govern it, so I won't be nearly as powerful. It's kind of relieving to hear that, to be honest. Even though I've had plenty of time to practice with my powers, I'm always worried about overdoing it. Especially now that I've got a new body for my core.

This is some version of Shane writing this journal entry, I can already tell. Since the writer is just casually popping in names for real-world locations here.

I'm glad that, if I find spirits I need to guide or encounter something serious, there are people I can reach out to for advice. I've done enough "leading." I'm content to watch the days go by.

I honestly can't tell whether or not this is THE Shane or a variant of him from that "close but no cigar" version of GL's world. Guess we'll find out later in the story also, this is going to turn out to be Loki all over again later on in the plot, isn't it?

After realizing this wasn't the city the team expected to find, no one protested Gene's decision to quickly land the ship on the outskirts. Apparently, it had something called a "cloaking device," that would keep it hidden. The mewtwo parked it on a large grassy knoll overlooking the city and its strange buildings with roofs of wavy tiles. Like an ocean of tiles if oceans were brown instead of blue.

Well, that's some ominous music there. If not quite what I was expecting for an active volcanic eruption.

The moment Yuna floated out of the ship, her body shriveled. Sirens blared. People's cries and the rhythmic thumping of footsteps on gravel filled the air. So did a rainbow assortment of different flying pokémon. The drakloak spotted a flygon carrying what must have been a human family, while multiple pelipper held several tiny humans — children, probably — in their giant orange beaks. They kept stealing glances at the lava suspended overhead. No doubt fearful the time freeze would stop.

Well, those footsteps totally aren't ominous at all there! No sir!

But some of the flying pokémon weren't heading toward the ocean in the distance. Yuna spotted magnezone and metang ridden by humans in blue uniforms. It reminded her a bit of what Seifer wore before he got fired. She glanced at the keldeo who himself was looking at his flanks with a wistful longing in his eyes.

... Wait, what do law enforcement in Aeon rock anyways given that Yuna finds the premise of police uniforms this alien?

"It looks like there's a police force trying to lead an evacuation," Seifer said, sighing. "This isn't the time to get nostalgic!" Widget's cheek bolts revved up in their sockets.

"This is the time to take action! To save people!"

Ah yes, I see that Widget's Hero Mode programming is still active. So there was something good that came of him being cooked up in a lab at Paradox's orders.

Yuna squinted. She thought Widget's behavior was a bit silly, but he had a point. They couldn't sit around.

"Hey, Mom?"

Leo poked his fake dreepy head into Yuna's line of sight. "Do you think any of these people are from our dimension?"

Yuna: "Given that I've never heard of 'Malie City' in my life, I'll heavily take the under on that, Leo." ^^;

That was what she originally assumed. Since the city name didn't match what the team expected, however, all bets were off. The drakloak shrugged and nudged Leo's head. "Whatever the case, I think we need to help."

I suppose we'll find out whether or not it's actually successful or if in true Squaresoft protagonist fashion, the gang makes things worse.

"Help how?" Nikki scratched her head. "I've never talked to a human. Would they even understand us?"

"Well, you do have a super powerful, telepathy-equipped psychic on your side." Gene swam on his back through midair, tapping his temple. "If anyone can get the message across, it's me."

Oh hey, that Discord emote makes an appearance in the story again! :V

"Then why not find someone who looks like they're in charge so we can get to the bottom of this?" Seifer said, squinting at the mewtwo.

Gene stopped swimming and winked at Seifer. "Of course. Shouldn't be too hard." He jerked his head behind him. "One of those officers has to be calling the shots. I'll pick 'em out quick as a flash."

It's not going to be remotely quick as a flash, I can already tell.

He took off for the nearest metang-riding policewoman, leaving the rest of Team Bastion behind. "What do we do in the meantime?" Widget paced around, his starcloud swirling around his neck. "Maybe get a better sense of what's going on with the volcano?"

"You wanna walk up to a bunch of lava suspended in midair?" Nikki slowly bowed. "Sure thing, be my guest. It's your funeral."

... That actually makes me wonder if Widget had Memory Drives made for him by Paradox or not, even if he obviously probably doesn't have any with him right now.

"We shouldn't stand around waiting for Gene," the cosmic type: full countered. "Not when a whole city's in danger!"

"A volcano's too much for some of us to handle." The toxtricity crossed her arms. "I bet the heat alone will fry your circuits or some ****."

You see, I'm not so sure about that given that Paradox built Widget as a prototype for a new Zodiark.

Widget opened his beak, then closed it. He shuffled away from Nikki, brushing his gold forelegs together and looking around nervously. "What about Drakloak?" Widget looked at Yuna. "You said something about that chocolate noodle that burst out of your pendant earlier."

Before Yuna could respond, her Soul Dew glistened. Rayquaza's small, black head poked out of it. "Now, see here! Tis Sir Noodle!" He blinked several times. "No, wait, I meant Rayquaza! At least have the decency to address me by name."

Amazing.
:rayblep:


"Okay, Sir Noodle Rayquaza." Widget stepped toward Yuna. "Isn't there some way you can help?"

"I said my piece back on the ship." Rayquaza looked down glumly. "Mayhaps my mega evolution could allow it, but I doth not know if I can achieve it anymore."

I mean, he's literally undead right now so... yeah, I can understand Gallian's skepticism here. Always worth a shot, though.

Widget's ears and head crest drooped. Yuna believe Rayquaza, but could tell Widget wouldn't except that answer.

"Look, Widget—"

"Yo."

"Meep!"

Yuna shriveled up at Gene's surprise return, inadvertently sucking Rayquaza back into the Soul Dew. "Cripes! A little warning next time!" she hissed over Leo's giggling.

I kinda wonder if this spot was a little too barebones on description, since I admittedly had to do a double-take to figure out that that wasn't Widget who said "yo" when I first saw that line.

Gene: "Look, are you going to let me speak here, or what?"
:gardexhausted:


"I love it when your body does that," the fake dreepy chirped, clapping his hands.

Yuna: "Leo, please don't." >_<;

Gene landed on the grass, smirking. "That was the warning." He snapped his fingers and pointed his right hand up. "Meet Lieutenant Molayne."

A particularly pale human rode toward them on a magnezone. His blue helmet didn't fully hide his blonde hair and, even though he wore goggles over his eyes, Yuna spotted bags. Given the circumstances, she didn't blame the guy for being exhausted.

Wait, who now-?

- Fires up Bulbapedia -

Oh, it's that guy. Boy am I getting old since I completely forgot about him at first.

"This is your vaunted team?" Molyane sounded as tired as Yuna thought he looked. "Good grief. First Lanakila Volcano and now Mewtwo shows up out of the blue with some random pack of kiddos?" He practically leaned over the strange guard rail surrounding Magnezone's head. "I'd tell Magnezone to give me a jolt to make sure I'm not dreaming, but I did that already."

Oh, so Molyane's making the
:gardexhausted:
face in live time, huh? :V

"Oi, who you calling a kid?" Nikki's mohawk sparked.

"Bulu's horns!" Molayne tightly gripped Magnezone's guardrail. "She can talk?!"

I... was not expecting that, honestly. But I suppose this story does have a hard separation between feral and non-feral Pokémon. So non-ferals speak in human-intelligible languages, noted.

"I can do a lot more than that." Nikki cracked her knuckles. "We're here to fix stuff, so give us stuff that needs fixing!"

Yuna glanced at Gene, who appeared just as surprised as Molayne. She figured he used his psychic powers to translate. Guess not. Weird.

Okay, never mind, that's apparently taking Gene aback, too. Must be a quirk of the new dimension / universe that they're in.

"Is it?" Reshiram hummed in her mind. "We could all read that emergency sign before, right? Why wouldn't we be able to understand the people here?"

It's the
"why" I'm concerned with. Though Yuna knew Reshiram wouldn't have an explanation. She'd have to keep this thought in mind for later.

Minor punctuation oops there. Though oh, there's some sort of translator microbe effect going on like there was in BLC2, I see. Wonder if that's Leo's doing or if something deeper is going on.

Molayne pinched his brow, nearling cupping a finger underneath his goggles. "This has gotta be some sort of Plasma Society shenanigans. I mean, Team Plasma made Mewtwo. There's a dozen movies and counting on it. Why wouldn't that N guy come up with pokémon-to-human translators?"

Wait, is the 'Plasma Society' a legitimate post-TP thing in some branch of canon? Or was that cooked up wholesale for this setting since it's meant to be off-spec from canon in the first place?

"No idea what the hell a Team Plasma is," Gene said, nonchalantly waving Molayne off. "Did I not mention we're from another dimension? Because we're from another dimension."

Silence. Molayne rubbed his temples, groaning. "You could've led with that."

Nikki: "Really? Since I get the distinct feeling that you'd have just looked at us and called us crazy." :|

"Wait, you're not surprised?" Yuna raised a brow.

... Oh right, Alola canonically has interdimensional research set up right in the region. Guess Molyane's seen quite a few things leak out into the neighborhood.

Something on Molayne's right chest crackled to life. A radio, if Yuna had to guess. He grabbed the black square and pressed the button. "What's the situation?"

"It's terrible, sir! Turtonator stampede!" a panicked female voice cried.

"What?"

Molyane: "... They're Turtonator. How are you not just getting out of the way at a brisk jog?"
:eltywtf:


Yuna didn't think a single word could sound that exhausting. How sleep deprived was this guy?

Guy must make Nanu look well-rested and energetic at this rate. Especially with the repeated mention of bags under his eyes.

"Turtonator don't stampede," Molayne said.

"They do when a rock slide's carrying them right in the direction of one of our city evacuation paths!"

Well, that would explain why this Turtonator stampede can't be outrun right now. ^^;

Which is just a lovely combination now that I think about it given that the things are coated with natural explosives.

"Perfect." Gene snapped his fingers. "I can handle a rock-and-turtonator slide no problem. And it'll give us a closer look at the volcano."

Careful what you wish for, Gene... while you're powerful, this degree of nonchalance makes me think that you'll be in for a bit more than you bargained for.

"I can't just have civilians throwing themselves in like that—" Molayne stopped himself. "Wait, what am I saying? This isn't the time for semantics." He tapped Magnezone with his right foot. "Gimme the keldeo. People see a Sword of Justice helping with evacuation and maybe it'll ease some of the panic."

Seifer: "You can just ask, you know!" >.<
Molyane: "... Okay, it's official, I need to sleep nice and long after this given that I'm hearing a pony talk to me-"
:grohno~2:

Yuna: "Different dimension, remember."
Molyane: "Right, that's a thing."

"You can have him and the bird." Gene jerked his head in Jade's direction.

"Yes, sir." Jade saluted, but smacked her face with her right wing. "Ow! Stupid big yaoi lugia wings."

... Boy did whoever pull off Jade’s memory swap pick a winner for a source for replacements.
:copyber:


Seifer didn't acknowledge the order, however. Yuna saw him mouthing "Sword of Justice" to himself repeatedly, until Molayne blew a whistle and he jumped to attention with a whinny.

I can see that the moniker is going to Seifer's head in live-time. He's not going to shut up about being a Sword of Justice for a long while, is he?
:loltias:


"Get your acts together and follow me," Molayne said, turning toward the city atop Magnezone. "The rest of you, get to the northwest on the double."

He zoomed off. Jade flapped after him with Seifer on her back.

"You heard him." Gene cracked his knuckles. "I'll play turtonator wrangler while you guys try and get a closer look at the volcano."

Yuna glanced at the lava frozen in time. Well, it's some semblance of a plan...

I honestly have been kinda shocked at how well Gene manages to manage by largely just winging things. I'd be more concerned otherwise, but with his track record in this story, it honestly feels like it's going to be "it'll work out until it suddenly, shockingly doesn't" sorts of things, and I'm not convinced that a mission to deal with some random Turtonator will be the moment where his luck finally runs out.

We'll see, I guess.

Noctum assumed sewers were similar to damp caves: dark, cramped, and panic-inducing for pokémon with crippling rock weaknesses like charizard. Instead, Igneous and Valkyrie led Team Bureau into a spacious area with large, arched ceilings of gray and red stone. Heck, Noctum could have flown alongside Yiazmat if he really wanted.

... Wait, is there an actual sewer level in this style in Bayo3 or something? Since I'll admit that I did a double-take at them coming across sewers this big since while a staple in fiction, they're rare outside of very large cities IRL.

The black charizard stared at the water streaming between two large stone walkways littered with random metal tiles. Some of them had these machines with levers and wheels and colorful buttons that Noctum had to resist the urge to press. He followed tubing to metal sheets in the waterway. Darker water headed toward the metal sheets, and lighter water flowed away from them.

"It's like magic," Noctum muttered, scratching his chin while he walked beside Igneous.

Igneous: "... Noctum, have you seriously never seen machinery before in your life?"
:eltywtf:

Noctum: "I mean, I was assuming that we'd be going through some caves with water and... stuff flowing through it, so this is a bit surprising to me." ^^;

"They're treatment and filtration systems," Igneous scoffed. "Dirty sewer water goes in, the dirt and grime gets filtered, chemicals purify what's left, and cleaner water goes out."

inb4 said systems get rekt in like 2 minutes and they wind up having to wade through said "dirt and grime" in short order.

Noctum scrutinized one of the metal sheets. He couldn't see any of the stuff the grovlazzle described, so as far as the charizard was concerned, it was magic.

"Something something 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'" is in full effect here.

"It's a lot cleaner than I expected," Valkyrie said. The garchomp kept at the front of the group, eyes darting around. Noctum wondered if she expected some sort of ambush.

The genesect wouldn't go into the sewers, would they?

I mean, if it's roomy enough for you to fly in, are you really going to rule it out, Noctum?

"What were you expecting, exactly?" Yiazmat wondered. Unlike the others, the dragapult flew over the water, eyes trained in front of her.

"Muk and grimer," Valkyrie replied. "There are rainbow-colored ones here in Radiance that can clean up pollution. Thought cities employed them to work in sewers like these."

Oh, so the default Muk and Grimer in Radiance are Alolan ones, huh?

"Don't forget weezing," Igneous added. "Though I guess they're better suited for filtering air."

And G-Weezing is the norm here too, though that makes sense given all the Galar influence.

"If I had to guess, Polaris automated all this stuff. Put those muk and grimer out of jobs," Valkyrie said.

Noctum didn't think it was that simple. "Don't they need someone to, like, check on the equipment?" He figured workers had to be around somewhere. Would they try to chase the team away?

They have robots doing that, don't they? Since it just feels like a very Polaris thing to even automate their janitors out of a job.

"There are totally some engineers who maintain this stuff," Cyril chimed in through the X-transceiver. "My guess is they make rounds at specific times and otherwise keep tabs from a more... pleasant location."

"Wait." Noctum froze, grabbing his tail and bringing it close to his body. "Does that mean... there are cameras here? Are we being watched?"

Narrator:
Image


"Of course there are cameras. How else are they supposed to keep watch of this place?"

Noctum stiffened and gripped his tail tighter. "W-Why didn't anyone say so in the first place?!" The black charizard looked around in a panic. "How is this any better than taking our chances with the crowd?"

Yiazmat: "Because I specifically vetoed the idea of whipping up a riot, Noctum? Moral repugnance aside, can you even imagine the diplomatic fallout of me as the Aeon Queen being caught doing such a thing?"
:unimpressed:


Igneous silently raised his right hand, producing some sort of rod. It flickered with light not unlike Noctum's tail flame.

"What does a stick have to do with this?" Noctum said.

"It's a jammer, you dolt," Valkyrie scoffed.

Oh, so they did have a solution to the cameras after all.

Noctum: "Again, these 'technology' terms of yours don't mean anything, so explain it slowly to me?"
Igneous: "The machine makes the cameras we're nearby go out as we pass them." -_-;
Noctum: "... Wait, but can't the engineers just notice that the cameras are going out in a specific order-?"
Igneous: "Look, just focus on making your way forward before someone catches up, alright?" >_>;

Noctum stumbled. His wings unfolded to stop him from taking a plunge into the sewer water. "Jam, like for eating? Are you magically covering the cameras in jam?" He looked down at his armor-covered belly and mumbled, "I could go for some jam. Grape jam and toast."

Valkyrie facepalmed.

- Igneous side-eyes Yiazmat -
Igneous: "How on earth did you dispatch him out here as a bodyguard with this little preparation for how things work in Radiance?"
:eltyunamused:

Yiazmat: "Look, my impression was that he and Baraz would merely need to watch over Yuna around her school, alright?" >_>;

Cyril's chuckles crackled through Noctum's X-transceiver. "That rod emits a signal to block nearby cameras. And only cameras. Can't have the sewer system going offline on us, after all."

Oh, so the engineers could in theory notice the cameras going out in a suspiciously fixed sequence. Guess that's a reason not to dawdle down here. ^^;

"That still means we can be tracked, doesn't it?" Yiazmat said, eyes darting left and right as she rounded a corner in the sewer next to Valkyrie. "Whoever's watching could trace the path of blocked cameras to find us."

Oh, so the plot actually acknowledges that, huh. Yiazmat's certainly a canny one, though I suppose that dealing with the Ryujin gives her a certain level of savviness regarding technology that the average Aeon lacks.

Valkyrie clapped her arm fins together. "Which is why we need to stop dawdling to answer questions from dense charizard and start picking up the pace." The garchomp leaned forward, walking faster over the stone and metal corridor. Igneous jogged after her.

I see I was right about them being on a time limit. Though considering how things work in this story, I'll take the under on them getting through this sewer without getting into a scrap.

Noctum's tail flame shrank slightly. With weak flaps of his wings, he took to the air to avoid holding up the group with his stubbier legs.

"Do you always get like this on your assignments?" he wondered.

"No. Because I usually work alone." Valkyrie stopped at a sewer intersection. "And I don't have to go very far to take out a target. We done playing twenty questions?"

I'm actually somewhat curious now as to how much Valkyrie is based off Scrapper 142 from Thor: Ragnarok, since this general demeanor and snippiness feels very familiar right now.

Noctum's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry. Still not up to speed on all this stuff."

"Neither is your queen, but she's kept quiet," Valkyrie huffed.

Yiazmat tapped her index fingers together. "Admittedly I have more experience from prior trips here."

Yiazmat: "Sakaki was quite helpful with that, really. Does a great job at being an informative guide."

And correspondence with Sakaki, Noctum silently added.

Well, yeah. That would certainly help.

"Okay, head right and then the third corridor on the right side should get you into the station," Cyril instructed.

Noctum: "Wait, what do you mean 'should' get us into the station?"
:ohnowen:

Cyril: "Look, I'm running off the assumption that these schematics are accurate, alright? If anything about them is off, you'll have to improvise."

With a running start, Valkyrie glided over the sewer water onto the opposite metal platform so she could proceed. Igneous followed after her, manifesting fiery volcarona wings to cross the gap. Noctum and Yiazmat exchanged a look, then flew after them.

"You fly well for someone meant to be grounded," Yiazmat said to Igneous. The grovlazzle didn't respond, but the slight wince told Noctum he wasn't pleased with the compliment.

I see that someone's touchy about being reminded of his deal with the devil like a dozen chapters back.

"Found the spot." Valkyrie waved the others over while pointing at the wall with her other arm.

When Noctum reached the garchomp, he saw the metal corridor that gave way to a grated ramp ending at a cold, gray door with both a Polaris logo and an icon of a train car. Plainly obvious, but the strange black square on the right side of the door gave Noctum pause.

"Wait." The black charizard crossed his arms and squinted. "This door is locked, isn't it?"

"Yup." Valkyrie walked toward it anyway.

Noctum: "Wait, but then how do we get in it?" .-.
Valkyrie: "I'm clearly going to do a funny butt-shaking dance in front of the door so that way it'll open. Gee, what do you think Zardy? There's a lock, I'm good at breaking them to get at targets, you do the math." >_>;

Eyes widening, Noctum flew after her. "Hang on. You're not about to try and bust it down, are you?"

Valkyrie paused to smirk at Noctum. "Please. We have better ways of dealing with that."

Noctum blinked. "We do?"

I'll admit that I hadn't expected Val not to take the direct route. Though I suppose that this is a sign that Cyril is providing remote support to hack security systems or something like that.

"Well, I do." Cyril chuckled through the X-transceiver.

A few seconds passed and the black box suddenly lit up green. Hisses and whirrs echoed down the corridor as the floor magically swallowed up the steel door.

"... oh," Noctum whispered. Cyril must have used some of his magical machine hacking.

Yeah, I called it. I'm a bit surprised that that worked given that the QN is significantly further ahead of Radiance tech-wise, but then I remembered that a huge chunk of its tech is hand-me-downs from it, so it figures that there'd be overlaps in systems and programming languages.

"You coming or not?" Valkyrie called, already halfway up the ramp alongside Igneous and Yiazmat.

"Yeah!" Noctum flapped his wings, but stopped short when loud rumbling filled his ears. He looked down. Definitely not my belly.

Noctum: "Um... Cyril? Th-That's supposed to happen, right?"
:ohnowen:


The rumbling got louder, accompanied by the whining of metal grinding against metal. Instinctual fear of a cave in gripped Noctum. His tail flame shrank. His heart thundered in his chest. "What's going on?" His pupils narrowed. "We have to get out of here!"

"Relax." Valkyrie held up her arms and waved them. "The train's leaving. Don't you remember the noise from when you went to Herbrides?"

Noctum: "... Oh yeah, right. That's a thi-" - Beat moment - Noctum: "Wait, but weren't we supposed to stop that thing?" ._.;
Valkyrie: "From being attacked, and it could always be a different train..."

Noctum's heart rate steadied. "It's... much different underground." He tapped his claws together nervously.

"Wait, but we're trying to catch that train, are we not?" Yiazmat said. The dragapult shot toward the door. "Quickly!"

Yeah, I knew that I wasn't misremembering things. Looks like this mission got a bit harder for the gang.

Igneous and Valkyrie exchanged concerned looks, then dashed after her. Noctum again brought up the rear, entering a red and brown stairwell with a visible elevator shaft next to it. The elevator platform was on the ground level, so the black charizard chose to fly up and make up ground with the others.

"Oi, Cyril, what gives?" Valkyrie growled, taking the stairs two or three at a time. "I thought you said the train was scheduled to leave in forty minutes. We couldn't have been down there that long."

"Yeah, I know," the cosmic zoroark responded. "They must've given an incorrect departure time. Whatever's on that train, they really don't want anyone finding out about it."

Oh yeah, that's totally not ominous at all there.
:copyber:


"Well, it's a freight train," Igneous said. He was the first to reach the top of the staircase, with Noctum emerging through a gap in the elevator shaft not long after. The brown door in front of the grovlazzle didn't have a lock. "It can't move that fast, but I have no idea how we'd catch it."

Valkyrie: - motions at wings -
Igneous: "... Right, that's a thing. Assuming we have the space to fly after it."

Igneous gestured to the door and Valkyrie rammed her shoulder against it, opening it. A dimly lit hallway stretched out in front of Team Bureau. Yellow lights lined the ceiling and floor, some shaped like arrows pointing in different directions.

"Which way to the tracks?" Yiazmat wondered, hovering into the hallway. Noctum could barely see her under the lights. "Perhaps they left some loading equipment around that we can use to get a better idea of what happened."

"Head for the fourth intersection, go left, and take that hallway to the second door," Cyril responded. "That'll put you at the track the train left from. I've got the camera footage."

Oh, so they are going to chase after the train by air. Dunno how fast Team Bureau can go, but in theory Val at least ought to be able to catch up nicely.

"Got it." Yiazmat nodded to the others. "Let's work in teams of two. Igneous, you're with me. Valkyrie and Noctum, bring up the rear."

Valkyrie: "And don't get any funny ideas about hitting on me, okay? We need to stay focused right now." >_>;

The garchomp looked ready to protest, but Yiazmat appeared in the doorway, grabbed a startled igneous, and shot off down the hallway.

"Fine." Valkyrie licked her lips. "Keep up with me, dork." Then she took off running.

Huh, more touchy about the assignment than I expected. But I suppose it makes sense given that Val is more in an "annoyed" mood towards Noctum than an "endeared" one given that she's on a mission right now.

Sighing, Noctum flew after her, wings beating hard to keep pace. The black charizard had no idea why they were rushing if the train had already left. They had lost the point of coming to the station in the first place. Why skulk around and risk getting caught by Radiant Guard just for a chance at finding some boxes or machinery?

Valkyrie: "Noctum, I'm a Garchomp. We can outspeed freight trains in the air with our eyes closed." >:|
Noctum: "... Wait, that isn't just a thing during dives like with Talonflame?" ^^;

"We're almost at the railyard door," Igneous announced. "Cyril, are you looking at the video footage at all?"

Noctum flapped his wings faster. Even with a passenger, Yiazmat was as fast as ever. He and Valkyrie had only passed the third intersection, with nothing but red and brown stones and tiny yellow lights surrounding them. Noctum wasn't surprised no one was around. There was nothing here worth guarding, from what he could tell.

"Yeah. The genesect follow the train as it leaves the station," Cyril reported. "I guess they did show up to offer an armored escort and— wait, hold on. The hell is that yellow cloud by the middle car?"

Well that's a poor omen for how much longer that train's going to be around.

Valkyrie tucked her head down, increasing her speed. Noctum's tail flame flickered. Though he kept flapping his wings, Valkyrie was faster on the ground than he was in the air. He had a pretty good idea of why she was running faster, though.

... Oh right, I completely forgot that Val was grounded from the experiments done to her at Citadark. Guess that explains the freakout earlier about being able to catch the train.

"Is the cloud still there?" Noctum asked.

"No. It went inside the train," Cyril said. "Nobody even seemed to notice it. Let me change to a different cam—"

"Xeromus!"

Igneous: "... You're kidding me." >_<

Noctum sucked in a sharp breath. Of all the things Cid could have blurted out through the X-transceiver, that was arguably the worst option. A metallic slam sounded ahead of the black charizard. He guessed Igneous or Yiazmat had opened the door into the railyard. He still had sight of Valkyrie after making the turn at the fourth intersection.

"How can you be sure of that?" Cyril asked. "The footage isn't that great."

"I recognize the cloak of the monster who's attacked me multiple times," Cid responded.

Cid: "Also, seriously, how many other Pokémon are just strutting around looking like that?"
Cyril: "... Fair point. Look guys, just get out there and make it snappy!"

Valkyrie went through the railyard door. Noctum reached it before it fully shut and thrust it open with his right arm. Bright daylight forced him to throw an arm up to shield his face. He landed on cold, stone ground, blinking rapidly until he finally adjusted to the daylight.

If the sewer's ceilings had high arches, the railyard's were massive. Large red arches with glass panels in between that tinted the daylight slightly orange. Red train tracks ran in neat parallel lines, alternating with red brick platforms for passengers to board.

Valkyrie: "Noctum, that's just a train shed."
:eltyunamused:

Noctum: "Look, we don't have anything like this back in Aeon, okay?"

In fact, red was the dominant theme. Red benches. Red railings. Red ramps and stairs leading down to the boarding platforms. Blank screens with red borders that probably showed rail schedules under normal circumstances. Even the garbage cans were red!

I mean, you're in Casaroja, so...

It was a bit much, in Noctum's opinion. But this wasn't the time to critique the interior design. "Anyone see Xeromus?" The black charizard looked around, but outside of his teammates he didn't see anyone in the railyard.

"No." Igneous hovered in the air with his fiery wings, Leaf Blades at the ready. "We must have missed him.

:mizuDoubt:


"So what are those things flying in the distance, then?" Yiazmat wondered, hovering back and forth the closest to where the railyard opened to the outside, with train tracks running in different directions to exit the city. "They remind me of metallic beheeyem."

Noctum's tail sparked. Oh no. He flew toward Yiazmat, following the dragapult's gaze. Sure enough, he saw Eternatus Gunners flying away from the city. Noctum looked over his shoulder. "Eternatus Troopers! I bet they're going after the train!"

Noctum: "I didn't know that they could even cross over from the Qliphoth like this!"
:grohno~2:


"Seriously?" Valkyrie jogged toward them. "Okay, there's got to be something going on with that train. Why send a bunch of troops to attack if it's just a simple supply run?"

Narrator: "Because it's not a simple supply run."

Yiazmat crossed her arms. "To demoralize the enemy, perhaps? It could be seen as a wartime tactic. Deprive civilians of supplies to entice the enemy to surrender."

Noctum resisted the urge to point out how concerning it was Yiazmat immediately jumped to such a thought. No trains existed in Aeon until after Yiazmat became queen, meaning she must have come up with the idea herself in case the treaty went south.

:copyka~1:


Well, Yiazmat certainly isn't above getting her claws dirty, I see. Even if I question how well this would've worked out in the long run given the tech disparities.

"Is it worth getting involved, though?" Valkyrie crossed her arms and squinted. "Let the empire and the genesect blast each other apart. Makes our lives easier. Besides, our assignment was to investigate what the genesect are up to. We know they're not disrupting the protests, so we're done here."

The garchomp was right. Plus, they were four pokémon and only Yiazmat had a chance of catching up to the Troopers and genesect. It sounded like the safest thing to do was go back and plan their next move from the safety house.

... At least, Noctum thought that until Igneous abruptly whirled around, Leaf Blades igniting and snarled, "I know you're there, Xeromus! Show yourself!"

Noctum: "We could've gone back to the safety house and moved on but nooooo..." >_>;

Wheezing laughter emerged behind Noctum. He flew away from it, but spun around in midair and remained on guard. Black, inky tendrils twisted and coiled around one another, settling into the tattered cloak draped over Xeromus' large body. His gray, beady eyes focused on Igneous.

Noctum: "Well I'm not going to be sleeping well for the next few days after this."
:uhhh:


"Isn't it funny? How the ether spawns such clashing forces?" Xeromus' helmeted head swayed from side to side. "It says conflicting things, yet those words all point toward the same truth."

"Shut up!" Igneous spewed flaming bullet seeds at Xeromus, but he vanished in a puff of dark smoke, reappearing beside Valkyrie.

Oh, so we're going to get a motive rant from Xeromus in this chapter, huh? Since this sure feels like it's building up to a motive rant.

"Don't chase them. Retreat," he rasped. "Because your choices don't matter."

Valkyrie tried to slash him with dragon claws, but he again disappeared. Xeromus reappeared upside-down in midair. Noctum wondered if he should try and attack, but thought it useless. Even with that bulky helmet and heavy chains, Xeromus effortlessly teleported circles around them.

"Why are you here?" Noctum growled. At least, keeping him babbling would stop him from attacking... right?

Okay, I'm convinced that you're drawing influence from Loki, since this vibes pretty hard with the stuff that went down in the S1 finale to that show.

"I was seeing off a friend." Xeromus sounded jovial. He locked eyes with Igneous again. "I'm sure you're familiar with him."

The grovlazzle's eyes widened. His tails curled up and smoldered. "Damn it! That yellow cloud Cyril saw... it was the monster I saw him summon when I passed out!"

"A monster? I see. So, that is how you would view our savior." Xeromus shook his head, coughs rattling his helmet. "Then the ether still digs its claws into you. Just as it sends two opposing sides at one another, knowing the only outcome is that of stagnation."

And Xeromus continues his grand tradition of doing his hardest to mainline Jena Anderson vibes from Astral Chain. I blame the disheveled aesthetic and cryptic banter about how everything the protags know is a lie.

Noctum had... no idea what Xeromus was talking about, but it got a reaction out of Igneous. Leaf blades fizzling out, he gripped his head and shook it. "You put... a daemon on that train! You want it to attack Venish!"

"A worthless omen like me has no real desires," Xeromus replied, shaking his head amidst another coughing fit. "This is about Natus offering his Love to those who have suffered enough. Saving them from the ether's steady march toward stagnation. Turning back," he glanced at Valkyrie, "is what the ether wants. It continues that march."

This 'love' is going to turn out to be something along the lines of 'everyone is freed from the burden of mortal existence' or something like that, isn't it? Since I'm getting those sorts of vibes from Xeromus.

There was one thing Noctum could try. Based on a hunch Yuna had. He clenched his fists. "Why are you doing this, Nova? You still have a real desire! Gene is still here... hoping for your return!"

Whelp, looks like we're going to find out real fast whether or not that theory Yuna had was right or not.

Xeromus didn't even acknowledge Noctum. He vanished in another puff of smoke and reappeared where the railyard opened to the outside. "I can't influence you, because nothing I do matters. Nothing I say matters. The ether will continue marching on its path regardless what happens. Natus will try to fight it through sharing His love, but who he gets to share it with falls on a choice only you can make." Xeromus looked at Igneous again, before another coughing fit overtook him.

"The train route to Venish... it crosses a bridge, yes?" he continued, turning his back to the group. "An old, stone bridge over a quaint little lake with a quaint little village beside it."

... Oh, so basically, they have to choose between sacrificing Venish and sacrificing this village short of finding a third option to take, huh?
:copyka2~1:


Yiazmat blasted fireballs from her horns at Xeromus, but spectral chains emerged from his cloak and strangled them, snuffing out the flames.

"If the ether's forces clash for too long, they may destroy the bridge. Keh heh..." Wheezing stifled Xeromus' excitement. "And then the train shall fall. And the quaint little lake with its quaint little village will welcome Natus' embrace with open arms.

Yeah, I knew it.

"Or, perhaps, the train makes it across... but the fighting continues into Venish." Xeromus slowly turned around. "The paths look different, but the ending is the same. Unless, that is, you choose to act." He looked at Igneous again.

Igneous: "Wait, why are you looking at me like that?" O_ó;

The grovlazzle responded by summoning... a crimson honedge? He hurled it at Xeromus and, for the first time, Noctum saw genuine alarm in the beast's eyes. He didn't teleport or parry, but lunged out of the way.

"Keh heh. Such fiery defiance." Xeromus wheezed heavily. "I'm glad... Natus chose you, to accept His special gift."

... So Natus is Ahsen? I didn't see that coming, but I suppose we know who Xeromus is working for now.

He shuffled away from Team Bureau. "I can't wait... to see... what you choose. I'm sure... it will be interesting."

My money is on "try to take a third option and mess things up" since that feels like the most Squaresoft outcome to this.

Igneous dove toward the sword, but Xeromus vanished in a cloud of shadowy chains before he could grab it. "Damn it!" Embers smoldered on the grovlazzle's tail.

"He's bluffing," Valkyrie growled. "He has to be, right?"

"He's not." Cid tittered in Noctum's ear frill. "There is a rather long bridge on the route to Venish. It never got renovated because it's a historical spot for the nearby town."

Noctum: "And they seriously just thought it was okay to send trains laden with dangerous cargoes over it?!"
:grohno~2:

Cid: "I mean, does it really seem like the leadership of Radiance really cares about the little 'mon?" -_-;

Noctum swallowed hard. "Then... do we try and chase after them? Only the queen is fast enough to make up ground."

"I think Cyril has an idea. He ran off," Cid said.

"Hell yeah I do." Cyril's shout startled Noctum, who nearly pulled off the X-transceiver. "Noctum, open a rift to the entrance of my outpost."

Oh, so they are going to take a third option, I see. Though I wonder if their brilliant plan is going to be to yeet the train into the Qliphoth. Also, are we going to see someone suplex it?

"Uh... okay." The black charizard was skeptical, but he figured that Cyril might have had a ship for the team to use. He flew outside and concentrated on the Malice Crystal in his stomach. The jagged purple rift splintered open in front of him. An engine's roar followed and Noctum had seconds to fly out of the way before a rounded vehicle painted to look like a piplup drifted out of the rift and skidded to a halt on the boundary between the railyard and the outside tracks.

"What the hell?" Valkyrie's jaw slackened. "Is that... a freaking pizza truck?"

PoV never ceases to amaze me with how effortlessly it blends drama with the absurd. Since I don't think that there's any other story out there that would pull off a moment like this.

Cyril: "And so what if it is? You needed a way to catch up with that train, didn't you?"

The truck had a piplup head, complete with an orange beak that sported black spokes on either side, and eyes representing windows. One of them rolled down and the cosmic zoroark stuck his head out. He wore a pokebase cap resembling a piplup's head.

"A modified pizza truck, thank you very much!" Cyril said. "That old clunker hovership we drove around Eterna City in can't catch up to the train with the head start it has. This baby's got some... special features. Now, hop in. We've got a train to catch."

You totally need to make a commission of this thing one day since this scene sounds like it'd be quite a sight to behold with everyone's dumbfounded expressions at this Piplup pizza truck.

The piplup's torso, which had a picture of a piplup with a comical mustache, chef's hat, and white apron holding a pizza box reading "Pippino's Pizza," opened up on the same side as Cyril. Instead of any sort of oven or kitchen area like a food truck supposedly had, the black charizard saw strange monitors and black leather seats.

Carrying over from Gene's choice of seating from his starship, I see. The Resistance clearly has a thing for comfortable seating.

He took a step forward, but Cyril thumped his right arm against the side of the truck. "Not you. I need you and the queen covering our six. Got it?"

Noctum spread his wings out and looked skeptically at them. "Are you sure? I'm not nearly as fast a flier."

"I'm sure," Cyril said. Igneous and Valkyrie had climbed aboard. Both looked at Noctum and shrugged.

Cyril: "Noctum, you can literally open interdimensional portals with your Malice Crystal." :|
- Beat moment -
Noctum: "Right, I knew that."

"This better work, Cyril," the grovlazzle growled.

Cyril smirked. "Trust me. If I can get a pizza across Eterna City in thirty minutes or less, I can catch a train." He ducked his head back inside and rolled up the window. The rear door also closed as the engine roared to life once again.

Ah, so the thing burns something for fuel given that its engine makes a noise. But you can't say that it doesn't have road presence. Absurd, but road presence nonetheless.

"And we're off!" Cyril declared. The truck weaved into a spot between two sets of train tracks and took off across the dirt.

Startled, Noctum scrambled into the air and flew after the truck. Yiazmat passed him almost immediately.

The black charizard gulped. I sure hope this works.

Well, regardless of whether or not it does, y'all are going to be legends when this hits the headlines.
:loltias:

Alright, and time for the obligatory end-of-readthrough recap.

It was a bit of a transitional chapter this time, but it's definitely the wildest transitional chapter I've remembered reading in some time, since... yeah, not too many other stories would pull a moment like the pizza truck's entrance. Definitely helped for keeping me on my toes, ditto the subtle reveals here and there about things like how the dimension Team Bastion stumbled into worked or Xeromus' seeming true allegiance.

There were a couple of minor typos and areas that had room for improvement, but otherwise I don't really have any complaints about this chapter. It did its job, and it's got me itching to jump into Chapter 59 to see how this craziness all shakes out.

Good work @Ambyssin , I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 62: Adjust the Plating

During the time of harmony, the Matriarch wielded the power of the Universe. The power to shape fate itself.

When the Embodiment of Chaos destroyed the harmony, the Matriarch tried to preserve it. The salvaged remnants became the Benefactor.

But the Matriarch could not preserve the Universe. Its phenomenal power had shattered into numerous fragments flung to the deepest recesses of the cosmos.

~I Pilastri dell'Eternità


XxX​

Under normal circumstances, Yuna would have found an orange glow comforting. It brought the magma pits near her parents' castle to mind. Except she wasn't in Aeon anymore. Or Radiance. Or even the Malie City place the anomaly had brought her to.

Instead, the drakloak floated above an orange cube staircase. There was orange distortion in the distance but she faintly saw strange, jagged crystals and fractal shards resembling her rifts. It reminded her a bit of Ginnungagap, but with an orange coat of paint lathered all over it.

"Mom!"

"Leo?" Yuna looked down the stairs. The cosmic arceus — somehow he lost his dreepy disguise — trotted up the stairs. Or through the air above the stairs.

"Mom, where are we?" Leo wondered, looking around. He caught up to Yuna and floated next to her. "It kind of reminds me of the little static ball where we met Mr. Alder, but it's way too orange."

Yuna followed Leo's gaze out into the distance. "Huh. You've got a point." Did that mean they were in the heart of the anomaly?

"Hang on." The drakloak tapped her chin. "We beat Chernabog. Then this orange rectangle popped up when he disappeared." She looked up. Nothing but orange static. "The rectangle shined a beam of light at the distortion over the volcano. And now I'm here."

"Oh, you beat the bad guy?" Leo's eyes sparkled. "Yay!" He then looked down. "Maybe the rectangle is what was calling me, then?"

"Huh?"

"Before I fwooshed over here," Leo said, continuing up the stairs. "It felt like something was calling me up the volcano. So I flew up there and, well..." His voice trailed off and, starcloud tail swishing slowly back and forth. "Yeah. End of story."

Yuna floated after him. If this was like back at the tar plant, then Leo could seal up the anomaly. It was what he was supposed to do, right? Even though Yuna had no idea what that would mean for them and the rest of the team. She was kind of stuck here, so she had no choice but to press on.

On and on, until the stairs gave way to a larger orange platform with fist-shaped crystals in its corners connected by ropes.

... No, wait, they were lines of tiny fists that looked like ropes.

And Chernabog had a fist-shaped crystal in his belt, Yuna recalled. Just what was that all about? Had the core of the anomaly... somehow embedded itself within that daemon?

"It's here." Leo pointed his right forehoof at the middle of the platform. "The thing that's calling me."

The orange rectangle floated there, a bit bigger than Yuna realized after seeing it from a distance earlier.

Leo was already walking toward it.

"Hang on!" Yuna shot in front of the cosmic arceus. "Let me, uh, take a look at it first, okay?"

"Okay." Though Leo's starclouds dimmed and he nervously shuffled in place. He really wanted that rectangle, but it didn't sound like he knew why. And that concerned Yuna.

She slowly floated toward it. Closer. Closer.

It had a faint orange glow around it.

Closer. Closer.

The drakloak froze and tilted her head. Was something... written on the rectangle?

Yes, if Yuna squinted, she could make out a single sentence carved into the middle.

The rift is born of disorder on the other side of this world.

Yuna blinked once. Twice. Frowning, she read the sentence again, then a third time. There were a lot of rifts opening up. And according to Alder, Kora, and Vince, they were the big problem. And a very large one had carried them to another world entirely.

Eternatus was still inside her home. And events surrounding it had certainly caused more than enough disorder. Did that mean Eternatus was the other side of her world?

I'm overthinking this. Yuna was about to tell Leo it was okay when she looked down at her hands and fought the urge to recoil in front of him.

Her shadows were back, pooling in her ectoplasm, and they looked like they were trying to swim away from the rectangle. Yuna glanced at it, then slowly floated back. The shadows receded in response.

Another thing to file away for later.

There were too many of those. And if they were about to seal the rift, then later really meant soon. Yuna could only sit on this stuff for so long and if other anomalies were going to have these strange rectangles, the team needed to know.

"Okay, Leo." The drakloak softened her expression. "Its all yours."

She waited for a response, but didn't get one. Leo was looking past the rectangle... at nothing but empty space. "Leo?" Yuna drifted into his line of sight.

"Huh? Oh!" The cosmic arceus straightened up. "Sorry. I got distracted."

Yuna looked over her shoulder. The space behind the plate was still empty. "Distracted by what?"

"You don't see them?" Leo looked disappointed.

"See who?"

"Them!" Leo stuck his right forehoof out. "The human Mr. Gene wanted to find and his pet doggy!"

"What?" Yuna turned around. No sign of Sigurd. Yet Leo didn't seem like the type for pranks. Or imagining something that specific. "Is there something else I'm not seeing?"

"There are tiny little threads connecting them to the plate," Leo said, his starclouds brightening up a bit.

"Plate?" Yuna raised a brow. "You mean that rectangle?"

Leo nodded. "It's a plate."

"That doesn't sound right," Yuna said. She doubted she could eat a meal off that rectangle if she tried.

"That's what it told me, though," Leo insisted, cheeks puffing.

He was losing Yuna. "You talked to it?"

"Sorta?"

This was getting them nowhere. "Okay, I believe you." It was easier for the drakloak to go along with Leo. "Now go and take the plate so we can get out of here."

At least, that was what Yuna hoped would happen. Though there was still that wriggling bit of doubt about what would happen to the others if they sealed off the anomaly. She told herself it would be okay as Leo trotted up to the plate and reached his right forehoof out to tap it.

The cosmic arceus lit up bright orange, then the plate dissolved into orange light that Leo's wheel's absorbed. "Hee hee, that tickles!"

Yuna tilted her head. That was it? I don't know why, but I was expecting something flashier.

"Hey, Mom! Mom!" Leo hopped up and down excitedly. "Check this out! Huuuuurggaaaaaah!"

He briefly shimmered with orange light, then grew in size. Huge muscles bulged out of his legs and neck in a way that brought the giga machamp daemon to mind.

"I'm ready to tussle!" Leo said, his voice a few octaves deeper.

"That's, um, nice, dear." Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. At least she was only uncomfortable because it looked ridiculous. "You can turn back, right?"

Nodding, Leo shrank back down to his normal size.

... No, wait, that wasn't quite right. He was bigger than before. Not by much, but enough for Yuna to tell the difference. She wondered if she should say something.

"Oh, I think I grew a bit." Leo looked himself over. "Growth spurt!" His starclouds flickered in excitement. "And, look, we've got new friends!"

"Hmm?" Yuna blinked a few times. A couple of hazy outlines had appeared in front of them. As they came into focus, Yuna also noticed a bunch of different sized circles appearing behind the figures. They didn't feel as important at the moment, however.

Jaeger%20ref%20by%20floofchomp.png

(By https://twitter.com/Sky_Cloud69)

The first figure was a mishmash of a lycanroc. Body of a midday, face, tail, and hind legs of a dusk, and the arms and forehead of a midnight. All three forms mashed together. Another Malice-driven mutant, perhaps? That would mean Lycanroc was from Eternatus. Making the silver-haired person appearing next to them...

"Hi!" Leo wagged his starcloud tail. "Are you Mr. Sigurd Stone?"

While the hair and pale skin matched, Gene's photo didn't show any sort of tube — or was it a hose? — sticking out of the man's neck. And instead of standing up, he was stuck in some sort of chair with wheels instead of legs.

"Who are you?" The man's voice was too far too mechanical. Yuna realized it was because it didn't come from him, but rather his chair.

"Your rescue team," Leo chirped, apparently not the least bit bothered by this. "A funny lizard guy named Vince told us to find you."

The man blinked slowly. A slow hiss echoed from the chair. "I do not know of any Vinces. Or 'lizard guys,' for that matter." He turned his chair toward Lycanroc. "But I believe I know why you're here."

Lycanroc nodded.

"You're looking to assemble the Red Chain."

"Yep yep!" Leo hopped in place happily. "Wow, you must be a mind reader or something!"

Lycanroc clicked their tongue, eyeing Yuna intently, but said nothing.

"Not a mind reader," Sigurd said. His mechanical voice simulated a chuckle. "However, since it seems we share a common purpose at this time, I'll gladly assist you in any way I can."

The rings behind him flashed with orange light. Sigurd turned his wheelchair around and looked at it, as did Lycanroc.

"Though it seems that any further conversation will have to wait."

Leo's starclouds flickered in unison with the rings. The cosmic arceus kicked off the ground and drifted toward the rings. His wheel shined brighter and brighter and the rings slowly rearranged themselves into... some sort of haphazard pattern. And Yuna had the vaguest sense she'd seen it somewhere before. She just couldn't put her hand on it.

Arceus_Genesis_symbol_by_Arzeron.png


The rings gave one final flash of orange light, then everything around Yuna and the others slowly dissolved away.

XxX​

Seifer looked up at the clear blue sky. The last distorted wormhole right over the volcano — the anomaly's core, if he had to guess — dissolved away in a single pulse of golden light. He took a slow breath, pondering what this meant for him. The anomaly had led the team here. Now it was gone, but Seifer was still here. Was that it? Was he stuck here? Had the team not thought this through?

At times like these, the keldeo had to focus on work. Keep his mind focused. "It looks like the eruption's stopped," Seifer said, turning around to Molayne. "What happens now?"

"Now?" He hopped off Magnezone and rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "If it's really cleared up, then we bring people back to shore." Molayne started to reach for his radio when he froze. "Uh, are you okay?"

"Yes?" What a strange question. Unless Molayne saw through Seifer's attempts to pretend everything was fine.

"Because you're, uh, turning see through?" Molayne lifted his goggles up and rubbed his eyes.

"What?!"

The keldeo looked down... and found his hooves had disappeared! And the rest of his legs were fading away, too!

What was happening? Why didn't this hurt? Was this because of the anomaly disappearing?

"I think I get it." Molayne lowered his goggles. "Your time's up here. You're getting called home."

Seifer sure hoped that was the case. Best to go with it.

"I suppose so." He nodded slowly. "It was, uh, interesting working with you."

"Likewise."

Seifer's torso was half gone now. Molayne rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, uh, I guess we made it through this volcanic eruption. So maybe..." He yawned loudly. "Maybe I'll look into hanging up my badge... and giving that entrance exam another shot."

His neck was disappearing now, but Seifer still managed a smile. "I think that's a good idea."

"Just promise me that you won't give up either, okay?" Molayne said. "You'll find your purpose back home. Something to fight for."

Right before the keldeo faded away completely, he managed to get out an, "I promise."

XxX​

Yuna hit the dusty ground with a surprised squeak, then a grunt. "Oogh." She rubbed her belly. "Rough landing."

... Wait. Gene had landed the ship in the middle of the grass, hadn't he? Where—

"Wow, look at all this dirt!" Jade kicked some up with her right foot, then blew the dust cloud ahead of her... toward familiar, rust-covered buildings.

"Chakran?" Yuna rubbed her eyes. "How did we get here?"

Panic briefly welled up in the drakloak's gut. Jade wasn't with them before. Leo sealed the anomaly, and then...

She looked around. It didn't take Yuna long to realize that the ship was here. And everyone was accounted for, including Sigurd, Lycanroc, and the weird muscular bug. She fought the urge to grimace at the fluid running through its arms. She really hoped it wasn't blood.

"What happened?" Widget shifted back from his flight form to the cosmic appearance Leo had given him. "One minute I'm flying after the kid. Next thing I know he disappears in a flash, then I disappear... and now we're back here?"

"Yup!" Leo puffed his chest out. "I asked Mr. Anomaly nicely to send us back home and it listened!"

"Back... home?" Widget frowned. "You consider this home?"

Leo laughed nervously. "I didn't mean for it to send us here here. But it did." A beat passed, then his eyes sparkled. "Oh! Hey, Mom, can I introduce Widget to Mr. Alder and Mr. Kora? Huh? Huh? Can I?"

"Uh, sure?" Yuna didn't see the harm. "Just, uh, make sure you knock first?"

"Okay!" Leo blipped to Widget's side and nudged the cosmic type: full's shoulder. "C'mon, big brother!"

Widget stumbled forward with a squawk. "P-Please don't call me 'big brother.'" He begrudgingly followed after the cosmic arceus, shaking his head.

Gene watched them go, tail swishing back and forth. "Am I losing it or did Boy Wonder have a growth spurt?"

"No, he... he did." Yuna rubbed her shoulder.

"And what's with these three?" Seifer jerked his head in the newcomers' direction. "What did I miss while I was playing traffic cop?"

Gene turned around and his tail stiffened. "I, uh... can't speak for the 'mons, but I'm pretty sure he's the guy we were looking for." He pulled the photo of Sigurd out of his Malice Crystal. "Doesn't look a thing like his photo, though."

"Hardly surprising." Sigurd's machine hissed out previously compressed air. "You don't look a thing like your wanted posters, rebel."

"I see my reputation precedes me." Gene bowed sarcastically. "Mewtwo Gene, at your service." He straightened up. "Seriously, though. What's with the portable hospital bed?"

Sigurd's electronic voice attempted to mimic a laugh. "Well, that photo's from before the ALS took away my ability to walk." He paused. "And talk. And breathe."

Yuna had no idea what Sigurd meant, but the mewtwo's sudden dour expression gave her a clear enough picture.

"ALS?" Gene crossed his arms. "Didn't they make a cure for that, like, eons ago?"

Another attempt at a mechanical laugh. "A cure made from the mewgenics program is no cure I want." His wheelchair pivoted away from the others. "Who's to say the replacement nerve grafts don't turn patients into sleeper agents for the emperor?" Another hiss of compressed air. It must've been whatever was breathing for Sigurd. "I'd rather let nature take its course."

Yuna's Soul Dew shimmered, then a tiny Reshiram popped out. "Hold it!" He held his wings up, then realized how worthless the gesture was and folded them against his sides. "I thought everyone inside Eternatus was supposed to be dead. That's why they can't leave. They'd turn into Phantoms." He looked around at the others. "Am I crazy? Did I have too much wax in my ear frills. Cuz, y'know, that'd be pretty weird since I'm a spirit."

"A common misconception," Sigurd said, his wheelchair turning toward them with several whirrs and clicks. "Most of those living in the Qliphoth are ordinary people. They're born, have normal lifespans, and pass away. And when they do, their spirits become part of Eternatus itself.

"In the days before Paradox, the archbishops called this beautiful." His wheelchair let out more compressed air. "But Paradox's mewgenics program has broken the cycle. This delicate balance. Prolonging life and altering it in ways the average person would never think of... if they didn't live in the empire to begin with."

Gene's brow furrowed. His tail twitched in irritation. "Wait a sec." He tapped his right index finger against his left arm in thought. "So, the reason we've seen so many people living for so long—"

"Is the emperor," Sigurd said. He nodded his head slightly, restricted by his breathing tube.

The shadowy mewtwo's face scrunched up further. "Every person I've ever seen erode into a Phantom had enhancements of some sort... or lived waaaaay longer than the lifespans I remember learning about."

"Because they got mewgenics treatments." More compressed air released from Sigurd's machine. "You hadn't risen to infamy yet when the program rolled out to the public. And now... it's so ingrained that no one can stop it."

Yuna floated there silently, unsure what to make of any of that information. And here she thought she would need to recap what happened inside the anomaly's core. I guess they'll ask when they feel like it.

Except instead of Gene responding, Nikki yawned loudly, stretching her arms over her head while sparks crackled around her mohawk. "Aww, boo freaking hoo. Cry me a river."

"Hey!" Jade squinted at the toxtricity. "Uncalled for."

"Shut it, Bird Brain."

"That's my wife!" Reshiram huffed, his tiny tail crackling with little embers.

Nikki loomed over him, mohawk growing more jagged.

"Eep!" Reshiram shrank back. "N-Never mind. Insult away! Please don't squish me!" He hastily retreated into Yuna's Soul Dew.

"My hero," Jade deadpanned.

"What are you doing, Nikki?" Yuna floated toward her. "This isn't something to get angry ab—"

"Don't." Nikki held her hand up. Acidic sparks dribbled onto the ground from her fingers, hissing when they hit the dirt.

The drakloak frowned. What had gotten into Nikki? "Is something wrong?"

"No ****, dumbass!" Nikki's mohawk flared. "Do I look all sunshine and rainbows to you?"

"I guess not." Yuna squirmed uneasily. "But, um, it's kinda hard to say much when you're not, y'know, telling us what's wrong?"

Nikki glared at Yuna, but Gene spoke up first. "She's pissed I benched her."

Yuna blinked. "What?"

"Pulled her away from fighting Chernabog," Gene said, flicking his right wrist dismissively. "Which was the correct decision."

"No it wasn't!"

Nikki's mohawk erupted like a miniature, yellow and purple replica of where the team had just been. A purple lightning guitar appeared in her right hand. "I could've helped!" She swung the guitar at the air. "I got a power boost from this place and its stupid whacky voodoo mountain!"

"You really want to die on this hill?" Gene's eyes and malice crystal darkened. The mewtwo's yellow tail crinkled in irritation. "Chernabog knew you were out of your element! He was exploiting it! As long as you were up there... we were all in danger!" He jabbed his thumb against his chest. "I made a judgment call. A necessary one."

Gene lifted a few centimeters off the ground, glaring at Nikki. "You can throw whatever hissy fits you want, doesn't change the fact that I've been fighting these idiots for decades. As long as we're fighting together, you follow my lead. We clear?"

A tense silence followed. The two stared each other down. Nikki wouldn't seriously try to hit Gene, right? He was psychic, she was poison. She's not that stupid, Yuna told herself.

"... crystal." Venom dripped from Nikki's words.

Shoulders sagging, Yuna sighed in relief. Looks like the crisis was avert—

"Which brings me to you."

Yuna stiffened. Nikki stared her down. Pointed the lightning guitar right at her.

"Nikki?" The drakloak's body shrank toward her rectangular head.

"I poured my heart out to you the other day." Nikki's hand shook slightly. "We said we'd work together. And then you... you didn't stick up for me!" She stomped her right foot down, mohawk getting more frazzled. "You let Boss Kitty treat me like garbage!"

Yuna stiffened. That was what she was upset over? "I— well, things were frantic up there. I didn't realize—"

"Don't give me that!" Nikki squeezed her eyes shut. Was she trying not to cry? "You watched it happen! I... I saw it..."

The lightning guitar dissolved away and the toxtricity looked down. "I saw it."

Yuna didn't know what to say. Was there even anything she could say to Nikki to make things better? She was really hurt, even though it all happened so quickly.

"I'm sorry?" It was the best Yuna could come up with on the spot.

"Thou hast to put some confidence behind thine words!" Rayquaza piped up.

Ah. Right. Yuna pulled her torso back out of her head. "I'm sorry, Nikki. Everything happened so fast and I sorta kinda... blanked?"

She let it hang in the air for a bit, however Nikki's hurt expression didn't ease up. "You blanked?" she growled. "That's the best you've got?"

"Yes?"

Rayquaza nervously tittered. "Thou art sounding more uncertain by the sentence, Princess."

"Seriously?" Nikki was getting angry again. "Just before that you said things were getting frantic! Now you're saying you blanked?" She kicked up some dirt and grass at the drakloak. "Well, which is it, huh?"

"I... I blanked." Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. "Really. It's... it's happened other times. Against those Paradigm daemons."

"Yeah, right." Snorting, Nikki rolled her eyes. "If that was really the case, then why have you never brought it up before, huh? Don't you think that's something we deserve to know?"

She took a single step forward. Yuna drifted back, fidgeting nervously. "Well, um, that's... that's..."

The words were getting caught in Yuna's throat. Nikki stepped closer. "If Boss Kitty can bench me for being a liability, then you deserve it for the same reason!" She pointed accusingly at Yuna. "That, and the stupid cosmic fluffball who thinks he's your son."

Yuna stiffened at that. She could feel the shadows bubbling up. "B-Because he is."

"Puh-lease!" Another step. Then another. "You imprinted on him or whatever!" Nikki quickly whirled on Gene as if she expected some sort of retort. "Bite your tongue! I paid attention in psych class sometimes!"

Gene smirked in amusement. Nikki turned back to Yuna. "So, out with it, Princess!" Her mohawk crackled. "What's the deal? Why are you blanking?"

Breathe. Yuna had to keep the shadows in check. "It's... complicated."

Nikki took one final step, sparks and venom pooling around her foot. "Tell me!"

She had to say it. Two simple words. Yuna just needed to get it over with. "Because... because..."

"Tell me, damn it!"

"Because I'm Chiron!"

XxX​

"Hey, hey, Lieutenant! Got the all clear from the harbormaster to send in the next ships!"

"Thanks, Acerola." Molayne put his radio back into its holster and leaned against a metal post.

Soon. It would all be over soon. He could go home and kick his feet up. Or maybe break out that acupressure pad...

"Excuse me, Officer. Any chance you could help a traveler out?"

Molayne stiffened. Telepathy was a thing he came across from time to time on the job, but why here? Why now? He looked around for some signs of a psychic pokémon or one of those famed psychic trainers he saw on television.

Instead, he got... an ice ninetales? With no trainer, to boot.

... No, that didn't make any sense. Some ninetales could do illusory spirit voodoo or whatever, but they were fire ninetales. Icy ones stayed in Sinnoh for a reason. Places like Alola were too warm for them.

"Something wrong?" Icetales tilted his head, blinking soft blue eyes. "Do I have something on my face? Or maybe it's the hair. I try to keep it brushed but I swear it has a mind of its own." He flicked his mane over his right shoulder.

"No, it's—" Molayne pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, if you've lost your trainer or something, I'm really going to have to recommend you head to the nearest police station. They're better equipped to help."

"Sorry." Icetales shook his head. "I'm afraid you're the only one who can help me."

"Cryptic." Molayne said, frowning. Something about Icetales struck him as... off. The longer he stared, the more he was convinced Icetales had some sort of... golden sheen about him. Molayne would have blamed the fatigue, but then his eyes trailed down to the rainbow bandana around his neck.

The rainbow bandana with an elongated, eight-pointed star. Like a compass.

Everything clicked quickly. "Oh no." Molayne threw his hands up and stepped back. "Look, I don't care how fluffy you are, I'm not interested in hearing the good word about the Blinding One. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ten years down the road. I've had enough of you Necrozma's Witnesses. You just don't know how to take 'no' for an answer!"

Icetales' ears drooped. "Ah. Maybe I came on a bit too strong." He pawed at the ground. "Telepathic ice ninetales is already out there. This isn't making it better."

Ya think?


Before Molayne could properly responde, Icetales approached him. He stuck his right forepaw out and planted it in front of Molayne. His paw flickered gold, then a cold gray.

Icetales stepped back, revealing a tiny diamond-shaped crystal.

Molayne blinked once. Twice. "Steelium-Z?" Last he checked, Necrozma's Witnesses couldn't conjure those out of thin air. "Fancy trick. I've already got one, though."

"Not one like this." Icetales nudged it toward Molayne with his snout. "Want to talk with you about the keldeo and salugia who helped you out."

"Salugia?"

"What else do you call a lugia with a salazzle belly and tail flaps? I bet they could've bathed you in pheromones, too, if you're into that sort of thing."

Molayne cringed. Icetales stuck his tongue out playfully.

"Anyway, you've probably got a lot on your plate." Icetales stepped further back. "When you're ready to talk, use the crystal."

Still skeptical, Molayne knelt down and picked the Steelium-Z up. It was warm like a freshly lit fireplace. "And just what do I use the crystal for? A Z-Move?"

But when he looked up, Icetales was gone. And in his place, a single piece of paper with the same eight-pointed star on it. Molayne slowly walked toward it and scooped it up.

Press the Z-crystal to your forehead and say the following out loud:

"Through darkest night and brightest day, our radiance will light the way."
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, I see that you bumped yesterday, even if I’m -checks notes- four chapters behind the current one. In the interest of not falling behind further, let’s turn that ‘four’ into ‘three’ and jump back into things in…

Chapter 59

"Everyone, please! Stay in line! We're getting you onto the ships as fast as we can!"

Despite a human policewoman talking into a megaphone from atop a hovering metang, Seifer saw people pushing and shoving. Some humans had smaller humans in their arms. Others carried pokémon. A few rode larger pokémon like mudsdale that were unnerved by all the activity.

Seifer: "That background music was a lot perkier than I was expecting for a moment this grim." o_ó;

"What exactly is the problem that we can help with?" Seifer asked, clinging to Jade's back as best he could. He wasn't even sure if the salugia could use any psychic powers like Gene. Not that he knew what good ESP would do in this situation.

"Getting people on the boats," Molayne responded. He pointed far ahead, where more police officers directed scared humans of different shapes and sizes down two wooden docks toward a couple of gray boats. "We have boats in the harbor on standby, but we only have two docks. It's not quick enough."

Seifer: "... So we have pontoon docks we can deploy for extra capacity, or...?"
Gene: "Think of more direct solutions, pony-boy."

Seifer looked over his shoulder. A couple of pelipper flew in the opposite direction from him and Jade. "Couldn't you... fly people out to the other boats?"

"With what pokémon?" Molayne sighed and rubbed his temples. "The pelipper mail carriers are the best we've got and they can fit, at best, two adults in their beaks."

Jade: "... You do realize that I'm right here and am a giant bird, right?"
:thinkgia:


"With me!" Jade chirped, holding her head high. "I can fit a bunch of people on my back. I bet I can lift more with some psychic energy, too."

Yeah, I called it. Even if I suspect the "psychic energy" lift is going to wind up going sideways soon enough.

Seifer blinked. "You actually have those powers?" he whispered. "I thought you lost them and became poison."

In response, an unseen force lifted the whinnying keldeo off Jade's back, only to plop him back on a second later.

"Okay, okay. You still have them," he said.

Seifer: "Couldn't you have just lifted a rock from the ground or something?!"
:grohno~2:


"Yeah, sure. Great idea." Molayne hardly sounded enthused. "Let's make your big entrance, then. Maybe it'll calm people down."

He tapped Magnezone lightly with his foot and drifted down closer to the ground. Jade glanced back at Seifer, who shrugged, assuming Molayne wanted them to follow. The salugia descended. It didn't take long for them both to hear the gasps and see the humans pointing at them, shock and awe sprawled across their faces.

"Please remain calm! Keldeo of the Swords of Justice is here and brought a friend to help you all onto the boats!" Even Molayne's megaphone shouting sounded tired. "His friend will fly waves of you to one of the other boats in the harbor, all right? No pushing or shoving! We're working as fast as we can!"

Cue Seifer uncontrollably sprouting a doofy, ego-tripping grin in 3... 2...

Molayne gestured toward an open area between the two docks where Jade could safely land. Seifer hopped onto the stone ground. There were a lot of human eyes on him, some pleading, others filled with intrigue. He'd experienced this before when he showed up with the Radiant Guard, but this time felt... different.

He knew Molayne understood them earlier, but Seifer feared a talking pokémon would spook the crowd even more. So, he simply raised up on his hindlegs and funneled some energy into his prosthetic horn. It lit up and he pointed it to Jade, who seemed to pick up on the gesture, because she lowered herself to her belly and folded up her wings to let people climb aboard.

Seifer: "(Seriously? We couldn't have at least pretended we were speaking through a translator or something? I can already tell this pantomime act is going to trip us up later.)" >_>;

Seifer pointed his horn at the closest people and they ambled their way toward the salugia. No pushing or shoving. Most were dumbstruck by Jade's presence, though for all Seifer knew the salazzle traits could have been the reason.

I mean, yeah. I'd double-take too at seeing Lugia carrying traits from a wildly different Pokémon.

"Good, good. Now, you lot over there, you're heading on the next ship," Molayne said through the speakerphone. Magnezone lifted its two magnet hands and formed a glistening light screen in an attempt at making a proper divide.

Boat horns blared behind Seifer. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the ship to his right backing away from the dock. Another ship moved in, but left enough room for the departing ship to keep backing up. The keldeo briefly recalled Widget's concerns. Would this boat even be able to get anywhere?

If you have to ask the question, Seifer...

A glance up at the sky told him it didn't matter. The lava only hung over parts of the city. As long as everyone got onto the water, they would be okay.

For now. For all you know, when time unfreezes, more lava will go out over the water.

"Everyone hanging on to something?" Jade said, looking back at the humans and pokémon who had climbed aboard.

"You can talk?!" exclaimed one dark-skinned human with shoulder-length black hair. The togetic in his arms gazed at Jade in awe.

... Wait, is the human here supposed to be anyone in particular? Since I don't recognize that description there.

Jade: "No! No! It's... uh... telepathy?" ^v^;
Human: "But your beak was clearly moving just now!"

"Of course I can. I'm a lugia!" Jade grinned at them. "Now, let's just get some of your, uh, citymates along for the lift." She glanced at Molayne, who scratched his head, then pointed in front of the salugia.

Oh, so they just accept that, huh? Though I suppose Jade's passengers have bigger problems to worry about than her unexpectedly talking to them.

Magnezone hovered in front of them. "Lugia's going to levitate this group over to one of the ships," he announced. "I want you all to relax so she can concentrate."

Molayne: "Mind you, this would've been easier had you not outed that you can speak our language, Salugia."
:gardexhausted:


Nodding, Jade's eyes lit up blue. A blue outline surrounded about a dozen people, lifting them up. Jade flapped her wings to join them in the air, and it wasn't long before she was off toward the ocean. At the same time, the new ship had docked and lowered entry ramps. Two policemen tapped their arcanine companions, who both howled loudly.

Molayne jolted. "Okay, Group A, please board the boat. Single file. No pushing," he ordered, with Magnezone shifting the Light Screen to keep the cordoned off part of the crowd in order.

There will be a ton of pushing and shoving, especially if time starts up again and the crowd's discipline just completely collapses.

Seifer couldn't make any barriers of his own, but he could at least try to help with dividing the crowd between the other dock and Jade. The keldeo lit up his horn and approached a point to his left.

Fortunately, Molayne caught the gesture. He said something into his radio and, within seconds, two policewomen on metang had hovered over. The metang put up light screens of their own.

I'm surprised that a Light Screen would be this durable as opposed to something like Protect given that you can still hit through Light Screen attackwise in-game. I'll just chalk it up to "something something, my verse, my rules".

The keldeo nodded his approval and stepped back, while Molayne hovered toward him atop Magnezone. "Quick thinking," he said, hardly sounding appreciative.

Seifer: "Are you always on like this?"
:what:

Molayne: "Buddy, let's see how sunshine and roses you are after having to pull multiple all-nighters for a disaster response effort."
:gardexhausted:


Seifer bit his lip. Crisis situation or not, Molayne's attitude irked him in a way he was struggling to put into words. But that half hearted attempt at a compliment finally got Seifer's thoughts together.

"Are you okay?" Seifer said, raising a brow. "I understand this is a delicate situation and all, but people are looking to you to reassure them and ease their fears. Even if you're tired, you have to try and keep up a positive appearance, or else their faith in you will waver."

Molayne is absolutely not okay. Sophocles bit it when the volcano erupted or something like that, didn't he?

Molayne pressed the bridge of his goggles, sighing. "Seriously? Is my sense of justice not pure enough for the great Keldeo? Look, I'm just trying to get through this thing in one piece, okay?" He glanced up at the static volcano in the distance. "None of this makes any sense. Lanakila Volcano has been dormant as far back as recorded history. Why is it erupting now? Groudon couldn't—"

Seifer tilted his head. "Groudon?" He didn't recognize that name.

Ah yes, this part. I remember it being teased a month or two back. Another reminder that we're in an off-spec universe relative to franchise canons.

"One of the super-ancient pokémon?" Molayne's words dripped with disbelief. "Waged an endless war with its water-loving equal, Kyogre, until the mighty Lord Rayquaza quelled them both, spreading out Kyogre into the world's oceans and putting Groudon's body to rest as Lanakila Volcano while both their souls slumbered within the core of the planet?"

The only one that stuck out was Rayquaza, having a title showing reverence for him like what the Aeons did.

Seifer: "... Wait, where the hell are we right now? Since we have a Rayquaza, and he didn't do anything like that..." .-.

"C'mon, man, don't they teach you about this in legend school?" Molayne scratched his head. "Whatever. Lugia's back. Let's get the next set of passengers ready."

The second loading process went much faster. And the boat on the second dock backed away for a new one to take its place. Thanks to the metang and their light screens, loading more people from the newly-dubbed Group C onto the next boat didn't prove much of an issue, especially with Seifer keeping an eye on them to make sure they stayed calm.

So Seifer didn't stop to make smalltalk like Jade did, huh? :V

That left them another moment of respite. "Why join the police then?" Seifer asked, scanning the crowd to make sure people stayed under control. It had thinned out a bit thanks to their efforts and the lava remained frozen in midair, to the keldeo's relief.

"Why does it matter to you?" Molayne fired back. "Your justice sense gonna keep you up at night if you don't get an answer?"

Oh, Molayne and Nanu switched places in this setting, didn't they? Since Molayne didn't join the police in canon Gen 7 media, and given that his overall shtick feels very "Nanu" right now...

Seifer frowned at the Nikki-like response. Hardly the kind of attitude an officer should display. Though Seifer wanted to stand his ground, he realized that wouldn't make any headway. "Because it sounds like our situations are reversed."

Not that you're wrong, but probably wanna be careful about slinging stones in a glass house considering how you were as a Radiant Guard, Seifer.

"What's that supposed to— never mind, back to work." Molayne pointed toward a returning Jade, as well as the ship loading Group A backing away from the dock.

"How we looking back there, Rola?" Molayne asked into his radio.

"Getting smaller by the minute," a female voice chirped. "We got extra fliers from Akala and Poni and the whole Poké Ride Fleet came out in force!"

Wait, how big is that fleet given that they've been able to evacuate an entire city just from their own efforts?

Seifer glanced up while Jade loaded her next pack of people. Sure enough, the sky was full of assorted flying types. Some tropius here, some talonflame there, and lots of charizard. Even some birds with giant, striped beaks that Seifer never saw before. Pokémon that didn't exist on Etherium, perhaps?

I'm actually curious as to what's the rhyme or reason behind which worlds get which Pokémon. Since Etherium obviously gets Galardex-only natives as an artifact of it mainlining Gen 8 influences, though it makes me wonder if there's anyone from Etherium who would similarly "not belong" here in this universe other than the obvious of Jade.

After helping Jade, Seifer turned back to Molayne. "I know this will sound crazy, but we're from another dimension."

He paused, awaiting Molayne's disbelief, but he merely yawned into his elbow. "And?"

"You're not surprised?"

Molayne: "Buddy, we literally have a lab in this region that researches other dimensions. Burnet lost count of how many she found years ago."

"Clearly they didn't teach you about Ultra Wormholes in legends school, either," Molayne mused. "What's your point?"

I'm taking it that if some version of the SM/USUM events happened in this setting, that this point in time is a few years afterwards given how casually Molayne is talking about Ultra Wormholes here.

"I was the head of my country's military in my own dimension," Seifer explained. "Until the queen had me take the fall for something that wasn't even my fault." The keldeo lowered his head. "And I loved that job. Or at least I thought I did. So, seeing someone who has what I lost..." Seifer tensed up. "I feel like my sense of right and wrong is all messed up. So, I thought that seeing you in action and talking to you might remind me of what it means to fight to protect people."

"Well, you wouldn't be the first person I've disappointed," Molayne said, slouching against Magnezone's railing. After an awkward silence, he continued, "My parents wanted me to be a police officer because most of my family is on the force. But I wanted to be an astronomer."

Wait, is that actually brought up in some Pokémon continuity? Since I swear that I don't remember this ever being mentioned, and yet it feels scarily natural as a little factoid.

"Yet it sounds like you followed their orders," Seifer said. Much like he did with his own family's history of the Radiant Guard. He never considered other occupations because he was sure that was where he'd end up.

"No." Molayne gripped Magnezone's railing tightly. "The problem is I couldn't get accepted to any university with an astronomy program. I kept screwing up the college admissions test, because I'd fall asleep studying. I never wanted to join the force, but I needed money to get my own place, so my folks made some calls and here I am."

Ah yes, there's the 'for want of a nail' moment for why Molayne isn't running the observatory right about now. Though ouch. I can see why the guy's gone full Nanu.

"But you're a lieutenant now," Seifer pointed out. If he was that disinterested, he'd never get promoted, right? "And besides, couldn't you find another job?"

Molayne sighed. "That takes effort. It's easier to stay where I am. It's family connections that have gotten me promoted in rank. Besides... sometimes there are moments where the job's worth it. When people thank me for helping them or pokémon are happy I helped them with a problem. Almost makes me feel like I made the right decision."

I can already see Seifer's
:uhhh:
face right now, since this feels like it'd hit really close to home for him.

He looked up. Jade was on her way back. "Almost," he whispered.

Seifer looked at Molayne, then Jade, then up at the sky. "Well, I'm just a stranger to you, but for what it's worth, if you can make it through this crisis, I think you can make it through anything." The keldeo tapped a forehoof on the ground. "Including this university entrance exam."

Molayne: "Keldeo, I'm like 40 right now. That ship sailed a long time ago."
:gardexhausted:


Jade landed behind the two. "How many more trips am I making?" She lifted her right wing. "I'm doing okay. But I might need to do a few stretches."

Molayne quickly glanced at Seifer. "Tell you what. If we get through this... I'll think about it."

Huh, surprised Molayne didn't brush him off. Guess he must be younger than I thought as a character.

Seifer nodded his approval and Molayne hovered back up on Magnezone to direct more of Group B to board Jade. He focused his attention on the people from Group C heading toward the nearest ship. Seifer was about to direct them to stop when an emerald gleam caught the corner of his eye.

He turned left and saw an emerald streak charging right through the lava like a knife cutting butter. "What the— who's doing that?"

Can't tell if that's
:fugHD:
or Zygarde there. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

There was no smell of sulfur. No orange embers drifting through the air. Ash didn't choke the sky and cloud the bright red and orange hanging over Yuna's head. Yet thunderous booms sounded from atop the mountain, suggesting something was going on.

Yuna: "This is the weirdest volcanic eruption ever. How on earth does this even happen?" .-.

To say nothing of the rumbling ground. Rocks ranging from the drakloak's size to larger than a mamoswine tumbled down, only to run into a pink wall a meter in front of Gene. The mewtwo held both hands up, concentrating intently as he plucked out panicked turtonator one by one and suspended them higher in the air.

He'd already sent the officer watching over the area away and ordered Widget to go find somewhere he could safely deliver everyone without an issue.

I'm surprised that none of them have been using Explosion out of reflexive panic. Or if they have, that Gene's psychic barrier has held up so well under the effect of untold numbers of explosive turtles hitting it.

"I still can't believe he could transform like that!" Leo chirped, flying in excited circles in front of Yuna. "He was all blue and shiny." The fake dreepy clapped his hands together. "He kinda looked like that Miraidon guy from Mr. Gene's scrapbook, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Nikki said, scratching her head. "Which is a can of wurmple I don't want to open right now when there's freaking lava suspended over us!" The toxtricity tapped her right foot on the grass. "Now that we're here, can we let Space Noodle out to take a closer look?"

Wait, is Leo talking about Vince or someone else here? Since it's a little ambiguous from the dialogue.

Yuna silently agreed. Particularly because the atmosphere around the volcano struck her as... off. Maybe it was the time anomaly. Or the fact that, according to the police lady Gene shooed away, the volcano was supposedly the dormant body of some super duper old pokémon god. She glanced at her Soul Dew. Are you okay with lending us a hand?

Oh, so Gallian's going to get to come face to face with an angry Groudon, huh?

"I can at least take this requested look," Rayquaza declared. Nodding, Yuna focused on that glimmering spark of light within the jewel and mentally tugged on it. Rayquaza emerged at full size, corkscrewing his way into the air to a chorus of surprised turtantor noises.


Yeah, I figured. Though I'm actually curious myself as to how Gallian will react to coming across a Legendary that knows his kind but not vice versa.

"Found a place for the turtanator!" Widget shouted, zooming through the air. His Miraidon-esque form replaced his hind legs with jet boosters similar to Gene's ship, letting him effortlessly close the distance with the others. "There's an empty beach to the south. We can drop everything off there!"


Oh, so Leo was describing Widget. Even if I have no idea when on earth he had this transformation since I could've sworn he wasn't described looking like this the last time we saw him.

"We?" Gene grunted, arms shaking slightly. "I don't... see you... carrying anything."

"Then cut the quips and follow me!" the type: full said, reversing the direction of his jet boosters to fly away from Gene. With a strained grunt, the mewtwo took to the air, dragging all the rocks and turtonator with him.

Gene: "Widget, what on earth did you find? (And how on earth did you get a makeover on such short notice?
:what:
)"

"They make a great couple," Nikki quipped, earning a stink eye from Yuna. The toxtricity raised her hands. "It's the nerves, Princess. Trying to do whatever I can to not think about the lava."

Nah, that's just Nikki being Nikki there.
:loltias:


"Right." The drakloak wrung her hands together. She didn't blame Nikki, because she was doing the same thing. Albeit for different reasons. Why didn't this volcano sit right with her? No matter how much Yuna tried not to think about it, she kept looking up.

Because it's freaky and has attributes that are distinctly unnatural for a volcanic eruption? I mean, after everything you've seen thus far, it'd only be logical to assume that something deeper is afoot.

"Mom, are you okay?" Leo waved a fake dreepy hand in front of her. "I'm... thinking," Yuna responded, gently pushing Leo's hand away with her rectangular head. "I can't shake the feeling we're missing something here." "Because the lava has a weird aura?" Leo said, tilting his head.

- Beat moment -
Yuna: "It has what now? It's lava, and I thought aura specifically came from living things-"
:ohnowen:


"Huh?" Yuna blinked. "How do you know that?"

"Dunno." Leo tilted his head up. "I just don't get a real lava-y sense from the stuff up there."

:copyber:


Oh boy, so I might have been onto something with that 'living things' bit. Since I remember the official series fluff for what aura is, so...

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Nikki's mohawk crackled. "You saying it's not lava? If it ain't lava, then what the hell is it?!"

"FISTS!"

A black streak charged toward them, then abruptly stopped. Rayquaza coiled his serpentine body around nervously. "Tis not flames hanging above our heads, but fists! Giant fists of red and orange!"

What is this, Asura's Wrath now?

"What." Nikki stared blankly at Rayquaza. "Say psyche right now."

"Nay. Tis not psionics, but fighting energy." Rayquaza punched the air with his tiny black hands. "Something is making literal fisticuffs."

Leo: "Wait, but isn't that just aura again?"
:joltyshrug~1:

Gallian: "No, no, aura is an essence of living things in general. Fighting energy... look I dunno, it's not as if we can just go and start calling it 'ki' or something now, alright?" >_>;

The mountainside rumbled yet again. Nikki struggled to stay on her feet. Everyone looked up to see a sudden burst of red-orange light. What looked like another fireball sat frozen high in the sky.

"Okay, fine, whatever." Nikki waved her hands in front of her face. "Let's say Space Noodle's telling the truth. Then he can do something about it. Flying trumps fighting."

Leo and Yuna looked hopefully at Rayquaza. "I... still fear my base form is not enough to help," he said, looking down guiltily.

Nikki: "... Wait, but why not?" ._.;
Gallian: "I believe the expression for these circumstances art that we are 'severely outgunned'."
:grohno~2:

Leo: "Wouldn't it be 'outfisted' in this case-?" :?
Gallian: "Whatever!"

"Seriously?!" Nikki smacked her forehead. "What, do you have performance anxiety? Can't get it going? I hear they make pills for that."

Rayquaza had a response ready, but Yuna didn't hear it. All the drakloak heard was ringing in her head as she slowly looked up from her bickering teammates toward the fighting energy blanketing the sky.

Gallian: "Again. Severely. Outgunned." O.O

If it wasn't lava, then was it actually frozen in time? Or was someone or something putting it there deliberately? If only she could get Rayquaza to power up. Then he could charge right at the strange energy!

Trance. Mega evolution. Powering up.

Powering... up...

- Yuna looks over at Leo -
Leo: "... Mom? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rock spires surrounded Chiron. A tomb that would collapse on her any second. She had caught a brief glimpse of Matriarch's form — a one-eyed lucario — before having to contort her slender form to avoid the Stone Edge spears shredding her delicate wing membranes apart. The lunala recognized the boisterous laughter on the other side. He had such a penchant for showing off.

Oh, so the Matriarch was Prisma/Zero from some version of GLverse. I should have honestly seen this coming given that this story is now an out-and-out GL sequel, though that's definitely got Valkyrie on my radar since I remember the name Gene addressed her by.

And her psionics were currently failing her. Likely Matriarch's doing. So, Chiron had no ESP. No wormholes to throw the Stone Edges back at their creator.

But that was fine. This was what that training was about. She never bonded with her Soul Dew, but she had watched the Sages carefully. And by digging into her Eterna energy, maybe she could...

She could...

Yuna: "... Wait, am I just doing this in the middle of that eruption of fists at the volcano right now?" ^^;

Yuna hadn't realized the inky blackness had pooled into her hands until she thrust them in the still-arguing Rayquaza's direction and shouted, "Vgeg zong!"

Ah yes, Yuna's Bayonetta / Giratina powers are back at her command. Though is that an actual line from Bayo3? Or else what's the story from it?

Rayquaza suddenly stiffened. Shadows briefly draped across his serpentine body, hidden well by his black scales. Then orange light engulfed Rayquaza. "Ye gads!" he cried, voice deepening. He shot out of the orange light, holden tassels fluttering and an emerald sheen lighting up the ground below him.

"Whoooa!" Leo's eyes sparkled. "Is that Uncle Ray's mega evolution? It's so long! He's a super noodle, now!" He shook his head. "No, wait, mega noodle!"

Image


She can do that? What on earth is Yuna? Since she's clearly a bit more than just a reincarnated Lunala from the way she can just casually grant MegaEvos to her attached spirits.

Nikki shot Yuna a suspicious look. "What did you do to him, Princess?"

"I, uh— I don't know?" the drakloak squeaked. She quickly tried to save face. "Do you think you're up to dealing with the magic fists now?"

I can already see Gallian's giddy schoolgirl face right about now.

"But of course!" Rayquaza's tail lashed with eagerness. "I hath not felt this alive in years!" He coiled around and gestured for Yuna to climb aboard. "Or, more accurately, centuries!"

Nikki: "But you're not alive-"
:eltywtf:

Gallian: "You get the idea!"

Yuna flew forward and grabbed onto one of Rayquaza's black fins. Leo positioned himself on Yuna's head once again.

"Right, then. Tally ho!" Rayquaza declared.

"The hell?!" Nikki scrambled across the ground. "Don't leave without mee-eee-ahhhhhh!"

Well, that protest from Nikki was swiftly regretted, I can see. :V

The toxtricity managed to grab the fins on Rayquaza's tail seconds before he shot into the air. His golden tassels straightened out on either side of his torso. Brilliant emerald light spilled over his body from his golden horns. Truly, Rayquaza was an emerald arrow surging up through the sky.

"Now, foul energy, taste the true might of Dragon Ascent!"

Nikki: "W-Wait, but how on earth do you know how to use-?!" @.@
Gallian: "Don't question it!"

The intense winds whipping up around Rayquaza drowned out Nikki's screams and the emerald light blotted out Yuna's view of the strange orange fists. She focused on keeping hold of Rayquaza's fin through bouts of turbulence. Nothing she couldn't handle, but a bit of jostling. As if two dragons were headbutting one another in a contest of strength. Hopefully that meant Dragon Ascent was doing something...

I suppose that it's better than toasting the surroundings in battle? Since in canon, dragonmons do have a scary tendency to kick up a ton of collateral, so...
:copyber:


That turbulence continued. Yuna's attention remained on the fin. Leo said... something. Yuna didn't hear him. She thought her X-transceiver might've gone off but it was hard for her to tell with the constant howling and whistling all around her.

Reshiram, do you see anything?

"Rayquaza's back and some emerald light,"
he responded. "I don't have a magically increased line of sight compared to you."

Cecil: "Wait, where are you going with this anyways?"

Yuna wondered how fast they were going. The Aeon scriptures described Mega Rayquaza orbiting the planet in only an hour or two. She doubted it was that fast. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to hold on. But she still felt like Rayquaza was covering a great distance. Was he effortlessly carving through the fighting energy? How much of it was left behind?

inb4 these fists are respawning as fast as they're popping, since based off the teaser to the most recent chapter, the gang's not getting out of this mess in Malie that easily.

The drakloak soon got a concrete answer when Rayquaza abruptly stopped and fired a Dragon Pulse straight toward the mouth of the volcano. Yuna quickly looked around her and found clear skies.

... Well, mostly clear. Some orange still remained closer to the volcano. And, now that the sky was clearer, Yuna spotted a swirling vortex of distortion hanging above it. How much you want to bet that's the source of our anomaly?

Cecil: "No bet, since there's not exactly any other vortexes of distortion in sight around here."

"Nothing." After a beat, Reshiram added, "I don't have any money, remember?"
-snerk-

"Can we puh-lease land somewhere?!" Nikki hollered, clinging to one of Rayquaza's tailfins and kicking at the air with her legs. "My arms are cramping up!"

Yuna: "Nikki, it was your idea to come along in the first place!" >_>;
Nikki: "Yeah, because I thought I'd be riding on space noodle's back! Not clinging for dear life like this!"
:grohno~2:


"Tis not safe atop the volcano!" Rayquaza declared. "A foul beast doth tried to knock me out of the sky!"

"You're damn straight I did!" a loud, booming voice shot back. "No one turns out the lights on Chernabog without Chernabog's say so!"

"Chernabog", huh? Time to see what we're dealing with here.

It was tough to make out at first, but Yuna soon spotted a large machamp standing on the rim of the volcano. He pointed accusingly at them with an upper right hand that looked more like volcanic rock than the bluish-gray Yuna was used to seeing. Another mega evolution? It didn't look that impressive compared to Rayquaza's.

Ah yes, G-Max as Distortion effects makes a reprise here. Even if I admittedly did a double-take at the bogey's design given that Chernabog semantically means "black god" and carries over to its mythological depictions.

"Hey! I'm talking to you chumps!" Chernabog shook his upper right fist at them. His other three arms... flexed, with the lower ones pointing to a belt that had a red, fist-shaped crystal inside it. "No one gives the champ the quiet treatment!"

You probably want to update your video link on TR and wherever else you pothole to the theme music since the linked video appears to have been delisted.

Even at a distance, Yuna got that same sinking feeling in her ectoplasm that she got when staring down Runerigus, Baptiste, and Exodes. Which could only mean one thing...

"Um, Gene?" Yuna squeaked. "I think one of Paradox's goons is here. Does the name Chernabog mean anything to you?"

"Oh, that blowhard?" Gene groaned. "Give us a minute. We're almost done here. Just keep him talking."

... That's a member of Paradigm? He's definitely a lot bigger than the ones we've run into the past. .-.

Yuna frowned. Nikki was better suited to that idea, but was too busy clinging to Rayquaza for dear life. "Can you fly around to the other side of the volcano?" she said, before blinking and shaking her head. "No, wait. I have a better idea."

But first, she had to distract the machamp. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Yuna shouted. "We're just trying to keep the people in this city safe!"

This feels like a fast way to get Chernabog to wreck the city out of spite, just saying.
:copyka2:


The drakloak immediately focused on the other side of the volcano from Chernabog. She opened a rift in front of her and tapped Rayquaza's back. He hastily flew through it, dropping Nikki onto jagged, rocky ground. The toxtricity stumbled forward, relief flooding her face.

"Oh, sweet, glorious land!" Nikki dropped to her knees. "I'd kiss you but I've no idea where you've—"

"DOWN!"

A furious twister whipped up, deflecting a giant orange energy blast into the mouth of the volcano. Rayquaza flew in front of Nikki, assuming the closest thing to a protective stance a serpent could muster.

Nikki: "Oh come on, seriously?! Can't I get a break here?!" >.<

"Chernabog thought something stank!" The machamp slowly stomped toward the group. "The kind of stink that only a dirty traitor could make!" He flexed his large pecs, then pointed directly at Yuna. "That's right, Chiron! Maybe your noodle friend let you outmuscle Baptiste and Exodes, but now you've got the champ to contend with! Hoo-hah!" Chernabog punched the air with his lower arms and flexed with his upper ones.

Yuna: "... You realize that I have only scattered memories of what you're talking about, so this all means a whole lot of nothing to me-"
:what:

Chernabog: "Don't play cute with me! You're going down!"

Yuna didn't flinch. It wasn't the first time she'd heard one of Paradox's thugs throw Chiron's name around. And, given the strange visions, it probably wouldn't be the last. Just another punch the drakloak had to roll with.

I can already tell that that awful truth moment is going to be something to behold whenever it comes around.

The difference this time was that Leo was around, so she had to keep a safe distance from Chernabog.

"I don't like him, Mom," the fake dreepy whispered. "He's the real stinky one."

"I know. Let's stay on our toes," Yuna whispered back.

"Uh, technically neither of you have toes," Reshiram interjected.

Not now!

"S-Sorry. Couldn't help it."

Never change, you two.
:lultias:


"The hell are you ranting about?" Nikki said, shrugging at the oversized machamp. "You're the one who sent an entire city into a panic, aren't you? Doesn't seem very champ-like to me."

"It ain't the champ's fault if they're a bunch of haters!" Chernabog countered, flexing all four arms. "Chernabog was in the middle of getting ready to wow his Chernamaniacs back home, when suddenly he appeared up here." He glared at Yuna. "He bets the traitor's behind this! But you can't take Chernabog to the mat! Not when he feels stronger than ever! Oh yeah!"

Oh, so Chernabog got souped up by someone as well. Or at least I think that's the implication. Though 'Chernamaniacs' huh? Implying that some members of Paradigm are public figures? That's certainly different from the ones we've seen thus far.

Half the things Chernabog said went right over Yuna's head, but his belt crackled with orange energy at that last statement. She also noticed Leo looking intently at Chernabog's belt. Yuna doubted it was a coincidence, but it wasn't safe to look any deeper into the matter.

"First, Chernabog will smash ya! Hoo ha!" The machamp punched the air with his lower hands. "Then he'll punch a hole right back home to where his adoring crowd of Chernamaniacs is waiting!"

Nikki: "... I don't suppose that you can pull out a 'suddenly grow a hundred feet taller' power out of that freaky shadowblob mode that you've got, can you, Yuna?"
:ohnowen:

Yuna: "Trust me, if I knew how to, I'd be using it right now." O.O

So that was it. It wasn't a volcanic eruption. This meathead seriously thought he could punch his way out of the dimensional anomaly!

"Now then," Chernabog cracked his knuckles. "It's time for dirty traitors to smell what the champ is cooking! Ohhhh yeeeeee—"

Several bursts of pink energy slammed into Chernabog's pecs. He staggered backward, waving his arms around. Yuna looked up to see Gene and Widget emerging from a rift. The mewtwo slowly clapped.

Nikki: "Oh thank god. About time Gene and his boyfriend showed up."
:sweats:


"Nice makeover there, chumpion." Gene flashed a toothy grin. "But I think you're a bit turned around. The children's party in need of a clown is on the next island over."

"You!" Chernabog thumped his chest. "Of course, it all makes sense! The traitor and the rebel teaming up. History repeating itself with the ultimate heel combination!"

Yuna: "What on earth is a 'heel' again?"
Nikki: "Wrestling lingo. Basically a 'bad guy'. Even if I have to wonder what the hell this guy's definition of a 'face' would be."
:absus:


The machamp jogged in place, his belt sparking with orange energy. "The champ's got only one thing to say to you, kitty cat."

Gene tilted his head in amusement. "And that is?"

Chernabog took a deep breath and bellowed, "Where ya gonna be... when Chernamania comes for thee!"

Wait, are they about to get dragged back to Chernabog's wrestling ring world or something?

The sky above Team Bastion suddenly darkened. Yuna looked up and yelped in surprise.

Dozens of giant orange fists threatened to smash them into the volcano.

Whelp, guess not. Have fun being on the receiving end of Asura's Wrath, guys.

GL Exploration Log: Malie City, Alola (Dimension POV-2409)
I've gone to a few Alolas already and always found them a bit unsettling with their dedication to solgaleo, lunala, and necrozma. I knew this one would be quite different from the start, since history-related stuff I found in Hoenn didn't talk much about this world's Groudon and Kyogre. It turns out that the two super-ancient pokémon waged a great war early on in the planet's history. Their clashes led to the formation of various continents, but eventually Rayquaza swooped in and ended their fighting. Kyogre's spirit dispersed into the oceans while its body sank into the dark underwater abyss. Groudon settled in what became Ula'ula Island, its body becoming the massive, but perpetually dormant Lanakila Volcano.

A bunch of Johto and Kanto immigrants filled out the island, though I'm not sure why they built their city so close to the volcano. Maybe its height lets them be closer to Rayquaza? Like draconids and Sky Pillars in dimensions where those are present.

Wait, is that based off actual Hawaiian mythology or something? Since something about this tale between Kyogre and Groudon sounds familiar, even if I can't place from why it sounds familiar to me.

Though:

>GL Exploration Log

So we're looking at one of Shane™️'s logs, huh? Though I wonder what the 'GL' stands for as an acronym in this case.

Path of Valor Almanac
Yuna's cry of "Vgeg zong" is a rough Enochian translation of "strong winds." Enochian is an occult language from sixteenth-century England that, according to creators John Dee and Edward Kelley, was constructed based on messages received from angels.

Huh. TIL, well that's certainly fitting for souping up a Rayquaza in that case.

Chernobog is an alleged Polabian Slavic deity that is classically known for being portrayed as a god of misfortune in Helmod's Chronicle. A variation of him appears in several Disney productions — most notably Fantasia, its sequel, and Kingdom Hearts — as a large, winged demon.

And there's the Chernobog blurb. There's a few other bits of info you could've shared, but eh. Not relevant to the depiction you rolled with in your story.

Alright, onto my final thoughts:

It's nice to have some focus on Team Bastion again, and things are heating up quite nice and fast on their front. I thought that the subplot between Seifer and Molayne was a nice touch, and it gave a chance to get into Seifer's head a bit more. Which I suppose is a sign that we'll be seeing more of him in the future. I'm honestly surprised at the way you continuously find new information to reveal about PoV's multiverse and its factions, and I honestly have to wonder how on earth you don't lose track of all of this internally. Even so, you do a good job at dripfeeding enough to keep most chapters feeling fresh and like we learned something new, so good job there.

I don't have too many complaints regarding this chapter, even if I kinda wonder if a couple details were cut a bit too close to the bone for how much attention was given to them for description and buildup. The fact that Widget has a Miraivally form that he can apparently shift into was the main offender, since there wasn't really any buildup to him being able to do that. He just gets mentioned offhandedly as having done it, and then we see him, and it makes me wonder if there was a better way of setting that up.

That said, I had fun with the package as a whole, and you definitely left things off on a note priming the audience to come back for more @Ambyssin . Dunno how long it'll take to catch up in full, but I'll be back for more PoV later this week.

Since hey, might as well see where these literal fisticuffs wind up going. :V
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
It was a bit touch and go putting this together, but I’ve finally got my next review together, so jumping in with the next chapter in my catchup:

Chapter 60

"You saw that, right?"

Molayne pressed his goggles against his face. "An emerald comet. It has to be Lord Rayquaza!" He tightly gripped Magnezone's railing. "He's here to save us from the eruption!"

It's not Rayquaza at all, I can already tell. Even if 'Lord Rayquaza' still made me double-take hearing that come from Molayne.

That was the most awake Molayne had sounded since Seifer met him. The keldeo bit his lip, however, when he thought about the rest of his team. It was far more likely Yuna had summoned their dimension's Rayquaza to take care of it.

Then again, hadn't he told them he didn't think there was anything he could do about it? What had changed so quickly?

Oh, Rayquaza is a BIG DEAL™️ in this setting, isn't it?

The remaining people waiting to evacuate broke into applause while Molayne directed them toward the boats with surprising vigor. Seifer continued staring at the volcano.

I hope you know what you're doing.

Yeah, Rayquaza being a BIG DEAL™️ officially confirmed when even the randos being evacuated are reacting like this.

"Keep us safe!" Yuna cried, pointing up. Rayquaza shot skyward, shrouding himself in emerald light. He charged through the closest orange fists, blowing them apart in a shower of red and green sparks before whipping his body around to face Chernabog.

Catchy music is catchy. You're a pretty effective marketer for the games you take these OST embeds from, you know that? :V

"Ha!" Chernabog stomped the ground. Stone Edge spires raced toward Yuna, Leo, and Nikki. She looked up, but Rayquaza was too far away.

"Nikki, look out!" Yuna took Leo off her head and held him tight while speeding away from the giant rocks.

Nikki: "Wait, huh? What's going-?"

"The hell do you exp—" Nikki started before a pink aura surrounded her and yanked her into the air. "Gah! No! No more flying!"

Nikki: "Would it have killed you to give some warning first?!" @.@

"Sheesh, that how you thank a cat for saving your ass?" Gene scoffed. Widget flew past him, electricity whirring around his cheek bolts. Chernabog saw the ensuing Thunderbolt coming and yanked up a chunk of the ground to wield like a shield.

"Figures you're cowardly enough to hide behind numbers," Chernabog growled, ripping the electrified rock in half and tossing one piece at Widget and another at the charging Rayquaza to force them both back. "But the champ can take you all down! The best defense... is a good offense! Hoo ha!"

Nikki: "Excuse me, but you're like a hundred meters tall right now. How on earth is taking you on with numbers not just basic sanity here?"
:eltywtf:


"Thou hast that backwards!" Rayquaza said, corkscrewing away from the electrified rock. Gene dropped Nikki back on the ground, then surrounded Chernabog with Psystrike orbs.

"You won't say that when I— hurrrgh!" Chernabog spread his arms out. Black energy coalesced through his fists. The mega machamp spun around like an oversized green top, batting Gene's Psystrike away before beelining toward Nikki.

... Wait, is he using Outrage there? Or else, what's the "green top" move that Chernabog's rocking there?

"****!" She backpedaled only to end up on her rear. "****, ****, ****!"

Rayquaza managed to swoop in and grab Nikki before Chernabog's Darkest Lariat would've blended her into a toxtricity smoothie. Yuna sighed in relief, however it proved fleeting when Chernabog didn't stop spinning. In fact, he spun so fast he rose into the air, threatening to chase after Rayquaza.

Ah, that explains it.

Yuna: "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." O.O;

"I-Impossible!" he cried.

"I'm gonna snap ya like a Slim Jim!" Chernabog roared from within his black tornado. The very air itself seemed to distort around him.

So those exist in this setting too, huh? :V

Gene shot lightning from his hands to no avail. Widget tried showering Chernabog in Thunder Wave sparks, but his spinning effortlessly turned them away.

Yuna tensed up. Much as she hated to do it, she needed to find those icky shadows and pull them out to help her friends. Come on. Please.

I... actually never realized that Yuna found her Bayo powers uncomfortable and/or unsettling based off her past depictions using them. Maybe it's just been a while since her earliest usages, but I swear I don't remember reading her regard them along these lines in the past.

The strange power responded. A quick tingle in her hands and Yuna instinctively punched the air. A large gray leg struck Chernabog, punching him in the opposite direction as his spinning. The machamp slowed down. Yuna silently cheered while watching him drift back toward safe footing atop the volcano.

Cue Chernabog zeroing his attention in on her over the Bayo-style Gira stomp.

Gene seized the opportunity to fire a pink Psybeam and push Chernabog back even further. The mewtwo quickly looked around. "Where's Nikki? We have to get her and Leo out of here."

"The hell?!" Nikki hissed, squirming in Rayquaza's small black arms. "You can't toss me aside like that! I'm—"

"A liability up here!" Gene growled, Malice Crystal sparking. "We can't fight this meathead if we have to worry about protecting you!" He threw open a rift behind him. "This isn't up for debate. Widget, go with them."

Image


"What?!" The type: full's thruster jets sputtered briefly. "But I—"

"A hero protects those who need protecting, doesn't he?" Gene said, yellow-tipped tail lashing at the air.

Widget rubbed his forelegs together. "I guess."

Widget: "But wouldn't my abilities be better served fighting the giant Machamp of doom-?" Gene:
Image


"Seriously?" Nikki continued struggling in Rayquaza's grasp. "Princess, say something! You can't let him do this to me!"

But a sudden roar from Chernabog brought the debate to a screeching halt. The sky filled with giant red fists yet again.

"Go! Now!" Gene hollered.

Whelp, guess Yuna's letting Widget carry Nikki off. Which barring her G-Maxing... is kinda called for, really.
:gardeshrug~1:


All Yuna could offer Nikki was an attempt at an apologetic look before Gene's telekinesis flung her through the rift. Widget charged after her, carrying Leo on his back.

"Defend!" Yuna said, waving her right arm without even realizing it. Rayquaza coiled his body up and blasted the fists apart with a large Hyper Beam.

Yuna: "I hope she won't be too mad at me... though I wonder how Noctum and his team are doing right about now...?"

"What the—" Molayne struggled to steady himself atop Magnezone. "Something's going on up there. Rayquaza's fighting someone. Or something."

Molayne: "Also, don't know who this 'Noctum' is, but... yeah. You're gonna need to wait a bit longer to hear from him."

Seifer nodded silently. He recognized the giant fists. When was the last time he even used Dyna Fist? Against Xeromus? But when the keldeo used that move, it didn't flood the sky with them!

Ah yes, the power of Malice in action.

"We have to focus on finishing the evacuation," he said, trying to force his nerves down. "Jade, how are you holding up?"

"I'm okay!" the salugia chirped, spitting a couple of stems onto the ground by Seifer's feet. "These leppas are perfect pick-me-ups!"

Ah, PP restoration, clever tie-in there. But I suppose that for an item that would do that mechanically, that it'd only be logical that it'd translate into feeling more invigorated for a Pokémon.

"Right." Molayne shook his head. "If you can push yourself a bit more, this would be the last haul of people."

Jade nodded. The crowd was nothing more than about seventy people, however that was more than she'd carried before. She took a deep breath and smacked her face with her wings.

"Yeah. I've got this. One more load!" Jade crouched down and spread her wings out.

... Why am I getting the feeling that things are about to take a terrible turn from the way we're abruptly cutting from an otherwise normal evacuation scene here?

"Trimming down your numbers cuz you're scared of the champ won't save ya!" Chernabog flexed with his upper right arm while his other three yanked out chunks of the ground and hurled them through the air.

Chernabog: "Really, given that numbers was all you had going for ya, this sounds like an admission of defeat!"
:AlviseDetermined:


Yuna flew into a rift and popped out next to Rayquaza. She grabbed one of his fins while he strafed around Chernabog to try and take a shot at his backside.

"Chernamania is panoramic!" the giga machamp shouted, kicking his right leg back and sending more rock shards careening toward them. Yuna swiped her right arm sideways. One of the shadowy legs shot out in front of Rayquaza and shattered the rocks into tiny pieces.

"Thou hast gained control over those strange shadowy limbs?" Rayquaza said.

Yuna: "I sure hope so, since otherwise there's decent odds that we're all going to die painfully and horribly in short order."
:sweats:


"I, uh, maybe?" Yuna said, vaguely recalling the times she had inexplicably used them against Runerigus and Exodes' barrier.

Gallian: "Thou aren't inspiring me with confidence, milady..."
:eltywtf:


"Pay attention!" Gene called while whipping up a Hurricane and sending harsh winds barreling toward Chernabog.

"A pincer attack, then," Rayquaza said. He whipped his tail forward and spun it around rapidly. His intense whirlwind and Gene's Hurricane had sandwiched Chernabog. He silently crouched down. Was he going to jump up? Did he even have the leg strength to go high enough to dodge both moves?

I mean, he's at least a hundred meters tall. Would you really be surprised if he couldn't jump up and dodge both moves, Yuna?

It didn't matter. Yuna couldn't give him that chance. "Rrrgh." The drakloak managed to pry her right arm off Rayquaza's back fin and slap the air. Inky shadows fizzled around her, then a giant gray leg hit Chernabog the moment he tried to jump.

"Grrraaaagh!" The mega machamp crashed back into the ground and both cyclones collided with him stuck in the center. Squeaking, Yuna pressed her face against Rayquaza. Thankfully, however, she didn't experience any whiplash.

Well played. Guess she is starting to get the hang of those things.

"Steel yourself, Princess," Rayquaza said, briefly glancing at her. "My Delta Stream means wayward winds shant touch you."

"R-Right." Yuna poked her head from behind Rayquaza. Those were two powerful flying-type moves. Maybe they were enough to take him down?

Narrator:
Image


The volcano's rim shook. Yuna watched small cracks spread out below where Rayquaza floated and groaned. Of course it couldn't be that simple.

"You!" Chernabog was on his hands and knees, but distorted energy crackled around his belt.

Yeah, I knew it.

"Imagine a rebel fighting fair," Gene scoffed, unleashing a flurry of pink orbs. Rayquaza took the mewtwo's cue and whipped up another fierce whirlwind to pummel Chernabog from behind.

"No! Not... over... yet!"

IMO, this would've worked a bit better to have described Chernabog struggling a bit if the idea was that he's been getting worn down. I assume that's the intent from the delivery of his line, but it might have made sense to be a bit more explicit.

Chernabog stood up. His back arched violently. He pivoted sideways... and his belly split apart, revealing rows of jagged teeth that had no place in a giga machamp's stomach.

Yuna: "Oh god!"
:squirpuke~1:

Gallian: "Well that's an image that's going to stick around in mine nightmares..."
:ScaredCabot:


Yuna shrieked. Red, distorted tendrils emerged from Chernabog's new, gaping maw. They sliced through Gene's Psystrike and Rayquaza's winds. An eerie stillness settled over the volcano. Silence, save for the dripping of strange, orange fluid from Chernabog's gut.

Then the drakloak's vision flickered. Her Soul Dew burned against her ectoplasmic chest.
Yuna: "Oh, so even my Soul Dew found that disgusting and nauseating. T-Though Gene? Rayquaza? Are you two alright?"
:sevidazed:


"Are you really that surprised? It was only a matter of time before our paths crossed again... Yaldabaoth."

Yuna tensed up. That wasn't Reshiram's voice. Heck, it wasn't even a single voice. More like thousands talking inside her head in unison. But what did they mean? Did Chiron have some sort of second name?

Oh hey, it's Egil's mech from Xenoblade 1. Though what on earth compelled you to pick thatna-?

Yaldabaoth is a name of the Demiurge in Gnosticism, a lesser deity who is the creator of the physical world.

Image


You wot m8.

"Yeah, not into cheap horror schlock," Gene said, more Psystrike orbs at the ready. "I prefer the meathead routine. At least then I get nice pecs to ogle."

"The champ doesn't quit!" Chernabog roared. He took a step back. "The champ will bring you all down!" His words lacked his earlier bravado. Instead they had an air of desperation about them.

I mean, if that name is remotely on-brand for Yuna and she's an out-and-out Demiurge... yeah, I'd be starting to sweat, too.

Gene hurled the Psystrike at Chernabog. The mega machamp flexed all four arms... and large orange chairs appeared in his hands. "By god, he's bringing out the steel chairs!" Chernabog said, swinging them around and batting a dumbstruck Gene's Psystrike away before tossing the energy chairs at the mewtwo as if they were strangely shaped Focus Blasts.

I audibly snerked here. PoV's ability to effortlessly glide between serious and absurd will never get old to me.

Rayquaza took the opportunity to fire another Hyper Beam, but Chernabog stood his ground. His stomach mouth opening even wider than before.

Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. Was Chernabog getting closer?

"Impossible!" Rayquaza spun around in the air. "He... he sucked up my Hyper Beam! He's trying to suck us up!"

Yuna: "He couldn't have just stomped over menacingly, could he?" O.O

Delta Stream wasn't helping them. Rayquaza made no headway attempting to escape the giant vortex forming in Chernabog's maw.

"You seek to bring your chaos to this world and drag it toward stagnation. Consider this intervention a righteous gift."

Wait, implying that Yuna is a dimensional outsider to Etherium? As in she originally wasn't aligned with Eternatus at all? I can't say that I ever saw that one coming. .-.

This was so not the time for another Xeromus-esque ominous voice to talk vaguely about fate. But was it claiming to be responsible for Chernabog's behavior? Didn't he work for Paradox?

"Do something, Rayquaza!" Yuna cried.

"I am... trying!" He sounded strained. And Yuna found her grip slipping fast. Maybe she could form a rift and have them fall into it? That would get them out of the way, sure, but it wouldn't stop Chernabog's rampage.

I don't suppose it'd be possible to yeet Chernabog through a rift, would it? Or at least his limbs, since I doubt rifts closing on them would be kind to them.

The cracks in the ground were getting deeper, too. At this rate, Chernabog would break through the volcanic rim. And if this was really the body of some ancient god, then...

"Relinquish the fight. Let my hands grab hold of this world to preserve it for eternity."

Wait, but if Yuna was a demiurge once upon a time, doesn't this imply that she was in a squabble with whoever this other figure is over creating a world? As in Etherium?i

No, she couldn't relinquish! Think, Yuna, think!

The second mouth formed from distortion. Distortion that came from the giga machamp's belt. A belt with a fist-shaped crystal. It had to have flooded him with extra fighting energy.

If Rayquaza's whirlwinds weren't enough, then she had to use the strongest technique at his disposal!

The crystal's this guy's weak point, isn't it?

Sucking in a sharp breath, Yuna thrust her hands into Rayquaza's back. "Let him suck us up! Charge at him with Dragon Ascent!"

"Art thou mad?!"

Yuna: "Maybe a little! But we don't have a lot of options right about now!"

"Do it!" Yuna cried. The shadows slipped into Rayquaza's back. He tensed up, then whirled around and charged toward Chernabog and the jagged rows of teeth peppering his second mouth. His tassels stiffened. Emerald energy blanketed his black, serpentine form.

The drakloak barely heard Gene's cry of, "What are you doing?!" as she and Rayquaza charged toward Chernabog.

Yuna: "Boy, I sure hope this works, since otherwise this story's going to end really, really abruptly."
:uhhh:


Closer and closer. Yuna could make out each individual tooth. Jagged, serrated, and glowing the same color as the fist-shaped gem on the mega machamp's belt. That gave her some reassurance her thinking was on the right track, but the pitch black in the middle still frightened her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her arms deeper into Rayquaza's back.

Oh, she still has more in her bag of tricks for souping up Gallian? Let's see what she does here...

One final roar from Chernabog, then silence followed.

No pain. No more fierce winds. Yuna wasn't sure if they were even moving anymore. She wasn't dead though. Though darkness surrounded them, Dragon Ascent's emerald sheen held firm.. Yuna's hands remained inside Rayquaza while she silently willed him to press on... even though there wasn't a clear on to press to.

"Such pitiable naivete, Yaldabaoth."

Oh well that music's ominous there.

Yuna: "Uh... yeah, this might have been a giant mistake." O.O
Gallian: "That's just now occurring to you?!" O_O;

The voice — voices? Yuna still wasn't sure — had followed them.

Something flickered ahead of the duo. A face? There was too much distortion to tell.

"You fight for nothing. This world's fate — like all others — has been affirmed. Only I can shape it to be part of something greater. You would cast it into stagnant oblivion."

- Fires up Wikipedia's entry on Yaldabaoth -

Um... yeah, that'd be pretty on-brand for a 'Yaldabaoth', even if Yuna doesn't give off vibes of wanting that. So wait, is this 'Monad' she's talking to right now? As in the figure that's supposed to be the higher diety?

"This isn't my world," Yuna countered. Shadows still trickled into Rayquaza's back from her arms. The Dragon Ascent charge continued, yet the distorted face didn't grow any closer.

"It's not too late to seize the power of choice presented to you. Surrender and allow your souls to pass to the Overworld. And soon after, you will bask in the glory of a reality defined by eternity."

Yeah, she's being spoken to by a 'Monad' here. Since this overall dynamic is consistent with Monad and Yaldabaoth from Gnosticism, even if this is a bit unusual in that the Demiurge of the pair isn't being played as the villainous one.

Still annoyingly vague. But the talk of choices and eternity brought Xeromus to mind, so the drakloak chose to shoot her shot.

"I take it you're Natus? The one who'll envelop everyone in his love?"

God, phrasing it like that sounded disgusting.

... I just realized that if Natus is meant to be a Monad and he appeared as Beta Arceus... then barring some sort of fakeout reveal, he really is the originator of everything in PoV's omniverse.
:copyber:


The face flickered briefly. Did its expression change? "If that is how you prefer to address me, I will not resist."

What a ridiculous non-answer!

"Fine," she said, then plunged the rest of her arms deeper into Rayquaza. "But like I said, this isn't my home, so it's not my choice to make. We're done here."


Bold of you to assume that you'll be able to just leave, Yuna.

Now the face was definitely getting closer. Yes, Rayquaza was making progress! They would bust out of this void and take the enemy down!

"Surely you realize this is but a vessel? I care not what becomes of it."

The face disappeared and then the darkness shattered as if it was a window Rayquaza had flown directly into.


Well that was creepy and ominous. Though let's see what on earth the darkness breaking did, since that can't have been good for Chernabog.

"The hell?!"

An emerald shockwave rippled through the sky. Nikki threw her right arm over her face. She couldn't believe this was happening. First Boss Kitty tossed her aside like a used napkin while Princess stood by and watched. Now it looked like the fight was ending and she had absolutely no clue what would happen. What if Boss Kitty and Princess got sent back home and the rest of them were stranded here?


Nikki: "Also, the hell is up with this background music right now?"
:what:


"Hey, Leo, where are you going?"

Nikki moved her arm and saw Widget flying after the fake dreepy, who was heading up the mountain. "Oi!" Her mohawk flared up. "Don't just leave me here!"

To save his mom, presumably. Since I'd assume that his Arceus powers give him a bead on wherever she's at at the moment.

Widget stopped. He looked between Nikki and Leo, who was getting further away. Sighing, he shot back down to the ground.

"Hurry. We've got to catch him." Widget pivoted to let Nikki climb aboard.

"This wouldn't have been a problem if I didn't get benched," the toxtricity growled.

She would have words for Princess... assuming they weren't too late.

I mean, the last line from Yuna's scene implied she was alright, but now I'm not so sure.
:copyka2:


Rayquaza surged forward for a bit before Yuna realized magma bubbled far beneath them both and pulled her hands out of his back.

"Haah... haaargh..."

Rayquaza wheezed a couple of times. His mega evolution faded away in a faint rainbow shimmer, then his whole body dissolved back into Yuna's Soul Dew. The drakloak turned around and caught a quick glimpse of a machamp body with a giant hole through the midsection before it, too, dissolved away in streams of red and gray.

Yeah, I knew that that wouldn't be good for Chernabog. Guess we won't be seeing him again for a good while.

Gene was already heading toward the volcanic rim, because Chernabog had left two things behind: some sort of big red bug with massive, bulging, fluid-filled arms, and an orange, rectangular stone that dropped to the ground with a loud clang.

The moment it did, an orange beam shot toward the distortion hanging over the volcano, and bright white light flooded the area.

A Buzzwhole? Wait, so was that thing piloting Chernabog or something? Since it certainly had a conveniently timed appearance there.

It took all of ten seconds for Team Bureau to realize that Noctum didn't have the flying speed to keep up with Yiazmat and the pizza truck. Fortunately, Cyril had a backup plan in mind. The large metal pizza spinning on the roof of the truck opened up to reveal some sort of strange table-like device that the black charizard could lay down on. He stuck his head into a circular telescope and found himself looking at Eternatus Gunners flying ahead of them in the distance while the truck rumbled across the dirt on the side of the railroad track.

Oh, a turret, huh? Or at least I think that's a turret. And good choice of background music there.

"So, uh, tell me again what I'm supposed to do up here?" Noctum said. He didn't like the tight space around his head. It made him think of dark, rocky caves despite the lack of dark and rock.

"It's a super scope lens," Cyril said. "You can swivel around to aim yourself at enemies. Then fire off an attack like you're in a normal battle and the super scope will do the rest."

Noctum: "How in the hell does that-?"
Cyril: "Magic."
- Beat moment -
Noctum: "Wait, really-?"
Cyril: "No, not really! Look, just get scoping and shooting up there!" >_>;

Fire off an attack? Noctum found that easy for the cosmic zoroark to say. He wasn't the one with his head squeezed into the uncomfortable metal tube!

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "How do I even aim?"

"Turn your head. Duh," Cyril replied. "If you need to aim way off to the side or behind us, then you turn your body, too."

Noctum: "... Wait, but what if someone comes and attacks from close quarters-?"
:fearfullaugh~1:

Cyril: "Noctum, turn and shoot already!"

Raising a brow, Noctum tried moving his head left. The aiming scope settled on an Eternatus Gunner flying with its long, tentacle legs undulating behind it.

Now he had to use an attack. Flamethrower was his best move. The black charizard still didn't feel right shooting fire with his head in such a tight tube, but managed to push through the displeasure. A quick burst of orange fire, then a bright flash, and suddenly Noctum saw the Gunner's glass dome shatter and the unown pilot free fall toward the ground alongside the remnants of its robotic body.

"Nice shot!" Cyril said. "Hurry, before they catch onto us."

Noctum: "I have no idea how on earth this is all even happening, but not gonna question it right now!"

Hurry, he says, Noctum mentally grumbled. Like he could magically rapid fire Flamethrowers at the drop of a hat. Perhaps small fireballs, instead? Quantity sounded more important, here.

That actually makes me wonder if the turret also amplifies attacks, since Noctum's Flamethrower did a lot more damage than I was expecting given how Pokémon from Etherium are canonically nerfed in terms of how strong their attacks are.

Noctum moved the scope and shot another fireball. He moved a bit right and fired again. Then a third, fourth, and fifth time. Five explosions rewarded his efforts, and it was at that point he saw a few of the Gunners realizing their numbers had thinned.

"Guuuuys, they're pointing at us," he said, tightening his grip on the strange table. Sure, there were buckles strapping him in, but one couldn't be too careful. "I think the element of surprise is gone!"

Yeah, looks like the thing does indeed amplify attacks, given that those cut-down fireballs also toasted Eternatus Gunners quite effectively.

"That's when we kick the afterburners on!" Cyril declared.

Noctum stiffened. "The afterwhatnow?"

Cue the loud Charizard screaming in 3... 2...

It turned out that meant going even faster. Noctum yelped, though the metal tube shielded him from the worst of the whiplash. He managed to refocus, only for the pizza truck to suddenly swerve left, then right. Noctum spun out atop the firing platform.

"Waaah! Hey, a little warning, please?"

"We're taking fire, dweeb," Valkyrie said. "Get it together and hit 'em back."

Noctum: "If it's really so easy, then why didn't you volunteer for this job?!" >.<
Valkyrie: "Because I'm not the one packing literal firepower here. Come on, Zardy, get it together."
:typhNOsion:


Again, Noctum fought back the urge for a biting retort. Just trying to keep himself aiming straight with the car swerving through the dirt was proving a problem. He caught glimpses of blue darts streaking through the air and meeting brown clumps in midair. The Gunners' had their Hidden Powers tuned to ground-type, apparently.

Noctum tightened his gut muscles and dug his elbows and knees into the firing platform. That managed to stop the spinning. He trained the super scope ahead and shot three fireballs, downing one Eternatus Gunner while the other two managed to negate the fireballs with bursts of clay and dirt.

Noctum: "Cyril, you did build more than one of these things into the truck, right-?"
:fearfullaugh~1:

Cyril: "If I did, we'd be using them right now! Just focus on shooting those Gunners down!"

Ahead of him, Yiazmat rolled away from a couple of Hidden Powers and fired more dreepy-shaped purple energy blasts from her horns. The Gunner she aimed at couldn't get out of the way fast enough and blew up. Yiazmat pulled up to dodge the ensuing shrapnel. She was even faster than Noctum remembered. Had she been training while they were away?

Yiazmat:
Image

Noctum: "... Your Highness, with all due respect, but how am I just finding out about these things from you? I literally served in your household since childhood!"
:grohno~2:


"Hey! No one said to stop firing!" Igneous growled through Noctum's X-transceiver. "We're not close enough to attack."

"Sorry." Noctum turned and shot a couple of fireballs, but the Gunner he aimed at dropped down and dodged the blasts. It was ready to strike back, when its glass dome suddenly shattered and the unown toppled out. A purple saucer flew by and Noctum watched it fire a white beam and destroy another Gunner.

"I see genesect!" Noctum shouted. "... I think?"

Noctum: "U-Um... they are friendly to us, right? O-Or at least not hostile?"
:uhhh:


"Yeah, that's them, all right," Cyril said. "That means we're catching up. Keep your eyes peeled for the train."

The pizza truck swerved left, kicking up a wall of dirt and striking the side of the train track. Noctum gasped, his firing platform spinning wildly as Cyril turned right to try and steady the truck amidst all the dust clouds and fluttering grass blades in the air.

... Wait, so what happens if Noctum vomits into the turret? Since with the way he's spinning around, it feels like we're about to find out in short order.
:copyka:


Noctum thought he saw Hidden Power clay mounds careening toward him, but they burst apart into dust clouds. A gray blur rushed by.

"Hang in there, Noctum!" Yiazmat called back.

"Damn it! We can't zigzag like this forever," Igneous hissed. "We've got to do something. What are all these buttons back here for, huh?"

Cyril: "Hey! Don't touch those-!"

"Well, there's another super scope lens built into the right side," Cyril said. "But it's not exactly, y'know, finished yet. If you try to use it, you could fall out of the truck."

Valkyrie: "Isn't that why you're supposed to install these after you've got them completed?" >_>;
Cyril: "Hey! Less backseat driving and more help with those Gunners!" >:|

The black charizard regained his bearings, but the sight he trained his own super scope on had become a bevy of purple saucers and Eternatus Gunners lighting the sky up with white beams, clay balls... and Flamethrowers, to boot. Some of the Gunners must have been prepped with fire-typing instead.

Noctum gulped. What if he hit a genesect? He wasn't trying to get their attention turned on the pizza truck. Especially when he could actually see the train's caboose rattling on ahead. And quickly, at that. Igneous was right after all. This wasn't any ordinary freight train.

Noctum: "Gee, no pressure here."
:ohnowen:


"Val, wait! What are you doing?" the grovlazzle cried.

Ah, so that's who's going to be taking up the second turret, huh?

Loud clangs and whirred sounded to Noctum's right.

"Evening the odds a bit," the garchomp declared.

Valkyrie: "And Zardy, I know that you have that crush on me going on, but seriously. Zip it until we're done here." >:|

Next thing Noctum knew, a Dragon Pulse burst through the dusty air, destroying an Eternatus Trooper too preoccupied with flanking a genesect. The weird purple disc looked around. Noctum saw its red lightbulb-like eyes flash.

Noctum: "Valkyrie, why would you do that-?!"
:eltyscared:


A second Dragon Pulse punched a hole in the dust and took out another Gunner. Yiazmat's Dragon Darts struck a third one, allowing a genesect to easily blow it up. Like the first, that one stopped and trained its mechanical eyes on the dragapult, which flickered with red light.

Suddenly, three genesect broke off their pursuit of Eternatus Gunners and beelined for the pizza truck. "Oh no!" Noctum squeezed his elbows and knees tighter against the firing platform. "They're mad at us!"

Valkyrie: "Yeah, I can see that! Open fire already!"

"Then I'll get rid of 'em, too," Valkyrie said. A Dragon Pulse headed for one of the genesect, but it proved much faster than the Eternatus Gunners, easily veering out of the way. Its two buddies shot white beams, with one missing the pizza truck to the right and the other striking right at the head.

"Gah!" Cyril yelped. The truck swerved light and right from the zoroark's attempts to stop it from spinning out.

Noctum: "Val, this is why we're supposed to talk these things through!" >.<

Noctum's head banged against the top of the super scope, then his whole world was spinning. "Agggh!" The black charizard felt his Malice Crystal stirring in his gut. Likely keeping him from getting nauseous, for better or worse. "This is a bad idea! We should get out of here!"

"And let them win?" Valkyrie hissed. "Fat chance!"

"They're still firing on us!"
Igneous shouted.

Noctum: "I dunno, letting them win doesn't sound so bad compared to dying-"
:uhhh:

Valkyrie: "Noctum, if we give up, a whole lot of Pokémon are going to die from that train. We're not backing down, alright?!"

Dragon Darts and a Dragon Pulse met the genesect's white energy blasts and stalemated them. Noctum stopped spinning long enough to shoot a Flamethrower through the super scope. It scorched the genesect closest to the pizza track. Though it wasn't destroyed, it careened toward the ground, giving the truck more than enough time to pass it up.

They had made up more ground thanks to the genesect matching the Eternatus Gunners' firepower. Though the dirt filling the air didn't hurt, either, even if it reduced visibility a bit. Noctum could see silhouettes. That was all he needed to send out a few fireballs while Valkyrie's bursts of dragonfire peppered the dusty air with blue-purple sparks and embers.

Valkyrie: "Cyril, would it have killed you to implement infrared vision on these things?!" >_>;
Cyril: "Didn't have time! Look, whatever you're doing up there, just keep it up!"

A volley of white beams and clay Hidden Power lumps emerged in response. Cyril swerved right, then left.

"Gah!"

"Val!"


Noctum was spinning again. He caught the faintest glimpse of Igneous grabbing Valkyrie to keep the garchomp from falling off her firing platform.

Ah, we're going to see Protective!Noctum in action shortly, aren't we?

"Hang on!" Cyril shouted.

"What now?" Igneous groaned.

Noctum wildly shot out fireballs. Cyril had banked hard toward the rail tracks. The pizza truck hit the side and launched into the air, propelled further ahead by the roaring thrusters.

"Seriously?!" Noctum hollered.

Noctum: "Cyril, please tell me you built a flying mode of some sort into this thing!" O.O

"Seize the opening!" Yiazmat declared. Dragon Darts peppered the air, striking multiple Gunners and genesect. Noctum spat out several fireballs, destroying the damaged Gunners and at least grounding the genesect units.

The pizza truck landed on the opposite side of the tracks with a heavy thud. Noctum's head again slammed against the top of the super scope lens. The black charizard blinked the stars out of his vision to find the truck had come even with some of the train's rear cars.

Noctum: "Whelp, no flying mode. Yay me."
:sevidazed:


"We... we caught up?" Noctum laughed nervously. "We caught up! We—"

Why did the air around him feel dryer? And colder?

Noctum: "... Oh that's not good."
:ohnowen:


"Something's happening atop the train!" Yiazmat cried, darting away from the truck.

Noctum caught a flash of blue and white... then a tremendous spear-shaped icicle beelining right for them!

Oh, it's Shimmer moonlighting for Glastrier, isn't it?

Instinct took hold and he exhaled as many flames as he could through the super scope lens. Valkyrie added a Dragon Pulse of her own. For a moment, it looked like it wouldn't be enough, but a second gout of fire emerged and broke through. Ice chunks peppered the ground and tracks, forcing Cyril to swerve the pizza truck through them.

"What the hell was that?" Igneous said. "My flames could actually reach it, but..."

"It was no genesect,"
Cyril said. "Cid, you getting anything with that Dyna Scan of yours?"

It's totally Shimmer, isn't it?

Silence at first. Another blue-white flash popped up. Cyril slowed the truck down enough for the train to fully pass by, then jumped the train tracks yet again. Noctum focused his cover fire behind the truck this time, managing to peg a few Gunners with fireballs.

"Someone's atop the train," Cid said. "It's an icy aura. But I've never felt one like this before!"

"Gee, that's reassuring!"
Valkyrie scoffed. "Did Xeromus leave us an extra surprise knowing we'd give chase?"

My money's more on Dermezel, but I suppose we'll find out what we're dealing with in about 3 paragraphs.

"I don't know, but speaking of surprises, you guys might want to think about evacuating," Cid said, voice getting more nervous with every word.

"Why? We're already so damn close," Igneous said.

Noctum was in the process of turning back to face the train when sudden bursts of warm air peppered his tail and flank. Yelping, the charizard turned back to find the air behind the truck lighting up orange with five-pronged Fire Blast explosions. Molten genesect shrapnel rained down on the dirt and tracks. And out of the smoke appeared three large, mechanical hydreigon heads, followed by the rest of its huge metal torso.

Oh, well that's not Shimmer. Nevermind then. I was wondering when we'd see that Iron Jugulis again.

"G-G..." The black charizard swallowed hard. "Giant hydreigon robot!"

Cid tittered through the X-transceiver. "That's why."

Valkyrie: "Um... yeah, I'm starting to think that we should probably just write off those other Pokémon right about now."
:uhhh:


~Il Paradigma, No. XI: Chernabog, the Strength~
Unparalleled in his muscular might, he earned the trust of the Matriarch through his relentless, no-holds-barred fighting style, dispatching foe after foe without the need for breaks. His burning spirit persisted even after his body gave out from old age, hopping from muscular host to muscular host to fight for the pride of the Benefactor's loyal followers.

Oh, well that would explain the Buzzwhole we saw back there after the Mega Machamp bit it.

ADDENDUM: With Paradox's rise to power, he was dispatched on fewer assignments. Ever restless, he kept himself occupied through highly-publicized show fights, earning him scores of adoring fans through the many generations of the Benefactor's confinement.

And that explains his fanbase. So wait, does that mean that in his spare time, Baptiste had his art displayed in galleries or something?

Path of Valor Almanac
Strength is, depending on the deck, either the eighth or, more commonly, eleventh card in the Major Arcana. It is thought to represent power, energy, action, and complete success. It has also been referred to as Fortitude, one of the cardinal virtues of classical philosophy. Hence the use of its Latin form, Fortitutdo, in the chapter title.

>no mention of Yaldabaoth in the almanac

Okay, now I'm convinced that that name wasn't chosen just for flavor reasons, since those are massive implications regarding Yuna, the voice she spoke to, and where this plot's going if it was remotely related to who she actually is.

Alright, time for the recap:

I... honestly have no idea how you're going to escalate this story even further beyond what you already have. Though I suppose that I should keep an open mind, since it isn't the first time that I've asked myself that in PoV. I thought that you had a nice mix of action this chapter, while the types of action involved were different enough to make both the Team Bastion and Team Bureau segments feel fresh with each other.

As for complaints... there were a couple parts where there could've been a bit more description to work with, but I honestly was too busy having fun and picking my jaw up off the floor from those reveals surrounding Yuna, so yeah. Beyond a couple minor touch-ups, there's not a lot I'd recommend for changes.

Good work @Ambyssin . Unsure if I'll get the opportunity to grind out another chapter before the next one launches this Saturday, but I can already tell that the next couple are going to be wild, and I'm looking forward to them.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, gonna try and do something different tonight and try and jam out another chapter of my PoV catchup before tomorrow’s bump, so in light of the mother of all serial escalations last time, let's see how things shake out in:

Chapter 61

Phenomenal affirmation.

It's a phrase I've heard a couple of times across some of the dimensions I've visited. Still don't quite get it. Sounds like a whacky concept where someone can, like, manipulate fate itself. Like it's something a person can mold and shape.

Oh, so Dimensional Scream / that one battle mechanic of XB1, huh?


Completely stupid, if you ask me. Fate isn't clay you toss into a kiln or anything. Even the dimensions involving heroes who stopped incarnations of the Bittercold and have those weird Worldcores only had the human heroes give themselves the power to travel between specific worlds. That's giving yourself a special power, not manipulating fate.

... Right?

Can't hear you over Mechanical Rhythm blaring in the background, doubter of the mallebility of fate. Though I see we're mentioning canonical PMD worlds now, makes me wonder if we're going to see one of those in some capacity in this chapter in that case.

This was bad— no, worse than bad! They struggled enough with the Seekerskorch, but now they were stuck on a pizza truck chasing after a train.

Well that's some ominous crisis music there.

"Scarlett, are you there?" Noctum said. He couldn't remember if the dragonair kept her X-transceiver on. "We have another giant robot situatioooooooon!"

The black charizard's last word got drawn out when a blast struck the back of the pizza truck, knocking it briefly into the air. Noctum tried shooting a Flamethrower at the robot, but its left head blocked the strike with a well-aimed Dark Pulse.

Scarlett: "... Wait, why are you calling me now of all times when you didn't say 'boo' up to this point?"
:eltywtf:

Noctum: "Look, we're about to be eaten by a giant robot Hydreigon, okay?!"
:uhhh:


"What are you hitting up Scarlett for?" Valkyrie growled. "You're not in a position to wormhole her here."

It was true. They were moving too fast. A rift would just drop Scarlett behind them and leave her at the mercy of the robot hydreigon.

"Well, I'm open to any ideas!"

He shot fireballs at some of the Gunners, but again Dark Pulses from the robot brought a stop to his attack. Noctum didn't even have time to sigh his frustration, as the pizza truck suddenly swerved toward the train tracks and took off over them. Ice crystals peppered the ground where the truck had been seconds ago.

Would recommend hacking up your last paragraph in this section.

Noctum: "Oh this amount of stress over nearly dying can't possibly be good for my stomach lining."
:ohnowen:


"Damn it! We can't keep going like this!" Cyril hissed. And Noctum agreed. Attacks from two sides would bring them down in an instant.

"Are you going to slow down and take your chances with the robot?" Valkyrie scoffed.

"Iron Jugulis," Cid cut in.

"What?"

"It's what my Dyna Scan is telling me," Cid elaborated.

Valkyrie: "Seriously, Cid?! Get your priorities straight right now!" >.<

"Whatever!" Cyril said. "No, I'm not taking my chances with the robot! We'll have to go faster!"

"Faster?!" Noctum sputtered, and indeed the wind grew even fiercer against his snout. The black charizard couldn't stop himself from snorting up dust particles. "Oh no..."

Oh, so this is the part where we get an answer to what happens when you vomit into the Super Scope, huh?
:copyka2:


Hold it. Fight it. Not in the super scope lens. He couldn't afford to—

"WAHCHOO!"

Noctum didn't realize what direction he was facing until the super scope filled the air with orange flames... and yellow snot.

Oh, so it literally magnifies anything that goes into it. I can already tell that there's going to be some even ickier projectiles flying around later on.

Team Bureau: "..."
:TailsEww:

Noctum: "Look, can we not get so hung up about literally fighting dirty and please just focus on downing the giant robot that's trying to kill us?!" >_>;

"Agh!" An Eternatus Gunner sputtered in midair. "I'm hit! Someone get me a squeegee! The rebels are bathing me in lizard germs!"

"I'm a dragon!" the charizard squeaked in protest.

Oh, so this is where that bit you previewed a couple months ago came from. o<o

Iron Jugulis wasn't the least bit phased by the Gunner's plight. Its mechanical heads glowed bright white... only to stop suddenly when the snot-covered Gunner crashed into its torso. Jugulis' metal heads flickered and it lost a bit of altitude before it managed to regain itself and resume its charging.

"Guys, I think I know how we can stop this thing!" Noctum said, trying not to lose control of the firing platform in his excitement. "We've gotta knock the smaller guys into the big guy!"

Oh hey, I remember a few boss fights cut from that mold in games. So it's going to be one of those, huh?

The pizza truck sharply cut away from the railroad tracks. Cold air rushed past Noctum and the super scope.

"Easier said than done, dweeb," Valkyrie growled. "We're taking fire from both sides!"

"Can't Noctum open a rift back to Casaroja?" Cid suggested. "I think you've done all you can there."

Noctum: "Wait, but aren't a bunch of Pokémon going to die if we don't stop this thing-?" ._.;
Cid: "You're going to die if you don't get out of that line of fire. Stat!"

Noctum saw Iron Jugulis' heads glowing again. "Left! No, right!" he yelped. "Your right, my left!"

Cyril banked the pizza truck back toward the train tracks and avoided the huge Hyper Beam that scored the ground where it had previously been.

"All right, that's enough," Igneous hissed. "I'm putting a stop to this stupid sandwich."

Not convinced it's going to be anywhere near that easy, Igneous. But let's see how things shake out.

"Ow! Hey, what are you doing?!" Valkyrie said.

Noctum spun the firing platform around in time to see Igneous' volcarona wings appear in bursts of orange fire. He flew toward the train while Yiazmat covered him, distracting a couple of genesect with Flamethrowers shot from her horns.

Noctum: "... Please tell me you know what you're doing here, Chiaki."
:ohnowen:


This was dumb. This was reckless. The same recklessness that cost Igneous so much. But he couldn't leave. Not if the cloud daemon was on the train.

Igneous: "♫ Move fast, baby don't be slow~ Step aside, reload, time to go- ♫"
- Igneous shakes his head and ducks a beam of doom - Igneous: "Right, stay focused
Igneous. (Also, I guess the soundtrack would probably be more Yuna's thing, huh?)"

He rolled away from an Ice Beam. Finally, the grovlazzle was close enough to see a silhouette on the roof, closer to the front of the train. Had the cloud daemon conjured it? Was it some new monster working with Xeromus?

Image


Another Ice Beam. Igneous retaliated with a Flamethrower, then used the resulting steam to drift left in the air.

But the figure's aim held true. This time it was a Psybeam. Igneous dipped underneath it. He focused on his fiery wings. Bursts of orange and red sparks propelled him further, toward someone vaguely... ponyta-ish.

Oh, so Shimmer is here after all. That's going to lead to some fireworks if Igneous puts two and two together.

"I don't know what you are!"

The Psybeam headed right for him. Igneous rolled right. He was over the train now, only a car away from someone who certainly sounded like Shimmer. But the flowing white hair and nine, snow-white tails were wrong.

"But I won't let you disrupt this shipment! My people need these supplies!"

Shimmer: "Because I am Shimmer? I realize that I've gotten a bit of a makeover, but it's not that hard for a peasant to recognize his rightful prince, is it?"
:shimmersweatdrop:

Igneous: "... Wait, how in the actual-?"
:grohno~2:


My people? It really was Shimmer, then? And this idiot thinks we're trying to attack the train!

"Wait!" the grovlazzle shouted, swooping in for a landing. A Psybeam whizzed over his head seconds later. "This is a misunderstanding!"

Ah yes, that'll stop him. Since Shimmer has just displayed the finest mind for diplomacy over the whole run of this story thus far.
:copyka:


"Misunderstanding?" Shimmer pointed his larger horn at Igneous' head. "Your little ensemble isn't blasting my guards out of the sky while those funny little machines keep them distracted?"

"No!" Igneous waved his arms in front of his face. "Those aren't ours!"

"And the big movie prop?" Shimmer pointed his right foreleg forward.

Igneous: "Right. What is that thing up to right now anyways-?"

Noctum chewed on his dragon comment for all of a second after Igneous flew off. He focused on the Malice Crystal and let its energy wash over him. Even in the confines of the super scope lens, he was able to mega evolve. The next Flamethrower was much larger, striking a genesect and knocking it into Iron Jugulis' central neck. It whipped back, electronic face dimming.
... He can do that?
:bulbuhhh:


I mean, on one level, I suppose that he, Val, and Nikki did train for this, but it still might have been more interesting to get in Noctum's head to see more of the transformation process.

"It's working!" the mega charizard chirped, flapping his jagged wings briefly. "Val, if you mega evolve, your attacks should be strong enough to blast the little bots into the big one!"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Valkyrie snorted. "It's like playing billiards. Except garchomp can't hold pool cues."

Noctum: "I just kinda assumed that you all used your claws as the pool cues, really." ^^;

"Not ours, either!" Igneous growled, leafy tails crackling with embers. "It's from inside Eternatus, like the smaller guys your troops are fighting."

"As opposed to you and your... weird piplup machine?" Pink light glistened around Shimmer's horn. "You look like you wandered right out of the distortion."

Igneous: "Look, we didn't alright?! ... Mostly. Cyril and the truck don't count."

"Says the pot to the kettle," Igneous countered. He would've continued, but he got the sense Shimmer didn't recognize him. And he wasn't about to give himself away. "What's with the bad ice ninetales cosplay?"

Shimmer shot a Psybeam in response. Igneous flopped to his belly, but the pink beam grazed his tails. He dug his claws into the metallic roof, resisting the urge to hiss.

"I'm doing what's necessary for my people. For my kingdom."

Igneous:
Image

Shimmer: "Okay, now I'm really gonna stomp you into the ground now!"
:REElithe:


"Right! No, left! Sorry!"

Noctum squeezed the firing platform tightly while the pizza truck sharply banked and dodged an intense burst of wind from Iron Jugulis.

"I have rearview mirrors, you know!" Cyril barked. "I don't need you giving me directions when you're facing the other way!"

Noctum: "O-Oog... this wild swerving can't be good for my stomach." @.@

The mega charizard didn't know what that meant, but chose to fire at an Eternatus Gunner. His Flamethrower struck true, but Iron Jugulis had gotten wise to his strategy. It pulled its right head out of the way. More Dark Pulses shot toward them. Noctum shot large blue fireballs at them. Yiazmat added Dragon Darts and that proved enough.

"What do you rebels think you're doing?"

It was Paradox's voice. Coming out of Iron Jugulis' head— no, heads.

Noctum: "That is just a voice recording, right?"
:uhhh:


"Why are you attacking a supply convoy?!" Yiazmat said, shooting Dragon Darts at an Eternatus Gunner who had its blasters trained on her.

"I'm doing what I can to free the Benefactor from its confinement."

Cyril: "Okay, yeah, now we really need to shoot that thing out of the sky!"
:ohnowen:


"No you're not!" the dragapult growled. "You're hurting innocent people!"

"Stop talking to the robot," Cyril hissed. "Radar says we're less than five minutes out from the bridge!"

Noctum: "Oh joy. No pressure at all here." O_O;

"Listen to me!" Igneous hissed, scrambling to his feet. "None of us want to stop the convoy. We're trying to keep it safe... and stop you from making a big mistake!"

Psychic energy gathered around Shimmer's horn again. "Explain yourself."

He couldn't belittle Shimmer. Even though the ponyta was psychic and should have sensed that cloud daemon on board the train.

I mean, you could always do it anyways. I mean, sure it'd turn out terribly, but you can't say that Shimmer doesn't need a stiff smack in the face by reality here.
:gardeshrug~1:


"There's a stowaway on the train," the grovlazzle said. "A very powerful Phantom. And if you let the train make it to Venish as is, then that Phantom will wreak more havoc upon the city." He slowly held his hands up. "Is that what's necessary for your people?"

Cue the reflexive "lies!" reaction and the two coming to blows because it's Shimmer and that just feels like it'd be so on-brand for him.

"Gah!"

Noctum's head banged against the right part of the super scope lens as the pizza truck spun out again. The air grew choppy all around him. He instinctively curled his tail up by his side.

It didn't make any sense. If Iron Jugulis was based on hydreigon, why wasn't it using Dragon Pulses or raining Draco Meteors from the sky? That would have been a surefire way to really wreck the truck.

... Tera typing? Otherwise I'm not sure myself, since now that I'm looking at it, Iron Jugulis doesn't learn Ice attacks normally.

"Noctum, what are you doing?" Valkyrie snarled. "Keep firing!"

"Sorry!" the mega charizard squeaked. He spat fireballs as soon as Cyril got the pizza truck under control. But clumps of earth white beams snuffed out his attacks.

Noctum: "Seriously, something's wrong here! I'm not sure if that thing can be fought like a-!" O_O;
Valkyrie: "Less yacking, more shooting!"

"Stubborn little pests, aren't you?" Paradox scoffed. "You understand you're nothing, right? Your feeble little acts are worthless!"

Harsh wind blades raced toward the pizza truck. Despite Cyril's attempts at swerving, the pizza truck suddenly buckled. Noctum's horns banged against the top of the super scope.

Noctum: "O-Oog..."
:sevidazed:


"Gah! What happened?!" He tightly gripped the firing platform while the pizza truck spun out. Spun out and slowed down.

"Damn it! He got a rear wheel!" Cyril growled.

Ah yes, this is going to do wonders for Noctum's ability to keep his lunch down, I can already tell.

Igneous glanced over his shoulder. "Well?" He kept his arms held up to try and signal he wasn't a threat. "Train's getting close to a bridge. If that thing fires on the train when it's going across the bridge, then you'll lose all the supplies and everything will crash down on the village there."

Igneous: "For crying out loud, Shimmer. I'm trying to be diplomatic here! What's it going to take to get this through your head?!" >_>;

Shimmer briefly pivoted, then looked back at Igneous. His horn flickered. Uncertainty was sprawled across his face.

Harsh winds whipped up a dozen meters away from the caboose. Igneous' wings reflexively flared to life. He was about to turn and head back to help deal with Iron Jugulis. There was no other option for him. Killer robot trumped clouds sitting in the train doing nothing.

"You're right."

That... doesn't sound like Igneous convinced him about the Phantom in the train at all.
:copyber:


Igneous froze. Shimmer was agreeing with him? Great! Then they could—

The icy pontya's eyes glowed blue. "But I can handle this myself."

Of course.

Next thing the grovlazzle knew, something invisible had yanked him into the air... and flung him off the side of the train!

The moving ground rushed up to meet Igneous. Then flames erupted from his wings, steadying him. He flew beside the train and grabbed hold, digging his claws into the metal train wall and clinging for dear life. There was no point calling for Shimmer, since he was probably the one who tossed Igneous off the train.

Igneous: "I swear to god, of all the thickheaded, stupid stuck-ups that could've made it out of Venish in one piece, it just had to be him." >.<

Igneous concentrated on the strange flames crackling along his back. In a red-orange fwoosh the empty honedge appeared beside him... and slammed into the wall in front of Igneous. It punctured through the metal and, at Igneous' command, dragged itself down until it had managed to carved out a hole for Igneous to dive into.

This better wor—

I mean, the very fact that your thoughts get cut off isn't exactly a great omen, Igneous.
:copyka2:


"Augh!"

Berry juice and wooden splinters covered Igneous from head to tails. He had tossed himself through a supply crate. A crate of sitrus, judging by the smell. He was inside the train. Sticky, but inside the train and sitting on a pile of unbroken crates.

Well hey, on the positive side, healing from injuries ought to be fairly convenient.
:loltias:


The grovlazzle looked around. No cloud monster. Wrong car, then. And this was a freight train, so there wouldn't be connections between the cars like on a passenger train. Delightful. He looked right, then left. Nothing but stacked crates and a single narrow space in the center of the car.

Do I go forward or back?

IMO this is another bit that would work better as multiple paragraphs.

Igneous: "Boy, nobody could've thought of putting warning signs on the car with the big Phantom of Doom, huh?" ._.

Igneous flipped a mental coin and landed on forward. He summoned the honedge and it sliced a pair of holes leading to the next car. Fortunately, no supplies spilled out of it. There must have been a traversable part in the center there, too.

He dove through the holes without a second thought.

Image


The pizza truck had a hover mode. Because of course it did. Cyril had turned it on and took the truck airborne before it totally wiped out. That didn't stop Iron Jugulis, though. It quickly trained all three heads on the truck and blasted Dark Pulses at it.

"Sheesh!" Cyril banked hard left to dodge the black beams. "Machine or not, the thing it's based on isn't supposed to be able to have the three heads operating independently. We've got to be missing something!"

Paradox made upgrades to it that didn't show up on the Dyna Scan? I mean, that'd be one potential explanation that I can think of.

"Ice coming in!" Valkyrie cried.

The pizza truck slowed and veered even harder to the left, practically going sideways. Noctum managed to stop himself from rotating around and saw a huge ice lance fly through the air. A couple of Eternatus Gunners tried to stop it, but got wrecked for their troubles. Iron Jugulis trained its middle and left heads on the lance, but was too slow to react. The lance struck the left head, encasing it in ice. The ice spread down its mechanical neck... and that's when Noctum caught what they'd been missing.

"The little heads aren't connected," he said. "Guys, the smaller heads aren't connected! They're functioning independently!"

... Huh. Somehow I never noticed that about Iron Jugulis' creature design, though I suppose that this means that Hydreigon in PoV-verse can't stagger attacks with their respective heads? Or is the idea that Iron Jugulis' heads can each use different attacks at once that aren't the parts of Tri Attack?

"What?" Cyril said. "So they're drones, then?"

"Doesn't matter what they are!"
Valkyrie growled. A super scope-boosted Dragon Pulse lit the air up bright blue and purple. It struck the frozen Jugulis head and shattered it.

Cyril: "Well, that's one less problem to worry about. Keep it up!"

"Hey, that worked!" the mega charizard cheered, only to yelp from a sudden volley of Hidden Power fire. Noctum spat fireballs to counter as many as he could, but a few hit the back of the pizza truck and made it spin out in midair.

"You really think you rebels can keep this up?" Paradox sneered. "I've got you outgunned and outmuscled. Stand down and your deaths will be quick and... minimally painful."

>quick and minimally painful

Yeah, no. I'm not buying that one, Paradox. Especially with that midsentence hesitation.

But the air chilled again and an even larger ice lance headed for Iron Jugulis.

Paradox: "Huh?! What on earth-?!"

Igneous hardly had a chance to roll up to his feet and get a sense of his surroundings when he was back on his knees. His vision flickered and his ear frills rang. God, were his insides rattling? It was like someone had stuck a blender in his torso and set it to frappe.

Breathe. In. Out. Was the air getting thinner?

"Punarjanm."

... This is happening at the same time as Yuna's encounter inside of Chernabog, isn't it?

"W... what?"

Gibberish. The grovlazzle was hearing gibberish... in the ringing.

Blink. Breathe. This was the cloud daemon's doing, wasn't it?

inb4 it's not and it's really Ahsen exerting influence on Igneous right now.

He looked over the top floor of a massive tower while an armored lucario charged a red Aura Sphere. The trembling ice vulpix looked at an unconscious Xeromus-like creature with its tails frazzling in panic.

Ah yes, the AU!Guiding Light visions return.

"Nnngh." Igneous grabbed his head. Another vision? Like when that damn fire butterfree went inside of him? "Stop," he rasped. "Go away! Go... away!"

The ringing only intensified, as did the pressure on his head. No... in his head?

"Punarjanm. Punarjanm."

... I just realized that that's the Hindi 'rebirth / reincarnation' tagline from the fight with Rakman. So we're about to have another Whisper come barging in right now, huh?

A woman in a lab coat stood in front of him, blonde hair obscuring part of her face. She gestured to him proudly while a group of humans stared at him. Tourists, maybe? But there were machines and computers around them!

Wait, is this that part of GL's backstory regarding what its PMD world used to be?

Igneous managed to grab his head with his hands and shake it. He had to find that fiery power. Fight past the rattling and ringing. Fight, damn it!

"Sach punarjanm sach."

>true reincarnation

If it's of a goddess specifically, then I suppose we SMT nao.

Louder and louder. The ringing wouldn't stop. It just. Wouldn't. Stop.

Find the fire. Find the fire. The stupid powers kept popping up when the grovlazzle didn't want them, so why couldn't he get them now?

A giant moon bat burst forth from a pile of rubble with a great twister resembling Rayquaza. The machamp standing in front of him shrank back, arms ready to grapple.

Ah, so there was a reason why Chernabog addressed Yuna with such familiarity. It wasn't the first time that they threw down with each other.

"Stop it!"

Amidst the rumbling in his torso, Igneous found the spark and grasped it. The flickering in his vision faded as Honedge appeared in a gout of orange fire. Igneous hurled it forward. It went right through the wispy, yellow cloud creature in front of him, but struck the far wall. Igneous hastily flicked his wrist and Honedge carved a hole.

Igneous: "... Oh that ain't good."
:uhhh:


"Sach. Saaach!"

The cloud tried inching toward Igneous, but the rushing forward of the train sent it drifting back toward the newly-made hole in the wall. Cloudy tendrils tried to clasp some of the supply crates, but all they did was phase right through them. The cloud daemon slipped through the hole and vanished.

Igneous: "... Um, yeah. I think that I might've just made everything significantly worse right now."
:eltyscared:


Igneous waited one moment, breathing heavily. He stumbled to the hole as Honedge vanished. He glanced out the hole. The cloud daemon was nothing but a wispy puddle on the dusty ground.

The grovlazzle slumped over, sighing in relief. "It's done," he wheezed. "The cloud monster... is off the train."

Again, that's not necessarily a good thing, Igneous.

Silence. Igneous slowly slid his right hand up to his head and pressed against the X-transceiver. "Guys, did you hear me?"

Igneous: "Come on, guys. This isn't funny!"

Iron Jugulis broke through the giant lance, but it wasn't long before another one headed straight for it. That, too, however, didn't reach the machine.

"If that's really Shimmer up there, I can't believe he's actually doing something useful!" Valkyrie said.

Oh, so Shimmer gets Bayo background music too, huh? Can't tell if that was done just because, or if it's pointing at something deeper with him there.

Noctum was more preoccupied with how strong the attacks were. Was this the power that Radiant nobility held? It concerned the mega charizard.

"Help him, then," Cyril barked. "We're less than a minute out from the bridge!"

Noctum: "H-Hang on! I'm still a bit shaken up from all those spinouts from earlier-!"
:sevidazed:

Valkyrie: "Do it faster, Zardy!"

Noctum and Valkyrie focused their combined firepower on the machine. Eternatus Gunners raced to try and protect it, but they got swept away by genesect.

"Foolishness!" Paradox sneered. "This armor is the finest we can craft. You got one lucky shot in, but it's not happening again, you filthy rebels!"

Narrator: "It will absolutely happen again."

Iron Jugulis filled the air with a bevy of Air Slash crescents.

"Gah!"

Several peppered the pizza truck and Cyril growled, trying to keep it steady in midair. Noctum managed to hold his position and spewed as much fire as he could through the super scope. It didn't strike Iron Jugulis, but instead hit another one of the giant ice lances, which burst apart in a sudden steam eruption.

"What the—"

Sure hope you invested in waterproofing for that thing, Paradox.

Still hearing nothing, Igneous climbed out of the hole and onto the train roof just in time to see the giant mecha hydreigon crash into the ground while Shimmer conjured a pink shield to keep him safe from a sudden onslaught of hot air.

Igneous: "... Whelp, guess we won't be seeing that thing again."

Smiling, Igneous jumped off from the roof. His fiery wings appeared and carried him back in the direction of the pizza truck, which was slowing up as it drifted down to land next to the train tracks. The genesect headed back toward the train. Igneous sucked in a breath, expecting to have to do evasive maneuvers, but the genesect flew right past him.

"Guys?" Igneous said, again pressing the X-transceiver tighter against the side of his head.

"Thank heavens, that thing's down!" Cyril whooped. "And the stupid Troopers are running for the hills. Mission accomplished!"

... But didn't you just turn a crazy-powerful Phantom loose into the countryside?
:copyber:


It didn't take long for Igneous to see the cosmic zoroark sliding out of the pizza truck and stretching out his arms. Valkyrie hopped off the other side of the truck and waved Igneous down.

"You got the cloud monster?" the garchomp called.

"I did!" Igneous closed the distance with the pizza truck. His volcarona wings evaporated in orange streaks and embers. He landed by the front of the truck and stumbled toward Valkyrie.

"It's, uh..." The grovlazzle looked over his shoulder. Dust still littered the air, but he saw no signs of the cloud daemon. "It's nothing but a little puddle somewhere out there." He vaguely gestured with his right arm.

Valkyrie: "Oh my god, you didn't get the cloud monster, did you?"
:uhhh:

Igneous: "Look, it fell out of a moving train going at full speed, alright? Nothing could've survived that!"
:grohno~2:


"That so?" Valkyrie walked up to his side, crossing her arms. "Should we try to find it? Destroy it?"

"I don't think we can." Igneous squinted. He had this vague sense when he was close to it on the train, but now he had nothing. "The train's acceleration is what carried it away, so all the winds that stupid hydreigon robot whipped up probably blew it away."

:mizuDoubt:


Yeah, I'm getting the feeling that this is going to result in a Squaresoft Protagonist Resolution™️ for an earlier game event. Since I'm not convinced at all that things are just ending that nicely and tidily.

"Well, that, and a Radiant Guard squadron is leaving Casaroja and heading to your location," Cid said, a twinge of nervousness still in his voice. "Maybe try to get clear before you run into big problems?"

Igneous and Valkyrie exchanged a look. "Guess we ought to head back to the safe house?" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Pssht. Forget that." Cyril flicked his right arm dismissively. "I've gotta get this bad boy back to the outpost for repairs. That's where we're going first."

Yeah, the Phantom's still out there. I can already tell.

Igneous and Valkyrie exchanged another look. "I, uh, guess we can do that?" the grovlazzle said, shrugging.

A loud throat clearing followed. Igneous looked up on the truck's roof, where a still mega evolved Noctum remained strapped into the firing platform.

"Yeah, that's a fine idea and all," he said, trying to pull his head out of the super scope lens. "But can someone get me out of this thing?!"

Oh hey, it's like that one Pikachu short. :V

Cyril winced. "Ah-ha... right. Knew I was forgetting something." Laughing nervously, the cosmic zoroark headed toward the roof of the truck.

Noctum: "Seriously, why would you design a contraption like this?!" >.<

"You cannot be serious right now!"

Ominous R&C music is ominous. And no, your mecha-Hydreigon kinda just blew up into a million pieces, Paradox, so...

Paradox slammed his headset on the floor of his office, shattering it. Sticky flinched, then directed one of the poipole in the room to clean it up.

"I did express my concerns about activating it so soon," the naganadel mumbled, glancing down at his tablet.

"It was overpowering them!" Paradox hissed. The deoxys' tentacles twisted into arms. "And then one of them started flinging around giant icicles like... like..."

He abruptly teleported in front of Sticky, who held the tablet up over his head in surprise. "Sir?"

That's Fraud's doing, isn't it? Though I can see that Paradox is taking this well™️ right now.

"Guile Hideout's steed," Paradox said, abruptly turning around and crossing his arms. "He could conjure giant icicles, yes?"

"I believe so," Sticky said. When the emperor got like this, it was best to agree with him.

"Then the course is clear." Paradox whirled on him, his arms unfurling into blue and orange tentacles. "Get Cassius on the line. We need to reach out to that frilly vegetable about our little agreement."

Guess Dermezel really is the Kuja of this story, since this whole "loose cannon with ulterior motives" shtick fits how he operated in FF9 to a 't'.

The deoxys teleported past Sticky. By the time he turned around, Paradox was nearly at the office door.

"I think it's time we reminded him what he has to lose if he refuses to cooperate."

Not really convinced that it's Dermezel who's going to come out worse there, but I suppose let's see what you have on Mr. Garlic Clove there.

Paradox headed out the door. Sighing, Sticky looked down and pressed a few icons on his tablet. A video feed pulled up showing a video feed of one of the underground prison cells... and the spectrier lying in the middle of it, mane disheveled, hooves chipped, and patches of ghostly fur missing from its hide.

Oh, well. That would be quite the thing to have to keep Dermezel compliant there.

The cell door opened and a poipole floated in with a small tray of food. Sticky touched a red microphone icon on the corner of the screen.

"Stop," Sticky said.

Poipole glanced up in the direction of the cell's camera. "Mr. Sticky?"

"Emperor said to withhold the meal. We need her looking as famished as can be."

I can already tell that Dermezel is going to take special relish in paying things back to Paradox if/when their relative positions of power ever get flipped.

Spectrier weakly tried to lift her head. Poipole hastily turned away from her. "Understood, sir. I'll bring it back to the kitchen."

Poipole left the room and the cell door shut. Spectrier lowered her head back down, whinnying weakly.

... I can't tell if Dermezel is really doing everything that he's up to for the sake of rescuing his beloved steed or if he's got ulterior motives that go beyond that. Maybe both.

Frowning, Sticky hastily closed the video feed and locked his tablet. He glanced at the two poipole cleaning up the broken remnants of Paradox's headset.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

Both poipole nodded apologetically and hastily swept up the fragments into a dustpan. Sticky turned and headed for the door.

Sticky: "As for me, I need a freaking drink." >_>;

Well that was certainly an explosive conclusion to Team Bureau's end of things... for now, anyways. There were definitely a lot more scenes than in an average chapter, and yet, I think it did a good job of getting everything to flow into each other without feeling choppy, since I was honestly getting pretty into things.

As for things that I thought could've been improved... aside from a couple moments that I felt could've been shown a bit more from their perspective character's point of view such as Noctum's Mega Evolution in the super scope, I don't really have a lot to complain about since I was too busy having fun with things as they played out. Maybe it'd also have been nice to get a reminder of Team Bastion and how they were doing, but meh. There's always next chapter for that.

Good work, @Ambyssin . Wasn’t able to knock out the last chapter left in time before your weekend update, but I'm having quite a bit of fun, and it'll be interesting to see what the fallout of things for the respective teams from their fights will be.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 63: Like a Bat out of Hell

It is the ultimate blasphemy against the Benefactor to gaze upon the Matriarch's face. Even the High Priestess, the Hierophant, and the Moon — those whose powers speak to the masses — may never look upon Her.

Her avatars are only meant to be viewed through the lenses of the Paradigm. For they are emblems of the foundations upon which the Matriarch led the Old World into the Great Harmony. Emblems that made the Matriarch the greatest Wielder in history.

~I Pilastri dell'Eternità


XxX​

Awkward silence, save for the whistling of Shaftra Mesa's winds. Yuna waited for someone to say something. Anything. But nope. Only stares, ranging from Seifer's sheer confusion to Nikki's total bewilderment.

The Soul Dew flickered and chibi Rayquaza and Reshiram popped out. "Chiron?" Reshiram tapped his claws together nervously. "Like... like Bahamut's wife Chiron?"

Yuna nodded.

"Like the old archbishop?" Sigurd said.

The drakloak nodded again.

"So, that's why Chernabog called you a traitor?" Gene muttered. He looked away from her, stroking his chin in thought.

"But Chiron was a lunala," Jade said. "Right, Cece?"

Reshiram nodded. "Are you sure it's not the Soul Dew messing with you?"

"I'm... sure." Sighing, Yuna's shoulders sagged. "I didn't want to believe it at first. But I keep having these visions — or maybe memories? — from Chiron's time with the Sages."

"Art thou sure they're real, though?" Rayquaza asked, coiling around some tiny weeds on the ground.

"They felt pretty real." Yuna rubbed her right shoulder, then pointed at Reshiram. "You came to check on me when I crashed into the ground from outer space." She pointed at Rayquaza. "And you came to my aid when I was fighting things that looked like the emperor up in the stratosphere." Yuna turned to Jade last. "And I saw you moping in a mud puddle about how Bahamut treated you. Then later on you came to visit Leo who looked... very different than he does now."

Rayquaza and Reshiram shared looks of disbelief. "That actually happened!" they said in unison. Each pointed at themselves. "Hey, I said it first!" A pause. "No, I did!"

Seifer rolled his eyes. "What about you?" he asked Jade.

"Uh, hello?" The salugia pressed a right wing digit to her head. "Forgot everything from my time as a Sage, remember?"

"Who can forget?" Gene snorted. "It all got replaced by the memory equivalent of one of those toy chimchar clapping cymbals together."

"Hey!" Jade puffed her cheeks out. "I'm at least a togedemaru running on a wheel levels of brain!"

Gene laughed at that. "Whatever you say, Birdbrain." He shook his head in disbelief.

"So, Princess is telling the truth, then?" Nikki had put some distance between herself and Yuna in the time since the drakloak had made her big reveal.

Yuna traced her hand around the Soul Dew. "I wanted to dismiss it as this thing's fault. But then Leo hatched out of that egg and I started having visions about fighting daemons in the past." Her gaze fell to the ground. "When Mom fessed up that she found me encased in a crystal, I just..."

She sighed and shook her head. "There isn't any other explanation."

Jade leaned into Yuna's line of sight. "You sure about that? Because I can think of other explanations."

"Are they reasonable explanations?" Seifer wondered, raising a brow.

"Define 'reasonable.'"

Yuna facepalmed. "I'm... confident, yeah. The more stuff we do as a team, the more these weird powers of mine are growing. I can sorta control the shadows now." The drakloak looked down at her hands. "And I'm the one who let Rayquaza mega evolve... right after I had a memory of Chiron conjuring a windstorm in a fight like Rayquaza can."

More silence. It seemed that Yuna had snuffed out all the counterarguments.

"Okay then." Nikki arched her back. Boredom replaced her earlier anger. "So what?"

Yuna stared blankly. "Huh?"

"So, you're, like, Chiron's reincarnation or some ****. Big deal." The toxtricity shrugged. "Doesn't really change anything, does it? We already knew you had whacky powers. Now you've got a reason."

"But it does change things!" Yuna squeaked, then immediately scrambled to figure out what, exactly, it did change. The fact that she could tell the others about the visions she had? Sure, Yuna supposed that counted. It was hardly a significant change, though.

"I can think of something," Gene said, lazily floating past Yuna.

The drakloak looked over her shoulder. "And you're going to say it even if I tell you I'm not interested."

Gene put a hand on his chest like Yuna's words touched him. "Ah. You know me so well." He gently landed on the dusty ground and spun around. "I bet you're scared that the more your powers grow, the less you there'll be."

"What?" Nikki scratched her head. "For a psychic-type, that sure sounds like a stupid thing to say."

"Seriously?" Gene pinched his brow. "I dumbed it down for you and everything."

The toxtricity's mohawk flared. "Up yours, you dumb hairless cat!"

"Sorry. Not my type." Gene blew a kiss at Nikki and winked. "But if you've got any tox dudes back home who're single, you know where to find me."

He turned back to Yuna, expression sharpening on a dime. "Anyway, I think you're worried that your powers increasing are a sign that Chiron is awakening. That she's going to return to how you remember her in those visions."

The mewtwo held his right hand up, conjuring tiny psychic silhouettes of Chiron and Yuna. The drakloak was much bigger than the lunala. "Right now, you're in control." The Chiron silhouette grew while Yuna's shrank. "But if what we both assume is true, eventually there'll come a point where her will overpowers yours. Chiron then reawakens." Gene clenched his fist and both silhouettes disappeared. "And the Yuna we know disappears. Maybe embedded somewhere in Chiron's memories or spirit. But that's just different flavors of the same twisted sundae: you 'dying' so Chiron can come back to life."

Everyone looked expectantly at Yuna. The drakloak's torso shriveled up slightly. "Well, when you put it like that... yeah, it makes sense."

It didn't matter how she came to be reborn as a dreepy. She was Yuna. Adoptive parents or not, this was the life she knew. It was what felt right. All these weird visions of Chiron's past— no, of her past were wrong. She didn't want to go back. Maybe Yuna's life in the present wasn't perfect, but it was still hers.

"Princess?"

Rayquaza had slithered up to her right foot nub. "Tis always a chance tis not true. After all, you bonded with the Soul Dew. Chiron never did."

Yuna frowned at him. She traced her hand around the Soul Dew again. "Did I really bond with it, though?" she wondered, glancing at both tiny Sages. "Could you summon your predecessors from your Soul Dews and give them tangible forms to fight with?"

Rayquaza tapped his tiny claws together. "Err... nay. The Soul Dews were more like... tiny fountains of knowledge and wisdom. I could consult with mine, but t'was not anything like this."

The drakloak crossed her arms. "Think that tells you enough. Don't you?"

Rayquaza coiled up tighter. "I imagine I look rather foolish."

Reshiram remained silent, however. Yuna glanced at him to see if he had anything to add, but to her surprise he abruptly dissolved back into the Soul Dew. Uh, hello? She tapped the flickering gem. Something wrong?

"It's nothing. I just... I need to step back from this conversation."
Reshiram sounded like he'd just flown halfway across the planet at top speed. "Too many hard truths getting dropped in succession. Messing with my head."

Oh. I'm sorry.
Yuna fought back the urge to snap at him and tell him to think about how she felt with all of this.

Gene loudly cleared his throat. "We all good?" He Phantom Warped into the middle of the group, breaking a dust cloud apart with a quick ESP pulse. "Everyone get everything off their chest?"

"I guess?" Fatigue started to hit Yuna. The tense conversation must have kept it at bay, but a dull throb turned to a heavy ache in her ectoplasm. She flopped onto the ground. "I just want a nap. I don't suppose someone could find a monk to bring me a pillow?"

"Sorry. Too busy." Gene dusted his hands off and stretched his neck until it popped multiple times.

"Busy with what?" Nikki said. "Making people think you want to snap your sp— hey! Lemme go!"

Yuna glanced up in time to see Gene emerging from a Phantom Warp, holding the toxtricity's right arm. "Training you," he said, smirking and flicking his right wrist. A blue rift opened behind him.

Nikki's eyes widened. "The hell do you think you're do— iiiiiiiiiing!"

The shadowy mewtwo tossed Nikki into the rift. Then he opened a second rift, stuck his left hand in, and pulled out Nikki's leather jacket.

"I'll leave you to get that rest." He bowed to Yuna, then fell back into the rift while flashing a toothy grin. The drakloak was too tired for Gene's shenanigans to get to her. She just sighed and... sank into the ground slightly, as if she were mimicking an Acid Armoring vaporeon.

"What an ass," Seifer snorted, flicking dusty hair out of his eyes.

"Makes you wonder what the humans were thinking making mewtwo so pear-shaped," Jade added, chuckling into her wing. A stink eye from the keldeo made her tail flaps curl. "Aww, lighten up. It was a joke."

"Your taste in jokes needs work," Seifer deadpanned. He turned to Lycanroc and the big muscle bug. The latter was still out cold and, at this point, Yuna wondered if they would even wake up. "So, Mr. Stone—"

"Ah, please call me Sigurd. 'Mr. Stone' makes me sound like an old man."

"Are you not old?" Jade tilted her head. "For some reason I feel like your condition is supposed to be an old man thing."

"Well, I'm no spring torchic, but I'm not covered in back hair," Sigurd said, his machine emulating a chuckle. "Anyway, you were saying?"

"What's with the patchwork rock mutt?" Seifer asked, pointing a forehoof at Lycanroc.

Yuna tensed. Hearing "patchwork" brought Xeromus to mind, along with a spark of panic that he was somehow responsible for Lycanroc's appearance. Meaning she brought one of his minions right to her friends and family!

"I think that's a bit off base," Reshiram hastily interjected. "Possible? Maybe. But we already know that Malice and distortion can mutate people. Xeromus has nothing to do with it."

I— right.
The drakloak took a breath to steady herself, but remained on the ground. But why is he with Sigurd?

"My honest opinion? I'm just remembering what that Vince guy told us,"
Reshiram said.

What Vince told them? Something about trying to build the Red Chain, and that doing so first involved finding Sigurd.

... And someone else!

Yuna almost sucked in a mouthful of dirt. She stuck her head up. "Are you the Overseer?" Yuna paused. "The one they said is trapped in our dimension?"

Jade and Seifer looked expectantly at Lycanroc, who folded his hands behind his rocky mane. "You're full of surprises, ain't ya, mate?"

What is that accent? Yuna wondered, only to quickly brush the thought aside. She had her answer, which gave her enough energy to push herself back into the air.

"Though I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint," Lycanroc continued. "I was an Overseer intern. Only started learning the ropes when I got trapped here." He paused to scoop up a pawful of dirt from the ground and ball it up. "Well, not specifically here. Certainly in this world, though."

Seifer squinted. "But you did work for them."

"Yeah. Briefly." Lycanroc scratched the back of his head. "Imagine if you got fired during your on-the-job training. That's the best analogy I've got."

The keldeo's expression soured considerably. Clearly he was still sour over losing his Radiant Guard job. He looked away from Lycanroc. "Fine. Can we get a name at least?"

"Jaeger."

"Ooh, how mysterious," Jade sang, her tail flaps fluttered like ribbons behind her.

"Yeah, that's how most my first dates start." A beat passed, then Jaeger shook his head. "Kidding, of course."

"Of course." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Let's just cut to the chase, then. Do you know about the Red Chain or not?"

Jaeger nodded slowly.

"When I met this bloke he showed me this funny book that sounded ancient by Qliphoth standards," the lycanroc explained. "Said stuff about taking hold of space and time. First thing that came to mind is the Red Chain."

Yuna fidgeted. "And you knew that because..." Her voice trailed off, because she had a feeling what Jaeger's response would be.

"Because the Red Chain exists in other worlds, too."

Seifer sighed and shook his head. "Of course it does. So, can we get the short version explaining what it is? I presume it's more than just a chain of red links."

"Spot on again." Jaeger chuckled. "Suppose I can indulge you." He looked around. "Don't suppose there are any sticks around here, are there?"

"You're a dog." Jade folded her wings at her sides. "Don't you, like, have a sixth sense for sticks? A stickth sense, as it were."

"Bit of a misconception, I'm afraid," Jaeger said, walking around and scanning the dusty ground. He sounded like he was rolling with the jabs, at the very least. "C'mon. Surely there's at least one twig in all this dust and grass."

"Why do you even need a stick?" Yuna asked, rubbing the side of her head.

"What else am I going to draw on the ground with, chalk?"

Shrugging, Jaeger gave up and walked back toward them. "Guess it's paws and claws, then." The lycanroc sat down and began tracing in the dirt. Jade waddled over, tilting her head slightly.

Yuna felt Rayquaza's sudden presence in her mind. "Did thou seest that?"

The drakloak squinted. He's... drawing circles? Are you saying his artistry leaves something to be desired?

"Nay. T'was a brief emerald sheen in his fur,"
Rayquaza explained. "Like a sheet of little hexagons."

Reshiram gasped. "Like Ziggy?"

Ziggy?

"Sir Zygarde."


Yuna frowned. Maybe the fatigue had gotten to Rayquaza, too? She didn't see any sort of connection between Jaeger and Zygarde. And if those Chiron visions of hers were any indication, Zygarde's needle had already gotten pulled by someone else. Someone who couldn't possibly be Sigurd.

"All right." Jaeger listed his hands and dusted them off. "It's no Brassius or Mina, but it'll do."

Jade tapped her chin with a wing. "What are we looking at, exactly?"

"The Red Chain." Jaeger pointed to a crude ring of tiny circles. "It's an artifact that spans countless worlds. In many of them, crazed humans would attempt to create one in order to control pokémon that embodied space and time themselves."

"I'm sorry... what?" Seifer stared blankly at the drawing. "You're saying there are pokémon out there that just can just casually—"

The keldeo stopped himself, then glanced at Yuna. "Never mind. That makes perfect sense." He hung his head and shook it. "Horrifying implications, sure, but perfect sense."

"It's not as if I want to be able to open rifts!" Yuna protested. Maybe Seifer didn't mean it as an insult, but it was hard not to think of it that way.

"It's certainly curious." Jaeger rubbed his snout with his right paw, then rested it on the dirt by a crude drawing of Leo's wheel with two circles on either side of it. "Because, as far as I can tell, Dialga and Palkia, the gods of time and space, do not exist in this universe. And I thought the same was true of Arceus, as well."

Yuna thought back to what Alder and Kora had told her before. "Arceus is associated with creation or something, right?"

Jaeger nodded. "It holds many titles across many worlds. The Alpha. The Original One. The Creator." The lycanroc lazily twirled his left paw around in a circle. "No matter the phrasing, it's almost always the same. Arceus emerges from an egg into nothing and shapes the universe." He tapped the drawing on the ground again. "That typically involves creating its 'children,' Dialga and Palkia."

"But Leo didn't hatch from an egg into nothing." Jade's tail lazily thumped against the dusty ground while she tapped her right foot. "He hatched from an egg trapped in a swamp." She glanced at Yuna. "An egg I was holding, right?"

"Yeah." It made Yuna wonder why Leo thought she was his mother and not Jade. Because her touch made the egg hatch? "And, well, Leo didn't originally look like that. When Bahamut was alive, he was a tiny starcloud."

"The color scheme's a dead giveaway, mate." Jaeger quickly scribbled a little cloud in the dirt and gave it a couple of pom-pom hands. "Cosmog. They're born from solgaleo and lunala coupling."

Seifer frowned. "I don't know what any of those refer to. Are they pokémon, too?"

"Pokémon. Ultra Beasts." Jaeger shrugged. "The line's kind of fuzzy in most worlds."

Jade's right wing shot up. "Um, is this going to be on the test? Because I haven't been taking notes."

A smirk tugged at Jaeger's lips. "Just because you asked, sure, sheila. Only for you."

"Gah!" Jade pressed her wing to her chest like she'd been struck by an attack. "No! Not studying! That's my weakness!" The salugia paused. "Y'know, aside from rocks. And lightning and ice and dark and ghost and—"

A glob of water splattered over Jade's force, inadvertently catching Jager, too.

"Yes, we get it. Thank you," Seifer huffed. "Moving on."

FxKbuh1WIAIkpPZ

(Art by https://twitter.com/fwicksart)

"He's a charmer, eh?" Jaeger pivoted away from his drawings to shake out his mane. It didn't help much.

"I'm just trying to keep us focused," the keldeo countered. "This is a lot of information and we don't need unnecessary quips."

Jade let out a few sad chirps, sitting down while water kept dripping off her face. "I was only trying to lighten the mood a bit. It's a lot to take in, y'know."

"Cool it, you two," Yuna said, rubbing her rectangular head. As far as she was concerned, the faster Jaeger told them what they needed to know, the better.

That said, his explanation until now didn't sit right with her. "Let's go back a minute." The drakloak kept rubbing her head. "You said 'crazed humans' tried to assemble Red Chains in other worlds. That makes it sound like the Red Chain is a bad thing and we should absolutely not look to put it together."

"In the wrong hands it can be quite dangerous," Jaeger admitted. Then he pointed to his last drawing: jagged lines straightening out. "In the right hands, it can mend tears in space and time." The lycanroc sat back, bracing his arms on either side of him. "And, well, sounds like we've got enough tears around here to open up a goth fashion boutique."

Goth?

"I'm not touching that one,"
Reshiram said.

"There's also the fact that the Red Chain already exists," Sigurd cut in, slowly moving his chair up to Jaeger's side.

Seifer squinted. "What? Then we don't need to assemble it."

"It's split into fragments," Sigurd clarified.

"Which means 'assembling' translates to gathering fragments," Yuna said, resuming rubbing her rectangular head. "On top of the ongoing Needle thing, the anomalies, and, oh yeah, now Leo apparently has these plates that may or may not be scattered around inside these anomalies." The drakloak squeezed her own ectoplasm. "Starting to think I should hit up Mom and get the whole Aeon army on board with this. It's way too much for a small team to handle on its own."

Maybe she should've asked for more help far earlier, but there was no going back to fix it.

... Or maybe there was with a complete Red Chain and— okay, now her head hurt again.

"Plates?" Seifer raised a brow. "What do plates have to do with this?"

"Most arceus have plates that embody the elements. Translate into pokémon types," Jaeger said. "Sounds to me like you found one."

"Yeah. Chernabog had it." Yuna pointed to her waist. "I think it was stuck in his belt as some sort of big, fist-shaped crystal."

Jaeger frowned.

"Something the matter?" Jade asked. "You turned sourpuss quickly."

"Nah, 'm fine, mate." The lycanroc waved her off.

"He's lying," Reshiram immediately said.

But Yuna didn't think it worth him to press someone who was still a relative stranger on the subject. Instead, she opted to briefly explain what had happened to her and Leo inside the anomaly core.

"Yeah. That about lines up." Jaeger bobbed his head, some of his earlier unease disappearing. "All those rings and shapes Leo rearranged? The pattern he made is one that's often associated with arceus."

"That... felt less like a pattern and more like the floor of an Aeon tavern when drunk dragons are playing ring toss," Yuna said. "But, sure, whatever you say."

Jade slowly raised her wing again. "Can I say something? I promise it's not a bad joke this time."

"Uh, sure?" Yuna said. "You really don't need to keep asking for permission like that. We're not in school."

"Sorry." Jade lowered her wing, shuffling back and forth. "I think Bahamut had a thing for raising hands when we were apprentices." She paused. "Never mind the fact that I'm pretty sure most Sages don't have hands. Just hand substitutes."

Yuna waited for Rayquaza or Reshiram to say anything to the contrary. And when they didn't, Yuna decided not to dwell on it. She was out of energy and patience to express her disbelief over the claim.

"Just say your piece already," Seifer huffed.

"Right." Jade balled her wings into fists and pumped them. "So, like, these plates are important for Leo, right? And the Red Chain is connected to a couple of pokémon who are also related to Leo." She leaned forward circling her wing to gesture for someone else to jump in. But no one did. "You guys see where I'm going with this, don't you?"

"Uhhh..." The drakloak batted the bottom of her rectangular head. "You want to try and use them like magnets? To attract each other?"

"Not the comparison I'd pick, but basically!" Jade chirped, tail wagging. "We have one plate already. Maybe it'll point us toward another? And then the more we gather, the easier it'll be to find Red Chain fragments."

Silence as the group considered Jade's idea. As it stood, they'd have to keep diving into anomalies to stop the dimensional cataclysm. And if there were more plates waiting for them, then—

"Or-r-r-r-r-r-r." Sigurd's machine tried to draw out the word, but its synthetic voice kept repeating the letter R instead. "We could use the fragment we already have to find the others."

Jade stiffened. "We have a fragment?!" She blinked a few times, then squinted. "Waaaaaaaait a second. You have a fragment, don't you?"

Sigurd turned his wheelchair around, revealing the various medical devices and their colorful blinking lights and bars. There was also a metal capsule strapped to one of the machines. Jaeger walked up to the capsule and pressed down on the top. It opened with a whoosh of compressed air, dropping a string of four red hexagons into Jaeger's paw.

The moment Yuna glimpsed them, a horrible chill ran down to her tail. Her body tried to retreat into her head and it took every ounce of self-control to stop it from happening. She glanced at her torso. The shadows were there. Trying to push themselves out of her back. Just like with the plate. Perhaps they were related, like Jade thought.

"You know you could have led with that," Seifer said, shaking his head.

"I could have. But this way was funnier," Sigured responded. Fortunately, he didn't try to simulate another laugh with his machine.

The keldo rolled his eyes. "Delightful."

"Aww, c'mon. It's at least a little funny." Jade attempted to elbow Seifer, but he stepped out of the way.

Seifer's eye twitched. Yuna figured he was trying not to say something that would insult a terminally ill human.

"At the very least, I don't think it's worth taking this conversation further," the drakloak piped up, hoping to deescalate things. "We shouldn't plan anything without the others." And with Gene having gone Nikkinapping, coordinating things to bring Team Bureau up to speed would have to wait.

"Oh, God." Yuna promptly buried her face in her hands.

"What?" Jade said.

Yuna dragged her hands down her face. "We're going to have to explain all of this to the others! Going through it once was exhausting enough!"

"I think I can help you out there."

Yuna's tail shriveled. "Cid? You've been listening this whole time?"

XxX​

At the sound of buzzing, Noctum picked his head off the cool metal table. He had hoped it was dinner, but it was just a familiar orbeetle hovering toward him.

"Not entirely," Cid said. Noctum hadn't addressed him. He was probably talking to his X-transceiver. The black charizard had turned his off after bringing Team Bureau to Cyril's outpost. He needed some time without people's voices shouting in his head.

Currently, however, that time off translated to sitting in awkward silence with Igneous, Valkyrie, Scarlett, and Kyoko — the salazzle showed up uninvited to the safe house and Noctum brought her to the outpost before realizing his mistake — at one of the restaurant tables. Well, awkward silence save for Valkyrie tapping her claw impatiently on the table. And Igneous idly sipping a cup of iced coffee. And the general background noise of space pirates, bounty hunters, and other lawless types who served as the restaurant's patrons.

... Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly silent.

"I was able to get a text-to-speech dictation system working on Cyril's computer," Cid continued, his spots flickering with excitement. "It's not perfect, but I think it transcribed a good deal of the newcomers' explanation."

Noctum almost wanted to ask what Cid was talking about, but held his tongue. This was break time. Burger time, to be precise. Just as soon as someone actually brought out their food.

"You'd think working with Cyril would get us special treatment or something," Valkyrie grumbled. The garchomp lazily stared out the big glass window. Junior's arena was farther away than usual, and given the bright sparks and pink explosions, the garchomp could understand why.

"Right. Well, we're all at the outpost," Cid said. "You can meet up whenever you're ready." He paused. "Gene? No, I don't think he's here? But I'll keep an eye out for—"

"'Sup, nerds?"

"Ahhh!"

A sudden blue rift made Noctum jump into the air, yelping. His tail flame brightened enough to cast a violet glow over his teammates. He hovered a meter above his seat, flame pulsating. Gene floated out of the rift with Nikki at his side. She held a squirming chatot by his tail feathers.

"Unhand me, you saucy wench!" He flailed his wings about. "Chatot Gilbert, first mate extraordinaire, shall not stand for such—"

His eyes fell on Valkyrie and he abruptly stiffened. "Ah ha." The chatot ran his wings across his music note head like it was hair to smooth out. "Mademoiselle Chomp. Such a treat to gaze upon jour fierce eyes once again."

Valkyrie ignored him. "And you're dropping in unannounced because..."

"Rebel leader. I do what I want." Gene winked at the garchomp, who scowled. "And also Sparkplug over here finished her training. Figured she could chill with the lot of you." He nudged the toxtricity forward with his yellow-tipped tail, then yoinked a squawking Gilbert out of her hands with his telekinesis.

"You guys have fun catching up and stuff." The shadowy mewtwo smiled at them. "As for you." His expression promptly sharpened. "You really thought you and your stupid flunkies could waltz on down and try to 'pillage' my room?"

"Non! Ve simply got turn-ed around a wee bi— yowch!"

A tiny Psybeam zapped Gilbert. His feathers puffed out like static electricity had jolted him.

"Oh, ze horror! Look away, Mademoiselle Chomp!"

"I think we're going to have us a nice chat in private." Gene's shoulder crystal crackled ominously, then he vanished into another blue rift with the chatot pirate in tow. Awkward silence descended upon the group once again.

"So, uh..." Nikki rubbed the back of her head. "How was Casaroja?"

"Lousy," Igneous bluntly answered. "How was anomaly spelunking?"

"Lousy." The toxtricity slide past Kyoko and into Noctum's seat.

"Hey, I was sitting there!"

"And now you're not, dweeb." Nikki dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Kyoko raised a brow, then smirked at her. The black charizard eyed the only remaining empty seat, next to Valkyrie, and winced. Sighing, he dropped onto it and folded his wings.

"Well, we're just waiting for food to come," the salazzle said. "Maybe you can catch us up?"

"Catch you up? Sure." Nikki reached for Igneous' iced coffee, then slapped his hand away when he tried to stop her. "Where the hell to start..."
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, I haven't quite read enough to dive into this week's most recent update, so let's do the next best thing instead and read the one right before it:

Chapter 62

During the time of harmony, the Matriarch wielded the power of the Universe. The power to shape fate itself.

When the Embodiment of Chaos destroyed the harmony, the Matriarch tried to preserve it. The salvaged remnants became the Benefactor.

But the Matriarch could not preserve the Universe. Its phenomenal power had shattered into numerous fragments flung to the deepest recesses of the cosmos.

~I Pilastri dell'Eternità

Oh hey, there's a theme song for this:


Though some Prisma's attempt to reboot her GLverse went horribly wrong because of Giratina huh? Since I remember those visions of Giratina descending on Temporal Tower…

Under normal circumstances, Yuna would have found an orange glow comforting. It brought the magma pits near her parents' castle to mind. Except she wasn't in Aeon anymore. Or Radiance. Or even the Malie City place the anomaly had brought her to.

Instead, the drakloak floated above an orange cube staircase. There was orange distortion in the distance but she faintly saw strange, jagged crystals and fractal shards resembling her rifts. It reminded her a bit of Ginnungagap, but with an orange coat of paint lathered all over it.

It's just a part of Ginnungagap with orange paint lathered all over it, isn't it? Though eerie soundtrack is eerie.

"Mom!"

"Leo?" Yuna looked down the stairs. The cosmic arceus — somehow he lost his dreepy disguise — trotted up the stairs. Or through the air above the stairs.

"Mom, where are we?" Leo wondered, looking around. He caught up to Yuna and floated next to her. "It kind of reminds me of the little static ball where we met Mr. Alder, but it's way too orange."

Yuna:
Image


Yuna followed Leo's gaze out into the distance. "Huh. You've got a point." Did that mean they were in the heart of the anomaly?

"Hang on." The drakloak tapped her chin. "We beat Chernabog. Then this orange rectangle popped up when he disappeared." She looked up. Nothing but orange static. "The rectangle shined a beam of light at the distortion over the volcano. And now I'm here."

Yuna: "... Even if I'm not really sure where 'here' is right now." .-.

"Oh, you beat the bad guy?" Leo's eyes sparkled. "Yay!" He then looked down. "Maybe the rectangle is what was calling me, then?"

"Huh?"

"Before I fwooshed over here," Leo said, continuing up the stairs. "It felt like something was calling me up the volcano. So I flew up there and, well..." His voice trailed off and, starcloud tail swishing slowly back and forth. "Yeah. End of story."

Wait a minute, "orange rectangle"? As in an Arceus Plate, or...?

Yuna floated after him. If this was like back at the tar plant, then Leo could seal up the anomaly. It was what he was supposed to do, right? Even though Yuna had no idea what that would mean for them and the rest of the team. She was kind of stuck here, so she had no choice but to press on.

On and on, until the stairs gave way to a larger orange platform with fist-shaped crystals in its corners connected by ropes.

... No, wait, they were lines of tiny fists that looked like ropes.

Yuna: "Boy, these other dimensions out there get weird..."
:bulbuhhh:


And Chernabog had a fist-shaped crystal in his belt, Yuna recalled. Just what was that all about? Had the core of the anomaly... somehow embedded itself within that daemon?

I mean, that does seem to be where things are going, Yuna.

"It's here." Leo pointed his right forehoof at the middle of the platform. "The thing that's calling me."

The orange rectangle floated there, a bit bigger than Yuna realized after seeing it from a distance earlier.

Leo was already walking toward it.

Yeah, it's an Arceus Plate, isn't it?

"Hang on!" Yuna shot in front of the cosmic arceus. "Let me, uh, take a look at it first, okay?"

"Okay." Though Leo's starclouds dimmed and he nervously shuffled in place. He really wanted that rectangle, but it didn't sound like he knew why. And that concerned Yuna.

I mean, if I'm right about what it is, then it's literally a part of Leo.

She slowly floated toward it. Closer. Closer.

It had a faint orange glow around it.

Closer. Closer.

The drakloak froze and tilted her head. Was something... written on the rectangle?

Yeah, it's a Plate. Given that this is being picked up from Chernabog and all the Fighting-type stuff in the surroundings, I'm guessing this is the Fist Plate that Yuna found.

Yes, if Yuna squinted, she could make out a single sentence carved into the middle.

The rift is born of disorder on the other side of this world.

Yuuuuuuup.

Yuna blinked once. Twice. Frowning, she read the sentence again, then a third time. There were a lot of rifts opening up. And according to Alder, Kora, and Vince, they were the big problem. And a very large one had carried them to another world entirely.

Eternatus was still inside her home. And events surrounding it had certainly caused more than enough disorder. Did that mean Eternatus was the other side of her world?

I mean, maybe? Since the opening does imply that Eternatus is the cobbled-together remains of a universe-that-was.

I'm overthinking this. Yuna was about to tell Leo it was okay when she looked down at her hands and fought the urge to recoil in front of him.

Her shadows were back, pooling in her ectoplasm, and they looked like they were trying to swim away from the rectangle. Yuna glanced at it, then slowly floated back. The shadows receded in response.

Ah yes, that's a good sign given that you were addressed by a name for a Demiurge two chapters ago and the opening implies that you rekt the universe of this 'Matriarch'.
:copyber:


Another thing to file away for later.

There were too many of those. And if they were about to seal the rift, then later really meant soon. Yuna could only sit on this stuff for so long and if other anomalies were going to have these strange rectangles, the team needed to know.

Yeah, given the track record of how well keeping secrets has turned out for everyone in this story...
:fearfullaugh~1:


"Okay, Leo." The drakloak softened her expression. "Its all yours."

She waited for a response, but didn't get one. Leo was looking past the rectangle... at nothing but empty space. "Leo?" Yuna drifted into his line of sight.

"Huh? Oh!" The cosmic arceus straightened up. "Sorry. I got distracted."

Leo: "The rectangle thingy's just a bit sparkly and all." ^^

Yuna looked over her shoulder. The space behind the plate was still empty. "Distracted by what?"

"You don't see them?" Leo looked disappointed.

"See who?"

"Them!" Leo stuck his right forehoof out. "The human Mr. Gene wanted to find and his pet doggy!"

Whaaaaaat? Is Leo seeing ghosts / spirits or something?

"What?" Yuna turned around. No sign of Sigurd. Yet Leo didn't seem like the type for pranks. Or imagining something that specific. "Is there something else I'm not seeing?"

"There are tiny little threads connecting them to the plate," Leo said, his starclouds brightening up a bit.

"Plate?" Yuna raised a brow. "You mean that rectangle?"

Yuna: "... And how did you know to call it a 'plate' anyways?" .-.
Leo: "I dunno, it just... came to me, I guess."
:joltyshrug~1:


Leo nodded. "It's a plate."

"That doesn't sound right," Yuna said. She doubted she could eat a meal off that rectangle if she tried.

"That's what it told me, though," Leo insisted, cheeks puffing.

Yuna: "I'm sorry, you what?"
:ohnowen:


He was losing Yuna. "You talked to it?"

"Sorta?"

This was getting them nowhere. "Okay, I believe you." It was easier for the drakloak to go along with Leo. "Now go and take the plate so we can get out of here."

Yuna: "(Note to self, have Cid Dyna Scan this thing when I get the chance. A tablet... thing talking to Leo? When I didn't hear anything about it? He's not going crazy, is he?)" ._.;

At least, that was what Yuna hoped would happen. Though there was still that wriggling bit of doubt about what would happen to the others if they sealed off the anomaly. She told herself it would be okay as Leo trotted up to the plate and reached his right forehoof out to tap it.

The cosmic arceus lit up bright orange, then the plate dissolved into orange light that Leo's wheel's absorbed. "Hee hee, that tickles!"

Ah yes, Leo's a Fighting-type now.

Yuna tilted her head. That was it? I don't know why, but I was expecting something flashier.

"Hey, Mom! Mom!" Leo hopped up and down excitedly. "Check this out! Huuuuurggaaaaaah!"

He briefly shimmered with orange light, then grew in size. Huge muscles bulged out of his legs and neck in a way that brought the giga machamp daemon to mind.

Oh, well that's definitely different from the stock depiction. Not that it's not on-brand for this story in terms of an offbeat atmosphere.

"I'm ready to tussle!" Leo said, his voice a few octaves deeper.

"That's, um, nice, dear." Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. At least she was only uncomfortable because it looked ridiculous.

"You can turn back, right?"

Leo: "No idea!" ^^
Yuna: "Oh boy, this is going to be a headache to explain to everyone." o_o;

Nodding, Leo shrank back down to his normal size.

... No, wait, that wasn't quite right. He was bigger than before. Not by much, but enough for Yuna to tell the difference. She wondered if she should say something.

I was actually half-expecting Leo to not go back to normal. Though oh, each of these plates is "completing" Leo more or something? Since I kinda get that vibe from how Leo's not fully shrinking back after picking up the Fist Plate here.

"Oh, I think I grew a bit." Leo looked himself over. "Growth spurt!" His starclouds flickered in excitement. "And, look, we've got new friends!"

"Hmm?" Yuna blinked a few times. A couple of hazy outlines had appeared in front of them. As they came into focus, Yuna also noticed a bunch of different sized circles appearing behind the figures. They didn't feel as important at the moment, however.

Well, that's certainly a different Lycanroc there.

The first figure was a mishmash of a lycanroc. Body of a midday, face, tail, and hind legs of a dusk, and the arms and forehead of a midnight. All three forms mashed together. Another Malice-driven mutant, perhaps? That would mean Lycanroc was from Eternatus. Making the silver-haired person appearing next to them...

"Hi!" Leo wagged his starcloud tail. "Are you Mr. Sigurd Stone?"

:VidriBlink:



Wait, that's Sigurd-? Oh, right. There's a human there, too.

"Who are you?" The man's voice was too far too mechanical. Yuna realized it was because it didn't come from him, but rather his chair.

"Your rescue team," Leo chirped, apparently not the least bit bothered by this. "A funny lizard guy named Vince told us to find you."

The man blinked slowly. A slow hiss echoed from the chair. "I do not know of any Vinces. Or 'lizard guys,' for that matter." He turned his chair toward Lycanroc. "But I believe I know why you're here."

Oh, so Sigurd has a Steven Hawking shtick going on, huh? Wonder what the story behind that one is. Ditto his pal.

Lycanroc nodded.

"You're looking to assemble the Red Chain."

"Yep yep!" Leo hopped in place happily. "Wow, you must be a mind reader or something!"

Getting some major Stephen vibes from MegaTen right now... which I suppose is fitting since he's a riff off of Steven Hawking himself.

Lycanroc clicked their tongue, eyeing Yuna intently, but said nothing.

"Not a mind reader," Sigurd said. His mechanical voice simulated a chuckle. "However, since it seems we share a common purpose at this time, I'll gladly assist you in any way I can."

Yuna: "... Which is...?"
:what:


The rings behind him flashed with orange light. Sigurd turned his wheelchair around and looked at it, as did Lycanroc.

"Though it seems that any further conversation will have to wait."

Leo's starclouds flickered in unison with the rings. The cosmic arceus kicked off the ground and drifted toward the rings. His wheel shined brighter and brighter and the rings slowly rearranged themselves into... some sort of haphazard pattern. And Yuna had the vaguest sense she'd seen it somewhere before. She just couldn't put her hand on it.

Ah yes, the creation sigil from that one Sinjoh Ruins event. Very nice. Though I suppose this confirms that Yuna was once Giratina.

The rings gave one final flash of orange light, then everything around Yuna and the others slowly dissolved away.

Yuna: "... Wait, so we did deal with the anomaly, right?" ^^;

Seifer looked up at the clear blue sky. The last distorted wormhole right over the volcano — the anomaly's core, if he had to guess — dissolved away in a single pulse of golden light. He took a slow breath, pondering what this meant for him. The anomaly had led the team here. Now it was gone, but Seifer was still here. Was that it? Was he stuck here? Had the team not thought this through?

Ah yes, the PLA soundtracks are going strong this chapter. Reminds me that I still need to get around to doing the Volo postgame quest sometime.

Seifer: "Okay, I know we didn't think this through. But we're not seriously just stuck here, are we?"
:grohno~2:


At times like these, the keldeo had to focus on work. Keep his mind focused. "It looks like the eruption's stopped," Seifer said, turning around to Molayne. "What happens now?"

"Now?" He hopped off Magnezone and rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "If it's really cleared up, then we bring people back to shore." Molayne started to reach for his radio when he froze. "Uh, are you okay?"

Molayne, if you have to ask the question, the answer's almost certainly 'no'.

"Yes?" What a strange question. Unless Molayne saw through Seifer's attempts to pretend everything was fine.

"Because you're, uh, turning see through?" Molayne lifted his goggles up and rubbed his eyes.

"What?!"

... Wasn't expecting that one.

The keldeo looked down... and found his hooves had disappeared! And the rest of his legs were fading away, too!

What was happening? Why didn't this hurt? Was this because of the anomaly disappearing?

... Oh, this is the same thing that's affecting Vegna, isn't it?
:copyka2:


"I think I get it." Molayne lowered his goggles. "Your time's up here. You're getting called home."

Seifer sure hoped that was the case. Best to go with it.

"I suppose so." He nodded slowly. "It was, uh, interesting working with you."

"Likewise."

I'm... not convinced that it's as simple as that, but I suppose we'll find out shortly.

Seifer's torso was half gone now. Molayne rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, uh, I guess we made it through this volcanic eruption. So maybe..." He yawned loudly. "Maybe I'll look into hanging up my badge... and giving that entrance exam another shot."

His neck was disappearing now, but Seifer still managed a smile. "I think that's a good idea."

"Just promise me that you won't give up either, okay?" Molayne said. "You'll find your purpose back home. Something to fight for."

Right before the keldeo faded away completely, he managed to get out an, "I promise."

Can't tell if he's really going back to Etherium, or if Seifer was somehow tied to that anomaly and just gone now.

Yuna hit the dusty ground with a surprised squeak, then a grunt. "Oogh." She rubbed her belly. "Rough landing."

... Wait. Gene had landed the ship in the middle of the grass, hadn't he? Where—

"Wow, look at all this dirt!" Jade kicked some up with her right foot, then blew the dust cloud ahead of her... toward familiar, rust-covered buildings.

"Chakran?" Yuna rubbed her eyes. "How did we get here?"

Leo did it, didn't he? Since this feels like a very "Leo flexes his subconscious powers" sort of moment right now.

Panic briefly welled up in the drakloak's gut. Jade wasn't with them before. Leo sealed the anomaly, and then...

She looked around. It didn't take Yuna long to realize that the ship was here. And everyone was accounted for, including Sigurd, Lycanroc, and the weird muscular bug. She fought the urge to grimace at the fluid running through its arms. She really hoped it wasn't blood.

Yuna: "Actually, on second thought, it not being blood would probably be worse."
:uhhh:


"What happened?" Widget shifted back from his flight form to the cosmic appearance Leo had given him. "One minute I'm flying after the kid. Next thing I know he disappears in a flash, then I disappear... and now we're back here?"

Oh, I guess Seifer's alright after all. Probably.

"Yup!" Leo puffed his chest out. "I asked Mr. Anomaly nicely to send us back home and it listened!"

... 'Mr. Anomaly'? As in the Fist Plate? Or the pocket of distortion itself?

"Back... home?" Widget frowned. "You consider this home?"

Leo laughed nervously. "I didn't mean for it to send us here here. But it did." A beat passed, then his eyes sparkled. "Oh! Hey, Mom, can I introduce Widget to Mr. Alder and Mr. Kora? Huh? Huh? Can I?"

Yuna: "O-One thing at a time! My head's spinning just trying to deal with all these implications!"
:sevidazed:


"Uh, sure?" Yuna didn't see the harm. "Just, uh, make sure you knock first?"

"Okay!" Leo blipped to Widget's side and nudged the cosmic type: full's shoulder. "C'mon, big brother!"

Yuna: "I will never understand how he considers you to be a brother." ._.;
Widget: "Gee, how do you think I feel? Though we're not actually related... are we?"

Widget stumbled forward with a squawk. "P-Please don't call me 'big brother.'" He begrudgingly followed after the cosmic arceus, shaking his head.

Gene watched them go, tail swishing back and forth. "Am I losing it or did Boy Wonder have a growth spurt?"

"No, he... he did." Yuna rubbed her shoulder.

Gene: "... How'd he manage that one again? Since he was gone for all of about five minutes."

"And what's with these three?" Seifer jerked his head in the newcomers' direction. "What did I miss while I was playing traffic cop?"

Oh, so Seifer is alright. Though I suppose that that would imply that Vegna is not of Etherium's dimension given that he's exhibiting a similar "fading out" dynamic like Seifer did there back in alt-Alola.

Gene turned around and his tail stiffened. "I, uh... can't speak for the 'mons, but I'm pretty sure he's the guy we were looking for." He pulled the photo of Sigurd out of his Malice Crystal. "Doesn't look a thing like his photo, though."

Wait, just how old is that photo anyways?

"Hardly surprising." Sigurd's machine hissed out previously compressed air. "You don't look a thing like your wanted posters, rebel."

"I see my reputation precedes me." Gene bowed sarcastically. "Mewtwo Gene, at your service." He straightened up. "Seriously, though. What's with the portable hospital bed?"

Sigurd's electronic voice attempted to mimic a laugh. "Well, that photo's from before the ALS took away my ability to walk." He paused. "And talk. And breathe."

>looks up ALS as a medical condition

... Oh so that exists in this setting for humans. That's... lovely.
:copyka2:


Yuna had no idea what Sigurd meant, but the mewtwo's sudden dour expression gave her a clear enough picture.

"ALS?" Gene crossed his arms. "Didn't they make a cure for that, like, eons ago?"

I suppose 1100 years and a bunch of ground-up Mew would make for some major breakthroughs in biotechnology, even if I did a double-take at Gene's response here.

Another attempt at a mechanical laugh. "A cure made from the mewgenics program is no cure I want." His wheelchair pivoted away from the others. "Who's to say the replacement nerve grafts don't turn patients into sleeper agents for the emperor?" Another hiss of compressed air. It must've been whatever was breathing for Sigurd. "I'd rather let nature take its course."

Yeah, I figured.

Yuna's Soul Dew shimmered, then a tiny Reshiram popped out. "Hold it!" He held his wings up, then realized how worthless the gesture was and folded them against his sides. "I thought everyone inside Eternatus was supposed to be dead. That's why they can't leave. They'd turn into Phantoms." He looked around at the others. "Am I crazy? Did I have too much wax in my ear frills. Cuz, y'know, that'd be pretty weird since I'm a spirit."

"A common misconception," Sigurd said, his wheelchair turning toward them with several whirrs and clicks. "Most of those living in the Qliphoth are ordinary people. They're born, have normal lifespans, and pass away. And when they do, their spirits become part of Eternatus itself.

I... didn't realize that. Though I suppose that that would explain a thing or two about how Cyril's just casually daytripping out of Eternatus. Maybe, anyways.

"In the days before Paradox, the archbishops called this beautiful." His wheelchair let out more compressed air. "But Paradox's mewgenics program has broken the cycle. This delicate balance. Prolonging life and altering it in ways the average person would never think of... if they didn't live in the empire to begin with."

Gene's brow furrowed. His tail twitched in irritation. "Wait a sec." He tapped his right index finger against his left arm in thought. "So, the reason we've seen so many people living for so long—"

"Is the emperor," Sigurd said. He nodded his head slightly, restricted by his breathing tube.

Oh, so that's why Eternatus has to constantly go around and munch planets. It's being starved of souls from within.

The shadowy mewtwo's face scrunched up further. "Every person I've ever seen erode into a Phantom had enhancements of some sort... or lived waaaaay longer than the lifespans I remember learning about."

"Because they got mewgenics treatments." More compressed air released from Sigurd's machine. "You hadn't risen to infamy yet when the program rolled out to the public. And now... it's so ingrained that no one can stop it."

Yeah, I guess it'd only be natural that there'd be nasty side effects from a technology that requires grinding up a species of Pokémon en masse to effectively be used as stem cells.

Yuna floated there silently, unsure what to make of any of that information. And here she thought she would need to recap what happened inside the anomaly's core. I guess they'll ask when they feel like it.

Image


Except instead of Gene responding, Nikki yawned loudly, stretching her arms over her head while sparks crackled around her mohawk. "Aww, boo freaking hoo. Cry me a river."

"Hey!" Jade squinted at the toxtricity. "Uncalled for."

"Shut it, Bird Brain."

"That's my wife!" Reshiram huffed, his tiny tail crackling with little embers.

Yuna: "Nikki, I realize that the sages are nerfed outside the Qliphoth, but please don't pick fights with them." >_>;

Nikki loomed over him, mohawk growing more jagged.

"Eep!" Reshiram shrank back. "N-Never mind. Insult away! Please don't squish me!" He hastily retreated into Yuna's Soul Dew.

"My hero," Jade deadpanned.

Yuna: "We still need to figure out what on earth happened to you down on that awful goop planet."
Cecil: "Yeah, I could stand for not getting shrunk to the size of a Joltik every time we're not in there." >_>;

"What are you doing, Nikki?" Yuna floated toward her. "This isn't something to get angry ab—"

"Don't." Nikki held her hand up. Acidic sparks dribbled onto the ground from her fingers, hissing when they hit the dirt.

The drakloak frowned. What had gotten into Nikki? "Is something wrong?"

Oh, well Nikki is taking getting sidelined in alt-Malie well™️ right now.

"No ****, dumbass!" Nikki's mohawk flared. "Do I look all sunshine and rainbows to you?"

"I guess not." Yuna squirmed uneasily. "But, um, it's kinda hard to say much when you're not, y'know, telling us what's wrong?"

... Says the 'mon who's just casually withholding information about that Fist Plate encounter that I can already tell is going to cause problems in the future.
:copyber:


Nikki glared at Yuna, but Gene spoke up first. "She's pissed I benched her."

Yuna blinked. "What?"

"Pulled her away from fighting Chernabog," Gene said, flicking his right wrist dismissively. "Which was the correct decision."

"No it wasn't!"

Yuna: "Oh sweet Guiding Li- oh wait, guess I need to find a different shtick when I'm frustrated given that he turned out to be an evil monster." >_>;

Nikki's mohawk erupted like a miniature, yellow and purple replica of where the team had just been. A purple lightning guitar appeared in her right hand. "I could've helped!" She swung the guitar at the air. "I got a power boost from this place and its stupid whacky voodoo mountain!"

Yeah, I honestly was a little surprised that she didn't get a chance to at least try to go G-Max. Even if the battlefield wasn't exactly advantageous for her there.

"You really want to die on this hill?" Gene's eyes and malice crystal darkened. The mewtwo's yellow tail crinkled in irritation. "Chernabog knew you were out of your element! He was exploiting it! As long as you were up there... we were all in danger!" He jabbed his thumb against his chest. "I made a judgment call. A necessary one."

Nikki:

Image


Gene lifted a few centimeters off the ground, glaring at Nikki. "You can throw whatever hissy fits you want, doesn't change the fact that I've been fighting these idiots for decades. As long as we're fighting together, you follow my lead. We clear?"

A tense silence followed. The two stared each other down. Nikki wouldn't seriously try to hit Gene, right? He was psychic, she was poison. She's not that stupid, Yuna told herself.

Cecil: "... Yuna, you do realize this is the same 'mon who you said tried to bring Choice Specs to the first leg of the Crowne Cup, right?"
Yuna: "... Right, that was a thing."
:ohnowen:


"... crystal." Venom dripped from Nikki's words.

Shoulders sagging, Yuna sighed in relief. Looks like the crisis was avert—

"Which brings me to you."

Yuna stiffened. Nikki stared her down. Pointed the lightning guitar right at her.

"Nikki?" The drakloak's body shrank toward her rectangular head.

Yuna: "Seriously, what do I have to do with this?! I wasn't the one who benched you!" O_O;

"I poured my heart out to you the other day." Nikki's hand shook slightly. "We said we'd work together. And then you... you didn't stick up for me!" She stomped her right foot down, mohawk getting more frazzled. "You let Boss Kitty treat me like garbage!"

Yuna: "Nikki, I was busy trying not to die!" >.<
Nikki: "You could've noticed, but nooooo..."
:hisssssss:


Yuna stiffened. That was what she was upset over? "I— well, things were frantic up there. I didn't realize—"

"Don't give me that!" Nikki squeezed her eyes shut. Was she trying not to cry? "You watched it happen! I... I saw it..."

The lightning guitar dissolved away and the toxtricity looked down. "I saw it."

Yeah, she's trying not to cry right now.

Yuna didn't know what to say. Was there even anything she could say to Nikki to make things better? She was really hurt, even though it all happened so quickly.

Gallian: "Princess, if thou hast to ask the question..."
Yuna: "Yeah, I didn't think so, either." >_>;

"I'm sorry?" It was the best Yuna could come up with on the spot.

"Thou hast to put some confidence behind thine words!" Rayquaza piped up.

Yuna: "... Kinda a bit late for that now, I think."
:fearfullaugh~1:


Ah. Right. Yuna pulled her torso back out of her head. "I'm sorry, Nikki. Everything happened so fast and I sorta kinda... blanked?"

She let it hang in the air for a bit, however Nikki's hurt expression didn't ease up. "You blanked?" she growled. "That's the best you've got?"

"Yes?"

Yuna: "... Apologies like these usually get mulligans, right?"
:grohno~2:

Gallian: "No, they... really don't." -_-;

Rayquaza nervously tittered. "Thou art sounding more uncertain by the sentence, Princess."

Yuna: "(Rayquaza, she's literally getting madder at me by the sentence!)"
:uhhh:


"Seriously?" Nikki was getting angry again. "Just before that you said things were getting frantic! Now you're saying you blanked?" She kicked up some dirt and grass at the drakloak. "Well, which is it, huh?"

"I... I blanked." Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. "Really. It's... it's happened other times. Against those Paradigm daemons."

"Yeah, right." Snorting, Nikki rolled her eyes. "If that was really the case, then why have you never brought it up before, huh? Don't you think that's something we deserve to know?"

And this is why you don't hide things from your friends, Yuna.

She took a single step forward. Yuna drifted back, fidgeting nervously. "Well, um, that's... that's..."

The words were getting caught in Yuna's throat. Nikki stepped closer. "If Boss Kitty can bench me for being a liability, then you deserve it for the same reason!" She pointed accusingly at Yuna. "That, and the stupid cosmic fluffball who thinks he's your son."

Ouch. Harsh. Yes, it's stupidly shortsighted from the benefit of the reader's view, but you can't say that it doesn't make sense from Nikki's perspective.

Yuna stiffened at that. She could feel the shadows bubbling up. "B-Because he is."

"Puh-lease!" Another step. Then another. "You imprinted on him or whatever!" Nikki quickly whirled on Gene as if she expected some sort of retort. "Bite your tongue! I paid attention in psych class sometimes!"

Gene smirked in amusement. Nikki turned back to Yuna. "So, out with it, Princess!" Her mohawk crackled. "What's the deal? Why are you blanking?"

Yuna: "(Should... I just tell her about my visions of being that 'Chiron' Pokémon? Things can't possibly be going worse if I do, right?)"

Breathe. Yuna had to keep the shadows in check. "It's... complicated."

Nikki took one final step, sparks and venom pooling around her foot. "Tell me!"

Nikki: "For crying out loud, what sort of answer is that?!"
:hissssss:


She had to say it. Two simple words. Yuna just needed to get it over with. "Because... because..."

"Tell me, damn it!"

"Because I'm Chiron!"

Nikki: "... Wait, who's that again-?"
Gene: "Sit down and pull up a chair. This could take a while." -_-;

"Hey, hey, Lieutenant! Got the all clear from the harbormaster to send in the next ships!"

"Thanks, Acerola." Molayne put his radio back into its holster and leaned against a metal post.

Soon. It would all be over soon. He could go home and kick his feet up. Or maybe break out that acupressure pad...

I'm... a bit skeptical on that given that we're going back to look at alt-Malie after the danger was seemingly taken care of.
:copyka2:


"Excuse me, Officer. Any chance you could help a traveler out?"

Molayne stiffened. Telepathy was a thing he came across from time to time on the job, but why here? Why now? He looked around for some signs of a psychic pokémon or one of those famed psychic trainers he saw on television.

Instead, he got... an ice ninetales? With no trainer, to boot.

... Cyril again? Or is this Shane proper?

... No, that didn't make any sense. Some ninetales could do illusory spirit voodoo or whatever, but they were fire ninetales. Icy ones stayed in Sinnoh for a reason. Places like Alola were too warm for them.

"Something wrong?" Icetales tilted his head, blinking soft blue eyes. "Do I have something on my face? Or maybe it's the hair. I try to keep it brushed but I swear it has a mind of its own." He flicked his mane over his right shoulder.

... It's Shane, isn't it?

"No, it's—" Molayne pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, if you've lost your trainer or something, I'm really going to have to recommend you head to the nearest police station. They're better equipped to help."

"Sorry." Icetales shook his head. "I'm afraid you're the only one who can help me."

"Cryptic." Molayne said, frowning. Something about Icetales struck him as... off. The longer he stared, the more he was convinced Icetales had some sort of... golden sheen about him. Molayne would have blamed the fatigue, but then his eyes trailed down to the rainbow bandana around his neck.

Yeah, it's totally Shane. Or some version of him.

The rainbow bandana with an elongated, eight-pointed star. Like a compass.

I rest my case. Since just how many other Icetales in this multiverse are strutting around with golden hues and sigils related to Necrozma?

Everything clicked quickly. "Oh no." Molayne threw his hands up and stepped back. "Look, I don't care how fluffy you are, I'm not interested in hearing the good word about the Blinding One. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ten years down the road. I've had enough of you Necrozma's Witnesses. You just don't know how to take 'no' for an answer!"

>Necrozma's Witnesses

I snerked. Though if I'm right, that's not just a witness there.

Icetales' ears drooped. "Ah. Maybe I came on a bit too strong." He pawed at the ground. "Telepathic ice ninetales is already out there. This isn't making it better."

Ya think?

Before Molayne could properly responde, Icetales approached him. He stuck his right forepaw out and planted it in front of Molayne. His paw flickered gold, then a cold gray.

Molayne: "Boy you're insistent. Look, if you're not here for the cult literature, then why are you here?"

Icetales stepped back, revealing a tiny diamond-shaped crystal.

Molayne blinked once. Twice. "Steelium-Z?" Last he checked, Necrozma's Witnesses couldn't conjure those out of thin air. "Fancy trick. I've already got one, though."

Again, because that's not a 'witness' there.

"Not one like this." Icetales nudged it toward Molayne with his snout. "Want to talk with you about the keldeo and salugia who helped you out."

"Salugia?"

"What else do you call a lugia with a salazzle belly and tail flaps? I bet they could've bathed you in pheromones, too, if you're into that sort of thing."

Molayne cringed. Icetales stuck his tongue out playfully.

Molayne: "I... did not need that image in my mind. But seriously, where are you going with this?"
:squirpuke~1:


"Anyway, you've probably got a lot on your plate." Icetales stepped further back. "When you're ready to talk, use the crystal."

Still skeptical, Molayne knelt down and picked the Steelium-Z up. It was warm like a freshly lit fireplace. "And just what do I use the crystal for? A Z-Move?"

I'm pretty sure the implication from Shane(?) there is that it's to be used as a communicator.

But when he looked up, Icetales was gone. And in his place, a single piece of paper with the same eight-pointed star on it. Molayne slowly walked toward it and scooped it up.

Press the Z-crystal to your forehead and say the following out loud:

"Through darkest night and brightest day, our radiance will light the way."

Well, I didn't expect to see him back in this story. Even if I suppose that I ought to have in light of it being very strongly implied that Shane works with the Overseers now a few chapters back.

Well, that definitely went places that I wasn't expecting. Not bad for a chapter that's essentially a denouement to the big fight with Chernabog. It's fun to see plot strands mentioned earlier on in the story start to converge with each other, even if I'm wondering just how integrated into the plot Shane is going to be. Definitely keeping things nice and suspenseful for next time since I'm not fully sure how everyone's going to take Yuna just bluntly revealing that she's the waifu of Etherium's creator.

As for complaints... I don't have a whole lot to say there honestly. Perhaps there could be a bit more description in parts, and perhaps some of it was simply the hour that I read the chapter at, but I was a bit too busy getting engrossed into things as they played out to have any flaws really stick out to me.

Nice work @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to getting properly current with this story again sometime later this week. ^^
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, a bit of a late hour, though I’m gonna try and jam in a quick last catch-up with the fic by diving in a week late to the most recent chapter:

Chapter 63

Also, cue the theme song:


It is the ultimate blasphemy against the Benefactor to gaze upon the Matriarch's face. Even the High Priestess, the Hierophant, and the Moon — those whose powers speak to the masses — may never look upon Her.

Oh, so Chiron was the "Moon"™️ of Paradigm, huh? Since I remember her being addressed as a traitor, and well, Lunala are moons, so...

Her avatars are only meant to be viewed through the lenses of the Paradigm. For they are emblems of the foundations upon which the Matriarch led the Old World into the Great Harmony. Emblems that made the Matriarch the greatest Wielder in history.

~I Pilastri dell'Eternità

>"The Pillars of Eternity"

I didn't realize that that's what that title meant. Though in light of the implications of who the Matriarch was way back in the day and the name that Gene casually dropped to address Val like thirty chapters ago... I'll be keeping an eye on her, since if I'm right, some holder of that name was the Matriarch and considering how prominently Val features on the cover art...

Awkward silence, save for the whistling of Shaftra Mesa's winds. Yuna waited for someone to say something. Anything. But nope. Only stares, ranging from Seifer's sheer confusion to Nikki's total bewilderment.

Yuna: "... You at least understand now and aren't mad at me, right Nikki?"
:fearfullaugh~1:


The Soul Dew flickered and chibi Rayquaza and Reshiram popped out. "Chiron?" Reshiram tapped his claws together nervously. "Like... like Bahamut's wife Chiron?"

Yuna: "I mean, I've only been flatly called 'Chiron' by two Paradigm members and been having visions of things that she saw, so... yes? What else am I supposed to conclude from that, Reshiram?" >_>;

Yuna nodded.

"Like the old archbishop?" Sigurd said.

The drakloak nodded again.

Yuna: "Again, don't ask me how that's the case, but it's literally the simplest explanation for everything that's been happening to me ever since this Soul Dew bonded with me."

"So, that's why Chernabog called you a traitor?" Gene muttered. He looked away from her, stroking his chin in thought.

"But Chiron was a lunala," Jade said. "Right, Cece?"

Yuna: "Yes, but didn't Exodes explicitly state that she used to be a different Pokémon-"
Jade: "I was still in my needle for that one." ^^;
Yuna: "... Right, but yeah. I distinctly remember that being a thing. So if Exodes could change into that... long-armed Sneasel-y... thing, who's to say that the same couldn't have happened to Chiron?"
- Yuna looks down at body -
Yuna: "Or, I guess, me."

Reshiram nodded. "Are you sure it's not the Soul Dew messing with you?"

"I'm... sure." Sighing, Yuna's shoulders sagged. "I didn't want to believe it at first. But I keep having these visions — or maybe memories? — from Chiron's time with the Sages."

"Art thou sure they're real, though?" Rayquaza asked, coiling around some tiny weeds on the ground.

Yuna: "Seriously, what on earth is the track record of ominous visions of the past not turning out to be real in stories, Rayquaza?" >_>;
Gallian: "It's still a possibility!"

"They felt pretty real." Yuna rubbed her right shoulder, then pointed at Reshiram. "You came to check on me when I crashed into the ground from outer space." She pointed at Rayquaza. "And you came to my aid when I was fighting things that looked like the emperor up in the stratosphere." Yuna turned to Jade last. "And I saw you moping in a mud puddle about how Bahamut treated you. Then later on you came to visit Leo who looked... very different than he does now."

Rayquaza and Reshiram shared looks of disbelief. "That actually happened!" they said in unison. Each pointed at themselves. "Hey, I said it first!" A pause. "No, I did!"

Gallian: "Okay, nevermind. Thine visions art real."
Jade: "Wait, wait, wait. I was in one of those visions? What on earth was I like back then-?"
Yuna: "O-One at a time, please!"
:grohno~2:


Seifer rolled his eyes. "What about you?" he asked Jade.

"Uh, hello?" The salugia pressed a right wing digit to her head. "Forgot everything from my time as a Sage, remember?"

"Who can forget?" Gene snorted. "It all got replaced by the memory equivalent of one of those toy chimchar clapping cymbals together."

"Hey!" Jade puffed her cheeks out. "I'm at least a togedemaru running on a wheel levels of brain!"

Gene laughed at that. "Whatever you say, Birdbrain." He shook his head in disbelief.

Ah yes, I remember this bit being teased.
:loltias:

Cecil: "... Dear, that's... a bar that you could've afforded to set a bit higher for yourself." -_-;

"So, Princess is telling the truth, then?" Nikki had put some distance between herself and Yuna in the time since the drakloak had made her big reveal.

Yuna traced her hand around the Soul Dew. "I wanted to dismiss it as this thing's fault. But then Leo hatched out of that egg and I started having visions about fighting daemons in the past." Her gaze fell to the ground. "When Mom fessed up that she found me encased in a crystal, I just..."

She sighed and shook her head. "There isn't any other explanation."

I mean, I wouldn't rule it out such as "something something, getting indwelled by Chiron's spirit", but yeah. Occam's Razor says that you're indeed Chiron. Y

una: "... (Even if I have no idea what on earth that 'Yaldabaoth' means, since that definitely wasn't in any visions I saw.)" ._.;

Jade leaned into Yuna's line of sight. "You sure about that? Because I can think of other explanations."

"Are they reasonable explanations?" Seifer wondered, raising a brow.

"Define 'reasonable.'"

Seifer: "'Not things that would be created by a Togedemaru running in a wheel-tier brain' levels of reasonable-?"
:eltywtf:

Jade: "Oi, will you just let me float my explanation before you judge?"
:thinkgia:


Yuna facepalmed. "I'm... confident, yeah. The more stuff we do as a team, the more these weird powers of mine are growing. I can sorta control the shadows now." The drakloak looked down at her hands. "And I'm the one who let Rayquaza mega evolve... right after I had a memory of Chiron conjuring a windstorm in a fight like Rayquaza can."

More silence. It seemed that Yuna had snuffed out all the counterarguments.


Seifer: "... I'll admit, that sounds pretty compelling there. I'm having trouble thinking of reasonable alternatives myself."
Jade: "Hey! I still have my alternative explanation here-!"
Seifer: "Emphasis on 'reasonable' alternatives."

"Okay then." Nikki arched her back. Boredom replaced her earlier anger. "So what?"

Yuna stared blankly. "Huh?"

Yuna: "What do you mean 'huh'? I just explained in depth that I-"

"So, you're, like, Chiron's reincarnation or some ****. Big deal." The toxtricity shrugged. "Doesn't really change anything, does it? We already knew you had whacky powers. Now you've got a reason."

"But it does change things!" Yuna squeaked, then immediately scrambled to figure out what, exactly, it did change. The fact that she could tell the others about the visions she had? Sure, Yuna supposed that counted. It was hardly a significant change, though.

I mean, it also means that you're the main protagonist and that you have huge cosmic importance, but you can't say that Nikki doesn't have a point here on a personal level.

"I can think of something," Gene said, lazily floating past Yuna.

The drakloak looked over her shoulder. "And you're going to say it even if I tell you I'm not interested."

Gene put a hand on his chest like Yuna's words touched him. "Ah. You know me so well." He gently landed on the dusty ground and spun around. "I bet you're scared that the more your powers grow, the less you there'll be."

Lotsa DR music in this chapter. Though why do I get the feeling that Gene isn't floating this scenario purely as a hypothetical?

"What?" Nikki scratched her head. "For a psychic-type, that sure sounds like a stupid thing to say."

"Seriously?" Gene pinched his brow. "I dumbed it down for you and everything."

The toxtricity's mohawk flared. "Up yours, you dumb hairless cat!"

Gene: "You aren't exactly motivating me not to bench you on future occasions where I think you're out of your depth, just saying."
:gardexhausted:


"Sorry. Not my type." Gene blew a kiss at Nikki and winked. "But if you've got any tox dudes back home who're single, you know where to find me."

Whelp, I suppose that's one way to find out that Gene's not bi. Though I suppose it makes sense given his affections for Nova back in the day.

He turned back to Yuna, expression sharpening on a dime. "Anyway, I think you're worried that your powers increasing are a sign that Chiron is awakening. That she's going to return to how you remember her in those visions."

The mewtwo held his right hand up, conjuring tiny psychic silhouettes of Chiron and Yuna. The drakloak was much bigger than the lunala. "Right now, you're in control." The Chiron silhouette grew while Yuna's shrank.

"But if what we both assume is true, eventually there'll come a point where her will overpowers yours. Chiron then reawakens." Gene clenched his fist and both silhouettes disappeared. "And the Yuna we know disappears. Maybe embedded somewhere in Chiron's memories or spirit. But that's just different flavors of the same twisted sundae: you 'dying' so Chiron can come back to life."

Gene’s paragraph is long enough that you should consider dividing it into two, IMO.


Yuna: "... I really did not need to think about that right now!"
:grohno~2:

Gene: "But it is something you're afraid of, right? And don't try and lie. I'm literally psychic here."

Everyone looked expectantly at Yuna. The drakloak's torso shriveled up slightly. "Well, when you put it like that... yeah, it makes sense."

It didn't matter how she came to be reborn as a dreepy. She was Yuna. Adoptive parents or not, this was the life she knew. It was what felt right. All these weird visions of Chiron's past— no, of her past were wrong. She didn't want to go back. Maybe Yuna's life in the present wasn't perfect, but it was still hers.

Yuna: "... Or at least until Chiron comes back, and then that's kinda an open question and- oh my god, Gene, why would you even suggest this to me? This is going to keep me up at night for weeks!"
:uhhh:


"Princess?"

Rayquaza had slithered up to her right foot nub. "Tis always a chance tis not true. After all, you bonded with the Soul Dew. Chiron never did."

Yuna frowned at him. She traced her hand around the Soul Dew again. "Did I really bond with it, though?" she wondered, glancing at both tiny Sages. "Could you summon your predecessors from your Soul Dews and give them tangible forms to fight with?"

Gallian: "... Chiron could be granting you power somehow?" ^^;
Yuna: "Gallian, that's a cope and you know it." >.<

Rayquaza tapped his tiny claws together. "Err... nay. The Soul Dews were more like... tiny fountains of knowledge and wisdom. I could consult with mine, but t'was not anything like this."

The drakloak crossed her arms. "Think that tells you enough. Don't you?"

Rayquaza coiled up tighter. "I imagine I look rather foolish."

Well, yeah. Coping does have a way of making one look dumb, so...

Reshiram remained silent, however. Yuna glanced at him to see if he had anything to add, but to her surprise he abruptly dissolved back into the Soul Dew. Uh, hello? She tapped the flickering gem. Something wrong?

"It's nothing. I just... I need to step back from this conversation." Reshiram sounded like he'd just flown halfway across the planet at top speed. "Too many hard truths getting dropped in succession. Messing with my head."

Oh, so even a Reshiram can Truth Overdose, huh? TIL, but I suppose finding out that the companion girl you thought was some princess was really your boss' wife's reincarnation will do that.

Oh. I'm sorry. Yuna fought back the urge to snap at him and tell him to think about how she felt with all of this.

Not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but you can't say that this isn't on-brand for Yuna for pretty much the entire story up until a couple moments with Nikki.

Gene loudly cleared his throat. "We all good?" He Phantom Warped into the middle of the group, breaking a dust cloud apart with a quick ESP pulse. "Everyone get everything off their chest?"

Yuna: "Obviously not, but what's going on, Gene?"

"I guess?" Fatigue started to hit Yuna. The tense conversation must have kept it at bay, but a dull throb turned to a heavy ache in her ectoplasm. She flopped onto the ground. "I just want a nap. I don't suppose someone could find a monk to bring me a pillow?"

"Sorry. Too busy." Gene dusted his hands off and stretched his neck until it popped multiple times.

Yuna: "Is... your neck supposed to do that?" O_O;

"Busy with what?" Nikki said. "Making people think you want to snap your sp— hey! Lemme go!"

Yuna glanced up in time to see Gene emerging from a Phantom Warp, holding the toxtricity's right arm. "Training you," he said, smirking and flicking his right wrist. A blue rift opened behind him.

Nikki: "Hey wait! I didn't agree to thi-!" O.O

Nikki's eyes widened. "The hell do you think you're do— iiiiiiiiiing!"

Yeah, I figured. :V

The shadowy mewtwo tossed Nikki into the rift. Then he opened a second rift, stuck his left hand in, and pulled out Nikki's leather jacket.

"I'll leave you to get that rest." He bowed to Yuna, then fell back into the rift while flashing a toothy grin. The drakloak was too tired for Gene's shenanigans to get to her. She just sighed and... sank into the ground slightly, as if she were mimicking an Acid Armoring vaporeon.

Seifer: "... You're not planning on just resting right there, are you?"
Yuna: "Can you not see that I'm obviously in turmoil right now?" >.<

"What an ass," Seifer snorted, flicking dusty hair out of his eyes.

"Makes you wonder what the humans were thinking making mewtwo so pear-shaped," Jade added, chuckling into her wing. A stink eye from the keldeo made her tail flaps curl. "Aww, lighten up. It was a joke."

I snerked here. Those mental wind-up Chimchar strike gold occasionally.
:lultias:


"Your taste in jokes needs work," Seifer deadpanned. He turned to Lycanroc and the big muscle bug. The latter was still out cold and, at this point, Yuna wondered if they would even wake up. "So, Mr. Stone—"

"Ah, please call me Sigurd. 'Mr. Stone' makes me sound like an old man."

"Are you not old?" Jade tilted her head. "For some reason I feel like your condition is supposed to be an old man thing."

I... didn't see that coming myself, though I suppose "old" could be relative considering that Gene is literally multiple millennia old.

"Well, I'm no spring torchic, but I'm not covered in back hair," Sigurd said, his machine emulating a chuckle. "Anyway, you were saying?"

"What's with the patchwork rock mutt?" Seifer asked, pointing a forehoof at Lycanroc.

Yuna tensed. Hearing "patchwork" brought Xeromus to mind, along with a spark of panic that he was somehow responsible for Lycanroc's appearance. Meaning she brought one of his minions right to her friends and family!

If the Lycanroc can understand that, I can already tell that s/he's not going to be particularly amused with being called 'patchwork'.

"I think that's a bit off base," Reshiram hastily interjected. "Possible? Maybe. But we already know that Malice and distortion can mutate people. Xeromus has nothing to do with it."

I— right. The drakloak took a breath to steady herself, but remained on the ground. But why is he with Sigurd?

Because love of ronk runs deep in his family? That sounds like a sufficiently decent reason. o<o

"My honest opinion? I'm just remembering what that Vince guy told us," Reshiram said.

What Vince told them? Something about trying to build the Red Chain, and that doing so first involved finding Sigurd.

... And someone else!

Yuna almost sucked in a mouthful of dirt. She stuck her head up. "Are you the Overseer?" Yuna paused. "The one they said is trapped in our dimension?"

... Oh right. That was a thing that Vince brought up in their meeting on Chakran like a dozen chapters ago. I kinda wonder if there should've been more reminders earlier on about this, but eh. There's already a reminder here and it similarly leans in with Yuna's in-story 'wait, what' moment.

Jade and Seifer looked expectantly at Lycanroc, who folded his hands behind his rocky mane. "You're full of surprises, ain't ya, mate?"

Oh, so he can speak.

What is that accent? Yuna wondered, only to quickly brush the thought aside. She had her answer, which gave her enough energy to push herself back into the air.

"Though I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint," Lycanroc continued. "I was an Overseer intern. Only started learning the ropes when I got trapped here." He paused to scoop up a pawful of dirt from the ground and ball it up. "Well, not specifically here. Certainly in this world, though."

... I can't tell if the Aussie accent is meant to be an allusion to GL!Midnight or else if somehow this is some incarnation of GL!Midnight.

Seifer squinted. "But you did work for them."

"Yeah. Briefly." Lycanroc scratched the back of his head. "Imagine if you got fired during your on-the-job training. That's the best analogy I've got."

Oh boy, there's a story behind this one, I can tell.
:copyber:


The keldeo's expression soured considerably. Clearly he was still sour over losing his Radiant Guard job. He looked away from Lycanroc. "Fine. Can we get a name at least?"

"Jaeger."

>name meaning 'hunter'

I wonder if this name's meaningful or if it was given 'just because' kinda like with Valkyrie. I suppose that I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

"Ooh, how mysterious," Jade sang, her tail flaps fluttered like ribbons behind her.

"Yeah, that's how most my first dates start." A beat passed, then Jaeger shook his head. "Kidding, of course."

Not fully convinced that he was kidding there, though I didn't peg Jaeger for being a Casanova type...

"Of course." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Let's just cut to the chase, then. Do you know about the Red Chain or not?"

Jaeger nodded slowly.

"When I met this bloke he showed me this funny book that sounded ancient by Qliphoth standards," the lycanroc explained. "Said stuff about taking hold of space and time. First thing that came to mind is the Red Chain."

Paradox already has a digitized copy of this book lying somewhere around in his databases, doesn't he? Since I'm not convinced that this would just be allowed to lie around unclaimed inside the QN without anyone in power ever getting wise to its existence.

Yuna fidgeted. "And you knew that because..." Her voice trailed off, because she had a feeling what Jaeger's response would be.

"Because the Red Chain exists in other worlds, too."

Wait, as in it's all the Red Chain? Or as in there's untold numbers of Red Chains from across untold multiverses?

Seifer sighed and shook his head. "Of course it does. So, can we get the short version explaining what it is? I presume it's more than just a chain of red links."

"Spot on again." Jaeger chuckled. "Suppose I can indulge you." He looked around. "Don't suppose there are any sticks around here, are there?"

Ah yes, it's storytime. Time to see just how the Red Chain works in this story since if the Red Chain interconnects with the ones in other multiverses... well that would tee up quite the omniversal crisis if something bad were ever to be done with it.

"You're a dog." Jade folded her wings at her sides. "Don't you, like, have a sixth sense for sticks? A stickth sense, as it were."

"Bit of a misconception, I'm afraid," Jaeger said, walking around and scanning the dusty ground. He sounded like he was rolling with the jabs, at the very least. "C'mon. Surely there's at least one twig in all this dust and grass."

Jade: "... Would you accept a feather as a surrogate?" ^v^; J
aeger: "Oh come on, at least try to look around a little first."
:eltyunamused:


"Why do you even need a stick?" Yuna asked, rubbing the side of her head.

"What else am I going to draw on the ground with, chalk?"

Shrugging, Jaeger gave up and walked back toward them. "Guess it's paws and claws, then."

The lycanroc sat down and began tracing in the dirt. Jade waddled over, tilting her head slightly.

IMO the last paragraph probably works better as two. Though I see that Jaeger doesn't like getting his claws needlessly dirty, which I'll admit surprised me a bit since he's a Rock-type.

Yuna felt Rayquaza's sudden presence in her mind. "Did thou seest that?"

The drakloak squinted. He's... drawing circles? Are you saying his artistry leaves something to be desired?

"Nay. T'was a brief emerald sheen in his fur," Rayquaza explained. "Like a sheet of little hexagons."

So Jaeger's really Zygarde or something like that, huh? Since I see that comment about 'emerald sheen' and 'sheet of hexagons' in his fur.

Reshiram gasped.

"Like Ziggy?"

Ziggy?

"Sir Zygarde."

I mean, if even Cecil and Gallian are noticing it...

Yuna frowned. Maybe the fatigue had gotten to Rayquaza, too? She didn't see any sort of connection between Jaeger and Zygarde. And if those Chiron visions of hers were any indication, Zygarde's needle had already gotten pulled by someone else. Someone who couldn't possibly be Sigurd.

I mean, if he's an Overseer (intern), then he's technically not your Zygarde, Yuna.

"All right." Jaeger listed his hands and dusted them off. "It's no Brassius or Mina, but it'll do."

So Jaeger's from a world with still-living humans, huh? Filing that one away for later.

Jade tapped her chin with a wing. "What are we looking at, exactly?"

"The Red Chain." Jaeger pointed to a crude ring of tiny circles. "It's an artifact that spans countless worlds. In many of them, crazed humans would attempt to create one in order to control pokémon that embodied space and time themselves."

Oh, so the Red Chain does interlink across the multiverse in this setting.

"I'm sorry... what?" Seifer stared blankly at the drawing. "You're saying there are pokémon out there that just can just casually—"

The keldeo stopped himself, then glanced at Yuna.

"Never mind. That makes perfect sense." He hung his head and shook it. "Horrifying implications, sure, but perfect sense."

Seifer: "I'm... going to have trouble sleeping at night for a long while after this."
:ohnowen:


"It's not as if I want to be able to open rifts!" Yuna protested. Maybe Seifer didn't mean it as an insult, but it was hard not to think of it that way.

"It's certainly curious." Jaeger rubbed his snout with his right paw, then rested it on the dirt by a crude drawing of Leo's wheel with two circles on either side of it. "Because, as far as I can tell, Dialga and Palkia, the gods of time and space, do not exist in this universe. And I thought the same was true of Arceus, as well."

- Jaeger points at Leo -
Jaeger: "Even if the proof otherwise is kinda just standing right there in the flesh."

Yuna thought back to what Alder and Kora had told her before. "Arceus is associated with creation or something, right?"

Jaeger nodded. "It holds many titles across many worlds. The Alpha. The Original One. The Creator." The lycanroc lazily twirled his left paw around in a circle. "No matter the phrasing, it's almost always the same. Arceus emerges from an egg into nothing and shapes the universe." He tapped the drawing on the ground again. "That typically involves creating its 'children,' Dialga and Palkia."

Wait, almost always the same? Meaning that there's universes that are created without the normal Cosmic Egg routine?

"But Leo didn't hatch from an egg into nothing." Jade's tail lazily thumped against the dusty ground while she tapped her right foot. "He hatched from an egg trapped in a swamp." She glanced at Yuna. "An egg I was holding, right?"

Yuna: "Also, I distinctly remember that he was around a long time ago. And he looked really different from the way he does now."

"Yeah." It made Yuna wonder why Leo thought she was his mother and not Jade. Because her touch made the egg hatch? "And, well, Leo didn't originally look like that. When Bahamut was alive, he was a tiny starcloud."

"The color scheme's a dead giveaway, mate." Jaeger quickly scribbled a little cloud in the dirt and gave it a couple of pom-pom hands. "Cosmog. They're born from solgaleo and lunala coupling."

Yuna:
:VidriBlink:

"... Wait, but Chiron was Bahamut's wife. And Bahamut wasn't a Sol... whatever that is."

Seifer frowned. "I don't know what any of those refer to. Are they pokémon, too?"

"Pokémon. Ultra Beasts." Jaeger shrugged. "The line's kind of fuzzy in most worlds."

Jaeger: "For the sake of your own sanity, just go with 'yes, but they're weird'."

Jade's right wing shot up. "Um, is this going to be on the test? Because I haven't been taking notes."

A smirk tugged at Jaeger's lips. "Just because you asked, sure, sheila. Only for you."

... Okay, Jaeger's totally some universe's GL!Midnight, I can already tell.

"Gah!" Jade pressed her wing to her chest like she'd been struck by an attack. "No! Not studying! That's my weakness!" The salugia paused. "Y'know, aside from rocks. And lightning and ice and dark and ghost and—"

A glob of water splattered over Jade's force, inadvertently catching Jager, too.

"Yes, we get it. Thank you," Seifer huffed. "Moving on."

Seifer: "(Of all the times not to have a Sleep Seed handy to deal with her right now...)" >_>;

"He's a charmer, eh?" Jaeger pivoted away from his drawings to shake out his mane. It didn't help much.

Oh, so that explains the commission. A very particular moment for one, but hey. It's a bit of a funny image.

"I'm just trying to keep us focused," the keldeo countered. "This is a lot of information and we don't need unnecessary quips."

Jade let out a few sad chirps, sitting down while water kept dripping off her face. "I was only trying to lighten the mood a bit. It's a lot to take in, y'know."

Seifer: "More like it sounded like you were halfway onto an anxiety attack. But anyhow, where were we again?" -_-;

"Cool it, you two," Yuna said, rubbing her rectangular head. As far as she was concerned, the faster Jaeger told them what they needed to know, the better.

That said, his explanation until now didn't sit right with her. "Let's go back a minute." The drakloak kept rubbing her head. "You said 'crazed humans' tried to assemble Red Chains in other worlds. That makes it sound like the Red Chain is a bad thing and we should absolutely not look to put it together."

Jaeger: "I mean, I've also heard stories of humans using it for good even if they're a bit less famous and usually end with the chain being broken in underwhelming fashion, so-"
Yuna: "Again, why on earth do we want something like this just lying around given that it can end universes?" .-.

"In the wrong hands it can be quite dangerous," Jaeger admitted. Then he pointed to his last drawing: jagged lines straightening out. "In the right hands, it can mend tears in space and time." The lycanroc sat back, bracing his arms on either side of him. "And, well, sounds like we've got enough tears around here to open up a goth fashion boutique."

Jaeger: "Again, like those other stories that I heard from... 'Hisui', I think it was called? The point is, things are getting bad enough that we need the big guns out here, even if means taking a few risks."

Goth?

"I'm not touching that one," Reshiram said.

Oh, so Cecil had a phase back in the day, huh? :V

"There's also the fact that the Red Chain already exists," Sigurd cut in, slowly moving his chair up to Jaeger's side.

Seifer squinted. "What? Then we don't need to assemble it."

"It's split into fragments," Sigurd clarified.

Wait, just how many different things are they winding up going on the hunt for at this rate? First needles, then anomalies, and now- waaaaaaait a minute, that's what those 'eyes' or gems or whatever they are on Bahamut's needles are, aren't they?

Sigurd: "Which you will naturally need to assemble in order to wield it. Especially before someone else does."

"Which means 'assembling' translates to gathering fragments," Yuna said, resuming rubbing her rectangular head. "On top of the ongoing Needle thing, the anomalies, and, oh yeah, now Leo apparently has these plates that may or may not be scattered around inside these anomalies." The drakloak squeezed her own ectoplasm. "Starting to think I should hit up Mom and get the whole Aeon army on board with this. It's way too much for a small team to handle on its own."

Maybe she should've asked for more help far earlier, but there was no going back to fix it.

See, even Yuna's lampshading how the MacGuffin hitlist has been ballooning as of late.

... Or maybe there was with a complete Red Chain and— okay, now her head hurt again.

Actually, why isn't that their strategy? To just go to a universe where the Red Chain is already complete and "borrow" it? Or is there a strict constant of the universe such that the Red Chain and its components can't jump universes?

"Plates?" Seifer raised a brow. "What do plates have to do with this?"

"Most arceus have plates that embody the elements. Translate into pokémon types," Jaeger said. "Sounds to me like you found one."

"Yeah. Chernabog had it." Yuna pointed to her waist. "I think it was stuck in his belt as some sort of big, fist-shaped crystal."

Jaeger frowned.

Yuna: "... Is that bad or something? Since you're kinda weirding me out with that reaction there." ._.;

"Something the matter?" Jade asked. "You turned sourpuss quickly."

"Nah, 'm fine, mate." The lycanroc waved her off.

"He's lying," Reshiram immediately said.

Ah yes, this only has good implications for what the Overseers are like given that they're unwilling to shoot straight about critical details that potentially have existential importance for entire universes.
:copyka2:


But Yuna didn't think it worth him to press someone who was still a relative stranger on the subject. Instead, she opted to briefly explain what had happened to her and Leo inside the anomaly core.

Not convinced that this was a good idea when Cecil just warned you that you shouldn't necessarily trust this guy, but...

"Yeah. That about lines up." Jaeger bobbed his head, some of his earlier unease disappearing. "All those rings and shapes Leo rearranged? The pattern he made is one that's often associated with arceus."

"That... felt less like a pattern and more like the floor of an Aeon tavern when drunk dragons are playing ring toss," Yuna said. "But, sure, whatever you say."

>ring toss

I hope we get to see this in action in the story someday, since this sounds like it'd be a riot to watch unfold.

Jade slowly raised her wing again. "Can I say something? I promise it's not a bad joke this time."

"Uh, sure?" Yuna said. "You really don't need to keep asking for permission like that. We're not in school."

"Sorry." Jade lowered her wing, shuffling back and forth. "I think Bahamut had a thing for raising hands when we were apprentices." She paused. "Never mind the fact that I'm pretty sure most Sages don't have hands. Just hand substitutes."

Yuna: "I thought you said that you weren't going to bring up a bad joke." >_>;
Jade: "I'm not, that's just along the way. Look, the point I was trying to make is..."

Yuna waited for Rayquaza or Reshiram to say anything to the contrary. And when they didn't, Yuna decided not to dwell on it. She was out of energy and patience to express her disbelief over the claim.

Yuna: "So Bahamut was apparently like a strict schoolteacher while he was alive when he wasn't genociding planets... wonderful."
:gardexhausted:


"Just say your piece already," Seifer huffed.

"Right." Jade balled her wings into fists and pumped them. "So, like, these plates are important for Leo, right? And the Red Chain is connected to a couple of pokémon who are also related to Leo." She leaned forward circling her wing to gesture for someone else to jump in. But no one did. "You guys see where I'm going with this, don't you?"

"Uhhh..." The drakloak batted the bottom of her rectangular head. "You want to try and use them like magnets? To attract each other?"

That would be fairly clever if that works, even if a third of the equation has already been solved based off the Gira powers that Yuna rocks.

"Not the comparison I'd pick, but basically!" Jade chirped, tail wagging. "We have one plate already. Maybe it'll point us toward another? And then the more we gather, the easier it'll be to find Red Chain fragments."

Oh, so all these MacGuffins and anomalies all interlink with one another, huh? Not sure if you originally planned it out that way, but it's a pretty clever way of keeping the original mission relevant to serial mission escalation that's been going on plot-wise.

Silence as the group considered Jade's idea. As it stood, they'd have to keep diving into anomalies to stop the dimensional cataclysm. And if there were more plates waiting for them, then—

"Or-r-r-r-r-r-r." Sigurd's machine tried to draw out the word, but its synthetic voice kept repeating the letter R instead. "We could use the fragment we already have to find the others."

Jade: "... Wait, but wasn't that what I just said?" •v•;

Jade stiffened. "We have a fragment?!" She blinked a few times, then squinted. "Waaaaaaaait a second. You have a fragment, don't you?"

Sigurd turned his wheelchair around, revealing the various medical devices and their colorful blinking lights and bars. There was also a metal capsule strapped to one of the machines. Jaeger walked up to the capsule and pressed down on the top. It opened with a whoosh of compressed air, dropping a string of four red hexagons into Jaeger's paw.

Jade: "Seriously, why didn't you just tell us this earlier?!" >v>;

The moment Yuna glimpsed them, a horrible chill ran down to her tail. Her body tried to retreat into her head and it took every ounce of self-control to stop it from happening. She glanced at her torso. The shadows were there. Trying to push themselves out of her back. Just like with the plate. Perhaps they were related, like Jade thought.

Ah yes, Yuna's inner Giratina just casually "nope nope nope"-ing at having anything to do with being in proximity to Arceus powers. Totally a good omen for what sort of relationship she had with the Arceus of the universe she started out from.

"You know you could have led with that," Seifer said, shaking his head.

Kek. Yeah, I had a feeling, even if I got who would say that wrong.

"I could have. But this way was funnier," Sigurd responded. Fortunately, he didn't try to simulate another laugh with his machine.

The keldo rolled his eyes. "Delightful."

Small typo there to patch up.

"Aww, c'mon. It's at least a little funny." Jade attempted to elbow Seifer, but he stepped out of the way.

Seifer's eye twitched. Yuna figured he was trying not to say something that would insult a terminally ill human.

Narrator: "He didn't find it funny at all."
Yuna: "Yeah, we know." >_>;

"At the very least, I don't think it's worth taking this conversation further," the drakloak piped up, hoping to deescalate things. "We shouldn't plan anything without the others." And with Gene having gone Nikkinapping, coordinating things to bring Team Bureau up to speed would have to wait.

[ ]

"Oh, God." Yuna promptly buried her face in her hands.

"What?" Jade said.

Yuna dragged her hands down her face. "We're going to have to explain all of this to the others! Going through it once was exhausting enough!"

IMO, this sequence would work a bit better with a small paragraph or something showing the
:ohnowen:
mood setting in on Yuna a bit more explicitly.

Yuna: "... Please tell me that we can offscreen this second explanation, since I was getting lost just this first time!"
:grohno~2:


"I think I can help you out there."

Yuna's tail shriveled. "Cid? You've been listening this whole time?"

Oh hey, the Thor: Ragnarok influence returns for this fic. Though that would definitely help speed things up a bit.

At the sound of buzzing, Noctum picked his head off the cool metal table. He had hoped it was dinner, but it was just a familiar orbeetle hovering toward him.

"Not entirely," Cid said. Noctum hadn't addressed him. He was probably talking to his X-transceiver. The black charizard had turned his off after bringing Team Bureau to Cyril's outpost. He needed some time without people's voices shouting in his head.

Oh, so Yuna and the others are just going to send Cliff's Notes of their whole spiel through the X-Transciever, huh?

Currently, however, that time off translated to sitting in awkward silence with Igneous, Valkyrie, Scarlett, and Kyoko — the salazzle showed up uninvited to the safe house and Noctum brought her to the outpost before realizing his mistake — at one of the restaurant tables. Well, awkward silence save for Valkyrie tapping her claw impatiently on the table. And Igneous idly sipping a cup of iced coffee. And the general background noise of space pirates, bounty hunters, and other lawless types who served as the restaurant's patrons.

... Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly silent.

Cue the theme song:


"I was able to get a text-to-speech dictation system working on Cyril's computer," Cid continued, his spots flickering with excitement. "It's not perfect, but I think it transcribed a good deal of the newcomers' explanation."

Cue it flubbing critical details and forcing Team Bastion to effectively repeat the whole thing over again.

Noctum almost wanted to ask what Cid was talking about, but held his tongue. This was break time. Burger time, to be precise. Just as soon as someone actually brought out their food.

"You'd think working with Cyril would get us special treatment or something," Valkyrie grumbled. The garchomp lazily stared out the big glass window. Junior's arena was farther away than usual, and given the bright sparks and pink explosions, the garchomp could understand why.

Well that's quite a cage match in the background right now.

"Right. Well, we're all at the outpost," Cid said. "You can meet up whenever you're ready." He paused. "Gene? No, I don't think he's here? But I'll keep an eye out for—"

"'Sup, nerds?"

"Ahhh!"

A sudden blue rift made Noctum jump into the air, yelping. His tail flame brightened enough to cast a violet glow over his teammates. He hovered a meter above his seat, flame pulsating. Gene floated out of the rift with Nikki at his side. She held a squirming chatot by his tail feathers.

Oh hey, it's Gilbert again.

"Unhand me, you saucy wench!" He flailed his wings about. "Chatot Gilbert, first mate extraordinaire, shall not stand for such—"

His eyes fell on Valkyrie and he abruptly stiffened. "Ah ha." The chatot ran his wings across his music note head like it was hair to smooth out. "Mademoiselle Chomp. Such a treat to gaze upon jour fierce eyes once again."

Valkyrie: "... Can I kill him right now?"
:REElithe:

Gene: "Wouldn't have brought him over if we didn't need him, so no."

Valkyrie ignored him. "And you're dropping in unannounced because..."

"Rebel leader. I do what I want." Gene winked at the garchomp, who scowled. "And also Sparkplug over here finished her training. Figured she could chill with the lot of you." He nudged the toxtricity forward with his yellow-tipped tail, then yoinked a squawking Gilbert out of her hands with his telekinesis.

Oh, so we're not going to see that onscreen, huh? A bit disappointing since I feel like there might've been character development or introspection stuff that could've gone down, but considering how plot-thread dense this story already is, I can't say I really begrudge your decision.

"You guys have fun catching up and stuff." The shadowy mewtwo smiled at them. "As for you." His expression promptly sharpened. "You really thought you and your stupid flunkies could waltz on down and try to 'pillage' my room?"

"Non! Ve simply got turn-ed around a wee bi— yowch!"

Oh, so that's why Gilbert's here. Well, if nothing else, you can't say that he quits easily.
:copyka:


A tiny Psybeam zapped Gilbert. His feathers puffed out like static electricity had jolted him.

"Oh, ze horror! Look away, Mademoiselle Chomp!"

Dude sure has his priorities straight right now. :V

"I think we're going to have us a nice chat in private." Gene's shoulder crystal crackled ominously, then he vanished into another blue rift with the chatot pirate in tow. Awkward silence descended upon the group once again.

And then Gilbert was never seen alive in this story again. Possibly.

"So, uh..." Nikki rubbed the back of her head. "How was Casaroja?"

"Lousy," Igneous bluntly answered. "How was anomaly spelunking?"

"Lousy." The toxtricity slid past Kyoko and into Noctum's seat.

"Hey, I was sitting there!"

Also another small typo there.

Nikki: "Yeah, and now you're not. And seriously, I need to sit down for a while." >_>;

"And now you're not, dweeb." Nikki dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Kyoko raised a brow, then smirked at her. The black charizard eyed the only remaining empty seat, next to Valkyrie, and winced. Sighing, he dropped onto it and folded his wings.

Oh hey, I figured that I was onto something there. Even if it sure feels like the gang's sure dumping stuff on Noctum more than normal lately.

"Well, we're just waiting for food to come," the salazzle said. "Maybe you can catch us up?"

"Catch you up? Sure." Nikki reached for Igneous' iced coffee, then slapped his hand away when he tried to stop her. "Where the hell to start..."

Oh, so we might actually get to see Nikki's training session next time after all, since that ending note could very easily be teed up into a storytime scene.

Alright, made it to the end @Ambyssin . Definitely a bit on the exposition-heavy side, but I kinda gathered that this whole moment was something that needed to happen and between getting it all out in one go and stretching it out over multiple updates... yeah, I can see the argument for doing it all at once. Though hey, it's some fascinating lore here, and the little implications are fun to try and tease out. Even if I'm wondering just how fast those are going to come into play.

As for weak points of this chapter... beyond the occasional typo, I did notice a couple points where the description was cut a little too far down to the bone and left some potentially funny expressions / reactions on the table. The other thing that I don't really agree with is all of Nikki's training being offscreened, since that feels like something where something interesting in Nikki's head or thought process could've gone down but we don't get to see it. I'll withhold judgement there for now, since you left the door open to showing it properly, so we'll see how that plays out.

But all-in-all, good work with the story. And it's nice finally being up to speed with everything again. I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go next, since while things seemed to end on a bit of a lull... I've read enough of this story to know that such moments have a way of not really lasting.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 64: A Red Chain Reaction

I got a new assignment. The last one of my "internship," assuming all goes well.

They want to set up a small outpost in POV-2020. Multiple Overseers have been studying that dimension because there's something off with it and no one has a straight answer. So, they want to take a closer look because, apparently, they sense a lack of divinity. A void where one or multiple gods should be.

I'll admit, them describing it like that gave me pause. I'm so far removed from it, but that part of my old life still burns bright in my mind. One of the Diyems said that's natural, since it was so formative to who I am now.

... I'm sure there's a smarter way to phrase that.

But then the same Diyem told me the assignment sounds rather fishy. Or maybe it was one of the other ones? Stars, I can't keep track of them.

Anyway, I asked him what he meant. Moving boxes and doing cosmic construction work sounds fine to me.

He looked me dead in the eye and told me my home was POV-2017. That it should be close to POV-2020, and it's not. That, even by Ginnungagap standards, POV-2020 moves around enough that it's hard for the Overworld to track it.

I told him he's just being his usual negative self. I've been doing well. I deserve to reach the next part of my "cosmic community service."


XxX​

"... and while no one can say for certain what brought about Prince Shimmer's surprise makeover, Blitzer, few Venishians are complaining. His Grace handled the supply distribution from the convoy in an efficient, organized manner. A far cry from his outburst during Parliament's closed session that raised more than a few eyebrows."

The television feed panned from a suit wearing beartic to the midnight lycanroc sitting opposite him, paws clasped together under his chin.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about why he looks so different?" Lycanroc asked. "Do you suppose distortion mutated him?"

"I can't speak for others on the matter, Blitzer,"
Beartic said, shaking his head. "What I can tell you is that Venish needs supplies. Parliament is too busy debating how much we actually need due to people fleeing the city."

"Fleeing the city, or getting pulled into rifts?"
Blitzer interjected. "Do I need to pull up some of the footage sent into our studio by viewers?"

"PV off!" Justine called, pacing across velvety carpet and stopping to glance at the screen. It abruptly shut off and a green light on the corner of the machine turned red. The virizion stopped pacing, turning her attention toward a pink dressing screen decorated with lace, violet flowers... and the silhouette behind it.

"Did you hear that drivel?" Justine stomped her forehoof down on the carpet. "Shimmer 'efficient and organized?' Is this PNN's idea of a joke?"

Silence from the dressing screen. "I know you can hear me, Izzy." Justine puffed her cheeks out. "Did you order supplies for Venish without Parliament's approval? And entrust the delivery to Shimmer?"

That got a sigh from behind the dresser screen. The silhouette moved to the left side of the screen. Isola poked her head out, horn glowing pink as she ran a pink brush through her pink mane.

"It's nothing to lose your head over." Isola chuckled. "I see this as a good thing. You always said I coddled him too much and that he couldn't do anything for himself. Sounds to me like he's finally learning to take some initiative."

It didn't sit right with the virizion. "But what about the transformation? Doesn't that concern you?"

"Not really."

Justine froze, then turned toward Isola. "Did you finally fess up about the eviolitis thing?"

Isola shook her head. "No. But from the sound of things, he ran off into a distortion bubble and popped out looking a little different." She ducked back behind the dressing screen. "Maybe he did it to try and drum up sympathy after that ghoulish stunt in Parliament. I wouldn't put it past him."

Justine eased a bit, acknowledging her wife had a point. If anyone was vain enough to try and win fake sympathy points, it was Shimmer. Perhaps he hadn't changed that much after all. "Maybe I overreacted." Her shoulders sagged slightly. "It's just... with everything going on lately, to have him run away only to show up out of the blue looking and acting like an entirely different person..." Justine's voice trailed off. "I'm an inquisitor, you can't expect me not to be suspicious."

"I totally understand."

The fairy rapidash finally emerged from behind the dressing sheet, garbed in a thin silk gown that loosely fit her torso. Despite her casual attire, she still wore her armored breastplate. It was smaller than during her public appearances. Justine was used to the sight and knew full well Isola's magic could change its size. Every time she asked why Isola kept it on all the time, she was met with little giggles or nuzzles in that one spot in the crook of her neck that made the virizion crumple like tissue paper.

"Truthfully, I find it a bit surprising," Isola continued, slowly strutting past Justine while gazing at her reflection in a floor-to-ceiling mirror. "But I'm not going to complain. If he wants to... assert himself and become a thorn in World Ender's side, then let him. Best case scenario, he proves himself capable of things we didn't think possible."

Justine looked down. "And worst case... we lose our only son."

A little tingle tickled Justine's nose. ESP tilted her head up so she was looking at Isola. "Worst case... the people rally around the loss and their grieving queen to drive out World Ender's forces."

Justine stiffened. That sounded like something she would have said before Shimmer decided to run away. Talk about role reversals. "You're awfully calm about that possibility."

"That's because I consider it an impossibility," Isola said. She was at Justine's side now, brushing her flank against the virizion's.

"What, ahh, do you mean by that?" Justine tried to suppress a shudder. She loved the rapidash's touch a bit too much.

"It's a secret," Isola replied, giggling.

Justine squinted. "A secret you can't tell your wife?"

A proper laugh this time. Isola pivoted, resting her head on Justine's back. "Ooh, dear, Madame High Inquisitor, you've got me backed in a corner. All right, I'll confess!" The rapidash lifted her head to show off her breast plate... and the red, eye-like gem in the middle. "My family heirloom, the Radiant Shield? It's more than just a crest. It has a special bit of power in it."

Isola touched the gem to Justine's right thigh. An enthralling tingle made Justine's fur stand on end. Her holowear gem grew a bit warm against her right foreleg and, after a second, she realized her latex suit and fishnets were torn. The fabrics woven by the holowear's magic lay in ribbons on the floor.

The virizion's brows raised. Had the shield... short circuited her holowear?

Without thinking, Justine found herself whispering, "Go on."

With a smile, Isola's horn glowed the same color as the Shield. Another shiver ran down Justine's spine and the rest of her holowear drifted down onto the velvety carpet. Isola stepped beside her. "World Ender's troops can do whatever they want. As long as I have this power—" She paused, her face hovering centimeters from Justine's snout. "No, as long as we have this power, they can't touch us. And the kingdom will stand."

Justine thought she had a question, but Isola cut it off with a kiss. That same tingle — no, more like an electric shock — ran down to Justine's tail. Her jaw slackened somewhat and she clumsily stepped back.

"Sounds... good," she mumbled.

"I'm glad." Isola strutted past the virizion. "Now, come along."

Justine slowly blinked. "To where?"

"I feel so filthy after that little chat." The rapidash was already halfway toward a glass door on the far side of the room. "I'm drawing up a bath. You should join me."

Justine was walking after Isola before she even finished her last sentence.

XxX​

Shimmer slowly meandered along the side of the freight train's caboose, despite burning muscle aches squeezing his legs. His hooves conjured tiny ice blocks to walk on so he didn't have to sully them in the railyard's dirt. The dusty air on the ride over had been bad enough, but then the air at Venish's rail station turned horrendously muggy as people packed inside in droves to get supplies from his convoy.

Although he'd finished distributing the supplies and now awaited Demerzel's arrival, Shimmer couldn't stop thinking about the last couple of hours. He destroyed a giant World Ender robot! It was all him! He finally had some real firepower to throw his weight behind. The ponyta didn't have to fear World Ender's troops. He could trap them in a snowstorm at the drop of a hat!

... And the actual supply delivery. The supply delivery.

Shimmer had earned praise for most of his life — a lot of it likely unearned, in hindsight — but this was different. The Venishians were genuinely glad to see him. Their gratitude was real. He wasn't getting talked up because of a photo shoot or something. No, he actually did good by his people. He stepped in when Parliament wouldn't!

That had to count for something. It had to mean his mothers were wrong. That he could take initiative. That he did deserve the throne.

... It had to mean he could rescue Robin and Xander.

Putting aside the discomfort of dirtying his fur, Shimmer sat down on the dirt behind the caboose's rear wheel. Groaning, he stretched out his neck, then his forelegs. This was an ache he'd never felt before. Not even after some of his more... vigorous extracurriculars with Xander.

Was this that post-workout high that dopey bewear PE teacher always spoke of back at school when he tried to get Shimmer to do more than a light trot? It wasn't too bad.

Not too bad at all. Shimmer flipped his icy mane over his shoulder, sighing. He could get used to this. Being a 'mon of action and reaping the praises for hard work, instead of doing the bare minimum and expecting to get something out of it because it was his right as Crown Prince.

The ponyta tensed a bit. Maybe Vegna was right to belittle him. Maybe if Shimmer had actually pressed the matter with the dusknoir instead of crying foul to his mothers, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself in the Crowne Court and Parliament. And maybe his friends and future husband would still be here.

Shimmer huffed out frost. Introspection time had gone on long enough. Where the hell was Demerzel? The overgrown vegetable was late. Shimmer needed a shower. And some decent food.

He has crazy strong telepathy, right? The pontya tried to concentrate, which meant envisioning the bulbous-headed mutant.

"Hey! Where are you? I can't stay in the railyard forever!"

Several seconds of silence passed. Shimmer stomped his forehoof down, huffing in annoyance. He was pretty sure he did the telepathy thing right. Why wasn't Demerzel answering?

Before Shimmer could try again, though, his tails crinkled. He sensed something. A presence— no, two presences. Not too far, but somewhat... blunted?

The ponyta never was good at describing auras. But whatever they were, they came from the front of the train. Shimmer got up and crept forward. He tried to concentrate, raising his ears and holding his breath. He focused on his psychic powers again, knowing full well that if whoever was on the other side had decent enough ESP of their own, they'd sense him in a heartbeat.

"... gambler needs to know when the time has come to cash in."

The voice was a bit muffled, but Shimmer thought it familiar. Yet the ponyta couldn't quite put his hoof on who it was.

"And, in His Excellency's opinion, you've worn out your welcome at the table. Played a few too many hands."

Shimmer kept pressing forward, his footsteps slow and methodical. He couldn't afford to make noise. This voice was familiar, but not one he'd heard recently. It sounded too old and deep to be a classmate. An academy teacher, maybe?

"You're pushing your luck and you are one small step away from losing the rest of your pot."

... No. The voice had too much of a sense of authority to it. And it definitely wasn't Vortex. Could it have been someone in the government, then? Maybe an MP or an administrator?

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I think I liked you better when you were spewing unfunny, recycled stand up material instead of speaking in card game metaphors."

Shimmer froze mid-step. He certainly recognized Demerzel's voice. But that second sentence...

Minister Charles?

The Mr. Rime had gone missing weeks ago, leaving the Radiant Guard completely stumped. Yet it sounded like Demerzel was talking with him right now!

The ponyta decided he'd walked far enough. He pressed himself up against the side of the train, flinching from all the dust and gravel that stuck to his pelt.

"I made it clear last time, didn't I?" Charles scoffed. "Thanks to your unwillingness to help us, your beloved Glastrier now belongs to the Grim Reaper."

Shimmer's brow furrowed. The Reaper? As in Vegna?

Wait. The dusknoir had fought an armored knight riding an icy steed back in Venish. And when it was over, the steed was gone. Did Vegna kill them? And were they someone close to Demerzel?

What the hell was going on?!

"And I made it clear last time that I am helping," Demerzel hissed. Shimmer thought he sensed a spike in psychic energy from the front of the train, but remained rooted to the spot. "This isn't something I can brute force. This is a fight won by the long knife that twists slowly. I've endeared myself to Radiance's royals. I'm giving you disgusting oafs the time you need to break the seals."

"You call destroying His Excellency's troops helping?" Charles' voice brimmed with amusement. "Quite the side pot you're offering up there."

"It helps keep everyone's attention focused within Radiance," Demerzel countered. "Otherwise, they might decide to try and find a way inside your precious empire. And then you'd really have a problem, wouldn't you?"

Shimmer exercised every bit of willpower he had not to lash out, but it was grueling. The way Demerzel spoke... made it sound like all the help he was giving Shimmer was nothing but some sort of elaborate ruse! Was his growing strength part of that ploy? Had he let himself get duped into thinking he was finally making a difference, only to be made a fool of behind his back again?

He couldn't stand for that. He wouldn't stand for that!

... But the ponyta refused to expose himself. He'd stay quiet. Get whatever extra leverage he could.

Keep talking, you cads.

"His Excellency doesn't see it that way." Cassius was still amused. "I'm simply here to tell you that your stunt earlier today cost your remaining spouse her rations for the foreseeable future."

Shimmer tensed to avoid gasping and giving himself away. There it was. The piece tying things together. Charles — now under World Ender's employ, from the sound of it — was blackmailing Demerzel.

They had his wife. Just like they had Shimmer's future husband.

"Geryon!" Demerzel audibly strained. "You're starving her? Do you brutes have no morals?!"

"If you start cooperating, we will happily give her the food and water she so desperately needs," Charles said.

A heaviness gripped Shimmer's gut. What if he rushed to judgment? What if Demerzel wasn't using him... but helping him because of their shared circumstances?

"... what do you expect me to do?" Demerzel's voice cracked.

"His Excellency intends to deploy a new weapon to Tulpise to help build up the ranks of his Eternatus Troopers," Charles said. "You will advise the queen to deploy her army, but you will leave those plagiarized bugs behind so our Iron Moths can capture Radiance's soldiers to serve the empire."

"And if I'm successful... you will stop starving Geryon?"

"Feed her and heal the wounds that have persisted through her malnourishment," Charles replied. "I wouldn't take too long thinking about it, either. Last I checked, some of them looked infected. Who knows what could be eating away at her bloodstream?"

Silence followed. Shimmer again held his breath. Given the shift in Demerzel's tone, the ponyta expected him to acquiesce.

"... fine."

"We have a deal, then?"

"Yes."

"Shall we shake on it like genteels?"

"Keep your filthy hands to yourself."

Charles chuckled. "Very well, then. I hope you truly choose to walk away and take your winnings... before there's nothing left for you to claim."

A pulse of psychic energy followed. Shimmer pressed himself even tighter against the train, ready to spring into action if need be.

Instead, Demerzel sighed.

"You can stop hiding, Your Grace. He's gone now."

Shimmer winced. So, Demerzel knew the whole time. Did that mean Minister Charles did, too?

Demerzel appeared beside him in a blip of pink light. Shimmer hopped back with a startled whiney, his tails reflexively puffing out.

"I did my best to try and mask your aura," Demerzel said, folding his hands behind his back. "Hopefully it was enough to keep that clod from realizing you were eavesdropping." He paused to glance at Shimmer. "You did eavesdrop, right?"

The ponyta nodded slowly.

"How much did you hear?"

"I, uh, think I came in at the part where Charles was telling you it was time to cash in?"

"You didn't miss too much, then." Demerzel's expression sayed unreadable, but he sounded... pleased?

"Wait." Shimmer stepped toward his mutant advisor. "You wanted me to eavesdrop?"

"Why else would I stay here after the ex-minister accosted me?" Demerzel countered, chuckling and shaking his head. "I knew you were here, after all. If this was a conversation I wanted to remain private, I would've insisted we go somewhere else."

It sure sounded reasonable, yet Shimmer couldn't forget what he'd heard before. He looked down at the dirt. "This sounds like another trick," he muttered. "And I'm... not some tool for you to use!"

"Of course you aren't. But I needed that Eterna stooge to hear what he wanted to hear," Demerzel said, turning away from Shimmer. He floated up to the train, looking at a metal ladder that went up to the roof of the car. "Surely you've seen one of your mothers try something similar when dealing with Parliament, no?"

Shimmer bit his lip. Demerzel was right, but how could the ponyta be sure the reverse wasn't also true? What if Demerzel was lying to him, too?

He had to make his stand here. Figuratively.

"What are you hiding?" Shimmer squared up his stance. "If this partnership is going to work, it's high time you explained yourself." He took a deep breath. "What are your ties to World Ender? Is it blackmail... or something more?"

Demerzel remained silent and unmoving... save for a pained grimace that wove its way across his face.

"Do you consider yourself more of a visual learner, Shimmer?"

Shimmer fanned his tails out. "Don't deflect."

"Yes or no."

"... tch." Mist swirled around Shimmer's hooves. "Visuals are... helpful. Why does it matter?"

"Because I think, in this case, it would be easier to show than tell."

Demerzel continued to stare at the train. Slowly, he reached up... and pulled his violet robes down ever so slightly, revealing a small brace around his neck. Demerzel touched the back of his neck and the brace came off with a sudden click. It dropped to the ground and Demerzel kicked it toward Shimmer with one of his long legs.

It rolled to a stop by his feet, allowing Shimmer to see a small plastic circle that had opened up to reveal a photo inside. He recognized Demerzel... and the icy steed he saw in Venish. The black and purple equine drew a total blank, however.

"My partners, Glastrier and Spectrier," Demerzel explained. "Taken from me by Eternatus' ruler. He has held their fates over my head to get me to aid him in his bid to free Eternatus from its seal within your world. I thought getting close to you and your family was the best way to do that... but the ruler went back on his word."

"Because of Vegna?" Shimmer looked up at Demerzel.

"He didn't send Vegna to take Glastrier from me. Rather, he forced Glastrier to come to Venish," Demerzel said, slowly curling his nubby hands up. "I think, whether Glastrier succeeded in terrorizing the city or somehow met his end... didn't matter to the emperor."

"But it certainly matters to you," Shimmer said. "Did you talk with Vegna about this at all?"

"No." Demerzel's expression sharpened. "I'm sure he could... bring Glastrier back. Or attempt to, at least."

That wasn't the response Shimmer expected. "Huh?" The ponyta tilted his head.

"Oh, were you not aware? He's a necromancer." Demerzel let out a bitter laugh. "He raises the spirits of the dead. It's the lesser-told part of the whole Grim Reaper schtick. That he kills the people he prosecutes to add to his army of the undead."

Okay, that sounded a bit familiar. "I just figured the tabloids were sensationalizing to make some fast cash."

"Even trash reporting can have a ripple of truth about it," Demerzel said.

Shimmer stepped toward him. "Then isn't that all the more reason to talk to him? I have plenty of reasons to hate the guy, but if he's not in league with World Ender, then wouldn't he be willing to cooperate and give you back your partner?"

"It's impossible," Demerzel cut in, expression growing more pained. He braced himself against the side of the train.

"Because..." Shimmer raised a brow. This was not the time for Demerzel to call off his show and tell.

Demerzel said nothing. Instead, he tightly gripped the side of the latter. His body lurched violently. Strange bars of static ran from his giant head to the ends of his long legs. Jagged, staticky spikes and squares jutted out in random directions, as if he'd suddenly turned into a glitching PV screen.

The static jumped from Demerzel to the latter, and then the rest of the train car. An assortment of differently-colored glitching cubes and spikes spread out. Shimmer backpedaled, panic spreading across his face, as the glitchy shapes slowly solidified into black and purple globs of distortion.

"... llar..."

Demerzel had somehow managed to pry himself off the train.

"Th... col... r..."

Shimmer looked down at his feet. Demerzel's collar was glowing with pink energy. The ponyta levitated it into the air and slung it in Demerzel's direction. A wad of glitching squares grasped it... and all the static encasing Demerzel abruptly vanished. He dropped to the ground, shakily trying to strap the collar back on his neck.

The train car hadn't returned to normal, however. It was still an irregular glob of distortion. Except now there were a few words scrawled across it.

The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.

Just as soon as the sentence appeared, it vanished in pink mist. Mist that faded into Demerzel's collar, now secure on his neck once again. He pulled his robes back up to his it, still breathing heavily.

"What was that?!" Shimmer's eyes darted between Demerzel and the wad of distortion. It wasn't growing... but it wasn't shrinking, either.

"The... proof... you wanted." Demerzel caught his breath, but didn't hover back into the air. "Vegna cannot revive Glastrier... because neither of us are meant to be. The same goes for Spectrier." He put his hand on his small, round body. "I suspect... Eternatus' ruler used Eterna energy to give them both stability. But Glastrier's stability is gone now... and this plate can only keep one soul stable."

Shimmer didn't know where to even begin with that explanation. "'Neither of us are meant to be?' What kind of purple, flowery explanation is that?"

Demerzel slightly turned onto his right side. "I... am not a mutant. I'm a calyrex. A species born to rule. To lead." He took several heavy breaths. "But I am lost. In time and space. Simply because I wanted to be a good leader... and protect my home from a very real danger."

Shimmer shuffled back slightly. If calyrex was a pokémon, it was one Shimmer never heard of before now. "Trying to protect your home... from what?"

"From the very same creature the Aeons worship! A wicked dragon of light!" Demerzel spat.

The ponyta stiffened. So, that's why he believes so strongly the Aeons' god exists?

"He was a danger to my partners. To my friends. To my home. His presence was a beacon for wicked souls!" Demerzel smacked his left hand against the ground. "So, I worked hard to get myself elected leader of my home. And when I won the election... I took the steps I thought necessary to protect the people who were depending on me.

"I called an even higher power than that infernal dragon! I told the group how dangerous he was. How he had already broken my universe once before! And when they actually showed up, I thought it was going to happen! I thought they would take him away and we would finally be safe!"

Demerzel looked at Shimmer and there was a frenzy in his eyes that he'd never seen before. "But you know what happened? Do you. Know. What. Happened?"

He smacked the ground again. "They acquiesced to him! He gave demands and they listened! My pleas fell on deaf ears!"

A half-laugh, half-wheeze escaped Demerzel's lips. "So you know what I did?"

"Uhh..." Shimmer stepped back again. "You tried to leave?"

"I tried to take away his powers! His light!" Demerzel said. "But things hit a snag. My device triggered on one of his, y'know, great-great-great-great grandkids or some ridiculous drivel! But only because they interfered with it!

"The dragon should've just accepted his fate, but no! In a fit of rage, he... he somehow caused a chain reaction with my device that hit me and my partners!"

The calyrex rolled onto his back and stared up in the sky. "Next thing I knew, I woke up all alone in this world. A world where familiar names like Horizon, Aeon, and Radiance were thrown around in all the wrong ways. And I was in such... such excruciating pain."

He placed his hands on his neck. "But I soon found this plate. I don't know why it showed up. But it stopped the soul-tearing pain. It gave me... a sense of stability."

Demerzel slowly hovered back into the air. "It wasn't long before Eternatus' forces made contact with me, however. And told me they were holding my partners." He shook his head. "That cooperation was the only way to see them again. The only way to return home."

"And you believed them?"

"I wanted to." Demerzel didn't sound too proud of himself. "You have to understand... I had no idea where I was. How things worked around here." He turned away, folding his arms behind his back. "But, even though I tried to do what they asked, it eventually became clear that they did not intend to hold up their end of the deal. Fortunately, the work I had done showed me that there's... an alternative way forward. A path to get home."

He looked at Shimmer. "A path to get you the kingdom you rightfully deserve."

Shimmer tilted his head. He already had a kingdom. Or he would, anyway, once it was his time to take the throne. "What's wrong with Radiance? It's my home."

"That it is." Demerzel bowed his head down. "But, if things continue as they are, you will never see the day you take the throne."

"What?" The ponyta squinted. "Because of World Ender?"

"Because of your mother," Demerzel said.

"Excuse me?" He took a cautious step toward Demerzel. "What, did you hear Justine planning a coup or something?"

"Hardly. If I had to guess, she'll be on the chopping block soon enough, too."

Shimmer tensed. "This isn't funny." Was this calyrex implying someone or something intended to off him and his family?

"I wouldn't expect you to realize it." Demerzel shook his head, then pressed his right hand to his temple. "Perhaps Justine doesn't, either. But I sense it."

"Sense what?"

"That Isola and I are the same." Demerzel moved his right hand down to his torso. "Souls out of time and space." He paused. "Though I suspect that is deliberate on her part."

Shimmer swallowed hard. He was finding it difficult to follow Demerzel's logic. "Can you elaborate?"

"Perhaps you never bothered looking, but Isola used to be a... very different person. Until her time at Horizon Academy ended."

"And?" Shimmer huffed out frost. "People grow up." His mothers certainly thought he needed to.

"No. We're talking sudden, drastic changes," Demerzel continued. "And it doesn't stop there." He shook his head. "There are bits and pieces of similar reports stretching back for generations. All of them hidden. Difficult to find unless you know where to look."

He turned away from Shimmer. "Besides, don't you find it strange that, throughout Radiance's history, there has never been a single king who sat upon the throne?"

Shimmer stared blankly. "What? That... can't be right."

"It's always been a queen. Married to another woman." Demerzel lifted both hands up and tapped them together. "They would sire one child. If the child turned out a boy... then he, at some point, would transition. The future king would become a future queen instead."

The calyrex looked over his shoulder. "Do you feel as though you're not the right gender?"

"No." Shimmer flicked his mane over his shoulder. "I'm happy with who I am." He stepped forward once more. "So, again, where are you going with this?"

"Isola isn't Isola." Demerzel folded his arms behind his back again. "I don't know who she really is, but I know what she is: a body-snatcher. Someone who jumps from Radiant Queen to Radiant Queen. And, as the Crown Prince, you are her next victim."

Shimmer shook his head. He almost stumbled and fell over in disbelief. "No. No, no, no." He laughed nervously. "That's... ridiculous. Something out of some schlocky PV miniseries."

"It's the truth."

"So, what?" Shimmer's eyes darted around. He kept trying to tear them away from the distortion glob, but couldn't. "Why tell me any of this? How does this help you with your... whatever?"

"Because I need a new partner. Someone who, like me, has been wronged." Demerzel blipped over to Shimmer's side. "The shield your mother always wears?"

"It's been with the family since the Darkest Day," Shimmer whispered, thinking about the oversized breast plate and the red gem housed inside.

"That's what's giving Isola her power," Demerzel said, placing a hand on Shimmer's shoulder. He recoiled at first, but didn't move away. "I can sense something inside. A power similar to my plate. If we could take it from her..."

"You want to steal my family heirloom?"

"No. I want you to have it," Demerzel insisted, hovering in front of Shimmer. "... eventually, at least. But if we can take it... then we can combine it with the plate that I have. It can send me home. And then you can use the power to rid Radiance of the body-snatcher and Eternatus in one fell swoop."

He put his other hand on Shimmer's other shoulder. "You will be the king that Radiance truly deserves. The king you've always thought you could be."

Shimmer looked into Demerzel's eyes, trying to tell if he was getting played. Yet it was hard to argue against the things he had just seen. "How would we even combine them?" the ponyta wondered.

"That's where Dr. Arianna comes in," Demerzel whispered. "She has all of Tesla's brains and none of the attitude. And given how she feels your mothers have wronged her and her life's work, I suspect that swaying her to our side will be the easiest part of this whole endeavor."

He took his hands off Shimmer's shoulders and drifted back slightly. "I understand that this is... a lot to take in. But I am committed to this. You deserve a future. You deserve your birthright. Just as I deserve a chance to return home."

The calyrex extended his right hand. "What do you say, Your Grace? Can I count on your support?"

Shimmer stared at Demerzel's nubby hand. "These ice powers. What happens if things don't work out?"

Demerzel didn't move. "They'll return to me, but you will be unharmed."

Silence ensued as Shimmer chewed on everything. And it was a lot. The ponyta was afraid of being tricked again. But the early admiration from the Venishians felt so good. He wanted more of that. And he couldn't get it if he let things end here. And certainly not if Isola really did end up snatching his body.

Shimmer stuck his forehoof out and pressed it to Demerzel's hand.

"I hope, for both our sakes, you're telling the truth."

Demerzel pulled his hand back and curtsied with his purple robes.

"I won't let you down, Your Grace."

XxX​

High above the unsuspecting duo, a dusknoir sat atop a corviknight, looking at the tiny fissures running up his right arm. Golden vapors faded into the air around it.

Vegna squeezed his right arm with his left hand.

Griffon glanced back at Vegna. "Did you get what you wanted, V?"

"It would appear so."

"So, why the long face?" Griffon paused. "Or, well, y'know, whatever the equivalent is for dusknoir." He flicked his right wing dismissively.

Vegna's eye dimmed.

"Necrozma is inching toward rebirth as a Phantom," he whispered. The ectoplasm on his right arm bubbled under his hand. "And, all this time, the source of his greatest pain — the one who struck down his family — has sat out in the open. Upon a gilded throne of lies."

"But you always suspected it, didn't ya?" Griffon said. "That's why you got this job in the first place, ain't it?"

Vegna tightened his grip on his arm. "We have to find him... before it's too late."

"Find who?"

"The only one who beat Necrozma when he was still whole: Mewtwo."
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 65: Caught Up in the Particulars

The Butterfree Effect.

On paper, it's a logical fallacy. The idea that a tiny change in the past could create a giant ripple effect that unravels the future. The mathematicians who created the theory didn't account for legendary pokémon.

I've gathered all the material I can think of surrounding our legends and myths. The Butterfree Effect assumes that Dialga and Celebi are not keeping a constant watch on time. When a ripple appears, they can patch it. Thus, a flawed theory.

But what if we applied that argument to
space. Legendary pokémon can display tremendous power, sure, but can such immense might spread across space itself? I'm not sure.

I think it's reasonable to believe that there's a limit. Consider this: a ripple at one point in space beyond our legends' control — perhaps another world entirely — grows to such a degree that, by the time it reaches our world, space is unravelling. And since space and time are so intricately connected, time begins to break down as well. But because the ripple originated somewhere beyond the legends' control, they cannot fix it.

Yes, I like this theory. It could explain several things. Like why I've seen
him and his togekiss in archival photos of Jubilife Village when it should be impossible for him to be in two places in time at once. Or the dreams where I'm not a researcher, but some high-level pokémon trainer who researches myths on the side as a hobby.

It could even explain the artifact I found in the forest outside of my lab the other day. A crystal sphere with a golden wheel, like the broken symbols scattered around the Spear Pillar. It feels almost otherworldly. Lucario is transfixed by it whenever she sees it.

I stumbled across something big. With this theory and this artifact, the Space Globe, I can finally solve all these mysteries. Unravel every myth and legend.

The results of my research will offer humans and pokémon infinite possibilities.


XxX​

"Aaaaaaand that about sums it up."

Nikki leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. Noctum frowned at her, too far to force her to put her feet back on the floor where they belonged. Fortunately, Igneous had it taken care of. The grovlazzle elbowed Nikki's feet.

"C'mon, we're in public," he said.

"Tch. Fine." The toxtricity slouched over, resting her right arm on the table and laying her head in her right hand. She glanced at the others, Noctum in particular. "Okay. You look like you have questions. Shoot."

"Yuna told you she's Chiron?" The black charizard tapped his index claws together.

"Yep."

"And that Chiron is— or was Bahamut's wife?"

"Yep."

"This can't be right! The Aeon Himself... had a family?"

Noctum's tail flame sparked. He looked over his shoulder to find Yiazmat floating behind him, ectoplasmic tail rippling. "I don't understand," she whispered. "The scriptures mentioned nothing about Bahamut having a family."

"They probably also didn't mention him blowing up other civilizations, either," Nikki said, lazily twirling her left index finger around. Scarlett frowned at her. "What? I thought Princess had already dropped that truth bomb on her mom."

"Your Highness." Noctum got to his feet and offered an arm in support. "It's as much of a surprise to me, too, but—"

Yiazmat turned away. "I'm sorry." She took a shaky breath. "I need some time to myself. To think." She zipped away before Noctum could say anything else.

Dejected, the black charizard sank back into his seat and put his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do about this? Yuna was practically family, yet he couldn't think of anything to do to support her. Or Yiazmat, for that matter.

He tensed from a cold, scaly arm on his back. Noctum glanced at Valkyrie.

"It's out of your control," the garchomp said. "Not worth letting it eat at you."

Noctum looked at the floor. That... sounded like advice, but Noctum wasn't sure what he could do with it.

Igneous cleared his throat. "So, what was the point of Gene's training, anyway?"

"Oh, that?" Still resting her head against her right hand, Nikki tapped her left index finger and thumb together, generating a few sparks. "Boss Kitty had me work on Nuzzle."

That was enough to get Noctum to look up. He mouthed the attack name.

"What'd he have you learning that baby attack for?" Kyoko wondered, mimicking Nikki resting her head on an arm she lay on the table.

"Not learning. Improving." Nikki pushed herself up, hopped out of her seat and walked over to a nearby metal pillar. "Check it."

Noctum wondered if she was about to hug the pillar when the toxtricity hopped into the air. Yellow electricity crackled around her feet. Nikki swung her legs up. The lightning tickled the metal pillar and, within seconds, Nikki had landed on it like it was the new floor.

"Tada!" Nikki held her arms out, then flipped a couple of birds toward the ceiling. "Gravity can kiss my ass!"

"... what." Igneous stared blankly at Nikki.

"That— I don't think that's how gravity works," Noctum muttered. But the black charizard decided it wasn't worth harping on it any further. "Congratulations, I guess?"

"Thanks, Zardy!" Nikki hopped off the pillar and strode confidently back to her seat. "I bet this'll come in handy for the next place we visit."

Noctum wasn't convinced, but kept that thought to himself. Instead, he asked, "So, are you going to apologize to Yuna?"

The toxtricity froze in the middle of sitting down. Her mane shrank a bit. "Ah. Er..." She glanced at the others, who were still staring at her. "I thought I already did?"

"Seriously?" Igneous shook his head in disbelief. "Sounds to me like you brushed her worries off as nothing."

"Whaaat?" Nikki sat down, holding her hands up innocently. "No way! Boss Kitty stepped in and explained it. It makes sense and stuff." She scratched one of her horns. "There wasn't really much for me to add. Of course she'd be scared."

The grovlazzle frowned. "And you told her that?"

Nikki's mohawk shrank again. The silence told Noctum the answer.

"Hello. Guzzie hopes he is not interrupting. Your food is ready."

Noctum looked up to see the large guzzlord looming over them with a food tray in each hand. Guzzie passed out their respective meals, ending with Noctum's burger. It had a pretzel bun styled to look like an eevee with its pointy ears and tails. He thought it cute, but it also stirred something deep inside him. Charizard predator instincts, perhaps?

"Oh. Guzzie did not realize another friend had come." The guzzlord stomped over behind Nikki. "Can Guzzie get you something?"

"You got chili fries?" the toxtricity said.

"Guzzie can make chili fries."

Nikki snapped her fingers. "Swell. Let's go with that."

Guzzie nodded and stomped away, leaving Noctum to take a big enough bite of his burger to remove the entire eevee face that had been grilled into the bun.

"So, Nikki, you going to say the right thing to Yuna?" Igneous pointed a forkful of lettuce at her.

"I, uh—" Nikki looked down guiltily. "Look, Twiggy, I ain't the best with touchy-feely stuff, but when I said 'it doesn't matter,' I meant it."

Noctum swallowed his large bite of food, then took another, protracted bite as if that somehow illustrated his displeasure at Nikki's attitude. She must have caught on, because she flinched and looked away with him.

"It's just... I don't care if she was Chiron. Or is Chiron." Nikki waved her left arm around. "She's always been Yuna to me. She'll stay Yuna to me."

The toxtricity smacked her hand on the table. "The way I see it, if I don't give the Chiron part of her the time of day, it won't take control. What's so bad about that?" She looked around at the others. "C'mon, I can't be the only one who'd rather keep Princess than lose her to some stuffy moon bat."

At that, everyone's gazes rolled to Noctum, who was still chewing. He hastily swallowed, grunting. Nikki did have a point. Sort of.

"Of course I don't want to lose Yuna. She's family."

But what right do we have to try and stop Chiron reawakening? he wondered, though he couldn't bring himself to say that out loud. Still, Noctum knew Yuna wouldn't drop this subject. She'd try to figure out the why behind all of this no matter what anyone told her.

"See?" Nikki sat back in her seat. "C'mon. Maybe I botched the execution, but my heart was in the right place."

"Then what about me?"

Nikki sat up straight, trying to avoid making eye contact with Scarlett. Igneous glanced nervously at the dragonair. "Um, are you okay?" he whispered.

"I'm fine." Scarlett held her head up. "I just want to know if you're still mad at me, Nikki." Her neck bauble flickered. "I may not be, y'know, running into the fire like you, but I think I deserve to know if you're going to hold a grudge or not. Because I know you like your grudges."

Silence. They were practically locked in a staring contest, expressions unreadable. Noctum didn't like the tense silence. He leaned over and tried to sip the last of his water, but there was so much ice his straw made a loud schluuuurp and everyone's eyes fell on him.

"Sorry," the black charizard mumbled, sliding his snout off the straw with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Dork." Valkyrie elbowed his belly, but his armor protected him.

Finally, Nikki sighed and slouched over a bit. "No, I'm not mad anymore. Simmered down or whatever." The toxtricity shrugged. "You told me your reasons. I don't agree with them, but staying pissed at you doesn't fix anything." Nikki squeezed the lapels of her leather jacket. "And I want to fix it. You're my sis and stuff."

Noctum gulped. There was a "but" coming.

"It's gonna take time." Nikki's mohawk dimmed. "The lying... it hurt. Not the kinda hurt that we laughed at in Blightsmuth. This one's deep. I gotta... feel like I can trust you again."

She pivoted away from the others. "Maybe that's not what you want to hear, but it's the best I've got."

Scarlett's wings drooped. Igneous was about to put his hand on the dragonair's back, but stopped. Perhaps the grovlazzle caught the same determined glint in her eyes Noctum did?

"I understand." Scarlett bobbed her head. "I appreciate you being honest with me. Hopefully, I can return the favor soon enough."

"Yeah." Nikki's mohawk rippled faster.

Silence fell over the group, until Nikki abruptly swiveled back around on her seat. "All right, no more touchy-feely sentimental silence." She smacked her right arm down on the table. "I dished on the anomaly stuff. What happened in Casaroja?"

Noctum recalled the pizza truck onslaught... and all the midair spinning that went with it. The black charizard's tail flame dimmed. "I think I'm full." He pushed his plate toward the middle of the table.

"No fooling?" Nikki eyed the last third of his burger and fries.

"Take it," Noctum said. He rolled his eyes while the toxtricity dragged his plate in front of her.

"Seriously? Smiley face fries?" Nikki dangled one in front of her face. It resembled a pikachu head. "I thought this place catered to adults."

A scaly arm between Noctum's shoulder blades made him sit up straight. "Our resident dweeb asked for them." Valkyrie laughed. "Apparently, the big guzzlord keeps them around for his son."

Noctum pouted. "Smiley faces make me happy."

Nikki looked at the pikafry and ate it in a single bite. "Ah, c'mon, Zardy. No need to be ashamed. It's okay to want to feel like a big apex predator from time to time."

Noctum's cheeks burned. He curled his claws around the edge of his seat. "So! How about that big train chase in Casaroja, huh?" he practically shouted. A few tables looked over in his direction. Valkyrie and Igneous shot them dirty looks and they returned their attentions to their own food.

"You chased after a train?" Nikki ate another fry in a single bite. "How?"

"In a pizza truck," Valkyrie replied. The toxtricity stared blankly at her. Noctum watched the realization slowly set in.

"And they didn't even make you a pizza after?" Nikki shook her head. "Raw deal."

"It was Cyril's fake pizza truck," Igneous said between bites of salad. "At least, I have to assume it's fake. No pizza-making stuff inside."

The conversation devolved into a recap of the train chase. Nikki was amused for most of it, while Kyoko looked confused and Scarlett silently slurped up pasta noodles lathered in white sauce.

"You gotta be kidding me." Nikki leaned over, pointing a chili fry at Igneous. "Shimmer mutated by distortion? And actually strong enough to cause you problems?"

"I can't think of any other explanation," Igneous said, stuffing in one last forkful of salad. He set his fork down. "Same tone of voice. Same smugness. But not actively making things worse."

"But he's gonna be a problem," Valkyrie huffed, slouching against the table. "Gonna have to tell Sakaki, aren't I?"

"Maybe we can take Scarlett next time and have her sing Shimmer a lullaby?" Nikki mused, scarfing down a couple of chili fries. "Those, uh, Starlene powers of yours could get through even that dumbass' thick skull."

"Right." Scarlett's wings drooped.

"Aw, c'mon." Nikki's mohawk dimmed. "That wasn't an insult, it was a genuine suggestion." She put her hands on the table, tapping them rhythmically. "Your singing did stuff back when people were fighting that giant centiskorch robot, didn't it?"

"It did." Scarlett wriggled nervously.

"Nikki, I think you should drop it," Noctum said, before realizing what he blurted out and smacking his hand over his snout. "R-Respectfully. She looks uncomfortable."

Awkward silence. Scarlett slurped up the last pasta from her bowl. "It's fine." She took a heavy breath. "I was... thinking about that. A lot. At the safe house."

Igneous sat up straight. "Because..."

"Because the idea of controlling people with my singing feels... terrible." The dragonair shivered. "I know I, like, invigorated you guys, but—"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Igneous assured her. He was going to put his right hand on her back but noticed Nikki and Kyoko staring at him and put his hand back down.

"No. I... I want to help." Scarlett sat up straight. "I helped make things worse for Radiance, so I should at least try and fix this mess." The dragonair looked at the others. "So, like I said, I was doing some thinking back at the safe house and... I think I came up with something. A way to 'reboot' Starlene."

"Reboot?" Noctum raised a brow. He didn't think Scarlett had a machine inside her.

"I'm sure there's a better word for it," Scarlett said, laughing nervously. "Anyway, uh, we workshopped it while you guys were... joyriding." She tucked her head down. Her horn and neck bauble glowed. Blue and red light trailed out of them...

"Huh?" Noctum sat up straight. "Th-that's... wait." He blinked a few times. "Saint Latias?"

But she had a headset around her head, mechanical wings, and a blue music note on her chest where Noctum was sure a triangle should have been.

Starlene%20ref


"Hi, guys." Latias waved, then flourished with a little twirl. "What do you think?"

Silence.

"Wow." Latias frowned. "Not all at once."

"Robo-wings, huh?" Valkyrie sipped some water from her glass.

"I think it's great!" Igneous said. The grovlazzle used a bit too much enthusiasm by Noctum's standards. "She's got parts of your, uh, look in her." He twirled a claw around the side of his head.

"Aww, thanks!" Latias chirped. "That was Scarlett's idea."

"So, we still calling you Starlene, then?" Nikki wondered.

Latias nodded. "That's the plan, Jan."

"Nikki."

"Right!" Starlene shot the toxtricity fingerguns. "I was rhyming."

They locked eyes until Nikki tilted her head slightly. "She reminds me... of when we used to perform together."

Noctum's gaze darted between Nikki, Scarlett, and Starlene. Maybe this was... the start of them patching things up for real?

Any further developments would have to wait, however. A familiar blue rift opened in front of the table. A screeching Gilbert flung right past them, crashing into a table behind them filled with other space pirates.

"Oof! Easy, Boss Kitty!"

Cyril came next, plopped down at the head of the table seconds before Gene stepped out. "All right. Anyone still eating needs to box their food up and take it to go," the shadowy mewtwo declared, clapping his hands together. "We've got a situation."

Everyone sat up in unison. "Go... where?" Noctum asked.

"To..." Gene's voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet. "No, wait. Rewind." He twirled his left hand around. "Anyone still eating needs to grab their plates and follow me down to Cyril's workshop. Team meeting. I'll go... grab the group chilling with the monks."

"Can you at least tell us what this is about?" Nikki said, scooping up her remaining chili fries as she got to her feet.

Gene threw open a different rift and stepped toward it.

"I found another Red Chain fragment."

XxX​

Yuna lay draped over a handle of one of Cyril's open toolboxes, staring intently at the brown, crusty rocks in Gene's right hand. The drakloak squinted. "That's supposed to be a Red Chain fragment?"

"Yep." Gene's yellow-tipped tail lazily swished back and forth.

"How did you even find it?" Yuna wondered, shifting a bit on the handle so she didn't fall off onto the grated floor.

"Well, I was giving Gilbert a little talking to... and I saw this strange flicker of red light out of the corner of my eye." The shadowy mewtwo waved behind him with his left arm. "It was coming from... a closet I put Nova's stuff in."

"Oh." Yuna looked down at the gears and pistons moving under the floor. That brief hesitation in Gene's voice... he still wasn't over Nova, was he? Or did bringing up Xeromus renew the pain of losing him?

"So, you opened up the closet... and found a rock?" Widget sat behind Gene. The cosmic silvally leaned over and sniffed the rock. "Ew." He pulled his head back. "Smells like mildew on top of mildew on top of mildew."

"Thanks, bud. Real helpful," Gene deadpanned. "Point is, we can prove it's the real thing, can't we?" He pivoted left. Jaeger was propped against the wall opposite Gene, holding the handles of Sigurd's wheelchair.

"We can." Sigurd moved the chair forward while Jaeger let go. "I suspect, if that's really a fragment, it reacted to mine. After I removed it from its capsule."

"Seriously?" Jade stuck her head up from the corner of the room. "What would that dinky little capsule have to do with it?"

"The capsule is meant to block the energy the Red Chain emits," Sigurd explained. "Stop it from reacting to its surroundings. Jaeger, if you would?"

"Right." The lycanroc mutt stepped up to the back of Sigurd's chair and pressed the top of the capsule. A hiss followed, then Jaeger held up the glowing red fragment.

Again, Yuna tensed. She took deep breaths, trying to keep the shadows at bay. Stop them from pushing against her ectoplasm and trying to escape.

"Ah! Gene's rock!" Jade's feathers bristled. "It twinkled!"

By the time Yuna steadied herself, Jaeger had already stuffed the fragment back inside the capsule.

"Seriously?" Nikki crouched down, eyeing the back of Sigurd's chair skeptically. "One little red flash and you're convinced?"

Jaeger nodded. "'s good enough for me, mate."

Sigurd moved the chair closer to Gene's outstretched hand. "I suspect... that fragment is fossilized. Hard to tell the age based on its appearance, of course. But it is a fossil that has stayed pristine through the ages."

The toxtricity rolled her eyes. "Great. Another nerd."

"Sorry. My family has a thing for rocks," Sigurd said.

Leo hopped off Yuna's head and floated in the air, eyeing the rock. "If what's inside's important, then shouldn't we break it? Fighting trumps rock, right? I can break it!"

"Leo, wait!"

Yuna couldn't get off the toolbox handle fast enough to stop Leo from... buffing up.

"Whoa, there, kiddo!" Gene held his hand up and Phantom Warped on top of Cyril's workbench, knocking over a few schematics. "It ain't as simple as breaking it."

The cosmic zoroark dropped to his knees to gather the scattered papers on the floor. "Oh, sure, yeah, just walk all over my workbench. When was the last time you showered, by the way?"

Gene hovered a few centimeters into the air, whistling innocently.

"Pffffffft." Nikki held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Um, did Leo learn Bulk Up?" Noctum tittered, glancing between the cosmic arceus and his own, pencil-thin arms.

"Tch. It ain't about muscle size. It's about using what you have." Valkyrie threw an arm over Noctum and squeezed his shoulder. "Ain't that right, dork?"

"Ow! Wing joints!" Noctum's tail flame flickered erratically.

Leo returned to normal in an orange flash. "Then how do we free the chain fragment?"

"Well, last I recall, fossilized pokémon can be restored with machines." Gene glanced at Sigurd, in particular. "Earth's chock full of them."

"Those are for once-living creatures," Sigurd pointed out. "You can't expect the same technology to work. No, I imagine you need another way."

Gene tossed the fossilized fragment to himself. "Consider the floor open for ideas, then."

Silence followed. Yuna didn't know the first thing about fossils, and judging by the blank expressions on everyone else's faces, they didn't, either.

"Why not find, like, a pickaxe to chip away at the fossil until you find the good stuff?" Nikki tapped her right index finger against her left fist repeatedly.

"Brute force it, eh?" Gene held the rock up to eye level, closing his right eye and twisting it around. "Dunno. Kinda feels like this'd be the fossil equivalent of heart surgery. One wrong cut and..." He dragged his left thumb across his throat.

"Seriously?" Nikki flicked her right hand dismissively. "If a pickaxe could tear through it that easily, how are there even fragments around in the first place? Why didn't it just, y'know, turn to dust or something?"

"Red Chains are quite powerful," Jaeger said, scratching the tip of his nose. "When their power is active, they do not crumble so easily. It takes someone with a mastery of space or time to unmake the Chain. Whatever happened to it... was not that. So, it broke into functioning fragments instead."

He pointed his right index digit at the fossilized fragment. "But that one's gone inert. Can't do anything with it. And that also makes it... frailer than it should be. Unless you can find a way to recharge it, then it's useless."

"And if it does break?" Yiazmat asked.

"The rest of the Chain crumbles to dust," Jaeger responded, expression grim. "Leaving us up a creek with no paddle."

"Great! We're walking on damn eggshells, then!" The toxtricity threw her arms up. "No brute force means I'm out of ideas."

"Space-time relic. It's a space-time relic."

Muttering, Cyril finished gathering his papers and stood up, placing them under an empty coffee cup that read "I went to Cyril's Café and all I got was this lousy mug."

"That's right." Leo wagged his starcloud tail. "Do you have a space-time lockpick?"

"No." Cyril scratched the back of his head. "But we could try putting it in a particle accelerator."

Yuna blinked. She rubbed her rectangular head. "Um, what's that?"

"Does what it says on the tin," Cyril elaborated. He twirled a lock of his starry mane. "The empire has a super collider on Kalidron IV. You hear about it so often it's practically a tourist attraction."

"Kalidron IV," Cid mumbled, hovering by the door to Cyril's workshop. Yuna glanced at the orbeetle as he shut his eyes in thought.

"That could do it." Jaeger snapped his claws and pointed at Cyril. "Or it could cause a chain reaction with the fragment and blow open a big hole in the fabric of this dimension."

Everyone's head whipped in Jaeger's direction.

"That's, um, a joke, right?" Yuna squeaked.

"Only if it's false." Jaeger shrugged. "No idea, shiela."

Multiple people belted out a "Seriously?!"

Valkyrie stuck her right claw out at Jaeger. "Didn't you call it inert and fragile? You walking that back on us?"

"If I may interject?" Sigurd said. "I believe the fragment is inert. It should be safe to try the super collider on it."

"You believe it's inert?" Yiazmat flew toward Sigurd's chair. "With all due respect, sir, I would like a little more than belief if we're to attempt something that sounds dangerous."

"Very well." Sigurd's breathing tube hissed loudly. "Perhaps Leo can test it for us, then."

The cosmic arceus tilted his head. "Me?"

"Yes. See if you sense any energy from Gene's fragment."

"Okay." Leo eyed the rock in Gene's hand. He squinted. Then his mouthless face scrunched up a bit and his starcloud hair dimmed. "Nope! I only sense rock!" Leo chirped, then looked at Yuna. "Is that a bad thing?"

Yuna shrugged. She figured it proved Sigurd's point.

"It's really outta cosmic juice, then?" Gene tapped the rock with his left index finger.

"Yep." Jaeger rested his paws behind his head. "So, like I said before, needs a spark. Betcha a recharge will unrockify it lickety split."

Yiazmat fidgeted nervously. "And this super collider device could give it that spark?"

"Correct." Jaeger paused. "No quips this time, mates. 's my honest assessment."

"Glad that's settled." Gene tossed the fossil to himself. "Then I'll pop over to Kalidron IV and be back in a jiffy."

He snapped his fingers and a rift opened behind him. "Meeting adjourned, I suppose. Go team."

Yuna sighed in relief, ready to get out of the crowded workshop, when Cid's eyes opened and his spots lit up.

"No, Gene, wait!"

But the orbeetle wasn't fast enough. Gene's rift swallowed the shadowy mewtwo up and Cid stopped in the open air where Gene previously stood.

"What's wrong?" Seifer raised a brow.

"I thought the name Kalidron sounded familiar. Because I heard about it on the news here!" Cid turned to Cyril. "Do you have an EV in here?"

"Yeeeeaaah." The cosmic zoroark pressed a button underneath his workbench. The wall behind Cid parted to reveal several different monitors. Cyril grabbed a remote from the top drawer of his workbench and pointed it at the largest monitor in his collection. It switched on to show the Eterna empire's sigil while music blared from an unseen speaker.

"And now... a message from your emperor!"

"Cripes!" Nikki squeezed her hands against the sides of her head, mohawk frazzling. "Turn that **** down!"

Cyril mashed a button on the remote and the backing music quieted to a reasonable volume as the shot shifted from the empire's emblem to footage of... scattered fragments of rock, twisted metal, and all manner of scattered debris surrounded by a starry sky that brought Eternatus' insides to mind.

"My people, I come bearing unfortunate news," Paradox said while the shot panned around to show more debris.

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. Some of the debris looked... distinctly like parts of big, metal buildings. She watched horror spread over Cid's face.

"Kalidron IV, home of the famed Eterna Super Collider, has been destroyed."

Several of Yuna's teammates shouted "What?!" in unison. Valkyrie stepped toward Cid, arms crossed.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" the garchomp growled.

"I was trying to remember!" Cid raised his hands innocently. "But the news was about a rift, not a destroyed planet!"

"I know. I am as heartbroken as the rest of you."

The feed shifted to Paradox in his office, placing his hand on his chest and shaking his head. "News outlets had reported a giant rift appearing around the planet and we have just learned that the rebel, Gene, manipulated a rift's energy to overload the super collider, blowing the planet to smithereens!"

As the deoxys spoke, a hologram of a planet appeared next to him. Distorted red and purple cracks wove their way through the hologram until it broke apart into tiny bits of orange light.

"Oh, great." Cyril rolled his eyes. "Just what we needed. Paradox pinning another one of his screw-ups on us."

A blue rift opened behind the cosmic zoroark. "CYRIL, WE'VE GOT A—"

Gene popped out of the rift, only for Cyril to grab his head and jerk it in the direction of the EV screen.

"But rest assured." Paradox clasped his tentacles together and holograms of spaceships appeared all around him. "Thanks to your beloved grand emperor, the people of Kalidron IV were safely evacuated with minimal issues."

Gene blinked slowly. "Ah. I see you're on top of it already." He stepped out of the rift, which shut behind him.

"Yep."

"Is Paradox blaming me for it?"

"Yeeeeep."

"In light of the rebel's alarming attack on our Benefactor," Paradox continued, holographic stacks of paper money appearing beside him, "I would like to inform you all the bounty for his capture or annihilation is being raised to one squijillion eternabucks!"

"Psst. Mom." Leo blipped onto Yuna's head. "How much is a squijillion?"

"Uhh... a lot?"

"I don't even think that's a real number," Reshiram mumbled.

"Shut it off!" Gene growled, to which Cyril obliged. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "Great. Wonderful. So, no collider and I can't go poking around the planet's ruins."

Seifer groaned. "You expect some of us to go there, don't you?"

"Well, it can't be me." Gene rested his hands behind his head and glanced at Nikki. "Yep, the coach is benching himself this time. You want the rock? It's all yours."

Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Why should any of us go out there? You saw it for yourself. There's nothing to salvage!"

"'cept the crystals, shiela."

The toxtricity whirled on Jaeger. "What crystals?"

"You didn't see 'em? The supercharged lustrous ore." The lycanroc scratched his chin. "S'pose I should't've expected you to know what that'd look like."

Yuna frowned. Why did lustrous ore sound familiar?

"The monks!" Reshiram blurted out. "Brother Kora said Chakran is chalk full of lustrous ore." He paused. "Or maybe it was Alder."

Who told them hardly mattered. "The monks mentioned that stuff, I think? Something about dimensionality," Yuna said.

"That so?" Jaeger's snout twitched. "Yeah. I s'pose that dusty mountain—"

"Mesa," Nikki cut in, earning several frowns. "What? You guys did it to me!" she huffed.

Jaeger shrugged. "Then I s'pose that dusty mesa did have a... lustrousy scent about it."

"Oh, so you can smell lustrous ore but you can't sense sticks?" Jade leaned in Jaeger's direction. "Talk about getting short changed as a dog."

"Guys, focus!" Seifer stamped a forehoof down. "What's so important about lustrous ore in the planet's remains?"

Jaeger crossed his arms in thought. "Well, I can't say for certain... but if that deoxys was telling the truth, then the glowing crystals I saw are solidified fragments of the giant rift that overheated the collider."

Nikki tugged at her jacket. "Grrr. Quit the fancy science talk and spell it out in a way we can understand! What does that mean for us?"

Cyril's mane dimmed, then brightened. "I think I get it," he whispered. "You're telling us the lustrous ore could take us to whatever's on the other side of the rift that used to be there."

Jaeger grinned. "Exactly."

Yuna's teammates muttered to one another. Asking what good would that possibly do for the team. And the drakloak agreed with them.

Or, at least, she wanted to. But Leo was listening intently to all of this. And if everyone was describing the planet-destroying rift as a giant one, then...

"It wasn't just a rift," Yuna whispered, folding her hands over her Soul Dew. "It was an anomaly. An anomaly screwed up the collider and destroyed the planet. And now it's all... chopped up inside that lustrous ore. If we don't seal it like we did with the other one, all that ore could cause a huge problem."
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, I actually had the draft version of this review written up the day after its release… and promptly forgot to ever post it. So I figured that remedying that would be as good a way as any for sending off the evening. So let's just jump right in to..

Chapter 64

I got a new assignment. The last one of my "internship," assuming all goes well.

Oh, so this is from Jaeger's perspective huh? Well that's certainly a new one.

They want to set up a small outpost in POV-2020. Multiple Overseers have been studying that dimension because there's something off with it and no one has a straight answer. So, they want to take a closer look because, apparently, they sense a lack of divinity. A void where one or multiple gods should be.

I suppose that would explain a thing or two about how how everyone was just draws blanks when the mention of Arceus and the Timespace Trio comes up in Etherium.

I'll admit, them describing it like that gave me pause. I'm so far removed from it, but that part of my old life still burns bright in my mind. One of the Diyems said that's natural, since it was so formative to who I am now.

Whelp, BLC-2019 and BLC-2020 are confirmed to exist in PoV's omniverse, I guess. Since I certainly recognize that name there.

... I'm sure there's a smarter way to phrase that.

But then the same Diyem told me the assignment sounds rather fishy. Or maybe it was one of the other ones? Stars, I can't keep track of them.

... Wait, is there also a Diyem in Dodra- oh huh, there is apparently. I'm guessing this is a crossover with that one since I didn't remember this from BLC2.

Anyway, I asked him what he meant. Moving boxes and doing cosmic construction work sounds fine to me.

He looked me dead in the eye and told me my home was POV-2017. That it should be close to POV-2020, and it's not. That, even by Ginnungagap standards, POV-2020 moves around enough that it's hard for the Overworld to track it.

So... GL's universe, huh? Since the release year matches up, as does the "it should be close to POV-2020" bit. Though now I'm starting to suspect that Jaeger really is Midnight after being given a rez somehow.

I told him he's just being his usual negative self. I've been doing well. I deserve to reach the next part of my "cosmic community service."

Yeah, Jaeger is totally GL!Midnight. So he did get a happy ending... of sorts.

"... and while no one can say for certain what brought about Prince Shimmer's surprise makeover, Blitzer, few Venishians are complaining. His Grace handled the supply distribution from the convoy in an efficient, organized manner. A far cry from his outburst during Parliament's closed session that raised more than a few eyebrows."

Wow, Shimmer not being a useless load for once. Hell must be freezing over.

The television feed panned from a suit wearing beartic to the midnight lycanroc sitting opposite him, paws clasped together under his chin.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about why he looks so different?" Lycanroc asked. "Do you suppose distortion mutated him?"

"I can't speak for others on the matter, Blitzer," Beartic said, shaking his head. "What I can tell you is that Venish needs supplies. Parliament is too busy debating how much we actually need due to people fleeing the city."

Cute visual pun expy there. Even if it'd likely work a bit better with the German localization name.

"Fleeing the city, or getting pulled into rifts?" Blitzer interjected. "Do I need to pull up some of the footage sent into our studio by viewers?"

Oh, well that's a great sign for how things are going in Venish right now.
:copyber:


"PV off!" Justine called, pacing across velvety carpet and stopping to glance at the screen. It abruptly shut off and a green light on the corner of the machine turned red. The virizion stopped pacing, turning her attention toward a pink dressing screen decorated with lace, violet flowers... and the silhouette behind it.

Ominous tune is ominous. And I suppose that's a reminder for me to play DR Chapter 2 at some point.

"Did you hear that drivel?" Justine stomped her forehoof down on the carpet. "Shimmer 'efficient and organized?' Is this PNN's idea of a joke?"

Oh boy, so Justine had harsher feelings about Shimmer than that eavesdropping video indicated. Guess we really are going full AAI2 for his family dynamics.

Silence from the dressing screen. "I know you can hear me, Izzy." Justine puffed her cheeks out. "Did you order supplies for Venish without Parliament's approval? And entrust the delivery to Shimmer?"

That got a sigh from behind the dresser screen. The silhouette moved to the left side of the screen. Isola poked her head out, horn glowing pink as she ran a pink brush through her pink mane.

"It's nothing to lose your head over." Isola chuckled. "I see this as a good thing. You always said I coddled him too much and that he couldn't do anything for himself. Sounds to me like he's finally learning to take some initiative."

Justine:
Image


It didn't sit right with the virizion. "But what about the transformation? Doesn't that concern you?"

"Not really."

Quality™️ parenting there, really.

Justine froze, then turned toward Isola. "Did you finally fess up about the eviolitis thing?"

Isola shook her head. "No. But from the sound of things, he ran off into a distortion bubble and popped out looking a little different." She ducked back behind the dressing screen. "Maybe he did it to try and drum up sympathy after that ghoulish stunt in Parliament. I wouldn't put it past him."

Suddenly, it's a lot less of a mystery as to why Shimmer has such a complex about him. Since I can't imagine that Shimmer didn't pick up on some of this subconsciously as a Psychic-type.

Justine eased a bit, acknowledging her wife had a point. If anyone was vain enough to try and win fake sympathy points, it was Shimmer. Perhaps he hadn't changed that much after all. "Maybe I overreacted." Her shoulders sagged slightly. "It's just... with everything going on lately, to have him run away only to show up out of the blue looking and acting like an entirely different person..." Justine's voice trailed off. "I'm an inquisitor, you can't expect me not to be suspicious."

As you should be, since prior to things going sideways in Venish, it didn't exactly sound like mutation from Distortion exposure was a common phenomenon in Etherium.

"I totally understand."

The fairy rapidash finally emerged from behind the dressing sheet, garbed in a thin silk gown that loosely fit her torso. Despite her casual attire, she still wore her armored breastplate. It was smaller than during her public appearances. Justine was used to the sight and knew full well Isola's magic could change its size. Every time she asked why Isola kept it on all the time, she was met with little giggles or nuzzles in that one spot in the crook of her neck that made the virizion crumple like tissue paper.

That's... not just a passing detail there, is it? Especially with the way that Isola flatly refuses to give a straight answer as to why she's always got it on.

"Truthfully, I find it a bit surprising," Isola continued, slowly strutting past Justine while gazing at her reflection in a floor-to-ceiling mirror. "But I'm not going to complain. If he wants to... assert himself and become a thorn in World Ender's side, then let him. Best case scenario, he proves himself capable of things we didn't think possible."

Image


Justine looked down. "And worst case... we lose our only son."

Isola:
Image


A little tingle tickled Justine's nose. ESP tilted her head up so she was looking at Isola. "Worst case... the people rally around the loss and their grieving queen to drive out World Ender's forces."

Wow, Isola. I was joking about that there.
:copyka:


Justine stiffened. That sounded like something she would have said before Shimmer decided to run away. Talk about role reversals. "You're awfully calm about that possibility."

"That's because I consider it an impossibility," Isola said. She was at Justine's side now, brushing her flank against the virizion's.

Justine: "I'm... not sure if I follow, Izzy. This is Shimmer we're talking about here. You know, sheltered kid with a chronic health condition? How on earth isn't that a recipe for disaster for him?"
:eltywtf:


"What, ahh, do you mean by that?" Justine tried to suppress a shudder. She loved the rapidash's touch a bit too much.

"It's a secret," Isola replied, giggling.

Justine squinted. "A secret you can't tell your wife?"

Boy is that ominous there. Just how many skeletons are there in the closet of the Radiant Crown anyways?

A proper laugh this time. Isola pivoted, resting her head on Justine's back. "Ooh, dear, Madame High Inquisitor, you've got me backed in a corner. All right, I'll confess!" The rapidash lifted her head to show off her breast plate... and the red, eye-like gem in the middle. "My family heirloom, the Radiant Shield? It's more than just a crest. It has a special bit of power in it."

So what's it do? Have the power to rez others or something? Since Isola sure felt very unconcerned about the possibility of Shimmer dying out there.

... Also, that's part of the Red Chain, isn't it?

Isola touched the gem to Justine's right thigh. An enthralling tingle made Justine's fur stand on end. Her holowear gem grew a bit warm against her right foreleg and, after a second, she realized her latex suit and fishnets were torn. The fabrics woven by the holowear's magic lay in ribbons on the floor.

Justine: "... Okay, note to self, look and don't touch with the freaky magical breastplate."
:wtfuckle:

Isola: "That would be wise, really."

The virizion's brows raised. Had the shield... short circuited her holowear?

Without thinking, Justine found herself whispering, "Go on."

With a smile, Isola's horn glowed the same color as the Shield. Another shiver ran down Justine's spine and the rest of her holowear drifted down onto the velvety carpet. Isola stepped beside her. "World Ender's troops can do whatever they want. As long as I have this power—" She paused, her face hovering centimeters from Justine's snout. "No, as long as we have this power, they can't touch us. And the kingdom will stand."

... Which is precisely why it's going to be stolen from you within a matter of a couple chapters, tops. Possibly even this chapter given that it's a story outlier length-wise at almost 6000 words long.

Justine thought she had a question, but Isola cut it off with a kiss. That same tingle — no, more like an electric shock — ran down to Justine's tail. Her jaw slackened somewhat and she clumsily stepped back.

"Sounds... good," she mumbled.

"I'm glad." Isola strutted past the virizion. "Now, come along."

Isola: "And now do you understand why I'm always wearing this thing?"
Justine: "Very much so, yes. (Boy I hope that our predecessors kept tight-lipped about what that thing does.)"
:ohnowen:


Justine slowly blinked. "To where?"

"I feel so filthy after that little chat." The rapidash was already halfway toward a glass door on the far side of the room. "I'm drawing up a bath. You should join me."

Justine: "... You do realize that this would be more enjoyable if you didn't just out that you're apparently sitting on some freaky power that can single-handed hold World Ender at bay." .-.
Isola: "So, is that a 'yes', or...?"
:gardeshrug~1:


Justine was walking after Isola before she even finished her last sentence.

Isola: "I thought so, really." ^^

Shimmer slowly meandered along the side of the freight train's caboose, despite burning muscle aches squeezing his legs. His hooves conjured tiny ice blocks to walk on so he didn't have to sully them in the railyard's dirt. The dusty air on the ride over had been bad enough, but then the air at Venish's rail station turned horrendously muggy as people packed inside in droves to get supplies from his convoy.

Well, I see that some things about Shimmer haven't changed much given that he's still as big of a priss as before his transformation.

Although he'd finished distributing the supplies and now awaited Demerzel's arrival, Shimmer couldn't stop thinking about the last couple of hours. He destroyed a giant World Ender robot! It was all him! He finally had some real firepower to throw his weight behind. The ponyta didn't have to fear World Ender's troops. He could trap them in a snowstorm at the drop of a hat!

This is all going to go to his head and come with a horrible catch, I can already tell.

... And the actual supply delivery. The supply delivery.

Shimmer had earned praise for most of his life — a lot of it likely unearned, in hindsight — but this was different. The Venishians were genuinely glad to see him. Their gratitude was real. He wasn't getting talked up because of a photo shoot or something. No, he actually did good by his people. He stepped in when Parliament wouldn't!

Yup, this is totally going to Shimmer's head. Though I suppose it's nice to see him not being an elitist prick for once even if I'm not convinced that his motives are totally pure here.

That had to count for something. It had to mean his mothers were wrong. That he could take initiative. That he did deserve the throne.

... It had to mean he could rescue Robin and Xander.

Yeah, I knew that there was going to be a catch to all of this, since it's just not like Shimmer to be selfless based off the last time we saw how his mind ticked.

Putting aside the discomfort of dirtying his fur, Shimmer sat down on the dirt behind the caboose's rear wheel. Groaning, he stretched out his neck, then his forelegs. This was an ache he'd never felt before. Not even after some of his more... vigorous extracurriculars with Xander.

I can already tell that the students in the neighboring dorm rooms had trouble sleeping that night.
:copyber:


Was this that post-workout high that dopey bewear PE teacher always spoke of back at school when he tried to get Shimmer to do more than a light trot? It wasn't too bad.

Or perhaps there were less lewd explanations for this as well. Even if I wonder what sport those extracurriculars were in that case.

Not too bad at all. Shimmer flipped his icy mane over his shoulder, sighing. He could get used to this. Being a 'mon of action and reaping the praises for hard work, instead of doing the bare minimum and expecting to get something out of it because it was his right as Crown Prince.

Well, it's progress at least? Since this is definitely a wee bit more sympathetic than Shimmer's thought process pre-transformation where he comes off as being very entitled in outlook.

The ponyta tensed a bit. Maybe Vegna was right to belittle him. Maybe if Shimmer had actually pressed the matter with the dusknoir instead of crying foul to his mothers, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself in the Crowne Court and Parliament. And maybe his friends and future husband would still be here.

Shimmer huffed out frost. Introspection time had gone on long enough. Where the hell was Demerzel? The overgrown vegetable was late. Shimmer needed a shower. And some decent food.

Wow, hell must really be freezing over if Shimmer's having moments of personal introspection. Can't tell if this is legitimate character growth or side effects from Dermezel's voodoo, maybe both.
:bulbuhhh:


He has crazy strong telepathy, right? The pontya tried to concentrate, which meant envisioning the bulbous-headed mutant.

"Hey! Where are you? I can't stay in the railyard forever!"

Probably not the smartest tone to take towards the guy that gave you your mutant powers, buuuut...

Several seconds of silence passed. Shimmer stomped his forehoof down, huffing in annoyance. He was pretty sure he did the telepathy thing right. Why wasn't Demerzel answering?

Before Shimmer could try again, though, his tails crinkled. He sensed something. A presence— no, two presences. Not too far, but somewhat... blunted?

Shimmer: "... Dermezel? Is that you? Who's the friend of yours that I'm sensing?"

The ponyta never was good at describing auras. But whatever they were, they came from the front of the train. Shimmer got up and crept forward. He tried to concentrate, raising his ears and holding his breath. He focused on his psychic powers again, knowing full well that if whoever was on the other side had decent enough ESP of their own, they'd sense him in a heartbeat.

"... gambler needs to know when the time has come to cash in."

Oh, hello, Fraud.

The voice was a bit muffled, but Shimmer thought it familiar. Yet the ponyta couldn't quite put his hoof on who it was.

"And, in His Excellency's opinion, you've worn out your welcome at the table. Played a few too many hands."

Oh, so Fraud is the bearer of bad news for Dermezel's steed from last chapter, huh?

Shimmer kept pressing forward, his footsteps slow and methodical. He couldn't afford to make noise. This voice was familiar, but not one he'd heard recently. It sounded too old and deep to be a classmate. An academy teacher, maybe?

"You're pushing your luck and you are one small step away from losing the rest of your pot."

Shimmer: "... (Wait a minute, wasn't this voice at one of mom's meetings with her ministers? Since I swear I heard it at one...)"

... No. The voice had too much of a sense of authority to it. And it definitely wasn't Vortex. Could it have been someone in the government, then? Maybe an MP or an administrator?

Oh, so Shimmer is realizing that for real in the story, huh? Whelp, time to see where this goes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I think I liked you better when you were spewing unfunny, recycled stand up material instead of speaking in card game metaphors."

Shimmer froze mid-step. He certainly recognized Demerzel's voice. But that second sentence...

Minister Charles?

Aaaaaand there it is. Though I get the feeling that Shimmer's going to wind up hearing quite a few things that he's not supposed to here.

The Mr. Rime had gone missing weeks ago, leaving the Radiant Guard completely stumped. Yet it sounded like Demerzel was talking with him right now!

The ponyta decided he'd walked far enough. He pressed himself up against the side of the train, flinching from all the dust and gravel that stuck to his pelt.

Shimmer: "(Oh of all the times to not have a GemCom with a recording function. Since I'm getting the feeling that I probably shouldn't be here.)" ._.;

"I made it clear last time, didn't I?" Charles scoffed. "Thanks to your unwillingness to help us, your beloved Glastrier now belongs to the Grim Reaper."

Shimmer's brow furrowed. The Reaper? As in Vegna?

Oh, so Vegna really is an operative from the QN. Possibly. I suppose I should've put two and two together sooner from what became of Shimmer's uncle, but still.

Wait. The dusknoir had fought an armored knight riding an icy steed back in Venish. And when it was over, the steed was gone. Did Vegna kill them? And were they someone close to Demerzel?

What the hell was going on?!

Just a little spot of blackmail, Shimmer. Nothing to see here.

"And I made it clear last time that I am helping," Demerzel hissed. Shimmer thought he sensed a spike in psychic energy from the front of the train, but remained rooted to the spot. "This isn't something I can brute force. This is a fight won by the long knife that twists slowly. I've endeared myself to Radiance's royals. I'm giving you disgusting oafs the time you need to break the seals."

Wait, so is Dermezel literally the Kuja of this story where he's just in it to see the world and some connected one burn and rule over the ashes? Since he definitely is vibing the part as a third party that's being roped along to going along with this that doesn't have real loyalty outside the fate of his horse.

"You call destroying His Excellency's troops helping?" Charles' voice brimmed with amusement. "Quite the side pot you're offering up there."

"It helps keep everyone's attention focused within Radiance," Demerzel countered. "Otherwise, they might decide to try and find a way inside your precious empire. And then you'd really have a problem, wouldn't you?"

Well, somebody's a smooth-talker there. Let's see how well that goes down with Fraud.

Shimmer exercised every bit of willpower he had not to lash out, but it was grueling. The way Demerzel spoke... made it sound like all the help he was giving Shimmer was nothing but some sort of elaborate ruse! Was his growing strength part of that ploy? Had he let himself get duped into thinking he was finally making a difference, only to be made a fool of behind his back again?

Narrator:

Image


He couldn't stand for that. He wouldn't stand for that!

... But the ponyta refused to expose himself. He'd stay quiet. Get whatever extra leverage he could.

Keep talking, you cads.

inb4 the two of them are already aware of Shimmer's presence.

"His Excellency doesn't see it that way." Cassius was still amused. "I'm simply here to tell you that your stunt earlier today cost your remaining spouse her rations for the foreseeable future."

Oh, so Glastrier is dead dead, then, huh?

Shimmer tensed to avoid gasping and giving himself away. There it was. The piece tying things together. Charles — now under World Ender's employ, from the sound of it — was blackmailing Demerzel.

They had his wife. Just like they had Shimmer's future husband.

Shimmer: "(Wait a minute! This can work! If I talk Dermezel into helping me and not getting wrecked for High Treason, we can totally rescue Xander and whatever his wife is here!)"

"Geryon!" Demerzel audibly strained. "You're starving her? Do you brutes have no morals?!"

Fraud: "We're more of a results-driven empire, really."
:gardeshrug~1:


"If you start cooperating, we will happily give her the food and water she so desperately needs," Charles said.

A heaviness gripped Shimmer's gut. What if he rushed to judgment? What if Demerzel wasn't using him... but helping him because of their shared circumstances?

No, he's still using you, Shimmer. And I'm not convinced that Dermezel's really as helpless to the QN as he's presenting himself right now.

"... what do you expect me to do?" Demerzel's voice cracked.

"His Excellency intends to deploy a new weapon to Tulpise to help build up the ranks of his Eternatus Troopers," Charles said. "You will advise the queen to deploy her army, but you will leave those plagiarized bugs behind so our Iron Moths can capture Radiance's soldiers to serve the empire."

Oh, so the Genesect are based off of designs sourced from the QN. I figured, but it's nice to have hard confirmation here.

"And if I'm successful... you will stop starving Geryon?"

"Feed her and heal the wounds that have persisted through her malnourishment," Charles replied. "I wouldn't take too long thinking about it, either. Last I checked, some of them looked infected. Who knows what could be eating away at her bloodstream?"

Yeah, if my hypothesis of Dermezel eventually turning the tables in terms of relative threat importance versus the QN winds up panning out, I can tell he's going to take special relish in dealing with Fraud here.

Silence followed. Shimmer again held his breath. Given the shift in Demerzel's tone, the ponyta expected him to acquiesce.

"... fine."

"We have a deal, then?"

"Yes."

Fraud: "A real deal? None of this malarkey where your end of the bargain winds up getting our Troopers mysteriously blown up?"
:unimpressed:


"Shall we shake on it like genteels?"

"Keep your filthy hands to yourself."

Charles chuckled. "Very well, then. I hope you truly choose to walk away and take your winnings... before there's nothing left for you to claim."

I mean, if Dermezel is indeed what the Word of God elsewhere says he's meant to be in this story... yeah, that's going to be a problem for you well before it is for him, Fraud.
:copyber:


A pulse of psychic energy followed. Shimmer pressed himself even tighter against the train, ready to spring into action if need be.

Instead, Demerzel sighed.

"You can stop hiding, Your Grace. He's gone now."

Yeah, I knew that Dermezel was aware of Shimmer the entire time. I just didn't buy him being able to get that past someone who was a strong Psychic by nature.

Shimmer winced. So, Demerzel knew the whole time. Did that mean Minister Charles did, too?

Narrator:
Image

Shimmer: "Oh well that's reassuring."
:uhhh:


Demerzel appeared beside him in a blip of pink light. Shimmer hopped back with a startled whiney, his tails reflexively puffing out.

"I did my best to try and mask your aura," Demerzel said, folding his hands behind his back. "Hopefully it was enough to keep that clod from realizing you were eavesdropping." He paused to glance at Shimmer. "You did eavesdrop, right?"

Shimmer: "I-Is this a trick question?"
:fearfullaugh~1:

Dermezel: "I'll just take that as a 'yes'."
:wigglypensive:


The ponyta nodded slowly.

"How much did you hear?"

"I, uh, think I came in at the part where Charles was telling you it was time to cash in?"

"You didn't miss too much, then." Demerzel's expression sayed unreadable, but he sounded... pleased?

Shimmer: "... (Dermezel can't tell if I'm lying in my responses, can he?)"
:ohnowen:


"Wait." Shimmer stepped toward his mutant advisor. "You wanted me to eavesdrop?"

"Why else would I stay here after the ex-minister accosted me?" Demerzel countered, chuckling and shaking his head. "I knew you were here, after all. If this was a conversation I wanted to remain private, I would've insisted we go somewhere else."

Oh, so Dermezel is attempting to knife the QN in the back and get out from his current arrangement.

Shimmer: "That's... a really good point, actually."

It sure sounded reasonable, yet Shimmer couldn't forget what he'd heard before. He looked down at the dirt. "This sounds like another trick," he muttered. "And I'm... not some tool for you to use!"

"Of course you aren't. But I needed that Eterna stooge to hear what he wanted to hear," Demerzel said, turning away from Shimmer. He floated up to the train, looking at a metal ladder that went up to the roof of the car. "Surely you've seen one of your mothers try something similar when dealing with Parliament, no?"

Yeah, I'm not convinced that Dermezel hasn't been manipulating both Fraud and Shimmer in live-time. Since that would be the most 'Kuja' imaginable thing on his part.

Shimmer bit his lip. Demerzel was right, but how could the ponyta be sure the reverse wasn't also true? What if Demerzel was lying to him, too?

He had to make his stand here. Figuratively.

Not convinced that this is going to end well, but...

"What are you hiding?" Shimmer squared up his stance. "If this partnership is going to work, it's high time you explained yourself." He took a deep breath. "What are your ties to World Ender? Is it blackmail... or something more?"

I swear, if this turns out to be another Terra and Gaia thing again...
:copyka:


Demerzel remained silent and unmoving... save for a pained grimace that wove its way across his face.

"Do you consider yourself more of a visual learner, Shimmer?"

Shimmer fanned his tails out. "Don't deflect."

"Yes or no."

Shimmer: "What, do you have a slide projector with you right now or something? How would 'visual learning' be relevant here in a trainyard?"
:eltyunamused:


"... tch." Mist swirled around Shimmer's hooves. "Visuals are... helpful. Why does it matter?"

"Because I think, in this case, it would be easier to show than tell."

>Spiderverse 2 music

Whelp, this answer's likely going to involve the multiverse. Guess we might just get a 'Terra and Gaia' thing after all.

Demerzel continued to stare at the train. Slowly, he reached up... and pulled his violet robes down ever so slightly, revealing a small brace around his neck. Demerzel touched the back of his neck and the brace came off with a sudden click. It dropped to the ground and Demerzel kicked it toward Shimmer with one of his long legs.

It rolled to a stop by his feet, allowing Shimmer to see a small plastic circle that had opened up to reveal a photo inside. He recognized Demerzel... and the icy steed he saw in Venish. The black and purple equine drew a total blank, however.

Shimmer: "... Are these those 'spouses' that Minister Charles was talking about?"

"My partners, Glastrier and Spectrier," Demerzel explained. "Taken from me by Eternatus' ruler. He has held their fates over my head to get me to aid him in his bid to free Eternatus from its seal within your world. I thought getting close to you and your family was the best way to do that... but the ruler went back on his word."

Hmm. Looks like we might be getting a more mundane explanation than I expected here. Even if I'm not convinced that this is the full story either.

"Because of Vegna?" Shimmer looked up at Demerzel.

"He didn't send Vegna to take Glastrier from me. Rather, he forced Glastrier to come to Venish," Demerzel said, slowly curling his nubby hands up. "I think, whether Glastrier succeeded in terrorizing the city or somehow met his end... didn't matter to the emperor."

Oh, so Glastrier is dead dead. Noted.

"But it certainly matters to you," Shimmer said. "Did you talk with Vegna about this at all?"

"No." Demerzel's expression sharpened. "I'm sure he could... bring Glastrier back. Or attempt to, at least."

That wasn't the response Shimmer expected. "Huh?" The ponyta tilted his head.

Ah yes, necromancy. I can see how that'd be handy for this application.

"Oh, were you not aware? He's a necromancer." Demerzel let out a bitter laugh. "He raises the spirits of the dead. It's the lesser-told part of the whole Grim Reaper schtick. That he kills the people he prosecutes to add to his army of the undead."

Okay, that sounded a bit familiar. "I just figured the tabloids were sensationalizing to make some fast cash."

Wait, just how many people has Vegna killed if he has an entire army of undead spirits?
:ohnowen:


"Even trash reporting can have a ripple of truth about it," Demerzel said.

Shimmer stepped toward him. "Then isn't that all the more reason to talk to him? I have plenty of reasons to hate the guy, but if he's not in league with World Ender, then wouldn't he be willing to cooperate and give you back your partner?"

"It's impossible," Demerzel cut in, expression growing more pained. He braced himself against the side of the train.

Well, nevermind that about Vegna being in league with the QN. Possibly. Maybe.

- Shimmer raises a brow -
Shimmer: "Oh, and why would that be?"

"Because..." Shimmer raised a brow. This was not the time for Demerzel to call off his show and tell.

Demerzel said nothing. Instead, he tightly gripped the side of the latter. His body lurched violently. Strange bars of static ran from his giant head to the ends of his long legs. Jagged, staticky spikes and squares jutted out in random directions, as if he'd suddenly turned into a glitching PV screen.

The static jumped from Demerzel to the latter, and then the rest of the train car. An assortment of differently-colored glitching cubes and spikes spread out. Shimmer backpedaled, panic spreading across his face, as the glitchy shapes slowly solidified into black and purple globs of distortion.

Oh, so we're doing that glitching thing from when things went south in Venish again, huh?

"... llar..."

Demerzel had somehow managed to pry himself off the train.

"Th... col... r..."

Shimmer: "(Oh god.) D-Dermezel?! Wh-What's going on! Just spit it out!"
:eltyscared:


Shimmer looked down at his feet. Demerzel's collar was glowing with pink energy. The ponyta levitated it into the air and slung it in Demerzel's direction. A wad of glitching squares grasped it... and all the static encasing Demerzel abruptly vanished. He dropped to the ground, shakily trying to strap the collar back on his neck.

Oh hey, that's definitely familiar from Spiderverse 2. I wonder if it has the same implications for what the story behind Dermezel is.

The train car hadn't returned to normal, however. It was still an irregular glob of distortion. Except now there were a few words scrawled across it.

The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.

Oh, so the train car is now a Mind Plate, huh? Or at least I think that's what just happened.

Just as soon as the sentence appeared, it vanished in pink mist. Mist that faded into Demerzel's collar, now secure on his neck once again. He pulled his robes back up to his it, still breathing heavily.

Or else, the Mind Plate is somehow stuck in Dermezel's collar. Since it went into it there.

"What was that?!" Shimmer's eyes darted between Demerzel and the wad of distortion. It wasn't growing... but it wasn't shrinking, either.

"The... proof... you wanted." Demerzel caught his breath, but didn't hover back into the air. "Vegna cannot revive Glastrier... because neither of us are meant to be. The same goes for Spectrier." He put his hand on his small, round body. "I suspect... Eternatus' ruler used Eterna energy to give them both stability. But Glastrier's stability is gone now... and this plate can only keep one soul stable."

Oh, so Vegna also is rocking the power of an Arceus plate, huh? I suppose that would explain a few things about how he seems to be a magnet for forbidden powers.

Shimmer didn't know where to even begin with that explanation. "'Neither of us are meant to be?' What kind of purple, flowery explanation is that?"

Demerzel slightly turned onto his right side. "I... am not a mutant. I'm a calyrex. A species born to rule. To lead." He took several heavy breaths. "But I am lost. In time and space. Simply because I wanted to be a good leader... and protect my home from a very real danger."

Not sure if I can trust this explanation or not, though it would explain the Spiderverse-style freakout after he popped his collar (har har). Since "not supposed to be in this universe and reality freaks out about it" is very much a thing in that film series.

Shimmer shuffled back slightly. If calyrex was a pokémon, it was one Shimmer never heard of before now. "Trying to protect your home... from what?"

"From the very same creature the Aeons worship! A wicked dragon of light!" Demerzel spat.

The ponyta stiffened. So, that's why he believes so strongly the Aeons' god exists?

Ah yes, so Bahamut's antics are going to come back and bite everyone in the ass in the end. Though I suppose we might just get a variation of that whole 'Terra and Gaia' shtick after all.
:copyber:


"He was a danger to my partners. To my friends. To my home. His presence was a beacon for wicked souls!" Demerzel smacked his left hand against the ground. "So, I worked hard to get myself elected leader of my home. And when I won the election... I took the steps I thought necessary to protect the people who were depending on me.

Wouldn't have expected a Calyrex to be elected. Though I can already tell that these 'steps' are going to go off into the deep end really, really fast.

"I called an even higher power than that infernal dragon! I told the group how dangerous he was. How he had already broken my universe once before! And when they actually showed up, I thought it was going to happen! I thought they would take him away and we would finally be safe!"

Demerzel looked at Shimmer and there was a frenzy in his eyes that he'd never seen before. "But you know what happened? Do you. Know. What. Happened?"

He smacked the ground again. "They acquiesced to him! He gave demands and they listened! My pleas fell on deaf ears!"

Yeah, I knew that Dermezel was going to be a loose cannon given what you've Word of God said he fills role-wise as a character. Though gunning for the Overseers, huh? Or at least I'm pretty sure that that's what Dermezel just implied that 'higher power' is.

A half-laugh, half-wheeze escaped Demerzel's lips. "So you know what I did?"

"Uhh..." Shimmer stepped back again. "You tried to leave?"

"I tried to take away his powers! His light!" Demerzel said. "But things hit a snag. My device triggered on one of his, y'know, great-great-great-great grandkids or some ridiculous drivel! But only because they interfered with it!

I suppose that would explain a thing or two about why Bahamut's so messed up in the present day. Even if I'm wondering when this specifically happened.
:copyber:


"The dragon should've just accepted his fate, but no! In a fit of rage, he... he somehow caused a chain reaction with my device that hit me and my partners!"

The calyrex rolled onto his back and stared up in the sky. "Next thing I knew, I woke up all alone in this world. A world where familiar names like Horizon, Aeon, and Radiance were thrown around in all the wrong ways. And I was in such... such excruciating pain."

... Wait a minute. Is Dermezel the author of the opening passage? Since that sure sounds like it from the way he's describing things.

He placed his hands on his neck. "But I soon found this plate. I don't know why it showed up. But it stopped the soul-tearing pain. It gave me... a sense of stability."

Yes, something that's the distilled power of a creator deity would do that, I suppose.

Demerzel slowly hovered back into the air. "It wasn't long before Eternatus' forces made contact with me, however. And told me they were holding my partners." He shook his head. "That cooperation was the only way to see them again. The only way to return home."

"And you believed them?"

"I wanted to." Demerzel didn't sound too proud of himself. "You have to understand... I had no idea where I was. How things worked around here." He turned away, folding his arms behind his back. "But, even though I tried to do what they asked, it eventually became clear that they did not intend to hold up their end of the deal. Fortunately, the work I had done showed me that there's... an alternative way forward. A path to get home."

inb4 it's:
:DEATH~1:


But I suppose I'll give Dermezel a chance to explain in his own words.

He looked at Shimmer. "A path to get you the kingdom you rightfully deserve."

Shimmer tilted his head. He already had a kingdom. Or he would, anyway, once it was his time to take the throne. "What's wrong with Radiance? It's my home."

"That it is." Demerzel bowed his head down. "But, if things continue as they are, you will never see the day you take the throne."

Oh, so this is going to be a "torch the planet and run" thing, huh?

"What?" The ponyta squinted. "Because of World Ender?"

"Because of your mother," Demerzel said.

Whaaaaaaaat?

"Excuse me?" He took a cautious step toward Demerzel. "What, did you hear Justine planning a coup or something?"

"Hardly. If I had to guess, she'll be on the chopping block soon enough, too."

WHAT.

Shimmer tensed. "This isn't funny." Was this calyrex implying someone or something intended to off him and his family?

"I wouldn't expect you to realize it." Demerzel shook his head, then pressed his right hand to his temple. "Perhaps Justine doesn't, either. But I sense it."

"Sense what?"

"That Isola and I are the same." Demerzel moved his right hand down to his torso. "Souls out of time and space." He paused. "Though I suspect that is deliberate on her part."

W. H. A. T.

Though I suppose that would explain a few things about why she never takes that breastplate off. Even if I wonder what Arceus plate is jammed inside of it.

Shimmer swallowed hard. He was finding it difficult to follow Demerzel's logic. "Can you elaborate?"

"Perhaps you never bothered looking, but Isola used to be a... very different person. Until her time at Horizon Academy ended."

She got placeswapped with a counterpart from elsewhere in the multiverse, didn't she?

"And?" Shimmer huffed out frost. "People grow up." His mothers certainly thought he needed to.

"No. We're talking sudden, drastic changes," Demerzel continued. "And it doesn't stop there." He shook his head. "There are bits and pieces of similar reports stretching back for generations. All of them hidden. Difficult to find unless you know where to look."

He turned away from Shimmer. "Besides, don't you find it strange that, throughout Radiance's history, there has never been a single king who sat upon the throne?"

Shimmer: "... I just figured that it was a 'tradition and misandry' thing, really."
:ohnowen:


Shimmer stared blankly. "What? That... can't be right."

"It's always been a queen. Married to another woman." Demerzel lifted both hands up and tapped them together. "They would sire one child. If the child turned out a boy... then he, at some point, would transition. The future king would become a future queen instead."

The calyrex looked over his shoulder. "Do you feel as though you're not the right gender?"

Shimmer: "Dermezel, you're kinda freaking me out-"
Dermezel: "Do you?"

"No." Shimmer flicked his mane over his shoulder. "I'm happy with who I am." He stepped forward once more. "So, again, where are you going with this?"

"Isola isn't Isola." Demerzel folded his arms behind his back again. "I don't know who she really is, but I know what she is: a body-snatcher. Someone who jumps from Radiant Queen to Radiant Queen. And, as the Crown Prince, you are her next victim."

Image


Well, that went places quickly. I can't tell whether or not this isn't Dermezel being manipulative again, but if this is even semi-true... yeah, those are some yuuuuge skeletons in the Radiant Crown's closet.

Shimmer shook his head. He almost stumbled and fell over in disbelief. "No. No, no, no." He laughed nervously. "That's... ridiculous. Something out of some schlocky PV miniseries."

"It's the truth."

Maybe, but it beggars the question of if it's the whole truth. Since if Dermezel and Isola are both alike entities and Isola's like that...

"So, what?" Shimmer's eyes darted around. He kept trying to tear them away from the distortion glob, but couldn't. "Why tell me any of this? How does this help you with your... whatever?"

"Because I need a new partner. Someone who, like me, has been wronged." Demerzel blipped over to Shimmer's side. "The shield your mother always wears?"

"It's been with the family since the Darkest Day," Shimmer whispered, thinking about the oversized breast plate and the red gem housed inside.

"That's what's giving Isola her power," Demerzel said, placing a hand on Shimmer's shoulder. He recoiled at first, but didn't move away. "I can sense something inside. A power similar to my plate. If we could take it from her..."

Yeah, Shimmer is getting played in live-time. I can't tell whether Dermezel was actually telling the truth about Isola, but he clearly has ulterior motives for that breastplate given that it apparently contains a power that can keep World Ender at bay.

"You want to steal my family heirloom?"

"No. I want you to have it," Demerzel insisted, hovering in front of Shimmer. "... eventually, at least. But if we can take it... then we can combine it with the plate that I have. It can send me home. And then you can use the power to rid Radiance of the body-snatcher and Eternatus in one fell swoop."

:absus:


Yeah, okay buddy. Why don't you promise a pony on top of things while you're at it?

He put his other hand on Shimmer's other shoulder. "You will be the king that Radiance truly deserves. The king you've always thought you could be."

Shimmer. He. Is. Using. You.

Shimmer looked into Demerzel's eyes, trying to tell if he was getting played. Yet it was hard to argue against the things he had just seen. "How would we even combine them?" the ponyta wondered.

"That's where Dr. Arianna comes in," Demerzel whispered. "She has all of Tesla's brains and none of the attitude. And given how she feels your mothers have wronged her and her life's work, I suspect that swaying her to our side will be the easiest part of this whole endeavor."

Well that's a name that I wasn't expecting to hear again. Guess we're not done with Vortex's friend circle after all.

He took his hands off Shimmer's shoulders and drifted back slightly. "I understand that this is... a lot to take in. But I am committed to this. You deserve a future. You deserve your birthright. Just as I deserve a chance to return home." The calyrex extended his right hand.

"What do you say, Your Grace? Can I count on your support?"

Shimmer: "Can... Can I think this through? S-Since this is a lot to take in, and-"
:grohno~2:


Shimmer stared at Demerzel's nubby hand. "These ice powers. What happens if things don't work out?"

Demerzel didn't move. "They'll return to me, but you will be unharmed."

Image


Silence ensued as Shimmer chewed on everything. And it was a lot. The ponyta was afraid of being tricked again. But the early admiration from the Venishians felt so good. He wanted more of that. And he couldn't get it if he let things end here. And certainly not if Isola really did end up snatching his body.

Shimmer stuck his forehoof out and pressed it to Demerzel's hand.

"I hope, for both our sakes, you're telling the truth."

Demerzel pulled his hand back and curtsied with his purple robes.

"I won't let you down, Your Grace."

>expecting a Kuja analogue to tell the truth without some sort of horrible catch

Whelp, this is going to end in tears at some point, I can already tell.

High above the unsuspecting duo, a dusknoir sat atop a corviknight, looking at the tiny fissures running up his right arm. Golden vapors faded into the air around it.

Vegna squeezed his right arm with his left hand.

Griffon glanced back at Vegna. "Did you get what you wanted, V?"

Oh, hi there, Vegna.

"It would appear so."

"So, why the long face?" Griffon paused. "Or, well, y'know, whatever the equivalent is for dusknoir." He flicked his right wing dismissively.

Vegna's eye dimmed.

"Necrozma is inching toward rebirth as a Phantom," he whispered. The ectoplasm on his right arm bubbled under his hand. "And, all this time, the source of his greatest pain — the one who struck down his family — has sat out in the open. Upon a gilded throne of lies."

I should be a lot less surprised that that's how the Radiant Crown got its start given how the resident dragons either live in a backwards medieval kingdom in a volcanic hellscape or as second-class citizens, but this is still a
:pikashock~2:
moment here.

"But you always suspected it, didn't ya?" Griffon said. "That's why you got this job in the first place, ain't it?"

Vegna tightened his grip on his arm. "We have to find him... before it's too late."

"Find who?"

"The only one who beat Necrozma when he was still whole: Mewtwo."

Ah yes, time for the awkward student-teacher meetings when that inevitably goes down.

Well, that batch of reveals was surprising, even if I don't believe for a second that Dermezel is telling Shimmer about these things from the goodness of his heart since... yeah, Kuja analogue who has already demonstrated that he's not exactly trustworthy in his dealings with anyone. I gather that this chapter was mostly setup, but it does sound like we're getting into the stage of things in this story where the disparate yarns of different plot threads start converging in on each other again. So that'll be fun to see how things shake out.

I don't really have a lot to complain about this chapter other than that the opening with 'Diyem' might have a bit of continuity lockout for readers who aren't aware of Blacklight or Dodra, but altogether, I think that things are coming along decently well. And it's nice to see that those earlier plot threads are still going to be relevant after all given what an unholy mess Etherium's... everything is turning out to be in live-time.

Congrats on the chapter @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go next.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
And back for a review of your most recent chapter for offsite Review Tag. I could’ve just claimed it with my review of Chapter 64, but that's cheap, so let's whip up a proper fresh review and do a double-feature for posting with…

Chapter 65

The Butterfree Effect.

On paper, it's a logical fallacy. The idea that a tiny change in the past could create a giant ripple effect that unravels the future. The mathematicians who created the theory didn't account for legendary pokémon.

Dear diary writer, that's not a logical fallacy, that's literal reality. There are a lot of moments in history where the fates of entire nations have been decided by events kicked off by seemingly inconsequential decisions.

I've gathered all the material I can think of surrounding our legends and myths. The Butterfree Effect assumes that Dialga and Celebi are not keeping a constant watch on time. When a ripple appears, they can patch it. Thus, a flawed theory.

Wait, but how on earth would you ever know that they're successfully patching time when you're living in the present and unaware of the shenanigans required to keep time flowing as intended? Or if they're even succeeding?

Though 'Dialga', huh? I'm guessing that this didn't originate from POV-2020, then. Or at least not anytime recently if it did.

But what if we applied that argument to space. Legendary pokémon can display tremendous power, sure, but can such immense might spread across space itself? I'm not sure.

Palkia: "Am I a joke to you?"
:what:

Narrator: "Clearly you don't exist in the writer's home dimension, sit down."

I think it's reasonable to believe that there's a limit. Consider this: a ripple at one point in space beyond our legends' control — perhaps another world entirely — grows to such a degree that, by the time it reaches our world, space is unravelling. And since space and time are so intricately connected, time begins to break down as well. But because the ripple originated somewhere beyond the legends' control, they cannot fix it.

Oh, so this is why the Overseers are freaking out so hard over POV-2020. One universe melting down has the potential to cause a cascading failure in others it's connected to.

Yes, I like this theory. It could explain several things. Like why I've seen him and his togekiss in archival photos of Jubilife Village when it should be impossible for him to be in two places in time at once. Or the dreams where I'm not a researcher, but some high-level pokémon trainer who researches myths on the side as a hobby.

'Togekiss', huh? Though why does this feel like it's being written by some incarnation of Cynthia about Volo?

It could even explain the artifact I found in the forest outside of my lab the other day. A crystal sphere with a golden wheel, like the broken symbols scattered around the Spear Pillar. It feels almost otherworldly. Lucario is transfixed by it whenever she sees it.

Yeah, this feels like some AU of Cynthia. Even if this is obviously not the same Luke as from her champion team. (Though apparently possible as a matchup in B2W2's PWT.)

I stumbled across something big. With this theory and this artifact, the Space Globe, I can finally solve all these mysteries. Unravel every myth and legend.

The results of my research will offer humans and pokémon infinite possibilities.

"We could be so much more..." - Cynthia, probably, in front of a Glowing McGuffin of Doom

"Aaaaaaand that about sums it up."

Nikki leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. Noctum frowned at her, too far to force her to put her feet back on the floor where they belonged. Fortunately, Igneous had it taken care of. The grovlazzle elbowed Nikki's feet.

Somebody's looking forward to his P3 re-re-re-release.
:bleplithe:


Nice taste in background music. I'd countersuggest vid related:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6MW-XhO5I


… but, I'm sure Nikki would throw a fit over it as not being her style.
:loltias:


"C'mon, we're in public," he said.

"Tch. Fine." The toxtricity slouched over, resting her right arm on the table and laying her head in her right hand. She glanced at the others, Noctum in particular. "Okay. You look like you have questions. Shoot."

Igneous: "Wait, why are we playing dorm music right now anyways? If we're out and about right now, shouldn't we be listening to something more like "When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars"-?"
:what:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kRJUKA_dFw


Nikki: "Twiggy, stop nitpicking the background music and let me keep moving the story forward." >_>;

"Yuna told you she's Chiron?" The black charizard tapped his index claws together.

"Yep."

"And that Chiron is— or was Bahamut's wife?"

"Yep."

And thus PoV became about a true reincarnation of a goddess and revealed that this was the section of the story being written by Atlus devs on their break.

Noctum: "Wait, but she's a princess- but that also makes her a goddess and- agh, my head's spinning now!"
:sevidazed:


"This can't be right! The Aeon Himself... had a family?"

Nikki: "Yes? And? Why is this so hard for you to believe?"
:eltywtf:

Noctum: "Because this literally goes against everything in my religion and how I was brought up as a kid!"
:ohnowen:

Nikki: "Meh. That's just disillusionment for ya. You'll get used to it."

Noctum's tail flame sparked. He looked over his shoulder to find Yiazmat floating behind him, ectoplasmic tail rippling. "I don't understand," she whispered. "The scriptures mentioned nothing about Bahamut having a family."

"They probably also didn't mention him blowing up other civilizations, either," Nikki said, lazily twirling her left index finger around. Scarlett frowned at her. "What? I thought Princess had already dropped that truth bomb on her mom."

Live look at Noctum right now:
Image

Nikki: "Well, with blacker scales, but that sounds about right. Seriously, I thought Yuna already told you that your night light dragon god was a fraud. How are you still finding this shocking right now?"

"Your Highness." Noctum got to his feet and offered an arm in support. "It's as much of a surprise to me, too, but—"

Yiazmat turned away. "I'm sorry." She took a shaky breath. "I need some time to myself. To think." She zipped away before Noctum could say anything else.

Dejected, the black charizard sank back into his seat and put his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do about this? Yuna was practically family, yet he couldn't think of anything to do to support her. Or Yiazmat, for that matter.

Igneous: "I mean, we could tee up 'Living with Determination' in the background and you could go and have a sappy moment with Yuna dealing with her turmoil-"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-sqsBi3-mk


All: "Igneous!"
Igneous: "Oh, come on! It's not like any of you are throwing around suggestions right now!" >_>;

He tensed from a cold, scaly arm on his back. Noctum glanced at Valkyrie.

"It's out of your control," the garchomp said. "Not worth letting it eat at you."

Noctum looked at the floor. That... sounded like advice, but Noctum wasn't sure what he could do with it.

Noctum: "Could... someone tee up that first song from the cutaways again? I could really use something to lift the mood-"
All:
:judgemander~1:

Nikki: "You too, Noctum?" >_>;
Noctum: "Look, what am I supposed to do here? Just mope and feel depressed and useless?" >.<

Igneous cleared his throat. "So, what was the point of Gene's training, anyway?"

"Oh, that?" Still resting her head against her right hand, Nikki tapped her left index finger and thumb together, generating a few sparks. "Boss Kitty had me work on Nuzzle."

I can already see Igneous struggling not to spit his drink laughing onto the table.

That was enough to get Noctum to look up. He mouthed the attack name.

"What'd he have you learning that baby attack for?" Kyoko wondered, mimicking Nikki resting her head on an arm she lay on the table.

"Not learning. Improving." Nikki pushed herself up, hopped out of her seat and walked over to a nearby metal pillar. "Check it."

I'm not sure if this is about to turn out to be impressive or else "dying of embarrassment"-tier levels of cringe.

... Let's find out! :V

Noctum wondered if she was about to hug the pillar when the toxtricity hopped into the air. Yellow electricity crackled around her feet. Nikki swung her legs up. The lightning tickled the metal pillar and, within seconds, Nikki had landed on it like it was the new floor.

"Tada!" Nikki held her arms out, then flipped a couple of birds toward the ceiling. "Gravity can kiss my ass!"

That seems like a pretty impressive buff, I'll admit.

"... what." Igneous stared blankly at Nikki.

"That— I don't think that's how gravity works," Noctum muttered. But the black charizard decided it wasn't worth harping on it any further. "Congratulations, I guess?"

"Thanks, Zardy!" Nikki hopped off the pillar and strode confidently back to her seat. "I bet this'll come in handy for the next place we visit."

Noctum: "Wait, where is that going to be again?" ._.;

Noctum wasn't convinced, but kept that thought to himself. Instead, he asked, "So, are you going to apologize to Yuna?"

The toxtricity froze in the middle of sitting down. Her mane shrank a bit. "Ah. Er..." She glanced at the others, who were still staring at her. "I thought I already did?"

"Seriously?" Igneous shook his head in disbelief. "Sounds to me like you brushed her worries off as nothing."

Nikki: "... It's the thought that counts?"
:joltyshrug~1:

All:
:unimpressed:

Nikki: "Oh come on, do you all get off on forcing me into awkward and uncomfortable situations?!" >.<

"Whaaat?" Nikki sat down, holding her hands up innocently. "No way! Boss Kitty stepped in and explained it. It makes sense and stuff." She scratched one of her horns. "There wasn't really much for me to add. Of course she'd be scared."

The grovlazzle frowned. "And you told her that?"

Nikki's mohawk shrank again. The silence told Noctum the answer.

Nikki: "... It was kinda an unspoken thing and implied?" ^^;
Igneous: "Yeah, you didn't tell her."
:unimpressedrayquaza:


"Hello. Guzzie hopes he is not interrupting. Your food is ready."

Noctum looked up to see the large guzzlord looming over them with a food tray in each hand. Guzzie passed out their respective meals, ending with Noctum's burger. It had a pretzel bun styled to look like an eevee with its pointy ears and tails. He thought it cute, but it also stirred something deep inside him. Charizard predator instincts, perhaps?

Oh hey, it's this part again after I don't remember how many months you previewed it. Though I have to wonder if there was something about Noctum's childhood experiences that's left him with these adorkable tendencies, or if he's just always been like this even back then.

"Oh. Guzzie did not realize another friend had come." The guzzlord stomped over behind Nikki. "Can Guzzie get you something?"

"You got chili fries?" the toxtricity said.

"Guzzie can make chili fries."

Nikki snapped her fingers. "Swell. Let's go with that."

So there's a secret menu at Cyril's burger joint. Noted in that case, even if it makes me wonder just how many items you can get at customer request like this.

Guzzie nodded and stomped away, leaving Noctum to take a big enough bite of his burger to remove the entire eevee face that had been grilled into the bun.

Background Eevee:
:wtfuckle:

- Scoots away uncomfortably -
Nikki: "Wait, how has Carnivore Confusion not been more of a bigger deal in this setting given that we have farmed ferals that wind up on the menu on a regular basis?"

"So, Nikki, you going to say the right thing to Yuna?" Igneous pointed a forkful of lettuce at her.

"I, uh—" Nikki looked down guiltily. "Look, Twiggy, I ain't the best with touchy-feely stuff, but when I said 'it doesn't matter,' I meant it."

Igneous:
:unimpressed:

Nikki: "You're... going to keep bugging me about this until I go talk to her, aren't you?" -_-;

Noctum swallowed his large bite of food, then took another, protracted bite as if that somehow illustrated his displeasure at Nikki's attitude. She must have caught on, because she flinched and looked away with him.

"It's just... I don't care if she was Chiron. Or is Chiron." Nikki waved her left arm around. "She's always been Yuna to me. She'll stay Yuna to me."

I can't tell whether this is endearing or massively tempting fate given that Chiron as we've seen her in flashbacks is all but confirmed to not even be Yuna's true identity and baiting tears for some point down the future.

The toxtricity smacked her hand on the table. "The way I see it, if I don't give the Chiron part of her the time of day, it won't take control. What's so bad about that?" She looked around at the others. "C'mon, I can't be the only one who'd rather keep Princess than lose her to some stuffy moon bat."

Oh yeah, that totally sounds healthy and well-adjusted. Not.

At that, everyone's gazes rolled to Noctum, who was still chewing. He hastily swallowed, grunting. Nikki did have a point. Sort of.

"Of course I don't want to lose Yuna. She's family."

I mean, isn't there a case to be made that by refusing to engage with Yuna, that you're increasing the risk that she just throws her nubby hands into the air and gives up, expecting to be taken over by her persona as Chiron?

But what right do we have to try and stop Chiron reawakening? he wondered, though he couldn't bring himself to say that out loud. Still, Noctum knew Yuna wouldn't drop this subject. She'd try to figure out the why behind all of this no matter what anyone told her.

And then they got a vaguely demonic-looking serpent with tendril-wings for their trouble and much
:wtfuckle:
-ing ensued as "no, no, I'm really Yaldabaoth" followed.

But more seriously, there's a difference between not intervening and writing off the Yuna that you know. Especially since personalty synthesis is probably the healthiest possible outcome that could be had for Yuna considering some of the things implied about what she got up to as a Lunala and a Giratina.

"See?" Nikki sat back in her seat. "C'mon. Maybe I botched the execution, but my heart was in the right place."

All:
:mewtwofacepalm:

Nikki: "Again, it's the thought that counts!"

"Then what about me?"

Nikki sat up straight, trying to avoid making eye contact with Scarlett. Igneous glanced nervously at the dragonair. "Um, are you okay?" he whispered.

"I'm fine." Scarlett held her head up. "I just want to know if you're still mad at me, Nikki." Her neck bauble flickered. "I may not be, y'know, running into the fire like you, but I think I deserve to know if you're going to hold a grudge or not. Because I know you like your grudges."

Silence. They were practically locked in a staring contest, expressions unreadable. Noctum didn't like the tense silence. He leaned over and tried to sip the last of his water, but there was so much ice his straw made a loud schluuuurp and everyone's eyes fell on him.

Live look at Nikki rn:
Image

Noctum: "... I at least helped the mood, right?" .-.

"Sorry," the black charizard mumbled, sliding his snout off the straw with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Dork." Valkyrie elbowed his belly, but his armor protected him.

Finally, Nikki sighed and slouched over a bit. "No, I'm not mad anymore. Simmered down or whatever." The toxtricity shrugged. "You told me your reasons. I don't agree with them, but staying pissed at you doesn't fix anything." Nikki squeezed the lapels of her leather jacket. "And I want to fix it. You're my sis and stuff."

I'm... not sure if I believe that or not. On the one hand, Nikki's not wrong about her having a strong bond with Scarlett... on the other, I'm not sure if I buy her just letting things go like that when she's the same character who couldn't be open about her attempt to catch Shimmer cheating his way through school.

Noctum gulped. There was a "but" coming.

"It's gonna take time." Nikki's mohawk dimmed. "The lying... it hurt. Not the kinda hurt that we laughed at in Blightsmuth. This one's deep. I gotta... feel like I can trust you again."

Yeah, I figured there would be a catch. Though at least Nikki's being open about it.

She pivoted away from the others. "Maybe that's not what you want to hear, but it's the best I've got."

Scarlett's wings drooped. Igneous was about to put his hand on the dragonair's back, but stopped. Perhaps the grovlazzle caught the same determined glint in her eyes Noctum did?

Igneous: "(Also, wait. Do you still look like you just stumbled out emaciated from a hospital bed? Since I could've sworn that it's only been a few days since I blew up that hospital room and took you to Scale City.)"
Scarlett: "(Let's just assuming 'something something Heal Pulse' fixed me up to the point where I can pass for normal in public.)"

"I understand." Scarlett bobbed her head. "I appreciate you being honest with me. Hopefully, I can return the favor soon enough."

"Yeah." Nikki's mohawk rippled faster.

Scarlett: "... Hopefully sooner rather than later from that reaction."
:fearfullaugh~1:


Silence fell over the group, until Nikki abruptly swiveled back around on her seat. "All right, no more touchy-feely sentimental silence." She smacked her right arm down on the table. "I dished on the anomaly stuff. What happened in Casaroja?"

Noctum recalled the pizza truck onslaught... and all the midair spinning that went with it. The black charizard's tail flame dimmed. "I think I'm full." He pushed his plate toward the middle of the table.

Wew. That must have been quite the trip if just the memory of spinning around is enough to make Noctum feel nauseous again.

"No fooling?" Nikki eyed the last third of his burger and fries.

"Take it," Noctum said. He rolled his eyes while the toxtricity dragged his plate in front of her.

"Seriously? Smiley face fries?" Nikki dangled one in front of her face. It resembled a pikachu head. "I thought this place catered to adults."

Ah yes, I remember this from previews as well.

Noctum: "L-Look, having an inner child is perfectly normal, okay?" >///<
Nikki: "It's not an 'inner' child if it comes out right in the open like this, Zardy."
:eltyunamused:


A scaly arm between Noctum's shoulder blades made him sit up straight. "Our resident dweeb asked for them." Valkyrie laughed. "Apparently, the big guzzlord keeps them around for his son."

Noctum pouted. "Smiley faces make me happy."

Nikki: "Words fail me."
:eltywtf:

Noctum: "Look, can you just eat my fries and let’s move things along?" >///<

Nikki looked at the pikafry and ate it in a single bite. "Ah, c'mon, Zardy. No need to be ashamed. It's okay to want to feel like a big apex predator from time to time."

Noctum's cheeks burned. He curled his claws around the edge of his seat. "So! How about that big train chase in Casaroja, huh?" he practically shouted. A few tables looked over in his direction. Valkyrie and Igneous shot them dirty looks and they returned their attentions to their own food.

Nikki: "Alright, alright! You made your point! Just keep that quiet, okay?"

"You chased after a train?" Nikki ate another fry in a single bite. "How?"

"In a pizza truck," Valkyrie replied. The toxtricity stared blankly at her. Noctum watched the realization slowly set in.

"And they didn't even make you a pizza after?" Nikki shook her head. "Raw deal."

Noctum: "That's what you're worried about?" >_>;
Nikki: "I mean, the chase was obviously a success if you're alive and talking to me, so... yes?"
:gardeshrug~1:


"It was Cyril's fake pizza truck," Igneous said between bites of salad. "At least, I have to assume it's fake. No pizza-making stuff inside."

The conversation devolved into a recap of the train chase. Nikki was amused for most of it, while Kyoko looked confused and Scarlett silently slurped up pasta noodles lathered in white sauce.

Nikki: "Never pegged her as an alfredo type. Though, hey Salazzle. Did you have something you wanted to add, or...?"

"You gotta be kidding me." Nikki leaned over, pointing a chili fry at Igneous. "Shimmer mutated by distortion? And actually strong enough to cause you problems?"

"I can't think of any other explanation," Igneous said, stuffing in one last forkful of salad. He set his fork down. "Same tone of voice. Same smugness. But not actively making things worse."

... That you know of, since based off the last scene of the prior chapter, that last bit from Noctum's gonna age like milk. I can already tell.

"But he's gonna be a problem," Valkyrie huffed, slouching against the table. "Gonna have to tell Sakaki, aren't I?"

"Maybe we can take Scarlett next time and have her sing Shimmer a lullaby?" Nikki mused, scarfing down a couple of chili fries. "Those, uh, Starlene powers of yours could get through even that dumbass' thick skull."

"Right." Scarlett's wings drooped.

Image


Since he's a crown prince while you're working with a criminal syndicate with foreign connections and all that jazz.

"Aw, c'mon." Nikki's mohawk dimmed. "That wasn't an insult, it was a genuine suggestion." She put her hands on the table, tapping them rhythmically. "Your singing did stuff back when people were fighting that giant centiskorch robot, didn't it?"

"It did." Scarlett wriggled nervously.

"Nikki, I think you should drop it," Noctum said, before realizing what he blurted out and smacking his hand over his snout. "R-Respectfully. She looks uncomfortable."

Nikki: "What are you going on about? Scarlett's totally fi-"

Awkward silence. Scarlett slurped up the last pasta from her bowl. "It's fine." She took a heavy breath. "I was... thinking about that. A lot. At the safe house."

Igneous sat up straight.

"Because..." "Because the idea of controlling people with my singing feels... terrible." The dragonair shivered. "I know I, like, invigorated you guys, but—"

Nikki: "Seriously?! Now you're feeling bad about manipulating people through song when you did that to packed concerts for how many years?!" >_>;
Scarlett: "And just look at what happened because of it, Nikki!"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Igneous assured her. He was going to put his right hand on her back but noticed Nikki and Kyoko staring at him and put his hand back down.

"No. I... I want to help." Scarlett sat up straight. "I helped make things worse for Radiance, so I should at least try and fix this mess." The dragonair looked at the others. "So, like I said, I was doing some thinking back at the safe house and... I think I came up with something. A way to 'reboot' Starlene."

Nikki:
Image

Noctum: "... Go on? What do you have in mind, Scarlett?"

"Reboot?" Noctum raised a brow. He didn't think Scarlett had a machine inside her.

Snerk. Well, I was directionally correct, though I suppose I should be less surprised at Noctum being slow to the party for 'reboot' as an idiom.

"I'm sure there's a better word for it," Scarlett said, laughing nervously. "Anyway, uh, we workshopped it while you guys were... joyriding." She tucked her head down. Her horn and neck bauble glowed. Blue and red light trailed out of them...

"Huh?" Noctum sat up straight. "Th-that's... wait." He blinked a few times. "Saint Latias?"

But she had a headset around her head, mechanical wings, and a blue music note on her chest where Noctum was sure a triangle should have been.

Neat doodle. Though how on earth do you have the cash for all of these commissions?
:bulbuhhh:


"Hi, guys." Latias waved, then flourished with a little twirl. "What do you think?"

Silence.

"Wow." Latias frowned. "Not all at once."

"Robo-wings, huh?" Valkyrie sipped some water from her glass.

Hey man, at least her music as a dragon will probably be better than Shara Ishvalda's. :V

"I think it's great!" Igneous said. The grovlazzle used a bit too much enthusiasm by Noctum's standards. "She's got parts of your, uh, look in her." He twirled a claw around the side of his head.

"Aww, thanks!" Latias chirped. "That was Scarlett's idea."

Huh. So Latias when conjured in this form has her own persona take over. Duly noted, then.

"So, we still calling you Starlene, then?" Nikki wondered.

Latias nodded. "That's the plan, Jan."

"Nikki."

"Right!" Starlene shot the toxtricity fingerguns. "I was rhyming."

... Wait, what on earth does that look like for a Latias considering what their claws look like?

They locked eyes until Nikki tilted her head slightly. "She reminds me... of when we used to perform together."

... In your Bubblegum Pop phase? Or...?
:loltias:


Noctum's gaze darted between Nikki, Scarlett, and Starlene. Maybe this was... the start of them patching things up for real?

Scarlett: "Oh sweet lord, please tell me it'll be the start of patching up things for real. I can't take another 2 dozen chapters of anxiety about whether or not Nikki secretly hates my guts."
:sweats:


Any further developments would have to wait, however. A familiar blue rift opened in front of the table. A screeching Gilbert flung right past them, crashing into a table behind them filled with other space pirates.

"Oof! Easy, Boss Kitty!"

Igneous: "Oh, Guzzie's just gonna love cleaning up that mess..."
:gardexhausted:


Cyril came next, plopped down at the head of the table seconds before Gene stepped out. "All right. Anyone still eating needs to box their food up and take it to go," the shadowy mewtwo declared, clapping his hands together. "We've got a situation."

Everyone sat up in unison. "Go... where?" Noctum asked.

Igneous: "Wait, what do you mean 'a situation'? Gene, what's going on, here?"

"To..." Gene's voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet. "No, wait. Rewind." He twirled his left hand around. "Anyone still eating needs to grab their plates and follow me down to Cyril's workshop. Team meeting. I'll go... grab the group chilling with the monks."

Igneous: "... Are you going to fill us in, or...?"
:eltywtf:


"Can you at least tell us what this is about?" Nikki said, scooping up her remaining chili fries as she got to her feet.

Gene threw open a different rift and stepped toward it.

"I found another Red Chain fragment."

Well, that would be a pretty good reason to get moving there. Wonder if that's Isola's or if it's a completely different one.

Yuna lay draped over a handle of one of Cyril's open toolboxes, staring intently at the brown, crusty rocks in Gene's right hand. The drakloak squinted. "That's supposed to be a Red Chain fragment?"

Oh, we AA music nao, huh?

Cyril: "There's no way that can possibly be good for your back right now." .-.
Yuna: "I'm part-Ghost. I'll live. Or unlive. Or however that works in this setting. I'm frankly surprised that your toolbox has a handle big enough for me to do this."

"Yep." Gene's yellow-tipped tail lazily swished back and forth.

"How did you even find it?" Yuna wondered, shifting a bit on the handle so she didn't fall off onto the grated floor.

"Well, I was giving Gilbert a little talking to... and I saw this strange flicker of red light out of the corner of my eye." The shadowy mewtwo waved behind him with his left arm. "It was coming from... a closet I put Nova's stuff in."

Valkyrie: "Wait, so you've just had this for how many thousands of years and just realized what it was again?"
:UnimpressedCabot:

Gene: "Look, the point is that it's helped speed things up dramatically and we might as well grab it before someone else gets wise."
Noctum: "But it was in your closet, wasn't it? Why didn't you just take it?"

"Oh." Yuna looked down at the gears and pistons moving under the floor. That brief hesitation in Gene's voice... he still wasn't over Nova, was he? Or did bringing up Xeromus renew the pain of losing him?

- Cue the long, awkward silence in the room -
Gene: "Anyway! About that fragment..."
Yuna: "(Yeah, he's totally not over Nova.)" -_-;

"So, you opened up the closet... and found a rock?" Widget sat behind Gene. The cosmic silvally leaned over and sniffed the rock. "Ew." He pulled his head back. "Smells like mildew on top of mildew on top of mildew." "Thanks, bud.

Real helpful," Gene deadpanned. "Point is, we can prove it's the real thing, can't we?" He pivoted left. Jaeger was propped against the wall opposite Gene, holding the handles of Sigurd's wheelchair.

Jaeger: "... I ain't touchin' that thing, mate. Go and give it a scrub first!"
:TailsEww:

Gene: "Look, just hurry this up and get it over with and then wash your paws afterwards."

"We can." Sigurd moved the chair forward while Jaeger let go. "I suspect, if that's really a fragment, it reacted to mine. After I removed it from its capsule."

"Seriously?" Jade stuck her head up from the corner of the room. "What would that dinky little capsule have to do with it?"

"The capsule is meant to block the energy the Red Chain emits," Sigurd explained. "Stop it from reacting to its surroundings. Jaeger, if you would?"

Jaeger: "... Blaugh, I'm never gonna feel clean again after this." X(

"Right." The lycanroc mutt stepped up to the back of Sigurd's chair and pressed the top of the capsule. A hiss followed, then Jaeger held up the glowing red fragment.

Again, Yuna tensed. She took deep breaths, trying to keep the shadows at bay. Stop them from pushing against her ectoplasm and trying to escape.

Noctum: "Um... Princess? Are you okay right now?" ._.;

"Ah! Gene's rock!" Jade's feathers bristled. "It twinkled!"

By the time Yuna steadied herself, Jaeger had already stuffed the fragment back inside the capsule.

"Seriously?" Nikki crouched down, eyeing the back of Sigurd's chair skeptically. "One little red flash and you're convinced?"

Jaeger nodded. "'s good enough for me, mate."

Jaeger: "Not least of all because it'll get this filthy thing out of my paws sooner." >.<

Sigurd moved the chair closer to Gene's outstretched hand. "I suspect... that fragment is fossilized. Hard to tell the age based on its appearance, of course. But it is a fossil that has stayed pristine through the ages."

The toxtricity rolled her eyes. "Great. Another nerd."

Sigurd: "Runs in the family, really."
:joltyshrug~1:


"Sorry. My family has a thing for rocks," Sigurd said.

Kek, I called it.

Leo hopped off Yuna's head and floated in the air, eyeing the rock. "If what's inside's important, then shouldn't we break it? Fighting trumps rock, right? I can break it!"

"Leo, wait!"

Oh boy. Only good things can come of this, I'm sure. /s

Yuna couldn't get off the toolbox handle fast enough to stop Leo from... buffing up.

"Whoa, there, kiddo!" Gene held his hand up and Phantom Warped on top of Cyril's workbench, knocking over a few schematics. "It ain't as simple as breaking it."

Leo: "Why not? It looks like it's breakable, so..."
Gene: "Because this is part of an artifact that has the power to mold and reshape universes? We'd be in some seriously uncharted waters if anything happened to it or its pieces."

The cosmic zoroark dropped to his knees to gather the scattered papers on the floor. "Oh, sure, yeah, just walk all over my workbench. When was the last time you showered, by the way?"

Gene hovered a few centimeters into the air, whistling innocently.

"Pffffffft." Nikki held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

Cyril: "..."
:TailsEww:

Gene: "Look, it's nothing that a bit of HAX body spray can't fix. It can wait until after the briefing, at least."

"Um, did Leo learn Bulk Up?" Noctum tittered, glancing between the cosmic arceus and his own, pencil-thin arms.

"Tch. It ain't about muscle size. It's about using what you have." Valkyrie threw an arm over Noctum and squeezed his shoulder. "Ain't that right, dork?"

"Ow! Wing joints!" Noctum's tail flame flickered erratically.

Noctum: "How are you even doing that with your claw structure?!" @.@
Valkyrie: "The pointy bit moves around at the end? Same shtick as with Gabite, really."

Leo returned to normal in an orange flash. "Then how do we free the chain fragment?"

"Well, last I recall, fossilized pokémon can be restored with machines." Gene glanced at Sigurd, in particular. "Earth's chock full of them."

Nikki: "Wait, but I thought that that got eaten by Eternatus forever ago."
Gene: "Correct. As did all of the other planets and asteroids we've been going around to in here."

"Those are for once-living creatures," Sigurd pointed out. "You can't expect the same technology to work. No, I imagine you need another way."

Gene tossed the fossilized fragment to himself. "Consider the floor open for ideas, then."

Wait, so what happens to fossils brought into the Qliphoth in that case? They just flatly cannot have new life made from them because "something something realm of the undead"? Or is this meant more in the sense that the Red Chain is not the remains of a lifeform, so it can't be restored by the same process?

Silence followed. Yuna didn't know the first thing about fossils, and judging by the blank expressions on everyone else's faces, they didn't, either.

"Why not find, like, a pickaxe to chip away at the fossil until you find the good stuff?" Nikki tapped her right index finger against her left fist repeatedly.

"Brute force it, eh?" Gene held the rock up to eye level, closing his right eye and twisting it around. "Dunno. Kinda feels like this'd be the fossil equivalent of heart surgery. One wrong cut and..." He dragged his left thumb across his throat.

Gene: "Again, this is part of an artifact with the power to reshape universes. We don't want to screw this up."
Yuna: "... Would consulting a gemcutter be an option?" ._.;

"Seriously?" Nikki flicked her right hand dismissively. "If a pickaxe could tear through it that easily, how are there even fragments around in the first place? Why didn't it just, y'know, turn to dust or something?"

"Red Chains are quite powerful," Jaeger said, scratching the tip of his nose. "When their power is active, they do not crumble so easily. It takes someone with a mastery of space or time to unmake the Chain. Whatever happened to it... was not that. So, it broke into functioning fragments instead."

aka: whatever went down at Temporal Tower to mess up the Matriarch's (who is totally some incarnation of Zero/Prisma and you can't convince me otherwise) attempt to reboot the universe.

He pointed his right index digit at the fossilized fragment. "But that one's gone inert. Can't do anything with it. And that also makes it... frailer than it should be. Unless you can find a way to recharge it, then it's useless."

"And if it does break?" Yiazmat asked.

"The rest of the Chain crumbles to dust," Jaeger responded, expression grim. "Leaving us up a creek with no paddle."

... Wait, how on earth does Jaeger know that this is what happens if a link of the Red Chain gets destroyed? Has he seen this before? Or was that part of his training as an intern for the Overseers?

"Great! We're walking on damn eggshells, then!" The toxtricity threw her arms up. "No brute force means I'm out of ideas."

"Space-time relic. It's a space-time relic."

Muttering, Cyril finished gathering his papers and stood up, placing them under an empty coffee cup that read "I went to Cyril's Café and all I got was this lousy mug."

Gene: "... You really need to come up with tourist mugs that do a better job advertising your place, Cyril."
Cyril: "Missing the point, Gene."

"That's right." Leo wagged his starcloud tail. "Do you have a space-time lockpick?"

"No." Cyril scratched the back of his head. "But we could try putting it in a particle accelerator."

Cue the theme music:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglE5ErjakM


Noctum: "... Why did that ominous music just start playing from nowhere?"
:ohnowen:

Cyril: "Look, it'll be perfectly fine... probably."
Yuna: "(Are you seriously saying that with a straight face after this story has been taking Spider-Verse influences as far back as Venish?)" >_>;

Yuna blinked. She rubbed her rectangular head. "Um, what's that?"

"Does what it says on the tin," Cyril elaborated. He twirled a lock of his starry mane. "The empire has a super collider on Kalidron IV. You hear about it so often it's practically a tourist attraction."

"Kalidron IV," Cid mumbled, hovering by the door to Cyril's workshop. Yuna glanced at the orbeetle as he shut his eyes in thought.

"That could do it." Jaeger snapped his claws and pointed at Cyril. "Or it could cause a chain reaction with the fragment and blow open a big hole in the fabric of this dimension."

Gee, I wonder which outcome will be more plausible when I've literally seen this movie before?

Like seriously, the only way you could tempt fate any harder right now is to try and replace a dead parent and child by yoinking a set of transdimensional counterparts while you're at it.

Everyone's head whipped in Jaeger's direction.

"That's, um, a joke, right?" Yuna squeaked.

"Only if it's false." Jaeger shrugged. "No idea, shiela."

Narrator: "It was not a joke."

Even if I'm kinda curious as to if it'll be a plot device to introduce new characters from other dimensions if and when things predictably blow up in the party's faces.

Multiple people belted out a "Seriously?!"

Valkyrie stuck her right claw out at Jaeger. "Didn't you call it inert and fragile? You walking that back on us?"

"If I may interject?" Sigurd said. "I believe the fragment is inert. It should be safe to try the super collider on it."

11 words spoken sec- well, not seconds from disaster. But yeah. I'd frankly be more surprised if this did end well than if it didn't.

"You believe it's inert?" Yiazmat flew toward Sigurd's chair. "With all due respect, sir, I would like a little more than belief if we're to attempt something that sounds dangerous."

"Very well." Sigurd's breathing tube hissed loudly. "Perhaps Leo can test it for us, then."

Leo: "So... you want me to try and break it after all?" ^^

The cosmic arceus tilted his head. "Me?"

"Yes. See if you sense any energy from Gene's fragment."

"Okay." Leo eyed the rock in Gene's hand. He squinted. Then his mouthless face scrunched up a bit and his starcloud hair dimmed. "Nope! I only sense rock!" Leo chirped, then looked at Yuna. "Is that a bad thing?"

Sigurd: "No, if anything that's a wonderful sign." ^^
Igneous: "... This is going to be a gigantic disaster, I can already tell."
:grohno~2:


Yuna shrugged. She figured it proved Sigurd's point.

"It's really outta cosmic juice, then?" Gene tapped the rock with his left index finger.

"Yep." Jaeger rested his paws behind his head. "So, like I said before, needs a spark. Betcha a recharge will unrockify it lickety split."

Yiazmat fidgeted nervously. "And this super collider device could give it that spark?"

"Correct." Jaeger paused. "No quips this time, mates. 's my honest assessment."

Again:

Image


Nikki: "Yeah, yeah, the idea's cursed. We get it. But I don't see anyone else suggesting alternatives right now." >_>;

"Glad that's settled." Gene tossed the fossil to himself. "Then I'll pop over to Kalidron IV and be back in a jiffy."

He snapped his fingers and a rift opened behind him. "Meeting adjourned, I suppose. Go team."

Yuna: "... Wait, that's it?"
Gene: "I mean, I am the one who can casually Phantom Warp around, so... yes?"
Igneous: "You do realize that this is literally increasing our odds of some sort of horrible complication coming up in live-time, right?"
:what:


Yuna sighed in relief, ready to get out of the crowded workshop, when Cid's eyes opened and his spots lit up.

"No, Gene, wait!"

But the orbeetle wasn't fast enough. Gene's rift swallowed the shadowy mewtwo up and Cid stopped in the open air where Gene previously stood.

Yuna: "... Yeah, I knew there was a catch." >.<

"What's wrong?" Seifer raised a brow.

"I thought the name Kalidron sounded familiar. Because I heard about it on the news here!" Cid turned to Cyril. "Do you have an EV in here?"

"Yeeeeaaah." The cosmic zoroark pressed a button underneath his workbench. The wall behind Cid parted to reveal several different monitors. Cyril grabbed a remote from the top drawer of his workbench and pointed it at the largest monitor in his collection. It switched on to show the Eterna empire's sigil while music blared from an unseen speaker.

Nikki: "Well, the music's peppy, at least. So what exactly is the problem here?"

"And now... a message from your emperor!"

"Cripes!" Nikki squeezed her hands against the sides of her head, mohawk frazzling. "Turn that **** down!"

Valkyrie: "Uh, yeah. This is kinda a rebel base that gets frequented by space pirates and every ne'er-do-well this side of the QN. For the sake of your own business, turn it down, Cyril." >_>;

Cyril mashed a button on the remote and the backing music quieted to a reasonable volume as the shot shifted from the empire's emblem to footage of... scattered fragments of rock, twisted metal, and all manner of scattered debris surrounded by a starry sky that brought Eternatus' insides to mind.

"My people, I come bearing unfortunate news," Paradox said while the shot panned around to show more debris.

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. Some of the debris looked... distinctly like parts of big, metal buildings. She watched horror spread over Cid's face.

Well then.

"Kalidron IV, home of the famed Eterna Super Collider, has been destroyed."

Several of Yuna's teammates shouted "What?!" in unison. Valkyrie stepped toward Cid, arms crossed.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" the garchomp growled.

Yuna: "I mean, on the positive side, at least we won't accidentally relive the plot of Into the Spider-Verse? Since it really felt like we were tempting fate back there for a bit."
:joltyshrug~1:

Igneous: "... Unless someone already beat us to the punch on that." .-.

"I was trying to remember!" Cid raised his hands innocently. "But the news was about a rift, not a destroyed planet!"

"I know. I am as heartbroken as the rest of you."

The feed shifted to Paradox in his office, placing his hand on his chest and shaking his head. "News outlets had reported a giant rift appearing around the planet and we have just learned that the rebel, Gene, manipulated a rift's energy to overload the super collider, blowing the planet to smithereens!"

Igneous: "... Crap, I hate being right."
:grohno~2:

Cyril: "Wait, but Boss Kitty literally just left thirty seconds ago. How on earth does any of that make any sense?!"
:wtfuckle:


As the deoxys spoke, a hologram of a planet appeared next to him. Distorted red and purple cracks wove their way through the hologram until it broke apart into tiny bits of orange light.

"Oh, great." Cyril rolled his eyes. "Just what we needed. Paradox pinning another one of his screw-ups on us."

A blue rift opened behind the cosmic zoroark. "CYRIL, WE'VE GOT A—"

Cyril: "Situation. We know. It's all over the EV right now."

Gene popped out of the rift, only for Cyril to grab his head and jerk it in the direction of the EV screen.

"But rest assured." Paradox clasped his tentacles together and holograms of spaceships appeared all around him. "Thanks to your beloved grand emperor, the people of Kalidron IV were safely evacuated with minimal issues."

Image


Gene blinked slowly. "Ah. I see you're on top of it already." He stepped out of the rift, which shut behind him.

"Yep."

"Is Paradox blaming me for it?"

"Yeeeeep."

Gene: "Fantastic."
:mewtwofacepalm:


"In light of the rebel's alarming attack on our Benefactor," Paradox continued, holographic stacks of paper money appearing beside him, "I would like to inform you all the bounty for his capture or annihilation is being raised to one squijillion eternabucks!"

"Psst. Mom." Leo blipped onto Yuna's head. "How much is a squijillion?"

"Uhh... a lot?"

I was going to ask if you made up that number myself, but it's apparently from the most recent R&C game. Out of curiosity, is it ever given a canonical value in terms of number of zeros in it?

"I don't even think that's a real number," Reshiram mumbled.

I mean, you live in a realm where Paradox is an absolute monarch. It's a real number now, Cecil.

"Shut it off!" Gene growled, to which Cyril obliged. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "Great. Wonderful. So, no collider and I can't go poking around the planet's ruins."

Seifer groaned. "You expect some of us to go there, don't you?"

Gene:
Image

All:
:WHY:

Gene: "Because we need a Super Collider to get this part of the Red Chain back in action. If the one on Kalidron IV isn't somehow still usable, we're going to need to grab parts from it to try and make our own."

"Well, it can't be me." Gene rested his hands behind his head and glanced at Nikki. "Yep, the coach is benching himself this time. You want the rock? It's all yours."

Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Why should any of us go out there? You saw it for yourself. There's nothing to salvage!"

"'cept the crystals, shiela."

The toxtricity whirled on Jaeger. "What crystals?"

"You didn't see 'em? The supercharged lustrous ore." The lycanroc scratched his chin. "S'pose I should't've expected you to know what that'd look like."

Yeah, I knew it.

Yuna frowned. Why did lustrous ore sound familiar?

"The monks!" Reshiram blurted out. "Brother Kora said Chakran is chalk full of lustrous ore." He paused. "Or maybe it was Alder."

Who told them hardly mattered. "The monks mentioned that stuff, I think? Something about dimensionality," Yuna said.

They're totally gonna try and build their own Super Collider in the basement of Cyril's burger joint, aren't they?

"That so?" Jaeger's snout twitched. "Yeah. I s'pose that dusty mountain—"

"Mesa," Nikki cut in, earning several frowns. "What? You guys did it to me!" she huffed.

Jaeger shrugged. "Then I s'pose that dusty mesa did have a... lustrousy scent about it."

... Those things have a distinct scent? .-.

"Oh, so you can smell lustrous ore but you can't sense sticks?" Jade leaned in Jaeger's direction. "Talk about getting short changed as a dog."

I snerked. Even though it's a bit surprising to have Jade suddenly pop up now, since she wasn't really mentioned earlier on.

"Guys, focus!" Seifer stamped a forehoof down. "What's so important about lustrous ore in the planet's remains?"

Jaeger crossed his arms in thought. "Well, I can't say for certain... but if that deoxys was telling the truth, then the glowing crystals I saw are solidified fragments of the giant rift that overheated the collider."

Nikki tugged at her jacket. "Grrr. Quit the fancy science talk and spell it out in a way we can understand! What does that mean for us?"

Nikki: "Seriously, how does that fix our problem of us not having a Super Collider to work with?" >_>;

Cyril's mane dimmed, then brightened. "I think I get it," he whispered. "You're telling us the lustrous ore could take us to whatever's on the other side of the rift that used to be there."

Jaeger grinned. "Exactly."

Yuna's teammates muttered to one another. Asking what good would that possibly do for the team. And the drakloak agreed with them.

Nikki: "Are you going to answer my question, or...?"
:eltywtf:


Or, at least, she wanted to. But Leo was listening intently to all of this. And if everyone was describing the planet-destroying rift as a giant one, then...

"It wasn't just a rift," Yuna whispered, folding her hands over her Soul Dew. "It was an anomaly. An anomaly screwed up the collider and destroyed the planet. And now it's all... chopped up inside that lustrous ore. If we don't seal it like we did with the other one, all that ore could cause a huge problem."

Igneous: "... So we really are redoing the plot of Into the Spider-Verse, huh?" >_>;
Gene: "No, no. That involved four people, a mech, and a cartoon pig. This involves the exploded remains of a planet. Completely different problems here."
Igneous: "Aside from the fact that if we don't get things solved, our universe is boned." >.<
Cyril: "... I'm not making web slingers for you if that's what you're getting at. Just go and get yourself ready. We start sifting through this mess next chapter."

Alright, made it to the end. I'll admit that the scenario took a bit of a turn out of left field in this chapter, but hey. You did establish that we were dealing with some very large scales, so it feels a bit more believable than it otherwise might in a more grounded story.

Though I see that we'll be seeing more of the Red Chain for the immediate future. And that's kinda got me wondering if that's what those eyes in the needles are made from, since you did insist that we weren't done with those, and given how these fragments seem to be turning up in the darnedest places...

I thought that the focus on Nikki was a nice change of pace, since up until this point, her issues with Yuna and Scarlett hadn't been fully addressed. Even if she didn't get everything off her chest here, it does feel like it gave her a platform to build off of and I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go with it.

If there's any one complaint that I have about this chapter, it'd be the number of characters that basically only really get acknowledged well, well into its length like Jade and Seifer are. I understand that part of that is a matter of focusing on a subset of a larger group to keep things focused, but I kinda wonder if their presence could've been acknowledged more in passing, since it felt like there was some potential comedy value being left on the table together.

Though altogether, I've been having fun @Ambyssin . And there's been some plot threads that are starting to come into their own that have been fun to see start to emerge, even if I'm wondering just how soon some of their implications will be flatly thrown out on the table.

But those are stories for another day. Good work, and I'll be looking forward to diving into your next chapter sometime soon.
 
Last edited:

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 66: Move It or LaRousse It

Yuna had time to mentally prepare herself, with Cyril and Gene working together to outfit several of them with special collars for the trek to Kalidron IV's remains. Apparently they projected barriers that would "keep the harsh vacuum of Eternatus' innards from ripping you guys apart."

Naturally, that made the drakloak less inclined to go through with this. But Leo kept pacing on the floor of Cyril's workshop and Yuna knew she had to support him.

Gene outfitted Leo, Yuna, Nikki, and Widget with collars as a start, telling them that they could check where the lustrous ore led to and report back. If things were too chaotic on the other side of the anomaly, then Gene could give them backup. To Yuna's surprise though, Cyril joined them with a collar of his own, stating they should at least have someone around who dabbled in this kind of stuff. Just in case.

The shadowy mewtwo didn't argue Cyril's point. He wished them all well and opened a blue rift behind them while Cyril put the Morph-O-Tron back on Leo, disguising him as a fake dreepy. Things turned much darker before Yuna even finished flying through it.

She was used to floating everywhere, so not having solid ground to stand on didn't bother her in the slightest. Widget quickly engaged his flight mode and caught a flailing Nikki before her momentum could send her drifting into a ball of razor sharp metal fragments.

And, really, that was all Yuna could appreciate. Chunks of metal, rock, and crystal drifted aimlessly around them. The latter gave everything a gray-purple tinge. The crystals were hardly bright, though.

In some respects, it was like she was back in a mystery dungeon. With distortion taking the form of planetary rubble.

"I feel like I went on a crash diet." Nikki's voice was muffled. Probably an effect of Cyril's barrier.

"Well, yeah." Cyril floated next to her and Widget. "No planet means little to no gravity. Which makes moving around a problem for you and me."

"What do you mean?" Leo wondered. "I feel the same as ever."

"I mean that, without something solid to push off or someone to pull us around, we're not getting very far." Cyril's starry mane rippled. "Not that it matters. I see some lustrous ore pretty close by. Let's go to it. One of you grab my hair and take me over with you."

"I got it." Widget's thrusters hummed to life. He flew over Cyril and grabbed the zoroark's puffy, blue-purple mane. Yuna and Leo flew after Widget and his passengers, heading toward planetary chunks that might have been the corner of a building at one point. There was a purple, moon-shaped crystal lodged in a scorched rock slab.

"Hey, uh..." Nikki rubbed the back of her head. "Can we really trust this lustrous ore stuff? What if it, like, phases us inside a wall or so deep underwater that we get crushed to death?!"

Yuna abruptly stopped. She... hadn't considered that. "Oh, God, that's totally a thing we have to worry about, isn't it?" The drakloak looked at Cyril. "Why didn't one of you brainiacs bring it up before?!"

"'s not something you gotta worry about with lustrous ore, shiela."

Yuna flinched from the X-transceiver. So, either Gene gave Jaeger one or he was borrowing somebody's. Either way, she hardly found it reassuring. "Is this another 'trust me' thing?"

"Nah. Charged lustrous ore can only link two similar locations together."

Widget clicked his tongue. "Well, by that logic, then this just links to another destroyed planet and we're wasting our time!"

"Think a bit smaller, mate," Jaeger said. "What's the immediate area around the ore look like?"

"Uhh... some crispy slabs of wall, I guess." Widget hovered closer. "Maybe this was the corner of a building at one point."

"Then the corner of a building is what'll await on the other side. Can't give you anything beyond that, 'm afraid. You'll have to take the plunge for yourself."

Yuna eyed the lustrous ore skeptically. Take the plunge, huh?

She saw the curious glint in Leo's eyes. There was no stopping the fake dreepy, but she could at least make sure everyone was ready.

"Leo seems raring to see what happens." Yuna sighed. "Is everyone good?"

Everyone else nodded. Yuna nodded at Leo. "Go ahead, then. Just be gentle with it, ok—"

The fake dreepy headbutted the lustrous ore. Ripples of warm light washed over Yuna and, within seconds, the dark debris filled disappeared.

There was a rush of purple light, followed by bright sunshine. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and threw her arms over them.

"Sheesh!" Nikki groaned. "Talk about suddenly turning up the lights."

"I like it," Leo chirped. "Warm, happy sun. And so many big, happy, sun-eating panels!"

"What?" Yuna vigorously rubbed her eyes until she could open them without feeling like someone was holding her head over Noctum's tail flame.

The bright sunlight made the vibrant city surrounding them crystal clear. They were, indeed, by the corner of a building. Large, tall, and mostly made of glass. Similar glass buildings sprouted from a ground full of moving walkways and strange, blue-purple panels that the sunlight glistened against. A lot of the buildings around them had similar panels. Especially taller ones. Yuna even spotted windmills in the distance, sitting facing rippling water. A herd of hoppip, skiploom, and jumpluff drifted around the nearest windmill.

"Whoa," was all Yuna could manage. "This is... a lot bigger than the last place." She blinked quickly. "Oh, right, yeah, what are these panels?"

"Solar panels." Widget walked in front of the drakloak. He now looked like the pictures of the generic type: full units that Gene had shown her. "That and the windmills. Looks like this place runs off renewable energy."

"That's a pretty big body of water off in the distance." Nikki walked next to Widget, stretching out her arms. "Another coastal city, then?"

[Hello, teleporting visitors!]

"Eep!" Yuna's head sucked up her body at the unfamiliar, robotic voice. She had half a mind to dive into a nearby, rectangular bush, but remembered Leo was riding on her head. The drakloak collected herself and turned toward the voice.

She recognized the rotom's grin, big eyes, and staticky aura. But its bulbous head and the tiny circles underneath it weren't any form she had seen before.

"A rotom drone?" Nikki scratched her head. "Can we, uh, help you?"

[No, no. I am here to help you!] It lifted its circles up and down energetically. [I am Dronetom C-381 and it is my job to welcome visitors to LaRousse City, today's land of tomorrow!]

C-381 drifted away and shot up tiny sparks like they were pieces of confetti. It projected letters overhead spelling out LAROUSSE CITY.

Leo nudged his head into Yuna's view. "We don't have to tip him, do we?" the fake dreepy whispered. "I don't have money. And I don't think our money is good here."

[First things first.] C-381 stopped shooting off sparks and hovered back toward them. [It appears you can all talk! You must have studied under a truly great psychic.] The dronetom projected applause at them.

Even here, huh? Yuna did her best not to fidget. She figured a rotom would brush it off since it was a fellow a pokémon, but it was perfectly possible for most of the pokémon around to be ferals.

[Do you have a trainer?] C-381 asked. [I do not see—]

"Yo."

If she hadn't heard Cyril's voice, Yuna would have meeped at the dark-skinned, blue-haired man wearing a blue and purple tie-dye sweater. The drakloak wondered if he had brought a spare Morph-O-Tron with him and not told the team.

[Ah, hello, Mr. Trainer!] C-381 wiggled its circles excitedly. [Welcome to LaRousse City! I do not see your face in our systems. Would you like me to print you a LaRousse Badge? It is your one-stop shop to accessing all of the fine amenities of our delightful city.]

"What's it cost?" Cyril wondered, his hands firmly in the sweater pockets.

[It is complimentary!] C-381 generated more applause. [Ah, but you do have to pay to access our many attractions.]

Leo's head shot up at the mention of attractions. "Oooh, like fun and games stuff?" He clapped his fake dreepy hands together.

[Fun! Games! Arts! Sciences! Battling! Contest Spectaculars!] The dronetom spun about, buzzing excitedly. [LaRousse City has it all! We are the capital of Hoenn for a reason!]

"Hoenn, huh?" Gene's voice crackled through Yuna's X-transceiver. "Sounds a lot more... centralized than what's on our Earth. Hoenn was always pretty spread out. Encouraging trainers to make the most of the 'land of too much water.'"

"That does sound like a lot." Cyril scratched his chin. "I can take a badge for starters, yeah."

[Excellent! I am happy to assist!] C-381 hovered closer to Cyril. [If I could just scan their balls for your badge.]

"Ah, yeah. Not gonna work." Cyril pulled his right hand out of his sweater pocket, showing a card with some sort of stylus insignia on it.

Yuna squinted. Had Cyril prepared that for his human disguise?

"I can't say I've heard of a Ranger Union before," Reshiram said. "But that's a pretty big risk to take. We don't even know if those exist here!"

[Oh, a pokémon ranger. My apologies.] C-381 looked at the others. [Is this trip for business or pleasure?]

"Business, actually." Cyril put the card away. "We're trying to find space-time anomalies and we think one might be here."

C-381 said nothing. When the dronetom back away, Yuna stiffened, worrying Cyril had gotten too forward with it.

However, its head started spinning around. [Checking... checking...]

Its head stopped revolving. [Bzzt. I am not seeing any reports of anything suspicious beyond littering and graffiti.] It hovered back toward Cyril and opened its mouth. A plastic square popped out. [Here is your badge.]

"Thanks." Cyril took the square and put it in his pocket. "And nothing suspicious, huh? Got a question for you, then."

[A question? Oh, yay!] The dronetom's head resumed revolving. [I love questions!]

"Any of these attractions you mentioned do anything space-timey?" Cyril wondered. "Like a planetarium or a history museum or—"

C-381's eyes lit up excitedly. [If it's science you want, the LaRousse Learnatorium is the place for you!]

Yuna could see the interest drain from Nikki's face like mead guzzled from a frothy mug.

[It gets rave reviews. Five stars in every travel guidebook around,] C-381 chirped, hovering around Cyril. [You won't find a better science museum on the planet.]

"Who calls a science museum a 'Learnatorium?'" Rayquaza scoffed. "That doth not even sound like a real word!"

"I think it's catchy!"
Reshiram said, the fluffy end of his turbine tail wagging in Yuna's mind.

The dronetom stopped in front of Cyril's illusory human face, expression growing stoic. [All-access day passes start at fifteen thousand yen. Card only. No refunds or blackout dates.]

Alarm briefly flashed across his face. "I see." Cyril scratched his chin. "I don't suppose there are any sweepstakes or giveaways going on for tickets, are there?"

Nikki and Widget exchanged incredulous looks.

[I do not see any listed.] C-381 bowed its small head apologetically. [Do you have any more questions?]

"Thaaaaat about covers it." Cyril waved it off.

[Wonderful!] C-381's head glowed and produced outlines of stars over its head. [Now, if you had to rate this experience on a scale of one to five, one being—]

"Five stars." Cyril abruptly draped an arm over an uncomfortable-looking Widget. "Now, come on, team, we've got a city to explore!" he declared with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Yuna shot after the rest of the team. She didn't even hear whatever farewell C-381 had for them.

"Seriously? A sweepstakes?" Nikki shook her head disapprovingly. "We don't have time to go about entering giveaways! Or visiting tourist attractions, for that matter!"

"Thought it was best to keep playing along," Cyril said, shrugging. He stepped onto a moving walkway with the others. Thinking quickly, Yuna flew onto Widget's head crest so she wouldn't have to keep hovering after them.

"What's with the kooky getup, anyway?" Nikki flicked her hands between her face and torso. "You take one of your weird disguise thingies."

"I think he's doing it himself, actually," Leo chirped.

Cyril rubbed the back of his head. "Something tells me you have to share the credit for that one, kiddo."

Yuna tensed up. "R-Really?"

"Whatever he did to make me look all starry... gave me proper zoroark powers, I guess?" Cyril held up a finger, which shifted back to a yellow claw, then back to a dark-skinned finger. "If I think about it hard enough... poof. It happens." Back to claw, then back to finger.

"Oooh. Wow, that's cool!" Leo bounced up and down on Yuna's head. "Maybe I'll learn to do that and not need to wear the silly belt."

"Wouldn't count on it, kiddo." Cyril chuckled. "Anyway, it's best I stay like this for now." He straightened up. "I do think that science museum is a good place to start if we're hunting anomalies."

"So, it's a nerd scavenger hunt, then?" Nikki pinched her brow. "Grrreeeeeeat. Soooo glad I volunteered for this."

"Aww, c'mon." Yuna wanted to float to the toxtricity side, but realized she was still on Widget's head. The drakloak noticed a glass-paned handrail that moved in time with the walkway. She floated up to Nikki and landed on it.

"It's not so bad. Maybe there'll, uh, be free food?"

Nikki stopped walking. She leaned against the handrail. "Free food? Tempting."

Cyril quirked a fake purple eyebrow. "Weren't you snacking on a whole bunch of fries earlier?"

"Yup. And I burned through that already." The toxtricity stretched her arms above her head and cracked her knuckles. "Perks of being electric, I guess."

"I feel like that's not how calorimetry works." Cyril chuckled.

"Oh, hey, look!" Leo stuck his arm in front of Yuna's head. "Is that the science place up there? On the big screen?"

There were several big screens attached to the buildings at the upcoming crosswalk. Some people watched them while others moved past, stepping from one moving walkway to another. A few showed some seafood dishes with a nice looking golden sauce on them. But one had a man in a lab coat with a long, bright blue ponytail that matched his button-down shirt.

"Routine got you in a slump? In need of a little deep brain stimulation?" He squeezed his index fingers against his temples. "Or perhaps your pocket change is weighing you down a bit too much?" Bronze, silver, and gold coins trickled down behind him.

"Then the LaRousse Learnatorium is here to help!"

Rapid-fire footage flickered across the monitor, from a large rampardos skeleton to a small wind vortex seemingly supported by nothing at all, to a bunch of spinning wheels with water flowing through them and multiple lightbulbs turning on in succession.

The man reappeared, waving to the camera. "Hi, I'm Dr. Tory Lund, co-founder of the LaRousse Learnatorium, where we make science fun for the whole family!"

The advertisement shifted to multiple human kids and their parents gathered around a large gray table where someone in a lab coat was attaching various metal objects to magnemite and magneton. Some kids clapped while others tugged at their parents' arms.

"Ugh. Barf." Nikki put her hands on her hips. "Is it too late to go back to the blown up planet?"

Dr. Lund then proceeded down a pristine white hallway. "We offer a wide assortment of activities and exhibits from some of the greatest minds across the globe!"

He passed by a portrait of a man whose hair was suspiciously pyroarish. "From the beautiful works of Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City—"

Dr. Lund next passed a blonde-haired man with a bizarre ring of blue hair going around his head. Like the ring of a planet. "To the technological marvels of P2 Laboratories, like the helper silvally you see all around the city."

Yuna nearly tumbled off Widget's head when he suddenly turned. Grabbing the upper part of his head crest, she noticed two pokémon identical to Widget's current form on the moving walkway behind the team. Each had an orange vest with "Licensed Service Silvally" embroidered on it, alongside a red X over a human hand. Probably an encouragement not to pet.

"Silvally?" Widget mumbled.

"Wait, what?!"

Cyril's sudden gasp prompted Yuna to turn around. The advertisement showed two gigantic metal cylinders facing one another on opposite walls.

"And no trip to the Learnatorium is complete without seeing our most treasured exhibit," Dr. Lund continued. "The Cozmo-Lund Large Hadron Collider!"

"Large Hadron?" Nikki snorted. "What, were small and medium hadrons not enough for the— ow!"

Cyril stepped on the toxtricity's right foot. "It's exactly like Kalidron IV's supercollider."

"Come and witness the marvels of dimensionality for yourselves!" Dr. Lund declared, as the advertisement swapped to the museum entrance: a large, glass wall with various metal sculptures lining the walkway toward it. "Visit the LaRousse Learnatorium today. Tickets can be purchased from any available LaRousse rotom drone.

"The LaRousse Learnatorium, where science becomes spectacular!"


"Guess now we really have to go there, huh?" Nikki said, rubbing the back of her head.

"I'll say." Cyril pressed his right hand against the side of his illusory head. "Yo, Boss Kitty. Did you hear any of that?"

"Hear any of what?" Gene responded.

"The other side of the rift has a supercollider of its own," Cyril said. "We might still be able to do your plan."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Yuna switched her X-transceiver off and hovered back into the air. You guys are bothered by it too, right?

"What?"
Reshiram replied.

That there's a collider here. The drakloak recalled what Jaeger said about the lustrous ore and how it only linked similar-appearing environments. You don't suppose the lustrous ore linked us here because of it, do you?

Reshiram hummed in thought. "I mean... maybe? But there was a rift before there was lustrous ore, right?"

"Verily!"
Rayquaza chirped. "And the last rift doth linked a volcanic land with another volcanic land. Mayhaps the rift linked Kalidron to this place because of the similarity?"

Yuna squirmed uneasily. Last time, the core of the anomaly was right over the volcano. If she followed the Sages' logic, then...

"Um, Cyril?" The drakloak floated over to him. "I'm worried this side of the anomaly might be the collider in the museum."

"How so?" Nikki asked, to which Yuna relayed her brief conversation with the Sages. The toxtricity crossed her arms. "Yeah, I could see how that might be a problem. What's the play, then?"

"Dispel the anomaly first, obviously," Yuna said.

"But Mom, when we do that, we'll get sent home right away," Leo noted, floating off Yuna's head and looking between her and Cyril. "So, we won't get to use the collider thingy."

"Maybe fixing the anomaly will fix Kalidron IV?" Cyril said, shrugging. "At the very least, Boss Kitty's having a couple of your buddies get ready to bring us the Red Chain fragment. We'll head back to our world through the lustrous ore, get the fragment, then come back here and scout out the museum. Sound like a plan?"

Information gathering, then. Yuna didn't see a problem with that. And holding onto the fragment was probably the best idea, just in case they could get an opportunity to actually use the collider.

"Sounds reasonable." The drakloak motioned for Leo to rejoin her and the fake dreepy hovered toward her. "The fragment might actually be able to help us find the anomaly."

Cyril tilted his head and crossed his arms. "Huh. It did react to Sigurd's fragment."

"And we freed him from an anomaly," Leo chirped. "It's all connected!" He did jazz hands.

"Maybe." Cyril tapped an illusory human finger against his arm. "We'll want to keep it hidden, though. Can't have people getting too suspicious, right?"

"I got my jacket pockets." Nikki turned one inside out, revealing bits of string and lint that drifted toward the ground. "Whoops. Thought I'd cleaned that out."

"Do you even wash that jacket?" Cyril wondered.

"And ruin the leather?" Nikki scoffed.

"It's called a washcloth and air drying," Cyril countered.

Nikki raised her right index finger, then froze with her mouth open. She lowered her hand. "Touché. Maybe I'll think about it once we're done nerding it up or whatever."

Cyril pressed his right hand against his fake human ear. "They left already? Okay. We'll double back and meet them—"

"We don't have to do that," Widget cut in. He pointed a foreleg ahead of him. The moving walkway heading north ended by a streetlight with a lustrous ore crystal embedded in the middle of it. People were stopping to take pictures of themselves in front of the crystal. Yuna vaguely recalled Jade mentioning something about "selfies."

Still, as convenient as it looked, Yuna didn't like it. "I'd rather double back." She rubbed her right shoulder. "It's kinda sitting out in the open? Everyone will see us strike it and disappear."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that hasn't happened to someone already." Chuckling, Nikki shook her head. "Gotta figure a kid would try hitting it and get schlorped it."

"Which would mean they'd appear in the vacuum of Eternatus' innards... and pop like a fleshy balloon," Reshiram grimly said.

Yuna winced. Why would you say that out loud?!

"Technically you're the only one hearing i—"

Do I not count in this scenario?!


Reshiram flinched in the back of the drakloak's mind. "Sorry."

"Okay. Double back, then." Widget shrugged. "I'm staying here, though."

"What?" Yuna squinted. "What for?"

Widget looked over his shoulder. "I just... need to do something. But we've got X-transceivers, so I'll catch up with you guys when I'm done."

Yuna frowned. This was about the service silvally, wasn't it? "You want to track down those pokémon that look like you."

"Yes, I do."

At least Widget wasn't trying to hide it.

"It's not dangerous or anything," the type: full continued. "Can you really blame me? Fath—"

Widget flinched. "Th-the emperor... built me. For a specific reason that... I doubt is truly good." He turned away from the others. "I need to talk to them."

And he stepped onto the northbound moving walkway before anyone could offer a retort.

Cyril headed for the opposite walkway, shaking his head. "We'll see him later, then. Or we'll fix the anomaly and he'll just get warped back with us. Right, kiddo?"

"Yep!" Leo tapped the top of Yuna's rectangular head. "As long as Mr. Anomaly and I are on the same page."

Chuckling, Yuna switched back on her X-transceiver, only to immediately recoil from Valkyrie's harsh tone.

"What the hell's taking you so long?! We're under attack over here!"

XxX​

In some ways, the planetary debris reminded Noctum of home. Dark skies. Little light. Weirdly shaped slabs of rock scattered about as far as the eye can see.

Of course, there was a lot more ground to stand on back home. And here, Noctum felt as light as a feather.

He turned to Valkyrie. "So, we give them this fossilized fragment, then head back to the outpost?"

"I guess so." The garchomp stood atop some pile of melted metal slag, looking around for any signs of Team Bastion. "Sounds like they found another supercollider on the other side of the lustrous ore."

Noctum blinked. He hadn't heard the X-transceiver exchange when it happened. "That so? Huh." The black charizard scratched his chin. "You don't find that a bit too convenient? Like worryingly so?"

"I do." Valkyrie didn't budge from her spot. "But it sounded like they don't plan on trying anything with it unless they're sure it's safe to do so."

"That's good." Noctum put his hand on his chest. He knew Yuna wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, but it wouldn't be like her to suggest something that reckless. Maybe Nikki suggested it and Yuna found a happy medium?

"Where are they?" Valkyrie growled. She tapped her right claw against the top of the slag pile. "It sounded like they were already on their way back here when Gene got us suited up."

Noctum shrugged. "Who knows how long it takes this lustrous ore stuff to w—"

"INCOMING!"

Valkyrie leaped from the top of her slag pile, gliding toward Noctum. Seconds later, a large water torrent struck the slag pile. Yelping, Noctum flew away from the rubble.

"What the heck?" The black charizard looked in the direction of the attack. "That was the biggest Hydro Pump I've ever seen! Don't tell me the empire's here!"

As if to respond, a loud bell echoed in the distance, followed by a chorus of uproarious laughter. Another giant Hydro Pump shot toward Noctum. Fortunately, it was far enough away that Noctum could easily fly above it.

"What the hell's taking you so long?!" Valkyrie snarled, drifting through open space toward a smaller chunk of floating debris. "We're under attack over here!"

"Seriously?" The X-transceiver muffled Seifer's nervous whinnies. "From who?"

Flying toward Valkyrie, Noctum squinted. Was he seeing... some sort of flying boat?

... Yes, it was! There were masts and black sails proudly emblazoned with white marowak skulls and crossbones. But also big mechanical thrusters and large metal cylinders on the deck that vaguely resembled the super scope lenses in Cyril's pizza truck.

"Oh hon hon hon hon!"

Noctum frowned. Was that voice familiar?

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." Valkyrie facepalmed. "Here? Now? I thought Gene had taken care of that idiot!"

A much smaller ship flew toward the two of them, only large enough to hold a single passenger. A single chatot passenger.

"Well, well." Gilbert slowly extended his right wing. "It would seem fate has brought us togezzer again, Mademoiselle Chomp."

"You're that pirate guy!" Noctum realized, pointing accusingly at Gilbert. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Gilbert pointed to the fossilized fragment in the black charizard's right hand. "Taking your treasure in ze name of mon capitaine!"

"That so?" Valkyrie spat tiny dragonfire embers in Gilbert's direction. "Then fate must really like seeing you get your tailfeathers kicked in."

Gilbert's grin abruptly turned to a frown. His feathers fluffed up. "Rrrraaarrgh!" The chatot spun around. "Yoohoo! Pirate mateys? Attaque, s'il vous plaît!"

His ship zoomed off and, next thing Noctum knew, he was staring down the barrel of three incoming Hydro Pumps.

XxX​

GL Exploration Log: LaRousse City, Hoenn (Dimension POV-2004)
Honestly? My head's still spinning from this place. I'll just let the brochure do the talking for me.

"This dazzling epicenter of the scientific world serves as the capital of the Hoenn region and home of the Pokémon League and Contest Spectacular Circuit Grand Festival! Both titles that were absolutely earned and totally, definitely not wrestled away from Evergrande and Lilycove Cities in political power plays fostered by the runaway tourism and viewership successes of the small island's Battle Frontier. Despite the abundant recreational opportunities for pokémon-lovers the world over, LaRousse City has always stood at the precipice of scientific progress. For many years, it held the record for the longest overseas vehicle bridge, connecting it with Lilycove City for fast and easy commuting. Not ones to rest on their laurels, the city's esteemed civil engineering teams went about building up city infrastructure with moving walkways and the automated Block Bot system. When Team Magma attempted to exploit a fatal security flaw in the Block Bots to wreak havoc on the city, those in charge retired the system in favor of a combination of porygon digital assistants and rotom-powered machinery.

Turning their attention outward, engineering teams used the Unova region's Marine Tunnel as a blueprint to devise eastern Hoenn's world-renowned Aquatic Subway, an undersea highway system connecting LaRousse City to Mossdeep, Evergrande, and Sootopolis. The success brought a wave of eager young minds to the city. The local university expanded into the LaRousse Institute of Technology (LRIT) we all know and love today.

Of course, ask anyone in the scientific community what drives them to visit LaRousse and the answer is simple: the Cozmo-Lund Large Hadron Collider, an inter-regional collaboration project headed by LRIT alumni Takao Cozmo, Ph.D. and Tory Lund, Ph.D., with the assistance of researchers from Alola's Hokulani Space Center, Hoenn's Aqua-Magma Geoplanetary Consortium, Kalos' Lysandre Labs, Paldea's Sada-Turo Research Institute, and Unova's P2 Laboratory. The advances in particle physics brought on by the collider's rigorous tests allowed us to permanently solve the issue of Ultra Wormholes, forever protecting our planet from the terrifying scourge of Ultra Beasts and wormhole-deploying threats like Team Rainbow Rocket.

With its primary purpose fulfilled, the LHC predominantly serves as a tourist attraction, stationed at the LaRousse Learnatorium Science Center. We're told the kids love it, even though they have absolutely no idea what it is!"


XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
LaRousse City is the setting for Destiny Deoxys, which was originally released in Japan in 2004, hence the dimension number. One of the main movie-exclusive characters Ash befriends is a child named Tory Lund. It would seem that, in this universe, he's all grown up and as work-obsessed as his dad was in the movie.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 67: Blinding Me With Science

Entry 1093
I don't know who he is, but I hate him.

I only saw him briefly. Didn't even speak to him. But he gives off light just like I do. Light stuffed inside some vaguely canine body.

And that light...

Something about his aura just set me off.

I tried to attack him. Next thing I knew I was buried under a pile of glowing hexagons. Blasted zygarde. Cowards ganged up on me.

I still sense him here, though. They're dangling him in front of me like a rotten piece of meat.

Next time I see him, I'll blow that goofy smile off his face.

Entry 1096
I saw him again. Things went... poorly.

I'm still shaking. It's a struggle to write this out.

It's one thing for multiple powerful legends to overwhelm you. But for one guy— one
stupid necrozma with the dumbest look on his weird mutt-bird face to inflict such raw, agonizing pain? It's unfathomable. Never has a single blow wrought so much harm.

One strike. It was just one strike.

Yet it was as if he had
ripped my soul right out of my body. I'm not even sure he intended to do that, because he quickly undid it. I'll never forget the agony of those few seconds of separation, however. The helplessness. The despair. I can never let myself get put in that position again.

But I can't let go of that feeling. Not if I'm going to make that power my own.

I don't care how long it takes to learn it. I will. Might makes right. With a power like that, no one will ever betray me again.


XxX​

Yuna wasn't sure how to prepare for being under fire by space pirates. Fortunately, it appeared that all the giant water bursts and huge icy torrents were focused away from the debris chunk the lustrous ore warped them back to. She peered out from a tangled mess of rock and slag to see the ships a couple of hundred meters away. One of them had blastoise standing at the edge of the deck, their cannons attached to much larger cannons that made their Hydro Pumps far bigger than even the best dragalgae and goodra in Aeon's army.

"What is ze matter, Mademoiselle Chomp? All out of witty comebacks?"

The drakloak didn't recognize the chatot perched on the highest sail, somehow projecting his obnoxious, nasally voice.

"Come to think of it, you guys needed special thingamajiggies to come here," Reshiram pointed out. "What's the deal with the pirates?"

Yuna relayed Reshiram's thought to the others.

"They must have some sort of field around their ships," Cyril said. He remained in his human guise, crouching by the lustrous ore. "Doesn't matter. We need to get the fragment from the others."

"Why doesn't Princess just open a rift to them, then?" Nikki suggested, jerking her head in Yuna's direction.

"I mean... that's reasonable, but it doesn't stop them from firing," Yuna replied. She poked her head back up again. Neither Noctum nor Valkyrie could get a single attack in. The two pirate ships alternated Hydro Pumps and Blizzards. They had managed to freeze over some of the debris fragments. Just how much did those cannons amplify their attacks?

"Then let's call in reinforcements!" Nikki's mohawk sparked. She pressed her right hand against her head. "Who's free? We need extra hands, here!"

"There aren't any more of Cyril's astral collars available," Seifer said. "Noctum and Valkyrie took the last ones."

"What about Boss Kitty?" Nikki growled.

"Yeah, what about him?"

Sighing, Cyril braced himself against the rubble by the lustrous ore. "C'mon, Gene, you and I both know that the Blackskull Buccaneers crashing the party means the empire doesn't want to touch this place with a twenty meter stick."

"Huh. He actually called him 'Gene,'" Reshiram noted. "Must be serious."

But simple conversation wasn't helping Noctum out. Yuna saw a Hydro Pump clip Noctum's wing. He tumbled away from Valkyrie, bouncing off one large strip of metal and veering toward another.

She couldn't wait for Gene. Noctum needed help now.

The drakloak zipped over to Nikki. "You want to contribute, right?"

"Is this some kind of trick?" The toxtricity quirked her brow.

"Ready an electric attack," Yuna whispered. "Your strongest one."

"Ready it for what?"

"To blow those ships off course."

Yuna rubbed her hands together. Rayquaza, I'm going to need a little wind for this one. She paused. Or actually a lot of wind.

"Say no more, Princess! Thine wish is my command!"


"Leo, get off my head and stay with Cyril, okay?" she instructed.

The fake dreepy obliged and Yuna floated away from them, recalling how she directed Rayquaza to conjure large twisters when facing down Chernabog.

Once she was in open space a good enough distance from the others, Yuna spread her hands out. Focusing on Rayquaza and their connection, she clapped her hands together.

Nothing happened at first. Yuna's face scrunched up. "C'mon. C'mon." She squeezed her hands tighter against one another. Within a few seconds, inky shadows pooled in the middle of her hands.

Perfect. Now, Rayquaza!

Yuna thrust her hands apart. Shadowy flecks drifted in front of her and her Soul Dew briefly glistened. A large tornado whipped up in front of her. The drakloak looked over her shoulder toward the others.

Fortunately, Nikki decided Yuna's tornado was the signal. The toxtricity jumped onto a pile of rubble and strummed her gills, creating large shockwaves. They struck the tornado, turning it into a mix of fierce wind and lightning.

Several pirates on the nearest ship spotted the lightning tornado. Frantic pointing and shouting ensued. The bulky floatzel at the wheel quickly spun it while a pair of armaldo next to it pulled levers and the thrusters roared to life.

Yuna's tornado was faster. It descended on the ship within seconds, causing it to spin about and strike the other ship that had come with it.

"S-Sacré bleu!" Chatot managed to fly off the first ship's mast in time, but his underlings were less fortunate. Many were thrown off the ship and sent careening through open space.

"Noctum, quick!" Yuna said, hoping the charizard's X-transceiver was on. She focused on the scorched metal wall Noctum desperately clung to and conjured a small rift. To her delight, a second rift opened right next to Noctum. Yuna stuck her arm through it and opened her hand. "Gimme the fragment!"

"W-What just happened?" Noctum blinked rapidly.

"No time to explain." Yuna poked Noctum's armored belly. "Give it here."

"R-Right."

The moment Yuna felt something rough and pointy in her hand, she pulled it back through the tiny rift and shut it. She confirmed it was the Red Chain fragment, then squished it against her torso until it was floating inside her ectoplasm.

"I've got the fragment! Let's move," she announced, darting back toward the rest of the team.

"Oi, the wind be coming from that way!"

Squeaking, Yuna forced herself into a Quick Attack to fly behind piles of twisted metal rubble. An ursaring pirate floating through space, pointed near where Yuna had just been. Two staraptor close to him flapped their wings, peppering the area with Air Slash crescents.

On the planet fragment, Cyril waved Yuna over, still crouching by the lustrous ore. He held Leo in his arms.

"Okay. Back to LaRousse we go," he said, reaching toward the lustrous ore. "You coming, Nikki?"

"Nah, I'm staying here." The toxtricity smacked her gills, sending another shockwave toward one of the staraptor. "If they find the lustrous ore, they'll chase after you guys, right? You need a distraction. At least until Boss Kitty decides to get off his ass."

Lightning crackling around her feet, she leaped off the rubble and flipped upside down. The electricity drew Nikki toward large sheets of metal floating past the planet fragment. "Hey, Long John Loser! Looking for me?"

"That lass cooked me keister!" Staraptor squawked, pointing to his singed tailfeathers. "Let's skewer her, mateys!"

Yuna wanted to protest, but the sight soon disappeared in a rush of blue and purple light as Cyril touched the lustrous ore and sent her away from the skirmish.

XxX​

It was one thing to look at a city from a distance. It was another thing entirely to actually navigate a large city. During his "upbringing," Widget had plenty of cityscape footage put into his databanks. Probably from Troopers or various assistants moving through Eterna City with cameras strapped to them.

Widget kept his eyes firmly fixed ahead of him, as he had since they'd arrived here. The group meetings he'd gotten dragged to were crash courses in being around other people. This was different. Humans and pokémon of different shapes and sizes passed by with every second.

He had to ignore them, though. Those service silvally were long gone and he didn't have all the time in the world to waste on trying to track them down. Maybe some of the street signs at the moving walkway intersections could point him in the right direction?

Widget got off the moving walkway and approached an electronic sign listing a variety of different places with arrows to indicate their directions. Shopping outlets and restaurants. The pier for the Battle Frontier ferry. A plethora of restaurants. And—

Ah, there! A service silvally station off to the west.

Station made Widget think of transit, but maybe it was something else in this context. He trotted to the westward moving walkway and headed along it.

There were glass buildings interspersed with boutique stores and restaurants. Mannequins modeled the latest styles, from sun dresses with soft ocean blues to shorts that were entirely too, well, short for Widget's liking. His old files had said some people — humans in particular — dressed that way to attract mates. The type: full couldn't understand how barely covering a backside could attract a mate, but he was built to be a hero, not fall in love.

He was so engrossed with the short shorts he hadn't realized the moving walkway ended until its edge clipped one of his right talons. Squawking, Widget hopped off. Various sized humans looked at him. Some wingull on the streetlights honked with laughter.

Cheek bolts burning from embarrassment, Widget kept his head down and followed a sign pointing down a side road.

Things had moved so fast he hadn't had the time to process the changes Leo brought out beyond just a starry pelt. His voice had grown more organic. Having thoughts was less about pulling files out of the databanks his fath— the emperor had carefully curated, and more about just thinking.

The sudden transition should have been jarring enough to shock Widget's systems. Yet here he was, trying to track down some other pokémon just like him.

He didn't have to walk much farther to find the station and confirm the descriptor was surprisingly accurate. It was built like a bus or train station, with metal guard rails, glass panels full of instructions and rules, and automated kiosks for transactions.

The difference was the open field behind it. A dozen of these silvally meandered about. Some got water from a communal watering pool while others ate from silver dishes. A few even sat next to each other in the corner of the field. Wires connected their cheek bolts to an electric socket.

Widget stood there, pondering his next move. Obviously, going up to the kiosk wasn't an option. The fencing hardly made much of a barrier, though. So, Widget trotted up to a couple of silvally sitting next to each other on the opposite side.

[—since your last job?] one silvally asked.

The other tilted their head. [A week. But I have a good feeling something's coming soon.]

That metallic backing to their voices was oh so familiar to Widget. He did his best not to flinch. Just needed to be friendly. "Hi there," he chirped. "Any chance you've, uh, got a moment to chat?"

The two silvally's white fur stuck up. They looked at Widget in unison, then back at each other, then back at Widget.

[Who are you?]

"I'm, uh, new in town." Widget slowly wagged his fish tail. That would show he was friendly, right?

[Serial number?] the other silvally asked. Both of their eyes flickered to circular loading icons.

Widget did his best not to tense. Lying wasn't going to earn their trust. "I'm... W1-DG3T. But you can call me Widget."

Both silvally's loading icons disappeared. They squinted at Widget. [Your serial number is not on our server. Are you a bootleg?]

"Bootleg?" Widget was hurt, though he supposed by this dimension's standards that could have been true. "N-No. I'm just... not from LaRousse. I'm with the rangers."

[You should still be in our system,] they said in unison. [All silvally are connected through RKSnet.]

The silvally on the left frowned. [If you are a bootleg, you should let us evaluate you.]

"I'm not a bootleg!" Widget knew that getting defensive wasn't going to help his case, but he couldn't compete with their programming. And the last thing he needed to do was make things harder for the rest of Team Bastion.

But he had to get them talking. Widget lay down on his belly — an attempt at coming across as docile — and tucked his head down. "If I tell you guys the truth, will you hear me out?"

Both silvally exchanged concerned looks. [Are you confessing to something worse than being a bootleg?]

"I— no, that's not it." Widget's fur stood on end. It was sounding more like he'd walked himself into an interrogation. "I'm from another dimension, okay?"

Silence. Widget looked up at the other two silvally and their expressions remained neutral. They were well-trained... or was it well-programmed? Either way, the revelation hadn't startled either of them.

[That is also something we're supposed to report,] one of them said.

The other bobbed their head. [The world has been free of dimensional breeches for seven years, eight months, six days, twelve hours, forty minutes, and seventeen seconds.] They paused. [Eighteen seconds. Nineteen—]

"I get the picture," Widget said, rising back to a seated position. "All I'm asking is you not follow those protocols for just a little bit. Please?"

Even though Widget wasn't asking the questions he wanted to, he was getting the answers he sought. Indirectly, of course. But still concerning.

Both silvally looked at each other for a while. One turned back to Widget. [Would you say that us not reporting you will be... helpful?]

"Yes. Helpful to me and my friends."

[Oh. Are your friends bootlegs, too?] the other silvally asked.

"No. They're other pokémon," Widget said. "And we're traveling here for business. That's all I can really say."

[I see.] The second silvally slowly bobbed their head. [Our priority first and foremost is helping people who need assistance. So, I suppose in that sense, we can look the other way. But if an administrator combs through our logs—]

"I should be long gone by then." Widget waved them off with his right foreleg. "I just... really needed to see you guys." He paused, glancing around the field. A few silvally were staring, while others minded their own business. One was sleeping awkwardly on their side, legs stuck up in the air.

"Well, not you two, specifically. Just the service silvally in general."

One of the silvally rested their head on the fence. [What for? Our programming doesn't allow us to fall in love or anything, so if you were looking for a partner—]

"N-No. Nooo way." Widget's cheek bolts went bright red. He almost scooted back from the silvally. "It's more like, uh, seeing you guys is making me grapple with my own creation?"

The second silvally rested their head next to their buddy. [Are you asking us to deduce your reasoning?]

Tittering, Widget shook his head. "Sorry. Nerves."

Except he wasn't supposed to get nervous. And that was the problem.

"It's just..." Widget's voice trailed off and he shuddered.

Deep breath. Keep it simple. That was all Widget had to do.

"Are you two... happy?"

The silvally tilted their heads in unison. [I don't understand the question,] one said.

[We are programmed to help. We enjoy helping,] the other added.

Widget pawed nervously at the asphalt. Sure, that was what they said, but did they really feel that way? Or were they programmed for that? Like how he was programmed to think he would save everyone living in Eternatus.

"Okay." Another deep breath. "What if you were suddenly freed from your programming? What would you do?"

Silence. Both silvally fixed expressionless gazes on Widget. Perhaps they were even looking through the type: full.

[Illogical,] one finally said.

[Our programming is flawless,] the other agreed. [Even if there was a lapse, helping humans is all I've done since my activation. It's what I know. So, I would keep doing that.]

The first silvally frowned. [Why are you so fixated on this? Is it because you're broken? Your vocal processors lack that kick silvally should have.]

Widget tensed up. "I'm—"

But the words wouldn't come out. How could he explain his situation in a way their highly specified parameters could understand?

"I was more like you guys before," Widget mumbled. "But the person who made me... filled my programming with a lot of lies. He made me think I was helping people, when the reality is I would have done harm to a lot of people if someone hadn't stopped me.

"And the only reason I know that is because someone freed me from his programming," he continued. "But something still feels wrong. Like I'm flying blindly and going to crash into something." Widget shook his head. "When I saw there were pokémon here that looked like me, I thought maybe they could help me come to terms with this."

Both silvally perked their heads up at the mention of helping Widget.

[You need help coming to terms with a loss?] one asked.

[Grief is complex. Everyone experiences it differently,] the other added.

Widget swallowed hard. Grief? No, that wasn't the right word. He hadn't really lost anything, right? A flawed worldview didn't count. It couldn't count.

... Right?

"I didn't lose anyone, though," Widget mumbled.

[Grief can sometimes accompany a large change in one's life,] the first silvally explained. They looked at their companion, who nodded.

[When a major life change happens, one 'loses' a part of themselves,] they said, offering Widget an apologetic look. [Consider retirees, for example. The loss of regular coworker interaction and disruption in someone's routine can trigger bouts of depression.]

Widget sat still. It made sense out loud, but a part of him took offense at getting compared to a retiree. And getting lectured at like he was sitting in a classroom.

Still, the silvally phrased it like they were trying to help. He couldn't spit on their generosity. "What would you recommend for, uh, dealing with this?"

[It helps to have a strong support system,] one of them replied. [And if you don't, even just finding one person you trust and reaching out to them about your situation is a good first step.]

The other silvally nodded. [You can also try to focus on things you can control.]

Widget raised a brow. "Meaning?"

[Tangible activities where you can see the outcomes,] the second silvally said. [You can even set goals for yourself. Would you like some help with that?]

See the outcomes, huh?

Widget tapped his talons against the asphalt. Tap, tap, tap.

Tangible activities. Viewable outcomes.

Well, fighting against the Paradigm and the Phantoms was certainly tangible. And, sure, maybe Widget wasn't the one directly sealing up anomalies. But he could see the results pretty easily.

Doing that would put him on a collision course with Paradox, however. Could Widget really face down his father directly like that?

But I wouldn't be doing it alone. I have a whole team. Fath— Paradox never made a team for me. He said I could do everything myself.

Which ended up being untrue. Gene's team had taken down his giant battle mech. And now he was here.

Exhaling deeply, Widget got back to his feet. "I think... I have my answer."

The two silvally tilted their heads, curious to hear more.

"I know something I can do. And people I can talk to." Widget's cheek bolts slowly turned in their sockets. "We might not... be the closest. But that's more of a reason to reach out to them. Because they can help me. And I want to help them."

He let that hand in the air for a bit. The two silvally's tails wagged in unison and they exchanged quick smiles.

[It sounds like you have a plan,] one said.

The other silvally nodded. [I hope we were of some help to you.]

"Yes, you were." Widget's own tail wagged. "Thank you. Both of you. Now I gotta run... or my, uh, 'pack' will leave without me."

The type— no, the silvally turned and trotted away from the station.

[Enjoy your day,] the service silvally chirped in unison.

"You too!" Widget shouted back. He switched his X-transceiver back on. "Hey, guys, I finished my little errand. Where are you?"

XxX​

"At the museum," Cyril whispered.

"What, already? How?!"

Yuna flinched. She knew her X-transceiver's volume wasn't high enough for anyone to hear but her, yet the utter silence of the dark, empty room she was in put her on edge. The drakloak almost shut the X-transceiver off on instinct.

"Found a loading bay for deliveries," Cyril continued. He beckoned Yuna toward a small door that had some yellow light poking through its edges. "It was as easy as conjuring an illusory veil and following a delivery truck inside."

Despite that "ease," however, Cyril hadn't lowered the veil. He assumed there were security cameras in the spacious bay and, though he might not have been able to see them, Yuna could. Neatly spaced out along the ceiling. Some pointed toward metal wireframe shelves with boxes on it. Others pointed at the large garage doors the trio had gone through.

"Do you think they use this for anything other than food?" Leo wondered. "That seems like a lot of food for a museum."

"Shh." Yuna tapped the fake dreepy's lips with her right hand. "Not now."

"So, how am I supposed to join you guys?"

"What, did the emperor not give you a cloaking device?" Cyril quipped.

"Not funny."

"It's kinda funny," Cyril countered.

"... in a derisive, mocking sort of way," Reshiram added. Yuna pushed him out of her mind and returned to focusing on the small door as it got closer and closer. There was a small black box on the side of it with a tiny red light.

"How far are you from the lustrous ore we used to get here?" Cyril asked, approaching the small box. "If you go there, Yuna can rift you over. We just have to find a restroom."

"A restroom?"

"They don't have cameras," Cyril said. "Call us when you get there." He crouched down slightly and scrutinized the box. "Well, ****. It's an ID card reader."

"What does that mean?" Leo said. "Are we at a dead end?"

"Leeeet's not jump to any conclusions, here." Cyril stood up and scrutinized the door. "Yuna, try seeing if you can phase through it."

"Hmm?" The drakloak blinked. "Oh, duh!"

How long had it been since she'd actually taken advantage of being a ghost, anyway? Yuna supposed it didn't matter. She floated up to it, only to throw a cautious look back at Cyril. "I'm not going to, like, reappear immediately, will I?"

"The veil should be wide enough to cover you through the door," Cyril said. "But you might want to hand over the kid, first."

Leo hopped off Yuna's rectangular head before she could grab him, floating over to Cyril's right shoulder. "Go, Mom!" He waved his hands around like pom-poms.

Nodding, Yuna concentrated. She pressed her hands against the metal and imagined that solid objects were water she could swim through. A thin strip of water, but water nonethele—

The drakloak quickly slipped through the door. Obnoxiously bright, yellow light greeted her. Yuna threw her arm up over her face, hissing. Why did humans need such annoying lights? Were windows not good enough for them?

Once she could see properly, Yuna found the large door handle. "Okay, Cyril, I'm just gonna open it a smidge. Think you can squeeze through?"

"Well, Boss Kitty might think my hips don't lie, but I can manage."

As Yuna reached for the handle, she heard a scoff through the X-transceiver.

"*****, I never said that."

Cyril laughed. "Oh, c'mon, you've totally snuck peeks before."

Gene snorted. "If I didn't have to listen to Gilbert, I'd find that the most offensive thing I've heard today."

Rolling her eyes, Yuna nudged the door open. Cyril managed to slip inside while carrying Leo. "Let's hurry, just in case the door moved enough for the cameras to pick it up."

The trio headed down the long white corridor, eventually finding multiple doors. One had a pane of darkened glass — one-way glass, according to Cyril — that showed a carpeted floor and a red wall with a sign pointing toward different exhibits. The door on the right, however, had what Cyril deemed a restroom sign. And, to his delight, the door opened when he tried the handle.

Inside was empty, save for ceramic tiles on the floors and walls, a sink with a mirror, a second door next to the sink that led the same way as the one heading into the museum, and a small gray cube that had gaps close to the floor and ceiling.

"I don't think we need to go into the stall for this," Cyril said. "You good, Widget?"

"Yeah. Whenever you're ready."

Cyril snapped his fake human fingers at Yuna. The drakloak envisioned their arrival spot and quickly opened a small rift overhead. She floated to the side a second before a squawking Widget fell through it, landing on the floor with a whampf.

"Owww." Widget rubbed his right flank. "Why didn't you let me just walk through it?"

Yuna shrugged. "I thought it'd be less weird if it was in the ground."

"How'd your chat go?" Cyril asked, extending an arm to help Widget back up.

"Decently." Widget stood up and shook himself out. "If it's alright with you guys, can you call me a silvally instead of a type: full? It... suits me better. I think."

"Aww, sounds like someone had themselves a little moment~"

Widget's cheek bolts reddened. "B-Butt out, Gene! Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

"There's always time to tease a silval— whoa, hey, watch it, Zardy!"

"Sorry!"
Noctum squealed.

"Sounds like they've got their hands full over there," Reshiram said.

Yuna again forced his presence out of her mind. The drakloak had to focus on finding the anomaly. She didn't need to think about that right now. Noctum would be fine. Gene and Valkyrie would have his back.

"Okay, everyone's here." She rubbed her hands together. "Let's go check out that collider."

Cyril threw up the illusory veil once again. They slipped through the restroom door one at a time. Fortunately, no one was around, so Cyril was free to drop it. The nearby sign came with a map of the museum that told them the collider was on the ground level in its own separate wing.

"Looks like there's a staircase that leads to it past the DNA exhibit," Widget said, blinking slowly at the sign. "Wait, DNA exhibit?"

"It's the biology wing." Cyril shrugged, beckoning them to follow along. The red wall gave way to colorful paintings of assorted trees. Pine trees on the left, palm trees on the right. And each wall had pokémon suited to that climate painted sitting in the branches or clutching tree trunks. Some like slakoth were easy to identify. Others looked different than Yuna recalled, like an exeggutor as tall as the painted palm trees.

The right wall quickly gave way to glass offering a view of one of the exhibits. There were glass cases with various plants in them, along with some open containers. The nearest had a bunch of funny-looking rocks and a sign above it reading "Fun With Fossils."

"Hey, doesn't that one picture kind of look like Baraz?" Reshiram wondered. "Y'know, if his bottom half actually matched his top?"

Yuna spotted the drawing in question on the side of the fossil exhibit. It did remind her of Baraz, except its lower half was also small and yellow, with little lightning bolt fur tufts on its feet and a small, bolt-shaped tail.

Uhh, I guess his kind turned out differently here? She quickly pushed those thoughts aside in the interest of keeping up with the others.

They rounded a few corners and the hallway expanded into a large circular room with two wavy central partitions.

"Cute. The design's trying to mimic DNA." Cyril chuckled, looking at some sort of sculpture that had a double helix of balls attached to sticks.

"DNA?" Yuna rubbed her head. "I know it stands for something, but..."

"Deoxyribonucleic acid," Widget rifled off. "It's the genetic material found in living creature's cells." He paused mid-step and glanced back at Yuna. "Err, organic creature's cells."

Yuna frowned. Was that a jab at her species?

"Nah, I think he's just saying you're made of ectoplasm," Reshiram assured. "No cells. No DNA."

Ah.
Yuna didn't know enough about the subject. She was ready to drop it and head for the other side of the room when Leo squeezed the front of her rectangular head.

"Ahhhh! On the screen!" He pointed left. "It's the emperor guy!"

The other three turned left. There was a deoxys on a monitor, but it couldn't have been Paradox. It was short and stubby, with a texture resembling colored markers. And its head had blunt, rectangular horns instead of pointy ones.

"Hi there, friends!" Deoxys waved. A few small children closer to the monitor waved back. "I'm Deena the deoxys and I'm here to teach you about DNA."

"Yeeeeeeah." Cyril rubbed the back of his head. "I think that's just part of the exhibit, kiddo. Nothing to worry about." He waved the fake dreepy off and continued across the exhibit.

Yuna floated after him, stealing glances back at the monitor. Deena's cartoony body unraveled into parallel orange and blue lines with thin white lines running perpendicular.

"Y'see, DNA is the genetic code that makes each and every one of us ourselves..."

XxX​

"... cannot fathom why Subject A is stuck in the attack form. By all accounts, the virus took up the Eterna Energy perfectly."

Sticky abruptly stopped floating through the cold, metal hallway of Paradox Tower's top floor when he heard an unfamiliar voice from the emperor's office. It was coming through a speaker. Was the emperor on a call or listening to some sort of recording?

"No, you're wrong."

That was Paradox's voice. A call, then.

"I've tried additional catalysts, denaturing and reannealing part of its body— nothing's worked. It's perplexing. My data on deoxys says that adaptation is their defining feature."

Sticky frowned. That sounded less like a response to Paradox and more like the other voice was thinking out loud. So, it was a recording?

"Try again."

"What good is mutated DNA that's static? The world cannot evolve like that."

Well, in that case, he could press onward. The naganadel had important news and that trumped whatever program Paradox was listening to.

"I said try again, damn it!"

Something smacked against metal. Gulping, Sticky quickened his pace.

"Still, even if it is a failure, I can overcome this challenge," the voice continued. "It's a puzzle. Another mystery amongst the myths and legends of the professor's old world. Nothing got her blood pumping quite like a good mystery. Perhaps I will enjoy solving this puzzle."

"No! No, I'm not a failure! I'm better! I've surpassed you! I'm the one in charge now, and—"

Sticky wasn't sure what he expected when he reached the doorway, but the deoxys standing in the middle of his office whirled on him before he even had the chance to knock on the doorframe. The naganadel looked past the emperor, however, to the projection over his desk.

cynthiaai_com2023.png

(Art by Leche.)

He didn't recognize this human, nor did he think he was supposed to. Though the black bangles around the long, yellow hair obscuring part of her face brought to mind lucario mewgenic enhancements. The frozen projection faced Sticky's right, one hand tapping her chin, the other wedged between her black jumpsuit and her white lab coat.

Judging by the flabbergasted look on Paradox's face, Sticky should have turned around the moment he heard the projection's voice. But the deoxys should have sensed him coming and turned it off, right? Was he that distracted by it?

"S-Sir?"

Paradox abruptly shut the projection off. A psychic pulse flung the small discoid projector into the far corner of his office. "Did you not see the do not disturb notification when you pressed the elevator button for my floor?"

"I did." Sticky looked down at his tablet. "But this was an urgent matter, sir, and you said to ignore the notice if it was urgent."

"Out with it, then."

There was a growing pressure in the back of Sticky's head. The naganadel tightened his grip on his tablet. "I just got a report back regarding Chernabog, sir. Troopers found torn fragments of his belt on Quasar Prime after the rift vanished, remember?"

"I'm aware."

Sticky subconsciously drifted backwards a bit. "W-Well, according to the Harvester Unit, his soul didn't return to us."

He paused, expecting some sort of outburst, but it didn't come. Sticky looked up to see Paradox leaning over, bracing his orange and blue hands against his desk.

"A slight variation, but that makes five."

"Five?"

"Five Paradigm fragments missing." Paradox's core flickered. "Nidhogg, Baptiste, Exodes, and Beowolf all returned to the Harvester, but their souls are too weak to take to new hosts. Which means someone or something has taken their powers." His arms briefly unraveled into tentacles before reannealing. "It's the traitor, Chiron. It has to be. She's trying to gather all of the Paradigm's power for herself."

Sticky nodded slowly. It made sense. Uroboros kept bringing her up. "Ah, of course, sir." Sticky tapped a claw against his tablet. "Do you have any orders you want me to relay?"

"Continue preparing to attack Radiance," Paradox said. "We might have to overwhelm Chiron with sheer numbers. And the only way to do that is with fresh bodies to craft my Paradox Pokémon from. When will the Iron Moths be ready?"

"Soon, sir. We just need another volcarona or two."

"There were volcanrona in the class of Horizon Academy students." Paradox pushed himself away from his desk and blipped right in front of Sticky. "I'm going to get them."

Sticky stiffened. "S-Sir?"

"Do you trust me, Sticky?"

The naganadel shakily nodded. Why wouldn't he? The emperor had unified all of the Qliphoth, save for a few lingering nuisances. Not even Matriarch had achieved that.

"Good." Paradox put a hand on Sticky's shoulder. "Then I'll exchange that same courtesy to you. Tell no one of what you saw here. No. One."

That was easy enough. But why? "Sure. But what exactly am I not saying?"

"That you saw the true face of our Matriarch, who Chiron savagely destroyed all those years ago."
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, it took me a little longer to get this together than I’d normally like, but I figured that I was a bit tapped out for creative work tonight, so I'd give it a try. Picking right up with:

Chapter 66

Yuna had time to mentally prepare herself, with Cyril and Gene working together to outfit several of them with special collars for the trek to Kalidron IV's remains. Apparently they projected barriers that would "keep the harsh vacuum of Eternatus' innards from ripping you guys apart."

That's definitely new for spacesuit designs. So it basically looks like a forcefield bubble? Or should I be imagining this differently?

Naturally, that made the drakloak less inclined to go through with this. But Leo kept pacing on the floor of Cyril's workshop and Yuna knew she had to support him.

Yuna: "... So our entire hope of quelling this anomaly involves dragging an effective child along through an environment where if these suits malfunction, we're going to die painfully and horribly... wonderful."
:grohno~2:


Gene outfitted Leo, Yuna, Nikki, and Widget with collars as a start, telling them that they could check where the lustrous ore led to and report back. If things were too chaotic on the other side of the anomaly, then Gene could give them backup. To Yuna's surprise though, Cyril joined them with a collar of his own, stating they should at least have someone around who dabbled in this kind of stuff. Just in case.

Oh, so the collars going on the fritz while in the field is a legitimate danger. That's definitely promising.
:copyka2:


The shadowy mewtwo didn't argue Cyril's point. He wished them all well and opened a blue rift behind them while Cyril put the Morph-O-Tron back on Leo, disguising him as a fake dreepy. Things turned much darker before Yuna even finished flying through it.

Ominous R&C track is ominous.

Yuna:
Image

Cyril: "Yeah, yeah, welcome to the club. Let's just hurry up and get this over with." >_>;

She was used to floating everywhere, so not having solid ground to stand on didn't bother her in the slightest. Widget quickly engaged his flight mode and caught a flailing Nikki before her momentum could send her drifting into a ball of razor sharp metal fragments.

... How does his flight mode even work in a vacuum of all places? Like doesn't that require expelling internal fuel of some sort? .-.

And, really, that was all Yuna could appreciate. Chunks of metal, rock, and crystal drifted aimlessly around them. The latter gave everything a gray-purple tinge. The crystals were hardly bright, though.

Yuna: "Is this lustrous ore? Since I was expecting something a bit more... well... lustrous."

In some respects, it was like she was back in a mystery dungeon. With distortion taking the form of planetary rubble.

I'm pretty sure that that's not an accident, Yuna.

"I feel like I went on a crash diet." Nikki's voice was muffled. Probably an effect of Cyril's barrier.

Or from the surrounding freakiness if you really are in a MD, given that in the games, moving around makes you grow hungry, so...

"Well, yeah." Cyril floated next to her and Widget. "No planet means little to no gravity. Which makes moving around a problem for you and me."

Oh, 'crash diet' as in 'weightless'. Noted.

"What do you mean?" Leo wondered. "I feel the same as ever."

"I mean that, without something solid to push off or someone to pull us around, we're not getting very far." Cyril's starry mane rippled. "Not that it matters. I see some lustrous ore pretty close by. Let's go to it. One of you grab my hair and take me over with you."

That... sounds like a recipe for pain in short order, but you do you, Cyril.

"I got it." Widget's thrusters hummed to life. He flew over Cyril and grabbed the zoroark's puffy, blue-purple mane. Yuna and Leo flew after Widget and his passengers, heading toward planetary chunks that might have been the corner of a building at one point. There was a purple, moon-shaped crystal lodged in a scorched rock slab.

Wait, isn't this a thing in Bayonetta? Since I swear I've seen this from a Bayonetta game before somewhere.

"Hey, uh..." Nikki rubbed the back of her head. "Can we really trust this lustrous ore stuff? What if it, like, phases us inside a wall or so deep underwater that we get crushed to death?!"

Yuna abruptly stopped. She... hadn't considered that. "Oh, God, that's totally a thing we have to worry about, isn't it?" The drakloak looked at Cyril. "Why didn't one of you brainiacs bring it up before?!"

I see that Yuna's taking Nikki lessons there. :V

Cyril: "Because if we did bring it up, you'd never agree to come along with the cosmic pony in the first place?"
:gardeshrug~1:


"'s not something you gotta worry about with lustrous ore, shiela."

Cyril: "Also, that."
Yuna: "This would've been nice to hear before setting off into the dangerous vacuum capable of tearing apart our bodies, you know!"
:lugiyikes:


Yuna flinched from the X-transceiver. So, either Gene gave Jaeger one or he was borrowing somebody's. Either way, she hardly found it reassuring. "Is this another 'trust me' thing?"

"Nah. Charged lustrous ore can only link two similar locations together."

Yuna: "Oh, so we'll potentially get dumped into the middle of an asteroid field in god-knows-where instead... wonderful." ._.

Widget clicked his tongue. "Well, by that logic, then this just links to another destroyed planet and we're wasting our time!"

"Think a bit smaller, mate," Jaeger said. "What's the immediate area around the ore look like?"

"Uhh... some crispy slabs of wall, I guess." Widget hovered closer. "Maybe this was the corner of a building at one point."

"Then the corner of a building is what'll await on the other side. Can't give you anything beyond that, 'm afraid. You'll have to take the plunge for yourself."

Yuna: "Jaeger, if this is supposed to be reassuring me right now, it's not working!"
:ohnowen:


Yuna eyed the lustrous ore skeptically. Take the plunge, huh?

Image


Let's find out!

She saw the curious glint in Leo's eyes. There was no stopping the fake dreepy, but she could at least make sure everyone was ready.

"Leo seems raring to see what happens." Yuna sighed. "Is everyone good?"

Nikki: "Obviously not, but we don't have much of a choice, do we?" >_>;

Everyone else nodded. Yuna nodded at Leo. "Go ahead, then. Just be gentle with it, ok—"

The fake dreepy headbutted the lustrous ore. Ripples of warm light washed over Yuna and, within seconds, the dark debris filled disappeared.

There was a rush of purple light, followed by bright sunshine. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and threw her arms over them.

All:
:lugiAAAH:


"Sheesh!" Nikki groaned. "Talk about suddenly turning up the lights."

"I like it," Leo chirped. "Warm, happy sun. And so many big, happy, sun-eating panels!"

"What?" Yuna vigorously rubbed her eyes until she could open them without feeling like someone was holding her head over Noctum's tail flame.

The bright sunlight made the vibrant city surrounding them crystal clear. They were, indeed, by the corner of a building. Large, tall, and mostly made of glass. Similar glass buildings sprouted from a ground full of moving walkways and strange, blue-purple panels that the sunlight glistened against. A lot of the buildings around them had similar panels. Especially taller ones. Yuna even spotted windmills in the distance, sitting facing rippling water. A herd of hoppip, skiploom, and jumpluff drifted around the nearest windmill.

Ah yes, hello, LaRousse City. Also, nice BGM there. It definitely fits a high-tech-y backdrop.

"Whoa," was all Yuna could manage. "This is... a lot bigger than the last place." She blinked quickly. "Oh, right, yeah, what are these panels?"

"Solar panels." Widget walked in front of the drakloak. He now looked like the pictures of the generic type: full units that Gene had shown her. "That and the windmills. Looks like this place runs off renewable energy."

Wait, they have working solar panels in the QN? Does it harvest ambient light or something? Since I could've sworn there was no mention of any of the eaten planets having suns with them.

"That's a pretty big body of water off in the distance." Nikki walked next to Widget, stretching out her arms. "Another coastal city, then?"

[Hello, teleporting visitors!]

Oh, this is one of those little robot thingies from the Deoxys movie, isn't it?

"Eep!" Yuna's head sucked up her body at the unfamiliar, robotic voice. She had half a mind to dive into a nearby, rectangular bush, but remembered Leo was riding on her head. The drakloak collected herself and turned toward the voice.

She recognized the rotom's grin, big eyes, and staticky aura. But its bulbous head and the tiny circles underneath it weren't any form she had seen before.

"A rotom drone?" Nikki scratched her head. "Can we, uh, help you?"

Whelp, scratch that for the movie-style robots. Though probably for the best since IIRC those wound up going berserk as part of the movie's climax.

[No, no. I am here to help you!] It lifted its circles up and down energetically. [I am Dronetom C-381 and it is my job to welcome visitors to LaRousse City, today's land of tomorrow!]

C-381 drifted away and shot up tiny sparks like they were pieces of confetti. It projected letters overhead spelling out LAROUSSE CITY.

Well, that's quite the welcome wagon there.
:lultias:


Leo nudged his head into Yuna's view. "We don't have to tip him, do we?" the fake dreepy whispered. "I don't have money. And I don't think our money is good here."

[First things first.] C-381 stopped shooting off sparks and hovered back toward them. [It appears you can all talk! You must have studied under a truly great psychic.] The dronetom projected applause at them.

Oh, so that's how "civilized" Pokémon talk in this story, huh? Since I've always wondered how it was that Team Bastion's words were understood back in alt-Malie without any hitches.

Even here, huh? Yuna did her best not to fidget. She figured a rotom would brush it off since it was a fellow a pokémon, but it was perfectly possible for most of the pokémon around to be ferals.

That actually makes me curious as to if it's the Rotom itself speaking, or some sort of attached AI or the like.

[Do you have a trainer?] C-381 asked. [I do not see—]

"Yo."

If she hadn't heard Cyril's voice, Yuna would have meeped at the dark-skinned, blue-haired man wearing a blue and purple tie-dye sweater. The drakloak wondered if he had brought a spare Morph-O-Tron with him and not told the team.

... Clever save there by Cyril. Reminds me a bit of the TM95 Zoroark from B2W2.

[Ah, hello, Mr. Trainer!] C-381 wiggled its circles excitedly. [Welcome to LaRousse City! I do not see your face in our systems. Would you like me to print you a LaRousse Badge? It is your one-stop shop to accessing all of the fine amenities of our delightful city.]

"What's it cost?" Cyril wondered, his hands firmly in the sweater pockets.

[It is complimentary!] C-381 generated more applause. [Ah, but you do have to pay to access our many attractions.]

Ah yes, time to go trespassing... or else nick stuff to cover the balance.
:bleplithe:


Leo's head shot up at the mention of attractions. "Oooh, like fun and games stuff?" He clapped his fake dreepy hands together.

[Fun! Games! Arts! Sciences! Battling! Contest Spectaculars!] The dronetom spun about, buzzing excitedly. [LaRousse City has it all! We are the capital of Hoenn for a reason!]

Wait, is that actually a thing in the Destiny Deoxys movie, or is that a particular quirk of whatever dimension the gang just stumbled out into?

"Hoenn, huh?" Gene's voice crackled through Yuna's X-transceiver. "Sounds a lot more... centralized than what's on our Earth. Hoenn was always pretty spread out. Encouraging trainers to make the most of the 'land of too much water.'"

Dimensional quirk confirmed. Though from the way Gene was talking, it sounds like he might not have had a LaRousse in his Hoenn.

"That does sound like a lot." Cyril scratched his chin. "I can take a badge for starters, yeah."

[Excellent! I am happy to assist!] C-381 hovered closer to Cyril. [If I could just scan their balls for your badge.]

"Ah, yeah. Not gonna work." Cyril pulled his right hand out of his sweater pocket, showing a card with some sort of stylus insignia on it.

Yuna squinted. Had Cyril prepared that for his human disguise?

Cyril: "(Obviously. Just keep quiet and let me work my magic here.)"

"I can't say I've heard of a Ranger Union before," Reshiram said. "But that's a pretty big risk to take. We don't even know if those exist here!"

[Oh, a pokémon ranger. My apologies.] C-381 looked at the others. [Is this trip for business or pleasure?]

... Wait, just how many other dimensions has Cyril been to, anyways? Or was this a leap of faith on his end? .-.

"Business, actually." Cyril put the card away. "We're trying to find space-time anomalies and we think one might be here."

C-381 said nothing. When the dronetom back away, Yuna stiffened, worrying Cyril had gotten too forward with it.

Nikki: "Uh... Cyril. Do these people around here even have a conception of a 'space-time anomaly'-?"
:eltywtf:


However, its head started spinning around. [Checking... checking...]

Its head stopped revolving. [Bzzt. I am not seeing any reports of anything suspicious beyond littering and graffiti.] It hovered back toward Cyril and opened its mouth. A plastic square popped out. [Here is your badge.]

Yuna: "... Do we really need to accept stuff that came from another Pokémon's mouth?"
:TailsEww:


"Thanks." Cyril took the square and put it in his pocket. "And nothing suspicious, huh? Got a question for you, then."

[A question? Oh, yay!] The dronetom's head resumed revolving. [I love questions!]

"Any of these attractions you mentioned do anything space-timey?" Cyril wondered. "Like a planetarium or a history museum or—"

C-381's eyes lit up excitedly. [If it's science you want, the LaRousse Learnatorium is the place for you!]

Probably a good thing they didn't bring Noctum along for this one, since I get the suspicion that they'd never be able to leave.
:loltias:


Yuna could see the interest drain from Nikki's face like mead guzzled from a frothy mug.

-snerk-

[It gets rave reviews. Five stars in every travel guidebook around,] C-381 chirped, hovering around Cyril. [You won't find a better science museum on the planet.]

"Who calls a science museum a 'Learnatorium?'" Rayquaza scoffed. "That doth not even sound like a real word!"

"I think it's catchy!" Reshiram said, the fluffy end of his turbine tail wagging in Yuna's mind.

... I should be a lot less surprised that Cecil's reacting like this. Never change, there.
:lolithe:


The dronetom stopped in front of Cyril's illusory human face, expression growing stoic. [All-access day passes start at fifteen thousand yen. Card only. No refunds or blackout dates.]

Oh, just straight-up using the yen symbol from the Japanese localization, huh? Don't think I've seen that done too many times for Pokéfic in general, so I'll admit this made me double-take.

Alarm briefly flashed across his face. "I see." Cyril scratched his chin. "I don't suppose there are any sweepstakes or giveaways going on for tickets, are there?"

Nikki and Widget exchanged incredulous looks.

[I do not see any listed.] C-381 bowed its small head apologetically. [Do you have any more questions?]

Cyril:
:uhhh:

C-381: [... Is that a 'maybe'?] ^^

"Thaaaaat about covers it." Cyril waved it off.

[Wonderful!] C-381's head glowed and produced outlines of stars over its head. [Now, if you had to rate this experience on a scale of one to five, one being—]

"Five stars." Cyril abruptly draped an arm over an uncomfortable-looking Widget. "Now, come on, team, we've got a city to explore!" he declared with a bit too much enthusiasm.

So... are they gonna break into the museum? Or mug someone for 15000 yen? :p

Yuna shot after the rest of the team. She didn't even hear whatever farewell C-381 had for them.

"Seriously? A sweepstakes?" Nikki shook her head disapprovingly. "We don't have time to go about entering giveaways! Or visiting tourist attractions, for that matter!"

"Thought it was best to keep playing along," Cyril said, shrugging. He stepped onto a moving walkway with the others. Thinking quickly, Yuna flew onto Widget's head crest so she wouldn't have to keep hovering after them.

Yuna: "We... don't need to actually go to that 'Learnatorium', do we? And if so, what exactly is our plan for getting in, again?"
:fearfullaugh~1:


"What's with the kooky getup, anyway?" Nikki flicked her hands between her face and torso. "You take one of your weird disguise thingies."

"I think he's doing it himself, actually," Leo chirped.

Cyril rubbed the back of his head. "Something tells me you have to share the credit for that one, kiddo."

Yuna tensed up. "R-Really?"

Yuna: "Wait, huh? But how?" .-.

"Whatever he did to make me look all starry... gave me proper zoroark powers, I guess?" Cyril held up a finger, which shifted back to a yellow claw, then back to a dark-skinned finger. "If I think about it hard enough... poof. It happens." Back to claw, then back to finger.

Well, that's certainly convenient there. I kinda wonder if this ought to have been foreshadowed a bit more in advance, but I won't question it too much.

"Oooh. Wow, that's cool!" Leo bounced up and down on Yuna's head. "Maybe I'll learn to do that and not need to wear the silly belt."

"Wouldn't count on it, kiddo." Cyril chuckled. "Anyway, it's best I stay like this for now." He straightened up. "I do think that science museum is a good place to start if we're hunting anomalies."

Ah yes, time to get an answer to the question of "trespassing or pickpocketing".

"So, it's a nerd scavenger hunt, then?" Nikki pinched her brow. "Grrreeeeeeat. Soooo glad I volunteered for this."

"Aww, c'mon." Yuna wanted to float to the toxtricity side, but realized she was still on Widget's head. The drakloak noticed a glass-paned handrail that moved in time with the walkway. She floated up to Nikki and landed on it.

"It's not so bad. Maybe there'll, uh, be free food?"

Cyril:
Image

Yuna: "... You could've shot me down in a nicer fashion, you know!" >_>;

Nikki stopped walking. She leaned against the handrail. "Free food? Tempting."

Cyril quirked a fake purple eyebrow. "Weren't you snacking on a whole bunch of fries earlier?"

"Yup. And I burned through that already." The toxtricity stretched her arms above her head and cracked her knuckles. "Perks of being electric, I guess."

Wait, how on earth does that even make sen-?

"I feel like that's not how calorimetry works." Cyril chuckled.

I'm just gonna assume that Nikki has a big appetite, though I see that her explanation wasn't just flatly reality in this story.

"Oh, hey, look!" Leo stuck his arm in front of Yuna's head. "Is that the science place up there? On the big screen?"

There were several big screens attached to the buildings at the upcoming crosswalk. Some people watched them while others moved past, stepping from one moving walkway to another. A few showed some seafood dishes with a nice looking golden sauce on them. But one had a man in a lab coat with a long, bright blue ponytail that matched his button-down shirt.

"Routine got you in a slump? In need of a little deep brain stimulation?" He squeezed his index fingers against his temples. "Or perhaps your pocket change is weighing you down a bit too much?" Bronze, silver, and gold coins trickled down behind him.

"Then the LaRousse Learnatorium is here to help!"

... Wait, is that Colress there? .-.

Rapid-fire footage flickered across the monitor, from a large rampardos skeleton to a small wind vortex seemingly supported by nothing at all, to a bunch of spinning wheels with water flowing through them and multiple lightbulbs turning on in succession.

The man reappeared, waving to the camera. "Hi, I'm Dr. Tory Lund, co-founder of the LaRousse Learnatorium, where we make science fun for the whole family!"

Okay, so not Colress then. I'm going to assume that this guy is from the Destiny Deoxys movie, since I've never heard of him before.

The advertisement shifted to multiple human kids and their parents gathered around a large gray table where someone in a lab coat was attaching various metal objects to magnemite and magneton. Some kids clapped while others tugged at their parents' arms.

"Ugh. Barf." Nikki put her hands on her hips. "Is it too late to go back to the blown up planet?"

Narrator:
Image


Dr. Lund then proceeded down a pristine white hallway. "We offer a wide assortment of activities and exhibits from some of the greatest minds across the globe!"

He passed by a portrait of a man whose hair was suspiciously pyroarish. "From the beautiful works of Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City—"

Well, then.
:copyber:


Dr. Lund next passed a blonde-haired man with a bizarre ring of blue hair going around his head. Like the ring of a planet. "To the technological marvels of P2 Laboratories, like the helper silvally you see all around the city."

That's definitely different from normal canon. Though I wonder how Widget's gonna react to running into them.

Yuna nearly tumbled off Widget's head when he suddenly turned. Grabbing the upper part of his head crest, she noticed two pokémon identical to Widget's current form on the moving walkway behind the team. Each had an orange vest with "Licensed Service Silvally" embroidered on it, alongside a red X over a human hand. Probably an encouragement not to pet.

"Silvally?" Widget mumbled.

"Wait, what?!"

Oh, I see that Gene's freaking out, too, huh?

Cyril's sudden gasp prompted Yuna to turn around. The advertisement showed two gigantic metal cylinders facing one another on opposite walls.

"And no trip to the Learnatorium is complete without seeing our most treasured exhibit," Dr. Lund continued. "The Cozmo-Lund Large Hadron Collider!"

Oh, well never mind then. Though it looks like they got their ticket to reactivating their chunk of Red Chain after all.

"Large Hadron?" Nikki snorted. "What, were small and medium hadrons not enough for the— ow!"

Cyril stepped on the toxtricity's right foot. "It's exactly like Kalidron IV's supercollider."

inb4 it is Kalidron IV's supercollider. Since the anomaly did dump them out in a whole different dimension. There's no reason to assume that parts of Kalidron IV didn't make the jump as well.

"Come and witness the marvels of dimensionality for yourselves!" Dr. Lund declared, as the advertisement swapped to the museum entrance: a large, glass wall with various metal sculptures lining the walkway toward it. "Visit the LaRousse Learnatorium today. Tickets can be purchased from any available LaRousse rotom drone. "

Small typo there with the missing quotation mark, but yeah. This is totally the same supercollider as the one on Kalidron IV, isn't it?

"The LaRousse Learnatorium, where science becomes spectacular!"

"Guess now we really have to go there, huh?" Nikki said, rubbing the back of her head.

Oh, never mind then. That's why there was no closing quotation mark. Though guess they really are going to have to decide between trespassing and nicking stuff, huh? :V

"I'll say." Cyril pressed his right hand against the side of his illusory head. "Yo, Boss Kitty. Did you hear any of that?"

"Hear any of what?" Gene responded.

"The other side of the rift has a supercollider of its own," Cyril said. "We might still be able to do your plan."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Gene:
Image

Cyril: "I mean, I'm pretty sure that these two colliders were linked if it's not outright the same, so... yeah. Don't question a good thing here." ^^;

Yuna switched her X-transceiver off and hovered back into the air. You guys are bothered by it too, right?

"What?" Reshiram replied.

That there's a collider here. The drakloak recalled what Jaeger said about the lustrous ore and how it only linked similar-appearing environments. You don't suppose the lustrous ore linked us here because of it, do you?

Cecil:
:VidriBlink:

"... Huh, never thought of it like that. But why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?"

Reshiram hummed in thought. "I mean... maybe? But there was a rift before there was lustrous ore, right?"

"Verily!" Rayquaza chirped. "And the last rift doth linked a volcanic land with another volcanic land. Mayhaps the rift linked Kalidron to this place because of the similarity?"

Yuna squirmed uneasily. Last time, the core of the anomaly was right over the volcano. If she followed the Sages' logic, then...

Oh, so the anomaly is here too then, huh?
:copyka2:


"Um, Cyril?" The drakloak floated over to him. "I'm worried this side of the anomaly might be the collider in the museum."

"How so?" Nikki asked, to which Yuna relayed her brief conversation with the Sages. The toxtricity crossed her arms. "Yeah, I could see how that might be a problem. What's the play, then?"

"Dispel the anomaly first, obviously," Yuna said.

Nikki: "... Wait, but shouldn't we be using the collider first? For all we know, dispelling the anomaly is going to break the thing."
:eltywtf:

Yuna: "Look, I was already uneasy about messing around with the Red Chain with that thing, let's not add another potential layer for things to go wrong here!"
:ohnowen:


"But Mom, when we do that, we'll get sent home right away," Leo noted, floating off Yuna's head and looking between her and Cyril. "So, we won't get to use the collider thingy."

Yeah, I figured this would come up, even if I got who would do the honors wrong.

"Maybe fixing the anomaly will fix Kalidron IV?" Cyril said, shrugging. "At the very least, Boss Kitty's having a couple of your buddies get ready to bring us the Red Chain fragment. We'll head back to our world through the lustrous ore, get the fragment, then come back here and scout out the museum. Sound like a plan?"

That's a really bold assumption to be making there considering what we saw of the absolute state of Kalidron IV earlier.
:copyka:


Information gathering, then. Yuna didn't see a problem with that. And holding onto the fragment was probably the best idea, just in case they could get an opportunity to actually use the collider.

Yuna: "I mean, I still say that this idea is all sorts of cursed, but I suppose we shouldn't be ruling anything out pre-emptively here."

"Sounds reasonable." The drakloak motioned for Leo to rejoin her and the fake dreepy hovered toward her. "The fragment might actually be able to help us find the anomaly."

Cyril tilted his head and crossed his arms. "Huh. It did react to Sigurd's fragment."

"And we freed him from an anomaly," Leo chirped. "It's all connected!" He did jazz hands.

Oh, so these Red Chain fragments are tied to the needles somehow, huh? Since I can see that 'it's all connected' remark. Though what does a Dreepy doing jazz hands look like anyways? o<o

"Maybe." Cyril tapped an illusory human finger against his arm. "We'll want to keep it hidden, though. Can't have people getting too suspicious, right?"

"I got my jacket pockets." Nikki turned one inside out, revealing bits of string and lint that drifted toward the ground. "Whoops. Thought I'd cleaned that out."

"Do you even wash that jacket?" Cyril wondered. "And ruin the leather?" Nikki scoffed.

"It's called a washcloth and air drying," Cyril countered.

Nikki raised her right index finger, then froze with her mouth open. She lowered her hand. "Touché. Maybe I'll think about it once we're done nerding it up or whatever."

Ah yes, this moment again.

All: "..."
:TailsEww:

Nikki: "Again. After we're done nerding it up with that museum and collider." >_>;

Cyril pressed his right hand against his fake human ear. "They left already? Okay. We'll double back and meet them—"

"We don't have to do that," Widget cut in. He pointed a foreleg ahead of him. The moving walkway heading north ended by a streetlight with a lustrous ore crystal embedded in the middle of it. People were stopping to take pictures of themselves in front of the crystal. Yuna vaguely recalled Jade mentioning something about "selfies."

Cyril:
Image

Yuna: "... There has to be a catch to this."

Still, as convenient as it looked, Yuna didn't like it. "I'd rather double back." She rubbed her right shoulder. "It's kinda sitting out in the open? Everyone will see us strike it and disappear."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that hasn't happened to someone already." Chuckling, Nikki shook her head. "Gotta figure a kid would try hitting it and get schlorped by it."

Small bit where you're missing a word there. Though Bystander Syndrome to the rescue there, since I can only imagine the panic that would unfold if Nikki's scenario came to pass.
:fearfullaugh~1:


"Which would mean they'd appear in the vacuum of Eternatus' innards... and pop like a fleshy balloon," Reshiram grimly said.

Yuna winced. Why would you say that out loud?!

"Technically you're the only one hearing i—"

Do I not count in this scenario?!

Yuna: "Since I really, really did not need that imagery in my head!"
:uhhh:


Reshiram flinched in the back of the drakloak's mind. "Sorry."

Yeah, 'do and think things over later' does seem to be the Cecil way in this story. :V

"Okay. Double back, then." Widget shrugged. "I'm staying here, though."

"What?" Yuna squinted. "What for?"

Widget looked over his shoulder. "I just... need to do something. But we've got X-transceivers, so I'll catch up with you guys when I'm done."

Nikki: "... Are you going to tell us what you're up to, or...?"
Widget:
Image


Yuna frowned. This was about the service silvally, wasn't it? "You want to track down those pokémon that look like you."

"Yes, I do."

At least Widget wasn't trying to hide it.

Yuna: "... I'm sorry, but why don't you want any of us helping you with this again?"
:what:


"It's not dangerous or anything," the type: full continued. "Can you really blame me? Fath—"

Widget flinched. "Th-the emperor... built me. For a specific reason that... I doubt is truly good." He turned away from the others. "I need to talk to them."

Bruh, are those service Sivally even made in the same fashion as you? Since you might be cobbled together from Malice magitek while they sounded significantly more canon-compliant in construction. And potentially non-sapient.

And he stepped onto the northbound moving walkway before anyone could offer a retort.

Cyril headed for the opposite walkway, shaking his head. "We'll see him later, then. Or we'll fix the anomaly and he'll just get warped back with us. Right, kiddo?"

Pretty sure you're jinxing things in live-time Cyril, but sure. Let's go with that.

"Yep!" Leo tapped the top of Yuna's rectangular head. "As long as Mr. Anomaly and I are on the same page."

Chuckling, Yuna switched back on her X-transceiver, only to immediately recoil from Valkyrie's harsh tone.

"What the hell's taking you so long?! We're under attack over here!"

Aaaaaand there it is. I figured that something would wind up going wrong in short order.

In some ways, the planetary debris reminded Noctum of home. Dark skies. Little light. Weirdly shaped slabs of rock scattered about as far as the eye can see.

Of course, there was a lot more ground to stand on back home. And here, Noctum felt as light as a feather.

Cue the death lazor zipping uncomfortably close in 3... 2...

He turned to Valkyrie. "So, we give them this fossilized fragment, then head back to the outpost?"

"I guess so." The garchomp stood atop some pile of melted metal slag, looking around for any signs of Team Bastion. "Sounds like they found another supercollider on the other side of the lustrous ore."

Oh, guess this is set in the past relative to the last line of the prior scene. Duly noted, then.

Noctum blinked. He hadn't heard the X-transceiver exchange when it happened. "That so? Huh." The black charizard scratched his chin. "You don't find that a bit too convenient? Like worryingly so?"

Oh, so it's not just me who found that fishy and suspicious as hell.

"I do." Valkyrie didn't budge from her spot. "But it sounded like they don't plan on trying anything with it unless they're sure it's safe to do so."

"That's good." Noctum put his hand on his chest. He knew Yuna wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, but it wouldn't be like her to suggest something that reckless. Maybe Nikki suggested it and Yuna found a happy medium?

Technically, I'm pretty sure that that one's on Cyril. And yeah, he is a bit up there on the 'bold and daring' scale.

"Where are they?" Valkyrie growled. She tapped her right claw against the top of the slag pile. "It sounded like they were already on their way back here when Gene got us suited up."

Noctum shrugged. "Who knows how long it takes this lustrous ore stuff to w—"

"INCOMING!"

Ah yes, now we're getting back into the present. So Paradox just had some goons camp the wreckage of the planet expecting Gene to come, huh?

Valkyrie leaped from the top of her slag pile, gliding toward Noctum. Seconds later, a large water torrent struck the slag pile. Yelping, Noctum flew away from the rubble.

"What the heck?" The black charizard looked in the direction of the attack. "That was the biggest Hydro Pump I've ever seen! Don't tell me the empire's here!"

As if to respond, a loud bell echoed in the distance, followed by a chorus of uproarious laughter. Another giant Hydro Pump shot toward Noctum. Fortunately, it was far enough away that Noctum could easily fly above it.

Oh, well scratch that about Paradox. I think we're dealing with space pirates here from that linked BGM.

"What the hell's taking you so long?!" Valkyrie snarled, drifting through open space toward a smaller chunk of floating debris. "We're under attack over here!"

"Seriously?" The X-transceiver muffled Seifer's nervous whinnies. "From who?"

Flying toward Valkyrie, Noctum squinted. Was he seeing... some sort of flying boat?

Yuuuuuup. Wonder if this is that one Tyranitar who showed up in that slideshow like 40 chapters ago.

... Yes, it was! There were masts and black sails proudly emblazoned with white marowak skulls and crossbones. But also big mechanical thrusters and large metal cylinders on the deck that vaguely resembled the super scope lenses in Cyril's pizza truck.

"Oh hon hon hon hon!"

... Or it could be Gilbert's. That bird's certainly a glutton for punishment.

Noctum frowned. Was that voice familiar?

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." Valkyrie facepalmed. "Here? Now? I thought Gene had taken care of that idiot!"

A much smaller ship flew toward the two of them, only large enough to hold a single passenger. A single chatot passenger.

Valkyrie:
Image


"Well, well." Gilbert slowly extended his right wing. "It would seem fate has brought us togezzer again, Mademoiselle Chomp."

"You're that pirate guy!" Noctum realized, pointing accusingly at Gilbert. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Gilbert pointed to the fossilized fragment in the black charizard's right hand. "Taking your treasure in ze name of mon capitaine!"

Noctum: "Wait, but I thought that you were the captain." ._.;

"That so?" Valkyrie spat tiny dragonfire embers in Gilbert's direction. "Then fate must really like seeing you get your tailfeathers kicked in."

Gilbert's grin abruptly turned to a frown. His feathers fluffed up. "Rrrraaarrgh!" The chatot spun around. "Yoohoo! Pirate mateys? Attaque, s'il vous plaît!"

His ship zoomed off and, next thing Noctum knew, he was staring down the barrel of three incoming Hydro Pumps.

Noctum: "... This just isn't my day."
:eltyscared:


GL Exploration Log: LaRousse City, Hoenn (Dimension POV-2004)
Honestly? My head's still spinning from this place. I'll just let the brochure do the talking for me.

I can see that designation there. So then do all dimensions in PoV's setting start with "POV" as a prefix? Or is this meant to be a hint that it's related to POV-2017 and POV-2020 as one?

"This dazzling epicenter of the scientific world serves as the capital of the Hoenn region and home of the Pokémon League and Contest Spectacular Circuit Grand Festival! Both titles that were absolutely earned and totally, definitely not wrestled away from Evergrande and Lilycove Cities in political power plays fostered by the runaway tourism and viewership successes of the small island's Battle Frontier. Despite the abundant recreational opportunities for pokémon-lovers the world over, LaRousse City has always stood at the precipice of scientific progress. For many years, it held the record for the longest overseas vehicle bridge, connecting it with Lilycove City for fast and easy commuting. Not ones to rest on their laurels, the city's esteemed civil engineering teams went about building up city infrastructure with moving walkways and the automated Block Bot system. When Team Magma attempted to exploit a fatal security flaw in the Block Bots to wreak havoc on the city, those in charge retired the system in favor of a combination of porygon digital assistants and rotom-powered machinery.

Yuuuup, we're officially in an AU here. Though I see that a version of events akin to the Destiny Deoxys climax played out in this universe's LaRousse.

Turning their attention outward, engineering teams used the Unova region's Marine Tunnel as a blueprint to devise eastern Hoenn's world-renowned Aquatic Subway, an undersea highway system connecting LaRousse City to Mossdeep, Evergrande, and Sootopolis. The success brought a wave of eager young minds to the city. The local university expanded into the LaRousse Institute of Technology (LRIT) we all know and love today.

So this LaRousse basically hoovered up everything of value in its setting's Hoenn, huh? Makes me wonder if the other towns are undergoing urban decay from being displaced.

Of course, ask anyone in the scientific community what drives them to visit LaRousse and the answer is simple: the Cozmo-Lund Large Hadron Collider, an inter-regional collaboration project headed by LRIT alumni Takao Cozmo, Ph.D. and Tory Lund, Ph.D., with the assistance of researchers from Alola's Hokulani Space Center, Hoenn's Aqua-Magma Geoplanetary Consortium, Kalos' Lysandre Labs, Paldea's Sada-Turo Research Institute, and Unova's P2 Laboratory. The advances in particle physics brought on by the collider's rigorous tests allowed us to permanently solve the issue of Ultra Wormholes, forever protecting our planet from the terrifying scourge of Ultra Beasts and wormhole-deploying threats like Team Rainbow Rocket.

Oh, so those are going to come into play in this story, huh? Though that's quite a who's who of players and factions that are normally quite dodgy on display here. Makes me wonder what on earth the local politics are like.

With its primary purpose fulfilled, the LHC predominantly serves as a tourist attraction, stationed at the LaRousse Learnatorium Science Center. We're told the kids love it, even though they have absolutely no idea what it is!"

... Oh, so the gang is going to go full Squaresoft protag and cause problems for this poor dimension in order to fix the anomaly, huh? That's going to be something to behold.
:copyka2:


Path of Valor Almanac
LaRousse City is the setting for Destiny Deoxys, which was originally released in Japan in 2004, hence the dimension number. One of the main movie-exclusive characters Ash befriends is a child named Tory Lund. It would seem that, in this universe, he's all grown up and as work-obsessed as his dad was in the movie.

Ah, so those names are from the anime. Duly noted, then. Though it's neat to see how you're weaving in little bits and threads of various canons and putting spins on them, this one included.

Alright, time for the recap:

Image


I mean, I suppose I should've been more open-minded after the brief arc in Alt!Malie, though I can't say that I was expecting to see an anime-exclusive location pop up as a prominent setting in this story. It'll be fun to see that things are like here, since it's shiny on the outside, and the fluff you attached to it carries a strong whiff of intrigue. It was also nice to see the space pirates finally start to play a bit more of a role when they were teased ages ago but otherwise kept to the level of minors and background gags. It'll be fun to see who Noctum and Val are dealing with on their end, and if we'll get to see some vaguely familiar faces soon.

As for criticisms... I honestly don't have a whole lot beyond spotting a couple minor typos. Maybe things could've been a little less "conveniently located" for the gang when it came to the collider, but the story literally spelled out a hard reason for why that would happen in advance, so I can't really fault it. Perhaps they could've gotten a bit further into LaRousse than what we saw before trouble started calling on the other end, but eh. From the way you've been building things up, I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of time to explore it.

Thanks for your patience with this review @Ambyssin , and once again, good work. I'll be looking forward to what this new dimension has in store in your next update. ^^
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
This review also took me a little while to put together for offsite Review Tag since the chapter was a little chunkier than usual, but better late than never. So let's get rolling with…

Chapter 67

Entry 1093
I don't know who he is, but I hate him.

I only saw him briefly. Didn't even speak to him. But he gives off light just like I do. Light stuffed inside some vaguely canine body.

And that light...

Something about his aura just set me off.

Oh, so Bahamut met Shane back in the day... wonderful.
:copyka:


I tried to attack him. Next thing I knew I was buried under a pile of glowing hexagons. Blasted zygarde. Cowards ganged up on me.

I still sense him here, though. They're dangling him in front of me like a rotten piece of meat.

Next time I see him, I'll blow that goofy smile off his face.

Yeesh, barely 4 years into his journal and Bahamut was having quite the normal one personality-wise. Though that makes me wonder how long after the events of the Gene special this was.

Entry 1096
I saw him again. Things went... poorly.

I'm still shaking. It's a struggle to write this out.

It's one thing for multiple powerful legends to overwhelm you. But for one guy— one stupid necrozma with the dumbest look on his weird mutt-bird face to inflict such raw, agonizing pain? It's unfathomable. Never has a single blow wrought so much harm.

So Bahamut was way, way out of his league up against Shane back in the day. Makes me wonder how a rematch would go.

One strike. It was just one strike.

Yet it was as if he had ripped my soul right out of my body. I'm not even sure he intended to do that, because he quickly undid it. I'll never forget the agony of those few seconds of separation, however. The helplessness. The despair. I can never let myself get put in that position again.

Yeah, Bahamut totally got the soul punched out of his body, I can already tell.

But I can't let go of that feeling. Not if I'm going to make that power my own.

I don't care how long it takes to learn it. I will. Might makes right. With a power like that, no one will ever betray me again.

... Totally a good omen for what Bahamut's like and how strong he is these days!
:copyka2:


Yuna wasn't sure how to prepare for being under fire by space pirates. Fortunately, it appeared that all the giant water bursts and huge icy torrents were focused away from the debris chunk the lustrous ore warped them back to. She peered out from a tangled mess of rock and slag to see the ships a couple of hundred meters away. One of them had blastoise standing at the edge of the deck, their cannons attached to much larger cannons that made their Hydro Pumps far bigger than even the best dragalgae and goodra in Aeon's army.

Filing that bit of BGM away for the future, since hey. You can't say that it wouldn't be fitting with some of my writing.

"What is ze matter, Mademoiselle Chomp? All out of witty comebacks?"

The drakloak didn't recognize the chatot perched on the highest sail, somehow projecting his obnoxious, nasally voice.

Valkyrie: "Wait, how is he doing that anyways? I thought that we were in a vacuum right now."
:what:


"Come to think of it, you guys needed special thingamajiggies to come here," Reshiram pointed out. "What's the deal with the pirates?"

Yuna relayed Reshiram's thought to the others.

"They must have some sort of field around their ships," Cyril said. He remained in his human guise, crouching by the lustrous ore. "Doesn't matter. We need to get the fragment from the others."

Cecil: "... And we're supposed to do that while being attacked by pirates how again?" .-.

"Why doesn't Princess just open a rift to them, then?" Nikki suggested, jerking her head in Yuna's direction.

"I mean... that's reasonable, but it doesn't stop them from firing," Yuna replied. She poked her head back up again. Neither Noctum nor Valkyrie could get a single attack in. The two pirate ships alternated Hydro Pumps and Blizzards. They had managed to freeze over some of the debris fragments. Just how much did those cannons amplify their attacks?

Noctum: "Enough that I really, really don't want to get hit by one of those. Just look at how big those Hydro Pumps are!"
:ohnowen:


"Then let's call in reinforcements!" Nikki's mohawk sparked. She pressed her right hand against her head. "Who's free? We need extra hands, here!"

"There aren't any more of Cyril's astral collars available," Seifer said. "Noctum and Valkyrie took the last ones."

"What about Boss Kitty?" Nikki growled.

"Yeah, what about him?"

I mean, Gene would be pretty handy right about now given that he's way, way up there on the power scale even after his nerf post-special.

Sighing, Cyril braced himself against the rubble by the lustrous ore. "C'mon, Gene, you and I both know that the Blackskull Buccaneers crashing the party means the empire doesn't want to touch this place with a twenty meter stick."

Oh, so the Black Tyranitar is going to finally make his on-screen debut, huh?

"Huh. He actually called him 'Gene,'" Reshiram noted. "Must be serious."

But simple conversation wasn't helping Noctum out. Yuna saw a Hydro Pump clip Noctum's wing. He tumbled away from Valkyrie, bouncing off one large strip of metal and veering toward another.

:oofpix:


Sure hope that that metal was smooth, otherwise... yeah, that probably had to hurt there.

She couldn't wait for Gene. Noctum needed help now.

The drakloak zipped over to Nikki. "You want to contribute, right?"

"Is this some kind of trick?" The toxtricity quirked her brow.

Yuna: "Nikki, we're being attacked by pirates right now! No it's not a trick!" >.<

"Ready an electric attack," Yuna whispered. "Your strongest one."

"Ready it for what?"

"To blow those ships off course."

Ah yes, time for pocket G-Max antics and to see just how much power Nikki's really rocking these days.

Yuna rubbed her hands together. Rayquaza, I'm going to need a little wind for this one. She paused. Or actually a lot of wind.

"Say no more, Princess! Thine wish is my command!"

Valkyrie: "Wait, but we're in a vacuum right now-"
:what:

Yuna: "Don't question it, alright?"

"Leo, get off my head and stay with Cyril, okay?" she instructed.

The fake dreepy obliged and Yuna floated away from them, recalling how she directed Rayquaza to conjure large twisters when facing down Chernabog.

Once she was in open space a good enough distance from the others, Yuna spread her hands out. Focusing on Rayquaza and their connection, she clapped her hands together.

Wonder if this is going to be all Gallian here, or if we're going to see Yuna's Giratina powers also play into things as well.

Nothing happened at first. Yuna's face scrunched up. "C'mon. C'mon." She squeezed her hands tighter against one another. Within a few seconds, inky shadows pooled in the middle of her hands.

Perfect. Now, Rayquaza!

Yeah, I figured. Though let's see what sort of lightshow we're in for here.

Yuna thrust her hands apart. Shadowy flecks drifted in front of her and her Soul Dew briefly glistened. A large tornado whipped up in front of her. The drakloak looked over her shoulder toward the others.

Fortunately, Nikki decided Yuna's tornado was the signal. The toxtricity jumped onto a pile of rubble and strummed her gills, creating large shockwaves. They struck the tornado, turning it into a mix of fierce wind and lightning.

Well that's definitely going to be a shocking experience for those pirates. Barring them having the equivalent of Lightningrod somehow to at least take the sting off the electricity.

Several pirates on the nearest ship spotted the lightning tornado. Frantic pointing and shouting ensued. The bulky floatzel at the wheel quickly spun it while a pair of armaldo next to it pulled levers and the thrusters roared to life.

Bulky Floatzel, huh? So there's Alpha Pokémon in PoV's setting, then? And given what you said about that one Aggron from these pirates a while back, that makes me wonder...
:trollzel:


Yuna's tornado was faster. It descended on the ship within seconds, causing it to spin about and strike the other ship that had come with it.

"S-Sacré bleu!" Chatot managed to fly off the first ship's mast in time, but his underlings were less fortunate. Many were thrown off the ship and sent careening through open space.

Oh, well that doesn't bode well for their near-term lifespans given what Gene had to say about the surrounding void a couple chapters back.

"Noctum, quick!" Yuna said, hoping the charizard's X-transceiver was on. She focused on the scorched metal wall Noctum desperately clung to and conjured a small rift. To her delight, a second rift opened right next to Noctum. Yuna stuck her arm through it and opened her hand. "Gimme the fragment!"

"W-What just happened?" Noctum blinked rapidly.

"No time to explain." Yuna poked Noctum's armored belly. "Give it here."

"R-Right."

Noctum: "Wait, Princess. Where on earth does this even go to-?"

The moment Yuna felt something rough and pointy in her hand, she pulled it back through the tiny rift and shut it. She confirmed it was the Red Chain fragment, then squished it against her torso until it was floating inside her ectoplasm.

"I've got the fragment! Let's move," she announced, darting back toward the rest of the team.

"Oi, the wind be coming from that way!"

Yuna: "Oh come on!" >.<

Squeaking, Yuna forced herself into a Quick Attack to fly behind piles of twisted metal rubble. An ursaring pirate floating through space, pointed near where Yuna had just been. Two staraptor close to him flapped their wings, peppering the area with Air Slash crescents.

On the planet fragment, Cyril waved Yuna over, still crouching by the lustrous ore. He held Leo in his arms.

Huh, I guess that the pirates must all have those bubble things to shield themselves from the void as well. Guess that makes the fate of all those randos getting yeeted overboard a bit less morbid.

"Okay. Back to LaRousse we go," he said, reaching toward the lustrous ore. "You coming, Nikki?"

"Nah, I'm staying here." The toxtricity smacked her gills, sending another shockwave toward one of the staraptor. "If they find the lustrous ore, they'll chase after you guys, right? You need a distraction. At least until Boss Kitty decides to get off his ass."

I mean, a bunch of pirate Pokémon chasing the gang through a high-tech city does sound like it'd be some prime chaos to behold. Makes me wonder if this distraction will work or not.

Lightning crackling around her feet, she leaped off the rubble and flipped upside down. The electricity drew Nikki toward large sheets of metal floating past the planet fragment. "Hey, Long John Loser! Looking for me?"

"That lass cooked me keister!" Staraptor squawked, pointing to his singed tailfeathers. "Let's skewer her, mateys!"

This fic and its dialogue, man.
:LULgia:


Yuna wanted to protest, but the sight soon disappeared in a rush of blue and purple light as Cyril touched the lustrous ore and sent her away from the skirmish.

Aw. No pirates crashing the party at LaRousse. Maybe, anyways.

It was one thing to look at a city from a distance. It was another thing entirely to actually navigate a large city. During his "upbringing," Widget had plenty of cityscape footage put into his databanks. Probably from Troopers or various assistants moving through Eterna City with cameras strapped to them.

Oh hey, it's this background song again. Though you can't say that it's not catchy and apropos.

Widget kept his eyes firmly fixed ahead of him, as he had since they'd arrived here. The group meetings he'd gotten dragged to were crash courses in being around other people. This was different. Humans and pokémon of different shapes and sizes passed by with every second.

He had to ignore them, though. Those service silvally were long gone and he didn't have all the time in the world to waste on trying to track them down. Maybe some of the street signs at the moving walkway intersections could point him in the right direction?

... Have you considered trying to find a map, Widget? Just saying, I'd think that those were lying around back in your old digs and they're not exactly rare in cities significantly lower-tech than this.

Widget got off the moving walkway and approached an electronic sign listing a variety of different places with arrows to indicate their directions. Shopping outlets and restaurants. The pier for the Battle Frontier ferry. A plethora of restaurants. And—

Ah, there! A service silvally station off to the west.

Ah yes, time to see if we're dealing with sapients, Ferals, or something in between.

Station made Widget think of transit, but maybe it was something else in this context. He trotted to the westward moving walkway and headed along it.

There were glass buildings interspersed with boutique stores and restaurants. Mannequins modeled the latest styles, from sun dresses with soft ocean blues to shorts that were entirely too, well, short for Widget's liking. His old files had said some people — humans in particular — dressed that way to attract mates. The type: full couldn't understand how barely covering a backside could attract a mate, but he was built to be a hero, not fall in love.

Oh, so they're made by whatever brand made Anime!Misty's shorts, huh?

He was so engrossed with the short shorts he hadn't realized the moving walkway ended until its edge clipped one of his right talons. Squawking, Widget hopped off. Various sized humans looked at him. Some wingull on the streetlights honked with laughter.

Cheek bolts burning from embarrassment, Widget kept his head down and followed a sign pointing down a side road.

Widget: "Wow, rude." >v<

Things had moved so fast he hadn't had the time to process the changes Leo brought out beyond just a starry pelt. His voice had grown more organic. Having thoughts was less about pulling files out of the databanks his fath— the emperor had carefully curated, and more about just thinking.

That actually makes me wonder as to whether or not Widget counts as an AI or not. Since something about his thought process here vibes as being very "AI".

The sudden transition should have been jarring enough to shock Widget's systems. Yet here he was, trying to track down some other pokémon just like him.

He didn't have to walk much farther to find the station and confirm the descriptor was surprisingly accurate. It was built like a bus or train station, with metal guard rails, glass panels full of instructions and rules, and automated kiosks for transactions.

The difference was the open field behind it. A dozen of these silvally meandered about. Some got water from a communal watering pool while others ate from silver dishes. A few even sat next to each other in the corner of the field. Wires connected their cheek bolts to an electric socket.

Wait, Silvally need to recharge in this dimension? What happens if they run out of juice? .-.

Widget stood there, pondering his next move. Obviously, going up to the kiosk wasn't an option. The fencing hardly made much of a barrier, though. So, Widget trotted up to a couple of silvally sitting next to each other on the opposite side.

[—since your last job?] one silvally asked.

The other tilted their head. [A week. But I have a good feeling something's coming soon.]

Whelp, sapient Silvally confirmed. Though I suppose I should've anticipated as much given that Dronetom was capable of holding a conversation on its own.

That metallic backing to their voices was oh so familiar to Widget. He did his best not to flinch. Just needed to be friendly. "Hi there," he chirped. "Any chance you've, uh, got a moment to chat?"

The two silvally's white fur stuck up. They looked at Widget in unison, then back at each other, then back at Widget.

[Who are you?]

Oh, so they're still slaves to their routines at the moment. I suddenly get the suspicion that this is about to get really, really uncomfortable for Widget in short order.

"I'm, uh, new in town." Widget slowly wagged his fish tail. That would show he was friendly, right?

[Serial number?] the other silvally asked. Both of their eyes flickered to circular loading icons.

Widget did his best not to tense. Lying wasn't going to earn their trust. "I'm... W1-DG3T. But you can call me Widget."

Other!Silvally: [That... doesn't sound like a valid serial number. Are you fully in order right now?]
:what:


Both silvally's loading icons disappeared. They squinted at Widget. [Your serial number is not on our server. Are you a bootleg?]

"Bootleg?" Widget was hurt, though he supposed by this dimension's standards that could have been true. "N-No. I'm just... not from LaRousse. I'm with the rangers."

Ah yes, referencing that Silvally that RKS Labs apparently cobbled together after the initial batch of 3 in mainline.

[You should still be in our system,] they said in unison. [All silvally are connected through RKSnet.]

Oh, speak of the devil. Though I suppose that would explain why there's so many of these service Silvally just running around.

The silvally on the left frowned. [If you are a bootleg, you should let us evaluate you.]

"I'm not a bootleg!" Widget knew that getting defensive wasn't going to help his case, but he couldn't compete with their programming. And the last thing he needed to do was make things harder for the rest of Team Bastion.

... I mean, your appearance probably isn't helping things right now, Widget, since you look really non-standard relative to Silvally.

But he had to get them talking. Widget lay down on his belly — an attempt at coming across as docile — and tucked his head down. "If I tell you guys the truth, will you hear me out?"

Both silvally exchanged concerned looks. [Are you confessing to something worse than being a bootleg?]

Widget: "I... don't know what being a 'bootleg' is, so... I hope not?" ^v^;

"I— no, that's not it." Widget's fur stood on end. It was sounding more like he'd walked himself into an interrogation. "I'm from another dimension, okay?"

Silence. Widget looked up at the other two silvally and their expressions remained neutral. They were well-trained... or was it well-programmed? Either way, the revelation hadn't startled either of them.

[That is also something we're supposed to report,] one of them said.

Widget: "Look, I just wanted to strike up a casual conversation, okay? Sheesh, you're giving me flashbacks to my training sims at this rate." >v>;

The other bobbed their head. [The world has been free of dimensional breeches for seven years, eight months, six days, twelve hours, forty minutes, and seventeen seconds.] They paused. [Eighteen seconds. Nineteen—]

Well, now it's closer to about five minutes. Though that also makes me wonder if the collider in POV-2020 was also built 7-ish years back or if they wound up becoming linked sometime well after one or the other was built.

"I get the picture," Widget said, rising back to a seated position. "All I'm asking is you not follow those protocols for just a little bit. Please?"

Even though Widget wasn't asking the questions he wanted to, he was getting the answers he sought. Indirectly, of course. But still concerning.

Both silvally looked at each other for a while. One turned back to Widget. [Would you say that us not reporting you will be... helpful?]

"Yes. Helpful to me and my friends."

Widget: "I mean, they've kinda brought on a bit of existential dread for me, but still helpful, I guess." ·v·;

[Oh. Are your friends bootlegs, too?] the other silvally asked.

"No. They're other pokémon," Widget said. "And we're traveling here for business. That's all I can really say."

[I see.] The second silvally slowly bobbed their head. [Our priority first and foremost is helping people who need assistance. So, I suppose in that sense, we can look the other way. But if an administrator combs through our logs—]

Oh boy, having a bunch of service Silvally help break into a museum to get at a particle collider. That's going to lead to some shenanigans.
:copyber:


"I should be long gone by then." Widget waved them off with his right foreleg. "I just... really needed to see you guys." He paused, glancing around the field. A few silvally were staring, while others minded their own business. One was sleeping awkwardly on their side, legs stuck up in the air.

Snerk. The background events in this story can be something else sometimes.

"Well, not you two, specifically. Just the service silvally in general."

One of the silvally rested their head on the fence. [What for? Our programming doesn't allow us to fall in love or anything, so if you were looking for a partner—]

I mean, I'm not so sure how well that programming is going to hold up after all of the contact Widget has been having... unless if these Silvally's personalities can just be rebooted with a software update.
:copyka:


Though I kinda wonder if during all of this that we should've seen Widget's gears turn inside his head (har har) a bit more. Since I kinda get the feeling that this is meant to be unsettling and disquieting for him, but it's not really played up much.

"N-No. Nooo way." Widget's cheek bolts went bright red. He almost scooted back from the silvally. "It's more like, uh, seeing you guys is making me grapple with my own creation?"

The second silvally rested their head next to their buddy. [Are you asking us to deduce your reasoning?]

Tittering, Widget shook his head. "Sorry. Nerves."

Second!Silvally: [Is that a 'maybe'?]

Except he wasn't supposed to get nervous. And that was the problem.

"It's just..." Widget's voice trailed off and he shuddered.

Deep breath. Keep it simple. That was all Widget had to do.

"Are you two... happy?"

Widget, I'm not really sure these Silvally even have proper personalities given that they apparently are programmed to be unable to fall in love.

The silvally tilted their heads in unison. [I don't understand the question,] one said.

[We are programmed to help. We enjoy helping,] the other added.

Yeah, I called it.

Widget: "..."
:uhhh:

Other!Silvally: [Is something wrong, W1-DG3T?]

Widget pawed nervously at the asphalt. Sure, that was what they said, but did they really feel that way? Or were they programmed for that? Like how he was programmed to think he would save everyone living in Eternatus.

"Okay." Another deep breath. "What if you were suddenly freed from your programming? What would you do?"

Ah yes, time for things to get interesting / full ethics of AI here.

Silence. Both silvally fixed expressionless gazes on Widget. Perhaps they were even looking through the type: full.

[Illogical,] one finally said.

[Our programming is flawless,] the other agreed. [Even if there was a lapse, helping humans is all I've done since my activation. It's what I know. So, I would keep doing that.]

Widget: "That's really debatable given that you can't give a proper answer as to if you're happy about the way you are or not." ·v·

The first silvally frowned. [Why are you so fixated on this? Is it because you're broken? Your vocal processors lack that kick silvally should have.]

Widget tensed up. "I'm—"

But the words wouldn't come out. How could he explain his situation in a way their highly specified parameters could understand?

See, that's the thing, Widget: I'm not sure that you can.

"I was more like you guys before," Widget mumbled. "But the person who made me... filled my programming with a lot of lies. He made me think I was helping people, when the reality is I would have done harm to a lot of people if someone hadn't stopped me.

"And the only reason I know that is because someone freed me from his programming," he continued. "But something still feels wrong. Like I'm flying blindly and going to crash into something." Widget shook his head. "When I saw there were pokémon here that looked like me, I thought maybe they could help me come to terms with this."

Oh, so that's why Widget was so insistent to try and seek out other Silvally. Makes sense even if this all has some unintentionally sad and unsettling undertones.

Both silvally perked their heads up at the mention of helping Widget.

[You need help coming to terms with a loss?] one asked.

[Grief is complex. Everyone experiences it differently,] the other added.

Widget: "... How on earth are you all programmed to know what grief is but not personal happiness?" >v>;
Other!Silvally: [Grief counseling is an important duty expected of Silvally produced by RKS Labs. It comes with the territory.] ^v^

Widget swallowed hard. Grief? No, that wasn't the right word. He hadn't really lost anything, right? A flawed worldview didn't count. It couldn't count.

... Right?

Nah, it can totally count. Even if I'd frame it more as "disorientation" or "existential doubt" than "grief".

"I didn't lose anyone, though," Widget mumbled.

[Grief can sometimes accompany a large change in one's life,] the first silvally explained. They looked at their companion, who nodded.

[When a major life change happens, one 'loses' a part of themselves,] they said, offering Widget an apologetic look. [Consider retirees, for example. The loss of regular coworker interaction and disruption in someone's routine can trigger bouts of depression.]

Okay, maybe it really is grief after all, then.

Widget sat still. It made sense out loud, but a part of him took offense at getting compared to a retiree. And getting lectured at like he was sitting in a classroom.

Still, the silvally phrased it like they were trying to help. He couldn't spit on their generosity. "What would you recommend for, uh, dealing with this?"

[It helps to have a strong support system,] one of them replied. [And if you don't, even just finding one person you trust and reaching out to them about your situation is a good first step.]

Widget: "... I'm sorry, but how do you know to suggest this when you don't have a concept of personal happiness-?"
Other!Silvally: [Grief counseling protocol.]
Widget: "... Right, that's a thing."

The other silvally nodded. [You can also try to focus on things you can control.]

Widget raised a brow. "Meaning?"

[Tangible activities where you can see the outcomes,] the second silvally said. [You can even set goals for yourself. Would you like some help with that?]

That conversation honestly hits a bit close to home. Especially in light of IRL events over the past 3 years.

See the outcomes, huh?

Widget tapped his talons against the asphalt. Tap, tap, tap.

Tangible activities. Viewable outcomes.

Widget: "You mean things like this?"
Second!Silvally: [Well, it's a start, at least.]

Well, fighting against the Paradigm and the Phantoms was certainly tangible. And, sure, maybe Widget wasn't the one directly sealing up anomalies. But he could see the results pretty easily.

Doing that would put him on a collision course with Paradox, however. Could Widget really face down his father directly like that?

Yes. Probably. Maybe. Depends on whether Paradox has a way of hard-resetting you or not.

But I wouldn't be doing it alone. I have a whole team. Fath— Paradox never made a team for me. He said I could do everything myself.

Which ended up being untrue. Gene's team had taken down his giant battle mech. And now he was here.

Widget: "... I kinda wish that I had brought them along in retrospect. But I guess it's not too late to go and catch up."

Exhaling deeply, Widget got back to his feet. "I think... I have my answer."

The two silvally tilted their heads, curious to hear more.

"I know something I can do. And people I can talk to." Widget's cheek bolts slowly turned in their sockets. "We might not... be the closest. But that's more of a reason to reach out to them. Because they can help me. And I want to help them."

D'aww. You're really hitting the emotional range in this chapter.
:seviuwu:


He let that hang in the air for a bit. The two silvally's tails wagged in unison and they exchanged quick smiles.

[It sounds like you have a plan,] one said.

The other silvally nodded. [I hope we were of some help to you.]

Small typo there, though this is still really cute right now.

"Yes, you were." Widget's own tail wagged. "Thank you. Both of you. Now I gotta run... or my, uh, 'pack' will leave without me."

The type— no, the silvally turned and trotted away from the station.

[Enjoy your day,] the service silvally chirped in unison.

"You too!" Widget shouted back. He switched his X-transceiver back on. "Hey, guys, I finished my little errand. Where are you?"

Cue the explosions and battle noises through the X-Transciever in 3... 2...

"At the museum," Cyril whispered.

"What, already? How?!"

Cyril: "Will you keep it down?! Some of us are trying to sneak around here!" >.<

Yuna flinched. She knew her X-transceiver's volume wasn't high enough for anyone to hear but her, yet the utter silence of the dark, empty room she was in put her on edge. The drakloak almost shut the X-transceiver off on instinct.

"Found a loading bay for deliveries," Cyril continued. He beckoned Yuna toward a small door that had some yellow light poking through its edges. "It was as easy as conjuring an illusory veil and following a delivery truck inside."

Oh hey, it's Kusanagi Motoko's party trick from Ghost in the Shell there.

Despite that "ease," however, Cyril hadn't lowered the veil. He assumed there were security cameras in the spacious bay and, though he might not have been able to see them, Yuna could. Neatly spaced out along the ceiling. Some pointed toward metal wireframe shelves with boxes on it. Others pointed at the large garage doors the trio had gone through.

Yuna: "... Boy I sure hope that Cyril's illusions also work on those cameras as well as they do on eyes."
:fearfullaugh~1:


"Do you think they use this for anything other than food?" Leo wondered. "That seems like a lot of food for a museum."

"Shh." Yuna tapped the fake dreepy's lips with her right hand. "Not now."

I mean, if the museum has a restaurant or something like that, that would require quite a bit of food to be dealt with in one setting and all.

"So, how am I supposed to join you guys?"

"What, did the emperor not give you a cloaking device?" Cyril quipped.

"Not funny."

"It's kinda funny," Cyril countered.

Widget: "..."
:gardexhausted:

Cyril: "Look, just be patient and hang out with those other Silvally a bit longer, okay?"

"... in a derisive, mocking sort of way," Reshiram added. Yuna pushed him out of her mind and returned to focusing on the small door as it got closer and closer. There was a small black box on the side of it with a tiny red light.

Yuna: "Um... wait, so is that a trap, or...?" .-.

"How far are you from the lustrous ore we used to get here?" Cyril asked, approaching the small box. "If you go there, Yuna can rift you over. We just have to find a restroom."

"A restroom?"

"They don't have cameras," Cyril said. "Call us when you get there." He crouched down slightly and scrutinized the box. "Well, ****. It's an ID card reader."

I mean that's not necessarily a safe assumption considering some news stories out there, even if they're almost certainly not part of the normal museum grid.
:copyka:


Though I see we have an answer to the box and the red light there.

"What does that mean?" Leo said. "Are we at a dead end?"

"Leeeet's not jump to any conclusions, here." Cyril stood up and scrutinized the door. "Yuna, try seeing if you can phase through it."

"Hmm?" The drakloak blinked. "Oh, duh!"

... That actually makes me wonder how widespread phase-proof doors are in the various dimensions in this story.

How long had it been since she'd actually taken advantage of being a ghost, anyway? Yuna supposed it didn't matter. She floated up to it, only to throw a cautious look back at Cyril. "I'm not going to, like, reappear immediately, will I?"

"The veil should be wide enough to cover you through the door," Cyril said. "But you might want to hand over the kid, first."

Yuna: "... Right, Leo isn't a proper Ghost-type himself."
Leo: "Not yet, anyways!" ^_^

Leo hopped off Yuna's rectangular head before she could grab him, floating over to Cyril's right shoulder. "Go, Mom!" He waved his hands around like pom-poms.

Nodding, Yuna concentrated. She pressed her hands against the metal and imagined that solid objects were water she could swim through. A thin strip of water, but water nonethele—

The drakloak quickly slipped through the door. Obnoxiously bright, yellow light greeted her. Yuna threw her arm up over her face, hissing. Why did humans need such annoying lights? Were windows not good enough for them?

Huh. Fascinating take on depicting phasing there. Though part of me wonders how we haven't seen Yuna do this more in the story since this feels like a very useful skill on her part.

Once she could see properly, Yuna found the large door handle. "Okay, Cyril, I'm just gonna open it a smidge. Think you can squeeze through?"

"Well, Boss Kitty might think my hips don't lie, but I can manage."

As Yuna reached for the handle, she heard a scoff through the X-transceiver.

"*****, I never said that."

Yuna: "I'm... just going to open the door now." >_>;

Cyril laughed. "Oh, c'mon, you've totally snuck peeks before."

Gene snorted. "If I didn't have to listen to Gilbert, I'd find that the most offensive thing I've heard today."

Gene has totally snuck peeks before, I can already tell.
:bleplithe:


Rolling her eyes, Yuna nudged the door open. Cyril managed to slip inside while carrying Leo. "Let's hurry, just in case the door moved enough for the cameras to pick it up."

The trio headed down the long white corridor, eventually finding multiple doors. One had a pane of darkened glass — one-way glass, according to Cyril — that showed a carpeted floor and a red wall with a sign pointing toward different exhibits. The door on the right, however, had what Cyril deemed a restroom sign. And, to his delight, the door opened when he tried the handle.

Time to see how much of an unholy mess museum restrooms are here in this LaRousse.

Inside was empty, save for ceramic tiles on the floors and walls, a sink with a mirror, a second door next to the sink that led the same way as the one heading into the museum, and a small gray cube that had gaps close to the floor and ceiling.

"I don't think we need to go into the stall for this," Cyril said. "You good, Widget?"

"Yeah. Whenever you're ready."

So... bowl toilet or squat?

Cyril snapped his fake human fingers at Yuna. The drakloak envisioned their arrival spot and quickly opened a small rift overhead. She floated to the side a second before a squawking Widget fell through it, landing on the floor with a whampf.

"Owww." Widget rubbed his right flank. "Why didn't you let me just walk through it?"

Yuna shrugged. "I thought it'd be less weird if it was in the ground."

Widget: "You still could've warned me first!" >v<

"How'd your chat go?" Cyril asked, extending an arm to help Widget back up.

"Decently." Widget stood up and shook himself out. "If it's alright with you guys, can you call me a silvally instead of a type: full? It... suits me better. I think."

"Aww, sounds like someone had themselves a little moment~"

Widget: "I-It wasn't like that at all!" OvO;

Widget's cheek bolts reddened. "B-Butt out, Gene! Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

"There's always time to tease a silval— whoa, hey, watch it, Zardy!"

"Sorry!" Noctum squealed.

Ah yes, there's the explosions and sounds of combat on the other line now.

"Sounds like they've got their hands full over there," Reshiram said.

Cyril: "Meh, Boss Kitty will manage. It's nothing he hasn't dealt with before."
Cecil: "What about the others, though?"
Cyril: "They'll be fine... Probably. Maybe."

Yuna again forced his presence out of her mind. The drakloak had to focus on finding the anomaly. She didn't need to think about that right now. Noctum would be fine. Gene and Valkyrie would have his back.

You see, Yuna. The fact that you're stopping and explicitly thinking this is making me start to think that you're tempting fate here.

"Okay, everyone's here." She rubbed her hands together. "Let's go check out that collider."

Cyril threw up the illusory veil once again. They slipped through the restroom door one at a time. Fortunately, no one was around, so Cyril was free to drop it. The nearby sign came with a map of the museum that told them the collider was on the ground level in its own separate wing.

I'm a little surprised that they'd just have that as a publicly-accessible visit given that that's surely very delicate machinery, but eh. I won't question it too hard.

"Looks like there's a staircase that leads to it past the DNA exhibit," Widget said, blinking slowly at the sign. "Wait, DNA exhibit?"

"It's the biology wing." Cyril shrugged, beckoning them to follow along. The red wall gave way to colorful paintings of assorted trees. Pine trees on the left, palm trees on the right. And each wall had pokémon suited to that climate painted sitting in the branches or clutching tree trunks. Some like slakoth were easy to identify. Others looked different than Yuna recalled, like an exeggutor as tall as the painted palm trees.

Ah yes, Yuna gets her first experience beholding the glory of draconic palm trees.

The right wall quickly gave way to glass offering a view of one of the exhibits. There were glass cases with various plants in them, along with some open containers. The nearest had a bunch of funny-looking rocks and a sign above it reading "Fun With Fossils."

"Hey, doesn't that one picture kind of look like Baraz?" Reshiram wondered. "Y'know, if his bottom half actually matched his top?"

Yuna spotted the drawing in question on the side of the fossil exhibit. It did remind her of Baraz, except its lower half was also small and yellow, with little lightning bolt fur tufts on its feet and a small, bolt-shaped tail.

Uhh, I guess his kind turned out differently here? She quickly pushed those thoughts aside in the interest of keeping up with the others.

Wait, are these actually based off of some sort of official material? Or is this a fan guess as to what the "missing halves" of the Galarian fossils would be like?

They rounded a few corners and the hallway expanded into a large circular room with two wavy central partitions.

"Cute. The design's trying to mimic DNA." Cyril chuckled, looking at some sort of sculpture that had a double helix of balls attached to sticks.

"DNA?" Yuna rubbed her head. "I know it stands for something, but..."

"Deoxyribonucleic acid," Widget rifled off. "It's the genetic material found in living creature's cells." He paused mid-step and glanced back at Yuna. "Err, organic creature's cells."

Wait, then what on earth is in Yuna's cells if it's not DNA? Assuming that her body even has those to begin with?

... Also this feels like it's kinda baiting an appearance by Ahsen, but we'll see, I guess.

Yuna frowned. Was that a jab at her species?

"Nah, I think he's just saying you're made of ectoplasm," Reshiram assured. "No cells. No DNA."

Oh, well that answers that there.

Ah. Yuna didn't know enough about the subject. She was ready to drop it and head for the other side of the room when Leo squeezed the front of her rectangular head.

"Ahhhh! On the screen!" He pointed left. "It's the emperor guy!"

Yuna: "Wait, what-?"
:riOMEGAlu:


The other three turned left. There was a deoxys on a monitor, but it couldn't have been Paradox. It was short and stubby, with a texture resembling colored markers. And its head had blunt, rectangular horns instead of pointy ones.

"Hi there, friends!" Deoxys waved. A few small children closer to the monitor waved back. "I'm Deena the deoxys and I'm here to teach you about DNA."

Well that must be quite a loop for the gang to behold. Though that suddenly makes me wonder if Paradox is the only Deoxys in the QN or not.

"Yeeeeeeah." Cyril rubbed the back of his head. "I think that's just part of the exhibit, kiddo. Nothing to worry about." He waved the fake dreepy off and continued across the exhibit.

Yuna floated after him, stealing glances back at the monitor. Deena's cartoony body unraveled into parallel orange and blue lines with thin white lines running perpendicular.

"Y'see, DNA is the genetic code that makes each and every one of us ourselves..."

Cyril: "Alright, moving on now..."
Leo: "Aw... but things were just getting good!"

"... cannot fathom why Subject A is stuck in the attack form. By all accounts, the virus took up the Eterna Energy perfectly."

Sticky abruptly stopped floating through the cold, metal hallway of Paradox Tower's top floor when he heard an unfamiliar voice from the emperor's office. It was coming through a speaker. Was the emperor on a call or listening to some sort of recording?

Oh, well. Speaking about the question of how many Deoxys were out there in the QN...

Though ominous BGM is ominous.

"No, you're wrong."

That was Paradox's voice. A call, then.

"I've tried additional catalysts, denaturing and reannealing part of its body— nothing's worked. It's perplexing. My data on deoxys says that adaptation is their defining feature."

Subject 'A', huh? Just how many of these does Paradox have lying around in the basement?

Sticky frowned. That sounded less like a response to Paradox and more like the other voice was thinking out loud. So, it was a recording?

"Try again."

"What good is mutated DNA that's static? The world cannot evolve like that."

... Oh, so the 'A' is for 'Assimilation', huh? Since it sure feels like that's where this is going.
:copyka2:


Well, in that case, he could press onward. The naganadel had important news and that trumped whatever program Paradox was listening to.

"I said try again, damn it!"

Something smacked against metal. Gulping, Sticky quickened his pace.

Sticky: "... I really should've invested in something like a Lansat Berry for him to hold before talking to him."
:grohno~2:


"Still, even if it is a failure, I can overcome this challenge," the voice continued. "It's a puzzle. Another mystery amongst the myths and legends of the professor's old world. Nothing got her blood pumping quite like a good mystery. Perhaps I will enjoy solving this puzzle."

The 'professor's, huh? Now you've got my interest piqued as to who on earth is helping Paradox with this experiment.

"No! No, I'm not a failure! I'm better! I've surpassed you! I'm the one in charge now, and—"

Sticky wasn't sure what he expected when he reached the doorway, but the deoxys standing in the middle of his office whirled on him before he even had the chance to knock on the doorframe. The naganadel looked past the emperor, however, to the projection over his desk.

Ohai, Cynthia.

He didn't recognize this human, nor did he think he was supposed to. Though the black bangles around the long, yellow hair obscuring part of her face brought to mind lucario mewgenic enhancements. The frozen projection faced Sticky's right, one hand tapping her chin, the other wedged between her black jumpsuit and her white lab coat.

Judging by the flabbergasted look on Paradox's face, Sticky should have turned around the moment he heard the projection's voice. But the deoxys should have sensed him coming and turned it off, right? Was he that distracted by it?

"S-Sir?"

Sticky: "U-Um, is something going on here?"
:uhhh:


Paradox abruptly shut the projection off. A psychic pulse flung the small discoid projector into the far corner of his office. "Did you not see the do not disturb notification when you pressed the elevator button for my floor?"

"I did." Sticky looked down at his tablet. "But this was an urgent matter, sir, and you said to ignore the notice if it was urgent."

"Out with it, then."

Sticky: "... (I really should've just dispatched a Poipole for this-)"
:eltyscared:

Paradox: "I said, 'out with it'."

There was a growing pressure in the back of Sticky's head. The naganadel tightened his grip on his tablet. "I just got a report back regarding Chernabog, sir. Troopers found torn fragments of his belt on Quasar Prime after the rift vanished, remember?"

"I'm aware." Sticky subconsciously drifted backwards a bit.

"W-Well, according to the Harvester Unit, his soul didn't return to us."

Oh, so he's dead dead, huh? Or at least I think that that's the implication.

He paused, expecting some sort of outburst, but it didn't come. Sticky looked up to see Paradox leaning over, bracing his orange and blue hands against his desk.

"A slight variation, but that makes five."

"Five?"

"Five Paradigm fragments missing." Paradox's core flickered. "Nidhogg, Baptiste, Exodes, and Beowolf all returned to the Harvester, but their souls are too weak to take to new hosts. Which means someone or something has taken their powers." His arms briefly unraveled into tentacles before reannealing. "It's the traitor, Chiron. It has to be. She's trying to gather all of the Paradigm's power for herself."

Oh, so there's a reason why Yuna's Bayo/Giratina powers have been growing stronger and appearing more frequently, huh?

Sticky nodded slowly. It made sense. Uroboros kept bringing her up. "Ah, of course, sir." Sticky tapped a claw against his tablet. "Do you have any orders you want me to relay?"

"Continue preparing to attack Radiance," Paradox said. "We might have to overwhelm Chiron with sheer numbers. And the only way to do that is with fresh bodies to craft my Paradox Pokémon from. When will the Iron Moths be ready?"

So wait, does that mean that Paradox only has access to the future Paradox Pokémon? Or does he have ways of getting to the other set as well?

"Soon, sir. We just need another volcarona or two."

"There were volcanrona in the class of Horizon Academy students." Paradox pushed himself away from his desk and blipped right in front of Sticky. "I'm going to get them."

Oh, well that got really dark and creepy really fast.
:blazisweat~1:


Sticky stiffened. "S-Sir?"

"Do you trust me, Sticky?"

The naganadel shakily nodded. Why wouldn't he? The emperor had unified all of the Qliphoth, save for a few lingering nuisances. Not even Matriarch had achieved that.

Internal politics in Eternatus must've been wild in bygone ages if there were times when it wasn't meaningfully united.

"Good." Paradox put a hand on Sticky's shoulder. "Then I'll exchange that same courtesy to you. Tell no one of what you saw here. No. One."

That was easy enough. But why? "Sure. But what exactly am I not saying?"

"That you saw the true face of our Matriarch, who Chiron savagely destroyed all those years ago."

W. H. A. T.

Well that's a note that I didn't expect things to end on, and we officially have an answer as to who the 'Matriarch' of the Qliphoth is. I'm not sure how you plan out these reveals in advance, but the way that this story remains chaotic and unpredictable while still coherent is still something that I find remarkable.

I don't have too many criticisms to level aside from the fact that there were a couple places where I thought that things might have benefitted from more attention on the characters' thought process, particularly Widget's in his scene, but otherwise I was too busy having fun to really notice. It's a bit of a weird feeling to go from zany and chaotic to heartfelt to ominous all in the span of 6000 words, but I thought that things turned out quite well here. And again, that ending, man.

Sorry things took so long to get this together, but I had a good time @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to where things go in this story in its next update.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 68: Meticulously Engineered

Why did my spirit powers work?

It doesn't make any sense. Overseers are meant to be bound by the rules of the worlds they visit. Everyone said POV-2020 is the kind of world where this sort of stuff should be impossible.

They sent me away, of course. I don't blame them for doing it.

But I can't stop thinking about that place. And that other necrozma. So much anger in his heart. Or brain prism. Whatever.

I bet I'm stuck on it because it reminds me of him. Funny. It's been so long since the team put a stop to him, but now the memories are fresh in my mind again. Like this all just wrapped up last month or something.

I really hope I'm just misreading this whole situation. The alternatives scare me.


XxX​

ATTENTION: THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED.

"Well, ****." Cyril leaned against the red door leading back to the staircase Team Bastion just exited. "Talk about bad timing."

It's more than bad timing, Yuna thought, eyeing the gray-carpeted ramp sloping down to the exhibit entrance, which had a gray metal shutter closing it off. A staff member with short black hair stood in front of the shutter holding a small megaphone.

"Sorry, folks! The collider's closed to the public right now," the staffer said, an apologetic look on his face as small groups of people saw the sign and frowned. Some immediately turned back, dejected.

One red, curly-haired lady with two small children stood her ground, though. "Why wasn't there any sort of announcement?! I brought my kids here to see the collider!"

"Apologies, ma'am. This just happened." The staffer rubbed the back of his head. "Chief engineer's orders."

The woman's expression softened. She said something to her kids Yuna couldn't make out and they quickly left.

"What's a chief engineer?" Leo wondered, rolling onto his side on Yuna's head. "Sounds important if that lady left without a fuss."

"As best I can describe it... the chief engineer's supposed to oversee the machine's operation." Cyril scratched his chin. "So, if they're saying to shut it down, then it's a big deal."

I thought so. Yuna sighed. She didn't have anything other than gut instincts, but that wouldn't stop her from bringing it up. "What if... the chief engineer shut the collider down because there is an anomaly in it?"

"Would these people even know what dimensional anomalies are?" Widget wondered. The silvally tilted his head to the side. "Then again, I guess they are researching that stuff."

Cyril crossed his arms. "Well, if the anomaly caused a worrisome readout, then that would drive the chief engineer to shut things down for sure."

"Then we should go find out for ourselves!" Leo said, rolling back on his belly. "You can pretend you're a pokémon ranger guy again, Mr. Cyril."

"Shh. Keep it down, kiddo." Cyril put his right hand on the fake dreepy. "Not a bad idea, though."

"I guess." If it got them into the collider exhibit, Yuna couldn't protest. The drakloak followed Cyril down the ramp.

"'Scuse me, bud." Cyril already had his fake ranger badge out of his sweatshirt pocket. "Couldn't help but overhear the collider got shut down."

"Hmm?" Like the dronetom, the staffer acknowledged the badge. "Oh, a ranger. I'm not sure what sort of help you can provide here, though."

"My buddies and I are here investigating reports of space-time distortion," Cyril explained. Yuna wasn't sure if going vague was the best route here, but she didn't have a counterargument. "A supercollider sure sounds like the kind of place to find one."

The staffer scrutinized Cyril's tie-dye attire. Yuna didn't blame him. It was no uniform like the Radiant Guard had.

Fortunately, the staffer reached for a radio clipped to his belt. "Gimme a sec." He stepped back from the group. "Yeah, Chief? It's me. There's a ranger here who says he wants to help. Something about space-time distortion."

"Dost thou think the engineer will fall for the ruse?" Rayquaza wondered.

Well, we got this far, didn't we? They weren't entirely lying, either. They were here to find an anomaly. Just not as a part of the rangers.

"Okay, if you say so."

The staffer put the radio back on his belt and waved the team over. "Chief says to head on through. She'll meet you on the other side of the walkway."

"Great." Cyril bowed his thanks. "And, uh, what does she look like?"

"Real short. Blue hair tied in a bun with a ribbon." The staffer held his right hand a bit above his belly button. "Oh, uh, don't mention the short bit to her. Liza's kinda touchy about it."

"Duly noted."

Cyril stepped aside so the staffer could open the metal grate high enough for everyone to pass through. They headed through a glass tunnel full of sunlight. Ocean waves rippled in the distance to the left. Large wailord blew water through their blowholes while wingull and pelipper flew overhead.

"It's pretty," Yuna whispered. "The ocean, I mean."

"Right. You don't have beaches back on Aeon, do you?" Cyril said. "Come to think of it, how did you guys even get drinking water with all the ash and soot in the air?"

"Special rocks to filter the water. Boilers to burn up any icky stuff," Yuna said. Yiazmat had taken her through a water plant once, but she barely remembered the trip. "Then we let it cool."

"But you guys don't have heavy machinery, right?" Widget said, cheek bolts slowly turning. "So, does that mean—"

"That these were people's jobs? Yeah." Yuna rubbed her shoulder. She didn't recall any workers complaining about it, though they might have been acting polite because Yiazmat was visiting. "We make do with what we have."

"And a little help from the Ryujin." Cyril smirked at her. "Including yours truly."

Yuna's torso shriveled a bit. "I suppose so. Mom always mentioned we had allies in Radiance. Never gave me details."

"Well, how would you have taken learning they're a crime syndicate?" Reshiram wondered.

Not well. The fact that there was so much else going on at the moment made it easy to brush that aside, though. Maybe if the team got the whole dimensional instability thing under control Yuna would have to grapple with it. But there were bigger things to worry about.

Reshiram yawned in the back of Yuna's head.

Do you mind?

"Sorry. Feel sleepy for some reason."


Another yawn. This one from Rayquaza.

Frowning, Yuna pushed them out of her head. They'd reached the metal doors at the other end of the tunnel. Like the staffer said, a young lady in an orange jumpsuit paced nervously on the other side of the doorway. Her blue hair was tied in a button with a ribbon that looked like an espeon's ears.

"What are they saying? What are they saying?"

"Hello, Miss Engineer Liza Lady!"

Yuna winced at Leo's loud greeting. The fake dreepy was waving enthusiastically judging by how his other hand tugged on Yuna's head.

"Ah, you!" Liza whirled around. The goggles around her neck almost smacked her face. "Tell me you're hearing it, too!"

Yuna looked at Cyril. She had no idea what Liza meant. Had she somehow connected with the team's X-transceivers?

"Hearing... what?" Cyril scratched his head.

"The message from beyond!" Liza intensified her pacing. "The message from the pink!"

Widget leaned over. "Uh, hey, I'm no engineer, but last I checked pink doesn't make noises."

"An astute observation." Cyril tucked his hands into his sweatshirt and approached Liza. "Howdy. I'm Cyril. Nice to meet you, Liza."

"Please, no need to be polite." Liza waved Cyril off. She continued pacing, not making eye contact. "We both know it's my brother you'd rather meet. Lemme guess... subscribed to his NickNack?"

Cyril blinked. "Uhh..."

"Glitch TV follower?"

"Huh?"

"You listen to his podcast?"

"What?"

"No? Well, how many of his travel vlogs have you seen?"

"Excuse me?"

"Forget it." Liza turned around. "Tate's irrelevant. Head-in-the-clouds piece of work," she mumbled.

"Is this what it means when someone's 'having a moment?'" Widget whispered.

"How would I know?" Yuna whispered back.

"Maybe it's aaaaaawwwwm—" Reshiram cut himself off with another yawn. "Sorry. Maybe it's a nervous breakdown? Her big collider thingy's on the fritz, after all."

"Let's cut to the chase," Cyril proposed, studying the large, steel doors beyond Liza. There were other hallways extending to either side, with brightly colored paintings of pokémon that looked... off. Like misdreavus with feathers in their ectoplasmic hair or jigglypuff with long, curly tails and tiny fangs.

"Of course, of course." Liza pinched her brow. "The sooner I can solve this, the better." She gestured behind her, to the hallway on the right. "You see the pink, right?"

Yuna squinted. Looking closer, there was a pink tint to the hallway. Even the painted walls and metal railings had a fine layer of pink over them. She glanced at the ceiling lights, which also had a bit of pink.

I'm guessing that's not normal.

Neither Sage responded. Uh, guys? I'm saying you can talk.

Reshiram yawned again. "Ah, sorry. Don't know why I'm so tired."

"The pink art is quite relaxing,"
Rayquaza mumbled. He was coiling himself tightly in the back of Yuna's mind, happily resting his head by his tail.

As if she needed more proof that, yes, this mysterious pink glow was a problem.

"I was doing my routine checks on the collider when I got some weird pings," Liza continued. She resumed pacing. "Before I got the chance to investigate any further, I saw pink coming from outside the collider room." She jerked her head toward the shut steel doors. "Went outside and saw these intense glowing spots... and that's when I started hearing things."

"What kind of things?" Widget asked.

"A garbled message." Liza held up her right arm. There was a small monitor strapped around her jumpsuit. "I can't quite put it together, so I sent three of my beldum to find the sources of the pink." Liza tapped the monitor. "But they didn't come back and I've lost their signal."

"So, you closed the exhibit?"

"I was ready to close it the moment I got the pings!" Liza huffed. "But Da— Dr. Lund said not to. 'Science doesn't stop for a funny ping or two.'" She shook her head. "With my beldum vanishing, though? No dice. I don't want people here. So, I shuttered the place."

Widget stepped toward her. "So, how can we help?"

Liza looked him over. "Pretty weird-sounding silvally you got there." She shook her head. "Is what it is. Best way to help would be retrieving the beldum, but..." Liza looked over her shoulder.

"That means walking into the pink," Cyril said.

"Do you have any idea what Daaaactor Lund would do if he found out I let a civilian get, like, atomized by chronons or something?!" Liza squeezed her goggles.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm a ranger, then." Cyril smirked. "Danger's in the job description. Or, at least, on the liability waivers I signed."

"Wow. He's good." Reshiram whistled. "I wonder if Leo's power boost also made him a better liar?"

I think that's probably all his years with the resistance,
Yuna responded. He had the Ryujin completely fooled, remember?

Liza's eyes lit up. "Waivers! Yes, of course!" She held her right arm up and frantically tapped at the screen with her left hand. Then she stuck it out in front of Cyril. "Sign here, please."

Cyril raised a brow. "You got your own waiver?"

"Absolving me and the museum of any liability in cases of injury, dismemberment, dimensional and/or temporal displacement, death... yadda yadda. You get the idea."

Yuna would've raised an objection, but Cyril hastily scribbled on the screen with his fake human index finger. "Done." He pulled his hand away. "How do you want to do this? We have X-transceivers if you want to sync up a line for communication."

"Seriously? That old Unova junk?" Liza looked Cyril over. "No, actually, fits your hippie-dippie aesthetic I suppose. Next you're going to tell me your desktop doesn't even have an SSD."

"Bold of you to assume I even own a desktop," Cyril countered. He handed his X-transceiver over to Liza, who held it near the monitor on her right arm. Some lights blinked on the screen and she handed it back.

"Okay, so the first beldum, Bob, went over to the right." Liza pointed to the hallway behind her. "It's the shortest distance, so start there."

The team silently acknowledged her and headed down the hallway. The paintings of the weirdly fuzzy and feathery pokémon were much clearer, along with placards and small monitors talking about the relationship between time and space and how the hadron collider allowed Dr. Lund's team to investigate this further.

"The entities that stabilize space and time are ethereal in nature, you see." Small round speakers played a recording of Dr. Lund. "Chronons provide temporal stability. You can think of them like blood cells and Earth as the body they race across as Dialga's heart beats. Thus, a stable flow of time."

The pink glow got brighter. Yuna didn't feel any different from before, but both Sages kept yawning, forcing the drakloak to push them out of her mind. How could a couple of souls chilling inside of her even get tired? They weren't doing anything!

"Hey, Leo, how you holding up?" Yuna wondered, reaching a hand up to feel for her fake dreepy son.

"I'm okay." Leo shifted on her head. "Though I think I'm sensing... something. The back of my neck's all prickly."

"Maybe we're getting close to the source of 'the pink,'" Cyril mused. "Quite an unscientific name, considering where we are."

"Give me a break. I was crunched for time," Liza huffed. "If you've time to gab, you've time to go faster!"

Cyril picked up his pace. Bright pink light obscured the end of the hall. Pink lines and fissures trickled across the dimmer pinks of the walls, floor, and ceiling like an ariados web. Leo shifted again on Yuna's head.

"So, Lund's your dad, huh?" Widget said.

"What, how did you—"

"Kinda hard not to hear you reflexively stopping to switch from 'Dad' to 'Dr. Lund,'" Widget responded, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah." Liza grumbled something the X-transceiver couldn't make out. "He's not one of those accomplished scientists who holds his kids to impossibly high standards or anything. He's just... very devoted to his work."

"To the point where he ignores you?"

"Not important!" Liza dismissed. "Maybe Tate and I were able to switch places when we were little kids and Dad wouldn't realize, but that doesn't matter. Focus on the pink."

"Well, we're, uh, at the pink?" Cyril stopped short of the bright pink sphere swallowing up the hallway, holding an arm over his face. "I don't see any beldum."

"I don't see much of anything." Widget pivoted left. "It's way too bright!"

Yuna, however, sensed something within the bright light. So did Leo, judging by his shifting around on her head.

"... de... cept..."

The drakloak's tail crinkled. "There was a voice." She hovered closer.

"Huh? I didn't hear anyone but you," Widget said.

But Yuna was already reaching into the pink light with her right hand. And the moment the pink fully engulfed it, a soft tingle ran up her arm.

Then the pink light flickered on and off in tandem with a dark, starry sky and silhouettes of rocky slabs floating haphazardly. There were bright flashes of light far in the distance.

"... have to... me! Whatever... do not..."

XxX​

Yowling, Noctum ducked underneath a swipe of a gallade pirate's glowing pink arm. The black charizard swung his tail around, knocking Gallade over on the ship deck. Noctum spewed fire at point-blank range until Gallade had passed out.

"Noctum, on your six!" Valkyrie cried behind him.

"Huh?"

Then a garbled holler came from behind him. Noctum spun around and saw a pidgeot with metal wings lying on their side, twitching from paralysis.

"You're welcome."

Noctum glanced up to see Nikki standing upside down on a part of the ship's mast. The toxtricity quickly turned and lobbed poisonous globs to intercept Air Slash crescents from a staraptor.

"'We'll board the ship and take the fight to them!' Gene said." Nikki leaped from the mast, landing upright beside Noctum. "'It'll keep 'em occupied for sure!' he said."

"Well, they're all here, aren't they?" Noctum said, shooting a blue bolt toward a strafing mantine. It struck their right flipper, sending them tumbling through open space. The black charizard tugged Nikki's jacket and pointed to Mantine. She got the message, striking her gills. Overdrive shockwaves rippled through the air, zapping Mantine and the staraptor that had attacked Nikki before. Both went still, their previous momentum sending them drifting away from the ship.

"Arrrrgh! You fools!" Gilbert slapped a wooden railing on the side of his tiny, personal ship. "What do you zink you are doing?! You have zem outnumbered!"

"Quality over quantity, *****!" Nikki retorted.

Noctum tensed up. His gut churned under his armor. He couldn't help but drop to one knee, grimacing. And he caught sight of Gene pausing above the other ship, too. The shadowy mewtwo's Malice Crystal flickered pink. He looked off into the distance.

"Noctum, look alive!"

Valkyrie glided in front of him, bludgeoning an umbreon in the side with a Dragon Claw and sending them tumbling across the ship's plank.

"S-Sorry!" He hastily got to his feet. "I just... I think my crystal reacted to something in the debris!"

"It's probably the others." Valkyrie landed atop a wrecked scope lens cannon. "Which means we have to focus."

XxX​

Gasping, Yuna jolted her head back.

"Mom? Mom!"

The pink light faded, revealing Leo's hand waving in front of her face.

"W-What?" The drakloak looked around. She was back in the museum. And she could see a metal door with an emergency exit sign at the end of the hall. Yuna rubbed her eyes. "Did you guys see that?"

"See what?" Widget tapped a claw on the carpet. "You reaching toward the pink light, only to have it disappear within seconds and give us this beldum?" He jerked his head to his right. A beldum floated by his shoulder, looking between Cyril and Yuna.

"No, not that." Though, Yuna had to admit it looked that way. "Everything faded out... and I saw Kalidron's ruins, but through a pink filter."

Silence. Cyril and Widget exchanged uneasy looks.

"What about you, Leo?" Yuna whispered.

"I didn't see anything but pink." The fake dreepy yawned. "And the closer you got, the more I wanted to go to sleep. Can I take a nap?"

"Uhh, I think that'll have to wait." Yuna sympathetically nudged the front of her head. "Are you Bob?" she asked Beldum.

[Ah, guests!] The beldum's mechanical voice was cheerful. Their circular head spun around in their socket. [You are correct. One moment while I engage my charming accent.]

Cyril scratched his head. "Don't really have a moment. Liza's waiting for you."

[Well, shine my boots and call me Sally!] Bob's new accent was... homely, to Yuna's surprise. And concern. [I reckon I ought to head back to the ol' farm, then. Y'all should follow me over yonder. It ain't safe 'round these here parts.]

Bob turned around and hovered toward the entrance of the collider wing.

"Bob just pinged me!" Liza said. "With a... howdy. Guess you found them."

"Yeah." Cyril started after him. "They're... something."

Liza sighed through the X-transceiver. "I thought I'd fixed that quirk of theirs. They watch one cowboy movie and suddenly they're talking like 'em at the drop of a hat. I swear the guests are encouraging them." She paused. "Jim's down the other hallway from where you started. Looks like Bob did find something, so I'm working on piecing the data together."

The team headed back down the hallway, passing the speakers and paintings of overly furry and feathery pokémon. When they reached the entrance, they headed left. A familiar pink hue awaited them. Pink lines rippled through pictures of magneton with bizarrely long magnets. And was Yuna imagining things or did their heads have hair?

"Oh! Uh—" Yuna rubbed the back of her neck. "Miss Liza? I think you might've right about the, uh, pink."

"You heard something?"

Widget looked over his shoulder. "You heard something?"

"Maybe?" Yuna fidgeted with her hands. "There was a garbled voice. I couldn't make out more than a syllable or two. But it sounded like words."

"I see," Liza responded. "Wait, hang on. Who just spoke?"

Yuna stiffened. So much for letting Cyril and Widget do all the talking. She shot them an apologetic look.

"My drakloak," Cyril hastily said. "Worked with a decent psychic to make it happen."

"Ah. One of those types." Liza sounded intrigued. "Yeah, that stuff fascinated me when I was a kid. I had those kinds of powers myself. Tate did, too." She sighed. "We had one of those, y'know, twin connections. Except it was deeper."

Yuna wondered if they were meant to press Liza on that. She instead fixated on older video footage of Dr. Lund supervising a team of construction workers building some sort of giant metal cylinder.

"You 'had,' huh?" Cyril said, resting his hands behind his fake human hair.

"We drifted apart. It happens. The psychic stuff was cool, but the more I went through school, the more interested I got in machines. That stuff never clicked for Tate, though. Did the bare minimum he needed to skate by."

"So, you're here because you want to be?" Widget asked.

"Yeah. What? Are you going to call me a nepotism baby?"

"N-No," Widget tittered.

"I was thinking it, at least," Reshiram mumbled. He sounded even groggier than before, so Yuna shoved him out of her mind again.

"Oh, look, it's the next pink source." The silvally laughed nervously and stepped aside to let Yuna do her thing.

Except Yuna didn't want to do her thing. What if it pulled her between the dimensions harder or something? Was that even possible?

But if she did nothing, then everyone was at risk.

Sighing, she reached out toward the pink light. Again, everything flickered. She saw glimpses of the planetary ruins back in her dimension. Except it was clearer this time, with less of a pink tint.

"... troy... net."

The voice was back again. Yuna still couldn't make out more than broken syllables.

"... one out... not... time..."

XxX​

Noctum tensed. A fireball got caught in his throat. The black charizard hunched over, coughing up smoke.

"He be losing his resolve!" a sandaconda pirate shouted. "I've got him!"

"Like hell you do!"

Valkyrie dropped down from above, squishing sandaconda against the deck of the ship. She grabbed his coiled midsection, spun around, and tossed him overboard. Momentum hurtled him away from the ships, forcing a staraptor and pidgeot to break off their attacks to fly after him.

"What was that about?" the garchomp growled.

"Crystal reacted again." Noctum rubbed his armor plate. "Felt like a kick to the gut."

"Well, I'm going to give you a real kick if you don't keep your head on straight," Valkyrie huffed. "Focus!"

"No, Zardy's got a point."

Pink spheres exploded all around them, clearing the area of any pirates. Gene hovered over them, gaze fixed on the debris in the distance.

"Someone's out there." The mewtwo was projecting himself into Noctum's head without speaking. Was this what things were like for Yuna with the Sages? "I saw a ship. Too small to be the empire. Some idiot civilian's trying to get themselves killed!"

Noctum fought the urge to point out they were idiot civilians doing the exact same thing.

XxX​

Yuna's breath came in short gasps. She almost collapsed on the carpeted floor before managing to catch herself.

"Mom?" Leo got off the drakloak's head this time. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm... fine." Yuna swallowed hard. The pink light was gone. "Where's the beldum?"

[I'm right here!] a cheerful voice proclaimed. Jim drifted down to Yuna's eye level. [Hello, non-hostile entities! Are you my new best friends?]

Yuna blinked once. Twice. Leo looked ready to make Jim his second sibling, so she hastily said, "No. Your trainer's looking for you."

Jim's lone eye teared up. [Friendship request: denied. Initializing sad noises.] Their gaze fell, then they produced a crackled recording of a crying baby.

"Sheesh." Cyril had his hands over his ears. "How about you initialize returning to Liza?"

The crying abruptly stopped. [Command accepted.]

Jim spun around and zipped down the hallway.

"Oh, good, you found Jim."

"Are all your beldum this... quirky?" Widget wondered.

"Jim's a rescue, actually. Poor thing spent a long time in isolation before I found them. Even though they have plenty of buddies now, they still want everyone to be their best friend."

To Yuna's surprise, Widget flinched. He glanced around nervously, before staring at his feet. "Where's the last one, then?" he muttered. "We ran out of hallways, didn't we?"

"Janet's the closest, actually. Lost her on the other side of the doors I closed."

Their trek back down the hallway was short and silent, with Yuna contemplating what exactly would happen the moment she dispelled the last source of pink. Would the anomaly core become visible? Surely, these things had to be tied to it. The drakloak couldn't think of any other explanation.

Yuna passed Leo over to Widget for this last stop. Liza wasn't waiting for them by the closed doors, so a shrugging Cyril just opened the closest door to him.

Pink light spilled out. Cyril shut his eyes and looked away. "I think that's your cue, Yuna."

Yuna swam through the air and squished herself through the ajar door. Pink light flooded her vision for all of a second, before flickering in and out like the other two sources. Yuna got clearer glimpses of the debris field. Giant chunks of rock and metal floating haphazardly. Some rubble twisted into spirals. Others had glowing lustrous ore shards wedged into them.

"... av... ten to... ging you!"

A few more syllables this time. But nothing cohesive.

The debris field slipped away once again, leaving Yuna floating in the middle of an open, circular room. There were railings with signs giving more details about the collider, along with some sort of project where it was used to stop things called Ultra Wormholes from appearing.

Yuna was about to call in the others, when the beldum floating opposite her darted about frantically, their head swiveling around with reckless abandon.

[Danger! Danger!] Janet's mechanical voice was more feminine than the other two beldum. [The readings! They're off the charts! They're—]

Janet stopped moving. [Oh.] She looked around. [The readings have stopped.] The beldum turned to face Yuna. [Thank you, kind stranger. Would you like a coupon for the gift shop? I can offer you thirty percent off collider souvenirs.]

"I'll pass." Yuna jerked her head toward the doors. "Liza's waiting for you somewhere over there."

Janet nodded and headed for the same door Yuna floated through. The drakloak was going to open it and let the others in when a sudden shout in the back of her head made her ectoplasm jiggle from face to tail.

Jeez, Reshiram! What's the big idea?

In her mind's eye, Reshiram was still bleary-eyed and tired, but now his fur was all puffed up and his tail turbine crackling.

"I know why I'm so tired." Reshiram stifled a yawn. "Maybe she got fragmented into the pink or something, but now I can sense her for sure. It's Cress!"

Wait, as in—

"Cresselia! She's here! I feel her right underneath us!"
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Early Game Encounter
Heya, it was a bit touch-and-go putting this review together this evening. But I figured that it was time for me to make good on that Review Tag I signed up for. So let's jump right in to…

Chapter 68

Why did my spirit powers work?

It doesn't make any sense. Overseers are meant to be bound by the rules of the worlds they visit. Everyone said POV-2020 is the kind of world where this sort of stuff should be impossible.

... Shane? Is that you?

They sent me away, of course. I don't blame them for doing it.

But I can't stop thinking about that place. And that other necrozma. So much anger in his heart. Or brain prism. Whatever.

So Shane and Bahamut did meet back in the day. Or at least I think that's the implication there.

I bet I'm stuck on it because it reminds me of him. Funny. It's been so long since the team put a stop to him, but now the memories are fresh in my mind again. Like this all just wrapped up last month or something.

I really hope I'm just misreading this whole situation. The alternatives scare me.

To 'him', huh? Can't tell if that's meant to be Necky or if there was a third Necrozma thrown into the mix of PoV's backstory.

ATTENTION: THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED.

"Well, ****." Cyril leaned against the red door leading back to the staircase Team Bastion just exited. "Talk about bad timing."

Oh, so they're going to have to find a way to cold-start it, huh? Pretty sure that that's inviting all sorts of potential trouble, though I'll hold my judgement until things come to pass.

It's more than bad timing, Yuna thought, eyeing the gray-carpeted ramp sloping down to the exhibit entrance, which had a gray metal shutter closing it off. A staff member with short black hair stood in front of the shutter holding a small megaphone.

"Sorry, folks! The collider's closed to the public right now," the staffer said, an apologetic look on his face as small groups of people saw the sign and frowned. Some immediately turned back, dejected.

Yuna: "... Wait, if this collider's connected to the one on Kalidron IV and that one blew up into smithereens... does that mean that this one's also in danger of some sort of explosive failure?"
:ohnowen:


One red, curly-haired lady with two small children stood her ground, though. "Why wasn't there any sort of announcement?! I brought my kids here to see the collider!"

"Apologies, ma'am. This just happened." The staffer rubbed the back of his head. "Chief engineer's orders."

The woman's expression softened. She said something to her kids Yuna couldn't make out and they quickly left.

That was a rather specific appearance for an NPC there. Was that referencing a character of the day from the anime or the like?

"What's a chief engineer?" Leo wondered, rolling onto his side on Yuna's head. "Sounds important if that lady left without a fuss."

"As best I can describe it... the chief engineer's supposed to oversee the machine's operation." Cyril scratched his chin. "So, if they're saying to shut it down, then it's a big deal."

I thought so. Yuna sighed. She didn't have anything other than gut instincts, but that wouldn't stop her from bringing it up. "What if... the chief engineer shut the collider down because there is an anomaly in it?"

So... attempting to turn it on would be a terrible idea and a way to speedrun the main dilemma of Spiderverse 1?

"Would these people even know what dimensional anomalies are?" Widget wondered. The silvally tilted his head to the side. "Then again, I guess they are researching that stuff."

Cyril crossed his arms. "Well, if the anomaly caused a worrisome readout, then that would drive the chief engineer to shut things down for sure."

"Then we should go find out for ourselves!" Leo said, rolling back on his belly. "You can pretend you're a pokémon ranger guy again, Mr. Cyril."

Yuna: "Wait, but how do we even tell if we're right without turning the collider on?" .-.
Cyril: "... We'll figure it out when we get there? I'm sure someone wrote it down in a report or something."
:joltyshrug~1:


"Shh. Keep it down, kiddo." Cyril put his right hand on the fake dreepy. "Not a bad idea, though."

"I guess." If it got them into the collider exhibit, Yuna couldn't protest. The drakloak followed Cyril down the ramp.

"'Scuse me, bud." Cyril already had his fake ranger badge out of his sweatshirt pocket. "Couldn't help but overhear the collider got shut down."

"Hmm?" Like the dronetom, the staffer acknowledged the badge. "Oh, a ranger. I'm not sure what sort of help you can provide here, though."

Staffer: "... Do you even have jurisdiction here right now? I thought you Ranger guys babysat Routes out in the boonies."
:what:


"My buddies and I are here investigating reports of space-time distortion," Cyril explained. Yuna wasn't sure if going vague was the best route here, but she didn't have a counterargument. "A supercollider sure sounds like the kind of place to find one."

The staffer scrutinized Cyril's tie-dye attire. Yuna didn't blame him. It was no uniform like the Radiant Guard had.

... I'm frankly surprised that Cyril just strolled up with that as part of his illusion while doing his Ranger shtick instead of ducking into a bathroom for a "quick change"

Fortunately, the staffer reached for a radio clipped to his belt. "Gimme a sec." He stepped back from the group. "Yeah, Chief? It's me. There's a ranger here who says he wants to help. Something about space-time distortion."

"Dost thou think the engineer will fall for the ruse?" Rayquaza wondered.

Well, we got this far, didn't we? They weren't entirely lying, either. They were here to find an anomaly. Just not as a part of the rangers.

I can't tell whether or not this is going to work, or if Gallian just jinxed things.

"Okay, if you say so."

The staffer put the radio back on his belt and waved the team over. "Chief says to head on through. She'll meet you on the other side of the walkway."


Cecil: "... Words fail me."
:eltywtf:

Yuna: "Hey, if it helps us get to the collider, I'm not going to question it."

"Great." Cyril bowed his thanks. "And, uh, what does she look like?"

"Real short. Blue hair tied in a bun with a ribbon." The staffer held his right hand a bit above his belly button. "Oh, uh, don't mention the short bit to her. Liza's kinda touchy about it."

"Duly noted."

Oh, so the twins work in LaRousse in this universe, huh? Filing that one away.

Cyril stepped aside so the staffer could open the metal grate high enough for everyone to pass through. They headed through a glass tunnel full of sunlight. Ocean waves rippled in the distance to the left. Large wailord blew water through their blowholes while wingull and pelipper flew overhead.

"It's pretty," Yuna whispered. "The ocean, I mean."

"Right. You don't have beaches back on Aeon, do you?" Cyril said. "Come to think of it, how did you guys even get drinking water with all the ash and soot in the air?"

"Special rocks to filter the water. Boilers to burn up any icky stuff," Yuna said. Yiazmat had taken her through a water plant once, but she barely remembered the trip. "Then we let it cool."

Cyril: "... How on earth do you all manage to wake up in the morning having to live like that?" .-.
Yuna: "I mean, it's just what's normal for us, so..."

"But you guys don't have heavy machinery, right?" Widget said, cheek bolts slowly turning. "So, does that mean—"

"That these were people's jobs? Yeah." Yuna rubbed her shoulder. She didn't recall any workers complaining about it, though they might have been acting polite because Yiazmat was visiting. "We make do with what we have."


I'd be legitimately shocked that Aeon doesn't have epidemic rates of self-harm and substance abuse, since people drink themselves to death IRL over living conditions that make the ones Yuna talk about sound downright palatial.

"And a little help from the Ryujin." Cyril smirked at her. "Including yours truly."

Yuna's torso shriveled a bit. "I suppose so. Mom always mentioned we had allies in Radiance. Never gave me details."

I'd suppose that that would help as well, even if I'm not convinced that being reliant on a mafia as a foreign policy organ wouldn't have massive negative second-order effects domestically.

"Well, how would you have taken learning they're a crime syndicate?" Reshiram wondered.

Not well. The fact that there was so much else going on at the moment made it easy to brush that aside, though. Maybe if the team got the whole dimensional instability thing under control Yuna would have to grapple with it. But there were bigger things to worry about.

Yeah, I have to wonder if there's some nasty side effects to that sort of deal with the devil. Since with how deprived the average Aeon's lifestyle is, that sounds like a recipe for a large pool of recruitable foot soldiers for Sakaki and the gang.

Reshiram yawned in the back of Yuna's head.

Do you mind?

"Sorry. Feel sleepy for some reason."


Another yawn. This one from Rayquaza.

Yuna: "... Wait, since when did you two ever feel sleepy?" .-.

Frowning, Yuna pushed them out of her head. They'd reached the metal doors at the other end of the tunnel. Like the staffer said, a young lady in an orange jumpsuit paced nervously on the other side of the doorway. Her blue hair was tied in a button with a ribbon that looked like an espeon's ears.

"What are they saying? What are they saying?"

"Hello, Miss Engineer Liza Lady!"

Oh, so that's Liza's day job in this universe.

Yuna winced at Leo's loud greeting. The fake dreepy was waving enthusiastically judging by how his other hand tugged on Yuna's head.

"Ah, you!" Liza whirled around. The goggles around her neck almost smacked her face. "Tell me you're hearing it, too!"

Yuna looked at Cyril. She had no idea what Liza meant. Had she somehow connected with the team's X-transceivers?

"Hearing... what?" Cyril scratched his head.

Cyril: "Since, you know, it'd have helped if you were a bit more specific with your question there."
:zorohuh:


"The message from beyond!" Liza intensified her pacing. "The message from the pink!"


Yuna: "The what now-?"

Widget leaned over. "Uh, hey, I'm no engineer, but last I checked pink doesn't make noises."

"An astute observation." Cyril tucked his hands into his sweatshirt and approached Liza. "Howdy. I'm Cyril. Nice to meet you, Liza."

"Please, no need to be polite." Liza waved Cyril off. She continued pacing, not making eye contact. "We both know it's my brother you'd rather meet. Lemme guess... subscribed to his NickNack?"

Wait, is that the TikTok analogue in this setting? Or is that something different? Also, Backrub and Picaboo when?

Cyril blinked. "Uhh..."

"Glitch TV follower?"

"Huh?"

"You listen to his podcast?"

"What?"

Boy, Liza changed a lot as she grew older. Even if I suppose that this is decently on brand for someone who was a child in the early 2000s.

"No? Well, how many of his travel vlogs have you seen?"

"Excuse me?"

"Forget it." Liza turned around. "Tate's irrelevant. Head-in-the-clouds piece of work," she mumbled.


I can't tell if the Tate thing is a deliberate nod towards some sketchy influencers with the same surname IRL or if that's just a coincidence, but I suppose that answers the question of what he got up to since growing up.

"Is this what it means when someone's 'having a moment?'" Widget whispered.

"How would I know?" Yuna whispered back.

"Maybe it's aaaaaawwwwm—" Reshiram cut himself off with another yawn. "Sorry. Maybe it's a nervous breakdown? Her big collider thingy's on the fritz, after all."


Yuna: "... Seriously, Reshiram. What's going on? Since I swear I've never heard you or Rayquaza get tired in this story. Ever." o_ó;

"Let's cut to the chase," Cyril proposed, studying the large, steel doors beyond Liza. There were other hallways extending to either side, with brightly colored paintings of pokémon that looked... off. Like misdreavus with feathers in their ectoplasmic hair or jigglypuff with long, curly tails and tiny fangs.

"Of course, of course." Liza pinched her brow. "The sooner I can solve this, the better." She gestured behind her, to the hallway on the right. "You see the pink, right?"

Yuna squinted. Looking closer, there was a pink tint to the hallway. Even the painted walls and metal railings had a fine layer of pink over them. She glanced at the ceiling lights, which also had a bit of pink.

Yuna: "... Wait, what on earth is that? And what sort of message is it giving off?" .-.

I'm guessing that's not normal.

Neither Sage responded. Uh, guys? I'm saying you can talk.

Reshiram yawned again. "Ah, sorry. Don't know why I'm so tired."

... Is this some Dream World stuff? Since I'm kinda getting those vibes from the pink tint and how Yuna's sages are dozing off in live time.

"The pink art is quite relaxing," Rayquaza mumbled. He was coiling himself tightly in the back of Yuna's mind, happily resting his head by his tail.

As if she needed more proof that, yes, this mysterious pink glow was a problem.

Cyril: "Oh boy. Of all the times not to bring along a drone..."
:blazisweat~1:


"I was doing my routine checks on the collider when I got some weird pings," Liza continued. She resumed pacing. "Before I got the chance to investigate any further, I saw pink coming from outside the collider room." She jerked her head toward the shut steel doors. "Went outside and saw these intense glowing spots... and that's when I started hearing things."

"What kind of things?" Widget asked.

"A garbled message." Liza held up her right arm. There was a small monitor strapped around her jumpsuit. "I can't quite put it together, so I sent three of my beldum to find the sources of the pink." Liza tapped the monitor. "But they didn't come back and I've lost their signal."

Oh, well that's ominous. Though perhaps the pink is the anomaly that Yuna and the gang have been looking for? Even if I wonder what on earth sort of type would have this sort of effect on others passing through it. Psychic?

"So, you closed the exhibit?"

"I was ready to close it the moment I got the pings!" Liza huffed. "But Da— Dr. Lund said not to. 'Science doesn't stop for a funny ping or two.'" She shook her head. "With my beldum vanishing, though? No dice. I don't want people here. So, I shuttered the place."


Wait, Tate and Liza's father actually has a surname? Or was that cooked up for this story?

Widget stepped toward her. "So, how can we help?"

Liza looked him over. "Pretty weird-sounding silvally you got there." She shook her head. "Is what it is. Best way to help would be retrieving the beldum, but..." Liza looked over her shoulder.

"That means walking into the pink," Cyril said.

Liza: "Exactly."
Yuna: "... Yeah, I can see why that would be a bit of a problem." ._.;

"Do you have any idea what Daaaactor Lund would do if he found out I let a civilian get, like, atomized by chronons or something?!" Liza squeezed her goggles.


Atomized by what now?

"Guess it's a good thing I'm a ranger, then." Cyril smirked. "Danger's in the job description. Or, at least, on the liability waivers I signed."

"Wow. He's good." Reshiram whistled. "I wonder if Leo's power boost also made him a better liar?"

I think that's probably all his years with the resistance,
Yuna responded. He had the Ryujin completely fooled, remember?

I actually completely forgot about that, but I suppose that deception would be a handy skill for a resistance operative to have.

Liza's eyes lit up. "Waivers! Yes, of course!" She held her right arm up and frantically tapped at the screen with her left hand. Then she stuck it out in front of Cyril. "Sign here, please."

Cyril raised a brow. "You got your own waiver?"

"Absolving me and the museum of any liability in cases of injury, dismemberment, dimensional and/or temporal displacement, death... yadda yadda. You get the idea."

Widget: "... Do I want to know how frequently accidents of the sort happen around here?" ·v·

Yuna would've raised an objection, but Cyril hastily scribbled on the screen with his fake human index finger. "Done." He pulled his hand away. "How do you want to do this? We have X-transceivers if you want to sync up a line for communication."

"Seriously? That old Unova junk?" Liza looked Cyril over. "No, actually, fits your hippie-dippie aesthetic I suppose. Next you're going to tell me your desktop doesn't even have an SSD."

Cue the 'what's an SSD?' question. Even if I'm a bit surprised from the tech level that some sort of near-future storage medium wasn't mentioned here.

"Bold of you to assume I even own a desktop," Cyril countered. He handed his X-transceiver over to Liza, who held it near the monitor on her right arm. Some lights blinked on the screen and she handed it back.

"Okay, so the first beldum, Bob, went over to the right." Liza pointed to the hallway behind her. "It's the shortest distance, so start there."

Huh. So PoV-2020's X-Transcievers just werk with computers from other dimensions. Not sure how that's possible, but I won't question it too hard.

The team silently acknowledged her and headed down the hallway. The paintings of the weirdly fuzzy and feathery pokémon were much clearer, along with placards and small monitors talking about the relationship between time and space and how the hadron collider allowed Dr. Lund's team to investigate this further.

"The entities that stabilize space and time are ethereal in nature, you see." Small round speakers played a recording of Dr. Lund. "Chronons provide temporal stability. You can think of them like blood cells and Earth as the body they race across as Dialga's heart beats. Thus, a stable flow of time."


Oh, well that answers the question of what a 'chronon' is. I'm surprised that they're an actual thing IRL, even if they're a bit different from what's described here.

The pink glow got brighter. Yuna didn't feel any different from before, but both Sages kept yawning, forcing the drakloak to push them out of her mind. How could a couple of souls chilling inside of her even get tired? They weren't doing anything!


That would appear to be a side effect of "the pink", Yuna. Since this only started when you started getting close to it.

"Hey, Leo, how you holding up?" Yuna wondered, reaching a hand up to feel for her fake dreepy son.

"I'm okay." Leo shifted on her head. "Though I think I'm sensing... something. The back of my neck's all prickly."

Yeah, this is an anomaly again. Though I wonder what plate is generating this one, since now that I think about it, we know the Mind Plate is spoken for.

"Maybe we're getting close to the source of 'the pink,'" Cyril mused. "Quite an unscientific name, considering where we are."

"Give me a break. I was crunched for time," Liza huffed. "If you've time to gab, you've time to go faster!"

Image


Especially since I'm pretty sure that "the pink" is not exactly an innocuous phenomenon right now.

Cyril picked up his pace. Bright pink light obscured the end of the hall. Pink lines and fissures trickled across the dimmer pinks of the walls, floor, and ceiling like an ariados web. Leo shifted again on Yuna's head.

"So, Lund's your dad, huh?" Widget said.

"What, how did you—"

Widget: "Because you blatantly cut yourself off when you were about to say 'dad' on at least two occasions? Did you really think we didn't notice that?"
:eltyunamused:


"Kinda hard not to hear you reflexively stopping to switch from 'Dad' to 'Dr. Lund,'" Widget responded, shaking his head.


Kek, I knew it.

"Yeah, yeah." Liza grumbled something the X-transceiver couldn't make out. "He's not one of those accomplished scientists who holds his kids to impossibly high standards or anything. He's just... very devoted to his work."

"To the point where he ignores you?"

"Not important!" Liza dismissed. "Maybe Tate and I were able to switch places when we were little kids and Dad wouldn't realize, but that doesn't matter. Focus on the pink."


Yeah, Lund totally ignores them in favor of his work, I can already tell.

"Well, we're, uh, at the pink?" Cyril stopped short of the bright pink sphere swallowing up the hallway, holding an arm over his face. "I don't see any beldum."

"I don't see much of anything." Widget pivoted left. "It's way too bright!"

Yuna, however, sensed something within the bright light. So did Leo, judging by his shifting around on her head.

"... de... cept..."


Leo: "Uh... mom? This is supposed to be happening right now, right?"
:uhhh:


The drakloak's tail crinkled. "There was a voice." She hovered closer.

"Huh? I didn't hear anyone but you," Widget said.

... Wait is it a voice that only psychics can hear or something? Since Liza is definitely a psychic if her depiction here is in line with canon, so...

But Yuna was already reaching into the pink light with her right hand. And the moment the pink fully engulfed it, a soft tingle ran up her arm.

Then the pink light flickered on and off in tandem with a dark, starry sky and silhouettes of rocky slabs floating haphazardly. There were bright flashes of light far in the distance.

"... have to... me! Whatever... do not..."

Leo: "M-Mom?! Wh-What's going on?!"

Yowling, Noctum ducked underneath a swipe of a gallade pirate's glowing pink arm. The black charizard swung his tail around, knocking Gallade over on the ship deck. Noctum spewed fire at point-blank range until Gallade had passed out.


Ah yes, this background music again. Though I see that training has helped bulk Noctum up a bit, since I wasn't expecting him to fare this well in the Qliphoth given how strong of pushovers average Pokémon from Etherium are.

"Noctum, on your six!" Valkyrie cried behind him.

"Huh?"

Then a garbled holler came from behind him. Noctum spun around and saw a pidgeot with metal wings lying on their side, twitching from paralysis. "You're welcome."

Wait, with metal wings? Prosthetics or is that Mewgenics in action?

Noctum glanced up to see Nikki standing upside down on a part of the ship's mast. The toxtricity quickly turned and lobbed poisonous globs to intercept Air Slash crescents from a staraptor.

"'We'll board the ship and take the fight to them!' Gene said." Nikki leaped from the mast, landing upright beside Noctum. "'It'll keep 'em occupied for sure!' he said."

Image


Like I get that you're strong and would have a decent shot at clearing the deck on your own, but seriously, this seems like it's just begging for something to go wrong, Gene.

"Well, they're all here, aren't they?" Noctum said, shooting a blue bolt toward a strafing mantine. It struck their right flipper, sending them tumbling through open space. The black charizard tugged Nikki's jacket and pointed to Mantine. She got the message, striking her gills. Overdrive shockwaves rippled through the air, zapping Mantine and the staraptor that had attacked Nikki before. Both went still, their previous momentum sending them drifting away from the ship.


Should've invested in partners with Lightningrod, buddy.

"Arrrrgh! You fools!" Gilbert slapped a wooden railing on the side of his tiny, personal ship. "What do you zink you are doing?! You have zem outnumbered!"

"Quality over quantity, *****!" Nikki retorted.

I mean, you were literally Zerg Rushing an Electric-type with an AOE move... with Flying-types. It's kinda hard to argue that Nikki doesn't have a point here.

Noctum tensed up. His gut churned under his armor. He couldn't help but drop to one knee, grimacing. And he caught sight of Gene pausing above the other ship, too. The shadowy mewtwo's Malice Crystal flickered pink. He looked off into the distance.

"Noctum, look alive!"

Noctum: "Huh? Wait, wha-?"

Valkyrie glided in front of him, bludgeoning an umbreon in the side with a Dragon Claw and sending them tumbling across the ship's plank.


Yeah, that would be a good reason to look alive.

"S-Sorry!" He hastily got to his feet. "I just... I think my crystal reacted to something in the debris!"

"It's probably the others." Valkyrie landed atop a wrecked scope lens cannon. "Which means we have to focus."

... Wait, so Noctum can feel the whole episode going down in the Pink? If so, does that mean he's going to Phantom Warp over there on his own?

Gasping, Yuna jolted her head back.

"Mom? Mom!"

The pink light faded, revealing Leo's hand waving in front of her face.

Leo: "Mom! Are you alright?!" O_O;

"W-What?" The drakloak looked around. She was back in the museum. And she could see a metal door with an emergency exit sign at the end of the hall. Yuna rubbed her eyes. "Did you guys see that?"

"See what?" Widget tapped a claw on the carpet. "You reaching toward the pink light, only to have it disappear within seconds and give us this beldum?" He jerked his head to his right. A beldum floated by his shoulder, looking between Cyril and Yuna.


Oh, well that was easy for finding those Beldum.

"No, not that." Though, Yuna had to admit it looked that way. "Everything faded out... and I saw Kalidron's ruins, but through a pink filter."


I... kinda wonder if this should've been explicitly identified that that was what those rocks in the last scene were since this feels a bit "told" and not "shown" considering how both scenes are from Yuna's perspective.

Silence. Cyril and Widget exchanged uneasy looks.

"What about you, Leo?" Yuna whispered.

"I didn't see anything but pink." The fake dreepy yawned. "And the closer you got, the more I wanted to go to sleep. Can I take a nap?"

I'm starting to wonder if the pink really is Dream Mist at this rate, even if it doesn't explain why the more normie characters aren't affected by it.

"Uhh, I think that'll have to wait." Yuna sympathetically nudged the front of her head. "Are you Bob?" she asked Beldum.

[Ah, guests!] The beldum's mechanical voice was cheerful. Their circular head spun around in their socket. [You are correct. One moment while I engage my charming accent.]


Oh, they have the same speech patterns as the dronetoms. So this is what you're using for "robot voices" in this story.

Cyril scratched his head. "Don't really have a moment. Liza's waiting for you."

[Well, shine my boots and call me Sally!] Bob's new accent was... homely, to Yuna's surprise. And concern. [I reckon I ought to head back to the ol' farm, then. Y'all should follow me over yonder. It ain't safe 'round these here parts.]


Leo: "... But you're not wearing boots." ^^;

Bob turned around and hovered toward the entrance of the collider wing.

"Bob just pinged me!" Liza said. "With a... howdy. Guess you found them."

"Yeah." Cyril started after him. "They're... something."

inb4 Bob is the "Wheatley" of the Beldum that are missing.

Liza sighed through the X-transceiver. "I thought I'd fixed that quirk of theirs. They watch one cowboy movie and suddenly they're talking like 'em at the drop of a hat. I swear the guests are encouraging them." She paused. "Jim's down the other hallway from where you started. Looks like Bob did find something, so I'm working on piecing the data together."


Whelp, I take the Wheatley comment back. Though I'm snerking a bit at the backstory behind their cowboy accent.

The team headed back down the hallway, passing the speakers and paintings of overly furry and feathery pokémon. When they reached the entrance, they headed left. A familiar pink hue awaited them. Pink lines rippled through pictures of magneton with bizarrely long magnets. And was Yuna imagining things or did their heads have hair?


Oh, so this is how we're getting the prehistoric Paradox 'mons in this story. Maybe.

"Oh! Uh—" Yuna rubbed the back of her neck. "Miss Liza? I think you might've right about the, uh, pink."

"You heard something?"

Widget looked over his shoulder. "You heard something?"

"Maybe?" Yuna fidgeted with her hands. "There was a garbled voice. I couldn't make out more than a syllable or two. But it sounded like words."

Yuna: "It's really weird. I don't understand why it's just me and Leo who can hear it." .-.

"I see," Liza responded. "Wait, hang on. Who just spoke?"

Yuna stiffened. So much for letting Cyril and Widget do all the talking. She shot them an apologetic look.

"My drakloak," Cyril hastily said. "Worked with a decent psychic to make it happen."

I mean, it's potentially not a total lie? Since even in his depowered state, I wouldn't be shocked if Leo had latent psychic abilities thanks to the Cosmog part of him.

"Ah. One of those types." Liza sounded intrigued. "Yeah, that stuff fascinated me when I was a kid. I had those kinds of powers myself. Tate did, too." She sighed. "We had one of those, y'know, twin connections. Except it was deeper."


>I had those kinds of powers myself.

Oh, so the twins lost their psychic abilities as they grew up. Wonder what the story behind that was?

Yuna wondered if they were meant to press Liza on that. She instead fixated on older video footage of Dr. Lund supervising a team of construction workers building some sort of giant metal cylinder.

"You 'had,' huh?" Cyril said, resting his hands behind his fake human hair.

"We drifted apart. It happens. The psychic stuff was cool, but the more I went through school, the more interested I got in machines. That stuff never clicked for Tate, though. Did the bare minimum he needed to skate by."


Never mind, I guess that they still have it, it's just dormant since they're not together to wield it or something like that.

"So, you're here because you want to be?" Widget asked.

"Yeah. What? Are you going to call me a nepotism baby?" "N-No," Widget tittered.

"I was thinking it, at least," Reshiram mumbled. He sounded even groggier than before, so Yuna shoved him out of her mind again.


I mean, I wouldn't be terribly shocked if there was some nepotism at play with Liza's present day job, but yeah. Actually liking it goes a long way, too.

"Oh, look, it's the next pink source." The silvally laughed nervously and stepped aside to let Yuna do her thing.

Except Yuna didn't want to do her thing. What if it pulled her between the dimensions harder or something? Was that even possible?

I mean, the fact that this is even occurring to Yuna right now is kinda
:copyka2:
at the moment.

But if she did nothing, then everyone was at risk.

Sighing, she reached out toward the pink light. Again, everything flickered. She saw glimpses of the planetary ruins back in her dimension. Except it was clearer this time, with less of a pink tint.

"... troy... net."

Oh, so the barrier between this dimension and the Qliphoth is breaking down, huh? Since that would certainly explain how she can see glimpses of the other side.

The voice was back again. Yuna still couldn't make out more than broken syllables.

"... one out... not... time..."

Yuna: "Seriously, who on earth is saying that?" o_o;

Noctum tensed. A fireball got caught in his throat. The black charizard hunched over, coughing up smoke.

"He be losing his resolve!" a sandaconda pirate shouted. "I've got him!"

Famous last words there.

"Like hell you do!"

Valkyrie dropped down from above, squishing sandaconda against the deck of the ship. She grabbed his coiled midsection, spun around, and tossed him overboard. Momentum hurtled him away from the ships, forcing a staraptor and pidgeot to break off their attacks to fly after him.

Shame she didn't grab him by his tail, since that would've been a cute moment to slip in a SM64 Bowser throw animation there.

"What was that about?" the garchomp growled.

"Crystal reacted again." Noctum rubbed his armor plate. "Felt like a kick to the gut."

... Oh, so that's how Yuna's seeing Kalidron IV from her present dimension, huh?
:copyber:


"Well, I'm going to give you a real kick if you don't keep your head on straight," Valkyrie huffed. "Focus!"

"No, Zardy's got a point."

Pink spheres exploded all around them, clearing the area of any pirates. Gene hovered over them, gaze fixed on the debris in the distance.

For a second I thought that was the Pink bleeding over, but nope, that's just Gene there.

"Someone's out there." The mewtwo was projecting himself into Noctum's head without speaking. Was this what things were like for Yuna with the Sages? "I saw a ship. Too small to be the empire. Some idiot civilian's trying to get themselves killed!"

Noctum fought the urge to point out they were idiot civilians doing the exact same thing.

Oh well that's ominous, since I'm not convinced that that ship is just some random "idiot civilians" there.

Yuna's breath came in short gasps. She almost collapsed on the carpeted floor before managing to catch herself.

"Mom?" Leo got off the drakloak's head this time. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm... fine." Yuna swallowed hard. The pink light was gone. "Where's the beldum?"

Narrator: "She is absolutely not fine."

[I'm right here!] a cheerful voice proclaimed. Jim drifted down to Yuna's eye level. [Hello, non-hostile entities! Are you my new best friends?]

Yuna blinked once. Twice. Leo looked ready to make Jim his second sibling, so she hastily said, "No. Your trainer's looking for you."

Jim's lone eye teared up. [Friendship request: denied. Initializing sad noises.] Their gaze fell, then they produced a crackled recording of a crying baby.

Yuna: "... Liza, please tell me that your Beldum friends didn't learn that from a movie, too." >_>;

"Sheesh." Cyril had his hands over his ears. "How about you initialize returning to Liza?"

The crying abruptly stopped. [Command accepted.]

Jim spun around and zipped down the hallway.

I'll admit, I hadn't expected Beldum line 'mons to be this stiff and robotic, but eh. It's a constant in your writing so I won't question it.

"Oh, good, you found Jim."

"Are all your beldum this... quirky?" Widget wondered.

"Jim's a rescue, actually. Poor thing spent a long time in isolation before I found them. Even though they have plenty of buddies now, they still want everyone to be their best friend."

... Boy did that suddenly add a really dark spin to Jim's behavior there. .-.

To Yuna's surprise, Widget flinched. He glanced around nervously, before staring at his feet. "Where's the last one, then?" he muttered. "We ran out of hallways, didn't we?"

"Janet's the closest, actually. Lost her on the other side of the doors I closed."

Widget: "Well, this should be fast, at least..." Yuna: "Widget, don't tempt fate like that." >_>;

Their trek back down the hallway was short and silent, with Yuna contemplating what exactly would happen the moment she dispelled the last source of pink. Would the anomaly core become visible? Surely, these things had to be tied to it. The drakloak couldn't think of any other explanation.

Yuna passed Leo over to Widget for this last stop. Liza wasn't waiting for them by the closed doors, so a shrugging Cyril just opened the closest door to him.

Pink light spilled out. Cyril shut his eyes and looked away. "I think that's your cue, Yuna."

Oh hey, it's like those image macros of a poorly-drawn person recoiling from their computer monitor.

Yuna swam through the air and squished herself through the ajar door. Pink light flooded her vision for all of a second, before flickering in and out like the other two sources. Yuna got clearer glimpses of the debris field. Giant chunks of rock and metal floating haphazardly. Some rubble twisted into spirals. Others had glowing lustrous ore shards wedged into them.

"... av... ten to... ging you!"

... Is it just me or is that voice trying to tell Yuna to stop right now?

A few more syllables this time. But nothing cohesive.

The debris field slipped away once again, leaving Yuna floating in the middle of an open, circular room. There were railings with signs giving more details about the collider, along with some sort of project where it was used to stop things called Ultra Wormholes from appearing.

... Wait, so if the collider is offline now, doesn't that mean that those Ultra Wormholes could start opening up at any moment?
:copyka2:


Yuna was about to call in the others, when the beldum floating opposite her darted about frantically, their head swiveling around with reckless abandon.

[Danger! Danger!] Janet's mechanical voice was more feminine than the other two beldum. [The readings! They're off the charts! They're—]

Janet stopped moving. [Oh.] She looked around. [The readings have stopped.] The beldum turned to face Yuna. [Thank you, kind stranger. Would you like a coupon for the gift shop? I can offer you thirty percent off collider souvenirs.]

Yuna: "... Okay, Liza, what's the story behind this one?" -_-;

"I'll pass." Yuna jerked her head toward the doors. "Liza's waiting for you somewhere over there."

Janet nodded and headed for the same door Yuna floated through. The drakloak was going to open it and let the others in when a sudden shout in the back of her head made her ectoplasm jiggle from face to tail.

Jeez, Reshiram! What's the big idea?

In her mind's eye, Reshiram was still bleary-eyed and tired, but now his fur was all puffed up and his tail turbine crackling.

Yuna: "... Reshiram? What's wrong?" ._.

"I know why I'm so tired." Reshiram stifled a yawn. "Maybe she got fragmented into the pink or something, but now I can sense her for sure. It's Cress!"

Wait, as in—

"Cresselia! She's here! I feel her right underneath us!"

Oh, well that would explain why Cecil and Gallian have been so tired this entire time.

Alright, onto the recap: A bit of a sleepier (har har) chapter this time, though I take it that the point was essentially to build things up a bit before things start to get real next chapter given that we've apparently found another needle to yoink / anomaly to pop for Yuna. To its credit, the change of pace was a nice change from the past few chapters, since there's been a lot of stuff blowing up prior to the last two in particular.

As for criticisms... I don't have too many other than that it might have made sense to be a bit more explicit about some details like the realization on Yuna's part of "I'm seeing Kalidron IV", since it took me a while to realize that was what was going on. ... Granted that could've just as easily been an artifact of the hour and my energy level, so I won't judge too harshly. But good show @Ambyssin .

I'll admit that I hadn't expected Cresselia to enter the mix given that all of the Legendaries this fic has dealt with so far from the Sages' friend circle have been draconic in nature or appearance, but it'll be interesting to see how things shake out. Won't have to wait for too much longer either considering your update schedule.

Kudos, and until next time.
 

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Chapter 69: A Nice Dream

Entry 2172
Like clockwork, the nightmares are back again. I doubt the years of this planet sync up with Chakran, but it certainly
feels like this is around the time where those wretched Overseers abandoned me. Ignored my pleas for help and left this universe to Eternatus' whims. Sometimes my dreams are full of zygarde burying me under onslaughts of their Thousand Arrows. Other times, I'm writhing in pain from that idiot necrozma's spirit severing strike.

It's so obnoxious. I should be past this all by now. With each successive generation, the Sages are getting more adept. I truly believe that the more Sages I go through, the better a chance we have if Eternatus comes for this planet.

The new Cresselia didn't take over that long ago, but I'm going to need her to help get rid of these nightmares so I can get some decent rest.


XxX​

Noctum crouched beside Valkyrie on the deck of the pirate ship, glancing between Gene and various pirates who had stopped to listen to their chatot first mate bicker with the shadowy mewtwo floating opposite him.

"We both know you can make things disappear and appear however you want!" Gilbert waved his colorful wings around haphazardly. "You say you made your treasure go kaput? I think you are full of it!"

"I'll say it 'til I'm blue in the face because it's true." Gene tapped his right temple. "Get it through your thick skull. The treasure's gone. We tossed it in a small rift while you guys were busy getting zapped."

"All me, baby!" Nikki hollered from the other pirate ship, raising her lightning guitar, then brandishing it at the pirates who growled at her. "What? You want more of this?"

Two azumarill in front of her backed away, floppy ears folding against their heads.

"Thought so."

"You can return to Larkharr and we'll forget this ever happened, or keep being a nuisance until I blow up your ships." Gene cracked his knuckles. "I don't think your captain will look favorably upon the latter."

"And yet... you are still here." Gilbert leaned forward from his perch, his one good eye squinting. "If you really tossed ze treasure away, you could've opened another rift and gone prancing back home."

Noctum thought Gilbert would buy Gene's act. But apparently the blowhard chatot was more than just a big mouth. Or beak.

The black charizard considered opening a rift of his own and trying something on Gilbert to get the pirates to stand down, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. That last pulse that made his gut rumble was the strongest one yet. Whatever Yuna was doing, it was creating some sort of ripple effect. They had to get the pirates to leave peacefully, or they'd cause problems for Team Bastion.

"You got me." Gene rolled his eyes and lazily held up his hands. "I sensed a civilian ship out in the debris. At first, I was buying time for them to escape."

Valkyrie tensed. She remained silent, but the look on the garchomp's face said it all. What was Gene thinking? At this rate, the pirates would head for the lustrous ore for sure.

"Oh-ho! Another ship." Gilbert rubbed his wings together. "Perhaps scavenging ze ruins for ze valuables."

"I thought that, too. Hence the 'at first.'" Gene's yellow-tipped tail lazily swished back and forth. "Until I backed off from the fight long enough to take a li'l psychic gander." He pressed his right index finger to his right temple. "Want to take a guess who the pilot's calling?"

The shadowy mewtwo traced the Eterna Empire sigil in the air.

Gilbert's feathers puffed out. "You are mocking me."

"Why do you think I called for a ceasefire?" Gene countered. "I'm not heartless. You're an obnoxious prick, but the more groups standing in the emperor's way of total control of Eternatus, the better."

Noctum held his breath. A raichu and an emolga pirate whispered to one another. Maybe they were buying Gene's claim?

XxX​

"A Needle? Here?" Yuna looked ahead, past all the stands and placards in the room, to the gray doors at the other end. Firmly shut, with a CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE sign planted in front of them. "You've got to be kidding me." The drakloak smushed her hands against her cheeks.

"Nay, tis far from a jest, Princess." Rayquaza loudly yawned. "This drowsiness hath filled mine head with thoughts of Dame Cresselia."

Yuna wasn't sure whether to find this news upsetting or relieving. There were a lot of moving pieces to think about with this kind of revelation. How the Needle wound up in Kalidron IV of all places. How it got connected to the collider in the first place. How so many people could blindly miss something that obv—

No. Breathe.

The whole point to these anomalies was that they made zero sense to begin with. The Needle could've made the rift, which in turn hid the Needle... or sucked it into this dimension. Or something.

"Did I hear you right? Did you say Needle?"

Cyril walked up to Yuna's side, hands in his sweatshirt pocket. The drakloak nodded.

"Did you feel anything when you reached into the pink light?" Cyril asked.

"Uhh—" Yuna was so caught up in the flickering light show, she hadn't thought about it. "I guess now that you mention it, the pink did feel a bit... solid."

"I wonder if the Needle broke." Reshiram yawned. "And you fixed it."

But how?
All the drakloak did was touch the pink light. Yuna glanced at her Soul Dew... and saw a thin line of black shadows swimming around its edges.

And here she thought she was getting better control of them.

Maybe if she tried speaking to her shadows like she did with the Sages?

Hello? Yuna squinted. Can you hear me? It's been long enough. We need to talk!

... Silence. Because of course it couldn't be that simple for once.

"Well, if there is a Needle there, then where is it?" Widget wondered.

"Oh, you can't sense it?" Leo curled his fake dreepy tail around part of Widget's head crest and dangled himself in front of the silvally. "C'mon, big bro, you just gotta concentrate."

"I'm trying to keep up appearances," Widget hissed in a whisper.

Yuna's X-transceiver crackled.

"All right. What did you guys do? I'm getting some sort of funny reading down in the collider room. It's... not quite the same as the pink."

Cyril scratched his head. "Oh, that? We think it's the source of the pink. We can take care of it... provided you're willing to let us down there."

"Absolutely not. Out of the question," Liza said. Yuna could practically hear her shaking her head in disbelief. "If something goes wrong—"

"We can handle it," Cyril cut in. "We got our own reading on it. And we've dealt with these things before. They're the reason we came to LaRousse in the first place." He chuckled. "Besides, we did sign the waiver."

Yuna had to admit, Cyril was a good smoothtalker. He'd have made an excellent spy if he lived in Aeon.

"To be fair, he's had, like, centuries of practice," Reshiram said. "And he's technically telling the truth. Just a truth that leaves out some details outside our control."

An annoyed sigh bubbled through Yuna's X-transceiver. "Fine. I was trying to repair the data I recovered from my beldum, but it's taking more time than I thought. I'm going to keep working on it. Jim can let you through to the collider. Just play along with his act, okay? It'll make it easier for everyone."

"Can do." Cyril rested his hands behind his blue, shaggy hair and lazily paced back and forth by the door.

Yuna briefly wondered if she should ask the Sages what Cresselia was like, so she wasn't caught off guard this time. One of the doors behind her opened before she got the chance, however. Jim hovered through, looking at the team.

[Hello. Are you my new best friends?]

Liza said to play along. Which meant...

"Uh, sure." Yuna hesitantly bobbed her head.

[Friendship request... accepted?]

Jim's red eye swelled up in a way Yuna didn't think possible for a beldum.

[Oh, happy noises!]

Jim spun around excitedly, playing scratched, crackled sounds resembling a cheering audience. They shot toward the other end of the room. [We have so much to best friend about! I can show you my thinking spot... oh! Or my favorite piece of peeling plaster!] they chirped. [How do you feel about tacos, new best friends? Because I think they are the beedrill's knees, but if you do not like them, I will not like them with you.]

"How about we christen the friendship by going to the collider?" Cyril said, laughing nervously.

[Ah, yes, a splendid idea!] Jim floated up to some sort of strange black pad next to the shut door on the other end of the room. [Liza did say some friends needed help. And here you are! My best friends!]

Yuna began to wonder if Jim had a limited attention span. The beldum, meanwhile, pressed their metallic head against the pad. A blue light ran across the pad. Then the whole pad lit up green and several loud clicks and clangs echoed through the room.

[Follow me, best friends,] Jim said, pointing their eye at the opening doors.

On the other side was a fairly spacious viewing platform. A few rows of theater-style seats lined each side of the doorway and the floor abruptly dropped off to reveal a large glass dome covering a circular room with a stone floor and two giant metal cylinders opposite one another.

The Needle sat in the exact center of the room, topped with a pink gem surrounded by faint, white halos.

Cyril yawned. "Man. Seeing that thing's got me craving a nap all of a sudden."

Even Cyril now, too? Yuna bit her lower lip. It couldn't be the Soul Dew's light protecting her, because the other Sages were just as sleepy. Her shadows, then?

Delightful.

"The Sage is Cresselia," Yuna whispered.

[Your chariot awaits, best friends!]

Clanking metal and hydraulic whirs jolted Yuna to attention. Jim was on their right, having opened up a doorway that blended in seamlessly with the black wall. The beldum gestured to the stairwell. [Just follow the steps and you'll be there before you know it.]

"Not coming with?" Widget asked, heading for the stairs.

[I'm not fond of needles.] Jim laughed nervously. [Especially giant magical ones stuck into the floor. But I will be with you in spirit. And visible through the glass.]

A steel-type afraid of needles? Yuna shook her head. It was far from the strangest thing she'd heard today. She floated after Widget and Leo, opting to simply drift down through the gap in the middle of the stairs. The drakloak reached the bottom first, but her tiny ectoplasmic arms weren't strong enough to get the big steel door open.

After Widget held it open, Yuna hovered forward, taking deep breaths. Now that she wasn't looking at the room from above, she could appreciate the array of wires funneling out the back of the giant metal cylinder. There were also huge glass tubes full of flowing water. It was interacting with the collider, but Yuna couldn't fathom what the water actually did.

Yuna returned her attention to the Needle. She had done this three times before. All she had to do was touch it. Then everything would go white and she'd get another one of Chiron's memories.

The only thing was that now she was in another dimension.

Yuna looked over her shoulder. "Leo? Pay attention, please. When I pull the Needle, there's a chance you're going to have to, uh, talk with Mr. Anomaly to send us home. Is that okay?"

"Yep!" The fake dreepy saluted her. "I'm ready!"

Satisfied, Yuna took one more deep breath. "Right then. Here goes."

She reached for the Needle. Though she still couldn't wrap her hand around it, Yuna could touch more of the Needle as a drakloak than she could as a dreepy.

... It also made the jolt of energy that followed much more surprising.

XxX​

"Shh. Shh. Please, Leo. Mama's doing her best."

The cosmog gently wrapped in Chrion's wings continued to bawl his eyes out. No matter how much the lunala bounced him or swayed him — both tall orders with her crescent wings — he kept crying and squirming. Her ectoplasm was damp. Who would've thought one tiny starcloud could make so much water?

Chiron floated around a big, lunala-shaped chair in her living room, stealing glances at her front door.

What was taking her so long? Chiron had stressed how important this was. She had run out of options to get Leo to calm down. And her own lack of sleep was making it hard to think straight.

She tried passing Leo off to Bahamut while she warped away to take a nap. But she couldn't stop thinking of Leo while she was away. Not even one of Shaymin's strongest herbal teas did her any good.

Chiron didn't know how normal pokémon handled parenthood. And she had escaped Eternatus! Something like this should have been a breeze for her.

"It's okay, Leo." Chiron rocked him faster. "Auntie Cresselia should be here any—"

Knocks came from the front door. Chiron's telekinetic burst to open the door nearly ripped it off its hinges.

Cresselia floated there, eyelids heavy and rings dimly pulsating. "Hi, Chiron. I got yooo—aaaaaawhm."

Blinking rapidly, she tucked her head down to rub it against her pink, nubby hands. "Mmm. Sorry." She hovered inside. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes!" Chiron fought to hide the desperation in her tone. She sank down into her chair. The cushions
whoomfed from the sudden pressure. "Please, you have to help me with Leo. He just won't fall asleep. I can't get him to stop crying."

"Leo?" Cresselia yawned again. "Oh, right. How is the little guy?"

Chiron opened her wings slightly. They were thoroughly drenched. "He cries so much I wouldn't blame you for thinking he knows Fake Tears."

"Haaah." Cresselia drifted further into the living room. Despite the fatigue, her expression was soft. "And you want me to put hi— eeeaaaaawhm."

She stopped floating and shook her head. "You know I don't actually know Hypnosis, right?" Cresselia rubbed her cheek.

"But you're the Sage of
Dreams."

"Yeah. I bring good viiiiaaaaaiiiyyybes." Cresselia yawned the final word into her nubby hand.

Chiron looked down at Leo. The cosmog's crying had quieted. Eyes still watery, he looked curiously at Cresselia.

"Well, you're already having an effect," Chiron said, lowering her voice to try and keep Leo calm. "Can't you just try something?"

"Hokay." Cresselia slowly bobbed her head. "Tell your hubby I did you a solid."

She closed the remaining distance with Chrion. Her dim rings slowly lit up brighter and brighter.

At first, Chiron closed her eyes and tensed, worried the brighter light would upset Leo. But the cosmog's tiny whimpers faded entirely. Chiron peeked an eye open to find Cresselia leaning over. Tiny, twinkling crescents showered Leo. Like fairy dust... or dandruff from a pokémon that wasn't showering.

Leo stopped squirming. The erratic twinkling in his starry pom-poms calmed to a gentle, steady pulse completely in sync with Cresselia's rings.

"Peeeeewwwaaaaaaawhm."

It was an impressive yawn for such a tiny starcloud. Then again, given what his crying sounded like, Chiron shouldn't have been surprised.

Cresselia yawned herself. Her head bobbed over slightly before she abruptly jerked it back up, blinking rapidly. She continued dusting Leo in tiny crescents until the cosmog's eyelids fluttered once. Twice. Three times.

Leo's eyes shut. His pom-poms folded against his starcloud body. Soft, warm breath tickled Chiron's wing membrane.

Her first instinct was to thank Cresselia — or, at the very least, sigh in relief — before she caught herself. The lunala couldn't undo Cresselia's hard work.

To her surprise, Cresselia took Leo in her nubby hands. "Quite the restless one," she whispered. "Got some really strange vibes."

Chiron frowned. Did Cresselia think something was off about Leo? "If you saw something, you should tell me."

"See? Naaaaaawm." Cresselia tilted her head so she didn't yawn right in Chiron's face. "Just kinda got that vibe. Like Leo couldn't sleep because of bad dreams."

"Everyone has nightmares now and then."

"Not that many." Cresselia drifted across the living room toward a small makeshift wooden crib. A gift Shaymin and Victini had put together, as two of the only Sages reasonably small enough to build one.

"What do you mean?"

Cresselia's snout twitched. "It was like pancakes."

Chiron resisted the urge to groan. Of all the times for Cresselia to be obtuse...

"Nightmares on top of nightmares. An endless stack." Cresselia carefully set Leo down in the crib, wrapping a sky blue blanket around the cosmog. She tilted her head up to yawn again. "Sorry." She rubbed her mouth, then turned back to Chiron. "In my training, I was told piled up nightmares come from somewhere outside a person's mind."

"Like from another person?"

"Bingo." Cresselia hovered toward a long, tan couch with worn out fabric on its cushions and more than a few patched up holes that gave away its favorite user. "You and Bahamut don't let the tyke out of your sights, right?"

"That's... correct." Guessing what Cresselia was implying, Chiron bit her lip. "You think it's one of us?"

Cresselia slowly lay herself down on a part of the couch that wasn't patched over. "Have
you had any bad dreams lately?"

The lunala stiffened. She hadn't slept much given her constant fretting about Leo. But what was she supposed to tell Cresselia? That she was still haunted from her time in the Paradigm? That her dreams were full of scenarios where Eternatus found their planet and brought ruin upon it in an effort to reclaim her for Matriarch?

"I, uh—"

But when Chiron looked over at the couch, Cresselia had already nodded off.

She sighed in relief. A bullet dodged for now. Yet it looked like she wasn't going to be able to keep all her secrets buried for much longer.


XxX​

"If you keep pacing like that, you're going to make me start slithering."

Igneous stopped walking and leaned against a railing. Artemis sat coiled on a cushion by a table, eyeing the grovlazzle skeptically.

"What's got your tails twisted? It sounds like the pirates are about to back off," the milotic said. "Valkyrie will be back safe and sound and you two can do whatever."

"It's not that." Igneous curled his claws around the railing, gazing out the glass wall toward the dimly lit, closed arena. "It's the Team Bastion side of things. We totally lost contact with them. What if something happened?"

Artemis stiffened. "Uhh..." He tapped his tailfins against the cushion. "We have no more of those space barriers, so we can't do anything until the others return. So, I'm trying not to play worst case scenario."

Igneous tightened his grip on the railing. "That's easy for you to say. You don't..." His voice trailed off.

"Don't what? Have freaky mutant powers?"

It sounded stupid saying it out loud, since Igneous did this to himself. Was it the powers filling him with unease? This hadn't happened to him before.

"Yeah. I just... have a bad feeling."

"Like an absol sense?"

The grovlazzle looked over his shoulder. Scarlett slithered across the metallic floor, offering polite nods to a few individual patrons who had glanced at her arrival.

"You know most absol have to train themselves to hone it, right?" Scarlett said.

Igneous frowned. "What? Isn't that just an instinct?"

"Plenty of absol live in Blightsmuth." Scarlett stuck her beaded tail out. "I'd trust their word over your gut." The dragonair glanced at her tail and abruptly pulled it back, face reddening. "Err, not that I'm implying anything bad about you! Or your gut! I'm sure it's a very fine gut! Good at, y'know, digesting!"

Before Igneous could retort, however, a pillar of golden light burst up from the arena. Artemis hastily uncoiled. "What the—"

Igneous turned around, Leaf Blades igniting. "I knew it!" He dashed forward without a second thought. "Someone get Seifer!" He sprinted toward the stairs leading to the arena's walkway. "Gene! Gene, I think an uninvited guest just broke through your base's barrier!"

XxX​

It started as another rumble in Noctum's gut. Stronger than the ones before it. The black charizard couldn't help but look over his shoulder. And that's when he saw the pulse of golden light far in the distance. It faded away long before it got anywhere near them, but caught enough of the pirates' attention that many were looking anxiously at Gilbert.

"Gilbert! Some landlubber be setting off flares!" a togetic shouted from the ship's murkrow's nest. She levitated a fancy looking telescope over her left eye.

The chatot's note head stuck up. "Excuse moi?"

"The scallywag be telling the truth!" a raichu proclaimed. "One rock ain't worth it!" He headed for the ship's steering wheel while several pirates voiced their agreement.

They were leaving, then. That was it. All Noctum had to do was play along with them. His Malice Crystal pulsated under his armor as he thought of Cyril's outpost. A rift opened up behind him and Valkyrie.

"Right. So, uh, you guys can go back." Noctum tugged on Valkyrie's arm. "And we'll do the same. Sound fair?"

"Gene! Gene, I think an uninvited guest just broke through your base's barrier!"

A giant rainbow energy beam cut through the darkness of the planetary debris and struck the main mast of the ship opposite the one Noctum and Valkyrie. Several pirates fled away from the ensuing explosion. Nikki jumped ship to join the two dragons, mohawk sparking.

Gilbert's feathers puffed out. "Oui! Oui! We are making with ze retreating! Zis is your problem now!" He pointed a wing at Raichu. "Engage ze rift drive!"

Noctum was about to question how the pirates had access to their own rifts, when Valkyrie shoved him toward the portal he opened. It vanished a second before he could pass through it, however. Then the ship's deck abruptly vanished from underneath Noctum's feet.

XxX​

The second Igneous had the space, his volcarona wings appeared, quickly carrying him the rest of the distance toward the empty arena. A couple of rotom-powered mops had fled toward the far end of the large, circular platform, giving the hunched over dusknoir in the middle plenty of space.

Igneous' breath caught in his throat.

Vegna?!

How was this possible? Even with the knowledge of Vegna's necromancy, Igneous couldn't make it add up. The dusknoir shouldn't have been able to get here. And what was with the golden cracks running up his right arm? Why did he look so haggard? He'd even abandoned his cloak and golden skull gauntlets!

The grovlazzle hovered in place. What was he supposed to do here? He couldn't approach Vegna. What if Vegna came here chasing him down? He was a wanted criminal in Radiance's eyes. Sure, he got the makeover, but Vegna might have been able to see through it.

Fortunately, Artemis must have followed Igneous' instructions quickly, because Seifer jetted right past him. He stopped shooting Hydro Pumps from his hooves and landed on the arena, galloping the rest of the way.

"Vegna?" Seifer called. He sounded as shocked as Igneous. The grovlazzle hastily dropped down onto some metal stairs leading up to the arena. He ducked down to avoid Vegna's gaze.

"Inquisitor?" Seifer tried again. "What are you doing here? Did you get swallowed by distortion or—"

"Mewtwo. Where... is Mewtwo?" Vegna sounded as if he was struggling to breathe. Which made no sense given he was a ghost.

Wait, no! That didn't matter! Why the hell would Vegna know about Gene?!

"M-Mewtwo?" Seifer said. "How do you know about him?"

Igneous almost facepalmed. So much for trying to keep that under wraps. The grovlazzle peeked up from his hiding place in time to see Vegna grab Seifer's snout and pull the keldeo down to eye level.

"You must... get him. Get Mewtwo." His fissured right arm trembled. "He must know... that we are in danger."

Well, yeah. There was the whole dimensional crisis. And the empire, to boot. Was Vegna investigating that?

Seifer pulled his snout out of Vegna's grasp. "I don't understand, sir."

"An old enemy... has returned," Vegna rasped. "And Mewtwo... is the only one who can save us... from certain death."

XxX​

Noctum grabbed Valkyrie, but had to dodge a large blast of distorted energy before he could safely set her down on a large chunk of debris. Gene tossed Nikki down by them a few seconds later.

"We have to leave. Now." Gene eyed the direction of the attacks nervously.

"Yeah." Nikki held up her hands. "I had my fun kicking pirate booty. But I ain't pressing my luck any further. C'mon, dork, open up the rift again."

But Noctum couldn't tug on that power in his gut no matter how much he tried. "It's not working," he said, purple tail flame nervously crackling.

Gene's own Malice Crystal sparked... but nothing happened. His eyes widened. "Get back!"

A psychic pulse sent the trio tumbling back across the debris field. When Noctum steadied himself, he found Gene struggling to hold a blue Protect barrier against several crystal tendrils that had spawned out of nothing. The shadowy mewtwo dropped the shield and Phantom Warped through the tendrils, only to abruptly fly up to dodge a flurry of glowing rock shards.

"What's going on?" Valkyrie tensed up. "Is this the empire?"

Nikki shuffled back from them, pointing to Gene's left. "Unless they're hiring giant Phantoms, then this ain't the empire."

Gene floated opposite a giant... blob of distortion. The most Noctum could make out were faint crystals forming some sort of vaguely humanoid shape. But way too big to be a human, if Sigurd was anything to go by.

amby-necrozma-commission.png

(Art by @SparklingEspeon)
Paradigm%20Boss%20Necrozma.png

"Where is she?" Even the thing's voice was heavily garbled. Noctum was amazed he could make out the words, which nearly made his heart shoot up into his throat.

By "she," did this Phantom mean...

"'Fraid I can't play the pronoun game with you, buddy." There was an air of nervousness behind Gene's words that Noctum had never heard before.

He was genuinely afraid. Which meant they had absolutely no business staying here.

"Where is my power?" the Phantom bellowed. "Where is Cresselia?"

It didn't wait for a response. Instead, it unleashed a barrage of tendrils on Gene, with a few veering off and heading straight for the others.
 
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