Word Count: 515 Level 6 Roxas: 2/60 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 3/60
Roxas had been awfully quiet during the whole trip to get to this place. The whole thing with Poppi was still weighing on him heavily. But at least by now he took the black coat off and returned to his other attire. He was only wearing that thing earlier because of the rain, but now that rain had was pretty much gone so there was no longer a need for it at this time. That and he recalled someone suggesting that he change clothes and appear a bit less conspicuous.
But it was only now, after all this time, that Roxas realized he hadn't eaten a single thing since that morning. And he missed the drinks and meal at Seventh Heaven so his stomach was pretty rumbly right now. Well there was plenty of eateries to choose from. But it quickly became apparent that even the food in this place was high-class, much like how the citizens themselves were described. Many places were selling things like crepes and gelatos. But Roxas wasn't really finding himself to be in the mood for sweets. That was when a sushi bar caught his eye. Roxas recalled seeing sushi as an option at the restaurant he ate dinner at last night, "May as well give it a shot."
Inside was a very clean and almost sterile looking establishment. A white bar with light wooden countertops surrounding it and black wooden stools to sit on. The establishment was being manned by a knife-wielding sushi chef wearing a white culinary coat and hat. Roxas sat at one of the stools and ordered a simple salmon nigiri dish. The chef went to work, chopping and slicing the fish with speed and precision like she'd been doing this for years. She served Roxas a dish with an oval of rice topped with a thin slice of salmon held together by a thin band of seaweed. On the side was pair of dipping sauces, one soy and the other wasabi. Roxas dipped the nigiri in the soy sauce and took a tentative bite. His face lit up, "It's delicious, thanks!" he told the chef before proceeding to munch down the rest of the nigiri.
With another grateful thank you, Roxas waved the chef goodbye and left the sushi bar. A bit later he found himself on the boat with the rest of the Seekers that he came with. He wasn't super clear on where the boat was going, resulting in Roxas wishing he'd around during the discussion at Seventh Heaven. Oh well, there was nothing for it now. And wherever they were going, it was probably important. It had something to do with that upcoming debate everyone was talking about, Roxas at least knew that much. But beyond that, he may as well have been a tourist.
Word Count: 2,378 Level 4 Ganondorf: 34/40 Exp: 3 NEW EXP Balance--- 37/40
It wasn't hard to spot the beacon that caught Omori's attention. And according to the boy, it was a signal intended to gather everyone in one spot. So between this and Sophie's earlier rudeness, Ganondorf wasn't going to get a chance to stock up on any more potions just yet. Well, regardless he followed the beacon for now anyway. It didn't seem like something someone would do lightly, so chances were good that something important had come up.
And come up it had. The Gerudo's blood began to boil at the sight of the Consul. Yet another brat pretending to be a ruler, it seemed. Well perhaps they would just have to teach them the same lesson they taught P. It didn't matter to Ganondorf either way. He wasn't interested in F's speech. Personally he preferred to skip the boring pleasantries and cut to the real reason why they were all here. But the Consul revealed he wasn't keen on making it that simple. First they all heard voices murmuring, then numerous familiar figures emerged from the rainy darkness. The townspeople, some of whom Ganondorf had even personally interacted with, had come to act as the Consul's army as it were.
But if the Consul honestly thought that this would be enough to stay the King of Evil's hand, then he was about to be sorely mistaken. Ganondorf had no compunctions whatsoever about doing what needed to be done. Even to these townspeople. If he could have it his way he'd transform and burn them all to ash right here and now. But that option was not in the cards at the moment. And so for now, the Gerudo had little choice but to play the Consul's little game... for now.
The first thing that happened was the familiar form of Riptor leaping through the air and attempting to pounce Ganondorf right from the start. But the towering man was not so easily moved. With his immense strength he was able to stop the mechanical dinosaur from knocking him over and then managed to fling her away from him with only some scratches from her claws for his troubles, "Seems somebody is still sore about losing to me the other day." He gloated as he clenched his fists and readied himself for a fight.
That was when Ganondorf heard the shambling footsteps of a skeleton lunging at him from his flank. He was able to sidestep the attack in the nick of time and now stared down a second opponent in addition to Riptor. The skeletal figure was unfamiliar to the Gerudo, and yet... familiar too, somehow. He looked very much like the stalfos that inhabited Hyrule's graveyards. And yet the stalfos had clothing and weapons that were clearly not of Hyrulean origin. But if he was anything like the stalfos that stalked the lands of Hyrule at night, then this kingly-looking stalfos probably shared their weakness to light. And so the Gerudo's hand went for the hilt of the white sword and he drew it from the scabbard so that he could cross blades with Igos du Ikana, while also staying wary for the inevitable attack that would come from the nearby Riptor.
A few clashes of their swords, and Igos du Ikana was proving to be a decent enough opponent. Of course, the mechanical raptor stalking nearby made things more difficult than they otherwise would be. Ganondorf and Ikana would be trying to take swings at each other only for Riptor to come leaping in with an attempted ambush while Ganondorf was distracted. He definitely would have to do something about this because sooner or later one of them was bound to get a more lethal attack in if he didn't.
The perfect chance came when the massive white whale was summoned in the water. It provided a much needed opportunity for Ganondorf fall back and start putting a little distance between himself and the town. He retreated into Crumble Cavern. A tunnel system would make dealing with multiple opponents a bit easier to do. It wasn't a striking or decisive difference, but Ganondorf would take whatever advantage he could get. But while he saw that both Riptor and Ikana had pursued him into the cave, the Gerudo realized he'd lost track of Riptor. Maybe she'd take another turn somewhere or pursued someone else? Or... maybe she was hiding in the cover of darkness waiting to strike the moment her prey let his guard down.
That would have to be dealt with later. For now, Ganondorf had to focus on Igos du Ikana. He'd chased the King of Evil into the cavernous tunnels, keen to finish the battle with Ganondorf. The two crossed swords as Ganondorf fell back deeper into Crumble Cavern. The more narrow passages made it a bit harder for both combatants to swing their weapons given their size. But it seemed like Ikana had the rougher time of it, since he was also carrying his big square shield in addition to his blade. Ganondorf at least had the option to switch the white sword between hands whenever the terrain called for it. But Ikana wasn't without his tricks. When it became apparent that his sword alone wouldn't be enough, he appeared to take a deep breath and then exhaled a gout of purple flames in the Gerudo's direction.
Ganondorf had no real way to block an attack like this. Instead his only option was lunge backwards and keep out of the flame's range. That brief pause gave the King of Evil a good opportunity to summon his Moblin squad. They were spear wielders, who could thrust their weapons down the passage and attempt to keep Ikana from getting close. And it was good thing the Gerudo did this, because moments after he was set upon by the cyborg raptor pouncing him from the shadows of the cavern. This time Riptor was more successful in catching Ganondorf flatfooted and briefly had him pinned to the ground. She repeatedly tried biting at his face and throat, only to be held back by the Gerudo King's free arm. Thankfully Ikana was preoccupied with the moblins, otherwise Ganondorf would have been in serious trouble. Calling on the strength of the Triforce, the King of Evil managed to wrestle the raptor of him and drive her back into the shadows which she struck at him from.
With Riptor repelled for the time being, Ganondorf could return his focus to Ikana who had already taken down three of the moblin spearmen. Instead of charging in, Ganondorf fell back. It wouldn't take long for Ikana to finish off the last Moblins, but Ganondorf could use that time for a short reprieve and to summon some additional reinforcements. The Gerudo found himself in a more open chamber and decided this would be a good spot to continue things. He could already hear the footsteps of the approaching stalfos and immediately set about summoning Phantom Ganon.
As soon as Ikana entered the open chamber room he was set upon by Phantom Ganon crashing down on him from above with his three-pronged spear. And that gave Ganondorf himself a chance to lunge in with the white sword. The gambit resulted in Ganondorf landing a solid strike on the stalfos. The holy light of the white sword seared the bones of Ikana causing him stagger back with a shudder. Down in here the darkness of the Under, he hadn't expected to encounter such a light. The holy nature of the white sword had clearly caught him off guard.
But just like any proper annoyance, Riptor came screaming back into the fray. She attempted to leap down onto Ganondorf from an elevated tunnel entrance that she had been hiding in. But this time, it was Phantom Ganon whom caught her attack. He began to try and fight off the mechanical predator so that Ganondorf could continue focusing on Ikana. And that's what he did. Ganondorf lunged forward with a warlock punch that ended up crashing into the stalfos's shield. But the raw might of Ganondorf was still a strong enough impact to send Ikana slamming into the cavern wall. He followed that up by lunging forth and plunging the white sword into the stalfo's body and practically pinning him to the wall. He was stopped from doing anything further when Riptor came pouncing on him from the side. She'd apparently managed to defeat the phantom and once again had her sights set on the man himself.
And so while Igos du Ikana writhed in pain against the wall, Ganondorf once again found himself struggling to keep the mechanical dinosaur from ripping his face off. After several attempted bites and a few successful claw attacks, Ganondorf finally managed to grab the dinosaur's mouth with both hands and with his own immense strength hold her back and then wrestle himself free of being pinned down. When his legs were freed he gave the dinosaur a good kick to momentarily keep her at bay. And that was when something latched onto his shoulder and bit down. It was Ikana, or more specifically, Ikana's head. The stalfos's body was still pinned to the wall by the white sword but his head had apparently popped right off and flew over to attack Ganondorf while the latter had been occupied with Riptor. But it was only a simple head, and so Ganondorf had little trouble pulling it off his shoulder and neck with his strength. Then he used it as an improvised weapon to hit Riptor with as she attempted to lunge at him again, managing to slam the skull of Ikana into the raptor's own head to momentarily disorient her.
Ganondorf then threw the skull against the cavern wall and turned for the pinned body of the stalfos. But rather than go for the sword, he left stabbed into the thing's body while he instead ripped the shield off the stalfos's arm and put it on just in time to use it to block an incoming pounce attack from Riptor. Now that he had a physical shield, Ganondorf could more easily keep his footing against the charging raptor and then proceeded to bash her head with the shield's edges. This was particularly effective due to the shield's square shape and extra sharpened corners. Finally it looked like Ganondorf was making some progress in taking down this mechanical monstrosity. That was when he realized that Ikana's head had returned to its body and once it did the stalfos tried to spew another gout of purple flame at the Gerudo. Ganondorf simply lifted the shield and let it protect him from the flames.
As for Riptor. She was back on her feet, but noticeably not in good shape. Some of those earlier shield bashes managed to get her in her head area and so she was still a bit disoriented from that. But she attacked again nevertheless, but at this point all three combatants were beginning to lose steam. With the shield, Ganondorf was able to block her attack and throw her aside. Then he turned around and used the shield to push forward through another breath attack from Ikana and inched his way closer. Once within reach, Ganondorf stretched out his hand and grabbed the hilt of Ikana's weapon. While he could have grabbed the white sword, the Gerudo figured it was better to leave the stalfos pinned to the wall. He then whirled around in time for Riptor to once more crash into the shield and be shoved aside onto the cave floor. But now that Ganondorf was armed he was quick to launch a counterattack and thrust the blade deep into the raptor's side before she could get back on her feet. It was highly unlikely she would be getting back up from this.
Then Ganondorf had to block yet another breath attack from Ikana, although this one was noticeably shorter than the previous ones. He too was running out of steam it would appear. Then the Gerudo dropped the sword he took from Ikana and let it clang on the ground. He then reached out and grabbed the hilt of the white sword. With a mighty pull he freed it from the cavern wall as well as Ikana's body and then proceeded to lay into the stalfos. All that time pinned to a wall by a holy weapon had not done the skeleton any favors and he could do little to stop the King of Evil's onslaught. And finally, after several strikes on Ikana and literally having to bash Riptor's skull in... both of the Gerudo's pursuers were defeated and... well dead, unfortunately.
Ganondorf breathed heavily as he returned the white sword to its scabbard. The next moment he realized that both Igos du Ikana and Riptor had now become Spirits. Knowing that these two were particularly tough opponents, Ganondorf was quick to pick up and claim them. They'd make for strong additions to his growing power. After that he drank one of the Health Over Time Potions he'd received earlier from Sophie. That would gradually heal some of the injuries he'd been inflicted with. After that he drank the Swiftness Potion so that he could use the newfound speed boost to run through the Crumble Caverns and catch up to the other seekers.
By the time the Gerudo had finally caught up with the rest of the Seekers at the great stone tower, the effects of both potions had worn off. The health potion had taken care of some of Ganondorf's wounds, but a few scratches and bruises remained. He was also noticeably in possession of a square-shield that he did not have previously. It was the shield he snatched from Ikana during the fight, Ganondorf having decided to keep it in case he wanted to switch to a more defensive fighting style. It also might have served as a visual indicator of what he ended up having do during the escape from Home of Tears.
Word Count: 2,220 Level 4 Ganondorf: 31/40 Exp: 3 NEW EXP Balance--- 34/40
Something must've happened.
For some reason or another, Omori wasn't there for Consul P's defeat. That was probably fine, all things concidered. The kid needed a break. Besides that, he still had to keep an eye out for any familiar faces that might have ended up down here too. But something must've happened while his allies were busy.
Why else would he suddenly end up poisoned, among other pain-ridden ailments?
Luckily someone had admitted him to the local clinic (There was no way he was going back to that dreadful hospital.) where he remained until he was well enough to head back out again. He made sure to thank Dr. Natasha beforehand for keeping an eye on him.
...So now what? If he and his team were staying at the Home of Tears for a bit longer, might as well see if he can help with anything. He and Mewo could he seen standing in front of one of the commission boards scattered around town.
The King of Evil's route was still largely aimless. His pace was slow, he would occasionally reach up with a hand to rub his aching head. Was he even still in the Downtown district? He wasn't even sure. But eventually he did catch sight of a familiar monochrome figure. Omori was standing in front of some kind of notice board, appearing to be reading something.
"What are these? Requests of some kind?" he asked when he was close enough to read some of the notices himself. They all looked like rather menial tasks, but they promised payment in exchange for them. Honestly, the only one catching the Gerudo's eye was something from someone who was apparently a witch, "Spells and Elixirs?" he said, pointing to the request for Cnideria toxins, "Looks easy enough, and we might be able to get her to give us some healing potions. I'm getting rather tired of having to rely on those Koopas or that insect to heal me."
"Hopefully." Omori tiredly agreed. Enduring so much injuries was really starting to irritate the boy. He didn't know what these Cnideria things were, but the other job that he'd want to take didn't allow humans. Besides, at least he wouldn't be alone in this if things go screwy.
"Should we head over there then?" He glanced back at Ganondorf.
"Yes, let's." Ganondorf agreed. Directions to the witch's shack were included in the commission and Ganondorf made not of them before beginning to walk, "It shouldn't be difficult to find. The commission board said to find her at her cottage, so a cottage is what we should be keeping an eye out for."
After a few minutes, the Gerudo spotted something that looked like what they were looking for. A shack constructed from a combination of timeworn wooden planks and rough-hewn stones, giving it a rustic and earthy apppearance. The exterior contained patches of moss and lichen here and there, and roof made of a patchwork of mismatched shingles and chimney smoke occasionally wisping upward into the air. The walls were adorned with arched windows with wodden shutters that were currently closed.
Ganondorf approached the door and knocked on it, "Huh? Who's out there? I'm busy, go away!" called out a grumpy feminine voice from within. Ganondorf simply rolled his eyes and spoke up with a reply.
"We're here about your... request... from the commission board?"
"My what? Oh, right! Well what're you waiting for? Come inside!"
With a shrug, Ganondorf opened the door. The door itself was pretty small, fitting for the ramshackle abode, and the King of Evil even had to duck down in order to actually enter through it. Inside, the shack exuded a certain... cozy atmosphere. An armchair was sitting in the main living space nearby a shelf of tomes and a cauldron for brewing potions. Right next to the door was a small little counter where business could be conducted, and standing behind that was the author of the commission, Sophie.
An Ixi with with emerald-green fur and long hair of a darker shade of green. She wore a patched-up-looking brown witch's hat on her head and matching brown dress with a similarly patched up skirt. The witch herself had an impatient look on her face.
"Your request mentioned something called 'Cnideria'. Can you provide any further details about them?" Omori spoke up first, noting the expression on the witch's face.
"Yes, yes, they're slimy, rubbery creatures that look like toadstools with tentacles, and they glow." Sophie supplied. She reached into the wet-looking sack propped up against her counter and withdrew the last of the specimens she collected, which she plopped down on top of what looked like a cutting board. Its tentacles splayed out across the surface limply, and she took grate pains not to touch them with her bear hands. "These things. Every second they're out of the water their drying up, the precious compounds going to waste. Now that you're here, you can take over collection while I handle preparation." Deftly she worked the invertebrate with a sharp carving knife, removing the Cnideria's cap and then slicing up its tentacles to carefully deposit them in her cauldron for dissolution. Every drop of poison spilled on the board or into the wood was wasted. "Take some gloves and some bags and head to the market. Don't let their tentacles touch your skin. Their toxins are incredibly narcotic--knock out a full-grown Skeith in seconds." She looked up from her work with a perplexed expression, as if the pair's continued presence here confused her. "What're you waiting for? Quick, before they're gone!"
Omori nodded, grabbing two bags and pairs of gloves. He slipped one pair on and passed the other to- Wait, would they even fit on Ganondorf's hands? He paused to consider this, before handing the gloves and a bag to him anyways. They'll figure it out.
Ganondorf, well, the gloves were indeed too small for him. And yet he took five pairs of them nevertheless. And also five bags. As if the King of Evil was going to directly perform this task himself. Of course not, that's what subordinates were for. Once they reached the market it was as simple as summoning his five Moblins, and giving them the gloves and bags so they could collect the Cnideria's for him. Let the grunts do the work, it's what they were there for, anyway.
Luckily, the market wasn't far. Against the backdrop of the Home of Tears' forlorn pillar-like towers, the most iconic feature of the Collection stood out like a shining beacon of livelihood and activity. At the market's very center, beneath the perennial cloud of inky airborne letters in the rain, stood an immense archway like an upturned book. In its shelter stood rows of stalls hewn from paper, together making up the all-important seafood market. Right now though, that wasn't the Seekers' main concern; as a result of the Cnideria shower, the marketplace rows surrounding the book featured almost as much marine life, albeit of the distinctly inedible and toxic variety. With how vertical and multi-leveled this part of the Collection was, navigation through it would take some doing, but there were jellyfish practically everywhere the newcomers looked, ruining the merchants' business and wares. There were even a few monsters laying unconscious on the ground, accidentally exposed to the narcotic toxins. Ganondorf and Omori needed to get to work, and fast.
It didn't take the Gerudo long to put his plan into motion. He summoned forth the squad of Moblins and to their confusion tossed the gloves and bags he'd brought with him. "Fill those bags with as many of those jellyfish as you can find and bring them back to me. Don't let the tentacles touch your skin. Go!"
"What a mess." Omori quietly said, moving quickly to start collecting as much of these creatures as he could. As much as cutting their tentacles off was tempting, he didn't think Sophie would like them tampering with the Cnideria. With Ganondorf summoning a small group of minions, maybe this'll be a breeze?
It turned out to be less than a breeze, actually. Oh things went smoothly most of the time, but there were occasional incidents where Ganondorf had to step in and assist due the too-often incompetence of the Moblins. One such incident involved a Moblin jumping in place repeatedly in an attempt to grab a tentacled creature that was up on a high roof until Ganondorf grabbed the minion and literally tossed him up with an exasperated roll of his eyes. In another incident, one of the Cnideria nearly snuck up on an unsuspecting Moblin only for it to be smashed under Ganondorf's boot. That one in particular was especially annoying for the Gerudo, both because of the toxin he had to clean off of his boot and because it wasted a perfectly good Cnideria.
There was the occasional unconscious monster that Omori plucked some Cnideria off before the boy struggled carefully dragged who he could to a safer side of the area. There was also one instance as he was collecting the ones littering the stalls, one of the Moblins had the funny idea of trying to steal his bag while his back was turned. A murderous glare at the minion's direction once he felt something yanking at it was enough to make it take a hint. However that didn't deter Omori from stepping in to help them with harder-to-reach places, or helping pick up the Cnideria that spilled when one Moblin clumsily fell over. The boy gradually made his way upwards, despite his bag's increase in weight.
The Moblin-related incidents didn't stop there. In one case two of the Moblins were fighting over who had found a Cnideria first, but they shut up pretty quickly once they noticed Ganondorf's shadow looming over them and glaring down at them to knock it off. But after several irritating minutes of having to occasionally play the micro-manager, Ganondorf's Moblins did at last manage to fill their bags with Cnideria.
"Hmph, looks like my Moblins are just about done." Ganondorf called over to the monochrome boy, "If you've been faring well yourself then maybe we can head back?"
"Yeah." Omori answered back, making his way back down with his bag hoisted over his shoulder. "I think this is enough."
Eventually the two found themselves back at Sophie's shack, and with quite a nice haul thanks to the extra help from the Moblins - in spite of the many incidents they caused while collecting them. When it came time to receive payment, Ganondorf only had a single request, "If it's all the same to you, I'd like most of my payment in healing potions if you can. I've been sorely lacking in such a resource lately, loathe as I am to admit it." Ganondorf then realized that he still had quite a bit of money left still from his share of the loot from P's stash and quickly added, "In fact before I leave I think I'd like to purchase some extra healing potions from you as well if that's acceptable."
After receiving the bounty of jellyfish and quickly stashing them in a cooler, Sophie went to present her helpers with the rewards. Loathe to prolong any social interaction, the witch had prepared them ahead of time in the form of two small satchels of dark, scratchy hide with a slight but still noticeable musk. Inside were carefully arranged racks of potion vials, eight apiece. After taking a moment to process Ganondorf's request, Sophie popped open the satchels and quickly rearranged their contents, skewing the distribution of restorative elixirs toward Ganondorf. He received two splash potions of healing, two strong instant healing potions,two health over time potions, a jumping potion, and a swiftness potion. That meant Omori received one swiftness potion, one for jumping, two for night vision, two for stamina, and two defense-boosting brews.
After that, however, Sophie turned them loose. "This is my house, not a grocery store," she told them, unwilling to engage in any more trade for now. "I've got lots to do and barely any time to do it, so go on, shoo!"
Ganondorf grumbled as he took the satchel. He'd hoped to buy more but apparently this witch didn't like the idea of being paid money. Well it was her loss, then. He also didn't bother to say anything else to her. If she wanted to be rude, then he'd just be rude right back to her. Golden Rule and all that.
A quick glance over his rewards and a nod in thanks towards the impatient witch, and Omori was out the door.
And luckily, just in time to see something quite dreadful in the sky. The same infinity symbol in the sky S summoned, here, caught his eye. The boy tensed up. "We need to head back. NOW."
Location: Aether Resort - Edinburgh MagicaPolis Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Red’s @TruthHurts22, Mewtwo’s @Double, Big Band Word Count: 7,193
Exp: +8
While they were dealing with the Aether Foundation trainers, Mewtwo was able to spot a lucky find. One of them had an ether among their meager supply of Pokémon medicine, and Mewtwo quickly grabbed it and sprayed the medicine on himself. It wasn't a full restore of any kind, but that at least gave him a good bit of his PP back, which he knew he would need for the upcoming confrontation.
Once he and the Seekers had entered the museum-like room, they began overhearing snippets of a conversation between L and someone else. They didn't sound like they were in agreement, and the stranger mentioned something about a "Flame Clock", whatever that meant.
But Mewtwo began to slowly realize that what he thought were statues or wax figures of Pokémon, weren't actually that at all. They were real as if frozen in place somehow. And Mewtwo's blood began to boil. Right about then was when their presence was noticed.
<Did you really think I wouldn't follow you here, Consul?> He asked, projecting thoughts to L for the first time since he met her. Mewtwo generally preferred not to communicate except with Pokémon or humans that he trusted. But for this vile human, he would make an exception.
Wonder Red stayed back, letting Mewtwo take the frontline for the encounter. This was all more personal for him, it seemed. Not that Red had spent much time with Pokémon, but seeing your kind put up as display would shake anybody, certainly.
”Head of the Aether foundation, Consul L,” Red began in a lull between Mewtwo and herself, ”before we come to blows, please elucidate for us what your Consulate has against our organization. Enough to declare war and siege on our headquarters?”
“Do you not intend to dethrone Galeem?” N raised an eyebrow, though it lay hidden beneath his helmet. “Your merry little band’s been killing Guardians, after all. Which means you intend to destroy the world. Our world. Our ‘endless now’.” He spoke those last three words in little more than a reverent whisper. “So naturally we will fight to protect it.”
"Why?" the Cadet asked in confusion. The very fact that they could mention Galeem meant they weren't under its spell. They had to know that the world they were all living in now wasn't natural or normal. "What are you all getting out of this? Whatever it is, it can't justify keeping the whole rest of the world hostage!"
N snickered in a most smarmy fashion. “Getting? Why, just everything we could ever want. That’s the beauty of total domination: an entire universe of secrets to unravel and master. Not to mention infinite test subjects. Like your little friend, what was her name? Hmhmhmhmhm.” He let out some sadistic laughter through his nose. “Either way. A pretty sweet deal, wouldn’t you agree?”
“So gauche,” L sniffed. “You may think of me as a curator, if you wish,” she told the Seekers with an air of nonchalance. “There is so much ugliness out there, and lives are worth so little. Here one day, gone the next. My role is one of passionate archival.” She looked around at the room, a proud light in her eyes. “What you see here is merely the…tip of the iceberg, so to speak.”
The hunter was stunned. Such a blasé outlook on other people's lives already told him that they'd probably never see eye to eye with the Consuls if their goals were truly so selfish. When the Seekers had to take the lives of people in their way it was for a greater purpose, and most still struggled with it. Reducing people to experiments and art pieces was beyond the pale.
“Psychos,” Band muttered. He readied himself to step forward, only to be struck by the sheer anger radiating from one of his allies. After a glance at Mewtwo, he gave the Consuls a knowing side-eye. “Y’all done funked up now.”
<How dare you…? These were innocent Pokémon! Trainers who treat their Pokémon like this… deserve no mercy!> And then he started attacking. Mewtwo used Psychic to start grabbing anything and everything around him and hurling it all straight at L. The only things he didn't throw were the frozen Pokémon.
The Consul didn’t move an inch. Before the thrown objects could hit her, they came to a dead stop in the grip in the brawny arms of a brolic Ultra Beast. After absorbing the force it gently set L’s furniture down by her sofa, careful not to tarnish the expensive items. “All trainers treat their Pokemon like this,” L deadpanned. “Much worse, in fact. Insatiable, they collect more Pokemon than they could ever need or want. Some even strive to ‘catch them all’. Do you know how many there are? Over one thousand! And what becomes of all those Pokemon, save a half-dozen favorites?” She shook her head sadly. “Left to rot in their balls and boxes, never again to feel a human touch, or see the light of day. Then favorites and prisoners die, and turn to ash, and precious memories fade away.” She cast her hands around the room. “But not my precious pets. Rather than suffer in isolation, I preserve them in all their beauty, never to crumble and fade away, safe in my loving arms…”
Her eyes drifted proudly to the statues that flanked the room’s entrance on either side, unnoticed by the Seekers as they came in. There stood the frozen bodies of a young girl and boy, both blonde with green eyes. They weren’t alone, either; there seemed to be at least a half-dozen of each, no two quite the same. Though L’s face was hidden, from her voice one could get a sense she was smiling. “...Forever.”
Now that Mewtwo had begun an assault, and realizing that debating these Consul was going nowhere for them, Wonder Red braced his knees, raised his fists, and stepped ahead of the rest. ”Team, diplomacy has failed,” he stated, keeping his eyes on the two Consul. ”We’ve come this far, and we can’t let them continue this reign of frozen terror! Stick together!”
It had been pretty wishful thinking that diplomacy would have worked in the first place. Both Consuls gave the Ace Cadet the creeps. And those statues - were they really people? Such villainy had to be brought to justice. His ship’s rigging was already unfolding from his armor faulds in preparation to take the two armored Consuls on.
“Yeah, I think we’ve heard enough.” Band took a ready stance, his brows lowered and his eyes cold. “I seen some bad apples in my day, but none half as a rotten as these. I’ll see you two prosecuted…” He deployed both Brass Knuckles and slammed one fist into the other’s palm, releasing a hard, flat burst of sound. “To the full extent of the jam.”
Resting her head in her hand, L closed her eyes. “Maybe once I’ve touched myself up with the Flame Clock. For now, you’ll have to satisfy yourselves N.” She set her wine glass down, and as she stood, her Ultra Beast disappeared into a wormhole. “Try not to break anything.” The next moment she teleported away in a burst of purple energy.
With an amused smile, N turned his attention to the Seekers. “Well then. Shall we take this outside?” Then he teleported, too.
Mewtwo lagged behind a moment. L’s disappearance really only served to infuriate him further. He used Psychic to grab ahold of some furniture and flung them at the walls in his anger. Without L’s Ultra Beasts here, nothing was going to stop them from exploding into splinters up on impact. He wanted to tear apart the entire resort in an effort to search for L. But that was when something else caught his eye.
These human children, could they be…? If he was right about them then the entire premise of this room really only disgusted him further. Doing this to one’s Pokemon was bad enough. But to their own children? It was sickening, but this did give Mewtwo an idea.
Band gave an annoyed grunt and turned around to head back the way he came, through L’s mansion and away from her frozen collection. Out front, standing smack dab in the center of the bridge back to the Aether Resort proper, he and the others found N waiting for them. “About time we got down to brass tacks,” he called at the Consul. “You ready to get beat?”
“I’m afraid that if anyone’s on the clock, it’s you,” N told the team. “Once you have a taste of my latent power over time, you won’t be back for seconds!” He raised his staff and upended it, facing its tines toward the ground. When he struck them against the path beneath him, a white, omnidirectional pulse emanated from his position. Ping. The ring expanded across the whole area in no time, but its only discernible effect seemed to be a returning, lower-pitched pulse from the four Seekers a moment after the first wave touched them. Po-po-po-pong. “Connection established,” N snickered, turning his fork to grasp in both hands. “Let us begin.”
N wasn’t the only one prepping for the fight. Wonder Red’s Striker appeared beside him, twitching in place, though Red held off on making it scream. ”Control over time?” He asked while readying his newly-acquired gun. Call it professional curiosity. ”Are you responsible for the statues in there, then?”
<Namely, these statues?> Came the telepathic projection from Mewtwo. Just then, he appeared among the Seekers via a teleportation, but he wasn’t alone. Levitating on either side of him were the statues of the two children, held aloft by Mewtwo’s physic powers. Mewtwo narrowed an icy glare at the Consul before them. <I’m curious, Consul, how willing you are to go through with this confrontation at the risk of harm coming to these two human children. Are you willing to risk incurring the wrath of your partner?>
Beneath his helmet, N’s lip curled. Even after that dramatic intro, perfect to start a fight with, these fools just couldn’t find it in them to get down to business. The topic of their whinging didn’t concern him in the slightest, but the idea that he was beholden to L in the slightest incensed him. “I don’t give a damn about that batty old woman’s frozen ash,” he sneered, holding up his staff. Its ends began to glow with pearlescent blue energy. “Allow me to demonstrate.” Whirling his weapon, he began to hurl orbs through the air two at a time. Though not fast, they automatically homed in on the nearest targets. Several dozen flew out before he started thrusting his staff instead, sending beams of the same roiling plasma across the ground as columns and through the air horizontal bars.
Band grunted and began to move. “Maybe y’all weren’t payin’ attention back there,” he huffed as he charged into the storm of projectiles. “These two clearly ain’t on the best of terms! So put a sock in it, and focus on sockin’ this clocksucker instead!”
The closer he got as he approached, however, the more he got a sense that something was off. While not the most agile, he could slide fast enough to dodge the first few orbs by a decent margin, yet somehow he felt their heat -and heard their ominous crackling- as if they just barely missed. Them being crazy strong would make up for that laughable speed, he thought. Still, before getting close enough to N he got cornered by a handful of orbs and beams. As he went to jump over a horizontal beam sweeping across the road, something happened–a slight, sudden snap, barely noticeable, and through no physical motion of his own. To his surprise the beam clipped him, knocking him to the ground in a fresh surge of burning pain. “Nngh!” he grunted, gritting his teeth. “What!?” That should’ve more than high enough. Taken by surprise and left hurting, he faced a pair of incoming orbs, and hopped to the side in a last-second attempt to evade them. For a split second he thought he cleared them, but to his surprise both hit him head-on, staggering him. “The hell’s goin’ on?” he growled as he deployed his cymbals to block. Forced into full defense mode and pinned down in blockstun by constant projectiles, he could no longer move forward.
“Whatever’s the matter?” N laughed. “Lagging behind all of a sudden? I thought you were going to hit me!”
Mewtwo didn’t show much of a reaction - either to the Consul’s response or his opening attacks. Two of his orbs homed in on him, but Mewtwo was able to continuously keep them away from him by using Teleport. First he teleported a safe distance away from the Consul - both of the statue’d children in tow - and placed them on the ground in a spot he was hoping was far enough away to not be caught in the crossfire. He used his power to fly around, wanting to get those pair of orbs to lock onto him again. When flying though, he sensed something strange. Like his body was… heavier than normal. But he paid it no mind for now. Even if he flew a bit slower, for the time being his Teleport was roughly unaffected so he could just use that if he felt he couldn’t outrun the orbs.
But then he got an idea. He teleported himself directly in front of N, then used Disable to attack with psychic flash-bang before immediately teleporting away again hoping to “trick” those orbs into hitting the Consul should he be successfully stunned by the Disable. That was when he noticed Band in a spot of trouble, as well, and he went to teleport again.
However, he did not account for the Disable failing. “There you are!” Immune to petty status effects, N raised his staff, surrounding it in a pillar of plasma. Ever since the Pokemon played this card, the Consul had been waiting to see if he’d use it to get in past the storm of projectiles. Though not quite fast enough to strike Mewtwo before the Disable, he would happily punish him afterward, especially since his orbs didn’t track nearly well enough for Mewtwo’s complicated gambit. When the Pokemon teleported to Band, he watched the energy bash physically miss. And yet his position seemed to adjust, a subtle snap, and the pillar struck Mewtwo instead. As if reality had been instantly amended in the Consul’s favor. Mewtwo gave out a cry of pain upon being struck. It wasn’t apparent to him what had gone wrong with the teleport just yet. But he still had enough wherewithal to complete his teleport.
The Pokemon teleported to Band, then used the same move again to teleport them both out of that rough spot.
<He’s done something to us. I’m still able to teleport for the most part, but my levitation feels… heavier somehow. Disable did nothing to him, so it sounds as though strategies like that will prove meaningless against him.> he telepathically projected to Band and to Red. One advantage to his form of communication was that he could pick and choose who to project thoughts to, so anything communicated to his allies would remain unheard by their enemies.
Up until this point the Cadet had initially hesitated to go on the offensive. Whatever that "connection" had been at the start of battle gave the hunter a bad feeling. In the back line he dealt with the barrage of energy beams sent their way either by shield or evasion and watched the fight unfold in front of him. It was clear that something weird was going on, but the Cadet didn't understand what it was yet. Attacks that by all rights should have missed their targets were instead direct hits on the Seekers in the front line. Did this Consul really have control over time itself, and was that what he was using to alter the battle?
The answers wouldn't come from standing around speculating about it. Might as well throw himself at the problem and see what information he could get, or what diversion he could cause. It was then that the Cadet made his approach, heading toward N with the mini cannons of his rigging firing, testing the range of N's abilities even as he got closer. The location N had chosen had no cover for the projectiles, but undeterred by how Band's charge had ended up the Cadet relied on his shield and shelling to break through.
With N’s focus on shooting at Mewtwo and Big Band, the Monster Hunter’s approach caught him somewhat off guard. His first few on-target shells burst against the Consul’s armor like cherry bombs, instantly getting N’s attention. So the red-haired warrior joined the fight, did he? It would take more than a couple seconds’ observation to see through this. “Hmph.” The next moment the barrage stopped hitting him, and though ostensibly due to moving laterally to avoid them, the first few actually passed straight through him like he wasn’t there. Then went on to blow up against the side of the Aether Resort’s main building, shattering a window or two in the process. N struck the butt of his staff against the ground, then held it laterally. Spark orbs appeared in the air around him, bolts of electricity connected them, and the lightning links began to move. In a matter of seconds, a constantly-shifting labyrinth of lightning surrounded him.
The maze slowed the Ace Cadet's advance, nearly putting a stop to it altogether. Its sudden appearance first saw the hunter run right into the electric chain that formed its walls, the shock paralyzing the hunter just long enough for one of the energy shots flitting around to smash right into him. The Cadet shook off the hit, but whatever advantage he'd initially had evaporated. Maneuvering around the shock orbs and the lightning bolts connecting them all while blocking the rest of N's attacks was an uphill battle.
"You think we won't fulgur this out and take you down?" The Cadet called out, trying to pick his way through the shocking, shifting paths in one piece.
Given a moment to breathe, Band stepped up to lend a hand. So far, N had been fighting defensively, polluting the air with different projectiles and hazards to wear the Seekers down as they fought to get in on him. It was a kind of fight the detective knew well, as much as he hated it. Nimble, trigger-happy opponents just loved big, slow targets like him. But that had given him plenty of experience. Band deployed his enormous kick pedal. “Impression!” he shouted out as he unleashed his Giant Step. Rather than knock N down, however, the tremor passed harmlessly beneath him. Bug-eyed for a moment, Band noticed for the first time that the Consul seemed to be floating barely inches off the ground. No shortcuts then. He groaned and got a move on, sliding over the ground in stream of sound.
As he worked his way in, avoiding and blocking the orbs, beams, and lightning links that turned the battlefield into one big, agonizing obstacle course, he considered what he’d seen so far. Mewtwo had mentioned a strange heaviness, but that didn’t explain everything that had happened. Somehow N was hitting his attacks when they should’ve missed, and dodging the Seekers’ when they should’ve hit. It wasn’t perfect, though. When he didn’t see Ace’s shots coming, a handful of them struck home. And how did all this relate to time, which N said he could control? Band’s mind buzzed with questions. If only he had the time to answer them.
On the dangerous road to melee range, Band took shock after shock, and more than one errant orb flying in from out of sight. “I’m too old for this crap!” Just as Band was finally getting close, N turned his attention the big man’s way. “Tsk, tsk.” The Consul used his staff to create a square of lightning links and sent it straight at Band, who narrowed his eyes in anticipation. No way over, and with more links and plasma pillars to either side, no way around. If he blocked this he could easily get locked down again, though, so he knew he had to push through. “...Lay back!” At the last moment, Band jumped and pulled off a massive drop kick, turning himself horizontally so he could fit through the gap.
He landed heavily on his back the next moment, but forward-teched with a blast of sound from the instrumentation on his back to fly back to his feet. Without a second’s hesitation he launched himself at N, his huge Brass Knuckle extended to pound the smarmy projectile enthusiast right in his smug face. He armored through a whole bevy of last-second shots, then punched straight through N’s head, though not in the way he would have liked. His fist sheared through without resistance, like N wasn’t even there, and N slid off to the side a second later. “Too late!” he chuckled. Forming a beam of plasma around his staff, he struck Band like a baseball and sent him flying. The detective felt the impact a brief moment before it actually hit him. “You just missed me!” A flurry of orbs flew after Band to chase him down.
For a time, Wonder Red stayed back along with Ace Cadet, seeing the frontliner’s methods and effectiveness while avoiding the slow onslaught of projectiles. Unlike the brutish angel that N sent after them the previous day, Wonder Red wasn’t taking too many chances against him, being a Consul with control over time, or so he claimed. Seeing it in action, however, was certainly helping to back the statement up. Attacks that the team would have perfectly cleared any other time suddenly hit, as if Band or Mewtwo never made moves to avoid them to begin with. Not to mention the matter of actually striking N, as that appeared to be the inverse problem, where their attacks went right through him as though he wasn’t there.
All these were things the others were well aware of by now, but it always helped to take a peek into a person’s mind, right?
Having managed to avoid most of the space-shifting shenanigans N was causing (due to not being engaged), Red had his Striker shriek, piercing the battlefield with its shrill, dazing cry, summoning a handful of Hollow from the stonework beneath them. Red wasted no time in constructing Unite Sword, slashing it ahead of himself as he made his advance. With the projectiles being static and lightning, they would be absorbed by the Morph’s unique conductive properties.
”Mewtwo!” Wonder Red called to the Pokemon, pointing to his own head when it looked at him. Hopefully its telepathic powers worked both ways, since Red was strategizing in a way N couldn’t trace: with his thoughts. ”On me - if we can strike in tandem, we might be able to beat out Consul N’s method of dodging!”
With the tactic (assumedly) passed along, Red pushed ahead with renewed aggression, swinging and stabbing his Sword to clear a path, and to hit N with.
Mewtwo offered a silent nod in response, but he mentally projected a reply to his ally. <Worth a try.> But rather than immediately move, Mewtwo kept his distance and began charging a Shadow Ball. He’d hang on to it until he saw Red make his move. Only then would Mewtwo use Teleport to put himself right behind N to try and hurl that Shadow Ball at point blank range.
With Band dispatched for the time being, N returned his focus to the others. Though both a juggernaut and a powerhouse in his own right, Ace had run into trouble when faced with the electrifying array of lightning links and plasma beams. His lateral movement was being blocked at every turn, and he couldn't go up and over it with nothing to grapple to nor a way to pole vault. While he could take quite a high voltage, the repeated shocks due to dodging projectiles and ending up too close to the electric chain was wearing on him. Instead of risking sudden movement he blocked as much as he could, but a shield couldn’t block projectiles that hit him from behind. The bevy of damage he’d taken while trying to weave his way in forced him to disengage and focus instead on stopping the pain train bearing down on Band. That left Red and Mewtwo. While the former charged straight at him, the latter stayed far away, building up power in a projectile that couldn’t conceivably hit from such a distance. N wasn’t stupid. He took his staff in both hands, projected a huge, bat-like pillar of plasma from it, and took Red’s challenge head-on. Their almost comically large weapons slammed together again and again in a colossal sword fight, every impact a reverberating burst of energy particles. As he fought N rose higher into the air, giving himself a positional advantage as he waited for his chance.
There! An instant before Mewtwo even seemingly disappeared, the Consul turned off his beam, allowing Red’s mighty swing to hurtle by unimpeded and send him off balance, hopefully into some nearby lightning links. He transitioned his own swing into a backward thrust using the blade on the end of his tuning fork’s shaft. From his perspective, the Psychic Pokemon would appear behind N and unleash the Shadow Ball, unaware that what he was seeing did not represent reality. In truth, N had all the time he needed. A split second after Mewtwo thought he blasted N in the back, he found himself stabbed in the middle instead, his Shadow Ball never released. At the sight of him reeling in shock and pain, N couldn’t help but gloat. “So predictable!” he laughed. “You should’ve said ‘nothing personal’, just for good measure. At least that cliché won’t be the last thing…” Power built up between the forks as he aimed his staff at Mewtwo’s noggin. “...to run through your head!”
N’s confidence, while earned, was more than a little misplaced, thinking that a simple missed swing would stagger Wonder Red for long. A moment’s distraction to diffuse the lightning barriers nearing him, Red turned to see Mewtwo at N’s mercy, though the Consul’s back was facing him. Seizing the opportunity, Wonder Red de-morphed, letting his Strikers touch the ground as he leapt forward, through the air so he didn’t make a noise on approach, and the moment he was close enough to N…
”Wondeeerrrrrrrr PUNCH!”
Mewtwo was pulled from N’s clutches, safely within one of Red’s Unite Morphs, and in the very same nanosecond the hardened knuckles of Unite Hand slammed into N’s back with all the force Wonder Red could muster.
Just as a massive barrage of plasma orbs, at least forty strong, burst forth in the mother of all scattershots, N’s target got whisked away. Before he could ponder what happened, N took a gigantic wallop to his back, and with a guttural exclamation of surprise he was sent flying. He hit the ground once, tumbling, but managed to buoy himself up with his levitation before another impact. By the time he slowed himself completely he floated only a few meters from the edge of the Aether Paradise building. With narrowed eyes he straightened up and turned to face the heroes. “Thought I’d let you have that one. A nice little confidence boost,” he sneered as he descended. “After all, it’s no fun if you lose hope too quick-!”
“GIANT STEP!” The moment N touched the ground, so too did Band’s enormous pedal. Ever since the Consul unknowingly avoided the first, the detective had been biding his time until he could use it properly, and now his moment had come. Knocked off his feet by the shockwave, N landed on his front, the wind punched from his lungs. “Spread out now, and all at once–get ‘em, boys!” Without a second to spare, Band began to slide forward, quickly closing the distance. As unbeatable as N’s ‘adjustment’ power felt, the team had taken him by surprise so far, and the extent of his ability seemed limited to that of his focus.
Growling, N got to his feet and floated into the air, his staff tucked under his arm like the butt of a rifle. He let loose a torrent of tracking orbs to wash away the incoming heroes. Band couldn’t dodge them and continue to advance, but he could do something. He deployed his cymbal, betting everything on it, and to his delight was able to parry the first projectile to hit him. “Uh-huh,” he snickered, parrying orb after orb as he closed in. Each one moved him a little bit forward, keeping up the momentum.
With Mewtwo safe from N’s assault, Wonder Red freed him from the Unite Morph. ”Are you okay, Mew Two?” He wanted to be sure the Pokemon was in well enough form to continue fighting. Before advancing on N, Wonder Red took out Artemis, and fired it off sporadically on approach, hoping to keep N’s attention divided with staggered shots.
Weakened and in pain, Mewtwo could only think of one way to deal with the storm of projectiles. He used Psychic to tear off a large section of the floor in front of him and erected it vertically to serve as a makeshift wall. Then he slowly pushed forward, letting the wall absorb the projectiles and shield him from any further damage.
Any homing shot that got by Band or Mewtwo's shield would be deflected by the Cadet's as the hunter moved up close with the others, making it all around easier to defend against the orb assault. The Cadet was singed by taking dozens of hits already, but he was still eager to get up close and personal to give this enemy of justice the comeuppance he deserved - the mini-cannons of the Cadet's rigging were swiveling forward already, ready to deliver it.
With the Seekers perilously close, N gritted his teeth. He whirled his staff overhead, then slammed the ground, letting loose a huge wave of white energy. The effort left him doubled over and hyperventilating from fatigue, however. Reacting quickly, Band and the others leaped into the air once more utilizing Red’s Wonder Jump, soaring right over the pressure wave. Ready to seal the deal, the detective deployed his cymbals once more for a deafening clash.
With the incoming energy wave, there was really only one strategy Mewtwo could employ. He started charging up his Shadow Ball, while still being obscured from view behind the makeshift wall he’d erected. Just before the energy could crash into him or his makeshift barricade, he put the attack on hold long enough to thrust his hands forward in a motion to hurl his erected wall straight at N. Then he Teleported.
Mid-air from the jump, Wonder Red aimed Artemis again, this time charging it to full, unleashing its full, delayed blast. ”Uniiiiiiite SWORD!” Uniting his Strikers into Unite Sword, Red rushed down N, spinning through the air like a sawblade - running right through the Consul and touching down behind him, just as the Artemis shot homed in.
As for the monster hunter, he kept things simple. The blade of the Master Bang hadn't gotten a chance to leave so much as a scratch on the Consul's armor, but he was looking to change that. He was almost in range, a little more and he could use his Crush Shot and start a Sword Dance and put the pressure on N. So close to closing in, the Cadet didn't stop to think about using a lifepowder or anything of the sort, just going in for what he hoped would be the kill.
"Try getting out of this one!" he taunted, bravado reignited.
If this all worked out, then the consul would be unaware of Mewtwo’s charged up attack. And furthermore he should in theory be too distracted with dealing with the section of floor being flung at him to notice Mewtwo’s teleportation and subsequent reappearance near his flank in an attempt to unleash another fully charged Shadow Ball at point blank range.
A cymbal, a slab of metal, a shot, and a supersized swordblade, all descending toward N like judgment from on high–the situation looked grim.
Unacceptable.
As the heroes closed in, a bubble of power welled up around the Consul, crimson and unstable. “BEHOLD!”
The pulse struck the heroes, and a bizarre phenomenon took place. Each stopped as if frozen in place. In their individual perspectives, everyone else began repeating actions on a split-second loop. Band’s cymbals swung together, but never met, instead jittering back to their original positions to swing towards one another again. Red’s swordblade jerked back and forth as if he couldn’t decide whether or not to swing; the shot from Artemis didn’t move through the air, but its energy continued to fluctuate and stream as if still in flight. Ace ran furiously in place, the metal on his person and in his hands glinting as they moved back and forth. Mewtwo’s torn-out chunk hung in the air, and the Pokemon himself fluctuated in the startup of releasing his charged Shadow Ball. Worse still, the sounds were stuck, too.
Band struggled, trying to deploy instruments, swing his arms around, anything at all, but he seemed completely stuck. Of course, it looked like N was too. This had to be his doing, but what was he doing? His mind raced, trying to figure out what was going on and how it benefited the Consul, but in a state of confusion and panic he couldn’t determine anything. The seconds ticked by. Five, six, seven, eight, nine…
Ten.
Suddenly, everything changed. A cacophony of unintelligible sound slammed into him like a freight train, but the next instant it was gone. In a blink, Band found himself standing on the ground. His Brass Knuckles were out as if he’d been punching with them like he planned, but he never got that chance…did he? Red stood ahead of him, his sword embedded in the wall of the Aether Paradise building. When did he get there? Way behind Band, Mewtwo’s Shadow Ball violently exploded against the front of L’s mansion in a burst of ghostly power. That was the last thing he noticed before pillars of plasma blazed across the battlefield, and a lightning storm swallowed him up. Everything else gave way to a horrible maelstrom of searing, electrocuting, agonizing pain.
After a few seconds the punishment subsided, and with a groan Band fell to his knees, then slammed down on his stomach. Everything hurt, and his mechanisms weren’t responding, though he could scarcely find the strength to call upon them anyway. He couldn’t look around very well, but the gasps and moans told him the others all fared much the same.
“Hehehehe.” N’s laugh was slow, sinister, and drawn-out with relish. He was standing in the middle of the group of fallen heroes. Band wanted nothing more than to punch the smug sonuvagun’s lights out, but all the fight had drained from his body. “Well? What do you think? Or are you too awestruck by Amy power…no, my mastery…ohh, my unbeatable dominion over time?”
For once even Wonder Red’s energy was sapped. In the figurative, physical sense, as well as the energy of his suit’s battery, inexplicably run dry. It was clear that N wasn’t a Consul to be taken lightly. So why humor them for the fight? In between breaths Wonder Red tossed out a question. ”What… what did you do to us…?”
“Oh? Curious, are you?” N was clearly loving this. “Since you’ve got only a few seconds left, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to clue you in.” Snickering, he planted the butt of his staff and leaned on it. “I’m a scientist, you see. I love unraveling new things, and twisting them to suit my own ends. A little mad science here, a demonic ritual there, I’m always finding ways to keep myself…hmhmhm, busy.” The Consul waved his hand dismissively. “But nothing tickles me quite as much as the one power that I can truly call ‘mine’. The power to manipulate one of this world’s most erudite, underpinning phenomenons. Once I’ve established a connection…” He reached out a hand toward Red. “I can delay incoming actions. In the end, the reality you’re experiencing…” With an unseen grin, he closed his fist, as if crushing the superhero in his hand. “Lags just a little bit behind.” He then placed his hand on his chest. “Of course, as the host I enjoy certain privileges. Keeping me one step ahead. And it doesn’t stop there, oh no.” His shoulders shook from his mirth. “What you saw and experienced just now? Nothing more, and nothing less, than the complete and utter obliteration of time, and all memories formed therein. Your intentions are laid bare, locked in, and erased–all that remains are the consequences. And I alone may act upon them!” Suddenly serious, he took his staff in both hands, preparing to cast. “This is the power of Latency. The power of Consul N!”
"Pompous pain in the Astalos..." the Cadet hissed, starting to pull himself together to stand again. The 'connection'... so from the start none of them had a chance? That couldn't be true, he'd seen some of their attacks land. There was no way the Consul had let it happen, not this kind of jerk who seemed more likely to want to rub in their faces that he hadn't taken a hit.
It had to be possible to beat him, even with such a disadvantage. It looked like everyone was just about down for the count, and the Cadet regretted not trying to mitigate the damage done earlier. He could do it now if they stopped whatever the Consul was about to unleash. But the question was how? The echoes of pain from the N's bombardment made the Cadet's mind sluggish, he struggled to think of something. Blocking the Consul's sight might work, but there was no telling if a paintball would do the trick if he even managed to throw it accurately after the damage he'd taken. The only other option he could come up with was to strike fast enough that the man wouldn't see it coming, which would also be asking a lot due to the state he, and the others, were in. However the Ace Cadet was overcome with the feeling of needing to do something once more, and so with his hand wrapped tight around the hilt of his sword he lashed out with his fading strength. It was an attack of defiance if nothing else.
As enjoyable as overdone theatrics were, they did confer one important drawback: a tendency to focus on the wrong thing. In the moment before N, flourishing and waving his staff as he erected pillar after pillar of plasma in preparation for his climactic finishing move, the Monster Hunter somehow found it within himself to make a last-ditch attempt. “What!?” N, taken by surprise at the height of confidence in his imminent victory, stumbled backward with a hand clamped down over the fresh gash on his chest. There stood Ace, an almost gleeful look on his face as he fought to stay standing, full of hope that he’d managed to stop the big bad’s all-out attack just in the nick of time.
If only N had been one hit away from defeat.
“You heroes. So stubborn.” He gave a wry laugh, more annoyed with himself than anything. “You never know when to QUIT!” With a snarl he swung his staff, enveloped in a beam of energy. His baseball swing sent Ace flying, tumbling him along the ground until he came to a stop against the side of the Aether Paradise building, farther away than the others. Then N span his staff one final time. “Hmph. It’s been fun killing time with you, but I’m on the clock, so enough tocking. It’s high time we bring this little sideshow to a close.” He swung his staff, and the pillars of plasma blazed forward, raking across the ground without barely any space between them. They bore down on the Seekers like satellite lasers, promising to be the last thing that any of them ever saw. “Time to die!”
Gritting his teeth, Band squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t move or fight back–this was the end. But death never reached him. When he lost consciousness, a mysterious Felyne rescue crew whisked him away on their crude wooden cart, disappearing with him into the ether as they bore him back to base. The same went for Red and Mewtwo, saved from certain destruction and spirited away to safety. That just left Ace, with no charges for his Rescue power remaining and only a couple seconds until the pillars swallowed him up too.
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, eyes wide. They'd been thoroughly beaten due to N's insane ability, but at least the Seekers would live to fight another day - he'd seen the Felynes cart the other three off. And that just leaves me, the hunter realized with a start as the beams of energy closed in. Spurred by incoming death he searched through his satchel of tricks, looking for anything that would save his life. His hand wrapped around something that had sat there for a few days now, and when his harried grip closed around it the bone splintered. Light enveloped the hunter, surprising even himself, just before he completely vanished from the area.
When the light died down and the energy faded, they left melted furrows in the surface of the Aether Resort, but try as he might N couldn’t find any trace of ash. Could he have annihilated the poor fools so utterly that not even the faintest traces remained? No…whether spirits, or the itemized leftovers of destroyed spirits, something would’ve surely been left behind. He wrinkled his nose, a frown spreading across his masked face. Somehow, during the time he’d been blocking his own vision with his needlessly large laser array, the heroes had escaped.
Disappointing. After a moment, though, N gave a hmph and banished his staff. He couldn’t see his adversaries anywhere, nor any sign of them, but such a trivial thing wasn’t about to stop a good monologue. “Run all you like, weaklings. You can grasp for power, amass more lambs for the slaughter. The power of Latency renders all resistance futile. Sooner or later, you’ll wind up in my clutches again, and this time I won’t let you go. It’s just a matter…of time.”
The cloaked Centurion looked back at the two young heroes. His drone companion continued to check the perimeter as he led them to the entrance. There were two entrances to the HQ; a hatch on the backside as well as a hidden door. The group approached the door as the drone made its way back to Centurion. The elder hero stepped on something that moved a wall of wooden crates and revealed the door itself. There were several stray cats in the area. As they stepped through the door, the three heroes stepped by the food Centurion had set out for the animals while he removed his cloak.
“Why do you feed them, they just piss on everything?” Will asked.
“They help camouflage the outside. The holograms and ratty tarp only hide so much on a windy day…” Centurion explained.
“I’ve narrowed down the potential spots King Croc could be operating out of in the flooded zone. Still no idea what he’s looking for here.” Centurion began as he sat at his monitoring station by a giant window. “There’ve also been sightings of a humanoid reptile or something down near the old rundown arcade in the Midtown area. Could just be somebody in cosplay, then again King Croc may be mutating DNA and making hybrids or something AWAY from the flooded zone….”
“You remember that old retro arcade, Cuz?” Will asked Jay, who seemed to be staring off into the city skyline.
"You mean where I used to kick yours and Casey's ass at Karate Champ and Tag Team Wrestling?" Yep, he remembered all right. They were just kids back then. It was a different time, seemingly an entire lifetime ago.
“I also made contact with some old acquaintances who mentioned that the Wolfpack is losing the turf war but there’s one Alpha still out there trying to keep fighting. He supposedly ended at least a half dozen Dead Heads in the last two weeks. That would normally be good news but he also killed two civilians if this is really the same guy. The Twilight Times called him ‘the Last Alpha’ but it could all just be made up…” Centurion said looking at Jay now.
Jay's hands clenched into fists that appeared to briefly spark with embers. Otherwise he showed no other visible reaction, "Looks like someone didn't get the memo. Leave that wannabe to me." he said with fire in his eyes, "His ass is mine"
He gave a side-long glance at his cousin, "You can check out that King Croc lead." he turned and started for the HQ's exit, "I'm going wolf hunting."
Word Count: 430 Level 6 Roxas: 1/60 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 2/60
With all his aimless wandering, Roxas did eventually start to tire. Now he found himself on the roof of a dilapidated building overlooking a section of the slums. In the distance he could see a bar with a sign reading "Seventh Heaven" but he paid it no mind for the time being. Instead the Nobody was just thinking. And after a little while he started talking, as if to someone who wasn't actually there.
"How did you do it?" Roxas asked - even pausing a moment as if waiting for a response before continuing, "The way you would just grin and bear it, happily taking the weight of the whole world on your shoulders without even giving it a second thought. You could just point your Keyblade and make a miracle happen, almost like you were making it look easy. Then there's me. Every time I ever tried to help someone or make something right, I just ended up failing at it. Even at the Keyblade Graveyard, you had to help us deal with Xemnas and Saix. That bus driver, those kids who were transformed... and Poppi. If you were here you would've saved them. So why couldn't I? Just what is it that you have that I don't, Sora?" then after another pause the Nobody found himself raising his voice, "Answer me!" But of course, no one did.
He could still see that bar in the distance. After a few more moments, he saw some familiar figures approaching it and entering through its doors. Giovanna and the rest of the Seekers. With a heavy sigh Roxas scaled his way back down to the ground level and started walking toward the bar. He may as well meet back up with the others. It wasn't like he was accomplishing much of anything just sulking out here by himself. He hesitated a moment when he reached the door. Was he going to be scolded for taking off like he did? Or yelling at the others at the Valley of Ruin just before he went to help Tora? Well, it didn't matter, he had to face the music sooner or later. He opened the door and entered. He took down his hood once he was inside.
Word Count: 337 Level 4 Ganondorf: 30/40 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 31/40
Ganondorf was still fuming to himself when he eventually returned to the city. The Consul was dead, but that didn't stop the Gerudo from being bitter about not getting to be the one who finished him off. In any other scenario he probably would have wrecked that whole tower in his anger. But between him being suddenly sleep deprived and the myriad of other things that infernal consul had done to him, Ganondorf was convinced that it wasn't worth the energy.
He'd broken off from the group at some point and started wandering around downtown on his own. He was honestly too exhausted to really take note of where he was or where he was going. Eventually he found himself going inside of an assuming-looking bar. If nothing else he could drown his frustrations away a bit. Thanks to how much the Seekers had looted from P's coffers, Ganondorf had plenty of geo to spend so money was no object at the moment.
Once inside he took a seat and barely registered that it was being run by a spider person and a humanoid tree person. He ordered ale and told them to just keep it coming. Then he drank. And drank. And drank again. Until eventually his vision blurred and went dark.
The next thing Ganondorf knew, he was waking up a few hours later. His head was resting on the table, him having apparently fallen asleep due to exhaustion and being drunk. Of course, now he was suffering a splitting headache from the hangover. But at least his rage had subsided for now. He paid his tab and exited. He needed to figure out exactly how long it'd been and it would probably be wise to meet back up with the others.
Word Count: 354 Level 6 Roxas: 0/60 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 1/60
The Nobody had been dead quiet for the entire ride back to Midgar. Whether it was the sting of failure, or his own bad memories getting drudged up - Roxas was in no talking mood. When they eventually met back up with the other Seekers, it was evident that Tora was not in a talking mood either. He went straight to work on studying the arm he brought back with him. And Roxas couldn't blame him, he'd do the same thing in the Nopon's shoes. The Keybearer kept the hood of his black coat pulled up to cover most of his face. This was rapidly becoming his way of signaling to others that he wanted to be left alone.
He let Pit be the one to explain what happened. But after a few moments it became apparent that Roxas' gloved hands had clenched into trembling fists. And without a word or warning, he sprinted out of the command center - right past where Zenkichi was standing at the gate - and out into the Sector 07 Slums without so much as looking back. He needed some air... and some space. When he started getting tired from running he slowed to a walk. After that he just... started wandering the slums. He had no particular direction or destination in mind. He just walked around aimlessly, appearing to be exploring the sector. But he made no effort to talk to anyone. The kid was not in any mood for conversation right now.
Instead he occasionally muttered to himself. Sometimes about what happened out in the valley, and sometimes about his own missing friends. There was one name in particular he would say under his breath more than any of the others. Because it was her that the day's events had reminded him of the most. Xion... where are you?
"Well, shit..." muttered Jay, putting the lid back on the whisky bottle before storing it into the cooler he originally dug it out of. He pushed himself to his feet and hurriedly stashed the chair and cooler back in their hiding places, "I think our minds were just made up for us!" he said as he ran for the edge of the building and took a leap. Before he could actually start falling he shouted, "Power of the Dragon!" and then his powered up form could be seen flying off in the direction the screaming had come from.
Being that it was only a couple buildings away, it took the fledgling heroes only a few seconds to arrive and see what had been causing the screams. He looked like some kind of roided up meathead with yellowish skin and white hair. And he was apparently attempting a smash-and-grab in one of the jewelry stores. Well, actually it looked more like he'd skipped the "smash" part because he was just straight up carrying the whole damn cash register and safe full of what Jay could only assume was diamonds or other jewels that hadn't been put on display yet. Jay swooped down with a literal flying kick into the guy's stomach. Regardless of his size, Jay's enhanced strength was enough for him to knock him to the ground.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you didn't pay for that." said Jay watching the big guy push himself to his feet. He looked pretty mad, like he was gonna start blowing steam out of his ears at any moment.
"You're gonna regret getting in my way!" the guy shouted as he charged at the deputized hero and attempted to throw his entire body weight into a tackle with a shout of, "Hoo-Ha!" of course, the silver clad hero had little trouble getting out of the way. In moments the big found himself tackling only the pavement, followed by something grabbing his ankle and then hurling him up and over only to slam back onto the pavement.
"You literally watched me fly in and kick you down to the ground and your first thought was, 'Yeah, I can take him'? You're not exactly a brightly lit bulb, are you?" the Dragon asked of the now-winded strongman.
Wind and blinding rain whipped at the pursuer’s faces, the whir and groan of the Tallneck’s actuators setting up a rhythm that the unpredictable terrain underfoot did its best to shatter. The further down the ruined city’s main avenue they went the worse the destruction got, its streets and entire blocks cracked and rift apart by massive upheavals. The overgrowth grew thicker as well, but all this scenery merely flashed by–Tora’s eyes lay only on the road ahead. A light in the distance held his attention, its shade and intensity familiar. It was the flare of Poppi QT Pi’s back-mounted afterburners. Together he, Pit, and Roxas closed on her, and after a couple dozen seconds she seemed to stop, her telltale signal vanished into the rainy haze. Tora would not be dissuaded, however; the less vibrant orange highlights all across Poppi’s form were enough for him to zero the Tallneck in on her position. Just when he finally seemed to have her in his grasp, however, Poppi noticed the incoming posse and took to the air again.
“Go away!” she cried out, her voice strained. Sparks were flying from her servos, and not the good kind. “I don’t want to hurt you! Please!”
Tora’s reply was lost in the dull roar as she turned and soared away, down toward the lower, half-sunken deltas of the flooded district.. Gritting his teeth, the Nopon gave chase. When it became apparent to Poppi that her Masterpon would not be dissuaded, the artificial blade had to make the most difficult choice. Switching to her Wind core, she pivoted in the air while fleeing and with her Variable Saber in gun mode, began to fire. Her air-infused shots whizzed by the Tallneck, their currents strong enough to risk knocking it over -or Seekers off it- even if they weren’t aimed right at it. “Bad Poppi!” Tora cried, nearly thrown from his very tall perch by the opening salvo. Glancing between his allies, he said, “We need bring her down so Tora can fix. Just don’t hurt poor Poppi too much!”
”...I promise.” Roxas responded. Of course that left the question of what he should actually do. He had enough juice for maybe one more spell before his magic would be out and need to recharge. Beyond that, what could he do against someone flying overhead firing off blasts of wind at them? Well, he had to do something, so Roxas decided to act, ”Fire!” he shot a Firaga spell at Poppi, confident that a single one wouldn’t harm Poppi much, if at all. And that was his last spell, so now he had to wait for his magic to recharge before he could use it again. Not letting himself be deterred, he decided to throw his Keyblades at the flying robot girl. He wasn’t sure how accurate he would be on a giant galloping robot throwing them at a flying robot, but it was better than nothing.
Poppi dodged the fireball with grace, unhappy but unsurprised that her pursuers were going to risk their lives coming after her. She let loose another multiblast of rippling light-green air bullets, the distance and spread too much for them to do any real damage, but they could still cause blowdown. Though keen even in circumstances like these, her optics weren’t perfect, and as she glanced behind her to make sure she wasn’t about to fly directly into something she failed to notice the uncanny keyblades hooking around from the side. They clipped her before returning to sender, demanding that she focus forward with gritted teeth and up the ante with more spread shots. That top-heavy Tallneck wasn’t built for this, and she knew it.
"Let me!" Pit said, already aiming his bow at Poppi. He could battle her at long range just as long as her gusts of wind didn't knock him from the Tallneck's back, though hopefully an ally would catch him if it did. He fired at Poppi, using his arrows' unique properties to put strain on her defensively. Not only did they twist through the air to make the angle of their attack less predictable, but their speed and power varied. Some packed more of a punch, and though they arrived more slowly than the others, all the arrows gained speed over the distance they had to travel to reach her. Still, Poppi boasted uncommon speed, and after dodging a remarkable number of the arrows at the last moment she gave as good as she got.
"Tora! Does she have a weak spot?" He asked, dodging the gust from one of her wind-attuned shots and returning fire with a dash shot of his own. All robots had one, right? Since they didn't want to hurt Poppi too badly if they could help it, they should try to wrap up her recovery as fast as possible. "Tell me where to aim so we can take her down quick!"
“Not to speak of,” the Nopon told him, his voice quavering. “Ether Furnace too well protected, and it vital for Poppi functioning! Only weakness is opposite element of current core, which right now is Ice, but…”
"Perfect, I can do fire!"
But before Tora could correct the misconception his words died on his lips as he saw Poppi switch the Variable Saber to blade mode, then slash through the air to send wide arcs of wind toward her pursuers. With these all but guaranteed to hit, Tora took drastic action, forcing the Tallneck’s neck to lower. This tilted the machine’s center of balance much too far forward, however, and it threatened to fall on its head. He pulled the head back up and veered the Tallneck to the side as it ran to avoid another batch of wind blades, only to careen too close to a cliff. “Meh-meh-meh!” Tora shrieked, peering down in terror at the rubble-strewn river in the ravine’s depths and sure that that Tallneck was going over.
"Hold on, I can fix this!" Pit had ducked to hold onto the robot's body while Tora harshly maneuvered it around Poppi's attacks, but now he ran toward the edge of the Tallneck's back and threw himself off the side. He twisted in the air, propelling himself back toward the machine by summoning the Upperdash Arm and letting it drag him forward. The weapon collided with the Tallneck's side, the heavy impact forcing it back the way it came. It couldn't be called stable, but at the very least it wasn't in immediate danger of toppling over for now. Pit extended his wings to push against the air, flapping until he'd grabbed hold of the robot and scrambled to pull himself back up.
Up ahead, Poppi began to draw in ether in vast quantities from the atmosphere, her frame aglow with gathered motes of light. Holding aloft her weapon, she switched cores from Wind to Water, her accent lines turning from green to blue. Then she let loose her Noponic Axiom blade art, and a torrential beam of water surged across the cluttered roadway, power-washing the dust of ages clean in a line as it swept toward the Tallneck’s legs.
Roxas felt useless right now. What could he do from a distance without spells? And seeing what was happening with Poppi was also beginning to dredge up some painful memories of his own. He too was once forced to fight against someone he cared deeply about. And seeing Poppi made Roxas start to think about that heartbreaking fight.
"No, not like this. I won't stand by and watch someone lose their friend like this!" his weapons vanished and he used the long sleeve of his black coat to wipe tears that were forming in his eyes. Then he broke into a run and did something… incredibly stupid.
Using Flowmotion, Roxas ran up the length of the giant machine's neck. In the distance he saw Poppi charging up some kind of attack and then picked up his pace. When he reached the end of the line, he instinctively did the unthinkable and jumped. He launched himself forward, hoping and praying that the momentum from flowmotion would be enough for him to get close. Poppi was already firing her water attack, and so all Roxas could do was try to grab onto her. He had no idea if she was capable of carrying the extra weight, but maybe he could disrupt her flight somehow, maybe even find a way to pull her down closer to where Pit and Tora were.
“Urk!” Poppi’s beam was knocked askew as Roxas threw himself at and then barged into her. Despite his best efforts, though, she didn’t go down; if her thrusters were strong enough for her to carry around a dense Nopon like Tora, they could support the added weight of a gangly teenager no problem. That didn’t mean he couldn’t wreck her flight pattern, however. Pulling her off-kilter sent Poppi into an out-of-control spiral. Gritting her teeth, she grappled with Roxas in the air. “This won’t end well!” she snapped at him. “Let me go, don’t do this to my Masterpon! He doesn’t deserve it!” With mechanical strength and precision she slammed her knee into the keyblade wielder’s stomach, making him see stars then launched him away with a flip kick to continue her flight.
He flew back toward the Tallneck, still upright despite the water beam delivered to its legs. Its already-overworked servos were sparking, and its gait much less steady, but it could still run, at least for now. As Roxas hurtled right for it, Pit hopped up the robot's neck and leapt out to catch him. The angel's wings slowed their fall enough that when the two boys tumbled back onto the metal it wasn't anywhere near as painful as it could have been. Still hoping to escape, Poppi sped away once again, descending through the cratered, tree-littered city landscape down toward the basin. Behind her, the Tallneck’s path grew even more treacherous, the downward slope of broken roads jagged and often flanked on both sides by either building walls or rivers. After emerging through the spray of a waterfall, Tora could see her condition deteriorating, and not just from the boys’ attacks. The virus must be damaging her, too. Poppi was running out of real estate; if she was going to spare her creator the pain of watching her die, her next shot needed to count.
Poppi pirouetted as she flew, stowing her Variable Saber as she drew a revolver. She switched to her Dark Core, turning her accent lines as well as the ether surrounding her to deep purple, and took aim at the Tallneck’s chest.
It was obvious their machine mount couldn't take much more of this. After fighting the robot army and going right to their rescue mission, even Pit was beginning to tire. Poppi herself seemed to be losing steam as well. Even if it was for her own well being, fighting her didn't feel good. Even if they hadn't known her for more than a few days, she was their friend. But it would be so much worse if they let her succumb to whatever virus was infecting her.
"I'll reflect her attack," Pit said after catching his breath. He glanced at the other two boys. "Hopefully that'll give you an opening."
As Poppi aimed, she kept an eye on Pit. Leveraging her prior experience meant that she knew just what he planned to do when he interposed himself between her revolver’s barrel and the Tallneck’s core. At the last moment, she quickly jerked her aim, and then fired. With his quick reaction time, Pit activated his Guardian Orbitars, creating a life-saving barrier as planned. The gravity-infused shot hurled toward him, but…not exactly. It flew wide, so far off the mark that its trajectory couldn’t be an accident. With all eyes on the deep purple projectile as it missed, Pit scarcely had time to refocus on Poppi -let alone process what was happening- before a green-and-orange blur shot toward him. The artificial blade streaked straight for him in Nano Orange mode, her Variable Saber in hand. He held firm behind his barrier, only for Nano Orange’s guard-annulling impact to completely annihilate his defense. As Pit reeled, and the others looked on in shock, Poppi whirled around to trade out her Saber for both revolvers, pointed to either side of the angel.
“I’m sorry.”
She pulled the triggers, and her shots whizzed within inches of Pit’s torso to smash into and through the Tallneck’s body. After a brief moment they ruptured in a terrifying expulsion of gravitational force, destroying the machine lifeform from within. Its legs flew off to the sides in chunks, scattered to the winds, and the pieces of its body became little more than metal confetti. Only the top half of its neck and its head survived, hurtling through the rain with Roxas and Tora attached with Pit not far behind, all three propelled by the shockwave into the air. They’d have plenty of hangtime to figure a way out of this, but by the time they landed safely Poppi would be gone. With Nano Orange depleted, she looked worse for wear than ever, but still she descended forth toward the water’s edge, where highrises lay partially submerged within the crater lake.
"Ugh, she read me like a book!" Pit shouted, frustrated about being predicted so easily. Was Poppi really so desperate to let herself be destroyed like this? He knew she was worried about hurting them, and Tora most of all, but she wasn't even giving them a chance to try and help. How could they convince her, especially when she was so good at escaping them? She'd find that Pit was a stubborn one, and he definitely wasn't about to give up on her even if she'd already given up on herself. But currently he was hurtling through the air.
"Roxas! Tora!" He flapped his wings and sailed toward them, snagging both of them under each arm. With his feathers spread as wide as possible he tried to catch the wind and slow their descent. If it worked, it was only just barely - his wings weren't strong enough for all three of them. Usually in a situation like this he'd crash into the ground and then just get back up afterward, but that wasn't something he wanted Tora or Roxas to suffer. They might not even survive. He'd have to stop their fall closer to the ground. "Hold on!"
He kept his wings acting as a parachute the entire way down, but once they were getting dangerously close to smashing into the ruined highway below the Orbitars made their reappearance. A shield formed between the boys and the ground, identical to the one Poppi had ripped through but wholly new. They jolted to a stop and fell only a couple of feet once the shield dissipated, shaken up but alive - and still just as determined to go after their friend.
Click for music
Before long, Poppi couldn’t fly any more. Her thrusters were compromised. She resorted to hopping across the last few sunken skyscrapers that jutted from the crater lake like islands until she came to the last one in the chain, a section of raised highway with the long-abandoned husk of a bus. There were many more of those bug drones around here, but they seemed to ignore her. As she slowed down a power surge rocked her, eliciting a cry of pain as she fought to stay standing. Her left arm had stopped responding, and her vision had grown patchy with glitches. Gasping like someone with real breath and real lungs, she moved toward the edge of the cliff that overlooked the water, jogging for a moment until another breakdown reduced her to a limp. Holding her face where one of Pit’s arrows had struck her, she looked down from the precipice at the water. Then she changed gears, switching to her Fire core. Even that simple act damaged her body further, causing rivulets of flame to spill from the cracks, drip down, and vanish with a hiss of smoke in the rain.
But there Poppi stopped. She knew what she needed to do, but she found her servos terribly hard to move. The virus was in her head. Gnawing at her memories. She wouldn’t let them go. She couldn’t. Gritting her teeth, she fought to keep hold of them. Vistas of far-off places burned in her mind. Uraya. Mor Ardain. The Leftherian Archipelago. Gormott, and Torigoth. Her home. Faces flashed before her. Pyra and Mythra, her heroes, and Rex, his. Nia and Dromarch. Zeke and Pandoria. Morag, Brigid, and all the rest. And his face most of all. It hurt very badly. Everything hurt, but her heart more than anything. Nothing was unforgettable. After all that…was this really it? Why?
“Poppiiiii!”
She wanted to turn to face him right away. She could hear his little feet, and those of his companions. They must have saved him from the fall, as she knew they would, and here they were, though she’d hoped they wouldn’t be. “Why… did you have to come?” she asked, her voice scratchy. When she turned around to look, her eyes were glowing red. “Now this is going to hurt… even more.”
"No, it doesn't have to be that way!" Pit argued, balling his hands into fists at his sides. "Let us help you!"
Roxas couldn’t do much of anything, but he pulled the hood of his coat up and did his best to hide the expression on his face underneath it. All of this was bringing back feelings and memories to the surface that he hadn’t thought about in a long time.
Tears were streaming down Tora’s face. “Meh-meh, Poppi not say such thing! Hold still and let Tora fix!” He took a step forward, his toolkit in his hands, and the machine took a step back, closer to the cliff. “P-Poppi?” Tora wept, raising his voice. “Don’t move! That Masterpon direct order!”
Poppi winced, her expression pleading. “I tried to remove it. It’s changing and evolving its own code too quickly. There’s not enough time…”
“That no reason not to try!” Tora exclaimed, waddling her way.
“No!” Flame blazed in the rain as the Variable Saber’s blade extended, wrathed in a curtain of steam. The Nopon shied away, his jaw slack. “I can’t bear to hurt you. But any moment now, it won’t be me any more. Masterpon…Tora. You need to get away!” Another surge coursed through her and she nearly fell, her eyes narrowing as her flames flickered. “Just…let me go. It’s not the end. You can just…make me again. Take my furnace…and my spirit, when I’m gone.”
Tora shook his head. “Even if Tora do that, it not you! You not just schematic to Tora!” He flapped his wings wildly. “You my Poppi!”
Roxas couldn’t stop thinking about it. That horrible day when everything he cared about was ripped away from him. His mind filled with images and memories of a battle he was forced to fight. One he ultimately won, even if at the time it felt like anything but a victory. The look on her face as she tried to give him a pained smile even as she vanished from existence and from everyone’s memory. The memory of feeling like his heart had been broken but unable to figure out why.
Try as she might, Poppi had no tears to cry. She tried to respond, but at that moment her core finally broke down. A burst of sparks flew from her chest as she staggered backward, her legs locked up, and her head and arms slumped down. Tora charged forward and jumped up to throw his wings around her in a hug, but without her limp arms supporting him he couldn’t hold on, and plopped down to the ground on his rear. “Don’t leave me!” he wept. “Poppi!”
Light blazed, and Poppi’s right arm moved. Tora looked up, unaffected by the rain on his face, as she raised the Variable Saber over her head. Massive amounts of ether coursed through it, and its burning blade swelled in size, roaring with molten fury. It blazed high into the sky, and as it did Poppi’s body burned out, on the verge of self destruction.
And then, all at once, a strong splash of water crashed into Poppi’s burning body. It was Roxas, having cast a Waterga spell with one of his Keyblades. His hood was still up, but an eagle-eyed person would be able to spot the tears streaming from his currently hidden eyes. Then he cast Waterga again. And Again. And again. If Poppi was trying to heat herself up to explode, then Roxas would simply use Waterga to stop that from happening. He also wasn’t blind to their current location, and Poppi’s current position over an edge that led down into a lake below.
”Don’t you do this! Don’t you do this to your friend!” Roxas called out, sounding like he was about to start sobbing, ”I’ve been through this before, and I’m not gonna let it happen to anyone else! Do you hear me?” His gloved hand tightened its grip on the Keyblade it held. And then with a voice that almost sounded like it was going hoarse from the shouting, Roxas cried out and flung one last Waterga at Poppi to try and knock her into the lake. As long as she couldn’t move, and as long as the lake’s water could keep the fires quenched, she wouldn’t explode. Then maybe they could search for a way to save her.
With each blast of Waterga, Poppi wavered, driven back toward the edge step by step as steam coiled around her overheating chassis and the flames of her saber flickered. Whether she’d already succumbed to the virus, lost her capacity to speak, or simply couldn’t find the words, she said nothing. Roxas shouted at her like she wanted or chose this, and that would have hurt terribly were she still in her right mind, but nothing could reach her now. Not his imperatives, nor Tora’s pleading, nor even the imploring wing that grabbed hold of her limp left arm. Only the water that crashed against her broken body–and then, moments later, the water that rushed up to meet her from below. Her column of flame dispersed, and the embers that fed it were drowned. The waves rushed in to fill the gap, gentle rain fell upon the land of eternity, and the rest was silence.
Tora stared at the water for a long time. In his arms he held tight a mechanical limb, inadvertently pulled from its compromised elbow joint as Poppi tipped over the edge and began to fall. More drones buzzed around the area, circling like vultures as they slowly but steadily closed in. Only when distant rumbles and crashes echoed across the lake did Tora turn his gaze up, peering through the storm. On the opposite side of the crater, a giant shape emerged from between the buildings, circular in form and fearfully spider-like, yet not quite the same as the huge robot the team took on earlier. It looked like nothing more than a gigantic clock on long, spindly legs. Blue light, just like the substance within the drones’ abdomens, blazed in a ring around the clock’s face, roughly three-quarters full. With the mobile fortress came a profound ticking noise, low, piercing, and unerringly regular, and it seemed to excite the bug drones. This place, so deep in the territory of the Machines, wasn’t safe. But Tora couldn’t bring himself to move.
At first Pit had been rooted to his spot. His heart was beating hard while Tora tried and failed to talk Poppi down, and while Roxas cast his magic to counteract her overheating. When Poppi tipped over the edge it practically stopped. He'd started toward the ledge on pure instinct, only getting as far as a couple steps before the sight of Poppi's arm in Tora's grasp halted him. Right, Poppi was a robot. She should be okay even after a fall like that. He had no idea how computer viruses were different from human viruses, but wouldn't it be possible to reconstruct her body and reboot her... or something?
After a few moments Pit swallowed the lump in his throat, the first to speak. His eyes flickered to Tora.
"She's still alive, I know she is," he said, and though there was no evidence to support his words his tone was one of pure confidence in his statement. "We'll fish her out of the water and you can fix whatever broke! But it looks like we're gonna have to do it fast."
Because this new machine probably wasn't friendly. Even so, he'd fend it and the drones off while they recovered Poppi and found a way back if he had to.
He made it sound simple, but Tora knew they couldn’t ‘fish her out’ of this deep, dark lake. Not in this state, with no gear or tools, surrounded by hostile machines. Tora gulped, squeezing the arm tight. “Y-yeah,” he said after a moment. “Arm not turn to ash, yes? So Poppi have to be alive! Is just emergency shutdown!” Though as exhausted as the others after all that fighting, he nodded vigorously. An idea had formed his mind, and he clung to it like it was the only thing keeping him afloat in a sea of despair. “Tora take arm back. Find workshop. Research virus, make cure. Come back with salvage team! Bring Poppi up, cure virus, and wakey wakey! After little tuneup, Poppi good as new!” Shaky of breath, he yelled down at the water. “Hear that, Poppi!? Sleep just for little while, your masterpon come back very soon!”
Pit was surprised to hear Tora's practical response. Ultimately Poppi was Tora's partner and dear friend, so if Tora was alright with leaving for now and coming back for her later, then Pit was alright with it too.
"That's the spirit!" It would be just as Tora said, so for now it was time to regroup. He offered the nopon a quick, reassuring grin and then brandished his bow. "Okay then. The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can come back!"
Tora nodded. With the Machines closing in, he took one last look at the water. “That right,” he told himself. “Poppi is hero. And heroes never die!” Then, with fleet-footed Roxas and Pit to help him along, he bid a hasty retreat. But his breathing never evened out, and his cheeks stayed wet with tears.
For a good while longer the rain continued to fall. The drones left the crater lake not long after the Seekers did; their services were needed elsewhere. While the clock remained a few minutes more, drawn by the pillar of fire that lit up the murky, stormy-shadowed day like a signal flare, it soon left as well. Its blade-tipped spider-legs hauled it across the ruined landscape until the rattle of its clockwork, the crash of its plunging footfalls, and even the ticking of its clock face faded away. Peace returned to the lake that had lain undisturbed by the living for so long, but an ominous and foreboding peace, like the calm before an even greater storm. Eventually, as noon approached, the downpour began to subside.
It was about that time that the waves deposited a body on the lakeside shore. Though very human in appearance, it was broken in ways that a human couldn’t be, and it had survived circumstances a human couldn’t, either. A Fire core might have been drowned down there in the deep, but not a Water core. Before the waves could tease the body back out into the depths, the broken machine began to haul itself up from the water’s edge, less a crawl and more a drag using its right arm and the shattered parts protruding from what remained of its left elbow. After just a few feet it stopped, rolled onto its back, and stared up into the sky. It rolled and churned as the light of day began to emerge through the clouds, an exquisite monochrome mosaic pierced by sublime rays of gold. It was beautiful, but what good was beauty, without someone to share it with?
The sound of footsteps prompted Poppi to turn her head. A lone figure stood not so far away, clothes in a long black coat. Her hood was down, and a beautiful face stared down at Poppi with blue eyes, a stern frown on her lips and a single mole right beside them. Long white hair reached down past her back. Poppi didn’t recognize this woman, but she did know that coat. “...Organization?” she rasped, her voice muffled and weak. “Help…”
“You’re infected,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “Almost completely. I’m surprised you held on so long.”
Though the virus had Poppi almost totally in its grip, she felt no hostility toward this stranger. Was she a Machine, too? Her eyes lowered to the sword that hung at the stranger’s waist. “Kill…me…” she begged. “Before I’m…completely…gone.” She held out her Variable Saber’s hilt, and dropped it at the stranger’s feet. “These are…my memories. Take care of them…of him. The future…!”
After a moment, the stranger stepped forward. She knelt, and clasped the Saber in her hand.
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