Chapter 4: Rising of Magdalene

Together, Malgam and Hildegard traversed through the newly opened corridor that had sat behind the now-shattered barrier. A cold wind of foreboding trailed down the dark hallway, brushing past the lucario and sylveon and sending chills down their spines simultaneously. Neither said a word to each other, almost able to reach the other's thoughts and feelings on the situation, especially Hildegard with her aura. She sensed great fear swelling up in Malgam, though he of course tried to look confident, or at least indifferent.

Hildegard broke the silence with a whisper to Malgam. "Your friend is up ahead. You can feel it too, right?" The sylveon swallowed audibly, nodding. "Weren't you looking forward to this?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I just want to get this resolved. I want to fix this."

"You think this is really the whole reason she's about to cause a disaster?" Hildegard started to sound demeaning. "Because she has some sort of separation anxiety problem?"

Malgam huffed at her disapprovingly, "We have a long history together, but I don't expect you to know that." He gazed ahead, feeling more brave even as his heart pounded. "I'm sure it isn't just her feelings. After what the humans did to her, something got really messed up about her body construction. I don't remember exactly how she worded it, but those emotions are tied to a stronger power." The sylveon shivered fearfully. "It's not a stable power either."

"I figured that after Jude's whole deal," she replied.

"He saw a disaster?" Malgam asked with a tone that hinted he already knew.

"Yes, caused by Malice. We have to hurry."

With that, the duo sped down the corridor, feeling the uneasy aura intensifying with each step they took.

Hildegard spoke up again, recalling something. "She just went ahead and told you about this power?" It took a bit for Malgam to understand what the lucario meant.

"Oh, back when she was a mew, she told me quite a few things about herself. I always got the impression that Malice was someone very important. She was worshipped by those humans, after all."

Hilde and Malgam eventually emerged into a large and fanciful chamber, one that stood out greatly from the rest. This room was ordained with stone that had been carved with even more intricacy than patterns previously seen, and the general construction of it was a sight to see—it dipped down, ridges forming from each wall to form a sort of staircase that merged into a small platform down below.

In the middle of this platform were two very standout entities. One was what looked like a mirror from another world; it had a distinctive, dark purple hue, held straight by a grotesquely designed frame that took the form of erratic crystal structures, jutting out in all directions. The otherworldly mirror appeared like it was floating, but that was not the only thing—above the mirror was an undulating sphere of pure, dark energy, small bolts of lightning crackling across its hypnotizing surface.

The duo stared breathlessly at the two entities, the entire chamber bathed in a malevolent, purple light. They were frozen in place, afraid that a single step could cause the energy to react. Finally, after minutes of hesitation, Hildegard breathed in deeply, taking the first step down the stairway, her eyes glued onto the sphere and mirror, wary and ready for anything that could happen. After a few more steps, Malgam started ambling behind the lucario, using her as a shield of sorts. It was then that the sylveon's ears perked up, picking up a hard pattering noise from behind. Whirling back, Malgam spotted a white-furred creature rushing in after them. He skidded to a halt upon entering the room, having the same look of awe once he saw the scene before him.

Hildegard gazed behind her shoulder, her muscles tensed as she did not dare make another move. The creature was an absol—more specifically, it was Jude. He was breathing heavily, his fur tattered. He did not exactly look like he was in the condition to battle, but his spirit was blazing, that Hildegard could sense.

Regardless, she hissed at him, "What are you doing?" Jude stared down at her with a look of determination.

"I'm not hurt enough. I can still fight," he replied stubbornly. He then noticed the sylveon standing next to Hilde and bared his teeth at the fairy type. "And you! What's your business with us!?" In response to Jude's spell of anger, the sphere of energy pulsed, sending a small shockwave across the chamber. The stone trembled and vibrated under their feet, the three trying to keep their balance.

"You might want to calm down," Malgam suggested after a pause where they reacquired their bearings. "We're not in any position to contribute to that big ball up there." The trio gazed back up at the sphere of energy which started to shrink back to its original state.

"What do you mean?" Jude asked, bewildered. Malgam shook his head, a corner of his lip raised smugly.

"Our emotions are feeding the thing. The barrier back there had the same properties too," he explained.

"How did you get rid of that wall?" Jude questioned, the chamber starting to lightly rumble once again, then settle in almost the same amount of time.

"We don't have time to get into more det—," before Malgam could finish, he spotted two more figures racing down the corridor. Fleur and a familiar lycanroc soon emerged into the room as well, and their response to the scene was predictable. Malgam groaned in frustration. "And now it's a party."

"Fleur, take that mutt and get out of here," Hildegard commanded, but the lopunny was adamant, crossing her arms.

"This is a problem for us all. You know I'm going to see this through," the mother stated firmly. Bernard butted in as well.

"Same goes for me!" he barked.

"No! We don't need more pokémon in here. This is too dangerous," Hildegard snarled. For the first time in a while, the lucario felt both panicked and greatly concerned. They did not know exactly what they were up against. She had fought many different pokémon, but this was not one. It was a collection of raw emotional energy, imbued with a vile darkness she could not grasp. There was no telling just how powerful it was, but she was almost sure it incited Jude's disaster sense, which was nothing to scoff at.

"We'll work together," Jude chimed in, getting off his haunches and standing tall. "It can't beat us when we work as a te—," another interruption, this time in the form of a loud crackle, silenced the group. This crackle followed with a searing bolt of purple lightning emanating from the undulating sphere, clashing with a wall nearby the party. The bolt pierced through the hard stone, crumbling a large chunk of it. Bernard leapt into action.

"Everyone get behind me!" the midday lycanroc shouted as he summoned a transparent shield in front of him. The blue-hued barrier was wide and sizable enough to offer everyone cover as more of the lightning bolts shot outwards in random trajectories. Everyone scrambled behind the rock wolf when he followed up, "I can protect us against a hit, one-hundred percent. After that, we have to think of something!" Hildegard was impressed of his knowledge of the Protect ability, though he was absolutely right. After a single hit, there was no guarantee that another Protect would work.

Suddenly, Hildegard felt something deep inside her, a familiar sense she picked up from the past. The sensation was akin to that of a slight burning from within, though it was not a burning that was uncomfortable, rather it bolstered her spirits and warmed her muscles, causing her to feel more powerful. The deep feminine voice rang through her head, urging her, "Get out! Leave me alone!" The lucario gazed up at the sphere and the realization just came to her.

She found herself yelling, "She's in there!" Everyone looked at her in bewilderment, but Malgam picked up on it next.

"Malice! She means Malice! She's in that sphere!" the sylveon cried out as a bolt coursed across the air with destructive speed, clashing into Bernard's shield and shattering it in an instant. The team flew back with the force of the impact, but Bernard held strong, trying to summon up another shield.

Hildegard felt the burning sensation growing stronger. In that moment where she lied on the ground, a few images spawned in her head: Two evil, glowing eyes, a cobalt necklace, purple flames. Hilde saw the Witchfox in her mind's eye, seething with rage and pointing her wand at the lucario. In that dire moment, she felt the sensation, and then it hit her.

As Bernard attempted to bring up another shield, Hildegard's body began to glisten and shine, a light trying to escape her, as if it were tethered. It leaked from her torso like a stranding ribbon and started to flow into the air. The others noticed the phenomenon and stared at the perplexed lucario in awe. Hildegard expected herself to achieve mega evolution a third time, but the strange light-based tendril, layered with a rainbow sheen, danced in midair until it suddenly rocketed forth towards Jude.

The absol hardly had time to react as the beam of light pierced him. Jude reacted with fear, but he did not feel any pain, only a swelling and warmth he had never sensed in his life. Just as the light entered him, his brilliant white fur radiated with the rainbow hue, growing brighter until his entire body was lost in the blinding light. What followed was a grand explosion of light, and from the epicenter emerged Jude, his figure slightly larger than before. The absol's fur flowed beautifully, some parts of his coat like his hair, chest, and forelegs longer. Two angelic wings sprouted from his back, fully erect and imposing despite their beauty. His horn, still broken along the bottom, also grew, having a further curvaceous extension along the top. Lastly, his tail had become more serrated and sharp, its ridges threatening and almost sinister.

Jude had mega evolved. The absol was looking at himself, in awe of his new additions. Hildegard could not believe it either. In a moment where she was meant to evolve, it instead coursed over to her companion. She never saw anything like it, but now was not the time to ponder. The lucario did not have to tell the absol to snap out of it, as Jude leapt back, dodging a bolt that had crashed into the ground in front of him. The absol snarled at the energy sphere, and his dark power was visible from the aura that swept along his feet. From there, Hildegard could feel his new power without a doubt. She almost felt a sense of pride that he was able to achieve such a form.

Leaping forward once again, Jude puffed out his chest, erecting his wings as he bellowed over the thunderous noise being echoed by the sphere. The dark aura around him rose up and gathered into a hungry flame. As this happened, some of the aura swirled around the mega absol's body, quelling any of the lightning bolts that approached him. Jude raised his two forepaws, then clashed them into the stone floor as he wrested forth the dark flames straight into the sphere. When it collided with it in a splendorous display of dancing embers, the sphere rippled violently, as if it were made of water.

The undulating barrier never stabilized, clearly not taking the dark attack well. It bulged and churned, the lightning bolts ceasing, and instead coursing along the sphere's surface frantically. Jude prepared another attack, the dark aura forming around him in a ring, appearing more dense and with a dark purple hue. The mega absol leapt straight upwards, levitating in the air momentarily as the ring pulsed with a power he could not contain for much longer. Jude released the dark energy, which exploded outward violently. His teammates had to shield themselves and get low to avoid the raw power.

The ring collided with the rippling sphere, and a horrifying scream could be heard reverberating across the chamber. The churning sphere began to tear itself apart, the psychic energy whipping about in strands and dissipating in thin air. Its destruction followed with a blinding display of purple lights, beads of the energy shooting outwards in all directions.

What was in the place of the sphere of energy filled everyone with dread. Once the light faded and the barrier was no more, the party gazed in horror at the "demon" that the zoroark Xerxes had previously described. Hildegard expected the Malice she fought at the decrepit human facility to be floating in that spot, but she was not even sure anymore. The creature had the same humanoid figure as a mewtwo, but her body had new additions, much like Jude with his own mega form. The lucario did not even think it possible for this creature to achieve such a form.

Malice floated, curled up in a fetal position. Her head had a more slender but bulkier shape, her horns turning from rounded into sharp and curving upwards from a v-shaped ridge along her forehead. Two purple, fleshy growths circled around her upper arms and over her shoulder. Her torso appeared smaller than her limbs, all of which had grown significantly in size to give a physically more powerful look. Her limbs also had two ridges on each of them, including on her thighs. The once long, slender tail of her original form had shrunk slightly in length, the end curling into itself.

Everyone was breathless, even Jude, who had stepped back as if deterred by the sheer power radiating from Malice's new body. Only Malgam had the courage to step forward and confront the transformed mewtwo. Hilde could feel his fear, but also a hint of strong regret. The only sound that could be heard was the vibrating hum of the power surrounding the mewtwo, that is, until the sylveon broke it.

"So this is what happened to you. I didn't think you cared so much about me!" He spoke loudly despite Malice appearing like she was asleep, curled up with her eyes shut. "I thought you completely lost it when you turned into mewtwo, but I guess there was always something tying us together, wasn't there?" There was no response from Malice, but Hildegard could sense the horrible anger burning inside her. It was getting stronger, and from that, she could tell the mewtwo heard every word. "I came back because...I wanted to say I was sorry. I'm sorry that I left you behind like that." The lucario could tell Malgam was not used to apologizing. He sounded somewhat insincere, but she could not get herself to step in. Even if he could have used more work on it, the fact that he said it directly to this frightful creature convinced the lucario.

Everyone flinched upon seeing the mewtwo slowly unfurl from her fetal position, her eyes still closed, but her full, undeniably powerful form now in plain view. The aura around her started to change into a reddish hue, bathing the room in its sinister glow. Still, Malgam did not back down.

"Look, you don't have to be mad at them. This is between you and me. You've always been kinda hard to talk to, but it might be best if we could—" Before he could finish, Malice's eyes snapped open, revealing two irises that glowed a malicious purple. This shut up the sylveon instantly, but he did not anticipate what happened next. Malice stretched out one of her arms like it was made of rubber, grabbing the sylveon and swiping him back to her. It did not stop there, however, as Malice proceeded to toss Malgam into the wall behind her. The sylveon hit the wall hard enough so that the stone collapsed behind him, sticking him to the wall.

Hildegard's heart felt like it dropped. Malice's power had reached heights she did not expect. At first, she felt it might have been too late to stop her, and sensing everyone's fear did not help. But the lucario was not about to give up without a fight, even if it meant her last. Getting up onto her feet, she stepped forth and accosted the imposing mewtwo, who glared down at her with her glowing eyes. The lucario's courage inspired Jude to join her by her side, the mega absol imbuing his figure with his dark energy.

Just then, Malice launched herself forth with blinding speed, and Hildegard leapt in front of Jude just as the mewtwo extended a bulky fist. The lucario took the blow to her chest, unable to keep her footing as she crashed into Jude. The two flew back and lay crumpled on the ground, the power of the single strike too great. Malice huffed softly but curtly, almost appearing disappointed. She levitated slowly to the two downed pokémon, but then stopped, noticing the trembling lopunny mother close by to the side. Fleur was filled with fear, but she knew she could not let the creature leave the temple, lest she spread destruction across the lands.

Fleur, clenching her fists, squatted down slightly and focused her power into her legs. She prepared for a devastating kick, one she specialized in and even used on Hildegard back when they first met. Rearing back, the lopunny jumped off the ground, rocketing towards the mewtwo with a leg outstretched. The mewtwo blocked the incoming attack with one of her large arms, and the impact was even forceful enough to cause the sinister creature to land and skid across the stone floor on her feet. Fleur's foot still balanced on her arm, Malice quickly grabbed it with her other arm, whipping the lopunny's body directly into the floor behind her. A plume of smoke burst up along with bits of stone as Fleur crashed down like a ragdoll. She was instantly downed from the throw, the poor mother unmoving.

Malice chuckled, looking at her hands in admiration of her unstoppable physical strength. She heard shuffling behind her and gazed back in annoyance. She spotted Bernard next, the lycanroc facing her with not as much bravery as the others. After seeing what became of them, the wolf pokémon was almost ready to dash away to spare himself the possibly fatal beating he was about to receive.

The mewtwo levitated and sped back towards the cowardly lycanroc. Bernard reacted fast, bringing up yet another Protect shield just in time for a mighty backfist to collide with it. The shield shattered and the force of the blow sent Bernard skidding towards a wall until his back touched it. Before Malice could release another follow-up attack on the lycanroc, she noticed something in her peripherals that caught her off guard and even amused her a little. Malgam fell towards the ground in a heap, releasing himself from the clutches of the stone wall he was buried in. Coughing and attempting to get up onto his feet, the sylveon tried to make fun of the situation, laughing off his pain.

He glared back at the mewtwo, accompanied with a bright, toothy grin. "You got me good there, Malice. Not bad." He groaned a bit as he tried to stand straight and keep himself on his feet. "But I think you could've done much better than that!" he jeered, hunching down as if anticipating another blow. His taunt worked, the mewtwo ignoring the lycanroc and speeding towards the cheeky sylveon without a second thought.

As she closed in on Malgam, he shut his eyes, summoning a fireworks display of radiant fairy energy, bursting in front of him and lighting up the entire chamber brilliantly. Malice reared back in shock, screaming as the energy pelted and seared her body. Hildegard watched from afar, badly hurt, but not quite down yet. She recognized the attack Malgam used—Dazzling Gleam. With how the mewtwo reacted to the move, it seemed to have great effect on her, and Hilde wondered if her typing had changed with her transformation.

Even as the light from the Dazzling Gleam faded, the mewtwo covered her eyes, frantically swiping her other arm around in a rage.

"I didn't want to do that, but you left me no choice, Malice!" Malgam shouted to her, trying to signal to her where he was. Using the sound of his voice, the mewtwo rushed towards him, swinging one of her huge fists. Malgam leapt up and dodged the attack, which was easy to do thanks to how clumsy Malice was from being blinded. Her fist crunched into the stone wall effortlessly as Malgam landed behind her. He used yet another Dazzling Gleam on the mewtwo, injuring her further. She bellowed in agony amidst the explosions of energy around her body, but the more hurt she was, the stronger the aura around her became. Malgam knew he had to try to think of something else at this point.

In Malice's blind rage, Malgam noticed something leaking out of her body. It appeared as a wisp of dark matter, trailing back towards the mirror that still stood intimidatingly in the center of the chamber. The matter sank into the black mirror, which reacted with a pulsating effect. The sylveon got chills just seeing it, but then he noticed the lycanroc bounding towards the mirror, in awe of its sinister majesty. He inspected the frame around it, wide-eyed.

"The dark shards! It's a part of this thing!" he shouted to Malgam. The sylveon quickly dashed over to Bernard's side, keeping an eye on the frenzied Malice in the distance.

"What are you talking about?" the sylveon questioned.

"I met with a witch. She used this same kind of material for her rituals! Maybe that creature is using its power too!" Bernard tried to explain, even though he wasn't sure of himself nor how the crystals worked. The two stared into the black abyss beyond the tainted glass before them, beckoning them into its harrowing void.

"And," Bernard continued, though his voice choked, "it's this same witch that used this to...tie me with my brother. Wilder." Bernard looked down sadly.

"Your brother?" Malgam vaguely remembered that this was the same lycanroc that joined his little army back when he was an eevee.

"There's no time to explain. We have to find a way to destroy this!" Bernard snarled and dipped his head low to the ground, causing the ground beneath them to vibrate. The tremor grew more powerful until huge, pointed rocks emerged from the floor, sending the mirror sprawling into the air. It landed noisily to the side, though it appeared there was not a single scratch left on it.

It was Malgam's turn. The sylveon approached the mirror rapidly and then arched back his head, his ribbons flowing upwards as a ball of fairy energy started to form above him. The sphere grew to a large size before Malgam released it onto the mirror. The collision caused small pieces of the crystals to fly out, though it was still mostly intact. One of the shards flew right at Bernard, slicing him in his left foreleg. The lycanroc yelped, hunching down to tend to his cut.

"You alright, buddy!?" the sylveon asked with genuine concern. Bernard stared at his wound, which bled, but also smoked with a ghastly wisp of dark purple. Gazing at the cut caused visions to flash in Bernard's head. He remembered the Witchfox as a braixen, waving her wand and interacting with the dark crystal as his brother laid unconscious next to her. The memory of her cutting herself shone vividly in his mind's eye, and then he came to realization.

"We have to go inside," the lycanroc said in a dream-like state, his eyes wide with horror.

"What? Inside where?" Malgam questioned, losing his patience as he saw Malice beginning to finally recover.

"The mirror! We have to go in! We have to face him!" Bernard shouted as he limped towards it. Malgam faced Malice, defending the lycanroc as he proceeded to drip some of his blood into the mirror. The mewtwo flinched at this, grasping her head and moaning loudly in pain as the black glass rippled with Bernard's offering.

Suddenly, the surface exploded with dark energy, two massive tendril emerging from a swirling portal that formed in an instant. The tendrils bound Malgam and Bernard, who were the closest to the mirror, and they were swiftly dragged in. The two were helpless to stop it, and found themselves plunged into pure, silent darkness.


Malgam could hear almost nothing as he felt his body being pulled with terrifying speed into the void. He was mortified being forced into this unknown realm, and he expected himself to be torn to shreds at any moment. Still wrapped by the dark tendrils, the sylveon could eventually see something come into view at his side. Bernard appeared before him, the lycanroc also mostly wrapped up by the dark tentacles like a cocoon. The two looked at each other with fear in their eyes, completely speechless at their current predicament.

Bernard looked forward and Malgam followed his gaze. What he saw up ahead caused his insides to squirm. Two red eyes manifested within the void, as well as a red, glowing mouth underneath them. The disembodied face inched closer towards the two, studying them both with great interest. Malgam could not help but feel absolute dread staring into the massive face of this unknown creature. Through his peripherals, he can see Bernard squirming madly within his dark shackles, as if he had experienced this before. Not long after, the darkness swallowed up the lycanroc, him disappearing completely from Malgam's view. The sylveon's heart dropped. For the first time in a while, he felt like weeping pathetically.

He looked back at the creature, who finally inched in close enough to reveal its true face, and it was a difficult one to describe. All Malgam knew was that he had never seen anything like it in his life. The eyes and mouth were attached to a dragon-like visage, a golden, U-shaped crest laid upon its forehead and extending into sharp horns along the sides. The creature's head lay upon a long neck, striped with a black and red pattern and encircled with three golden rings. Its body was far too big for Malgam to get a glimpse of how the rest of it looked down below.

The only thing that rang in Malgam's mind was to give it his all. This was not a creature of kindness and benevolence, and he did not have to sense aura like Hildegard to know this. He summoned up all the remaining power he had left in his injured body, gathering it within himself. The sylveon began to radiate with fairy energy, a shining beacon in the suffocating darkness surrounding them. The energy was enough to start peeling away the dark clutches that grasped him, and the creature they belonged to reeled back in fright. Soon enough, Malgam was entirely free, the otherworldly monster writhing in a maddened frenzy. Even so, the sylveon did not let up. His energy had become so strong that the light itself surpassed his size, appearing as a sun within the void of space. It was large enough to eventually phase into the ghostly creature, it reeling its head back, letting out a very faint roar with its red mouth wide open. Space itself started to undulate against the creature's tumultuous cries, oddly quiet in the dark realm they were in.

Malgam's merciless onslaught of fairy power only gradually became even bigger, and in this instant, the sylveon thought back to his first times with Malice, before she had transformed into a mewtwo; good memories of them lifting each other up despite being contained were vivid in his mind. He even thought back to his times building his silly little army, with the moody Malice at his side despite their stark differences. It felt like it was a lifetime of its own. Finally, the glistening sylveon could do no more. All fell silent again. The creature had already made its escape, and the beacon of light died and faded quickly, leaving behind a lifeless Malgam, floating away into the abyss helplessly.


Hildegard, Fleur, and Jude, still incapacitated, watched in horror as Malice was engulfed in a dark purple smoke, this smog emanating from the toppled black mirror in which Malgam and Bernard had disappeared into. The mirror itself soon began to levitate and tremble violently, the smog thick enough where Malice could no longer be seen, and her blood-curdling screams were drowned out. Shafts of purple light exploded out of the mirror as it began to disintegrate within a swirl of dark matter. Soon enough, within all the dark purple came a comforting white light, piercing through the smoke. Before they knew it, the room was filled with it, the light so intense that their eyes felt like they were burning even as they were closed. A deafening explosion reverberated across the chamber. The light and sound quickly subsided, however, and the three waited a bit before opening their eyes once again, afraid of what was there to greet them.

The lucario was the first to do so, gasping at what was in front of her. Suspended in the air was a sizeable cloud of the purple smog, and below it was Malgam. The sylveon was sprawled on the ground in a heap, not moving. The mirror was nowhere to be seen. Her entire body aching, Hildegard crawled forward, her muscles screaming in pain, though she would not let up. Once she was close enough, she placed a paw on Malgam's body, trying to nudge him awake.

Just then, the cloud started to move backwards, the smoke evaporating and unveiling the figure that had been swallowed by it. It was yet another creature, this one smaller than the Malice they were fighting not long ago. She had the same pink skin, but the shape of her body was vastly different, even more slender than normal. The top of her head extended into a long appendage that was identical to her tail, rounded at the end, and she no longer had a tail. The tube that was once behind her neck was also missing. Around her scalp emerged a half ring structure that jutted upwards and ended with a couple spikes coming out the bases. Her forearms still appeared bulky, but not nearly as much as her previous form. Her digits were bulbous like before, and a notably bumpy ridge extended off her sternum.

The mewtwo very slowly descended from the air, though she remained hovering. Her body was arched back and she did not appear conscious despite being suspended in air by psychic powers. A moment later, she straightened herself out, opening her eyes to reveal a softer, more feminine look. The vile, sinister aura that once emanated off of her was completely gone, the creature now appearing somber and perplexed. She gazed at her digits dreamily, and then the rest of her body.

As Malice wearily observed herself, Hildegard looked back, noticing that Jude was back to his normal form. The absol was trying to help the lopunny, who was thankfully conscious, but finding it difficult to rise back up after the impact she took. This may have been it. The battle was over, but at what cost?

"I don't," a soft voice spoke from behind Hilde. The lucario turned forward again to see Malice observing the scene in front of her now. "I don't believe it." Her voice trembled, as if it were the first time she had spoken in years. "Am I truly in control...once again?"

"What do you mean?" the lucario asked, though Malice did not answer. The mewtwo looked away, as if ashamed.

"All that anger and hatred. It consumed me and entrapped me. I didn't think I would ever come back," she explained. Hildegard almost couldn't believe the situation herself. She was ready to face her end in this dusty chamber, and now the mewtwo she had seen as a horrifying enemy was now this meek and confused creature.

Malice eyed the lucario once again with a look of sadness.

"Thank you. Thank all of you," she said, and then she started to float off towards the room's exit. Hilde had to muster her energy to shout out.

"Wait! Stop!" she barked at the mewtwo. Malice did stop and looked over her shoulder. "That's it? You're just gonna leave like nothing happened?" The mewtwo closed her eyes hard, as if expecting this. It also looked like she was trying to avoid Hildegard's gaze, or more someone that was close to the lucario. "What about all the pain and suffering you caused?"

The mewtwo slowly turned her whole body around, facing the lucario with a colder look.

"I didn't do it," she said bluntly. "There's nothing else to say." Hildegard huffed and then looked over at Malgam's lifeless body.

"What about him? Do you have any idea what he did for you?" Truthfully the lucario was not fully aware of the science behind what he did, but clearly the mirror had a connection to her, and Malgam decimated it at the cost of his own health. Hilde didn't know if he would survive this whole ordeal at this rate. Malice just looked at the sylveon with profound sadness and regret, but she tried to put it behind her. To her side, Malice noticed Fleur limping over to the two, Jude soon joining them as well. The lopunny mother studied Malgam and appeared gravely worried.

"He may not make it," she said grimly. Malice looked frustrated, facing away from the scene.

"It's sad. But," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "death and life are hand-in-hand. We have to accept it." She started to leave again, but Hildegard was not about to let her.

"He was your friend!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. Malice was frightened by Hilde's outburst, facing her once again. "He thought about you the whole time! That doesn't mean anything to you!?"

Malice was reluctant again, but gave her the same cold look as before and stated, "He shouldn't have left me. I was trapped in a cage of misery for longer than he can even perceive."

"Maybe so, but he came back," Hildegard snarled. The lucario summoned the energy to rise up onto her feet once more. "He found a trainer, he got the form he was infatuated with, and yet he came back because he was filled with regret. He wanted to free you and make things right with you again." Malice was taken aback and looked back at her hands which were clasped together, trying to think of what to say next but having no more excuses to make up. "And that's exactly what he did, Malice."

"Don't call me that," the mewtwo snapped, clenching her digits. "Not anymore. Malice is gone, and it's…" She choked, looking down at Malgam again with her eyes glistening. "It's thanks to him." She slowly floated over to them and they made way for the somber mewtwo. Tears streaming down her eyes, she knelt down over the sylveon, placing a hand on his tattered fur. Everyone gave her a moment to grieve, but not too long, as Hildegard knew there was a chance he could be restored. Before she could speak up, however, the mewtwo proceeded to say, "My name is Magdalene, and Malice is no more." She bent down to scoop up Malgam with her arms. The sylveon lay limp in her embrace, a couple of her tears falling onto his body. "I am a disgraced member of the Realm of Legends, and even at this point it might be too late to find penance."

Hildegard walked up to her and said, "Find penance here. Help this kid, would you?" Magdalene nodded after a brief moment, but then looked hesitant and unsure.

"Let me help," Fleur said, ambling up and reaching into a pocket on her makeshift skirt. She pulled out some still fresh berries and mulched them so that their juices coated Malgam's wounds. "I didn't know if they would help in the condition he is in, but the damage that was done runs deep."

"The mirror," Magdalene followed up. "The darkness he faced in that other realm may have pierced his very soul. To save Malgam...may require me to transcend to my original home." The mewtwo sounded nervous as she said this, as if she knew she was in trouble, or worse. "That is why I make mention of it."

"Whatever you have to do, it's in your hands now," Hildegard stated. "He saved you. Now it's time to save him." To that, Magdalene nodded again, her head appendage swaying like a pendulum. She appeared more energetic now, and resolute. She gazed forward hard with a new purpose.

"Thank you again," the mewtwo said as she levitated and moved forward into the dark of the corridor ahead. Once it was quiet again, the three remaining pokémon tended to their own wounds, Fleur helping them with the remaining berries she had. As they healed up, they thought about what they experienced, their spirits lifted by the entire outcome. They had diverted an impending crisis from a creature they had no chance of winning a fight against. It was mainly thanks to Malgam and his selfless sacrifice, but then they remembered that someone else joined in the fray and disappeared into the mirror with him.

Just before they prepared to leave the temple, they heard something that sounded akin to a plume of smoke from behind them. Hildegard, Fleur, and Jude looked back at the middle of the chamber to see that two canine pokémon were sprawled out on the ground.