A/N: Here we are folks! Chapter 7! :D I'm sorry it has been a little while coming. I have had tons of work, schoolwork, exams, writer's block AND obsessions with Ace Attorney games to put up with, and then because of the snow where I live, I kind of got distracted building snowmen :L better late than never though...

So last chapter we learned that the Death Worm was a Scolipede, and we saw Damien get gruesomely dissolved by its poison, before our very eyes. And then Sage Giallo called Aaron and co! A bit suspicious with the timing, but what really are Giallo's motives? Let's find out, shall we? :) On with the show..

For a moment in the Desert Resort, the office of Stefan Saralorno fell completely quiet. On the screen projected above Saralorno's desk the old man on the screen smiled benignly at the occupants of the room, while beneath him Saralorno slouched in his office chair, confused as to the identity of the person who had insisted on calling for Aaron and Ronnie, even at a time like this. Luca, Aaron and Ronnie were grouped together beneath the screen, sat on the long glass table that stretched along the length of the room. Luca and Minty the Riolu were smiling faintly, not knowing who the old man was, while Ronnie looked absolutely stunned. Aaron just shook his head, and jumped off of the table, pacing along the side of the table, no light coming in from the window as the protective metal shutters slid down in futile defence against the Scolipede monster that was threatening the Resort. So Aaron paced. And Aaron remembered...

In Undella Town, site of the attack of the Slendermon, Aaron and his friends, running desperately for their lives, had met the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, who had arrived in Undella to destroy the Slendermon. A Plasma creation, Aaron was at first left wondering why they wanted to destroy it, but in actual fact the Sages had not known about its creation, a fact that had been hidden from them by Ghetsis, who had also betrayed them by blaming them for Plasma's evil schemes DESPITE him being the sole mastermind/leader. Complex, yes, but what mattered was that the Sages wanted to earn redemption and forgiveness by destroying the Slendermon, and eventually, with the help of Aaron and co, they succeeded, but at the price of the lives of four Sages. The old man on the screen was Sage Alessandro Giallo, a survivor, a man who had never meant any harm, a man who Aaron had defended- why he was calling Aaron now was beyond him though.

Giallo's face looked worried as silence descended on the Resort. "Sometheeng the matter?" he asked, a little timidly, still with a touch of his strong Italian accent.

"Who is this guy?" Luca asked, piping up. "Do you two know him?"

Ronnie was quiet for a moment, then she spoke. "You've done it again, haven't you?" she said hollowly.

Giallo paled. "Done what?"

Then Ronnie erupted. "You know what you've done! You LIED to us! You said the Slendermon was the only one, that you were innocent, that you had no idea about these MONSTERS! And we go off to the Desert, we're supposed to relax and put everything behind us, and THEN you send another ABOMINATION to kill us, because your Slendermon didn't do the job! AND THEN you call us just when we're about to die! Are you going to mock us? Huh? Are you?"

And with that she burst into tears, her anger spent, hysterically shaking. Aaron moved in to hug her, to draw her in and try to comfort her- he knew how much fear affected her, especially when nightmares like the mutant Scolipede were involved. "She has a point Giallo. Why call us now? And why are we being attacked by another monster, when you promised us there were no more?"

Aaron's forceful tones, combined with Ronnie's shouting, started to make Giallo's lower lip tremble a little, his normally vibrant eyes no longer glittering in happiness; now they were wide, lost and afraid. "Wait a meenute? What ees thees? Another monster? What do you mean?"

"Never mind that, who is this guy?" Luca said. "What did he do?"

"And what the Hell is this Slendermon?" Saralorno huffed impatiently. "Did I miss something crucial here?"

Minty the Riolu grimaced, the strong negative Auras and the angry questions in the room paining him, before he sighed, and his eyes glowed light blue. Light blue trails of Aura formed in the air, connecting everyone in the room, and Minty closed his eyes, manipulating memories along the Aura pathways, informing everyone in the room of what had happened.

Saralorno lunged for a wastepaper basket and threw up in it, disgusted by the information he had just received. "My God! You got attacked by THAT?!"

Luca nodded weakly. "Hence why Aaron keeps muttering 'Here we go again' every time he sees that Scolipede..." She paused, revelation dawning. "You are Sage Giallo! Team Plasma! YOU created that monster!"

Giallo looked shocked, waving his hands frantically. "That was not me! That was Colress and Ghetsees! I tried to destroy eet, and half of my friends died een the fight! And I was sent to call on you by Looker, to check how you were doing, how you were enjoying your holiday! Not my fault my timing ees poor! Dios mios..." His face looked frustrated. "Now, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, ANOTHER MONSTER?"

"A huge mutant Scolipede, with six eyes and six rows of teeth, that's what we mean," Aaron said firmly. "It's about fifty foot long, has armour covered in poison that can melt through steel, and can shoot electricity, AND it's killed about thirty people and Pokemon so far. Sound familiar at all? Another of Colress' secret experiments?"

"No, certainly not!" Giallo said, brow furrowed in thought, running a hand through his silver hair. "Eet sounds very unusual, I theenk I would remember reading that Colress made one of them..." Then he paused, and his face paled. "Madre di Dios..."

"What?" Ronnie asked, having finally calmed down enough to face Giallo.

"Scolipede? Desert? Oh, mierda. That, mi amici, ees the 'Verme di Morte'. One of the greatest myths of the Pokemon world... The Death Worm." He looked stunned as he registered the blank faces. "Wait, none of you have heard of eet before?"

"No," said Saralorno wearily, shaking his head. "Why should we have?" Then his gaze hardened. "And why have you?"

Giallo sighed. "I guess I can tell you all. I trust you with my lives." He pointed at Aaron. "You SAVED mine."

Aaron smiled faintly. "And you saved mine. We're equal. What is it you want to tell us?"

Giallo took a deep breath. "Well... een Team Plasma, us Sages... we had different roles. Zinzolin was a meeleetary leader, een charge of the Grunts. Bronius built equipment and bases for us. And I... I was a researcher. Eet was my job to track down Genesect, the lost Plasma expereement. And een the process, I deescovered sometheeng new about our world. Anomalies, outside of normal evolution, victims of genetic mutations and malfunctions that are way beyond any normal alteration to a Pokemon... the cryptids. Or, as I like to call them, because of their normal savage hatred of anything different to themselves, the Pokemonsters."

"Pokemonsters..." Ronnie moaned, paling. "I don't like this... You mean there's more of them?"

"How many more of them are we going to meet, I wonder?" Aaron muttered sarcastically.

Luca shushed him. "Don't jinx it! Two is bad enough, you don't want to meet all of them..."

Giallo nodded in response to Ronnie. "Unfortunately, si. Eet ees why Colress made 'the Slendermon'- he based eet on the legend, which was then only a mere story, and made a Pokemonster. But there are natural monsters too, who suffer from severe mutations during natural selection, and the Death Worm ees one of them..."

"I see," Luca said. "So you have researched it?"

Giallo nodded. "Si. Eet eenterests me, these monsters, how they exist. Ryoku was sent to the Desert to capture eet for Ghetsees, after he saw my research, but Ryoku came back empty handed. He said there are theengs een the Desert whose power weell blow your mind..."

"I think we learned that today," Ronnie said weakly. "What do you know about it? Anything helpful to us?"

Giallo cleared his throat. "Well, the legend of the Worm started around two and a half thousand years ago, when the Relic Castle was built. Back then the Worm was well-known, the undeesputed ruler and champion of the Desert, but it was a ferocious murderer, a demon to be feared by all... unteel the White Hero moved een, and built the Castle. The humans ousted the Worm, and sent eet packing with the help of a deity... a Pokemon god."

"Go on..." Saralorno said.

"Well, from then unteel now the Death Worm has woken many times, but quite a few weethout anytheeng bad happening. Eet appears to hate water, hibernating underground, and eet hates humans- eet reserves a special hatred for us, and tries to keell as many as possible. At first the Castle used the resident deity to drive eet away, but when the Castle died the Worm had none of that opposition, and no human would live in the Desert for fear of eet. Yet eet kept to a pattern..."

"A pattern?" chorused the room.

"Si. Eet only wakes once every hundred years. The last sighting was forty years ago- an explorer named Leigh Hunt spotted eet on expedition, and wrote a diary. Sometheeng must have happened to wake eet up early..."

"And I think I know what," Aaron said grimly, pointing to Saralorno. "The vibrations and tremors from your construction machines woke it from hibernation."

"And because it hates us humans, it decided to come after us," Ronnie added, glaring at the paling Resort boss.

"I wasn't to know..." Saralorno tried to argue.

"You weren't," Luca agreed evenly, shaking her head. "But it's still your fault that it's awake, and now it's pissed."

"Si, eet's peessed," Giallo agreed. Then he frowned. "So why eesn't eet attacking you all now?"

"There's a sandstorm outside," Ronnie answered, "and two armies of Pokemon, Krookodile and Scrafty, have united against the Death Worm."

"Odd. Normally those two species fight each other to the death," Giallo commented. "They won't last long against that theeng mind you. Then you'll have to battle eet eenstead..."

"Yes, sooner or later we're going to end up fighting it," Aaron said wearily. "I don't want to say it, but we will, no two ways about it. What weaknesses does it have? How do we defeat it?"

"Yes, I was wondering the exact same thing."

The people in the room turned to see Lynch standing proudly in the doorway of the office, propping himself upright with the help of a new AK. He didn't just have that though- the one-eyed Gallade with him was bent double under the weight of a mighty arsenal, and Lynch himself bristled with blades and gun barrels.

"Madre di Dios!" Giallo said. "Who ees thees man? He has more weapons than all of Team Plasma combined!"

"It's necessary," Lynch replied with a shrug. "I'm Lynch. Aaron, who's the old man?"

"Sage Giallo, formerly of Team Plasma. And a friend," Aaron added hastily, knowing that Lynch knew about Team Plasma's involvement with the Slendermon. "Jesus Christ Lynch, how many weapons do you need?"

"Enough," he replied simply, tossing a few handguns and blades to the others, Ronnie in particular taking them with great glee. "So, Mr Giallo, what's the plan from here? I heard you said it was the Death Worm, and I recognise that name..."

Despite the situation Giallo smiled. "See? I told you someone else would know about the Death Worm! I'm not alone in my.." He faltered, looking at Lynch. "Where on Earth have you managed to get that RXP-12 from? That's banned een four different regions, and the army forbids the use of eet because of the dangers to human life eet provides ON BOTH SIDES!"

Lynch shrugged casually. "You can never be too careful. I might need it. Anyway, you were saying, weaknesses?"

Giallo composed himself. "Ah, si signor! I know that eet suffers the same type disadvantages as other members of the Scolipede species, but eet requires stronger heets; eet has a very high Defence because of the armour eet wears. Physical attacks are not the best, conseedering the armour ees coated een a poison so strong that eet can dissolve steel- stick to range attacks. Eet ees for some reason weak especially to Water, hence why eet hates the wet season, and why eet hibernates during monsoons. Otherwise, you need very strong Pokemon to counter eet. And I know where to get them..."

The room was silent for a moment.

"Where?" Aaron asked finally, dreading the answer.

"The Relic Castle."

"No way," Ronnie said adamantly, shaking her head and backing away from the screen. "If you think I'm going back out into the Desert with that thing, then you're wrong!"

"Yes siree you are wrong," Saralorno said. "The Resort's defences are impenetrable; the creature will not make it through. We shall remain here!"

"Then you weell die!" Giallo snapped suddenly, his tanned face reddening in anger. "Aaron, Ronnie, you are my friends, fellow survivors, and I don't want you to die at the hands of another monster! Eef you remain here, you weell die! Only by finding the strongest Pokemon een thees Desert weell you survive- otherwise you weell perish, trapped in thees prison of a Resort!"

"He has a point," Lynch said. "The armies of Pokemon outside are suffering badly, and by going now to the Castle we would buy ourselves some more time, rather than stay here when it attacks."

Aaron nodded. "Come on Ronnie! I'm not staying here, to die!"

Ronnie looked torn for a moment. ".. Okay. I'll come. But what do we do when we get to the Castle?"

"At the moment, I am contacting Looker," Giallo said, the clicking of a computer keyboard audible. "He weell send backup to rescue you, call out the army and the Police, et cetera. Before you go, check your PCs. I have transferred some of the Pokemon of my former colleagues and Sages across to you- they are powerful, and have a type advantage."

"Do the others agree with you doing this?" Luca asked, surprised.

Giallo shrugged. "Eet's for our friends. They weell agree... anyway, when you get to the Castle you should eenvestigate the Darmanitan statues. There were five of them, but now there are four- Rood's Darmanitan was one of them, before he woke eet up."

"How?"

"Easy. The most energetic, calorific object the world has ever known gives the statue enough energy to awaken." Giallo grinned. "RageCandyBars. Get them from the vending machines in the Resort."

"You serious?" Luca asked.

"Deadly."

"Here," Saralorno called, opening a desk drawer and throwing a few brightly coloured packets at Aaron. "I like to keep a stockpile of them in my desk, to give me enough energy to keep working through the night. You take them."

"You're not coming with us?" Lynch said, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "I always put you down as a coward, Saralorno. The kind of man who is first to abandon ship and avoid the bloodshed, to stay out of the fight..."

Saralorno ignored the jibe, instead striding to Lynch's weapons pile and selecting a pump-action shotgun. "This Resort is my life's work, my pride and joy, the thing I have poured my money into. I will not leave this, not even for all the money in Castelia."

"You are truly a proud, brave and foolish man," Giallo said, shaking his head.

Saralorno responded by loading the gun. "I would say you're more foolish heading to the Castle, but that's just me. So what then?"

"Then, you find the guardian of the Castle. The strongest Pokemon een the Desert, eet should easily be able to fight the Death Worm. Then you hold out een the Castle unteel rescue arrives. I know, the Worm hates the Castle, and weell probably go there after destroying the Resort, to finish what eet started two thousand years ago, but you are buying yourselves time."

Ronnie walked over from a PC in the corner of the room, arms full of Ultra Balls. "Thank you for your concern Giallo. And for the Pokemon- we owe you."

"You don't owe me anytheeng," Giallo said, vigorously shaking his head. "I just don't want to see my friends die..."

Ronnie hung her head. "We won't, Giallo. Don't worry..."

Giallo swallowed, a lump clearly in his throat. "Ciao, mi amici. Looker and I shall see you soon, I hope."

"Goodbye Giallo," Aaron replied hollowly, as the Sage turned the screen off on his end, trying to hide the tear forming in his eye. He felt uncomfortable too now. And he REALLY wanted to survive...

Lynch clapped his hands together. "Well then! If we're not going to die, then let's get going..."

"Wait just one moment!"

The occupants of the room turned to see Mr and Mrs Bartlett, the old couple who had survived the Death Worm's first attack, leaning in the doorway. Mrs Bartlett was leaning on a cane, her false leg missing from where the Worm had bitten it off, but they looked fit and fresh.

Aaron smiled amiably. "Yes?"

"Well, we came up here to find you, and I heard what you were all talking about in those last few minutes," Mr Bartlett said. "If there's space, we'd like to come too. To leave this place."

"There really aren't that many Pokemon left alive out there," Mrs Bartlett added. "They aren't able to hold that monster back much longer, so we'd best get going..."

"Right!" Aaron nodded. Then he frowned. "Wait... Aren't all of the exits closed off because of the emergency shutters? So how are we going to get out of here AND to the Castle?"

"Allow me," Saralorno said, clicking a button on his desk. "That's the button that controls the shutters to the rear left garage. It's pretty small, and there's only one Hummer in there, but there's fuel in the Hummer, and it should allow you to sneak out of there unnoticed by the Worm. It is the only vehicle that can leave undetected. Take it.."

"Huh," Luca said, shouldering a shotgun. "You do actually have a heart."

Saralorno shook his head. "I've already condemned all these people to their deaths by not evacuating them. If I can save some people at least, it would be something."

"It doesn't redeem you Saralorno," Lynch said bluntly. "You're still a heartless bastard who didn't care about his daughter's death, who took all the money he could, who effectively gave a hotel full of people the death sentence."

Saralorno sighed. "I know. And I will die knowing that. You should be happy, Mister Lynch. Take your chances, and run while you can..." He glared at the gathering. "Are you still here? Go! GO!"

(***)

The sandstorm was finally abating in the Desert, the harsh winds and bitter, coarse, painful sands that they stirred up dying and evaporating, the dunes finally calming at long last. As the weather itself cooled to a mere fraction of what it once was, so did the fray, the epic skirmish, the battle between Pokemon clans and Death Worm that had enveloped the Desert. It had once been terrifying and ferocious, but now one side was on its knees, begging for mercy or running for freedom and a chance to live...

The last fearless Krookodile, its legs reduced to stumps by vicious slashes from claws, attempted to drag itself up the side of a tall dune and reach its formidable foe, the vicious creature that had been unearthed by the humans' hotel construction. Yet it was all in vain- as the Krookodile feebly lifted its right arm and tried to ignite a Dragon Claw to use against its enemy, the mighty monster, stained with the blood of so many Pokemon, reared up, blotting out the sun, a long shadow falling across its last victim before it brought its huge weight crashing down, the soft sand beneath the Krookodile giving way for a few metres before the broken body was crushed against the bedrock...

The Death Worm screeched manically and triumphantly as it saw its last victim crushed like a mere Durant into the Desert it thought it had owned. So weak and pathetic... Those Pokemon had actually believed they were the leaders of the Desert, the kings, the emperors that ruled over all. But the Death Worm reigned supreme, and it always had- nobody would challenge it, or overthrow it. And it wouldn't rest in hibernation until the last remains of the humans that had invaded its Desert were obliterated...

It turned its mighty maw to sneer at the Resort standing before it. Glimmering in glass and metal, it was an affront to the Worm, an abomination, a sign that the humans thought they were the dominant species in this world of barren sand and dust. But they were wrong. And they thought they could hide behind puny defences of metal, despite the sheer strength of its own acidic venom, and brave it out against the demon, the monster that lurked in the sand and ruled over the dunes. Now the Worm would show them how wrong they really were...

Something on the horizon caught the eye of the mutant Scolipede, and its six eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight, watched as one of the human vehicles emerged from behind the Resort, setting off on a desperate flight across the sands to an unknown destination. But they would not survive. They had simply bought themselves a few minutes; after the Resort lay in ruins, it would come for them...

The Death Worm refocused on the Resort in front of it, all six rows of needle-like fangs bared in a sociopathic, malevolent grin, all six eyes glistening with pure hatred, all horns and spikes oozing its savagely powerful poison. Then it shrieked its terrifying, bone-chilling call, like the scream of a banshee before a death, and lunged forward towards the Resort, long body coiling and slinking in a graceful yet forceful charge. It was time for the humans it despised so much to be erased from its world. It was time for the Death Worm to rule once more...

A/N: And so begins a lot of bloody, needless carnage in a T-rated fic, as the Death Worm begins to slaughter the inhabitants of the Resort! But Giallo has planned everything for everyone though- will his plan work? And will they survive, even if the Worm will definitely come after them?

Next chapter- A desperate dash across the dunes, a savage slaughter and some revelations about a certain, enigmatic Mister Lynch... Coming soon...

Thanks for reading! A review is always greatly appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D

Sharkness