It took him a few seconds to fully grasp this. His home, falling to the ground around him? Impossible. No, that could never happen. Surely he was just hallucinating in some odd state after being hit by the waves of so many different Zubat at once. Yet try as he might, the smells of the flame still lingered and the screams were still prevalent. Pulling out his Pokegear, he scrolled quickly to the favorited number of his Mom. He shuffled anxiously as the phone buzzed once, twice, three times. Nothing. He tried the same with Hugh and Nate. Similar responses. He cursed under his breath.
Were they not responding because of signal issues? Or had they been caught up in this whole catastrophe? He looked at the smoke and his heart dropped into his stomach. From the way it was blowing, it seemed that the fire was at the heart of the city. He had promised to meet somebody there. Someone very, incredibly dear to him.
"No!" He yelled as he began to run, still fatigued after his chase with the Zubat. His breaths came in gasps as he ran but he continued onwards, undeterred by the raging crowds flowing against him. While he wasn't able to nearly make the amount of time he wanted, he was also forced in the same way to take a slightly decelerated approach so that instead of just collapsing upon arrival he was still conscious. What he saw he didn't even have words for.
There, among the trees dyed crimson with tongues of flame, was the largest creature he had ever seen in his life. Towering at the size of at least a small building, it's gray green metallic body reflected the orange light around it as it swung around in fury, fighting off a rather battered Espeon. Two arms, metal and disconnected from the body, spewed fire in all directions. Was this thing the cause of all of this? He couldn't recognize it, but something about it seemed awfully familiar for no reason in particular. He waited for it to continue but to his sinking hearts feelings he watched it pause mid fight, before turning in his direction. How? He had done nothing to it, hadn't made any obtrusive movements.
"Onyx, run!" Yelled a familiar female voice, before coughing heavily. Anabel! The agent stood next to her partner Pokemon, which now lay on the pavement as she returned it, seemingly to use her next ally. "You can't fight that thing alone!" The creature let out a wail before its arms lit up and it began charging at him in slow motion.
Onyx would like to say that it was his skill that saved him. That he had predicted how the creature was going to move and had dodged accordingly. But to be honest? He had locked up upon seeing the thing charge him. Why wouldn't he? How the events seemed to parallel each other. Before it had been an Ursa, now it was this. Either way, he was going to die. He closed his eyes. Heat flashed through his body and the smell of ozone filled his nostrils. A cold chill through the air.
The sounds of flesh on metal echoed. He kept his eyes shut, sure he was dead again. Then, the sound of a long, baleful howl. The howl that no true animal could ever make. No, this was one born of rage and weaned on hate. There was a single creature out there that could make that sound. He stepped back and felt himself sink into a puddle. This wasn't any normal puddle though. He knew better than anyone that this was something far more sinister. After all, water wasn't naturally black.
Grappling the raging metal monster was an Alpha Beowulf. Upon its forehead glowed a symbol of a maple leaf, outlined red through its odd bioluminescence. He could almost feel his mind being dragged back to Remnant from within his mind, but something grounded him in the here and now. The Beowulf looked at him, before beginning to disintegrate and turn to shadows before his very knew this one, more than all the others. It had a name. He had known it, before. But not now, he had no time to remember. What he did have, was an opportunity. While he couldn't run, since the creature was already locked onto him apparently, now he could fight. Throwing out his entire team behind him, he loaded a full round of fire Dust into both gun cartridges before slamming the two together.
The effect was instant. The metal components within each signaled to each other as they began to meld and extend, becoming a greater part of a whole. The blue and red metals met each other and became one within his hands, set alight through the ammunition within. With a mighty roar, Onyx swung the completed Punk and Poetry with full force.
While normally that swing would only do damage considerable to a human being, due to his physique not being very impressive in this universe, one had to figure in the power of the Dust behind it. Thus, it felt as though a rocket-propelled sledgehammer had blown up in the creatures face, it's enraged roars telling him all he needed to know about how it felt about that last one. His arms trembled and shook from the blowback.
"Come on you guys, let's move!" He disengaged the weapon back into their separate selves, not able to carry it inconspicuously due to its bright colors always being partially revealed when together. Looker and Anabel were signaling him away to a safe alcove beneath a partially wrecked bathroom, Anabel seemingly giving directions to a Dusknoir through some sort of communication device.
"Onyx! What are you doing here! What is that you're carrying?" Looker exclaimed, looking at the boy. Indeed, before him seemed to be a different person that the one he met before. That calm and friendly child was still there, but now he could see the determination of a warrior. That, and if he were to look closer, deep, deep, worry.
"Nevermind that. Have you seen a woman that looks like me around here?" Onyx asked desperately. Looker shook his head.
"No, everyone in the area evacuated immediately upon seeing the Ultra Beast. If she was here, she's long gone." Onyx breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt utterly lost.
"Ultra Beast? What is that thing and why is it torching the city!" He yelled. Looker seemed to be trying to explain as he opened his briefcase again, revealing a set of five odd looking Pokeballs. He handed them to Anabel, who barely acknowledged them before sliding them into her pocket. "Those are the last we have, use them wisely. Here, you take some too." Looker handed Onyx five of the odd Pokeballs as well.
"These are Beast Balls, meant to capture the Ultra Beast you see in front of you. While I want to just send you away, it seems that Blaster has taken a bad liking to you. Seems I'll need to give you some. As of this moment, you're now a provisional member of the International Police." Onyx's eyes widened. That wasn't something to joke around about. The International Police was basically a mix between a global FBI and superhero team all at once. Granted they had no actual powers, but still. That Looker apparently thought that he was needed for this showed how desperate this situation was. Even still, he felt he was still missing vital information.
"So why is that thing here? And why does it apparently hate me so bad?" He attached the Beast Balls to his belt.
"A few hours ago an anomaly known as an Ultra Wormhole opened up over Castelia City. While this is known to happen, this area has been experiencing odd temporal rifts for a good decade or so. Thus, instead of a pin sized hole, we got one big enough to let Blaster through. That's its code name, by the way." An explosion sounded and Dusknoir let out a yell as it was struck by a Seed Bomb. Pulling up Punk a loud whining shot rang out as the distracted Blaster took a Fire Dust shot to the back, turning around only to find nothing save for ruins. A Shadow Ball from its opponent brought the creature's attention away.
Looker was looking at him now. Heh, Looker looking. "You're rather lucky I just instated you otherwise you'd be convicted of unauthorized use of firearms. Something tells me a kid like you doesn't have a license for that kind of thing." Actually last he checked his Remnant ID actually did give him those sort of privileges, although he wasn't too sure how well that transferred to a different universe. He settled for giving Looker a sheepish grin to which the man gave him a tired sigh.
"Look, this is no time to be playing around. I want you to go around from the side, draw its attention. Can you do that while Anabel focuses on damage dealt?" He seemed to be closing off their briefing. Onyx nodded, preparing his weapons to go. "Also, leave your Pokemon here. You'll likely be a bit too busy to manage them, while they seem to be quite capable they are still rather low in their evolution stage. I can direct them to support you while you fully concentrate on yourself." He thought for a second before nodding. While he didn't see any Pokemon on Looker's person, he didn't doubt the man's capabilities. Strange, how he trusted him so deeply despite them having only met that day. Perhaps it was some form of fate? Knowing his circumstances, probably.
Onyx darted out from their hiding spot, briefly catching the orders given to his team before it was lost in the sound of crackling fire and Pokemon yells. Dusknoir was now joined by an Alakazam, although it looked like the former would need to return soon. Anabel was yelling orders at her best, looking rather ragged at the moment. He couldn't go towards her, she was already taking enough heat as is. As much as he had hated it, he needed to do it again. Even with his guns, it seemed that now he had no choice.
The tradition back at home was that every person was named after a color. Why was up to debate, many stories conflicted each other. Something about an Oum? In the end, the tradition had stuck almost globally. Funnily enough, those names tended to influence each person heavily. Or maybe it was just the person growing to fit their name? Who knew.
Ruby, well, it was obvious. She was red, like her roses. Wow, that sounded both cliche and copyrighted at the same time. Her semblance was of the same color, the petals flying off of her a scorching crimson. For Yang, she was the burning yellow. Her fiery hair lighting up like the sun as her temper increased. So when people saw Onyx's aura, they tended to be slightly confused to see the arcs of red but merely dismissed it. It wasn't like everyone fit a color scheme.
Except, he did. Oh, how he wished it didn't. It was almost ironic how a huntsman might loathe their semblance, but he managed to fit that particular bill. The why could take years to tell properly. For most people, they wouldn't care to listen to his tale. No, all they would see were his actions. From deep within himself, Onyx grasped his soul, his very being with a firm grip. From there, he wrenched out his birthright.
For some, the activation of one's semblance was like a muscle. It was turned on and off, as one pleased. For others, who had less practice in the art or never bothered refining it, often relied on their emotions to run off of muscle memory. Anger activating an offensive technique, for example. What Onyx fed on though, was something much more primal.
Touching the world with his very essence, he could feel it in the air. It hung like a sickness, sticky and thick like syrup. All of the city's malcontent and anguish, heavy and choking. He could feel the overwhelming torrent of grief and terror, the fires of unfocused rage as people turned on each other in the chaos. He couldn't even ponder why they felt this way, all he could do was take those feelings and envelop them.
He supposed that he had done this on an instinctive level when the creature had charged him. Blaster, Looker had called it? That didn't really matter. He had probably manifested the Ultra Beast's own rage against it without him even realizing. Yet now that he looked at it, he couldn't feel that anger. It was still present, but mixed in was fear, worry, sadness. It was almost as though it were a lost child, throwing a temper tantrum at the world. That didn't matter anymore though.
This part always made him want to vomit. Now if anyone were to look at him they'd think that he had gone and stuck a fork in an electrical socket, the arcs of red light dancing across his body. His eyes fueled with rage not of his own, he desperately channeled all of these foreign feelings into and out of him. Just like that, they began to take physical form.
Like shadows, they were unnoticeable at first. Little darkened patches in the ground, unnoticeable due to the raging fire. But then they multiplied and thickened. Became vicious, like tar. Some emanated a strong heat, as though it were cooling lava. Each one was a nexus of those negative energies, condensed into the physical plane. His breath was labored by the effort, he found himself panting like a dog without having even moved. He wasn't finished though. He focused upon all those blackened patches, feeling them look at him with unseeing gazes. They waited for his command, the hair trigger to their release. His throat was caught up as though congested and it felt dry from the smoke. He hated this. He had sworn that he wouldn't do it again. But he had already broken that vow already just a minute ago, hadn't he? Even if by accident. Now, he had no choice.
"Rise." His voice was quiet, barely audible at all above the still rampaging battle. Most of Anabel's Pokemon lay defeated and her eyes were switching between Blaster and himself, clearly alarmed. "Rise." Again, with more feeling. They quivered but stayed. Did they want more from him? Was this some sort of sick test? Hadn't he already suffered enough because of them? His face twisted up into a snarl. "Rise!" They did.
As one, the puddles expanded and rose from the ground, creatures of nightmares given darkened and evil flesh. Midnight fur and skin mixed with bone to create monsters beyond the knowledge of this mankind. Piercing cries and bloodcurdling howls filled the air as they were born in triumph. They reveled in the moment, soaking in the atmosphere of the moment. The sudden burst of fear from those three nearby was delicious, yes, but just by being in the city alone they felt more fulfilled than any hunt in Remnant would have. They turned to their master as their eyes gleamed a bloody red, markings glowing in their gruesome bioluminescence.
Their master stood stock still, quiet as a stone. In the absence of movement around him, one would almost think he was dead. Yet he lived, they knew that to be true. They felt the strings of life and fate, connecting to him. They existed at his will and leisure and they would return just as soon as he was done with them. That did not mean that he was immune to them, however.
He could feel the connection to them, just as they did. Just one person, against all of them? It took all of his willpower to not just collapse into a sobbing wreck right there and then. Already his skin felt clammy, something he knew wasn't just a feeling. Just as he changed them to do his will they could change him too, only at a reduced rate. He couldn't allow that, even as a Geist floated up and curled around his neck, curling its arms around him as though in an embrace, forming a cloak of sorts around his neck. It might have seemed like some sort of affection, but the heavy weight of it's bone and the one eyed mask only served to make it the literally heavy weight on his shoulders. He stared into the eyes of this congregation and almost had to stifle a self-pitying laugh. It seemed that he too, in the end, followed the law of the color scheme.
There were no more words after that. For a pack, all they needed was the call of the hunt and the unspoken will of the leader. As he surged forward so did they, their cries howling out to the night. For the first time that night, Blaster experienced full on terror as suddenly its vision was all black. The howling calls of the Beowolves as they scratched at its metal sides, Ursai roving around and slamming its arms aside whenever the metal creature tried to fire its Seed Bombs. Boarbatusk launched themselves like cannonballs, launching themselves into Blaster's unprotected face. It was like it was trapped in an evil quicksand, sinking into its depths with every strike.
Suddenly, a wave of power. A whole pack of the Grimm summoned vanished to nothing but smoke, their severed connection felt as though a sudden emptiness in his mind. How could it still go on? He could feel the summoned creatures negative emotions in the back of his mind. They wanted their prey, now. Suddenly as Blaster began to glow in an orange light he saw its arms light up with fire as it began to soar high into the air, energy seemingly renewed. He could almost swear he heard the concerned yells of two people, but he was sure that he was just imagining things. It was only himself and the Grimm, right? Running and mounting a larger Nevermore, they took to the skies.
It was almost completely vertical. He could feel the mounting dread of the Ultra Beast above him as he soared upwards, the Grimm only growing faster with each second. Around him flew a half decent flock of Griffons, Geists and Nevermore all focused on only one target. No amount of Automatize could outrun them now. If he could just shoot it...he loaded a single round and prayed it would hit.
The smell of ozone wafted through the air again for a split second, only this time from the barrel of Poetry as the Lightning Dust round soared and hit Blaster. While only a stop gap, the arcs of electricity danced across the beasts metallic body. It was now, or never. Enlarging the Beast Ball in his hand, there seemed to be a silent moment between the two as they saw what lay before them. Then it was all over as the ball crashed against the giant creatures lower side before encapsulating it in a red light. He caught it as it rocked once, twice, three times in his hand. Click. He was vaguely aware of a rapid descent as his home came back into view. How tiny it looked from up here. How was he up here again? He hugged tight to this creature, frowning at its lack of warmth. He felt cold as well if he thought about it. Why couldn't he feel his aura? Why couldn't he feel anything? Hear anything? He was falling, then he wasn't, but it didn't matter because he could no longer see anything. All that was left were the silent cries of the sated darkness as they left this world, deed done.
Looker and Anabel stood over the young child, rather speechless. The whole place was a horror show if they were quite honest. While the fires had seemingly burned themselves out, the place was ashen and wrecked beyond what any minor repairs could fix. Whatever hadn't been destroyed was most certainly damaged by whatever...those things were. Anabel looked at the gray-haired child in fear. What was he? Was he even human?
Anabel hadn't known what to think when she had seen it. She had expected for him to perform some sort of distraction so that she could secure the objective, but this? There was no way she could have predicted such a thing occurring. Was this the power of a psychic? She has heard of people manifesting guardians for themselves, but not like this. The air still felt choking with the aura of those creatures. The child's Pokemon were currently worrying over him, holding onto his motionless form. The Bronzor seemed to be floating nonchalantly, however, as though it were to be expected. How curious. Disregarding that, he seemed to be rather battered and bruised. Indeed, his clothes were rather stained by that curious black fluid and a bit of what appeared to be his own blood, based on the many scrapes along his body. A raspy breath emitted from his throat. It was at this moment they noticed the blue Pokeball lying on its side a few feet away.
"He caught it," Looker stated, validating that the situation was not, in fact, some sort of messed up daydream. "He actually caught it." He paused. "We need to get him and his Pokemon out of here. I'll call an ambulance." His boss nodded her approval of these actions before collecting the ball. That would be a headache that she would need to deal with later. For now, it seemed that she had a report to make.
"..."
"..."
"It begins."
