Being unable to eavesdrop on a misguided millionaire because a copy of yourself had disrupted the organization of your memories sucked big-time, Ash decided. And of course he had to be enough of a weirdness magnet so as to end up in such a bizarrely specific set of circumstances, didn't he?
Pushing aside his irritation, he reopened the doors of his mindscape and connected his consciousness back to his physical body. His eyes opened slowly, and he blinked several times to refocus them. Right – we're on top of Prism Tower to try and get close to Lysandre. He cast his gaze about as if confused, adopting a suitably wide-eyed expression when they landed on his trapped Pokémon and Lysandre. "Wh- what's going on…?" he asked, tugging on his bonds as if trying to escape. In reality, however, it was simply to test their strength so he knew how much force it would take to overload them later.
"I apologize for the presumption, Mr. Ketchum." Lysandre replied, bowing gracefully. "I simply wished to ensure that you would not act rashly upon meeting Zygarde, though the agents sent to retrieve you for this meeting may have acted more heavy-handedly than was my intention. You see, I was once as young and idealistic as you are, and I know from experience how easily disaster follows on the heel of assumptions."
"You mean like assuming you have Zygarde under mind control because the person who knocked me out on your orders tried to steal the one traveling with my friends and I?" Ash shot back pointedly.
Ah, so that's where Z-1 has been all this time. Lysandre thought, arching his brow and frowning as if hurt by the accusation. "I'm curious as to how the actions of an overzealous underling would have led you to that particular conclusion. In much the same way as you are restrained right now, I simply sought to show at least one of the two Zygarde cores that we have similar aims – nowhere in my instructions did it say to steal Zygarde from your group."
Of course, he conveniently left out the fact that his instructions had not forbid said action either. Since he knew the way the boy thought, he knew it was in his best interest to convince him step-by-step rather than simply offering a 'join me or else' ultimatum – though the latter was still on the table if Ash refused to see reason.
It appeared, however, that such would indeed be the case. "And trapping people until they agree with you is the right way to do that? That sounds an awful lot like what bad guys do – and I know that 'cause I run into them all the time. So what makes you think I should listen to you?"
Lysandre fought the urge to growl in irritation. "Perhaps the fact that I have been tasked with offering you a place among Zygarde's chosen."
Ash glared back. "Zygarde's chosen, or your chosen? Alain, tell me you don't believe all this!"
Before the other teen could respond, a bright green glow erupted at the base of the tower. It quickly rose up into the air as Squishy absorbed more and more Cells, finally transforming into his snakelike 50% Forme.
"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant." Lysandre intoned gravely as the red Zygarde leapt off the tower to confront Squishy. "Zygarde has spoken, and we must listen. I have no doubt that Z-2's power shall convince its foe of the truth."
Many thousands of miles away, a large white dragon sneezed out a massive gout of flame. "Aw, come on!" a Scyther complained, its form flickering back into a Zorua. "And you were so close that time…"
"I fail to see how trimming shrubs into the shape of Bonsly and other Pokémon fits with this human concept of a 'birthday'." Reshiram deadpanned, pushing the scorched plant to the side with a sweep of its wing. "Besides, I thought N said he didn't know when his birthday actually is."
"Exactly!" Zorua yipped. "That means he won't suspect the surprise party OR your gift! But don't worry if you can't get it exactly right – it's not the end of the world."
"You're not gonna end this world." Kazuto growled, gripping Genos' hilt tightly as he stared down the two Flare Admins barring their entrance into Prism Tower. "Not if we can help it."
"So sure of ourselves, are we?" the orange-haired woman mocked. "Shouldn't you be more worried about Zygarde? All your friends are…"
Kazuto's mouth twitched upwards. "And that's why I'm not. I trust them to watch my back while I watch theirs. Besides, I get the feeling you would still attack anyway under the logic of 'they're not paying enough attention to us,' wouldn't you?"
The green-haired woman scoffed. "And you expect to watch all their backs at the same time? Liepard, Shadow Claw!"
She pointed to the far left of the group, furthest from where Kazuto was, and he immediately dashed over to intercept. Unfortunately, this was exactly what she wanted, as it left the other end of the group wide open. "Dark Pulse, Druddigon!" her partner ordered, pointing at their exposed backs.
A purple beam cut through the air, only to be intercepted by a purple-and-orange blur that resolved itself into Professor Sycamore's Mega Garchomp. "Oh, no you don't." the Professor said firmly, drawing everyone's attention to his presence. "Good to see you, Blaziken Mask."
The vigilante nodded. "You too, Professor. According to Serena, my main priority is to keep Bonnie safe, so I'm glad you're here to help with the rest of the fight."
"Um, actually…" Serena interrupted, making sure to modulate her voice so that neither Flare Admin could make out her words. "Now that Mairin and Professor Sycamore are here, I need to go to Lysandre Labs with them to try and wake up Chespie."
"What? But –" Blaziken Mask cut his protest off as a detail from earlier occurred to him again. "Right, that vision you said you had." He turned to face the building again, cape billowing heroically. "We'll hold the line here, so get going!"
The three in that group nodded, recalling their Pokémon as Clemont sent all of his out. "Right. Thanks a bunch!" Professor Sycamore started off in the direction of his lab to retrieve a car (followed by the two girls), trusting in their friends to keep them safe until they were out of sight.
"You know, Alain, this is all thanks to you." Lysandre said, a small smile creeping up on his face as he watched the city. "For while Zygarde wants to cleanse this world, it was unable to do so under its own power. That is why it turned to us – to the strength of Mega Evolution energy that only we could provide."
"Hold on a moment!" Alain yelled. "You said I was gathering the energy to help wake Chespie up – does that mean you lied to my face?"
Lysandre shook his head. "Of course not. Chespie will awaken once this is all over; the energy of Zygarde contained within him shall simply protect him from the cleansing."
"But what about Mairin?" Ash cut in, drawing Lysandre's attention. "Is she one of the 'chosen few' you claim Zygarde plans to save? Because with how strong her bond with Chespie is, I don't think he'd like it if you left her to die here – and that would mean your 'perfect new world' would be plagued with conflict from the very start."
Lysandre hummed softly. "Well, that will depend on your choices. If you decide, of your own free will, to join Zygarde in this endeavor, I believe it may very well listen to your request to save the person you find most precious." He saw Ash's eyes widen and the word Serena slip onto his lips before the boy's gaze became slightly unfocused. "Yes; not just Mairin, but your girlfriend as well. If not, well…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Then I hope you said your farewells. A spurned Zygarde is not a forgiving Zygarde."
...na… Se..na - .an you me? Ash's voice whispered, almost unnoticeable in the blur of thought rushing uselessly through Serena's mind. ..me .n Serena, answer me!
"Excuse me for a moment." she apologized to Professor Sycamore, shifting over to the middle of the news-copter's bench seat and closing her eyes in meditation. Once properly focused, she managed to open the mental connection from her end. What is it, Ash?
Thankfully, their communication link took much less energy to sustain than it did to initialize, and so she was able to then use the surplus to boost her regeneration rate as they spoke. She still wouldn't be at full strength once they reached Lysandre Labs, but hopefully it would be enough to pull off whatever she had seen herself trying to do in the vision.
Lysandre just told us what was wrong with Chespie! he 'said,' mental voice tinged with urgency. Apparently, he absorbed some of Zygarde's energy, which is supposed to 'protect' him when Zygarde 'cleanses the world.' And while I may not be quite as good as you at detecting lies, I can tell that he's telling the truth about that. Maybe not the whole truth about his plans, since he's still trying to pretend he's a good guy so he can convince me and Alain to join him, but he's lying by omission, not addition.
Got it. Serena acknowledged, passing back the mental equivalent of a nod. I'm gonna cut off the connection again so that I can recover faster – but stay safe, okay? At least, as safe as you can while you're (here she took a peek at one of his short-term memories) suspended in hand- and foot-cuffs very close to a 400-plus-foot drop.
She got the sense of a grin from the other end. You too, Serena. Only replace the last part with 'storming a bad guy's secret lair to rescue a sick Chespin.'
She replied with a mental snort. You're incorrigible, Ash.
I'll just have to take your word for that, since I have no idea what it means – oh, now I get it, thanks. Have I mentioned how convenient thought-sharing is?
Multiple times. Serena replied, chuckling internally. I'll see you again as soon as I can.
And I'll do my best to make sure that can happen. With a slight buzzing 'noise,' the connection terminated, and Serena turned her focus to her regenerative meditation once more.
"Ah, welcome back." Lysandre said as Ash sagged in his restraints, having spent a good portion of his energy almost single-handedly keeping the mental connection active so that Serena could conserve her own energy. The orange-haired man misinterpreted his slump as one of defeat, however, and decided to move on to the next step in his persuasion. "Are you ready to cooperate now?"
His hand swept out, indicating where Squishy had been restrained by Z-2's Flare-enhanced vines. "As you can see, Zygarde's anger and the strength we have given it have enabled it to overcome its misguided counterpart – but your assistance would enable us to carry out the plan much faster. I am speaking, of course, of the Bond Phenomenon you and Greninja appear to share."
At Alain's surprised look, he continued. "To achieve a transformation like the two of you have – one comparable to Mega Evolution, but without the use of a Mega Stone or a Key Stone – is something that only happens once in a lifetime, perhaps even once in a millennium. When combined with the power you were able to tap into at the end of your battle with Alain, that puts you in the perfect position to be the greatest herald of this new world. With your power on our side, nothing will be able to stand in our way."
To his own surprise, he witnessed the corner of Ash's mouth twist upwards. "Just like I said: you sound exactly like a bad guy. My answer is still no."
Lysandre sighed, realizing that Ash's devotion to his ideals was too strong to break subtly. "That wasn't a request." he stated brusquely, snapping his fingers and summoning a pair of camera-like drones that fluttered around like Ninjask. "Your power will serve us, whether you like it or not."
The drones lit up the same red color as the enraged Zygarde, and Ash grinned. Gotcha. Now that you've revealed your true colors, you'll be expecting Alain to be paralyzed with indecision while I struggle helplessly, won't you? Well, prepare to be disappointed. "So we're dropping the masks now, are we? Okay then, bring it on!"
Lysandre's eyes narrowed. "So you wanted me to capture you, intending to use your Bond Phenomenon to escape. But how will you do that if you cannot concentrate enough to activate it?" The drones began shooting beams of light at Ash and Greninja – only to be deflected up into the sky by a shimmering barrier of solid blue.
"Actually, that wasn't what I was intending at all." Ash said, dispelling the Aura Barrier he had formed in front of his chest. "And you just made it even easier for me. See, Aura in its most basic form is energy, and I've had a considerable amount of practice converting from one type of energy to another." He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply as the red energy enveloped him, and then opened them with a blue flash. "Nami no Hōshutsu: Denryoku Henkan!"
As he spoke, the deep red glow of the energy darkened to an almost blackish purple – which then appeared to begin pulsating around him. With each cycle, its color paled until it was the same color as Greninja's Water Shuriken, almost as if the Mega Evolution energy was itself transforming. A small amount around each containment orb then changed frequency, literally vibrating the metal apart, and Lysandre stepped back in astonishment. A small part of him then registered the danger, and he inconspicuously pressed a button on his pocketed Holo Caster to signal Xerosic that it was time to act. Without his cybernetics, he would be able to do little more than stall against an opponent like Ash.
Ash's next move then unintentionally played into his hands. With no way to safely corral that much energy for an extended period of time, he decided to humor Lysandre and activate Greninja's Bond, shunting all the excess energy to the water cyclone that normally accompanied the transformation. It might have been a bit flashy, but one lesson he had learned in Aincrad was that showmanship could – if used properly – be an effective intimidator. (That was also why he had chosen to yell out a set of words that felt like they fit the technique rather than do it silently.) Unfortunately, that also meant that it drew the attention of everyone else within eyesight.
Including Squishy, who was then unprepared when the beam from Xerosic's machine hit him. As such, the brainwashing process only took about five seconds rather than the fifteen it would have if he was able to resist.
Lysandre's satisfaction was short-lived, though. For one thing, Greninja had just destroyed the restraint mechanisms holding Ash's other Pokémon with a brace of Water Shuriken – and for another, Alain's fist was now buried in his gut. "I trusted you, and you used me…" Alain growled, putting enough force behind his punch that Lysandre had to take a step backward despite his bulletproof vest.
"I did." Lysandre acknowledged smoothly, attempting to stall as long as he could. And now that he was expecting it, Alain's next anger-fueled blow was easy to evade. "Just as I used Steven, Malva, and all those who allied themselves with me, knowledgeable of my plans or not. And this is exactly why you did not know – in your foolish idealism, you believe that the wrongs of the world do not deserve a purging of this scale, and so now you are actively working against me."
An aura of electricity sparked around Ash's hands, and an anger not completely his own surfaced. "So you believe that Ideals are foolish, do you?" he challenged, voice taking on an almost draconian tone. "Come up here and say that to my face!" Okay, looks like being Chosen by Zekrom had more lasting effects than I thought… he noted absently, mentally filing the phenomenon for later analysis.
"If you insist…" Lysandre conceded, holding out his arms to allow his jetpack and vambrace to latch on and then hovering up to Ash's level. "And I thank you for showing me why you cling so stubbornly to your beliefs. You traveled in Unova and encountered Zekrom, the Dragon of Ideals, did you not?"
Ash was somewhat confused by the sudden change of topic, but decided not to let his confusion show. "Yeah, what of it?"
Behind him, Alain flew up on his Charizard and stood with Ash's group.
"Tell me," Lysandre said, palming a pair of Pokéballs. "Do the legends there ever tell of ideals overcoming truth in the long run?"
This time, Ash did let the confusion show. "How should I know? I never read those things… I mean, I always get mixed up with them anyway, which means I end up learning what I need to know firsthand – and besides, I'm usually with somebody else who does know them well enough that I don't need to."
"That's Ash for ya." Pikachu chimed in. "Street smart…ish… but book dumb." He playfully socked his Trainer in the temple from his perch on his shoulder. "And of course, dumb luck. Lots and lots of dumb luck."
Lysandre blinked at how casual they were acting before recomposing himself. "During my time researching the legends of the world, I spent several months funding a man named Ghetsis in exchange for access to his records of said legends, and do you know what I discovered?" His eyes narrowed. "That neither truth nor ideals alone win out in the end – but that ideals must be tempered by truth in order to stand a chance of triumphing. I learned the truth of this world the hard way, and it showed me that perfection cannot be gained without first burning away the imperfections. Without understanding this truth, any sort of idealism is foolishness."
"Oh really?" Ash said fiercely. "And what is this 'truth' you say you learned?"
Lysandre's jaw set in a frown. "That people, at their core, are selfish. You see, I once believed that the problems of this world could be solved if the rich gave freely to those less fortunate than themselves. That way nobody would lack what they needed, and everybody would be happy. And so I became a philanthropist, distributing necessities to those who could not afford them.
"Of course, such an endeavor was much too large for one person on his own." he continued, seeing his opponents' guard relax slightly as he talked. "To offset this problem, I established an organization of like-minded individuals – a Flare of hope for the world. And, for a time, my vision came true. People received the gifts I provided, and they rejoiced."
Ash quirked an eyebrow, shifting into a relaxed position that could easily transition to offense or defense. "I'm sensing a 'but' coming in there somewhere. This sounds way too happy to be a reason to destroy the world."
Lysandre sighed in annoyance, but didn't attempt to pointlessly correct him. "But before long, they began to take my help for granted. Some even went so far as to expect it, believing that they had a 'right' to the things I gave them out of my own goodwill. Their demands grew to greater and greater levels, and I soon saw that my attempts to help were only feeding the cycle. No matter how much was given, the people's sense of entitlement would only grow ever greater, until they destroyed themselves. The only way to break this cycle would be to begin completely anew – to recreate the world in such a way that such conflict could never again arise."
His arms swept forward, releasing his Gyarados and Pyroar from their Pokéballs. "Unfortunately for you, it appears this new world has no place for either of you. Pyroar, Gyarados, take them out!"
"Grr… I can't believe we got taken out so easily!" Aliana grumbled, struggling to escape from Clembot's cable trap. "This is all your fault, Bryony!"
Her green-haired partner glared back (though the face-concealing eyewear she sported somewhat lessened the effect). "MY fault? You were the one who messed up that perfect shot I gave you – I had them all in one place for Druddigon's Hyper Beam, but then you had to go and ignore the battle to stare at that big light up on the tower! So don't you go saying–"
"Oh, just shut up." Kazuto interrupted, sheathing the newly-evolved Genos back into its scabbards. "That right there is exactly why you lost: your teamwork only lasts until something goes wrong, and then it's every man for himself. Well, that and the fact that you were up against two Mega Evolutions and somebody who's been fighting with swords for years. Thanks for unlocking me Dual Blades again, by the way."
"…And Kazuto, you're with me." Clemont finished up, tapping him on the shoulder. "You said you have experience with computer programming, so I figure you should be on the team going to shut down that mind control machine they're using."
"And I'm going to go help out Squishy!" Bonnie said with finality, grabbing Blaziken Mask's wrist and dragging him off in the direction of the two Zygarde. "Serena said you were coming with me, so hurry up!"
Kazuto nodded, keeping his eyes on the Flare Admins. "Got it. I feel like we shouldn't just leave these two dangling here, though, since someone might come along and free them again. But how to put them out of commission…" An idea occurred, and he tapped Genos on one of his tassels. Genos, do you think this would work without being lethal?
After several seconds, Genos replied. I believe so, Master. Working with you thus far has enabled me to analyze the sensation of soul-draining, and my recent boost in abilities should give me the control I need to halt the process before their souls actually depart from their bodies. At the worst, they should only remain comatose for a day or two.
Better that than nobody here living past today because they warned their teammates. Kazuto thought grimly. Go ahead. He walked forward to stand between the two, and the tassels snaked out to briefly grab each Admin's ankle and render them unconscious. "Right, let's go." he said, swiveling his head just enough to meet Clemont's eyes. "The world isn't going to save itself, you know."
Clemont blinked a few times before following him through the front door of the Tower. "Hold on, how does that follow from what we were saying?"
"It doesn't." Clembot piped up as he shadowed Korrina in. "He just wanted to close out the exchange with a snarky yet vaguely heroic one-liner."
"Which you just ruined by spelling it out." Kazuto shot back. "Thanks for nothing, by the way."
"You are quite welcome." Clembot deadpanned in response (made quite easy by the fact that he was an android). "I look forward to seeing how you use it to improve your wit."
Turning to face the security cameras, he flashed a robotic grin and thumbs-up for the next person who watched the footage. "And that, my friends, is how you properly end on a one-liner. YOSH!"
Omake: There Is No Soul Way to Lace Up Loopholes
…Is it sad that I almost feel like I'm getting used to this? Kazuto thought as he stumbled through another universe portal and into the middle of a field. The scent of death immediately hit his nose, causing him to gag but also putting him on guard. His ears twitched, a faint sensation of pressure on his temples due to their shape revealing that he was once again in the form of his online avatar.
A massive wave of killing intent erupted behind him, and he whipped around just in time to block a massive spiked flail with the dual swords sheathed across his back. The enemy's mount, a giant black dragon-like creature, roared intimidatingly – but all that did was draw Kirito's attention, and he quickly decapitated it with Double Circular.
"Foolish creature." the rider hissed, its face obscured by voluminous black robes and an ornately-spiked metal helmet. "Why do you stand in our way?"
"Because you chose to attack where I was standing, apparently." Kirito snarked in return, wracking his brain to figure out why this scene seemed so familiar as he Parried the strikes of the giant flail. "Plus, that makes it kind of obvious that you're evil."
Kirito briefly got the sensation that his opponent was blinking at him in confusion. "You just gestured to all of me." Soon, however, the killing intent returned. "But no matter. You, like all the others, shall soon perish – for it has been prophesied that no Man alive can kill me."
That statement was the final piece of the puzzle, and Kirito grinned in realization. "And what if it's not a man attacking you?"
"Men, Elves, and Dwarves have all tried, but none have succeeded." the Nazgûl replied, the chain of its flail wrapping around Kirito's sword and yanking it from his hand. "And so you shall also fail, little Elf-Man."
"You underestimate my power." Kirito told him in response, making a swirling motion with his hand that caused the entangled weapons to wrap around the Witch-King and restrain him.
A deep, guttural laugh came from its shadowy maw. "You may have temporarily ensnared my physical form, but none such as you can kill a Wraith of Sauron."
Kirito just smiled smugly. "So you're saying I can't destroy you since I can't harm your soul?"
"That's about it, yes."
"Exactly what I thought." Kirito snapped his fingers, and the jewels on his swords' hilts flashed brightly. "Genos, do your thing!"