Latias
As she flew over the village below with Diana, Latias gasped in horror. One minute she had been giving Master a report. The next he was gone. Everyone was gone.
She banked around on the wind, ready to inform Diana of what had happened, only to realize that without the link, she couldn't speak to her. She froze in the air, paralyzed with indecision.
Diana continued flying, but circled back when she noticed Latias had stopped. She floated back towards the Psychic/Dragon-Type Pokemon, concern on her features.
"Latias? What's wrong?" Wonder Woman pressed a hand to Latias' cheek. She responded by nuzzling against her the soft palm, trying to get some sort of connection to replace the loss of her telepathy.
"Lati, Latias." She tried to explain. She knew it wouldn't work, that only Master was able to understand Pokemon speech, but she had to try, to let her know—
"I see." Diana sighed. "So Circe has shut down our link." Not noticing the stunned look on Latias' face, she reached for her ear and tried to activate her ear bud, only to shake her head at the sound of static. "And she has done the same with our electronic communications. I imagine more magical or spiritual attempts would be shut down as well."
"Latias?" At her stunned question, Diana turned to give her a smile.
"I was given the ability to understand any language. While it has taken me some time, I do understand you Latias."
Latias was going to declare her surprise and delight over the event in question, only to hear thunder resound. The smell of ozone filled the air, metallic on the nose. Blue and yellow lightning began to crack across the skies, power pressing down on them like a heavy weight across the shoulders.
"Lat." Latias declared, her voice heavy with foreboding, knowing instinctively that Zapdos was one of the causes of the sudden storm.
"Zeus." Diana said. She turned Latias. "It seems the gods are not content to simply watch this battle." She sighed, shaking her head. "I suppose it makes sense. I worry for the others. With communications down, we don't know what could happen."
The Princess of Truth frowned suddenly. She put her hand out, then clenched her fist. Latias blinked, confused at the odd gesture.
Then a monster slammed into Wonder Woman's arm. The loud sound of flesh slamming into an arm as hard as diamond filled the air, and the clotheslined creature fell to the ground far below.
"Latias!" The red dragon squeeled in shock.
"Harpies." Wonder Woman mumbled, staring at the monster floating down towards the ground. It had the head and torso of a naked woman, and what looked like black feathered versions of the wings and talons of an Archeops in place of arms and legs.
Suddenly, the skies were filled with the things. They cackled as they flew.
Latias narrowed her eyes. When a harpie attacked her, expecting a fleshy soft target, it was instead blasted by fire as hot as any of Latias' relatives.
"CREEEEE!" The Flamethrower left the harpy scorched in flames.
"LATIAS!" In the end, sweet as she was, Latias was a Pokemon. More than that, she was a Dragon-type. Her ancestors, in every universe, were the feared lords of the skies. That ancient bloodline, coalescing in Latias, made her cry of challenge something far more than simple noise.
Latias roared, soaring into combat at Mach-1.
Wonder Woman chuckled as she watched Latias begin to unleash hell. "A true Amazon response." She flew in after Latias, removing her lasso to grab one of the harpies and use it as a bludgeon agains the others.
PYJ
The claws that ran along my back skipped across the surface of the armored plate in my coat. I ran faster, leaping off the roof I'd found myself on. High above, a burst of flame flew across the sky, and a dark figure came alight. Lightning illuminated my landing zone, and I rolled as I fell, using the parkour I'd learned from Wildcat to my advantage.
A loud roar shook my bones. I went for a house, praying desperately for it to be unlocked. The knob turned.
I entered the house and immediately ducked when a shotgun barrel filled my sights.
The ear protection I wore proved its worth when the sound of the gun going off above me didn't deafen me.
I grabbed the guy who'd shot at me by his shirt and rolled into the next room. He cured in his language, screaming at what he though was me assaulting him.
Up until the massive lion beast man slashed his way into the door, roaring.
A lion's roar can be heard for ten miles around. The second I realized that these things were coming after me, I'd made it a point to put in the above mentioned ear protection.
"Run!" I cursed, leaping up to punch the lion in the face. "Just go!"
The sound of tearing clothes behind me told me I'd failed once more. A second roar, this time a bear, sounded out as the guy I'd tried to save had been turned into a beastman.
Just like the lion, who had tattered pieces of clothes on his body.
Almost the moment the telepathic link had been shut down, every male human being in my vicinity started transforming beast hybrids.
What the hell happened to me that my life can involve such a sentence?
Anyways, where was I? Oh right. The lion beastman in front of me, roaring as he shook off the pain of being hit by a metal gauntlet covered in electricity. And a bear beastman behind me, halfway through his transformation. Not to mention the dozens of other roaming the streets, with the addition of my link with the others not working.
The lion leaped. He was faster than could be believed. But not Kid Flash fast, and that was enough to let me duck his claws as he slashed for my throat, reaching for my waist. I rolled, then leaped for the door.
My plan wasn't coming along well. I'd been sure that I'd be able to find what I needed. This battle had to end, before more villagers got turned, or hurt. I was lucky that the women and children seemed content to hide in fear as their fathers, husbands, and oldest sons hunted me down, but it wouldn't be long before the option of hostage taking opened up for them.
I exited onto the streets, leaping over the wolf beastman who rushed me. With as much speed and agility as I could, I booked it through the streets. Roars, howls, and growls split the night, and my heart beat like an insane drummers as I leaped and dodged the claws and teeth.
"You and me, we aren't super anything." Ted's voice came from my memories as I rolled under an elephants massive legs. "All we got is what the good lord gave us. So one day, when you're dodging every damn monster in the world, you'll be damn glad that I made you do this. One lap around New York. Then do it again, and keep doing it. Don't give me that look. You'll thank me one day."
"Still not thanking you damn it!"
Despite my attempt at levity, the stress was getting to me. Running through the dark night, feeling claws smack my armor and split the skin on my arms when I made a bad dodge.
I'd felt fear, and I knew it well. I could push past it, let it fuel me rather than control me. But damn if I wasn't praying for a break as I punched another muzzle and leaped over another massive furred creature wearing the tattered rags of the human he'd once been.
My world was claws, darkness, cold snow, and blood pouring from wounds as muscles burned.
Then, as I rushed into an open space between buildings, I got my break.
Silence. No more roars. I took a breath, listening closely. When I didn't hear anymore beastmen, I reached into my bag and grabbed a Super Potion. Looking around frantically, I rested against a wall and looked over my body.
My clothes had held up well. It was pretty torn up, revealing places where armor lay under the layers of Kevlar, with deep claw marks.
Blood poured from the claws that had hit my bare arms, and I could feel more blood from a wound on my chin. Maybe nine in all, with some deep enough that I could see the white of bone. I held back a scream as the pain that was once held back by adrenaline filled me.
"Fuuuuu—" I cut myself off, instead spraying the contents of the orange bottle in my hand over the wounds. The slight sting of the chemicals inside hitting my exposed wounds was followed by relief. There was still blood, and I was still tired, but at least the wounds were closing, and pain was no longer in the way of my thoughts.
When I looked up, there was a throne in the clearing.
To be clear, there hadn't been one. The 'clearing' was really just a small space at a crossroads of two alleys. And now, in the center, a large throne of the same marble made famous in Greek architecture now sat.
Circe was smirking at me from her seat. She was lounging lazily, one leg over the other as she rested back into the stone. She looked very dramatic, though I had to wonder how comfortable the stone really was.
We started at each other. My face was neutral, though I was anything but. Circe was still smirking, the expression full of confident arrogance.
"Nothing to say, mortal?" Her voice punctured the silence between us like a knife entering a belly.
"…Why do you do that?"
She cocked her head, still smirking. "Do what?"
"Hate on mortals?" I pushed away from the wall behind me. "Seriously. It's kind of cliché."
"Is it now?" She chuckled, her voice filling the air. The fact her body seemed to twist just so as she chuckled drew my eyes to the lines of her form. She really was beautiful. But I kept my appreciation of her in control.
Her eyes met mine as she finished laughing. "I do not hate mortals. I pity them." She sighed slightly. "I was one once. Before I came into true power. I know their fears, their anger, the sadness of their short, pitiful lives."
A beastman came from the shadows behind her. I watched as it came around to reveal it as black panther wearing the tattered remains of a shirt with some sort of logo on it. The former man rested his head under Circe's hand, letting her pet it.
"You see?" She asked, running a hand through ink-black fur. "One little spell, and normal men become the playthings of greater beings." She laughed. "Even you, with your powerful beasts, are ultimately meaningless in the grand scales of the world."
Purple eyes blazing with power met mine. "Mortals like you are meant to serve their betters. Some, like myself, can attain the greatness of the Gods. The rest are cattle, labor, and victims."
She rose to her feet. "I am Circe. I survived the ends of civilizations that existed for millennia. I stood naked against the horrors of existences a thousand times your greater, and made them my power. You stand against me with the favor of beings you should be bowing too, and wish to claim the title that is mine by centuries of conquest."
I met eyes with the Witch as she spoke. "Surrender. Leave this battle. Take your horrendous beasts. And I won't track you down after this battle and turn you into a slave."
They weren't just words. There was finality, a horrendous deadly certainty to her words. The air was filled with power. If I left this village without surrendering, than win or lose I would have made an enemy. An enemy more dangerous than all the rest I'd ever faced in this universe. I'd spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. After a night of hearing men tear through the houses of their loved ones to attack me, I knew full well that Circe could turn my life into living hell.
If I didn't surrender. If I did though…
"So… If I don't surrender." I stroked my chin. "Then you become my enemy."
"Yes."
"…Like a nemesis?"
She blinked at the hopeful tone of my voice. "…Yes?"
"…Well hell. I always wanted a nemesis." Under the fear, I couldn't help but smile when I realized there was honesty to the statement. "I mean, it's sort of a part of superhero rules, that you don't become a real one until you have a nemesis."
"You're mocking me." She had stopped smirking.
"Not as much as you're mocking me." I scowled. "You're asking me to surrender? Do you even understand what is wrong with that statement? No you don't."
I stepped forward. The black panther growled warningly. I glared at it until it shut up and slunk behind its mistress nervously.
"This univers is full of threats that would turn you into charred meat! Beings from beyond creation, armies as numerous as the stars! And I'm not being poetic, I mean this shit literally! God, you've known so much more than other people that you're convinced you can't learn anything else! You can drop as many badass boasts as you want, but when Darkseid comes and smashes your spine across his knee, you'll understand how pathetic we all are."
"You dare—!?"
"No, you dare!" I pointed upwards, yelling as I spoke. "You aren't ready! No one is! I know what is out there, and I'm still terrified! The whole world could step up to the plate, and we'll still die screaming as our minds swear fealty to a being a thousands times beyond us!"
She didn't understand. Hell, I didn't blame her. Even I didn't understand. No matter how many comics I'd read, it didn't compare to standing before a beast who devoured planets and fully understanding the horrers you're about to face.
"But at least I can give us a chance!" I shook my head. "Weapons, allies, and tools. I know where they are, how to get them. You have a lot of power, but that won't be enough. Unless you can tell me you can destroy solar systems. Can you?"
She was no longer listening. She'd already launched a ball of purple flame at me, screaming in rage. The black panter sprinted forward as flames that somehow devoured all light came at my face. Panicking, I stumbled back.
Heatran saved my life. I'd had her Dig beneath the ground to wait for Circe. My plan had been to figure out where she was and use the link to let the others know what was going on. Then the link had disappeared, leaving me with no way of contacting anyone. Thus, I had no way to tell Heatran where I was, and ended up alone with none of my Pokemon.
But now, just before a ball of eldritch flame could turn me to ash, Heatran burst from the ground between me and the fire. She roared as lava flew up around her, the sound shaking the world.
The fire hit her. And disappeared, leaving Heatran to shake off the lava from her body and glare at a shocked Circe and panther beastman.
I laughed. I couldn't help it. When Circe looked at me, I shrugged. "It's not very effective."
Her eyes narrowed, which made me want to laugh again, the way you do it when you feel hope on the horizon.
"So how about it Circe?" I pointed at her. "Our eyes met. That means you have to battle me."
The panther rushed forward.
"Heatran, use Yawn." As I spoke, I leaped over to intercept the panter.
Heatran barked, then, well, yawned. A small cloud of smoke came from her mouth, pink in color. It flew over to hit the panther. He breathed it in, but ignored it otherwise. Then I was in his face. He clawed at me, which I took over one of the plates of armor on my chest, before ducking under a punch from me.
That was enough for the odd smoke to do it's work. He blinked, surprised when lethargy filled his body.
Yawn. A Pokemon move where a small cloud of anesthetic gas is unleashed. It only works slowly, but it has incredible accuracy.
And now it was proving its usefulness. The panther blinked rapidly, growling as it tried to stay up. So I punched in the face a few times.
As the former human fell asleep, I looked over at Circe. She cocked an eyebrow. "No wish to kill your fellow man?" She smirked. "Then I won't give you a choice."
In the shadows around us, eyes began to open. Eyes of all shapes and colors, all glaring at me and Heatran.
"And then I must wonder if your allies will show the same restraint."
I stared around, fists clenching, and Heatran glared around.
"Only until fainting girl!" With that declaration, claws and tooth's descended upon us. Heatran blasted the incoming horde with fire, and I punched a Minotaur in the face.
Help would come. It had to come. We had Circe here. If we took her smug ass out, the whole fight would be over. We just had to survive.
Help would come.
The armor on my chest shattered under a blow. A cut opened on my eyebrow. Heatran roared, soaking a bipedal elephant in fire, but was forced to hold back from killing it, allowing a lion to scratch at her. It didn't do much damage, but a small scratch in her tough red skin opened up.
Help would come.
I wrapped my hands around the face of a crocodilian beastman. We screamed as one while electricity poured into him. I felt blood pour over my face, splilling into my mouth. Fire sprayed all around us, earth exploded, and metal beams of light slammed into beings. It wasn't enough. Surrounded by beastmen that we simply couldn't kill for the sake of the innocent men they'd once been, we were falling apart.
Help would come.
Heatran supported me as she growled. My shock gloves ran out of juice, leaving me with a tough pair of gauntlets. I punched yet another lion beastman, apparently Circe's favorite, and got clawed in the stomach. My armor split under the blow, and pain came from my abdomen. Heatran blasted the lion with a beam of fire, sending him screaming. I ignored him in favor of the eagle beastman that tackled me off Heatran, and focused on pummeling it.
Help would come.
Please.
PYJ
Jirachi flew through the streets, carrying Chansey in a telepathic bubble.
Master was somewhere in the village. And she had to find him.
Chansey was giving her an odd look as Jirachi flew at incredible speed. Jirachi ignored her.
Jirachi would save her Master.
No matter what.
PYJ
PYJ
Kaldur almost killed him. A Beastman attacked, a strange pig dog hybrid. Yet another in a pile.
Until he noticed the jeans hanging on it's legs.
With a flash of will his razor sharp swords went from slashing the beastman's throat to turning into maces that sent the beastman flying back with missing teeth.
"Careful!" Kaldur called out. "They're hum—!"
He stopped and stared. Chesnaught had been fighting alongside him. Now the Green Knight had a clawed fist in one of the beastmen. A beastman who wasn't disappearing.
The beastman, a doglike being, coughed up blood in shock. Chesnaught looked into its eyes, surprised in his own.
Slowly, the dog began to change. Until, finally, a man appeared. He stared, terrified as he choked on his own blood. Slowly, he began to quiet. Until silence came at last, with one final breath heralding it's arrival.
"Che…" Chesnaught dropped the body, horrified.
"…Chesnaught."
Kaldur had no answer for him.
PYJ
Author's Note: Hopefully I conveyed just how sudden the death of that man came to all three of them. Chesnaught was probably one of the three most likely to cause a death, sadly. H'es one of the ones who'd better be able to handle the idea as well, but it's going to shake him.
Also, the gods won't care. The rule of no killing was only for the participants. They don't care about a man dying, or a fatherless family, or a traumatized Pokemon. Just if anyone useful died or not.
Finally I hope I conveyed how everyone is doing well. Wonder Woman and Latias would be fine. Wonder Woman can take out hundred of beastmen, knock them all out, and drink tea all at once. Circe would need to break out a few big weapons to make Diana work for her victory.
Red, on the other hand, is a normal man, with a single Pokemon, trapped against an endless horde that he refuses to kill. I wanted him to get hurt, because that's exactly how it would go down.
Jirachi is looking for her Master. And Chesnaught has killed his first human.
Gonna be a long night.
Also, Zapdos is talking to Zeus. Oh boy oh boy.