Chapter 36

Maria's POV

I walked into Spear Pillar, ignoring the urge to go in and among the pillars to look at the ruins themselves. I could do that later, when the world wasn't in danger. Up ahead, I could hear only silence...

Wait. Silence? Surely Sonic and the others were fighting someone else up here by now. I started to run, in order to see what may have happened.

Thanks to my guard being down, I was grabbed by two grunts from out of nowhere.

"Let go!" I hollered instinctively, trying to shake off their grip. It wasn't much use, though - they were clearly stronger than I was.

Mars and Jupiter came over, huge grins on their faces.

"Well, well, looks like you're going to be next," Mars said with a grin.

I frowned, confused and a little anxious. "Next? Next for what?"

Jupiter pointed to the other end of Spear Pillar. There, Charon stood with a machine and a chained and battered, oddly cyan-furred Lucario, firing off small sequences of red gems...at my friends. Something at the back of my head told me that the red gems were part of the Red Chain...and that this wasn't supposed to happen.

"No!" I yelled. I doubled my efforts to get loose, to try and rescue my friends.

"You aren't getting out of our grip," one of the grunts said with a grin.

I gritted my teeth in response. "Pika! Get out of my backpack and use Thunderbolt on these guys!"

My backpack shifted, and Pika started growling as electricity filled the air. "Thunderbolt!"

The resulting blast got the two grunts, and it tried to get to me, too - I could feel the hair on my arms rise in response to it - but the Thunderbolt was unable to hurt me.

Thank Arceus for IQ Skills.

As the two men collapsed, I glared at the two women in front of me. "You're not going to get away with this," I growled. "Pika!"

"You got it!" he replied. "Thunderbolt!"

"Bronzor, Protect!"

Pika's move bounced off the force field that Mars' and Jupiter's Bronzor had created.

I started to panic. This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to beat Mars and Jupiter with Barry's help, and I was supposed to stop Cyrus on my own! They're are way too powerful and organized to allow me to take them down now.

As I was about to tell Pika one of the last few commands I was probably ever going to make before the world was remade, something at the back of my head clicked. I closed my eyes, and pictures came flooding into my mind. Pictures...that were my memories.

Change in POV

"We have to stop this!" Magenta exclaimed. "I'm not going to sit by while my sister's being mind-controlled!"

"Magenta, their guard is up," Shadow replied. "I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Yes, there is," the human-turned-Mobian replied stubbornly. She slipped out of the group's hiding place and started to approach Team Galactic.

"Wait until the time is right," Shadow said quickly, holding onto her.

Magenta glared at the black hedgehog. "The time is right now! If we strike now, Team Galactic will be stopped!"

"Now, all will and and be reborn!" Cyrus called. "With the Red Chain, I summon Dialga, controller of time, and Palkia, controller of space!"

Maria's POV

I opened my eyes to see that Mars and Jupiter had their backs turned to me as Cyrus used what remained of the Red Chain to summon my friends from the other side of the world. I shuddered to see Dialga, the first Legendary that I had ever recruited, with orange all over his cobalt body, and the sky blue gem in his chest the same color. Palkia had also changed, but he had become a deep red, with his gem the same color, and orange lines all over.

"The Primals..." Pika identified. "Maria, we have to do something! He's going to destroy the world!"

"And we have to stop it," I muttered. I took a step forward, but Sonic and Sally grabbed me. I looked at my old friends and realized that they had changed, thanks to the Red Chain's influence. Now, their fur was completely black, and they didn't have any irises anymore.

"Dark Supers." I frowned, remembering a cartoon that I'd watched years ago, and what had happened to the main character once. Sonic and the other Mobians should have never gone through the same thing.

"This world cannot be molded into the ultimate world I seek!" Cyrus called out. "It is far easier to create a new world without spirit rather than simply change this one into a world where I shall be a deity!"

"No! Chaos Blast!"

There was a sudden explosion from the other side of the Protect. It startled the Bronzor enough to lower its defense, and I caught sight of a magenta-colored Mobian and a Bagon before I sprang into action.

"Pika! Summon him!" I ordered. "Summon Giratina!"

"He's already on his way!" Pika replied. "I saw him through my Exploration Badge. He's coming through the Distortion World!"

I nodded in approval. "Good. Let's do this. You take Jupiter; I've got Mars." My mind is still supplying me with new information; during the battle, maybe I can start to make sense of it.

Sonic and Sally released me without a word, but before Sonic ran off, I snatched the purple Emerald from out of his head quills and stuck it in my backpack with the cyan one.

Mars was really mad at me for the last few times I'd beaten her. Well, surprise surprise, I was planning on beating her again. It didn't matter that the other times I didn't know her as well as I do now; what mattered was freeing my friends.

Change in POV

Brendan pulled out a PokeBall. "Pine! Destroy that machine!" he ordered.

The Sceptile nodded and sent out a shockwave of Grass Energy from the leaves on his arms. It hit the machine dead on, but didn't do anything.

"Looks like we'll have to get physical with our attacks," Black noted. He tossed out a PokeBall of his own. "Go, Jade!"

A green serpent came out of the PokeBall.

"We have to get in close, then unleash a Leaf Blade," Black instructed. "You up for it?"

Jade nodded.

"Then let's go!"

The two Trainers and their Pokemon moved in close, trying to avoid the attacks that came in from the Red Chain'd Pokemon. When they got close enough, Jade and Pine fired off a double Leaf Blade and destroyed the machine, causing it to force a shut down.

"Great job, guys!" Magenta called out. "Now we can free the rest of them!" She started throwing Chaos Spears from a purple-shaded hammer, as a giant blue dragon with red wings watched her from above.

Maria's POV

I glared at Mars and Jupiter, who stepped aside for me and Pika. Suddenly, the whole place went dark as light started to come off of Primal Dialga and Primal Palkia. I knew what was happening immediately, even before Cyrus said it.

"This is the new world...and it's beautiful!"

"Not if I've got anything to say about it," growled a familiar voice in my head. "Spirits! Now!"

Merlin, Jewels, and Lien suddenly appeared around Dialga and Palkia, as a large shadow appeared above us.

"Giratina!" I identified, relieved.

"Greetings, Vulpix," the Legendary of the Distortion World replied. "It is good to see you alive and well." He glared at Cyrus. "To create a world without spirit is something that I would not recommend, boy. Leave off this silly dream!"

There was the sudden sound of something shattering, and I watched in amazement as Team Spirit released Dialga from his bonds. They started to move over to where Primal Palkia was, but Sonic and the others got in the way.

"Now!" exclaimed another familiar voice. I looked over to see Shadow standing next to a Mobians bat and the magenta-furred Mobian I'd seen earlier. They threw out two Emeralds - blue and green - and ran over to the machine I had seen Charon messing around with, which was now smoking.

As the two Emeralds started to circle the controlled Mobians, I realized what they were planning on doing and tossed out my own two as the red one in Knuckles' dreadlocks came out.

Cyrus became confused. "What is this?" he demanded.

"Palkia, ignore the fool," Charon stated calmly. "Summon the man you banished! Summon the Eggman!"

Palkia let out a roar that sounded like he was in pain as he opened up a dimensional rift in front of him. From out of it fell...a man. And this was no ordinary man. He wore black pants that stretched over his shoes, and a strange, red jacket with rectangular buttons on it.

"Great," I growled. "Pika, are you up for a Legendary boss battle?"

"You know it!" Pika replied. "Anything to stop them!"

"Good. Let's get 'em!"

Change in POV

Maria ran at full speed directly at Cyrus and Charon, neither of whom were paying any attention to her.

"Hey, boys!" she shouted. "Take this!"

Her hands were suddenly surrounded by a fiery energy, which took everyone present and control of themselves by surprise.

"Blaze Claw!" she roared, slashing the air in front of her. The fire continued forward...and hit Charon's machine, completely tearing it up even more than when Brendan and Black had attacked it.

An instant later, the yellow and gray Chaos Emeralds joined the rest of the gems already encircling the Mobians, and a bright light came off them. When the light had faded, the Mobians were no longer under the Red Chain's control and were instead transformed: Sonic was his Super form, complete with golden fur and red eyes; Knuckles was pink with red eyes (Hyper); Tails had gained a red cape and his fur had become a deep orange (Turbo); Sally had turned gold, her eyes becoming a robin's egg blue (Super); Amy was now gold, with her emerald eyes becoming a bright pink (Super); Julie-Su had become an extremely bright pink, with red eyes (Hyper); and Scarlet's had become a bright, shining yellow, and her eyes were now a gold color.

"Come on, guys!" Super Sonic called. "We gotta free Palkia!"

"Don't leave me out of it," Shadow shouted back.

Hyper Knuckles laughed. "I gotcha, Shadow." He flew down and grabbed Shadow's shoulder, transferring some of his power into the black hedgehog, who's black fur became a gold-silver. Shadow then grabbed Magenta, who became red with golden eyes.

"Let's go!" Magenta exclaimed, excited.

"You mean 'let's do it to it!' " Maria grinned widely. She started to head over to where Palkia stood, but then Lien appeared beside her.

"I know you'd like to help them, but you've got to fight him," the Mesprit explained, pointing to Cyrus. "We'll take care of Palkia."

Maria nodded. "All right, then." She glared at Cyrus, who was looking a little confused.

"I don't understand!" he exclaimed. "Why did they come and stop me? Why did Mesprit appear beside you? But never mind that! It's all destroyed! My galaxy is gone!"

"And you're going to try again to recreate it." Maria rolled her eyes. "I've heard it all before."

Cyrus glared at her. "And before I try that, I'm going to crush you! Beryl! Midnight!"

The echidna and the hedgehog appeared in front of Maria, but before they could do anything, they were swept away by Scarlet and a pink Mobian bat - obviously, Rouge had a Super form, as well.

"Let's do this the old-fashioned way," Maria replied with a grin. "Pika, let's do this!"

"Right!" the Electric-Type replied.

Cyrus summoned his Honchkrow and told him to use a Dark Pulse, but Pika responded with a Thunderbolt that knocked it into a nearby pillar with one hit. The Gyrados Cyrus brought out was given the same treatment.

Pika huffed. "If that was the same Gyrados from the Miracle Sea, then he's definitely gotten soft."

Cyrus gritted his teeth - probably the first show of real anger that Maria had seen from him. "Weavile! Destroy that mouse!"

"Pika, switch with Luke! We need an Aura Sphere, stat!" Maria threw out the PokeBall, grinning as Pika jumped back and Luke practically exploded out of the PokeBall, slamming an Aura Sphere into the Dark/Ice-Type's face. "Now, pull back!"

"Crobat!" Cyrus brought out his last Pokemon, which Maria didn't even bat an eye at as she brought out Jirachi.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that, somewhere, deep inside, you love your Pokemon just as much as your Crobat loves you? Emotions make you stronger, and it shows through your Pokemon. Zen Headbutt!"

"Con-"

Wham!

Maria nodded in approval as Jirachi flew back to her side, leaving the Crobat collapsed on the ground. "I guess you didn't have as much faith in your Pokemon as they do in you. That's a real shame, because even Giovanni, Maxie, and Archie were much better about their teams than you seem to be." Her eyes narrowed. "You are despicable."