"Is it clear, Fryt?" The wyveon asked upon the return of the whispeon.
"It is, Skayl." The ghost type eevolution responded.
Together with Hayz, the soareon, the three were the only ones who could scale the exterior of the Central Council Building faster than their ground-bound brethren. With the all clear from the incorporeal member, the three entered the Forum Chamber and were astonished at what they found.
Both absol brothers, a zorua, and their own Vanilla lie unconscious on the ground. What astonished them more than that was the sheer level of destruction evident in the room. Pillars of stone erupted through the floor, some of the stonework seemed to have melted in places, and that wasn't counting the general disarray from all of the other superficial damage.
"What happened in here?" Was all Hayz could ask as she dropped down near Vanilla. Miraculously, he was more or less unharmed.
Disregarding the absol for now, Skayl checked on the zorua. "This must be the one Ganna mentioned…" The poor thing was pretty beat up. It didn't look like she was in any danger of dying, but to leave her in this state would be cruel. "Fayd, go find an audino or a chansey for this one. And please make haste, if you would."
"What about these two?" the ghost asked of two absol.
"The others'll be here soon enough, now go!" Skayl repeated.
When they had been released by the loyal servant kangaskahn, the eevolutions had expected a fight, but by the looks of things, the fight had beat them here by a good margin. The only problem was that none of the damage made any sense. Neither of the pups could manage these kinds of attacks, and even the brothers' known attacks didn't account for either the rock-type or the grass-type debris that was present.
"Do you think we'll be okay?" Hayz asked.
"Um, yeah? I'm sure this one'll be fine after she gets a good night of sleep or two." The wyveon proclaimed while gesturing towards the zorua.
"No. That's not it. I was wondering if we could take on whatever it was that did this…" the flying-type said as she gestured around the room.
"What do you mean? You think some other pokemon attacked everyone here and wrecked the place?"
"Well, yeah. Look at it from here…" Hayz suggested as she hovered to the Forum's center. "All of the damage seems to come from here."
Sure enough, there seemed to be an epicenter. But that led to a new question. "Then what's Vanilla doing at the center of it all?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, let's hope he was able to get a good look at it. A pokemon that's that strong is likely not one that we should wish to cross."
The other members arrived in a trickle, based on how practiced they were at traversing the outer ramp. They too had expected a battle, only to find the remains of one. Orders were given to apprehend the absol. Both of them.
It was then that Vanilla managed to break through his exhaustion. "No, not him." He said weakly as they attempted to bind Perihelion. "Not him…"
Before anyone could react to the outburst, Cream broke into the room in a blitz. "Vanilla!?" Word had apparently spread that her son was inside the Forum. Wasting no time, she was at his side in an instant. Picking him up, her embrace was almost enough to threaten asphyxiation. "Oh, Sweetie! I was so worried!"
"…I'm glad you're here, mom." Vanilla attempted through his mother's tight grip. Her hold had managed to knock some of the sleep from him, at any rate.
Cream continued to hold her son until the absol had both been carried out, one of them bound, and the zorua's wounds had been tended to.
Once his friend was confirmed to be safe, Vanilla could finally let his worries fade away.
He was home. Home at last.