Chapter Thirty-Five: The Final Battle Part I

"I dare not land any closer," Reshiram said as his passengers – Alexa, Cecil, Team Courage, Team Misfits, and Team Rebirth – disembarked silently at the outer edge of Chilled Bog. "If I landed on the Battle Grounds themselves, it might put both myself and all of you in danger. I'll circle low above while you all go to search for Kyurem. I don't doubt that with me so close, its hunger will force it out of hiding soon. But you must be careful – though it will likely be located under the icy portions of the island, in reality, it could be anywhere. It might have even suspected that we'd come to fight it."

"We'll be fine," Alexa said with a playful flutter of her wings, though a slight tremor in her voice betrayed her true worry. "Right everyone?"

For a few seconds, no one responded.

"Right," Vulpix eventually said, determination filling her voice. "We'll be fine. All of us."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Alexa said as she winged into the air, circling up high.

"Alexa, where are you going?" Cecil said. "We need to stick together."

"Just making sure you all aren't caked in mud by the time we get to the Battle Grounds," Alexa called back down. "Head a bit off to your left before going into the bog! There's a path of reeds that goes for a ways in, which probably means you won't have to get more than your paws dirty."

Cecil shook his head in frustration as Vulpix led the way in the direction Alexa had indicated. And though Vulpix was less than comfortable with all the water around her, shallow though it was in most places, she was still glad that the course Alexa had found was mostly just a muddy, reed-filled path amidst the chilled pools of swampy grime.

"Hey, everyone?" Vulpix said as she poked her way through the tall reeds, trusting Alexa and the taller pokémon of the teams to warn them of any large danger, and hoping her own senses would detect any smaller, closer threats that could be lurking among the weeds.

"Something you want to say?" Max asked. "If so, we're all ears."

"For sure," Alexa said as she flew in a little lower.

Vulpix took a few more mud-coated steps as she collected her thoughts. Then, she replied, "If I do something out there… I mean, if Kyurem gets a hold of me and starts controlling me, then I don't want you guys to hold back. Fight me with everything you've got. Even if-"

"Don't you go there," Bulbasaur warned. "It won't have to go that far, because I know you. You won't let Kyurem in."

"But if you do get all mind controlled, I'll certainly be happy enough to kick some sense back into you," Lisa chimed, with perhaps more relish than was absolutely necessary. "At least, if I'm not too busy with this Kyurem guy."

For the briefest of moments, Alexa landed on the furry crown of Vulpix's head before flapping upward again. "But personally, I'm with Bulbasaur on this one. No way Kyurem'll be able to get you. We're all gonna be fine. You said so yourself."

Vulpix smiled as she pushed onward. "I know, I know. Just needed a reminder. Thanks, Alexa."

"That's what I'm here for. Moral support. And eye-in-the-sky. And maybe a distraction, too, if ya' need it. Not exactly good for much else," she said as she spiraled once more towards the grey, overcast skies.

From her perch on Zeke's back, Kara called out, "We sure Reshiram's still somewhere up there above the clouds? Sure he didn't just ditch us here?"

"I trust him well enough," Max offered. "Cody?"

"Guess so," Cody said. "But I got kinda dragged along on this whole thing and everything, so don't blame me if it turns out we shouldn't be trusting him."

"Squirming out of things, as usual," Ryan said as he stepped lightly through the bog, for once purposefully doing his best to avoid getting dirty in the cold mud. "You should really buck up for once. Be a real 'mon."

Annoyed, Cody splashed some mud on Ryan, dirtying his own tail in a rather bad attempt at making it seem an accident.

Ignoring the ensuing mudfight between the two pokémon, Kuro asked, "So long as we're asking the humans, what about you, Cecil and Alexa? What do you think of Reshiram?"

"He's awesome, of course!" Alexa said. "Wish I could fly that fast! That ride over here was something else entirely!"

Cecil shook his head. "I don't doubt that he means well, but… He was much too ambiguous about what he will and won't be able to do during the battle. Maybe he'll be able to win it for us, or maybe we'll have to rely on ourselves."

"And you, Vulpix?" Aiden asked. "You trust Reshiram, don't you?"

Vulpix nodded, glancing back at the much larger fire-type who'd addressed her. "Definitely. He'll do whatever he can to defeat Kyurem, and to get us all out of this in one piece."

As Cody shook the cold mud from his pelt, the mudfight over, he commented, "Yeah, yeah. You and your infinite trust. One of these days, it'll get you hurt."

"It already nearly did," Vulpix replied, thinking of Streya, as well as the bodiless voice that had stalked her last days and weeks as a human. "I've learned my lesson."

The group soon broke down into smaller conversations to try to ward off thoughts of what was to come, but for a while, Vulpix led on in silence, Bulbasaur walking at her side but just a tad behind her. Every now and then, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but every time he closed it again without uttering a word.

Eventually, Vulpix, without turning her head or looking at him at all, said, "I never told you my real name, did I? It just… it's like I said before. It doesn't feel like it's mine anymore. And I don't want it to be mine anymore, not if it means acknowledging who I was as a human. You don't mind, do you? I guess I'm probably being silly, so-"

"It's fine," Bulbasaur said. "Really, it's fine. You're Vulpix to me, and you always will be."

She didn't respond. Then, still without looking at him, she continued, "But you know… I'm not sure how much of this is coincidence or what, but when we first met, you said that I held myself like a princess." Unlike the one other time she had acknowledged this conversation, she spoke of it this time as fact, without shame and with perhaps just a hint of nostalgia tinting her voice softer. "I didn't appreciate the compliment then. I thought you were mistaken. But I remember now that my human name, well… it meant princess. Or something close to it. And somehow, even back then, you knew that, or you got it by coincidence or something, but… I think this entire time, maybe you've known me better than even I could know me."

"If that's the case, then you need to believe me this time when I say that you're definitely gonna fight Kyurem and win," Bulbasaur said. His voice becoming quiet, he added, "Because… I can tell. You're trying to keep up a confident face for everyone else, but… You think you're going to die, or be taken by Kyurem, which is worse. And you can't let that happen. Even if you're willing to go to your death to save this world… Please, just think of me for a minute. I know it's selfish, but Vulpix, I just… I don't know what I'd do if you were gone."

Tears were flooding his eyes, but to his credit, not a single one leaked out.

She still kept her eyes focused on the reeds ahead of her, but she nodded. "All right. I'll try to-"

The shrill, piercing whistle of something cutting through the air far above the ground-bound pokémon's heads, cutting off Vulpix midsentence; no one saw the source of the noise. But all of them heard the gasp the followed as soon as the whizzing noise was cut off, a tiny little cry that still somehow seemed loud enough to reach the far corners of the bog. And all looked up in time to see the seemingly miniscule figure of Alexa plummet to the ground, her wings flapping only once or twice before she gave in to the inexorable pull of gravity, falling unhindered into the waters of the swamp.

And with the grey sky as background, not one of them could miss the streamer of blood that trailed after Alexa, a messy streak of crimson paint against the cold, uncaring sky.

Cecil was the first to dash from the group, slicing reeds out of his way in his rush towards where Alexa had fallen. Vulpix, Bulbasaur, Aiden, Kuro, and Lisa followed in the next heartbeat, Vulpix once again at the head of this group despite the fear that choked her, knowing that each step she took could send her tumbling into one of the bogs' deeper pools rather than the paw-deep water she was currently charging through.

The rest of the group looked at each other for a few seconds, then followed more reluctantly; Cody took the lead, shouting, "Guys, wait up! This could be a trap, and-"

"I know!" Vulpix shouted. "All the more reason we can't let Cecil and Alexa face it alone!"

Cody sighed, but Max suddenly picked up his pace.

"Vulpix is right," Max said as he zoomed forward, talking as much to himself as to the others around them. "Whatever happens now, we face it together!"

Cody shook his head, but knew he couldn't argue, with either Max or what he felt was necessary deep down. He and Isola exchanged a glance, and she took just a moment to let him and Ryan on her back before charging ahead at her top speed.

Cecil was first to find the bird's small body, so light that the reeds had caught it before letting it hit the ground. When the rest of the group surrounded him – muddy, cold, and in some cases, afraid or angry – they saw Alexa held up delicately atop his scythes, the feathers on her chest stained the same bright crimson they had seen taint the sky. At the base of the upwelling of blood, a shard of clear ice poked out, the bulk of it no doubt buried deep within her chest.

At first they all thought she was dead, but then she shifted a bit and opened her eyes, looking up at Cecil. "Well, sorry 'bout this," she murmured, her words disjointed and difficult to hear, though the wind in the reeds was the only sound competing with her. "Guess… Fate really musta been jealous of a couple… as cute as us, huh?"

Cecil didn't say a word, but tears were flowing freely from his eyes as he stood there with her cradled in the cruel, unloving scythes that Fate had chosen to give Cecil instead of hands. Of the pokémon present, it was Ryan who now began to panic, saying that they had to stop the bleeding, they had to get back to a guild healer now. But Cody and Isola both gave him a glance that shut him up quickly.

Cecil paid Ryan's rambling no mind, his gaze trained steadily on the dying pokémon he held. "Alexa, I'm so-" a sob choked the statement off halfway, and Cecil was forced to repeat. "I'm sorry. This is twice now. Twice… I couldn't…"

Alexa shifted, the flow of blood momentarily increasing, though it was still little more than a trickle now; her tiny body was already running dangerously low on that liquid of life. "Stop it," she said, now too quiet for anyone but Cecil to hear. "Your tears… They're falling on me. I'm already cold… cold enough. I'm okay, I'm just… cold."

She shifted once more, bringing her wings in more tightly to her chest, as if trying to ward off the great cold that only she could feel. A few seconds passed with her huddled in Cecil arms, desperately trying to return to the warmth, trying to get closer to Cecil's chest, where his own heart still beat, strong and warm.

Then her body relaxed. A wing slipped out of place, and her head fell, beak hitting the metal of the scythe beneath it; the metal reverberated like the death knoll of a bell, rolling over each of the observers and hitting them all like a blow with its audible finality.

"I couldn't stop Kyurem from killing her. Twice," Cecil said, his voice loud but wavering precariously, like a boulder perched at the top of a cliff. "Why?"

"We're… We're sorry, Cecil," Max said, trying to be soothing.

"I don't care if you're sorry!" Cecil shouted at him, but without looking away from the body he still held so delicately in his scythes, as if he were afraid he'd break it. "I want to know why!"

"There is no why!" Cody suddenly shouted, his fur bristling as he stood atop Isola's back. "Okay? There is no reason. Or if there is, it's Kyurem. He's scared of us, or he wants to antagonize us, wants to throw us off, or-"

Suddenly, Cecil and Vulpix – the two closest to the edge of the patch of weeds the group was currently standing in – looked out of the clumps of marsh grass, across the expanse of shallow water that stretched out next to them. Everyone else missed the small, dark shape they saw retreating into the reeds opposite them. They missed the flash of red of the feathery headdress-like ornamentation, were oblivious to the brief flash of its long, white claws, and didn't catch the slight sheen of unnaturally frost-covered fur.

And before anyone knew it, both Cecil and Vulpix were off, dashing without thought towards where the shape had disappeared, chasing after the motion they now saw in the reeds ahead. Anger and rage and fear filled both of their eyes in different ways: Cecil's tumult of raw emotions bubbled up as he ran with Alexa's body still held against his own, while Vulpix's older, but more focused grudge drove her on alongside him.

The pokémon they chased was no longer a sneasel. The weavile that ran ahead of them was now surely nothing but a puppet, without anything of the biting, vicious personality that had so characterized her before now. But both Vulpix and Cecil recognized Streya nonetheless. Both knew the blow that had killed Alexa had to have been her ice shard attack. And if either guessed that what was happening now had to be a trap, they paid no heed and continued their chase, oblivious to all but the shadow that always stayed just ahead of them.

"H-hey!" Bulbasaur shouted as, after a couple seconds of shock, he began to run after them. "Vulpix, stop!"

Everyone else joined in the chase as well, all now hyperaware of how exposed they were, how one of them had already died, how they were now getting nearer and nearer to the glacier-filled part of the Battle Grounds as they ran through the bog, and how Vulpix and Cecil were still charging blindly on despite all this.

Though the weavile was fast, Cecil and Vulpix were gaining ground, slowly pulling farther and farther away from the rest of their group and ever closer to the fleeing figure. As they neared the glaciers and the muddy bottom of the bog became more solid, they didn't so much as notice how unnaturally cold the water at their feet was becoming. They pulled closer and closer, until – of all things – the weavile slipped, falling into the mud.

Cecil zoomed right past, carried on by his momentum; but Vulpix, somewhat farther behind, had enough time to react and pounce, holding Streya face-down in the muddy, paw-deep water. But as she did, the frost melted from Streya's weavile body and she shrunk, diminishing into a sneasel that seemed smaller and more pathetic than the sneasel she once had been.

At the sight of her old form, Vulpix felt the fire rising up inside her, so much that it hurt to hold it back. In the past, Streya had tricked her, antagonized her, and chased her and Bulbasaur without giving them a moment's rest; but even all that Vulpix wouldn't have killed for. But up until that ice shard, Alexa had been doing her all to keep them all upbeat, to remind them that they could win, even though Alexa herself was almost undoubtedly the least prepared for the battle ahead.

"Any minute now, I'm not going to be able to hold this flamethrower back," Vulpix whispered, letting up a little so that the sneasel could turn her head sideways and breathe a bit. "Why shouldn't-"

But Streya wasn't listening. The moment she'd turned her mud-covered face to the air, she had started laughing, her voice weak and yet somehow all the more malicious because of it.

"The Lord of Ice never took my Spirit because he knew I was more useful as myself. Even when I found him here in the glacial caverns, he beat me and left me to die… And then you found me. We met for the first time."

As Streya broke out into another laugh, Vulpix suddenly found Cecil back at her side. "Move aside," he said, anger just barely concealed behind a veneer of calm. "Let me kill her before the others catch up with us."

But Vulpix didn't move; she was transfixed by Streya's words as the sneasel continued, "Even when the Lord of Ice took control, he didn't take my Spirit. he thought maybe, I could be one last…" the smile on Streya's face suddenly grew, stretching to each of her suddenly wide-open, bloodshot eyes. "…one last distraction. And now that I've done my job, my Spirit belongs to him."

Vulpix felt the body beneath her go completely limp and the head fell back into the muddy waters, not a single bubble rising to indicate even the faintest hint of a breath.

And, all of a sudden, a blast of pure, windless cold came from the glaciers ahead, instantly chilling everyone to the bone – not just Cecil and Vulpix, but all those in the group behind them as well, though they were still several dozen feet away. The force of the chill would have been enough to knock them off their feet; yet all the mud and water that they stood on and that coated their bodies had frozen immediately, holding them firmly in place. Even the larger pokémon such as Aiden and Zeke were stuck, since their own weight had forced their paws farther down into the mud with every step.

"Hey, what gives?" Lisa asked, her own small body frozen up to her hips.

"Not good, not good," Cody said as he and Ryan got off of Isola's back, after shaking off the worst of the stiffened ice and mud from their fur; they, along with Kara, were the only ones not stuck in the ground. "I don't like this… Guys, hurry up and get out!"

"Easier said than done," Vulpix shouted back at them, having just tried to melt the ice around her own feet with a flamethrower. "It's refreezing as fast as I can melt it. Aiden, Kuro?"

Both looked up from their own efforts, fur bristling. "Same," Kuro confirmed.

"I don't care, just let me at that sneasel!" Cecil shouted at Vulpix as he glared at the body almost completely buried beneath the ice.

"She's already dead," Vulpix said. "And so is Alexa. Attacking a dead sneasel isn't going to bring Alexa back to life."

Cecil looked down at the small, lifeless body still held against his body by one of his scythes. And at that moment, a rumbling suddenly shook the ground, and a nearly deafening cracking noise came from the glaciers ahead.

"Listen, if you need to take out your anger still," Vulpix said, not taking her eyes off the large, dark rift that had opened in the nearest wall of ice, "then take it out on who's really responsible. Because right now, the two of us are right in the line of fire."

Another cracking noise cut through the air as the chasm opened ever wider and Vulpix caught sight of two eyes glinting in the darkness.

"Now would be a great time for Reshiram to get his big flaming butt down here!" Kara said as she, Cody, and Ryan all scurried up to the front, placing themselves just ahead of Vulpix and Cecil.

"So you did bring Reshiram?"

The voice rumbled out of the chasm, a deep, hollow voice, like someone speaking from far within a bottomless pit. And as it spoke, the creature in the glacier advanced until, finally, it emerged into the dim greyness of the outside, illuminated in all its monstrous grotesqueness.

It was quite unlike any pokémon any of them had seen, completely lopsided and asymmetrical. One arm seemed to be made of ice, while the other was a brutish black and electric blue appendage, not entirely unlike what some of them knew Zekrom to once look like; the head, likewise, was half icy and half black; the wings matched the arms, yet were almost comically small in comparison, not even half their length; and the tail was thick and dragonish, though deep within its core, dim sparks of blue electricity flared as if struggling for life.

"I need him," the monster, Kyurem, said as it half walked, half crawled forward, using its overly bulky arms to stabilize itself as it stumbled forward across the bog of ice, slowly moving closer to where Vulpix and Cecil were frozen in place. "He'll join with Zekrom and I – we will be whole again. I hunger… I shall hunger no more."

"Well, you're gonna have to go through us first!" Cody shouted out, uncharacteristically bold.

Ryan shot him a confused look, but Cody just smiled and looked up.

No one else had a chance to look up and see what Cody was so happy about, though they all found out nonetheless; in another moment, Kyurem was engulfed in white-hot flames. As Kyurem's roar of pain filled the air, everyone found themselves able to move once more, the bog turning to slush around their feet. Either the heat from Reshiram's flames was enough to melt it even from afar, or the distraction was enough for Kyurem to lose his concentration and release his icy grip.

But before anyone could think of what to do next, another roar joined Kyurem's as Reshiram suddenly spiraled to the ground, changing his course just enough so that he crashed not into Kyurem itself, but into the glaciers just beyond, sending fragments the size of Aiden splintering off and shattering against the ground below.

"Reshiram, what happened?" Vulpix shouted as she watched Kyurem warily, though at the moment, it was struggling to even right itself once more.

Reshiram shook himself, getting to his feet. "I… I could feel the attack. I can't fight Kyurem. Zekrom is in there, and Zekrom and I are one. I can't fight it directly, not with my fire, at least." Reshiram opened his wings and, shakily at first, but then more strongly, began to circle low above Kyurem's head, just out of the monster's reach. "But it can't fight me, either."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Max called up as he and the others regrouped with those nearest to Kyurem.

"Fight Kyurem. Get Zekrom out of there – I'll be fine so long as I'm not the one doing the attacking," Reshiram said. "Until Zekrom is removed from this, Kyurem and I are at an impasse."

"Why must we fight at all?" Kyurem asked, finally on its feet, though for now it stayed where it was, moving only its eyes as it stared hungrily at the circling Reshiram. "I don't want to hurt anyone," it said, monotone. "I'm just hungry… So, so hungry… So, so cold…"

Its eyes glazed over and it turned to look at the ragtag group of pokémon, though still it did not move from its position. And as it watched them, it said only one word.

"Vulpix."

Everyone turned to see Vulpix clearly struggling against some unseen force, the necklace she wore quite suddenly a collar once again. And it was slowly but visibly growing outwards, crystals sprouting from the necklace base and freezing her fur.

Before anyone could stop her, she shoved her way to the front of the group and fired off a fire blast, even from this distance managing to hit Kyurem on its icy arm. The monster stumbled backwards as if stung, cradling its arm.

"I don't belong to you!" Vulpix shouted at him. "So get out of me already!"

Kyurem took a step forward, saliva flowing from its mouth. "I've already tasted your Spirit. You gave it to me. It is rightfully mine."

The ice of the collar spread suddenly, reaching up to the base of her ears, back to her shoulder blades, and covering her chest.

"My Spirit belongs to me, and only me!" she said, and the frost once again receded, though only somewhat. For Bulbasaur's sake and for the sake of this world, I can't lose control of myself now!

Everyone was at a loss of what to do. Kyurem was staying put, so they didn't attempt to attack yet; but the ice was still growing at Vulpix's neck, despite her occasional successes at forcing it back. Max looked up and, like anyone else, could see Reshiram still circling. Yet he noticed something else. A faltering flap of the wings here, the occasional sputtering of the tail flame that otherwise stayed brightly illuminated.

Reshiram… He's being attacked, too! Through Vulpix! If we don't do something…

Max cast one last glance to Vulpix, struggling as she was against her necklace.

I can't hesitate. Maybe I've never been able to be brave enough to save anyone before… But now, I will be!

Without consulting anyone, he charged forward, wings flapping as he ran, as if he could somehow take flight if he only tried hard enough. Kyurem seemed surprised for a moment and lashed out wildly with his uninjured arm, but the blow went far above Max's head, allowing him to continue in, building up the power of the first attack he'd learned as a pokémon. He released the ancientpower when he was literally right under Kyurem, hitting the titan in the bottom of its jaw before dodging back away, just out of reach.

"Reshiram, are you all right?" Max shouted out as the increasingly clumsy Kyurem lashed out at him once more but, overextending itself, fell over in the process.

Reshiram shook himself midair. "Yes, I'm fine, but he's trying to get to me through Vulpix!" he shouted. "You all have to keep it distracted until we figure out how to release Zekrom from it! It's still off balance from having only Zekrom in it – just be careful and you'll be fine! And Vulpix, you get out of there!"

Everyone looked at each other in one last moment of solidarity before the charge. Everyone, that is, except for Lisa, who was already charging in for the attack.

"Well, no sense letting her have all the fun, right team?" Ryan said to Isola and Cody in the brief moment before the three of them hurried after her to help.

"And we've gotta help Max!" Zeke said as he led the charge for Team Courage, sparks trailing off behind him.

Vulpix, no longer so visibly strained despite the ice still creeping out from her collar, was left with Bulbasaur, who as of yet refused to leave her side, as well as with Cecil, who seemed less afraid of battle than he was conflicted about what to do with the body he still carried, the body of the one person he had come all this way for.

"So, Vulpix, are we running?" Bulbasaur asked.

Vulpix shook her head. "I can't. Even if they're distracting Kyurem now, the ice is still growing. If I don't fight, it'll grow faster. Got my back?"

Bulbasaur grinned. "Always."

"And you, Cecil?" Vulpix asked.

He looked down at Alexa, his gaze numb.

Vulpix nodded to him. He's lost his whole reason for being here. "We need you, but…" She trailed off, then ran off towards the battle, closely followed by Bulbasaur.

Cecil watched numbly as Team Rebirth dove straight into the battle, weaving into the action as if they'd been there from the beginning, dodging and attacking. Kyurem almost immediately locked onto Vulpix, but she was almost better off that way; all its attacks fell short or went wide, putting those around her in more danger than herself.

Though Kyurem roared in pain each time someone landed an attack on it, it didn't slow down at all, lashing out just as powerfully as ever. Aiden, the largest target, inevitably was hit, followed soon by others. Cody was scraped by a glancing blow from the tail; Kara and Ryan kicked away in one of Kyurem's many missteps; Zeke stunned after being caught in Kyurem's grasp and thrown back into the bog a ways. They each took their blows and, after only a moment's rest, returned to the battle to do their part. Yet Cecil continued to just stand and watch from a distance.

"Reshiram!" Vulpix shouted upward when she got a free moment, backing up from the action. But before she could say whatever she meant to say, she realized she'd misjudged Kyurem's reach, and for once, its attack landed, knocking her back.

To most of those battling, it was just another minor setback; they knew she would be back on her feet in no time, assuming she wasn't too fazed by the blow. Bulbasaur was the only one to pause mid-battle to make sure she was all right.

And as soon as he did, he immediately abandoned the battle with Kyurem. "Vulpix! Look out!" he shouted, running as fast as he could, trying to outpace the sawsbuck he now saw running towards his fallen partner. "It's Emma!"

Vulpix lifted her head, but was still too busy coughing up mud and catching her breath to get to her feet properly.

She must have been hiding this whole time, in the reeds somewhere, Vulpix thought, looking at the mud that clung to the sawsbuck's icy pelt. I've got to dodge or run or fight or something!

Vulpix tried to get to her feet, and managed the action only when it was too late. Icy energy was forming between the oncoming sawsbuck's antlers, and in another moment, the ice beam would launch and undoubtedly hit its stunned target.

If the ice beam hits… Will it just injure me, or will it encourage the necklace?

There was no time to think about it further. The ice beam launched and hurtled through the air towards Vulpix with deadly accuracy. It was only at the last minute that Cecil, who had seen Emma coming even before Bulbasaur, finally stepped in, blocking the beam with his free blade.

Without dropping Alexa's body, he charged forward and met Emma head on, slashing out at her with his free scythe and meeting one of the icy antlers, the sound of ice on steel grating the air. He dodged the energy ball she mustered and attacked with another slash, grazing her side. As Vulpix and Bulbasaur watched while the other pokémon continued their battle with Kyurem, it was hard to say which of the two combatants was more emotionless in battle. Emma, puppet that she was, was the obvious choice, and yet Cecil betrayed no anger now, no sadness, no thirst for revenge. He seemed the same as when Team Rebirth had first fought him: a pokémon made only for the battle itself, caring about nothing outside of victory.

Only the limp body of a pidgey held constantly, even throughout the battle, told them that the Cecil who fought for them now was unimaginably different from the one they had fought against back then.

But soon, Alexa's presence was his undoing. Unable to raise his other scythe to block, there was nothing he could do to stop one of the sharp antlers from swinging into his torso just between his shoulders, impaling him fully on one of the tines.

Yet before he would give in – before he could finally give himself over to death and join the pokémon he still held against his side – he landed one last blow, swinging his free scythe down on the antlers at their thickest point, where they sprouted from Emma's head like trees from the ground. Bits of metal and ice rained down from the point of contact as both scythe and antlers broke under the force, stunning the sawsbuck so profoundly that, for a moment, Vulpix was certain she saw something of Emma's Spirit in her eyes as she backed up, throwing her head back and forth as if attempting to shake off Kyurem's control.

"Bulbasaur, warn me if she comes at us again!" Vulpix said as she ran over to where Cecil had fallen into the mud, one of Emma's broken horns still stuck in his chest. Though he was dying, he still held Alexa against his body; only the tip of one of her wings had gotten muddy when he'd fallen.

"Cecil, just don't move," Vulpix urged. "If I take out the antler, I can close the wound, or-"

"Maybe…" Cecil muttered.

Vulpix paused. Realistically, she knew he didn't have a chance; the least she could do was listen to what he had to say. I don't want anyone else to die, but… There's nothing I can do. There's nothing any of us can do for Cecil now.

"If you defeat Kyurem, if you open the door back to our world…" Cecil muttered. "Maybe… We've died once and come back to life. Maybe…" his mouth continued to move, but his words were too faint to make out.

"…maybe you'll both find your way back to your world. Together," Vulpix finished for him as she watched the last breath leave his body, instinctually knowing both what he wanted and that there wasn't a chance that it could happen. Right now, death was death. There was no fragment of Kyurem guiding their souls anywhere, no way for them to find their way back, even if their Spirits somehow lived on past the death of their physical bodies, as before. "You'll definitely find your way back. And I'll make sure it happens," Vulpix lied as she saw the last breath leave his body. "And in order to do that..."

"Vulpix, watch it!" Bulbasaur said as he sent a volley of razorleafs over Vulpix's head, slowing but not stopping Emma, who was once again advancing on Vulpix.

There was a roar from Kyurem in its own nearby battle, and some instinct caused Vulpix to deviate from her usual attack strategy. Instead of putting more distance between herself and Emma before continuing the battle with ranged attacks, she instead charged at Emma, liquid flame spilling from her mouth as she leapt up and bit down on the sawsbuck's neck, refusing to let go.

The her mouth was too small and her bite too weak to do much damage in itself, the attack nonetheless kept her off the ground when the reason for Kyurem's most recent roar came to fruition: like before, the entire bog froze over as a wave of freezing cold radiated out from Kyurem, glaciating the bog in an instant. For a moment, even Emma was forced to pause due to her hooves being frozen in the ground, though some trick of Kyurem's let her slip out of the ice soon enough to continue her attempt to throw Vulpix off.

Vulpix knew she could only hold on for so long, and so she dropped strategically in order to land as far away from Emma as possible while still ending up on her feet, though she found it difficult to keep her footing on the solid field of ice that the bog had become. She took one glance when she heard Reshiram's roar as the legend rejoined the battle, intending to melt the bog once more; and she saw what would have been the saving, melting blast of fire blocked midair by a blast of lightning from Kyurem.

Reshiram's just trying to melt the bog without Kyurem getting in the way, and everyone else is still frozen… Guess it's just me and Emma, Vulpix thought, aware of how little she could move her head now; the ice had once again crept up her neck, making it difficult though not impossible to move it. But this is the chance we've been waiting for! If I can hold out for long enough to bring Emma to her senses, then Zekrom will be freed!

"Emma! Is that you?" Kara's voice came across the ice towards them as the galvantuala finally caught sight of what was happening outside of the battle of blocking between Kyurem and Reshiram.

Emma paused for a moment at the sound of Kara's familiar voice, and Vulpix saw her chance. Darting in closer, Vulpix loosed a close-range fire blast, hitting Emma in the chest.

"Kara, keep talking!" Vulpix managed to shout out before Emma recovered and attacked with an ice beam; Vulpix dodged so that the beam only grazed her shoulder. But just that little graze was enough to make things worse for Vulpix. As she tried to move, she found her whole left foreleg was suddenly almost completely inflexible, covered in a thin layer of ice.

I have to end this, and fast! I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out!

Vulpix launched another fire blast, but the ball of fire she managed was inaccurate, missing Emma completely as the sawsbuck readied another ice beam. Lacking any way to dodge more gracefully, Vulpix threw herself to the ground and managed to miss that attack. But Emma was soon ready with another one, and as soon as Vulpix had managed to get herself off the ground, the second attack hit her in the back, freezing her further and spreading the ice across her back and to the top halves of the rest of her legs.

"Vulpix!" Bulbasaur shouted. "Vulpix, you can do it!"

Vupix tightened her focus. I have to. For Bulbasaur. But… Can I really? Without overheat, can I do it? It's the most daring attack, the one that would get through to Emma the best… but it leaves me too wide open. I'm not sure if I could do it and still hold back the ice.

The next ice beam Vulpix sniped in midair with a flamethrower, the two attacks colliding and filling the air with steam. Vulpix could no longer see Emma in the sudden, volatile fog, but she could still hear her hooves against the ice; she shot off a fire blast in that direction, the steam in that area dissipating as the superheated fire cut through it and right into the sawsbuck's side.

"Emma, you've got to wake up!" Vulpix said. "I never met you in real life, but you have a friend, Kara, who came all this way to save you! And all of us want you back to your senses, out of Kyurem's control!"

"She's got that right!" Kara shouted. Stuck in the ice just like the rest, this was the best she could do to help her friend. "And I'm sure not going to forgive you if you hurt anyone else right now! You're better than that! You came to our valley and got yourself hurt rather than walk away and let us be tortured by those bullies!"

Emma faltered, tripping and falling to her knees, but any breakthrough she was having was short lived. A roar echoed out from Kyurem as it shouted, "She is mine! You're both mine!"

Vulpix felt the ice creep further down her legs, as well as up her tail and towards her eyes. And she saw Emma getting up once more, the glazed, frost-covered eyes once again veiling any human soul that was trapped deep within them.

Vulpix took a deep breath, stoking the flame within her as high as it could go and relenting. The ice is too much. I can't dodge anymore, and I… I can't fight off Kyurem. Not for much longer. The fire within her grew as she accepted what was to come, as well as what she had to do. In that case… Well, I've got to make this overheat count!

Fire flooded her entire body with pain, her inner flame stoked as it was. But she didn't mind; if anything, she appreciated the sensation. It meant she was still her, still in control of her own actions, still ready to do whatever it took to save this world, to save Reshiram and Zekrom, and – most importantly – to save Bulbasaur.

She just barely held the fire back as she pushed it higher, feeding it with her own determination. And she continued to hold it back as she watched a sphere of icy energy forming above Emma's head, in the space between where her antlers should have been. Vulpix held back the fire as long as she could, and then, at the very last moment before Emma could launch her ice beam, she finally released it.

The heat coursed through Vulpix's body and out her mouth, as if her body was only a channel, the means of conveying this greater fire to where it was most needed. As if she were a weapon that could be easily replaced if the heat that now ripped through her body burned her up entirely. Ignoring the pain, she held the beam of fiery energy right on course, keeping it steadily trained right on Emma's chest even as the sawsbuck staggered backward due to the force of it.

And Vulpix kept that overheat dead-on for as long as her breath out could last, despite the burning of her mouth and the blackness that was creeping in around the corners of her vision. She kept the attack going for what seemed like ages, so concentrated on it that she was completely oblivious to the pained shout of Kyurem that continued for the attack's duration.

But then it was gone. Vulpix's vision cleared as she collapsed to the ice beneath her, possessing only enough energy to lift her head and see what she had done. Ahead of her, the sawbuck was melting away so that, in seconds, only a deerling with a burnt ear remained; and off at the larger battle nearer to the glaciers, blue sparks flew through the air as one pokémon – a majestic black pokémon that rivaled Reshiram in size – seemed to slide out from Kyurem, leaving only a grey, disheveled but menacing dragon of ice behind.

But better than any of that – better than the fact that Reshiram had kept any of the others from getting hurt, better than the heat from Zekrom's electricity that was warming the ice and allowing everyone to move again, better than Emma finally being a deerling again – was the sensation Vulpix felt, a sensation of lightness and mobility and warmth. Though her nerves felt almost numbed by the earlier pain, she could feel no ice anywhere on her; if the necklace remained, it was so small that she could no longer feel it hanging at her neck.

The overheat… It burned away the ice on both of us, Vulpix thought as she sunk down a bit, the ice beneath her melting away, turning back into bog. It's gone. The ice is gone. I'm exhausted, I can't even move because I'm so tired, but… Did I do it? Is that it? Will Reshiram and Zekrom…?

Something else was happening to the legends. Zekrom, free now though she was, seemed to be going out of control, lightning radiating out from her and putting all those around her – Reshiram, Kyurem, and even the farther away Team Courage and Team Misfits – in danger. Though the sparks rapidly seemed to be diminishing in power as Zekrom gained control of herself, Reshiram in turn seemed to be growing more unstable, plumes of flame leaping out from his tail and leaking from his mouth.

And past it all, Vulpix saw Kyurem backing away so as to avoid the heat and electricity. And yet the monster's eyes were trained not on Reshiram and Zekrom. Instead, Kyurem met Vulpix's gaze, its misshapen mouth agape in what seemed to Vulpix to be a frightening, victorious smile.

Vulpix's vision began to dim again, and she knew something was wrong. In direct contrast to her earlier overheat attack, she felt cold lacing her veins and covering her body, radiating out from the necklace she realized still clung to her neck like a noose. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw frost coat her paws; she turned her head and saw that, already, her little vulpix body was completely encased, from her still crumpled tails to the tip of her nose. She saw Reshiram and Zekrom rushing towards her, flying just above the ground, as if they could save her if only that could reach her just a bit faster.

"You left yourself wide open," Kyurem's voice rung out; Vulpix could no longer tell if the voice was external, or simply in her head. "You let down all your defenses in order to land that one attack. You took the other hero from me, but until I get her back, this is better. I couldn't eat her Spirit. She never gave herself over to me. But now… Now I shall finally taste the human soul!"

They won't make it in time, Vulpix thought and, turning her attention from Reshiram and Zekrom, she used the last of her strength to turn her head to Bulbasaur, who was at her side, watching her with tears in his eyes. His mouth was moving, and he seemed to be shouting something at her, but she could no longer hear him.

Despite the stiffening ice, Vulpix forced an apologetic smile to her face. "Sorry, Bulbasaur," she said, quietly. "Guess I'm not as strong as you believed I was."

She wanted to resist more, to fight, to not let Kyurem get to her no matter what. But in the end, Kyurem was right; she'd spent herself both physically and mentally on that last attack, and what resistance she might have put up seemed itself frozen.

I don't want to leave… I don't want to die!

Blackness filled her vision and she felt herself sinking down, ever colder, closer and closer to Kyurem's emptiness, and her Spirit squirmed and fought like a caterpie caught in a pidgeot's talons, a caterpie conscious of just how little it could do against the hunger-driven power of the pokémon it was held by.

Bulbasaur… No! I don't want to leave you!

And then she was gone. No more pain or fear or struggling, no more guilt for who she was and no more love for the partner who had done everything he could for her. She was gone, wholly and entirely, consumed by the emptiness.

Bulbasaur didn't move from where he was as he continued to shout at Vulpix, calling for her to come back. Calling and calling until his voice was hoarse, calling out even as the ice glowed and Vulpix changed and grew, her dim orangey fur lengthening and whitening with ice, her scraggly tails unfolding and splitting into even longer, more jagged tails, her face narrowing into something more demonic. And he kept on calling to her even as her eyes iced over, though what happened to her eyes not like the frosty glaze that had covered the eyes of Emma and Cody. Rather, it was as if her eyes were in their entirety suddenly made of ice; no color of any sort could be seen in the crystal spheres.

"VULPIX!" Bulbasaur shouted one last time when the transformation was complete, when the pokémon that stood in front of him could no longer be called a vulpix at all. Even the term ninetails wouldn't be apt to describe the creature before him, covered in white fur made entirely of ice.

But no matter how loudly Bulbasaur shouted, there was no longer anything of Vulpix left to respond to Bulbasaur. No matter how many tears fell from his eyes to join the chilled bog below, he couldn't bring back the partner who meant the world to him.

And soon, the dying echoes of Bulbasaur's last call to Vulpix were covered up by the victorious roar of Kyurem, who had finally devoured the Spirit that had for so long eluded its grasp.

Sorry this took so long! I keep on thinking I'm more motivated (because I always feel motivated WHILE writing), but then I actually get to needing to start the next chapter and I can NEVER convince myself to do it. But once I do, I finish in three or four days, depending on how busy I am.

Also, just for the record, everything I'm writing I planned out well before Black Kyurem was ever revealed, I'm just basing the details on Black Kyurem since it so conveniently fit. Also for the record, I have no idea how Black and White Kyurem come about, since I only just got Black 2 and haven't yet gotten to that point, and I've been avoiding spoilers.

But... sheesh, I swear, I get way too emotional... THIS FREAKING CHAPTER. I thought only this whole ending bit with Vulpix would get me, but... Alexa's scene. I don't even know why, but I just started bawling while I was writing it. Just... poor Alexa and Cecil. And Vulpix. DEAR ARCEUS, why can't I just write happy things once in a while? :'(

Anyway, I swear I'll try to get Part II out sooner. Lately, that doesn't mean much... but still.