Act III: Uprising
Chapter 50: The End of the Beginning
Jack came under attack almost immediately. A Water Shuriken came out of nowhere and barreled towards him. There was a crackle of electricity and a brief flash of light, then the attack quite literally vaporized in midair.
Jack cracked his knuckles and surveyed the room. "Well then, is that how you treat a guest? I'm offended."
Jack observed his surroundings, taking in everything that he could. Large metal containers were stacked all around the room with various markings on them. In front of him were all four hybrids arranged in a semicircle. The Greninja hybrid quickly disappeared into the shadows, not that it kept Jack from detecting her. The Charizard was a bit to his right atop a stack of containers. He didn't move but kept an intense glare at Jack. The Serperior was coiled on the floor on his left. Her tongue flicked in and out of her mouth as she started slithering ever closer to him.
Finally, Lucario was standing directly in front of Jack. He was as emotionless and blank as the last time they had fought. Nova crept in behind Jack under one of her illusions. She had to fight to keep her emotions in check from both seeing her mate and having Dr. Hamilton in such close proximity. The Alpha scientist was undoubtedly giving orders to Lucario.
"Not much for banter I see," Jack continued at the general silence. "Oh well, I guess I'll just go ahead and beat you all to a pulp then. I feel it only fair to warn you though, I'm not in a good mood. You may regret not running soon."
"Shut up," the Charizard hybrid growled, darting forward and bringing all four of his arms down at Jack's head.
A cloud of dust and concrete shards flew into the air as the floor shattered under the blow. When it settled, Jack was standing with one arm raised above his head effortlessly holding off the hybrid's attack. The air around him was literally glowing with energy as sparks crackled through the air in slow motion.
"Like I said," the boy continued, his eyes glowing like twin suns. "You may regret not running when you had the chance."
Nova didn't even see what happened next. One instant the hybrid, Falkor, was standing over Jack, then there was a blinding flash of light and a noise like thunder. The next moment, Falkor was halfway across the room and soon crashed into a stack of metal containers which then toppled over. When the hybrid managed to free himself, there was a red hot patch of charred flesh in the middle of his chest.
Jack stood with one arm extended, his hand open as if to show that he'd chosen to strike with a flat palm instead of a fist. The harsh scent of ozone filled the room, as did the foul smell of burned meat. After a moment Jack sighed and lowered his arm, not even bothering to drop into a fighting stance as he stared down the hybrids.
"So," he remarked. "Who's the next least intelligent of you?"
In response, all three remaining hybrids charged in against Jack at once. Not going to try and fight him one at a time. However, before Nightshade reached her target, Nova tackled her from within her illusion. The attack caught the Greninja hybrid completely off guard. Before she could react, she cried out in pain as an attack connected with her back. Nova smirked as her Night Slash connected. While it wasn't the most effective of attacks, it certainly left a mark.
The hybrid let out a growl as a blue pulse of water between her webbed hands. Jumping into the air, she unleashed the powerful Water Pulse directly underneath her. The attack hit the ground and burst into a giant wave of water that spread out in a circle from the point of impact. Nova jumped backwards before climbing atop one of the containers as the wave of water swept across the rest of the room.
In the meantime, a split second after Nova tackled Nightshade away, Jack launched himself into the air as well. In a fraction of a second he'd landed a devastating lightning strike on all three of the remaining hybrids, knocking them clean out of the air before landing lightly on his feet himself. He glanced over at Nova and Nightshade just in time to see the water-type hybrid unleash a Water Pulse, and he grinned viciously as he saw a film of water cover the floor.
"Nova," he commented, "Jump."
Nova jumped off the metal container she was on and used her aura to grip onto the wall. As Lucario and the Serperior hybrid got to their feet, or the former did at least, Jack unleashed a tidal wave of electricity into the water at his feet. Even from her vantage point on the wall Nova could feel every hair on her body stand on end.
The entire room lit up as the immense voltage spread across the water and metal containers. Nova looked away till Jack ceased his attack. There was a thud a bit behind her as Nightshade fell down onto the ground completely knocked out from the powerful attack. The water that had been covering the ground was completely gone from the extreme heat of the electricity. One of the hybrids was out of the fight, but the other three managed to avoid the attack. Falkor was flying in the air while Lucario had protected himself and the Superior with a shield of aura.
"Well, that's one down at least," Jack commented, seeming completely unfazed. "Who's next?"
Nova glanced over at Jack as she dropped back onto the floor, still hidden underneath her illusion. There was something off about him again. Not in the manner of going berserk again, but that his aura seemed… drained. It certainly was not as bright as usual. It reminded her of when he healed Damocles. She didn't even think Jack noticed he was depleting his aura much faster than was safe. However, it was a risk worth taking right now as this was a fight neither of them could afford to lose.
Nova saw Lucario break away from the snake hybrid and make his way towards her as the other two continued to battle against Jack. She grabbed the hastae off of her back and charged its surface with aura just as Lucario brought down a staff of aura on her. Raising her spear, she blocked the attack but was not prepared for the following kick to her chest. The attack sent her crashing against the concrete wall and knocked the breath out of her lungs. Her vision was dazed for a moment before she saw Lucario rushing her with Metal Claws at the ready. She grabbed her hastae before rolling out of the way.
The sound of metal scraping against concrete filled the air as Lucario's claws dug into the wall. Nova swung the end of her spear out and caught Lucario's legs. She had hoped to knock him off of his feet, but he managed to stay standing with the support of having his Metal Claw attack stuck in the wall.
Meanwhile, Jack had his hands full dealing with Falkor and the Serperior. Neither of them had so much as scratched him yet, but he was gradually getting slower and his attacks had less force behind them. The Serperior was fast enough that she managed to avoid a good number of attacks while the Charizard didn't seem to even care when it was hit with even super effective attacks, although he was visibly being hurt by them.
Even so, Jack didn't let up. He wanted to get this fight over with so he could help Nova with Lucario. With a grunt of exertion, he conjured up another surge of power. It was getting harder and harder to maintain his speed and strength, but he couldn't afford to lose his momentum.
The two hybrids launched a coordinated attack against Jack. Vines launched out of Serperior towards Jack as she attempted to tie him down and allow Falkor to land one of his powerful hits. Jack jumped backwards quickly, leaving a trail of electricity in his wake, but it wasn't fast enough. He could tell there was something wrong the moment his feet left the ground. The Serperior had already used her lightning fast speed to circle and unleashed another Vine Whip towards Jack at nearly point blank range.
As soon as he realized what they were doing, Jack released a surge of electricity that should've fried everything that touched him, but the attack didn't have nearly enough power to take on the hybrid grass type. The vines quickly ensnared him before throwing him against the ground and lifting him back into the air. Falkor was already above Jack diving towards him. His entire body was surrounded in a bright orange fire, leaving a wake of flames in his path.
Time seemed to slow down for Jack as his mind went into warp drive. He only had a second at most to react before his face was introduced to Falkor's fist. It was a meeting he'd rather avoid if at all possible. He strained against the vines, but he knew he'd never break free in time. If he had something to brace against sure, but he was currently suspended in midair. He doubted he could stop the Charizard hybrid's attack in this position, even a blast of Psychic would only slow him down slightly at best. It was times like this when Jack knew the perfect answer was staring him in the face, and he'd kick himself later for not getting it. If there was a later of course.
It was at that moment that it sunk in fully. If this blow connected, Jack might very well not survive. In fact it was highly likely that it would be the end of it all. This thought sent a spark down Jack's spine. He couldn't die, not yet. He still hadn't saved them.
Jack felt energy course through his arms and crackle from his fingertips, but this time he didn't just let it go wherever it wanted. Without even thinking about what he was doing, as if he'd done it a hundred times and learned it off by heart, he kept the electricity concentrated and focused into a single stream.
With a flash of light and a crackling thrum of energy, the vines surrounding Jack were cut to shreds which only left him with one problem. A split second before Falkor's fist connected, Jack gave himself a telekinetic push to the right allowing the hybrid to barrel past him although it was a dangerously close shave. As the hybrid passed him, Jack lashed out with his new technique and landed a glancing blow on Falkor's back.
Jack twisted in midair and landed on the balls of his feet, but the Charizard wasn't so fortunate and tumbled to the ground like a ton of bricks. Jack's attack seemed to have landed right below Falkor's wings, which he hoped meant that they'd be out of commission. He had other things to worry about however, as the Serperior was already rushing towards him, her tail section was glowing white as she closed in with Leaf Blade. She swung her tail section around at Jack hoping to land a decent blow against the human.
Jack saw the attack coming at the last second, and extended his hands out as if to catch it. Just before the snake Pokémon's attack landed, an electrical arc jumped from Jack's fingers and intercepted it. The focused stream of energy behaved as though it were a physical object, bending inward from the force of the Leaf Blade, but it didn't snap. Instead Jack gave it a little more power and managed to push the Serperior back long enough for him to teleport around behind the hybrid.
Jack felt his senses sharpen, his concentration narrowing until he could see every movement his serpentine opponent made, every muscle she tensed. He felt electricity flow down his arm, the energy pooling in his hand and being compressed into a form that was now quite familiar. He settled into as fighter's crouch, his sword at the ready; this time not made of aura, but pure lightning. The Superior glared at Jack, if it was surprised, she certainly wasn't showing it. Her tail started glowing green as she spun around in a circle. With her massive amount of speed, it only took a brief amount of time to complete the large, powerful Leaf Storm attack and launch it at Jack; however, he simply blasted it to the side with Psychic.
Knowing he had to take the offensive, and quickly, Jack darted forward. His body moved before his mind could catch up, dodging a secondary Vine Whip attack before he even knew it was coming. He closed the distance between him and his opponent in the blink of an eye and slashed downward with a backhand stroke at her right side.
Despite his amazing speed, the Serperior proved to be faster as she dodged the attack with ease. The snake-like Pokémon attempted to counter attack by sweeping her tail at Jack's feet, but the boy simply leapt backwards over her head. Jack did a flip midair and lashed out at the hybrid from above, cutting clean through the vines she threw up in defence and landing a shallow blow on her back. It was barely a couple centimeters deep, but it was more than enough to prove the deadliness of Jack's newest weapon.
The Serperior hissed at the human who had dared injure her. The last human to do so was very much dead at this point. She had quickly sliced at his throat with Leaf Blade after he had managed land a shot on her from his rifle. She was glaring daggers at Jack as she cringed from the attack.
Jack felt a brief stab of guilt at the thought of killing the hybrid in front of him, but he shook it out of his head. He couldn't afford to hold back at this point, he was fighting for his life.
Meanwhile, Nova had managed to hold her own against Lucario. However, she knew that she was never going to be able to win a fight against him. She did know that he couldn't beat her in his current state though. His reactions and attacks were just slow enough compared to usual that she had time to block them. Thankfully she managed to use her aura charged spear to block most of the attacks for her, sparing her arms from taking any hits.
Everytime she tried to strike out against her opponent, he was easily able to block and deflect the attacks. She was currently beating back a rather powerful Metal Claw attack. Twirling her spear around, Nova managed to get Lucario's claws out of position for a brief moment. Striking out with the rear end of her spear, she tried to land a blow against the black and white Lucario. However, he easily blocked the attack with his forepaw, not even flinching as the aurically charged wood slammed against his fur. Nova hoped that Jack wouldn't be much longer as she had no power to break the current stalemate.
Jack swung his glowing sword and intercepted a Leaf Blade attack without even flinching. His new weapon was not only powerful, it felt even more natural in his hand than when he'd made it out of aura. With every stroke he could feel new memories rising to fill the gaps in his mind, gradually tying together the scattered, fragmented images into a cohesive whole. Every time he grasped at that completed memory though, it darted just out of his reach as if something, or someone, were deliberately keeping it from him.
He barely had time to worry about his memories however, as he was locked in a bitter stalemate of his own with the Serperior hybrid. His new sword had won him a huge advantage, and some breathing room, but it was a two edged blade; literally. With every blow he could feel himself moving slower, getting weaker. He'd long since stopped discharging electricity into the air around him, he barely had enough energy to fuel his own body. At most, he was fighting on fumes. He needed to end this quickly.
It was at that moment that Falkor struck. The Charizard Hybrid roared in fury and unleashed a white hot torrent of flames at Jack from across the room. Jack barely managed to jump out of the way in time, the Flamethrower missing him by inches. He felt his hair smoke and his skin crinkle from the heat, but far worse was the knowledge that he'd left himself wide open. He spun around in midair, raising his sword to deflect the attack he knew was coming.
If he'd been a split second slower, the Serperior's Leaf Blade would have likely cut him in half. He could almost feel the hate from her glare as she stared into his eyes. As it was, the force of the attack flung Jack halfway across the room before a metal crate brought his flight to an abrupt halt.
Jack felt something crack in his chest, maybe several somethings. He coughed involuntarily, and saw blood. He could feel his injuries, but they didn't hurt for some reason. In fact he couldn't feel any of the fatigue and pain he'd felt just a moment ago. He wondered briefly what had happened, then he realized that he couldn't feel his legs and his body was slowly becoming numb.
"I'm losing consciousness…" he thought to himself.
He knew that if he fell unconscious now, both he, Nova, and Damocles were dead. From his vantage point Jack could see the Gallade hybrid lying on the ground, having fainted from his injuries. Or worse...
Despair began to fill Jack's mind. Was this how it ended? Was this how he died, unable to protect his friends, old or new? He could barely find the energy to care. He could feel his mind slipping away…
Then he woke up. He could feel his body again, and it hurt like crazy. More importantly he could see the Serperior closing in on him, her Leaf Blade ready to finish him off.
Jack tried to move, but his body was still unresponsive. He'd probably fractured at least on rib, maybe even damaged his spinal cord. He wouldn't be going anywhere without some serious healing, but he didn't have enough energy left in his system to heal himself. His aura pool was dangerously low, and he couldn't afford to draw any more from it.
The Serperior towered over him, ready to strike. He needed to buy time; time to heal, time to plan. But there was no time. The hybrid's Leaf Blade hovered over his heart, but he couldn't move. She struck.
And Jack was gone.
The Serperior looked at where Jack had been in surprise. Her attack had only dug into the metal container he had been against. She glanced around in confusion, not wanting to be taken off guard. There had been no indication of him teleporting and her highly trained eyes didn't see him move. It was quite literally like he had ceased to exist.
Several seconds passed and there was still no sign of her opponent. Not wanting to be idle, she quickly redirected her attention to Nova. Slithering her way over the where the fox Pokémon was battling, she got ready to sneak behind her and attack from the rear. Falkor was also closing in on the lone Zoroark as the three of them moved to subdue her.
Nova was starting to falter. When Jack disappeared, she had felt her heart drop. While she knew that Jack hadn't abandoned her, or at least that was what she was telling herself, she didn't know what had happened to him. She couldn't even sense his powerful aura anymore. Now with all three remaining hybrids closing in around her, she knew that she did not stand a chance at winning this fight.
Lucario was effectively holding her in place with his constant attacks. Nova was definitely on the defensive as of this point in the fight. Her movements were slowing down from the prolonged combat while Lucario didn't seem to care at all. She spotted the Charizard hybrid out of the corner of her eye as he readied a Flamethrower that would undoubtedly end this fight if it connected.
Falkor drew in a huge breath, white hot flames building up in his throat ready to be released, then he froze in place like a statue. The flames in his mouth died down, and the dragon's expression changed to one of stunned incomprehension, as a blade of golden energy emerged from his chest.
The Charizard looked down in disbelief at the glowing sword which had impaled him, instantly cauterizing the wound it had created. With a sickening hiss the blade retracted, leaving Falkor standing in stunned silence unable to comprehend what had happened. Then with a thud that shook the whole room, the dragon toppled over and didn't move.
Standing behind the fallen dragon was Jack, his sword in hand. His expression was solemn, devoid of any fear; or mercy. His hair was as black as midnight, and his eyes were dark gray like a thundercloud. Nova was looking at Jack with a mix of surprise and fear. While this person certainly had Jack's appearance, that was about it. Even his depleted aura was slightly different. It was in that moment that she let her guard down and Lucario connected with Metal Claws against her left shoulder. She let out a cry of pain before turning her attention back to her opponent, but by the time she did Jack had appeared between them.
Lucario struck with Metal Claws again, but Jack, or whoever it was, countered the attack effortlessly. Another blade of energy appeared in his left hand, allowing him to block both of Lucario's attacks at once.
"You might want to tend to that Gallade," the boy said as he parried his opponent's blows, his voice as calm as his expression. "He's going to die soon without healing. And while you're at it, you'd better heal your shoulder too. I'll focus on holding these two off, then once you're done you can join back in."
"Right…" Nova said, still somewhat afraid. Holding onto her bleeding shoulder, she started over to where Damocles' fading aura was. She found him lying on the ground, deep cuts all over his skin. His sword was broken in two and his shield had a massive crack in it. Kneeling down next to his body, she pooled aura into her paws before placing them on the most serious wounds and slowly started healing them. While her healing skills were much further than that of Lucario's, they did not even come close to what Jack had done last time. That and she could not afford to drain too much of her aura.
It was clear that Damocles had been willing to die for her and Jack. That spoke volumes to her. While her conversation with Lauren had blunted her anger towards the hybrid, this showed her that he had meant what he said. She finally found it in herself to forgive him for what he had done to her, though he still had a lot to answer for.
After a few minutes, Nova had managed to close up the most life threatening wounds. His aura was no longer fading, but it was not rising either. That was the best she could do though as it meant that he was no longer in danger of dying. She had already exhausted a good amount of her aura to get him to that state and didn't dare use anymore of it while there was still a fight at hand.
While she was tempted to heal her shoulder, she decided to simply endure the pain as the three cuts were not too deep. Turning her attention back to Jack, she saw that he was still holding Lucario off. In fact the boy even seemed to be gaining ground, practically dancing rings around his opponent and lashing out with his dual swords. Every once in awhile one of Jack's attacks would slip through Lucario's guard, but they didn't seem to be cutting so much as delivering an electrical shock each time. Even so, Jack didn't seem able to land a direct hit on the device on Lucario's head. Every time he tried, Lucario would either dodge at the last second or deflect it; sometimes even allowing it to hit his shoulder or arm instead.
The Serperior hybrid was still in a state of shock. She had not moved since the human had stabbed her comrade. While she had been particularly distant from the other hybrids, she still saw them as family as it was all she had. Even if they mocked her for her odd ways, she still was willing to fight for them. But to see Falkor lying motionless on the ground after being stabbed in the chest… She was not prepared for that. The hybrids were supposed to be invincible… unkillable… What was currently happening was simply not possible.
Nova had come back to Jack's side, leaving the snake hybrid alone as she didn't seem to be much of a threat at the moment. The last thing she wanted to do was bring her back into the fight. She positioned herself on the other side of Lucario, always keeping him between herself and Jack as to force him to fight on two fronts.
"I can get that thing off his head," Jack said telepathically, deflecting another attack and launching a lightning fast riposte. "But I need a distraction."
"Right," Nova replied, recoiling slightly at his mental voice. It was almost like Jack's, but there was something... off about it. Something about it felt wong, as if it shouldn't exist.
She backed off a bit, allowing Lucario to focus solely on Jack for a moment. It was in that moment that Nova struck, her claws glowing in blue energy with a mix of aura and a Night Daze attack. With Jack holding Lucario in place, she was able to briefly land an attack against the device on his head, tearing away some of the metal and exposing its inner circuitry before Lucario flung her off of his body.
Lucario instinctively turned to protect the back of his head, but at the exact instant he turned away Jack dissolved into a shadow. The inky black shape lunged forward, darting behind Lucario and almost hitting his head in passing. The shadow then gathered back together and solidified into Jack's body again, and in his hand was the mind control device. With the glancing blow he'd scored, Jack had sheared the main hub of the device clean off. After glancing at the butchered device in disgust, Jack dropped it on the ground and crushed it underneath his bare foot.
It took Nova several long seconds to figure out what had just happened. She still had trouble processing and believing it once she had. Lucario had fallen onto his hands and knees, bent over as his chest heaved as if recovering from drowning. While a few parts of the device remained screwed into his head, it was clear that it had lost its control over him. Looking into his aura, she could see it returning to its normal, bright purple hue. At the same time, she could simply feel it growing back in power. Whatever else that device had done, it had not only suppressed his emotions but also sealed away a large chunk of his strength in doing so. She didn't have to be aurically sensitive either to feel it. She had never noticed it too much before as she had always been with him, but after his extended absence… it made her shudder some at just how powerful he was. She could now see why the other wild Pokémon avoided him.
"So," Jack said from beside her. "That's what he's like without that infernal contraption controlling him. Impressive."
"Trust me… you haven't seen anything yet," Nova replied, a certain amount of happiness in her voice.
The black haired boy sighed. "And I doubt I ever will. My time is pretty much up. I used up way too much aura getting this body up and running again, especially after so long… Yeah, I'm going to have to get going now. I'll leave the clean up to you, Jack isn't going to be much help for a while. In fact he'll probably be in pretty bad shape after all this."
Nova only stared blankly at Jack, one of her ears flopping to the side as she was completely and utterly confused.
The strange boy met Nova's gaze, his stormy grey eyes containing almost none of the humor that usually filled Jack's. One thing that was there, now that Nova looked harder, was the same deep anger that had filled Jack earlier. Although this boy seemed far more in control of it than Jack was.
"Tell Jack he owes me one," the boy said, before snorting slightly in amusement. "As if we're keeping score at this point. I can't even count how many times I've saved his life now."
"Right…" Nova responded, nodding her head slowly as she was still completely lost as to what was going on with Jack.
'Not Jack' closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he released it, his hair faded back to Jack's usual golden yellow. Jack wobbled uncertainly for a moment, and then toppled over backwards and fell to the ground. His skin was white like paper, and his lips were blue. He started shivering uncontrollably, and Nova suddenly realized that his aura pool was almost completely empty.
She knelt down next to him and once again pooled aura around her paws, thanking herself for not using all of her aura healing Damocles. While it wasn't going to be enough for him to be able to fight, it should be enough for him to at least be able to regain consciousness and move around a bit.
All while this was happening the Serperior hybrid still had not moved, much to Dr. Hamilton's annoyance. Since the majority of the fight seemed to be over, the normal human soldiers didn't need to worry about getting caught in the crossfire. They moved in slowly around them, their AK4 battle rifles raised and pointed at the intruders. However, before they could get close, all of them were enveloped in purple energy and flung backwards as Lucario stood up, his eyes glowing purple as he used Psychic.
"You wanted power?" Lucario muttered telepathically to everyone present, "Then I will show you power!"
Jack's eyes fluttered open, their normal electric blue color restored. "What… How..."
The sound of gunfire soon filled the room as soldiers opened fire on the white Lucario. However, none of the bullets came close to him as they entered the aura field that was currently surrounding his body and were deflected away from him. After a few seconds, silence once again filled the room as the Alpha soldiers went to reload their rifles. Before they could finish, Lucario psychically pulled them from the guards and threw them into a corner out of reach.
The dark purple colored spikes on his wrists started to glow as they elongated into blades running up his arms. The blade on his right side started glowing a light purple as it grew a bit longer.
"Nova… get ready to leave," Lucario said as he glared at the troops that were filling the room. Another squad had come in to reinforce the soldiers already present, though they had yet to attack him.
Nova simply nodded her head as she created an illusion around herself and went over to where Damocles was still lying on the ground. She carefully picked him up, leaving his broken sword and shield behind as she carried him over to where Jack was.
"Wh-what's going on…?" Jack muttered, propping himself up with his arms. "Did we… did we do it?"
"I guess you could say that…" Nova replied as she laid Damocles down on the ground before turning towards Lucario and nodding her head. He then moved and scraped his glowing blade along the ground a bit behind him as he used his other paw to maintain the aura field in front of him as the Alpha soldiers had renewed their attack. A swirling portal of purple energy appeared as Lucario cut through space itself. Nova picked up Damocles before dropping him through the portal. Turning her attention towards Jack, she helped him through the portal as well before looking at her mate.
"Alright, what about you?" Nova asked, her voice full of worry as this situation seemed very familiar to her, and she did not want it repeated.
"I will be right behind you," Lucario started, "I mean it."
With that said, Nova simply nodded before dropping through the portal herself. Once he was alone, Lucario funneled the spatial energy into his other blade. He was about to do the one thing Palkia told him never to do, yet he simply did not care at this point. Swinging his left blade through the air, Lucario ripped through space once again. Then he ducked into the first portal and disappeared from sight.
He landed in a pile of snow outside the base and worked his way to his feet. The others were there as well and he was almost immediately tackled to the ground from behind by an overly emotional Zoroark. Nova had wrapped him into a tight hug and was currently nuzzling against his neck.
"I have missed you so much…" Nova said very quietly as she held him close to her.
"I missed you too," Lucario replied, a small smile working its way onto his muzzle.
It was at that moment there was an ear shattering crack that reverberated throughout the area. Lucario, Nova, and Jack all turned towards its source, the Alpha base. In the blink of an eye, a massive purple dome appeared and encased the entire mountain. Its swirling energy expanded further and further as the distortion in space advanced out from the base. The energy dome had started off massive in size, but now it was simply gigantic.
Then, as soon as it had appeared, the entire bubble of energy disappeared, along with everything that was inside it. All that was left of the Alpha base was a perfectly spherical hole in the ground, clashing starkly with the surrounding terrain.
"Ugh…" Jack groaned, attempting to pick himself up after landing face first in a snow bank. "What just happened… And why is there a big hole in the ground?"
"I just created a localized… black hole I believe you humans call them," Lucario replied in a grim tone.
"A black hole…" Jack muttered, grinning nostalgically. "I remember the first time I made one of those. My teacher was so mad at me…" Jack's eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait, what? But that's… how can… I..."
Suddenly Jack clasped his hands to the sides of his head, shutting his eyes tightly. He shouted in pain as though his head was about to split open.
"NO... !" he exclaimed. "I remembered, I remembered everything! Give it back! Give… give it back…" Unable to support his body any more, he collapsed to the ground again in defeat. "They're gone… the memories are gone…" he moaned listlessly, staring blankly off into the distance.
"Is this normal?" Lucario asked, though he didn't seem to be fazed all that much by Jack's strange display.
"Umm… no, I mean, not to this extent…" Nova replied, her voice a mixture of sorrow and confusion. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Jack as he seemed to be suffering, though she wasn't sure what he was suffering from.
Lucario then noticed the other person that was with them, though he was still out cold. A low growl escaped his muzzle as he bared his teeth and glared at the unconscious hybrid at his feet.
"And what is HE doing here!" Lucario practically roared out in anger.
"He… he actually helped us rescue you," Nova responded in a calm manner, trying to defuse the anger that she could feel flowing out of Lucario.
Lucario stopped his growling as he heard Nova's words. He trusted her, though he was still having trouble believing what she had said. Still, if the cuts and bruises that were scattered across his body said anything, then he must have done more than his fair share.
"Very well…" Lucario ground out before turning his attention towards Jack.
The boy lay on his back, sprawled out on the snow staring blankly up at the sky. There was blood around the corners of his mouth, and tears in his eyes, but aside from that he looked just as he always did. There was no sign of the black haired boy.
Seeing Lucario turn towards him, Jack turned his head slightly to meet his gaze.
"So…" Jack said in barely more than a whisper. "You're Lucario. You're Nova's… friend."
"That is more or less correct," Lucario replied, looking over at Nova who was currently pressed against his side with a happy smile on her muzzle.
The corners of Jack's mouth curled up slightly in a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "So… I guess that means the mission… was a success. We won…"
"That we did," Nova said in response.
Lucario was staring off at the giant crater that used to be the Alpha base. He closed his eyes and exhaled as he clenched his paws, his blades briefly glowing before disappearing. His mind was still very foggy. He had a general understanding of what had just happened, though everything over the past three or so months was… not missing, but not very clear to him.
Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the fuzziness that filled his head, trying to push it away so that he could think clearly. Part of him was telling him not to while the other part of him had to know. Truthfully, he feared what he would find. Pushing through his doubt, Lucario delved deep into his mind to recover the repressed memories from his time under Alpha's control. In a flash, he remembered everything. Almost immediately, he wished he could undo it. That he had listened to the part of him that tried to steer him clear of them. That he had just let those awful memories stay repressed.
All he could see was death… death caused by his paws as Alpha used him as a weapon. Hundreds if not thousands of people that he had killed as their mindless minion. He fell to his paws and knees then did the only thing he could do, cry.
Nova immediately noticed and turned her attention towards him. She had seen Lucario do many things, though she could hardly remember the times she had ever seen him crying. She knelt down in front of him before wrapping her arm around his next before pressing her forehead against his own. She didn't know exactly why he was crying, though she had an idea. After a few minutes, Lucario managed to gain control over his emotions again.
"I… I killed them… So many people…" Lucario mumbled through grit teeth as he clenched his paws.
"No, Alpha killed them. You had no choice in the matter," Nova said in a quiet, caring tone after she pulled her head away from his and moved her paws down to his shoulders.
"But I still killed them… They used me to kill who knows how many innocent people…" Lucario replied in a strained voice as he sat up.
"That wasn't you though," Nova responded before carefully hugging her mate, avoiding his chest spike.
Lucario remained silent, not responding as he rested his read on her shoulder. He moved his arms around Nova and hugged her back, though not as tightly as she was holding onto him. They remained in each other's embrace for a few minutes before Lucario pulled back away from Nova. He seemed to be doing better, though Nova could still feel his pain. The two of them stood up, snow sticking to their fur as they did so.
"We should get out of here…" Nova stated as she looked around.
Jack was still lying in the snow, staring off into space with his face wet from his tears. When he heard Nova however, he sighed and got to his feet.
"You're probably right," the boy agreed, wiping the moisture from his face before it froze. "It won't be long before someone decides to see what that big purple explosion was. Tell you what, I'll carry Damocles."
"That sounds good to me," Nova replied as she looked up at the cloudless, blue sky. Lucario silently nodded his head in agreement.
Jack walked over to where the Gallade hybrid was lying unconscious. Jack knelt down beside Damocles and put a hand on his chest.
"I assume you're the one who patched him up," Jack commented, glancing at Nova.
"A little bit, yes," Nova responded. "Just enough to keep him from dying."
Jack nodded. "Good job then. I'll give him a once-over when we get wherever we're going. We are going somewhere specific, right?"
"I figured either Axiom or our home," Nova said, "They are both on the way south from here and would allow us to rest for a while."
"Alright then," Jack replied, looking back at the unconscious hybrid in front of him. "Sounds like a plan."
With that, Jack dug one hand into the snow under Damocles' back and the other under his legs. Jack tried to lift Damocles, but the boy's face turned white as a sheet and he was forced to abandon the effort and sit down himself.
"Okay," Jack remarked, breathing heavily as though he'd just run a marathon. "Maybe I shouldn't be lifting things for a while…"
"I guess I will carry him then," Nova said before walking over to where Jack was kneeling. She knelt next to him before wrapping her paws underneath him and picking him up. It took her quite a bit of effort to do so and she wobbled on her for for a bit upon standing up, but after a bit she was stable.
Lucario let out a small laugh as he shook his head some. It appeared the two of them were quite used to walking wherever they went. He could only imagine how long it took them to get around.
"Nova, you seem to be forgetting something," he said with a faint smile as he walked in front of the two of them.
She looked over at her mate with a look of slight confusion on her face. A long purple blade then materialized from the spike on his right paw. The blade started to glow a light purple as it extended a bit further. He sliced at the air in front of him as another portal opened up.
"After you," Lucario stated as he gestured towards the tear in space.
Nova laughed some as she shook her head, amazed that she actually thought they were going to walk all the way back. Somehow, even though she had just escaped the Alpha base through one of his portals, she had forgotten about them.
Jack meanwhile got, somewhat unsteadily, to his feet and walked over to the glowing oval suspended in midair. He walked around it behind it, making a show of examining it closely from all angles. He then stuck one finger into the portal and pulled it back out again before turning back to Nova.
"This appears to be a portal of some kind," he deadpanned.
"You don't say," Nova replied as she rolled her eyes and shook her head before making her way through the portal.
Jack hung back a moment and looked at Lucario one last time before stepping through. Once Jack was through the portal, Lucario walked through it was well and it closed behind him.
Upon exiting, the climate and scenery was quite contrast to where they had been mere seconds before. The treeless tundra had been replaced by a heavily forested mountainside. The below freezing temperatures replaced by a mild breeze and warm air.
"So," Jack commented, "Where is this exactly?"
"Domus," Lucario replied as he took in a deep breath.
Jack blinked. "And Domus is…"
Nova smiled and glanced at Jack, joy written across her face.
"Home."
Osean: And there we go!
Nova: it's about time
Lucario: if I ever find a way to get to you, I will break you.
Osean: umm, not the thanks I was expecting…
Lucario: right… thanks for turning me into a homicidal, kill crazy weapon of death
Nova: he does have a point
Alright! There it is! The climax of this story arc! I sincerely hope that you all enjoyed it. This collaboration with Jack has been quite fun. Didn't go quite like I had planned because I underestimated Jack's absurd OPness. It was not my intention for him to come off as a Deus Ex Machina. It just kind of happened. Still, minor complaint is minor. Totally worth the fun the two of us have had writing these chapters. If I had to take a guess, I would say that there would be one or two chapters before Jack leaves back for Sinnoh.
Oh, and just to make sure. This is not "the end" despite what the title of this chapter says. Many more chapters will follow this one.
