Chapter 18: White Knight
For a moment, no one did anything. Ren's fur, even the "wings" on her back, started standing on end. Floyd merely stared down the line, unmoving as he watched the new challenger.
And Tabby didn't understand.
When she'd first met Floyd, the term "knight in shining armor" had been thrown around. Yet, his armor was more modern, armor that looked as though it were actually made this century with all the technological advancements this age brought with it. But the Elite Guard…that thing looked as though it really was a knight from the fairy tales Tabby had been read as a kid. A brave, daring, unflinching man who could walk into the den of even the most fiercest of Salamence and slay it with his sword. The sunlight glinted off of every shiny white plate, the light dazzling as it bounced off of too many of them at once sometimes. Then there was that symbol, the sun that had made her and her friends feel so safe nowadays…plastered on the Elite Guard's chest. Maybe Olivier had done it as a sick joke to play on the spearheads of the opposing side. Because whether he was from this universe or not, Floyd was a figurehead of their little resistance. All that aside, Tabby also sensed the power just beneath the armor plates, sensed magic just waiting to boil up at the Elite's call.
But worst of all…it felt as though there was another Floyd over there.
She didn't know how to describe it exactly. The power that Floyd gave off whenever he was actively using his own, the aura that washed over her and made her teeth buzz in her mouth, that set all of the hairs on her body on end, the power that could break the world…she could sense it in two places, not just one. But that was impossible! Floyd had said that his powers were genetic, that he'd been born with those Light powers.
So how did the man in the armor manage to give off the same feeling?
The man continued to stalk towards them, his aura threatening to overwhelm Tabby's senses.
"Tabby, Ren," Floyd's voice said through his mask, the modulator making it sound near in-human and threatening. "Get behind me."
The two of them did as he asked as he turned 90 degrees, drawing one arm above and one arm below him. Like last time, his hands met in the middle, and then were drawn back to his side.
"He's done that before," Tabby murmured as she and Ren watched. "Four days ago, against Corinth."
Ren grunted. "He calls it the Solar Flare. But I think it's more of a Kamehameha from the way he prepares it."
"A what?"
"Long story. Point is, if he's using it, that guy is toast. At the very least, he's going to missing more than a few chunks of his body when Boss…when he…"
The Absol trailed off into stunned silence, and Tabby looked back up at the impending battle to see what had stunned her.
Across the way, the Elite Guard had stopped moving, instead beginning to mirror Floyd's movements.
At the exact same moment a glittering ball of light roared to life between the palms of Floyd's hands, the Elite Guard began forming one as well. Floyd had said that using his Light powers forced that white flame of an aura to come to life around him, and this was no exception. But the aura flared to life around both him and the Elite Guard, bringing with it a hurricane of strong, icy winds that whipped the loose snow into a frenzy around them. No one said a word as the winds and noise began to grow louder and stronger, even as the balls of energy reached their maximums and rays of light began to spill from cupped hands.
"Ren, help me put up a ward! Now!" Tabby shouted over the roar of the winds. The Absol grit her teeth, her horn glowing white as Tabby's hands did the same. A ward with as much power as Tabby could spare flickered to life in front of them, and just in time too.
In stark contrast to the rest of the standoff, Floyd lurched forward, shoving his hands forward with that ancient, guttural roar like last time, the Solar Flare screaming down the street towards the Elite Guard. The Elite Guard did the same, his own Solar Flare lashing out to connect with Floyd's. The world vanished into blinding light as the energy connected, enveloping both Tabby and Ren in its midst as the world threatened to break apart.
###
Vanessa grit her teeth and tried to shut out one of her student's agonized screams as she and another one of the surviving patrol members lifted him up the stairs to Sanctuary and into the foyer. His wounds were cauterized, so he wasn't going to be bleeding out anytime soon, but whatever had done this to him had lopped off an arm and carved deep slashes into his chest that had just missed his vital organs, instead charring the skin below his clothes. She'd never seen magic of this sort before, but it had to be Fire magic, without a doubt. But what could make wounds so precise?
Her student's screaming joined the chorus of groaning and wailing just as she made it inside, as the Pokemon Center was in complete chaos. Both the lobby of Sanctuary and the Pokemon Center had been transformed into an immediate care center, with the most serious of wounds being dealt with in the actual infirmary behind the double doors inside the Pokemon Center. The ones who had survived and would survive were permitted to head to the human infirmary upstairs for rest and recovery.
Those were still few and far between.
"Joy," Vanessa called out as she set her student down on a cot. "What can I do to help?"
"You can help by staying out of the way," Nurse Joy said, her bubbly air gone. "Unless you specialize in Normal or Fairy magic, I need you out of this space." She wiped some blood on her hands on her apron then dove back in with some of her assistants. The magi who weren't quite qualified to fight or had no disposition to had willingly signed up as healers, to say nothing of the Nurse Joys from around the Northern Quarter that had taken refuge in Sanctuary once the actual skirmishes started. They all looked alike and acted almost as one group too, going about their duties so well that some who would have died before night fell would live. Even with the sudden rush of wounded, they were holding ground very well, something Vanessa felt a spark of pride towards.
"Nessa."
Strong hands closed around her shoulders and Vanessa glanced behind her. Griffin's stern face gazed onto hers, weariness behind even his eyes. It had been a long week.
"You alright?" he asked.
Vanessa nodded and stepped outside, the screams fading as they stepped out. "Tired."
"I bet," Griffin said. "Sanctuary's on high alert. The Decidueye are standing guard up top, and we've got patrols locally stationed on the rooftops. Maybe you should go inside and lie down."
She wanted to argue, but there was truth in his statement. She was bone-tired, borderline exhausted. Between giving commands in Nerevor's stead, assigning duties to the fighters, and now carrying her own half-dead students…yes she was tired. Maybe a nap would do her some good.
"Yeah," Vanessa said at last. "Maybe you're right. You wake the minute something happens, understand?"
"The second," Griffin said with a faint smile.
She nodded, clapping her friend on the shoulder and turning to head back inside when an explosion ripped upwards from the abandoned section of the Northern Quarter. Moments later, a blinding flash of white light expanded outwards from the scene of the explosion, making it hard to even look at the horizon, like staring into the rising sun.
"An explosion and a bunch of white light," Griffin said, releasing his Stoutland. "Who do we know that does that often?"
Vanessa nodded. "Floyd."
"I'd bet Tabby's with him too," Griffin said, hoisting himself on Stoutland's back. "You coming?"
"What about that nap?" she asked, and she was pleased to see that Griffin cracked another smile.
"You wouldn't have slept long anyways," Griffin said. "Hop on."
Hugging Griffin's waist, the heels of Griffin's boots tapped Russ on his side and the Stoutland took off down the street, his massive body plowing through the snow towards the explosion.
###
Floyd struggled against the Elite Guard's Solar Flare, his boots digging into the ground and carving tracks as the raw force of the power struggle pushed him further and further into the ground. He used the carvings as leverage, bracing his feet against the edges that had formed and heaved. The Elite Guard was surprisingly strong, strong enough to possibly give Corinth a run for his money. But sheer power alone didn't win these kind of fights…no, there was strategy involved too.
Of course, that wouldn't matter if the Elite Guard overwhelmed him and disintegrated him with his blast.
Great chunks of asphalt ripped away from the road and flew into their struggle, torn into atoms as they did so. It felt like a black hole was twenty feet in front of him, endlessly sucking down all the power that Floyd kept shoveling into repelling the Elite Guard's attack. But for all of his power, it was unlikely that the Elite Guard knew the first thing about this kind of struggle. In every single power struggle, Floyd had yet to come across one where the opponent either started off too strong, or started off too weak. The Elite Guard was the former, and just like in a race, the one who sprinted from the start was bound to die out before the one who kept himself controlled. There would be a moment, a single moment where the Elite's power would flicker and leave a hole wide open in his defenses…
Floyd felt the other end of the colossal energy blasts flicker, like a ripple through a string.
There it is!
With a roar, Floyd pushed forward, giving everything he had to a final push. Just as he'd anticipated, the Elite had overextended himself, and suddenly found himself on both back feet, leaning backwards and trying his best to reassert control. But it was far too late for any of that. Step by step, Floyd began to walk, then run, and then kicked off the ground. His mechanical flight system flew into action, the soles of his boots opening to jettison his body forward without having to divert power away from his own Solar Flare. He cut through the Elite's weakened Solar Flare like a hot knife through butter, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of him, forcing his hand forwards through the torrent of energy spilling from the Elite's hand. Floyd's right palm pressed against the chestplate of the Elite's armor and let the energy surge from his body, the sun on his chest shining like the real thing millions of miles away. The Elite was silent throughout the whole ordeal, even as the Solar Flare sent him rocketing backwards with titanic force, the blast carrying him far down the street and into a building that hugged the corner of the street.
The resultant explosion was impressive to say the least. A mushroom cloud blossomed high above the tops of the snow-capped buildings, and a ring of concussive force rolled over him and likely Tabby and Ren. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, tucking his head down just in time as a chunk of debris several times taller than he was slammed into his prosthetic limbs. Floyd was sent flying backwards, landing hard on his butt as it rained more chunks of stone and other debris. He flipped backwards as another chunk slammed into where he was sitting seconds ago and pulverized the ground beneath.
"Floyd!"
Floyd glanced backwards at Tabby and Ren, who emerged unharmed and ran to him. "Are you hurt?" Tabby asked.
"No," he said. "Just winded. I can't say the same for him though." He jabbed a thumb to the dissipating cloud of dust. "At the very least, he's toast. I definitely cremated him."
"I guess we should address the Phanpy in the room," Tabby said. "Why did you two have the same symbol on your chests? Hell, even your armor kind of looked alike. Some kind of charade from Olivier or something?"
"I don't know," Floyd said, his mask unfolding so that he could wipe some sweat from his brow. "Whatever the case, we—"
Tabby made a frantic sound of warning as she suddenly shoved past Floyd and raised her hands. A snarling cone of orange fire roared to life just as an icicle the size of a minivan hurtled towards them. It shattered into glittering fragments at the slightest touch of Tabby's flames, but without her, Floyd definitely would have been skewered.
Ren growled. "The backup."
"No," Tabby said, seemingly terrified. "It's…" Floyd's eyes widened as he saw what she was looking at.
The Elite Guard walked forward from the dust cloud that had not yet dissipated close to the ground, his outstretched hand closing and lowering to his side. Besides some charring marks on his armor, it looked completely intact. But barring that, there was absolutely no way the person inside could still be alive. That blast had been point blank, and at the very least, the wearer's insides would be mush due to the forces acting on him.
Suddenly, Floyd had a very good idea of what other things Olivier would have used all of those souls for.
Tabby leapt back to Floyd's side, fire curling up and down her arms. "I'm guessing we're all on the same page?"
Floyd nodded. "There's no way whatever is inside that armor is still alive."
"Undead," Ren muttered. "But how? It takes a lot of skill just to reanimate a body so that it can shamble around. How did Olivier manage to bind a soul so well that moves like that…that thing does? And don't even get me started on your Kame…your Solar Flare, Boss."
Floyd scowled. Ren was absolutely right. No undead he'd ever seen could move like the Elite Guard had. What was really going on here?
"He's reaching for something," Tabby said, drawing his attention from his thoughts.
They watched as the Elite Guard reached towards his waist. A compartment jutted out, and a cylinder of metal slapped into his gauntlet-clad hands.
Ren hissed. "Does this shithole of a universe get any better?"
Tabby's eyes flicked towards Ren. "Harsh, but for what reason?"
"Boss, we know what that thing is in his hand," Ren warned, ignoring her. "A knight waving some hollow looking thing around that isn't a wand. What do we know from our world that has something like that?"
Floyd's eyes narrowed, his brain running a million miles a minute until…
"Oh," he said. "That's very bad."
The Elite Guard began walking forward as a red blade of energy jutted from the hollow hilt of silver metal. He wasn't close enough to the Elite, but he knew if he were, he'd hear the hum of energy, the crackle and sparking of intense heat if the blade so much as scraped against the ground.
"Tabby, listen to me," Floyd said. "Whatever happens, do not let that thing touch you. It might not matter what wards you put up, if he gets close enough to slash at you, it'll cut through you like paper."
"What is that?" Tabby asked, shuffling backwards.
"A lightsaber," Ren said. "They're weapons that aren't even supposed to fucking exist. They're from fictional works back in our universe, the kind of movies you watch with the family on a Saturday morning."
"And now they're real," Floyd said. "I suppose we know now what made those wounds earlier, and why they were immediately cauterized."
He saw Tabby swallow. "If he can cut right through us…why hasn't he charged yet?"
"He's deciding which one of us to target first," Floyd said. "We need to focus on getting through that armor. If you can, aim for the head. Undead that we've fought in our universe die if the head is detached from the body. Use heat; that metal has to be susceptible somehow."
Tabby nodded and set herself to Floyd's left, while Ren crouched down to his right.
The Elite Guard stopped moving for a few seconds and lifted the lightsaber above his head with both hands, the crimson blade turning his armor and the snow around them the color of blood.
"Here it comes," Floyd warned. "Get ready."
"Right!" Ren and Tabby said.
The Elite Guard moved into an attacking stance, the lightsaber poised to stab…and charged.
One moment he was far down the street, and in the space of a few heartbeats, he was right in front of the entire group. Floyd shouted and thrust his palms back, forcibly blowing Tabby and Ren out of harms way as the Elite began to jab at him. The attacks were the quick, skilled motions of a veteran fighter, which again, didn't make sense. If the Elite was undead, he shouldn't have been able to move so fluidly.
Then Floyd realized he had other problems, like how the Elite Guard was one of the best swordsmen he had ever faced.
His years upon years of training and experience were the only things that kept him alive. The Elite attacked with a series of rapid jabs aimed at Floyd's head, moving so fast that he almost couldn't keep track of them all. Each one was perfectly spaced so that Floyd couldn't counterattack without being skewered in return. It was all he could do to weave his head out of the way, unable to block with his forearms like he usually did lest the Elite take his hand from him. Another flurry of strikes blurred overhead and the Elite's momentum finally played out, his footing shifting ever so slightly to regain balance. The saber lashed out in a whipping slash, Floyd stepping inside his guard and knocking away the gauntlet instead of the weapon itself. The edge of the lightsaber clipped his armor, not slowing for a moment as it seared through the tough material, but it didn't actually hit his flesh. Off-balance, Floyd planted a solid kick to the Elite's midsection, a kick hard enough to make any normal person's insides turn to jelly at the very least. The Elite was sent skidding backwards almost fifty feet, his boots digging into the asphalt to stop himself.
Tabby leapt forward and pressed her gloved hands to the ground, light with an earthy tone flaring in a circle around her. The ground awoke and leapt to her call, pillars of earth ripping themselves free and bending towards her body. The Elite Guard rushed forward, but not before Tabby rose and made a motion like she was flicking water from her hands. Pellets of rock barely bigger than Floyd's thumb shattered from the giant pillars and screamed towards the Elite, who stopped in his tracks and flicked his lightsaber here and there, the crimson blade effortlessly shearing through the pellets. Some slipped past his guard and marked his armor with a metallic squeal, but if he felt pain, the Elite made no noise to say so.
"Keep him busy, Tabby!" Floyd shouted.
Tabby said nothing, but instead pressed her palms to the ground again, icy blue light washing out this time. Snow turned into solid ice and slammed over and over into the Elite's position in the form of cold fists or just solid pillars. She was just a second too slow, but even that armor wouldn't protect him from being crushed, and the Elite had to retreat for the time being.
"That kick should have killed his grandchildren, it was so hard!" Ren shouted over the sounds of tremendous weight striking the ground over and over. "How do we beat this guy?"
Physical force wouldn't work, at least, nothing blunt. It was clear that it didn't matter how hard Floyd could hit unless he could break that armor manually, and there was no way that was happening, even with his enhanced strength. Even as he was about to suggest fire, Tabby stood and hooked her fingers into claws, a wall of flames erupting from the ground and swirling into a tightly packed ball. With a shout, Tabby lobbed the ball upwards in an arc, then slammed her hands on the ground again. More earth rose, a wall this time behind the Elite Guard, who was left with nowhere to go as the fireball slammed into him from above like a dropped bomb. The heat from the explosion beat against his armor like a physical thing, setting off the environmental equalizer and causing it to cool inside the suit. As the black smoke faded, that damned red light unsheathed again, the Elite walking forwards.
"Guys!" Tabby shouted, breathing hard. "Could use some help here!"
But how? If the fire didn't do anything, how could you possibly defeat one of these Elites besides ripping their souls out? Olivier wouldn't make a legion of immortal undead soldiers with no apparent weakness.
So what, then?
Floyd's eyes flicked from the masked helm of the Elite to the weapon he carried.
Ren arched an eyebrow as Floyd turned to look down at her. "I think I got it," he said confidently. "But you're gonna have to get close."
###
Vanessa bowed her head against the wind as Russ rushed down the street, the massive shaggy Pokemon hardly even panting as he carried two fully-grown humans on his back. In the distance, the sounds of a furious (and likely powerful) battle echoed down the streets.
"Yo!" She picked her head up to see Zero and his Cryogonal soaring towards them. "I saw the explosion from the western sector, then I heard something about a perimeter breach? What's going on?"
"Something or someone tore their way through the abandoned part of the Quarter," Griffin said.
Zero sniffed and looked towards the site of the battle. "Definitely Corinth's friends." He nodded towards a silhouette in the sky that seemed to be getting closer.
"More Dragonite," Vanessa muttered. "Alright, look, we think Floyd and Tabby are down there fighting…something. If that Dragonite and whatever else is behind it closes in on us, we're toast. Can you hold them off so we can get them out safely?"
"Sure can," Zero said. "When does the shield go up?"
Vanessa frowned back towards Sanctuary, where a ring of purple light and fire surrounded the top of the building now.
"Not soon enough," she said. "Let's go."
"Sure, but you might want something faster than Russ," Zero said, fishing out a Pokeball. "Er, no offense big guy."
"Stout!"
"None taken," Griffin said. "You got something faster?"
"Why, of course!" The Pokeball in his hand expanded to full size.
###
As if mocking Floyd, the Elite Guard rushed towards him, his lightsaber spinning in a trail of circles around his body, making the very air bleed ozone and crimson light. The blade carved smoking gashes into the ground as he approached in a taunt, or maybe in an attempt to intimidate. Floyd wasn't scared of death; he was scared of the pain that could come with it. His ideal situation was finally passing away in his sleep, his body and mind finally at peace after years and years of fighting.
But if he wasn't careful, death would take much longer and hurt much more than the alternative.
The taunt ended and the Elite closed in for the kill, his lightsaber flickering back in forth in a series of blows that Floyd could scarcely stay ahead of. It was all he could do to dodge each one, but with his theory about the lightsaber, there was a slight chance that he wouldn't have to just dodge soon. For the time being though, he had to keep moving. To stop would mean the Elite would have him, and it would be certain death. The crimson blade lashed over Floyd's head as he ducked and stepped inside the guard, his fist shooting forward to pound into the Elite's chest. His ribs should have exploded out of his skin, maybe even through the armor, but the Elite kept coming. His hand came up and shot one of the terrible shards of ice that was almost as large as he was, the structure blurring towards him silent and deadly. Floyd ducked under the giant spike and rushed forward, the Elite gliding eagerly to meet him. Even though he couldn't fight on even ground with the Elite, Floyd had trained with his friend Ryu for years in the art of swordplay.
And he knew how to fight unarmed.
The Elite pressed him with a series of quick slashes and jabs all to keep Floyd backpedaling, but for all of his skill, he fell into a pattern that Floyd quickly deciphered. The next high arc of an attack was blocked, Floyd's fist jabbing into the Elite's wrist. He'd been hoping to knock the blade from his grip, but the Elite's grip was too strong. He weaved to the side of the next counter-thrust and brought his boot hammering down on the side of the Elite's knee. Undead or not, it was still a joint, and the guard stumbled with a clatter of his fine armor. A roundhouse kick clanged into the side of the Elite's helmet and snapped his head back, sending him sprawling across the snow, the lightsaber still clutched in his hand.
"Tabby!" Floyd shouted. "Now!"
The icy blue light from earlier rippled beneath Floyd's boots and surged to the prone form of the Elite Guard. Around him, ten massive fists of ice jutted from the earth and curled inwards to slam over and over into the Elite, Tabby hoping to crush him beneath the ice's bulk.
Floyd leapt back and landed near Tabby, who was panting and sweating beneath her clothes as the strain of so many magic spells began to get to her. "You alright?" he asked.
"Tired," Tabby panted. "But it doesn't matter." She wiped her mouth and released Blitz from his Pokeball, who, unlike his trainer, was rested and ready to go. "Hit him with everything we've got! Now!"
Floyd cupped his hands together, another Solar Flare spinning to life as Blitz reared back, his cheeks puffing as flames gathered in his mouth. The earth shuddered and serrated chips of ice flew out fast enough to shred flesh as the Elite blew Tabby's ice fists away and stormed towards them, lightsaber trailing death behind his armored form.
"Break!" Floyd shouted, diving away. Blitz scooped his trainer up in one fluid motion and moved her out of the way as the Elite crashed into where they'd been standing to resume his offensive. Perhaps it was the simple fact that he and his friends had survived so long against his assault, but the Elite chased him with vicious determination now, his lightsaber licking back and forth through the air and beginning to taste Floyd's armor. He grunted and winced at a dozen minor cuts that did touch his flesh, the skin burned and smoldering beneath the armor. The Elite slashed in an X, and the strike that would have quadrisected him from the neck down met open air as Floyd barely managed to dodge it.
Orange light blared to life behind the Elite and Floyd stepped past another slash and somersaulted backwards to avoid a low sweep of his blade. Moments later, sweeping gouts of flame washed over the Elite Guard, enveloping him fully as the flames snarled and lashed down the street. Tabby and Blitz worked as a synchronized team, intense flames ripping from powerful punches and kicks into the air. A flash of white shot up from the roaring flames and landed on a nearby building, blue sparks traveling up and down the length of his free hand. Two fingers extended and a blast of lightning that looked strong enough to power the entire Quarter ripped from his fingers and exploded upon impact with the ground at Tabby's feet. Both her and the Infernape went flying back, landing hard in the snow. Floyd lurched forward, intending to challenge the Elite long enough for the two of them to fall back, but the Elite unleashed another thunderbolt just as fast, and Floyd was temporarily stunned as he went flying backwards and slammed into a wall, the electricity arcing and buzzing down the exposed, burned flesh through the holes in his armor.
The Elite Guard leapt off the building and landed with a ripple of air on the street, and Floyd saw what was going to happen. Alone, the Elite could probably take him on and win, but Tabby's magic and Blitz' fire was a nuissance. He'd kill them, combatants who weren't as fast as he was, then focus on Floyd.
Floyd called Light Speed to his body and shot forward in a black blur, soaring through the air as the Elite Guard sprinted forward faster than Floyd thought possible while he was using his abilities. The Elite would be able to react and behead him if he slammed into his side, and he simply wouldn't get there in time to move Tabby and Blitz out of the way.
But there was just enough time to speed in front of them.
The Light Speed died as the Guard shot forward, his lightsaber arcing downwards in a show of crimson death. Floyd tensed, raising his arm to shield himself. If he was wrong, he would die in short order. But for all its flair, the lightsaber was still a sword, and swords had to be tested against the things they were attempting to cut.
And you can't test what you don't have.
The blade sheared through the Black Sun armor…but rebounded from Floyd's arm, the limb made from his Earth's steel.
"Now, Ren!" he shouted, flinging the Pokeball behind the Elite Guard. Ren exploded out in a flash of white light, already moving before she had fully formed, and slammed into the Elite, her horn flashing with negative energy.
And just as he'd hoped, Knock Off applied to humans as well as Pokemon.
The lightsaber turned off and flipped up into the air, caught by Floyd's other free hand. The Elite made the first sound of rage that Floyd had heard yet, but it was too late. A hasty right-handed haymaker missed him by a mile, and the Elite didn't even see the sweep of the crimson blade as Floyd sheared through the helmet at the neck with little resistance. The head of the Elite Guard dropped from its shoulders as the rest of him fell to the ground with a final clang of armor plates.
The fight was over.
There was little in the way of noise besides the settling of the volatile battlefield and heavy breathing from all. Floyd unfolded his mask and gulped down the cold air, sheathing the lightsaber with the press of a button and bending over Tabby. "Come on. Come on, we gotta go. The guys earlier said that thing wasn't alone so I'm betting…"
"There!"
Ren swore and jumped back, turning to face the voices that came down the street. The commotion of the fight must have attracted them. Twenty magi, all of them definitely Corinth's friends.
"I hate this damn city," Tabby said, staggering to her feet.
"Join the club," Ren groaned, her horn beginning to flare with purple light.
Floyd set himself and prepared for yet another fight, though he wasn't sure he could win this one.
Suddenly, a wall of earth jutted from the ground, cutting off the reinforcements from Floyd and his friends. It stretched up to the tops of the abandoned buildings in a massive blockade, dirt spilling off of it in fountains. At the same time, Griffin, Vanessa, and Zero all landed in front of them, dismounting a strange white ball of a Pokemon with horns and Zero's Cryogonal.
"Are you hurt?" Vanessa asked, rushing over to them.
"Yes, but that's not what we need to worry about," Floyd said. He recalled Ren to her Pokeball as Tabby did the same with Blitz. "Tabby, you ride with Zero. I can fly, and I'll need both of my hands to carry this thing."
"You're taking it with us?" Tabby asked, disgusted.
"We need to figure out what this armor is and why it has my symbol on it. Don't argue, go!"
Tabby nodded and hopped aboard Snowflake as Floyd heaved the corpse over his back in a fireman's carry. Vanessa hopped back on the Pokemon with Griffin and they all took flight into the air, Floyd trying his best to stay behind. Voices of outrage echoed up from behind the wall, and pinpricks of magic registered to Floyd's senses. Bolts of lightning, spikes of ice, and even gobbets of strange, sizzling poison whizzed by them high in the sky, but none of them posed any real threat.
The real threat was the thing that was blurring towards them at supersonic speeds, a Dragonite ready to kill. That regal purple aura had enveloped it, and Floyd prepared to watch a meteor shower up close.
"I don't think so!" Zero shouted. "Snowflake, give it to him!"
Tabby held on for dear life as Snowflake did a 180 and blew out, a furious cold wind snapping and snarling, freezing the moisture in the air as it traveled. The wind turned into a gale, and then a full-on Blizzard, though not as strong as if the Pokemon would have been able to focus it. Still, the Dragonite took the brunt of the attack, the expression on its face almost comical as its wings and body froze over and it plummeted towards the ground hundreds of feet below. Zero cheered and Snowflake let out a happy exclamation of its own name as the group soared into the afternoon sky and back towards Sanctuary. Likely Olivier hadn't expected him and Tabby to stand their ground against the Elite Guard, much less to defeat him. Now they had his armor and a weapon that Floyd was willing to bet no one else anyone had ever seen before.
He smirked despite the pain of some of his injuries.
It was time Olivier was caught off guard.
A/N: This one was actually kind of tough to write, but we pushed through it. Be sure to check the deviantArt link in my profile every so often, as I'm trying to work on concept art alongside this. Tabby is scheduled to be next, and I'm hoping to drop that art before or with the next chapter. Thanks for reading guys.