Even if it wasn't the sensation of something breaking underfoot, Remi was enjoying something, alright- the Pheromosa seemed utterly incapable of going ten seconds without smirking and laughing. Knox barely made a sound, but no one was taking him lightly either, even if he wasn't outwardly so flippantly hostile. Adnea's new place was curled up in Dren's tail for safe-keeping, as the Orbeetle apparently wasn't going to wake up any time soon, and what was going on with Team Starstorm was anyone's guess.
"Alright, let's do this, mateys!" Shar cried, her tail wagging wildly.
"Aye!" her own comrades thundered back.
"I'm gonna bust that damn wall!" Rush declared. "Cinder, you try melting him too, and Big Blue, you wash the pieces away!"
"Washing away a blockhead as big as that?! He's just an easy target!" Lazuli exclaimed with a grin.
"'Blockhead!'" Riven crowed amusedly. "That's brilliant!"
Perhaps it was 'brilliant' to the expeditioners, but every single eye that Knox possessed on his myriad of bricks were rolling in unison.
Either way, with their shields down, the Beasts weren't wasting time. An icy glow took form at the tips of Remi's claws and an Ice Beam shot off at Dren first, who was likewise quickly glowing with Mega energy. Even if the Pheromosa could break them with ease, a Light Screen went up that kept the Salamence from taking the hit (though it did crack fairly quickly), and Remi was quickly moving to avoid a Bullet Punch from Seth. Cinder and Riven both took to the air, while another certain avian with a note-shaped crest moved to perching on Azra's shoulder as their gnarly team lead worked herself up into a red-glowing Outrage.
"C'mere, ya pretty little thing!" Shar screeched wrathfully at Remi, running at them with claws flailing.
Remi couldn't help but to cackle. "Oh, theeeere we go~!"
Perhaps anyone else would've run from a rampaging Garchomp, but Remi swiftly sidestepped a Dark Pulse from Riven and charged at Shar without a care, practically turning into a blur. They took a leap towards her, curling up into a ball mid-air, then struck out with their feet right into Shar's chest hard enough to make a loud thud that knocked the wind out of her. Still the Garchomp's claws slashed and swiped, but before she could hit the Pheromosa, they outright disappeared for a second. Knox was about to be on the receiving end of Rush's Helping Hand-boosted Brick Break, Cinder's Flamethrower, and a Bubble Beam from Lazuli was obscuring the view of one side of eyes, but the Stakataka too disappeared before he could take any damage.
"Eh?!" Cinder fussed.
A surprised gasp only came from Shar.
It became pretty obvious shortly, though, when Knox appeared in the same place that Remi had been moments before and Remi took Knox's place. A slash of Shar's claws raked a deep scratch down several of Knox's components, at which the pieces flipped outwards with red-glowing eyes and made some strange robotic growling sounds before flipping back inwards, but the Stakataka hardly seemed to mind. The Pheromosa, though, was fast to strike a pose that let every attack fly past them, still snickering.
"This asshat has U-Turn too?!" Rush exclaimed.
Remi giggled. "Gotta keep myself safe~"
The next moment, the Pheromosa playfully went licking one set of claws, leaving them coated in poisonous ooze. Cinder dove down to hit them with some Acrobatics and Lazuli tried to Play Rough, but even more nimbly, the Pheromosa darted aside and Poison Jabbed their claws straight into the side of Lazuli's head just like a Seviper sinking its fangs into its unfortunate prey.
"Eeeek!" the Azumarill cried in pain.
"Big Blue!" Rush exclaimed.
Remi ripping their claws out was accompanied by a spurt of blood, and it was painfully obvious to Lazuli's comrades that her wound was far deeper than any of them would've liked (had 'liking' a claw wound been something any of them did, at least). Her face contorted in discomfort, blood quickly trickling down the side of her body, and she stumbled back with a dazed look.
"Go to hell!" Cinder screeched at the Pheromosa, breathing another Flamethrower.
However, both Remi and their comrade still weren't too bothered by anything, for Knox put up another Wide Guard right as Dren swooped in to hit the Pheromosa with an Aerial Ace and Azra set off an Earth Power underneath the living rampart. Neither attack had any success, and though it might've been ultimately fruitless, Shar was still rampaging away at the Stakataka behind the shield.
"Oh, I'll go to hell, and I'll take it over for Void's glory~" Remi laughed flippantly. "You know where I can find it, little fireball~?"
The Fletchinder squawked in disdain, and a furious-sounding growl from Dren made the Pheromosa pause for just a second before going right back to grinning.
Rush, though, was sticking an arm around Lazuli to keep her steady. "Big Blue, you okay?"
"I'll be fine," she said with a grin, albeit faintly. "If I couldn't take a single hit, I wouldn't bother being an expeditioner!"
"That's the Big Blue spirit," Rush said with a giggle, giving her a little pat and a smirk.
Nonetheless, Rozen was taking note of the Azumarill's stream of blood and came darting over to her, but when Knox and Remi's shields went falling again, the Stakataka pounded the ground with one of his rocky limbs and cracked it to send more fissures jutting out, one of which jutted straight for Rozen while another went for Azra. The Aggron could Protect himself fine, but Rozen, however, was swooped up by Riven before the fissures could swallow him up.
"Ah! Thank you, comrade!" the Audino exclaimed.
"Don't sweat it, matey!" the Honchkrow brushed it off.
However, from Azra's shoulder, Polly piped up, near-perfectly mimicking Remi's voice, "Hey! Blockhead! You missed!"
That seemed to befuddle the Stakataka enough at around the same time Shar stopped her Outraging, leaving another deep scratch on his surface. Several more of the living rampart's pieces flipped out, the eyes inside of them blinking in confusion.
"COMRADE, TEASING IS NOT NECESSARY," Knox boomed.
The Pheromosa looked confused too, deftly darting away from Lazuli trying to Play Rough and Cinder trying to strike with Fly. "The fuck are you on about?" they asked with a laugh.
"It's totally necessary!" Polly chimed in again, still very much sounding like Remi and not herself.
At that, the Pheromosa caught on, and Knox apparently did too, for a very metallic-sounding growl came from him. An Ice Beam shot off at Polly next, which she took to the air in barely enough time to avoid seeing as one of her feet had a tinge of icy crystals clinging to it. Remi darted for Azra next, probably wanting to shatter some more armored plates, but the Aggron Protecting himself put a stop to that idea. Instead, Polly went for an Aerial Ace, and it would've been a dead-on hit if Remi hadn't been faster. The Pheromosa's gaze darted upwards and they delivered a Brick Breaking kick at the Chatot, smirking amusedly.
"Ah! Not good!" Polly squawked.
WHAM!
Another Wide Guard from Knox went up about the same time that Remi's foot connected with Polly, and had the shield been a wall, it would've had a Chatot-shaped hole in it… and probably several more holes in whatever surfaces were behind it, too. Polly gasped in pain and slumped onto the ground after crashing into the shield's inner surface, and Remi snickered.
"Oh, you think that's bad, stupid little avian~?" they chirped.
They staked Polly to the ground by one of her wings, the claws on one foot going straight through it to do so. The 'stupid little avian' in question gasped again, but clearly didn't have much energy to do anything about it.
"How about this?!" Remi laughed.
Polly couldn't do much of anything as Remi's other foot kicked her in the side of her head, then kicked her body, then went back to her head again. The Pheromosa cackled wildly the entire time, but the expeditioners were horrified.
"What the FUCK!" Rush shouted.
"Good heavens!" Dren likewise exclaimed.
Azra looked stunned and whacked at the shield with an Iron Tail, but it was no good.
Shar might've worked herself up into a wrathful stupor, but she definitely knew the sight and sound of a comrade getting pummeled when it happened. "HEY!" she roared, fiery eyes turning on the Pheromosa, "GET YOUR FILTHY CLAWS OFF OF HER!"
More laughter came from the beautiful Beast. "My claws are only filthy because they've touched this world~! You should be thanking me for trying to clean it up~!"
They all had some serious doubts on whether or not that was actually what Remi was trying to do. The Pheromosa stuck their other foot on Polly's head, apparently about to finish the job, but the shield faded and shortly, Remi was indeed getting their claws off of (or rather, out of) Polly, for Seth darted at them with one pincer ready to land a Bullet Punch. His battering appendage met with the same foot that had been staking Polly down, Remi's leg shaking just a bit at holding it off, but nonetheless, a playful wink of no concern greeted the Scizor. Still, when Rozen gave Seth a Helping Hand moments later, the Scizor easily overpowered the Pheromosa and would've bashed their face in, but luckily for Remi, their speed let them duck aside and only feel a brush of a pincer on the side of their face.
CLANG!
A Brick Break swiftly delivered to the Scizor's chest put a hefty dent in his carapace and made his eyes go huge. He gasped in pain and stumbled backwards, trying to get ahold of himself, but Remi was, as usual, faster. Another lightning-speed kick upside the armored bug's head made him slump on the ground, unconscious.
"Holy shit, that one is one crazy motherfucker," Rush remarked, staring daggers at Remi.
Remi definitely didn't disagree with such, but still, they were moving again when a very angry-looking Dren threatened to torch them with a Flamethrower. The hulking dragon positioned himself over Polly and Seth so that their enemies couldn't possibly get ahold of the two fainted ones, making a very low growl that practically dared Remi to try.
Lazuli had a lot of energy back after one Heal Pulse from Rozen, and another had the blood trickle slowed to a less concerning speed. Still, their situation didn't allow much time for proper healing, and all of the ones that the Pheromosa had struck more gravely would be needing more attention after the battle was over. Shar had definitely taken damage from Remi's U-Turn, but the Garchomp was apparently too worked up to notice or care if it was anything serious.
"I'm not sure if I can heal as fast as this one can hurt," Rozen remarked, haplessly shaking his head.
"Well, I'm about to hurt someone," Rush snarled, balling his fists up again.
The glow of a Helping Hand surrounded the Scrafty, and he charged over to Knox with one fist drawn back, to which at least a dozen of the Stakataka's eyes flipped outwards and peered at him. A Brick Break pounded into one of Knox's legs, the sheer force of which made the living rampart's entire body shake like a pallet of stones that been bumped, the leg Rush had struck giving out from under the rest of the pieces.
… And shortly, it became very apparent that, even if metallic disgruntled sounds came from pretty much every piece of Knox's body, trying to break apart a Stakataka was a terrible idea.
"Oh, fuck-" Rush said, getting a bit disgruntled.
The entire panel of pieces making up the wall that faced Rush came tumbling down in a rather thunderous, red-eyed Rock Slide. Thankfully, Rozen put a Reflect over the Scrafty that kept him from getting buried in a lump of ethereal living bricks, otherwise he probably would've been needing some healing too.
"Does anyone else find that incredibly creepy?!" Cinder fussed, hesitantly eyeing the myriad of eyes peering back from Knox's interior.
"I'd call it gnarly if he was on our side!" Riven called back, landing on his Aggron comrade's head.
Apparently, collapsing on himself wasn't any trouble to Knox, for as fast as they'd fallen, his pieces started to move again, bouncing back towards the rest of his body, but Rush was quickly getting out of the way when a Surf came crashing down on them next courtesy of Lazuli. More sounds of distress came from the displaced bricks, and the rest of Knox's body had a few chunks following suit. A Wide Guard nonetheless went up shortly thereafter, allowing the Stakataka to rebuild in peace.
Azra passed a Heal Seed off to the Honchkrow on his head, who shortly flew over to Shar and shoved it into her mouth. The Garchomp quickly regained control of her senses, though she still looked about as furious as could be, especially when Remi apparently turned their attention on Azra next. A kicking Brick Break met with the Aggron's protective shield, and a Wing Attack from Riven was pretty easily sidestepped.
"I am going to shred you," Shar growled.
"You do that~" Remi taunted.
The Garchomp darted at them with fangs bared ready to Crunch whatever piece of the Pheromosa she could get, but instead of running at Shar, Remi turned to Azra when his shield fell and U-Turned out of the way just before Shar's glinting fangs could rip into them. Yet again, Remi escaped completely unscathed while snickering, and Shar got a mouthful of stone when Knox replaced them.
"Fucking hell!" Riven fussed.
"Again?!" cried Azra.
Remi cackled at hearing their displeasure. Shar, though, wasted no time in spewing a Flamethrower on Knox, but still, the Stakataka appeared to be taking everything in stride. It was becoming more and more obvious why Void had picked him to be her bodyguard, that was for sure.
The Pheromosa, though, went shooting off an Ice Beam at Cinder with one hand and another at Rozen with the other, and though they shortly had gigantic cracks, two Light Screens blocked them from hitting. Yet again Remi was ducking out of the way when a Helping Hand-boosted Façade from Rush came, but even as he missed, the Scrafty gave Cinder a look.
"Cinder! Glasses!" he called.
The fiery avian apparently knew exactly what he was talking about, for he dove down at Remi next, and though they could keep from getting hit by his Acrobatics, one of the Fletchinder's feet curled around the edge of the X-Ray Specs sitting on their head. A surprised look crossed Remi's face, their eyes looking furious while their mouth was still smirking.
"Hey, little fireball," they breathed, voice full of wrath.
An Ice Beam would've hit Cinder next too as he flew the other way, but again, a Light Screen got in the way. Instead, the Fletchinder quickly perched on Dren's head and dropped the glasses right into the Salamence's mouth, where they were promptly crunched into at least a dozen broken pieces.
"Now you can't go hunting down our comrades so easily," Cinder hissed.
For the first time since they'd come across each other, the Pheromosa finally made an expression that wasn't a flippant smirk or a devilish smile. "Bastard!" they hollered, licking their claws again and charging at the Fletchinder and Salamence.
Dren growled, and a psychic glow started to form at the top of his head. Remi Poison Jabbed at him, but his Zen Headbutt made them stop that maneuver and deliver a swift Brick Break under his jaw instead. The Salamence was dazed by it, but still growled deeply with embers starting to pour from his mouth that he would've breathed all over the Pheromosa had they not immediately retreated. Once the Mega-fueled rage wore off… that hit he'd taken was probably going to hurt. A Wide Guard went up again that prevented anyone from getting comeuppance on the beautiful Beast as they darted out of the way again.
However, something else caught the Beasts off guard and alarmed the expeditioners- the air cracking and opening into another wormhole from which a second Stakataka dropped, one brick marked 'UB08A-4302.' Several of Knox's parts turned their eyes outward to get a good look, and Remi instantly perked up.
"There's two of them?!" Shar cried.
"That's fine! I'll throw down with you, too!" Rush hollered, balling his fists up.
Remi, however, had other thoughts, keeping the disgruntled look. "Forty-Three-O-Two! If you left the goddess unguarded, SO HELP ME, I will break all of your pieces one by one and make your comrades watch!"
"THAT IS NOT NECESSARY," the other hulking Beast replied. "VOID HAS SENT ME. SHE IS CALLING BOTH OF YOU HOME, EFFECTIVE NOW."
That threw the expeditioners for a loop. That definitely sounded like a change of plans for the poisoned underlings, and there had to be some reason for such…
And shortly, Remi had an idea of what that reason was, for they let out a gleeful cackle and triumphantly pumped one set of claws in the air. "HAH! Azure must've done it~! We've got the human, ahahaha!"
The expeditioners perked up even more.
"WHAT?!" Rush hollered.
"… No!" Shar growled.
Either way, they didn't have time to find out for sure when another wormhole opened underneath Knox that Remi also darted into, the latter cackling wildly with the cockiest look they could possibly make. Void's interim guard wasn't far behind in venturing back into the first wormhole, though a Flamethrower or two definitely followed along. Whether they hit or not on the other side was anyone's guess, for their extradimensional company was whisked away in moments.
"They can't be serious!" Lazuli exclaimed in shock.
"What did that armored pest do?!" Cinder snarled.
Rush shook his head. "Cinder, Dren, you two can fly- get over there and find out," he instructed.
"Riven, you go too!" Shar said, giving her Honchkrow teammate a glance.
"On it!" Cinder affirmed, taking off.
"Aye, captain!" Riven said, following suit.
Dren didn't say a word, but simply released the unmoving Adnea from his tail and took to the skies as well.
The ones left gave each other some stupefied glances, but it didn't take long before Rozen was rushing over to the injured ones that Dren had been guarding. Lazuli still had big red streaks running down the side of her body, but she was hanging on as best as anyone possibly could. Adnea at least had no visible damage and Seth's was fixable, but Polly was a mangled mess. Her wing was stuck at an odd angle with two blood-covered holes through it, and her beak had a small red trickle coming from it while her eyes were rolled back in her head. Even if the Orbeetle's surveillance would definitely prove useful, Rozen set to the avian first.
"Raijin wasn't lying about those two being scary," the Audino remarked, shaking his head with wide eyes as he gave Polly a Heal Pulse.
"I want to rip that Pheromosa's pretty little face off," Shar growled, strolling over to his side. "Polly? Ya still in there, Polly?"
The faintest gasping sound came from the Chatot's beak. She was still hanging on, but she'd definitely been damaged far past what any ordinary battle would entail. It pained the others just to look at her.
"And if I see that blockhead again, I'll smash all of his pieces one by one and make that pretty asshat watch," Rush remarked, shaking his head. "Hell, if that Azure bastard got ahold of Li'l-li'l Green, I'll go piss off the nearest Beast Squad with one of those little nebula motherfuckers into takin' me home with 'em, and I'll go beat their asses on their own turf!"
"Let's not be hasty," Rozen chimed in, looking concerned. "We don't know for sure yet if Team Starstorm is indeed in their domain."
That much was true.
… But they definitely wanted to know.
. . . . .
One thing was for certain, the remaining two of Team Starstorm were an absolute mess as they ran, barely having any clear idea of where they were headed. Adnea had noted where they might find otherworldly company, but apparently, Adnea herself was out of commission for the all the silence they heard. Surely, if she hadn't noticed the absolute fear in their thoughts, then either she was unconscious, or their side had met some truly awful company demanding her attention… or both. Either way, everything felt absolutely awful.
"Necrozma…! Now might be a good time to chime in if you can hear us…!" Raijin said faintly.
Astrid agreed, but the Blinding One was as silent as they had ever been.
They vanished into the trees- at least it would give them some amount of cover that the craggy cliffs to their north wouldn't. Little water droplets sprinkled on the ground from the edges of Astrid's eyes, and her wings beat so frantically that her comrade could barely keep up even with his much longer stride. A few twigs and branches scraped at her that she didn't even bother avoiding, for she just couldn't bring herself to care. She could barely bring herself to scan their surroundings in her usual fashion, for it all just seemed so… pointless. Void already had one of their own- getting herself and Raijin was only a matter of time…
Nonetheless, the two of them stumbled pell-mell through the brush towards where they'd diverged off the beaten trail, trying their absolute hardest to just keep moving and not get too caught up in the swirls of apprehension circling their minds. Astrid wasn't even sure if they were going the right way- neither one of them was familiar with the territory, and everything looked more or less the same to boot. At least, it did, until they stumbled across another stray little bit of crag in the midst of all the greenery with a large shrub mostly covering a hollow inside. Astrid paused, dropping down onto the ground, and Raijin too came to halt shortly thereafter.
"We'd have a better chance hiding and waiting it out," the Dartrix piped up.
"That's probably true," her comrade concurred.
She scurried through the shrub's branches, and Raijin pushed the larger limbs aside to crawl in after her. The walls were dirt with a stray grey stone sticking out here and there, but otherwise empty. The bottom was less than a meter below the ground, indicating a shallow burrow as if a wild Raticate or the like had begun digging one out and stopped too soon. It was snug, but they could fit, and inside they both crawled, letting the shrub cover the edge again to keep them both out of view. The Xurkitree was huddled up in a way that Astrid guessed couldn't be particularly comfortable for any more than thirty minutes, but he wasn't complaining, and though Astrid could manage to take a few steps in either direction, she didn't have much room either.
"I'm so sorry…!" Raijin softly piped up, voice distorted as if he would start crying if he was capable. "Urgh, I had one fucking job to do…! I'll never be able to look anyone in the eyes again…! Urgh, Raijin, you idiot…!"
Yet again, it was easy to tell that her comrade wasn't in a good mental state at all simply from the words that escaped him. If she'd ever expected the word 'fucking' from anyone, it wasn't him.
"… Dammit," she said faintly, pausing and shaking her head. "Dammit. Dammit! Dammit! We were so damned close…!"
Another shake of her head later, and she was burying her face in her wings. One of her comrade's hands gently touched her wing, but both of them weren't in much of a consolable state.
"If I'd reached just a second earlier…!" the Dartrix choked out, barely above a whisper. "This is terrible…! What're they gonna do with him?! Hell, what're we gonna do without him…?! I've had him next to me this entire time…! If anything happens, I don't know what the hell I'm gonna tell everyone back in Tranquil Town…!"
"I don't know what I'm gonna tell Necrozma either," her comrade said aimlessly, likewise very subdued. "L-look, this isn't much comfort, but… I can't imagine Void would kill him, knowing he's been close to us the whole time, but… if we see him again… he's probably not gonna be the same Arashi we know…"
The thought made Astrid's blood run cold- her partner, turned into another pawn. It made her feel sick. "P-promise me something…" she whimpered, looking to Raijin. "If we do see him… Y-you'll help me get him back, won't you…?"
"Of course I will," was the answer. "It doesn't feel right without him here too…"
Astrid had to agree, looking at the ground and practically trying to slink into her feathers. "P-promise me something else…"
"Anything."
Her whole form shuddered. "That you won't leave me too…! I can't do this alone…!"
"I don't intend to."
She nodded. She felt her comrade's hand curling around her, to which she skittered closer and practically jumped into his grasp, quickly getting engulfed in his tangle of cables. Her wings clutched him too as hard as they could manage, and the Xurkitree clutched her as if someone was trying to pry her away right then and there. The feathers around her eyes grew drenched from her tears, and though Raijin lacked the necessary features to cry, she could feel his currents pulsing in very strange ways akin to someone hiccuping while sobbing.
At least, when Astrid had thought Azure had killed her partner, she knew what had happened… but here, she had no clue what was going to become of him. Maybe they would see him again, as simultaneously relieving and unnerving as the thought was… or maybe Void would simply extract all of his knowledge of Team Starstorm's dealings from him and kill him off right after, and there was nothing she could do about it. A million possibilities played out in her mind, and she hated every single one.
… And then of course, there was what would befall her and Raijin after Void surely learned of every single detail surrounding their escapades.
One way or another, Team Starstorm was back to being a duo instead of a trio, and it didn't feel right at all.
. . . . .
At least Void ordering her interim guard to go collect Knox and Remi afforded the Frogadier a respite from her stinging touch, though he spent it slumped wide-eyed against the wall trying his best to ignore the sensation of the poison gnawing away at his mind. Void had turned loose of him just like a small child turned loose of a toy they no longer wanted and went right back to floating back and forth across the floor, graceful but calculating.
In moments, there was a big THUD as another two wormholes opened, courtesy of the glowing vessels that the Nihilego had gathered up, and the force of two Stakatakas hitting the ground practically made everything shake.
Void turned to the one marked 'UB08A-4302' and floated closer, gently holding one hand out to touch them. "You free to go now, Forty-Three-O-Two. You been good."
"IT WAS AN HONOR TO BE CHOSEN BY YOU," the second hulking Beast replied.
One more little pat from Void, and they were taking their leave. Knox and Remi both turned their attention on her, the Pheromosa bouncing up with gleeful, skipping steps.
"What's the situation~?" Remi chirped. "Do we have the human?!"
The Nihilego, though, had something else on her mind and reached out to touch Remi too. "Where… Where your glasses?"
"Got eaten by a dragon," was the quick reply. "That was my bad; it won't happen again."
"It okay, Void have more," Void gently replied, running a tentacle hand down the side of their face (which Remi, oddly enough, seemed to be enjoying). "But in that case… Void have other idea." She turned away and hugged herself a bit, swaying back and forth. "We not have Astrid. Void would send you Azure's previous location so you can look for her, but by time you get ready… it probably not worth it to send you when Void have other groups in area doing same thing. This human much more troublesome than Salem."
"Huh?!" the Pheromosa exclaimed, taking a step closer and (gently) sticking one hand on Void's bell. "What happened?! I thought that plan to lure them out with Azure and then First Impression them into a wormhole was a damn good one! Did it not work?!"
A shiver went down Void's body. "… Void want know what happened too, that way it not happen again."
The Nihilego turned back to Arashi, touching her arms together, and Remi took notice of the otherworldly company that otherwise should not have been there. A wild smirk was shortly crossing the Pheromosa's face, while Arashi was visibly very uncomfortable with literally everything going on before him.
"Remi, revive Azure," Void nonchalantly instructed.
The beautiful Beast at her side went to do just that, and apparently took notice of the twitching glowing vessels on the floor beneath Void, for they quickly swooped those up too and carefully placed them on the leafy shelves for the time being.
Void floated closer to Arashi again, studying him. "Talk to Void. Tell Void what happened."
He definitely didn't want to, but as if he were being possessed by a ghost or controlled by a psychic, he opened his mouth purely by feeling compelled to do so. "Well, he did First Impression us," he answered. "We were all about to get sucked into that wormhole, but Raijin grabbed one of the rocks, and he and Astrid escaped it before I could…"
She floated closer, pausing. "… Who you mean, 'Raijin?'"
The Frogadier's eyes went a little wider, for he really did not want to tell them more, but again, he felt compelled to. "That's what we call our Xurkitree friend. You call him Six-Seven."
"… Void see."
Remi scoffed as they took a golden Reviver Seed between their claws. "Pfft, listen to that! Getting all close with a bunch of lesser species?! Oh, I'm gonna have fun with that one if we ever cross paths!"
That certainly didn't sound like fun to Arashi, to say the least. But still, he kept on, "We'd both used our All-Protect orbs around the same time, so when our shields fell, Raijin used Discharge and Azure used First Impression, and Azure couldn't get ahold of us because of Raijin's sparks, so-…" He cut himself off by sticking his arms over his mouth. He shook his head. "No, Arashi, stop it…! Don't tell these crazies anything…!"
"No, you tell Void," the Nihilego softly but pointedly said to the contrary. "So that's who Void be mad at. Void be mad at Six-Seven."
At about that time, a certain Golisopod sprang to life after Remi held the seed over him, and he was quick to notice Void. "Ah, Void, apologies-"
She held up a single tentacle and shushed him. "No. It okay. Void frustrated and upset, but not at you. Void had planned have Astrid here for this, but that okay. Void make do, Void have other idea…" She looked back to Arashi. "You have other form, yes?"
The one in question wasn't quite sure what she meant. "Other form…?"
"Not many Beasts evolve, only Poipole and Cosmog. Most Pokémon do same, right? You can too?"
He got a somewhat awkward look. Surely that couldn't possibly be a malicious question, though he couldn't tell why she would care about such. "Well, yeah," he replied. "This is my second, and I've still got one more."
At that, Void clapped the tips of her tentacle arms together, apparently happy at something, but he couldn't tell what. He had an idea, but… it wasn't an idea he particularly wanted to think about.
The Nihilego turned away from him again and swayed back and forth, still clapping blissfully. "Salem waiting at crater where Void want her to be… Remi, you get Arashi evolve, and Knox, you take Void to Salem. Azure, you come along too. Necrozma and other two of Light Trio very tired; Void and Salem finish them here."
Arashi's eyes went wider. Necrozma had to be tired, that much he could deduce, but… hearing Void say they were going to 'finish' the gleaming dragon didn't bode well in the slightest. If it was as Raijin said, and Void and Salem fused together was a serious threat by themselves with the capability of boosting the battle prowess of anyone around them… He knew he should've been far more alarmed, probably trying to shout them down and land a few hits on the Nihilego herself, but he felt strangely calm and complacent.
His eyes went even wider- it was by Void's doing that he was so calm and complacent. It had to be.
Nonetheless, Knox's bricks folded inward for a second and Void holed herself off inside, and Azure strolled over to the Stakataka's side.
The Golisopod snickered, shooting Remi a glance. "What do you think happens first- we down Solgaleo or we split the fusion with Lunala?"
Remi laughed. "My bet's on Solgaleo.~"
Azure chuckled. "Mine's on Lunala."
They both snickered.
"Take good care of the little smiling brat for me," Azure said sarcastically, casting a glance to the Frogadier and getting a blink or two in return.
"Oh, I will! I'll take good care of 'im!"
Arashi doubted that Remi was actually going to 'take care of' anyone in any sort of positive sense. The living rampart strode off out of the base's opening with the Golisopod keeping close, and the Frogadier shakily got up, darting over to see where they were going. Remi's footsteps behind him made him turn around again though, and he felt even more out of place with their wild eyes peering down at him.
"Hey there, annoying little brat," the Pheromosa laughed.
Arashi certainly didn't appreciate their moniker, but he didn't frown at it either… Somehow, he didn't feel quite as standoffish as he knew he should have. In any other scenario, he knew he would've been attacking the Pheromosa, but he simply… didn't want to. That mere feeling coupled with what he knew was taking place made him feel incredibly uneasy nonetheless, but he still couldn't bring himself to make a move.
They crouched down, looking him straight in the eye and reaching out with one claw that they touched to his chest, putting a bit more pressure behind it than he would've liked. He backed away slightly so as to avoid the sharp poking, but Remi only pushed some more with a slightly growing smirk. Arashi stopped.
"You know, we've got a few of your evolution spots stowed away here that Zariel and Azure didn't smash, but I've got a better idea," Remi snickered. "Poipoles don't naturally evolve until they learn Dragon Pulse, which is a move they can have trouble learning if no one's available to help 'em… so you know what we do to speed up the process in those cases~?"
"… I have no idea," Arashi replied, shaking his head to signify such. He might've been intrigued in any other context, but the way Remi was going on about it made him hesitant.
"Wormholes!" they answered. "Those things always leave some residual trace of energy on you, and if you're going through at least several of them, it builds up.~ Usually it'll just enhance your abilities, make Pheromosas like me move faster or say, a Kartana hit harder, nothing that we aren't used to… But for those little creatures, if you make 'em jump through as many as they can, as fast as they can, then things start to go a little… haywire, seeing as that weaker form can't handle all that energy. That extra energy makes their bodies start glowing and they usually pass out before their form changes to a Naganadel…"
Their claws gave the Frogadier a flick that seemed playful from the way they giggled and grinned while doing it, but Arashi winced and stumbled backwards before their claws caught him with another very uncomfortable grip. He almost wanted to spit a Water Pulse, dart off in a Quick Attack, or spit an Ice Beam, but he still couldn't quite bring himself to and simply stayed tense in anticipation of what the Pheromosa might do next.
"But what about you~?" Remi chirped flippantly, tilting their head to the side. "You're not a Beast, you're just a Pokémon, so I don't know if it'll work the exact same way." Their claws dug into his skin just a bit more, and he twitched in discomfort, preparing to attack for just a split second. "But I guess we'll just have to figure it out, you and me.~ Worst-case scenario, I don't get to watch you squirm and gasp before you evolve, but that's alright… I can make you do that any time I want to, after all.~"
He blinked, looking awkwardly unnerved. "Remi…" his voice trailed off, "… is… is this necessary…? Look, I don't know for sure if I'm ready because I haven't tried yet, but wouldn't just taking me to one of those evolution spots be easier…? Don't Cosmogs have to exert themselves a lot…?"
Remi snickered, looking as amused as could be. "Oh, sure, it might be, and yes, they do.~ But if you're not ready like you just said, then that's just me wasting my time. This here is a surefire method, and besides, it's more fun… for me, at least.~"
That… was a reasonable answer, but nonetheless, his eyes went wider. Maybe it sounded like fun to Remi, but to him, it didn't sound like fun at all.
"C'mon now, let's go," Remi flippantly declared, motioning him to follow along as they strode for the thick doors in the back. "Void wants a Greninja, then she's gonna get one! And if you touch any of my carefully-arranged Cosmog and Cosmoem shelves, I'll ram my claws through your chest.~ Don't worry, it won't do any permanent damage if your form is just gonna rearrange itself anyway, but I doubt you wanna feel that sensation again.~"
Indeed he did not.
They gathered up the glowing vessels they'd scooped up before, and with a swift kick, the metal doors went flying open with a very loud slam. Arashi didn't doubt that Remi could've simply nudged them open, but based on everything he'd seen about the Pheromosa up to that point, apparently they just couldn't resist doing everything in the most ostentatious way possible. He took several uncertain steps after them, almost as if his body was moving on its volition without him meaning it to, then paused in hesitance.
It was just him and Remi, and the Pheromosa had their back turned, so maybe he could hit them with an Ice Beam and hopefully freeze them in place long enough to knock them out… But if this was what Void wanted…
He gasped at the thought crossing his mind. If it was what Void wanted, then he knew he didn't want it. "No…!" he breathed in horror at the realization.
At that, Remi stopped dead and turned around with a very pointed smirk, darting over in a split second before kneeling down and clutching his neck tightly between the two claws on one hand. "What was that~?" they interrogated, their tone otherwise happy-go-lucky but with bridled fury just below the surface.
The Frogadier didn't answer; he didn't know what to say. The claws practically crushing his throat from either side would've made it hard in any case. He winced, reaching up with jerky movements but not quite touching Remi's appendages.
"I don't think I asked you a question, much less one where 'no' was a possible answer," the Pheromosa said, eyes narrowing.
One of their claws that wasn't strangling him poked into his skin again, a little trickle of blood following that made him wince even more. Remi drug it down his belly, making a fairly deep scratch that dripped red the moment the next little piece of skin broke. At that, Arashi grabbed at one claw with one hand and tried to Pound Remi's forearm with the other, but before that move could get very far, Remi stopped scratching him and instead caught his arm between their second set of claws, snickering without a care. A Water Pulse would've followed, but that stopped shortly too.
One of their claws was on the bottom of Arashi's arm and the other was on the top, making them unevenly positioned, but Remi brought them closer together and elicited a cry of pain from the Frogadier. The bone wasn't snapping, but from the pressure he felt, it wouldn't be too much more before it did. He paused, hoping the Pheromosa would simply let go.
"R-Remi…!" he gasped.
They snickered. "You know most of my strength isn't even in my upper body, right?" they remarked, smirk growing wider. "In other words, this is me being nice to you.~ You're not in your strongest form and Void wants you, so you've got that protecting you from me.~ But let me tell you, if you were a Beast- hell, if you were your little traitor Xurkitree friend- you'd have one of my feet staking you to the ground with the other kicking the everloving fuck out of you until all the fucking potions and Heal Ribbons in Ultra Space would still take days to make you recover.~ Don't push your luck, or I'll take the liberty of fucking you up as much I possibly can before you evolve and nullify everything."
The claws around his neck eased up, but the ones around his arm moved a little closer together. He felt the resulting snap, and a shriek of pain escaped him before Remi let go.
"Yiiiaaaaah…! R-Remi…!"
It didn't outwardly look very broken, but it still hurt plenty enough. He clutched at it very gently as if somehow that would make the pain go away, but of course, it did not. His eyes got misty and he pressed his lips together while more gasps and disjointed breaths left him. Either way, Remi was snickering, and shortly swooped him up in one arm before strutting towards the metal doors again.
Arashi couldn't help but stare after Void's entourage. Things didn't sound good for the Blinding One, the last holdout on Ultra Space…
Things didn't sound good for the ones on his own homeworld, for that matter.
He so badly wanted to warn his friends of what was transpiring. This was everything they could've been afraid of- one of the Starstorm trio was feeling the effects of a proper dose of Nihilego neurotoxin, Raijin's homeworld was about to fall, and they'd surely be getting ahold of Astrid soon enough. Maybe he would've prayed… but no one on his homeworld would hear him, and apparently no one on Ultra Space would either.
A small, despairing whimper escaped his mouth, but not much else.