Secret of the Idol pt2: Souls Tied by Fate

by PokeMaster64

Entering the crossroads of their perilous journey, Team Ravenfield embark on their quests of personal discovery as the world grows darker by the day. The Tribe of Shadow's presence is driving the world to madness in fear of the end. In the final days, pushed to their limits, will Team Ravenfield secure the legendary Idol of Origin and reignite hope throughout Mysto?

51. Chapter 51

Ch.51: Fate's Lament! The Fortune Teller vs. the Horsemen of Death!

Night had fallen over the Shadestar Dojo, as the current occupants licked their wounds from a most grievous of affairs. Though the wounds they wore were not physical per say, the scars left on Team Ravenfield will haunt them until their end times.

Garret Ravenfield stared solemnly at the mound of dirt in the backyard of the dojo with mud caked over his paws and traces of blood found on his jacket. A cross-wheel stake had been planted behind the dirt mound with a simple inscription carved into it.

William Shadestar

Garret took a deep breath, shaking off the tension wrapped over his aching muscles, and dragged himself back into the dojo. He was drained, barely awake, and sluggish. Most of all, though, Garret was furious. Whether at himself or the culprit in this horrendous attack, he would never know.

Garret lifted his gaze and found Ava in the dojo's kitchen, hunched over at the table with a hot coffee gripped between her hands. Garret approached and pulled up a chair beside her.

"I…finished burying Sensei Shadestar," Garret said quietly, unsure how to bring it up.

"I noticed," Ava mumbled, briefly eying his disheveled fur and clothes.

Garret ran his paw through the fur on his head, sighing to himself. "How are we going to explain this to Willow when she wakes up?"

"If she wakes up…" Ava's fingers pressed harder into her coffee.

Garret frowned. "You really shouldn't be drinking coffee like this."

"Shut up."

Garret closed his eyes and huffed through his nose. "How's Courtney?"

"She was crying and fussing, but I managed to put her to bed. I'll be staying for a while. If—"

"When," Garret corrected.

"…When Willow wakes up, I want to make sure she's alright. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I was in her position. It's one thing to be executed by your fiancé, but when she sees what her dad did, she'll…"

Garret raised his paw, silencing Ava. "Please. Don't say it."

Ava sighed. "R-Right. Sorry." She took a sip of her coffee, then leaned back in her chair. "I-I just don't know what to do. What can we do now? You heard what that monster said."

Garret bared his teeth. "I was furious when I saw his face, but I never would've imagined I'd be looking into a monster's eyes. Was that really the Shadow King from five hundred years ago? It's…It's madness to think he's returned to the present. And to possess Alex of all Pokémon…"

Ava shook her head. "Why come here, though? Why would he target Willow?"

Garret growled. "Probably had access to Alex's memories and decided to twist the knife. I swear, when I get my paws on that spectral menace, I'll—"

"Sorry to interrupt your tirade, but I'm finished." Garret and Ava turned their heads and saw Morgan Tenebris entering the kitchen. He stripped off his surgical gloves and dumped them in the trash. "Even with the resurrection spell, I had to check for any lasting damage. William wasn't exactly versed in using that spell, and there were a few complications. Fortunately, Willow should make a full recovery."

Garret sighed. "That's a relief."

Morgan pulled up a chair and sat down. "Now that that little bit of business is out of the way…" He glared down at the table. "What's our next move?"

Garret scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? We're hunting Alex down and ripping that parasitic shadow from his soul."

Ava gasped. "What?"

"He's the one who offered a challenge against us, and I have every intention of taking it."

"But he said he wants the Keys of Origin, and he must know we know about their locations. If you go there without any of that, he might start a massacre."

Garret shook his head. "I have every intention not to give him what he wants. I'll just do what any good Ravenfield would do: play tricks. Besides, who in the right mind is going to believe us that the Shadow King returned?"

Morgan rolled his eyes. "Gee, maybe the mages guarding those keys?"

"That will take too long. We need to cut the problem out ourselves."

Morgan sneered. "I'm going to stop you right there. If that really is the Shadow King, I want nothing to do with this."

"You've faced plenty of tough guys before! What's different about this one?" Garret yelled, slamming his paws on the table.

Morgan mirrored the Jolteon's actions and said, "I have my reasons, but I just can't face that monster. This isn't some petty thug or minor land tyrant, you dimwit. This is the same creature that started a fifty-year war and nearly plunged the world into eternal darkness. I just can't see myself edging out a victory against something like that, especially while he's tethered to our friend!"

"That same friend is being played as a puppet for a dark overlord and nearly killed his own fiancé! If not Willow, someone else is going to suffer. We need to find the Shadow King and take him down!"

"You are being delusional, you spiky-brained dimwit!" Morgan shouted. "We've already lost Clara, and now Willow's lay up in bed as a single mom with a dead father! Ava has a family! You have a family! Think, Garret! This isn't our responsibility!"

"If the Shadow King is reading Alex's memories, he'll know we have families, too!" Garret retorted. "I rather lay my life on the line than risk my wife and kids being slaughtered!"

Garret and Morgan were both leaned over the table, pressing their faces against each other and snarling. Right as they were about to throw punches, Ava stood up and psychically separated the two away from each other.

"Both of you, SHUT UP!" Ava screamed. "What is this going to prove? If Willow saw you two acting like this, she'd…she'd…" Ava clenched her eyes and dropped the boys. She covered her teary face and shuddered. "Oh Arceus, Willow…" She slumped to the floor and wept into her hands.

Garret and Morgan stared at Ava as she sobbed into her hands, then casted each other an apologetic glance. Morgan crouched down beside Ava and placed a hand on her shoulder. Ava threw herself into Morgan's arms and cried into his chest. He awkwardly patted her back.

Garret frowned at the scene, then turned away from them. "I'm going home." He stepped away from the kitchen and started chanting a spell to himself.

Morgan lifted his head. "Why?"

"You're right, Morgan. I do have a family. The least I can do is spend one last day with them. See their faces one last time."

Morgan's eyes widened. "Wait, you're still—"

"It's my fault we all know about the keys. Even if this was inevitable, we're now that freak's only link to finding the Keys of Origin. And if it comes down to it, I may have to kill Alex to prevent that from happening." Garret snapped his digits and conjured a white portal in front of himself.

Ava pulled away from Morgan and gasped. "Wait, Garret, no!"

Garret smiled over his shoulder with tears in his eyes. "If…either of you get the chance, give Willow my condolences." He snickered awkwardly. "Besides, there's a chance I'll live, right? I am pretty awesome."

"No! Garret, stop!" Ava didn't think and lunged off the floor, reaching out to the Jolteon.

She couldn't reach him in time. The portal closed behind Garret once he passed through completely. Ava fell over the floor and scrambled to pick herself up.

Morgan stood up, staring in the direction of the portal in stunned horror. "That…idiot."

Ava sat up on her knees and stared into the empty space as the tears ran down her face. "Garret. No…" She hunched over and covered her eyes, shuddering and weeping. "Garret…"

---

There was a long silence between Ava and Death as they stood thousands of meters in the sky, supported only by the reconstituted remains of Death's onslaught on the ground. With nothing but the scenic, endless blue sky and fog-like clouds around them, it would be a clash like no other had experienced.

Ava took a deep breath and sighed. She relaxed her body and started walking around. As she walked, dust would break off and reform into new platforms for her to step on, all purposefully created with her psionic abilities. Though she couldn't sense Death, she still had general awareness from her other senses, and her psionic abilities were an extension of such.

"As you climb higher into the sky, you begin to experience altitude sickness," Ava explained. "Higher elevations mean less oxygen for the body, though you can minimize these effects through training. Mountain climbers typically build up a tolerance to low oxygen levels, though a vastly different approach to a trained fighter like myself. When you travel with the likes of Garret Ravenfield, you're expected to prepare for the unexpected."

Death glared. "What is the purpose of this sky arena?"

"Call it jumping to conclusions, but you seem like an oversized battery. Remove you from the fertile grounds enriched with magic, I just need to buy myself some time until we're back to square one."

"I have defeated you before. You were on the cusps of Death." He pointed his sword at her, raging with the aura of stolen life force. "How do you stand so boldly after I cut you down?" His steed huffed his agreement.

Ava shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to know? Maybe you're just a terrible killer. After all, my sixteen-year-old was able to devise a plan to stall you. Though, that's what you expect when dealing with a dogged serial murderer with a death fetish."

"You speak with a candidness rivaling that of the Buneary," Death said.

"Yeah, well, I'm still ticked about the scar you left on my stomach." Ava spun her swords and crouched into an attack stance. "But don't fret, I intend to dispose of your wretched hide back to the underworld where it belongs."

Death tightened his grip and crouched into his own stance. "Why do you face me even after the outcome of our previous fight?"

Ava hardened her glare. "I've watched too many people I loved die, and I cowered away one too many times. No more. No one else is going to die this day, except for you. I'm sending the reaper back into the dirt where he belongs."

Death didn't respond immediately, only staring with his cold gaze that blazed with red flames. He relaxed his posture and rose to full height, towering his mighty physique over Ava's comparatively smaller frame. "You are a creature of fierce conviction, Madame Young. For that, you have my respect. However—"

In an instant, leaving behind a static fog in his likeness, Death appeared behind Ava with his swords raised high and aimed to cleaved through her shoulders.

"Death shows no mercy."

Death swung, his swords breaking through the air with flashes of green light. They came close to dealing their death blow, but Ava smoothly ducked her head under the X-attack without a sharp twitch of her posture. In the split second of confusion, she jumped and slammed her foot into Death's jaw.

"GAH!" Death stumbled back, nearly slipping over the edge of his limited space. With the Reaper's Seal in effect, Ava's kick delivered more of a punch than any other he experienced from Cybil and Ebony. His jaw was bent out of place, forcing him to shove it back into the correct alignment.

Ava jumped back and landed at the edge of her space. "Back on the caravan, it was difficult to detect your movements in the commotion. The wind whipping and the clattering of the wheels on that rocky road. But up here, save for the strong winds, I can hear you just fine. Like I said, I have my other senses to fall back on this time."

Death huffed a grunt of annoyance as he massaged his jaw. "You're a sharp one, Madame Young, but Death is inescapable."

Ava groaned. "Ms. Ebony was indeed correct. It's like listening to a melodrama on a looping record."

"Even you must understand the precarious situation you placed yourself in," Death continued. "Though our new surroundings lean toward your benefit, only one of us is fully mortal. High tolerance is not the same as complete adaptation to these altitudes. One good hit, and you'll either lose your breath or concentration. Either way, I'll kill you the second you slip up."

Ava smirked. "Then you better not lose your head." She crouched and raised her swords. "Greater Agility!"

Ava sprung forward, zipping across the crumbling platform as fast as lightning. Death fired an energy slashed, covering the width of everything before him. Ava dismantled the ground underneath herself and slipped below the platform. She grabbed the edge, formed another hole, and flung herself directly behind Death. She kicked back and slashed into Death's back, tearing through his shadowy flesh.

Death stood strong and pushed Ava off with the pressure of his aura, throwing her into the air. Death spun around and fired another energy slash just as wide as the last.

Ava called upon the rock and formed a vertical platform. She kicked off it and dodged the energy slash. She fired out her own psychic energy slashes that sliced into Death's body in an X-shape.

Death growled and once again dispelled the energy with pressurized burst of magic. He reared himself up and commanded his steed to exhale dark flames at the flying Medicham. Ava spun herself into a corkscrew and parted the flames away before landing back on the flat grounds.

"Strong and bold as you may be, I'm faster," Ava said before darting at Death once again.

Death raised his sword, setting them ablaze in shadow fire. "Speed is hardly a factor against the likes of me, Madame Young." Death teleported behind Ava again and repeated his attack.

Ava fired a psychic pulse from her hand and flung herself to the left. The swords bashed through the platform with a wave of dark fire raging out across the stone. Ava caught herself by the edge and blasted the flames away with a second pulse.

"Death is inevitable for the weak."

Ava turned her head again and found Death hovering above her. She raised her swords just as he swung down, bracing herself against his heavy strike. The ground cracked at her feet, nearly sinking her through. The temporary field provided by Seth flickered over herself as it reacted to the weight of Death's strike.

Seth said this field can only take a certain number of hits before it breaks. When that happens, all my injuries and the strain of this battle with come rushing back to me at once. Ava steadied her flaring temper and her breathing. She relaxed her mind and glared up at the menace towering above her. But if that's what it takes to keep my family safe, then so be it.

Ava slid her swords along Death's and jumped out from under them. She fired off psychic slashes as she flew back, then kicked off into a lunging strike. Death deflected all the slashes, then crossed his swords and blocked Ava's attack. Magic rippled from their blades, crackling through the clouds around them like lightning. The magic carried through the clouds like a conductor, filling their surroundings with an electric lightshow.

Death pushed Ava off and commanded his steed to shoot shadow fire. Ava sliced through the flames after she landed, then blew them back with a psychic wave. Death charged through them, unbothered as they engulfed his frame, and smashed his swords down on Ava's position. She sidestepped them and watched the ground explode out from the impact.

"Your fighting style is mundane," Death said, straightening up. "For a master of the psionic arts and magic, you don't use your abilities to their highest potential."

Ava sneered. "You haven't seen anything yet. Guardian, I call upon you!" The teal-colored, crystal humanoid appeared behind her. "Let's give him something to squeal at." She and her Guardian rocketed toward Death.

Death fired a life force wave through the ground, to which Ava and the Guardian sidestepped. They jumped off newly constructed platforms and lunged at Death from different sides. Death blocked Ava's sword strike and raised his arm against the Guardian's barrage punches.

"Useless!" Death blasted them away with another pressure wave, then teleported behind the flying Medicham. "Nothing but useless!"

Ava suddenly bent her body back and kicked a knife construct into Death's eye. Death recoiled, missing his strike, and nearly plummeted from the platform had he not grabbed the edge in time. He tried to pluck the knife from his face, but Ava, upon landing, twisted her wrist and the knife simultaneously. It dug through Death's face, spraying a geyser of darkness out.

"You're right," Ava said. "There's nothing but useless up here. Glad we cleared up your profession."

Death, with his arm strength, threw himself up and back onto the platform with a thunderous landing. "You will understand Death. RAH!" Death raised his arms as his entire body lit up like a decorated tree. Arrows of light shot from his body straight up into the sky, curving at the apex of their flight, and rained down on the floating platform.

"Guardian!" Ava's Guardian appeared by her side and threw a flurry of punches over their heads. The arrows slammed down on Ava's position, parted by the fast flight of punches. They chewed through the stone, but it wasn't anything Ava couldn't mend. "I can take this, horseman."

"Excellent." Death flicked his finger up. "The River Styx welcomes your tenacity."

Ava looked down again and saw light piercing directly under her feet. She quickly casted a shield over herself as the arrows rebounded and shot up from below. Ava bared her teeth as each arrow pierced and cracked her barrier while the rest tore through her Guardian. She felt the recoil of the damage to the summon reflecting back on her in increments.

The Guardian's speed slowed, and more arrows passed through and pelted down on Ava as well. She gritted her teeth and braced herself, mustering more energy into her barriers. She knew Death only had so much energy to spare, so either she waits it out or waits for him to change tactics.

With Ava stuck in place, Death bounded forward, gripping one sword in two hands as it ignited with the stolen life force. He bashed through the storm of arrows and struck Ava across the stomach. Ava gagged in pain as the sword lifted her from her feet and blasted her into the sky, carried by the force of a blinding explosion.

"We're not done!" Death sheathed his sword, then cupped his hands together as a windmill of darkness channeled between them, shaping into a circular blade. Death roared, whipping his arm forward, and threw the shadow blade after the flying Medicham.

Ava peeked one eye open, nearly paralyzed from the heavy blow, and spotted the blade flying her way. "G-Guardian!" Her Guardian reappeared and stopped the blade with its palms. The razor sharp darkness grinded against its crystalline skin as it tried to thwart its persistent advance.

Ava grabbed her Guardian's shoulders and leapt off them. One look at herself, Ava could tell the last hit did serious damage to her translucent armor. It shimmered from the recoil. She could feel the magic quivering from the titanic force of the macabre horseman. Two or three more would be the end of her protection.

"In that case, time to stop playing safe!" Wrapped in her psionic aura, Ava dove straight down at her floating grounds.

"Infernal Eulogy!" Death ignited his sword and fired a blast wave of life force at Ava.

"Psy-Shriek!" Ava wailed a psionic scream that distorted the trajectory of Death's attack, barely grazing Ava's foot. The scream slammed down on Death and delivered a mind-numbing blow to his balance as he stumbled around trying to block the irritating wail.

Ava landed in front of Death, then pulled her fists back. Psychic energy channeled through the knuckles, shining like stars. She thrusted both fists forward and dealt a twin-fist blow to his chest.

"Psycho Rush!"

The psionic energy released through her fists, drilling into the two points of impact. Death's chest caved in as a violent shock released from Ava's fists and blasted him off of the platform. A large rupture split through Death's armor and tore through his chest, spilling out his darkness.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Ava stomped her foot and obliterated the ground back into dust, spreading it through the air.

Hundreds of small footholds littered through the air, three of which Death managed to land on with a hindleg dangling over. With the effects of the Psy-Shriek still bouncing around in his head, he nearly slipped off the small footholds. His steed sturdied itself, however, and took control of the legs, keeping them both mostly grounded.

Death looked forward and glared as the battlefield became one with similarly sized footholds, many levitating at varying levels. Ava landed on a top row and summoned a new pair of blades in her hands.

"You're at my mercy, monster," Ava said. "As long as it's wrapped in my psionic power, anything I control will tear you to shreds!" She broke down several platforms and amalgamated them into two giant spikes. She pointed her sword and commanded the spikes to fly at Death.

Death swung his sword and cleaved through the first spike with ease, burning straight through the rock. Once he cleaved through the first, he sliced through the second with the same ease. Ava, however, launched herself at breakneck speeds and delivered a dropkick infused with psionic force. She ruptured his healing wound again, spraying the darkness over herself like blood.

"GAAH!" Death finished cutting through the spike and tried to slice Ava, but the spry Medicham vanished just as he swung.

Ava bounced through the field of platforms like a game of hopscotch. She called upon several and fired them like discs. They pelted Death, shattering on impact with the speed of a turret gun. They would soon reconstitute into their disc shape for Ava to fire again, creating a loop of gunfire.

Death recovered from the initial shock and called upon his steed to scorch the air in shadow flame. The discs of rock instantly turned to ash with no hope of reconstitution. Ava jumped out of the way, baring her teeth at the searing heat grazing her skin.

"Your trickery holds no meaning to me, Madame Young," Death said. "For Death is blunt and straightforward!" He fired an X-shaped blade of life force at Ava.

Ava pressed both her swords together and cut through the middle of the attack. She braced herself against the rush of pressure exuding from the forest's stolen magic. When she lifted her gaze, she met the sight of a sword flying toward her face, wrapped in a blaze of green. With the remnants of her Greater Agility, Ava bent backwards and narrowly avoided the sword as it sliced over her face.

Death stumbled as he came to a stop, his bulky legs unaccustomed to such precise movement. He found a few footholds to stand on, then swung his sword backwards. Ava deftly dodged the radiating weapon and struck back, slashing her swords through Death's arm.

Death recoiled, staggering away clumsily, and touched his burning arm. Ava's swords left a grievous wound that burned the same color as her magic. Though his face composed only of a pair of scowling eyes, his face twisted with a burning irritation for the fortune teller.

"Why do you insist on fighting the inevitable?" Death asked. "You face a fool's battle trying to conquer forces beyond your control. I am the only inevitability that will save you from your suffering. I am a mercy to the end that comes for all life. A twisted world that will be filled with devastation and hardship, yet you insist on defying me. Respond."

Ava bounced readily on one leg as she exchanged a hardened glare with the nuckelavee. "You claim to be the embodiment of death? Allow me to enlighten you on some facts. You do not understand death."

Death's glare deepened. "Respond."

"All you've been doing is spouting the same nonsense over and over about the inevitable, how it's pointless to outrun this fate when it will come eventually. Whether it be of old age or a horrific accident, death will come." Ava looked away sadly. "And I've been running away from that truth longer than I care to admit. I blamed myself for not acting sooner, and look where it got me. I've lost friends, loved ones, and now I'm fighting for my life and my family.

"But you only state it as a sweet release from the burden of life." Ava scoffed. "That form of nihilism disgusts me. You treat it like it's the only path of life, where the end is the only course, but you couldn't be further from the truth. I can't blame you for this behavior. You're practically made for this stalwart thinking."

"Define your point," Death said, his tone turning gravelly.

Ava sighed. "Through my training, I can see the future. And in many ways, I can sense destiny and the webs of time itself. It's natural for psychics to adopt these kinds of traits into their lifetime. But do you want to know the stark difference between you and me? Instead of parading the meaninglessness of life, I chose the path of enjoying the journey.

"I love this world, and everything and everyone that has touched my soul. I forgot for a long time what it means to reach the end. There's an end to every story, but…" Ava closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and sighed with a soft grin. "Just because there's an end doesn't mean the story has to end so soon. I'll keep enjoying life until my time has come, and I won't let a simple obstacle like death ruin the lives I cherish, especially from someone as macabre and twisted as you."

A silence fell between the two as they continued glaring each other down through the freezing atmosphere. Death showed no drastic change in his limited expression beyond a few twitches of the eye. Perhaps whatever living part of his body that remained was touched by the sentiment, or perhaps he was contemplating which monologue he could spout to denounce her claim. Ava didn't need to be a fortune teller to predict either.

Death finally huffed a response, one dripping in a condescending tone. "How decidedly…Pokémon of you."

"Tch." Ava raised her swords. "At least I only have to say it once to make my point."

"Then it shall be your last words." Death tightened his grip and absorbed the life force coated in his swords. The energy flowed into his hands, lighting them in the same pale green glow with vein like markings tailing off the wrists. "I've allowed for your foolish antics in this playground for too long. It is time to bring about divine judgment."

Ava scoffed. "Please. What do you intend to do?"

"You recall my inquiry of this battlefield and how its sole purpose was to keep me from the ground." Death sheathed his swords, then plunged his radiating fingers through his chest.

Ava's eyes widened as the life force energy drained from Death's hands into his body, stretching out like they were running through veins. They not only wrapped around his back, but also reached down to his steed's. The energy dispersed itself evenly throughout the conjoined body, from the cloven hoofs to the heads.

"If you will allow me to elucidate my earlier point," Death continued after pulling his fingers free. "While I would survive a fall of this height, would you?"

Ava backed away as Death's aura visibly spiked in magnitude, radiating with the energy infused through his body. She raised her guard and said, "You'll have to knock me off these platforms to find out."

Death allowed himself the courtesy of a laugh, quiet and condescending, in sharp contrast to the wild neighing of his steed. "Very well. Death Strider!"

Ava suffered a sudden sensation of whiplash as Death, upon immediate teleportation from behind, grabbed her head and blasted her off the ground. Her concentration waned, and she felt her connection to the ground lost. The wind rushed and slapped her face, blistering her skin with the unforgiving cold air. Though she could sense Death's aura, she could tell he was propelling the both of them forward with a concentrated burst of magic.

Ava grabbed Death's hand, pried his fingers loose, and flipped herself over the hulking nuckelavee. As she briefly floated in the air, she looked back and saw the remains of her terrain falling back to ground level, scattering to dust in the wind. She looked down and noted just how high they were.

Gravity immediately took over.

Ava covered her face as the winds rushed across her face, delivering the unforgiving chills as she plummeted. She wrapped a psionic field around herself and started slowing her fall. With barely a moment to breathe, however, Ava gasped out as Death dove down and punched her in the back. It caused her protective field to tremble and for her concentration to break. She spiraled out of the control as she fell.

"You will die on impact, where as I will survive!" Ava twisted her head and focused her hearing over the rushing air. Death flew down parallel to her with pale green magic jettisoning from his hooves like missiles. "I will make sure your journey to solid ground is met with a swift and painful execution!"

Ava fired off a few psychic pulses to stabilize herself and formed new blades. "Not before I kill you first!" She launched herself with a psychic blast and brought her swords across Death's neck.

A clash of magic burst between the two, staving off Ava's blades from cutting even a millimeter through the skin. The pressure waves knocked Ava back, spinning her around in the air.

"I've infused the stolen life force through my body, hardening it to unbreakable levels!" Death explained. "Your paltry weapons will shatter before my dermal armor will!" He fired magic from his hooves and blasted toward Ava.

Ava fired a pulse upward and threw herself below Death's charge. Ava fused the ends of her swords together and threw them like a chakram. It arced through the air and landed a hit across Death's helmet. Though it broke to pieces after hitting, it knocked Death off course and sent him spiraling through the air. His hooves flailed frantically to stabilize his balance.

"Balance is key, even in the air!" Ava formed a brief foothold with her magic and leapt toward Death.

Death turned around and commanded his steed to exhale shadow fire. The flames, infused with life force, launched toward Ava in a green and black inferno. Ava cupped her hands together, then fired a psychic wave, drilling through the flames as they parted around her. With the flames diverging, Ava summoned a new pair of swords and flew toward her opponent.

Death met her attack by drawing his own swords and flying forward. Their weapons clashed, magic crackling around them. They maneuvered around each other, dancing along the air as they fell, and went in swinging in fierce, heavy blows one after the other.

With no ground to properly maneuver on, both fighters were restricted to a slug fest. With each clash, the sky would light up in a kaleidoscope of greens and blues, from brief flashes to an entire wash of color blanketing the natural blue sky. The further down they fell, the brighter their attacks became to a ground level observer.

Death dealt a heavy strike that pushed back on Ava and spiked her further down. Ava fought back against the flow of gravity, psychically moving her limbs to keep up with the fast-paced strikes of Death as he dove after her. Each strike against her weapons sent her an inch closer to the fast-approaching earth. If the fall didn't kill her, the thousand pounds of muscle and darkness falling directly above her will surely finish the job.

Ava tried desperately to make herself fly, but Death didn't allow her concentration to focus on it. She kept her attention solely on deflecting his numerous strikes, each closing in on cutting through her face and body. It was like the life force he absorbed also empowered his movement speed, not just his striking power.

Another look down showed she had about twenty seconds before her head met solid rock, or whatever remained than the dust of Death's earlier assault.

"This is the end of your story, Ava Young!" Death roared, doubling his speed.

Ava winced, feeling her muscles burn with fatigue as she tried to keep pace. Her eyes flickered down the length of her jumpsuit and spotted her pocket. A spark of an idea flickered in her overclocked mind.

Ava summoned up all the strength she could and struck both of Death's swords right as he swung down, forcing his arms to part back. Ava dispelled her own swords, then clasped her hands together. "Awaken!"

Psionic energy burst from her forehead and took on the shape of her third eye. Ava's eyes whited out as psychic energy burst from her body and nailed Death across the helmet with what felt like a punch. He turned his gaze up and saw the pure psionic form of Ava hovering above him, tethered to her static body.

"What matter of trickery is this?" Death yelled. "You've only left your physical form unguarded!"

"True!" Ava yelled, her voice distorted in her psionic projected state. "But you've also turned your eyes away!" Ava raised her hands up.

Death quickly turned back to Ava's body just as the hands started to move like they were being controlled as a puppet. Before Death could land a strike, Ava's arm shot forward and punched Death in the eye, piercing through his impenetrable skin with ease. A golden light burst from his face, igniting in holy fire.

"AAAHHH!" Death recoiled and covered his face, which only served to set his hands on fire. "What…is this feeling?!"

"I just lodged a holy bullet through your head!" Ava explained. "And because I have my soul partially separated from my body, the influence of the light won't harm me!"

"You…You…!" Death fought through the pain and raised his hands, sharpening the fingers into claws. "You've denied Death for too long!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Ava manipulated her body and moved it out of the way of Death's claws. Ava quickly joined her soul back in her body and spun herself onto Death's back. She seized his arms and forced them behind his back. "And I'll keep denying it 'til the bitter end!"

The ground rapidly came into range. Ava braced herself, layering as many psychic fields over herself as possible, as she and Death crashed into the ground. The impact rippled the earth open, blowing up a cloud of dust that passed over the surrounding forest like a gray tsunami, or a hurricane to be more accurate. The sound of a monstrous thunderclap rang out across the forest.

Trees in the immediate area were dislodged from the ground, toppling away from the point of impact. Several rows of trees collapsed before finally laying upon much sturdier trees spared from the devastating crash. Shifting plates of earth breached the surface, skewering through downed trees and bringing all unrooted plant life under the crumbling surface.

The epicenter of the crash was veiled in a thick, impenetrable fog of dust. From the crash site, Ava rolled out onto the ground and collapsed onto her back, panting heavily. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, and her mind nearly blanked out from the shock. She took hits and survived falls in the past, but never with the thin lifeline she had now.

Speaking of, her protective field was barely visible, shimmering on the last legs of its life. If not for using Death as a safety cushion, it would've surely shattered and Ava would've been forced to take the full, unrestrained whiplash of her injuries.

Ava picked herself up after a moment of rest and massaged her aching neck. She looked around at her foggy surroundings, grimacing that she couldn't see beyond the collapsed trees. Not even the mountain in all its imposing glory could be seen. A crash like that could've killed anyone else. She dared imagine it would've hospitalized her if she was at full strength and if Death broke his fall on her instead.

Ava glared at the crater she and Death made and tentatively limped toward it. "Please tell me that at least broke your legs—"

A hand shot out of the fog and grabbed her head. Ava gasped and flailed as she was lifted off the ground. She punched and kicked at the beefy arm, but couldn't muster the strength. Her eyes traveled to the ground and saw a trail of magic swimming through the land and traveling into the crater.

"Oh no," Ava mumbled.

The fog lifted before her eyes, and she came face to face with an unrecognizable mug. Though the creature that apprehended her was Death by frame and physique, the holy bullet lodged in his head destroyed half the darkness coating the left side of his face. Glaring at her with their red iris and darkened sclera was a Grimmsnarl, and he growled with an uncharacteristic, burning rage.

"AVA YOUNG!" Death lifted her high and smashed Ava's head into the ground. "I will NOT be denied my quarry!" With the restraints of emotion unleashed, Death let out a murderous scream as he broke into a tremoring galloping, grinding Ava's body through the earth. "Death…WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

Death's hooves ignited and propelled his forward. Death pulled Ava out of the ground and threw her ahead, smashing her against a tree. Ava spat blood upon impact, then lurched forward as Death rammed his fist into her stomach. He smashed her through the tree, grabbed the top half of it, and batted it across Ava, sending her flying through the untouched ends of the forest.

Ava bounced and rolled off every tree in her way without losing momentum before finally crashing face first into a thicker tree. Her protective field shattered off her body, and the pain shot through her all at once. Ava fell to the ground and arched her back as she wailed a bloodcurdling scream that could've been heard by the heavens. Old injuries opened, and new pains blazed across her skin. Her bones and muscles quivered and screamed in disarray, the shock running deep and driving the Medicham to tears. She couldn't muster an ounce of concentration to her psychokinesis, left inaccessible to the flaring emotions she endured.

Through her tears, Ava spotted a blazing green aura approaching her. The sound of hooves clicking off the ground and the color of the foliage draining around gave it away, and it was the motivation Ava needed to bite back on her agony.

The pale green markings coated over Death's body grew bolder, radiating with a shimmering glow on their surface. Death dragged a sword behind him that was coated in the same magic, and its touched burned a path behind it.

Ava's body twitched as Death drew nearer, but she couldn't get to her feet. Any time she tried to move her legs, they would give out under her and send her flat on her face. Her body, wracked with unimaginable pain, refused to cooperate and left her paralyzed on the spot. Try as she might to master her own mind, it overwhelmed her. She couldn't fight the pain that had a hold over her psyche.

Move. Move, dammit! Ava screamed at herself. Get up, or he'll kill you. Get up, I said!

"I…commend you for your persistence," Death said weakly. Ava barely noticed the trembling in his body. The impact did more than either of them imagined, though he was still in a much better position than her. "But Death…is inevitable." He raised his sword in both hands. "And no one can outrun Death."

Ava dug her fingers down and tried to rise. Through the thick storm in her mind, she tried to concentrate her willpower. Need to…fight back. Need to…stop him!

Death tensed his muscles and swung his blade at Ava's neck. It struck hard, splitting through the ground with a furious blaze of energy ripping through the ground, and…missed?!

"What?!" Death recoiled and stared wide-eyed at the spot Ava once lay at, only to find no sight of a Medicham before him. Not even a single trace of her aura in range. "Where did she—"

BANG!

A bullet pierced through his throat and ripped through his shadows. He turned his head, glowering with fury, and spotted Cybil standing behind him, rifle in hand and her body trembling.

"That's…enough!" Cybil yelled.

Death suddenly sensed Ava's aura and turned again, spotting her further away with Ebony crouched over her. The thieving Buneary stood up and cracked her neck. "Stay away from our friend."

The Grimmsnarl half of Death's face growled, a blaze of red jettisoning from his eyes. His vision clouded itself in a deep red rage as he glared down the thief. "You…"

Ebony frowned. "Do I…know you?"

With his darkness receded, a dormant memory surged to the surface, and Death stomped his hooves down while howling a broken scream. "YOU! You ruined me!"

Ebony blinked twice, then tilted her head. "Huh?"

"You're the thieving rabbit that ruined everything for me!"

Ebony blinked again, this time perplexed, then shared a deadpan glare. "Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"

"RAAAAH!" Overcome with intense rage, Death drew his swords and charged at Ebony.

Ebony grabbed Ava again and used Hunter's World, vanishing from sight just as Death shredded their previous position to dust. Bullets rang out from multiple directions and pierced through Death's trembling body. He turned his sights on Cybil and saw her running away. Death roared and chased after her, his swords burning fissures through the ground.

"Ebony! Could use some help here!" Cybil screamed.

Ebony reappeared and propped Ava against a tree. "Wait here!" She chased after Death and Cybil.

"W-Wait!" Ava called out in a cracking voice. She collapsed forward and coughed blood into her hand. They bought me…some time. Ava drew a breath and channeled her psychic power through her hand, lighting up her fingertips. I never thought I'd have to use this, but I have no choice.

Ava took one final breath and plunged her fingers through her chest. She whipped her head back and screamed as her veins flooded with psychic energy, her body lighting up in a powerful teal glow and blanketing the surrounding area with a flash bang-like explosion.

---

Cybil frantically dodged through Death's unyielding wave of destruction as he flailed his swords with the grace of a drunken Vigoroth forced to pay their tab. The frail Furret could only run and evade the single-minded destruction, unuse to such chaotic warfare dealt toward her.

"I will bring Death to all who oppose me!" Death roared. He dragged his swords through the earth and fired a wave of magic that ruptured through Cybil's aura and tossed her into the air.

"AH!" Cybil yelped, her aura flickering weakly.

Death chased her down as Cybil fell and reared up for his next strike. From out of nowhere, Ebony blindsided Death with a sucker punch, then lassoed her binding cloth around his front hooves. With but a single pull, she tied them together and tripped the rampaging warrior, dragging his face into the ground.

"Know your place, loser!" Ebony yelled. "Cybil, fill him with your cursed bullets!"

"Holy bullets!" Cybil corrected.

"They came from a church, they're pretty cursed to me!"

Before Cybil could reach for them, Death grabbed Ebony's ankle and threw her into Cybil. Cybil's rifle slipped from her hands and clattered across the ground while the girls tumbled over themselves. Death snapped the binding cloth off his legs, stood up, and charged toward the girls.

Cybil gasped and raised her hands. "Ricochet Mirror!"

The nearly-invisible barrier appeared over the girls and bounced back Death's strike. Undeterred, however, Death slammed his swords into the mirror again. The kickback shot through his arms, but he tensed his muscles and resisted the recoil, which only pushed it back a few inches. With a crazed scream, he battered into the Ricochet Mirror.

Cybil flinched, feeling the mental recoil hitting her back. Ebony gulped and asked, "How much force can these things take?"

"I've only ever used this spell on my own bullets or projectiles. I never had to use it to stop a rampaging psychopath!"

"Mhmm. He's certainly acting a lot more murder-y than normal. Can't imagine why, though."

Her comment enraged Death further and bashed harder on the Ricochet Mirror. The girls gasped as a large crack cut through the middle of the mirror. Cybil tensed herself and focused on strengthening the mirror's durability, but winced as the attacks came down increasingly stronger.

"Why did we come back?!" Cybil yelled.

"You said you wanted to provide backup!" Ebony yelled.

"Well, I'm clearly too stressed to think of good ideas at the moment!"

"What do you expect me to do about this?!"

"Use Hunter's World or something and get use out of here!"

"…Oh yeah, I can do that," Ebony mumbled. Cybil nearly facepalmed herself.

Their conversation ended as the mirror shattered over them. Their eyes widened as Death reared himself up, both swords in hand and blazing with the stolen life force. "You will all die screaming!"

"Ebony, do it now!" Cybil screamed.

Right as Ebony reached to grab Cybil, Death whipped his swords down almost instantaneously, their razor sharp, burning edges mere inches from cutting into the girls' faces that they couldn't even close their eyes and flinched in time.

With but a millimeter from flaying their skin open, the swords stopped.

Cybil and Ebony trembled on the spot, gazing at the blades barely a hair's width from touching them. They moved their heads out from under the swords and looked up at Death, who trembled in place. A teal aura surrounded his entire body, including down the length of his swords, and paralyzed him on the spot.

They instantly recognized it and grinned. "Madame Ava!"

Death managed the strength to turn his head and saw Ava standing, albeit hunched over and looking even more winded than before. However, much like Death, her body illuminated with the psychic energy flooded into her system. Her Third Eye burned over her forehead, glaring at the unstable nuckelavee.

"Leave. Them. Alone," Ava growled.

The moment of confusion allowed Ebony to vanish with Cybil in tow, letting Ava drop the psychic hold on Death. Death turned toward Ava and glowered at her weakened state. "How is it…that's you're standing?"

Ava panted slowly, taking a moment to shake off the aching and biting of her muscles. "I've taught my student many things…about the ways of the psychic, and there are some skills she's a long way from mastering." Ava wiped the blood from her lip, then relaxed her shoulders. "Ella experienced something like this a long time ago. Something of a burnout for psychics when they overextend their abilities past their threshold."

"I didn't ask about that," Death growled. "How are you still standing after all of that?!"

Ava glared, but found the strength to show a weak smirk. "I've taught Ella all I can about the Third Eye, but there's more to it than just predicting attacks. It's the next step to true mastery."

"True…mastery?"

Ava took a deep breath and raised her hands, channeling psychic energy through the surface of the body. She exhaled slowly, then flashed a determined glare. "Here. Let me show you what I can really do!"

In one swift motion, Ava punched her fists together and released a blinding flash around her. Death recoiled and shielded his eyes. His steed cried in protest, stomping its hooves as it succumbed to the sudden flash, burning its vision and sinking it into blinding darkness.

The flash receded, then shot up into the air as a column of psychic light. It climbed high into the clouds, breaching their airy mass, and pulsated over the observable sky like an aurora. In the center of the column of light was the rough shape of a Medicham tensed up in its raw, furious power.

Death peeked out from behind his hand and glared at the psychic energy, wearing a bothersome grimace. The pressure of the energy struck him like a hurricane, nearly carrying him off his hooves. He molded the bottoms of his hooves with spikes to anchor himself down, yet that did little to steady his balance against the rushing winds.

"What…is all of this?" Death growled.

"This is the true power of the psychic!"

Death's eyes widened as the column dissipated as fast as a clap of thunder, spreading across the forest in a wave of light particles that nearly blinded him a second time. When he opened his eyes again, he was astounded to find his immediate surroundings were bathed in a soft blue tint. It was as if he was in a room where the only light source came from colored lightbulbs, drowning the area in a single color and muting the rest.

There was, however, one other color that pierced through the blue veil: the fiery teal aura in front of him.

Rising from a kneeling stance, Ava became completely enveloped in psychic energy. Her skin tone matched that of her psionic aura, illuminating in a radiant teal, while the rest of her body from the pink headpiece on her head to her legs glowed with the darker glow of navy blue.

The aura surrounding her rippled like waves, distorting the image of space behind her. Loose rock and other material gravitated towards her and orbited her body like planet rings. The ground shook beneath her, but did not break or shatter.

The eye above her forehead became defined in appearance, presenting that of a golden iris in its center. When Ava opened her eyes, her sclera glowed navy blue and her own irises radiated the same golden glow of her Third Eye.

Death took a tentative step back, gritting his teeth in disbelief. "What in the world is this?"

"We psychics, since the dawn of magic, had to push our limits beyond the old days of Pokémon to stay relevant." Much like her aura, Ava's voice was distorted. Not just distorted, but as if several other voices were overlapping with hers dominating over them. "I've incorporated both practices into my own, but this is the ultimate test of the psychic. The true power to be awakened from the Third Eye."

Death growled. "Breaking out a little lightshow hardly matters. You're still under the effects of the Reaper Seal. Death will always prevail. It's the ultimate truth to life!"

Death lunged forward, then teleported behind Ava as he drew his swords. He ignited them with life force and swung them down, aiming to cleave her body into fours.

Ava raised her hand against the swords and, with the graceful swiftness of the mightiest shield, deflected the swords with nothing more than a gesture. Death not only staggered, but nearly collapsed as Ava's riposte sent him packing several meters back.

"Gah!" Death looked at his sword, feeling them tremble from the lingering vibrations. "No…NO!" Death broke into a speedy gallop, lighting his swords and the ground behind him ablaze. "I will not be best by the likes of you!"

Ava waved her hand as the swords came in range and effortlessly backhanded on with just her wrist. Despite such a gentle movement, the sword leapt from Death's grip and disappeared over the forest's horizon. The force snapped Death's hand and folded it against his arm. A sickly geyser of darkness sprung from the torn wrist.

Death tensed his other arm and swung his sword as hard as possible. Ava raised her other hand and caught the sword, cancelling out all its momentum. Death tried to relinquish his weapon, but found it stuck inside the iron jaws of Ava's grip. Ava casted only a glare at Death before tensing her fingers and shattered the weapon to pieces. Shards of shadow-forged metal scattered around them, repelling off of Ava and shooting into Death like bullets.

"AAAAARGH!" Death clawed at his face, snarling as the shrapnel combined with the unholy nuisance of the holy bullet lodged in his face amplified to pains unimaginable to him. To him, pain was an illusion, a sensory application unnecessary to his cause. The pain dug deeper, however, and ripped through what little of a soul was present in his being, twisting it into millions of pieces.

Ava raised her fist and asked, "Do you submit?"

Death pulled his hands away and formed his shadow windmill blades. "I'll submit to nothing but Death itself!" He chucked the blades through the ground, tearing up a tsunami of earth charging at the enlightened psychic.

Ava raised her hand and, with but a thought, diverted the wave around her. The ground split around her, but left her completely untouched. She glared and said, "I shall grant your request with swift…swift…swift—"

Ava suddenly doubled over and spat blood onto the ground, clutching her chest like she was having a heart attack. Death paused at her wide-eyed distress as Ava trembled in place. Death was baffled by the sudden change in demeanor, then realization clicked into place.

"The injuries you've suffered over the last two days, including now…" Death snapped his fingers and summoned a lance into his hand. "You held off from using this earlier because the strain would've been too much for your condition. As the shadows say, Pokémon are but worms compared to their gods, and stepping into that realm is Death to all mortals!" Death galloped at the trembling Medicham, lighting his lance in shadow fire.

Ava clutched over her heart and clenched her eyes shut. Focus…Focus…Focus!

Death struck Ava dead center in the chest with the lance and nearly skewered her. Ava, with only a fraction of a second before the impact registered, sidestepped his attack in a flash. As movement slowed around her, Ava struck the side of the lance and ruptured it to pieces with a psychic pulse.

Death stumbled forward, but caught his balance and turned around. He flexed his fingers and enlarged them with the life force energy. Long, gangly claws shaped like serrated scythes, capable of ripping innards to shreds with but a single swipe. "You will understand Death!"

Death appeared behind Ava instantly and flailed his hands, surrounding Ava in a torrent of slashes, yet not a single one landed its mark. Ava's Third Eye rapidly flickered between individual attacks, and Ava moved accordingly. Her movement, swift and smooth, was like trying to cut down a phantom in flight, almost appearing like Death's strikes were passing through her untouched.

"Though I am not at my strongest, let this be a lesson to the shadows of what's to come." Ava stopped and caught Death's wrists, holding back his scythe-shaped claws. "This is the power waiting to destroy the Shadow King, the power wielded by Ella Cipher. I grant you permission to see this form for yourselves so that your superiors understand what's coming for them. And I guarantee you that she will exceed my own!"

Ava slammed her palms into Death's chest and threw him across the forest. He smashed through trees and ground, barely able to catch himself. He tried to stand, but nearly collapsed from his chest injury. His healing factor wasn't working at full capacity anymore. Even his wrist was still banged up, barely sewn shut. Death could feel his internal organs rattling and rupturing beneath his darkness, and the entirety of his face was blown off by the holy bullet's radiance.

Ava rolled her shoulders and stood tall. "Guardian, heed my call." Her Guardian appeared behind her, arms crossed. "Lend me your inner strength. Strip away your armor and gift me with the blade capable of rending mountains. Combine with my psionic enlightenment so that we may tear our foe asunder!"

Her Guardian punched its fists together and dismantled its external armor from its body. Instead of turning into its Awakened Form, however, armored pieces latched onto Ava's arms like gauntlets while the rest fused together before her. As the last piece linked itself, the jumbled mess reconfigured itself into the sacred katana of her Awakened Guardian.

"The Warrior's signature ability: Absolute Slash." Ava took the sheathed weapon in both hands and held it by her side. "This blade will be your end!" She kicked off and flew at Death, faster than the quickest lightning bolt.

Death tried to attack, but Ava moved too fast and slid past him. The sword was removed from its sheath as she slid by and, with by the briefest delay, severed Death's arm from his shoulder.

"AAAAHHH!" Death covered his spewing wound and turned on Ava. "Burn her alive, my hellish steed!"

His steed flared its nostrils, building up an inferno within itself, only for Ava to turn on her heel and decapitate the horse's head off. Shadow fire exploded from the severed neck like a roman candle, nearly singing Death's face off. He roared and growled, swiping the flames from himself.

"Death…will not be denied!" Death roared, summoning a new sword in his hand, composed entirely of shadow fire. "Death is inevitable!" With hooves igniting with power, Death rocketed forward, rearing his inferno of a blade back.

Ava's Third Eye twitched around, scanning everything in front of it. Ava crouched down and gripped her sword by her side, channeling her psychic energy through the inside of the scabbard. Though she couldn't peer into Death's future due to the Reaper Seal, Ava saw the pathway to victory right in front of her. She knew this will be the set up to her final attack.

Ava relaxed her breath, adjusted her grip on her Guardian's blade, and focused her attention on nothing but the flying nuckelavee barreling toward her.

Death lunged into range and swung his sword, igniting the air around him in a darkening inferno. Ava tensed her leg muscles, relaxed her posture, and dashed.

In a split second, Ava instantaneously appeared Death with her sword having barely left its scabbard. However, unlike other swordsman, she wasn't sheathing it. No, she was still drawing it. Much like the plates of the earth grinding up against each other, Ava was building stress into the sword. Like the earth's plates, when those two plates reach the apex of their stress…

Everything dies.

"Manipura: Twisted Laughing Dance!"

Ava drew her sword with a loud, grinding snap and sliced it in front of her. For only the briefest second, all was still and calm. Everything was whole, and everything was as it should. One second passed, and the rest was history.

Millions of slashes colored in her teal aura encroached on the land and ruptured everything around her. It wasn't just the immediate area, but a good dozen meter radius around her, tainted with the invisible flurry of her single swing. The ground, the trees, and everything else around her exploded into billions of pieces. A tornado of shrapnel rose from the ruptured earth, digging deep beneath the ground, and destroying any solid ground to stand on.

Pain finally registered for Death as his entire being was cut open into shadowy ribbons before he had the time to blink. He was barely recognizable, an eldritch creature of tattered darkness and flayed skin with its grotesque image masked by the shadows bound to Death's body. The barely intact face of a Grimmsnarl with its bloodshot eyes darted its frantic glare at Ava, who stood unharmed in the frenzied hellscape that was once a forest.

"I WILLLL KILLLL YOOOOOU!" Death roared as he tried to reconstitute.

Ava turned with a glare, then thrusted her hand in his direction. "Swadhisthana: Extinction Coffin!" She clenched her fist and twisted it.

Every piece of earth touched and ripped by her all-encompassing attack heeded the call of her psychic command. Death found himself levitating off the ground as rubble flew and stuck to his body like magnets. They came one at a time, then in the dozens, then in the hundreds. In mere seconds, Death found himself being struck from all over by the remnants of the forest, converging on his body and petrifying his wild movements.

"What are you doing?!" Death screamed, trying to rip the rock off himself. For every handful he clawed off, hundreds more would take its place and hardened around him. "Get OFF OF ME!" In desperation, he exhaled black flames onto the rock, but the rock closing on his neck cut off his airway and broke his concentration. "NNNNOOOO—" was all he could scream before the rock covered his face.

More and more rock collided with the growing mass as it rose from the surface, eclipsing over the ruins. Beads of sweat dripped down Ava's face as the strain of her body surged through her with shuddering shocks, but she pressed on. She hardened her focus on maintaining the rock mass as she lifted it higher into the air.

What was once a storm of pebbles and dust now slowed considerably as all the pieces aligned themselves onto Ava's creation. With a width and size capable of rivaling a lone island, a large planetoid of rock loomed over the forest, held aloft by the power of Ava's psionic grip. Little pieces rained off the bottom, but Ava managed to maintain the compressed shape of the imposing sphere.

She felt the desperate shocks of resistance buried deep within the sphere. A desperate struggle from her trapped opponent, trying to claw their way out of their compressed prison. Nowhere left to run, and nowhere to hide.

"This ends now!" Ava leaped high into the air, her hands gripped tightly to her awakened weapon.

Ava flew as high as she could before slowing at the apex of her jump, parallel to the center of the sphere. She tightened her airborne stance, staring steely-eyed through the planetoid's crumbling hide, and channeled all of her power through her sheathed weapon. A mighty glow pierced from the inside of the crystal scabbard, seconds away from releasing.

"Manipura: Heaven's Execution Slash!"

With a flick of her wrist, Ava ripped the sword from its scabbard and unleashed a mad flurry of slashes through the massive planetoid. Each slash ripped through the rock, traveling across the surface of the stone and leaving its burning blue mark tearing through the deepest layers. In but a few short seconds, Ava riddled the stone in hundreds upon hundreds of cuts.

Ava smirked as the glow of her enlightened state receded. Her sword vanished from her hands as gravity took over and dragged her back down. As the focus drained from her eyes, she uttered her final words to the planetoid.

"Looks like…I cheated Death…"

The planetoid ruptured, and the psychic buildup ripping through the surface ruptured its stony hide in a blinding explosion of teal. The shockwave slammed into Ava and blasted her faster to the ground. Rocks fired from the sky, pelting down on the earth like meteors. The shockwave, a visible disturbance in the air, traveled across the diameter of the forest, reaching as far as the foreboding mountain they preside around and disturbing its surface with but a gentle rumble.

Ava careened down to earth, barely conscious to the raining rubble falling alongside her. Even in her precarious situation, her smile stayed true to her face, for relief in her victory and the safety of her family was the only comfort she needed in this dire moment.

However, her quarrel with the false reaper would not lead to her demise. As she closed in on the earth, Ebony appeared from her Hunter's World, gliding through the raining rubble, and snatched the Medicham out of the air. Ebony braced herself and hit the ground, tumbling herself forward to minimize the impact to herself.

Raining debris closed in on the two, but a hail of bullets weaved through the storm and detonated the rock aiming toward the hapless duo. Large chunks of rock exploded into several smaller chunks, still set on course to hit Ebony and Ava. Through the bullet fire, however, a shade Guardian appeared on the scene and threw a myriad of punches into the rocks, breaking them into harmless pebbles that scattered over Ebony and Ava.

The storm of meteors struck down for the longest thirty seconds of their lives, but the storm passed eventually as the last rock struck the earth. A fog of dust came after, wrapped around the desolate area that once contained trees. Aside from the shifty of the dust in the air, all was quiet and at peace.

Ebony peeked one eye open once she was certain of this, then sighed in relief. "Man, that was crazy!"

Cybil appeared out of the spoke, hobbling on her rifle like a walking stick. "That was…unlike anything I've seen in my life. It was incredible."

The shade Guardian dropped its fists and nodded. "Indeed," Seth's voice projected through. "Ava Young. You're truly a miracle worker in the direst of circumstances."

"Is she okay?!" Ella's voice screeched through the Guardian. "Is Ava alright? She's alright, right?!"

Ebony extended her ear to Ava's chest and placed her fingers on Ava's wrist. She smiled and nodded. "Still beating and breathing."

"And what of our grim fellow?" Cybil asked.

Ebony lifted Ava up and pulled a bit on her jumpsuit's collar. For a moment, the Reaper Seal was there, marked into her skin. A second after, it fizzled from the skin, turning to a black dust that vanished into the aether. Ebony smirked. "In my personal opinion, finally fell to his obsession."

Cybil, plus Ella from the Guardian, sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"I'm so grateful," Ella said, her voice cracking a bit. "I don't know what she was thinking, but I'm glad she's alright."

"I think we all are, Ms. Cipher," Seth agreed. "And…I dare say Ms. Young shares your sentiments. Even after all of that, one can't deny what she was thinking in that final attack. She truly is remarkable."

Though battered, bruised, and injured to lengths that could drive a man mad with agony, Ava slept contently in Ebony's arms, her warm smile never leaving her lips. The time will come where she'll suffer the consequences of her actions, namely the pain she'll be in by morning, but for now, she was finally at peace with her inner turmoil.