To say the atmosphere was now tense, anxious and paranoid would most likely be underselling it. The Doom Slayer had just grabbed a machine gun, and a plasma gun out of literal thin air, and attacked some sort of inter-dimensional pokémon. This was after everyone present felt a sense of fury unlike any which had ever been felt before, a fury that was quite literally forged in the darkest, most twisted depths of hell. For the first time since they met him, Ash, Hau (and Lillie to an extent), were terrified of the figure that stood before them. They knew he allegedly fought in hell, they knew he was heavily armed, but… he seemed human. Now? There was nothing but fury. Even when he wasn't in his armor, and was wearing an Alolan shirt, he didn't seem any less terrifying. Somehow, he became even MORE terrifying.
"Arr?" Aron blinked, walking over and looking at Marowak, then noticed the burns and grew greatly concerned for his friend. He tried to stand on his hind legs, putting his front legs on Marow's bone and his eyes seemed to grow saddened. "Arr?"
"Marr…" The bone pokémon groaned, rubbing the burn on its face, the pokémon shook its head and then patted Aron on his head, clearly happy to see his metallic companion was okay.
"D..did he break?" Hau whispered, looking to Ash, who blinked, then shrugged. This was something he didn't understand, and wasn't about to pretend he understood. When it came to the Doom Slayer, Ash he begun to realize that he was traveling with essentially a mute mass murderer… a mute mass murderer who seemed to be compassionate and understanding of how life worked here, but that idea was still an unsettling one. Yet through it all, the Doom Slayer never showed any signs of anger or violence… directed towards them. If anything, Ash understood his reaction after Marowak got attacked and burned.
The one in question ignored all of them, wordlessly looking down at the creature which had appeared alongside Aron, a series of emotions long since forgotten clawing at the doors inside him, desperate to break free and fill his body with those feelings which were long since gone. However, he pushed it all down, refusing to show any of it, that wasn't who he was. Whoever the Doom Slayer was beforehand was gone… and… and nothing could bring that being back.
"Slayer?" Vega spoke inside the mute marine's helmet. "Slayer." Both times he spoke, he received no answer; and after a few moments of scanning the Slayer's brain (something which took much longer than usual due to his limitations connected to how little of him was there), the A.I. felt what one might consider 'surprise'. "Oh, I see… I did not mean to bring anything up."
Screams. That's all there was.
At first, it was the screams of the innocent; the everyday folk who didn't have the slightest idea what was happening, who were unaware of the literally Biblical levels of destruction that had been unwittingly unleashed upon their very way of life. For so long, the screams had been terror and pain, begging for mercy from creatures who knew not what that word meant, or simply ignored it, in favour of the tortured agonized wails drawn from their victims. The streets ran with blood, the world itself seemed to grow corrupted and decayed into a horrid mess and amalgamation of blood, bodies and demonic powers…
And then the screams got louder. And louder.
But this time, it wasn't the people screaming.
It was the demons.
Out of the shrill cries of pure terror, in their last moments before being brutalized, mutilated and cast into whatever eternal black void awaits demonic souls, whatever eternal torture of never even having a body again… out of the sheer uncontrollable torture and pain, the fury and the flames… one figure rose up.
He was the one known simply as 'Doom Guy'…
Still, this was a story the Slayer didn't like thinking about, he never thought about the past unless he had to. Not just that story, but the other ones, the ones of who he lost. But those stories, those memoires were all he could think of right now as he looked down at what stood before him.
"Aw, I think she likes you!"
That… voice… It… it… it couldn't… but it was.
"S…Slayer? You okay?" Ash tentatively asked.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The repetitive sound of a hammer striking metal vibrated through Krystals' bones as she hammered down the metal patches onto the Slayer's armour. Realizing she only had a few moments, she practically launched herself over to her work bench, fumbling to grab her torch, and then practically dove back to the table, unleashing the small flame and wielding the metal pieces together. A storm of red and yellow sparks flew up into her masked face as she precisely stitched the metal together with fire, sealing it up and finally being given respite as this part of the job was complete. Flopping back dramatically in her chair, she spun slightly as the chair rolled across the garage, coming to a stop near her fridge. Cracking open a can of Electrabuzz Energy, Krystal lifted up her mask and took a long, long drink.
"Uuugghhh…" She groaned over-dramatically, taking in a few deep breaths of non-hot-and-humid air. When she took this job, she hadn't expected how… detailed, the whole thing would be. Sure, the cracks and holes could be fixed, no problem! But there were so many little dips, curve and marks that appeared to be part of the design. Again, this wasn't an issue, but she wasn't sure what the 'Slayer' wanted to be done about them. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten any way to contact him, and while she could call Kiawe, but she didn't know if he knew where the Slayer was. So, for now, she was doing the bulk of the work, namely fortifying the armour where it needed it, and removing some of the pieces which might keep someone restrained at the same time. Swinging her arm, one of her inventions sprung to life, a claw on a six-foot pole jutted out from a small gauntlet affixed to her arm. The pole extended, and the claw on the end grabbed her notebook. Grabbing a pen, Krystal looked at some of the sketches she had been making, namely of a cartoonish Doom Slayer with a guitar standing in front of a fire. She didn't know if this was true, and she refused to accept 'no' for an answer, but she believed the Doom Slayer was secretly a metal head. He had to be! There was no chance that someone who called themselves 'The Doom Slayer' in absolute seriousness and wore battle armour akin to something out of a comic book wasn't a metal head.
And again, if she was wrong, she refused to accept that.
Another drawing she had made was of the Doom Slayer and of all things, a Lilipup. They were just running together, both seeming cartoonishly happy (something else Krystal couldn't tell was if the Slayer had emotions aside from 'kill-flowers-by-looking-at-it' and 'I-would-kill-you-because-it-amuses-me'. Still, there was something cute about it, and these drawings were just for her. Letting out another dramatic sigh, Krystal spun around and looked at the chest plate she was working on. She was too tired to do more work, so she was just admiring it. Whatever this thing was, it was stupid heavy. Like, she swore her wrist nearly snapped in two when she made the mistake of trying to pick it up one-handed. She saw the Slayer do it, so she assumed she could too. It occurred to her after that the Doom Slayer probably bench-presses Snorlax's with one hand, for fun. But what really got her attention was the damage done to it. Namely, what had done the damage. She took some measurements and rough sketch-samples, but the marks – which she was almost certain came from some sort of claw – didn't match any Pokémon she knew of. So, she tired changing tactics, looking from claws, to fangs. This did yield some potential results, but it was too deep for a Sharpedo, too thin to be from the jaws of a Feraligatr (unless it missed horribly, which seemed unlikely), too jaded and ragged to be from a Metagross and so on… the one thing she could tell is one of the arm pieces was so critically weakened, that it appeared an Arbok had somehow managed to dig into it. That was probably the result of the armour being damaged frequently and over a long period of time, that the fractures were effectively building pressure. Then, one well-placed bite, and the damage may have been done, and amplified*. Krystal frowned, disappointed she hadn't been able to save everything from his armour (and genuinely hoping he wouldn't kill her for that) but a few pieces here and there were too far gone. Like it or not, there was nothing that could be done to save them. Thankfully, they were few (only two or three, it depended on if her re-layering worked) and just arm pieces.
"Mag?"
Krystal blinked, looking down at the Magmar she worked with, looking up at her with curiosity.
"Nah, we're on break little buddy." Krystal replied.
"Mag?"
"I'm tired! Okay?! We've been working non-stop! And there's still so much to go! Can't a girl take a break for ten minutes?!"
"Mag." Magmar nodded, walking off to get something to eat. Krystal spun in her chair, sighing deeply as she thought about what came next in her work… she downed her entire drink and crushed the can against her head.
"…and I'm telling you, banana chocolate chips muffins are the best type, save for carrot cake or blueberry in the fall." A voice suddenly spoke up as if someone was getting nearer. It was a boy's voice, and Krystal looked up, assuming she'd see some residents walking by. However, she didn't.
"Naw, y'got it all wr'ng." A higher voice replied dismissively, as if this was a debate which had been going on for some time. "If yer passin' up on'a fruit muff'n, fine. But ya can't try'n add fruit t'chocolate an'claim dat makes it healthy!"
"I never said it did, I just said it was BETTER."
"Well, yer wrong on both r'gards, as usual!"
To her surprise, only one figure entered the garage. He was munching on a muffin and tossed the wrapper over his shoulder, masterfully landing it in the recycling.
"Uh, hi. I was wondering if you could help me." The boy said when he saw Krystal. He spoke in a relaxed, but still clearly awkward-around-new-people-way.
"Hey, sorry if you're looking for something repaired. I'm swamped right now." Krystal commented, casually. Noting that the teenager didn't have anything that looked like she could fix to begin with…
"Yo, no. Uh, I'm new around here." The teenager said, nodding to Krystal and shaking his head in the same motion awkwardly. "We're looking for… uh, hang on." Pulling a scrap of paper out, he read aloud; "Honey Grand Resort?"
"…what?"
"It's Hano!" A voice hissed from the teens messenger bag. Krystal raised a brow, having heard the voice, but didn't comment on it. Things were weird enough with the Slayer running around, if there was someone with a magical backpack here too, she really didn't want to get involved.
"Oh, uh… the Hano Grand Resort." The teen corrected himself, looking back up to Krystal, who blinked in surprise.
"Man, you must really be new here!" Krystal chuckled. "Head out the garage, turn left, keep walking straight, you'll see it from halfway across the town. You'll come to a white-and-blue-bridge, cross that and you're good to go!" Krystal blinked, then felt some ice in her gut as she saw the teen looking at the cooling armour. He didn't seem to be paying attention, if anything, it looked like he just saw a ghost.
"That… that can't be…" He muttered.
"Kid, I'm gonna have to ask you to back away, now." Krystal ordered, rising from her chair and slowly walking between the teen and the armour. He didn't seem stupid enough to try and steal it, but at the same time, she didn't want to take any chances.
"Huh? Oh, right… sorry. That… that just reminded me of something. Sorry…" The teen muttered. Turning on his heel, he casually left the garage, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly knowing more than he let on. But, Krystal could tell that the kid wasn't going to be an issue, he truly did seem lost, and wasn't wearing any of the over-compensation-clothing of Team Skull, or the refined clothes of Team Rocket. However, she did hear a voice coming from his bag as he left.
"Oh, thanks for the help, by the way!" He waved as he left.
"…c'mon, we don'ts want ta keep 'em waitin'!"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that… It's just… I know that stuff! I swear, that's Doom Guy's armour, I saw it in a video game!"
"Really? That sounds bizza're…"
"I dunno man, maybe it's just a cosplay, or maybe I'm losin' it…"
"Dat'd mean ya had it t'begin w'th!"
"Oh, shut up, Meowth!"
"Love ya too, Dawg."
Krystal blinked, watching their retreating forms, then looked down to Magmar, who seemed equally confused. That was weird. Like, even weirder than her interaction with the Doom Slayer… how did this kid know what this armour was? Why was his sack talking? At the end of the day, Krystal honestly would've believed she was just seeing things form the over-exposure to heat.
"Magmar." It shrugged.
Back in the Lush Jungle off of route five, Lillie was seated under a tree, watching several of the forests' Sudowoodo's wander about. The small tree pokémon had briefly taken interest in her, but then seemed to grow bored and left not long after. Lillie didn't like leaving Ash, Hau and the Slayer alone like she did, but she really, REALLY didn't want to go near the AP building. Granted, she didn't want to be alone in general, not after what had happened about an hour ago…
She had been searching for Nebby, the small smog-cloud-thing pokémon refusing to cooperate as per usual. But then a troop of Passimian's had suddenly appeared, which made things very dangerous. While Lillie wasn't a trainer, she did have some knowledge on the pokémon on the Alolan islands; namely, Passimian was a pokémon you didn't want to meet unless you were looking for a fight. This wasn't helped by the fact that they seemed to be interested in Nebby, which made her fear something might happen to it… thankfully (or unfortunately, she wasn't sure yet…) they had seemingly asked her to follow them. It was a short trek through the jungle, until they came to a stop at a clearing, the ground in one section was burned, the very dirt seeming burned to ashes, and they looked to her, then pointed. This made absolutely no sense, but then she saw footprints, and they looked similar to the Slayer's, but were smaller. Initially, she was afraid some sort of creature had followed him, but to her surprise, that wasn't what the monkey pokémon wanted her to see. It was a bit further down the way, on the outside of an old temple was a series of symbols she didn't understand, but there was one word written in English, that made no sense…
D'Nur.
The more confusing thing, was that the stones the symbols were written on were not the same as the rest of the temple, as if something had brought them from somewhere else, and transplanted them into the building. Lillie did her best to sketch the symbols, but she wasn't a fantastic artist… still, she hoped the Slayer may have some understanding to what this was, as she had a feeling in her gut that this was connected to him. Or, maybe it had something to do with the Guardian Spirits of Alola, or some other legendary pokémon. She didn't have an answer, and she felt like she couldn't do anything because of that.
The more she thought about it, the more she was both thankful for, and terrified of the Doom Slayer. On the one hand, he had done nothing to harm anyone she knew or cared for, despite his warrior background, he seemed rather reasonable, but at the same time, it was clear he didn't care too much for anyone here. He wanted a way home, which was understandable, but he was willing to use any means necessary to get it… which led back to some fear about him going to Aether Paradise.
"Pew?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm fine, Nebby." Lillie sighed, shaking her head. "Just thinking, is all."
"Pew, pew!"
Lillie blinked, unsure of what Nebby was saying, and wanted to ask if the small pokémon was okay, as it seemed to be looking off at something, but then she noticed someone else walking towards the group.
"Nebby, you need to get in your bag!" Lillie quickly said, having hid the small pokémon from even Lana and Mallow thus far. However, it was clear the small pokémon had no intentions of getting in the bag again, and happily floated off. Lillie looked at the new woman, then back to where Nebby was flying off to, and sighed, hurrying off after the small pokémon.
After a few dead ends, Shaymin had finally given up on where to go to find the Doom Slayer, as he, Ash, and the other kid had disappeared. They probably had just gone somewhere to get lunch, but Shaymin couldn't find them, so he went with plan B, turning to some old allies.
"Hi, Mallow!"
The Trial Captain turned in confusion, as the woman approaching and the voice coming from her didn't match, then the tiny face poke out from her bag, and Shaymin jumped out, running over to his friend.
"Shaymin!" She exclaimed happily, picking up the shrub pokémon and hugging him. "It's great to see you again!"
"Hey." Cynthia nodded, the green-haired woman not noticing as she was still hugging the shrub pokémon. It took her a few moments, but when Mallow looked up, she didn't seem to react the way most people did when the saw one of the Pokémon Champions.
"Hi." Mallow said with a slight wave. There was an awkward silence between the two, whole Kukui seemed to be looking from Shaymin to Cynthia in rapid succession. It was clear he knew how she was, and clearly didn't believe she was here.
"I'm Cynthia."
"My name's Mallow."
"Cynthia White."
"Mallow Green."
"Sorry, uh, hate to be that guy, just… uh… gotta ask. Ahem. Cynthia White, as in, the Sinnoh Pokémon Champion, Cynthia White?"
"The one and the only." Cynthia smiled, and Mallow blinked, taking in what had been said.
"Cool!" She remarked with a smile, still not fully cluing into who she was talking too. "So, what brings you here?"
"That new guy, the Slayer." Shaymin answered. There was something about hearing such a small, innocent pokémon say 'The Slayer' was oddly humorous. Mallow frowned, looking down at her friend with a raised brow.
"You know about him?"
"Many more than Shaymin know about him." Cynthia commented. "I've… I've been looking for him. Shaymin mentioned that he had been here, or at least had been with Ash, and then that lead to us looking for him, but we can't find him, and then… yeah…"
"You know Ash, too?" Mallow asked, surprised. Cynthia nodded in response.
Back in the woods, Lillie was hurrying after Nebby, who was care-freely floating about, as per usual.
"Nebby! You can't just wander off like that!" Lillie called rushing towards the pokémon, who was once again frozen, similar to when the Passimians appeared. Only this time, it didn't seem afraid, it seemed to be listening, watching, and when Lillie looked up, she felt shock grab her entire body in a cold fist, refusing to let go as she saw a figure slowly descend towards her.
"Yes, we've met a few times in the past." Cynthia answered, now questioning how much she could tell those present about who else was looking for The Slayer.
"Not to sound too rude, Miss White. But why are you looking for the Slayer?" Lana asked, raising a good, but complicated question.
"…I…" She began, trying to think about how to word it. "Okay, so I was here on vacation, and I heard about this new figure who was making waves across the islands. A few people I know expressed interest in reaching out to him, either to learn more about him, or to help him find a place in this world to call his own. I feel like he's the kinda guy who doesn't like judgement, but we felt like he'd be less of… less of a threat, if he had some people he knew he could work with."
"You might be a bit late for that…" Kukui admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Ash, Hau and Lillie seem to have made a connection with him in some regard, and Ash and Hau took him to the Aether Foundation Paradise to meet with some of the eggheads who run the place. Also, how much do you know about him?"
"Why do you ask?" Cynthia asked, nervous about the line of questioning. What did the Professor know about the Slayer? She had been told about his exploits, how he was apparently a demon-slayer from another world's hell, had Ash been told this? Also; WHY DID THEY LEAVE ASH ALONE WITH SOMEONE CALLED THE DOOM SLAYER!?
"Eh… I can't really answer that without you answering first…"
"Great." Cynthia mentally grumbled.
"We know he's some sort of warrior, and he comes from a really scary place." Shaymin spoke up, getting everyone's attention. He was shaking ever so slightly in Mallow's arms, thinking about what Giratina and Darkrai had shown them. "…that's about it."
"How do you know that?" Kukui asked, feeling somewhat nervous, as if someone or something was watching them.
"Because I told them." A voice, seeming breathy, for lack of a better word, suddenly rang through everyone's heads. "In regards to the newcomer, we are all on the same side. There are some among us who seek knowledge of his technology, and yet others seek for him to return from whence he came. You can trust her."
"And… you are?"
"I am a being of many names, a creature spoken of in legend. Normally, I would not leave my safe haven, but what the Doom Slayer represents, the carnage he has wreaked, and the terror that could follow him required my attention. I was once an idea, but that idea was given life some time ago… I, am Mewtwo." The Psychic Pokémon concluded, looking down at Lillie, and using her mind as a signal to reach out to everyone else. It wouldn't hurt any of them, but it would ensure only they would hear what the clone was saying. However, once he finished with that, he looked down to Lillie and spoke only to her. "And you may be the key to fixing all of this."
"Should we do something?"
"I… I think that'd just anger him…"
"We've been here for twelve minutes!"
"Shh, children. I wish to see how this plays out…"
Everyone had retreated a good twenty feet from the Doom Slayer, and for the past twelve minutes, it had been one of the weirdest, and tensest interactions anyone had ever seen. Following Aron was a small, beige and brown rabbit pokémon. A Buneary, to those who knew the pokémon in this world, but something changed in the Slayer. All the anger, all the rage and indifference disappeared in an instant. Instead, the feelings which now surrounded him were unlike what anyone expected from the Doom Slayer.
There was surprise, and a genuine sense of what they thought to be happiness. Or the feeling of seeing someone after such a long time, that you thought you would never see them again. That feeling of déjà vu when you see someone on the street, and you swear you knew them, only to find out they're someone else.
This wasn't the reaction from the Buneary, however. It seemed downright terrified of the Doom Slayer. Even down on one knee, the masked man was still a behemoth compared to anyone she had ever seen before, and this was part of the reason why she had taken maybe two steps towards the Slayer in the past twelve minutes.
"Bun?" It said quietly, and the Slayer simply waved in response, earning a tiny wave in return.
"Arr." Aron spoke up, walking up beside the bunny pokémon, whom it seemed to have befriended to a degree, and looked to the Slayer, seeming just as confused as everyone else as to why its trainer was acting like this. Arron eventually walked over to the Slayer, trying to convey that he wasn't a monster, but it didn't seem to work. Slowly, the Slayer reached for something, when loud alarms went off, making everyone jump in surprise by the sudden deafening sound.
"Subject 567 has escaped captivity, all non-security personnel please make your way to the nearest safe room. Threat level: Omega Ruby. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill!"
"No! Not now!" Lusamine mentally yelled. "I was so close! It can't-" She quickly collected herself and turned to Wicke. "Miss Wicke, could you please ensure that our guests are taken to safety? If this is the subject I believe it is, then this could be disastrous."
"Hey! Where you going, man?!" Hau yelled over the siren, getting the President's attention as the Doom Slayer was on his feet and running towards the end of the sanctuary. To everyone's shock, he jumped over the side and fell to the level below. There were screams due to two reasons now; the escaped subject, and the Doom Slayer suddenly crashing down next to them. Grabbing the first person he could, the security guard looked like they were going to die from shock when they were pulled in front of the Slayer.
"Where is the escaped subject?" VEGA asked, but didn't receive an answer as a loud crash signaled the location of the carnage. Dropping the worker, the Slayer ran off once more, heading for the sound of the destruction. He wasn't sure why he was, but when you spent centuries fighting demons, and then you end up in a literal beach paradise, the sound of violence can trigger some pretty harsh fight-or-fight feelings within the Slayer. Yes, fight-or-fight.
"Slayer, I understand your agitation, but as this is an experiment, I strongly suggest you avoid using firearms against it to try and keep the damages to a minimum… however, should this creature prove to be unstable, then put it down quickly." VEGA added, and the Slayer nodded. Cocking the heavy assault rifle, the Slayer shifted mods to the sight. Believing that it might be best to take one shot to deal with the problem. Bursting through the doors, he jumped over another railing and landed on another platform. Looking around, the Slayer saw what was causing the issue. It was a weird-looking pokémon. It looked like it was stitched together from other pokémon parts to what one might claim was a dog's body. Yet it had what looked like a fish fin for a tail, and an axe on top of its head? The oddest thing, though, was the bear-trap-like device around its face. It and those trying to contain it all looked up at once, seeing the Alolan-shirted Slayer standing in the doorway, holding a massive machine gun looking at them.
"Uh… You with us? Or him?" One of the guards asked. The Doom Slayer looked from the guards, to the pokémon, then pointed to the guards. "Oh, thank you, Arceus!"
The Slayer took an assessment of what this creature was, and quickly realized that there was no weapon he had that could stun the pokémon, so he had to use his most powerful guns… cracking his knuckles, he ran forward, barreling through the two guards and tackling the now jumping pokémon. The Slayer felt the beast crash into him with a surprising amount of force. Stumbling back, the Slayer felt the odd device on the creature's head slice into his arms, and he scowled, annoyed that he wasn't in her armour, as this wouldn't be an issue if he was in it. But for now, a few minor cuts were absolutely nothing to him, but it was more the fact of the matter. Slamming the beast into the ground, it yelped in pain as its head seemed to be smacked around as it struggled to get back into its feet. Dashing forward, it lowered its head and tried to strike with the odd axe-head-affixed-to-its-head. The Slayer saw this, and thought about his escapades, dodging to one side like he was dodging a charging Pinky, grabbing the creature's tail and wincing slightly when it wailed in pain, seeming afraid more than anything. Yanking it back, the Slayer reached under the beast's neck and tried to put it into a choke hold… and promptly got stabbed in the pectoralis minor by the thing's head. Growling, the Slayer let it go, dropping it back to the floor, and looked around the platform.
"Where exactly are you attempting to get this creature to?" VEGA asked, and one of the guards pointed to the other side of the platform, and the Slayer nodded. Hitting it with the side of his fist, the Slayer ran back a few steps, hoping the creature would take the bait. Judging by the roar and charge that followed, it worked. Running across the platform, everyone watched as the Slayer rolled out of the way of an incoming crushing claw, several deep gashes left on a pillar by the attacking pokémon. The Slayer rolled back, and swung at the pokémon, clearly missing but still agitating the creature.
"How did it even get out?!" Lusamine muttered. "The only way it could've escaped was if someone knew the override codes, and that amount of skill it would take to hack into the computers…"
"It is strongly advised, all of you get out of here." VEGA ordered, the Doom Slayer grabbing and powering up his plasma rifle. VEGA himself wasn't sure where this was going, but decided to trust the Slayer. The Slayer fired a burst off, and the creature didn't retreat. If anything, it seemed to get more pissed off. Lowering its head, it charged forward, leaving the Slayer unsure of what to do about the incoming attack. He could kill this creature without a second thought, but he knew he wasn't supposed to… He decided he'd take some blows, but he'd stop this thing without killing. For now.
"Karp!"
With a wet 'slap!' the creature was stopped in its tracks when something hit it. Looking down, a Magikarp was flopping on the floor, having been used as a projectile weapon… somehow.
"Mar!" Marowak growled, spinning its bone in a challenge towards the creature. The beast roared, and charged at Marowak, who shockingly dodged the attack and slammed the flaming bone into the back of its head. The small pokémon ran off towards the guards, trying to get the creature to follow. Except it turned back to the Slayer and hissed at him. The Slayer fired another blast, aiming just in front of its face, making it jump back. The axe-head seemed to glow, and the slayer felt himself being struck directly in the chest by some sort of blast. It felt like a sledgehammer sending him back into a pillar, and he grunted when the claws sliced across his chest. It reminded him of the barons of hell, and the damage they had done to him…
"Rip and tear. Until it is done."
The next thing the creature knew, it was thrown harshly by the Slayer into a wall. It whimpered in pain as it pulled itself up. Roaring defiantly as the Slayer ran at it, now suddenly wielding a chainsaw. Bringing the whirring blade down, the creature jumped, just barely avoiding having its head cut off. A deep slash on the floor, followed by sparks flying. The Slayer kept swinging, just barely missing the pokémon and forcing it back, sparks and wind flying as the chainsaw carved into the floor. Now, forced into a retreat, the pokémon couldn't see where it was going…
CLANG!
And had backed into a cage, and the door was dropped. It looked around, and wailed in both anger and what might've been sadness, as some device whirred to life, and seemed to put it to sleep. The Doom Slayer stopped the chainsaw, attaching it to his side, and turned to face the approaching staff.
"Th…th…that…holy! That… okay…" One of the guards muttered, genuinely at a loss of words for what just happened. "Thank you! You have no idea how much you've helped us!"
"Has this happened before?" VEGA asked.
"N…no. That's what made it so concerning. It's never escaped before, and all the emergency procedures we had in place failed."
"Do you suspect sabotage?"
"It's too early to say…" The Guard shook his head. "Still, thank you."
"The Slayer does not require your thanks, the fact that no one was harmed is enough."
Letting the staff work the Slayer returned to the higher level, holding Marowak in one arm. Thankfully, it hadn't been hurt by any of the creature's attacks, and the only ones who seemed to have been hurt was himself, the creature, and his Magikarp.
"Are you, all right?" Lusamine asked as he approached the group.
"Yes." VEGA answered.
"You're bleeding!"
"They Slayer has had much worse in the past." VEGA answered. "What was that thing?"
"But… I'm sorry, I can't in good consciousness just let you go about your day after those attacks!" Lusamine insisted, ignoring the Slayer's question.
"Miss Lusamine?" Hau spoke up, getting her attention. "You can try and reason with him, but he isn't gonna listen. This is kinda how he does things…"
"At least allow my staff to ensure the wounds aren't too dreadful." The President tried to argue, but the Slayer just shook his head, making it clear he wasn't going to listen. Again, he seemed more engrossed in taking care of his team, setting Marowak down and patting the small Aron trying to climb up his leg.
"Bunn?"
The Slayer looked up, seeing the Buneary slowly walking over, standing next to Aron, and looked up at the Slayer. It was clear it wasn't ready to leave this place, or even be part of the Slayer's team… but it was beginning to warm up to him. And while no one could tell, for the first time in a long time, the Slayer smiled.
*No. I'm not over the Arbok mistake. I'm gonna keep punching myself over that, and you cowards can't stop me!
…wait.
Anyhow, here we are. The meeting of the slayer, and Buneary. Will she join the Slayer's team? Am I really asking that question? Did I intentionally drag out the meeting across this chapter because I felt like tormenting you guys a bit? The answer to all of them, is no.
…if you believe that, you clearly don't know me. ;)
Anyhow, things are beginning to come together, new faces and player are appearing, the Slayer is now in the middle of Aether Paradise, armour-less, and is beginning to find out about what they're after.
Also, I know I'm playing fast and loose with the canonicity of certain aspects, but the Shaymin here is the same one Mallow took care of in the Anime, but it returned to its shrub form due to reasons explained later.
Also, also. If you ever wanna know what's coming out when, check my profile!
