… Megalo Tower.

Even in the dimness, it was easy to see that it was a stronghold, alright- the humongous, hulking grey bricks making up the majority of the outer walls looked like they would take immense strength to move on their own, but more rocky seaweed-like growths entangled quite a bit of the lower portion like vines ensnaring old ruins that made them even more immoveable. The plant-like structures appeared to thin out the further up the tower they went, but even so, some more of them sparsely sprouted out from between the heavy stones like rather persistent weeds growing on a rocky path. The air turned purple the further up one's eyes travelled, but even without it, seeing all the way to the top from the ground was difficult for all the smog. The cold grey tones, the precise edges of the bricks perfectly aligned into a hulking dungeon tower, and the way the purple glassy ground reflected it so clearly made the whole thing feel rather… standoffish.

Delphi's group was getting a good look at it too, for the entire lot of them was less than fifty meters away on the end opposite the entrance. They could very clearly see the glowing eye of one Stakataka in an immobile position with their legs tucked into their walls directly in their line of sight, but the Beast hadn't yet taken any action if they had noticed the entourage (which wasn't certain given the dimness of the vicinity).

"Alright, let's get down to business," Delphi said with a smirk, tugging at her cloak again and undoing it from her neck. "The less clothing, the better.~"

The way she said it, and the way she seemed to insinuate something suggestive with her tone, caused her comrades (save for Spirit and Joker, who didn't seem too fazed) to give her a funny look.

"… Well, seeing as Salem doesn't wear hats or scarves or cloaks, I'd agree with you," Karma piped up, completely deadpan.

The Delphox merely giggled, taking her hat off and folding her cloak around it like a makeshift sack, then tied it up at the top and stuck her wand through it. "Kuro, dearie, I'm going to need you to make me look less attractive and more poisoned," she said, slinging it over her shoulder like a bindle.

"I can do that," the Zoroark replied, starting to grin mischievously.

"Good," she replied. "Those guards'll give me some love, don't ya think~?"

"They should!" Yunael piped up, fluttering her wings happily. "At least, I hope so! Love solves all of our problems!"

Spirit chuckled. "Yunael, I think the love you're referring to and the love Delphi is referring to are two different things," he noted nonchalantly.

Joker nodded without saying a word.

The Togekiss blinked, blushing a bit under feathers. "… Oh," she said, face falling a bit. "But didn't Raijin imply that Ultra Beasts technically don't… y'know…?"

Polly burst into laughter, clapping her wings together in amusement. "Leave it to Delphi to try finding a way!"

"Now is not the time for this," Karma shut them all down.

They all shut up, but Delphi giggled again, looking to Yunael and giving her a little wink. The Togekiss blushed even more, quickly looking down at the ground and shaking her head haplessly. Polly tried to hold in her laughter, but she still couldn't help making some grunting and hissing sounds as she stifled it to little avail.

Shortly, though, the Stakataka in their line of sight seemed to take notice of more figures moving within the dimness, for their eye flashed red. The hulking rampart stirred to life, rising off of the ground with more red glow visible when they stood up on their legs.

"Act natural, everyone!" Delphi said hurriedly in a hushed tone, clearing her throat afterwards as if still bothered by the thick air. "I'm Salem and you're my underlings!"

The rest of them gave hurried nods too.

Two of the four Celesteelas circling overhead apparently caught wind of one Stakataka guard noticing something amiss, for they too stopped and broke away from their circular patrol flight. The expeditioners took it in stride, not flinching too much when a hostile living rampart hurriedly ambled towards them and two gargantuan metallic creatures approached.

The Celesteelas reached them first, one plopping down on either side of the group with their heavy bodies making the ground rumble and crack. Nonetheless, the hot flames from their cannons and the residual heat lingering on their root-like undersides for just a moment was enough to make the glassy surface underneath them melt and reform again, practically undoing most of the effects of their impact. One of them was marked 'UB04A- 4512' on the lowest cascading metallic sheet, and the other was marked 'UB04A- 5057' likewise. One cannon arm from each of them shot out in front of the expeditioners, blocking them from taking a step further, and each of their other arms did the same behind them to block any attempted retreats.

"HALT, NOW!" one of the Celesteelas hollered.

The expeditioners did so, Delphi starting to get a smirk.

"What are Pokémon doing in our goddess' domain?!" the other Celesteela demanded. "Explain yourselves right now!"

Delphi cast a glance between both of the steely flying ones. "I think it's you that needs to explain yourselves," she said in a borderline aggressive tone, dropping her voice down a bit lower and rasping it up slightly at the same time.

The comrades with her had never heard Salem's voice directly, but they had to imagine that her imitation sounded fairly close. It wasn't Delphi's playful, borderline suggestive tone at all- it was the tone of someone annoyed at her subordinates getting in the way of her business. Of course, the Delphox had seen Team Starstorm's memories, and they all had heard Salem's voice before, so surely, she could pull it off.

And indeed, the Celesteela guards seemed to pause, but they still didn't move. The Stakataka, one brick marked 'UB08A-8014,' that had noticed them strode up and stared straight at the expeditioners through the gap between the others' arms, eye still red. Two other Stakatakas further off on either side of where the first one had been started to glow red as well, clearly taking note of what was going on and springing to life likewise.

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY GAMES WITH YOU," the Stakataka said in a booming voice. "EXPLAIN YOUR PRESENCE OR WE ENACT OUR NO-MERCY POLICY ON DISSENTERS."

A 'no-mercy policy' definitely sounded less than pleasant, as if the hulking cannon-arms might slam together and squash them if their explanation wasn't up to par… and given the track record of several faction run-ins, that likely wasn't an unreasonable guess. The expeditioners tried to act natural as best they could, but Yunael still couldn't help fluffing out a bit and Karma frowned even more than she otherwise did at the mention.

Delphi, however, smirked some more, eyes narrowing as she stared the Stakataka straight in the eye, sticking one claw up against the brick it stared back from. "You think I need to explain myself?!" she snarled back. "How about you explain why you're getting in the way of Void's host?!"

The Celesteelas balked a bit, but the Stakataka, the moment Delphi looked them in the eye, let out a metallic screech and practically jumped backwards with their legs not moving fast enough to keep up with their mind.

"L-let them out!" the living rampart exclaimed, only one brick flipping outwards to do the talking in a much smaller voice. "Oh, Salem, forgive us!"

The hulking cannons of the flying figures shivered a bit, but they still didn't move.

"H-hold on!" the second Celesteela exclaimed. "Astrid's partner told Void that they had another Delphox as an ally, and Salem is no ordinary Delphox!"

A bit of tenseness went around the expeditioners, since that was indeed true. Of course, they knew that the Delphox in front of them was of the ordinary variety, not the human-turned-Pokémon and certainly not Pokémon-fused-with-an-Ultra-Beast variety, but whether the guards could discern that was another matter entirely. They cast some glances around, but Delphi didn't budge.

"H-her eyes, Forty-Five-Twelve!" the Stakataka exclaimed in response, another brick flipping outwards to speak. "They're purple! That's Salem!"

Kuro's maw twisted a bit, the Zoroark holding in his amusement that the guards were falling for his illusions. A nudge from Karma shut him up entirely.

"I-if I may, in that case, it's a bit hard to see your eyes from our positions," the second Celesteela noted gently. "You're rather low to the ground."

Without saying a word, but still playing up the fake aggression, Delphi stared straight up at the one asking while also dropping her tied-up cloak and hat off her wand's end. The tip of her wand flared up with a large flame… a large purple flame that she held to the cannon-arms boxing them in. Perhaps the color was an illusion, but heat definitely wasn't, and even if it wasn't as scorching as Salem might have preferred, it got the guards' attention very well. Two more metallic screeches came from the Celesteelas, their arms quickly retracting away.

"Does that work for you?" Delphi asked, sounding annoyed. "Or would you rather I melt you and replace you with some less insolent guards? You're lucky I don't Flamethrower all three of you."

That was a threat she couldn't actually follow through on, simply on account of Flamethrower not actually being a move she kept in her arsenal, but the guards didn't need to know that. Evidently, it didn't matter that she couldn't either, for the Stakataka hunched up with their legs slightly drawn back into their corners, and the two Celesteelas' arms drew in closer in front of them like makeshift shields. Even when her flame died down again, the three of them still acted hesitant. Delphi snickered in a way that almost unnerved her comrades, for act or not, her eyes were glinting with mischief in ways that weren't Kuro's doing.

*You're really good at this!* Yunael mentally exclaimed. *Good grief, just don't turn around and torch us too!*

*Delphi, are you sure you're not enjoying this a little too much?* Spirit non-verbally inquired.

The Delphox grinned even more. *Oh, I'm enjoying myself, but don't you worry~* she assuaged them.

The guards, on the other hand, definitely didn't look assuaged.

"W-we understand, Salem!" the first Celesteela cried hurriedly, sounding heavily dismayed. "We didn't mean to question your authority! Please don't take offense, we didn't mean it!"

"I was wrong and I humbly apologize!" the second likewise pleaded. "P-please don't replace me…! There is no greater honor than protecting you and your host…!"

"I NEVER MEANT TO THREATEN YOU!" the Stakataka joined in, back to their booming voice. "I WOULD NEVER, EVER THREATEN YOU, SALEM!"

"Damn straight you wouldn't," Delphi shot back, narrowing one eye and widening the other in a rather unhinged look. She crossed her arms, snickering some more.

*You are enjoying this too much,* Karma non-verbally chimed in.

Delphi didn't pay her any mind, smirking while strutting straight up to the cowering Stakataka and leaning against their walls, something the Beast didn't seem to protest too much. They all hid it well, but the expeditioners couldn't help being just a bit surprised at how brazen she was acting, though it was very clearly working. If what they'd heard and what Delphi could see in Team Starstorm's memories was any indication, then Salem undoubtedly would never show a shred of fear and would've been asserting her dominance over every single creature present in one way or another. From the way that their company, their much larger and stronger company, were groveling and shrinking up, Delphi was nailing the impression as much as she was nailing their enemies to the wall.

By that time, though, the other two Stakatakas, one marked 'UB08A-4976' and the other marked 'UB08A-9020,' had hurried over with their own glows replaced by red, indicating that they too were on high alert. Of course, that was par- seeing three of their comrades getting flustered and scared so quickly had to have less-than-pleasant connotations.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" one exclaimed.

"WHAT ARE OFF-WORLDERS DOING IN VOID'S DOMAIN?!" the other questioned.

Delphi turned to them both in turn, pointing her wand at each of them in turn with a (fake) purple flame flaring up each time. That quieted their new company instantly, both of the other living ramparts pausing as soon as her fire flashed.

"Your other guard comrades here thought it'd be a good idea to question me," Delphi said rather pointedly, staring them both straight in the eyes. "Yes, that brat Arashi said there was another Delphox, but when the only Delphox that matters shows up, you'd think it'd be easy enough to tell. Either of you wanna question me too?"

It didn't take her long at all to get an answer, and both of the other Stakatakas were resuming their usual blue glow instead of the hostile red one almost instantly.

"NOT AT ALL, SALEM!" the second exclaimed.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" the third echoed.

"Good," Delphi said, rather pointed once again and leaning back against the living rampart she'd been using as a support moments prior. "Then let me give all five of you the situation. These Pokémon here are all my wonderful new allies, you get it~?" She gestured at the other expeditioners. Her voice still had an aggressive edge to it, but a bit of her own borderline flirtatious tone crept in, as if she were talking down to someone she deemed inferior and couldn't quite be mad at (which they could all easily see Salem pulling). "We've got an infestation of infidels. When that failure of a goddess and that traitor dropped in, saying they didn't come alone is an understatement. Remi and Knox are busy, and I've been trying to sway them all, but I need backup. Lots of backup, someone that'll keep us safe. You all get the picture?"

The Celesteelas gasped, and the outward-facing eyes on the three Stakatakas blinked.

"Oh, my goddess!" the first Celesteela exclaimed. "How horrible!"

"So that's why you're down here instead of up there with her!" the second Celesteela exclaimed. "Last us guards heard, you and her were staying at the top of the tower!"

Delphi perked up, as did the rest of the expeditioners. They figured as much would happen, but that nonetheless confirmed without a shadow of a doubt what they already suspected- Void and Salem were staking things out in their stronghold, detached from the fray until approached.

"That's right," the pretending Delphox affirmed, smirking. "See, you are smart.~"

If a mostly metallic creature could blush, the second Celesteela would've been.

"W-WILL THE GODDESS BE OKAY?" the third Stakataka inquired in concern. "THAT MUST MEAN SHE IS ALONE…"

Delphi stared down the third living rampart in particular, flashing her flame again and pointing it straight at them. "I'm moving on our goddess' orders," she barked. "You wanna question her? She knows what the fuck she's doing."

At that, the third Stakataka was hunching up like a canine with a tail between their legs. "N-not at all, Salem!" a lone brick squeaked out.

"Good," Delphi said pointedly. "Now go get your other comrades and follow me- and yes, our goddess means to leave the tower unguarded! Those crazy expeditioners will take its unprotected state as an invitation to try reaching the top, they'll get tired out before they even reach halfway up, and she'll easily pick them off herself with a single Toxic!"

The Beasts looked stunned for a second, but they didn't protest in the slightest.

"Oh, heavens, our strategy is changing!" the first Celesteela cried. "Those outsiders really tried, didn't they?!"

"OUR GODDESS IS BRILLIANT!" the third Stakataka exclaimed. "THERE IS NO OUTSIDE INTERVENTION THAT SHE CANNOT OVERCOME!"

"That's right," Delphi said with a smirk, staring all of the guards in the eyes in turn. "Now get moving! You better not keep me waiting for long!"

She didn't have to say it twice. The Celesteelas were melting the ground again as they blasted off, and the Stakatakas hurried off to grab their other rampart comrades as quick as their heavy forms could move. The expeditioners stared off after them as they did so, in an odd state of relief and disbelief that the Delphox's ploy had worked so flawlessly.

Delphi, however, immediately started coughing and clearing her throat the second the Beasts were out of range to hear her, looking less than thrilled. Spirit took notice and floated alongside her, gently brushing her shoulder with his tail.

"Delphi!" the Dragapult exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine!" the one in question choked out. "But Arceus above, I may as well be drowning! Ugh!"

"You really do not like this place, do you?" Polly asked sarcastically, studying her from her perch on Spirit's head.

"No!" was the quick answer. "After about ten seconds, that snarling voice was hardly an act! If I get through this, I'll never be afraid of a body of water again! I'll take Sunken Cavern and Vanishing Swamp over this any day!"

They didn't doubt her.

Still, after getting over her coughing fit, the Delphox started smirking again. "Though I'll admit, as much as I hate the air, having a bunch of enemies idol-worship me is fun.~ I could get used to this, heehee!"

Karma, though, cut in with another sentiment. "Delphi, I have to ask you something from one psychic to another," she mused, still staring after the Stakatakas.

"Hm~?" the Delphox replied, casting her gaze on the Wobbuffet and sticking her bundled-up hat and cloak back on her wand's end.

"… Those Stakatakas are conglomerate organisms, but I think I'm sensing more presences in them than I should be," Karma noted. "Do you get that same feeling…?"

Delphi eyed her, inquisitive but not quite grasping what she said. "What do you mean?"

"Like there's more bricks there than there should be?" Yunael chimed in, not quite getting it either.

"No," Karma replied. "The ones I'm feeling don't mesh with their bodies. They're undoubtedly poisoned like the rest, which is making their thoughts very hard to decipher, but… different. Like they just don't belong there."

The Delphox got an inquisitive look, crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side as she too stared after the guards. "… I would ask Lunala or Adnea, but they're both busy," her voice trailed off. "If I ask those guards, they'll pick up that I- or rather, Salem- should know these things already… but maybe if I get all intimate with a Stakataka and crawl inside them, I'll notice something!"

That sounded like as good of a plan as anything, but the way she started to smirk and wink, mostly to herself, at the mention of getting 'intimate' with one of the living ramparts made her comrades give her odd looks again.

"… Definite 'intimate,'" Polly inquired, studying her amusedly.

"Oh, you know what I mean, dearie," the Delphox brushed her off.

"I really don't, though," the Chatot nonetheless pressed.

Delphi giggled and didn't reply directly, but she nonetheless crouched down next to Joker and gave his head a little stroke, saying, "Joker knows what I mean, don't you~? Doesn't it sound just wonderful~?"

The Unfezant barely had a reaction, replying simply and without missing a beat, "… Perhaps."

Yunael shook her head. "I still love you guys, but y'all are strange."

FWOOM!

An errant beam of light sailed through the air and liquefied the top of a sprouting stone bloom, making yellow lava splash down onto the ground around ten meters away. It might not have been close enough to do the expeditioners any harm, but they still couldn't help giving a jolt of fright. Clearly, an enraged god of Ultra Space was nothing to be excited about.

"… Especially with that happening!" Delphi cried, jumping back up. "If anyone's gonna get hit by a stray Photon Geyser, I do not want it to be me!"

Her comrades didn't disagree, but Polly seemed to deflate at evidently finding out that the meaning of Delphi's words weren't so… suggestive.

Shortly, though, the number of Beasts surrounding them had doubled into four Celesteelas and six Stakatakas, all of whom seemed to behave much more meekly with 'Salem' staring them down. The expeditioners may as well have been specks of sand on a beach, for the hulking, gargantuan forms of the guards dwarfed them in every possible way. It was a good thing they all seemed to be completely wrapped around Delphi's finger, for getting into a fight with ten sturdy creatures was likely to end miserably. Ten creatures in an alliance with Wide Guard in their arsenals… Surely a fight against such a thing was nigh-impossible to win.

Still, Delphi smirked and acted as though nothing were out of the ordinary. "Alright, you ten. You know what to do. Don't let a single attack touch me or our comrades."

Multiple cries of affirmation met her, all some kind of variant of, "WE WOULD NEVER!" or "Not a problem!" or "Absolutely not!" with quite a bit of gusto.

The second Stakataka to appear, however, crept closer to the Delphox and crouched down, inquiring, "WOULD A LITTLE NEBULA BE OF HELP…?"

The expeditioners couldn't help but be slightly caught off-guard by the mention of little nebulas, but seconds later, they all had to try much harder not to look stunned when the living rampart's bricks rearranged to show a larger compartment within containing dozens of glowing cubes all jam-packed into the Beast's walls. Polly practically ripped feathers out of one wing with her beak to keep herself hushed, and Kuro directed his gaze at the ground to hide his eyes practically bulging out of his skull. If what was contained in those glowing cubes was as closely watched as Raijin said, then… words couldn't even begin to describe how ridiculously valuable that stash of little nebulas was. All at once, everything Karma had mentioned started to make sense- there were too many presences in one Stakataka because dozens of Cosmogs and Cosmoems were imprisoned within them, and it was no wonder they didn't mesh with the rest of the bricks seeing as they, indeed, weren't even close to being the same organism.

Nonetheless, Delphi held it together and said, "Damn right, Forty-Nine-Seventy-Six.~ Thanks for keeping 'em safe for me.~"

She reached up and grabbed hold of one glowing cube, pulling it free from the stash before the Stakataka's bricks walled them all off again. The little nebula inside gave a small cry of fright at being jostled around, but they quieted themself fairly quickly.

"OF COURSE," the living rampart replied.

Everything the Delphox was saying was a complete and utter lie, and the enemy Beasts had just introduced an extremely unexpected factor into the mix to trip them up… but she still had an idea. Salem undoubtedly wouldn't turn down using a little nebula to make things more efficient, so Delphi wouldn't either… but she couldn't possibly keep up the act forever undetected.

Nonetheless, she thought quickly and envisioned the far reaches of the desert where her bunch had dropped at first, then said assertively, "Take us away, little nebula!"

"R-right away, Salem!" the tiny voice from inside the cube answered.

Moments thereafter, the ground beneath them cracked and gave way to a wormhole, whisking away the expeditioners and the guards following shortly thereafter.


Author's note: Me and TheDragonSaver had bounced around this idea for a long time now, so I had fun finally writing it. I came up with the idea of Delphi impersonating Salem sometime around March or April earlier this year, ran it by him since Delphi and Team Mirage are his creations, and we've been smirking and giggling about it ever since.