Lights danced around off in the distance to the expeditioners, indicating some rather powerful creatures having some less-than-friendly interactions, which would have concerned them in any other situation where they'd actually been able to help. Photon Geysers and Moongeist Beams lit up the cosmos with their fleeting existences like meteors crashing down to the ground below with their fiery glowing tails, mixed with a Signal Beam or Discharge or two that wasn't as potent but was still visible nonetheless. Someplace in the fray were Astrid and Arashi, the former probably with narrowed, calculating eyes and the latter with his eyes bulging out of his head for one reason or another.

Though their mouth was curled up in a smile, Remi's eyes were as furious as could be, but they evidently just couldn't give Adnea a break for all the rage she'd incited and aimed another Ice Beam between the Orbeetle's eyes… or at least, they would have, if their aim wasn't thrown off by Seth rushing them in a Bullet Punch.

"Nice to see you again, jackass," the Scizor hissed, pincer trying to bash in the Pheromosa's pretty face.

It wasn't a hit as Remi swerved just out of the way with the pincer brushing the side of their head, but they nonetheless laughed as one leg went to kick the Scizor's side, "I know I'm nice to see, bastard.~"

Ama, however, had other ideas and started patting her egg while it emitted a soothing Soft-Boiled glow. "My hurt darlings, get over here," she said sweetly but pointedly, her gaze nonetheless locked on their enemies as if they might break her egg again. "Rozen, my love, you leave the healing to me for now."

"Not a problem, Ama," the Audino easily replied.

"I'm still gonna bother you later to push my busted sternum back in place," Cinder piped up, sounding rather unamused. "No way in hell that's getting fixed in our situation right now."

"A busted what?!" Rozen exclaimed, looking startled. "Oh, Cinder, of every bone you could break, why that one?! You won't be able to move your wings for days if it's to heal properly!"

The Fletchinder brushed him off. "Don't ask me, ask the big red bastard in charge of Squad Fourteen-Five!"

"Cinder's a crazy bastard too, he'll be fine," Rush chimed in while balling up his fists, not too concerned.

Shar, Adnea, Azra, and Chira with Millicent still tied to her back, on the other hand, still all huddled around the Blissey, feeling rather relieved to bask in her healing light (though the Garchomp was likely doing so purely for keeping her body functioning right and not out of any concern for the pain her deep gashes would've caused anyone else). Millicent of anyone looked like a giant weight had been taken off her shoulders, for her injuries definitely had to feel horrendous, and she mimed a few gestures at her team lead.

Ama gave the Alcremie an uncertain smile. "What do you mean you're gonna need a huge bandage later, my darling…~?"

"Let me show you why," Adnea flatly piped up.

The visions of what had happened to necessitate Millicent being so tightly wrapped up made Ama shriek in dismay, her mouth still frozen in a smile but pure horror in her eyes.

Ravi, though, got an angry look and started stomping his hooves, getting Worked Up into a rage. "Alright, bosses, let me pass off some boosts."

Xeno, the Girafarig's primary boss, started giggling while sparking like a tempestuous sky. "Don't mind me for now, Ravi.~ My bases are covered.~"

Of course, the Ditto-eyed Xurkitree could've used them, but when he fired off a Discharge with absurd voltage that only a certain comrade that wasn't in their presence could pull off, the others knew exactly what he meant. A wall of Light Screens went up around Dren and Seth to keep them shielded while further out in the fray than the rest of them, but for the faction members, a Wide Guard kept them safe too. Azure in particular looked thankful, still nonetheless holding up his hulking claws as if to guard himself from a hit that never came, and Zariel was too wild-eyed and focused on the other Mega form in front of her to care much.

"Ohhhh, seeing Six-Seven's identification pisses me off even if it's not actually him," Remi breathed angrily, claws twitching.

"And I bet Void thinks more about him than she does you," Adnea flippantly remarked. "What a goddess-forsaken shame, Remi."

Their claws twitched even more, eyes turning to crazy little pinpricks. "I will kill you," they breathed some more. "I will fucking kill you. I will FUCKING KILL YOU."

Evidently, the Pheromosa was intent on doing just that when the shields dropped, for they rushed out with blinding speed, claws twitching with homicidal intent, but they couldn't land any blows when Xeno's form shifted forms again into a Pheromosa… specifically, that of the Pheromosa wanting to enact some unholy execution on them all. Remi quickly had to stop when they stared at a Ditto-eyed clone of themself aiming a Brick Breaking kick up at their head, and they ducked down and drew one leg up to aim their own kick, but Lazuli charging over to Play Rough made them abort that plan too with frustrated eyes. They jumped up out of the way, doing a little flip in the air while licking one set of claws on their hand to coat it with poisonous ooze, which they jabbed down at the Azumarill. A Reflect courtesy of Rozen blocked it, and another screech of frustration left Remi's mouth as both their attack was for naught and yet another Bullet Punch from Seth threatened their safety. Luckily for them, though, their kicks could still move as fast as the Scizor's wickedly quick attack, and Seth's pincer was knocked off course by a U-Turn before it could smash Remi's face.

The three targeting Remi before were all met with the eyes of a Stakataka's multitude of bricks peering back at them, every single one glowing red.

"Oh, come on!" Lazuli fussed.

"Tch!" Seth too said in frustration.

"YOU WILL NOT," Knox boomed, his parts shaking and sliding a bit.

The Azumarill and Scizor knew better than to stick around, for rather quickly, a good chunk of Knox's upper half came tumbling down in a Rock Slide on all directions that would've swallowed them up had they not dashed away, but Xeno had other ideas. The Ditto didn't move, his form instead glowing white and shifting again into a much, much bigger one. In moments, his Pheromosa guise was gone, replaced by a Ditto-eyed Stakataka that didn't even flinch from getting hit by a few falling bricks. A surprised metallic screech came from Knox as he stared back at a precise copy of himself, indistinguishable from the real thing save for two bricks facing outwards with Ditto eyes.

"OOOH! I LIKE THIS ONE TOO!" Xeno exclaimed, voice booming uncharacteristically.

"YOU…!" Knox protested, his pieces bouncing back into place as he leaned backwards away from the Ditto.

"ME~!" Xeno chirped, leaning back as well.

CRASH!

A mighty sound resonated as the actual Stakataka and the copy smashed into each other with an Iron Head (or at least, the closest thing they had to heads). Knox said nothing, unfazed as usual, but a myriad of metallic giggling sounds came from Xeno's parts that would've been unsettling had the Ditto been an enemy. Remi wore a look of pure exasperation at the sight.

Zariel, however, was clearly entranced with Dren's Mega form for all the wrong reasons, her eyes glinting with malicious mischief at seeing the Salamence's bared fangs and wrathful expression. She spewed a Dragon Breath from her maw aimed at him, but with wicked speed, Dren took to the air again and swerved out of the way, letting the blue smoke and embers leave marks on the ground instead. The edges of his wings glinted like blades, and evidently, he intended to use them as such as he went for an Aerial Ace, but Zariel had similar ideas and whipped up an Air Slash that left red gashes in his skin too. Dren certainly noticed, but he didn't regard it for very long.

"Bwahaha, this one and the Garchomp- can we keep 'em~?!" Zariel cackled, eyes flashing with utter madness.

Though the Stakataka was a tempting target, Rush turned his attention on a certain armored bug with giant claws glinting in the dimness. "Rozen, cover me!" he called, dashing off with balled-up fists.

"As always, friend!" the Audino affirmed, cloaking him in a Helping Hand's glow.

Evidently, Azure had thought the Scrafty was as good of a target as any, for his eyes turned on Rush as well with his hulking claws drawing back to strike.

Cinder eyed the Golisopod too, but with flying being so difficult, he turned to Riven, his other fellow avian. "Hey, Riven! Can I borrow your wings for a second?!"

"I know what you're getting at, and yes!" the Honchkrow easily replied, likewise eyeing the Golisopod while swooping up the Fletchinder.

In moments, Rush was aiming a boosted Brick Break at Azure's hulking claws, Riven was diving down for a Wing Attack, and Cinder was breathing a Flamethrower, all of which would've definitely put the Golisopod in a very unfortunate state… but a Wide Guard from Knox shielded the armored bug as well as the wild-eyed Charizard in the air.

"Ngh!" Rush grunted, his fist battering the energy shield instead of the Golisopod's armored plates.

Azure chuckled in amusement. "So you're the little brat's idol."

"I sure am!" Rush hollered back, still holding up his fists. "And he might be a li'l brat, but he's our li'l brat, you bastard!"

"Oh, look at the brat calling someone else a brat!" Riven fussed, landing with Cinder.

Zariel, though, was far from looking frustrated. The Wide Guard around her cracked like glass and the tips of Dren's wings burst through, which only enthralled her some more judging from the wild laughter leaving her mouth.

"Now this is what I live for!" the Charizard cried. "Go on and rage at me, big guy! I'm still gonna pulverize you, but dammit, this is FUN!"

Dren snarled, Dragon Clawing at the shield to crack it some more. "Considering that you had no issue doing awful things to an innocent, scared little Rowlet, I think you deserve some rage."

The shield dropped, and Zariel eagerly let another Dragon Breath go with her eyes shooting wide in glee at the mention of a 'little Rowlet.' "Yeah, and I'd fucking do it again! She's lucky she ain't here now!"

Dren zipped out of the way of her attack, nonetheless still glaring at her in disdain. He went for another Aerial Ace, but Zariel too was fast, jerking her head aside before the Salamence's wings could slice into her throat, though it still caused her a rather deep gash on the side of her face. She barely seemed to notice it, instead balling one fist up and Mega Punching Dren in the chest again. Still, Mega-fueled rage was evidently keeping Dren from caring about taking hits too much either, for the only sign that he even felt it was a deep gasp that he took indicating she had knocked the wind out of him. The Salamence was zipping around in the air again when Zariel breathed a blue-hot Flamethrower which, even if he resisted, he knew better than to take, and her fiery stream followed him in a ridiculous zigzagging pattern everywhere he went.

The expeditioners, as well as the Charizard's comrades, noticed it too, for tiny little embers fluttered down and part of the ground was scorched into melting from her attack.

"If those embers touch me, I will fucking kill you!" Remi screeched, bunching their body up to avoid two of them.

"The more I see this crazy creature in action, the more I realize it's a miracle Astrid and Arashi are still alive," Jingle remarked, a Flamethrower welling up in his own maw as he eyed the fanatical Charizard.

"The fact two li'l runts escaped her alive is a gods-damned miracle," Shar agreed, flames welling up in hers too.

"The good thing about foes like this is that getting Worked Up is quite easy," Ravi remarked, still stomping and snarling in place.

Knox, however, didn't appear too concerned, for he brought one leg up and slammed it down into the ground with a mighty thwump, setting off an Earthquake aimed for the imitation Stakataka in front of him. Xeno, however, was quick to catch on and Transformed again into a Dragonite, then promptly flew out of the way as both Jingle and Shar breathed a Flamethrower on the enemy guard. Of course, the fissures in the ground didn't stop and headed for the rest of the expeditioners bunched up around Ama, but Azra quickly Protected all of them and stopped the earth from swallowing them up (which the Blissey in particular looked happy for). A cacophony of metallic shrieks erupted from Knox's parts that felt the flames, but the Stakataka was still standing like a hulking bastion with hardly a sign of damage visible.

Remi, however, was still intent on slaying Adnea, but the Orbeetle herself could detect that fairly easily.

"Rozen!" she cried, right as the Pheromosa let loose another Ice Beam aimed between her eyes.

The Audino, even if not directly looking at her, wasn't slacking off either, and a Light Screen went up that nonetheless received a hefty crack, but the tiniest bug was safe. Ama perked up, her gaze instantly darting to the crazed Pheromosa, and an Ice Beam of her own taking form in her smiling mouth. It might've taken Remi a moment longer to notice than they otherwise would have, but they nonetheless darted aside and let the beam fly past without a scratch. A Swift from a rather Decorated Chira followed, and again Remi was darting around, but not without shooting off yet another Ice Beam at Adnea while they did so.

"Fuck you all!" Remi screeched. "Fuck anyone who gets in my way!"

Azure, on the other hand, drew one water-shrouded hulking arm back for a Liquidation, while Rush drew one fist back for a Brick Break boosted by a Helping Hand from Rozen and Riven spread his wings to attack again. However, the Golisopod quickly had his attention shifted when Remi darted his way with Chira's stars homing in on them, and while the expeditioners went for their own blows, Azure himself whirled about and clutched Remi to his underside while the Pheromosa dived into his grasp.

"The fuck?!" Rush cried, noticing the Golisopod with his back turned.

"Heh?!" Riven likewise crowed.

Nonetheless, Rush's fist and Riven's Wing Attack pounded into Azure's armored back, the former of which put cracks even into his diamond-hard plates and the latter of which still had to feel less-than-good even if it didn't hit quite as hard. Neither the expeditioners nor Remi could see it, but the Golisopod's eyes twitched in pain even if he kept his mouth shut, and when Chira's Swift smashed into the hulking armored plates on his arms instead of the Pheromosa he clutched, he outright vanished from view.

Rush's face fell almost as fast as Remi could run. "Fuck," he said under his breath.

However, what was far more important was the Pheromosa left in front of them, and Cinder wasted no time in breathing a Flamethrower while Riven and Rush backed out of the way. Yet again it was all for naught, as a Wide Guard went up that kept Remi unscathed.

"Boss, what's up?" Cinder quickly inquired, scurrying closer to the Scrafty and noticing his disgruntled expression.

"First Impression," Rush quickly replied.

The Fletchinder caught on fairly quickly- those hulking claws had already caused quite a few close calls, and the one in possession of them was about to go using them again for their most dangerous purpose. Rozen apparently caught on too just as fast, for a wall of Reflects went up around literally every single one of the expeditioners as best as he could manage… but that wasn't necessary, as Xeno's form shifted again into a familiar armored arthropod.

"Not today!" the Ditto-eyed Golisopod cried, turning into a blur himself.

Too fast to see, and much to a certain Blissey's surprise, a certain hulking set of claws belonging to the only unguarded faction member threatened to smash through her egg and impale Ama herself, but before those same hulking claws could even attempt to break through Rozen's shields, another set of hulking claws intercepted them.

Ama gave a little cry of fright, more so at the prospect of her egg ever getting smashed again than at the possibility of Azure breaking Rozen's Reflect and literally impaling her. Azure was quickly startled too, especially when a Ditto-eyed copy of himself stared back.

"I think I like yours better than the other Golisopod form I had!" Xeno cheerfully exclaimed.

"N-not the egg again!" Ama cried in dismay, patting it and scurrying backwards into Azra's tail as if she was still under threat of receiving a First Impression. "Why do they all go for my egg?! WHY?!"

Azure jumped back, yanking his claws free of being intertwined with Xeno's. "It's messy but it works."

"I'll make a mess of you," Azra piped up, his tail moving from around the Blissey and instead swinging at Azure in an Iron Tail.

The Golisopod didn't look to happy at being thwarted, but he at least accepted it and held up one plated arm to keep himself reasonably safe.

Remi, however, had other thoughts about the armored bug that left them alone in the shield, getting an almost amused look as they said to no one in particular, "Oh, Azure, for a lesser-species, you're alright.~"

Zariel, though, while not too concerned with being guarded either way, still nonetheless was saved from a few heavy hits when Knox's shield blocked out a Thunderbolt from a certain Ditto-eyed Dragonite as well as another Aerial Ace from Dren (which cracked the shield but still prevented the Salamence from hitting her). Dren, however, wasn't completely unscathed, as even when multiple Light Screens from Rozen went up, an Air Slash from Zariel she'd sent beforehand had nonetheless broken several of them and left him with deep cuts in his skin. He barely paid it any mind, but they all had to pay mind to something else when an indigo blur sailed through the air and smashed through the shield's cracks while Outraging- none other than Shar. The Wide Guard around Zariel finally gave way, and the wild-eyed Charizard went plummeting to the ground with a wild-eyed Garchomp's jaws biting into one wing's bend and claws digging into her chest.

"YOU AIN'T FUCKIN' NOTHING, BITCH!" Shar thundered, slamming into the ground.

Dren didn't waste any time following after them, and though it was difficult to judge a Stakataka's expression, the eyes on Knox's outside seemed rather surprised.

Still Remi stared daggers at Adnea and the Orbeetle returned their gaze, her own eyes glowing with an attempted Hypnosis, but even if Remi's glowed too, it was clear that the Pheromosa still wouldn't be swayed so fast. Their claws twitched and the rest of them jittered slightly as if their rage would just tear out of their body, but they nonetheless had to keep in mind that Knox's shields weren't going to last forever when they started to fade soon. The moment the shield dropped, Seth went to Bullet Punching the Pheromosa again while Rush spit a poisonous ooze onto his fist to attack with and Riven went for another Wing Attack. In rapid succession, Remi dodged first Seth's pincer, Rush's fist, then Riven's wing, looking rather flustered and angry all the while with their still-glowing eyes and winding up in a rather strange pose for all their sudden movements.

"Stop it, Remi," Adnea said harshly. "Stop it."

Remi still glared, but that expression quickly turned to dismay for something they didn't quite see coming in the fray- Lazuli, cloaked in a pink glow, Playing Rough. The other three that had attacked had withdrawn sufficiently, but even with a Pheromosa's speed, they couldn't have fully avoided it.

"Take this, you pompous ass!" the Azumarill hollered.

"Fuck yeah, Big Blue!" Rush cheered.

Remi opened their mouth with a bit of poisonous ooze in it as if they too wanted to use Poison Jab like Rush had moments prior, but shortly, it wasn't poison leaving their mouth- it was blood.

"KYAH-!"

Maybe to anyone more durable or with a type resistance, Lazuli's attack wouldn't have been such a heavy hit, but the second she made contact with Remi, she could practically feel their delicate form caving in. The Pheromosa's eyes bulged wide in shock, and their mouth hung open even more while a bit of red trickled out with a pained gurgle. They flew backwards, smashing against Knox's walls with a thud, their eyes rolling back in their head and blood dripping from their mouth onto their pretty white, otherwise unstained and pristine features.

"REMI!" Azure cried, looking likewise shocked and worried.

"Let's just hope they're fucking dead," Seth hissed.

From the way they slumped down, completely motionless and with their eyes completely blank, it might've looked that way. Their body was certainly looking far worse off- the perfect curves of their midsection's drooping discs had the appearance of crumpled paper and the blood dripping from their mouth ruined their otherwise perfectly pure whiteness. For someone who swaggered around like royalty, they certainly didn't look majestic.

Knox, however, was quick to move again, crouching down a bit while several bricks on his lower half rearranged… then produced a Reviver Seed from within his walls that immediately glowed.

"NO!" Chira screeched, forming another Swift aimed at the seed.

"I knew it," Adnea said flatly. "When he used Rock Slide earlier, he had something stowed in those walls."

Several more of Knox's bricks shifted around to shield the seed from being sliced up by the Cinccino's stars, which was just enough time for Remi's eyes to flutter open and them to jump back to life as if nothing had happened, the blood ceasing to drip.

In moments, they were back to looking utterly insane, albeit with a smugness to their expression too. "NICE FUCKING TRY.~"

"If you hadn't focused on me, maybe you would've avoided that," Adnea remarked. "Void would be disappointed."

Of course, with all the insults and accusations of inadequacy being thrown their way, Remi couldn't have possibly been more enraged… and their expression didn't contort with more wrath, either. It melted into an almost unearthly serenity that would've insinuated some kind of good-natured friendliness… but Adnea knew better. They were only looking soothed by imagining all the vicious ways to kill her and defile her corpse, she was sure.

Zariel and Shar, though, hit the ground with a heavy thud, the latter growling wildly as she appeared to be trying to both claw Zariel's heart out and rip her wing off at the same time. Dren thumped down onto the ground too, snarling likewise and Dragon Clawing at the Charizard's neck. His claws broke through her hide and started touching tissues that definitely were not meant to be exposed to the outside, leaving red trails to stream out, but even so, she was still taking breaths even if they required some effort. Gentle as the Salamence may have been ordinarily, he clearly wanted her to stop breathing, and Shar's brutish nature was about to cripple their foe either way. It was like looking at some unfortunate lost creature accidentally swimming into a Carvanha nest and getting shredded.

For as eager as Zariel was to get into messy, no-holds-barred fights, she evidently realized just how bad of a situation she was in, as her crazed eyes started to get a little panicked. One wing flapped as hard as it could and whipped up an Air Slash that Rozen had to screen off from causing more scars to Shar's face or from slicing Dren's horns off, both of her fists balled up, and despite a Salamence's claws digging into her throat, she still had blue embers welling up in her maw. A Mega Punch slammed into both of her assailants' chests and made them falter for a second from the force, and without missing a beat, a blue-hot Flamethrower erupted from her maw while her wings beat furiously.

Xeno's form shifted to that of a Stakataka again and a Wide Guard went up around the expeditioners, mostly to keep Dren and Shar from getting mangled by the Charizard flailing about, and Zariel was quick to jump back to her feet.

The joint of her wing looked dislocated and was clearly missing some chunks of flesh, but as if nothing was wrong, Zariel casually reached up and popped the joint back into place with a plunk and snickered mischievously. Her chest had been carved into like a woodworking session gone horribly, horribly wrong, and blood streamed from the gashes in her neck, but she still smirked as if nothing was amiss. It was an almost unnatural determination she displayed- no matter what they did to her, she just brushed herself off and kept going. The Mega-fueled fit she was in had to be the culprit, since if Astrid and Arashi's memories were any indication, she was capable of feeling pain from the way she roared and looked reluctant when caught in an unexpected downpour… Clearly, she was too drunk on power and bloodlust to notice or care. It was as if her body was just a puppet for the crazy mind within it, and it would only stop moving when it took enough grievous damage to be permanently ruined beyond any hope of repair.

However, off in the distance where the lights had been flying about from Necrozma's rampage, one last bright burst momentarily lit up the dimness before fading away into blackness. There wasn't even any flickering, just the same dimness that had enveloped them all when the Blinding One had left their place atop Megalo Tower initially, only illuminated by the blazing fireball put in the sky by Zariel's Drought. Adnea perked up before anyone else did, but the faction members perked up too, evidently not liking whatever connotations that such could have.

Knox's bricks rearranged and Remi reached in, quickly ripping free a max potion from within the Stakataka's stashes, then darted over to Zariel as quick as they could go. Xeno didn't hold up the shields for long and the Pheromosa was shortly outrunning another Swift from Chira as well as an Ice Beam from Lazuli. Still, they apparently didn't mind using Zariel as a shield either, for Chira's stars smashed into the Charizard instead when Remi ducked in front of her and yanked her wings down around themself like a cloak, temporarily holding the potion by its lever in their mouth.

When they let go of the Charizard's wings, they took hold of the potion again and sprayed her with it while sticking another hand around her head and yanking it closer to their own. "Go pay Astrid a visit," they said, trying to whisper but making a sound more akin to hissing.

The Charizard didn't need to be told twice, for her maw curled up in a sadistic grin and she flapped her wings to take off, Remi almost getting blown off of their feet by her departure. The blazing ball of fire overhead fizzled out, which Azure and Lazuli seemed relieved at, and the only blaze left was the one on the tip of Zariel's tail that got smaller and smaller as she glided away. Dren and Shar both prepared to take off after her, but more of the bricks on Knox's top half glowed white courtesy of Azure and shortly came crashing down in a Rock Slide that necessitated Rozen walling them off with Reflect. Riven would've taken off after her, and Cinder looked like he wanted to if flying were easy in his state, but they too were nonetheless kept at bay. Adnea sent a Psychic pulse at Remi while they were out in the open, but the Pheromosa was still quick to dart behind Knox, especially to take cover from the Rock Slide as well with their close proximity to the two dragons.

"Fuckin' hell, where's she goin'?!" Rush hollered, glaring at the escaping Charizard.

Fissures from an Earthquake courtesy of Knox jutted out at the expeditioners, making many of them huddle around Azra to get Protected again from being swallowed up. Azure had to move quick too to avoid the same thing, but either way, Zariel was already far off in the distance by the time it was safe to move again, and chasing her down undoubtedly wouldn't be easy.

"She just never stops," Dren snarled, staring after the vanishing ember on her tail.

"Let her," Adnea said flatly. "Team Starstorm is still in one piece. I'm sure Astrid would love to show that brute her new capabilities, provided Raijin doesn't zap her out of the sky first."

That much was probably true, but even so, the only thing keeping the expeditioners from trying to down her as well was the fact that they'd already been stalled and, if no one else, Remi was certainly capable of knocking the flyers out of the sky if they took their focus off of Adnea for ten seconds.

The Orbeetle nonetheless piped up again as their shield faded, "… Besides, I think I've got a new target. Or more accurately, several hundred."

. . . . .

The dulled and broken figures of the Light Trio laid motionless on the ground behind the Starstorm trio, their surroundings rather dim save for Raijin's glow and the glittering of the cosmos surrounding them (though the latter did far less to illuminate their surroundings). It would've been difficult to see for anyone who didn't already know it was there, but a deep red trail of gradually diminishing blood splotches followed along behind the Starstorm trio on account of Astrid's injury, though the Decidueye and her comrades both tried not to pay it too much mind. Astrid's eyes were narrowed in focus, and though she might've wanted to keep her gaze locked onto Megalo Tower in the event that the summit started dancing with purple flames or the like, with Lunala's absence, she set to keeping a close watch on their surroundings. An arrow was tightly clutched up in her intact hand, and her head was swiveling all about in almost ridiculous fashion, eyes scanning for any possible source of movement. It wasn't exactly paranoia to do so, either- the dense greenery of the jungle had faded, the desert's portions were flat, and the stone pillars that started to bud from the ground in Ultra Deep Sea weren't all that great for taking cover in on the outskirts of the territory. The glassy gemstones or the thin rocky 'plants' could be ducked behind, sure, but there was no possible way to keep themselves concealed from all angles. Raijin noticed it too, for he'd intermittently glance around too, but not near as much as Astrid did.

"… You guys?" Arashi inquired, glancing to his teammates. "Is it just me, or is feeling a little colder?"

"I'm not feeling much, but that might just be because of the feathers," Astrid replied. "You okay?"

Her partner chuckled, hugging himself a bit. "Oh, I'm fine, just a little chilly! It's just like, after the Light Trio went down, the temperature dropped! I just wanted to know if I was going crazy or not, aha!"

"That's about par," Raijin replied, then whenever Arashi gave him a funny look, quickly clarified with a twitch, "A-ah, th-the temperature, I mean! N-not you going crazy, Arashi! I mean, maybe you've got some tendencies that I'd call odd, but-! Ah! Never mind, I just need to shut up now!"

The Greninja started giggling, and Astrid's beak started to curl up in a grin while Raijin simply shook his head and shrank up shyly.

"… So what I'm hearing is that I'm not crazy," Arashi said, grinning.

"Right," the Xurkitree quickly affirmed. "When Solgaleo's fused and emitting light everywhere, the desert is hot. When Lunala's fused and keeping the light gathered up, it's cold. And right now, there's no light, so it being cold is par, and it's probably gonna get colder. I don't really notice it much myself, but it can definitely cause discomfort to the right type of body."

"Sheesh," Arashi lamented, albeit still with a hint of a grin. "This mission's just full of surprises, huh?"

"Grab one of my arms," Raijin said. "My currents will give you some warmth."

Arashi looked slightly hesitant at the idea, but nonetheless clutched up one of the Xurkitree's limbs, albeit going slightly wide-eyed at those same currents for a few moments. Still, almost as fast, he did seem to realize there was truth to what his comrade said, since he started looking relieved shortly thereafter. Astrid couldn't help but feel a slight sense of déjà vu, as if she should've been remembering rather small avians like her previous forms perching on lines of wire that also carried currents… but where that sort of recollection came from or what, exactly, it even was, she couldn't place. She might've had wires and cables on her homeworld, but she definitely didn't have Xurkitrees, and she could only imagine the (literal and figurative) shock a tiny avian would get if they tried to perch on one that wasn't particularly good-natured like her comrade was.

"While I'm thinking of it, though…" Raijin's voice trailed off, his gaze drifting to the bag on Astrid's back. "Mind if I take a look at our stashes real quick, Astrid?"

"Go ahead," she replied, twisting herself and walking sideways so her comrade could undo the flap. "You need something?"

"No, but I just wanted to be sure of something," Raijin replied, poking around a bit. "Two potions, four Reviver Seeds… Okay."

He closed the bag back up, but Astrid still couldn't help eyeing him a bit afterwards.

"You're thinking on something," the Decidueye noted, gentle but pointed. "What's up?"

The Xurkitree shrank up a bit again, as if he would've been tapping his fingers together in shy contemplation if his other arm wasn't firmly in Arashi's grasp. "W-well, I was just a little worried since we don't have a cleric with us anymore… It's hard to recharge in Deep Sea territory, and I'm a little concerned about it. I just used one of our potions, so of the two left, I'm definitely gonna need at least one of them to regain some energy around halfway up Megalo Tower. Ordinarily, Void keeps potions and healing items on the base floor, but I doubt she'd keep them there out in the open anymore if she knew we were gonna show up…"

Astrid and Arashi both took it in, both of them getting concerned looks.

"Oh, sheesh!" Arashi cried. "So in other words, you can't go taking too much damage or we won't have any healing items that actually work for you!"

Astrid had the same thoughts, but she was still mulling it over.

"Right," the Xurkitree affirmed. "I was thinking we'd have Rozen with us, and who knows, maybe we won't be alone when we get to the tower, but still… I don't wanna exhaust our supplies if that doesn't turn out to be the case, and of every other dungeon out there, that is the one I don't want to leave you two alone in…"

"Don't worry about it," Astrid, though, said otherwise. "The first time you run out of current, we can use a potion so we don't lose you, and whatever times after that, we'll use a Reviver Seed so that whenever we give Void hell, you don't have to get knocked and you can jump back in faster than if you'd fainted. And between then, we've got what, four Oran berries left? We already worked out a way for me to keep you from taking an Earthquake, and if one of those Stakatakas wants to throw their bricks at us or something, I'll just use Steel Wing as a shield and keep them from hitting you."

Arashi looked to her and started grinning, clearly thinking it a good idea, but Raijin couldn't help studying her for a second.

"A-ah…" the Xurkitree's voice trailed off, his gaze darting to the ground. "Normally I'd say I should be worrying about you, not the other way around, but…"

"Friends worry about each other," Arashi said, pointed but cheerful. "Don't you go pulling the 'that's why I'm here' card! We're all friends, and we're all gonna keep each other safe!"

"Besides," Astrid agreed, likewise pointed but amiable. "Not even counting that we're friends, it'd be completely stupid to not have you around for this fight for purely tactical reasons alone. Void and Salem hit hard, and of us three, you hit the hardest and you've been around this crazy Nihilego before."

Raijin was quiet, but he started nodding, then abruptly reached out with his other arm and snugly wrapped it around Astrid. The Decidueye didn't protest, even if it did catch her a bit off-guard. In any case, she too was starting to notice the chill that Arashi had mentioned, and indeed, her comrade's currents did feel warm in comparison, but more than that, if this was the last mission she'd ever go on… she welcomed the hug. She didn't know how many more she'd get.

"I don't ever wanna leave you two," the Xurkitree softly declared. "Ever. If Void kills me, at least I'll have seen what real friendship is."

Astrid tensed up a bit, her gaze shrewdly jerking backwards to stare at Necrozma's motionless pieces in the distance. There was no way the Blinding One was dead, and she knew that inevitably they'd enact the clause of their deception and send her home… She half wanted to cry, and half wanted to break free of her teammates and run back to finish them off right then and there, but no. She couldn't do either one of those things- it simply wasn't the time. She couldn't throw her friends off, not with their target so close.

However, before anyone could say anything else, she was breaking off, but not because she was going to kill Necrozma. No, something caught her eye- something in the sky above, something that shouldn't have been there, something that flickered red and orange that almost brought to mind a figure she'd seen before but not quite…

"Astrid?" Arashi inquired, eyeing her.

She stopped dead, and her comrades did too, a few sparks crackling in Raijin's hand opposite of the one that Arashi clutched up. The dimness made it hard to tell, but she was sure she'd seen something

"If we've got company, then get over here," Raijin said, reaching for her shoulder and taking a step towards her.

"Raijin…" her own voice trailed off. "Can Naganadels learn Flamethrower…?"

"Yes," he quickly replied, grabbing hold of her and making sparks with his other hand when Arashi turned loose in apprehension. "What're you seeing?"

She wordlessly pointed up into the sky, and her comrades saw it too- a draconic figure, an ember flickering in an out of view as its wings beat and tail swished in the air, appearing to head straight for them with considerable speed. Arashi pointed one hand up too, albeit with an Ice Beam starting to form at his fingertip, and the Decidueye clutched her arrow tighter.

Raijin certainly saw it too, but he nonetheless had different thoughts. "That's not a Naga-"

None of them said a word, but a Discharge, Ice Beam, and Spirit Shackle (with Raijin holding the vine) all fired off toward a huge ball of flame that burst into existence in the sky like a Fire Blast just waiting to scorch some unfortunate foe, though oddly enough, it seemed there was nothing, or rather, no one behind it when their attacks sailed off harmlessly. The fireball merely floated there like a makeshift sun, and the flickering ember wasn't the source of a larger attack, instead belonging to the tip of the draconic figure's tail… a draconic figure whose smirk was eerily illuminated by the blazing fireball in the sky that instantly dispelled any semblance of coldness that Astrid and Arashi had felt moments prior. The orange body, flaming tail, and horned head definitely did not belong to a Naganadel, but rather, a Charizard.

… A Mega Charizard Y that, despite her different appearance than before, was still easily recognizable up close. The way her claws twitched mischievously and the way smoke escaped her nostrils when she laughed as if she just couldn't help but to breathe fire on everything was plenty of indication. The blood streaking her body and the fact that she didn't even seem to notice it didn't bode well in the slightest, either.

Astrid's beak fell open, Arashi got wide eyes, and Raijin froze.

"… Arceus above," Arashi said, a mix of surprise, determination, and a hint of anger.

"… The one that got away," Raijin mused much more pointedly.

Astrid, though, while still stunned to be staring at the one who had almost single-handedly caused her to exit the world as a corpse, still managed to get ahold of herself. Those claws had curled up into a fist that had caused her some of the worst pain she'd ever felt, and those flames welling up in Zariel's throat had threatened to turn her to ash… but she didn't feel like a scared little Rowlet anymore. It wasn't fear she felt, it was rage. That Charizard had laughed about sending her back to her homeworld when she'd mistakenly thought she'd killed her, and knowing that Necrozma had planned to rip her away from her beloved friends all along even if she succeeded, it yet again caused the Decidueye to feel a burning hatred. Hatred for the trouble Zariel had caused them, hatred for the pain she took such great pleasure in inflicting on other creatures, but most of all, hatred for the way that she too, like Necrozma, seemed to regard other living creatures as things to be used (or abused) without any consideration to their own feelings… It was unforgiveable.

A lot of words circled in Astrid's head, but the only one that escaped her beak was a thundering, hissing, "… YOU!"

Zariel's eyes locked straight onto Astrid, narrowing while her grin spread even more. "Oh, Astrid, I've missed you.~"


Author's note: Gotta give a shout-out to tepigoverlord498 here. When they'd left me their review earlier on in the story, it gave me this adorable image of the Starstorm trio in the desert at night while it's cold, huddling up against Raijin like birds sitting on power lines in the winter to stay warm, and I just couldn't pass that up. (It also gave me some ideas for the fight at the bottom of Sunken Cavern too, hehe.)

I hope you're all having a lovely new year.