"Cinder, my love, I hope you're good at staying perfectly still," Ama cooed, looking a bit hesitant despite her sweet tone of voice.
"Guess I'd better be, huh…?" the Fletchinder choked out. "Fuck, now it hurts to talk… I guess it's catching up to me now that I don't have Remi to be pissed off at…"
The Blissey chuckled. "Well, my darling, that does tend to happen once your fight-or-flight response starts to waver.~ Now, try not to fight me too much when I move you, okay?"
"… Only a real piece of shit would fight you, Ama."
Even so, whenever the lead sweetheart started to scoop him up off the ground and stick his wings to his sides, the look in his eyes and the way his beak pressed together to stifle a pained screeching indicated that he might've been considering it. One of his eyes twitched as she delicately felt of his chest and underside, and some embers welled up in his throat as she started tying her team's customary ruffled pink bandana around him again. Somehow or another, she was nudging his broken bone back into place with how she tied it, but even if it was a healing gesture, it sure didn't feel like one. Her Soft-Boiled glow that came after was much welcome, though- not only by Cinder, but also by a certain Stakataka entranced at the possibility of a designated healer.
"The capabilities you and the other fluffy pink one have are truly fascinating," one of Knox's bricks mused, flipping outwards and eyeing the Blissey's glowing egg. "We were well aware that the creatures of your world had some varied abilities before ever facing you expeditioners, but needless to say, a healer as opposed to simply a guard is something that is not seen on Ultra Space."
Ama giggled, carefully adjusting the makeshift sling around the Fletchinder's body. "Oh, Knox, darling, we've all got our ways of expressing love.~ This is just one of mine and I'm always happy to show it.~"
"… We can tell," another of the Stakataka's bricks said as it flipped outwards.
However, another voice chimed in with rather different thoughts, belonging to a certain Cinccino atop one of Knox's top edges, brushing him off with her tails. "Do you ever dust your bricks?" Chira inquired, looking a bit unsettled. "You could use a good polishing! You are covered in dust, Knox, and it's making all this blood harder to wipe off!"
The Stakataka's eyes blinked again. "We- er… That has never crossed our mind as being necessary," one of his pieces closer to her replied.
It was Chira's turn to blink. "You're not uncomfortable at all?"
"… No."
The Cinccino shook her head. "Just… let me polish you sometime, okay?"
Yet again, the Stakataka blinked, another brick on his top wall flipping outwards. "… If you wish."
Xeno, on the other hand, Transformed himself into a Cascoon to bandage Millicent's wounds up in some sturdier string. The bandana tied on her head worked fine enough, but some strong silk strands nonetheless held the holes in her body closed with less worry. She did look a little ridiculous, the strings making her head and midsection awkwardly bunch up smaller where they were tied, but such was to be expected from a fairy made of cream.
"Y'know, having a gooey body is nice every once in a while," the Ditto-eyed Cascoon mused, spitting a bit more silk around her chest. "It sure saved me from that other Pheromosa on Squad Fourteen-Five when she tried to impale me with her feet, and if anyone else had taken a claw through the head but you, they'd be dead!"
The Alcremie's form gave a little shiver akin to someone giggling (with no sound coming out, however) and made a few gestures with her hands, albeit slower and less steady than she would've done prior. (*Well, it's not exactly 'every once in a while' for me.*)
Xeno took his turn giggling. "That's true!"
(*Besides, you say that about every form you have.*)
"That's also true!" His form glowed and starting morphing again, turning into a Ditto-eyed clone of a certain Audino that they were all very familiar with before giving the Alcremie one last Heal Pulse. "You think you're gonna pull through, Millicent?"
She nodded.
"Good!" Xeno replied. "I know your team is as tough as you are cute!"
The cream fairy grinned, slowly making a little heart shape with her hands.
With her mostly taken care of, the more significant injuries had been squared away for the time being, but someone else with some fairly gnarly wounds had… other ideas.
"Nah, matey, just let 'em do their thing!" Shar brushed off a certain Blissey who had turned attention to her next. "I want my hide to be all decorated and gnarly by the time my soul leaves my body!"
Ama looked at her in startled disbelief, eyeing the X-shaped claw marks on her chest and several areas from Zariel's Air Slash that hadn't quite stopped dripping blood. "But Shar!" she haplessly protested. "Just look at you! You were basking in my Soft-Boiled while we were battling, and frankly, you're still setting off my Blissey tendencies!"
"Ama, matey, you don't get it!" the Garchomp replied, looking amused. "That's different! This here is a fuckin' fight to remember- just let me scar over! I wanna be able to point at 'em and be like 'Fuck yeah, I got this one from tryin' to dismember this bitch-ass crazy Charizard and this one from a piece-o'-shit Golisopod that was on her side too!'"
The Blissey let out a hapless sigh, bouncing in place as though she were uncomfortable and about to run away. "Shar, my love, sometimes you take this gnarly business too far…~"
"'Too far?!'" Shar exclaimed. "Ama, matey, if anything, I could take it further! Why, I could take off my eyepatch and stick a burning coal in the socket so I look like a fuckin' undead goddess of doom with flames for an eye!"
"You should totally do that!" Riven crowed, still brushing some of the icy crystals from his feathers.
"Or you could get a Mega Stone and have even bigger blades on your arms," Seth piped up.
The Garchomp started grinning. "Y'know what, mateys?! I think I will! To both of those ideas!"
"You know what else you could do, Shar?!" Lazuli exclaimed. "Take some of those spikes like the ones you guys have on your base's gate, and stick 'em all along your tail! You'd have more pointy edges!"
"Why are you encouraging this?!" Ravi exclaimed, giving the Azumarill a dumbfounded look.
Shar's grin spread even bigger. "You ain't wrong either, Lazuli! Huzzah!"
A shout of "HUZZAH!" went up from the Gnarly Brigade members there. Ama stared up at the heavens and sighed, knowing she couldn't possibly talk the Garchomp out of her ridiculous tendencies.
Nonetheless, the less serious injuries didn't take long to heal, and before long, the expeditioners might've still looked roughed up, but they clearly weren't lacking the energy necessary to carry on. Ama's healer instincts could calm down (until she looked at Shar, at least) and the ones present could at least somewhat relax with their discomforts dealt with, though several of them weren't quite relaxing just yet.
"Alright, who's ready to go mix it up with some gods?!" Shar exclaimed, pumping one claw in the air.
"Huzzah!" Riven cried back, flitting over and perching on her back fin.
Xeno giggled. "I sure am~!"
The Garchomp clearly didn't want to waste any time, for she turned around and crouched down to take off moments later. "Then let's get goin', mateys! Necrozma and Lunala ain't gonna wake themselves!"
Such was true, no one could deny. Riven almost went sprawling on the ground for the speed at which Shar launched herself into the sky, but he quickly regained his composure and flapped after her.
Xeno wasn't quite as fast, his form morphing into a Swoobat as he lingered around for a few moments more. "Wish us luck, guys!"
At that, the Ditto-eyed Swoobat too was hurrying off through the air.
"Make us proud!" Seth called after them.
"Be careful!" Jingle too shouted.
"Don't screw up!" Cinder hollered, mostly in jest.
Knox, however, had several eyes watching the trio as they sailed off. "… That Garchomp and that Scrafty most of all… They concern us," one part mused.
Ama giggled, skittering over to the living rampart's side. "Oh, don't worry about them~" she chirped, giving one of his walls a gentle pat. "Buuuut, since you know this area better than any of us, why don't you take the lead, Knox~? Necrozma and Lunala aren't gonna wake themselves, Raijin's not gonna heal himself, and Megalo Tower's not gonna scale itself either!"
Several of the other expeditioners perked up and nodded in agreement, and the Stakataka picked himself up off the ground.
"… LEAVE IT TO US," he said, his booming voice returning.
Shortly thereafter, the expeditioners were pressing on again, headed by the hulking rampart with a happy Blissey skipping along closely behind.
. . . . .
"Slightly south, Dren," Adnea said, her eyes scanning the patches of sand and glassy rock below. "If there's one thing this darkness is good for, it's that seeing a Xurkitree's sparks will be easier, provided he still has them…"
The Salamence angled himself slightly, changing his flight path according to her directions.
"What's your read, Adnea?" Rush inquired, his own eyes scanning the ground.
"Do you recall how, whenever Arashi reappeared on our world with Gemini unconscious in his bag, that I said that poor Cosmog's presence was faint enough for me not to notice he was there? That's the kind of read I'm working with presently."
The Scrafty's eyes narrowed. "Raijin, you bastard, don't you fuckin' dare give out on us…"
"I doubt that he willingly would," Rozen piped up. He looked over to the Orbeetle, a concerned look on his face. "I'm guessing you still can't get a read on Astrid…?"
She shook her head, her hand that wasn't holding onto Dren tensing up slightly. "… No. That could mean she's being masked by a psychic stronger than I, her soul has left her body, she's in a dungeon where reading her would become much more difficult… and I think we all know what the most likely answer is."
The three of them on the dragon's back shared a rather uncomfortable look, even the Orbeetle's usual stoic countenance breaking.
Rush let out a heavy sigh, touching one hand to his temple as if soothing a massive headache. "I know that fuckin' Decidueye ain't weak and she can sure as hell open a can o' whoop-ass if ya poke at 'er too much, and that Greninja ain't no one to underestimate even if he is a smilin' ray o' sunshine, but I don't fuckin' like that at all."
"Neither do I," Rozen said, shaking his head. "If anything happens… they're in bad shape."
"If anyone is in bad shape, it'll be those Stakatakas standing in our way," Dren said flatly.
Wordlessly, Rozen gave the dragon a pat, getting a slightly pitying look with his eyes drooping at their edges. The Salamence's eye twitched a bit, and though he didn't give any indication, he appreciated it.
"Big guy, this is a fuckin' record for ya," Rush said softly, getting a hapless smirk. "You ain't ever been in this Mega form for as many times or as long as you've been today."
"And I hope that record stays unbroken," Dren replied.
None of them disagreed.
However, their goings-on were interrupted when something caught Adnea's eye and she quickly indicated such. "Dren! Approximately forty-five degrees to our right, a hundred meters ahead! I think I see sparks!"
Her teammates perked up, and the Salamence again shifted direction slightly while starting a downward descent. The darkness in the absence of Necrozma's vitality made the details rather hard to see, but something off in the distance seemed to flicker… and not in a warm, soft sort of way, but rather more like a temporary burn. When it did flicker, it became readily obvious that something was there that didn't mesh with the surroundings- some strange shapes, textures, and colors completely unlike the glassy ground that looked akin to a watery surface. They quickly got a good look at exactly what it was whenever Dren swooped down on it, too- a Charizard's mangled, bloody corpse and another form that, had they not known prior who it belonged to, would've been halfway unrecognizable.
The expeditioners didn't pay much mind to Zariel's lifeless body, but Raijin's sparking remnants made them all hold their breath. Rush's mouth dropped open and Dren looked as though he were horrified but simply couldn't avert his gaze no matter how hard he tried. Rozen's countenance went wide-eyed all over again, but he quickly skittered over to the Xurkitree's side and knelt down, unfurling the feeler on one ear and holding it just under his head. Adnea too floated closer, positioning herself in such a way that she would've been staring straight into Raijin's eyes… if they were visible on the outside, at least. A Light Screen went up to protect the Audino and Orbeetle from an errant spark, and Rush too darted over next to Rozen, his gaze travelling over the Xurkitree's injuries in what looked like disbelief.
Even when Rozen touched the Beast's form, his fur didn't fluff out as they otherwise would've expected it to, but still, within moments, he was emitting a Heal Pulse and saying, "… He obviously has no heartbeat, but if currents are what run through this species to indicate their vitality, then he has a pulse, albeit the faintest I've ever felt."
Hearing such was like having a giant weight taken off of their shoulders.
"Oh, thank the gods!" Dren breathed, his eyes drifting upwards to the heavens.
"Fuck yeah!" Rush too cried, pumping a fist in the air. "I knew he'd hang on…!"
"Dren, you resist electricity and we have to get those sparks under control, so I'm going to need you to wrap your tail around those cores as best you can," the Audino instructed. "And Rush, I know pain doesn't bother you, so I'm going to ask you to position his limbs to get the most coverage."
Without missing a beat, Dren ditched the Mega form in a burst of energy and curled himself around their Beast comrade, carefully draping one of his massive wings over the Xurkitree himself, Rozen, and Adnea like a shield while carefully curling his tail over the middle two of Raijin's exposed copper cores. Rush too did as Rozen instructed and, ignoring an errant spark or several, folded the less melted of Raijin's arms across his midsection so the Salamence could cover it too, while Dren draped his neck across the Xurkitree's more mangled arm. There were still some areas where errant bolts could leak out, but by and large, it was much less. If Raijin had been awake, the pressure on his exposed cores probably would've felt miserable, but as it was, he wasn't yet conscious to protest it and the sparks leaking were kept to a lesser amount. Perhaps the little bolts would've bothered anyone else, but a Dragon-type wasn't going to be fazed by electricity so easily to start with, and certainly not an intimidating specimen like Dren.
Adnea said nothing, and despite the relieving news, Rozen's expression didn't turn to one of relief. Not long afterwards, a very harsh static-esque sound graced their senses that made them recoil slightly, and the Xurkitree's limbs tried to twitch erratically. Just as quick as they did, Adnea's eyes glowed in a Hypnosis, and two little flashes of light came from within the spiky shell around Raijin's head that they wouldn't have noticed if his usual glow had been there. All at once, he was still and quiet again… at least, to everyone else.
*Adnea…?!* the Beast's voice played in everyone but Rush's mind. *No, no, no… Don't get your hopes up, Raijin…*
"You can hear me, yes?" the Orbeetle replied, not fazed at all.
The way Dren and Rozen's attention seemed to shift tipped Rush off that something was going on as best as any other indication, and Rozen quickly piped up to the Scrafty, "She's speaking with him using telepathy."
"Then what the fuck's he sayin'?!" Rush wanted to know. "Y'all better keep me in the loop!"
Rozen did so, whispering the unheard bits of the exchange to his Dark-type friend.
*I-is that… Rush, Rozen, and Dren too…? W-what's going on?*
"Listen to me, Raijin," Adnea said firmly but softly. "This is no dream and you are still alive, albeit barely. That brief moment of conscious clarity you had was after Rozen hit you with a Heal Pulse, and for your sake, I believe it's better that you're not conscious right now. You'll agree, surely."
If he'd been able, he would've given a little twitch. *H-hold on a second! Are you really trying to heal me…? How'd you get here?! I thought you were all busy with the other three underlings!*
At the mention, Rush started to smirk a bit. "Heh, don't worry about those fuck-ups, Raijin…~"
The Xurkitree picked up on the Scrafty's amused tone and got a slightly uncertain one himself. *H-huh…?*
"I will share my memories," Adnea said. "Knox is no longer a threat, Azure will not wake up for quite some time, and Remi will never wake up."
When the Orbeetle's memories flashed through Raijin's mind, ever-so-slightly, his limbs did give a twitch like someone in the middle of a very vivid dream. *… Ah. That's… a relief. A big relief.*
"We feel the same," Dren mused softly.
"I got a message from Delphi that she'd seen what had transpired with Zariel, and we hurried straight over shortly after the dust settled," Adnea noted. "And if I may be honest, the fact that you still have a shred of life in you at all is a testament to your willpower. I'm amazed, Raijin."
"And fuck, I am too," Rush laughed. "Raijin, ya bastard, you are really somethin' else, y'know that?"
"If he could smile, he would," Adnea noted matter-of-factly.
*A-ah… L-look, I was fine accepting my fate, but I just… really didn't want to leave Astrid and Arashi… S-speaking of which, where are they…?*
"Seeing as I can't reach them, that would put them in Megalo Tower," Adnea answered.
He didn't say (or rather, think) any words for a moment, but the Orbeetle could certainly feel a drop in the Beast's mood the moment the words left her mouth- tenseness, hesitation, fright… The brief period of silence tipped off Dren that he wasn't content with that answer, and the dragon nestled a bit closer.
*… Please tell me they're not alone,* Raijin thought, his tone dismally flat.
Rush got an awkward look, and Rozen didn't look too happy either.
"… You're not going to like my answer in that case," Adnea replied, also flat.
Again, the Xurkitree's limbs twitched ever-so-slightly. *… No. No. NO. Of all the places for them to be alone in-*
"Don't fret too much yet," Adnea cut him off. "We have a plan accounting for that too. Delphi's group has the guards occupied, and after everyone is healed adequately, some of our comrades are heading for the tower now with Knox among them to make the dungeon-dwellers back down, and the remaining ones are splitting off with Xeno to retrieve the Light Trio. Whatever the case, they'll be joined soon."
"That fuckin' Ditto's gonna temporarily become a god by Transformin' into Solgaleo," Rush noted. "Hopefully he's gonna get Lunala back up and running, then they can tackle Necrozma together… and we'll all probably have to deal with him pullin' some wacky shit later usin' their forms, but that ain't important now."
No one else but Adnea could tell, but the Xurkitree imagined staring into the gaze of Necrozma, only to see the eyes of a Ditto staring back… and the thought made him even more uncomfortable than seeing his own likeness with a Ditto face. *That… is something I could go my entire life without thinking of.*
"You aren't alone," Dren said with a chuckle.
Rush only snickered at the exchange.
Rozen, on the other hand, reached down with one feeler to keep an eye on Raijin's currents, and moments later, his eyes were going wide all over again. Rush noticed it and perked up, and Adnea certainly noticed, hitting Raijin with another Hypnosis.
"Rozen, tell us what's wrong," the Orbeetle said, the glow in her eyes lingering longer than it otherwise would. "I'm blocking our voices out so he can't hear."
"I would've thought between my healing and our putting a stop to much of the sparks leaking, his currents would be a bit more vibrant," the Audino noted, still not letting up on his Heal Pulse. "Being under Adnea's effects should have him in a rather subdued state, so it isn't like he's losing extra current from them pulsing erratically due to stress…"
Rush's eyes switched between Rozen and Raijin, then landed on the healer again. "What do we need to do, Rozen…?"
The Audino sighed heavily, still emitting the warm pink pulses from both hands. "… To tell you the truth, friend, I'm a bit unsure."
The Scrafty and Salamence both perked up, the latter getting wide eyes.
"He's already lost a lot of current," Rozen explained. "Obviously, there's only so much I can do in a given timeframe, and for more serious injuries, getting someone stable and in a state for their bodies to naturally recover takes more time. For an injury like this, his body had presumably already ceased all non-critical functions, so it was already in a process of shutting down… If I understand his physiology correctly, when he feels weak, he would go recharge, and if that were an option available to us, it would help to offset some of what was already lost. We could put him on Dren's back and fly to Ultra Plant, but if we did, we wouldn't be able to keep his currents from leaking in much greater quantities, and we'd lose him anyway. Put simply, even with my best efforts, I'm not entirely sure I can heal faster than he fades."
Rush stuck one hand on the Audino's shoulder, an unsettled look starting to creep into his countenance. "But… you ain't gonna give up, are ya…?"
Rozen shook his head. "Absolutely not. All that means is that we cannot leave him alone for even a second, and if we do, that tiny moment where I'm not keeping him from crossing the edge into not living might be all it takes."
"Then y'all can leave any unwanted company to me an' Adnea," Rush remarked, then looking to the Orbeetle, "We can handle it, yeah? Your brains and my brawn?"
"I'll do my best not to let it come to that if I pick up on anyone approaching," the researcher replied. "But I won't hesitate to show my abilities if I must."
"Good," said the Scrafty.
"What about in the event Rozen's efforts really aren't enough…?" Dren's voice softly trailed off. "It might just be me, but I think the kindest thing to do is to not say anything and let him go peacefully with that hope of seeing his friends again… It wouldn't technically be a lie."
A glance travelled around the four of them, then a nod, albeit in Rush's case, a nod accompanied by twitching eyes and clenching fists as if he really did not want to think of such. It certainly wasn't a pleasant thought for any of them, but if such a situation were to occur, it did indeed seem like the most ideal choice… And Dren was right either way. Gods willing, it would be a long time before the Starstorm trio all found each other in the afterlife, but the simple fact was inevitable.
"… I'll do everything I can not to let that happen," Rozen declared. "This might be the worst injury and the longest recovery I'll ever see to, but if anyone doesn't deserve this fate, it's him."
The other three were inclined to agree.
. . . . .
Further away but in a similar vicinity, three other figures glided through the air- that of a Ditto-eyed Swoobat, a Honchkrow, and a one-eyed Garchomp.
"Sheeeesh!" Xeno cried. "Those gods of Ultra Space really know how to throw down! All this echolocating I'm doing is showing all kinds of destruction! May as well just call it accidental terraforming at this point, 'cause that's what it is!"
"Gnarly," Riven remarked.
"And we just might get to throw down with one of 'em!" Shar exclaimed. "Heh, Xeno, you've always wanted a legendary form in your arsenal, and the gnarliest thing ever is to whoop a god's ass!"
"I know, right~?!" the Ditto-eyed Swoobat chirped back.
The other two couldn't quite see what he was picking up on for all the dimness, but it was fairly obvious to him once his soundwaves started bouncing back that there were some fairly huge chunks of the landscape with gaping gashes or deformed surfaces. Where the Light Trio was amongst it, he couldn't quite tell, but there surely had to be three unmoving figures in the epicenter of it all.
"Hey, Xeno?" Riven piped up, getting a shifty look.
"Yeah?" the Ditto replied.
"… You think you could answer a few prayers for me after ya get a god's form?"
Xeno's face lit up. "Oooh, maybe I could! What'd you have in mind?!"
"I dunno, nothing too demanding, just some stuff like… being the coolest Honchkrow ever or getting some secret ability that allows me to instantly defeat any enemy that messes with our team! Or making it impossible to say my name without saying 'Riven the Greatest!'"
Shar blinked, giving her avian teammate an incredulous look, but Xeno, on the other hand, started grinning.
"Oh, definitely!" the 'Swoobat' chirped. "Shar, what about you?!"
"Hold on there, matey!" the Garchomp said to the contrary, looking amused. "Maybe ya shouldn't do that! If the actual gods get wind of ya messin' with nature and the universe and that other cosmic shit, they might get pissed off!"
Riven seemed to get the gist of what his team lead was saying, but Xeno, on the other hand, quickly shifted from happy-go-lucky to distraught and uncertain.
"What do you mean 'actual gods,' Shar?" he asked pointedly. "Are you insulting my godhood?!"
"You ain't even got a fuckin' god's form yet! I can't insult what ain't there, matey!"
Xeno gasped in dismay. "It's the principle, Shar!"
"What fuckin' principle?!" the Garchomp easily shot back, looking even more amused. "You might get every single one o' the Light Trio's forms, but we all know you ain't one of 'em!"
Xeno whimpered, expression turning to one of despair. "Oh, I can't believe you, Shar! What's so wrong with wanting to answer everyone's prayers?! You know I'd never use my abilities for evil!"
Shar laughed. "Matey, it ain't that you're evil, it's that if I had to bet on your last words, it'd be something along the lines of 'Hey, what's this do?!' or 'Oh damn, that wasn't supposed to happen!'"
It was Riven's turn to look amused, trying not to overtly laugh and instead making a few stifled squawking sounds.
The Ditto-eyed Swoobat, on the other hand, wasn't amused. "I'm gonna remember this conversation, Shar! When everyone else is getting their deepest desires granted, you aren't getting a thing!"
More laughter came from the Garchomp. "Matey, as much I'd love to depose Giratina and take the Distortion World as my own domain, that's somethin' I can go without and still be happy.~"
Xeno's eyes narrowed but he didn't say a word in response. Shar likewise smirked and stayed silent, knowing that her comrade wasn't going to win the argument and any more retorts would only dig a deeper hole that he'd have to crawl out of. (Besides, even as ridiculous as Xeno's antics might've been, even he had to know that indiscriminately granting everyone's wishes would upset the world's natural order far more than any outside threat would.)
However, the Ditto-eyed Swoobat didn't stay quiet for too long, for shortly thereafter, he was perking up and exclaiming, "Hey! You guys! I think I've got 'em pinned down! Just a little further- there's what seems like some scattered pieces of a figure carved out of glass, a big fluffier form, and Lunala but all sprawled out with a hole in her chest!"
The other two perked up as well.
"Hehehe, time to have some fun!" Riven crowed.
"Let's fuckin' go, mateys!" Shar cheered.
Xeno lead the way, but soon they could all see the slumped figures even without a comrade using echolocation to pick up on them. Sure enough, it was just as Xeno had said- multiple black prismatic pieces were scattered as if they'd just been dropped from the sky, a large and dull grey feline laid motionless on one side with his maw hanging slightly open, and a certain goddess' familiar form was haphazardly draped over the ground looking even blacker than the night sky. The expeditioners touched down in the midst of them all, their gazes shifting around as if not quite sure who was in worse shape. Several deep, glass-covered trenches definitely couldn't have been a natural feature either, surely having been burned into the landscape by a terrifying attack of some sort.
Xeno shifted forms again into a certain Buzzwole marked 'UB02A-0145,' crossing his arms and looking between Solgaleo and Lunala. "Okay, so I have to do this in a way that Necrozma doesn't get any of my light before Lunala does…"
"Why don't we use one of these giant trenches?" Shar proposed, strolling over to the edge of one and peering down. "We put all of Necrozma's pieces in a pile, we drag Lunala to the bottom of that trench, me an' Riven go shield Necrozma's piece pile from seein' anything in it, you Transform, and everything's great again!"
"Ooh, yes!" Xeno concurred. "But maybe we should put Necrozma's pieces a little further away, just in case!"
"I'll go scope out the bottoms of the ditches so we have one big enough!" Riven declared.
"You do that, matey!" Shar concurred.
The Honchkrow flitted off, while the Garchomp and Ditto-eyed Buzzwole set to gathering up Necrozma's scattered pieces. They briefly eyed Solgaleo's limp form, but the giant feline wasn't moving, and they had to figure he wouldn't anytime soon for the gloomy grey color of his coat where a glowing white was supposed to be. Lunala wasn't any worry, but the way she looked more akin to a black hole than a serene celestial body was nonetheless a jarring sight. Necrozma's pieces still refracted the glittering of the cosmos in a pretty rainbow of shimmers, but clearly, the state they were in was far from ideal. Surely the supreme being of Ultra Space wouldn't have appreciated having their parts moved around by someone they didn't trust or have a jovial relationship with, but the prismatic pieces stayed still and silent as Shar and Xeno grabbed them.
However, when Shar picked up one of the larger clawed appendages, she noticed something that appeared both bloodied and burnt stuck to it. She tried to scrape it off with one of her own claws, but it wasn't easily removed, and when she did scrape at it, another detail of it became apparent. There were feathers embedded into the melted mass, some clearly ripped out too early to be part of normal molting for their damp ends, and the color of them was fairly easy to place.
"I'll be damned!" the Garchomp exclaimed, getting a funny look.
Xeno turned his gaze to her, skittering over with a thin, hooked piece. "What's up?" he inquired.
"Get a load of this!" Shar replied, holding it out for him to see. "That's Astrid's feathers and skin all melted to this piece, no way around it! If that Decidueye is still flyin' with a chunk burnt out of her wing, then that's gnarly!"
"What's gnarly?!" Riven cried, flying over from one of the ditches, then when Shar showed him too, "Gods above, you ain't lying!"
The two gnarly ones had to take a second to admire the piece, looking at each other and smirking in non-verbal agreement before sticking the piece into their growing pile.
Xeno, on the other hand, piped up again whenever he grabbed a longer part akin to a rectangular prism, albeit one with a very scratched up region resembling a face. "And look at this!" he called, skittering back over with it. "Three guesses who did it!"
"Captain, do we need three guesses?!" Riven laughed. "It was probably the same 'Mon that got her wing burnt! I'd throw down a bet on it!"
"Me too!" Shar affirmed. "If she was gnarly enough to smash Ama's egg on Starry Peak, she'd give hell to a god!"
The three of them nodded at each other in agreement, the gnarly teammates exchanging mischievous snickers. Clearly, they were far more entranced with the idea than Xeno was, for the Ditto-eyed Buzzwole merely dropped Necrozma's prism piece in the growing pile and skittered off to grab another. Before long, there was a large pile of prismatic parts lying in a heap, and the multiple melted trenches had been scoped out by Honchkrow for the best one.
"Which one, Riven?" Shar inquired, turning to her teammate.
"This one right here!" the dark avian replied, flitting over to the edge of a rather long one (which, had they been there to know, would've been the result of Necrozma's first Photon Geyser fired off). "It's wider towards the end closest to us, so Xeno and Lunala shouldn't be too cramped!"
"Good to know!" Xeno piped up contentedly.
"Alright!" Shar affirmed. "Then let's drag that goddess down there, and you and I, Riven, will block off the light from Necrozma!"
They set right to it, Xeno and Shar both scurrying over to Lunala while Riven perched beside Necrozma's pile (albeit slightly eyeing the unconscious supreme being of Ultra Space). The goddess still didn't move or make a sound as Shar hoisted her above her head by the frames of her wings and Xeno grabbed the end of her tail, the Garchomp striding towards the ditch with Xeno following behind her. When her feet were a few centimeters from the edge, Shar stopped… and shortly the goddess was rather unceremoniously hurled over the expeditioners' heads into the bottom of the ditch like a sack of bricks. Surely she didn't care- she was a goddess, after all, and not a single sound of protest graced their senses as she slumped down in a heap at the bottom. Had Raijin been there to see, he probably would've objected to their haphazard treatment of one of his bosses.
"Okay! Leave it to me!" Xeno cried, skittering over to the edge too. "You two get into position and holler at me when you're ready!"
"You got it, matey!" the Garchomp replied, darting back over to the prismatic pile.
Even if she wasn't conscious, Xeno still took a second to straighten Lunala's form out into a more comfortable position, while Shar and Riven took to putting themselves in the way of any light that might've graced Necrozma's surfaces. The Garchomp practically threw herself onto the left trench-facing side of the pile with her tail and her arm fins blocking them off, and Riven spread his wings out as far as they would go to block off the right side. Of course, completely blocking off the surfaces from every single angle wasn't particularly feasible, but as it was, it was a fairly good starting point.
"DO IT, MATEY!" Shar hollered.
"I'm doing it!" Xeno hollered back up, his form starting to glow and shift.
The Ditto-eyed Buzzwole was replaced by a large Ditto-eyed feline… a Ditto-eyed feline that shone like the sun, quite unlike the other that was dim and gloomy grey. Even from the surface above, Shar and Riven could easily tell that it was a form that radiated power, for the rays of light streaking out lit up the dimness just like a certain blazing celestial body back on their homeworld. They felt warmth on their backs not unlike sunlight, and they instinctively clung harder to Necrozma to keep the supreme god from feeling the same.
"Oh my- oh my me!" Xeno exclaimed, clearly trying to make a happy-go-lucky take on 'oh my gods' that likely fell flat on everyone else. He pawed at the ground a bit, the edges of his maw curling up in a grin. "I LOVE this form!"
"Huh-uh…?" came a faint, metallic feminine voice.
Almost as fast, Lunala ceased to look like a black hole and instead turned back to a lovely mix of deep blue and purple, some faint shimmers creeping through like stars shrouded in clouds. Xeno's glow flickered for just a second, the rays of 'sunlight' streaking out of the trench fading like a cloud covering them up.
Rather gently, he crouched down and nuzzled the goddess with his nose, piping up in his own voice, albeit one tinged metallic as well, "Hey, Lunala, are you alright?"
Fairly quickly, her eyes flickered open on her screen-like face, and they went wide at the set staring back at her even faster. She piped up in a voice flat but appreciative, saying, "… Heavens above, you are not Solgaleo."
Xeno giggled, nuzzling her some more and purring a metallic purr. "Nope! I'm Xeno, but you know that!"
The goddess was stunned silent, only blinking twice without saying a word.
Above, however, Shar and Riven had different thoughts.
"… Captain?" the Honchkrow inquired. "Are… Are you moving any of these parts?"
The Garchomp shot him a questioning look. "… No? Matey, are you feelin' any move?"
His eyes drifted around the pieces close to him. "… Maybe we're just trying too hard."
His team lead wasn't quite buying it. "… Matey, why-"
Clink!
No, they weren't trying too hard- one of the giant sets of claws clenched up and scratched against two smaller, longer limbs. Instantly the gnarly expeditioners' eyes landed squarely on the hulking prismatic hand, then travelled back to each other, then back to the hand.
The exact same set of words left both of them. "Gods damn it, Necrozma!"
Xeno, on the other hand, still wasn't dismayed at all. "This is working for you, isn't it?" he asked Lunala, giving her some space. "I know I'm not your Solgaleo, but I'm pretty close!"
She floated up from her slumped position, the stars in her wings flickering more to life while Xeno's glow flickered for just a few more moments. "… Oh, it's working wonderfully," was the easy, still slightly confounded answer. "I'm just not sure what to make of a clone of my brother showing up in front of me, but… believe me, I'll take it."
The clone she spoke to giggled some more. "Well, whenever your brother is awake, I'll have to tell him that I love his form!"
An amused look crossed Lunala's face, then a contemplative one. "Tell me something, Xeno."
The one she addressed perked up, swishing his tail and playfully pawing at the ground. "Yeah~?"
"How good are you with using psychic powers? I already know you make good use of every form you have in your arsenal, but…" Her gaze drifted upwards, towards the top of the trench. "There's someone that I know I'm not going to beat in a one-on-one that'll cause us a lot of trouble, and they'd be much more useful to us without Void's poison controlling their actions."
Xeno's maw curled up even more in a grin, and he flopped onto his back while pawing up at the sky playfully. "Oooh! I know a thing or two! I use telepathy sometimes and I've definitely hypnotized some foes- it's not really my thing like it is Adnea's, but I can do it!"
Still looking upwards, she replied, "Good."
Shar and Riven, on the other hand, had some less-than-kind thoughts running through their heads. The other hulking set of claws started to twitch, and some of the smaller limbs followed suit. The whole pile was clinking and clattering like an earthquake was making it rumble, but it was all moving entirely on its own. Even if they pressed themselves harder into the pieces, they couldn't keep them completely still.
"Captain, I think they're waking up!" Riven cried.
"Then let's keep 'em under control the old-fashioned way!" Shar directed.
Her teammate was right behind her, a Dark Pulse escaping the Honchkrow's beak while she herself slammed her tail into the ground hard enough to set off an Earthquake- attacks that would surely prevent them from absorbing more light. However, even if Riven's attack was an easy, direct hit, whenever the ground opened up beneath the pile to swallow them, Necrozma's pieces didn't fall very far before stopping in midair and hanging there like nothing was amiss. The scratched-up piece with face-like specs of color turned to look straight at them, a static-like growl following that made the other two pause.
"… Light!"
Whatever kind of voice Necrozma was using, it wasn't a pleasant one. Their voice practically assaulted their senses like nails on a chalkboard, an unsettling mix between furious rage and wild excitement. Riven visibly recoiled, and Shar's eye twitched.
"… Fuck it, time to fight a god," the Garchomp said flatly.
Without missing a beat, Shar dove at them with her fangs bared and claws outreached, while the floating pieces started to arrange themselves. The face prism was shortly getting even more scratched up, for the Garchomp's claws dug into it on either end while her gaping jaws Crunched shut at its center. Cracks shot along it, and surely anything else would've been utterly demolished by her terrifying fangs, but the prism nonetheless held together in spite of its obvious damage. Another Dark Pulse from Riven followed, but one of the hulking hands pointed a single claw at it and countered with a Photon Geyser that easily drowned out the Honchkrow's attack, while the other hulking hand curled around Shar's neck. Try as the dragon might to bite down even harder, it quickly became a difficult task as the hand pulled her off, her teeth raking along the surface. Riven had to dive out of the way, and shortly both he and Shar were on the edge of the fissure, the dark avian having landed and the dragon getting hurled off of her target by the detached hand with a thud.
"… LIGHT."
The prismatic pieces ceased to be disjointed parts shortly thereafter, joining together in a way much differently than when there was a blinding draconic body using them as a frame. Shar scrambled back to her feet and let out a low growl at seeing it, but Necrozma hardly paid her any attention and instead locked their gaze on the glow at the bottom of the ditch. In a silent trance-like state, they floated towards it, to which both the Garchomp and Honchkrow sprang into action again.
"Where do you think you're going, matey?!" Shar demanded, trying to rip into them with her claws and teeth all over again.
"That ain't for you!" Riven exclaimed, curling his talons around the hook on one of their shoulders and flapping his wings to fly backwards.
For the dimmed Blinding One, floating quickly became much harder. Shar's fangs clamped down onto their other arm, and her claws dug into their sides in an attempt to hold them in place. The prismatic Beast didn't even seem to notice, for still they tried to press forward with their eyes locked on the glowing rays. Growls and screeches came from the gnarly expeditioners as Dark Pulses and Shadow balls from Riven and Shar's Outrage slowed Necrozma down, but even so, they dragged the expeditioners along on their path as if they were little more than an annoyance.
Fairly soon, Xeno and Lunala had company at the edge of the trench staring down at them with twitching claws, a dragon and a dark avian giving them hell as best they could. Xeno pawed at the ground and Lunala's eyes narrowed at their unruly foe, but clearly, only one thing was on Necrozma's mind when they laid eyes on them.
"… LIIIIIIGHT!"
