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Author Notes: Chapter 34 is here! Enjoy!
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Chapter 34 — Goddess Unleashed
"What is this?" the giant Mega Gengar asked in a dazed tone as he aimlessly levitated through the sweltering mass of destruction spreading all around him, trying in vain to figure out where he was. He cringed at the onslaughts of energy that passed through his translucent form every second. Even though he was intangible and partially in phase with the spirit world, the sheer amount of energy rippling through the area felt so intense it almost tore him apart.
The earth below ripped open with potent earthquakes, forming vast chasms the size of canyons that exposed the earth's inner magma. Scorching eruptions rose furiously into the sky until they collapsed upon themselves when hit by the colossal shockwaves of energy from the detonation of Phaedra's vast Weather Ball still tearing through the landscape.
Monstrous walls of water miles high from Phaedra's collapsing ocean form rained down on the destruction from all sides, containing the apocalyptic explosion to the best of its ability and preventing a larger catastrophe from unfolding. The nigh-infinite waterfalls raining down on the broken earth smothered the vast eruptions of magma, releasing towering plumes of hyper-heated steam that clouded the sky in a veil of endless white.
Gengar's eyes trembled as they darted around in dread. He could no longer feel the presence of his allies, leaving no doubt in his mind that they died instantly. 'Legendaries are too powerful! What can we do about them? They're invincible…' he thought in resigned distress. 'I came to fight, but I didn't expect to have an entire hurricane thrown at me! My intangibility is about to run out, at least I've escaped the worst of it.'
Gengar's body appeared out of thin air, materializing amidst the jets of steam still blazing through the sky and gradually cooling off into wayward clouds. The ocean's water slowly settled back to normality, covering the jarring scars inflicted on the seafloor for good and plunging the area into an eerie silence. Gengar's eyes widened when he felt an overwhelming presence instantly fall upon him, paralyzing every bit of his ectoplasmic body.
A red glare appeared through the boundless veils of white, so deep, and so powerful it felt as if the entirety of the world bore down on him through its scornful visage. 'Move, move, move!' Gengar screamed in his mind, horrified at how achingly slow his phantom form spasmed to muster up the courage to move. In a frenzied movement born out of pure desperation, he barely managed to tumble errantly to the side in a haphazard manner.
Phaedra passed through the area the ghost-type had been only an instant later, a draconic veil of emerald energy blazing around her with such intensity it lit up the environment in a gallant green hue as it violently ripped through the jets of steam.
Gengar rocketed away as fast as he could. The orb still bound to the third eye on his forehead glowed brightly with green light. "Rayquaza, where are you!? Get that Lugia!" he screamed desperately. 'If they're anything alike, there's no way that hurricane killed her… right?'
Phaedra scoffed in annoyance and flew after the fleeing phantom fiercely, each firm flap of her powerful wings pushing away pillars of steam and kicking up violent gusts of wind. "You're not getting away!" she roared.
A thundering roar far louder and stronger drowned out Phaedra's roar in an instant. Skailyn burst from the vast white of steams and clouds behind the Lugia and rocketed after her like a lethal meteor.
"Rayquaza, kill her!" Gengar ordered hastily, looking back at the incoming Lugia and the black Rayquaza not far behind. He growled and abruptly turned around. 'I need to do something! If it slows her down even slightly to allow Rayquaza to catch up…' His jaws opened and his clawed appendages rose, allowing a rippling orb of potent shadow energy to form within his mouth and swirl aggressively. Gengar took a keen look at Phaedra, focusing on her prosthetic water wing. 'I know I can't hurt her body, she's too strong. But, if I aim at that wing, I could make her falter!'
Phaedra glanced back at the rapidly-approaching Skailyn and then refocused on the giant Mega Gengar, carefully noting the distance between them and her. 'I can make it!' She opened her jaws and formed a single orb of highly-pressurized water within them, which released a steady hum and shimmered with a deep blue light.
"Don't try it, Lugia!" Gengar shouted defiantly as the Shadow Ball held in front of him grew until it was about as big as he was. "Both of us are faster than you!"
'We'll see about that.' Phaedra narrowed her eyes and let out a melodious cry while firing her Origin Pulse. The water orb tore through the air and left a stream of luminous sparkles in its wake as it ascended toward the massive ghost-type.
Gengar smirked and reared back. 'This Shadow Ball should distract her long enough for the Rayquaza to—'
Phaedra's eyes glowed with a steady gleam of blue light and released a powerful wave of telekinetic power, grabbing her soaring Origin Pulse and pushing it ahead with such speed and force that it nearly disappeared and caused a deafening sonic boom to thunder across the sky as it shattered the speed of sound many times over.
Before Gengar could finish his line of thought or even react, Phaedra's Origin Pulse collided against his Shadow Ball and ripped it to violet shreds of ethereal energy. Gengar let out a blood-curdling scream as the pulsing mass of water smashed into his third eye and the Jade Orb within it with deadly accuracy, unleashing a searing blast of incandescent water and energy that tore the ectoplasm of his upper body to shreds.
As Gengar recoiled, a distinct crystalline shatter echoed clearly among his agonized screams. The Jade Orb cracked and then split open with a blinding flash of green light. A violent gush of power unleashed from within the fractured orb that further ripped through Gengar's body and set off a monstrous shockwave of air pressure that tinted the entire sky emerald-green for a second.
Phaedra's eyes widened and a gasp of stunned horror caught inside her throat the instant she caught a passing glimpse of the damaged Jade Orb's inner workings, prompting a chill to go down her spine and her back plates stand on end. "Is that… that's…" She paused and bit her lip, trying to shake off the conflicting clash of both fear and anger within her. "So, that's what they're made of!"
Skailyn let out a deep growl as the draconic and death powers within her surged violently throughout her injured body. Phaedra's eyes glowed again, unleashing a vast wave of psychokinetic energy straight at the swiftly approaching sky goddess.
Skailyn's body froze just before it crashed into the Lugia under the firm grip of a bright gale of psychic light, which mixed dazzlingly with the flares of dark green energy wildly emanating from her. Phaedra abruptly spun in place and extended her heavy tail, violently smashing it into her head with every ounce of strength she had left, visibly cracking the scales of Skailyn's cheek.
As the intense shock of her physical hit rumbled through Skailyn's head, Phaedra's eyes erupted into a violent flash of blue light as she psychically penetrated Skailyn's mind, grabbed as much as she could of the Jade Orb's weakened influence, and ripped it right out of the black Rayquaza's psyche.
Brock and Bianca watched with stunned horror as a towering plume of intense fire tore through the purple astral barrier that they had tried to break only instants ago, obliterating it into fading flecks of light that disappeared under the whiplashes of fire. Without the barrier containing the roaring inferno anymore, it spread through the beach uncontrollably and pushed an incandescent wave of molten glass at its base in every direction.
Even though the humans froze in fear, the Pokémon did not. Onix's slow and lumbering body reared back and began curling around them protectively. Pikachu's body glowed with a faint white flash as he dashed back with a Quick Attack. Crobat's four wings flapped relentlessly, allowing the Bat Pokémon to rush back along with his teammate in a burst of speed. Pidgeot spread her elegant wings and flew away from the rising blast of fire, speeding toward her friends.
Pikachu collided against Bianca's chest and Crobat crash-landed into Brock, roughly knocking the two paralyzed humans back into the relative safety of Onix's collapsing coils. "Close!" Crobat shouted urgently at the massive rock-type, who protectively curled around them as fast as he could.
'Even if Onix protects them, the fire will still sneak through his coils,' Pidgeot thought grimly while drawing in a sharp breath. She glanced down at the collar hanging around her neck. 'I must do it if I want to guarantee their survival. Even if I lose control after, Pikachu and the others can stop me.' Her eyes drifted to the wall of fire closing in behind her. 'Ash, please be alright. I trust Latias will keep you safe.'
Pidgeot tightly closed her eyes and focused all her attention on the faint traces of power she could pick up from the Mega Stone in her collar. 'Come on, come on, come on!' she repeated on her mind as she poured as much of her strength and determination into her connection to the Mega Stone. She winced noticeably as the energy abruptly flared out of the crystalline stone, aimlessly spreading through her body due to lacking Ash's support or Key Stone. She felt an intense pain rip through her as the stone's energy spiraled into a wild and uncontrolled veil of dazzling multicolor energy.
Pidgeot let out a shrill screech and felt her consciousness fade under the crushing weight of the wave of raw power that swept through her being. With the last remnants of her focus and just as the world around her collapsed into an indiscernible mess, she swiveled in midair and crash-landed on the sand in front of Onix as her body grew under the blinding shroud of radiant golden-red light. She glared with determination at the incoming veil of fire and surge of molten glass.
"Pidgeot!" Pikachu cried out in alarm as Onix's last coil closed in front of him, cutting off his vision of the outside world. He gritted his teeth and looked at the rest of the occupants. "Brace yourselves!" he shouted, only to grunt at Brock and Bianca's stunned looks, which reminded him that they couldn't understand his speech without the psychic twins' translation.
Now in her Mega-evolved form, Pidgeot spread her wings angrily and let out a wild squawk, blasting away the blinding energy around her with a noticeable shockwave that pushed the sand under her feet into a small crater. Without any form of conscious awareness, upon seeing the immediate peril before her, Pidgeot instinctively focused on the approaching inferno and reacted by raising her wings in challenge and forming a large orb of golden energy between them. She squawked deafeningly and thrust her wings forward to meet the inferno head-on with the full force of her Giga Impact.
A potent onslaught of bright purple energy with vibrant streaks of golden light spreading through it collided against Latias' immense wave of fire in a blistering clash that rattled the beach. The sand around Pidgeot melted into a sweltering heap of molten glass that rippled with the tremendous shockwaves of the ongoing clash.
Brock, Bianca, Pikachu, and Crobat grimaced as a potent rumble rattled Onix's coils, eliciting a deeply-pained groan from the massive rock-type. The chinks throughout his protective coils lit up in a vibrant orange afterglow as errant tendrils of flames occasionally managed to pass through them, prompting the frightened Brock and Bianca to wipe beads of sweat off their brows.
Gengar flew about while clutching his torn forehead in agony. He tilted his head back and let out a tortured scream when a burning sensation spread through his forehead, causing him to rapidly shake it to alleviate it. The broken Jade Orb glowed in a faint blue light and unceremoniously teleported away, prompting the giant Gengar to freeze and his eyes to widen in horror once he realized the orb's protection was gone for good.
Phaedra gasped and immediately spun around to face the ailing Mega Gengar. She growled in annoyance and mentally kicked herself. 'It's gone! How come I didn't sense that teleportation starting?'
Skailyn's body relaxed and her pupils shrank as consciousness returned to her. Her eyes immediately darted around to regain her bearings and swiftly get an understanding of the situation. The black Rayquaza shook her head a few times to shrug off the headache from Phaedra's psychic strike and let out a rumbling growl the moment she felt her powers settle down into normality.
The giant Gengar stared in paralyzed horror as the mighty sky and death goddess rose to her full height. Even though his colossal size was close to hers, it felt as if she was far larger than she appeared, as if the world and nature itself were angrily towering above him.
"You're lucky I'm in a hurry," Skailyn thundered in an imposing voice that made the sky shudder with every deific word. Her eyes, eerily calm as death itself, flashed with a dark green glint of light as a brief spike of her powers emanated from her.
The Mega Gengar remained frozen on the spot, completely unable to tear away his widened and horrified eyes from the narrowed eyes of the deity. For an unnerving moment, a sense of peaceful defeat befell the ghost-type as the entire world blurred into an empty void only shared with the overwhelming will of the death goddess, prompting every sensation, thought, and feeling to cease to be. He didn't even scream or show any reaction as the ectoplasm that made up his entire body rippled and erupted into a cascade of dying purple shimmers that the wind swiftly dispersed into nothingness.
Phaedra looked away from the ghost's passing, focused on Skailyn at last, and cringed at the sight. Now that the rush of battle was long gone, she could focus properly and see the horrifying condition her best friend was in. At least half of the armored scales that covered her body were long gone, no doubt ripped or blown off throughout the battle, and those that remained had many cracks and dents dotting them. Most of the exposed flesh and muscles appeared charcoal in color, cauterized or scorched by the immense explosions from earlier. "Are you okay?" she asked tentatively. She knew of her friend's endurance well, though for a moment she wondered if she was close to her limit given the unknown extent of the Jade Orb's internal damage.
Skailyn gave her a slight smile. "I'll survive." She winced when she noticed the Lugia's missing wing. "I'm sorry about the wing, but we need to check on the twins." The black Rayquaza gave her best friend a grateful nod, reared back, and rocketed away in the direction of the Hoenn region. Skailyn closed her eyes and enjoyed the soothing breeze gliding past her, finally relaxing after the Jade Orb released its grip on her powers. Her enormous body glowed in a soft glint of green light and shrunk slightly. The tendrils of energy weaving out of her form shimmered out of existence, leaving a trail of orange cinders behind the soaring dragoness. The horns framing her head shrunk back into her head, reverting to their usual appearance.
Now back to her normal form, Skailyn let out a severe wince. She acutely noted the extensive damage to her body, its occasional involuntary spasms, and how irresponsive parts of it felt. Any movement felt stiff and forced, requiring a monumental amount of effort to make it happen. She didn't care, as only one thing occupied the forefront of her mind.
Skailyn's powerful eyesight scanned the horizon and zeroed in on Hoenn's coastline the moment it came into view. She focused on the unconscious dragon twins and narrowed her softly-glowing eyes, deeply looking them over. 'They're okay, at least. They don't seem to have any dangerous wounds or spiritual damage.' She surveyed the entire beach and let out a rumbling growl. 'Azrael's long gone. He escaped as usual.'
Meanwhile, Phaedra pressed her wings to her sides and dived into the ocean to go after her friend as fast as she could. She frowned and adopted a thoughtful expression as she traversed through the ocean's underwater currents. 'How could he pull off an ambush on both of us? It shouldn't be possible. But, knowing the Jade Orb has the Sky Plate within it does give me a few ideas. I need to tell the others immediately.'
Phaedra pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind the moment the Hoenn region came in range of her vast psychic senses. 'I can sense the twins now!' Phaedra thought ecstatically. She closed her eyes and smiled in relief. 'Thank goodness they're alive and okay. Even if we couldn't catch Azrael, we cut his time short enough and saved them. That's what matters.' She nodded to herself and surged ahead.
Onix slowly uncurled his heavy coils and collapsed onto the sand and glass below with a heavy thud. Brock coughed and attempted to crawl out of his Pokémon's coils, taking deep and greedy breaths of fresh air. He tightened a fist on the sand and used his free hand to wipe off his teary eyes. Crobat flew over and landed on his trainer's side, looking over him worriedly.
Pikachu stumbled on his steps and slowly made his way over to the prone body of Pidgeot, whose form had returned to normal and now lay on top of a mixture of sand and cooled glass shards. "Pidgeot! Are you okay?" he asked while trying to quell his heavy panting. He let out a faint sigh of relief when he noticed that she was breathing. Upon closer inspection, the electric-type noted she was relatively unharmed except for a few singed feathers here and there.
Bianca wheezed as she weakly stepped out and tumbled immediately. She stopped her fall with her hands and panted heavily. She gritted her teeth, struggled back to her feet, and used a hand to wipe the excess sweat off her face. The young artist weakly glanced back and noted with relief that everyone was alright. 'That was close. The Pokémon saved us.' She took a few uncertain steps and looked on at the scene with widened eyes.
Much of the beach's landscape ahead of her had turned to glass, with some patches still glowing in a dimming orange hue and causing the air above it to shimmer. The salty ocean breeze ominously dragged heaps of ashes and the pungent scent of smoke from the burning inland vegetation along with it, causing Bianca to cough and wrinkle her nose in discomfort.
'Latios, Latias, Ash! I need to check up on them!' Bianca covered her face with the inside of her arm and hastily walked ahead. 'I hope they're alright. Please be alright!' She stopped in her tracks when a large shadow cast over the crystalized beach and a powerful gust of wind passed through the area, blowing away most of the smoke and replacing it with fresh and pristine air. The strong winds seemed to mercifully dodge her and her friends and not bother them in the slightest.
Bianca, Brock, Crobat, Onix, and Pikachu craned their heads up while glancing to the side and froze in both fear and surprise, unsure of how to react to the sudden appearance of a massive black serpentine dragon that imposingly towered over the whole beach.
Pikachu's eyes widened. 'That's… a Rayquaza! Latios showed us one earlier!' He nervously crouched down and readied himself in case he had to fight, unsure of what to make of the dragon's arrival. Yet, for some reason, it felt as if his muscles refused to respond out of both fear and exhaustion.
Skailyn's powerful eyes focused on the unconscious Latios and Latias, gazing at their physical and astral forms once more, this time far more closely, to carefully inspect them for any damage. She relaxed marginally and her expression shifted to one of relief. 'So, all he did was take some of their power,' she realized, noting the damaged locks and the notable absence of any overarching power coming out of them. 'She's especially drained after her fiery outburst. She's like her mother…'
Skailyn solemnly shifted her attention to the badly injured soul that resided between the two dragons. 'Poor little one… Azrael, why? What exactly are you after?' she wondered while gently reaching out with a comforting tendril of her ghost powers to tenderly cradle the wounded soul. 'I swear that one day, I'll have you in my claws and I'll bring upon you a fate truly worse than death.'
Bianca stared at the so far silent black dragon with frightened eyes. Never had she seen such a gigantic Pokémon before, one whose colossal size dwarfed everything around it to such a degree that it made her feel hopelessly powerless. Even though the dragon appeared fatigued and noticeably injured—judging by the copious patches of seared flesh etched throughout the endless sea of marred black scales—it was by far the most terrifying creature she had seen in her life. She could feel her knees buckle and chills run down her spine as a piercing question hung heavy on her mind. 'Is it friend or foe?'
Skailyn glanced at the burning forest somberly. By her will, the air over the forest pulled out and created a brief vacuum that instantly put out the raging fires, leaving only a field of grey ashes and burnt tree trunks as aftermath. The sky goddess wearily returned her attention to the two unconscious psychic dragons and leaned down.
Bianca gasped and pure instinct drove her to dash through the remainder of the field of crystallized sand. She stopped in front of the knocked-out Latios and Latias and whirled around to face the black Rayquaza. "You won't hurt them! Go away!" she shouted desperately while spreading her arms defensively.
Skailyn stopped for a moment, slightly tilted her head, and looked at the diminutive human with a mildly surprised look. She let out a weary exhale and resumed her movement, reaching down with her head.
Bianca froze as the Rayquaza neared closer, unsure of what she was supposed to do if the dragon didn't listen. After all, just her head was several times larger than she was. Yet, even as the rational side of her finally kicked in and told her not to get in the path of an entity as large and frightening as the one before her, she tightened her fists and stood steadfast. As powerless as she was, she would protect Latios and Latias in their time of need.
Skailyn gently nudged Bianca to the side with the tip of her snout, being careful not to harm the young girl. "I'm an ally and mean no harm to the twins," she clarified bluntly, using her control over the air to modify the soundwaves emitted by her Pokéspeech into verbal English.
Bianca's eyes widened as she fell onto her butt on the crystallized sand. "You… spoke?" she questioned in shock as the dragon pulled back, surprised at how calm and nonconfrontational the dragon's rumbling and feminine voice sounded.
Skailyn ignored her and reached down with her hands toward Latios and Latias, wrapping her claws around them with utmost care. Once they were both secure in her caring grip, the black dragoness turned around and flew into the sky. She reared back in preparation to take off but stopped when the ocean in front of her burst open with a potent torrent of water.
Phaedra emerged from the sea and flew in front of Skailyn. She glanced at the beach and then at the Rayquaza. "They're their friends, we can't just leave them here," she commented firmly. "The twins will be unhappy if we don't do something about them. Besides, they're confused and hurt."
"Fine. You may bring them to Sky Pillar," Skailyn replied. She flew around Phaedra and then rocketed away in direction of the open ocean, swiftly disappearing past the horizon.
Bianca looked at the departing dragon with a frightened and confused look. "What is going on?" She gasped. "Where's Ash!?" She looked behind her once realization set in. 'I… I don't remember seeing him. Did the dragon take him as well and I didn't notice?'
Phaedra looked on as Skailyn departed and let out a frown. She turned her attention to the beach and flew down to land on the crystalized sand with a heavy thud that shattered the glass under her. She gave the humans and Pokémon an apologetic look and a kindred smile. "I'm sorry about that. My friend can be quite intimidating and callous at times, even if it's not her intention. But I can promise she means well." She looked around and winced at the scene of devastation. "Please, come with me. You have nothing to fear from us."
Chapter End
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