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I am who I am, and I am a jealous God, lord of warriors and storms, the God of Battle, the God of Wrath. Praise my Name, and witness my dreadful countenance. Praise my name! I am no benevolent avatar of Elyon. I am the Destroyer, the Lawmaker. Nothing may arouse my Anger and be spared for ever. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End of Elyon. The servants of the Shadow and the Enemies of the Light wither like snow in a flame in the light of my eyes. Arceus is a kindly fool. El Shaddai is weakened in his niceties. Allah is senseless and fickle. I...am...Yahweh, the Demiurge of Zion!

-Yahweh, the wrathful avatar of Elyon. Quote attributed to the First Meeting of the Canaanite Pantheon. (Later, Yahweh commentated in a landmark revelation that He 'didn't really hate gays,' and that all the negative Biblical passages regarding them were written 'when He was drunk.')

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Thurrius ignored Gold and went for the Chairman, ready to cleave the little executive in half. Bronze's Steelix and Gold's Togekiss intercepted the greatsword's blow, while Absol used another attack of Future Sight.

Pausing in midair, Thurrius observed the speed at which Bronze's Sharpedo used Hydro Cannon, and that Gold's Poliwhirl used Ice Beam. Absorbing the attacks, Thurrius waited until just...the...right...moment...

SHATTER!

Reality broke. Absol's Future Sight attack had been parried by an incredibly precise thaumaturgic spell, the azalea-hued runes and sparks of the energy shield already dispersing throughout the night air. Space itself had shattered in the psychic aftermath of the blast, and Absol and Typhosion were unconscious.

The Chairman had fled, presumably to get more help. For now, all that Bronze and Gold could do was distract Thurrius until the others arrived with more firepower.

Gold looked at the singed tip of his pool cue with disdain. "Probably can't use that one again, now that he's figured it out. If all our Pokémon attack at once, we can still easily win. Aibo, Double Hit! Sunbo, Leech Life!"

Thurrius parried both attacks in a flurry of shimmering swipes, before coming to a stationary hover before the open portal. Firing an energy blast at Bronze, Thurrius used the split second available to him while Bronze dodged to release his army once more.

"Go, my thralls!" Thurrius said, commanding the new horde of abominations that had spilled from the abyssal rift. "Fight to the last, leave none alive! You feel no pain, you do not fear death. I have neglected this world for far too long. But I now see that its inhabitants have hidden strength far greater than I ever accounted for, and they might break free of their lowly origins to become my greatest foes! This realm shall be the next to fall!"

The force was overwhelming. A host of wooden dolls that appeared to be crude mockeries of Docents subdued Electrivire and Sharpedo, while a Cyclopean serpent of brilliant red scales grappled with Steelix. Other monsters of diverse kinds and shapes fought against the duo's remaining Pokémon, while Thurrius went on the offensive.

Charizard grabbed both of Thurrius's shoulders in midair to attack with Return, but the robot merely flew backward out of Charizard's grasp. Launching another sphere of brilliant light at Gold, Thurrius swept in for the kill, detaching his weapon from his arm. Togebo and Sunbo were knocked aside in the avatar's wake, the tip of the diabolical greatsword headed for Gold's heart.

Time flowed to a liquid drizzle. Time waited at standstill. Time stewed at standstill. Time rotted at standstill.

Perhaps the innate magic of the pulsesword cut the double-edged blade in twain. It could also have been the conviction and righteous wrath of the wielder. There was a crash and crumble, and when Thurrius summoned his blade back to his appendage, it came back with only a single sword. The other lay upon the dirt like a dead beast, the gelcircutry wiring connecting it to the handle severed beyond repair.

Thurrius calculated that his foe had arrived, along with...another? That damned girl!

Coming into focus within the implacable light of the gateway, standing alongside Tess, it was none other than Jake who had thrown the energy blade. Withdrawing the pulsesword out of the ground and brandishing it at the levitating mech, Jake stood in the full glory of his return.

"You took everything from me," Jake growled, Thurrius remaining emotionless. "It ends. It ends now. I will destroy you, over and over again. A thousand deaths are not even close to the punishment that you deserve for your crimes. The Library was almost destroyed. You nearly killed Tess. Plummet to the Abyss!"

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L.S and Hopper had been summoned by the Rounderpede, to decide what they would do with the Spear. The weapon deemed that it still had enemy blood to shed, and L.S had a terrible feeling about where this spilling would be needed.

"Good thing your friends in the target world are working on a different timescale than ours," The Rounderpede chittered, as everyone present came to rest by the vacant front desk. "We need to go over a few fundamentals before you go and take care of whatever the Shadow has thrown at it with the Spear. Yeah, I know all about your little problem. Don't ask how."

"Nolek left, I suppose," Rabbi Cahn said, a recent arrival from the Free Fighters, along with many other impromptu veterans and scholars. "He will aid in the fight that you speak of. But we must act with both precision and swiftness if we are to remove the Shadow's incarnate influence on the world which it will surely seek to ravage. Why do we wait and speak when we could act?"

"Hold on, bub. Do you think these two mortals can use the Spear as easily as that? They just provided the human part of the equation in killing Armaros. Old Man Poseidon gave the go part. I just helped the process along. But what about using the Spear in a different realm? Bringing Poseidon or another god not native to that world would have some...consequences, and I can't leave the Library. They would need to have some deity from that world willing to help them. If one does, good job! The Shadow, its goons, and the gateway it used to enter the world will be annihilated. But it really isn't that simple, now is it?"

L.S scoffed. "Are you kidding me? There isn't anything we can do in the Library to fix that issue! We need to get the Spear to Tess's world, now!"

"I'm not finished! You have to understand that even with help from a god in that world, you will have to put in far more effort to make the Spear do its job than you just did. I was helping you, the Serpent was helping you, and the Library itself was giving you strength. You won't have that kind of handholding in another universe. The Spear will sap Willpower directly from your body, and if you aren't careful, it won't work, or...you know the alternative."

"Fine," Hopper said. "Any more tips before we can get down to some actual fighting? The Library is safe, but unfortunately, we can't celebrate just yet with another world under attack as a direct ramification of our actions!"

Rabbi Cahn seemed amused. "Do you understand that millions upon millions of worlds are being invaded by the Forces of Evil as we speak? And why do you worry over one? Where was the Hand when my birth world fell? Where was the Hand when any other world was shrouded in the unending night of Qlippoth? I ask you why should we trouble ourselves over a thing so small."

Hopper took offense at this, but the Rounderpede responded before he could give a retort.

"While perhaps Agent Hopper's motivations are clouded by his emotions regarding the girl Tess, the rescue of this world has a key tactical advantage. Aside from the moral ramifications of denying evil, no matter how small an act, if we are to put an end to a great peril against one world, the news of this victory will spread through the many universes. The undecided and our enemies will know that we can not just repel such a terrible attack, but that we can also go on the offensive directly after, operating on limited resources.

"And I challenge Rabbi Cahn to think of a single instance where it was the Shadow Incarnate that led the attack, and not one of its slaves, mighty as they may be. This is a personal attack for the Black Foe, and it has already arrived in the form of a thinking machine. Although it does not understand the folly of its actions in full, it believes that even if its avatar is destroyed, it will escape unscathed. I must say that this is true, but the destruction of this body by the Spear of the Non-believer will not only eliminate the threat...it will harm the essence of the Shadow Itself. We must act."

The two Hand members stood, ready to leave through Nolek's artificial Way. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Remember that the Spear was created when the first thinking being that had the potential to become a god denied the offer, thus forming a mighty weapon fit for the death of immortals. A majestic creation, made to symbolize hope and victory against the deities, maintained by the greatest of crafters, blessed by the greatest of angels. Many fail to understand that only those who are really, really worthy can use this dang thing. They seek the greatness and glory that comes with the successful use of the Spear. You didn't. You were right in your wish to protect others for their sake, not your fame.

"This is the only reason why I am trusting you with this weapon, and it seems to want to be wielded by you two, not anyone else. Greatness in character comes before the Spear. And because you understand that, you have an inkling of success. You saw all those legions of great warriors fight against the enemy, all far stronger than both of you combined. They could not possibly use the Spear, regardless of what you would think beforehand. They are not worthy. And now the Spear has found its chosen champions. The time has come for you to depart. And if all is brought to ruin, leave the Spear to Elyon."

Content with his somewhat esoteric explanation, the Rounderpede exhaled a blast of air from its gambrel mess of a mouth, and L.S and Hopper were shoved through the Way most unceremoniously. Many followed them, wanting to take the fight to the Shadow.

"Best we can do," The Rounderpede said, lighting a dreamroot cigar. "Anyone in for some poker?"

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Well, Jake is back. With Tess. Bronze thought. Oh, dear. This is really happening...something tells me that I have a lot to learn. But we do have to defeat this robot before any real conversation can start.

Thurrius raised his servo appendage to blast Jake to oblivion at the last, but did not account for...

The sudden arrival of L.S, Hopper, Nolek, a squadron of warriors from the Serpent's Hand bearing a variety of weapons, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Crystal, many other Pokedex Holders, Bronze's parents, Anabel, Looker, a garrison of International Police officers, many Gym Leaders, the Rorian Elite Four, and dozens more coming from the party, summoned by the strange sounds and flashes of light from the Forest of Elmoth.

But it was not humanity and Pokémon alone who would stand against Thurrius and his hordes...

From parts untrodden and far away the Swords of Justice came. Cobalian's Sacred Sword shone like fire in a seed of reeds, and the very trees bent in submission to Iarwen-ben-Adar, Oldest and Wisest, and his warriors Terrakion Earthshaker and Virizion Verdantblade. From over the northern sea came a sound of fair singing, the minstrelsy of Meloetta dwelling in Unova. Latios and Latia soared about the mountains, dying the sheer cliff faces scarlet and azure with the glory of the shining wings.

The Spear was ablaze with its secret light, and the uvanimor cowered from the withering stare of Cobalion. Most of those present had no idea what Thurrius was or why they were about to fight, and the sight of the strangely garbed L.S and her soldiers was a shock, along with the masked Nolek and the homecoming Jake, still in the uniform of Team Eclipse. Wisely, Nolek had covered his face with a dwarf-carven mask from the Library, to not trouble those who had a very negative opinion of Cypress.

All were together, most were confused, but not a single one would shirk away from the coming battle. Another evil had to be stricken down, just another in a long line of villains. Thurrius was the Prime Evil Incarnate, the source of all their troubles from the beginning to the end, even beyond the Evil Djinn. It had to end.

Thurrius considered the overwhelming force before him, and realized that against their Pokémon he stood no chance. It would be better to flee, and then establish a foothold over the coming years before attacking at his full strength. Yes, he would hide. He had the lifespan and patience to see his plans enacted over a very long time...

And then he fully perceived the Spear.

Wrath. Fear. Horror, rising like a black claw to choke the breath out of his synthetic lungs. His incarnate brain broke, and the gelcircuty that had once been present before his first destruction no longer existed to suppress his emotions. He now saw what Elyon had intended to do, and what he had failed to about for. The War on Creation had sapped his power, damn it all! Why shouldn't Thurrius command the Abyss, if Thurrius does forbidden things?! Let the Everlasting Darkness come!

It was thought along these lines that pushed Thurrius into madness. Reality bent, and then twisted into bundles of fried noodles. The spacetime about the luminous rift writhed in geometric motions redolent to organized shape. The gateway ballooned in size. Hellish branches sprouted off the central rift's mass like demonic clusters, creating new and larger Ways to unleash ever larger streams of horrors.

As thousands of freshly summoned uvanimor added to the depleted ranks of Thurrius' lesser force, Tess heard Cobalion's voice in her mind.

"Let this be the hour we draw arms together, in such a glorious union that even if we fail in defeating the Dark One, our valor shall be sung of in the Library for a thousand eons! Let this be an end or victory worthy of remembrance, young one. Perhaps it seems a dark hour, for it is. But the Day shall come again! Arceus Elyon has mastery and dominion over all. Now, we must fight."

As fear had given Thurrius newfound power, like that of a dying man being able to twist metal bars, wrath gave Jake the recklessness to charge. And so the Battle of the Forest of Elmoth began.

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The very earth labored in horror at the presence of Thurrius. He was an unnatural taint beyond anything that the world had experienced, even unto the likes of the Corruption of the Evil Djinn. The Mbelekoro had been a part of the world. Thurrius was outside of the world, the Shadow Incarnate. The trees rotted in his proximity. The grass withered at his footfalls. The clouds veiled the stars.

Beneath the roots of the Frostveil Mountains, a hundred Logarian warriors and their Pokémon lay entombed within a resplendent grave, built during the days when the Shadow fell upon Logaria ere its fall when the folk of Logaria made tombs greater than the houses for the living as their fear of death increased.

But in truth, these warriors were not wholly dead. They were in a night of dreamless sleep, and although they paled in color and rusted in blade, their spirits remained in the Caves of Forgetfulness, until the time for their arousal should come again. But even the recent coming and second imprisonment of the Evil Djinn had not stirred them.

However, once the Aura of Thurrius touched the company of sleepers, the eldest's finger twitched.

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Thurrius was in battle with Nolek and the warriors of the Serpent's Hand, none able to deal any terribly strong damage to the superpowered mech, but no lunge or attack of the robot was swift enough to slay the Library's greatest fighters so quickly. Still, pride was Thurrius's master, and he would not retreat back into the rift that he had so unfavorably came from.

Red and Gold sent out Poli and Poilbo, ready to unleash their combination attack. "Just like on Mt. Silver, and at the Hoenn Battle Frontier! You know the stakes. Now!"

Poli intercepted Thurrius's greatsword blow with a handhold, before the robot swiveled its arm and launched Poli to the ground. Polibo was blasted away by a pulse blast, and Thurrius regarded his foes with unsettlingly human gloating in his four visual receptors. "And I am not harmed. Doth thou see that I am unassailable?"

"Not really."

Poli had recovered and initiated a Double Team attack. Thurrius observed the minute shadow beneath the actual Poli amid the swirling duplicates, and blasted it away. Scoffing at the feeble attempt to confuse his ocular receptors, Thurrius did not notice Polibo creep up beneath him.

Poli and Polibo attacked in tandem, past Thurrius's guard. Both Pokémon leaped upward, and raised their hands...

...and then chopped down on Thurrius's body. However, the flowmetal repelled the combined blow, and the two Pokémon had severely wounded their fighting arms by attacking the impenetrable coating of the combat mech. Both fell away once more, the attack having borne no fruit.

Of course, it did allow just enough time for Nolek to ready one of his most powerful thaumaturgic spells. Dislocated warding energy spread from the spread palms of the thaumaturge, enveloping Thurrius's glowing form. The robot retaliated with an energy blast of his own, tearing Nolek's protective robes and blasting his mask off.

Nolek had Thurrius restrained and captured and was about to constrict the bonds when something hurled him aside.

Sapphire had ordered her Blaziken to attack not Thurrius, but Nolek. While she was fighting the uvanimor, it was by misfortune that she had looked upward and saw Nolek's face, and mistook it for Cypress. "Th' demons back! I'll say that th' robot thing brought 'em back with one o' his tricks! Get him!"

Nolek was distracted and bewildered, and before he could fully understand what was attacking him and how to best combat it, Thurrius detached his cybernetic greatsword and gutted the scholar.

The robot called back his blade, and Nolek's body crumpled like torn rice paper to the ground. L.S screamed something, but her cry was lost in the confusion. Sapphire wondered why Thurrius would kill his own servant. Bronze saw the corpse, and experienced a grim satisfaction from seeing Cypress dead. But...that couldn't be Cypress, could it?

A beast that looked like a crustacean slug impaled a police officer. Nasty little bastards that looked like overgrown owls swarmed the Pokémon that flew in the air. The Serpent's Hand was fighting marvelously, but they could not stand forever. Thurrius took attack after attack, but not a scratch of damage appeared on his flowmetal body. The robot had discovered how to dodge and negate psychic attacks by observing their use on the battlefield, rendering the only effective means of damaging the mech useless.

L.S and Hopper both saw an opening, and threw the Spear at the robot. Cobalion fulfilled part of the equation of mortal and immortal by dashing his Sacred Sword across Thurrius's body as the Spear went on its roving path, looking for its ultimate foe.

The Spear went for the metallic heart of Thurrius.

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A single Planck second before eliminating the avatar, the Spear was caught in midair by Thurrius.

L.S gasped in utter disbelief. "No! The Spear...you can't-"

Casting the Spear into the scorched ground, Thurrius howled in rage. "Gah! The Spear cannot touch me. It kills gods. I am no god...I am something older. I do admit that I feared that its power was great enough to destroy me, at least in this petty form. You should know that I am of the same primordial race as Elyon, and that is a gifted kind! I have existed long before the Spear! Dotards of the Library, go back to your fastness and have your contented satiety, as dogs lap in the mud with brigands!"

The Serpent's Hand quailed. Latios and Latias had vanished from the sky. Terrakion and Virizion were injured, along with Y and Ruby. Several defenders were dead, and the uvanimor continued to emerge without end. The Chairman was commanding a cordon on the area, hoping to clear out the defenders before bombing Thurrius and the rift to hell. But that would only delay the inevitable. If the Spear had no use, then the fight was hopeless.

Bronze saw some slit-mouthed creature about to grab Tess from behind, while she was preoccupied with attempting to attack Thurrius. Throwing his relic Logarian dagger that he had kept with him ever since that fateful day in Chesema Town, Bronze felt his adrenaline high reach its peak when the thing was impaled upon the holy blade. The demon slumped and died, only to be replaced by several others from the swollen rifts.

Electrivire crushed all of the uvanimor with a charged swipe, and handed the stained dagger back to a Bronze. Once the metal touched his hand, something very strange happened on the field.

Dozens and dozens of ghostly apparitions started to materialize in the fray. They were not solid, but had definable features and shapes. It seemed like they were great warriors, covered in mail and mighty plates of forged iron, bearing axes and swords of all sorts. Their Pokémon seemed to share their ghostly characteristics, and were of different color and variance than most modern Pokémon.

The grim shades turned on the uvanimor, and the creatures ran, slithered, or flew into the rifts from whence they came. Bronze couldn't guess if the ghost's blades would still bite, but the dead need nothing but fear to drive their enemies into rout. Only the strongest monsters remained under Thurrius's Willpower, and more creatures were en route from the Abyss.

"Who are you to come at an hour so late?!" Thurrius screamed. "Speak, undead ones! Are you cursed to remain tethered until you fight, or have the Brothers Three sent you from the Houses of Silence? I bid you answer, for I can drive the dead to ash, and consume their unlife as a moth in a flame! Tell me!"

The greatest of the hundred-strong host of the dead spoke, in a voice as shaky and insubstantial as a falling autumn leaf upon a cold wind.

"We have slept without a dream for eons. We bargained with Arceus Elyon that upon our death we should remain in the world, and that its fate be ours until our aid was needed most. Then we may rest. Logaria has fallen, but new heroes have come to fight against you, a great evil that we are bidden to destroy. For our weariness is beyond measure, and we only wish to leave to the Halls of Arceus, and brook with whatever is our allotment there."

L.S heard a strange voice within her head. It was completely neutral and instructive, although it did not condemn, and could have gone on forever with infinite patience despite all of her failings and flaws. It reminded her of her long-lost childhood in a dead world, before the Shadow had come in its many forms and brought everything to nothing...

"Using the Spear may have a very different result now, my child. The dead and the Powers have united with the Living to fight against the Prime Foe. I, Yahweh Elyon, shall be with you. Only judgment awaits the Dark One. He shall feel my wrath as you attack with the Spear, and my Will does not falter, nor is it light."

Hopper exchanged a glance with L.S that suggested he had experienced the same phenomenon. Cobalion looked at the two, and gave a slight nod, signifying his own assent to the new , Elyon had entered the fight, and the Spear perhaps could overcome its own limitations in the hands of someone different...someone greater.