WARNING: This chapter will contain excessive amounts of injuries, including gore. Expect descriptions of mangled bodies in addition to pools of blood. Also expect a gruesome event to happen, but that shall remain hidden until you encounter it.
Other than that, hope you enjoy Act II!
Condicio Adversae (Act II)
Soaring around the wastes of a once magnificent jungle can provide a brief moment of awe when put within the right mood. Granted, one should always be mindful in terms of discovering enemies, but moments like these provide enough safety for some reflection. Fortunately, thanks to Zeema and her gift, the three siblings allow themselves to take in the brief moment of the environment around them.
Reading up on past books and pictures revealed how beautiful this jungle used to be, filled with mystic waterfalls, lush trees, and vibrant life. The Pokémon who lived here held a sense of familiarity, engaging in their daily acts and beliefs while also fulfilling the law of the ecosystem. Now, though, all that remains is piles upon piles of dead trunks and ashen soil, unable to fertilize life. The water coursing through the area has grown polluted, forcing nearby civilizations to close river streams in order to preserve their populations. All the creatures here are gone, with the only occasional signs of life being travelers setting up temporary campsites. To say this jungle has now become historical ruins of a thriving place is the typical norm for everyone around the world.
Gazing past these husks of former life, the children soon set sight towards a familiar temple within the scout's map layout. Considering the picture they saw was most recent, nothing seemed different regarding this ancient, rusted temple. Brown ruins with the walls possessing rough textures of ancient languages, looking almost similar to the Pokémon known as Unown. However, an unsettling feeling plants itself within their stomachs once they notice a strange, black aura rising from the temple itself. Normally, detecting such a presence requires the use of aura, a feat the siblings are able to utilize thanks to being trained by a certain aura user within the Quintessence. This time, though, the strength of the aura felt so empowering that other Pokémon could detect this strange wave even without any aura training.
Deciding they need to be quick about this operation, the three siblings drop down a bit close towards the entrance, giving the Pidgeots a good hefty amount of Poké before sending them off. Turning towards the rusted temple, they notice Fikhar walking around, trying to find other entrances to no avail. Sighing a bit, Pyxis heads on over to the Machop, expecting a worst case scenario.
"You won't find any other way in, Fikhar. The main entrance is our only way in, whether you like it or not," he states, catching the attention of the shocked recruit.
"Seriously?! Then how are we going to get inside with the guards in the first room? Even with my amazing skills, there's no way I'll be able to handle so many of them!" He retorts, causing Iovia to step into the conversation.
"That's why we created strategies and tactics, Fikhar. The plan is to make sure the guards are distracted through any means necessary, regardless of strength or size. If we can clear the first room, then we can hold a bit of breathing space towards planning our next steps," the Pikachu says, causing the Machop to snort in response.
"Ok then, rival. How do you suppose we set up this 'distraction' of yours, huh?" Fikhar counters in frustration. The child responds by pulling out from one of their bags small, black spheres with buttons attached to them. Confused, the Machop looks towards them for an explanation, causing them to smirk a bit.
"These balls are waves of compressed smoke garnered by flying moves and some orzon manipulation. If someone can throw these within the room without the guards noticing, I can use my psychic abilities to close the door and eliminate them without any fear of alerting more of them," Iovia explains, which results in the recruit blinking for a second. Once the thought clicks in, he begins to cackle in laughter as he falls to the ground while his arms hug his stomach.
"R-R-Really?! That's your plan, then: smoke plus psychic?! The guards are going to easily notice this stupid idea of yours!" He states in exasperation, causing Acheros to look at him in both anger and annoyance.
"Well, if you continue listening, then you'll hear how Iovia can remedy this issue-" Before the boy could finish his sentence, Fikhar covers the sides of his head with his hands, trying to resemble someone who refuses to listen to nonsense.
"Lalalalala~! I can't hear you over this convenient noise that's settling within this area! I'll probably be able to hear better if I walk over there instead, lalala~!" With that statement, the kid walks away from the siblings, who look at him as if he suddenly got struck by the confused status.
Groaning, Pyxis turns towards his younger siblings. "Well, now that he's 'helping,' why don't we figure out how to lure the guards then, shall we?" He says in a mixed tone between relief and anger. Upon seeing the rest nod, he turns towards Iovia for confirmation. "I know the smoke bombs could separate the enemy's formation if thrown correctly, but-"
Suddenly, the three hear a rustle of dead bushes behind the trees, causing them to turn towards the noise with their powers activated. Common sense has taught them to expect anything ranging from good to bad.
After a few moments pass by, a small Pokémon in brown fur shows up. With a black striped tail in addition to a white ring on its stomach, the group instantly recognized them as a Sentret. This creature had a small tuft of fur on his head in addition to black stripes around his arms too. His ears remain a normal dark brown with the inner side being pink, but a tint of green aura can be seen within that side too. As of right now, he was supporting his weight against a tree, clutching his bag and cap with one hand. Regarding the other hand, it was currently pressed against a huge, bloody cut on his left side, preventing the flowy liquid from coming out.
Gasping upon seeing him, the children immediately rush over to the Sentret just as he slid down against the dead trunk. A trail of blood painted against the wood provides evidence on how badly injured he is at the moment. Reaching over towards the body, they each did their own separate tasks to heal him. Pyxis supports him against the tree, Acheros searches for some food in his shell, and Iovia digs through one of their bags for medical supplies.
"Hey! Can you hear me? Stay awake for us, please!" The Charmander begged towards the creature. If there was any way to save a life, he would refuse to let an ally die until they were either healed or dead.
Groaning, the Sentret weakly opened his eyes to see the siblings attempting to conserve his life. "N-Nghh… Y-You kids… Are you… our backup…?" He weakly says, utilizing every bit of energy within his declining bones to adjust his back against the trees.
"Yeah. We may not look like it, but we're elites from the Quintessence. Headmaster Manasseh informed us on how groups of Pokémon attempted to fight the army within this temple. Were you part of one of those groups?" Acheros questions, giving the wounded creature an Oran Berry to restore his energy. While it won't help his wounds heal due to their severity, it will provide him enough energy to not pass out.
"Y-Yeah. I-I-I expected t-them to be tough, but… n-not to this level-" He takes a moment to cough up a small amount of blood, prompting Iovia to work faster on finding the supplies necessary for his wounds.
"E-Easy there, dude! We're here now, and we're not going to leave you behind to die!" Acheros states in comfort, providing the berry for the Sentret to bite into. "I know you're low on energy right now, but try your best to chew on this Oran Berry here. My younger sibling will tend to your wounds soon, so make sure you keep your energy as high as possible."
Eyeing the berry in hope, the injured creature pushes his face forward slightly, enough to take a blood-covering bite. Chewing as much as he could, the Pokémon could feel his body slightly regain energy, allowing him to endure this pain for a bit longer. Despite the amount of agony he was currently experiencing, he wasn't going to let himself perish within this jungle.
Hearing fast footsteps, he witnesses Iovia crouch down in front of them, holding a sterilized needle tied to a medical string ball. He flinches upon feeling a wet tissue wipe away at the blood.
"This will hurt a bit, so prepare yourself," the Pikachu warns before they proceed to suture the wound. Grunting in pain, the Sentret focused his thoughts into his chewing, praying the growing energy will allow him to endure this nightmare experience.
The next couple of seconds remain quiet at most, with the wounded creature repeating his task of chewing while Iovia patches the wound. Considering what he's currently experiencing at the moment, Achero and Pyxis don't push the scout towards answering any questions yet. Soon, his cut is closed enough for the child to incorporate a healing orzon spell, remedying the other wounds around his body. As for the large cut, it still persists but now it looks far better than before.
Sighing in relief, the Sentret looks towards the three siblings with both awe and gratitude. "I-I can't believe it! My wounds are fully healed now, and it's all thanks to you three," he says in shock. Adjusting his body around, he lets his head bow down before the children. "I… I owe you three my life now as thanks for what you've done."
Waving that oath-like compliment with the back of his hand, Pyxis looks towards the side in small embarrassment. "Don't worry about paying us back. As long as you can make it to your family safe, we'll be satisfied. Although… since you were here a bit longer than us, would you mind if we ask you some questions? You can think of it as payback if you really want to," He asks, to which the healed creature nods in affirmation.
"If it means avenging my fallen comrades, then I shall do my utmost best to answer them. After all, it's clear to me that you all are different among most children," the Sentret states, causing the siblings to mentally sigh in relief. While it's a rare occasion for them to be judged by their age, it nevertheless felt annoying to get looked down upon by older creatures. With a Pokémon who treats them seriously, however, it would be easier to acquire answers from them.
Acheros approaches the Sentret first in terms of questions. "Do you know why this Accelgor leader is occupying this temple out of all the places here, within this dead jungle?" The Squirtle inquires, causing the creature to check inside his bag.
"From all the scouting my group did, we came upon this," he says, revealing to the children a set of dark cards. They look basic at first, but upon closer inspection, the three find strange symbols related to another branch of cards like these ones. With the yin-yang portraits of the sun and moon in addition to contrasting colors and art design, a conclusion naturally forms within each of their minds.
"Entercards?" Iovia asks out of confirmation, earning a nod from the Sentret.
"Indeed. His army was apparently holding cards like these when we first encountered them. We managed to rob these from dead guards, but not before we got ambushed by the rest. I got away from them while my allies secured an exit route for me, but..."
The scout lowers his head in sadness upon reminiscing what remains of his squad, knowing they must have died in order to save him. Noticing this gesture, the three siblings were about to comfort him when he proceeds to continue his explanation. "I'll be alright. After all, my comrades won't want to be like this, especially with an operation regarding Entercards. I'm not the best theorist, so I can't help but ask why they need these?" The Sentret asks to himself in confusion.
"To possibly create a Mystery Dungeon."
Looking towards Acheros, who responded with that answer, he rubs the back of his head as he tries to explain his thoughts. "I mean, Entercards are normally used to create entrances towards new areas or other dungeons, right? They normally require ley lines to distort time and space around them, so they're pretty tricky to incorporate towards traveling. But what would happen if more than one magnagate gets created near each other?"
The group takes a moment to think about the Squirtle's explanation and question. Considering the requirements needed to open one, it speculates how this temple may be standing near one of these ley lines. If many magnagates open within this area, the distortion of time and space will grow beyond comprehensible levels. Going along with these distortions are the concept of mystery dungeons themselves. Even though many caves and locations within this world share the same layout, there exists some spots where a mystery dungeon can form from space-time distortions. If magnagates together can create a severely big distortion, then…
"We need to act fast, then," Iovia concludes, making the rest nod towards them. Even though this jungle was devoid of life, a magnagate can spread space-time distortions pretty far. In terms of reach, creating one within this temple would easily reach past the boundaries of this jungle. Considering the fact that many trade routes established pass through this region, it's perfectly clear what the objective is: prevent the creation of a Mystery Dungeon.
"Is there a weakness we can incorporate to the army within the temple?" Pyxis asks, causing the Sentret to think for a minute before coming up with a response.
"Well, they are trained to handle many opponents together. When my group was spotted, we tried to incorporate a physical and explosive assault, but they were well-coordinated with each other. Maybe they could get misaligned with a distraction, but I know for sure a simple assault will not work," he explains. The three siblings proceed to pull out the smoke bombs from earlier.
"Will smoke work?" Acheros questions, causing the Pokémon's eyes to light up a bit in terms of solutions.
"Possibly. We were out of these bombs when we initiated this mission, but I didn't fret over it since I didn't expect my group to get caught. Look how well that turned out," the Sentret says, creating some form of hope within the three siblings. Perhaps this strategy will be enough to help clear out the entrance.
"In that case, we'll try out this method," Iovia concludes, earning the nods of their big brothers. Reaching into their bag, they pull out a pin for the resting creature to hold. "This emblem here will alert recruits from the Quintessence to rescue you, ok? Just rest here and we'll fulfill the duties of your group," they state, causing the Sentret to nod his head.
"Will do… Good luck, you three, and make sure my friends receive a proper revenge against that Accelgor for me…" He concludes with a smile, closing his eyes for a peaceful sleep. Wanting to check, Acheros places his hand near the creature's wrist, receiving a heartbeat as a signal for him still being alive.
"Still breathing… he'll live, but time will be needed for him to heal properly," the Squirtle concludes, earning a nod of affirmation from Iovia.
"Not gonna lie, I felt worried I would be too late to save him. I'm glad to see he can live for another day," they mention with a soft smile on their face. Seeing that smile brought the rest of the children to emit their own too.
"Same. We better finish this mission quickly if that statement is going to become true," Pyxis remarks, causing the other two siblings to nod in determination.
Turning towards the rusted temple, they began to walk towards the entrance, being ever-so-careful not to alert the guards of their presence. They expected Fikhar to show up around the corner, but he hasn't shown up these last twenty minutes.
"He better not blame us for leaving him out of this plan," Acheros grumbles, his statement making his siblings nod with him. Noticing the entrance doors to be closed, Iovia closes their eyes and takes a deep breath. When they open up, their colors change into the same shade of pure blue back at the training grounds.
"Here's the plan, you two. I'm going to set up the illusion before opening up the door. When I open up the door, both of you are going to throw the smoke bombs into the room. I should be able to close the door quickly enough for them not to expect anything. Worst case, they'll hear the noise, but they won't be able to do anything about it. Once it goes off, wait a few seconds before we see if they're still alive, ok?" Iovia explains, hearing the hums of approval from their brothers.
Raising their left paw up, the Pikachu first sets up an illusion through a blank mind, establishing rules and appearances before an echoing click is heard. During this time, they could feel themselves within the room, seeing the number of guards there without being spotted. Black mist covering up their body, Iovia glances towards the entrance door and conjures a law which makes it appear unmovable. Seeing red lines cover up the door before vanishing into thin air, they turn towards the door on the opposite side, guarded by more troops. Thinking for a brief moment, they plant a rule where the guards can't notice the button on the wall, enabling the door to open. Through this method, they will be unable to call for reinforcements, rendering a quick moment of breather once they're disposed. Once again witnessing the same red lines, the child decides to stop there, letting the mist within their body expand. Touching the walls and roof, it appears to distort the texture and shape of the room, doing so without the guards noticing anything. After a brief moment, though, the distortions return to normal, as if it was just nothing more than a hallucination.
Not hearing any sounds to indicate something went wrong, Iovia then raises their right arm and inflicts Psychic upon the ancient door. Hearing it brush up against the walls in a loud tone, they wait a moment before jerking their head to the side for confirmation. Receiving the signal, both Pyxis and Acheros throw the smoke bombs into the room, making sure to press the button beforehand. Once some of the spheres are thrown inside, the Pikachu closes the door immediately, hearing the guards complain about the noise underneath them. Smirking, they turn their eyes to normal and wait for the countdown.
After a few seconds pass by, a loud boom followed by the sizzling of smoke fills the room, alerting the guards in a bad way. Panicked, they tried to find the button for opening the door, but they couldn't see it. Even blindly guessing the spot failed to do anything, throwing the guards off on a loop. Expecting attackers planning an ambush, they hold their weapons and attacks in place, ready to slaughter another opponent. However, one of the guards, a Patrat diagnosed with Capnophobia, crumbles down in morale as he slips down onto the ground in fear. The guard near him, a scar filled Grumpig, scoffs at his cowardice and grips him by the strap of his breastplate before bringing him close to her face.
"Have you lost your mind, craphead?! Get back up on your feet, or else I will personally see to it your status as a new sacrifice! IS THAT CLE-?!" Before the guard could finish her sentence, the terrified Pokémon grabs his axe and plants it within her stomach, causing her to scream in pain.
Hearing that noise prompts the others to begin attacking the spaces around them, resulting in them getting injured in the process. Stressed beyond any relief, the scared soldier tries to run away from the mess, soon reaching the entrance door. Not caring about the structural strength of this place, he strikes it with his bare hands and tail, incorporating moves such as Slam and Iron Tail. Soon, he hits a dent, but before he could attack more, a dead body collides with him at high speeds. Launched towards the rusted door, he breaks some parts of it with his head before trapping himself within the door. Glancing around, he could see the three siblings look at him in shock, not expecting something like this to happen.
"P-P-Please help m-me! I-I'm begging you, s-s-save me from this NIGHTMARE!" The traumatized Patrat cries out, resulting in the children feeling some form of sympathy for him. Walking towards the guard, Pyxis scans him with his goggles for a bit before he addresses the group.
"Hmmm. While he is part of the army, he hasn't done anything criminal-worthy yet. Plus, his attitude is not one I expect from a vicious criminal…" The Charmander remarks before nodding his head in affirmation. "Let's get him out, you two."
Glancing at each other with a nod of confirmation, the three utilized their strengths to pull the Patrat out of the door. Getting a bit of leeway, they soon safely pull him out of the battle zone, whose response is to curl up and shake violently. Sighing, Iovia walks over to the guard, pulling from one of their bags a blue orb.
"I can't imagine what you must have experienced within that room. Allow me to help you out," they say, placing it on the guard's hand. As they do so, the orb begins to light up a bit, which causes his eyes to grow heavy. "When the officers arrive to take you away, just speak the truth and you shall go free. Despite what happened within that room, you're innocent and don't have to fear punishment. If you truly seek redemption, work hard and you'll be forgiven."
Once Iovia finishes their speech, the soldier smiles for a bit, feeling a sense of bliss and peace from his current experience. Unable to control his eyes anymore, he lets them fully close away from reality, entering into the world of sleep. Watching his body go limp from exhaustion, the Pikachu steps away from the Patrat, watching as the orb loses its luster before finally fading into dust.
"I get that he's part of the enemy… but I can't help myself from feeling awful on how he got so scared," Acheros emits, causing his siblings to nod in both understanding and sympathy. If there was one lesson they all learned from their countless battles, it revolved around each participant having different shades of morality. Despite choosing to fight through violence, each Pokémon showcased how their beliefs and goals weren't so one-sighted amongst their enemies. This concept grinds itself within the bones of the children, forcing them to never forget how tragic and brutal war can turn out to be.
"That's how pointless war is, Acheros. Forcing others to fight without any feelings of remorse: that's the definition of either kill or be killed. Even if you survive to tell the tale, knowing you ended the lives of creatures who potentially had families to return to…" Pyxis explains, his eyes growing dull over the harsh lesson provided to him many months ago. Holding those same feelings as him, his younger siblings take a quick moment of silence before the Squirtle steps up.
"In any case, we ought to continue this mission for the sake of the scout and this guard here. That Accelgor leader is going to realize how screwed he'll be when he meets us," Acheros states, relighting the resolve within his siblings' hearts. Heading back to the door, the three peep through the hole the Patrat made to see the results of their strategy. What they saw almost caused them to step back in shock.
Bodies were spread around the room, with some hanging off from the walls thanks to the weapons embedded within them. Piles of limbs and organs were scattered across any place a creature's vision could allow them to see. The guards' unmoving faces showcase a range of emotions mixing between fear and anger, with a few of them emitting happy faces for unknown reasons. From their punctured bodies lies the constant flow of blood, almost covering three fourths of the ground floor. If one were to scoop up all the red liquid present, they could create a blood beverage for freaks who favor this liquid. Said freaks would also spend about a fortune to keep this room as their own, enabling them to do whatever they want to these fresh corpses.
Despite the horrifying scene being presented towards them, the three siblings do not waver and head inside to open the door towards the next room. Stepping past the dead bodies, Pyxis scans the entire room for information regarding the deceased guards. While he does so, Acheros and Iovia walk towards the location of the button, with the Pikachu taking the time to dissolve the illusion. The siblings watch as the red lines around the room fade into existence before the walls suddenly grow cracks within them. After a second passes, they all explode into blue particles, resulting in the room getting covered in a black fog. Once it evaporates out of the room, the children witness how the old room looks similar to the one Iovia saw before they casted that illusion.
"You know, maybe you should lay off on meeting Velius more often, Iovia. We didn't even reveal ourselves, and everyone here just slaughtered each other without any remorse," Acheros remarks, legitimately impressed and shocked by how effective the strategy turned out.
Rubbing the back of their head, the youngest child surveys the room for any unexpected survivors. "Well, I never really expected the enemy to have good defensive strategies in exchange for poor synchronization bonds. I'm… kinda scared to know if there were any good Pokémon within these piles," they mutter in sadness, worried that they broke the promise of sparing innocents and seekers of redemption.
Placing the goggles back on his horn, Pyxis turns towards the Pikachu with a smile of relief. "If you're worried about that, then I'm happy to report that aside from the Patrat, every guard here was truly evil. I detected numerous criminal records and none of them were willing to seek redemption, so no rules were broken today, Iovia," he reveals with pride before turning his tone into a warning. "That being said, though, this strategy did turn out to be pretty reckless from the both of us. We should be more careful next time, especially if I'm trying to recover from an outburst."
Iovia nods their head in understanding, acknowledging how lucky they were in this situation. While they do create amazing strategies with the Charmander, there did exist times where they failed to think of potential setbacks or alternatives. In truth, they never really experimented with this plan before, so the fact that it turned out well felt like a convenient miracle. Deciding to experiment more with the illusion trap later, the Pikachu turns towards the button near the door and presses it, confident on how it will open the door to the next room.
Hearing a rumble, the three siblings watch as the closed door in front of them opens up, emitting the same teeth-grinding sound as the entrance. As the process continues, though, the children all feel a strange, invisible wave wash through them, forcing a slight case of nausea. Breathing in a constant cycle, they soon return to normal again, but a feeling of suspense envelops them instead. If they were beginning to feel weird due to that wave, the space-time distortion must be getting stronger at a swift pace. Looking at each other, they all nod in resolution: they need to beat this distortion to the finish line. Before they could enter the opened room, though, a familiar voice rings out to them.
"HOLY CRAP!"
Turning towards the source of the noise, the children all mentally groan to each other as they notice Fikhar approaching them. The expression on his face was one of pure disgust and horror, each originating from the bloody and mutilated graveyard of bodies. Looking at the three siblings, his body shakes in fear upon the realization that their plan worked to this extreme level.
"W-Well, guys? I-I-I didn't r-really expect for y-your plan to w-w-work, you know? B-But… it t-turns out I-I'm wrong t-then, heheheh?" The Machop proclaims, not wishing to know the process behind how the siblings accomplished this task. Making a 'tch' sound towards the recruit, Pyxis turns away from him as he begins to walk into the next room.
"Seems like it. Next time, you should stick around and see the results instead of pursuing another stupid entrance to this place. Who knows… maybe you'll enjoy it…" The Charmander suggests with a grin on his face. While he doesn't truly wish for anyone to enjoy a massacre, he decided to say it since he knew how creeped out Fikhar will get upon hearing that statement.
Feeling shivers frost upon his skin and bones, the Pokémon rubs his right arm as he walks over to the group. "A-After seeing the d-damage you three c-caused upon this r-room, I feel rather f-fine sticking around as s-support, hahaha…" He mutters in fear, not wanting to provoke the eldest child anymore.
Snickering to himself, Acheros looks at Iovia and offers them a toothy smile. "Sometimes, I feel glad to see Fikhar so creeped out, you know? Does that make me a bad creature?" He whispers to the Pikachu, wishing for this feeling of joy to not dissipate so soon.
Nodding in approval, they turn towards their brother and reciprocate the smile back. "Nope! I hope he takes this realization into a valuable lesson lest he prefers endless teasing," they state, causing the two to laugh as they follow Pyxis and Fikhar into the next room.
Once they're all inside, the group notices how the room appears extremely dark, even with one of them possessing a fire for light. Reacting carefully, the siblings were about to scan the room for any traps when they hear a footstep near them. Turning their heads around, the three witness the Machop stepping on a seemingly normal tile within the floor. To their shock, however, the tile begins to lower itself within the floor, with the recruit not paying any attention whatsoever. This lack of attention continues as the room begins to respond with strange wall movements. The children have a hard time distinguishing what changed within this area at first, with Acheros pulling Fikhar back. But when Iovia produces a glow on their tail bright enough to light the room, their eyes widen in shock.
The walls revealed many holes filled to the brim with spikes, positioned as though they were going to be launched towards a trespasser. Each of their appearances emitted a strange glow, almost as if they were enchanted with a particular effect. Above the spikes lies barrels of gunpowder, placed conveniently to fall when a slight force from the wall pushes them over the edge. Above the roof lies upside down torches, currently unlit and dangling on ropes within the ceiling like a downgrade representation of ceiling lamps. Parallel around the bottom edges of the torches lies cannons filled with arrows. Placed a fair distance between each other, these artilleries are positioned to either shoot towards the torches or cut through the ropes. For the torch arrows, they are ingested with a highly flammable liquid designed to catch on fire upon being shot via cannon. With horror spreading throughout their faces upon the realization of this design, the three siblings turn to Fikhar with both fear and anger.
"Are you a bloody idiot, Fikhar?! I thought you knew to be careful around parts like these!" Acheros exclaims, not expecting him to get that airheaded. Scoffing at the blame, the Machop turns towards the Squirtle with an angry expression.
"Of course I knew there would be a trap here, Achy! I would have avoided it if someone here didn't dare to threaten me with a room massacre!" He claims, saying that last bit with an accusative tone towards Pyxis. Shocked by that misguided belief, he steps towards Fikhar with a blinding intent to burn his whole flesh and fracture his bones.
"Seriously? You were distracted because of my suggestion?! ARE YOU THAT MUCH OF A CRAZY BLOCKHEAD?! I was implying how you should listen to your teammates, not actually slaughter creatures! I especially did not threaten you with getting killed within a room with soldiers! Next time, actually think instead of acting on instincts and 'pure muscles,' you goddamned IDIOT!" The Charmander screamed towards the recruit, whose fear of the child escalated by a wide margin. Unfortunately, rather than listen to that helpful piece of advice, the Machop decided how it would be cool to grow a pair of balls and stand up to him in courage.
Smirking in response to that suggestion, the recruit arrogantly thrusts his chest forward as he expresses his thoughts. "Oh please, Pyxis, you should realize how much I do rely on my head! I listened to your plan, but I also wanted to make another strategy in case it didn't work out well for you guys! What could have happened if this sole plan decided to combust in failure? I do not want to go back to the Quintessence in failure, so you all should be thanking me for actually being considerate of this mission! So, why don't you all sit back and relax as I fix this trap like an amazing-"
As Fikhar goes on about his reassurance in his pride, he takes one step forward and activates another suspicious tile. Hearing a click resonate throughout the entire room, the group watches as the spikes glow bright, steam escaping from the holes. Reacting quickly, Pyxis and Acheros rush towards the other side of the room, not willing to experience sharp needles piercing their bodies.
As for the Machop, he waits for a few seconds in fear, unable to move his body in shock. Fortunately for him, his body gets enveloped by a blue glow, which soon results in him levitating off the ground. Securing him in a locked position, Iovia rushes towards their brothers, keeping Psychic activated in the worst-case scenario. Glancing around, they hear a loud boom before witnessing the spikes beginning to fly towards them. Focused, the Pikachu expands their psychic field around Fikhar, resulting in the sharp objects ceasing their movement. With a quick thought, they begin to turn towards the ground and shoot down, piercing the flooring and creating cracks as a result.
This impact causes the barrels above to slightly tilt towards the edge before they proceed to fall off. Watching the gunpowder spill out, Iovia grabs the barrels and its contents through their telekinetic powers. Glancing up, the child notices the contaminated arrows close to the torches, ready to light them on fire for the gunpowder. With a little force, they emit a psychic push fast enough to reach the projectiles, changing their trajectory towards the walls. While some of the arrows do touch their targets, the location of the impact is too far for a fire to ignite. Noticing the torches beginning to fall down, the Pikachu grabs them as well, safely putting distance between them and the gunpowder barrels.
As for the firing spikes, they continue to get enveloped within the psychic field, providing the group with safe covering. Soon, the four children reach the end of the room from the other side, away from the initiated trap. Deeming the situation to be safe now, Iovia sets the barrels and torches down before cutting off their psychic ability. Intentionally or not, the siblings hear Fikhar scream for a bit before he lands on the ground behind them, face first into the flooring. While Pyxis and Acheros look away in anger, Iovia remains unmoving, their eyes shadowed by their fur. Pulling himself up in pain, he gets up and looks at the three with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Well, I never expected the activation tile to be one step near the one I pressed. But hey, we'll all safe now, and it's all thanks to my great ri-"
*CRACK*
Both brothers watch in shock as Iovia throws their clenched paw against Fikhar's face, landing right on his nose. Expressing a feeling of shock and pain, the Machop felt himself fly against the wall opposite of him, grunting once he made contact. Soon, he felt his butt roughly land on the ground, sending another course of pain towards his body. Groaning, he presses his hand against his face, only to recoil back upon feeling a liquid flow down. Looking at the damage, he saw a small trace of his own blood, causing him to look up at the Pikachu in shock.
Before the recruit could say anything, however, his throat begins to tighten itself without his command. Actively struggling to breathe, he felt himself begin to float once more as he placed his hands against his throat, trying by any means to remove whatever was making him choke. Looking down, Fikhar could see Iovia glaring up at him, their eyes glowing a bright blue as they strengthened their hold on his throat. Becoming light-headed, he felt his eyes begin to water up as his consciousness slowly faded every second.
"I want you to listen well, Fikhar, because I'm only going to say this once. I have been trying my best to tolerate your attitude throughout this mission, but now… I'm at my bloody limit. Not only did you insinuate that Pyxis will send you to die in a room with soldiers, but you also set off traps as a result of getting distracted. I don't know what you're experiencing to make you like this, but I want you to stop acting like an idiot and focus on our mission. If you fail to do this one, simple command, I am not afraid to send you back to the Quintessence with broken limbs and a bleeding body. Do I make myself clear?" Iovia states in a calm, but chilling tone. They are normally the calmest among their brothers, so seeing them like this indicates how much the recruit screwed up.
A few seconds pass by before Fikhar nods his head in confirmation of the warning. Sensing truth in his aura, the Pikachu sighs before proceeding to stop their telekinetic grip on him. Landing back on the ground once more, the recruit violently coughs out saliva, his body shaking from the adrenaline pumped within his blood. Not bothering to check if he'll be ok, the child walks towards the door, ready to move on from this experience.
"Let's get going, ok? We are running on a tight clock after all," Iovia says to their brothers, who each nod in determination after getting over their respective shock. Glancing back at the Machop, they make sure he'd be ok before they follow their youngest sibling into the next room. Soon, after a few moments pass by, Fikhar gets up and follows his team inside, his eyes sharpening in focus.
From this point, the group of four progress towards the bottom of the temple with relatively few issues. Despite the high amount of tension within the gunpowder room, the children maintain a good synchronization with each other. To their shock (and relief), Fikhar grows silent during this time, actively beginning to focus on the mission at hand.
As they descend down the floors, they experience obstacles similar to the first two rooms, ranging between more soldiers or more traps. Whenever they initiated combat, the siblings stuck to their beliefs in sparing the innocent via knockouts and killing the unredeemable. They also made sure Fikhar did not kill anyone who wasn't truly evil since he did showcase signs of distractions. As for the traps, they made sure to not set off any of them through ignorance. With the siblings' abilities, they disarmed the components of specific traps like gunpowder and stored them within their bags for future usages.
During these times, though, the distortion waves grew stronger, staggering the children for a few moments before they resume their travel. The apprehension within the air grows thicker as the group tries to hurry on a quicker pace. Soon, the four reach the fifth floor of the temple, descending down some stairs within a hallway. Reaching a set of ancient doors, the children push them open and witness a peculiar sight.
The room itself consists of small, horizontal holes on the floor, connecting to form a line on each side. Near the holes exist broken fragments of wood and stone, looking as though they connected with each other to form seats. On the opposite side of the doors lies a higher, cauldron-shaped platform connected by stairs. Also linked to the room are pillars spread out around the area, with some of them being broken through various damages. Adding to the atmosphere lies the bones of countless Pokémon, varying around almost fifty-two species. What sets them off from normal, though, are the different colors of liquids oozing out of them, almost as though they were being experimented upon. This theory proves to be correct when the team sees a bandaged figure throw some into the pile.
This creature has a pink, curled-back head which resembles a helmet of sorts. Green stripes spread from the bottom of their eyes to the top of their head, intersecting with each other in the middle as a unique trait. Below the stripes lie a black, star-like hole dark enough to prevent anyone from seeing what was inside. Another dark area on their head lies in the crevice on the front side of their face, highlighting their exposed eyes. The blue 'bandages' the children see are actually cloth-like membranes, functioning as a way to prevent the creature from dehydrating. The top of their back holds ribbon-like extensions which makes them look like they were wearing a scarf.
With an appearance like that, the four children immediately recognize the Pokémon as an Accelgor, their target for this mission. Aside from the intersection of his green stripes, he really didn't have that many physical differences from his species. The only other difference was how the back of his head protruded a small, metal spike. His membranes do glow for a few seconds, but they presume it resonates from whatever he was experimenting with. On his hands were cards of different colors and symbols, revealing what the Accelgor is now doing.
Taking a few steps forward, the team gets struck by another distortion wave, only it's much stronger than last time. With the feelings of both nausea and light-headedness, they take a knee down and try to stabilize their breathing once more. While the siblings are able to get back up after a few seconds, Fikhar takes an extra couple of seconds to regain his grounding. Preparing themselves for an inevitable battle, they watch as the Accelgor turns towards them with a neutral, albeit bemused expression.
"Hmmm… I never expected anyone to reach me here, especially a group of children like you," he states, eyeing them carefully in case they choose to attack. "Nevertheless, you're all too late to stop me now. The Entercards around me are all set up to create a round of magnagates capable of breaking time and space within this jungle."
Pyxis scoffs a bit upon hearing the enemy's words. "Geez. If someone gave me 25 Poké every time I heard something like that, I'd be too rich to deal with this crap," he claims, adjusting himself into a battle stance.
Chuckling a little at what the Charmander said, the Accelgor places the Entercards down as he descends down the stairs. "Seems like this scenario is too familiar for intimidation. I hope you realize how I'm not going to spare you for being kids. After all, misbehaving children deserve a good beating whether they live or die from it," he warns, stopping his movement once he fully faces them from a distance.
"If that statement is supposed to scare us, you need to try a little harder than that. Some of our fights leave us injured or near death, yet we still apply a worse beatdown than what you're trying to imply," Acheros counters back. Silently, he reaches one arm into his shell for support items, making sure the criminal doesn't notice this act.
Glaring at the group before him, the Accelgor falls into an offensive position, beginning to create two shurikens made from water on each hand. "Is that so? Say you do defeat me, the rising criminal Balor? Are you going to spare me after I turn this area into a mystery dungeon?" He questions, allowing his body to envelop itself within a dark green aura.
Picking up their other headpiece, Iovia clamps it onto their exposed ear as they stare in defiance at the creature named Balor. "If you truly seek to redeem yourself, being captured sounds much better than getting killed, no? Otherwise, initiating a crime like this guarantees a ticket towards Azrail," they reveal, letting their cheeks sparkle in electricity as a warning signal.
Smirking from that response, the Pokémon fully forms his shurikens as he prepares himself for a supposedly easy fight in his perspective. "If that is the case, then so be it. For my first act as the ruler of this new world, I will slaughter each and every one of you!"
With that statement, Balor proceeds to throw his projectiles against the four children, who each react by casting Protect around each other. Forming the green barrier, they watch as the shurikens bounce off the shield with minimum damage, causing them to hit the floor instead. Ready for a counterattack, they dissipate the barrier just as Acheros throws a seed towards the Accelgor. Reacting in predictive suspense, he dashes out of the way, inches away from it colliding with his body. When the seed hits the ground, small chemicals inside ignite for it to suddenly combust, emitting a loud explosion across the room. The blast proves to be strong enough for random debris to scatter away, with some hitting Balor in the process.
Grunting in mild annoyance, he closes his eyes from the smoke spreading out of the Blast Seed, with it lightly pushing against his body. Suddenly, his instincts begin to build up upon hearing light footsteps approaching him at a fast pace. Trusting his guts, he dashes back just as Fikhar shows up from out of the smoke, punching the space before him with Thunder Punch. Finding an opportunity, Balor presses his arms forward and quickly charges a orange Focus Blast, heightening his mind for an easy snipe. Unfortunately for him, the Machop notices his strategy and responds through a blue variation of the same move. Aiming towards the Accelgor in hopes of striking first, the two fire their attacks at the same time, resulting in them colliding with each other.
A loud explosion fills the room once more as the two Pokémon fly away from each other. Staggered for a bit, Balor regains his senses quick enough for him to dodge a speeding object. Striking the wall for no damage, the flung item reveals itself as a platinum spike, prompting the creature to look around. Soon, he barely dodges another spike, and another, and another. Searching for the culprit, the Accelgor notices Iovia standing far away from him, reaching into one of their bags for another spike. Annoyed by the tactic, he quickly dashes across the room and ends up behind the Pikachu, ready to attack via Skitter Smack.
Before the child could defend themselves, Balor suddenly experiences a sharp pain to his left side, the impact being big enough for him to be sent flying. Colliding against the wall, he finds his body wet, causing him to turn his head towards whoever struck him first. He soon finds Acheros walking over to him, his mouth forming an orb attack in Dragon Pulse. With realization that he got struck by a powerful Hydro Pump, the Accelgor tries to absorb the water dampening his membrane. To his shock though, he finds them drying up quickly, resulting in him glancing up and realizing how bright the room is now.
Pressing his arm over his eyes for better sight, the Pokémon notices a bright ball floating in the middle of the room, radiating a heavy amount of heat. Looking down, he notices Pyxis approaching him with a grin on his face, as though he was taunting the criminal on how he'll get out of this trap. Feeling strained under the effects of Sunny Day, Balor pushes himself up and moves his right arm towards Acheros, charging up Energy Ball. Hoping to interrupt his preparation, the Squirtle fires off Dragon Pulse towards the Accelgor, resulting in him jumping up and shooting his attack for a potential hit. Realizing the danger heading towards him, Acheros withdraws into his shell for defense, feeling the Energy Ball smack his body across as he swerves for balance.
Before Balor could smirk in response to his success, he notices a stream of fire approaching him at a fast pace. Reacting quickly, he manages to dodge the Flamethrower from Pyxis, but it appears he wasn't quick enough to fully evade. His arm, interacting with the burning flame, manages to catch on fire, resulting in the criminal trying to quench it through Water Shuriken. However, just as he felt water coursing through his arm, the Accelgor briefly feels a light gust of wind push against him. The next thing he knew afterwards was a deep pain being wedged on his stomach. Pushed towards the ground, Balor witnesses the Charmander up in the air, blood soaking his light-blue claws while his body appears blurry. His eyes widened upon the strategy incorporated against him: a distraction through Flamethrower followed by a clean cut with Aerial Ace.
Just before the Accelgor could touch the floor, he felt another form of great pain, this time identified near his back. Trying to glance behind him, he briefly notices a long, blue horn belonging to Acheros before getting propelled forward, too injured and winded to stop his momentum. When the Squirtle got struck by the Energy Ball, he swerved his shell in order to move closer behind Balor. Once he was in position, he jumped up and allowed his head, arms, and legs to pop up. Watching his big brother send the criminal towards him, the child moves his right arm back in preparation for a Mega Punch. With energy flowing through his hand, Acheros strikes the Accelgor on his back, sending him flying straight towards the center.
Once Balor reaches a good amount of distance, Fikhar rushes towards the center for one, final assault. Getting close to the criminal, he proceeds to unleash a series of punches and kicks upon him at an alarming speed. Trying to breathe for one moment, the Pokémon casts Protect around himself, hoping to think of another plan. Unfortunately for him, due to his low energy, his barrier easily shatters after a couple of attacks from Fikhar and the three siblings. Unable to move, he watches as the Machop resumes his Close Combat, forcing his stomach wound to bleed more than usual. With additional bruises and sprained bones, the criminal felt himself begin to lose consciousness.
Before he could get knocked out, though, the recruit stops his attack and prepares for one more move. Jumping towards the Accelgor, Fikhar grabs him and recklessly dives towards the ground, pinning the enemy down for a total Submission. Feeling his body strain a bit from the constant attacks, it doesn't stop Machop from laughing in triumph over beating him.
"Looks like you got pounded in the ass, dude! As expected from my amazing moves and handsome muscles!" Fikhar boasts, only to receive a cough from behind. Looking at his backside, he notices the three siblings looking at him in expectation, as though whatever he said was false regarding the work done. Blinking his eyes for a bit, he sighs a bit as he looks at the pinned Balor. "Ok, my teammates did contribute a bit towards your demise, but it doesn't matter! You're pinned down, and your whole operation to become a ruler is ruined!"
Feeling his body lie in a small pool of his blood, the Accelgor tries to relax his mind towards another strategy. He's unable to get up due to the weight of the Machop, which can get easily solved for him. The main issue lies in how the three siblings could injure him further, leading to an easy defeat for the future ruler. Even if he fully heals himself, he'll be facing a severe disadvantage in being the only Pokémon against a group of four. If only he could grow enough strength to break his limits and conquer the insufferable group of children…
…
As soon as he begins to grow these thoughts, a strange object begins to push against his chest. Unable to take it out, Balor thinks of the various objects he currently has in his possession. After sorting out the size and feeling of this item, his eyes grow wide upon realizing what he was lying on. A small item capable of giving the criminal a chance to win, a chance to achieve salvation.
Prior to him and his army finding the temple, he met up with a particular Malamar scientist who grew intrigued with his goals and dreams. Despite them meeting for the first time, the Pokémon gave him a syringe filled with this strange, purple liquid. Claiming it would help him in case he got into a tough situation, Balor accepted this gift, albeit suspicious over its content. Before this present moment, he never really found any scenarios where he was placed within a tight situation to use this syringe. But now, with the potential to face defeat, perhaps he could seize the moment with this vague gift?
Struggling to push himself off Fikhar, the Accelgor turns his head towards him, his eyes holding a hidden glint to them. "Maybe so, little one. However, if you think I'm going to stand down and let you ruin my dreams…" Clenching his hand, a faint, black aura spreads around the Machop's body, something which the siblings note in confusion. Fikhar stands too proud and arrogant above his enemy to notice this change around him. "You're mistaking my great intelligence, foolish brat!"
Reacting quickly, Iovia fires off a Thunderbolt towards Balor, but they're too late. Within one second, Fikhar suddenly falls to the ground, writhing in pain as the enemy avoids the shock. Gasping for breath, the Machop feels his energy begin to gradually decline, struggling to get up from the Infestation. Rushing towards a distance away from the children, the Accelgor grabs the syringe within his membranes as he faces them. With the glint in his eyes turning into malice, he raises the object in the air before proceeding to inject it within the slash wound.
Getting a quick glance at what the item held, the three siblings' eyes widen in shock as they properly address the issue within the room. "Balor. Did you just…" Acheros questions, fearful of what the answer will be. Going into a prideful stance, Balor throws the syringe away, not watching it shatter on the floor with no fluids spilling out. Stretching his body in response, he casts Recover on himself, sighing in relief as his body heals itself of its wounds.
"I never expected that Malamar's claims to be true. I kept that syringe tucked away in case a situation like this occurred. I… tried so hard to fight without my rival clans knowing of my current deeds. All of them, with their great positions as crime lords upon the rest of us useless villains. I wanted to create a mystery dungeon here within this dead jungle so that I could create an army of feral Pokémon. With this army, I could topple anyone capable of surpassing me as a formidable criminal lord-no, a criminal GOD. Through my unlimited strength, every creature would bow down to me, and my legacy would go down in history, preventing my death. After all, dying only truly happens when no one remembers you, right?" The criminal asks in expectation for a certain answer.
Raising his looplet behind him for a silent approval, Pyxis glares at the Accelgor before expressing his viewpoints. "That statement may be true, but everyone will remember you for the wrong reasons…"
After pressing the right command through memory, the Charmander raises his left arm forward, concentrating his attention for any surprise attacks. While he does do, the space around his hand glitches out in a technological fashion. Soon, he found himself beginning to grasp a digitalized sword, fully forming after a few seconds.
At first glance, the weapon appeared basic, with a simple setup consisting of the hilt and blade. When a creature further examines it, however, they can notice strange runes decorating the metal sword. While it may seem like nothing more than decorations, they exist for a special purpose: enchantments. Through orzon manipulation, Pyxis can mix the blade into various type elements like ice or rock in order to provide an advantage during battle. Aside from this detail, the guard's ends curl up with two small spikes descending underneath on both sides. From there, the hilt is created out of durable black wood with the pommel crafted to resemble the head of a Dragonite.
Pointing his sword towards Balor, Pyxis drags his right hand across the blade, resulting in it lighting on fire. "I don't know if you learned about this, but that fluid you just injected is not a key to achieving your goal or salvation. It's a serum designed to enhance your bodies' abilities, both physically and mentally. Sounds good on paper, but in truth… you're going to suffer. From what I gathered about you during our fight, you seem to hold the Black Hole Potential like us. Your body will certainly handle the power, but…" The Charmander doesn't bother to explain the side effects, knowing how this duel will end.
Going back into a battle stance, Balor's eyes glowed pink as he summoned more Water Shurikens, only much bigger than before. "Is that so? Well then, I hope you prepared your bodies well, children, because they're going to be displayed once I dispose of you all," he threatens, only to suddenly feel something sharp entering his body. Looking down, he notices the same platinum needle Iovia threw at him, sticking out like a sore thumb on his chest. Holding the needle is Fikhar, smirking a bit at how he downed the criminal with just one sharp weapon.
"Heh. If you're wanting to seek a challenge with that new power of yours, then look no further than me, the manly Fikhar! With this needle stuck in your heart, held by my beastly arm, you'd need such unrivaled strength to even… stand against… me…" The Machop tries to express his point by pushing Balor down to the floor like last time. This time, though, he actually struggles to do so, using all his strength to no avail while the Accelgor stares down at him menacingly.
"What's the matter, little one? Do you not have the power necessary to push me down, like last time? That's too bad… I actually had a counterattack for that move of yours," the criminal says, taunting Fikhar into actually stopping him with his limited powers.
Grunting in anger, the Machop tries to push the needle deeper into the Accelgor's body, but the increased muscle mass inside prevents him. Before he could think of a better strategy, Balor leans closer to the kid, unfazed by the sharp weapon currently inside him. In a quick moment, he transforms one of his shurikens into a water sword. Just as Fikhar was about to move, the right side of his chest gets impaled by it, the water turning red as a result. Experiencing sharp pain, he cries out in agony, coughing up blood as a result. Lifting him up, the criminal watches him pitifully try to escape, unfazed by the blood dropping on his sword-wielding hand. Using his other one to pull the needle out of his body, Balor gazes towards the fatigued Machop with a hidden smirk.
"In terms of our fight, I must admit how reckless and impressive your skills are. Were we not enemies, I would have established you as my right-hand man. But no matter; you claim to be a mighty warrior, so…" The Accelgor pauses upon noticing Fikhar charging up a small Focus Blast, desperate for any signs of damage.
Chuckling, he flings his sword towards his left side, allowing it to dissipate back into a small puddle as the Machop gets sent flying. Landing on the wall, he begins to slide down, blood trailing down from behind him. Once he reaches the bottom, his body leans to the right side and lands on the ground as a result. With Fikhar knocked unconscious from the blow, Balor aims another water-forged blade at his prone body.
"If you want to die a noble death… allow ME to be your executioner!" The Accelgor states before proceeding to dash at blinding speeds towards Fikhar. In less than a second, he stands over his unconscious body, sword aiming towards the location of his heart.
Just before the criminal finishes the deed, though, a psychic blast sends him flying a few feet away. Regaining his balance, Balor looks in front of him to notice Iovia with their right arm raised up. A quick glance reveals how they wield a rather unusual sword gripped by their left hand.
In terms of designs, the weapon appears to be a curved blade, but with a weird design choice. For starters, it appears to be missing a hilt, leaving only the guard and the blade itself. Upon closer inspection, however, the wooden portion actually exists above the guard instead of beneath. This design choice allows the user to fight in either a normal or reverse grip style. The blade itself looks rather generic, but the guard of this sword provides the most details. Instead of being horizontal, it consists of a silver, cross-like wheel in homage to the Creator of this world. The inner section of the circle can equip circular devices called 'codes,' enabling a special function. These effects share a similarity in which a long, thin spike protrudes above the guard. From there, blue light gathers around it to form a peculiar shape, ranging from a blade to a spear. Right now, a code with the symbol of a sword is engraved within the wheel, resulting in the light forming a long, blue blade.
"As much as it would satisfy me to see Fikhar perish, I'm afraid he hasn't done anything unredeemable yet," Iovia reveals, pointing the steel blade towards Balor. "As for you, you willingly seek to create a mystery dungeon in addition to injecting a serum capable of immense powers. In my eyes… you're going to experience hell."
Angered by this claim, the Accelgor quickly rushes towards the Pikachu, holding yet another water sword. "Do me a favor, kid. Why don't you shut your mouth and allow me to initiate the worst beating of your LIFE?!" He shouts, swinging his weapon down towards the child. Rather than flinch in terror, they quickly raise their left arm up, positioning their gauntlet in a certain spot.
When the sword collides with the gauntlet, it emits no noise or sparks, but it does leave an impact upon Iovia's arm. Feeling a minor course of pain, they strike Balor's weapon with their own reversed sword, trapping it within the gauntlet. Reacting quickly, the Pikachu moves their left arm to the side, forcing the criminal to move and lose balance. Letting go of his weapon, he suddenly gets punched in the stomach before he could even act. Painfully feeling electricity course through his body, he flies back from Iovia's right fist, courtesy of a Thunder Punch.
Before he could regain balance in the air, Balor finds himself slammed into the ground, crying out in severe pain. Looking behind him, his eyes grow wide in shock upon the sight before him. The right side of his body is currently pierced against the edge by a dark sword. Its size was huge, almost half the length and width of a Tyranitar. The black metal appears to glow purple, almost as though it's being channeled by some source of power. The edges of the blade are colored purple as well, going along with the glow. Trailing within the sword lies a line of red gems, dully glowing as though they were not awakened. The guard of this weapon appears in a simple, horizontal line, with spikes protruding each end and the blade growing wavy above. With a wooden hilt and a pommel in the shape of a wisp, the simple function of this weapon screams two words: smash and floor.
Moving his eyes towards the wielder of this big sword, Balor finds himself facing a smirking Acheros. Raising his blade up, the Squirtle calls forth a huge geyser of water, sending the Accelgor flying with it. Quickly dispatching it, he positions himself in a stance dedicated towards one, single cut. Once he notices the criminal within his sight, the boy quickly swings his blade in a horizontal fashion, cleanly slicing through Balor's chest thanks to its heavy momentum.
Soaring far away from the three siblings, the Accelgor rolls along the ground for a bit, blood splattering across the ground. After a while, he finally stops moving, lying face down in his blood once again. While he couldn't check the damage, the criminal knew the slash did more than a simple, bloody knockback. His body felt too messy, his chest continually gushing out whatever remains of his fading life. Was he… going to die here… his mission… a failure?
Slowly, Balor pushes himself back up to his feet. His arms scream at him to stop this act, this courage to continue his goal. However, he continues to stand on his legs, clutching his red chest and ruined membrane. Able to feel the huge cut from Acheros, the Accelgor identified how lucky he truly is at the moment. If he was closer to the boy, that slash would have split his whole body in two. Gripping his injury tighter, he glares at the three siblings in pure anger.
"How? How are you still able to injure me so easily?! What makes you all different from that Machop?! Are your bodies full of that serum too, or is it-?!"
Suddenly, Balor experiences a weird, powerful sensation filling his whole body. Clutching his chest with his other arm now, he proceeds to kneel on the floor in pain. This feeling was starting to fill his mind too, providing him with… intriguing thoughts. Ideas consisting of ways he could torture everyone around him, whether they were young or old. The Pokémon considered himself to be smart, but he never thought of the ways presented to him so far. As much as it scared him, he also felt enticed into these methods, seeking confirmation for his right to rule every criminal. All he needed was power… power… power…
Placing his arms to the floor, the Accelgor coughs up a purple, liquidly substance, dripping from his helmet to the ground. As he does this, his body convulses and sends shivers up to his brain. Balor closes his eyes shut as feelings of both confusion and fear enter his mind. Creeped out by this new behavior, the three siblings look to each other for a confirmation of this event.
"Is he…" Acheros questions, knowing what the answer will be.
Pyxis nods his head in confirmation. "I believe so. Those injuries must have boosted up the process…" He says, keeping his sword pointed at the shaking criminal.
"Well, I suppose we have no choice then… we have to kill him. Are you two ready?" Iovia asks their brothers, to which they nod in return as they shift their gaze back to Balor.
After a few seconds of violent shaking, a strange protrusion breaks out of the Accelgor's back. It appears to resemble an insect's leg, being a pink color with black claws sharp enough to pierce the ground. The area near the claw looks small, gaining mass as one's eyes trail up the leg. Soon, two more legs of the same texture break the criminal's back, slamming their claws into the ground.
Raising the body up, Balor's membranes fall off, revealing a pink body with a green underbelly. Regarding his chest, the cut wound there widens considerably, spilling more of the purple serum. The edges of the cut soon shoot out white spikes on each side, fitting each other once the two got close. As a result, the Accelgor's ripped chest looks like a smiling mouth fitted for a psychopath. The arms and legs on his body extend further, destroying their membranes to reveal white claws designed for gripping. Meanwhile, the star hole on his head grows vertically, revealing a green, glowing eye within the shadows. The eyes within the crevice disappear completely, replaced by groups of long tentacles wrapping themselves around his neck. In terms of size, the criminal grows massive, looking like a colossus compared to the siblings below him.
"Kill… kill… kill… DieDieDIeDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!" Balor chants, unable to say or even think of anything except for killing. Such a fate for a Pokémon whose mind was broken by the flow of power. Raising his insect legs off the ground, they proceed to thrash about from place to place, damaging the walls and pillars. Now on his former arms and legs, the Accelgor takes one step forward before he emits a blood-curdling scream, capable of deafening anyone's ears.
Rather than feel terrified for this new foe, the three siblings look at each other before they proceed to laugh. Their laughter didn't sound like one of insane creatures, but rather one of confident Pokémon ready to defeat their prey. After a few seconds, they stop and gaze towards the mutated beast with a determined smirk on their faces.
Taking a deep breath, the children close their eyes, easing their minds into a calm state. As they did so, the noise appeared to vanish for the moment, almost as if they were teleported towards a different location. Soon, though, they dedicated their focus on their own hearts, able to hear the rhythmic sounds of their own heartbeat. Upon this simple feat, each of their minds began to expand, enabling them to remember their past experiences. While Balor was certainly active during this time, the siblings were only focusing for a few seconds, reaching incredible progress.
"Allow us to show you the difference between our powers, Balor," Pyxis states, feeling his scar begin to glow. This phenomenon makes the Charmander feel as though the right side of his face was breaking, but he still persists.
"You forced yourself to break your own mind in order to become a god. Yet, the power you're expressing at the moment is currently… lacking," Acheros claims, feeling his scar glow as well. This time, the Squirtle feels his right cheek warm up quite a bit, quickly increasing in heat. Despite the temperature, though, he still stands proud and tall.
"If you expect to defeat us in this state, get ready to experience disappointment. Although… I don't think you understand the concept of failure now, do you?" Iovia notes, feeling their scar undergo the same process as their brothers. Something weird trails underneath their hidden eye as if they were crying. However, the Pikachu was not actually crying at the moment. Rather, they were growing determined to slay the creature before them.
Opening their eyes together, the three siblings glare at Balor with resolution in their souls. "Get ready for your last moment, Balor! Because we're going to show you the true strength of a God Devourer!" They all say in synchronization.
At that moment, a powerful aura lights up around each of the siblings. While the outer colors represent the shade of their bodies, the inner section consists of a shiny white color instead. This shade represents the revealed status of the three siblings: the mark of a God Devourer.
Just like the Black Hole Potential, only 1 in 50,000 Pokémon exist as a God Devourer. In comparison to the former status, this phenomenon relates itself towards Arceus themselves. Appearing before certain creatures, they offer a proposal for a Pokémon to receive some part of their power. While the Creator's power is unlimited, this offer, should the creature accept, affects them more on a mental level. With this status, they are able to comprehend any form of power, including the strengths of gods. No matter what happens, their mind shall never break towards the point of insanity.
Despite the benefits, though, there exists a weakness for God Devourers. Even though they can understand godly powers, their bodies fail to receive any form of limit expansion like the Black Hole Potential. Meaning, should a Pokémon utilize a power beyond their limits, they will cripple themselves, even to the point of death. While they could choose to never use their limit-breaking strength, their bodies will soon break under simple acts like punching. Debates have spiraled between which fate is worse: body cripplement or turning insane from incomprehensible power. Fortunately, there exists a remedy for God Devourers too.
While it is extremely rare upon Pokémon species, these two statuses can stack with each other. Should this happen, a creature can not only wield immeasurable power, but their minds will never break into insanity. Only 1 in 250,000 creatures will theoretically possess both statuses, but many tales were weaved around these types of Pokémon. And these three children were about to create another one with this fight.
Pyxis takes a moment to turn towards his younger siblings for a new strategy. His eyes have turned yellow once more, only they now possess white, slit-shaped pupils. In addition, the edges of his scar expand a bit in the form of cracks, which glow yellow too. "Now that we have a big beast here in exchange for Balor, we may need a strategy other than stabbing him. Any suggestions?" The Charmander asks.
Acheros points his weapon towards the former Accelgor in anticipation. His eyes turned red like before, possessing the same pupils as their big brother. The burning sensation he felt on his right cheek was represented by it erupting into purple flames. This act gave off the appearance of the Squirtle's face being visible from only his left side. Interesting enough, though, he did not feel any form of pain from the flame. Instead, it felt like a strange cloth being pressed against his face.
"Well, we could blast him into mere particles, but…" The Squirtle sighs as he glances towards Fikhar's unconscious body. "I'm afraid we need to keep him safe no matter what. Do we have any items we can use as alternatives? We have gunpowder from all the traps we dismantled, so could we use that?" He questions in hesitation.
Iovia's eyes light up upon hearing Acheros' suggestion. Both of them glow a blue color, although they appear different from each other. While their right eye has the same appearance as their brothers, their left eye appears a little different. It consists of a white, slit-shaped star surrounded by the six wisps, each of them glowing blue. At first, that eye appears to be emitting a liquid akin to tears, trailing down their glowing scar. In truth, that liquid is a tinted version of blood, with their scar pouring it out as well. Despite that fact, the Pikachu doesn't appear to be freaking out over this supposed 'injury.'
"You know, there may be a way to use the gunpowder…" Iovia states. Sensing their brothers turn to them in expectation, they point towards Balor's teeth-filled chest. "I know the amount we have is enough for a big explosion. I'm not sure about it igniting within the room, but if it's within Balor…"
Both brothers felt their mouths curl up into a big grin. "We could break apart his body into tiny bits. The muscle mass would be sturdy enough to prevent the room from exploding, but not the body itself. I think it could work, Iovia!" Acheros praised his younger sibling. Pyxis seemed to nod as well, but he was busy thinking about a potential flaw.
"It's possible, but we need to knock him down first. Knowing you, Iovia, you'd have the best shot at blowing him up with minimum casualties. Acheros, think you're strong enough to go leg chopping?" Pyxis asks his younger brother. In response, the Squirtle raises his right hand and emits a black aura brimming with power. Smirking, he glances towards the Charmander as though he was being challenged.
"Perhaps… but can YOU do it, big brother?" He repeats. Pyxis' answer was to smirk as the symbols on his shoulders glow a bright gray color. Raising his sword, the Charmander chants a particular spell known only to him, watching it glow in his free hand. Applying it over the blade, it glows in confirmation that the spell succeeded, causing him to smirk in preparation. Embedding it with the element of rocks, the boy points the sword at Balor, keeping his smirk intact.
"Well then… let's create some chunky fireworks, shall we?"
With that phrase, the siblings each began their respective tasks. For Iovia, they dug through their bags for the collected gunpowder since they stored it there for safekeeping. As for the other two, they confronted the beast with their weapons on hand. Noticing them, Balor roars at them and sends his tentacles swarming towards the children. Prepared, they raise their respective swords and slash the appendages once they reach close range.
With Acheros, he easily cuts through them thanks to his special power: darkness. Born with this ability, the Squirtle can utilize it to boost his performance in battle, whether it involves strength or speed. In addition, he could ensnare his opponents with darkness in the form of fogs or objects compressed from said power. Whenever it hits the enemy, they experience a chilling pain capable of freezing them like the element of ice. With such a powerful ability, Acheros easily represents the 'tank' of the trio.
As for Pyxis, he equips his goggles to find some weak spots within the appendages. Upon spotting some, he smirks as he strikes at the spots with his enchanted blade. His results were pleasantly shown through chopped pieces and spraying blood. Such was the utility of the Charmander's special power: void. An ability of unknown history, the child had to work really hard to understand its strengths. Even though he still has a long way to go towards mastery, one should grow impressed by the process he carved. With void, Pyxis can pierce through any Pokémon's defense regardless of type or armor. In addition, his powers allow him to disable any opponents in terms of blocking moves or causing status effects. Due to the strategic planning of this ability, Pyxis really represents the 'pilot' of the trio.
With his tentacles either beginning to freeze or continuing to bleed, Balor grows enraged in this feral state. Raising himself up just a bit, he exposes the sharp claws on his arms before he proceeds to pounce upon the two. Reacting quickly, the children jump out of the way, with Iovia being safe thanks to being too far from the impact. Upon landing, the former Accelgor grips the ground to prevent sliding before letting out another ferocious roar. As he does so, his insect legs proceed to strike around the room, trying to hit the three siblings.
Watching one hit the ground near him, Pyxis stabs through it with his weapon before slicing the leg off with his claws. From there, he quickly jumps and grabs a piece of the squirting appendage, locking the beast in place. Noticing what the child was doing, Balor roars at him and sends another leg shooting near his spot. Detecting the incoming attack, the Charmander pulls the severed appendage towards him as he backs away. He reaches a close distance for the leg to barely scratch his chest, embedding itself into the ground. Glancing down, Pyxis fires a Flamethrower upon it, igniting the appendage in flames. Growling in a pained rage, the former Accelgor draws the leg away as he tries to pull away from the child.
Distracted by the Charmander, Balor fails to notice Acheros getting closer to him. Swiftly evading attacks from the last leg, the Squirtle fires an Ice Beam towards it. Upon it landing, he rushes towards the appendage and strikes at the icy section with his weapon. Witnessing the leg break into frozen bits, he tosses his sword towards the beast before diving into his shell for movement. With quick spinning, Acheros soon propels himself up with Hydro Pump and catches his blade for one more attack.
During this time, Balor begins to slightly tilt towards Pyxis now that his last insect leg was sliced off. Before he could fight back, however, Acheros gets close enough to cause one final impact. Buffing himself with darkness, the child swings his blade up for a vertical slice, strong enough to draw blood and tear through muscles. With enough force, the beast proceeds to fall towards the Charmander, who proceeds to get away from the spot.
Now that the former Accelgor was lying on his side, Acheros winds his right arm back, enveloping it in darkness once more. Glancing for potential attack spots, he notices one near the upper edge of his smiling chest. Smirking, the Squirtle fires a powerful blast towards Balor, watching as it collides with his body. Experiencing a strong push, the beast proceeds to begin turning on its back by force. Before he could fully finish, though, Pyxis suddenly rushes towards his chest, his fist glowing a light blue.
While Acheros was firing his dark blast, the Charmander was busy focusing his mind for a single punch. Thanks to Balor being preoccupied, it didn't take long for him to fully charge a Focus Punch intended for breaking. Feeling intense power on his right fist, he jumps close towards the teeth and strikes them with his attack. To his delight, the power was more than enough to form cracks on the surface, which soon resulted in his teeth breaking.
Crying out in major pain, Balor falls down on his back, too stunned to get back up. His stomach heaves back and forth, broken teeth entering his body against his will. In his berserk mind, the former Accelgor felt his rage boil to a new level. He acquired strength unfathomable to many Pokémon species, so why was he having trouble killing off small, annoying children? How could their powers be higher than him despite the age difference between them? Feeling his limbs now, he tried to get himself up once more. If he could muster up a few more droplets of power, then perhaps he could finally-
"NOW, IOVIA!"
Balor could feel his determination fade away as the Pikachu suddenly revealed themselves. Through Psychic, they were levitating a big load of gunpowder, ready to blast him into many pieces. Feeling fatigued from the damage, the former Accelgor could only watch as the child climbed up his body before reaching his chest.
Moving the pile of gunpowder over the location, Iovia jumps high in the air and begins to form something within their left paw. Upon a closer look, one could see the particles of the Pikachu's special power: light. Birthed with this ability, the child can smite many foes with powerful attacks, ranging from compressed weapons made of light to wide area eruptions. In addition, they can empower other allies in addition to themselves with their power, raising their overall performance in battle. Enemies struck by light experience a flaming sensation strong enough to inflict a burning status on them. And Iovia was aligning their attack towards Balor's stomach, with the gunpowder in between them for an added explosion. A fitting representation for the 'cannon' of the trio.
Concentrating on the particles, the child forms a physical spear made purely out of light. As they create it, though, small cracks begin to show up on their left paw. This effect occurs whenever the Pikachu utilizes their special ability, a price they have to pay for such a formidable power. Despite this consequence, though, they continue to form their weapon, fully finishing it in a few seconds.
Glancing down upon Balor, Iovia utilizes Psychic to shoot the gunpowder inside his chest. At the same time, they throw their spear towards the opening as well. It doesn't take long for the two objects to collide with each other inside the beast. Thanks to the heat radiating from the light-filled weapon, the gunpowder proceeds to grow hot on a rapid level. As the temperature gradually increases, the former Accelgor twists his body rather uncomfortably, as though something was disturbing him.
This feeling finally comes to reality when Balor's body begins to expand, with a loud boom soon echoing throughout the room. Reacting fast, Iovia casts Protect around themselves just as a huge explosion bursts out of the criminal, getting engulfed in the process. As for Pyxis and Acheros, they hide behind the latter's sword, struck to the ground for safe cover. Casting Protect among themselves as well, the two watch many objects and bones fly away from the blast. Many of these things represent some weird substance, but the bright light prevents the brothers from seeing well.
Eventually, the sound ceases to be, with the wind disappearing and the light returning to normal. Deeming the situation to be safe, Acheros and Pyxis leave their safe spot, with the former retrieving his blade back. Glancing in front of them, they have trouble seeing the aftermath thanks to the smoke filling the room. The Squirtle begins to withdraw into their shell, ready to drive the air away, when something suddenly shoots out of the fog. Hitting the ground and rolling towards the children, the presence leaves behind traces of blood, indicating some form of injury.
Soon, it stops and reveals itself to be Iovia, lying on their left side and breathing a bit heavily. At first, aside from some scratches on their face, they appear to be mostly unharmed, with the blood possibly being from Balor. Upon closer inspection, however, the two brothers are alarmed when they see the Pikachu's left arm… or lack thereof. As it turns out, the explosion was quick enough to blow the limb away, vaporizing it in the process. In addition, their right foot seemed to have suffered the same fate as well, with the spot now squirting blood instead.
Wincing a bit, Pyxis walks over to Iovia and kneels down in front of them. Readjusting them to a sitting position on his lap, the Charmander grimly watches as his youngest sibling raises what remains of their left arm. From there, a few seconds pass by before a strange phenomenon begins to occur.
Bones suddenly spurt out of the child's missing limb, setting themselves into the proper structure for a Pikachu's arm. Some bones also shoot out of the spot where their right foot used to be, forming the right structure for their species. It doesn't take long before flesh crawls up the bones, forming the exact muscles and tissues for the child. Finally, fur travels along the newly created flesh, resulting in a fresh new arm and leg for Iovia. It practically looks as if they never got injured within the blast, excluding the healing cuts on their face.
"No matter how many times I see this, your regeneration never fails to amaze me, Iovia. It kinda freaks me out a bit if I have to be honest with you. I mean, imagine all the pain you must have to experience every time…" Acheros says as he steps in front of his siblings.
Letting out a small smile, the youngest child watches as their jacket begins to regenerate its damages too. Considering it was embedded with their DNA, it makes sense for the clothing to possess the same healing properties as them.
"Trust me when I say this, Acheros. When you keep losing your limbs on an almost daily basis, the pain gradually goes away over time. But I do admit this healing kinda hurts a bit after fighting safe for a while now. Plus, I feel bad I lost my arm and foot in front of you two…" Iovia notes in sadness. They understand how their brothers get creeped out by this ability, so the Pikachu promised to fight safely when they were around them.
Softly chuckling, Pyxis wraps his arms around their neck for a comforting hug. "Don't worry about it, Iovia. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made no matter what, and the damage you received wasn't too bad. Plus, you have been playing it safe during fights, so I can make an exception for today. However, you do need to restart your streak now, and you were even close to breaking your record!" The Charmander states, causing the three to giggle at that fact.
"Grrrrrrrr…"
Suddenly, the three grew silent as they heard a loud groan. At this point, the smoke lights up enough for them to see the front side of the room. Staying cautious, Acheros slowly walks forward as his siblings get up behind him. What they witness causes their eyes to widen in both shock and awe.
Scattered among the room lies many chunks of flesh, bones, and organs. These pieces of Balor greatly varied in terms of size, with some containing bones or even vital organs. The siblings noticed some of the Accelgor's body parts, ranging from his liver to his lungs and even some bits of his heart. One common trait among these chunks lies in the massive pools of blood which connect to each other through the floor. As a result, it looks as though this ancient room kept a huge lake of blood, with no Pokémon living in it.
As for Balor himself, he was lying down in front of the staircase leading to the set of Entercards. His body was severely broken, with only his head, chest, and left arm being intact from the explosion. His right arm, meanwhile, was sent flying towards the platform, mangled and bleeding profusely. The criminal's chest exposed many broken ribs, with the heart missing thanks to it being disconnected from the gunpowder. Despite the lack of that essential organ, though, Balor was still alive, albeit barely. With burn marks all over him, he gradually grew weak as he tried to get himself up without his lower body.
"G-Grrrrrrr-ooooooo…!"
Glaring at the three siblings, Balor tries to drag himself with the help of his left arm, but he simply collapses onto the ground instead. Feeling his nerves begin to fail on him, he stays on the floor, seemingly accepting his fate of death. Intrigued by the criminal, Acheros walks over to the former Accelgor, carrying his sword with him.
"You know, you may be a criminal, but I'm genuinely impressed. Your heart is somewhere within this room, tarnished without any means of repairs, yet you still continue to fight. It may be due to the serum, sure, but it still intrigues me on how Pokémon like you persist without it," he admits, reaching Balor's head as he glances down at him. Sensing his chance, the beast tries his hardest to move his remaining arm, only to receive no response whatsoever from his body. Giving up, he tries to raise his head towards the child, staring at them with a dull expression.
Laughing a bit to himself, Acheros proceeds to raise his weapon, pointing the tip of the blade towards the Accelgor's only eye. "Well, looks like you've hit your limit, Balor. Don't worry, I'll make this as swift as possible," the Squirtle states, letting darkness coil itself around his sword. "Normally, I allow unredeemable criminals to say their last words, but in the state you're in currently? Heh… hope you enjoyed these last few moments of your life."
With that said, Acheros plunges the blade into the star-shaped hole, piercing Balor's brain in the process. As he did so, the criminal lets out one last scream, loud enough to chill the blood and bones of any Pokémon within its radius. After a moment, though, the scream begins to die down, growing quieter for every second. Eventually, the former Accelgor shakily gasps for one last breath before he loses all form of his consciousness.
Detecting no signs of life anymore, Acheros pulls the sword out of Balor's head, stained with blood and brain matter. His head proceeds to drop towards the ground, lying there with no eye and no signs of movement. For all intents and purposes, the Accelgor is now dead, with no one to remember him except for the three siblings. Sighing, the Squirtle proceeds to head towards the cauldron-shaped platform, with Pyxis and Iovia following after him.
"All of that effort, just to become unforgettable as a god… Was this really the most viable option for him?" Acheros questions, not bothering to seek the answer since the source is no longer here. Sensing his younger brother's sadness, Pyxis places a hand on his back for comfort.
"If he was truly that desperate, then his heart must have fallen into despair. Only a creature with no hope dares to seek illogical methods, even if it means screwing themselves up for the worst. Maybe there was a way to save him, but there's nothing we can do now. Besides, he already set his fate when he came here with those Entercards," the Charmander reasons, pointing a digit towards them once they reach the top. Since Balor stopped tempering with them, their powers have severely decreased to the point of opening only one magnagate together.
"True… I suppose some Pokémon can act that way. I… I pray that they have a way to hold hope in their hearts for the future, just like me when I have you and Iovia," Acheros states, causing his siblings to give him a warm smile in response.
Ready to finish this operation once and for all, Pyxis looks at the Entercards and unleashes Flamethrower upon them. Colliding with the symbols, the cards proceed to burn until they become nothing more than dust. During this time, the three siblings experience a small earthquake, standing their ground until the shaking stops. Checking to make sure everything is now normal, Iovia closes their eyes and focuses on the aura of the temple.
"Hmm. The aura within this temple appears normal, and I'm not detecting any changes within time either. I'm completely confident to say that we succeeded in our operation," the Pikachu reveals with a smile, glad to see they prevailed after all.
Sighing in relief, Acheros sits down on the platform, a bit tired from all the fighting. "I can't believe it. We actually managed to complete an operation with Fikhar of all creatures!" He exclaims cheerfully, happy since he no longer has to work with him any longer for today.
Giggling in joy, Pyxis sits down next to the Squirtle. "Indeed. It was difficult, but we managed to prevail after all. Speaking of Fikhar, is he still knocked out?" He questions, wanting him to be injured rather than dead. Glancing around the room, Iovia spots the Machop at the exact same spot where he got knocked out by Balor. Detecting his aura, the Pikachu notes how he appears to be ok, albeit a bit messy from the blood within the room.
"His life is a bit faint right now, but he'll make it. Although, he'll probably freak out when he sees all the blood on his body," they state, allowing themselves to giggle at the thought of his potential freakout. Thinking about that thought too causes both Pyxis and Acheros to laugh as well.
"Oh man, will that be a pretty sight to behold, haha!" The Charmander remarks, causing his younger siblings to nod their heads in agreement.
Suddenly, the children all stop laughing upon hearing a distant sound. Raising their weapons for any signs of enemies, they step down the platform and gaze around for any changes within the room. Feeling tension rise in the air, they were about to walk towards different directions when they hear the same sound once more. Identifying the location of the sound, they all turn towards Fikhar as the main source, hearing a rumble occur… within his stomach.
Acheros stares at the Machop in exasperation. "Seriously? We got fed up over a simple stomach growl? I thought Fikhar ate a lot for this mission, and I certainly didn't see him use up that much energy," he says in a questioning tone. Just as the children were about to agree with him, they hear another growl radiate from Iovia's stomach. Holding their stomach, the Pikachu looks at their brothers with an amused expression.
"Huh. Guess I must have used up a lot more energy than I thought," they guess, causing Pyxis to giggle a bit in response to this sort of cute reaction.
"At least you have an excuse for being hungry, Iovia. Compared to the blockhead over there, you fought just as hard as us from start to finish," the Charmander states, causing the child to smile in response to his compliment. Walking over to them, he digs into one of their bags before pulling out a familiar, pink-wrapped box.
"Well, it seems like we'll be safe here for the time being. In the meantime, why don't we all rest up a bit and eat some of Zeema's delicious cooking?" Pyxis suggests with a bright smile, feeling a bit peckish himself despite the lack of a stomach growl. Nodding his head, Acheros walks over to the staircase and sits down on one of the steps.
"That sounds great, Pyxis! I swear, I can hear my stomach growling for those sweet sugar cookies!" The Squirtle mentions with glee in his voice, causing the children to laugh at how true that statement was.
Allowing themselves to rest after a long battle, the three siblings proceed to relax and enjoy their older sister's love-filled treats. As expected, it tasted marvelous, leaving the three in high spirits for this form of reward. Of course, they did feed Fikhar after everything he's done, but after weighing the decisions he made throughout the operation, they only gave him half a sugar cookie. It would still be enough to fill his stomach, albeit not as much. In addition, they patched the wound on his chest, having spilled enough blood to make the Machop pale. Despite the implications, though, he would live for another day with a potentially learned lesson from this mission.
Times like these allow the children to reflect upon the process they made. There would certainly be more struggles they have to face, with some of them being much stronger than Balor. Despite this fact, however, the three siblings do not fear for the future. No matter what happens, they'll continue to fight and preserve their fate in both the world and in each other…
Author's Note: And that's the end of this first tale! I was originally going to post this as one chapter, but then I decided to split it after seeing the number of words both chapters had together. I don't have much to say other than feel free to leave a review for criticism or idea suggestions. The next tale will probably be posted at the end of this week, provided nothing goes wrong. Compared to the first two chapters, this one shouldn't be too long. With that said, I hope you all have a great day, and I will see you in the next tale!
