Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.
Author's Notes: This chapter took a long, long time to make. I'm sorry about this huge delay between the last one and this one, but I really wanted to get this one right, as this is the final part of the three chapters long battle. Well, I will not hold you guys up here any longer, any additional commentary I will just leave as a P.S at the end.
Final Fantasy VII - One Winged Angel === ( watch?v=t7wJ8pE2qKU )
"Won…?" Ethan stared at this man's ecstatic features, that gleaming smirk plastered on those lips are making his inside turn, vibrate in utter disgust. He tried to stand up, stand fast and strong against another threat; yet the pain and exhaustion held him down, knees touching the blasted ground, eyes facing down. "This is not a game… After all that we did, after what have been lost…" Golden gems flared up in full-blown anger, hatred even. Were his body once failed to bring him up for his morals, the blazing fury managed to carry out the bidding. Slowly, and trembling, Ethan got up on his feet, both hands trembling by his side as his teeth grind in an unhealthy fit. "Your twisted joke is everything but funny, YOU BLASTED LUNATIC!"
"Ha… Ha-ha… Hehahahah!" Holding his arms against his body, arching sideways with trembling eyes and having an almost child-like whimsical fit of giggles; Josh stared at Ethan, his body unstable in its manners and his mind consumed into a frenzy of delight. "Oh, I can feel it. My entire body is shaking, see look at my arms… I got goosebumps." Taking two messy steps forward, the young red-eyed man posed both arms forward, showing the state of the thin, almost inexistence, hairs of his arms. "I wanted this so much, Ethan. I dreamed of this my whole life."
A violent snarl flew by Ethan's mouth. His right foot stomped loudly on the uneven rocks in front of him, his entire being riling up with twisted emotions, a feeling that he has never felt before. "What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded, his voice storming out in a thunderous echo.
"It is written in legends, no, it is determined by fate itself. Whenever the situation is the direst, when everything seems lost… That's when a Guardian shows his true strength; a terrifying power which can force mountains to bend forward and the sky to descend on us." Getting more and more wild in his demeanor, Josh walked even closer, his eyes welcoming the other trainer to come forward, the sparkle in the color of his eyes defying that man to step forward and challenge him. "I can feel it, Ethan. Your rage… or determination…? I can't put a name to it, but something so pure and so strong is exploding out of you. To stand against this is so frightening, so exhilarating! So this is how it feels to stand against a Guardian on the cliff of the end."
"Why…" Ethan said in a low voice, his venting anger fading for a moment, getting overtaken by an endless wave of confusion. "Why, goddamit?!" His eyes, still burning with passionate anger, drifted from that sickening smirk on Josh's face, setting them on the trembling Poké-Ball sitting at that man's hand. "Why did you pull Giratina back to our world?! WHY DID YOU CAPTURE IT?! You can't control that monster, NO ONE CAN! It will destroy you, it will destroy everything."
"What makes you think that I care?" The reply was dry and direct, downcast eyes slowly raising to meet those heated golden gems. "Giratina this, Giratina that… Open your eyes, Guardian! The true monster is standing right here in front of you." His dark coldness slightly returning to him as Josh stepped to the side, circling about Ethan. "I solved the mystery, Ethan. I ascended where even Red failed. I don't need to be a tool for some being; the shackles that once were forcibly bound into me… I shattered them." Turning on his heels instantly, making a straight line to Ethan, Josh let his lips quirk up in a crooked smile as he pulled a second Poké-Ball out of his pockets.
Hurled forward in a controlled swing, the round object bounced on the ground; raising up against the twisted debris and exploding in a wave of light. A hard smack echoed from the leveled island, a pink tail bashed some loose rocks in the air, the air lash escaping from the hit blowing the ever-present dust out; revealing the form of tormented and angry looking Mewtwo.
"Gaze upon the terrible mutation created by humans, a crafted being of immense power." Resuming his speech, Josh raised one arm and pointed at his newly revealed Pokémon. "Similar to Mew in powers, I conquered this beast! No servitude for me, fellow Guardian. I am better than those creatures and I am better than you."
Ethan slowly opened his mouth, his lips parting away, yet no words escaped him. He looked down upon the destruction he is standing upon, then, he shook his head. A very exhausted sigh erupted from him, one hand fiddling inside his large pockets, pulling two Poké-Balls out of his set.
Shimmering sparks flew from the ground; soon a blazing wave erupted from the cracks. Two forms stood behind the curtain of fire, two pairs of piercing eyes glaring forward with a golden gloom in its wake. Flames and Proto, Typhlosion and Scizor, two of Ethan's most trusted companions stepped forward, vibrating with the ringing tone of their friend's rage.
"I see…" Ethan's voice sounds serene and distant, as if his outrage had deflated into a dejected admission. "There's no arguing with a monster, is there?" Despite his constant struggle to remain on his feet, the raven-haired champion stepped forward; his clumsy pacing is slow but current, taking him to the middle spot between Flames and Proto. "I will face you as you want to be recognized by, as a threat to this region. Without Brendan here, It falls to me to deal with this… Flames, Proto!"
Both Pokémon grunt in response, each taking an offensive stance in front of their trainer.
His once radiant golden eyes are gloomy; the powerful glint of those gems now faint, flickering between golden and their original grey color. "This is a battle we cannot lose, not when my friend gave his everything to try and save his home."
"That's it, Ethan! I am the threat; I AM THE MONSTER. Now show me; show the true power of a Guardian." The crazed dark-haired youth pulled another Poke-Ball from his pockets, swinging it forward and calling out his terrifying Aegislash. "I will be the one victorious today; in your very best, I will topple you… I will be known as the person who KILLED the infamous Ethan!"
Josh's enflamed proclamation served as the trigger to start everything. Flames and Proto jumped in at furious speed, even the always-collected Typhlosion losing his composition after those venom-infused words.
Dashing swiftly across the chaotic battlefield, Proto aimed both claws at the taunting man; ignoring every normal behavior and instinct, the red-metallic bug went straight to kill that person, sensing the extreme urgency and dread oozing out from Ethan. Yet, before those sharp claws could get close enough to reach Josh, a collision of metal against metal echoed all around as Aegislash flew in and bashed against Proto's attack.
Never before Ethan's Scizor was matched in speed in such perfect manner, even worse, never before his attack was so easily read by an enemy. The sudden realization that this Pokémon could not only match him but also anticipate his movements, left the red speedster completely dazed for a moment. This slight relapse in concentration felt like an eternity for both Proto and his opponent; Aegislash began a violent assault of slashes and bashes, attacking from multiple sides, unleashing an unhinged barrage against the dazed bug. Proto grunted, gasped and finally yelled painfully as his body went flying down against pointy rocks.
From the other side of this conjunct battle, Flames correctly set his aim at the floating menace standing between him and the red-eyed trainer. Pulling his head backward and them trashing forward furiously, he unleashed a molten wave of flames. The power behind this attack was so great that any rock caught in its way, instantly melted into a mess of liquid flame, flying together with the blazing inferno. Mewtwo watched as the tornado of flame spiraled toward him, and moving one hand up, pressing his three-round fingers together an invisible barrier appeared in front of him. Fire and melted stone clashed against the psychic-wall, sparkles and steam exploding everywhere as Flame's attack destroyed everything around them but failed to grasp the legendary Pokémon.
While Flames poured his everything in a single attack to blow his opposition away as fast as possible, Mewtwo remained calm and collected, his eyes watching Flames with a scary coldness. The pinky mutant raised his free hand, weaving his psychic powers on his surroundings. The same stones and wreckage Flames had melted began to twirl and merge into an ever-growing ball of infernal destruction. A pulse of transparent blue echoed from Mewtwo, hurling the massive ball forward.
Dodging something so big would be easy for Flames even in such hard ground, but doing so would mean that this gigantic ball of molten stones would hit square on the immovable Ethan standing behind him. So in order to avoid the worst possible outcome, Flames began to gather every inch of his strength onto his left arm, a bright red blaze exploded from his member, its glow overshadowing even the form of the Typhlosion's body. Exploding his empowered fist against the rolling ball of fiery death, Flames hit the thing with enough power to divert its direction to the side; a new line of destruction crossed against the violated island, leaving a burning scar racing from its right side.
Letting out a deafening roar, Flames didn't let his burning flames go to waste. As his left arm fell lifeless to the side, the obstinate Typhlosion charged forward with unparalleled ferocity. Even in all his calculative oversight, Mewtwo failed to anticipate any movements coming from its opponent, let alone an offensive move. Taken by surprise, Mewtwo had no time to float away before Flames landed by his side and grabbed his long tail with one arm. Flames trashed the legendary beast upwards and let go of the grip of his hand, instead his sharp fangs bit deeply on the dark-pink tail, forcing a powerful cry of pain to explode out of Mewtwo's mouth.
Swinging his head upwards to the right and then downwards to the left, Flames crashed Mewtwo against the ground. Then he raised his head once again doing the exact same move but in a mirrored direction. Rubbles exploded far high, echoes of the land erupted all around, as Mewtwo continued to be bashed from one side to another in an unstoppable rampage. Only after the ninth cycle of this attack, that Mewtwo managed to grasp his mind powers on the space around Flames and push the other Pokémon violently to the side, finally freeing himself from that painful experience.
From below the pile of rubbish that had felled on top of Proto, a ray of red exploded into the air. However, this is not a beam or a wave attack coming out from the bug Pokémon; instead, this is Proto himself, moving twice as fast as he was doing before. Putting an absurd amount of stress on his legs, the Scizor achieved a top speed far greater than his normal maximum. His reflected after-imaged spam from the right and to the left, moving so rapidly that Aegislash resorted to spin his body wildly in a frenzy trying to keep up against its opponent; blade high and ready to counter an attack for any side.
To the sword-Pokémon's surprise, nothing came from the sides he so fervently watched. Proto's after imaged came crashing down from above, and before anyone had the time-reaction to see his movements, his heavy metallic claws had already exploded downwards in a meteoric speed and power, instantly pressing Aegislash against the rough ground, even worse, forcing the Pokémon so hard down that his body created a crater below the water level.
Spinning in the air, Proto messy-landed in a spot a few paces ahead of Ethan. From the side, rocks flew upwards as Flames came out from his landing spot and walked next to his Pokémon partner. Both of them breathing heavily and feeling very weary after so little time in their battle. However not even one of them is willing to let their backs hit the ground just yet.
"Outstanding… Truly, outstanding." Said a genuinely impressed Josh. His scarlet eyes drifted to his trembling Mewtwo; bruised, beaten and hardly holding the weight of himself upwards. His gaze then quickly darted to the open ground where his powerful Aegislash was pressed upon, until now not even a sign of the sword-Pokémon coming out. Yet, despite how against his favor this battle is going; an entertained smile cracked his lips away from one another. "Not even a word from their master and they fight with such ferocity, with so much finesse and power. Sometimes I've doubted the tale of you besting Red, Ethan. However, witnessing your team right now, battling against you here at the end of everything… You truly are the best." As before, Josh's dark expression shifts and changes to one of pure bliss and pure pleasure, the side of his cheeks flaring up as his eyes flash with the evilest kill intent a person could ever muster. "It is now or never, Ethan! Put you all into this, command your servants properly, force their movements with your own hands and beat me before I unleash Giratina upon you!"
Ethan remained silent, his eyes hidden behind the shadow cast from his bangs falling from his forehead. Despite the clear provocation on Josh's part, Ethan remained steady and quiet, not even his fingers twitched at the slightest.
Proto eyed his trainer with certain anticipation, as he too felt the upper hand on this. If this man was crazy enough to goat Ethan to go even further and completely smash him on this battle, Proto was more than happy to oblige and destroy them.
Flames on the other hand, looked back at his friend with a concerned glint showing in his eyes. He knows Ethan best than almost anybody; they have been partners and companions for as long as Ethan has lived as a Pokémon trainer. The always mouthful, energetic and 'drama king' would never let an opportunity like this to slip, at least not the chance to give a super-smart come back at the provocation thrown at him.
The just once violent and loud battle came to a full halt, every living being on this island on the edge, waiting for any movements from Ethan, yet nothing came.
From the warm-hearted waters of the ocean, a soft breeze of wind blew forward, pushing dust into the air. Like a dulled glitter of dirt, this breeze grazed Ethan as a soft touch of caress; this much of a push was enough to topple his body backward and his head to unconsciously cock onto his shoulder. Like a lifeless piece of log, Ethan came crashing with his back against the ground, his messy raven hair just now moving away from his eyes and showing that he has long passed out from his own exhaustion.
A full-blown panic overflowed Flames and Proto. They completely disregarded their ongoing battle and dashed towards their trainer, to their friend. Proto getting hold of Ethan's head and resting it against the top of his left claw, while Flames kneeled next to his partner and growled loudly to get his attention, but Ethan's eyes remained closed. The only solace for both Pokémon is that the young's man chest is still rising and deflating, showing that he is breathing and alive.
"To think that our fated battle would end in such… disappointing terms." Josh commented with a mixture of surprise and disgust. "Destiny sure is cruel, denying me the chance to destroy you in equal terms. But as much as shall lament this moment forever moving forward… It all matters not." With all seriousness returning to his expression, Josh fiddled with his pockets and pulled out the Poké-Ball where the destroyer is being held. With a dark amusement flashing on his eyes, he pressed his hold on the Poké-Ball and moved his gaze onto the unconscious form of Ethan once again. "Ethan, you will die now. Together with this world you so bravely tried to protect. For there shall be no revolution without complete destruction."
The metallic tapping sound of a Poké-Ball bouncing on the ground echoed on. From the broken stones in front of Josh, the cursed thing parted open and from within an endless sea of darkness floated out, from within that Poké-Ball, Giratina was set loose yet again.
Swallowed by a gripping dullness of her senses, Zinnia felt her body be dragged back to reality by a violent jolt. Her lungs cried out painfully as her head jerked forward, her wide eyes barely acknowledging her surroundings in her erratic outburst.
"You're back." Silver's voice welcomed her, both his hands tightly gripping the sides of her arms with her back awkwardly resting against his chest.
At first, Zinnia eyed him with slight suspicion, quietly brushing his hands away from her and straightening herself up. Before she could ask what he was doing practically snuggling on her, she noticed that he has not moved an inch from where he was before, instead she is the one who has moved quite away from her previous spot.
"What happened?" She asked with a raspy voice. "That thing… where it go?" Her head went left and right, searching from the fallout of the battle against that monster, but only grey clouds graced her vision.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Silver replied with his gaze diverting downwards towards the far-away sea. "Something exploded, a blinding light took over everything, and then you passed away. I caught you as soon as you began to slide down on the dragon's back, then… Next thing I noticed we were flying up here."
"Brendan, I want to see him…" She crawled upwards on Rayquaza, the palm of her hands ever so slowly sliding up and dragging her forward. "Take us down!" She demanded. "We need to see it, we need to help him."
"Back on your senses, Lorekeeper?" The emerald dragon's voice boomed loudly, making the draconid girl stiffen and Silver to jolt surprised and most of all startled. "It comforts me to know that I shall rely on you for the moment."
"I can hear you…" Zinnia said a bit perplexed herself. "I thought only Brendan could help me understand your voice."
"A guardian can serve as a beacon for our voice, but it is not the only way." Rayquaza explained. "If I will it, I can speak directly to the two of you here. But doing so puts a great toll on me."
Behind the tanned girl, the red-haired boy seemed greatly distressed. "This is way too freaky. It is like some needles are pinching the inner walls of my head."
"Endure the small pain, human. I would not direct my voice to you both if it was not needed." Rayquaza's roar stormed across the sky like a thunderous drum. "We have not the time nor the leisure to be diverting our efforts. I will dive down yet again to face a threat, which refrains to give up. I urge you to act as swiftly as possible; we are at the brink of losing another Guardian."
"Losing another?!" Zinnia's dizziness shot out of her system like a cannonball. She gripped her bearings as best as she could, forcing herself up and jumping at the base of Rayquaza's head. "What happened? What the hell is happening down there? Brendan, where is he? I want to see him, I need to see him!"
"Steel yourself, Lorekeeper. For the battle is yet to be over…" For a rapid moment, the emerald dragon king considered the weight of his words, a strange act to him; to measure his words to address a mortal. Yet, be by his millennia of experiences or his own concept of sympathy; Rayquaza decided to let the words slip past his mouth. "Failing now, would make Brendan's sacrifice be in vain."
Zinnia's world fell in a spell of pure despair, she could not believe her ears, and she could not accept the meaning of those words. Her shoulders went soft as her mouth was left hanging agape without reaction; painful tears began to sting the side of her eyes. 'He is dead?' Her head waved wildly from side to side in pure rejection. "Go down! TAKE US DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Piercing words stormed out from her mouth, hurting the walls of her throat with their intensity.
Shifting in his soar, Rayquaza spared a momentary glance to his behind, if only to show that he suffers as well. However, his gesture is completely lost to the grieving girl. Shaking his head to maintain his own resolve, the emerald dragon let his voice explode in a powerful roar, for then to the tip of his head to dip down, dragging his massive serpentine dragon in a full-headed dive.
Silver, once again coming to aid the draconid girl, leaned in over and pressed his left arm against Zinnia's back. While she was not in any immediate danger of slipping out of the giant Pokémon, she is barely making any effort to secure a hold on him; her shock after learning of Brendan's fate is so grand that even the cutting edge of the harsh winds are passing unnoticed by her thoughts.
Traveling at such speed, the group hastily arrived on top of the devastated island. For a split second, Silver stopped to marvel at the fact of how high up they were flying; the young red-haired swears that he could see the glint of stars despite still being afternoon. But, quickly his thoughts got snatched to the pictured laid in front of them, or more precisely, below them.
Rayquaza had fled at great speed from the massive explosion that swallowed Sky Pillar, in so, neither of them got to experience the aftermath of the said explosion. Seeing what has become of not only the ancient structure but also the landmass itself, frightens not only the two young humans but manages to unsettle the legendary green beast. However, the worst part is something else.
A swirl of black, a whirlpool devoid of any light of life, is currently expanding above the broken ground. The same power, the same hatred from before is now emanating from that spot, as if Giratina was being reborn right in front of their eyes.
"Red-haired boy!" Rayquaza called out to Silver. "Set your gaze to that pile of stones next to that pool of black." He guided the boy's eyes and Silver instantly followed.
As the dragon spoke, two sets of elevated stones are standing out from the rest of the broken mess. One of them is resting awkwardly in a bent position, being held by the bruised body of Flames, while the other is pressing forcedly against Proto's claws. Both Pokémon resting on the ground with their eyes closed, but still acting in their part as they shielded and are still protecting Ethan's unconscious form with their own body.
"Ethan!" Silver gasped loudly in panic. He was more than ready to jump, despite their still dangerous height, but a harsh whiplash from Rayquaza's tail forced him to stay on top of the dragon's back.
"Don't leap hastily to your death. Those stones would trash your body into pieces." Rayquaza warned. "I will fly close to the ground, and then you jump to save the Phoenix's errand boy."
Hesitantly, Silver nodded in acceptance.
"Another actor steps onto the stage!" Josh's loaded words beckon them back to the battle, the raven-haired boy is standing behind the black mass with his back turned to it, his eyes set to the sky onto Rayquaza's flying visage. "Rayquaza, Emerald King of the Sky! You are an essential hurdle that it's needed to be removed, but…" He turned, pointed with one finger to the vortex of darkness behind him and shrugged. As he turned his gaze back to the sky, a small smile crept to the corner of his lips. "Would you be so kind as to wait for a little more? As you can see, Giratina has yet to recover from that small upset."
Ignoring the taunting fuzz of that annoying human, Rayquaza swoop down across the island, letting his body soar at a slower pace just until Silver jumped down in a smoothed part of the island. Right then, the dragon raised his speed and raised his height once again. Opening his mouth and bobbing his head backward, Rayquaza glared angrily toward that mess of darkness, completely ignoring the boy standing next to it; He fired a powerful beam of pure light, energy crackling from his body as that wave flew faster than sound and clashed onto its mark.
The attack stroke true, an impossibly loud noise erupted from the point of impact as lightning jolts spread everywhere and pieces of dark matter oozed to the ground as if it was spilled from a filled up fountain. However, after the initial violent start of Rayquaza's beam, said ferocity quickly faded, the light, the wind, even the pressure created by it was swallowed by the ever-enlarging vortex. Soon, only darkness remained in that pool, its state going quiet and losing that spiraling movement to it. It was then that a muffled growl echoed from within, and two pairs of red eyes flashed from the middle of it.
Still and provoking, those red dots of pure malice, stared up to the dragon in a complete calm; its gaze seemly taunting Rayquaza to do it again, to unleash an even greater attack. The sky sovereign is many things in his powerful existence, but patience is not one of his many traits, especially towards such defiant provocation. Giving in to the dark devourer's mocking leer, Rayquaza powered himself to its current highest power and unleashed everything against that evil pile of goo.
Once more, despite the incredible show light and quakes shaking the land, that gigantic wave of energy had little effect other than enlargement of the size of that hungering void. This time, however, Rayquaza's assault did not pass without retaliation. Every little spark of light, which has been swallowed by Giratina's liquefied form, suddenly came flying out from the ground, spreading in thin multiples beams, all without a specific aim and with a portion of the power of Rayquaza's own ability. Soon, the sky found itself torn apart by thousands of energy-needles.
Utilizing his amazing speed and reaction time, Rayquaza avoid nearly every small beam fired at him, with the occasional hit grazing and even managing to pierce his hardened scales. Completely engaged in a battle against a foe that hasn't even a physical form yet, the emerald dragon dances around the sky with the grace and competence that only himself possesses.
Meanwhile, a bystander to the god-like battle happening around him, Silver rushed in wavering steps towards his fallen partner. Finally reaching where Ethan is lying unconscious, the-red haired began to pull and push the broken stones away, his heart beating unevenly with his anticipation, the growing fear inside of his chest.
"Come on, Ethan. You can't do this… Not after everything you said, after being so confident and untouched by your brave silliness."
Silver continued to dig and push until he had freed Proto and Flames from their earthen-imprisonment. Taking care to pull both Pokémon from top of their trainer, Silver dragged Proto and Flames to the side, getting for the first time a proper view of Ethan's bruised body and dirtied face.
"Wake up…" His voice first came out like a light whisper, he somehow felt afraid of raising his voice and not getting any response. Taking one hand to the back of the raven-haired boy's head and using the other to wipe the dirt spots from his cheeks, Silver pulled Ethan closer and tried to wake him up again, this time giving a light tap with his fingers against the boy's cheek. "Ethan, open your eyes and show me that smug smirk you always has."
Once more Silver's plea had no response. His heart quickly sunk into a dark place, feeling his chest with a cold piercing feeling of pure despair. Yet, even as his mind had started to panic and his senses becoming an entire mess, the pale young trainer refused to give up; His free hand traveled back to his lover's face, carefully caressing the corner of his lips.
"Please… open your eyes." He pleaded, no, begged, one more time. His eyes trembled with the soft sting itching away as a warm and wet line slid down to his cheeks. As two droplets of tears fell on the razed ground, Silver's desperation was starting to scale further beyond.
Then a subtle stir came from Ethan's body, soon followed by a low growl. His closed eyes twitched ever so slightly, as he growled a bit louder, his arms began to move and his head turned to acknowledge Silver's presence.
As Ethan's eyelids slowly opened up, revealing his grey tired eyes, a full-blow smile appeared on Silver's face. Seeing the red-haired give out such a genuine smile and even better, such a beautiful smile direct only at him, took Ethan completely by surprise as his vision settled at the other boy's expression. He chuckled and waved his head weakly.
"Did I die?" He asked faintly, making Silver look at him with a slightly confused look and raised brows; something that made Ethan smile brightly and then continue. "Because there is a pretty angel holding me right now."
Staring at the chuckling clown on his arms, Silver couldn't even respond to that at first. In any other moment he would have face-palmed so hard that his hand would have pierced through the other side of his head. However, at this moment, he just shook his head and chuckled quietly. "Even in a moment like this, you still say stupid things." Surprising not only Ethan but also himself, the pale red-haired leaned in closer and placed a small peck on those bruised lips. Counting the recent turns of events in their 'relationship', Silver is turning out to be the more 'aggressive' partner and the one initiating most of their 'oh so rare' kisses.
Ethan had to hold in a burst of small laughter as Silver pulled himself back, his face more pinkish than pale white because of his burning cheeks. Choosing not to upset the already difficult to please boy, the young champion instead focused on a more pressing and urgent matter that just now flashed back to his thoughts.
"That, guys… where is he?" Taking a bit more control of his own body, he pushed his upper part out of the ground, finding support on his elbows. "Giratina?" He asked, turning to face Silver.
Losing his blush, the red-haired looked behind him, motioning to the expanding vortex of darkness and the grinning person standing next to it. "We need to get away from here." He urged in a pleading tone, trying to help Ethan to get in his feet. "That girl, Zinnia, and Rayquaza are fighting the thing; we will be caught in their battle."
"No!" Ethan rebuked harshly, a bit more harshly than he intended. Pulling himself free of Silver's grasp, he almost went down again, but steadied himself to keep a fixated gaze at the ensuing battle. "I have to stay here. Even if a little bit, I need to help."
"Looking like this?" Silver raised his own voice, pointing out to the fact that his partner can hardly stand up, even less help in a battle of such magnitude. But his heated words only earned him an even more heated glare from his lover, that flicker of gold returning to those grey eyes. The red-haired sighed, by this point he knows what a lost battle it is to argue against Ethan when he is like that. "Why don't you use Lugia to help, instead? It will be a lot safer and helpful if he was the one doing it."
"Lugia has exhausted himself to weaken Giratina before." Ethan began to explain. "It took a lot out of both of us to drag that monster down to a point where he was vulnerable… We can't count on Lugia now."
"Then what the hell are you going to do there?" Silver lashed out. "Stop this, Ethan. I know that you don't run away from a fight, that nothing frightens you. But this is ridiculous; you're only putting yourself in danger."
"I HAVE TO DO THIS!" Ethan shouted with newfound energy, which quickly faded out from his system. "Brendan… He did what I was supposed to do. And he paid the price for that." Looking back at Silver with a pitiful look in his face, a broken mess of himself, Ethan shook his head. "I have to see this through to the end, Silver… I need to, for him."
Silver bit his lower lip, feeling a bit dejected and somewhat ashamed of his own weakness. His gaze traveled downwards to the side for a moment, himself steeling his mind and his heart to what he needed to do, and so he did. His gaze jolted back to Ethan with a new confident light within them. "Then, WE will see this through the end."
Ethan's face melted in a thankful smile, his eyes softening up as he raised both hands towards Silver, asking for help to get up. Letting himself be pulled up to his feet, the raven-haired trainer smiled and nudged his arm closer against Silver's. "Thank you for understanding."
"We are a team… I guess I am stuck with you until the end." Silver replied with a stoic tone but with a tingle of playfulness to it.
"I guess you are."
With the cold patience of a trained killer, Josh simply watched as Rayquaza continued to dodge the continuous streams erupting out from Giratina's puddle. He as more than content to just observe as the emerald dragon was tiring himself out in a useless struggle while Giratina is getting more and more powerful as his corporal form takes shape yet again. However, it took a little more than a glance to the girl tightly holding onto the dragon's back to make a dark thought rise and fester inside Josh's twisted mind, a dark grin spreading over his lips.
"Let me congratulate you, Dragon King. Your guardian was something special, something more than even I care to admit." The young trainer began to address Rayquaza with his condescending tone, while aiming his every intention towards the dark-skinned woman at the dragon's back. "Imagine my shock to see Brendan taking down Giratina, oh, and not only our brave hero did the impossible, but he also bested the beast having only Groudon at his side… truly impressive."
"Why won't you shut your trap?!" Zinnia enraged voice echoed from above. She jiggled in her hold around Rayquaza's back to get a clear view of that annoying person.
"Lorekeeper Zinnia, that isn't a very polite thing to say." He mocked her with a waving finger. "I expected you of all people to be interested to know where Brendan is. Was I wrong?"
"Don't listen to him, girl." Rayquaza warned. "His words are full of venom and his only intention is to drive you off the edge."
Biting her lips in utter frustration, feeling powerless and confused; she shook her head, pressing her cheeks against the cold scales of the green dragon. Everything is such a mess inside her mind, one moment ago, Brendan was standing by her side, and now he is simply gone. 'Where is he...?' She first asked with an echo inside her thoughts, but as her eyes diverted back to that vile person her question stormed out from her lips. "Where is Brendan? What have you done with him?"
The man raised both hands in front of him, opening them in a full spread to show absolutely nothing on his palms. "He is gone, of course." He said with a dark but content tone. "Severed from this world by the same weapon he used to strike down the monster in front of him."
If Zinnia was shaken before, right now her resolve shattered in a million pieces. Tiny bits of her life flashed in front of her eyes, how adventures she has always been, how detached from most things apart from her duty her mind always felt. Then subtle changes began to form around the edges as soon as she met that spirited boy, a young soul so brave and determined that inspired her to seek her own path in life separated from her duty as a Lorekeeper. She learned to respect him, to understand a bit more about life because of him, she began to love him... now he was taken away from her.
Quiet sobs sounded out from her, her heart feeling barren of any joy as if the flames of happiness has been snatched away from her together with Brendan. "It's not true…" She immersed herself onto Giratina's warmth, losing control over her grief, which translated to two streams of tears gliding down her cheeks.
"Heh… Haha… To think that his brave sacrifice would allow me to capture Giratina and reign over the beast without anything left capable of stopping it." Thunderous laughter stormed out from the boy, one hand reaching to his forehead as his back ached and he laughed away towards the sky. "I delight in the irony."
"Don't count on your victory yet, loud-mouth." Ethan's words rebuked him, despite how low and weakened his voice sounded, his timely comeback managed to wipe away the almost lunatic smirk of Josh's face. "You may fantasize about Guardians and their role, but you're not one us. And as the present member of my group of freaks, let me educate you on something important. A true guardian is not someone filled with power or someone capable of controlling Pokémon, as you may have thought. Our virtue is the wish to protect and keep safe those who cannot stand up for themselves."
A disgusted scoff was the evil trainer's response, his eyes lazily dangling on Ethan's form. "Your point?" He said annoyed. "The broken man incapable of standing up for himself, is berating me on my vision? Say Ethan, now that you can't stand up against the tides of change washing over you, who will save you?"
"You still don't get it, do you?" Ethan replied with a sheepish grin, something that deeply infuriated the other man. "Right here there are still people willing to stand up and face you. We are not born Guardians, slowpoke."
'The Phoenix boy speaks the truth.' Rayquaza's words echoed inside Zinnia's mind, for the first time he transferred his thoughts exclusively to her. 'When the world needed him, Brendan answered my call and rose to the role. Nigh is the time of your own choice, Lorekeeper. You received from him a safe keep didn't you? Something precious and powerful, which Brendan trusted only to you, something that you yourself once gave to him.'
Reaching out to her like a siren's call, a pull drove Zinnia's attention and every thought to the shining light sparkling inside her pocket. She reached inside with one hand, feeling the warm sensation graze her fingers and finally wash over her entire body as she grasped the tiny stone.
'I demanded everything and even more from Brendan, in hopes that the world would survive.' Rayquaza began speaking again, his voice carrying a pang of profound guilt on them. 'Now I ask of you, Zinnia. Accept your own fate as my next Guardian and protect the world Brendan gave his life for.'
Furious, saddened, confused. Zinnia is overwhelmed by her own emotions, after hearing Rayquaza admit his own fault at Brendan's fate, the young woman wanted nothing more than to lash out at him. However, each other word ringed truthfully inside of her being. Brendan did what he did for her, for them.
Closing her eyes, taking everything in. Zinnia wrapped her fingers tightly onto that stone, bringing it closer to her chest and feeling its power filling her up, connecting her as an individual together with Rayquaza's own essence. Like an explosion of thoughts and emotion, Zinnia felt her own past self be washed away by everything new that she had just become. With a single cycle of her breathing she could feel Hoenn in its entirety, the land alive and breathing together with her. She opened up her eyes to see more than the darkened sky surrounding her, she saw the little Pokémon running away on the mainland, the aquatic lives cowering in fear over that monstrosity threatening everything.
It is like she had merged not only with Rayquaza but with that side of the planet as well.
'Brendan, you felt like this every day?' She mused to herself. Seeing Brendan so calm and collect most of the times, always poised and concentrated on the people around him. It amazed her would he could do all that while something as powerful as this was ever so present to him every time.
Mesmerized in her own thoughts, Zinnia completely ignored the growing light surrounding and engulfing herself and Rayquaza. The light soon transformed into a swirling dome of pure light, expanding like a gentle turmoil. This calm however, lasted only for a while; as from its sides two ley lines of yellow color swirled wildly in the air, a bulkier tail colored in emerald green and black violently swoop from behind. Soon Rayquaza's most powerful form exploded from there, flying impossible faster than before with the only clue to his path being the massive cracks of lightning left in his trail.
The bystanders below on the island could only see the crackling lines guiding inside the massive dark clouds that now completely fills the sky. At each swing of direction the dragon king takes, the entire sky lights up with a tempest, revealing only his menacing silhouette from behind the grey clouds.
Ever the defiant person, Josh just grinned as he watched the display of pure power coming from the other side. Giving a slight shaking with his head, he chuckled. "Impressive, emerald fiend. Yet, your every struggle is futile in the face of-"
His world, everyone's world, turned into a blur of white and yellow. His hearing senses completely shut off for a long moment, leaving him lost and dazed as to what the hell just happened in front of him. Only when his vision cleared up a tiny bit from its cloudy blur that he could witness the gaping hole staring at him from the ground. Taking his eyes up, with an infernal ringing noise stirring the inside of his head, he saw an identical hole scaring the sky. That menacing vortex of lazy swirling darkness was nowhere to be seen, in its place is left only that massive crater that for just a few steps of distance didn't swallow Josh as well.
A terrifying screech erupted from the hole, a cry of pain and a cry of fear. Giratina's voice stormed out for the first time not as a tyrannical menace but as a helpless creature suffering from the horrible pain. This terrible noise continued to linger, as the Pokémon struggled below the earth, trashing and yelling in complete desperation.
"Impossible…" Josh said, stunned by the events unfolding in front of him. "Giratina's power in unparalleled, he is the bane of worlds, he is-"
Once more, the invasion of white and yellow clashed down from the sky. This time it was more recognizable as a massive beam of lightning unleashed by the Rayquaza up in the air. Everything trembled at the clash of this attack at the already open hole at the ground. Giratina's voice became almost unbearable to hear, the creature is clearly in pain, in more pain than it has ever suffered in its entire existence.
Feeling his own heart shake in full despair, Josh shot his gaze everywhere, searching for a way, any way. Then his eyes landed on both of his unconscious Pokémon, and a sadistic smile crossed his lips. "I… will not… let you ruin this!" He snarled in between his struggles to drag Mewtwo and Aegislash across the demolished island. "The devourer… will rise again, even if I have to feed him myself." Without batting an eye to the monstrosity of his action, the young crazed man hurled both Pokémon inside the hole and waited with a dark gleam in his eyes. "Consume them and get back to your feet."
As soon as those two got abandoned inside that blasted hole, Giratina's tormented voice stopped. An eerie sensation began to flow out from that crater, a chilling fog oozing out to the surface. From within that confined space, the terrible creature arose yet again. His body slowly settling in its physical form, the small pieces of him still in a dark gooey from are wrapping the bodies of Mewtwo and Aegislash, sucking them in until both disappeared inside of him.
The grey dragon has his gaze totally focused on Rayquaza, his red eyes twitching in pure anger. If this monster was angry before, now he is completely irate and ready to unleash his vengeance upon everything.
"Hear me, oh bringer of chaos. I shall serve as your beacon to this world, as your darkness. But you will serve as my unstoppable weapon." Josh called out to the giant Pokémon, which simply ignored him. "HAVE YOU HEARD ME?"
If Giratina has heard his voice, the dragon made no gesture to symbolize it. He is too immersed and lost within an evil spiral of raging thoughts. At the first moment, Giratina tried to squish his own body down into a cylindrical form, his dark wings twisting and cracking with a painful sound. But despite his every struggle, the Pokémon could not change his body to whatever he was trying to do, this frustration only fulling his anger even further.
Opening his mouth and trashing his head backward, Giratina expanded both wings that cracked loudly back in place. From behind him, a gigantic curtain of darkness took form, this strange phenomenon growing as far as the sky existed, covering half of the island in total darkness yet again.
As from before, countless claws and tendril flew from this expanding darkness, each member flying at incredible speed towards Rayquaza, each creeping darkness hungering for blood and death.
Before, Rayquaza had to dodge and nearly be surrounded by the stream of hands reaching out to him. This time, the powerful king stood completely still. He allowed Giratina to touch, slash and grab with as many tendrils and claws as he wanted, just to prove and show his real power. When the entire lower side of his body had been overtaken by raging darkness, Rayquaza roared in his mighty voice, his body crackling with lightning, banishing anything hostile, that was touching him to nothingness.
To further show his growth in power, Rayquaza took aim at the towering blanket of shadows behind Giratina and unleashed one of his powerful beams of light. A massive hole was torn at the surface of that thing, but that was only the beginning. Crackling remnants of energy spread all over its entirety, totally collapsing the curtain made by Giratina, piece by piece.
Madly flailing in rage, Giratina unleashed a beam of his own. His wave of energy a mirrored opposite of the one coming from Rayquaza; pure ravenous darkness sipping away every bit of warm in its path. The destroyer's challenge though was met with a proper response.
Rayquaza, letting his power flow from his entire body, created a sparkling ball of white and yellow in front of his mouth, at the tip of his green 'tusks'. Dwarfing Giratina's attempt of a powerful roar, Rayquaza's voice overwhelmed the entire world as he unleashed his most deadly attack without a shred of mercy. Both beams clashed against each other, at first standing in an equal match, but only for a moment as Rayquaza's power proved to be far too much for the grey dragon to handle.
Giratina could only watch as that pillar of unbelievable power crashed on top of him. He felt his body be squished onto the earth, the same unbearable pain from before coming back, now ten times worse. As the Sky King's light faded away, it revealed Giratina's beaten and deformed body on the ground, the creature doing everything in its power to get himself back together and after some excruciating screeches of pain, he finally stood whole again.
Once in his heavy feet again, Giratina tried to squish himself again, his wings cracking and trembling desperately trying to change into something different, but failing altogether. The giant grey dragon cried out desperately toward the sky, trashing the ground beneath him in a fit of anger.
"What are you doing?!" Josh yelled out angrily, seeing the unbeatable Pokémon be handled so easily, left the young trainer in a truly desperate daze. 'Why does he keep hurting himself? What is the point of squishing his body like that? Is he trying to kill himself or is he…' A look of realization washed over his preoccupied face. Leaving behind any reservation or any consideration for his own safety, he dashed onwards the furious monster. Avoiding Giratina's stomping feet, Josh latched himself onto the dragon's body and began to climb it until he reached the top of its head. "Giratina, listen to me!" He shouted as loud as he could, barely managing to get the creature's attention. "I told you, I will be your beacon, your anchor… your Darkness. For my ambitions I will accept even the void, now reach out to me, as that dragon did with the girl. I am a Guardian, I can unleash your true potential."
Studying the man above him with an attentive silence, Giratina stopped his irrational behavior to consider those words.
"I am the bringer of nothingness, pathetic creature." His voice erupted from within him, carrying as much cold and evil as his own body does. "Destruction of everything is my destiny."
"And mine is to bring forward said destruction." The boy replied with a dark grin. "However, you will achieve nothing if that dragon destroys you, neither will I. So swallow your pride and accept what you need from me."
One more time, Giratina found himself stuck in a surprised reaction. This human not only didn't fear him but desired the same thing as him. A twisted amusement crossed his mind for a moment, to think that this side of reality would still harbor a being similar to him. Maybe it is destiny itself trying to make amends to him or just an inevitable turn from fate. Either way, Giratina consented in a silent nod.
Josh felt his footing disappear as his body began to sink inside Giratina's body. The boy breathed harshly, his nerves almost exploding with anticipation and terror; he waited to be consumed entirely just like Mewtwo and Aegislash have been just moments before. To his surprise, the dreading sensation disappeared when half of his body had disappeared inside that grey body, the other half getting settled in a firm hold, locking both in a symbiotic existence.
The shift in Giratina's senses was immediate. The boy attached to him felt like a disjointed bone that has sprung out of his body and at the same time a source of stability, a point of control like he has never felt before. No, he has felt it, but only inside his prison, inside that deplorable place. Sinking in the amazing sensation of finally being free of his last cage, Giratina effortlessly commanded his body to change.
His wings cracked loudly, snapping out in long six tendrils of darkness on his back. His legs got squished and swallowed back inside his body, leaving out only sharp spikes in their places; right then his bulky shape began to thin into a more serpentine shape, with the last change coming as the golden plates of his face moved in and formed resilient guard covering his mouth.
"Free at last…"
"Free at last…"
Two voices came out in complete unison, one from the grey dragon and the other from the boy merged with him.
"To spread my wings over this plane, to watch over your expired existence with my true eyes. Unspeakable satisfaction."
"To spread my wings over this plane, to watch over your expired existence with my true eyes. Unspeakable satisfaction."
"Are you that out of touch?!" Zinnia's enraged voice sounded off from above, as Rayquaza descended on them. "Why do you keep doing that ridiculous stuff? What is so messed up with you that you will keep bringing that monster back?" Her once red eyes now overtaken by a powerful green glow, stares at the monstrous creature in front of her with total disgust.
"A vermin's place is not to ask questions. A vermin's destiny is to die, as you soon shall learn."
"A vermin's place is not to ask questions. A vermin's destiny is to die, as you soon shall learn."
A dark veil exploded from Giratina's body, this thin layer of shadows run past everything and everyone, setting itself around them in a circular manner and soon erecting the same dome of darkness as before, but this time much bigger and much more powerful.
"You! Critter of the skies, you have also been chosen by fate over me. Doted and cuddled by the graces of good fortune while I suffered in that hell…"
"You! Critter of the skies, you have also been chosen by fate over me. Doted and cuddled by the graces of good fortune while I suffered in that hell…"
"I shall endure you as an interloper no longer. As a testimony against creation itself, you will be the first one to DIE!"
"I shall endure you as an interloper no longer. As a testimony against creation itself, you will be the first one to DIE!"
Reaction to its master's voice, the circling darkness trembled furiously in its entirety. The dome that was once a still round wall around them, began to spin around in a ridiculously fast speed. From the running walls, a bloated belly of mass appeared and began to push itself forward. As the 'bubble' of darkened mass exploded, a titanic claw flew forward, slashing with its merciless ferocity at Rayquaza.
Swooping down close to the sea, Rayquaza dodge the massive shadow's strike, but only by a small margin. Those sharp terrible things lashed out at the ocean, ripping a massive chunk of land from below the water, and then hurling the thing at Rayquaza, who masterfully dodged again.
Using the tiniest window of reprise possible for an attack, Rayquaza flew below the floating grey dragon and unleashed one of his powerful beams. However, as fast as that crackling lightning flew, it passed by nothing as Giratina simply disappeared into thin air, just to reappear far away, slithering out of the liquid shadows on those dark walls.
'That can't be possible…' Rayquaza let that comment slide into his connection with Zinnia without even realizing it.
"What we do now?" Zinnia asked, her heart skipped a bit after sensing the dragon's fearful reaction.
"Don't panic yet, Zinnia. The creature is avoiding my attacks for a good reason, even in its all-powerful form; he would not survive much longer after getting hit so often." Soothing her worries and trying to calm down his own racing mind, Rayquaza reasoned with what was presented in front of him. "Considering his much slender form, Giratina would probably be more susceptible to damage now than before."
"Then we can win?" She asked full of hope yet again.
"If Brendan managed to do it with Groudon, We can manage too." Rayquaza said in a rather playful tone, a little surprise to her considering his always-scary façade.
"GROUDON!"Zinnia almost jumped out of Rayquaza in her sudden reaction. "Where is he, if we could awaken him somehow, he could help deal with that thing."
"Brendan was the Guardian responsible for him, their bond was stronger than his with me." Rayquaza said softly. "If someone can feel his presence. That would be you. Brendan's successor."
Following the suggestion, Zinnia closed her eyes and tried to feel Groudon somehow. She reached everywhere through her connection with Rayquaza, she could feel every single life around her, even Silver and Ethan sitting behind some protections in the desolated island, but not a trace of Groudon.
"I... can't!" She exclaimed warily. "I can feel everything around us, but Groudon is nowhere to be found."
"Groudon's life force is much larger than a normal one; maybe this is too much for you at the moment." Rayquaza concluded sadly. "Or maybe he has perished together with-" At this moment, his heart has frozen in a stilled fear.
Not only Rayquaza, but also Zinnia felt her body get sucked of any warm. Together they felt an immense rage, a destructive hatred that was threatening to swallow everything in this world. In a perfect motion, they glanced over to Giratina's moving form, only to find out he was not the source of this explosive emotion.
Fighting his own increasing fear, Rayquaza moved his head from side to side, in a fruitless search of this second threat. Not even the destroyer himself had managed to stir such a terror inside the emerald dragon's core. But lost in this emotion and this newfound calamity, Rayquaza failed to see the towering shadow looming over him.
From the ceiling of the dome, a truly gargantuan claw flew down, taking Rayquaza by surprise. This giant shadowy member bashed the dragon in full force, sending him flying in just a glimpse into the sea.
Giratina rejoiced with a dark gleam on his eyes, after so long he has finally managed to hit that pesky dragon one time. But that was not enough, not to kill Rayquaza and not enough to quell the burning rage of the grey dragon. So, he commanded two massive dark tendrils to erupt from the walls and dive down onto the sea. They soon sprung into the air, bashing the emerald dragon into the air, however the girl was not at his back anymore.
"You will learn your place!"
"You will learn your place!"
Giratina'sand Josh's voices stormed out angrily, as three more dark members sprung from the dome's walls. They bashed the dragon from the side, whipped at him from bellow and slashed at him from above; at each hit Giratina felt a jolt of pleasure watch over him, perhaps the human at his back had started to influence his own emotions. In the end, he did not care; instead, he was basking in this amazing sensation of conquering this insect who dared stand in his way.
Not willing to take this beating without retaliation, Rayquaza spun around wildly and dove down very close to the water. He soared above the sea, flying until close enough to not give Giratina even a moment to blink. Letting his power overflow over him again, Rayquaza made another ball of pure energy in front of him and pointed it at Giratina, unleashing that absurd pillar of light toward the grey dragon.
This time however, Giratina remained in place. As to mock Rayquaza by doing the same thing the emerald dragon did before. The destroyer waited until the beam almost reached him, but a river of pure darkness overflowed from the dome, getting in the way of Rayquaza's attack and Giratina. But this barrier didn't simply tackle and stopped the lighting, it began to devour the attack the same way Giratina had done before Rayquaza had changed to his mega evolution. As the entire pillar of light got swallowed whole, the stream of darkness vanished back to its source.
Right then, the top of the dome, right at its middle, got painted with white and yellow color. Took just a moment for that tint of a different color to burst and unleash on Rayquaza the full power of his own attack.
After so many attacks, after losing his direct connection with Zinnia. Rayquaza felt the peak of his power slip from him, depowering back to his original form. Tired and lacking the energy, Rayquaza could not evade the incoming blast, and so he took the entire thing head-on and got pushed forcibly all the way to the bottom of the sea.
"Your king has fallen!"
"Your king has fallen!"
Strange fused laughter echoed inside the dark arena, Josh little by little gaining more and more persuasion over Giratina's own words and reactions.
"This marks the start of the end. I've proven that I am the strongest!"
"This marks the start of the end. I've proven that I am the strongest!"
"Ethan!"
"Ethan!"
"Can you see me? Have you witness the complete failure of your answer and the blossoming success of my aspirations?"
"Can you see me? Have you witness the complete failure of your answer and the blossoming success of my aspirations?"
"Come forward, Guardian! Show me your undying courage! Stand fast against the face of destruction and let me see your face as I remove you from this world."
"Come forward, Guardian! Show me your undying courage! Stand fast against the face of destruction and let me see your face as I remove you from this world."
For more than three minutes, Giratina or more correctly, Josh; waited for any response, any sign of resistance.
"Deafening silence is your answer?! Hah, who would have guessed that in the end, you would turn out to be a simple coward."
"Deafening silence is your answer?! Hah, who would have guessed that in the end, you would turn out to be a simple coward."
Giratina raised his six tendrils at his back, taking full control of the dome around him. The dragon began to command the spinning vortex to spin faster and faster, the thing getting smaller at each round and crushing anything that is close to the walls.
"I present my gift to you, existence… OBLIVION!"
"I present my gift to you, existence… OBLIVION!"
Feeling himself in cloud nine, both dragon and human gave the last push to unleash destruction. He would first squish this entire area into nothing with his dome and then expand this darkness everywhere else on the planet. A twisted smile of joy spread over Josh's human lips, his 'dream' has finally become a reality.
His daydream however came to a rude halt when he felt a massive pressure change happened around them. The spinning darkness around them simply stopped moving, it desperately tried to continue in its destructive rotation, but it could not. Right then, the walls on the left side turned dark blue as heavy crystals of ice began to grow and froze everything up to the very top; form the left a burning flame of unbearable heat came to life, it started to consume and burn every ounce of darkness it came in contact with.
Fire and Ice, the duality of elements took over the dome; destroying and consuming the entire thing until suddenly the unnatural structure began to rotate yet again, this time no shadows, no tendrils. Only scorching flames and freezing waters.
"Deafening silence is your answer?! Hah, who would have guessed that in the end, you would turn out to be a simple coward."
Ethan was never someone to let his emotions be controlled by provocations, let alone such a poor attempt at rattling him up. But being called a coward by that person, right here, right after losing his friend; it made his blood boil.
"Don't." Silver whispered at his side, the red-haired has one arm wrapped around his partner's neck, practically strangling the boy to keep him in place. "You're smarter than this, Ethan. He is taunting you to get you out there, don't play his little game."
Of course, he knows that this is a trap; anyone with a working brain would have noticed that. Yet nothing of that matters to Ethan. He trashed around in Silvers grasp, trying so desperately to get free, to march right over to that tall wall collapsed in front of them, and yell at that lunatic.
Only when the soft groans of an unconscious Zinnia quietly sounded off from behind him, that Ethan got back to his senses. He took a glance to his side, to where Silver is lying with his body all crumped up in an attempt to hold Ethan in place while still holding to Zinnia's body, the draconid girl dripping wet after being rescued from the ocean.
"Please, don't do anything stupid." Silver pleaded, looking to his lover with the most desperate gaze he has ever mustered. "I cannot lose you again, that would be too much."
"I present my gift to you, existence… OBLIVION!"
Ethan jerked his head to the side again, getting a small glimpse at the monstrosity floating above the island. He lowered his head in a pensive manner, one hand sliding over to his Poké-Balls in his pockets and the other reaching over to Silver's hand resting at his chest.
"Silver… I know that this is an awkward place to have this conversation, but…" Either be by his exhaustion or the eerie sense of doom looming over their heads, at any rate, Ethan felt his feelings a bit looser, especially towards the grumpy trainer at his side. "I want to spend more time with you, after… this."
A bit baffled by the sudden confession, Silver eyed Ethan softly. "That would be…" A loose smile spread over his lips. "Annoying." He said semi-seriously and right after chuckled. "You are quite loud; I like my surroundings a bit quieter. It would take some time to get used to your antics."
"You changed quite a lot for me, I would say. I'm willing to do the same for you, but just a little." He turned to face Silver properly and gave him a small wink. Picking Silver's hand up, pulling it away from his neck, and moving it in front of him; Ethan took it closer to his lips, giving the outer side of Silver's hand a soft kiss.
"Ethan?" Silver asked a bit worried, knowing that his brazen lover was being way too quiet and stranger than normal.
"Sorry, Silver. I would never let him kill you or her." Ethan pushed Silver's hand away, softly enough to not upset the red-haired. "Even if both of my legs were broken, I would still stand up against evil. Because that is who I am."
As soon as Ethan wobbly stood to his feet, Silver went in full panic mode. He almost threw himself at his lover's leg to stop him from going out there and get himself killed. However, as the raven-haired trainer turned on his heels to walk out of their hiding spot and face that maniacal threat, an explosive fire erupted from the side, catching both of them by surprise.
Stunned over the fantastical display of lights, Ethan watched as the spinning wall of shadows got destroyed by an even wilder proposition, a burning wall of fire. He glanced at the other side, just to the see a freezing torrent of waters taking over, completely dismantling Giratina's ploy to crush everything with his shadows.
A bright smile blossomed to life on Ethan's lips. He continued to watch in marvel as fire and ice took control of everything. A scene that was once a hellish picture without hope, quickly turned into the most awe-inspiring vision he has ever seen.
"About time you show up." Ethan said with a low chuckle, his legs losing their strength, forcing him to hit his rear on the ground as he quickly lost his balance. "Go get them, buddy."
Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Unfinished Battle ==== ( watch?v=QeW_ycTXtVY )
Giratina twisted his head from one side to the other, a growling irritation emanating from him. His human counterpart at his back however, is more than amused and entertained by this sudden surprise.
"I have wondered for quite some time."
"I have wondered for quite some time."
"What choice would you take? What path would your chaotic little feet carry you through?"
"What choice would you take? What path would your chaotic little feet carry you through?"
"Alas, it seems that your destiny was to be my final step. One last enemy before the complete victory."
"Alas, it seems that your destiny was to be my final step. One last enemy before the complete victory."
"The fate of the world now rests in the result of the conflict between two monsters. Isn't that funny, Deoxys?"
"The fate of the world now rests in the result of the conflict between two monsters. Isn't that funny, Deoxys?"
Not a single word was spoken in response to Josh/Giratina's entire tirade. Instead, a stream of roars just exploded from everywhere, it was like a choir was standing behind those curtains of ice and fire. From the infernal side of the spiral, two magma filled red eyes peeked out onto the open arena; and from the opposite side a pair of deep yellow gems deeply glared at Giratina. The most strange part about this phenomenon is that the entire dome continued spinning in its unrelenting force, yet fire never invaded onto the icy-waters and the opposite was true as well. Both primal, terrifying eyes, stood there in a motionless way, like sturdy stone pushing against the powerful current.
"Not even a single word back?"
"Not even a single word back?"
They both chuckled, chuckled. Giratina's voice surprisingly enough losing to Josh's in the manner of creepiness.
"So be it, then. Let our might, SPEAK FOR US!"
"So be it, then. Let our might, SPEAK FOR US!"
As Giratina roared loudly, spreading his needle-like wings. Thousands of dark shadows just burst out from his side, these threads going in a curly line towards each side of the dome and quickly working on 'corrupting' these bright colors in an attempt to arrest control back.
From the frozen vertical moving lake, Kyogre's massive form came flying in like a fast torpedo. The sapphire primal flew right past Giratina, who cut loose his control to his threads and flew upwards to avoid the deadly impact. Without nothing to stop his advance, Kyogre went straight inside the firewall, then the most magical thing happened. Fire and Ice switched sides almost instantly.
Again, two sets of eyes appeared at each side, position switched the same as their elements.
A small growl of frustration escaped Giratina's body, the grey dragon is already tired of these games after so much fighting. Despite the human meddling in his physic, Giratina wants to end this, and he wants to end it now.
The dark creature curled into a ball, his scales started to chime an eerie tune. Black sparkles flew from the spikes at his side, these sparkles not fading away but simply amassing themselves into a pure mass of their own. This mass of darkness began to grow, grow and grow. Its size quickly doubling the one of Giratina's, getting so big that its upper tip touched the ceiling of the fire/iced cage.
Giratina soon sprung his body back into its slithering form, the gigantic ball looming above the dragon's head. The destroyer's terrible screech announced the prelude of his attack, the round surface of that darkened orb shifted and turned, sharp giant spikes appeared at each inch of its form. These spikes retracted inside the ball for a moment and they hurled themselves out to everywhere. This attack was made with the full intention to crush and destroy everything inside this place.
One large ray of frost flew above the destroyed island, turning every spike into an icy sculpture that fell dead in the water; while all the others rained hell above the smaller desolates islands and the open sea. The ones aimed at the walls barely made contact with the opposing elements before being destroyed.
This outcome deeply upsetting Giratina, as the monster began to trash hits tail around in a mad fit. He roared again, forcing new spikes to appear on his floating orb. This time however, a cross of beams flew right up far quicker than the dragon could react. Ice rendered the ball completely useless for a moment, frozen into a stiff. Then the fire came and melted the entire thing into nothing but ashes.
Seeing his ultimate piece of work undone, made the mad dragon snap. This time the tendrils on his back swirled back together in two distinct things; massive claws made out of darkness and anger. Those members turned to the side and stretched themselves to the walls, piercing it and reaching to the other. Each one stroke true in its target and grabbed the two large bodies hiding on the other side; so with one powerful swung of his wings/claws, Giratina pulled Kyogre and Groudon inside the open space.
Kyogre trashed himself free from the claw and quickly dove down inside the ocean. Groudon in the other hand not only allowed himself to be dragged but also launched himself forward and into Giratina.
Reverted to his fully enraged self, devoid of anything but primal anger and ferocious power, Groudon began to assault the grey dragon with a relentless flurry of attacks. His sharp white claws slashing, maiming and tearing apart any bit of flesh they could reach into. Not too long, Giratina found himself overwhelmed by pain as the red primal continued to attack unhinged in his way.
The grey dragon screeched out in pain once more, jerking both of his massive claws/wings at Groudon. Both latching onto the molten titan and restraining him up into the air. With a murderous glare in his eyes, Giratina held Groudon right in front of him, while he charged up the biggest beam of power he could muster so he would destroy this fiend forever.
Before the crackling dark energy could properly, form in front of Giratina's guarded mouth, Kyogre's heavy body swoops down from bellow and tackled the giant dragon on the underside of his long belly.
Once more, Giratina cried out of pain, this time the intensity getting so out of proportions it forced the mad dragon to release his hold of Groudon and drop the red primal on the shallow waters below them.
Fuming, boiling, almost tearing himself apart with rage, Giratina turned his attention to the sapphire giant that just landed on the water again. He created a flurry of endless shadow tentacles in a mere instant, commanding every single one of them to seek and destroy any sign of life hiding under that blue sea.
As the first wave of tentacles reached inside the water, Giratina felt his strikes connect with Kyogre's body, and an even bigger confirmation of this was the pained cry erupting from bellow. The destructive monster could almost laugh in joy after hearing those cries, but little time he had to relish in his victory, as Groudon created an ever-growing pillar of stone beneath him and launched himself in the air again.
One strike, one swipe from right to left was all that it took. Groudon slashed a devastating gush across Giratina's chest, tearing out a large portion of flesh out of the dragon's body. For the first time, real blood escaped Giratina's body; the dragon jerked his body backward in the full blow out of pain washing his body, the human boy stuck in his back yelled just as high as if his own chest had been cut open.
Groudon fell onto the open sea in a messy way with his back turned to the water, but his gaze ever so focused on the monster screeching above him. As the red primal disappeared inside the water, the blue one came flying right out. Kyogre flew like a proper bird towards the sky, his large blue body and yellow spots shining with the circling lights of the dome. He clashed is entire body weight against Giratina, sending the dragon flying even far up and then unleashed a violent stream of water towards it.
Like little blades, those splashes of waters cut even more at Giratina's skin, taking out more blood and destroying even more of the powerful dragon's body.
"I WON'T FAIL!"
"I WON'T FAIL!"
The duo of voices stormed out in between their cries of pain.
"YOU WILL NEVER BEST ME! NEVER!"
"YOU WILL NEVER BEST ME! NEVER!"
Giratina did an instant roll of his body, getting upside down as if his own head was not the one in control anymore; instead, the boy at his back has taken it to himself. All this motion was made just for Josh to be the one facing down to the falling Kyogre. With his eyes trembling in a crazed manner, the boy snarled as he eyed Kyogre, he brought one hand up/down, towards the sapphire primal and the darkness around him obeyed.
"VERMINS LIKE YOU… SHOULD JUST DIE!"
"VERMINS LIKE YOU… SHOULD JUST DIE!"
Giratina's twisted six tendrils moved at an erratic pace, all of them cracking and turning into deadly sharp spikes. The boy pointed them at Kyogre, his eyes full of darkness and murderous intention.
Before the dark cold hand of darkness could pierce the primal's life away, a third figure blasted out from the walls at the left, a current of water carrying him through the air. This smaller silhouette, at the size of an adult person, simply flew at full speed towards Giratina.
One full burst of blood exploded from the dragon yet again, this time it was not from his body, but rather from the human attached at his back. As the violent pain consumed Josh's every though, he felt himself being pulled and snatched out from the dragon's body. Lost in his confusion, he darted his eyes downward just to see an entire arm passing through his chest; a human arm but covered in engraved red stones and blue shining lines spread throughout the entire length of it.
He fell from the sky, spinning out of control, he felt himself falling and falling; until his body came to a harsh halt as they landed on the destroyed island where once stood Sky Pillar.
A full load of blood just escaped his mouth in violent flux, forcing Josh to jerk his head backward and stare at the sky. There he witnesses Giratina revert to its first form, but all mangled and injuries from his previous wounds.
The grey dragon, overtaken by the grim sense of dread, felt his power diminish and his body to hurt even more as it grew in size, enlarging his open wounds. Right then, he wanted to curse; curse at his world, curse at his fate and curse for having lost; but the destroyer got no chance to spill his venom in the form of his voice.
From the ocean below, a great green form flew out to the sky, creating an immense shadow over Giratina's beaten form. He turned his body in a bobbing motion, his muscles aching just from moving, and there he saw the king of all dragons staring at him without a shred of mercy in his eyes.
Rayquaza felt his body sizzle with power, his entire being trembling over the amount of energy gathering at the base of his mouth. Roaring louder than ever before, the emerald deity released his fury upon the invader, and a stream of retribution washed over Giratina's form. This power, this vengeance filled beam of light engulfed Giratina's entire form, washing over him like a benevolent tyrant. Seeping his life away, but in the process removing any pain away from his mind. In its final moments, Giratina just closed his eyes and let himself be carried away by that comforting feeling.
"It is… over?" Josh said stricken by the realization. He watched in horror as Giratina got simply disintegrated by Rayquaza's fury. His chest ached furiously, remembering of his own fate, a new wave of blood escaping from his lips. Right then, trashing to the side to vomit the crimson liquid, he notices that he is not lying on the ground, instead someone is holding him with one arm while the other is clearly inside of him. "To think… that you would be the one to kill me..." He let out a dry chuckle, a pained one.
Spiegel scoffed, feeling lines of blood flood his hand, dripping down from his sharp-claws shaped fingers. This blood running down from his right arm, the one he used to pierce Josh's chest, now changed and mutated in a different form, covered in a rough darker grey skin with pellets red of stones over it and blue bright lines as if they are his veins. "I wanted nothing of this. You forced my hand, you and that thing. Because of you, Brendan…"
"Don't… push that on me… or you." Josh said back, furring his brows. "Giovanni… is the cause… he would have done it… anyway…" Another heard bloodied cough escaped the raven-haired young man, his eyes getting dulled and large shades appearing under them. "Do not… kid yourself… Deoxys… you are… the only monster left… and one day… you will… do the same as I did."
Spiegel frowned deeply at that remark. He hates being called a monster, as he once called himself that many times. "I am not like you…" His voice came out surly, almost angry. "And I will never be like you." He looked down at the man in his arms, and saw that the sparkle of life had left his eyes. A terrible vile feeling festered inside of him, as his own hands have taken another life away.
Slowly pulling his changed arm out of Josh's chest, Spiegel settled the deceased trainer carefully on the ground. He eyed the boy one last time, then looked at his blood-drenched hand and winced. Feeling terrible yet again, he brought his normal hand toward his face, crouching down onto the broken mess of rocks at his feet. Spiegel sat there, even more lost and depressed than before.
Because of him, the darkness surrounding Hoenn slowly began to disappear. However, the bright sunlight didn't come back to grace the sky, instead a peaceful but gloomy rain began to fall upon them. In this bleak resolution, the region himself responded to the turmoil inside the young doppelganger's heart, shaping the scenery into a grey picture, far way of feeling like a victory.
Curled up in his tiny spot, Spiegel started to cry yet again. From up close, it looks like he is totally alone and dejected in this world. But looking at this picture from a greater distance, one could see three gigantic figures standing at the shores of the island, the three deities of Hoenn watching over him in quiet solidarity. Moreover, just above the wrecked and hubris spread over the Island, two sad-looking persons are watching him cry.
As much as he feels like at the moment, Spiegel is not alone in his suffering.
P.S: After this chapter I can come out and confess that the story is very close to its end. It is not one or two chapters away from the ending, but very close. While the major conflict is done and finished, there are still things to get resolved and proper resolutions for a few characters. I will not reveal much more than this, but the ending will not be as bittersweet as it seems right now.
If you are liking the story so far, please leave a review. :)
Reviews:
Mr MogiGaming chapter 34 . Nov 25, 2019 – I am not entirely sure of which part was the confusing bit, but I guess it would end up that way when the battle itself was divided in three chapters. I hope that everything makes senses now with this last part out.
If any plot thread seems a bit loose or like I missed the mark in portraying it, just let me know and I will gladly explain it.
DOOT76 chapter 34 . 11h ago – I have listen to every song you recommended on your latest comment, and as I have a little bit to talk about each of them I will put my thoughts in bullet points.
· Groudon: You were not far off from my true inspiration to write Groudon scenes at the start. I remember that at his first brutal appearance, I was listening to Rip and Tear from DOOM 2016.
· Kyogre: This would be a funny but weird contrast to Groudon, taking note that Kyogre is just an angry as Groudon. This song would make him feel a bit more like the good guy, not that he is the villain, of course.
· Final Boss: While I liked the song, but this is a point where I will have to deviate a bit from it. From the very start, I took inspiration on Sephiroth to make the big bad guy of the story, ever since the first chapter I knew how it would go and what to do, and all that because of Sephiroth. It would be a sin to not put One-Winged Angel as the theme for that chapter.
· Rayquaza: I see Legend of Zelda I press like! Strange how soothing this song is, I really liked it.
· Brendan: Listening to this song and putting it as "Brendan", is like I am picturing him with an electric Katana, slicing choppers out from the sky. Crazy and wild, kinda like it; lol.
· Spiegel: I… absolutely loved this song. I tell you, from the moment I started listening to it, I just could not stop daydreaming. I truly adored this one, for me this is the official Spiegel's theme, no questions asked. (Don't sue me Atlus).
· Ethan: Did I really portray Ethan as this smug? Lol. Kinda sounds like him.
· "Best Boi" Linoone: I am so glad that you didn't use the original song, because… I lost my sides as soon as I heard the little intro of this one, if the original Snake Eater had bombarded me; I would be dead by now, death by laughing.