Chapter 42: Unfinished Business

Aiden was beyond furious.

Aiden didn't have a sad past. His life was as normal as could be. There was no one in his life who belittled him, told him he was less than or worthless. He didn't push toward becoming stronger because someone was better than him.

He simply felt everyone was trash compared to him- and the simple fact that he was being treated like commoner was infuriating. It was an insult to him.

So why was it, that trash like Aldrich was able to become a God, and not him? That old man didn't deserve it. No one else deserved it more than Aiden.

Back when he was a Grunt, there was only one thought that brought salvation to him whenever he felt angry about his situation: 'Eventually, your time will come.'

His plan back then was simple. Act like a dog to Aldrich, then gain a higher promotion. Then, when the time was right, steal the power of Arceus and become the true King of the world.

But his chance slipped through his fingers.

It had been days since Aldrich's defeat. No one had gone to go look for Aiden- he was presumed dead… And it was perfect for him. Because if he was left unchecked… then he would become a threat possibly greater than Aldrich ever was.

Aiden stood in front of a massive keyboard, one that commanded a large holographic computer screen in front of him. Behind him were several scientists who were knocked out upon his arrival. Aiden had on his newly repaired invoker armor, the one that held Groudon's power.

On the computer screen was a picture of invoker armor that rotated. The computer showcased several stats and calculations of the armor's strength.

Behind the visor of Aiden's invoker helmet was his bloodshot, sleep–deprived eyes. He was typing endlessly.

"I will become king…" Aiden mumbled. He broken into lab to lab, gaining knowledge of Invoker armors. He knew if he gained more knowledge of how invokers worked, he could eventually create his very own invoker armor. One that could absorb the power of multiple Pokémon, not just one.

He could gain the power of every single legendary Pokémon in existence, including Arceus. He would become stronger than Aldrich ever was. Then, no one would be able to stop him.

Suddenly, the door behind him slammed open. Aiden didn't even flinch. He kept typing on the keyboard. "More Guards?" Aiden said carelessly. "Don't you see I'm working here? If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you-"

A hand grabbed the back of Aiden's head and slammed it onto the keyboard with enough force to break the keyboard along with his helmet's visor. Aiden felt the pain of impact singe his face.

"It's me," Zennon's enraged voice reached Aiden's ears as Aiden tried hard to push his body up. Zennon's eyes were shining red as he was donning the armor that held Kyogre's power. "Think I forgot about you and what you did…!?" Zennon roared. "You think I can't tell what you're up to?!" Zennon looked up at the holographic screen Aiden was looking at. "You're looking to upgrade your Invoker armor, aren't you?!" Zennon pushed harder on Aiden's head.

"Ugh..!" Aiden cried. Electricity bounced from the broken keyboard as Zennon lowered his head to Aiden's ear. "Well guess what...?" Zennon continued, "I'm not going to let you do that. I'm here to stop you...!" Zennon dragged Aiden's face across the keyboard as he flung him to the side and onto the ground.

The green haired man watched as Aiden slowly rose to his feet, clutching his face while laughing madly. Slowly, Aiden slid his fingers down his face like a slab of meat would after being thrown to a wall, all while still laughing.

He was different, and Zennon could tell. He could see no shred of humanity left in the black-haired man's eyes.

"I'm on the cusp of transcending my humanity," Aiden said. "And you call me crazy?"

"What's crazy is that you didn't expect me to come back!"

"I did," Aiden said. "Oh, I very much did. I didn't expect you to do something as brutal as try to smash my head in… but expect you, I did. I didn't think you'd come so early. I wanted you to be the first to experience the horror of my upgraded Invoker… But it hasn't even been created yet."

"Then it's a good thing I caught you now." Zennon said.

Aiden turned his head over to the opened door. "You came alone?" Aiden asked.

"I didn't want anyone to stop me from doing what I'm going to do to you," Zennon said. Aiden turned his gaze over to Zennon and smiled an amused smile.

"And what, pray tell, will you do to me?" Aiden said.

"Remember what you did to me?"

Aiden scoffed. "What, are you going to torture me like I did you? Perhaps brainwash me, and command me to stay in jail for the rest of my life?"

Zennon remained silent.

Aiden laughed in response.

"Your silence is deafening." Aiden continued. "I suppose we both have something to lose. Once I beat you, I'm going to brainwash you, too. That's right. I'm going to make you my little puppet again. I'm sure you'll be fine with calling me your King, right?"

Zennon continued to glare and remain silent.

"Then, after you," Aiden said, "I'll brainwash that woman you love so much. If the one that can save you is unable to do so, then there will be no way to stop the brainwashing."

Zennon's eyes widened with ferocity as his body radiated with Primal Kyogre's energy.

"Like hell you will...!" Zennon said. "I'm not going to let you touch her.,.!"

Aiden's body radiated with Primal Groudon's energy.

"You don't have a choice," Aiden said. "And soon, you'll never have a choice ever again…!"

Their respective auras began to become larger, large enough to form the shape of the Pokémon they harbored within their invokers. Aiden's aura took the shape of the mighty Groudon, while Zennon's took Kyogre's shape.

"Groudon and Kyogre..." Aiden said. "We're both similar to them, don't you agree?! Both of us share a burning hatred for the other...!"

Zennon lunged at Aiden, grabbing him by the neck as they flew together toward the wall and crashed into it. Aiden smiled despite being pressed against the wall by his neck, he could see Zennon's glowing red eyes through his black visor. Then, Aiden began to laugh. Zennon raised his free hand and closed into a fist.

The wall behind them shattered as Aiden's body was flung outside and dragged across the floor, toward the countless trees ahead of them. Zennon's thrown fist remained in the air as Aiden lay on the ground- still laughing. Suddenly, a stone pillar erupted from under Aiden's back and lifted him to his feet. Aiden turned his head and spat before rubbing his bruised cheek with the back of his fist as Zennon entered a battle stance.

Aiden extended one arm and swept his fingers toward his own body, a gesture for Zennon to come at him.

Zennon shot both his arms out and released a Hydro cannon from his hands. Aiden slammed his foot on the ground, summoning a wall of earth to block the attack. Aiden then kicked the wall with all of his might- causing it to push through the Hydro Cannon and toward Zennon. By the time Aiden leapt into the air, the slab of earth crashed onto Zennon and left behind a cloud of dust. Aiden shot both hands at the dust cloud and began firing multiple blasts of flame like a machine gun. Aiden laughed madly as he fired again and again at the smoke, which exploded into flames and more smoke. Soon, Aiden descended to the ground. He crossed his arms and smiled after his feet touched ground.

Then- Zennon roared.

Aiden's eyes widened as he saw Zennon fly out of the smoke like a rocket and tackle him. The now Berserk Zennon slammed his forearm onto Aiden's neck as they flew together toward the trees. They crashed through them like dominos, and Aiden was taking the brunt of all of it.

Aiden gritted his teeth and stared in surprise at Zennon's glowing red eyes that shined past his visor.

"How is this possible!?" Aiden cried. "You're not brainwashed anymore- how can you go berserk!?"

The two kept flying until they crashed onto a massive boulder. Zennon hammered his fists onto Aiden's stomach. Lurching and crying out in pain with every punch, Aiden started to think fast, and his own eyes shined red.

The ground below them shook and trembled, but it didn't stop Zennon- but slowly, the berserker's feet was beginning to sink, and by the time he looked down, Aiden made his move. He grabbed Zennon by the shoulders and used him as leverage to leap away.

The ground around Zennon was slowly becoming soft- too soft for him or anyone to stand on. As soon as Aiden's feet touched the unsolid ground, a platform of molten rock formed below him.

"This is the result of my research!" Aiden cried proudly. "I discovered new ways to use Primal Groudon's power!"

With a flick of Aiden's wrist, the ground below them began to move like a raging river and carry Zennon away.

Suddenly, a sandstorm exploded under Aiden's feet- the molten rock floor he stood on became a platform for him to surf on while riding the sandstorm. He flew toward Zennon, who was being taken away by the muddy currents.

"I may have the high ground, but this isn't good..." Aiden said, looking troubled and sweating. "I don't understand how he's able to go berserk despite no longer being brainwashed... This is bad."

Zennon roared loudly despite being carried away.

"Tch, I'll just have to end this now!" Aiden grunted. He leaned forward and moved faster toward the struggling Zennon. With one outstretched arm, Aiden fired more blasts of flame from his hand. The fire blasts flew toward Zennon and hammered him deeper into the softened ground.

"And now to harden the ground again!" Aiden cried, clapping his hands together. In an instant- the ground returned to its solid state. Aiden leapt from his molten platform and onto the ground with a crouch as the sandstorm behind him disappeared. He then stood up and stared at the ground.

"I suppose I'll dig him out after a few minutes..." Aiden said, kicking up dust. "You surprised me for a moment, Zennon. But in the end, you're still a maggo-"

Zennon's arm erupted from the ground and flew after Aiden's face.

Once Zennon grabbed hold of him, Zennon flew out from under the ground and carried Aiden toward the sky. The black haired man's panicked screams were muffled out because of Zennon's monstrous grip. Once they were high into the air, Zennon roared and threw his victim with enough force to send his body spiraling like a top.

"ORIGIN…!" Zennon clasped his hands together and pulled them apart, revealing an orb of pure water energy, he then raised his hands to the sky, and the ball of water became bigger- and bigger, and bigger. Suddenly water from all around the region began to gather to the ball.

Aiden managed to clap his hands together while he flew toward the ground, which softened itself enough to become like an ocean of mud. Aiden sank into the mud like a rock. Then all of the ground began to turn orange, like lava. The ground began to shake.

Storm clouds began to form above the ball above Zennon's head and circled the massive orb- which was becoming nearly as big as a Gigantimax Snorlax.

"PUUUUUUUULSE!" Zennon threw the massive ball of water over his head- sending it flying toward the ground.

What emerged from beneath the earth was a massive humanoid titan that was made of pure molten rock. Aiden was inside the titan's chest, positioned exactly where its heart would be if it were human. Every move Aiden made, the titan followed, as though it were a giant suit of armor.

"I WON'T LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" Aiden roared. He shot his arms at the massive, meteor-sized orb coming his way.

Aiden's molten armored arms clashed with the orb, and both men screamed at the very top of their lungs. From a far away view, it looked like a gigantic molten-rock warrior was summoned to push away a massive orb of water that would submerge the earth in endless flood. Aiden's molten lava armored legs began to be pushed back from the massive attack. The lava around its legs splashed as his body as his legs were dragged backward.

Aiden was strong- but he was up against something that was his weakness: Water. It was only a matter of time until Aiden's molten rock armor began to disintegrate and turn into dust- and it slowly was doing just that.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aiden roared. Once his molten rock armor was gone, the orb directly hit Aiden and pushed him toward the lava below him "IT CAN'T END LIKE THIIIIIS!"

The orb pushed Aiden toward the lava before exploding- a gigantic geyser of water flew into the sky- and it began to rain. Smoke rose from the ground as the rain began to cool off the lava below and turn it into solid rock as the geyser slowly faded away.

Zennon's eyes stopped shining red as he slowly descended to the ground. Once his feet touched land, he started walking toward a massive hole on the ground- the crash site of Zennon's attack.

Zennon leapt into the massive hole and looked down as his body fell downward. There, he saw Aiden, lying on the ground- his invoker armor was completely destroyed. Zennon landed in front of Aiden's unconscious body.

"You're probably wondering how I'm able to go berserk despite not being brainwashed," Zennon said. "How i do it is simple: I think about what you made me go through, the torture I endured because of you. I think about how you made me fight against Marie and the others…!" Zennon's fists shook as he clenched them tightly. "That, along with letting the power of Kyogre overtake my rage…is what makes me go berserk. To be honest, I didn't think I could pull it off back when I fought Aldrich. But I'm glad I did." Zennon approached Aiden's unconscious body and grabbed him by his arm.

Aiden's eyes shot open. He realized quickly that he was strapped onto an electric chair without any invoker armor. His head shot back and forth. All he could see was darkness- and it made him even more afraid.

"Wha- Where-!?" Aiden's voice was filled with dread. "Where am I!? Where are we!?"

"I'm not taking off your blindfold," Aiden could hear Zennon's voice. "As for where you are- Don't worry about it. Soon, you're not going to be able to think."

"NO!" Aiden cried, struggling to break free from his restraints. "PLEASE- YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! MY AMBITION! MY DREAMS…! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

"Unlike you, I'm merciful. It's only going to take one shock to brainwash you, unlike the countless times you shocked me," Zennon said.

"DON'T DO THIS! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE- TO BE CONSIDERED EQUAL TO MAGGOTS! TO TRASH!"

"Goodbye, Aiden."

"NOOOOOO-"

The sound of a switch being pulled rang in Aiden's ears, and that was when he began to scream. Pain coursed through his entire body as the loud howl of electricity rang in the air. His chest tightened like someone was squeezing the life out of him. His limbs trembled as a pins-and needles-like sensation washed through them. He could feel the volts reaching into his brain, rearranging his thoughts- breaking and destroying any tie to his ambition. Aiden breathed in and let out another scream, not one of pain, but one of resistance, as though he were fighting against the electricity, trying to find a way to stop it from breaking him.

But soon, his willpower began to shatter, along with his mind.

The electricity stopped. Aiden could feel steam emanating from his own body, but no longer had any thoughts or feelings about the matter.

"Aiden. Can you hear me?" Zennon asked.

Aiden nodded.

"Good," Zennon said. "I'm going to take you to jail, and you're going to spend the rest of your life there."

"...Yes…" Aiden said. "My master..."

Author's note:

Here's a fun fact. The song 'Eon' by Celldweller inspired me to create Aiden and his personality.

Also another fun fact: I have NO idea when the next chapter's gonna come up. Next week? Next two weeks?

Tomorrow?
PFFT imagine if it WAS tomorrow.

Unless...?

I'm kidding.

UNLESS...

Nah, nope. Definitely not tomorrow. See ya' next time!