A/N - Sorry for the delay on updates. My laptop broke down a couple of weeks ago and I had to replace it. I would have updated yesterday, but I'd had my Covid vaccine and was rather wiped out. So here it is! =D I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for all reads, reviews, faves and follows! =D

32 - Trouble

Yurlik jolted awake as the entire tree shook, almost throwing him from his perch. He squawked and flailed his wings to regain his balance and fend off several murkrow as they bolted into the air in a flurry of feathers and alarmed caws.

The honchkrow shook his head and leered at his flock as they took refuge in another tree. A few grunts came from the ground below, and he turned slowly to peer down at a lone deino. The dark mark on the dragon's snout was clear evidence of his collision with the tree.

"What do you want?" Yurlik growled.

"Ah! Yurlik, sir!" The deino turned sharply in several directions before finally settling on addressing the thin air to his left. "Lord Hydreigon demands you in his throne room at once!"

Yurlik sighed and rubbed the bridge of his beak with a talon. "And he sent you?"

The deino turned his head left and right, sniffed the air and turned a one-eighty. "Yes! It's urgent! You are to head there immediately!"

"Really?" Yurlik scoffed, a cold fear beginning to rise in his gut. "Then I had better make haste. Goodness knows how long he's been waiting if he sent one of you idiots to find me."

The honchkrow spread his wings and glided from the tree, dropping enough to soar close to the dragon's head.

"Hey!" The deino turned to follow his flight. "I did all right once I'd found your scent!"

Yurlik rolled his eyes and turned to glide towards the castle. The deino scampered on ahead of him, and seemed to be making good progress until he collided with two of his brethren. They immediately began tearing at each other, raking large wounds with their wicked teeth. Insults flew between snapping jaws, and Yurlik rolled his eyes again as he gave the warring dragons a wide berth.

The honchkrow soon arrived at the castle. He cast a glance up at its thorn-like spires to see if he could spot the door-mon. With none in sight, he landed neatly before the door and struck it twice with his beak. It creaked open, revealing the leering face of a weavile.

"You're late," he scoffed.

"Well who sent a deino?" Yurlik shoved him aside with a wing and strutted into the entrance hall.

"You know that's no excuse." The weavile shut the door and trotted to keep up with Yurlik, his claws echoing off the bare walls. "Lord Hydreigon is seething, and it's all because of your useless flock."

Yurlik spun on the spot, lashing out with his beak and talons. The weavile fell back from him with a squeal, raising his arms to protect his face.

"Don't you dare address me like that, underling!" Yurlik squawked. "You'd better watch you mouth unless you want my flock to peck you to pieces. And I'll, personally, take great pleasure in removing your eyes."

The weavile stuttered, keeping his paws protectively before his face. "I'm sorry, sir. We're all a bit tense right now."

Yurlik ruffled his feathers and marched away from the weavile. His nerves flared the closer he came to the throne room, but he didn't hesitate to knock, especially knowing Hydreigon's patience was hanging on a thin thread.

"That had better be Yurlik!" The anger was evident enough in his voice.

Yurlik nudged the doors open and stepped inside, lowering his head. "You wanted to see me, my lord?"

Hydreigon's hulking form was sprawled in the centre of the room. He lay on his back, gazing at one of his smaller heads. He turned it to face Yurlik, moving its pincer-like jaws as he spoke.

"You're late," he growled.

Yurlik's entire body trembled and he crept into the room. He closed the door behind him, catching an amused look from the weavile guard.

"I'm terribly sorry, my lord," said Yurlik. "But the deino… you know they lack intelligence as much as they lack eyes. He-"

"I don't care for your excuses, Yurlik!" Somehow, Hydreigon's pincer looked angry as his voice rumbled off the walls. The large dragon rolled onto his front, his scales scraping across the tiles. He fixed his crimson eyes on the quaking honchkrow. "I want to know what's become of Harlequin and Enigma."

"Oh… those two…" Yurlik jerked his head up as a low growl resounded in Hydreigon's throat. Yurlik took a step back towards the door until his feathers brushed the wood. He stuttered and diverted his gaze. "Yes. They've been gone for how long now?"

"Several days." Hydreigon exchanged glances with his pincer. "And I've heard… nothing."

Yurlik shook his head, keeping his eyes on the wall. "I'm afraid I'm as much in the dark as you on this one, my lord. They've been sent to a location my murkrow aren't currently patrolling."

"And why not?" The danger in the dragon's voice caused Yurlik to let out an embarrassingly feeble squawk.

The honchkrow smoothed out his feathers and cleared his throat. "Well, you see, my flock's numbers aren't what they used to be. I've not been able to replace them as quickly as I'd have liked, and at the moment they are stretched very thin looking for this cocoon-"

"Then fill them faster!" Hydreigon barked. He raised his head so he could look down on the trembling honchkrow. "Raid the breeding pens if you must! I don't care how old they are, or how sickly. I need patrols to gather information!"

Yurlik stuttered as he processed the order. "The breeding pens? But… you want me to recruit females?"

"Do they have wings?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure how strong their flight is. They've never-"

"Recruit them."

Yurlik's beak went slack, but Hydreigon either didn't care or didn't notice. He rotated his right pincer as if he was sharing a deep thought with it, while resting his head on his left.

"I want that whimsicott here," he went on. "What I've heard has troubled me. I strongly suspect it carries the fairy-type, and if it does, it could spell disaster for my plans. The sooner it's here, the sooner I can deal with it. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, my lord."

"Then go! Take as many murkrow as you need from the breeding pens, and find out what has become of my assassins. If that whimsicott has killed them, I want to know. If so, find it. I want that fuzzy thorn in my side back here immediately."

"Understood, my lord." Yurlik spread his wings in a bow. "Right away."

He closed the heavy doors behind him, catching a few stray feathers between them. He gave them a mournful look and sighed, checking his tail. At this rate, with all the stress he was going to end up bald.

"Got a scolding, huh?" The weavile's voice took him by surprise.

The weavile leant beside the doors, smirking at Yurlik.

Yurlik snapped his beak at him, causing the assassin to leap aside and shoot him a sneer.

"You shouldn't be eavesdropping," Yurlik told him.

"What can I say? We're all wired right now," the weavile said. "At this rate, we're all gonna be spread thin across Estellis looking for something that might not even exist."

Yurlik tutted and shrugged him off. But he couldn't deny the weavile was right. Yurlik's flock suffered badly when Hydreigon threw his father off the throne. Training new flock members took time. They needed to be cut from the right cloth. Now he was being forced to hire the old and infirm, let alone females. Hydreigon had ruled out the latter for assassins years ago, but Yurlik had never once had a female in his flock.

He stood outside and ruffled his feathers, casting a glance towards the far east of the Shadow Lands. With a frustrated sigh, he rose into the air, muttering under his breath. Surely this was only a step towards disaster?

...

The noibat had flown non-stop in a bid to find his leader. Exhausted, the small pokemon finally reached his goal at the edge of the mountains where Echo's familiar cry reached his ears. He perched upside-down in a spindly tree and sent out his own call. The brief pause from his leader told him he'd heard it. It was followed up by one that told him to wait where he was, and before he knew it the rumble of a noivern's echolocation made his ears vibrate as Echo honed in on him.

The large bat soon graced him with his presence, landing beside the spindly tree. The rest of the swarm swooped in around him, seeking a perch and, failing that, filling the surrounding bare trees like bat-shaped leaves.

"Well?" Echo inclined his head on one side as he scrutinised the panting noibat. "I trust you've got news for me?"

The noibat nodded. "Rumble has… found clear information that… the cocoon is in the frozen isles."

Echo rose to his full height, his face contorting into an unreadable expression as he processed this. The noibat took a moment to close his eyes as he panted heavily, almost expecting Echo to knock him from his perch for giving him such unwanted information.

But the noivern's response almost surprised him from the branches.

"Very well." Echo tucked his wings in and chuckled. "Then I guess the fool is flying to his death."

The noibat's eyes widened, reflecting the surprised chitters from his swarm-mates. "You're not going after him?"

"I'm no idiot," Echo scoffed. "I'm not putting my life on the line by flying into some icy death-trap. We'll head back and tell Lord Hydreigon what we've discovered, and that part of my swarm is out there searching for it and need assistance from pokemon more suited to the climate. Whether or not Rumble returns with it is one thing." Echo laughed and beat his wings, rising into the air. "If he doesn't return, then so be it."

...

Enigma just wanted to get as far away from that camp as possible. He'd hung around after, remaining out of sight while he licked his wounds. Faith had kept an ear open for him, and Harlequin had refused to leave her side. It wasn't clear if she'd told the zorua that Enigma had confronted her. They'd kept their voices hushed and he'd not lurked close enough to eavesdrop. Enigma had considered drawing the mawile out again, but she'd been right, as much as he hated to admit it. He was in no fit state to fight. Just one sucker punch off her and he'd crumpled. It was pretty clear she'd been holding back. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, just knock him away and prevent his killing strike.

Why? Why would she spare a murderer like him?

Enigma paused in the canopy, grimacing as his ribs throbbed. Even warping was too much of a strain. He settled into the trunk to catch his breath and glanced back the way he'd come. No sign of the camp now, but it wasn't far away. He'd rest here, and follow them again later. He'd find out what was going on with Harlequin, and as soon as his strength returned he'd slay each and every one of those Outcasts, Harlequin included. Hydreigon would just have to make do with a dead whimsicott. At least the threat would have been eradicated. He was much too dangerous to drag back to the Shadow Lands anyway.

Enigma's stomach growled and he cast a glance around at the surrounding trees. No sign of any berries. And not a single small pokemon in sight. A river, perhaps? At least two ran through the Moorlands Forest, and they were filled with fish. He'd travelled along one with Harlequin only days earlier. He pushed himself up slightly, trying to orient himself. Could he catch one if he tried? They certainly put up a fight when their lives were at stake. One wrong move and even a flailing magikarp could finish him off. And wouldn't that be a way to go?

He closed his eyes and flopped back against the tree. Perhaps a nap, then he'd see how he felt afterwards?

He drifted in and out of consciousness, each small noise jerking him awake briefly before sleep won once more. He hadn't been out for long when a voice dragged him permanently out of it. An arguing voice, accompanied by a whole lot of snuffling. He dropped his density until he was completely out of sight and turned his head towards them.

Two canines plodded out of the undergrowth. One walked lightly, head held high and ears pricked as she prattled on to her companion. He scrambled on all-fours beside her, his nose buried in the ground and sniffing at every tree. A tranquiliser gun was strapped around his back, its feathery darts already loaded in place.

Enigma's heart froze. He recognise both of them. Even in the dim light their identical Heretic marks were clear on their shoulders.

"I told you he wouldn't be back that way," the female lycanroc growled. "Why on earth would you suggest searching the Glen? We've probably long lost him now."

Lou growled at her, his crimson eyes flashing, then returned to snuffling amongst the ferns.

"Have you got that ghost's scent or not?" Roxie asked, turning sharply away from him. "Come on. I'm exhausted, I just want to get back to the lab and my nice warm bed."

Lou let out a small whine of agreement and abandoned the ferns to join her side, lolloping along on his hind legs.

Enigma let out a breath and rubbed at his face. They were looking for him? Great. Just what he needed. Rio was obviously out for blood if he'd sent his goons after him. At least Enigma had managed to evade them. He watched them go, but he would wait until they were out of sight before letting his guard back down.

Lou stopped suddenly, sniffing at the air.

"What is it now?" Roxie sighed. "Come on!"

But the midnight lycanroc ignored her, turning a one-eighty towards Enigma's tree. The banette held his breath, bracing himself for any attacks thrown his way. Lou trudged over towards him, nose twitching at the wind. He lowered his head to the tree's knotted roots, snuffling loudly. Roxie appeared at his side, her face creased with frustration. She nipped her brother's shoulder, which went unnoticed, then stopped as she spotted what had intrigued him.

"Is that…" She swatted Lou's muzzle aside to sniff at it. "It is! Blood!"

Enigma looked down at himself and mentally swore. That attack from Faith had reopened the wound in his chest. He shifted, preparing himself to warp away with what little strength he had left. But he'd have to time it right. Any sudden movements and they'd nail him. They'd give chase until he was exhausted, and that wouldn't be long at all.

Roxie raised her head to look up into the canopy. Enigma was certain she looked right at him. Her ears pricked and her fur ruffled around her neck, but she took a step back and nodded to her brother.

"Lash out," she said. "Right there. Do it."

Lou stood back and grinned, a crazed expression accompanied by his glowing red eyes. His claws lit up with dark energy and he kicked off from the ground towards the bough. Enigma leapt back off it, but Lou was fast. His paws struck the banette across the hip, his searing claws shocking Enigma out of hiding. He landed in a crumpled heap on the other side of the tree.

"Whoa, would you look at that, bro?! We found him!" Roxie cheered.

Before Enigma could push himself to his feet, the midday lycanroc was on him. Her paws pressed into his shoulders, and she lowered her muzzle to his nose.

"You look pretty nasty, ghost," she crooned. "Had a run-in with that whimsicott, eh? Or did someone else get the upper paw?"

Enigma grimaced as he struggled beneath her grip, trying to warp himself free. It was no use. That last attempt to flee had sapped his strength. He met her grin with a sneer.

"Pretty bold," he choked, "getting so close to an assassin with my reputation."

"Oh, I don't think you'd put up much of a fight," she mocked.

She inclined her head on one side, watching as Enigma ceased his struggling. But he didn't take his eyes off hers.

"Yanno? I could make you pay for what you did to our B." Roxie's voice came out as a dangerous purr. "But Rio wants ya, and we're gonna take ya to him. So unless you want another beating, I'd come quietly."

Lou removed the tranq gun from his back and held it ready, aimed in the banette's direction.

Enigma met Roxie's glare with one of his own. Rio? Just as he'd guessed. But Enigma wasn't going back there. Not yet. He wanted that information, but there was no way Rio would give it up so easily. And in Enigma's condition, he'd be swatted aside like a flea. Several scenarios played through Enigma's mind, each one ending with him either dead or crammed in a cage along with Rio's 'participants'. His heart raced, and the assassin summoned what was left of his strength to phase his right arm free. Just his arm, but it was all he needed. It was inside Roxie's chest before she even noticed.

A strangled noise came from the lycanroc and her eyes bugged out from their sockets as her frantic pulse weakened beneath Enigma's claws. She staggered forwards, leaning her weight on her front legs.

"Lou," she gasped. "Get him… take-"

She gave a small yip and collapsed forwards onto Enigma.

He grunted under her weight, gasping as she crushed his already sore ribs. That had been a much more laboured task than he usually found it, but at least it had done the job. He drifted through her, groaning with the effort, shaking her blood from his claws. Lou stared back at him, his eyes impossibly wide. He looked between his sister and the panting banette, and gave a sad whine. It soon turned into a howl of fury and he tossed the gun aside to lunge at him.

Enigma strafed to the side, bracing himself to bolt into the trees, but the wolf's eyes followed him. He stuck out a large paw and grabbed Enigma's scarf, dragging him back towards him. Enigma fell beneath the midnight lycanroc's weight, pinned by his throat. Dark energy surrounded Lou's claws, making it impossible to phase through them. Enigma's claws turned shadowy but only for an instant. He had no strength left to launch another killing strike. Instead, he clawed feebly at the lycanroc's paw as his breath was choked away from him.

Saliva dripped from Lou's jaws as a snarl washed over the banette. The lycanroc had split into two, wobbling and bobbing about in Enigma's vision. He blinked to try and clear it, but it was no use. He tried to land a kick in his gut, but barely had the strength to lift his own leg.

Lou's eyes widened as a look of realisation crossed his face. He lessened his grip to look back at his sister, giving a small whine. He then turned back to Enigma with a threatening growl. The furious glare in his eyes was one Enigma wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry. Lou released his throat and brought his paw back down into the side of his head. Enigma rolled away from Lou with the force of it, coughing and spluttering into the dirt as lights danced across his vision. A sharp sting struck his left arm. A wretched dart. The forest turned hazy around him, and he soon lost consciousness.

...

The cage was complete and set in place, but there was still some tweaking that needed to be done. Tantrum barked commands to Razorclaw as he secured the chain, trying to get it to the correct height. Thunder and Ray tried to electrically charge the cage, but despite the insulated base it just kept discharging off into the floor.

Rio leant against the door to the containment cells, tapping a claw on his lip as he watched everything unfold.

"There has to be some way to keep a steady current flowing through it," he muttered.

"Short of having them sit against it all day, I hardly think so." Mint appeared behind him, clutching two mugs of hot berry juice.

Rio took one and sipped it before replying. "I think you might be onto something there."

"I wasn't being serious!" Mint gasped.

Rio shrugged and returned to watching the group at work. "I had assigned those two to watch Enigma anyway, since their attacks are ranged. But since there appears to be no way to keep an electric current running through without it grounding, then using a living dynamo might be the best option."

Mint hugged her arms around herself and muttered incoherently. She shook her head and rounded on the meowstic. "It's hardly safe, Rio! What you're doing is already borderline insane. What if there's a break in the electrical flow and he finds a way out?"

Rio didn't really have the time to reply. The door burst open and a few heavy grunts drew all eyes towards it. Lou slumped in, dragging what at first glance Rio thought to be a bundle of rags. Clutched in the lycanroc's massive claws was an unconscious banette fastened firmly in a heavy black scarf.

Rio almost dropped his juice. "Is that-?"

Mint's leaves rustled as her entire body trembled, and she had to set her cup down on the floor.

"I trust he's tranquilised?" Rio asked the lycanroc.

Lou snorted and tossed Enigma's limp body towards the meowstic. Rio unfurled his ears, trapping the ghost in a purple bubble. He shot Lou a glare through it and quickly checked over the battered form hovering before him.

"What on earth happened to him?" he asked.

Lou shrugged and, with a flash of his canines, turned from the room.

"Wait." Rio caught the lycanroc's eye. "Are you telling me you didn't do this?" When Lou didn't respond, Rio narrowed his eyes, thinking carefully. He looked between the ghost and the lanky wolf. "Where's your sister?"

A low growl rumbled from Lou's chest and his lips pulled back from his sharp teeth. He shot a glare at Enigma and his claws twitched.

Rio made a thoughtful noise and stood back from his psychic bubble.

"I see. This project is looking very promising if he can put up such a fight in his condition. Roxie's sacrifice was not in vain." Without looking at Lou, Rio turned his back on him and flicked his tails. "You're dismissed."

The door slammed, causing the suspended cage to swing on its chain. Razorclaw grabbed it in both paws, stifling the sparks coursing through the frame.

"That was cold, Rio," Mint whispered.

"I can't have that crazed wolf seeking vengeance on my subject, can I?" Rio spat. "Although I should be impressed he didn't slaughter Enigma for it. Even if Lou had done all this damage, it would be restrained for him."

Mint caught his eye and shook her head, speaking quiet enough so only Rio could hear her. "You're acting as if you couldn't care less about Roxie. I know you have a heart, Rio. I've seen it before."

Rio didn't respond. He looked up at his workers who had stopped everything to stare at the floating Enigma. "What are you doing? Open it up so we can get him inside! Spore darts don't last indefinitely!"

"But it ain't finished," said Tantrum. "We can't get the electricity to-"

"Then Thunder and Ray will just have to take shifts using their stored electricity to power the enclosure," said Rio.

The raichu and heliolisk exchanged glances.

Thunder narrowed his eyes. "You aren't serious?"

"I'm deathly serious," said Rio. "Until you find another way to power it, or create a dynamo, then the two of you are to act as one."

Thunder and Ray slumped towards the cage and stuck their tails beneath it, sending a surge of electricity through the frame. Tantrum snatched his claws back quickly before receiving an unpleasant shock.

"I didn't expect those two t'find him so quickly," said the vigoroth.

"Neither did I. But he's here now." Rio tossed the banette into the cage, and he struck the far wall with a clang. Electricity shocked his unconscious body, and sparked off his fur as he flopped to the ground like a sack of hay, disturbing his hidden bell. "Thunder, you take the first shift. Swap with Ray at sunrise. The rest of you, get some sleep."

The group of Heretics moved away from the cage, leaving Rio and Thunder behind. All except Mint. She joined Rio's side and fumbled her paws together.

"So you're really doing this?" she said.

Rio nodded. "Absolutely. He'll be the best weapon I've ever created."

"You sound very confident." Mint gave him a sideways glance. "I imagine you said the same about Project B."

"I speculated Project B would be a powerful weapon," Rio explained. "But the effects of pokerus were unknown to me. Now I know what to expect. And with the right precautions in place, once Enigma is trained and fully under its control, the Shadow Lands will be at my mercy."

Mint hugged her arms around herself, watching Enigma's shallow breathing like a frightened rodent. "You really think this will work?"

"I don't think it will work, Mint," said Rio. "I know it will."

...

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