Island Wolf: Again, I'm so sorry I've been so slow on the update but holy crap doing six courses during the summer semester absolutely blows. Good news is I'll be done after exams this week, bad news I'm going to be depressingly unemployed. Ah, c'est la vie I suppose. I'm also now firmly obsessed with Fire Emblem Awakening now that I have a 3DS and seriously considering writing some fic for that once this story is done. Seriously, it's my first play through and Virion wound up married to Lissa and the support dialogue was just too damn cute I can't even handle it. Anyway, I know this chapter is a wee bit on the short side, but it was actually really fun to write :3

Disclaimer: I own nothing blah, blah, blah

"This is absolutely fucking maddening."

Maxie gave May a wide berth as she proceeded to pace back and forth across the room like a caged beast. She kept her hands clenched tightly behind her back while her nose periodically wrinkled in a half-snarl as she tried to articulate her displeasure. Pregnancy had not tamed his lover's wrath whatsoever – if anything it had exacerbated her newly regained temper. He idly wondered if Groudon had anything to do with that as he could practically feel the rage rolling off of her in hot, tempestuous waves. Maxie looked away from the long line of radar equipment and turned his chair to fully face her as she continued to restlessly pace. "I agree it's frustrating, but there's not much we can do. It's a stalemate for the moment."

May glanced at him and huffed, pausing only briefly to straighten the jacket of her uniform which still hid the slight bump that had begun to form on her abdomen, before she continued her furious pacing. Maxie sighed, he could understand her frustration; since their mass exodus to the Mount Chimney base Cipher had lain low. Rustboro had taken a hard hit, as had some of the coastal communities from Kyogre's wrath, but they were beginning to recover. It was slow going, however, as supply lines to the region had been completely cut off. With Kyogre prowling the waters around Hoenn all harbours had been closed and the shipping lanes were deserted. They were approaching a siege situation and the thought had Maxie setting his jaw. If it came down to that Ardos would come out the winner and he knew it.

"Aye, he's gone quiet all right. Probably mobilizing for guerrilla tactics and simultaneous assaults." Liam said, not looking up from his station. May finally stopped and ran a hand through her hair.

"He needs to repair the damage I did to David too. Though I doubt that'll tale long if Farren had anything to do with it," she sighed. "He made a bet and lost. When I shot at him, I aimed for a kill. He thought that at some basal level his programming had stuck – he didn't expect me to run from the fight. I threw off his calculations. He won't come on land now that he knows we have Groudon here at the seat of his power, same as us staying out of the sea because of Kyogre.

She fell silent for a moment before turning her pensive gaze onto him. "So where on earth do we go from here? Surely something has to give?"

"Our supplies are finite with Kyogre stopping the trade ships from coming in. If he's smart, and Ardos has more than proved that he is, he'll wait us out."

"Starve us out, you mean."

"I was trying to make things sound not completely abysmal."

"It's pretty shite mate, no need to sugar coat."

"Not helping Liam," Maxie grumbled and turned back to his own radar station. Behind him he heard May resume her pacing and he shook his head. One thing he was sure of - they'd go barking mad long before they starved.

"How's it going?"

"Same as fucking always Steven, he's buggered off to god knows fucking where and left us stumbling in the goddamn dark again!"

"May you shouldn't get yourself so worked up, think about the -"

"Finish that sentence and I'll put you through the fucking wall, and you know I can do it."

Maxie heard Liam snicker and was hard pressed not to smile himself. The timid lamb he'd first brought home was now well and truly gone, and the wildcat he'd come to know before Ardos had gotten his claws into her had resurfaced with renewed vigour. Still, he'd never thought she would be such a mother bear.

"Wipe the grins off of your faces or you'll go right through with him!"

"Of course dear," he replied teasingly and was rewarded by a sharp smack to the back of his head that had him cringing. "Groudon almighty, it was only a joke! No need to give me a concussion!"

"I'll do more than that," she growled, though the ghost of a smile hovered on her lips as she placed a kiss against his temple. "I'm starving, I'll see you three in the mess."

"Breakfast wasn't even two hours ago."

Maxie kept his gaze firmly fixed on the screen in front of him in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that he was very near losing himself to laughter. Steven was backed up against the wall as May cornered him and then grabbed the much taller man by his ear, hauling him down none too gently so that he was down at her level. "Yes, but you're not the one eating for two now are you."

"Ack! Okay, okay I apologize for my insensitivity. Come on May, you're going to rip it off!"

She released him with a dramatic huff and he staggered away, rubbing his ear as he watched her retreating figure. The scolded champion looked at Maxie and shook his head. "I'm not sure whether to be impressed that you can handle her, or sorry you have to deal with that temper."

"Well my first piece of advice is not to make any comments about her food consumption in the next few weeks or anything about weight. She will put you through that wall."

"Yes, well -"

A shrill electronic warble cut Steven off and Maxie immediately turned back around to look at the radar screen. The black void that had represented the eastern coast was now alight with green blips. Cursing, Maxie slipped on the head set that lay nearby and switched on to the correct channel. "Asher to recon team, I'm picking up multiple signatures on the radar along the eastern coastline. Do we have any visuals?"

"We're working on it Sir, hold on just a -"

Maxie abruptly stopped listening as another alarm went off and Liam dialled into the station. "More signatures on the radar, south coast and western shoreline, moving inland. Where's that visual lads?"

"One moment – alright patching you in."

The central screen that had lain black and quiet between the two of them flickered to life, the static slowly turning into a video feed on the shoreline near Lilycove. Four iron grey warships loomed in the distance, rapidly approaching the shore and Maxie felt his mouth go dry. He knew those ships all to well – the Kantosian naval fleet was among the best in the world and their dreadnoughts were unmistakable, even with the names and serial numbers blotted from the hull. The image flickered and switched to a different feed showing the west coast not far from Rustboro. Three more warships were sailing full steam ahead, flanking an aircraft carrier of monstrous size. Kamov helicopters were taking flight, screaming towards the land ahead of the ships and bristling with armaments.

"Fuck," he hissed. "What's the ETA?"

"For the ships within the hour, aircraft even less. Sir, what are your orders?"

"Implement the the Skarmory Initiative," Steven replied after slipping on a headset of his own. His eyes were steely as he spoke. "We knew this might happen, get our forces on the ground and get civilians out. Dig in Major, I do not want the cities breached."

"But Sir, we never planned for an invasion force of this magnitude – it'll be a slaughter!"

"We will fight to the last man if we have to, but I want those civilians moved to the bunkers. That's my order."

Steven pulled off the headset, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked at Maxie with a bitter smile. "You must think me monstrous."

"Far from it Steven," Maxie sighed after removing his own headset. "That's never an easy call to make, and you didn't wait to let the brass bicker and waste what precious little time we have. Go relay the situation and we'll stand by here...and please send May to me. If word about this gets to her she's liable to do something foolish."

The waiting was the worst pain she'd felt in a long time.

May twisted her hands, anxiously watching the surveillance feeds and wishing that she could fight David and Kyrogre a hundred times over than watch the scene unfolding before her. When the alarms had sounded through the base her heart had leapt in her throat and she'd immediately turned tail and run back to the radar room, nearly bowling Steven over in her haste. Now she was sitting between Maxie and Liam as they all watched in a tense silence so thick is was nearly tangible. They had braced themselves for the chaos, for the soldiers landing on the beach and aircraft missiles screaming towards innocent crowds

But they never came.

The ships had slowed to a halt, dropping anchor just off shore and the aircraft that had been deployed made slow passes over the cities and townships, but they did not fire. They still continued their almost lazy sweeps, terrible black shadows against the otherwise cloudless sky, but still did nothing but observe. May bit her lip until she tasted copper.

"Why aren't they moving?" she whispered hoarsely. "Why won't they attack?"

"It's a scare tactic," Maxie replied quietly and took her left hand in his to stop her from knotting them so tightly. "If they step on the land they're vulnerable to Groudon, but if we go to the sea to try and stop them than Kyogre can take us out with one fell swoop. Ardos just wants to show us that he can wipe out Hoenn's people while we hide here in the mountains. He wants to lure us out, make us desperate to act."

"Well it's working," she hissed through clenched teeth. "How can we just sit here when they can unload all of that at the drop of a hat?"

"We have to."

"No!"

"May, this is war – don't say that it isn't when there is an army waiting to blow us to kingdom come as soon as they can reach us. Tough choices have to be made. If we go charging in we're dead and Hoenn is doomed. If we call his bluff then we atill have a chance."

"I – alright...I suppose I can see your point," she relented finally, but dug her fingers into her thigh when she bared her teeth. "But if they set one foot on the shore I will have them."

"No, Groudon will have them," he corrected and seemed unfazed when she glared at him. "Don't give me that look. You might be wearing a uniform but you won't see another battlefield, not in your condition."

"Maxie I'm not invalid. It's still early -"

"I don't care," he barked with such fierceness that she recoiled in her shock. "May you don't get to make that choice, not when you're carrying our child! There's more than your life on the line now!"

When she pulled back he looked hurt and immediately became apologetic. "I'm sorry May, I know you want to get back at him, I know you want to see justice done, but please...it's not just you we have to worry about anymore. What if something happened? What if he captured you? What do you think that madman would do if he found out?"

May looked down at her lap as she felt herself flush with shame. Her nose burned, a tell tale sign that she was about to cry and she desperately tried to blink away the tears before he saw them. "I – I'm sorry Maxie I just...it's unfinished business."

She scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand and before he could reply, rose. She flashed him a weak smile. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit. Let me know if something happens."

"May -"

"It's okay. You're right you know. I'll see you later."

She tried not to be bothered by the doubt in his eyes, but it was hard not to when she was lying through her teeth. She hunched her shoulders as she walked, determined to make herself look as hostile as possible so that other personnel gave her a wide berth as she passed them by. Rather than making the turn to her living quarters, however, she took the narrow corridor that led down to magma chamber where Groudon had lain resting since their arrival. Without fear or hesitation she moved to sit herself down on the edge of the pool of molten rock.

The intense heat should have been unbearable, but she found it pleasant as the waves of warmth washed over her face. Groudon seemed unsurprised to see her as he lowered his massive head to pressed the edge of his snout against her chest. She slid her fingers between the grooves of his armour-like skin as the behemoth made a curious crooning noise that sounded like pebbles rolling down a cliff. "You feel them out there too don't you...hiding like cowards just beyond the edge of our reach."

Groudon huffed in reply, his hot breath shot through with black smoke as he echoed her frustration. He drew back and straightened up to the fullest height the cavern would allow. She felt the minute vibrations through the stones beneath her and saw the fissures in his hide start to glow like the magma surrounding him. He growled, louder this time and she felt the earth shudder its reply.

"I know, but what can we do? We can't attack them alone and the water is Kyogre's domain, not ours. They have us surrounded and they will wait until we are too weak to fight back. We're not like you old friend. Humans are fragile things with the need for food and water. When it runs out this mountain will be our tomb."

Groudon gazed down at her and his eyes took on a strange light, a deep sort of glow the likes of which she'd never seen. In her mind's eye she saw the red filament that connected them grow taut, thrumming with a low resonating note as if plucked by deft, unseen fingers. It pulsed and vibrated more vigorously until it sang and then she heard a sound that she'd never heard before.

No, it will not.

It was almost a voice, a growling whisper that seemed to echo out from the very stones around her. It shifted constantly like the molten rock in the pool, sounding nearly human at times and then like the thunder of a distant rock slide at others. She felt a strange heat pulsing in the very core of her being as the red life-thread between them shimmered and danced. Groudon had never spoken to her before, but had usually forced his thoughts across through images and putting words into her mind. His voice was a surprisingly soft thing, but hit her with such force that she could feel it rumble deep within her bones. "Groudon?"

Forgive me, you are the first disciple I have spoken to in a very long time. I had forgotten to use my tongue after the long dark sleep. Your language has changed so much since the elder days when I walked freely

"I – it's alright. I was just surprised," she stammered, still unsure if his voice was manifesting itself psychically or if it was ringing in her head. "What did you mean before?"

This mountain shall not be your tomb dear creature, nor any of your fellows or your youngling.

"But the ships – they have us cut off from everything. There are swords on all sides."

...I had hoped it would never come to this, but I see no other path. Man cannot shackle both land and sea or all will be lost to water and flame, but yon foe cannot see beyond his own folly. There are far older powers still at work in the world. Stand and hold out your hands my champion

May did as she was bid and Groudon hunched over her cupped palms. His jaws parted widely as the fissures in his armoured hide began to pulse brightly. Molten rock welled up in the titan's throat and dripped down from the cage of teeth like saliva over her outstretched arms. It should have burned her limbs clean away, put her in throes of agony, but it felt like warm water sliding harmlessly over her flesh. Amidst the magma she felt something hard fall into her hands. She pulled them back and found a curious looking lump of crystal resting neatly in her palms. It had a strange iridescent quality, shining with its own inner light as she turned it over in her hands. A myriad of colours glittered in the crystalline depths; red, then blue, then green all shot through with ribbons of gold. "What – what is this?"

I know not the human name for it. The best I can give you is keystone, for it unlocks the power of the old world through this.

Groudon drew back and there in his breast, between the armoured plates she could see a ruby like stone gleaming. She raised the key stone and it seemed to glow even brighter. "What is that?"

The power Kyogre and I used to shape the lands and wage our terrible wars was too much for humankind. Your people would rise only to be crushed again and again, caught in the wake of our wrath. The Sky King came and made the peace. We let go of our eldritch powers until such a time when the world needed to be remade again. My brothers hold the same vessels of power, but I was given the key stone when I was sealed away for the long dark sleep beneath the seabed, far from the reach of us all.

"What does this mean?" May breathed, gazing at her reflection in the keystone that flashed at her with all the colours of the rainbow.

It means that even though the sea has teeth, we will break them as the waves do break upon my shore. Your mate will not agree with this plan, but he does not fathom the strength I give unto you – no other mortal can. He fears for you and your youngling, but it is a child of my blessing and will not be so easily harmed.

May held the keystone close to her chest and felt the warmth radiating from it. She looked up into his fierce, golden eyes and set her jaw. "...When."

When the dawn comes tomorrow you and I shall break the lines. The shade in your dreams has told you of this fate, but you must feel no fear. You are the head of this snake, the coils will fall into place as you see fit.

"I hope you're right. I'll be back for you in a few hours."

It is time for a stand my champion. No more running.

Sleep did not find her that night.

After Groudon had given her the keystone she had run to her quarters, hiding the lump of crystal beneath her discarded uniform before climbing into bed and feigning sleep. She had heard Maxie come in and sit on the edge of the be with a heavy sigh and a mumbled apology before he'd shucked off his own uniform and crawled beneath the covers next to him. Blinking back tears she had turned to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Beneath the smoke and sweat he still smelled faintly of the pines and winter glades they'd been force to leave behind and she'd idly wondered if they'd ever make it back there someday. Eventually he'd fallen asleep and she'd spent the last few hours listening to the slow sound of his breathing and memorizing every little detail of his face in the dim light...just in case this was the last time that she would see it. She laid a hand over her abdomen, running it over the bump forming there. "I'm doing this for you little one...for all of us."

Carefully she slid out of the bed and pulled on her uniform, making sure the keystone was in her breast pocket and that her pistol was strapped to her hip. She breathed deeply and fell back onto darker instincts to guide her as she crept cat-like out of the room and through the maze of tunnels until she came to the magma chamber. Groudon was waiting for her and his pokéball disconnected from her belt of its own accord to hover in the air before him before it opened and he was consumed in crimson light. The sphere floated back down to her hands and burned hotly in her palm.

"What was it Tabitha always said...into fire, into hell...seems appropriate. Let's go old friend."

She sprinted to the exit and was out the door long before anyone could see or stop her. Moments later she was on Altaria's back and bearing swiftly towards the eastern seashore. Dawn was just starting to creep over the horizon when they passed over Lilycove and settled on one of the cliffs overlooking the harbour. Despite the gloom there were no lights and May frowned. The power grid must have gone down on top of everything else. Turning to face the sea she saw the warships, sinister grey shadows bobbing on the morning tide. Overhead a lone wingull let out a long, sorrowful cry as it wheeled overhead. With one last deep breath, tasting the brine on her tongue, she unclipped Groudon's pokéball from her belt and pulled the keystone out of her pocket. Both the stone and pokéball radiated an intense heat and she felt the carmine thread between her and the titan of the earth grow taut as a bowstring. The red and white sphere opened and Groudon emerged on the seashore at the cliff's base. Without hesitation she jumped from the edge, landing on the crest of his broad head as he shuffled into the shallows.

Lights on the ships snapped on and alarms shattered the stillness of the morning as dark figures swarmed like ants onto the upper decks. The guns turned towards them, but she only bared her teeth at them and raised her arms. Groudon mimicked her movement and then slammed his forelimbs down into the sandy shadows. The pulse of power sent a massive wave rolling towards the warships and May grinned savagely when one of them snapped its anchor chain and turned, ramming her bow into the stern of her sister ship. The other two were relatively unharmed, but rather than right themselves after being turned by the force of the swell, they began to raise their anchors and started moving to the far sides of the harbour, as if to make room for something.

A heavy silence fell over the water, broken only by the waves sloshing against the basalt stones and Groudon's slow, heavy breaths that had steam rising high on the morning air. May closed her eyes and looked through Groudon's eyes, through the stones and the floor of the sea in the dark abyss. Groudon parted his jaws and let out a long, loud roar just as they had done the first time they'd challenged the leviathan of Hoenn's deep. It wasn't long before the cold, shuddering wail replied and the waters in the centre of the harbour bowed upwards, breaking in a torrent of foam and salt spray. David, all clad in black, stood on Kyrogre's back just as he had done before with no trace of the injuries she'd given him during their last confrontation. Groudon waded further out into the water and May held the keystone close to her chest.

"What do I do?"

Flame and stone, blood and bone - let there be fire.

The keystone began shining with a bright light and began to float above her cupped palms. Far below she could see the same sort of iridescence shining from the stone hidden in Groudon's chest, pulsing like a heartbeat. The titan hunched over as the fissures in his hide churned like molten rock and indeed, lava started to seep out through the gaps between his armour. The spikes the lined his neck lengthened and turned black, gleaming in the dawn's light like obsidian. More ebony spines erupted out of his back, night black as were his enlarged teeth and claws. Groudon drew back up to his full height, taller than he had ever been as he faced the rising sun that seemed to pulse and grow brighter than any normal dawn as it slowly rose above the sea. More molten rock dripped from the behemoth's gaping maw, sending up plumes of scalding steam as it met the water below. Without warning the keystone, levitating under its own strange power shot forward and slammed into her chest, burning through the heavy fabric of her uniform and then seemed to melt into her very flesh.

May choked and fell to her knees at the pulsing heat thrumming through her core in time with her quickening heart beat. She felt bones pop and twist into unnatural shapes as liquid fire ran through her veins. Looking down at her heads she saw her fingers length and twist into curved black claws as a familiar red glyph began to gleam on her the surface of her skin. She gnashed teeth that had grown long and sharp, too big for her human mouth and tasted smoke and sulphur on her tongue as she cried out when spikes erupted along her spine. Slowly, she rose and gazed around in wonder. She could see, with her waking eyes, the veins of fire that snaked below the surface of the earth and deep below in the sea bed. She looked and could see far, as far as the land could spread and felt every movement, the tremors of life moving over the stones she now knew by name, knew their stories, knew of their birth. The sun finally came up fully in the eastern sky and then started to blaze with an unnatural fury. The air shimmered with the building heat and Kyogre who had sat unmoving let out a shriek, but it was weak as the winter bite it had held melted away along with all of the snow and ice along the seashore. David looked at her and May bared her teeth, bellowing at him with the voice of the mountain in a tongue only titans could understand.

Their transformation finished Groudon stepped forward, moving into deeper water, but as he walked the water seemed to part. It evaporated as the seabed cracked and lava surged up to form new land beneath its master as he walked. Kyogre let out a crocodilian hiss and turned, slamming its fluke down to send a wall of water surging towards its foe. The tidal wave had barely made half the distance between them before Groudon's jaws parted wide and he belched forth a torrent of white flame that ripped through the water and stole its power away. Kyogre was forced to dive to avoid the firestorm and May grinned with a savage fury as she made a scooping movement with her hand. Groudon followed simultaneously, not a puppet but a partner as he picked up a massive slab of basalt stone and hurled it at the closest warship as it began to turn its guns on them. The boulder slammed into the midship hull, caving in the steel and making the dreadnought rock wildly from the blow.

The thrum of helicopter blades made her look skyward and she could see three black shadows bearing down at them fast. They slowed as they approached, seemingly unsure how to proceed upon seeing the exact nature of their attackers. May felt herself smile more widely than humanly possible as her jaw started to distort and lengthen to accommodate the rows of ebony fangs that lined her mouth. Lava-like spittle ran down her chin as she shrieked her challenge at them and Groudon did the same.

There were no thoughts of Cipher now, no concept of Ardos or his shadowy army; there was only the balance that was screaming to be restored. The sea had risen too high and carried the filthy man creatures with it. They thought themselves above the earth, but they would melt their waxen wings and send them crashing down to their stoney teeth. The cycle would start again.

"What the fuck is going on!?"

"Sir, we're getting a visual – oh my God!"

Maxie had awoken to utter chaos. Alarms had screamed and he had found himself alone in his bed amidst yells and scrambling personnel. Cursing, he had pulled on his uniform and ran to the reconnaissance room, hoping May would be waiting for him there, but he only found Steven and a team of frantic operators trying to hone in on the source of the disturbance. They'd pinpointed it to the eastern coastline, but when they brought up the visual feed the room fell dead silent.

"What is that?"

"It's Groudon...and May."

The image on the screen was absolutely terrifying. The sun was blazing with a preternatural heat, melting the ice and snow along the shore and radiating such power that steam was rising steadily up from the sea as the water evaporated. Groudon stood in what should have been five fathoms of water, but no water was beneath the titan's feet just an ever growing slab of cooling rock. His appearance, however, had been radically altered. He was even more massive than he had been before, with molten rock seeping out from the gaps in his armoured hide and black spines running along the dorsal lines of his body. His claws and teeth had grown and turned ebony black, and his eyes that burned like liquid flame held an unbridled fury that made his rampage all those years ago pale in comparison. May stood on the crest of his head – or what was left of her. She had been changed, much like Groudon had. Her hands had curled into massive black claws, matching the spikes running along her spine to meet the tail like projection that had formed there. Glowing scarlet lines in the same pattern as the fissures in Groudon's hide ran along her arms, running up to her face to frame the glowing red eyes and rows of black teeth, long and sharp like a beast's protruding over her lips that were laced with rivulets of molten rock. She raised her disfigured arm and Groudon did the same. Sharp pillars of red stone erupted out of the sea floor, spearing the hulls of the remaining warships as the sailors on board leapt desperately into the boiling sea.

Maxie felt sick as he watched the scene unfold. "Oh May, what have you done."

"Maxie, do you have any idea what's going on? What the hell happened to them?"

"I don't know," he replied, not looking away from the screen as May and Groudon sent another precipice blade skyward and speared one of the helicopters. It erupted into flames as the twisted wreckage fell into the churning sea below. Kyogre was circling just beyond the half-submerged wreckage of the warships, but the leviathan seemed unwilling to near the strange eldritch creature that was creating such utter devastation. "I don't know!"

"Wait, I might know."

Maxie finally looked away from the horrifying scene to see Wallace walking through the door with a grave expression on his face. "What?"

"As leader of the Sootopolis Gym you know I'm responsible for guarding the Cave of Origins, that much is common knowledge. There is more, however. A history of sorts that was to be kept secret at all costs," he said, gazing at the screen and folding his arms behind his back. "May has filled a role that no one has held in thousands of years, not since those elder days when Groudon was worshipped as an ultimate god along with Kyogre and Rayquaza. We know she has a special bond with him, that she is his disciple of sorts, but that role has changed. She's taken a place and a power that was reserved solely for the highest of priests of that old order."

"And what, exactly, does that entail?"

"Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza were once far more powerful than they are now. Every time they clashed mankind was pushed to the brink of extinction. So the power was sealed away and kept with the high priests to use only when the nature was thrown out of balance. Eventually it was deemed to dangerous for human hands to hold and was hidden when mortal hands could never touch it. I don't know how, but May has gotten hold of that power. She has, for all intensive purposes, become an extension of Groudon himself, a conduit for his primal evolution. As it stands now they are like two halves of one being."

"Is it possible to reverse the process?"

"If the legends are to be believed then yes, but I will warn you. The longer they stay in that primordial state, the harder it will be to separate them and bring them both back. With Kyogre under Cipher's control nature is out of balance. Groudon won't stop until that is rectified."

"...Steven I need a helicopter."

"But we -"

"I don't want excuses Steven, I want an aircraft or else we're going to lose her and this war! Groudon was almost unstoppable the last time around, if they stay stuck in that form Ardos will be the least of our worries when the region is burnt to a goddamn crisp. Now get me the fucking helicopter!"

"ETA is two minutes! Get you line ready!"

Steven still sounded agitated, even through the headset. The Champion had insisted on piloting despite vehement protest from everyone at the base, but he would hear none of it. Maxie frowned and clipped the descent line onto his harness as the eastern coastline just outside of Lilycove started drawing into sight, though the steam and smoke had been visible long ago. When the cliffs dropped away to reveal Groudon and May, still in their primal states moving further out into the water where Kyogre lurked just beyond the edge of the shoal where the sea floor plummeted away to the beginnings of the underwater trench. The leviathan seemed to know it had no chance against Groudon as he was now, but nor did it have the sense to flee either due to the shadow process or the ancient grudge it held against its earthen brother. Still, Kyogre seemed determine to lure them out into deeper water where maybe it could gain the upper hand.

Maxie slid open the side door of the helicopter once they came over top of Groudon and tested his rappel line once more before giving Steven the thumbs up. He stepped out of the aircraft and started to descend towards Groudon's head. He'd almost made it down when May turned to look at him and her already distorted face twisted in a snarl. Gathering molten rock into her clawed hand she lobbed it at him, missing by a inch but hitting his rappel line. The line burned through and he dropped, landing hard on Groudon's iron hard head and getting singed in several placed from the immense heat welling up from the titan's body. He rolled on impact and almost fell down the slope of Groudon's neck, and would have if not for May's claws seizing the front of his flak jacket. She hauled him up, holding him so that his boots barely touched Groudon's armour-plated hide. A hissing growl rumbled deep in May's throat as she tightened her grip and spat at him. When she spoke her voice was thick and gravelly, barely containing the undercurrent that was once her high, dulcet tones.

"Wretched child of man, you dare approach we whose flesh is fire and stone! Ye who have broken the balance, we will burn you for your insolence!"

"May stop! Stop!" he choked, trying in vain to break her iron grip. "It's me! It's Maxie!"

His name seemed to give her pause and latched onto her hesitation, just as he had done when she'd been choking the life out of him under Ardos' command. "Remember who you are May, you're not Groudon, you -"

"We are fire made flesh!" she bellowed, lava-like saliva running down her chin. "We -"

"No, you are the woman I love and the mother of my child!" he snapped back. "Remember May, remember!"

Her furious gaze faltered and she walked back a few paces so that she could lower him down to stand on his own. She looked down at her clawed hands and then down at herself. "We are...mother...I am."

Her flaming eyes widened in both alarm and recognition as she looked back up at him. "Maxie, you can't be here!"

"You were never supposed to be here!" he fired back. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"You don't understand Maxie, we can't sit and wait to die. I won't wait."

"You don't have the right -"

"I have the responsibility!" she roared and Maxie felt heat roll off of her in savage waves. "Look at me Maxie! I am the only one who can do this and you know it."

Carefully she moved closer and held his face between her clawed hands. For a moment the liquid fire in her eyes seemed to burn blue and her smile, distorted and fringed by vicious teeth, grew softer. "Maxie if you could see what I have you would understand. I have been slotted for this duty since this war began. Remember you told me I had to be soldier, that hasn't changed because of the life growing within me – it has only made the need for my service more important. I'm so sorry for this."

She pressed her forehead to his and then, placing her hands against his chest, gave him a hearty shove. He fell, tumbling down Groudon's back before slamming into the shallows. Cold, absolute fear made him cry out in sheer terror as seawater filled his nose and mouth. Thankfully it was now only a swift scramble to the ever expanding shoreline and he sat soaked in the sand, watching helplessly as Groudon and May continued their march forward. They stopped at the very edge of the drop off and Kyrogre reared, the beginnings of a Hyper Beam forming in its gaping maw. Groudon opened his jaws wide and the air shimmered with the heat of the molten rock welling up in his throat. Maxie tasted copper and felt a static charge build in the air from the sheer amount of raw power being condensed into such a small area.

Without warning David knelt down and touched the top of Kyogre's head. The leviathan's jaws snapped shut like a steel trap before the whale-like titan turned, sending up a plume of white spray as it dove down into the inky depths of the trench. The waters became still and Groudon roared his fury to the blazing sky and Maxie felt the earth beneath him shudder in the wake of it. The lumbering titan turned back towards the shore and began heading back towards the land, steam and smoke erupting out from the fissures in his hide. Slowly, he seemed to shrink in stature and the elongated spines began to pale in colour and retreat. He watched May jump from Groudon's back and fall to her knees in the shallows, retching violently. Amidst the lava like sputum something round and glowing slipped out of her mouth. Like the titan at her side slowly she started to lose the monstrous features that had distorted her body. Maxie ran over to her as she continued to heave, but now the molten rock had been replaced by normal stomach contents. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she looked up at him and smiled weakly. Her features had returned to normal save for the lines of Ground's glyph. They had stopped glowing, but were still bright red against her skin. "I'm in a lot of trouble aren't I."

"Trouble doesn't even begin to cover it," he said hoarsely as he gathered her up in his arms. She resisted only long enough to pick up the lump of glowing crystal that she'd expelled from her body before going limp as a boned fish in his grasp. "Come on, tell your boy we're getting out of here."

Island Wolf: One thing I really loved about the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire was the primal forms so I wanted to incorporate it somehow without suddenly bringing up Mega Evolutions (because this is technically set in the Hoenn where no such thing exists) and this seemed like a fun route to go. I've been wanting to do a proper possessed May for a while so this gave me the framework to do so. Hella fun let me tell you.