There, finally, Act Four is finished. And I love it... seriously, it's fun playing with Anti's world. It's rather refreshing to have Celebi still be a total jerk, but not be a villian. Now I can see why people are actually fans of him, damnit he's fun. And so's Eve, strangely.
I suppose, seeing as this is more Anomaly based than ToF, I should say what Aeris normally does... so I will. So let's go! (Okay, I can't say that with a straight face.)
Worlds Apart - Act Four: Forest Spirits
Eve's upper lip curled back in a snarl as she moved her hands together, feeling her own heartbeat as she concentrated, the fur on her arms rippling as energy shot down the appendages. Her power gathered in her palms, focusing, merging, forming a black ball, one that crackled with her rage. The ghostly orb grew as Eve's eyes locked with the monster's before her, that empty gaze only fueling the fire as she threw her hands forward, releasing her hold on the Shadow Ball, firing it with a force she didn't know she possessed.
It blasted through the air, covering the short space in a second. The Scizor didn't even move, didn't even react as the ghostly orb arced in on its target. Eve growled again as the Shadow Ball crashed into the bug's face, detonating with a resounding crack. She could see the shockwave in the dusty air, feel the rush of air as it passed her by... her growl stopped. The Scizor hadn't flinched, hadn't fallen back, hadn't shown any sign of even feeling the blow. It took a step forward, closer to her, the light filtering through the trees reflecting off the dent in its armor, a dent that seemed to be fixing itself.
Watching it, Eve could sense that shadowy aura radiating from the bug, focused around the damaged armor. The sensention of the power emanating from the bug sent chills through her, especially as that steel plating healed itself in seconds. Suddenly, as it took another step closer, taking it on seemed a bad idea. But, as she spotted a long pink tail flicker slightly out of the corner of her eye, Eve fought down her instinct to flee. Mew was still alive, he needed her, she couldn't abandon him. She wouldn't back down, no matter how powerful that monster was.
The Scizor's wings were going at full speed now, the purple appendages, moving fast enough to be almost invisible. Eve growled again, focusing her power for another assault, even as she watched the bug for any sign of an incoming attack. Unfortunately, she found out, Shadow's give no warning. It shot forwards, becoming naught but a blur as it homed in on her. Eve didn't have time to think, she merely reacted, her energy shifting to psychically fire herself to the side, away from the massive pincers that went rocketing past her head with mere millimeters to spare.
Both clone and bug skidded to a halt, the former wincing slightly at the stinging sensation coming from a cheek. A small trickle of crimson ran down Eve's face, the Scizor's wing had caught her with enough force to slice through skin. Ignoring the pain, she focused once more, feeling that familiar cold chill radiating from her paws as they took on a blue glow all of their own. The Scizor didn't react at all, again, either as the Ice Beam tore into those vunerable wings, freezing flesh, ripping off the one that had caught on her cheek.
The fact it showed no pain caused a conflicting reaction in Eve. One part of her was terrified, scared of this thing that just could not feel pain, that would not stop. The other side of her, however, just felt enraged, pissed off that the bastard insect didn't have the decency to hurt, to fall, to scream, like the damn thing was supposed to. And the berserk side of her was much, much bigger than her fear. She snarled again as she raised another Shadow Ball, fueling it with her emotions, the ghostly orb reacting to its mistress and giving off great sparks, ones that heated up the air, ones that would burn through flesh and bone.
The black ball of energy, rivaling Mew in size, was fired across the clearing even faster than the last, leaving a trail of sparks behind it as it raced for its target, the point right between the Scizor's wings. However, this time, the bug moved, spinning with enough force to kick up even more dust, even as a pincer swung out, slamming into the Shadow Ball in mid-flight. There was no detonation, no great rush of power bursting from its confines. Eve's rage shrank slightly, compelling her to take a step back, as the creature seemed to absorb the attack.
Its hollow eyes, staring out through the eyeholes in its armor, seemed to pierce through her own as that pincer pointed straight at her chest, now radiating that same shadowy aura she has sensed before. The fear grew, Eve trembled slightly, she had thrown all she had into that attack, it would have flattened a Steelix and yet that thing had effortlessly stopped it. She was panting slightly while it did not seemed exausted at all. Eve finally realised why Mew had killed that Absol, to prevent another one of these monsters, these unstoppable killers... to prevent a nice Pokemon losing all control, becoming ruled solely by the urge to kill. Dione had saved her life and, in return, Mew had saved his soul...
"Aww, I hate to ruin your little moment, but now it's my turn!" A telepathic call caused both Eve and the insect to pause, both suddenly feeling a massive pulse of pure psychic power. The Scizor turned to follow the pulse, while she smiled at the voice. Eve wanted to cheer as that fallen oak was lifted up, the Legendary underneath floating up, holding the behemoth plant as he smirked, swinging his arms out, releasing the tree. "Miss me?" The Scizor's shadow aura blinked out as the oak smashed into its face, sending it crashing to the ground, trapped underneath the wood.
Celebi's small fists clenched as he stared down at the cracked tree, Eve amazed at the fact he was alive, let alone seemingly unharmed. But then she remembered Mew saying once that the fairy could heal at an unmatched rate, and he couldn't have picked a better time.
"See how you like it," he spoke down to the fallen bug, before glancing across at Eve, "you know, you aren't so pathetic after all, holding that thing off as long as you did."
Eve was about to reply to the fairy, when she remembered Mew. She spun away, quickly spotting the fallen kitten and darting over. He was in very bad shape, all those earlier wounds had reopened, along with the giant gash on his head... there was barely any fur left pink, stained as it was. He looked even smaller than usual, his chest moving only a fraction with shallow, laboured breaths. Eve reached down, scooping up her brother and holding him to her chest as she stood once more, turning to face Celebi once more. Her telepathic voice barely more than a whisper as she looked into the fairy's eyes.
"Will he be okay?"
The forest spirit frowned slightly as he looked down at Mew's tiny frame, before he spoke, "I cannot say for sure...With a head injury like that, even my healing abilities might not be enough to fix him."
"But you can try!" Eve practically pleaded.
"I have more important things to do at the moment," Celebi turned away, tiny paws clenched into green fists.
"Like what?! What is more important than saving Mew?" She almost shouted, only managing to lessen her voice when Mew moved slightly, as though he was trying to curl into a ball.
"Making sure we all survive, period."
Eve blinked, wondering what he meant by that, when her blood chilled as she picked up that eerie shadow aura... that wasn't possible... She turned, staring at that tree, her eyes widening at the purple glowing veins that were spreading out over it. They pulsed with that aura, expanding and covering the whole tree.
"...I miss the days when people were courteous enough to die when you threw a tree at them." Celebi sighed, his wings propelling him a little higher into the air, even as the green glowing leaves formed in his paws, the Miracle Leaves arcing down and impaling the wood. The veins stopped spreading, yet the pulsing got stronger still. Something had to give, and the wood was creaking under the heavy strain of that toxic power.
There was a sickening crack as the tree gave way, massive chunks of bark, branches and roots shot in all directions, propelled by the blast. Eve spun away, protecting her face from the storm of splinters even as a barrier formed around her. She could feel the hailstorm pounding away at her shield, hear them trying to penetrate and reach flesh. She had to fight the urge to squeeze Mew, just managing to succeed, but even she couldn't fight back a whimper as her barrier continued to suffer a pounding.
After what seemed like an eternity, the storm finally started to thin out, the items pounding away at her barrier losing their force, allowing Eve to rise from her crouch, turning back and letting the shield fall... she stared, a mix of a whimper and a growl sounding out from her throat at the sight of that damned insect. Its armor was heavily dented, but it was repairing itself, even as it stared at her and Mew... even as it raised a pincer, one that held a very-sharp-looking piece of wood.
The purple aura formed again, Eve's eyes widening as the makeshift spear was pointed right at her chest, right at Mew's head... she didn't have the energy for another barrier, not to stop that thing, the branch itself was radiating that evil power... The Scizor's eyes flashed and the deadly spear fired... just as a green Pokemon shot inbetween Eve and the attack, the fairy's own barrier forming, crumpling to the impact of the spear, that just kept on going. Eve cried out as Celebi's entire body jerked back, the spiked object imbedded in his chest.
Then he looked over his shoulder, narrowed orbs meeting her wide eyes. His voice was clear, empty of pain, almost as though the stake in his chest did not exist.
"You might want to start running," he adviced, before turning back with a chuckle, "because I'm going to make one hell of a mess!"
Eve decided to listen, not wanting to watch as the fairy placed his paws on the spear in his chest, fleeing for the trees even as he pulled, tugging the stake out of him and flinging it away, just in time to shoot backwards to avoid a punch from those lethal pincers. Celebi floated low, forcing it to duck in order to swing, giving the fairy the perfect chance to shoot over its head, the pincer slamming into the dirt with a resounding crack. The forest sprite flew over the Shadow's head, uing his wings to swing him around, even as he focused his power in his paws, summoning another twin Miracle Leaf.
The Scizor's wings fell apart as the grass blades impaled themselves in its back, looking almost like wings themselves. Celebi smirked, as the insect rose to turn around, to come back for a second shot, to take a Shadow Ball to the face, sending it staggering back. Insect Shadows had rapid healing abilities, being able to almost match his own, so he was more than aware of how much he had to push the bug before it would go down and die. With that armor, getting to that stage would be tricky, but he had nothing to worry about. In the end, he was Celebi, guardian of fate, witness of time, no twisted mockery of life could stand a chance.
That was the plan, anyway. But, before that, Celebi had to get the cursed bug to follow that scheme. And there was only way that would happen. Another Miracle Leaf arced through the air, aimed at a weakpoint on the armored insect, slicing open its shoulder and forcing it to lower a pincer for a few seconds, giving Celebi enough time to float into the center of the clearing, where sunlight filtered through the trees. The light, filled with power, focused and compressed in the palm of his paws... The Legendary took aim, straight at the center of the chestplate as the Scizor came shooting for him, only to be flung backwards, propelled by the great blast of green energy.
"Solar Beam!"
---
Stupid tree branches, they were all catching in her face and, carrying Mew, she didn't have a free arm to protect her eyes from the bastard twigs. Eve growled, a psychic shockwave soon blasting them to the ground and out of her face, allowing her to focus on running without jolting Mew too much. His breathing was still weak, his tail was barely moving, and even then it was more the result of her stumbling over a root than the psychic kitten. Eve could feel his wounds against her arms, places where there was torn flesh instead of fur. She tried shifting him, trying to find a way to hold him that didn't involve clutching an injury, but such a position did not seem to exist.
"Celebi... hurry up."
Of course, that was when the Scizor came crashing through the undergrowth, hitting the ground and kicking up dust and debris as it came to a halt. Eve froze in her tracks, another small whimper escaping out of her as the insect slowly started to push itself up... there were giant leaves imbedded in it's back, that black blood-like substance slowly seeping out of the wounds as it moved, pushing itself up, only to be met by a Shadow ball arcing down from the treetops, one coming from the fairy that slowly floated down.
Celebi was smiling, he knew it's ability to heal was impeded by the Miracle Leaves in its back, and it's armor had ceased recovering after the Solar Beam, leaving it torn and buckled. But, it was still mobile, and went on the offencive once more. Only this time, pointing its Pincer at the fairy and unleashing a blast of Shadow energy, a twisted, corrupted version of an Air Cutter attack. Celebi was too slow to dodge, catching the blow in his own stomach and crashing to the floor, feeling the toxic Shadow aura entering his system, his regenerative abilities struggling to fight it off, fighting to stop it warping him... turning him into a creature that fed on chaos.
Eve's anger returned as Celebi fell, the bug stepping forwards to finish what it had started. She didn't think, telekinetically grabbing ahold of all the surrounding dust and debris, flinging it straight at the insect from every direction. She had to slow it down, stun it, blind it... she didn't expect it to stagger back, stumble and fall, she didn't expect to see a large, jagged stick imbedded through its left eye.
"...Holy mother of Mew..." Celebi stared as the bug stopped moving, the fairy managing to push himself up... she'd won?!