And we're back again. You have no idea how long this took to write.
Well, maybe you do, if you've been counting how long it's been since I last update.
Yeah, I got bit by the lazy bug again.
Anyway, a welcome return to the crazy world of Anti's realm.
I'd say more, but it is ungodly late at night and I have to work tomorrow morning...
Getting up is going to be hell.
Worlds Apart - Act Six: Holy Trinity
It had been been five minutes, and there had been no sign of the trail ending. Eve had let the other two psychics go, one of which was sulking. Hovering just at shoulder height, wings and antenna twitching, arms crossed, Celebi was grumbling to himself.
"Still say this is suicidal..."
"No one asked you to stay!" Mew snapped back from his spot on Eve's over side, the female having placed herself between the two in a futile attempt to stop their bickering.
"And leave you alone?" The fairy scoffed, "you'd be dead in five seconds."
"Fly over here and say that." Mew's paws clenched, eyes flashing purple.
"Yeah, wouldn't want to tucker you out by making you come over here. I'm surprised you can manage without being carried," Celebi shrugged, "pathetic."
"Oh you are-"
"Would you two stop it?!" Eve interjected, shooting the pair of higher powers the sternest glare she could manage.
Mew actually flinched away, looking almost apolagetic. Whereas Celebi just stuck out his tongue, acting more like a petulant child. Eve paused, wondering how the hell she knew that word. It sounded like something Mewtwo would have said, back before... probably did, not that she ever really paid attention whenever he had started to rant. At least Mew, even now, still tended to avoid scolding her as much as Mewtwo had. For which Eve was grateful. She didn't think her spine would have managed to hold much more instances of being slammed into trees.
---
Fools, Celebi growled under his breath as he observed the two psychics he was stuck escorting. One was exhausted both physically and mentally, barely able to stay in the air. Only the untrained eye of the other prevented the damned clone from noticing, so caught up in her own thoughts she was barely even aware of the path she was walking on. They were no help. If the act wouldn't have every Shadow for miles homing in, Celebi would have just teleported the two out of the area and get on with what he came here to do instead of babysit a couple of invalids.
He needed to get the two out of the way somehow, so he could go prevent the cursed infection from spreading further, from becoming near impossible to eradicate. But yet they insisted on this suicidal venture, requiring that he ignore the real threat just to make sure one didn't get a shot at the two beside him. If one did, then the results could easily turn catastrophic. So, as much as it annoyed Celebi, as much as it went against his better judgement, he had no choice but to assist the two and pray that the Shadow infestation was not as deep as it first seemed.
Unfortunately, the air was thick with traces of the toxic being's presence, so Celebi was finding it hard to stay hopeful. That was another problem of those accursed creatures, the inability to accurately sense most of them. He would only know of their presence through his own instincts. Luckily Mew finally seemed to have realised the nature of the situation, keeping silent and allowing the fairy to concentrate. Even the clone was mercifully quiet, for about five seconds before the innane chatter started up again!
"Why don't you two like each other anyway?"
"Princess, shut up."
"What did you just-"
"Eve, do as he says. As much as I hate to say it, Cel's better at dealing with Shadows than I am. If he thinks one's around, we can't risk distracting him."
About time the kitten finally admitted that, Celebi smirked; and it was certainly about time he actually followed his own advice. While his 'brethren' didn't look convinced, she at least had the grace to follow orders and stay quiet this time. The poisonous scent in the air was getting thicker. He glanced across, past Eve, catching Mew's eye. The small feline was grim; even weakened as he was, he could still pick up those traces. And, as expected, the female was clueless, almost happily walking further down the trail, into danger.
Celebi wasn't surprised. She was a child, trapped way out of her league. One who should not even exist, but was allowed to live through some sick twist of fate. He fought the distracting thoughts back, focusing completely on the surroundings, on the undergrowth. Shadows still possessed hunting instincts, they still had enough grasp of stealth to get close enough to strike. And it would only take one blow to his comrades to fall to the demonic disease as neither possessed his regenerative abilities.
He was their defence; and Celebi was not one who would let himself succumb to failure.
---
Mew was also trying to keep tabs on any attackers, but his senses were haphazard at best, which Mew was most certainly not. His energy was nearly completely spent, only able to keep flying through willpower alone. And they had lost their supplies in the initial ambushes, so grabbing something to eat wasn't possible. It was a bad sign. Eve wasn't ready to fight, not something like them, not a Shadow. She was a lot stronger than before, there was no denying that, but no where near enough to handle the supernatural beings born from nightmares.
It was his fault, the kitten sighed, tail drooping, it was his fault she was there. He'd led her to the forest when he could have taken her somewhere else. There were many places, what the hell had possessed him to think this was one of those rare safe ones. It was his mistake that brought them here, his mistake that nearly got them killed... again. It was like in Lavender, his damned foolishness was getting them into trouble. He was going to get her killed, just like Mewtwo, just like Blacky, Dione and just like everyone else that had come before.
It had always been like that, he sighed to himself. The last of his kind, born when his race was dying out, always been surrounded with the devestat-
"Oh for the love of crap, would you snap out of that damn pity spree and focus for five minutes?!" The sudden telepathic shout snapped Mew back to the real world, the kitten looking across, past Eve to meet Celebi's eyes for a moment.
"Since when do you care?" He stuck to telepathy too, seeing as Eve had already yelled at them to stop talking. And, telepathy wasn't exactly talking.
"Mew, if you're off on your little world and a Shadow manages to get the jump on us, you're pretty much relying on me to stop it mauling you and your 'pet'," the fairy pointed out.
"But I can't do any-"
"It doesn't take any energy to listen, so I suggest you start. Both to me, and to those damn surroundings before something jumps out of those bushes and stabs you in the face." Celebi turned away, returning to paying careful attention to the undergrowth,"again, if you don't, you are relying on me. And you don't like me, I don't like you, so do you really want me being you and her's only defence?"
"She has a name," Mew growled slightly, getting a little annoyed with Celebi's callous remarks. Which was likely just what the green git had wanted.
"Maybe I'll start caring when you start realise the fact you angsting could get her killed."
That hit a mark. And the rock that suddenly levitated off the ground, before shooting straight at Celebi, made one too as it collided with his forehead with enough force to send him crashing to the floor.
"Hey!" Eve's cry went unheeded as her brother flung himself at the fairy, tail lashing. Only to come short, flailing, caught in Celebi's telekinetic grip.
"Better," the fairy smirked, trying not to laugh at Mew's attempts to break the psychic grasp.
Eve was moving to cuff the Legendary, to scold him for winding Mew up, but the act wasn't needed. Celebi's hold broke; Mew shot forward, pulling back a fist, ready to pummel the fairy into the dirt, when he came to a halt too. There it was, rustling bushes, and a sudden burst of the now-familiar shadowy aura that seemed to poison their senses. One had found them. No, the toxic feeling rapidly got stronger, it was more than one. A lot more.
Even Evetwo could sense it, or she had just noticed the sudden unease of her companions and just put two and two together. Either way, Mew could pick up a faint whimper, she hadn't wanted to have come across another Shadow anymore than he had. But what could he do to help? The answer became clear as a green paw grasped his own, snatching his attention to the fairy beside him. One who was glowing slightly, drawing energy from the forest around him and transferring it into Mew.
A nice little stamina boost, at the cost of letting the Shadow's pinpoint their position. Not that it mattered, Mew had his power back, and knew just how to use it.
"Eve," he spoke, snapping her out of her momentary shock, "Do what I tell you this time, okay?"
---
Celebi was suprised that the clone had agreed to listen to orders, disobedience seemed to be a common flaw amongst the Human-created anomalies. It seemed to be inherited from their base, who was in the middle of charging an attack when the group finally ran out of time. A group of three Mightyena came leaping out of the undergrowth, with the rest of the pack of Shadows not too far behind. A large barrier was enough to keep them out, but having three enemies throwing their weight against it, combined with the twisted power they posessed, it was not likely to hold long; even if it was a higher power generating it. A fact rapidly proven as the barrier started to crack and splinter.
Which, oddly enough, suited Mew's purposes just fine. Eve, however, was steadily backing away from the feral canines; right up against the edge of the shield. She was shaking slightly, fur frizzed in her growing terror. After all, one had nearly killed all three of them, how where they supposed to handle a group of them? One that was getting bigger as more and more of the cursed creatures burst onto the path. More Mightyena, mixed in with the odd instance of another species. An Arbok, a few Sneasel. And, most worryingly, a trio of Beedril.
Who proceeded to smash their stingers straight through the crumbling shield, causing it to finally shatter, and the rest of the Shadows to come piling in. Only to go flying straight back out from a psychic pulse from Celebi. But that was only another stall; only slowing the damned Pokemon down despite the fact it would have shattered bone on any normal being. And even then, it only bought a few seconds before one of the Sneasel lunged for the grass type.
"Mew, now would be a really good time!" He ordered, trying to evade the assault, feeling those claws actually tear into his shoulder.
Not that a pesky wound like that was enough to stop him, either, as he retaliated by grabbing the Shadow from behind before it's charge could carry it towards the panicky clone; swiftly throwing it at some of its brethren. Then, finally there was a near-intoxicating pulse of power, Mew holding onto a giant, insanely bright orb of solar energy. In the brief moment between the attack being primed and Mew firing it into the sky, Celebi used its prescence to give his already-formidable firepower a much-needed boost.
The Solarbeam nearly filled the entire path, its size being many times that of its caster. Every single one of the Shadow fiends were caught in its blast, forced almost out of sight before it ran out of steam. And exploded.
"...Why didn't we use that plan before?" Eve gawped at the giant plume of smoke that blanketed the horizon.
"Because that didn't kill 'em," Mew growled.
"You are kidding, you have to be kidding!" There was no way that was physically possible. Not even Mewtwo could have taken that blast head on.
"Yes, pumpkin, we were just messing with you; Those things aren't going to come out and tear us all to pieces if you don't just stop yapping and run," Celebi cut in, wings flickering before he shot off down the path away from the crater.
Mew gave Eve a push, herding her along the path too. She resisted for only half a second, after which several shapes in the distance burst out of the smoke. Those canines again. And, right behind them, the Beedrill. Eve shot off like a missile, flying just above the ground to save the risk of tripping, and allowing her just a little extra speed. Not that it was any match for the elder psychics, the smaller Legendaries easily able to keep ahead of her. Until Mew shot a glance at Celebi, who slowed down enough to take the rear of the group.
Which proved handy, because the Shadows were gaining. Their speed enhanced along with their strength, giving them more than enough power to rapidly close the gap on the three. Even volleys of psybeams and the like from the time-traveller wasn't enough to slow them down. Not to mention that they wouldn't tire, which could not be said for the feline psychics. Mew was rapidly starting to lag, his reserves having been used in powering the Sunny Day. Eve soon grabbed hold of her brother, trying to summon just a little more speed. A little more strength, something to keep her ahead of their assailants.
But it just wasn't coming, the gap was next to nothing. If she looked, which she was afraid to do, she would have seen that the beings had nearly caught up with Celebi. And he had only been a few meters behind her, and was still managing to match her pace despite having to fend off constant assaults from the mockeries of life that seeked their end. Then, just as the mass lunged, a giant storm of leaves formed around the fairy, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and producing a bladed shield that forced them back.
The attacks were starting to wear him down, however. For the first time in centuries, Celebi was panting for breath, even as he fired the Leaf Storm straight into their midst. The many razor sharp leaves were enough to give the trio some distance again. But Eve was exausted, she couldn't go much further. It was starting to look hopeless, until she noticed something. Something very odd, both Mew and Celebi were smiling. Her brother noticed her shocked glance and just pointed up.
Right above them, above the treetops, the giant glowing orb, flickering with fiery potency. And then Mew finally elaborated on it's true function.
"It's not a normal Sunny Day, it's a beacon. We just called in some air support."
"Air support-" her question was cut off at the sudden explosion coming from above, way above, like the very top of the planet. There was this horrid roaring noise rapidly getting louder, until another of Celebi's barriers formed and blocked out the deafening sound, the nigh-unbearable heat.
And the massive shockwaves as the meteor struck, right in the middle of the group of Shadows. The barrier having to block out the blinding light, even as it rippled and nearly tore apart from the rock's impact. For what seemed like forever, Eve crouched inside the energy-shell, clutching at her brother in both awe and fright. Celebi was shaking too, more under the strain of keeping them protected from the lethal assault going on outside. Which, just as suddenly as it started, stopped.
The barrier faded away, revealing that very little of the surroundings were left. The forest pulverized, only on the horizion did it seem that there were even tree-trunks left. The ground naught but a crater, the lone patch that had been protected in the barrier being the exception, slowly coming down from its hover at the edge of the crater. Eve, shakily, made it back onto ground, which was still hot enough to force her to levitate herself just to avoid burns.
"W-what was that?!"
"That," Mew was looking genuinly happy for the first time in forever, "was Jirachi."
"Who?" Eve gawped, the name was familiar... Mew just pointed with his tail again, this time into the smoke caused by the impact.
The whole group turned to stare as a bright glow soon blew apart the black smog, revealing the tiny Legendary herself. Tags fluttering in the breeze, or the after-shockwaves, paws brushing herself down; Jirachi looked right back at them.
"Hello, sorry I'm a little late."
...That was what just leveled half of the forest?!