DISCLAIMER: SLYBILL DOESN'T OWN POKEMON. ELSE THERE'D BE EVEN AWESOME-R FIGHT SCENES BY NOW!
"He's shirtless, you're shirtless and Thanatos is shirtless! We get it already! Now shut up and beat those guys!" Iris snapped and with joint sweatdrops, Scarlet and Lightning, accompanied by Jolteon and Toxicroak began their counter-attack.
"Iris! Toss me Axew!" Scarlet barked as he, Lightning and Jolteon started towards their opponents. Complying, the girl ushered a quick apology before grabbing her pokemon and hurling it towards the redhead just as Thanatos raised his weapon to attack. Axew landed safely in Scarlet's gloved right hand and with a smirk, he raised his blue left arm and blocked the blow without obtaining a single scratch on his arm. At the same time, his eyes developed snake-like pupils and his hair got even more spikes, thus showing his activated Dragon boost. However, this also changed his new arm and the teen whistled in awe as icy talons sprouted from the fingertips. "Wow. Let's see what this new guy can do then! Lightning, now!"
"Right-de arimasu!" Lightning replied, coming up from behind Thanatos and executing a mid-air drop kick on his shoulder, making Thanatos get distracted long enough for Scarlet to push his blade off and kick him in the chest. With his powered up strength, this sent the bluenette skidding back a good distance away and Lightning would've continued towards him had it not been for a crackling bullet shot at him. Having learned his lesson, Lightning dodged the attack and faced Ares before smirking. "I thought I said I don't fight girls-de arimasu."
"Your loss, cowboy!" she replied, cocking her guns into machine gun mode and aiming them at him. "I don't care if you're an important sacrifice. You're losing an arm, boy!"
"I don't think so! Aggron, Flash Cannon!" Iris suddenly ordered and from the side, a metallic beam shot forth and enveloped Ares before exploding loudly. Seconds later, Ares's badly burnt body stepped out and glared at Iris while the skin on her face began to regenerate again.
"You'll regret that, bitch," she growled, pointing a gun at Aggron and letting loose an even larger beam of light similar to Aggron's Flash Cannon.
"Iron Defence!" Iris shot back, getting behind her pokemon as it became coated in a metallic haze. Another explosion ensued but to Ares's dismay, Aggron came out relatively unharmed. Upon closer inspection, she spotted an Iron Plate attached to Aggron's neck and hissed. It's steel attributes would definitely be boosted and that would include its already incredibly-high defence. Toppling Aggron would surely take a while now.
"Jolteon! Discharge!" Scarlet cried, ducking under Thanatos's vicious swing again. At once, Jolteon unleashed a high blast of electricity at the Shadow Triad's group of Pawniard while Toxicroak back-flipped avoiding Bisharp's one-armed slash while charging up a Focus Punch. With a loud croak, Vann's Toxic Mouth Pokemon socked Bisharp in the face and sent it flying backwards and crashing into a building.
Meanwhile, Thanatos scowled as Scarlet once again blocked his blow with his new arm. Silently, he raised a foot and booted Scarlet back before dodging a slash from Lightning. His movements became sharper now and though the boys hit at him with coordinated attacks, the tall bluenette dodged each one before finally flinging his sword into the air and grabbing both their faces in his hands. Before either could pull back, he lifted them up and flung them both into a wall before catching his sword and running towards them.
"Tough guy, right?" Scarlet asked, dodging the blow that sliced the wall effortlessly.
"True! But-" Lightning landed on the long blade and ran on it before reaching its wielder and smashing a foot into his face. "-Nothing's too tough for a hero-de arimasu!"
"Tch. Creep," he replied and grabbed Thanatos's sword before wrenching it out of his hands. At the same time, Lightning raised his remaining seamitar and began whacking Thanatos left and right with all his might, increasing in speed and power until the weapon chipped. Just at that moment, Scarlet ran Thanatos's chest and ice crystal through deeply with the Aggron-sword and pinned him to the wall.
"We got him-de arimasu!" Lightning remarked as the bluenette's arms fell slack. Quick as a flash though, energy sparks came out from the shattered crystal and Lightning was swiftly proven wrong as Thanatos woke up again and pulled the blade out while holding his chest which began to close up.
"So smashing the crystal won't work, eh?" Scarlet mused aloud and stepped back as Thanatos raised his sword again. This time though, bluish aura surrounded the weapon and with a small smirk, he brought it down, smashing the ground completely and making the boys temporarily lose their balance. In that short amount of time, he closed the distance between them and would've successfully cleaved Scarlet in two had it not been for a gunshot to the head.
Scarlet and Lightning looked to the left and sweatdropped as they saw Vann hiding behind a wall and giving them a thumbs-up. "Just helping in anyway I can. By the way, Incoming!"
Returning their attention to the matter at hand, they were promptly surprised to see Thanatos lift a nearby fountain twice his size and hurl it at them. They quickly scattered and dodged it in time but to Lightning's dismay, he was right in the way of the oncoming Thanatos who jumped and brought his blade down with the force of a Conkeldurr. The cowboy blocked it with the Haxorus tusk in his other arm and somehow parried a kick before stepping back as his redhaired friend came down from the air and unto Thanatos's shoulders. Sharply, Scarlet wrapped legs round the boy's neck before giving a hard twist and throwing both himself and Thanatos backwards. Landing on his hands, Scarlet flung him into the wall beside Vann who quickly shot Thanatos in the eyes before running towards Scarlet.
"Apparently, his regenerative skills are on par with a Ditto's," he speculated as Scarlet hopped to his feet. "However, that crystal on his chest isn't exactly an infinite power source. Did you see the way his grip on that sword slackened after he drew power from the crystal?"
"Yeah, I saw it. That attack must've drawn quite a lot of his strength too and as such, he wasn't able to wield as good as before," Scarlet replied, watching as Thanatos's eyes healed up. "Also, his regenerative rate isn't as fast. I'd say he's running out of energy."
"You guys noticed all that-de arimasuka?" Lightning asked and Scarlet smirked.
"That's a nasty habit of ours," he joked and straightened up. "So, all we've gotta do is hit him real hard and in no time, his energy will run out. Right Lech?"
"You got it," Vann replied, pushing up his glasses and handing Lightning his gun. "I'm not too good with this fighting stuff so I'll leave him to you guys. Maybe Toxicroak'll need some direction from me in its own fight."
"Matte! Why're you giving me this-de arimasu?" Lightning asked, gingerly taking the weapon. "I don't know how to-"
"Scarlet'll give you the basics. Besides, it's not only meant for shooting. A word of advice, use it when you really need it. Ja~"
"Coward," Scarlet murmured as Vann dashed off to look for his pokemon. "Hey Lightning, you can pocket the gun for now. I'll tell you what it really does if we get in a tight spot."
"Right-de arimasu! Now then, where were we-de arimasuka?"
And with that, both of them turned and crashed their boots into the oncoming Thanatos's chest, sending him backwards again. This time, Scarlet decided to try something out and drew back his left arm before punching Thanatos right in the eye. The latter staggered back and touched his eyes gingerly before casting Scarlet a confused glance upon not sensing any injury. A second later though, blood forcefully streamed out his nose and eyes and he dropped his blade and sank to one knee while holding his face which had mysteriously developed a sheet of ice on the right side over his eye.
"What the heck was that-de arimasu?" Lightning asked as Scarlet clenched and unclenched his fist.
"Hmm...looks like there's some weird power attached to this arm," he replied and tapped it a little before flinching as the talons extended even further and turned bright red. Eyes widening in realisation he turned to Lightning and said, "Stand back."
Immediately after, Thanatos came up to him again with his sword raised high and coated in blue aura. Gritting his fangs, he brought it down again only for Scarlet to casually dodge, grin and raise the glowing arm which now sported a sizzling energy ball.
"Dragon Rage," he uttered and blasted Thanatos into the heavens, or in this case, the ceiling. Lightning stared wide-eyed at the hole he made in the ceiling and turned to Scarlet with his mouth open. "Comes with the gloves I guess. Although, this is the first time I could create one of those so easily."
"You're like some superhero-de arimasu," the blonde remarked, earning a scowl from Scarlet who started walking past while inspecting his arm.
"I'd sooner die again than be caught in a cape. That attack should leave our blue-haired hulk immobile for a while. Let's join Jolteon and help Alphinia and Iris."
So with a nod, Lightning quickly followed after the redhead.
Meanwhile, Aggron charged up another Flash Cannon before aiming it at Ares who put up her guns and absorbed the attack. Laughing, she leapt into the air and let off three compressed shots which Aggron took to the head unflinchingly. However, the ensuing smoke blinded it temporarily and as such, it couldn't see the ice blue balls charging in front of Ares's guns.
"Bang," she chirped and got Aggron in the shoulders, watching the bars pierce its hide and sink in. "Hasta la bye bye, bonehead."
BOOM!
"Aggron!" Iris cried as blue smoke seeped out from the cracks in her dazed pokemon's armour. With a low groan, it fell back and passed out, earning another infuriating laugh from Ares.
"So, what else are you gonna bring, Flattie?" she mocked, twirling her guns. "Or is that all you've got-"
"Axew! Giga Impact!"
Suddenly, her tiny dragon came from nowhere and rammed into Ares's side, knocking them both into a wall though Axew jumped back and began to tremble and pant from the recoil.
"I'm a champion for Arceus's sake so don't freaking underestimate me, bitch!" Iris jeered back, picking Axew up and running towards Alphinia. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"She looks like she's fallen into some sort of forced coma," Vann remarked, walking up to them and crouching beside Iris. "We'd need a high-level psychic pokemon and lots of time on our hands to help her snap out of it."
"I say we get her to the surface," Iris remarked and quickly got up as Ares clambered out of the debris, livid.
"Like...I'm letting you...do that!" she cried, raising her guns.
"Jolteon, now!" Vann called and from above, Jolteon came down on Ares's head with a Double Kick that sent her face-first into the ground.
"Axew, Draco Meteor!"
Nodding, Axew charged up a red ball in its belly and waited for Jolteon to sharply step back before launching a massive energy sphere into the air. At the same time, the Shadow Triad's pokemon appeared and were about to attack when the sphere exploded, sending chunks of raw energy like rain down on their enemies. As its wielder was a high level pokemon, each chunk packed enough power to blow cars sky high and as such, the Pawniard were knocked to infinity and beyond. Ares herself wasn't sent flying but she was subjected to reigning energy spheres which burnt her in several places so hard that some of her bones had actually become visible. This sealed up again but Iris cried "Again!" and the vicious cycle continued.
"This is for Caitlin!" she barked and Jolteon sent a pillar of lightning down on the knight.
"This is for Marshal!" And Axew's Draco Meteors increased in intensity and became solely concentrated on the vile greenette, adding to her misery as each shot tore away flesh.
"And this is for all their pokemon!"
Roaring, both Axew and Jolteon exerted everything they had into enveloping Ares in their attacks and a yellowish-red tornado of energy ensued around her before blowing her up in a rather magnificent explosion that tore most of the nearby buildings apart and caused a heavy wind to blow, almost taking Axew with it had Iris not caught it in time. After a few seconds, the explosion died down noisily and Iris looked down solemnly at the badly charred being at her feet.
"How d'you like me now, you equally flat-chested harpy?" she mocked and kicked the damaged guns away before turning to Vann.
"That was colourfully brutal," he sighed and gestured to Alphinia. "So, what're we gonna do with her?"
"You're the one who looks like an expert on this stuff. Take her to the surface and get her to the hospital area," she replied, giving her spent Axew a congratulatory stroke on the head. "We still have to help Scarlet and Lightning. Plus, those Shadow Triad creeps could be lurking around."
"Since when did I become an errand boy?" he deadpanned before giving a sly smirk and wiggling his fingers creepily. "But then again, I get to carry a beautiful girl and maybe even operate on her. Heh heh, Who knows where my hands could end up-OW!"
Toxicroak removed its glowing finger from his back and puffed up its vocal sack solemnly as Vann fell on his face with a fountain of blood comically spurting from his back.
"Why am I struck with a sense of familiarity at that?" Iris deadpanned, sweatdropping at the scene before placing Axew into her hair and looking to Jolteon. "Let's go get your master."
Jolteon barked and nodded before picking a direction and scampering off, beckoning for her to follow.
"Go," she said to the recovering brunette before heading off and with a small grunt, Vann carefully picked the bleeding blonde and headed off with his cautious Toxicroak in tow.
Sharply, very sharply, a tiny spark jumped out from Ares's burnt body. And underneath a massive amount of debris not too far away, the same thing occurred for Thanatos's crushed frame. Two blazing red eyes flickered open...and a sickening black mist began to waft from their bodies.
...
BOOM!
Zekrom took a joint Blizzard from the side and was knocked even harder by the giant Hydreigon's Dragon Rush before he could rest. However, he refused to let go of Cathedral Plasmos and instead let out a Discharge attack that pushed Hydreigon back and set it within Archeops's firing range.
"Ancient Power!" N cried and the rock bird summoned numerous giant rocks from the ground before launching them at the three-headed dragon pokemon who took the attack with a hiss and opened its central head's mouth to let loose a Surf that would've surely blasted N out of the sky had it not been for Zoroark's Focus Blast.
N! There's not much time left! she barked. It's either we destroy the entire ship now or watch it crash into the League HQ!
"But Vanilluxe and Carracosta are still there!" he pointed out stubbornly. "I can't afford to let them get hurt."
"How sad!" Franz's annoying sneer rang out from the loudspeakers. "Just so you know, there's still a high chance of them dying when I bulldoze the league!"
N ground his teeth sharply and closed his eyes to think, leaving Archeops free to use whatever attacks it saw fit for the time being. Seconds later, he came up with a necessary albeit cruel decision.
"Zoroark. I want you to use Focus Blast on Vanilluxe and Carracosta," he requested, earning a shocked look from her.
Why would we do that?
"It's the only way," he replied and gestured to them. "I can hear their voices and they are clearly suffering under Franz's control. If we can knock them out then not only will their suffering end but I can also return them to the safety of their pokeballs."
Understandingly, Zoroark pressed her palms together and gave her colleagues a sympathetic look. I'm sorry.
With that, she formed two large Focus Blast and slung it at the two, getting them both in the heads and, as it was super effective, knocking them out completely.
"Return!" N ordered calmly and was relieved to see his pokemon withdraw back into their balls.
"HAHAHA! So it came to that, eh? I never thought you were that heartless, Natural!" Franz scoffed wickedly and smirked at the screen. "I love it whenever you show such colours. Right now, I'm sure you're radiating red with anger."
N's look went solemn and he looked from Zekrom to the League building before turning to the ship. "This far and no further. If it has come to this then so be it."
"Huh? The hell're you talking about?" Franz sneered and was surprised by N's blunt reply.
"Zekrom, use Bolt Strike and blow Cathedral Plasmos's bow up."
Franz's eyes widened. "Are you insane? There's grunts and pokemon here too, Mr Hero!"
"I never said he should use it that extent," N replied as Zekrom started to glow bright blue again. "Besides, said grunts and pokemon are now leaving the ship if you haven't noticed."
"What?" Looking to the screen on his left, Franz swore as he saw the crew members jumping onto their flying types and heading off in droves, obviously intimidated by N's order. "Those cowardly, pathetic, little-"
BOOM!
And Cathedral Plasmos's grand bow was blown sky high by Zekrom's most powerful attack, leaving Franz to swear hotly as the ship took a dive. To N and Zekrom's dismay, the ship didn't crash as expected or even touch the ground as solid ice encrusted the blown up bow and thus sealed whatever damage the legendary dragon pokemon had done.
"That's it," Franz growled, expression hooded. "This is getting so frustrating. The job should've been simple, right? Head over here, get Zekrom and that useless broad, destroy the league building and head back in time for tea. JUST WHY THE HELL IS IT TAKING SO DAMN LONG?!"
As if in tune to Franz's now-incoming wave of madness, Cathedral Plasmos's head roared and charged up a gigantic ball of white light.
Zoroark blinked. Is that...
"Glaciate!" N exclaimed and reached for Zekrom's ball.
"DISAPPEAR!" Franz roared maniacally and slammed his fist on a red button labelled DANGER.
Time slowed as N snatched his pokeball. At the same time, Zekrom backed up and gave a low growl of confusion as the cannon turned...to him.
"Noooo!" N cried, pointing the ball at Zekrom and unleashing its red light. The greenette was a step too late though as the ball rocketed towards Zekrom faster than the red light could and enveloped the pokemon completely. Zekrom roared as below-zero energy sparks sprang out from the ensuing explosion, freezing his muscles stiff and sending bolt upon bolt of pain through his skull with an energy surge so high that his very eyes had light streaming out of them. Moments later, the ball blew up thrice and N, Archeops and Zoroark watched as the cold smoke cleared, revealing Zekrom, still in mid-air but as still as a statue. An ice statue.
"Mission 1, complete," Franz remarked, pushing another button and leaning back in his chair as the Kyurem head opened its jaws wide and cruise towards Zekrom.
"No!" N roared ad Archeops began rushing over to Zekrom. The greenette held up his pokeball and called "Return!" but was thoroughly surprised to see the red light bounce off Zekrom's frozen body. "Curses! Archeops, Giga Impact!"
Archeops complied, charging purplish energy around its bulk before zooming towards the ship. However, they had forgotten all about the Hydreigon behind them and N's eyes widened as he heard that deathly familiar snicker belonging to the dark/dragon type. By the time he looked back, Hydreigon launched a big Tri Attack at Archeops and in no time at all, all three of them were subjected to the punishing power of fire, ice and electricity before they could even hit the ship. As Archeops was weak to two of said elements, N and Zoroark found themselves falling faster than a sack of bricks and the greenette, much to his pokemon's horror) recalled his partners, intending to at least save them and only get himself dashed on the ground below.
By a miraculous stroke of luck, a Braviary shot out from nowhere and grabbed him before charging a Hyper Beam and blasting the Cathedral in the side just as it was about to swallow Zekrom.
"Jeez, N-san! You can't just die on us like that-de arimasu!" Lightning called from his position on the flying pokemon's back. "So not even Zekrom could destroy the ship, nya?"
"Kyurem's genes just keeps resealing each damage with some sort of ice," he replied, relieved to see that whatever hold on Zekrom's frozen frame became undone. Slowly, the dragon fell to the ground and Braviary let N off for him to reach his pokemon. "Zekrom! Are you alright?"
Fortunately, the pokemon gave a raspy groan and N let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding.
"He looks outta commission-de arimasu," the blonde observed.
"I'll find some way to help him. In the meantime, how is Alphinia?"
Lightning grinned. "Alive and relatively safe. We beat down those Dragon Knights just like I said we would-de arimasu!"
"I see," he replied before arching an eyebrow. "We?"
Suddenly, N jumped as a figure landed heavily on the ground, causing a small crater underneath his feet. Scarlet hair billowing, the green-eyed teen straightened up and tugged on the league jacket on his shoulders.
"...Scarlet?" the greenette murmured and pressed a hand to his forehead. "So Black was right. You resurrected just like he predicted in my dream."
"Dreaming about dead guys sounds quite disturbing," the boy deadpanned, putting his gloved palms on his hips. "So, who're you and what's that big thing floating in the sky?"
"I'm N. Ex-king of Team Plasma," the greenette said, watching him carefully as if expecting him to disappear. "And that ship is Cathedral Plasmos, Team Plasma's main airship which somehow got infused with Kyurem's cells making it impervious to attacks."
Scarlet stretched a bit before winding his left arm. "Impervious, eh?"
N resisted the urge to let his jaw drop at the mysterious energy ball that suddenly formed in Scarlet's equally mysterious left arm.
"Eat this!" he yelled, shooting the ball at the Cathedral. The attack collided with its broad underbelly, disappearing noiselessly on contact without so much as leaving a dent.
Franz laughed. "Don't know what that was but it definitely didn't do you guys much good. By the way, who the hell are you?"
"Just your run-of-the-mill angsty teenager with a kick-ass arm," Scarlet replied. "3...2...1..and-"
BANG!
N and Lightning stared wide-eyed as explosion upon explosion rocked the ship, and Franz, to and fro, much to Franz's shock. Once the noise died down, the blonde clambered back onto his seat and gave a perplexed look at the smirking redhead below. "Just what the hell was that?"
"I have no idea," Scarlet answered and pointed. "But I do know now that that gaping hole on the ship won't be closing...at all."
"What?!" Franz barked as warning signals flashed across the monitors. "But how?"
"I think I know what this present does now," Scarlet stated as he strolled over to Zekrom and laid his left hand on the dragon's head. "Black gave me a will to nullify Kyurem's ice completely. A spear to shatter icy shackles and save people trapped within. An arm to move forward and save White."
N finally gawked as the cold, thin sheet of ice around Zekrom began to drain away and flow into Scarlet's arm. Having healed the pokemon, he turned to N and Lightning and held up the hand.
"I call it Vermiculo's Spear," he stated and looked up at Cathedral Plasmos. "That hole I put won't be enough to stop the ship though but its movements should be slowed. As its powered by something, it should have a core. If we can destroy that then I'm sure that ship's gonna sink faster than the Titanic."
"The charging time might've increased but I can still use the Super Sub-zero Cannon!" Franz barked, pointing the ship at the league. "Forget smashing it. I'll make a freaking popsicle outta that damned building!"
"That's bad-de arimasu!" Lightning piped up sharply, swivelling to the building. "There's still people and pokemon in there-de arimasu!"
"Then we have to stop that cannon while its charging up!" N declared.
"And we're on it!" Iris called from atop her flying Hydreigon who gathered tremendous energy around itself and slammed the bigger Hydreigon into the sub-zero cannon's barrel (aka Kyurem's mouth) and backed up in time to see the enemy pokemon scream, thrash and finally freeze up and fall. Not stopping there, Iris ordered her dragon to unleash a Draco Meteor into the barrel itself and Franz's eyes widened as an orange, pulsating blob was launched into the weapon's mouth.
"BASTARDS!" he cried and loud explosions once again rocked the ship, this time from the inside as Cathedral Plasmos's prized weapon went to pieces completely. If there was a core, that head was probably it as the ship now began to sway and, with a mechanical groan, fall to the ground a good distance away from the league building.
"Burn in hell, creep!" Iris rolled haughtily as the ship crashed loudly and went up in flames.
"I guess she earned that champion title," Scarlet remarked as the girl and her pokemon touched down on the grass beside them.
"We're pretty much done with them, right?" she asked, dusting her palms. "Alphy and our pokemon are in the hospital wing some distance away from the main league building so their relatively safe. Plus, we've destroyed Cathedral Plasmos and with the beating we gave Ares and Thanatos, I doubt they'd be too alive to get back up again. If anything, I'd call this a win for the home team."
"I have to check and make sure that Cathedral Plasmos is sunk for good," N piped up and patted Zekrom. "You've done well my friend. Take a rest."
Once the pokemon was back in the safety of his pokeball, N turned to the wreck in the distance and jogged towards it, leaving the younger people to sit and rest on the grass.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Iris stated and jumped on Scarlet, wrapping her arms tightly round his neck. "How did you come back to life?! I thought you died for real!"
"And I'll die again if you keep squeezing my neck like that," he spluttered but still returned the hug. "I missed you guys though. Plus, the details are to fuzzy to really recount but if anything, Black said hi."
"Aww," she cooed, slowly withdrawing. "So...did you go to heaven or hell-"
"Neither," he cut-in flatly. "Though I'm sure you must've thought the latter."
"Well, we were told about your job after all, Scarlet," she replied, making him flinch. "It's okay though. I'm sure you must've changed for the better after meeting White."
A small smile crept up on Scarlet's face. "Yeah. She had that annoying habit of twisting my heart in the right direction..."
"You miss her, don't you?" she asked, seeing the sudden look of forlornness in his green eyes.
"Every passing second," he murmured, mostly to himself.
"But we'll save her-de arimasu!" Lightning piped up determinedly and looped an arm around Scarlet's shoulders. "After all, we're like, the strongest tag team ever-de arimasu!"
"Keep in mind that you're still shirtless, pervert," the redhead deadpanned, peeling the boy's arm off his shoulders. "But thanks for the attempt at comfort. You're actually not as annoying up close as I thought you were."
"And your slanty eyes and prissy attitude don't piss me off as much anymore-de arimasu," Lightning growled before smirking goofily. "At least you're a real good guy now. Hey, you could be my bitchy side-kick-de arimasu!"
"The thought of wearing a cowboy get-up and striking off-key poses with you while breathing your air makes me gag," Scarlet mocked, earning a glare from Lightning and a chuckle from Iris. For the moment, she felt that everything was back to normal again. No Dragon Knights, no battling. Just peace. Happy, well-deserved peace.
BANG!
And that peace, along with her left lung, got shattered by that one, single shot from behind by a certain rifle belonging to a certain female greenette who stood beside a certain blue-haired young man wielding an eerie red sword.
Iris fell.
"Iris!" Lightning cried, rushing up to her as Scarlet jumped to his feet and got into a fighting stance.
"So you guys are still alive," he remarked and narrowed his eyes as Ares's and Thanatos's hooded expressions gave way to reveal mad, red eyes and ominous grins.
"Chaos..." Ares murmured eerily and began to sway. "Chaos. Chaos. Chaos."
At the same time Thanatos raised his sword, opened his mouth and let out an large screech that grated on the teens' ears . This was minimal compared to what happened next though.
Icicles suddenly sprouted from their chests and connected with each other before enveloping the two completely in a strange-looking orb of some sort. Immediately afterwards, their joint screams pierced the air and energy spiralled from the now-levitating orb, cratering the ground beneath it and nearly knocking Scarlet off his feet.
"What the hell?" he muttered, putting up a hand to shield his face from the sharp wind.
"What's going on?!" N exclaimed, rushing back with a badly charred and blindfolded Franz in the arms of his Zoroark.
"Heh...I can pretty much sense what's going on without a second guess...You guys must've beaten 'em bad...for them to reach that level..." the knight said haltingly and hissed as Zoroark dropped him not too gently on the ground.
"Explain!" N barked as Scarlet ran back to Iris and began using his gloves (which still had some residual healing power thanks to Vann's tinkering) to heal her.
"You see...Thanatos and Ares are twins," Franz coughed out and smirked. "As such...Ghetsis made it such that Kyurem's ice would go into overdrive for both of 'em if one of them nearly runs outta regenerative power. A fail-safe should in case a hitch comes up in this mission."
"And? What's happening to them?" the man asked coldly. "What twisted power did Ghetsis put in them?"
"Oh...nothing much." Franz held up a finger. "Hey Natural, remember what Ghetsis told us when we were kids about what happens when death and war fuses together?"
N knitted his brows before pausing. "...Chaos?"
N! Look! Zoroark cried and the greenette spun around to see the orb lifting higher and higher into the air while taking a whole new form altogether. Suddenly, four long wings sprouted from the twisting, glowing shape and dark blue ice started to form around the orb within. Slowly, the object grew in size until it was now well over 20 feet and N felt his heart start to found as the light began to fizzle away, revealing...a winged monster with quite an unusual appearance as it had the head and torso of a faceless human (gender unknown, obviously) and from the waist down resembled a gigantic sword with its tip facing the freezing ground below. A single, long, yellow crest sat at the beings forehead and long, bluish-green hair streamed down from its head.
"N..." Scarlet murmured. "What the hell is that?"
"That Ghetsis...so this was his fail-safe," N murmured, fist tightening. "The Sword of Damocles. A mythical living Soul Flayer said to belong to the Unknown hero who controlled Kyurem in the past. To think Ghetsis actually turned those innocent children into a living personification of madness and chaos. Horrible..."
Scarlet bit his lip. "So, you're sending every monster in your arsenal to stop us, eh, Ghetsis..."
"Dammit! The bleeding won't stop, Scarlet!" Lightning barked, returning the redhead's attention back to the badly injured champion.
"It looks like not only her lungs but several of her internal organs got damaged by that shot," he speculated. "My gloves can heal them but I've used too much power from that energy ball and as such I won't be able to heal all her injuries. At best, a few vitals might still be left untended too."
"Then we have to get her to a hospital-nya," the cowboy stated, rising to his feet.
"If that thing doesn't get to it first," N chipped in and all at once, Chaos (as that was the word it kept murmuring from its hidden jaws) screamed and formed a massive ring of icicles around itself before launching it in every direction like rain.
"Shit!" Scarlet got up and quickly raised a hand, stopping a massive icicle from reaching them. "Guys! I'm gonna need you to stay back!"
"No way-de arimasu!" Lightning snapped. "Go, Mienshao! Aura Sphere!"
A quick flash later, Mienshao was in the air and charged up a blue ball of energy before hurling it at the large structure. The attack hit Chaos on its sword-like extension and exploded but left little damage and only seemed to increase the speed at which it was shooting off icicles.
"It's useless," Franz murmured and coughed again. "Chaos can't be stopped by ordinary attacks like your pokemon's."
"Then how about this!" Scarlet charged up another energy sphere and sent it whizzing towards Chaos. The monster seemed to have learnt its lesson based on Thanatos's nasty experience and nimbly dodged the ball before turning to Scarlet and raising a hand which now took the shape of a massive cannon.
"Guys! Get back!" the redhead cried but was too late as the cannon let loose seven large shots, each one splitting into several meteorite-like fragments that reminded one of an icy Draco Meteor. They were going to get skewered for sure if they didn't do something fast and Scarlet spread his hand out, intending to generate a sphere large enough to destroy the bullets.
Blue hair ruffled and a shape landed before the redhead with a glowing sword in his right hand.
"Vatonnage Function Three. Destructive Swords Dance," the familiar young man uttered and all at once, he got up and began deflecting each speeding bullet so fast that his hand and swords were now just glowing blurs. Scarlet watched in awe as Top Ranger Rain successfully sent all the bullets whizzing in every other direction including back at Chaos who took each blow with a mad roar.
I sense great madness coming from that being, Latios spoke out appearing beside his partner.
"Ghetsis Harmonia really loves poking fun at us with his odd sense of creativity," the bluenette remarked and took a stance. "It's not a pokemon so it can't be captured. And to make matters worse, it's not very human either. Just a mass collection of parasitic ice and chaotic emotions. Oh yeah, glad to see you're alive, kid."
Scarlet nodded before turning to the structure which had started advancing towards the League building again. "Any ideas on what we'll do about it?"
"You've got Vermiculo's Spear on your left arm so I'm sure one touch is all it takes to destroy it," he replied.
But there's a complication. Latios gestured to Chaos's body. That body we're seeing now isn't its real body. We'd have to whittle it down to its core for Scarlet to actually touch and destroy.
"So it's layer upon layer upon layer of madness?" N asked.
"And we'd undoubtedly get skewered if we come too close," Rain added and turned to them. "I won't lie, we'd need a force akin to a large Legendary pokemon to smash its hide."
Franz chuckled from his position on the ground. "Like I said. It's impossible to stop them. Chaos is Ghetsis's and Kyurem's madness personified. There's nothing you can do-OOF!"
"Damare..." Lightning muttered, teeth gritting and fists tightening. "If you haven't noticed, Iris is dying-de arimasu! I don't give a crap about some overgrown jack-knife with a human hilt! All I want is to save her-de arimasu! I'm tired of being told that everything is impossible-nya. Personification of madness that can't be stopped? Fuzakenna! I don't care if I get skewered. I'm getting past that thing and getting Iris to the hospital-de arimasu!"
"How many times will I have to say it, cowboy. Shouting and crying won't help matters at all," Rain stated as Chaos began to form another ring of ice crystals around itself again. "Look at her, boy. I doubt she'd last ten more minutes and even at top speed, Latios won't reach any nearby hospital in time. Sometimes you just have to learn that not everyone can be saved. "
Lightning's expression became unreadable as he lowered his head. Unknown to him, the gun Vann had given him began to glow brightly.
"I won't let anyone else die," he muttered. "Drayden, Skyla and every other innocent person and pokemon that got slaughtered by those freaks...I will avenge them. And I will help save White, Iris, Alphinia and every person and pokemon I can even if it costs me my last breath."
The gun burst into light and Scarlet arched an eyebrow as his own gloves began to beep loudly. "So..that's what Vann meant."
"I know I can if I get strong enough-de arimasu," Lightning stated and raised his hands as the light swirled and formed bolt yellow and black gloves around them. "Those're my ideals-nya. And I sure as hell am gonna follow them to the last damn letter-de arimasu."
"Booster gloves activated. Version Vattonage," the gloves beeped and Scarlet smirked as Lightning clenched and unclenched his hands.
"I guess that puts him on a level playing field now," Rain remarked. "And remind me to sue you guys for stealing my styler's design."
Scarlet smirked and put a hand on his hip. "Now that I know what that does, I can feel a plan coming up."
And the great hunter comes up with another plan, Latios remarked as everyone gathered around him. This is just like that time with the train.
"N, I'll need Zekrom, a phone and the location of White's bag if possible. Rain and Latios, you guys are gonna distract Chaos from reaching the League HQ. Lightning, your Braviary is going to carry Iris to the hospital section."
"And what will I do-nya?" the blonde asked as N released his tired Zekrom.
Scarlet smirked. "You're gonna be our new trump card, hero-boy. Now I've gotta warn you. You're relatively inexperienced with boosts and having you touch Zekrom might bring about a heavy rebound. So I'll ask you a question. Do you feel up to it to suffer possible bone cracking and muscle paralysis?"
"If that's what it takes to defeat Chaos then I don't care-de arimasu!" Lightning replied determinedly, earning a nod from Scarlet.
"Good. Now touch Zekrom and protect the League."
Lightning took a deep breath and turned to the Deep Black pokemon before stretching out his gloved hand.
"Give me power," he murmured quietly to the gloves and rested his palms gently on Zekrom's scaly hide. "Power to protect my friends."
"...Legendary boost detected. Type: Dragon and Electric. Status: Stable. De-constructing and reconstructing body-type to match power level."
Immediately afterwards, Lightning felt a surge of energy through his veins and let out a small hiss as yellow energy billowed from his feet and surrounded him. Everyone watched as a pillar of light extended from his position, reaching even the clouds above and even Chaos paused to view the sight before taking it to be a threat and launching its icicles at the group below. However, the spiralling light completely shattered each missile and slowly began to die down again, leaving a shape behind.
A different Lightning stood before Zekrom with his hair completely spiked-upwards and black markings on each side of his face. A long, black, almost skin-like material coated his torso and his half-lidded eyes stared defiantly at the monster before them, burning brilliantly with renewed power and strength.
"Reconstruction: Complete," the gloves beeped as Lightning raised the large, black and yellow chainsaw-like swords in his arms and parted his fangs to smirk a little. "Time remaining until Complete Energy Discharge: 13 minutes and 10 seconds."
"Amazing," N remarked.
"How does it feel?" Scarlet asked.
"My body feels kinda heavy and light at the same time-de arimasu," Lightning replied, eyeing his cloak. "And there's raw power running through me too. Now I know we've got a shot at beating Chaos-de arimasu."
"Good," the redhead stated and caught the phone that was tossed to him as Rain lifted Iris's unconscious body onto Braviary.
"White's bag is in my room at the participant's plaza-de arimasu. Why exactly d'you need it-nya?"
Scarlet smirked. "There's a certain feather that I want Jolteon to retrieve from there. That feather...might be our only shot at stripping Chaos completely to its core. I just need you guys to generally stall for time."
The young men and pokemon gathered and faced Chaos as it roared and began charging another round of missiles.
"Let's do this guys," the redhead declared, dialling Vann's number and placing the phone to his ears. "Let's save the League and show Team Plasma how powerful us lesser humans and pokemon can be when pushed to the edge. Go!"
Lightning needed no second push as crackling bolts of electricity formed around his boots and launched him towards Chaos with Braviary, Rain and Latios following closely behind. N and Zoroark stayed back to suppress Franz whose regenerative rate had considerably suffered as a result of the damage from the crash while Scarlet smirked as Vann's voice came in two rings.
"Hello, Vann? Give the phone to Jolteon. I hate to admit it but that our hopes are riding on how fast that little fuzzball can get here."
Author's Corner.
Lightning: Yes! Now I've got the same power as Scarlet-de arimasu!
Scarlet: But the time duration isn't as long as mine, remember? 13 minutes and 10 seconds whereas I can fight for hours. By the way, why did you give him the gloves anyway, Sly?
Slybill: Hey! The cowboy needed to at least get up a level. Besides, it could help when he's facing you-know-who in the final battle. And I just felt like giving him the gloves so he'd be cooler. Anywho! The big fight against my fictional monster comes to a close in the next chapter and perhaps I'll do a little preamble before *drumroll* the Red Moon Ball begins. Trust me, I'm as excited to write it as you guys are to read it. So with that said, unto the preview!
Preview:
The Explosions. The fierce fighting. The true will and might spawned from the collective determination of both people and pokemon alike.
Warriors shall gather together and show that with the fiercest of wills to save and protect, Legends themselves are under their mercy.
Shall the Sword of Damocles really fall?
Will the flames of Truth, thunder of Ideals and the power of teamwork really prevail?
Next Time: To Arms: Men, Women and Pokemon!
(Psst! PikaMewGirl, PokeToddSweeney and Agent Lew! Your pictures are now on deviantart (billytosan deviantart com)! Enjoy and brick me later! As for the other reviewers, you won't be spared from my imaginative onslaught!)