Author's Corner.
Awesome: Roll out the CG, guys! Get those explosive effects going at full power!
Mewchu (formerly PikaMewGirl): Places, maggots! Let's make this the best "Final Battle" scene there ever was! Hop to it!
Alpha-bread: You heard her, guys!
Scarlet: Can I at least change the cloak? It makes my hips look a bit wide-
Rikato *drools*: Scarlet's hips...
Alpha-bread *holds Rikato back*: Sorry but you'll have to bear with it! Make Up team! White needs to be paler than that!
Polar Dawn: Fine, fine! But don't come running to me when viewers complain that she's as white as a ghost...Oh my, I think I made a funny.
Awesome: BGM team! Get that music flowing and put your souls into it! And Riolutae, no kidnapping Vocaloids this time, got it?
Riolutae *grumbles* Hai...
Slybill: Wow. For once, everyone's organised.
Mewchu: Can't help it if this is the last battle. By the way, did you finish that Kool-Aid?
Slybill: Uh...*eyes the sugar high Boss banging his head on the wall in the corner* P-places everyone!
Mewchu: Hey! That's my line and I already said it-
Awesome: For the love of Arceus, ACTION already!
DISCLAIMER: SLYBILL OWNS POKEMON NOT! BUT IF SATOSHI TAJIRI SUFFERED A MYSTERIOUS ACCIDENT, MAYBE THAT PREVIOUS STATEMENT COULD CHANGE!
Lacunosa Town, Unova Region.
Kyurem was oddly reminded of a certain event centuries ago when he saw a horde of flying pokemon in the distance, coming from the castle he had just abandoned. The ground shook under the multitude of pokemon and people marching towards him and he smirked upon seeing the redheaded teen draped in black with jacked up hair from the Zekrom boost. Beside him stood a snow-haired girl cloaked in pure white and her piercing blue gaze gave him all the confirmation he needed to know that the sacrifices he had presumably killed and froze over were still alive and well and brought a multitude of comrades along, all of which were no doubt powerful.
But the thing that set his cold heart beating a tad bit faster was the spear each and every man and pokemon carried within their hearts. Though invisible, he could sense the familiar glints in each and every one of them. The biggest by far though was the visible one held in Scarlet's outstretched left arm.
"VERMICULO..." he remarked and found his muscles shivering with excitement. "SO YOU WISH TO STOP KYUREM ONCE MORE..."
"It's Scarlet, punk!" Scarlet barked and raised the sword. "I guess it's no use talking things over with you so we'll just have to do this the hard way, right?"
"KYUREM HAD QUITE SOME TIME TO REVIEW MY LAST BATTLE WITH YOU...OR SHOULD I SAY, VERMICULO..." the Boundary Pokemon drawled and reared up. "AND NOW THAT KYUREM HAS THE TRUTH AND IDEALS WITHIN HIM, HE IS UNSTOPPABLE. YOUR BLOWS CANNOT PENETRATE KYUREM'S REINFORCED HIDE AND HIS HEART IS WELL-SHIELD FROM YOUR SPEARS. BESIDES, KYUREM WILL BURN YOU ALL TO ASHES BEFORE YOU CAN HIT HIM-"
"You talk too much!"
BAM!
Kyurem's head went down a bit from the force of the incoming Lightning's dragon-boosted drop kick. The blonde hopped off immediately and skidded to a halt before White.
"Ghetsis nearly killed our ears with his pointless bad-guy gloating and I won't take anymore of that from the monster who started all this hell!" he snapped and his pokemon gave one unified stomp, getting straight to their attack poses. "Enough talk! You die today, Kyurem!"
"STRAIGHTFORWARD...KYUREM LIKES THAT..." Kyurem sneered, narrowing his eyes and slowly gathering aura around himself. "VERY WELL! CHALLENGE KYUREM IF YOU MUST! BUT KNOW THAT YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED!"
The two groups stared each other down before Lightning hunched.
"Bring it!" he roared and Team Lightning dashed towards Kyurem who quickly changed into his Zekrom-based form, larger, stronger and far more durable.
"Let's go, guys!" LP barked and his ORPH colleagues rushed in behind them.
"For the sake of the world!" the head ranger cried and his team followed after.
Kyurem quickly gathered electricity around himself just as the pokemon let loose blast upon blast of multiple types, ranging from Fire Blasts and Rock Wreckers to Hyper Beams and Flash Cannons. Giga Impacts came at him from all sides and the hunters let their guns go wild, spilling bullets like rain.
"USELESS!" the dragon bellowed and he let off a grand shock-wave that set all the attacks off in midair and pushed all the incoming pokemon back. The bullets did nothing to his side and with a heavy stomp, most of the fighters were knocked off their feet. However, the fight was just beginning and Kyurem took a direct hit to the jaw from several rocket launchers fired by the hunters positioned strategically on each building. Furthermore, the ground beneath his feet erupted and two Excadrill, Cheren's and Clay's, burst out, tearing across his legs and chest before he could retaliate.
"Keep it coming, guys!" Scarlet yelled, before putting up a hand to shield his face from the sharp, ice-cold winds that Kyurem whipped up to repel his drilling attackers. "White, we'll need that fire now!"
"Got it!" the girl replied, taking Emboar's bulky hand and closing her eyes. Instantly, the Mega Fire Pig's beard blazed intensely with blue flames and her trainer pointed firmly to the sky. "Fire Blast!"
Taking a very deep breath, Emboar opened her jaws and a massive pillar of fire was sent into the red clouds, making the sky light up considerably. From Castrum de Glacies, the other trainers with fire-types also ordered various moves into the atmosphere, aided by the psychic-type pokemon channelling all that power into the sky without it harming others. Kyurem noticed though and he arched a brow in slight amusement.
"SO THAT'S YOUR PLAN? PATHETIC." He raised his hands and began to gather electricity around them, intending to shove them into the ground and fry everybody within a 100 meter radius.
"Like I'd let you do that!" Lightning barked, running so fast that he actually left after-images of himself that confused the beast. Before Kyurem could slam his hands on the ground, he received a sharp blow to the chin and two more to the back of the head before roaring in annoyance and trying to catch the extremely-speedy blonde. Of course, that meant his hands were quite busy and before he knew it, Lightning's Mienshao had kneed him hard on the back before jumping away to let Haxorus's Giga Impact score a direct hit on the sore spot.
"ANNOYING INSECTS..." Kyurem growled, trying to reach for the pokemon on his back.
"Don't take your eyes off me, idiot!" Lightning yelled, appearing from nowhere and bashing Kyurem's eye with a fist. With his boosted agility, the blonde's strikes increased until his hands were a mere blur, damaging Kyurem's eye until the Boundary Pokemon raised a charged hand and clenched it around him, expecting a bloody smear on his palms. Imagine his surprise when he opened his fist and found nothing instead. "I told you, dolt!"
BAM!
Kyurem stumbled backwards as Lightning faded into view from thin air after landing a hit on his nose. "Don't take your eyes off me!"
"AND DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF," Kyurem stated, enshrouding his entire body in raw lightning and letting off another shock-wave that blew Lightning, his after-images and his pokemon away like flies. Landing upside down against a building, Lightning winced as pain seared through his veins before quickly leaping away to avoid a huge icicle launched his way. Before Kyurem could make another one, Scarlet landed on his head and raised his left arm wielding the sword.
"I'm still here, remember?" he smirked and drove it into Kyurem's forehead, eliciting a very sharp scream from the dragon who bucked and tossed his head to and fro, shaking Scarlet off. Landing on his feet beside Lightning, Scarlet helped the boy up and thumbed the sword stuck on Kyurem's head like a horn. "That won't be enough to kill him but I think you did a good job softening up his skull. Up for round 2?"
"I'll go as many rounds as I want with this guy," Lightning replied, tugging on his gloves. "For Alphy."
"Hey," Scarlet spoke up, noticing how dangerously narrow the boy's eye had become. "I can pretty much guess what happened and I think I'm partially to blame for it. But don't let that anger get to you or you'll just end up looking like me."
"...Right. Like I wanna resemble a scar-faced baldie in the near future."
"I'm not bald," the redhead replied flatly before smiling a little as they turned to Kyurem who was at the moment, taking on an onslaught of powerful bullet rounds and even more powerful pokemon attacks. "We've still gotta crack that tough hide around his heart though. And separate Reshiram and Zekrom from him."
"Hey Scarly!" White called and the boys looked up to see her standing atop the bridge overhead. "How much more should we blast into the sky?"
"Stop when the clouds get much darker!" he called back, noticing the darkening red clouds. "And I think I need a couple of lightning rods."
Incoming! Latios's voice boomed loud and clear in their minds as the Boundary Pokemon roared into the sky and formed a large floating panel of ice above his head. With a snarl, he launched torrents of icicles at his opponents, almost massacring them had Colossus not suddenly landed before them and put up its hands, creating a Wide Guard barrier, aided by Latios's Light Screen. The icicles either glanced off of smashed against the barrier, lining the ground below in ice. However, Kyurem smirked as the icicles grew black and sunk into the earth.
"Holy fuuuuuck..." LP drawled as vaguely humanoid beings made of ice burst from the ground and began to attack the hunters, rangers and pokemon. "This guy's like a freaking tankful of surprises! Hey, Scarlet! Things could get a little busy for us so you guys should take care of Mr Walking-ice-cube over there!"
"Got it!" Scarlet replied as Jolteon rushed up to him with Camille in tow. "Let's get to separating Kyurem from the two dragons then. What're you gonna do, Camie?"
"The DNA Wedge holding them together is somewhere within Kyurem's chest," she deduced, eyeing the beast as Brycen, Clay and Cheren engaged him with their pokemon. "We might need to destroy it from the inside since pulling it out from out here is next to impossible."
"So...we'll need someone small enough to slip down Kyurem's throat without getting crushed by his fangs or succumbing to the maddening aura he no doubt generates internally," Scarlet speculated, tapping his chin. The group paused for a second.
As one, Scarlet, Lightning and Jolteon looked to the goth.
"...What's with the look, fucking bastards?!" she barked, tick-mark forming on her head as she thrust a finger to the rampaging Kyurem's jaws. "And there is no way I am jumping head-first into that alone!"
"But you won't be alone," Scarlet replied as Lucky and White's Scraggy ran up to them. "These guys want to go to. Personally, I'm surprised Lucky's worked up the nerve."
Lucky pumped a fist determinedly before floating up to Camille's shoulder and pointing to Kyurem anxiously.
"With his strength, I'm sure he can shield you guys long enough to get to Kyurem's chest and take out the wedge," Scarlet added and Camille sighed before turning to Lightning.
"You! I need your right glove!"
"For what?" he asked hesitantly, handing her the item.
"Let's just say we're gonna have a fucking party in Kyurem's guts!" she replied with a smirk as she slipped on the glove and turned to Kyurem. "Don't jolt him too hard or you'll end up killing me as well, got it?"
"Sure. Just don't fall into his stomach," Scarlet warned as Lightning scooped her up bridal-style and put in all his boosted strength into his legs.
"He'll get the worst tummy ache of his life if that happens!" she scoffed and with a boom, Lightning took off, recklessly charging through the army of ice-monsters and sending them through the air. Zigzagging across the ground to avoid Kyurem's onslaught of icicles, Lightning jumped, landed hard against one of the ice-men's neck and used it to propel himself and his cargo into the air and towards Kyurem.
"We're counting on you so don't die in there," he stated.
"Don't need to tell me twice," she replied as Lucky and Scraggy held on to her, the former preparing a strong Light Screen to shield them.
"Haxorus, Boufallant! Now!" the blonde cried and from Kyurem's back, his two pokemon jumped forward and slammed Kyurem hard on the nose. The giant dragon roared in annoyance and Lightning used that chance to spin rapidly before hurling Camille and her pokemon partners into the beast's clearly intimidating jaws. Now that she thought about it, seeing Kyurem's throat up close and personal didn't sound like a very good idea to Camille but she pushed the nerves aside and let her usual over-confidence get back to the fore. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall headlong into Kyurem's throat and disappeared into the darkness ahead with the beast cutting short his roar abruptly, clearly surprised as to why a human had been thrown down his throat.
"Good luck, Camie," Scarlet murmured and looked skywards again where the dark clouds were quite evident now. "Good job, White! You guys can stop now."
The fire-types stopped abruptly and joined their colleagues in wiping out the ice-men, melting everyone of them with their super-effective flames. White dusted her smoky palms and ran up to Scarlet with Emboar in tow. "So what now?"
"Now, we hold Kyurem off before he pulls more weird tricks," Scarlet replied as Jolteon began to stamp repeatedly on the ground, generating more electricity with each step. "Like it or not, you, Lightning, Camille, Aunt Natsuki, Jolteon and I are the only people with enough power to actually harm Kyurem. The others are busy enough as it is with evacuating all the residents here and fighting off those things Kyurem spawned."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Lightning called, landing beside White with Haxorus and Boufallant. "Let's make this pure hell for him!"
"Right!" the rest replied and the rest of White's pokemon flew out of their pokeballs with their attention fixed on solely pummelling the monster ahead.
"Try not to hit him too hard though. Camille, Lucky and Scraggy are in there," Scarlet advised and tightened his gloves as Kyurem finally turned to them.
"SCARLET," he growled and hunched low. "YOUR FOOLISH DETERMINATION IS STARTING TO ANNOY KYUREM."
"Good! I only wish determination alone was enough to kill you!" Scarlet called back and the dragon huffed before gathering aura around himself.
"KYUREM IS GETTING BORED AND HUNGRIER. THAT MEASLY GIRL WON'T BE ENOUGH TO SATISFY KYUREM. AS SUCH, KYUREM MUST DEVOUR YOU HERE AND NOW AND END THIS POINTLESS GAME."
"Oh, how scary!" Lightning jeered and pulled out his seamitar. "Well I suppose we'll just have to liven things up, won't we?"
Kyurem growled before tearing off towards them, mowing down buildings in his path and even crushing the ice-men beneath him. Opening his jaws wide, he made ready to swallow the group and the bridge they were standing on in one bite. However-
"Hammer Arm!" White called and from above, Emboar and Teddy came down on Kyurem's muzzle with their glowing fists, denting it considerably and making Kyurem's mouth snap shut with a loud crack. Before he could attack again, White and Zweilous were on his head, the former with blue flames around her hands and the latter with a double Fire Fang ready. "Sorry Kyurem but this could sting a little!"
Kyurem's yellow eyes bulged as he felt the searing flames burn holes into his skull and he bucked and thrashed wildly, trying to shake them off. Of course, he forgot Lightning and his team and before he knew it, his face and neck suffered an onslaught of Hyper Beams, Aura Spheres, Dragon Rushes and hard slashes from the speedy Lightning.
"What did I say about taking your eyes off me!" he roared and drove his seamitar into Kyurem's right eye, temporarily blinding the monster.
"FOOLISH CHILDREN! STAY DOWN ALREADY LIKE THE INSECTS THAT YOU ARE!" Kyurem roared, growing pissed at the irritating pain they were inflicting on him. He gave one stamp of his foot, throwing off Lightning's pokemon before giving a big flick of the head, sending White and Zweilous far off of him. He raised his big hands to execute a Fusion Bolt but was stopped as Jolteon's super-charged Volt Tackle collided forcefully with his unguarded flank, a hit so strong that Kyurem found himself stumbling sideways and crashing into a building, crumbling it instantly under his weight. The dragon's vision blurred for a moment before he felt a finger tap his shoulder. His vision cleared as he turned his head to see Scarlet smirking with his glowing left hand on the pokemon's shoulder.
BOOOOM!
Kyurem screamed as the anti-Kyurem ice burned his shoulder and neck before exploding into blue smoke. By the time it cleared, his shoulder had a big hole in it and he sharply rolled away in time to avoid Emboar's powered-up Fire Blast. Landing in the big town square, he eyed the group of fighters and felt his mouth curve upwards a bit in an angry smile as a foreign excitement lit up within him. It was obvious that that battle lust was building up again.
"THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN..." he murmured to himself and changed into his White Forme in a burst of flames. "KYUREM SUPPOSES HE MUST STEP UP A BIT IN STRENGTH."
Meanwhile...
"Argh! Arceus-dammit, those guys are having their fun, aren't they," Camille growled, shaken up by all the hits Kyurem had taken. "They'd better not accidentally kill me or I'm sending their sorry asses to hell! And where the fuck is that heart?!"
Lucky grimaced a bit at her foul language, making her stop mid-rant and murmur a quick apology. Scraggy pressed himself against the girl for more warmth as the deeper they delved, the colder it became, even with Lucky's protective bubble. At one point, Lucky sneezed and its concentration temporarily dropped, exposing Camille to a brief glimpse of unadulterated animosity and madness that rammed into her skull like a thousand Conkeldurr pillars.
"I see. No wonder his insides are so dangerous," she commented, a crazy smile half-forming on her face. "I guess that's why Ghetsis got so fucked up- Hey! I see something!"
The bubble stopped as the pokemon turned to the small light within the endless darkness that had spread out before them like a big blanket of black. Lucky contemplated checking it for a second before suddenly stiffening. Slowly, it placed its hands on Camille's head and she was briefly told that though Kyurem's heart lay there, a thick layer of luminous ice surrounded it. The ice could be cracked easily enough but in doing so, they'd expose themselves to Kyurem's unknown emotions, desires, hunger and most likely a ton of insanity that'd reduce Camille to a hollowed out, mindless shell in an instant.
"I'm mad enough as it is," she replied but was met with a shake of the head. The Ralts made a spinning motion with its hands around its head before re-enacting a zombie. "That powerful? Who cares!"
Lucky stopped as she raised a determined fist. "I'm plenty of things but certainly ain't a coward! Insanity's just a form of fear if you look at it closely and I'm not afraid of anything, dammit! Now you need to stop being a coward and get me to that ice or I'll go there myself."
Lucky facepalmed before shrugging and cautiously navigating the bubble towards the light. As soon as the passed into it, the three found their bubble pulled into another world of sorts. It was more like a tunnel upon closer inspection and the ravenette looked in awe as screens with dozens of memories flashed by them. Without even needing to guess, Camille knew they were delving into Kyurem's soul and it amazed her to think a single pokemon could be so complex in inner structure. Is this the same for every pokemon or is Kyurem just unique?
Another tremor rocked them and Camille quickly shut her eyes once Lucky's focus dropped for a split-second. She was lucky to have done so as the contents of Kyurem's soul only phased through her harmlessly. Had she left her eyes- the windows to her soul- open, she would've no doubt been flooded with whatever hideous thoughts that went through the Boundary Pokemon's heart.
THUD!
Camille opened her eyes a bit and came face to face with a huge wall of thick blue ice.
"So this is it, eh?" she remarked and raised a hand before giving the ice a quick tap. The second her fingertip landed on it, Camille felt a huge pulse of energy surge through her and rattle her internally to the bones. Quickly retracting it, she cursed at the ice forming at the afflicted fingertips. "Infection eh? Then we'll go with long-range attacks. Scraggy!"
The Shedding Pokemon nodded and leapt off before forming a Focus Blast in his tiny arms. With a yell, he launched the pulsating red sphere and it collided forcefully with the ice before digging into it rapidly like a buzzsaw. Sparks flew as the ball spun rapidly against the ice before exploding. Camille's brow twitched as a mere black spot dotted the otherwise unaffected area.
"Of course, why won't it be so tough," she deadpanned before touching Scraggy with her gloved hand and gaining its boost. As she only wore one glove, it appeared her time limit was halved to roughly 6 minutes. All the time she needed to get through to Kyurem's hidden heart. Cracking her knuckles as she felt strength flood her entire body, the petite girl gripped her big screwdriver and positioned it at the same spot were Scraggy's attack had hit. "We'll see how well this thing stands if we attack together."
Scraggy nodded and Lucky coated the pokemon's fists in psychic-energy so as to protect him from getting infected and at the same time, power up his Focus Punches. Yelling, Camille and Scraggy attacked the spot with the former activating the drill-function of her screwdriver and using her boosted strength to push through the ice. Scraggy's attacks also made the big sphere of ice vibrate with each powered-up punch and Lucky was content to scan the ice for any sign of weakness. With each blow they inflicted, cracks formed across the ice and sealed up just as fast, forcing them to attack faster and harder. As Camille's automated drill slowly dug into the icy wall, she was oddly reminded of how she too had set up metaphorical walls around her own heart years back when she and her brother had just been orphaned. She had barely trusted anyone up until a few years ago when she had first met Scarlet, Jolteon and Violet. Sure the redhead had almost gotten her eaten by a Drapion after her especially cold reply to his greeting, he had also saved her before the pokemon could do her any harm, making her promise to not tell anyone of his rare act of kindness. She had told herself she wouldn't trust such a bipolar person but before she knew it, he had become a sort of friend to her along with his kooky sister and jerkass Jolteon. Unknowingly, the walls around her heart had melted and though her attitude was still foul, it lessened to more of the scolding-big-sister kind of tone and secretly, she was grateful to Scarlet for working up the nerve to talk to her at that office party.
CRACK!
Camille smirked as a massive crack ran up the wall. She finally had this wall figured out. Kyurem must've set up these walls instead of metaphorical ones for a reason other than to protect his heart and she knew she would find out what that was upon breaking through.
"Just a little more, guys! Let's put in all we've got!" she barked and Scraggy nodded before charging all his power into his fist and slamming the ice so hard that another massive crack ringed around the icy sphere. Lucky contributed by keeping the cracks from closing with Psychic and in no time, the ice gave a tremendously loud crack before vibrating wildly. The trio pulled back and watched as the ice split in several different areas with light pouring from every crack and blinding them momentarily.
This is it, Camille thought to herself as she steeled her will and faced the light head-on. Her hand went up again and she pushed through the light, ready to face whatever revelations lay hidden within it. Let's see what lies in this beast's heart!
...
Scarlet skidded back as Kyurem suddenly jolted to a halt right as he was about releasing another devastating Fusion Flare. Suddenly, his yellow eyes flashed red and he grabbed his big head before screaming gutturally.
"Looks like Camille's working her magic!" the redhead commented with a smirk.
"Then let's use this chance to take this guy down!" Lightning called and Emboar threw him at Kyurem with Haxorus following closely behind with a Double Edge. Spinning, the boy sent his foot into Kyurem's chest and bounced off, letting the Axe Jaw Pokemon's attack connect with the injured spot. Kyurem actually slid back from the attack and didn't even recover before Emboar's hulking and burning build crashed his belly, knocking the wind out of him completely. From above, Jolteon's Double Kick got him in the forehead and his neck snapped as his head swung back from the force of the hit. Combined with the other attacks from the rest of their pokemon, the great dragon was utterly surprised to find his senses actually numbing with...pain! It was far greater at his heart region though and as another invisible stab there jolted him, he realised that he was in fact being "invaded" by something...or someone!
"THERE'S A HUMAN INSIDE ME..." he murmured and his eyes went bloodshot as a sort of rage overcame him at the prospects of having such a lowly being cause him so much torment. "THERE'S A FILTHY INSECT CRAWLING INSIDE ME!"
"Well, we can see where the Dragon Knights got their pride," Scarlet remarked as Kyurem planted all four feet firmly into the ground.
"MUST...NOT LET HER...SUCCEED!" Kyurem roared, tone growing more and more savage. For someone to have successfully broken the walls around his heart was a great feat he didn't recognise and he knew he was at great risk if whoever it was unlocked that thing he had sealed away in his cold heart. A thing he sealed for the purpose of attaining the strength he possessed now.
"And what exactly are you hiding in that heart, Kyurem?"
Kyurem froze and stared at the white-haired girl gazing intently at him. Reshiram's power must've linked her to the Reshiram within him and he was sure she was reading his mind at that very moment.
"...EMOTIONS..."
The teens and their pokemon paused as Kyurem's eyes went half-lidded again.
"EMOTIONS RESULT IN WEAKNESS. WEAKNESS RESULTS IN FEAR. AND FEAR RESULTS IN...MADNESS."
"What the hell are you talking about!" Lightning barked, already rushing towards him with his pokemon. This time though, Kyurem blocked their attacks with a large shield of ice and used that shield to unleash a big, icy shock wave that blew the blonde and his pokemon far back.
"THINK ABOUT IT, FOOLISH HUMAN!" Kyurem snapped. "YOUR WORLD'S PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO THOSE LITTLE SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION SOWN INTO YOUR FRAIL HEARTS! GREED, LUST, ENVY, SADNESS, WRATH, GRIEF, LOSS, GLUTTONY...LONELINESS. THESE ARE THE TRUE PROBLEMS PLAGUING THE EARTH! WARS ARE WAGED, PEOPLE AND POKEMON SUFFER AND BECAUSE OF WHAT? A MERE SQUABBLE BETWEEN TWO POWERFUL FORCES WITH TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS AND NOT ENOUGH COMMON SENSE!"
"So what?!" White yelled and tightened her fists. "It's true that we get angry and fall out with each other but that's what makes us who we are! Without emotions, we're no better than machines!"
"PERHAPS THAT IS FOR THE BEST THEN," Kyurem replied, miffed that her statement had somehow reached him. Without his protective walls, he was vulnerable to human reasoning and that was one of the things he wished to avoid at all costs. "HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR YOUR SILLY EMOTIONS, THE GHETSIS HARMONIA YOU KNOW NOW WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BORN. I WOULDN'T HAVE COME INTO EXISTENCE EITHER. YOUR WORLD WOULD'VE BEEN A MUCH BETTER PLACE."
"But-"
"White." White paused as Scarlet's hand rested on her shoulder. Expression hooded, the redhead stepped forward and generated another blade of ice. "Kyurem. I understand your reasoning. I felt a lot like that too."
Kyurem froze.
"And you know what? It felt great barring my emotions. It helped me become the great fool that I was, back then." Scarlet smirked and gestured to all the people and pokemon fighting some distance away. "But then I met White and ran into these other weirdos and I have to say that I've never been happier in all my life. Kyurem, you never can hide your emotions. One or two will always spill out. Mine was a longing for happiness and fulfilment overshadowed of course by my anger and thirst for revenge. If not for their emotions, I would've been worse off. I'm even lucky. If not for Jolteon, Violet and my friends back at ORPH, I would've gone into the deep end a long time ago."
"...WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, BOY?"
Scarlet took a deep breath before throwing a goofy grin. "I'm saying I ain't lonely anymore. That one emotion that haunted me and tore that hole in my soul was simply loneliness and now that I've met these wacky people, I'm happy and filled. As I am now, I wouldn't mind if I died stopping you. I'll die a free man. Free from bitterness, thankful for his emotions and surrounded...by friends."
Kyurem stared at him, recalling that last statement. A similar statement made by a similar young man of valour from centuries ago.
"YOU FOOL! DO YOU NOT CARE IF YOU DIE, VERMICULO!"
The young man with wild red hair shielding his eyes smirked and raised his spear. "Not one bit, Kyurem. Because even if I die, I'll have saved Niveus and died a free man. Free from this loneliness she cured, thankful to my foolish emotions and most of all, surrounded by friends."
And it was at that point that Kyurem felt something literally snap within his troubled heart.
The Boundary Pokemon screamed into the sky, blowing fire and lightning from his rippling skin and shattering windows, chandeliers and other glass items in Lacunosa with his roar.
It wasn't a roar of agony.
It wasn't a roar of anger.
It was a roar...of Longing. Envy. And more importantly...
...
"Loneliness."
Camille stared at the blue shape before her. It resembled her completely except with bluer skin, yellow droopy eyes and fangs.
"So this is the real you," she remarked. "You're merely a mirror of our locked up negative emotions."
"I became like this because of that event that forced me to split into three," Kyurem spoke up, voice multi-tonal. "When I came to this world, I too had friends. The Twin Heroes you humans revered so much were but mere children who found me back then when I had crash-landed here in a meteor."
The shiny floor beneath them showed two young boys, one with snow-white hair and the other with jet-black hair peering into a crater and discovering a small, injured dragon pokemon enshrouded mostly in light.
"They took me as a friend-no, a brother- into their family and for the longest time ever...I was at peace. I was still young. Foolish enough to get attached to them. However, like all humans, they grew up and lost that innocence I had come to know and love."
A single tear rolled down the blue Camille's left cheek as they watched the brothers fighting.
"As expected, no? Their emotions soared and veered into the negative side and they began to argue endlessly over trivial things such as Truth and Ideals. They tried to make me take sides, human. What was I to do? Both were right in their own sense and I loved them too much to upset one over the other with a simple decision."
...
"So you split in two, letting your spirit of truth and spirit of ideals take form," Scarlet continued and raised a hand to his own heart. "However, in doing so you left the true you behind in an empty, tattered husk. The brothers took no notice and went on to start a war that greatly impacted upon Unova's history."
"You were lonely," White added. "So lonely that a hole formed within you. One you had no idea how to fill. So you ate people and pokemon instead and grew very corrupt. Your last attempt at befriending humans landed you in the service of the evil king in Vermiculo's tale."
"...INDEED."
...
"At one point, I knew what I was doing was clearly wrong. It made me sick to my stomach each time I killed and ate them. But I ignored it, substituting my sadness for anger. Anger at the brothers who had left me behind over their worthless emotions."
Kyurem glanced sideways to Camille, Scraggy and Lucky with a small smile on his (her, in this case).
"It's not fair, is it? You can make friends easily with humans and pokemon alike while I'm left to rot in your dust and be referred to as only a carnivorous beast with no sense of self whatsoever. As I am now, I can never achieve my one true dream of finding companions. And you want to know why? Because I'm far too jealous of you humans and pokemon. Your bonds now annoy me to no end and if killing you all will temporarily satisfy this ugly emptiness in my soul then I will do whatever it takes."
Silence.
Silence.
Slowly, Camille looked up and Kyurem arched a brow at the rather serious expression on her face.
"You're pathetic."
...
"WHAT?" Kyurem growled at Scarlet's swift deduction.
"You're just bitter because you felt forgotten by the first friends you ever had! And because you were too stubborn to accept your emotions and move on, you grew lonelier with each passing year."
"BUT WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?! I COULD NOT SIMPLY GO BACK TO THEM! I AM AN UGLY, INCOMPLETE BEING, BUILT SOLELY FOR DESTRUCTION!"
"The answer's simple, ditz!" White yelled, taking everyone aback. Grabbing Scarlet's arm, she pulled him closer and showed off his horrid scar. "Scarlet was never the best looking guy out there because of this but do you care, Jolteon?"
Jolteon barked and shook his head vigorously.
"My pokemon and I don't have a problem either and I'm yet to see anyone actually call Scarlet ugly!" White stated. "Besides, I'd punch them anyway but that's not the point. The point is: Appearances don't matter. If they're your true friends, they'll accept you no matter what you look like! And even if they don't-" White spread her arms wide. "-You can always make new friends! No living thing is made to be alone!"
...
Kyurem's eyes widened at Camille's declaration before narrowing. "Lies...all lies...LIES! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL AND BE RID OF THIS DISEASE KNOWN AS EMOTIONS! I WILL NOT BE HURT AGAIN!"
"Then we'll just have to stop you, won't we?" Camille remarked, already in front of Kyurem with her gloved hand aglow.
"What the-"
BANG!
Kyurem staggered back before crying out as Scraggy's Focus Blast connected with her back, sending her forward again and right into Lucky's barrage of Psyshocks. The being screamed as her body was enveloped in a blazing-pink light and from the corners of her wide yellow eyes, Kyurem spotted Camille's screwdriver bursting into light and restructuring around her right arm as an oddly-shaped gauntlet. The girl rushed forward just as Kyurem stumbled back and Camille ground one foot into the floor before punching Kyurem so hard that her face went straight to the floor, cracking a good portion of it completely.
"I don't care if you're so hell-bent on revenge! I will protect all things precious to me!" Camille barked and straddled over the being before raising her glowing gauntlet. "Now hold fucking still, bitch and let me do my job!"
"STOP IT!" Kyurem yelled as the ravenette's hand sank into her chest and completely dismantled the DNA Wedge within her. A tremendous sound like thunder rocked the room and Camille quickly jumped to her feet as Kyurem writhed and thrashed across the floor while screaming "My heart!"
"Get us outta here," she whispered and Lucky quickly encased them in pink energy before lifting the orb and blasting off like a rocket through the crumbling interiors and straight through the wall.
...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Kyurem screeched as fire and electricity billowed endlessly from his skin and tail. The blue and red energy manifested before White and N in the distance and in a brilliant flash, Reshiram and Zekrom stood tall, majestically towering over their opponents and allies.
"She did it!" Lightning cheered as a pink bubble burst through Kyurem's chest and crashed right before them.
"It's done!" Camille yelled.
"All the residents have been safely evacuated!" Cynthia reported, landing beside them atop Togekiss.
"Our pokemon have charged till they can charge no longer!" Elesa's voice beeped over the mind link Latios had created.
"We're just about done with these small fry!" LP called, bursting an ice-man into pieces with a single kick.
"FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU HERE AND NOW!" Kyurem bellowed, appearance now growing far more grizzly. "I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT TRUE DESPAIR REALLY IS!"
"No thanks," Scarlet replied, accepting the coin Jolteon had found from the abandoned Pokemon Center nearby. A low rumble went through the sky and everyone felt the expected drizzle of an incoming thunderstorm. Raising the coin, he touched Jolteon and at once assumed the very first boost he had ever mastered. With his electric abilities, Scarlet called "NOW!" and at once, the pokemon at Castrum De Glacies let forth various ultra-charged electric-attacks into the sky. At the same time, electricity built up steadily around Scarlet and his coin slowly assumed a mighty steel sword with intricate patterns and wispy streams of ethereal light, no doubt coming from his left arm.
"Listen up, guys!" he called loudly. "I'm going to run this bad boy through Kyurem's heart but I'll need to really charge up for it. Please, help a jaded redhead out here and tear a good hole in Kyurem's chest to expose his core!"
"With pleasure!" everyone replied and faced the dragon squarely.
"Natsuki, you're gonna throw Kyurem up when you see get the chance," the boy mentally whispered and far ahead, Colossus threw a thumbs up. Suddenly, the amount of electricity within him doubled and he looked beside himself to see White- also in electric-boost- holding onto him tightly.
"Even I know that you're going to end up killing yourself from electrocution when Kyurem eventually explodes," she whispered and her hands tightened and she stared at him decisively. "At the very least, Scarly, let me be with you to the end."
Jolteon leapt atop his shoulder and Emboar stood closely beside them, both with the same look of finality in their eyes.
"Guys," Scarlet murmured and closed his eyes before smiling. "I can't change your minds, can I?"
Don't even think about it! Jolteon barked. Without you and White, life's a drag.
I'll follow my trainer to the afterlife if that's what it takes! Emboar grunted and the four locked their determination-filled eyes with Kyurem's mad red ones.
"Let's touch that sky together," Scarlet concluded and pointed the sword at Kyurem. "For our future, guys! Let's touch that radiant sunrise"
And as one, humanity and pokemon re-affirmed their joint resolve with a grand roar of defiance.
Author's Corner.
Slybill: It's really strange. Throughout the entire story, no one was particularly evil (except Fraud. I'm glad he died!) and Kyurem's side of the Truth'n'Ideals story buttressed that point. Huh. So...A.S.P.S is closing. One more chapter and an epilogue to go, I suppose. Ah well. I'll just make Chapter 70 REAL long (kidding! it probably depends on the plot). Well *cracks knuckles* let's get to finishing this stuff with a BANG, shall we?
P.S: I didn't read through this chapter (then again, I rarely do xD) so please ignore any grievous errors like you've patiently done up till now and thanks for not complaining about them in the reviews! Sayonara, all you wonderful people- Oh wait, that's for the epilogue. Ja!
Preview:
A forest.
A Scolipede.
A hunter.
And a girl.
Who knew that one little slip up had lead the way to such a completely radiant adventure.
NEXT TIME: RADIANCE!