Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Author Notes: Chapter 32 has arrived! Enjoy!
I want to give a heartful shoutout to all the people that have decided to support me in my writing endeavors so far!
Thanks to CreeperMaster343, Guardian Lucario, Phoenix the Icetales, Aspergillus nidulans, and T_2the_homas77!
Special thanks to SGWarrior, RapidRotation, ZeusDog17, and FinalDragon!
And, finally, Legendary thanks to ThatAverageDude, Roasted Cashew, and Caitou zzzzzz!
Thank you so much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And, thanks to the support of you all, if all goes well, I should be releasing an artwork alongside next chapter!
Finally, I wish all of my readers a very happy and prosperous New Year 2022!
Chapter 32 — Clash of Titans: Downfall
"I'm surprised you recognize me, in a way," 'Ash' said as he assumed a firm and upright posture. His voice had an uncanny echo behind it and sounded as if two people were speaking at the same time. The second voice, layered over the boy's usually cheerful natural tone, was deep and scornful. "We've never met, after all." His eyes shifted between the two dragons, allowing them to see an uncanny emptiness behind the boy's dilatated reddish pupils. "But our life stories are intimately intertwined. I still can't believe you two survived."
Latios stared at his trainer in shock and with a held breath, trying to make sense of what the entity that possessed him was saying. "Who and what are you exactly?" the dragon questioned sharply as he adjusted his stance to an aggressive one, narrowing his red eyes threateningly.
"Ask your mother about that," 'Ash' responded bluntly. "She has so much to say about me, I'm sure. I don't want to spoil the surprise."
Latios let out a shallow gasp and froze on the spot, unable to form any kind of coherent response to what he had just heard.
Latias' eyes widened in surprise and her breath caught inside her throat. "Our mother? You know our mother?" she asked, claws flexing anxiously.
Pikachu blinked, staring at Ash with a confused expression. "What?" He scratched his head with a paw and glanced at the shellshocked dragon twins. "What's going on? This conversation makes no sense at all."
"Pikachu, get away from him!" Latios snapped, realizing that the electric-type was still right beside their trainer. "That's not Ash. Something has possessed him!"
Pikachu immediately jumped back and swiveled in midair to land facing their possessed friend. His red cheeks sparkled aggressively with electricity as he backed away until he was standing next to the two dragons. "Who are you and what did you do with Ash?" he barked, repeating the dragon's earlier query. "Answer me!"
Latias growled while slowly levitating sideways to position herself in front of Bianca and Brock protectively. "Where's Ash?" she asked in a menacing voice marred by a rumbling growl.
'Ash' did not answer them and instead held out his hands in front of him, causing the three Pokémon facing him to tense in anticipation. The air between his hands shimmered with a bright golden light, which stretched out and solidified to take on the form of a long golden staff with several intricate rings and a purple orb at its tip.
Latios and Latias froze the moment they saw the staff and felt the power emanating from it brush against their senses. It felt as if a lightning bolt shot through their minds and into the depths of their subconsciousness, vividly awakening long-lost memories to them. The lovely beach and its warm sand, the cloudless blue sky and the blazing sun above, the cool caress of the misty breezes from the sea, it all faded away into a dark and unnerving night devoid of moon and stars.
Their surroundings took on the form of a heavily distorted town further disfigured with the distinct reds and oranges of towering flames. The desperate screams of numerous Pokémon and people alike seemed to resonate all around them along with the distinct crackles of fire. The vivid scene spread within their minds like wildfire, so convincing that it made both dragons feel as if they were actually there—because they once had been.
'What is this!?' Latias wondered as she recoiled back from the overbearing sensations flooding her from the burning town and its suffering inhabitants. It wasn't something she was immediately familiar with, yet she instinctually knew it was hers and that it was real.
'I don't know,' Latios replied uneasily. He blinked and glanced at her when he realized that she was there. "So, we're sharing the memory and living it together? Is it because of our telepathic bond or something else?" Latios frowned when he noticed that an oval-shaped membrane seemed to envelop his sister. He looked around and saw that the vivid scene appeared so badly distorted because he was surrounded by a similar membrane as well. His eyes widened in understanding. "We're eggs…"
An intense impression of safety wrapped around both of them from above, offering some reprieve from the overbearing glare of the flames billowing around them. Latios and Latias tilted their heads up and felt an enormous Latios levitating overhead in a defensive manner. They could feel the pain radiating from the dragon due to dozens upon dozens of injuries, creating a distorted mass of deep red stains to the point it was hard to tell if there was more of it than his natural colors. Even so, the willpower they could feel from the dragon remained firm and unwavering, not offering the slightest sign of weakness.
"Father…" Latios and Latias whispered in unison, instantly recognizing the brave dragon by heart.
"This is the end, Latios," a deep voice said. It was identical to the one echoing behind Ash's voice only an instant ago.
Latios and Latias followed the voice to a shadowed human figure that stepped from the flames with a wounded stride. They immediately felt the power of the staff they just saw. The heavy footfalls of two enormous beasts marched alongside the figure, both growling angrily at the legendary dragon but neither daring to attack.
Latias' jaw dropped ever so slightly. Even if she couldn't see them, there was an unmistakable hate and anger crashing against her senses. She could never forget those monsters. It was the Kabutops and Aerodactyl. "So, this… is the creation of Alto Mare," she slowly said in realization.
Latios nodded slightly. "So, the thing possessing Ash… is the evil trainer in the legend of Alto Mare. They feel the same."
"You've lost," the shadowed figure said firmly. "You're badly injured and cannot continue fighting. Give up, make it easier for both of us."
"Give up? I'd cease existing before letting you touch my children." They heard their father scoff. "Mark my words. You will pay for what you've done, Azrael. Sooner or later, I promise you in my name as a God. You will suffer the consequences." He let out a coarse chuckle. "I have all of eternity to fulfill my oaths." A soft glint of blue flashed for the briefest instant. "Do you?"
A blinding torrent of shimmering lights flashed around the dragon's wounded body and detonated into a massive ring of light that spread gallantly throughout the distorted landscape. As the scenery rippled and collapsed with a magnificent display of sparkles, it revealed that the dragon had been emanating an immense amount of psychic energy throughout their entire conversation and exposed a monstrous tidal wave that overwhelmed everything around it approaching from behind them at an immense speed. They heard the people and Pokémon of the town turn in the opposite direction and flee with helpless screams.
"When all hope was lost, Latios sacrificed himself to bring the water to the town, drowning the evil trainer and his Pokémon," Latias recited from memory, having heard that line hundreds of times from Lorenzo's stories at the city's museum.
The shadowed figure remained frozen in shock before the incoming tidal wave, completely taken aback by its arrival. "How did you… You shouldn't have enough strength left. When did you…?" he babbled, not even noticing that the Aerodactyl and Kabutops at his sides fled in panic. "You and your damned illusions!" he screamed angrily as he charged at the wounded dragon and at them.
"This is real," their father responded calmly as they felt his attention shift toward them, allowing the two younger dragons to see a pair of faint red specks in the obscure scenery.
Latios and Latias remained motionless and speechless as they met their father's eyes. They stared into his warm gaze with hurt and forlorn captivation, as within the elder's eyes they could see nothing but the purest of love. A powerful sensation of hope and safety flooded their beings, making them feel as if nothing could hurt them and letting them know that everything would be fine in the end. Their father truly loved them.
The father broke eye contact and his attention focused ahead. The shadowed figure let out an angered battle cry and lunged at them while thrusting the golden staff. The wounded dragon growled and protectively held his ground as the immense wall of water swept through the area around both of the combatants with the deafening roar of a crashing wave.
Latios jerked visibly as he snapped out of his daydream and saw Ash—no, the evil trainer of the legend—charging at them much like he had done against their father over a century ago at Alto Mare. The dragon's eyes glowed as he fired off a powerful telekinetic wave at 'Ash' in an attempt to harmlessly immobilize him. However, much like Latias discovered earlier, the psychic attack passed around him and the staff with no effect.
'If Psychic isn't working, then how about electricity?' Pikachu thought upon seeing the dragon's ineffective attempt. He took a deep breath and channeled his strength, causing the sparks around the red marks on his cheeks to grow in intensity. Pikachu let out a fierce shout and fired a powerful bolt of yellow electricity at the incoming trainer.
'Ash' held the golden staff up, which shimmered with a malicious purple aura. The aura flared forward like a purple blast of blaring flames, clashing ferociously against Pikachu's electric attack. The two attacks struggled against each other for a moment before fiercely exploding in a torrent of yellow sparks and purple wisps that sent smoke and sand flying in all directions.
Both of the dragon twins' eyes glowed, their psychic powers merging into a bright blue shield of psychokinetic light that contained the detonation and prevented it from harming any of their friends. "Bianca, Brock. Stay back, we'll handle this," Latias ordered sharply in a tone that left no room for argument.
Bianca grabbed her bag and Ash's backpack and hastily walked away while desperately searching for Ash's Poké Balls. Brock picked up his backpack and scurried away to a safe distance along with the artist.
'Ash' lifted the staff over his head with one hand. He carefully aimed and then hurled the staff under the cover of the thick smoke as if it were a javelin.
"Watch out!" Latios shouted the moment he noticed the flying staff emerge from the billowing smoke and pierce through their psychic shield with uncanny ease.
Latias and Latios dodged by levitating to the sides while Pikachu jumped back as the staff embedded itself in the sand between them. The staff released an eerie wave of pulsing purple aura from the orb at its crest, which ran through the sand and formed a wide flaming circle around them. Pikachu let out a cry as the whiplash of aura hurled him away from the area. He crashed near Bianca and Brock, kicking up some sand in the process. The dark aura burned with greater intensity and rose up, crystallizing into a thick purple barrier.
Pikachu angrily bolted up with his cheeks lit up by sparks of electricity. He let out a battle cry and fired a powerful bolt of bright yellow lighting at the erected barrier. The attack struck the crystallized barrier and rattled it, but otherwise had no noticeable effect on it.
Within the barrier, the circle engraved on the sand pulsed with a vibrant purple aura and spread by carving numerous deep crevices throughout the sand. The lines interlaced and connected at numerous sections to form an intricate web of runes and lines within its confines, using the golden staff as an epicenter.
Latios looked at the runes worriedly and then glanced up at their assailant. He growled and opened his maw. Draconic power burst to life within him and formed an orb of pulsating green energy within it. However, he froze when he took aim and saw… Ash. He winced and shut his mouth, dissipating his Dragon Pulse into harmless green wisps. 'Dammit, I can't attack. Even if he's possessed, that's still Ash's body I'd be hurting.'
Latias gritted her teeth and flexed her claws furiously. As much as she wanted to fly ahead and tear whoever was possessing Ash to pieces, she found herself facing the exact same problem as her brother. She couldn't risk harming Ash. She briefly glanced down to track the staff's aura and gasped at what she saw. The blood in her veins turned to ice and her eyes widened in horror. While she couldn't recognize much of the symbols and runes dotted throughout the staff's weaved markings, there was one specific section of it that looked eerily familiar. It was a design she could never forget, for it was acutely imprinted in her mind from what was one of the worst days of her life.
Eleven lines that intertwined in numerous parts flowed out of the staff's location and into her direction. The lines merged into an array of three rings that jutted out noticeably from the sand beneath her. At the center of the rings was the image of a sun with twelve triangles representing its sunshine around it.
Latios glanced at his sister following her gasp and worriedly followed her gaze. He froze the moment he noticed the specific diagram under her, prompting him to look under him and notice one also flowed toward him. 'It's identical to the grid used to power the DMA,' he realized in horror. 'But there's no DMA here.' He glared at the staff. 'Unless that thing can do something similar.'
Both dragons snapped out of their trance and attempted to move to the side to escape the three thick rings engraved on the sand under them, already knowing full well what they were intended for. However, unlike the ones in the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare, these shot upward at a speed that rivaled their own. Both reacted swiftly and channeled as much of their telekinetic power as they could into their levitation, yet neither was able to escape the binding pull of the rings that forced them within their spinning axis.
Latias looked around in panic, eyes frantically following each of the spinning rings. She noted they appeared to be made of the same fiery purple substance that emanated out of the staff and trapped them within the barrier. The red dragoness glared at the perpetrator. "What are you and why are you doing this?" she asked angrily.
"I'm sorry, but as I said, it's nothing personal with either of you." Azrael, through Ash's body, crouched down and placed his hands on the runes near him. A swirling gale of bright blue aura flared from Ash's body and flowed into the runes, causing it to turn purple in the process. The rings that held the two dragon twins glowed in a fiery light and spun faster.
Latios scowled as the shrill whistles of the rings' quick spinning grated his ears. "Not this again." His eyes widened and he drew in a sharp breath the moment the rings' emanating energy resonated with his own. 'There it is again!' It was that mysterious thing inside of him that seemed to snap whenever he was in distress to give him the power needed to overcome dire challenges. Yet, this time, it was being forced open. He let out a sharp cry at the immense discomfort that immediately flared through him from the strange and unnatural sensation. 'It feels like I'm being split open!' he thought in panic.
Latias stifled her cry of pain as best as she could from the experiences that mirrored those of her brother. She gave a deathly glare in Ash's direction, not at the boy, but the foreign entity invading his body. 'I don't care what you are, I swear you will pay for this.'
The water's surface churned and a deep rumble resounded throughout the area as if the ocean itself was growling with unbound anger, causing the air to grow humid and a sense of dread to permeate the area. Even as the sea rippled and erupted into a violent frenzy of waves all around Skailyn, it only caressed her injured body with the most loving of touches as if trying to reassure her.
Like a colossus of untold power, an underwater ocean current rose from the depths and tore the ocean's surface apart with vehement resolve. The darkened mass of water ominously arched several hundred feet into the sky, making a steady hum echo around the battlefield as it cast an unnerving shadow on the agitated surface below.
Skailyn's mouth curled into a smirk and the tendrils of draconic light flowing from her body relaxed marginally. "About time."
The huge Mega Gengar looked at the monstrous mass of water flowing across the sky warily, taking note of how badly it dwarfed them despite their gigantic sizes. "We have company."
Feraligatr and Kabutops let out a sharp scream as a torrent of water swept against them like a vicious tide. They winced and glanced down as they were dragged back, looking on in horror as the water near them grew restless and aggressive, rippling with such force that it battered mercilessly against the two titans' bodies and sought to drag them into the depths. Cuts and scrapes formed throughout their immense bodies as they were tossed and turned by the tide, causing both of them to let out alarmed cries as they struggled to remain afloat.
"Get them out of the water, quick!" Alakazam shouted in realization, eyes beginning to glow in a bright shade of blue as he cast a large quantity of his psychic powers.
"Understood." Claydol's eight eyes shimmered in blue light immediately, also releasing a powerful burst of psychic energy.
A powerful blue glow surrounded the colossal bodies of both of the ailing water-types. They levitated out of the water, which seemed to furiously fight against their levitation until it could no longer hold them down. "What was that!?" Feraligatr asked in visible frustration.
"That would be your death," Skailyn responded coolly.
A magnificent maelstrom of water tore the ocean's surface beside the injured dragoness and shot skyward. The swirling tornado turned a deep stormy-blue in color and erupted into a vibrant fountain of waterdrops that shot in every direction as Phaedra spread her great wings and blasted it outward. She glared at the monsters before her while letting out a melodious roar. The fins in her tail, plates in her back, and the plates that framed her eyes glowed in a deep navy-blue light. She spread her muscular wings wide and high, causing the vast energy flowing from her body to spread toward them, and then flapped both of them down with such tremendous force that the violent crash of wind thundered throughout the landscape and sent a vast shockwave over the water's surface.
The ocean current, which had so far only sat idle in its overhead arch, rippled for a moment and abruptly shot forward violently. A deafening sonic boom of monstrous proportions rattled the ocean and sky as the darkened water tore through the sound barrier and moved ahead with such speed and power that its surface instantly boiled into a steaming inferno from the intense friction of its movement against the air.
Alakazam and Claydol, knowing out of pure instinct that the incoming hell was far too fast and vast to dodge, immediately teleported themselves out of the way along with the Feraligatr and Kabutops. Gengar barely reacted in time and phased away into the spiritual plane with not an instant to spare. The colossal barrier of water swept where the five titans had been only a second earlier, tearing away the empty air with a resounding boom and scorching the ocean's surface violently, leaving only a thick cloud of steam as an aftermath.
Phaedra scowled as her eyes glowed briefly while she landed on the surface next to Skailyn. Her feet touched the water with a rough crash that sent a large splash in all directions. The surface held her enormous weight up and did not allow her to sink. The goddess rose to her full height proudly and, by her unbending will, the scalding wall of water far ahead imploded on itself rather than continue on its path of destruction, causing it to collapse into the ocean with an atrocious splash further ahead.
Phaedra looked at Skailyn, a concerned expression flashing on her face for a moment. She stifled a wince at her friend's condition and mentally took note of the hundreds of tears and cracks that ran through the Rayquaza's scaled armor, as well as the many patches where entire sections of scales had been torn off and revealed the black dragoness' tensed and powerful muscles underneath.
However, the worst didn't come from what she could see, rather from what her psychic senses picked up. The deep and unheard wail of the relentless collision of two forces of immense magnitude reverberated within the Rayquaza's being as her powers battled each other in a struggle for dominance. An internal conflict brewed by the toxic influence of the Jade Orb, no doubt, which at Phaedra's glance had been spotted on the Gengar's forehead a moment ago. "I see…" she whispered in understanding.
"Keep them busy," Skailyn ordered, eyes fixated on their reappearing enemies as she slowly flew out of the gentle waves around her. "I can break Shadow Tag if I can challenge it without interruption. I really need to get away from that orb."
Phaedra spread her wings and gave her a brief nod. "Got it." She flapped them and took off, flying out with a firm glare to where the five titans now resided, about several dozen miles further ahead.
Skailyn looked on as the Lugia charged toward their enemies. She kept track of her movements, waiting for the perfect moment to make her own move. While the black dragoness braced herself, a low growl escaped her jaws as her eyesight turned blurry and unfocused for another brief moment. She closed her eyes and once again did her best to push the Jade Orb's influence out of her mind and resist the searing pain that continuously rattled every fiber of her being. Worryingly, for the first time since the fight began, she caught herself breathing. 'This is bad, it's getting very hard to resist it.'
Phaedra's red eyes flashed with a soft glint of blue light as her mind emanated a near-undetectable psychic pulse that spread in all directions like a sonar. She gave a brief nod at the information the pulse returned to her. 'They're immune to Psychic powers, most likely from those runes on their bodies. They give off a strange power, too. So, I should expect them to possibly have heightened abilities. Yet, they were forced to dodge my earlier strike rather than counter it, which means they have no answer to my power,' she noted. Her mouth curled into a vicious smirk. 'In that case…'
Phaedra growled intimidatingly and opened her beak-like jaws. A vibrant sphere of navy-blue energy formed within them, which hummed and sizzled vividly as it forcefully dragged nearby gusts to swirl around it. The aggressive gales condensed around the energy orb within her jaws and darkened into a maelstrom of murky storm clouds, causing potent thunderclaps to violently emanate from the goddess' jaws and light up her enormous body in sharp flashes of blue. The pulsating orb grew in size and swirled faster and faster as the pressure within it increased to near breaking point, creating a tantalizing display of spinning lights among the mass of whirling storm clouds.
Phaedra's body lit up in a thick aura of navy-blue light as she reared her head back. She let out a deep and wraithlike roar that spread throughout the region as she thrust her head forward and let the orb in her jaws erupt into an apocalyptic blue beam of pure energy surrounded by a devastating maelstrom of black storm clouds and ferocious gales of wind blades that soared ahead with tremendous speed, accompanied all the way by the deafening chorus of hundreds of thunderclaps.
Now free from the crushing pressure that previously confined it within Phaedra's mouth, the deadly Aeroblast spread out until it was about as large as the Lugia's body and mercilessly soared ahead with such deific power that a profound ravine shred through the ocean's surface and a harrowing ripple tore the sky above in the beam's wake.
The giant Feraligatr let out a fierce scream that was instantly drowned away into silent nothingness by the deafening roar of the incoming strike and opened her jaws, forming an orange sphere of volatile energy within them. She glared ahead and channeled as much power as she could muster into her budding Hyper Beam.
Gengar's ectoplasmic body trembled and rippled, and his eyes widened in horror, as his instincts screamed at him to flee from the overwhelming hell that approached them. It was similar to the sensation he felt when he tried to assimilate the Rayquaza, a sensation that forebode the invincible might of the deities before him. He instantly knew that there was no way he could contain such energy or that they could survive if it hit them. It was impossible to fight such a display of divine power.
"No! Don't even try to challenge that! It's hopeless!" Alakazam warned in alarm, eyes already glowing in blue light as he rushed ahead and channeled his powers for teleportation. At the same time, Claydol's eight eyes glowed in tandem. A thick blue aura of psychic energy surrounded the four titans.
Phaedra smirked as her eyes released a stunning glare of blue light. A sphere of powerful psychokinetic energy formed around the titans like a shield, preventing them from passing through it and causing Alakazam and Claydol to recoil back with a noticeable rattle as their teleportation attempt backfired.
Gengar quickly flew ahead and opened his mouth, forming a massive sphere of condensed shadows and crackling energy within it as fast as he could. The Mega Gengar fired the Shadow Ball skyward while fearfully glancing at the incoming Aeroblast out the corner of his eyes. The murky sphere soared overhead and collided against the psychokinetic shield with tremendous force, tearing a large gash into it with a potent ghostly explosion that left streaks of blue energy and wisps of raging shadows scattered throughout the wind.
As the immense Aeroblast soared toward their position, Alakazam, Gengar, and Claydol used the brief tear in the psychic prison to swiftly teleport away in the nick of time, just as the deathly beam pierced the shield without restraint and detonated amid their escape with nigh-infinite force, creating a blinding flash of deep blue light and an earsplitting boom that seemed to resound across the world. The five large flares of psychic energy, remnants of the teleportation, were instantly swept away like specks of dust by the all-encompassing wave of deific power unleashed by the detonation of Phaedra's Aeroblast.
A gigantic column of striking navy-blue light rose far into the heavens and deep into the ocean's depths, completely piercing through both of them. It spread across both and sent a seemingly infinite array of sparks and streaks of searing energy in all directions. The apocalyptic light detonated into a monstrous explosion that shredded the ocean away until it collided against the seafloor, spreading endless clouds and bursts of high-pressure steam across the landscape from the sheer volume of water that evaporated in an instant. The blast scorched the seafloor indiscriminately as it carved a colossal crater into it that stretched for many miles on end, leveling any underwater hills or rock formations unfortunate to be in its path of destruction. Dozens of ravines tore outward from the crater as the land struggled to absorb the sheer amount of energy conveyed in the attack, setting off potent Earthquakes that rattled the land violently and spread throughout the seafloor and beyond.
Shockwaves of unmeasurable force swept throughout the sky and spread far past the horizon as the explosion rose throughout the sky for dozens of miles, clearing away any wayward clouds and igniting the air in a roaring inferno as the steam unleashed during the attack was immediately carried upward by the vast amount of released energy. As the furthest-reaching tips of the explosion's aftermath raked across the upper echelons of the stratosphere, a divine mass of murky storm clouds followed the thundering shockwaves and spread across the sky like a sweeping typhoon, instantly blotting out the sun and blanketing the area in a darkness that was only broken by the flashes of violent lightning strikes. The still-echoing aftermath boom of the explosion was swept away by the endless howl of a raging hurricane.
Skailyn stared at the overwhelming onslaught with a neutral expression. She tilted her head up and gazed at the remnants of the explosion that stretched several dozen miles into the sky, towering firmly above the storm clouds and dwarfing her like a monolith to the ocean goddess' might. A smirk tugged at the edge of the death goddess' snout. The power of Phaedra's Aeroblast was a sight that she had witnessed—and faced—countless times in the past, and this one did not disappoint her. She let out a low growl and braced as the outskirts of the blast barreled toward her. As they reached her, the potent blast parted away with a tint of blue psychic energy, harmlessly passing by her sides.
The ensuing hurricane swept above her as it spread throughout the area, bringing with it a relentless downpour and violent windstorms that battered against Skailyn's body and caused a slight sting on her many wounds that the dragoness ignored. Skailyn idly noted that, for once, she didn't need to consciously deactivate Air Lock to assist Phaedra. Like much of her powers, it was haywire and out of order. Skailyn bared her teeth and, seeing that the titans would now be too preoccupied dealing with Phaedra and her created home-field advantage, shot forward like a rocket under the cover of the storm's darkness.
As the powerful winds of the newly-formed Hurricane swept away the towering remnants of the colossal explosion, Phaedra flew through the storm seamlessly. Her eyes darted about and psychic pulses continuously flared from her mind in an attempt to locate her targets. 'Not bad, that's twice they've managed to survive my strikes. They're not as useless as I thought. They can't do anything about me, though. One mistake is all I need.' The moment one of her psychic pulses picked up their panicked presences, the Lugia swirled to the side and swooped in to attack without missing an instant. A large telekinetic blast suddenly detonated in front of Phaedra, causing the Lugia to fan her wings widely to stop in midair.
The colossal Feraligatr appeared out of thin air, no doubt the result of another Teleportation. The beast, which up close was about twice as large as Phaedra was, let out an angry snarl as she swung her claws—which were coated by an array of fearsome jagged icicles—at the Lugia's chest with as much strength as the gigantic muscles in her monstrous arms could muster. "Die!" she bellowed ferociously.
The Ice Punch collided violently into Phaedra's chest with immense force, causing a potent thump to echo throughout the downpour and thunderclaps. The icicles immediately shattered into icy dust as they raked against Phaedra's feathers, managing to just barely rip off small patches of them and thus allow the monster's claws to clank fiercely upon contact with the Lugia's skin. While the enormous razor-sharp claws left diminutive surface scratches on her skin, they completely failed to pierce it or even draw any blood at all.
Phaedra didn't flinch in response.
Feraligatr's eyes slowly widened in fear as they looked into Phaedra's narrowing eyes. Phaedra scoffed and abruptly opened her jaws, firing off a potent torrent of water from them. The water swirled into a monstrous whirlpool before her, drawing forth copious amounts of water from the torrential rains around them until it coalesced into a massive spherical cluster of water around the titan. Feraligatr roared and thrashed violently within her water prison, desperately swiping her claws and biting at the border but failing to pierce it.
Phaedra rolled her eyes, which flashed faintly with a dark blue glow. The Water Pulse floating in front of her rippled aggressively, causing the monster within it to thrash harder and let out an agonized shriek. The sphere pulsed and swirled as a potent current formed within it, battering painfully against the giant's body. It also contracted slowly as the pressure within it increased with every passing second.
Alakazam and Claydol instantly realized what was happening and sprang into action by charging at Phaedra, psychically carrying along with them the titanic Kabutops.
Gengar stayed behind and observed as they left, unsure of what course of action to take. Being the wielder of the Jade Orb, he didn't want to engage in direct combat with either of the two goddesses unless necessary.
As the two psychic titans flew toward the Lugia, they telekinetically flung Kabutops at her. The monstrous Kabutops let out a war cry and reared back her remaining scythe. A dusky sheen of pure darkness erupted throughout the razor-sharp appendage, courtesy of her Night Slash attack.
Phaedra let out a snort and turned to face them. With a simple twitch of her head, the water prison which bound the Feraligatr next to her suddenly shifted to the side until it was in front of her. Kabutops' eyes widened. She knew she was incapable of changing her momentum mid-air without the help of her psychic allies.
Alakazam and Claydol, seeing the impending peril, moved to respond. At that precise moment, a lightning strike rattled the clouds behind them, causing a flash of bright blue light to briefly illuminate the darkened sky and briefly reveal a titanic silhouette rapidly approaching from behind them. They turned in panic and couldn't muster a response before the monstrous tidal wave crashed into them with relentless fury.
Phaedra looked on with an unimpressed expression as the two struggled in the midst of her Surf and the Kabutops unceremoniously collided against Feraligatr's Water Pulse prison and sank into it. As the tidal wave approached her, Phaedra made a small gesture with her head. The wave immediately caved on itself and collapsed into the ocean under her with a towering splash, leaving behind only a large sphere of water that contained the now-trapped Alakazam and Claydol.
"Well, that was easy." Phaedra's eyes narrowed and let out a soft navy-blue glow. The two colossal Water Pulse spheres that levitated around her, now turned into violently rippling prisons, continued to shrink as the pressure within them increased by the second.
Alakazam and Claydol unleased a vast blast of their psychic powers, causing both water spheres to be limned with a light blue glow. They trembled as they exerted as much of their telekinetic might to fight off the increasing pressure bearing down on them. Feraligatr and Kabutops, meanwhile, thrashed and struggled against the compacting water with all their might. Every passing second felt as if the water constricted them harder and harder from all directions, grinding them down to the point that their ears, eyes, and mouths began to bleed from the ever-increasing crushing pressure.
The Mega Gengar charged toward the ocean goddess the moment he took note of the predicament the other titans were in. 'She beat us so quickly…' he thought in horror, a shocked expression forming on his face as he pondered how best to approach her. Even with all the power he possessed, he knew he couldn't contest anything the goddess did. Yet, every single action she made demanded desperate countermeasures from them just so they could survive a bit longer. 'How are we supposed to even challenge that?' he wondered, almost knowing by instinct that his attempt to free his allies would most likely be pointless.
'These four are done. They won't resist for much longer.' Phaedra looked up and flapped her wings with resounding might. She flew away and charged head-on against the incoming Mega Gengar. A potent veil of green light swirled to life around the Lugia, tinting the surrounding clouds and rainfall with an emerald hue as her colossal body was encased in a vibrant wyvern-shaped shroud of pure draconic energy.
Gengar growled with defiance in the face of certain death. "I won't go down that—" He let out a gurgled scream of agony as he was brutally yanked back. 'Dammit! I forgot about the Rayquaza!' As he was being dragged by a mysterious force, pulsing crevices ripped open throughout his body, each glowing with intense purple energy. The giant Gengar noticed the incoming Lugia out the corner of his eyes and, in a move of utter desperation, barely managed to turn intangible and disappear into thin air in the nick of time.
Phaedra's potent Dragon Rush passed through the spot the giant Gengar had been only an instant ago, hitting nothing but drops of rain. She scoffed in annoyance as her eyes glowed and sent out numerous psychic pulses to analyze her surroundings. 'His intangibility is very powerful. I can't do anything about it. If I can't deal with the Jade Orb personally, then I need to help Skai get away from it!' The ocean goddess continued on her flight path and disappeared into the storming winds as the Dragon Rush surrounding her faded away in a bright whirl of green tendrils of light.
Latios snarled in defiance at the body of his trainer, now under the control of an entity whose name he understood as Azrael from his flashback. Arcs of energy streamed across him while a flow of teal power left his body and flowed freely into the rings that still spun wildly around him. He winced at the grating pain that coursed through his being. It felt exactly like when he was trapped in the DMA several months ago. Yet, this time, he found the experience to be not as overwhelming as back then.
Latios did his best to stem the flow of power coming out of him by resisting it as best as he could. He had already tried everything he could think of to snap the rings open, but with so much power being drained from him at such a high rate, mustering a response felt nigh impossible. He glanced warily to the side, where his sister was located. 'We'll be alright, Latias. We'll be alright,' he silently promised.
Latias took deep and jagged breaths, doing her best to resist the rather intruding and searing sensation of the ring's energy digging deep into her being and sapping out her strength. 'So, this is what you felt back then, Latios…' she thought bleakly, thinking back to that long and fateful night that was now being recreated. Only this time, there was no one to set them free as she and Ash had done for Latios. Or was there? Latias looked to the side while gritting her teeth, silently urging her friends to do something.
Brock looked upon the chaotic and confusing scene with an uncertain expression. "I've heard of possession before, mainly involving ghost-types. But we don't have a ghost-type to help deal with this. So, what can we do?"
"I recognize the setup," Bianca answered, turning to glance at him. "The markings on the sand and the rings. They look exactly like the DMA back at Alto Mare, only without the machine. I'll never forget those things."
Brock nodded slowly. "How did you guys stop it? I only remember getting there after Latios was freed."
"We stopped the rings from spinning and pulled Latios out by force," Bianca recalled. She turned to look at the commotion and gulped. "But those things are tough. Only Latias managed to power through them. But, she's… also in there." Her hands tightened into fists and trembled. "We have to do something, quick! Last time something like this happened, they almost died!"
"I guess we'll just have to pry them open by force." Brock grabbed a Poké Ball out of his vest. "Go, Onix!" he shouted as he hurled the red and white sphere ahead. The device released a blinding flash of white light that swiftly coalesced into the large serpentine Pokémon. "Break down that barrier, use Slam!"
Onyx let out a powerful roar and slithered ahead, causing the heavy boulders that made up his body to leave deep indentations in the sand as he moved. He threw himself into the shield, bringing down his overbearing weight onto it with full force. The crystallized barrier crackled aggressively and bristled under the weight of the rock type, but held steady.
Pikachu growled and channeled as much of his electricity as he could from his red cheeks, causing them to release violent sparks. He let out a shout and fired off a potent blast of bright yellow electricity at the barrier. The attack rattled it noticeably but failed to penetrate it.
"That isn't working," Bianca murmured worriedly. She looked at her bag and reached into it, but stopped with a frown. There was no way Candace—her Smeargle—could make a difference if Pikachu and Onix couldn't. She let her bag fall into the sand and focused solely on Ash's backpack. She knew exactly who could make a difference. She rummaged through Ash's stuff until she found his Poké Balls and grabbed one of them specifically. She paused when she saw Ash's necklace and the key stone attached to it next to the spherical device, but shook her head after considering the possible consequences for a second.
Bianca held out the Poké Ball and stopped when a sudden Earthquake rumbled throughout the beach. "Whoa!" she shouted, almost falling to her knees as she struggled to remain standing. The waves on the sea rippled aggressively and the vegetation further inland rattled ominously. She held steady for several moments and finally looked at Brock with a panicked expression as soon as the quake subsided. "That was strange!"
"This day keeps getting worse and worse," Brock agreed as he looked at her while steading his balance. He gasped at what he noticed far behind her. "What is that?" he asked slowly.
Bianca turned around and looked toward the open ocean. Her eyes widened at the sight. "What is that?" she repeated in horrified fascination.
Far in the distance, even beyond the line marked by the horizon, the two saw the gigantic and blurry aftermath of what seemed to be an explosion of some kind. Like a daunting mountain, the dark blue cloud of the blast pierced the heavens so high that it eventually faded far past their eyesight. Below the towering colossus and now clearly having crossed the horizon, a black and swirling layer of clouds seemed to be rapidly approaching.
"Well, that's what caused the Earthquake probably. Whatever that is, it seems like it was very far away," Brock commented in reassurance, yet his voice still conveyed evident worry.
The wind kicked up ominously and the ocean's waves grew aggressive, causing them to wash further up the beach with each passing stroke. The two looked on as the darkened clouds swiftly overtook the sky in mere seconds and brought forth a torrential downpour with them. The area darkened eerily, with only the bright flashes of lightning strikes providing some form of brief illumination.
Brock pointed his Poké Ball at Onix. "This rain is way too strong, return!" he shouted urgently. The device activated and shot a red beam of energy at the massive and clearly uncomfortable rock-type Pokémon, safely dematerializing him back into the sphere's contents.
Bianca looked at Brock with a frustrated expression, her clothes now sopping wet and her hair matted to her head. "What is wrong with today!? First, Ash gets possessed. Then, Latios and Latias are put back into something like the DMA. Then we get an earthquake and now a storm. Today is not our day. I swear if this is because we started looking for that Sky Pillar place…"
"It all has to be connected, none of this makes any sense otherwise." Brock turned to face Ash and the twins. "Let's try to do what we can and free them, to start. Hopefully, we'll get answers then!" He reached into his wet vest and took out the Poké Ball containing his Crobat. He tightened his hold on the device resolutely and hurled it forward. "Go!"
"Agreed." Bianca nodded and firmly held Pidgeot's Poké Ball forward. "Go!"
As the heavy storm battered the coastline with intense rain and hostile waves, Azrael looked on with dread toward the open ocean from within the safety of his ritual barrier. The battle was not going well out at sea. Even with the vast distance involved, he could sense the sheer amount of power that Phaedra's attacks unleashed with every strike. He knew full well they could break through at any moment now. But it wasn't Phaedra that scared him. 'I have to be ready to teleport away from here the instant it seems like Skailyn will be set free,' he thought with apprehension. His attention shifted to the scene before him.
The rings spun swiftly around the captive dragons, causing a sphere of red and teal to form around them once the locks binding their deific power were successfully breached, even if slightly. The two dragons squirmed and growled in discomfort as arcs of power tore out of their bodies and into the rings, which in turn fed the runes on the ground below. The lines glowed intensely as they transported the retrieved power up the staff, where it could be visibly seen concentrating on the purple orb at its tip.
Throughout it all, intense flares of blue fire-like aura emanated from Ash's crouched body, which fed into a series of runes that connected it to the lines around the staff and the dragon twins. 'It's a good thing this human has such a powerful Aura, it's making the extraction process much faster and keeping the others from interfering,' Azrael noted with relief. 'Still, I need to hurry. I don't want to be here any longer than absolutely necessary. Skailyn is terrifying.'
Ash found himself in a strange void. Everything around him seemed an incoherent mess of never-ending blacks and greys. Faint sounds, scents, and sensations occasionally broke through and carried with them the feeling that everything was normal, but he could wager that it wasn't the case. Why did everything feel so heavy? Why did he feel so tired? Why was he in such a strange place?
'What's going on?' Ash wondered, idly taking note that even thinking the question felt clumsy. 'What was I even doing today?' He stopped for a painfully long moment. 'A beach? I was at a beach?' he recalled faintly. Though, he wasn't sure what he had been doing on that beach or where everyone was. He looked around through the void as if searching for answers. 'Where is the beach, to start? Beaches aren't black…'
Ash blinked and looked up, looking on in wonder at a magnificent display of intertwining red and teal lights that filled the void from seemingly out of nowhere. Some flew by like shooting stars and disappeared in the distance. Others danced about with no end in sight, flowing around in majestic and tantalizing patterns. 'Latios… Latias… It feels like them.' He couldn't help but smile at the thought of the dragon twins.
Ash frowned and looked down at his hands. "Huh? What's this?" He extended out his arm and looked on with fascination at the lively blue fire-like energy that seemed to emanate out of his body. "What is this?" He reached with his free hand and ran it over the fire-like energy. Much to his confusion, his hand passed through it harmlessly. "Just…" He looked at the dazzling lights above. "Why?" If anything, with every passing moment he felt more and more exhausted as if everything around him was growing bleak and hazy, determined to sap away his strength and will to live.
Even though the lights gave Ash a strange sort of company in the hollow void and the fire-like energy seemed to give him something akin to comfort, he could tell that something was wrong, very wrong. Something bad happened. After all, why was he here? If anything, it only highlighted his loneliness. He wrapped his arms around his chest. "Latios? Latias? Pikachu? Anyone?"
Skailyn let out a deep roar as she pushed against the translucid barrier with all her might, even as searing pain flared on every fiber of her being from the violent backlashes she was experiencing as the bond of Shadow Tag strained heavily under the pressure of her strength. Amid the deep turmoil within her powers, the dragoness' mind struggled against the invasive presence of the Jade Orb clawing deeper and deeper into her consciousness like a poison.
Phaedra charged toward Skailyn's position swiftly, to the point the dark blue plates that ran along her back closed into her body to increase her flight speed. 'She's almost through! If I give her a push, we'll sever Shadow Tag and get her away!'
Skailyn pushed as hard as she could even as her eyesight grew hazy and the world around her spun in place and faded away into an incoherent mess of sounds, sights, and sensations. 'One… last… pu—'
Darkness. Silence. Nothingness.
Skailyn froze on the spot and ceased all movement, causing the cracking barrier to stop rippling and creasing as violently as it had been only a moment ago. The black Rayquaza's colossal body relaxed and her orange pupils dilated, losing their focus and seemingly staring into the distance as a monotone expression fell on her once-fierce features. The majestic tendrils that ran along her body stopped moving about and remained eerily still.
Phaedra's eyes widened at the dragoness' abrupt change of demeanor, immediately realizing what had happened. She spread her wings and back plates to halt her momentum and harshly stop in midair. 'Dammit, the orb's got her!'
"I command you to kill her!" Gengar screeched angrily as he reappeared. His strained voice came out as a gurgled scream that was nearly unintelligible, but it still conveyed his intentions with enough clarity for the sky goddess. His torn body was marred with serrated cracks that glowed in ghastly violet light from the damage incurred in the recent struggle.
Skailyn immediately whirled around on the spot in a seamless movement and lunged at Phaedra with a daunting speed that seemed unnatural for such a titanic entity, causing a deafening crash to thunder throughout the storm as the dragoness' movement shattered the sound barrier. Skailyn's enormous jaws opened and the tendrils of light that sprouted from her serpentine body darted forward in an attempt to weave around her new opponent.
Time slowed down to an unnerving standstill for Phaedra as the black Rayquaza loomed over her. The Lugia was keenly aware of the peril she was in and knew how deadly Skailyn was in close quarters. Yet, that was immediately pushed out of her mind and replaced with the incessant calculations of how to escape her current predicament. Her eyes narrowed with resolve as countless millennia of experience of dealing with Skailyn and the raw instincts of a seasoned fighter surged to the forefront of her consciousness.
Phaedra's extremely powerful mind was more than capable of keeping up with every movement the black Rayquaza made despite her overwhelming speed and could acutely react to them. However, her body was not. In the time that Skailyn had already crossed over half of the distance between them, Phaedra's body was only beginning to shift to the side and carry out her reaction. Yet, her eyes remained sharp and focused on the dragoness, and her mind even more so.
Phaedra's jaws opened in an agonizingly slow movement compared to the deity that was rapidly looming over her. As they snapped open, a swirl of navy-blue energy gathered within them and drew nearby gales and storm clouds toward it. The moment Skailyn was critically close to her—to the point that the light of her nascent Aeroblast reflected eerily on the marred scales of her cheek and her empty orange pupils—Phaedra's eyes released a blaze of bright blue light at full power. 'Now!'
A colossal blast of psychic energy collided against the side of Skailyn's upper body with the weight and force of entire mountains behind it. The dragoness' weakened scales shattered to pieces and were torn clean off in numerous sections at the sheer force of the devastating psychokinetic impact.
The potent strike threw Skailyn's lunge off course and sent it to the side, causing her jaws to narrowly miss their intended target of Phaedra's slender neck by mere yards. However, it still wasn't enough to fully stop or divert Skailyn away. The dragoness' fierce jaws, along with those deadly blood-red teeth, continued on their forced path and went straight to the base of Phaedra's left wing.
Skailyn crunched down with the full might of her physical strength behind her jaws. The fangs and teeth tore through the Lugia's feathers and skin with disturbing ease, ripping them to shreds and sinking deeply into the powerful muscles of the ocean goddess' wing. Phaedra let out a cry and winced as a sharp snapping sound echoed around them. She resisted the violent backward tug of the sky dragoness' continued momentum, which drove the sharp blade-like horns that framed her face to cleave deep cuts into the underside of the bitten wing. Yet, despite the fact her neck had been spared, Phaedra was keenly aware it was not over.
With Skailyn's jaws having a firm and inescapable grip on her wing, the rest of her serpentine body followed suit. Out the corner of her eyes, Phaedra could see her draconic tendrils curling toward her, the clawed hands reaching to her chest, and the thick tail circling around like a vicious predator. She knew from experience that the moment Skailyn ensnared her, she would be killed in moments. It was impossible to compete with a Rayquaza in a physical brawl, after all.
Phaedra had no intention to try. She fed as much power as she could into the budding Aeroblast still held inside her mouth. Despite the far-too-short time that she was given to charge the attack, she knew it was enough to fulfill its intended purpose.
Phaedra released the attack from her jaws and emitted a psychic pulse with a flash of her eyes, detonating the orb of dark blue energy at a point-blank range between them. A blinding flash of blue light engulfed the dark storm clouds as the premature Aeroblast burst between them with a fearsome amount of energy, releasing a gigantic explosion that dwarfed both goddesses.
Skailyn's jaws bit harder and dug their sharp teeth deeper into Phaedra's wing as the blast violently collided against them with a tremendous force. Phaedra let out a sharp cry, feeling every muscle and tendon in her wing severing one by one until the potent blast finally separated them from their deadlock by force and threw them away from each other.
The blast surged forth in all directions and rattled the storm still raging all around them, causing violent gales of wind to emanate in a wide arc along with pulsing shockwaves that carved a massive hole within the hurricane. The blast, strong as it happened, was swiftly swept away by the raging hurricane, plunging the area into darkness and heavy rainfall once more.
Feraligatr, Kabutops, Alakazam, and Claydol finally breathed sighs of relief as the water prisons that almost crushed them to death collapsed into the ocean below with unceremonious splashes. They glanced at each other and then at Gengar, who was levitating nearby and looked to be in deep pain but had a triumphant expression on his worn face.
Phaedra crashed into the ocean's surface violently, not sinking despite the rough landing. She rolled onto her feet as she skidded along the surface for several hundred yards before the agitated surface finally stopped the momentum that the potent blast had flung her with. She swiftly regained her bearings while standing upright. Her red eyes darted around and a powerful psychic pulse fired from her in all directions. Once she confirmed that Skailyn hadn't moved since their previous interaction and that she was no longer in any critical danger, the Lugia relaxed marginally.
Phaedra grimaced and glanced to her left side, noting with dismay the complete absence of her left wing and the trail of deep scarlet that flowed from the bloodied stump on her shoulder and stained the silver feathers on her flank. 'Well, better lose my wing than my neck,' she reasoned to herself as she watched the rain wash away red stains. She let out an annoyed growl and shook her head when she heard the distant splash of her severed wing on the water. 'Awful time to lose a wing, though. It'll make the battle last longer, time we don't have.'
Phaedra looked up and locked eyes with the giant Mega Gengar, along with the emerald-green orb embedded in the third eye on his forehead. 'That stupid Jade Orb… I have to get rid of it.' She shifted her gaze to the death goddess, who now flew to their side obediently. 'At least, I've put the necessary distance I need between myself and Skailyn if I'm to fight her. That's all I need. Even with my reduced mobility, she won't be getting close to me again.'
The Mega Gengar sneered at the downed Lugia as the other four injured titans joined his side. "Rayquaza, kill her," he repeated firmly, pointing down at the ocean goddess with a clawed appendage. "Stop at nothing until that Lugia is dead."
Skailyn tilted her head back and let out a thundering roar that deafened the raging rainfall and the fierce thunderclaps echoing all around them. She snarled at the ocean deity and then charged down at her.
Phaedra's eyes narrowed at the five titans and the incoming black Rayquaza as a low growl escaped her jaws. She planted her feet firmly on the ocean's surface and tensed the powerful muscles in her body. The ocean rumbled and grew even more agitated, and the devastating hurricane tearing away around them only seemed to grow angrier and stronger. For an instant, a vibrant alpha-shaped rune of red flashed on her remaining wing and down her back before fading away into silver once more.
A deep blue glow formed in Phaedra's eyes, whose unyielding glare met those of her challengers without fear. With utter confidence and in a firm voice that resounded clearly through the howling hurricane and the thunderclaps, the ocean goddess said, "Bring. It. On."
Chapter End
Author Notes: All I will say is, if you thought this chapter was insane, the next one is going to be bonkers.
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