This next bit comes from Titanic X who thought it prudent to give a look to an old feathery friend. But not all is as it seems...
The portal was finished.
Now all that he needed to do was go through, and then he could get to the bottom of the question that had been niggling at him since the war began all those years ago.
To Supreme Warlord Steven 'Spray' Krane, the Founder of the House of Krane, this was the biggest undertaking since the Unification of Ransei.
And he was not about to let it go to waste.
Beside him stood his wife, Lady Wingma Nelson-Krane, the Lady of the House, her eyes fixed on the glowing blue opening showing the interior of the new world. Worry etched her features as she looked to her husband.
"Are you sure?" she asked softly. "That place looks like it's seen better days..."
"Wingma, this has to be done," he told her. "This is the time to get the answers we need. We've come so far, advanced so much, and become much stronger than in the Beforetimes. I can handle this."
"It's not a question of handling it," Wingma insisted as she grasped his hand. "It's a question of whether or not you'll last in that soup!"
Spray smiled as he pulled his wife close to him in a hug. "Wingma, I can handle it. The exosuit was tested for weeks in that stuff. It'll keep me safe," he whispered. "I'll come back safe. Like I always do."
The Lady of Ransei shifted before she smashed her lips against his. Spray fell into the kiss, his arms wrapping around her briefly before she pulled away.
Spray turned and looked back at the castle of Aurora, the capital of the United Kingdoms of Ransei, and his home. The building was far more advanced these days, but its basic structure still remained the same. The sun shone brightly overhead, and the metallic wings on the roof glimmered with the touch of its rays. In the distance, the royal couple could see the pulsing blue light of the Heart of Ransei, much like a second sun, in the direction of Illusio. Cars and other vehicles crossed the roads, and he could see a bullet train pass by at high speed every fifteen minutes. To see his country thriving was something he always took great pride in, especially in the aftermath of the Unification Wars.
He sighed as he looked back at the portal before him.
He hefted the staff he carried in his right hand before he placed it on his back, attaching it to the magnetic clasps attached to his flight pack. Then he grasped the helmet attached to the side of his suit and removed it, placing it on his head. He pressed the switch on the side and the faceplate came together as the airtight seals hissed and kicked in. The rebreathing unit inserted into the helmet kicked into action, cycling the air through the filters and allowing him to breathe without the need for an oxygen tank.
Spray took a moment to look over his suit to check for any openings in the seals.
The exosuit he wore was an evolution of the Excalibur MKIII exosuit, much more formfitting than the original design. The main feature was the thin, black, flexible metallic body suit. It clung to his toned, muscular physique like a second skin, and accented his muscle tone quite nicely. The royal blue armor on the chest and lower torso acted as extra protection, and on the left breast was the symbol of Ransei: a four pointed star with sixteen other stars surrounding it, a pair of wings spreading out from behind it. In the center of his chest armor was the standard triangular shard of aurite, and around his neck he wore his crystal as well. His shoulders were protected by a pair of shoulder guards the same color as his chest armor, and on his arms and legs were white metal plates to guard against strikes to his joints or bones. His lower legs were clad in metallic boots that were primarily white, with green edges and feet bottoms. His right hand was covered in a metal gauntlet in primarily blue with white accents. His left forearm bore his usual PokeGauntlet, but it was now older and heavily used. The flight pack was the same as in the old MKIII model exosuit, but since it was very effective, no changes had been made to it. Like the chest armor of his suit, it was a royal blue color, but it had green metallic straps to hold it to his chest armor, going above and below his shoulders. His helmet was also a royal blue color, but it had a white faceplate and white accents, mostly on the metallic wing-like protrusions used for communications, along with a dark tinted visor.
This was the MKV exosuit, the longest serving model in history.
He finished the examination and squared his shoulders before he took his first step through the portal into the Reverse World, the reflection of the real world.
The portal's surface shimmered as he passed through, a feeling like stepping under a waterfall racing through him briefly before it vanished. He lifted his head up and he frowned to himself.
All around him he could only see the miasma of the Reverse World.
His eyes narrowed beneath his visor as he raised his PokéGauntlet to his face. The mist was too thick to actually see the tablet portion, but by now he knew all of its functions by heart, having used it for years. He pressed the radar button and it flashed as the sensor embedded in it went to work. The screen flickered online, showing his location as a bluish-white dot. He swept his arm around, letting the data come in. Within minutes he had enough data on his surroundings to know where he was.
Spray flicked a finger and the tablet detached from his gauntlet. He held it up and pressed the IR button before hitting the camera function. The screen flashed before it showed the surrounding area, along with any body heat signatures in the vicinity, if there were any. And so far there were none.
"Hmm... Where is he?" he mused as he started to walk, his tablet held in one hand.
Spray's eyes narrowed as he slowly turned as he walked. "I know he's here... but where?"
Behind him the portal wavered before closing up.
He knew that it would reopen in an hour and a half, so he had to find him and get his answers before then. Especially as since no one knew how the bird was going to act now that he had been stuck here for so long.
As he walked, he was unaware of the two red eyes observing him.
At least until a flash penetrated his brain. His eyes snapped up and he reattached his tablet to his gauntlet as he leapt to the side, a blast of wind barely missing his left leg. He landed and spun, his hand flying for his staff and removing it from his flight pack.
"I knew it..." he muttered.
The warlord narrowed his eyes a bit more as he watched a shadowy figure begin to emerge from the miasma in front of him.
Two great wings.
Rainbow feathers.
An arching neck.
Two red eyes.
And a great golden beak.
He knew this creature, not just from the legends, but also from having heard it from the Master of Knowledge himself.
"Ho-oh!" he growled.
Ho-oh, the once great legendary known as the Guardian of the Skies, frowned as he eyed the man in front of him. Spray knew that the beast was thinking of him, as he could sense the confusion, and the fury, building inside of him. His crystal pulsed with the feelings, and much to his surprise, he also sensed an alien emotion. One that struck him as odd. But he didn't know what it was.
Not at the moment, anyway.
The Rainbow Pokémon narrowed his red eyes as he spread his wings and alighted on the ground in front of the warlord.
"Why have you come, human?" he asked, his deep, powerful voice resonating around him. "Because if you came to fight... you are sorely mistaken..."
Spray hadn't been intending on fighting. Oh, no. Although it wasn't far from his mind as a possibility, he had been hoping for it to be a mere fraction of a possibility. But now it seemed he had no choice. And he was glad on his decision to bring his signature weapon.
He held out his staff and spun it a few times in his hands. The shard of aurite in his chest armor began to glow, as did his crystal, sending the energy down his arms and into his staff, concentrating in the point where the energy blade emerged. With a cry, he swung it, crouching as the blade sprang into existence, glowing a bright bluish white in the shape of an arrowhead, but much bigger. He gritted his teeth as he eyed the bird critcally, sizing up his chances of victory, slim as they were.
His eyes hardened as he started to circle, his body tense for the coming battle. He could already hear the whispers of the Heart, but he held it at bay, saving it for when he needed it most.
Ho-oh's red eyes flickered as he watched his opponent. "I ask again. Why have you come to my domain?"
Spray was silent as he kept circling, his eyes close to mere slits behind his visor. "Is this some kind of trick question?" he asked finally.
The Rainbow Pokémon didn't even take the bait. "If you have come to merely trade banter back and forth, think again, human..."
"Oh, believe me. I'm not here for that at all," Spray growled. "I'm here because I seek an answer."
"An answer...?" Ho-oh tilted his head curiously. "And what kind of an answer have you come for, foolish human?" He chuckled a little. "An answer as to how I came to be here?"
Spray hissed as he tensed. "No! I already know how that happened!"
"Then why have you come?" came the inquiry.
"Simple: to get answers to one big question that's bothered me since the start of the war!" Spray snarled.
Ho-oh simply chuckled. "And what would that be?" he mocked.
Spray tensed, every muscle in his body poised to strike or dodge. This was it. It was now or never. He took in a filtered breath and let it out. "What I want to know is... why?"
The former Guardian of the Skies tilted his head to the left. "Why?"
The Supreme Warlord shook his head. "No, Ho-oh. Why?!" Now he was getting pissed. "Why did you do it!? Why did you unleash Hell on Earth all those years ago!? Why resort to genocide!?" he bellowed. "Why go to such lengths as to risk destroying not just us humans, but the rest of the Pokémon as well?! Because, and I can't believe I'm saying this, if it wasn't for Uxie, many other species may have been wiped out or extinct!"
Ho-oh simply smiled. "So you claim..." he remarked. "I only gave them back the means to fight and reclaim that world."
"Yes... But you don't understand the kind of damage your damn wish has done!" Spray roared. He lunged for the Rainbow Pokémon, his eyes flashing blue as he swung, unleashing a blazing blue shockwave. "Aura Slash!"
The shockwave rocketed towards Ho-oh, carving a path through the thick miasma like a knife through butter. The legendary sneered as he spread his wings, flames licking at their feathers. "You truly think that can harm me?" he mocked. "Pathetic!"
He flapped his wings once, and a brilliant blast of fire emitted from his very being, taking on the shape of the Ransian character for fire. Spray's eyes widened as he saw this coming and he sprang into action. The attack launched not even a second later, homing in on his location. Spray crouched and leapt into the air, his flight pack roaring to life. He felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness in his stomach, but that was driven from his mind as he darted above the attack as it sped beneath him, scattering the blue shockwave of his own attack like it was nothing.
The warlord was not surprised, but it did mean he had to go full force if he was to win this. His eyes hardened as he looked at the legendary below him. "Okay, Ho-oh. If you won't answer... then I'll just have to try and get you to see just how much damage was done to the world as a whole!"
"Try me," was all Ho-oh said.
That was all the invitation Spray needed. He held up his lance, aiming the blade skyward as he started to draw upon the strength of the Heart welling up inside of him. Despite being in a different dimension, the Heart's unique properties allowed it to be drawn upon even across dimensional boundaries, but with a reduction in its overall power. Still, he wasn't about to let this go to waste as he channeled the Heart's power into his weapon.
He could sense it first before it started to form. The faint stirrings of the air in this dimension began to come to his attention, and he could sense the currents of air like they were the flesh and blood of his body, able to be manipulated to a fine degree since he had mastered his powers over ice and air, although not to the extent of the Elemental Guardians.
A faint air current began to flow around his weapon as he then channeled some of the icy coldness budding within his chest into the very air around him, turning the very water molecules into frozen bits of icy glass. They began to coalesce into shards of ice that extended outwards, blossoming into deadly weapons in their own right. Within moments Spray had around his very being several dozen small ice knives, each with a point as sharp as a Bisharp's blades.
He directed these into the air as he lowered his lance, spreading them around his body as he drew his lance back for the swing.
"Have some of this!" he roared. "BLIZZARD IMPACT!" With that declaration, he swung his lance as hard as he could, unleashing a wave of air that parted the miasma. Ho-oh on the other hand sneered as he flapped his wings a few times, generating a whirlwind that scattered the attack. The shards of ice on the other hand grazed him, a few of them melting upon contact with the sacred flames now licking at his body and wings.
"Puny human. Your attacks are useless against my sacred fire!" he crowed.
"We'll see..." Spray muttered.
"Oh? How so?" Ho-oh inquired.
But Spray wisely kept silent. His eyes flickered as he drew his lance across his chest, the blue aural blade taking on an icy sheen. "..." He watched the bird Pokémon as he started to circle. "..."
"Now... I am assuming that since you humans have survived, that maybe there aren't many left. Hell, you may even be the last one," Ho-oh remarked. "That would explain why you came here then. In a futile effort to understand why I wiped out your species, am I right?"
"Oh... You have no idea..." Spray muttered.
Ho-oh sneered at that.
"...just how wrong you truly are!" he finished, looking up as he finally reached up with his left hand. He pressed the button on the side of his helmet and the visor slid back, exposing his brown eyes for his adversary to see. "You have no idea how wrong you are, Ho-oh! Humanity didn't just survive the Apocalypse and the Undampening. We thrived and rebuilt! In short... you failed!"
"Only in the short term," Ho-oh chuckled. "For with the dampeners removed-"
But Spray cut him off. "Forget that! It doesn't matter anymore! Your little ambitions have died, and we have survived! And let me ask you something. You truly felt it was justifiable to have humanity go backwards!? All because we weren't pure enough for you!? You wanted to wipe us out, solely for the reason that you felt we were destroying a world for Pokémon and Pokémon alone?!" His eyes flashed as he tensed his body for the blow. "Because you... are... sick! We will never go back to the days of tribalism! Especially the days of savagery!" With that declaration, he swung his weapon as hard as he could towards the ground, releasing a blistering gust of icy air that froze the very ground beneath it. "BLIZZARD CUTTER!"
The shockwave struck Ho-oh dead on, but due to the flames flickering on his body, it only froze him for not even a full five seconds. But he was caught off guard by the sudden attack. He lowered his head and glared at the man who dared to take a stand against him.
"You... You dare to raise a hand against me?!" Ho-oh cried. "You hairless ape! I will scorch you to cinders!"
"Bring it on!" Spray growled. His eyes narrowed as the former legendary raised his great wings, calling upon his sacred flames to bring judgment down upon the Supreme Warlord.
"The sacred fires will burn you to ashes!" the bird chanted as he gave a flap of his expansive wings, hovering off the ground to float above the man.
"Yeah?! I've dealt with worse than that!" Spray retorted. He thrust his lance at the former legendary. "And you are about to learn the hard way why we humans don't go down without a fight!"
Ho-oh's red eyes narrowed as he gazed at the man beneath him.
Both man and beast stood facing one another in the middle of that miasma, their eyes hard. And then one of them made the first move.
Ho-oh's wings blazed as he gave a great flap, sending his Sacred Fire down towards the human. Spray's eyes flashed as he spun his lance, the blade flashing as energy streamed off of it into a shield in front of his body. The blue energy barrier flickered as the flames struck it, the heat causing sweat to break out on his visible flesh. The miasma began to lick at his cheeks and he pressed the switch on the side of his helmet briefly, bringing the visor back down across his eyes.
The warlord gritted his teeth as he started to focus, drawing on the Heart's powers and allowing him to briefly boost his own abilities. The first flickers of wind began to circle around his body before he gave a cry as he swung his lance, scattering the winds and shield, blowing the miasma back from around the two of them. Ho-oh's eyes widened a bit in surprise at what he had seen, and Spray grinned.
"What? Wasn't expecting us to have our own dampeners removed?" he asked mockingly.
"So that is how you survived..." Ho-oh mused. "I underestimated that ignorant bid of the seas..."
Spray's grin faded, although the Rainbow Pokémon couldn't see it. "Yeah. It is. But there is another reason we refused to die. And that reason is why I'm here!" he growled.
"To get answers as to why I did what I did, yes?" Ho-oh asked calmly.
Spray nodded. "Yeah. And I don't want some stupid sob story, either! I want to know the truth behind that decision! What made you choose genocide?! What caused you to lose faith in us!? And most importantly, did you even consider the damage that could be done to the world as a whole?! Especially given those damned parasites?!" he roared.
Memories came back to Spray's mind, each filled with the horror of the Paras War. Even years later he could still see the dead being consumed by the organic mass. Flesh literally fusing with metal and vise versa. It was truly horrifying beyond belief.
"The world will recover," Ho-oh said serenely. "It always has, has it not?"
"NOT LIKE THIS!" Spray bellowed.
"Oh?" Ho-oh inclined his head. "And how has it not recovered?"
"For the love of..." Spray was now pissed off. A roar of anger and rage erupted from his chest as he thrust his hand up, his lance glowing a brilliant blue that shone in the darkness of the miasma as it started to creep back in towards the duo. His eyes flared a bright blue beneath the dark tinted visor as he swung, unleashing his signature attack. "AURA CUTTER!"
The blazing blue shockwave rocketed towards Ho-oh who summoned his flames to take it head on. The explosion was enough to throw the both of them back, Ho-oh trailing flames while Spray flared his flight pack to slow his landing, skidding back on his feet as he glared up at the Rainbow Pokémon. Both were now in it for the kill.
The warlord seized his chance to thrust his lance out to the side, his eyes hardening as Ho-oh flared his wings to stop his tumble through the air. He glared down at the human before him, and Spray returned it.
"You think the world has recovered? Well, you're wrong on so many counts!" Spray snarled.
"Then show me, human! Show me how your world has not recovered from the reclamation!" the bird cried.
Spray took his chance to channel more of his power into the blade of his lance, small air currents forming as the energy blade turned a snowy blue, obtaining an icy sheen to it. He cried out as he swung, unleashing a devastating shockwave of energy laced with icy cold air. "BLIZZARD WAVE!"
Ho-oh cackled as he send his sacred flames at the shockwave, but Spray was already in motion. "The world has not recovered in the sense you think, you sicko!" he began. "For one thing, the very lives of all of humanity have been turned upside down, mostly because of your little efforts to turn us into savage tribes! And that left a lot of us dead at the hands of our partners! Sometimes even at the hands of others as well!"
"As is typical for you barbarian humans," Ho-oh retorted. "Always struggling to survive and putting Pokémon through hell."
"We are not the barbarians you think!" Spray spat. He spun his lance as he summoned forth more energy from the air around him, then with a swing of the blade, he unleashed blast of air that cut right through Ho-oh's sacred flames. The bird's red eyes widened in shock at the move, and Spray took that chance to drive his lance into the ground, sending a surge of icy energy into it and within moments huge spikes of ice erupted from the ground, heading right towards Ho-oh.
"Oh..."
The Rainbow Pokémon was struck by an ice spike, sending him flying as blood started to drip from the wound. While his flames had melted the sharp tip, it hadn't been enough to dull it to where it would only bruise him. The Supreme Warlord pulled his weapon free and charged at Ho-oh with his flight pack roaring in his ears. "Bet you never even considered the fact that Grimer and Muk are now literally oozing piles of toxic sludge that have literally poisoned the air, ground, and water they touch, did ya?!" he spat as he slammed the blunt end of his lance into Ho-oh's chest, right where he had been hit by the warlord's attack. "Or that the Paras have now become a literal hivemind and can now assimilate anything on the battlefields?!" Spray took the chance to whip his lance back as he spun, using his left foot to deliver a roundhouse kick that snapped Ho-oh's neck to the side, followed by a slash with his lance that dealt a gash to his right shoulder. "Or that Zubat are now bloodsucking vampires?!" The warlord flipped backward, bringing his lance down to deal a blow to the back of Ho-oh's neck. He knew that the Rainbow Pokémon would take it, and he expected it. That way he could continue to tell him the realities of the wish he had unleashed all those years ago.
Ho-oh was barely able to maintain consciousness from the blow, but remain conscious he did. As he plummeted to the ground, his eyes snapped open and he flared his wings, trying to slow his descent. He glared at the man, only to be surprised to see him coming in fast, his lance now seething with chilling energies. "Because as far as you know, that hasn't happened! Well... Newsflash for ya! It did happen! And there is no way it's a lie!" Spray bellowed as he drew his lance back. "BLIZZARD DRIVER!" He thrust it forward and what appeared to be a manifestation of the blade itself fired from the lance, becoming pure ice as it slammed into him, sending him falling like a rock to the ground below.
Ho-oh slammed into the ground, generating a crater and scattering the miasma upon impact. Spray landed on his feet, and slowly began to walk forward, only to stop as a flash cut across his brain. He jerked back just as a Hyper Beam lanced out of the smoke. Quick thinking saved his life as he channeled the Heart's power into his crystal. He felt the telltale flicker of Teleport before he appeared elsewhere, on the opposite side of the crater. And his eyes widened as he stared at the great wingspan of Ho-oh.
"Oh... Nice trick," he muttered. "But not good enough!" With a roar, he lunged for the former legendary, catching him by surprise. Ho-oh, having been weakened by Hyper Beam, wasn't in any condition to prevent the warlord from swinging his lance and unleashing a devastating attack of his own. The warlord's eyes flashed blue as he spun his lance, generating energy blades with each spin. The blades then took on an icy gleam as he pointed the lance and gave a thrust with it. "GLACIAL DRIVER!" The icy blades cut into Ho-oh's body, and Spray seized his chance to deliver the final blow.
While the bird was recovering, he held up his lance and started to channel as much power as he could into the blade. What Ho-oh didn't know was that Spray had been gathering up power and storing it in his crystal just for this occasion.
"Okay, Ho-oh! Time for you to get some well-deserved payback!" he muttered.
Ho-oh gasped as he looked up, just in time to see Spray's body seething with bluish-white energy, snowy particles blowing around him in a whirlwind of icy cold air. His eyes were blazing blue as his crystal shard and necklace pulsed in sync with the Heart back in the Real World. What was this human doing?! There was no way they could perform such attacks, and yet...
"HAAAAAAAH!" Spray swung his lance to the side across his chest, and he tensed his body for the attack. "TAKE THIS! HURRICANE BLIZZARD IMPACT!"
He slashed as hard as he could horizontally, and the next thing Ho-oh knew, this hurricane gust of icy cold air and freezing sleet struck him full force, freezing everything solid behind him. He himself wasn't as affected, but the fact that this gust was still coming was concerning. He tried to summon forth his sacred fire, but much to his surprise, it wasn't even working as well as he had hoped. And on top of that, he was starting to get cold... Very cold...
It was then he realized what was happening. This human was lowering the temperature! All his attacks had been ice based, which was weak against fire, but consistent attacking with it was a way to lower the temperature of anything! And then this new attack... His flames didn't stand a chance of surviving in that freezing cold!
Spray sneered as he spun his lance and stood up straight, facing Ho-oh as the blizzard died down. Ho-oh was now a shivering mass of feathers as he drew his wings close to his body to try and warm himself up. "So... you give up?"
Ho-oh couldn't respond.
He didn't know what to say.
"How could...Dammit. Cut! Can we cut?"
The groans echoed as the mist slowly faded, revealing the interior of the Reverse World set. Spray had to resist slapping his face with his hand. "Seriously, you forgot your line again?! How many times do we have to reshoot this?"
Ho-oh, or Frank, the actor dressed as the legendary bird hanging from cords, sighed as he hung his head. "I know, I know. I'll get it right this time. I promise."
Off to the side, the director sighed as he ran a hand down his face. "Okay... from the top everyone!" Then grumbled beneath his breath. "Amateurs, I swear."
Smoke machines and cameras slowly reeled back into place, makeup crews quickly touched up Spray's face before hurriedly dashing back to their positions as Spray ran back to the exterior of the room.
"You've got this, Frank. You've got this. Be the Ho-oh," he chanted to himself as he was slowly being lifted up to the rafters.
"Okay...take 14 aaannd action..."