"Hey, hey! Careful with that!"
The Cyndaquill rips something from his partner's hands. The moonlight, peeking through a cross shaped window shines down into their dorm. He lays the thing down - a rock with one perfectly flat side. A pattern etched into it catches the light shining through the window.
"This is my good luck charm." The Cynadquill chirps. "I can't let anyone touch it, not even you, okay? I'll seriously go nuts if it goes missing."
The cyndaquil's partner says something to him, something which makes his tiny eyes open with anger.
"Hey! It is important okay, it means something to me - that's all that matters! I'll find the secret behind it some day then me and you will be filthy rich! People will call us the greatest explorers on this continent, I promise!"
The little cyndaquil closes his eyes, throwing himself into the hay. He rests peacefully. Then, his eyes open once more. He reawakens as Typhlosion on the white shores of a familiar place, his fiery mane a ghastly purple.
He gurgles and spits, stirring to newfound life. A vague memory rises in the ghost-type's mind as he drags his finger across the damp sand - scorching a pattern into the earth - a familiar, lucky pattern.
And then, he would take it to cloth, sewing it himself into fabric so the symbol may never become lost again. Holding it in his hands, he clutches it close.
Weary and worn by travels, the Typhlosion rests in a tent, drifting in and out of consciousness as he grips the symbol close. The rest of the strangers in the Hidden Land have fallen aslumber. Memories flash by as fermented berries she summoned begin taking their toll. Soon he will lose consciousness for good or at least until Lucario or someone pokes him awake.
He looks across the garden. Halcion and Dexys are asleep together among the flowers while Louisa keeps his head buried in the icy cold fountain. Guess water types sleep like this - drowning alive. Before he shuts his eyes, a "hello" from Celebi stirs him awake.
"H-Hey!" Masters stirs, looking at the grass-type land next to him. "What's your problem?"
"Nothing, you're the one who had asked me about your Scream? You gonna fall asleep on me?"
"I didn't plan to." Masters blinks. "What's up with my scream again? I'm holding on by a thread here, you'll have to be swift."
"You were telling me how it was happening more? How when you saw in the future it was only bad things? Like a night slash hitting you or your water friend, Louisa, causing a mishap."
This drags up a vague memory of some kind. It's still all fuzzy up here.
"Oh yeah, I do… What's the deal, Celebi?"
"So…the deal is that your Dimensional Scream has changed. It seems like you can only see misfortunes now, future things destined to hurt you or whoever's close. I guess you can think of it as these dark gears' version of the scream, and I'm pretty sure it's why I had such a bad feeling about these gears."
"Call them instincts, or a sixth sense, I just get some bad vibes from them - you know?" She brings out a gear, placing it in his hand and wrapping his fingers around it, her hands quivering. "I think Dialga…he would say the same thing about it."
The metal in his hand feels colder than ever. Its glow seeps through his fingers like dark, orange tendrils. Masters thinks of their target, and of dialga.
"You told me there's only one of you before: only one Celebi - one Dialga. Doesn't that apply to all of you…higher people, legendaries or whatever they call you? I'd call you deities but I am not a prayerful man."
"You are correct." She relinquishes her fingers from his hand, nodding. "If there were more than one Dialga out there, another of me…er...I wouldn't even wanna think of how things would be."
"The reasons as to why aren't known. I always assumed this rule is the work of whatever's above all of us. I don't think it has a name; it probably doesn't want one. Whatever it is, I know this thing to be the same force which brought…"
His old partner, the outsider. There is no need to say what he is to Masters.
"Probably.." Masters bites on his lip. "Then explain Darkrai."
"Oh, him? The old one or the new one? The old one got sent across the universe forever by the guy you're not a big fan of. It's old news."
"And as for her: the slot was open for someone to take his place. Simple as it could be, she just came from another world to fill up his empty spot."
"Fantastic." Masters groans. "What about this new Scream? Can't call it the Dimensional Scream anymore, it's different.
"I don't know, not like it has a name yet. How about the Calamitous Scream?"
The Typhlosion snorts.
"Dramatic, did you spend the last week thinking that one up?"
"...maybe."
"What did you see this time?"
As places and people, pasts and futures, race by Masters' mind - the voice of Lucario returns him back to reality. Masters takes a deep breath, awakening in a cold sweat, his entire body shaking. His legs can't stand straight and he crumbles onto the nearest wall, breathing frantically.
The ground beneath them snakes, like sand or snow grazing its surface. The walls are jagged, smoothing over then reutnring to their jagged selves in a countless cycle
Never has he seen a dungeon like this, not even Temporal Tower compares. The ferals here have been donned in ancient armor, wield weapons which rust upon touching the distorted floors, and speak, speak.
The ferals' screams haunt him as they rave about interlopers, frothing at their mouths. What they've spoken to masters and Lucario in their delirious states are things he would never repeat. But they have reached the dungeon's end. Pushing past the dungeon is no more difficult than everywhere else he's been through, they even managed to hold onto a Reviver Seed after losing most of their equipment to the onslaught.
The dungeon has opposed little obstacle to Masters.
So why is he about to collapse?
"'M-"
A pounding deep in his heart drowns out Lucario's words. Licks of fire are starting to fly from mouth as he breathes faster and faster. The beating in his heart rages as everything in the last few days is rising up from his gullet to his throat. Everything is telling him he can't do this. Turn around; don't go on.
Lucario grabs his shoulder. A cold, icy sensation gushes through him. His breathing slows. The feeling is neither better or worse, but it's different enough to get his act together. Masters looks at Lucario.
He can tell just by the way he is staring at him he wants to tell him to pull himself together or to remind him again about "keeping memories out of this" - some goal orientated stuff like this. Yet he keeps his hand there, and only moves when Masters finally gets himself together, continuing down the dungeon path with a heavy step.
"Don't run in without me." Lucario says from behind him. "You gonna be okay? I swear you were using the scream till we got here, I wouldn't have asked if-"
"I'll be fine."
Masters doesn't sound confident, but they are too late into this dungeon to argue. Masters can see a light flowing in from ahead, the reflection of a watery cavern bouncing off the walls. Masters takes the moment to collect himself.
As much as he wants to push this all behind him, he knows Lucario. He won't focus unless he has his answers, it will bother him till either someone knocks him out or in the extremely rare case - he forgets. Lucario is much too determined. He needs some kind of, well, anything.
He knows what he has seen. It plays hundreds, if not thousands of times in his mind. No matter what his ability shows, hee cannot prevent what he sees, only mitigate it. They'll find the way to prevail past his vision. This is the lie Masters tells himself.
"I…saw…I saw the boat up ahead." Masters says slowly. "She is going to be there, waiting for us. It's not as distorted at the dock, which must be the warship's doing."
An inert gear, a badge, a single reviver seed, a Chesto bottle to share, and a mega stone. These are the tools they have to make a miracle. The scream he cannot afford to use again after what he has seen.
"All that time to confirm the boat's there? Could've used that hours ago." Lucario looks down, Whiskey's badge still leads them forwards. "Scared?"
He grins. Those stupid teeth say the same old message. If Lucario is scared, he is truly amazing at hiding it. Must be bloodlust; has to be.
"No." Masters answers. "We have no time to be."
Lucario laughs. He passes into the light, dragging Masters with him. Masters shuts his eyes for a split moment, and takes a breath as he reaches the dungeon's end.
Sorry, Rei. I'm a poor liar.
The three things Xatu's badge is pointing at have to be Dexys, Lucario, and Darkrai. Everyone is already in there, the path is clear for Louisa to bring up the flank, to find his own way through this peculiar cove.
Pillars of stones stand around him. Unlike the ones in the temple these are twisted, warped, stretched out like pieces of candy. None of it makes sense. The ground, pitch black - slithers past his feet like a hundred little serpents. It is not windy, at least not as much as any other place by the Dusk Continent's cold waters. The air has a constant howl; it sounds like breathing.
Minutes after walking, Louisa finds hoofprints in the sand. One look at them confirms them to be Whiskey's, the weird rapidash loyal to Lucario. He follows the prints, then stubs something.
The hoofprints. They've risen? Did they just…
Louisa looks behind him. His footprints have risen up too, each leaving behind this dark puck of earth with his prints embedded into them. They have fossilized right before his eyes! What is going on here?
No time. Louisa pushes himself forwards, racing down towards the large mound of twisted stone. The cove protrudes from out of the continent like the head of a large spear, and the waters around it roar, waves crashing violently against the shore.
Is this The Sea? No, it can't…he had seen it earlier aboard Lapras. What is going on here? Why is this segment of coast so strange?
He has heard of stories of unusual happenings in dungeons. He's travelled through countless before, but here he is now paralyzed by what feels like an overwhelming sensation of dread. He follows in the hoofprints. Spotting the twisted maw of a cavern surrounded by an arch.
He steps forwards, the arch passing overhead. A noise goes off.. Louisa spins around, membranes flick over his eyes. Nothing.
He hears it again, a strange, almost gurgling sound, getting closer with each proverbial step. Should he run? Does he shoot it down? He looks across the sands around him. There are no steps in the sand.
A chill races down his spine. He can feel something race past his frills. A dewdrop forms on his fingertip.
Another whoosh, like it's gone and circled around. Louisa turns, shoots without a second thought.
Suspended overhead like a being on strings is…himself. His eyes are wide, gripping his neck, struggling against something as he floats away from Louisa - being torn towards the sky. The water bullet, having hit, spills ichor from his chest. Bubbles float out of his mouth as he struggles to say something.
Dread grips Louisa. He makes the mistake of blinking and…It's gone. The projection of himself no longer exists, like it was never there.
Was he drowning? What is happening to him? Fear sinks its claws ever deeper into Louisa's heart. Don't think, he tells himself - you don't have the time, and he races down the path laden by Whiskey. He enters through an archway and then throws himself to the dungeon's whims.
He lands into a long straight tunnel. The surroundings have a familiar dim glow about them, and at the entrance lines rusted husks of armored foot soldiers. It feels like walking into an ancient grave. Yet, the howling sound is not present. The dungeon is somehow less distorted than directly outside of it.
He continues his pace, not stopping to make heads nor tails of this nonsense. And within moments, he comes across a pink light. It's the Rapidash, waiting at where this tunnel begins to funnel out into mazelike chambers. He looks relieved to see him.
"Knightess Halcion and Dexys passed not minutes ago, they left searching for another way into the dock from outside." Whiskey takes in the cold dungeon air. "This place is vast, much more than the ones of my home or the dungeons I had the displeasure of visiting in my time here."
"Odd." Louisa takes up a perch next to him. He can hear it in his own voice, he is still shaken by all this. "In all my time as the head of investigation in my society, had I never experienced anything…"
"Were thou witness to visions as well?"
Louisa nods his head. It does not seem right to leave him here. The end of this place is bound to be lest distorted than here or outside. Dungeon hunger has a way of wrenching its talons around anyone who remains too long, it is just cruel to leave a fellow behind.
He looks into the maze ahead. There's plenty of unconscious things around, dragging Whiskey through this will not be of anyone's detriment.
"Though milord ordered me, I could not stay outside.." Whiskey huffs. "I was witness to things I'd never thought I'd see. Past battles, futures, different heres and nows. T'was maddening."
"I only saw one thing and I wouldn't wish it on you or anyone else." Louisa looks at Whiskey. "The road ahead is safe. The ends of Dungeons are typically safer. They may actually need you up there."
"Agreed. Although my lord did order I remain here, I doubt he would mind my assistance. For all that we know, it may save him."
Louisa nods.
Freeing themselves from the dungeon's grasp, Masters and his partner find themselves on a pavilion above a great underground cove. Light from a distant moon creeps in from the gargantuan tunnel, shining on old docks, weaponry and barracks along the left wall. Lying at the heart of the cove is a magnificent vessel. A work of iron, it is as pitch black as the Sea's darkest depths. Glowing yellow globes line the railing of the galleon as well as the dock itself. They do not look like any torch he has seen, they seem more like glowing contraption.
Ahead Masters can see something, clear as day, waiting at the foot at the docks, and she can see them. There was never a chance they could have gotten the jump on her. If she had wanted to surprise attack them she would not have waited for them to even enter this cove.
Does she expect to win them over or something? With Lucario with him, the chances of her appealing to their senses are out the window. No matter how it is presented between them, confrontation is inevitable. This just gives Masters the split second to back down if he so chooses.
And Lucario, as typical of him, chooses for them.
He shares not a single word before he goes racing towards what may well be their final moments. Short of throwing an Aura Sphere at her, Lucario races to the foot of the docks. It is bloodlust afterall.
In the moment offered to them by their foe below, Masters spits too globs of fire then stuffs them into their respective lanterns. He approaches the dock. To his left: a building carved into the stoney alcove. To his right: a short dock leading to this magnificent vessel.
Lucario tries to to move before an outstretched hand halts him. She wants Masters, not his mutt.
Masters arrives, lanterns lighting his way. He feels the gear tremble under his cowl. He can't see any on her. Did she stow them aboard?
He looks his foe down. Dark, and towering, she glows faintly in the cavernous dark.. Her hands are polluted with a bright toxic looking glow. A single touch from her, according to Halcion, will spell their demise. Silence cuts through the air, and Masters is first to speak.
"What do you want?" Masters calls to her. "I would say so quickly."
"Your gear.." She folds her arms, her long, insect-like legs planting her at the dock's edge. "I have confidence in my abilities, I know what I can and what I cannot accomplish. You're heading to a battle you cannot hope to win on your lonesome. I know you have brought allies, and through numbers you hope to destroy me."
Of course she knows they are coming. Right on her admiral coat is the badge with a shining blue diamond.
"This vessel is a marvel of its era. It is largely autonomous. Once started, it will take me out into the Sea. There I will close it and free your land from outside influence." She glances to the outcropping, as if expecting more to show at any moment. "Even the ferals in their wild state could see my reasoning. I do not understand why you would oppose me."
Lucario glances at Masters. He is shoving the reins into his hand.
"I have no idea what kind of world you are from, why you are so proficient at what you do, or any of your history." Masters puts a hand to his chest. "You're correct in that we are heading to a bloody battle, and we both understand what you're trying to do. But can you hear me out?"
"I am capable of seeing reason." She states. "This matter is in your court. Convince me, explorer."
In a simple twist of words, he feels a pressure pushing down on his body. He saw what happened through his scream, there is no way this does not lead to a confrontation, yet…
"I don't have a problem with you being an outsider." Masters feels the flames on his chest burn. "I've known plenty, they are just normal like me or Lucario here."
"I can't argue against the possibility of something outside of our world coming to ours to cause harm.. Preventing that is what I think Zekrom wanted - what those ferals you've heard go on about. and that's what led to his downfall. You can't bring that kind of change without people suffering."
He may not know the full story, only someone who was there alongside Zekrom would know, but the former Darkrai of this world she is not. Darkrai claimed himself to be the knight's left hand, a man trying to keep Zekrom's torch aflame. And the things this new one is spitting out all but fall in line with the same nonsense rhetoric as that spoiled prince.
"When I repaired Temporal Tower I believed what I did was the right thing. I put the gears back together because it was the only option. When I did so, many people became lost in The Sea of Time - never to be found again. I erased a whole future, and I erased countless people by putting the gears back."
"What do you think is going to happen when you use those gears to wish the Sea to freeze? People will perish, they will be erased from time, and as much as you think your goal is a noble one none of us have any idea how many people are going to stop existing."
"I can't let that happen again, I'm sorry."
There is a long pause, so deep, silent and poignant they can hear the water near the docks. She locks eyes with Masters for a final time, then slowly averts her gaze. Shame? Regret? He cannot tell what she is feeling, her blue eyes seem blank.
"Why puzzle yourself with the here and now?"
A sinking sensation fills Masters' stomach.
"There will be generations after you who will suffer because of your inaction. Around us are the bodies of hundreds who perished in a war against the influence of an outside force, who gave their lives for it to be for naught. I would not be here if they had succeeded, and what right do we have to make the suffering of Zekrom's knights amount to nothing?"
Masters feels his hands move to his hips. He grips his lanterns.
"I am under no delusion that what I am to do would destroy the lives of those wandering the Sea and her dungeons. If there is another way, I would take it, but I have spent my time here studying these gears -searching for every opportunity I had to abate the baleful light. This is the only way."
"You cannot enact a change upon this world without great sacrifice." She places a hand to her badge, gripping it tight. "Though it pains me, the fear of what can emerge from beyond the veil outweighs the lives of a thousand ferals."
"Ferals?" Masters scoffs. "What about the explorers? The people lost in dungeons? I've spent my entire youth saving those people. Do you not think they're worth saving?"
"Everyone is. But in the face of future suffering, I will not take any further risks. I cannot let your world fall victim to outer influence. The cost of life is a sacrifice we have to face!"
"The fall of the meteor woke your deities' hearts, the near collapse of Temporal Tower brought on an age of peace and exploration you are still thriving in, and the shattering of Destiny Tower by Zekrom's hands purchased you your freedom. For good to exist, catastrophe must happen and sacrifices need to be made. This is the law of your world I had learned through my being here!"
Her eyes remain still, and true, focused on the goal in Masters' possession. Darkrai does not flinch, she does not waver in her speech.
"Give the gear to me, there is no need for more to be sacrificed! Give it, and I promise you, calamity will no longer come from the outer worlds to yours. I, or others like me who would see your world's treasures as a stepping stone in their aims, will not harm it. I can stop The Sea. The distortions you are witnessing here will halt, and even if it is only for a time, I will purchase your world an age free of calamity."
"Do not force my hand."
He knew from the start how this was going to end - the scream revealed a battle no matter what. A single person cannot make that, it has to be everyone's. People have to come together.
This is who Louisa is trying to stop. Masters takes a deep breath.
All pretenses of honor fly to the wayside. Masters reaches into his right lantern then tosses the flame forwards with a roar. It hits her. The whole time, clenched around her badge, she had an orb between her glowing fingers and it flew out of her hand.
It hits a pole behind him, he feels the light go out. She has erased it from existence. This is the power Halcion has warned him of.
She leaps away, crossing onto a dock further back. Lucario steps back. Putting his hands together he forms an aura sphere, then locks on. Masters pulls out his second flame as the Sphere races through him.
Only to miss. She reappears right on their dock where she was seconds ago. Masters lets his flame loose as she simply powers through leaping overhead as she extends her hand. She is close, too close for him to counter.
Dark void leaves her palm, and instantly, upon re-establishing sight, Aura Sphere comes careening towards its mark. The sphere hits her hand, taking the orb with it to a world of nothingness.
Darkrai lands at the dock's edge. She glances back and is instantly blindsided by Lucario's fists - a Thunder Punch managing to make contact with her before she uses the force of the attack to reel back and slip away like a putrid sea creature.
Masters hears a loud crash. The light pole returns to where it once was, falling over like a sack of bricks. On the other hand, Darkrai stands at a distance, a hand over the score Lucario's fist left on her fabric flesh. She glares.
"Wretches, no different than ferals I knew my road would be fit with obstacles, I could not fathom the ignorance of this world's-
"Nobody cares!"
Lucario runs. He rips a Bone Rush from out of the earth, then swings it as he comes into her range. Blindsided yet again, the club almost smacks into her. She swipes down, the orb staying in her hand, and swipes it out of existence. Masters spits out another flame.
She goes for another scrape with her other hand, but Lucario's Bullet Punch meets her first. One after the other his jab hit the center of Darkrai's mass. She glides away from him. Two scrapes, two hands, which means.
His flame connects as she turns around. No void to block it. Ghostly flames ignite around her she powers through with her typing. She thrusts out a hand, a deep, dark presence forms at her fingers.
It's different. He has seen this before…
Masters' eyes grow wide. He throws himself backwards off the dock as a Dark Pulse roars past him - tearing the dock asunder while he smacks against the solid, distorted waters.
The Typhlosion rolls along the uneven surface, trying to find his feet in the unnatural muck.
He looks up. Lucario runs to the dock, hands sparking with lightning. He goes for a thunder punch as Darkrai teleports. Swiping her hand, a scattershot of these dark spheres fires towards Lucario.
Lucario joins him, landing atop of the water, his legs digging in, more or less becoming trapped alongside him. They can hear her taking her time towards the dock.
"Luc." Masters speaks, trudging through the waters to the port. "We need to get-"
"You, get out!" Lucario snarls at him.
A spinning orb forms in Lucario's palm and he punts it into the pitch-black water.. Lucario shuts his eyes tightly, yet his bands - whatever they are called, don't flow. He is not using Aura Sight; he's trying something. Masters should not be here for it.
Masters is barely able to get his hands on the surface when a shadow races overhead. Darkrai, on the wooden dock, extends a glowing hand. Ice Beam? No.
They are already sitting targets in here, damp, cemented in place targets. She aims for the meddlesome one. The glow turns into a shower of sparks.
Lucario opens his eyes. His Aura Sphere flies out from under the water towards its target, passing overhead just as a thunderbolt rips towards him.
A harrowing shriek hits his ears.
On dry land, Masters looks to see two streaks of thunder. One from her palm, the other from a wire of distorted water tying their fates together. His eyes glue themselves shut, lightning streaks between his metal bones, and he holds on tight, making sure she shares every second of his pain.
Masters bursts as fast as his feet can take him. When he reaches the dock he rears up a powerful punch, his knuckles racing with lightning.
Her eyes turn towards him right as the gavel hits across her face. The line she made with thunderbolt is cut. Master goes for another, another, striking wherever his fists can make purchase on her wispy body. She puts her hands up in defense, but he breaks through her defenses, striking the red crown on her neck - cracking the bone-like structure and casting her far.
Like clockwork she reappears in front of him. He goes for another punch, but she catches it. A deathly cold palm strikes Masters' arm. The sensation spreads in an instant, gushing over his body like a poison. He is doomed. In seconds he will fade into a coma.
He looks Darkrai in her eyes, they are as wide as a beast gone mad. How long can he last after being wounded?
With all his strength, Masters grabs her hands, practically strangling Darkrai by her thin wrists. On the verge of losing consciousness, he sees a blue glow overhead. Masters gathers his strength, facing her.
"You can't use your gear back to back, right?" The Typhlosion growls. "Gonna poison me more?"
She struggles against him. And when he becomes too weak to hold her, she frees herself, just as the blue light topples down.
Aura Sphere finally made its mark. The sphere of aura energy spins, drilling into the dark-type's body, tearing into the being's flesh like paper until it finally explodes into a shower of aural sparks. The decisive blow sends her body inland, smearing the floor with a long streak of pitch-black ichor.
The heat of battle abated the curse by a few seconds. Masters' fingers race underneath his poncho till they find a bottle. He tries to uncork it, he's too weak. He takes it into his mouth and bites hard, spitting out the cork and letting the fluids rush over the rash on his arm.
He goes to take a swig, and the bottle vanishes. Dark Void.
Darkrai, hand outstretched, rises in the distance. Pieces of fabric slag off of her, revealing more of the bone hidden by the garments she was once adorned with. Her gear glistens, a pathetic thing she had tied to the wrist of her cloth body. The sleeves of her gown were able to hide in plain sight.
As she gets onto her feet so does Lucario, dragging himself out of the water onto the stoney port. He looks to Darkrai neither in disappointment or fear, but pure, unfettered anger. He reaches into his own cape, hiding a Mega Stone hiding in a clenched fist.
The feeling itself is gone - there may be longer lasting side effects to having nightmare poison in his system but what matters is Masters is still in position to fight. Despite Lucario reeking of scorched fur they are no less worse for wear than their foe.
Her Thunder Bolt came close, too close. All he is willing to remember in those split moments shown to him by the Scream was a bright flash, and Lucario…
It has not happened yet. It will happen; her thunderbolt will take them. Since allowing the scream to reach through time and space, Master has cemented fate.
There must be some way of defying it. He will take this mortal blow if he must, anything to avoid it happening again.
It should have been him in the first place.
And with gear in her hands, Mega Stone clutched in Lucario's palm, and one reviver seed between them and the grave. This is it.