Today was the day, everyone had already made their preparations for what had to come next. Cody, Terry and Vera told their parents about their summer plans, they passed it off as a trip around the East Coast. Quinn also told his family he was going to be exploring to find out what he wanted to do with his life, even scoping out potential colleges. None of them dared mention they were going to be traveling across dimensions to save the worlds from the cold darkness that was Kyurem.
Deep down Keldeo felt guilty, these humans, these friends, had dropped everything just to help him, they knew what was at stake, and they also knew what was at risk. That failed to sway them from running though, and the next step of the plan was straight forward enough, get to Paradise, and join up with the other pokemon who could fight against Kyurem, and end this.
Keldeo walked around the outside of Quinn's house, watching the others go about in groups doing what they needed to do to get ready for travel. Cody, Quinn, and Genesect, were huddled over everyone'swhat did they call them...cell phones? Keldeo heard Quinn talk about enough to know they were talking about that program that allowed him to understand Genesect, everyone being to communicate with Genesect would be helpful. Cody asked questions and offered advice as they prepared, reminding him of how and when Cobalion would take charge, especially before some major fight.
Terry and Vera were bickering as they did, Keldeo would eavesdrop on them every now and then, it always reminded him of Terrakion and Virizion. They would argue about small little things, things that came about from two people who were raised differently. Right now it was about how Vera chose to carry her supplies. Most everyone else had a backpack, Cody had his satchel, but Vera wanted to use a trunk. The others seemed to assume it was for just clothing. But when they opened it up and saw the abundance of camping supplies, they were surprised. They still opted to not use it though, considering between Quinn and Terry they had most of the supplies. Not to mention in Paradise, most of the amenities they would need would already be covered. All they had to do was stay as Pokemon most of the time. Quinn would be harder to explain, but easing them into one human instead of four was a good idea, Keldeo mused.
"Blue." Keldeo turned to the sound of Genesect approaching them "Quinn has asked me to inform you that the others have finished preparing for the trip, they are ready when you are." Genesect beeped.
"Thanks, Genesect." Keldeo nodded, watching Genesect move back to Quinn and the others, who were finally getting everything ready to go. This was it then, they were going to take the fight back to Kyurem. Keep this earth safe from him and keep the fight in his world. Travel to Paradise and finish this once and for all. Keldeo was going to have to take charge, the others didn't have the knowledge of the other world he did.
Keldeo inhaled slowly "Alright everyone!" he began, a voice hiding just how nervous he was. The others didn't seem to notice, as they all stopped talking amongst themselves and turned to face him. Then his breath caught in his throat and nearly choked.
What was he going to say to inspire everyone to get ready for the fight of their lives? What was he going to say? What would the others say?
He thought of all of the rousing speeches that Cobalion used to give. They came so naturally to a leader like him, but now he had to be a leader to them.
"Erm…" Keldeo began again "This is it. We're going to go to Paradise, and we're going to take the fight back to Kyurem. For putting you all in danger, and for what he did to my friends." Keldeo nodded, already finding himself out of things to talk about. He cursed under his breath, Cobalion would have made it sound so much better. He would have a rousing speech, not a rousing sentence.
"Sounds good to me." Terry cracked his knuckles. The others nodded in agreement.
Keldeo opened and closed his mouth, apparently it was good enough for them "Roll with it…" he muttered.
"So how are we going to get there anyways?" Vera asked.
"My Secret Sword," Keldeo said "I know I've really only used it to fight. But it has a lot of other powers...at least according to the other swordsmen. It's what I used to get here in the first place." Keldeo thought back to the panic he felt when he first used it after watching his other friends die. It was a whim of his terrified impulses that allowed him to use it in the first place. If the barriers between all words were growing weaker, ideally it would be easy to get through.
"So...you know how to use it then, right?" Cody finally asked the question Keldeo didn't have the answer for. He spent the last few days training to use the sword for fighting, Cody, Terry and Vera couldn't fight against it for long whenever they experimented. It was a powerful weapon, but for this purpose...
"Er...yeah." Keldeo nodded, attempting to channel Terrakion's confidence this time. Terrakion always seemed to know how to exude confidence, even if he hardly knew what he was doing.
He conjured the orange energy from his horn, creating the sword once again. Sweat collected on his brow, imagining the other looking at him, waiting to do it. Swing his sword, tear a hole in the fabric in reality to his homeworld. Simple enough. Right?
He concentrated on Paradise, his home. Seeing his old friends, and how his new friends were going to meet them. They were all going to work together and save the worlds from Kyurem, the one who killed his other friends. There was the destination in mind, and with his resolve to avenge everything lost, there was the intent. He brought the sword down with a yell, eyes lighting up as an orange hole in reality appeared before them. He looked through, seeing the familiar wooden bridge that led into Paradise and Post Town.
This was it. Home.
"Hey, alright." Keldeo heard Terry from behind "You had us worried there, man." Keldeo sighed in relief, letting the others walk through the portal with him short behind. Quinn returned Genesect to his pokeball and followed shortly afterwards. He took one more look behind him, the last one to walk through. His home away from home through all of this. It was nice while it lasted, but it was time to go home and set things right.
Despite his initial apprehension, it was funny to see the others try to maintain their balance in the wormhole. Cody and Quinn had to hold on to each other, Vera reamined stiff as a board, while Terry just kept spinning.
"So this is it?" Cody asked, floating close to Keldeo now "That's Paradise?"
Keldeo nodded excitedly "Yeah, it's gonna be weird heading back after all this time…" Keldeo stopped "How long has it been since...all of this started?"
"About two and a half weeks...but who's keeping track?" Cody averted his gaze "I was thinking this was going to take up our whole summer. But I mean, it's already over. Just one last thing to do."
"Granted that last thing is a major thing." Vera chimed in "Kyurem's done nothing but sent minions after us. We have no idea what he's capable of."
"Which is why we lay low in Paradise to start." Keldeo offered "Just...see what's been up since I was gone and work from there. Kyurem won't have as much time to prepare if he doesn't know we're coming."
"Oh, but I know…" the orange of the portal around slowly giving way to a familiar dank purple, cold wind blowing through as well "Did you think I would not acknowledge a tear in our reality?" The others were already touching their medallions, transforming into the swordsmen as Quinn tossed his pokeball, summoning Genesect. Everyone suddenly remembered how weird the gravity was in the wormhole, any attempt to stand up right to face Kyurem here found themselves spinning around. It was jarring to see a tear inside of a tear in reality, but to everyone's horror, they saw the head of a pale blue and gray dragon peering through, staring right at them with eyes that swirled yellow and purple.
"So that's what he looks like…" Terry groaned, trying his best to properly face Kyurem, sword summoned and spinning in the wormhole. A chill in the air began to form, no one was moving through the wormhole now.
"No more grandstanding, swordsmen. You die here!" Kyurem roared, unleashing a blast of ice at all of them.
"Genesect, Burn Drive!" Quinn yelled, throwing the red disc drive to the Techno Blaster. Genesect was already charging it up to meet the blast of ice with a blast of fire. It dispelled the ice, but not before sending everyone flying around from the blast of wind left behind.
It was now that Kyurem entered the wormhole proper "I had every intention to go to your world and do it myself. So thank you for saving me a trip…-!" Kyurem was about to charge, only for a rush of leaves and stones from Vera and Terry to stop him, if only for a moment, with a swipe of his head, he blew through it all, sending the two slamming into the wall of the wormhole.
Cody and Keldeo summoned their swords, trying their best to charge at Kyurem. Keldeo found it easier to move, but Cody still struggled to get his bearings straight. Keldeo attempted to move back and help Cody, but that moment's distraction was enough for Kyurem to launch another ice beam, sending Cody farther back. Keldeo pointed his sword at Kyurem, ignoring the trembling of his legs.
"So quick to threaten me with the gift I gave to you, swordsman." Kyurem mused, earning a growl from Keldeo, his thoughts turning to when he was possessed and attacking his friends. It was Kyurem's fault, and he was going to make sure he regretted it. He launched himself at Kyurem, excited to see the dragon visibly recoil from the attack. A few more slashes and Kyurem was backing up, the first time since this fight started. He could hear Cody and the others preparing their attacks as well. He saw the jagged stones, the razor sharp leaves, the fiery blast, the cutting wind, and Cody charge forward to face him with his sword drawn. All of the attacks met in an explosion that obfuscated the wormhole.
A pause, a sign that the attacks worked in any way. He could hear the others celebrating early, but fear kept Keldeo from silencing them. To prove his point, a biting wind blew through the wormhole, revealing Kyurem with a dark purple aura, unphased by the attacks.
"Not enough." Was all Kyurem said, and he charged once again. Keldeo roared, using his sword to meet Kyurem head on, the whole wormhole rocked from the attack, sending everyone spiraling around. Kyurem remained unphased and kept charging, only for Keldeo to attack once again.
"We can't fight here! We need to get out!" Keldeo managed to yell in a break in the onslaught, moving out of the way now. They weren't prepared for this. There was no way any of them were prepared for this. They needed more time, but if Kyurem was going on the offensive like this, could they even find the time anymore? They needed to get out of here, now. It was a struggle to open the wormhole in the first place. Keldeo's mind was in a rush.
Keldeo looked up in horror as Kyurem had intended to step on him, stomp him out of existence as he had done the other swordsmen. He closed his eyes and slashed with intent once again, surprised to hear the roar of Kyurem as he backed away from them as an explosion rocked the two of them and Keldeo's world went white.
Panic settled into Keldeo as he felt himself being pushed backwards and sliding across cold hard stone. The lights were gone, so wherever he was, he was no longer in the wormhole. He quickly stood up, gasping and panting as he tried to stop Kyurem's attacks again, only to realize wherever he was, it was no longer with Kyurem. The panic was beginning to subside as he realized wherever he was, everyone else was with him. The fight and the blast had caused Cody, Terry and Vera to transform back into humans, and Genesect had held Quinn as they went skidding across the floor. Everything they came with scattered and nearly broke across the floor.
"Ugh…" Keldeo groaned "Everyone okay?" he asked, getting varying degrees of confirmation from everybody.
"What the hell was that!?" Vera screamed uncharacteristically, clutching at her sides and shivering violently, Terry holding her close and offering whatever warmth he could. Even Keldeo could still feel the chill of battling Kyurem in the wormhole.
"That did not go well…" Quinn muttered.
"Really? What tipped you off? Was it how he blew through our attacks like paper? Or how we couldn't even stand up straight during any of that" Terry asked back. Keldeo didn't hear a clever answer from Quinn, and he didn't blame him. That wasn't going to be some glorious battle for the sake of the multiverse. That was going to be death, plain and simple. If he hadn't stepped in, they would have failed before they even began. But now they were somewhere else, another world?
"Hey Keldeo?" Cody's voice sounded from near the front of the cave "I really hope you recognize this place." Keldeo ran to the mouth of the cave and looked down at what Cody was looking at. The anxiety of the last few minutes subsided as he did indeed recognize where they were. The surrounding gray clouds and the chill in the air were foreboding, but the small little town in the center of it all was easy enough to identify
"Ah, this is it." Keldeo exhaled in releif "This is Post Town, Paradise." He could hear the others come up behind him to get a good look at his home. Even from this distance they could make out figures moving in the distance. It looks like they came around the same time they left their world, it appeared to be early afternoon. Keldeo couldn't wait to introduce them all to the others. The moment was cut short however, when he heard the others gasping beside him.
"What? What's wrong?" Keldeo asked, looking around for any sign of danger? Another possessed pokemon? Kyurem?
"Keldeo…your horn…" Vera managed to get out weakly, pulling out a small compact mirror from her pocket, Keldeo could see exactly what they were talking about. In the dark of the cave they couldn't tell, but in the light it was plain to see. His horn was broken at the tip. Quinn was quick to search the dark of the cave, able to find it quickly thanks to Genesect. He handed it to Cody, who nearly dropped it, to shell-shocked to try and grab it properly.
"No...no…" Keldeo began, horror settling into him. He had just got this, this was their edge against Kyurem. He concentrated hard to summon his Secret Sword, relief washing over all of them as the sword returned to him. He shuddered to imagine what would have happened if he and the others were stranded here without a sword to send them back once this was all done.
"Oh thank god…" Cody sighed.
"We didn't need another thing going wrong today…" Terry hunched forward with a groan, Vera catching him.
"You know what? I'm not even mad." Keldeo huffed, withdrawing his sword "It's just another reminder of what Kyurem did to us." Earning various nods of agreement from the others. They all looked down on Paradise, the dark gray foreboding clouds swirling in the distance. It was then that Keldeo saw the silhouette of a pokemon approaching. The others were getting ready to transform and fight. Until Keldeo could begin to see the shape of the pokemon. A black dragon with three heads.
"Hydreigon!" Keldeo said excitedly, enough of a cue for Cody, Terry and Vera to relax, having to explain to Quinn who exactly that was. Just as expected, the black dragon flew into the cave with the others. A smile on all three of the mouths.
"Keldeo, Swordsmen, it's so good to see you all here." Hydreigon greeted them, his eyes finally resting on Quinn and his pokemon "Ah, and you must be…a real human then. Fascinating." Hydreigon slowly flew around Quinn and the others "You are the first humans…actual humans, to set foot in our world. Not just humans in pokemon's bodies." Everyone took a small measure of delight in watching Quinn's eyes light up at the prospect.
Keldeo finally stepped forward, the somber mood returning "What's been going on here?"
Hydreigon nodded somberly "Yes, you should go to Post Town, you can all meet up and discuss it there." Hydreigon began to fly out of the cave before turning to the humans "You had best stay changed into your swordsmen forms for the time being, we don't want to risk upsetting Post Town." Hydreigon turned to Quinn "As for you, if you could accompany me on a personal mission I have, I would appreciate your company. Besides, it is probably for the best that you do not show yourself around Post Town just yet. Things are tense down there, showing them a real live human may make things more complicated. I am sorry."
Quinn swallowed his obvious excitement, naturally being able to explore this brand new world was an exciting prospect to him "Sounds good to me, you guys stay safe." he smiled. With that, the others transformed, joining Hydreigon as they made their way back down to Paradise. Quinn hopped onto a transformed Genesent, carefully hovering farther away towards the edge of town, careful to follow Hydreigon on whatever mission he intended for them.
Keldeo stood at the mouth of the cave for a moment longer, watching them all make their way down to town. Getting here was turbulent, but in the end, it was all going to be worth it. With Kyurem defeated, everyone would be able to get back to their lives.
This was it, this was the beginning of the end, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.