Sceptile and Aggron walked into the woods away from the others. Aggron felt like he knew what Sceptile was gonna say but wasn't sure.
"I appreciate the gesture but this here ain't a boxing match. You could be killed!" Sceptile said. Aggron then stopped and turned around,
"She has a mother, a father, a family, and Bisharp tried to take her away from them and does he give a damn?!" he yelled. Sceptile began to speculate and began to connect some dots to get a vague picture of Aggrons motivation. Why was he so concerned about family? It was one thing to want to Perhaps...
"You... lost someone close to you, didn't you?" Sceptile asked with sympathy in his voice. It was a guess, through and through, but the following silence confirmed it. Aggron remained still. "Aggron," began Sceptile, "I know it's hard and no one should've gone through what you did. However, you can't let that blind your judgment. I am not gonna put words in your parents' mouths and say that they wouldn't want you to help, but... you can't keep holding yourself responsible for something that couldn't be controlled."
"I could've saved them." Aggron mourned,
"No, you couldn't."
"YES, I COULD!" Aggron yelled as he turned to face the grass type, tears threatening to escape his eyes. "I ABSOLUTELY COULD'VE SAVED THEM BUT I COULDN'T!"
Eight years ago. Aggron lived in Infenishore, a city along the eastern coast. He was a young Lairon at this point. Sitting by himself in the school library, he did what other teenagers did in the library and dicked around on his WristOn. He was scrolling mindlessly through the internet, bored of his mind, trying to procrastinate.
Suddenly, a loud boom whipped through the library. The glass behind him shattered, thankfully not stabbing into him due to his metal-like skin. Books went flying all over the room and dust went everywhere. Lairon looked around frantically and saw a red and black beam firing straight into the sky in the distance, turning it crimson. Lairon's jaw dropped in horror. What on earth was happening?
The sound of something loudly cracking burst through the room. Lairon looked up to see the ceiling on the verge of collapse. Acting purely on instinct, he jumped out from the window, falling twenty feet onto the path below. His legs stung in pain but he would recover. It was at that point he saw the destruction that was occurring before him.
Several buildings had collapsed from the shockwave. Trees had been ripped from the ground and thrown several feet. Students were running away, screaming in horror, trying to run away. Lairon soon joined them, sprinting inland to find help.
Then he remembered something. Mom! Dad! They were close! Lairon then changed direction and down south, searching for his home. He had to be sure, he had to be sure they were okay. Hopefully, they were already safe, but he couldn't live with himself if he left them to die, no one could. Familiar neighborhoods had been turned into facsimiles of their former selves. Some were completely destroyed and others partially collapsed. He ran faster and faster.
Only to find rubble.
However, Lairon could see them. They were pinned underneath the remains of the living room. But they were knocked out. He rushed towards them and tried his damnedest to move the rocks. Screaming violently, clawing at the remains, but the combined weight of the house was too much. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he pushed, it wouldn't move. But he never gave up. His screams filled the air, echoing out into the crimson sky. His claws were rendered bloodied and red.
It was three hours before the rescue team arrived to see him still trying to move the rocks. He was sitting on the edge of an ambulance when he overheard two rescue workers talking to each other. A conversation he was never meant to hear,
"What's their condition?"
"...They're dead."
"W-What?! What happened?!"
"Their internal organs were crushed and there was severe internal bleeding. It was only a matter of time."
"...How long?"
"About fifteen minutes ago. If we had arrived earlier, we could've saved them."
He wasn't strong enough.
In the present, The two stood in silence as the wind blew, taking a few leaves through the air. The impact of what he was told was beginning to sink in. Sceptile had to choose his next words very carefully, but the story had hit him hard.
"That day, I told myself: not again. Never again. And from that day on, I worked to make sure of it. Every day, I remind myself what happened so that I will never, ever be that weak nobody ever again," said Aggron venomously.
Sceptile remained silent for a few moments. It was. With that, Sceptile knew just what to say.
"You have been through a lot," Sceptile began, "I understand that. You should not have gone through that. I hate that you've blamed yourself for something that was out of your control. That was eight years ago. You didn't have the strength back then and you didn't need that strength. What happened was completely out of your control and you were a teenager. You had no way of knowing what would happen. That being said…"
Sceptile then summoned a leaf from one of the trees and began to write something down. Aggron stood there confused as he waited for Sceptile to finish. Sceptile handed the leave back and the steel type noticed it had his signature on it. Aggron was still confused,
"What is this?"
"To join the Senshi, you need a recommendation, typically you'd get it from a superintendent or mayor, but another Senshi's recommendation guarantees you'll be accepted," Sceptile revealed to the steel type with a smile on his face. Aggron took the paper in shock as Sceptile confidently smiled at him. Sceptile continued, "I know a hero when I see one." Aggron didn't even know how to react. He reached out to grab it but Sceptile pulled it away. Raising a finger, he told the steel type, "I'll only hand you this on one condition. Should you decide to become a Senshi, you promise to let go. Stop beating yourself down for past mistakes and let go." For a few moments, Aggron remained still.
He believed that he was being responsible. He believed that by constantly beating himself down for what happened was healthy. That it was him making sure that he would never make that mistake ever again. But Sceptile had opened his eyes. In his constant desire to prove himself better, perhaps he was merely destroying himself, leading himself into a self-defeating lie where he inadvertently destroys his self-esteem. That possibility would linger in his mind. Deciding to take a chance, he nodded and accepted the lead.
"Now your first mission," Sceptile started, "will be to find Bisharp."
Infernape and Ampharos were in their hotel room, quite a spacious space with two bedrooms, a television, and an exceptional view of the forest. As the sunset over the forest, Infernape was flicking through the channels, trying to distract himself from his tarot reading. Ampharos noticed something was wrong with his friend and sat down to comfort him.
"Infernape, it's okay, Gardevoir is gonna be fine."
"It's not about Gardevoir. I... I'm fucked."
"What do you mean?" Ampharos asked in concern.
"I don't know why I'm still alive and that scares me. I did a tarot card reading in the hospital and I... got the death card."
"Infernape, after saving your friends, defeating the leader of a terrorist organization, and surviving a massive explosion, you still think that you are cursed?" asked Ampharos worriedly.
"That's not the point: I won. I wasn't supposed to win." He argued, "This is exactly what happened before, I became the someone that people looked up to, and I lost all of that. History rhymes, Amp"
"Infernape, y-you won. How can you be upset?" Ampharos asked in disbelief, "You said that fate has destined you for failure but you did the impossible, and you still think you're-?"
"Yes!" Infernape answered exasperatedly.
Ampharos fell quiet, worried about upsetting Infernape further.
That night, Aggron and Sceptile were searching the forest, Sceptile in the trees and Aggron on the ground. They both were completely silent, searching for any sign that Bisharp was nearby. The lack of sleep was starting to get to Aggron, but he pushed forward, wanting to prove himself worthy of Sceptile's recommendation. Sceptile was hopping from branch to branch when he stopped. His eyes traveled towards a single branch. He tugged it and immediately flipped out of the way as a blade, attached to another branch, swung to where Sceptile used to be. Sceptile then turned and blocked an attack from Bisharp, who came from above, with his leaf blades.
Bisharp jumped towards another branch,
"You are quite the perceptive guy, Sceptile, I'm impressed," Bisharp remarked arrogantly as he landed. Sceptile smirked and took a battle stance.
"About time you showed up, partner." Sceptile then lunged towards Bisharp with his leaf blades sharpened and sliced the branch that Bisharp stood on. Sceptile then wised his claws to latch onto the tree. Bisharp started to fall but used his wrist blades to latch onto the bark. He launched himself up with nothing but his strength towards another branch. Bisharp's wrist blades turned black and he slashed at Sceptile, who successfully dodged the attack. A whirlwind of green started to swirl around the two, hundreds of leaves forming into a fog of organic life. Bisharp covered his eyes, making sure they weren't cut by the leaves and Sceptile took advantage. He took quick swipes at Bisharp to whittle away at his defenses. Bisharp uncovered his eyes and looked around, he could barely make out anything beyond the green tornado that surrounded him. He decided to jump upwards with Sceptile in hot pursuit. Bisharp slashed at the branches in his way, forcing Sceptile to slice through them.
Bisharp was jumping through the leaf storm, using Sceptile's own attack against him by limiting his visibility. Bisharp deliberately sliced the branches with a lot of leaves to cloud his opponent's eyesight. Sceptile was forced to stop his storm in order to see and Bisharp took advantage. Bisharp's wrist blades glowed a very light green and he slashed at Sceptile. Sceptile tried to block but Bisharp's blade had already sunk deep into his right arm. Sceptile kicked Bisharp off of him and latched onto the bark of a tree, groaning in pain. Bisharp continued his assault, rapidly slashing at the forest Pokémon.
"You can't keep running forever!" Bisharp mocked as his wrist blades became light green again.
Sceptile and Bisharp were engaged in a game of cat and mouse, Bisharp trying furiously to land another fury cutter. Sceptile's injury wasn't helping him, he could barely avoid Bisharp's attacks. Sceptile tried to use leech seed in order to heal but Bisharp sliced the seeds and lunged once more at the grass type. Sceptile had an idea and he smirked, he stopped dodging and hung onto a tree, Bisharp flew towards the grass type when the tree's branches smacked him down. He tried to catch himself but another branch slammed into him.
Bisharp landed on another tree to launch himself at Sceptile again when the tree abruptly began to fall. He was shocked but regained his composure and jumped to the next tree. Right when he landed, that tree also fell. Bisharp looked around to see other trees falling as well. He looked around and found a tree with a larger trunk than the rest. He jumped towards it with all his might, but the tree started to fall before he landed.
"WHAAAAT?!" Bisharp yelled as he fell from the canopy. A crack erupted from the forest as he landed on his left arm. Bisharp's screams were silenced by a grey hand with white claws.
"You don't know me but I'm here to kick your ass!" Aggron smirked as he stared down at his opponent.
Bisharp stared daggers into the iron armor Pokémon and bit into his hand, making Aggron scream in pain. Bisharp then flash-kicked Aggron out of the way. Sceptile landed next to Aggron and complimented the steel type,
"Clever move, cutting off his escape. I'll leave the rest to you." Aggron grinned as he turned back to his opponent, who was struggling to stand. Aggron ran towards Bisharp, his fist becoming a shining grey. Bisharp rolled out of the way and slashed at Aggron. Aggron blocked the attack, but not without a scratch on his arm. The sword blade Pokémon then slammed his arms together, making a loud clanging noise. Aggron covered his ears but Bisharp had already run toward him and hit him with a night slash. A large yet shallow cut on Aggrons chest was left behind by the attack. An orange glow came from Aggrons mouth as he stared down his enemy, which turned into a large beam of energy. Bisharp ran to escape the beam as it tore through the forest.
Leaping and jumping over branches, Bisharp did everything in his power to dodge the powerful blast. He disappeared into the shrubbery, forcing Aggron to stop the assault. He jumped up from behind Aggron who blocked the attack. Bisharp's fist then became enveloped by electricity and he struck the steel type. To his surprise, Aggron didn't flinch. Aggron then grabbed Bisharp and slammed him to the ground. A shrill scream erupted from the impact. Bisharp kicked into Aggron's neck from his position but again, the attack did little, if any, damage. Bisharp used the opportunity to free himself and his arms were engulfed in flame. He shot a burst of fire at the steel type. The plume of orange and red surrounded Aggron, who was in a lot of pain. He persevered and ran through the fire and flames and struck Bisharp.
"I thought you were stronger than this, monster!" laughed Aggron. Bisharp struggled to stand up but immense hatred built up inside him,
"What did you call me?! You want a better fight right, well..." Bisharp's wrist blades both extended while turning blood red. Sceptile's eyes widened in fear and he ran towards Aggron,
"AGGRON LOOK OUT, THAT'S GUILLOTINE!" Sceptile warned. He used vines to lift Aggron into the air. Sceptile tried to jump out of the way but Bisharp yelled,
"HOW'S THIS FOR A BETTER FIGHT?!" and slashed at the two.
Any tree that was still standing was cut down. The cuts were incredibly clean. Not even the ground was safe as two huge slashes gouged into the earth. Aggron and Sceptile had successfully avoided the attack. Bisharp rushed towards Sceptile,
"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, YOU INVALIDS!" He yelled as he charged blindly towards the grass type. Aggron tried to grab the dark type but Bisharp slashed at his eyes. Aggron managed to block it but Bisharp started to slash at Aggrons body, each cut bigger and deeper than the last. Every time Aggron tried to block an attack, another ten were there to punish him. Sceptile tried to attack, but the imbalance caused by the loss of his foot made him fall over. Bisharp turned around just in time to intercept Sceptile's next attack. He knocked him to the floor before stomping on his neck. Bisharp turned again to slice Aggron with a night slash and yet the attack never hit Aggron.
Gengar had jumped from the ground and took the dark-type attack for Aggron, a massive, diagonal cut across his body appeared with blood shooting out of it.
"GENGAR!" Aggron and Sceptile panicked as Bisharp knocked the ghost away. Gengar coughed up blood as he struggled to stand.
Yet despite this, he was laughing. All three of the other Pokémon were confused.
"You know, when you're a guy like me, things get a little dull. I learned something to make things more fun for me." Gengar smirked as he snapped his fingers as he muttered, "Pain Split." Suddenly, the cut that was on Gengar also appeared on Bisharp. Gengar's wound became slightly less severe. Bisharp screamed in agony as he fell onto his knees. Aggron took advantage and threw Bisharp to the ground. After a barrage of punches from Aggron, Bisharp was grabbed by the neck and thrown a fair distance away. Gengar cackled as he got onto his feet and limped over to the dark type. Aggron was helping Sceptile walk toward Bisharp. Bisharp realized that he was backed into a corner and used thunder shock to paralyze everyone. Bisharp then slammed his fists into the ground, creating a huge dust cloud that allowed him to escape.
"I-I'll be back! And I'll bleed you all out." Bisharp muttered, louder than he intended.
"Ow! Stopping cutting me with all that edge!" Gengar mocked. Sceptile was stunned, to say the least,
"Since when were you a hero?" he asked playfully. Gengar shrugged his shoulders,
"They're my coworkers, they have to be in good shape." Sceptile then smiled knowingly.
"What's his deal?" Aggron asked as he looked off in the distance..
"I'll explain in the morning," Sceptile said. Aggron helped pick him up so he didn't have to walk on his stump
Aggron had carried Gengar and Sceptile toward the hospital for treatment, meeting up with Infernape and Ampharos in the waiting room. Soon after, Gardevoir entered the room. After getting briefed on the situation, they waited for Sceptile to recover. Once they were allowed into his room, Sceptile explained,
"The Midnight Brotherhood is a group that worships the God of nightmares: Darkrai. Unlike other groups that worship him, these cultists want to summon Darkrai and plunge the world into an eternal sleep. Then they'll rebuild the world in their own image. Bisharp is one of them. Us heroes have been trying to track them down for ages and we're spread very thin."
"What does this have to do with us?" Infernape asked.
"I am recommending your friend Aggron to become part of the Senshi." The group then turned to congratulate their friend. After which, Sceptile cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again.
"I'll contact my friends to help with the search but with no idea where the brotherhood is, I'll need all the help I can get."
"W-What are you saying?" Gardevoir asked, already knowing the answer.
"If y'all to help, you can join, but you'll have to prove yourselves. As I'm sure you're aware, once you get your license, your job will be to protect the innocent from evil that law enforcement can't contain. However, death and traumatic injury are a constant risk so I want you to think very carefully about joining me." Silence fell upon the group as they thought about the request. Ampharos looked toward the others and frowned. Nervously, he declared,
"I'm in." Then Gardevoir turned to Infernape, frowned, shook her head, and told Sceptile,
"I'll sign up." She whispered meekly. Infernape immediately turned to her,
"GARDEVOIR, I SWEAR TO GOD!"
"I know, I know, just hear me out. I have been thinking a lot about what Aggron and Sceptile said to me. I am tired of letting everyone down. I feel like becoming a hero and putting my life on the line is the best way to make it up to you. I have made mistakes in my past and I regret every single one, but..." she paused, thinking about what she was going to say.
"I am going to use my mistakes to make sure I never turn out like that again." little smile appeared on Infernape's face, hopeful that perhaps this time, she'd keep her word.
"Sorry, Sceptile but I can't accept your offer," Infernape said,
"It's alright." Gengar rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself, the others turned to look at him.
"To be honest with you guys, I was gonna leave as soon as he got back to your home. But.. I don't know, I want to stay with you guys." The message was strangely heartwarming, "But I'm not getting that license. I'm never getting that license."
Elsewhere…
In a clearing in the forest, Bisharp met up with Sableye. Sableye was very disappointed.
"I can't believe you! You got a Senshi after you!" Bisharp rolled his eyes,
"So what? We've got the gem. We just need to ditch the place and we can do the ritual." He said dismissively. Sableye shook his head,
"Listen, I am in charge here and I told you to lay low until I grabbed it."
"Well maybe, you ought to enforce the rules more. Besides, I wanted to get the gem, but no, you decided to ruin it." Bisharp remarked. Sableye recoiled, doubting himself. Was…Was he in the wrong? Bisharp glared at Sableye. Hoping to appease him, Sableye handed Bisharp the Eclipse Gem, which he snatched out of his hands. The two then walked away.
Tonight would be the last night the group would stay in the Enchained Forest. Infernape tried his best to go to sleep but he failed. He looked around the bedroom, saw that everyone else was asleep, and walked out of the tree. I need some fresh air, He thought to himself as he walked into the cold night, well, could for anyone else. He walked further and further away from the tree before sitting down on a log.
He sighed as he rubbed his palms into his eyes. Perhaps the night air would clear his mind. What a dilemma he found himself in. Attempting to predict whether fate had zeroed in on him, or had let him go, to live out the rest of his life in peace. The pros and cons of each side barreled around in his mind like ping pong.
"Hello there. I'm Yawarakai Hitojichi. Please just call me Umbreon." Infernape jumped in fright once he heard that soft-spoken voice echo through the air. He looked back to see a black quadruped with yellow rings all over her body. Her black and red eyes stared back into his with a strangely comforting feeling. He smirked subtly but waved her off,
"Leave me alone. I've got some issues to sit through."
"Maybe you should vent it all out to a stranger? It couldn't hurt." Umbreon insisted. Infernape thought about it for a moment. She would probably forget about it. But this was deeply personal. In the end, he decided that he would only tell her about the Black Mask incident. He patted the space next to him and she sat down.
He explained the problem. It was nice knowing that he could tell this to someone without that personal barrier. Umbreon was a good listener, she remained quiet until he finished. After that, she gave her input,
"Wow, that's…a lot to deal with on your own." Infernape chuckled lightly,
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'm used to it at this point." Umbreon frowned upon hearing that. This, in turn, made Infernape sigh.
"Look at me," Umbreon said. Infernape did as he was told. As soon as he made eye contact, her eyes flashed bright red. Infernape gasped before his eyes glazed over, her breathing slowing. The dark type bowed,
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid we need a more private place to chat."