Year 880, The Great Ruins
Itzal grumbled and groaned as he descended the dark depths of the underground, breaking through brittle walls with his shadow. While his expression remained mostly grumpy, his shadow reflected his true emotions across the wall, twisting and roaring out in fury.
He was still heated from his latest argument with his mother. It was a constant battle between them, and it made him sick. So much he wished to learn about their supposed mission in the ruins, yet she refused to tell him anything other than the most baseless information. Why didn't she trust him? Why was he wrong?
He was right. The world was a miserable place beyond the ruins, and he wished to explore outside its reaches to learn more of the outer world. Isn't that what their mission was about? Weren't they the ones who would preserve the memory of their ancestors? Wasn't it their job to reclaim what was once theirs?
So why was she and her council so persistent about protecting nothing but wastelands?
Itzal slammed his fist against the wall and growled. "I should be doing something important, not wasting my time digging around for lost relics. I know they're hiding something from me. This land belongs to us! It doesn't belong to those greedy royals and those invaders! They stole our land! They deserve to pay for their transgressions."
Though he believed he spoke from the heart, Itzal was beyond frustrated being secluded to the ruins. He fought his fair share of explorers who trekked too close to this area, and he knew the vile people that sought the secrets of the ruins. Though, ever since that one exploration team came to the ruins a few years ago, his mother was…hesitant to let them in on her secrets.
Why? All he did was terrorize and nearly maim a couple people. Wasn't that their responsibility?
He huffed. "Who does she think she is? This miserable world isn't worth saving through niceties and patience. Misery will always exist and persist well beyond our lifespans. It'd be so much easier to clean the slate and start all over. All those invaders should just die—"
He slammed his fist a little too hard against the wall, causing cracks to open up along it and the floor. Before he could react, the ground gave way under his feet and dropped him down a submerged slope.
"AAAAHHHHH!" he screamed as he swung back and forth through the twisting tunnel. He retracted himself into his pumpkin and braced for impact.
He rolled the rest of the way down before flying out into an open space, crashing into something. He popped out from his pumpkin and massaged his aching head. Looking around, he found himself inside a cavern of sorts.
No. No, it wasn't a cavern.
He lit a Mystical Fire in his hand and raised it, revealing to him the ancient chamber surrounding him. A withered tomb with vines and wet moss growing along the walls and cracks etched through the walls and ceiling. He waved the flame along the walls, revealing red-colored paintings smeared along the surface. They depicted…something.
The art was too smeared and chaotic to make sense of, but he believed it depicted people standing around some kind of wavy structure. A temple? An abstract obelisk? Or…was it a bonfire?
He inched closer to the mural and scratched at the paint. Cautiously, he sniffed the substance. "This…isn't paint." Confused, he aimed the flame along the rest of the walls, where similar paintings could be found throughout. "What is this place? This wasn't marked on Sherwood's map. Does anyone from the court know about this?"
With his flame losing its luster, he extinguished it in his hand and prepared to start another. He stopped, however. As the light dimmed, he realized he wasn't in complete darkness. There was a light source shining across his back. A faint one, gently flickering across the walls.
"Wha…?" He turned around and finally acknowledged the structure he ran into.
It looked like a giant firepit made of stone bricks. Ash coated the edge, and he could see the other side of the pit caked in soot. He moved closer, peering over the edge, and gazed upon the harrowing sight of a sea of skulls and bones littered at the bottom. They lay in a pile of ash and burnt trinkets, mostly melted gold bracelets and scepters.
There was something in the center of the pit. A podium, and it was the source of the weak light.
Itzal leapt down into the pit, paying no mind to the bones, and approached the podium. Two things sat within the podium.
One was an old, withered tome that looked to be from many, many decades ago. Perhaps older than that of the ruins.
The other…was a small flame sitting within a smaller pit. It flickered weakly in its bowl. It burned a beautiful scarlet, and its fire seemed to grow the longer Itzal stared at it.
The flame reflected off his captivated eyes. He wanted to reach out to it, even at risk of burning himself, but he pulled from his desire and picked up the withered tome. "What…is this?"
He opened the first few pages of the book and examined the details. He then skimmed through the pages, finding page after page of horrific, yet hauntingly beautiful art depicting something…strange. Something he never imagined during his dull years in the ruins. Something beyond the imagination of a gray wasteland like the Great Ruins.
"The…Ritual of the Scarlet Flame?"
Present Day, Castle Visconti
The demonic ringmaster cackled as he brought his flaming fists down on his two tiny targets, who jumped away from the crushing blow. He dug his claws through the floor and scraped up the tiles, sending forth flaming shrapnel at them. Jason and Melissa raised their weapons and deflected the shower of tiles as it passed over them.
"Scarlet Moon!" Itzal channeled the red, flaming sphere in his hand and bowled it across the floor toward them.
Jason stepped in front of Melissa. "Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" He swung his electrified dagger and cut the sphere down the middle, sending the two halves flying past them. Right as he did, Melissa dashed past him, clutching her baton sword in both hands.
"Super Springy Dash!" She rocketed forward with a burst of speed and slammed the baton across the shadow demon's tether, bending his body back.
Itzal, however, laughed through her assault. "Scarlet Fiend Crush!" With his hand alight with flame, he thrusted his palm down on her, but Melissa was quick to dodge out of its path.
"Thunder Fairy Step!" Jason's fur spiked up, and he blitzed across the foyer. Rearing his dagger back, he passed by the monster's arm and sliced halfway through the wrist. Electricity burst out from the open wound, causing Itzal to recoil and scream as the energy invaded his shadow body.
Melissa sheathed her baton and reared her hands back. "Faithless Imitation: Althalos Style! Abyss Clouds!" Dark clouds spawned around her hands, and she fired them like tendrils. They grappled around the shadow avatar's head. She pulled and flung herself into the air. "Now, crush!"
The clouds surrounded Itzal's head and increased their density, crushing his shadowy face into nothing. Unbothered, his laughter persisted as a legion of shadow arms extended from his body and rushed the airborne Buneary down. She twisted herself around the first arm before running down it and dodging the rest of the swarming punches.
"Frediano Style: Dark Frostbite Claws!" She forged the dark ice claws around her arms and dug down through the umbric hide. Increasing her speed, she blitzed down the arm and sliced up to Itzal's shoulder, leaving a trail of ice in her path.
It did nothing to slow the fiend down, who casually twisted his body and backhanded the Buneary out of the air, sending her flying into the wall. He reformed his head and shook the ice off his arm. "You fool! I have ascended beyond the mortal coil!" The flames billowing from his shoulders exploded with power as he laughed.
Melissa peeled herself out of the wall and growled. "He's annoying."
Jason switched to a reverse grip. "That technique he's using is called Shadow Stalker. It combines Phantom Force and Shadow Sneak. Do you think you can copy it?"
She glared. "I might, but I may need a bit more time to observe him."
"Then we go with my original plan: frying him." He burst forth with electricity, zipping off the floor and walls.
Itzal's multiple eyes flickered about to track the flying Pikachu's movements. "Scarlet Seekers!" He summoned forth cackling fireballs from his hands to scatter and chase the warrior down.
The fireballs twisted through the air, exploding into each other to knock Jason off course. Through his brief seconds of deceleration, he sliced up the fireballs before they went off and continued apace. The airspace became littered in a flurry of explosions around Itzal.
"Scarlet Moon: Embers of Jubilation!" He summoned and crushed a red sphere in his hands, scattering thousands of fireballs across the foyer.
Jason ricocheted one last time off the walls and blitzed through the attack, slicing into Itzal's neck. The impact sent the shadow avatar toppling backwards toward Melissa, who kicked off the wall and launched for the back of his head. She twisted her upside-down and extended her legs as they burst with energy.
"Super Springy Flurry Kick!" Embracing the ridiculousness of her naming convention, she launched a myriad of empowered kicks into the falling avatar's head. With her rising momentum and repeated blows, she kicked Itzal higher and higher up until he was standing up straight again.
Jason dragged his dagger into Itzal's hide as he fell, caught himself, and rushed back up with his dagger still imbedded inside. A line of electricity trailed off the dagger. He soared up past Itzal's face and split it in two with an electric burst.
Itzal staggered from the blast, but his true body remained untouched in the blast. Pushing through the attack, he reared his fist at the two airborne thieves and threw it with flames igniting into a vortex. "Scarlet Fiend Punch!"
Jason and Melissa shared a look before nodding. Without any verbal communication, they turned and pressed their feet together. A second before the punch could connect, they boosted off each other and leapt in opposite directions of the fist.
Melissa landed on the wall, digging her dagger in as an anchor, and tossed smoke pellets into Itzal's face. He roared and swung at the smoke while Jason tumbled and landed across the floor. With the beast sufficiently distracted, he pulled back his dagger and ignited it and himself in a cloak of electricity.
I'll have to minimize the output, otherwise I'll burn myself out.
"Flash and Crackle!" He burst forth at tremendous speed and sliced into the shadow tether. Though the impact couldn't slice through even half of the tether, the power behind it proved enough to send Itzal toppling over.
"GAAAAH!" Itzal crashed down on his back with a start.
Melissa kicked off from the wall and reared her baton back. "Ignacia Style: Desolate Slash!" Hot sand billowed around her weapon, and she sliced across Itzal's chest. The burning hot sand eroded through the umbric layer, leaving a deep burning gash across the avatar.
Furious, Itzal twisted his body and sent Melissa flying off. "Scarlet Fiend Crush!" He extended his flaming palm after her.
Melissa gasped and crossed her arms defensively. "Endure!" Bracing herself in an orange aura, she intercepted the attack as it smashed her against the wall.
Itzal picked himself up and reared his other hand back. "This place is just too cramped. Scarlet Fiend Punch!" He whipped his arm forward, bursting with fire, and clobbered it against the back of his hand.
The impact caused the foyer walls to come crashing down and crushed the neighboring rooms under the debris. Melissa could be seen sailing back through the raining debris and crashing through weakened walls before crashing into the remains of an art gallery.
"Scarlet Moon!" Itzal fired the attack through the collapsed walls.
Jason blitzed past the shadow avatar and leapt into the attack's path. "Stasis Field!" He slammed his palm against the attack and ensnared it with his electricity. However, this didn't halt his momentum. It sent him crashing through the remaining walls all while trying to keep it from exploding. Once his feet touched ground, he dug his heels back until he slowed down beside his fallen partner.
Itzal laughed and plunged his fists into the shadows. "Shadow Stalker: Ten Thousand Lost Souls!" Hundreds of shadow arms spawned out from the shadows and rushed down the duo.
Melissa, sensing the oncoming attack, pulled herself out of the wreckage and leapt in front of Jason. "Avel Style! Protect!" She raised her hands and cast a barrier around herself and Jason, stopping the swarm of shadow hands. They slammed around the barrier, repeatedly striking down on them to get inside.
Momentarily shielded, Jason focused on the giant energy sphere in his hands and focused his electricity to compress it down. He managed to shrink and compress the energy down to the size of a coconut, though it was clearly seconds away from rupturing under the internal strain.
Melissa flinched. "That's not going to blow up on us, right?"
He forced a smirk. "Hopefully not. Remember Storm Breaker's finishing move in Duel of the Tri-Peaks?"
"You're not seriously going to—"
"Oh, I am! Drop the barrier!"
Chuckling a bit, Melissa dropped the barrier and leapt away from the shadow hands crashing down. She flipped onto her hands right as Jason leapt forward. He landed on her feet, where she sprung off her arms and kicked Jason past the forest of shadows.
With the energy building up between his hands, he hurried toward Itzal, skating and weaving off the shadow arms. He got in close and leapt up to the shadow avatar's face.
"Thunder Fairy Step: Storm Howler Z-Blast!"
Jason thrusted his arms forward and sent the compressed energy firing out into Itzal's face as a beam of electricity. The immense light and power practically erased the avatar's head and sent the rest of his body flying across the foyer, crashing into the walls.
The shadow arms ceased their assault and fizzled out just as Jason landed on the floor. He pumped his fists in the air and laughed. "Storm Breaker's Storm Howler! HA! I've been trying to perfect that trick for months! HAHAHAHA!"
Melissa approached the gleefully laughing Pikachu and giggled behind her hand. He's such a geek.
Itzal reformed his head and extended his fists, splitting them into a dozen flaming attacks. "Scarlet Fiend Punch: Ridicule by Incineration!"
The duo leapt high up over the fists as they smashed down into the floor. However, they weren't free from danger yet as the shadows morphed and shaped into Itzal's cackling face before projecting from the floor after them.
"Shadow Stalker: Beast of Gluttonous Laughter!"
"Crap!" Acting fast, Melissa kicked Jason and knocked him out of way before the beast chomped down on her body.
Jason landed on the floor and gasped. "Harlow!"
She was pinned within the monster's teeth with just her head and one arm sticking out. She balled up her ears and fist and punched the monster's face. "Let. Me. Go!"
Right as Jason electrified his dagger, his attention was drawn back to the original avatar as the ringmaster raised his fists above him. "Scarlet Fiend Crush!" Hands blazing in fire, he slammed them down into the floor.
Jason backstepped out of their range, shielding himself from the splash of flames rippling out. "Ugh…"
"Scarlet Inferno!" Itzal exhaled a vortex of flames across the floor. Jason leapt into the air before the floor was overtaken in the sea of fire and landed on the ruined stairwell. The ringmaster extended his arms and unleashed a barrage of punches into the stairs, only for Jason to hop in between each punch and jump off into the air. "GAH! You're so annoying!"
Jason sneered. "And you're pissing me off." He pulled out a few nails he swiped off the floor. "Stasis Field!" Energizing them with his electricity, he aimed and repelled them off his palm.
The nails stabbed four of Itzal's six eyes and sent him reeling in anguish. "GAH! What the hell?!"
With the ringmaster distracted, his shadow puppet wavered. Melissa dug around with her trapped arm and pulled out her dagger. "Jason Style: Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" The shadow puppet reared back and exploded with electricity from the inside. Its body disintegrated, and Melissa leapt through the air clutching the unrefined plasma dagger, wincing as the sparks traveled up her arm. Dang, Jason's Inherited Will gives him better control over this technique, doesn't it?
The duo landed on the floor back-to-back. Jason, with his dagger raised, whispered, "Anything broken?"
"No. Still need some time on that whole fight shadow with shadow plan."
He scoffed. "If I had my sword, I'd have an easier time cutting into him."
"Would my baton work as a substitute?"
"Too blunt, but it may come down to that if needed." He growled. "Our biggest disadvantage is having no consistent way to harm him."
Itzal clawed the nails out of his face and growled at the duo. "Oh, absolutely fantastic. Conspiring in front of me?" He extended and ignited his clawed hands in fire. "Don't you see what I'm capable of?! Do you think I quiver before lowlifes such as you?! I have ascended beyond mortal kind!"
Jason gritted his teeth. "If Ethel knew you were still alive, she'd be horrified to see the man you became."
"Eh? Ethel?" Melissa questioned.
Itzal clenched his teeth. "I told you…never to speak that witch's name before me AGAIN!" He reared his claws back and prepared to dice the duo into charred pieces.
"Eye of Malice."
A black, jagged beam highlighted in a purple aura descended from above and blasted Itzal in the face. He recoiled in pain and staggered back into the wall hard enough to cause it to collapse against his weight. As he fell onto his back, he clutched his head and felt the chunk of shadow burnt out from his face.
"H-Huh?" Jason and Melissa looked up to where the beam came from.
Floating near the ceiling, draped in darkness, was Grim Deadlock. The Specter of Punishment, with eyes blazing in dark energy, glared down at the fallen shadow pumpkin. "If you do not care for this Ethel that brings you torment, allow me to bring a new meaning of witchcraft into your miserable existence."
Melissa blinked in astonishment. "Grim? When could he do that?"
Jason glared. "That one's not Asterio."
"H-Huh?! That one?! You mean…!"
"That's…Evangelina."
Grim Deadlock, or rather Princess Evangelina Visconti, floated closer to the fallen Shadow Gourgeist. Itzal picked himself off the floor and flashed an annoyed grin at the reaper. "Heh. So, you think you can kill me, little reaper?"
Evangelina glared. "I don't think I can. Murdering scum…is like a second language to me."
Year 880, Great Ruins
"I'm leaving the ruins."
Ethel looked back at her son with a raised brow. "Pardon?"
Itzal growled. "You heard what I said. I'm sick and tired of you treating me like a kid. You keep going on and on about how important these ruins are to our culture. It's not MY culture. It's yours. I don't give two shits about my ancestry, and all because you refuse to tell me what's buried around here."
She glared. "Itzy—"
"Don't. Call me that."
"Itzal, you don't understand the magnitude of our responsibilities—"
"How can I?!" he screamed. "On and on you go about the importance of protecting these stupid old structures! You refuse to tell me anything!"
"Because you're immature."
"I'm immature?! I've spent sixteen years of my life helping you watch over this place, and you're calling me immature! You're damn lucky I didn't leave sooner!" He gestured out to the wide, dark gray plains around them. "Look around you! This is supposed to be our great culture? What are we even protecting?!"
Etherl sighed. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Itzal. I've got work to do." She started to fly off, but he grabbed her shoulder.
"There you go again! Why are you so tight lipped about these stupid ruins? What the hell is below us? What are we protecting?"
She glared over her shoulder. "That attitude is precisely why I refuse to tell you."
"Excuse me?!"
"Those knights who came to investigate these ruins? You tried to kill them. We were supposed to scare them off. Injure them, if we must. You tried to tear one of them apart. If it hadn't been for that Sirfetch'd slicing apart your Shadow Stalker—"
"They fired at me first! Besides, how's this any different than Ydalyn firing at them from the shadows or Lovel literally setting them on fire?! Oh, and let's not forget some of your golden moments! I'm pretty sure you're just as responsible for traumatizing some of them!"
She jabbed him in the chest. "If anyone knew the secrets below these grounds—"
"I don't KNOW the damn secrets! What am I wasting my spectral life fighting for?!" he screamed. "It's this wishy-washy shit you keep spitting in my face over and over again! You keep saying we need to protect these lands, but you refuse to explain anything to me!"
"I know my own son! I know for a fact if I told you what's buried below us, you would seek every opportunity to misuse it!"
"How would I misuse it?! I still don't know what it is! What?! Am I too incompetent to manage a pile of gold?!"
"There isn't treasure buried under us. It's something far worse, something that needs to be kept out of HIS hands."
"I've been wasting my life fighting for a culture I don't know a damn thing about!" Itzal smirked angrily. "Oh wait, there is ONE thing I know about our culture: turns out we weren't all that peace loving after all! Is that the connection to this secret treasure below us? Is that the reason why no one knows how screwed up the Elysivine Kingdom was?!"
"We are trying to move past those times—"
"Then why are you protecting this damn thing if it's so dangerous?"
"It's not the structure that's dangerous, it's what powers it. There was only one man throughout history who memorized the blueprints to recreating the structure, and his descendants are said to hold the blueprints within their very blood. The materials to make it simply can't be broken, so preserving it and making sure its original creator doesn't get their hands on it—"
Itzal growled. "This is just noise!"
"You wouldn't be able to handle the truth!"
"I…I…GAAAAH!" Itzal turned away from her, clutching his head. "You're so irritating!"
Ethel frowned and reached for her son. "Itzy, this will all make sense in due time. We just need more time to find a permanent solution—"
He slapped her tendril off him and faced her. "You want a permanent solution?! Fine! I've got just the thing to make sure NO ONE comes near your precious burial sight! Because clearly it means more to you than your own son!"
"Itzal, what are—" Her eyes widened as he pulled out a wither tome from his cloak. She recognized the cover immediately. "Itzal, what…where did you get that?"
"Oh, is that concern over your son that I'm hearing?!"
"Itzal, please don't tell me you've—"
"Oh, I've read everything from this damn book!" He smirked. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nobody comes near the ruins ever again. After all, a corpse can't rob its own grave!" He plunged down into the shadows and slithered off into the distance.
"Itzal! NO!" She plunged into the shadows as well and chased down her son.
Itzal pulled himself up off the floor and reignited his fire cloak and flaming claws, grinning like mad at the Forester duo and the newly arrived reaper. His excitement showed within the flames as they burned hotter off his back.
Melissa pulled out her baton sword and looked up at Evangelina. "Uh, Eva—I mean, Grim Deadlock? Where exactly do we stand with each other?"
She cast an annoyed look down at the thief before setting her sights back on Itzal. "Make no mistake. I care not for what happens to you two. However, given our current predicament, the clown stands as the immediate threat. A truce…is necessary to survive this night."
Melissa glanced at Jason. "Well?"
He flipped his dagger into a reverse grip and sighed. "We don't have much choice. She did some damage to Itzal, so she has the best chance of bypassing his shadow avatar at the moment." He placed a hand on Melissa's shoulder. "Focus on replicating Shadow Stalker. She and I will hold off Itzal."
She glared and nodded. "Aye." She backed off to the foyer's main entrance, sat down, and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate.
Upon seeing this, Itzal laughed and yelled, "Connecting with your spiritual self before being shipped off to the afterlife? Fantastic! Scarlet Moon!" He threw the red sphere at the stationary Buneary.
Evangelina floated in front of its path. "Eye of Torment!" The visage of an eye appeared from her shadow cloak and fired a vortex laser into the Scarlet Moon. The high winds it projected spun the sphere and sent it flying off course before drilling it into the walls, causing it to explode.
With the distraction, Jason sped toward Itzal and leapt for his midsection. "Lightning Breaker Z-Palm!" He slammed his palm into the shadow and released the repulsive wave through him, knocking Itzal back into the walls.
Annoyed, Itzal raised his fists and smashed them through the ceiling. He dug up as far as he could, hooked his claws in, and brought the rest of the upper floors down onto the foyer. "Scarlet Seekers!" Simultaneously, he released a swarm of cackling fireballs that possessed the falling rubble and accelerated their descent onto the first floor.
"Storm Tango!" Jason ran through the raining debris, skipping and sliding on impulse while racing over to Melissa's position. "Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" He sliced up anything that intended to crash down on the stationary bunny, sparing her of being buried alive.
"Scarlet Fiend Punch!" Itzal's fist extended across the foyer, blazing with heat.
"Eye of Despair!" Evangelina raised her fins, forming spectral eyes on her gaseous sleeves, and fired dark green lasers into the avatar's fist. One shot caused the fist's speed and flames to weaken dramatically the further it extended.
Itzal gasped as his entire arm fell apart into wisps and smoke. "EH?!"
Evangelina chuckled darkly. "You didn't think…I was completely helpless, did you?"
Itzal growled while reforming a new arm. "You're definitely the other one. So tell me, Princess, how does it feel watching your city burn?" He smirked evilly. "You should just let them all die! Nothing will be the same after today! They'll all suffer until their final breaths! They'll lose faith in your precious pride as a Visconti!"
"…" She glared. "None of that matters. I've accepted my role in this world."
"Tsk. I can see why Terrowin had an invested interest in you. Still…" He extended his flaming claws. "It means nothing in death! Scarlet Fiend Claws!" He swiped them across the air and tore the reaper princess apart.
Evangelina merely brushed off his attack as the embers scattered off from her cloak. "Someone of your lofty ambitions will never see the light of day again. Eye of Toxicity!" Energy sprung out from her fins, gathering over her head into the shape of a purple, sludge-like eye. It widened and fired a geyser of energized poison at the shadow.
"Scarlet Moon!" Itzal threw the red sphere and broke through the poison wave.
Evangelina dropped out of the air, dodging his attack, and fired another round of Eye of Toxicity. Itzal reshaped his body and let it pass through him before firing the Scarlet Seekers at her.
"Eye of Malice!" Her eyes blazed with darkness, firing out into jagged black lasers. She sniped down all the incoming projectiles, setting them off in the center of the foyer.
Through the explosion, Jason blitzed under the smoke and continuously swiped through Itzal's connective tether. Though shaking, Itzal turned his sights on the speedy Pikachu and threw down a barrage of fists, all of which Jason dodged through. He even grabbed onto one of Itzal's arms and allowed it to throw him above the ringmaster's head.
"Lightning Breaker—"
He dove out of the air and slammed his palm down on Itzal's head, smashing his face into the floor with the repulsive burst.
"Z-Palm!"
Itzal slammed his hands into the shadows. "Shadow Stalker: Legion of the Laughing Snakes!" Shadow tendrils resembling cackling serpents sprung out of the shadows and aimed for the speedy mouse.
Jason dove toward the serpents and spun, dicing them up with his plasma dagger. Once he was through them, he plunged the weapon into the fallen ringmaster, hammering the blade deep through his umbric hide. "Touch of Zeraora!" With one strike of his dagger, he sent an electrified current through the shadow avatar, reaching deep down to search out and fry the occupant inside.
Itzal clenched his teeth, feeling the electricity course nearer and nearer to his core where he resided. "Get…OFF!" He bent his arm back and clobbered the Pikachu off his back, knocking him across the foyer and breaking open the main entrance.
"Eye of Mal—" However, as Evangelina, tried to call upon the technique, Itzal extended his arm and backhanded her out of the air. She flew back into a wall, gasping as her shadow cloak flickered out for a second.
Itzal stamped his hand down and lifted himself, growling with increasing excitement as the flames billowed fiercely off his shoulders. "Why…are you so persistent about protecting this pathetic kingdom? It's gone to ruins. It's nothing! All you people going out of your way protecting garbage. Who cares about any of this? Why would anyone go out of their way sacrificing their own life for the sake of the past? The past was meant to die! It doesn't mean anything!"
Evangelina pulled herself off the wall and panted softly. "I wouldn't…expect a monster like you to understand."
Itzal clenched his teeth. "Understand? I don't care about understanding! This world deserves to burn! That's the only direction to move toward!" He shot his flaming fist across the foyer. "Scarlet Fiend—"
Two shadows burst out from the floor and grappled Itzal's arm.
"EEEEHHHHHH?!"
Evangelina looked down near the main entrance as a geyser of darkness erupted out from the floor and took on the shape of the upper half of a Buneary, connected to the darkness by a tail-like tether. The shadow Buneary, with piercing red eyes, glared at the stunned ringmaster.
"Then how about we burn together? Doesn't that sound…fantastic?" she hissed with a sinister grin.
Itzal clenched his teeth. "That's…my move!"
"Technically…!" He glared around the Shadow Buneary as Jason limped back into the foyer clutching his arm. "That's your mother's move." He smirked. "Nice work, Rookie!"
Melissa grunted as she tried to hold Itzal back. "Th-Thanks, but…this is a lot harder than it looks. I'm barely able to keep this form up."
Evangelina maneuvered around Itzal with her eyes blazing with darkness. "That's all the time I need. Eye of Malice!" She fired into the shadow pumpkin's back, burning through layers of umbric hide to reach the core.
"AGH!" Itzal swung his arm around and backhanded Evangelina, scattering her misty form through the air. He then whipped his arm back around and clobbered Melissa's shadow avatar in the face. "Scarlet Fiend Punch!" He pulled his fist back and let loose a blazing punch, striking her in the front of the foyer.
The wall collapsed under Melissa's mass, and she was thrown out into the castle courtyard. Her shadow tether barely stayed connected to the ground, but her form flickered from waning concentration. The rain poured down over her shadow form, where lingering embers reacted and quickly engulfed her in fire.
"Oh no!" she shrieked, trying to pat the flames off, but her soaked hands only spread the flames further. "JASON!"
Itzal burst out into the courtyard and hammered his fist down on the Shadow Buneary's head. "Did you really think you could steal my technique and beat me with it?! I've lived in the shadows my whole life! A novice like you has no right claiming to be my superior with such an inferior copy!"
"Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" Itzal whipped around just as Jason charged out into the open, slicing into his body with multiple cuts. He dodged through a myriad of raining punches and sliced into the ringmaster's wrists.
Itzal retracted and regenerated from his burning wounds. "Scarlet Seekers!" Cackling fireballs erupted from his hands and descended upon the Pikachu, who took off running as they gave chase.
Evangelina flew out into the courtyard and fired her Eye of Malice into the Scarlet Seekers, sparing Jason of their wrath. "Eye of Toxicity!" She formed the spectral eye and fired the glowing rush of poison.
Itzal thrusted his palm into the attack and shielded the rest of his body from it. He winced as the poison oozed down his arm, so he detached it and reformed a new one. Right as he did, Melissa sprung off from the ground and threw an uppercut into his chin. With the ringmaster staggered, she grappled with his avatar and started melding herself into it.
"H-HEY!"
Shadow Dimension
Melissa swam through the darkness once a bridge was connected and darted straight for the floating ringmaster. She grappled with his real body and started punching him with her ears. Though it was the equivalent of being hit with a pillow, the sheer speed and number of ear punches racked up the damage.
"I dragged you out once, I can do it again!" she yelled.
Itzal growled. "You've got some nerve…encroaching on my territory!" He threw his elbow back and struck her in the side. She gasped and involuntarily released him. While she was stunned, Itzal turned around and slammed his hand against her, lighting it up with heat. "Scarlet Moon!"
Melissa's shadow avatar expanded with an internal heat before exploding, sending the royal thief flying out into the open cloaked in smoke. Jason blitzed across the courtyard and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He dragged his claws into the ground and skidded to a stop.
Melissa caught her breath and coughed up smoke. "Oh…Oh Arceus, that was painful."
Itzal readied another Scarlet Moon, but staggered from another Eye of Malice from Evangelina. He swiped at her, trying to swat her out of the air, but she maneuvered her body adeptly around his attempts and continuously fired on his avatar.
"This is my domain, clown!" Evangelina yelled. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my home! Your death will be nothing more than another footnote in this kingdom's history! Eye of Torment!" A spectral eye appeared from within her cloak and fired down on the shadow pumpkin with a spectral vortex beam.
Itzal smirked and unleashed a barrage of punches into the vortex. The quantity of fists he produced overwhelmed her attack and reached her. Though she tried to escape, the ringmaster's tricky movements allowed him to corner and squasher her in between two punches.
Evangelina, with her inexperience with the Umbra Cloak technique, fell out of the air with the shadows fizzling off her body. Itzal caught her in his grip before she hit the ground and lifted her to eye level.
Melissa gasped. "Evangelina!"
"Let her go!" Jason yelled.
Itzal fired a Scarlet Moon at them, blasting them back further into the courtyard. He tightened his grip around Evangelina and snickered. "Such unwavering cruelty. Why waste your time with Terrowin? You'd have a much better success as one of my pawns." He summoned a flame off the tip of his finger. "Though it would be tricky, you could even become one of my successors. The Scarlet Flame's influence will carry on through you, too. How does that—"
Though barely conscious, Evangelina spat in the giant shadow's face and sneered. "Are you really…so weak that you've opted to negotiate with me?" She smirked weakly. "How pathetic. I laugh. I laugh at your worthlessness."
Itzal's right eyes twitched. "Why you—"
"Ohhhhhh-hohohohoho!" she laughed. "Ohhhhhhh-hohohoho!"
Itzal growled and cupped his other hand around her head. "Let's see how funny it is after I've ripped you in two—"
SHIIIIINK!
The ringmaster froze as a blade of light flashed across him. At first, he thought he imagined it, but then his body started to slide apart. From his base to his shoulder, he had been cut in two at a diagonal angle. His avatar came undone, and he collapsed onto the ground with Evangelina slipping out from his grip.
She fell into the awaiting arms of her savior, who smirked at him. "You took your time."
Jason and Melissa pulled themselves out of the scorched earth and gasped. "No way…" she mumbled.
Itzal shakily picked himself up, reconnecting his tether, and glowered up at the newcomer. "Now…what?!"
Floating above him, with his scythe spinning defensively around him, was the true force of malevolence that haunted the capital's streets. Grim Deadlock, known in secret as Prince Asterio Visconti, stared the ringmaster down with an equally hostile glare.
"Get out…of my kingdom."
Year 880, Scarlet Ruins
Two shadows clashed through the secret tunnel, leading down to where the pit of the Scarlet Flame lay dormant. Bursting out from the tunnel were two monstrous shadows of a Gourgeist and a Mismagius locked in a vicious struggle. Itzal slammed his mother's head into the ground, but she shifted around his arm and bit down on his neck.
They crashed along the walls, allowing Ethel to bind her son's shadow avatar in her tendrils. "You don't know what you're doing!"
"Just watch me!" He formed a new arm and struck her across the face, sending her crashing into the opposite side of the tomb. He tried to dive into the pit, but Ethel was faster and caught his avatar in her tendrils again.
She struggled to keep him pinned. "I can't believe…after all these years, the Scarlet Flame was buried here. The last remnant…needs to be extinguished!"
Itzal smirked. "Sounds like a dangerous power. All mine!" He released Mystical Fire from his arms, blasting his mother away and dove down into the pit. He emerged from the darkness and loomed over the bowl containing the tiny flame. "Something like this doesn't deserve to be lost to history, Mother. You should follow your own advice. I'm merely preserving history!"
Ethel pulled herself out of the shadows and peered over the pit. "You don't know what dark sorcery was used to create that flame! If you try to take on its power, it'll kill you!"
He sneered up at her. "I'm tired over your coddling! I'm making my own decisions now, and I choose to follow the path of true joy!"
"Itzal, you don't understand! The Scarlet Flame isn't meant to spread joy! It's an act of rebellion! That flame is a manifestation of anguish and rebellion! It's—"
"It's what?!" he yelled. "Come on! What is it?!"
"…" She clenched her teeth. "You have to trust me."
"…" He scoffed. "Wrong words." He reached out to the flame.
"Itzal!"
"Come to me, Scarlet Flame! Bind yourself to my soul, and let us spread joy to all of the world!"
He clutched his hand around it, and his fist erupted in the scarlet fire. Ethel shielded herself as a flash of heat erupted from the pit, pushing her back. Her eyes widened as the ominous glow of the flame filled the tomb, casting all under its eerie illumination.
Itzal raised his flaming fist and laughed. "Yes. YES! I can feel it! I can feel it coursing through my…huh?" His eyes widened as the flames started traveling down his arm. "W-Wait, what's going on?! I-I can't control it! M-Mom, what's happening?!"
Ethel pulled herself up and floated to the pit. "Itzal!"
The flames rapidly consumed his body with his head barely visible under the fire cloak. "It…It burns! IT BURNS! MOM! I CAN'T STOP IT!" He flailed wildly, patting and clawing at the fire desperately, but it would not cease. "W-What's happening to me?!"
Ethel darted down and tried reaching out to her son. "Itzal, stay calm! You're going to be okay! You…You're…"
Tears welled up in Itzal's eyes as he gazed into hers. "M…Mom—"
The flames completely consumed him, and a sea of flames flooded from the source. Itzal's screams howled out through the tomb while his mother was pushed back in the flames. She took shelter within the shadows, unable to do anything but watch in horror as the flames burned her son alive. Even in the shadow dimension, she could see pieces of him burning away.
His screams would not cease. Each second of tortuous screaming brought a flood of tears down the helpless mother's face.
"ITZAAAAAAAAL!"
A tension rumbled in the atmosphere with Asterio's arrival. Even as he set Evangelina down away from the downpour, the malice permeating off his shadow cloak did not let up. He possessed a stare far more sinister and bloodthirsty than anything the second half of the reaper could produce. It was an expression of unmitigated hatred brought forth from the deepest depths of Hell.
Itzal pulled himself off the ground, rising to full height, and glared the reaper down. "I'm getting sick and tired of all the Grim Deadlocks today."
Asterio cast a glance at his sister. "Stay out of my way."
She scoffed. "Not my fault you're slow." She glanced ahead to where Jason and Melissa were standing, armed and ready to continue fighting. "…Listen, about those two—"
"I know." He grabbed his scythe out of the air. "Just let me do my job."
Itzal snickered. "If I recall correctly, you were banged up from your little squabble with Stormbreaker last night." With ignited fists, he launched a myriad of punches at the reaper. "Let's see how tough you really are—"
"Reaping Shadow."
In less than a second, Asterio slashed the air and cleaved all of Itzal's arms apart with a single projectile shadow blade. Itzal staggered in disbelief before being rushed down and sliced across the face. The scythe tore into his umbric hide and easily ripped it open like wet paper.
"You can't hide…from me."
Itzal's eyes widened. "Shit!"
Asterio reared back for another attack, but Itzal blasted him back with his Scarlet Inferno. Asterio spun his scythe and conjured Ominous Wind to stave off most of the flames. Embers scattered through the air and rained across the castle, setting off its soaked exterior.
Jason glared and pulled out his dagger. "Rookie, cover fire!" He sped toward Itzal and raced up his back. "Plasma Cutter Z-Strike!" He delivered a myriad of slashes up Itzal's back, ending it with a stab into the top of his head and releasing stored electricity through his avatar.
"Get…OFF!" Itzal released scarlet fire from his fiery cape to blow Jason off, but the Pikachu evaded the flames in time.
With Itzal distracted, Melissa configured her scabbard into its crossbow mode and loaded a bullet in. "Sadie Style: Assisted Destruction!" She braced herself and fired the empowered bullet into the back of Itzal's head, blowing a chunk of it out. Her arms and legs quivered against the harsh recoil, but she stood her ground and loaded another bullet.
Itzal reformed his head and turned his attention back to the thief. "Oh right, you. Shadow Stalker: Legion of the Laughing Snakes!" He split one of his arms into a den of snakes while turning his other hand toward Asterio and the airborne Jason. "Scarlet Seekers!"
Melissa leapt into the air, dodging the first wave of snakes before they curved and chased her through the air.
Jason sliced through the flaming projectiles, but they were quickly overwhelming him. To his surprise, Asterio swooped it and sliced them to ribbons in one stroke of his scythe before catching the falling Pikachu. Jason winced. "Thanks?"
"I hate you," Asterio replied.
"Uh…"
"But I despise him more." Asterio whipped his tentacle and threw Jason straight at the ringmaster with a boost of Ominous Wind.
Jason, not bothering to question Asterio's attitude, used his newfound momentum to deliver a critical slash across Itzal's neck. The burst of electricity knocked the ringmaster over enough to break his concentration and cease the den of snakes chasing Melissa.
With the attack withering, she landed and fired another shot into Itzal, blowing his arm off his shoulder. "Got him!"
Itzal flicked his flaming cape and spread torrents of flame around himself, pushing his enemies away while regenerating a new arm. "Scarlet Inferno: Descent into Suffering!"
He plunged his hands through the shadows and surrounded the courtyard instantly in a cyclone of scarlet fire mixed with shadows. Jason and Melissa backed off from the walls of the inferno while Asterio took off into the center. The rain falling on top of the vortex mixed in and rained a fiery downpour on their heads.
Jason rapidly sliced the rain, but couldn't outpace the sheer quantity of raindrops. He shielded his head as his uniform and body started to catch fire. Melissa, try as she might, had no choice but to endure the fiery rain as it engulfed her.
Itzal's laughter boomed across the flaming cyclone. His shadow avatar grew in size, greatly towering to half the height of the castle. His fiery markings glowed brighter, and his cape flared even hotter. Splitting his arms into a dozen, he unleashed a flurry of punches on the courtyard. The ground shook with each titanic impact, knocking the Forester duo into the air.
"GAH!" Melissa cried.
Itzal brought his hands together and slammed them down on the duo, crushing them back into the courtyard. Melissa used Endure to keep herself conscious while Jason kept the fist at bay with his Stasis Field. The ringmaster didn't let up, igniting his knuckles to burn the troublesome duo under his fists.
"Fantastic!" Itzal roared. "What did I have to worry about? I could just kill the old man! If I can kill Stormbreaker, I can kill anyone—"
"Stance of Cocytus." Out of the corner of his eye, Asterio swung his shadow-coated scythe and sliced into the avatar's face. The ghostly energy reacted, exploding and ripping Itzal's face open.
"GAAAH!" Itzal pulled off from the Foresters and stumbled back in pain. "How are you still in fighting condition?"
Asterio reared his empowered weapon back. "Sheer. Unfathomable. Hatred." He swung again, dealing an even mightier hit the colossal shadow. He sliced across his chest, which detonated and threw the ringmaster back against the castle. "Reaping Shadow!" He swung and fired the projectile shadow blade, cutting into Itzal's neck.
"AGH!" Itzal used his flaming cape to blast himself off from the castle and launched toward the disguised prince. "Scarlet Fiend Crush!" He raised his colossal claws and slammed them down on the reaper, smashing him into the courtyard. "Burn!" Fire erupted from under his hand, torching the ground under it.
"Reaping Shadow—" His attack was in vain. His hand split apart as a myriad of shadow blades ripped through and sliced up his arm. "Blades of Nevermore!"
Itzal roared out in pain, the shadows cutting deeper than Jason's electricity. He could feel the darkness bypassing his shadow avatar. One blade reached deep within his dark structure and sliced his true arm. The reaper may just be the only person in Echo Bell who could truly reach him.
Asterio floated back into the air, unbothered by the flaming rain. "The Lord of Shadow."
Itzal growled. "Do you quiver facing your fellow monster of the criminal hierarchy?"
"…" He scoffed. "A frenetic thief, an archivist, the second most wanted Pokémon of Virdis, the princess, two amateur fighters, and me."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Your infamy was earned for your reputation as a cult leader. Your so-called religion is what gives you infamy in this world." Asterio aimed his scythe at him. "But seeing as we're still here fighting, I've come to one conclusion."
"Eh?!"
"Despite those flames…you're weak. Pathetically weak. I dare say Skill Hunter has offered more of a challenge than you."
"…" Itzal clenched his teeth. Flames blew out from his mouth as he let out a demonic roar in the reaper's face. "I'm going to REND YOU TO ASH!" A legion of arms spawned from his body, each bringing down the might of the Scarlet Flame onto the reaper.
One by one, he crushed Asterio between his multiple hands and ignited a mighty fire in the center that scarred the air in a blinding red. Jason, Melissa, and Evangelina shielded their eyes from the intense glow. Itzal laughed manically, cheering for the reaper's complete incineration.
"…Stance of Cocytus."
However, it didn't come to pass as Asterio's attack bypassed the myriad of hands and cleaved through them and Itzal in one stroke. The ghostly energy exploded and scattered the arms away while knocking Itzal back. Asterio appeared out from the flames, perfectly unharmed.
"Weak."
Itzal roared and unleashed a flurry of flaming punches. "I'll torch you to oblivion!"
"Stance of Acheron." Asterio tossed his scythe and sent it spinning through the newly formed arms, cutting them to ribbons. He then raised his tentacle and summoned a massive Shadow Ball cloaked in a veil of swirling darkness. "Shadow of Phlegethon!" He brought the attack down on the shadow avatar, flattening it into the courtyard.
The blast was contained, sending all the excessive energy skyward upon detonation. The Foresters and Evangelina braced themselves against the shockwave splashing outward. Itzal barreled through the attack, fighting against the pain, and unleashed hundreds of shadow snakes from his body.
"Shadow Stalker: Legion of the Laughing Snakes!"
Asterio raised his scythe to cut them down, but they were intercepted by Jason instead. With quick twirls of his electrified dagger, he diced up all snakes and reduced them to wisps. "Give me a boost!" he shouted.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Asterio yelled, catching Jason with his Psychic and hurtling him toward the staggered ringmaster.
"Flash and Crackle!" Jason bolted through the air and sliced through the left side of Itzal's head, lighting it up in a blaze of lightning.
Melissa rushed down Itzal as he toppled over and sprung toward his tether. "Ivone Style: Purified Luster!" Shining in an aura of prismatic light, she launched off from her ears and delivered a heavy kick into the avatar. Her kick crumpled the tether, knocking the ringmaster off balance and sending him crashing to the ground.
Undeterred, Itzal slammed a hand down to keep himself from fully collapsing. "Scarlet Moon: Embers of Jubilation!" He swung his hand and unleashed a volley of miniature red spheres.
Melissa reared her baton sword back. "Now, Jet Style—" She lunged forward and sliced down the incoming projectiles with a light blue water blade. Upon passing through the individual attacks, she sheathed her baton, causing all of them to explode into ice and mist. "Icy Razor Shell!"
Asterio spun his scythe and fired down a Reaping Shadow, burying Itzal's head into the ground. Itzal pushed back after the attack connected and rose out from the earth. He reached out to the surrounding cyclone of flames and called upon fiery spectral pumpkins from the walls.
"Darkest Night of Liberation!"
The pumpkins cackled wildly and charged down Asterio. He swung and sliced through the individual pumpkins, each one exploding upon destruction. Though seemingly overwhelming him in sheer quantity, he continued cutting them down without slowing.
With Itzal's attention lost on the reaper, Jason and Melissa joined back up and glared at the towering avatar. Completely in-sync, they advanced toward the ringmaster with a steady walk. They clashed their fists together, and their fur stood on end as blue sparks erupted across their bodies.
"Think you can keep up?" Jason asked.
She smirked. "No, but I'll try my best."
"Then let's take this clown down."
Melissa turned to the sky and shouted, "Deadlock!"
Still on the defensive, he glared down at the duo. "What?!"
"TAKE HIM DOWN!"
"…" Understanding their plan, he nodded and fired off a myriad of shadow blades, cutting down the rest of the pumpkin swarm. "Roger!"
Itzal turned back down to the courtyard in confusion. "Wait, wha—"
Stomping one foot ahead of each other, Jason and Melissa made the leap forward and burst into bolts of lightning.
"Thunder Fairy Step!"
The twin thunderbolts hammered into the avatar with powerful, electrified kicks, then raced up the body with their daggers digging into the umbric hide. Itzal tried to swat them off, but they were far too quick. Upon reaching his neck, they split off, landing in various points of the courtyard and rocketing back with hit-and-run attacks.
All over, thunderbolts whizzed past Itzal, cutting and burning into his hide. Like being surrounded in a cage of electricity, he could only helplessly swat the air to catch one of them off guard. Even though Melissa was significantly slower compared to Jason, she was agile enough to avoid Itzal's counterattacks and strike back just as hard.
Cuts upon cuts opened up over Itzal's avatar, blazing with electrical burns. They sliced into his shoulders, eyes, nape, tether, and virtually anywhere they could reach. Even with the cyclone of flames limiting the amount of surfaces they could ricochet off of, they still proved too much for the ringmaster to overcome.
"Cut that OUT!" Itzal roared. "I am the Lord of Shadow! I am the High Priest of the Scarlet Flame! I am…I am…!"
"You…are nothing."
Itzal's eyes widened at the courtyard, where Asterio floated just above the ground. Rearing his scythe back, he channeled a mass of spectral energy through the blade and vastly increased the length of its blade. The longer he maintained the charge, the larger and more imposing the spectral blade became. It generated a haunting aura outputting far more pressure than Itzal's Shadow Stalker.
"You come into my kingdom, and you ruin everything for your desires. You make me sick. People like you…deserve nothing but eternal suffering." Asterio's eyes blazed with spectral shadows. "May your soul burn for all eternity. May your corpse be reborn and repurposed as fertilizer to replenish the lives you've stolen."
Itzal recoiled as Jason and Melissa delivered one final kick to the back of his head before disengaging out of the way. "W-Wait—"
"Stance of Cocytus: Silent Wailing Harvest!"
Asterio slashed the surface of the courtyard as he swung his scythe, then drove it into the base of the shadow avatar. Swinging with all his might, the spectral blade extended, and he drove the blade up the avatar's body. A furious wave of spectral energy rushed up Itzal, carrying tremendous pressure that shook the very space around him.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Itzal screamed. The shadows pierced through the darkness of his form and slashed through his true body up the middle.
The energy didn't cease reaching the top of the avatar's head. It continued onward, erupting into the top of the flaming vortex and striking. The sheer pressure of the attack disrupted the cyclone and caused it to lose shape. In one stroke, Asterio not only cut the avatar in two, but also cut the cyclone in two.
The flames dispersed and rained down onto the ground while the darkness composing the cyclone fizzled away.
Itzal remained paralyzed from the brutal attack he received, standing silently for nearly half a minute. Jason and Melissa landed, but didn't let their guard down as they cautiously observed the shadow pumpkin. Evangelina merely glared up at it.
With his scythe smoking from the recent attack, Asterio turned away from the frozen avatar. Right as he flicked his wrist, the shadows came undone, fizzling out into mist. From the avatar's core, Itzal's body dropped out of the sky and crashed into the courtyard. His cape and hat were torn to ribbons, and a gnarly, bloodied scar raced up the center of his body up to his face.
"D…D-Damn…y-you…" Itzal wheezed.
Asterio turned back to the fallen ringmaster. "Hmph. Still alive?" He raised his scythe and approached the ringmaster, ready to execute him.
Jason, however, stepped in front of Asterio. "Hold on a moment!"
"Don't interfere, or I'll kill you," Asterio threatened.
"He needs to be questioned. He knows something." Jason turned to Itzal and glared. "And if you want to keep your life, you better start talking."
"…" Itzal forced a bloodied grin. "Fan…tastic. Hoohoohoo…" He shook his head. "A war's coming, brat. Don't waste your time with me."
"You—" Jason tried to grab him, but Asterio shoved him out of the way.
"This is a waste of my time!" He raised and brought the scythe down over Itzal.
With one last burst of strength, a shadow arm projected from under Itzal and stopped the scythe in its tracks. The ringmaster laughed as darkness swirled under him, dragging him into the shadows below. "Enjoy your last days of anonymity, Skill Hunter. You're going to become popular soon."
"…" Melissa could do no more but clench her fist.
"Let's all fight again…in the new era." His laughter echoed across the courtyard as he disappeared into the shadows, defeated but long gone.
"…" Asterio rested his scythe over his shoulders and sighed. "And I'll be waiting."
Evangelina floated over to him, still cradling her injured tentacle. "You good?"
"Have I ever been?"
"…" She glanced at Jason and Melissa, both still keeping their guard up. "…It's your call, brother. They know the truth."
Jason snarled. "You witch…!"
Asterio, who normally wouldn't miss the opportunity to purge evil, kept his eyes focused on the cowering Melissa even as she tried to stay collected. Under the glow of the flames, her features stood out more. The subtle details to tell her between any other Buneary, and he was familiar with her expression. Without a doubt, she was who he believed she was.
He had nothing but questions as to how this was possible given recent events, but…
For once in his life, his rage…was quelled.
He turned his back to the duo. "You were never here."
Jason raised his brow. "Pardon?"
"You two. You were never here. Don't make me change my mind."
"…" Jason grabbed Melissa's hand and pulled her along. "Felix and Victoria escaped the castle a little while ago. Let's regroup with them before circling back to the others."
Melissa lingered for a moment, taking note of the reaper's softened expression even under the shadow cloak. She frowned at him before letting herself be guided by the swordsman. "R-Right." They took off running, escaping to the neighboring buildings.
Evangelina watched them flee with her tentacles crossed, then glanced at Asterio. "What was that about?"
"…" Asterio dispelled his cloak and floated back to the castle. "Nothing…"
"Hmm?"
"Nothing…happened."