Hello, all! As promised, I have the next chapter ready for your viewing pleasure! Now, this one is quite large, for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it's an apology to you all for leaving this story for so long. Second, it's to finally wrap up this arc, because it's been going on for quite a while. So, with that established, here is the last chapter of the Omicron Arc. 1st Greenland (I'm kinda surprised, usually it's the US): 2nd United States (Don't worry, guys, I still love ya!): 3rd Spain: 4th Canada: 5th China.
"Hmm. Fine. Let's just get started before everyone gets killed by that thing."
The Projects and Serenity nodded and quickly vanished, returning to the fight.
A sat down, thinking intensely about the creature, its abilities, the team's abilities, and how to best apply them.
He noticed that the team appeared weakened, remembering that Seras told him that Rick recalled a lot of his power. Having no power or energy himself, he couldn't help. He decided to take an account once everyone was regrouped. He saw Beta appear and launch the beast in the air with earth pillars; he watched the beast to see how it would react. It fell to the ground and immediately began to fire off beams into the ground, trying to hit Beta.
A frowned, unhappy that the ecosystem was being systematically destroyed. He then saw spikes of blood coming out of the beast and Psi appearing, creating more blood spikes out of its body. It roared in pain, but did not appear to be too harmed. A frowned, wondering if it was the creature's blood, or Psi's. He looked on as Psi had to teleport away from a stomp. He then looked back at the team and saw Projects attempting to heal them. A walked over to them, asking
"How bad are their injuries?" Project Chi looked at him and told him
"They're not that hurt. However, they're very weak right now for some reason." A stated
"Rick had to withdraw his energy from them." Chi asked curiously
"And that messed them up?" A supplied
"Well, they're his Remnants, if I remember correctly." Chi grunted, apparently remembering.
"Oh yeah. That's right. However, our Remnants don't lose power when we transform." A shrugged.
"Well, I don't know shit about your powers, so I don't have an explanation." They then noticed Seras waking up and groaning. A knelt next to her, asking
"You okay?" Seras answered
"That really hurt." A remarked
"You all took a massive explosion from that thing. You got thrown pretty far." Seras explained
"It somehow messed with gravity." A frowned, asking
"Gravity? That's not something standard energy should do in small amounts." Seras suggested
"Or at least its attacks caused a singularity." A considered that for a moment, not able to discount it.
"Hmm... plausible, given we know very little about this thing. Still, right now I've got Beta and Psi keeping it occupied until you guys are recovered enough to fight again." They heard another groan and saw Jean forcing himself to stand while clutching his stomach. A went to him and gently pushed him back down, saying
"Take it easy; you're not completely fixed up yet, and definitely in no shape to go fighting again." Jean fought against him and said
"I gotta kill that thing." A grunted, telling him
"I can't fight against you, but I'm telling you as a friend to lay back down before you kill yourself!" Jean asserted
"I need to kill it." A emphasized
"And you will, but not if it kills you first. Now lie down and get your wounds healed up before you get more." Jean reached over and pulled off one of the bands on his body. He then erupted in flame and came out standing and in fine health, stating
"I can take care of myself." A sighed, exasperated.
"Fine, go." Chi asked
"Is that wise?" A replied
"Hell no, but he's too stubborn to listen." Chi reasoned
"Well, he's probably putting up a strong show for the others. He appears to be the leader." A retorted
"Right now, he's acting like a professional dumbass." Chi pointed out
"Well, someone has to fight that thing." A responded
"We're all going to, to one degree or another, but I need everyone to not get themselves killed first!" Chi shrugged, stating
"Gonna find it hard here. You have to realize what we are. We're Projects, so we're already aware that our lives are disposable. Your team... well, they were mercenaries. They lived their lives knowing that they probably wouldn't make it to see another day dawn." A, remembering that now, forced himself to calm down, saying
"Yeah, that's all well and good, but they're not mercenaries anymore." He looked at Jean, telling him
"You still got friends and family waiting to see you. So don't act like an idiot and get yourself killed. I have a plan." Jean looked at him, asking
"What plan?" A replied
"Once everyone's conscious and healed up, I'll let you in on it." Jean looked back at the abomination, asking
"You think that Psi and Beta can hold that thing back while we all heal?" A frowned as he looked at the creature as well, answering
"Only briefly, which is why I'm gonna talk fast. Think you can listen?" Jean considered the proposal for a moment, then nodded, acquiescing.
"Alright." A nodded as well, relieved.
"Good. Now we just have to wait." Chi sighed and remarked
"I don't understand you people." A smirked, stating
"Normalcy's overrated, anyway. Who wants to just be average, everyday, easy to understand?" Chi answered
"I do." A paused for a moment, then said
"Well, I'm fine being weird." Chi added
"Most of us Projects wish to just be normal." A conceded
"Guess that's fair."
"However, only Giovanni knows how to turn us back to normal. So, it's either die as a Project or get assimilated into Project Alpha when he wants his power back." A pointed out
"Or torture Giovanni into telling us." Chi retorted
"Harder than it sounds." A argued
"But not impossible." Chi challenged
"Have you done it?" A shrugged, stating simply
"Never had the chance to try." Chi grunted, having nothing more to add to the debate.
"I see. Well, how long do we have to wait?" A answered as he watched the fight
"Just until everyone's healed enough to fight again; I need to ask a question, and then we'll get right into it." Chi grunted again, responding
"Well, not much I can do now." A looked at her, asking
"You've got no healing abilities?" Chi shook her head, explaining
"We can't use too much energy. We only have a finite amount for healing." A grunted, finding that unfortunate.
"Well, I can't help much, but I'm banking on all of you to be able to execute my plan." Chi asked
"And what are you to this team?" A replied
"I'd like to think a colleague, perhaps a friend, but you'd have to ask them." Jean interjected
"Don't worry. He's cool." A smirked, then frowned and looked to Beta and Psi, hoping they were holding out okay. He saw Psi slicing off as many tentacles as she could, but they kept regenerating, much to her frustration. A looked to the severed tentacles, wondering what happened to them. He saw them still moving and attaching themselves to the beast, being reabsorbed. He smirked victoriously, then looked to see the condition of the team. He saw many sitting up, trying to regain their composures. A quickly asked
"Everyone almost ready to go for Round Two?" Wayland called out
"Round two?" A told him
"I've got a plan, but I need you all to work together for it to work. Will you do it?" Seras asked
"What is it?" A said
"First I need to ask a question, and I need to know this, because it's crucial. Did anyone try to use Protect against that thing's beam attack?" The team gave a collective shake of their heads. A grunted, then asked Seras
"Could you please ask Beta or Psi to do so? I need to see something." Seras asked, unsure
"You want me to ask them to use Protect?" A nodded, clarifying
"Please, specifically against one of the beam attacks." Seras nodded and told him
"Alright. I'll let them know." A nodded and watched. After a moment he saw the beast point a tentacle towards Psi and fire at her. Psi quickly erected a shield and blocked the attack, but with great strain. A watched the Protect, wondering if it would hold. After a moment, the attack stopped and Psi fell to one knee, tired from holding back the blow. A nodded, telling Seras
"Tell her to teleport back here so she doesn't get hurt." Before Seras could tell her, they saw Psi absorbing blood from the legions of dead Specters and healing herself and restoring her strength. A remarked
"Or... she could do that. That works for me." He looked at the rest of the team, asking everyone
"Is everybody ready for the plan?" The team looked at each other and nodded. A then proceeded to lay it out, stating
"We're going with a hit-and-run style, but we're also going for maximum damage. I want you guys to sever as much of this thing as you can. The bigger the chunk, the better." He looked to Harmony, telling her
"I need you to hang back from the fighting, and focus on capturing the chunks they cut off with your Light Barriers. If that thing can't regenerate, we'll get to the core much faster." He returned his attention to the rest of the team, continuing
"That thing's an amalgamation of Pokémon corpses, and the energy it's firing isn't natural; I'm willing to bet there's a core in its chest or head, and when we destroy that we destroy the creature. Do as much damage as you can in waves; keep it unstable as much as possible. For those of you who can't do any cutting damage, I want you on defense for those who can, to make this as fast as possible. Any questions?" Sage raised his paw, and A pointed at him, waiting for his question. Sage then asked
"Are you sure that breaking off pieces of it and keeping them segregated from the main body stops its healing?" A clarified
"Perhaps not healing, but it will stop the segregated pieces from being reabsorbed into the main body, making it easier to reach the core." Sage accepted that.
"Well, alright."
"Any other questions?" The team shook their heads.
"Alright, then let's get this plan in action." The team nodded and charged to face the beast. As soon as it noticed the team charging in, it attacked them, swinging tentacles around wildly, either trying to hit them physically or with the beam attack. None of them stood around to find out which, though A winced every time the beams contacted the ground, creating yet another tunnel or channel of glass that not only made the battlefield a hazard, but the environment itself to whomever remained. He saw the team managing to slice off the tentacles and Harmony scrambling to contain each limb. A frowned, tapping his communicator and saying
"Seras, ask Harmony if she can collect all the pieces she's gathered into one barrier so she can make more?" After almost a minute, Seras answered
"She says that she'll try, but isn't confident that can be done." A replied
"Just as long as she tries."
"I'll let her know." A acknowledged her reply and cut off the communication. He watched carefully to see what would happen. The beast pointed four of its remaining tentacles towards Beta and fired in retaliation. Beta quickly vanished with Accelerated Movement and avoided the blasts, causing the beast to hit itself, causing some damage to its body. A smirked, then remarked
"I think we're making progress, but we really need to get at that core." Apparently, his communicator hadn't been turned off, because Allen asked
"Are you sure there's a core?" A stated
"That thing is made up of corpses; corpses don't have energy to fire. It has to be coming from something." Allen remarked
"My worry is that these things aren't exactly corpses." A argued grimly
"They're definitely not living creatures anymore, of that I'm certain." Allen had nothing more to add to that. He then heard a roar as Jean got on top of the beast and proceeded to burn two of its tentacles to a crisp. A frowned, wondering aloud
"Will that be permanent, or will it heal that?"
He saw Jean begin to dig into the beast's flesh, trying to get to the core as fast as he could.
A watched intently, hoping Jean would have success.
He then watched as Jean was knocked away by a tentacle, leaving an injured and angry beast.
A grunted, not necessarily surprised, but no less upset for it.
The beast began to roar again and reared up onto its back legs, beginning to charge an attack. A immediately told Seras
"Block that charge with your aura puppet, and have the heavy hitters go for the back." Seras created another aura puppet, which punched the energy, breaking off a few teeth from the beast's mouth. Other team members then managed to climb on the beast's back and begin to chip away at the remaining tentacles. A quickly emphasized
"Slice off everything you can while it's stunned!" Seras told him
"We already know that"." A rolled his eyes, still frustrated he couldn't be a part of the battle. And on that note, he frowned in thought, trying to work out what exactly Lambda had done with her serum to disrupt his abilities. He drew Savior, looking it over, and noticing that the pommel still shifted in color, and remembered it had gone into self-defense mode when he tricked Lambda into taking it. Therefore, the blade's own power remained intact. He focused on Aero Judgement, which turned the pommel sky-blue, but though he tried he couldn't get the power to work. He also tried making the shift into his Gallade form, but couldn't, leaving him more baffled than ever.
Somehow, Lambda had broken his curse, something he didn't even think was possible, given that Rick couldn't do so after returning his human form to him. So, what had Lambda fundamentally changed that completely altered how he was able to live? He shook his head, getting out of those thoughts; he needed to focus on the battle and help wherever he could. He noticed the team had the beast restrained, and were cutting into it as much as possible, and yet it somehow remained largely the same, and still fighting back. A touched the communicator again, asking
"What's going on? Why can't you get through? Is the body tougher than the rest of it?" Allan answered
"Apparently, it's healing whatever damage we do to it because it keeps reabsorbing the chunks we break off." A frowned, remarking
"Well, that's an issue. Can you separate those chunks first so it can't reform?" He was told
" Harmony is getting tired." A clenched a fist, worried.
"Shit. We need to speed the process up somehow... can anyone lend her energy?"
"Give me a minute to ask." A nodded, waiting. Allen then answered
"They'll give her what they have, but they're all pretty tired." A sighed, worried that would be the case.
"Yeah, I figured something like that. But we can't give in; we need this thing dead." He then heard a woman's voice behind him, asking
"Need some help." He turned around and saw Project Delta and Gamma. A was surprised, asking
"Where were you?" Delta replied
"Making our way here." A grunted.
"Well, we could definitely use the help." Delta asked
"Good. Need a healer?" A nodded, answering
"Desperately." Delta nodded as well.
"Alright. I guess I'll get to work." Gamma then said
"And I'll start hacking." A told him
"We're trying to get at the core; the team's looking to hack off as much as possible to stop it from regenerating, but they're having trouble with that at the torso." Gamma grinned widely, saying
"Great! Breaking stuff. My favorite sport."
"Well, see if you can get the most points."
"No problem." He then readied himself and bolted to the beast, hitting it hard with a Flare Blitz. A winced, then asked Delta
"By any chance, are you able to restore someone's energy?" She answered
"With my own."
"Hmm. Figured it was a long shot, but I had to ask. Most of them aren't injured as much as they are drained."
"Hmm...I guess I can do one thing..."
"And may I ask what that might be?"
"You remember how I have the ability to create independent copies of myself?"
"Kinda like pseudo-cloning, right?"
"Yeah. So, they each have their own energy pools before rejoining my own. So, I can create clones and use them to give some energy to everyone else. Or..." She opened a portal, reached in, and pulled out a bag, adding
"To make things easier, I can do that or just hand out Ethers." A was surprised, but also relieved.
"That would be immensely helpful. Give me a second." He contacted the team, telling them
"Delta has some Ethers she can use to restore the team's energy. Let's start with Harmony; I want a protection detail around her so she can concentrate on the Light Barriers. Once she's taken care of, we'll have individual members of the team- preferably one at a time- get fixed up, then go back to help while another team member gets taken care of, in a rotation-type deal." It took a moment, but he finally heard from Harmony, the strain of concentrating on the Light Barriers very evident as she told him
"You'll have to take the Ethers to me." A nodded, replying
"That was already the plan and why I wanted a protection detail around you." Seras put in
"Alright, we'll get that done." A grinned, replying
"Good." He turned back to Delta, telling her
"As soon as the protection detail is up, I want you fix up Harmony, the purple Gardevoir. She's integral to this fight, and we need her at her best." Delta looked at the fight for a second, then asked
"She's holding back the pieces, right?" A nodded, grinning.
"Yup." Delta suggested
"Why don't you just burn them?" A explained
"I don't want to risk the pieces might not be torched and then take the opportunity to be reabsorbed." Delta shrugged, arguing
"Not if they're ashes, I think." A pointed out
"But we don't know that they would be ashes, and that's not something I want to risk." Delta shrugged.
"Alright. We'll go with your plan." A thought a moment, then remarked
"Still, if it's a possibility..." He tapped on his communicator, saying
"Jean, it's A. See if you can torch one of the tentacles. Try to turn it into ash if possible." Jean asked
"The whole thing?" A replied
"No, just a tentacle. I want to see if it's even possible to reduce this thing to ashes. If it doesn't work, we haven't lost anything. But if it does work, we might have gained something." Jean answered
"You got it!"
"Good luck." He then looked to see how the protection detail around Harmony was coming along. He saw a couple of team members and Projects around Harmony as Delta gave her an Ether to re-energize her. A did a double take, looking where he last saw Delta. He saw her still standing next to him, smiling at him. A simply grunted and turned back, observing. He saw Harmony, now better let the defenses of one of the tentacles, letting Jean torch it. The tentacle squirmed as a result and eventually was turned to ash by the intense heat. A quickly told Jean
"Watch the ashes; I want to know if they try to get reabsorbed into the main creature." Jean nodded and Harmony put the ashes under another barrier to make sure they stay put. They watched for a while and saw no activity. A asked
"What's the verdict?" Jean replied
"I think that'll work." A told them
"Give it an opening and see if anything changes." Harmony sounded wary, asking
"Are you sure?" A replied with certainty
"It's just a tentacle; this will help determine if it can regenerate at the molecular level." Although less sure, Harmony replied
"Alright." She let go of the barrier and Jean stepped back to observe. After a couple of moments, he reported
"Nothing's happening." A grinned, concluding
"Then I think we can safely torch the pieces. Go ahead and do that to the rest of them, then start hacking again." Jean replied
"Roger that!" A remarked to himself
"Let's just hope we don't regret it." He then watched as Jean ran to each tentacle and ignited them, with each destroyed appendage giving Harmony some relief from the continued drain. A stated
"With the excess flesh burned away, you can hack off some more and burn that. Eventually, it's gotta run out." Delta quickly told him
"I'm sensing an energy spike." A immediately told the team
"Watch your backs; that thing's gathering energy for something." Seras replied
"That explains why it hasn't been fighting back." Scowling, A warned
"Be careful. I don't wanna imagine what that kinda power will do to you guys, considering it turns sand into glass pretty easily." They all then saw all the eyes on the beast go dark and the beast collapsing to the ground. A frowned, stating
"I think that's a trap." Seras said to him
"I still have it restrained." A asked
"Think you can keep it that way?"
"I'll try."
"Good luck." The group waited a moment and still no movement came from the beast. Delta commented
"Energy is still building." A reported
"Delta says that energy is still building. Harmony, can you put a Light Barrier around that thing, so it isn't as likely to cause major damage?" Harmony asked askance
"You want me to make a Barrier that big?" A told her
"No. Just try to enclose it in as small of a space as you can manage. Squish it down if you can." Harmony protested
"That might be difficult."
"Just give it a try." Harmony sighed and did so, summoning more Light Barriers and attempted to cover the entirety of the beast and crush it. However, she could not increase the size of the Barrier and couldn't cover it completely. Delta noticed and went to her, transferring more energy into her, giving her the strength to cover the beast. A then watched, hoping this would be enough to at the very least keep the team alive, if not safe. However, the beast still didn't move. A stated
"This doesn't feel right; something should have happened by now." Seras looked down at the beast and remarked
"I'm getting worried." A told them
"I think you guys need to back up. Whatever that thing's got planned, it's not good." The beast suddenly erupted with energy spikes, breaking the Light Barrier, piercing the aura puppet and hitting Seras, causing the aura puppet to vanish and Seras to collapse to the ground. A screamed
"NO!" He quickly told Jean
"Seras was hit! Grab her and get her out of there!" Jean quickly got to her and held the large stab wound on her abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. A swore fluently, then told Delta
"She needs healing, right now!" Delta replied
"Wait for it..." A frowned and watched the scene. He then saw Jean quickly scurrying away. A frowned, wondering why he was leaving her. He quickly noticed light coming from her wound, which closed up. Seras then shot up and erupted into a pillar of energy, which soon disappeared to reveal Seras in her demon form. A blinked, then remarked
"Oh. I forgot about that." He watched Seras shoot forward and begin to pummel the still unmoving beast. A winced, but hoped she'd prevail. She pounded it until its face began to cave in. A stated with a scowl
"Something isn't right here." He turned to Delta, asking
"Is there still any energy in that thing?" Delta nodded, answering
"Yes." A pondered
"Then why isn't it trying to defend itself? Or even move, for that matter?" Delta thought for a moment and suggested
"Metamorphosis. This form is just a cocoon." A frowned, then contacted Jean, telling him
"Can you tell Seras to focus on the chest? This thing seems to be going through a form of metamorphosis, and I'm willing to bet that the main activity will be in the body cavity." Seras contacted him before Jean could respond, saying
"I can still hear your orders. This form doesn't take away my cognitive reasoning. So, go for the chest?" A blinked, surprised, but amended
"Sorry, I just figured your rage might disrupt your reasoning. My bad. Yes, the chest." Seras nodded and went down between the beast's legs and to its underbelly. She prepared an attack, but an arm suddenly shot out of the belly, breaking it like stone. It grabbed Seras and slammed her to the ground. A muttered
"Shit, we're too late." Another arm broke out of the old body reached forward to the head, ripping it off like stone and revealing a large reptilian head with wild unblinking eyes. It growled before a pair of wings burst from the body and released it from its shell. Now the beast was bipedal, but retained the corpses on its flesh. The old shell then began to turn to dust, which flew and clung to the beast, coalescing and forming what appeared to be an ashy grey armor plating over its body. A remarked
"I get the feeling that burning the pieces is no longer an option." It then looked at the ashes of what used to be its tentacles and growled angrily. Delta noted
"It's incomplete." A looked at her from the corner of his eye, asking
"So, it can't reconstitute those ashes?" Delta confirmed
"No. It needed them for its metamorphosis. Since matter can't be created, it lost whatever benefit those tentacles would have given it. At least, that's my theory. It reacted poorly to seeing the ashes." A nodded, relieved.
"Then I'm glad Jean torched those when he did. It might give us an advantage, at least in the sense that it's metamorphosis can't be completed now." Delta added
"Let's use this to our advantage." A queried
"How so?" Delta suggested
"Well, it may have an aversion to fire." A smirked, replying
"We can test that." He tapped his communicator, saying
"All fire users, front and center; give this thing an inferno bath and see how it likes it." Jean answered
"I think only Gamma and I are combatant Fire types right now." A told him
"Then get up there and do us proud."
"Aye, aye!" Jean and Gamma both smirked and rushed towards the beast, blasting fire in its direction. The beast held up a hand and erected a large energy shield that stopped the flames. A frowned, stating
"That's going to be an issue." Delta looked at it and said
"It's gained intelligence... somehow." A frowned, remarking
"Maybe that metamorphosis." The beast suddenly opened its mouth and unleashed a large beam of energy towards the team. The team quickly moved out of the way, dodging the attack. The attack hit the ground and continued for a good distance, leaving a smoldering line of molten glass behind. A groaned, declaring
"We really need to kill this thing!" Delta looked around, commenting
"I think the ecosystem is screwed." A huffed and replied
"That's putting it mildly." Seeing the extent of the damage, Delta stated
"This place is just going to be a desert of glass." A nodded, firmly iterating
"Unless we stop this abomination." Delta debated
"We need to get through its defenses." A thought on that for a second, adding
"Well, it has a shield it can produce, so we need to get around that." Delta pointed out
"It also has armor. Not to mention that we don't even know what abilities it has now." A remarked
"Yeah, but given that we didn't even know what abilities it truly had before, I don't think that's a new concept for us." Delta asked
"Any ideas?" A frowned in thought, then said
"Well, I have my father's blade, Bloodclaw. But I don't think I can safely use it." Delta shook her head.
"Against something that big, I doubt it." A explained
"Well, it has an ability called Breaker, which destroys any shield it clashes with." Delta asked further
"Physical or energy?" A replied
"I think both."
"Have you tried it?" A thought for a moment, then answered
"Definitely against physical shields, and I'm pretty sure against energy shields, too. But like I said before, I can't get involved; one solid hit will kill me." Delta concluded
"Then you'll have to hand the sword to someone." A hummed in thought, drawing Bloodclaw, stumbling when the sudden weight shifted his balance. Once he regained it, he thought aloud
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any restrictions on who can wield it, like my blade does. However, it's one thing to be able to hold the sword, another to use the abilities. Hmm…" Thinking intently, he tapped on the communicator, saying
"Allen, can you come back to the plateau? I need your help with something." Allen replied
"Seriously? We're still fighting this thing, and we need all the help we can get!" A told him
"And that's what I'm trying to do; I'm going to lend one of you my father's blade, which can destroy shields on contact." Allen paused at that, then simply said
"Oh. Okay, be right up." He cut contact, and A began to think over which team member should wield the large claymore. He discounted the quadrupeds, for obvious reasons, regardless of even if they had a human form. Allen himself was a decent candidate to wield the blade, but looking out on the battlefield, he had a better idea. When the young Lucario arrived, A held out Bloodclaw and stated
"I need you to deliver this to Wayland. I think he can put it to the best use." Allen was confused, asking
"The guy of the team that fights with his fists?" A nodded, explaining
"Yup. His strength will be best suited to a claymore. Plus, he doesn't have many options against ranged attacks; this will remedy that." Allen nodded and took the sword, saying
"I hope you're right." A shrugged, not having a better alternative, anyway.
"Guess we'll see." Allen then took off with the blade, hoping to find Wayland. Delta asked
"Was that a good idea?" A stated
"Well, we need something to destroy that shield; I know that blade can do it, and I trust my teammates won't steal from me." Delta was confused, asking
"Why would they steal it?" A clarified
"My teammates wouldn't; I'm not as confident about some of yours." Delta still appeared confused.
"Of mine?" A told her
"I trust you, and Gamma, and Beta. Psi is a little in the air, because I don't know where her loyalties lie. If Lambda ever tries to confront me again, I will not hesitate to kill her. If I encounter Iota, I have no doubt he's going to try to kill me. The rest, I don't know well enough or don't want to associate with them." Delta sweatdropped, pointing out
"Umm... I haven't been with Team Rocket for a very long time. I work for Silph Co.'s counter terrorist division." A nodded, responding
"Which is why I trust you. Nevertheless, I knew you first as a Project. Whether that was your choice or not doesn't really make a difference at this point." Delta grunted.
"I see. Well, I'm still here to heal people." A grinned, replying
"And believe me, I'm glad you showed up when you did."
"So, what do we do now?" A shrugged, answering
"Wait to see how it goes." Delta commented
"I hope you're right about the sword." A muttered
"So do I." He looked over to where Rick and Iota were fighting and saw that the field around the area was gone, meaning the fight probably had ended. A frowned, wondering who the victor had been. Xeron suddenly appeared, exhausted.
"That was rough." A asked
"Who were you up against, anyway?" Xeron shook his head, explaining
"I wasn't fighting. I was holding back the destruction of the fight." A just replied
"Oh." Xeron added
"They both took each other out." A looked back at where the fight had been, asking with concern
"But they're both still alive, right?" Xeron nodded, answering
"Yes, though very hurt." A nodded, satisfied.
"Hmm. Long as Rick's alive." Xeron looked at the other scene of battle, remarking
"Dartz and Omicron are still going at it, though." A asked
"Any hint where it's going?" Xeron shook his head.
"No clue." A just grunted, and Xeron additionally told him
"You probably don't want to see that part of the desert. All those battles really tore up the place." A pointed to the mostly glass part of the desert, telling him
"Not a new concept at this point. We've really fucked this place up." Xeron shrugged, replying
"I'm not that worried." A protested
"But I am. Doesn't this fall under my jurisdiction?" Xeron regarded him with confusion, answering
"Umm... no." A, confused, asked
"But doesn't this terrible new environment threaten Pokémon living in it?" Xeron told him
"You don't have jurisdiction on everything just because there might be a chance that there are Pokémon. This is Freya's jurisdiction." A took that in for a moment, responding
"Oh. So, it's only my jurisdiction when it involves interaction between humans and Pokémon?" Xeron sighed, saying
"Look, not everything is your jurisdiction if there's even a chance of Pokémon being present. Sometimes people have jobs too." A was genuinely baffled now, asking
"Wait, so, why am I here?" Xeron looked at him, asking back
"Whattya mean?" A told him
"I thought my purpose was to protect Pokémon, but the threats I perceive against Pokémon don't fall under my jurisdiction, which makes me wonder what actually does fall under my jurisdiction." Xeron recited
"Pokémon in peril, Pokémon that need you, Pokémon that need conflicts resolved, Pokémon who face destruction, whether their way of life, their preservation, or their diversity. These are things that fall under your jurisdiction. However, their habitats and homes are not your jurisdiction." A thought on that for a moment, then said
"Alright. I'm gonna memorize that." Xeron nodded approvingly.
"Please do. What's the situation now?" A relayed
"The monster went through some kind of metamorphosis and is currently in what looks like a reptilian form. I'm having Wayland wield Bloodclaw, because the monster has some energy shield, and we need to destroy it before we can successfully attack it." Xeron seemed confused, asking
"You gave your sword to a martial artist?" A shrugged, answering
"I prefer lent, but yes. I figured it would be useful to him since, as far as I'm aware, he has very little defenses against a ranged attack, and Bloodclaw would help with that." Xeron gave that some thought, then said
"Hmm... Well, let's see how we can obliterate this thing without causing more damage." A nodded, stating
"I haven't seen enough of this thing's attacks to get a good idea of what to do yet. Furthermore, the method we used last time- hacking off parts and burning them- is a little up in the air at the moment." Xeron inquired
"Did it have any effect?" A nodded and explained
"Yes. It seems it couldn't absorb the ashes, meaning its transformation was incomplete, which seemed to anger it." Xeron grinned, responding
"Good! Also, you chose not to fight?" A told him bluntly
"I can't."
"Because of your loss of powers?" A replied
"Not just my powers, but also my strength. I am nothing more than a normal human right now. I can't even transform." Xeron frowned at this, not having expected it.
"Hmm... punch me." A simply nodded and did so as hard as he could, but wound up hurting his hand, causing him to try to rub the pain out while hissing in discomfort. Xeron remarked
"Sweet Arceus! That was pathetic. So, yeah, I guess you're staying here." A hissed as the last of the pain faded away, then asked
"Do you know why that serum took out my strength?" Xeron shook his head, answering
"Not really." A sighed and stated
"Then I need to figure out where my strength is coming from." Xeron suggested
"Training, energy, the power of friendship..." A smirked and retorted
"Somehow, I don't think a serum would affect that last one." Xeron added
"Or just the drive to go back home and spend time with your wife. I know which one I liked when I was alive." A nodded, but also started thinking intensely about what the serum could actually have done. Xeron, however, had more to tell him.
"Fair warning, though; the serum can possibly cause hallucinations once it has fully reached your brain. So, if you start seeing the rocks speaking to you, ignore it." A blinked, asking
"You're screwing with me, right? Please tell me you're screwing with me. I won't even be mad, just tell me you're not serious right now." Xeron lamented
"Oh, I wish I were. However, it should take a while before you start tripping." A groaned, stating
"I'm not able to help physically, and too soon I'll be out of my mind! I guess at that point I'll have to be kicked out of the battlefield entirely, for my own safety." Xeron assured
"We still have time. Look, I bet you this fight will be over in ten to fifteen minutes." A remarked dryly
"I don't think I'm in a position to bet, but I hope you're right." Xeron suggested
"When you face a big guy, you go for the legs." A pointed out
"First we gotta get around that shield." Xeron conceded the point, replying
"True. Looks like Wayland is ready to hit it." A watched, hoping it went well. He saw the beast repel everyone's attacks as they came, then saw Wayland collide the blade with the shield, the blade flashed, and the shield shattering shortly after. A grinned, saying
"Bloodclaw came through for us." Xeron smirked, adding
"Now hit it where it hurts." A stated
"Let's hope this thing's scales don't impede them too much." Xeron pointed out
"It still has armor. So hit it really, really hard." A replied simply
"I'm sure they already know that." The beast suddenly let out a strong roar and began to gather energy into its body. It then slammed its arms to the ground and created a shockwave and threw everyone into the air. A winced, but didn't say anything. Xeron sighed, yelling
"Okay, this is getting stupid!" The beast rose and then turned his head towards where A, Delta, and Xeron were. Xeron sweatdropped and said
"Maybe... I should keep my voice down." A looked at him and stated
"I don't wanna be this guy, but I hate you for making me a target when I can't defend myself." Xeron winced, replying
"Yeah. Sorry. Want me to teleport us to another side?" A nodded, answering
"Please and thank you." The beast began to charge energy and fired a large beam towards the group. Xeron grabbed Delta and A and teleported away, appearing a good distance behind the beast, leaving the attack to explode in the distance. A breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was too close." Xeron stated much more quietly
"I should keep my voice down." Aldira suddenly appeared and asked
"Did you mess up?" Xeron smirked and said
"Define messing up." Aldira told him
"If you got any of our friends killed, I will kill you." Still smirking, Xeron pointed out
"I'm already dead." Aldira retorted
"Then I'll kill you again." A smirked, but decided not to comment. Aldira then handed him a syringe, telling him
"That should hold off the hallucinations for a couple more hours. You actually only have about thirty minutes before you start to trip. So, time to poke yourself. I also added in a little thing to return your powers to you, but only for thirty minutes. That's all that chemical mixture can do for you. It wasn't easy to find a way to counteract it. I had to go to a space with slower time to get that thing finished. It was a labor between me and Freya to give you a fighting chance." A nodded, grateful, and gently inserted the needle, pushing down the plunger, then waited.
"Oh, by the way, it's really toxic. So, it won't kill you, but it'll feel like molten metal in your veins for like a couple of seconds. So...happy thoughts." At that moment, A's fist clenched, he gritted his teeth, and tried to ride it out. Soon, the pain vanished, and he could feel his energy returning to him. Aldira then told him
"I can't give you another one of those for three days. That's how long it will take for you to get that stuff out of your system. It's toxicity is so high that one milligram more of it will kill you." A nodded, then went to a boulder to see if he could lift it. He struggled for a moment, but then managed to lift the large rock. He smirked, then set it down and drew Savior, telling Xeron
"Let me know when twenty-five minutes have passed. I don't wanna de-power in the middle of battle." Xeron nodded, promising
"You got it!" Aldira then said
"Hold up!" She walked over and took out a small knife. She then stabbed it lightly into his shoulder, enough to draw blood and stepped back, telling him
"Look at the knife." A looked at it and saw the knife begin to corrode. A blinked in surprise and looked at Aldira, who said
"Yeah. The serum makes your blood somewhat corrosive, but somehow it won't kill you because of Freya's specific concoction. So, if you get hit, try not to bleed on the others. Unless you want to burn them." A took in the information, then started thinking. He smirked, telling her
"Thanks for the tip." With that, he hopped off the plateau and headed for the battlefield. He arrived to see Jean dodging an energy blade that the beast shot down at him. A dashed up and slashed at the beast; the beast's armor was hit, cracking but not breaking. A jumped back hard, assessing the crack.
He saw that the crack was minimal, meaning he would have to hit it harder. The beast growled and glared at him, bringing down a clawed hand towards him. A slashed at its hand with all his might, and the beast quickly retracted its hand, trying to avoid any damage.
A smirked, then jumped further away, looking for Psi. He saw her on the ground, panting, trying to regain her strength. He went to her and lent her some of his own energy, which allowed Psi to sit up and say
"I'm getting tired. Can you spare some blood?" A replied
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that; I was given a temporary cure to the serum Lambda injected into me, but it's so toxic it's made my blood acidic. How it's not melting my body is a question for another time. Point is, you might be able to use it as a weapon." Psi seemed confused, asking
"Using it as acid?" A nodded, answering
"Basically." They then heard a shuffling near them and saw a Specter coming out of the ground, shaking itself from its daze. Psi's eyes began to glow, and she said
"Perfect timing." She suddenly hissed and shot towards the Specter, tackling it to the ground and holding it down. She then latched herself onto its neck and began to drain it as the Specter fought to try to break free, but soon stopped moving as it was drained dry of its blood. A sweatdropped, but didn't say anything. Psi soon finished and readjusted her mask, saying
"Sorry about that. Now I have my energy back." A decided not to comment on what he had just seen, moving on by responding
"Sure. Anyway, give it a try and see what happens." Psi asked
"How much blood should I take?" A replied
"Just about a few milliliters." Psi nodded, asking further
"Alright. Should I cut you, or do you want to do it? I don't want it to just burst out of your body in a painful or fatal way." A pointed and said
"I already have a cut on my shoulder." Seeing it, Psi said
"Good!" A then felt and saw blood gushing out of the wound and then stopped as he had asked. A winced at the pain, but didn't complain. Psi asked
"So, how do you want me to use it?" A told her
"As a weapon. See if it does anything to the monster's scales." Understanding lit up in Psi's eyes as she declared
"Oh, I get it! You're trying to weaken its armor." A nodded with a grin, replying
"Exactly. This reprieve is only temporary, and I want to do everything I can to help." Psi nodded, replying
"Alright. Just tell me when and where." A asked
"Did you see where I struck it, where it's armor is cracked?" Psi shook her head and answered
"No. I was unconscious." A grunted, then looked carefully before pointing it out to Psi, saying
"Right there, see it?" Psi squinted, looking where he was pointing, and answered
"Yes... barely." A told her
"That's your where. Go for it anytime you have an opening." Psi nodded again.
"Alright. I'll be ready." A nodded, asking
"Can you seal up my cut, by the way? I can't risk bleeding out." Psi nodded and snapped her fingers. A looked at his shoulder and saw that it was quickly plugged up and scabbed.
"Thanks. Now, let's get this monster." He went back to the battle, intending to get as much done as possible. Xeron contacted him telepathically, telling him
"Twenty five minutes remaining." A replied
"Thanks for the update." He then tried to make the shift to his Gallade form. However, this did not work as his body would not change. He grunted, disappointed, but forged on, wielding Savior. The beast flew into the air and began to fire down a barrage of beams to the ground. A shouted to Wayland
"Use Bloodclaw! Absorb those and fire back!" Wayland called back
"How?!" A quickly instructed
"Hold it up!" Wayland did so, absorbing the beams as they came at him. They were soon all encased in the blade and he commented
"That's so cool. Why is this thing getting hotter?" A explained
"The heat of the attacks is never perfectly dissipated; launch the energy by pointing at the monster and thrust the blade forward." Wayland nodded and pointed the blade at the beast and thrust the blade, shooting out the energy. The energy hit the beast and caused it to stagger back. A rushed the beast, his blade glowing orange, and struck hard with Fist Judgement. The beast staggered, but then quickly retaliated with a swipe and knocked him away. A bounced on the sand a couple times before rolling back into an upright position, before rushing again. He saw Wayland swinging at the beast again, but he was punched to the ground in retaliation.
A launched forward, trying to strike. The beast growled and fired a blast towards him. A threw himself to the side to avoid it and lunged forward, stabbing. The beast took the stab, the blade bouncing off its armor, but forming another crack. It quickly grabbed A and began to squeeze down on him.
A groaned, then tried to electrocute the monster, but the eyes and the body then began to turn yellow and absorbed the electricity. A swore and cut off the electricity, at which point the beast then went back to squeezing him. A growled, irritated, and started pushing back. In response, the beast then opened its maw to try to eat him. A called out
"Guys, I need some help here!" Gamma suddenly managed to somehow jump the height and uppercut the beast, staggering it and forcing it to let go of A, who landed relatively safely on the sand, saying
"Thanks." Gamma nodded and remarked
"You're welcome. This thing is learning as it goes." A frowned and commented
"It also absorbed my electricity. I don't know if this thing can absorb other types, but I'm not eager to find out." Gamma thought for a second, then said
"We have to screw with it." A inquired
"How so?" Gamma shook his head, replying
"No idea." A grunted, saying
"Well, we gotta try something; I'm here for, at most, another fifteen minutes." Xeron confirmed in his mind
"Yep." A rushed to re-engage in the fight, but the beast quickly took to the sky, seeing him coming.A growled and created a wind stream that he used to take off, following it.The beast quickly responded by letting out a powerful roar that created a series of soundwaves. A gritted his teeth and tried to fly through them, and was stopped for a moment as the sound waves wracked his body, causing immense pain, but he gritted his teeth, counting on adrenaline to help block the pain. He resumed his flight and attempted to smack the monster as hard as possible.
He managed to contact the beast, causing it to be launched back to the ground. It flailed for a moment before standing back up and firing up a beam towards A, who cut the power and let himself drop, free-falling for a few seconds before putting a burst of wind that propelled him to the monster again. The beast's eyes began to turn powder blue and it fired off a blizzard towards him. A thrust Savior forward and unleashed a burst of fire, melting the ice as it got to him, but then saw the beast's enormous fist coming to him.
Thinking quickly, A grabbed the monster's fist and used his momentum to fling himself away, narrowly avoiding critical damage. The beast saw this and went to attack again, but was suddenly knocked down by Seras, who slammed it to the ground. A ran toward it, trying to stab it in the head, until he saw Seras motioning for him to stay back. He frowned, but complied.
The beast stood up, shaking off its daze. It turned around and was then hit again and knocked down once more. A waited, wondering when- or if- he could attack. The beast jumped to its feet and began to charge energy in its mouth, and A shouted to Wayland
"Give me Bloodclaw!" Wayland nodded and threw the sword towards him. A held out his hand and recalled his father's claymore to his hand, then waited, before being taken by surprise when the beast then suddenly swallowed the energy. It suddenly spawned energy blades at the end of its arms and charged towards the team.
A jumped in, trying to see if he could absorb one of the energy blades with Bloodclaw. The blades clashed, but A didn't see any energy being absorbed, so he gritted his teeth and tried to lop off the arm. The beast clenched its arm and blocked the attack with its armor, avoiding losing the arm, but suddenly began to growl in pain. A looked and saw Psi splashing its chest with the corrosive blood. A smirked and stabbed at the head while the monster was distracted.
The beast suddenly split its head in half, revealing the squirming corpses reaching out for A. A great number of them grabbed him and pulled him in as the beast closed its head. Inside, A was being held down by the semi-dead humans and Pokémon, who clawed at him and began to pull at him in different directions. A immediately began blasting fire in an attempt to blow up the head so he could get out. He managed to cut his way out, seeing the beast reform its head, but not the part that was directly burned. Xeron then contacted him, relaying
"Ten minutes." A didn't respond, breathing hard, very much scared from what felt like a near-death experience.Xeron asked him
"Are you alright?" A took a shaky breath, then said
"That was an experience I'm going to be having nightmares about for a long, long time."
"What happened?"
"Did you not just see it?"
"Unfortunately, my attention was elsewhere."
"Then I'll explain sometime later."
"Well, it looks like Psi has it reeling."
"She's using my acid blood."
"Gross."
"But effective."
"Trying to weaken its armor?"
"Yup."
"Well, stop talking to me and fight. You're running out of time." A nodded and jumped back into the fray. Not eager to get eaten again, A tried to immobilize the beast by manipulating the sand to trap its feet.
The beast quickly wrapped itself in its wings and gathered energy into them, prompting A to hold Bloodclaw at the ready. The beast then shot them open, releasing a powerful pulse, and he held up Bloodclaw to absorb it. The attack began to be absorbed into the blade, but it was clear that sword was beginning to fill rapidly. A immediately blasted the energy at the monster, but the beast saw this and suddenly sunk into the sand. A growled, irritated, and tried to solidify the sand to trap it. The beast burst through the sand and flew towards A. Xeron contacted him, informing him
"It's learning how to counter. Better get creative." A frowned, then hurled Savior straight at the beast.The sword sank into the beast's large head, which let out a groan of pain.Savior then went into self-defense mode, and since electricity had not worked before, it instead let out pulses of fire.The beast roared with great pain and forcibly knocked Savior off its head and recoiled from the pain.A smirked and recalled Savior to his hand. Xeron chuckled and remarked
"I would guess that most things hate fire." A was quick to tell Jean through his communicator
"Find Gamma; you two will be instrumental in fighting this thing." Jean responded
"Aww! You do like us." A smirked, replying
"I never said I didn't." Jean asked
"So, what do you need us to do?" A told him
"Torch it; nice and simple." Jean questioned jokingly
"So... monster barbecue?" A grinned and quipped
"Long as you brought the sauce." Jean asked
"Magma?" A rolled his eyes, telling him
"I'm not really into spicy food." Xeron called out
"Oh, shut up and fight already!" A smirked, telling Jean
"I'm gonna join in. You get Gamma, and we'll do a three-point position. Seras, get everyone out of the immediate area, away from the danger zone." Seras asked
"Why me?" A explained
"Because you can communicate with everyone, including the Projects, while I'm busy fighting. I've only got a few minutes left before the serum wears off and I lose my powers, so let's get to work." With that he immediately began trying to distract the monster. The beast easily took the bait and tried to attack him, but he jumped back, edging to the side, but also attacked with ice, mostly to see if it did anything. The beast's body began to turn icy blue just as the attack hit it, helping it resist the attack. A cut the attack, frowning, but also keeping its distance. Xeron commented
"It really is learning." A remarked
"Hopefully my idea works, though." Xeron pondered
"Wait... it composed itself of ice, right?"
"Possibly..."
"Then fire is going to do an insane amount of damage."
"With that being the case, I can't attack." He contacted the team, asking
"How's it going?" Jean replied
"Gamma wants to charge up a giant fire attack." A asked
"Is it going to be physical?" Jean answered
"A mix of both. Fire energy into a large energy blade." A told him
"I'd prefer we go purely special on this; we don't know if it'll absorb the energy after a certain point, and I don't want anyone under direct fire if it does." Jean questioned
"If it absorbs energy, wouldn't it be a bad idea to go special?" A pointed out
"Yes, but we wouldn't be in range of its claws if it can also absorb physical hits." Jean concluded
"So, we lose either way." A replied
"It's still worth trying before I have to leave, though." Jean conceded
"Fine." A asked further
"You guys ready?"
"I guess." A nodded, replying
"Alright, let's do this." A made sure to keep the monster's attention on him, but also quickly looked for Jean and Gamma to make sure they were in position. He saw them gathering energy into a large ball of fire, waiting for the command. A shouted
"Now!" He unleashed a stream of fire at the monster, wincing as he felt it drain his energy. The beast was hit by A's flames, causing it to roar in great pain. It then heard the launch of the other attack and quickly shifted to a red coloration and absorbed the attack. Xeron sighed and said
"Physical attack was the best choice. It doesn't make a sound when it rips through the air and the creature would have no time to react to it while getting pelted by your flames." The beast roared in a rage and turned to try to punch A with a flaming fist, but was suddenly lifted off the ground by many sharp earthen pillars, which caused it a great deal of damage.Beta erupted from the ground and said
"Transition to using the elemental weaknesses of the element it takes on." A smirked and pointed Savior at the earthen spires, manipulating them to stab into the beast. The beast roared in further pain and pulled itself off the spikes, ripping them from its body. It then shifted to a hint of brown. A immediately blasted it with a Glacial Judgement. The beast recoiled from the hit and fell to one knee, shifting to a black hue. A frowned, stating
"That's new." Jean smirked and remarked
"It turned into a Dark type. It's catching on that we're exploiting its weaknesses. It's pretty smart." A, understanding, replied
"Oh, so it can actively choose it's type. Well, that won't work on me." He immediately blasted Fairy energy at the monster. The beast was blasted and was hit on the weakened armor, causing it to shatter. A quickly asked Xeron
"How much time do I have left?" Xeron answered
"Twenty seconds." A swore, telling the team
"I have to get out of here; good luck." He created the wind stream and took off for the plateau. Xeron greeted
"Hey there! How did it go for you?" A landed and sheathed Savior, replying
"Pretty well, all things considered. We've finally figured out its trick, I managed to break its armor, so hopefully this can get wrapped up and I can go home to trip." Aldira responded
"Good! Did you use your powers to heal before you came here?" A told her
"I couldn't; I lost access to my aura after the battle against Team Rocket, and I couldn't go into my Gallade form, either." Aldira considered that, replying
"I see. Hmm... I guess you're going on a vacation from work for a while." A thought for a moment, then asked
"Actually, aren't we going to be arrested as soon as we return to the Sanctuary?" Aldira, seeming to remember that, said
"Oh yeah! That's a thing." A sighed, asking
"So lay it out for me; am I gonna be tripping balls while stuck in a room made of concrete with other criminals?" Aldira shook her head, replying
"No. No one is going to be rotting in a cell. Auron won't let that happen. House arrest is more of a thing that might happen, though." A nodded, finding that obvious.
"Right, but won't we initially be arrested and put in a holding cell?" Aldira shook her head, answering simply
"Nope." A was surprised, as he knew this was standard practice among humans.
"Really? So how does the Sanctuary do it?" Aldira explained
"The reason is that they don't want to risk their image being damaged by forcibly arresting all of you. They also don't want to fight the entire team. So, they'll hold off on such things as a formality. You'll still be under arrest, but in your homes." A processed that for a moment, then replied
"Oh. Still a far cry from what humans would do, but maybe that's for the better. Is there a chance I'm going to start hallucinating before we get back?" Aldira sighed and told him
"You should start to hallucinate any minute now." A nodded grimly, asking
"In that case, could I ask one of you to explain to Green why I'm acting like a lunatic?" Aldira seemed confused, saying
"What are you talking about? It's just visual hallucinations. You'll be fine, as long as you know that anything crazy that you see is not really there." A frowned, thinking. Then he argued
"Xeron mentioned to ignore any rocks that talk to me. So, was he just messing with me, or would I actually experience auditory hallucinations as well?" Xeron chuckled, telling him
"I was kinda messing with you. It's all visual." A grunted, not surprised, but also a little annoyed.
"In the future, could you refrain from doing that? I sometimes have difficulty distinguishing jokes from statements." Xeron remarked
"That much I've noticed. Anyways, you should probably just lay down and let it happen." A grunted and sat down, waiting. He looked up at the stars and rushing sand and began to see it as if the scene was melting slowly. He blinked, surprised by this, and commented
"Okay, this isn't what I was expecting... but then again, I've never hallucinated in this manner before." Aldira said to him
"Yeah, the synapses in your brain should be starting to fire on all cylinders. So, expect it to get weird soon." A told her
"The sky and sand are melting, like ice cream. That's not weird enough?" Aldira asked back
"Are they changing colors?" A hesitated, then admitted
"No." Aldira grinned, replying
"Give it a minute." A just groaned, and Aldira offered
"Want me to put you to sleep?" A frowned slightly, objecting
"What if the team needs my help?" Aldira assured him
"Don't worry. They'll be fine." A sighed, resigned.
"Might as well, then. I'm of no further use until Lambda's serum wears off." Aldira walked over to him and waved a hand over him, releasing a dull light over his head; he slumped to the ground, a rather uncomfortable-looking position. After a brief period of darkness, A found himself in his home in the Sanctuary. He frowned, asking
"Wait, am I awake now?" He saw Green on the porch, appearing to be reading. A went to her, knocking on the door frame to catch her attention. She saw him and smiled, greeting
"Welcome home." A smiled as well, then asked
"How long was I out?" Green answered
"Quite a while." A asked further
"How long, specifically?" Green looked at the clock, then told him
"Maybe fifteen hours." A grunted
"Hmm. That's not too bad. But why didn't Aldira wake me up when she brought me here?" Green regarded him with confusion, asking
"Who?" A frowned and told her
"Aldira, Xeron's wife. Come on, you know this." Green shook her head, saying
"Doesn't ring a bell." A was confused now, asking
"What's my name?" Green answered easily
"Michael." A continued
"So, you remember my name, but not your own friend's name?" Green raised an eyebrow and asked
"Honey, are you okay?" A thought for a moment, then asked
"Where exactly are we?" Green replied
"We're at home." A urged
"Yes, but in what location, next to what city, located in what region?" Green seemed wary now, saying carefully
"Okay dear, you're starting to worry me." A burst out
"And you're not making any sense! Do you not know where we are? It's the Sanctuary, next to Pastoria City, in the Sinnoh region! Tell me you at least remember that!"
"Yes, I do. What's up with you?" A sat down next to her, telling her
"In that battle against Omicron, Lambda showed up and injected me with a serum she concocted. It took away my powers and strength." Green raised an eyebrow, asking
"Lambda?" A thought back, and couldn't remember if he'd told her about Lambda, and so figured it was a reasonable question.
"The evil scientist of Team Rocket, basically. She's a sadist, bent on creating as much pain and destruction as she can." Rubbing her pregnant belly, she said
"That sounds horrible. At least she can't get us here." A grinned, replying
"The serum should only last a few days, at most. During the battle, Al-" He paused as he remembered Green didn't remember Aldira, for whatever reason, and quickly amended
"-a couple of the other Knights made an anti-serum for me that countered the original serum's effects for about half an hour, so I was able to contribute." Green seemed genuinely surprised now, commenting
"Knights? This story sounds interesting. Are you sure you're okay?" A frowned again, distinctly suspicious.
"Okay, you have to remember I'm part of the Arceus Knights, The Guardian of Pokémon. We went over that the day you were resurrected." Green was wary again, telling him
"Now I'm really worried. Dear, you're just a normal human like me." A blinked, then replied as a way out
"Maybe I need to rest some more. I'll just go back to bed."
"Are you sure?" A nodded and stood, answering
"Yeah. I'll see you later." With that, he headed back inside, thinking intensely.
"This doesn't feel like a dream, but it has to be; there's no way Green could ever forget that I'm a Knight, not after all the times it's been addressed. Am I still asleep, then? And the serum is making me hallucinate even in my dreams?" He walked over to the door to the master bedroom and reached forward, but the handle began to melt before he could touch it.A paused, then sighed.
"Damn it, I am still hallucinating. I can't even escape this Tauros-shit in my own damn sleep?" He pushed on the door, which shattered, and he walked into the room, seeing Green asleep on the bed. He blinked, then muttered to himself
"I need to go to the closet, and just sit in the darkness until this blows over." He turned to where the closets are and saw that only a blank wall was in their place.
"Oh, of course. Fine, I can just lay in bed and do roughly the same thing." He kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed with his wife. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, finding himself in the center of a field.
"Oh, come on!" He looked around and saw all the plant life was twisted and broken. He declared
"You know what, I'm just gonna lie here and do nothing until I wake up." He proceeded to do just that. He looked at the sky and saw the clouds twist and move around in odd patterns. His view was then soon blocked by Green looking down at him and asking
"What are you doing laying down in the backyard?" A tried to roll with it, answering
"Just watching the clouds. Why?" Green shrugged, explaining
"I was just curious. Also, there's a package for you in the living room." A grunted, asking
"Who's it from?" Green shook her head, answering
Oct 1, 2019"It doesn't say." A groaned as he sat up.
"Alright, let's see it." Green told him
"I didn't bring it with me. It's in the living room."
"I know." He headed for the house. He opened the door to the house and walked inside and was now in a very long hallway. Frowning, he looked around to see if Green was still with him, but only saw more hallway behind him. A shrugged and sat against the wall, deciding not to play along. He looked around and saw the items in the hallway begin to float softly though the air, which he promptly ignored. He closed his eyes to ignore the hallucinations, but then heard Green ask
"Dear, are you okay?" A opened his eyes to see what his house looked like now. He found himself sitting at the kitchen table, with Green appearing concerned.
"I thought you went to go get the package?" A tried to play it off by explaining
"Yeah, I just felt a little dizzy all of a sudden and sat down to rest a bit." Green didn't seem convinced, but also not willing to challenge it.
"Hmm... if you say so. By the way, what do you want for dinner?" A shrugged, not caring since it didn't matter.
"I dunno. What were you thinking?" Green contemplated it for a moment before saying
"Hmm... I don't know. I guess I'll come up with something."
"Okay." He then went to see if he could check on the package in the living room. He walked into the living room and saw a package on the coffee table. He quickly went to open it, refusing to blink so that the scene didn't change. He opened the package and only saw a note inside of it, asking
"Are you scared yet?" A smirked and replied
"Actually, I'm more irritated than scared." Green then called out
"Dinner's ready!" A frowned and remarked
"That was fast." He tried going to the kitchen to see what Green had prepared. He walked into the kitchen and was met by the horrible sight of Green putting Pokémon body parts on the table. He tried closing his eyes and opening them, thinking the scene would change. However, the scene remained in place, but this time Green was sitting at the table, devouring the raw chunks of flesh. He gulped nervously and thought to himself
"Well, at least I know it's a hallucination; I can go along with this, because it's not real." Despite rationalizing it to himself, he found it immensely difficult to sit down and actually even reach for one of the parts. Green suddenly grabbed his hand, but continued eating. A quickly tensed and looked at her, wondering what she was doing. She then raised her head to reveal razor sharp teeth, asking
"Hungry?" A was shocked, to say the least, and more than a little scared at this point, but replied as evenly as he could manage
"Not really, I'm mostly tired." Green suggested
"Then how about you go to sleep?" A nodded compliantly, responding
"Yeah, I think I'll do that." He quickly left, working to maintain his composure. He left the kitchen, still hearing Green wolf down the flesh. A took a shaky breath, then headed for the bedroom, and when he arrived he noticed that everything was normal. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, saying aloud
"Okay, this I can handle." He went to the bed and rested on top of it, continuing to hear the sounds of "Green's" feast. A winced, not liking it. He turned over and saw a note on the bed that repeated the question:
"Are you scared yet?" A growled and tore it up and tried to sleep, but suddenly heard Green stop eating. He breathed a sigh of relief, until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. A thought to himself
"Oh Arceus, I hope she at least cleaned herself up." He laid on his side and pretended to be asleep. The door suddenly flew open, but no steps followed it. A lightly opened his eyes to peak, but didn't see her. He closed his eyes again, keeping his hearing on high alert. He then heard Green ask in his ear
"Michael?" A flinched, but tried to make it seem like he was stirring awake, replying in his best groggy voice
"Yeah?" Green queried
"You never came for dinner, so I came to find you. You went to get the package, an hour later I finished dinner, I called you, but you never showed up." A was confused, but tried to go with it, telling her
"Sorry, I was feeling really tired, so I just went to bed." Green remarked
"You've been doing a lot of sleeping lately. I mean, you slept for hours and only recently woke up. Now you went back to sleep. Seriously, is everything okay?" A thought quickly, asking
"Do you remember that serum I told you about?" Green asked back
"It makes you tired?" A shrugged, answering
"It would seem so." Green seemed a bit upset at this, saying apologetically
"Oh. Then I'm sorry to wake you." A reassured her
"It's okay, I know you were worried."
"Do you want to go eat?" A shook his head, deciding to play it safe.
"Nah, I'm not that hungry."
"Are you sure? I made a great cheese and spinach quiche with brown rice." A groaned internally, knowing that the second he went down, it would be mutilated Pokémon again. Trying to think of a compromise, he said
"Not right now, but I'll tell you what; wrap it up for later, because I will devour that." Green appeared disappointed but nodded.
"Alright. Do you want to go back to sleep?" A nodded as well, replying
"Yeah. Thanks." Green got up and walked out of the room, closing the door. A then lay back down and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that everything appeared to be an empty void of colors. He took the time to observe the colors, finding them interesting. The colors weaved and flowed in odd patterns, creating a kaleidoscope of images. Suddenly, everything went white, and an image appeared on the ground. A looked down and saw Lambda's face materialize. She smirked and asked
"Are you scared yet?" A scowled, stating
"So, you're the one behind this. Bitch." Lambda laughed, telling him
"Yeah. The hallucinations caused by that serum are actually caused by a toxin I added into it. That toxin is made from my blood, so a bit of me is inside of you. As a result, I am able to enter your unconscious mind and mess with it for as long as the serum is still in effect. However, I also have to be asleep for it to work. You're actually the test run and, if I may say, it's proving to be a success." A threatened
"I hope you realize that makes you my personal number one target on my hit list. The second I catch sight of you, I will kill you." Lambda replied derisively
"Cute threat, but not one you can make good on. In all honesty, I'm here for something specific. Since you have no psychic barriers around your mind anymore, I went ahead and started looking for information. I needed your brain to give me the location of... him. I will not explain. However, I got something just as nice out of the deal. So, you all live in the Sanctuary, south of Pastoria Town. How interesting!" She added with a dark giggle
"Giovanni will love this... if I tell him. I have no intention to... yet. Just gonna have this in my back pocket for a rainy day. You really are a hive of information. I should use that toxin more often to get information... but it means that torture would be rendered moot. Hmm... I guess I'll just torture and then get the information." A stated coldly
"I will kill you. I don't know when, but I will." Lambda laughed again
"You can't kill me! You lack the means of killing me. I have many contingency plans to survive. You and your friends, on the other hand, are simple enough to kill. I've compiled a great deal of data on all of you for such preparations." A retorted firmly
"We'll find a way." Lambda countered
"Not before you all die. I could easily have killed you today. It was so easy! You and your friends are a joke! Vermin to be crushed under my heel! Now I know where to find you all, so I can just make that entire city suffer for fun... and a bit of pettiness." A told her spitefully
"If you think it'll be that easy, you're deluded." Lambda replied lightly
Oct 2, 2019"Maybe I'll poison the water supply, maybe I'll release viruses, or maybe I'll just send waves after waves of Specters to breach and destroy the city." A retorted
"And maybe I'll just inform my team about your little unwanted excursion into my mind." Lambda grinned, telling him
"I'm in your mind now. I'll just see if I can erase that memory." A smirked back, arguing
"No, that's not happening. See, my mind is expansive, and hard to follow. It's not going to be that easy to find." Lambda stated
"You have no psychic defenses anymore. Your simian brain should be easy to figure out. You humans are useless." A growled, refusing to give in. Lambda's head then began to rise from the ground and asked
"Are you scared now?" A scowled, saying
"No, I'm pissed as hell. Now get the fuck out of my head!" The head laughed and began to split apart, asking
"Really? You want me gone so soon?" A answered firmly
"Damn right. You're horrible company, and I'd sooner cut my own arm off than spend any length of time with you." He then heard Green's voice ask,
"What?" He looked up and saw her where Lambda's head use to be, appearing hurt. A, having had enough, declared
"Alright, Lambda, I'm through playing your games!" He immediately began pinching himself in an attempt to wake up, but when he did he saw his flesh begin to melt. He growled, then ran headfirst at a wall, hoping the shock might wake him up. As he contacted the wall, he opened his eyes and found himself lying on his bed.
A was confused now, wondering if Lambda was directly tampering with his ability to wake up. He looked around and saw his sword leaning against a wall. He suspected it was a trap, not least because he had tricked Lambda into taking his sword, which had no doubt humiliated her. The thought made him smirk with satisfaction. He looked to the side and saw another copy of his sword, this time stained in blood. A scoffed, asking
"Is that the best you can do?" The door then opened and Aldira walked in, remarking
"Good! You're still sane." A immediately turned to her, suspicious, and demanded
"What's my name, my assigned name, my code name, and my charge?" Aldira sighed, relaying
"Your name is Michael Jonathan Ryuto. Your appointed name is Alpha. Your code name is A. Finally, you are charged as the Guardian of Pokémon." A looked at her suspiciously, asking
"How do I know you're the real Aldira and not some twisted manifestation of Lambda's serum?"
"I'm here to wake you up. You've been asleep for a while now. We have to move. The battle seems to be ending and we need you on your feet. Also, your father's name is Jonathan, your mother is Lily, and you were born in the Orre region." A hesitated, then relented.
"Okay, I need to tell you something before you wake me up; Lambda's serum was a way for her to break into my mind while I had no way to defend myself. She now knows the exact location of the Sanctuary, and whatever else she managed to pull that she didn't tell me; I believe she's going to try to wipe that from my mind so I couldn't warn anyone."
"Oh yeah! I saw that. Don't worry. That was a hallucination. We made sure there were no other odd substances in that serum. You must have had a fear like that, and the hallucination took advantage of it and messed with you. Lambda was never actually here." A frowned, stating
"Are you absolutely sure?" Aldira nodded, assuring
"Yep. Don't worry. Everyone is safe." A sighed in relief.
"Okay, I'm going to trust you, then."
"Now it's time to wake you up. So, I'm going to punch you in the face." A winced, but nodded.
"Do what ya gotta do." Aldira walked up and smiled.
"Great!" She then clocked A across the chin, and he woke up with a jump. He looked around and found himself back at the desert, but saw Jean and Harmony unleash a join attack that proceeded to obliterate the beast molecule by molecule. A stood back up, making sure he was actually awake by pinching himself. He felt the sharp sting of the pinch, letting him know that he was awake. He breathed a sigh of relief, then asked Xeron
"The Sanctuary is safe, right? It's not that I don't believe Aldira, I'm just really paranoid and would be really pissed if I was the one to blow its cover." Xeron nodded, assuring
"Don't worry. It's safe." The group then looked back to see Iota and Rick stagger over, beaten and bloody. Iota commented
"Good! It's over. We don't have to get involved." Xeron chuckled and remarked
"You guys did a number on each other." Rick groaned
"Everything hurts!" A stated
"Well, at least it's over, right?" Xeron shrugged, replying
"I don't know." A frowned, asking
"Whattya mean?" Xeron clarified
"Like I legitimately don't know." A was less than reassured, but said
"Oh. Well, the monster's destroyed... I guess it'll be Freya who fixes up the damage?" Xeron told him
"She'll be here in a minute." A nodded.
"Alright. So, what happens now?"
"Someone special is coming." A frowned, asking
"Who?" Xeron looked up and answered cryptically
"The big man." A was surprised, looking up as well. He saw what appeared to be a rift of light beginning to form, but nothing was coming out of it. He waited, though, believing Xeron wouldn't mess around about this. He then heard a loud explosion behind him and noticed that the battle between Dartz and Omicron must have ended. A frowned, wondering who the victor was. Xeron sighed and lowered his head, remarking
"What a shame." A felt the blood drain from his face, and he asked in a low voice
"Dartz didn't lose, did he?" Xeron shrugged, telling him
"I can't tell. Whatever power was used is keeping sensory abilities from gaining insight. All I know is that one is dead." A looked at the area, worried that Ashley had just become an orphan. The area was suddenly covered in a layer of ice, coming from the battlefield. A blinked, taken aback. Xeron then said
"Dartz won." A thought a moment, then asked
"The ice is coming from Ashlyn's spear, isn't it?" Xeron nodded, answering
"It looks like he killed Omicron with Ashlyn's spear."
"So, Omicron's dead. We accomplished what we set out to do." Nevertheless, there was a bitterness to the "accomplishment". Xeron noticed and asked him
"What's wrong?" A hesitated before stating at length
"It's like the age-old adage states; when you go looking for blood, you find it. Sure, we got what we came for, but it's not going to bring Ashlyn back. All we did was risk our lives. Ashley could have been made an orphan, just for a sense of justice. Any one of us could have died. And I played directly into Lambda's scheme; now she has something that she knows for a fact works on me; anytime she comes around, I could be made vulnerable, and who knows if she could do this to any of the other team members, or all of them. We haven't won anything here, Xeron." Xeron nodded and told them
"Good. That's the lesson I wanted you all to take from this." Iota and Rick looked at each other and then back at Xeron, with Rick asking
"Umm... Dad? What?" Xeron turned to him, explaining
"You knew the risks and you ignored them for a sense of revenge, by trying to avenge your friend. I understand your need for vengeance, but you all took a tremendous and reckless gamble. You had the chance to lose far more than what you would have gained. The fact that you are all alive is a miracle right now. I may not show it, but I am livid with all your decisions as of late." Xeron took a breath, then began to rant.
"First, you went on this mission. Two, you regressed back to your old self and used your mercenary mindset to try to get revenge. Three, you made a deal with Alpha! You gave him more power over you, and now you'll need to fight to keep him down again. Four, you threw away so much progress on yourself! Five, your own weapon is now refusing to respond to you for your own good. You won, but you screwed up every step of the way in the last day! Now you need to start over once more on yourself. You need to go home, think hard on what you have done, and realize what you could have lost and how that would have affected not just yourself, but your family and your city. You could have left your wife a widow, your daughter would have lost her father, and the Sanctuary could have lost their future king. How long are you all going to go around ignoring the fact that your actions have consequences that affect other people!? You need to learn that you're not invincible! Tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone!" He pointed at A, adding
"You lost your powers and now can't even perform your duties as a Knight until you get them back! Not to mention that you left your pregnant wife behind and could have left her a widow as well!" He pointed to Iota and finished
"And you know where your decisions led you! You want to be with your children so badly, but your decisions made it so that a relationship with them might be impossible! My job has been to watch over all of you and hope to get your lives in order. It was going so well, but you are all a cavalcade of dunces!" A hung his head, knowing that Xeron was right, and he wasn't even going to try to defend himself; there was no point. Xeron then pointed to the area around them, declaring
"Look at what your decisions can do! This whole ecosystem is a wreck! A Pokémon that has been so mentally and emotionally damaged is now dead because of a revenge trip! Did any of you even try to consider Omicron's perspective!? I was able to see into the abyss that was his life and quite frankly, I can't hate him! He was born a Pokémon slave, raised a Pokémon slave, turned into a Project, found love with someone who was also mentally and emotionally damaged, lost the only thing that gave him comfort, and lost all holds to his perceptions of the world. Instead of thinking about that, your main thought was "We are going to kill him". I understand he killed your friend, but this cycle has to end. Every act of revenge is an act of aggression, and every act of aggression calls for immediate revenge. This has been the start of so many sorrows, I can't even begin to count the gallons of blood it has caused to be shed. Hell, my wife and I were killed because of this cycle!" A still said nothing, not wanting to incur his wrath at this point. Xeron continued
"I can't even imagine what Freya is going to do to you guys. I won't blame her. Oh, also... she's here." A bright flash lit up the area and the Roserade Arceus Knight looked around, horrified.
"What did you people do to this desert!?" A stated dully
"We fought against an abomination created by Lambda. It fired beams that created most of this glass... but the fault was ours for starting this fight in the first place." Freya burst out
"You don't say! Look, I'll deal with you guys later. I need to go and clean up this mess. Also, I heard you lost your powers?" A nodded, starting to feel numb at this point from every mistake he'd made.
"Yeah. Lambda's work again. So, whatever you wanna do to me, better do it in the next couple days before I can retaliate." Xeron cleared his throat, asking pointedly
"What did I just say about retaliation!?" A sighed and explained
"I'm talking instinctively. Someone punches me, I don't just rock back and forth like one of those toys." Xeron asserted
"You all need to learn to pull your punches and let things slide." A didn't bother arguing. The light then lit up in a powerful light as Arceus materialized above everyone and looked at the battlefield. All the Pokémon quickly bowed down in reverence, as Arceus looked upon them, appearing saddened. A kept his head down, not wanting to stand out at the moment. Arceus told them sorrowfully
"This was needless. So much life lost. I want you all to end this war. I've had enough." Arceus looked around once more and said
"Return home. I will send word to all of you as to what you must do when the time is right." He looked at A and instructed
"Until you recover your powers, you will no longer be the Guardian of Pokémon. However, take this time to rest and spend time as human once more." A hesitated, then asked
"Do I have to give up my badge and sword?" Arceus shook his head, answering
"Keep them. You'll be back to work soon. Enjoy being human." A simply nodded. He turned to the Projects and asked
"None of you want further conflict, do you?" Beta replied simply
"We're tired and just want to be at peace." Arceus then asked everyone
"Is everyone accepting of the fact that this war has to end?" A, though he couldn't answer for everyone, nodded anyway. Everyone nodded and Arceus said
"Good. Return to your homes; I have a lot of work to do to fix all your messes." Rick nodded and called out
"My team, back to the Sanctuary!" Beta called out in turn
"Projects! To headquarters!" A sighed and stood back up, beginning to make his way to the Mercury. Rick looked around, then asked
"Shouldn't we check on Dartz? He hasn't returned yet." A frowned, saying
"You better check on him." They suddenly saw Seras shoot past them towards where Dartz's battle took place. The team except A- who couldn't keep up with them- followed behind, trying to make sure that Dartz was alright. They arrived at an area that was freezing from the layer of ice that covered it, finding a bleeding Dartz on the ground, unconscious, and a dead Omicron next to him, curled up and with a noticeable hole in his chest.
A waited at the ramp of the Mercury, waiting for the team to arrive. He waited for about ten minutes, until he spotted the team coming over a dune, carefully carrying an injured Dartz over. A scowled, telling Screech over his communicator
"It looks like Dartz was wounded, badly. Have the med room prepped." Screech replied
"On it!" The team carried Dartz inside, but A noticed that Rick wasn't among them. He looked back to the desert and saw Rick walking over the dune, carrying the corpse of Omicron over his shoulders. Rick walked over to A and told him solemnly
"Tell Screech to go without me. I'll teleport to you guys in a bit. I... I need to bury him with her." A was about to object, or at the very least ask what he meant, but then he remembered the entire reason the feud had started. He simply followed direction, informing Screech
"Rick's telling us to go without him; he'll teleport to us in a bit." Rick smiled weakly at him and asked
"I really messed up, didn't I?" A replied ruefully
"We all did, Rick." Rick argued
"But I led you all into this. I gave the order." A pointed out
"We should have tried talking you out of it. We were all blinded by rage and ego; we went into this together, and we're going to learn from it together." Rick sighed
"Something tells me that I'm going to pay for all of this."
"Well, we kinda knew that when we... requisitioned, the Mercury."
"Man, I could not have screwed up more."
"I think your dad made that clear."
"Yeah. Well...take off. I'll see you later." A nodded, making sure everyone was on the ship, then told Screech
"Take us outta here." The Mercury quickly began to rise and shot into the distance. A took the opportunity to look out the window to the land below and saw the desert in a state of near complete ruin. He sighed, more than a little put out, and went to the med bay to take care of his own wounds.
Okay, sorry if the word count was a little excessive, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway! That finally concludes the Omicron Manhunt arc, but the excitement does not end there, by any stretch of the imagination. See you next time!
