[Part 1]
It was quiet for a few torturously long seconds. Too quiet. The entire forest stood still, as if afraid of making a single noise. A calm before the storm. Then, after several moments of thickly oozing trepidation, the sounds of battle harshly permeated their surroundings.
The iron mockery had transformed its arm blades into a shimmering glaive, which it then wordlessly swung at the Gardevoir, the movement quick and efficient - only for the weapon to violently spark against air. Then it swung again, and again, striking with a merciless abandon, as spiderweb of cracks spread through the air with each strike. As Hiei seemingly did not even move in retaliation.
No, in fact, she was indeed not moving at all. The King of the Mountain was staring at the abomination in front of her emptily, as if desperately trying and utterly failing to comprehend what she was even seeing, all while her passive defences slowly but surely whittled away against the mockery's relentless attacks.
The Goodra tried to ram into the abomination, only for it to nimbly step out of the way, not ceasing the onslaught for a second. So it did when the dragon attempted to swat it away with her massive arm, or whip at the monstrosity with her tail and horns. Too slow, too damn slow, all the hurt from the previous fights made her too damn slow.
Then the purple mechanical eyes flashed dangerously, as noxious-looking muck had emerged through the surface of the glaive, coating it thickly in poison and death. With that, the monstrosity attempted a stab at the still motionless King of the Mountain.
The blade stopped a mere breath away from the now-brittle barrier, as Inabayama managed to grab the weapon and put all of her still recovering strength to prevent it from moving any further.
"HIEI! SNAP OUT OF IT!" she roared, as the iron mockery spent some precious moments futilely struggling against her strength, yet sidestepping a powerful swipe from the dragon's massive arm, "PLEASE, SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Suddenly, the blade dissipated in Goodra's grasp, causing her to stumble half a step back, as the abomination span in its place to give her a surprisingly powerful kick in the stomach she somehow felt in her very SOUL. Between still ongoing recovery, that night's battle damage and the kick, she had barely managed to tough it out and not fall unconscious.
Damn, the thing was powerful.
If only the Goodra had fully recovered, she might've had a fair chance at beating it to what constitutes death for such monstrosities, but right now? And after taking a lot of hits from the five now-dead Pokemon? With her strength and speed waning? No, she wouldn't be able to defeat it in her current condition. So, while the enemy reconstructed its blades and formed another glaive, she desperately racked her brain in an attempt to think of a way to bring the Gardevoir back to her senses.
Then it hit her.
"HIEI, THE HUMAN! HE SAW YOU! AND HE'S GETTING AWAY!"
The life seemed to come back to the Gardevoir's eyes at the sudden realisation, as she moved once again with horrifying grace, catching another noxious-looking blade with her bare hands, effortlessly tearing the weapon out of the monstrosity's grasp, and mercilessly skewering the enemy through its head and torso, causing the mechanical mockery of a creature to short out a few sparks, dull several artificial lights in its body, and finally slump to the ground.
Though at that point, Hiei was already gone in the same direction that the human fled. All Inabayama could think of is to quickly crush the abomination's body underfoot just to be safe, and then to follow the Gardevoir, in case her help was still needed.
[Part 2]
Following the League orders to allow Team Brute grunts to slip to the mountain 'undetected' might've been in poor taste, but at least it established that some sort of a threat was still present. Not that they were able to do anything productive with that information. Aside from praying, maybe.
Taro was slowly flickering through the surveillance screens showing the Mt. Hiei from different angles. Yes, it was probably a futile effort, as the canopy hid most of the landscape from sight, and while it was inconvenient, it was also probably a rare good idea from the League, as trying to burn it down could easily aggravate the Ghost. Still, he felt as if it was his duty to maybe get a glimpse of Michihito before the poor guy's life was snuffed out.
Both because the detective felt it was the right thing to do to send him off, and because it was an opportunity to determine what got him.
It was at this point that the signal from the badge came back online with a ding, causing the detective to jump from the surprise, and then jump once more at the realisation. Quickly flickering through the screens, he nearly missed the one with some sort of movement.
Nearly spilling his long-forgotten coffee over a pile of documents, Taro peered into the image at the monitor, trying to determine WHAT that movement was. And… Yes! It was Michihito!
Holy crap, he got out somehow!
The man, still alive and in the flesh, was almost out of the forest. How did the mad lad escape?! Thoughts for later, as he was clearly in a state of desperate panic, certainly running away from something that could not be perceived by the cameras yet.
Hopefully, whatever it was, it would stop once the guy makes it out of the fores-
Suddenly, Michihito fell to the ground limply, his shoes and bracers scattering in different directions, and then ceasing all movement. No, wait…
No…
Those were just his clothes. But where did he-?..
A sickening realisation came to Taro a few seconds later. The red mist that somehow appeared on the screen as the clothes fell - was Michihito himself. Or, rather, what was left of him.
And with that, came a sudden urge to dash for the trash can, as Taro's stomach turned in vehement disagreement with what he just saw with his own two eyes.
Bloody. Hell.
He had to send drones to collect what was left at the scene before the rain started. The clothes, the machinery, the samples of blood, everything and anything they could get their grabby hands on. Analyse everything as far as he can, then send the data, the footage and the items to the forensics team, so that maybe they would be able to uncover what the SHIT on this ArceusFORSAKEN Earth had just BLOODY happened.
[Part 3]
'But that was not enough. Never enough', Hiei's words from their first big talk came to Goodra's mind, weighting down on it like a damn mountain. It… Really was never enough, huh?.. Not for humans.
They would turn an entire kin into their playthings, to be commanded at their own sick will. Then twist that kin into whatever they wish, all to better suit humanity's endless greed. Then, if the kin doesn't fare well with these changes, the humans would make the lives of the last remaining ones a living hell for the sake of 'preservation efforts'. And once the kin inevitably dies out, the humans would make an artificial mechanical mockery as a replacement, as if to drive some sort of a twisted point home.
It sickened and angered Inabayama to the very core, though she tried not to show it. Not now, as she carefully cradled the emaciated, shaking figure in her arms.
"I… I don't understand…" a rasp whisper reached dragon's ears, "Do they… Do they not realise, what they've done to my kin?.. Do they not even care?.. Have… Have they forgotten?.. Forgotten their own role in… In our fate?.. How could they… Forget?.."
The Goodra tried her best not to shudder. She didn't know how to answer that. Any of that. She did not trust herself not to spew venom right now, and she figured that said venom was the last thing currently needed. No, all she could do was to just be here. To be a safe shelter amidst this horrible, horrible storm. So she held the shivering figure in her arms. And she listened.
She could only hope that it was enough.
Suddenly, a drop of cold water splattered against the dragon's hide. Then another one. Then two more. Then, the broken sky began pouring liquid onto the ground, as if trying to wash away the coagulating blood that soaked thickly through this entire night.
The Goodra liked the rain. But she was pretty sure that Gardevoir didn't fair as well against it. And taking any chances with getting her sick was not an option.
So the dragon carefully picked her up, and went up the mountain, body shielding the shivering figure from the rain's onslaught. They didn't go to the top though - just to the building that was serving as Goodra's temporary home. Should be a good enough shelter, despite the leaky roof.
"Don't worry, I've got you," Inabayama murmured, entering the building, and sitting in a corner, trying to keep her as warm as possible. As safe as possible.
So they just sat there.
After a while, the rasp whispers ceased, replaced by the busy silence of water tapping against stone. It took the dragon some time to realise that the Gardevoir was sound asleep in her arms.
Unsure what to do, she kept watching Hiei through the night, only managing to doze off as the first rays of sun shone through the clouds, lighting colourful sparks across the receding rain.