Chapter 121 – Shockwaves

Owen awoke to the brief sounds of struggle down the hall. It was close. Too close. In the dark halls, he could only rely on his second sight to guess what it was.

One of the guards shrieked, but was abruptly silenced after a strong thunk. Someone was about to cry out for support, but a flash of light silenced that one, too. A small body was thrown across the caverns into a crumpled, groaning heap next, and then a figure cloaked in light sprinted into Owen's view.

The great Charizard had less than a second to react, and in that time, he could only sit a quarter of the way up and tune his Perceive. He raised an arm to fire at what came, but it weaved out of the way deftly, and Owen felt the dull of a Leaf Blade against his throat.

Staring into his eyes were a pair of yellow irises and reptilian pupils. They shined with energy and light.

"Hi, Dad!" she whispered cheerfully. The Sceptile's great tail rattled noisily, as if she had energy to spare after being quiet for so long.

"Hi, Remi…" Befuddled, Owen pushed her so he could get up, and she complied. "Did you just infiltrate the Lightless Labyrinth to see me?"

"Mhm!"

"How many guards did you beat up?"

"Uhhh..." She counted on her claws, quickly running out.

Owen sighed harshly and grasped her arm.

"Hey!"

"I'm walking you out." He marched, practically dragging her. He walked past several guards, all of them too dizzy to so much as stand. Remi had struck them all with the dull of her Leaf Blades expertly. Had it been any other circumstance, he would have been proud.

He wasn't sure why, but it was becoming hard to move, and his head and the whole world felt fuzzy.

"Don't forget, Dad, he fights dirty!"

Owen blinked. The caverns around him melted into clouds of dust. "What?"

"He follows you in your shadow. But he can't chase you if it's too bright!"

She dissolved from his grasp.


Owen landed hard on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. His small size and light form had spared him from serious injury. He wondered, dizzily, if his feathery body had contributed.

With a groan, he slowly got to his feet, but then some primal part of him alerted him and he ducked. An instant later, something burned the feathers on his scalp, leaving behind a shadowy residue that felt cold and tingly.

"Nice reflex," Marshadow said. "Ain't gonna miss a second time, though."

"Wait," Owen said quickly. "M-Marshadow, don't you remember? Remember fighting Dark Matter in the past… back when he was the Void King?"

"Void King…" Marshadow nodded. "I think I remember that… rings a bell."

"Do you remember… fighting me? The Wishkeeper?"

Another long pause, but there wasn't as much recognition in his hum. "Guess I fergot that one. Lost ter the void."

"You used to fight… against Dark Matter, Marshadow! You were a hero! You had… a partner. No, three of them!" Owen tried to press on. "Remember! A Drampa, a Dewott, maybe a Samurott now, and a Cacturne!"

Marshadow looked strained, like he was trying to recall, but nothing came.

"You were a Riolu," Owen said. "Your mortal body was a Riolu!"

"I ain't got any of those memories, kid," Marshadow said. "Yer gonna be fightin' a losin' battle. I lost those ter the void a long time ago."

"But you can still get them back," Owen urged. "Fight it! Come on!" Because he certainly couldn't fight Marshadow himself.

Distantly but omnipresent around them, elemental attacks catapulted through the air, clashing with dark energy from the outer perimeters. The Void Shadows were advancing and ground troops were rushing to meet them. If any fell, they were at risk to join Dark Matter's ranks.

"Heh, look at you," Marshadow said with a grin. "Yer a riot. Tryin' ter buy time when the town's fallin' around yeh."

It was true. Even now, there were distant shouts and explosions and they were coming closer. Flying Pokémon bombarded the Void Shadow front lines with as many elemental attacks, gusts of wind, and falling explosions and rocks as their stamina could muster. There were some points where portions of the sky were more of elements than clouds. While most Void Shadows were ground-bound, some were able to fly, but the Null Villagers' formations were too tight to allow impersonators among their ranks. Every second was accompanied by a distant rumble. The directions were becoming hard to distinguish. Rarely, a shriek from one of the Titans shook loose dust from the rooftops.

Owen wasn't sure if his lightheadedness was coming from those sounds, the adrenaline of facing Marshadow down, or the amount of energy still coursing through his body that he couldn't send back to the Tree. If Amelia, Klent, and the others were calling out to him, he couldn't hear it.

The standoff didn't last long. Marshadow shifted his weight; Owen brought up his arms, narrowly blocking a shadowy fist. He tried backing away next, but rubble on the ground tripped him and he fell backwards.

He never hit the floor. Marshadow's kick was faster, sending him over one of the buildings. He couldn't breathe. Marshadow leapt and grabbed him from behind; his body was cold and tendrils of darkness lengthened his arms. The shadowy fighter twisted in the air and aimed Owen's skull toward a nearby rooftop.

Thinking fast, Owen twisted back and curled inward, flipping in midair. He tried to draw from his inner fire—what little he had in this form—but couldn't get anything. Instead, he coughed up an ineffectual Seed Bomb that popped in Marshadow's face. The flashbang was a distraction; Owen jerked his whole body to the left and narrowly avoided the rooftop, tumbling out of Marshadow's grip and onto the ground a story below.

Wheezing, Owen took only two steps away before Marshadow landed on him with a downward punch. He'd blacked out for half a second. When he woke up, he was face-down in the ruined ceramic path with green blood pooling around his head.

Owen thought he said something, but he didn't understand his own words. He stood up, but a jab to his back downed him again.

"Y'know," Marshadow growled, "this ain't makin' it easy. Just follow me and we'll finish this, eh?"

"Why…" Owen spat to clear his mouth. Was he missing a tooth? Oh, there it was, a foot away. He liked that fang.

Marshadow grabbed Owen by the scruff of his neck and pulled him to his feet. He wobbled there.

"Surrender."

"Can't."

Owen woke up with a terrible headache, back embedded into a house. Marshadow was walking toward him with a blank expression a few houses away. He felt the back of his head; his leafy feathers were sticking together from a wound.

Can't. Why did he say that? Owen had literally said surrender was an option only a little while ago. But some defiant part of him said otherwise.

From where he was, Owen could see Titans looming within Null Village, held back by the front lines, but slowly, but inevitably, advancing. By now the outer rim of houses were completely destroyed and flattened. Livelihoods gone, memories in the form of games and books and rooms lost to the battle.

Surrendering… would save everyone. The Titans are gaining on us. And I'm not at the Tree. If I surrender now, will Dark Matter stop… just for a little while?

Lose now, lose later…

Marshadow was taking his sweet time approaching. Maybe he knew there was no way out for Owen.

If I give up… will that save everyone? What if I talk to Dark Matter? Reason with him? Maybe he'll make a better world. I believed that before, didn't I? And Necrozma… He's just another god sealing my memories. The only one who's been trying to unlock them is Dark Matter. He's the only one who understands… how awful it felt to realize it was all fake. Because of course he'd know about how awful something feels…

Marshadow was a house away. But he slowed his pace more, tilting his head. "That look in yer eye," he called over. "Yer shoulders're slumped. You done?"

Am I? Owen pulled himself out of the house and staggered onto the ground, falling on all fours. He wobbled up. The dizziness left him as he took longer, steadier breaths. Little pulses of gold light patched up his wounds, remnant energy from the Tree.

"Say the word, and we c'n stop all this," Marshadow said gently. "We don't gotta fight. My orders're simple. Get the Charmander to surrender."

Owen's breathing paused as a thought crossed his mind. "That's how he said it?"

"Nah. He said, get yeh. But I asked, hey, so track down the Charmander? And he waved an' said hurry up. Took that as a yes, heh." Marshadow crossed his arms. "So, surrender? Otherwise…"

Owen's mind raced. He forgot about surrendering when Marshadow asked, because now he had a new idea. "Before I do, I want you to answer some questions," he said. "So I know I'm making the right choice."

Marshadow regarded him with a suspicious air, but then huffed. "Alright. I'll give yeh… two questions." He held up fingers to match.

He only needed one. "If Dark Matter wasn't controlling you, but you still knew everything he told you, would you still fight for him?"

"Aw, now that's a question I almost wanna say costs double," Marshadow replied with a wry smile. "Testin' my loyalties? Well, that ain't gonna work, buddy. So long as Dark Matter's got me, I ain't gonna go against 'im."

Owen sighed, looking displeased, but that was exactly the answer he wanted to hear. Marshadow was speaking in code. "Fine, fine. One more question, then?"

"Yeah, fine. One question left."

"Fine." Only needed one more anyway. There was something fast in the distance, and green, and that was enough for him. "Did you know about that thing behind you?"

"Really?" Marshadow looked genuinely disappointed.

Owen shrugged, smiling bloodily.

"Guess I hit yeh too hard. All yer wits're—"


"Impressive punch," Nevren hummed, peering over the side of the portal with a Zoom Lens over his eyes. He twisted a knob on the top and got a closer look at the clash, barely able to keep up with the wraith that he identified—if only by the speed alone—as Gahi. He had punched a tiny wraith, who had been striking an even tinier wraith that had been shot from the top of the tree.

Which was likely Owen. Not good.

But now, Owen was running away! Quite good.

"All right, I would like squadrons three into seven heading in next. I will be directing you to handle the eastern district. For those who cannot tell, that is in this direction from our relative standpoints."

Nevren stood up, but just before he could leave to organize, a wraith flew up to the portal.

"Nevren!"

He was still startled by their distorted voices. "Yes?" The Alakazam removed his Zoom Lens.

"When will the reinforcements be coming? We need more now—there's a third Titan coming!"

"Very soon. Tell them three squadrons will be coming. How are the ones I sent so far?"

"Fighting very well. I'll tell them."

Once the wraith flew away, Nevren sighed and commanded several more of the mutant leaders. Among them was a Tauros, Roserade, and icy Ninetales.

"So, what, we're in next, right?" Ninetales asked, pawing at his face to groom.

"Yes, you will be. Keep to cautious efforts for now."

"Pbbb, boring… Fine, fine, don't glare."

"I wasn't glaring. I was merely expressing disappointment."

"Yuh-huh." The Ninetales nodded at the Tauros and Roserade next, then spread his tails. "Let's go!"

Nevren had been rushing them a little, but that was largely because, somehow, they were off schedule. He had timed himself perfectly to the Voidlands' time, which, as far as he could tell, ran at the same rate that Kilo did. Despite this, he had been several minutes late, to the point where Dark Matter had gotten a head start on the assault with no mutants to help.

No matter. They were back on track now.

The ground shook, and that didn't sound like mutants preparing, either. After quickly glancing at the battlefield to make sure everything was going smoothly—or as smoothly as one could hope—he Teleported a few blinks through the halls, up the floors, and to the surface.

Instantly, he was pelted with a rain that stung him in more than just his body. He hissed as some of it got in his eyes, nearly blinding him. "What—"

This rain and flashes of light instantly ate away at his energy. He disappeared a floor below, wheezing, collapsing to his knees. He looked his hands over, then his arms. No wounds, yet the rain felt corrosive. To his aura? His hands were trembling. Flashes of that cursed forest echoed in his mind, where he'd seen Anam's decayed body, where he and Mispy had died several times, saved only by his Revisor.

That was it. That was the same power. Ghost? No, it couldn't be that. This went deeper. He knew that, now. It was a different element entirely. Shadow… Yes. It had to be Shadow.

Nevren step-Teleported his way down the hall—his equivalent of running—until he got to the entrance to Quartz HQ. The way opened to sand soaked in dark-tinged water like free-flowing ink. Some of it washed into the hall and he put up a small Psychic barrier to keep it from flooding.

He braved the storm, this time prepared. He held a barrier above him like an umbrella and floated over the black water. He winced at the sting of a few stray splashes, and hoped that his Psychics would be enough to keep the rest away for a time, as he searched for the source.

Flying in the dark clouds with silver, glowing eyes was the unmistakable form of Lugia. It was a great leviathan's silhouette, wings beating and parting the clouds only to reveal even darker, purple clouds behind it. He was facing down a god.

The air twisted around him. Water splashed and kicked up. The clouds formed a vortex, and Nevren realized too late that it was an incoming Aeroblast. His Psychic barrier twisted apart and he clicked on his Revisor just in time to only have part of his body twisted and cut into ribbons.

And then he was standing by the Voidlands' portal again. The respite lasted an instant; right after, a horrible, deafening BANG knocked him sideways, shaking his insides. He was pretty sure an organ or two ruptured. He coughed and tried to look through blurry vision.

What? When did an explosion happen 90 seconds ago?

On reflex, he pressed a hand on his chest, a healing aura of Recover bringing him back to proper health. Or decent health. He was still dazed and bruised, but he didn't want to spend the extra time healing.

There was a routine he had to follow first. What had he done a moment ago? Right—Reinforcements. Squadrons.

"Sorry for that," Nevren dismissed to the startled-looking wraith that was by the portal. "Tell them three squadrons will be coming. How are the ones I sent so far?"

"…Three more?" the wraith asked. "You just sent three."

So, we're next, right? Nevren remembered, looking toward the icy Ninetales who wasn't there.

Who wasn't there.

What?

What?

"Nevren, are you okay? What happened?"

"What?" Nevren, suddenly feeling lost and confused, darted his eyes left and right to find his missing squadrons. There were tiny cracks on the ground where they had once been.

"You sent those squadrons in. What was that explosion? Why did you Teleport back here?"

Nevren looked into the portal to see the icy Ninetales speaking with Zena by the Tree. Zena looked frantic. The rest of his team was there, nodding and getting a quick debrief, and then they left toward one of the Titans.

The Revisor didn't work.

No, it worked on him. It worked on most things. But not the team he'd sent into the Voidlands. Did it not reach into that domain?

Then that explosion… It was like a vacuum wave of pressure. Where their bodies had once been, there was a vacuum. The air pressure, yes! It must have collapsed… It must not be a perfect vacuum, because Nevren had a feeling a true one would have been even louder, perhaps lethal. Aside from his ruptured organs, at least.

"Nothing to worry about," Nevren said. After counting the seconds, he disappeared for the entrance again, then counted for a few seconds longer. He didn't want to relive those shockwaves, so he let those seconds pass, forever solidified, and finally opened the door. The rain was the same. The bright lights of Quartz HQ bled into the darkened ground despite it supposedly being noontime. When Nevren listened quietly, he was sure he heard wingbeats, but they were large and far away.

Lugia wouldn't come here if he kept hidden, right? He could only hope.

Just in case, Nevren would have to put a few more experimental projects to work. He disappeared into his room and picked up three gadgets. One had pink crystals within a lightbulb-like mechanism—his portable Dungeon. The other looked like an experimental Wand, much like the ones he had attempted to create, probably no longer usable in the Heart HQ. And the last one was a haphazardly puzzled together rifle that stored a pulsing, white energy rather than bullets.

He glanced at his Revisor. Perhaps, with some luck, he would be prepared.

It was awfully windy, Nevren realized.

Quartz HQ shouldn't have wind. And with only a few instances to react, a cutting gale blew open the entrance to the labyrinth, and alarms sounded throughout the facility.

Lugia had broken in.


The invisibility was wearing off. Rhys had thought it would last much longer; was the enchantment weaker, or was the distortion of Hot Spot stronger?

It didn't matter now. Around him, very faint outlines of his allies reminded him of their presence and their perilous state. Valle was far behind them, but they knew the way back. They'd run past countless wraiths and still found no sign of the Dungeon Core. Hot Spot felt like it had become a lot bigger on the inside since they'd last visited, but that was the way Dungeons operated.

He passed by a corridor that, in the back of his mind, felt familiar. He held his arm out and they all stopped. They were definitely much more visible, now.

"Near here is my home," Rhys whispered, glancing skyward at the broken mountaintop. It looked so strange with the natural light, however obscured it was from the swirling vortex. Or perhaps that was just the shadowy haze making everything feel so different.

"Where next?" Har asked. "Hurry. My flame…"

Rhys stifled a hiss. Right. His flame was going to be visible, too. They were going to have to fight their way out the moment they gathered everything they could.

"Just this way."

Rhys took a single step forward and abruptly crouched down to a heavy, heavy feeling in the air. He wheezed, like he could no longer breathe, and felt the empty thud of Ani's heavy body falling against Lygo. The others weren't doing as well, either. That was the power of Dark Matter's glare.

Spotted. Rhys' gaze darted left and right, but all he could see was more haze. His aura sense was completely shot. All was darkness. He had to rely on normal sight again.

He took a burdened step forward and encouraged the others, silently, to do the same. Maybe it was a bluff. He didn't see any wraiths, and Dark Matter himself was occupied in that strange other plane.

They trudged through the heavy atmosphere again, and by now even Step looked hampered. A few times, Rhys jumped at the sound of gravel moving or a loose stone falling, but with the recent tremors, that wouldn't be enough to give them away.

There! His home! He recognized the layout of the entrance, even if some of it had been blown away. The motivation lightened his spirit. He pressed onward, faster, and placed his paw on the entrance with a relieved sigh.

Forward again. Through the entrance hall. Past the kitchen, which was dusty and speckled with fallen gravel. Past Demitri and Mispy's room, completely bare. Down the corner, he saw where Gahi slept, the sand of his artificial pit blown in all directions. But Rhys' room was untouched and, surprisingly, brighter. A beacon that drew him closer.

There had been a book that Anam gave him a long time ago that he said was very important to keep. Books were always important to keep. But that one in particular, Anam said, would be needed in a time of crisis.

What Rhys didn't understand was that it was completely blank. Yet when he had explained this to Nevren the day before, Nevren urged him to get what he could. Rhys had a plethora of 'useless' items in his room; what if some of it was worth something after all? That was another reason for going here.

His shoulders were light. He knew where it was in this untouched clutter. He pushed aside some rotten Pechas without a second thought, but took a moment to make sure his letters were still all there. They were. And on the shelf—near that empty spot where the Grass Orb had once been designated, where Rhys never found a replacement object—was a book. What little fog that entered his room dissolved completely when it got within a foot or so of its empty pages.

A horrible feeling gripped Rhys' heart. An omen of death.

An instinct told Rhys to dive, so he did. The shelves exploded and a hole wider than Rhys was left behind, turning countless treasures into rotten ash. Even the rocks had disintegrated into blackened dust.

Anam's rotten body stood at the entrance to his room. Hollow eye sockets glared at him while deep purple sludge coursed just beneath his slimy skin.

Wordless, he opened his mouth and fired again, but Rhys was faster. With a deft movement, Rhys grabbed the book, then his bag of supplies that he'd left behind, and then an armful of Elder's letters.

Another blast completely missed him—no, it looked like it had been deflected by something. Rhys glanced at the book.

"Did you even realize," Dark Matter said, "that you're alone?"

Rhys froze. The others. Where did—

Narrowly ducking beneath a shadowy blast, Rhys felt the fur on his head evaporate along with a small part of his scalp. Blood trickled down his forehead. He couldn't feel one of his ears and a dull pain was overtaking where it had once been.

"Did you really think you could distract me?" Dark Matter growled, shooting Rhys again. This time, a hole was left where his bed had been, but Rhys dodged it completely. He weaved past the rotten Goodra, arm grazing his body. It had a cold sting to it and when Rhys brushed away the slime, he felt the pads of his paws shrivel. The part of his arm that had scraped against Dark Matter was completely blackened down to the bone, but he couldn't stop yet.

In less than a second, he was outside his home. A volley of ice and a bright light greeted him; a swarm of wraiths—some of them were winged—surrounded them. Step was battling alongside ADAM on one side while Willow, Manny, and his Fighting spirits battled on the other. Near the center, Har and the Team Alloy mirrors backed both sides up from a distance, though the atmosphere had a particularly bad effect on them. They looked the most fatigued despite not fighting any of them directly; in fact, Rhys saw dark patches on parts of their bodies…

"You're all here." Dark Matter pointed at them. "It's time you joined the Voidlands."

Without another warning, Dark Matter fired. This time, Rhys couldn't dodge.


As it turned out, Lugia was targeting Quartz HQ. Not only that, but she had already blown away the first two floors of the underground labyrinth with her gusts alone. The alarms were deafening and Nevren took some time to Teleport to the control center just to turn them off—as well as, of course, diverting power to the essential areas to maintain the Voidlands' portal.

Then he waited a moment's time to make sure that decision was locked in, counting the seconds up to ninety as he rushed through the windy halls. Even on the sixth sublevel, the gusts were enough to topple the last few sets of mutants who hadn't been sent into the Voidlands to battle.

He needed to find a way to scare Lugia off. Any way at all. They couldn't have her make it to the portal. It would disrupt everything! Thankfully it was above the power supply, so there was no risk of that being disrupted… but the Beammaker itself was vulnerable if at least the fifth floor was infiltrated.

Using his Revisor would come with a risk. He could have a sudden shockwave from someone who had gone into the Voidlands. He felt, somewhere in his mind, that this strange property of only rewinding Kilo could be useful, but in the heat of the moment, without being able to buy more time, he couldn't think of it.

Arceus, Lugia is attacking Quartz HQ. If she gets too deep, it will disrupt the portal. Can you spare a Judgement?

I cannot. Rhys is under attack as we speak. I am sending a Judgement there.

Understood. He was on his own for a while. He'd fought Lugia once before, and that was when she was harmless. He'd been imprisoned. Horrible memories. And one of the few times that his Revisor had failed him. He'd lost it in her body, and because he hadn't been in any danger, its dead man's switch hadn't activated, either. It was torture.

Not again. He wasn't even sure if it was safe anyway, with how corrosive that rain had become, or how cutting the gales were.

But he had a portable Dungeon, and he could make the smallest of portals that led to the Voidlands. It was experimental, but perhaps it could be useful.

The lights flickered. Nevren's eyes darted around. "Already?" he whispered, Teleporting a few floors up. He regretted it. His skin corroded in seconds; cuts lacerated his entire front. He went blind almost instantly. He only caught a glimpse of the halls to suggest Lugia had already demolished the top three floors.

On reflex, he pressed the Revisor.


Rhys was starting to feel lightheaded, and not just because one of his ears had been blasted off. Ringing filled the one ear that remained as roars from Ax and Solar Beams from Ani exploded past him. They clashed with a blast of darkness from Anam's body, deflecting downward to turn part of the stone into dust and rubble. Stray beams left craters in the walls and avalanches of that same rotten dust to fill the corners of Hot Spot Dungeon.

Step's Ice Beams frosted Dark Matter fleetingly, but it was enough time to give Rhys some distance to recover. He jumped back, only to hit a wall from his clumsiness.

"Ngh… I need help," Rhys drawled, not sure if anyone heard him. A green flash crossed his vision—Lygo trying to distract Dark Matter, but he was struck by a blast instantly and downed. That forced Ani to run toward him to heal. Rhys' blurry vision only let him see two green lumps flying in different directions, but only one moved, the one Ani was trying to heal.

Was he going to get out of this alive?

That thought crossed Rhys' mind without realizing it.

He didn't have the strength to flee. They had to escape.

Step held out her arms and summoned her family; three Kommo-o darted toward Dark Matter, encasing him in a thick wall of ice. It rapidly cracked, thin beams of darkness cutting the ice like paper.

Willow had a similar idea, bringing out more backup, both Manny's immigrant spirits and her more disruptive Fairy spirits. Mushroom spores clouded the area around Dark Matter, trying to infect him with some kind of illusionary effect, but they weren't working. A pink mist followed, but a shockwave blew it away with ease; the Joltik shrieked in anger.

ADAM was waiting for something. Rhys felt the heat and saw the light from his charging blast.

Dark Matter's weaker than usual, Rhys stated to Arceus, strained.

He's spread thin, Arceus replied. He must be halfway focused on the Voidlands… Part of his spirit is dedicated to that front. Hold out a little longer! We need to force him to spread more!

It's becoming… difficult. Even as Rhys projected his thoughts, Dark Matter took aim at ADAM, who fired just in time to match the blast. It sent ADAM flying against the wall, cracking part of his body; Ani was too busy tending to Lygo to help.

I'm preparing a Judgement.

The wait was agonizing. Rhys had never felt so useless. All of his aura wasn't being channeled properly, like Dark Matter had sealed it. He could only lend it elsewhere… Rhys aimed a paw at ADAM, channeling healing energy toward him before diving behind a fallen boulder.

Precious seconds to recover. But would it be worth it? The thought flitted in his mind again, obsessively. He didn't know if it was Dark Matter's influence or his own rationality telling him that he was too weak to continue. This was just like when he'd fallen under Lugia's storm.

Maybe if he spared his power in another way… just in case…

Rhys pooled as much power as he possibly could into his paws, forming a dense, glowing sphere. He glanced behind him. Nobody. He glanced ahead. Nobody. Nobody would see this.

Someone would find his spare power eventually, and only an ally would know what it was, surely.

With that small piece of faith, he pressed his paws on the ground and released the energy deep underground. He sent a few thoughts into it, too, for good measure.

Then, he turned over his bag. Inside-out. Everything tumbled, muted by the chaos of battle. He found random stones and quickly filled his bag again, closing it tight. He glanced left and his eyes met Lygo, who saw the whole thing. Rhys grinned weakly.

There was a strange gravity to the gesture; an overwhelming sense of dread washed over Rhys the moment he stood up.

Just as he did, Dark Matter stared directly at him. "There you are." He pointed, and Rhys crouched.

A cold beam grazed where his ear had been, spattering blackened blood next to him. His head jerked slightly from the grazing impact. When he leapt out from behind the boulder, there was a brief, horrified look that flashed on Willow's face when she glanced at him. Rhys didn't want to know what she saw.

He dashed. Dark Matter wanted him.

Why, he didn't know.

But if he could get Dark Matter away, that was all that mattered. The others could escape with Valle and the supplies.

Rhys held the bag tighter to his chest and ignored the weird, cold feeling where his ear had been. The throbbing had stopped and it was becoming difficult to think and breathe. A small part of him wanted to collapse and whimper, but his pride and drive told him to do anything but.

"You aren't going to get away."

The voice sounded far closer than it should have been. Rhys weakly tried to form an Aura Sphere, but it fizzled. He was completely sapped of his strength; he'd put it all underground.

A stray stone hit his toe. That, and his rapidly declining sense of balance, was enough to knock Rhys onto the ground. Rhys thought Dark Matter's aura had overtaken him, but that was only his clouding vision. When he turned to look back, Dark Matter was running toward him, powering through three beams of ice…

And then a great pillar of light, followed by several more, struck the vortex in the sky. Dark Matter suddenly keeled over, holding his chest, retching out thick pools of black sludge.

Did that hit? Arceus asked.

Rhys scrambled away and dove into a random house without thinking. His foot hit water that had gone black and he pulled it away. Mercifully, it didn't rot away his fur. But he recognized the basin as Zena's pool.

"…The rift."

His voice was further away. Good. But it was overpoweringly loud, and the only reason he could hear it over the rumbling skies and crackles of elemental attacks and wraith screeching.

"You've torn… a hole in it…"

Thunder. A different kind of thunder. It was sustained, long, and made his one good ear ring. He covered it quickly, and felt a strange, uplifting sensation—literally. It felt as if something was trying to pull him toward the sky, yet he did not feel any physical sensation to accompany it.

"What… have you done…"

Rhys dared to peek outside. Dark Matter was advancing quickly; he knew exactly where Rhys had hidden. But he had no energy to go anywhere else. What were the others doing?

Then he saw Step's family shooting toward the sky—falling upward. The two daughters, Cent and Ana, were clutching onto the arms of Ra, the father Kommo-o. He was the one that had been drawn skyward. And then Alex, now an icy Hydreigon, shouted frantically for them to get back down, clamping his smaller heads onto the tails of the daughters. But all three of them couldn't stop Ra from drifting away.

Not just him. Manny was flailing, six of his musclebound Fairy-Fighting spirits trying to pull him back. Willow was flying around them, but she was simply too small to do much.

Then Step jumped into the air, propelled on a platform of ice, with a mad, desperate look in her eyes, as she reached toward Ra.

He was flying toward the vortex. It swirled, destabilizing. Red clouds from within that terrible place seeped into Kilo, along with purple dust from a brewing storm. Step passed through the portal just as she lost her grip of Ra, who had rapidly accelerated even out of the grasps of his daughters and Alex. Manny was close to the portal's edge next. He was about to suffer the same fate.

And then it all stopped.

Rhys was frozen. Everything was frozen. Step was falling through the portal with her daughters, who now appeared to manifest more solid-looking forms before falling out of view. But everything else had stopped.

And then Manny started falling toward the ground, rapidly. Their movements were quick and even more frantic than before, but in a bizarre, unnatural order. Manny looked at something startling happening to the left, but then turned away just as it ended. Explosions were falling inward, leaving behind perfectly intact walls. And then Rhys realized his own body was moving without his orders. Backwards. His gasps were in reverse, breathing out and then in. He knelt down and then went flat on the ground. The injuries from his fall stitched themselves together, and then he rapidly scrambled back, far too quick with his weakened state. Perhaps ten seconds had passed, and then everything was back to normal.

Except for a massive, new explosion nearby that blew apart a whole section of the cave. This shockwave was louder than anything, and it was filled with a frigid air that he knew was Step.

Step… And her spirits. They had fallen through the portal, yet—they weren't there anymore. The explosion blew away so much of the cavern that he could no longer afford to hide in Zena's home, and it looked like most of the front of Rhys' abode had also been collapsed.

Did that hit? Arceus asked.

Rhys fell over, gasping, mind completely muddled. What? Yes, of course you hit, did you hit again?

I only hit once recently. I'll try to charge another, but Nevren is in trouble with Lugia.

Did you not see what happened? Rhys said immediately.

What?

Step fell into the Voidlands. And—

Rhys glanced at Willow. "Willow! Withdraw Manny immediately!"

"What?!" Willow dodged a blast of darkness.

"Do as I say!"

Willow usually would have objected, but the urgency of his voice and the grimness of his appearance must have been enough for her to obey. Manny disappeared into Willow as a blue wisp, but the rest of his spirits remained to fight.

Rhys didn't know what happened. But it had given him a second chance. It felt like… time, time itself had gone backwards. Why? When did that happen, why did he notice it just then? And why did some primal sense of anger well up in him at the thought of time being tampered with? And it still felt like something in the Voidlands was trying to pull his spirit toward it.

He had no hope of escape. The portal was going to consume all of Hot Spot.

But he knew he could save the others.