3rd Rebirth Moon, 908
"I'm…having second thoughts about all this."
"Oh, you'll be fine."
With the morning upon them, the Broken Glass Alchemical Company was ready to finally complete their mission. After over two months of scouring through the Outlands, they finally reached Caractacus MacGyver to repair Amos' arm and tail, putting them one step closer to hunting those who targeted them.
The only thing that stood in their way…was the sudden realization Amos was being prepped for surgery by a mad scientist living in a cave.
"C-Come on, Ammo!" Evelot exclaimed, pushing against Amos as he anchored himself to the cave entrance. "We came all this way just for you! You're not backing out now!"
He frantically shook his head. "I'm not letting that crackpot come anywhere near me with a scalpel!"
Phoebe, also trying to push the Gligar out of the room, grunted. "We've been traveling for weeks just to make you semi-useful again, and now you decide you're too scared to get prosthetics?"
"I'm not scared of the surgery, I'm scared of the crackpot performing the surgery! Does he even have any medical training?!"
"He seemed to fix himself up just fine like he said—"
"I call bullshit! I am not letting him mess with my body!"
Phoebe growled. "Look Lamecaster, I didn't run through a slave trading outpost and fight my way through bounty hunters and mad farmers just for you to chicken out at the last second! You're getting that surgery even if I have to knock you unconscious myself!"
"Would you trust him to perform surgery on you?!"
"Oh, hell no."
"Then why do I feel ignored?!"
"Just…move!" Evelot whined.
Magni, who had been resting longer than the trio, finally awoke from his slumber and looked up to see the girls struggling to push Amos out the room. With a deep yawn, he stood up and carefully walked over to the passageway. Without uttering a single word, he lowered his head, bit the back of Amos' poncho, and lifted him up with the ease of a sack of feathers.
"…" Amos, feeling defeated, let his limbs hang loose. "I fucking hate all of you."
Evelot giggled nervously. "Uh, thank you, Magni."
Phoebe pointed ahead. "Alright! Let's strap you down for surgery."
"I'd rather kill myself…"
Everything had been set up for the occasion. The main space of Caractacus' hideout had been cleared out for the operation. A sterilized table sat in the middle of the cave with a table resting by its side, the tools and equipment for the surgery proudly on display. A metal rack, or a repurposed hat rack, stood over the table. Several lights illuminated the cave in a ring, giving ample light centered on the operation table.
Alongside his tools were two objects hidden under cloth, their size and shape revealing they were Amos' new prosthetics.
Caractacus stripped himself of his jacket before strapping a mask over his muzzle. He grabbed a rag treated with disinfecting solution, vigorously rubbing his paws and mechanical arm clean. A clean mat had been set up around the operation table for him to stand out and avoid dirtying his paws again.
He heard the footsteps of his guests entering the room and turned to greet them. "Ah good, my patient has arrived."
Amos glared. "If I die in my sleep because of you, I'll kill you."
"Quite the bold threat. I'm almost tempted to see how you'll pull that miracle of science off." Caractacus laughed to himself. "But I am a man of my word. I am here to provide you with the miracle of science, and that is what I shall deliver. You will be reborn in my image."
"Hurray…"
Caractacus finished cleaning his paws and stepped onto the map. "Alright, load him up."
Magni dropped Amos onto the operating table, and Phoebe immediately strapped down his midsection with a belt attached to the table. She pulled it taut until she was certain he couldn't squirm free.
"Is this really necessary?" he grumbled.
Caractacus laughed. "Trust me, you're the lucky one. I had to do this to myself when I was awake. All of my previous clients had to since I lacked the proper potions. Honestly, I envy you."
"Ugh…"
The Boltund glared. "If you want any chance of surviving in the Outlands, you'll have to put aside the tough guy act for a moment and let me help you. This operation shouldn't take more than five hours. Since you'll be under during that, it'll be over and done with before you know it."
Sweat dripped down Amos' forehead. "Or an eternity."
"I swear, as a man of science, I'm doing the bare minimum as per your request. Believe me, if I wanted to turn you into a new experiment to entertain myself, I wouldn't be giving you these warnings."
"…" Amos looked over at the others. "You promise you'll stop him if he tries anything stupid, right?"
"Hurtful," the hound mumbled.
Evelot nodded. "Don't worry, Amos. You'll be fine, I promise."
"…" Phoebe sighed. "This is for your sake, Lancaster, not ours. If you do feel uncomfortable going through this surgery, I'll unstrap you right now, and we can worry about your uselessness later."
"…" Amos chuckled softly. "Was that your idea of a compliment?"
"Shut up."
"Heh." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's get this over with. Do it before I change my mind."
Caractacus nodded. "This will be over before you know it." He nodded at Evelot. "Administer the anesthesia."
Evelot reached inside her pocket space and produced several vials filled with a murky purple liquid. She set them under the operation table, then attached a thin hose to the first one. The hose had a needle on the other end. She hung the vial upside-down on the metal rack hanging over the table before hopping on.
"Which arm?" Evelot asked.
"Left," Caractacus said. "I don't want it in the arm I'm operating on."
"Just checking." She shuffled around Amos and leaned over him. First, she checked his arm for a vein to stick the needle in. Next, she pulled out a cloth with disinfectant and cleaned the spot. Finally, she raised the needle and hovered it over the spot. She looked to Amos one last time. "You ready?"
"…" He sighed through his nose. "Do it."
He felt a tiny prick in his arm. Compared to everything he went through, it was nothing more than an itch. With the needle inserted, his anxiety gradually faded, knowing that escape at this point was futile. A calm acceptance washed over him as he relaxed his breathing and allowed himself to rest comfortably on the table.
The group waited about five minutes for the potion to take effect. It slowly dripped down the nose, working its way into the Gligar's bloodstream.
"Is he under?" Caractacus asked.
"He should be, yeah."
He nodded. "Make sure he stays that way. I don't want him screaming if he wakes up." His mechanical arm twitched before slowly reaching down and picking up a scalpel. "Feel free to watch at your own leisure. I never operated on a Gligar before, so this will be quite exciting for all of us."
Phoebe winced. "You were waiting to say that before he went under, weren't you?"
"I once made a previous client think I was drunk. It was hilarious." He took a deep breath, steadying his twitching fifth arm, then propped himself over the table. He lowered the scalpel to Amos' arm. "Anyway, let the operation commence."
Meanwhile…
"Stupid Vilgot, stupid Deadly Seven ranking system, stupid…everything!"
Ulrich hovered aimlessly through the gorge for what felt like hours even after the sunrose. He had dark circles under his eyes, keeping to his word on not sleeping until he found his targets. He could only stay awake from the hatred and pride burning in his heart.
…That, or the energy he was getting from keeping his power at a consistent, boosted state.
He held his arm over his eyes and carefully peered up at the sky. "Is it seriously noon already? Uuuuugh! If I don't find them soon, Vilgot's going to beat me to them, and he'll definitely never let me hear the end of it!" He smacked his cheeks. "Focus, Ulrich! You are the strongest! Nobody is better than you! You won't let anyone in the Outlands surpass you! Never again…"
Invigorated, he floated higher up the gorge, letting his eyes drift over the passing rock. He was usually less meticulous with searching, but his drive to prove Vilgot wrong made him more vigilant. He passed up several incidences of entrances that seemed too good to be true, even blasting a couple just in case.
After a while, everything started looking the same. He could've sworn to himself he passed through the same way several times. All rock looked the same to him. There was simply too much area to explore.
He crossed his arms and groaned as he floated along. "Alright, think. Your sworn enemy has booby-trapped an entire gorge with no discernible entrance, but he still needs someway of getting outside. Not just that, he needs an entrance placed at a tactical location that's both hidden, but also close enough to the perimeter of the canyon in case he needs to leave for supplies like food or something. So…"
He stopped floating, his eyes lighting up in realization.
"Wait a minute. That's it!"
…
…
…
"…That tells me absolutely nothing!"
He screamed and pulled on his ears, furiously stomping on his own tail.
"That's the vaguest fucking clue I could come up with! That could literally be anywhere in this stupid place! AAAAARRRRRRGH!"
Fueled by his growing fury, he summoned an orb of condensed, psionic electricity and bombarded everything around him. The walls, the canyon floor, everything! The gorge rumbled and collapsed onto itself, kicking up a cloud of dust around the irate Raichu.
His anger lasted a whole fifteen seconds before ceasing. He let his arms droop as he panted heavily. "Man, I needed that…" He stretched out his arms and legs. "I feel so much better now! I feel like I could take on the world! Now, let's find ourselves…a…"
As the dust cleared, he happened to spot something on the canyon wall behind him. It seemed like an innocuous crack formed by his rampage, and any other day he would've left it be, but something caught his attention. He noticed dust in the air flowing through the crack. The winds were strong inside the gorge, so it made sense. However, if air was flowing through…
Ulrich, now curious, raised his hand and fired a small blast into the crack. It widened, crumbling apart to reveal a tunnel buried within the walls.
"Shit!" He floated over and peeked his head inside. "No way, did I actually find…?!" He glared. "Wait, is this another trap?"
Out of greater curiosity, he fired two shots down both ends of the tunnel, seeing the light of their explosions as they struck a wall. Ulrich was ready to escape should anything accidentally trigger, but nothing came.
"…" He grinned excitedly. "Vilgot, you stupid fool. Looks like my so-called recklessness has landed me a free ride to glory." He floated into the damaged tunnel and smugly flew down the right side. "Ulrich, once again, you've proven why you're the best."
"Stupid Ulrich, stupid Deadly Seven ranking system, stupid…stupid Ulrich!"
Vilgot furiously beat his wings as he floated above the gorge in search of an entrance to exploit. Figuring Caractacus anticipated someone searching inside the gorge, Vilgot opted to look for a less guarded entrance closer to the surface. If anything, it was to prevent himself from triggering another water trap.
"I've been searching for hours. No sign of anything yet." He bit his lip worriedly. "Dammit, if Ulrich finds them before I do, he's going to mock me for the rest of my life. After all that shit I said, too."
His anxiety over his friend's scolding quickly faded upon remembering their argument from last night, reigniting the fire in his stomach.
"Bah! Why should I worry about what he thinks? I'm the reason he even has that stupid Pride title. I only gave it to him because I knew how much he wanted it." He frowned. "He's always had an ego, but he was never this bad. I didn't mind him taking charge, but…ugh, why does he have to look down on me all the time? I'm just as powerful as Amadeus and Babylas and…okay, definitely not Absalom, but still."
The mention of the Deadly Seven's leader gave Vilgot pause.
"Absalom. That guy, I swear. What's up with him? Something about him always gave me the creeps. It's like the very air around him dies." He glared. "There was that one time when I was talking with Amadeus over drinks. He mentioned something about Absalom's…soul or something. He never really explained what he was talking about. What was it he said?"
"Everything about this world exists in balance. For one force to exist, another must be created. It's opposite. Light and darkness. Hot and cold. Good and evil. What do you suppose is the balance of a soul? That would be mind and body. However, there was a time where these two forces had names. Absalom possesses one such force. The other…the other you can find in him.
Vilgot glared unsurely. "Why was he pointing at him when he said that? Something's up with those two, but what? If I want to take over the Deadly Seven one day, I need all the information I can acquire. Maybe with enough luck like last time, I'll be able to kill two more Deadly Seven—"
His wandering thoughts ceased as his drifting eyes spotted something in the snow. He dove down, landing in the snow, and hopped over to the bulge underneath. Fanning his wings over it, he parted the snow to reveal what looked like more rock.
However, something about its shape and color was uncanny. The color didn't quite match with the rest of the surrounding rock, and it possessed a circular shape that was neither perfect nor imperfect. It was too…natural to the surrounding area, like it was sculpted purposefully by the eroding winds.
Vilgot traced his fingers along the rock before knocking on it a few times. Even the sound felt off. Hitting it a couple more times, he could've sworn he heard dull thuds.
"…This isn't real rock."
He kept tracing along what he assumed was the edge until his fingers found a grip. He took a deep breath and raised his arms, struggling to lift the fake rock. It carried considerable weight, almost too much for someone his size, but he slowly pried the rock out of the ground. He repositioned his hands when he felt a bottom and started pushing until eventually he shoved the rock back.
With a loud, metallic thud, he looked down to find a tunnel leading inside the gorge.
"This is so far out of the way that no one would think to come looking this far." Vilgot grinned. "Once again, Ulrich, I'm proven to be the smarter of us two." With a joyous flap of his wings, he bounced up and dove into the tunnel.
The seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes turned to hours. Nothing but the most minute chatter hovered around the operating room, all eyes focusing on Caractacus as he worked. Four hours had gone by, and much progress had been made within the timeframe.
His twitchy, mechanical arm managed to perform steady, precise cuts into Amos' arm and tail. Each cut had to be made with a purpose. Not a single motion was wasted in the operation. Caractacus blinked sparingly as he cut open the Gligar's limbs and prodded at the nerves.
Prosthetic limbs were seen as a weapon of the future hundreds of years ago, but advancements in medicine and science had turned that future into a possibility. The process was discovered by Grass-Types conducting research on the connection between life and nature. Grass-Types were born with biology akin to trees and all sorts of plants, thus that research extended to other Pokémon.
By connecting roots to the nerves of missing limbs, new body parts could be made. Scientists have proposed that, with further development, they would eventually discover the means of reproducing new limbs from the body itself.
Caractacus, however, saw the potential for artificial limbs with his own makeover. He studied everything he could on wooden prosthetics and used his mastery over electricity to create more efficient body parts. He created roots made from finely woven metal to attach to nerves and used the body's own bioelectricity to manipulate the mechanics. However, he realized the potential of playing with the body's natural energy.
Instead of giving replacement limbs, why not create entirely new limbs? By splicing the right nerves together with his creations, he could give any kind of artificial limb that would work as fluidly, if not better, than any biological hand or tail.
That was precisely what he was giving Amos.
Most of the operation was done unseen for Phoebe and Magni, who could only make out the shadows dancing off the unconscious Gligar's body. They couldn't even get a good look of the prosthetics he was attaching. Phoebe's eyes gradually flickered between Caractacus and Evelot, the latter changing out vials whenever one got too low. She also handed Caractacus his tool whenever he asked, being mindful whenever she hovered too close over Amos.
"…" Phoebe glared. "How much longer will this take?"
"Silence," he whispered. "I can't hear myself think."
Evelot responded with, "He's running some final tests to make sure the right nerves have been attached. It should take another hour."
Phoebe groaned. "I was hoping you'd put a bit more dramatic flair into this for entertainment."
Caractacus smirked under his mask. "If you wanted entertainment, you should've brought a corpse." He then glared. "Have patience. My work is meticulous."
"Boring, you mean."
Magni mostly spent the ticking hours napping on the floor, having grown bored of the repetitive scene before him. However, he suddenly stirred awake. His horns twitched, sensing a brief tremor under him. He raised his head in alert and looked around.
Phoebe looked up at him. "You good, Mag?"
"…Something wrong."
She raised her brow. "Eh? What do you mean?"
Caractacus groaned. "Will you keep your chatter to a minimum? I'm trying to—"
BOOOOOOOOM!
Everyone jumped as the cave suddenly trembled from the sound of a mighty explosion sounding from what felt several dozen meters away. Cracks sprawled out across the floors and walls.
Phoebe collapsed out of her seat and gasped. "What the hell?!"
Magni's eyes widened as cracks started splitting across the ceiling. "Evelot!"
"Huh?" She looked up and saw the cracks reaching above the operation table. Her heart sank as the ceiling bloated and split open over them, bringing down a mountain's worth of rubble. "AAAAHHHHH!"
"EVELOT!" Phoebe screamed, lunging toward the table.
"I said SILENCE!"
Phoebe and Magni froze in their attempt to rescue Evelot, staring in shock. Evelot cowered on the floor, rocking back and forth in a panicked ball of nerves, but realized soon that she wasn't crushed. Tempting fate, she unrolled herself and searched as to why the cave hadn't swallowed her.
"Tch. Looks like those two troublemakers finally found us."
A faint bubble of electricity extended around the operation table, passing over Evelot and Caractacus, the latter still working on Amos without looking up at the rockfall. This bubble suspended the rocks above them, cancelling all their downward momentum while funneling electricity into his fur. It was like they were frozen in time.
Caractacus casually waved his free paw. "Big guy, would you mind swatting these rocks away? They're blocking my light."
Shaking out of his daze, Magni craned his neck back before swinging it like a whip, batting away all the large rock. The rest that lingered finally fell and scattered over the operation table and floor, though none fell over Amos' open skin due to the same electrified field. Caractacus brushed the dust aside.
Phoebe glared. "How did you—" She winced as the cave trembled again, knocking her off balance again.
Caractacus scoffed. "Do you want to ask questions, or do you want me to operate on your acquaintance?" He nodded his head toward the direction of the tremors. "Your bounty hunters are getting closer to my hideout, it seems, and I can't work with them causing so much noise."
"Are you crazy?! They creamed us last time! We don't stand a chance!"
"So?"
"So?!"
"I escaped a foe many times my superiority, and I don't admit that fact lightly." He glared at her. "Who the hell cares if they are stronger than you? Are you smarter than them?"
"Well…I would say I am—"
"Then use that to your advantage. A battle is more than just brute strength, it's tactics. It's ingenuity. If one of them can blow up a mountain, find a way to outthink them. That is the core of surviving a fight."
"…" Phoebe looked down at her hands for a moment, feeling her nerves shake with uncertainty. However, when she looked upon Amos' unconscious state, she shook off those nerves and clenched her fists. "Evelot, stay here and do not leave until I tell you to."
The Mimikyu cowered behind Caractacus. "W-Wasn't planning to leave in the first place."
As the cave trembled again, Phoebe ran off and came back with her rifle and bag. "Magni, you're coming with me. We're flushing these jackasses out once and for all!"
Magni nodded. "Yes!"
Caractacus pointed over his shoulder. "By my estimate, they struck from the east. Take the tunnel leading out that way. It should take you to them."
Phoebe hopped onto Magni. "Get going, big guy!" Magni roared and charged out of the cave, his thunderous gallop growing softer the further down the tunnels he went.
Evelot stepped out from behind Caractacus and gulped. "Uh, Caractacus? Assuming they can't defeat the bounty hunters, will Amos be fit enough to fight?"
He shrugged. "Beats me. He'll probably be lightheaded from the blood loss. If you have someway of getting him back up to full strength, be my guest."
"B-But what if they reach us?!"
"Then they'll be too damn noisy for me to concentrate."
"Eh?!"
He scoffed. "Don't worry about your friends. Even if they manage to reach here, they're not going to get in my way. I've spent the last five years planning for every eventuality to protect myself. Two idiots can't compare to my superiority."
As if by fate itself, the two warring personalities of Pride and Envy made their way through the twisting tunnels and found their way back to each other. Their reception was…about as expected to anyone who was in the know.
"Fuck off, Vilgot! This is my score!"
Vilgot flew behind some rock and avoided Ulrich's psionic blast. He rocketed out from cover, bouncing off the walls, and tried to strike the Alolan Raichu down. Ulrich floated higher up and effortlessly dodged Vilgot's assault.
Vilgot uncurled and shouted, "I found my way here way before you, so you can kindly fuck off yourself!"
Ulrich snarled. "I'm the one with a score to settle against Caractacus, not you!"
"Well, I have a score to settle with that fat, fucking ego of yours!"
"Oooohhhh, so the dragon finally bears his claws?! What are you going to do, roll over me?! I'll turn you into fried fruit when I'm done with you!"
"You're always like this! You think you're the toughest guy in the room until someone has to show you your place!"
"I am the toughest guy in the room! Anyone who says otherwise will see what happens when they mess with the Winds of Pride!"
Vilgot scowled. "You're a joke. A great, big joke who can't see when the world's about to turn against him before giving a big ol' dose of reality with a slap to the face!"
Ulrich grinned angrily. "And what are you? Some talentless wyrm who couldn't even speak up for himself until his former friend came along! You'd be lost without me!"
"And it's because of you that I earned my keep in the Deadly Seven! I'm the rightful holder of Pride!"
"You don't deserve squat! The Pride title is mine, and you can live the rest of your life as an envious shadow like you were meant to be!"
Vilgot growled. "So, you admit yourself that you see me as nothing more than your shadow?"
"Consider it an honor. I don't give such lofty praise to just anyone." He smirked. "And besides, that whole plan of yours to overthrow the rest of the Deadly Seven? Please, if you think I don't stand a chance, you have zero chance on your own. Actually, scratch that. You have a negative twelve percent chance of beating them."
"That doesn't even make any sense!"
"Sure it does! You're so incompetent as a fighter than you'd be actively helping in your ass-kicking!"
Vilgot gnashed his teeth together. "When I get my hands on Evelot and Caractacus, I'm taking my rightful place as Pride and as the new leader of the Deadly Seven! No one is getting in my way ever again, especially a toxic friend like you!"
"Aww, did you two break up or something? How sad~." The duo froze before snapping their attention toward one of the many tunnels. Stepping out from the darkness, easily taking up the limited space, was Magni. He exhaled loudly, the cold air revealing the thick cloud of breath. Sitting atop his head was Phoebe, who polished her rifle with a cloth. She smirked down at the bickering duo. "You two need to learn a thing or two about being sensible with each other~."
Vilgot growled. "You! Where's Evelot Faucher—WAH!" Ulrich shoved him out of the way.
"Tell me where Caractacus is so I can exact my revenge on that jackass!" he shouted.
Phoebe mockingly tapped her chin. "Hmm, Caractacus? That name doesn't ring a bell."
"Don't play games with me! We know he saved you lot!"
"…" She propped her rifle over her shoulder and scoffed. "So? What if I do?"
Ulrich curled his hand, producing vast amounts of psionic sparks from it. "You're in no position to be acting coy with me, Burkhard. As I recall, you were all running away from us last time. You don't stand a chance against me."
Phoebe smirked. "You've got a big mouth, tough guy. Too bad you don't know when to shut it." She stood up and aimed her rifle at him, glaring down the ironsides. "If you don't turn away now, I'm more than welcomed to teach you the bliss of silence."
Ulrich snarled. "Damn bitch…"
Vilgot glared. "Ulrich, she's trying to rile you up! Don't listen to—"
"I don't need you barking orders at me, Envy!" Ulrich turned his hand toward the Flapple and fired a burst of psionic energy at him.
"WAH!" Vilgot barely flew back and avoided the blast. "HEY!"
"I'm going to enjoy listening to you scream, bitch!" Ulrich shouted, firing a barrage of energy shots through the cave.
"Magni!" Phoebe ordered. The Scolipede tensed his leg muscles and sidestepped out of the attack's path. Explosions peppered across the cave, bringing down more of the surrounding walls and ceiling.
Ulrich growled. "Fools. You think you can outrun me? 5% Psycho Core: Blooming Force!" He swiped his hand and sliced into the surrounding rock with a thin laser, causing the rock to violently rupture. The cave trembled harder, raining down more rock over the area.
Magni tucked his head in and smashed through the raining rock while Phoebe kept low on his back. She peered through the ironsides and fired at Ulrich. The Alolan Raichu detected her attack and tilted his neck, effortlessly dodging the bullet.
"Weak!" He aimed to fire another Blooming Force, but Vilgot suddenly blindsided him with a rolling charge to the head. "AGH!"
Vilgot spun and bounced off the walls, racing past Magni and down the tunnels. "Idiots! I'm not wasting my time with this fight! I'm going after the real prize!"
Ulrich gripped his aching head and growled. "You lousy…!" He reached his hand out.
Before he could get far away, Ulrich caught the fleeing Flapple in a psionic field. "Wha—HEY!"
"1% Psycho Core—" With a flick of his wrist, he sent Vilgot flying back toward him, where he swung and socked the apple dragon in the gut. "Gentle Seedling!"
Vilgot spat up blood…along with a splattering of berry juice. "Bad move…" His body started to light up in an orange light before exploding, knocking the former duo away from each other.
"AGH!" Ulrich kept his balance on his tail and shook the smoke off his fist. "You jerk—"
"Heads up!"
"Huh—" Right as Ulrich turned around, Magni charged by, and Phoebe cracked him across the face with the butt of her rifle. "AGH!" He slipped off his tail and fell onto the ground, covering his bloodied nose. "You BITCH!"
Phoebe laughed. "I've been called a bitch my whole life! Raise your insult game, loser!"
Vilgot shook the dirt off his shell and glared down the tunnel. "Forget this. Lancaster's not here either, so something tells me they're stalling us!" He rolled into a ball and prepared to take off.
Phoebe flicked a bullet into her rifle and aimed. "Hope you can find the exit again!" She fired right as he took off.
The bullet struck his shell. Though it didn't penetrate, the energy released around Vilgot, causing him to suddenly vanish.
Ulrich picked himself up and groaned. "What the—AAAGH!" Phoebe shot him with a bullet as well, nailing his shoulder. Before he could yell any louder, he also disappeared from the cave.
Phoebe blew the smoke off the barrel. "Displace Bullet. Alright Magni, we got them out of the cave! Now it's time to keep those losers busy until Lancaster is ready to pull his weight!"
Magni huffed. "Payback."
Literal seconds after being shot, Ulrich and Vilgot appeared at the top of Copper Gorge, faceplanting onto the ground. Vilgot shot up and looked around frantically. "W-What the?! Not again!"
Ulrich picked himself up, howling in pain as he gripped his bleeding shoulder. "That stupid, bitchy monkey! I'm going to wring her neck!"
Vilgot glared at him. "How the hell were you hit?! You've been dodging bullets left and right before!"
"I got clocked in the head with a gun!"
"Oh, so you can't even dodge the equivalent of a bat? Wow, you're useless!"
"Oho, you're calling me useless?! Well, we're both outside, so you're not doing any better than me!"
Vilgot clenched his fists. "Listen, you loudmouthed dullard, I—"
Before he could lay into his former partner, the ground started splitting between them. They braced themselves right as the ground ruptured open with Magni and Phoebe charging out onto the surface. Magni didn't waste a second, whipping his head across Vilgot and battering him across the land while Phoebe fired on Ulrich.
Ulrich, more alert this time, effortlessly dodged the bullet and sneered. "I've had enough of all of you." He growled as he poured electricity onto his shoulder, forcefully cauterizing the wound. He climbed up into the air and stretched his arms out, summoning massive spheres of psionic electricity in each. "25% Psycho Core—"
"Magni, move!" Phoebe ordered. Magni turned around and took off running at high speed.
"Superior Storm!" He swung his arms and fired a barrage of electrified orbs down on the gorge.
Magni picked up speed and jumped around the raining energy volley, riding on the shockwaves and dodging high-speed debris from the explosions. Chains of explosions went off behind him, masses of teal light erupting as high as the visible sky. The blast range was so wide that it nearly seared the tip of Magni's tail off.
Phoebe cackled madly. "Wow! You really are a loser! Come on, where's all that pride from before?!"
"SHUT UP!" Ulrich fired another energy blast, this time curving it into Magni's path.
Magni barely stopped in time and jumped back as the explosion went off. The shockwave struck, sending both him and Phoebe flying. Ulrich swooped through the smoke and snatched Phoebe by the neck, carrying her high up into the air.
"H-Hey!" she growled.
He tightened his hands around her neck. "You can have it one of two ways: death by me, or death by gravity. I don't care either way, but there's something satisfying about burning you to death with my own hands."
Phoebe grabbed his arms and smirked. "Agreed!" She whipped her tail around, revealing her heated dagger clutched in the tail's fist.
She tried to drive it into his neck, but it stopped an inch from reaching him. She grunted as his Psychic wrapped around her tail, keeping her from finishing the attack. He made a small gesture with his hand and compelled the dagger to fly from her tail, spiraling toward the earth below.
"Well, that cleared up my choice." Sparks erupted from his cheeks. "Time to die."
Phoebe growled. "Damn it!" She extended a digit on her tail and frantically wagged it. Metronome! Come on, give me something useful!
"20% Psycho Core: Supreme Aura!" Ulrich ignited his fur in electricity and set Phoebe ablaze in its brilliant teal glow.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" she howled.
Ulrich cackled through his sharp grin. "You dare look upon me as your inferior?! Scum like you don't even deserve to exist in my shadow!"
Though her skin burned and stung like the fires of Hell, Phoebe forced herself to look the Alolan Raichu in the eye with a crazy grin plastered over her face. "That's where all the monsters live!" She clutched her tail fist, igniting a sharp orange aura around it, and slammed him with a heavy punch to the gut. "Reversal!"
The damage she took fed into the randomly chosen move. Though weakened by Ulrich's natural resistance, he left himself unguarded to the surprise attack. He doubled over, coughing up spit and cancelling his attack. With him momentarily stunned, Phoebe reared her legs up and kicked him in the chest, throwing herself out of his grip and freefalling back toward the gorge.
"Magni!" she called.
Magni immediately leapt into action, lunging into the air and catching her. She swung around his neck and landed on his back right as he touched the ground.
Ulrich wiped his lips and growled. "5% Psycho Core: Blossoming Force." He lit up his hand and fired a beam straight down.
Magni sidestepped the attack and the resulting explosion before taking off toward the canyons making up the gorge. "Catch us if you can!" she yelled.
Ulrich laughed bitterly. "You're joking, right? A contest of speed against me?! You losers don't stand a chance!" After properly balancing himself on his tail, he took off flying after the fleeing duo as they jumped down into the canyon.
Amidst the confusion, everyone had completely forgotten about Vilgot. The Flapple blinked twice as both parties vanished into the gorge before frowning. "Why am I not surprised? Two loud narcissists are destined to draw each other's attention."
He glared back at the hole made during the duo's dramatic entrance. Realizing he was alone now, he fluttered over and hopped back down into the caves below.
"Idiots. She went through all that effort, and she didn't even bother to drag me along into her little ruse? Good luck wasting your energy, Ulrich. I'm going for the big prize."