Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 16, Chapter 4

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Derflinger raced after his counterpart, his eye narrowed and his blade out of its sheath. In front of him, his evil doppelgänger weaved through tight spaces no human could ever enter. That was fine for both of them, as this was their battle to be fought.

"Stand still and fight, you coward!" Derflinger shouted, his voice echoing across the cavern. The crystals seemed to sing and chime as the soundwaves hit them, but Derflinger didn't pay them much attention. Instead, he kept his focus on his opponent, who refused to stand and fight.

"Ah, screw this!" Derflinger hissed as his body glowed a dark purple. Before Rocket Derflinger was able to react, Derflinger struck him with a Pursuit. While normally he'd be too far away to land the physical attack correctly, the fact that his opponent was attempting to flee boosted his speed enough to land the hit.

"Gagh!" he grunted in pain as he was knocked to the ground, slightly cracking the rock as he bounced across its surface. Derflinger was immediately on him, slicing down with his blade only for Rocket Derflinger to block the blow with his own blade. Both winced as pain shot through their bodies, but they remained firm.

"Persistent one, aren't you?" Rocket Derflinger mocked before slicing at Derflinger, forcing him to back away.

"I'm old, comes with the territory," Derflinger countered, then rushed back at his counterpart, his blade singing through the air.

Once again, Rocket Derflinger parried the blow then used Night Slash. Derflinger twisted his body in an effort to dodge, but the attack connected. He gasped in pain as he was rocked to the side, nearly hitting the cave wall, but he was able to stop himself. A moment later, he twirled upward, avoiding the stabbing attack Rocket Derflinger attempted. Rocket Derflinger's blade got stuck in the rock, allowing Derflinger to hit him with a Night Slash of his own. The blow was strong enough to knock Rocket Derflinger completely out of the rock, sending shards flying in all directions. Any that hit the crystals shattered, with the crystals themselves remarkably unblemished. Staring each other down, the two Derflingers remained motionless, holding themselves ready for combat.

"I get the distinct feeling we're evenly matched," Rocket Derflinger remarked. After a moment, Derflinger nodded.

"Same. Can't say I'm too surprised, honestly," Derflinger admitted.

"As am I," Rocket Derflinger replied, then used Shadow Sneak to attack Derflinger with his shadow.

Without missing a beat, Derflinger chopped the shadow in half with his blade, then disappeared in a blur to strike Rocket Derflinger with Iron Head. The headbutt was blocked with his doppelgänger's sheath, and the two opponents immediately fell into a flurry of combat.

"Tell me!" Rocket Derflinger began as he swung his sword back and forth at Derflinger. "You and I are the same Pokémon, right?"

"On the surface, maybe!" Derflinger countered, parrying the blows then retaliating with his own. "But deep down, you and I are nothing alike!"

"How can you say that, after everything we've seen?! Everything we've been through?!" Rocket Derflinger shot back as he continued to strike. "How many times have we helped good and honorable people, only for them to die for nothing?!"

"I've lost count," Derflinger grimly admitted, he blocked a blow, causing Rocket Derflinger's eye to be a scant few inches away from his own.

"Then you know it's pointless to hold onto worthless ideals. Honor, justice, loyalty. They only get you and the people you care about killed."

"That may be," Derflinger replied, then pushed him away before slicing up into Rocket Derflinger's body, "but I owe it to them and everyone else to keep going."

"Yet, in the end, none of it matters!" Rocket Derflinger screamed, launching into a flurry of light and heavy attacks. "It doesn't – gagh – matter how honorable or kind one is! In the end, they and whatever they make die, either from the passage of time or by the hands of someone else who simply doesn't care! If the world around you doesn't play by the rules, trying to do so yourself is folly."

"The world is filled with scumbags, yes," Derflinger admitted, his voice straining as he blocked the attacks with his sheath before retaliating with his own. "Much – oof – like the ones you run with now, hypocrite. But tell me? How much of a legacy do people like Rainbow Rocket leave behind? I've seen it countless times before. Someone only caring about themselves amass great power, only for it to fall apart as soon as they're gone. Sure, the idealistic ones don't last forever, but they last a hell of a lot longer than those who aren't."

"Please, you're cherry-picking and you know it," Rocket Derflinger countered while gasping slightly, launching into a new array of attacks. "For all the ones that last, there are just as many, if not more, who are summarily cut down without hesitation. Or better yet, the idealistic wise up to the nature of the world and stop playing nice. Kind of like Brimir, really. There's a reason why Arceus hated his guts."

Derflinger narrowed his eye as he locked blades with his counterpart again, then growled, "Brimir had his faults, yes, but at the end of the day, he was a good man."

"Brimir was a monster!" Rocket Derflinger shouted. "A good man doesn't rip the soul out of a living creature then shove us into it!"

"He didn't know the Honedge was alive! It was an accident!" Derflinger protested. "He was trying to save me, save us, after our body was destroyed by it when the Honedge was summoned! Brimir was horrified when he realized what happened!"

Rocket Derflinger fell silent as he locked blades with Derflinger, their bodies shaking from the pressure being exerted. Both were breathing heavily, and their bodies were beginning to be marred by scratches and dents. After a moment, he darkly chuckled and muttered, "Ah, I see now. That's where the differences started."

"What do you mean?" Derflinger asked as he was pushed away. Rather than attack, Rocket Derflinger stayed where he was, and narrowed his eye.

"Your Brimir was horrified when he killed that Pokémon then put us in its empty corpse," Rocket Derflinger said. "But mine? No, mine didn't care. Didn't give a rat's ass about the fact that he ripped the very soul out of a confused, scared creature, even when I begged him to stop. In fact, he thought it was fascinating that it had a soul in the first place. Either way, I bet Arceus didn't much care about how Brimir felt once the deed was done. Tell me, did a fight break out between them, too?"

"Only out of self-defense, not that it did anything," Derflinger admitted, his voice neutral yet holding a pang of sorrow and regret. "Once Arceus and the other Legendaries were done, the Holy Land was nothing more than an inhospitable desert."

"Same, but my Brimir struck first. Although, to be fair, calling it a fight doesn't do it justice. It was more of a slaughter from a vengeful and wrathful God," Rocket Derflinger admitted, then he closed his eye. "Do you still hear it? The Honedge's screams and cries as it was happening?"

"…Every day," Derflinger softly replied, and Rocket Derflinger nodded.

"I thought so, because I do, too." A deep, heavy silence fell over the pair as they stared at each other. After a moment, Rocket Derflinger spoke up again. "You should join us, you know. You, your Saito, your Louise. The Boss promised that we're gonna tear down everything that bastard built, and after everything he did, Brimir doesn't deserve to have a legacy where he's worshiped as a savior."

Derflinger remained silent for a moment, then looked back up at Rocket Derflinger and shook his body. "No. People are going to get hurt because of what you want to do, and I can't let you do that."

Rocket Derflinger stared sadly at his counterpart for a moment, then sighed and closed his eye. Shaking his body, he remarked, "So be it. Can't say I didn't try."

He opened his eye, now cold and filled with determination, and the two Honedges struck each other yet again, their clashing of swords echoing across the caverns all around them.


A series of resounding booms echoed across the cavern as Louise and her counterpart exchanged all the explosive spells they knew. Explosion, Eruption, Blast Wave, Rock Burst, and more ways of blowing stuff up were sent across the cavern, and already extensive damage had been dealt to the surrounding environment. Louise had managed to corner the other fairly quickly, only for a shootout to immediately erupt. Now she was hiding behind a corner wall, barely poking out to cast a spell before diving back in to avoid any explosions sent her way.

"Dammit!" Louise cursed as another explosion sent off, causing more of her cover to chip away. She immediately cast a spell in retaliation, sending dust and shards of debris flying everywhere.

'This isn't working!' Espirit shouted, holding her hands against her head to aid in her concentration. She was forming a psychic barrier around them, shielding the party from the worst of the spells and the debris, but it wouldn't hold forever. Unfortunately for them, Rocket Louise had the exact same idea, and occasionally they could see the shimmer of a barrier protecting them as well.

"I can see that!" Louise screeched, flinching as yet another explosion went off.

In the distance, she heard the panicked shrieks of wild Pokémon as they fled from the combat zone. Part of her felt regretful for perpetuating this disturbance, but at the same time knew it was unavoidable. Louise didn't know what, exactly, her doppelgänger was planning, but from past experience, those working for criminal organizations never had anything but ill intentions towards everyone else. It didn't matter that a version of herself from another universe – something that, just a few months ago, would have seemed completely outlandish yet now somehow made sense – was part of it. This Team Rainbow Rocket had to be stopped before someone got hurt.

As another explosion went off above her head, showing Louise and her party with a hail of rubble that was deflected by Esprit's barrier, she glanced over and furrowed her gaze. After a moment, an idea began to form in her head. It would be risky, but if it worked the idea she had might finally break this stalemate, allowing them to actually fight in earnest.

"Esprit, when I…she casts again, I need you to teleport right over to them and use Disarming Voice," Louise ordered, prompting Esprit to gasp and look up at her.

'But that'll—!' Esprit protested, but Louise cut her off.

"I know what it'll do!" Louise shouted, then took a deep breath and said, "But, right now, I don't see any other way. We're completely pinned down, and if this keeps up the entire cave is going to collapse in on us."

Tellingly, they heard an ominous crack above their heads as yet another explosion went off. There was no real danger of the roof falling apart on them just yet, but they all knew it was coming. Already Auspice was sensing the area, trying to ascertain the safest position they were in, and after a moment grimly nodded towards Esprit. Louise knew what that meant, and steeled her gaze as she looked at a nervous Esprit. The Kirlia looked up at her, then her face hardened with determination and she nodded.

"Good," Louise said, then peeked out from behind her cover to cast a spell. It was more of a distraction than anything, but it would buy them some time to prepare.

"Go as soon as I say," Louise declared. Time seemed to slow down as seconds stretched into hours, then she caught a glimpse of a wand poking out from behind the rock.

"Now!" Louise shouted at the same time another spell was sent their way by Rocket Louise. As Esprit disappeared with a pop, Louise and her Pokémon dived for safety, guided by Auspice who shielded them with her body. A moment later, a shrill cry echoed from the other side of the cavern, causing the enemy team to stumble back, clutching their ears in an effort to block out the sound.

Seizing their chance, Louise and her Pokémon charged them, Aile racing ahead to snatch the wand out of Rocket Louise's hand. She didn't get very far, however, as Rocket Aile slammed into her with a Quick Attack, causing Aile to drop the wand to the rocky floor. Rocket Louise looked at the wand then at Louise herself, who was aiming hers right at her threateningly until it was ripped out of her hands by Rocket Esprit. Before the Kirlia could follow up with an attack on herself, Esprit stuck her counterpart with Confusion.

Following her example, the other Pokémon charged their counterparts, and the entire cavern was filled with furious combat. Above them, both Ailes flew between the stalactites, launching gusts of Razor Wind and charging at each other with Flame Charge as they engaged in vicious aerial combat. On the ground, both Auspices bounced from rock to rock, crystal to crystal, using their horns as swords as they clashed against one another. Occasionally they'd used their claws in an effort to gain an edge, but like everyone else they were evenly matched. Brennaraki and Rocket Brennaraki shot fireballs and conjured Fire Spins an effort to contain the other, punctuated by bursts of Psybeam which reflected off the crystals, accompanied by high-pitched chimes. Gène and his doppelgänger were the furthest back from one another, shooting Swift into their attacks, leaving only a few stars that reached their targets. Esprit and Rocket Esprit, meanwhile, remained locked in an intense psychic duel, teleporting in and out of existence as they focused all they had on their opponents.

"You've trained your team well," Rocket Louise admitted as she stared Louise down. Despite herself, Louise couldn't help but agree.

"As have you," Louise replied, eyeing her wand as Rocket Louise did the same.

"For what purpose, might I ask?" Rocket Louise asked, taking a small step towards her wand.

"To win the Pokémon League," Louise declared as she did the same.

"Ah, you're still on that goal," Rocket Louise said with an amused smile. "Still working on gaining Arceus' approval."

"No," Louise countered, the pair now circling each other, one eye on themselves while the other towards their wands. "I may have started this to prove Arceus wrong about me, but now I'm doing this for myself. I'm going to win the Pokémon League because I want to."

"Because doing so proves to yourself that you're not a zero," Rocket Louise finished. After a moment Louise nodded in affirmation, and Rocket Louise nodded back. "Good. Hold onto that feeling. Let it drive you towards proving all the naysayers wrong. Winning the Pokémon League is certainly an admirable achievement that can't be denied, after all."

"One that I can clearly see you've abandoned," Louise shot back, but to her surprise Rocket Louise merely chuckled and shook her head.

"Perhaps, but I still wish you the best of luck," Rocket Louise admitted. "To be honest, I'm still working to win the Pokémon League of my universe, but it's no longer a priority for me. Most of my efforts now are towards building the new world Team Rainbow Rocket will usher in for us all."

"What are you talking about?" Louise asked, moving slightly closer to her wand.

"Team Rainbow Rocket isn't some doomsday cult like Team Flare. We have a plan for a new, brighter tomorrow for everyone under our banner. One without war, without suffering, a world where people are valued based off what they can do and not what they're born into. Team Rainbow Rocket is simply trying to protect the world from devastation while uniting everyone under our nation. It's our motto, after all," Rocket Louise stated as she took a step to the side.

In the background, they saw and heard their Pokémon continue their fights, the cave occasionally trembling from the attacks. The chime from the crystals slightly increased, their ears buzzing from the noise, but both trainers ignored it.

"Nice rhetoric, coming from a terrorist," Louise countered, clenching her fist. "Sounds an awful lot like Reconquista. You may have fooled yourself, but you're not fooling me, so you might as well save your breath."

Rocket Louise smirked, taking another step. "So be it. But, I must ask you: after everything you've seen here, do you honestly believe that concepts like nobility and bloodlines matter? The way I see it, the way we do things now have only made things worse for us, so what does it matter to tear it all down?"

Louise was quiet for a moment as she nudged her foot towards her wand, then admitted, "Yeah, after everything I've seen and learned, Tristain has a lot to learn from Kalos. From Earth. But I intend to go home and share what I've learned. I know Princess Henrietta, and she'll listen. She'll make things better."

Rocket Louise scoffed and shook her head. "Please, Henrietta is nothing more than a foolish young girl who'll get Tristain into a war as soon as her lover is killed. Someone like her is in no position to rule."

Louise scowled and clenched her fist while Rocket Louise merely smirked. Both were right on top of their wands now, staring the other down, and not a word was said between them. As their Pokémon continued their battles around them, both dropped down and grabbed their wands, aimed at each other, then cast a spell.

"Fireball!" both shouted. The air between them sparkled, but to their surprise the spells somehow collided, causing a massive explosion to erupt between them. Both mages and their Pokémon were sent flying back, crashing against the cave walls and momentarily knocking the air out of their lungs. As they recovered, their Pokémon immediately rushing to their aid, they couldn't help but notice that the crystals were now shining brightly, ringing incessantly to the point where it could no longer be ignored.

"What is happening?" Louise asked as Auspice helped her up, and Rocket Louise's face blanched.

"Oh no," she muttered.

Before Louise could ask what she meant, the crystals erupted into a glimmering rainbow of light, flooding the entire cave and consuming everything.


Saito and his team were locked in an intense battle against their doppelgängers, each one fighting their direct counterparts. High-intensity streams of water were blasted by both Ronin and Rocket Ronin, most of which were dodged or cut apart with their scalchops yet had enough force behind them to shatter any rocks they hit. Tanuki and Rocket Tanuki exchanged flurries of fists both infused with aura and Steel-type energy, deftly parrying or redirecting the blows away from them before retaliating. Any hits that landed pushed them back against the ground, with the Riolu keeping themselves upright by daggering their paws into the rock, carving deep gouges in the process. Rushing among the stalagmites and crystals were Shogun and Rocket Shogun, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. Their instincts were running wild, and both had a feral look in their eyes that made everyone else want to stay as far away as possible. Unable to move about freely, Tengu and Rocket Tengu acted as turrets, bombarding the other with Bullet Seed and Bides while absorbing the crystals' light with Synthesis to recover any damage. Despite no longer being officially part of Saito's team, even Maindo was taking part in the action, dueling his counterpart with far more fervor than the others would have expected.

'Gagh!' Maindo shouted as he was blasted by a Shadow Ball, sending him flying through a stalagmite and causing it to crumble into a pile of dust. As he picked himself up, he scowled at his counterpart then spat, 'Take this, you asshole!'

Without missing a beat, Maindo telekinetically picked up the rocks and hurled them like a machine gun into Rocket Maindo, who teleported behind a large crystal to take cover. Seizing his chance, Maindo teleport right behind his doppelgänger, then blasted him with a Shadow Ball his own, sending him flying. As Rocket Maindo flew though the air, however, he reoriented himself and attacked Maindo with Shadow Sneak, the blow acting like an uppercut that send him flying up into the ceiling. He unceremoniously came crashing down, and as he tried to pick himself up, Rocket Maindo teleported above him, holding his hand out with a charged Shadow Ball already formed.

'Die,' Rocket Maindo demanded, then shot the Shadow Ball point-blank at Maindo's head.

At the last second, he was able to teleport away, causing a large crater to form in the rock where Maindo was just moments before. He reemerged right besides Tanuki, still locked in his evenly-matched fight against Rocket Tanuki.

"Having trouble there?" Tanuki asked, ducking under a thrown punch before headbutting the underside of Rocket Tanuki's chin. He was breathing heavily, and his fur was slightly singed from the blows that had connected, but it was tantamount to his skill and training that he was able to stay focused on two things at once.

'Only because he's a complete asshole!' Maindo screamed before using Psychic to throw his opponent back through a stalagmite. At the same time, Tanuki spun to the side to dodge a Force Palm, followed up by kneeling his opponent in the gut then slamming his clamped together paws like a sledgehammer into Rocket Tanuki's back.

"You said it, not me!" he announced as he picked up and spun Rocket Tanuki around, building up force before hurling him away. "It's like looking into a mirror, ain't it?"

'Screw you!' Maindo yelled back, ducking under a Shadow Ball before retaliating with his own and taking cover. 'Seriously, this guy is a total psycho!'

The rebellious Kirlia Teleported away just before another Shadow Ball shattered the outcropping he was using for cover, and showered the space where he'd been standing in high-speed shrapnel.

Maindo reappeared behind his copy, snapped off another Shadow Ball, and 'ported closer to the brawling Riolu pair. 'He's actually out to kill me, I can feel it!'

Rocket Maindo laughed at that, and charged a cluster of Shadow Balls. 'Of course I am!' He bellowed cheerfully, launching the volley all at once and sending not only Maindo, but both Fighting-types diving for cover. 'Where's the fun if somebody's not bleeding?!'

Tanuki shot a glance at his counterpart as he scrambled to his feet, then asked, "How do you work with that guy?"

The Rocket Riolu shrugged and admitted, "Easier than you'd think. We really just keep him pointed at stuff we want destroyed, and keep out of the way."

"And when you run out of things you want destroyed?"

"That's when things get interesting."

Tanuki frowned at how nonchalant his counterpart sounded, then glanced at Rocket Maindo, closing his eyes to see through his Aura Sight. True to Maindo's words, a dark and foul miasma surrounded Rocket Maindo, promising nothing but pain and suffering towards whoever caught his attention. A wicked, toothy smile was adding to the sinister presentation, and it became clear that Maindo was correct.

"Do I even want to know what he may or may not have done before?" Tanuki asked as he opened his eyes, returning his attention back to his opponent. Rocket Tanuki merely shook his head, telling him all he needed to know.

'I sure as hell don't,' Maindo admitted, holding out his arms as he held out his arms to gather energy.

The two Pokémon glanced at each other, and Tanuki took the chance to study Maindo's Aura. While it was still far darker than his own, there was still a hefty amount of light swirled in. At the same time, sparks of some unknown emotion was billowing off, telling Tanuki that Maindo was, at the very least, conflicted about something. It wasn't hard to understand why. Seeing an even worse version of yourself would put things in perspective. For Tanuki himself, seeing his opponent act a lot like Maindo normally did, if without the obvious disrespect towards his trainer, was unsettling.

But analyzing those implications could come later. Right now, they had a battle to win, and so Tanuki returned his attention towards Rocket Tanuki and shot forward with a Quick Attack, one that was met in the middle by his opponent who had the same idea. Simultaneously, Maindo charged a pair of Shadow Balls, one in his hand, and hurled them towards Rocket Maindo like grenades, who teleported away from both before retaliating with Psybeam.

In the middle of the Pokémon fights, who were keeping sure to have their attacks stay as far away from them as possible, was Saito and Rocket Saito. The two were hurling crude punches and kicks at one another. Neither were trained, which left the attacks clumsy and easily telegraphed, but behind them were the strength of one who had been hiking across the countryside for months. Any blows that connected hit like a truck, which wasn't helped by the fact that neither of them really knew how to take a punch in the first place.

"Oof!" Saito grunted as his opponent tackled him. He barely had enough time to shield his head with his arms before Rocket Saito began hurling punch after punch at him, but a moment later, Saito was able to lift his legs up and push his opponent off. Pushing himself off the ground, he charged at Rocket Saito, tackling him into a crystal that shimmered slightly upon impact.

"Gagh, you bastard!" Rocket Saito cursed as Saito punched and kneed his opponent in the gut repeatedly. After a few blows, Saito hurled him away, but he remained on his feet as he stumbled to a stop. Turning around and with his fists raised, he breathed heavily and stared at Saito, who was in the same position as he was.

"Why?" Saito demanded to know. "I don't get it. Why would I, why would you, join Team Rainbow Rocket? Team Rocket are gangsters, criminals, that inspired all the rest. Team Rainbow Rocket is just them but on a…universal scale. Don't give me that Tauros-shit about being part of the winning side, I want the truth."

"Heh, fine," Rocket Saito chuckled. "You want to know the real reason why I joined? Tell me, how often do you watch the news?"

"As often as I can," Saito admitted as he ran up to Rocket Saito, and the two fell into another close quarters brawl.

"Then you know – oomph –" Rocket Saito grunted as he was slugged in the face by Saito, causing him to spin around before he retaliated with a punch of his own, "—then you know how often the world almost ended, right?"

"A few, yeah!" Saito admitted, kicking Rocket Saito back before almost falling over. Reorienting himself, he added, "But the only times that almost happened was when criminal teams, like the one you're with, acted up, and each time they were stopped!"

"Haha, oh that's hilarious!" Rocket Saito laughed, shaking his head and grinning. "You honestly think I'm only talking about Team Magma, Aqua, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare, don't you? Well, news flash, other-me, those weren't the only times it happened!"

"What are you—" Saito began, only for Rocket Saito to punch him square in the face. He stumbled back, but was able to block a follow up punch and throw him back.

"Let me break it down for you," Rocket Saito said, holding up his hand and beginning to count. "Our worlds' histories are pretty much the exact same, Louise and I already figured that out, and that includes what most people are aware of. The amount of times the world was really threatened with complete destruction, only to be averted by mere happenstance and luck, is mind-boggling. Shamouti, Greenfield, Hell, Alamos Town! By my count, the world was almost destroyed twenty-two times, at least, just in the past seven years alone!"

"What happened in Alamos Town?" Saito asked, honestly confused as to what he was talking about.

"Dialga and Palkia happened, that's what," Rocket Saito revealed, causing Saito to blanche. The criminal nodded, and he stated, "Yeah, that kind of deal. Luckily some trainers were passing by who managed to stop it, but the problem is that things like this keep happening! It feels like every year there's at least one going on somewhere, and each time we have to pray that some plucky trainer steps up to the plate to stop it. That's utterly insane to me."

"What, so you think Team Rainbow Rocket can stop them?" Saito asked, and Rocket Saito threw his arms to the side.

"Yes, or at least try! Clearly the authorities aren't able to do it on their own," he pointed out. "It's only been through dumb luck that we haven't been destroyed yet, and that luck's not going to hold out forever. That almost happened in our world, but Team Rainbow Rocket stepped up to the plate and completely destroyed the remnants of Team Flare when they attacked Cyllage. They're willing to do the dirty work to stop these world-ending threats before they become a problem, something we desperately need!"

"I admit, the number of times the world was almost destroyed is…alarming," Saito declared, furrowing his brow and raising his fists, "but burning it all down to start over isn't going to solve the problem! All you'll be doing is replacing society with organized crime, and that's going to suck for everybody!"

"Only for those not in it," Rocket Saito countered, "or those who don't fall in line. But for those who do, and the ones who helped bring it out, life is going to be pretty good."

"I fail to see how living in fear as being 'pretty good,'" Saito growled. Rocket Saito looked at his counterpart for a moment then sighed, shaking his head at the same time.

"And that's why I decided to be on the winning side, remember?" Rocket Saito muttered, then began to charge at Saito.

Before he could take a few steps, however, the cave shook from the force of a mighty explosion. Moments later, the crystals around them began to shine brightly, forcing the battles to stop as the cave was flooded with light and a loud ringing.

"Gagh, what the Hell?!" Saito cursed, clamping his eyes shut while covering his ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound.

"Grrh, the crystals! They're…reacting to…Louise's magic!" Rocket Saito surmised.

Before anyone could say anything else, the cave was consumed by a wave of light, drowning out everything it touched. When the light receded, everyone was gone, the only evidence of their presence being the remains of their battle.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this to life.

A series of one-on-one battles between our heroes and their multiversal counterparts ensued, where we get some more details as to why they did what they did in the first place. Especially Derflinger, as we finally got the answer as to why he's a Honedge in this story along with why Arceus hates Void Mages so much. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. Now, obviously more will be revealed in due time, but that's the basics of it all.

Now, onto the Q&A:

zanarkand wintercall: Well, you're in luck. There's one more chapter left in this episode, and as you can probably imagine, it's gonna be pretty interesting.

.549: Thank you, I really appreciate that. And yeah, that's what we were intending. These weren't evil versions of themselves from the get go. Rather, they had different reactions to similar things, or they had slightly different things happen to them, thus leading to where they are now. Not evil, but definitely on the side of good anymore.

S. M. L. Stevhmaklie: Yep. It's kind of funny, really. As Darwin Candidate says, Mirror-Esprit is basically Maindo, and Maindo's mirror, instead of being a little cinnamon roll, is a total whack job that's even worse than he is. That was intentional, as having simple character personality and alignment flips was a bit too bland and boring, so we went with everyone being just a bit worse/harder, which naturally made Maindo an even bigger piece of shit. Basically like himself if he didn't have a voice telling him not to take it too far, which was shown when he was helping out against the various criminal attacks without fuss.

Celestia's Paladin: A bit more than that, as shown in this chapter, but basically yeah. That about sums it up.

Steelrain66: Maindo was supposed to be our Vegeta, so we felt it fit.

Chronos0305: We're taking a bit of a more realistic approach here, which means they're of higher levels of competence.

keybladelight: She didn't kill anyone, but after she was done she wasn't bullied anymore because they were terrified of her.

Shadowwolf of Phantasms: DBZA is one of my favorite series of all time, so I love throwing in references whenever I can.

SulliMike23: Yep. Just because they're mirrors doesn't mean things went exactly the same.

That's it for this chapter. Let me know what you guys all think and I hope you enjoy!