Chapter 29: The Secret of Floor 48!
"You know WHAT?"

Kel didn't answer Aurora's question.

"Quick, the Plothole revealed it, but I don't know how long it will last!"

Aurora glanced briefly at Elementareon.

"Are you joining in?"
"That sounds too important for me to refuse. Come on, Kel, show us the way!"

Down the stairs, behind the hectic lion, the two followed Kel, two floors down to a metal door. The map reader on the edge of it glowed red, alternating with green.

"That's Floor 48? Tyrantrum's private floor? Why is it open?"

Kel explained what had happened.

"I originally wanted to come to you two, see how things were going and maybe help out. Then, on the way up, there was a flash, a Plothole, and suddenly this reader went crazy and the door unlocked."

Kel carefully opened the metal gate, relieved that it still worked. Aurora, however, stepped back. She felt sick when she realized what this combined with Kel's statement must mean. Had the Arcanine really been correct from day one? It wasn't possible that a League founder was Epsilon himself... or was it? Was that why Tyrantrum had been on the volcano? Was that why he had encouraged Aurora and Kel to travel to the iceberg? Was it really anger, on the team's first day?

"Come on in!", Kel instructed.

Uncertainly, Aurora followed behind Elementareon and let the heavy door slam shut, which immediately clicked. The lock worked again.
A small lightbulb was the only source of light in the windowless room on the 48th floor. It flickered slightly and revealed a wide, empty space. A single wooden chest stood against a wall in the middle of the room, and there was also a lonely entrance to the elevator. Aurora approached the box purposefully, now determined to see the truth with her own eyes. She lifted the heavy lid of the chest to reveal... a pile of photos, most of them framed. Smaller mementos like medals and trophies lay between them and a few letters. Aurora grabbed one of the picture frames to see a photo of Team Fossil standing together in front of the League's giant skyscraper, with the fallen ribbon in the background, right after this place had opened. All of these items...

"Kel, these are all memorabilia. Tyrantrum isn't evil, just shy. It's just as I expected. He's just too proud of his reputation as a rough beast."

The former human, however, didn't seem to be impressed by all the things that spoke for the fossil in this place.

"Move away from the chest for just a moment."

Aurora followed the instruction and Kel moved the chest to reveal a trapdoor in the floor. With a lot of force, Kel managed to pull it open. What was in this hollow was the exact opposite of the chest's contents. Aurora recognized the blue and gold metal immediately.

"This is... Epsilon's armor. Why... is it in Tyrantrum' secret room?"

Kel seemed more confident than ever before as Elementareon asked this question.

"Because I was right! Tyrantrum is Epsilon! It can't be any other way! He is the second traitor we have been looking for!"

As if Kel had summoned it, a button on the elevator suddenly flashed. A green light appeared pointing upwards.

"Someone is coming... and there is no question who it may be.", Aurora stated.

Immediately, the three Pokemon were ready to fight. They had discovered the truth about Epsilon. The mask had fallen! And now Aurora would be able to take revenge for the injustice that had been done to her. Without armor, Tyrantrum would not be able to defeat this group! It was all over... and yet the Ninetales felt miserable. She had trusted Tyrantrum for years. And she had not been the only one. Everyone had. And now... it had been him all along. The entire League, Aurora's entire dream, had been created by the one she despised most. Her entire dream had never been more than a weapon of control, wasn't it?

The door slowly opened and Monargoras immediately found himself in the face of three fighters, ready for battle, which he obviously was not expecting.

"What? What are you three doing here? How did you get in here!? This place is private!"

Elementareon now spoke for all three of Tyrantrum's opponents.

"And now we know why! Tyrantrum, you damn asshole! Or should I just call you "Epsilon"?"
"Have you gone crazy? What the fuck are you talking about? Is this a conspiracy"
"Don't fool us anymore! Your own Plotholes have given you away! Don't you think this damn armor is proof enough for us?"

When Tyrantrum saw what the trio were guarding, he turned pale.

"How... why is that here? I... I swear to you, I have nothing to do with it! I did not know..."

Aurora was close to believing his words, simply because she couldn't believe that Tyrantrum didn't think of anything more convincing. But her doubts had all vanished. She should have listened to her teammate from day one.

"That's why you gave us the idea to travel to the iceberg! That's why we heard you talking to Epsilon without seeing Epsilon at all! It's your fault! Everything! And I, naive as I am, even defended you!"

Tyrantrum's voice was filled with concern, but Elementareon, Kel and Aurora were too angry to fall for this cheap trick.

"Please, you have to believe me! Aurora, take my side, you know I'm saying the truth!"

"I won't! Do you think I owe you something for you giving me a second life? You're the reason I even lost my first!"

Not only Tyrantrum was surprised by this statement, but Elementareon as well.

"What? Second life? What are you talking about?"
"When I fought this bastard on the iceberg, I failed. Fatally. The only reason I'm here is Marshadow. He reminded Tyrantrum of a strange ideal of the Plot, of "Chapter 25". Apparently the plot needed me up to a certain point, which hadn't been reached yet! That's why Epsilon used his power to bring back life into me. Marshadow told me after we freed Kel..."
"And you didn't believe a word he said back then!", replied the dinosaur.

"I did!"

Aurora contradicted, angrily.

"I just couldn't admit it. I felt too much like I owed you something for it. But Kel convinced me that I didn't. On the contrary! Tyrantrum, you have the choice! Surrender peacefully or fight a lost fight!"

The fossil hesitated for a moment.

"I... I don't want to fight! Just give me a chance to prove myself! I swear, I'll do anything!"
"Obviously you will. With your armor, you can do whatever you want, right?"

It was clear that there was no third option for Tyrantrum. He could only fight or surrender. Hesitantly, he made his decision.

"I really don't want to fight! But... if I don't get another chance to prove myself..."

Rock spikes shot out of the ground right in front of Aurora.

"You're leaving me no choice! Forgive me for this!"

A feeling of joy spread through Aurora. Monargoras fought. She could finally return his "favor" from the iceberg. And the tables had turned. Now it was Tyrantrum whose chances of victory were vanishingly small. The leader of Polarna vatra immediately jumped over the rock spikes towards her enemy. She already had a plan of what she wanted to do. But what she only realized now was that for the first time, she would see Elementareon in real life in battle. Never before had she seen the most powerful woman in the League fight. Of course she knew about all the successes, but not how they really came about.

While the Ninetales was already creating icy pillars to shape the battlefield, she heard Kel ask a crucial question.

"Elementareon, what is your typing? Do you have effective attacks?"
"Hope. And also yes."

Aurora didn't really understand either, until Elementareon suddenly fired a powerful Focus Blast through one of the ice pillars, so that Tyrntrum couldn't react in time before the impact. Aurora immediately used the time to charge up Moonblast, just as she had already done against Kel, who now spoke up.

"Aurora, up onto the pillars!"

She immediately understood and also created a pillar under the slightly confused Elementareon before an Earthquake shook the room and caused Tyrantrum to stagger.

However, Tyrantrum caught himself with the claws of his left hand and immediately dug them into the ground. A technique that Aurora had never seen before. Cracks ran through the entire floor, lines of boiling lava appeared. The room temperature rose considerably.

"Terraforming!"

The boiling lava shot up in many places. Elementareon and Aurora escaped, while Kel was unimpressed anyway, but the view of Tyrantrum faded. Elementareon, however, still seemed very sure.

"Aurora, stand on one of his stone pillars and keep your focus on your Moonblast."

The situation was too serious for the Ninetales to object. Even though the jump was far, she reached the rocky spike and managed to balance herself gracefully on the top. Tyrantrum shot out from the lava wall directly in front of Elementareon and crashed into her with a frontal attack. However, she was only pushed away by a few centimeters and seemed to have reached exactly the situation she was looking for.

"Thunder Wave."

Before the true Epsilon could react, the attack hit him and left him severely restricted in his mobility.

"Moonblast"

For a moment, Aurora did not know whether this had been an instruction to her or a simple exclamation from Elementareon, until she realized: It was both. More fairy energy gathered in Aurora's existing moon and a kind of double attack struck the immobilized Tyrantrum, leaving him motionless. The cracks in the ground disappeared as well.

Kel now gathered again, with his two partners in this fight, while Aurora just looked down at Monargoras full of anger.

"Leave him, Aurora.", Kel exclaimed.

Aurora didn't quite understand what Kel was trying to tell her at first.

"Excuse me? Why?"
"Because Epsilon is more useful to us alive than dead.", Elementareon completed Kel's thought.

Aurora turned away from the motionless fossil.

"Very well. What now?"
"I'd say we take his key card and keep him locked up here for now. We'll take the armor with us, of course. And then... we should probably report back. Especially to Aurorus."

Elementareon seemed to hesitate on the final part of what she had said. Up until this moment, Aurora had hardly thought about what the latest discoveries actually meant for her old friend Aurorus. What would he do now that he had lost his teammate? Could he even lead the league on his own? What if this horrific discovery meant the end of the entire Berelian Battle League? But now was not the time to think about such things. First of all, it had to be ensured that Epsilon could no longer cause any damage. In fact, this was the greatest victory in Aurora's entire life and yet... it didn't feel like a victory.

Not only were there all the possible consequences, all the damage that was yet to come, but not even the fight was the way Aurora had imagined it. It was a normal day, nothing was special. Aurora had gone about her daily life, had spoken to Elementareon and... suddenly they had beaten Epsilon. This was simply not the finale she had expected. It seemed almost ironic... a Plothole had brought about Epsilon's downfall. But at least peace would now return. And, if the league remained, Team Polarna vatra could focus fully on their career.

And yet... Tyrantrum's motionless body triggered nothing but anger. Aurora had not believed Kel, and now she got nothing but pain and disappointment in return. She had fulfilled her dream of overthrowing Epsilon... and did not feel the slightest bit of satisfaction.
While Aurora was thinking like this, Kel had already loaded up the Emperor's armor on his back. Elementara had taken Tyrantrum's bag for herself and was now digging out the key card that was the only way to access floor 48.

"Well then... let's go talk to Aurorus first, shall we?"

Elementareon answered somewhat dejectedly, obviously sharing Aurora's worries.

"We have to... and hope that he can deal with the bad news."

He must! Aurora did not say this thought out loud, but she was screaming it out on the inside. It couldn't be that her victory would be rewarded with the end of her dreams. She could only hope that Aurorus would take the news better than she had thought. And with these words, she followed Kel and Elementareon into the elevator, leaving Tyrantrum behind...