Gardevoir frantically searched around for the source of that boom. A task made much harder from all of the flames and smog. It was slowly becoming harder to breathe. Still, Gardevoir had to push on through. At least, that was what she told herself. She could do this. It was just going to be rubble and she could lift it away, and she would come back, save Infernape and Lopunny, and all would be well. That was the plan.
Just then, there was another boom. Gardevoir's looked over to make out what was going on, but the smog covered everything. Her lungs burned from the noxious fumes but she had to press forward. Descending from the sky, she walked towards the source of the sound, wiping the tears from her eyes.
She had to save them. Those people needed a hero and she would be that hero. The others could handle the villains. Lopunny had unlocked a brand new transformation. She wouldn't lose. Right now, what mattered were the innocents. Gardevoir could persevere through these flames. After all, a hero could overcome anything. That title helped her push through, even as the smog grew thicker and thicker. Already, she was imagining herself surrounded by the press. Her sisters would look upon her in awe. Mom and Dad would be so proud of her. Garchomp would be holding her tightly in a loving embrace. It was everything she had ever wanted. Even if the others were upset, they'd get over it eventually.
Another boom brought her back down to earth. Garchomp would've stopped Gourgeist by now so these explosions must be the results of that original bomb. A gas station? Someone's car? Fuel storage? All she knew for certain was that someone was very possibly hurt.
Her eyes watered. The smoke surrounding her was slowly breaking her resolve. Every second, she felt herself get weaker. Every sense of her was being assaulted by the hell surrounding her. Growling flames. Blinding orange. The taste of ash on her lip. It was overwhelming. She had to keep going, though. This had to be worth it. It had to.
She fell to one knee. Coughing violently, she stopped in her tracks. Her lungs now burning like they were stuffed with boiling water. From here, she took stock of the situation. Needless to say, this was growing increasingly dangerous. It was only a matter of time before she passed out from the fumes. Flying would be a horrible idea since the smog would be even more powerful in the sky then on land. Most would turn back at this point, but Gardevoir couldn't. All of this, abandoning her friends just so that she could play the hero. If she gave up now, then what was the point? She couldn't let that happen. Using her psychokinesis, she grabbed whatever fresh air she could and used it to form a bubble around her head. That was when she had an idea.
Grabbing as much air as she could, she watched as the flames around her petered out and died from the lack of fuel. Just like that, a no-win scenario was drowned out by the light of hope. With no more smoke to cloud her mind, she could push on forward, save those injured civilians and come back to save Infernape and Lopunny with time to spare.
Pressing forward with newfound determination, Gardevoir began to call out for survivors.
"HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?!" she asked aloud. Silence. Once more she yelled for anyone to respond, and once more, there was silence. The worst case scenario was growing increasingly likely. There is little in this world more dreadful than the fear of turning a corner and seeing a body. It is a horror that no one should ever have to endure. Gardevoir gulped, praying that no one had died, and if someone had, she prayed that it wasn't a child. Such a sight would break her.
But alas, she found the source of those explosions, and she would've rather have seen a body. How could she have been so blind?
That wasn't a detonator for the bombs. It was a detonator for the fireworks. They were shooting off harmlessly into the sky
Numb. That was all Gardevoir felt. Numbness. No anger. No sadness. Just…empty nothing. Falling to her knees, all she could do was stare blankly forward. This…this…she struggled to even process the sight she was seeing. Why? Simple.
She just threw Infernape and Lopunny's lives away for nothing.
Without thinking, she shot up into the air and soared as fast as she could. In her desperation to correct her mistake, she had momentarily forgotten to gather up the remaining breathable air. Gardevoir quickly became overwhelmed by the smog. Falling from the sky, she landed safely inside of a dumpster. Gardevoir then rolled out of the dumpster and, with what little energy she had left, stumbled through the alley.
With every second, she was growing more faint. There was no hope of her getting back in time. Even the simple act of walking was becoming much harder. Eventually, she could push on no longer. She collapsed onto the dirt. As her vision began to fade, Gardevoir shed a single tear. Why? Why couldn't she have just listened to Garchomp? All she had to do was help Lee, but she couldn't even do that. Once more, she had let him down. Once more, she had broken a promise. She fell into unconsciousness as it began to rain.
Galvantula was slammed into the ground. Frantically, he rolled out of the way just as Lopunny crashed onto the spot. She froze the debris and kicked it towards him. He was pelted with frozen stone and metal. Spitting out some webs, he threw himself around towards one of the massive trees. Lopunny jumped after him, but Carracosta grabbed her by the leg, stopping her in her tracks. However, this wouldn't stop her. Freezing his hand, Lopunny then spun around, breaking it, and slammed him into the ground. Carracosta screamed in pain. He fell onto the ground in abject agony, clutching his hand. Chandelure then bounced towards his friend,
"Are you okay?" he asked
"NO!" screamed Carracosta.
"Right, got it. Bad question. Anyway, let me deal with those arms of yours."
A stone pillar slammed into the ghost. Of course, he phased right throughout but was offended by the audacity. He looked over to see Garchomp sprinting over to him. She roared before jumping into the air and stomped on the ghost type. Chandelure phased into the ground. Predicting his next move, she spun around and blasted him with draconic energy, throwing him into the remains of a nearby building. Garchomp shouted out to Lopunny,
"Lopunny!" The ice-type looked over and bounced over. The two went back-to-back. Lopunny exclaimed,
"Finally! About time I got some backup. 3-vs-1 is only fun for so long."
"You are on a time limit! Grab Lee and get out of here!" said Garchomp. Lopunny looked at her in shock,
"Time limit?" she asked. Garchomp then explained everything about that new transformation. About its limitations and how Lopunny would crash hard when it ran out of steam. Not that Lopunny was particularly phased. She grinned, "Well, that just means I gotta kick their asses faster!"
Galvantula grabbed Lopunny with a web and threw her into the air. He shocked her violently before pulling himself towards her. His legs became charged with electricity, but then, Garchomp jumped up onto him, absorbing the shock. Panicked, Galvantula tried to let her go, but Garchomp grabbed him by the legs. He remarked,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't like where this is go-" he wouldn't get the chance to finish that sentence before he had been blasted onto the floor. Garchomp then crushed him under her foot.
Ghostly fireballs hit Garchomp and hit her hard. Falling onto her knees, she looked back to see Chandelure disappearing in the ground. Being much more cautious than before, she stomped onto the ground, creating rock pillars that sent her into the air. Suddenly, purple fire exploded from underneath the dragon type. Those flames stuck to her. The burn status effect. With a surprisingly elegant spin for a chandelier, he waved some shadowy claws at her, knocking her off of the pillar. She grabbed onto the side of the pillar and commanded the other pillars to try to crush Chandelure. Chandelure dodged effortlessly by falling into the pillar. However, when he reemerged, Garchomp had vanished. From behind, Garchomp launched herself from the pillar. She grabbed him and plummeted with him towards the ground. Chandelure screamed in panic as the two fell. She repeatedly pummeled him on the way down. The world seemed to go into slow motion just as they were about to land. Then she realized. If he could phase through objects…
Why wasn't he doing so now?
The two landed hard on the ground. Chandelure's glass body cracked violently. Metal was bent. Garchomp didn't escape the impact, her arms took the brunt of the damage, feeling like they were sinking into her own shoulders. She rolled onto her back and hissed but remained triumphant. Two down, one to go.
"Counter," said Chandelure. Just like that, all that damage that Chandelure had taken was thrust onto her and doubled. Several large cuts burst onto her skin, exploding with blood. Bones cracked and bent. Blinding pain, followed by a haunting numbness went by in less than a second, but that second lasted for an eternity. The mere act of moving was rendered nigh impossible. In one fell swoop, Chandelure had made this a pyrrhic victory.
"GARCHOMP!" screamed Lopunny. She then focused back on Galvantula, but he had disappeared in the smog. She spun around, making sure she wouldn't be jumped. All the while, she listened to the area around her for any hint of his current location.
"I heard you and your friends' little convo. Really shouldn't say your plans out loud. Now all I gotta do is stall you out, wait for your little miracle to run out, and you'll be out of our hair." said Galvantula from the distance. Lopunny kicked an icicle directly at the source of that noise. It embedded itself into a wall. Frustrated and betrayed, she yelled out,
"What happened to our deal?!"
"...What?!" asked Galvanutla with genuine confusion in his voice.
"With your boss! That robot-Feraligatr bastard!" snapped Lopunny. There was a few moments of silence before Galvantula responded with,
"..Well, you're half-right on that one." An electrical web then shot from the flames, pinning Lopunny to the ground. It exploded with lightning, shocking the ice-type. Thankfully, she was able to free herself from this, but then paralysis took effect. Sluggishly, she stood up, only to have her hand pinning to a light post. It burned badly thanks to the heat. Ripping her hand free, Lopunny stomped the ground, sending rubble and debris into the air. Looking around, she saw one of Galvantula's legs quickly retreating behind a rock.
Charging at blistering speeds, she destroyed the rock, catching him off guard. She grabbed him and slammed him down onto the ground. He gasped in pain but Lopunny grabbed him by the head and pushed it into the ground. Then, she froze his legs to keep him from catching her off guard.
"Who are you?! What do you want with Lee?!" said Lopunny. Galvantula struggled to answer, but managed to spit out,
"It's…It's what he wants."
"He?" asked Lopunny.
A fist slammed into her face. She was thrown through several walls, landing into a streetlight. It bent underneath the force. Disorientated, Lopunny looked forward to see a large figure, roughly twice her size. Any discernible details were lost as her vision blurred.
"Alright, tons of fun! Let's see what you're made of."
"Cocky, ain't we, especially for a lil' lady," said the boss. Lopunny growled at that insult before lunging at him. However, just then, her paralysis kicked in. She momentarily froze, allowing that mysterious Pokemon to land another punch. This time, she landed over to where Infernape was. Looking back at the unconscious fire-type, she gritted her teeth with newfound determination. Lunging once more, Lopunny spun around, getting ready to kick this new foe's head clean off.
When her transformation ran out.
She pathetically tumbled down before this new threat, who laughed at the sight,
"Ha! Looks like you done run outta juice," he said, kicking her away next to her boyfriend. Lopunny tried to get back up but her energy was tapped dry. Movement wasn't an option, and unconsciousness drifted ever closer. Still, she tried to fight. She had to fight. Garchomp was gone. Gardevoir and Aggron were AWOL. Infernape was half-way to death and she looked ready to join him. God only knows where Drapion was and if he could put up a fight. She was their last hope. But it was all for nothing. She couldn't fight it. Not anymore. Her body was exhausted, broken, bleeding. With barely more than a whimper, the Frozen Angel had been defeated.
"Wake him up," demanded this new threat. Galvantula shot a web at Infernape's chest. With a quick jolt, Infernape shot awake. He screamed in pain, rolling the floor in agony. A swift strike to his head forced his attention towards the foe before him. He…He was dead. He had to be. Galvantula or Carracosta must've landed a finishing blow and he was currently in hell. That was the only way he was seeing this. Galvantula's boss smiled as he stepped forward into the light. Burn wounds covered his body, mostly obscured by his fur, singed gray instead of the normal white. Adorned with an eyepatch that did nothing to hide the anger within that confident grin. By all means, the man standing before him shouldn't be here, but it made sense for one reason.
"Did you really think you were the only one who survived that explosion?" said Pangoro.
Infernape was absolutely floored.
"How?! You…You were dead center in that explosion. You should be dead!" exclaimed the fire type. How does one even react to such a sight? A villain that you killed had seemingly come back from the grave.
"I thought I was, but don't be stupid. Did you really think that I was lying there, accepting my death while you got all sappy with your friends? I tried to run, get out of that pile of explosives. Alas, I wouldn't get far. I was out for months. Luckily, an overconfident lil' scientist thought she could tame me. Dumb bitch. I gathered a nice little group of fuck-ups and I decided to set my sights on the bastard that started all of this." said Pangoro. He grabbed the fire-type by the throat and got ready to cave his skull in.
"Give me a good reason for me to not paint this street with your brains," said Pangoro. Infernape was completely paralyzed. Unable to say, or do anything. Here he was, staring down a demon from his past. The consequences of his action before him as a grim reaper. This…This was it. Everything he had ever feared would happen was happening right now. Just hours ago, he was on the highest of highs. Singing for a crowd of thousands, if not millions, with his friends right there cheering on. With a girlfriend who was helping him become a new man. Now…Now.
"I see a very dark future for you, young man. I see a lie that consumes you and ostracizes you. I see your future self desperately trying, again and again, to fix it, only to fail every time."
Those words rang out in his head once more. Those words that haunted him for eight years. It all clicked. His survival back in Boltein. Meeting Gengar, Ampharos, Lopunny, everyone. Being a hero who saved the world. Getting his musical spark back mere hours earlier. It was all just fate playing him for a fool. Just like eight years ago. None of it mattered. His destiny was to be a failure. A nothing. One of those lost souls whose destiny was to suffer for the crime of being born. Rain began to patter on his head.
Surrendering himself, he shut his eyes and let himself go limp. Water constantly battered against his face as the flames around began to die out. Even the flame on his head grew weaker and weaker. Pangoro was momentarily stunned by this. He was giving up? Where was the fight? The drive to live? He scowled. At least he made this easy. Pangoro then punched Infernape.
His fist was effortlessly blocked.
Blastoise kicked Pangoro away. He stood in between them with a look of subdued but violent rage. As Pangoro looked at the Senshi before him, his lip couldn't help but quiver. The most renowned, famous, and powerful Senshi in the country was standing right before him. He shook his head clear. Mama didn't raise a pussy. Galvantula was much more reluctant. Pangoro saw this and snapped at him.
"Oh, come on. Grow a pair!" he then sighed, calming down, "Grab the others. I'll deal with the ol' man."
Blastoise then looked back at Infernape and Lopunny, and that rage turned into a gentle expression.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner. You can protect yourselves and you've done such an amazing job. Hold your heads up high. Because of you, these terrorists couldn't hurt more people." His eyes then drifted towards the unconscious Lopunny. Walking towards her, he fell to one knee and picked her up. Exhaling shakily, he held her close, closing his eyes. His worst fears were right before him, but he didn't crumble. Not here. He could cry once everyone was safe. Somberly, he carried her over to Infernape, placing her in his arms, and told him,
"Keep her safe. Help will be here soon. I just have to take out the trash."
"Oho-ho! Quite cocky for an old man, don'tcha think? I'm the last son of the Black Masks." said Pangoro confidently. Blastoise turned back to the dark type and scowled,
"An empty title for an empty man. The Black Masks are gone. Like it or not, Lee destroyed them. Killing him won't bring them back. Move on."
"Pft. Get a load of this guy," laughed Pangoro, "Acting all high and mighty. You're right. The Black Masks will never come back, but you never wanted that to happen. Didn't you? Because you know just was well as I do, that he destroyed the only counterweight to this careful little thing we had going." Blastoise knew where this was going. While Pangoro was right in that Infernape had inadvertently gave the Phantom Corp an edge, Blastoise held no hatred for Lee. No disappointment. No moral superiority, because he saw what Lee did that day for what it was. A man trying to do the right thing.
"That doesn't matter anymore. It happened-"
"Shut-up!" snapped Pangoro, "He deserves to face the consequences of his actions!" Then lunged towards Blastoise, who remained still. He clenched his fist as he took a breath. Pangoro's fist became coated in dark energy. Blastoise simply raised his up for a counter attack. As he closed in, Pangoro roared like a wild animal. In contrast, Blastoise just quietly said to himself,
"Kame-ken. Sky Shattering Fist," and landed his first and only hit.
Every remaining flame in the immediate era was extinguished by the impact. All surrounding noise was overwhelmed and crushed beneath the resulting boom. The earth itself seemed to tremble in awe at the raw power forced into that punch. Pangoro, having been struck in the stomach, was motionless. His eyes were whited-out. With little fanfare, he fell back onto the ground. Pulling his bloodied and broken hand away, Blastoise stood there.
"Hey boss, I grabbed-" Galvantula looked at the scene before him. He saw an unconscious Pangoro. He looked towards Blastoise, who stared daggers into him. "I'll-uh…I'll just grab him and leave." he said, quickly grabbing Pangoro with his webs and running for the hills.
While all of this was happening, Infernape held on tight to Lopunny. He held her head to his chest. Simply staring forward. Her skin. It was so cold. However, Infernape was barely processing any of it. The only thing on his mind was a question.
"What have I done?"