Alakazam fell to his knees. He wheezed as he felt the fatigue of teleporting all over the country. He fell back, sitting against a wall. Never had he ever teleported around so many people so frequently. A splitting migraine threatened to take him out of action for good. Alas, he had to keep going. Keep going until he couldn't any longer. For he, as the greatest psychic the world has ever seen, had a responsibility.
A responsibility to use his psychokinesis to save lives.
Ampharos and Sableye 'battled' away from the rest of the cult. With everyone distracted, this was an easy task. Once they got further enough, they stopped at a turn. Sableye looked around and tried to see Umbreon in the dark. His dark typing meant that he was able to see much further, but he saw no sign of Umbreon.
"What's wrong?" asked Ampharos.
"I have a bad feeling about Umbreon. What if she's hurt?" said Sableye. Ampharos smiled at him and said,
"Gardevoir's a kind person. Umbreon is in good hands. Now, let's see if we can find the rest of the Jigamasas. They're innocent. They shouldn't get involved."
"Right," said Sableye, "Follow me!" Sableye led Ampharos into the dark. The two decided that Normstall, the hometown of Infernape, Gardevoir, and Aggron was close enough to evacuate the family to.
Lopunny launched herself towards Malamar. She readied herself to decapitate him with a ferocious kick. Malamar ducked out of the way before trying once again to hypnotize Lopunny. His chest glowed a variety of colors, but once more, Lopunny somehow managed to resist and sent an icicle towards Malamar's skull. The ice scratched his cheek, cutting him open.
"What is happening? How is she resisting my hypnosis?! Alakazam fell under my spell, and yet this little whore somehow outdoes the greatest psychic alive!" thought Malamar.
"What's the matter? Gardevoir told me you had hypnosis! Come on! I dare ya!" said Lopunny, much to Malamar's fury. He tried to order Garchomp to come help, however, Liligant's vines were still holding her back. She was struggling, but with the way she was restrained, she couldn't possibly exert enough force to free herself. Malamar gritted his non-existent teeth in fury. He tried to run towards Garchomp, but Lopunny wouldn't give him a chance.
Ice rapidly expanded from Lopunny's foot. It grew into a large, spiky wall of ice that threatened to crush Malamar into a red paste. Malamar yelled at Garchomp,
"Protect me! Do something!" Upon hearing this command, Garchomp stomped the ground with as much force as she could, which wasn't much but enough to control the earth and shatter the ice. Alas, Lopunny saw this coming. She had already launched herself towards Malamar.
"Come on, weak ass!" yelled Lopunny. Malamar sent his tentacles to stab at Lopunny. However, she grabbed them and threw him over her head. He smacked into the floor, but tried once again to try and hypnotize her, hoping to fire out how she was managing to resist his mind control. That was when he spotted it. An unusually bright glint in her eyes.
She had effectively made contact lenses out of ice. She was shielded from his hypnosis. Only an ice type would be able to handle having ice make direct contact with their eyes.
Fury pulsed through him. He had been outwitted by some...some crossbreed bimbo! Some good-for-nothing waste of life who is better off as some pathetic housewife! Malamar glared at her, ready to snap at any given moment. He was the greatest hypnotist alive, and she had made an embarrassment out of him. With a psychic pulse, he sent Lopunny into a wall. Lopunny looked at him and smiled at him,
"What's the matter? Is that all you got? Are you really so pathetic you need everyone else to fight for you?" she said insultingly. Malamar looked about ready to snap, but his vengeance would come soon.
Aggron and Druddigon continued their bout. Aggron was starting to get more used to fighting a prize fighter. He could wrestle his way out of any holds by using his immense weight and strength to keep Druddigon from getting good damage in. However, Druddigon wasn't just a one trick pony. In a near instant, he shifted into a more strike-based offensive style, using punches and elbows to start breaking through Aggron's guard. All of these attacks were fighting type, which would tear Aggron apart.
As Aggron tried his best to avoid everything being thrown at him, he was trying to piece together why on earth Druddigon, of all people, was with Bisharp and his group. He was a prize fighter, why did he want the world in an eternal slumber?
"Why are you here?" asked Aggron as he ducked below a right hook. Druddigon managed to catch Aggron's counter attack and throw him over his head.
"You know why. To fight alongside my comrades!" Aggron slammed into the ground but, in a rare move for him, he used his tail to trip up the dragon. Aggron rolled back to his feet and stomped the ground, punching rocks out of the floor. As Aggron punched those rocks towards Druddigon, he asked,
"I mean, why did you join them in the first place?"
"The hell do you care?" asked Druddigon as he tore his way through the rocks.
"Fighters make millions of Poken! You'd be celebrated all over the world, especially here in Nihonera! What on earth led you here?" said Aggron. Druddigon gritted his teeth and didn't answer. He just continued trying to defeat Aggron without saying a word. He ran towards Druddigon in an attempt to tackle Aggron, but Aggron countered it with a devastating headbutt. The hard steel on his head nearly concussed Druddigon. Druddigon's eyes went glassy, his heart pounded in his ear.
Aggron grabbed the dragon type and held him on the ground. His other hand latched onto Druddigon's hand. The dragon type venomously stared up at Aggron, who simply stared back, unflinchingly. Aggron gritted his teeth and scowled,
"So you gave up fighting with honor to join some miserable cult of murderers? Pathetic!" Aggron spat.
"You don't have the right to insult me! How many people have you damned for honest mistakes," hissed Druddigon. This remark enraged Aggron, who wrenched Druddigon's arm as he asked,
"How many people begged for mercy before you slaughtered them?! HOW MANY?!" Aggron was livid. He knew first hand what losing someone close to you was like. He saw first hand how willing they were to hurt hundreds, maybe thousands of people with that Groudon shit. How dare he try to play the sympathy card.
"It was a one time mistake!" yelled Druddigon. There was a noticeable shakiness to Druddigon's voice that pierced through Aggron's fury. Druddigon glared into Aggron's eyes and he said,
"Do you think that doesn't weigh on me every single day? Knowing that I made a widow and orphan due to my negligence? Do you think I'm just some mindless fucking killer?" asked Druddigon. Hearing this, Aggron started to put the pieces together about why Druddigon was here. Why, maybe, someone like him would end up falling victim to a cult.
"I understand, but I can't let you go. Whether you regret your actions or not, you were still complicit in the deaths and injuries of hundreds," said Aggron. Druddigon seemed to calm slightly, almost as though he were accepting of his fate.
"I know…just promise me you'll keep Sableye and Umbreon safe. Especially Umbreon. She doesn't deserve to be caught up in this mess." said Druddigion.
"I'll try my best."
Bisharp and Tyrantrum fought viciously. Tyrantrum trying to crush Bisharp in his powerful jaw, and Bisharp trying to cut this tyrannosaur down to size. Tyrantrum, however, was trying to stall for time. Meanwhile, Infernape was being healed by Liligant. Liligant had made a wall of thorny bushes to keep them safe. Using this chance, Infernape started to create a new game plan,
"Alright, Gardevoir should be out of here with the Gem. Hopefully, her family got out of here as soon as they could,"
"Ampharos foundeth lady Kakei of the Jigamasa family."
"Good. Okay. Bisharp is our main priority. He's the most dangerous man here. With him down, we start using our overwhelming numbers advantage to start tearing this cult apart."
Once fully healed, Infernape burst to life. He burned his way through all the thorns and vines to attack Bisharp. He grabbed him and flew over the battlefield, not just to take in everything and adapt his plan on the fly, but to have a much needed chat with Bisharp.
"So, that's what this is about, huh? Are you that desperate for honor and pride?" Bisharp screamed as he tried to heatbutt Infernape. Infernape barely dodged Bisharp's ax-shaped head, but Bisharp used this chance to pull Infernape into a wall. The two crashed into the old brick of the aqueduct. As the two fell, Bisharp said,
"This is about vengeance! This is about my honor, and the town that destroyed it all! That framed me for a crime I didn't commit!" before throwing several bricks at Infernape. That last sentence struck a cord with Infernape. Framed? Were…Were they one in the same? Two men, scared by the memories of the past, struggling to move forward. Whatever Weskrin did to him, Infernape understood. He understood better than anyone…but Infernape wasn't stupid. Bisharp had hurt people, killed people. That wasn't something you can just ignore. However, perhaps the least he could do was try to get through to Bisharp. If nothing else, at least he'd have someone to talk to about this unique trauma.
"Bisharp. If I am understanding this correctly, you and I went through some very shitty stuff in our pasts," said Infernape as he landed, dodging a dark slash, "I had everything. Perfect grades. The adoration of my peers. A future as a star, and it was ripped away from me through no fault of my own!"
"Can it!" said Bisharp, tackling Infernape to the ground, "They held me back on purpose! They knew my blood was superior to them! They all deserve to rot in hell for their crimes in the past!"
"Yeah, people can be cruel like that," said Infernape, remembering how horribly he was treated, "And maybe it was some grand conspiracy against me. Maybe it was some prediction I should've seen coming. Maybe Arceus created me just to suffer. Maybe it was nothing more than a random chance, but that doesn't matter anymore. It's been eight years since that horrible day, and I'm done letting it control me!" he yelled before breathing red hot flames directly into Bisharp's face. Bisharp backed up, allowing Infernape to fire off another fire blast, much more powerful than the last, which sent Bisharp flying into the tunnels.
Bisharp growled as he landed. His plans for vengeance were fading away. He couldn't keep this up. Infernape had no right to talk about this. He was weak. Allowing those nothings to get away with this was pathetic. People needed to be punished for their crimes. Looking around, he saw the cult all occupied. Druddigon was pinned. Malamar was about to be jumped by Liligant and Tyrantrum with the hypnotized Garchomp being left useless. It was all falling apart. This couldn't be where it ends.
"BISHARP!" yelled Umbreon, emerging from the darkness with the Eclipse Gem in hand. The entire battle halted as they heard Umbreon's voice. Bisharp smiled at the sight. Infernape was floored. What happened to Gardevoir? With this momentary distraction, Bisharp shot Infernape with a quickly charged dark pulse, sending the fire type flying. Umbreon walked next to Bisharp and handed him the gem, tears tickling the edge of her eyes. Bisharp starred as he held the Eclipse Gem in hand, ignoring the crack in it's pristine luster and saying,
"Good girl."
Before slashing her throat.
In an instant, all fighting stopped. Infernape stared in horror as Umbreon fell to the ground. The only sound she could make were distraught gargles. She stared up helplessly at Bisharp, who emotionlessly stared back. Aggron and Druddigon had heard this and Aggron immediately realized what had happened, even though he couldn't see it. Druddigon screamed,
"UMBREON!" in despair. Tyrantrum and Liligant were left stunned at the sheer heartless cruelty Bisharp displayed. He had just slain one of his own. Even Lopunny couldn't believe what she was seeing. That terrified look, like an ant realizing the futility of its existence, shook her to her very core, which was the perfect opportunity for a certain squid.
Malamar, seeing the distraction, grabbed her with his tentacles. He slammed her into the ground. The force of the impact was amplified by Lopunny's momentum. She gasped and shivered as she was pulled back up. He picked her up and restrained her. Her arms and legs were being crushed beneath his grip. He aimed two tentacles at Lopunny before plunging them into her chest. A horrible mix between a scream of anguish and the sound of air wheezing out of her lungs emerged from Lopunny's throat.
Infernape screamed at the top of his lung, nearly tearing about his vocal cords,
"NOOOOOO!" before charging towards the squid, but Malamar put up a psychic barrier, separating the remaining three members of the cult from the group.
Infernape ran into the barrier and banged his fists against the wall. He begged,
"NOT HER! PLEASE!" Infernape wailed and screamed against the wall, pleading for mercy. Malamar just smiled, digging the blades in deeper. Hearing Lopunny wheeze and Infernape's horror brought a sadistic pleasure from him. Bisharp then raised the Eclipse Gem in victory as he began to summon Darkrai,
"Lord Darkrai. King of Darkness and Master of Fear. Hear my call and-"
A noise seemed to silence everything. Bisharp's eyes widened as he looked back. Druddigon gaped, jaw nearly to the floor. A horrible yet familiar sound repeated itself, echoing, breathing. On the other side of the barrier, they were just as shocked at the cult. Aggron and Druddigon emerged from their little chamber to see the horrifying sight. Liligant and Tyrantrum took a step back. Even Infernape's screams fell quiet as everyone recognized the sound instantaneously.
Lopunny was laughing.
