Gardevoir and Lopunny sat there together for what felt like hours. It was…nice. A small moment of peace during these dark times. For who knows how long, they were allowed be believe in hope. In spite of Infernape's…disappearance and the horrific disaster around them, or even because of that, they were closer than ever before.
Lopunny then whispered something else.
"It wasn't just them." Gardevoir hmm'd and pulled away. Lopunny elaborated,
"It's not just them I'm scared of. After I was cleared, I called Grandpa. He said…"
"He said what?" Gardevoir questioned, anxiously waiting for an answer.
"He said that there's a chance Nihonera will attack Dristov."
Dristov? That's why the Phantom Corp was speaking Dristovian! It was at that moment that Gardevoir's heart lodged up into her throat. Nihonera and Dristov were having a dispute about an island. They were historical enemies! Gardevoir then knew what the Phantom Corp was planning.
A false flag operation would lead to a world war, potentially another Blood Decade. Millions would die.
Gardevoir sat back down as her jaw hanging open, staring forward into the city. What was still standing would be turned to dust. They couldn't even tell the people. The Senshi had completely silenced any information about the Phantom Corp. No one would believe them. Lopunny patted her on the shoulder yet Gardevoir didn't notice. It was all over. It was now a matter of time before the soldiers started slaughtering each other once again, unleashing their anger on the civilian population.
"I have to return to my family." Gardevoir said. She stood up and floated up into the air but Lopunny stopped her,
"Take me with you. If I'm dying, I'm dying with you guys." Gardevoir somberly nodded and picked up Lopunny with her psychokinesis.
The two floated above the city towards the hospital. They looked around the landscape in an attempt to distract themselves from the incoming massacre. Lopunny pointed out places that she went to as a kid to Gardevoir, as though she were an older woman, recanting memories of a much happier time. Gardevoir simply listened and let Lopunny speak.
As they arrived, the hospital looked to be about the same. Not much time had passed yet there appeared to be less people outside. Gardevoir figured that maybe some people were given proper beds in the hospital, maybe Aggron and Gengar were among them. They landed amongst the crowd of people and started trying to help, both promising not to say anything. They didn't need to start a panic. For now, they would shoulder the burden and figure some kind of way to stop this.
If there even was a way to stop this.
Suddenly, the sound of panicked yelling erupted from the north as dozens of people started running back towards the hospital. Gardevoir and Lopunny turned around to see a small army of men standing on top of the perimeter. The leader of which started speaking in a foreign language. Gardevoir and Lopunny rushed in front, shortly followed by Sceptile and a few more Senshi. Many innocents started carrying the injured into the hospital. Ampharos focused his attention on helping the wounded rather than helping fight. The mysterious men raised their weapons. Despite this, Lopunny smiled. If she were going out, she'd go out swinging.
The two sides stared each other down like cowboys in a western. Gardevoir took the chance to read their minds. She saw a complicated planning sheet with the title 'Operation Blackout.' However, she noticed one particular detail.
These were not Dristovian's. They were Nihoneran, just like them. The plans were written in Kanji, not Cyrillic.
Gardevoir furrowed her brow. She knew it. Her despair turned into fury. Donquixote was willing to send millions into the slaughterhouse just for his own, sadistic agenda. Lopunny could, with her liars' sight, see Gardevoir's rage and the source of it. Her smile grew even wider, she was gonna have fun tearing these men limb for limb.
A massive pillar of water abruptly erupted from the ground, sending dozens of men flying into the air. The Senshi were shocked at the surprise attack. However, Lopunny's gut told her to keep watching as something welled up inside her. Branches and roots rapidly grew from the tornado of water and reached out towards the remaining gunmen, snatching them and lifting up into the air before slamming them down with the force of an anvil.
One of the attackers successfully managed to avoid the elemental attacks and quickly charged up a gray ball of energy. Gardevoir made her move and blasted several bursts of psychic energy. The attacker roared as he dodged the attack and almost fired.
An explosion enveloped him from behind. Fire erupted from the impact yet remained in the same spot. Gardevoir and the rest of the Senshi watched as the flames were drowned out by the smoke. Just like that, these terrorists were dispatched like flies in front of a flame thrower. The lingering noise from the falling water, shrinking tree branches, and burning embers were soon drowned out by a distinct and powerful sound.
Melodic in its tone. Each note played combined into a hand-crafted message that sent warm shivers down the spines of everyone who heard it. The song screamed out to the masses that despite the tragedy, despite the great loss of life, there was still reason to have hope. It was okay to be sad now but this was a roadblock. That things will get better eventually. It was a heavenly cry for help.
That sound was a guitar. The solo stopped as the smoke began to clear. The sunlight shined on three vague shapes that became increasingly clear. Gardevoir covered her mouth, welling up as color returned to her eyes. Sceptile's jaw dropped to the floor in disbelief. Lopunny blinked and rubbed her eyes, thinking that this was some sort of trick. However, no trick could possible hide the truth that the three standing before them,
Was Infernape, Torterra and Empoleon.
(A/N): With Pyrophant coming to its conclusion hopefully by the end of the year, I would love to hear your feedback, good and bad. It genuinely means a lot to me to read comments, and even the negative ones can show me what I am doing wrong so that I can improve. Have a good day and see you next week.