Chapter 133:

The Shattering

The Lustrous Orb tumbled through the air, plunging down at an impossibly fast and yet paradoxically slow speed, crashing and ripping through the heavens like a blade through flesh and leaving a radiant trail in the night sky.

It was almost as if it was excited to be finally out of Midna's stomach and had been waiting for this exact moment.

The trail left behind by the distorted orb was colored golden and seemed to be leaving a scar in both the void and the sky, splitting the heavens into two. It was a breathtaking view, one that was soon to turn into a literal breathtaking view as the orb slowly made its way down to the bottom of the world.

What would happen if it did hit the ground? I had dropped the orb at the museum not even a full meter and it had liquified reality and knocked out everyone but Midna and me. It was a temporal object after all, deeply linked to Palkia and most likely extremely powerful.

Midna had carried it inside her all this time, safely stored in a two headed form. I never quite knew what to do with it, besides knowing that I didn't want anyone else to have it, and that in a moment of panic I could always use it as a tactical nuke, or as tactical as a nuclear weapon could be.

There was no guarantee that the effect of the Lustrous Orb wouldn't affect us. It could utterly destroy the space-time continuum around us, or maybe it wouldn't do anything. It was a big unknown. In the event it did rip apart space, I could only pray that either my newly-awakened power to resist time distortion or the Space-Time towers themselves would shield us.

Dialga and Palkia both roared and fired beams of all sizes and colors at each other. Palkia's attacks continued to warp space or reverse directions, Dialga's sped up or froze midair. Despite both landing numerous hits on each other, they seemed to be completely fine, not once tiring from the immense damage they inflicted upon the world. Maybe Legendaries suffered damage in a different way, but I thought it was more likely that they were immune to each other's domains, making their entire battle even more pointless.

Would the Orb even register on their radar?

Soon I would know.

Like a falling star the Lustrous Orb shot past the Space-Time towers, unraveling the very fabric of space right in front of the balcony. I could see the infinite insides and the light of a thousand stars. It was a sight that made me feel immensely small, in spite of everything.

For a sweet second I just enjoyed the glorious view. The world was beautiful, so many colors and shades, all swirling the tower in a divine chorus of chaos and order.

And then, I couldn't see the temporal object anymore. It would hit the ground the next second.

I felt like I should say something. But before I could conjure up a coherent thought, reality ceased.

There was a world one moment and the next moment it was gone entirely. There was no blink or flash or sound; it was as if everything had been erased, and only an empty endless abyss remained.

There was no light, no gravitational force, no motion and no particles. It was pure nothingness.

Then the world came back full force and brought all the colors on the spectrum with it. The sky burned a livid orange, pale blue, and vibrant red. The world wasn't done with and continued to expand in all directions, regardless whether it made sense.

There was a force that pulled me down. Light fractured into particles, waves and then lost all semblance of meaning as suddenly there was too much density.

Aura spread out across all planes, enveloping everything until it was everything. The sand began to melt into faces.

The world shattered like a mirror image and continued to crack. I moved my hand and it was in 6 different places at once.

I shouted something but my words didn't carry at all. There was no cohesive space for the sound waves to traverse, and even if there was, I couldn't tell for sure if I screamed out loud or if it was just a fractured thought.

It didn't occur to me that I didn't need to breathe.

Just as I finally got a grasp of existing and found the body my thoughts belonged to, the angle of everything changed, and the sun's light inverted. The tower and the ground had vanished, and instead, I was standing in a field rotting flowers that bloomed red.

I looked to my left to find Luna, but instead of finding her, I saw myself looking at myself.

The world continued to fragment. The flowers froze backwards. The distance between the sky and the ground decreased until it weighed down upon the earth. Matter and energy began to twirl around each other in a mad frenzied dance and then—there was a light in the sky.

The light looked back at me, and when it blinked, I could suddenly hear sounds again. The rustling of the wind, the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing.

Hearing at least something, even if it was just myself, put me at ease a little. And as if in response, the strange landscapes began to fade.

The fractures unfractured themselves. Light eventually started to go in the right direction, and I could distinguish up from down again. I was in one place. I could think linearly once more, and gravity was normal at last.

I was back at the top of the Space-Time towers, a setting that seemed surreal after what I had just witnessed. But it was real, in a cozy way it was logical and made sense.

I let out a breath and exhaled. Feeling real air in my lungs and my own chest rise and fall with quick breaths had never felt so good. It was strange to enjoy having solid ground to stand on.

Realizing I had just peeked behind the curtains of the universe, I let out a small chuckle.

{Dust.} I heard Luna next to me.

"Come on, Luna. Laugh! We're seeing reality getting fucking railed in real time and are living to tell the tale!"

I saw Luna from the corner of my left eye. She wasn't looking in my direction.

I raised my head, and the laugh died down immediately before it left my throat.

Two pairs of eyes looked at me from the sky.

Immediately the air left my lungs again.

The ferocity of their gaze was almost palpable, a physical force that pinned me down on the spot and dissected my very being under it. Palkia and Dialga were huge and imposing, as you'd expect. The knowledge that I was the size of their eyeballs didn't make me feel any more comfortable. Watching space slightly alter around the two, almost in reverence to the very space they occupied, was also unnerving.

Seeing both gods staring right into your face, I could feel my own stomach drop and crumple under the sheer pressure. I couldn't help but feel the oppressive weight of a bad choice hang over me.

It felt wrong to say they looked bigger up close because it still failed to fully grasp the presence these two had. I could see them with my own eyes; they floated above the ruins and void that made up the ground and rose to the top of the Space-Time towers, and yet despite this I knew instinctively that this was no indication for their true size. They were simply beyond the measurements of distance and time.

But maybe they were susceptible to the power of friendship.

There was no guarantee that they could hear me or that they understood whatever language I spoke. In fact, there wasn't a single guarantee on anything with these two. But I could always try and talk my way out of this shit. It has worked out for me so far.

I ignored the gnawing doubt, worry and fear inside me and gave the two gods a smile and a wave. "Well, hello there. You two are awfully hard to reach, you know? I don't know if you noticed, but your fight has destroyed most of the world around us." My words echoed into the empty sky and then, the silence returned.

I waited to see their reaction.

Dialga and Palkia were terrifying when they fought, but when they weren't and just stood still, it felt ominous in a different way. The silence was the awkward kind where you could feel each second of your life being taken away as you awaited a dreadful response.

I was questioning whether I could even be heard until I heard a strange voice, one that sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. It was a feminine voice that simultaneously felt incredibly loud like a chorus and unimaginably soft like a whisper in my ears. It seemingly came from all directions, like a voice carried by the wind.

"This Is The World Breaker?" My eyes widened when I heard the voice. I could tell what was being said, but it also felt like I was only grasping the bare minimum of the context; a word that was translated too many times. I assumed the Pokémon who spoke was Palkia, but her jaw had not moved. But, by the way she was looking at me, I could somehow tell that it had been her who spoke.

"The what?" I asked, my tongue feeling dry.

"Look Forward. It Must Be This Thing." Another voice, this one distinctly more masculine, yet still carrying the same strange intonation. Although I could clearly hear the voice, I felt it was distinctly not directed towards me.

"Excuse me?" I asked again, out loud. "I am not a thing?"

{You can understand them!?} Luna asked warily. Her eyes nervously darted between me and the pair of gods.

I nodded.

{Then how's the plan going?}

Well, at least I got their attention. The good news was that they stopped fighting.

I coughed and tried again. "Hello?!"

"The Future Has Been Shattered, The Past Broken." Each word felt like the air was being cut open. Dialga moved his gaze away from me and towards Palkia. The way he moved, it was rumbling the world.

"Space Is Collapsing and Converging." Palkia leaned closer to the towers, casting a shadow over it. In the half-shadow of the non existent sun, Palkia's pink eyes gleamed, the intensity of her gaze charging up the air. "This Here Is The Distortion."

The absurdity of what she said caught me off guard. I scowled. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Then Let Us Cease This Wretched Thing," Dialga suggested.

Immediately I felt the air heat up. "No wait!"

"I Agree." Palkia's voice whirled around me. The two massive eyes began to shine like searchlights and the intensity of her gaze bearing down on me became oppressive in the literal sense. The eyes began to fume with energy, and once again, I felt the physical space begin to contract as everything within Palkia's sight began to shift.

The towers' beams began to bend and the floor began to stretch like a bad photoshop.

{Dust!?} Luna's panicked voice urged me to do something.

Around me, space began to elongate, like a rubber band being pulled taut. It was weird seeing the towers, which had up till now resisted the entire world, begin to stretch ever so slightly, now contort towards Palkia alongside everything around it, including Luna and me.

Luna practically screamed in my ear while her arm stretched towards Palkia. {Do something!} Psychic energy pulled loose a piece of the room and hurled it towards the colossal Pokémon but before it could land it was elongated and it vanished.

I scanned around, trying to look for anything to bargain with.

"Palkia! Midna has the Lustrous Orb hostage!" I screamed desperately.

Nothing. Maybe Palkia didn't hear me, or more likely, she straight up didn't even care.

{Do something faster!} Luna urged, her left and right arm were now slack and twisted by Palkia's pull.

I wasn't being pulled apart just yet. I felt myself valiantly trying to keep myself together, but I was losing grip rapidly. Around me, the sky and the tower became dragged out, and it was impossible to see anything outside our little sphere.

I bit my lip and I aimed my gun at Palkia, pointing at a spot on its large forehead. Big target. It would take skill to miss, but the odds of a bullet from a handgun doing shit was jack. But I had no other idea inside my head.

The acids in my stomach began to swirl as Palkia's gaze tried to pull them out of my flesh, the world around me shifted into a kaleidoscopic view with Palkia at the center.

Please Fate. I pulled the trigger.

I heard the sound of a loud boom and the air cracked. A dark lance exploded on Palkia's head, and smokey red clouds billowed out. Palkia's gravity pull vanished and everything snapped back to normal.

I almost tripped as the lack of crushing gravity caught me off guard. I stumbled forward, catching my breath and spotted Darkrai in the air.

Charizard was nowhere to be seen. Obviously, Darkai had emerged victorious, though at a cost. I had seen him not long ago, but the trend of him looking worse and worse each time continued. It was almost like I was looking at a skeleton shrouded in smoke but in spite of his condition he was still standing, or well, floating.

He positioned himself halfway between me and the two gods. Between his two black claws, another lance was fizzling with dark energy.

Darkrai's eyes burned ferociously. "The one guilty of everything has been killed by the Dream Walker!" Darkrai roared at Palkia. "Leave this place at once!"

My heart began to beat faster. Darkrai was dangerously close to Palkia who up 'till now had not shown any sign of weakness. Was this my silver bullet?

In response to Darkrai's demands Palkia roared and her eyes flashed a scarlet red.

As if grasped by an invisible hand, Darkrai was caught out of the air and tossed into the towers like a discarded toy.

I dropped just in time and felt the cold floor against my skin while Darkrai crashed through the roof and slammed into the back wall of our little chamber. The marble underneath us cracked like a mirror.

Well, that lasted long, I thought bitterly.

{Now's your opening!} Luna lay next to me, face pressed on the ground. Her voice was trembling. {Why are they trying to kill us?}

"I don't even fucking know." I gritted my teeth.

{Then do something about it,} Luna hissed.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do about two fucking ancient gods not even taking the time to look at me and explain why they want to smite me?" I spat out. Darkrai groaned in the corner, alive but useless to me in his current state. Midna was fuck knows where and the only person who might have any plan was a burnt corpse in the corner. "I can't control everything, so tell me Luna, what should we do?"

{Suck it up and figure it out.} The harsh words were laced with bitter rage, Luna glared at me. Her eyes were glowing a demonic red and I could feel her emotions bleed into me; indignation, anger, and desperation; and a deep desire to keep being with me. Despite her regal or calm appearance, she was clinging to a hope for me to fix everything. But I couldn't. I was powerless.

{Than what about spitting fate in the eye?} Her words cut through the air. {Don't you remember what you promised? This is unfair! So the two big ones are ignoring you. Are you just gonna take that? Is this how the story of the great Dust ends?!}

I clenched my fist in frustration, what the hell could I do? Plan A to E had all been shattered, and Plan Z relied on at least being able to talk to Dialga and Palkia. In all ways, I was hilariously outclassed, and I doubted there was anything in this world save for the Red Chain that could do something against these two.

That wasn't even the worst part of it for me personally. I came here to knock on the gods' door and get some questions, but I was being ignored like a child. It really pissed me off in a special kind of way.

I gritted my teeth. Something had brought me to this world, but I knew now at least it wasn't these two clowns. That left me one option. Maybe I could do something with that.

There had to be a solution, something brought me to this world and most likely not to die a meaningless death here. That would be humiliating.

I felt my face flush red, the thought of dying here, being just ignored after all this effort I put in and; it was embarrassing.

I clenched my fist. The power of friendship doesn't work. What's the next option?

An idea began to shape into something inside my head.

It wasn't a plan, nor was it good but it was something. But even if it was nothing, I knew one thing for sure: I wouldn't go down without having the last laugh.

{Good.} Luna smiled with delight as I crawled my way up. {That's the Dust I know.}

"Oh," I said apologetically. I let out a sigh of relief. "I have absolute zero fucking plans. First, let's start by buying time. But hey, just so you know. It was an honor to have you on my team."

I gave Luna a half salute before walking back to the balcony. I came back into the view of

Palkia and Dialga. They were discussing something between the two of them. Maybe we could escape now while they weren't looking, but there was nowhere to go. And more importantly, I had some long unspoken words for them.

I put my hands to my mouth. "HEY ASSHOLES!" I yelled, putting every ounce of anger and indignity I felt into my words. "I JUST WANT YOU TWO TO KNOW THAT YOU TWO ABSOLUTELY AND UTTERLY FUCKING SUCK. I CAME ALL THE WAY TO THIS PLACE TO MEET YOU BUT ALL I'VE SO FAR SEEN IS TWO BRAINDEAD POKÉMON GODS BEING COMPLETELY MORONIC AND BEING A PIECE OF SHIT. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE TWO OF YOU WANT TO KILL ME BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? GO AHEAD, DO IT PUSSIES! ARCEUS BROUGHT ME INTO THIS WORLD BUT I RATHER NOT BE HERE IF THIS IS THE BEST IT HAS TO OFFER."

I smiled as I lowered my hands. They trembled slightly—not from fear or anxiety but from relief. I felt slightly lightheaded after saying my piece, and my lungs felt empty, but my soul in return felt lighter.

I turned to Luna. She was looking at me with a grin similar to the one I wore. {You're awful. This is not at all what I meant. But you're my awful.}

Don't worry, the best is yet to come.

My eyes flashed back to the two gods who hadn't moved yet. I wasn't an emotion reader but I could practically feel the irritation, surprise and shock swirling around in their eyes. My unexpected words ignited a fierce fury within them. That was good, the gods of space time could still get riled up. They were big and creepy, but like most Pokémon, they still felt like humans do.

This only served to widen my grin. "Well, I thought you were all set on smiting me? Did the cat get your tongue?"

No reaction still. They just looked at me, like I said the strangest thing imaginable, which considering the circumstances, might as well be true. I could feel confusion and resentment simmering underneath their skin. This is great, if they can feel they're weak. I now just had to find the right angle.

{You're doing amazing,} Luna applauded behind me.

For now, the best I could do was keep them talking, de-escalate the situation. "Well, what's it gonna be? If you can't believe it, I have better places to be. Or well, had considering you two for sure fucked the shit out of this place." I waved at the surroundings. There were still some remnants of houses left, so I guess they hadn't completely demolished this place.

I still hadn't gotten a proper reaction out of the two gods, though they were looking at me differently now. I've felt finally seen, and not just a piece of the scenery.

I coughed politely. "Sorry, look. I am just having a really awful day. I woke up and saw the sky being torn apart. Some girl I thought was cool turned out to be crazy and then you are being a dick and just ignoring me."

Dialga lowered his neck to get a better look at me. It was almost like a kid would look at an terrarium, except now there was a visible trepidation in his body language.

"You Speak Our Tongue." The words hung in the air like an unfinished thought, waiting to be reached out to and finished.

"It Curses You." Palkia remarked, there was something close to amusement in her voice.

"Yes, dickhead." I replied. Palkia narrowed her eyes.

"Who Are You, Human?" Dialga asked. He tilted his head a little, if I just ignored the size difference he almost looked like a regular curious Pokémon.

"Okay, so now we're listening. Good, better late than never, my name is Dust Wildfire, I'd say nice to meet you, but I would be lying then."

As if curious, Palkia snaked closer as well. There was something of awe and apprehension in her voice this time, layered over each whisper. "What Are You?"

I scowled. This again? I really wish I could find a magical mirror which showed what I looked like to others. It really felt like I was walking around with something on my face and everyone but me could see it, and it was getting old really fast.

Stay positive, at least they're listening. Maybe this was my time to get some answers.

I shrugged. "I don't know, probably something really cool or fucked up. Why were you two fighting?"

Palkia and Dialga looked at eachother like they couldn't fully grasp the question, or maybe it was just strange to them that I questioned their actions.

Palkia at last answered, hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure herself, "We Were Invoked Into This Realm. The World Broke And I Was Here To Restore Order."

"As Did I." Dialga hissed. I didn't say it out loud, but these two just radiated sibling energy. But these siblings had the power to rip apart space-time and cared little for it.

"Well, you two fucked up. Look around you, this place is completely shredded."

"This Place Will Be Erased Like Many That Came Before It," Dialga retorted haughtily.

"What Is But One Place To Restore The World?" Palkia added.

"Yeah, about that. Some people here set off an explosion to shatter the atmosphere. You two aren't needed here, you got baited."

"Not That." Dialga narrowed his gaze on me, his words held a dangerous edge. "There Is No Greater Future Beyond This Moment. The Timeline Is Shattered. The Past Is Twisting In On Itself. That Is Your Sin." Again, the weird language barrier felt off; 'sin' wasn't the right word and the word 'moment' was mistranslated but it's the closest my mind could grasp.

Dialga's words could be heard but they didn't make any sense. I thought the Egg brought them to this world and that their presence fucked up everything. Could I use this piece of information somehow?

"What do you mean by that?" I said, my voice cold. "Because to me it looks like everything that is going wrong here is your fault."

"No," Dialga sneered. "Outside Here. The Future Is Being Constantly Regenerated. It Dies And Rebirths, This Is Against The Natural Order."

His sister shifted forward. "The World Is Unstable. The Rules Are Falling. This Must Be Your Fault, Distortion." Palkia whispered aggressively. "But We Can Fix This."

Fix what? Something about space-time collapsing? I was aware that I'm the anomaly here, but I didn't feel like I was solely responsible for whatever these two accused me of, which I wasn't even sure what it was, but that didn't matter. They thought I was responsible.

I raised my hand, keeping up a calm facade. "Hold up! You might be making a huge mistake. Who says killing me will solve anything? In fact, I was brought to this world from another one. Who's to say that I wasn't brought here to solve these issues?"

"You Were Brought Here?" Palkia inquired.

"I woke up one day in a world not my own. You two wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

Palkia and Dialga looked at eachother. There was a staring contest, one Dialga lost by breaking eye contact and focusing his gaze back to me. "We Did Not Call You, Seeker."

That became clear the moment they thought killing me was a great idea. But still, I pretended to think over it. "So you don't know how I got to this world?" I've traveled really far and wide just to get the answer for this question. If these two didn't know it, well, I had no other helplines.

An emotion that seemed close to fear crossed Palkia. Hesitantly, her words left her and roamed the air. "You Are Drenched In The Stench Of The Light That Sleeps."

As those words were spoken I felt the atmosphere grow tense again.

Despite this I couldn't help but to groan. Another non answer. The words I heard barely managed to convey their meaning, but despite this I had a good guess what they were talking about.

"The Light That Sleeps, are you talking about Arceus?"

Palkia nodded after a brief pause. "So You Do Know. How Curious. It Seems You Are Marked By It."

I did not know, but I could infer. So Arceus brought me to this world. As the thoughts crossed my head, I could feel it was true though. It didn't fully make sense, but it was a core truth, something that after hearing it from someone else, I knew to be a hard fact. But there was also something still missing from the puzzle, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I pushed that thought away and focused on the current conversation. The ai

"You think that's bad, why?"

"The Light That Sleeps Can Not Be Controlled." Dialga growled.

"The Sleeping Light Must Remain Sleeping."

Sleeping Light equals bad, great answers.

In the corner Darkrai murmured something inaudible, he tried to rise up but gravity pulled him down and he was too weakened to fight it. Even if he could, there was little he could do.

My gaze shifted to Flamera's husk. She thought I could just use the Knights sword and fight these two. Maybe the sword had special properties but more likely Flamera was just as much in the dark as everyone else.

I let out a small chuckle as the realization struck me. Even Dialga and Palkia didn't know much about everything and just tried shit they thought would fix things, which stupidly included killing me.

"We Should End You. To Make The World Whole Again." Dialga's voice dropped. The air felt colder, the air became static and the wind had stopped completely. The world's heartbeat halted. Something close to hesitation flickered in Palkia's eyes, indecisive fear played on even the highest of beings it seems. But then they hardened, and she asked the question that had been going through my head all this time.

"Give Us One Reason Why We Shouldn't End You."

Standing at the edge and now the end of the world, I was reminded of my past life. What was the answer? I could say something cliché like friends or family, or maybe argue the ethics of murder, but I myself wasn't even sure if I could convince myself.

To be honest, there was a good argument for killing me from their perspective. Even though I didn't fully grasp what they were saying, I understood enough. Sabrina had the same mentality, I was an unknown and thus had to be removed from the equation.

Logically, there were a few good reasons to just remove me from the board. However, I had a better reason for keeping me on it.

The smile that crawled on my face at that moment must have looked manic, but in the heat of the moment, I couldn't help it. This part had to be played perfectly.

I laughed out loud again in front of the gods, no not in front, at them. My voice was starting to sound hoarse, but I managed to get my voice steady enough.

"Tsk. Yeah, you could kill me." I relaxed my posture. "If you're lame as fuck."

The indignation and shock that hung in the air were almost tangible as the unexpected words reached Dialga and Palkia but failed to register.

Dialga leaned in closer, and I began to feel time slip away around me under the weight of his presence. "Lame As Fuck?"

I carefully picked my next few words. They could decide the future, literally. I had actually no good argument for not killing me, except one.

"You two are immortal dragon things, nothing new for you under the sun. You could try to kill me to ward off some great unknown, it could work or maybe Fate intervenes again and I live. Or maybe my nature is completely independent from the problem and I prove to be a useful asset. But, think about it a bit more. The future is no more, right? Space is converging and shit, how long have you two been alive? Aren't you curious to see what happens? Don't you just want to live a little and just see shit go down?"

I stared at the two of them for the first time straight into the eyes. "Come on, aren't the two of you just ever bored?"

The everlasting stillness and darkness swirled around the towers in an endless spiral. The void was nearly done eating away at the world and the air itself began to grow thin as it too was being consumed.

"Keeping me alive would be more interesting." I spread out my arms. "Wouldn't you agree?"

It definitely was for me. Hell, this life was awful and there was a whole lot of messed up shit, but it was still leagues better than the mundane decline of my old world.

The seconds ticked away. The space between me and the two seemed to decrease with every second. Doubt threatened to plague my mind but I pushed it all away and made sure the confidence of my words shone through.
"You Are An Odd One," Palkia admitted. She let out something that sounded like a soft sigh. "I Am Curious To See What Path Shall Be Yours."

"Of course. So am I." I grinned, I extended my hand out. "So we have a deal."

"I Will Be Taking The World Sphere." Palkia's eyes shone valiantly again. I leaned over the edge and looked down.

The Lustrous Orb, which was still intact, came flying up, pulled towards Palkia like it was magnetic.

As it rose it strangely grew in size without. The corners of the orb began to bend inward and the space around it shrank so the orb took up more space, it was like looking at an optical illusion, but in reverse where the actual illusion was real.

When it reached Palkia It had gotten to the size of her eye and vivid colors danced across the smooth surface.

Palkia blinked at it and the Lustrous Orb vanished.

"Then We Are Finished Here," Dialga concluded.

"Oh, and while you're at it. Reset everything here and please turn it back to the way it was before you two broke the sky," I quickly added. "Please."

"This Place Means Nothing To Me." Dialga sneered disdainfully.

"Then might as well fix it, dipshit," I automatically retorted.

A sound I didn't immediately recognize rippled through the air. A sound I never thought I'd ever hear, simply because the sheer possibility of it happening didn't come to me.

I heard a laugh, an honest to god laugh that came from the soul itself and was enough to fill an endless void, probably literally as well. Like all sounds Palkia made the laugh sounded distorted and overlayed over itself, yet it was a distinct expression of joy.

Dialga's eyes snapped towards Palkia, irritation burning within them. A blue glowing spear as thick as a bus was summoned and rose out of the ground to impale Palkia from below.

But as it rose the path the spear traveled, which was supposed to be just straight forward, bent to twist away from Palkia. It humorously avoided her by a large margin.

And then I heard something else I'd never really thought I'd hear.

"Fuck," a voice laced with annoyance cursed. Dialga's eyes switched between Palkia and me, glaring at us both. My eyes widened and my grin split even further until my smile almost hurt.

Before I could say something else, my own final words were cut short as the air around me violently shifted back.

Without warning, Dialga's entire body began to shine a brilliant glow. One that held the power of a thousand bombs detonating at once, it felt like I was witnessing the birth of a star. But instead of shredding the world around him and turning everything into ash, the opposite happened and the world was being pulled backwards.

The light coming from Dialga began to pulse and with each pulse time started to curve inwards.

Scattered atoms were getting pulled together, the force of gravity reverted itself and the dust in the wind went against the flow.

Bricks dislodged themselves and flung themselves into the right position, gross flesh wounds were pulled close, splintered bones were rapidly manded and jagged metal beams pulled themselves up and back into place by the invisible hands of time.

Lightning traveled back the path it took while the buildings were repaired on their own, from entire city streets to the smallest pebble, everything was being pulled back towards its original state.

People were thrown through the air and landed softly back from where they came. Temporary wormholes spat out all the Pokémon they consumed and safely put them in their place while each scar in the world was unmade.

Dialga's light kept pulsing like a tiny sun, casting the world in its ethereal blue light. Every second was eagerly swallowed by the clock and with each swing of the pendulum it gave back what it had forcefully taken for itself.

Luna and I shared a brief look. Luna's eyes were big and they sparkled as they soaked in the impossible view of the world moving backwards with an almost childlike glee. I couldn't agree more with her, it was truly a sight to behold.

Everywhere I looked the world was manically retreading its own path to put itself together. From the smallest nerves and pebbles to the looming clock tower and the drifting fumes in the air. Nothing dead or alive was left untouched, even the previously immune Space-Time towers were cast in the beautiful light. The void that had rotted away at the building's foundation retreated, the roof Darkrai crashed through undestroyed itself and the beams that supported this little room twisted themselves in the right direction and regained their silvery gleam.

I drew my gun and pointed it at Flamera's corpse and waited for her eyes to snap open. Around her the scraps from the music machine were pulled together and the delicate machinery was gracefully being put back the way it was and had been for over a century.

I waited some more, I waited for Flamera's burn wounds to revert back to bullet wounds and then back to living flesh. The world around us kept marching aback relentlessly but in stark contrast, the corpse remained a corpse.

Swollen and blistered flesh remained scorched, empty dried out eye sockets stared down sad and forever into a great never. Somewhere, I had the feeling, a Charizard had met the same fate.

I turned my eyes away, ignoring the bitter feeling in my stomach and instead focusing on the positives.

The world had almost restored itself completely. Every space-time anomaly had been unraveled and every person was back to where time changed.

The sound of a loud explosion rolled over town and a pillar of white-blue flames dug down as the sky repaired itself.

And then it stopped.

Dialga, still glowing, turned his gaze at me. "Seeker, We Shall Meet Again. Somewhere, Somewhen."

He vanished, or rather, he had never been there at all, for nothing had happened in Alamos Town. It was almost like a bad dream.

Only the sky remained a miasma of dark shades. I looked at the starless sky, narrowed my eyes. I felt a strange presence. I hadn't given it much thought before since I was rather preoccupied, but now it was just a blackened sky, I allowed my thoughts to wander a little.

I tried to think about what to say. But before I could say anything the sky spoke first; "F̶a̸s̵c̵i̴n̶a̵t̵i̴n̶g̷.̴"

What?!

Orange light pierced through the black miasma and suddenly I felt a soothing summer breeze through the air. The wind started blowing again and the sweet summer air returned to replace the cold stillness from before with a pressing warmth.

Like curtains being lifted, the black void was dispelled and revealed the sun lurking behind it.

It was setting below the horizon and the last of its light was slipping across it and gracing Alamos Town with its final show.

Everything had an almost golden hue to it. The grass swayed back and forth under an orange sky, while the red roofs of Alamos sparkled cheerfully.

We had done it. I could barely believe it. I dropped to the floor, and finally my hand began to shake uncontrollably as all the stress and anxiety I pushed away came back for me all at once.

I tried to say something to Luna but I found my own voice unable to steady itself.

A tear streamed down my face as the shock finally set in and I allowed myself to release a deep breath I had been holding all this time.

I must have looked pathetic, shaking and almost pissing myself, but even as my body finally surrendered to the stress, I kept smiling all the same.

We had managed to knock on the gods door, called them out for being bastards and gotten our answers.

Luna walked over to me and embraced me.

"We actually did it…" I managed to mutter. "Arceus. What's your end goal?"

The answer to that question wouldn't come soon, I knew that. I smiled nonetheless.

My smile remained even when I heard the first scream rise above the town and fill the air. One of many cries to come.

It was only later that I learned how people still had vivid memories of being torn, and burned, and warped and stretched and killed.

Still, I couldn't give a shit about them at that moment.

End of Part Arc 5 - Part 2:

Gods Among Us

A/N My name is Captain Moonlight. Author of Insane World of Pokémon. I have never known an upload schedule.

Also, goddamn finally done with this arc. I am really happy with this. Took me a long while to find the perfect everything for all what happened, but finally, I did it. There are some things that could be better, but what I have now works for me just fine.

I got my thoughts on paper.

So yeah. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck this chapter was a bitch and a half to write.

Thanks for Delta for beta reading this chapter.

-CaptainMoonShine-