Year 871

Bloodshed. Crime. Indecency.

These were the inevitabilities of the Outlands. When law and order disintegrate, the truest form of a man's soul is revealed. Do they walk the path of ethics despite no reward for their actions? Or do they give into the id and wreak chaos until their bottomless desire was satisfied?

It was a world of tainted, ugly souls.

Amadeus despised such ugliness.

The young Kricketot had to make due with whatever was available to survive. A child born into the Outlands was a death sentence. An unwanted child, he was. Born from meaningless lust and abandoned as a mere burden to the criminal lifestyle. One had to survive purely by their own wit and cunning.

Even at a young age, young Amadeus feared his soul would, too, become ugly.

What was he to do in a cruel world?

"I hear the Crowfield Gang is trying to take over the western half of the Outlands. Ambitious louts. Their greed knows no bounds."

Pilfering through one of the few supply wagons that frequented the unruly Outlands, Amadeus peeked his head out from behind cover and saw the scarred Houndoom driver talking to a withered Vileplume smoking a pipe.

"What do you expect?" the Vileplume groaned. "It's one endless power struggle day after day. Better to stick to the smaller gangs and fend for yourself than get involved with ambitious pricks like them."

"Aye, but that does trouble for my business. Only reason I'm not dead is because the idiots here know I'm the only thing keeping their bellies fed. Those Crowfield bastards don't care about anyone but themselves. Sure, it's a given out here, but some of us can't get by without miracles. They'll just destroy anything that gets in their way."

Vileplume sighed. "It can't be helped. I hear the six of them are some of the strongest in the Outlands. I hear one of them is even a Deadly Seven. Best not to get involved with that."

"Probably best to keep my wares in the east, but I'll be making powerful enemies if we cut off connections. I'm screwed either way."

Amadeus finished collecting whatever he could into a sack and snuck off before either man saw him. As he escaped, his thoughts drifted to their conversation about the warring state out west. He never bothered getting involved in such matters since he was only twelve. He had to get by through stealing, not fisticuffs.

If strength wasn't the answer, numbers outweighed virtually any opposition. The Crowfield Gang, among other prominent gangs in the Outlands, amassed power through intimidation and talent. They make themselves the top dogs, controlling those through their desperation and hunger, and slowly integrate themselves into a position of power. It was the ultimate power struggle in a land without law or rule. Anyone who could comfortably take the Outlands for themselves would be heralded as the king of Virdis' eleventh kingdom. After that, what's stopping them from taking over the rest of Virdis?

This was the everyday struggle of the criminals of the Outlands: finding that right balance between control and freedom. Like most things, all it took was a single misstep for one's efforts to be completely crushed. And for tiny creatures like Amadeus, they had no chance in hell obtaining true power.

Power. Power. Power.

Oh, how he hated the common day assumptions of power. The belief that all matters could be resolved through violence and inelegance. No grace or couth or dignity. It was another mural of ugliness painted upon this withered canvas they called the Outlands.

Amadeus stopped walking, feeling his throat tighten from the rage he was feeling. He never felt such rage with such conviction. He riled himself up more than he realized. Was he more passionate about the subject than first proposed? Or perhaps his time on his own has matured him faster than he cared to admit?

"…" Amadeus looked up to the sky. "This world is impure. Perhaps it is time…a new leader put their hat in the ring for power." He glared, clutching his sack of stolen goods. "But I shall rip the reigns of power from my competitors with only true elegance."

"Soul Opera!"

Like a horde of Electrode gathering together to initiate a combined Explosion, a wave of sound rippled across Skeleton Water like a clap of thunder, playing a grand orchestra of violins and cellos that would move an audience to tears. One could stop and appreciate the grandiose demonstration of music performed by a single musician.

Unfortunately, it was not a moment to be appreciated for more than a second.

All across Skeleton Water, the screams of the town's occupants drowned in the veil of sound before having every centimeter of their bodies lacerated in a monstrous storm of slashing attacks once unseen throughout the fight. Everything around Amadeus was shredded apart, casting down a dust storm that partially revealed the invisible slashes and the sheer number that rained down over everything. Nowhere in Skeleton Water was safe.

Buildings were being diced up. The road was torn to smithereens. And the allies Amadeus accumulated from his vast connections became mere fodder in wake of his masterpiece. Everything tried to run as fast as they could, but one simply couldn't outrun music. It was a declaration of true art that Amadeus wanted to share with the rest of his gang, regardless of their consent.

Amos and Evelot would've surely been apart of the lacerating melody had Caractacus not preemptively raced to their side with Magni and covered them under his Negative Space, sparing everything within the bubble from the onslaught of slashes. However, the sheer volume of attacks whipped up a dust storm so thick that they could see what was happening beyond the bubble.

"Phoebe!" Evelot screamed. She tried to run out, but Caractacus bit down on her ear.

"If you go out there, you're as screwed as the rest of these jokers!" he growled.

Magni glared. "Won't survive out there."

Amos untangled himself from his tight bandages, undoing them enough to weakly stand. He threw out some sand past the bubble and let it mix with the storm. He concentrated, sensing out the area. He mostly felt the slashing atmosphere that permeated virtually every inch of space he could detect, but his sand eventually brushed past where Amadeus and Phoebe were doing battle.

"…She's okay," he said. "For now."

Indeed, Phoebe didn't let herself become victim to Amadeus' technique. Pumping as much of her concentration into her automatic dodging as possible, she flipped and skipped across the disintegrating town, narrowly avoiding slashing attacks where she could. It wasn't a flawless escape, still getting cut up across her limbs and body, but drastically reducing onto herself what was transpiring for everyone else. All she could do was keep whistling and matching the technique's melody until Amadeus ceased.

Even through the dust, she could feel the vibrations of buildings collapsing around her, shaking up the town in a localized earthquake. She didn't spend a glance finding her position, focusing entirely on keeping herself alive. She kept a tight hold of her sword, fearing the loss of her only means of getting through Amadeus' technique.

He wasn't kidding about letting loose. I have to rely on cheap tricks just to survive! She peered up at the dust-covered sky, grimacing as the sun continued to set. Caractacus, I swear to whoever if your plan doesn't work, I'm going to kill you!

The onslaught of slashes slowly died down, and the overpowering operatic music returned to the somber melody that filled its listeners with dread. Phoebe stumbled over the uneven street, fanning the dust from her face as she tried to peer ahead. She couldn't make out any sign of Amadeus from within the dust.

Calm down, Phoebe. You just need to bide your time and—

"Soul Sonata—" Her eyes widened, and she immediately jumped to the side as a powerful slash tore through the road. "Cadenza!"

Following where the slash was projected, Phoebe spun on her heel after landing and fired a wind slash in its direction. She saw a shadow jump out of the way and flutter through the heavy dust. She fired off weaker slashes, cutting apart the dust to hit the lord, but his aerial movement was superb.

"Maelstrom Cleave—" She activated her Metronome, channeling the energy through her broken blade. "Stun Spore!" She sliced the air with yellow dust.

"Soul Sonata!" Amadeus amped up his playing, cutting up the wind slash just enough to divert the Stun Spore. He barely avoided the lingering sharp wind, feeling fragments slashing across his face and shoulder. "Arpeggio!" He crossed his arms and slashed the air.

Phoebe backflipped, avoiding a grid of slashes that instantly projected over the street. "Maelstrom Cleave—"

"Soul Sonata: Cadenza!" Amadeus wound up his arm and fired a powerful slash downward.

"Obstruct!" Phoebe sliced the air with a dark wind, causing it to instantly slash with Amadeus' invisible slash. The two nearly transparent forces collided midair, inducing pressure around the surrounding space before disrupting each other out. Immediately after the explosion, Phoebe fired a regular wind slash through the smoke.

"Soul Concerto!" Amadeus instantly shrouded himself into his musical aura, minimizing the damage of the wind slash. It sliced up parts of his body, but the damage was once again shallow and unremarkable. "Crescendo!" He focused the aura around his arms, creating high-frequency sound blades, and dove onto Phoebe's position.

She backstepped out of her first swing, feeling the sharp air shaving some fur off her face, and retaliated with her own wind slash. Amadeus deflected with his arm, leaving shallow cuts over the surface, and rushed Phoebe down with a flurry of sword swings.

"GAH!" She immediately drew her heated dagger and used it and the broken sword to defend herself. She teetered on her heels against the relentless storm of slashes beating down on her. Each strike grinded sparks off her blades, especially from her dagger. The smell of hot metal hit her nose, growing stronger as the seconds ticked by.

Amadeus glared. "Is this the life you desire, Ms. Burkhard?"

She growled. "Shut. Up!"

Amadeus twirled, striking Phoebe's weapons and forcing them above her head, before striking across her midsection. She gasped out in pain as the high frequency sound cut across her stomach before tossing her across the uneven road.

"I took you in to curb that vile behavior of yours, yet I find you still lack elegance. Your soul is as tainted as the day you left." He scoffed. "I detested the way your father raised you, and I had hoped dearly I could reverse the damage he inflicted upon your mind. To give into the savage nature of these cretins is a disgrace to the thousands of years of refinement we as Pokémon have praised. Do you wish to fall into the same trappings as the rest of these rubes?"

Phoebe picked herself up, clutching her bleeding stomach. She forced herself to smirk. "H-Heh. Well, would you look at that? All the power you've accumulated, and you don't even care about your own men? And I thought I had the impressive body count."

Amadeus glared. "They are mere pawns to a greater cause. I dare not sully my soul with them. They knew the risks of working under me. The Outlands is made up entirely of criminals and scum. Their lives mean nothing so long as they lack purpose, but I couldn't care less. They are but scrap I scrounged up from the gangs I've dismantled over my career."

"Tch. And I'm just another piece of metal in the pile?"

"Mayhaps you could be more if you only applied yourself, but you still haven't changed."

Still holding her stomach, Phoebe finally got onto her feet and scoffed. "A murderer lecturing a murderer? How quaint, as you would put it." She glared. "I don't need you telling me who or what I am. I'm sick and tired of everyone trying to decide who I should be. A killer, an assassin, a proper lady! I'm sick of all of it! Do I not get a say in how I want to live my fucked-up life?!"

Amadeus huffed. "Surely you jest. Do you find some comfort in being viewed as a savage?"

"…" Phoebe glared in the direction of her team, making out the shape of Magni through the dust. She sighed. "Is being viewed as a savage really so long?"

Amadeus raised his arms. "This world has no need for those who cannot behave in natural society. I gave you nothing but a myriad of chances to turn toward a better future. Are you willing to drag yourself through the earth to find some semblance of normality you crave?"

"…" Phoebe raised her weapons and glared back at him. "Why not? I'm already a nutcase."

"…You unfortunate child." Amadeus crossed his arms together. "Allow me to put your burdens to rest." He stomped forward, rearing his crossed arms back. "Soul Sonata: Arpeggio!" He performed a heavy swipe through the air, causing the dust to distort in a grid-shaped wave of slashing attacks.

Phoebe activated Detect and channeled the melody through her whistling. She automatically torqued her body and leapt through the small gap in the attack. However, upon doing so, Amadeus instantly raced toward her and clotheslined her across the neck.

"Soul Concerto: Crescendo!" He threw her into a pile of rubble that was once the town's tavern.

Phoebe slammed into the rock, screaming out as a protruding support beam nailed her in the back. "GAH!" She dropped her weapons and collapsed to her hands and knees, spitting blood onto the ground.

Amadeus wound his arm back. "Soul Sonata—"

Phoebe's eyes snapped open. No time to fight back! "Forced Drawing!" She forcefully activated her Metronome, drawing upon the first move she could think of. "Smokescreen!" She exhaled jet black smoke over the ruined tavern.

"Cadenza!" Amadeus whipped his arm, firing a slash attack that severed the smokescreen in two.

Phoebe made the mistake of not immediately running. She went for her misplaced weapons and tried to escape, but she was a second too late as she saw the smoke splitting before her. Her legs kicked off the ground, but…

"GyyyyyYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The attack was successful.

Year 877

"Well, well, well! Look who dragged themselves into the den of the Crowfield Gang."

Nineteen-year-old Amadeus entered the prominent camp of the infamous gang, tipping his ragged hat to his audience before smoothing the wrinkles out of his hole-covered vest. Once he made himself presentable, he glared up at the six leaders of the Crowfield Gang

Sitting at the head of the group was a Leafeon wearing all matter of jewels and riches. A Glaceon had her forelegs around him, purring seductively against her lover. A tough-looking Jolteon stood by the Leafeon's side, sparking with irritation. A Floragato stood by, swinging her rose-tipped vine mindlessly. A seedy Scrafty cracked his knuckles before igniting his Thunder Punch around both fists. Finally, a Maractus gleefully licked his bloodstained, serrated sword as he leered down at the cricket.

Amadeus huffed. "Good day, my fine folk. I hope I'm not disturbing."

The Leafeon leader smirked. "I take you're the bastard who set up this little impromptu meeting?"

Amadeus tipped his hat. "And I thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedules on my account."

"Oh, no trouble at all, seeing as how you're the one responsible for slaughtering our subordinates."

"Oh, that's such an ugly word. Slaughter. I refer to it more as a polite execution of the ill-mannered. They were simply too moronic to continue on in this world, especially with the depravity I walked in on."

The Glaceon sneered. "What do you want with us, you pompous cretin?"

"Perhaps he requested this meeting to have us personally execute him," the Jolteon suggested.

Amadeus shook his head. "Far from it. Actually, I'm here to kill you all myself."

The Maractus sneered. "What? Sorry, I think I misheard you."

Amadeus nodded. "You heard correctly. I've had enough with the disorder that runs rampant in the Outlands, and your group is but one of many blights on its mismanagement. As such, I'm here to personally correct these errors."

The Scrafty laughed. "You can't be serious? You came all the way out here thinking you can take us on? Do you even know who we are, fool?"

The Leafeon laughed. "Don't harass him too much, my friend. He's but another ignorant thug who hasn't been properly introduced to the way things work out here. We will have to correct that unruly behavior."

Amadeus crossed his arms behind his back. "Do not mistake my threat as immediate hostility. I am sure we can avoid needless bloodshed if we were to come to an understanding. I simply want what's best for this tarnished region, and correcting the course of our imminent self-destruction would be the first step. All I ask is that I take over things from here."

Leafeon smirked. "You're a funny guy. I tell jokes, too." He snapped his digits. "Goneril. Dispose of him."

The Floragato caught her rose-tipped vine and descended the throne of stacked junk. Once she reached the bottom, she started spinning the ranged weapon, scattering a veil of leaves and petals around herself that stirred up the wind. The faster she spun her vine, the greater the storm's range extended, spreading far across the campsite until it had Amadeus surrounded.

"I am Goneril, the Gardener of Lust. Enforcer of the Crowfield Gang, and the Lust Bearer of the Deadly Seven. Heed my threat carefully, you wretched Kricketune. You are woefully outmatched against the likes of us."

"…" Amadeus narrowed his eyes. "You intend to fight me alone?"

"You have no right to face the boss or my friends. I shall serve as your opponent. And your executioner."

"…" He sighed. "Before we begin, may I offer you all a piece of wisdom?"

Leafeon smirked. "Is this a plea for your life?"

"It's more of a philosophy." He bowed to them. "I came here today because I've seen the true face of this tainted world, and I have yet to find any luster that hides beneath that imperfect rust. It wounds my heart to find so many that quickly fall to the trappings of greed and desire. I've grown weary of being a bystander in this tragedy. Thus, I must exact true beauty onto this world so that I may correct this slight against creation."

"HA! What do you think you are? Some noble hero coming to save the day?"

Amadeus raised his arms and began to play a somber melody for all to hear. "I see myself more as a maestro. A maestro who will bring disaster onto this land. If I cannot convince the world to change, perhaps I can move them with the true depths of my soul."

Goneril scoffed. "Nice speech." She ramped up her spinning, preparing to bring down a torrent of sharpened foliage upon the Kricketune. "Say goodbye to your—"

"Soul…Sonata"

Her eyes widened as a myriad of slashes appeared across her body, slashing through her skin, eyes, and mouth. Blood sprayed into the air, and she stumbled back screaming out in pain, dropping her vine.

Her friends stood up from their seats in shock. "What the—" the Glaceon cried.

"Where did those attacks come from?!" the Scrafty yelled.

Amadeus continued playing the ominous song as an aura of music extended over the campsite, filling the air in the dancing musical notes that loomed over their heads like impending guillotines.

"Yes, that is a most appropriate name," Amadeus said, glaring at the screaming Floragato as she backed away into the junkpile thrones. The rest of the gang slid down to the bottom and readied themselves, though stood shaken by the Kricketune's demonstration of power.

No, not power.

Just pure technique.

"This song will echo across the Outlands, performed by none other than the Maestro of Catastrophe."

Amadeus stepped lightly through the rubble once the smoke cleared. He approached where he last saw Phoebe, who managed to flee after his attack connected. All he could find was a puddle of blood that trailed off to the right before disappearing.

"…" He followed the blood trail up until the increasingly shrinking drops vanished. The shape and distance between each droplet told him she hurried off after being hit, and her movements were uneven. He performed a critical hit against her.

However, looking over the rubble, he noticed something round and soaked with blood. Something stringy was attached to it. He delicately poked the object before determining what it was.

"…You cannot fight any longer in this condition, Ms. Burkhard. Give up."

Hidden on the far side of the ruined tavern, laying behind a destroyed wall, Phoebe suppressed her breathing while keeping a hand clutched over her left eye. The entire left side of her face was drenched in blood, and her body was shaking uncontrollably from the pain. The pain made her want to scream and cry, but she bit back those horrible feelings and used the insufferable sensation to keep herself awake.

F-Fuck! Fucking shit! Agh! She tore off her sleeves, tied them together, and wrapped them taut over her left eye. Once it was securely fastened and pressed over the wound, she leaned her head back against the wall to get control of her breathing. I screwed up. Agh. I screwed up bad!

"I can easily find you with just my technique. No one can escape the reach of my sound," Amadeus' voice echoed around her. "I do not want to snuff out your life, Ms. Burkhard. You have so much more potential than the lifestyle you pervert yourself with. You have the talents to perform great feats. Why do you waste everything for this lifestyle of self-indulgence? I offered you the means to freedom!"

She clenched her teeth. F-Freedom? Heh. What a joke. Is it too much to say I just want to live somewhere far away from this shithole? Who the fuck cares if I don't have any great ambitions? All I ever wanted was to understand why I feel like shit every time I woke up in the morning!

"What place do you have in this circus of wild animals? Well, Ms. Burkhard?!"

She heard the familiar strum of his music and weakly jumped out of the way of a cutting wave. She rolled to her feet, but stumbled weakly. Because of the blood she lost, she felt lightheaded and nauseous. On top of that, her depth perception was off, causing her to trip and stumble through the dust. And because she forcefully activated Metronome, she would be unable to use it for another fourteen minutes.

She doubted she had that much time left.

She quickly ran out of the rubble, but Amadeus noticed her escape and fired a weak slash into her legs. Several cuts opened across her soles and thighs, causing her to scream and trip onto her face.

Her scream echoed to a terrified Evelot. "Ph-Phoebe!" She tried to run out again, so Magni bit on her ear and held her in the air. "Phoebe!" she cried.

Caractacus winced. "No use in playing up the formalities anymore." He spread his legs and unhinged his jaw. "Brace yourselves. All those slashing attacks he did earlier fueled me with enough power to raze this town solo. I'll make sure the blast doesn't immediately vaporize him."

However, before he could start charging, Amos placed his metal pincer on the hound's jaw and forced it shut. He didn't take his eyes off the obscured battlefield, still detecting Phoebe's and Amadeus' positions with his mixed sand. "Let her do this."

Caractacus scoffed. "She's out of her league."

"She knows that. So, sit the fuck down and let her finish this."

"…" Caractacus sat down and sighed. "She needs to stall for seven more minutes."

Evelot stopped tearing up and looked down at him. "F-For what?"

"…The plan."

Phoebe crawled out onto the street, panting heavily as more and more of the pain overtook her senses. It took an immeasurable amount of willpower to keep herself awake. Every nerve in her body was screaming for her to spare itself from the pain with the blissful offer of eternal slumber, but she refused.

She heard shifting rock behind her and glared over her shoulder as Amadeus stepped out of the rubble. She grabbed her wind sword with her tail and fired a slash, but it didn't have nearly as much power behind it, allowing him to easily swat the wind slash aside.

"You fought a good fight," he said softly. "I can get you the medical attention you need."

Phoebe pushed herself onto her elbows, straining from the pain. "W-With what men? You practically slaughtered…all of them…"

"You have no idea what you're pursuing. You're blindly jumping into matters that do not concern you. You will face unimaginable hardship if you continue down this path. Why do you think Abel Underhill vanished? The things he knew were too much for one man to bear. He's not like his brother. Cain Underhill is exactly the kind of monster the Outlands produces, and I don't want to see you falling into the same depravity he bathes in. This isn't your fight."

"Aaaaagh…!" Phoebe pressed one foot down, shaking as she stood up. She used her tail to balance herself. "You'd rather I work under you than deal with whatever underworld he's operating? You'd rather I just give up and turn to high profile crime because it's proper society in your eyes?" She flashed an angry grin. "You don't get to decide that, jackass."

Amadeus sighed. "A pity." He swiped the air, and Phoebe was blown back in the cutting wave, lacerating across her body.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" She landed on her back, screaming out in pain again.

"There you go again running your mouth. Do you have any self-respect for yourself as an individual? If only you put more effort into appearance than tainting that tarnished soul of yours—"

"Will you shut the FUCK UP?!" she snapped, screaming toward the sky. "I don't give a shit what you think of me?! Is it wrong to say I'm happy with the way I am?!"

"ARE YOU HAPPY?!" Amadeus snapped back.

"Of course I am!"

"…Are we happy?"

Phoebe's eye widened. Bending her head back, she found Cracked Phoebe sitting on the ground, her back turned to her counterpart. She traced circles in the dirt with her tail as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Would you be better off without me in your life?" Cracked Phoebe muttered.

"…" Phoebe closed her eye and sighed. "We're both stuck at a crossroads. We both want something the other doesn't. I don't want to be a killer, but…I like that feeling. That rush."

"I despise society, so I slaughter anything that looks at me funny…but now we've grown attached to something. In a world where nothing is permanent, we struggle to maintain her happiness. What happened to us?"

"…I think I was happy for the first time in my life."

"…That's why I never cared about Evelot, because I couldn't stop seeing her as another impermanent thing of this world. Something to break. Something to lose. Something to wither." Cracked Phoebe looked over her shoulder. "How can two contradictory things live in harmony with each other?"

"…" Phoebe grunted, forcing herself to sit up. "Who says they can't?"

"But this world is not fit for savages—"

"Fuck that. I'm sick and tired of being told who I can or can't be. Just as how I've been getting sick of you telling me who I should be." Phoebe shook her head. "But the truth is, if I'm never going to fully discard those feelings, why not just embrace them?"

Cracked Phoebe stood up. "Go savage?"

"No." Phoebe winced as she got to her feet. "I'm just going to finally break my chains. The chains Dad left on me. The chains Amadeus forced me to wear. The chains I placed upon myself when I befriended Evelot. I'm not going savage. I'm going to finally just…let loose all the rage and anger and excitement I've been holding back all these years." She flashed a sadistic smile. "I want to see…my true self."

Cracked Phoebe stared at her in awe before smirking. "Savagery of a new kind? The best of both worlds? Sounds like a mess, but it does sound exciting." She walked around and faced her counterpart. "No more denial."

"No more suppression." Phoebe held her hand out. "Let's put aside this dramatic bullshit and tear this world apart our own way!"

"Let's do it!" Cracked Phoebe clasped her hand.

"I'm through…with these STUPID CHAINS!"

Phoebe's entire mental world shattered around her. The endless sea of blood red that colored her vision, the chains that shackled around her soul, and the visage of her worst self all shattered away from her as if the world was coming up done and becoming anew to something…brighter.

Amadeus' eyes widened, instantly sensing a change in the Aipom's stature. "Ms. Burkhard?"

Phoebe stumbled momentarily, craning her head back as if she was about to pass out. However, she caught herself, her stance turning firm and steady. A maniacal grin stretched over her face as she burst out into laughter akin to a pack of Mightyena surrounding their prey.

The sudden burst of laughter startled her friends, who were beginning to sea more of the battlefield as the dust cleared. "W-What's wrong with Phoebe?" Evelot gasped.

Caractacus blinked before smirking in understanding. "That madwoman finally did it…"

Phoebe eventually straightened herself up and grasped both her weapons in each hand. She deftly spun and juggled them between her hands and tail, catching the dagger in hand and sword in her tail. She dropped onto one hand, brandishing the dagger over herself, and flashed her beastly grin at Amadeus with a sinister red tint shining off her only eye.

He almost feared she went savage instantly, but restrained himself as he took notice of her composure. Though beastly in nature, there was an air of sophistication in her stance unseen by the untrained eye. It carried with it the intimidating aura of a fanged monster aiming to tear apart its target, but he could see it.

Something radiant beginning to shine around the Aipom. Something that nearly moved the Kricketune to tears.

"Ms. Burkhard…" he gasped.

Phoebe snickered. "Quit looking at me with that stupid face, Amadeus! You and I aren't done here!"

"…" He closed his eyes and resumed his attack stance, feeling his muscles twitch in excitement. "Strike me down with all you can, Phoebe Burkhard!"

Year 878 – Crimehallow

Amadeus stood at attention, withholding the mild case of nerves he felt standing before such reputable forces of the criminal underworld. Before him were the current members of the Deadly Seven: a Bronzong of Greed, a Dodrio of Pride, a Brambleghast of Sloth, a Flamigo of Gluttony, and a Golurk of Envy.

And standing ahead of the group was the leader himself: the Annihilape of Wrath, Absalom.

The ghostly monkey crossed his arms, looking the young swordsman up and down, getting a read on his stature and air of confidence. Amadeus refused to admit he was intimidated by the monkey's stare as he could sense the cruelty that lay dormant within, a soul of pure shadow that swallowed whatever light it held. It was like watching the night sky itself drowning out the stars that decorated its blank canvas, mercilessly suffocating their glows.

Absalom finished his inspection of the Kricketune before turning his back to him. "You're quite the difficult man to find, Mr. Rimmer. One does not simply defeat a Deadly Seven. You must possess remarkable strength."

Amadeus glared. "Not strength. Skill."

"Hmm, yes." Absalom turned back. "I shall get straight to the point. With your victory over Goneril, you have the opportunity to take on her old position as the Lust Bearer. We have an open position, obviously, and you would be perfect to maintain control over the Outlands."

Amadeus shook his head. "I have no need to work under you."

"Don't think of this as an organization where you take orders from me. We work toward a common goal. We provide a service to keep the Outlands in check. We control the course of crime from the shadows. As long as you remain loyal to our cause, you are free to redirect the Outlands the way you see fit. We all have a part to play."

"Is that so?"

Absalom nodded. "Gangs like the Crowfield Gang or other disreputable scum cannot be trusted to maintain order. They seek pleasure and chaos. Disorganized chaos. We don't do that here. I, for example, remove any particularly dangerous individuals from the equation. I'm the one who makes sure no one has too much power that cannot be controlled by us." He glared. "And I'm the one who makes sure the Deadly Seven doesn't get too independent."

"…I see."

"If you take on this role, you would remake the Outlands into the way you see fit. Doesn't that sound enticing?"

"…" Amadeus folded his arms behind his back and walked towards the tavern windows, gazing at the setting sky. "Would you be satisfied with just the Outlands?"

Absalom raised his brow. "Go on."

"If we're meant to control everything from the shadows…" Amadeus swiped his arm, causing a nearby table to instantly be severed in two. "Then why not reach a little higher than this lawless desert? After all, there's an entire region that's still recovering from the onslaught of Last Autumn's reign. It's been a year since they collapsed, right? Why not try and take command ourselves?"

"…" Absalom chuckled softly. "Amadeus, would you be interested…in a proposition of mine?"

"Perhaps. What is it?"

"What if I told you that your vision isn't too far off from my own goals?"

The stage was set. A town that was reduced to rubble with the bodies of injured and dead thugs laying sprawled out across the bloodied earth as a veil of dust cleared away from the air. An orchestra of sound hummed through the destroyed town, and the laughter of a crazed monkey accompanied its grand tunes.

The final clash had started.

Phoebe cackled, racing through the rubble on all fours and dodging waves of invisible slashes. Amadeus, no longer passively using his technique, unleashed swarms of slashing attacks with each swing of his arms. Each strike cleaved through earth and stone effortlessly, aiming to cut down the spry monkey.

Phoebe jumped atop a barely intact wall and flipped through the air, firing down wind slashes. Amadeus cleaved the air with an X-shaped slash, then fired a slash where Phoebe would be landing.

The Aipom recoiled upon being struck, but the cut barely breached her skin, only producing a drop of blood. She cackled louder, her mind high on adrenaline and bloodlust, and rushed down the Kricketune.

Amadeus fired wave after wave of slashing attacks, but Phoebe pushed through them with minimal damage. She held her sword in a reverse grip and slashed the air. Amadeus swung his arm down as hard as he could, cleaving the space before him. The wind slash parted, slicing the surface of his arms instead.

Phoebe lunged while his guard was down, drawing her heated dagger. He quickly swung his free arm and sliced the air, but Phoebe powered through it and stabbed him in the shoulder. His flesh caught fire against the perpetually hot metal, but he refused to falter.

"Soul Concerto!" He tightly weaved his sound aura around himself and grabbed Phoebe in a bear hug, pressing her into his slashing aura.

Normally, this would've shredded someone's skin off, but it felt more like being grinded by sandpaper. It stung, especially on her fresh wounds, but Phoebe smirked through the pain before headbutting the lord in the head, allowing her to spring off his chest with her dagger in tow.

The rest of the company kept their heads down as rogue slash attacks flew their way, absorbing into the Negative Space. "Ph-Phoebe's unstoppable!" Evelot gasped.

Amos glared. "How is she resisting his slash attacks all of a sudden? It's like they're barely affecting her."

Caractacus hummed aloud. "…She conquered the despair in her soul."

"Eh?"

"Her method to resist his technique. She now has a clearer mind. She can't outright nullify it like he can, but this sudden metamorphosis in behavior has…cleared her of doubts. She's as close to nullifying the technique as she can get at short notice. By resisting the major component of Perish Song…"

"…" Amos glared. "I get it now."

Magni smiled. "Free from chains."

Phoebe howled with laughter, skipping and dancing around the ruined town as Amadeus unleashed vicious waves of cutting might everywhere the eye could see. Some part of her took pleasure in the prospect of bloodshed, but she was no longer suppressing the raw emotions of such pleasure. Not through the desire of killing, but the sheer intensity of…it. The moment. The pure high she felt from bloodshed without its negative ties.

Was she…experiencing true joy for once?

Amadeus couldn't take his eyes off her, mesmerized by the captivating glow of her radiant state. He could see the outline of her soul set ablaze in a light that complemented the tainted surface he visualized before. It wasn't a pure light, but it was…it was…

How could he put to words the state of such infectious joy?

Her soul…I have never experienced something so truly…

"Arpeggio!" Amadeus slashed the air, forming a grid of extending slashes through the street.

Phoebe flipped off one hand, dodging the lacerating field, and fired off multiple wind slashes. Amadeus raced forward, ducking and dashing around her attacks and returning his own. Phoebe activated Detect and dodged around them, moving with greater fluidity than earlier. She turned on her heel, building up speed, and fired a wide wind slash.

"Soul Concerto!" Amadeus maximized the frequency of his musical aura and charged through the attack, shredding apart as much of the sharp wind as he could, and lunging at Phoebe. "Crescendo!" He concentrated the aura around his arm and swung.

Phoebe tossed her weapons into the air and stopped his arm with her teeth! Her sharp canines chomped down into his flesh, holding the arm in place while his aura buffed against her face and tongue. With her laughter barely audible, she pulled out the last of her stolen liquor bottles and smashed it across Amadeus' face.

"AGH!" He pulled his arm back as the glass disintegrated against his aura, but the alcohol barely breached. Realizing this, he jumped back right as Phoebe caught her weapons and swung the heated dagger.

She smirked, clashed both weapons together, and released a fiery wind slash. Amadeus ducked behind his Soul Concerto, but the flaming wind was too much. It splashed off his aura, catching sections of his soaked vest on fire.

"Soul Sonata!" He expanded his sound aura and used it to rip apart his vest and the flames attached, extinguishing them all.

"Stealth Dash!" He blinked once, and Phoebe was already right up in his face. She swung her broken sword, delivering a gnarly slash across his chest. She immediately followed it up by stabbing into him with her dagger, scorching his flesh.

"AAAGH!" Amadeus howled, feeling the dagger's hot metal close to his heart. "Allegro!" He created a space of sound around himself and Phoebe, then fired it upward.

"AAGH!" Phoebe screamed as the pillar of sound blew her into the sky, dislodging the dagger with her.

"Allegro!" Amadeus clashed his arms together and fired more sound pillars at the airborne monkey.

Phoebe flashed an irritated grin before curling herself up. The pillars struck, but she resisted the slashing damage that accompanied them. She endured up until she plummeted back onto the ground, tumbling and rolling onto her feet.

"Cadenza!" Amadeus performed a heavy swing, splitting the earth ahead into a wide fissure.

Phoebe sidestepped the attack, stumbling from the shaking earth, which left her open to get sniped across the face with a series of slash attacks. Amadeus released the slashes with such frequency that they carried the Aipom across the ruined down, throwing her through the rubble.

"Allegro!" With a grand swing of his arms, he rained down pillars of bladed sound from the sky.

Phoebe's eye flashed with Detect, and she raced through the ruins, jumping around the sound pillars by the skin of her teeth. She saw Amadeus winding up his arms again and started hopping more erratically, dodging swarms of slashing projectiles. They came down in greater numbers, some slashing across her legs and tail, but she pressed through the pain with gritted teeth.

"Cadenza!" Amadeus delivered another wide-splitting slash that cleaved a fissure into the earth.

Phoebe spun and slammed her sword down, using the wind to throw herself into the air and narrowly avoid the slash attack. "HA!" She took the sword in her tail and wildly rained down a myriad of wind slashes.

"Arpeggio!" Amadeus slashed up the sky, cutting apart the wind slashes into wind needles. He covered himself as the lingering wind rained over his body with scratches. "Cadenza!" He delivered a wide slash through the sky.

Phoebe braced herself and howled in pain once the attack connected, blood spraying out from her abdomen. She clenched her teeth, snarling with determination. "That…won't stop me!" She collected her bearings and dove on Amadeus' position, delivering multiple wind slashes.

Amadeus dodged the slashes and jumped away from Phoebe's landing strike. "Arpeggio!" He slashed the air, projecting a grid of slashes through the ground with such force that it uplifted the street.

"GAH!" Phoebe clung to the ground as she was lifted into the sky and sent flying back. The wave of earth piled over itself, aiming to bury her alive, so she leapt to safety and barely avoided being crushed.

"Soul Sonata!" She immediately braced herself again and endured a swarm of slashing attacks blasting her across town. She brought out her dagger, plunged it into the ground, and anchored herself down as the slashing barrage continued bombarding her back.

Eventually, it ceased, allowing the Aipom to breathe. Shaking her head clear, she wearily looked up and panted as Amadeus limped toward her. The musical aura continued to dance around him, and it played as strongly as ever. Even in his weakened state, Amadeus proved his worth as the third strongest of the Deadly Seven.

Amadeus panted softly, glaring down at the winded Aipom and noting her current state. He could tell she had lost a lot of blood. She was fighting off adrenaline and willpower by this point. One good hit was enough to take her down. A part of him wanted the fight to keep going. He wanted to watch the magnificent glow of Phoebe's soul a little longer, but he had a job to complete.

"…You fought valiantly, Ms. Burkhard," Amadeus praised. "Surrender elegantly."

Phoebe picked herself up, laughing between breaths. "Don't…mock me," she huffed, sheathing her dagger.

"You have proven more than enough your worth. You have nothing left to fight for."

Phoebe smirked through the pain. "Don't get a big head, Lord Rimmer. Everything's lining up perfectly."

"You cannot possibly continue fighting. You are on your last breaths."

Phoebe grasped her sword within both hands and raised it. "…Do you know what time it is, Lord Rimmer?"

"…" Amadeus plucked his pocket watch from his breast pocket, ignoring its warped appearance from coming in contact with Phoebe's dagger, and checked the hands. "It is a quarter 'til seven."

"Heh." She weakly raised her tail and reached into her bag. "I'm ending this in one shot."

Shot? Amadeus questioned.

She plucked something out of the bag before tossing its tattered remains to the ground. "Hey, Amadeus."

"Hmm?"

"I haven't decided who I want to be. I don't belong in either world. But, you know something?" She lifted her head, smiling with a serenity unbecoming of the violent Aipom. "I don't care. It's my life. I'll figure it out as I go. And I'll do it my way."

Amadeus narrowed his eyes. "Phoebe…"

"Oh, and to answer your earlier question…"

Phoebe presented something in her tail: a shard of metal glowing in a pink aura. It was a tiny fragment of something small, like a nail. No, something bigger than a nail. It looked like it belonged…to a bullet.

"I didn't forget my rifle."

The plan was simple. They just needed to get Amadeus into a position where he would be wide open for her rifle. However, because of his reaction speed, they needed something akin to the wind sword to bypass his cutting aura.

Caractacus requested Phoebe to use Forced Drawing two times to make two specific items with the Rainbow.

One was the wind sword, combined with Air Slash. This would guarantee a way to bypass the cutting aura, even in minute amounts. Caractacus theorized that air wasn't as simple to split apart as other states of matter, otherwise every time Amadeus used his stronger attacks, he'd be literally cutting the atmosphere around himself apart and induce suffocation. It was a flaw Caractacus bypassed himself with his Negative Space, only eliminating kinetic force up to a certain degree. A gentle breeze could hit him, but there was nothing dangerous about that.

The second item was a bullet, combined with Ally Switch. A piece of it was strategically chipped off and given to Phoebe for later. Any move-infused object gained power based off its velocity. This applied to both swords and bullets.

The plan…was to shoot Phoebe at Amadeus.

Half a kilometer away from the town, Phoebe's rifle sat within an apparatus built by Caractacus. It was made up of pieces of wood, some wires, a magnifying lens, a weighted bucket, and what was once several blocks of ice currently dripping into the bucket. It was strategically set up and positioned just right to be in line of the sun.

By Caractacus' calculations, the ice would melt into the bucket, weighing it down and putting pressure on the rifle's trigger. It was set to go off at about 6:47 in the evening.

No matter how fast Amadeus' reaction speed was, even he would have trouble dodging one of Phoebe's bullets. So, what would happen if the bullet was Phoebe instead?

They were about to find out—

BANG!

With the bucket properly weighed down, it pulled back on the trigger and fired the rifle, completely destroying the apparatus in the recoil.

The metal fragment in Phoebe's tail started shimmering. She instantly clutched it, wrapping herself in the psychic glow.

She braced herself, feeling her body suddenly being slammed by the rushing wind. She instantly swapped places with the bullet, trading all its momentum with hers. The sudden whiplash would've killed a weaker Pokémon, and Phoebe's current state might've done her in, but she endured.

This. Ends. NOW!

Soaring across the desert with the town fast approaching, she reared back her sword. The broken blade caught the wind around it, forging a blade of silvery blue wind greater than anything she had summoned previously. Her lips and eyelid folded back against the intense rush of wind, and blood flew off her open wounds. Despite the short time frame between the point of firing and the town, it felt like an eternity for the Aipom.

Meanwhile, Amadeus was frozen in shock after watching Phoebe swap places with a smoking bullet, and he instantly spotted her sailing toward the town at ludicrous speeds. He was about a second away from being struck down. He could certainly react to the attack, but he couldn't dodge out of the way in time. Whichever way he reacted, someone was certain to die in the exchange.

…

…

…

I am Lord Amadeus Rimmer of Skeleton Water, the self-made lord who wishes to conquer Virdis. I will not run away from any opposition. I am a man who will follow his principles to the very end. That is the vow of my elegant soul.

"Soul Concerto—" Amadeus instantly readied himself, rearing back his arms and casting them in a tightly woven aura of sound. "CRESCENDO!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Phoebe screamed, fighting against her momentum to swing her sword.

Amadeus stepped forward, and he and Phoebe were a meter apart from each other. It was a brief exchange of wills, the passions of two souls fighting to serve their best interests. A soul guided by an intense determination for a beautiful world that would be carved by his own claws. And a soul wandering through the open plains in search of her own truth, but not in dissatisfaction.

In this single exchange, they felt nothing but pure content.

SHINNNNG!

Instantly, their blades crossed, and an explosion of wind whipped through the air as they passed each other.

Phoebe lost hold of her sword and went skidding across the dirt, covered in exactly nine slashes delivered instantly by Amadeus' reactionary speed. The ground absorbed most of her momentum, dragging her halfway through the street until she came to a dead stop.

Amadeus panted softly, his legs trembling from weakness. Tears dripped down his face, but his expression reflected content. Never has his body been pushed to its limits in such a way. His entire life was spent outdoing others by skill alone, and now he found a worthy student whose cleverness and determination bested his own.

"B…Be…Bea…"

He collapsed to his knees as two large slashes ripped his chest open. Blood spewed out from his shoulders before his arms slid off, collapsing in front of him. Phoebe was slower, but her swings were far more precise.

And the sight of her elegant attack brought tears of joy to the lord's eyes.

"Beautiful~."