Interceptor's Wish

by Masterdude21

What started as a young man's search for his abducted mother spirals out of control. Soon, he is fighting a desperate war for survival against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. The enemy is everywhere and allies are far too few. With the entire region at stake, who can prevail when fate itself seems set against you? - Novelization of Pokemon Rejuvenation.

26. Narrow Escape

AN: Casual reminder that this story is rated M for mature and this chapter is one of those reasons. Expect bloodshed and violence at the very least.

~~~~~~~(0)~~~~~~~

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Chapter 7 - A Teila Fire and Ice

Narrow Escape

~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~

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Aquamarine Cave

Mightyena went wild.

Air barely scraped through his lungs and his heart hammered, his limbs shook.

Twisting breaking -

His right hand clutched Blaziken's Ball. He gripped it as if it was the only thing in the world.

Mightyena kicked with broken legs –

He had to get a grip. They needed him. They needed him - !

"Team Xen!" Melia shouted as if he hadn't seen, as if he hadn't noticed -

"Did you think you could escape us forever?" One of the Death Wings sneered.

"Running from duty is a high offensive," the other said to Jenner. "You know that!"

Will managed to get Blaziken out. Transferred her ball to his left hand and stashed it away. Anchored his thoughts firmly in the here and now.

He couldn't. His hands shook like leaves on a tree and the shaking climbed down his arms through his torso and pulled at his knees and he was unsteady, too unsteady and he needed to focus but he couldn't -

A storm of Ember shards filled the cave, but it would be one errand miss, one thoughtless ricochet, one presented opening and he'd lose someone.

The Death Wings took evasive action. They disappeared in the darkness. The metallic fluttering of their wings grinded on Will's spine. If Blaziken hit them, they didn't care.

Their voices sounded like they came from underwater. Steady movement atop the cave constantly interrupted the twin beams of light. There were more of them. Always more.

"Damnit, I thought I had more time," Jenner snapped. "Amber!"

"Wh-What?" Amber stammered.

"Help me fend these two off!"

Together, they sent out their own Pokemon and Pyroar and Klinklang took up a defensive position around Amber and Jenner, flanking Blaziken so that Team Xen wouldn't get the drop on them.

"Melia, you are a high profile target," Jenner sternly said, not taking his eyes off of the underground lake. There, Will spotted movement across its surface. More fluttering shadows. "You must leave at once!"

"Dad no – "

Dad, Will thought wildly. She was calling him dad. Right here, right now, Team Xen was about to execute Jenner and take Amber hostage and the thought of it made him wild. He couldn't get enough air in through his throat even as he fought and heaved -

"You have to leave!" Jenner called.

Another Death Wing swept down from above, impossibly fast and darted past Klinklang. Blaziken was only barely quick enough to shove Jenner aside and the Death Wing instantly backed away before she could take his head off.

His vision swam. His elbow hit Blaziken's waist hard as he slumped against her.

"Will, protect her!" Jenner continued from the ground. "They can't take her. You have to go!"

Protect her.

His voice sounded like it came from so far away.

Klinklang hovered closer to his trainer and Blaziken backpedaled, putting herself in-between Melia and Will. Her clawed hand found Will's shoulder and her nails dug deep into his skin, deep enough to break it and he felt little droplets of blood well up around her claws and the pinpricks of pain anchored him more.

Protect her!

As those words sunk in, his mind went blank and steel cold and the world sharpened. The straw in his throat widened, if only marginally, and he was able to breathe again. Rapid, shallow breaths, but air was air.

It wouldn't last. He felt the panic creeping around the edges of his thoughts. He had to be fast.

"You have to go!" Jenner cried out again and this time, it was Melia who didn't hesitate. "Will, come!" She said and she turned to move.

Will followed her like on autopilot. As the Death Wings continued battering Amber and the Professor, they ran. Melia broke into a flat sprint and together, the two of them ran.

If they could get back to Teila Resort, they could get Tesla and the others, rally a counter offensive and smash the Team Xen then and there. Then…then they could relocate Professor Jenner to a new safe location. And Amber…Amber…

He took point, Melia right behind him and Blaziken to their left. Melia sent out Meganium who swiftly took up the right flank. Together, they ran, and their footsteps echoed through the cavern as they left Amber and Jenner at their rear.

Another pair of detonations thumped in the distance and Will heard the distinct noise of rocks crumbling and shattering.

Those noises were coming closer and closer. The cave trembled as something heavy approached them from the dark hallway up ahead.

"Something's coming this way!" Melia said.

Another violent tremor and a pair of huge, armored vehicles tumbled through the hallway ahead, massive battering attached to their fronts. Their heavy tracks kicked up big clouds of dust as they propelled the heavy vehicles forwards.

One of them threw open their hatch and Madelis of all people poked her head out, throwing her red hair free with one hand as she cried out theatrically.

"Man…what the heck…?" Melia mumbled weakly.

"Ah…that's better!" Madelis said. "Are you impressed with our vehicles?" Madelis said.

"You freaks don't know when to give up!" Melia yelled.

Something akin to a car crash was going on inside of his head and everything felt like it was going on underwater, like things didn't get through to his senses. "Blaziken!" Will called. "Clear a path!"

"You're the freak!" Madelis snarled in return. "You just don't know how to – "

And that was all the Admin could get out before Blaziken bounded forwards and smashed into the lead vehicle– the one that had Madelis's head sticking out like a target begging to be struck – with a devastating kick. The steel frame crumpled underneath her blow and the entire vehicle was sent tumbling down the hall, spinning end over end.

"That's gonna leave a mark," Melia commented. "Maybe a broken bone."

Hopefully her neck, Will thought, but then the Pokemon Team Xen had lined up in the hallway opened fire and there was no more room for thinking. A Heliolisk unleashed a searing Thunderbolt that only narrowly missed Will's face and a large, cuboid, elephantine Pokemon with a green body began charging at them like a speeding train.

Meganium cried out in protest and conjured up a series of flat, thick window panes made from psychic energy that absorbed Heliolisk's next Thunderbolt.

"Not that way!" Melia yelled. "Let's head back!"

Blaziken covered their escape by blanketing the entire hallway in flames, then brought up the rear.

This was a mess, a freaking mess. He should have known Team Xen would find them, should have known that coming here without anyone knowing was a mistake-!

"They have us surrounded!" Melia shouted as she skidded around the corner. "Will and I can't get out the usual way!"

"Damnit, so we're fucking trapped?" Amber snapped.

Not yet. Not yet, there had to be a way, there was always a way!

"There is always a way out, Amber," Jenner then said, his voice impossibly calm. He smiled nervously. "Some things just require a bit more creativity. Klinklang, just like we planned. Gear Grind!"

His Klinklang zipped towards the leftmost wall, its multiple metallic disks and gears whirling around it like a chainsaw. He grinded away the thin layer of stone that had covered it, revealing a small hallway through which they could escape.

"Dad, no way," Melia gasped. "You've been planning this?"

"Sure have," Jenner said with a sad smile. "Now go!"

"Amber," Will snapped. "Come!"

Amber looked at him with that stubborn look in her eyes, the look he'd come to associate with an utter deafness and disregard to anyone's words. "No way. Jenner is going to need my help."

"Amber, what are you doing? Both of you, come!" Will ordered.

"We'll cover your escape!" Jenner yelled, and one of the Death Wings tried to sneak up on him from behind only to be narrowly thwarted by Amber's Pyroar. "Promise me you'll keep her safe!"

"Just – "

"Promise me!" Jenner shouted.

The other Death Wing came out of nowhere. He landed heavily on the ground and his momentum carried him forwards. Within three bounding steps, he was right in Will's face. A large, curved knife flickered in his hands and the Death Wing grinned widely as he thrust it at Will's stomach –

A blur of motion, a flash of red. Blaziken intercepted the Death Wing and struck him with a single punch to the sternum. The impact of her fist broke through his armored chest plate and shattered the rib cage underneath – Will heard the sickening crunch of his ribs shattering, saw the impression of Blaziken's fist dig deep, far too deep into the man's chest.

The Death Wing crumpled and Blaziken's leg snapped out, kicking the broken man away from her trainer.

As Melia stared at the fallen Death Wing in shock, clutching her mouth in abject horror, Will turned to Amber again. "Amber," He insisted. "Amber, don't screw around. These people will kill you! Come the fuck on!"

"This is a war, right? This is about surviving your loss, right?" Amber said, throwing his own words back at him as if that was the fucking end of it. "You heard Jenner. Keep Melia safe and find my mom!"

"Are you insane? Come with us!" Melia urged her.

Amber turned her back. She turned her back to them and squared off against the Death Wings. "Cry about it! Now, my mom must have gone back to her office after we fought! That's…always where she goes after we fight."

Go sweetie, his mom yelled, returning her focus to the enemy -

These moments, faced with impossible decisions, Will felt as if every choice he made was the wrong one. Because this – this was impossible. Both Amber and Melia were in trouble, both Amber and Melia needed him and he wasn't strong enough to help them both. He couldn't be Melia's protector and the friend he'd promised Amber he would be.

He couldn't, he couldn't -

"We have to go," Melia said in a deathly quiet voice. She took his arm and pulled him along. "Will, we have to go!"

"I know," he whispered back. "I promise."

He had to bring Melia to safety. That was the only way he could win against Team Xen – by keeping them from winning. It was a simple fact. But leaving Jenner and Amber to fend for themselves…it made him feel like a coward.

Like a monster.

~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~

---

Her vehicle tumbled down the tunnel like a child's toy and inside, Madelis screamed. Not in pain, not in fear, no. She had her Florges with her and Florges had wrapped the both of them in a protective bubble of energy, cushioning her from a disorienting ordeal that would have certainly ruined her appearance.

No, her scream was one of abject rage and frustration. Even when they had their prey cornered, that detestable William continued showing a truly childish display of defiance. Did he not realize? Had he not gotten the memo or something?

He was doomed. His friends were doomed. They were all going to die unless he surrendered. They would hurt and maim and kill until his stupid group of escapees laid down their arms and surrendered. So why didn't he? Why did he insist on fighting? Surely he must have realized that he would be shown no mercy if he continued to defy the Xen Initiative like that?

Madelis didn't understand. She didn't understand at all.

Florges got her appendages between the ruined hatch of the tunneling vehicle and shoved it open, allowing Madelis to crawl out completely unmolested.

Neved was right there. He calmly strode down the tunnel they had just dug, his hands in his pockets as if everything was going according to his plan. "Status report?" He asked

"We've got 'em cornered," Madelis replied, taking a moment to whip out her pocket mirror and start fixing her pristine appearance. "But just to secure our lead here, let's make things little harder."

Neved saw what she meant. His underling's Zoroark was out and ready for action already. "Time to dim the lights," he said with a cold smirk.

"Zoroark, Night Daze!" His underling ordered.

And the entire cave went dark.

~~~~~~~(III)~~~~~~~

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Leave it to Team Xen to cut the power in a cave without lights, Will bitterly thought as a distant Pokemon move blanketed the cave in a deep, unnatural darkness.

"Will? I can't see a thing," Melia's voice came from somewhere to his left. She sounded tense. "What do we do?"

"Take my hand, don't let go," he whispered to her. Adrenaline and focus and cold, hard steel fought a battle against the red haze in the back of his mind. "Trail the left portion of the wall. That's how people navigate mazes."

Funny that he hadn't thought of that until Melia asked him what they had to do. It seemed like he could only think clearly when his friends were in danger.

Melia's hand clutched his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and held on tightly.

"My dad – Amber – what are they going to do to them?" Melia continued whisper-talking. "What if Team Xen beats them?"

"Don't think of that. Focus on the now," Will told her. "Stay close." He wordlessly recalled Blaziken and sent out Froslass instead, "Find us the way," he told her. "Don't make contact."

Froslass regarded Melia and him with a curious expression, her dark eyes moving back and forth behind her mask, before she faded from view.

Silently, Will and Melia began making their way through the cave. He traced the leftmost wall with the tips of his fingers in silence. The wall suddenly fell away at a ninety-degree angle as they passed by another passageway, and Will had already led Melia several meters inside before a ghostly appendage materialized around his neck and pushed him back.

Will bit back a cry of surprise as the upper half of Froslass' body appeared out of the hazy darkness, her masked face mere centimeters away from his.

From her stern look and cold grip on his throat, he understood that this wasn't the way. He swallowed a lump in his throat and urged Melia to turn around, head into the other passageway.

A few seconds later something exploded perhaps ten meters in front of them and the entire cave shook in its foundations. Will spun around, throwing one arm in front of his face as a wave of acrid air washed up from the tunnel ahead and choked the corridor with dust and smoke.

"What was that?" Melia whispered.

"One way to find out," he responded. They crept forwards, their Poke Balls at the ready; they hurried around a corner – and skidded to a halt.

The explosion they'd just heard had collapsed the tunnel in front of them. The passage was a dead end.

~~~~~~~(IV)~~~~~~~

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All of a sudden, a thick curtain of blackness descended upon Aquamarine Cave. Amber heard more than she saw Jenner fidget nervously. He stumbled back against his chair and cursed under his breath.

"Why did it get so dark?" Amber snapped.

"I don't know," the Professor replied quietly. "I think Will and Melia may have run into some trouble."

Trouble.

Amber wasn't stupid. She knew what that word really meant, knew the tone people took whenever they wanted others not to worry about something that everybody ought to really fucking worry about.

Will had said that Team Xen were murderers. She believed him. He'd also said that they would stop at nothing to get Melia, which would include killing everybody in this cave. She believed that, too.

Trouble didn't mean trouble. It meant someone fighting against over-fucking-whelming odds for their life in a pitch dark cave they didn't even need to be in.

Will had told her that he wanted to be her friend. After all the shit he pulled, he offered to make her his friend…and now she was going to get him killed.

White-hot anger took a hold of Amber and she decided that no, that wouldn't be happening, not on her watch. Fuck Team Xen. She wouldn't let them get away with this shit! "Hey, Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Do you love your daughter?"

Jenner's reply came without a hesitation, without a second thought. "More than anything in the world."

And that was just it, wasn't it? That was how a father should think. That was what a father should do. A daughter losing their father was a fucking tragedy, but that shitty ship had sailed already. A father losing their daughter? That was some bullshit she wouldn't stand for.

So what if she'd fucked things up before? Now was her chance to put things right. "Good. That's good. I wish I had a father like you." She took a breath. No going back now. Holy fuck, this shit was scary. Her body trembled and she felt like she was going to puke. Nobody had told her how terrifying this would be. Why hadn't Will told her? "By chance, have you ever worked with music before?"

"I was actually in a death metal band when I was younger," Jenner replied tersely.

"Oh yeah? Didn't expect that. How do you feel about a comeback?"

"What?"

Fixing the lights wasn't an issue; Amber wasn't a big tech-nerd, but she'd fixed her own shit plenty of times before. Jenner was a tech-nerd, which helped speed things up even more. Within half a minute, the Professor had rigged up the lights and activated some sort of backup generator to power her equipment as well. She was pretty sure that meant the lights would go on in the rest of the cave mow, too.

"Let's rock," she snarled, and plugged her guitar into the system.

And the cave fucking exploded as her awesome guitar riffs bounced off of every wall, nook and cranny. As she expected, the fucking flying bitches came hurrying back, as if thinking that Will and Melia were dumb enough to circle back and then start making a ton of noise.

She had a newsflash for the fucks; this was a goddamn war and they had just lost their battle. "Welcome to the show, dumbfucks!" She yelled into her microphone. "Come in! Don't be shy! Today's performance is by me and my fucking awesome vocalist…Professor Jenner!"

"Thanks for the introduction," Jenner meekly said. He placed himself behind Amber's backup microphone and cleared his throat.

Good. Now they just to make sure that Will and Melia would survive this loss. "We have a special message for our audience tonight. And that message is. Fuck 'em all! Say it with me Jenner! Fuck 'em!"

"F…Fuck them…" Jenner stammered. Either the guy realized that they were probably about to die horribly, or he hadn't ever said those words before. And holy fuck Amber actually found herself hoping it was the freaking latter.

"Yeah!" She shouted, pouring her fear and her frustration into her work as she continued rocking out. "FUCK 'EM!"

"Y-YEAH!" Jenner joined her, having finally found his spine. "F-FUCK 'EM! FUCK 'EM ALL!"

"And I mean FUCK THEM ALL! FUCK YOU!"

"AND YOU!"

"AAAAND YOU! AND FUCK YOU TOO, THERE IN THE BACK!"

"FUCK AAALL OF YOU!"

Amber felt the exact moment where all the goddamn anger and frustration and sheer fucking adrenaline of the crazy shit Jenner and her were pulling tipped over and smothered the terror in its fucking crib. "YOU THINK YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING US BOTH DOWN?" She roared at the top of her lungs. "THEN JUST FUCKING TRY TO! LET'S TURN ON THE LIGHTS!"

And holy shit Jenner nailed his cue like a goddamn veteran rockstar and the emergency lights flooded the fucking place like the world's most awesome flashlight.

Over the sheer noise of her subwoofers and her speakers and her screaming guitar, Amber heard and felt the familiar noises of explosions thumping from waaay back in the cave and she knew, she just knew that her guy was delivering the worst day ever to some of those unfortunate winged fucks as well.

A war, huh?

Well, fuck 'em all.

~~~~~~~(V)~~~~~~~

---

A series of floodlights illuminated the passages like someone had activated their back-up sun. In the back, it sounded like someone was trying her very best to put the phrase "come at me" into a metal concert.

"Amber's creating a diversion for us," Melia said, staring back at the way they came from like she couldn't believe her own eyes. "Let's not waste this chance! We gotta get back to the resort and get Tesla!"

As small as the window of opportunity was, Amber had bought them the precious seconds they needed. The roving Death Wings had scattered, probably assuming that the two of them had double-backed to try and rescue Amber and Jenner.

They weren't wrong; the second Melia and him had put together their reinforcements, they were going to rip the entire goddamn cave to pieces to get them back. Will wasn't about to leave anyone behind for Team Xen to tear apart, and that went double for his friends.

Together, the two of them started running. They bounded around the corner, weaved past a rock outcropping and then Melia had her Meganium knock out one of the Xen grunts who had stupidly turned his back to the crevice.

His body slumped to the ground and Will and Melia darted across the intersection. The entrance to the cave was right there, just a few more meters and then they'd be clear –

A purple sphere of flames arced through the corridor from the left and impacted on the wall a meter to Will's left, detonating in a purple flash. Molten fragments of stone sizzled through the air and both Melia as him spun to face the new threat on their flank.

It was goddamn Madelis again.

"Not so fast!" The woman laughed as she came strolling down the corridor, flanked by one of her flunkies and her Houndoom. "Hah, you thought you two could give us the slip, huh?! Well I'll have you know that I'm far too smart to be tricked by such juvenile tactics!"

They had Nidoking and Hapi out in a flash.

"Smarter than a Magikap, sure," Melia shot back. "But that's not saying much, is it?"

"Oh, you brat!" Madelis hissed. "Time to put you in your place!" With that, she and her grunt both sent their Pokemon into battle. A strange-looking Leavanny with sharp, curved leaves that were more than brown than green and of course, her Cinccino.

They didn't have time for this! "Blaziken, use Bulk Up!"

"Serenity! Set up Reflect and Light Screen, give us cover!" Melia ordered.

A red aura surrounded Blaziken's body as she focused, tightening her muscles and temporarily increasing their density and power. Madelis' Leavanny threw itself against Meganium, but its Reflect wall held. Cinccino gathered power to itself and began blasting white-glowing gems or rocks at Will as if it had been taking lessons from Adam, but that was what the Light Screen was for.

"You idiot, send out your Pokemon now! They're not getting away!" Madelis snapped.

Leavanny swept at the Reflect wall with savage intent, its glowing claws slicing off flakes of the psychic energy with every blow. Behind her, her flunkie did not hesitate to send out his own Cradily and Heliolisk.

In a cramped tunnel without any maneuvering space.

Will wasn't about to stop his enemy from making a mistake "Blaziken, let's turn up the heat! Blaze Kick!"

Without any room to maneuver in that passageway, Madelis couldn't order her Cinccino to attack Blaziken without risking a stray hit impacting Leavanny as well. As the two engaged each other in a savage close quarters battle, Madelis couldn't do much more than shout orders at her Leavanny and snarl at her grunt to fight harder.

Leavanny tried to land several Dragon Claws in quick succession, but Blaziken dodged and weaved past the first few attacks, which seemed to really piss the Leavanny off as it then proceeded to swipe at Blaziken with a double-handed blow.

Blaziken sidestepped the savage swipe and struck a hammer-blow at the back of Leavanny's neck, punching it to the ground. Cinccino saw its opening and began blasting more high-velocity projectiles at Blaziken, but she intercepted them with a powerful blast of fire that swept through the passage and forced the hostile Cradily to put up its own screen of protection to shield its trainers.

Leavanny slammed a clawed fist against the ground in frustration, whipped around and then tried to strike a Leaf Blade at Blaziken's exposed back.

"Behind you!" Will shouted and Blaziken didn't bother fully turning around. Instead, she shifted her weight to one leg and drove Leavanny back with a Blaze Kick. Heliolisk began firing off white orbs of exploding energy, but Melia's Meganium countered him with a quick Razor Leaf.

Flames washing across its body, Leavanny was unable to keep its guard up. Blaziken struck a quick Fire Punch to its throat, grasped its head between her claws and slammed it down against her knee, hard.

Meganium landed a Leech Seed on Cinccino, binding it in energy-sapping roots and pinning it in place. Will called for Blaziken to ignore it and instead focus on the Heliolisk,

No room to maneuver, no natural cover to take. Blaziken filled the passageway with more flames and both Madelis as her grunt were forced to take cover behind Cradily's protective screen. Slowly, Melia had Meganium bring up the rear.

But then…then the music stopped, and a pit of ice dropped into Will's stomach. Neved's voice then reverberated through the corridors.

"We got them."

Melia gasped, while Madelis grinned with such a smug, vile satisfaction that Will saw red. "Wonderful!" Madelis replied. "Unfortunately, the other two have bested me. But don't worry! They won't be gone for long." Then, she turned her grin towards Melia and her expression turned to something else, something more subtle, but far worse. "After all…they have nowhere left to run."

Melia quivered. "W-We need to go, Will…" she stammered.

"Blaziken, we're falling back," Will ordered. "Watch our six!"

Once more, Blaziken sent a cascade of flames rolling through the hallway, before all of them turned and escaped.

"We have to get to Tesla before they can escape!" Melia yelled frantically as they sprinted across the beach. Rain poured down from above and it had turned the soft sand into a soggy, swampy mess. "Amber and dad gave themselves up for us…we need to do everything we can to help them now!"

They were running out of time. Flying on the back of Pidgeot and Hapi allowed them to get back to the resort in less than two minutes, but how much time did Team Xen really need to get Jenner and Amber out of there anyway? Did they come by boat? Helicopter? Will didn't spot or hear any helicopters, but what if Team Xen had come in on flying Pokemon as well? What if they had stealth vehicles? They apparently had the knowledge, skill and materials to put together freaking drills on armored tracks for a simple raid.

Two minutes might be all they needed to cut Jenner's throat open and abduct Amber back to Mount Valor.

He had abandoned Amber to save Melia, and that thought alone flipped his stomach with guilt. He'd promised that he would set things right, vowed to help the Von Brandt family pick up the pieces…and then he'd gone and abandoned Amber.

She had nobody left, and now she was alone with the psychopaths from Team Xen and she didn't even have her mother to protect her and -

Oh god. And Tesla…Amber was all that she had left of her family.

The guilt and the desperation wormed their way into every cell of his body. It was all he could do not to lose his concentration and fall off Pidgeot's back.

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Why had he been so stupid to go exploring with Amber while the island was crawling with Xen's thugs?

Panic exploded into the center of his skull even as he and Melia dismounted and barged into the resort, screaming and yelling for help…

If he'd just gotten Amber or Jenner killed –

What would Crescent do? He thought, his mind whirling and spinning as he grasped at every possible angle. He had to think, think think – he couldn't fall apart now, he couldn't lose himself now, but he was losing it, losing control over everything and he didn't have the psychic powers and ice-cold blood and steel nerves Crescent had.

"Tesla's not here," Melia exclaimed in dismay. "She's not…her house! She's gotta be in her house!"

Keta had told him that there was always a way. Keta had known something he hadn't. What would he have done? How would he have approached this?

Melia nearly stumbled over one of the couches as she ran back into the atrium. She had her hands in her hair as she spun around in desperation, eyes wide and frantic as she searched for anyone who could help them.

But there was nobody, there was nobody in the atrium that was usually so busy and it should have meant something, it did mean something but Will didn't know, he was losing it and he couldn't get a grasp on his thoughts –

"Will, can I ask you something?" Melia asked, her voice coming from far away.

Keta had fought. When all seemed lost, and he knew they were all about to die, he had fought.

Breathe. Calm down.

"Genuine answer, please," Melia urged him.

You have to breathe.

Keta had fought to the bitter end and he had saved thousands of lives.

Keta's resolve. Keta's strength.

Unbreakable, even after his death.

"Do…do you really think we're able to handle all of this?" She all but whispered.

Will looked at her. She looked pale and disheveled. Her eyes were large and scared and filled to the brim with doubt and pain. Her body had a frayed edge to it that suggested that she, too, was about to lose it.

He looked at Melia and something fell into place.

"We have to, so we can," he told her, and his voice sounded much steadier than he himself felt.

Whatever Melia had been expecting wasn't that. Her eyes went wide, then the corners of her mouth twitched into something that wanted to be a smile. "…Good answer. I guess it's not about whether we can or not. But more that we have no choice in the matter…so we must. But…don't you think it's weird that everyone's gone?"

Weird.

Weird.

Will spun around in alarm and he snatched Nidoking's Poke Ball from his pocket. It wasn't weird at all - ! "Melia, cover!"

The door exploded in a cloud of dust, fire and smoke and a flash of green light burst from the smoke. Hapi barely had the time to get himself between Melia and the discharge of energy before it could hit her, and the impact of the blow sent the two of them flying.

The next second, a red, humanoid figure with large, razor-sharp claws instead of hands darted towards Will. Those horrible claws slashed at his throat but Nidoking flung himself at the Pokemon at the last second and the two of them crashed to the ground.

Cold fear washed over him like a wave, clashing oddly with the fury burning in his gut. He shoved the fear down hard, but let the cold stay, let the fury stay.

"Neved!" Melia yelled.

Dazed, Will looked up to see Neved and a pair of Xen grunts walking through the ruined frame of the door. Neved levelled a bemused glare at Melia. "We meet again, little Emma."

Neved, his mind noted sharply. The man who will sacrifice hundreds for one.

"You're still not over that, I see," Melia replied, her voice heavy with warning.

Neved, the man in control over Akuwa Town and Blacksteeple alike.

"Again, I am known to hold grudges," Neved conceded. A sly smirk. "Can't help it."

Grudges.

Grudges.

The rage Will had kept bottled up in the back of his mind began spilling out.

Neved, the filth who had tortured Aelita for fun.

"The ultimatum isn't up yet!" Melia said. "You should be staying in your place on Valor Mountain!"

"Unique circumstances call for unique responses," Neved replied evenly. "Professor Jenner escaping gave me full authorization to act despite the ultimatum. And I intend on ending all of this right now."

"Will and I won't give up," Melia said, though her voice had a quiver to it that robbed her of her confidence."

"We are well aware," Neved said. "And we have taken that into account."

Behind them, deeper into the resort, another pair of Death Wings swept down from the upper floor. A Manectric and a Nidoking of their own followed in their wake.

Good, Will thought with grim satisfaction. Now they could attack in every direction.

"You have a lot of friends…" Melia meekly said. Putting herself at Will's back to face this new threat.

"I have no one but myself and the tools to make things happen," Neved said. "No more running. No more hiding. Face your responsibility. No one has to die. Just give in."

"Give in?" Melia shouted. "No one has to die? You are actively contributing to that outcome! There's no high ground for you to stand on!"

"There is no other choice here. You are powerless to stop us," Neved insisted, and he had a weird look in his eyes that Will hadn't seen before. "Your friends are powerless. This entire region is powerless. Even William is powerless." He worked his jaw, then averted his gaze. "The truth is…even in the event where every Xen Executive were to turn…Madame X's rampage could not be stopped."

Will saw, vividly, Keta burning his own life to put even a temporary halt to Mewtwo's powers. He saw Mewtwo's aura alone steadily eat away at the man's skin and his body, and yet Keta had fought.

Neved's words would have made sense had they come from anyone else. Not him. Not the likes of him. Never.

"How could you expect us to just give up and throw our lives away?" Melia urged him.

Will let Neved talk. He saw the man for what he was, and he let Neved's words build towards something inevitable. Something that Melia too had to realize.

"It is better for you two to fall," Neved said, and he almost sounded sympathetic to their plight. "Don't drag everyone down with you."

Melia looked anguished. "You're right…it's all true…what I initially thought…this can all be avoided. If people die because of selfishness…I don't know if living is worth it to me. But! You ask the impossible of someone! The ultimate sacrifice…how can anyone be ready to make such a decision?"

Neved saw weakness and he pushed her. "An outcome where the people you love are alive and well. That is where your strength must lie."

Neved hacked away at Melia's resolve and he didn't have the words to counteract that, yet. Almost. He almost had what he needed. Just a few moments more. His resolve meant nothing if Melia's crumbled. The moment wasn't there, yet.

"…so, what then?" Melia asked. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Come with me," Neved said, and he extended his right arm to Melia as if he offered her a choice. As if he allowed her to make this sacrifice. "We can put a stop to this and the island will be saved. This violence ends with you!"

"Selfishness?" Will said, and his thoughts crashed to a halt and the world turned bright and clear and solid. "Neved what the fuck!"

It was so sudden, so unlike the young man they knew, that it seemed his words had rendered them temporarily speechless. The only two people who mattered in this room turned their gazes towards him.

Will thought of Keta and Narcissa and Mightyena and his mother and Nim and Amber and –

And the pain and disbelief he felt melted to grief and hate and back to outrage again. All the suffering that had been inflicted on this world had come from Team Xen, from them them them and it had a face. It wasn't Melia's.

"You can't stop a wrong, so others have to sacrifice themselves? For you, when you're brave enough to torture an innocent girl and gleefully murder hundreds of innocent people but too much of a coward to do the right thing? So you demand a bunch of teenagers to die for you, for you, because you are too much of a weakling to do so yourself!" He was dimly aware that he was shouting. His breathing was heavy and stuttered as Neved stared at him with something like disbelief.

And rage.

"How dare you - !" Neved snarled, but Will didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Something had blown a fuse in his skull and he had to get it out, out out!

"You don't know a thing about sacrifices, because you're nothing like Keta! Don't you fucking dare ask Melia to die for you, when you're too much of a coward to sacrifice any part of you!"

His words lit a fire in Neved's mind as well, as he bellowed, "Do not talk to me about Keta!" And the next second he had his Pokemon out and everybody attacked. Blasts of energy cut through the air, lightning crackled and stray misses turned several of the tiles around them into craters of blackened soot.

Barbaracle flexed its multiple limbs and charged into the fray. Behind it, Neved's Vikavolt charged up a devastating Thunderbolt. A furious-looking Kingler slammed its oversized pincer against the floor and began charging towards him.

"Move in, break their ranks!" Will ordered Nidoking and Houndoom. "Push them back!"

Pandemonium. Chaos. Melia took up the rear as she faced down the two Death Wings on their six and the grunts flanking Neved didn't mind getting in close. That fucking Scissor came back, blitzing across the battlefield as it lunged for Will's neck again. Houndoom was forced to break off his attack in Vikavolt to fend it off. Scissor got dangerously close to Will before the flames struck and forced it back.

Nidoking struck Kingler from the side with a massive Earth Power that tore the floor apart and dropped Kingler straight into the ocean.

No longer suppressed, Vikavolt was able to get off a Thunderbolt and Nidoking, in turn, had to stop attacking Barbaracle to jump in front of that one. Another explosion buffeted the air and Will flung himself to the floor to avoid the sudden whiplike strike of a Vilepulme.

Houndoom whipped around and spat a thick stream of fire at the offending Grass-type and it wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough. Nidoking, thoroughly unimpressed by the dosage of electricity he'd just taken, slammed into Barbaracle in full-body tackle and the two of them slammed through the wall and onto the beach outside the resort.

Will moved fast, sticking low to the ground as he hurried towards Houndoom and put his hand on the Fire-type's flank. They advanced, and Neved began backing away.

The crossfire was violent and brief. Barbaracle came crashing through the wall again, followed closely by Nidoking as he swung wildly at his foe with acid-leaking claws and an almost manic frenzy. Houndoom took that moment to allow Scissor to nearly get the drop on Will again before suddenly whirling around and catching its left arm in a vice grip between his teeth, flames leaking from his canines as he pulled the Scissor off-balance.

Scissor tried to get its free claw around Houndoom's neck, but Houndoom instantly released its other arm and doused him with an intense cloud of foul-smelling, purple flames.

Through the haze and the smoke. Through the gaping hole and onto the beach. Houndoom at his back, fire and darkness at his beck and call.

Neved called Barbaracle to him, then sent out Crabominable. Offense and defense. Will met him in kind, force against force. Nidoking erupted a jagged edge of spikes across the beach that detonated underneath Crabominablei in the blink of an eye. That left Blaziken with the opportunity to try and break through Barbaracle's defense.

The four-armed Pokemon rushed Blaziken down fiercely. With his multiple arms he went in for several hard-hitting Razor Shells in the blink of an eye, and Blaziken backpedaled as she brought her arms up to block and deflect several of his attacks, jerking back and to the side like a boxer to avoid the rest. She whipped her elbow out up high, swiping one of Barbaracle's arms up and creating a tiny window of opportunity to land an open-palm strike at her foe's head.

Barbaracle staggered backwards and his arms came up high to protect his face. Blaziken took that opportunity to spin on her heel and deliver a punishing kick against its unprotected abdomen. Her kick sent Barbaracle flying across the beach and he crashed into the side of one of the shops.

Nidoking stayed just out of range of Crabominable's fists, opting to go for a ranged offensive his massive enemy couldn't quite match. One Sludge Bomb after another detonated around the huge Ice-type. Jagged rocks and boiling pools of acid and poison surrounded Crabominable on all sides and it couldn't take a step without hurting itself. That didn't stop it though as Neved bellowed at it to attack.

Barbaracle tore half the house down with his four arms. He hefted a massive slab of wood and stone and flung it at Blaziken with all his strength.

Will shouted his commands and Blaziken stood her ground. She tightened one claw into a fist and gathered fire. As the debris came barreling at her she drew her fist back and slammed it into the giant pile of rubble, which exploded like a piece of firework and scattered pieces of wood in every direction.

From behind Neved's Vikavolt struck Nidoking in the back with blast of energy and Nidoking whirled around, lobbing a massive glob of poisonous gunk at the Bug-type

That lapse of concentration was enough for Crabominable to propel himself forwards with sudden and frightening speed. It came down on Nidoking with a double-fisted Ice Punch which Nidoking was only barely able to dodge. The chilling shockwaves of the impact sent him reeling and Crabominable followed up with a vicious Crabhammer.

Nidoking swept a wave of poisonous sludge at his foe, but Crabominable protected his face behind his two massive fists and then a punishing jab at Nidoking's chest, before landing a wicked uppercut that sent Nidoking sprawling to the ground. One glovelike hand seized Nidoking's tail before he could even hit the ground –

- Nidoking opened his maw and blasted the Crabominable at point-blank range with poisonous gunk. Furious, Crabominable swung Nidoking away and began thrashing around, clawing at its face as the poison began doing its work.

Barbaracle and Blaziken clashed in a head-on strike. Barbaracle managed to get a Razor Shell in on Blaziken, but she tanked through the pain and shock and uppercutted her foe several meters into the air. As it came back down she leapt for it, grasping Barbaracle by the head and pelvis and pinning it against her shoulders. She slammed into the ground again and smashed Neved's Pokemon spine-first against her shoulders, causing its outer shell to shatter.

Almost contemptuously, she flung Barbaracle off her shoulders and kicked it in the face, before turning her attention to the Crabominable.

Will withdrew Nidoking and sent out Froslass, Neved withdrew Barbaracle and sent out Palossand and the vicious match continued. The Ghost-types laid waste to the beach with chilling blizzards that swept across the battlefield with incredible speed.

But Melia and Houndoom kept Neved's other troops and Pokemon contained in Tesla's resort. Every time Froslass zipped across the battlefield to launch another Shadow Ball at her foe, she did so from an angle that the Palossand couldn't anticipate. Every time their Pokemon clashed, they did so a little bit closer to Neved. Taking out a poison-addled, weakened Crabominable was no problem for the battle-hardened Blaziken.

Palossand was a defensive powerhouse that could take and dish out incredible physical damage. But it was still a Ghost-type fighting atop a beach that had been devastated by burning spikes of earth and venomous gunk.

"Can't you see what you are doing isn't in the best interest of anyone?!" Neved exclaimed, and Will took note of the sudden and raw emotion in the man's voice.

Will withdrew Blaziken and sent Pidgeot out. Neved's last Pokemon, a ghostly Dhelmise abusing the safety of the ocean to spray the combatants on the land with Water-type attacks, was a threat she couldn't handle on her own.

"If you continue on this path, Terajuma will fall to ruin! That much is certain!"

Dhelmise had to surface every time it unleashed its Anchor Shot at Froslass. Pidgeot was used to hunting Magikarp from a kilometer away. He nailed Dhelmise just as the Grass-type surfaced again and the impact sent the Dhelmise flying into the sky –

Whereupon Froslass froze it solid with a devastating Blizzard.

Think, William! How many pointless deaths of the innocent will occur if that comes to pass?"

Will thought. He about the mother whose little girl they had abducted. He thought about the agony on Melia's face as they forced her to reconcile her own death with the fate of her loved ones. The thinking made his mind go calm and steel-cold.

He recalled Pidgeot. Kept Froslass on watch. Sent out Blaziken again.

"What are you made of? Why can you never just lose!"

Neved had enough time to see it coming. He did not have enough time to react. With four large, bounding steps, Blaziken closed the distance. Her leg struck Neved's left and the entire joint exploded outwards. It happened so fast that it left Neved standing on one good leg and one leg that now bent the opposite way. A split-second later the agony must have hit him and it brought with it something to the surface that Will never thought he would have seen in his eyes – fear.

And…it felt good. Real good.

Neved stifled a scream, snarling as he clutched his ruined leg, fighting to keep his balance.

"The right one," Will said, and his voice felt disconnected, like it wasn't him who spoke those words.

Blaziken took a hold of Neved's right arm and struck a quick, vicious blow, snapping his humerus in half so thoroughly that Will felt the bone break more than he heard it. Before Neved could even register what she had done to him, Blaziken placed her left hand on his shoulder and tore.

It was the sound of tearing flesh. Of snapping ligaments. Of muscles ripping free and skin parting and blood pouring freely to the ground and fabric ripping. It was the sound of Madame X plunging her sword into his mother's back and out her chest and it was the sound of Death Wings beating Mightyena to death.

Blaziken ripped Neved's right arm off right below his shoulder and Neved roared. His remaining hand clutched the bleeding stump and his single good knee buckled. He sank through his legs and fell backwards onto the sand, writhing in silent agony.

Will had to give it to him; Neved had one hell of a pain tolerance. He gasped and huffed and groaned, but he didn't scream again. He grew pale and his body quivered and trembled as the waves of agony battered at him, but he remained silent.

Will had expected more blood. It wasn't like that. Every few seconds some spurts of blood escaped past Neved's fingers as he dug them deeply into the bleeding, torn stump. His detached limb lay a few meters away, slowly saturating the sand with crimson. It was hard to make out if the frayed edges were little tuffs of fabric or scraps of meat.

Blaziken snarled at the fallen man, but she did not maim him further. She circled him, as if expecting him to get back up, as if expecting treachery.

There would be treachery. Team Xen had Amber and Jenner. They would exploit that mercilessly. They would hurt and maim and kill until they got what they wanted. If they couldn't physically torture Melia, they would do so mentally, push her on and on until her mind snapped and she broke.

Unless he ended things right here.

Neved's bleeding, pale face was twisted into a look of pure rage as he groaned and puffed and fumbled at the ruined, bleeding stump that had once been his arm. He'd said it himself, hadn't he? They wouldn't stop, They would never ever stop until they got what they wanted.

It would be easy.

Neved's good leg dug deep grooves in the sand as he writhed.

So fucking easy.

No more hostages to hide behind. No more Admins to interrupt their fight. No Madame X to bail him out. If his grunts could get out of their fight with Melia unscathed…well, they were welcome to try and interfere.

Will knelt down next to Neved. The man's deep, dark eyes flashed towards Will, filled with quiet hate and defiance. He felt like they had been in this position too many times. This would be the last time.

You can't let him hurt you. You can't!

Melia's urgent words laid heavily in his thoughts.

Will froze.

And remembered he had made a promise.

His hands tightened into fists and he stared down at the fallen Xen Admin,

He'd made a promise to Melia not to do this.

Even if Neved deserved this, and much more. Everything he had done…all the people he would callously murder just to fulfill his own selfish wish. The world would be better without this filth in it. Aevium would be a better place with Neved's head scattered in a large cloud of bone shards, blood and brain matter.

Slowly, Will reached into the satchel Crawli had once given him.

But he couldn't do that. He was an idiot and he cherished Melia more than he hated Team Xen.

His hand found the tool he was looking for and he pulled it from his satchel. Neved's eyes widened when he saw what Will was about to do, then narrowed in cold fury.

"What…what are you doing?" He snarled as Will began tying the tourniquet a few centimeters above his bleeding stump. Neved raged and began thrashing around, pulling himself upright as if to lash out at him. Spurts of warm blood splashed across Will's face as Neved's bleeding intensified, but the Xen Executive lacked the strength to do much more than thrash around. He went paler still, and then clutched his ruined, shattered knee with a pained gasp.

Will tightened the band. Pulled it through the plastic clip. Tightened it some more.

"You...would be wise to take my head now," Neved said in-between pained gasps. "This changes…nothing. We cannot stop. My life…does not matter. There will…be…no prisoner exchange for me."

"I know that," Will quietly replied. "But Amber and Tesla were completely innocent. They aren't a part of this."

"We will do everything it takes," Neved snapped with renewed energy. "We will come…after everything you hold dear…until you deliver us…the girl. So kill me now. Or this…will keep happening."

There it was again. Neved claimed to do everything for his daughter and then turned around and tried his damnedest to ruin other daughters. Melia, Aelita, Amber…how could a man claim to be a father while actively trying to murder someone else's daughters?

Will took a deep breath. He exhaled it, quietly, slowly, then inhaled through his nose again. "It's because of her grace," he whispered. "Her mercy. You live because of her."

Neved's features became set in an emotionless mask, showing only his pain and dwindling energy. "Melia," he spat.

Will locked eyes with Neved. He wasn't sure what his own face did at that moment. Maybe it was a stony mask like the Xen Admin wore. Maybe it was rage. Sorrow. He didn't know. Didn't care. "But you crossed a line, today. If you appear around Tesla or Amber again, I will hold your head underwater until you stop moving. And I will feel nothing. Do you understand me?"

The telltale sound of boat engines betrayed the looming presence of more Xen boats.

"…I do," Neved said, sounding uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps that was because of the blood he'd lost.

Will tore his gaze from the ruined wreck and got to his feet. A trio of Xen grunts came sprinting from the Teila Resort. They came to a sudden, grinding halt when they saw what awaited them on the beach.

Moments later, that speedboat he heard before came to shore and a trio of grunts leapt out and immediately began fanning out over the beach.

Blaziken saw them, too. She crossed her arms over her feathery chest and glared at them. Readying himself for another fight for his life, Will snatched Houndoom's Poke Ball from his pocket.

A torrent of flames washed across the beach in-between this new threat and Will. An immense heat washed over him and a shadow passed over him. It was Talonflame and Tesla.

"Enough!" Tesla yelled. Talonflame passed overhead again and his next blast of flames passed by the speedboat so narrowly that even someone as dimwitted as Madelis couldn't have missed the warning. It was so effortless, so graceful. The Xen grunts just froze in their tracks and began staring at Tesla with equal mixtures of dread and uncertainty. "Stay away from him!"

Talonflame descended towards the beach and Tesla's expression was thunderous, her crimson hair billowing wildly in the wind as she cast a furious gaze at the trio. "How dare you barge into our home and demand our surrender!" She yelled with all the authority of a king about to order an execution, all the outrage of a mother whose child they had hurt.

It nearly floored Will, filled him with equal parts reverence and guilt because –

I couldn't protect her.

"I am giving you the opportunity to leave now," she ordered Xen's people. "Scrape your boss off the floor and never return, or else I will make sure you won't be able to return anywhere else. Permanently!"

Will backed away from Neved. He trusted Blaziken to guard his back as he turned back towards the resort. "Melia," he yelled. "Tesla, Melia is still – "

But then Melia was there, she clambered through the big gaping hole that the bastards had left in the resort and she was okay, she was fine –

Relief crashed into him like a wave and Will lowered his hand again. He noticed it was shaking.

With the threat of Talonflame and Blaziken looming over them, the grunts didn't dare try anything. Tesla had her arms crossed over her chest and she glared at the bastards who had violated her resort right until the moment she saw what had actually happened to Neved. Then, her features eased from rage and fury into shock.

"Tesla!" Melia shouted as she ran across the beach, Hapi closely behind her. "Thank god you're here! Will is – he is - !" Her words died somewhere in her throat when she saw him standing there. "Is that blood?"

Will brought a trembling finger to his cheek. It came away red. "It's not mine," he said. His hands continued to shake no matter how much he told them to stop that.

Nodding, Melia cast her gaze across the beach, taking notice of the grunts evacuating Neved to their boat…and the things left in their wake. She went pale. "Is that someone's arm?"

"It's not mine either," Will said, and the urge to start either laughing or crying was tinged by something like hysteria. Staving it off was almost more than he could muster.

He still couldn't stop shaking.

Tesla swept them up in her arms, pulled the both of them against her and then guided them away, away from the beach and the blood and back towards her resort. "Children, come, it's over now," she told them soothingly. "We should head back inside."

"Amber," Will croaked. "T-They have Amber. And Jenner."

Tesla looked at him sharply. "Amber? How did they – what happened?"

"We were visiting dad in the cave when Team Xen attacked us," Melia said unhappily. "They…we…Amber and dad fought them to keep them off us and we fought our way to the exit. We tried to find you here, Tesla, but you weren't here and…" Melia took a deep breath to steady herself. "Now, Team Xen has both of them."

"They have Amber!" Tesla gasped.

Will couldn't look at her.

"We did all we could, we really did," Melia explained. "It wasn't enough…"

Tesla brought a hand to her mouth and turned away for a moment. "And they took her to Valor Mountain…I shouldn't have involved Amber with Jenner." She turned back to them, and the shock and fear were gone now. "Even if he turned a new leaf, his existence was a danger to those around him. This isn't your fault. It's mine."

"Tesla!" Melia protested.

"No. As a high-ranking member of the Elite 8, and as her mother…I have to set things right immediately."

"Y-You're going to Valor Mountain?!" Melia exclaimed. "But…the ultimatum – "

"As Neved just displayed, the ultimatum means nothing when it proves to be inconvenient for them. I cannot just sit here and do nothing when I have the power to make a change."

Will noted dimly that he hadn't even heard of the other Elite 8 members. So where were they? Their region was under attack, it had been an entire week since a terrorist organization threatened to wipe an entire island chain off the face of the map and nobody had come to fight them off. Where was everybody?

"We can go with you," he said, but his voice had a quaver in it that he didn't like. "Find Amber together. They can't have gone far."

Tesla regarded him with that same look of warmth and love and didn't she know that this was their fault? That Amber was now in danger because they had failed? "Will, honey, surely it has occurred to you that this is exactly what they want? If you go and help now, you might jeopardize everything you fought for."

"But – " Melia protested.

"Don't argue," Tesla said. "You two went through something harrowing already and you look horrible. Please, get some rest. Find your friends. This is out of your hands right now."

Will closed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to fly to Mount Valor and rip the entire thing apart. But the ugly truth of the matter was that he had no plan of attack, no idea how to navigate the mountain and no clue how to defeat Team Xen there. Not to mention that blockade…and the fact that he was still losing it. It was a gradual, creeping thing but the adrenaline was ebbing away and with it, the last vestiges of his self-control.

"We'll alert the others and tell them what happened," Melia said. "As soon as we have the Ocean Relic, we can start our own assault on the mountain! We've come up with a plan, Will has been sitting on it for a while now."

Tesla smiled. It looked tense and brittle. "I've got some things to plan out. You should go find the others now."

So they did. Melia took over, leading the two of them out through the ruined entrance and back towards the beach.

The blood-soaked beach.

And sure enough…"Will…I want to thank you," Melia started. "What Neved said…it made so much sense to me, back then. I…I was actually considering it."

"I-I know."

Melia bit her lip for a moment, concerned, gray eyes running over his face. "Sometimes they make too much sense…and they seem so human…a-and when everything has already gone so wrong, it feels like we've hit rock bottom…and I don't see any other way out."

"Melia…"

"But then you're there, and you sweep through all of it like a hurricane, and then…" Melia fixed him with a warm gaze. "Then there is a way out again."

"There's always a way," Will said. "We just gotta find it."

Melia made to get closer to him, to say something else, but before she could do more than raise one arm to him Hapi gave a cry of warning and the two of them snapped back to attention.

Someone was staggering their way, barely supported by Aelita and Venam.

It was Crawli, and he looked like hell; his skin was pale and clammy, his clothes were soaked and he had dozens of tiny cuts and what looked like little burn marks covering his body.

"Will, Melia!" Aelita cried out.

"Yo, this is serious, we need help!" Venam joined in.

"Crawli?" Melia gasped, before rushing towards her friend. "Crawli what happened!"

Crawli was barely responsive; his gaze was empty and vacant and his body trembled all over. It was only when they moved him over to Tesla's villa – empty, vacant, quiet – and got him onto the couch in a side-room that he started to become a bit coherent.

Aelita had already gathered the others there. Valarie took one look at Crawli, took a moment to assess his wounds and called out, "Seems like hypothermia, we gotta warm him up!"

And everybody burst into motion at that. Braixen wasted no time in shacking up closer to Crawli, fanning the fire that burned within her to stoke up the heat inside of the room. Val got a bundle of blankets from one of the drawers and Aelita began setting tea.

Will stood rooted to a spot a few feet behind the couch, staring blankly at Crawli as everybody hurried to get him warmed up.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Will dimly noted that hypothermia meant being undercooled. Ice and snow. Ice and snow.

Angie.

But that was the extent of it. The panicky feeling and the falling sensation that he was teetering on the edge of hysteria threatened to overwhelm what little lines in the sand he'd drawn to keep himself anchored. The adrenaline was gone, the threat was gone – Amber is gone Jenner is gone Tesla will be gone too just like mom – and everything was starting to become too much.

"Crawli, are you okay?" Melia asked in a hushed, concerned tone.

"I'm doing better now," Crawli said through chattering teeth. "Thanks, but…"

He fell silent.

Aelita passed by Will. She whispered something at him, but he didn't hear her. Breathing started to become a struggle.

"If you want us to help ya, you gotta speak to us," Venam said.

"I know," Crawli stammered. "It's just…while you were away, Angie attacked Kakori Village."

Panic swept through the room like a plague.

"A-Angie attacked Kakori Village?" Valarie shouted.

Saki threw her hands in the air, then plopped down on the couch as well.

"Yes, and without warning," Ceawli said. "She and some of her followers showed up and started thrashing the place…I along with a few others managed to stand our ground and fend her off. But…my mom and dad were both frozen solid. And now Kakori is a frozen battleground." He paused to rub at one of his freezerburns. "And it's all because of that woman..."

"Oh man, oh man," Saki breathed. "This ain't good, fam."

"Yeah, that's an understatement," Crawli muttered.

Adam and Aelita exchanged an uneasy look.

"We need to get over to Kakori and help right away!" Valarie snapped.

Adam took a deep breath. "No," he said, and that single word quieted the entire room.

"What?" Val said.

"What do you mean?" Melia questioned him.

Adam crossed his arms. He calmly met the eyes of each and every person in the room and then began explaining. "Listen, we're all thinking it. No one wants to say it. Kakori will survive on its own. That's a no brainer. But unless we deal with the problem at the bud – this issue is not going away. It's going to fester and fester until the entirety of Terajuma is a wasteland. Angie is the problem and we need to remove this problem. Plain and simple."

For a moment, everybody was silent.

Then Saki did the thing. "Adam's a top," she blurted out and Adam's expression grew fierce.

"I am going to murder you."

"Adam's right though," Melia quickly said.

"Yeah, we can't keep ignoring this!" Braixen shouted.

Valarie nodded vigorously. "She has the Ocean Relic so we were going to cross paths with her eventually."

Melia swept her gaze across the room. Her eyes lingered on Will for a moment and her brow furrowed in that familiar look of concern. "Is this something we're all in agreement then?" She said.

"Of course!" Aelita yelled.

Venam huffed. "I'm in the mood to smack a bish so why not?"

"Yes!" Valarie whooped.

"Must I even speak?" Adam joined in.

"Yea, sure," Saki said with a shrug.

"Yay! I go where the family goes!" Braixen said.

A new threat and more loved ones involved and the adrenaline was still gone and black spots swam across his vision and still he heard himself say, "Let's take her down then" and the mood in the room became lighter, stronger and he knew he had at least said the right thing.

So why couldn't he breathe?

"A unanimous decision," Adam noted. "I knew I picked a right group of friends."

Aelita gave him a playful nudge. "Hopefully even the friends that were forced on you are just as good!"

"Nothin's forced. If I didn't like you guys, I wouldn't be here."

"I knew you cared!" Braixen exclaimed happily.

"Right, but how do we get to Kristiline Town?" Venam asked.

"Honestly?" Crawli said. "I'm not so sure. There's a fierce blizzard that covers the island like a dome. There's no getting through that. Let me take a moment to catch my breath…I'll think of something in the meantime."

"Gimme a moment," Will squeezed the words through his ever-narrowing throat. His words came out high and strangled. "Gotta grab some stuff."

He didn't think many of them noticed; Melia and Aelita were concerned with keeping Crawli warm and Braixen was fuzzing over Saki and Val called Adam by his name and gestured –

Will turned and managed to keep himself together just long enough to exit the room without freaking anybody out, feeling like his blood pounded in his ears, his heart thudding against his ribs. Black spots swam in front of his eyes and he couldn't stay there, couldn't stay in that house he needed out heneededtogetoutofthere –

"Will!" Adam said again, firmer this time, following him into the hallway.

Will scrambled back, raising his hands to ward him off, to keep him away and he couldn't breathe, his throat was seizing up and Adam said his name again but Will couldn't hear him over the thunderous roar of his heart thumping in his head and he couldn't breathe –

The light became too bright and the edges at his vision too dark and he couldn't stay there and suddenly the world tipped when he slammed against a desk and fell –

Adam was right there and took him by his shoulders and Will felt like he was going mad and Adam told him to breathe but he couldn't remember how and the air refused to go where he needed it and he couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe –

"Slow down," Adam said, his face hovering in front of Will's. "I need you to count with me, can you do that? Count five things you can see."

Will dropped his head between his knees. He heard himself wheezing and gasping and his chest rose and fell rapidly and shallowly. Dimly, he registered Adam's hands guiding him to a bed, putting him down where he couldn't tip over and fall and break –

Breaking, tearing

Mightyena crawled with broken limbs -

"Five things you can see," Adam said with impossible calm. "Repeat after me. One, the floor. Can you do that? Just one, the floor."

The air he needed to repeat after Adam wouldn't come and he shook his head. Adam put his hand on his shoulder, squeezed it gently. "You're okay. Come on. I'm here for you. One, the floor."

Will focused on the steady pressure of Adam's body and sucked a breath in through his teeth. "One," he stammered, barely understandable but it was something. "T-The f-f-floor…"

"Good. You got this. I'm here. Two. What else do you see?"

"T-two…" Will gasped and his eyes found the desk he'd nearly stumbled over. "Th…th….the d-desk…"

"Keep going. Three."

"Three…the bed…"

"Four."

"Four, the wall."

"Five."

"Five the chair."

After that, it was four things he could touch. By the time he got to four, he could breathe again. Adam didn't let him go. He held him until the shaking stopped, and when it did, Will lifted his head from his knees and closed his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"Fine," Will mumbled back. Exhaustion pressed down on him like a thick blanket. He'd never had a full-blown panic attack before. That freakout on the beach had been mild in comparison. This…this was hellish. It felt like dying – like drowning and choking and asphyxiating at the same time. If he never felt this way again in his life it would be too soon.

"Feel like that one was a long time in the making. You need some rest, Will."

What he needed was the Ocean Relic and a solid plan to bust into Mount Valor. What he needed was to see Amber and Jenner safely back in Teila Resort and in the arms of their loved ones. What he really needed was for Team Xen to let things go, and leave Melia alone and screw off all the way to the other side of the world.

But since only one of those desires was in any way realistic, he settled for saying, "We need a plan to beat Angie."

"No, you really need to start taking care of yourself," Adam sternly said. "You haven't even cleaned that blood off, by the way. You hurt?"

"S'not mine…it's Neved's."

Adam tilted his head. "Neved? So is he out of the picture now?"

"No. I promised Melia that I wouldn't. But he won't be walking or fighting any time soon." He reconsidered. "Maybe from a wheelchair."

A little puff of air escaped Adam's nostrils. "I wouldn't put it past him. Look, Will…listen. I'm not a shrink or anything. I don't work like that. But…I think you look at everything that goes wrong and somehow make it your fault. That's not only stupid and dangerous, it's also very arrogant."

Will hadn't seen that one coming. "What?"

Adam shrugged. "You're one guy. You learned how to fight with Pokemon just two months ago. Setting impossible standards for yourself is going to ruin you. Team Xen took Amber because they have more manpower and because they don't have morals, not because you should have somehow been capable of fighting off an army by yourself."

"But – "

Adam ignored him. "Fact of the matter is, this kind of thing happens. Ain't a soul in the world who blames you. Only you blame you."

That comment startled him far more than it should have. "I…"

Adam placed a broad hand atop his head. Almost absentmindedly, he ruffled Will's hair. "Quit blaming yourself because other people suck. Quit putting your bar at impossible heights. Take a shower. Get some sleep. We'll move tomorrow."

Will didn't have the words to respond to that, but Adam didn't seem to need any. He got up, told Will to hang out with his friends if he needed it, and left.

It was a while before Will moved again. He found the villa's bathroom, grabbed one of the large, fluffy towels and stepped inside to take a long shower.

For some ungodly reason, Tesla had installed a mirror in the shower cabin. Will stared into his reflection and saw a ghostly-pale visage with tired, green eyes staring back at him. He ran a hand through his hair, brown and messy and in desperate need of a cut. He got some of Neved's blood there, too. At least he thought it was Neved's. Could have been that Death Wing Blaziken had relieved of his chest cavity, too.

Not for the first time, he wondered just how much his Pokemon knew. If Nidoking knew the terror he'd felt when faced with another Scissor. If Blaziken knew the mind-shattering panic the Death Wings had caused before he managed to anchor himself.

At the very least, he hadn't fallen apart in full view of the others. With this whole mess with Angie unfolding, that particular image would have probably shattered their morale.

Only you blame you.

He swore, once all of this was over, he would make things right. He would find a way to thank Adam and put things right.

Tesla's villa was still a beehive of activity. Will felt so tired that he wanted nothing more than to drop down on the nearest semi-horizontal surface nad sleep for three full days. Nonetheless, since someone decided to be an absolute bitch and freeze over Kakori Village, he got dressed and dragged himself back downstairs again.

Several muffled conversations went on in different parts of the house. He heard Val quietly muttering to Adam, whispering in tearful tones that she couldn't take things anymore, that everything was starting to become too much for her.

He heard Braixen and Saki talking to each other about how this was now part of their life and that peace would never be an option again. Will hoped that they were just joking. The fact he couldn't tell kinda told him enough already.

Finally, Aelita, Melia and Venam were still with Crawli in the room they'd brought him. Crawli looked much better now; his tan skin actually looked the way it was supposed to now, not that ghastly hypothermia-induced paleness.

"Do we have a plan?" Will loudly asked and his voice scared the living daylights out of Melia and Crawli. Melia nearly bounced half a meter into the air and the only reason Crawli didn't fall from the couch was because he'd been tied down with so many blankets.

"Will!" Aelita said. "There you are! We were starting to get worried."

"You did kinda disappear when we started planning, yes," Melia said. She arced a golden eyebrow at him. "Everything alright?"

"I had to wash Neved off my face before people started asking questions," Will replied.

Aelita and Venam shared a puzzled look. "Uh, what?"Aelita said.

"Yeah, Neved's this Xen Admin asshole right? Melia told us you two kicked his ass again," Venam said. "But did you uh…like, put him into the ground? Six feet under and shit?"

"Ugh, Venam," Aelita groaned. "That's not who we are, and it's not who Will is either…right?" She cast him a hopeful, if urgent look.

"People keep asking that." He sat down on the couch next to Aelita. "It wasn't that simple. Venam," he lied. "I just made sure he wouldn't be in any state to battle the coming days. Crawli? What's next?"

"Okay, here's what I need you guys to do," Crawli started, and he began explaining the plan.

When Angie took over Kristiline Town, she didn't manage to get her hands on the entire population. A small portion of them managed to escape. One of those escapees ended up in Kakori Village. If there was anyone who knew how to get into Kristiline Town, it would be her.

"Then we need to get there as fast as we can, get her to help us!" Venam snapped.

"I agree," Melia said. "Aelita, if you can gather the rest – "

"Wait," Will said. "Kristiline Town is right next to us. If we all go to Kakori now, we leave the resort defenseless."

Crawli winced. "Will's right. If Angie were to strike while you're all gone, it would be a nightmare. Someone has to stay behind to protect the resort."

"Smart thinking," Aelita said. "But if we send out a small party to Kakori instead, Team Xen might ambush them and then they've got even more hostages."

Absentmindedly, Will began tapping his fingers against the table. He was still trying to pull his thoughts back together after everything that had happened. Tonight's dreams were going to be fun. "Melia?"

Melia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I agree. You and I should head out to Kakori and find this girl. The rest will hold the fort, as they say."

"Don't worry you two, we will make sure this place remains locked down," Aelita said.

"Yeah, no more bullshit from Team Xen," Venam added. "So long as you two remember to get the hell out of dodge if you do run into another ambush! From what I hear, that shit was way too close!"

"We'll be careful," Melia hummed. "Right Will?"

At this point, he was fairly certain he'd forgotten the meaning of that word. He nodded along.

"Then it's settled! Will and I are heading for Kakori Village now. Crawli, you stay here, get yourself in a fighting shape. Aelita, Venam, we'll depend on you to hold the resort."

"Yes ma'am," Aelita grinned. "Come Venam. Let's find the others, divide some tasks."

Melia headed outside and Will followed her. It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, he'd had dinner with Tesla and a heart-to-heart with Amber in this place. Without them, the villa felt…empty. Which made no sense, because with his friends here the place was probably busier than it had been in years, but that was the way it felt.

Empty.

"I can't believe one person is powerful enough to conquer an entire city on their own," Melia said as she called Hapi out. "This power…how does someone even get ice-based power anyway? Do you think she's maybe using her Pokemon, like you use Froslass?"

Who knew? He could see someone using a whole flock of Froslass to create an illusion of ice-based powers. Humans couldn't see Ghost-Pokemon if they didn't want to be seen…but other Pokemon could. "I think the rangers' Pokemon would have noticed that," he replied, sending out Pidgeot.

He saw Melia consider the implication. "So…then you believe Angie has powers herself?"

It wouldn't be the first time. Karen had powers. So did Indriad and Maria. Come to think of it, it was very likely that Madame X had powers as well. "We'll see."

"Yeah, we will…" Melia said, furrowing her eyebrows as she cast him a look. "Are you sure you're alright? You sound so…not like you."

"Yes," Will replied instantly. He reconsidered. "No. Tesla and Amber had a big fight today. It got serious. Emotional. Both ran off. I tried fixing it. That's why Amber and I were there together. She opened up to me. She was remorseful, and wanted to make things better. We were going to work things out. Mend them."

"Oh, Will…" Melia's voice was soft even in the calm and tranquil evening of the resort.

He shook his head and snorted with disgust. "And now Team Xen has Amber and Jenner and Tesla's going in there alone. While we're down here."

Confusion filled Melia's expressive eyes. "What we're doing here matters! Will, you know we need the Ocean Relic, you know these people need our help!"

"I know, I know," he quickly said. "It's the right thing to do. It's just…every moment Angie wastes is a second Team Xen has they can spend tormenting Jenner and Amber."

"I…" Her expression fell, and Will realized that she hadn't even considered that.

Well. Crap.

Nice going, idiot….

"Look…we'll get them out of there, okay?" He quickly said. "We just have to change up the plan a bit."

"Yeah…" Melia softly said. "Yeah. You said it before, right? They need their captives alive, or else it's no use. Besides; Tesla might just do the impossible and spring them out. She is part of the Elite 8. They're the strongest trainers in Aevium! If anyone can do it, it's her!"

Again, Will found himself wondering where the Elite 8 was. Wasn't it their whole purpose? Protecting their region? So where were they?

He didn't know, and vocalizing that particular concern was sure to dash Melia's hope to the rocks. So he bit his tongue, and together, they set out for Kakori Village.

Crawli really hadn't done the intensity of Angie's attack any justice. What had once been a lush jungle village with thousands of inhabitants, was now a frozen wasteland. Wind blew a flurry of snow against Will's face when Pidgeot touched down at the northern entrance. Snow had paved over the roads and the water had frozen shut.

"No…" Melia gasped

Enormous spires of crystalline ice protruded from all around them. Some of them had ripped straight through houses or trees. Others had completely sealed Pokemon or people inside. Entombed in a frozen hell.

One with snow and ice.

Blood stained the snowy ground in several patches. As Melia and Will made their way deeper into the town, the damage just grew worse. The rangers ran back and forth between various different command points, shouting orders at each other as they hauled supplies, tended to wounded civilians or carried body-bags.

Several of those body-bags looked like they hadn't been entirely filled up.

People hammered away at the ice with varying tools and Pokemon. A Growlithe bathed one of the frozen tombs in flames, but there didn't seem to be any effect. No hissing of steam, no exploding droplets of flash-vaporizing water – nothing. It was as if the flames couldn't interact with the ice.

"Everything fell apart in an instant…" Melia murmured. "Everything." Her voice trembled, and Will wasn't sure if her eyes were moist because of the snow or not. "Did my father know that his actions would take such a course?"

"This wasn't on him," Will reassured her. "Angie would have done this regardless."

"I know no one ever knows for sure, but…" she shook her head with disbelief. "Let's just find Farha, Will. She should be at the HQ."

The rangers looked ragged as hell. A couple of people were in the middle of it, taking charge of the emergency. Will saw Sam hauling crates to a bunch of civilians, telling them where and how to transport them. He saw Talon, Flora and Florin helping to build up tents and put together portable heaters. Talon spotted him and gave him a tired, if genuine smile, and Will nodded back.

Angie had nailed all the people who could have stood in her way. Holly had been frozen where she stood, her arms outstretched as if reaching out for someone, her expression locked in furious dismay.

They stopped trying to get the people out. Fire didn't work, Ice-types had no hold on the cursed ice and manually breaking the ice could have harmed the people encased within. The situation seemed hopeless.

People were stuck in their houses, locked inside due to the ice. They were tropical people; the subzero temperatures would kill them if they didn't find a way to heat themselves up.

Will took it all in, forcing himself to notice every detail of the attack. He felt strangely detached as he noticed the pattern of Angie's approach, the shape of her ice creations and the width of the devastation. There would be time for a reckoning later. Right now, he needed to gather as much information and knowledge as he could. Every last scrap of intelligence to give shape to his tactics. If he came at Angie stupid, it would get him killed.

Or worse, turned into another eternal sculpture.

"Will!" Alex said, a look of wild desperation in her eyes as she ran up to him. "There you are!"

"What happened?" He asked.

"Angie blindsided us completely…we were able to fend her off, but the damage she's done is already…look, Terajuman inhabitants aren't fixed for this kind of weather! If we don't find a way to reverse this, Kakori Village will be no more!"

Will glances at the large podium that had once been used for festivals. The rangers were stacking the boxes of supplies and rations on top…and dragging the body-bags below.

Alex followed his gaze. "Please, Will," she pleaded, and Will hated how vulnerable she sounded. "You have to help us…"

He placed his hand on her shoulder and brought his face closer to hers. "We're going to find Angie," he said. "And we'll stop her."

Alex nearly sagged with relief.

Melia made her way towards the Ranger HQ, but Will stopped just shy of entering. There, just a few meters ahead, a pair of rangers stood staring slack-jawed at another crystalline protrusion of ice.

It was Rorim B. Frozen with an expression of glee on his face, his body paused mid-dance. It was a display of defiance that Will felt resonate with him even more than Holly's visage.

Screw you, Rorim B had said. You can't stop me doing what I love.

In a way, Will felt like Rorim B had won. Angie had punished him, but she hadn't broken him. So Rorim had won.

With that knowledge spurring him on, Will hurried after Melia.

Much of power in the HQ was out. What little emergency power their generators could produce went into keeping the vital systems running. Communications, heating and the viewscreen.

Melia and him made their way to the command platform on top, where a singular woman clad in a pink dress or parka of sorts stood in front of the viewscreen, staring blankly at the multiple display of emergencies.

"I don't know why I thought I could run from my problems," she muttered to herself as Melia approached her. "It seems they've followed me, actually."

Will couldn't argue with that.

"Excuse me, are you Farha?" Melia asked.

The woman turned to face them and it struck Will how young she looked. She was their age. "Yes, that is me," she quietly said. "Can I help you two with something?"

"We heard that you managed to escape Kristiline," Melia said. "Is that true?"

The girl sighed wearily. "Yes, I was able to escape Kristiline. In fact, I'm the only one who could."

"Okay," Melia nodded. "So if you escaped, that means you must know a way in too?"

With a gasp, the girl backed away from them. "W=What are you saying? Are you trying to get into Kristiline?! That's absolutely ludicrous!"

He wasn't about to argue with another panic-stricken civilian. "Just tell us!" He snapped.

Farha flinched.

"Not the tone I would have used," Melia quietly notified him. "But we are running out of time, Farha and we need to get the Ocean Relic Angie is hiding. And in order to do that, we need to get to Kristiline Town. I fail to see any other way to restore Kakori Village either."

Farha's features grew pained. "I suppose that means you intend on fighting Angie, then?"

"After what she did to Kakori Village? There's no way we can't."

"You don't understand…Angie cannot be beaten. She is furiously powerful in a way that cannot be explained by words. She took over Kristiline in a matter of minutes. There was nothing any of us could do about it." She shook her head in quiet disbelief. "You two are going to die there."

"You leave that concern to us," Melia retorted. "We're not backing down from this. Either we win or we lose, but you just have to get us inside!"

"I see…" Farha murmured. "You two are Team Xen's most wanted. You…have done well to protect yourselves thus far. Maybe you have a chance…very well. My means of escape are hidden at a dock at Mynori Sea. Please, follow me."

The three of them made their way to the spot Farha had talked about. The difference between the frozen Kakori Village and the tranquil if dark pier at Mynori Sea was staggering. How did the effect of Angie's powers remain even after she had long since left the area? Were they about to confront a second Theolia?

"So, I will show you how I escaped, Farha said, reaching into her dress to produce a large, black keychain. "I escaped using this. Step back, please."

With the air of someone unlocking their car from a distance, Farha proceeded to summon an actual, functioning submarine from beneath the surface of the sea.

"A submarine?" Melia said.

"Yes. I work at the Sapphire Museum on the island. This museum has an underwater exhibit that explores the seabed and all that. I'm the one who performs such expeditions. When Angie attacked Kristiline, an impenetrable blizzard formed around the island like a dome. Any ship that got close to the storm's outer edge froze instantly - "

Which meant that they also had a whole collection of ghost ships drifting around Kristiline Town, their crew either frozen like Holly and Rorim or…

…or dead.

"I tried to get as many people as I could into the submarine, but they were all captured," Farha continued. She sighed heavily. "With this submarine you can bypass the blizzard and resurface inside the museum. It looks small, but it's actually designed to fit quite a lot at once."

It seemed like the perfect way to get a whole bunch of people killed at once, but what choice did they have?

"This is perfect then!" Melia said. "Will, let's head out tomorrow morning! We should let the others know of our plan so they can get prepared!"

Melia turned to reach for her own Cybernav, likely to give Val a call. As she wandered off, Will heard Farha speak up again.

"My grandparents were among those captured. I don't know if you can do this, but if you have even the slightest chance of pulling this off…please. We're lost without your help."

Will shot her a look over his shoulders. "If they are still alive, we will find them, Farha," he said, 'And we'll bring them back."

Back at Tesla's villa, the mood hadn't improved much. It was only when Melia began explaining the outlines of their plan that people seemed to perk up somewhat. After all, they now had a clear way of getting into Kristiline Town and a solid idea of what to expect.

"Hell yeah!" Venam exclaimed when Melia finished. "So we 're marinin' down under?"

"I wish I was able to experience that exhibit without the threat of danger…" Val sighed. She flicked a strand of blue hair out of her face.

"Aw, Val, danger is what keeps us all from going insane!" Saki loudly said. "It's true!"

At that point, Will wasn't sure if Saki was right or wrong anymore…all he knew was that her way of saying "it's true" reminded him too much of Nim talking about milkshakes and French fries. Was she conscious in there? Had her entire body to stone or was it just an outer layer covering her body, entombing her while she was fully aware and cognizant? Had she died of oxygen deprivation or dehydration or…or…

Breathe.

And the people in Kakori Village? Was Holly cognizant? Was Rorim B aware of his surroundings?

Will brought a tired hand to his head. He couldn't spin a positive thought to save his life.

"It's settled then," Crawli said, loud enough to shake Will from his thoughts. "We're leaving tomorrow. I'll send a message to Kakori Village, drum up as many of my people as I can. There's no subtle way to do this now; if we're hitting Kristiline Town, we're hitting it hard. A full-frontal assault, hitting them as hard as we can, where it hurts them the most. The goal? Getting as many powerful trainers inside as possible to overwhelm Angie with numbers. "

"So the goal is to eliminate this woman, right?" Adam said. "No mercy, no pulling punches?"

"Time to exterminate a bitch!" Saki snapped.

With a pained look on his face, Crawli said, "She is too dangerous. Anything less than a killing blow might not be enough to stop her, and she certainly won't hesitate to kill us."

Adam nodded calmly. "Right. So we're killing her."

Aelita and Val exchanged an uneasy look. Braixen produced a very unhappy noise and lowered her head on the table.

"If there is no alternative, then we must," Melia said with a heavy voice.

Adam's cavalier approach to the matter was…interesting. Had Adam ever taken a life before? Had Saki? Stating you were ready to kill someone was one thing. Standing in front of them, looking in their eyes and then making the same choice? That was a different matter.

Best-case scenario they could snipe Angie mid-fight and attribute the kill to the chaos. It wasn't a burden he wished on anyone.

"Alright. Now that everybody knows the plan and the stakes, I say we turn in for the night," Crawli declared. He glanced around at everyone. "Some of you look about as bad as I feel."

Venam and Aelita laughed a little at that. Melia, too, cracked a smile.

Aelita hopped the couch and sat down next to him. Her long hair brushed against his exposed neck as she leaned in as she asked, very quietly, "You okay?"

"Just tired," he whispered back. It was strange. The person who knew he'd lost his mind today didn't have a clue as to why that had happened while the person who did, had no idea that he'd even lost it at all.

Perhaps, in a future without Angie and Team Xen looming over them, he'd rectify that. As it was, he uttered a bone-deep sigh and rested his head against Aelita's shoulder.

She shifted a bit and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Why didn't you kill Neved?" She asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so relieved that you didn't, but…things must have been bad down there. Nobody would have blamed you."

Will glanced over at Melia. She laughed at something Venam said, tucking a loose strand of her golden hair behind her ear. He wondered about the source of Melia's seemingly endless well of empathy.

Aelita followed his gaze. "Ah," she simply said.

it wouldn't be same in Kristiline Town. He had to resign himself that fighting Angie wouldn't be like fighting a narcissist like Madelis or a sociopath like Neved. It would be like fighting a force of nature. A monster in every sense of the word, just like Indriad Theolia.

But.

This time, he wouldn't have to fight alone.

~~~~~~~(VI)~~~~~~~

---

AN: Slowly we're getting to the big finale of Chapter 7. I think I'll have to split it up into 2 separate chapters or risk posting another 20,000-word chapter...or worse.

Anyway, please drop a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter, leave a fave/follow if you haven't already and thank you all so much for sticking around! As always, I will see you all with the next update!

It's gonna be a fun one.