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.

33. From The Cradle

AN: I didn't plan on turning this into a three-parter, I really didn't. Unfortunately, I had already hit the 30,000 word count when I realized that I wasn't even done with the whole battle yet. So I had to split it up into two parts. It is what it is.

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Chapter 8 – Those we Lose

From the Cradle

Anarchy reigned as Will fought his way through the main floor of Valor Mountain, fending off ambushes from Team Xen as well as wild Pokemon. Without either Adam or Melia and Venam to coordinate his movement with, their goal of rescuing the hostages had turned into a nightmarish race against the clock.

A Rapidash jumped out of the darkness and Nidoking leapt in front of Will, taking the brunt of the tackle. He couldn't tangle with a Fire-type in the depths of a volcano for long. Will ordered him to knock his foe out and hurry along, to which Nidoking replied by wrestling the Rapidash against the nearest stalagmite and ramming its head through its base. The stalagmite shattered and Nidoking took one of the chunks of rock and flung it against Rapidash' trainer. The improvised projectile clipped the man's right shoulder and he went down with a choked scream.

Will left him and pushed ahead, flanked by Nidoking as he fought his way to the floor below this one.

Amber wasn't where the stranger had said she would be. Neither was Venam, for that matter. Will had spotted this wide open chamber on Crawli's maps during the planning phase, but there was just nothing there. No side chambers, no hidden rooms, no wild Pokemon or even Xen combatants. Just another underground grove with trees and shrubbery, a few aging signs that suggested this too had once been a trial site and a massive painting on the wall with words that didn't even have the courtesy of being ominous or threatening.

"Only when our mood is subdued, will we allow one to intrude."

Thinking back to the words that asshole had slung his way, Will returned to the floor he came from, passing by a large, grey outcropping of crystal that seemed bereft of both color as energy. He'd cleared out the opposition facing him on that level, so he had little difficulty crossing the shallow pools of water and making his way to the next level.

That was where things got interesting. Large, green-leaved trees dotted the area, complete with patches of grass and meadows in places that really shouldn't have permitted them to grow. Will crossed a walkway of sorts that crossed over another stream of water and soon found himself approaching an open chamber containing a floating, lava-colored crystal flanked by four spiraling pillars.

The crystal brimmed with power and radiated heat and power. A Xen scientist sat down next to the crystal, furiously writing down notes as he mumbled to himself. "If Geara was correct…this should be a Source Crystal. All you would have to do is sprinkle some of this powder on top of the crystal and the mountain should change in some way. We wouldn't have to forcibly change the mountain anymore!"

Will waited around long enough for the man to reveal more, but he seemed to be done with his one-man conversation, so he took as his cue to introduce himself.

All the warning the Xen grunt got was the furious clicking of sharp nails across rocks before Nidoking was within striking range.

"What! William!" The man exclaimed. He tried to reach for his Pokeballs but Nidoking got his claws around his arms, pinned them to tue man's chest and lifted him off his feet.

The scientist shouted in pain and alarm when Nidoking forced his body into a very awkward, unnatural position, while Will took a moment to pilfer his fallen notebook.

It was true what the white-suited asshole had told him; he needed to alter the mountain's elements with specific crystals. They'd dubbed this particular crystal Valor.

Valor. As in, Valor Mountain? Or had they named the crystal after the mountain? Was it possible they'd named both the crystal as this mountain after the same concept? Aelita would have loved to debate that one.

"L-Let me go!" The scientist cried out, kicking with his legs and squirming heavily in Nidoking's grasp. "I have nothing to do w-with this, I'm just a lowly grunt!"

"Hm." Will flicked through the notebook, didn't find anything useful and then discarded it. "Where's Amber?"

"W-Who?"

Will walked up to the man, took a long and pointed look at his Team Xen uniform and then tried again, "Amber von Brandt. Daughter of Tesla Von Brandt. Hostages. Where is she?"

"I - " the man worked his jaw. "I got nothing to say to you!"

Will glanced at Nidoking, who gave him a questioning look. He nodded.

And Nidoking began squeezing.

"N-No!" The man screamed. He made a high-pitched sound of pain and thrashed around something fierce, but all of that resistance left his body in a spasming screech of pain when his first rib shattered. Will had been wondering if it would have been the guy's arm or his chest to give way first. Seems he got his answer.

Soon, there wasn't any room for his lungs to expand and his next scream came out strangled and weak. Will raised his hand and Nidoking, the picture of self-control, stopped trying to crush the man's waist into paste for the moment.

"Where are the hostages?" Will asked again.

The Xen scientist took several wheezy, pained gasps, then groaned out, "B-Below! T-They're…G-Geara had them brought down t-to…the Storm!"

The Storm. What the hell kind of place was that? Some sort of hole that connected to the sea? Was Geara about to drown his hostages?

The bastard would. Without a second thought.

Will couldn't waste his time anymore, he had to think.

Okay. Amber was being held in the Depths of Valor Mountain. Problem was, he couldn't get to her until the "mood" of the mountain was "subdued". Maybe that crystal…Valor, maybe he had to calm it down?

But what this clown said was the same as what the white-clad stranger had said. So both of them told the truth and he'd find Amber and Tesla if he just calmed the mountain down…or both of them had lied to him and this was another ambush.

Will took a wild guess. "Knock him out. We have work to do."

Nidoking exhaled a breath and then slammed his fist against the scientist's head with just enough force to knock him out. Something about head trauma or something, Will couldn't be bothered to verify it; he was just glad Nidoking hadn't underestimated his strength and created another mess that would reappear in his nightmares. Nidoking flung the guy's limp body back to the hallway where they had just come from and Will stepped towards the Valor crystal.

He withdrew the leather pouch and sprinkled some silvery, smooth powder atop the Valor crystal. The instant enough powder covered its burning frame the crystal just bounced up in the air and slammed down onto the ground. It erupted in a flash of brilliant light and a pulse rushed through the mountain like a great wind.

Will blinked the blurriness out of his eyes and saw that the entire mountain had…changed, somehow. It was like he'd stepped straight into Carotos Mountain again - which was to say, the inside of a furnace - and everything had turned red. The walls, the ceiling, even the freaking water - instead of water, lava now flowed through the cave, which meant that the temperatures were once again going through the roof.

He heard a soft thump behind him, followed by a howl of utter agony and pain, accompanied by the sounds of steam erupting and hissing in the atmosphere. Alarmed, Will hurried back outside of the little chamber and came face to face with the white-suited freak he'd encountered at the entrance.

"It seems you've found one of the Source Crystals I spoke about earlier," the man said with a hint of approval. "Do you see how things have changed? So drastically, too." He spread his arms dramatically, slowly turning on the spot as he said, "That's the true nature of this mountain. Understanding its many faces is what will bring you to the top. Now that you understand, I'm curious to see what you'll accomplish." He made to leave, then suddenly stopped and gasped as if remembering something. "I wouldn't be worried about that scientist you left behind in the other mood, also."

The…the other mood?

"It's so unfortunate, but it seems like they had an accident involving magma," the bastard continued, faking concern dripping from every word.

That scream…the hissing…no way. "You…killed him?" Will breathed. Despite the immense heat surrounding him, he felt a chill creep down his spine. Something like static flickered across his thoughts. Horror or terror trying to break through everything else. Will couldn't let it. He railed against those emotions, forcing them at bay again.

F-Focus and clarity, nothing else.

"Perhaps I did, like a parent protecting their young," the man said with a creepy little grin. "But I guess, technically, it wasn't necessarily protection and more of an "assurance".

Will saw his own glare reflected in the man's reddish visor. "That man wasn't a threat. He wasn't even conscious!"

"So?" The man coldly retorted. "He could have woken up. You do what you must to reach the top. Figuratively and metaphorically. Isn't that disgusting? That's the way this world works, Kitty Cat."

The horror gave way to outrage. So that was who this man was? A murderer? Unlike Neved, who at least cloaked himself in an aura of guilt and philosophical regret, this bastard was so casual and straight about it. Burning to death, the most horrible death Will could imagine, and this…man, this…scum did it so casually. "People like you always think that, so long as it's not their life that's lost," Will growled.

"A life was lost? Really?" The man challenged him. "That's the fascinating thing about Team Xen, you never know!"

"And what does that mean?"

The man sighed contently. "It means that I'll be leaving for real this time. No more help from me. What will the kitty do in its pen? Let us see. Oh, and before you get any funny thoughts and I have to head outta here for real, I mustered up enough energy to keep the Calm Crystal on the floor below us active a little longer. Could be helpful if you choose to save Amber. Just a gift from me."

"Stop him!" Will ordered and Nidoking stormed at the man, who merely laughed and casually sauntered towards a large, soot-covered boulder. It was large enough to conceal him, but it wouldn't protect him. Nidoking smashed into the boulder and it shattered into a cloud of rubble -

- but there was nobody on the other side.

Puzzled, Nidoking came to a sudden halt. He looked around, confusion slowly melting into frustration. He glanced up at the ceiling, as if his foe were hiding between the stalagmites. No such luck

The asshole was gone.

Another teleporter, then.

God he hated teleporting so much.

"You did good," Will sighed, taking a deep breath to calm down the fury that simmered within his stomach. His mind felt like it flickered on and off like a flashlight. Hints of emotion would batter at his thoughts as if from behind a tightly locked gate, throwing it open for a bit every now and then before it shut tight again.

Maybe he was just losing his mind.

There would be time to feel that, too. There would be time to feel everything. Just not now. Not until he had everyone back. "Come on. Let's find that other crystal."

This place started to feel a lot like a Theolia residence. That was, all kinds of different dimensions stapled together with all kinds of little holes to wander through. For all he knew, Venam and Melia were just a single layer of reality away, blindly walking around and searching for him as well.

They could be standing at the exact same spot and never know.

His head started to hurt again.

Time to move.

Through the blazing mountain he went, down to the previous floor where he spotted a mound of crystals that had previously been inert. Now, it shimmered with a deep shade of blue, like a cluster of Angie's nevermelting spears.

With Nidoking at the ready to ward off any unwelcome surprises as he worked, Will took out the Emotion Powder and sprinkled some on the jutting mound of crystals.

The same thing happened as before, but completely, but then in reverse. A flash of blinding white light forced him to cast his gaze aside and throw up his arm to shield his eyes, and the scorching heat of the lava and the burning rocks was just gone in an instant. Instead, cold wind washed across his face and little flakes of snow dried against his eyelashes.

The world became bright and cold, like he was back in Angie's domain, like she had taken that moment to return and enact her revenge. Alarmed, Will spun around, rapidly scanning his surroundings for the telltale sign of Angie's terrible powers and her otherworldly aura. He could almost imagine her sinister laugh creeping up on him from behind.

A Sealeo flopped onto his back atop a frozen rock. A smaller Spheal rolled around like a ball, producing little cries of glee as two more of its brethren joined it.

His eyes jerked from one shadow to the next.

No Angie.

This…was fine. It was fine.

Will called Nidoking back to his ball and switched for Froslass. Something told him that present Xen grunts wouldn't endure the cold much better than him, and he had Blaziken to punch through any opposing Ice-type Pokemon his foe could be packing.

Much to his surprise, enemy resistance was nonexistent as he labored his way back to the depths of the mountain. Froslass happily deterred what little wild Pokemon so much glanced at him, and he didn't run into any Xen grunts on his way back down.

It made sense to him on a certain level; had he been in charge of defending this place he wouldn't have placed his people in random locations to stall out the assault forces. He would have focused on tying down chokepoints, throwing up barricades and generally harassing the enemy from a distance.

It was likely he was yet to run into serious opposition.

It was equally as likely that the majority of said opposition was still tied down in Route Six.

Will crept along the edge of the upper tier of the chamber he'd searched when he first came down there. He stayed out of sight, guessing that Team Xen would have sent a considerable force to protect their hostages. First things first; recon.

"Froslass, find out how many of them there are, then locate our people," he whispered.

His ghostly companion fades away into nothingness and began skulking around. Likewise, Will slowly edged around the room, sticking close to the shadows and moving from cover to cover. He didn't hear anyone, but that didn't have to mean anything. If the enemy did keep Amber somewhere around here, he would have to get one of his Pokemon to her side as fast as humanly possible. Without Melia, Venam or Adam around, getting to the others would be infinitely harder.

Froslass reported back within a minute.

"There you are," he said when she poked her head out from the floor. "And?"

An invisible knife carved a singular line in the frozen ground.

That was strange. "Just one?"

Froslass stared.

"And the hostage?"

Slowly, Froslass shook her head.

What? That couldn't be, both assholes he talked to in the mountain told him there'd be someone down here.

He was already on a clock; Team Xen knew he was running amok in their base of operations. He simply couldn't afford to waste more time chasing ghosts.

Fine. One person inside? He'd ask them.

"Enemy position?" He asked.

A whole bunch of invisible knives carved an overview of the room into the ground. It looked like one person held position at the base of the room, standing in front of some sort of sealed door. Froslass hadn't passed through that one, judging by the little map she drew for him.

If they were alone, he could get to them before they sent out their Pokemon.

Will slowly inched his way towards the edge. "Follow me down. Immobilize them when they spot me, okay?"

A firm thrumming in the air was his only response.

She'd have his back.

He vaulted over the rocks and into the room below. The drop was steep but not so much that Froslass would have to break his fall. He caught a glimpse of her icy body zipping around him as he landed, rolled over his shoulder to dissipate his fall and then he lunged for the Xen bastard holding guard, fists clenched and -

And holy shit it was Venam.

Will could only barely bring himself to a stop before he tackled his friend against the wall. She gave a cry of surprise as he stumbled to a halt against the wall just a few inches away from her. "Will! What the fuck, don't scare me like that!"

"Enemy position!" Will hissed as Froslass followed him down. "I said enemy position!"

Her laughter was a disturbing combination of several women laughing at different cadences, all of them coming from a different direction, all of them sounding wrong, just a single cadence too low to be human.

"Jeez, can your Froslass not be the creepiest thing ever! I've been here all alone, you know?" Venam said. She made to move towards him and her arms already came up before she stopped. Somewhat awkwardly, she rubbed her elbow and looked away. "Yeah, so I wandered into the mountain and you guys just disappeared. I wandered down here because I heard that Amber was being kept in the depths of Valor Mountain."

"I heard the same," Will replied. "What's beyond this door?"

Venam shrugged. "No idea, but I have a feeling she's close too, c'mon!"

They hurried through the entrance. As they passed through, the cold air of the previous cave just vanished. It was like someone shut an invisible door behind them.

Like they'd just wandered into a different reality.

Up ahead, a mural of sorts had been erected in the center of a large, glowing symbol. It could have been a Garufa sign; an O with a diagonal stripe at the top and bottom.

"This shit's phase two of the plan, right?" Venam said nervously. "Find the hostages, spring them out at the same time? How are we going to do that with just the two of us?"

Will glanced around. This cave felt…off. It smelled humid and damp, but the air was heavy. It pressed down on him with an intensity he'd come to associate with certain Pokemon. All the blue lines on his blue-gray surroundings didn't help matters, either. "Looks like there's been a change of plans," he grimly said.

"...fuck that sounds dramatic," Venam then said. "I was starting to think you didn't have that in ya."

"Adapting to change?"

Venam snorted. "Sounding dramatic. Looks like Melia and I are rubbing off on you." She chuckled to herself, but her voice slowly trailed off as she started looking around. "What is this place? Are we still in Valor Mountain? Hey, take a look over there! There's writing on that wall!"

His purple-haired companion hurried towards the mural, taking a knee in front of it as she read, "Those foolish enough to call the God of the Sea shall step into the eye of the storm. Only when the Beast is defeated will the ones who awakened it be reached." She was silent for a moment as she processed that. "Uhh…okay? What's that supposed to mean?"

The layout of this chamber…the warning carved into the mural right before they ascended the stairs, the pillars jutting out of the water...it was familiar.

The Beast.

Hauntingly familiar.

"Whatever, I'm sure the answer is around here," Venam then dismissed her uncertainty, springing back to her feet and walking deeper into the chamber.

Will followed her in, taking note of the massive symbol etched into the ground. Its smooth, blue surface didn't feel like stone. It felt cold, but weirdly organic to the touch. It pulsed with energy. He reached into his pocket, found Kirlia's ball and sent her out.

"We're looking for our friend," he told her. "Do you sense another human in here?"

Kirlia looked up at him with large, unblinking eyes, before sweeping her gaze across the chamber. As a Ralts, she could have sensed the emotions of another person from a great distance. Now, as Kirlia, her psychic powers were considerably stronger. If there was anyone else in there with them, Kirlia would find them.

"Nothing around here but this huge waterfall," Venam scoffed. "Maybe I was wrong…Amber isn't down here?"

Will spotted that same symbol as before on the ground, but much larger this time. A giant O with stripes or -

- or an eye.

Geara brought them to the Storm.

The eye of the storm.

That mural had given them all the instructions they needed, hadn't it? He could just picture it. Geara and a few of his lackeys dragging a battered and exhausted Amber and Tesla down here the second their people reported their blockade had been hit. What better way to hide someone than to throw them into a different dimension? This mountain already existed in multiple realities, apparently. And if something went wrong and two innocent women were stuck there for eternity? Would Geara care? Would anyone in Team Xen care?

Screw them. He was going to get his people out of there now.

"This is gonna be bad," Will sighed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Venam asked.

Will glanced at Kirlia, then back at Venam. "I think Amber is here, just not in the same reality as ours. We need to pull her to us."

Venam looked at him like he'd just grown a second head. "What?"

Kirlia, meanwhile, glanced at the symbol on the ground. Her eyes widened.

"And this thing is probably the chain keeping her tethered there."

"Seriously, what thing?"

Will sighed and then stepped into the middle of the massive eye on the floor. "This thing."

The very instant his feet touched the center, something like a roar echoed through the cave. Kirlia's head snapped up and she gazed out over the lake.

"Hey, what was that?" Venam shouted, her purple hair whipping back and forth as she looked around sharply.

The next second, rain started falling down in sheets. It came down heavy on them, soaking into their clothes and shoes and suddenly it clicked into place.

"Alright, what the hell?" Venam said. "It's storming inside of a cave? I was good in science class dude. This is not right!"

They weren't in Valor Mountain anymore themselves either. This was yet another shift in reality, yet another chamber hidden in a pocket dimension of sorts. They stood before a door, a lock and the keybearer was on its way.

That same roar reverberated through the cave again, much louder and closer this time.

"There's that cry again!" Venam said. Her expression was one of annoyance and anger, but still she took a step back. "It's coming from…over there!"

She raised a trembling hand at the waterfall, where a massive, dark shape blurred underneath the surface of the water.

The God of the Sea.

Will's thoughts went back to the Garufan sanctuary, to the Beast of the Land that had slaughtered Cera's comrades and nearly took his life in the process. He could smell the stench of Esther's exposed organs as if he was standing right next to her.

Beating Groudon had shifted the realities and the rules of the Sanctuary. Doing so had taken someone from him.

"Holy shit, did you see that!" Venam shouted.

The situation was a complete reverse. Someone had already been taken. And now, he was going to get them back.

The massive, bulky shape of Groudon's mythical counterpart breached the surface. It opened its massive jaw and screeched - a terrible noise that shook Will to the bones.

Kyogre could save its breath. Will had fought the incarnation of the Land and he would do the same to the embodiment of the Sea.

As it roared, Will shot a look at Kirlia. He saw the singular intact horn on her head glowing a deep shade of crimson and she brought her arm up. She pointed at Kyogre and though she remained as silent as ever, the message was abundantly clear.

In there.

"This thing means business! We can take it down together!" Venam yelled.

His heart hammering in his ribcage, Will threw Froslass' Pokeball out into the field. Venam did the same with Venusaur, and then for good measure sent Toxtricity out as well. The Poison - and Electric-type raised itself up to its full length as his trainer ordered him to start raining down Thunderbolts on Kyogre.

The ancient Pokemon dove into the water to avoid the barrage of lightning. When it resurfaced again, it opened its maw into a yawning grin. They had all but a second's warning before Kyogre unleashed a truly monstrous maelstrom of water at them. A hundred fire hoses couldn't have gotten anywhere close to the destructive output; a beam of destructive energy blasted through the air and Froslass was only narrowly able to dodge it.

When it struck the wall behind them, the Hydro Pump cleaved through the rocks like it was a goddamn laser. The water pressure was just that enormous. Kyogre bit off its attack and the Hydro Pump flicked upwards into the ceiling, carving through a meter of solid rock with. Then, the beast dove again, disappearing beneath the water.

"They're in there!" Will shouted at Venam.

"The water?" She cried back in alarm.

"No, the Pokemon! We have to get them out!"

"How the fuck do you plan on doing that?"

Kyogre surfaced again. The water around it rose upwards and coalesced into the shape of a wave.

No idea, Will thought as he took in the shape and size of the underground lake.

Well, that wasn't completely true. How he would get Amber - and hopefully Tesla as well - out of that thing was deceptively easy. He'd have to replicate the exact manner with which Team Xen got them in there in the first place.

The mural had said "the ones who awakened it", suggesting that they had to be "reached". This was a case of undoing whatever dimensional shenanigans that had gotten the two ladies in this mess in the first place.

"Blaziken, blind it with Flamethrower!" Will ordered even as Venusaur began flinging Leech Seeds at the raging Kyogre.

The Legendary Pokemon swept its tidal wave forwards, consuming Venusaur's attacks and threatening to wash Venam and her Pokemon off the battlefield completely. She ordered Venusaur to anchor itself to the ground.

Blaziken brought her arms together. Flames erupted from her wrists and she cast a thick stream of searing flames towards Kyogre. They splashed across its hide, vaporizing the water coating its sturdy body and throwing up large clouds of steam.

Kyogre's concentration lapses and the wave of water fell apart before it could wash over Venam.

"Venusaur, use Power Whip to bind that thing!" Venam shouted.

Kyogre turned its attention to Blaziken. Again, it opened its gaping maw and again, a maelstrom of water swirled into motion inside of its body and erupted into a beam of ultra-pressurized water. Will didn't need to stick his toes into that particular body of water to know that Kyogre could shoot him in half if it so pleased.

"Keep it distracted, but don't get hit!" Will ordered. "Just like Groudon!"

And judging by the way it targeted everything that moved, Kyogre pleased very much. Blaziken leapt over the Hydro Pump with inhuman speed, rolled once and then flung a fistful of fire against Kyogre. It splashed harmlessly across its body.

"Groudon?" Venam shouted. "When did you freaking- "

Kyogre had its eyes on Blaziken for a second too long. Venusaur's plant-like vines shot towards Kyogre and struck it across one eye. Furious, Kyogre craned its head around to fire an Ice Beam at the offending Grass-Type -

"Now Blaziken, pummel it!"

"Tox, give the lady some covering fire!"

Blaziken vaulted into the air. As Kyogre thrashed into Venusaur's vines, she landed right on top of the leviathan's body. She steadied herself, nearly falling off as the beast thrashed, but then she grabbed a fistful of vines and swung herself over to he left, leaning across Kyogre's right side.

Bolts of lightning scorched the Kyogre and the water it had pulled around itself to wash Blaziken off fell back into the lake.

Blaziken balled her claw into a tight fist and began pummeling Kyogre's eye socket with precise, powerful jabs.

"I think Amber's in a pocket dimension inside Kyogre," Will yelled over the noise of Kyogre's roaring.

"Fuck it, sure, why not," Venam snarled, throwing her hands unto the air in an angry gesture of futility.

Kyogre calmed itself long enough to make the water around it explode upwards in a circular wave. "Blaziken, get out of there!" Will ordered.

Blaziken put her feet against Kyogre's face and kicked off with a double Blaze Kick. She backflipped away from the Legendary just as it jerked its head aside and swept thousands of liters of water over its body.

Venusaur gave a cry of surprise as the sudden violence nearly pulled it off its feet, but Venam's Toxtricity landed on top of it and clutched the vines in its spiky fists. Yellow and purple lines of static crackled across its body as it poured electricity through Venusair's vines directly into the Kyogre.

The Grass-type stood grounded on the rocks. The God of the Sea was surrounded by salty water. It went wild.

"So what do we do then?" Venam demanded.

Sometimes, the simplest plans were the hardest to execute. "Stop the electricity on my call!"

"What! Are you crazy?" She shot back.

"Don't argue, just keep it pinned! Kirlia, Froslass, hold back its attacks! Blaziken, when it opens up again, keep it open!"

Before Venam could even react, the Kyogre surfaced again. It opened its gaping maw and unleashed another immense Hydro Pump. It dragged the beam of water sideways across the battlefield, carving through rocks and eroding the ground with the intensity of its pressure.

Froslass zipped over its attack while Kyogre was busy. Her frozen body glowed white for a second before she sent an enormous wave of frigid, freezing wind howling across the water. Rain snap-froze to hail and the surface of the water glazed over. The raging waves solidified into sweeping arcs of jagged, knife-like ice.

Absolute authority over the sea clashed against absolute authority over ice. Will sensed more than saw two fields of power clashing as the two Pokemon brought their will to bear against its other. The resulting pulse of energy washed through the cave like overpressure from an explosion. Ice shattered and cracked, loose fragments of rock and pebbles went flying and Froslass' entire body quivered as if it was being pulled in three different directions.

But even against Kyogre's overwhelming power, Froslass held.

"Now, go, go!" Will shouted. Blaziken and him began sprinting towards the leviathan. Blaziken, being who she was, outpaced him in a heartbeat and latched onto the Legendary again. She dug her claws between its lips.

Kyogre raged, whipping its head back and forth to dislodge her. Its wrath was terrible and the parts of the lake that weren't frozen over yet, churned and boiled with motion. The water pulled back, coalescing into a tidal wave.

Slowly, Blaziken got a better grip and she heaved, She braced herself. Kyogre's mouth parted a few centimeters and then renewed its struggles.

Still running, Will tugged at Nidoking's Pokeball and sent him out as well. A tidal wave of water loomed over them.

Matching beams of green energy wrapped around Kyogre's body, soon followed by a flash of blinding light and a clap of thunder. The cave shook as Venam's Toxtricity drove another surging burst of lightning into Kyogre's body while Venusaur began draining away its power.

Its concentration wavered and Froslass exerted her power over the lake. The tidal wave fell apart and began freezing over. Tiny cracks appeared in her body.

Together, Nidoking and Blaziken grabbed onto Kyogre's mouth, flexed, pulled - and this time, those massive jaws parted. They got their shoulders underneath the leviathan's upper row of teeth.

A flash of blue light erupted from its parting maw and splashed across the Light Screen Kirlia had willed into existence. Multiple prongs of white light flashed and Kirlia's screens shattered, but she summoned more and more, filling Kyogre's mouth with dozens of small and sturdy tiles of energy. One their own, they could have never withstood even a fraction of Kyogre's power. But together, they bought time.

Blaziken's legs trembled as she pushed with all her might. Nidoking clawed at Kyogre's teeth until he found a hold. He began shoving Kyogre's jaws further apart. Blaziken thrust one arm against the leviathan's teeth, liquid fire streaming down her body as she continued to force Kyogre's mouth open wider.

"Kirlia!" Will shouted. He saw his chance and he leapt, latching onto Nidoking's outstretched tail. He narrowly avoided impaling him on the many spikes on Nidoking's back and then scampered for the opening between Nidoking and Blaziken.

Kyogre's teeth were slippery and round, shaped more like stones than actual teeth. He gazed into the creature's yawning mouth.

There, reality warped and crackled and an irregular opening appeared. Through a haze of distorted air, he saw the same chamber Venam and him were fighting in, but he didn't see her or himself.

He saw Amber and Tesla and Madelis of all people.

Tesla leapt to her feet. Her eyes met his and she stared with disbelief.

Then Kyogre gathered power and unleashed another Hydro Pump. The concentrated firehose of water exploded across Kirlia's Light Screens and they shattered -

Out of nowhere, Froslass flickered into existence between Will and the leviathan's wrath and the temperature plummeted. The inside of Kyogre's mouth froze over and shattered and froze again half a dozen times as Froslass fought to stave off the Hydro Pump. An absolute, bone-chilling cold washed over his body and he felt himself growing numb in seconds.

Tesla helped Amber up. "Her first!" She yelled, half-carrying the shocked girl towards what Will could only assume to be a tear in their own reality.

"Amber! Your hand!" Will shouted, struggling to make himself audible over the violence. The cold made it hard to pronounce the words. "Gimme your hand!"

He braced himself between Kyogre's teeth as he reached out to take Amber's outstretched hand. The bitter cold had left his limbs senseless and numb. His palm slipped and he tumbled forwards -

Seviper's tail wrapped itself around his waist and kept him from falling into the maelstrom of destructive energy that was Kyogre's maw.

Amber's fingers slipped against his. They were weak, and her grip was too slack. Will grit his teeth and shoved himself forwards. His hand seized her wrist in a death grip. At least his fingers still functioned, but for how long? "Venam! Venam!" He screamed.

Venam understood. With incredible strength and focus. Seviper tightened its coils and muscles without crushing his chest cavity, easing him back and allowing him to pull Amber out of the sealed reality within Kyogre's body.

He pulled Amber out and away from the raging battle before she could get hurt. He heard her cry out. He also heard another Pokemon of Venam's grab a hold of the girl, so he assumed her cry was surprise or something.

Kyogre thrashed around and Blaziken nearly slipped. The fire that poured off her body did strange things to Froslass' ice and Kyogre's water and Will wasn't sure if his body was freezing or burning. His senses lost track. Ice coated the right half of his body, where Froslass prevented Kyogre from tearing him to bloody shreds with its water. He had no more sensation in the arm that kept him pinned between the Kyogre's open jaws and knew that it didn't matter as long as he could get the next one out. He was breathing heavily now, struggling to keep upright.

Tesla leapt towards him, grabbing onto his arm with both hands. Her fingers wrapped around his and held on tightly, while she pulled herself up on his forearm with her other hand. Pulling her out was much easier than Amber; where the girl had been slack and passive, Tesla was all tensed muscles and explosive motion.

Again, Kyogre whipped its head around and again, Will slipped. Seviper barely held on to him and he heard Venam screaming orders.

Nidoking got one arm free and swung it towards Tesla. She let go of Will with one hand, pulled towards Nidoking and latched onto his claw. With a grunt of exertion, Nidoking pulled her out of her prison like she weighed nothing more than a wet blanket.

That left Madelis on her own.

Will looked at the Xen Admin and she met his gaze. Everything slowed down for a moment as his mind raced.

One look into those eyes of hers revealed more than an entire conversation would. Oh god please, they begged him. Not like this.

Madelis was his enemy. She'd tried to kill innocent people and she had hurt his friends. But…as she stared up at him, frozen in terror and uncertainty, awaiting his call, his judgment, Will didn't see someone he needed to destroy.

All he saw was a terrified woman who was afraid he was going to abandon her.

And he couldn't. Not like this. He wasn't like Xen. He'd rather have Blaziken put him down than turn into them.

Will thrust his hand towards her, his feet starting to slip on Kyogre's teeth as it thrashed and fought. Madelis jumped towards him and her fingers wrapped around his. He reached out and took her forearm with his other hand and shouted, "Venam!"

With a massive heave, Seviper pulled him out. Froslass and Blaziken pulled out at the exact same time and a massive jet of water shattered the frozen blockade Froslass had put in place, narrowly missing Blaziken as she spun in the air to avoid it.

Wil and Madelis rolled over the ground in a heap. Seviper tightened its bulk around his chest and his neck to avoid him from breaking his skull open on the rocks. Madelis just tumbled across the rocks.

Grievously injured and too battered to fight, the leviathan disappeared below the murky waters. Something told Will it wouldn't be back for a long time.

It looked like the danger was over…for now.

Will dragged his eyes across the cavern again before taking a deep breath. It was like Angie had entombed half his body in ice again. Not much sensation in his right arm, his hand was stark white and the skin on his cheek prickled with freezer-burn. Vaguely, he was aware of Froslass' presence around his half-frozen body.

But they had Amber and Tesla back. Halfway done.

Seviper uncoiled itself from his body. Frost coated its scales, but he didn't seem to care much.

"Hey, Will," Venam breathed. "Can I ask you a question?" She regarded him with a look of reverence and…a hint of fear? Did she see that right? Fear? "Has anyone ever told you that your power is actually so scary?"

He tried flexing and unflexing his frozen fingers, trying to get the blood flowing again. No dice yet. "What?"

"I know we fought together on that one…but I was just on the sidelines following your lead," Venam continued, the words dropping out of her mouth uncertainly. "To think you went from that kid from Gearen to a badass who sinks battleships by himself and pulls people from the mouth of a freakin' Kyogre…I'm just glad you're on our side."

Not sure what to say to that, Will turned his attention to the trio of redheads on the ground instead. Tesla had her daughter wrapped up in a fierce hug, holding her against her body with an expression of sheer, utter relief. She whispered in Amber's ear in a soothing, reassuring tone.

Madelis, meanwhile, looked like she wanted nothing more than to become one with the ground and disappear.

Venam followed his gaze. "What happened!" She shouted, singling out the lone Xen Admin. "Start talking Maddie!"

…Maddie?

Looking dazed and shaken, surrounded by her enemies and her life uncertain, Madelis decided to do just that. "We were just standing here and…then all of a sudden…nothing."

Madelis started climbing back to her feet.

"Stay down," Will told her, but his voice came out like a vicious snarl and that surprised even him. He didn't feel the anger in his head like he usually did. Some sort of disconnect or…something.

A disconnect?

Strange.

Not important.

Madelis reacted as if he'd struck her across the jaw. She dropped down on the floor and stared at him in disbelief.

"So, like, did you fall into a trap or something?" Venam continued.

"Evidently so…" Madelis replied after a few seconds of shocked silence. She sighed wearily. "When Geara ordered these two to be brought to this chamber, I didn't think tagging along would turn out like this. Awkward…"

"Will…Venam…" Tesla said, turning her attention to the two water shaken and soaked teens. "You saved our lives! I cannot believe you found us…thank you."

Will ran his eyes over her body, tiredly searching for signs of abuse; things like cuts, bruises, open wounds and the like. Nothing bad. She didn't seem as hurt as Amber, who, by contrast, looked like she was about to collapse. She clung to her mother like she was afraid that, if she let go, Tesla would disappear again.

Something about her seemed…lost. Something like fear and frantic uncertainty flickered over her gaze and it was like a knife plunged into his heart. Seeing the proud, headstrong Amber like that…it was wrong, too. All wrong.

Venam didn't see that. She didn't see any of that as she said, "Oh, it was nothing. Can we get cake for it later, though…?"

Will merely sighed at Venam's joke. He glanced at Blaziken, who still had her arms crossed and her steely eyes kept solidly at Madelis. The looming threat, Will thought, was obvious enough, since Madelis had yet to move again.

"Why were you trapped with them?" Venam asked. "Where's the others?"

"So, uh, Jenner is at the summit…likely for bait…" Madelis said, eyes cycling between the exit, Blaziken and Will. "And…yeah, I brought Amber and her mother down here because…well…I didn't agree with my colleagues on how to…let's say treat them. So…" She cast a nervous look at Venam. "When the order came through, I took it upon myself to…ahum, to escort them myself."

"Why?" Will said. It came out rougher and more harsh than he intended and Madelis flinched like he'd just brandished a knife in her face.

He had never seen Madelis think so hard before. "Well, it turns out that I'm quite a big fan of Tesla Von Brandt's work!" She glanced over at Tesla and if Will hadn't seen the Admin's features soften with his own two eyes, he would never have believed it. "You're beautiful and you never freak out. It would be such a crime to…you know. Not to mention, a waste!"

It was insane but goddamnit it, she sounded sincere.

Shaking his head, Will decided he wouldn't be thinking about that one. Hed let the ladies analyze that one. He filed Madelis away in her own little box inside of his head. Instead, he turned his attention back to his - to Tesla and Amber.

"I'm getting you both out of here," he said. He approached Amber - slowly, cautiously - and then assessed her condition as best he could. Cuts and bruises, yes, but he also saw a straight cut across her cheek that simply could not have come from anything but a blade wielded with intent. Her clothes were dirty and torn. One of the legs of her trousers had the faint imprint of a boot print on it, right in the back of her knee, and the way she clung to her mother…

…she favored one side of her body. She was hurt.

They had hurt her.

Something inside of him started to shake at that realization.

"Will, sweetie, that's okay, we can find our way out," Tesla said. She offered him a smile. It was a front. Will saw a bone-deep weariness on her face. Worse; he saw uncertainty. She'd noticed Amber's state, too.

"Can you move?" He asked Amber.

Amber shot him a look of anger. That too was a front, and she could not muster it for longer than a few seconds before something in her gaze broke. She clenched her jaw and looked away. He thought he saw tears gleaming in the corners of her eyes. "I'm fine," She bit at him.

"Amber…honey…" Tesla murmured, hugging her daughter tightly against her body.

Will closed his eyes. He brought a hand to his mouth, taking a moment to just think.

They were both shaken. They were both hurt. Someone had assaulted Amber. He had every reason to believe that she wouldn't be walking out of here on her own. That leg of hers looked bad. Tesla could fight. She could protect herself and her daughter.

Out here, in this frozen hell? Xen grunts and wild Pokemon were one thing, but with that visored psycho walking around?

With Amber like that?

That was how he had lost his mother, that was how he had lost Aelita! This kept happening, he kept losing people because he hadn't been there for them when they needed him!

Not again.

"You're hurt," Will said. "Your leg. Can you walk?"

Defiantly, she pulled herself away from her mother. The second she put weight on both legs her face went pale and she cried out in agony, nearly collapsing as she clutched at her leg with both hands. Tesla and Will caught her before she could lose her balance and fall.

"Honey, what happened to you?" Tesla asked, her voice thick with concern.

She didn't know? Then Team Xen had kept them separated. Kept mother and daughter separated for more than a week while they…

"One of those assholes tripped me when they had me walk down the stairs," Amber growled, visibly biting back the tears. "I fell down the fucking stairs and those fucking pukes just laughed."

Her words drove cold chips of ice underneath his skin. They made his limbs itch and his lungs burn. He checked that, too. There would be time for revenge after the mission. There would be plenty of time for bloody revenge.

"Holy fuck…" Venam whispered. She looked ill.

Slowly, Will turned to level a glare at Madelis and she too went pale. "Okay, hang on, wait j-just a second, ju-just a tic! Just a tiny tick!" She stammered, holding out her hands in surrender. "I had nothing to do with that and I definitely did not order such a thing! I swear!"

Will leaned closer towards Amber. "Was it her?" he asked. His voice quivered ever so slightly.

Amber shook her head.

Okay. One situation at a time.

Amber was going to hate him for this…

"I'm getting you out of here now," Will told her firmly. "Amber, you can kick my ass later, okay?"

"What the fuck does - "

Will wrapped his arms around her back and underneath her knees. She cried out in pain when he pulled her legs towards him, but it would be temporary. He spread his feet wider, lifted from his legs and then pulled Amber against him, taking her weight fully from the ground and cradling her close against his body like he had with Aelita just days ago.

The difference between then and now was like night and day. Aelita's body had been slack and unmoving - dead weight as she herself would have called it. Amber, in contrast, was all tensed limbs and coiled up muscles. After all that flying and fighting he'd done, his muscles ought to be screaming in protest again. They didn't.

"Will…" Tesla stared at him, bewildered.

"Fuck," Amber hissed in discomfort. "Will what the hell! P-Put me down! I…I can walk!"

"You can't," he simply said. "Venam, bring up the rear."

Venam moved like she'd been jolted. "Hell yeah! I got your six!"

"Blaziken, stay close. Nidoking, clear the path. Nothing is getting past you alive."

Nidoking, looking determined to rip someone's head off as a casual warm-up, bounded past them, his claws tearing deep furrows in the icy ground as he thundered past Tesla.

Blaziken, meanwhile, took up a position that mirrored Tesla, a bit ahead and to his right compared to Tesla's bit ahead and to his left. Two warriors, ready to protect what was dear to them.

No time to lose. It was time to move.

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

---

Amber felt like screaming and raging. She felt like cussing and fighting and tearing something apart with her bare hands and yet, she didn't even have the energy to keep her head upright. Like that, she felt crying and burying herself in her room and never showing her face to another living soul again.

She was hurt, she was sick and she was fucking exhausted. People had thrown her around and threatened her for days and then this bitch had nearly gotten her killed by a big fucking whale Pokemon and -

The ceiling cracks open. A beautiful figure wielding a cloak of fire and wrath shoulders the leviathan's power and he is there by its side, the one who'd promised to be her friend…

And it was just too much, far too much.

"Amber, hang in there sweetie," her mother said in that soothing, calming voice of hers. Her soft hands cupped her cheek, gently wiping away the droplets of blood that still clung to the cut marring her face. "You are safe now. We will get you out of here."

Torn somewhere between burning shame and maddening guilt, Amber wasn't sure what to say. When she'd first met the guy, she'd called him a sissy to his face and now…and now he was risking his own neck to carry her out of a freaking terrorist base.

He offers his hand.

Will felt warm. She felt the pulse of his heart-rate as he held her tightly against his chest. It was oddly calm. His clothes…no, he smelled like fire and ash. He smelled like blood and steel.

He shouts her name.

The muscles in his arms were hard and taut as he carried her out of that fucking murder-room and…she didn't get it. She didn't get it. She had been nothing but horrible to him, even when knowing he was apparently dealing with some bullshit war he had never asked for.

"I can help," her mother told him. "You can have Blaziken carry Amber and I will protect us."

"No!" Veronica exclaimed sharply from somewhere behind them. "Last time that happened he got - ah, shit, uh, it's just a bad idea!"

Last time? Last time what happened? This?

"This is for the best," Will said.

And Veronica…they hated each other. They were meant to hate each other over the fucking mess that had driven them apart. So why in the name of the living fuck was she fighting to save her? What the fuck gave!

"Save your strength for the ride back," Will told her mother. He told Tesla the freaking warrior of the Elite Eight to sit this one out and he did so with the utmost seriousness and…and he did that so casually. Like this shit made sense in his fucked-up head.

"Yeah, there's still a fucking war going on right outside this mountain's doorstep, Miss Tesla!" Veronica added. "If your Pokemon can't fly anymore, they'll have to swim. Not a good idea!"

Wearily, Amber gazed up at Will's face. It was like a steel mask of concentration…almost. His sharp, emerald eyes were almost frantic as they flickered from one spot to the other.

Threats, Amber realized belatedly. He was searching for threats.

"Why are you doing this?" She murmured.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you saving me? Why are you going so far for me?"

Will exhaled a breath. It came out like a white cloud in the frigid temperatures of the cave. "I promised," he said, as if that made any kind of sense, as if that was fucking it!

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't accept it. "Why? You're here to find your friends, aren't you? Why…" Tears burned in her eyes and she felt so fucking horrible. Everything was all upside down and wrong, all wrong! He would have abandoned her because he should have abandoned her. She'd been ready for it. She'd been waiting for it. "Why didn't you just leave me behind?"

"Amber…" Her mother said, shocked.

"Because…" he flinched when something exploded somewhere along the way. Amber craned her neck around to look, but she didn't see anything. "Because everybody deserves a chance. Does it matter?"

Yes it fucking mattered! It mattered more than anything because…because people didn't get it! Even her mom didn't get it and…after dad…

Another explosion. She heard something shattering and the sound of Nidoking screeching and something breaking.

"Watch out!" Mom called out.

"I got it, I got it!" Veronica frantically yelled.

Any second now, everything could fall apart and something would come down on them like a huge-ass fucking explosion and they could all die.

Why the fuck was Will risking his goddamn life for hers?

Him carrying her was painful, but fuck he was fast. He kept up a brisk pace, somewhere between walking and running, and Amber felt his muscles labor to keep up, felt his arms trembling and his chest rising and falling faster and faster as he carried her through the freezing caves. His breath came in heavy clouds of air, far more than her own.

"Yeah, fuck that guy, he's not getting up!" Veronica yelled. It sounded like she then spat on something or…knowing her, someone.

"Nearly there," Will said with impossible calm, like he had fucking icewater running through his veins instead of blood.

This fucking guy…he was serous. Will was serious about risking his own life for hers.

Then…if they really could die any moment now…"Mom…" she said. She craned her head, searching. "Mom, wait."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Her mom said, and she was there by her side in a heartbeat.

"I…I have to apologize for what…what I did before," she said. Not getting it wasn't as important as her mother getting it.

"Oh, Amber, honey…there's nothing to apologi - "

"No," Amber said. She needed her mom to understand, she needed her mom to know. "Listen…I've been a terrible daughter to you for such a long time now. I…ever since dad left, I've been ungrateful and distant. I never wanted to talk to you." The tears began flowing freely but Amber didn't care. "I always thought Dad left because of me. When that happened, it hurt…it hurt so much. I thought that if I distanced myself - pretended that you weren't my mother…If you ever were to leave…it wouldn't hurt like it did before."

"Amber!" Her mom's voice lashed out and that hurt, too.

She felt Will's grip on her tighten.

But if they were about to die in this fucking shithole, her mother needed to know. If it was the last thing she did, her mother needed to know! "I don't want you to just tolerate me! I don't want to be a burden on you! Here…Will and Venam and everybody are risking their fucking lives so that I can be safe but all I did was kick and scream! I-I'm sorry!"

Those final words loosened something in her chest, like she had been holding onto something heavy and she's just dropped it out of her hands.

The look on her mother's face set heart on fire. "Oh, Amber, I…Will, I can see the entrance from here. Please, put my girl down."

My girl.

Slowly, as gently as if she were made of glass, Will lowered her back to the ground. Then, her entire world narrowed into the sight and the sensation of her mother pulling her into a heavy, solemn hug. "My dear, sweet Amber. I love you so much. Through thick and thin, we'll be together forever. I'm not going anywhere. I'll love you no matter what. Just remember that, okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Amber sobbed. "I promise…"

"Then let's take you home!"

Amber hesitated, then pulled away from her mother long enough to look at Will and Veronica. Already, he had turned his back to them. Already, he was walking away.

Deeper into the mountain.

Where these Xen fuckers could take him away, too. They would try to do what they did before and…and they'd try to make him disappear.

Oh god. They would kill him.

"Mom…" she said with a choking voice. "Will…he's…they…"

Her mom followed her gaze. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe Amber, and then I will come back for them. I promise you I will do everything in my power to get them back to us."

Veronica paused long enough to shoot a puzzled look at Amber. She glanced at Will, then back at her and her mother. Amber expected her to start laughing or do something horrible and bitchy, but then she saw the hint of fear in Veronica's eyes, too. "Don't think you can get rid of us that easily," she said, but Amber knew that was a joke. She knew, because her eyes always laughed too when she made a stupid joke but her eyes were just filled with fear and -

"You two be careful now," Mom urged them. "I'll be back for you."

And there was nothing Amber could do except pray to whatever stupid fucking deity existed that her mom wouldn't be too late.

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

---

Something about telling Tesla and Amber to go, while he turned his back to them to continue the fight, bothered him more than it should. It was a buzzing, nagging sensation in the base of his skull and it took him the longest time to figure out why.

Blacksteeple Castle. Loved ones, wounded and vulnerable, and a decreasing window of opportunity to get them out. She had stayed behind because the consequences of not doing so had been unacceptable to her.

Now he stood where she had. Watching his own loved ones leave, knowing that he could not join them because if he did, their enemy would remain unopposed, and it would cost them all.

The disconnect in his mind wasn't quite big enough to lessen the impact of that one. It hurt. A lot.

"Urgh. Now I miss my mom," Venam groaned as she hurried to catch up to him. "We never had the best relationship either…maybe I should try and change that next time I see her."

Better late than never, Will supposed. There would be plenty of time to fix things once they got out of this hell. "Don't wait till it's too late," he quietly said. "Before you know…"

"Ah, shit," Venam murmured. "Fuck, I didn't…look I didn't mean to be - "

"Hey, it's alright," Will reassured her. "You should talk about your loved ones. Better that way."

"Yeah, you're right," Venam said. "Anything can happen at any time. I want to let my mom know how much I care about her. Alright, when we save Nim, I'm gonna introduce everyone to her! Because we WILL save her. I swear it, Will."

Yeah. They would. Because he didn't know what would happen if they didn't.

They continued to fight their way through the shifting dimensions of the mountain, changing it back and forth between its frozen and burning states as they went. Finally, they reached what appeared to be an actual outpost in the heart of the mountain.

Hoping that they'd find Melia or Nim there, Will and Venam stacked up on the door, Nidoking and Nidoqueen at the ready.

Will pointed at Venam, then gestured at the right side of the building. He hooked a thumb at himself, then gestured to the left.

She nodded.

And the two monarchs breached.

The heavy, steel doors exploded outwards as the two heavily-armored Pokemon bashed it down and Will and Venam rushed in after them. Will took in his surroundings in a single look, taking note of the familiar black floor, walls and ceiling, as well as the entrance on the other end of the room.

No Pokemon tried to claim his head. No Xen grunts appeared to oppose him. The floor was empty.

He didn't trust that one bit.

"Got nothing on the right!" Venam yelled. "Sweet, let's move on."

Before she'd even reached the halfway point of the room, a heavy steel gate slammed down from above and barred the exit.

Will half expected something similar to happen behind them as well, box them in or something, but that didn't happen.

What happened instead was that a pair of Xen grunts flung open a door at the alcove above the exit and started gloating.

"Wow…can you believe that?" The woman laughed. "William is here and actually fell for this! You were so like…"That's not gonna work, Becky!" and "He won't just walk through a base willy-nilly!" but look at us now!"

Nidoking shot a look at his female counterpart. She shook her head at him.

"Yeah, well, you got lucky," The man said. "Now let's back up - "

Nidoking looked at Will, next.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" The woman laughed. "This is just too good! Geara was all like - "

Will took a shaky breath. He nodded.

He caught a glimpse of Nidoking's toothy grin before Nidoking drew himself upright and slammed his arms down against the ground. The resulting Earth Power spiked through the floor like an eruption. Enormous mounds of sharpened, burning stones and earth sheared through the metallic walls like paper and the two Xen grunts cried out in alarm as the entire balcony came down in a violent mess.

Nidoking slammed his tail against the floor, next. The tiles shattered. The spikes he'd summoned exploded.

Venam shouted with alarm. The walls came down.

Everything crumbled.

Will glanced to his left again, spotting a staircase. "Can you handle these two?" He asked. "I'll clear out the next floor."

Not waiting for his companion to respond, Nidoking and him went upstairs next.

No more enemies awaited him upstairs. The sleeping quarters were empty. The same went for the prison cells. Nobody -

"Hey, hey! I hear footsteps out there! Are you guys willing to stop being assholes and let a sister out?" A voice exploded from the last cell. "At least come show your face so I can insult you personally!"

Frowning, Will made his way to the end of the room. There, abandoned in the last cell all the way in the corner, was Reina.

Reina.

What was she doing here?

Reina seemed equally surprised to see him. "Oh, it's actually you! Man, I lucked out!" She said with a big grin. "I tried climbing the mountain because I heard there were ruins here and lo and behold…I'm sister stuck right now."

Will stared at her. His sense of confusion was so intense that it could cut through even the fog and the disconnect in his thoughts.

She…got into the mountain without the Relics? How?

"So do ya girl a solid and get her out of here, please?" She asked, as if he would leave her there, as if he wasn't there to bust everyone out. "I'll make it up to you later, I promise!"

Wordlessly, Will began pushing buttons on the console next to her cell until he hit the sweet spot. The heavy door rolled open and Reina came hopping out. "So awesome~! Will, thanks a bunch! I'm going to make this up to you later, okay?"

"You don't need to - "

"You're going to be happy you made friends with me. Promise!" Reina insisted, looking so happy, so…unharmed.

Before Will could figure out a way to respond to that, he heard Venam screaming his name and he jolted with alarm. Without thinking, he double-timed it back downstairs again. It felt like the entire mountain had started shaking in its foundations. He heard the sound of metal groaning and rocks falling and everything shook as if something massive moved towards them.

When he came downstairs again, the situation had not improved. Venam stood her ground against a massive Steelix that had blocked the way out with its bulk.

"We have a situation!" She shouted, nestled between her Nidoqueen's front arms as the Pokemon shielded her from Steelix's attacks. "This thing just appeared out of freaking nowhere!"

Will swore. There was always something.

"That's what you get!" That same Xen grunt shouted at them from behind one of Steelix's many silvery segments. "Everything was perfect until Melia decided to waltz in here and ruin everything!"

"Melia! Where is she?" Venam yelled back.

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

"You bitch, tell me where she is or I'll - "

Will never got to find out what Venam would have done to the Xen grunt, as Steelix suddenly screeched in alarm and pulled its head back from the segment. The next instant, a hammer blow sent half its mass crashing through what was left of the gatehouse and that sent everybody scrambling for cover.

And then freaking Saki, Valarie and Adam came charging through the other wall on a freaking massive war machine that skittered on multiple mechanical, sharpened legs. It sported buzz saws and drills and was Saki wearing sunglasses?

"Wh-What the - ?" Venam weakly muttered.

"THIS SHIT TOO DAMN EASY SOMETIMES BRO!" Saki shouted. "Batabing, bataboom. I do the thing real good!"

"Saki, why didn't you install seatbelts on this thing?" Valarie shouted, hanging on for dear life as her blue hair billowed behind her. Saki steered the warmachine around in a flash and the centrifugal force nearly slung Adam out of his seat next.

"Seriously man, I've almost fallen off like three times!" He cried out.

"SEATBELTS ARE FOR PUSSIES! Will! We're here to provide support, man!" Saki shouted.

"...I cannot believe what my eyes are showing me," Venam said.

"That stupid Steelix is broke as hell now. I bet those stupid ass grunts feel stupid ass hell. Get it?"

"It's not like it's hard to grasp," Adam told her.

"Well, whatever! Me and the gang are gonna do the good thing and beat people up in other places! We cleared our six, now we gotsa clear yours!"

Before he could even muster a response, Saki shouted at the top of her lungs, "CHAAARGE!" And sent her machine skittering through the wall to his left. Within moments, the three of them were gone again.

"...I swear Will, that girl is clinically insane," Venam muttered.

Will truly, genuinely did not care. Saki could have been swinging a bloody ax around in both hands wearing a necklace of severed ears and he would still have taken her help. This…he'd never expected her war machine to actually work. It was magnificent.

And true to her word, Saki, Valarie and Adam really had cleared the rest of the through the mountain. Venam and him continued on unopposed, constantly cycling through the three different moods of the mountain until finally, they made it to the cliffside.

It was the area right below the summit, where Crawli had told him the trial's final arena awaited during normal times. From here, according to the maps, it was a straight shot to the summit.

To Melia, Jenner and Nim.

They were so close. They might actually be able to do this.

Will had already started running again when he heard Venam crying out his name. He stopped and shot her a look, only to see her staggering against the rocky wall to her right. She put her hands on her hips and gasped, struggling to catch her breath.

"Ha-Hang on…gimme…gimme a moment…" she struggled to say. "Fucking…mountain…ladders…"

"Come on Venam, we're nearly there," Will said, tugging at his friend's elbow to keep her moving. "Don't stop now."

"Not stopping," she gasped. "Just…breathing. Whoah."

Yeah, the air was feeling much thinner this high up on the mountain. To their left, they had nothing but a sheer drop. Will guessed it had to be at least a hundred meters, if not more. The sun was starting to rise, now. The battle of Route Six was still ongoing, but he couldn't see which side was winning. Worst case scenario meant they'd be looking at dozens of fresh and alert Xen grunts flooding into Valor Mountain. There was only so much that Saki, Adam and Valarie could do.

They had to hurry.

Laughter came from the trial arena up ahead. Venam and Will exchanged a puzzled look.

"That's not how you use that word. Don't worry, you'll get there."

"Did you hear that?" Venam hissed. "Sounds like people are talking…"

"Hm…I don't understand. How say that then?"

Another laugh. "It's "how would I say that then?". You missed a few words, but you're coming along great, Eli."

Will released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He recognized that voice.

Sure enough, when Venam and him rounded the corner and stepped onto the arena in front of the summit entrance, it wasn't a bunch of hardened killers or Death Wings or whatever to hold them off.

It was just Sharon and Eli. Goofing off. Having fun.

"You really think so? Wow! I almost English!"

"Mm…maybe I was wrong."

Will punched down the desire to simply send Blaziken into the fray. Maybe, if he handled this correctly, he could get past these two without bloodshed. It…his instinct yelled at him to simply go in without thinking and hurt them, but he didn't want to. Sharon and Eli were on the wrong side of history, but they were just people.

They weren't enemies, not like the others.

"Hey," Will called out. Venam shot him an uncertain look, but he didn't care.

"Ah!" Eli gasped. "How long you stand there?" He asked, alarmed.

Sharon cocked an eyebrow and shot him an amused look. "That was close, but the proper way, again, would be "how long have you two been standing there?"."

"Ah! Yes, you're right. Thank you, Sharena."

Her cheeks flushed red. "It's Sharon, but I guess at this point I'm not too fussed about it."

"You two are very confusing," Venam said.

"What's confusing?" Sharon asked without a hint of animosity. "I'm just teaching Eli some English…he asked me, after all, and what are friends for?"

Vaguely, distantly, Will could see Melia doing the same for him. "I…"

"Sharen…" Eli asked with genuine, almost childlike wonder. "We are friends?"

"W-Well of course!" Sharon stammered. "We're always being paired up on missions and stuff, I thought that much was obvious."

"Yes!" Eli happily agreed. "Friends we are!"

"I'm going to puke," Venam grumbled. "Anyway, I'm just gonna let you guys do your thing and pass on by."

"I'm feared we cannot do that, girl!" Eli said sternly.

Will sighed.

"Not perfect, but almost there," Sharon said. "But yeah, that's not going to happen. We already had to let Melia pass after she barely won against us."

"Melia came by here already?" Venam gasped.

The look on Sharon's face was anything but determined. It really looked like she didn't want to do this either. "The summit is right ahead. I can imagine she's already there."

"This doesn't have to be this way," Will said. He didn't have the time for a protracted and fair Pokemon fight. If Melia was up there, alone, she might be in terrible danger. The plan could fall apart every second.

"If it were simple, I'd just allow you all to pass, I really would," Sharon said with a pained expression.

"Actually, it's very simple," Venam said coldly . "Quit being part of Team Xen and let us by."

Sharon brought her palm to her forehead. "It's clear you don't know a damn thing about Team Xen. On our person, we carry a green gem and the letter X. This is the mark of death - it's what defines us as individuals in this group. Once you have this mark, you're at their full disposal."

I wanted to see my mother's grave before…it happens.

No. No, not again…

"Ah, no," Will groaned. "Not you…not you guys as well."

"Huh? What them as well?" Venam asked.

Sharon turned away. "If we were to lose to you right now…I feel like…that would be the end of us."

Eli just silently stared at Will.

Sharon ran her hands through her hair and then, shakily, addressed her comrade. Her friend. "Eli, I've made a decision."

"A…decision?"

Sharon took his hands in her own and goddamn it. God fucking damn it. "I'm going to do everything I can to defeat them here and now. Please help me defeat them, Eli! We won't be thrown away by Team Xen."

"Guys - !" Will said warningly.

"Y-Yeah!"A shaken Eli told her. "Let's win!"

"Let's win," Sharon said. She smiled. She had tears in her eyes.

Rage exploded within his guts. It felt hot and nasty and nauseating. Even when none of them wanted to, Team Xen still found a way to turn what could have been friends into bitter enemies. Somehow, everything became a fight to the death with these people. He was sick of it. So sick of it.

He'd liked Sharon. He'd liked Eli.

And now he was going to be responsible for their deaths.

"This is going to be easy," Venam said, smirking as she did.

Again, they engaged each other in a pitched double battle. All of their Pokemon were fully evolved, now. But so were all of Venam's Pokemon. Sharon and Eli were still tired from the fight against Melia, to boot.

But that didn't stop the pair from putting up fierce resistance.

"We won't let Team Xen throw us away!" Sharon yelled as she sent out her Mismagius, while Eli joined in with Honchkrow.

"Goddamnit girl! You need to seriously chill!" Venam snapped back, sending Toxtricity into the fray. .

"You don't know! You don't know anything!"

Will decided to bet on Froslass's ability to handle both of these opponents, deciding to let his Ghost-type support Venam and let her Toxtricity take charge.

"Your people won't keep Nim or Professor Jenner! We won't allow it!"

Together with her Electric-type partner, Froslass wasted no time in knocking Honchkrow out of the air with a well-placed Blizzard. Mismagius pressed her with its Ghost-type attacks however, but all that led to was a game of hide-and-seek between the two ghosts while Venam knocked out Eli's Milotic as well.

Knowing that he would have to face Geara's Giratina at the summit, Will made the call to preserve their strength. Froslass and Pidgeot were his tactical counter to the immense power that the Xen Legendary could bring to bear, so he couldn't afford her to expend her energy on these two.

So he recalled her and sent out Axew instead. Meanwhile, Venam switched out her Toxtricity for her Venusaur, serving as an ideal counter to Sharon's Lickilicky.

"She's up there, Axew" Will told his little dragon, gesturing up at the summit. "We can save her, but I need you to be strong. Can you do that?"

Axew flicked his ruby eyes up at the summit.

"It won't be at the expense of our lives!" Sharon yelled at him. "Tangrowth, use Vine Whip!"

"Defend yourself with Scratch!"

The stocky Grass-type lashed out with a thick, whip-like tendril. It cracked through the air and Axew slashed at it with his stubby little claws, which trailed white light as he hacked away at the incoming vine.

Without the draconic energy he used for his ranged attacks, however, Axew was unable to cause any damage to the thick vine. Tangrowth retracted his appendage, repositioned and then attacked again. Its limb lashed out again and when Axew tried to bat it away from him, a second Vine Whip from Tangrowth struck him across his stomach. Axew flinched back.

"Use Bulldoze to knock him off his feet, then finish him with Power Whip!" Sharon ordered.

"Axew, use Dragon Rage!" Will shouted.

Tangrowth was faster. It hopped into the air and slammed its bulk into the ground, sending seismic pulses shooting through the ground. The rocks beneath Axew began quaking as if being rapidly pulled back and forth by a pair of enormous, invisible hands and when Axew unleashed Dragon Rage, the orb was a clean miss. It impacted one of the pillars to the left of the Tangrowth and blasted it clean in half.

Not even a second later Tangrowth lashed out with a heavy tentacle and violently flung Axew off his feet. The little dragon tumbled across the ground and slammed into the leftmost wall. He slumped to the ground, and for a moment Will thought that was it.

"Get up Axew!" He called out. "We can't afford to let them beat us!"

But his tiny Tusk Pokemon was made of sterner stuff. Axew slowly shoved himself back to his feet again.

Sharon believed she was fighting for her and Eli's life. Will understood that - he even respected that.

But theirs weren't the only lives in jeopardy.

"She's counting on us!"

Axew tore his gaze off the Tangrowth and looked up at the summit. He knew. He knew just as well as the rest of them that this wasn't a fight they could lose.

A flash of brilliant light erupted from his body. It consumed his entire frame, shrouding it from view and hiding it for sight. Rays of white light shot from the sphere of light, before it suddenly faded away and a much larger figure appeared where Axew once stood.

Sharon ordered another attack and Tangrowth lashed out with another whip-like tentacle. It snapped through the air and struck -

The dragon caught the whip around his green and armored forearm. It wrapped around his limb and Tangrowth attempted to jerk it back, but Fraxure stomped down with his leg, his red claws digging deep into the rocks as he whipped his head around. His long, red-tipped tusks sliced through Tangrowth's vine with nary a hint of resistance and the Grass-type staggered backwards as its limb suddenly went slack.

"Use Dragon Rage!" Will ordered.

Blue light gathered on Fraxure's stomach as he drew his head in.

"Tangrowth, quick, dodge it!" Sharon ordered.

Fraxure blasted his foe with a powerful explosion of blue and black energy. Tangrowth flung itself to the side, but the difference was negligible. The sphere of draconic energy exploded across the arena, carving a fiery scar across the stones and sending a wave of concussive force through the area. Will thought he heard something like a disembodied roar echoing across the arena, but it could have simply been the noise of the explosion.

"No!" Sharon exclaimed. "Tangrowth, get up! You have to get up!"

"Get closer, finish it in close quarters!" Will ordered mercilessly.

The newly-evolved Fraxure seemed to be leaner than the stocky Axew. Its body was sharper, more angular and with heavy layers of greeny armor surrounding his neck and torso. It moved with greater speed and force than the tiny Axew ever could have. Draconic energy took the shape of purple streaks accompanying his bulk as he lunged towards his fallen foe.

Tangrowth did get up and it even managed to lash out with a pair of its thick, whip-like vines.

"Slice through, don't let them stop you!" Will said.

Fraxure shielded his face with one arm and thrust his other claw out as he barreled towards his foe. The line of purple energy enveloped his claw as he caught Tangrowth's vine with his outstretched claws - and cleaved right through them.

Tangrowth's other vine cracked through the air and slammed into Fraxure's body with enough force to snap a human's arm, but the dragon simply didn't care. It bounced off of his armored neck and then, Fraxure was right in Tangrowth's face. With a streak of purple light, he ripped his claw through the final portion of his foe's tentacle and slashed across its face.

The blow packed enough force to send the much-larger and heavier plant-type rolling across the arena, before coming to a bone-jarring halt against one of the pillars.

"Holy shit Will, your Pokemon always evolve at the most badass fucking moments," Venam said.

"Even when we try our hardest…" Sharon said. She fell to her knees. She laughed. It was a short, bitter noise. "I really don't know what I expected here. Did I delude myself into thinking we had a chance against you two?" She laughed again. A hollow, broken laugh. "What an absolute joke! I even had Eli fooled as well!"

Will had expected Fraxure to make like Nidoking and roar in victory, but his dragon did no such thing. Slowly, Fraxure's posture eased. He brought the tips of his right claws together, shook off the goop from Tangrowth's vines and then turned to look at the pair of Xen grunts.

"Sherin, it's going to be okay," Eli said, trying to console her. He looked so awkward. So uncertain. Did the guy even know what was about to happen? "Please calm down…"

"Eli, don't you know it's pointless!" Sharon snapped at him and Eli backed away in shock. "You know what comes next, don't you? We've failed, and failed, and failed. Time and time again, we've failed. There's no mercy for members like us. We'll be decommissioned, and then…"

Sharon suddenly cut herself off. Her expression became blank and calm. Wordlessly, she pushed past Eli and walked away.

Towards the cliff.

"Sherin, where are you going?" Eli cried out. He ran after her.

Will watched them go. He felt angry and scared and burning with pride for his little Axew. All those emotions vied for control over his thoughts. None won. He turned to Venam, at a loss.

She stared after the pair. "Hmph. She should've saved us the trouble if she knew she was going to lose."

Will looked at her. Would you? He wanted to ask her.

But he didn't. What would be the point? It didn't matter. All that mattered was the Plan. Find Melia, find Jenner, find Nim. Get them out.

Nothing else could be allowed to matter.

He turned to walk away -

And Eli's anguished screaming stopped him in his tracks. "Sharien! Stop! Don't do that!"

"Goddamnit, what is it now?" Venam snapped.

It didn't matter. Sharon and Eli were as good as dead. They knew it. He had to accept that.

But Venam…Venam swore as she whirled around and hurried back down the way they came, towards Eli and Sharon.

And…Will didn't understand why. Venam had dismissed them before, hadn't she? She'd made the call that she couldn't feel for them, hadn't she?

He didn't get it.

"Will!" She shouted in alarm. "Get over here, fast!"

His head hurt.

But he still ran after her.

"Whoa whoah," Venam urged Sharon upon reaching her. "I know we've had our differences, but don't do anything rash!"

Sharon stood on the edge of the cliff. She was about to jump. Eli stood behind her. He stared.

The distance was too great. He wouldn't make it in time. None of them would. Maybe with Pidgeot. Maybe with Froslass. Maybe -

"If you think doing this will solve your problems, you're just wrong!" Venam continued.

"Does it matter?" Sharon shouted back. She should have been hysterical. She wasn't. Her eyes were calm. Her body was tense. Wound tight like a spring. "We're going to die either way. I want to do it on my terms." Her voice wasn't calm though. It sounded all cracked. Frantic. "I'm so tired of this world. I'm so tired of living through this constant hell. I never asked for this…I wish they would've just left me the way I was before."

They? Who was "they"?

"Sharly, please," Eli begged. "I thought you said we were friends?"

This was happening too sudden, too fast. Will couldn't pull his thoughts away from the fighting, couldn't adjust to this new variable in time. He needed -

In a swirl of black energy, Crescent flickered into existence between Eli and Sharon. "Please, stop with this melodrama. We've heard enough of this."

Eli gasped and flinched back at the sight of his raven-haired enemy. Chances were, even he knew who and what Crescent was.

"You know what they say about people who hesitate," Crescent darkly said. "All they need is a little push in their life."

Sharon was still in the process of turning around when Crescent planted her right hand between her shoulderblades and shoved her off.

"Sharon!" Eli shouted. He threw himself towards the edge, diving past Crescent as if he could have somehow snatched Sharon's hands or something, He couldn't. He came to a rough stop atop the rocks and his hands clawed through empty air.

Will heard the girl scream all the way down.

"Crescent?!" Venam gasped, watching in horror. "What the hell did you just do!"

Slowly, Will turned his gaze downwards at Eli, who still lay frozen at the edge of the cliff, staring at the spot where Sharon had disappeared. Eli, his enemy. Eli, the strange grunt who stood between him and Melia. Eli…the harmless idiot who loved his partner so much that he'd been willing to die with her.

And it just felt wrong.

"Goddamnit Crescent!" Will shouted. Without thinking, he snatched her outstretched arm by its wrist and pulled it down and towards him. In that instant, Gothitelle flickered into existence mere feet away from him. Her eyes flashed with deadly intent and she raised her left arm, gathering a swirling mass of energy ready to obliterate him.

A split-second later, Kirlia teleported in-between Will and Gothitelle, a red glow coalescing around her body as she too gathered energy, ready to throw herself at whatever this hostile Pokemon would do to her trainer.

"Fuck!" Venam shouted. "What the hell are you two doing?!"

Crescent quirked a brow in an expression of annoyed surprise. She glanced down at Will's wrist intently, then leveled her gaze back at him. The intensity of those blood-red eyes of hers should have driven him to release her in that instant, but Will's mind swam with adrenaline, aggression and sheer indignation. For once, he didn't care about Crescent's desires..Enough was enough.

"We beat her," He snapped. "She was harmless!"

"She is, now," Crescent told him without a shred of remorse.

"Why did you just push Sharon off?!" Venam shouted. "She's dead because of you!"

"I just did what she asked," Crescent said without taking her eyes. Something in that hard, unyielding gaze turned questioning, as if she couldn't quite understand what he was doing. "She wanted to go out on her own terms. Again, Sharon hesitated. She would've never done it if I had not intervened." She glanced over her shoulder, back at the cliff's edge. "In the hell she spawns from, she's thanking me."

Of all the people Crescent could have killed. All the horrible scum out there, she decided that it had been Sharon and freaking Eli she needed to hurt?

"We had defeated her," Will said, gritting his teeth in frustration. "This was murder."

His words visibly struck a nerve. The muscles around her mouth tightened, and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Do not preach morality to me, Will," she said. "I saw you in action. I saw the things you did when you were alone. It made me think you had finally come around to seeing things my way."

"I…"

"You must have left dozens of broken men and women in your wake. Did you offer them a chance to surrender? Did you even stop to think before you left the unlucky survivors to drown or freeze in the sea?"

…he hadn't. Because…because he hadn't been thinking at all. Adrenaline and stress and sheer, single-minded will to break through, those had been on his mind. Nothing else. Nothing rational, that was.

The realization was sickening. Had he…had he even had the time to think about that? In the haze of adrenaline and the confidence and the certainty that had come with the ranger stimulants, only one thing had really mattered to him: moving forwards.

And damn everything that got in his way, right?

He felt sick. Shaken, he let go of her wrist.

"Will, what's she talking about?" Venam asked.

"Team Xen shouldn't be considered human, but scum," Crescent continued contritely. "Latching onto everything they see and destroying it. I'm just here to fix the problem. That's all." The look she gave him seemed genuinely puzzled. "The bodies you piled up today proved that you understand this, too."

"That's not the same," he weakly replied.

Everybody could hear the lack of conviction in his voice. "Why? Because you tasked your Pokemon with the maiming? I have opinions about your motivation, Will, especially regarding some of your…tools, but I know a killer when I see one."

Venam sucked in a breath and…her reaction made something raw beneath his ribs ache.

Will said nothing. He felt torn between frustration at his inability to refute Crescent words, and something that was one part horror and one part resignation. Horror because he felt like what Crescent said was right, that it made sense.

Resignation because he was pretty sure when this was over, neither Melia nor Venam would want to be friends with him anymore, and he would be all alone again.

Just like Crescent.

Exactly like Crescent.

"Sharon…" Eli weakly said. "I'm…I'm sorry about things. I know I don't try hard enough. And…I know we fail. But…" he shook his head. "It was fun to fail with you by me." With a weary sigh, he climbed back to his feet and turned away from the cliff. "If only I could hear your voice again…"

A second later, a screaming Sharon came flying over the edge of the cliff, tumbled across the rocks and rolled to a stop against one of the larger boulders.

"I can even still hear her!" Eli gasped, oblivious to the orange-haired girl who had just sailed over his head. "Sharon! Come back!"

Feeling utterly lost, Will could only stare as Sharon slowly raised her head, muttered, "Pain…" and then dropped it again.

"Sharon!" Eli yelled, hurrying to his partner's side. Venam too ran towards the Xen grunt, dropping right next to her to assess her injuries. "Sharon, you're living? But how?"

"I'm…so confused," Venam said.

Something like disappointment touched Crescent's expression. "Hmph."

The sounds of metal crashing into stone betrayed the machine's presence moments before Saki's freaking war machine came scuttling over the cliff's edge like the world's most motivated rock climber.

"HIGH HO!" Saki yelled, adjusting her sunglasses before turning her machine to bear on Crescent. "As long as we're on the patrol, ain't no one dyin' today!"

He almost wilted in relief. "Saki?" Will muttered.

Somehow, Crescent managed to look at the nightmarish contraption put together by the sickest recesses of Saki Blakeory's mind, and appear bored.

"Saki!" Venam shouted. "This is actually the one time I'm super glad to see you!"

"Who's this?" Valarie asked with contempt. "Another Team Xen Admin?"

"Don't compare me to those worthless garbage cans," Crescent said with just the barest hint of annoyance.

"So you're just being a pest then?" Adam said, as cool and collected as ever. "Got it."

Crescent looked from Saki to Valarie to Adam. She blinked. "You're not saving her by doing this, you know? You're prolonging the inevitable. Sharon and Eli, along with the rest of Team Xen shall meet oblivion eventually. Such is the nature of their design."

But…even so…

"The only thing that's nature by design is your shitty attitude, hoe," Saki snapped at Crescent.

And for the first time since he knew her, something like genuine emotion played over her features. Anger, in this case, which wasn't the improvement Will had thought it would be. "It's clear to me that you're all just ignorant. Living in a world of black and white. Good versus evil, strong versus weak." She shook her head with disgust. "You're going to get a hard dose of reality, and when you do, I'll laugh."

Val flicked her hair out over her shoulder. "Alright, I've heard enough. Saki, are you ready?"

Saki grinned like a maniac. "I'm about to have a GAMER MOMENT."

"Fine…" Crescent sighed. "You want to fight? Then let's do it somewhere I'm more comfortable."

"Crescent, wait - " Will said, but it was too late. Swirling shadows engulfed Crescent as well as Saki's entire machine. A heartbeat later, everyone was gone.

He blew out a frustrated sigh. A raging torrent of emotions battered at the gates of his mind, hot and unyielding. He couldn't handle it all, it was too much, too much -

"What the fuck is happening! Who is that girl even!" Venam demanded. "And you!" She jabbed a finger at Sharon's direction. "Sharon! Just…just don't do that to Eli again, okay? Speaking from experience, the burden of losing your loved one…it's just too much to bear sometimes. We're just trying not to go through that again, yeah?"

"I'm sorry," Sharon wailed.

"Everyone, please continue behind," Eli yelled after them.

"Ahead…" Sharon muttered.

Too much was happening, too much for his thoughts to process. The enormity of what he had done,the enormity of the task still at hand, it howled at him from beyond those gates. He couldn't let them in. He had to keep them at bay, if only for another hour. Then…

"Will!"

Consequences. Feelings. There would be time for everything. He couldn't walk away from that if he wanted to. Just…not now. Not now.

"We have to go," he forced the words out. He tore himself away from that edge and towards the arena they had first engaged Sharon and Eli. The summit - and Melia - were right ahead.

"Wait, hang the fuck on Will, what Crescent just said - "

"It's not important," he said with as much grace as he could muster.

Venam ran up to him. She jerked him back by his shoulder. "The hell it's not! Why'd you let her talk all that mad shit to your face?"

Because she's right. "Because it's not important," he said through clenched teeth. He shook her hand off.

"Not important?" Venam exclaimed. "We're talking about lives and killing people and shit! How the fuck is that not important? You're not some freaking sociopath are you?"

Furious, Will whirled to face her. How dared she - how dared she!

There were a dozen things he wanted to yell at her. None of them useful. He took a breath and forced himself to say calm to the best of his abilities. "We're here to find Melia, aren't we? That's all that matters."

"Fine!" Venam spat. "But this crap is getting a fucking follow-up!"

Venam didn't talk to him after that. Fuming, she stomped ahead, and Will let her. He let her simmer in her emotions. He let his head throb and hurt. They were nearly there.

He could only hope that they weren't too late.

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

---

AN: The fight to save Tesla and Amber was one of those moments I know a lot of people were hyped for and with good reason! It's a pivotal moment in Amber's life, one that I really hope to reflect when the aftermath of the battle of Valor Mountain comes knocking on the door of Chapter 35. For now, I can only hope that I didn't disappoint too many people. To me, simply beating Kyogre and then watching our favorite redheads (and Madelis) pop back into existence wouldn't be enough. I knew I had to feed my addiction for drama in some other way, so onto the altar it went for another ritual sacrifice.

I made the call to focus less on the physical Pokemon battle with Sharon and Eli, because that wasn't the point of the confrontation. The conflict leading up to and directly following the battle was much more important to me, especially when Crescent made her appearance, which leads us directly to…

More conflict driving our characters. Friends getting along is cute and fluffy and allows me to write moments *they* need. Friends lashing out at each other in times of extreme stress and horrible duress is necessary as well, (to me at least) and allows me to write moments giving *us* a vital insight in how they tick. To me, conflict is the soul of a story. We have a lot of soul to get to.

Enough rambling. Thank you all for sticking with this story for this long and I will see you all (relatively soon I hope) with the next update!