Chapter 42: Blood Soaked Moonlight
A few minutes earlier…
Hibiki and Melody both watched on from the relative safety of the staircase room, the two just making sure they didn't need to step in. "Are you sure this plan is going to work?" Melody questioned, a hit of worry in her voice.
"Don't worry Melody, it will work. It has to work otherwise we're done here." Hibiki responded in a reassuring tone.
"I hope you're right about that. Speaking of, do you think Sigma needs help?" Melody said in a curious tone.
"Nah, he's got this." Hibiki told Melody. Melody nodded as and was going to say something to pass the time before Hibiki heard something and reached out to catch a Master Ball that was thrown at Melody. "You realize that I have good hearing right?" Hibiki called out in an annoyed tone. Melody quickly floated behind Hibiki for cover as they heard someone walking up the stairs and Shika came into view.
"I figured, but an attempt had to be made." Shika told Hibiki, a bit of disappointment in her voice. Hibiki narrowed her eyes at Shika for a moment, not recognizing who was in front of her, but understood who she was.
"... Given how the resort is on lock down and no one had been reported as moving in or out prior to us coming here, I take it that you must be S then?" Hibiki questioned in an alert tone.
"Correct, but I'm sure you must have at least an idea of who I am at this point. After all, Solion is here." Shika said in a kind tone. Hibiki tilted her head in confusion before her eyes went wide as she remembered the picture from Symphia's expedition.
"Shika?" Hibiki asked, a hint of venom in her voice.
"Bingo my dear Hibiki." Shika responded.
"You know, I would have thought you would be more aggressive with me trying to get to Melody." Hibiki told Shika.
"I could, but where's the fun in immediately doing that? No, I want to talk with you first." Shika responded.
"And do what, get me to join Neo Cypher?" Hibiki questioned. Shika simply chuckled at that with a smile, which gave Hibiki a sense of unease as Melody poked out.
"As much as I would like to, no. I can tell that you're not the kind of person that would agree to that no matter how much I try to sell it to you. No, I want to talk about something else." Shika said kindly.
"What would that be?" Hibiki responded, keeping her distance from Shika.
"Simply, I want to talk to you about your little friend here." Shika told HIbiki, looking at Melody as she said that.
"Why do you want to talk about Melody?" Hibiki asked.
"Well, I figured you would just like to hear the reason why we're after your little friend there. Good name choice by the way." Shika said.
"I already know the reason, so you can stop the two of us from being able to purify Shadow Pokemon." Hibiki responded.
"Ah, well you're right on the second part of that, we do want to stop you from being able to purify shadows. The thing you have wrong is assuming that we want Melody for that." Shika explained. Hibiki was a bit caught off guard by what Shika said and thought about what she said as Melody started to shake nervously, her breathing growing tenser as she realized exactly what Shika meant.
"The hell do you mean you don't want her to stop the purification?" Hibiki questioned. In response to that, Shika simply chuckled as she put her hands behind her back and turned away from Hibiki.
"Oh my dear Hibiki, you can drop the farce. I know that Melody isn't the Meloetta we're after." Shika commented in a devilish tone. Hibiki went silent as she felt herself tense up, carefully looking at the door before she looked back at Shika.
"Ok, let's assume you're right and I do know what you're talking about." Hibiki began to say.
"Don't even give me any of that, I know that you and her have a psychic link so you can talk to each other without hearing, so you definitely know about this." Shika retorted, cutting Hibiki off of her original comment as she turned back around.
"Then why go after her at all?!" Hibiki snapped out.
"I see I pushed a button there, apologies. Anyway, the reason why we need her is because she is good bait for our true target." Shika exposited. Melody took a deep breath before floating next to Hibiki with an angry look on her face, glaring at Shika along with Hibiki. "Ah, the little target finally faces me." Shika said.
"Melody, get back behind me." Hibiki ordered in a firm yet kind tone. Melody didn't listen as she stayed next to Hibiki, who simply sighed and nodded in understanding. Shika was going to say something before something caught her eyes out of the rooftop door's window.
"Ah, I see that Master Ball wouldn't have worked even if it did land. Honestly, I didn't think you could get something like that done in the time we gave you, but I must commend your hard work." Shika commented, a bit of a scowl appearing on her face. Hibiki simply smiled as she understood what the comment meant, looking outside to see Sigma's Meowscada landing the finishing blow on Solion's Claydol.
"Helps to be prepared for stuff like that." Hibiki said, turning back to Shika. Shika nodded in agreement before smiling and getting a Pokeball from her back pocket.
"Oh so true, and luckily for me, I just so happen to have something that fits that description for me." Shika commented menacingly. Hibiki tilted her head before Shika tossed the ball up and called out the corrupted Cresselia, making Hibiki go still with shock.
"No way…" Hibiki said in a horrified voice.
"That's right, you've probably been looking for Luna for a bit or at least wondering where she was. Though I doubt you would have found her even if you had a clue to her location." Shika told Hibiki, a sadistic tone creeping into her voice. Hibiki just stared on in silence as Melody attempted to shake her back to awareness to no avail. "Now then, Bloodmoon Blast." Shika ordered.
"...PROTECT!" Hibiki screamed out, her senses returning to her as she processed the attack. Melody quickly nodded before dashing in front of Hibiki, putting up a barrier between the two of them as Luna launched a blast of pure red energy at the two of them.
Current time…
Hibiki breathed in and out as Shika kept laughing, the others too stunned to even do anything. "You ok?" Hibiki mentally asked Melody.
"Yeah, though this is an absolutely horrendous situation. I take it that you're not going to back down?" Melody responded.
"No, not at all. Especially not after seeing she had Luna." Hibiki said quietly, a hint of anger in her voice.
"Figured as much given your earlier reaction, but what can we even do? We both know that I'm not strong enough to stop her." Melody questioned. Hibiki paused for a moment as she looked over the situation once again and took a breath to calm herself.
"As much as I would like to say attempt to catch her, I don't think I want to risk Shika having another Master Ball on her." Hibiki responded.
"True enough, so I guess that leaves one option?" Melody commented.
"Plan S?" Hibiki asked. Melody simply nodded in confirmation, making Hibiki take a deep breath before nodding in affirmation. "Ok, let's get it done then." Hibiki said quietly as she stood up.
"Ok, now I think I should probably wrap this up quickly. Luna, use Shadow Bind." Reika ordered. Luna obliged as she opened her mouth and prepared to launch a ball of shadow at Echo's group until Melody dashed up and punched Luna to the side in Pirouette form.
"Melody?" Echo thought to herself as she turned to Hibiki. As she looked over to her sister, Hibiki had a look of determination and sadness on her face. Hibiki noticed Echo looking at her and gave a quick nod before focusing on Melody.
"Cherry, what should we do?" Sigma questioned, a bit panicked at the situation.
"I… I don't know. This is not in our plan, but this also isn't exactly something we can ignore." Cherry responded. Echo paused as she thought about what to do before nodding to herself and looking at her companions.
"Both of you get out of here, me and Hibiki can least stall her for long enough for you to report back." Echo told the two.
"Are you crazy? You two can't take that th- your friend alone." Sigma responded. Echo was going to say something, but Echo looked over just in time to see an attack coming their way and pushed Sigma out of the way as she jumped back herself. Cherry was going to say something to talk Echo out of this, but caught a glimpse of something in here eye that made her pause and think about something.
"Let's go Sigma." Cherry said in a relatively calm tone.
"What?!" Sigma exclaimed as Echo got a Pokeball out.
"Echo wants us to trust her and Hibiki on this and if I know those two, they've probably pictured this scenario in their heads for a while. They have a plan and they know what they're doing, we just have to trust them." Cherry explained. Sigma was going to snap back with something, but stopped when he saw Meowscada shivering in fear.
"...Ok then, we're heading back." Sigma said through his teeth. Echo simply nodded as Sigma recalled Meowscada and the two ran to the edge of the platform.
"Oh and where do you two think you're going?" Shika questioned as she noticed Cherry and Simga running for the edge. Echo quickly called out Psy as he took one look at the situation and got ready to fight.
"Don't even think about it, Psy use Psycho Cut." Psy nodded as he launched blades of energy at Luna, who simply dodged out of the way of the attack.
"Ah, I see both of her granddaughters are willing to fight their old friend. Well far be it from me to deny that request. Luna, Shadow Wave!" Luna nodded as she sent out two balls of darkness that flew towards Melody and Psy. The two both dodged the attacks as Echo ran to Hibiki's side, getting a small smile and nod from her sister.
"Melody, use Swords Dance and follow it up with Relic Song!" Melody nodded as she took an offensive stance before opening her mouth and letting out a song that damaged Luna a bit, shifting Melody into Pirouette form.
"Psy, use Shadow Claw." Psy quickly dashed up and gave Luna a slashed with a shadowy claw and although the attack was effective, it didn't seem to damage Luna much.
"Sad to say, your normal attacks aren't going to work well on her. Luna, Shadow Rave!" Luna concentrated as her Shadow Aura flared up, Echo and Hibiki both seeing the aura without any extra means, before sending energy into the ground. Psy and Melody quickly jumped out of the way to dodge the attack, though they both were still clipped by the pillars of shadow energy that emerged from the ground.
"Melody, keep the pressure up with Triple Axle." Melody jumped into the air before encasing her legs with ice and delivering a spinning kick, bouncing up and doing that maneuver two more times, dealing damage as she noticed something.
"We have to be able to get through!" Echo exclaimed as Psy kept his distance. Hibiki nodded in agreement as she looked over at Melody and was about to order another attack when she saw Melody flipping back towards her with a confident look on her face. Hibiki was silent before nodding and whispering something to her sister. "... Ok then, let's do it. Psy, get in close with Aerial Ace and follow it up with Poison Jab!"
"I don't know what your plan is, but it won't work. Use Shadow Storm!" Luna nodded as she cried out and launched gusts of wind at the Pokemon and Trainers.
"Melody, get in front of Psy and use Protect!" Melody did as she was told, quickly jumping in front of Psy and using Protect, forming a barrier that the winds bounced off of as Psy continued to run up. Psy nodded at Melody before jumping high out of the barrier and diving towards Luna giving a quick slash as he landed on the other side of Luna, spinning as his fists glowed with purple energy.
"Shadow Break!" Luna turned to face Psy, charging up an attack as she attempted to ram Psy.
"Use Teleport now!" In an instant, Melody appeared behind Luna as the sisters dashed out of the way of remnants of the Shadow Gale attack. "Shadow Claw!" Melody let out a cry as she went in for the attack as Psy smiled and slid under Luna, the two pokemon landing their attacks simultaneously and causing Luna to let out a cry of pain.
"Ho, you actually managed to damage her." Shika said, a tad impressed by the action.
"I have so many things I could say to you, but I do have to admire how resourceful you are." Hibiki reluctantly said.
"Ah, you noticed the little trick with the aura…or was that Melody? Suppose it doesn't matter because this gives me a chance, Shadow Burst." Melody and Psy both went wide eyed as Luna gathered energy around herself before unleashing it, both of them too close to react as they were tossed away, Psy landing close to Echo and Melody being flung behind them to the edge of the roof, though she was still on.
"Melody!" Hibiki yelled out as she turned to check on her partner. Melody slowly got up and nodded in confirmation before hearing something, causing her to look over the edge of the building.
"Hibiki, get Melody back in her Pokeball! This is a losing battle!" Echo called out as she made sure Psy was all right, getting out his Pokeball. Hibiki nodded as she went to grab Melody's Pokeball, before looking up at Luna and saw her glaring at Echo.
"Bloodmoon Blast." Shika ordered. Luna hesitated at first, looking at Echo, before she cried out in pain and started to charge the attack. Echo looked up and was like a deer in headlights as she saw Luna getting ready to attack her, before she heard someone running up to her.
"Echo!" Hibiki yelled as she tackled her sister out of the way. As Echo landed, she looked at Hibiki, who put up a barrier around herself as she took the brunt of the attack, the barrier holding for a few seconds before the attack exploded. The barrier immediately shattered and Hibiki cried out as she was immediately launched towards Melody, who was looking on in horror as landed and rubles off the building, though she managed to grab the ledge and was hinging on with both hands.
"HIBIKI!" Echo exclaimed as the shock wore off and she attempted to go help her sister.
"Shadow Hold." Shika said coldly. Echo immediately attempted to dodge, but was caught by shadowy chains that wrapped around her body and tied her to the floor. "Apologies, but I can't let you help her." Shika said, a somber yet sadistic tone in her voice.
"Let me go! Hibiki!" Echo yelled out as she struggled against the chains. She heard Shika walk up behind her before seeing her walk into her vision, a sad smile on her face.
"You know, it didn't have to be like this. The both of you could have just handed Melody over and joined me, nothing would have happened." Shika told Echo.
"Bullshit!" Echo screamed. Shika sighed as she looked up and got out Luna's Pokeball and recalled her, before her smile disappeared and she gave a sadistic grin.
"I suppose you're right about that." Shika said, getting out a knife. Echo immediately tensed up as Shika walked behind her and looked over to Melody, who had turned and noticed the action. "All right little one, I'm going to give you and your trainer an offer. Either you drop your trainer off the side of the building and come with me or I take her with me." Shika yelled out, putting the knife to Echo's throat.
"Get Hibiki up Melody! I can take care of myself." Echo screamed out.
"No you can't." Shika responded in a small chuckle.
"Says you." Echo told Shika. In response, Shika moved the knife a little closer drawing a bit of blood as Melody took a step towards the two before Melody turned back to Hibiki, who was struggling to do it. There was a moment of tense silence as Melody looked between her two options, looking very pained between the two before a voice broke the silence.
"Melody do it!" Hibiki screamed out in a strained voice. Echo felt her blood run cold as she looked at Hibiki's hands that were gripping the edge of the building and saw them shaking.
"Hibiki…" Echo said in an exasperated voice, not believing what she heard.
"I don't want to be narcisistic here, but I can feel my grip slipping and I don't know how I would handle you getting taken Echo." Hibiki told Echo.
"Quiet you idiot, how do you think I would feel!?" Echo called out, Reika deciding to keep quiet and draw the knife away from Echo's neck.
"And how do you think I feel about this!" Hibiki yelled out. She immediately yipped as she felt one hand slip and was focusing all her strength on holding on. "Please… just let me be selfish this one time." Hibiki squeaked out. Echo was going to say something before barely hearing the click of a Pokeball and pausing, taking a moment to see if Reika heard the same thing, givng a momentary smile at the lack of reaction.
"...Do it Melody." Echo said solemnly. Melody hesitated for a moment before nodding as she walked up to where Hibiki's hand was before pausing as she held Hibiki and let her go. Suspicious of foul play, Shika dashed up to the side of the building and watched as she did see Hibiki falling towards the lake, looking around to see if there was any retrieval ready and finding nothing.
"Huh, she actually did it. I didn't think you would actually let her go like that." Shika admitted, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"It's what she wanted…" Echo responded, a mix of venom and sadness in her voice.
"For what it's worth, even if I knew that this was always going to happen, it's not something I would have wished on anyone." Shika told Echo. Echo was silent for a moment before giving a small chuckle and looking at Shika.
"Guess you do have a bit of humanity left in you after all." Echo said.
"It is kind of hard to get rid of. Speaking of though, I am a woman of my word. Luna, release her." Shika responded. Luna nodded before the shadowy chans disappeared, leaving Echo to stay where she was as she processed the events. "I take it you'll follow me without question?" Shika asked Melody. Melody simply nodded in response before walking over to Echo, SHika not stopping her from doing so.
"So… she really did it huh?" Echo asked Melody, still in disbelief. Melody sadly nodded in response, causing Echo to give a heavy sigh. "Well if it means anything, we're going to save you no matter what." Echo declared, a faint confidence in her voice. Melody gave a small smile before nodding as Shika walked next to Echo.
"The confidence is appreciated, but I don't think you'll be able to do so. You don't even know where our base is." Shika told Echo.
"Maybe not, but we can try." Echo said as she got up.
"The attempts would be appreciated, now get out of here before my kindness runs out." Shika said, her malice from earlier returning. Echo simply nodded as she walked over to Melody's Pokeball, picked it up with no argument from Shika, and headed to where the elevator was located. As the elevator opened, she took one last at Melody before the door closed and she headed down to the ground floor. Melody sighed as she watched Echo leave before hearing Shika walk up to her, turning to face her as Shika recalled Luna and got out a Dragonite.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Shika ordered, walking over to Solion and picking his unconscious body up. Melody nodded as she helped Shika carry Solion over to Dragonite, putting the unconscious man on their back before Shika and Melody hopped on by themselves. "Sigma packs a punch huh? Thought he would have woken up by now." Shika commented as he looked over Solion's body. Melody simply nodded as the Dragonite took flight and the group flew off towards the ocean, Melody took a look back at the resort and the utterly ruined roof before giving a smile that Shika couldn't see.
IPP HQ, early the next morning…
It was the crack of dawn as Echo woke up from her brief and helpful sleep, feeling a bit more refreshed than she was hours earlier. Still, she didn't have the greatest sleep, the events at the end of the night being constantly replayed in her mind. "Oh god, please still be alive. I don't want to lose my sister to some quick decision even if it was her idea." Echo thought to herself anxiously as she sat in bed. Echo's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at her door, startling her a bit.
"Hey Echo, Looker said we would be meeting up in about five minutes." Cherry said in a cautious tone.
"...I'll be right out." Echo said as she got out of bed.
"Still a bit shaken?" Cherry asked.
"A bit, but I have to be strong." Echo responded.
"About that, are you sure that you didn't have more to that plan of yours." Cherry questioned suspiciously. Echo stayed silent before giving a small smile as she cricked open the door a tad and held a single finger out. "...Oh I get it. You'll talk about it during the meeting then?" Cherry reasoned.
"Trust me, we had our reasons." Echo responded.
"Got it." Cherry said before walking off. Echo let out a sigh of relief before she went and got ready for the meeting, walking over to the situation room. When she entered, she saw everyone sitting around waiting for her with various looks on their faces.
"We were just about to start, take a seat." Looker told Echo. Echo nodded and took a seat next to Cherry and Sigma, who looked like he was a tad tense. "Now before we start, Sigma go ahead and say what you need to before you explode." Looker said, noticing the somewhat panicked man.
"Thank you, Looker. Echo, I have to know, was what happened on the roof at all within your plan?" Sigma asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Echo was silent for a moment before relaxing and leaning back in her chair, giving a big grin before she spoke.
"Basically yeah." Echo confirmed.
"Oh thank Arceus." Sigma said with a sigh of relief.
"What, you really think we would put ourselves in danger without a good plan?" Echo questioned.
"You realize who you're talking about right?" Looker, Anabell, and Cherry all said simultaneously, freaking each other out a bit.
"...Fair enough." Echo responded.
"Anyway, let's get into a small debriefing of everything that happened before Echo explains what went on with her and Hibiki's plan." Anabell suggested. Everyone nodded as Sigma began to recall the operation in broad strokes, summarizing the more boring parts. After the quick refresher after a long night, they all sighed before turning to Echo.
"I take it this is where I take over and explain what happened after you two left?" Echo questioned, looking over at Cherry and Sigma.
"Yep." Everyone said.
"Well, after I told Cherry and Simga to leave, me and Hibiki did what I said we would do, attempt to stall Luna and Reika. Unfortunately, it seems that they iterated on that whole Perfected Shadow Pokemon concept and Luna took next to no damage at all." Echo began to explain.
"Really? They made it better?" Michael said with a heavy sigh.
"Sadly yes, I can give you what data my Shadow Scope was able to pick up to see if you can make sense of it because something tells me we're going to need it." Echo told Michael and Jovi.
"That would be good, at least so we can get something out of it." Jovi commented.
"Ok, but back to the recap. After a large attack, our Pokemon were injured enough to spook me into wanting to run, but Shika had noticed that and launched an attack against me. I would have taken it if Hibiki didn't push me out of the way." Echo continued.
"And from there, just taking a guess, Shika took you hostage and forced Melody to make a choice between your life or Hibiki's safety?" Looker questioned.
"That… is basically what did happen, yes. How did you know that?" Echo responded curiously.
"I've been in this job long enough that I can tell when bad guys do certain stuff." Looker responded. Echo simply nodded as she thought about how to transition to her next topic when the door opened and Allegro entered the room.
"Ah good, there you all are. Apologies for the intrusion, but I do have someone here to talk to Echo." Allegro said.
"Who might that be?" Echo questioned, a tad excited and nervous. Allegro was going to speak but stayed silent as he stepped aside and let Aria walk into the room with a calm, but absolutely livid look on her face. Upon seeing her mother, Echo's face took on a very nervous grin as she felt her body freeze and heard both Sigma and Cherry get out of their seats, taking a few steps back. "...Hey mom." Echo said nervously.
"Hello Echo." Aria said, a silent fury in her voice.
"What are you doing here?" Echo asked. Aria simply responded by walking up to Echo and staying still for a moment before pulling her daughter into a hug, her face taking a sad smile.
"Why must you two come up with the craziest plans?" Aria asked in a calmer, more relieved voice. Echo was a bit caught off guard but smiled as she returned the hug to her mother with a sad frown on her face.
"Sorry, we just figured that the best way to handle this was a very complicated way." Echo responded in a somber tone.
"Given what Hibiki told me, I can believe that." Aria said.
"If Hibiki is alive, where is she right now and why isn't she with you?" Sigma asked, a tad nervous about the answer.
"Well, that is a bit of a story on my part, but I didn't want to interrupt as Echo was just about to give an explanation of their plan herself." Aria responded.
"In that case, why don't you stay a bit and maybe talk about how you know that Hibiki is ok?" Echo suggested.
"I was planning on doing that anyway." Aria said as she broke the hug. Echo simply nodded as two more chairs were brought up, one for Aria and one for Allegro, before Aria remembered something else she had to say. "Oh, and one more thing before I let you continue Echo." Aria began, her voice taking on a more motherly tone.
"Yeah?" Echo asked, suddenly a bit more nervous.
"While I can't exactly do anything to stop you two, maybe see about running your plans by me or adults before you execute them." Aria told Echo with a head pat. Echo simply nodded in agreement as she audibly gulped before the two took a seat with Allegro joining.
"Remind me to never get on her bad side." Sigma whispered to Cherry. Cherry gave a small smile as she nodded and the two returned to their seats, Echo getting her mind back on track.
"Ok, where to start? I suppose the best place to start is how the plan came into being. If it wasn't obvious enough, the two of us had figured out that Shika would probably be making an appearance during this little exchange." Echo began.
"Yeah, looking back on that now, I'm surprised that the rest of us didn't see it coming." Cherry commented.
"To be fair on our part, I don't think either of us thought she would use Luna against us or that she even had Luna." Echo added.
"The fact that we hadn't been able to find any trace of Luna probably means she had been in hiding or caught by Shika at the Surge." Anabell said,a frown appearing on her face.
"That is something I'm going to ask her when we find her." Echo said.
"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Michael questioned.
"We aren't, that's Hibiki's role in this whole plan." Echo explained. Michael was a bit confused as Echo had begun to talk about what Hibiki told her the previous night.
11 hours ago…
Hibiki had paced back and forth as she thought about what to say to Echo and Melody, most of her thoughts a bit of a mess as she stopped in front of the map of the resort hotel. "Ok, so the basic idea of the plan is this: we know that S is more than likely going to be there in some way, be it a last minute entrance or is already there. That means we have a unique opportunity here, though it is very risky." Hibiki began to explain.
"I still can't believe you're suggesting this plan." Echo said in an exasperated tone.
"Agreed, but I also think this is a good idea… oh god, I'm adapting to her mental habits." Melody commented, have a mini existential crisis.
"Apologies for that Melody and as for why I'm suggesting this Echo, do you have any better ideas to find their base quickly…aside from hacking?" Hibiki responded.
"I mean… you make a good point. If they do have a base within the region like we think they do, it would be protected fairly well." Echo said.
"Exactly. While I do agree that my plan is absolutely insane, it's something I don't think they'll expect." Hibiki told Echo. Echo and Melody both simply nodded as Hibiki began to place figures that she quickly made that represented each of them. "All right then, if we agree on that, then let's talk about the other big thing I'm asking of you two." Hibiki said, placing down a black figure with the letter S on it.
"That being letting me go with Shika… admittedly not an idea that I'm fond of, but I see what you're going with this. By using me as a waymarker, we can get an idea of where the base is located, probably finding the exact location as well." Melody chimed in.
"The only problem with that is the fact that they more than likely are prepared for a maneuver like this because the fact that you're an Esper has likely been communicated to them." Echo commented.
"True enough, which is why I do have one last topic I do want to bring up just in case our hunch is right." Hibiki said, not making eye contact with Echo.
"What would that be and why do I already feel like I want to scream at you?" Echo questioned with a heavy sigh. Hibiki paused as she thought about what to say before simply grabbing her figure and moving it off the edge of the roof. "...Yep about what I expected. ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Echo responded calmly before getting up and yelling at her sister.
"I get it, I really do. Hell, I'm not even sure that this will work, but it's also really the only option I have to get out of there relatively safely and not have them know that I'm alive." Hibiki explained, making sure her hearing was intact.
"I… hate that your reasoning makes sense." Echo said, a bit defeated. Melody was quiet as she thought of a response, looking at the two sisters as they discussed that topic.
"...For what it's worth, I'm more than happy to place my bets on Hibiki's plan." Melody commented calmly.
"Melody?" Echo asked, a bit bewildered.
"Yes, it is very reckless for her to suggest something like this. Yes, putting both of our lives in danger is incredibly risky. However, I am more than willing to put my life down on the line to protect my family." Melody explained. Echo was silent for a moment, letting Melody's words sink in as she began to sigh and smile as she shook her head.
"I swear, you two are the same… and I don't hate that fact. All right, we'll go with your plan on one condition." Echo said in an accepting tone.
"What would that be?" Hibiki questioned.
"If you see our mother, just accept the berating from her with no complaints." Echo told Hibiki.
"Fair enough. Not sure if I'll be ready for that, but fair enough." Hibiki responded. Echo simply nodded as the group went back to getting the specifics of the plan down.
Present…
As Echo finished her brief explanation, she waited to see if anyone had anything to say or comment on. "Well, I can tell you that she did keep that condition." Aria told Echo.
"Oh really? Good to know she kept that promise at least." Echo said, chuckling a little.
"So Echo, you explained how you two came up with the plan and I feel like it's fairly obvious, but could you just spell it out for us?" Anabel asked.
"Sure, the plan was this: Should Shika have actually been there, the two of us would put on a little act. Get her to believe that she actually had us cornered before we went through with the rest of the plan. After that, we let Hibiki get thrown off the building, using her Esper abilities to make sure she was alive, and have Melody go with Shika if she makes a threat." Echo explained.
"I take it that Luna being there wasn't in the plan?" Sigma asked, earning a glance from Echo.
"Absolutely not, that made the act turn into a genuine moment of "oh Arceus help us", which did work out in our favor." Echo commented.
"What did Hibiki plan to do after she disappeared into the lake?" Looker questioned curiously.
"From what I know, she was just going to be working on getting either an exact location or a general area of Melody's possible location. That being said…" Echo answered, stopping as she looked over at Aria.
"Of course she got distracted by something, what do you expect?" Aria said with a sigh.
"Did she do anything bad?" Echo inquired, ready to hear the worst.
"Depends on who you would be asking that question to. Does battling my for her 7th badge and arresting the only Neo Cipher Commander you all haven't met yet count as bad?" Aria responded with a smile. Echo was silent as she heard the news and looked at the others, all of whom were shocked at that news.
"Ye-Yeah that's a good reason to get distracted. How the hell did all that happen?" Echo asked. As Aria was about to answer that, they were interrupted by an agent walking up to the table with a tablet in his hand.
"Apologies for the interruption, but we've picked up Agent Hibiki's signal again." the agent told the table.
"Where did you pick it up?" Looker questioned immediately.
"Out in the ocean to the west, sailing north past Crescent Moon Isle." the agent reported.
"To the north?" Looker pondered.
"Wasn't there several islands out that way?" Cherry asked.
"Off the coast there are several, but I don't know which one would be good enough to house their base and protected enough to hide them." Echo commented. Michael paused as he heard that and remembered something from his past adventures.
"Maybe they don't need to hide if they can just make it look like a regular island, say by building an underwater base." Michael suggested.
"Entirely possible, but I imagine we'll know for sure as Hibiki gets closer." Anabel said.
"All right everyone, make what preparations you need to. We're all going to end Neo Cipher today." Looker told the agents in the room. Everyone sitting nodded as they all got up and went to exit the room, save for Aria and Echo as they wanted a moment together.
"You think we're going to be ok?" Echo asked her mom, a bit unsure of the situation.
"Don't worry, we're going to be fine and if you're worried about your sister, you know Hibiki is a strong and resourceful girl, we both know that." Aria responded in a reassuring tone.
"True, I just feel like it's coming on a bit fast is all." Echo said with a sigh.
"Trust me, this happens a lot when you're an adult." Aria advised as she and Echo got up.
"Before I forget, how did you find Hibiki and what exactly did you two do?" Echo questioned as they walked out of the room. Aria simply smiled as she began to tell Echo of what had happened on her end.