Chapter 129

You're all Dead

Pokémon List:

Luna (Kirlia)

Fay (Riolu)

Midna (Zorua)

It was an almost beautiful sight. Whereas others might stargaze or enjoy the beauty of the city, I was just marveling at how reality broke down right in front of my eyes and witnessed how the rigid laws that held it together were being torn asunder.

From atop the rooftop I had a much better view of the situation and could fully understand how fucked we were.

Looking at Alamos felt like I was truly in some kind of twisted Wonderland.

The towers stood proudly in the center of Alamos, undisturbed by the titans clashing around it. At some point Palkia's laser beam tore across it but the metallic exterior of the towers absorbed the hit and remained standing. The same couldn't be said for its surroundings.

The main road to the towers was spaghettified, going through it would cause me to get trapped within its weird space bubble. I had narrowly avoided that fate, getting stuck in one of those didn't seem fun in the slightest; other areas around town looked similarly unpleasant. One of the bigger streets leading towards the towers had all its color drained, there was no movement coming from that part. East to the towers there was a localized time loop, a crowd of Pokémon and people were caught within it, they tried to leave the area but got their position reset every 20 seconds.

The sky was equally disturbing. Strange things were happening, portals opened and I saw Pokémon falling through them, laser beams and tossed buildings were frozen mid-flight and ghostly apparitions floated through the air.

We apparently had enough people to still try and fight the Pokémon gods. No clue who was in charge or what the plan was, but meat kept being fed to the two.

"So, what now?" Fay asked. "Back the way we came from?"

That wouldn't do. Besides wasting time going back, these narrow streets wound in on themselves and were practically a maze.

"Let me think," I paced back and forth.

In the distance the Palkia and Dialga continued their battle, uncaring about where their missed attacks landed. A blue light shredded through what I recalled being a park. A purple pool of diamond shaped thunder formed above what used to be the sky docks and fractured the physical space.

I considered my resources and options. Everyone around us was either dead, caught in the warped space or hiding, so no help there. I could possibly find a way to either contact Darkrai or Ash but they wouldn't be able to help much. They wouldn't even serve as a good distraction because the space-time duo just steamroll everything in their path.

I had some plans for Darkrai, things he could do, but I had no idea where he was or if he was capable of listening to me in his current state.

I looked for anything else that could help me out of the current predicament.

{You better be fast about it,} Luna urged, not helping me in the slightest. {before they come our way again.}

"I know," I answered shortly.

I was pretty much on my own here. I still absolutely hated the idea of flying, with the size and range of attacks that filled the sky above us it was practically a death sentence. But besides flying, Midna couldn't offer much in terms of mobility because she lacked space.

Luna couldn't teleport us. I had no idea what would happen if she did, but I'd imagine that appearing with my insides out or skin missing was a very real possibility with Dialga and Palkia around to fuck up spacetime.

The problem remained that the streets were a nightmare to traverse. I turned around, trying to find an effective solution. What we had been doing so far wasn't viable. The back up plans weren't working or couldn't be executed.

My eyes went to the other rooftops. The fastest path to the towers would be to bypass the streets entirely. It was doable but also too slow, I'd have to find a way to bridge the gap between parts without houses. I could maybe use one of Midna's forms but what if she crashed through them?

I bit my lip, the situation was utterly insane and I felt my Pokémon were a wee bit under leveled.

The world continued to distort more and more wherever Palkia and Dialga brawled. The physical space was being contorted and twisted, the flow of time was reversed and at places where both their influences fractured or broke apart reality too far, black wisps spread. They rose from the cracks, oozing out like pus, there weren't many but I saw multiple spots where the smoke-like substance bled from the wounds in reality. From my vantage point they looked almost like smoke signals.

Neither Dialga or Palkia seemed to care about them.

Fay was looking extremely worried on the other side. Her bright ethereal sword flickered like a loose hanging lightbulb. She was looking at a black tendril that came from a shop near us. The texture of the brick walls were deformed, I couldn't read what the letters on the front sign said anymore.

Fay's eyes lit up, aura flowed around them. "That's not good."

"I figured." I murmured.

"I can feel a presence slipping through the cracks." Fay continued her train of thought. "It's like the other two but…stranger."

I calmly said, "oh that must be Giratina then." Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. FUCK. Well, that's even worse. I cursed Arceus but kept up the calm facade. This project was derailing really fast.

Luna shot me a wary glance. {Should I be worried?}

"Not yet," I answered. I took a deep breath. My mind went back to the nightmare Darkrai created. I couldn't help but smile as that warm feeling of having a purpose filled me. Suddenly the answer became very clear.

I turned to Fay. "The presence, is it fully here yet?"

Fay shook her head. "No, it is around this place, but not yet inside. It feels really really bad."

"Nothing to worry about," I assured her. "We'll deal with Palkia and Dialga first."

{You figured out a way to get there?}

"It's clear to me." I pointed a finger forward. "If none of the roads work, then we'll cut our own path directly towards the tower."

{I see.} Luna nodded after a few seconds. {You do realize the consequences?}

I didn't bother answering that.

"Hold up, what do you mean, cut a path towards the towers?"

"Turn into a Steelix Midna," I ordered.

"What?!" Fay stuttered. "She's way too big, you'll destroy everything!"

"Exactly."

"You can't just say exactly!" Fay argued. Her eyes darted between me and Luna. "What about the people inside?"

{The way I see it, soon there might be no people left.} Luna briefly answered.

"You can't be serious," Fay snapped towards Midna, but Midna wasn't listening. She held an almost ecstatic look in her eyes as she walked away from us. "I like your style Dust."

Her body began to glow bright white. The ground shook and the windows rattled. The house next to ours caved in immediately as Midna's body pushed it out of the way. Her shape extended and elongated and then the glow stopped.

The steel snake head rose above the rooftops, her jaw was dropped into something resembling a grin. I stared into her eye which was the same size as my head. "That should do."

With a growly voice Midna said. "A bit awkward, but I'll manage." She lowered her head and I jumped off the roof onto her head, from there I made my way towards the big rock spikes on her back. I clutched it tight.

Luna followed after and held onto the spike as well.

Fay reluctantly followed, though she clearly didn't feel comfortable, but she didn't have much choice.

"Go!"

The serpentine snake charged forward. Wearing the creepy smile still on her face, Midna dove head first through the walls. She roared as she emerged on the other side and continued the rampage. Despite her massive size she was still very fast. I had to embrace the spike to avoid falling off. It was hard to see anything ahead, dust and debris rained around us and sweat made my hand slippery. The constant noise of Midna crushing everything in her path I briefly looked back and saw the trail of destruction we left behind.

Midna accelerated the pace and kept moving.

She made a half effort to slither over the row of houses instead of bursting through them but she still left the second floor utterly destroyed.

It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to the towers. I focused my gaze on them. They were getting closer, destiny was awaiting me at the top. I just knew it.

Finally, Midna slowed down. She broke through what looked like it was once a restaurant and then finally emerged in the main square.

I let out a sigh. We had made it.

The once proud heart of town was now a battlezone. The best parts just looked ravaged, but other parts were looking worse than that. A red leafed tree had started to grow wild and its roots were spreading at a rapid pace around it like snakes, somewhere near the main stage an explosion was continuously being looped and other parts of the square had their geometry inverted. It was hard to look at and even worse to think about.

There were people and Pokémon. I recognized some of them from the earlier rounds of the festival. Most in the crowd were trainers, though I also recognized some of the people marked by a green stripe. They were the ones that oversaw the battle against Claire.

Our arrival on Midna's back didn't go unnoticed.

Midna lowered her head and allowed us to jump off.

When I got off her back and walked towards the others I noticed they were looking at me with horrified expressions. Wait, not me, Midna.

I looked at the Steelix, she was still wearing that Midna smile but her body no longer held the pristine silvery color. My expression didn't change, Fay on the other end vomited.

I tried to ignore the looks we were getting.

"Salutations," I raised my hand.

"What did you do?!" One of the people with the green stripes asked. Behind him a massive insect-like creature shifted its weight. The Golisopod was giving me a distrustful look.

The thought crossed my mind that I probably didn't look that appealing either. I really didn't have time for this. I briefly gestured to Midna to change her shape back, to avoid startling people.

"Did you do all of that?" Someone else asked. She dreadfully pointed at the trail of ruins left behind by Midna.

I sighed. Could I walk past them? Make a break for it? I was outnumbered and everyone here was on edge. I feel like this would be the worst time to deal with people. "It's an illusion, my Zorua is really good at creating illusions. Look, I have a Riolu. That means I have a pure soul."

"Lies." Fay muttered sickly.

They weren't buying it. I took a deep breath.

{What now Dust?} Luna asked. {Want to cut a path through them as well?} I must be imagining the sarcasm.

"Not the time for jokes," I murmured.

"Dust!" A voice cried out. A yellow Pikachu shot between the dozen legs and approached us. He was followed by a familiar face.

"You're alive!" he cried out. Without asking he pulled me into an embrace, completely ignoring everyone around us.

"Yes," I answered shortly, still, very much aware of the fact that we were in an active warzone. Something everyone around me seemed to have forgotten.

I pushed Ash away. "Look, I need to go to the top of the Space-Time towers. You can explain to them, otherwise everyone here is already dead." Ash turned around, as if he just noticed all the way everyone looked at me and my team.

I took this moment to walk away. The entrance of the tower was calling for me. It was so close and I wasn't about to let a bunch of NPCs fuck me over. My Pokémon dutifully followed behind me.

There it is! I felt my soul burn with purpose, destiny was waiting.

As if to echo my sentiment, the sky moaned and cracked. The ground quaked and shivered.

I looked up.

Palkia suddenly came tumbling through the air. She crashed, landed and wiped through an entire row of city blocks before finally coming to a stop in front of the towers.

I swallowed. The air felt electric. I didn't dare to move.

Palkia got up. She let out a frustrated growl and turned her head around, she didn't even look down at the people and Pokémon caught within her shadow, we practically weren't even there, all her attention was on trying to find her rival.

Dialga announced his presence with a guttural roar.

Palkia, not to be outdone, screamed. Behind her back the wings spread out.

We need to run. was a thought that ran through my mind.

Dialga fired an attack.

I couldn't tell how I knew what was happening. It could have been the subtle way that the smoke around him stopped moving or the way the wind changed. But somehow, the split second he roared, I knew time around Dialga had stopped.

And then the effect extended outwards, like an invisible wave of anti motion it surged forward. It rushed through the streets towards Palkia…towards us.

Maybe time was getting twisted, because it felt like time was slowing down as the time stop moved forward.

"Ru-" A scream was stopped mid sentence.

A white flash of lightning froze while working its way towards an target.

The swing of an arm was halted before it could reach for a Pokéball.

People tried to run but gave up halfway through.

One by one, everything stopped.

And then the effect finally reached me.

The whole world went silent.

A/N Jumpscare update. Didn't see this one coming? But nature finds its way.

Weretiger said a chapter within a week wasn't possible. Jokes on them. Even made it longer. Sucker.

Thanks for Gram and Fae for betareading.

-CaptainMoonShine-