"Can I ask you something?"
Nickie's question prompted Tessa to lift her head up from the Kecleon Mart catalog she was flipping through. "Sure."
"Your dad... is he always so serious?"
Tessa blinked a few times. "Is this about the meeting?"
"Yeeeeaaaah." Nickie pawed at the edge of her cushion. "I mean, he didn't yell at us or anything. But that look on his face was so stern." Her shaved tails puffed up a bit. "Gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"Ah." Tessa rubbed one of her aura feelers. "When it comes to guild business, he gets very... focused. But outside of work, he's gentler. Promise!"
Nickie's snout twitched. "So, uh, can we, y'know, see him? Outside of work? You're his kid, right? Shouldn't be hard."
"Sure?" Tessa shrugged. It sounded easy enough.
"It'd help settle my nerves."
"Right." Tessa turned the page in her catalog. "Then I'll make it happen."
Jubilife TV's interior was devoid of people. That Paradigm lieutenant must have cleared everyone out. Yuna floated past tables with metal food trays full of bagels, rolls, and other pastries. Some of them had mold patches.
The dragapult headed up the stairs and peeked into a studio. Nothing but a bright pink stage with lights and cameras pointed at it.
Yuna glanced at her griseous core. I could really use a sign right now. She had no idea how long Gene and Vegna could stall outside. She heard occasional muffled thumps and thuds. How close were they to the building?
"Yo, Princess! Think I got something!"
Nikki leaped down from higher up the stairwell. "There's a funny glow coming from the top floor."
Yuna flew up the stairs. Nikki ran alongside her. The blasts she heard before were even quieter now. Though if this was a fancy broadcast building, Yuna supposed it made sense it would be built to dampen outside noise.
The studio on the third floor was even pinker than the one below it. Fur boas and sequined dresses full of sparkles littered the floor beside the circular stage. Even the cameras and spotlights were covered in pink fur and doused in glitter.
"Yeah, Xander was definitely here." Nikki's nostrils twitched. She clapped her hands together and conjured poison globules. The toxtricity tossed them over her shoulder, where they smeared a pinup poster of Xander in fishnets and a corset on the wall behind them. Yuna had floated right past it without even noticing it. And now she wished she could have remained blissfully ignorant of its existence.
"I can take a gaaaaawmd guess what this guy dreams about," Cresselia said.
"The vibes in here are rancid." Shaymin sighed and shook his head. "Find that Needle."
"So, where was the glowing?" Yuna looked around. All the glitter and sequins made it tough to tell.
"That door in the corner." Nikki walked up to the dragapult's side and pointed to a shut door with a big white heart on it. Thin gold light trickled through cracks between the door and the floor and ceiling.
"Worth a shot." Yuna quickly hovered toward the door. She grabbed the handle and, predictably, it wouldn't turn.
"Hey, do you think you could unlock it by phasing through the locking mechanisms?" Reshiram wondered.
Yuna blinked. She hadn't really thought of that before. Mainly because she didn't understand locking mechanisms that well.
Another muffled explosion told her to stop overthinking. She pressed her right hand against the door... and phased through it! Yuna felt around until her hand brushed against pins that were docked into small metal pegs. She slid them out of the pegs and found her left hand able to open the handle.
"I'm in." Yuna pushed the door open and was greeted with racks full of dresses, skintight latex and leather suits, and... other strange pieces of cloth and fabric that made Yuna want to turn and leave.
"Why didn't you just phase through the door?" Nikki walked over, scratching her head.
"I didn't want to leave you out here," Yuna said, rubbing her right arm. As if on cue, she heard another muffled blast.
The toxtricity's mohawk turned pink. "O-Oh." She stuck her hands into her pockets. "Thanks."
Nodding, Yuna forced her way past all the clothing. Sure enough, the Needle was in the back of the room, in front of a big, heart-shaped mirror. She'd admire the tackiness if she wasn't in a hurry.
Yet, as Yuna floated closer, apprehension ate at her.
This was it, wasn't it? The final Needle. The last Sage who sealed themselves away.
... At least, assuming Vegna told the truth.
"He genuinely believes this is it," Reshiram reminded the dragapult. "Worst case, he's wrong. Not outright lying."
That didn't bring Yuna much in the way of comfort. But she couldn't delay any further. Ignoring her reflection in the mirror, she reached out and grabbed the Needle.
"Y'know, I've never really thought about it. You came up with this custom, didn't you?"
Diancie turned, twirling a chisel around in her right hand. She looked expectantly at Bahamut, who lay on her granite floor, gazing at the gemstones in the ceiling.
"I did." The light dragon crossed one large gold crystal leg over the other.
"Why?" Diancie wondered.
Bahamut did his best not to let any irritation show. He really didn't want to go down this buneary hole. Too specific an explanation and he might have to divulge things he'd rather keep to himself.
"Diamonds form under intense heat and pressure." Bahamut lazily raised his upper wings and pressed them together. "Great stress leads to something beautiful."
He tilted his head left and cracked a grin. "Sounds a lot like partnership or marriage, doesn't it?"
Diancie tapped the chisel against her chin. "Hmm." She turned back to the purple and gold crystal behind her. "A beautiful marriage enduring stress." Diancie chiseled away at the diamond. "And what happens when the union doesn't work?"
Bahamut dimmed. Of course she'd ask that. Good thing he had an answer ready.
"Even a diamond can crack under intense enough strain."
The chinks of chisel on diamond and tinks of tiny diamond chunks dropping to the floor prevented the room from falling into total silence. Diancie continued chipping off misshapen purple and gold fragments.
"Are you worried that will happen with Chiron?" she wondered.
Bahamut's head tendrils shrank. "That's—"
He folded his upper wings between two of his chest spikes.
"I believe her feelings are genuine."
Diancie paused with the chisel near the bottom left corner of the diamond. "That doesn't answer my question, sir."
Aaaaand that sent Bahamut's tail straight into his torso. For pity's sake, he was supposed to have kicked that habit. And now he needed something to settle down with.
"Thou fair-haired angel of the evening, now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains," he whispered. "Light thy bright torch of love, thy radiant crown put on, and smile upon our evening bed."
That managed to coax his tail back out. Good.
"Your cryptic poems aren't an answer eiiiiitheeeer~" Diancie sang, cheerfully chiseling away at the diamond.
Aaaaaand back in went the tail.
Bahamut threw his upper wings over his head.
"Okay, yes, I am worried about screwing this up." His upper wings flopped at his sides. "What else am I supposed to say?"
Diancie smirked. "That you were too proud to admit it without some teeth pulling."
Bahamut's rainbow eyes swirled around. "But I don't have teeth..."
The look Diancie gave him hastily made the light dragon add, "Joke!" He raised his lower wings and waved them around. "It was a joke, I swear!"
Sighing, Diancie grabbed the chisel and returned her attention to the diamond. "I'm gonna get Reshiram if you keep beating around the bush."
"Fine. Fine!" Bahamut's gold shifted to an irate orange. He had to breathe. "Enamorus' title exists to spread the idea of love. The beauty of love."
At least he managed to get the tail out again. "If people learned the guy who crafted the Sage of Love doesn't have the slightest inkling about romance and relationships..."
His light rippled and frazzled. "It could make them restless. The kind of restlessness that could... draw it here."
The light dragon's expression hardened. "I won't let it destroy m— our home."
Diancie fumbled her chisel but managed to catch it before it fell to the floor. "Ah, right. Yes. That, erm, would make sense, sir."
Bahamut sat up. "Watch your tone. I'm not here saying the fate of the world hinges on this or anything."
"Y-Yessir." Diancie swallowed hard. She chiseled at a few more points on the diamond. "Well, uh, your proposal gift's... ready to rock."
Bahamut glared harder. Of all the times for a ridiculous rock pun.
Laughing nervously, Diancie rested her right hand on the diamond. "S-Sorry, sir. Couldn't help it." She offered a sincere smile. "Even though you're nervous, we're all rooting for you two."
Well, that was nice to hear. Bahamut saw his intense, albeit distorted, reflection in the diamond. He softened his expression a bit.
"Thank you." The dragon pointed an upper wing at the gem. "In more ways than one."
"Don't mention it." Diancie put her tiny hands on her hips. "And, hey, maybe if things go well, you'll consider dropping the whole 'Sages can't court' thing?"
The glare returned. Was all this some ulterior motive? Had Lugia put her up to this? Stars above, she was more than a pain in his ass. He'd have scouted for replacements, but Chiron was fond of her...
"Let's just... take things one day at a time." Bahamut levitated the gem beside him. "Proposal first. We'll see what happens from there."
He flicked an upper wing. Rather than the door opening, a wormhole formed underneath Bahamut. He lazily saluted Diancie with an upper wing as he sank into it.
Bahamut had the gem. And some reassurance. This would work. It had to work.
As the memory faded and the dressing room's brightly lit ceiling came into view, Yuna lay on the floor, shuddering.
This didn't make any sense. Why did she see things through Bahamut's eyes? Every other memory was Chiron's. Because the two were connected!
But his ethereal body rippling... and his tail shooting into his body. They were just like... just like...
"Princess? Princess, say something!"
Nikki's shoves jostled the dragapult. But Yuna stayed silent, gaze still fixed on the ceiling.
What could this mean?
"Snap out of it!"
Scaly hands grabbed Yuna's torso. The ceiling got closer, then shook violently.
Nikki's face came into view. The toxtricity was holding her... and shaking Yuna despite her larger size.
"C'mon, Princess!" Worry spread across Nikki's face. "Stay with me!"
The icy vulpix rolled Tessa over on her back. "Can you hear me? Did the reviver go off? C'mon, Tess, say something!"
"Nnngh." Blinking rapidly, Yuna pushed Nikki's arms away and drifted back. She glimpsed Diancie's silhouette from the corner of her eyes.
"I—" Yuna started, but her tail crinkled. She looked at some of the fuzzy scarves on a rack in front of her.
Deep breaths.
Her griseous core tingled in her chest. Was Yaldabaoth trying to interject?
Ignore them. Deep breaths.
Not that the dragapult had lungs. But the air steadied her ectoplasm. The ripples and quivering died down.
"I got a memory of Bahamut." Yuna suppressed a shudder. "All my other memories were Chiron's. Which I thought made sense. But this one..."
Saying it out loud proved difficult.
"What?" Nikki stepped closer, head tilted.
"Bahamut acted... kinda like me." Yuna's tail started to retreat into her torso. "Like that." She pointed at the tail like it had a mind of his own. "His tail would do that, too. And his body would ripple and jiggle like my ectoplasm."
Nikki raised a brow. "Meaning?"
Yuna threw her arms up. "That we're, like, related somehow."
"Uh-huuuuuh." Nikki lazily strutted away from Yuna, resting her hands behind her head. "And that's surprising becaaaaaaaaause?"
"Because I used to be..." Yuna's voice trailed off. She looked down at her wispy feet, then massaged her tail with them until it was fully out of her torso.
"I take it you caught on?" Nikki said, smirking.
Yuna drifted right and draped herself over an empty chair. "If I'm really Giratina, and Bahamut had Giratina's power, then I guess it makes sense. He had a part of my soul, after all."
"Exactly."
Nikki smacked Yuna's back. Meeping, Yuna faceplanted onto the seat of the chair. "Owwww..." She squirmed around to sit backwards on the chair, curling her tail around its legs.
"Whoops." Nikki wiggled the fingers of her raised hand. "But, hey, at least you're not freaking out anymore, right?"
The dragapult hardly considered that a consolation. Besides, there were bigger things to worry about. Namely...
"Um, did anything happen after I pulled the Needle?" Yuna wondered.
"Like what?" Nikki asked.
Yuna shrugged. "I dunno. The room shaking? Some ripples of distortion or colorful lights?"
She got a blank look from Nikki. "Uhh, I guess I heard some more explosions in the distance?" the toxtricity said. "But they completely stopped a little while before you woke up."
Yuna glanced down at her griseous core. It sat in her chest, slowly pulsating like it usually did.
Now that was strange. Wouldn't Giratina have reacted to Yuna severing the connection between Eternatus and the reverse world?
"Ahem."
A dainty throat clearing drew Yuna's attention toward the mirror, where Diancie still floated. The Sage wore a confused expression.
"Ah. You, uh, probably have a lot of questions," Yuna said, pressing her brow into the back of the chair.
Diancie nodded. "Talk about bizarre first impressions. You and your girlfriend sneak away from work to canoodle or something?" She looked around the room. "This place would... certainly accommodate that."
"G-Girlfriend?" Yuna squeaked. When her tail shot into her torso, it shifted her weight enough to tip the chair backward. "Wh— eep!"
Arms flailing, Yuna floated into the air before the chair fell over with an unimpressive thud.
"We're not— that's just—"
"We're partners trying to save the universe, Rocky," Nikki scoffed, crossing her arms. "What are you, the Sage of Assumptions? You don't got the backside for it." She laughed to herself.
"Sage of Resilience, actually." If Diancie was annoyed, she didn't show it. She twirled around and gazed at her reflection. "Diamonds are resilient, after all. At least, that was Bahamut's take."
"Pssssht." Nikki bent over to stand the chair back up. "Like anything that asshole says is worth a damn."
That got an irritated look from Diancie. "Excuse me?"
Yuna chose to stop this before things got heated. The griseous core flickered, then sucked a startled Diancie inside. "The others can catch you up," she whispered to the core.
Chaos energy tickled her ectoplasm from the edges of the core. It felt like Giratina reacting to the new presence, so Yuna ignored it.
Something still felt off to her, but at least Yuna now knew which Sage was unaccounted for. And with the last Needle pulled, what did that mean for Necrozma and Vegna?
"Okay. Guess it's settled." Nikki clapped her hands together. "We should get out of here, right? You think Gene's okay?"
Before Yuna had the chance to respond, the room violently shook. Clothing racks toppled over, leaving a veritable rainbow of fabrics strewn across the floor.
"The hell? Is this an earthquake?" Nikki jumped to Yuna's side. "Princess, you gotta get us outta here!"
"But Necrozma blocks rifts." Yuna's tail crinkled. She'd have to fly Nikki out.
Seconds later, however, the dressing room door was violently torn off its hinges. The wall surrounding it crumbled away.
Yuna darted protectively in front of Nikki, ready to summon Rayquaza to her aid. But an unseen force grabbed hold of the dragapult. The next thing she knew, they were both flung face-first and screaming into a jagged purple rift.
Between the Needle in Jubilife and the Empire popping up in Khelifet, the outpost was a flurry of activity. Enough for Guzzie to close the restaurant and, despite his son's protests, the arena. That gave Widget plenty of space to slink off to while everyone else ran around coordinating things.
The cosmic silvally barely paid attention to Xander's broadcast. He was still too preoccupied with what had happened to him. And Leo.
Which was why he was currently pacing along the edge of the arena, waiting for the cosmic arceus to come by.
Yes, Widget felt guilty worrying about himself with everything else going on. But this was like a pervasive itch he couldn't scratch. If Widget couldn't get to the bottom of things, he'd go crazy.
"'Sup. Brought the lizard."
Widget looked up in time to duck under a flailing Vince. The purple koraidon landed behind him and rolled to a stop, groaning loudly. The fluttering of wings preceded Alder landing next to him.
"What was that for? I can walk, y'know." Vince staggered to his feet and shook himself out.
"You're twitchyAF." Leo walked across the air until he was between Vince and Widget. "You were totes gonna bolt."
"Bolt to where?" Vince looked down, scowling. "I can't go anywhere without my powers. I'm practically your prisoner!"
"You really wanna have that argument?" Leo squinted at Vince, whose feathered antennae drooped.
Sighing, Vince looked at Widget. "What do you want?"
The cosmic silvally gestured to Alder and Vince. "Between your Lorekeeper and Overseer stuff, I was wondering if either of you knew something about an entity known as a Voice."
Judging by Alder's pensive expression and Vince's startled one, Widget had hit on something. The braviary levitated a book out of his crest and flipped through it.
Vince pawed nervously at the ground. "W-Where did you hear that?"
"From myself," Widget flatly replied. He tucked his head down. "When Leo and I... worked on Seifer the other day, I saw... silhouettes of a bunch of pokémon. And they were, like, pointing at me. Calling me Voice."
He shuddered. "Ever since, something's felt... off. Like my scales are crawling under my fur and I want to rip them out."
Vince shrank back from Widget's visceral description. Alder cut in before the purple koraidon could say anything. "I do have something. The Voice of Life." He tapped the page of his open book with a wing. "Says here they embody the will of the world and all the souls that inhabit it."
Widget's crest fanned out. "Ah! I think... I think that's it!" He repeated the phrase to himself a few times. His scales tingled and his fur stood on end. "But what do you mean by that 'will of the world' stuff?"
The braviary flipped the page. "The Voice of Life helps to keep the world in balance through preserving spiritual integrity," he explained, reading off the page. "Whether a force of nature or a living being themselves, the Voice of Life can work directly with a person's soul, even drawing spirits in from nearby worlds and empowering them in times of crisis."
With that last sentence, Widget jolted. The arena's gray floor disappeared from under his feet, replaced by a serene blue sky. He watched a pikachu fall through the air, limbs flailing, until they disappeared through the trees below.
A sharp breath brought Widget back to attention.
What was that, a memory? His memory?
"There can be other Voices, too," Vince said, looking around. "Though that's more applicable to Overseers. Most worlds only have a Voice of Life. And if there's knowledge of that stuff, it's usually kept to legendary pokémon. Voices will frequently work with them, aiding in a world's creation or tweaking its design to keep things balanced."
He shot Leo a look. Widget followed Vince's gaze, frowning.
"So then... when Leo kept calling me his brother, he wasn't just being silly?"
"I blurted that stuff out whenever it happened," Leo confessed. He brushed a golden forehoof back and forth on the metallic ground. "In hindsight, though..." He glanced at Alder, who nodded.
"If we're to assume that Leo is the creator, then it would make sense for him to feel a connection with the universe's Voice." Alder pointed at Widget with his right wing.
Widget's starcloud neck ruff deflated. Something about that bothered him. Why did he see all those silhouettes of other pokémon, then? And what about Xeromus' ranting in Herbrides? Not to mention...
"The emperor created me," the cosmic silvally muttered. "But I'm pretty sure he doesn't know about this stuff. Did he somehow make a Voice by complete accident? Or did... did..."
He stepped back, avoiding eye contact with Leo.
Did Leo put the Voice inside me with that blessing?
Both options unsettled him. They leaned toward his worst fears. That his identity wasn't his own. His thoughts, actions— none of it was really his.
"Get back!"
Leo's cry jolted Widget. The cosmic arceus stepped in front of him, wheel glowing brightly. A jagged rift sat in the middle of the arena.
Trouble?
"Waaaaaaah!"
Nikki's cry came seconds before she and Yuna hit the arena floor and skidded to a stop beside Leo.
"What the hell, dude?!" Nikki growled, rubbing her head.
The rift faded to reveal a mega mewtwo floating above everyone. Widget thought he sensed Gene's aura, but those black lattices and red Malice Crystals sent a horrid chill down his spine. As did the red core in Gene's chest. It was practically staring Widget down. The cosmic silvally's scales crawled even more than they did earlier.
... Wait. That lattice! He'd seen it the other day in Herbrides. As a silhouette around Gene.
It's been too long, Voice.
"Dark Matter?"
Widget whispered the words without even realizing it. Heads whipped in his direction. There was a flash of recognition in Leo's eyes, confusion in Nikki's, panic in Vince's... and curiosity in Alder's, who was glancing between Gene and the rapidly turning pages of his open book.
"So, you figured it out." Gene remained above everyone. There was a strange distortion to his voice that soon faded with the intense red glow from his chest.
"Figured what out?" Nikki pushed herself up. She pointed accusingly at Gene. "Makeovers don't excuse pulling that shit on us!"
"My bad." Gene didn't sound the least bit sorry. He quickly focused on Leo and Widget. "Us three are connected."
He pointed to Leo. "The creator."
Then to Widget. "The source of balance and spirituality."
And finally Gene pointed at himself. "And the source of emptiness and negativity."
Silence followed, with everyone aside from the three Gene pointed to exchanging uneasy looks.
... Then Nikki audibly snrked. And the snrk turned to laughter. The toxtricity leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees.
"Um, Nikki?" Yuna nudged her side with her large tail.
A few deep breaths stopped Nikki's laughter. "Sorry. But, like, c'mon." She gestured at Gene with both arms. "Boss Kitty's basically telling us he's the god of edgelords! How can you not laugh at that?"
Widget rubbed his chitinous forelegs together nervously. "Should we, um, be worried about what this means for the resistance?"
"No." Gene waved the cosmic silvally off. "I'm still me. Just like Princess is still Princess." He glanced at the dragapult, specifically the amber crystal in her chest.
"Besides, I'm not the only one who put himself back together."
"Eh?" Widget's crest tightened. "What's that supposed to—"
"Release me at once, you wretched gremlin!"
With an amused swish of his starcloud tail, Gene levitated forward... a squirming lucario? His pelt had the same starry motif as Leo and Widget's. He glared daggers at the mega mewtwo.
"All that power you so desperately craved is forever out of your reach, buddy," Gene said, ignoring everyone's confused expressions. "It went back to its rightful owner." He pointed to Yuna. "And if you even think about splitting yourself again, I'll put you right back together."
Blinking slowly, Widget realized what Gene's taunt meant.
"That's Bahamut?" he said, eyeing the starry lucario. "Did you fix him?"
It didn't make any sense. Wasn't he supposed to be some giant dragon of light? Or at least a smaller lump of black crystals?
"I did." Gene smirked at the cosmic silvally. "Pretty sure Princess was aware of this already, but for the rest of you who didn't put two and two together... Vegna was the missing soul."
"Seriously?!" Widget squawked, starcloud ruff puffing. He glanced at the others as if waiting for someone else to let their shock be known.
Except that didn't happen. Leo's expression hadn't changed. Hell, even Nikki wasn't phased. And she was the first one to open her big mouth at times like these.
The toxtricity caught his gaze. "I already knew that. No math required." Smirking, she adjusted the sides of her jacket.
"Same." Leo tapped a forehoof against the floor. "I eavesdropped on you yelling at Vegna. You called me his son."
"You're not my son." Bahamut had given up fighting against Gene's psychic grip. His expression remained fierce, however. His eyes had a fire behind them that sent a chill up Widget's spine. Almost as much as that red gem in Gene's chest.
"You may share his name — his color scheme, even — but you're not him." The cosmic lucario side-eyed Gene. "You're supposed to be a powerful psychic. You can see it. Yet you refuse to admit the truth out loud. Instead, you yelled at Vegna."
Widget frowned. Some part of him didn't like Bahamut dismissively referring to Vegna like he was someone else entirely. It brought that itching in his scales back. Was this a Voice of Life reflex? If it was, he could do without it.
"To be honest, I was hoping now that you're whole again you might be able to fill in some of those gaps." Gene tapped his right temple. "We're still missing pieces of the bigger picture."
Yuna's tail curled up. She fidgeted nervously. Widget was about to ask her what was up when she said, "You told me as much the other day. That a lot of your memories were fuzzy."
Something was off with Yuna's tone. Like she had pivoted from what she wanted to say at the last second.
As much as Widget wanted to press her, he let it slide. He focused on Bahamut instead. The lucario was silent. In fact, he'd shut his eyes. Was he ignoring them?
"Yo, Mutt." Nikki's mohawk crackled. "Cold shoulder ain't helping anyone."
"Then tell Mewtwo to release me." Bahamut glared at Gene. "It is difficult to think straight when one's stuck in a psychic snare."
Gene squinted. "Are you going to behave?"
"I'm not threatening anyone," Bahamut countered.
Rolling his eyes, Gene snapped his fingers. The blue glow surrounding Bahamut faded. But the moment the cosmic lucario hit the ground, he sprinted toward Yuna.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Bahamut conjured a blade of light... maybe a custom Bone Rush or Psycho Cut? He swung the light blade only to strike Gene's purple and black spoon. Motes of light and shadows hit the ground around Gene and Bahamut.
Widget backed away nervously. The red gem in Gene's chest was glowing again.
"I knew you'd try it, bastard." Gene's voice had gotten deeper and guttural again. But whatever he was doing was pushing Bahamut back. The flat of Gene's spoon broke the light blade and the cosmic lucario was forced to jump away. He kept his paws raised like he was ready to try and strike again.
"She has my power," Bahamut snarled. He conjured another light blade and pointed it at Yuna. "Mine and Chiron's!"
"She has her power back," Gene corrected. The glow in his chest gem faded. "As for the Paradigm fragments that belonged to Chiron... c'mon. Think." He tapped his right temple again. "Why would aspects of both you and Chiron end up with Yuna?" His starcloud tail pointed at the dragapult.
Widget caught a flash of shock in Yuna's eyes.
"No." Her ectoplasm rippled, then her tail shot into her torso. "You can't be serious."
Bahamut's eyes widened. His starry tail crinkled in much the same way Widget had seen Yuna's do time and time again.
The cosmic lucario stepped back. "That's... impossible."
That was when it sank in for him. The cosmic silvally's beak hung open. How was it possible?
"Oi!" Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Someone wanna loop the rest of us in?"
The amber gem in Yuna's chest crackled. Squeaking, she covered it with her arms. Bahamut looked away, his expression stern once again.
Sighing, Gene shook his head. "Guess it falls to me, then." He crossed his arms. "Princess here? She's Bahamut and Chiron's other kid."
"Oh, okay."
Yuna shot Nikki a look of disbelief. The toxtricity must not have initially realized what Gene said, because a few seconds later her mohawk grew and turned bright red.
"Wait, that's not okay!" Nikki threw her arms up in disbelief. "That's freaking insane! It doesn't even make any sense!"
"Really now?" Gene paced back and forth on the metal floor. "Think about it. Why has Princess been able to interface with everything in Eternatus so easily? How could she pull all those Needles and get weird memory visions? How did her lost chaos powers return to her?"
"Because she's Giratina," Nikki said, though her wavering tone and shrinking mohawk made her sound quite uncertain.
The mega mewtwo pointed at Bahamut and Yuna. "Well, that soul of hers had to reincarnate somehow. Same as the lot of us. And the easiest way for all that to add up is if she's his kid."
"But—"
Gene held his hands up. "I'm not entertaining questions. We've got work to do."
Widget tilted his head, then remembered the small contingent that had gone off to investigate Khelifet. He hadn't even bothered checking in on any updates about that.
"What?" Bahamut's aura feelers stiffened. "You can't espouse such insanity and then waltz off like it's not your problem."
"Watch me." Gene sarcastically saluted Bahamut and flew back toward the restaurant, ignoring Nikki and Vince's shouting to stop.
Widget sat down, his head still spinning. He could scarcely imagine what was going through Yuna's head. She stared blankly at Bahamut, who was doing everything in his power not to look at her.
"Well then." Laughing nervously, Alder waved his right wing. "Perhaps I should give you all some space for your family reunion."
The braviary flapped his wings and flew toward the restaurant. A second later, Vince sprinted after him. "H-Hey, don't leave me with them!" the purple koraidon cried. "I can't do awkward silences!"
After a short time passed, Leo finally broke said awkward silence, walking toward Bahamut. The cosmic arceus loomed over him thanks to Leo's plate-induced growth spurts.
"So, like, are you my gramps, then?" Leo wondered. "This geezer's kinda cringe, but I guess I can roll with it."
That got under Bahamut's skin... assuming he actually had any. The cosmic lucario's aura feelers curled.
"What are you talking about?" he growled. "Cringe isn't even an adjective!"
Widget took that as his cue to excuse himself. "Uh, I should... go help Gene out."
He shifted into flight mode and took off into the air, eager to get as far away from those two as possible. There were still things Widget needed to address with Leo, of course. But he supposed those would have to wait for another time. He just hoped the resistance's newest acquisition would simmer down. Otherwise, they were going to have a massive headache on their hands.